Ramiel And The Divine Priestess' Curse

(Where We Last Left Off)

Taomin followed Ramiel's lead this time, waiting as he made an opening in Nyake's shadowy form. "There!" Taomin cried out, etching into the sky an incantation that would take the form of a Talisman. She pointed at the skull and directed the Wind to guide the slip toward the skull so that it would hopefully attach to it and begin to siphon its power -- a Siphon Talisman. "Ramiel!" Taomin cried, etching more Siphon Incantations in the sky, forging them into Talismans, "Distract Her!" He should be able to take care of that for her, and then the Talismans would be allowed to do their work.

Nyake, Living Shadow hissed at the rabbit, her quasicorporeal form being knocked away by the strength of his legs. Nyake's apparition of herself was blown back, only for the actual Nyake to converge from the shadows directly before him, this time fully physical. "You REALLY Get On My Nerves, Bunny Rabbit..." With her favored abilities of wind and fire sealed, Nyake had but darkness and lightning left to her, and it was already proven that her lightning was relatively ineffective. That left darkness, and though she was adept in it, she also knew that with that Spirit Guardian of Ramiel's, she wouldn't be able to utilize it like she liked. Still, she had other abilities up her sleeve... being the Queen Succubus, after all. "Give Up Now!" Nyake demanded, extending her bat wings to swipe at the two of them with great strength, whilst crossing her arms over her chest.

Ramiel rushed forward into Nyake, catching her in the chest with his shoulder to drive her back and spoil her attack against Taomin at the least. He could take a wing buffet easily enough, what his armor and padding didn't dissipate, his steel-tough bones could bear easily. At the end of the drive, he shoved her off his shoulder. He reached to grab the skull at her neck, and yank it off. He stalled for a moment after grasping it and his ears swivelled. He just realized he'd made an error, he'd lost track of Shiyoko!

Taomin smirked. "Nice, Ramiel!" He'd gotten hold of the source of Nyake's power. "But Be Careful! It Has A Draining Effect On It That Will Suck Out Your Life Force If You Aren't Careful!"

Tao rushed down in a gust of wind, swirling around Ramiel and leaving an array of Siphon Talismans all around him so that he could utilize them as he saw fit if he needed to draw his strength back, or to simply drain Nyake, herself.

Tao rested herself upon Ramiel's shoulders -- still fully naked -- with her legs secure around his arms for support after his shoulder bash attack. Her fox tail flicked about as it painted many seals in the air behind them, forming a large symbol...

The demonic strength of Nyake prevented her from suffering any physical injury from Ramiel's armor and strength, however she was indeed knocked back a bit, and her skull that she wore around her neck -- her source of power -- was in someone else's hands.

Nyake smirked, fangs gleaming.

"Don't You Know...?" Nyake said as the Skull's eyes began to glow black, "I Am The QUEEN Succubus!!" At that very instant, the skull was engulfed in a dark flame that sapped the strength of the one who was touching it, which happened to be Ramiel. That aside, he was still within close proximity, though the Talismans that Taomin created were a detriment. Naturally, "SHIYOKO" was summoned by Nyake and immediately appeared in a flickering blur beside Ramiel and Taomin doing a series of ninja hand signs.

In a few seconds, the final hand sign was sealed and Shiyoko used her "Fox Fire" technique to shoot a mystical sentient flame from herself at Ramiel and Taomin, aimed to burn up or use up each of the Talismans so that Ramiel and Taomin could not do so.

Ramiel, now informed of the skull's power, tried to act quickly, grabbing at one of the talismans and wrapping the skull in it before too much of his energy was drained away.

He tensed at the yelling of the kunoichi's name, and grabbed Nyake, spinning around so she was between himself and her servant. He brought a foot up into the middle of Nyake's back, and Spartan kicked her right at Shiyoko and her magic fire to buy time to snag other talismans to further bind the skull if he could.

Taomin saw a chance once Ramiel had Nyake in his clutches, and knowing she would not stay in a physical form for very long, Tao used the symbol she was writing for a larger talisman right then and there to slap it on Nyake the moment Ramiel had her.

It was a Sealing Talisman, to Seal Nyake in physical form.

"Got Her!" Taomin cried, etching something else in the air with the tip of her fox tail...

Nyake had already stolen enough energy from Ramiel to weaken him, so by the time he kicked her, it was like a gentle shove. She naturally tried to shift into her pure darkness form, but was stuck by the Sealing Talisman placed on her by Taomin to keep her from shapeshifting, which left Nyake in her original form.

