Mors Omnibus [Aerith, Jericho, Nadia, Predis]

[Aerith]

I know you said to trust you, but...
--------

Nadia stared at the space where that man had been only seconds ago. It took her a moment to process what had just happened. The man had turned into a Heartless because of what Jericho had done. It was riveting and horrifying all at once, but not for the reasons most people would find it so.

He had done the same thing to her.

Absentmindedly, one of her hands strayed to her heart. She might not be a Heartless now, but what if her transformation was not so instantaneous? The darkness within her could be a predator lying in wait, anticipating the day when she would stop suspecting it at all. And then it would take her.

"Isn't that... isn't that what you did to me?"

[Slash]

Oh, that's not exactly it.

[/center]

Jericho looked up at Nadia, quickly noticing her dismay. "It's the same process, but he was far more injured so more darkness had to be introduced. Besides, I was never going to let your heart collapse like that. And it's still not going to happen."

He stood back up and turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing like that will happen to you. I promise."

[Aerith]

Just a little off-balance.
--------

His touch on her shoulder was enough to shake her out of her apprehension. This wasn't just about trusting him. It was about trusting herself. She wouldn't allow the darkness to consume her. Not like that.

"I believe you. It's just jarring. Sorry."

[Slash]

That's an interesting Heartless.

[/center]

Jericho smiled. "It's not a problem. Don't worry. I understand." She was far too gone to leave him or the darkness, of course. He just didn't like seeing her unhappy.

Suddenly, he stopped and looked to the side. "There."

Upon its creation, the Heartless was supposed to come to him. He knew that, but he hadn't exactly expected it to take on a different form/

It was a strange looking thing, all black save for a white mask-looking thing over its head. Four golden eyes watched him from holes in the mask, and on its face was a permanent, fanged grin. It opened said mouth and cried out, the sound a lot like metal scraping against metal.

Well, it made sense. It had been infected with his darkness, after all.

"More of these...those'd be useful."He turned to Nadia. "The Princesses are both gone. If you would help me...I need more people to be injured, to make more of these Heartless."

What would he name them? They certainly had spidery characteristics, so he'd go for Aranea. Latin was always a good choice.

"A world at your fingertips, Nadia. I doubt there are many warriors here...but do as you will."

[New Heartless created: Aranea][/size]

[Aerith]

Time to play.
--------

As Nadia examined this new Heartless, another flash of jealousy arose within her. Jericho could do so much more than she could, so much more that would constantly bring him that joy she had so briefly shared with him. She craved it like her lungs craved oxygen.

Ah. He wanted her to help. At least that was something. She couldn't kill directly, but she could have a hand in the corruption of a lot of people here tonight.

An entire world... And Aerith is gone.

Something stirred inside her heart--a lioness lifting her head at the prospect of blood.

Her eyes were drawn deeper into the town where far more people milled about shops and houses. There was a surprising amount of activity. Perfect.

"I'll be back. Or you could come find me. Shouldn't be too hard to do."

She smiled at him, then slipped away, winding through the streets as inconspicuously as possible. There were so many possibilities, but she finally settled on a shop. Pungent smells wafted from it, artificial copies of flowers, trees, and other natural scents. Perfume.

Staying hidden in an alley behind the shop, Nadia summoned Asherah and set fire to a pile of discarded bottles tucked next to a side entrance. The resulting explosion was brilliant and hungrily engulfed a huge portion of the building, as well as a few passersby.

A dazed man happened to stumble into the back alley. He was choking on the smoke filling his lungs and almost didn't see Nadia until he had bumped into her.

She greeted him with a discreet knife to the chest, and he dropped. Just one. She just needed one. There were plenty of other not-quite-dead people left for Jericho.

Suppressing the urge despite the easy targets running around in a panic, she waited as patiently as possible.

[Summary:
Nadia used Agilao.
Posts until next use: 3
Uses remaining: 2]

[Slash]

Do you just want to watch the world burn?

[/center]

It didn't take long for him to figure out what Nadia was doing. The explosion was a dead giveaway. Nice. Creative.

Panicked people were running like crazy. Now it was Jericho's turn to get as many as possible. Keeping out of sight, he summoned a good deal of Heartless to corral the people near the fire.

Screams rose into the air, followed by the lower moaning of the burned and the hurt. The Heartless were dismissed.

Jericho found Nadia. "That was good, Nadia. Wonderful. This is enough from this world. I will do what I can with these. You can do what you want now."

She'd know what he meant by that. She didn't have to leave any more alive for him.

He left her and began walking around, gaining consent without actually performing the cure yet. He wanted to hit them all in quick succession after getting all the acceptions or refusals, and just for fun the new Heartless could tear up those who refused.

Fun.

[Aerith]

Why, yes. Yes, I do.
--------

Turned out that Nadia needed more than just one. Good thing Jericho had plenty to work with, leaving her free to satisfy the need to kill. Perhaps a few more.

While Jericho moved among the wounded like a plague in the clothes of a benevolent savior, Nadia found those people still able to walk and relished taking that capacity away from them. Men, women, old, young--she didn't discriminate. Except for children. For some reason, she was still very reluctant to touch them herself. Maybe it was the faint hope that they might grow up to be exceptions to the rule. There was always a chance that one of them might turn into another Aerith.

Everyone else, though, was beyond redemption. Everyone else deserved only death.

She reached a point where she knew she needed to stop, and it took every fiber of her being to restrain herself long enough to break the swell of her hatred. She breathed deeply, heedless of the air heavy with smoke. Most of the people had scattered by now, anyway.

She moved back over to Jericho. Considerably more fascinated than before, she watched him work.

[Slash]

Oh, you're back. Watch this.

Jericho had nearly finished, and when Nadia came to find him he was talking to the last batch of people. Backing up, he looked at Nadia and smiled.

"Watch this."

The darkness did not rise from him, but permeated the ground. Wave after wave entered him and then left, and all of a sudden there was a great cloud of it around everyone, a cloying mist that surrounded everyone all at once.

Jericho could not help but laugh. What a beautiful spectacle. Here was the corrupting, destructive power that darkness had over hearts, displayed on an absolutely massive scale. The air was rife with the sound of chaotic despair- screams on top of yells on top of curses and all of it made him so very happy.

Unfortunately, it ended as soon as it began, but there were still the stragglers left, the ones who refused. They provided further amusement. Some had died of shock, others were panicking, and some had simply gone insane. All wonderful.

However, it was time to leave. The mass amounts of Heartless that would appear would deal with these stragglers. Jericho had other things to do.

He opened a Corridor and looked at Nadia. "We're done here. Let's go."