The Punisher, Preacher

Hey everyone and welcome back to The Realm. As the title suggests, we are now doing the other half of Nicholas D. Wolfwood aka Preacher. There is some serious irony with this guy. He is one of the most important and pivotal characters in Book One of The Star Chronicles, yet he lacks a proper introduction.

With that being said, allow me to introduce Preacher of the Prism Guard and he is her heart.

Much of Preacher's origin is supposedly depicted in Death Toll's profile, but there is a lot of history connected to his actual soul along with a fair bit in another's personal history. His soul was that of a child that had their soul ejected from their original body. Under normal circumstances, a soul like this would have unraveled, said soul disappearing from existence and never to be seen ever again. The hiccup comes not from the Star Child but from the child's father. His father loved him so much and so deeply that when his soul was ejected from its body, it was pretty much launched at the person that, at the time, his father held the strongest bond with but was also capable of actually helping said soul.

Thus the soul of this poor, lost infant found itself in the Star Child's possession. In fact, many souls are carried within her and over time, each one finds a new home, commonly in unborn children that are about to be miscarried because there wasn't a soul to maintain its life force. Now you're probably wondering who the father was, right? It's a majorly big spoiler and by all rights, I shouldn't reveal it so early on, but considering said father remains blissfully unaware that his son's soul was shoved into the ultimate killing machine that was Death Toll...I'm gonna spoil it anyways because I can't keep my mouth shut. Fell free to scream What the fuck?!

Say hello to Goldeneye, better known to the Oncers as Rumple aka Mr. Gold aka Detective Weaver. Did you honestly believe that the bloody Dark One wasn't going to be a member of my Guard? I'll do his profile later, but this rendition of him has a somewhat skewed version of his fictional counterpart. In this version, his son Baelfire had his soul ejected by a parasitic demonic organism calling itself Balthazar. Not much is currently known about the parasite's history but this won't be the last time you'll hear about him. He's quite the pest and quite the escape artist. Now as I was saying, Goldeneye has no clue that his son's soul had survived nor did he know that Artz had unintentionally shoved it into Death Toll while her heart was shut off. Heck even she doesn't know that her beloved Preacher/Death Toll has the soul of the son that her Dark Savior had lost mere minutes after his birth and it comes as quite the shock later. I still haven't decided when Goldeneye eventually finds out so that's something to look forward to.

Death Toll's profile went a bit hazy at the end and that's because he wasn't aware of what was actually occurring; however, when Preacher becomes the dominant persona, he doesn't entirely know how to feel because he remembered everything he had done while being soulless...though he didn't actually know was soulless until later. He doesn't even bother to resist when she forcefully brands him with his crest, the silver cross bound in black chains. Death Toll's is essentially the same thing but the color scheme is reversed, the black cross bound in silver chains.

Unfortunately for both him and DT, Artz's heart is still shut off and her logical mind deemed it necessary to beat the hell out them so that they would know their place and that she had complete and total power over them. What can I say, heartless Artz is fucking terrifying because her heart, all that love and kindness, it defines her and without it, she's even more dangerous than the former Killing Perfection. She really does beat the hell out of them before the fourth captain orders her to stop and technically she does but then starts beating the crap out of him. It doesn't help that the Second Sin of the Order of the Seven Deadly Sins sides with the Star Child and helps her during the fight.

Second Sin and Captain of the Order, the Dragon Sin, the Sin of Wrath, the Dragonborn. He is Wrath of the Seven Deadly Sins and he is her dragon.

As you have probably guessed, you are going to see characters and people from a wide range of media and entertainment... including all seven of The Seven Deadly Sins. Wrath does indeed possess his Full Counter ability and when he is paired up with his partner, Greed, a shit ton of destruction is sure to follow and a lot of hysterical laughter from the Star Child because their antics reminded her of her favorite wizard guild, Fairy Tail, but when he is paired up with Artz herself, not even the raw power and might of the seasoned fighter that is the Fourth Captain can possibly compare. In fact, Hook goes down pretty quickly and is fully incapacitated, making it impossible for Poseidon to take control of their shared body. Wrath will never stand against the Star Child and if she walked the path of a soulless murderess, he would always be by her side because he was her dragon, just as she would always be his Elizabeth.

Same can not be said of the First Sin, she simply doesn't get involved, knowing that Artz would sort herself out on her own and bring her heart back online by herself. She just stands off to the side with her arms crossed and eyes closed. She is considered to be the second most powerful member of the Blood Guard but that's only because the one known as Durga had yet to be born then they tied for second place because they didn't want to wreck a few realities to figure out who was stronger.

First Sin of the Order, The Boar Sin, The Sin of Gluttony, The Sorceress of Creation. She is Mystic of the Seven Deadly Sins and she is her wonder.

This is turning into quite the showcase, isn't it? Not to worry, dearies, you will get their profiles at some point or another. There are quite a few Guard Members that have fully flushed out origin stories already and are involved in quite a lot of events. Anyways, I made a recent alteration to this character. She goes by three different names, depends on who is addressing her or who is speaking about her...Mystic, Merlin, and Esmer. More on her at a later date because she has one hell of a story. Now back to my beloved Preacher or more specifically, what happens shortly after the Fourth Captain has his ass handed to him by the woman he loves and the dragon that would always choose her side without fail.

