Dusk & Darkness [Ias; Open]

[juusan]

It was dark and damp in Left Village that evening. The dark clouds that filled the sky all the way to the horizon made it seem like the sun had all but disappeared. A white fog rolled in, low but thick and musty. Slow trails and wisps of it oozed around houses and trees, filled the small valleys between short hills and sailed outward toward a graveyard on the edge of town. The fog embraced the well-kept headstones, drowned the small plaques and invaded the lighthouse that existed within the cemetery, entering in through he unwisely open door.

Up 5 stories of winding stairway, far from where the fog could reach, a boy sat precariously on the ledge of the lighthouse. The dark made the light necessary, the only hope for those out on the sea to evade the coming storm. This light was as well kept as the headstones, the fire within burning brightly and clearly, though that light seemed to but the boy in even deeper darkness. He was a silhouette against the light that reached out over the sea, a shadow cast upon the dark waters before him.

A soft sort of music came from the boy. He shifted to adjust a white guitar that he held in his hands. A few tuneless strums drifted, like the fog, thought the silence, then ever so slowly a melody began to form. It was a strange tune, one that was undoubtedly dark, but not sad. It wasn't depressing, it was just creepy and almost a bit fun. It gave the impression of a song played at a party for the dead; morbid, eerie, and deadly, but at the same time held a strange sensation of life.

"I can't explain..." The boy's voice moved with the music, the tone just as strange as the melody itself. His eyes, dark even against the darkness looked out onto the ocean with an odd eagerness, his mouth split open in a Cheshire grin. The 'Black Cat' of Left Village chuckled softly, his fingers moving fluidly and nimbly over the strings on his guitar. A storm was coming~ "...just how it feels..."

---

The faint sound of music carried over to the center of town, and though a few heard it, none stopped to admire the sound. Most citizen were heading into their homes to escape the approaching rain and darkness. The travelers of the town checked into the nearest inn and all of those who didn't want to go home were gathered in the larger town pub.

[ias]

<sub>A dark shadowy figure crept through the town with a dark yet calm presence, one that wasn't exactly friendly but one that wouldn't provoke unless provoked first. Has he walked through the town the ominous looking clouds that were in the sky began to rain pouring down a heavy torrent of rain on the town . With most of the citizens running for shelter from the rain except the man who was sheltered by a dark blue cloak that covered his attire and a diamond mask that he wore over his face.

Has the rain fell and his cloak blocked the water from touching his soft and blemish free skin he heard a faint sound in the background.He paused for a minute and listed to its calm and dark melody as if it reminded it of himself. He enjoyed its tone standing in the middle of the drizzling rain taking in its melody . He was attracted to the sound and wanted to know what it was. He slowly turned as if discerning the location of the sound and alas he did. It was coming from the graveyard and he began moving towards the graveyard but upon getting closer he was blinded by the fog and was only guided by the melody that he was hearing.</sub>

[juusan]

Edgar sighed wistfully, leaning back against the faint warmth of the glass that protected the lighthouse flame. The rain washed over him in rhythmic waves, splashing him whenever the wind blew toward him. The small roof of the lighthouse wasn't meant to shield a human, it would have been much simpler to go inside, back into the lighting room and the warm stairwell. The boy however didn't plan on moving. To him there was nothing wrong, no real discomfort.

His hands and fingers continued their dance over the strings on his instrument, steady and sure even in the rain. "I forever dream, within a dream..." No ships were in sight tonight. So either no one was out, or they'd crashed and sunk already. "...of a certain city in the sea..."

There were rumors that him manning the lighthouse was a bad idea. Not necessarily because he would do a bad job, he'd learned to take care of this lighthouse since he was a small child and did it with the utmost care. No, the problem was that he could b negating the lighthouse's purpose. A lighthouse was to guide people here safely, right? Well, what was the use when he caused all of the ships to sink and people to drown? "As I walk the valley of unrest..."

But since people have made it to the village, there was nothing the citizens could do about it. Maybe his curse didn't carry that far. Maybe those sailors had a kind of luck the others didn't. Either way Ed was still there at the lighthouse, staring out at the sea and playing a melody that no one could ever really understand the tone of. Was it dark and haunting? Then why was it playful and excited as well? "Behind this mask... of crimson death..."

