"This is worse than I thought."
Rose said when she put her foot on the destroyed Red Grave city of the past, where she was standing looked like one of the busy parts of city. She looked around to see many human forms that were drying and slowly decaying into dust as the Qliphoth roots sucking their blood. Rose shook her head when she started to walk, first thing first, got to seal the tear in the barrier so nothing could get in here.
As Rose on her way, she slightly paused on the middle of her step as she encountered some demons but they just walked right pass her. It was the spell of The Death himself, Rose thought, of course it would work perfectly. Luckily, it seemed that the evacuation of the Red Grave city had done perfectly as she felt no living human around here anymore. It was a good thing, because even if there was, Rose couldn't save them as the rule of Death did not allow her to alternate the fate of a being supposed to be dead. She did not need to be tested on her morality, no thank you.
Rose let out a small hum when she closed her eyes to sense around, she could feel it vaguely, the existence of those extra-universal creatures exist on here and also the portal. She was quite far from it and there were some EU, which is the name that Rose decided she called them from now, standing on the way to which Rose would have to slay down.
Rose let out her Abyssal for the first time since she got out of the Trap, and amazed that this time it looked so much more vivid that Rose thought she was looking at an actual living creature than just a shadow of her imagination. Her Abyssal now looked like a humanoid form of a black knight with the armor and a horn helmet with his four wings in the back. Although the armor was complete black, she knew who it looked like:
"Lance, my white knight in shining armor."
Rose whispered when she touched the helmet, only to see it melted into smoke at her touch. Rose let out a deep sigh when removed her hand and continue to walk but not before command the Abyssal:
"Kill that ugly piece of meat over there."
The knight silently flew on his wings when his hand shot out his hand with long claw and attacked an EU nearby that looked like a bunch of black goo stick with arms and eyes ball on.
"Hmm, I should call you something." Rose said when she felt the black night silently flew back to her. "Lancelot, like the knight in Camelot then."
The figure said nothing as it was walking next to her. As Rose kept on walking, she saw a few more EU got on the way, some looked like demons like the Empusa or Nobody, some took the human form that almost pass for mortal eyes and some just look straight up disgusting that Rose didn't have the vocabulary to describe it.
"Hmm, there wasn't as much EU as I thought when getting close to the portal." Rose said when she looked at the EU body ripped apart by Lancelot claws. "Is it because of my presence scare them away or video game just purely lying straight at people face when there are always a crowded pack of monsters surrounded the gate lead to the other world?"
"But again, this is my first time for these traveling in time so I guess I would take this into experience. Make me wonder, what date is this again? If it wasn't so long after the demon broke out, perhaps the food in this famous restaurant in Red Grave city still could edible. I heard the head chef was killed in the accidents and so with his secret recipe of those delicious cakes."
"Cakes often stored in the refrigerator, and I see some part of the city still have electric on it, maybe after this I should really check that out."
Rose rambled as Lancelot just silently walked by her side. She knew that technically right now, she was just talking alone all by herself but Rose couldn't help it. It was something she had before and developed even more back in the Trap, when sometimes she went out and venture and no one in the mood to die so she had to go alone. Because if she stayed silent, then she would not be able to delude herself that she wasn't alone and all those fear and doubts would creeping up to her mind. Rose would went insane before she even go into the Land of Illusion and she could not let that happened, not when she still have son waiting for her.
But now, things has gotten a lot better for her and as long as Rose played it right, she would just go home safely with her son and joined a dinner with his family this weekend. Still, it became a habit to talk continuously when she was alone, just like a survival instinct for Rose.
"Oh, so this is the portal huh?"
Rose said when she walked in the middle of the crossroads where there was next to nothing to normal people. But to Rose, she could felt waves of energy from the tear blowing at her face like wind from an upcoming storm as a giant rift tore in the middle of the city.
"Here you go, close it."
