.^^ Seth's Storm Primordial form ^^

— Seth —

When the rip opened, I loosened my muscles carefully, one at a time, so as to be ready for whatever was coming.

'This will be interesting...'

'Indeed... I've never seen two Great Daemon's fight to the death before... it will definitely be a fight for the Ages.' Tempest weighed in, from where he sat on top of the door that led to the stairs.

The true form of the Thorn, which I recognized from Briar's memories, appeared in the gap, and reached through, almost matching what Briar's memories of possessing me looked like.

As he soaked in, he changed the body immediately, looking younger and stronger. He gave him Silky blonde hair, strong shoulders, Beach-boy bronze skin, and then the eyes, a piercing blue, filled with liquid gold.

He stood, the restraints of the chair shredding, and looked around slowly. "Ahhh... a sacrifice... are you bribing me as an apology for your earlier insult, Greedy One?" He smirked.

I chuckled, and shook my head. "Nah. Those are MINE." I waved a hand, and the circle sparked, turning all of the beasts and Sorcerers into Ashe, but instead of sucking it in, it collected it, using the accumulated mental power of the circle's reservoir to resist his reflexive attempt to steal the Ashe from me, with a deep breath.

He looked confused, as suddenly the Ashe didn't respond to him, as a little marble of glass landed in my palm. I placed it against the gem of my sword, feeding the little droplet of blood, watching as the rage on his face turned to annoyance, then a little bit of confusion.

"You steal my sacrifices... but do not take them?" He asked.

"Oh, give it a moment." I smirked, and pulled the entire gem off, crushing it between my teeth.

I stood taller, a moment later, my body reflecting my new power, as the life energy of 2000 Sorcerers and 12 Lich's, Fed to a piece of his blood, then Pulsed through me secondarily, and I could feel a warmness that I hadn't felt in days, since my awakening, spread slowly, and thoroughly.

He stared at me, and then began to Giggle. "Wait...! Wait...! You did all this, all of this!!!... just to get my power?!?"

"No, of course not! That would be silly!" I smiled, and leapt forward, tackling him into the ground and biting out his throat, feeling my teeth elongate and sink into his windpipe. I noticed that his skin didn't burn me, this time, and grinned.

He snarled, and suddenly the body under me shivered, turning to pure magma, and attempting to slither away. "Ever the coward, Thorn! Running away always suited you best! I have Briar's memories, and you have NEVER stood your ground!!!" I hissed after him tauntingly.

The magma halted, and then began expanding, taking his original, primordial form, nearly scraping the 500ft tall roof. The rift sputtered and died out, as I saw him attempting to feed from it, and ripped it apart.

He snarled, and began circling my smaller body as if we were equals, which made Briar's ego pulse. I shook it off, and then stepped forward slowly. 'Give me your best estimation of a Dragon, covered in briar-scales, Briar. Also, what happens when you mix Fire and Ice?'

'I am now allowed to mutate you?'

'Yes, but as a big dragon, not anything tacky and tentacled. You can have eyes everywhere, if you like, but give me bull horns. Also, again, what's my new element?' I insisted.

'Storm.' Tempest added softly, as my body began to grow, matching the other in size, and scales appeared, metallic, black-iron and silver scales, working themselves into my body, and then suddenly my sight became what I would characterize as almost Third Person.

The small red eyes that began sprouting between the gaps of scales gave me a literally 360* vision, and it was like I was standing above the creature that I had become, and commanding it telepathically.

I bull-rushed the magma Beast, as soon as I was fully established, and he scattered from the impact, and began reforming, unharmed. I began taking giant chomps out of him, swallowing what I could, and grinned when he screeched in anger, and clocked me in the side of the face with a hardened fist of magma, him apparently turning his skin into obsidian with a thought.

I crashed against the wall, dazed, and then turned, and simply breathed at him, imagining what Tempest had done to me, but bigger and more directed, a stream, instead of a cloud.

A massive, ethereal bolt of lightning slammed his shoulder, knocking him back, and into the other wall. As it did, I saw the skin freeze slowly, where the lightning had struck, and he angrily sloughed it off, his form recovering, but the piece of ice still on the ground.

Then, a small object was thrown, by Gale, who had appeared outside the office, and taken something from Adelaide, and it smacked into the Giant's chest, and disappeared, ineffective.

They disappeared inside, as he shrugged off their existence, and stepped towards me, then halted, scratching at his chest and tearing giant chunks of magma off, flinging them carelessly, until he revealed a giant sphere of ice in the middle of his chest, slowly encroaching on the rest of him. He dug it out and threw it off, screeching as his size was nearly halved.

I caught it with on extended paw, and crunched on it, swallowing it all, except a chunk around the small object, which clattered to the ground, frozen solid. It revealed itself to be a small needle, to my amusement.

"AWW, IS WITTLE OL' THORN AFRAID OF NEEDLES?" I snorted, and charged him, goring him with the horns on my skull, then taking big bites out of him, shredding him into pieces.

