ZERE VS. WHOEVER.

[King Jeebus]

Jay looked over at the girl.
"I'm sorry." He muttered to her with genuine sadness in his eyes and voice.
And suddenly, Jay was on the opposite side of the great seal in the sky.
He was sick of this asshole.
The circle had moved with him and was directly behind him.
Jay opened his Templar Portal in front of him as every single seal and rain stone he absorbed came flying out at Zere; The seals colliding with Zere's seals.
What happens when a seal hits another seal? The seals cancelled eachother out; Clearing a path directly to Zere.
Since time was still slowed for Jay he then continued on with another attack this time using the circle.
Silver tendrils of light burst from it and jammed into the giant seal but instead of being sealed like they should have been the areas that the tendrils burst into began to literally disappear; They were being locked out of time and being made not to progress anymore. Soon enough the seal would have been removed entirely from Time; Then the tendrils would move onto combating Zere himself.
Jay had a damn serious look upon his face as Zere would have found the Seals on his body reverting... Sliding down his body and becoming their original small tendrils of magic.
Jay was no longer using energies to combat this opponent. He was manipulating the very forces of time.

[K2]

The red seal, however, was undergoing a strange reaction as the tendrils tried to touch it, it having completed its absorbing of the city in a short time, after expanding to be the size of the city earlier. The red turned into pure, bright light, and Zere was absorbed by the light. As the tendrils moved in towards the light, a cloud of dust, radiation, and light was released, forming a ring which would sweep the tendrils, Jay, and the circle behind Jay away.

Sure, the tendrils were locking what it touched out of time, but the tendrils were separating as they tried, and they were suddenly hurling towards space at an incredibly fast velocity, with Jay and the circle being hurled with them. They were falling apart, bit by bit.

The source of the light, where the seal had been, was changing yet again now, slowly turning solid... The Templar would find that it, strangely, echoed the Templar's power, seemingly unique in time itself... Whatever this singularity of light was or would become, it was certainly a lot different than Zere's attacks before it.

[King Jeebus]

As the ring approached Jay it dissipated, forced to revert in time but only in the areas messing with Jay and his circle.
He smiled at the light, arms still folded.

[K2]

Jay and the circle were basically pushed out of the ring of light, which stopped moving now, stabilizing as more light replaced the light that had been lost, like blocks falling when their bottom block has been lost. The ring, in all, extended from the center light, down towards the planet, encompassing the entire former city, still otherwise dark from the lack of visibility of the sun, in light... And also extending outwards towards space, and covering a great amount of sky.

The ring began to shift direction, slowly ascending away from the city. Within a matter of moment. At the same time, the orb of light started floating upwards into space. In a few moments, the orb of light would be in low orbit, and the ring would no longer be "sideways" but would surround the light, parallel to the planet below it.

It would be visible from basically anywhere on this side of the planet, being the only source of light visible. It continued changing and growing ever so "resistant" to the Templar. Was it "leaving time"? No, to do so would be impossible, as then it would be unable to progress. It was actually cornering itself off from the Templar, still well within the realm of time, but slowly becoming a sort of... equal force. It was almost as if this light were another templar, but of course, that wouldn't be possible either.

So what was it?

[King Jeebus]

Jay smirked So that's what you're doing. You poor idiot.
The Templar mustered as much of his energy as possible... He was going to prepare as best as he could.
This fool had his plans, Jay had his own.

[K2]

The light suddenly erupted in another explosion as a second ring spread out, this one overlapping the first and extending the range of the rings even further. The light had completely changed now... It wasn't just light, now. It was a giant clock face, lined with numbers written in some strange script, with ticking gears and moving hands. The hands now pointed to two of these strange, foreign written numbers, or whatever lined the clock, and on a conventional clock it would indicate that the current time was 11:30.

The two rings began to pulse. With each pulse, apart by about a second each time, small particles of light were released from the rings, flying at high velocities into the depths of space.

