In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Aelia hugged her grimoire closer to her body as the stranger brought it up again, she was ready to call on her wolf again but she resisted the urge. There was no real need to call upon it, she also knew that it was preferred that she didn't use her magic in front of others if it could be helped. She looked to Jin for a moment "Sorry." she whispered believing she had messed up by doing what she did, thing was her magic wasn't like anyone else's, she got stronger by practising and learning but reaping the newly dead and using their power. She had no idea why but it was almost as if she felt more at ease with the dead with the living, she wished she understood but the best thing she could come up with was because she was a walking weapon meant for killing.
"Flocks killed... noticeable hunter." she said quickly before covering her mouth and looked at Jin "Sorry." she whispered again she was still getting used to being able to talk when she wanted, but, now jin was around while there was another she had slipped back into her normal habits when it came to speaking to others. Echo introduced himself and Jin decided to do as Kurai had done when they had first met and only gave a single letter opting to call himself 'J' "A" she said simply as she wasn't introduced and believed that Jin was wanting her to do it by herself. She looked to Jin as she heard a zipping sound curious at what was going to happen next. He brought out her veiled hat from his top and handed it to her. She took it with the hand that held her red spider lily.
She couldn't say that she was happy knowing that it was going to be taken away from her again, but then, she didn't exactly know how long a day or two was. For all, she knew it could be a long time before she had to bear this punishment again. She flinched a little as her head was patted, it would be clear to Jin she still thought the worst was going to happen and to Echo there may have been other things he may have thought been going on. She moved onto the ground putting the leather guard outfit down, followed by her grimoire and red spider lily before she put on her veiled hand. She was so relieved to be surrounded by the darkness after trying to handle the light for so long. She picked up her belongings before standing once more "Thank you for kindness." she said her voice sounding truly grateful to be given her veil back. She started to move away without another word to either.
Word Count: 468 Total word count: 3,399
I can end and prolong the life of all, but I can't change the fate of those who fall. I can't turn back time once death has arrived...
Post by Echo Jaegar on May 9, 2021 17:21:17 GMT -5
The man before Echo would tell him how his father also used to say ‘stupid’ things of a similar nature, however Echo believed that these words of his father were far more wise than one could imagine. The idea of what Echo said would stem from the notion that you could only be as rich, intelligent, or as strong as your weakest ‘friend’.At the current time Echo had no friends he simply did whatever it was that the Collector or Enforcer B had order him, but with these two it would feel different. If Echo managed to befriend them he would no longer feel the need to take orders from anyone, he would feel like the three of them were equals who together could handle a variety of obstacles.
However the man still seemed to have little trust for the rogue hunter, taking his distrust so far that he would tell Echo to stop moving towards them even after signaling he was a ‘friendly’. Maybe just maybe the man gained a bit more trust for Echo after the hunter would give his real name, while the other two simply gave a letter most likely it was the first letter of each of their names. Echo would let out a sigh as they introduced themselves before rubbing his head in the palm of his hand and shaking it.
“My my my you rogue types are so untrusting… I thought me giving you my real name would set the mood for friendship. Clearly I was wrong… no matter I shall treat you the same regardless if you trust me or not. I was always told to just trust people to be themselves, but trust that I could see them well.” The red haired boy would flash a smile to the man before, taking a few steps back to further signal his good intent. The meaning behind the statement made by Echo, felt heavy yet true at the same time. In short terms he had told the two that he would trust them until he saw reason to feel otherwise. This was the very opposite of how the two rogues before him felt, or at the very least the opposite of how the man felt.
After taking his steps backwards he would examine the veil that was placed over the young girl’s face. Echo thought such a thing weird, until he would recall the girl’s reaction to his light arrow earlier. The way she had reacted was rather odd, especially when Echo intentionally aimed it so that he would miss but now Echo thought he had some understanding. Echo would then look up at the moonlit sky before saying “Have you ever just grown tired of being alone? Have you ever felt like you were surrounded by a room full of people yet you are still alone?…” the words would drag off for a short moment before Echo would return his gaze to the man in all black saying “Thats how I feel everyday… To answer your question though, about what I will do with my powerful friends when I find them. The answer is easy we shall force each to be as strong as possible, and accomplish any goal the group feels strongly about. Thats what’s friends do yes?”
