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Shattered Soul (kuro_bara x Alenaeon)

Remwald blushed, he had expected something like a kiss, but this was quite pleasant. He now felt obligated to reveal even more and try to go into more details. "Ahem, hm. Uhm. Right. Well I learned my necromancy, and managed to steal a set of shining blue daggers although I didn't learn their true value until much later. I made a few friends, and continued trying to work up to becoming the head of intelligence for the association. Well, one of my first friends turned out to be my father. And an evil psychopath intend on killing everything. The only problem was that he was not very good at it. He got caught, and I was forced to hunt down the rest of my apparent family. Well they were the voices family, but I Considered them mine. I'm not sure when I learned it but I was the voices Shadow Soul, the ritual that made him a lich had been corrupted to summon me to attempt to overtake him. So we constantly fought for control of the body."

He stopped and kissed her lips then resumed his story. "I grew fond of his home state and adopted that as my own. I slowly met more and more of his, and well, as I consider them, my children and grandchildren. It turned out that he had a lot of lovers and they had a lot of children. I didn't get along with all of them but I tried. Still, one of my times in Noxus lead to me meeting a beautiful vampire. Our first well, encounter was us attempting to torture each other. She grew attached to me, I initially did not return the feelings. She stalked me, quite literally, for well, a few weeks and she started to grow on me. A few months after our initial meeting, she grew upon me and we married." He smirked. "Hm, I should make you earn more."
 
Beth continued her gentle kisses as he spoke though she couldn't prevent the stab of jealousy as he described his marriage to a beautiful vampire. There was no way he could not have felt that particular spike in emotion. When he smirked at her she sat back with an innocent look. "Oh, and how would you make me earn more." She teased moving as if to leave his lap. It was a petty little return for the story about who she hoped was his ex wife otherwise things would get quite awkward.
 
Remwald hugged her close to his body. "Oh, right. Sorry. Well, I am presently unmarried, I'll skip to her death. She was, well, she was out doing something. Traveling I believe when The Grey Knight came upon her. He killed her, and used her body to taunt me. When we faced each other after that, he used her head as a grenade. Hm, right. Well I expelled the soul of the voice that was in my head out of my phylactery into the phylactery of a draco lich. We killed that, me and her and I had forged for her a beautiful ring that well, is now gone. She is dead, and while I loved her, she is out of my life and I have long moved on. I established a spy network and started to move up in the Preservers, my combat skills improving as well. I was, a bit, emotionally and mentally unstable back then. I happened to burn down an orphanage, on accident, I think, at one point. I eventually became the head of intelligence, but fearing that they were planning to destroy me, attempting to bring down the Preservers. Well, that failed and I rejoined them, never quite regaining my place. We fought the void mercilessly, I met another woman who seduced me and won my heart, only for it to turn out to be a ploy to use me. I met a woman named Alice in the Shadow Isles, she was... special to me, but as with all of those in my past, I have long moved on. I traveled the planes for many years, meeting many different people. There were loves come and gone, but I am tired. You will have to get the individual stories out of me later. For now, you have all that I will reveal for tonight."
 
The emotions that Rem was feeling doused her flirtatious attitude. She felt bad for making him talk so much of his past but now she knew so much more about him. Her jealousy evaporated along with her flirting and only an desire to comfort him remained. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. It wasn't a sexual gesture but one to let him know that she was here for him now. After a moment she sat back and looked at him quietly. "I am sorry...I did not mean to make you sad." She murmured brushing a strand of long hair away from his face. "And I am sorry if you felt...my jealously...I cannot help it. Where you have had many experiences in love..." She glanced away. "I have had none, you are the first." She whispered.
 
He hugged back, holding her body close to his. It was pleasant, and he intended to make it count. He gave her a very passionate kiss on the lips, his hands slowly massaging his fingers into her back. When he finally pulled away he whispered in her ear. "And hopefully the only one, and I intend to make our time together the best time of your life."

He sat up, with a hand on her rear, only to hold her up but he moved to the bedroom with her in his arms. He laid her down on the bed and sat next to her. "And you don't need to worry, I am here to comfort you when you need it, just as you are here to comfort me. Lets just enjoy the time we have together instead of worrying about the past."
 
His passionate kiss left her a little breathless and she gaped at him in shock. Beth let out a small but delighted laugh of surprise when Rem picked her up, though her she grew a little nervous when he carried her to the bedroom. She laid back on the bed and smiled up at him. "I am glad that I stole a piece of your soul." She teased with a coy smile. "And you are right...I want to enjoy my time with you." She pulled him down towards her and pressed her lips against his. "Very much." She whispered, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
 
Remwald kissed back as he was pulled down towards her. She had his attention before, but now he was completely and utterly interested. This wasn't the Elizabeth he knew, but he figured she was opening up to him. He kissed her again, although this time he tried to slip his tongue into the kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him again as he was now laying down. He whispered back "Oh, is that so? Well, I am curious as to what you mean." He blew a kiss at her from that position and pulled his head away slowly.
 