[King Jeebus]

Jay breathed in another calming breath as his own clock face circle merged with his own body and his wings grew majorly in span.
"Unfortunately you've pushed yourself into a dark corner." Jay smiled "Trying to mess with time so freely. What I don't think you've realized."
Jay raised a hand
"Is that i'm a Templar Elder."
Five white orbs burst out from Jay, circling him. These were the outerverse cores he had absorbed long before in his battle with Plex. The same orbs which gave him more than enough energy to rewind the consciousness out of the negative core itself.
They fueled him.
Out of nowhere, the clock face would have been pierced by a burning silver light which echoed Jay's own words I am so sorry.
And this was all Jay needed. His message that he had burnt through time itself to try and give Zere.
Since it originally missed it's target as a harmless message the energy just kept moving through time; Moving through their timeline until the opportune moment.
The message gave the now highly powered Jay a link to the clockface; To the light it emitted, to it's source and to everything it originally emitted.

"You came close but no cigar."

What Zere likely didn't fully understand was to manipulate any aspect of time for a normal mage a lot of energy was required; Simply just to put him in the state he was in now and to bring the clockface just outside of Jay's reach in time should have put him in a state of near-death from the sheer energy consumption.

"Unfortunately though, i'm the best..."

He held out his hand as his sword of ages appeared in it.

"Good luck though."

The Templar pointed the sword at the clockface, at his newfound link to it.

"If you ever get out, come find me so I can kick your damn ass again."

He mustered all the energy he could from the cores and from himself, using the sword of ages to amplify it.
A flash of silver light flushed the whole area.
Zere would have found himself waking up on a beach; Not sensing Jay whatsoever.
He would have found himself trapped in a completely different timeline.

[K2]

A beach...

Zere found himself waking up there, the water crashing against his body. His eyes opened, and he looked up to the sky. Where was he? Had he... Had he really failed, was it true? Could it be that he was trapped here, unable to ever again return to his family, his friends, his loved ones?

No... No, it couldn't be.

Then, he spotted the girl from earlier, the one in the dress who he had almost killed. She was here? But... How? And why? Why was she here, and what did that mean for Zere, the sage who had spent the last YEAR of his life away from home.

The girl was nearby him, laughing as she ran down the beach. Zere ran after her, chasing her for what seemed like miles. She was... So familiar. She was so like her... He had to get to her, to just see if it could be possible.

"Hey, wait up!" he shouted. She did not turn around.

Finally, Zere eventually caught up to her, grabbing her by the shoulder and twisting her around. Their eyes met, and he watched as a frightened look of shock came across her face. He looked at her well, though... How... How could it be?

"Please... please, tell me it's you."

"Zerdian. It's me... Zere, I'm here."

"What... what do I do?"

"You know what you have to do, baby. You've known all along."

"I... I can't go back there! It makes me so crazy to not be around you... It makes me go insane."

"You know that you don't have a choice... Keep fighting. Keep trying. Someday, we will meet again. I promise."

"I love you, baby."

"I know, Zere," the young woman replied, "I love you too."

And, there before his eyes, the young woman seemed to vanish all together. A tear rolled down Zere's eyes, but he quickly wiped it off, the face of a psycho returning. He looked into the sky and started to laugh... He started to laugh like he would never laugh again, more than he had ever laughed before.

And then, he saw it...

In the sky, something was glowing in the distance... Something dark and blue. He started to fly towards it. He knew what awaited on the other side... He knew where he was going, and he was ready. He was ready to go home, and to finish this battle once and for all.

In the other timeline, the clock which Jay had attacked was falling to shambles without Zere there, literally breaking apart. Much of it had been engulfed in the silver light and sent back in time. Sure, Jay had a direct link to it... But it had still been a seal before, and apart from the broken pieces of clock floating through space, that is what it was again -- a red seal in space.

But it's inside was glowing with the light that the clock had been letting out before. The light that had separated into space was NOT under Jay's control. When Zere vanished, it came back... It came back to the red seal, looking for its master... It had to find its master.

And then, it erupted into a blue spectrum of light.... It was trying to pull upon time itself, pull upon the Temporal energies that Jay had released in this fight... It was trying desperately to create a link back to its master... To bring him home.

A voice boomed in Jay's head, loud, as if it were shouting...

Pretty good... For a Templar.

Light shot forth from the blue, as Zere shot threw it, into the depths of space, a grin still on his face as he looked at Jay directly. However; his own form had now changed as well. All around him, beams of light were dancing, surrounding his very form. Rings of light were all around his arms, his legs, his entire body.

He was different now. He was... Stronger.

And he was ready to fight.

