Facing the Ghosts From the Past

Bea trudged through the thick, heavy brush that had surrounded the long forgotten graveyard with two other mages that she had decided to accompany. Her senses were on high alert as she led the way to the graveyard. Why they weren't leading the way she didn't know, but she wasn't complaining. It would provide her a nice time to her clear her mind on a few things and let the two mages behind her talk. On and on they trudged until they came across the dead, silent graveyard. The clearing contained many graves that had been left abandoned by the people around the place. Ivy and weeds crawled around the tombstones and the statues were cracked and some even broken. It seemed simple, a few graves here and there, but what surprised her the most was that most of the names were faded or not there at all. Only those that belonged to the powerful mages that had roamed  Fiore had their name beautifully preserved. "This place is cursed..." Bea whispered as a shiver ran up her spine, "Nothing good will come of us being here." Bea was a believer in superstitions. Long ago they had proved to be useful, just as long as the person knew which of them were true and how to use them. She did not at all know why she was here only that Kaseki had asked her to accompany them. It was an adventure, but she couldn't help the feeling of dread that engulfed her. Why were they here? What was their purpose? She silently moved through the place, her footsteps echoing all around her. "What exactly are we looking for?" She asked the two mages as she knelt down besides a lone grave. She pulled out her dragon lighter and flicked it open. The warm glow of the flame flickered, provided her enough light to see the dusty name on the grave. With her free hand, she wiped the name plate from all the dust it had accumilated over the years. What she saw next caused her to stumble back. The last half of the name plate spelled the name 'e T. Black.' Bea had enough. "I-I can't..." She closed her eyes tight and opened them again. The name plate now appeared blank. She shook her head and grabbed her lighter, walking over to the mages. "Let's hurry up before I loose my mind." She said simply.

John walked in silence behind the girl that lead them through the graveyard, he didn't need a guide to find the grave, but apparently the thing called Kaseki had insited, why he didn't understand. "This place is cursed..." John heard the young girl say as they moved further into the graveyard. "No it isn't." he said and continued to walk along the path.

Raising a brow at the girl as she lighted a lighter of sorts and then stumbled backwards after looking at a tombstone. He sighed and resisted the urge to just send her back to the entrance, instead when she came up to him and Kaseki he looked at her,tilting his head and pushing her forward slightly. "Stop complaining." he said and kept moving forward towards their goal.

Kaseki walked on, now before the two. It appeared that Bea had some fears about the place, while Mr.Walker had his doubts. Kaseki walked through the mist of the randomly places headstones reading the names.

Shini Chikai

He read the name of his fallen friend, thinking about his adventures. "Perhaps I should tell you both... But long ago... I died once." Kaseki began his tale, "It was the only time in my life that my father ever came for me. It was frightening. He simply told me, 'It is not your time, son, I will let you know when that is.' he told me..."

Kusatta Kurada

Kaseki walked through. He could read more names as he walked forth. Something was strange about this place. "I've been to many worlds. I've made a lot of friends. The one thing I regret... is leaving Yamugakure behind. But Kodai changed that."

Kabuto Karakaro

Kaseki began to laugh. "In that land I forgot my own name, where I was from. I called myself Kabuto... It was a... very strange time."

Edward Elric

"I wandered worlds for a place to call home. I made Yamugakure for that reason..." he began to chuckle, "It was my first Dragon Fang." The graveyard seemed to wrap itself around the trio. The mist grew thick, grave stones littered the ground.

Aoi Rokusho

Kaseki seemed to grow insane, his memories flooded his mind. "There are things... I'm not proud of. There were people that taught me so much. They trained me to kill, the very thing I tried hard not to do..." Kaseki's words grew weak, and shaky, as if he was on the verge of tears. "I never buried any of my friends... My father took everything away. He took them to another world..." Then he stopped.

Dregon Knighthunter

Kaseki fell to his knees. It was a beaten and aged stone. Kaseki started to punch the ground. The name was not an illusion... however behind it lay other stones.

Dregon Kuraikage
Dregon Karakao
Dregon Beifong
Dregon Uzichia...

"I never seem to save you. WHY CAN'T I SAVE YOU?!" Kaseki began to tear the ground apart as he punched it repeatedly. Tears began to flow like a river down his face. "WHY MUST THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?!" He screamed at the ground...

Just then a portal seemed to open up from behind the headstone. It was smokey in color. It seemed to just be ball of fog, but that wasn't the cast It seemed to be from another world, however godly. Then a familiar angel passed through it, the angel that all creatures have heard of...

He was dressed in the night sky and smelled of the end of life. His skin was a pale white... no, a yellow... actually, the angel wore no skin. He was simply bones. He held the tool to reap crops.

He was Kaseki's father, the Angel of Death. "Son, you know his fate as much as I. Your brother never lived, nor died. He hast not existed nor created. He is destined to his own fate." Kaseki looked up at the hooded man, "... And why have you never saved him... You promised me... you promised me..."

"His soul belongs not to my realm, nor of Heaven and Hell." the figure placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "He lives as long as you believe in him, son." The reaper looked up to the other two that Kaseki had been with. "Ms.Black, and Mr.Walker, greetings. I assume I need no introduction, you seem to know who I am, if that is not the case, then Kaseki will tell you."

