genessia | [Action ]

"A gym?" She had moved to the back, leaving the door cracked so she could still speak. "I don't think I have ever been to one. Though I have several hobbies." A pause followed by the hollow sounding clatter of falling cardboard. "... Another stack of pizza boxes. Do you eat anything else?"

"You've never been to a gym?" He sounded confused, but not confused enough to stop reading the magazine he had. Of course to the other comment he just shrugged, not that she could see him. "Strawberry sundaes are good. But back to my point, how have you gone this long without going to a gym?"

"Gyms don't exist where I come from. And you haven't exactly explained what it is yet. So perhaps I've been to an equivalent and not known." There was more noise as Dante's things were cleaned or organized and put back and all the garbage cleaned out. He never saw the maid, though he could feel ripples of her time manipulation.

Dante rolled his eyes as she zipped around the office cleaning. "Gyms are where you go to work out. Seems like it would be better for you than hanging out here so much."

"Work out? I have never really had to do such." She opened a closet, pausing at the bizarre variety of items within. Swords? A guitar? A briefcase that barely fit? A weird lumpy thing that... okay what WAS that?

Well regardless... Sakuya grabbed the briefcase, pulling it out and appearing in front of Dante, setting it on the desk. She hadn't let go of the handle and was talking over any objections he might have. "Find a better place to keep this. There is no room in that closet."

Edited 2018-04-28 08:14 (UTC)

Dante was still reading his magazine as he talked, blissfully unaware that Sakuya was messing with his toy closet. "You should try it sometime. Might help you work some of that excess energy o--" He cut himself off as he realized Pandora had just been dumped on his desk, nearly jumping out of his chair.

"Jesus don't do that. Especially with a verified weapon of mass destruction..." He quickly checks to make sure none of the briefcases weapons had been activated and thankfully all 666 of them were inactive. "I need to get a fucking padlock for that... that closet is off limits."

"Weapon?" She raised an eyebrow. "So I am guessing this is not what it looks like?" She held the lumpy, misshapen Nightmare Beta up rather casually before setting it down next to Pandora. "There were a few swords in there, but also a guitar. I simply concluded you were just storing more of your junk in it."

It was hard to blame her for thinking that.

"You can trust me with handling your weapons. I know how to carry more than just knives."

Edited 2018-04-29 18:12 (UTC)

Dante grumbles and snatches Pandora off the desk before trudging off to the closet and placing it back where it was. "Considering you just dumped a weapon capable of wiping out all life on the planet on my desk without even asking what it was, you'll forgive me if I'm a tad cautious."

She did have a point, though. He probably needed to think of some better way to store things here if only because there are more people that would show an interest in his stash. "This is why you need to go to the gym rather than cleaning my place."

"My apologies. Though I do have enough sense not to open a case with such a design on it. I was under the assumption the weapon was inside the case." Sakuya was frowning slightly. She had been very careful with it... None the less she picked up Nightmare Beta and followed him, rolling the gun from hand to hand. "I doubt a gym has anything to do with me cleaning your place of work. If I did not you would find yourself walled off by pizza boxes and without customers."

She wasn't entirely wrong there.

She moved up next to him, watching him try and fit the suitcase back into the closet. It turns out she had touched quite a few of the devil arms, organizing them so they all fit better in the small space.

"The swords with the faces are rather... Odd."

"We are not--" One of the swords began before Dante shot it a glare, causing it to clam up again. As if to drive his point home, Dante shoved the briefcase into its face. With some effort he managed to close the door, leaning against it for a second as he turned to face Sakuya.

"How many of those did you handle? And for how long?"

Sakuya... gave the sword an odd look. Though living objects was not too far removed from what she was used to. In fact, she used one before.

"How many? Most of them. I did not move the ones on the upper shelf." A shrug. "As for how long..." She held up Nightmare Beta. Still carrying it. She held it out to Dante. "By my perception or yours? By yours it would be several. By mine it would be much longer. You hid quite a lot of trash in there."

Dante snatches the Nightmare out of Sakuya's hands as soon as he sees she's still got it.