Rose said when she threw the bell in the rift, as the bell swallowed into the rift and exploded into a mass of blue goo before the portal completely gone. Rose gave a side glance when she felt multiple creatures in the Red Crave simultaneously raised their presence before conceal it away again. But nonetheless, Rose had remembered their number and boy, she had quite some work to do.
"Okay, let go with you then."
Rose said when pointed her finger at the building next to her, Lancelot shot right at it when he punch the wall. As his fist collide with the wall, it screamed out in pain as the building itself slowly transforming into a giant worm with sharp teeth and greyish skin whipped it glowing neon green tail right at them. Lancelot immediately grabbed the tail and ripped it out from the body of the worm with his sharp talon before he jumped along with the body and used the sharp wings of his as swords cut down whatever part of worm he could touch.
The worm let out a loud scream of pain when the wings of Lancelot shredded half of his body into greyish pieces of meat that quickly turned to dust the moment they hit the ground. Rose jumped out of the way when she felt its ugly head fallen down right next to where she was standing. Even in this distance, the smell of that thing was awful.
"Hey V, I think you should really turn back now. That thing is not something we could handle."
Rose turned around when she heard a brash voice coming from behind, she saw the blue bird or 'chicken' as Nico called it flying in the air while V carefully walked not too far from behind with his cane. Rose let out a small sigh when they seemed to see Lancelot was standing in silent with his wing spread out and his demonic power just fly high in the air.
"Let's go, Lancelot."
Rose said when Lancelot became mass of smoke came back right at her back, she knew that she would see him, but not this soon.
"Hey V, that Sweet cheeks over there is his master." Griffon said in amusement, which successfully making Rose stopped at her track.
"You two can see me?" Rose pointed at her face when she asked in surprise,
"Oh yes, Sweet cheeks, why couldn't we?" The bird said. "It's not like we are blind or something, darling. By the way, you are awfully looked like someone this V here used to know and yet, she couldn't be young or control demon like you. Care to explain why?"
Rose blinked when she remembered what exactly Maraka said about the Death spell that was supposed to make her invisible to mortal eyes:
"It works on every mortal soul."
Key words: Mortal soul, not half mortal soul. Or the familiar of it.
"Oh, for god sake, you have got to be kidding me."
Rose slapped at her forehead lightly when Lancelot knock back an angry feline emerged from the markings of the skinny man. In the history there wasn't that much people just split their soul into half like her ex so when Maraka explained the Death spell to her, he wasn't really thinking of this case. But again Death must know about this, after all he is Death, but chose not to talk about this her. No, if he didn't elaborate or warn it to her then the spell must have worked. Just differently.
As Rose turned into smoke and disappeared from their eyesight, both Griffon and V blinked for a moment before they looked around.
"Griffon, check to see if there was any demon activity around." V said when he tapped his cane on the ground. "I could sense the demonic energy was very powerful here, but there is no sign of anything suggest that it could be that powerful."
"Hey V, if it was something this strong then you should turn your head to the other side and find something weaker to poke at." Griffon said. "You, sir, are in no condition of getting in a fight with something like this. You would get your ass whooped in five seconds or less."
V let out an exasperated sigh when he smacked the blue bird with his cane making it let out a loud quack before flying around to check. Rose in the meantime was standing on top of an building not far from there when she saw V shadow disappeared from eyesight. Interesting, Rose thought when she turned her back, it seemed that while the spell didn't work when they saw her but when she got out of their sight, the magic came and claim their memory as she wish.
"Then I should just stay from his way then."
Rose said to herself when she smiled at a white shadow of a woman that looked like a ghost with shark like teeth, before Lancelot came out of her back and lunged at her.
...
"Hmm, I wonder if there is anything edible here."
Rose said when she searched the food rack of the supermarket, while Lancelot fighting with a bunch of dead employees of the supermarket with a creature that look like a hybrid of spider and crab attached on their head. These things seemed to be a type of parasite, Rose thought when Lancelot's claw ripped the creature out of the dead employees head and crush it with his hand. She thought when she put on a lollipop on her mouth, if parasite involved then her job just got nastier.
