[SP-F06] The Demons Within | [SP-F1] Redemption

[Morgenstern 1]

The blonde stood in the center of the main settlement of the sixth floor. It was dark and being such there was not much commotion. His cheeks still burned with a pinkish color from his encounter with Mina. 'How did it even come down to that? How did I just accept it that quickly?' He adjusted the weapon on his hip. If he wanted to become a better person for her and his friends, he had to fight the thing that stood in his way. He needed to face the boundary itself. Moving forward, he would have only one destination in mind. The waterfall. It had been almost a year and a half since he had last visited, facing the troubles that he had brought over from the real world. This was something he was scared of doing, but it was something he had to do before he would ever find himself of redemption. It was a requirement to earning back his green cursor, to earning Mina's hand, the smiles of his friends, and the position he desired in this world. 

[Morgenstern 1]

It was a good half-hour before he finally reached his destination. Sighing, he would take a moment to see the water. The stars in the sky brilliant cast their light onto the water, bringing a certain beauty to the water that was hard to find. He stood on one of the flat rocks that rested around the small area and noticed his hand was trembling. He grabbed it with the other hand in an attempt to gain control. 'Scared? Why? This is something I must to do. Its something I HAVE to do.' He took a seat on the rock and stared at the waterfall for a few more moments. "I can do this. I am stronger, better than what I was before. What more could be waiting on the other side that wasn't there last time." his words of encouragement were almost entirely wasted on himself. He slowly shut his eyes, slowing down his breathing. Within a couple of minutes his hands stopped trembling. He needed to focus like Baldur taught him, and gain control of the reigns to his emotions. He took a sharp inhale of breath. 

[Morgenstern 1]

Spoiler

Demon Jonathan: 

The blonde exhaled the air that he had brought into his lungs. He would open his eyes, finding somewhere else entirely. He took a look around the world that he now rested in, it was far darker and twisted than it had been before. Previously the world had been dark, but still filled with a world with deadened grass and a dim light coming from multiple directions. No such light existed now, and neither did the four doors that had led him to each individual fight. A roll of thunder was heard and purple lightning flashed across the sky. "I know you're here" Jonathan would state plainly, his eyes shifting upwards after turning around. Sure enough a twisted version of himself would stand there with a smile playing on his own face. The smile was cold and unforgiving. "Everyone knows that their demons are there, but do they have the will to be able to withstand them?" The demon would vanish and appear on the opposite side of the blonde. Pulling out his katana, Jonathan would enter the Longpoint stance that Baldur had taught him. His demon would smirk and tell him, "You only know how to solve your problems through that sword now huh? You think you've changed but you haven't." 

[Morgenstern 1]

The blond held his weapon tight as the figure slowly walked towards him. A darkness billowed from the demon as a sword would appear in its hand, a replica of Judgement. The demon would charge forward, striking ferociously at him. The blonde would block the blows with his own weapon, staying mobile to try to move to the offensive side of the battle. This demon was stronger physically than any of the others before. He leapt away, creating distance between him and his opponent. "Do you really think you can win? You couldn't protect the others, what makes you think you can protect yourself?" Jonathan remained calm, holding his emotions firm as Baldur taught him. He didn't have a complete mastery, but he was better than before. He wouldn't be baited. Taking a deep breath, he would activate the <<Charge>> skill, surging towards his opponent. As eh reached his opponent, he would attack with one swift strike, a flash of light happening as he done so. The demon would block his attack but be thrown back from the attack, the replica Judgement breaking in the process. "I won't let you beat me. I'm stronger now. I came here out of my own volition to face you." 

[Morgenstern 1]

Giving the enemy no time to prepare itself, Jonathan would continue forth with his attack, moving in again, a his weapon sparking with energy. 'Ill finish this quickly, it shouldn't be a problem. After all i've been through, i can handle anything this guy throws at me' he told himself. He reached his opponent, still on the ground, and quickly brought his sword up to bring it down on the fallen opponent. His own vision flickered and sitting on the ground, a terrified face worn was Elsea. A scream emitted form the girl's throat and the blond hesitated, holding his stance in place. Jon's eyes widened, his face paling. His vision flickered and the demon sat in front of him again, two tendrils having sprouted from its back that it used like scorpion stingers to plunge into his chest. Thrown back from the attack, Jonathan would roll on the ground before he came to a stop. The demon would smirk as it stepped slowly over to him. "Decided killing this time wasn't worth the reward? You weren't greedy enough huh? You think i'm the demon here, but its just you, a monster who killed a defenseless girl to get what he wanted." Jonathan gasped for air as he stood, holding his sword. "I didn't... mean too" the blond said glumly. "Oh, you were just following orders huh?"