Nyake was knocked clean into Shiyoko, but only by a shove, and didn't travel far nor did they stumble much. The issue at hand was the skull necklace pendant that Nyake always wore now being stuck with Siphon Talismans on them, which she could feel making her weaker.

"Nooo...!" Nyake cried, doing her best to keep from shifting into her Black Cat form again, "Sh-Shiyoko!"

Of course, Shiyoko was on the job, flashing through hand signs even before her name was called. With every sign of her hand shifting, a Wind Blade shot from it and toward Ramiel in some way, aiming to cut his fingers and cut through his armor with a rapid assault. If necessary, she would even destroy the amulet with her Wind Blades, releasing all of Nyake's power.

The rabbit felt the drain, but didn't know how to recover from it. Instead he bore on, raising his off hand to bring his shield ring's kite up to defend against the wind blades. He held onto the wrapped up skull behind the magic shield. Releasing all of Nyake's power was just about the last thing they needed right now.

In a way, this also protected Shiyoko from the effects of his armor, at least on the blades that struck the shield. Those that hit his armor directly, still sent half the damage back to her.

He tried to move forward, but with his weakened state the blades staggered him and prevented his progress.

"It's Time!" Taomin shouted, seeing that Nyake was becoming weak again. "Seal!" Taomin was busy creating a Sealing Talisan with her tail, which would have enough power to lock up Nyake's power for good once it was slapped onto the skull necklace that she wore.

Taomin flicked her tail the moment she was done inscribing symbols into the very air itself, slinging with it the large Sealing Talisman that would attach itself to Nyake's skull pendant, thus completely sealing away all of her powers completely.

With that done, she and Ramiel successfully defeated her in honorable combat. "HAHAHAHAHA! You Lose, Nyake!"

"NYAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Nyake cried out, her powers now sealed completely. She immediately reverted into the form of a kitten, her shapely features becoming now feline, and her spaded tail that of a cat's. Her bat wings retracted into her body during the transmogrification process and all of her royal purple spiky hair withdrew into her head, her charcoal body becoming the foundation of her fur.

When Nyake was done reverting, she was even smaller than she'd been originally during her meeting with Ramiel, now something like a kitten.

"M-mistress!" Shiyoko cried out as Nyake returned to her cat form -- a kitten, no less. "Do not worry, my mistress, I will resolve this!" On the fly, Shiyoko's hand signs changed whilst she was still in motion with her Wind Blades and what immediately initiated a Substitution Jutsu, replacing the skull pendant in Ramiel's hand with a rock without him noticing. She'd used her ninja speed and some power of darkness that she received from Nyake to obtain it.

As soon as the precious amulet was acquired, Shiyoko was no longer hostile toward Ramiel and Taomin, but instead said to them, "I suppose that this battle is over." It didn't seem like Nyake could even speak, for only a bit of mewing could be heard from her every now and then. "... My mistress needs to recover..."

Now, Shiyoko was the one that had to make decisions for both she and Nyake. Not that she hadn't been in the situation before, yet it was just so... Rare that she got the chance. "Well met," Shiyoko mentioned before scooping up Nyake like a normal kitten.

Ramiel stood down. "Shiyoko, wait." He took a step towards her, collapsing his spear as a sign of acknowledgement that the fight was over.

"First... must you serve her? I've seen her type, they make promises they don't intend to keep. They serve themselves... They use others as tools, and discard them when they aren't useful." He pauses and tosses the rock to the side, "If you must serve her, then you must, but if not... I can offer you another path."

He sighs, and sags a bit. "Second... You fight well. A credit to your craft." Credit where it was due.

With that the rabbit flopped to the ground. "Wish I knew about that drain effect before I grabbed that thing. I can barely feel my limbs."

"Awww, Don't Go Limp On Me Now~!" Tao said playfully as she hopped off of Ramiel's neck before he fell to the ground. She landed on all fours, arching her back like a cat and extending her tail for a stretch, as well as her arms. Seemed like she was pretty drained, still, herself. "Tao Still Wants To Play..." The naked woman crawled over to the worn out rabbit and straddled him, letting her large breasts muffle his face. "Tao Has A Surprise For You..." Taomin whispered softly, delivering a seductive kiss to Ramiel as he sat on the ground, grabbing the back of his head so that he could not escape.

"That Is For Fighting So Hard For Me," Tao mentioned, "... But This Is Just Because I'm Horny..." Taomin began to gyrate her bare pelvis on Ramiel's crotch, her fox tail retracting into her spine and her wild, spiky hair growing longer as if they were one and the same. "Nyake Wasn't Lying About My Wild Side, You Know..." Tao's eyes flashed red for a moment as she licked her lips, but then suddenly remembered that she was trying to be a purified priestess now and not a feral beast any longer.