By chance Edgar's gaze traveled down toward the graveyard he also kept up. Undertaker and Lighthouse Keeper were always joint jobs on this island because of their close proximity. Someone was walking through the graveyard. A ghost maybe, since the graveyard was said to be haunted, but the only one who'd been haunting the place for a while had been Ed and the sudden visitor was surprising, even if it did turn out to be a ghost.

Edgar tilted his head and looked at the specter. Surrounded in the fog the figure did look ghostly, but the clear glimpses Ed got of the man showed that he was solid, and covered head to toe in a cloak and mask. Ed grinned in a way that was ever-so slightly insane, his fingers still strumming out an instrumental ballad of his song. It had been such a long time since he'd had a visitor, a mourner perhaps? But they never came at night.

Ed's grin remained as he watched the man get closer to the lighthouse. He'd left the door open, he remembered. Finally his eyes lifted off the man and moved back out to sea. This would be interesting.

[ias]

<sub>The ghostly figure of a man moved through the cemetery as if he were a specter in the night searching for its prey to drag to hell, the fog in the cemetery was still so heavy that he couldn't make out much that was in front of him with the ran dampening out the sound of the melody that was being played. Bt while in the cemetery he caught a glimpse of light that was coming from a lighthouse in which he had recognized from sailing towards the town in his makeshift raft. Has he looked up at the small glimmer of light that shone through the thick and heavy fog, a silhouette of a man could be seen foreshadowing the light.

This had to be the source of the music was what quickly rushed through Iblis's head. If he had had a clear view of the man he could have used his abilities and get there instantly but sadly the fog was obstructing his visual along with the heavy downpour of rain that was seemingly endless. Has he made his way through the white thick heavy smoke of fog with rain pounding upon him, he finally made his way to the lighthouse and slightly pushed the door which opened without any problem as if the man was expecting Iblis to come along.

Iblis looked around at the bottom floor of the lighthouse first attempting to see if there were any others but to his dismay there were none and only the melodic tune could be heard from the top. Iblis slowly walked towards the winding staircase that went up to about 5 storeys high. Has he climbed the steps the sound got louder and clearer and it really was a dark and entrancing sound. Has Iblis reached the top floor and looked around he saw a young boy leaning against the glass that glass that protected the lighthouse flame watching his move his hands so gently and skillfully over his instrument "Whats your name ?..." Iblis abruptly asked</sub>

[juusan]

Gentle rolls of thunder accompanied Edgar's tune as he continued his song with just the melody. He listened as the footsteps that were coming up the winding stairway became louder and more clear in the pouring rain.

When the man emerged from the inner sanctum of the lighthouse, Ed was just finishing the final stanza of his song. The boy turned around, revealing himself by turning toward the light. His dark sunken eyes and pale skin that looked grey in the darkness often made others think he was a ghost or zombie, cemented by the fact that he lived in a graveyard.

The sea was getting rougher, he noticed, not really needing to turn back to the ocean to know so. The sounds of the waves became harsher and if anyone was out at sea, their chances were slowly fading away. Quickly, and a bit morbidly, Edgar wondered if anyone would wash up so he could bury them. It had been two weeks since anyone on the island had died, or at least anyone who wanted a public burial. Things were almost becoming dull.

The man's question came suddenly, and if Edgar hadn't been waiting for something like that he probably wouldn't have been able to hear it over the rain and thunder. There was a flash of bright, but harmless lightning and the thunder rolled again, shortly after. The boy paused before answering, taking the time to glance over the cloaked man and give him a grin. "Edgar 13. Are you Death?"

[ias]

<sub>A slight grin appeared on Iblis's face which was hidden by the diamond mask that he wore over his face that glistened with regality , " Death...No im not...But i can arrange that if that what you really want.....My name is is Iblis....The sole one chosen by God to judge this world for its crimes...." Iblis said mono-logging to Edgar...He turned his head slightly and peered into the deep dark blue depths of the ocean and watched has the storm had began creating titanic waves that splashed up against the cliff that was positioned right beside the lighthouse.

