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It was dying.

(At least, he thought that what was happening to it... he could never be quite sure of things when it came to the creature.)

Secretly, he suspected it had been dying for quite a while now, and time had just finally run out. There it lay, struggling to lift itself up onto its hands and knees, keeping its head down and refusing to even acknowledge that he was there, watching it fail. (Or maybe it did not know he was there yet? He imagined dying could be a rather distracting thing, one might not be fully aware of their surroundings.) Its long white locks seemed to have gotten even longer for this occasion and was splayed about, falling over its shoulders and down its back, covering its face and hitting the ground, forming random yet intricate patterns where it lay that looked positively lovely amongst the darkened world the two currently occupied.

This place... it had always been their place. He was not sure where it was, or even how he ever managed to get there, but he knew it was a place for him. And for the creature, of course. Usually when he came here, he would be small and weak while it floated above him, dominating over him, belittling him and telling him how he should live his their life. Not this time though. He was not small this time, he was fully grown, just like he would be outside of this place, and the creature was thin and frail, laying on the blackened floor and just barely holding on. Things were very different- things were changing.

He watched as the creature stumbled once more, the ground seeming to rise to meet it, thick tendrils of something dark and shadowy slithering upwards and wrapping around its arms and legs. The creature jerked up, making a feeble attempt for freedom from the shadows, only for the darkness to fight back. It was pulled back down hard, its head smacking against the cold ground with such force that it made the boy cringe as he watched. Part of him was tempted to step forward, to try to help, to say something, to do something, but he did not move. Instead he stood there and watched as more shadows snaked up from the ground and coiled around the creature.

The thing lay quiet at first, allowing the world to slowly entrap it, but after a moment or two began to fight back once again, desperately trying to pull itself back up only to be yanked down again and again. After what seemed like quite some time (though was most likely only a few seconds) it gave up its struggle and instead lifted it's head a small bit, finally looking over towards him. Its normally glowing red eyes currently seemed very dim, and he was quite sure his assumption about dying was correct. This must be how monsters died, they were swallowed up by the darkness they wielded in life. (What a way to go.)

At first the creature said nothing, but after the shadows gave it a sharp tug, starting to physically pull it into the ground, it let out a loud hiss, bearing its many pointed teeth. He just stared back. If the thing wanted to have a final exchange with him before it went, it was going to have to use its words.

Don't just stand there you stupid boy. It spoke finally, its voice a harsh whisper, filled mostly with anger but also what sounded like a little bit of fear.

Taking a couple of steps closer to it, he lowered his head a bit and raised his brow, something he usually did when curious. You know... you never did tell me your name.

It was true. The creature had been with him for nearly nineteen years, and had never once shared its name with him.

Its eyes widened a bit in shock while it searched for some kind of appropriate reply. That matters not now. Do you plan to let us fall into darkness?

There it went again. It had always claimed to be above him, yet that they were the same person. How could that properly work? If they were the same they had to be equal, if it was above him then they were not the same. You are falling fast now.

Indeed it was. The ground had now almost liquified beneath him, forming a kind of pool that he was quickly sinking into. It didn't have much time left. It hissed its reply, Ibasi.

hmmm? He crouched down in front of the creature, who had moved its arms forward and was diggings its claws into the ground, trying to pull itself out some and buy a little more time.

My... Our name is Ibasi. The areas where it had tried to sink its claws into had given out, and new shadows were quickly rising, covering its hands and arms. It was not going to be able to keep itself up for much longer.

Ibasi? That... is a very wonderful name. I quite like it. He responded with a small smile and reached forward, taking the creatures claws into his own hands. The shadows quickly receded some so that they were not too close to him, but continued to surround the rest of the creature.

The thing just nodded in reply, gripping onto his hands tightly. It tried its best to keep an air of indifference around itself, but he could easily see the look of hope forming on its face.

Growing up.... you were never very kind to me.... He fumbled forward a bit,leaning closer towards the creature, causing the shadows to once again back down a bit.

You were weak. Its reply was automatic, like it was stating an undeniable fact.

And now you are weak. The smile was gone from his face. I think I shall keep the name Ibasi for myself.

Its crimson eyes appeared to get their glow back for just a moment when they widened in surprise as he let go of its hands, pushing it back as he did so. It opened its mouth as if to say something, or maybe to cry out, but the shadows had already returned, wrapping around his face before any sound could escape. A second later they had completely swallowed the creature and disappeared into the ground.

He fell back into a sitting position, looking forward numbly at the spot where the creature had just been. It was gone now and he was alone.

What had he done?

NAME Elijah Tabor Ibasi
CALLED Elijah or Ibasi
SAID ih-bah-see
BIRTHDAY unknown
AGE older than he looks
GENDER male
HEIGHT five feet and seven inches
BUILD lean
EYES blue
HAIR dyed white, curls out at ears
BLOOD O negative
ORIGIN Verren
LOCATION wherever he is led
OCCUPATION dazed and confused crisis control, demon babysitter
CURRENTLY doing his best and remaining hopeful
TALENTS annoyingly optimistic, perfect pitch
PERSONA shy, nervous, helpful, spacey