[Morgenstern 1]

"Orders form the same man that was responsible for killing your entire guild" The demon lashed out with its tendrils, tearing through Jonathan's avatar, red shards pouring into the air. He managed to lift his own weapon, blocking the next attack and giving him the chance to escape the onslaught. "I've made my mistakes, and everyday I am working to fix them." He took a breath. 'I have to stay clam. This monster knows my deepest darkness and is more than willing to unleash it on me.' He charged forward, making several swipes with his weapon which were all blocked by the tendrils form the demon. Its shadows were deeper and darker, as if the creature had become stronger since they had begun fighting. The demon would leap backwards with a smirk on its face. "You're sure you are overcoming your mistakes, your sins? I think you are just pushing them down deeper, ignoring them. Scars don't heal" The Demon vanished, appearing behind him and placing a powerful kick straight into his back, knocking him to the ground fifty feet away. "I don't think you've grown stronger. I don't think you've grown. You're still the same scared little boy that came a fought here over a year ago."

[Morgenstern 1]

Jonathan returned to his feet, taking a breath. He had to remain calm, he had to fight this monster. It was just saying words to get into his head. The words meant nothing. He was just spouting the words that he didn't want to hear. "I'm gonna be honest, I know you more than anyone. Are you really sure you are fit to start trying to be the good guy again? Are you sure that its safe for everyone? What makes you think you can protect them now? You're just putting their lives more in danger." Gritting his teeth, the blonde charged forward, earning a deadly smile from the demon. At lightning speeds, it kicked upwards, knocking him high into the air. the impact was almost enough to make him drop his weapon. The demon would appear above him, letting loose an array of serrated shadow blades that plunged into his chest. He hit the ground with a thud, knocking the air form the blondes lungs. 'He is tearing me apart, mentally. Not physically.' The demon smoothly landed on the ground with a smirk on its face. "Pathetic. Pick yourself up from the ground. Is this all the will the protector of Aincrad has to offer?"

[Morgenstern 1]

Jonathan would slowly push himself off the ground, coming once again into the Longpoint stance. "I will win. I have too." The demon went crazy with his own laughter. "You have to? This is absolutely pathetic. You have nothing, you are nothing. This change you think you've gone through is a facade, and you managed to fool even yourself."  The demon leapt forward, almost just materializing in front of him it was so fast. A black katana appeared in its hand that it would use to slash multiple times through his body. The onslaught would stop when the demon decided to stop. Falling to his knees, Jonathan would look down to the ground, broken and beaten. The Demon would sigh. "Doesn't look like you are long for this world. You are already being consumed by your own darkness". The blond would look down at his hands, splotches of black spreading like paint spilling. 'I can't help but know that everything he says is true. Its the truth. I've grown no stronger.' The demon would crouch down with a smile. Its eyes were completely black with red pupils in the center. "No fight left?"

[Morgenstern 1]

"It doesn't make sense why you would keep fighting anyway, you have nothing to fight for. You've pushed everyone away, out of your life. No one is left to care about you. The only thing they feel is pity." Jonathan got up onto his knees. "No..." the Demon would raise its hand, several spears of darkness forming around it. These spears fired forward, sprouting into his chest one by one. He fell onto his back, closing his own eyes. 'Maybe it would be easier to fall into the void. There's nothing left in me. He's right, the darkness in me is greater than the light that remains. There is no reason to keep the light on when it doesn't make a difference to the darkness.' 

The demon stepped forward, a dark cross appearing behind Jonathan that the darkness would place him on. The demon's eyes were wild, its power having grown immensely. A dark shadowy armor now covered its body, a blackened Judgement sat in his hands, four tendrils sprouted from his back, ready to strike forward and tear him apart. "Your light has died Morgenstern. This is all that is left for you. I trust you'll go without struggle. You're a burden to this world and those who walk beside you." 

The demon raised his weapon, preparing to slay him with Judgement. 

[Morgenstern 1]

'So this is it huh? The end of the story to the once symbol of protection. Paladin of the Celestial Ascendants. What a joke.' He thought. Happy endings didn't happen, not in the real world and not here. "Jonathan" a voice heeded him. Opening his eyes, he wouldn't find the world of hatred and violence that was his mind, but a place with a clear sky, the ground reflecting the beauty above. He was sitting within the sky. In front of him stood Baldur, a smile resting on his face. Warmth spread from his face. "The power of good is shown, not by triumphantly conquering evil, but continuing to resist, even when facing certain defeat". Baldur's figure would appear directly in front of him, grabbing his shoulders. The warmth spread into him as he looked to meet the man's eyes. "We are all works in progress, even me, though I have less time left to make progress than you. Repent. Repentance is good, we all need it. Nobility of character isn't being better than someone else, it's being better than we were yesterday. It's never being satisfied with the progress we have made. It is always striving to be a better man." 

