Akira Hikaati's Story

The night sky reflected wild light on the plane below. Orange hues and red tints littered the horizon as sparks of the fires flickered across the open plane. The dry grass had gone up in flames in a matter of seconds right after the fight had broke out. It had been a rush of Wraiths, Spirits and him. The man who started it all.

Akira panted hard, trying to get air through the thick black smoke, making it difficult to breathe. He was wounded already, bleeding from several places and more tired than he'd ever been before. How did things come to this again? Not that the details really mattered, but Akira somehow found himself face to face with their primary enemy.

Blood red eyes bore into his amethyst ones. He tried to straighten himself, only allowing a single glance around his surroundings to see who was still fighting and who wasn't with them anymore. Most of their teams had been reduced to nothing but ash, the Angels, Archangels, even the Demons were struggling against this fight. Akira recognized some faces, friends... if he could call them such right then.... acquaintances of a kind.

His chest was tight with sorrow at their loss, but he didn't have time to really concentrate on it. Akira pulled at the last of his strength, readying a charge that he hoped to do at least some damage to their enemy. If he could just get in one good hit, the man could go down under everyone else's power. If only he could do that much...

The blue-ish white light of electricity bounced across his body, crackling and fizzing as the power gathered. He narrowed his gaze at the man with long hair and eyes the color of blood, the distance was well within his range of attack. Akira channeled that energy into his famed 'lightning'. The strike shot down from mid-sky and enveloped his opponent. Akira's eyes light up with the first ounce of hope he'd had in days.

Across from him the enemy's body was engulfed in blue electricity, the sharp crackling sound just barely covering the man's cry of... laughter. Akira startled as his own charge faded suddenly, leaving not a scratch on his opponent. In the next instant, he felt his own power hit him. Every muscle locked up, his body bending back just slightly from the power that ravaged him. It was only a few seconds, maybe a minute, but to Akira it was so much longer.He couldn't scream, but his mouth was opened. When it faded away he let out a gasp of pain and dropped to the ground.


This had all happened before, it was all so painfully familiar. The sight of maimed bodies, of comrades who had once stood so proudly now fallen upon the ground. The fingers of a young woman were curled upwards, as if grasping towards something but having faltered, at the last second, before she met her untimely demise. The dim look of angry horror upon a man's face, laying disjointed, eyes unseeing. Yes, this had indeed transpired... The laughter, the lightning, the last spur of energy in an effort to turn the tide of the battle. It was all so futile, and he watched as Akira dropped, as he had known he would.

The man some meters before him had a cruel smirk on his face, touching his fingertips to his chin as if contemplating his next course of action. This pause did not matter, Lucian already knew the outcome. Already knew what would come to pass. He forced himself to drag his body forwards, ignoring the sharp pain in his right arm. Blood smeared his face, trickling down over his eye and dripping down his cheek. All of these actions, so repetitive. Still he walked, for he knew that he would at least reach Akira in time.

His legs trembled as he staggered over towards the other, knees buckling as he stood over the collapsed form of the exorcist. How many times had he seen this? His heart felt heavy, it was hurting, the constriction in his chest was so painful. Why did he have to be tortured so? Always the same, always the same...

He adjusted himself on to his knees, not looking up at the figure of their enemy. No, he still had time, time enough to turn Akira over so that the man's head would come to rest upon his lap. Lucian looked down at him, red eyes screaming all of the internal strife he was experiencing that he would not express. With his left hand, he laid the thin digits on Akira's forehead, a sad tinge on his face. He already knew what was going to be said, knew the suggestion. There was no reason to interrupt, not this time, not any other. Because perhaps somewhere inside, he wanted it to be different. Perhaps.


"Lu-cian...What are you.. doing?" Akira asked, a cough working its way into his speech. He winced at the taste of copper and how the cough moved his battered body. His eye sight was dimming slightly and he could hardly focus on the man kneeling over him. Had Lucian always been so alluring? Maybe... but Akira'd never said it to him before. Perhaps he should have. Akira felt a twinge of regret then, the one time that he hoped to cling to life to do something that he hadn't done before.

"Kill him... before he..."


Lucian moved his fingers from Akira's forehead and pressed them against the other's lips to silence him. He ignored the memory that came from this motion, that was another time. So close yet so far away and difficult to recall. "There is little point," He stated, as always, his voice came out calm, even though his emotions were far from it. Still, even as he sighed, there was a touch of hesitation. Was there little point? Then why did he keep hoping for things to change? Why did he allow this to keep repeating? He removed his fingers, the contact had brought with it lingering thoughts of more pleasant times that had passed. Or had yet to happen, depending on the perspective.

"You do not have much longer left," He made the words leave his lips even though he did not want to, made himself gaze at Akira despite how his breath hitched in his throat. This was too cruel, this was far too cruel.


Akira nodded slowly, the movement making him dizzy even though he was lying down. Slowly his eyes closed and for a mere moment he felt that he couldn't open them anymore. Breath still gathered in his lungs, though, and with a little effort, he opened them again, the image of his 'one' sitting right before him. Damn. If only... if only he hadn't been the way he was, maybe things would have been different. Even so, he offered a smile, a rare one.

"I don't.. regret it. Any of it." Akira stretched his fingers, there was some feeling left, even though he'd been hit by his own deadly power. With effort, he managed to raise that hand up, though not as far as he'd have liked. He turned as best he could, leaning into Lucian, the hand he raised resting on the other man's shoulder, slipped loosing strength.


Lucian was quick on the uptake, catching the slackening hand with his delicately. Of course he would say that, of course that foolish exorcist would say that. Even at a time like this, even knowing there was not much of it left. He focused his scarlet orbs very carefully upon Akira, soft voice pitching almost strangely as he fought to get the words out.

"I do not either," He swallowed, eyebrows furrowing together. "It does not have to be like this. I can offer you the choice," He knew Akira would automatically understand, they had discussed this before. Still he knew what the answer would be, but maybe.... just maybe this time, he would be surprised.


"Choice... Lucian... I can't, that.. isn't right..." he replied slowly, his heart aching at just the thought. Half of him wished that Lucian would just do it anyway, the other half knew that it would be a mistake.


He bit his lip, the first signs of his inner-pandemonium leaking through. No, it wasn't right, but it was the only way he could ensure the life of the exorcist that lay dying in his arms. "I could not bear to see you die," His voice hitched at the end, but he pushed on anyway. "So again I offer you. Will you choose?" He tried to convey a lot with his words, tried to push Akira towards the decision they both knew they wanted. Even if he would not remember him, even if they would have to start again... Akira would be alive, and that alternative was more welcome than the other.


He heard the change in tone, slight as it was. Akira shook his head slightly, took a deep, shaking breathe as he tried to get what strength he could to look up at Lucian. His eyes, he knew, were betraying emotion that he rarely ever let through. He knew what Lucian wanted, what he was pleading him for without saying so much. His hand tightened on Lucian's, the one that held his. With his other arm he pushed himself up off the earth and leveled his body as he best he could to Lucian's.

Leaning forward he kissed the archdemon. When he pulled away, he fell hard against the man, using him to be held up in the half sitting position he'd found himself in, "You know I... want to. Damn... my selfishness..." he laughed lightly, but it only turned into a cough, blood coming forth and lightly coating Lucian.


That was it, that was the breaking point. His blank demeanor shifted as he at last allowed himself to display the surprise that he felt. Akira had never done that before, this was new. This was... new. The light sting from the kiss still lingered, the flecks of blood that were scattered upon his cheek ignored. Lucian blinked, his body trembling. There was not much time left now, not much at all for their conversation. He allowed himself just a singular moment of weakness, lowering himself just slightly to embrace Akira while fighting back the warm wetness of a few, scant tears.
"Then I will grant your wish." He said softly and before he released his magicks, he held on to Akira tightly for what he hoped would be the last time in this situation.

“Akira!” Her voice was shrill as she screamed out to him. Her body was tied down, a safety precaution not only for herself but also for everyone else. He felt a pull in his chest as she shouted his name again, her sea green eyes pleading with him and tears spilling forth. How did it come to this again? Akira wasn’t sure, he couldn’t really remember. Raising his gloved hand over her body he began the ‘Purge’, the process of removing the spirit from her. She was terrified, that much he could tell.

“Don’t worry Shelia, I’ll make you better again, alright?” He told her, surprised that she had come to at such a critical point. Sheila nodded, tears spilling across her face as she watched him intently. Was it the Spirits doing? Allowing it’s possessed body and soul to scream out to him in anguish? Was the entity trying to taunt him? Akira wasn’t sure about that either. His jaw tightened as he started the process. He closed his eyes, every fiber in his body heated as he summoned the power.

The power of the Exorcists surged through him and exited his body via his hands. It penetrated Shelia, going deep into her body and soul to grab hold of the Spirit that had possessed her. In reaction, her frame trembled against the bonds that held her down. In the room, several others from the Order surrounded her, trying to keep her from injuring herself. Akira concentrated only on his Purge. The faster he removed the Spirit, the faster Shelia could return to her normal self.

“Akira!” Her scream of agony startled him. Her voice had deepened slightly due to the possession, but she was struggling, fighting the Spirit with every last ounce of strength she had. Akira opened his eyes and looked directly at her, a complete mistake. The grotesque sight before him made his stomach lurch and all of his power over the Purge faded away. Shelia was stained in her own blood, cut open from her chest down. How she was still alive, he didn’t know at the time, but later blamed what was then known as a Wraith. He’d been dealing with a Wraith instead of a Spirit.

How did that happen? That mistake cost him everything. His eyes widened as he looked upon the pitch black form of a creature spilling out of Shelia’s body. The black thing took form, elongated hands, teeth that extended from its faceless head and a sickening smell that permeated the room. Akira couldn’t move as he stared at the Wraith before him. The creature moved at a surprise speed, its long claws cutting through nearly everyone that was in the room. As it whirled back around, it slammed into him, knocking him back and tearing open his shoulder and chest.

It was then that Akira was back in motion. His body charged, the electrical current fizzed across his form and leapt in little dazzling blue-ish white streaks. He aimed the charge and let it explode in a lightning strike right at the Wraith. The being screamed and underneath it, Shelia’s body arched, her scream filled the air as well. Once again Akira lost his resolve, frozen in utter fear at what had just happened.

“AKIRA!” Her voice shattered his hold on his fear. Stumbling, he was down on the ground, panting and trying not to lose the contents of his stomach. A cold chill spread across his spine and he looked up with a startled gasp.

“Humans… so easy,” The Wraith cooed as it leered towards him, claws extended…

Akira's cry of pain and terror filled the room and woke him from the nightmare. He sat up straight, shirtless body in a sheen of sweat, the blankets of his cot tossed off of him entirely. The remnants of his scream faded away soon after, leaving a cold, dead, silence.

Akira stared at the wall across from him, his chest heaving as he tried his best to get a hold over himself once more. The same dream… again, just like always. The Priest of the Order had once tried to council him, tried to get rid of the nightmare, but it never worked. Since then Akira had dealt with it by himself, never allowing anyone to know what was going on in his mind.

---

There was a tumble of auburn hair as a small humanoid creature rolled off the bed, falling on the floor in an ungraceful manner. There was a tiny sound that perhaps could be identified as an "oomf!" as it did so, a fury tail swishing through the air as it tried to regain it's balance. Standing up on wobbly legs, the little youkai rubbed at her eyes, haziness clouding the yellow-greenish orbs. What a terrible noise! It sounded as if someone was dyi--it must've been the new alarm put in place by the Order! She had to wake Mistress right away! Fumbling over her tail for a few seconds before remembering that she could float, the youkai let her body be lifted into the air as she unsteadily glided over towards the sleeping figure of her Tamer.

"Mistress! MISTRESS." The creature called out, the sleeping woman seeming to cringe beneath the covers at the harsh whispers. "Mistress, this is an EMERGENCY. The Order changed their alarm system to caterwhaling!" There was a faint rustle beneath the fabric, a cringe from the now previously sleeping exorcist. "Mistress, are you even awake? Mistress--MISTRESS--MISTRESS OH MY GOSH, HAVE YOU DIED IN YOUR SLEEP?!" In a panicked frenzy, the youkai immediately slipped under the covers, crawling over towards the woman.

There was no choice, she was going to have to give her the slap of love! It was the only way to verify her Tamer's well-being. The little demon reached behind her, feeling around for a bit before she remembered she had attached her crop to the belt on her skirt. She was quite forgetful today. But no matter! She took it in her left hand, cautiously reaching out to pap her Tamer on the cheek. Or at least, she was... up until a hand suddenly reached up, grabbing her firmly around her tiny body and squeezing tightly.

A very low, disgruntled hiss came from behind a mass of messy, violet hair--a single, lavender eye visible from behind the mussy locks. The demon struggled against the hold, okay, her Tamer was most certainly alive. "Mistress, you're--can't--breathe...!" The youkai fidgeted, feeling her lungs sort of collapsing the harder the exorcist squeezed her. "Losing... air... seeing... images of... men... men... ki...ss...ing..." Right before the creature actually passed out, the woman shifted her hold, tugging up the breathless youkai by her tail.

"Reika." The woman spoke shortly and curtly, in a voice that indicated someone was going to get every last, pretty finger cut off shortly. "I heard, did you not pay attention to how I chose to sleep through it? Clearly it was below my barest minimum level for importance. Now." She said, shaking the little girl roughly before tossing her to the bed with an equal amount of force. The demon named Reika slid into the mattress, becoming tangled in the covers.

"Since you were so unnecessarily loud, it looks as if I will need to get up," There was a tinge of dislike as the woman shifted, pushing back her hair to reveal a pale face. The youkai gulped and tried to scramble out of the mess she was in.

"I-I'm sorry, Mistress! Really, I was just worried and totally thought--you know, like that time we went over to the sea and I saw that narwhal!" The exorcist didn't pay these stupid words any heed at all, dragging herself out of bed without sparing another glance at her familiar. At times, Reika was suffocatingly retarded.

---

Once his breathing had relaxed and the terrified feeling long gone, he got off the bed and began to dress. He wore all black, form fitting and with the symbol of the Exorcist on his left breast and a larger symbol across his back. He gathered up his weaponry as well, belting on the knives and a dagger, a vial of holy water and a short sword. He didn’t use the weapons often, but when he did, they really came in handy.

Akira opened the door to his room and walked out into the underground that was the home of the Exorcists. A series of catacombs wove their way through the depths of the earths’ crust, under what used to be one of the major cities in Arkanvale. He had not so much as put a foot out of the doorway when he was approached by one of the younger Exorcists, or rather a page to be more exact.

