A dog's short barks rang out nearby as sirens echoed in the distance. Liquid pooled on the cobbled streets, shining under the faint orange glow of antique-looking black street lights. A partial moon hung overhead, surrounded by black dotted by faint pinpricks of light. Well, to Vais Thunderaven's eyes. To a mortal's unaided ones, that sky was empty aside from the moon, all starlight blotted out by the unnatural lights of mankind reflecting back in the atmosphere.
To Vais, though, the world was vivid, stars still nearly as visible as the moon. That dog barking would have sounded like it was right next to her, if not for the mental blocks she had on her sensitive ears. The scent of urine, smoke, and trash filled her nose as she walked between the filthy walls of two buildings, alone in an alley aside from a lone homeless man, wrapped up in a patchy trench coat with the rim of a stained hat tugged down over his eyes. He was shivering in the damp, cold air, and although that same air was biting at Vais, she was indifferent.
The girl had pencil-straight black hair, blood-red lips, and vanilla-and-cream colored skin. Her slightly slanted midnight blue eyes were outlined in black eyeliner, Egyptian-style. She had on black lace-up boots that reached her calves with three-inch heels, a black skirt that was barely long enough to cover, and a midnight blue tube top. Vais also had on a thin black jacket, which was open and clearly only intended as decoration. Hidden under that jacket was a pair of small, featherless wings. On her stomach was a flowery tattoo, flowing out from around her navel to wrap and rise slowly around her body. Roses, chrysanthemums, you name it, all growing slowly from her navel, around to her back, and then around again nearly to her breasts. The tattoo hadn't been done with ambrosia, and would fade. Eventually.
Under her clothes were strapped only two knives. Knives that she didn't really need, as a Harpy. And on top of that, she was the daughter of the minor god of Disaster. A god so minor that he went unmentioned in most myths, sad as it was, though she'd never forget the man who killed her mother right in front of her. Like Lucifer had done with the woman who bore his children, the first of the Harpies, that man had come and laughingly lit Herione on fire. That he'd mated with a Harpy had been frowned upon enough, but the brutal display had him wiped completely from the history books. Served him right, too.
But, back to the blades. Thanks to her special heritage, they were all she really needed. Usually, she forgot to use them, shredding through humans with claws and teeth alone like a normal harpy. The blades were more or less used when she was dragging something out. At the moment, she was fully intent on using those blades.
She'd been shadowing a group of Hunters for days now, picking them off as they strayed. They kept blaming the Lords for each disappearance, which was funny as hell. The demon-possessed Lords of the Underworld couldn't have been farther away at the moment, currently holed up in Budapest as they were. Especially since one of the women was drawing painfully close to giving birth. Not that she was spying on them from the spiritual world or anything. Okay, yeah, that was a lie. Watching the Lords was amusing as all hell at times, especially during torture sessions or the random fights that break out. Torin, Lucien, Maddox…hell, they were all captivating. Each so different, so strong…but, not really appealing. Not even Promiscuity drew her much, and that appeal of his was supposed to be the man's lifeline.
No, she was doing this for her little sister. Lyrisine, with her big pretty blue eyes and that wavy fall of auburn hair. The freckles that dotted her mocha-colored skin, and that set of dimples she so adored. Lyrisine, with her musical laugh, her prancing gait, her giggles, her spinning, her wild flair for all things colorful and sparkly. Lyrisine, now just a treasured memory, thanks to these fanatical bastards who so enjoyed decorating themselves with the mark of infiniti. A show of their dedication to "an eternity without evil", in spite of the fact they were some of the evilest worms she'd ever met. They'd used the seemingly eleven year old girl as an incubator. Captured, caged, raped, and impregnated her, then allowed her to die in childbirth before taking the boy or girl elsewhere.