"Go sit down. Now. That's not my trash closet, that's my armory. It's where I keep my Devil Arms."

"An armory should be locked, Dante." There was less sass and more actual scolding in that comment. "And if it's not your trash closet be sure trash does not find its way into it."

Regardless she turned and vanished, finding a chair inside to sit on.

"I don't usually have a problem since Trish usually keeps the place sealed when I'm out, and I don't usually have maids poking around 'em."

He was genuinely torn between annoyance and concern. Once he makes sure that Nightmare was deactivated, before tossing it in the closet and forcing the door shut. He sighs, running a hand through his hair, trying to figure out why she didn't pass out or something. Once he finds where she'd sat down, he gives her a pointed look.

"Are you feeling okay? Usually people aren't able to hold Devil Arms without passing out or being possessed or something."

"Well, yes. But if someone was inclined to steal your belongings they could easily break a window and run across them."

She was sitting like she always was. A bit stiffly since she wasn't used to relaxing. The question caught her off guard. And it showed.

"... Possessed?" Genuine surprise. "I am quite fine and still myself. Thank you. I'm no stranger to demons and the influence they can have." She looked thoughtful. "Both my status as the thrall of a powerful vampire and my ability to dip in and out of time have given me a great deal of mental fortitude. Enough to gaze upon the true lunatic moon and remain myself." Though Dante wouldn't fully comprehend the significance of that feat, the pride in her voice was telling.

"Additionally..." A small hesitation. She didn't like talking about the more delicate parts of her abilities. "My soul is bound to my body and my watch. It is a focal point for my abilities but also gives me a great measure of protection."

As she spoke she removed her watch from her hip, holding it up. "It's heavily warded but the physicality of the timepiece makes it a vulnerability. I trust you not to speak of it." A pause. "Or touch it. Improper disconnection can be problematic for me."

Edited 2018-05-03 15:37 (UTC)

"Usually I have someone keeping an eye on the place, or the door is magically sealed."

He sighed, dropping into his desk chair looking like they had just averted a major disaster.

"Those guys don't give a shit. In fact, with your soul being part of your watch or whatever? Probably should take more care around those guys. Those aren't just random weapons, those are the physical manifestation of a demon's soul after they died."

After a moment he stands up and takes the massive sword hanging behind his desk and takes it over to where Sakuya is sitting and holds the hilt out toward her.

"For the best example, touch the hilt. One finger."

"Magical seals are more acceptable." She nodded.

Though the second comment gave her pause, but she didn't comment. She wasn't about to try and describe exactly how her watch worked. That was a question for Patchouil.

He did get a raised brow when Sparda was taken down off the wall. "To make your point you are having me touch the most powerful of these objects? Instead of trying something with less teeth. Figuratively speaking..."

Regardless she did hold out her hand, lightly laying a finger on Sparda's handle.

There was a spark, space-time in the room shivering. Her watch was crackling some, distorting the air around it. Sakuya flinched but didn't pull her hand back.

It became immediately clear just how effective the watch was at its job, Sakuya leveraging her soul to keep herself from buckling. And she smiled. It was a little shaky, but it was clear that this was nowhere near her limit.

"You never have given me enough credit, Dante. Hand me something less potent and I will show you what I can do with it. Those metal arms that make swords perhaps."

Edited 2018-05-04 20:33 (UTC)

Dante sighs and rolls his eyes as he tosses the blade back to the frame where it rehangs itself.

"I had you do that not because he's the strongest, but because I have a special connection to that soul. I can hold my old man back. Not something I can do with the others."

He runs a hand through his hair, making him briefly look far more refined than his usual mop gave him credit for before soothing it back down. "There's no way in hell I'm just starting you out on Lucifer if I let you handle any of 'em."

"Your old man?" A pause. "Why do you own a sword containing your father's soul?"

It was a good question. Though Sakuya quickly moved on.

"Oh? That one is Lucifer?" She laughed. "I expected the 'Lord of Darkness' to be a little more powerful than that. Then agian, I suppose Lucifer was sent to be punished and not to rule."

