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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Dec 26, 2009 16:31:50 GMT -5
He smiled faintly and gave her a knowing look as he looked down at her, unable to pause and tell her anything without risking interrupting the spell. The ruby stud was closed in his fist as his free hand drew runes in the air, and he scowled in concentration. This wasn't just important to him. It was an obstacle, it was something he needed to find out before he could find peace of mind, before he could continue with his life. It had been hard enough to convince himself to stay alive, and it was only his fury that had eventually managed to cancel out the nihilism. Even thinking Altair's name now threatened to tip him over the edge into true chaos, and the civilised shell really would crack for a moment or two. But no. He had to find this out.
Vyncent hissed out one last syllable, and when he opened his hand again a golden thread leapt from the stud, shooting off into the darkness across the stones. The demon grinned, and replaced the earring. "I thought I taught you beforehand that to use a locator spell you need something from the person you wish to locate." he told her easily, tilting his head curiously down at her, before striding off to follow the thread.
"Just before I met you... only a week or so before, I believe... an angel fell from the sky, and landed at my feet." he gave a wicked sounding chuckle. "With no memories. In fact, as soon as she awoke, she thought it wise to attack me. Naturally, I did the proper thing, and retaliated." He fell silent suddenly, narrowing his eyes at the floor as they trailed off after the golden light.
"...Angel. She would have been incredibly old. Older than I am. With much more knowledge about these things. But whether she remembers... only when we find her can I tell." he shook his head, and lifted his eyes from the floor again. He seemed determined, however, and there was no stopping him. "I took this from her." he motioned to the deep red stud sparkling in his ear from the moonlight. "At the time it was just the joy of stealing from an angel. But It's surprising, how useful these types of things can be." he smirked.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 27, 2009 19:46:35 GMT -5
Etoile fell quiet, allowing him to finish his spell before she asked any more questions. By the time he was coming towards the end of the spell, she was sure that she recognised it, but she couldn't quite remember what it did. This was a bad sign, it must have been a boring spell, one that she never thought that she would need, otherwise she would remember it. Her eyes trailed after the golden thread of light as it sppeared, a touch of recognition in her gaze. "A locator spell?" The question was murmured a moment before he spoke, confirming her assumption. There, that was why she didn't recognise it. The half demon didn't see why she would ever have need of a locator spell. She never wanted to really need to find anyone, and, even if she did, she didn't want to be attached enough to own something of theirs. She quirked an eyebrow as he explained who he was trying to locate. "An angel?" Etoile almost laughed then, disbelief clear in her voice. Angels were real? No, not in all their travels had she heard of anything that even resembled an angel. Even if they were real, why would she help Vyncent? This was a strange turn of events. "You are serious about this, aren't you? She just...fell from the sky?" She asked, trying to make sense of the story that he had told her. "And...she has no memory? But you are hoping that...what, her memory might return by some miracle for her to answer your question? Seems like a long shot." She told him before shrugging that thought away. It was worth a shot if it would put his mind at ease; an angel would be the most likely one to know about souls, even demon souls, if such a thing existed. Etoile took a moment to smooth out her skirt before following him, unsure how far this ribbon of light would lead them. Hopefully the angel was still around, but who could be sure? It had been a year, could happen in a year. "You run into the strangest of people. Vyncent. I think you have a skill for finding oddeties." She commented, shaking her head a little.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Dec 28, 2009 17:41:59 GMT -5
"Being somewhat of an oddity myself, maybe I attract them." he suggested with a light shrug, following the light now without much thought. That was, until she started talking. "Yeah. Fell from the sky. I've been here a long time, I've seen weirder things." he assured her, "And of course I'm serious. Do I look like I'm joking?" he asked, scowling down at her. He actually paused in his step to look down at her, eyes flashing dangerously in the dim light. "I told you I didn't need you to come along. Don't you think I realise how much of a long shot this is, little star?" he snarled, "How stupid I feel, having to follow a whim, to walk along this line," he pointed at the golden thread which raced off into the darkness, "And not know where it leads, to not even know whether this will do me any good? Of course I do! But it's either this, or it's death!"
