Exodia Rising Once there was a man unlike any other, he was a skilled fighter who was loved by many. But deep within that man there was a dark evil lurking within his soul, his emotions where filled with a lust and evil desires so great it could not be contained within him. The man continued to Live his life as he always had, with his friends and family keeping the darkness within him suppressed and under a tight control. Until one day the man had lost someone very dear to him, his wife had died in childbirth. Screaming in anger at losing the one he loved the most, he lashed out at those around him. He felt angry with himself later for losing control of himself and lashing out needlessly at his friends. Alone that night his daughter still at the hospital to make sure everything was fine with her, he stared at the picture of his now dead wife and felt the darkness swell within him. Letting out a sudden cry of pain, he felt his soul being ripped at as if it was being torn away From him. The darkness was breaking free from the light, so it could be free to do as it pleased. On that dark day Exodus was born, Smirking down at his "father" stood the darkness turned flesh. "Its my turn now old man, you held me back all this time and now I am free." with a dark chuckle he vanished into wisps of shadows and was gone into the night. The man had passed out from the strain he had gone through having a part of himself torn away, even though the darkness was gone from his soul he still had a bound with the dark being called Exodus. Now free from the darkness that had plagued him for so long he was able to meet the challenge of being a father and cope with the pain of his wife's death. Living happily raising his daughter Noriko, he trained her in the ways of wielding the power of her unique heritage. Exodus had showed up from time to time to fight his "Father" but there never was a Decisive winner in their battles, Exodus would always depart after a time saying nothing but "Not bad old man, but your still not as good as I Am." with that said he would vanish into wisps of shadows. Life despite a few things was good for the man until one day.... ------------------------------------------------------ Tabris lie dying on the ground, his fight with Exodus had gone far differently then it had in the past. Exodus had fought with such deadly skill and aggressiveness the likes of which he had never displayed before; he was serious in this fight. "Heh, look at you now old man." he said to his downed "Father". "I always told you I was better then you were," shaking His head and shrugging, "Ya should have listened to me." There was nothing he could really do now; he always knew someday the darkness that was in his soul would consume him. Looking blurrily at Exodus he chuckled some despite the pain "Looks like you... were always holding back on...." his sentence was cut off as he coughed out some blood. Grinning evilly Exodus looked at his "father" before saying "Now that your dead, I'm gonna kill that bitch you call a daughter for what she did to Me.". Darkness was starting to fall upon him, he couldn't let it end like this not now that the threat on his daughter's life had been made. He had no choice; concentrating on the bond that was dying with him he focused what life force he had left in him into Exodus's dark twisted soul. The grin that was on Exodus's face quickly vanished as he clutched his head in pain "DAMN YOU OLD MAN!" he cried out as he tried to fight off the spirit of his creator from entering his mind, soul, and body. With his last breath Tabris managed to seal Exodus away into the darkness where he came but he didn't know how long it would last... Time passed... On the edge of a cliff over looking a valley stood a man looking to be in his early twenties. He stood about 5'11" wearing black slacks with a blue over shirt that hung barely off of the edge of his shoulders on. Underneath, you could tell he wore a black through the open collar area undershirt Akira looked up silently at the night sky. It glittered with millions of stars that could only be seen in unlighted places like forests and remote areas. It had been three months since he had awoken with no memories of who he was or where he came from, he had been alone since that day until he heard a voice in his mind one day when he had been bathing in a lake. Flash Back ---------------------------------------------- ~"Are you gonna let me out any time soon?"~ questioned the feminine voice that he heard in his mind. "Huh?" was the unintelligent response Akira managed out as he looked around and saw nobody. Sighing, the feminine voice replied, ~"Never mind I'll let myself out."