The Path I Choose [Chaos/Closed]

I'm... I'm being pulled in. Why am I being pulled in? Malm thought as he struggled against an unseen force. The young mage tried his best to escape the force's grasp, but nothing he did help. It wasn't long before he found himself being fully enveloped by the force as it consumed his body and soul.

Is there nothing I can do?

---

Malm awoke with a start as he found himself on a sofa in what appeared to be a makeshift living room. It was early in the morning as the smell of bacon cooking filled the room. It took Malm a second to assess the situation before sighing in relief. "It was just a dream." He assured himself as he lied his head back down onto the sofa.

"Your finally awake. It's about time. Do you know how late it is?" Malm heard Mouse's voice call to him from the kitchen area.

"Not that late if your making breakfast." Malm rebutted with a small yawn. It's been nearly three years now since he started lodging here and she still hasn't cut him any slack about his sleeping habits.

"Well I wouldn't be cooking if someone were to get up earlier. Now could you do me a favor and get your rodent off of me. She's starting to really get on my nerves."

Malm gave a small chuckle as he threw his blankets on the floor and got up from the sofa. He knew full well that there was no way Mouse would ever allow him to cook again. Not after what happened the last time he did. Then, after a small stretch, he approached the small kitchen area to see the Mimiga cooking while a yellow mouse watching her with curious eyes.

"Phosphera come on. Leave Mouse alone while she's cooking, will you?" He told the Pichu with a gentle voice. Phosphera perked up as she heard Malm's voice and loyally went over to him.

"You better get dress. After breakfast, I'm gonna need you to help me out with something before the store opens?"

"Huh? And that would be?"

"I need you to help me deliver some books to the orphanage in the slums."

"Why?"

"Because they came in the other day asking if I could donate them any books. We had some surplus, so I thought why not?"

"Wow. That's unusually nice of you. What's the catch?"

"What? There's no catch. I thought I would help the orphanage out is all. Plus the fact that the donation is tax deductible doesn't hurt either."

So that's it huh? Should of known. Malm thought to himself as he confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey. What are you still doing there? Get some clean clothes on already. Breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Okay okay. Just give me a sec. Geez." Malm replied with outstretched hands before going off to grab himself a clean set of clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.

Malm emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later refresh with a clean set of clothes on. By then, Mouse had finished with breakfast and already began eating at a small table. "What are you waiting for? You know where the food is. Go help yourself." Mouse told him after swallowing a mouthful of food.

Malm gave a small nod as he walked to the kitchen to grab himself a plate of bacon and eggs. He then came back to take a seat across from Mouse. It's wierd. As he ate, his thoughts seemed to dwell on the strange dream he had last night. Not that he could remember much about it now though. So why was it bothering him so much? What was about that dream that he couldn't stop thinking about it now? If only he could remember.

"Is everything alright?" Mouse asked, breaking his concentration.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Malm asked, trying his best to act innocent. The last thing he wanted was to bother Mouse with something so trivial like the dream he had last night.

"You hardly touched your food yet."

Malm looked down on his plate to confirm what she said. "Yeah, but you should know by now that I'm that big of fan of bacon."

"Maybe so. Yet I have never seen you think about something so hard while there's food in front of you before. So spit it out. What do you have on your mind?"

Malm's eyes shifted downward as he grew hesitant. "It's nothing. Just thinking about a dream I had last night."

"About the war?"

To Mouse's surprise, Malm shook his head to her question. "No. To be honest, I can't remember much about it. All I do remember is the feeling like I was being drowned by something... intangible. I don't know."

"It's probably nothing. You shouldn't dwell on things like that." Mouse told him with a shrug before resuming eating.

"Your probably right." Malm conceded as he looked off towards the far wall. His eyes soon meeting with a door on the far corner of the room. "Have you... Cleaned out her room yet?"

Mouse had a scornful look on her face as she stared at Malm. It was obvious that this was a touchy subject for the shop owner. Swallowing her food, she said, "No I haven't. I don't feel right going though her things like that."