LIKES company tea time baked goods antiques horror novels open spaces

DISLIKES the dark deep water silence tragedies vulgar things neon colors

positive caring, sincere, gentle
negative timid, nervous, docile
PHOBIAS water, the dark
hobbies reading, baking, cleaning
COLOR black
food cake
drink tea
time tea time
landscape fields
FLOWER white rose
season spring
weather light rains
SONG feeling good by muse
Elijah is not an opinionated or outspoken person, and will simply do what is asked of him most of the time. He has very strong desire to please others and get along with everyone, which contributes greatly to his timid nature as he does not want to make anyone unhappy with him. Due to a conservative upbringing, he is extremely well mannered, and is very clean and organized, but is also rather clueless about the world and is easily shocked and/or embarrassed. He is an honest person and simply assumes that everyone else is as well, thus making him rather easy to deceive. Elijah is also a rather nosy person, and often times involve himself in other people's affairs without asking in an effort to be helpful, not realizing that some people do not appreciate unwanted help. Still, he does his best to be thoughtful and usually puts the needs of those around him before himself. His social skills leave something to be desired, as he has a hard time picking up subtle hints in conversations and reading body language (which can be especially troubling if someone is trying to send the message that they don't want to be bothered). At times he can be rather spacey, and forget what he was just doing or talking about, and easily gets off on random tangents during conversations. Normally when he first meets people he get extremely nervous, causing him to stutter while he speaks, but his the impediment goes away slowly as he becomes more comfortable with the people he is with.

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Elijah is about five feet and seven inches in height, with a rather thin frame. His hair is dyed a shade of white that has a slight peachy tint to it, and the top layer naturally curls out at his ears. He has a medium skin tone, and large, deep blue eyes.
Elijah's wardrobe is rather somber, most of his clothes being black and white with small accents of color. Everything he wears has a bit of a sense of formality to it, and he very, very rarely wears casual clothing. Normally he can be found in button up shirts with decorative cuffs and/or collars, and dressy shoes or boots. Usually he'll wear a red (or sometimes blue or purple) cravat with his shirts, and often times he wears vests. He also likes top hats and long, dramatic coats.

Elijah was born in Verren, a small, reclusive town that purposely separates itself form modern society. The village has no advanced technology and everything is home made. Much emphasis is placed on religion and following a strict set of morals. Residents are very prude, conservative, and believe strongly in traditional social roles. The idea of the town was to be a safe haven for people, a place to escape the evils of modern day society, and the people that reside there believe that it is effectively carrying out its goals. Doing what is expected of you by the society and following social norms is key to being accepted in Verren, and unfortunately for Elijah, he never was able to do it quite right. This was largely due to his unconventional home life....

Mother Elijah's mother, Cirelle, was once a beautiful and elegant heiress, but that woman was long gone by the time he was born. Growing up, his relationship with his mommy dearest was strained, to put it lightly. After the death of her two older sons and the disappearance of her husband (plus an odd incident where she tried to run away from the town and came back claiming to be possessed), Cirelle had lost most of her mental stability. Most of the time she showed little interest in Elijah, simply wandering around the house aimlessly, mumbling to herself. Sometimes though she'd get very possessive of the boy and demand he be with her at all times, and other times she'd call for him then become rather violent, pushing her son away and calling him a monster when he got to close. There was also the rare occasion where she would mistake Elijah for one of her deceased sons and treat him sweetly, but Elijah disliked these times the most, finding them rather unsettling. Despite her lack of sanity and horrible parenting, Elijah never could bring himself to hate her.

Father Elijah's father was a rich, scholarly man that begrudgingly agreed to move to Verren for his wife after the death of their first son. The village was highly against modern science, which was what he worked in and loved, so the town did not sit well with him. Eventually he set up his own little lab in the house and found ways to sneak in books from the outside world so he could begin working on new things, which in turn caused rumours to spread through the superstitious people of Verren that he was working on some kind of witchcraft. He disappeared a few months after learning his wife was with child. Most of the town agreed that his "black magic" had backfired and been the end of him, but what really happened is still unknown.

Brothers Elijah had two older brothers, Joshua and Micheal, both of whom passed away before he was born. The death of Joshua is what started his mother's mental deterioration, causing her to leave the city and move the family to Verren, and the drowning of Micheal is what sent her over the edge. Unfortunately Elijah never learns much about his brothers other than their names and how they died, as his mother wasn't in the right state of mind to tell him and his father was gone, m.

Reflection Growing up, Elijah didn't see what other people saw when he looked in the mirror. Instead of his own image looking back at him, it was a dark, shadowy creature with long white hair, pointed teeth and glowing red eyes. Much of Elijah's childhood was spent avoiding his reflection due to fear of it, but around the age of ten he learned that it could actually speak to him. After that, he purposely sought the creature out on a daily basis, and it became the closest thing he had to a friend growing up. The thing in the mirror was far from kind though, liking to insult Elijah and tell him stories that would give the young boy nightmares. Still, Elijah was just happy to have the companionship, regardless of how poor the quality of it was.

Elijah lives in the world of Xerrein, which has a countless number of countries that are separated by extreme measures, making travel between them very difficult to near impossible. Most people are not aware of how expansive their world is, and view their home country as all there is. Each country has its own unique culture, and varies in their forms of government and religion, their geography, the races of people that reside in the country, and level of technological advancement. Elijah originates from a country called Tetra, which in the wide scheme of things, is a rather average place to come from, being in about the middle of all things from technology to government control. However, he is really not all that informed on how his country works due to the conservative area in which he was raised.