Given the extensive history of the Blood Guard, they have witnessed countless eras of history. Much of the Earth's history has been destroyed by wars, by cataclysms, and by time itself. As such...guns are a thing that happens repeatedly throughout the entirety of the past. Why...because I said so. Anyways, the group is attacked by a contingent of soldiers. Artz is still emotionless so she kills them all...except one. This one person, whom I have yet to find a decent character for...correction; while doing an image search, I found a character and I'm pretty certain that you'll recognize him...becomes important later on down the road and even in her heartless state, she senses that importance and stops herself from killing him. She doesn't even injure him at all, but the poor guy is scared shitless because she single handedly took down dozens of soldiers...so he shoots her with less than two feet between them and literally empties an entire clip into her abdomen, given that he was on the ground at the time.

She falls backwards and she is pretty much bleeding out. Preacher is the one that jumps right into panic mode and rushes over to her, trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood in a vain attempt to save her life. He is yelling at Mystic and Wrath to help him save her, but they just stand there. Wrath refuses to leave the currently incapacitated Third and Fourth Captains, knowing that his Elizabeth would never forgive him if anything happened to them. Mystic simply gives him a cold look saying that Artz wouldn't be in this condition if her heart hadn't been turned off...then says that if she dies, he only has himself to blame because she locked away her heart just to save him. Her blood would be on his hands because it was entirely his own fault. 

Preacher couldn't honestly believe what he was hearing. He understood why Wrath wasn't getting involved, acting as protector and defender for his injured comrade, but Mystic wasn't even going to lift a single finger to help the Star Child. He couldn't understand why she was being so cruel, why she simply allowed events to unfold when she had the power or means to change them...and then Artz's heart stopped beating. 

For a moment all he could do was stare... stare at the body of the very woman he had been hired to kill. His recently acquired soul reacted violently to the sudden loss of the woman's life force, something that had been a constant presence for said soul. Preacher's heart and mind flooded with a grief so profound that he jumped straight into a vengeful fury. He did not attack the soldier that had shot her, but the Sorceress of Creation that had done nothing to save the Star Child. 

Even with a soul, he still possessed the gift of empathic clarity and although clouded by his own raw yet powerful emotions, it still allowed him the ability to effectively predict the First Sin's moves, but she was able to hold her own against him. She was fortunate that he had yet to learn every aspect of his empathic power because he could literally put someone down with their emotions alone. She had met a future version of the man and she had been more than a little shocked and whole lot pissed off when the smug bastard smirked at her before she suddenly blacked out. Upon waking, he informed her of the true range and spectrum of his empathic clarity, stressing that she needed to literally pull an eleventh doctor and figuratively say Look at me! I'm a target! Otherwise someone very important was going to be ripped apart with his bare hands...thus resulting in the current situation.

Meanwhile the soldier that had killed the Star Child was watching the former assassin attack the First Sin, all that pain and sorrow, grief and despair, hatred and revenge...and all for a woman he had only just met and who had quite literally beaten the crap out of him mere moments ago. He looked down at the weapon in his hands then at the blood stained corpse of the woman he had just murdered. He threw away the gun and crawled over to her body. He felt true and honest remorse for taking her life and he wanted nothing more than to turn back time and stop his idiot self from ever pulling the trigger, so he did the next best thing...calling on an ability that he had kept secret and hidden for his entire life.

This ability is what allowed him to undo what he had done...well to at least get the woman breathing again. When the soldier managed to restart her heart, it ironically reawakened her emotions. The sudden surge of life force and intense emotions completely overwhelmed the grief stricken Preacher and he lost consciousness because of it, landing in Mystic's open and ready arms. He wouldn't find out for a long time about how she had hugged him to her chest and shed silent tears, knowing that he would hate her for several lifetimes and breaking her heart in the process, causing an issue within her that would never fade away. The Blood Guard protect their own, even if they hate them for it, because above all else...they were family.

Moving forward, Preacher awoke to find the Star Child asleep next to him. She was gripping his shirt, crying a steady stream of tears even while she was asleep. He realized just how much she cared, how far she was willing to go to save him despite all the atrocities he had committed against her and the Blood Guard. He knew that it was highly unlikely that the Guard would ever embrace him as one of their own. He had killed so many people and all because he was trying to ensnare the Lady of the Blood Guard in a trap to kill her once and for all. No, they would never accept him after everything he has done, but watching the woman crying in her sleep and clinging to him like he was about to disappear...it didn't matter, so long as he would get the chance to learn more about this mysterious goddess of mercy...they could all go to hell for all he cared.

He would gladly bear their hatred and spend his life as the outsider, the enemy within their ranks, because he honestly believed that she might be worth it. He was proven right of course. He was definitely not going to win any popularity contests anytime soon, and his goddess of mercy was proving to be a walking contradiction. She was impossible yet she existed and don't even get him started on how deep the rabbit hole was for that woman's heart. She felt everything so strongly, her emotions carrying a much greater impact due to how intensely she felt things...talk about a headache. 

For the first few decades, he felt like he was constantly drowning but when she left his sensing range, he felt so empty like she had somehow expanded his own emotional capacity and he was struggling to compensate. This proved to be quite the challenge, but that space was soon filled because he was bloody terrified of his other half. Death Toll was nothing like him; wild, crass, extremely dangerous, highly manipulative, and did not give a shit about anyone or anything. Preacher honestly believed that should his counterpart ever gain awareness of the outside world that he would seek out the Star Child and kill her...or worse because he knew that there were fates worse than death and he adamantly refused to allow the assassin to hurt her anymore.