Everytime Rem's desire went up another notch hers inevitably went up as well. Even she knew she had taken this past the point of affectionate gestures to something else but she just couldn't seem to make herself be the first to stop. When his tongue teased her lips, they parted willing and she put more pressure into the kiss. As he pulled away it felt like her lips were burning and she felt breathless, he laid down beside her and pulled her close blowing a teasing kiss at her. She gazed at him finally beginning to feel her usual shyness creep in. Kisses and hugs were all well and nice but she could feel a part of her beginning to panic at what came after. Still she enjoyed the closeness they were sharing and didn't want it to end quite yet. With an impish smile she shrugged. "Take what you will from it, I want to enjoy everything I do with you." Her expression was surprisingly serious. "I want to be an important part of your life."
 
Remwald kissed her nose again. "You ARE an important part of my life, and the thing you fear can wait." He held her close to him, his hands massaging her back. He nuzzled her nose with his. "And you will be the one who makes the first move, for it is you who I shall trust to move at your own pace. I can wait, I have waited hundreds of years for someone like you to come across, a few more won't hurt if needed."
 
Beth giggled when he kissed her nose but the words that followed left her rather speechless. After learning some of his story she was astounded to hear him say that he had been waiting for someone like her. Beth wasn't very aware of how little she valued herself, which may explain her reckless experiments. She didn't seem to have any self worth other then pride in her intelligence. She curled up against him and laid there in companionable silence simply enjoying his company. It made her considerably more relaxed knowing he was in no hurry. So relaxed in fact that the last couple days of traumatic events finally caught up with her. She drifted off to sleep in his arms with a smile on her face though her dreams were peculiar. She dreamed of the shadow plane...and of her shadow though she couldn't remember anything the being said or even if it did.
 
Remwald had woken up in the morning before her. He expected that given that he didn't actually sleep. Merely close his eyes and meditate. He was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her by the time she got up, today it was pancakes with a bit of fruit. He had cooked a few and set them down on a plate in the middle of the table, with plates set up for him and her. He didn't know what she liked in the morning, so he figured he should ask when she came out.

He remembered last night being quite pleasant, he didn't mind it at all and she was still wonderful to his mind. She was a bit awkward at times and definitely submissive, but he would live with that and he knew, in time, come to appreciate those parts of her.
 
Elizabeth shuffled out of the room yawning, her hair sticking up at weird angles. It should be apparent at this point that Beth was not a morning person. She despised waking up but the smell of the pancakes had pulled her out of the dead sleep she was in and lured her out. She dropped into a chair at the table. She looked up and give him a sleepy smile before diving into the food with a vengeance. "I'm going to get fat if you keep cooking for me." She exclaimed though she didn't look terribly upset by the prospect if it meant more of his cooking. "Did you want to go to that grave yard today or go looking for the Dirigible headquarters?" She asked between mouthfuls.

Last night had been an eye opening and enjoyable experience for Beth. Thinking about it made her blush and she tried to hide her face by staring at the top of the table and letting her hair cover it. She didn't know how she had been so lucky to meet someone like Remwald but fate or some god must have orchestrated it. With a pang she realized technically someone had done just that...
 
While the only god that she knew would have loved to take credit for them meeting, he couldn't much to his disappointment.

Remwald nodded and finished up with the pancakes, bringing the fruit over. He moved the chair and sat next to her. "Oh, is something wrong? I hope I'm not embarrassing you, and we should go to the graveyard so you can learn a bit, and I can start work on my army. No point in assaulting their headquarters with a two many army." He eats his food and takes her hand in his, enjoying their new closeness.
 
She shook her head when he asked if anything was wrong quickly finishing her breakfast. "I will go get changed." She quipped darting out of the kitchen after pausing to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. After throwing on some clean clothing and pulling her hair back she met him back out in the living room. "Come on." She murmured grabbing his hand.

She took him on a winding hike through the city until the reached an area that looked abandoned. Old factories were crumbling to dust and the surrounding buildings looked to have been scorched by some sort of fire or explosion. The damage was quite extensive and covered what would be several city blocks. The ground was covered in a thick layer of dust and ash and the trees were all dead. Little bits of peoples lives were strewn about the area. A teddy bear here, a cracked picture frame there, a plate, a cup, bits of steam machinery that had been abandoned. Beth grew very quiet as they walked through the area.