A variety of languages are spoken throughout Xerrein, but the near universal language of the world is Cein. Most countries have their own unique dialect (or sometimes several unique ones, if there is a wide variety of cultures in the country), and then learn Cein as a second language. The reverse is also true for some places, with Cein being the primary language and the country's own language being second. There are also places that only speak Cein and have no other language, but places that only have their own dialect and do not speak Cein are almost unheard of, existing only in the most remote areas of Xerrein. Elijah's primary language is called Ethos and while he can speak Cein, he has a very notable accent and has a hard time understanding slang.

In his teen years, Elijah leaves his home country and travels around a bit, eventually getting involved in the Otherworld. The Otherworld could be compared to something like Heaven or a spirit world. It is a place where "higher beings" are in charge of watching over the world below them. The people who reside in the Otherword often refer to it as the Agency, as it runs much like a business, with lots of paperwork and everyone vying for a promotion to a cushier position. There are a variety of jobs done in the Agency, such as:

• guarding over individual countries to make sure things run smoothly
• watching over the barriers between countries
• collecting and managing the spirits of those who pass away
• making sure the basic laws of magic are followed and taking measures to punish those who do break them
• stopping outside forces from leaking into Xerrein
• keeping records of all important events in world's history
• managing outside forces that are given permission to reside in Xerrein

The people that reside in the Otherworld are generally immortal. While they are suppose to stay separated from the world they watch over and only enter it when intervention is necessary, many don't follow this rule and like to pop in every once in a while just to make a little mischief. Because of this, some Otherworld members become well known and viewed as things like Angels, Demons, Gods or Goddesses. These terms aren't really accurate though, as most of the people who work in the Otherworld were actually once mortals themselves that died and were chosen for some reason or another to be brought back to work on the higher plain. Many times the individuals who are given positions guarding over worlds are called gods or (usually, as most Otherworld members are female) goddesses by the Agency workers, but this isn't an official title, just a slang term picked up from the mortals below them. The word demon is also used amongst the Otherworld members, though again it is not a technical term, referring basically to the criminals in the mortal realm with strong magical abilities that break the laws of the world and must be apprehended.

Elijah gets lucky and manages to secure himself a nice cozy job in the Agency without having to be bothered by the whole dying process. Since he works there, he is also welcome to stay there but normally only does so for short periods of time, preferring to stay down in Xerrein with friends.

Depending on where you venture to in the world of Xerrein, magic can range from being rather common to virtually unheard of. However, all people are capable of it, it's just a matter of learning how to use it. Most spells work by channeling your energy through an element, and all people are born naturally aligned with one of the four elements (fire, wind, water, and earth). The element you are aligned with usually will give you the best results, however certain elements are better at casting certain types of spells so you may have to venture over into other elements for things. One can also physically channel their element through their body to increase their strength, speed, defense, stamina, or to help themselves heal faster, but this is a delicate art that takes quite a while to master.

Elijah is naturally aligned with the water element. In his home world, magic was not common place so he never learned to use it as a child, which is the ideal time to start. Because he is such a late learner, he has little control over his element and finds magic an incredibly difficult task. Furthermore, he's a rather peaceful person and has no desire to learn any kind of physical spells that would be used to hurt others. For the most part, the only thing he ever learns is healing magic, which he becomes increasingly skilled at as time passes, mostly because his friends are reckless and often need patched up. Later down the road he also learns how to "lend" his magic so that he can give his strength to another person, allowing them to increase their power. Lending must be done with extreme caution though, as if he gives too much, he can leave himself drained and physically hurt.

Aside from the four basic, natural elements, there are also two extra ones- light and dark. These two elements are much harder to master, but also cast stronger spells, and are often associated with curses. A greater majority of people are born neutral, meaning they are not aligned with either side and thus can teach themselves spells from both sides of the spectrum. (Though due to the extreme amount of practice it takes to master these elements, most people usually only focus on learning one or the other.) Sometimes people are born aligned with either the light or dark side, and when this happens they have a much easier time learning spells of that nature, and also have a stronger resistance against spells of the opposite alignment. They also can not cast spells of the opposite nature, attempts to do so will end with the magic backfiring on them. (So people aligned with the light element aren't as effected by dark magic but also can not cast dark magic, and vice versa.)

In Elijah's case, his situation is rather strange in that he is aligned with both the dark and light elements. Because of this, he can not use either element, any efforts to do so will just come back to hurt him. More importantly though, both of the elements can not be used on him. Something about being aligned with both sides at once has left him completely immune to them. This proves to be a great asset later in Elijah's life, as many of the "evil" forces that reside in Xerrein rely on dark magic, thus making him a naturally well guarded person.

Elijah works in the Agency, the place in charge of watching over the world of Xerrein. There are plenty of jobs to do in the Agency, but most people start off as either runners or reapers. Runners are assigned to work for someone in a higher position, and their job is to simply do whatever is asked of them. Usually their duties consist of traveling through the countries, getting back old magical artifacts and documents, interrogating mortals that are thought to have broken minor world laws, checking to make sure barriers are still working properly, and just general busy work. Entry level reapers serve under a higher level one, and are assigned to areas where they are to collect spirits that refuse to leave the world when its their time, and watch over areas of war and disease, where there is high death count.

When Elijah fails at being both a runner and reaper, he gets lucky and lands a gig in the Agency's library. The library is located at the center of the Agency, and is the biggest building of the Otherworld. Aside from having books for everyone's enjoyment, it hosts all the records and important documents regarding both Xerrien and the Otherworld. It is also where where all the paperwork for Agency employees is managed. Working in the library is tedious, but decently easy work, and is very sought after by most Otherworld members. There is a long waiting list of people trying to get a position in the library, so when Elijah gets moved their without even trying, people aren't too happy with him. Because of the bitterness from all his peers, he eventually gives up his cozy job, feeling it really isn't fair he got it in the first place.