“You’re wanted in the cathedral,” the young man said softly as he stopped Akira from going any farther. Maybe the youth had been waiting for him to wake this entire time. Not that it really mattered at that point. Akira nodded at the page and sidestepped him, moving swiftly down the tunnel. The cathedral, the area where the page had spoken of, was nothing more than a large opening in the tunnels, closed off by two large double doors.

The Exorcist moved through the near empty hall to what was considered the ‘center’ of the catacombs. His quarters weren’t far from the cathedral and so it did not take Akira long to reach the destination. Carved across the huge wood doors was the symbol of the Exorcist order, the hooked-like question mark covering a cross that spilled blood outwards.

Akira pushed these opened and stepped into the cathedral, his boots making soft sounds as he moved into the room. One eyebrow rose upwards as his amethyst gaze swept the room. It seemed that every Exorcist from the lowest page to the highest rank were gathering there in the Cathedral hall. The tables were filled with curious Exorcists as they all spoke to each other in quiet tones. Akira, on the other hand, avoided all of them and found a spot near the corner of the enormous room and seated himself there. Slowly he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

At the far end of the room, their Vatican came to stand before them. He was a tall man, old, but still fit for fighting. His hair was black, with silver starting to streak through it as it did his beard. Stretching a hand out, he caught all of the Exorcists' attention. Akira wondered, not for the first time either, how the man could accomplish such a feat.

"Arkanvale is being threatened by a large amount of Spirits and Wraiths. We don't know what has happened entirely, but it seems that the gates to Inferno have weakened somehow. To combat this, I've gathered you all here because we are expecting several of Paradiso's Angels and Inferno's Demons to join us in this matter.

"You all will be partnered with one Demon and one Angel. We will determine this through a series of initiations between you all to see who is compatible for each of you. Things should be starting fairly shortly," The Vatican finished his speech and turned from his spot on the balcony above them. He either went to the tables on the other side, or entered the small meeting room that was built up there. Akira's eyes had unconsciously narrowed throughout the speech. Just what he wanted... to be partnered with strangers.

Akira Hikaati

There was more noise now in the Cathedral where the Exorcists were gathered. Many more had come, either by portal from Inferno, or by more general means, walking and the like. Either way, it all disinterested Akira who sat in the corner of the room still with his arms crossed over his chest. He tried his best to ignore all that was around him and pretty much succeeded until the noise ceased to stop. The random idle chatter, soft movements of everyone's bodies, it all came to a stand still. Akira looked up from his place, curious as to what exactly had happened.

Up on the balcony where the Vatican had once been, and stood now, were two new additions. One was a tall man with long flowing hair. His robes were opened and he was clearly a demon as his pointed ears suggested, long claws and horns on his head. Akira turned his gaze to the other one standing on the other side of the Vatican. This one was a little bit shorter, almost childish in looks. Everything he wore had a light blue color to it, his eyes being the same. This was most definitely an angel as Akira could just barely make out the near translucent wings behind him.

The Vatican had raised his hands to gather everyone's attention, and that was what had caused the silence to ensue. Akira stood slowly from his spot and began making his way closer to the front of the room.

"Now that we are all gathered, I'll allow the Demon Commander Treylion and the Angel Commander Rai to direct you in what is to proceed next," With that the Vatican took a step backwards and both the Demon and Angel came forward. Treylion had a slightly displeased look on his face as he looked out amongst those that had gathered before he glanced over to Rai. The smaller Commander looked up as well and gave a soft shrug.

"Awakened angels and demon's that have joined us," Treylion spoke up, his voice was deep and vibrated across the room, "I'll began placing you together. Do this quickly, we've no time to waste," there was a lingering threat in his words and Akira felt a slight chill as he turned his eyes towards the gathered group. The Demon Commander began barking out names and Akira watched as there was much movement across the open room of the Cathedral.

"Lucian, Sangre. Janus and Ryu. Xana and Cadenza. Marethyu, Volos. And Culsa and Caelestis," Treylion finished speaking and waited for a few moments as everyone gathered into their respective groups... all except for the Exorcists. Akira raised an eyebrow as he turned his attention back to the front of the Cathedral.

Rai spoke up this time, his voice was soft, adding to his childish look. Akira almost thought him to be fragile, not the sort of being that would be a 'Commander', "As for you, Exorcists. You'll be placed into each group as we deem fit. What I mean by this is you'll have the choice to fight either myself or Treylion. Based on how well you do, we'll place you in these groups," Rai's eyes swept the gathered Exorcists and laid on Akira. The little Angel smiled sweetly and beckoned to him, "We'll start with you."

Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly took a step forward. The Angel and the Demon watched him as he moved out into the area that had suddenly cleared away. Apparently that was his fighting space. Looking up at the two who stood on the balcony it took the Exorcist a moment to choose whom he wished to fight. There was something about the Angel Commander, almost as if he were too innocent.

"I choose you, Commander Rai," Akira called, his low voice soft but still stretching out across the silence. Rai's smile widened and his wings took him up off the balcony and down into the 'arena' with Akira. For a mere moment, Akira felt a twinge of regret for picking the Angel over the Demon. Perhaps he'd thought that the Angel would be an easy win... he was about to find out. Rai stretched his hand open and in the outstretched fingers, a very large sword began to materialize. Akira's amethyst eyes widened just slightly as he witnessed the weapon.

The blade looked utterly heavy and almost twice Rai's own body size. However, the Angel moved the blade with ease, putting it into a comfortable position across his front. Akira reached back and slowly drew both of his knives, feeling that his weapons were utterly outmatched. His heart pounded in his chest as he eyed the Angel carefully. What if he happened to actually hurt the Commander? What then? Once again, Akira found himself wondering how things had come to be the way they were right then.

Rai smiled innocently and then rushed him. Akira barely got his knives up into block the incoming swipe that aimed for his upper body. The Angel was powerful, and strong, much stronger than he looked. Akira slid backwards from the hit, his arms and fingers in pain from the vibrations that shuddered from blade into his flesh. Wincing he slowly lowered his arms and glowered at Rai.

"Come at me, Exorcist," Rai called, beckoning to him. Akira did as he was asked and lunged forward. His knives slashed, thrust and cut through the air. He was moving as quickly as he could, but no matter how fast he went, no matter what kind of training experience he put into his weapon combat, he couldn't touch Rai. The sound of steel ringing across steel almost became a continuous noise as Akira swiped at him. Rai's blade moved just as quickly as the Exorcists, taking each hit as they slowly moved from one side of the opened area to the other.

Finally, as Akira was starting to slow, Rai turned his blade flat and batted at him. He crashed into the wall that held up the balcony over head. His body went numb for a few moments as he slid down the wall and sat there as he tried to regain his composure. One of his knives had flown from his hand and he couldn't find it. Nor did he have the time for Rai was coming at him, sword level and pointed straight at his chest. Akira ground his teeth, took in a sharp gasp of air and got his body moving. He ducked down and managed to roll away from the attack.

The sword ran into the wall sending bits of stone everywhere and a loud thud issued right with it. Akira turned his head as he was now on his hands and knees some distance away. Damn... He sure hoped that Rai hadn't intended to actually try to harm him, but with what he saw... Akira stood and charged his body. Blue electricity crackled all along his form in little waves of lightning strikes. However, he hesitated, watching Rai carefully. If he hit the Angel full on with his power... it would most certainly hurt him.

Rai didn't wait either way and came at him again. Akira blanched at the speed that the Angel lunged forward. He stepped back and unleashed a small portion of his electricity. A bolt came down between them, stopping Rai's advance mere inches from Akira's throat. The Exorcist quickly bounded away and tried to come in from the side, thinking that he could take advantage then. However, Rai turned and with a hard swipe of his blade caught the Exorcist in his side and sent him flying once more.

"If you don't get serious with me, Exorcist, you will get hurt," Rai warned then. Obviously this was no 'child' that he was fighting. Damned appearances were deceiving. Slowly Akira turned himself over and wiped the bit of blood that had spilled out from the corner of his lips away. Getting back to his feet, he charged his power again. This time he unleashed a more direct, concentrated dose of his electricity. The lightning shot down at Rai, who let it fall over him. Akira watched, half in shock and fear, the other half in amazement that he'd actually struck the Angel.

However, the lightning did not last long and when it faded, Rai still stood there, unscathed. Akira panted, tired from expending so much into one hit. His body ached from being tossed twice and he feared for the rest of the battle to come. Rai leveled the enormous sword once more, his smile returning to his face. Akira dropped the electricity and decided to go a different route. He called on his binds, weaving a new style of magic and let the near invisible tendrils of magic wrap around Rai. Once the magic was there, he tightened his hands into fists, and Rai's limbs were suddenly pulled all together. The Angel dropped his sword and he looked surprised at what had just happened.

Akira figured that if he couldn't hurt the Angel, then what he could do was immobilize him. The surprise on Rai's face didn't last long, and his grin returned, "Very good, how long can you sustain it?" He asked and the Angel invoked his own magic into the line of binds that held him. Akira's teeth ground together and he was forced to concentrate harder to keep the hold on the Angel. It was a struggle for a few minutes, the binds around Rai vibrated and shimmered silver as they caught the light just right to be seen. Akira thought to hold Rai a bit longer, but the Angel apparently had different plans. The vibrating along his binds came back at Akira, but with it Akira's last shot of lightning followed as well. It wasn't much, not nearly as high a dose as Akira had sent at Rai, but it was enough.

He cried out in shock as his power rushed over his arms and body. Immediately he let go of the spell that held Rai and dropped to his knees, arms wrapped around his upper frame tightly to try to get rid of the painful feeling. Looking up through one eye, as the other was closed tightly, he watched Rai regain his sword. The Angel shouldered the weapon and looked at Akira warmly.

"You've done well. Lucian and Sangre will take you as their Exorcist. Go join them," Rai ordered and Akira all but collapsed from sheer relief that it was over. Should they have fought any longer, Akira was sure to just drop from exhaustion. He got to his feet and slowly made his way to the group he'd been placed in. His eyes brushed over Sangre with no real interest, however, the moment he set eyes upon Lucian... it was something else. He stood with them, one an Angel essence, the other a Demon. His gaze watched Lucian for a long time. Did he know this man? No... Akira was sure he'd never seen him in his life.. but still, there was the feeling that he knew him.

Well... whatever, Akira shrugged it off and turned away. He could ask the man later, because at the moment, they were all far to busy for idle fantasies. Even so, as he stood so close to Lucian, the feeling persisted and did not give him a moments rest.

Akira Hikaati

Three days later

The air was cold in the darkness. The wind was sharp as it blew past Akira, cutting through his jacket that failed to keep out the night's assault. He moved quickly none-the-less, keeping his eyes on their target. They'd left Resmyrd three days ago under orders to hunt down any and all spirits and wraiths that they could find. It had taken Akira two days to find a hot spot where the entities were frequently seen. The third day was when they arrived at the small village that was housing a few of said spirits.

The exorcist had spotted one just a few hours ago and now he was chasing after it. The possessed human male was strong and fast, making it difficult for Akira to keep up. However, he chased after the man anyway, not caring in the least about his own well being, especially since he'd darted off and left both his Angel and Demon counterparts. He figured they could find him easily enough, and if they didn't... well that was fine too.

He turned the corner to an alley and stopped dead in his tracks. Damn it! he cursed to himself. Where did the spirit go? There was a wall at the far end and Akira's deep purple gaze narrowed as he figured that the man had somehow scaled the wall. It wasn't going to stop him either. He summoned his binds and wrapped them around the edge of the buildings roof top. He used his own silvery strings to climb up to the top and then jumped down on the other side. Akira landed hard, lost his footing and rolled in order to catch himself from landing right on his face.

With a soft sigh he got back to his feet and started running again. He was sure his target had gone down this way, there had been no other way for him to go. He rushed down the alleyway, and as he got to an intersection of alleys, he turned just in time to catch a heavy blast of hot air dead center. He was flung backwards and hit the corner of a building. Akira's body flipped off the corner and he hit the ground, sliding across the dirt.

The exorcist coughed as the wind had been knocked from his lungs. Wincing, he pushed himself up to his hands and knees and tried to locate the spirit that had attacked him. A sharp kick to his ribs tossed him over and he coughed again. A heavy boot pinned him to the ground and Akira looked up through one eye as the other was closed shut tightly from the burning throughout his chest.

"Trying to bring me back to the underworld eh? You think I'll go quietly?!" The spirit stretched back it's human host's hand and power reflected there, a shimmering of air that Akira would have missed entirely if he didn't know what to expect. His body charged then as he called upon his electricity. Blue-white streaks of cracking sparks criss-crossed over his form and he let it all explode up the man's leg.

The spirit cried out in pain, his body seizing up from the attack. The exorcist took the opportunity given to him and pushed the spirit off him. The heavy body landed on the ground with a thud and Akira got to his feet, wiping blood from his lips. Glowering down at the possessed man he stretched out one hand, the other gripping his wrist and began his 'purge'. The electricity faded from his body as he concentrated completely on purging. His power stretched out from his fingers, dark tendrils reaching down from his palm to sink into the mans body.

The human convulsed as the spirit fought to keep his possession. Akira closed his eyes, ignoring the cries of pain echoing from the man as he pulled the spirit from him. It wasn't long before he'd gotten the entity from the body and it hung in suspension in front of him. A dark form, black in color and hardly any shape to it. What looked to be a face turned to Akira and an inhuman growl issued from it's lip-less head.

"Human, you trifle in matters that you should not be involved in," it growled, the deep voice grating and holding a hint of something demonic.

Akira sighed, of course it was demonic, it was from Inferno. He didn't answer the creature but instead sent out his binds, wrapping them around the spirit tightly so that he could hold it in place until Lucian and Sangre got there. The spirit writhed in his hold, forcing Akira to put more concentration into his power, thus draining his energy faster. He was weak already, having been tossed around and used a lot of his own power to begin with.

The exorcist weaved his binds, tightening them as he struggled to hold the spirit who twisted and turned in the confines. Akira narrowed his eyes, an eyebrow coming down as he concentrated. The spirit had been fairly easy to pull from the man's body, thus letting the exorcist know that this particular spirit hadn't been out of his prison for very long. The human he'd possessed probably was his first, and no more than a day or so at that.

The spirit turned suddenly and faced Akira. Unsure of what the thing was planning, Akira charged his body, though it took much more energy to do this. He electrified the strings of his bond, but it wasn't nearly as potent as he'd of liked. The spirit took advantage of Akira's weakness. The bonds broke, shattering as the exorcist lost most of his strength after using his electricity.

"Shit," Akira muttered, realizing his mistake. He'd thought that the spirit was going to attack him, but in reality, the thing had tricked him into using more magic than was necessary. Freed from its bonds, the spirit rushed him, the darkness stretching out to form arms and hands. It slammed into Akira, crushing him against the wall. Long claw like nails raked him, cutting through his jacket and shirt underneath. He winced as he gripped the thing and tried once more to bind it.

