Kaseki and His Other Half (Open to all Lamia Scale Members)

Kihia didn't budge from his stance holding Icarus at Kaseki, he was confused with this entire ordeal, but he had a feeling he know what he could do. "Kaseki, fight this presence within you... do it for your family in the guild, as well as the guild itself... we are your family as well as much as your real family... That is one thing I have learned from being here... fight this Kodai... repress him and show that you are yourself... not him..." Kihia had said this with a piercing gaze staring straight into Kaseki's.

"The battle is yours to fight Kaseki...and for us to support you... but if you fail at your struggle we will have no choice but to defend the guild, for we are a family and we are united... " Kihia fell silent unwavering from his stance or his gaze, he knew...the only one who would decide this battle...was Kaseki himself...

Kaseki heard Kihia's words. "...do it for your family..." "My... family?" he thought. Then he heard the second strand, "The battle is yours to fight Kaseki...and for us to support you.." "My... My fight?"

His Mind:

Within his own mind he sent himself into a deep abyss. Something, he felt something. Kaseki felt is heart tie up and untie itself. Those words struck him. He thought about his travels, all of the friends he made, and those he had yet to meet. Then he thought of one more face. Hers.

"I must fight Kodai. I must win, if not for me, for Lamia. If not Lamia, then for Maria. If not For Maria, then... for her." Kaseki reached deep into his own soul for strength. "Kodai cannot win, not today. Not in this life, nor the next. I have a family to protect.

On the outside Kaseki began to cry. "For... My family." his tears ran down his face. It seemed to be his own private waterfall from his face. But the battle wasn't over. "KASEKI, GO BACK, THIS IS NO PLACE FOR YOU." his body screamed. He, tears falling replied to himself. "K-Kodai, it is you... that must vanish." The body was being torn between two souls, two voices, two very different paths of life. "KASEKI, GIVE UP, GIVE IN, I AM THE STRONGER ONE!!" The body began to grow loud, almost roaring. "No Kodai, it is I who will be victorious..." The body began to wiggle and squirm within the ice prison. His body needed to be free, yet he had no powers to do so. "FOOLISH KIN!! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME IN THIS STATE, YOUR FRIENDS HAVE FROZEN OUR BODY. YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME. NEVER!!"

The body began to grow discolored. The skin grew cold, the cloak nearly frozen. "Kodai... it is you who must escape me... and I will never let evil escape me..." The body said, calmly. "KASEKI, YOUR FEEBLE ATTEMPTS TO FIGHT THE MAGIC OF YOUR FRIENDS WOULD KILL YOU, IT WOULD KILL YOU!! BUT ME?? I WILL BE FREE!!"

The body was soaked from it's own tears, only before it said one last thing. "Do you not feel it? I am already winning. Soon you will be gone... Give in, brother."

Aegiel's eyes widened as Kaseki's body began to discolor, turning a shade of ugly brown. "Kihia, unfreeze him! Your killing him!" He was reasonably sure that even if Kaseki were to suddenly go on the offensive, he could contain him. He was half-dead already, besides. Aegiel would have paralyzed Kodai already, but he wasn't sure if that would interfere with Kaseki's inner battle. He sighed. This was so complicated.

Ren lifted up his head after the 11th consecutive fall. "He's okay?!" Ren yelled over to Kihia. "If he's hurt I'll help!" Ren offered, not daring to get up. "The guildmaster is going to be so proud! I actually aimed with my eyes shut and I didn't miss!" Ren chirped, slowly crawling his way over to Kaseki. "That was... Definitely the most unique entrance I've ever seen. But hey, at least everyone's alive!"

"Indeed," Cyrus said, lowering his weapon. "I believe that Kihia and Kaseki can handle this. Be prepared, however, to step in if need be Sir Ren and Sir Aegiel. You never know what could happen." As he was advising his friends, he kept careful eye on his friend who appeared to be setting himself free from the demon. Hopefully this could all be resolved in the next few moments but no one could tell for certain what would happen. Of course, the same could be said for anything that happened in Lamia Scale, but this was more intense than anything Cyrus had ever been a part of.

