The Beach

[NyxAvatar69]

"Sure.  To be honest, I haven't ever actually gone swimming for fun before," Zero answered as he took Nadia's hand.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia walks them to the water, and sets her feet in, watching as the waves splash over it. She starts heading further out.

[NyxAvatar69]

When Zero felt the water hit his feet, he couldn't help but make a comment about it.  "This water's colder than I thought it'd be..." he quietly said, mostly to himself, but he put up with it.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“Oh, we don’t have to swim if you don’t want to,” Nadia says. “Maybe we could try the pool?”

[NyxAvatar69]

"The pool, huh?  Sure, I guess we can give it a shot.  I'm not really used to swimming in the sea, to be honest," Zero said.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“It’s alright, but the saltwater can suck sometimes,” Nadia says, as she stretches over to the pool.

(Please Switch to the Pool now for your next response.)

[NyxAvatar69]

After leaving Nadia behind at the pool, Zero returned to the place where he had spent his time training.  As much as he didn't like to ditch her without a reasonable excuse, he thought, at least at the time, that it was the smart idea.  He took a moment to make sure absolutely nobody was nearby or potentially watching him before he took a deep breath and extended his left arm.  Dark power flowed out of his body like cracks in a dam and shortly afterwards, a sword appeared in his hand.  Unlike the silver blade he had before, this one had a dark purple blade and a jet black hilt.  Dark power covered the sword like a thick flame, strong enough so that even someone unaware of magic would be able to see it if they were close enough.  After he brought out the weapon, however, Zero bit his lip, trying to contain the overwhelming power.  It took him more effort to swing the blade, but when he did, a strong blast of wind kicked up the sand in front of him.  Only a few swings was all it took for Zero to fall to one knee, panting.  He stabbed the sword into the sand and moved a hand towards his chest.  'I was right.  It's getting worse.  Moments of calm are nice and all, but as long as I have this power, I can't have that.  It's all that scientist's fault for everything,' Zero thought.  When he thought of the person who pretty much ruined his life, the dark power coming from him only got worse, which was affecting his body even more.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia couldn’t help but follow Zero about ten minutes later. “Hello? Zero?” She calls out. “Are you okay?”

[NyxAvatar69]

After taking a short break, Zero had returned to his "training," but rather than training, he was mostly swinging his blade around violently, kicking up more and more sand and leaving a mess around him.  Sand was in his hair and on his clothes, but he didn't seem to notice or even care.  'Rampage, destroy!  Fill your urge for destruction!  Attack with reckless abandon!' Zero heard a voice shout in his head that sounded a lot like his own.  He had been so caught up in his "training" that he failed to notice the strange cuts that would occasionally form on his skin even though nobody was around to inflict any damage to him.  At that moment, he didn't hear Nadia's voice, or rather, he tried to ignore it because he didn't want her to see him like this.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia starts growing ever more concerned. “Hey! ZERO!” She yells. “You don’t look okay...!”

[NyxAvatar69]

When Zero heard a voice, he abruptly stopped his next sword swing and slowly turned his head towards the source.  His eyes were devoid of any emotion as he stared at Nadia as if he had no idea who she was.  He tightened the grip on his sword, waiting to see what kind of move Nadia would make.  In his current state, he had been just about ready to attempt to cut down anything since he'd think of it as an enemy, but a part of him was hesitating, trying to keep the reigns on his control.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia started to look frightened. “Z-Zero...? Wait... it’s me, Nadia....” she backs away a few steps.

[NyxAvatar69]

"You're probably here to avenge your boss, aren't you?  I killed him and took away your pay, so now you want revenge, huh?" Zero questioned, jumping to a completely wrong conclusion as if he didn't even hear Nadia but only heard what he assumed she said.  Even though his words were cold, he made no move to attack her unless she got close to him, but with each passing minute, the dark power coming from him grew more intense.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“What on earth are you talking about? Zero, are you possessed??” Nadia asks. “Fight it, Zero!”

[NyxAvatar69]

"Possessed?  Don't be stupid, you idiot!  It's your boss who did this to me.  How do you feel, knowing you got your paychecks from a man who would knowingly spirit away children and fill their bodies with dark power just to be used as vessels for his precious demon?  A man who would make kids slaughter people with no hesitation in order to destroy their emotions so they'll follow along like puppets?  Tell me!  How does it feel?" Zero questioned, his words filled with anger far unlike the somewhat oblivious person he was before.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“I don’t HAVE a boss!” Nadia protests. “Snap out of it! Don’t make me hurt you...!”

[NyxAvatar69]

At that moment, Zero smiled, but it wasn't his usual smile.  At the same time, there was an unusual red light in his eyes when he heard Nadia threaten to hurt him.  "Go right ahead and try.  If you want to die so badly, go right ahead.  I've been itching to fight a real opponent, not some lame illusions," Zero replied, but for a brief moment, his words and actions didn't match up.  While it was brief, his hands began to shake, as if he was trying to hold himself back from doing something he'd regret.  The dark power that surrounded his body like a violent flame died down in that moment as well before flaring up again, stronger than before.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia glares at him. “You’re not Zero. I’ll try and knock some sense into you....” She raises her arm up as her fist begins to grow in size.

[NyxAvatar69]

Zero slowly shook his head.  "Is that really what you think?" he asked without the cruelty of his previous words.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“...well, yeah... Zero wouldn’t act like this... right?” Nadia asks, doubting herself.

[NyxAvatar69]

Zero slowly looked away from Nadia.  "You're wrong.  As much as the person you saw before is me, this...is also me.  A killer filled with dark power, who was supposed to be a demon's vessel.  I was right to never say anything, because I had a feeling you wouldn't believe me," Zero couldn't help but laugh a bit.  "It's funny, really.  Why should I even care about what a stranger thinks?  Now that you know, I can't let you off easy, you know?  It's like he said once to someone I knew.  Bad girls need to be punished," Zero added, pointing his sword at Nadia.  "And no, I don't mean the kind of punishment you'd probably enjoy, like back at the pool.  In order to vent this power, I need to fight," he said.

[ColorfulMidnight]

“I can survive,” Nadia says. “Don’t your remember what my power is?” Her fist shrinks back to regular size, but now she stretches to try and yank the sword away.

[NyxAvatar69]

Zero smiled a bit.  "And have you forgotten what I can do?" he asked.  The sword vanished from his hand and he broke into a run towards Nadia.  When he opened the palm of his hand to prepare a sphere of energy, instead of the bright sphere that he had shown off earlier, it was instead a ball of pure darkness.  "I'll at least try not to kill you, but I can't promise anything," Zero said, firing the ball of darkness at Nadia as he continued running towards her.

[ColorfulMidnight]

Nadia gasps and her body stretches to dodge the ball of darkness. She tries to wrap her arm around Zero.

[NyxAvatar69]

Zero clicked his tongue when his first attack missed and resummoned his dark sword, swinging at Nadia in just a way so the strike would hopefully not be fatal if it hit since he had a feeling he wouldn't be fast enough to avoid Nadia's arm unless he distracted her somehow.