"It's been over six months now. We really should..."

"I'll take care of it when I'm ready too." Mouse told him as she stood up and slammed her hands onto the table. A moment of silence fell between the two as Mouse took the time to calm herself down. "I'm going downstairs to make sure all the books are ready for delivery. Meet me there when your done eating." With that, she headed straight to the door to the stairway that led to the shop, leaving Malm, Phosphera, and her half-finished meal behind.

Malm gave a sigh as he looked over at Phosphera. "After all this time. Vivian's death is still affecting her. I can't blame her. I miss Vivian as well, but..." Malm trailed off as he sighed, "Look who I'm talking too. You probably didn't understand a word of what I just said, do you?" Phosphera just looked at him confused as she ate a small handful of his eggs. Malm just gave a small chuckle, rubbing the top of her head before looking out to the town from the store's second story windows.

Alexei walked through the streets of Hargeon Town, his normally whimsical mood somewhat dampened. This was the first time in a long while that he was somewhere he didn't want to be; even on missions, he chose to go to places that seemed interesting or a place where he could learn more about the world. Hargeon was neither of those to Alexei; he already knew the port town like the back of his hand, having spent many a mission prowling its streets and alleys. Not only that, but it was overwhelmingly charged with negative memories for the God of Chaos, memories that he would greatly prefer to not dredge up again. And yet here he was, about to charge straight into the belly of the beast that was Alexei's memory.

This was an unprecedented journey for Alexei, in many ways. Not only was it the first real glimpse of Hargeon since the fateful events of six months ago, and his first time confronting the memory of those events, it was also the first time in years that he was preemptively assisting somebody. His friend, one of the few he had left, was in danger, and probably didn't even know it; Alexei just hoped he wasn't too late to protect him. For now, however, the first priority was protecting his friend.

Despite his best efforts, a lump rose in his throat as Alexei approached his destination: The Silver Lining. It had been six months, but the shop looked largely the same as when Alexei had been a regular; a bit worse for wear, perhaps, but that was to be expected with the loss of an owner. This was the last place Alexei had ever wanted to visit again, but here he was. A bit of questioning had revealed that his friend was currently staying here; Alexei didn't know if he was currently in, but it would likely be easy to find him afterwards.

Mouse would almost certainly be there, since it was business hours; she would know where to find his target. With a bit of amusement, Alexei realized that he was more nervous now than he had been for any battle; the irony in that was spectacular. He forced all doubts from his mind as he approached the front door of the shop; he had to remain focused if he was to protect himself, much less his friend. Taking a deep breath, Alexei knocked on the door.

Mouse looked up as she heard someone knock on the door. Who could that be? She wonder as she stood up from what she was doing. It wasn't all that unusual for people to knock on the door of the store before opening from time. It usually was either people coming to ask her for a favor, or were neighbors that just wanted to say hi. Though as she walked towards the doors and saw who was waiting there, she got a feeling that it was the former.

"I'm sorry. We're not open yet. Is there something I could help you with though?" Mouse asked through the door, putting on her best smile for the potential customer.

Alexei's eyes widened slightly when Mouse didn't recognize him, only to burst out in laughter. How could he have been so ignorant? Of course Mouse wouldn't recognize him; she had never known him in the position of the God of Chaos. The figure before her was a stranger, at least by sight. Still, Alexei had no interest in explaining his circumstances to her. The sooner he could get away from the bookstore, the better; that way, he would minimize the chances of finding remnants of her. He'd talk to Malm, help him deal with the threat, and leave.

Of course, Alexei knew that it wouldn't be that easy; he'd probably be sidetracked by something in there, whether it was the books or Malm's literal mouse companion. Still, he'd remain focused. "Hello," Alexei said cheerfully, or at least as much as he could muster in the situation. "I'm here to talk to Malm. I heard he was staying here?"

