In the House of God

Zane wouldn't even twitch as the virgin burst into hellfire and disappeared off his shoulder. He watched the other followers of Datara mill about and perform their own ceremonies before his eyes fell upon his fellow Satan worshippers. He looked them up and down, before cracking a slight smile, Not sure we formally met earlier, I'm Zane Shinto, pleasure. It never hurt to make some friends, after all he had a feeling they'd be working together quite a bit in the future. As Satan intruded his thoughts, Zane turned his attention away from the two in front of him and focused on the statue of his master. With the mental link established, Zane answered, I'm glad the sacrifice was to your liking my lord. Please I wish to serve Datara as a true worshipper, the closer I come to attaining my sagehood, the better. I wish to sacrifice some of my chakra for the generous gift of Void Chakra from our god. Zane said, dropping to one knee in front of the statue, a sign of respect. Please direct me in how I may further serve Datara. I am a willing vessel to carry out his will.

Tch, no need for all of that, I'm not Lucifer or Asmodeus you don't need to patronize me. I can see the dedication in your soul very well..1/8th of your chakra will be sacrificed. While you possess Void Chakra your reserves will be lowered however it replenishes naturally as a result without interfering or destroying the rest of your chakra network. Satan said while the others introduced themselves each of them having generic names and what not like Tom, Lisa and Jerry. But at least Zane was making an effort after all they would be working together in future exploits and were members of the same cul- religion. Zane's body would be surrounded by a aura of demonic energy and intense pain would flood his body as his coils and chakra were forcibly changed to reflect the gift. At any time return here to accept another task, to further offer up a portion of your chakra to Datara. For now I have nothing for you, return in a week and perhaps I might have a task worth doing.

-Enter after: this topic

Zane had left the temple about two weeks ago, after Satan had told him to leave and come back later for a new task. Now, ranked up and with more power flowing through his robotic body, Zane entered the Temple hoping to receive a gift or at the least recognition for his increase in power and dedication to Datara. It had been sometime since he last came to the Temple and wasn't sure who or what would be there. Last time he entered there had been several other people milling about and speaking among the Princes, but Zane hadn't paid them much attention and truthfully if they were there this time he wouldn't even recognize them. Zane entered as the sun sat lazily in the sky, probably around mid-afternoon, long before night fall still. He walked up to the statue of Datara near the entrance to the Temple and paid his respects, dropping to his knees and sitting silently for a long minute before rising and continuing deeper into the Temple.

This time only the child with the Succubus Queen was there apparently in conversation with the statue of Satan, Zane had missed the awakening yet again but that was fine he got to see it at least once before and it's not like it changed or anything. The only special thing was that he had walked in in one of the occasions that they'd be accepting new initiates. "Zane Shinto, you have returned and what is this a tether of Gaia is bound to your soul, did you perchance acquire a summoning contract. No do not answer, for I already know Eagles is it and unknown contracts. How fortunate for us, and for you that you returned here as this is the one place that you can taint your newly acquired allies." Satan said his voice ringing out in Zane's mind while still conversing with the other follower, Lisa? That sounded like her name, if Zane had bothered to remember anyways.

"While the Mother Goddess denizen's and ours are not directly opposed we compete for space in the mortal realm. If you wish to convert that tether linking you to another Principle Deity back to your true dedication let me know and I shall open portals for you to taint your summons. I shall warn you, while they will gain great power some may refuse and others...may not survive. The weak shall perish and the strong will become stronger merged with a wrath demon on a metaphysical level so as to embody it's traits added upon their original skill set. Their blood will become pitch black, their chakra converted into the Void. No more would they simply be a run of the mill Unknown contract but instead they shall fill the ranks of the Tainted ones, the contracts aligned to Its influence." he would chuckle darkly which would send Zane's hair's on end and probably make him shudder due to it's unnaturalness.

Zane looked at the other follower and her Succubus standing several feet away, entranced in their own conversation. He gave a big wave with a wide smile before Satan's voice boomed in his mind. Instinctively Zane turned towards the statue to listen and converse, even though there was no actual sound coming from it and he could have been anywhere in the room doing anything he wanted, still able to hear Satan clearly. He cocked his head to the side and listened intently, the primordial demon's deep voice not really bothering him at all as Zane had yet to download the emotion of fear. If anything, it was just annoying that he had to talk in such a way and couldn't speak normally like Zane. Hmm I don't know how much the Eagles will like that. Zane said, deep in thought. Some small part of him, perhaps another personality forming, knew that it was a bit sadistic to have saved the eagle earlier, been awarded its summoning contract and its services only to turn around and force it and its family to merge with demons. However, Zane also wanted to prove himself to Datara and the Seven Princes. He wanted to strengthen his relationship with the Deity of darkness and the best way to do that was to offer up a sacrifice of sorts. I want to taint the Eagle contract, please tell me what to do. Zane thought back in response to Satan, waiting further instruction.

