Precipice of Omega

A place with a deep connection to Omega, first granted to The Ancient as a place of refuge, and then to Nobuyuki as the sacred plane of the Sword Sages and Knights of Balance. Nobuyuki is the sole wielder of this plane's true potential, and is at his strongest when present here. Intrusion without his permission is not possible, as the plane is an extension of himself and all Sword Sages before and after him.
New trainees under Nobuyuki are brought here when the Sword Sage deems them worthy to progress their training in ways only possible through this plane. The final trial to become a fully realized Sword Sage takes place here, and is overseen by past Sword Sages, and as this plane is not impacted by time, ones that should not exist or have fallen, an imprint of their will echoes here forever.
==Prelude - Entrusted==
A young brown haired man in ragged white clothes hovels before a being clad in draconic white armor, wheezing and exhausted, beyond any degree the vast majority of beings would consider feasible. Sweat drenches him, and he feels as though he will fall apart. A faint rippling ceases surrounding him, and he collapses completely before the silent figure, who places their hand on the man's head.
"I failed..." Grieves the brown haired man. "I failed your expectations..."
"...Not so. The way forward must be different for each individual who takes this journey. You did not fail, you triumphed over yourself. At last, you will find the peace you desired. Peace you could not find before, because of what you put in, you shall now recieve. You desired to learn, and you have. You are indeed not the one to suceed the will of Omega. But in truth, that is not what was meant for you. 
<Tristai.>" The being speaks a name meaning nothing to any who listen to those beyond the dark, featureless realm, but the man flinches, knowing it well.
"You are the sword that will cut forward the path. Go with our blessing, as we bestow upon thee this place and our gift, and bring forth clarity to the Lost. This is your new beginning, Nobuyuki, Sword of Freedom." Vigor and purpose drive Nobuyuki to shakily rise, and then with strength. He then stands alone, for the first time, knowing true peace, and closes his eyes.
He was finally free. But now he has a new road to walk. And for that... he must return to the world of mortals.
== Severed Wings, No Longer. ==
Skana emerges from the darkness into a strange place. There is darkness, deeper in quality than he had ever known for the ground, but darkness above, more like he had known before in the sky. He feels weak, incredibly so, but he knows he must persevere. Nobuyuki emerges behind him.
"This is the place appointed to me that I might teach those worthy of becoming one of us." He explains.
Skana turns toward Nobuyuki. "Us?" He asks with confusion. Nobuyuki only gestures to look ahead, and Skana does, and freezes, in spite of his training.
A knight clad in worn, degraded armor sits far ahead of them, his helm a dragon's head with eight eyeholes. Eight white blades hover behind him. There is an ominous lack of presence to him that makes Skana so deeply uncomfortable. Long white hair trails off behind him, ending in a wisp of dust. The knight's head rises ever so faintly.
"The Ancient, the only name you'll get from him. He doesn't talk much, but he will observe your progress and should you be worthy, face him at the end of this journey." Nobuyuki speaks, walking forward, as though unperturbed by the being's presence. Once he has reached the middle of the space, he invites Skana forward, facing him. The Sword Sage is truly nonplussed by the environment. 
"Now, here, in this place where all power dies, and only the strength of will remains, you will be trained in Arts." Nobuyuki speaks firmly, brandishing a wood sword, tossing another to Skana.
"As I taught you, all things have a flow, an essence. I taught you how to reach the currents that rage and murmur within you. That of Chi, of Aura, of Spirit. Now the most important step. You must achieve oneness with that flow, within yourself, and the surroundings among you."
With a pulse of power from Nobuyuki, the area becomes a verdant garden, bird song and chirping of insects create a murmur of life that was absent. The Ancient rests under a waterfall that gently flows over him, as though merely in sleep.
"This awareness is of course, one step among many. Be patient. Place your sword next to you, and place yourself in the proper form for meditative thought, as I have taught you. We will go beyond meditation today." Nobuyuki instructs, also seating himself. The two seat themselves facing each other.
Nobuyuki begins to instruct Skana to feel things around him, to concentrate without focusing on one, but all. Skana feels the gentle wind, the quiet murmur of the falls, the individual blades of grass as they blow, the movement of the insects, the flapping of birds, and the whispers of the trees. For a time, that is all he does. But, eventually, something shifts. He feels deeper. It becomes not merely awareness, but a sense of vague connection. 
It continues, as now he feels the flow of sap within the trees, the movement of blood in the insects, the stored energy within the water, the vibration of the wind. He feels the currents that flow through him. Yet it continues deeper. The deep, residual memories of the trees and their roots, the collective consciousness of the ants, the memories of the soil...
Eventually, Skana would have to pull himself out of his meditation to sleep or to eat, but beyond these things, he was not allowed to deviate from his regimen. 
== A Meeting Between What is Not and What Must Be ==
A black robed man walks through darkness, before reaching a darkness deeper than any other, one he knows well from another time. Waiting for him, as he expected, is a brown haired male with red spirit markings along his form, glaring at him subtly.
"What, are we equal disciples of the same master not entitled to this space?" He asks in a dismissive manner.
The brown haired man folds his arms. "What are you playing at, Isshun? Titania moves for no one. What did you do?" He says in a low voice.
"I'm merely moving things along as they must. As for me and Titania, we have a connection you'd not grasp. Or maybe you do, you just haven't thought about it hard enough. That's quite enough of the idle chit chat, you know why I called this meeting, Nobuyuki."
The Sword Sage dips his head briefly. "So she factors into the greater picture of your aims to correct the world before it achieves terminal velocity. Do you plan on telling me the full picture or am I going to stab into the proverbial dark til I lose mine patience?"
Isshun shakes his head. "You'd like it to be that easy. Alas you and I think very differently about things, and the time spent arguing or getting into tussles with you could be better spent averting travesty. Particularly now that damned idiot started screwing with events, on top of that Origin having made its move and just *barely* being foiled by Azayakana, and Alpha's nerves and paranoia reaching ultimate levels."
"His actions worry you?" Nobuyuki raises an eyebrow.
"Of course. He thinks he's solving a problem, but in its place a thousand fold nightmares are about to descend and he's hardly thought that through. Alpha is banking on his success so that it can further deteriorate the intended flow, and we can't risk it wrecking any more havoc than it has, this whole thing with Gina started because of Alpha manipulating the world, playing into it's hands..." Isshun begins to grow agitated, but Nobuyuki raises a hand.
"I get your picture. And I understand. I assume I have a role to play in this?" Nobuyuki sighs.
"I need you to intervene- -Don't you dare complain, this is important. I need you to prevent the Chaos Engine Tanoshimi from becoming the Lambda of Balance. If Gina absorbs her power, she'll be that much closer to becoming Roka's replacement, and we just had that crisis settled. A brand new Perfect Avatar will ruin everything. Plus, that whole issue is preventing the hothead girl from assembling the new generation.
They're going to be important, and Alpha is trying to ensure they don't form again. I need you to ensure that happens and... you need to confront the Origin, and convince him to return to his sister's side. Twin Souls... she needs his influence, in order to weaken Formindor's grasp on her. She can't properly evolve into the Blade of Purging Flame with his influence, and that will allow him to save her. Oh, and hurry up with the new recruit, have him join the fray as well. Every hand counts." Isshun stresses everything with great distress.
Nobuyuki sighs. "And meanwhile, you'll keep skulking about and doing reckless things. I'd tell you to not get yourself killed, but you're already dead and plan on doing so again. All the same, good luck to you. You'll need it, and so will I."
With that, both take a step forward and disappear.Category:Neutral
Category:Realm
Category:RP Area