The Haunted Alps ~ Ashura's Shrine

[Okoye]

Ovan's lightning quick instincts propelled Okoye forward and into a graceful somersault that saved her from the ethereal onslaught of the invisible swordsmen, though the projectile slashes did manage to claim a lock of her hair as its prize..

She took a breath in a releif.. but her expression was vexed.. She was a step too slow to register the swordsman's lacerating strike and certainly would have been cleaved in two if not for Ovan.. This realization gnawed at her resolve and worried her into a sweat. How was she supposed to predict their movements if she couldn't see their bodies? Or their movements? Their weapons were visible, but their invisible bodies taunted her– leaving her intuition grasping at shadows. It dawned on her with painfully clarity that survival hinged on Ovan's guidance, reluctantly relegating Okoye’s role to that of support rather than assault. A misuse of her skill set in any other circumstance.. But before she could fix a response to Ovan–

“!!!”

The hammer wielding guardian simply stepped forward, winding up a sideways swing with an incendiary force.

–The guardian wielding it's mighty hammer surged forward, it's fiery aura promising destruction behind its swing. Okoye's eyes honed in on the impending blow.. She could feel the heat steaming from the head of the weapon. It bore a ghastly intensity that seared her mind more than her flesh or the frosty environment.

With a quick motion, she cocked her fist to her hip from her crouching position and unloaded a well-timed haymaker intended to parry the hammer strike with her knuckles enveloped in a shell of explosive spiritual energy. The collision generated a tempest of power that marked the shrine with etchings of the impact and also drove Okoye backwards on her heels, reuniting her in proximity to Ovan and the cross shaped scar carved onto the floor.

”Good.” Okoye leaned her head over her shoulder to discuss and plan with Ovan. ”Then don't waste any time. Choose a target and get in position. I can cover you–”

She figured her blistering punch would have awarded them a moment's reprieve, but unfortunately, she neglected to account for the third constituent of the Unseen sentinels. The scythe wielder moved silently, seamlessly despite the encumbering weight of their deadly instrument. She never saw them coming.. Okoye only felt the strike. A blunt and bludgeoning force that whipped into her abdomen and launched her body barreling through the shrine. It wasn't a lethal blow, despite the resounding BOOM that trembled the air after she crashed into the wall. She suffered several broken ribs, but zero puncture wounds. The scythe wielder moved to pursue its target. Tearing through the icy chamber with otherworldly speed. They were seeking to separate them, as if they were privy to the private channel in which they spoke. The shadowy tethers trembled and clicked with every decisive attack of the spectral sentinels. Lengthening. Twisting. And binding them further to their Unseen protocols.

[Ovan Hellgate]

The dual wielding guardian bore down on Ovan with their swords cleaving another ethereal scar into the floor of the shrine. Ovan dodge rolled to the side right out of the way in time to roll to his feet and catch the hammer guardian bearing down on him with a flaming strike scorching through the galactic darkness.

"Sh--"

Ovan's amazement got the better of him and he did a full body flinch he thought would be his last. Leviathan training had only just begun and he was mostly in the conditioning phase, preparing his body for the trials yet to come. In three weeks, he already felt stronger after going through the high intensity interval training Lana prescribed and administered. Though he had some experience in training, the true, life threatening nature of this journey brought him out of his element and made him break that indomitable spirit he assumed just moments before. He felt a bright light flash against the cheek of his turned, grimaced face, only to be overcome with shock in the next breath he took. He lived, and the hammer went right into the ground before him, exploding in demonic energy launching him flat against wall of the chamber.

"Ouch"

It was all he could say while recoiling from the pain. Sorith’s overwhelming pressure shot through his mind as he peeled himself off the cavernous wall. He lived, his heart was racing, and he knew he just had to move and fast. Ovan leaped over a horizontal slash with both of the guardian’s and made a dash towards Okoye following the perimeter of the chamber. The scythe guardian seemed to take personal interest in her, assailing her with an assassin’s technique. He wondered how she was faring if she couldn’t see their shadowy, fiery forms. Maybe she could use a second pair of eyes. And he had that in spades.

