Star pushed herself to her feet, still leaning against the lamp post. Her head was slightly bowed, her hair shading her face, as she got her balance. Maiza moved closer and placed a hand on Star's shoulder, as though to gently press her back down.
"I'm fine now, really," Star said, looking up at Maiza. "Besides, I can't sit here all night.
"I'll at least see you to your house," Maiza said. Star might have powerful magic capable of vanquishing monsters, but Maiza still did not feel comfortable allowing her to walk alone at night in the city.
"You don't have to," Star said in a hasty manner that seemed as though she were suddenly retreating from Maiza. "It's kinda a long walk from here, I don't want you to go out of your way. I'll be fine."
Maiza furrowed his brow a little. It seemed like whenever he took a step closer to her personal life, she took two steps back. Almost like a skittish dog. She would slowly come closer when he wasn't paying attention, but the moment Maiza put a hand out towards her Star would back away again.
"If it's really that far then how about you spend the night at Firo's house?" Maiza suggested again. He wasn't going to let Star run off alone like she had been wont to do before. "He's only a few blocks away."
Maiza knew all he had to do was ask and Firo would certainly accommodate Star, whether he liked the suggestion or not. Maiza also doubted that Ennis would raise any protest since she and Star seemed to be quite friendly.
"That's alright, I don't want to bother anyone. It's ok. I'm used to walking alone at night," Star said, retreating even further. She wasn't lying, she had walked alone at night before, but of course that was usually in the wilds where the only thing she usually had to fear was wild beasts which could be frightened away by a little bit of fire.
"Star," Maiza said, his voice gentle but quite serious. "You don't need to be so afraid."
It was as though Maiza had disarmed Star with a single sentence. She stood still as an array of emotions paraded across her face. First confusion and fear, then hesitation followed by hope, which was quickly succeeded by doubt and pain.
"Maiza… I…" Star began, but Maiza stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I don't need to know what happened to you," Maiza said. If she wanted to keep it a secret that was her business. "But you can trust me. You don't have to be afraid."
A long silence stretched between the two of them before either of them moved. Star broke the moment first, glancing away and clasping her hands against her chest. When she finally looked back at Maiza he could see something in her eyes he had never seen before; vulnerability. The corners of Star's mouth twitched into a slight smile, her shield against the world.
"Alright…" she said quietly. "We can go to Firo's."
Maiza felt relieved. His body relaxed and a smile returned to his face.
"Wonderful," he said, taking his hands from her shoulders and gently rubbing her head. Maiza then gently put his arm around her shoulders and steered her in the direction of Firo's apartment.
The two of them had barely gone three blocks when there was a loud peal of thunder. Almost as if on cue heavy raindrops fell from the darkened sky. First in a light smattering but then heavier by the second until the sky had nearly turned into a deluge. Maiza pulled Star under a large window awning of a nearby store. The two stood with their backs to a large picture window and stared out at the sudden outburst from nature.
"Well…" Maiza said, staring out at the downpour.
"It shouldn't last too long," Star said, watching puddles quickly form on the street. "Whenever it rains hard it usually means it isn't going to rain for too long."
"I suppose we wait it out then," Maiza commented. He had thought about giving his coat to Star, to keep her dry, and then making a run for Firo's apartment. He was immortal so even if he got a little sick nothing serious would happen. But if the storm was going to let up in a few minutes he would rather stay dry.
They were silent for a little while before Maiza spoke.
"Whoever's doing this… do you really think they're that desperate for immortality?"
"Hmm…" Star made a humming sound while she thought. "I wouldn't say desperate. If they were desperate they wouldn't be bothering with you."
She caught Maiza's surprised expression out of the corner of her eye and elaborated.
"Well, immortality is fairly rare, but not unheard of," Star began. "But it usually comes at a very high cost…"
Maiza thought about the night he had summoned the demon. The conditions, no false names, the ability to devour other immortals, when the terms had been listed it hadn't seemed like and actual cost… but given that less than ten of the original passengers of the Advenna Avis had survived despite immortality it could be said that a rather high payment had been extracted from them, although no one had known at the time.
Maiza emerged from his musing to ask Star exactly what she meant by 'price' when he noticed that her attention was fixed on a small alleyway that opened at the side of the store.