"YWAH!!!" Tao cried out, shouting at the top of her lungs, "GOMENNASAI~!!!" before swirling herself up into the air, drawing her Living Shadow with her to robe her body in its Kimono. Taomin hovered in midair, the darkness of her robe covering up her privates from being seen from below.

She blushed in embarrassment.

Shiyoko observed the actions of the two for a moment or so before finally deciding to speak after politely awaiting everything to settle down. "... Thank you, Ramiel-dono," she said, bowing, "I appreciate your compliment." Shiyoko raised herself, Nyake with her, "However..." Shiyoko's blood red eyes gazed off to the side, almost shyly, yet at the exact same time as if there were regret, "... My mistress is my one and only master. It is because of what I promised her, and what she promised me..." Shiyoko seemed to want to speak about the pact between herself and Nyake, but also knew how much of a personal matter it was and didn't want Ramiel involved.

"... My mistress treats me well," Shiyoko mentioned, "Well, well enough," she added. "I know that she can seem harsh and completely evil, but when she is not power mad, she is actually quite the nice companion to be around..." Shiyoko blushed, thinking about some times with Nyake. "Besides, she is the one who is helping me with the forbidden dark arts that I got banned from my village for practicing." By the time Shiyoko was done speaking, she realized that she'd let her mouth slip a bit. "Oops..." Though, it partially seemed like she wanted to say it.

Nyake mewed angrily, but cutely.

Rami lay there, blushing intensely. He looked up at Tao, "Sorry... I'm a bit worn out now." He turned his head, and looked to Shiyoko and nodded. "I made the offer, and I meant it. You choose how you will. One day, maybe we can talk." He gives her a grin, and looked back up at Taomin.

The rabbit really was out of energy. After being zapped and battered repeatedly, he'd spent the last minutes of the standoff on pure adrenaline and will. Now that the threat of life and limb had past, it was all catching up to him, he wasn't the young buck he'd used to be.

He reached up to the priestess, "I know it's not what you wanted, but I can still give you a cuddle."

Taomin was blushing profusely, though not out of embarrassment. It was self frustration that reddened her cheeks so, though that could not be told from the exterior. Floating down, Tao nearly touched the ground near Ramiel, recognizing his feelings. "That Much..." she muttered under her breath, trying to contain her anger for letting herself go like that, "... That Much..."

She was hesitant.

"... I'm Sorry..." Taomin said softly, turning away from Ramiel, "... I Have To Practice My Self Discipline Again, As I Did When I Was Younger..." Taomin frowned, thinking back to everything that she'd done whilst she was given over to the familial spirit that caused her to become a demon. "But I Will Always Appreciate What You Did For Me, And How You Treat Me." Turning back to Ramiel, Taomin bowed, her hands covered by her long sleeves just the same as her feet were by her kimono, giving her the appearance of a wraith of sorts. "However, I Can Bless You Greatly When My Power Is Restored. I May Have Siphoned Some From Nyake, But That Is Not Enough..." Taomin's demeanor seemed to change completely once she was humbled to her Priestess state; even her manner of speech was more formal. She remembered everything that she was taught before her eighteenth birthday, even if that was well over two thousand years ago.

"This Would Be A Bit Simpler If You Were In My Home World," Taomin went on, knowing that her power was limitless there. "I Would Be Recharged Quite Swiftly, And Then I Could Show You Around In The Same Way You Have Guided Me Around The Rainbow Bay!" She seemed excited about the idea, but only a small, restrained smile came upon her face, along with a somber expression of happiness. "Nyake Will Also Return To The Greater Living Shadow And Be Restrained By It, For The Amalgamation Of The Family's Living Shadows Are Able To Be Subdued By The Overall Living Shadow Ruling As Each Of Them As One. That Was Originally My Ancestor, But Now... The Ruler Of The Living Shadows Has Been Passed Down To My Dark Form, Which Is A Male." Taomin may have had to explain that a little bit more in depth, but she was an Aethereal Goddess now, and as such had many different forms both for herself and the different 'Spirits' that were attached to her.

"My 'Dark Spirit' Is Actually Very Polite, Unlike Nyake, Whom He Rules Over. Whilst My Dark Spirit Is Active In The Veritas -- My Home World -- The Piece Of Darkness That Comes From It And Binds It To Me, Which Is Nyake, Is Like A Reflection Of Myself In The Darkness, Yet Not Myself As My Own Darkness."

