Ring of Fire (Open)

[Miracle]

"You are no daughter of mine."

"How could you betray your own family!"

"It is too late for me."

"I love you, Zira."

"You are humanity's last hope."

Zira's silver eyes opened up when she realized she was still falling from a high point. She spun her body and bounced off from wall to wall until she landed on the black floor of the tower. However she was no longer in the Temen-ni-gru battling her father Lord Mundus. But in a strange demonic looking tower with rare symbols. Did the tower wrap reality?

Zira was dressed in a black tank top with a black leather jacket over it that had red flames on the back and sleeves. She also had on black jeans and black boots with a flame design as well. Agni & Rudra strapped to her back in an X formation while Beowulf was already on her hands and feet. She looked at the symbols but didn't recognize the language. Zira recalled a portal opening up and wonder if that how she got here.

"Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore. Time to figure out where I am."

Zira opened the doors that were in front of her and she came out to a frozen wasteland of crystalized ice. The sun had long since set giving birth to the moon and stars and the sky was clear of clouds. Just a pitch black existence with the exception of the stars and the silver moon.

"Looks like I'm no longer in Limbo City either, but where?"

Zira took a few steps forward and when she did a series of ice monsters surrounded her in a circle. A ring, if you would. Zira turned all around and looked at the ice monsters that were stalking her. Circling her. But Zira wasn't concerned. She smirked even. Ice monsters and what was it that she had? Oh yeah. Fire.



Zira snapped her fingers and fire sparked from the fingertips. She created a ring of fire as it encompassed the surrounding ice monsters and they were easily destroyed. Melting into nothingness as the flames consumed them. Zira smirked slyly and then returned her right hand to her side as she continued to walk forward. Never looking back.

[Tori Jacobs]

Zira wasn't as alone as she thought. For an ancient and evil vampire lady was watching her from the darkness of the expanse. Brown eyes glowed in the darkness as it saw how easily the new arrival dispatched the ice monsters. Well, when you can emit flames from your hands it made those who affiliation was ice not seemed much more than an afterthought. Maricul announced herself with clapping and then stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight.

Maricul had short black hair that was done in a bob cut and beautiful deep brown eyes and pale white skin. She stood at five feet, five inches, and weighed exactly one-hundred and eighteen pounds with an hourglass body and beautiful legs. She was dressed in a sleeveless black button up shirt and tight black pants and boots. Her trademark blue trench coat upon her back keeping her warm. A black scythe attached to her back as both the 9mm Blood Lust and 11mm Blessing which she had made by Riley back in Isafaro was in her coat's pockets. She smirked at the new arrival and ceased her applauds.

"That was mighty impressive. And who might you be, I wonder? Another otherworlder sent here by the tower?"

[Miracle]

Zira felt eyes on her. Back when she was still learning to be a warrior under her father's generals that sort of thing used to unnerve her, but now she was ready. The Firebird glanced around the area knowing there weren't much hiding places beside the giant black tower that stuck out like a sore thumb here. Then she saw it. A pair of brown glowing eyes staring at her. Why not take a picture? It would last longer!

"Okay, you can come out now. I don't bite unless you do."

When the shadowy figure finally came out to the light it held a face that was the last face Zira wanted to see. The face of the vampire seductress Maricul. Yes, Zira knew who Maricul was. There was one in her own world feeding and relishing off the world that Mundus had created. Maricul had even tried to seduce Zira herself a couple of times, to no prevail of course. The vampire sickened Zira and disgusted her. The vampire was a woman Zira truly detested as she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head at the vampire woman who didn't know who she was apparently.

"Maricul. Either you followed me here and are playing head games, or you're this reality's version of Maricul. Either way, what do you want? And make it quick, I don't have time to dally."

[Tori Jacobs]

"Oh, I assure you. I do bite."

Maricul grinned and brandished her fangs as she looked at Zira up and down. She was a very attractive woman to say the least. The kind that Maricul would lure into bed and play with until finally sinking her fangs in any part of the body with a vein and feeding off of her. Maricul could also sense a great and terrifying demonic power in her though. With her scent she knew she was a demon. And a powerful one at that. But who gave birth to her? Only the gods knew really.

"So, there are other versions of me out there. Am I pretty?"

