Inflexible Ideals

Coming to a halt, the platform lands, allowing everyone upon it to walk off onto the peak of the mountain. Chu-ya, being the first to take the steps onto the rocky surface, Luck following, yet stops to wait for Karma and the others to get off.

Chu-ya takes but a moment to stop, waiting for the others to follow her, but once she does this, she feels two nearby energies, respectively, both at her domicile. And with speed unlike that of an elderly woman, she takes off, bursting with instantaneous speed toward her abode. Leaving everyone else behind.

Luck's eyes widen in awe-striken magnificence. "She is fast." He cleanly states, keeping what he said simple, he looks to Karma and Thirteen.

Karma had already taken off after the old woman. "WAIT!" cried Hecate, who was nowhere near as capricious.

Stopping at her home, Chu-ya takes notice that it has been burnt to the ground, flames still licking the woods at they intake gulps of air like savage creatures to a lone animal. Chu-ya stares at the destroyed domicile, feeling depressed at this sudden turn of events.

Karma glared. Her hands clenched into angry fists.

Luck floats up, "Wow, how unfortunate." He merely states, though with sincerity.

"My home." Chu-ya barely speaks above a whisper. "...It's gone.."

The remains slowly scatter into the wind, like dust scattering itself across a room, particles take flight, to never return.

"Oh my-" Hecate says, dumbstruck.

"Someone is going to pay." Karma growled.

The elderly woman approaches the ruined abode, poking her stick with whatever she could find that would be able to be salvaged.

The results: None

Not one single thing survived, everything was incinerated to a smoldering, soot black, crumbled remains, at most, only the garden was unaffected, though that proved only how merciful the culprit could be, though that was hardly anything.

Luck floats over, "I can try to see if I could form a projection of what occured here before we even came from Time's Tower." He mentions, to which Chu-ya merely nods in appreciation.

Luck gathers energy from the nearby smoldering ruins, and with his power, Luck froms a projection of what occuered.

Two figures stood at the front door of the building, both apparently wearing pitch-black robes, missing hoods, showing their faces completely. One appeared to be quite young, yet had hair compared to that of an elderly man, eyes gleaming pure gold, the other looked older, yet had hair that could compare to the robe's color, eyes a menacing purple.

The younger one looked at the older one, "This is the place, right?" He asked, receiving a grunt of approval from the older one, to which he asked another question, "So we kidnap the old woman, that's what the pink one said." Once again, another grunt of approval.

Breaking down the door, the silver-haired man walked in, and quickly busted the place up, finding no trace of Chu-ya, to the annoyance, "She isn't here, where would the old witch be?" To which he got no answer, the older one simply extended his hands, shooting fire big enough to be a mini star into the house, setting it aflame.

After doing their duty, the duo left the place to burn. The projection then vanished.

Chu-ya stares absentmindedly at where the projection was.

"I have a feeling that they'll be looking for us," Hecate said.

"We'll be ready for them." Karma fumed.

"But where would they go?" Luck asked, "Even though they are searching for us, would they come back, knowing that they destroyed this place?"

"They will come back." Chu-ya states, "I recognize those two."

"Who are they?" Hecate asked.

"Former students of mine, though they could not master the powers of Balance." Chu-ya states, "They are both very powerful with the very abilities they were born with. Zaiynde, the younger one, and Kadan, the older one. They together are known on our planet of Thyria, as Strazio, they are wanted, but elude everyone. I suppose it was my fault that they left to their own devices. both have caused massive destruction, their purpose is still unknown."

"If they never mastered the Balance, then they'll be no match for us." Karma said.

"Yeah? Even after your little... episode?" Hecate remarked.

"Shut it, fairy." Karma fumed.

Chu-ya turns to looks at Karma, "They are more powerful than you think. They may have never mastered Balance, but their powers from when they were younger are just as deadly."

Just as she finished her sentence, thousands of swords came flying down from the sky. Chu-ya used Order to make the attack suddenly stop, and fall harmlessly to the ground.

"Well well. You still have some power." Zaiynde's voice spoke out, as he walked toward the group, Kadan behind him. "But it won't be enough."

"That's why I'm here, bastards!" Karma challenged.

"Oh, looks Kadan, we've got a foul-mouthed bitch on our hands." Zaiynde laughed, Kadan stared at Karma, hardened eyes piercing through her, before he grunted as if he didn't care.

"You watch your mouths you lousy, good-for-nothing, conceited little assholes!" Hecate raged. "Once I'm through with you, you'll be begging to die, you evil shitwads! Why, I'll tear out your intestines and tie them around your throats! I'll rip out your spines and bash your skulls in! I'll-"

Karma and the others merely stood there and listened as an angry Hecate ranted about the horrid things she would do to Zaiynde and Kadan in great detail- none of which were remotely pleasant.

Luck slightly backs away from Hecate.

Zaiynde stared at Hecate, "Believe me. I would love it if you could do that to me, little flying bug," Zaiynde states, slowly writing some words in the ground, "But that's not going to happen. Kadan, you stay to the side, I'll kill all save for the old woman. You can have them after."

Kadan grunted and walked off far to the side.

"Now flying bitch bug, and the man-girl. You're first to die."

"Man-girl? MAN-GIRL?!" Karma raged.

"Oh shi-" Hecate managed to say, before being interrupted by Karma.

"DIE!"

Tapping into her powers of Chaos, Karma willed the earth to rise and batter Zaiynde. What she didn't expect was the sudden ease of doing it- it had never been this easy before.

Thirteen stepped forward as if to help, but was blocked by Hecate fluttering in his face.

"I wouldn't interupt," Hecate said worriedly. "Especially when Karma get's like... that."