"Fool!" It growled at him and then released him right after. The spirit took off into the darkness, leaving Akira slumped in the alleyway with the human host lying unconscious a few feet away from him. His breath was short as it heaved in his chest. His ribs hurt from earlier and his chest was on fire from being cut. Akira knew he'd screwed up, knew that he'd allowed the spirit to get away. However, that didn't bother him in the least. What bothered him was... the spirit who could have easily killed him... did not do so. He put a hand against his chest and pulled it away, his gaze looking down upon dark streaks of liquid across his palm. He frowned and then tried to stand, only to have the alleyway twist suddenly before his eyes. The exorcist fell back against the wall and down onto the ground, his eyes heavy and body far more heavier. He leaned his head against the wall, letting his eyes close. He wasn't asleep, but he could have if he wanted. No instead he sat there in disappointment about having lost the spirit and how things ended up.

---

---

He was slightly irritated.

The emotion was a rare one and caused a vague crease in his brows as he progressed towards the small town of Alveron. He was late. He had never been late, at least not intentionally--yet that little side trip to see the Commander had thrown him off-schedule. Absolutely preposterous. He had already anticipated that it would make no difference if he attempted to speed up his pace or not; he wasn't going to make it in time. A few days previously, their group had somehow departed at different paces, Akira having been the first of them to run off first. In some cases, perhaps he would've found this asset almost... useful, but in this situation, it was doing nothing but giving him a headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose and released a sigh as his blank eyes flickered over the scene before him. Why had it been necessary to have his presence there? It had served nothing. He had learned nothing that he couldn't have figured out on his own. Sometimes, he theorized that Treylion had secret intentions to try and find ways to throw him off (even if it was just slightly).

Well, point one in how many millennia? He rolled his eyes; this really wasn't worth his time to be dwelling on. He glanced over his shoulder--hm, still just him. At this rate, they would be one member shy. Still, perhaps it was better this way--it might give him a bit more of an edge in discovering just what had caused the difference this time around. He could not recall one previous instance where he had been grouped with the exorcist, thus this whole situation felt faintly foreign to him. That in itself was an oddity--he didn't like all these curveballs. All these uncertainties. He supposed there was nothing to be done of the matter but that didn't negate how irritating this whole adventure was becoming.

Ah, why did he have to remember that this journey had only just started? Pah.

He caught sight of the entrance sign out of the corner of his eye, arriving in the town in lessened spirits. He paused, tilting his chin up as he focused his attentions to the task at hand. He could dwell on those thoughts later, for now he needed to find Akira. A twitch of one of his eyebrows indicated further annoyance. This had been happening more often than he would like, the surprise. He hadn't been able to see as clearly as he would've preferred or as vastly as he was accustomed to. The impedance was turning into more of a nuisance than he saw necessary to deal with. Yet another problem to compound on top of everything.

He scanned the main road, not finding much signs of activity at all. As he walked a bit deeper into the town, he noticed faint scuff marks on the ground. His eyes narrowed, the archdemon turning on his heel a bit as he followed the markings towards one of the alleyways. That was the one convenient thing about battles and skirmishes. They always left a fairly easy trail to follow.

The marks ended abruptly, jutting out a bit unnaturally at the edges of a wall. Really Akira? Really? You couldn't have taken another alleyway? With another mildly irritated sigh leaving his lips, Lucian hoisted himself over the wall and landed easily on the other side.


A sound down the alleyway caught his attention. Slowly peeling his eyes opened, Akira turned his head to see who it was. Perhaps it was a human wandering around the alleyway, or maybe the demon that he'd ditched back at the front of the town. He couldn't see very well down the dark street either way. Even so, he huffed out a short breath of air and returned to leaning against the wall.

With a frown he closed his eyes trying to figure out if he should get up and actually go report back to the other two on his failure. How would they take it, he wondered? It wasn't like he could sit there all night, wallowing in his own self pity and irritation. Slowly, Akira started to stand, using the wall as a brace. Whoever it was down the alleyway, he didn't much care unless it was one of his group.


A very brief flash of concern came into his eyes before Lucian let it recede. So the exorcist was hurt after all. He restrained himself, keeping his pace even as he approached the injured man. The unsteady way in which Akira was keeping himself balanced was an indicator that the other could possibly pass out with too much over exertion. The archdemon merely raised his hands a bit to show that he wasn't an enemy before lowering them, looking Akira over more closely. He really did look worse for the wear. Tch.


The one who had made the sound in the alleyway was none other than Lucian. Akira's weary gaze shifted over to the man and a brief moment of guilt spread through him like wild fire before burning out just as quickly. Why would Lucian care if he'd run off and nearly gotten himself killed? They'd only known each other for three days, there wasn't much to go on from just that.

"Lucian," Akira stated, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked down then, moving uncomfortably, "The spirit got away from me."


He raised his eyebrows, nodding slowly as he moved a bit closer. The weakness of the voice that reached his ears was troubling. Lucian reached out, gently grasping Akira's shoulder to help adjust the other. He didn't say anything--he only kept his gaze steady on the exorcist to cue him into continuing.


"My bind, did nothing to stop him," Akira continued as Lucian continued to look at him. He wondered if the demon would answer him or not. Or maybe he was just the silent type. The hand on his shoulder was comforting none-the-less, keeping him steady. Damn, he had used a little bit too much energy to try to fight the spirit. With a sigh, he leaned his head against the wall, tired beyond belief. He should probably get the scratches on his chest treated as well, who knew what kind of dirt and other things got into the cuts. However, Akira wasn't going to let on to that fact.

"If we hurry, we might be able to catch it," the exorcist said, turning his head to look down to the left where the creature had gone, "It took off that way."


Lucian kept his expression relatively neutral as he shook his head at the suggestion. "Not yet," Was all he said as he used his free hand to reach up and undo one of the buttons of Akira's shirt. There was a dark, crimson hue, though the color had faded a bit to a dull brown due to the blood's drying. Tsk. As he had suspected. He did not bother to look back up at the other man as he undid a few more buttons to get a better look at the wounds. It probably wasn't as bad as it looked--he hadn't foreseen anything drastically negative coming from the scratches. Hm, what to use to bound it.

He flicked his gaze back up at Akira, faint traces of a smirk turning up the ends of his lips. It was barely noticeable but just amused enough to warrant the attentions of an observant person. Lucian gestured to the cuts, raising one of his eyebrows in inquiry. "I hope you don't plan on pursuing the creature with open wounds like that. You'll turn into a hindrance."


His eyes widened slightly as Lucian undid the top button to his shirt and pulled it away just enough to see the damage underneath. He was shocked that the man would even have the slightest concern for such a trivial wound such as that. Akira had gone through far worse in the past. He bit his lip, a lump welling at the back of his throat. A flash of an image coming to mind, the Wraith striking out at him after the exorcism... He pushed it away and found that his shirt had been undone even further.
It wasn't until Lucian glanced back up at him with a faint smirk on his lips that Akira felt his face heat. What the hell was that for? He stood still like a rock, unmoving as Lucian gestured to the cuts, his words cutting deeper.

"I...We can't let it get away," Akira said, the only thing that came to mind in the situation which had nothing solid to it to begin with. What kind of excuse was that? "This is nothing."

"Mmmmmm...." Was all that left Lucian as he intentionally took his pointer finger and prodded Akira into a particularly deeper cut of his.

Akira winced as Lucian poked the wound, the deeper of the three no less. Pulling his lower lip into his mouth he bit the skin and tried to put his best face forward, though one eye was half closed in response to the burn.


The archdemon didn't even need to say it--they both knew the injuries had to be treated, even in the most minimal of manners, before pursuing the creature. Lucian glanced down at one of the tattered ends of Akira's shirt and quickly tore of a portion of it, paying little heed to the reaction of the other. He deftly used the cloth to tie it once around the man's torso, making sure to cover the large wounds. Well, it wasn't the neatest or most effective of bandage jobs but it would do for now.


The sound of tearing cloth filled the air and Akira was jostled around for a brief moment as the demon wrapped the thin strip around the deeper cut and some of the other ones. With a soft sigh to himself he reluctantly realized that Lucian was not going to let him go anywhere after the spirit. At least not right then. Pushing off the wall, Akira felt the bruising all along his back where he'd hit the corner of the building earlier.

Well, if Lucian gave so much care to a simple scratch, he wondered what the demon would be like over partially broken ribs. Best not to say anything, Akira thought to himself and took a tentative step forward.

"There is an inn nearby. We can stay there," Akira offered. He didn't know if there were any healers in town and he would much rather stay away from them anyway.


Lucian shrugged his shoulders in response. "Fair enough," He commented as he stepped away from Akira and slid his gaze towards the end of the alleyway. An inn would provide recuperation time but also, time to get his head on straight. The archdemon needed time (an absurd statement in itself) to collect his thoughts and a moment to have it all make sense again. Without another word, he moved past Akira, gesturing to the other to follow him towards the building.

Luckily, the rib cage was not broken, but bruised none-the-less. Akira was without his shirt and long black coat with the exorcists symbol stitched into the back. Rather he was sitting on the edge of the bed working to clean the cuts along his chest. The bowl of water he had next to him was dirty with blood and the cloth he held in his hand was no longer white in color but a rustic brown instead. Pushing the cloth into the wounds, he pulled across the cuts, cleaning them out as best he could. Each time burned, but with practice he kept the discomfort to himself.

Stealing another look off to the side he spied Lucian for the millionth time since entering the inn and getting a room. He was still curious as to what he'd seen in the alleyway. The two hard barely spoken to each other during the three days they'd traveled together, so it was only natural for Akira to assume the man had no care for anyone. However, that seemed to be thrown out the window from the incident in the alleyway. Akira winced, hissing in a breath as he had not been paying attention to what he'd been doing. Rather he'd been staring at the demon and dug too deep into the cuts. With a bit of a half growl to himself he withdrew the cloth and plunged it into the water with vigor.

The liquid splashed around, soaking his arm and getting onto the floor. He ignored the demon if Lucian looked over at all. The last thing he wanted was for the man to see his embarrassment. Wringing the cloth out, Akira got back to work at cleaning. He was nearly done. With a release of air through his nose he was mildly surprised that the spirit had dealt him a fairly good blow. The claw marks were much longer than he thought they were. It took him a few minutes more before he was satisfied with his work and tossed the dirtied cloth into the bucket.

Not even bothering to wipe his chest dry from the trickling water he looked over to the bandages that they'd gathered from the inn keeper (cost them a pretty coin, but it was something). Akira began wrapping them around his chest, or rather, he tried to wrap them but failed three times in a row. On the third failed attempt, he tossed them aside and reached for his shirt instead. Forget wrapping the damn things. They would heal on their own without the bandage. Glancing over to Lucian he finally asked the demon a simple question to try to start a conversation.

"Will Sangre find where we are?"




Ryu twisted around, just barely missing yet another lunge at him meant to rip him apart from head to toe. His staff twisted around, deflecting the claws that came swiping at him. His eyebrow came down as he eyed the possessed human. Was he really going to have to do this all by himself? He couldn't hurt a human! There was no way he could exorcise one either! Where was his exorcist? The demon... where was the demon too? Had they both really just abandoned him? The archangel pushed aside the degrading thoughts and did his best to focus on the fight.

He had to get away from the human somehow. He had to find Virie, bring her back to the town and have her exorcise the being so that they could capture the spirit inside. At least... Ryu was hoping it was a spirit. If it was a wraith, then they had bigger problems than what he'd originally thought. As the creature came back at him using the human's body as it's shield, Ryu shifted and batted its hands away. However, as he turned he caught sight of... something moving by. Was that? No... it couldn't possibly be her... She wouldn't leave Virie's side, would she? Ryu blanched at the thought. It was decided then, he knew it.

The exorcist woman was definitely evil.

He would have let his head fall into the palm of his hand right then if he weren't in the middle of a fight. Instead of coming herself, Virie had sent the most un-helpful being possible. Reika.

---

---

---

---

Utterly ridiculous.

These were the words which reverberated within the trapped celestial's mind whom was bound inside an earthen vessel. It is why he hated to have any forms of chains whether in a philosophical or literally existence of the word. Now, he found himself travelling alone the road. His assigned companions had gone ahead of him. As for him, he had stayed behind due to the insistence of the Angelic Commander Rai. The reason was a discussion of grave importance and soon, it was revealed to him as nothing more but casual conversation. He pummeled the guy with one punch. Although, he knew for a fact that was just a mere rouse by Rai. Trying to reaffirm something within him, Sangre could see this as a useless method all together. Well, it was not much of a difference to him. He had been used to such a setting in his existence as a mortal. However, he was rather thick-headed when it comes to his duties and that would be the exorcism of those runaway spirits and wraiths. In such affairs, he disliked being detained even if he was said to be dying. So, the next time he meet Rai he would carved into that angel's mind not to anger him.

In any case, he had finally arrive at the town called Alveron. According to the information given to him from the headquarters, his so-called partners should be around here or something like that. Looking around, he could not see anything outwardly different. So, it is safe to assume that nothing like an exorcist battle on the forefront. Most of the residents were much more alarmed by his presence than something unnatural or those like in that category. Thinking about it, he could use such an awareness to his advantage. He did not like acting much like a search dog searching for every nook and cranny of this town. If there would be a more efficient way, he would use that instead.

"Excuse me, I would like to ask you something important to me."

His voice rolled out like a refreshing mountain spring to a hot summer day. Furthermore, his appearance stood out greatly as he dressed in an apparel at his own dislike. The Angelic Commander still much stronger than Sangre opted to punished him for his insubordination so to speak. So, he was now wearing an all-white ensemble. It greatly contrasted to his midnight black hair and crimson red eyes. As a result, they were brought out more making it more attractive than it was already. But his main concern was the blinding white of its hue. He would certainly slaughter Rai when he ever gets the chance to. Well for the townspeople, he pretty much looked like a priest or even more so an angel. How annoying. So, the expression of the old woman which he asked was somewhat expected. She looked awfully starstruck and was stuttering in her words which irritated him.

He tried asking others and it was all the same. It would have been better if he had just gone and search the entire town. There was no way those two would not be found given how small this town was in comparison of the others.

"Did you see that? A guy was injured or something I wonder if he went into a fight."

"It's the newcomer right? They are always trouble!"

Well, it seemed that he still have some luck on his side. He approached the two gossiping men who was at first surprised at his appearance. But soon enough, it turned into looks of lust which he particularly hated. They began hitting on him which he rewarded handsomely. He beat them all in a bloody pulp without much of a trouble and even got the information he wanted. All in all, he would say his efforts were not wasted. It seemed his companions were staying in an inn named "Rickety Shack". He wondered if there were no other inns in this forsaken town.

