Elias solemnly prepared for the day. Something in the back of his head told him it was time to meet Lord Srox. Her message had been cryptic enough. But somehow he had been able to read between the lines and find the exact location for their meeting. Or at least he thought he did. It was an unusually large distance outside of Alliance space after all. The wizard donned a set of wizardly robes and strapped his new sword, Aiwenor, to his waist. He packed up his satchel with his personal spellbook, two wands, and a revolver before grabbing his staff and heading out the door. One of the other feelings he got from this meeting was danger and Elias certainly couldn't allow himself to be caught unprepared. He left for the landing bays. 

The wizard quickly activated a dozen golems and ordered them to crew one of the handful of Alliance Corvettes sitting in the hangar and boarded the elegant ship. He turned around for a moment to check for anyone following him, only noting a pair of guards standing near the door. They nodded in acknowledgment and Elias marched towards the bridge to prepare for takeoff. Then Elias realized.

Did he remember to leave the wards on?

Kitty was beyond pissed, only reason she didn't leave the hiding place she had found inside Elias's ship right now was because she was afraid she would cut his head off before he could attempt to explain himself. She had found the books in his room, the books he had hidden from her, and upon seeing a suitcase out and some of his clothes missing from the wardrobe, the hurt had settled in under the anger. He had planned on leaving without saying a word to her. 

So Kitty hid, and she stewed in her feelings for a period of time, now she was trying to reign them in so she wouldn't kill him. Kitty also had to work on keeping the temperature under control, any rise in temperature and the golems or the ships systems might get suspicious. She had to wait until they were in the air before she came out, that way he couldn't just simply kick her off.

For a moment, Elias thought he could hear the clapping of shoes against stone and metal. He glanced around for a moment and quickly brushed the thought from his mind. Thoughts and questioned swirled through the wizard's mind. Who was Lord Srox, and why did she want to meet Elias so bad? Many things about her writing and messages suggested Elias already knew who Srox was, or at least Srox had some reason to know who Elias was. He decided to put his money on the former. There was no way Elias could have been very well known in the galaxy yet. He's only recently escaped from UEG space and had hardly bothered to make a name for himself in the greater galaxy.

The wizard inputted coordinates for a planet well outside of Alliance space and the Alliance Corvette launched with a smooth rumble. The golems deftly piloted the ship off planet and engaged it's warp drive, or whatever variant of FTL the Alliance used, Elias hadn't spent much time reading up on it. What he did do, however, was pull a fantasy novel he'd remembered to stick in his bag and walk towards his room to start some light reading to pass the journey ahead.

Kitty could hear Elias approaching, it made her blood boil and a pin slide into her heart. If only he had just told her about the books, if he had just told her that he was leaving. But he didn't, Kitty wondered if the fact had ever crossed his mind. She was sitting on the corner of his bed, one leg crossed over the other as she sharpened one of the many knives she usually carried. Her mouth was drawn into a line, only moving so she could blow a stray red curl out of her face. She was wearing a tight fitting sleeveless purple turtleneck with a cut out up top, a long black over coat over it. Dark black jeans were tucked into knee high tightly laced combat boots, a sword hanging at her waist. The void tomes were on the bed next to her. 

The vampire looked deadly calm as she waited for Elias to open the door, but the tips of her hair were starting to flicker with fire, the only sign of her anger. Poor Elias.

The pats of Elias' leather boots echoed down the silent hallway. He continued contemplating the circumstances of the journey itself. Much of it felt strange, yet at the same time, Elias knew it was something he had to do. Call it compulsion if you will, but something in Elias said he would regret refraining from going at all. In the same key, he also knew Kitty would be majorly pissed if she figured out that he went off-world to a potentially dangerous meeting without telling her. Even more so if she found the void tomes. Elias had hidden them under his bed with an extremely intracate ward around them designed to mask their magical and physical cold, which was also something he had to renew every couple of days, and now he was absolutely sure he'd forgotten to redo it.