He came from to his senses and glanced back at Edgar "That melodic tune is what attracted me to this lighthouse, Are you its keeper ? " Iblis asked removing his cloak from over his head and removing the mask that covered his face to reveal a man who had long flowing silver hair and lime green eyes that were as fierce as a wild fire and spelt trouble and disaster....Having removed the mask Iblis could clearly see Edgar now who looked like a zombieish nightmare himself with a dark bag under his eye with a pale white skin that was lacking vitamins and nutrition</sub>

[juusan]

Edgar watched listlessly as the cloaked man removed his cloak and mask. Much to the boy's disappointment there was nothing disfigured about him, and he looked normal, if not a bit above average in looks. The disappointment showed a bit in his manner since he turned back toward he sea and gazed up into the lightning streaked vortex of clouds that swirled above them. "Death should know me already. If you were chosen by God, does that make you an angel? A saint? ...Preist?"

He listed off his own guesses before trailing off as he couldn't think of anymore. The next part of the man's statements made Edgar look back at him. He shifted his guitar and grinned. "Do you mean the lighthouse or the music? Because if you mean the lighthouse, yes; and if you mean the music, yes; and if by any chance you mean the graveyard, then yes."

The musician cackled out-loud and looked back out over the sea, where there was still no break in the clouds. It might last though the night ant break by morning, Edgar thought, looking up just in time to see a particularly violent jolt of lightning travel instantly through the clouds. "Why did you come following my music? It wasn't meant to lure anyone... This place is haunted ground, most would avoid it."

[ias]

<sub>" I was something close to a priest many years ago until i was chosen to be something much higher than a mere servant in this world.... " Iblis replied thinking back to when he found Devil Fruit and when he slaughtered his entire village coming out without much problem...Even though he was sad about that fact that he had to slaughter his entire village, he deemed it necessary due to their jealousy of him being chosen as a "God" to bring enlightenment and peace to the world....Iblis wasn't truly evil but he believed himself to be above normal humans that roamed the earth due to the nature of his abilities that were granted....

Leaning back on a wall Iblis continued and answered Edgar's question that followed " I meant the lighthouse Mr. 13 and i was merely attracted by the tone of the sound's melody...It sounded quite familiar...It reminded me of myself....The graveyard his haunted you say... By whom ? " Iblis asked pushing his silver hair that was infront of his face from eyes to the back......

"Maybe i can send that specter to the after life.....But enough of that " Iblis said in a rather serious and calm manner to get rid of the trivialities....He had come all this way to hear the calming melody once more..So getting to the point Iblis asked Edgar to play the melody once more "Could you play that song once more "</sub>

[juusan]

Edgar blinked his dark eyes and listened quietly as the man spoke. He wasn't used to talking to people, particularly ones who where unaware of his curse, like his man. He had a sort of perverse attitude about it where he could only look at the guy and imagine what was going to happen. They were awfully high up... his mind pondered, and the lightning was getting more frequent and harsher. The winds were blowing even more strongly and the only thing defending the two from the elements was the old lighthouse. The possibilities were endless.

The creepy lighthouse-keeper grinned suddenly when the first question broke through his dark imaginings. He cackled again, though unlike before it became a bit more defined. "Harakakaka~!" By whom? So he really didn't know at all. Most people, even travelers, usually felt it right away. Whether it was by his appearance or his... effect, everyone knew from the start that he wasn't exactly normal. "I thought that part was obvious. Me."

Edgar shrugged and turned back to the sea. "As for the afterlife... perhaps later. I need to see if anyone will die tonight. It's been a while now." Ed snickered a bit and shifted the guitar in his hands again. It wasn't that he wished death on anyone, though admittedly he did come across that way. But as the Undertaker and Light Keeper of the island, it was his own personal duty to watch. He'd be the one needing to dig the grave...

The next question, or request made him smirk. It was still very cat-like and still gave the impression of being unhinged, but it was a bit less-insane than his usual grin. "Familiar... hm, well it's been two weeks since I've had a fresh audience. All of my silent friends here," he gestured vaguely to the cemetery below, "Have all heard this song too many times to take much interest in it anymore..."

Ed laughed his odd laugh again, but even so his fingers were nimbly finding the strings they'd become familiar with. The strums started slow and deep, but quickened slightly as the melody took shape. The tune was strung together in a mix of high and low notes, making the song alive and lifeless all at once. An animated corpse kind of sound. It would have been a fun song if it weren't for the uncontrollable sense of foreboding in the tune and lyrics themselves.