Her family had lived her once a long time ago. When the factory exploded it had destroyed this section of the city contaminating it and making it unfit to inhabit. Though it long since could have been cleaned up and used no one in the city was willing to take on the task. Her parents were buried in the grave yard she was taking him to though she hadn't mentioned it to him. The graveyard was a sprawling open area of grass that may have once been a park. The stones like she had said were half gone or missing because many never received a stone. Some were just little blocks of stone that a family member had painted or carved with the name of their loved one. She had no idea where her parents were buried only that they were there with so many others from the tragedy over 18 years ago.
 
Remwald nodded. He felt the connection to death around in this area. Yes, this, this would work. He sat down in about the middle of where he thought one of the mass graves was. He frowned. He'd have to start off slow. "First, you must pull out a feeling of essence. You must pull the connection to mana out through your body. Focus on it within your hands at first. Then you must shape it with your mind into the way you want it." He started pouring his mana into the ground. It would be a bit slow, he wanted to use blood but that was much more dangerous and risky, especially for a novice. "In this case, you focus on pulling out the death of them and replacing it with a hollowness."

A few minutes passed, then more minutes. He was working in almost complete silence from himself. Then the first hand rose up out of the ground, it was decayed, with few remnants of skin left leaving mostly dirty bones pushing out. More and more joined them, and soon they were surrounded by skeletons, none quite as pretty as Remwald, all of them certainly not intelligent. He looked to her as he was exhausted. "Do you understand any of that?"
 
Beth sat across from him and did what he said. Her mind faltered when he used his terminology so she began to image it in terms she understood. Essence, mana they were just different forms of energy that could be manipulated. Picturing herself her gripping a wriggling bolt of energy that she could alter how she needed. The next part was a little more difficult for her. She made her mind differentiate between the different energies flowing around her. Death, it seemed was a nearly black misty looking energy at least to her. She did as instructed pulling out the death energy and replacing it with nothingness.

They were both quiet for some time until the skeletons began to push through the surface of the park. When she opened her eyes she found the skeletons did not scare her at all as they would have in the past. She made sure to avoid looking at them too closely in case there was anything recognizable about them. When her eyes settled on Remwald across from her she smiled, never realizing her once bright blue eyes had darkened to a striking shade of purple. Not knowing what to do with the death energy she had pulled out she was still holding onto it. "I think I do so far."
 
Remwald smiled, she had beautiful eyes, but he didn't want to mention that. "Yes, well. You can use the motions and chants to help focus the energy more efficiently. It's why we do it, so that way we burn out less quickly. Being necromancers though, we can pull energy out of life. Blood is often the most powerful source, for it directly reflects physical life force. I am going to cut myself, you are going to try and use my blood to pull the energy from it and use it by yourself." He cuts his wrist with his finger, letting it pour down between them. His eyes focused on her as he watched, she clearly was able to learn this, meaning that this plane had a connection to mana. He wanted to kiss her for being such a good apprentice, but that would have to wait. No need to have her accidentally bolt herself with negative energy.

"It's easier operating in this place because of it's connection with the dead, so raising the undead is innately easier. That is often why human sacrifices are occasionally used by more evil necromancers, especially those of newborns since their energy is the strongest. We will just operate in blood at the most. Remember, the blood cost can be lethal. So I want you to learn how to heal well, me. And this will only work for me or undeads. Push that energy you are using into my body. If you wish to heal someone who is alive, you must pull the negative energy out of a living body and push it somewhere."
 
Learning was a very strong skill of Beth's so she focused intently on his instructions. She winced a little when he cut himself, she would have offered but she knew he would not allow that. After he explained about the sacrifices and pushing the energy into him to heal him she began the process. It was much harder to push the energy then to pull it but eventually she got the trick of feeding into his own essence, she of course didn't understand how much energy she had actually gathered. Mid way through the process something he had said triggered a surge of memories and thoughts pertaining to Dirigible and the Ghost Stones. "What did you just say about newborns." She asked staring at him wide eyed. Her loss in concentration resulted in the essence leeching back into the ground and the some of the skeletons around them toppled. Her mind was whirring at top speed fitting pieces together.
 
He stopped her, and took over, using his own blood to fuel the process as he talked. "An infant, when just born, is about as strong as one can hope for power for necromancy. They have just been born, meaning they are full of unused life, yet once killed they have the power of a fresh death. If you want a quick and powerful ritual, you would use them as large battery sources." He closed his eyes as he talked, focusing on bringing out simple undead. They were quick, easy and replaceable.

When he thought he had finished, he had about thirty or so skeletons. That would have to do for the moment. He stood up, offering his hand to her. "Lets go, we need to find a place to store these for the moment. I am a soul mage... but that requires a comprehension of how mana is intrinsically linked with ones essence. So I cannot teach you my secrets, yet. Oh, and you have beautiful purple eyes."
 
