With everyone fast asleep, Caius was the first one to awaken and rise from his bed. It was quite early for Caius and if felt odd waking up so early despite being a late sleeper. His eyes glanced around the room and stare at the three nephilim still sleeping and smiled softly as he glance over at Soren, Anna and then finally Cal. Just looking at Cal made him close his eyes and let out a sigh, shaking his head before walking out of the room. Walking out of the bedroom, Caius continued to walk on before coming to a halt and glanced over to the right. He didn't know what urged him to go forward, but Caius turned and headed into the room where he and the other nephilim were born in. Walking in he stared forward, and clenched his fist as he stared at the back of the silver haired man that stood in the middle of the room "Love...such an odd thing...so weak...so exploitable..." Caius's eyes narrowed and gritted his teeth as the man turned around to face him. The usual mask that covered his face was gone and Caius could only stare at his father's face. As much as he loathed it, the face of man he called father looked nearly exactly like his own. "you truly are my son...broken...just like me..." "Im not like you..." Caius said, it was all that he really could say as the man calmly began to walk past him "The expected response...very well, continue on...I do wish to see where your path shall lead you..." The cold and emotionless voice was heard before Regulus finally walked out of the operating room and headed elsewhere. Caius merely stared over his shoulder and watched on as the man walked. Though he hated him, Caius always did wonder just who Regulus Aster really was. He did know how long it was he stood in that operating room. He didn't even know why he stood there. He just stood there, thinking until at last he began to move out towards his usual spot at the classroom. The present was still there sitting on the desk that Manitos has left it. He could still remember how Cal's face was used as a disguise and merely tossed away when the deception was over. That demon played with his emotions, made him look like a fool, and now matter how hard he tried, every time time he looked at the person he cared for he would be frightened of the chance of getting deceived once more. The sheer hatred was building up and his body began to overheat. He fell to his knees and began to pant gripping his chest.
Demon's were slain one by one and as time went on and there was not much he could do other than to kill. Soon enough there was no more he could do but to retreat for now and try and get some rest until the next day. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he brought out a mirror shard he had taken with him and stared at it, quite worried about Mali and her situation. His eyes narrowed and the grip on the shard tightened as he stared at the church "Goddamn it kid" Alistair said. There was nothing he could do, no way he could enter the church. He could only hope that the little girl did not find her end there. For now he needed rest. It took a good long while but he fell asleep eventually.
Hearing Cal laugh alongside with him made him quite happy to know that she was okay and not worrying about him. She helped him up and he scratched the back of his head embarrassed as he looked downwards with a meek smiled. Soren walked in quite curious about what happened and Cal began say he tripped. Did she not know what happened with Manitos? if so then why was she so worried about him? did she know that Manitos would do something like this? His eyes widened as Cal's arm was hooked with his and before he could really react the three of them began to move out towards the Nephilim room. Anna was quite worried with all the yelling, but telling her that he tripped seemed to at least calm her. As she ruffled his head Caius closed his eyes and chuckled at her little joke at Soren. "heh..maybe thats why" Caius said glacing over at Soren who was looking pretty serious as he stood with Cal. His eyes closed as he walked towards his bed and collapsed on top of it with a sigh before covering his face with his hand deep in thought. He still thought back to what happened and how Manitos was able to convincingly disguise herself as Cal. He had never been this upset before, it was far different than his hatred for his own father. He didn't want to worry Anna nor did he wish to tell Soren. Soren was just far too easy to anger and he didn't wish for him to be anymore enraged. For now all he could do was hide how much this moment affected him.
For the first time, Caius Aster felt a true desire to kill. The woman that dared to take the form of the one person he truly cared about, for her to stain her image like that, Caius would never forgive her. She could do whatever she wanted with him, but to use Cal like that was something he just couldn't stand. He wanted to make her pay, but even knowing she was the demoness, he still could not do it. She had taken the form of Cal, and he could never attack Cal. Manitos left and all was silent in the room. His legs shook slightly from all the stress he had received from this encounter. Even though he figured it all out, the whole event still had some impact on him. He turned towards the present and stared at it, but this only brought back memories of that demoness playing with it in Cal's image. Before he could return to his seat his eyes widened as the sound of the door was opened with a loud bang "C-Cal?!" Caius said in shock. How could he tell that this was the real Cal? He took a step back in fear when he thought about this, but as he stared at her he noticed how much of a panic she was in. It was the same caring Cal that he knew, and he wouldn't let what happened deter his thoughts about her. "I-I'm fine" Caius said scratching the back of his head with a smile. With that said he walked towards the girl, but with his wobbly feet he only tripped and fell to the ground "oww...e-excluding this moment" Caius said with a small quite chuckle.