Elijah finally finds his calling in a rather interesting line of work. Because he is immune to both light and dark magic, he is in a sense immune to the powers of some of Xerrien's most powerful beings, who rely mostly on these two magic types as they are normally strongest. Thus, Elijah gets a position that is somewhat like a parole officer, in which he travels from country to country, checking up on demons and people that are on probation from the Agency for breaking magical laws. Aside from the fact that these people can't really hurt him, Elijah is also very patient and deals well with people treating him unkindly, so he is well equipped to handle Otherworld criminals. Normally dealing with demons under watch is the job of the runners, but most of the country guardians agree to use Elijah instead, since he is better equipped in both a magical and a personality sense to do the job.

Elijah's story is, quite literally, endless....

Elijah was born in a small, old fashioned town that had been created specifically for people who wish to separate themselves from modern society. His two older brothers had already passed, his father was missing, his mother was mentally unstable and he grew up somewhat of a social outcast. Due to his isolated upbringing, he developed a very weak and skittish personality, a short attention span, and an extreme desire to please anyone who would stay around him.

Most the people of his home village found him odd simply because of his family history and spacey, nervous personality. Those things aside, unbeknownst to the townsfolk, he also had a demonic, talking reflection. Elijah was the only one that could see and hear the thing in the mirror, and when he first discovered he could talk to it, he was quite pleased as he finally had something to keep him company. The creature was far from kind though, often belittling Elijah, insulting and wishing unkind things upon his village, telling the young child dark stories about death and destruction, and encouraging the boy to steal and break things. Because of his loneliness, Elijah paid little attention to all its faults and considered the creature his only friend.

As Elijah aged and reached his teen years, he began to question his sanity and if the thing in the mirror was real. The creature mocked his uncertainty, thus making Elijah further convinced that he was probably crazy. During a small mental breakdown, he encountered three strangers from the outside world looking for a "sacred place" that was supposedly in the area. His reflection warned him to stay away from the newcomers, and in order to spite it, Elijah followed them when they villagers kicked the group out of the town. With the strangers Elijah experienced a very odd adventure, and when the group was gone the next day without a trace, he was nearly positive he really had lost it.

However, after finding a note tucked into his dresser from one of the nicer group members, and having an interesting talk with his reflection, Elijah decided he may not be hallucinating, but just seeing things most people don't get to experience.

Elijah resolves he is going to become a stronger, more confident person. This proves easier said than done, as the people of the village continue to reject him, his mother's mental condition worsens, and his reflection refuses to take him seriously. Two years pass, and not much changes in Elijah's life, save for his height as he hits a rapid growth spurt.

One day, out of the blue, the strangers he met years ago return. Despite the time lapse, none of them appeared to have aged much, and they invite him to go on a little journey with them. Thinking getting away from his home would be a good way for him to grow as a person, Elijah agrees and sets off with the group. He soon learns his new traveling companions are far from nice people, and after assisting them in a robbery of an old temple, asks to be taken back home. They are reluctant to let him go, claiming he "completes" the group, but eventually agree as one of the members points out he is no use to them if he refuses to cooperate.

Upon returning to his home, he sees that it is no more- a large fire has destroyed nearly the entire village. He quickly learns it was his mother, in a fit of rage, that had started the initial fire in the middle of the nite, and that he is no longer welcome in the town. While wandering alone, unsure of what to do with himself, he consults his reflection. The creature in the mirror tells Elijah that its time is up, and they won't be seeing each other anymore, then fades away. Elijah notes how he always wished he had a normal reflection (the kind that didn't look evil and talk back), and now that he finally has it, it is most likely one of the most depressing moments of his life.

Deciding there's not much else to do, Elijah sits down to have a good cry over how empty and meaningless his life is. He is soon confronted by the group of strangers, who re-invite him to travel with them. Seeing as he has nothing else going for him, Elijah agrees. They travel around the country for a few weeks, the group stealing several random artifacts, and introducing him to the concept of magic. One of his new companions tries to teach Elijah how to use magic but he does not pick up on it very well and shows little interest in learning it, finding the power the others possess rather intimidating.

Eventually Elijah makes his place in the group. While he isn't well suited for action packed adventures, he does well cooking and cleaning, making up excuses and apologizing for the trio's crude comments and obnoxious actions, and he discovers he has a knack for healing magic. Besides that, he usually proves to be the voice of reason in the group, and his companions often come to him for advice. While they weren't exactly the kind of people he was expecting, Elijah is delighted to find that he has finally gotten himself some real friends.

Soon enough, Elijah learns why his friends never age and are always traveling about, stealing things. They serve a goddess-like girl named Ko, who works in the Otherworld, a place in charge of watching over the world of Xerrien. The group takes Elijah to meet Ko, and try to convince her to grant him eternal youth, and let him work with them as Otherworld agents. At first Ko refuses, but after finding a interesting dormant power in Elijah, changes her mind as she feels things could get interesting.

Initially all four of the group members as are on a trial run, where they must prove themselves worthy of working for the Otherworld, or the Agency as its residents like to call it. Elijah proves to be rather awful at most of the jobs they are assigned, but his friends, not wanting to loose him as part of the group, cover for the boy. They all make it through the trial and are awarded with full time jobs in the Agency. With these new jobs come some fun new abilities, such as extra strength, greater healing powers, stronger magic, and the convenience of not having to eat or sleep regularly, amongst a few other things. Once they become actual members, they no longer work in a group and are given individual assignments.