Pieces of him began to attempt to sneak away, as I'd predicted, but the barrier held strong, and I managed to rip him into even tinier pieces, eating them at my leisure.

Finally, he coalesced everything, and concentrated himself back into a human form, standing on the platform. "Most impressive, Briar! You have managed what few could ever hope to, and defeated me in battle! I offer my lands, all my holdings, my followers, and what knowledge I may have, for my life." He bargained through gritted teeth.

I hummed, and took a human form carefully, keeping the power and muscle mass of the giant fiend and walked up to him. "A Deal, you say?... well, here's the thing..." Then I unceremoniously Spartan-kicked him off the stage, and stood on the edge, above him, as he struggled to stand.

"I don't make deals with DOGS, Thorn." I finished, and snapped my fingers, activating the circle, and taking his mind, leaving him standing there, mindless and complacent, until he turned into a flaming Ashe, which I inhaled, and swallowed. Then I took all the minds from the reservoir, and placed them within the new gem on my sword, which appeared as I took my human form.

The rift opened again, slowly, and a deep voice exited, the voice of the Abyss. So deep as to be completely unintelligible to human ears, but to Briar, it was a symphony of sound, not unlike my violin, and he Knelt us, to my surprise.

"Interesting... a shift in power... and his mind will not return to the Abyss... not yet... not for many Eon's... or is it Years? Your Concept of Time is... flawed. As the... Curator of sorts, for these games, I say well done... it was a short battle, but an entertaining one. You have earned his power, in its entirety. Continue to amuse me, my child." It chuckled, and seemed to fade away.

Then, the rift spewed forth Ashe, which entered through my skin, this time, and tore into me, but I barely felt the pain, as the power seemed to graft itself to me.

'My power... And Briar's... ALL of it, not just what we're allowed to bring to this realm...' Briar purred.

I stood, as the rift closed, and cracked my neck, then wobbled a bit, my mind catching up to my body slowly. "Oof... anyone else seeing stars? I got clocked good right there, with that right hook of his... and what was that, with the needle? Some magic?" I muttered, wobbling over to the edge of the stage, and falling off the edge.

I landed in the expectant arms of Diana, who grinned. "We have got to stop meeting like this." She sighed.

"What? After I defeat Greater Daemons?" I grinned.

She paused, thoughtful. "On that note, we should continue meeting like this. I support this."

I laughed softly, and attempted to stand, one arm over her shoulder, as my body began to reorganize itself, and I returned to my normal human form entirely, besides the fact that I was several inches taller, and looked like I went to the gym every day of my life.

As the group headed back into the office, and through the portal, I was halted at the barrier, and I used the key, branding it onto my palm, then opened just one of the little hexagons, -as each hexagon was its own barrier, carefully designed,- and stepped through, reactivating it After I was through.

The revenants passed through like it was honey, but it had no adverse affect upon them, so that was a relief.

As I stepped into the house, through the portal, a bit of sunlight caught my arm, and I screeched as it began to scald me instantly. I ducked away from the beams of light, but the general presence of sunlight in this room was apparently enough to begin burning me to a crisp.

Diana thought quickly, and bodily threw me down the stairs, into the basement.

The burning stopped, and I groaned. "Thank you!... ow."

'That was... unpleasant, yes. It seems the Darkness is too powerful in us, for even indirect sunlight.'

I held up a hand, and suddenly the entrance of the basement, just behind the fake wall, was shrouded with several thick layers of black drapes and tapestries and other carpet-like materials, completely and utterly blackening the room.

The firelight from the fireplace wasn't unpleasant, so I sat in the chair, and groaned softly. "Well... we need to fix that."

"I have no ideas as to how you would do such a thing." He murmured aloud.

"I do." Diana handed me a cup of coffee, laced heavily with Ashe. "Just bottle up your power. The less it makes contact with the sun, the less it can burn."

'Logical...'

I nodded. "Thanks... this has been something of a bumpy ride, no?"

She cocked her head. "Well, no, actually. Three days, and you managed to entirely remove Two different Greater Daemons from the board, something no one has managed even once, in 20,000 years of demon hunting."

"It was managed in Bethlehem. The original Horn of the South was killed with an arrow and bow of some divine origin. The bow was destroyed upon completion of the task, however." Briar hummed.

She blinked. "The Epirus Bow? I thought it just banished him?"

"And everyone will continue to think so. We don't want Divine Magic interfering with us... they always muck things up."

"I'm hurt, Briar. Truly Wounded." A being stepped out of the fireplace, flicking little brown and gold wings out and scattering a bit of ash.

"You know this guy, thinks he can just walk into people's houses?... through their fireplaces?... which I find secretly very cool and wish I could do-! What the fuck?!? Why can't I stop speaking?!? Briar, answer me!!!" I hissed, biting my tongue to stop the spewing of speech.

The bronze-skinned man smiled, his golden eyes flashing a bit. "Sorry about that, the presence of an Archangel makes you spill your secrets. And thanks, I like my entrance! Bit theatrical, but it makes an impression, no? The name is Michael, by the way, guy with the Sword? Great! So I'm here for a few reasons-"

"I'm sorry, did I ask you anything?" I interrupted, standing up slowly.

