Sigh
"Was I too much? Did I go too far? What do you think, little guy?" Ares stepped through the void as he lightly tossed the silver can-do bamboo up in the air and caught him repeatedly like he was playing with a baby. The can-do didn't respond, it had no mouth after all, but it did seem to be quite happy about its current situation. It was freed from that awfully disturbing stepper and a part of it definitely enjoyed being tossed around like this. It was contentedly punching the air every time Ares chucked it but didn't bother hitting Ares' palm and tempering him because he seemed uninterested in cultivating the bamboo. Naturally this was because Ares was going to give this fella to Sandy to get the pesky one day fine grind out and improve her body's condition. Ares refused to let the tiny bamboo waste its life force on him and he outright rejected it, instead opting to play around with it as he cleared his mind and thought things over regarding the last few minutes. HIs actions today were rash as interacting with Xhilihx personally was... Going to raise eyebrows, put simply. He hadn't even really done anything noteworthy, and this was undeniably the best way to teach the stepper fear before its death, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be questioned extensively by...
"What do you think you are doing?
Explain yourself."
... Astraeus... He'd shown up on cue directly behind Ares like a ghost in the void, towering above him and glaring down at him with his red robotic 'Y' shaped eye. Ares shrugged as he turned, shielding the little bamboo from the Godly presence and trying to calm it down and shelter it from the mean vibe Astraeus was emanating. "I was... Making use of a makeshift garbage disposal unit?"
"Xhilihx, the maw of the void, is not your personal bin."
"Coulda fooled me..."
"Your behaviour was already enough to give rise to many concerns prior to today's incident and now you expect me to just ignore everything I've witnessed?" Astraeus' tone was heavy and the mechanical edge to his words had resurfaced. He wasn't speaking entirely in nuts and bolts, so there wasn't that usual pause and beep between each letter he spoke, but the grating of metal was enough to make any listener quiver... Any listener who wasn't Ares, anyway, as he didn't much care. For starters, the war aura helped make him pretty fearless. It had receded now but that effect of it was permanent. Second of all, he was in the void and even Astraeus would struggle to harm here if he really wanted to. And third of all, Ares had nothing to be ashamed of or hide.
"Why wouldn't you ignore this? What exactly did I do that bothered you? In a vacuum, yes, meeting Xhilihx is a strange thing worth paying attention to. In this case, however, does it really matter? I simply fed him an opponent I wanted to teach a lesson. I know where everything in the void is if I can be bothered to search for it, so there's no surprise there regarding me locating it. I'm not afraid of it killing me because I'm not even afraid of you killing me in this place. And I didn't' exactly pay Xhilihx a visit to have a chat or partake in tea so what's the issue? I didn't pick a fight with it before I was ready nor did I do anything that would give to understand I have tolerance for it so, I'll ask again, what's the problem space robo?"
Countless mathematical symbols and calculations fluttered around Ares as Astraeus stared at him in silence. Eventually the pervasive quiet was dashed by a groan that sounded more like a hum of loud machinery and fans. "I do not feel yet I can safely say that your attitude... Irks me, Ares. Do not let me catch you taking inappropriate measures or stances, you will regret it." Astraeus vanished, leaving behind his threats. It was nothing new, though, and Ares had been warned in such a fashion by him before too.
"Hmph, beep boop to you too, asshole." Ares didn't really have much of an issue with Astraeus, he was probably the one in the wrong overall for going about his own plans in secret the way he did, but he didn't like how the God kept stalking him and his every action twenty-four seven. Ares figured he'd have to do something about that at some point when he was able to but, alas, for now he simply let it be... "Back so soon? Didn't accidentally leave behind a bolt or a screw or anything didja?" Ares joked at Astraeus who'd reappeared once more, this time directly in front of him.
"No. Though we have our differences, and though we may not see eye to eye on various matters, the truth that I trust you to deal with Xhilihx when the time comes remains steadfast. Ignoring the previous 'altercation', do you need a safe place to rest during your upcoming backlash for misusing the war aura?"
Ares raised an eyebrow. "Awfully kind of you but no, thanks, it seems like I'll be fine. The aura has shown me some mercy as a reward for summoning it in the first place. It won't forgive me again but I can get off light this time. My injuries still sting, and I'll be feeling exhausted for a while, but it could have been a lot more severe than this so I'll take what I can get and be happy with the lenience I was shown."
"Hm. Lucky indeed. I've seen war aura backlashes before and they are most certainly not pretty. You'd be better off losing a fight than activating the aura at max power carelessly when it isn't needed. Do keep that in mind."
"You seem to know a lot about the aura... Mind explaining to me whatever you know?"
"I do because I am busy. Thanks to a certain someone, I now need to go and contend with Xhilihx to make sure it doesn't devour too many dimensions. Waking it up just to fulfill your petty revenge has taken a serious toll on the universe... Whatever, I ask that you avoid doing this again. At least have the decency to wait until Xhilihx wakes up of its own accord instead of kickstarting one of its rampages. As for your aura, Dominus should be able to explain it to you in more depth if you really need answers. You should rest tomorrow and take the day off to experiment with how much of the aura you can wield currently, you have time for it as 'Tom Tom' is not as close to sending the DNA to the upper domains as you think he is.
Tonight was a demonstration from the war aura to show you a fraction of the power you can control by developing your mastery over it. Developing it further comes highly recommended from I who hath seen it and all that it is capable of. I have no more time to chat with you about it, however, so I shall take my leave... Hm, one more thing before I go actually. A short while ago a strange crack appeared in the void. I have no idea what caused it as this is not my area of expertise. Though I am ashamed to ask this of you, can you go and check it out to make sure it isn't something that needs immediate addressing? If you cannot deal with whatever it is, call out to me and I shall head over after handling Xhilihx. Still, it seemed to be a minor development, whatever it is, so I believe I won't be needed. You claimed you can find anything in the void so I won't sit around and give you directions." Astraeus left for good this time and Ares was left to ponder what on earth could have happened regarding the unusual crack int he void. The number of people who could come and go freely from this void could be counted on two... Fingers, not even hands; himself and Astraeus. Interacting with the void for anyone wasn't impossible, and anyone who tore through reality technically fell under this category, but to make a crack that persisted for long enough to draw the attention of Astraeus... Something fishy must have gone down and it was worth investigating even if Ares was feeling pretty tired. If nothing else, simply paying it a visit and understanding the nature of it for now would suffice. Ares closed his eyes and scoured through the void...
Ah fu... Ares swore inwardly as blood seeped out from his mouth. He accidentally spied Astraeus beginning his battle with Xhilihx and just encountering such a sight was enough to damage Ares because the fight was so far out of his realm of understanding. He wasn't even injured by an attack or anything, just the profundity of their initial presence was enough to wound him from many millions of miles away. The worst part was that he wasn't even trying to be nosy, he glimpsed the fight accidentally while searching for the damn crack! Ares kissed his teeth and tried again, avoiding that general region like the plague lest he get caught up in their otherworldly brawl again. This time he was able to find the crack but he showed a strange reaction to it, one that was half smiling and half curious because he recognised the origin of this anomaly... It was himself! Ares had obviously never done anything to create this crack but it unmistakably contained traces of his own mana and involvement so he was understandably taken aback somewhat. Ares shifted through the void a few times and inspected the crack with his Omniscience, once he came face to face with it, but it only confirmed what he already knew; he was responsible for this. Still, Ares did learn something else he didn't know before, there was a message contained within the crack. A mental message, to be precise, held within an envelope of nothingness and tucked away neatly in the crack such that even Astraeus wouldn't even be able to pry it out without a deeper understanding of the destruction pillar.
Had Ares' future self found a way to send messages trough time to the past or was Ares sleepwalking and pranking himself without his knowledge? Ares opened the nothingness envelope and let the mental message flow into his brain but it was quite a large one and took some time for him to fully digest. As it turned out, neither of his two guesses were correct and this was a different matter entirely. Ares couldn't help but chuckle once it was over, and the message was received in full, because he now understood what was going on here. The pagoda clone had discovered a way to communicate with him. Initially it tried experimenting with the Primordial Blade but it realised pretty soon after that Ares didn't spend much time inside it really ever. He looked in it from outside often, and cooked from outside too, but actually stepping foot inside wasn't something he really ever did. On the flipside, the void was a way better option as Ares would no doubt go visit Astraeus again at some point if not just outright travel through the void to do his own things related to some of his secrets. Plus Ares controlled the entire void so finding this crack was an inevitability even if Astraeus hadn't pointed it out, it just would have taken him longer. From there, sending a message was actually rather simple. All of nothingness was connected, even simulated versions of it inside the pagoda.
Clone Ares left a message in the void, real Ares picked it up and he was now caught up on the happenings outside of the Primordial Blade barrier related to his clone's reputation. Learning about another wife, in Havannah, and seeing how Candy was doing, was all pretty great news. Ares was happy to know things were progressing smoothly even where he wasn't directly present. He wished he could share actual memories but the clone didn't seem to know past-present polymerisation and couldn't send memories to the void the same way it could send letters regardless. If Aers wanted to share memories, there was only one real option. The clone's suggestion of somehow connecting their souls, forming a link, and sharing everything in real time was the best bet but Ares was going to have to dwell on the matter a little longer before he could accomplish such a thing and make it a reality. The sooner he begun working on it, though, the sooner it would get finished so it was a good thing he was made aware of this crack nice and early. If nothing else, acquiring the Moongate Mountain ought to help move things along as connecting his mind with the clone's might be a hassle without it.
Regardless, Ares sent the clone a message back, filling it in on his own adventures even though it was rather meaningless to do as such. The only thing Ares could really pass on that mattered in any way was the knowledge of war aura, as the clone could develop it too instead of sitting around, and some arts here and there it might not have come up with on its own. After assuring the clone he would work things out on his end, Ares left the void and a second wave of tiredness hit him as he dragged himself through Xasca city. Lights were on in every house and the streets were abuzz with noise and panic as everyone tried to figure out what was happening. Ares had kicked up a fuss in this city for the second time during his stay but this time it was considerably more problematic than the last. The first hubbaloo was reminiscent of his first pressure rampage in the auction and so, although concerning, the Xascans recognised it and didn't bother leaving their warm beds. It had spanned the entirety of Sheryashka both times so the heavy pressure was recognisable to them if they didn't know exactly what caused it. Some 'expert' cultivator was likely just mad in the nearby vicinity and it wasn't worth paying any attention to as nobody got hurt and nobody was fighting or breaking anything...
The same could not be sad for the recent uproar as a giant, red, element wielding pseudo God appeared above the entire city and brought literal thunder down on the slums. Plus there had been a pretty massive disturbance prior, a bunch of golden explosions wreaking havoc, so everyone was worried things would escalate until the entire city was destroyed. According to eye witnesses, though, the fight had been 'won' by one fo the two involved parties and things were now over. Everyone at the scene saw Ares one-sidedly batter the invisible foe at the end so, although they didn't know what he was up against, and nobody would know until tomorrow when the information broker spread word, it was clear that it was over at least. Though he was responsible for this mess, Ares wasted no time on trying to calm everyone down: he may have interrupted their sleep but he desperately needed some of his own after the gruelling fight and the worsening backlash. Dominus had run his body ragged and he sustained some serious injuries near the end of the fight as his war aura drove him to arrogantly take a hit he didn't need to. Ares had been 'in control', and he wasn't berserk or anything, but his cockiness reached unparalleled heights and he needed to work on reigning that side of him in a little. The proud battle maniac could stay, the 'begging for trouble' show off could go, that was his thought on the matter.
Ares wasn't going to toy around with any of that today, however, as he was more concerned with crawling back into the caravan and getting shut eye. His injuries did attract some attention, and some people who were quick on the uptake realised he was probably involved in the massive fight, but nobody bothered him. He was either responsible for the wining strike from the thunder god, and not worth offending, or only indirectly involved and knew no more than people who'd already spoken. Ares was able to leave Xasca eventually, by foot as he was too exhausted to Shift, and slide open the Elliot's door and shut it firmly behind him. Sandy was asleep on the couch and, though there were other options available... Ares decided to indulge himself a little. He earned the right to cuddle with a warm and lovely woman. She'd exploited him for the exact same purpose last night, and gotten all up in his personal space, so he figured it would be fine to return the favour and enjoy soft flesh. He just wanted to be held a bit and fall asleep next to a smooth body. He wished Enyo or Bellona were here, as doing this with Sandy felt like he was betraying Bellona somewhat and having someone else cut in line ahead of her, but hugging someone to sleep ought to be ok... She'd understand... Though she might be somewhat of a gorilla about it and wrestle him... Oh well, Ares looked forward to it if anything as he snuggled up next to Sandy under the blanket and leant on her chest. Being selfish every now and then felt nice... Ares dozed off pretty quickly as he was well and truly out of of it but Sandy opened one of her eyes and checked his condition. She'd gone to sleep earlier but that war aura was too invigorating to sleep through as she felt the thrill of a thousand war horses stampeding in her heart. then the red giant sprung to life and decimated part of the city so she had a feeling Ares would be returning victorious soon and she decided to wait. He looked half asleep as he dragged himself inside so she didn't bother him and keep him up, instead pretending to be asleep again. She was quite good at this... That aside, though, she was worried about him as a large chunk of his face was missing and he had a hole in his chest. He didn't look deathly pale or anything, so he was probably fine, but seeing him hurt kicked her drive to protect into overdrive. She wasn't called Redhome for nothing... But there was nothing to fight so the most she could do was hug and embrace him to make him feel comfortable. It was better than nothing and they both enjoyed it so she leant in such a way that he could use her chest as a supple pillow and have a good night's rest before kissing him on the forehead and following him into the land of dreams.
