Chapter 11:

Identity

"Hey! Hey!" A voice came to him and the boy grumbled in his sleep. "HEY YOU GET UP NOW! YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO BE SLEEPING!" The Mexi-American sat straight up and his large brown eyes darted around the room franticly though it didn't take him long to notice the source of the voice. "God-damn, Carlos, You sleep like a rock." The officer scratched the back of his head and looked at the man on the bed.

"Well what do you expect? I WAS shot. If you didn't notice." The Mexi-American removed the white hospital sheets and threw his legs over the side of the bed. "Oh, and don't get used to calling me that. My name is Tony, got it?"

"Were you in drama class back in high school by any chance?" Tony glared at the man in the uniform.

"Shut up, Striker...... " He paused, "Ok, maybe I was. So what?" The officer laughed as Tony tied up the strings of his tennis shoes and hopped of the bed.

"You're a complete dramatizer! I thought there was something funny about you!"

"Shut up, Striker."

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"Holy shit...."

"No need for such language, Cyn..." The voice became seductively death lined.

"If you're not Jin.... Or Kazuya... Then...."

"I'm what you Christians call 'Satan'.... I am what you Baptists call 'Devil'...." The darkness was shattered for a split second by a blaze of purple-red lightning. "I am Set.... I am Amatsu Mikaboshi.... I am Itzcolihuqui... I am Erebus... I am all."

"Set...Egypt? Amatsu Mikaboshi.... old Japanese? Itzcolihuqui... Aztec? Erebos.... Greek?"

"You read." The darkone's tone was of mockery.

"They're all... Gods of darkness."

"Darkness... Would you go as far as to call me Evil?" He whispered as his cold claw wrapped gently around her throat from behind. His long, sharp, black nails nipped playfully at the skin on her throat.

"......... You're probably about as Evil as they come."

"Do I hear.... doubt?"

"......."

"I know who I am.... but who are you?" He whispered into her ear. "Who are you really, CYN?!" In a quick stroke, his black nails slit her throat and he sent her falling onto the cold hard stone floor.

"Wh--.... Whaddya mean?" Cyn coughed and held her throat.

"My power would not work on you. WHY?! WHAT ARE YOU?!" Devil grasped her by the throat and pulled her into the air. "I curse you.... You still live. I bash your head in... You still live. I slit your throat... And you still live! WHAT ARE YOU?! Are you Hers!!? Are you Her fighter?! ANSWER ME!!" Devil's grip grew tighter. "WHAT ARE YOU?!" He seethed. Cyn grinned unexpectedly,

"No.... More than me.... No less than.... human." Cyn began to choke. Devil bellowed in rage and sent her flying once more to the hard stone. Cyn's heart beat rapidly, her blood pulsed in her veins, her eyes remained shut tightly and her teeth bared in pain. All was silent. All was dark. "No more.... than me... No less... than human. NO MORE ... THAN ME.. NO LESS THAN HUMAN!!!" Cyn screamed, making it echo throughout the temple.

The darkness swept across her eyes as they opened slowly in fear and bravery. A small warm light came into view. Cyn tried to focus, just enough to see the person holding the light, but it failed. All she recognized was the source of the light. A candle.