He spent over a hundred years keeping his alter ego fully contained and partially dormant, a light slumber but was easy enough to maintain without having to exert too much effort. During that century, he spent a great deal of time with the crimson haired woman whose sapphire eyes shined with a light from within. They had predominantly stayed away from the more populated areas of the Realm. Why because she didn't like how the rest of the Guard, with the exception of her inner circle known as the Prism or Prismata, were treating him. In fact, it made her quite angry but also incredibly disappointed. Angry that someone she cared for was hated so much and disappointed that her beloved Guard were still so close minded.

The former assassin had been utterly floored by this admission from her. This was due to the fact that he was constantly struggling to understand what the hell he was feeling and he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that this woman, who by all rights should hate his guts for what he did, cared for him so much. It didn't make any sense to him. She was contradictory to everything he knew about human nature and their emotional reactions. He asked her once...why didn't she hate him...the look on her face and the feelings he was sensing with his gift...she was confused...why? What didn't she understand about such a simple question? He voiced his own confusion in response to her own and her answer...it broke his heart.

'How can I hate someone when I'm too busy hating myself.'

It was the first time that he had ever been physically rough with her. He actually slammed her back against a nearby tree, birds flying away from the sudden disruption. He started yelling at her about all the things he had done before they met, all the members of the Guard he had slain, how he massacred entire towns and villages simply because he had walked into them. He yelled at her about how he brutally murdered the Third Mage, the Magi of the Air, her beloved Van...sharing every detail about each life he took and the thought processes of each person he tortured, treating it all like it was nothing more than a series of experiements to see what worked and what didn't.

By the time he had finished, they were both sitting on the ground. His forehead resting against her chest as his fingers gripped the fabric of her cloak, he was crying...the deeper emotions, that he had no idea were even there, were erupting from his being; his guilt, his shame, his sorrow and self-hatred, all the pain and loneliness...it all came out at once. She never said a word and simply let him drown her in tears. When he finally released her cloak, his body sagging in exhaustion, he still had just enough energy to be surprised when she wrapped her arms around him in a gentle embrace and said she was sorry. He lost the battle and fell asleep, wondering what the hell she had been apologizing for.

When he awoke in his room, he discovered the Second Hollow was sitting in a chair near his bed. The name given to him after he became the Hollow of Death was Crow and he was her servant.

Preacher was never quite sure how to act around the one called The Demon of the Blood Guard. The Second Hollow had always been cordial, polite, and one of the few members of the Guard that actually treated him like he was actually one of them. Crow was always a grey area for his empathic clarity. He knew how to conceal his emotions from others both physically and mentally which always rubbed the former assassin the wrong way, probably because he was used to feeling others emotions all the time. 

The Hollow of Death apologized for his intrusion and promptly stated why he had gone against etiquette and entered his room without his permission. He wanted to explain the words and actions of his mistress, the Star Child. According to the demonic servant, Artz was well aware of what was transpiring on Sol side even though the Prismata had tried to shield her and refrained from action despite wanting to intervene. Preacher called bullshit saying that she would not allow others to die like that. The Hollow's next statement really rattled the poor guy, echoes of Mystic. 

'The only way to overcome a gift such as yours, one must be without emotion; for my mistress, this state of being is a fate worse than death, but for you, my mistress would scorch the earth, blacken the sky with smoke, blanketing the ground with ash, and the waters of the world would run red with the blood of her victims...and all for you.'

The former assassin didn't know what to say to such ominous and rather foreboding words, but it would seem that Crow was not finished with him yet. He explained his previous statement as a causality born from her heartless state which was very much like his soulless state. This was when Preacher learned that he had been born without a soul and that during his fight with the Lady of the Blood Guard, she unknowingly shoved one of the lost souls she held within her, into his body. Thus the creation of both himself and his alter ego, Death Toll.

This revelation made him question a great many things after the Hollow of Death had left. He had learned so much from their rather lengthy conversation, more like a glorified Q&A on steroids. He went to find his goddess of mercy only to cross paths with the last person he had killed before his confrontation with the Star Child...Van. He damn near bolted, but instead held his ground. Surprise was the flavor of the day when the Third Mage playfully flicked his forehead, his eyes stormy and his emotions contradicting themselves.

His jaw actually dropped when the wind mage apologized for attacking him on Sol side. It had been his first time as a mentor and he failed to protect her. He had known that the Perfect Assassin of the Black Death Bell Toll Church had been commissioned to kill Artz, and yet still chose to remain on Sol side because his student wanted to visit her family before returning to the Realm. He had taken a walk to clear his head because it wasn't easy being someone's teacher. He never should have left the town because when he returned, everyone was dead...his student left naked and drained of blood on some sort demonic altar.

Preacher opened his mouth to say something, but Van shoved a jelly filled pastry in his mouth. The Magi of the Air didn't blame him for what happened because he knew that the man before him would never take the life of an innocent and most certainly would not kill one of their own. The former assassin choked down the pastry to speak, only to have another one shoved in his mouth, making him glare at the Third Mage. 

'You are Preacher of the Prismata, a member of the Blood Guard. You are not the empty being I fought before and me, as well as the rest of the Prism, don't blame you for what he did. Why because he died in that cathedral and you can't be held accountable for the actions of a dead man.'

