Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Chapter I
Sebastian was born from two families; one feline, one draconic. His widower father was a full blooded dragon with a son seven years older than Sebastian. Sebastian's widow mother, a Neko, also had a child before Sebastian, a girl only three years older than he.
Sevis Quell, Sebastian's brother, resented his father's decision to re marry after his mother was killed. He was always cold hearted around his new sister and step-mother, but was often cruel when it came to Sebstian -- who was an abomination of nature in his eyes. Aundra, Sebastian's Neko sister, was the opposite. She could hold no grudge against their mother or her new siblings, and welcomed the diversity of life to the family. It wasn't hard for Sebastian to get along with his sister. Sevis, however, needed constant convincing that Sebastian was not merely a twisted breed -- often being shown up by the hybrid while doing tasks Sevis himself had designed to humiliate.

Chapter II
Their mother died of pneumonia one particularly cold winter. She was left home alone while the Sebastain, Sevis, and their father went on an errand. Aundra was also away -- taking a trip with her Uncle Andro to collect rare flowers. The men returned home one by one to find the mother missing. For three days they searched the country side, unsuccessful. On the fourth day of searching, however, she returned. She entered their home around midnight in a lethargic daze and half frozen. She fell unconscious the moment she stepped inside, stricken by an incurable illness. Months went by but the niko didn't wake. She finally passed away the day before the first calendar day of Spring.
Her tombstone can still be found beneath the huge apple tree on their plantation -- always with fresh while lilies lain before it...

Chapter III
After their father died battling a worldly devil, Sevis began delving into more powerful forms of magic in attempt to surpass his father's legacy. This lead him into a little known but dangerous craft known as Darkling magic. [In common lore, Darklings are harvengers of doom; capable of passing from one plain to the next. Darklings are unable to die; they lie in the grey space between life and undeath.] As he went deeper into the practice, Sevice became almost evil in his attempt to advance to pseudo-immortality. When it came to the last test of the rituals, the sacrifice of a willing subject, he knew Sebastian was the one he wanted.
Sebastian didn't agree to the terms just so his malign brother could be taken control of by the Darkness (in a nut shell: the ultimate evil that looms around every corner, only pushed back by the light of goodness. etc, etc.) Sevis was furious. In his anger, Sevis killed Aundra -- who had just entered the room to break up another brotherly spat.
A sacrifice had been made, but not a willing one. Sevis was changed into a half-being unable to control himself. Since then, Sevis has hunted Sebastian accost three plains of space and every continent therein.

Chapter IV
In his travels Sebastian was found by a spritely dragon; Elora. She was a Luminai; a magic species that relies on joy to fly without wings, and anger to become fierce guardians. Luminai bond easily to a good hearted creature; usually dragons or other fey. Once an emotional tie has been made it can never be broken or surpassed unless the Luminai dies.
While Sebastian was performing a Bakuryu ritual in the wild, Elora spotted him. After a few days of following him to get a closer look at the ritual, Elora finally showed herself during the ritual. Sebastian had to ignore her or the magic may have failed. She snuck too close during a dangerous part of the spell, causing an ark of it to snap out at her. If Sebastian hadn't pulled the spell in; almost killing himself in the process; Elora would have been splattered like a bug. Luckily she was only winded by the force that did manage to hit her. Elora knew what had happened, and, mostly out of guilt, used her own magic to heal him. They have been close friends ever since.

Chapter V
There came a time Sebastian could no longer run. Sevis found him at a bar called Haffa's; an establishment that catered to half breeds of any sort. Sebastian, not wanting to get others involved, lead Sevis outside less than gracefully. Equipped with various magical items -- Ryuchi, Ghost cloak, and a small supply of Seraphite -- Sebastian fought overhead, exchanging blows like raptors vieing for territory. With the darkling's ability to evaporate to evade physical attacks, the ryu/neko didn't stand a chance; or so it would seem. Sevis allowed himself to be lanced by Sebastian's Kokrai staff (a spell storing weapon crafted with clockwork insides) confident as he turned gaseous around the weapon; unknowingly playing into Sebastian's rouse. Just as he seemed beat, Sebastian twisted the shaft in his brothers ghastly belly, activating the staff and ejecting seraphite powder into Sevis. Sevis imploded as the ghost-damaging substance jettisoned through his body. Days passed and Sevis hadn't returned. Not dead. Just gone...

Chapter VI
Sebastian had a still life after that, though uneasy since Sevis would undoubtedly return more careful and with a deadly plan. Elora and Sebastian had a few skirmishes with lesser threats; imps and demonic entities; but nothing serious. Nothing close to the wrath of Sevis, or even related to his power. During that time, the two managed to catch a Grendol -- a bad-luck bringer -- which had the power to contact the Fates. Only those three women; a maiden, a mother, and a crone; could divine the solution to Sevis' power. It was arduous to reach them, but they did reply favorably; in a riddle, no doubt. The information did not come without a price. Elora, the spry dragon almost as big as Sebastian at the time, was transformed into a clumsy sprite.