[King Jeebus]

Jay himself looked different also. His eyes were a pure white, almost burning with silver and white energies.
He didn't carry himself in his usual joking manner, he was purely serious.
This time, the Outerverse didn't take him over; Instead Jay was channeling it.
The light that was pouring from Jay formed into an orb encompassing both combatants.
"You know. I was trying to send you away. I was trying to send you to a new land where you could live out your life happily." He sighed "It's a shame."
Jay's blade glowed a pure white before being encompassed by the energy and literally absorbed into him.
He sighed, staring dead on at Zere; His voice returning to normal "This is your last chance to just walk away. I wouldn't fault you for it."

[K2]

Sound could not be heard in space, and yet, Jay's first words reached Zere's ears in an all too fluid movement. Did he particularly remember actually hearing what Jay had said? No, but his mind registered the words. They received the information.

The light that surrounded Zere was now sprouting outwards, changing from light to... To something else. The black of space left their sight, as they became encompassed in some sort of vortex, once more traveling... And then, with no noise, no sudden, rapid movement, they were on the planet once more, outside the ruined rubble that had been a city... They were on a hill, overlooking the city.

A single tree stood on that hill, well and tall above the two. Zere and Jay's eyes met there, right under the shade of the tree. They both knew that Jay's offer didn't mean anything here. They had to keep fighting. This was their very survival.

He could see, deep within the serious face of Jay, everything he needed to know...

"Do you love her?" he asked, his voice serious for once.

[King Jeebus]

"You know..." Jay grinned, taking his hat off and throwing it aside "....The exact answer to that."
The Templars cape became enveloped into his body too as his transformation was complete. A crossed arrows symbol appeared across his chest.
"Y'know, i'm not just a Templar." Jay raised a hand at Zere before snapping his fingers, a crackle of white energy forming out of his hand into the shape of an energy blade from his hand "I'm the best." He rushed at Zere, energy blade raised for a swing to his face.

[K2]

Zere smiled, opening his mouth and releasing a deadly screech. The sound of his voice, a high-pitched squeal, moved forward towards Jay, the vibrations moving at intense speeds. They were literally going to tear Jay apart... The sound of his voice was going to destroy Jay.

Running... There she is, standing in the field, wearing the dress you bought her. She's waiting on you, Zerdian.

Zere dropped to his knees, his hand grabbing his head... Pain... He could see her there in his head for just a second. Where did she go!? Why wasn't she in his head now, and where had she gone!?

As flowers literally began to rain down upon him, he glanced up to see how his opponent reacted to his attack.

[King Jeebus]

The second the sound waves burst from Zere's mouth, Jay seemingly disappeared.
He had run through time.
As the sound died down, The Templar appeared behind Zere; Slamming his blade into the back of Zere's head.
Of course, he wasn't done.
If the blade connected, it would have absorbed itself into Zere after making but a small mark.
"Just who in the hell do you think I am?"
Jay appeared in front of Zere and outright punched him in the face.
The blossoms rained down on the two.

[K2]

As soon as Jay appeared behind Zere, the entire sky seemed to literally burst out with emotion as Zere disappeared, reappearing in the sky just before Jay could stab Zere. The sky had gone from noon to sunset in a moment's notice. As Jay appeared in front of Zere, it once more changed, rapidly becoming night as he disappeared once more, reappearing back on the ground.

In the distant sky, the two would be able to see a figure of some sorts approaching them... It seemed to be a sailboat, floating through the now night sky. It was fairly far away, and wasn't going the quickest. It would arrive soon enough.


"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!?" Zere cried out, obvious pain in his voice. A seal started to appear on the back of his hand, pink, in the shape of a heart.

[King Jeebus]

"Pay some damn attention, kid." Jay growled, one of the few times he actually acknowledged his own age. The Templar snapped his fingers again as the buildings in the distance began to repair themselves; Slowly at first but quickly rising in speed before finally becoming whole again.
Jay this time appeared before Zere again and went for another punch but this time, if he connected he would literally grab Zere.

[K2]

"I WON'T BE FOOLED!" Zere yelled out angrily.

The entire ground seemed to be pulsing now, literally like a heart. Thud, thud, thud. It's pulsing was getting louder and faster as Zere got more and more excited. The entire city was already starting to shake again, even from the battlefield, which was outside the city itself.

Zere's heart literally bounced off his hand as Jay came in to punch Zere, creating a thin membrane between Zere and Jay, as the heart was now much more massive in size. It literally began to warp everything around Jay. Zere would seemingly disappear from sight. Everything would become incredibly dark, as if he were in a dark void, falling.