Sangre found the inn and asked the clerk if a Akira Hikaati and a Lucian Faust were staying here. Finally, he received the answer he wanted which was a 'yes'. Now, he stood in front of the door which was rented by the two before he knocked and opened it. He did not need to introduce himself as he looked at Lucian and then to Akira noticing the thrown bandage on the floor and the aftermath of him cleaning his wounds.

"What did I missed exactly here?"

The night was slowly going to be turning to morning, the cool breeze fluttered through the trees as the figure walked through the sparse wood. They seemed to have no particular destination in mind, at least at first. Then as the woods became a little bit thicker, an outcropping of boulders appeared at the center of the area. Here the figure stopped and knelt down next to the rocks. A gloved hand reached out and brushed the boulders almost as if they were precious. A slight glow filled the area, symbols swirled around, carving their way into the rocks that piled up on one another. After a few more moments, the rocks shuddered and lifted into the air.

The figure stood then, took a few steps back and watched the display. Beneath the tumble of stones was a gate, a dark gate that amassed and swirled with power just beneath the pile of boulders. It wasn't just any gate that sat there either, it was one of the gates that led to Inferno. A sharp scream pierced the air then and as the rocks shuddered, so did the gate. Lifting their hands, the figure spun their fingers in a circular pattern. More symbols of power etched their way through the dense air and penetrated the dark portal. The screams erupted and a multitude of spirits and wraiths washed forth. The air exploded backwards with their escape, making the trees groan and the boulders scatter through the area.

The dark clothed figure watched silently, the cowl over their face lifting to observe as the beings took to the air. They were released from their torment in Inferno and they were hell bent on doing whatever pleased them. Nothing would bring them back, nothing. Stretching a hand forth, power emanated through the air and the magic curled around one of the fleeing wraiths. With a flick of his wrist he brought the wraith downwards and held it in place as it struggled. The inhuman growl did nothing to put off the figure and instead it seemed that the cloaked being ignored it completely.

"You're going to be something special," the voice that pierced the air was male and coming from the cloaked being. The wraith twisted and turned in the hold that the man held on it. Magic pulsed through the air and pumped into the wraith that was being held. Its cry of surprise echoed all around and a few moments afterwards, the wraith stopped moving. The man regarded it carefully before letting it go. As he stepped towards the creature, the wraith lifted its head and gazed at the man with dark hollow eyes.

"I want you to destroy those that call themselves exorcists and anyone else that may be with them. Is that clear?"

The wraith sucked in a deep breath. The dark mass of energy twisted around as it reformed its body. Long arms stretched forth from the darkness, legs as well and a tail. The face was elongated and there was no mouth for the moment but that soon changed. Along with the rest of its body, long ears sprouted from its skull and a second after, lips parted the darkness to reveal a pitch darkness surrounded by black razor sharp teeth made of pure energy.

"Master," it's inhuman voice hissed passed a tongueless mouth.

"You're free to use any means you wish. Just kill them all."

The wraith stretched its hands forth and extended its elongated claws. The creature gave a sharp cackle as it tested it's new found power given to it by the man before him. Dark magic flooded the area, turning what was once living to nothing but blackened death. The man's hood nodded up and down slightly in appreciation for the wraiths quick take on his power. The wraith looked to the man and pulled its lips into a cruel grin, "Consider it done."



There was a slight knock on the door before it was pulled open and Akira's gaze lifted to see who it was. At first he was tense, but upon seeing it to be Sangre, he settled. Of course it would be the angel. The exorcist finished buttoning up his shirt and hoped to god that Lucian wouldn't insist on his wrapping them. He could only imagine the scene... Quickly he pushed the thought aside and stood up slowly, still weary from the loss of so much energy. Food and a bit of sleep would do him good.

"What did I missed exactly here?" Sangre asked.

"I went after a spirit and lost it. It overpowered me too quickly," Akira replied shortly, not keen on giving too many details. The night had been rough enough the last thing he wanted was both Lucian and Sangre on his case about failing to secure a single spirit. Not that Lucian had said anything of the kind, but Akira was sure the man had at least thought it once. With a sigh, the exorcist pulled on his long black jacket that went over the white shirt beneath and buttoned it up. Once dressed he moved passed Sangre and opened the door.

"I'll be right back. I'll bring something for you both to eat as well," and Akira left the room, closing the door gently behind him. He took the stairs quickly, making his way down to the bar area and went to the tender of the inn. He waited patiently for the man behind the table to address him and once he found out what the menu was he ordered a few things. With the help of a pretty little waitress, he went back up the stairs with three platters of food for the three of them. Cheese, meats and some pastries along with some water and ale for him.

Opening the door again, he stepped inside with the waitress and motioned for her to put the platters down on the table with him. When that was done Akira paid her for the food and she left. Without waiting for the others, the exorcist took his cup of ale, a bit of cheese and meat along with one of the pastries and sat down to eat.



"Reika..." Ryu panted as he was once again locked in a struggle of strength with the possessed human, his teeth ground together as he watched the poor human try to kill him, "A little... help please!" He called to the bond. Not that he expected much from her, she wasn't all that bright to begin with. The best he could hope from her was a bit of distraction so that he could disengage from the possessed human and make his way to where Reika's owner had gone.

With a roll of his eyes, he shoved the human away from him and decided that his best course of action was to rely on himself. However, what did make things better was that Reika was there and she could lead him to Virie. With the human stumbling away from him he turned on his heel and rushed across the street to grab Reika who was no doubt just sitting and watching the display. How utterly useless... Never had Ryu thought that he would utter those words to a being, but this bond was something else entirely. He wondered briefly how Virie managed the little sprite.

Quickly, the archangel grabbed the girl around her tiny little waist in one hand and started to run through the alleyways. The creature followed behind them, intent on killing the angel by whatever means possible. Ryu hoped that Virie would exorcise the human, thus allowing him to destroy it. Or if Virie had somehow managed to find Janus, then they would be able to bring the spirit back to Inferno. That was, if the spirit allowed them to. Pushing aside those thoughts, he ran through the streets with Reika in hand.

"Alright missy, tell me where you lovely master went!" He ordered as he took another turn down an alleyway.

---

---

"Huh?" The blank expression of the youkai greeted the angel as she stared back at him. She didn't really understand his concern at all, he had just been fighting this TOTALLY badass looking monster... Which was kind of cool. But also kind of sucky at the same time. Since he hadn't stayed still long enough for her to sketch out the scene and turn it into an amazing, glittering, butt-smacking awesome hentai. "Er... uh..." Oh, what had he asked? No, he hadn't asked about her yaoi collection... no one knew about that...

Oh yeah! The mistress, that was who he had been asking after. "She sent me here after you!" She giggled absently, clearly not comprehending the situation enough to put two and two together to realize they were actually in danger. "She told me to wait until she got here and then uhhhh... I guess surprise butt sex, I dunno." She said casually, shrugging her shoulders. Whatever, she didn't see what the big problem was in the first place. He was panicking for no good reason! Mistress would be here soon enough and this was prime time to grill him for answers, anyway.

"Oh hey, now that I have you here. So. Janus." She began, a sneaky grin coming on her face. (She was quite literally ignoring the horrid growls coming from the town) "He has a firm ass, right? All tight and stuff! 'Cause I saw you looking at him earlier and I was totally convinced that maybe you know, you had the uh, man hots for him. Which it's cool if you do. Because that'd be awesome."

If Ryu was even remotely disgruntled by her statements, the youkai was paying them no heed. She was going off into her own little fantasy land where Ryu and Janus frolicked through fields together, holding hands and doing other... lovely... things... Mmmm... She drooled openly, totally lost in her thoughts and completely tuning out the destruction from the wraith that would probably find them sooner than later.

---

---

Virie had kept her thin lips upturned ever so slightly as she traveled with Janus, making sure to allow him to take the lead as they progressed towards the next town over. Since there little "conversation", the two had taken to an odd bout of silence. She stared at his back openly, observing the slightly broadened shoulders and the way in which he walked. He was cocky but then again, he was a demon, of course he would be. He was certainly a good subject for her observations.

The woman tapped her chin, a smirk flashing across her face briefly as a malicious thought passed through her mind. What would he look like if she murdered him right here and now? Would he rot along with his pathetic human flesh or would his demonic form take over? Did demons even die if one murdered their little meat puppet forms? To be "fair" to Janus, he was an archdemon, so perhaps the probability of flat-out murder wouldn't be as easy or as high as she would've hoped.

Hm, but now that she thought on it, would killing him let her take his place? Clearly killing lessers would do her no good in the long run--they were mere toys in it all and easily disposable by those higher on the demon spectrum. But how delicious he would look with his flesh strewn about the ground, an expression of rage, loathing, and faint shock upon his face... Just the mental image was enough to make her shiver with anticipation. Soon, not yet. She had to observe his ways first and learn all she could before she took those measures.

She blinked, ah, they were already at this hovel of a town already? She had thought it would take longer. What an absolute pigsty this place was. She wrinkled her nose, raising the sleeve of her robe so that it covered her face. Absolutely disgusting.
Now where was that stupid familiar of hers? She did tell her to go off and find Ryu but the odds were high that the retarded demon messed up those simple orders. She took a few steps forward but it did not take her long to sense that there was something else in this shithole of a town. Her eyes almost lit up--ah, there was no mistaking it. This was no small-fry spirit. This was a wraith, a beautiful beautiful wraith that would be all hers for the taking...

She clicked her tongue at Janus. "Come dog, there is hunting to be done," She said, a little excitement rushing to her voice as she followed the scent of the creature.

Janus' eyes twitched disdainfully at the insolent welp, following the altered course of her direction. "Just make sure you keep up this time. The faster we get this over and done with, the less I have to deal with you worthless flesh bags."

The exorcist was starting to realize, with a bit of amusement, that he would probably always have a snarky remark ready for her no matter what she said to him. Good, it was always best when they put up a struggle first. "Cute and a welcome relief for us all," She said curtly, narrowing her eyes at his former comment. "Given your height, it's a wonder you can even keep up as it is. So do be sure you're not the one to bite your own words."

"Given my height?" he asked, rolling his eyes incredulously, "Then I'd hate to see you struggle to keep up. Maybe I should get your broomstick for you, your majesty?"

He was feisty, she'd give him that too. She licked her lips as a few devious thoughts came into her mind. She'd have to make good use of that later. She didn't indulge him with a response and just flicked her hair over her shoulder. She was close enough to where the ends of her hair hit him lightly. Virie glanced to the distance, squinting her eyes. It was definitely nearby, now it was just a matter as to where it was hiding.

She was about to dismiss this part of the town entirely when she heard the low rumble of the creature. Ah, there it was, her lovely wraith. Without turning to see if Janus was following her, she picked up the pace and was already taking out her spellbook. Perhaps she'd be able to eat this one if she was careful.

---

---

Sweets. He smelled sweets.

Even with his brief glimpse into this possibility, having it so close by was...

Akira entered into the room with several plates but the one that caught the demon's attention most of all was the one containing pastries. This had always been a peculiar weakness of his--he had never quite been able to figure out exactly what it was about human desserts that made him love them so. Whatever it was, he could barely even contain the enthusiasm he felt as the plate was put down on the center table.

Before the other two could even think about reaching for them, he grabbed one of the pastries quick as a flash and put the delicacy into his mouth. So soft... so airy... and creamy too. Still just the way he remembered. He adored sweets and unfortunately, they were a treat he could not acquire in Inferno. Lucian did not waste any time in snagging all the sweets, one after another. He pushed them into his mouth, unable to contain himself.

It was only when he reached the very last one that he looked up, noticing that the other two were quite literally staring at him. He had, for once, forgotten to pay proper attention. He blinked, a redness coating his cheeks in vague detail as he quietly put the last pastry down. Hm. He would have to be a tad more careful...

He leaned back gradually, crossing one of his legs over the other as he raised en eyebrow. "That was appreciated," His usual monotonous tone was broken by an uncommon smile, very small but still faintly noticeable. He took a breath, releasing it along with his smile.

"The situation in the town square remains, however," He said shortly, bring their attention back to the reason they were together in the first place. Regardless of the fact that he had assisted Akira earlier, there was still a foreign presence they would need to deal with. It would be best to take care of it in the course of the night--the creature would be more difficult to find tomorrow if the sun rose. He pursed his lips, not saying another word as he observed the other two quietly through impassive eyes.

Akira was eating silently his gaze locked on the floor, deep in thought about the spirit that he allowed to get away. He hadn't noticed the dish before him with the sweets suddenly being devoured. At least, not until he looked up and noted that there was nothing left. A hand appeared in his vision and he followed the hand that replaced the last sweet to Lucian's face.

He lifted an eyebrow as he stared at the demon who continued to stare right back. If he hadn't been looking so closely he would have never noted that demon had turned a slight red color around his cheeks.

"That was appreciated. The situation in the town square remains, however," Lucian stated as he sat down, crossing his legs and arms. It seemed that the man was trying to redeem himself for the recent event.

Akira stayed quite for a while before finishing what was on his plate, which wasn't much to begin with. After a moment he flicked his eyes over to Sangre before looking back to Lucian and cleared his throat, "I know the general direction the spirit went in. We can start there," he answered, agreeing wholeheartedly that they needed to go after the thing before it was too late.

Lucian pursed his lips briefly, a tad miffed that the embarrassed blush had been noted. He didn't need to look over at Sangre for confirmation of this fact--well, he wouldn't be visiting Inferno any time soon. He didn't bother to respond to Akira's words verbally, only nodding faintly before getting up. He glanced at the jacket that was laying slightly crumpled atop the bed and grabbed it loosely, throwing it at Akira's face.

"Cover up," He said curtly with a slight narrowing of his eyes. Honestly.

Akira was startled as his black jacket landed over his head. Reaching up he pulled it off and frowned at Lucian in response. What was he on about? He had a shirt on and it wasn't like he was going to walk out of the inn without his jacket. Slowly the exorcist stood up and pulled the form fitting leather over his arms and buttoned it up. The long cloth went far passed his waist, the buttons only reaching to his belt line.

He went to the door and opened it not bothering to look if his two companions were following or not. Down the stairs, through the bar and then outside in a few minutes he stood in the street and looked around. They'd come from the alleyway to his left, and from what he could still feel around him, the lingering sense of evil, he figured the spirit had gone down the street to his right. Probably back into the shadows to hide until dawn.

With that destination in mind he started out, moving briskly as there were very few people out and about in the dead of night. He constantly looked down each alleyway as he passed them, hoping to gain a glimpse of the human that was possessed.