A little note on Hunters. They believed the Lords of the Underworld were the source of all evil and sought to wipe them out. At the moment, the cult and the demon-possessed warriors were battling for possession of four godly artifacts that would lead them to Pandora's box. If they got the box, they could draw all the demons back inside, effectively killing all those currently housing them. Unbeknownst to them, apparently, is that their own leaders were Lords. Rhea, the god queen, was possessed by Strife, and Galen by Hope. Galen, however, claimed to be an angel sent from the heavens to destroy the Lords. Galen, who somehow intended to reclaim all of the demons while retaining his own. Or perhaps his own demon had tricked him into thinking he could survive without it? Anyway, in spite of the fact that there could never be a Utopia while men still had free will, these Hunters honestly believed all worldly suffering would end without the Lords. Lost someone you love? Friends ravaged by disease? Daughter was raped? You know who to blame. The way they thought was sickening, and they would do anything to get their way. Kidnapping humans and immortals, killing, torturing, raping…they were mad dogs. Mindless, intent only on the destruction of evil.
This blood feud had been going on ever since the Lords, the previous guards serving the Greeks directly - Zeus specifically - had killed Pandora and opened her box. That had been a trick of Galen's, even back then, who'd meant to kill them all, capture the demons, and return them, proving his own strength. He'd even shown up with Pandora's army, just in time for the High Lord demons to eat them all before being shoved inside the Lords. Only, there weren't enough warriors, and some were shoved inside the prisoners of Tartarus, as well. And this is how Titans came to possess such things within themselves.
Now, Vais was hot on the trail of every Hunter she could find. And right now, she was stalking a rather large group that was clearly armed to the teeth. She could see the weapons bulging under their clothes. Not that she wasn't fully confident in her ability to dodge, but she liked scaring people. And you can't scare someone if they don't even realize what's going on, now, can you? So instead she was picking them as they broke off. Grabbing and disarming them, beating them, stabbing them, pinning them with nails and ripping the flesh from their bones, injecting them with pain-inducing compounds…She'd even picked up a Japanese tradition and shoved bamboo under the fingernails of a few. And then ripped those fingernails off…
As she was from Japan, it wasn't so out of place. She needed to hit the books and figure out some torture methods. Some really good ones, methods and items that would be equally painful, uncomfortable, and humiliating. Maybe later, right now…
She snapped to attention. A door opening at the building she'd been keeping watch on that the Hunters were using as some sort of a hideout or base of operations had caught her fixation, and now she was stepping closer to the alley wall and the stinking filth as she watched two humans wander out alone. She let her wings beat, running out at superhuman speed to survey their wrists, and sure enough, they both had the tattoos of infinity. She smirked, returning to her place in the alley, watching as the male and female humans were brushed by a gentle breeze, the only sign she'd been there. They thought nothing of it and kept watching.
She stepped out into the street and began walking, just a short ways behind them. Pulling out her phone, she pretended to be on a call with someone and stayed thirty paces back from the pair. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one put their arm around the other. Most likely, the guy, since it was around the waist and the other person simply leaned in close. It was an intimate gesture. A couple, then? She smiled more, laughing into her phone and shaking her head. This would be fun.
She heard a car coming, and momentarily debated whether or not she should use the powers of Disaster she inherited from her father to divert the car onto the sidewalk and kill them, but then decided not to. One, that would be far more quick and painless than any Hunter deserved, two, she'd have to pretend to be upset and concerned about the situation which she wasn't sure she'd be able to do, and three, a little girl calling the couple mommy and daddy came running from an apartment building up ahead, crashing into their legs.
That gave her pause as she observed them picking the child up, nestling her in between them. The girl had lightly wavy hair, just past her shoulders, and in the light it looked auburn. Vais felt a pang in her chest, and continued stalking the trio. She was going to ruin that little girl's life. Just please, please, don't let her have big eyes. Or blue ones…and dear gods, please, please don't let her have both. The Harpy might not have been able to bear it.
They were paused on the sidewalk, and the car barreled by all four people on the sidewalk. Vais strode right past them, expression grim as she said "see you in a minute" and "I love you" into her phone, then flipped the device shut and pocketed it. She walked down the sidewalk to the building the little one had come out of, leaning against the lounge, and a few minutes later her marks walked in. She followed them to their room, where she again walked by them as they unlocked the door and wandered in. She put her finger into her pocket, flipping the lid of a small container she kept there off a little and sticking her finger into it, touching something wet with the tip before closing it and turning again.