Baldur would fade from his vision, and Jonathan would tear up. A new figure now stood in front of him, a tall man in heavy armor, black hair and a beard. "Feel as you like about me, but I would have been sad to lose you. You have another chance now. I know you well enough to know that someday, you'll make the best of that" He looked at the smiling eyes of Shield. He had always felt inferior when placed next to Shield, but deep down he knew that he could trust the man with everything. 

Shield would fade with a smile and a girl with long dark hair. Hestia, the leader of the Aincrad Police Department. His successor as the protector of those weaker. "I know the heroes don't win Jonathan, but that won't stop me from using every bit i can to catch up to you guys on the frontline. I will push myself to try and reach their, but doing so carefully. Getting to the frontlines means nothing if I die on the way up towards there. I won't be able to help you then, and also more importantly I won't be able to help people that I run into." He smiled. She had come so far since he had met her at the monument of life. 

Hestia would vanish as a cloaked figure would take her place. The figure removed his hood, revealing his own best friend. "Jonathan you do remember that the reason we both started this guild was to help others, not push them out of the way so we could rise above.  It's our job to help those who can't make it on their own to move forward.  If you lost sight of that, you need to take a moment to do so.  Regardless of whether or not it's an adult, a child, or an npc even." Through it all, Itzal had remained fixated on their goal. He was glad to have him as a friend and thanked Aincrad for allowing him to meet the man. 

Itzal vanished, now standing before him was an angry Hikoru, a broken pair of glasses crushed in his hands. "People will die Morg.... No, Jon... People will die here, and there is nothing we can do. Things will never go as planned, or else this game would be far too easy. But don't let it get to you, or your anger will feed you, and your depression will drive you mad." He had always looked up to Hikoru, who consoled him through the first drop in Jonathan's career. He hadn't spoken to him in forever, but Jonathan knew that he was still there even if out of sight. 

Hikoru vanished into the shadows, leaving Bahr the man he just recently met. The white-haired man offered him a katana, the one he currently used. Raikiri. "If you want redemption - and I mean truly want it - then prove it. This blade belonged to the one who reminded me the most of my best friend. He used it to atone for being largely inactive during the first years of this." Jonathan reached forward, taking the hilt of the weapon. Bahr's kindness was almost boundless, reaching out to someone he didn't even know and setting him on the right path. The blonde now sat on his knees, Raikiri resting in his right hand. Bahr would turn, walking and fading into the distance.

He sat there for a moment, before noticing a warmth spreading throughout his body. He looked down, to find Mina clinging to him, her grasp around him tight. 'Her again' he would think. "I just... I can't handle being alone like I've been lately, without any of you. You, Itzal, Kasier... all of you left me behind, intentional or not..." He had hurt her once, it would kill him even more to know that he did it again. The girl released him, giving him a warm smile. "Nothing beats a good cry when you need to vent, or get something off your chest! If you need to vent, I'm here to listen." The girl and her smile would fade, a tears welling in is eyes. He stood, the tears flowing freely. He might not be strong, but he was willing to work to become better. He wanted to the man Baldur envisioned. The leader Hestia and Itzal wanted him to be. The friend that Shield wanted him to be. The fighter that Bahr wanted to see. The strong that Hikoru expected. The beacon of Light Mina wanted. 

He closed his eyes, a smile coming to brighten his face. He took a breath, and opened them once more. He now once more stood in the realm of his own mind. He still remained attached to the cross of darkness, a massive attack from all four of the enemies tendrils snapping forward to pierce him all at once. A flash of light would appear and a shield would appear in front of him. His old shield, the Ascendants Protector. The tendrils would strike the shield but the shield would hold firm stopping the attack. "WHAT! Why are you fighting? There is nothing left to fight for!" The shield would fade, and the cross would disappear, effectively freeing him. "As long as they believe in me, there is always a reason to keep fighting."he would answer, his eyes shining confidently. 