"Star-" Maiza began but the word he was about to speak flew from his mind in the next instant.
A person had emerged from the alleyway. He had on a large coat and a hat pulled low over his eyes. He kept his head low and shoulders hunched, which obscured his features. But the man's decidedly shady characteristics were what startled Maiza, it was large knife the man held close to his body, as though trying to obscure the fact that he was armed.
Adrenaline pumped through Maiza's body. Everything seemed to slow, even though Maiza was aware of his own rapid movements. The man with the knife advanced, he was attacking. Star had turned to face the man full on, and even though the man seemed to have moved in an arc, instead of a straight line towards Star, it seemed apparent to Maiza that Star would be the first one attacked.
Maiza wouldn't let that happen. He had been useless before, but not now. He grabbed Star by the shoulder and forced her behind him. Maiza was vaguely aware that he had used more force than necessary and that Star had nearly fallen to the ground. But that wasn't important at the moment. He needed to stop this man first. One hand had been used to force Star out of the way, but with his other hand Maiza reached for the knife at his waist.
But he had miscalculated. The man changed direction suddenly and before Maiza could bring his knife into position the man was inches from Maiza. Even this close it was hard to make out any discernable feature, but a sudden searing pain in his stomach drove the through from Maiza's mind.
Maiza knew precisely what had caused the pain. The man had succeeded in driving his knife into Maiza's gut, however; instead of slowing down Maiza pressed his attack, teeth gritted against the pain. He swung his arm in a wide arc, but just as suddenly as the man had closed the distance between them he backed off, Maiza's knife only cutting a slit in the man's coat at chest height.
Maiza quickly shifted the knife to his right hand so he could more effectively combat the assailant. With his now free left hand, Maiza reached down and gripped the handle of the other's man's knife, which he had left in Maiza's stomach. He removed the knife and tossed aside. The wound would heal in moments.
It was then that the man did something very strange. Instead of attacking Maiza again he dove for his knife. That in and of itself wasn't so strange, of course the man would want to rearm himself. But then the assailant ran away, vanishing into a rain drenched alley.
"Maiza, are you alright?" Star said, coming to his side.
"Its fine, he's gone," Maiza said in a slightly strained voice, watching where the man had disappeared in case he returned with comrades.
But what wasn't gone was the pain. Maiza pressed a hand against the wound on his stomach. It still ached and he could still feel the ragged edges of the cut. The wound seemed to be healing slowly… too slowly… It was then that Maiza suddenly felt himself go weak in the knees. He staggered and would have collapsed to the ground if Star hadn't thrown her arms around him.
"Nothings fine," Star said, concern in her voice.
The knife slipped from Maiza's hand as he felt his grip loosen. Shakily he pulled back the edge of his coat to look at the wound. The white shirt was a mottled red around the gaping hole in the fabric. It wasn't getting any smaller… but it wasn't growing either. It was almost like the regenerative process had been paused.
Star leaned forward to see what Maiza was looking at.
"Is that normal?" She asked, noting the wound. Knowing they were immortal didn't mean she knew anything about their immortality itself.
"No…" Maiza replied heavily. His brain felt hazy and his body heavy. Could the blade have been poisoned? Poison did affect immortals, even if it did not ultimately kill them.
Concerned, Star reached out and gently used her fingers to hold open the knife hole in Maiza's shirt so she could try and examine the wound a bit. Through the small slit Star was able to see where the knife had sliced into Maiza's flesh, and the blood smeared around it. But what really worried Star was the black tinged skin around the wound.
"Damn!" Star exclaimed under her breath. She looked up quickly, as though by some strange miracle the man with the knife would be standing there, ready to answer her questions. Seeing no one she returned her attention to Maiza, who seemed to be fading fast.
"Maiza, how do I get to Firo's apartment from here?" She knew what the building looked like, she had been there once before helping Ennis carry groceries, but she didn't know where the building was in relation to their position.
"Up a block… then… left… and another… block… right…" Maiza managed.
Nodding, Star grabbed Maiza's right arm and threw it over her shoulder. She held on tight to his wrist and wrapped her left arm as far around his body as she could. Then Star started out moving as fast as she could, which was really nothing more than a hurried limp, in the direction Maiza had indicated. All the while the rain poured down on them, seeping through their clothes and chilling their bodies.