She crossed her arms. "And I have shown I am more capable and resiliant than you ever thought a human to be. I know you do not fear the competition. Perhaps you simply dislike being wrong."

"That's a long story. And it's not containing his soul, it is his soul. As for Lucifer, you've not seen me really cut loose with it."

He returns to his desk and flops into his chair, propping his feet up on the desk. "So you'd be fine with just letting anyone untrained with them handle your knives? This isn't just a matter of letting you play with my toys or whatever. I don't think you fully understand the power these things hold. For instance..."

Time dilates slightly, something Dante is sure she would feel, considering her talents, however, using a combination of magic, Trickster skills, and Lucifer's abilities, Sakuya would find herself with a veritable cloud of crimson burning swords blocking her vision. "If I wanted to, I could do this with a whole city int the blink of an eye. These things hold enough power to wipe out entire countries at once. I trust you and your abilities, but I'm not going to just hand out weapons with this much power and a soul to try and hijack your body without proper training."

He snaps his fingers as the blades evaporate.

"I do not think of them as mere toys. You know me better than that."

Sakuya continued to stand there with her arms crossed, her foot tapping. She did indeed feel the time dilation. She stood obediently still as the swords were set up, her eyes and head visibly tracking Dante. No matter how he modified time or moved or teleported. She was always looking at him.

She waited for Dante to let the swords evaporate. "A poor analogy. One must see if they are capable of holding a weapon at ready before they are to train with it. My knives are a much more simple tool than your devil arms. It does not take someone exceptional to learn the basics."

She unfolded her arms, straightening her cuffs and vest before patting her hair a few times. "And I have seen the power the weapons are capable of. Additionally, having my body hijacked would not give the weapon access to my power immediately. I have little doubt in my mind you could subdue anyone unfortunate enough to be consumed and leave them with naught but their ego bruised."

He shakes his head, flopping back into his chair, making Lucifer's wings move awkwardly around it. "These guys have all been around longer than humans have existed. They know how to mimic people, and are the pioneers of soul-based magic. I may not know the change has happened until it's too late. It just boils down to I don't have enough real information on how it affects humans and I'm not comfortable using you as a guinea pig."

Sakuya huffed and watched him move to his desk. "I am not fragile, Dante."

She wasn't pushing anymore, though she sounded a bit hurt. She turned and walked around the desk, straightening her cuffs and vanishing. probably off to clean some more. It's how she usually dealt with sulking. She would be around if he needed her.

Dante just sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's not about you being fragile. It's about you being human. These guys just operate on different rules, and even I'm not entirely sure what those rules are."

There's a tense silence for about half an hour until after a while Dante chucked a lumpy object at Sakuya's back. "If you really want to try 'em out you're starting with that one. It at least doesn't have a soul."

Sakuya turned and caught nightmare as it was thrown. She had been mopping at a more normal speed, hovering several inches off the ground. "It lacks a soul?" She looked down at it, turning it over in her hands.

leaning her mop against a corner she drifted over to a desk and began withdrawing knives from her left sleeve cuff, lining up dozens of identical blades before, shaking her hand, she removed the cuff itself. She examined Nightmare one more time before cautiously slipping her hand, wrist, and arm in. She shifted a little uncomfortably, Nightmare making a faint clicking and creaking sound as the elbow joint loosened, allowing her to move her arm more freely.

"... It is rather warm." And from her tone she didn't mean in a good way.

The mouth openedand closed a few times as she flexed her hand. She paused, glancing at Dante, before leveling Nightmare at him. He was the least breakable target, after all. It clicked again as the joint locked, Sakuya faintly raising her eyebrows. Her eyes glowed, her watch sparked, and there was a horrible sound as spacetime distorted. Sakuya nearly lost her footing, grabbing Nightmare as it powered down. She looked more shocked than hurt, fortunately, holding one finger up in Dante's direction.

"Okay... I think I understand how it works..." A breath. "It does not seem to fuel itself and I do not have the raw magic or energy it wants. Give me a moment to think."