"Talk to Malm huh?" Mouse repeated as she grew suspicious of the man. She didn't recognize him, so what could he possibly want with Malm? Could he just want help from the mage, or was there something more nefarious going on?

There was something else that was bothering her. A fine scent coming off the guy that smelled fairly familiar to a man she once knew. Now that she thinks about it, Malm recently mentioned seeing that man again, and his surprise to the man changed shape. In fact he looks fairly familiar to the rough description that Malm gave her. There was little doubt in her mind now.

"Geez. How could I be so daft? Y'know Alexei. It'll probably be best to mention who you are before asking where Malm is. It would save us a lot of time." She told the Chaos God matter-of-factly, "You just missed him by the way. He was taking some books to the orphanage in the slums for me. I'm sure you know the way, right?"

---

Meanwhile Malm was walking through the slums with a box full of books. "Ugh... Did she honestly needed to make me do this by myself? All I did was mention that we should look at going through Vivian's room one of these days." Malm complained to his Pichu companion on his shoulder.

Alexei grinned as he watched Mouse deduce his identity, only smiling more despite himself as she kept talking. "I suppose Malm told you about his previous meeting with me, then?" The God of Chaos mused. "Still, fairly impressive. You're as blunt as ever, Mouse. Not that it's a bad thing," he added hurriedly; the last thing he wanted was to get a twice-mutual friend angry with him. "Thanks for the information. Sorry, but I'll have to fill you in on what's going on later; for now, there's no time to lose. Malm might be in danger as we speak." The Chaos God turned and walked away quickly, worried for his friend.

--

Newcomer:

From an alleyway near Malm, a voice suddenly rang out. "Hey!" A petite blonde girl with an eyepatch bounded out of the alley and up to Malm, looking up at the plant mage. "Those look heavy. Do you need help?" She asked, her light and childlike voice filled with concern.

Mouse gave a small frustrated sigh as Alexei mentioned that Malm was in trouble. "Why am I not surprise?" She said under her breath before turning her attention back to a leaving Alexei. What kind of trouble did the Chaos god got his friend into?

Well there was only one way to really find out, now was there.

---

Malm paused for a second as he heard a young girl's voice ask him if he needed any help. "No thanks. I got it." Malm told the girl with a small smile. While he was having some trouble carrying the box of books, he didn't see any reason for him to have this little girl help him with it.

As he continued walking, he grew slightly curious who she was though. It's not everyday you see a girl as young as her wearing an eyepatch. Did she get injure during the war a few years back? Could she possibly be from orphanage? Probably best not to delve. Those kind of things tend to be pretty sensitive subjects to most people.

Alexei continued down the path to the orphanage Mouse had mentioned, his thoughts worried and his eyes cautious. He had to get to Malm, yes, but he also had to watch out for any traps that his enemy had laid out. If it was the minion of Rakoto that he suspected, he would need all of his wits about him; they weren't called the 'Rusemaster' for nothing. Alexei would need to keep a cautious eye out for any tricks, traps, or general mayhem-

Out of the corner of his eye, Alexei caught a flash of pink. He whirled around, to see the last vestiges of a pink dress turn into an alleyway. His eyes widened; that had to be her. It couldn't be anything but her; she was the only one who would wear such a spotless dress in public. He took off after the dress, leaping down the alleyway to head towards where he thought the girl went...and in the opposite direction of the orphanage.

--

The girl continued to follow Malm, humming to herself softly as she trailed behind him. "So where are you going with all that heavy stuff?" She asked the green-haired wizard, her voice completely innocent.

"Oh... Uhh... I'm taking these books to the orphanage nearby." Malm told the girl as he continued walking. He was slightly weirded out that she was following him around, but ultimately payed it little mind. She was probably just curious about what he was doing. After all, it wasn't every day you see someone like Malm carrying a box around in the slums.

Alexei continued to chase after the trace of pink dress, never seeming to gain on it; every time he turned a corner, the dress was vanishing around the next one. With every turn, he was pulled further away from his goal of the slums; eventually, he entered Uptown, chasing his target through the crowds of bourgeois.