Having said his piece, he plopped the bag with the remaining pastries into the stunned man's arms and told him that he had gotten them to try and cheer up Her Ladyship because she was guilt tripping herself into the next age about forcibly branding him. Preacher nearly breathed in the remaining bit of the pastry, coughing a bit as he realized why the crimson haired woman had been apologizing to him and why she hated herself. The wind mage smirked at him then walked away while giving him a lazy wave goodbye.

He sought out the Star Child and found her sitting at the base of the very tree he had slammed her into the previous day, her head buried into her lap and her arms were wrapped around her legs. He didn't need his empathic clarity to tell him that she was crying, her body language practically screamed countless feelings; guilt, remorse, shame, and a not so healthy dose of self-hatred. This woman...he honestly believed that she would feel guilty for something that wasn't even her fault. She definitely seemed like one of those selfless types, but based on his interactions with her thus far...she was both, selfless and selfish. Selfless by constantly giving so much of herself to so many and selfish because she hoarded all the negative emotions and tried to carry the burden alone.

He loved hearing her squeak in surprise when he ruffled her hair all over the place. He spent the rest of the day trying to make her smile, but she barely spoke a handful of sentences before drifting off into a solemn yet shameful silence. He remembered what Crow and Van had said, so he thanked her and boy did her emotions surge. She became more animated then, trying to comprehend why he would thank her for basically shackling him to her and forcing him to join her Guard against his will...she fell silent again when he kissed her forehead, a soft blush appearing on her face.

'Thank you for being you because you are enough.'

Preacher did indeed become waterlogged again but he could tell that it was from relief this time. He knew the guilt would always be there...for both of them, but it didn't stop him from trying to help her sort out all the emotional junk that had apparently been piling up for a while... which was why the Hollow of Death had paid him a personal visit and essentially warned him about what would happen if her heart were to shut down which was quite possible given how strong her emotions were. 

Though the creepy butler still rubbed him the wrong way and Van was just an asshole with some major emo bullshit that made him want to punch the jerk in the face. Did he mention that his idiot self fell in love with the most impossible being in the whole of creation...why was his life so damn complicated and did he honestly want it to be any other way? For her, he there was no price that he wouldn't pay just to keep a smile on her face and even though it took a few decades, he eventually got his wish and seeing that smile every day made his heart soar...and he pretty much didn't give a shit about anything or anyone else. All he needed was her because she was enough for him, sometimes even too much...par for the course.

Due to the current animosity towards him, Preacher/Death Toll did not undergo the normal training regiment which would have included a mentor with similar abilities and an opposites mentor so he could defend against the antithesis of his gift. When the Star Child suddenly vanished for an extended period of time, he was deeply concerned which progressed quite quickly into intense worry as more and more time passed, but then one day out of the blue, he was taken to one of the testing ranges which initially confused him because he hadn't picked up or fired a weapon since joining the Guard. 

His confusion intensified when the Star Child showed up carrying a cross covered in cloth and bound in buckles. She set it down with a heavy thud and he realized that it was a lot heavier than it looked. Sure his name was Preacher but did she honestly expect him to carry around a cross that apparently weighed a few tons? She lifted it up, honestly surprising him by how strong she was, and pressed the quick release, causing the buckles to disconnect and the cloth to give way. Both cloth and buckles were drawn away and stored themselves into the top part of the cross.

He was shocked into orbit when he realized that the large metal cross was, in fact, a multipurpose weapon. A gatling gun was built into the bottom of the cross, one of the sides housed several hand guns, the other side of the gun contained the ammunition for the gatling gun, but he was shocked that the top where the cloth and buckles were stored also served as a rocket launcher. Apparently the cloth and buckles weaved themselves around the center of the cross itself where the trigger system was...did she have to make the trigger look like a skull?

Now here is where the latter part of Death Toll's profile comes in. Admittedly I did forget to add this tidbit of information about the brands/crests/marks. The First Captain is the one that engineered the marks, specifically an underlying set of codes and behaviors like when they appear and disappear, how they are formed after meeting the Star Child, and more specifically, ensuring absolute loyalty to the Lady of the Blood Guard. When given a direct order from Artz, they must obey otherwise the brand will begin to generate pain. The more they resist, the fiercer the pain became. Now she did not know that he had done this and she was not happy when she did find out...his fellow Hollows had warned him and he paid the price by having her kick his butt all over the Realm.

Artz suggested that Preacher allow his alter ego, DT, to test the weapon named the Punisher, but he refused. When asked why, he told her about his fear and utter terror of his other half. She laughed, she actually laughed and said 'Just because something is dark does not mean that it is evil.'. He continued to be obstinate until she sighed heavily and ordered him to relinquish control of his body to Death Toll. For almost an hour, he struggled to overcome the brand, but the pain became so great that he had to submit. Thus ensuing the rise of DT and...ahem... punishing his smoking hot sex goddess. Preacher had been utterly appalled at how his alter ego had treated the Star Child, but settled into a gentle roar when DT swore an oath to never inflict any pain on her unless she requested it.

I know this article is going to be a long one but hang in there because this next bit will be worth it...I think. It took a few more years for Preacher to stop being so paranoid about his alter ego but eventually his fears and doubts subsided, given how the Star Child reacted to both of them. He spent several centuries pretty much wandering about as Death Toll because he honestly didn't want to be around the majority of the Blood Guard. 

DT didn't give a shit about all the glares and gossip, but Preacher had developed a bit of a complex...he was far more sensitive to their emotions than he wanted to be and although he felt great guilt and remorse for killing so many of the Guard, he didn't like them, any of them...they all got on his nerves and their stupid emotions kept his gift so damn active that he could barely think on some days. 