Caius continued to look away, unable to even look at the girl anymore. His body felt warm, as the temperature began to grow further with each and every second that had passed. She had put away the box, but this did not change anything for him in the slightest. "Sorry for bothering you about this...but I want to know how you felt that entire day after I gave you that locket...it was a special day after all..." Caius said thinking back to that day. "Caius, you're never a bother. After you gave me the locket, I felt grateful and appreciative because I know how much work you put into it and that it was a difficult day for you. It was a special day because you're special to me." His eyes closed and his fist clenched as he heard her speak once more. "yeah...I-I'm guessing you must have noticed how hard my face turned red" Caius said with his usual meek voice. "You seemed pretty uncomfortable. You shouldn't though. I still don't have anything to return the favour with." "I knew it...." Caius said softly after hearing Cal speak. He calmly rose to his feet and faced Cal with a serious stare "I knew it...Cal would never lie to me...You are a liar..." Caius said distastfully. There was no stutters, no nervous shivering. Caius stood strong as he stared at the one he considered a fake.
Caius just continued to be frozen, but all just felt to strange, it felt far too good to be true. He glanced up at Cal as she suddenly reached over him and immediately tried to reach out in vain. In the end she had gained his box, his present. He didn't wish for her to open it, not like this. He stared at her as she held his box and looked away. "U-um...its for Azrael" Caius said calmly still looking away. He wasn't ready to give her the present, even though its been completed and everything. He wasn't prepared, and it just didn't feel like it was right to give her now. "Say Cal, when I gave you that locket...how did you feel that day? did you get the music to work like I told you to?" Caius asked.
The sudden female voice entering the room made Caius jump, quite surprised to have seen Cal just immediately enter the room. "C-C-Cal?!" Caius stuttered as he watched the girl walk up to him. Frozen from the sudden shock of her entering the room like this, Caius could only watch as the girl he admired suddenly sat right next to him. He couldn't say anything and was a mess from all the nerves, but immediately what happened next made everything worse. His eyes widened and his face turned red immediately as she rested her head upon his shoulder. "I-I-I...UM...ERR.." Caius stuttered. This was all too sudden, too foreign, too bizarre. He had never expected this from Cal, it was just too strange for him to see her rest her head on him like this. He needed to calm down, he needed to act cool, he needed to see if this was some sort of joke, but this was all impossible the mere moment she pointed out the box. "I-ITS NOTHING" Caius yelled out unable to control his nerves. After yelling that, Caius closed his eyes and let out a sigh, trying once again to calm himself. All of this just felt too odd...
It was quite silent in the classroom, absolutely no sound excluding the sound of breathing that came from the horned teen that sat next to a nearby desk. With his chin resting upon the desk, Caius merely stared forward that the present resting on the desk, disheartened by the sudden events that had occurred the other day. He thought back to that girl he had met and he wondered if she was alright after having run off crying. Caius wished to go see her and check if she was alright, but he didn't know if that girl would even want him around. His presence would probably annoy or upset her so he chose against said action. Raising his hand he began to gently poke the box ahead of him repeatedly with his finger. Watching the box lightly move as it was poked, Caius sighed before softly smiling. "I was supposed to give this to her when she woke up...but knowing Cal she wakes up pretty late" Caius said quietly before chuckling to himself softly. "even so....I've gotta man up...which is easier said than done..." Caius said. The last gift he had made wasn't even given to her by himself, it was imperative that this time he would be the one to give it to her, he needed to stop being so nervous.
Strength had finally returned back to Alistair and without anymore time left he got prepared along with the other two of his little group and left back towards midworld. Alistair had wished he could have at least seen the nephilim children once more before he left, but staying in hell for an excess amount of time was too dangerous in their position. He could only imagine Temeluchas was pissed for having to make a trip back to hell for his sake, so he really didn't wish to incur the angel's wrath at moment. For now he would merely smile on with his bright casual smile and proceed forward towards end result. Killing demons was starting to become tiresome, but in the end killing them was not supposed to be for sport but for work instead. Blades popped out of his body as usual and Alistair prepared himself to move forward in order to deal with the demons once more. Curiosity made him wonder just where this day would go. Would they do nothing all day? or would **** go down, only time would tell.