Edited 2018-05-13 22:07 (UTC)

Dante just grabs a chair and sits backward in it as she experiments with the weapon, completely unphased. He wasn't expecting her to fire it immediately, but wasn't expecting it to drain her quite that fast.

"That's a beta model of a demon rifle. It's alive, but doesn't have a soul. It will be using your natural magic reserves to power it. It may be unpleasant but it's safer than trying to take over your body. Besides, practice with it enough and you should start to build up your reserves a bit. That said..."

He reaches into his coat and pulls out a small star-shaped glowing rock that looked like a piece of rock candy with a grimacing face engraved on it, and tosses it at Sakuya.

"That is a piece of alchemically created candy that I use to regenerate my magical stores when I exert myself. Nightmare doesn't drain me enough to really notice it, but then again I'm part demon. With the right materials I can make more so eat that and try again."

Sakuya caught the star easily, but she was looking... tense. Nervous almost. "Dante, I do not have natural magic reserves. My abilities come from an innate affinity opposed to a power I must train and hone."

She hesitated, placing the star off to one side before withdrawing her pocket watch. She clicked the top and gave it a flick, both sides springing open. Holding it by the chain, she let the face rest against her palm, exposing the inner workings of the watch.

It glittered. A hundred spells and seals intricately wound together, inscribed on every available surface and impossibly tiny, hidden behind an overly complex ward on the inside of the watch's back cover. Sakuya's natural magical ability was very weak. And to what degree was now painfully obvious.

And strung between the spells; sitting perfectly in every crack and form of the watch was a presence. Wisps of energy that-

And she snapped the watch shut just as quickly, the artifact shoved back into her pocket. She was a little flush though it was more likely shame than embarrassment if her expression was anything to go by. She locked nightmare again, pointing it at Dante. Her eyes were glowing again, brighter, Sakuya placing the star between her teeth.

Slowly. Methodically. Nightmare began to charge.

Edited 2018-05-18 00:12 (UTC)

"You've got a soul, you've got magical reserves. Most people just don't know how to tap into them."

He shrugs a bit, ready to take the arrow that would inevitably be launched at him.

"That's not how it works, Dante. Weapons that aren't self-sustaining are dangerous for me." But she didn't argue further, focusing on a steady charge. It was impressive, really. Her control of energy and how even she had managed to maintain the charge with so little energy. Even if most of it was coming from the Devil Star. This was Sakuya's greatest strength.

Adjusting her stance to compensate for potential recoil, the star Cracked a little in her mouth and Nightmare shivered. She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes, and loosed a barrage of five green tinted bolts. They bounced off the walls and ceiling before angling down at Dante, leaving a monochrome trail of rippled space time in their wake.

Dante very casually blocks each of the bolts with the telltale energy aura of Royal Guard, rolling his eyes slightly as he does.

"That's exactly how it works. At least normally when people don't rip their souls out of their body. You should really get that looked at."

He stands, slowly moving over to retake Nightmare. "Hmm... maybe I should've started you off with Artemis..."

The fact the shots were blocked was somehow very annoying.

"Maybe for you." She huffed and flexed Nightmare again. "In terms of magical reserves I am at my maximum potential. The leverage of my watch and my natural affinity are how I manage my feats of time manipulation. Through skill and talent rather than power."

She began removing Nightmare, handing it back to Dante. It was rather impressive though. Even with such a minimal reserve she had the control to funnel the enough of the devil star's power through herself to successfully charge the weapon with minimal loss. Especially since she didn't have the ability to hold any of that energy in reserve and had no extra buffer to protect herself.

"Do not speak like this beast of a weapon is too much for me to handle." She handed Nightmare back to him. "My control is not in question. But a weapon that is merely a focus for one's own internal energy is not something I am capable of using."

Edited 2018-06-06 01:40 (UTC)

Dante just shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

"For everyone. Magic is just like a muscle. The more you use it, the more you can use it. Using shortcuts and the like ultimately are what hamper you."