When Ed began to add in the lyrics it was in the same sort of note. It was a solid, but wispy sort of voice that rode atop of the music, merging with it, but never discouraging the original sound. "I forever dream, within a dream... of a certain city in the sea... as I walk the valley of unrest... behind this mask of crimson death...~"

[ias]

<sub>(OOC: I decided to rant and make comments during my RPing...More interesting for me that way...So if you see something crazy like....What a stupid captain he is...Just go along with the flow.... )

" You" Iblis said with a strange surprise and then thought about...The ominous little boy did resemble a zombie i guess the locals would be afraid of his appearance.Once the boy began to play the song once more it was a warm sound to Iblis, if it was anything he would like this young man to join his band of crew members but wasn't sure as to what the boy believed in and if he would help Iblis conquer the world and bring maturity to it through the pain that he would bring.

__________________

Somewhere in the dark deep ocean a fleet of ships was approaching Left Village....The boat swayed and turned in the musky storm that had the boat out at sea...The pirates aboard had been planning to raid the on this quiet place for along while now and they chose this storm night to carry out there raid.....The pirates aboard the ships were partying and laughing there asses off yet were unaware of the forces that resided on the island of Raito....."Oii Cappp, can i rape some girls when i get to the village " a cannon fodder of a pirate asked the Captain Big "Fist " Johnny who merely bust out into a laughing frenzy "of course you dummy...we're pirates after all " thinking back to the last raid in which they decimated an entire village by overwhelming them with sheer numbers....The captain was worth 20,000,000 Berries but he was a small fry in West Blue who used his advantage in numbers to beat down other Pirates Captains and marines alike...He had a fleet of over 6 Pirate ships commanded by a different divisional head ranked from Uno to Seis....With Uno being his First Mate....They only had 2 hours left to go before they would reach the shore of the island to begin the raid or thats what there navigator Seis told them...He was a blunder of an idiot and aspired to take control of the whole crew but thought that the Captain was too powerful for him but never the less continues to plot some devious scheme.....

___________________

1 Hour Later

Iblis had heard enough of Edgar's song to remember it in its entirety....He was heading back to the village now and bid Edgar farewell asking to play for him some more when he came back tomorrow.....Has Iblis left the lighthouse it was pitch black in the night with the heavy fog still about the place with a ominous feeling of death approaching rapidly.....

Out in the ocean the Pirate Fleet was coming ever so closer to the island to slaughter its inhabitants and to have a little fun....So just you wait.....</sub>

[juusan]

Edgar stopped playing once the man had left. That experience was... interesting. Well, odd really, but ed didn't mind odd things. The strummed a bit more on his guitar, his fingers not sore like they would be expected to be after such a length of time playing. He was used to long bouts of playing music without stop when the graveyard was quiet and listening.

He moved his fingers along the strings before shifting the guitar to rest on his back, strapped onto him by a thick black leather material. What was odd about that meeting, Edgar thought, was that nothing seriously unlucky happened to the man. He got wet, for sure, but that wasn't usually the length to which his condition would normally go. He wondered if that meant he was having a good day or if the man was.

The creepy looking boy's eyes lifted back to the sea. It was getting late now, but there was still the chance of a ship coming in. He scanned the horizon, blurred and grey with the lingering fog, but through the haze he could make out the faint form of a small fleet of ships. About an hour away, and coming. Edgar wondered if it would be better to wait for them or go someplace else. The ships coming in would have to choose either Beacon or Left Village to make port, but the way they seemed to be headed, it looked like it was Left they were approaching.

Ed shifted his guitar again and leaned back. The storm was bad enough that it would be hard to blame a crash on him, and if he left now, he wouldn't be able to watch. Not that he wanted them to crash... he just didn't want to miss it if they did.

As the ships got closer he could make out the Jolly Roger painted on their sails and flags. Pirates. So perhaps today was an unlucky day, Ed thought, the grin he had on his face never letting up even with these thoughts. He looked over where he could see his villages' lights and pondered whether or not he should go over and warn them. His town could easily be described as the weakest of the four, it had mild, uninspiring people who would rather look the other way than fight. Pirates could take anything from this town, probably kill a few people too, thought Edgar, his grin still not leaving him.