Jin continued to keep his main focus on the light mage rogue, simple exchanging names and some words wasn't enough for the Jin to trust him at all. He stated his name was Echo, but he could be lying. If anything it would make more sense that it was a lie, he just saw this man kill someone in cold blood and then follow and attack Aeila even though he missed. He had no plans on trusting this guy anytime soon. And there was valid reason for it, that's how you end up dead.
Jin heard the small frail words coming from Aeila, she was still apologizing for just speaking. They were woking on that along with a lot of other things. But she was making some headway, she was at least being a tad bit more vocal. Her words were still broken and probably going to stay that way for quite some time, but eventually he could hope they would formulate into actual words and proper sentences. But things took time. He was starting to believe that her eyes would not get used to light again, which was unfortunate as it was a weakness that could be exploited. She was happy to have her veil back, it made Jin smirk for a bit. "No need for thanks." he replied to her.
Now back to Echo, this 'rogue' was very much in love with the ideas of friendship and trust. The two didn't really go hand in hand with being a rogue. It was a lonely lifestyle most times, which is why he was trying to show Aeila how to think and speak for herself. She couldn't live her entire life relying on someone else. Echo's words Jin had to admit sounded just plain wrong, he sounded like a magic knight or someone from the church. But not a criminal. He spoke of trust and trusting one another as if he was just handing it out to everyone with a name. "So you think we can be friends because you told us your name?" Jin had to ask the question out loud, maybe if he did Echo could realize just how silly that sounded. "Yes rogue types are untrusting...they all should be. As should you. Friendship doesn't come easy in this line of work, you should know that." Jin said to Echo. Apparently this young man still had a few things to learn about being a rogue. He clearly didn't have the training that him and Aeila had growing up. "Yes I feel that way all the time, it comes with the job." Jin answered his first question about feeling alone. He always felt alone, because he always was alone. Even when working with other rogues he was alone, rogues don't trust other rogues. Some criminals didn't have a sense of code or honor, some just took life simple because they could. His life could be no different, so he was always on edge always untrusting of anyone. This was how his father raised him to be, this is how he survived. Echo continued answering Jin's question, the more he spoke the more he sounded like some typical do gooder. "Mmmmm. If I didn't see you outright kill someone. You would have had me convinced you're a magic knight or something." Jin said to him with a smirk. "I'll admit this Echo. You're weird. Definitely weird. So you want allies...no excuse me. You want friends that you can trust to accomplish goals. And powerful ones, which is why you took such an interest in A here. You saw her element at work, it is indeed powerful..." Jin said glancing back at Aeila for a moment, his focus was still on Echo though.
"And you use Light. Also a powerful element. Extremely rare. But I see what you're saying, even if it sounds a little tooooo gospel for me. I've got an open but skeptical mind. Let's say for now, we work together. Complete a job or two as a unit, we'll see how it goes from there. That sound good Mr. Trust and friendship?" Jin asked Echo with a sly smirk on his face.
Even though the wraith mage had moved away a bit she stopped hearing Echo speak "Idiot." she said simply hugging her grimoire closer, she was fully expecting to be hit for that one. She had insulted someone who would be deemed superior to her if she were at home. It had actually been the very first time she had ever openly insulted someone and spoke what she was thinking "S... sorry..." she whispered her voice trembling a little, she knew she had messed up in this case and had no idea what would come of it. She had just regained her veil and she was afraid that she would have to be subjugated to dealing with the light once more. She just hoped Jin would be as forgiving as he had been since they had met. She knew eventually she'd do something that would give her punishment but for now, he had been kind.
