Smack
"Guess I'll start with the pagoda clone's memories..."
Smack
"They ought to be easier to digest than whatever Enyo's sent me..."
Smack
"But maybe it's better to get that ordeal over and done with first?"
Smack Smack
As Ares went back and forth in his head, deliberating over which set of memories to replay for his viewing pleasure first, he was also tasked with fending off various jumpy fishies that were attempting to swallow him whole by leaping out of the sea and chomping him. The quickest and easier answer to this aggressive assault of anglers and anchovies of anomalous amplitude was to activate annihilation enhancement and ambush his aquatic attackers with slaps and smacks galore. Every swing of the wrist left a bloody red mist and eventually the monsters trying to nibble Ares got the gist. At some point, though, a whale-sized shark also looked to pick a fight, and assert dominance over this quadrant of the ocean, but it too was sent packing when Ares showed it who it was messing with and turned into Garmr. Garmr then proceeded to grip the shark by its oversized tail, sin to the depths of the water like a massive stone, and then slam its head against the ocean bed repeatedly and give it a concussion. From there, Garmr spun, creating a colossal whirlpool, and finally chucking the dazed shark multiple miles away. It probably landed on an island in the middle of nowhere like a protein meteorite, and was about to provide an indigenous tribe with enough omega three to last a life time, but Ares couldn't care less as he returned to his journey. His trip this time continued unabated as the marine life knew better now that the local overlord had been soundly and resoundingly defeated.
Getting back on track, Ares figured it was for the best if he began his memory bank browsing by starting with the bird kin. Admittedly the Enyo memory ball contained some rather... exciting and provocative imagery that Ares needed to be prepared for mentally. He'd abstained from anything adult-oriented throughout his entire trip and so a recollection as erotic as whatever he was going to witness might be a bit too stimulating in his current starved state. It's not like he was going to relieve himself in the middle of the ocean... Though he had briefly considered it. But no! That was perhaps too embossing even for the master of shamelessness himself. Enyo would see all his memories and if he appeared that desperate he wouldn't hear the end of it for a good few months to come. Especially from Bellona; the ridiculing and mocking would be ruthless. To that end, he would treat it as a mere spectacle for his amusement. It was an oddly distant and, in some ways, arguably perverse manner of voyeurism but he wasn't going to not watch it... He was a hot blooded male when it came down to it so not watching the free triple 'x' rated homegrown film of two hot women going at it was simply not in the cards, his instincts demanded it. Instead, he would channel whatever he felt afterwards into patient expectation and then take it all out on Enyo when he got home.
Enyo knew what she was doing sending him this, Enyo was bizarrely clever when it came to stuff like this. As far as riling Ares up, there was nobody on the planet who could do it better. Supercomputers would pale in comparison to Enyo's frightening level of lewd genius as the rate at which she could calculate Ares' intentions, actions, and reactions was impeccable. For now, Enyo was Ares' only real outlet. That or self relieving but, again, his memories were due for inspection and there was no way around it. He would simply have to channel all his pent up stress at the one person who would gladly take it and take it all. She'd thought this through and sending him the memories at around this time was all part of her gameplan to both entice and deprive Ares simultaneously, giving him only one option going forward. It's not like Ares wasn't aware of this but she was right and he'd give her what for later.