Now on his own, Elijah fails miserably at his job. Luck appears to be on his side though, and the woman in charge of the records department, Hirisha, takes a liking to him, offering him a job in the Agency's library. Elijah does exceedingly well at this, but the position he is upgraded to is a rather sought after one amongst Agency members, which leaves many people feeling bitter towards him. This combined with the fact that his friends aren't around much anymore (they are out working on their own individual assignments) leads to Elijah becoming slightly depressed, and he gives up his cushy library job. Hirisha offers to try and find Elijah another position, but he refuses, saying it is unfair that he gets special treatment. He tries going back to his original job, and while he doesn't do much better at it the second time around, he does find he is rather skilled at something else- dealing with demons. Managing demons that are under the watch of the Agency becomes Elijah's main line of work, and he even picks up a few demon companions along the way.

Due to his job in the Agency, Elijah is near immortal. He has eternal youth, and while he can be killed, it takes a lot more to end his life then it would a normal person. Even if he dies, the Otherworld can review his death and bring him back if they so choose.

Something rather notable on a personal level occurs during Elijah's time in the Otherworld- he discovers what happened to his reflection. He learns exactly what his reflection is, how it ties to him, and later helps it get out of trouble. Like in the past, the thing in the mirror becomes an important part of Elijah's everyday life and is once again always with him, only this time its the creature depending on Elijah for support.

As more time passes, Elijah becomes comfortable in the Agency, sets up his own home in a world of his choice, and watches his friends grow as people. Through the many, many years Elijah lives he never loose touch with his original group of friends, feeling he owes the comfortable life he is living now to them. He too changes slowly over time, becoming more confident, learning to stick up for himself and what he believes in, also becoming a bit more scatterbrained and very nosy. He never does become loud or learns to be pushy and demanding like he had once hoped. Even with his more confident nature, Elijah still remains a bit of a sensitive pushover, but he does wise up a bit and so that he is not as easily deceived or manipulated.

And that is Elijah's life, until he decides to give up his Otherworld job and return to the mortal world. His time is divided between watching over his friends lives, and managing the lives all the demons he works with, with a bit of interfering in the lives of other Agency members on the side. As if trying to combat his extreme isolation from his youth, Elijah now spends a great deal of his days involved with other people's lives, and he is quite delighted to do so.

Elijah is much like a reincarnation of a demon named Ibasi. Except, Ibasi isn't quite dead yet...

Ibasi originated from another world outside of Xerrein, but snuck his way in as the mortals in Xerrein were much weaker than those in his home world. He spent his early years working with a small band of demons who roamed around more remote countries, destroying things for fun and devouring people's souls for power. (When a creature absorbs another creatures soul, the gain all of that person's life energy, thus increasing their own strength). Eventually Ibasi was discovered by the Agency, but managed to elude them for a several hundred years, during which he became a rather well known monster amongst many worlds as the frequency and destructiveness of his attacks grew substantially. Finally a bounty hunter almost put an end to him, and while Ibasi did win the fight with the hunter, it left in an extremely weakened state. He attempted to hide in a lesser known country, but some Otherworld agents tracked him down with ease. In a last ditch effort to save himself (or, at least buy himself some more time until he had recovered more strength) he attempted to take over the body of a random woman he found wandering around hear where he was hiding. He was apprehended before he could complete his spell though and taken back to the Otherworld. The woman was looked over quickly, and it was decided that aside from being rather traumatized, no damage had been done and left her be.

In the Otherworld, Ibasi was put on trial and it was decided that he was to be fully destroyed in both body and spirit, so that he wouldn't have a chance to be reincarnated in a few centuries. However, authorization to completely destroy a creature is quite elusive, and was made even more difficult to attain due to the fact that Ibasi was from a foreign world, and thus permission must be sought from that world as well. While the people in charge of his case slowly worked towards his final punishment, Ibasi was locked away in near death state where his spirit was suppose to be trapped in limbo, where he would be left powerless and alone.

Unfortunately for the Agency (and luckily for Ibasi) they did not do a good job thoroughly inspecting the woman the demon had tried to possess earlier. While Ibasi had failed to take over her body, he had succeeded at sealing a part of his soul in her. Or, her unborn child to be more exact. Though it was unintentional at the time, his soul fused with the not yet full developed child's, and several months later Ibasi was, in a sense, reborn into the world. While he had no active control of the boy, Elijah's, consciousness, he could basically live through the boy's body, seeing and hearing everything the boy did and being fully ward of what has happening in Elijah's life at all time.

Much to Ibasi's great dismay, the boy (who he decided on thinking of as his other, lesser half) had a very timid nature and an extreme desire to do good, two things Ibasi hated. For reasons unknown even to the demon, Elijah could see Ibasi in his reflection. While initially Ibasi used this to terrify the naturally nervous child, he later used this useful oddity to communicate with the boy. Originally Ibasi's plan was to try and toughen up his other half and try and get him to go bad, but this proved to be a wasted effort as Elijah just too much of a pushover. So instead Ibasi worked on winning the boy's favor, hoping that this could be used later down the road to manipulate him. This was an easily accomplished task, as due to an isolated upbringing, Elijah was delighted to have any kind of company and took an immediate liking to his reflection, even if it wasn't all that kind to him.