Chapter VII
A stranger arrived at Haffa's one afternoon Sebastian was off visiting Andro. He was gentile with an almost vampiric nature, well dressed in dark clothing with various straps and buckles for flair. He was odd in the fact he cast no scent -- very few non-ethereal creatures had little scent, let alone none at all. He was kind as he ordered a drink of blood. None fresh sparked a conversation between him and Seria, a kitsune often found at Haffa's. Sebastian returned to find the two chatting. The scentless male caught his attention last, since the distracted Sebastian didn't smell anyone else in the room, and they were almost face to face when he finally did see him. It wasn't long before the stranger showed his true self; wiping away Nim Powder from his face. (Nim Powder is an alchemical dust that negates the scent of the surrounding surface.) It was Sevis, his grin wide and toothy like a hell spawn as his clothing tor away and reformed into the greasy, black bindings of his usual garb and his fingers ripped open and receded to the blade-fingers erupting from within. Elora attacked. Even in her usual form, the would-be-dragon wouldn't stand a chance against Sevis. Seria's attempt to heal Elora was futile, as the small creature's body had already turned cold.
The riddle the Fates offered Sebastian told him what to do: give his own life to break the curse on his brother... He was reluctant at first, hoping there was another way; but seeing Elora dead gave Sebastian the resolve to proceed. He stepped forward, only to be lanced by Sevis' claws. In his last breath, Sebastian leaned close to whisper in his brother's ear, "I forgive you..."
The life blood of the ryu/neko pooled on the floor beneath them and begun taking on a life of it's own. The humor lashed crimson tendrils around the two. No matter how hard he tried, the darkling could not deconstitute to escape. The blood pulled them both into the portal of itself until Sevis' screams were snuffed.

Chapter VIII
All was quiet again. The people at Haffa's when about their lives, Andro continued his tinkering, and the legacy of Quell seemed to have ended. That is, until Sebastian's long since used Summoning Circle; drawn on the floor of his room at Haffa's in sulfuric sand; arced.
Magic energy sparked and jumped around the sign, growing stronger and brighter until its culmination at the center exploded in a force of magic. The room was pushed at its limits to accommodate the blast. When the whirling energy faded, a still body laid at the center, barely breathing and wracked in alchemic soot from the process. He rose unsteadily and gasped for air as if drowning. Sebastian had returned. Those tricky women of timeless meddle, surely they knew he would escape the underverse -- being of pure heart -- but withheld that bit of information.

Chapter IX
Sebastian cloistered himself after that, hiding in his room or wandering far and alone. He awoke one morning in the top of a tree. He recalled climbing the night before, but not the height he was currently perched -- nearly one-hundred feet higher than the night's memory reminded him. That, in itself, wasn't the oddity: The tree was dead and none of the branches were sturdy enough to support him. He fell, regardless of his best efforts. In the plummet, a familiar, female voice whispered for him to put his feet down as he landed. Convinced he would be mangled ether way, he did it. Sebastian was more than surprised when he landed perfectly and without falter; almost as if he had only fallen a few feet. This was only the first of many discoveries that proved Sebastian was no longer a mere half-breed... Something had awakened in him that brought forth the majesty of both his dragon and feline ancestors. With more than a little help from Andro, Sebastian used his dragon blood and the eternal connection to Elora to manifest her body in the same way his own was returned to the physical plain.

Chapter X
While Sebastian and Elora where adventuring elsewhere, a stranger happened upon Haffa's. A black haired man with red eyes traveled only by night to reach the bar, hiding from the sun during the day. He was following a burning gut feeling that he needed to find something, or some one. Unfortunately the day caught up with him before he made it all the way there; and he needed to do a flying leap through the door to avoid the agonizing rays of the sun. He managed his way to Sebastian's old room upstairs, confused, but somehow fulfilled in his quest.
Sebastian arrived downstairs just then, Elora bobbing merrily behind; until she smelled the dark person. So did Sebastian. He cornered the stranger in the room. It was Sevis. He was different; lost, almost, in his lack of memory; and tried to befriend Sebastian. Elora overreacted and took her Guardian Form; spearing Sevis through the heart. Her energy vanquished Sevis' body and powered herself back to her faerie shape. When she came to, she had an uncut gemstone in her muzzle. The red jewel flickered from within like smoldering embers. Sebastian felt its energy to be dragon in nature. Powerful. Fearsome. Because of the stone's source he now keeps it on a gold chain around his neck -- The only souvenir of his brothers destruction, a reminder of the innocence Sevis seemed to have that last moment, and a radiating totem of draconic power.

Chapter XI
Word traveled to Sebastian about unrest in a familiar kingdom. There was an uprising brought on by mages, and the Emperor was confering with his council about how to vanqish the threat without bringing war. It was sugested to the Emperor, by a friend of Andro, to send for an outsider with "particular" erience on the matter. Sebastian answered the call but insisted Elora stay behind. The clever girl only acted like she would comply.
In his work for the Emperor, Sebastian uncovered valuable information; with it he had begun convincing the Emperor how to fix the problem. (The subject of the investigation has been censored, so it cannot be told here.) As it turned out the Empirial Advisor, most trusted of the noble councilmen, was working against Sebastian. He sent an assassin after Sebastian; Metsuo Onitaka.
The two acted almost civil durring their first altercation, though it still ended in a quick and calculated battle. Sebastian was moderately hurt, but Metsuo wasn't so lucky. Sebastian had almost dissembowled the killer, also severing his upper lip and the soft of his nose. Sebastian didn't know he was targeted until after he returned to speak witht the Emperor, when the Advisor stopped him for questioning. Durring the heated debate over whether it was an assassination attempt, the councilman let slip a detail Sebastian had yet to reveal. If Sebastian was to inform the Emperor of the advisor's plot he would have to keep it secret, at least until the council meeting the next day. Sebastian was attacked on his way to the palace the next day. Metsuo was wearing a mask and hissing through his injury. Their second scurmish was longer and far more violent. If it wasn't for Elora, finally able to track him down, Sebastian would have been killed. The Faerie dragon arrived in the knick of time to overwhelm the weakened assassin. Between getting Sebsatian to safety and chasing down the fleeing killer, Elora chose Sebastian.