~ Blinking in confusion, he had no clue what was happening when he felt a large amount of heat coming form his back, he had noticed shortly after awakening to this world he had an elaborate tattoo of phoenix on his back. In the reflection of the water he saw a pair of flaming wings extend out from his back, the image of the phoenix melting away into the form of a real life phoenix. Finally pulling itself free from its mystical confines the phoenix flew up into the air, after flying about for several moments the bird of rebirth landed on a near by tree branch surprisingly enough not causing it to burn into flames. ~"Ahhh... much better"~ he heard the voice say in his mind as it let out a sigh of relief. The confusion was evident on his face, had he gone mad? Phoenixes shouldn't exist...should they? "Who are you?" he asked curiously as he looked at the before now mythical bird. ~"Kiima was the name my master gave me, so you may call me that,"~ said the voice in his mind as the bird when about grooming itself. "Um...why where you on my back then?" he asked her trying to figure out exactly what was going on "Shouldn't you be with your master?" The bird now having named itself Kiima stared intently at him for several moments before responding cryptically, ~"I am."~ Then it returned to its grooming. ------------------------------------------------------ That was all that had been said on the matter, he had questioned her as to how he was his master but she would only give him cryptic responses like, ~"I am always with him because, I have been bonded to him since birth."~ After a while he had given up and just accepted her as his new traveling companion. She was a welcome change from the confusion of the month before he met her. She was there to talk to about his problems and became a good friend, though he still ended up getting burned by her when he teased her calling her a "Psychic Pigeon". After all these months he had wandered aimlessly, no destination in mind. But slowly he felt something within his soul pulling at him, urging him to go somewhere. Speaking aloud instead of through the link he and Kiima shared, "I can feel it's near..." The calming voice he had gotten used to returned ~"yes...it should be around here somewhere"~ Blinking in confusion, he hadn't spoken a word about the feeling of being drawn somewhere to here at all. "What's nearby?" he asked her curiously, "you know what it is that's been drawing me here." Silence was all that greeted his questions, growling a bit she had shut off the link that he had discovered existed shortly after her first emergence from his tattoo. "Fine then, I'll find out what this is all about without you." With that last bit spoken he leaped off the cliff into the valley bellow. Free falling towards the forest bellow at high speeds, he yawned a bit before tucking into a ball moments before impact and touching down softly. Knowing he was unhurt he began to dash through the forest careful to avoid smashing into tree's or being clipped by a low branch. He traveled through the forest rather quickly. It only took him a few moments before he came upon a large clearing with a lake in it. Sighing a bit, he decided to wash off. He had been traveling like this all day and had just only stopped for a break back at the cliff. Tossing off his shirts and pants leaving him clad only in comical upside down smiley face boxers he began to enter the water when he noticed a huge shadow over the surface of the water. Looking up slowly he saw to his disbelief a huge floating island. "No way…" he said looking in awe at it. Ok, things where starting to get weird. Living tattoos, psychic phoenixes, and now floating islands? ~"Ahh...home"~ he heard Kiima's voice again. He hadn't noticed her re-establish the link. ~"Home? ...You mean you live...up there?"~ he said to her through the link before he felt her pulling free of her confines. Was this where he was being drawn? He asked himself as he looked away from Kiima who had landed on the ground to look up at the island. A sequence of memories he had never experienced flashed through his mind, a young girl...a man who felt incredibly evil....a....woman?. Clutching his head in pain, he fell to his knees in the water as he felt his mind assaulted with other images and emotions. Darkness... that woman smiling... the young girl smiling just like the woman... Darkness... The girl playing happily... Evil... Unable to deal with the onslaught of memories he couldn't make sense of, he passed out. Looking startled at Akira who had passed quickly flew over to where he lay. Luckily he had fallen away from the water instead of into it. Unable to communicate with him she had no idea what had happened to him when he became surrounded by an ominous glow. Backing up slowly not knowing what was happening to Akira, unless...no it's too soon! She tried to fly away but Akira's hand flashed out grabbing her by the neck. Grinning evilly he looked at the bird "You think "father" could keep me locked away forever bird?" said the seemingly possessed Akira. Being tossed into a tree the world began to blur for Kiima. The last thought she had before losing consciousness was ~"Exodus... is back"~ Authors Notes: None of the names will be following whatever historical base they may have. I just happened to like the names of the first three books of the bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus.