Discerning Asylum [End]

Just poking out from the edge of the Shadelands is a modest looking home, big enough to hold a single family home. Once you sleep past the front door, the interior sprawls like a college campus, books lining the shelves for three floors up like an open concept library. This is the atelier, where Zero takes time to recharge and plan his expeditions abroad. Definitely bigger on the inside.
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Zero Venkage
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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“In the grand scheme of things, you’re going to be a mentor. But first, you must learn to listen, then learn to learn, and finally, learn to teach.”

He counted each of those steps with his fingers in front of her, Pinning his final, middle finger between his opposite thumb and forefinger.

“If you can learn to teach, you’re on the A Team and get the big jobs. The Conservatory works to find and cultivate unique Arbiters and document them all in a ledger I’ve dubbed “The Bestiary.”

Zero wiggled his fingers like sparkles, stumbling through the signs for each of the individual letters in Bestiary, knowing full well she could read his lips.

“And The Bestiary is the ongoing project that’s pretty much at the foundation of what The Conservatory does. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to provide you the tools you’re probably very eager to get acquainted with. It’s like building an encyclopedia, but it’s all martial arts and magic.”

The Bestiary and its cosmic ledger of Arbiters fascinated Zero from the moment he found out it existed. The Lucis Acolytes introduced him firsthand to their craft with the ledger, how they effortlessly accessed a massive collection of Arbiters in a single place. Whoever started the collection definitely had time and patience on their hands, and a vision that told them their mission could be completed; he respected the audacity of its conception, and was humbled to its influence. With a Vestige like that at their behest, Zero definitely needed to offer something in exchange for their good faith endorsement. So, his work with The Conservatory has him as an Ambassador of Arbiter, who needed a capable team behind him to make his own vision a reality.

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Okoye
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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“And The Bestiary is the ongoing project that’s pretty much at the foundation of what The Conservatory does. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to provide you the tools you’re probably very eager to get acquainted with. It’s like building an encyclopedia, but it’s all martial arts and magic.”
Okoye's face twisted until it looked more like a question mark. Surely this was a joke she thought, but Zero's excited expression conveyed that this was him being deadly serious. He was so passionate as he discussed the Conservatory. Which, despite her apathy toward teaching, drew even more intrigue around this Bestiary. Was it truly a collection of legendary techniques? Hundreds? Thousands? It sounded illogical, but anyone in possession of this mystic tome would be instantly transformed into a god among men. Did Zero truly have access to something so preposterous? Her arms were tightly folded until she used them to sign.

"Even if such a thing were to exist.. I have no wish to teach anyone anything.."

The idea sounded like torture to her. Subjecting herself to the whines and whims of idiots whom she neither knew nor cared for, she'd rather cut off her tail than endure that. Okoye was a genius by most accounts; even when compared to the superior physiology of her clansmen, the young woman's intellect remained an outlier. But ever since she was a child, this excess of patience, diligence, and mental capacity she possessed had been solely reserved for personal gain. It didn't seem like it, but Okoye truly hated interacting with others.. especially those she considered "weak" or "lesser."

It was the way she was raised.

"Trust me, I am not mentor material."

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“We’ll get you there, don’t worry about it.”

Zero took her objection and filed it under “things to consider later” and kept his pitch rolling. Everyone objects to the teaching thing until they get a taste of what it’s like to learn, and he can get them to take on a class or at least a part time apprentice. What began as a humble undertaking grew to a locally (partially) respected organization with a worldwide reach and access to knowledge kept away from the outside world for quite some time. As the arbiter of its dissemination, Zero took his role pretty seriously, more serious than his laid-back demeanor led on.

“Until then, you’re on C Team. Well, C plus.”

Zero tickled himself, his ribbing aiming at lighting a fire under her without having her come across the table at him. Okoye hailed from Arcturus, being able to presumably throw down with some of the planet’s finest, and definitely had more skill than her frame lent to the imagination. He didn’t remember seeing her personally in Arcturus but he had respect for most of the people who found their way there. Even the most surly, unsavory curmudgeon came with a heightened sense of pride and reverence for the place, it was one of the 5 places on Vescrutia he hadn’t stolen from for quite some time. They were all some kind of ragtag family together, bound in The Abyss, wrought in The Crucible.

“That is, if you would like to be a part. Perks start immediately and retro pay to a half hour ago when we first met.”

Zero held out his hand across the table and extended his pinky finger. The tip started producing golden, translucent rings around it. If she took the offer, all she would need to do is offer her pinky and the deal would be sealed.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“We’ll get you there, don’t worry about it. Until then, you’re on C Team. Well, C plus.”

