The Anima Complex

[Anonymous]

Anima flashed a grin to Nim in response to her inquiry, pushing another fragile jar off of its shelf while she replied to the witch, "It can... if you wish to see the face of a man destroyed."
Stiphos howled again when Nimue stepped on his hand and told him off. Only out of sheer desperation did he continue to plead himself to her, as she was his only hope. "Nimue! Please! I can offer you so much more! I can make you a goddess above witches, a master of the craft! Please, I beg you! You can't... you cannot leave-"
The Experimenter, sensing that his own death was still very imminent, choked up and failed to finish his sentence. He swallowed spit several times to open his throat back up, so he could continue to try and talk his way into salvation.
Before he could get another word out though, Anima crouched down in front of him again, yanking her knife out of his hand. She gently wrapped her free hand around his chin and cheeks and forced him to look up at her and make eye contact.
"I can make the whole world my signal fire," she whispered to Stiphos, staring him down intently. "I'll drown the sky in smoke, corrupt the air with ash, and set the earth ablaze. I'll stain the dirt with blood, hang the bodies from the trees, and disturb the peace with their cries of agony. Isn't it beautiful? There will be no place untouched by my hand, no place Neseraph can hide. No. Not anymore. Starting tonight, with you..."
Anima rose slowly to her feet, not breaking eye contact with him. She spoke to him without pity or guilt and said to him as she had before, "You're in a spot of trouble, Stiphos. What will you do now, hmm?"
The Experimenter froze as his mind made sense of one small part of Anima's puzzle. Those were the exact same words she had spoken to him ages ago in Abyss Asylum, when he came very close to death then.
Anima had no intention of keeping her promise. She wanted him to die... she had always wanted him to die.
She had lied to him.
And for a brief second, it flashed in his face, the look Anima was waiting for: The utterly obliterated visage of a man destroyed.
"No... no... I don't believe it. I can't believe it. I'm not here, this isn't happening..." Stiphos started murmuring to himself, his eyes twitching around randomly.
Satisfied, she turned around and walked past Nimue, heading for the door. In mid stride, she took a thin, black stick with red stripes out of her tunic and snapped it in half. The two halves, with their insides exposed to air, sizzled and quickly caught on fire. She tossed both of them over her shoulder.
The flaming halves plummeted downward through the air as Anima crossed out of the house and back outside to bathe in the moonlight of the remorseless night.

[Anonymous]

It would be true to say that Nimue enjoys watching the helpless man beneath her. She liked watching his eyes, almost able to actually see the hope fading as he watched his life turn upside down in a matter of moments.

They were the eyes of a man about to die, and it was glorious. She realised she was laughing.

And then, something silenced her. A goddess among witches, no, above witches. The thought filled her head, a queen, a goddess, a master of the dark craft. The potential power made her eyes sparkle.

By the time her focus returned, Anima was walking away. Nim turned to see the two burning sticks hit the floor, igniting some of the liquid Anima had spread. That fire wouldn't take long to go out of control, she'd have to move fast.

Bending low over Stiphos she took his face in her clawed hand, leaning in close. "You're mine now, do you understand? Mine, in body and soul. Or you can die, your choice," she hissed vehemently. The tip of her clawed finger began to hiss against his flesh as Nimue leant back up and began muttering an incantation.

Something exploded as the fire reached it, spreading the flames onto the couch and catching several new pools of liquid alight. She completed her spell, a purple mark spiralling out on the man's cheek, like twisted vines emerging from the point the tip of the claw had touched. It was a witch's mark, a spell of binding. It bound him to her will, in that he could resist any time, but to do so would mean death.

"I'm sending you to my home, stay there, or the spell will kill you."

Whipping off her hat, Nim turned it over and pointed her claw at the hole. Purple sparks flew into it, creating a dark portal within. Within seconds, Stiphos was gone, leaving Nimue crouching by herself. The portal was an escape, should she ever need one, a premade hole leading directly to her house in the mountains to the east of Zantaric.

Another explosion had her bolting for the door, slipping her hat back on as she did. An outstretched hand called her broom to her as she dashed outside, the enchanted thing responding by flying into her hand.

She jumped on, skimming down the road to reasonably safe distance, then turning and floating there to watch Stiphos' world burn.

