"There's a hole in my chest ... Right where my heart used to be."
"How quaint and cute. The little puppet's found some toys of her own to play with."
Going still at the sound of the voice, Reika clenched her hands against Talon's chest, her hair standing on end.
"... Lutkar."
Slowly turning and stepping out from Talon's arms, Reika adjusted the sleeves of her jacket, her head tilting slightly to the side. A dull, bored look filled her eyes, despite the hollow fear deep in her stomach. "What brings you to this part of the In-Between? As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat."
Chuckling, Lutkar dropped down from the tree that he was perched in, landing lightly on the toes of his feet, and without a sound. With his hands casually being held in his pockets, he lounged over to the two. He held himself like a prowling cat as he circled Reika, leaning creepily to the side with a slightly sadistic smirk on his lips. Leaning in close, he took a few sniffs of Reika before straightening and stretching his arms high above his head. "You smell delicious as always, Little Daímonas. You still holding out on allowing me to have a little taste?" he purred, his voice holding an underlying growl to it.
Easily hiding her response to his suggestion, Reika ran her fingers through her ponytail, nonchalantly braiding the hair as she brought it over her shoulder. "I will not ask you again. Why are you here, Lutkar?"
Jutting his lower lip out, he looked down at her like a child who was scolded would to their mother. "You're so cold, Little Daímonas," he sighed. After a moment, he drew up his smirk again, his eyes darkening with malice. "I'm here to deliver a little message. It comes from Him."
With that, he launched into an attack - one which killed Talon and brought Reika very close to death herself.
~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~
The man glanced up from the book in his hand. The smell of rain was in the air, and as he upturned his nose to gain a better sniff, he muffled a sigh. However, the sound of footsteps intervened with his annoyance. Tilting his head to the side, he fixated a dark eyed gaze on the young man who was currently retreating from the dormitories, plate and sandwich in hand, cocky attitude and all.
"'Bout damn time that kid got his shit together ..."
Snapping the book shut, he tucked it into an alcove nearby, braced his hands on the balcony railing, and vaulted over the side of it. He didn't bother to shield his presence but instead sauntered nonchalantly right up beside Tatsuya, hands shoved into his pockets.
"So ... The beast lives," Elden joked dryly. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned and began to walk backwards, quirking up an eyebrow at the boy. "Well? Are you going to explain yourself?"
When, again, he received no answer, he moved to block Tatsuya's path, standing directly before him. Instead of allowing him to pass him, Elden held out his arm and stopped the boy.
"What you're doing ... It isn't right, Tatsuya. You're worrying everyone. It's an inconvenience for me, really. But not for everyone else. They're all worried about you. All of them. They need their leader back. They need their friend back. They need you back, Tatsuya."
Dropping his arm, he still had yet to look at the young man, instead staring directly ahead of him and behind Tatsuya. "And you're worrying her. You haven't a clue what you're doing to her, do you? The girl rarely eats and sleeps. She is constantly either training or worrying about you and the other members of the Alliance. I don't know every detail about what happened that night so long ago, but it isn't right what you're doing to her, and you damn well know it. It isn't fair to her - and it's pissing me off!"
Lifting his hand, Elden shoved the other boy roughly, leaning down so that his face was directly in his.
"You're acting like a spoiled little piece of shit brat that didn't get specifically what he asked for for Christmas. Now get your shit together and figure out what the Hell you want out of everyone, because what you're doing right now - it's the lowest of the low!"
Clenching his fists, he ground his teeth together and turned on a heel, quickly leaving now that he had rid himself of the words that he had pent up for so long.
~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~
"T-... Tatsuya ... Please ... Don't ... Don't go ..." Lifting a hand, Reika came to a shaky stop several feet away, her hand lifting to grip her elbow in a tight grasp. "I don't ... Want to see you sad anymore. I can't ... I can't take it ... I only wanted you ... To be happy ..." Moving her hand from her arm, she lifted it to her face, trembling all the way. Tears clouded her eyes, threatening to spill, but she choked them back, allowing them only to shimmer over her irises and cling to her lashes. Lowering her hand a bit, she looked at him through her hair. Gone was the fire that had once been lit in them, and in replacement was emptiness. Complete emptiness. It was as though all of the joy and happiness had been drained from her very core. Glinting throughout that emptiness, however, was pure anguish. Her lips suddenly changed, her jaw clenching into a grimace, and immediately it was as though the flood gates had opened. Endless tears began to stream down her face, and with her energy drained, she simply dropped to her knees. A few splats of rain pattered from the sky, plopping lightly onto her uniform. Bending forward, her hands both lifted to her face as she attempted to rub the tears away and yet only accomplishing in smearing them across her face. "I never ... Meant for any of this ... To happen ... I'm sorry ... That I couldn't make you happy ... And I'm sorry that I'm no good ... And that I'm useless ... So much so ... That I hate myself ..." Blood mixed with tears across her skin, and soon the sky had upended above them, letting loose its own misery for all the inhabitants of The Afterlife to see. "I ... I only ever wanted ... For you ... For us ... For this ... For ..." Clenching her fingers, she grimaced further, more tears overflowing. "More than anything ... I just ... I wanted ... I wanted ..."
"... I wanted us to be together!"