--

The girl smiled and clapped happily as Malm responded; evidently, she was excited and entertained by this strange man in front of her. "Yay, they're getting books!" She exclaimed happily, stopping just short of glomping Malm. "My friends there say they're lonely because they don't have anything to do. This'll give them something to do, right?"

"Yep." Malm told her with a chipper tone. Judging from what she said, it seemed she didn't live in the orphanage, but did have friends that did. That was nice to know. And it was nice to meet someone he was actually helping out with this.

Phosphera just did what she could to stay out of sight of the girl. Something just didn't seem right about her to the small yellow rodent, but what exactly it was, Phosphera couldn't teally tell. She just wanted to do all she can to stay out of sight from her. Something that was easier said the done as her ears still poked out from under Malm's cloak.

---

Meanwhile, as Alexei chased after the pink dress, he had a tail of his own. Mouse quickly moved through the streets after Alexei, being careful not to be seen in the process. She was admittedly a little rusty at this. She hasn't really had a need to put her skills to the test in a while now. Yet someone or something was after Malm, and Alexei seemed to be the only one who knew what it was. And seeing how Alexei didn't have the time to explain what it is, Mouse saw fit to follow after him to find out herself. She wasn't just going to sit by and wait for another friend of hers to be killed.

Yet why were they going through Uptown now. Shouldn't Malm be back in the slums?

Alexei turned a bend to follow the pink dress, scowling. This was ridiculous. How was she managing to stay a step ahead of him every time? It was probably magic; the Rusemaster was a master of light magic, although she preferred to use it in ways like this - messing with her targets, making them think that they were about to catch or defeat her and then annihilating them. It was frustrating, to say the least.

As they passed the crowd and headed into another alleyway heading towards the harbor, Alexei began to brainstorm creative ways to beat her into a pulp when they caught her.

--

The girl kept walking alongside Malm, skipping along and humming a tune lightly. "It's nice to know there are nice guys like you around, mister!" She said cheerfully. "They'll be soooo happy when the books arrive." She slowed down slightly, falling behind Malm a bit, but quickly caught up again when she noticed the ears poking out of the plant mage's backpack. "Hey mister, what's that?" She asked, pointing at the ears.

((Just to clarify. Malm doesn't have his backpack on him for this quick trip, so Phos is hiding under his cloak instead))

This was starting to quickly get on Mouses nerves as well. Having no idea what Alexei was chasing, she ran after the god as fast as she could? Yet the further they went, the further they were from where Malm should be. Is he just being led away from where the action was actually happening?

Mouse quickly made her way up a building to figure this out once and for all. She then quickly began looking to see where Alexei was going, and began following him from the rooftops in hopes of seeing who exactly it was he was chasing.

---

"Huh?" Malm responded as he heard the girl question him about something. He turned to noticed that she was talking about the Pichu hiding under his cloak. "Oh... That's Phosphera. Don't mind her. She tends to not take well to strangers is all." He informed the girl. He would give Phosphera a small pat on the head, but his hands were kind of full right now.

((Oh, alright.))

After a few more minutes of fruitless chasing, Alexei had had enough. He had been hoping to conserve all of his mana for the actual fight against the Rusemaster, but he wasn't getting any closer to her; how was he supposed to fight if she kept avoiding him? As soon as Alexei turned the next corner and caught a glimpse of the pink dress, he activated his Flashpoint spell. Instantly, he was at the end of the alleyway; he reached out to his right, grabbing the hem of the dress. "Got you!" Alexei exclaimed, before realizing that the dress didn't actually have anybody in it.

Alexei spat out every curse word and epithet he knew, directed as much at himself as at the Rusemaster. He should have known she would do this; with Alexei out of the way, she now had a straight shot at-

Malm.

Alexei whirled around and sped back towards his original destination, faster than he knew he could run. He was NOT going to lose one of his few true friends.