Lucian yawned, the demon had long since been waiting for Akira. Well, perhaps not over long but to someone who had already time-hopped to his present location (as he liked to call it), it was long enough. He could see the exorcist, the man so lost in his outwards sensory that he was not paying attention to his immediate surroundings. The faintest glimmer of a smirk sparked on Lucian's face, perhaps due to his innately demonic nature.

He casually extended out his foot just as Akira was about to walk by, tripping the exorcist. Lucian only shrugged as he watched the man stumble, blinking his eyes as if he had had no influence in what just happened. "Oops," He said softly, stepping over Akira. "Well, don't just lay there." He said with a bit of a snarky chuckle.

Had he... really... What the hell just happened? Akira's thoughts whirrled as he found himself losing his balance and then falling to the ground. How had that happened?! With a loud huff of air he hit the ground, and groaned softly. It took him a moment, a bewildered look on his face as he lay there with his hands on either side of his face ready to push himself back up. Lucian's voice hovered over head and it was with realization that the archdemon was the culprit behind his sudden trip with gravity.

He lifted his head upwards and glowered at Lucian as the man stepped over him and continued to give him a snide remark. His eyes narrowed and he ground his teeth together as he slowly lifted his body off the ground and stood up. He was going to pay that demon back, that was for sure. Just as he was about to unleash his bind upon the man in payment, he caught a shift of shadows from the corner of his eye.

The spirit!

All thoughts of dragging Lucian to the ground were lost as he turned on his heel and shot down the alleyway. His magic already prepared, he had nothing to do but to unleash it. The near invisible wraps shot through the darkness, glinting just right against the moonlight. They wrapped around the target, catching and holding fast. The scream that issued was one of terror and anger. The voice was the same one that belonged to the spirit that he had chased after earlier.

"Human!" It cried as Akira slowly walked towards it, "Fool," it cackled soon after, laughing hysterically. An eyebrow lifted as he wondered what it was the thing was laughing about. Though, that curiousity was soon sated as he felt another presence enter the immediate area. The dark aura was hard to miss, a sickening feeling spreading through his body as he looked off to the right of the spirit that he held fast.

From the thick shadows a figure emerged, taking shape slowly as it stepped into the single shaft of moonlight. The mass was nothing but pitch black, almost like tar, but with features. Akira felt a swell of bile at the back of his throat as he laid eyes on it.

The humor immediately left Lucian's face, the demon instantly backtracking to stand next to Akira. How had he missed that? They had been tracking an ordinary spirit... This was one of the many concerning things about this timeline. His inaccuracy was beginning to become something of a hassle--or perhaps... perhaps that person had succeeded in masking his presence at last from the demon. Tch, annoying.

He did not waste any time, pushing Akira back further with the palm of his hand as he raised his other arm parallel to the ground. Time magic wouldn't work in this scenario so logically... It would be best to imprison the spirit first so it wouldn't interfere--they'd need quite a bit of focus for the task at hand. He willed a bit of the familiar tinge of his magic to his palm and muttered a few words under his breath.

An inky black hue touched with a few ripples of white surrounded the spirit briefly, perhaps for only a few seconds. The aura dissipated soon afterwards and the spirit went to move, not realizing the spell that was cast. As soon as it took its first step, the gravity pulled the creature down from the center of body and it was forced against the ground. It released incomprehensible wails--why did they always do that? Always with the wailing and the headaches that followed after.

His arm dropped back down at his side. Keeping up the gravitational field wouldn't be a bother--dealing with this, however...

Akira lost his concentration of the binds and they fell away easily as Lucian was suddenly before him, pushing him backwards. He was confused as to why the demon had jumped in, but the atmosphere around him was different as well. It wasn't the usual calm and uninterested feel that Akira seemed to notice at all times, no it was different. Something had this man on edge. Was it the monster that had just stepped into the moonlight? Probably, even the exorcist was having trouble facing it properly.

One arm stretched out, flexing its fingers with long claws attached to the end. A mouth split open on the eyeless face, the jagged teeth seemingly caught together as if the shadowy spirit were still stuck as one large mass. Or rather, not a spirit but a wraith. Akira had only faced one wraith in his life time and that one had almost killed him.

His heart raced as he watched the thing warily, wondering what he was going to do to take it down. If they could take it down. He moved ever so slightly off to the side away from Lucian's protection. His body charged with his electricity, the bluish white light jumping in jagged arcs all across his frame. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, glaring at their opponent.

First Akira sent his binds, intent of wrapping the creature up and then letting loose his electrical charge right after. The wraps made it to their target, but the creature hardly moved as it allowed itself to be confined. Something wasn't right, it seemed to easy to have caught this thing. Still, Akira pushed the magic down the binds, the lightining crackling as it went.

The power washed over the creature, danced around it several times and then faded away without doing anything. Akira's voice gasped lightly, the short intake of breath was followed by his head lifting a little in shock. The wraith shuddered once, and Akira's binds shattered, all of it except for the ends in which the wraith took hold of. A harsh pull brought the exorcist forward quite a bit and he was far too close to the damned thing. He let go of his bind immediately and had to duck right after as the thing swiped at him. His heart was in his throat as he stood back up and drew his blades. Damn it he thought, grinding his teeth. It seemed the wraith was more intelligent than others.

---

---

Tch, the binds didn't hold well at all.

A frown had touched upon his lips as he regarded the exorcist behind him passively. Hm, if they were going to have a chance of winning, he was going to have to draw the heat away from the two of them and have their enemy only focus on him. He lightly stepped in front of Akira again, pushing the exorcist back slightly. He sent a look over his shoulder to signal that he would be taking over temporarily.

The humanoid wraith stayed its distance, watching, observing. So it wanted to play that kind of game, hm? He could play as well.

Lucian's dull eyes turned towards the spirit who was still pressed against the ground with his magics. He'd have to do this just right. He lifted up his palm slightly, releasing some of the gravitational pull on the creature. It wailed in pain but the demon was already used to such noises. (He did reside in Inferno, after all) Manipulating the aura around the spirit, Lucian coaxed it upwards, the spirit spitting and yelping as its body was lifted into the air.

Re-focusing his stare on the wraith, he flicked his wrist to the right--the spirit's body bridging the gap and slamming into the wraith's side. It did not seem to faze it--well, he hadn't been expecting it to. He only needed to grab its attention. With no concern for the howls or sputtered protests of the spirit, the demon continued to use its body as a means of unconventional attack.

He knew better than to apply his magic directly to the entity. He'd have to distract it first and then maybe they would have a shot...

---

---

They had followed the rumble of the creature, Janus having scouted ahead of her silently with his cocky air of superiority. The young witch was little fazed by this in the slightest. She was clearly better than he and whatever things he did to prove her wrong were, in the end, futile attempts. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes, left eye flashing scarlet. Where was that little sneak? Truth be told, she had absolutely no intention of sending this being back to Inferno. Reika had yet to turn truly serious which indicated that this wraith could not be overly powerful. Therefore... it was food.

She smirked lightly as they crossed into the deserted town center, moonlight bouncing off the fountain in the centermost area of the plaza. She crossed her arms, frowning distinctly. Now where was that stupid winged idiot? Hiding somewhere, she'd imagine. He was too much of a wimp to face things directly.

"Oi, idiot, we're here to save your sorry ass." She called out, not caring who or what heard her. Honestly, if the wraith approached them first, then it was all for the better. She'd get her hands on it one way or another.

The center of town had a fountain there, water pouring out and glistening in the moonlight. The night was ending soon. Ryu hurdled into the center of the deserted town, his breath short in his chest and Reika still clutched tightly in his fist. At that moment, he hardly cared if she was still breathing or not, so long as the annoying little thing was quiet. Not much annoyed him, but at that moment, he wasn't having a good day.

Behind him, the possessed human came crashing after him, growling inhumanly as it wildly sought to kill him. Ryu spared one glance behind his shoulder to see how close it was before turning back around. Just across the open plaza was Virie and Janus. What luck! A smile spread across his lips as he rounded the fountain and skidded to a halt next to the exorcist.

"Virie! Janus! So glad you're here! It's possessed a human, so there is little I can do with it."

Her smirk grew wide as she regarded him and the witch lifted up her skirts, striding over to Ryu and promptly kicking him down with her heel. "Stay there, useless sack." Her eyes had an amused glint to them as she stepped over him, not paying him a second glance. It was time to feast. She could almost taste it upon her tongue... it made her mouth water. Reika instantly detached herself from the angel, tripping over herself midair as she rushed to cling to the exorcist's hair.

"Mistress! He didn't appreciate my pictures of ass pl--" A single look from her master silenced the youkai who dived deeper into the long violet locks. Stupid creature.

Virie's spellbook hovered before her as the mage delicately skimmed fingers over the cover, the book skimming through several dozen pages before settling on a slightly fringed page. Yes, this would do the trick nicely. She could play off of that... She muttered a verse under her breath, the water in the fountain beginning to distort as it warbled to match her words. The water was forced against its natural flow, arcing upwards and around the marble fountain. The moonlight bounced off it, the ground progressively beginning to pick up moisture as dew and mist began to form.

She didn't want any interruptions and a little bit of fog would do the trick nicely. Already she was flipping the page, not missing a beat as she extended out her palm and delicately leaned forwards to blow air across her fingertips. A small whirlwind began to form and spiralled from her, spinning against the ground as it hurtled towards the creature. Time to see how powerful it really was.

Ryu stared up at Virie in shock. That woman... was definitely ill news. Evil. Completely evil. That was all he could think as she stepped over him and approached the growling creature. He felt his heart clench in his chest as he watched her. She was definitely up to something. Standing, he brushed himself off with a bit of hurt dignity.

"Damn that woman," he cursed, a rare occurance. He lifted his eyes again and found that he'd lost the woman in a fog that was coming off the water next to them. What was she doing!

"Virie! You're supposed to exorcise it! What are you doing?" He called out, fearful for what the answer may be.

The woman didn't bother to answer him and only laughed lightly, her dark chuckle carrying over to him smoothly through the fog.
The wraith cursed at her, the language not quite human and hardly coherent anyway. Its dark eyes narrowed at her as the magic whirled towards it. Lifting its arms, it covered its face as the power engulfed the wraith. A sharp scream filled the air, the witch's magic cutting through it. It was fighting to keep hold of the body that it was inhabiting. For the moment, it was winning, but the wraith had a feeling this woman didn't have just one spell up her sleeve.

Tsk, why was it putting up a fight? This was going to be over fairly shortly. Besides, Janus wasn't a dumbass, unlike her other companion. He was sure to be exploring and scouring the fog. Her spellbook turned to another page, the woman chanting new verses with an eerie light about her. "Hush little baby," She cooed in anything but a comforting voice. The wind spell stopped in an instant but there was no breather, the woman having focused energy within her palm.

A small orb of fire rotated above her skin and it jutted out in several different directions, miniature streams of flame all shooting out towards the wraith. The light was going to cut through the fog but she wanted this over and done with, even if she had to take a bit of a risk.

"Hush little baby, don't say a word~" She cooed again, the nursery rhyme coming off as more demonic than anything else. Reika shivered in the witch's hair--privately, the youkai hated it when her master fought. It was always kind of creepy.

The power of the witches spell engulfed it once more, almost immediately after the wind spell had faded. Her words were chilling, reminding the wraith of something akin to a demon. Was this woman even human? Probably not. Finally, it lost its hold on the human it had been inhabiting. A curdling scream echoed as it was forced out of the woman's form and into the space between the human and the witch.

"I won't go back to hell..." it growled, the shadowy form rippling around with Viries' magic, "You can't make me! I will kill you first!" It screamed then lunged at her, trying to get through her power.

Her smirk widened to its fullest--finally it was out! Now it was time to get to business. The cloak that was wrapped around her body was easily undone, falling to the ground a foot or so away from the exorcist. She pulled off her dress as well, letting that fall behind her and leaving her in a light camisole and garters. She wouldn't want to ruin her clothes, not for what she had planned. An almost savage grin unfurled on her features as she brushed her hair up, putting it into a ponytail. No, she wasn't sweating this.

The wraith lunged at her and the woman made no attempts to dodge it at all. She merely opened her arms wide as if accepting its presence and the entity made contact with her skin. It howled in triumph, as if it truly believed it had gotten through her power. How petty. A sharp laugh escaped from her lips and she wrapped her arms around her torso, still laughing uncontrollably.
Reika spun away from the woman, falling atop the bundle of clothes on the ground. "M-Mistress, isn't that a lot to--"

"Be quiet!" The woman snapped, settling her vivid eyes upon the youkai. The demon yipped and covered her face with her hands, trying to avoid her master's gaze. Still, the smile did not leave her face--she could feel it, the power that this wraith possessed. It was trying to expand itself, fill inside of her. She absolutely loved that feeling, always right before she devoured. It was simply the sweetest.

The laughter abruptly stopped and the woman suddenly froze, bent slightly backwards with her arms outstretched. Her eyes were glassy and unblinking and she could've almost been a statue for how paralyzed she looked. Slowly, very slowly, she began to close her eyes as her teeth gnashed together. Almost, it was close, almost, almost, wait for it...

And there it was, the pulse of energy at her core. Right before the wraith wrapped its clammy little hands around her mind, the woman allowed her spirit energy to pulse inwards. She heard the screams of the creature reverberate in her head but she paid it no mind. Her spirit energy was seeping inside of her body, gradually encompassing around the wraith as it began to gnaw on its essence. Soon it would be a part of her. And then her task would be complete.

Again he was pushed back, this time more gently than the first. Was Lucian seriously trying to protect him? What for? There was no reason to. The exorcist huffed in agitation. He was trying to do what he was supposed to do and the demon was preventing him from doing so. He was about to say something, but Lucian gave him a strange look and that silenced Akira.

As he watched from behind the shorter demon, the spirit that Lucian had contained a moment ago was lifted off the ground and propelled at the larger wraith. Lucian used it to attack the wraith, slamming the spirits body into the wraith over and over again. It was then that Akira realized what Lucian was trying to do. He was distracting the damned thing so that it's attention was not on Akira.

Swiftly, the exorcist moved from behind the demon and ducked into the shadows. The wraith was growing ever more agrivated as it swiped at the lesser spirit that constantly blocked it's way towards Lucian. It's growling was growing in intensity and Akira was sure that if he didn't do something soon, it would unleash a torrent of power that none of them could sustain.

Akira positioned himself against the wall and lifted his hands. His binds shot outwards, criss-crossing over the expanse between him and the wraith. They curled around the creatures large shoulders and neck. A slight pull of his hands back towards his chest constricted the binds and the wraith cursed.

The exorcist electrified his body once more hoping that this time he would manage to do something to the damned thing. The electricity bounced around his form and then leapt across the binds, crackling sharply as it went. With Lucian keeping it's attention for the most part, he was sure to do something.