Fire had, naturally, lit up around him by this point, and he subconsciously reached to grasp the hilt of his sword. His hand obviously closed around nothing, and his yell of frustration echoed around the square. Vyncent was walking a thin line, thinner even than the thread he was following, and it wouldn't take much to shove him from the edge of it. He'd slammed his hand into one of the buildings nearest to them to take his anger out on it; the building trembled and a large crack webbed out around the stone, but his hand, at least, was unharmed. Without a word, he wrenched his hand out of the stone and stuffed it into his pocket, stalking off down the road again to follow the gold trail. His strides were swift and determined, and it was clear that he couldn't care less whether she followed after him or not.
He walked all night without rest - it seemed that now he had started he simply couldn't stop in his tracks, and as the sun rose another town was coming into view, and the golden thread was that little bit stronger. "We're close." he commented, this being the first thing he had said since they'd left the other town. The demon's anger seemed to have run its course or faded away by now, at least, and he took a deep breath and straightened up, before leading them into the outskirts of the town.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 28, 2009 20:33:33 GMT -5
Etoile should have been expecting sudden shifts in Vyncent's mood, she should have known to tread carefully out of fear of tilting the delicate balance which was holding him together, but that just wasn't her style. She didn't think before she spoke, and she wouldn't soften her words to save his sanity. To her, this seemed like a pointless mission, was she supposed to pretend otherwise? Act as though this all made perfect sense and that finding this angel really was of such pressing importance? No, she wouldn't do that, not even for Vyncent. She would accompany him, and be there to put him back on track when this didn't work out. She wasn't going to let him slip back into another depression. She wanted Altair dead, and she didn't want to wait any longer than necesssary. This trip to find the angel was the only diversion that she would tolerate. If he wanted to waste more time he would do it alone, but she couldn't garuntee that there would be anything left of Altair for him when he finally went to find the demon.
"If I don't go with you then I will find him first, and I imagine that you will be rather annoyed if you find that I have slaughtered him before you have the chance." She snapped back at him, refusing to allow him to speak to her like that. She was going with him to help him, even though she thought this mission was pointless. If he didn't want her around then he shouldn't have come to find her, it was as simple as that. "And I doubt that you will die if you don't do this. It had been a month since you were stabbed, if Amor had stolen your soul and that was going to kill you then I would have thought that it would have happened by now. Either that or you would have had signs."
After this little rant, she fell silent, bottling her anger up and putting it aside for use against her father. She would need all the power she could lay her hands on in that fight, and anger was a good enough source of power for her. She drifted off into her plotting against her father until they reached the outskirts of the town, golden gaze picking out the shapes of travelers tents and caravans scattered amongst the trees which surrounded the town, the golden thread of light leading straight into there. "I'm guessing she's in there. Hope you remember what she looks like."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Dec 29, 2009 8:36:18 GMT -5
Vyncent had looked close to striking her as she ranted back at him; half because she was talking to him like he was a child and half because she was talking about things he generally avoided saying unless he had to. He wasn't worried that whatever it was he'd felt get pulled towards the sword was going to kill him, God no. That would have been easy in comparison. He just wanted to know what it was, damn it, and what it was for, before it made him insane. There was a reason he'd never thought about this before. It was enough to drive a person mad, and Vyncent was halfway there most of the time anyway. He was almost thinking that it was a bad idea to find Etoile after all; they would definitely be parting after this was over, but he wasn't much worried about not finding Altair in one piece. The other demon was stronger than Etoile, and daughter or not, fury or not, he was confident he'd find Altair again.
"Blonde hair, blue eyes. Typical angel-looking type, really." he muttered, "Slim. Boyish, almost. Could've mistaken her for one if her hair was shorter and she wasn't so... so... you'll see." he shook his head, his hands resting in his pockets as he trailed towards the caravans, following the golden trail without much thought at this point. He could feel her, the angel. He was actually rather glad that she hadn't died when he'd left her that day, the demon looking up at the sky until the tents sprung up around him. Then, without a word, the flames raced from beneath his feet to start consuming everything. He'd find that angel. He'd chase her out.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 29, 2009 17:40:17 GMT -5
"She doesn't have a halo, does she? I'm thinking I could find her far too easily if she has a halo." She smirked, shaking her head a little. Of course the angel they were looking for was blonde haired and blue eyed, she would probably look just like the illustrations that she had seen in books. One of God's warriors. Oh, she hated this woman already and they hadn't even found her yet. Soon, soon she would come running out of one of the caravans or tents to escape the flames. In fact, being an angel, she would probably come out with the idea that she could stop all this carnage and save lives or something just as stupid. That would make this search a little easier, at least.