Confusing, yes, but truthful, definitely.

"I Hope This Is Not Too Much..."

Shiyoko sat and listened to Taomin's tale. Shiyoko knew of many things due to to Nyake's instruction, but Nyake was also secretive and commanding, meaning she also had many times where she did not explain herself fully, if at all. Shiyoko was loyal to Nyake for many reasons other than the fact that she was being taught the dark arts and that Nyake took her in when she was exiled from her clan, but one of the main reasons was that Nyake needed her just as much as Shiyoko needed Nyake. She was also very loyal as a person, and would not simply abandon the one to whom she swore loyalty to for any reason. That was Shiyoko's resolve.

"Thank you again, Ramiel-dono..." Shiyoko said softly, bowing once more, "But I believe it is time for us to part." Shiyoko's body began to flicker intensely, seeming as if it would split apart in different directions. "Goodbye..." was all she left them with as her body dissipated into a series of blurs, masking her escape route.

She was gone, as was Nyake.

Forcing himself to sit up, Ramiel looked to Shiyoko again as she said goodbye, and gave her a soft "Sayonara."

He looked put his head to his knees as he contemplated further the offer. "Yes... for a time. But I am needed at the Bay." He looked at the priestess, "I hope you understand."

Taomin smiled softly and closed her eyes, nodding her head gently. "Yes," she muttered, "I Understand, Mr. Captain Of The Guard." There were ways in the Veritas for him to be there for a great deal of time and yet return within seconds of leaving. "We Have Something In The Veritas -- Several Things, Actually -- That Allow Us To Control Time. We Can Move Forward, Backward, Stop Or Go Into Parallel Timelines, And Even Cause Timelines To Intersect." Tao giggled, raising her sleeves up to her face to hide her smile, "So No Matter How Long You Are Gone, It Will Seem Like No Time Flat." Taomin understood his importance to Rainbow Bay, since she, too, had a duty in the Veritas.

"Likewise To You, I Have A Duty To Uphold In The Veritas, But I Like To Get Away And Have A Little Bit Of Fun Every Now And Then..." Yet, she knew that she was already being searched for in this dimension of the Rainbow Bay, since Magnus Ignis had been there watching her the entire time. "But You Can Always Come Back Anytime You Like And Stay For However Long You Want. We Have Interdimensional Abilities And Have Gotten That Technology Down To A Science, So The Dimensions Are Open To Us To Travel Freely Through."

With that said, Taomin spun around elegantly in the air, allowing her hair to smear open a portal in a similar fashion to how her now retracted fox tail had done previously. The smear-like portal seemed to open up to a space that was completely void, yet there was a single floating platform in that void that rippled with a myriad of colors on its grassy surface, and harbored the miniaturized version of what looked like continents, cities and monumental structures all about it, each also rippling with rainbow color.


"We Must Pass Through The Dimension Gate First, Then We Can Use It To Travel Deeper Into The Veritas. I May Be Able To Show You Where I Rest My Spirit, As Well As What My Other Spiritual Forms Are..." Taomin wasn't sure if Ramiel met Overlord Tensei, but she was one of his Seven Spirits and each of them were interchangeable, since they belonged to one deity. "There Is A Beautiful Garden There Where I Write My Haiku... And They Rain From The Sky And Shoot Across The Atmosphere... And You Should See The Colors Of The Plants! Oh, My, And I Simply MUST Take You To The Wind Sanctuary, So That--"

Taomin could get a little long-winded sometimes, considering she was the Wind Goddess.

"Oh... I'm Speaking Far Too Much. We Should Just Go!" Grabbing Ramiel's hand, Taomin drew him into the portal... into the Veritas, at the Dimension Gate.

Rami gave a small laugh at her self-admonishment, and found himself being taken through the portal into this new... world? Dimension? From what she said, it sounded like an entire reality or even multiverse. There was a brief moment of dread, but he mentally chided himself. He was with her, and she'd not let something bad happen to him.

Taomin could feel the difference in Ramiel's breath once he entered the Veritas, having become one with all of the air in it once again. It made her smile that he was taken aback like that, and she giggled with a sleeve up to her mouth. "This Is Only The Beginning~!" Taomin said as the two of them landed on the platform of rippling color -- also called the 'Panda Plexus.'