Anyway, point being, it was easier for Ares if he acknowledged the existence of the ball of light in the Primordial Blade and took a few preparatory minutes to understand roughly what he'd be seeing inside it. Going in with expectations would prepare him and allow him to control his own urges / reactions to it to some extent at least even if he wound up hot and bothered. In order to buy extra time before that, though, Ares would start with the pagoda clone memories but... There was a slight issue with them too. The bird kin, that was apparently named 'Kya', pronounced 'Kai-ah', according to the discussion the clone had with her, hadn't really spoken much about herself. There was some information shared... But not much really. Ares knew she was a member of the cult of destruction because she was born into it. He also knew she was a bit of a misfit in many ways and wasn't too sure about her future in the cult and / or how to go about leaving them without putting a massive target on her back. Beyond familial issues, Ares didn't even really know much about her but there was definitely some sort of deeply buried trauma related to her childhood that even affected her biology. It was pretty obvious, actually, because having the souls of the deceased follow you around and live inside you twenty-four seven was... Well it wasn't exactly normal. Ares had Dominus' soul, by chance, and even that single soul residing with him was a relatively rare occurrence. Souls were hard to hold in one place and Ares was only able to keep them stored in his Blade thanks to his fundamental pillar's nothingness affiliation. Kya had multiple souls attached to her own and she was like some sort of glue that bound them all together, keeping them close and permanently stuck with her as though she were a soul magnet which was strange as can be. She had a weird amount of control over the souls too so there was absolutely something unnatural going on here but Ares had no idea what. Perhaps if he knew what she'd been up to a day or so before arriving at the pagoda he might have been able to piece things together but, alas, he only had memories from the pagoda and couldn't possibly be privy to such things right now. Thankfully, however, the floating, disembodied voice narrating this story did know!
Roughly a day ago, in a secluded location that once housed a secret, high-tech base used for soul-related experimentation on organic and inorganic beings...
Clank
A ventilation shaft, in the corner of an open room, was kicked aside and sent scattering down a nearby hallway. Through the open hole in the wall dropped down a nimble figure who landed in a crouched stance and took stock of her surroundings for any nearby patrolling enemies. She needn't analyse the layout of the lab she wound up in because she knew it like the back of her hand. This was where data was collected after various injections and was referred to as the 'hospital' back when she, and her friends, lived here. As far as she knew at the time, this was the only highly sterile, pure white room laden with computers, lined with needles and beakers, and filled to the brim with patient records of its kind but, beyond these walls, and beyond the Potemkin village constructed near the heart of this facility, were, in fact, countless others. The gross misconduct that went on in those rooms had been recorded in full so Kya could relive the horrors others suffered through whenever she pleased. Fortunately she never had to experience any of it first hand due to being 'talented' but that was another matter entirely and one she wasn't exactly grateful for as it presented its own challenges. Sometimes being the only survivor was harder than fading away and reaching the other side. Kya would go digging deeper into this place for the sake of her own personal mission later but her first order of business was to go check the area she grew up in, and see what was left of the place out of morbid curiosity, so she stood tall, checked around for the robotic maintenance crew that kept the place spic and span in the absence of the destruction cult's researchers, and began marching down the hallways.
Kya was an individual with... Unique tastes. New-age militant, utilitarian, urban techwear was a majority of the clothing style she sported but it was also crossed with gothic aesthetics here and there to form a strange combination that was unusual but also definitely accurate to the sort of person she was. After everything that happened to her in this place she took on a 'don't care' attitude to get through the pain and act like nothing ever bothered her, which kicked off her goth phase, but then her career of assassination and infiltration led to the other half of her wardrobe coming into play and it was all rather functional. Holsters, pockets, and clasps everywhere. She wore safety boots with metallic tips suitable for rough environments. Her shorts were decently lengthy and thick but not so much that they would impede her when it came to the erratic movement she specialised in mid-combat thanks to her most proficient art that would be shown off later. The shorts were laden with straps and hidden compartments for smaller weaponry but what really stood out were the occasional dashes of red and hanging silver skull chains dangling out of open pockets that served no real function but acted as more of a fashion statement than anything else. Furthermore, the shorts were worn lower than usual and a whale tail was present just under Kya's exposed tummy where a patch of red feathers formed a small line around her waist. Kya was a bird kin, a red breasted meadowlark was the exact physiology her racial lineage was derived from, so there was some plumage on her that stood out at a glance. Most feathers were located near the head region but her waist stood out a fair bit in contrast to the relatively normal human body around it because of how stark the colour contrast between it, flesh, and the multiple pieces of black clothing she wore were. There was also a dark red leather belt strapped across her waist, with small tools strapped to it like lock picks and nail sized blades, that also drew some attention.