Angel had known that something was coming, she had felt the darkness creeping up on her all day, and now it was here. Only moments before the camp had been calm and still, everyone starting to settle down for the night, and now the peace was pierced by screams and the roar of flames. The chaos had descended so quickly that no-one knew how to react. People were just running, fleeing the flames, frantically searching for loved ones. There was too much panic in the air for anyone to try and organise anything, most didn't even seem to have noticed the pair that were heading towards the village, but Angel did. She froze in the middle of the path as she noticed them, gaze fixing on Vyncent, eyes widening. She...she knew him? He was familiar, but she couldn't quite reach the memory.
Her wings fluttered as she turned to face them properly, scowling at them now, feeling oddly defiant. Demons. They were demons, she could sense it, she couldn't explain it, but she knew that it was true. "What are you doing here?" She demanded, Etoile smirking at the confidence in her voice. Oh, maybe this could be fun after all. An angel? Ha, she could barely believe it.
"We're here for you, angel." She smiled sweetly, motioning down to the thread of light that lead from Vyncent to Angel, almost seeming to connect them.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Dec 30, 2009 15:28:06 GMT -5
"She doesn't have a halo. Be real, Etoile." he told her with a roll of his eyes as they wandered amongst the charring tents and the running people. They were moving so slowly and quietly that people were running straight past them without even questioning who they were or what they were doing there. Well, apart from one man who, panicking ran straight up to the demon, pleading for his help. There was a sharp crack as Vynce reached out and twisted the man's neck, not even looking in his direction. He wasn't even in the mood to enjoy this. He had more important things to deal with, and his eyes lit up as Angel appeared. Vyncent recognised her instantly, and as they arrived, barely ten feet apart, the gold thread connecting them was stronger than ever. He ignored Etoile's comment, it was as though she wasn't even there anymore.
"Yes. You know me." he responded to her surprised look, "Even though you don't really think you do." he reached up to move his hair and reveal the sparkling ruby stud, his gaze locked on hers as he straightened up a little. "I'm not going to do anything like last time though, providing you don't charge at me again." he warned her, his right hand resting in the pocket of his coat now. "I've got something to ask you. Before you give any excuses, I want you to know that I'm not going to stop burning this camp to cinders until you give me an answer. Savvy?" he smirked, seeming much more like himself now that he was surrounded by chaos and fire and screaming. The fact that she might not be able to remember, hell, the fact that she might not even know didn't seem to occur to him.
Well, perhaps it did. Because if she didn't know then Vyncent didn't know where he was going to go, and he'd probably end up burning the entire town to the ground anyway. "So here goes. Everything's got a soul, as far as I know. Everything I've stabbed has had a soul, anyway. But what about us demons? What can you tell me about them?" his voice was low and serious, and he took a step forward, cutting the distance between them even more. "If you can tell me, I'll turn around and leave. You have my word." he frowned.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 1, 2010 19:36:29 GMT -5
Etoile took a step back as Vyncent moved forwards, deciding that her place in this was to linger in the background. This was Vyncent's mission, she was only along for the ride, she would let him handle this one. He had fought with this angel before, there wasn't much of a chance that he was in over his head. Plus, she looked harmless, a butterfly looked more threatening than she did.
Angel reached up to touch a hand to her ear as he showed her the ruby stud, touching the identical earring that she wore in her right ear. She only had one, she didn't know where the other had gone...until now. Could it be that he had the other earring? But, why would he have it? He was a demon... She scowled in confusion as she watched him, unable to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Her mind felt as blank as ever, but she felt like she should know this, she should know him. The memory of him seemed closer than others, hidden behind a thin veil, she felt as though she could almost remember his face...his voice, and then it slipped through her fingers and she was lost again.
"I don't know you." Her voice came out as an unsure whisper, Angel shaking her head at his question. Souls? What was she supposed to know about souls? No...wait...there was something there. Darn it, why couldn't she remember? She winced, putting her hand to her head. She had to remember, she had to stop him. But...what did she know about demon souls? She knew that she knew something! It was there, swirling around amongst her murky memories, it was there...wait...is was...there.