The symbols Zaiynde drew onto the ground rise up when the ground beneath his feet is affected, he jumps out of the way beforehand. Due to the symbols, they explode, destroying a great portion of the ground and the nearby scenery, barely getting near Karma.

Zaiynde draws more strange symbols into the ground, and then moves a finger around in the air. "Is someone a little mad? Do you need to cry home to daddy? Or will your bitch of a mother come and comfort you? How about some cookies, made especially by your six-foot under grandmother?"

"You've got a smart-mouth for someone out of his league!" Karma exclaimed, continuing to tear up the ground and hurl the debris at Zaiynde.

Continually jumping back, the symbols appear and blow up whatever debris comes toward Zaiynde, he laughs as one symbol appears right in front of Karma, and explodes into massive energy, threatening to kill her and everyone else within her group.

Almost immediately however, with surprisingly little effort, Karma calls upon the power of Order to restrain the power of the symbol to a smaller radius; leaving her to be the only one left in the blast radius.

"Karma!" Thirteen and Hecate cried out.

More symbols continually form, some actually right near Hecate, Thirteen, Luck, and Chu-ya, who attmepts to stop them from making a large explosion with Order as well.

"Die, bitches, die!" Zaiynde yells as he makes more of the symbols.

"ENOUGH!" Karma cries, mounting a powerful psychic assault on Zaiynde's mind, that strikes like a number of daggers. "Order to calm the body... Chaos to empower the mind..."

When the psychic assault hit, Karma felt dark energies penetrate her mind, both of two go through whatever attack was on their minds.

''"Oh, no you don't!" ''Karma thought angrily, pressing the full force of her willpower against Zaiynde's mind like a wall of pure force.

Two cyan eyes materialize inside Karma's mind, time seems to slow down within the real world, as Zaiynde slowly falls backward from Karma's psychic attack, only to sit back up, slightly annoyed.

The cyan eyes, using their power knock Karma's willpower down slightly, and slowly.

Karma, shocked, immediately retracts her focus back within her own mind, creating a mental shield.

"How do you feel?" The cyan eyes questions, "Doez thiz hurt you?" It laughs, as the mental shield slowly withers, from the immense strength the eyes contain.

"You bastard!" Karma cries out. She falls to her knees.

"Karma!" Thirteen calls, running over to assist her.

The eyes themselves burst through her inner psyche, "I'll cook your mind, juzt like your pitiable mother." The voice of the eyes states, before powering itself to devolve Karma's energy and power, blasting randomly at anything, and as suddenly as the eyes came, they vanish.

Time appears to go back to normal.

And Zaiynde appears to be somewhat fine after the mental strike. Kadan standing far to the side, his gaze as hard as ever.

Karma's vision goes blurry; her eyes shut and she collapses, sinking into the dark depths of oblivion...

"Karma! What the hell?! KARMA!" Hecate yelled.

Thirteen suddenly find himself thrown through the air by an insanely powerful punch. He twists through the air and lands on his feet a distance back.

"The hell?!" he muttered.

"Karma! GET UP!" Hecate roared, fluttering around the unconscious girl's head.

Hecate gets slapped away by enough power to move a mountain, who slams into Chu-ya and Luck.

Kadan, the one behind the quick attacks, appears to be standing where he was originally, holding Karma by her head.

"Let her go!" Thirteen roared, activating a rune circle on his right gauntlet, and sending a powerful ball of air rocketing toward Kadan.

The ball of air appears to slam into Kadan, but when the dust and smoke clears, he appears to be standing directly next to the crash site.

Zaiynde appears next to Kadan, "You asshole!" He yells, "I was going to take care of them!"

Kadan grunts.

Thirteen hurls several more balls of winds toward Zaiynde and Kadan.

Turning to Zaiynde, Kadan stares at him and nods, they both suddenly vanish into nothing, as if they teleported, but what truly occured, was raw speed.

Chu-ya gets up, looking around she asks, "Where's Karma?"

"They took her!" Hecate cries.

Thirteen falls to his knees. "DAMMIT!" he roars, pounding a fist into the ground, creating a small crater.

Confusion
Karma hits the hard floor with a 'thump' as Zaiynde, who took Karma off Kadan's hands, drops her like a sack of potatoes. Zaiynde smirks, "Looks like you just got caught, my little whore."

Kadan grunts as he walks off to make himself something to eat.

Karma, who would've normally responded to such an insult quite violently, was still unconscious.

Zaiynde laughs slight, as he smacks Karma a few times, hoping she'd wake. "Wake up, bitch!"

Kadan walks in, eating a sandwich, and shakes his head as he chews on it, he leaves the room once more, only to return with a cup of water, and hands it to Zaiynde, who pours it all over Karma.

"...gggAAAAHH!" Karma gasps as she snaps awake. It only takes her a moment to register her surroundings. "Get offa me, creep!" she yells, shoving Zaiynde off of her and hurling a ball of Chaos energy at him for good measure.

Zaiynde gets knocked back, slamming into the wall, he smirks, "You've got fight in ya, I like that." He stands up.

Kadan, who stares at Karma, seems to be unaffected by Zaiynde getting knocked far back, continues to eat his sandwich.

Black, crackling energy forms in Karma's hands. "What do you want with me?" she growls.

Kadan grunts as he walks off back to the kitchen.

Though Zaiynde smirks, "I want you. Just you. With me." His voice holding a morbid tone to it, though for someone like this, love could make it the appropriate term.

Karma was taken aback. "What?!"

Making an approach toward Karma, Zaiynde smirks, "You know exactly what I'm talking about." His eyebrows making strange erratic movements, he licks his lips, "I want you......."

At this exact moment, Kadan walks back in.