"Good, there are two ways you can do this...the first would be to actually ask your Summons for permission while it will make it easier for you to obtain Nega Sage Mode in the end they could refuse and you would be forced to dominate them to ensure their co-operation. Or you can summon while standing within an array specially prepared for such things and those who refuse will be killed..immediately, those that agree will have their essense transferred into the portal and merged with a suitable Wrath Demon." Satan after speaking would proceed to open various portals about twenty five feet away from where Zane stood with the wrath symbol that Zane had once stood in in the center.

"Make your choice, and know that by doing this you have pleased Datara immensely...you shall be rewarded in kind now that we know your dedication to us is absolute." The Prince of Wrath would intone ominously as in reality the boon that he had received was merely a measure to ensure loyalty as at any time Zane broke one of Datara's tenements the very void chakra which flowed in his coils could be turned against him. This time however he would receive a true boon and receive his sacrificed chakra back in full so that he could begin to make head way in becoming a true Void Sage.

It'd be faster and easier to just force them into the portals and let the demons do what they do best. Paul said, interrupting Zane's thoughts. I guess, but that's not really fair to Swift and his family. Besides, maybe they'll like the idea.
And if they don't? Asked Paul skeptically.
Then they go anyway. Zane concluded, pulling out the summoning contract Swift had gifted him just days earlier. Unrolling it, he studied the contract for a moment. Odd markings mixed with Kanji and other languages Zane couldn't quite understand stretched across the entirety of the long scroll. However, he was only looking for a specific circle and, upon finding it, stopped unrolling the scroll. He bit down on his thumb, watching the Acolyte black blood ooze from his artificial skin before performing the hand seals Swift had showed him and placing his bloodied thumb on the circle.

A small puff of smoke appeared where he had placed his hand and wings fluttered to clear the smoke. Hello human. Swift greeted Zane cheerfully, though his avian head swiveled around the room. His surroundings were dark and gloomy, strange artifacts hung on the walls and fires burning in large urns were the only light source. The stench of death and metal taste of blood clung to the air from past sacrifices. There was nothing natural about this place and it quite literally ruffled Swift's feathers. Zane looked down at himself for a moment after Swift's greeting, calling him a human, Well...sort of. Zane said absentmindedly, Hi Swift, I have this great deal for you and your family. See, my friends here, Zane said, nodding towards the statue of Satan standing across the room, know how to make summons really strong. Like waaaaay stronger than you already are. You could even get the special powers they gave me. Zane said, holding up his thumb which oozed a small drop of the unnatural black blood which now coursed through his veins. Would you guys be interested in something like that?

Swift cocked his head to the side but said nothing, studying Zane and his current situation. There was no doubt this child was strong, but it was hard to keep in mind that Zane was in fact just a child, perhaps 14 at best. Swift wasn't sure what Zane had gotten him into and the Eagle wasn't sure if Zane was even sure what he had gotten himself into. I'll uh...I'll have to check I guess.

OOC: I'm not sure if you're supposed to RP out them deciding to join or not or if I am or if I'm supposed to roll a dice to see if they're willing or what so let me know. I can always edit too.

Swift would come back about thirty or so minutes later after Zane felt another pull on his blood reserves, if he resisted it would mean he'd end up getting reverse summoned to the Summoning Realm but if he allowed it then Swift would come back instead. Assuming he did the latter of the two options the young Eagle would look at him slightly nervous about what he had to say. "Um, most of the Tribe is in agreement that becoming tainted would give us an advantage against the other Avian Contracts, we are tired of being in the shadow of the Vultures, Phoenix, Hawks and especially the Chicken Contract who should be nothing more than our food. If we have to sacrifice our connection to Gaia who is the reason why we are so low in the ranking of summons then so be it." Swift said before grabbing the contract from Zane and flying over to where the wrath symbol was before dropping it there.

He would shudder before desummoning and the smoke left from his desummoning would begin to trail into one of the Portals opened by Satan. Soon enough more smoke trails would emerge from the contract with all of them heading towards different portals as the scroll it'self seemed to be gradually granted from a faded beige to a faint purple with Zane's name standing out only due to the color of his blood. "And so it begins. Place your hand on my idol so that you may bridge the connection between yourself and the Afterlife which holds us prisoner." he said awaiting Zane's decision.

OOC:

Well that was surprisingly easy. Zane thought, but instead said to Swift, Oh great, I'm glad everyone's on board! and he truly was. Zane was a lot of things, his multiple personalities didn't help, but at heart he was still a young boy both physically and mentally. He truly just wanted everyone to get along and be friends and now he was combining his two friend groups. Granted one group was a tribe of talking eagles and the other was a literal Prince of Hell, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to friends. Obeying his orders, Zane stepped over to the Satan statue and placed his hand on its head. For most people, being transported to the demoniac dimension, basically a darker version of hell would probably be pretty jarring. Being mentally teleported anywhere would probably be pretty jarring for that matter. For Zane however, who was accustomed to being in and out of control of his body while other personalities took the wheel, it was nothing new.