There was a far away look in her eyes as her hand dropped from her head, wings fluttering behind her serenly. It was as though she were blind to the destruction that surrounded her, the heat from the flames ruffling her hair. "Demon souls aren't souls as you or I would recongise them. They are warped, twisted and fragmented..." Her voice didn't seem to belong to her anymore, it seemed heavy with time, with forgotten knowledge. "You have a soul, as you know. Your sword was forged from the souls of demons." She pointed out with a knowing smirk. She knew, she knew so much, and she could remember none of it. "They are the source of your power, strong, evil forces trapped inside a body, the smaller their container, the more powerful they are. Your soul will not be judged, your soul is damned, for you there is no redemption."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jan 3, 2010 11:30:19 GMT -5
Vyncent was only a few feet away from Angel when that far away look entered her eyes; many of the tents had fallen already, decrepit, charred wrecks which stood like skeletons around them, and the demon had raised his hand to cause more fire to rage around them. He had been about to give up - she clearly didn't know anything, angel or not, and he didn't know what he was going to do. On the fringes of his subconsciousness he could feel the sting of panic, the memory of his apathy, his longing to die, and he hoped to the gods that it stayed there, on the outskirts of his mind, where it belonged. His eyes narrowed defeatedly and his hand clenched into a fist, as if he was preparing to put the useless angel out of her misery once and for all. But then, of course, she began to speak.
He frowned, his hand falling to his side once more as her words drifted through the heated air towards him. "Warped, twisted and fragmented..."
Music to his ears.
So he had a soul. It was still inside him, part of it hadn't been whisked away and shoved into his sword, wherever that sword might be. It was still there. As if in response, something stirred inside him, dark and macabre, almost like it was settling back into place after being yanked about by Amor, and the doubt cleared from Vyncent's eyes.
"Your soul will not be judged, your soul is damned, for you there is no redemption."
He cracked his knuckles, fire fizzing between his hands, and smiled. It wasn't a particularly pleasant smile, but Etoile would recognise it as the expression he got when he had heard exactly what he wanted to hear. He had needed that. And those words, from an angel... he might even ask her to say them again. They lingered menacingly in the air, like blood-drenched silk.
But there was no time for that.
With a snap of his fingers, the black fire around the camp died down to nothing more than a few embers, and Vyncent stepped forward. The golden line between them dissolved now, because they were so close. Without a word, he dropped gracefully to one knee, took Angel's hand and gently pressed his lips to the back of her palm. It was only very brief contact, and a second later he dropped her hand again, rose to his feet and shot her a charming grin which bared his ivory fangs.
"Pleasure talking with you again." he concluded with a nod, stepping back and turning on heel to walk away again, his coat flaring at his heels. "Oh," he looked back over his shoulder as he walked, "You do know me. And you'll probably see me again one day. Looking forward to it, angel." he purred, brushing easily past Etoile and out of the camp. You could physically see the change in him. Vyncent hadn't died, but when he had found her in the tavern he hadn't been quite alive either. Now he was... he was ready. Flames crackled at his fingertips at the mere thought of what he was going to do, and he chuckled darkly. "Altair. Let's go find him." he muttered.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 3, 2010 12:30:21 GMT -5
Angel was watching Vyncent but not seeming to see him, her eyes seeming to look straight through him, watching something that no-one else could see. It was almost as though she was watching his soul, that black spirt that writhed inside his body. She could see it waking up as she spoke, shaking off some sort of slumber and preparing for something. It worrying really; why would a demon want to know about souls anyway? She have never known them worry about such things, it was more often that they denied the existance of anything that linked them, no matter how remotely, to the rest of the world. Then again, owning a sword that stole souls could make you curious, and she would imagine that one would become even more curious when this sword was gone. Oh yes, she had noted Amor's absence, not that she would remember any of this when she came around.
The snap of his fingers both removed the danger and dragged her back to the present, Angel blinking the distant look out of her eyes. She eyed him cautiously as he approached, ignoring the headache that was building behind her temples. She felt weak and dizzy, as though her legs barely had the strength to hold her up. He touched her? Angel shuddered as his lips touched to her flesh, snatching her hand back. Oh, she felt tainted, touched by a demon. She couldn't even attempt to hide the disgust in her eyes. He burnt down the camp, incinerated who knew how many innocent people, all to get his own way? And now he was kissing her hand?
"I can't say that I feel the same way. If I never saw you again I would be happy." She snapped as he turned away from her, her gaze darting to Etoile for a moment, the half demon smiling to her sweetly before turning to follow Vyncent. Well, that had been...interesting. Etoile could think of no other way to describe what had just happened. "Now we go find Alair?" She asked, daring to speak her father's name, as though she had sensed the shift in Vyncent too. He may have only been half there when he came to find her, but now he seemed fully recovered, this was the Vyncent that she knew.