Newborns. Something about it made her hackles rise. If newborns had the most energy, presumably children had a significant amount of energy. Children had been involved in the very first disaster they linked to Dirigible. His hand startled her out of her thoughts which she currently kept to herself. When he commented on her eyes she blinked and stared at him. "What are you talking about?" She frowned and tilted her head quizzically to the side. "My eyes are blue." She explained, not understanding why he would make a comment like that. At least she wondered until she caught her reflection in something. "REM! My eyes are purple!" She cried spinning to face him as they walked with the shambling army of skeletons.
 
Remwald nodded and sighed. "Yes, that is indeed what I said. Probably some sort of connection to the mana within yourself being utilized for once." He kissed her on the lips to silence her for a moment. "And if I may add, they compliment you quite well. You look extraordinary, now lets leave them in a local factory. No one should question it, in theory." He gave them their instructions, mentally enforcing order over them.

He wandered throughout the city for her, he thought he had noticed a few people tailing them, but never quite confirmed it. He went down a few side streets, and finally ended up going down an alley that lead to a dead end, intentionally. He pressed her against a wall, kissing her and hugging her tightly. He slipped her his tongue as he did, closing his eyes to distract himself. He was trying to bait out anyone who might even think of attacking them by legitimately distracting him and her.
 
Beth blushed at his compliment regarding her eyes, she supposed if he liked them the change wasn't so bad. After leaving the little army in one of the crumbling factories in the broken part of London Remwald proceeded to lead her on a seemingly random path through the city. She remained silent though, his emotions were calculating and thoughtful. Assuming he had his reasons for this rambling journey she kept quiet. It gave her time to sort out her own thoughts regarding the Ghost Stone. She had a disturbing feeling that she had missed something of importance and hearing him talk about newborns as sacrifice had jogged something loose.

He took her by surprise when he pressed her against the wall with his arms tightly wrapped around her and her train of thought was immediately derailed by the feel of his tongue teasing hers. While a little shocked by the suddenness of it, she wasn't about to complain about any attentions he felt like giving. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly returning his kiss deeply. It wasn't until a group of men stepped into the mouth of the dead end alley that she realized what his plan had been. Feeling a little foolish for not picking up on it she remained where she was, pressed against his body until he otherwise indicated she should do something else.
 
It wasn't to say that Remwald hadn't enjoyed this tender moment with her or that he didn't want the opportunity to do it again. He kept doing it for a few moments after the men revealed themselves, preferring her over the thrill of combat at the moment but he pulled away, pulling out his white voidclaw from the sheath. He headed for the men while yelling "Release the energy of death towards them!"

Remwald wasn't using his other blade because he wanted a challenge out of these people. He figured that he was hands down the best swordsman on the plane at the moment so his arrogance demanded that he toy with his new prey. He swung at one of them, while another went for his torso and missed because there was no flesh for the blade to catch on. Another hit him on the shoulder, cracking it by a surprising amount. Remwald yelled out in pain in response.
 
Beth pulled the energy in like she had learned earlier but with the distractions of the fight she was having trouble maintaining her hold on it. After several fumbled attempts at keeping it in her grasp she grew frustrated and thrust it out in front of her like a spear of dark energy. It crackled harmlessly through Remwald but acted like an arc of electricity. Needing a place to arc to, it zapped into one of the men killing him on the spot. It was very rough manipulation but it got the job done. Using the remains of what she held she pictured in her mind threading it to Rem to heal his cracked shoulder and giving him the energy he needed to finish the fight.

She hadn't realized how exhausting handling mana could be, after she let her hold on it go she felt a noticeable dip in her own energy levels. Beth made sure to stay out of the way of the fighting and behind something so that they didn't have a repeat of the last ambush. When one man got too close she picked up a stray brick and brained him with it as hard as she could.
 
Remwald winced as he realized what was going on. They were equipped with some form of anti-undead weaponry, he would need to actually be careful as a single blow would be magnified and actually harm him. He dodged, ducked and weaved with the grace of a fighter who had many years of practice. Man after man was impaled or wounded enough that they could not fight. It didn't take long before all of them were deceased, evidently fearing death at his hands then what would happen if they retreated.

He went through the battlefield, and slit the throats of the still living, granting them a merciful death. One had his head bashed and bruised from a brick, poor man. Poor, poor man. He made sure to make his death quick before he went over and kissed Elizabeth again. "Apparently she wants to remind us that she is here. Her attempts are far more blatant."

He headed out of the alley, heading back into the direction of the stated headquarters. He knew that it would probably only be a small lead, but it was a lead nevertheless. He watched behind them, a bit wary of Elizabeth getting harmed again as he proceeded throughout the city.
 
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