Diana placed a hand on my shoulder. "Reeeeally not a good idea."

He blinked slowly. "I must agree... you don't want to make me angry, Boy."

"Oh? Says the guy insulting me and waltzing in here like he owns the place? Call me Boy again, and we throw down, you and me, here and now, Capisce?" I growled,

'I do not advise attacking him... he is Michael, the Archangel of War and Destruction... and while I will leave your religion to yourself, He is a VERY powerful entity.'

"Listen to the demon, Boy-"

My fist crashed across his jaw, sending him into the wall. "Whatever else I am, I'm a man of my word." I growled, and held my fists up. Even I knew better than to draw a Blade on Michael, the guy who invented them.

He smiled, righting himself. "An admirable quality... the Demon hasn't destroyed your humanity, it seems. That is good. Now that we've gotten that out of our systems-"

"Not even close." I darted forward, and bobbed under his half-hearted slap, and laid two jabs into his kidneys, dropping a knee down on his extended leg, cracking the bones together, then darted out of reach, and came back in for another round.

A hand entered my vision, and suddenly I was dangling, my throat caught in the grip of the now-golden-skinned being. His skin emitted sunlight, burning my skin, and he sighed, seemingly unaffected.

"I warned you... that this was not a wise choice." Briar seemed meek, for once, and I snarled at his cowardly attitude, and kicked the angel in the face repeatedly, as my vision started to darken.

"A brave effort... stupid, but brave. Fear is something you know very little of... but if you're directing this rage at me because you see me as an emissary if some higher power that you blame for your troubles, don't bother, Boy." He sighed, and I kicked him across the mouth.

"Fugh Yuf!" I snarled weakly around his gripping fingers, and Diana took a step back, as his skin glowed brighter for a second, then dimmed to nothing, returning to human.

"Ah, Yes... Seth, was it? An inauspicious name... either way, I am sorry to inform you that no god controls your Fate. There is no 'Grand Plan'. No one controls the actions of humans. All the things you've experienced in your many lives are nothing but a serious of unfortunate events." He dropped me casually, and wiped his hand off.

I took a deep breath, and then tackled him around the waist, into the fireplace, and began pounding away at his face savagely.

He sighed, and the fire suddenly turned to pure sunlight, tossing me back, scorched again. "Now, please do contain your unbridled rage for a moment, as I do have a message to deliver... would you like to hear it? Or should I assume you're a threat, and Destroy you? I'm very good at it, I'm told." He smiled jovially, ignoring how the air had frozen when he'd raised his voice.

I stood up, letting myself heal, and sat down again slowly, in my chair. "Fine. You may speak."

He snorted, and then laughed loudly, covering his face. "Oh! The ARROGANCE!" He laughed, even as the air got uncomfortably hot, and Diana hissed in pain, as her skin started to burn slightly. "Ahh... my apologies... I sometimes forget the effect my power has on the Mortal Planes. Now! My message, Lord Seth." He packed so much disrespect into those two words that I very nearly punched him again.

"Being powerful doesn't excuse being a prick. Watch yourself, as an uninvited guest in someone else's house." I spat.

He chuckled. "But why? I quite enjoy the idea of simply smiting you, and ending this nonsense! Ah, but I digress! The Council has sent me as a Messenger,-even though that's usually Gabriel's thing,- and Messenge I will." He nodded seriously.

I raised an eyebrow slowly. "That's not a word."

He blinked. "It isn't? Hm. Ah well. Stop distracting me, little demon! The council congratulates you on your defeating two Greater Daemons, and maintaining your humanity and sanity. We are prepared to offer you amnesty, and not destroy you, should you continue this course of yours, hunting your parasite's Brethren. Also, when the battle is finished, we offer My services, in removing the Demon from your soul by my power as an Archangel, and rendering you human, once more, still a part of the Order of the Silver-Cure, the Half-Human beings we have worked with many times before. What say you?" He asked.

I chuckled softly. "So basically 'thanks for doing our job that we couldn't do, thanks for doing all the work for us, and as long as you continue doing our job for us, with no reward whatsoever, how about, in return, we don't try to destroy you'? That's your message?"

He hummed. "Yep, pretty much! See, the council is very limited, by many sets of laws. We cannot initiate attacks against the Outer Planes and Realms, and they cannot either, so this Realm is our battleground. You have initiated an attack, against what is essentially your own people, so you didn't break any laws, and also you're helping us. Simple."

"And if I attack you, do you get to go attack the other demon kings?" I asked, thinking deeply, and working past my rage, into a more complex train of thought.

He blinked slowly, and grinned. "Why... yes, if you were to declare war, we could indeed attack the outer Planes. Are you?" He asked.

"Not yet... but how about I make you a deal." I smiled wolfishly, and he sighed deeply, conjuring a seat and a pen, with a set of papers ready for apparently the contract we were creating.

"I'm listening." He sighed again.