"Dammit, Kadan you asshole!" He yells, "Get outta here you old bastard!"

Kadan stands there, obviously ignoring said comment.

Karma frowned. "Not interested." She threw another orb of Chaos energy at Zaiynde.

The orb was suddenly stopped by a hand, of which was holding the Chaos orb, which was smashed. Kadan was standing in front of Zaiynde. He speaks for the first time to Karma, "I don't want another hole within our home. It could just cave in on us."

He then walks off once more, to the kitchen, whilst Zaiynde looks to Kadan's exit. "What's that old bastard up to?" He mentions to himself, before once again turning to Karma, "Now, like I said earlier, I want you." He licks his lips once more, combing a hand through his hair as he approaches her, "And I always get what I want."

"Sorry to disappoint and all, but not this time!" Karma said, trying to keep her wits about her. She ducked beneath him, rolling across the floor, and kicked out at Zaiynde, trying to throw him off his balance.

Zaiynde jumps out of the way, and knocks one of the nearby boxes into Karma's direction, "I'm not disappointed," He states, "Not to sound like ever other man, heh, but I love fiesty women." Zaiynde smirks, as he makes a small symbol and has it float in the air. "It will not explode, so Kadan doesn't have a hissy fit."

Karma leaps back toward the other side of the room, keeping her falcon-like gaze on Zaiynde and his symbol.

Zaiynde puts a symbol over his own skin, and in second he seems to become invisible. The only thing seen by Karma is the floating symbol that's stationary where it floats, suddenly, it vanishes.

Karma narrows her eyes and begins to search over the area with her mind, trying to discern Zaiynde's location.

Karma finds herself suddenly pinned to the wall, and Zaiynde appears, "Got ya." He practically purrs.

Karma responds by kicking upward at Zaiynde.

"Woah!" He practically yells, before jumping high out of the way, he lands down, a few feet away. " Kitty has got some claws, mrow." He smirks, "Of course, I could just skip straight to the fun, ya know."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Karma asked incredulously.

"I'm not sure." Zaiynde answers, before suddenly pinning Karma to the wall, stepping on her feet so she doesn't kick, and holding her hands against the wall. "You just, turn me.....On...." He pervertedly states.

"Well, turn off then or I'll break you in half," Karma says threateningly.

"Believe me, that's what'd I'd like." He retorts, a few seconds later, Kadan comes walking in, wearing some sort of cooking robe, "Dinner is done." He merely states, hardened gaze sat upon Zaiynde.

Zaiynde lets go of Karma, to go eat, whilst Kadan just stares at Karma.

"You know what? Screw it all, I'm leaving." Karma said. "Where's the exit?"

"The exit." Kadan states, "Is somewhere." Kadan turns around, "You are welcome to dine. I've made enough." He walks back off into the kitchen.

Karma stares after Kadan. ''"What is it with him?" ''she thought to herself.

Silence stays within the abode, until a loud boistrous "Bastard!" is heard, and the house shakes for a few second, throwing things off balance.

Apparently, Zaiynde had set too much pepper onto his soup, glass is heard breaking a few seconds after.

Maintaining a scowl on her face, Karma takes a bowl of soup and sits as far away as possible from Zaiynde.

Zaiynde smirks, "You'll want me sooner or later."

Kadan grunts.

Zaiynde looks offended, "What?! I can do whatever I want at the table, you jackass."

Kadan grunts once more, shutting Zaiynde's mouth.

Karma stares at her bowl suspiciously. Experience told her never to take anything from an enemy. She sniffed the soup, as if trying to see if it were poisoned.

"It is not dangerous." Kadan states, "If I wanted to poison you, there would be no point."

"Yeah, ya normally kill them with your own hands when forced." Zaiynde finishes.

Karma stares at Kadan, as if trying to look into his mind. Sighing, she lifts her spoon, dips it into the soup, and drinks. The taste was surprisingly delicious- spiced to near-perfection and creamy enough to slide pleasantly down the throat. Karma took another spoonful.

Zaiynde practically drinks the whole broth down within seconds, as always, finishing whatever Kadan makes in seconds. "Hey, Kadan. Thanks."

Kadan nods.

Zaiynde looks to Karma, "I'll see you later." He says before leaving.

Karma finishes the rest of her soup in silence.

Kadan moves off and takes her bowl and whatever was left of Zaiynde's, as well as his own to clean, only taking a few moments to do so before walking out of the kitchen, to go to his own devices.

Karma made a motion as if she had half a thought to thank Kadan, but she hesitated. "He's my enemy, in the end," she thought to herself. So she opted to sit still and hang her head. Her nerves were tense.

It was until hours later that Zaiynde came back into the picture, completely dazed and drunk to the core. "Wher's teh bioth?" He barely said above a yell.

Karma simply remained in place, trying to avoid Zaiynde's attention.

"Not this again." Was the response, coming from Kadan. "Where did you go this time?" He asked as he approached Zaiynde.

"Teh tave'n." Was the drunken reply.

"Then go to bed, you should not worry over anything as of now." Kadan added, while pushing Zaiynde into his own room, and shutting the door. Kadan then walked to where Karma was. "Sorry, you must be annoyed by his behavior."

"You confuse me. I'm your enemy," Karma said in curt reply. "Why do you suddenly care for my well-being?"

"Perhaps you do not have to be rude to an enemy." Was the reply. "I can have a heart of stone, I can shed my being, and become a living, killing machine. But I choose not to. I'm not evil, I'm not good. Those are just basic terms between what everyone decides to live with. Good and bad, suffice to say, even that is not correct. There are other ways to label others. If you prefer, I can be "mean", but I find it more useful to be hospitable to a guest."

"Oh," Karma said. "That's... strange."

