The Man With A Scythe

The girl, named Samara, had done as Krieg had instructed. She had quickly escorted her prisoner down from the hillside and waded through the camp of soldiers, their confused and hungry glares seeing the human on her shoulder. Some of them surveyed her jealously, and wished to take the male for their own. Though few could, most of them relaxed. It wouldn't be worth the fight. Krieg and possibly even Kris would stand up for Samara, seeing as she was the one that carried him down she was likely the one who brought him down.

That meant that she owned him for now, and she had similar intentions to Krieg. She wanted to know where he got his powers. How he got them, to be sure. Magic was not prevalent in this world and all the magic here was bleeding in from her world currently. As far as she knew, no humans could use it yet. Or at least, they shouldn't be able too. The rift between worlds had been opened for about ten years, but the Humans were blissfully ignorant of it while the Amaranth were not. While yes, the two planes had been connected for some time it wasn't nearly enough for there to be a severe crossover. Not to say it was impossible...

She had taken Shirou some distance from the rest of the camp, to a nearby cave and while he still unconscious bound him by the hands and feet with metallic cable. It was a strong, reinforced substance that not even most Amaranth could break through without leverage. With their limbs bound, they couldn't ever get it. It was very heat resistant, and conducted lightening well enough as a coincidental measure. As for the man's powers over darkness? Well, she had promised to not use magic only on this campaign. This was more a private matter at the moment, meant to fulfill the curiosity of her and her superior.

He magic style focused on crippling biology and magical focus. She didn't negate anything really, so much as redirect it or actively prevent it. This required great power and concentration on her part to stop the magic use, while the physical stuff was far less demanding to prevent. So, if she had to, she could somewhat counter the man's magic. But there was something concerning about the power he wielded. It seemed at though he controlled the very night itself. He had coated his scythe, and his fire, and his cages in the very absence of any light. That was something she was not familiar with. That was something she also wanted to learn about. Propping him up against the cave wall, and using a piece of flint to ignite her own fire, she had hoped to ward off the man's powers as asinine as it seemed

As a bonus, it added light to the cave, and warmth for the night. As the light flickered between their two faces, she waited silently and stoically for him to wake up, that blank expression still across her face like it had been when they had fought. Her foot had not yet been healed from the encounter, but it was hardly a concern. Next to her laid his scythe, gleaming in the firelight and longing for it's owner.

Shirou's eyes fluttered open and he opened his mouth as if he were going to say something. Instead, he turned his head to the side and vomited blood, creating a small pool of the crimson liquid next to him. He licked his lips in an attempt to clean his mouth of any excess blood, as he found his limbs were bound, and spat it out into the puddle that was seeping across the ground.

Pain. A lot of pain inside of him, and apparently internal bleeding from the looks of it. Judging by the fact that he was still alive, he must not have been out cold for very long. However, if he didn't do something soon, he would probably die. He could repair the damage, though he didn't have as much magic as he would have preferred, nor was he as experienced in the magic of this world. It would take time and effort.

He turned his focus on the girl who had, by a technicality, defeated him. He still hadn't seen her true power, other than her monstrous strength and speed. She had to have some innate magic ability, since her two comrades had. Did she refuse to use it in battle or was there some other reason? Perhaps it was not meant for battle, judging on her physical prowess.

He fidgeted with his hands, feeling what his shackles were. Heavy and dense. Probably had some resistance to his magic, or else his arms and legs probably would have been disabled in some other, more painful way. He sure it was possible to break out of them, but he didn't know how much magic it would take, and the girl would probably subdue him in the meantime. For now, escape wasn't much of an option. 

Slowly and quietly, he began to focus his magic within him. He didn't have healing magic, however he could use his dark magic flexibly. He could deconstruct his matter into darkness. Technically, the matter that had not reconstructed was still in the form of darkness within him, just on standby. In the same sense, he could deconstruct broken bones and reconstruct them into their original, un-broken forms. With lack of experience, though, it took time and focus.

"So tell me, what exactly are you?" Shirou said, as he used his magic to first seal up the internal wounds to prevent him from bleeding out. "That old man that the whale slaughtered said you were demons or something. Is that really true?"

No smile crept across her face as she analyzed the man and surveyed his appearance. Particularly, his speech. He was noticeably more calm than anybody should be in this situation. It prompted her to almost put up a guard, but she doubted it would ultimately matter. She had confidence enough in her capabilities as to not act as though it was a problem now that he was awake.  Instead, she took note of the puddle of blood the man had just ejected from his body. Clearly, he was injured though she had already drawn that conclusion.

"You are familiar with the concept of 'quid pro quot'?" That was the human term for it. Essentially, it was the term for a transaction where one good or service was contingent on receiving another in order to be rendered. As it applied to this situation, it was an answer for an answer and a question for a question. "I will answer any of your questions, as long as you answer mine. I have nothing to hide." It was true. Any secret operations being conducted by the Amaranth were invisible to her. She did not know of them, nor were the perpetrators of such acts anymore aware of her.

"In regards to your question, we are 'Amaranth'. There is no human word for it, but your kind tend to call us Demons. Demons are our ancestors from a time before we had society. Now, for my question." She braced herself up against the wall next to him, standing to full height before reclining into it and looking over her shoulder at him from the side. Once more her eyes washed over him as she calculated her words. "Where did you learn our magic? You are the first human we have encountered with our magic." She would question him of his strength later. His biology must be different than a normal humans. Could he be a Greater Human? The idea was certainly an intriguing one.