Kihia watched as Kaseki began struggle against his own inner demons, It should be safe to dispell the spear trap.... Kihia channeled his magical power and released a bit off it into the ice sheet. The poles that were pinning Kaseki faded away freeing him.

As a precaution he began to channel is magical energy into Icarus preparing for what may come, "Don't give up fighting Kaseki, win this battle..."

Kaseki's insanity increased. He fell from Kihia frozen grip. Kaseki tore off his cloak and cast it aside. He began to mumble to himself, quite loudly.

"Get... Get out... all of you... Kodai... Kill... Heroes... family... No one..."

The Panic Attack:

The cloak began to shed it's frosty shell and it crawled back onto Kaseki's body. It was almost alive, like a curse. "Everyone..." Kaseki said from behind his hands. Although it was behind a barrier it seemed to be as if he stood before them, calm and collected. "I know of your concern, I thank you." said the voice. Kaseki began to grip his own skull, almost murmuring a scream to himself. He was fighting a literal inner demon. "This is no place for me, Ren, Cyrus, Kihia, Aegiel. I wish I were able to stay, but I must leave, for the sake of the guild. Long live Lamia."

Kaseki ripped his hands from his face. His eyes started to glow a bright red and his teeth grew to a larger size. Only in this moment was it revealed how sharp Kaseki's teeth were. It was that that you imagine a large wolf demon from hell. His teeth seemed to be an inch tall, and half its' length in its' width.

Kaseki looked into the eyes of Kihia, then Cyrus, then Aegiel then he stopped at Ren. "You, my water kin..." Kaseki seemed to speak with the voice of Kodai. His mood was more serene and his composure more collected, as well as he held zero hostility in his voice. "Perhaps on day we will meet again. Together we can drown the evils and cleanse the world. Together we can master our power." He looked at the boy dressed in green. "You silenced me and my friend. With that you gave me time to fight."He looked at he face of the white haired mage. "Cyrus, my healer. Take what you have learned from me today. There is an evil in all of us, we fight it day to day, and sometimes it wins. But just because it wins does not mean we stop fighting." Kaseki's crimson eyes moved to that of the Ice Mage. "Kihia, you have saved me, thank you."

Kaseki began to stand up, on leg at time. His foot a mud brown, his roots wilted and dead. Leaves fell from his body. It seemed as if autumn had begun in Lamia.

Kaseki turned his back to his friends and the guild. He leaned on the door frame with his arm. He glanced behind him. "This is no place for me. Not yet. I will return my friends. I will return." Kaseki inhaled deeply, struggling. The sun started to shine over his wooden complexion. His face was scarred.

"I am Kaseki today, but tomorrow I may become Kodai. As I grow strong, so will he. I am at constant war with myself. I am a ticking time bomb. Heh" Kaseki began to laugh and he looked beyond the guild. "You were all willing to lay your life on the line to save and or kill me. You did this for yourselves and Lamia... your family. Heheh." He started to take a step down the stairs down the front of the guild. "I am sorry about the mess... Of myself and the blood. It's my time to leave. I may not be Lamia Scale, but I will be a hero."
Kaseki coughed and spat an amber liquid at his last word. He seemed joyed, yet defeated.

"Tell everyone what happened today... tell everyone..."

Aegiel looked on in horror as his former guild mate walked out of Lamia Scale for good. His feet wouldn't move, and for the first time in years, he had no words. A memory wrought of leaping flames and barbed thorns flashed through his head. His curse. This is my fault. Everything is my fault. He should leave with Kaseki, right now. But he wouldn't. He was a coward, and he was too attatched to his guild to leave it, even for the sake of his companions. So he could only watched as Kaseki/Kodai limped his way out the door, alone.