"Well shit," Elias muttered to himself as he balanced his staff in the crook of his arm to open the door. He was greeted by Kitty with a pair of long knives and a murderous glare in her eyes. Without a word, Elias slammed the door shut and started sprinting down the hallway.

Kitty dropped the knife in her hands and with a flick of her wrist, she teleported herself right in front of a sprinting Elias. She grabbed him by the shoulders before he slammed into her, then swiftly turning and slamming him against the wall. Surprisingly, Kitty closed the space between the two of them and kissed Elias firmly and fiercely. But when she pulled away, her hand cracked across his face, despite how mad she was she was careful to not put too much force into the slap. Enough to sting and leave a red mark, but not enough to accidentally snap his neck. "You're a piece of shit." Kitty stepped away from Elias, her arms crossed over her chest. 

A mixture of anger and hurt was reflected in Kitty's eyes, "You ask me to go on a date with you, we sleep together, you ask me to be in a relation ship with you. But the whole time you were hiding things from me. Void magic? Seriously Elias? That could kill you you absolute dumb ass!" She was yelling at him, her hair was pure flickering flames now and she looked like she wanted to kill him. "And now you don't even say goodbye to me when you decide to suddenly up and leave the planet. Did I ever even cross your mind Elias? Seriously!? You say you want to be in a relationship with me, but you don't even..." Kitty let out a sound of anger and anguish, but when she looked him in the eye to glare at him, her eyes were filled with hurt and looked a little watery. She had trusted Elias, and trusting people was hard for her to do. 

Her hands were clenched into fists at her side, "I hope you enjoyed that kiss Elias, it's the last one you'll be getting for a long time. Dick." She spat at him before she turned, starting to stomp off towards the bedroom that was the farthest from Elias's.

Elias had only made it a few steps down the hall before Kitty flashed ahead, caught Elias at full speed, and slammed him into the wall. He did nothing to resist, knowing full well that he deserved every word thrown at him, and probably even more. Despite the anger in her eyes, Elias could see a small twinkle of hurt beneath them. The wizard quickly moved to catch up to Kitty and clasped a hand over one of her fists.

"Sorry," He muttered, the regret was evident in his voice, "Even if I don't have anything to defend myself with." Elias tossed ideas around in his head. Words and phrases that would hopefully help get Kitty to forgive him. "I wanted to avoid a confrontation like this to begin with, except it's too late now."

Elias explained the details of the drone and the books over several weeks, explaining that he never actually practiced the magic except for the meditation detailed in the third book and that he had chosen not to brand himself with the mark of void magic.

"Besides," Elias finished, "I want to figure out who this Lord Srox person is before I even bother to practice the stuff." He paused for a moment before continuing, "And you can come with me if you want. Though I'd rather do the talking myself."

The two felt the corvette pop out of orbit and begin descending through the atmosphere of the unknown planet towards a specific set of landing coordinates Elias had inputted through instinct.

Kitty listened to Elias talk, she couldn't deny the tingles she felt when Elias put his hand over her fist, but her face didn't betray any emotion as she listened. When he was finished Kitty no longer seemed as angry, but the hurt definitely stayed. "If you wanted to avoid a confrontation you should have told me about the books and that you were leaving earlier. I don't...I don't think I can trust you anymore." She looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke, her eyes a mixture of cold and hurt. "You did all of this behind my back." 

Kitty continued to look him straight in the eyes, even as the hurt overpowered the cold. "Do you know why I approached you on Reach? Because I thought you had potential, and that you were in the wrong and deadly place to utilize that potential. I wanted to teach you how to protect yourself. I wanted to help you. And you went behind my back." With a sigh she retreated to the bedroom door, giving Elias one last glance. She wasn't angry, now she just felt hurt and betrayed. Elias would have to build up her trust again. Then she disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

The ship left warp and it appeared over a twisted black and brown planet. There were already a few Nypherian Battle Cruisers in orbit. The ship Elias and Kitty were in got scanned by the small fleet. In that moment, they turned back their weapons and began to let them through, as if someone knew who it was. Directions popped on his screen and direction Elias to a specific spot on the planet. Pass the ozone layer, the planet had very little vegetation. A small gust of wind wiped around the ship as it landed. A familiar presence washed over Elias as he could feel something far off. An old temple rested on a hill off in the distance. Obvious enough that the temple had been built into the hill. The grounds between the ship and temple seemed to be barely alive. The few patches of grass and the small bushes that dotted the landscape. The closer Elias had gotten, the more familiar the presence got. There is also another feeling of anger and dark void magic.
              