With an exasperated sigh, she threw up her hands, pivoted her heels, and strode back towards the entrance. "I'm on the wrong floor…" She grumbled, and while passing the apartment of her marks, slid her finger across the frame gently, a light bluish white line being left there so she could come back and find it later.
Walking outside, she pulled out her phone, flipped it open, and really called someone this time. Relevae answered on the first ring.
"Yes, hun?" The voice was quiet, sleepy, and she heard a male voice asking who it was, the shifting of sheets. She grinned in spite of the odd hollow feeling in her chest, walking silently still. Vais wasn't really sure what to say, hadn't realized she'd interrupted the other Harpy's pretend sleeping with her flavor of the hour.
"Mm, sounds like someone had fun tonight. And it looks like I will be, too, but not like that." Her voice was hard, not her usual, carefree self. She glanced back at the apartment building. She had all night, so she didn't need to do this now. No rush to ruin another's life, whether they're worthless human scum or not. That child had been so…happy. Like Lyrisine. Lyrisine, whose life had been ruined as quickly as it could happen at the hands of those two, who didn't have another chance at happiness…
Vais found herself torn between the need for revenge and the need to let that child keep her parents. She wanted those who fed into that fanatical way of thinking to suffer. She wanted them to know pain, know loss. But she wanted that child happy, the way her own sister could never be now. With a war raging between her two desires, she hung up without another word and stepped into a club, bumping and grinding to the fast-paced beat of the music. Strobe lights fell over the room, dark figures gyrated and moved together, not even following the beat. Each one mimicked sex with their movements, the smell of alcohol and fruits saturated the air. Fake flowers hung from equally false vines around the room, but in the bad light they looked real. Women who worked there walked around in the bare essentials for the most part. Lacey bras, a few easily see-through skirts or tops, extremely thin thongs… And they all looked like they'd over-dyed their hair to the damaging point, each head of hair thin, short, simply hanging lifelessly from their heads. Well, aside from a curly-haired redhead in black lingerie. Her hair was as poofy and healthy as it got, a proud and fiery mane falling from her head to cascade down over her shoulders. She stood out like a vibrant rose among wilting lilies.
She felt raw, her movements stiff, and though usually girl and guy alike gravitated towards her, touched her and that irresistible skin of hers she didn't cover up completely enough, both sex glanced at her and shivered. She must've looked as bad as she felt. Vais walked to the bar and ordered a margarita, which was placed gently in front of her by the bartender, whose eyes were all over her in spite of her surely hellish expression. She knew the look well enough. The man was imagining her naked. She sipped her drink, saying nothing, even when arms wrapped around her from behind and warm, alcohol-heavy breath slid against her ear, her neck, her face. Normally, she would've waved it off, or broken her glass and stabbed the drunken man even now trying to tug her from her place. This time, she sighed, resting her head on her hands, and then felt him grinding against her, his tongue flicking against the back of her neck. That, she did rebuke, stomping on his toes with her heel.
He grunted and persisted, and she sighed again. This guy was going to tick her off. Scowling, she turned and faced him, and his knee forced her legs apart as he pushed her back against the bar, continuing to grind on her. She'd been going to tell him off, but his tongue slipped in her mouth.
The sputtering bartender stepped forward, and she felt his hands on her, the drunk's body moving away from her and pulling itself back. Safe to assume he was trying to separate the two. Vais wrapped her fingers around the drunken man's arms and she shoved him away, watching as he stumbled back into the crowd and fell on a girl in a sheer red dress. She screamed, and her partner fell on the drunk a minute later, pounding his face in.
