False Life Brings Upon Death

Rasparov currently had a lot on his plate, and he did not mean literally. While he was like any other homunculi in existence when it came to being able to eat well over what was normal, he was thinking about the current plans and plots he was currently involved in. The Onyx Moon member had his hands in a lot of projects at once, of which many were important. There was, of course, his suicidal pact with Ruvel. That one was him slowly turning Ruvel to act like him a bit, even if he had not intended it to go that way. At the beginning it had simply been a way to keep them from ratting on each other, of which had worked perfectly fine, but as he worked with the boy he saw more power beginning to show through. If he could get him to be more cold, to care less about others, then he would be able to get him as an ally for future takeover plans on some of the other groups they dealt with on a constant basis. Other trade groups on the legal front, and plenty of the darker groups like mercenaries and assassins on the side they hid from the rest of the world. Yes, Onyx Moon could one day take the word 'West' off of their company side and simply be the Fiore Trading Company once they had taken out all of their competitors. It would be another step to help Rasparov on the non-fighting side of his plans. Being with the group would mean access to the funds they held, the territory they controlled, and the people they were in charge of. It meant he could come up with plans with the higher-ups that worked great in all ways even as they helped him in his goals at the same time. Land grabs, fleets, what they should do next. He was one of the oldest members of the guild, after all, and his word still held some merit after all. When one joined the place minutes before their own current guild master had it kind of gave you some merit when it came to the help you offered and how much the leaders listened to you. Not only that, but he was 'friendly' with Ruvel and had saved the life of Johann. It put him in the best possible spot in the guild, and allowed him to go with nearly no surveillance whenever he walked off the guild property to do as he wished.

On top of his ordeals with the guild, Rasparov also had some plans that were now coming to fruition. The biggest one was the elimination of his creators, the complete freedom for him that came from it, and the restraints that would be released once he devoured the soul of his overlords. The sending out of Apathy to try and kill him had failed, and they had lost him for the time being or were currently trying to design a new creature to try and kill him. Losing his exact position, as well as being unable to tell what he was eating as well, put them on the defense. Rather than sending out a small army to stop him, and causing a huge commotion that would put all eyes on them, the group  responsible would bunker down and prepare for him to come to them. It was smart, if one thought about it, to do such a thing. A captured predator had been growing stronger under their watch and hidden it well, and when caught he had managed to succeed in surviving the attempted killing of it when they had tried to interfere. Now they had two choices. They could give him what he wanted and leave him along for the rest of their lives, which was the leader of the group and nothing else, or they could all perish as he stormed their keep and walked into the core of their fortress to do it by force. It was time for them to choose, right here and now. Rasparov was in the middle of gearing up, grabbing both of his swords and preparing himself for the battle to come. The happy looking butler would hum a upbeat tune, to throw off those that might think something was up, as he made his way to leave a note for the aces and the guild master.

the note left:

Of course, the 'boy' that was being spoken about in the letter was none other than Ruvel. Some would say it was due to the bond that the two shared, though there was not as close of a bond as many thought. Yes, he watched out for his well being. Yes, he trained him to help him better his own powers. But the reason he did not want him to die without him there was known only to the two of them and their summons. The secret Ruvel and his summons help on Rasparov was a great one, an untold truth that would put the homunculus in grave danger should it get out to any single person that was not looking out for him. Even Ruvel was still distrusted, though outwardly he would never say such a thing. He did enjoy his company, and the souls that the female summon would give him, but there was not a complete trust for them.

The letter would be left on each leader's desk while they were away, the creature making sure they were not around as he set it down, before he began to make his trek to the city of Oak Town. To most, the town that was named after a type of tree was a city upon a spherical hill that was more of a font of history than anything else. People roamed from far and wide to wander through the town, looking at ancient artifacts within museums and listening to those that kept the ancient magics of the past alive. Monuments to the great wizards of the past littered the place as one roamed around it, it one were to walk for a while, and if one sought ultimate knowledge of the book variety the town also held what was considered an unrivaled library of magical knowledge and wealth within it's borders. There was so much to do for the everyday person, or mage, in the place. None of it, however, was why the being known as Rasparov Kimovich was visiting the place. No, there was a hidden side to the peaceful town that nearly no one that was there knew about. THAT was why he was on his way there.