Caius' eyes widened upon noticing tears begin to form in her eyes and immediately a sense of dread filled him "Hey..." Caius said walking closer to her in an attempt to at least comfort her, but the damage had already sunk in. "Hey wait!" Caius yelled reaching out to her only for her to have already ran off away from him. He lowered his eyes and glanced over at Soren with a glare. For the first time, after holding so much respect for the elder, he had finally thought negatively about him. Without another word he calmly closed his eyes and walked off. Overall everything was a massive success and the group was soon off on their journey. Lucius was quite amazed to see just a rag tag group actually had their own aircraft and this only made things far more interesting. With the others asleep and the plane off on it's travel, Lucius began to write in his book before falling asleep. Alistair could barely even tell what was going on, but he was able to tell that he was no long near that church anymore. His body rested upon a bed, a familiar bed that he knew of. He was in his room, he was back in hell. It was so sweet of them to bring him back to recover. With his eyes closed he drifted off to sleep in order to recover.
"Intrude? such rubbish you speak of! The arrival of new guests is never an intrusion! Come! your hearts needn't be shy! Guests need only to relax and enjoy themselves! I'm sure you've come from far so the pains of travel shall be eased by the luxury of my manor!" Lucius said with glee before he walked off with the two in tow. It was a shame really, for he had hoped to see just how the others in the group had dealt with the recruitment, but Lucius could not ignore the guests that had wandered over to his manor. It was fate that another angel was brought over to his manor. Lucius could tell the tactics of the group were not the brightest, but for now he would merely make things more easier by taking away the most oppressive side.
Caius' eyes immediately widened upon the sudden voice of Soren and quickly turned to face the older nephilim. Soren's voice was cold and hateful, and even though this was common for Soren when it came to the topic of angels, Caius did not feel what he said to the new girl was right. Caius didn't know what to do, he glanced downwards at the floor now wishing to speak up against the elder that had helped him out, but it bothered him greatly. "No...." Caius said softly towards Soren before looking back up to Soren. "I'm going to help her" Caius declared. "She looks lost and scared, whatever little I can do to help her, I'll do it..." Caius said. It was true that he didn't even know this girl, but that look she held just made him wish to help her. He wouldn't forgive himself for turning down somebody who desired help. He didn't want anybody to be sad. "She has done nothing wrong to us..." Caius said. The very little details he had received were written down quite fast in the huge book that he had carried with him. All that he had needed were securely placed in his bag and with his new companions they were off to begin their journey. His book now closed and placed away securely, Lucius glanced forward and noticed a foreign car drive up to the mansion and a group of people walk out. He had heard Salvatore spoke, but Lucius had already left from the group and headed towards the family that had decided to make it all the way to his manor. "AH! Welcome fabled guests! Have you come to say good day to I? I, Lucius Nero welcome you to my residence" Lucius said before placing his arm across his chest and gave them a bow "I do so hope you’ll have a magnificent time in these halls of literature" Lucius said before getting upon one knee as he grasped the hand of Mrs. Summer and gently kissed the top before rising once more and pointed to his mannor "Ah greatest day! such guests to have joined me on this day! Tis as if the month of June has come for us to celebrate! If it is a celebration then surely we must return to the manor where we can delve our minds into the workings angels!" Lucius said
Though she said she was fine, Caius was having a hard time actually believing that. She looked frightened and that was something he really did not wish for her to be. She stuttered, which was something he found odd. All the people he had ever met in this place, they were all strong willed, but this was the first time he could ever say that he had met somebody quite similar to him. He listened to her speak and ask what exactly he was, but immediately he froze upon what she said and looked downwards "I-I..." Caius began to stutter closing his eyes before letting out a soft sigh and calmed down a bit "you can say something like that..." Caius said quietly almost in a whisper before meekly staring up at the girl once more "Though...I am a nephilim, an angel and human breed" Caius said. He knew he couldn't falter here and he knew something was up with this girl. He wanted to help this girl, with whatever it was that bothered her so greatly. "So..um...I really don't want to be a bother, but are you sure your alright? I mean...I really don't mind helping you out...I-I insist!" Caius said.