[Anonymous]

Anima paused outside as the unmistakable smell of smoke hit her. She bent her head downward, a jagged smile forming on her face when the heat of the fire warmed her back. She listened to the glorious sound of wood creaking, burning, and breaking, giving way under her  purging flames.
She stood her ground a few paces from the house when the first explosion went off, sending a ball of light blue fire rippling up into the night air. Even when debris and shrapnel pelted her in the back, she didn't move.
Her eyes were wide and full of sadistic glee. She was laughing aloud and in her mind.
The scent of destruction was giving her a high and a lust for more.
And it would come, in time.
Anima started forward again, leaving the house to burn down to the ground behind her. Playtime was over, and it was time for her to get back on track again. She knew she had a little searching to do to find either Insera or her father. If anything, she might run into other persons of interests, like Zekial, Tesri, Insera's phone friend, or maybe even Martyr again.
But her goal was to get to Insera again, and, hopefully, Neseraph if he was nearby as he should be. If everything went as she planned, everything being the cyan man from Reajh following her instructions and Insera believing that she had been poisoned and imbibing the 'antidote', then that would make Insera the carrier for the sorcerous toxin.
The toxin wasn't for her though; it was for Neseraph, so that Anima could completely get inside his mind and begin tearing it down. The toxin, laced with multitudes of Anima's black sorcery, was as fragile as it was potent. It couldn't be mixed with any other substance prior to ingestion, making it impossible to spike one of Neseraph's own drinks with it, but it could be transfered from one host to another.
Through saliva.
Anima smirked when the thought happened across her mind; one way or another, she was going to need to ensure that Insera swapped some spit with Neseraph first... or else that would make her job much more difficult.
And to achieve that end, she was going to need to find Insera again, as well as get a disguise.
As she finally started to pass Nimue, she paused for a second and glanced at the witch. "Nice broom..." she purred at her.

[Anonymous]

Firelight flickered in the witch's eyes as she watched great coloured flames engulf the house. The chemicals that Stiphos' kept were adding blues and greens to the orange mass of fire ripping his home apart.

She watched Anima stalk towards her, looking more than pleased with her destruction. The rapture inside her was plain to see.

"Thanks," Nim purred back, grinning at the demon. Her broom was nice, she thought. It had been her mothers, before she ran away, which Nimue had used to first experiment in the dark arts by creating the one thing every witch needed, other than the hat, a magic broom. The enchantments on it had been improved since then of course, but it still held some sentimental value as her first dealing with evil.

She should get back to Stiphos, Nim supposed. Her home wasn't too far off, by broom, and while she had no fear of him trying to run, she did want desperately to have the power he offered. Or to kill him if he'd lied, of course.

It wasn't like he could go anywhere though. Not only was his chair left behind by her spell, but if she came to find he was not there she could use the mark she gave him to summon the wretched man right back to her side. Only death would allow him to escape her ever again.

"Well," she said cheerily, "I guess I'll be off then. Nice meeting you Anima!" With a wave at the woman she tucked herself in, ready to shoot off into the sky.

[Anonymous]

For the moment, Anima couldn't help but to wonder about the strange utility of the flying broom. It would have its uses in travel, but her own magic wouldn't be able to sustain one; black sorcery dabbled solely in pain, suffering, and death.
But who knew where the witch was going to go? She might even go up into the sky and run down the cowardly star from earlier, savor her fantasies of squeezing the bright and beautiful life out of it.
Or maybe Anima was projecting herself again.
"Do me a favor," she said as she started walking again. "If you see a man named Neseraph, let me know."
Without explaining much else, like how exactly she should let her know even if she did see that man, Anima picked up a healthy run northward.
Not having much of a solid link to either Insera, Insera's father, or Neseraph left her somewhat at square one, with the exception of the phone that was modified by Stiphos. And the best place to start the search up again was back where she last saw them and proceed from there.
And so she ran northward, back toward the kingdom of Connlaoth and the city of Reajh. If her fortunes held, then someone of interest might still be in that city.
Her bouts of insomnia were working out for the better, as she didn't feel especially tired yet. But she could sleep once she had one of them in her grasp... terrified hostages sang the best lullabies for her ears.

[Anonymous]

Well that was silly. How was she supposed to recognise this 'Neseraph'? Skimming along beside Anima as she took off, Nim replied, "Alrighty, if I see him and then somehow see you again within a period of time where the information of his whereabouts is still useful I'll be sure to tell you, because I support women hunting men down for their perverse sexual needs." That's what it was, probably.

"Anyway, I'll see yah around Anima! See a lot more of you hopefully." With a sly wink she took off, broom accelerating to breakneck speed and sending her up into the night.