Ibasi is the reason Elijah can not use light or dark magic. While Ibasi is naturally aligned with the dark element, Elijah was initially destined to be aligned with the light. When Ibasi fused himself with Elijah the elements just kind of combined, causing Elijah to become double aligned. Since these two elements are opposites and are not supposed to be used together, neither can be utilized as the other side would just cancel it out and cause the spell to backfire. On a side note, Ibasi also aligned with water, just like Elijah, which accounts for why Elijah can still use his nature element. What would have happened had Ibasi been aligned with another element remains unknown, but chances are it would have left Elijah completely unable to use magic. Apparently, there was a small bit of luck left on the boy's side...

Elijah's relationship with his other half changes greatly over time. When the boy was still small, he was terrified of the shadowy thing in the mirror, and when he got a bit older and learned his reflection could talk, came to consider it his lone friend. Originally Elijah held a sense of both fear and wonderment towards the thing in the mirror, but as he continued to age, started to question if it was real or not. Ibasi refused to tell Elijah just who or what it was, though it did drop several big hints over the years, Elijah was too thick headed to ever put any of it together.

When the Elijah wandered off with the stranger Ibasi told him to stay away from, he nearly got himself killed by some monsters the strangers were trying to steal from. It was at this time Ibasi learned the he could take control of Elijah, and did so in order to make sure the boy stayed alive. However, this used up pretty much all of what remained of Ibasi's strength and he nearly destroyed himself in the process. Elijah noticed that Ibasi was weaker afterward, and the demon made sure to let the boy know it was all his fault, as to send him on a guilt trip in hopes that it would make Elijah use more caution and listen better in the future. Ibasi did not want anything putting their body at risk, and he knew he wouldn't be able to take control again for a very long time.

More years passed and Ibasi was brought back to trial in the Otherworld. Because he would be taken out of the limbo state he was in, he knew he would most likely loose contact with Elijah and thus bid the boy farewell. This left both Elijah and Ibasi rather upset, as Elijah felt he was now all alone and Ibasi was worried something would happen to his future body while he wasn't around to watch over it. The trial ended and Ibasi was locked back up, but this time Ibasi found himself unable to make a connection with Elijah. He could experience everything the boy did like before, but he could no longer communicate with him.

When Elijah makes his was to the Otherworld, Ibasi is able to establish enough of a connection with his other half to lure the boy down to where the demon is imprisoned. From here Elijah's "must do right" nature takes over, and he finds a way to break out Ibasi. Once free, Ibasi immediately takes over Elijah's body and attempts to attack several Agency members. However Ibasi was not aware that Elijah could not use dark magic, so when the creature attempts to cast a spell, it backfires and knocks him out, causing his escape attempt to be cut very short. Now that the Agency is aware of just who Elijah was, they planned on trying to remove Ibasi's soul from his psuedo-reincarnation. Elijah refuses to let them though, claiming Ibasi was a part of him and he did not want to loose that part. While they weren't happy with Elijah's decision, due to the fact that the boy could not cast dark magic and that he was so mild mannered, they decided to live with it, figuring they wouldn't have much to worry about now that they knew to watch out for Ibasi.

Eventually the people in charge of prosecuting Ibasi get permission to fully destroy the demon. Ibasi reaches out to Elijah for help initially, and the boy refuses, deciding that Ibasi was too cruel to him and did not deserve to live. He purposely breaks off his connection with the creature and leaves it alone, but nearly immediately afterwards regrets it, feeling that he is being too cruel, and worrying that he will be lonely without his other half. So, Elijah gets Ko (who had an utter fascination with the demon) and some of her friends help him break out the creature, so that he could absorb the rest of its soul, basically offering to fully share his body with Ibasi granted Elijah remained in control. Ibasi lies and claims to agree to Elijah's lone condition, planning on taking over the second he could. Ko has a bit more foresight than Elijah and puts a seal on Ibasi before she helps him transfer the rest of his soul over, so that he would be unable to overpower Elijah's will without the boy's consent. With Ibasi saved, they shove his body back, which is destroyed a short while later and most of the Agency is none the wiser as to what had happened.

Elijah notes how easy it was to save Ibasi, and Ko explains that no one had any reason to suspect someone would offer to share their body with an evil creature that not only had been devouring souls for hundreds of years, but also was just not that pleasant to be around. Really, it seemed like a ridiculous and stupid thing to do. Elijah responds that he is sure with time, anyone can change who they are, even Ibasi.

Once they fully share a body, Ibasi can communicate with Elijah any time he chooses. At first he is rather bitter at how things ended up, not liking being trapped inside what he feels is a weak and useless mortal and refuses to talk with the boy most of the time. Eventually he lightens up though and plays the role similar to a devil-on-your-shoulder character, often encouraging Elijah to abandon the moral high road and to be more aggressive. The creature accepts the Elijah really went out of his way to help it, and slowly changes its goal from one day controlling Elijah to one day finding a way to have a new body of its own. Elijah is well aware of this new goal, and promises that once he feels Ibasi can be trusted, he will help is other half out. At the same time though. Elijah knows Ibasi will never completely reform and will most likely be sharing his body forever. The boy doesn't mind though- he actually quite enjoys the company.