Maricul licked her lips. She recognized the look of sheer detest and disgust that was on the other woman's face. She had seen those looks before by those who thought they were better than her. Either this demon thought she was above vampires, or she was some kind of paragon who wanted to use her demonic powers to help humanity like Sparda did all them years ago. Either way it was enough to turn Maricul's own stomach.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Miss...?"

[Miracle]

"Oh, yeah. Very pretty. If you like ugly pale Goth girls."

Zira could feel the look that Maricul was giving her. One of lust and desire. Zira could sense her feelings. This Maricul felt desire for her. Wanting to sex and feed off of her young flesh and maybe even turn her into one of her pets like she did to men back in Zira's own world. She was also filled with wonder wanting to know who her parents were and how she had so much power. Maybe there was an advantage here to having the upper-hand. Knowing who Maricul was without this Maricul knowing who she was. It wouldn't last forever if she was half as crafty and intelligent as the one from her own world, but for right now Zira wasn't willing to show her entire hand to the vampire seductress.

"The name's Zira. Zira Firestone. And unless you have information for me I'll be on my way."

[Tori Jacobs]

Maricul tilted her head and arched a brow at Zira.

"What's wrong with Goth girls?"

So she finally had a name. Not a name she recognized by any major demon, but a name. Maricul knew this was no half breed despite the human guise. Zira Firestone was a full pure blooded devil and that was rare in today's world. Not made by man one bit. Maricul knew Project Legion was special, but Zira was even more so. A true untainted pure blooded devil.

"Don't you want to know where you are? This place is called the Crystal Expanse. A frozen wasteland of crystalized ice that lie at the heart of the continent of Jherra. Look beneath your feet."

Beneath their feet and through the ice one could see the ancient and advanced city that once thrive here on Jherra and had since been frozen in time for all eternity for their sins of no doubt making the tower that stood behind their position.

[Miracle]

Of course Maricul would like Goth girls. She practically was a Goth girl with the black hair and pale white skin. Zira lifted up a boot and looked down at the ice. It took some doing, but she eventually saw it and gasped. The city beneath their feet. A whole fucking city full of people and tech centuries years old being used as cars and the likes. Tech that resembled the tech used to build the tower that was right behind her. This place was a frozen wasteland of crystalized ice and a prison for an entire civilization that lived beyond their means.

"Are they still alive?"

Zira wondered if they were still somehow alive after all of that. That the ice was preserving them and their lives somehow. Bringing them farther forward through time after so many years in the ice. She wondered if she applied a little bit of fire and flames and melted the ice and dug them out would they be able to be alive once again? Could she rescue them from themselves?

[Tori Jacobs]

"I don't know. Are you thinking about scooping them out like a good little hero? I think it'd be a mercy to keep them in the ice than for them to adapt to a world they would no longer recognize, but go ahead. Save the day, hero."

Maricul grinned. Oh yes, she was mocking the demon now. Some would've thought that suicide if they came face to face with a real pure blooded demon and a powerful one at that, but Maricul feared nothing. Ever since Count Dracula brought her in as a creature of the night, nothing scared her. Not even the chance of death.

[Miracle]

Zira scowled. She hated being mocked like this. It reminded her of the days she was a child and stronger demons thought little of her, despite being the daughter of a Demon Lord and his lover. And she hated it even more when the one doing the mocking was making a valid point. It would be a mercy to leave them in the ice untouched by time. Suddenly, Zira wanted to get as far away from this version of Maricul as she could.

"Alright, you made your damn point! Now just tell me which direction is the nearest town."

Zira could find the answers she sought from someone far less condescending and who didn't leave a bad taste in her mouth. It didn't seem to matter what world you landed in. The seductress Maricul was a complete and utter bitch in any universe.

[Tori Jacobs]

Maricul wasn't about to make it easy for Zira to get the information she desired. The Seductress had her right where she wanted her. Lost, confused, and not knowing what direction to turn. There was something Maricul wanted from Zira, and she knew the devil could guess it if she just thought about it for a moment.

"I'll give you the information you want on one condition."

Maricul suddenly smiled as her brown eyes flashed red the second she eyed Zira's throat.

"I want to taste your blood. I want to feel your power inside me. I want to feel the power of a true devil."

They said demon blood was nowhere near as good as human blood in taste, but it wasn't taste she wanted. Maricul wanted power and she knew drinking from such a high level demon would be just the power boost she needed to face her Count once more.