Zero held out his hand across the table and extended his pinky finger. The tip started producing golden, translucent rings around it.

“That is, if you would like to be a part. Perks start immediately and retro pay to a half hour ago when we first met.”
Okoye's gaze grew anxious and her demeanor grew hesitant and defensive. Like she wanted to take a step back despite sitting down. The last time she joined an organization, her patreon betrayed her and landed her in prison. Needless to say, she had some major reservations about aligning with others. Even now, it felt like she was being tricked into somethint, but nothing about Zero reinforced that impression. Still.. she wasn't fond of the mundane work involved in societal welfare. If she wasn't going to be a mentor, what else did Zero have in mind?

"..."

She took a moment in silence, gazing at Zero's glistening pinky finger before she decided to get out of her chair and walk away.. She left to seemingly explore the library but after some shuffling about, she returned in no time. In her hand, she brought with her a trinket within thr Altier that caught her eye the second she walked in. It wasn't extravagant in any way, it was a simple golden hour glass filled at the bottom with crimson sand.

"I have an idea.. Fight me for it?"

Okoye smiled before she inverted it on the table and began signing.

"If you can knock me out before the final grain, I'll do and agree to whatever job you'd like.. If I win, if I'm still conscious.. you train me and only me. Starting today."

Okoye's predilection to gamble or wager seemed to always intervene in her bigger life decisions. But this time was different. In her mind, this was less of a gamble and more of a win-win. The second she recognized who Zero was, she was absolutely fixated on exchanging blows with him. This titan of combat. Being this close to him was actually boiling her blood.. to know he was so powerful.. so much more powerful than she. It was a cocktail of jealousy and admiration. She wanted nothing more than to be so unbothered, so above reproach. She wanted to be the strongest.. being so close to someone that could wield such a title was.. hard to explain. But today, even if she was defeated, she could see just how large the chasm between them truly was. She always wondered just how she needed to go to attain this. She imagined Zero's blood still ran white during a proper battle, so she figured he'd want to tussle just as much as she did. He'd want to give her empirical evidence about how incredible the Bestiary was. And besides that, combat was their native tongue back then. She figured not much could have changed.

"Deal?"

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“Unconscious?”

He watched the few grains drip from the hourglass and realized just how much time he had to fulfill her request. It was of no consequence to him if she joined or not, she could have walked away and had her luck with the rest of the Jaida Coast and he’d go back to his business. But she seemed to think that just being around would constitute an apprenticeship Zero had to honor. What would she do, just follow him around until they had a teachable moment he could decide whether or not he would oblige?What could she really threaten him with?

Across the table, her confident, forward posture said she’d never back down. If at the end of that hourglass’s timer she was on her feet, she’d never leave him alone. Unfortunately, that meant he would have to clean her clock.

“If you really want to do it this way, that’s fine. At least give me a better reason to hit you.”

He didn’t want to start the fight, not considering he offered her everything but violence from the start. Still, old habits die hard and there was no other recourse but to oblige her. The Abyss had a single rule, “Let your fists decide.” Zero twinkled his fingers and leaned forward on the couch, giving her a better vantage point to reach across and show him what for. He didn’t stand, but the aura around his hands came to life with electricity.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“If you really want to do it this way, that’s fine. At least give me a better reason to hit you.”

He didn’t want to start the fight, not considering he offered her everything but violence from the start. Still, old habits die hard and there was no other recourse but to oblige her. The Abyss had a single rule, “Let your fists decide.” Zero twinkled his fingers and leaned forward on the couch, giving her a better vantage point to reach across and show him what for.
Okoye felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand tall watching Zero's shoulders lurch over. He wafted with power and confidence that flirted with arrogance. Which wouldn't seem like it to many, but she could tell that his approach to combat had changed from what she'd known. He'd grown.. she wasnt sure in what capacity, but this man was definitely less blood thirsty than the champion she used to watch throttle his opponents. Today it seemed like he even wanted to hold back.. which would be a waste of time for them both.

"A reason? I honestly didn't think you'd need one.. and I really didn't think you'd be fond of losing."

Okoye signed before she reached for the gleaming diamond stud pierced into her left ear and tossed it across the table. It looked like an ordinary shard to the naked eye; maybe a flawlessly cut gold diamond. But anyone who'd been close enough to see a Dairhino would be able to recognize the unique texture of their "impregnable" hides.

"..have you ever fought a Mazoku before? I mean, I know you're strong Zero, fast too. But I doubt you'll be able to really hurt me me.. not in time, anyway. I'm wayyy tougher than I look."