While most demons are simply mortals who have gained great power and used them for evil, or creatures from foreign worlds who find their way to Xerrien to make trouble, some can actually be man made. Usually a demon is created using the body of someone who is dying as a base. The creator then fuses a small part of their own soul (or a soul they have stolen from someone else) combine with some very strong magic to bring the body back to life with enhanced strength and magical abilities. These man made demons usually have empty stares, lack real personality, and can be rather animal like in their movements and actions. Usually they are kept in confinement unless their creator wishes to use them, but they can be educated and humanized if worked with enough. Created demons need minimal food and sleep, have a rapid rate of healing and feel little pain, but also have some key weakness that can be used to easily destroy them if needed. This weakness normally is only known by their creator.

In one of the countries of Xerrien there was a large war being fought between two noble families, and one of the families created seven demons to fight for their half. These demons were never given proper names by their creators, but people took to calling them the seven sins, each having a name referring to a cardinal vice- Wrath, Desire, Acedia, Voracity, Envy, Pride, and Avarice. The family began to capture innocent people and steal small bits of their souls to feed to their homemade demons, in order to increase the creatures' strength. This, along with some of the spells they had the demons using were against the universal laws of Xerrein, and the Agency stepped in to end things. (Though they were quite a few years late, and the sins had already done extensive damage to their country.)

The seven demons were confiscated and brought back the Agency to undergo trial. It was soon discovered they were all without any language and very aggressive, so it was decided they were simply to be destroyed. Many Otherworld members, including Elijah, felt this was unfair to the creatures, who were never really given a chance to learn to live properly, and argued against the decision. Unfortunately, for the most part they were too late and six of the seven demons were destroyed. The seventh only survived do to the fact several agency members kidnapped it and hid it until they could overturn the decision to destroy it.

The lone surviving demon was the one called Avarice, and it proved to be quite difficult to put up with. It had its magic sealed away so that it could no longer cast spells or due any real damage, but it was still rather animal like, growling at anyone who got to close, moving around on all fours, clawing at people, and chewing on everything it could get to. Eventually Avarice came under the possession of Elijah, who proved to be up to the challenge of taming the creature.

Elijah started off by deciding Avarice was to be a boy (most man made demons are genderless), dressing him in nice clothing and talking to him as if he were a normal person. For the first few years Avarice continued to act more like someone's pet than a person (and gave Elijah plenty of trouble as the boy would destroy anything it could get its claws on), but eventually he began to learn to speak and to walk upright. While it is a very, very long process, Avarice does become like a normal, civilized person for the most part, though he is still rather rude and likes to chew on things from time to time. Elijah does his best to try and get Avarice's magic unsealed and make it so the boy can live on his own, but the Agency refuses to budge, and the demon remains under the status of Elijah's possession.

Through his life, Elijah comes across many interesting people...
Basil Basil is one of three strangers that originally come to Elijah's village looking for something sacred, and later allow him to venture out into the outside world. She is a very loud and aggressive girl, and can unintentionally be very rude and hurtful with both her words and actions. Despite her pushy and oblivious nature, she normally means well and of his three original friends, is by far the kindest to Elijah. (She was the one that left him the nice note after they initially met.) Due to the fact that when she met him initially he was only around eleven years old while she was almost sixteen, she has taken to calling him "little brother" even though now he is physically older and much taller than her. Basil often noses into other people's business in an effort to help them, a habit she passes onto Elijah later down the road, though often times she just annoys people or causes more problems. Her two greatest goals in life is to become a stronger person (so she can protect things that are important to her) and figure out where she comes from. Currently she works as a runner in the Agency, and her forceful nature makes her rather good at interrogating people and dealing with creatures that break through the borders. Her relationship with Elijah is much like that of a sibling, where she often goes to him for advice and comfort. She tries to reciprocate the favor, but her advice tends to not be all that practical and often involves violence or doing something immoral. She also goes out of her way to stand up for Elijah in the Agency when she feels others are taking advantage of his passive nature and kindness.

TJ TJ is another one of the original three strangers to come to Elijah's village and currently works for the Agency as a runner. He is like an intensified version of Basil, only without the good intentions. He is the prince of his home country of Haven, second in line for the throne after his sickly older brother. Overall he is a very spoiled and selfish person, who does and says whatever he wants and enjoys causing others misfortune. The fact that he is also rather skilled and clever doesn't help much either, as he is very good at avoiding punishment (or even getting caught) so he doesn't suffer many negative repercussions for his actions. He does have a bit of kindness in him, but often tries to it hidden, accompanying any remotely good deed he may do with insults and the justification that he is only doing it to help himself in some way. TJ is very unkind to Elijah at first, insulting the boy endlessly and going out of his way to play mean jokes on Elijah on a day to day basis. Elijah refuses to get mad for the most part, at first because he is such a timid person any feeling of rage he may have is replaced by fear, and later because he refuses to believe TJ is all that bad. He holds onto the idea that TJ simply doesn't know how to communicate properly (to put it lightly). At first Elijah's passive nature annoys TJ, but eventually he adjusts and the two form a brotherly like relationship, with lots of pointless bickering and TJ going to Elijah for advice from time to time, while Elijah takes care to keep an eye on TJ.