Kadan looks at Karma with a bemused expression. "Any more questions?"

"Yes. Why did you kidnap me?"

Kadan's gaze hardens, "A pink cloaked figure approached us, told us to kidnap the old woman, Master Chu-ya. But things change. You're the bait. Excuse my uncouth manner." He states as he starts cutting up nearby vegetables.

"Alright. I'm leaving." Karma said, standing up, turning and walking away.

"To where?" Kadan asks.

"Somewhere."

"Don't stray too far." Kadan replies, getting back to chopping the vegetables.

Karma looks back before sighing and walking away; not bothering to mention that she was intending on departing for good.

Kadan continues to chop the vegetables into little slices, as Karma begins to get near the exit, Zaiynde's door opens up, the drunkard coming out of his room.

Karma doesn't even glance at him as she approaches the exit.

"Whe're youse goin'?" He gurgled through his drunken states, trying to form coherent words.

"Someplace." Karma responded through her teeth.

"You aren't goin' any'her'." He responds to Karma, before practically falling onto her.

"Get off!" Karma yells, pushing Zaiynde off of her and running out.

She immediately comes across a waterfall, her being behind it, which is also placed inside a dank cave. A few needles come flying from the doorway, Zaiynde exiting and following her, throwing needles every second, even in his drunken state, he is dangerous, as it seems.

Karma creates a shield of energy to block the attacks.

Zaiynde slams down hard on the energy shield, he continues slamming down on it, trying to shatter it, before making a symbol on it, it explodes.

Karma reinforces her energy shield with more power before it could wholly shatter; she doesn't even turn around to acknowledge Zaiynde as she runs through the waterfall; her shield acting as a bubble of protection.

Zaiynde screams angrily, "You bioth! Get back here!" He chases and yells forming symbol after symbol to try and blow the shield to bits.

Karma only continued to run.

Zaiynde screams angrily as he continually uses his symbols which eventually blasts the shield to bits.

The force of her shield breaking caused Karma to stumble; with a cry of shock she tumbled to the ground.

Zaiynde stood over her, anger clearly spread across his face, he grabs her ankle and begins to drag her back to his home.

Karma throws a ball of energy at Zaiynde imbibed with the power of Chaos, all the while twisting and pulling away.

Zaiynde gets knocked down, sitting back up he growls, "You little brat!" He stands back up, making a symbol, he has it appear in front of Karma, and it blows up, the least damage being that knocking her unconscious.

Karma was unable to lift a shield of energy in time; the blast slammed her into the ground, leaving a cracked indent in the stone and her unconscious body in it's center. Her skin, hair, and clothes were slightly singed.

Zaiynde grabs Karma's ankle, and drags her across the ground as he opens the door to his home. Dragging her past the entrance to the kitchen, where Kadan was still chopping up vegetables for whatever he was planning on making, Zaiynde dragged Karma across to his room, opening the door to a room of pitch-black darkness, taking her into the ever dark room, shutting the door.

He plopped Karma onto his bed, leaving her there, he left his room, and locked it from the outside.

Deals and Greed
It had been two nights since Karma had been locked into Zaiynde's room, having to deal with the dark statues, evil paintings, and dark tomes written in thousands of different languages that hung on the shelves. With the additional symbols that Zaiynde had written upon the walls of the room, disallowing Karma to perform any of her Balance powers. Even with this, Zaiynde came in and out every hour or so just to check up on her. And each time, Karma simply sat still and refused to acknowledge him. In fact, sitting still was what pretty much occupied most of Karma's time.

Opening the door, Zaiynde smirks, "Kadan wants to know if you're hungry? The asshole continually keeps asking me that."

Karma merely shook her head and continued to stare down at the space where the wall met the floor.

"KADAN!!" Zaiynde slammed the door shut, yet his voice still shook the whole house. "THE BITCH DOESN'T WANT ANYTHING!!"

Karma remained silent. Her mind was blank. Her eyes had a hollow look to them, as if she had left herself in some secluded part of the world.

About five hours later, Zaiynde comes barging in, "We're going to the other base. You're coming with." It wasn't a comment, it was an order. Zaiynde was in complete control, with his binding symbols that suddenly appeared floating about her.

Karma stood up like a mannequin.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy this trip." Zaiynde states, "But with ol' jackass being around, no fun can happen."

Karma, unable to think due to the strange power of Zaiynde's symbols, simply waits.

"Now follow." Zaiynde walks out of the room, Kadan waiting outside, he goes to him.

"The bitch'll be here in a few seconds."

Kadan grunts and rolls his eyes.

With Zaiynde's symbols floating around her like a malignant ring, Karma exits the room, remaining devoid of expression or sentiment.

Kadan sighs, "Give her free thought, she looks dead."

Zaiynde sighs, and growls, snapping his fingers, he lets up on the mind-control. "Happy?" Zaiynde asks, "...Ass..."

Kadan grunts.

Karma blinks as conscious thought returns to her brain. "What the- Where are you taking me?!" she demanded, immediately growing furious.

"Be quiet bitch." Zaiynde responds, "R'halle, how can anyone understand women?" he asks as all three exit the cave, out into a forested path.

Despite having her mind released, Karma's body was still not in her control; the symbols forced her to keep walking alongside Zaiynde and Kadan. She tried fighting back with her mind, but to no avail.

Kadan's gruff voice echoes, "Getting out of Zaiynde's symbol seal is quite impossible. Unless you can effectively counter it."

"SHUT UP, ASSHOLE!" Zaiynde screams like a little child.

"Are you always this childish?" Karma asks Zaiynde with contempt.

"You have no idea." Kadan adds.

Zaiynde folds his arms and grunts, seemingly angered, he moves on farther ahead, not even bothering to answer.