Laughter started to echo from all around Jay. He wouldn't be able to see, but certainly would be able to feel, as needles came at him from all different directions. These were not any ordinary needles. They were soul nails. Once they hit Jay, all the energy in his body would be drained...

Jay himself was still, physically, before Zere, but his spirit was not...

Meanwhile, the sailboat was getting closer and closer.

OOC: 1/4 of my posts until sailboat arrives.
1/3 of my posts until Heartbreak Shatters attack.

[King Jeebus]

Yet, Jay's body did exactly what it intended to do. It grabbed Zere's face.

In the spiritual area Jay's spirit was in, he was narrowly dodging these needles.
He was losing hope fast, he couldnt see and was relying solely on instinct to dodge. This was not what Jay was used to, this was not his usual forte. He didn't know how to deal with this.

Through his mind rattled images, his family from thousands upon thousands of years ago....
His life as a human....
His friends when he became initiated into the Templar Order....
His old master....
His awakening....
Meeting Nek, Meeting Inari, Fighting Kurai, Fighting Anarchy, Gathering the Outerverse Cores, Fighting Sakael, Plex, Becoming The Warrior Of Light...

Just who in the hell do you think I am?

Silver light pierced the darkness as that rung through both the physical and astral planes. It burst through Jays spirit and body, anchoring them back together and sealing them within the same entity once more.

"Fuck you." Jay had returned to his body, and was now grabbing Zere's face.

"I mean it, seriously fuck you." He growled, anger pulsed through him.

Jay's hand began to crackle with white energy as it fought back against any defenses Zere would have had directly on his body.

The planet, the ship, the battlefield, everything found itself pulsing with silver and white energies.

It's a shame

Those words echoed through time again also, this time centering on Zere; Sealing his movement in time.

"While some men are defined by their power." Jay tightened his grip on Zere's face, his hand burning against him "I am defined by those I love, by those I lost, by those I will lose." His hand was.... Morphing. The transformative properties of the Outerverse were channeling through him and causing his hand to be a pure while glow in the shape of a hand and forearm instead of mortal flesh "I am Jay motherfucking Stryder, and I will. Destroy. You."

The Templar's hand burst into multiple tendrils of light that enveloped Zere as he channeled a high level of his energy into a single Templar Art.

Pay some damn attention, kid

Those words echoed through and again centered on Zere, this time opening a more powerful link between Zere and Time itself as a force.

"As you were."

With those words, a silver wave of energy burst from the Templar.

When the light cleared, Jay was stood beneath the tree. The ship was nowhere to be seen, the buildings in the city had returned to their original pristine state, the grass beneath him was a luscious green and in his arms....
Was a baby.

The Templar was smiling as he looked at the child that was Zere, he had forced Zere through Time and used the most ancient of Templar Arts; Restarts. This did exactly what it said on the tin, brought the target through time and essentially gave them a fresh start as a child.
Jay was precisely how he was just before the fight, wearing his cape and hat again without the symbol across his chest.

"I could kill you." He sighed, lifting the child with magic in the air before him "But that's not my style. You're gonna be raised right kid, and maybe you'll even go far. I know of an earthen family who cant have kids, they'd love this little bundle of joy." He smiled, waving his hand as the baby Zere was gone. Jay walked through time to return to his Citadel.

[K2]

Naturally, it wasn't that easy. It was never that easy, and even Jay knew that. The moment Jay's hand grabbed a hold of Zere, something within him snapped, a defense activated... And Zere's body expanded into something massive, even with the white energies sparkling upon it.

Zere's body became... A seal.

The seal itself was composed of three sections. It's outer-rings consisted of some massive force of energy, it's mid-rings consisted of sealing fire, and the rings closest to its center composed of the temporal energies Jay was feeding by trying to use his attack. The center itself is where Jay was, a pit of darkness in the night sky. The dark energies there were enveloping him, corrupting his very essence.

Zere had learned his lesson, of course. He was not actually, physically, the seal, and he was no longer linked to it. It was what he used as a placeholder. Jay, because of his own attack, was now linked not to Zere, but to the circle. So, where was Zere? He was watching, amused, as the Templar tried to reverse time in the skies above the planet, failing epicly as his Temporal energies were fed to the seal.