--

"Why?" The little girl asked Malm curiously, peeking deeper into the cloak to try to glimpse Phosphera again. "She's so cute! I want one!" She continued fawning over Phosphera, ooh-ing and aah-ing repeatedly.

Suddenly, the girl recoiled. For the first time since Malm had met her, she frowned. "Damn," she muttered inaudibly under her breath, "He found out. Guess I have to make my move." She stood there for a few more moments before lashing out with inhuman speed at Malm. As she moved, a hammer made of light formed in her hands, aimed directly at Malm's head with the intent to knock him unconscious.

"What's wrong?" Malm asked as he noticed the girl seem to recoil. Phosphera didn't bite the girl, did she? He then heard the girl mutter something inaudibly which caused him to turn around. This allowed him just enough time to turn around and block the sudden hammer strike with the only thing he had on hand at the moment, the box of books, which didn't exactly survive the encounter.

Jimmy skidded a few feet away from the girl because of the attack, dropping the now destroyed box in the process, causing it to spill it contents. "Hey! What was that for? I know Phos tends to be cold towards other people, but that's no reason to attack me with a hammer?" He then looked down at where he dropped the box to see that several of the books were damaged by the attack too, "Oh man. Mouse is going to kill me for this." He added with a sigh as he looked back up at the girl who just attacked him.

---

Mouse scowled as she saw Alexei catch the piece of fabric they've been chasing. Of course this was nothing more then a red herring. Though that probably meant Malm was currently in big trouble in the slums right now. That mage better not end up dying on her.

"Hey Alexei. You care to explain what the f*** is going on now?" She shouted towards the chaos god as she ran out of patience. Malm was in danger at the moment and she was tired of Alexei withholding information that could help them save his life from her.

"Tch," the girl muttered as Malm blocked the strike with the stack of books, destroying it. She had been hoping that she would deliver the books after she captured him; she wasn't a monster, after all. At the same time, however, she wasn't going to explain herself until she had him safely restrained. "I'm sorry," she muttered, the sing-song quality of her voice gone; that would have to do for now. She continued to press the attack, moving towards Malm while swinging her hammer with ease born of centuries of practice.

--

Alexei turned around, only slightly surprised that he was being tailed by Mouse. Unfortunately, however, he didn't have time to tell the full story. He'd have to tell the abridged version. "I'll explain on the way," He said, already moving towards the original destination of the slums. As soon as they were off, Alexei began talking. "Long story short, there's a servant of the god I killed out for revenge, and she's trying to get to me through Malm. She uses illusions and light constructs, one of which we were just chasing. She's probably moved her plans up a bit since we broke it, so we have to hurry."

--

Alexei's stats
HP: 100%
MP: 90%
4 posts until regen

It took every ounce of focus and reflex Malm had to avoid the incoming attacks. This was bad. Not only was she strong, but this girl was proving to be fast too. It was obvious that she was more then well verse with the hammer she wielded. He couldn't even draw his blade in the midst of these attacks.

Why is she was attacking me? Making enemies isn't something I... Well I didn't exactly avoided it, but there was nothing I did for someone to kill me over. Is there? Malm wondered as he tried to find a way out of this situation.

Things only went from bad to worse though as he found himself backed to a wall.

---

"So this is your fault then. Why am I not surprise?" Mouse stated as she headed back towards the slum along with Alexei. She should of suspected something like this to happen when she heard that Alexei killed the light god. Stuff like that doesn't just happen without some form of retribution from his followers was sure to follow. And what's a better retribution then to take out one of Alexei's closest friends.

"Yeah, yeah," Alexei muttered, feeling ashamed as Mouse correctly blamed the situation on him. "I'm stupid. Not only did I not make sure Malm was alright as soon as I did the deed, I was also cocky enough to think that they wouldn't connect us. I wasn't exactly a talkative person with them, as you might have guessed; plus, we hadn't been together for a long time since then. I thought that would protect him, but I underestimated them." Alexei looked forward again, eyes determined. "No use arguing about it now, though. What's done is done, and now we have to save Malm."