Deep in the basements of the library stood a room that seemed to lead to a dead end hallway. At the very end of the hallway seemed to be a statue that was stored there among a variety of tapestries and other such things. It was to this statue to the being would go to once he arrived in town, and after making sure there was no one around to watch him he would break the head of the statue before crushing it beneath his feet. Inside of the rubble was a small key, one similar in looks to a black celestial key, that would be his ticket in to the facility where he had been created. Every person there was in contract with one of these 'fake' keys, and these keys were hidden all throughout Fiore for each person that held a contract. Clearly they had not expected him to ever come for the key, which was why it was left here even after he had gone rogue. Or maybe they did not expect him to enter the highly guarded facility for any reason. After all, he had his freedom for the time being so why would he want to go into a place that would try to capture or kill him as soon as he showed his face? What they did not realize was that, with the absorption of apathy, Rasparov had a near perfect plan of the building as well as the abilities he had gained from absorbing him as well. All of that on top of him improving his own self in all aspects would let him have the advantage when he took them by surprise.

”Open, gate of the Abomination!” The homunculus would point the key out in front of him and allow the artificial realm and being to come forth in a scream of agony. The abomination was a failed creation in the group known as Mox Amori, a group whose whole purpose was to create artificial life that could rival that of a true being that was created through the normal ways in life. Rasparov was one of their creations, a being created through sacrifice of souls, but it had turned out that the only thing that came of it was monsters. Attempts to create Celestial Spirits used parts of celestial keys that were broken up and used for their magical energy to create copies of the original. This resulted in the bubbling, gurgling, pained monstrosity that was now reaching out to him for help. ”No, take me to the facility and then I will put you out of your misery. I will kill those that call themselves our masters, and rid us of the group that thinks themselves the future rulers of this world.” With that said the agonized creature actually touched him, a flash of light filling the room as it did so. Once the flash of light dissipated it would become clear that they had teleported elsewhere.

Moments later, the two would reappear in a small room inside of the facility that was hidden within the ancient ruins. The room, upon a further look, turned out to be a supply closet with cleaning supplies and other materials that were used for the messes that were made. There were plenty of messes to be made, and even more that he was about to create here and now. ”Good boy, now die!” As he said this he would put his palm against the pained creature and devoured it entirely. The knowledge it held, those it had seen and the power it held as a flawed celestial spirit, everything of it was forced into his own knowledge to help him improve even more than he already had. With a brush of hands across his clothing, and his weapons being drawn, the smiling butler would get a murderous look upon his face before opening the door carefully. What was before him was a white hallway, clean as if done hourly, that was empty of all life. So he was in the medical wing, the place where those injured in experiments would put out of their misery so they could not talk about it once released. The place was almost always deserted, likely due to how many died in the experiments instead of being injured, and because of this he would have at least a little bit longer before he really had to begin slicing his way through the opposition that would surely be in his way once he got into the next corridor.

The next corridor turned out to be only a few minutes of slowly making his way through the medical wing, a single door being pushed open to reveal the middle area that looked like an octagonal conduit for people to choose which area they would go to. Each door had a small image above it to signify where it went, though most would be ignored by the being dressed as a butler. The one he had stepped out of held a snake with rings coiled around a rod to signify it was the medical area. Other held a bed, a sword, a cage, and other such things to say that they were sleeping quarters, armory, and prison cells. None of the doors mattered to him, save for one that held what looked to be an open book as the image above it. It stood out among the rest, being highly decorative with multiple different gemstones embedded into it. That was the section he wanted, the research facilities. There he would find the man he was here to kill, as well as the highest amount of security. Once he had sighted the door he would no longer be walking and trying to be sneaky. It was time for battle, and it was time for them all to die. The butler would break out into a sprint as he shoulder slammed the swinging door so that it would suddenly open up to surprise any that were waiting beyond it.

The two guards that were at their post behind it really only got a chance to make startled noises before they would each find a sword sticking through their chests and piercing into their hearts. With no chance to raise the alarm just yet Rasparov would get that much more time to take out as many of the guards as he could before the rest of the compound was on top of him. There was no worry about anyone from the outside getting here, not where the place was located. Sin, the place out by Pergrande that was known for the massive monster spawning problem, was where the facility had been painstakingly buried so that they had a 'protective' bubble around them once they had managed to succeed in the project. A teleport step from Rasparov would bring him close enough to behead another guard before doing a second, longer, teleporting step to impale another through the head just before he could get the chance to hit the panic button on the wall. The humonculus was a warping abomination, the apathetic nature of his kills coming from the familiar being he had devoured to learn of the this place in full detail.