Fast rate of reproduction, strong life force and fast to spread out.
Without proper monitoring, this could be a true plague that spread out the entire world.
"Then a dome of magic to keep anything from going out." Rose said. "So I have to fetch some ingredients for the spell. But first, give me that thing."
Lancelot tore out the parasite from the head of a dead corspe to give it to Rose, she let out a disgusting snort when touched the creature. Ignoring the feeling of the wet slime on her hand, she could feel that the tingly sensation on her hand when she touched it. Rose licked at her finger wet with slime, she could see very brief flashes of scenery mingled together along with a very light of compulsion to grab some food, not sure if it was from the EU or from herself.
"Telepathically parasite." Rose said when she looked at the pointy legs jerking around in the air. "Okay, let's see what you are made of."
Rose said when she grabbed the parasite EU and put into her head like a hat.
If hat has pointy leg that poke right through her skin and stirring her brain like moms stirring her pot of soup.
Rose could feel her brain flooded with images as the poison and the legs did a really good teamwork into destroy her conception and resistance. Rose tried to focus on where the images coming from but it looked like it was coming from everywhere in the city.
But with a web mind like this, then it usually have a queen like the ants or bees to make sure the web was properly distribute. And then, Rose saw an image, in somewhere dark and wet like a sewer, an egg was just laying there with red light glowing from it.
"Ahhhh."
Rose let out a scream when she felt the crab legs plunged deeper into her skull along with a massive wave of pain struck down her soul as the eggs was glowing a brighter red. Immediately after that, she felt it was yanked violently from her head.
Rose saw the EU struggle weakly on Lancelot hand before it was crushed by him completely; her visions became blurry when she dropped on the floor as Lancelot faded away into her body. Rose breathed shakily when she turned herself on the back before she decided to take a nap so her brain could heal properly. It was okay even if she just laid in here helplessly, it wasn't that easy to see her or even kill this immortal body of her so Rose assumed that it would be fine. Of course, if she didn't cross path with him.
But in all the supermarket and convenience store in this town, what was the percent of they met again in the same day?
Probably something nearly zero.
Or not.
Rose thought when she opened her eyes saw a pair of green eyes looking at her with pure disdain, with the demon bird flew in and land nearby:
"Well, well, well, look like the sleeping beauty here has finally awake without any kiss?" The bird let out a loud laugh when Rose felt a big panther jumped right over her body with his jaw wide opened revealing his sharp teeth, readied to rip her head off. "V here thought he should try to smash your face with the cane but he let that idea waits for you to wake up and answer something he had to ask."
"Who are you and why did you take her face?" V said when he pointed his cane right at Rose's face.
"I am born with this face." Rose answered flatly.
"So you were mold after her, like that woman. It is foolish for any of those thinking that they could use those meekly creatures like you just to get in my mind like my brother. Unlike him, I don't treat things that disgrace my memories with such kindness." V stood up when he lift her chin with the tip of the cane, which by the way extremely sharp. "I destroy them."
Rose felt the cane pierced right through her throat before he pulled it out. This was probably the worst meeting with your ex in the history ever; Rose thought when she held her throat. Her brain was still healing from the poison and the psychic attack that egg sent to her making she was too exhausted to call Lancelot out. Teleport out of here when her mind couldn't even tell which side is right and left wasn't the best idea. It could lead to something like ended up inside a wall or have her organs turned inside out.
"Oh god, I know you hate me talking too much but this is a little bit too much don't you think?" Rose said when she felt her throat healing. "Jeez, I didn't even talk much since we met, not even as half as that feather ball. You are the worst ex-boyfriend in the world."
"Hey V, sweet cheeks over there didn't seemed like to be a demon." The Griffon said when Rose tiredly laid on her back and put a hand on her forehead. "She is too laid back for one. That and she didn't die when you put a cane right through her throat."