He was the outsider...he could tolerate the third and fourth captains, he became exhausted by just being around Wrath for less than two minutes... way too hyperactive for his tastes, he steered clear of the Hollows just on principle, the Third Mage had become a constant thorn in his side, and he straight up hated Mystic.

Serendipity...a happy accident...that was how it all started. One single chance encounter with a young boy and his life changed forever. This little boy's past contains many secrets in connection to Preacher, but for now I will simply show you who he met one day when he was actually wandering about as himself.

Now this boy is quite unique, not to mention a different species despite his humanoid appearance, but you probably don't recognize him like this so allow me to show you what he looks like as an adult.

That's right, ladies and gents! The young boy that Preacher meets is none other than his future partner, Vash the Stampede! The encounter between these two is quite different from the show and manga. The first is that Vash is a child, but in the Realm, he is very wise for someone so young. Preacher had stumbled across the boy who was watching a butterfly being cocooned by a spider. Believing that the brat would start bawling about the butterfly being killed, he tried to reach for it to free it, but Vash knocked his hand away. 

He said that if nothing ended then nothing would begin, that death is necessary for the continuation of life...though a lot of the Guard were giving their best shots at avoiding death and living as long as possible. Hell, he actually demanded that they perform the procedure to freeze his internal body clock. Why because the Star Child had already watched thousands of her loved ones be born, grow old, and die...stolen by time itself like it was punishing her. This was why the Hall of Memories was created...to preserve and protect the memories of their fallen comrades, to keep them alive in their hearts, and to learn from the past to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Preacher simply turned and left, but a certain little plant boy followed him, chattering up a storm. Nicholas honestly believed that if the boy hadn't been a different species, he would swear that Vash was Artz's son because that boy word vomited almost as much as Her Ladyship and had enough optimism to ignite his own sun. Eventually the boy fell asleep while using Preacher's left arm as a pillow, so the forner assassin put the kid on his back and carried him to the Star Child's home a little after sunset. 

Shortly before arriving, the boy woke up slightly and hugged him, saying I love you, Big Brother. It was that comment, just five words, that broke through to the man's heart. It would take him a very, very, very long time to consciously acknowledge that the hyperactive broom headed kid was actually someone he loved like a baby brother...which ties in to Vash's own personal history because this was a chicken and an egg paradox.

After this encounter, both Preacher and Death Toll agree to participate in the mentoring program and even though Vash was still a child, he jumped on the chance to have them be his teachers. More often than not, the little plant boy got on their nerves so they were probably a bit harsher than they should have been which led to Vash believing that they hated him, Preacher especially, but the boy never wavered in his love for them and when he was finally old enough to be assigned a partner, the Star Child gave him his signature red outfit. 

He was then partnered with Preacher, but they didn't take on any missions at first so that he could be trained in all forms of combat with heavy focus on projectile weapons and martial arts. When deemed ready by his mentors/partners, Artz presented him with a very unique gun, one that could channel his plant energy into specific forms depending on what type of shell was loaded into the barrel.

This gun is called the Caster. It is the preferred weapon of the main character, Gene Starwind, in the cult classic anime called Outlaw Star. Artz, with the help of the First Sin, created several variations of this gun so that it could work with a wide variety of energies and magicks. She was a big fan of this gun and she wanted Vash to give it a test run, asking that he use it first before reverting to his normal weapon. 

The gun proved to be quite effective during their first three missions and the duo worked seamlessly together, but it was their fourth mission together that would change everything, their entire friendship turning on its axis. The story of this mission is derived from multiple sources that some of you will undoubtedly recognize. These sources include, but are not limited to; Ghost Rider, Dragon Age: Origins, Trigun, and ironically Sailor Moon.

I apologize to those that would just love to know how I mixed all those forms of entertainment to create an absolutely incredible yet extremely emotional series of events, but I won't be spoiling that just yet. More than likely it will either be an article all its own or be a part of Vash's profile considering a good chunk of it has to do with him personally. 

This series of events really defines or should I say redefines how Nick and Vash interact with each other and with other people and surprisingly, keeps them very close to how the originals had been portrayed...so bonus for all you die hard Trigun fans *points to self before moving on*. Now for a brief showcase to show off the cross shaped weapon called the Punisher and the man that wields it.

Yeah, Nicholas D. Wolfwood is a fucking badass which is why he is a member of my Guard. He is one the most important characters in The Star Chronicles, has one of the most emotionally impactful origin stories, somehow managed to remain in character with his Trigun counterpart, and he still doesn't have a full introduction despite how much of his history has already been flushed out. 

Preacher becomes very important in Book One: Stardust and he's not the only one either. A good chunk of the beginning of Stardust takes place from either Yuna's or Durga's POV, but as we delve deeper into the mystery of their forgotten past, other POVs will begin to be used as more information comes to light and thus making it easier to use these other points of view without dropping the mother of all expositions dumps which is something I am trying to avoid with The Star Chronicles.

One of the hardest things for me to do is, in fact, the beginning. The start of the story is the most vital piece contrary to popular belief. The beginning has to be able to catch the reader's attention, yes, but also hold it, make them want to come back and read more. Readers will often become bored with stories because it drops too much information on them all at one go. 