"How survive. Give too much enter graveyard." it was that simple to her if you wanted to survive as a rogue as Echo called it then you had to be careful, problem was, he wasn't talking to rogues he was talking to assassins. Two people who had been raised to be nothing but tools for the benefit of others. Where Jin had slipped his chains Aeila's were still very much in place even if they had weakened a little "Soon understand, no die." she was trying her best to communicate but she didn't know if he would understand due to her broken speech, that however, was a him problem. She shook her head and started to walk once more but she made sure to remain close enough that Jin would be able to feel her presence at least. His question about being alone she didn't respond to.
How could she? She had always been alone. Taught she deserved it. That she was too dangerous to be around good 'normal' people. Even as she stayed with Jin she never really got too close, she was afraid that her magic would hurt him. It of course was hard when she tended to sleep in a corner, there was no escape but it also meant that she couldn't be stabbed in the back. She wandered completely out of the sight of Jin and had almost seemingly vanished as she had never been there, her footsteps as silent as ever even when she stepped on things that should have made a sound. In her mind, Jin now had the answer to a question he had asked her that she couldn't verbally get across.
He now knew how her magic worked and how she 'gained' her spells. She relied on the dead, well she was in the perfect profession to gain strong magic as she herself grew. If she wasn't followed she would leave town and would just start walking in a random direction within the cool night. She didn't understand it but she felt a pulling and for now, that's what she was following.
Word Count: 504 Total word count: 3,903
I can end and prolong the life of all, but I can't change the fate of those who fall. I can't turn back time once death has arrived...
Post by Echo Jaegar on May 14, 2021 6:34:48 GMT -5
Echo would stand and listen to the man clad in all black as he spoke. The man was somewhat entertaining and funny as he spoke, as he said that Echo spoke and acted like a magic knight minus the fact he had just killed a man. Truth was Echo didn’t look at himself as a true rogue, he saw himself as a person taking advantage of chances only rogues would get. Regardless of how he saw himself though he knew the road he had taken would send him far from the look or feel of a good guy.
In the end the man who was calling himself J, had called Echo weird but in a interesting way. Saying he was interesting, Echo knew that he would have a chance to keep these two around. Keeping the two mages around was in Echo’s best benefit as he would need all the help he could when it came time to eliminate his family. The man still questioned Echo and his reasons for wanting to make powerful ‘friends’, he would basically repeat what the hunter said most likely trying to obtain clarity and understanding. The man must have understood where Echo was coming from, as he understood why Echo had tried to speak with A after seeing her magic.
“Yes it was powerful indeed. I knew not that magic could effect something so fundamental as life and death…” a brief pause in his words before J would speak more. The man made comments about Echo’s magic to which the young hunter would laugh. Echo figured he could try to lie to the man, but he felt it may be of little use. The man was clearly better at sensory than him, which is how he was able to conceal himself upon his approach. However Echo was not happy with the idea of telling them so soon on.
“You think I have light magic do you? Now what made you think that? Was it because you saw a bright form of energy? I believe that could have been a number of things… If you want the truth I use solar magic, the arrow you saw was made to mimic the sun so of course it was bright…” Echo’s words would trail off as he would turn his back to the man and take a few steps in the other direction. Quickly turning back around with a smile on his face he would say to the man “So you wanna go on a job? Well lets do it, I think I have some time to kill before I am needed back..”
Echo would then reproach J and A still looking at them with the devil like grin on his face. He would then look J in the eye saying “So what shall we do, for this team work building exercise of ours? I think there’s a couple of guards around here we can kill haha.”
Jin chuckled slightly when he heard A say the word 'Idiot' this was a new thing for her, at least from what he knew. She was obviously talking about Echo, the white haired rogue was more happy with the thought that she was speaking on her own even if it was the slightest word. Even if it was very tiny and small instances like that, it let him know she was capable of living her own life one day. But she then followed it up with an apology, she probably got punished for things like that in her past. But that wouldn't happen anymore, at least not when she was with Jin. "Don't say sorry, when you're right about something." he said to her with a smirk on his face, and that was all that needed to be said.