The moment his magic hit the wraith, it yelled out, the dark form shuddering from impact. Entirely enraged, it whirled around to face Akira, ignoring Lucian completely with his puppet of a spirit. It's large claw snapped outwards, slapping the smaller spirit away from him. The thing's lips curled into a snarl, the jagged black teeth opening in a silent roar of rage. It twisted it's arm around the binds that the exorcist held. Akira was still pumping his magic through the binds, electrifying the wraith, but it didn't seem to be doing much anymore.

"Let us see how well you fare to such a spell, shall we?" The wraith growled. Akira's eyes widened slightly and he immediately released the binds, but to no avail.

The darkness swirled around him, twisting up to catch him in it's sickening hold. The feel of the wraith's power curling against him made his stomach churn. For a third time, he let his power crackled all across his body in an attempt to get out of the things hold. It was fruitless as the wraith laughed at his attempt. The darkness that held Akira's struggling body tightly shuddered and the sound of cracking and snapping filled the air.

The wraith's dark magic washed over the exorcist, black tendrils of shadowy light arcing around him. Akira's head fell back, his screaming filled the alleyway. The wraith turned his attention to Lucian, black lips pulling up into a wicked smile, "Care for a taste, demon?"

What was wrong with him tonight? Lucian dismissed his gravitational magics, the spirit having been knocked out in the flurry of activity. It wasn't the fact that his tactic didn't last for very long or even the fact that this wraith was powerful. He couldn't see anything. He ground his teeth together. This was absolutely frustrating. Earlier he had been able to see just fine; he had seen Akira's approach, the meeting with the demons, everything. But now... now he was just as blind as everyone else and he did not know how to cope properly with it.

There was no way he could've foreseen this happening or being wiped of his sight. But now was not the time to dwell on how or why this was happening. He was going to have to force himself to figure out the answers later, when he was alone. After they survived.

He ignored the wraith's statement as he strode closer to it, blank eyes piercing back at the thing. The demon narrowed his eyes and raised his arm parallel to the ground. There was too much movement, he was going to have to negate it. He didn't trust his time magic enough to use it right now. Ordinarily, he would've slowed things down but right now... he would have to rely on someting he knew worked.

He was clearly going to have a headache tomorrow.

He murmured a few words under his breath, a few black strands of energy swirling around his hand. He directed it forwards with a faint gesture, the energy levitating towards the wraith. Once it reached a close enough proximity, the strands began to wrap around themselves, spinning faster and faster as Lucian forced the gravity in the area to knit closer together. As it did so, it began to form pressure between the exorcist and the wraith, slowly working to wrap around each of the binds to hold them in place.

The first pang of his future migraine hit him. Tch. That was really going to be such a pain later. He pushed it away from his mind, breathing steadily to maintain his magic and force the wraith into paralysis.

The tendrils of dark magic wrapped around Akira's body slowly left him. His body was shaking, his breathing hardly regular, shallow and quick. Blood trickled down from his nose and corner of his mouth. The moment the tendrils left him, he dropped to the ground on his knees. His vision wavered in and out as he knelt there, unaware of what was going on before him.

The wraith gave a low growl of anger as it felt it's body trapped in the power that the demon wielded. It lifted it's head to glower at Lucian from it's temporary prison, "He said you had a weakness," it cackled, a bit of discomfort in it's voice, "He'll die eventually. All of the exorcists will. They've been marked you see. You can't possibly think you'll win this. I can crush that human's body in my claw just by curling my hand around him. Just imagine how he would scream if I did that to him, how do you think he would die? Would he die begging for you? For his life? Or would he-" The wraith stopped mid sentence, going quiet suddenly.

"I'll see you again, little demon. Next time, I'll kill that little pet of yours," it growled at him after several moments of silence. The wraith shuddered and then slowly disappated into nothing more than black shadow sinking into the ground.

The instant the entity disappeared, the strings of magic holding it disappated as well. And as soon as that happened, the migraine pounded in his head in full. Tch. That was quite annoying. But not as annoying as what he had been told. Things were out of place here. In all the previous time streams, he had not known about Lucian. There had been no knowledge of Akira, of the exorcists, or of anyone that would eventually group together at all. Yet somehow in this time stream... somehow it was...

His eyebrows furrowed. He did not like this. He needed time to himself.

Taking off the cloak around his shoulders, his voice came out in little more than a growl as he threw it at Akira. "Go back to the room--I'll join you later," There wouldn't be any further interruptions tonight, if his gut feeling was anything to go by. He turned on his heel, walking away from Akira towards the edge of town where he could find a place to think on his own.

---

Above the alleyway, on top of a roof of one of the taller buildings in the town, a dark cloaked figure stood, watching the fight below. His hood covered his face entirely, aside from the lower jaw and lips. The moonlight was slowly sinking and the sunlight was beginning to take it's place as the fight drew to it's close. He was slightly disappointed that the exorcist hadn't been killed, but that just made things all the more interesting.

The demon, on the other hand, was much more fun to toy with. Let the man think that he had the upper hand, that he knew all there was to know. A smile twisted his lips as he watched the demon storm away from the human, leaving him alone in the alleyway. The things he could do right then... Take the exorcist, force the demon to follow and be brought to a tragic end like always. Or kill the exorcist right there. No, that wouldn't do. He wanted to see the demon's hidden emotions.

He'd been hoping to see Lucian completely lose his composure, but it seemed it would take much more than that. His hidden gaze watched the exorcist for some time, plans forming in his mind. A soft laugh shook his shoulders. Now... there was an idea.

"Lets see how you dance to this one, Lucian," the figure muttered to himself and then dropped off the building, disappearing into the city like a ghost.

---

Akira slowly pulled out of his daze, having not felt Lucian throw his cloak at him. The cloth settled over his shoulder and back of his head. His chest rose and fell slowly, regaining his breath after the near death experience. Every muscle ached, the copper taste of blood lingered in his mouth as he knelt there. Lifting his head, the cloak slipped back off his head to settle on his shoulders. The wall before him wavered, blurring in his eye sight.

It took a moment for him to remember that Lucian had ordered him back to the inn. He wasn't sure where the man went, but he figured that the demon wished to be alone. Slowly Akira moved his body, wincing as he went. Once he was on his feet, he stumbled slightly in the alleyway and had to use the wall to brace himself. It was a slow walk back to the inn with him leaning against everything that he could to make it.

Going up the stairs of the establishment proved to be troublesome, but he somehow managed. Akira wasn't even sure on how he'd gotten back to the inn, blanking out for most of the walk back. There was too much pain and exhaustion to keep standing. He made it to his room somehow, though he wasn't sure if he'd had help or not. Akira fell upon the bed without removing his clothes or the cloak over his shoulders that had somehow stayed there.

Perhaps it was dellerium, or maybe something else but he'd rolled over to his back, dragging the cloak over to cover his chest. It was warm. Warm and comforting and even had a certain, faint scent to it that immediately had him associating it with Lucian. The exorcist frowned slightly as he shifted his body into a more comforting position. With Lucian's cloak covering him, he fell asleep.

---

---

Lucian was met with a bizarre and slightly unexpected sight. His mind had not been on Akira at all, admittedly, or on the status of their little group.

He raised his eyebrows slowly at the sleeping male who was curled up with the cloak he had given him. Honestly. It was like looking at a large baby. His eyebrow twitched as he leaned over the exorcist. He could snatch the cloak back but that would only wake the other and he didn't want to deal with any questions right now. Besides, Akira had to rest to recover from the battle. He needed rest but... his mind was too active to allow that to happen.

There had been something wrong with that whole battle--something... amiss with that situation. The figure, the wraith, they had been fortunate to get out of it as relatively unharmed as they had. His eyebrows furrowed as he sat on the edge of the bed, clasping his hands in front of his mouth as he propped his elbows on his legs. He had to figure out what was happening. But things were so different this time around.

The demon had never been without his sight before, had never felt so... blind. He honestly didn't know how others coped with it, not being able to see into the possible futures. How they stumbled around so aimlessly without a care or thought to what was going to come to pass. And with the compounded fact that even if he used his visions, they might be unreliable... it put him in an awkward fix.

Did that mean his time magic would not be effective at all here? There was no way to test it... not without alerting anyone. He had a feeling that that man, this time around, was in touch with his time manipulation. And he couldn't let it be known that he was doubting his own powers. That was weakness--a weakness he could not afford.

He glanced at the sleeping Akira. The exorcist was still as oblivious as ever, so unknowing, so... tch. There was nothing to be done of the matter. He might as well feign sleep till the other woke up. He could live without it. He laid down in the other bed, closing his eyes as he tried to make sense out of the predicament.

Things were just one big convoluted mess.

---

---

Oh she saw it alright. The look that stupid wretch of an angel gave her. She grinned maliciously at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. If it weren't for the smile, then maybe she could've been deemed as maidenly. As it stood... she came across more as leering creepily than anything else. That demon was already walking ahead of them, barely glancing over at the duo as he started to begin on their way back to the HQ.

Ryu called back to her but she wasn't paying attention. Anything the whiny winged idiot said she did not have a care for. No. She was more interested in this demon Janus... Much more interested.

He had not said anything at all. But there had been a brief pause, a second, in which their gazes had locked. Janus had known. And his silence was all the affirmation she needed. He wouldn't be getting in her way. After all, she knew about him, she had been watching him since they had first grouped up. He loved the rush of battle and this situation with the rifts... it provided the perfect outlet for him. The perfect outlet for them both.

The only hitch in this little scenario was...

Her eyes swiveled over to the angel and she narrowed them slightly. She had to think of a way to get rid of him. To push him out of their group. There was no need for an angel--they would not be aiming to purge demonic presences anyone or anything. He would only be getting in their way. And if he were with them, then there were the odds he would be reporting back... to his even stupider commander.

She waltzed ahead of the idiot, smirking at him as she passed before falling into pace with Janus. Reika was thankfully distracted by some weed on the ground so she wouldn't be interrupted... at least not immediately.

Virie let her hand brush Janus' arm as she leaned closer to him, settling him with a thoughtful expression. "I have a proposition for you," She began smoothly, her voice silky. "While I do hate you as much as I'm sure you hate me, I feel we may just hate each other a tad less than that idiot back there," She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"When we go back to headquarters... why don't we just leave him there? I have no use for him and he will only slow up my... ambitions. But perhaps if an accident were to... befall him when we reached Resmyrd, there would be no choice but for him to stay behind. And we, of course, as his ever-so-noble companions would carry on in his stead." She smiled back at Ryu, now in a sweet fashion before returning her gaze to Janus.

He was a demon and true to his nature. And if there was one thing demons liked more than making bargains, it was pursuing their own selfish goals.

---

---

Her face was a bright red, cheeks puffed up and eyes squeezed shut with her incoming sobs. She was still frightened, hiccuping and continuing her wails Bad things always happened when there were loud noises. Icky sounds that made her ears hurt! But then, the sun was suddenly destroyed in the sky and terrified, she opened up her eyes wide to see what had caused such a thing to happen. She hadn't tampered with the--oh! The sun hadn't exploded after all.

It was a tall man, a really tall and large man with long red hair. He must've cast a shadow since he was so big--he blocked out the sun's rays! She had thought the chiming noise had been the sun going boom but it had just been bells. She couldn't see any on him though, where was he hiding them? She sniffed, wiping at her eyes as she stared at him.

Hey, kiddo. Pst.” He pressed his finger to her forehead before removing it. With some grandiose hand gestures, the powder he had taken out of his pouch soon disappeared.. only to be replaced by a flower! She stared at it, wide-eyed at the blue petals. How had he made that appear?

“See? Why cry when the world is so beautiful?” She sniffed, not remembering when she had stopped crying. She scrunched up the corners of her dress, dabbing at her eyes as she gazed at the flower he was offering her. With her small hands, she plucked it from his and stared at it, pushing her nose right against the petals to breathe in the smell. She inhaled too quickly and sneezed off to the side, several times in fact.

She sniffled again but smiled as she looked back at the flower, oblivious to her running nose. "Are you a magic man?" She asked, deciding to put the flower behind her ear so it wouldn't get lost. If she kept it in her hands, she might accidentally crush it since she tended to hold on to things tightly. "I like magic, I can do it too!" She said excitedly, reaching into her pocket to take out her globe.

She wasn't a very complicated girl at all and rarely understood the significance of secrecy. So she had absolutely no qualms about showing off her abilities to this strange magic man who could make powder into flowers. She blew over her snowglobe, some bubbles appearing out of the other side and floating over to his face. They popped on contact with his skin and she giggled, blowing again to repeat the process.

Yes, she had completely forgotten the reason she came to Purgatory in the first place.

It was dark. It was cold, too. He could feel his ragged breath in his chest, a sharp pain all throughout his body as well. He was most likely wounded by something, but what that was he didn't know. Akira couldn't see in the darkness, his senses were heightened to their fullest and still... he couldn't see anything. Even so, there was a cold chill running down his spine. Something was wrong, something was out of place and he was definitely in danger where he was.

It was maddening not being able to figure out what was after him, if there was anything at all. The exorcist turned full circle several times as he tried to figure out where he was. Akira ground his teeth together, frustrated at the situation. Why was it he always ended up in something where he felt utterly helpless? A sound finally assaulted his ears, laughter. Where, though?

"Akira," the voice called.

He whirled around. Both hands reached back for his weapons, gripping the handles of the blades tightly. He didn't draw them out completely, but he did pull them partially from their sheathes. The exorcist didn't answer the call of his name. He looked around wearily, unsure of what would happen next. The voice laughed again.

"Akira. You really are helpless. Pathetic too. I can't wait to tear you apart, limb from limb."

He shook slightly, the cold sweat working it's way all across his frame. The blades came free and he started to gather his power around him, the lightning crackling across his body. The darkness shifted and a figure stood before him, right in front of him not but a few inches away. Akira startled, gasped in shock and stumbled away.

"You can't run away. Don't think that Lucian can protect you from me either. I have plans for you, for all of you," the figure laughed. His hand stretched out and slashed at Akira so quickly that he hardly saw it coming at him. Sharp claws cut across his front, tearing him apart. The weapons dropped from his numb hands, shock flooding his body. The dark figure took one step forward and shoved his claws into the exorcist, straight to his heart.

Akira jerked, coming awake in an instant. His heart pounded furiously in his chest and there was a thin layer of sweat coating his forehead. What the hell just happened? His breathing was erratic, and he could still feel the lingering pain of where the man had injured him. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his heart, relaxed his lungs and looked around the room. There was a form on the other bed and it took him a moment to realize that it was Lucian who was lying there.

