Memory Lane

In her dark Citadel, Sang was sitting at her golden dresser; combing her hair in the mirror. She was a pale woman with long raven hair, pale skin, and blood red eyes. Her dress was sleeveless and in black. Around her waist was a golden belt with a chain on each side that was attached to the back and connected to the front. Her fingernails were long, painted red claws; making it easier to hurt enemies. Finally, attached to her head just above and behind her ears, was a pair of gray, pointed, curved horns.

"Lady Sang," called Loup, "I heard a rumor from some Demons. The Master is alive! He was seen fighting against a group of beasts. Either he's lost his memory due to trauma caused by that woman, or he's fallen completely under the spell of that human and has deserted us!" His fur was as black as the beast that had attacked Prier earlier; his eyes the same bloodshot red. But the differences could be clearly seen. Loup, like Sang, had a pair of horns on the side of his head; the only difference being they were below his ears. He stood tall like a man and wore a full suit of black armor. A huge sword was strapped on his back. The crazed look on his face showed his worry; their master was really strong.

"No worries Loup. Our Master is truly on our side. He is obviously playing possum and waiting until our people are ready to rally behind him. That woman means nothing to him; he will kill her the second he is ready. She was only a pawn in his plan; he only awaits the return of The One," she said.

S...S

Back at the church, Sister Romaine was briefing Prier's unit. Jacques was in the room as well; he wanted to be hired by La Pucelle until he felt that he could get back on his feet and repay them for saving his life. Sister Romaine told him it was a great idea; casually mentioning that they had hired freelance Demon Hunters in the past without mentioning the story of Prier and Croix. She informed the group, "I trust that most of you remember that run down fort north of Montblanc Castle; Angie wasn't born at that time and Jaques wasn't here so they should just follow the leads of the other three. Apparently, ghosts have begun re-spawning in the area. I guess that they were lying in wait after you'd run through there. So I need the five of you to head to that castle and exorcise the ghosts before somebody gets hurt again."

Prier looked disgusted. "Those weaklings again! Don't they realize that we can easily kick their butts? Why can't we deal with a challenging enemy for once?" After saying that, she recanted her words. Angie was forced to come along on the mission; an incredibly difficult one wouldn't be the best for her.

"Yes, 'those weaklings again'," Sister Romaine told her, "Minor monsters and Demons aren't the brightest creatures; they don't realize they would be better off to leave humans in peace. But they are the ones that disturb the balance between Light and Dark more often than not. Since it is our job to assure that the precious order of the universe isn't broken…then we must go and defeat them. And before you say that I should send a weaker unit, I have already given most everyone in La Pucelle a long term assignment. You see, some Lesser Demons have been spotted skulking around the area and each sighting is being investigated. You'd probably like that a lot less; there's no fighting whatsoever there."

"Ok, ok…I'll go check out the castle. This reminds me of the first time I went there. That was the day that changed my life forever. Well, next to the mission on Mt. Tarte to investigate the murders, the mission to check out Fatima, the mission to defeat Noir…well this changed me in a different sense then. I guess we should be heading on out," Prier replied. She blushed as she thought of those exciting times.

S...S

They arrived at the entrance to the castle quickly. Prier looked around to see the ghosts were trying to hide away; apparently remembering the ass whooping she'd given them the last time around. Looking forward, she remembered that first encounter. Prier yelled, "Francoise! Be careful! This is a battlefield; not the lounge!" Seeing her new trainee in over her head almost instantly, Prier leapt towards her. The Dark Slayer killed the first Ghost she saw. At that moment, Francoise jolted back to reality and punched the second. Culotte finished another small group off with his Mega Fire spell; all Ice and Wind.

Angelique looked up to see her mother's face was looking strange. "Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing dear," Prier responded, "I was just thinking back to the last time we came here. You should have seen Francoise flailing about; it was her first real battle with La Pucelle. I put my heart and soul into each strike to keep my mind off my troubles. Well, let's continue onwards; it's not important."

S...S

They traveled to the back of the complex. Prier suddenly felt something; her instincts as a Demon Hunter were kicking in to warn her of danger. Suddenly, an Omega Fire hit them from out of the blue. At the last second, she pushed Angelique out of the range of the blast; the child missing the pain by just a fraction of an inch. However, that didn't make her any less frantic; she had to save her mother.

"Goddess! Hear my plea!" she called out. Instantly, the Cure spell was cast over the team.

As they began recovering, a low voice began to laugh. He said, "You do have an interesting little girl with you; Prier Dark Slayer. To think that you would rather push her out of the way than jump to safety yourself. Humans are such funny creatures in that regards. I certainly only care for myself."

Prier looked ahead to see the silhouette of a man; his black armor shining in the candlelight and his flesh reduced to bones. "I guess you don't really understand what it means to be a mother then. I would never let anything happen to my daughter. How dare you insinuate that I would be so heartless?"

"Looks like this is the boss of the ghosts," Francoise remarked, "You look a little hot dearie!" At that moment, Ice began to form on her gloves. She rushed at him; arm outstretched. The second her fist collided with his body, Ice began forming over the bones; knocking him back and causing damage.

"Starfall! Rain death o'er my enemies…" chanted Jacques. Suddenly, as he held his bazooka pointing towards the air, little bullets in the shapes of stars flew out of it. They began to crash down onto the specter. However, he easily shook the blast off; running right at Jacques and Francoise in retaliation.

At that instant, Angelique rushed forward. She held out both hands and they began to glow with white hot light. She yelled, "See the right path…Guiding Light!" Suddenly, out from her hands flew blasts of light; each one hitting the specter and stopping it in its path. As it turned towards her, she switched her focus. "Feel my wrath! Shadow Strike!" Just like before, her hands began to glow; only this time the glow was the power of darkness. Blasts of the black energy flew out of her hands; wounding the being.

"I am sorry Lady Sang," he groaned, "I failed to destroy the Dark Slayer as you wished." With that, his body was engulfed in dark fire; soon after he vanished from the world completely. Prier breathed a sigh of relief as she looked down towards her daughter. Who knew Angie was as strong as that even?

'This was the castle I was at when the others realized that I felt sick. They forced me to go to the Infirmary where Sister Cherrie found out that I was pregnant with Angelique. I guess its only fitting that she show her full might here as well. Perhaps I have been worrying too much; Angie can take care of herself in battle. But that's just the mother in me talking; wanting to protect my child,' thought Prier.

Teefa's Last Words...

Now that we've gotten some bonding in the form of a mission, our villains are about to make an appearance. Lady Sang's intentions become even clearer as she chases The One and prepares to kill Prier for her Demon killing. Will they survive? Will Croix ever get his rear end back home to help? And if and when he does, how will he react to Angie?

Ok, maybe that was too dramatic. Don't worry, Croix is going to make it back. I just have to get the scene set up and put in a little more frustration for Prier.