It was pretty clear A and Jin saw things in a similar light, their past was nearly identical to one another. They both were raised as assassin's as killers, to complete any job asked of them with extreme efficiency and skill. Mindless killing for no reason, was something they did not do. Making friends and trusting random people was something they did not do. So when Jin had heard A's comments about the light mage and the situation at hand he agreed with her whole heartedly. He nodded in her direction "You should listen to her light mage." he said to Echo, but he would leave it at that.
Echo continued mentioning her magic and how it effected life and death. Something that Jin would have preferred he didn't see, A's magic was extremely rare and could be looked at as a valuable tool to be used. Something to easily take advantage of, and that was not something Jin would agree with. He had to make a point to tell A at one point to make sure no one can see her using her magic, unless you plan to kill them after. That's how he treated his magic at most times.
The light rogue's next few words, caught Jin a little off guard and honestly made him laugh a bit. Echo was trying to backtrack and lie about his magic, stating his magic is actually solar magic and that's the reason it was so bright. Jin couldn't help but laugh his hands still in his jacket pocket with a bright white smile on his face. "Hahahahaaaa. Echo. Echo. Stop it. You are clearly new to this. You gotta practice your lying skills. Next time don't be so quick to show off and use your magic in front of others if your goal is to hide it from others. There's power in the unknown. It's impossible to convince me you don't use light magic at this point, but maybe practice on the next guy you come across." Jin said while chuckling. "I understand it's easy to take pride in such a rare and powerful element, so it's hard to hide it. Practice restraint."
Jin watched as Echo started to re-approach them, the white haired rogue held his left hand out. "Stop approaching." he said again this time his tone wasn't filled with humor an laughter like it was just a few seconds ago. Echo had to learn boundaries, as far as Jin was concerned. This little conversation didn't make them all happy friends, to Jin Echo was still a stranger and a dangerous one at that. "A couple of guards around here to kill?" Jin asked with a puzzled face. He was honestly confused, he didn't get what Echo meant at all. But the more the light mage spoke, the more Jin was beginning to figure him out. Echo wasn't like Jin or A, they killed for money, for gain, because they were trained to do so. Jin had ended many many lives, and he was bound to end a lot more as time went on. And he was good at it, he was trained to kill as long as he could remember. He could take the life of a man without thinking twice about it, but he never did it unless he was getting paid for it. Unless there was something to gain.
Echo from the sound of it simply killed for fun, Jin didn't understand it because there was nothing to gain from that. Instead Jin just asked him a question. "So we should kill the guards around here as a training exercise? ... Why do you kill Echo?" Jin had met types like Echo before, mad men who simply thrived off of the killing of others and nothing else.
Post by Echo Jaegar on May 22, 2021 21:45:27 GMT -5
After a lot of little banter and conversation the young girl would walk off into the night. Echo was tempted to try and stop her but he knew that the white hair mage wouldn’t allow it. Echo still didn’t know how the rogue was able to hide his mana from his highly trained sensory abilities, so he wasn’t willing to try and fight the man at this moment. So he would decide to leave her be as him and J got into deeper conversation.
The mage would ask Echo why it was that he killed. Even though the two didn’t know it they had a bit in common in that regard. Echo was also trained to kill since he was young, however his choice of prey was not that of people but animals. His family was known throughout the kingdom as premier hunters, so of course this to would come to Echo.
Echo would look at the white haired male and say “Do you want the shallow answer or do you want the deeper answer?” The red haired hunter would say before he would back away a bit, trying to create distance due to J’s request. Echo would look at the male and smile before saying “No worries, I’ll just give you both… The shallow reason is because I have been trained to track and hunt animals since boyhood, so why not just switch up my choice of prey? Steal from so people? Get an adrenaline high from the thrill of the hunt? You know typical bad guy selfish stuff…”
Echo took a pause before he would give his real true answer. In truth the real reason may surprise J, and even Echo felt weird about saying it out loud. Echo’s face would quickly visibly change to a very serious yet stoic one. As he would speak his tone noticeably getting darker. “The real reason is because I want power… Long story short I met a guy and started giving me jobs, and he said in exchange he would help me gain the power that I desire to take my family from father’s rule. If you didn’t catch what I said I’m basically saying I want to kill my father, not only that but I’m actually quite tired of my employer also so maybe him too. But you and the girl I want you two to help me which is why I took interest in the girl…”
Echo would then begin to walk back down the alley, towards the way in which J has his back to. He would walk past the male making direct eye contact as he did so. He was about to do just as the girl did depending on what the male said next, as it seemed the rogue gathering was about to come to a close. After getting about 3 meters past the man he would stop and begin to speak but he would turn around before doing so. “My intent wasn’t to lie to you though, I merely like playing around… all part of the hunt you know.”