Angel was left standing amongst the smouldering wreckage as they left, managing to wait until they were almost out of sight before she crumpled to the ground and passed out, it was doubtful that she would remember any of this tomorrow.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jan 12, 2010 17:18:19 GMT -5
Vyncent looked... happy wasn't the word for it. He was self-satisfied, content and confident. He looked like himself, to put it simply. "Yeah. Now we go to find Altair." he nodded to her, his voice low although there was a dark excitement undertoning his words. He didn't even look over his shoulder as he heard Angel collapse. He was finished with the angel. He disgusted her, and he was happy about it. They would meet again one day. He could feel it. "He'll be at his estate, I'm assuming." he murmured, "That's where we'll head." he clenched his left fist, holding up his arm to look at it. There still wasn't something quite right with it. He'd have to get a healer to look at it before he went and executed his bloody revenge on the other demon.
It took almost a week, but eventually Vyncent found himself standing on the outskirts of a grand estate, his right hand resting, for the first time, on the empty scabbard where Amor should be. It was time to end this. His intention to find a healer had been fruitful; he had been so happy with the work done to fix his wrist that he hadn't even killed the man. "That's where he is, I'm sure of it. This whole place smells like him." he commented under his breath, chaos lacing in with his words as he narrowed his eyes at the road which led into the depths of the other demon's estate. "I don't know where he'll be along here. But he's here." he glanced down at the half-demon, something a little different to anger stirring in his eyes. It was beyond anger. His fury was absolute. The demon was going to pay.
"You stay here a while and keep a lookout, in case he's not here yet. I'm going to go and search further inside." he muttered, sweeping off without a word down the road.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 13, 2010 11:39:30 GMT -5
They were stood on a slight incline, which gave them a full view over Altair’s vast estate. The grand house was placed right in the middle, surrounded by perfectly manicured gardens, the main drive up to the house was wide and flanked by tree’s. There was even a lake to the right of the house, stretching out into the distance, sunlight glittering on it’s surface, and all of this should have been Etoile’s. Her expression was closed, unreadable as she gazed down at it all, the breeze running it’s fingers through her hair, pushing it back away from her face. So, this was the place that she was meant to call home. By all rights, she should have been brought here after the fire. Or, perhaps this was just one of many lodgings that he had? Either way, this was the most famous one, the one where, according to all accounts, he spent the biggest majority of his time. He had to be in there, hiding behind one of those windows, perhaps even watching them, awaiting them approaching the house.
“You want me to stay here?” A frown touched to her features as she dragged her gaze away from the house, her hands moving to sit on her hips. He wanted her to sit this one out? Ah, he didn’t want her interfering. Well, that was typical. She had spent months trying to find her father and now, now that they were stood on the edges of his estates, he was telling her to stay put. She couldn’t pretend that she was pleased with this order, but she knew that it was foolish to question him on something like this. Vyncent wouldn’t hesitate in forcing her to stay put, to stand and keep watch. “Fine.” She huffed, shaking her head and turning her gaze back down to the house. “Fine, on one condition. Don’t kill him.” The man was, after all, her father. She wanted more answers out of him before he died. “I don’t care what kind of state you leave him in, just don’t kill him.”
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Post by FLICK on Jan 27, 2010 17:51:49 GMT -5
Altair, oblivious to the little gathering of demons (okay, so there were two) down the road, paced back and forth. The long windows of his estate looked out over the countryside, but he had no time for it now - his eyes were on the sword. Yes, he had returned to his estate. Predictable, but preferable to roughing it in the countryside. Vyncent would never stop hunting him, as long as he kept Amor... he might as well get the primary confrontation behind them. And if Altair had a sin - oh, but he had many - it was pride, and pride drove him now. He had beaten Vyncent, his greatest rival, humiliated him, driven him into the dust... and he was proud. And cocky. He had Amor now, Vyncent's beloved. What an advantage... But Altair's ruthless calculations could never include emotion, and he did not realise that Vyncent would fight for the sword as furiously as he had fought Vyncent for his own daughter.
And lost. She should have been her, beside him, looking out over all that was hers, all that he had brought her... But there was no time for those thoughts now.