Ovan ran his hand along the wall by focusing Naten directly into his fingertips, seeing if the chains that morphed in and out of focus all over this haunted chamber could be interacted with. They coiled and restrained the figures’ energy and pulsed in time with their respective sigils, like heartbeats underwater. Against all odd, these mysterious chains rattles against each other and looked like they were soaked in the same energy as the guardians. As he made his way to Okoye, a grim smirk srawled across Ovan’s face.

[Okoye]

Okoye slowly struggled to her feet with her ribs protesting every breath. She felt the sharp pang of fractured bones shoot through her side with every breath she took, but she couldn't afford to succumb to her injuries. Even still she focused on her breathing; grunting and grimacing through the searing pain and honing her senses to their limits. Okoye still couldn't see her assailant outright, but she could sense their presence as it closed the distance between them. In seconds, the frost bitten scythe and its specter was upon her like a deadly whisper.

It happened in a instant. The guardian's sickle ripped through the air with crazed ferocity, slashing down at Okoye's head in efforts to cleave her in two. She only barely caught a glimpse of the frost kissed weapon before its deadly arc raced toward her.

With a swift pivot, Okoye twisted her shoulders and strafed the initial slash, allowing the scythe to swing past her face and crash into the frozen earth. But just as quickly as the first swipe, the spector quickly pivoted into a flurry of lacerating slices. It was a blinding barrage. Relentless and unpredictable, drawing momentum with every swing. Soon, the visual of its weapon muddled into a blur of color as the guardian sought to overpower Okoye with sheer ferocity.

Her instincts guided her well, moving her body with acrobatic grace as she evaded every lethal strike. But despite her best efforts, she couldn't dodge everything. Okoye winced everytime the guardian's blade sampled her flesh. Her thick, protective garments had been reduced to tattered rags from the onslaught. Both of her arms and legs were marred in crimson, shallow gashes from when she couldn't evade and relied on her tough skin to protect her vitals. But the look on her face was unburdened. Her resolve, somehow, seemed sharpened by the intensity of the battle. Throughout her calculated dance of evasion and defense, Okoye was fixated on Ovan's mention of “binding chains”. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see anything more than distortions in space. She couldn't discern the size of her target, let alone how to mount a proper counter attack..

”Ovan?!” She harped just as the scythe wielding guardian brought its weapon upward for a rising, vertical swipe– ripping up a wave of ice and debris. Okoye hid behind her arms, cross guarded while she leapt and dashed toward the scholar. He said he had a plan.. as vague as it may have been, and Okoye was willing to do whatever she needed to do to bring this celestial vanguard to heel.

[Ovan Hellgate]

Ovan made a dive over and through a pair of slices swung by the katana guardian to turn his body into three neat slices, carving ghastly gashes out of the shrine’s walls. The hammer guardian lunged into a full flaming swing to catch Ovan in a headfirst strike he deftly rolled underneath. The pain he felt helped him lock in, his pained breaths pumping blood to get him to his new companion. Okoye danced between swings of the scythe and bolted towards hi, his hand outreached to grasp hers.

“Here!”

WIth his hands steeped in Naten, Ovan pulled his body towards Okoye’s to dodge a quick cross slash of the katana guardian at his back. HE was a man of the world, a lover, not a fighter who had their own way of moving through the world. His travels afforded him the luxury of knowing the southern tango, a dance from a region close to the equator of Vescrutia. The tango emphasized the deft footwork of each partner and consisted of easy to follow steps that he learned at one of their annual festivals. The last thing he expected would be dancing under assault of these three guardians, but sometimes your skills shine when you least expect them. He brought her body close to his, spinning quickly out of another wild, blazing strike of the hammer guardian and closer to the center of the shrine. Ovan’s body felt magnetic, the closer they got to the center of the chamber, a feeling he wasn’t sure what to do with, but knew was because of Ashura’s cursed energy. After reading the words to the spell, even the notebook, as everyday and pedestrian as it could be, was steeped in the demonic energy flowing from The Pit. The magnetic energy made the visual acuity of the demons and the chains more clear for him, especially now that he confirmed his hypothesis.

“I can probably break them if you can keep me close enough.”

A wild gamble Ovan only thought of seeing her dance between the strikes of the scythed guardian. What do chains do if not bind someone to the will of this shrine, so breaking those chains could set these poor souls free. As the Hellgate Tribe’s shamans and clerics, he had all the tools necessary to untether these unfortunate souls.