She paused as she heard Jin's words about not apologising when she was right and merely shook her head, right or not in her mind she shouldn't have had an outburst as she had. She knew better and knew if this was with one of her actual caretakers then she would have gotten more than just a scolding. She had broken several rules just by saying what she had, she was keeping mental records of everything that she had done wrong so she could confess her wrongdoings when she eventually found her way home. She was quite convinced that she would end up dead for what she had done wrong, but then, she believed that her father might show her some kindness and perhaps only have her beaten to the brink of death before leaving her alone to think about what she had done wrong. She didn't understand that the only reason she wouldn't be killed was for her fathers own selfish reasons.
She had continued walking after she had taken in Jin's words but paused once more hearing Echo saying he was a mage that used solar magic. She knew he was lying because of how her eyes reacted to it, daylight was far more intense to her than moon or starlights but the light he had used was none of those, it was purer. It had hurt her in a way she had never experienced before. "Liar." she said simply towards Echo from under her veiled hat. She didn't show anger, she was entirely calm as she spoke. She knew that Jin would have heard her words and given how similar they were he would know she wouldn't dare to lie about such a thing, especially due to the fact it was for her own safety and survival.
She started walking once more but stopped yet again hearing Jin telling Echo to stop approaching them, she couldn't say she was overly keen on someone getting too close to her but she knew to continue to practice restraint. Killing wasn't done out of orders for anything less than survival and where he could be a threat, she knew that the other wouldn't be so stupid enough to try something with the pair there together. Had she been alone, perhaps he could have convinced her of things but Jin had made sure to keep her from being taken advantage of. All three of them had rare magics she understood that but she was coming to understand hers was somewhat unnatural in the terms of magic, it dealt with the cycle of death and rebirth so could easily be abused by others even though she didn't understand that part Jin did and attempted to prevent it from happening.
"No kill. Senseless. No purpose." she spoke as she continued walking, there was always a purpose for why someone like herself or Jin would take a life, it wasn't just for fun or bonding. It was due to orders or survival, this further cemented that Echo wasn't reading the same book as them, let alone on the same page. He had taken on this 'profession' for selfish reasons and it would make him very dead, very quickly if he was going to continue to be so reckless and she wanted nothing to do with it. She wasn't the brightest flame but even she understood that. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him as he said they were the same, she glared at him from under her veil. She didn't like how he put tracking and killing animals in the same category as doing it for people like them.
"Not same." she was trying to find a way to explain that animals were easier to predict than humans, but she didn't know how to. She hated how she couldn't form words properly. She listened to the real reason why he started hunting humans over animals "Pathetic." she said simply, he had allowed himself to be manipulated because he wanted to overthrow his father. There were other ways he could have got to his end goal that didn't have him step into a world he clearly had no right to step foot in. "Girl have name, use!" she wasn't even that disrespected by those who were her caretakers, they always called her something never just 'girl' it was clear that she was anything but happy at the prospect of being called by her gender.
"No." she made it clear she wasn't killing the men he wanted dead. They weren't threats to her and she wasn't given orders to take them out so it had nothing to do with her as far as she was concerned. She turned once more and walked out of the city towards an area she knew was one of her normal meeting areas if she ever got lost from her carers. As soon as she was out of sight of the others what could be described as a traditional wraith appeared beside her and grabbed her wrist tightly and almost dragged her, she didn't fight it. She knew this wraith, it had been with her since she had been born. It was ruthless with her "Going home?" she said quietly her voice shaking just a little only to feel her wrist being hurt more, she wanted to yelp but didn't as she followed where the wraith was taking her without another word.