This lethal toolkit and feathery mid section were subdued somewhat, however, by the existence of the large black jacket that covered her sides from head to toe. It wasn't thick but there was a double layer for insulation and to boost resilience from any random strikes that happened to land but it's primary purpose was to be sleek and efficient, unobstructive when in motion and quiet and unassuming enough to go overlooked in busy environments. The hood it sported came down quite low so it hid a lot of facial features if Kya wasn't in the mood to have to explain why she had small feathered wings on her head but more on that later. The jacket leant more into practicality than gothic fashion so it was abundant in terms of utility. Zips could be done or undone to store and hide loot, improve breathability, adjust internal temperatures, or insulate the wearer from harsh substances. Belt like braces could be buckled up to close the jacket and blend in with the dark when stealth was required while also boosting the defences it could offer. Near the neck region were tiny sensors that detected any threats sneaking up behind the wearer and would let out soft beeps into their ear to alert them if the functionality was enabled. Kya always wore the jacket open so her unclothed legs, stomach, and upper chest were always laid bare but the jacket was still lengthy enough to hide most of her body at most angles anyway and it really didn't feel like she was as exposed as she was.
Speaking of upper body, this was where techwear took a back seat for purely gothic inspiration as she wore a bra top that was more strap and fishnet than solid material. Only her breasts were fully covered by studded leather but the rest was a combination of webbed pattern fishnet dotted across the region below her neck and interconnecting straps featuring gothic iconography like burning hearts, crows, and other such dark and dreary items of wickedness that were applicable to the fad. A tattoo above her right breast was that of a large, bare, withering tree and grew all the way up the length of her shoulder, covering it and becoming a partial sleeve. A choker around the neck was pretty much mandatory but it was otherwise ordinary and nothing too flashy, just two plain black lines above and below a singular red line in the middle. Last but not least, before reaching the face, it was also worth mentioning the exo-skeleton-esque red tipped claws attached to the back of Kya's hand which were a weapon she was quite fond of. It wasn't her go to but they were always readily available to scratch out the eyeballs of anyone who got too close without her permission. She preferred daggers and guns but these would also work if the correct situation arose and there wasn't time to mess about with holstering or unholstering the myriad weapons located across her tactical clothing.
Onto the head and face... Well it was hard to discuss anything below the eyes because Kya wore a fairly large metallic, bat shaped mask. There were small nozzles on the sides for dispersing gas and permitting clean air to pass through in case of the spread of poisonous substances, a switch near the edge to open up the front by splitting it in half temporarily, and a button that could raise a visor over the eyes to fully block out any and all facial features to remain unidentifiable when caught out. Fortunately, the aforementioned disembodied voice narrating this story was already breaching more than just the fourth wall by reciting this incident in the first place and it was also capable of revealing that which lay behind the mask and under the hood. Perhaps this was a breach of privacy but what happened beyond the realm of reality was something Kya could never possibly concern herself with.
Kya's features were soft but warped by the expression she wore which practically screamed 'it's not a phase mom' combined with 'I haven't slept in days' and 'I wish my life had deeper meaning but it doesn't so I'll just pretend it does'. This wasn't to say her gothic way of life was put-on or anything, it was very real, she was just naturally a shy and quiet kid so her intentions didn't blend well with her innate personality. Or she had been a quiet and shy kid, at one point, but this new life chose her, not the other way around. At least that was how she saw it. She wore black lipstick but had rather thin lips so it wasn't much visible unless she smiled... So never, basically. Her cheeks and nose were soft and smooth, much to her chagrin so she wore a mask because she wanted to look fiercer precisely in spite of this, but her chin was somewhat pointed so it roughed up her look a tad and she was proud of it even if she never openly admitted it. She actually wanted to make adjustments to her mask so that her chin would be visible as she liked the way it stood out, jutting at the world around it in open defiance and rebellion... 'Or whatever'. Actually, she didn't speak like that. The typical slow, bored of everything type of tropey speech commonly associated with goths was not present in Kya, she didn't even really speak much to begin with and was pretty quiet and solemn for the most part. Soft spoken, with every word almost like a whisper, but a degree of confidence behind them. You could tell she used to be shy, there was a holdover in terms of limited volume when it came to speech, but she'd learnt to assert herself whenever she felt it was necessary and that was obvious. Getting back on track, though, there was tiny black birthmark, a mole, located between her nose and her left eye. It was minimal, and extremely hard to notice given everything else that was happening around the eye region, easily the most busy part of Kya's body, but it was there and poking out of the top of the mask to say hello.