"You promised me..." Kaseki said in a dying voice.

"You're not the one who saw their name in a tombstone." She grumbled silently as she was pushed slightly foward. It would have gone unnoticed by anyone else, but as she was one to notice the slightest of details she felt the little nudge. She bit back a further retort and made her way through the graveyard. She did not like this place at all. She believed the place cursed and it was later confirmed when Kaseki began seeing names of his past come to haunt him. She, too, saw the names of her fallen comrades and parents. Bea could not stop the pang of longing and regret. Her heart squeezed tight yet she did say a word and continued onward. The dead were better off dead, she always believed, better to bury them and leave them at rest.

It was not long before Kaseki began telling the tale of his past until he reached a tombstone shaped differently from the rest. He saw a name she could not see, but by his reactions she could tell it was not good at all. She watched silently as the demon fell to his knees and pounded the earth with fury and sorrow. "I never seem to save you. WHY CAN'T I SAVE YOU?!" Kaseki began to cry, continuing his repeated assault on the ground. "WHY MUST THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?!" He screamed at the ground. In that instant, there was a ball of black mist forming and a portal of some kind appeared right above the tombstone. She felt the godly and familiar vibe coming through it. Bea felt a stir in her mind- the connection of the Phoenix link. Death..., rang the sound of a voice in her head that felt like rivers of warm honey. It had been a long time since the Phoenix had called to her. As the Phoenix had stated, the angel of death appear through the ghostly portal and made his way to Kaseki, his son, the demon of life. She felt the hum of the link tone down until it was barely audible, but she knew that it was there, watching and observing.

The freedom fighter stood quietly in the sidelines as father and son talked. "His soul belongs not to my realm, nor of Heaven and Hell." The angel said trying to comfort his son, "He lives as long as you believe in him, son." The reaper's gaze turned from his son to John and herself. "Ms.Black, and Mr.Walker, greetings. I assume I need no introduction, you seem to know who I am, if that is not the case, then Kaseki will tell you."

Bea smiled warmly and gave a bow in formality and respect. "I believe I know who you are, Mr. Death. More so when I join this place." Her hands swept the graves nonchalantly, "Although that won't be for a very, very long time." The hum suddenly grew louder, giving her a splitting headache but she was able to remain her warm demeanor without so much as a flinch. Although she had never had contact with death himself even with her near death encounters, the Phoenix had and she was able to grab ahold of the memories. Interesting, she thought to herself as she shifted through them. After a moment and pausing at one memory in particular, her eyes grew wide and she turned her gaze to both of her fellow comrades, finally realized why they were all there. Life... the sound rang yet again, this time singing the single word. Life...

John walked onwards further into the cemetery, he heard Kaseki speak although he didn't turn to look at the strange being. Instead he just listened and walked along until he heard Kaseki stop and punch the ground, raising his brow he turned around and watched him as he began to cry. His behaviour was... strange. John looked over at the girl to see how she reacted to this, strangely enough, she didn't seem so surprised at a glance.

Looking back at Kaseki John saw a smoky colored fog appear and with it another being whom seemed to be Kaseki's father. Now this was all kinds of strange but John was slightly sceptical, he knew about illusion mages and what they could do, but perhaps this wasn't an illusion. He listened to the father and son speak for a while before he heard the angel mention him. John had his guesses on who it was, but the thought that he stood in front of Death himself sounded quite silly in his head, although John had been there once before.

"Death, we meet once more." John said calmly and folded his arms, tilting his head slightly he glanced over at the small girl who seemed to be quite intrigued by Death's choice to appear before them. John looked back up at the Angel of Death and raised a brow at him, although covered by the bandages that was wrapped around his face. "Whether you let me live out of pity or you did it to curse me, I have yet to figure out."

"Ms.Black, and Mr.Walker, your destiny has already been decided. Any word that may fall from my mouth could sidetrack you. I've done it once, I shalln't do it again." The reaper looked over at Kaseki. He watched him cry for a moment or so, then he stared the at the mages again, "However, certain beings can literally carve their timeline into the world. These are the few people who can craft their destiny. These are people who's future cannot be defined, these are the immortals. These are people who fool Father Time." Death found that his story could take some time. Realizing that, he took a seat on the ground.

"Kaseki's life had been interrupted, making him one of these Destiny Carvers. The only things that were revealed to his uncle and I, was Dragon Fang." he gave a creepy yet warm smile. "I saw who was involved, and by fate... let them live. So yes, you could say I saved you for the purpose of Dragon Fang. But your choice is yours, I may take your soul at anytime you ask."

"...Promised..." Kaseki uttered.

"But for your troubles, I will grant you a wish... given that your wish is about life or Death. Is there something you two would want?" he asked.

Bea listened to what the angel of Death had to say without uttering a word. Her face remained expressionless and her movements were incredibly kept to the minimum. What had she to say or do? Out of respect, she had gone, but she wasn't part of what was going on that night. It wasn't until Death offered them a wish that Bea gave her fullest attention. Without a word, she turned to the bandaged mage and awaited his reply. They were here for him after all.

((ooc: i honestly had no idea what to write...))