Karma too is silent for some time.

The trio walks for sometime, eventually coming across a large bridge, Kadan looks around, as if he senses a presence.

Zaiynde, on the otherhand has gone back to cursing and mumbling under his breath.

From between the trees suddenly leaps Thirteen, hurling a flaming punch at Zaiynde.

Zaiynde jumps back, forcing Karma to vanish using a symbol of his, only to reappear behind him. "The same bastard again."

Luck follows suit, attacking Kadan, who stops the move with his very own arm, then jumps back with Zaiynde, Kadan grunts, most likely out of surprise.

"HEY YOU, BASTARDS!" Hecate roars, fluttering in on the scene like an enraged, glowing dragonfly, Chu-ya comes from the forest, the bushes originally in her way move by powers of Chaos.

"Aw, the bug is upset." Zaiynde laughs, Whazza matter, firefly?" He asks in a mocking voice sounding much like Hecate.

"Zaiynde, shut up." Kadan states, seemingly annoyed by the intrusion.

"Take this!" Hecate shouts, slamming (pathetically) into Zaiynde's head.

Zaiyned laughs before swatting Hecate away, then runs to Chu-ya, who dodges each attack.

For Thirteen, Kadan appears suddenly in front of him with insane speed, Kadan stares down at Thirteen. "Are you sure you wish to fight?"

Thirteen backflips out of the way, and activates his cyber-eye. "Don't even ask me that," he said, assuming a battle stance.

Kadan shakes his head, "Zaiynde, take off. I'll deal with them."

Right then, Zaiynde runs off, grabbing Karma, they both vanish from thin air.

"You four, versus I." Kadan states.

Luck, giving no heed, immediately attacks, using some energy beams, to which Kadan dodges, and slams Luck, who goes flying toward Hecate.

Hecate zips narrowly out of the way and summons a horde of phantoms that attack Kadan en masse.

Kadan grunts, a large sphere appears above his head, "Na'lar Frium: Wind Mass." Kadan barely mumbles, as a unusaully powerful blast of wind, sounding much like an atomic bomb, blows everyone and everything away. Trees go flying, the bridge breaks on the end closer to the group, Luck is thrown far back to the Demonfang Mountains, Chu-ya is barely even holding up with her usage of Order, he shield barely helping her, and cracking as each second passes.

Hecate and the phantoms disappear, leaving Thirteen holding his own against the wind.

When the wind dies down, Kadan is gone, having gotten away, just like Zaiynde and Karma.

Luck appears, "They got away?"

"Indeed." Chu-ya answered.

Ideals
Zaiynde smirks, he had Karma right where he wanted her, "Did I ever tell you how.....Beautiful you are?" He asks, hot breath going down her neck.

"Don't flatter me," Karma spat.

A nearby tree goes flying by, "Zaiynde, we're going." Kadan yells for the first time since Karma met him, though this still sounds more like he's just raising his voice.

"Ok, ok. Bastard." Zaiynde barely mumbles, he turns, following Kadan, he turns and smirks at Karma, "You'll want me eventually."

"Keep dreaming," muttered Karma with extreme distaste.

"Look at her, Kadan, she's biting back." Zaiynde states, heart aflutter. "That means she loves me."

"Or she thinks you're an idiot." Kadan adds, somewhat amused, though not turning around when he answered.

Zaiynde feels a vein pop on his forehead.

Karma remains silent as she is forced to walk along.

They eventually stop, Kadan looks around, and uses some orange orb, appearing within his hand, he hits a nearby mountain, which suddenly turns into a large castle.

Zaiynde scoffs, "Don't nag me about the cleanliness and how to keep it clean, Kadan, or I'll kick your ass."

Kadan opens the door to this apparational castle, and waits for the other two, Zaiynde immediately walking inside.

Karma, sighing in frustration, follows suit.

Whence Kadan shuts the door, lights turn on, revealing a large interior, paintings decorating every wall, a few of Kadan and Zaiynde, and a few of two others. Lush, red carpets line the floor, and lead themselves up the spiraling staircase. Drapes of a royal purple dangle from the ceiling like bats in a cave, whilst mirrors on all sides of the wall reflect images of Karma, Kadan, and Zaiynde. Columns about five feet tall hold up priceless golden artifacts, each with ancient inscriptions on them or depictions of an ealier age. Finally, the most majestic portion of the room was a throne standing in the far back of the room, of who was supposed to sit upon it, was unknown to the rest of Thyria.

Zaiynde sniffed the air, "Ah, home sweet home. I'm going to rest." He states as releases his spell on Karma, "Don't even try getting away, for your information, my little bumble bee. Once those doors are closed, they don't open." He smirks, leaving Karma and going up the staircase.

Kadan stares at Zaiynde's retreating form, and shakes his head, walking toward what could be presumed, was most likely a kitchen.

Karma immediately spun around and tried to push open the doors.

Kadan turns around, before he left the room, "They won't open." He states, "Come. You must be hungry." He offers, though feels that she will most likely decline his offer, he walks to the arched entrance, before disappearing from view.

Sighing, Karma decided to follow Kadan.

Already, Kadan was chopping a bunch of vegetables and throwing them into a large pot. "It won't open, because you don't have Nazlarian blood." Kadan states, chopping an onion to many tiny pieces. He hands her a nearby apple, "Eat, you'll regain some lost strength."

Karma, however, did not touch it. "What did you do to them?" she asks. "The people that tried to save me?"

"I did what I had to do." Kadan plainly states, as if speaking of the weather, and returning to the vegetables, chopping them to pieces once more.

"...you killed them?" Karma asked, her voice raising ever so slightly. A knot of worry twisted in her gut.