Temple itself seemed to be falling apart. The old statues had fallen apart so much it’s hard to tell who they use to be. Thin vines had grown over most of the temple but there is something Elias would recognize from the books he read. A symbol rested on the front of the temple. This is the Temple of Void Lord Taelonso Grim and Elias could recognize this from his books. The passage why towards the temple had been long and filled with dust. The grounds were littered with fresh kills and all of them had been cut by a plasma blade. At the end of the tunnel there is a chamber that opens into a large room. It is dimly lit and there at some alter stood a cloaked figure.

Elias had made it back to the bridge by now. He noted a handful of gigantic battlecruisers floating over the planet. For what reason, the wizard didn't know, but he got the strange feeling they had something to do with Lord Srox and the planet below. A pit of nervousness formed in the bottom of his stomach as the corvette bumped into it's landing. He walked towards kitty's room and knocked lightly on the door.

"I'm leaving," He said, his voice muffled by a layer of wood and steel. The wizard didn't wait for a response as he left and descended the boarding ramp. He shivered with the faint lingering of death surrounding him. Everything about the surface of the planet felt bleak and grey. Needless to say, Elias hated it. He gripped his staff a little bit more tightly and shifted his sword for easier access.

It didn't take long for him to walk up a set of dramatic steps towards an ancient and decrepit temple with the sigil of Void Lord Taelonso Grim. A dangerous and powerful place likely filled with artifacts of the void, if it hadn't already been emptied out by soldiers in the battlecruisers above. Elias' footsteps echoed in the airy chamber within. Crumbling pillars depicting some kind of ancient void tradition surrounded the massive room, the floor of which which was emblazoned with the same, but heavily cracked void sigil as outside.

"Lord Srox," Elias called out, "I've arrived." He began channeling a flow of magic through his staff in preparation for whatever came next. His left hand rested readily on the Aiwenor's hilt.

Kitty's door opened as soon as Elias had turned from it, a sword was strapped to her hip and a gun holster was strapped to the other hip. Wrapped around her thighs were sheathes, 8 knives decorating each thigh sheath. She was walking quietly behind him down the ramp, she too could sense and smell the death lingering in the temple. When she saw him shiver a quiet sigh left her, and she moved faster so she could slip her hand into his free one, despite the fact that she was upset with him she wanted him to know he wasn't alone on this planet. For now, Kitty could put her own feelings aside. 

When they reached the massive pillared room Kitty pulled her hand from Elias's, allowing him to rest his left hand on his sword. Her own hand rested on her sword, looking at the cloaked figure. She sniffed the air, a familiar scent reaching her. She knew that smell, but she glanced to Elias and stayed quiet. He did say he wanted to do the talking.

A01 Nypherian SF soldiers walked out of the shadows. They were about to aim their weapons at the two, “Leave it…” the Soldiers stepped back but they kept their gaze upon the two of them. The cloaked figure didn’t turn around as they figure faced the artifact in front. The figure picked up the artifact and motioned for a soldier over. Handing the artifact to the soldier and turning to look at Elias and Kitty. “We meet again, Bambi…” the figure said as it removed the mask. It was or use to be Atir but no more. That emotion that Elias use to see on her eyes was no longer there. Instead is felt and looked annoyed but calm. Her eye color had changed from blue to orange. Her arms rest carefully at their sides but she kept a stance ready for anything. “You found me, what now? I don’t have time for a fight and I got what I came here for. What do you want?” as she finished. Another group of Nypherian soldiers appeared behind them. They kept their distance as Lord Srox waved them off. She never wanted any conformation of a fight. She had a plan to keep and a time schedule to uphold.
               