The conceit on her face. She looked confused as to why she had to answer the question. She couldn't very well fight and continue signing, so before she drew a fighting stance, she offered perhaps the push he needed.

"..but if you still need something to fight for, how about this.. If this gets boring I'll scream as loud as I can. You do know what that'll do, right?"

She had no intentions of committing to this sudden and cruel act of terrorism but she assumed Zero didn't know that. He wasn't privy of her character right? She did arrive at his doorstep covered in chains. She hoped the illusion would be enough to goad him. She did appreciate his kindness.. she hoped maybe they could laugh about her jokingly holding the Jada Coast hostage for her amusement in the future. But then again, Okoyes sense of humor was.. not great.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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“It’ll do you a whole lot of nothing,” Zero said , shrugging off her threat. Any kind of scream would blow her cover and a leave her to the whim of whoever would come rushing to her aid. He thought it strange for her to assume someone would be coming to her rescue, her pride would never allow for it. Then he remembered his one run in with the B’halian Empire’s forces and the sound accompanying the volcano that erupted out of the floor of the facility. Was that a scream?

Whatever it was, she threatened him with it like a strong right hand, like it was her one and only trump card she’d used to get out of every bind she needed to. It probably got her out of prison, but not out of those chains, so it might not be very refined whatever it is.

Incensed enough by her half filled threat, Zero leaned forward letting the electricity around his sharpened palm jumped in an arc stretching just under Okoye’s chin. His hand appeared in the same moment, right next to her throat behind a gust of wind that cascaded through the pages of the books he brought out to understand her, stamping them all closed in a snap. He maintained eye contact with her the whole time, ready to receive her counterattack.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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Zero leaned forward letting the electricity around his sharpened palm jump in an arc stretching just under Okoye’s chin. His hand appeared in the same moment, right next to her throat behind a gust of wind that cascaded through the pages of the books he brought out to understand her, stamping them all closed in a snap. He maintained eye contact with her the whole time, ready to receive her counterattack.
She thought she saw him coming. That "lean forward" was enough for her heart to jump three times over her natural bpm and spike her blood with the necessary chemicals to fight a herd of rabid elephant-wolves. A task she'd accomplished before simply to practice her martial arts while both intoxicated and hungry. But no amount of training or adrenaline could have prepared her for this.

The gust generated from Zero's movements wafted across Okoye's face and clothes like a mighty gale. Her skin rippled like water against the sheer force of what could have been, and that was before her ears popped from the resounding THOOM that trailed behind. He was upon her so fast.. so..fast. Faster than her eidetic memory remembered despite the hours it had already recorded of him. She barely had time to plant her back foot to strengthen her defense. Not that it mattered. Zero's fingers were already three inches from her neck before Okoye's reflexes, as stellar as they are, registered his movements and lifted her arms to counter. She was massively too late. Zero didn't even need to make contact for him to firmly assert his point. That stare in his eye, those empty amber wells were as dead as they always were before he delivered the fatal blow. They wanted her to know that he could end this fight the instant he wanted. And whether or not it was true (which it wasn't) the fact that he thought so little of her skills was enough to melt that smile right off her face.

"..."

In its stead grew a primal snarl. Scorned. Insulted. So much so that in her rage, Okoye' let slip a low guttural growl; the likes of which trembled literally every material construct not mystically bolted down within this three story Athenaeum. Books, doors, tables, tiles, nails, artifacts, even Zero's footing would feel the controlled, yet seismic power ruminating through her clenched teeth. Her canines hung like fangs whenever her blood boiled like this, and her eyes swirled into angry pools of crimson beneath her furrowed brow.

Not even a second had passed and already Okoye' wanted to reconsider their little challenge. She wanted to scream. With every fiber of her being she wanted to scream. Nothing would give her more joy than seeing Zero truly comprehend the perils of underestimating her. He was right in front of her too, practically begging to see it. And she was seething to do it.. even though in the back of her mind she knew he would escape. Even with him here at point blank range, she knew in her heart the fastest creature alive wouldn't be killed here. That he would etch out at the last second and she would turn everything BUT him into waste. A pointless effort.. but that's not what kept her from trying. The truth was she didn't have enough control over her voice to properly weaponize it. A fact Zero clearly deduced by his decision to shred the distance between them. With any knowledge of her tribe, he'd be aware of the potential horrors of a Mazoku's scream. But he also saw her chained up, and unable to properly free herself from bindings without assistance. With what he'd seen, it made sense as to why Zero wouldn’t fear her. In fact, she bet that he probably didn't take her skills or this contest very seriously at all.