Spoiler: A mentor's words "Do you hate me?" "wh-what?" "Come now, you know I've been working with your father for so long...its only reasonable that you hate me..." "I don't hate you.." "huh?" "...you've looked after me...helped us...and your special to Cal...I can't hate you...I'm grateful for what you've done..." "Man...you kiddos just surprise the hell out of me...but the thing is I should be grateful to you guys..." "....what?" "Nothing...Its time I leave, soon I'll be heading off...remember the stuff I've told you. This is something you must deal with yourself, but don't be selfish and worry the others. Avoid midworld unless you have to go. Take care of Cal for me would you?" "...Don't worry...just...make sure to come back alive..." More and more he thought about his discussion with Azrael. There were so many things he though about and he just didn't know how he was going to deal with the issues he held. He found himself always going into the classroom, it was spacious, empty and a place nobody really went to. He never really shared lessons with the others due to being younger than them, but he knew he was the one who spent the most time in there. He always scoured around the area looking for whatever he could in order to tinker with things. It was hard but finding what he considered pretty objects was hard to do, but rewarding nonetheless. Self-confidence was something hard for him to acquire, but the nonchalant Azrael had at least been able to help him out a bit in that regard. He had begun to make a lot of progress with Azrael's help, but overall there was still much more left and he knew that what was left depended on his own self. His newest creation was complete and he raised it upwards and stared up at it as it glistened. It wasn't organic and he knew he wouldn't find such a thing in the depths of hell, but a rose made up of different pretty materials was what he created and he held some pride into it. Caius smiled softly as he stared up at it, but thought more about what exactly he would do with the rose and his face immediately turned red before he placed the item back into a nearby box. With a deep sigh, began to wrap the box up with shaky hands "...um...c-c'mon Caius...calm down...er...d'oh I cant even speak to myself without being nervous..." Caius said covering his face with his hands. Placing the box away in a bag he had, Caius opened the door out of the classroom and headed out of the door. Taking in another sigh to calm himself, Caius raised an eyebrow upon noticing somebody up ahead "huh? who's that?" Caius said to himself as he stared over at the stranger "U-um hey there" Caius called out as he walked up to the girl. "A-are you alright? you don't...look too well" Caius asked.
Lucius raised an eyebrow and stared over at the group before closing his eyes. "Unbelievable" Lucius said before a smile crept across his face and just continued to grow. "SUPERB! REMARKABLE! INDUBIOUSLY FANTASTIC! THEY HAVE ARRIVED! THE MOMENT I HAVE BEEN AWAITING FOR HAS COME AT LAST" Lucius yelled in sheer glee as he placed his hand on his chest and raised his hand up in the air "OHHH HOW LONG I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS TIME! HOW LONG I HAVE ANTICIPATED THE ARRIVAL OF THE PROTAGONISTS" Luicius yelled as he lowered his hand and pointed his finger straight at the group "YOU MUST TELL ME THE STORIES OF YOUR ADVENTURES! I MUST MAKE A CHRONICLE OF IT!" Lucius yelled before bringing back his hand to his chest and closed his eyes as he lowered his head. "A tale of a rag tag group, roaming around the world, desperately attempting to prevent the rise of Lucifer and his dark forces. Death! Life! Sorrow! Happiness! surely this tale must hold it all!" Lucius cried out dramatically. "This tale, I shall call it The Fallen! it will be a far greater tale then my prized tale of The Girl in Watercolors!" Lucius said happily
It only took a mere moment but a loud beep echoed forth as the large gates begun to open up beckoning the others to walk through the large area at head towards the manor. Passed the snowy courtyard and towards the large doors that led into the manor, the group walked on until they finally reached the doors that suddenly opened forth upon their arrival. There awaiting the group, standing ahead of the group stood a man of silver hair glancing down upon the book in his hands. The moment the group had made their entrance the silver haired man immediately shut the book and spread out his arms with a bright and cheerful smile "Greetings and welcome dear travellers and welcome to one of the most luxurious places this snowy land has to offer? to what brings you to the residence of Markov Delight? shall I fetch you a cup of tea my new guests?" he spoke. For Lucius Nero meeting new people was quite the adventure, quite the rush. There were so many things that could happen, so many ways his story could go. What was their background? what was their objective? what will be their future? will these people have story he needed? or will the flop and disappoint. Suspense was usually a good thing to have in a story
Opening his eyes were far more harder than he had expected but when he thought about it this fatigue made sense. He was away from hell for far too long and now he was enduring the consequences. No matter where he went it seemed it would bite him in the ass in someway or another. Alistair merely smiled softly as his eyes finally opened fully. Staggering to his feet, Alistair held himself up by placing his hand on a tree nearby and held his other hand over his mouth before he began to cough out some blood "heh, what a pain" Alistair said nonchalant as he removed his hand and stared down at his blood covered hand. The still had work to do, but in this state things were going to be a great challenge. Mali had returned, but it barely even looked like she took any sort of damage. He was curious to see why she decided to flee, but then again the girl was like a doppelganger to Lu and Lu's mind was just so crazy to comprehend.