[Okoye]

Instinctively, Okoye took Ovan's hand and pulled him away from the sentinels storm of deadly swipes clipping at his heels. Only for him to immediately take the lead thereafter, pulling her body from the hammer wielding guardian's path of destruction. They were practically nose to nose, swiveling to safety with the dizzying finesse of seasoned ice skaters. Twirling with astonishing agility and synergy. However, unlike Ovan, Okoye never tried her hand at learning any sort of artistic choreography. She'd read about plenty of different styles of dancing in the past, but she never bothered or cared to practice.

That was going to change.

Today, Ovan demonstrated not just the utility of such graceful movements can be, but their seamlessly versatile nature as well. Okoye held her breath until they finished their pirouette at the center of the shrine, unaware she was still clutching his hand after they finished spinning. She was still trying to catch her breath.

“I can probably break them if you can keep me close enough.”

"I can do that." Okoye affirmed as her gaze fell on her spectral opponents once again. Only something was different. For whatever reason, Okoye's could see the shadowy visages of tb3 shackled guardians. Albeit feint, it was enough for her to discern the size and dimensions of each of them. The hammer wielding sentinel was the bulkiest, encumbered by a decrepit suit of armor that bore a massive gash along his chest plate. The visage of the katana wielder held a slender frame, with what resembled chainmail and a hakma scorched to a char by hellborne flames. But the wielder of the scythe was the most haunting of all.. The nuances and accents of their respective garments were lost to her, but Okoye was suddenly infused with a confidence that eluded her the entirety of the fight. Until this moment. "I can definitely do that."

Okoye's eyes lingered toward her and Ovan's clasped embrace, but only for a moment before they fixated on their opponents. She wasn't sure why she could them, but it didnt matter. The transient energies fluctuating from the core of the accursed sanctum was causing the sigils on her body to pulsate crimson red. But it didn't cause her any pain this time. Now, she felt it surging through her like a stimulant. Boiling her blood and fueling her adrenaline. "..let's get the big one first." She declare, smirking a bit for the first time since the battle begun.

[Ovan Hellgate]

Okoye’s body flashed in front of Ovan, a pulse from smoldering coals of her spirit emanating from her neck. He felt a warmth rush through his body from his eyes locked on hers for a moment while he made sense of the warmth coming from her hands. Her eyes were bright with a light he had only seen upon entering this chamber, a ghastly void, eclipsed suns mirroring the world beyond the chains of these guardians directive. It was then that Ovan understood began to understand the gravity with which Sorith spoke. His talent for the gifts granted by his birthright rarely put him in a position to push them to their limits, he afforded himself more time to bring his insight to the world through study and craft, but he knew he was turning his back on the teachings of his people. His invitation to the Crown Jewel emboldened him to bring his insight to the forefront of the Horus thought space, but the valleys of difference between him and the other candidates, and even them and Sorith dwarfed any far off dream he conceived of raw, destructive strength for himself. He got a taste that kind of power for himself from her. She seethed with an energy that almost harmonized with the spirits, his ears rang and a very faint level as he the sensations made their way from his hands, to his eyes, and then back down the rest of his body in that tiny moment they shared a look.

In the next, Ovan caught sight of the katana guardian’s blades lining up another cross strike, this time coming at them with two rising slashes. Okoye pulled him directly out of the way and they bounded a couple steps away. His intuition told him to find the hammer since the scythe didn’t seem to want to engage just yet and the hammer kept attacking right behind double blades. A blazing ring ignited and traced close to the perimeter of the shrine, carving and curving toward them like a belligerent top. He saw it coming, judged its trajectory and almost instinctively turned and dropped Okoye into a dip to doge the blazing instrument of doom barreling toward them. Luckily, she was more than capable of taking direction and leaning into his knee, stabilizing him while his lunge threw a glowing, strong fingered palm into the abdomen of the passing guardian. He reached for a bundle of black chains wrapped up in the vortex if its bound spirit, knowing they held weight and spiritual mass and could be gripped. The Mudra of Separation was key to many of the Horus rituals, mostly used to cleanse the spirits of those passing to the other side. Only the madmen and heretics used it outside of its intended purposes.