He stepped forward, Raikiri crackling with electric energy. "Your friends don't care for you. You pushed them away." The blonde would smile. "And they forgave me." The former Paladin vaulted forward at the Demon, making a powerful slash that would strike through its body. The demon fell back, its anger apparent. Its rage was growing. "IT DOESN'T MATTER! You are still weak, a pathetic creature who can't even protect his guild. You failed them and you'll fail everyone else!" The Demon attacked with its Shadow Judgement, bringing the two-handed sword down at the Tank. "Why must I be strong, when my friends already believe in me?" He slashed forward with Raikiri, his sword cleanly cutting through the weapon shattering it on contact. The Demon would growl. "You're still a murderer going any distance to satisfy your endless greed. You're a monster!" The blonde breathed out. "Our mistakes of the past teach us right from wrong. They don't hold us back. I can't change the past, but I can alter the future. I will make it a better one. Scars don't heal, they tell us what to do differently." His words enraged the demon which sent forth its tendrils to pierce his chest once more. The new samurai leapt upwards, slashing downwards and cutting through all of the tendrils. "I'm Breakable. Thats what makes me unbreakable." 

He leapt forward, thrusting Raikiri into the demon's chest. "You can't kill me. As long as you know what you've done, there will be darkness." Jonathan would offer the demon a smile. "Of course not. Where there is light, there must be dark. You are what teaches me, makes me a better man. I can't hide from you, I can't kill you. We are one and the same." He removed the weapon from his enemy's chest. He would offer a hand. The demon would take his hand, its eyes returning to their normal blue color. The world around them would become lighter, much less violent than it was before. "It seems you've learned, Morgenstern" The world would fade around him, leaving him back at the Waterfall. 

@Baldur @Shield @Hestia @Itzal @Hikoru @Bahr @tricolor_mina

 

[Morgenstern 1]

He took a breath, standing up from where he stood at the rock. He had made peace with the darkness inside of him once again. 'I think the idea is that you can't actually defeat your demons, it is always something you have to make peace with. Not just one time, but over and over again'. The nerve gear was an interesting concept, being able to read pieces of one's mind. To waste that technology on a video game was almost evil. Instead, it should have been used as a form of being able to repair those who were mentally damaged. He turned, leaving the waterfall behind. If he was going to redeem himself, then there was one final step on the way. He needed to erase the mark of the killer that tainted him. The first floor was his next destination, the place where he would wipe himself free of the orange cursor. His left hand moved to the hilt of his weapon as he entered the town on the sixth floor, ignoring the cries of the NPC's. As he stood on the teleport pad, he would shout "Floor one! Starting City!" with a flash of a brilliant blue light he would escape the sixth floor. 

[Morgenstern 1]

OOC: With stats having been unused before and never having posted them from the thread, I will post current ones here for the rest of the thread, using the 3.1.1 system. 

Spoiler

Quote

Buffs used: 

• T3 Perfect Mit Potion [4 Remaining]
• T0 Perfect DMG Potion [ 4 Remaining]

The blonde found no surprise in the fact that the quest that he prepared himself was located in Graveyard. It was the place where the dead go to rest. The place he had sent Elsea. Stepping inside, blue eyes began to search the place for any undead monsters. None. That was surprisingly at least. Suddenly, a chill swept through the graveyard. The sky itself darkened and the air grew cold as a billowing fog erupted from the center of the the Graveyard. Now standing at its center was a hooded figure. 

An echoing distant voice called to him in a raspy voice. "Do you seek redemption?" The blonde rested his left hand on the hilt of his blade. In response to the figure's question he nodded his head. The figure beckoned him with a pale hand towards a cobblestone path. Following the figure with silence. Was the figure taking him to the other end of the graveyard? Stepping forward, it was hard to ignore the putrid smell of death around him along with the icy cold. The trees down this path were all lifeless, hanging their leafless branches down over the path. The sound of whispers surrounded him and it felt as if multiple eyes rested on him. However, the blonde didn't falter. Didn't hesitate for a single moment. These eyes were there to judge him. The ghosts of those wronged. They would judge if he was truly worthy or not of returning to grace. 

Retracing his gaze back to the path, he found that the cloaked figure no longer walked in front of him. No, instead a figure stood before him. A young woman. 'Elsea.' He knew immediately. It was a face that had haunted his nightmares many times over. In fact, this vision of her know was much easier to take then before. In fact, it wasn't just Elsea. They now stood back in the city of Coral. A figure stepped through him. A blond figure in dark armor, a heavy two-handed sword slashing through the woman's body. Wincing, he understood why he was being shown this. However, this was nothing. He had seen himself ruthlessly tear through this girl time and time again. His guilt reminded him constantly of the life he stole. All for his own benefit. For his Greed.