Blades pierced through his flesh as he used them to slash. The numbers were quite big, but they were on no true concern for Alistair. He had trained himself a fair deal and the demons before him began to fall one by one. For now it was all they could do as they awaited the return of Mali. Far earlier than he expected, it seemed Mali had returned and there was no sudden apocalypse. Whether she actually did something the others were unaware of or the sheer fact that she decided to retreat was unknown as the three decided to retire for the night. Eyes closed, Alistair drifted off to sleep.
There was only one left on the battlefield and once that one was slain they would be able to liberate the village. The rest that he and his allies killed off were mere fodder and with this last man they needed to unite in order to finish this off without any casualties. Stepping passed the fallen body of the bandit he killed he proceed to make his way towards the leader of the group as fast as he could. His other allies had already made way towards the last enemy and the battle already seemed to be in their favour, but Valentine could not get overconfident with the whole scenario. They would still benefit from his help and in turn he would be able to gain his fair share of battle experience as well. His fellow disciples all had managed to dish out some damage towards the boss before him, but it was clear that their fatigue was starting to affect them. The fighter of the group handled herself well, but she was starting to show her fatigue. If they was a perfect time to strike then this would be it. Before the bandit could attack any more Valentine rushed up to the bandit and swung at his foe. The two weapons clashed and Valentine narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth with calm smile as he got pushed backwards a bit stumbling a bit. Though it was true that he had the advantage, it did not necessarily mean that he would come out on top. He blocked a blow heading towards him and skid back a bit, keeping his legs firm on the ground. The clash of blades proved to be in the favour of Valentine. The wounds that the bandit received seemed to be hampering his movements and gave Valentine a better chance. With a smirk Valentine pushed forwards and slashed away the axe that his opponent used before slashing upwards and cut through the flesh of his opponent. Panting a bit Valentine lowered his weapon as the bandit fell to the ground.
The blade cut clean through his opponent and Valentine was left victorious. The annoyance of a mage was out of the way and they were close to the end of the battle. A flick of the wrist to the side caused some of the blood on his blade to be tossed off, but there was still far more for him to do before they could say they were done with this match. They still had a long way to go and they did not have much time to spare running around slashing about. They needed to get rid of the boss before the man did far more damage to the village than they could afford. A life was something that just could not be returned and the romance of the blade did not bode well with the death of the innocent. The bandits were being picked off one by one, but one remained still battling against the fellow sword wielder. Gripping forth a small pebble, the rock was tossed straight towards the head of the fighter facing off against Smoch. The attention was drawn towards him and Valentine merely closed his eyes and gave the fighter a cheeky and annoying smile. The dim witted axe wielder was enraged by such an little attack and things went according to plan. The fighter made his way towards Valentine and the sword wielder smirked as he opened his eye and prepared his blade. Crouching downwards, Valentine dashed forward towards his prey and immediately rose his blade as the fighter immediately swung downwards at Valentine. The axe and the sword clashed against each other and Valentine's smirk only grew as the metal clashed. The two separated from each other and Valentine too a step back. The fighter took a step forward and swung downwards once more, but Valentine sidestepped to the left and thrust his blade through his opponents chest. Pulling out the blade in a fluid and graceful manner, the body collapsed and Valentine smile as he glanced over at Smoch "So sorry for stealing your prey, but we have bigger prey to tend to...shall we press on my comrade?" Valentine said with a calm smile. He was one honour, but those without it did not deserve to be fought with it