She never took her eyes of Elias. She could feel the magic that Kittania had taught him. Though, she is curious as to why Kittania had shown up with him. “Why is she here? Before you explain, if it’s to make sure you don’t get hurt, I don’t want to hear it. If I wanted you to die, I wouldn’t have told the ships not to fire.” She grunted in annoyance.

After Elias spoke, dozens of robots stepped out of the shadows and a cloaked figure revealed herself. Lord Srox. She looked more familiar now that Elias had seen her with his own eyes. It was paired with a faint magical aura Elias recognized. The moment she said Bambi, Elias knew exactly who she was.

"Blue," Elias growled under his breath. The flow of magic increased as he gripped his staff. It grew even greater the more Blue talked. Stuff about her artifact and not being there fore a fight yadda yadda yadda. The words simply slipped past Elias' ears until he had an unseen and unfelt whirlwind of magic surrounding him.

"What do I want," Elias mused, "I wanted to know who you were. You filthy TRAITOR." Elias' voice had risen to a shout and lightning began crackling along his staff. He spun it a few times and slammed on the floor and a deafening crackle of lightning erupted through the temple. Arcs of blinding white electricity jumped to each Nypherian soldier it passed as the central bolt traveled towards Blue at blinding speed. Elias followed up by drawing his sword and waiting for Blue's response.

Kitty was surprised by Elias's sudden anger, but still said nothing as she took a step back from Elias so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Leaning against a wall, she glared at the robots, then bent down and snagged a knife from her sheath. She used it to clean her nails, looking slightly bored as she watched the events unfold from the corner of her eye.

Blue just kept talking. Saying things about no interest in fighting as if nothing but her own desires were anyone's problem. It's not like Elias had any interest in having a mantle passed to him.

"You left with no explanation and gave me a title I didn't deserve or even want," Elias seethed, "And now you ask me to join your shitty Void Cult just because you asked?" 

Without warning, Elias used launched several explosive fireballs directly towards Blue and dashed forward at blinding speed with the power of Aiwenor's enchantments. He opened with a lightning quick stab to Blue's neck and followed with a backstep while launching a blast of wind intended to slam Atir back into the wall behind her.

Lord Srox simply listened to what he had to say. Though, she never really cared what he had to say. She simply let him. Never made any kind of emotional response to his words nor his insults. She could feel his anger growing and she knew he wanted to attack her. Her right hand lifted and she held her Void-Saber. She hadn’t turned it on until Elias fire balls of fire at her. With a flash of red, her sword came on and danced threw the balls of fire, causing them to explode on contact. With a brilliance of speed, Elias charged at her and she simply side stepped to the right avoiding the jab at her neck and smacking the other jab with her left hand. Elias sent a wave of magic that erupted into a blast of wind. She bent her knees and released her own form of magic to protect herself. She retracted her sword and stepped away from Elias. The Nypherian Soldiers didn’t shoot nor did they make any move unless Lord Srox ordered it.

On the Nypherian ships, they detected the use of magic and responded with haste. Drop ships left and more Nypherian soldiers were on the way. At the temple, Lord Srox kept her distance but made no motion towards kitty or Elias. “Your emotions are not balanced. They will betray you one day if you don’t have focus. I also hadn’t asked you to join a “Cult” nor any group. I wanted you prepared for what’s coming. Think for once! Where are we? Whose temple is this? You read the books I gave you. You also practiced a bit. The last book I gave you also warned you of a Prophecy. I left because I have my duty towards my people and to make sure HE doesn’t get what he wants. I think you know whom I speak of.”

Kitty pushed off the wall, fixing Atir with a cold stare. "You're as pathetic as you were before, Lady Blue. Dragging others into your wars is cruel and cowardly." Then Kitty left the room, giving Atir a one finger salute over her shoulder. When she caught up with Elias she walked beside him, but did not take his hand again. "Where to now? Back to Phoenix Spire?"