"Perhaps." Was the next quizzical response from the ever so silent man.

"...you..." Karma growled. Before Kadan could react, she threw the apple he handed her across the room in anger before storming off into the unknown parts of the castle.

For some strange reason, before Karma leaves, the apple comes flying back, and slams hard into Karma's head.

Kadan chuckles lightly, "If you really wanted to know, you could have asked with a please." He continually hums to himself as he makes himself food.

Yet Karma had already ran off in a fit of rage...

In the dark corner of a bedroom several flights of stairs upward Karma sat, curled up into a ball. In her moment of lonesome self-reflection, Karma remembered her helplessness against Control, her Strata, her inability to save her Master in the past from the death that she knew awaited him... now, her friends might as well be dead and she was a hapless prisoner, powerless to stand up to her captors for too long... never before in her life had she felt so ''weak. ''A tear slid from her cheek, followed by a cascade of droplets that ran down her cheeks and dripped from her face. Burying her face into her arms and knees, she began to sob uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the door to the room bursts open, the hindges being blown off from the impace. Zaiynde barges his way in with an attitude, acting as if he's on top of the world. "Heya bitch." He happily smirks, looking Karma over as if she were an animal. He takes slow strides toward the sobbing Karma.

"Get... the... fuck... away... FROM ME!" Karma screamed with nothing left but blind fury; summoning a powerful blast of pure Chaos energy, she hurls it at Zaiynde. Her eyes were puffy and red from sobbing, but wild, feral, and deranged.

Using another symbol, in quick fashion, it sucks up the blast, so it does not touch Zaiynde, who then proceeds swiftly, slamming Karma against the wall, pinning her there. "You're so..Perfect, when you're mad, ya know that?" He states, licking his lips.

Karma threw a stone-shattering punch at Zaiynde. "DIE!" she roared.

Taking the hit, Zaiynde fell to the floor, he laughed slightly before getting back up, "You think you could just...Kill me?" He laughs, though rubbing where he got hit. "Sorry, but I don't work that way." He smirked as he once again pushd her up against the wall, this time, binding her with his symbols so she couldn't move. He licked his lips in the most disgusting of ways.

Karma suddenly assailed Zaiynde with the power of her thoughts; her willpower was focused like a crushing arrow of burning hatred, piercing Zaiynde's mind with sheer killing intent.

Once that attack came, what Karma saw within Zaiynde's mind was death. Everywhere, people dying, people being ripped apart, people begging for death. She saw the world through Zaiynde's eyes, the eyes of one who saw death almost every day of his life since his birth, the first two being his parents, and so continues death, more and more ravenous, by strange sick creatures.

Suddenly, death changed to a happier tone, dealing with a man, who appeared to be in his twenties, with jet black hair, and purple eyes, "Are you ok?" He asked a five year old Zaiynde, who shook his head.

Karma's willpower was blasted out, seconds later, Zaiynde staring at her with a mix of anger and fear in his face.

In having experienced Zaiynde's memories, Karma's anger melted and her sadness blended with both revulsion and fear. She felt slightly sick to her stomach.

"You.. Little.. Bitch!" Zaiynde screeched at a severely high tone, taking his hand, he angrily smashed the nearby wall, causing it to crumble, albiet breaking his hand this time, though he pretended it was nothing. "The consequences, fucking damn castle." He grumbled angrily to himself.

Calmly, Kadan walked into the room, took notice to the broken door, the crumbled wall, the agonized Zaiynde, and the pinned Karma, he shook his head. "Zaiynde, go to the medical ward down the hall. You broke your hand."

"Did not!" Zaiynde interjected, but was silence by Kadan, who ushered him out toward the medical room. Fixing the door, and the wall within seconds using some mystical power from his hand, he approached Karma, and undid the symbol spells. "All better." He spoke to himself, releasing Karma, he walked outside to where Zaiynde awaited him.

Karma slid to the floor, back in he corner. She curled up. Once more, she felt the tears spill from her eyes and she continued to sob.

A few minutes later, Kadan strode into the room, and stopped in front of Karma, his deep purple eyes staring into her soul. "After an examination of the nearby land, all of them are alive." He gruffly stated, "None have sustained any major injuries." Though where he got this information from, is, as of now, unknown.

Zaiynde walked in, "When's dinner?"

"In five minutes." This caused Zaiynde to leave the room immediately.

Karma nodded, sniffling, and continued to cry.

"My dear, you are most lucky." Kadan stated, "My heritage disallows me to hold back on attack, I did not use all my power into my wind attack. Had I done that. They'd be ripped to shreds." Kadan turns around, "I have made my soup once more and wish to know." Kadan pauses at this moment, silence enveloping the two, "Shall you dine with us?"

"I... just... want to be alone." Karma said, turning away and facing the wall.

"As you wish." Kadan went over to the other room, after a fw seconds, he came back, holding a black tome in his hands, he placed it on the bed. "Reading material." He then left the room.

As soon as Kadan left, Karma glanced at the tome on the bed. It's cover was blank. Not that she would've cared much anyway. Stretching herself out on the bed, Karma cried herself to an anxious sleep.

After many hours into the night Zaiynde had already fallen asleep in his own room, Kadan quietly approached the room Karma was staying, and strode in. Taking a few steps, he saw her sleeping form upon the bed and shook his head. Taking each step liesurely, he picked her up, and gently tucked her into the bed, to keep warm from the cold night, he placed the book on a nearby nightstand, and then with cautionary steps he left the room, to get some shut eye for himself.

Impractical Ideology
Noise rang throughout the entire castle, the first words spoken which were apparently, "IT HURTS LIKE A BITCH!" Which even made it to Karma's room, even with the door closed.