The night passed with no hitches but early in the morning...
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Ares was woken up by someone frantically rapping their knuckles against the door to the Elliot. All the curtains were closed so he had no idea who it was but the matter seemed pretty urgent based on the way the silhouette of the person on the other side was fidgeting... Though the shadow seemed somewhat familiar and looked like a certainly cowardly brother of his... What had gotten his knickers in a twist? If he were just checking in on Ares after the fight yesterday there was no reason for him to be this uppity... Ah... It's probably the Prowler. Ares had 'stolen' it from him the other day to use Cult Killing and Aejaz must have woken up only to find it missing, leaving him dreading Ares' reaction to the news. At least he came here to be honest and admit he lost it without trying to hide the matter but... Well... Ares already had the Prowler... If this guy used his head for a second he would understand what had happened but Ares didn't blame him because he himself had forgotten that personal treasures could be resummoned from anywhere. An idea came to Ares in his dastardly brain so he giggled to himself as he slowly crept towards the door and brought something out of his Blade's storage.
Meanwhile, outside, Aejaz' teeth were chattering and his hands were shaking. he'd just lost an Enabler of all things! Ares was so not going to be happy... He was out there fighting against an evolved mutant monster while Aejaz was sleeping the night away in his cosy bed and yet he was the one who fumbled the ball somehow! Ares' training was going to triple at bare minimum because of this... Aejaz paced back and forwards in front of the door, with a cold sweat making him tense and nervous, but stopped finally when he noticed a presence on the other side coming towards him from inside the caravan. He leant in close and waited for the door to open. How am I gonna explain this? His worry was at an all time high and he wasn't really focussed which just made what happened next shock him even more.
SHATTER
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Aejaz jumped backwards and ran for his life as a black, bony stepper arm shot through the glass of the door and attempted to fondle his head. He ran for a few seconds but paused when he heard a mean spirited cackle coming from behind him and a rough idea of what just transpired flashed through his head. He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around and flipping his cruel brother, and his stupid stepper hand, the bird with a pouty face. Ares jsut laughed it off and ignored it having gotten the priceless reaction he was after with his silly prank. "... Why the hell do you have a stepper arm?" Aejaz complained. This was an odd trophy to keep, especially for someone like Ares who detested anything even remotely resembling a spider.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ares grinned as he bit into the arm and began chewing on it...
... He's gone mad! Aejaz cried inwardly.
"No but, seriously, these things are pretty good you know?" Ares kept casually eating the arm.
"... Forgive me for not believing you... By the way, why can I see the arm? Aren't they supposed to be invisible?"
"Yes and no. Steppers are only invisible because of Sevorus' experimentation with the brood mother, I'm guessing. I only learnt this yesterday, when I was eating the psychopath alive, but steppers have a core inside their body which is what enables their invisibility. It's seriously well hidden beneath all their extra limbs so the chances of accidentally destroying it is basically zero. Unless you annihilate their whole body at once you probably wont' ever destroy that core... Although if you do the body would likely be gone anyway so it doesn't matter. Plus the cores are resilient little things so breaking them is near impossible for most ordinary people, especially seeing as how people aren't even aware of them as targets anyway which just makes it even more unlikely it would ever happen."
"Huh... The more you know... That still doesn't explain why you're eating it though..." Aejaz was feeling sick to his stomach... Evidently something had happened last night and he wasn't sure he wanted answers...