He could go warn them, true. But they probably wouldn't prepare. They'd probably try to reason with them or something, which could work, there were reasonable pirates, but then he wouldn't have needed to warn them. Then there was the chance he could just make things worse. He did that a lot. Edgar chuckled lightly. He could help fight them off, but 6 ships would be too much for him to handle, probably. And then, of course, there was the fact that... they hated him. The villagers couldn't stand Edgar - mostly because he ruined anything he got close too. This Ed didn't mind, but still the chance that they chase him away before he was able to warn them was there.

Edgar grinned, then shrugged and stood up, whistling the song he liked to play. He walked down the winding stairs he was so used to by now all the way to the bottom where a door lead to the place he lived. He walked through to the center room and to a cupboard on the far wall. Inside were his two weapons. The man-catcher he just took out immediately and slipped into into one of his deep pockets. It could fold up so it had no trouble fitting. The voulge though, he planned to hold himself. It could also unfold and with a quick flick of his wrist the pole straighted out and locked, the blade glimmering on the opposite end. Full-length the voulge was taller than Ed, the blade was a thick and dull one that was usually the kind used to cleave meat. Used hundreds of years ago in an obscure war he didn't know much about, this weapon was a brutal hacking long-range axe meant to chop someone down while they were on a horse. It was so pretty too~!

This weapon Ed just leaned back against his right shoulder. He grinned and headed out of the lighthouse and out toward town. Forget the two weeks it's been since he'd been able to bury someone; it'd been almost 3 months since he'd been able to use the voulge on a living creature, and even then it had just been a wild animal. A tree fell over as he walked by, failing under the pressure of the wind...

"Harakakaka~!"

[ias]

<sub>Has Iblis strolled through the heavy thick mist of a fog and headed back to the village's direction...He couldn't shake the feeling that he was in for some fighting to come...He wondered if it had anything to do with Edgar...The boy did say that he was bad luck himself and that he had some unexplainable curse that gave people bad luck...Iblis thought nothing of the idea and shrugged it off as his mind playing silly tricks on him..Even if he were to get in a fight who could touch him ?....Come on now...He's a teleporting man......Unless you can read his mind there won't be any catching of Iblis tonight or ever for that matter unless he was caught off guard by a surprise attack that could incapacitate him.....

But enough silly thoughts.....Twenty Minutes had passed since Iblis had left the lighthouse and began to walk towards the town...He could have teleported to the town but he found it more interesting to walk in this dark mist of a white fog that filled the air and sent a cold chilling sensation down his spine.....

_______________

Out at sea where the ruffians of pirates were, they were having fun and pumping themselves up for the slaughter that was about to come to Left Village.....They had heard that Left Village had a secret island treasure and it was protected by some "God" who gave whoever came after it bad luck who immediately died 2 days later or at least that was what the Captain was told by a traveling merchant who had visited Left village a month and heard the rumors of Edgar but not just that he exaggerated a little to the Pirate Captain "Big Fist" Johnny who wanted the horde of treasure for himself and to kill the god that protected it to gain an even bigger bounty for himself yet unfortunately for these poor Pirates there was no such treasure and no such God...Well except Iblis.....And the bad luck Cat Edgar 13

Fourty Minutes Left Till Slaughter</sub>

[juusan]

Walking into town was not as entertaining as it usually was. Though the rain had died down slightly, the people were still reluctant to leave the safety of the buildings. Even the pubs were still full, though it was getting deep into the night-time hours. There was no one out and about to see Edgar come into the town, so everything was quiet. No one was there to look up at the zombie-ish boy, no one was there to spread any type of rumors... Edgar sighed. How boring.. Even with his voulge resting against his shoulder too, and no one was there to scream at all.

The boy shifted his shoulders a bit and gazed around the deserted-looking town. He wondered yet again if he should go into one of the bars to warn the citizens, or something. It was around the time he was pondering this that one of the tavern doors opened and a young bus-boy, around Edgar's own age, stepped out to throw away some trash and bottles. It only took half a second for him to notice Ed. "You! What are you doing here? The rain's just beginning to die down... what are you doing with that damn giant axe?!"