[Miracle]

"You want me inside you?"

Zira blinked blankly, not fully realizing the innuendo she just uttered in response to Maricul's deal. Of course the deal was unacceptable. Not only would it give Maricul an extreme boost of power she didn't want to give to someone as dangerous as the seductress, it would also show her full hand and reveal to her who she was. Why? Because vampires can relieve people's memories as they drink their blood. Zira was sure that fact was true in any universe.

"No deal."

If it was anyone else Zira would've simply walked away and try to find the next town on her own. Taking a random leap of faith of what direction to take. But this was Maricul they were talking about. Zira knew not to show her back to someone as powerful and as dangerous as her. If Maricul wanted to taste Zira's blood so badly then she would fight for it. And if Zira had to she was ready for a fight.

[Tori Jacobs]

Maricul wasn't surprised that Zira wouldn't take the first deal that came her way. She was proving to be smart. Maricul knew she'd learn all she'd need to know about this demon by drinking her blood and that was something this Zira didn't want to allow. Zira wished to remain incognito it seemed and that only made the demon more interesting in Maricul's eyes.

"What is it you're trying to hide?"

Was her father a powerful demon lord? Was her mother a whore? Did she used to be an evil and all powerful demon lord herself before waking up to justice and wanting to help people? Something in her past she was ashamed of? Or did she used to be human ruining the whole pure blooded devil angle that Maricul was relishing in? There was only one way to find out.

"Alright then, I'll up the stakes for both of us. Give us both something to lose. We'll have a little duel to test each other's strengths. If I win you allow me to drink your blood and relive your memories. If you win I'll tell you everything you want to know about this planet. Does that sound like a better deal to you?"

[Miracle]

Zira was becoming unnerved by Maricul's thoughts and how close to the truth she was getting. In fact her father was a Demon Lord. The Lord of all demons of the Demon World, Mundus. And in a way her mother was a whore, Lilith, who took it from Mundus every time. And while Zira was never a Demon Lord herself she was heir to the throne back home and was evil tormenting people before she woke up to justice. All of this was stuff Zira didn't want this Maricul to know, but her new deal sounded better, and gave her more of a chance for victory.

"If it's a fight you want..."

Zira took a couple of steps forward and drew Agni & Rudra. Holding both demonic swords of ice and fire in her hands as she stopped several feet away from Maricul and looked her in the eyes. Zira knew what Maricul could do, and wondered how much of that was true for this Maricul. Zira wouldn't take her lightly and knew this would be a fight for the ages. But she had just gone toe to toe with her father the Demon Lord, so Zira was confident she could handle a five-hundred years old vampire bitch.

"Then it's a fight you'll get!"

Zira went into her battle stance and waited for what would be the seductress's response.

[Tori Jacobs]

"Agni and Rudra. Two powerful demons of fire and ice should serve you well as Devil Arms. I wonder, do they speak to you?"

Maricul reached her left hand to her back and grabbed the handle of her scythe. She then unhooked it from the back of her blue trench coat and placed it firmly between both her hands. Going into her own battle stance. Dracula would always tell her how a scythe was not fit to be her weapon of choice, but the Seductress was stubborn about wanting to keep it. She knew its reach meant that she could move up and down halfway and still manage to get a strike or two in. But if Zira gets in her range then the scythe was utterly useless, but that's what her pistols were for.

"How about a kiss?" Maricul aimed the scythe's blade towards Zira. "The kiss of death."

[Miracle]

The scythe had always been Maricul's default weapon even in her own world. Zira knew depending on how long this battle goes Maricul would exhaust all of her weapons options until she has to use her vampire powers, and then finally her witch powers. Zira wanted to defeat her before it got that far so she would have to do well precise strikes. The scythe was a good weapon with a long reach, but Zira knew it had many weaknesses. All she had to do now was get in Maricul's range and then back away before she could put a bullet in Zira's head.

The Firebird firmly planted her feet on the ground and then stepped off bursting into a run. She charged at Maricul and then got her twin swords ready. Once she was within range of Maricul and pass the range of the scythe she performed a quick three hit combo with Agni & Rudra that was super quick, and super precise, aiming only at the enemy in front of her. Maricul herself. Zira would then end it with a kick to the chest to slide backwards in the case that Maricul switch to one of her pistols.