Guards would fall before they could hit alarms, doors would be broken as they were attempted to be shut on him before he could get through. After what felt like eons of time he would get to a single door that was sealed with magic. The butler would put a hand against the door, focusing on the power that he had absorbed from Apathy, and a light would flash from his hand as he released a burst of anti-magic into it. The seal would break, the door shattering at the same time, to reveal an older man that was simply looking at him with a smile as he stood there behind his desk. ”Ah, Rasparov. It really has been a while, my have you grown! The guards, all dead. The alarms never even set off! Truly you are the greatest creation we have had yet here in this facility! Please, do come in! We have much to talk about!” The man would offer a seat to the murderous Kimovich even as he himself sat down. As confused about the situation as he was, Rasparov would humor him for the current moment in time. Taking a seat, though both of of his weapons would remain at the ready to slaughter this old man when it was time, the homunculus would blink slowly at him and turn his head like a confused dog. Even after all this time, the creator was able to bring curiosity into the creation. What was he going to say? Surely he knew why Rasparov was here! He had to hear this out or it would bother him until the end of his time.

”Ah, thank you! I know you came here to kill me, and for very just reasons from someone in your position. My group has been nothing but an evil in your eyes, and we are more definitely a hidden evil to anyone that would find out about us. But that is not why I asked you to sit, I want you to know why. Why have we done this experimentation? Why have we created such horrors and abominations? Think about it Rasparov, think about the current world we live in. We have beings that can manipulate reality, shape-shifting dragons that can take on the form of any person they want. We have gods, demons, devils, angels, other divine beings from all over centering in on this world. War, famine, pestilence, so much is going wrong and no amount of mages can stop such a thing. THAT was why this project began. We create what can protect, and army that only we can control, once that can devour and learn from those that are slain, ones that can infinitely summon armies though a simple key-ring. You were the last of the homunculi tests, the one that must become apex. Knowing that you succeeded, that your own drive to become better makes you want to be just under the gods in strength. With this things are in motion already. More facilities have already been build across multiple countries, planets even, and the production of the perfected beings is already in the works. It cannot be stopped by one individual, and I doubt you will care about gods and abominations killing each other. Your task is done, you are free.” The man would pull out a bottle as he poured a glass of strong liquor for both of them after finishing his little speech.

Awestruck, Rasparov knowing that the man was not lying. With how long he had known him he knew when he was, he had never told him lies about himself or those around him. The drink slid across the table would be accepted as he took a sip of it before sitting it down, the other man quickly drinking the whole glass before throwing the glass off to the side so that the crystalline glass shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. ”I am prepared for death now, my child. I have been dying, the work and effort here has drained more of my life than is actually possible for me to live much longer than the coming months. I actually am glad it's you that ends my life. The creation killing the creator, much more poetic than dying in my sleep. Now, do as you wish.” The man would lean back in his chair, eyes closing as he smiled. He was clearly not scared, he really was prepared for this. Rasparov would stand up, for once feeling a touch of regret for coming here today, before speaking again.

”And if I were to let you live? To simply let you die the way you so do not wish die?” It was made in contempt for this man, to spite him by keeping it on his terms instead.

”Well, then I guess I will die in my sleep. It will be a shame, but I will still be dead in the end. Don't make me beg though, I want you to do this, do what you came to do.” The regret he had felt immediately washed away. This man was still, even in the end, attempting to control him. Why bother? Why disobey? He had planned to do this anyway, of his own free will, and he was not going to stop just because the one he was here to kill wanted it this way. The sudden lunge forward would bring both swords into the man's guts. The death would be slow enough that he could watch for a few minutes before passing. ”The pain, the pain doesn't even register anymore. Thank you for this, son. Now please, go out and do as your programming says.” The man would allow himself to fall to the ground as Rasparov let go, a key falling from his pocket that was clearly one like the one he had used to get here in the first place. The master key, his exit out of here.

Using the key, Rasparov would teleport himself out to Era, a place no one would stop to question him, and would begin heading to the 'home' he had in Onyx Moon. He had a lot to process, and with the main plan done he had more to come up with. The hiccup of the creator being prepared for it had thrown him through a loop, and now he needed to figure out what he wanted to do about all of the unknown facilities that he had learned about. Some could ask why he had not simply absorbed him, but would one really want that much knowledge of what had gone on? Allow a homunculus the knowledge to create more of himself? No, let it die with him. Let it stay in the facilities before they were destroyed or were victorious. It no longer mattered to him, he had only one goal left; Adapt.