Ed blinked, and looked up at the voulge. Well he supposed it resembled one, but it really wasn't an axe... Edgar shrugged. "Holding it, for now."

The bus-boy looked like he was going to say something else, maybe call back into the bar that Ed was going to murder them all, but there was suddenly a snap, and the sign above the kid that read 'Lucky Go Tavern' fell sharply, nailing the kid in the head. Ed blinked and tilted his head to the side as the boy dropped. Unconscious.

Edgar grinned his crazed-cat grin and shrugged, shifting the pole-weapon on his shoulder. So he wouldn't warn the town after all, just going to the dock to wait for the pirates would be fine. "Harakakaka~"The 19-year-old undertaker laughed a bit as he turned toward the docks. The pirates shouldn't be that far away, he'd probably make it there around the same time they did.

[ias]

<sub>The Arrival
____________________

Interestingly enough Iblis had gotten lost and was walking around aimlessly through the fog that encompassed the place....Then he saw a glimmer of light shining through the fog coming from the distant horizon that he made his way to...Upon reaching the light he realized that he was in a forest overlooking the docks and could see Edgar at the docks with a fleet of ships about to dock...He wondered if this was the strange feeling that he was having before...These pirates didn't look friendly and neither was he if he was provoked....But he was about to have some fun by killing most of them and raiding there ships...Walking towards the dock out from the forest he smiled "I hope they aren't all just a bunch of weaklings "...

_____________

Forty Minutes had expired and the pirates were right next to the dock with the fleet of ships docking until one of the look outs spotted a strange young man with some sort of weapon on his back...he alerted all of the crew to get ready in case this was some sort of ambush.....Has the boats anchored at the docks The Captain and numero Uno through Seis were behind him each commanding a group of around 15 pirates.....The pirate Captain a tall and robust man towered over Edgar looking down on the boy " And who might you be ? The welcoming party " with a mighty chuckle which was accompanied by his own crew laughing at the joke.... "I don't have time to waste on you punk.." walking pass Edgar with no apparent fear of being struck by Edgar from behind since he had much more pressing issues at hand since a man called Don-don stood before him wielding a scythe who was unofficially ranked siete......

Numero uno through Seis leisurely walked pass Edgar along with there underlings rushing towards Left Village with Edgar alone to fight off such a massive crew....

Not wanting to give Edgar a chance to react, siete rushed forward and swung his scythe at Edgar diagonally aimed at his chest to test the boy's reflex.....</sub>

[juusan]

Edgar tilted his head to the side. "I'm not a welcoming party." He answered simply, shifting the voulge casually as seven of the pirates walked passed him on their way to the town. There were a lot of them alright, and it would be hard to fight them off, particularly if he had to split his attention between two fronts. "But I'm also not as weak as you think I am."

The strike was fast and smooth but Edgar had been expecting it. The sharp metal of the scythe's blade clanked loudly against the long steel pole of his pole-axe weapon. He's moved it so the pole acted as a barrier, but didn't move it very far from his body. The long curved metal of the enemy's weapon brought a grin to Ed's ghostly face. He loved scythes. The long, thinness of it was meant to slice through grasses and so it had a fine blade and arc that made it a deadly and beautiful weapon. Much more elegant than his vougle, he was sorry to admit, whose thicker, flat blade made for more carnage and less design. "What a beautiful blade~" Ed cooed smiling at the sharp edge just inches away, and only held back by the steel of his pole-axe.

The next move, Edgar knew, had to be done as quickly as possible. It relied a lot on surprise. The first and most dangerous part came first when Ed let go of his vougle and dodged to the side, the scythe's pressure being released and allowing it to follow through, his pole-axe clattering to the ground.

The second involved his more-physical weapon, the man-catcher, which was whipped out to full length with one smooth motion of the arm by the ghostly boy. "C'est la mère Michel ¹..."

[/b] Clasping the base of the man-catcher's pole firmly with his right hand, while his other hand directed the pole from the other end, Ed slammed the 'U' shaped end of the weapon up and around, aiming for the larger man's throat. "Pendu Chat~ ²"[/b] The softly sung lyrics at the end accompanied the choke-slam like attack toward the big guy.[/blockquote]
¹ It's Mamma Michel
² Hung Cat