Something she was used to from her opponents, but that didn't make it sting any worse. Okoye decided then that even if she died, she would show him that she was not to be trifled with before the final grain of sand had fallen. That was her goal. And she wouldn't her need fo rely on her voice to do it.

Her leg was her weapon of choice and her quaking physical might was its engine. In a flash, she employed all of her strength behind all the speed she could muster in this split second decision, and lifted her leg vertically from beneath her and toward the ceiling. It happened so swiftly that the appendage became a blur of color; a responding gale of deadly force sharp enough to split the air just as Zero had done before.

This first strike of hers was a three pronged assault all branching from her inside leg; the initial blow coming from the ultra swift rising kick intended to split her opponent from their nuts and upwards toward their skull. The velocity of which generated a small vacuum that tore the tiles from the floor and could have locked Zero in place if he chose to dodge. The second strike would come in the form of a falling ax heel kick. And the tremendous force behind it would have generated a shockwave from the resounding impact.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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Her foot exploded through the table, snapping it in two and sending the books flying back into their shelves. The shrapnel from the table exploded around him and snapped back together right after her foot flew through it in pristine condition. The vacuum force ruffled his hair, but Zero powered through and leaned back into his chair after her initial strike, lifting the coffee table with a rising kick of his own, blasting the table apart from its center and planting his foot to her falling axe kick, the shockwave from their contact shaking the architecture of the Atelier and compelling the bisected table beneath their deadlocked kick. She exhibited a well trained form, her technique conveyed a dedication to the strike that left no room to question its nature. Whether through calculated training or novel experience, she displayed her bright, burning spirit in her sculpted physique and impeccable style, obliging it with his own signature greeting.

The vacuum well, the snap and crash of the coffee table, the vapid swell and warp of the stories of bookcases and light fixtures made him smile, his last visitor made a find dust of his home and forced him to move further from the coast than he originally planned. But this was a refreshing palate cleanser, a meeting of like minds connected through the different roads of life. They shared many parallels, jail broken, Arcturian gilded, confident in their own abilities, and Zero appreciated her candor. The hourglass she used as the marker for their contest found itself launched into the Atelier’s airspace, finding its home back upstairs wherever she pulled it from. Their time still ticked away, a select few grains passing through the glass’s eye. Her resourcefulness rounded out her toolkit, an eye for detail, multi lingual communication, and combat skills to rule a small city, Okoye embodied the spirit of Arcturus.

“…”

Zero snapped his kick behind him and aimed to parry the remaining force back into the table reformed beneath and between them. She had the makings of a legend coursing through her blood, written all over her story, and Zero wanted to see what else she was made of. A crooked smile crawled across his face, eager to help her cultivate the skills needed to conquer the B’halian Empire. If nothing else, she stood before him drowned in confidence, steeped in resolve, a spirited individual with a world of potential ahead of her.

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Re: Discerning Asylum

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Okoye watched him closely. Meticulous. Analyzing ever fiber flinch, every joint twist. Her eyes, boiling ruby red, looked more like fine lasers prrimed to record empirical data. She wouldn't be caught off guard again, and despite his beguiling, often theatrical capabilities she' come to know him for, she wouldn't be caught just watching the show.

Zero's rising counter kick clashed with Okoye's dropping right leg with a resounding impact that sounded less like colliding bone and more like twisting metal. There, his extended foot held off her crushing heel in midair, no different than a samurai defending himself from his opponent's helm splitting blade. But their clash lasted less than a moment before Zero parried what remained of Okoye's strike into the table beneath them. It looked effortless to him. Quick reads, explosive power, reserved efforts. Her brain was coding at a mile a minute trying to digest his subtle quirks. Her response would have to be just as focused as he. Three times as precise. With no wasted efforts.

"..."

Zero's masterful deflection redirected Okoye's axe kick unto the table beneath them, but instead of the splintering echoes of it being smashed into a million tiny toothpicks, Okoye adjusted herself at the last second. Her tightly curled toes, sprawled open like tiny fingers as she altered the trajectory of her foot just slightly before impact. This display of mastery in strength, physics, and body control propelled the table off the ground and in-between the two of them, spinning wildly from the transfer of inertia before Okoye's palm struck it like a bolt of lightning. It all happened in one motion; mimicking Zero's aquous movements as to not waste a single effort. She weaponized the self mending table into a deadly projectile and immediately steeled herself in a different stance after. This posture bore predicates of a more defensive agenda, but in truth Okoye knew the only way to duel with an opponent with an advantage in strength was to keep them on their toes. No matter how fast Zero was, She would have to dictate the pace of this battle if she intended to survive, which meant she needed to maximize every opportunity she had. Or else..

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