The girl offered a foreign phrase. Shirou frowned, thinking. "No, not particularly familiar, but I can catch your drift," he said with a shrug, which he immediately regretted as pain shot through him. He wouldn't mind answering any questions, since he too had nothing to hide. Besides, the girl didn't know him enough to ask any question that Shirou didn't want to answer.

Amaranths, huh? That was a new term. Basically like demons, but not demons. Also really strong and have magic, which is a rarity among humans apparently, as the girl asked how he could use magic.

"Uh, yeah, I'm not exactly from around...here," he said, vaguely. "It's kind of hard to explain, since I don't really know how it happened myself. I was kind of just wandering around, walking with no aim, when I found myself in a whole different world where everything works differently. You see, where I come from, magic is different. Used differently. I, myself, am having a hard time adjusting to it. And as well, magic is innate to almost anybody from where I'm from."

"Next question. What's your name?"

As the man explained his origins, Samara processed the information with vigor. This was potentially huge. The man's description of where he came from, much more than the explanation of where he got his powers was a giant leap forward for the Amaranth. This mean that Trayi's theory was correct. The girl's face twitched for a moment after Shirou finished speaking, letting his question float and nodding. She was too busy thinking about what he had said, and what it had meant for the Amaranth forces.

There were a lot of details about the crossing never publicized, but Krieg had relayed to them that Trayi and Orion had discussed there being the possibility of other tears like the one they'd come through. Orion was extremely excited by the prospect of expanding her empire, though nobody in the courts could ever exactly nail what was the tear was or where it came from. Supposedly they learned that information within the last ten years or so while the pre-war scouting was taking place, though the details weren't known and in general the whole idea was just a rumor.

This meant that it was possible. It was unlikely this man could relay anymore information, though. Based on what he had said, he wasn't from here. He was unconscious for a handful of minutes, and his sense of direction was probably shot for now. He wouldn't be able to give directions, or tell where he entered from. He didn't remember by his own words, and given how little he knew about them he had little reason to lie.

After a few seconds of listening to the fire crackled before them, she finally dared to speak. "Samara," she replied. She turned her head back to him, having stared forward while thinking for a quite a while. Rather than ask Shirou his name, she asked him a different question. "Are there other people like you where you are from?" This was important to a future invasion, and she wanted that information.

"Yes," Shirou said. "Why do you ask?"

His response was quick-- almost snappish. Was that paranoia on his voice, or curiosity that rolled from the man's tongue? Quid pro quo. She would respond to his question, for she had nothing to hide. "Simple," came the voice flat and smooth like glass but intoxicating like fine liquor. "After we have taken this world, we shall see about taking that one. Everlasting conquest for the glory of Orion. May her empire reach the stars," she said firmly, casting her eyes to the entrance of the cave. "Or rather, may her empire each other worlds. Stars or no, more land and subjects. Our empire must grow."

She turned her eyes onto Shirou once again. "So, once we have conquered this world and suitably recovered, we will see about finding yours. You might be the single, most valuable thing we've encountered on this planet. Tell me: what species are you? What do you identify as?"

"Interesting. I'm sure that would be a fun challenge for the folks back home," Shirou said, lazily. "I wonder if I'll be ready to go back by the time that happens. I could catch a ride with you guys, since I don't really know how to do it myself." Shirou wasn't particularly concerned about the now proposed invasion of his home universe. He figured he could have taken out the three Amaranths before if they had been fighting on his turf. Not to mention that there were quite a few people stronger than him.

"I'm a human, probably," he answered. "I, too, once conquered worlds. But I stopped because I had become something I did not enjoy seeing. Such a faulty reactions must be human correct?"

"So, why do you guys want to invade and grow?"

"Because we are a mighty empire, and we must spread our light. And, like all empires, the more we grow, the more land and resources we need. Our cycle of growth and expansion is borne of necessity. We must continue the cycle untill all are Amaranth. Under the rule of immortal Orion, our warring planet was united into a fearsome military force. Billions of Amaranth, and those of us you fought? We are merely the mongrels of our species, weakand itiful next to the generals, who themselves are but a pitance compared to mighty Orion."

She stated the above with great comparative ferver, almost eliciting something aside from monotonous iteration from her tongue. She, like most Amaranth, held this to be a true idea. They certainly weren't treated poorly and were well aware of this. While it couldn't exactly be contested, some Amaranth didn't adhere to these beliefs, and some of them even existed within their own ranks. That said, it didn't mean disloyalty. In fact, They were welcomed to be different. Orion understood the truth of an empire: uniformity can not exist. Individuals are too different. It was basic conquering logic, that those subjugated be allowed their space and beliefs. 

"Humanity is not our intellectual inferior, simply suchby our variety of physical traits. A plague or disaster that kills one human could kill them all. But Amaranth do not have the same uniform weaknesses in our biology. While there are some similar to one another, we are all different, with various adaptations meant to help us overcome many different disasters as a species. Humans are fragile and prone to injury. It is only natural they fight back, as we would as well. It is only natural we crush resistance to our cause, too. Soon, in the centuries to come, these humans will too be Amaranth, and join our diversity."

She flipped her hair as she spoke, moving it behind her ear. "But what interests me the most, and certainly would be interesting to my superior Krieg, is what you say about yourself. If you are human, then we must be certain. If you aren't different from these humans, then they would certainly be valuable to the empire. From another world or not, if you are similar to these aprently pathetic creatures, then they may have potential yet untapped. Our conquest may have just become even more righteous."