As for the eyes, most aevysqualls had a kind of innate eyeliner to them. In Kya's case, there was a black, shadowy rim around her eyes shaped like a wing but there were a few intentionally smudged streaks of mascara to sell the whole emo phase thing she had going on. She'd probably look better without it but, when on a mission at least, she treated it like a kind of war paint and kept it this way to serve as a kind of camo. Thankfully she didn't opt to have it like this all the time but it served its purpose and struck feat into the hearts of those who saw it suddenly appear within the scope of their view alongside the muzzle or barrel of a gun. Though Kya's eyes weren't particularly striking like, for instance, Bellona's bright amber eyes, they were unique in their own way for the exact opposite reason. They were quite subdued, actually, and pale almost. The colour of her iris was incredibly withdrawn, like the opacity had been turned down to about ten percent when dialling in on the optimal shade of pastel pink. Her eyes, despite their relatively light colour, almost appeared dark due to how faded the colour was not to mention all the eye liner and other makeup surrounding it. For reasons drastically different to Bellona, they stood out. Even the mask accentuated the curve of her eye magnificently and so clearly great pains had been taken to make it all fit perfectly.
Going further up was the last two remaining discussion-worthy pieces of the puzzle that was the socially awkward enigma Kya who had a strong presence in the body and mind of an shy, outcast teenager. Her hair was short, messy, and had a few red bands splattered around here and there near the forehead to add a touch of red which was evidently her favourite colour and not black. Not every emo's favourite colour had to be black! She liked it but that wasn't some kind of obligation to ignore her personal favourite either and wear nothing but dark and edgy colours! Sidetrack aside, the hair was surprisingly not the typical emo mullet, or anything of the ilk, but rather a pretty plain, but again messy, 'bixie cut'. A combination of a pixie cut and a bob. That was the intention at least but had gotten lost in translation near the back and was just pain straight hair there because she assumed nobody would see it what with the hood she always wore. She was right but it was still lazy! It didn't look terrible, necessarily, but it showed a lack of care compared to the front and, even then, not much effort had been made there either. it didn't look bad but there was much room for improvement if she could be bothered. It was all very 'I don't care about your opinion... Much...' If she truly didn't care at all it could look way worse but, no matter how much she claimed otherwise, a small part of Kya did care. Also, yes, there were feathered wings on her head. They were tiny, much smaller compared to the ones hidden on her back and ready to be deployed for the the sake of flight, but they were there and twitched every so often. They were like a dog's tail in that they had a mind of their own and wriggled or drooped according to Kya's emotional state but they were hidden under her hood for the most part because she often felt embarrassed by them revealing her true inner turmoil.