Karma's eyes opened ever so slightly. "Wha-?"

On the nightstand stood the book, next to it, what appeared to be cereal. Another scream from Zaiynde rang out, "KADAN, WATCH IT!! THIS IS FUCKING PAINFUL!!" Although Kadan wasn't nearly as loud, he could faintly be heard, stating, "Quit crying, you've had worse."

For a second, the castle shook, then all was calm, before the loudest scream of pain was heard, then all went silent.

"Typical Zaiynde..." Karma thought to herself. Her mood was still down, and she longed for the seclusion that darkness brought. She pulled the covers over her entire body and simply lay there with her eyes closed.

For a while the castle was silent, but before long, Zaiynde was up once again, having slammed his hand by accident into the nearby railing of the stairs, he screamed, "KADAN!! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HEALING CREAM?!" followed by an angonized groan.

Kadan, not able to stand it anymore, somewhat ignored Zaiynde's shrieks of pain before opening Karma's door, and walking to where the bathroom is, grabbing the cream and leaving the room once more, though he kept complete silence in performing the whole act.

Silencing the castle once more, giving complete inner peace.

Karma lay there seemingly for what seemed like hours, with only her unsettled thoughts for company.

After a short while, a knock is heard at the door, "Karma? You in there?" For some reason, Zaiynde was the one knocking. "You there?" He continually knocks, as if it's involuntary.

Karma opted to remain silent.

"Please?" He politely asked, completely out of his normal, cursing, obnoxious, annyoing, yet intricate, and somewhat weird personality. "I need to tell you something."

Karma sighed. Against her better judgement, she reluctantly pulled herself out of the bed and strode to the door, opening it a crack. She stared at Zaiynde with eyes that betrayed no emotion save for a kind of sad hollowness.

"Look...I um- About yesterday.. I um..." Zaiynde looks completely at loss for a few moments, "Actually-- For this recent week or um... So I'm sorry about.... The uh things I've done, but... Uhm... Ya know, fuck this. Want some ice cream?" He suddenly asks from his stuttering apology for the way he's acted.

Karma, however, didn't react much to Zaiynde's inexplicable change in behavior. "I just... need to be alone..." she said quietly, with sadness in her voice.

Interestingly enough, Zaiynde nods, and leaves, much different than what he would normally do. He doesn't even say anything as he takes his strides away from Karma's door.

Karma closed the door and staggered back into the bed, lying on top of the covers, silently staring into space.

Kadan comes and knocks on the door a few moments later.

Once more, Karma pulled herself out of the bed and opened the door, revealing the same, empty expression on her face as before.

"Would you care to explain what exactly troubles you?" Kadan asks, "I need to know what is wrong, I wish to assist."

"My pain... is mine alone to bear," Karma said. "And despite the acts of ...kindness you've shown me... you're still my captor... my enemy... my pain is too personal... I must bear it alone..."

"You fail to realize that you're no longer much of a captive." Kadan mundanely states, "I spoke with Zaiynde, the pink robed one is coming tomorrow. You must leave soon."

"What does it matter? I'm no use... I've failed... everything..."

"I see you have not read my book." Kadan states. "It should invigorate you." Kadan states, "And I don't care. You're going to leave soon." Kadan turns around and walks back down the hall.

Karma simply stares down the hall even long after Kadan has disappeared, before turning back and collapsing back onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments before turning her head and glancing at the black book, which sat innocently on the bedside table. She slowly reached out and grabbed it, figuring that it wouldn't matter in the end anyway.

As if coming to life, the book flew out of Karma's hands, pages were turning and the lights in the room flickered, powerful energies shooting out of the book, before it gently floated back to Karma's hands on a page, in bold letters at the top, a four lettered name was written in what appeared to be blood. "Seya" was that name, and under it, was what appeared to be a poem.


 * "Through wakefulness in his domain


 * In deep, deep sleep, does he remain.


 * For waking, is from his darkned sleep.


 * For one so shallow, yet far too deep."

Under the poem was a drawing of an arch, from which bells of the greatest glory hung from. And near this was what appeared to be a young woman, looking much like Chu-ya would, if she were not as elderly. This page was a clear sign for dangers ahead, but also lead to the question as to why Kadan would have given a book like this in the first place?

Karma flipped the page.

Nothing was on the next page, it was blank, it's as if the book was brand new, and that some child just had fun on one random page.

Karma thumbed through the pages. Each and every single one was blank, save for the first page where the poem entitled "Seya" was written. She flipped back to the page and reread the poem.

Kadan was found standing directly next to the bed, as if he phased through the wall, though, that was not the case, as the door was quietly shutting. "Enjoy my poem?" He questioned.

"It's... interesting." Karma said. "But why would you give me this?"

"Because it was Zaiynde's favorite thing for me to read to him when he was a kid." Kadan stated, "But it's not really a kid's thing, there's a story with my poem. Do you wish to hear of it?"

"Tell me."

Kadan nods, "As a child, I was fearful." Kadan started, "I had nightmares often and many times, I had them come true. And when I became ten, I had one nightmare that scared me above all others. This poem you see here," Kadan pointed at the book, "Is a poem of the Multiverses' destruction and obliteration through a manipulative mind." Kadan sighed, "He calls himself 'Seya', a being of complete hatred. I was able to find him through a vision one day, this time, I was awake." Kadan sighed, slightly upset, his voice once raising, as if from pain, "Seya had actually conversed with me, through this vision. And he spoke the words of that poem. Seya is a 'shallow' being, who wishes to awake a power known as the Omega."