As the crowd slowly began erupting outwards from that point of madness, she strode quickly back out into the cold night. She looked up at the moon, high in the sky, and sighed. Time to begin. Vais walked back to the apartment building, went inside, and listened for any sounds. All she could hear was soft breathing, like the whole building was asleep. That wasn't exactly normal, usually there was at least one late owl. Oh well…she walked to the door she'd marked, sticking her finger into the door lock and wiggled it until it clicked. She tried to push the door open, but it stopped at about two inches, and she saw a little yellow chain stretched across.
With a sigh, she tapped a fingernail to the chain, then pushed on the door steadily until with a sudden clink, the chain snapped. She then pushed again, letting the door swing slowly open to reveal a dark room. She wasn't in a rush. She was using Disaster to prevent the cameras from seeing anything, on the logic that if no one heard or saw a thing, it'd be highly misfortunate for this family. The true disaster she was creating would be the slow and painful deaths of those within this apartment, with no one coming to their aid. Blinded cameras were only a small part.
Stepping into the room, she kicked the door to the frame gently, then pressed it in until it clicked quietly. Looking around, she shook her head. It would've been so nice if she'd been possessed by Nightmares. Able to see in the dark, bring this family's fears to life…not even necessarily have to invade their house, because she could kill them from within their dreams…she wouldn't have to know they had a little girl whose life she was ruining. Wouldn't have that on her conscious.
She pulled out a blade, walking into the hall just as a door creaked open and the light flipped on to reveal a tall man with choppy short black hair standing there, gazing out. Chances are, he'd been headed to the bathroom, and when he realized someone was in the hall, he squinted harder, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. And then he tensed, jumping back into the room, but she'd already hurled the knife end over end and it embedded in his chest, breaking straight through his sternum and hitting his heart. With a grunt, he yanked it out, and blood pumped out in enormous spurts, quickly coating the walls, ceiling, door, and carpet with red as he sank to the ground, already dead. Damn.
She realized another door had come open, and that a little girl was now trembling, covered in blood. Oops… She hadn't meant for the kid to discover them. Before she could rub her father's blood from her eyes with those balled-up hands of hers, Vais lurched forward, curling her up and tossing her into the room onto her bed, pulling the door shut. A crazed, ear-splitting scream filled the air, and something blunt hit her in the head. She spun, and saw a nearly completely naked woman standing over the dead man.
"Don't touch my baby!" She screamed, stalking forward with a small iron lamp, held upside down so that the blood-coated base faced the ceiling. She swung it again, and Vais grabbed it, crushing the lamp between her fingers and yanking it from the distraught female's hands. She tossed it to the floor, grabbed the knife from where her man had dropped it, drew the other blade, and shoved the woman into her room. Saw the little girl's door starting to open again, and grabbed the knob, shoving the door open to knock the girl back - stopping as she heard a pained yelp and a thud - then slammed the door shut and flipped the lock, only mentally confused as to why the lock was on the outside with the keyhole end facing in instead of the other way around. Did they lock the child up?
The woman was at the door again, wailing as she threw herself at Vais again, but she simply slammed her elbow into the human's belly and sent her back into her room, stalking in and kicking the door to, since the man's body was still in the way. Holding both of the daggers, she fell on the woman and began to strike.
Screams lasted forever it seemed, before she finally emerged from the room, doused in blood. She walked into the bathroom rinsing off quickly before walking naked back to the master bedroom to grab a pair of the woman's clothes to put on, throwing her bloodied clothes into a trash bag, and then strode out. She heard the little girl clawing at the door and crying, begging to be let out, but kept going. If she let herself pause for even a moment, she'd free that little girl, take her away, raise her even if she hated Vais, and eventually? Watch her die, as all humans do.
Once outside, she stood at the stairs and had a staring contest with a man in a black trench coat and hat who stood with his arms crossed, looking up at her. She raised a brow and walked down the stone steps, moving past him, but he caught her by the wrists, spun her, and smashed her against his back. Normally, a lone human would be no problem for her. But with her wings restricted like this, she was no stronger than one, and when a man stepped from the shadows and pressed a cloth to her face, all she could do was slip into oblivion and wonder why neither of them made the joke of, "Does this smell like chloroform to you?" Instead, they'd been dead silent.