"She is also not human." V said when he tapped his cane on the floor. "What are you?"
"Unfortunately, your ex-girlfriend." Rose said when she felt her throat hurt when she talked. "Or, someone you used to fuck before you took off and left, if the term ex – girlfriend was too much emotion to describe about me."
"You can't be her." V said when he tapped on her forehead, which still stain some of her blood. "She is just human."
"I am still human." Rose said. "I can't do the ten feet jumping in the air, the seventy five flipped flops in the back or lifting like a ton of weight like nothing like you demons can. I am just a little bit more capable on the magic field and can't die easily."
"Hmm, you talked just like her." V let out a small chuckle before he pressed the cane on her forehead. "But you will need a lot more than talk just like her to persuade me. I don't like to destroy this pretty face of yours, but I just hate being trick."
Rose opened her eyes to see V looked right at her with his jaded eyes, how it felt with such hatred and anger when the cane was about to pierce through her head.
No, she wouldn't have it. Once time a day for being stabbed in the head only.
"You recited poem when we have sex, and successfully making me fallen asleep one time." Rose took a deep breath when she saw V eyes widen. "Right, no joke, Sherlock. How many times have you seen me fell asleep when hearing you read poem and you still do that when we have sex? At one point, you know I have to fall asleep in the middle when you do that and yet you are the one who get mad and then decide to do those so called 'punish' kink. Serious, what's wrong with you and..."
Before Rose could say anything more, she felt the black feline demon stepped away from her as it faded away and became a marking on V's body.
"Okay, seemed sweet cheeks here to be the legit one, I will leave you two alone here have a talk about your old fun times."
As Griffon awkwardly flapped his wings and flew away from them. Now there was just the two of them, V stared at Rose before he kneeled down next to her as his voice slightly broke down:
"I am sorry; I don't think that it is really you since..."
"I could control demon, alive with holes in the skull or being stabbed in the throat with a cane." Rose said when let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I just got these quite recently."
"You look exactly like what I remember." V said softly when he touched her forehead, which was probably hot like lava because all those poison cooking her brain. "You are burning."
"Could you get me some water or milk, I am really thirsty and have no energy to even crawl in four?" Rose said when she put a hand on her eyes. "Some food should soothe me down."
Rose vaguely heard V's cane tapping on the floor when he swiftly left. Not long after that, she felt something pressed on her cheek when she popped up on her two arms.
"Thanks." Rose said when she held the carton box. "Chocolate milk, my favorite."
"I know."
V said when he kneeled down beside her when she drank some milk. Rose felt awkward when someone just silently stared at her when she was eating and drinking.
Even more when it was her ex.
"So, yeah, how are you doing?" Rose said when she saw his skinny body, the black markings all over his body and his punk leather suit. "Sorry, I know you are not the best form and I am not really rubbing salt on the wound but the silent just felt weird between us and I was just trying to change the mood which is probably not the best effort I made, as always."
"I do not wish for us to meet again when I am like this." V trailed away, as Rose could feel the shame and pain laced on his last words. "But, I am still glad to see you are well."
"Yeah, I wish could say the same to you but really." Rose said when she looked up and down. "Sure, you are hot, as always. But the style like a rock addicted emo kid is too young for people of your age, don't you think. Then again, you are rocking it so I guess, thumb up for the new style."
"It's just something I randomly pick up along the way." V said when he looked down to his clothes. "Why are you here, Rose? It's dangerous in here."
"The same thing you do, saving people." Rose said.
"What is that demon who was with you the other day?" V asked. "He is too strong to be any one servant. With his power, he should be able to challenge the King himself."
"You remembered the other day on the street." Rose said. "Damn, that spell really didn't work well on you, did it?"
"You make me forget about it?" V asked when his brows furrowed. "I don't know of any kind of power that could swiftly remove memory like that. Not even the Demon King himself."
"Oh no, I don't have that power." Rose said. "My current employer is."