When he "awoke" Zane found himself standing, if you could call it that considering the entire world he was in was a swirling mixture of shades of black, purple, grey and deep blues with no real constructs of any kind. There were no concrete distances or distinct shapes in this realm, simply nothingness. In the distance, or so Zane thought, though it could have been happening right next to him, lightning flashed. However it wasn't standard lightning as each time this flashed, it seemed the world grew darker before brightening up again. Almost a reverse lightning of sorts and entirely unnerving. Zane looked around and then down to see several groups of creatures beneath him. To his right were various birds, some far larger than Swift, others the same size and even one or two so large Zane couldn't even fully comprehend how they fit in this odd, dark space. To the left were what appeared to be six groups of different creatures. Some looked human but were green with large tusks, others appeared to be dragons of some sort and still others were ghostly in appearance, he even recognized relatives of T.I.M his cerberus demon.

Appearing in front of him in a flash of the dark lightning stood Satan in all his glory, or at least some sort of metaphysical construct of the Prince of Wrath as Zane doubted he would have actually appeared in person. Though Satan said nothing, simply staring at the boy, for some unexplained reason Zane seemed to know exactly what he wanted. Staring down at the six clusters of demons, Zane took them in one by one before turning to the Eagles. All seven groups remained motionless, silent and Zane couldn't be sure if he was truly seeing them or simply manifestations of them. The Drakes. Zane finally said, locking eyes with Satan, I think they'll do best combining their powers with The Drakes.

"So mote it be." Satan said and the others would vanish, it was interesting to see which one he picked as the combinations of the eagles with the others would have been wildly different. For the Garm it would have given them the ability to track chakra signatures by smell which would of improved the contracts utility as trackers, while the Fiends would have allowed the Eagles to grow more physically powerful depending on the damage they sustained in battle which for certain summons could be a quite immense power growth due to the hardy nature of them. Meanwhile the Urk would be able to harness the Anger Limit to alter the damage type of their techniques into mental and as for the Ghast the contract have been able to learn the techniques of those that they devoured. As for the Edge it would of been quite a curious boon as the Edge were wrathful weapons which have the ability to overwhelm individuals with blood lust and possess them in this way, as such the Eagles would have gained a powerful ability to twist those fighting against them and steadily infect them with Wrath until they succumbed to the sin being mindless berserkers under their control.

Instead Zane decided to pick the Drakes, and they massive reptilian creatures would proceed to fuse with various eagles, with Lesser Drakes fusing with Chicks, Drakes fusing with Eaglets, Greater Drakes fusing with Aquila, the various Giant versions of Drakes fusing with Twin-Aquila and finally the Drake Queen & her replacement fusing with Aeton & the Eagle Elder. They would be warped by the fusion becoming more draconic in appearance though their body type remained distinctively Avian, some of them wouldn't make it through while others would luckily enough Swift was one of those to survive. He would actually grow in strength as three of the large summons weren't able to make the conversion, all in all the Tainted Contract was now complete. As if to signify it the Tainted Eagles would demonstrate their new ability causing their bodies to become comprised of void chakra as they began to move through the air unhindered by physical restrictions. The Drakes had given them an intangible form which can be maintained dependent on their Wrath limit with their wrath only replenishing depending on how long they remained in the summoning realm.

Spoiler:

Zane blinked, rising from the floor as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. He was back in the temple, his body had gone comatose while his mind was transferred to whatever hell-scape he had just witnessed. Beside him sat the scroll, the parchment now black and the writing a silvery-white. Zane picked the scroll up and placed it in his jacket pocket, staring around the temple for a moment and performing a sort of systems check. I'm surprised you didn't take me for a bit of a joy ride while I was with Satan. Zane thought, communicating with Paul. Don't think I didn't try, but that demon prince basically shut you down completely. I was in control but it was basically like being in control of a toaster, couldn't do much other than exist. Besides, the new chick who took up a room in here was bitching in my ear the whole time about how you 'wouldn't like that' and 'it was wrong' 'we should know our place' blah blah blah. It wasn't worth the effort. Paul concluded, clearly a bit miffed but harmless.

New girl? Zane asked, confused. Yeah, from the pits, remember? It was...pfft I don't know, a couple of weeks ago. Well looks like she's here to stay. Paul responded. Zane scratched his head, his brow furrowed in thought. The business with the Eagles had been a production in it of itself and he was tired now, but suddenly he had a new matter to attend to. In the pits he had assumed it was just a one of thing, one of the many whispers in his head trying to get a foot hold in his consciousness and truly flesh themselves out. It happened from time to time where one of them might be able to formulate a sentence or two but usually that was it and it went back to the occasional, unintelligible whispers. It seemed this new voice was here to stay and had finally manifested itself- or rather herself- in Zane's consciousness. Alright, well I'll deal with her later. He said moreso to the new girl than Paul but Paul simply responded, Yeah, whatever. and fell silent.

Zane turned to the statue of Satan and bowed, Thank you for your help in this matter. I'm glad to have been able to bring together these two powerful allies and make them one. If that will be all you need from me, I have personal matters to attend to. Praise the Void Lord Datara. Zane said, rising from the bow. He would then turn and exit the temple if the Demon Prince of Wrath had nothing more for him.

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