As she lost consciousness, she heard the squeal of tires as a dark car with tinted windows spun around the corner towards them, and saw the mark of infinity on the wrist of the man holding the rag. Damn it…
When she came to, her wings were crushed and bloody. She could feel them covered in cuts, and something else. She was laying on something cold and hard, like metal. Something…squeaking? Her body was being jolted, and she couldn't feel any clothes. Cotton cloth had been stuffed in her mouth, her hands and legs were bound to each corner of whatever the hell she was on. Pain was shooting through her, and she was on the brink of falling back into the dark, her blurry vision barely revealing the face that loomed over her, though she could feel the short pants of breath that fanned over her face. Hands roamed and gripped her body in different places, as the rhythm of each painful jolt changed.
Those jolts increased in speed, and she slipped out again, but was brought back by ice-cold water suddenly being dumped on her. Her body was hurting more than it did before. The jolting had stopped, and the shooting pains weren't so bad. She glared up through watery eyes as someone spoke. "Wake the hell up, you demon whore."
"She wasn't with any of the Lords. Are you sure that's what she is?" A girl. Vais pulled at her bonds, but they stayed, and she let her head fall back against the metal, wincing at a sudden headache. A fingertip trailed up her thigh, and she jerked away from the contact, hissing angrily.
"Only someone affiliated with the Lords would attack us. Or have you forgotten what our little friend here did to Jean and Boa? The blood little Maggie was coated in when we found her?" Hands fell on her shoulders, dug, shook her. The male voice was suddenly snarling in her ear a moment after, hot breath treading over her face. "You will tell us where the artifacts are now. And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, you little bitch. Actually, go ahead and play dumb. I dare you. We'll pay you back accordingly for each sin brought about by those demons you're protecting. You'll wish for death."
"I will wish for nothing, believe me." She gazed calmly up at the man, features hidden in shadow as a light shined from behind him. Vais didn't think for a second he wouldn't do that, as she was already positive she'd been punished for her behavior in the apartment. Thankfully, she hadn't been awake for it very long, but she knew what they'd done to her. Was that how they did it to Lyrisine? Or was her rape worse? Surely, she'd been awake for it. Begging for mercy, crying… Her slate grey eyes narrowed as she clenched her teeth, gaze melting into a glare. "You're the one who'll beg. For mercy."
A fist connected with her jaw and her head flew to the side, cracked against the metal table she was strapped to. Oh yes, they'd beg for mercy. But like before, she wouldn't give them it, any more than she'd allow her will to destroy them all to wane. As soon as her wings healed, she was sure she could give them enough room to flutter. And then, they'd pay. They'd only count themselves lucky that she didn't care much what happened to her. She only did this because they'd taken Lyrisine. The day she'd lain eyes on that little devil child, Vais had sworn to protect her. Now, though? They made her break her promise, and she couldn't even make it up to Ly.
She turned her head towards the most likely scowling Hunter, tasting copper, and then spat on him. Again, a fist connected with her face, and she laughed. A beeping sound quieted her, and she watched as the man turned away, flipping something out of his pocket and stalked into the dark. A door slammed, and silence ensued.
She spent a few hours laying there calmly, raising off her wings every so often. She'd drank the blood of the female Hunter because she'd planned on attacking this place and needed some medicine in her system. Just in case. She would have just flashed out, but they would still have her clothes, her phone. Though, she might want to anyway, now that she thought about it. If they had her phone, then they had her contacts, and they had people to go after. If she waited too long to escape, they could have hostages to hold her in place with next time. But, it was also very wrong for her to stay here, bound. It hurt her pride.
Vais then made her decision and phased into the spiritual plane. Now that no one was touching her, she didn't have to worry about bringing anyone with her. V then looked around, began walking through the room, touching things, trying to get an idea of what might have been done with her clothes. Well, her victim's clothes, but whatever. She then sighed and turned to face the table she'd been on. Of all the things she had expected to see, a familiar, scarred man with one brown eye and one blue wearing all black was not one of them.