He takes Nightmare back, ignoring the hypocrisy of his use of blue and purple orbs. Demons were an exception to most things. He takes the weapon and returns to the closet, quickly retrieving what looked to be a more primitive and skeletal looking weapon that had the same basic shape of Nightmare.

"Try this one. Lower power, but self sufficient."

"Not quite. There are those who do not and never will have the capacity for a great deal of mana regardless of how they practice. Without this leverage my abilities I would exhaust myself quickly. 'Tis why ingenuity had to be implemented over practice. Though it need not have been so drastic had Lady Patchouli been familiar with chronomancy."

Sakuya took Artemis and began strapping it to her forearm. "Alas, it is a rarely studied art due to its difficulty and the investment needed to master. Not to mention the dangers to oneself if proper care is not taken. Fortunately my affinity is such that time itself is second nature to me. Even if I lack the power to manipulate it liberally and safely without assistance."

She leveled the weapon at Dante, charging halfway and firing without issue. She knew he would block it though... She arched a brow, looking down at it for a long moment before vanishing. Dante had a fraction of an instant to register her disappearance before bolts began homing in from all directions followed by a large ball of energy from behind.

Clearly she liked this one.

Dante rolled his eyes for a moment, clearly unconvinced. This time though, the arrows hit their mark and Dante didn't even block them. His body jerked slightly from the impact bot otherwise he didn't seem phased.

"If you want to really unleash what this thing can do you're going to need a bit more practice."

And then the ball hit him in the back. "Though you found that trick faster than I expected."

"Please, this weapon is not exactly difficult to figure out." She vanished again, charged shots firing from a variety of directions followed by three rapid spheres. She flickered in front of him, loosing a mostly charged shot inches from Dante's face, The bolts arced around quite wide, bending and homing in with a steep curve.

It seemed her familiarity with danmaku made it easier to figure out unconventional ways to use the weapon. And the barrage from a plethora of unusual angles was more than a little disorienting.

She ended it with a single knife, hitting Dante square in the chest. She looked quite pleased, already having another shot charged.

"I wonder..." Her wrist shifted slightly, her aim adjusting as she fired once more. This one didn't strike Dante but rather, the knife. The silver shrieked as it was struck, the blade lighting up and bringing out the silver's innate properties. It would split the energy bolts into numerous little ones, zig-zagging them through Dante's body and hurting a lot more than Artemis did on its own.

Sakuya hesitated and Dante would catch the briefest look of concern from the normally stoic maid. She clearly didn't know how violent the reaction would be.

Again, most of the projectiles were blocked by Royal Guard. He let the knife through because he was familiar with it, but didn't expect the arrow to hit the knife and do... that. With a visible wince of pain, Dante grabbed the knife and ripped it out of his chest as fast as possible, throwing it into the nearest wall.

"Do me a favor... don't do that again."

"Ah- Apologies. My knives are designed to let magic or energy flow along the blade. Generally it gives it a bit more punch but it is rarely so violent." Whatever the knife had done it had slowed down his healing factor. Not by much, but it was noticeable.

She walked over to the wall, removing the blade from it and flicking her wrist, causing it to vanish.

"Truth be told, my lack of magic had made it so I have never been able to use my knives properly. I must rely on the ambient magic in the air when they are thrown. True magic is the one skill I have never been able to master... Or even attempt in any capacity."

It made a lot more sense now why Nightmare had been so hard for her to charge. And to the insane degree she had managed to get her control to in order to perform her abilities.

"I am trusting you not to tell anyone about this."

Dante just rolls his eyes, giving a dismissive hand wave. He's not going to tell anyone, and almost seems a tad offended she might doubt that. But it lasts for less than a second before he shrugs it off.

"I'm no Demon engineer, but as far as I can tell, Artemis pulls in energy from the surrounding area, focuses it, and channels it into those arrows. They're not all that powerful compared to Nightmare, but it's still a Devil Arms class weapon."

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I wonder what style Sakuya would use if she had one. Some weird of gunslinger and trickster prob

She's 100% trickster

Mostly, yeah.

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