Slowly he sat up, hardly making any noise on the bed as he watched the demon's sleeping form. His lips pulled into a frown. What did that man mean by Lucian protecting him? Akira had never asked for it, nor did he need it. He could take care of himself well enough. He groaned softly to himself as he pulled his legs off the bed and stood. The exorcist moved silently over to where Lucian was lying and stared at him.

He looked... attractive like that. Lying there. Silently. The man's arrogant attitude could use some work, but aside from that. Akira lifted his hands to run through his hair and found that he was still holding the cloak that Lucian had thrown at him earlier. He was more than grateful for the demon's sleeping position and the darkness, for a deep blush assaulted his face as he realized what he'd done. Foolish... why had he slept with the cloak in the first place? The last thing he remembered thinking was how warm it was and that it held faint traces of the demon's scent.

Akira's throat tightened at the mere thought. He should return it immediately. Turning to the bed he leaned against it, one leg up on the bed next to Lucian as he leaned over to cover the demon with the cloak. The heavy cloth fell over the demon's form but Akira didn't move, didn't leave. He watched the demon's face for a moment, still confused by his dream. To add to it, he remembered how Lucian had been in the alleyway, pushing him back away from the enormous wraith that had attacked them. Lucian had been protecting him right there. Also, there had been something different in the archdemon's demeanor when he'd done that.

What was it with that man? Why was it that Akira was starting to feel a bit of attraction to him too? He reached out his hand and gently brushed a few locks of Lucian's hair from his face. Akira leaned forward, growing closer to the demon's face. There was an unexplainable fear at the back of his mind. The dream was still running rampant through his head. Something about those words unsettled him and he felt that he had so much more to do before something happened. He felt like there was something missing, and that 'missing piece' was sleeping right beneath him.

As he grew closer, his heart skipped a beat. Akira stopped, unsure of what he was feeling or what to do about it all. His jaw tightened and he started to pull away. It was a damned dream. Nothing more. Why was he getting so worked up over a dream?

---

---

He felt breath hitting against his cheek, a warm presence that could only be associated with the exorcist that had been sleeping not too long ago. My my. This was rather bold of him. There were a multitude of, admittedly, none too decent thoughts that went through his mind. (C'mon, he was a demon, really) And he was absolutely certain that all of them would catch Akira off guard and be completely successful. Perhaps he shouldn't be that me... nah.

He lazily opened one eye rather slowly and reached up, grasping Akira's collar to pull the human closer to him. "Come now, I don't think I'm as daunting as Sleeping Beauty. I've even taken the time out to make sure I don't have on any of those ridiculous frills. So go on, my prince, awaken me from my slumber." He said with a cool grin before closing his eyes casually.

His heart shot to his throat, closing off any attempts at getting air back into his lungs as he was suddenly pulled straight down towards Lucian. How the hell... was the demon awake this whole time? The exorcists eyes widened in shock and embarrassment. If only the darkness were a bit darker... he was sure that the demon had seen his brilliantly red face with their proximity.

He tried to pull away, but the grip was tight and he couldn't get very far. With his heart thumping rapidly in his chest, Akira wasn't entirely sure what to do next. Why had he thought it was a good idea in the first place? Oh, right... he'd been feeling a little odd right before. Damned dream.

"L-let go... please," Akira stuttered, causing him to be even more flustered than before.

Lucian re-opened his eyes, raising his eyebrows very slowly at the other. This was honestly a bit too easy. "Sure," He said as he let go, but not before he gave a downwards tug to throw Akira off balance.

A sharp cry of surprise left his lips as he felt the demon's pull. In the next moment he found himself toppling off the bed from his precarious perch and thudding hard onto the wood floor. The exorcist groaned slightly as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand and propped himself up on an elbow.

"What was that for? Damnit..." he cursed softly, wincing lightly.

The demon shrugged before straightening with a yawn, more for show than anything else as he wasn't tired. Now, he could've simply slid off the bed and helped Akira up like a decent person. But Lucian wasn't a decent person, not in the slightest. So instead, he rolled off the bed and angled himself so he could effectively pin the exorcist to the ground before there could be any protests.

"You seemed troubled," His voice was now almost a soft purr. Really, letting his guard down around a demon. "Bad dreams?"

Akira's eyes widened again as Lucian dropped down over him. Before he could even get away, he was pinned there. Damn the demon was strong... but then again, Lucian wasn't really human, now was he? His heart fluttered at Lucian's question. Was it even possible to keep secrets from him?

"I... I-I'm fine, Lucian," he stammered breathlessly, "It was... nothing," he turned his head sideways, looking away from Lucian. He bit his tongue, that was probably a stupid thing to say.

"Mmhmm..." Lucian trailed off as he lifted one of his hands to run a finger down the side of Akira's cheek. "So it's 'nothing' that has you all flustered and makes you gaze upon my face while you think I'm sleeping?" He asked slowly, as if completely oblivious to the position he had put the exorcist in.

"It was..." Akira stopped, a sigh leaving him. Telling Lucian that it was nothing again wouldn't solve the problem. The touch across his face had multiple affects. It sent shivers down his spine, it felt pleasant also and his mouth went dry slightly.

"I... I don't know who it was, or even if it was real, but a cloaked man came to me. He told me that I couldn't get away, that you couldn't protect me. He has plans for me. For everyone. Then he..." Akira stopped, his free hand clenching into a fist. Could he really tell Lucian that the cloaked man had killed him in his dream? It even sounded crazy just thinking about it.

The archdemon narrowed his eyes slowly. Things were more serious than he had anticipated. If even now, in dreams... He had to keep a calm mind, however. To let Akira see even a moment of discomfort would be unwise for the two of them. He kept his composure as he regarded the exorcist, prompting him. "Then he?"

"Shoved his hand through my chest," he answered softly. He took a moment before he continued, "I woke up right after. I can still feel where he injured me," his head turned to look up at Lucian then, "I don't know why but I just felt like... I'm missing something in life. There's so much more I should be doing that I'm not. And I think... I think that..." frustratingly his blood boiled at the thought, burning his cheeks again, "You're part of that."

Lucian regarded him carefully before wordlessly getting up with a frown. Troubling. "Go back to sleep," He said dismissively without looking back at Akira. "You need it more than I do."

Akira sat up. He watched Lucian closely, eyes slightly narrowed, "You really think I can go back to sleep after that? Something's up. What is it, Lucian?" He stood up and went towards the demon. Was he hiding something from him? The sudden request for him to go to sleep was slightly... off.

"Don't hide anything from me. If it involves me, I should know about it."

Lucian glanced over at Akira and shook his head slowly. There was no way he could tell him. And by his reactions... well, he'd give the exorcist points for being tenacious. He sighed, turning to face his companion before stepping just close enough to grab Akira by his collar again and force the other to bend down a bit.

"Something like that? Would you perhaps want something more pleasant to dream about then?" He asked with a growing smirk.

He was avoiding the question. Damn him. Well, fine, he would let Lucian win this one. However, that didn't mean that Akira was done asking or pressing for answers. He was pulled down towards the demon, strong hands gripping his collar a second time.

"What would make me dream of something more pleasant?" he asked, genuinely wondering what it was that Lucian meant.

"You really make this too easy," He murmured with a slight roll of his eyes. He leaned up, keeping his gaze even with Akira's. This exorcist really didn't have any idea, did he? Under different circumstances, perhaps he'd feel bad for taking advantage of that innocence. But as it stood... nah.

He pressed his lips to Akira's calmly but didn't close his eyes, probably more for the sake of partially unnerving Akira than anything else. "Sweet dreams," He said, pulling back while simultaneously leaning back to pick up his cloak. He turned on his heel and headed towards the entrance-way, pausing briefly to address the exorcist one more time. "Oh, and try not to make a mess." He opened the door and let himself out. That should keep Akira busy... for now anyway.

---

---

"Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" She chimed happily as soon as she heard this new nickname. It did indeed make that funny noise with her name too! The one where the letters seemed to go together but they had different sounds at the very beginning so they were different words. She liked this tall man! He was fun and he could do magic too! Just like her! She was going to have lots of fun with him and they were going to battle the shadow ants with long capes. And then maybe get food because she had a rumbly in her tumbly that made her want to eat something.

His tune was mighty catchy! He had a hum that she liked. She may not have been as gifted as the other angels but if there was one thing all angels could do, it was to sing well. Maybe it was some trait they all shared? She never really knew. But the young girl happily joined in, her melodic voice matching his with almost eerie perfection. She moved her arms about to keep the tempo since if she wasn't careful, she could lose her place!

This man could REALLY fly fast. They must've been going 7 billion miles an hour! And that was a lot of billions! She couldn't even count that high, she only ever got as far as ten. But she knew a billion was more than a hundred... not as much as a thousand... oh wait, was she confused again? No, billion was the highest! Yeah, a billion was the highest there was so he was going that fast for sure!

She giggled to herself, lost in the music. The magic man didn't seem too rushed at all but she enjoyed the flight they were sharing. She wished she could really fly like him. Maybe he'd give her lessons! Also, maybe he'd help her train her grizzly bear to fly too. She had one, but it was in a large mountain cave. And it growled at strangers. But it liked her! She liked to throw fish at its face so it could eat. Heh!

Oh, was that a city? Ohhhh!

Her eyes lit up at the approaching surroundings. She hadn't even been paying attention! How had he gotten them there so--WHOA. He must've been a SUPER SPEEDY WARPY MAGE MAN. Wow! Zee was so cool and so amazing and he was her friend! They were definitely gonna be really powerful together. Aww, he was slowing down, they weren't flying anymore. Frowny face!

Then there was a ginormous flutter of doves, oh, no, those were wings coming their way. And not just any pair of wings. She knew who they belonged to and the little girl squealed joyfully.

"Rai rai!" She laughed before immediately jumping off the man's shoulders and rolling on the ground. She wriggled over to him while pretending to be a caterpillar. "Weeeee, what are you doing here?" She said with a very large smile, eding over towards him before wrapping her arms around his waist in a big hug.

The angel commander managed a smile as he gazed down at her. Ever the innocent one. It was a somewhat bittersweet feeling to see the little Ilyana--not all angels had escaped taint as she had. "Hello Ilyana," He greeted her with kindness while gently taking her hands away from his waist. The girl was a sweetheart but her grip was too tight for comfort. "I see you made it here alright?"

"Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically, waving her arms about. "The magic man got me here with his flying powers and he gave me this pretty flower!" She gestured to the flower in her hair. "He was really really nice and now he's going to help me battle shadow ants with long capes! Wait... are YOU here to battle them too, Commander?" She asked with wide eyes. Wow, this was just too amazing!

"Ah... not exactly," He chortled. "And by the magic man, could you by chance be referring to him?" Rai looked over at the man. This must've been the exorcist, Zilocke, that the order had told him and Treylion about. "Come Ilyana, there are warm biscuits inside and I'm sure you're hungry from your journey. There will be much to--"

The girl was already bounding off with a loud "weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" towards the building as she flapped her wings. Her mouth was watering at the thought of food in her belly, yum yum~ "I'll race you, Zee!" She called over her shoulder, trying her best to run there so she could get the biscuits first. They were her favorite yummy treat after all.

The door closed and his face was a brilliant red color. His lungs seemed to forget what air was and he stood there breathlessly for several moments. He had been totally unnerved with Lucian kissing him, not to mention that demon didn't even blink throughout it. Akira slowly reached up and brushed his lips that tingled with the reminder of having Lucian's warm mouth on his.

Finally, air squeezed out of his chest and he took a deep breath to compensate. Turning just slightly, he dropped down on the edge of the bed, still in a daze. Several minutes passed and he was still like that. It took a moment, but he felt weary again, eyes heavy and sleep begging to take him away.

The exorcist tilted backwards till he was sprawled out across the bed a second time. He gazed at the ceiling, but the image didn't last for long. His eyes closed without his realizing it as his thoughts were centered on Lucian. The kiss burned along his lips and his thoughts wavered. Dreams collided with one another, all of them around the demon. They were most certainly... pleasant dreams.

***
Morning the following day

Akira moved down the street slowly, the sunlight bright as it started to make it's way towards the center of the sky. He hadn't said a word to Lucian regarding what had happened the night before. To be honest he was still a bit in shock. What was he supposed to say to the arch demon anyway? Even so, he was pretty sure the damned man knew about the dreams too right after.

Akira growled softly to himself, his mind in turmoil over the situation. With a slight shake of his head, he glowered at anything and everything before him. The exorcist continued that pace for some time, lost in his own thoughts, his senses not even stretched to pick up anything around him. He was aiming to leave the small town behind, thinking that they'd caught the spirit the night before and that was that.

The closer they got to the far gate, though the less and less people were around. It was a strange thing and had Akira been paying attention he would have noted it too. As it was, it took him several minutes to even think that his not seeing people was a bit odd. He slowed his pace and glanced around. After a moment, he finally stopped all together, about fifteen feet from the gates.

"Lucian..." He said softly. He didn't voice the rest, pretty sure that the demon had already caught on to the situation far before he did. Akira ground his teeth. Fool he thought to himself as he reached back to unsheathe his weapons. His body electrified, crackling with the bluish white light of his power. Slowly he took a step forward, trying to sense if anything was around them.

The moment his weight shifted, the cobblestone ground beneath him collapsed. A gasp of shock escaped him, the only sound he made as he plummeted about eight feet down. As he hit the ground the rocks around him juggled his body like a ball and the edge of his knife sliced into the meat of his forearm, cutting deep. His hand immediately released the weapon as he hissed in pain and clenched his fingers around the wound.

Warm blood spilled over his fingers and covered his hand and clothing. However, the deep cut was the least of his worries as a sound in the darkness of where he fell caught his attention. Akira looked up sharply. The rocks around him obscured his view and so he had to shift his body to look over the piles.

The moment he sat up to see what it was that was there, a sickly feeling filled his stomach. Very similar to the night before. That feeling increased as something slid around his throat, tightened and pulled him down into the corridor. His body slammed into the walls of the tunnel, a cold liquid soaked his back as he was pressed there. His hand gripped the slimy thing that was wrapped around his throat, blood dripping from his arm profusely.

The other arm was caught by the same thing and whatever it was slowly twisted around his arm up to his shoulder, tightening as it went. Akira's heart beat rapidly as he looked out into the darkness. The tar like form before him shifted and it's mouth parted. A grate some ways down shed just enough light from the street above to give the thing a bit of shape.

"Scream for me," it growled in an inhuman voice, "Bring Lucian to me so I can rip him apart."

It was indeed the same creature that had attacked them the night before. Akira ground his teeth, narrowing his eyes at the creature in defiance. His breath huffed in and out of his chest as it was hard to breath past the black tendril around his throat.

"Why don't you kill me and get it over with," he spat out, having just enough air to finish the thought.