He swung the black, glittering blade - oh, how she sung through the air! A tapestry fell, priceless threads unravelling in the air, cut to ribbons. Nothing stood before her, nothing living... this past month had been fun. Oh yes... more fun than he had had in a long time. He had really let himself go, and it felt good. The blood, the screams, the dying. He could see why they appealed to Vyncent, for a time. But that was why he would always be better: because he could stop, because he could restrain himself, because he could curb his desires enough to prevent the destruction of all he had built around him. Vyncent's passions destroyed everything he touched... Altair's grabbed, pulled, manipulated, controlled. Power... that was what drove him. But if Vyncent's fiery rages touched his daughter... the daughter he wasn't to think of... there would be no power in the world that could protect him, High Demon or not. It irritated Altair to admit that despite her brusque rejection, he could not forget her. Little Star...
But power. This was power. She glittered in the air before him, black and unforgiving...
"Oh, my Amor," he murmured. "We have a journey to make, you and I."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jan 27, 2010 18:14:12 GMT -5
It had been easy for Vyncent to pick his way up towards Altair's estate, and as the grand manor house came into view, his crimson eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched. He relished the fiery rage that pulsed through his veins with every beat of his heart, savoured the taste of the razor-like words of hate that threatened to tear from his throat the second he laid eyes on the demon he loathed. He could smell Altair. He could smell him all around this place, but he already knew that he was in the manor. Which was why he found himself, very promptly, lingering outside the large, heavy doors. His lips moved soundlessly, magic lacing through the air with every syllable, and a thick fog began to swirl across the marble floors of the house, crawling up the walls and making it impossible to see.
There was a thundering boom! as the High Demon put his boot to one of the doors, sending it splintering from its hinges and skidding halfway across the floor. He was inside in seconds, quickly locating Altair's presence. Vyncent had seen him, every now and then, pacing in front of the windows. He had been careful to keep out of sight. Now he could hear his voice.
"Oh, my Amor. We have a journey to make, you and I."
Vyncent physically had to restrain himself from losing his composure completely and tearing everything to shreds without an ounce of the grace or flair that was so common in his murder. Fog swirled into the room where Altair paced, obscuring vision and making the air wet and cold.
"You do have a journey to make, Altair." Vyncent commented lightly from the doorway. "You're going straight to hell." he informed him, his voice a soft, lethal purr against the silence. "But," he added, "Amor won't be going with you," he laughed merrily, "She'll be going with me. But it's alright, I'll leave you with something. I think you'll like it."
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Post by FLICK on Jan 29, 2010 5:21:58 GMT -5
Silence hung in the room, heavy as the gold-weave tapestries that clad the stone walls. Beautiful, fragile, resonant - until... Not quite a sound, not even a smell, but a feeling... a twitch at the back of his throat, a creeping on his forehead, and then the iron smell of blood and screams that Altair could always detect, even if it was beyond the reach of mortals. The sound of Vyncent's tread, as distinctive as a voice. Altair would never let himself forget. Constant vigilance. And he had been vigilant.
Not that Vyncent's visit was not somewhat a surprise - he had not seen the demon's approach. Perhaps not vigilant enough... He felt the fog creep into the room, slide like fingers over his shoulders. Thick and creeping, like Vyncent's own foul presence. In Altair's estate... would he ever be rid of the stench, the foul sight of him that dug itself into the surroundings and imprinted itself on them, like a bed that kept the shape of its last sleeper. He had known he would come, it was inevitable, as long as Altair had the sword... but...
"So soon?" Altair spun on his heel, silent and patrician in soft silks that clung gently to his regal frame. "Why, you did better than I thought. Scarce more than a month, my friend. But then, I did make it easy for you. Maybe you'd like a bit more of a challenge?" The air around them glowed, the fog suffused with golden light.
"This is my home ground, Vyncent. I am, naturally... prepared." His lip curled. He sketched an incantation with his hand and the carpet unravelled beneath him, threads glowing gold and dispersing into the air, to reveal a chalked protective pentacle. The lines at the border of the hexagon glowed white and the runes shifted and changed, infused with divine power. Altair bared his teeth.
"Drawing it did tickle a bit, but it will be nothing compared to crossing it. And this-" he tapped the ring on his left hand "-can take quite a bit of divine punishment. But now I am on the inside - and you, naturally an... evil creature... cannot follow me, at least not till you break its power." He raised Amor. "The question is whether you, or her, can endure longer. The souls of demons are evil too, old friend, but my circle cannot contain them. The sword will break, and then they will be released." The last word was merely a whisper: "Power."
Altair thrust the black sword from his hand into the faint barrier surrounding him.
She screamed.
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