They stared at each other in shock before he turned away, tugged off his shirt and tossed it to her. Vais couldn't snatch it out of the air and fit it over herself fast enough, before stepping right up to the table so that her lower half wouldn't be so visible. "Hello, Lucy." She grinned to him, trying to force the awkwardness from the atmosphere and wipe the blush from her face. She didn't like people seeing her uncovered like that, whether she managed to drag on a slutty outfit once in a while or not. The only reason it hadn't bothered her with the Hunters was at the time she was too pissed off to notice completely what the feel of cold metal and air on her whole body meant. "Fancy meeting you here."
"I found several of the Hunters you slayed. Finally decided to follow your trail and find out what your reasons for attacking them were, perhaps suggest an alliance." He tilted his head, confusion swirling in those brown and blue depths. "You didn't fight naked in the memories of the man or the woman."
And there was the question: Why are you naked now? She shrugged, her voice sickeningly sweet. "I hadn't been caught off guard and stripped that time." And drugged, bound, and raped… She laughed lightly, twirling before turning to walk from the room. "I'll get the shirt back to you, Rosie, as soon as I find my clothes. Or get replacements."
Without waiting for another word from him she stepped through the only door, wandering out into the hall. It was only then, when she saw the long hall branching off into other halls, full of people, with seemingly hundreds of doors, that she realized that her chances of finding any of her stuff were oddly slim. Especially since she wasn't entirely sure what her clothes had even looked like. Fingers wrapped firmly around her wrists at the same time that she flashed to her home in Texas, and she flipped a glance over her shoulder to see a blue eye and a brown eye. "Hey, I know I'm cute, but you can't follow me around like that. I'd hate to have Anarchy after me." She tapped a fingertip to his nose and skipped off to her bedroom to materialize.
After putting on a black pair of jeans and a black jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, putting her hair up in a ponytail with a grey poppy, slipping on a cap, and putting on shoes and socks, she walked out into the hall. Well, tried to, but Lucien was at the door, and she tossed his shirt to him. "Thanks for the loaner." She then spun, her ponytail slapping him in the face as she flounced back into her room and sat on the bed.
"I'd still like to discuss that alliance, if you would." Lucien stepped into the room, folding his arms over his chest. She looked down at the floor and swung her legs back and forth. An alliance? It would almost be easier to join ranks and move in. Hunters already believed them to be connected. But, she'd have to work to earn the Lords' trust, and that'd be a pain. She wasn't some trick bird that did what it was bidden and then opened its beak for a cracker in payment. Hell, if she was that trick bird, she couldn't eat the cracker anyway. She'd vomit.
"I see you've found that Harpies are valuable warriors to have on your side, Lucy." She smiled to him before walking to her gilded mirror, tracing a fingertip over the frame. They already had four devil women, but it seemed they were getting used to the idea. The only problem was, the Skyhawks had not liked her mother much, and would likely care little for Vai's plight. "I'd totally come work with you guys, but understand I'm not taking up full residence with ya."
With that, she turned and waved for him to leave, not watching to see if he did or not as she strode to her nightstand, crouched there, and laid her chin on the top, gazing at the picture frame that stood under her touch-activated lamp. Two others bordered it, but were laid down so she couldn't see the people they featured. She didn't want to see them. She just wanted to sit here, and gaze quietly at her sister, hopefully alone.
She heard some shuffling behind her, and was aware that Lucien had sat on the floor behind her. "Miss her?" She wanted to get mad, but there was a gentle tone to the man's voice. Compassionate, understanding…how any of the Lords could be portrayed as evil was beyond her.
She sighed, infusing as much exhausted irritation into the sound as she could. "You have some nerve…I told you what you wanted. We're allies. Now, please… I'll join you in Budapest soon enough."
She let her head fall as her eyes closed, and she breathed deeply, noting the heavy scent of roses filling her nose, lulling her, pressing her to sleep. She fought the lethargy, but it won in a way seemingly unnatural, and then she slipped into unconcsiousness, feeling herself being lifted and placed on the bed.