The key is to keep things ambiguous, mysterious, and really spark their curiosity...a trail of bread crumbs so to speak which is not my forte because there is simply so much that is either going on or is about to happen and i get a little too impatient because I want so badly for everyone to see this realm I've created and get to know some of their favorite characters but see them in a completely new light.

The origin story of Death Toll and Preacher and subsequently Vash the Stampede was quite enlightening for me because I love the dynamic between the Humanoid Typhoon and Nicholas D. Wolfwood, but one line in the anime struck me as wrong because it didn't sound like something that Vash would say and because of this one line, this singular comment, out popped one of the most heart wrenching plot twists I have ever done and every time i reread it, I still cry because it felt real, plausible, and made a lot of sense for these particular characters which really surprised me. Take this quote from Wolfwood for example.

This line applies to the series of events that so irrevocably changed everything about their friendship and partnership. These events gave a logical and believable reason for why the Realm's version of Vash the Stampede acts and feels the way he does yet keeps him in character with his Trigun counterpart. The point is that you shouldn't be afraid to experiment with your characters so long as there is a clear and defined reason as to why specific behavior patterns change from the original source material. This is why so many readers scream that a character is too OOC, out of character, or a Mary Sue, the perfect character that can do no wrong and is perfect for absolutely everything.

I've tried very hard to show that my self-insert original character, Artz, is in fact flawed and does make mistakes. Yes, she is capable of doing impossible things, has incredible powers, and a seemingly endless supply of kindness and love, but she is also human. She spent her life being beaten down by countless people, even falling into a severe persistent depression that takes her years, decades even, and even then she never runs right again. She does her best, stays out of trouble, always tries to help, but more often than not, it eventually backfires which is why she was abandoned by every friend she ever made until she met Anna and Erin. 

She fought to keep her head above water, to be someone that her friends and elder brother could be proud of, and when the end came, she fought back, she refused to surrender. She dared to believe in the unbelievable and as the stars went out one by one, she finally saw and felt what her friends and brother had been telling her for years; that she was special, that she was unique, that she was a genius, that she shined with the light of her very own star and that she touched the heart of every person she met. When the world cried out in despair, she became a beacon of hope, of light, of the possibility of miracles, but it was too late...she failed and she alone survived the end of her reality, universal entropy and I don't know about you, but you don't just get over that and it effects everything she does.

So many times, she is incredibly reckless, trying to save as many as she can and not giving a damn about herself, because she failed when it mattered most and she tries her best to never let anyone suffer even remotely close to how she had suffered. She would rather die an infinite number of times, experiencing all the pain and agony of all of them at the same time, just to spare a single individual from even the smallest amount of pain. 

This is why Preacher, Death Toll, and the entirety of The Prism Guard are so important, why the forming of The Prismata was such a vital necessity, because Artz is too busy trying to save everyone else that she forgets that her life is important too. The Prism was forged to not simply protect the Star Child, but to more often than not, to save her from her greatest enemy...herself. 

She may appear to be a Mary Sue but she is far from it, for it is her very own heart that is her greatest flaw, her greatest weakness, that causes her to make mistakes because she loves everyone so much that it can and will cloud her judgement. This is one of the main reasons why both Death Toll and Preacher are so vital because unlike everybody else, she cannot hide her true emotions from them. 

She acknowledges this fact and chooses to embrace it rather than fight against it, knowing that she is very much like her personal hero, The Doctor and that sometimes she needs to be stopped, to prevent her from going too far...she needs them to temper her kindness, to redirect her emotions, and sometimes to simply and quite bluntly tell her to stop being so damn selfless and worry about herself for a change.

Hook: Enough, wench.

Artz: *blinks* Enough what?

Preacher: You kind of want off topic at the end.

Artz: No I didn't. Why because your gift is empathic clarity which is why you are vitally important, but they needed to understand her a bit more so that they can fully comprehend your true significance.

Durga: *mumbles* Land war in Asia.

Yuna: *whispers* More like hello rock meet hard place.

Wrath: *pops up in between Durga and Yuna* Hey Elizabeth!

Mystic: *hits him in the head* Keep it down, idiot.

Light: More like keep it up, you mean.

Hook: Are you trying to get killed, Sparky? *to Mystic* And when did you start going by Mystic? I thought that was your....*suddenly bound in duct tape by the Zimmerman siblings*

Yuna: That...is one spoiler that we are trying to keep under wraps....

Durga: *snorts*

Yuna: *rereads previous comment and starts snickering*

Artz: *pushes all of them out of the article* Since I've descended into having yet another conversation with my characters, I will end it here; however, there is a fan made music video on YouTube that is a tribute to Wolfwood. Click on the play button below to watch it for yourselves. I absolutely fell in love with the song and is, I think, going to be Preacher's theme tune.

Death Toll: Let me guess, mine is Bodies Hit the Floor, right?

Artz: *punts him back to Stardust*

The Assassin, Death Toll

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay but the holidays really took it out of me. Plus I've been debating about which member of the Guard to write up next. I thought about doing The Captains but since I mentioned DT in Stardust, I decided that he would be next. Now DT is a bit tricky because he initially starts out as an enemy of the Blood Guard. Did I mention that he didn't have a soul? Yeah, this is an important detail about this particular character because when he is granted a soul of his own...it creates a division. To be more precise, he is one of two personalities created by the sudden introduction of a soul to his physical form. Two halves of the same soul and thus creating two very different people. This post will only cover DT and his alter ego will be the the subject of the next post. Now for introductions!