[Exit]
Word Count: 905 Total Word Count: 4,808
I can end and prolong the life of all, but I can't change the fate of those who fall. I can't turn back time once death has arrived...
Jin awaited for Echo's answer, he honestly wanted to hear the light mages response. It was always interesting to him, on how other rogues lived their lives and how they saw things. Their line of work wasn't normal, that much was pretty obvious. Echo asked the first question, would Jin prefer a shallow answer or a deeper answer all the white haired rogue did was shrug in response. He didn't know Echo but he assumed the light mage would give him the deep answer. And so he did.
But his deep answer left Jin a little disappointed, he was holding out hope that maybe just maybe. Echo had a similar history to him and A. But alas he did not, to him this 'bad guy selfish stuff' was just him switching up his prey of choice and getting a thrill of the hunt. Echo wasn't a trained assassin like him and A was, he was pretty different. Which is not a bad thing, by any means. It just meant his mindset and ideals didn't line up with their own. And stuff like that was risky business. And given Aeila's response she agreed.
"I can agree to one thing, completing a job is thrilling in more ways than one. But now I know for certain we do what we do for different reasons, and we operate differently. We don't kill senselessly, just for the fun of it. As A put it, there is no...purpose in that." Jin responded leaving his hands in his jacket pocket. He took note of A walking away at a slow pace, she was already done with this conversation. Echo continued though stating an even further reason why he tried to stop A and took an interest in her. And her immediate answer was a hard no, that made Jin smirk a bit.
"Sorry but she's gonna speak for the both us on this one. We can't get caught up in family matters like that." Jin turned to start walking away slightly in A's direction. Jin refused to be used as a tool again for someone else's goals, and he also refused to let that happen to A once again. They were walking a different path, one that they would choose.
"Maybe we'll run into each other again, Echo. Perhaps then we can do a proper job again." Jin said to the light mage, walking away and towards A's direction.
Post by Echo Jaegar on May 28, 2021 20:06:20 GMT -5
Echo had already felt out of place during this impromptu meeting of rogues but now he felt even more out of place. The conversation of why he did what he did went on and after he had given his answer the two rogues before him did not seem very happy with the answer. According to the rogue J they were very far off in why they did what they did in a lot of aspects. However the male said that he could somewhat understand Echo. The girl A also didn’t seem to happy with the male’s answer but she wasn’t but so vocal about the situation.
Before he would take off along with the girl A, J had said that he wouldn’t mind doing a job with Echo if they were to meet again, to which Echo scoffed before saying “So you turn down my offer here and now but would like to work with me later? By the time I see you again I will be so strong you two will be begging to be able to join me. But its whatever I’ll think about it but can’t say I’ll say yes…” Echo would then begin to walk down the alley leaving the spot where the 3 rogues were.
After making it a small ways down the alley 2 new figures would appear in front of Echo, however these were familiar faces. Zeus and Thalia had appeared from seemingly nowhere blocking the exit to the alley. When Echo would approach his two friends he would smile and say “So you guys just wanted to sit and watch that the whole time? I could have been in serious danger you know?” Zeus would look at Echo and shrug his shoulders before saying “Aye did you not feel how much magical energy was in one spot? I felt like if we did anything we would simply get in the way or make things worse.”
Echo would look at his cousin and laugh before he would push past him and Thalia saying “Im just kidding man I’m not worried about it. But come on lets get going home.” Thalia would then look to Echo and say “Its ok Echo when we go home I’ll give you a really good message you seem really tense from that situation back there.” In response Echo would say nothing, instead he would just continue to walk down the street with Thalia and Zeus following behind him. Although he had made it seem otherwise Echo was interested in meeting the two again. He didn’t know for sure what would happen next time but what he did know was that both of these individuals were potential problems that he and his group would have to keep an eye on.
WC: 471 TWC: 5262 [Exit]
Last Edit: May 28, 2021 20:06:36 GMT -5 by Echo Jaegar