Within this deep chamber, this frozen Pit, Ovan realized how mad he could become. His arm buckled from the force of the spirit blasting through his corporeal form with only his empowered hand to slow it down. Though the conditioning of Tinjutsu prepared his spirit, his body still wasn’t completely used to dealing with that kind of force, so it felt like putting his arm through a brick wall. For what it was worth, three months ago, he wouldn’t have even been alive long enough to feel the pain.

He winced as he pulled Okoye back upright with one arm, his other one covered in a smoking mass of jittering, smoking tendrils. The hammer It took more out of him than he thought, but the pain was his cursory reward as he watched the hammer and the spirit spin and spin and spin until the fiery aura within flew from it and the spirit vanished, leaving its hammer to sling into the wall of the chamber and clang into the cold bedrock. The fiery aura dissipating from the vanquished spirit floated for a moment in the atmosphere of The Pit before dissolving into shimmering embers, flying into one of the sigils in the wall and shattering it like a glass ornament.

Panting, and watching the scythed guardian pace, with the katanas moving to make it strike, Ovan smirked a bit more nervously as the chains evaporated from his throbbing grip.

”One down.”

[Okoye]

Okoye was loose and limber as the two of them sifted across the ice. Her heart sank once Ovan dipped her toward the ground in a timely fashion, avoiding the deadly swing of the hammer wielding ghost while simultaneously exorcising it with a single strike. When he pulled her to her feet, he'd see her face glowing behind a breathless smile. Despite her scars and frost covered wounds, Okoye was having fun dancing for the first time in her life. She found it exhilarating! And surprisingly, physically demanding. But with each stylish spin and pirouette Ovan guided her through, the activity was quickly becoming her next obsession. Every move felt effortless. Easy and fluid.

Panting, and watching the scythed guardian pace, with the katanas moving to make it strike, Ovan smirked a bit more nervously as the chains evaporated from his throbbing grip.

”One down.”

“He got'em..”
Okoye's gaze gleamed with anticipation as Ovan's fingers crumbled the shadowy links binding the guardians. It was as if a light bulb went off behind her eyes watching the scholar succeed. His instincts were spot on, which shouldn't have surprised her considering his prestige. But now, with a template on how to effectively counter attack, Okoye was incredibly anxious to try and employ his methods herself. ”My turn.” She thought aloud, analyzing the katana wielding specter as it lowered his stance before lunging directly at them for a vertical slash. The sudden destruction of its larger, ally triggered it to action. It aimed directly for Ovan and Okoye's interlocked hands; as if it were aware of their advantages and quickly sought to snuff it out by severing their bond. But Okoye was ready.

Okoye released Ovan's hand in the nick of time, avoiding the deadly overhead swipes while simultaneously reaching her arm back for a deadly haymaker. She aimed her fist where the shadowy shackles seemed most concentrated along the spirit's corporal form, but unlike Ovan, Okoye's physicality didn't buckle beneath the explosive spiritual energy she created. Upon contact, the duel wielding specter was immediately vaporized; reduced into a fleeting ember black that roiled softly from her knuckles. But that wasn't the end of it. Immediately after, Okoye was accosted from her flank by the last remaining vestige of the ghastly trio. The patient scythe wielder had already prepared its final strike; it shifted along the ice with silent malice and practiced precision. Another overhead strike aimed at the holder of Ashura's Crown. They were magnetized to her of course, honed in to her because of the sigils on her body. She could feel them, pulsating along her body like raw, craggy scabs. It was exhilarating, but darker than anything else she'd ever encountered.

She was no longer holding Ovan's hand and thus could not benefit from his secondary perceptive talents. But she no longer needed them. At this point, Okoye could sense the guardian's presence. She didn't need to see the deadly sickle to block it with her forearm. She reinforced her bones with spiritual energy to soften the lacerating blow into a blunt impact. And without a moment lost, she delivered another blistering fist– one fixated on the network of shadows and chains manipulating their souls. The shrill wail released from its shattered body resonated throughout this icy tomb with haunting intensity. And the runes burnt unto the walls seemed to respond in kind. ”Ovan, you alright?” She tailed behind some heavy breathing as her eyes darted throughout the “empty” shrine. They beamed like red lasers through the dark caverns. ”Can you see anything?!”