All in all, Kya was a strange case. She had the drive and desire to be an emo scene style individual but not really the gumption or character for it. The best explanation was that it was like finding an innocent nun, slapping her in militant emo gear, and demanding she act the part. To Kya's credit, she didn't look unnatural at least... But her heart wasn't really in it to the same extent it was for those who were more hardcore. There was a want to be that sort of person, and a good attempt was made, but it was definitely the sort of thing you either just were or weren't and had no reason to try being. Edgerton knew the ropes and walked the walk but Kya? Not so much. Honestly it was probably just a means of rebelling against her family in whatever trivial way someone who was once pure, shy, aloof, and reclusive could think of. She had access to the internet and, given her history and current situation, the combination seemed to give rise to whatever this was. It wasn't 'wrong' per se, it just didn't feel like a 'complete' or fleshed out personality in the way it should be. It's not that she needed massive changes to be what she was trying to be but, rather, it felt like she was closer to something else entirely that wasn't what she was aiming for or even had any intention of becoming. That was for the future, though, and she'd learn what kind of person she wanted to be, and who she wanted to be that kind of person for, in due time. Now was not that point as she was currently arriving at the false happiness that was the fake village constructed for newborn members of the destruction cult.
See, the destruction cult wasn't normal, duh. But in this specific instance, what's being referred to is the need to put young children and cult members through a sort of deadly hazing. The destruction cult would actually be pretty large if they didn't have the terrible habit of experimenting on their children with a 'the strong will survive' approach. The weak were merely gifted the grace of 'premature destruction' while those who survived would become 'suitably gifted vessels of destruction', that was the plan anyway. Selective breeding, discarding the waste, and empowering the living with powers beyond comprehension for the inevitable destructive tide that would wash over all of the universe. Put simply, the cult wanted to create superhuman cultivators with various... 'Talents'. It couldn't really be boiled down to any one specific kind of 'enhancement' really, each branch of the cult, of which there were many, had their own ideas about how to go about 'raising' their young. Some actually did nothing, and were tasked with raising cannon fodder foot soldiers en masse, and funnily enough they were considered the lucky ones from outside perspectives because they had a higher chance of short term survival at least. They could grow up relatively safely, training in a non-harmful environment and what not, before dying in kamikaze attacks down the line.
Children in other parts of the destruction cult, though? Not so lucky. In one case, one branch had groups of children fight to the death every couple of weeks until only one remained, at which point they would then be made to eat the other children and swallow their bloodlines via the help of a cannibal-incentivising treasure. In another case, the children were strapped with bombs and told to run across the entire planet in ten days or they would explode and die. This was impossible, the planet this test was conducted on was massive, so the real task was using ingenuity to come up with a feasible method such as bribing the locals or stealing treasures from passing cultivators and so on so forth. The winner was the smartest and would therefore be given experimental neural implants that could turn them into a humanoid supercomputer... As long as their brain didn't fry and overload. Anywho, point being, harsh testing and methodology was supposed to result in cream of the crop level talents with all the resources of the clan directed towards them from then on to create pinnacle prodigies. The destruction cult started off incredibly weak, they were busy killing their own at unprecedented rates and lost many potential late blooming talents as a result, but they had quickly grown to become a powerful entity in their own right that was causing many issues and had become rapidly detested once they got their feet off the ground. They reproduced like rabbits with the intention of creating more rabid followers and super soldiers but they were dedicated and it actually, to some extent, worked.
Point in case, Kya. Originally just a normal girl, albeit one hyper talented with the gadgetry pillar and the gun aspect, became a cultivator with a third strong affiliation she didn't have at birth... Albeit one for the necromancy oriented Grave Lord aspect, an affiliation that came at the cost of people she held dear... They were unpleasant memories but she wanted to reminisce while she happened to be in this place anyway so she made her way to the village she knew all too well while keeping thoughts about the people whose souls resided within her that she knew all to well. A group of ten children, all of which she'd considered friends, had never quite left her and she wasn't too sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, she was more powerful than ever and, through means that were somewhat questionable, could keep them by her side. The souls weren't alive but they were animated and seemed to possess something akin to a will of their own so their state couldn't really be considered one of death, not really... But perhaps this was a form of eternal torture for them and Kya was merely the vehicle through which their suffering was sustained. It was hard to tell because she couldn't speak with them, only command them to do her bidding via man and magic. There was a lot to think about but remembering the good times growing up helped ease Kya's thoughts and so she snuck around through the facility with a goal in mind, retracing her steps and finding the place where it all began.