Hikouka Hikouka is the third member of the group that initially discovered Elijah and led him away from his home world. She is a very quiet and distant person, at first Elijah's relationship with her is nearly nonexistent as, despite the fact that they travel together, she does not really interact with him. Hika hails from a very extensive and wealthy family, and originally ran away from home to escape both her family's shallow lifestyle and an arranged marriage. She is a bit of a creeper in a way, in that she is always sneaking around, preferring to keep herself separated from other people as much as possible. Basil is Hikouka's best friend, and usually the only person she allows to get close. Elijah often questions Hika as to why she is so afraid of getting close to other people, but always refuses to answer him. While most of Elijah's friends depend on him for help and advice, Hika is quite the opposite, and usually refuses any assistance Elijah (or anyone else) tries to give her. While Elijah is forever hopeful of things to come and likes to think the best of people, Hikouka is a true cynic, and often enjoys debating with Elijah on just what people are really like and how situations should be handled. Even though the two hold very opposite views on life, they both come to be rather fond of one another and from an ambivalent friendship.

Ko Ko is the goddess that originally watched over TJ's home country of Haven, and the member of the Otherworld that sponsored Elijah and his friends while they worked to become part of the Agency. She is still very young in Otherworld terms (only a few hundred years) and takes on the appearance of a small child. Her mother has a very high position in the Agency, so Ko was granted a guardian position at an early age, without having to work hard for it. Because of this, she is very lax with her job, and spends more time looking for things to entertain her rather than worry about doing her duties properly. Aside from granting Elijah, TJ, Basil and Hika eternal youth, she later gives it to several of their friends, simply because she finds them fun. This eventually comes back to bite her in the bum, and she looses her guardian position. Ko doesn't take the demotion to hard though, finding she enjoys having less responsibilities as it means she can slack off more. Ko was initially going to refuse to grant Elijah access to the Agency, as she found him weak and thus unamusing but later can sense Ibasi's presence in him, causing her to change her mind. While she finds Elijah rather boring, she is fascinated with Ibasi and often seeks the young boy out in hopes of communicating with the demon. Later down the road she comes to develop a moderate fondness of Elijah as well, admitting that while he isn't very exciting, his caring nature can be rather "charming" at times.

Eden Eden is a girl Elijah meets at the Agency that is in a somewhat similar situation to him. While she was once just a mortal girl, a demoness, deciding it wanted a daughter, sealed a bit of its soul into her so that Eden could use dark magic and live on forever. Eden later betrayed her "mother," turning the creature in to the Otherworld in exchange for forgiveness of her own crimes. Once Mother was locked away, Eden got herself a job as a reaper, has since been working hard on getting promotions. She is a very vain girl, and has a natural charm about her that makes most guys she comes in contact with become infatuated with her. (Since most of the Agency is female, this doesn't effect her coworkers much.) The charm uses dark magic to work however, so Elijah is immune to it. Not enjoying a guy that doesn't spend all his time fawning over her, Eden takes an immediate dislike to Elijah, this dislike deepening when the boy gets a promotion to the library that she had been after. At one point Eden's mother tries take over Eden's body and use it to cause trouble, but the Otherworld residents put a quick stop to this. Eden is almost kicked out of the Agency, but Elijah convinces Ko to help her out and instead she is only downgraded back to being a reaper. Elijah never tells Eden he helped her out and request that Ko keep it a secret, but Ko later tells anyways. Eden is slightly touched that the boy went out of his way to help her even though she is so cruel to him, and after this attempts to get along a little better with him.

Avarice Avarice is initially believed to be the sole survivor of the seven sin demons (it is later discovered that one of his sisters also survived, but that's a story for another time) and was the youngest of the group, having the form of a small child. Originally he was created simply to serve a family in war, and thus acted much like a wild animal. He is stripped of his magic and becomes a "possession" of the Agency, where they are suppose to watch over him and teach him to act like a civilized person. Avarice proves to be too much to handle for several Otherworld members before being passed onto Elijah. The demon destroys everything he can get his hands on, likes to chew on furniture, constantly tries to run away, claws at people, refuses to sleep in a bed, hates wearing clothes, and attacks Elijah on a regular basis. Despite this, Elijah refuses to give up, determined to show everyone that with enough patience the little demon will improve. And indeed, Avarice does learn to speak, walk upright, and agrees to willingly get dressed everyday, but even then he is rude and defiant, and still likes to claw at things. Avarice holds a deep resentment towards the Agency, not liking that they own him, and towards his master, feeling Elijah only puts up with him out of self interest. Elijah is still convinced Avarice's attitude will improve eventually, but only time will tell. Avarice does have a seal on him that would allow Elijah to physically punish him by simply uttering the activation word, a measure the Agency took in order to make the demon easier to control, but Elijah refuses to use it. Other Agency members are not so kind though, so Avarice does his best to avoid most people in the Otherworld as much as possible

Hearkened TJ starts a fad among the Agency member of calling Hearkened "Ark" for short, much to the boy's dismay, as he hates the nickname. Elijah is one of the few people left that still agree to call him by his real name, but unfortunately, Ark does not really appreciate the effort. The relationship between the two is a rather unfortunate one, with Elijah admiring Ark and finding him a very likable person, while Ark is continually annoyed by Elijah and finds the younger boy rather useless. However, Ark works in records department of the Agency, and it is a common knowledge amongst library employees that their boss, Hirisha, absolutely adores Elijah. So Ark puts up with Elijah the best he can, and even goes out of his way to try and be friendly from time to time in hopes that he may win some favor with Hirisha through Elijah. Overall Ark is a very intelligent, but very distant person, and isn't very well liked amongst the Agency members, not so much because he is a very cold and direct person (as most of the people of the Otherworld are pretty big jerks anyways) but because he is so serious and analytical with everything he does. Later down the road Basil develops a crush on Ark and Elijah attempts to play match maker, but doesn't succeed and just gives Ark another reason to be annoyed with him.

by hearty

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