The Assassin of the Blood Guard, Second in Command of the Chaos Brigade, The Punisher. He is Death Toll of the Assassination Corps and he is her Heartless.

Now anyone that has watched this anime or read the manga are undoubtedly screaming their heads off right now. Why because this is none other than Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun, also referred to as The Punisher. Now good ol' Nick here gets to have a split personality in the form of Death Toll and Preacher because I like poking at characters to see just how much I can do with said characters. In the anime, Wolfwood is a gun for hire, the founder of an orphanage in the city of December, and is considered to be the best friend of the legendary Vash the Stampede... both having very different views in regards to killing.

Now in the universe of the Blood Guard, he is born without a soul which already made him dangerous, but he also possessed a very unique gift referred to as empathic clarity. This gift garnered the attention of an organization called The Black Death Bell Toll Church, in the anime it is called The Eye of Michael. This organization gathered children with either great potential or unique abilities and trained them to become assassins, the ultimate killing machines. So...Nick is soulless and possesses empathic clarity...how does this translate to the art of killing? I'm stealing Sesshoumaru's title for this...The Killing Perfection.

The gift of empathic clarity allows Death Toll to use his opponent's emotions against them. How you may ask...by using said emotions to predict their every move with one hundred percent accuracy. Now this gift only works perfectly so long as he does not possess a soul. The reason is that once gaining a soul, his own emotions would hinder this special ability, oftentimes clouding or obscuring what he senses and thus allowing the possibility of misinterpretation. However, during his childhood and early adulthood, this wasn't an issue. He had a one hundred percent kill ratio, an absolutely flawless record, and not a single individual could defeat him or overcome his empathic clarity.

When his notoriety as the perfect killer hit a certain level, he was hired by a secret society for a very special mission...the elimination of the Blood Guard, more specifically to bring about the permanent demise of the Star Child. He accepted the job on the condition that the society would provide him with every bit of information they had on the Guard and their founder and to not get in his way. When asked why in regards to the information he requested, considering he never bothered doing research into any of his other targets, his answer was simple...the location and identities of the weakest or most vulnerable members of the Guard, whose deaths would inflict the most emotional damage to the Lady of the Blood Guard.

The society questioned him further and he simply stated that the easiest way to kill a woman as powerful as she was...attack her heart, blind her with grief, inflict terrible yet lasting pain, and turn her greatest strength into her greatest weakness. The Star Child was well known for her exceptional kindness and the deep bonds of love that she held with each and every member of the Guard. These bonds were her greatest strength, intensifying her powers while granting an increase in number for her Guard. By killing the weakest members, especially children and kindred spirits, it would send her into an emotional spiral of epic proportions and making it quite easy to predict her actions and ultimately leading her to her death. The society warned him of the ones known as The Prismata, but it was a moot point. What effected her would effect them as well.

Once attaining the information about the Blood Guard and his primary target, the killing perfection set out, sifting through the rather extensive records and ultimately discerning which members he should target first. Within the first month, he had massacred over a dozen villages that held ties to the Guard, leaving none alive. He didn't even bother to conceal his methodology and quite blatantly taunted the Blood Guard by leaving the bodies of the children on display in some rather gruesome and horrific ways. Three more months passed and he single handedly assassinated hundreds of the Guard's weaker members and yet his prey had still not revealed themselves. He was beginning to wonder if his Intel was faulty but after a rather brutal interrogation of some of the stronger members, he discerned that the Blood Guard was deliberately blocking the bonds the Star Child had with those on Sol side.

Death Toll had found this to be extremely inconvenient and simply started murdering all those that crossed his path. It didn't matter who they were; men, women, children, the elderly, infants, other races and creatures. All who had the misfortune of meeting him were slain, each one becoming more brutal than the last. Four years of constant killing, a never ending blood bath...that was how long it took before he crossed paths with the one person that the Star Child would most definitely feel dying, regardless of the machinations of her Guard. This individual was, in fact, a member of The Prismata and part of the inner circle that was in constant contact with his primary target.

Who was this incredibly unfortunate soul...the Third Mage of the Blood Guard and Magi of the Air, Van Yagami. The only reason why these two had crossed paths was due to the death of a young woman that Van had been teaching, his very first student as a mentor. Her death had not been quick or painless. The perfect killer that was Death Toll had forced the wind mage's student to suffer an extremely slow and painful death in the form of a demonic summoning ritual...it didn't actually summon a demon, it was just a means of murder that the assassin had yet to attempt and he had found the experience to be quite informative. By butchering Van's student, he incited the wrath of the Pathfinder resulting in the activation of the Stigma of the Wind, but because it had been activated by fury and the need for revenge, Van was much weaker than normal and the third mage died quite quickly but in excruciating agony.

The Star Child did indeed feel the death of her beloved pathfinder, but was restrained by all three Hollows, the Third and Fourth Captains, and the First and Second Sin of the Order of the Seven Deadly Sins. Van's body, along with his student's, was retrieved by the Archmage and the Druid King that had journeyed into the past for this very reason. The combined might of Merlin and his twin sister, Emrys, were able to successfully deflect and shield them from the killing perfection long enough to bring their fallen friends back to the Realm. Once their task was complete, they returned to the future. It was too late to save Van's student but the Star Child was able to save the Magi of the Air.