"Funny... human. Don't rush your own death. There'll be plenty of time to break your body apart and then let you die. A simple little scream is all I need," it coaxed, "Here, let me help you."

The tendril around his arm and shoulder tightened, pulling outwards. Akira's head fell forward and then backwards, eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched tightly. A slight groan of pain escaped him, but not a scream, as his shoulder was dislocated. The tar creature gave an inhuman growl of anger and Akira smiled slightly at him, triumphant only for a moment.

Claws raked down his entire front, tearing apart his black robe and white shirt beneath it. Blood splattered forth and Akira issued a slight cry of pain that echoed just a bit in the tunnel. He winced inwardly, angry at himself for such weakness. The tar like wraith grinned, the black mouth pulling back to reveal more tar like teeth.

"Much better, was that so hard? No need to push yourself, little human. That'll come later," it hissed gleefully.

Akira coughed, a bit of blood coating his lips and falling from the corner of his mouth. He lifted his head up just a bit as it had fallen forward slightly in the tendrils grip around his throat. A grin spread across his lips as he gazed at the creature, his vision was slightly dim, but he was still conscious.

"I'm not done yet," he retorted and his body lit up with his electricity. He pulled every ounce of energy he had into the power. Drawing it all together he aimed to bring not only the wraith before him down, but the ceiling as well.



Ah. This was the place. The building in the middle of nowhere, seemingly out of sorts. It was exactly where she needed to be. Leiriya was most certain that her presence hadn't gone unnoticed either by the angel commander Rai. The demon approached slowly, even so.

She moved up the small incline, almost seemingly taking her time with not a care in the world. As she reached the door, she stood for a long moment before lifting a hand and knocking gently upon the wood. Leiriya waited to be greeted, wondering as she stood there, what kind of exorcist and angel she'd been paired up with.

If anything, she hoped that things would be semi interesting as things down in Inferno had gotten rather boring as of late. Being what she was... things got rather dull quickly. Even so, she also wished for the job to be done. Hopefully her group was both effective and quick at their jobs. If not... well, that remained to be seen.

---

---

Well fuck.

Lucian had been positioned on the roof of one of the buildings, having found that to be the prime spot to collect his thoughts. This whole entire trip was a complete headache. His eyebrow twitched as he straightened, a sickening feeling rippling through him for a few seconds. It had been hours since he had left Akira alone in the room and he was more than aware that the exorcist had decided to leave. The man looked a touch nervous as Lucian followed behind him, keeping a set distance. The demon wasn't that interested in pursuing Akira or addressing the previous night.

The two of them progressed through the streets, neither saying a word to the other. He was more than certain the other had caught on to his silence and that must've been primarily why conversation was non-existent. Lucian paused before Akira did, tensing as he sensed something off from a distance. The warning from Akira came late, approximately 6 seconds later than when Lucian had stopped his walk. He heard his name from the man's lips but didn't vocally respond.

The ground collapsed from underneath Akira and Lucian's eyebrows raised slowly as he watched the exorcist descend below him.
.... He was not dealing with that. No. Absolutely not.

He leaned down, catching sight o the hem of Akira's cloak as he fell. Really. This was irritating. Why did he have to deal with this? Wait, he didn't. Not at all. That sickening feeling was rising in his gut but he was going to ignore it this time. He could already feel this was a trap being laid out for him. Even if he did go down after him, he was pretty damn sure that he'd be put in an uncomfortable situation. Either way he was fucked. So why deal with it now when he could be an asshole and ditch the exorcist?

Yep.

He turned on his heel, slipping his hands into his pocket. Hm, how to occupy himself before the enemy got bored and realized that no, the demon was not coming to the party.

---

---

Virie hid her annoyance well. She was a cool woman by nature and always prided herself at being in control during all situations And she most certainly had not let that slip during her little exchange with Janus. But she was annoyed at the demon. How dare he think to question her? He should've merely conceded. But it was never quite that simple, now was it? No, he was just as proud as she, though maybe not as ambitious. She wanted far more than he could ever dream of and she was not some worthless "meat bag" who would let her life pass her by without achieving that which she had set out to do. No, she would push on. And succeed.

He would not stop her. No one would.

There was no talking on the trip back, no exchange of witty banter. She didn't look back at the other two and kept her lead. Reika had caught up to her somewhere during the adventure and had certainly tried to invoke the exorcist in conversation. But Virie was not in the least bit interested and the youkai soon gave up after being shot down several times.The trip back to Resmyrd was uneventful and by the time they saw the city in the distance, Virie was already a nice distance from the other two.

Who cared about reporting at the same time? That stench, that feeling, clearly there were angelic beings here. Ugh. She better make this fast. The first thing on her agenda would be to find Treylion, then she'd have to stomach her disgust long enough to converse with Rai and set her plan into motion. She had no intentions of leaving this city with Ryu; she could just dump him here or (preferably) leave him out to starve and have no direction to go in. He didn't belong and he never did.

She had no desire to actually fulfill her task. She was just going through the simple motions of it. And screw the consequences--she could deal with those later. She had absolutely no worries about what would happen if she were caught. She was certain she could talk her way out of any situation. Hmph.

Reika was already getting fairly excitable and had bounded ahead towards the entranceway to the Order. The exorcist rolled her eyes, clearly and evidently displeased. Ugh. Her mouth twisted into a tight smile as she laid her hands on the doors and pushed them open. She struggled a bit, the doors were several times larger than herself but she didn't let it hinder her progress. Janus was probably vying for an opportunity to get under her skin after their little discussion earlier. Bastard.

As she entered the hall, she heard a variety of excited voices and grimaced, eyebrows furrowing. Time to get this over with.

---

---

She was happy! The crumbs from the biscuits were already coating her lap completely and the small angel ate contently. She glanced over at Zee, who had taken the seat not far from her. She smiled at him, widely at that, some food bits accidentally falling from her mouth. Oops! She forgot not to grin when she was chewing. It always made such a large large mess. Oopsie! She laughed and stuffed another biscuit into her mouth with her tiny hands, scattering more of the food all over the place.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Zee walking to the door, huh? Were there people there? She paused in her eating, biscuit halfway to her mouth and another clump in her hand. There was a weird lady there, she could see her from behind the tall magic man. But her friend seemed at ease! He just plopped down next to her--Ilyana couldn't really hear what he told her all that well. All she knew was that this lady was kind of scary so she wasn't going to want to sit in her lap any time soon. Plus, that lady didn't look like she liked diapers! Which were awesome.

She took her large plate and slid off her chair, waddling slightly over to Zee before hoisting herself on to his lap with some difficulty. She squished as she sat and relaxed a little when she noticed that Rai Rai was not far behind the blindfolded woman. He let himself into the room smoothly, moving around the group with a slight nod to everyone.

"Ilyana," He began, addressing the small child. "Why don't you go into the other room and play? I will need a moment with the magic man and the woman." She wrinkled her nose at him, she didn't like being excluded!

"But Rai Rai! I wanna be in the play date too!" She protested, spraying crumbs on to the ground.in front of her. Rai smiled softly and shook his head gently.

"Not now, Ilyana. Go into the other room and I promise someone will be along to play in a bit." She puffed up her cheeks, gazing up at Zee for support. It wasn't that he ignored her but he did seem focused as well... She poutily huffed, grabbing the entire plate of sweets off the table and sliding off his lap with a plop as she landed on the floor. She didn't really understand what was going on any way and it seemed too serious for her.

The small angel let herself out of the room, proudly carrying the entire tray of desserts in front of her. Mm, yum yum! At least she could have a treat! Her displeasure forgotten, she continued along with her sweets, rounding the corner to the room Rai Rai had gestured to faintly.

"Oi wench." She stopped--who said that? She looked around with wide eyes, swallowing the biscuit she was chewing on with a large gulp. "Over here, wench." There was that word again! But she had no idea what it meant! Ilyana caught sight of a woman with violet hair, a pair of magenta eyes glowering at her from up above. The angel was confused and furrowed her brows.

"What's a wench?" She asked, the woman only rolling her eyes in response.

"Where is Treylion?" The tone was curt, a contrast to the zooming fox gliding along in the air.

"Um... you mean the scary bad man?" That was all she knew about him! He and Rai Rai sometimes met up but Ilyana knew nothing about any of that... She only knew that she was scared of him! "I haven't seen him, he's mean! But Rai Rai was in there." She pointed behind her, fingertips coated with pastry cream. The woman noticed this and wrinkled her nose in disgust, not even saying anything as she walked around the child. Ilyana stood alone in the hallway for a few seconds more before her nose began to feel stuffy. What had she done? Why had that woman been so mean to her too? It made her... really.... really sad!

And with that revelation, she started to sob again, dumping all her sweets on the ground as she bawled.

His power escalated, electrifying the very air around him. When he'd gathered enough of it, he unleashed it all upon the monstrosity before him. The tunnel shook, shuddering with the amount of pressure he exuded into the shot. A very large, brilliant blue jagged light exploded in front of him. It engulfed the creatures entire body and then some. The ceiling overhead was torn asunder. Solid rock flew in all directions, including up and outwards.

The sickening feeling of the black tendrils around his throat left and though he couldn't feel it, he knew the one holding his dislocated shoulder had unraveled as well. The beast let out a loud screech of pain as Akira's power shot through it. However, the exorcist was fairly sure that what did the most damage to it was the exposure of sunlight from overhead.

Once he was free, Akira crumpled to the floor and immediately covered his head as best he could with his good arm as a rain of rocks fell down over him. The wraith continued to scream as it backed away into the darkness. Once it was out of the light, it hissed and growled. The exorcist felt himself stuck under a few of the stones and his heart skipped a few beats. He couldn't tell were the wraith had gone, nor did he have any strength to shatter the rocks himself or move them with his binds.

Unable to turn over to see what was pinning him, Akira lay panting on the floor of the cavernous tunnel his vision swimming in and out. It was a struggle to stay awake hoping that the creature would leave entirely, or perhaps Lucian would come to remove the rocks so that he could be free. Then again, if Lucian came and the wraith was not gone... Well that would defeat the purpose of Akira's destroying the tunnel in the first place.

The growling hadn't stopped and it was obvious the wraith was very irritated at the situation. To this, Akira smirked. He'd won and that was satisfying.

"You'll die here, human," the creature snapped.

"Fine," he responded. Akira didn't mind. He was genuinely alright with that fact. Course, he'd been walking that fine line for some time anyway. His fighting was only half hearted, anyone would know if they watched him carefully enough. The exorcist was on the road to getting himself killed, and he didn't care.

The darkness scoffed back at him, but didn't respond. After a few minutes, there was a sound from where the wraith stood and then the exorcist couldn't feel it's presence anymore. He wondered briefly as to what happened, but then again he really could care less. So long as Lucian was alright.

To that thought he ground his teeth together. Why was he so suddenly worried about the demon? It's that damned dream... he cursed, putting all the blame on the strange dream he'd had the night before. It was the only logical thing. Besides, why would the demon have any care for him anyway? He was only a human. The more that he thought about it, the more he was convinced. Akira's words to Lucian that night, about his thinking that the demon was what he was 'missing' had definitely put the other in an uncomfortable situation. Why else would Lucian up and leave so suddenly?

But then, why would he kiss the exorcist too?

Akira sighed heavily and rested his head against his forearm that was stretched out above him on the ground. His other arm was awkwardly down at his side, at a very unnatural angle due to the dislocation. He would have much rather died during a fight, but he supposed this was just as good as any. Protecting something that he cared about, even if it was one sided.

***

Lucian Faust

"My, that's cold of you don't you think?" the voice came from up above, seated on top of one of the buildings. He was cloaked head to foot, dangling his legs off the side of the roof as he leaned back on his hands to survey the situation.

"Well, I suppose I figured that the little trap wouldn't have gone unnoticed by you, Lucian. Even so, I was hoping to see you go after your little pet. After all, you keep turning back time to save him don't you? Or so I'm told anyway. I don't remember any of this, but you remember it all don't you?"

The figure stood then, climbing slowly to his feet. He stretched his arms up over his head, bending backwards slightly and popping some of the vertebra in his spine. Putting his hands on his hips he turned his hooded face towards the demon.

"I'm a little miffed by the fact that you keep halting my plans, Lucian. Of all the exorcists and demons -and god forbid the angels-" he added with a sigh of annoyance, "You... you are by far the most dangerous. Well, to me anyway. That little nifty power of yours... such an annoyance, Lucian."

Turning, the figure in black began to pace on the rooftop, his hands gesturing as he talked, "I suppose I could just go after you, forget the exorcist or anyone else. I could take you head-on. But the problem with that, Lucian," the figure bent at his waist as if he were going to whisper the next part to the demon, "Is you would want that, wouldn't you? Leave everyone else out, and fight you directly. The other problem with that little idea that I've had in my mind is unfortunately, I would lose."

He flipped his hand around in a circle, annoyance in his voice, "It's that little time thing of yours again. The more you turn back time, the more you learn about me. It’s very inconvenient don’t you think? So, I’ve been enjoying going after your human. I can put him through hell you know, I can bring him to the brink of death, and you know the best part? You’ll just turn back time so he doesn’t die. Then I, get to do it, all, over, again,” he said each word very slowly and precisely at the end.

“But I’m getting tired because of your lack of response. You either avoid the situation, or you’re so schooled at keeping your emotions at bay that you have nothing to show in the first place. Quite the mood killer, Lucian,” the man hissed in anger. Standing straight again he paced along the rooftop once more, “You know I think he’s begun to realize that you’re something of importance to him. It’s not quite love just yet, but it’s getting there. Disgusting really, why love a demon of all things? And you, nonetheless. It really does irritate me.”

He shook his head, the hood of the cloak and robe the only thing to move to indicate it, “So, I have a proposition to make to you, dear Lucian,” the man seated himself then, dangling his legs on the side to stare directly at the demon below him, his gloved hand lifted in the direction of where the street had exploded not too long ago, “I can kill him right now and you can turn back your time and we start this whole thing over again, just so I can… well, kill him again. Or!

“You quite using your time magic and I’ll just… have fun with him in an awful attempt to get a reaction out of you, because it’s ever so entertaining. In the meantime, I won’t kill him, and you’re free to go about whatever it is you want to do in the meantime. All because I’m rather tired of you stopping me when things get good at the end. And don’t even try to cast anything, I’m much faster than you are, trust me, dear Lucian.

“Oh, and one more thing before you decide, Lucian. I know you’ve been dying to know how I know about you and Akira Hikaati as well as everyone else. Perhaps you shouldn’t be so willing to trust all who hold power, hm? Just think about it. Now, your answer. Time’s ticking, Lucian. He’s losing all the precious lifeblood as we speak,” he finished condescendingly, his hand that was pointed towards the wreckage started to twist slightly in a slow circle.