"I have an idea..." a deepening voice said in front of them. Asmodians stood in front of them. There were to cloaked figures and a large 10 foot demonic figure standing behind them. Above them in the sky, the Asmodians were in combat with the Nypherians over the planet. Nypherians walked out of the temple along with Lord Srox. She glared are the new group. "Kitty, I see you're still as retarded as ever. I never asked the boy to come here nor did I ask him to "join" me in the war. Next time, you let the adults talk, child." she said as she shoved she aside and walked passed her.

"What are you doing here, Anu Mau?" the large demonic creature laughed. "You're here for the chalice of Taleonso. I can't allow that. Though, I see you have the parasite and obviously the boy who's....by god he is sleeping with her. That's disgusting..." he said mocking Elias and Kitty.  "Though, I wont have to go far to look for my first meal." Anu Mau said with a laugh. "I don't care if you eat the bitch. You're not touching Elias and I swear to the Void Elias." she retorted ." And, You better have learned something besides sucking face.." redirecting her annoyance towards Elias.

Lord Srox snapped back at Kitty's comment with a ferocity similar to the Blue he remembered. Elias carefully hid a little smile as he stepped back into the grayish light of the barren world outside, only to be greeted by the flashes of battle and a cloaked giant just outside. Srox addressed the being as Anu Mau, the very same being from the ancient void tomes Srox had given Elias. 

The wizard thrusted his staff forward and with a quick flash of magic, he conjured a transparent glasslike barrier of hardened light between himself and the being. Elais' face betrayed no emotion as Anu Mau addressed him, instead he focused on keeping up the barrier between themselves and the monster. Atir asked Elias if he'd learned anything new.

"Oh I've learned a thing or two," Elias replied. Aiwenor flashed out from it's scabbard, "And I know that this is NOT the kind of guy I want to deal with." Carefully ensuring the barrier would stay up, Elias grabbed Kitty by the waist with his staff hand and with a burst of wind magic from Aiwenor, flashed back into the temple.

Kitty decided to ignore most of Atir's comment, but let out a scoff when she called her a child. "I am 1516 years old, you are the child you ignorant worm. If you didn't mean anything to Elias I'd snap your spine and give you to the Ghost Rider as a chew toy. I wonder, what sins do you have under your belt Smurfette? Or is Daddy issues all you have?" With a roll of her eyes she looked back to Anu Mau, with just a sniff of the air she could tell he was a demon or maybe something similar, a sigh escaping her as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"What is with demons or whatever you are and power complexes? Why do all of you have to go after power constantly? Its boring and unoriginal. Jesus you're pretty much the average comic book super villain, hell bent on destroying or devouring the world and blah blah blah evil plan blah blah blah. Get some new material would you?" Kitty unsheathed her own sword, twirling it around in her hand. There was a change in Kitty then, a cruel smirk formed on her face and there was a blood lust in her eyes. If there was going to be a fight, she was definitely ready and willing to throw down.

"Age doesn't represent maturity nor does it reflect intelligence. If you're done running your mouth and with the childish mannerisms, I prefer to fight instead of listen to you talk about your Sins and your possible friend no one cares about. Your ignorance is starting to stink and don't try and retort with that limited vocabulary of yours. You'll give me cancer. " she retorted and motioned the Nypherian soldiers to back off. Anu Mau snickered to himself, "The boy sleeps with a Vampire and she calls me a Demon. So, she's stupid and crazy. Doesn't matter now, Kitty, I'm going to drink you now. Your magic will be refreshing and you better hit hard with that blade. Don't disappoint." Anu Mau said. He crossed his arms and motioned his Void Lords forward.