"Who is your master?"
V voice became a little bit colder when he gripped his cane harder. Rose blinked her eyes when she contemplated. Time travel is a mess, like Death said, and as much as he wished them to do it by themselves, most of the time they needed help from the native of the stream. So he designed some locks to it that can be opened. Like if his agents needed help, they could allow some certain individuals to remember them and help them on their mission. But of course, when the mission accomplished, none of those individuals would remember anything to make sure the history didn't stir.
"It is a long story." Rose said when she stood up, her head still hurt but a lot better now. "Maybe we should find somewhere with a nice place to sit than a cold freezing floor."
V nodded when he slowly walked with her with his cane, Griffon came out from afar when he flapped his wings:
"Hey, love birds, done talking about your glory time yet? Because if you didn't, I don't want to hear any more of your old time stories about how weird you two are."
"Don't worry about that." Rose said when she shook her head. "There wasn't much to begin with."
As Rose found the supermarket's small canteen that luckily hadn't destroyed completely yet along with some edible sausages and eggs, she made for herself and V some simple food to eat. After all, Nico did say that V needed to eat like a human.
"Here, can't talk anything properly with an empty stomach."
Rose said when she put on two plate of food on the table, to which V looked at the eggs and sausages and some chili sauces draw in to a smiley face.
"You still do that with your eggs." V smiled when he took his fork and spoon. "Thank you for the meal."
"You are welcome." Rose said. "So what did you want to know?"
"Your master. Who is he?" V asked.
"Death, or at least, manifestation of the will of it." Rose said when she looked at V's wide eyes. "Mind blowing right?"
"I did hear some ancient legends about there are entity above. Ones that are the manifestation of the forces of the universe." V said slowly. "Legend said, The First Demon King was actually the will of Darkness itself."
"They got that right." Rose said when she chewed her eggs. "But he is dead now, or more correctly, dead in my time."
"Your time?" V asked.
"I am a time traveler. From the future." Rose said. "Bet it blew your head of right this time right."
"That is quite unexpected but explained a lot about how you could recognize from the first glance." V said slowly when he looked at her. "How can you time travel?"
"My boss is Death himself, gave the man some credit. He had a lot more than just a wonderful sense of fashion."
"You met him?"
"Yes, and he asked for my assistance for this one special job." Rose said when she tapped on the table. "Let's say when the Lord of Darkness himself dead, he didn't just die and disappeared. If human died and left behind bodies, then the Lord of Darkness left behind his essences, as it scattered around the time and space itself and destroying the barrier of the universe. The Death has his permanent employees, but they are overload now and so he had to outsourcing, making deals with other capable individuals like me to help him."
"That is some crazy shit you just tell, sweet cheeks." Griffon said with his beak opened.
"My son said the same. Which I don't blame him, my standard about these things is high and even I felt surprise."
"I understand." V said. "So he needed to make people that saw his agents to forget everything so that history could remain untouched."
"Wow, you catch on these things fast." Rose said. "I am impressed; normally people upon hearing this would think that I lost my mind or something like that."
"Hey, if it soothed you darling, I think you are a nut job." The bird said, which earned it a smack from V's cane.
"Right, but since my job is not going as smooth as I expected like any other things, I may need some help. If you agreed to help me, you could retain you memory until I am done with my job and keep the history straight." Rose said when she pointed her finger where the giant tree could be seen from their window. "You should take the deal. After all in my history, you became one with him again like you wish."
V looked out of the window, his eyes slightly dropped when he saw the giant tree before he looked back to her. Something stirred in it and Rose couldn't place her finger on what it was; maybe it was pain, regret, even relief or all of it.
"Of course, I will help you." V said when the corner of his mouth raised. "I am here to help."
"So this is set then, we are partner now." Rose said when she took out her hand. "Looking forward to work with you, partner."
V said nothing but let out a ghostly smile when he shook her hand, his green eyes shined with a strange light when he looked at Rose.