"Seya is a threat. Not small, he is something that will end us. He has brought forth different happenings, and created beings known as 'Secrets'. I still hear Seya, every so often, he still speaks, though not as often. On one final note, last time I had contact, I felt the energies of worlds being destroyed and blown to bits. And the death of a very powerful being." Kadan's eyes narrow ever so slightly, before sighing, "Dinner shall be ready, a little later."

Kadan then performs an about-face and walks out of the room.

Karma sighed. What did this Seya have to do with any of this? She barely even had any idea what was going on with Kadan and Zaiynde. With these new thoughts, Karma sat on the edge of her bed and pondered anxiously.

About a few hours later, Kadan's voice rang out, "Dinner is ready!"

If one thing could be heard, it'd be Zaiynde running down the spiralling staircase to enjoy his next meal. Kadan called a second time, just to make sure Karma heard.

Karma dragged herself out of her room and down the stairs toward the kitchen.

Zaiynde was already eating his salad, Kadan approached Karma, "We were limited today. We have salad. I hope you enjoy it." He states before sitting down and enjoying his own meal.

Karma sat down and poked at her salad for a few moments with her fork, before deciding that it would probably be better for herself to eat after all. She took a bite- the dressing had a strong flavor that caused her to cringe slightly at first, but it was a somewhat sweet flavor. She liked it. She took several more bites.

Zaiynde stared at Karma, then to Kadan, "When does she leave? He's coming soon."

Kadan looks to Karma, "If she feels she needs to, which should be soon. He's after Master as well."

"...Master?" Karma asks.

"The woman you know as Chu-ya." Kadan states. "She taught us some of Balance, though neither of us could deal with the power, due to our heritage."

"...is that why you left her?"

"Indeed." Was Kadan's cryptic response, his gruff voice echoing throughout the kitchen.

Zaiynde stared at Kadan, he had a slightly smug grin, "At least you were polite enough to leave. I stormed off from the bitch." He then added a cackle to his finshing statement.

There was silence for a moment longer, but Karma had another question.

"You said that the last time Seya spoke to you, you heard of the death of a powerful being. What was this being?"

"I have no exact idea. But this one gave off energy, the energy you give off, along with the old woman." Kadan answeres, taking a bite from his salad, enjoying his own creation.

"Why do you keep getting the visions?!" Zaiynde practically yells across the table, "I never got any, is this a Nazlar thing with you?! Damn demons.." He mutters, folding his arms in a defensive position.

"One last question," Karma said. "What are you two striving for?"

Kadan turns to Karma, "I desire for many things, as does Zaiynde."

Zaiynde laughs, "I just look for anything worth stealing. Ever since the two of us were framed for something we did not do. We've been on the run."

Kadan sighed, "He strives for priceless artifacts. I strive for power and money." A gleam of greed flickers in Kadan's eyes, though deeper within, a desire for freedom and love is what can truly be seen.

Zaiynde smirks, "So we joined a group of pansies bent on at least ruling half of Thyria." He states, "It's an idea that lives happily in my damn books."

"Strazio?" Karma asked.

"It means 'Chaos'." Kadan stated, not at all surprised that she knew the name.

"Normally, we are slaughter anyone who speaks the name, but-" Zaiynde winks at Karma, "You're an exception. Unlike plenty of other damned idiots out there."

"...that just sounds like pointless murder." Karma said.

"Perhaps, but it's not like we've wasted our lives on the run." Zaiynde dejectedly moans, he looks down, seemingly upset, "Kadan and I, we're tired of running." Zaiynde seems to suddenly get angry, energy flowing from him, destroying one of the lights nearby, "FUCKING IDIOTS!!" His voice compared to a battle cry, he smashes the table down in half, allowing Kadan and Karma's food to be undistrubed, and leaves.

The table seconds later, reforms.

"He's touchy about the subject." Kadan merely mentions. "This castle, is living, it has an entity, it will get Zaiynde back, though luckily not kill him. That's a reason, why it just formed itself together. It does that on it's own volition though."

"I see," Karma said. She finished the remainder of her salad in silence.

Unusually, this time, however, Kadan finished before Karma, and left the room, seemingly in a swift fashion. "Feel free to snack." He mentions as he left the kitchen, unaware that he just ate dinner, or that there were hardly any snacks to eat within the sentient castle.

Karma, however, simply left the table, and departed for her own bedroom, where she sat on the edge of the bed in silence. After a few moments, she opened the black tome and studied the poem that Kadan had written.

''"You know that to be true, darling...." ''A voice spoke to Karma, echoing within her mind.

Karma immediately and instinctively shielded her mind. ''"Who's that?" ''she responded telekinetically.

''"You interest me." ''The voice responded. ''"Unlike Kadan, you hold more... Enthusiasm. Yet you dwindle on mistakes." ''This voice, holding what could assume to be pure malice, hatred, and anger, though is calm, cool, and collected; and to top it all off, acts as if it's kind, pure, and gentle. "I am the one written in that cursed book. My name, is at the top, my dear."

Karma drops the book in shock. "You- Seya?! What do you want from me?!"

''"Nothing much. I was in the neighborhood. Giving good old Kadan a vision." Seya's voice whispers gently, "And then I picked up a Balance-Keeper signal, much like Arbiter's. But you're not him, my dear. And I must say, I commend you, for your reckless courage, ferocity, and knowledge. For fighting against my children."''

''"How do you know my Master?" ''Karma asked.

''"I know everything." Seya responds, "Especially this little triangle we've got here, of Kadan, you, and Zaiynde. How cute. I've been watching you, and that dispicable old woman. And to only be fair, your Master, as you name him, I indirectly slaughtered him, though, I didn't dirty my own hands, I did have severe influence on his whole life. Somehow, he always welcomed the pain." Seya snickers, "Though, if it was an indirect death, I guess it might have been so indirect, I'd have nothing to do with it."''