--

The girl slowly approached the cornered Malm, her eyes full of sympathy. "I hate hurting those who don't deserve it," she muttered as she brought the hammer down again, intending to knock the plant mage out cold.

--

Alexei's stats
HP: 100%
MP: 90%
3 posts until regen

((I have to admit. This girl is being nothing like I was hoping she would be. I was kind of hoping for the worse of the light in order to help push Malm into using the power of darkness. Not a girl who doesn't really like what she's doing and is aiming to only knock Malm unconscious. >.<))

Malm looked into the girl's eyes, seeing the sympathy she had in them. This girl didn't really want to do this. Then why was she?

The plant mage didn't have much time to think about it as his hand instinctively went for his sword. Yet he hesitated at the last second as he was reminded of the look she had in her eyes. This pause gave her attack the time in needed to strike. The last thing Malm remembered was a painful thud as his legs grew weak and his sight began to fade away.

The young mage now laid on the ground unconscious before his attacker.

---

"You could of still gave him some kind of warning the last time you two have met." She mumbled under her breath as she continued to move. Yet, despite what she said, she knew that Alexei wasn't the only one at fault. She should of known that something like this was going to happen when she learned about his ascension into godhood. Hindsight is 20/20 she supposed.

"I have to ask. How powerful is this servent anyways? I mean, Malm isn't exactly a slouch in the park himself when it comes to fighting y'know. So she has to be pretty powerful to best him."

((Sorry >.< There aren't really any 'evil' light servants, though. Any of them who had any inclinations towards true evil was either eliminated by Rakoto himself or went to serve his brother. If you want Malm to be pushed into darkness, though, I think I can pull that off.))

The girl let out a sigh of relief as Malm fell unconscious, her hammer fading away into nothing once again. She was glad that he had let himself get knocked out; it had saved both of them a lot of pain. She still had to be wary, though; the little yellow mouse might fight her if she tried to move him physically. She'd have to use up some more energy.

Holding out her hand, the girl activated her power once more. An orb of light formed around Malm, slowly lifting him into the air. The girl flinched; even with her new power, carrying a full human was difficult. Pushing through, she pulled out the note she had written in advance, pinning it to the wall. With the first phase complete, she set off towards her base: The warehouse not far from here.

--

Alexei heard Mouse accost him again under her breath; he didn't respond, mostly because he agreed with her. Back then, he had refrained from talking about it since he had thought he was being followed and hadn't wanted to let the follower know that he knew their presence; now, though, he was realizing that letting Malm know would have benefited them more. An immediate attack you know is coming is much better than a delayed attack that surprises you, after all.

In response to Mouse's question, the God of Chaos let out a sigh. "Honestly, I have no clue how strong she is now," he muttered. "Last time I met her, we were about equal in strength, but that was before Rakoto died. When he died, about half of his power was sealed into me, and the rest scattered to his other minions, powering them up. Some of them have taken to fighting each other, taking the scattered power for themselves. So she could be anywhere on the spectrum. Be prepared for anything."

The pair was approaching the site that Malm had just been taken from.

--

Alexei's stats
HP: 100%
MP: 90%
3 posts until regen

Phosphera did all she could to wake Malm up. She was really starting to get afraid now. Malm wouldn't wake up, and now she was trapped in some weird light orb thing. What was she suppose to do, and what was this woman planning on doing with Malm?

---

"Well that's just great." Mouse griched once again as Alexei told her that he didn't have any idea how powerful this woman could end up being. This was just getting worse and worse. What if they weren't able to stop this woman? What exactly is she planning to do to Malm?

As they approached were Malm had just been taken from, Mouse took notice of something on the ground. "Oh no." She said under her breath as she saw the destroyed box of books. She used her crossbow to teleport off the building to investigate what happened here.

"Yeap. These are the books I gave Malm. It looks like something completely smashed them." She said with a sigh, "Having this happen to these books. If Malm was not in trouble now, he would be."