Lord Srox only glanced at Kittania,"You better be good at fighting.." she said igniting her Void-Saber. Lights flashed as the Orange blades turned on as the other two Void Lords turned on their blades. The Asmodians began to channel their magic through their armor. The Nypherians backed off per Lord Srox's orders. They had fallen back towards the temple to find another exit. There was a calm that only lasted a few seconds. Asmodians ran towards Kitty and Lord Srox. She jumped overthe first row of Asmodians and in a flash of red light, she dropped two Asmodians. Cutting through them diagonally from the shoulder to the hip. Smoke smoldered from the fresh cuts. The two Void Lords ran towards Lord Srox. Bringing out her other hilt, she connected the two. Igniting the other blade and catching their blades.

The connecting blades hissed as they clashed. The Asmodians ran towards Kitty, There were six in total. All carrying their own magically crafted blades. Anu Mau stood back and watched.Though his curiosity about Elias had been growing. He eyed the Temple and pondered his next move.

Elias and Kitty watched the altercation from a distance, safely away from any immediate danger. He couldn't quite make out all the words that were said, but he got the basic gist of things: Lord Srox thought Kitty was an idiot and Anu Mau thought kitty was easy pickings. Elias, however, had firsthand experience of the opposite.

Thoughts and plans turned over through Elias' head. Part of him wanted to make a run for it; find a weak spot in the wall, blast through, and magically speed towards the corvette. By using an in-atmosphere warp jump, they would be able to make it through away fairly easily. Provided the Asmodians and whatever army Srox had with her didn't perceive the two as threats. On the other hand, Elias could team up with Srox and rip through the Asmodian forces. A win-win situation for the both of them. 

Unfortunately, Elias didn't have the time to finish his plans. Lord Srox and Anu Mau had already engaged in combat and a squadron of Asmodians were now advancing down the main floor. Elias sheathed his sword and held out his staff, putting full focus into imaging a tether of invisible magical energy against the columns, tugging tightly against them. The amber on the tip of his staff glowed an earthy brown and he pulled the tip towards the floor. The pillars supporting the entrance instantly gave out. Tons worth of ancient stone came crumbling down upon the Asmodian squadron, squashing three of them under the stone's immense weight.

"Kitty, take out those other three, I'm going to get us out of here," Elias said as he probed his magical senses across the walls, working for a small weakness. It only took a few moments to find a large enough crack in the ancient stone walls. Elias reached the tip of his staff out towards it and focused on applying pressure. He focused on widening the crack, placing more stress on the wall until it finally gave way, revealing a hole more than large enough for the two to charge outside.

The Asmodians never even reached Kitty as she began to sheathe her sword, planting her feet firmly in the ground as her smirk grew wider and there was a mad glint in her eyes. She could sense what lay beneath the crust, and she didn't need magic to access it. Bringing her hands up in front of her and flexing her hand, the ground beneath them began to rumble, making it difficult for them to maintain their balance. Cracks began to form in the ground, the temperature in the room skyrocketing as lava began to fill these cracks. "Stupid, no. Mad? As a hatter." 

She thrusted her hands up into the air, tentacles of lava shot out from the cracks in the blink of an eye. They grabbed the Asmodian's by the legs, tossing them into the air, for a few minutes Kitty seemed to be juggling with them, toying with them like a cat would toy with a mouse. But then more tentacles shot out from the cracks, gripping the Asmodian's arms in the air while the other tentacles gripped their ankles. They looked like they were about to be drawn and quartered, and when Kitty clenched her fists and pressed them together, then ripped them apart, they were. 

Their legs and arms were brutally ripped from their bodies, and as they began to fall since the tentacles weren't holding on to anything anymore, they released the limbs and wrapped around the bodies. The tentacles dragged the bodies into the lava, into its depths where they would be melted into nothing. Kitty dropped her hands, the show of power she just did, didn't even seem to have a physical effect on her, as if she was doing nothing more than flexing her hands. Then she turned to Elias and ran towards him, snatching her hand and tugging him towards the hole and back to the ship, not saying a single word to Atir. There was no need for her to engage in another verbal match with someone so pathetic and ignorant, not to mention arrogant.