"Okay, So How This Works Is, You Choose A Destination From The Dimension Gate And This Plexus Here -- The Panda Plexus -- Will Transport You To Whichever Location Desired As A Plexus Point!" Taomin knew she would have to explain what a Plexus was, so she figured she might as well before they got started. "A Plexus Is An Independent Space That Can Become A Different Independent Space Or Harbor Objects Within The Independent Space Without Ever Having To Move. It Changes Locations Through Alchemic Spatial Alignment And Transmits Whatever Is Standing On It To The Next Point. It Can Have Different Properties, Elements And Even Be Used As An Independent Living Space Or Means Of Public Transportation!" Taomin pondered a bit as she thought of the place where she wanted to go, "... Basically, A Teleporter."

After the explanation, Taomin would have the blank Plexus become an Avisora Paradisia Plexus meant to transport them to Taomin's realm -- the Land of the Sky. "We Are Going To Be On Top Of Floating Islands When We Next Make Our Move, So Don't Be Afraid When We Get There!" Tao teased him, letting the Plexus do its work and transport them to the Avisora Paradisia.


The atmosphere was beautiful and clean with many birds and bird-like people fluttering around about the giant floating land masses that were the landscape here. Some had mountains, some had houses -- many were large enough to be cities, or even continents! Some had propellers and others had advanced technology upon them. "There Are Several Different Ways That The Islands Float, But I Am Supposed To Keep Them Up, And Keep The Atmosphere Clean, Along With Nyake." Taomin had more tasks, but she didn't want to bother Ramiel with the details. She really just wanted to show him around the Sky Realm, Avisora Paradisia.

"Don't Be Afraid To Fall!" She stated randomly. "I'll Catch You! Here, I'm EVERYWHERE~!" As she said that, she spun around and in the distortions of the winds, which altered the courses of the flying islands, Taomin's face could be seen smiling happily -- but blurry -- blended into the atmosphere, itself.

Everything immediately stabilized after Tao spun around.

He snerked a bit after the long explanation, the Plexus getting summed up as a teleporter. That he could understand, the Bay had a neat network of those.

The floating skylands was impressive, and as for fearing a fall... he didn't. A fear of falling with his abilities made little to no sense. "This place is beautiful, reminds me of what I pictured before I arrived at the City on the Sea. Arriving there, though it wasn't as I'd imagined. Unlike this."

"TAOMIN!!!" cried a very familiar, yet also somewhat accented voice, "After All Of That Playing Around, Have You Finished Up With Your Studies?"

A silhouette appeared before Taomin with glowing red eyes and the near identical appearance of Taomin, herself. There were few differences, such as the pitch black skin and the long hair being straight and royal purple. "I Know How To Control Myself, You Know. You Are Meant To Learn From Me, After All."

This near identical twin to Taomin was her Living Shadow -- Nyake. Though, in the Veritas, she not only looked different, she acted different and referred to herself differently as well. She looked like a being of high stature; poised, prim and pip, as they say. Nyake's gleaming red eyes turned to Ramiel, the one whom she recently encountered in the other world and addressed him formally, as if nothing happened. "Good Day," she said, "I Am Tia, Taomin's Living Shadow." There was a glint in her eye as she continued to speak, "You May Know Me As 'Nyake,' But That Is My Demon Form. This Is My Aethereal Form As The Essence Of The Wind, Itself." She bowed to the guest, as she normally did when dealing with visitors, her arms in either sleeve. "Nice To Formally Meet Your Acquaintance."

Taomin scoffed, then screamed, "YOU BITCH!!! You JUST Attacked Us Like, Not Even Ten Minutes Ago." Taomin puffed out her cheeks and sharpened her eyes, wanting to give Tia a lesson, herself... But she knew that she was right. Taomin did have to tend to her studies about being the Divine Priestess that she was supposed to be in youth.

"I Mean, It's Not Like You Have Any Right To Talk When You Were In Your Demon Form Slutting Around Again..." Taomin put her sleeve up to her mouth, halfheartedly hiding a smirk, "Oops! Did I Say That? Such Things Should Not Come Out Of A Lady's Mouth~! Or something like that..." Taomin didn't seem to really care.

"Anyway, Ramiel," Taomin went on, noticing that she'd nearly neglected him, "I'm Glad That You Like This Place. Feel Free To Explore It," Tao said. " But Beyond What Tia Is Saying, Am I Doing A Good Job At Being A Priestess?"

Ramiel stood wary, spear in hand and fully deployed at the first shout. He gave a visible sag and an audible sigh of relief that he wasn't going to have a round two so soon after the first. He triggered his spear back down into the rod form, and sank it into its holster at his hip. He bowed slightly to Tia, though kept his eyes on her. He spoke to answer Tao's question, "I do not know. I've seen many priests and priestesses in the Bay, from a variety of ideologies. I do not know the intricacies of your faith, Taomin."