The First Sin of the Order and Sorceress of Creation, Esmer, took it upon herself to inform Her Ladyship of the events that had been occurring on Sol side for the last four and a half years; every death, every means, and the identity of the creature responsible. The Prismata honestly believed that this news was going to shatter her to pieces, but instead a sad smile graced her lips as she said it's time. The First and Second Sin, along with the Third and Fourth Captains, accompanied the Lady of the Blood Guard to Sol side. When asked about what she was going to do, the answer broke their hearts and flat out pissed off the Captains, but there was simply no other alternative.

'To defeat this man, I must seal away that which defines me...my heart. To ensure that such atrocities are never committed again, I must do something that I thought I would never do. I just hope that they can forgive me for this...there isn't another way and that hurts...My Captain, it will be up to you to stop me for you are the only person in the whole of creation that I will obey, but wait until both have been claimed.'

The soulless assassin made his way to a nearby cathedral, what was left of it at least. It was already in a state of decay but would serve nicely as the Star Child's final resting place. He had no intention of turning her remains over to the secret society that had hired him nor would he allow her body to fall into the hands of The Black Death Bell Toll Church. If they wanted what was left of her then they could retrieve her themselves. He was an assassin, not a delivery boy. His part would be over once his primary target had taken her last breath, never to rise again.

He may not have emotions but his brain still allowed for certain mental states which resulted in a rather perplexing conundrum. His primary target walked into the church yet his gift did not register a single emotion from her. They stood before one other for several hours, neither blinking nor moving at all. His eyes widened as she disappeared, his empathic clarity unable to locate her or predict her movements at all. He was getting the beat down of his life from the seemingly heartless woman yet on some deeper level, he knew that something was being pushed inside of him.

The cathedral began to collapse as he felt his first emotion...awe. He was in awe of her, he respected her, he was confounded by her lack of emotion, he marveled her technique and battle prowess...in his eyes, she was perfect; beautiful, brilliant, and ethereal. She was a smoking hot sex goddess of death and destruction. After a multitude of emotions, the one that would become known as Death Toll of the Blood Guard realized...he was in love...in love with the woman that quite literally handed him his ass and sent him flying out of the crumbling church, making him bounce and skid across the arid ground and kicking up a fair bit of dust along the way.

She did not hesitate to follow and she pinned him to the ground, her left hand firmly grasping his neck in a vice grip. Her other hand grabbed his left hand and he cried out in pain as the back of his hand started burning...like he was being branded by a red hot cattle prod. That's when he felt a second consciousness being formed within him and it was being forced to the surface. When this second personality took center stage, her hands changed positions, her right hand gripping his hair and forcing him to expose his neck while her left hand grabbed his right hand and the scorching brand like pain erupted on the back of said hand.

Death Toll didn't really remember much of what happened but he did know that his other self was getting the crap beat out of him and he tried to take control but the smoking hot sex goddess forced him back inside. He did not become fully aware of his surroundings until a scorching pain emanating from his right hand made itself known and he could feel the brat trying to stay in control of their shared body. When he finally relinquished control, his eyes changed colors.

The first thing he saw was the glorious gorgeous goddess and he felt her emotions with his empathic clarity. He couldn't help himself and he pinned her to the closest flat surface he could find which was a wall, his body pressed fully against hers. When she giggled, her eyes had sparkled with mirth and a gentle fondness. By the stars, this woman truly was a goddess to him and so he worshipped her like one. He claimed her body again and again, positively drunk with her presence and the deep well that was her emotions. 

He was completely captivated by the depth and intensity of her emotions. He had never felt anything remotely close to what he had found within her heart and he was honestly surprised when he sensed such strong, positive emotions directed towards him and his alter ego. He could feel it...she loved them, had always loved them, and he knew that she always would. This revelation made him be particularly rougher with her and he pushed her well beyond her physical limits which did result in her passing out from extreme acute exhaustion, but it was so totally worth it.

He finally noticed the cross shaped weapon laying on a nearby table, the brat's memories floating through his mind...the Punisher. The man known as Death Toll picked up the weapon, absolutely loving the design and feel. Personally tailored just for him...them...hm, a weapon meant for the love sick puppy that was his alter ego...who was currently swearing up a storm and yelling at him for how he had treated the smoking hot sex goddess. As he tested each function of the Punisher, he allowed the puppy to have an open connection so that they could communicate and he gave him his word that the only harm he would ever inflict on their goddess would be what she wanted him to do to her...specifically stating that he would not murder the woman that had made them her bitch...to which his alter ego had mentally face palmed.

Death Toll, more commonly known as DT, honestly didn't give a crap about anyone outside of his smoking hot sex goddess. The puppy eventually allowed others into his heart, starting with the little plant boy then others kept popping up. It drove DT up the wall, he honestly hated all these people...plant boy made for a good drinking buddy when he got older though so not a complete waste. Millennia passed before he crossed paths with someone that actually made his sex goddess squeal like a rabid fan girl and loved chaos even more than he did. It helped that his favorite redhead was practically super glued to the newcomer...the look on their face was priceless....like no one had ever reacted to them the way she did...and the identity of this mysterious individual that held such sway over him and his sex goddess....*points below*.

Oh yeah, I went there. Say hello to the leader of the Chaos Brigade and is essentially Death Toll's best friend, Missy and yes, this is the one from the Whoniverse. More on her and Meta at a later date. Anyways, on this lovely little bombshell, I'm gonna end it here. Up next is the other half of the equation, Preacher...and a bit more about a certain little plant boy. Seeya!