Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Diablo, nor will I own whatever else I choose to bring into this ficlet. For now however, this chapter will be basically random ramblings of a nineteen year-old, and the circumstances that surround her and her 2 brothers. The only things that I DO own is anything, and everything, that I state, Bates, Sae (my Sae, anyways) and Domiego.
This fic is dedicated to CERM (mainly to you Chiru-chan 'cause you inspired me to write this), Muffacup, and Rockinmuffin 'cause you guys rock! Chelsea-chan, if you're reading this, and I hope you ARE reading this, please don't feel offended or insulted if you feel that I got the idea from your fantastic fic: Melded Wings, Human No More.
I assure you, and whoever else that is reading this right now, that I did not steal any ideas from MWHNM. I was merely inspired by it.
For those of you who don't understand, Mana isn't Magic like the kind of magic you'd use to destroy your foes until there's a puddle of flesh where they once were. Mana is a kind of force that you'd use to summon a skeleton, or some other undead thing… non-human being… yeah. But only if you were a Necromancer (someone who has power over the Undead).
Also, Demon language can be understood by all, even us Modern folks, but the Ancient Egyptians could never understand what we say… not without a little assistance in that department. Hopefully that will clear a few things up, and if it doesn't clear up this chapter… then… I don't know what to do. That's enough ranting from me.
Translations (for those who may actually care as to how to pronounce them correctly)
Mephisto- Meh-Fist-Oh
Diablo- Dee-Ahab-Low
Baal- Bay-All
Andariel- An-Dar-Ee-Elle
Duriel- Dur-Ee-Elle
Domiego- Doh-Me-Go
Bates- Bay-Ates
Sae- Saw-Ey or Sai
Authoress's Note
"Understandable speech"
"Diablo's speech"
"Baal's speech"
"Mephisto's speech"
"Demon speech"
("Non-Understandable speech")
Thinking to oneself
Emphasized
Shouting
START!
"I am not one to go about disregarding their assigned orders! If I am to annihilate the Prime Evils, then I shall do so by any means necessary!" This new voice, though slurred somewhat like a drunken buffoon would sound, bellowed behind me. Almost as if it were snorkeling underwater, the perspicuity of its meandering, fiendish call seemed muffled and deafening heavily with every word to my ears, as though it were drowning. It was low, yet rumbled maliciously, and kept in sound with the loud 'TAP'ing noises my brothers' feet made as they ran down the giant square stone slabs of this unknown floor. As for me – as frail and weak as I was – I was panting like a dog having been overworked to the point of collapse, and I was sure I certainly looked the part while I desperately tried to keep up with my fast-paced siblings; my dark hair flew behind me as I pushed my fragile body to its limits, moist beads of sweat trickled down my brow, and my lungs burned for sweet oxygen while my legs begged for a few short moments of rest.
For now however, I attempted to wipe my hysterical mind clean, and concentrate on keeping a watchful eye on my brothers; best to not think about anything, and just keep running. Just keep running… don't think about anything, just keep running… From where I could see, not that I could see anything beyond five feet due to the seemingly never-ending corridors and passages and winding turns – lit with the flickering, burning flames from lit torches every so often – we were taking as a means of temporary refuge, there was no source of help from anywhere down here; wherever here was anyway.
Though I did witness a large group of disgruntled, horrified, and surprised people look on in awed astonishment as we barreled on by them, but they didn't get to draw their next breath; for the beast, or being, that had been pursuing us for quite some time now had surely trampled them to death in its furious rampage. If had I chosen to do so without a moment's hesitation, and if the monstrosity weren't chasing us, I'd had stopped to look behind me to see what they were gawking at.
Not that it would have been a wise decision in the beginning, for every one of them had been wielding some sort of primitive weapon, so obviously they would've most likely killed me and my brothers if anything. So, considering the circumstances currently fogging my obscured thoughts whirling about in my head, I wasn't sure who to trust anymore, or if the three of us were ever really safe since we came here. My black jeans had been dealt a heavy-duty amount of damage to them, for they were torn immensely in a matter of minutes and exposed more skin than I felt was necessary; inwardly, I groaned in frustration, and the self-conscious part of me soon started pounding on the mental barriers of my mind. Now isn't the time to be worried about whether you look like a street tramp or not… You've already been called that before at school, as those stuck-up bitches were so proud to do on your eighteenth birthday…
From my parched lips came a strangled, choked sob, but came out as a feral hiss, feeling the uncanny pain in my side had now grown substantially as my multicolored eyes frantically darted to left to right as I ran, hoping for some temporary sanctuary, but I soon took notice that my younger brother William, or Willie as he preferred to be called, quickly spotted a separate, distant passage-way to venture down and veered slightly off course to the right; my elder brother, Jimmy, and I soon followed after, the deafening roars of that hellish abomination seemed awfully close. Here we were running down yet another possibly misleading corridor, running away from that persistent creature, not knowing where anything was and even where this place was; a dark, foreboding pair of demonic horns protruded from Willie's skull and slanted downward, like Death's scythe, he'd been wearing them for a long while and, from where I could see, his beet red features occasionally twitched in annoyance and blood trickled down his neck.
Like hell he's going to suddenly stop and take them off… How in the Seven Circles of Hell did we manage to end up in this place anyway... We'd only been home for maybe an hour while my parents had taken my little sister for groceries, my brothers were beating the crap out of computerized hockey players on Willie's Game Cube and I was idly watching them shout insults at the game, nodding my head to Drowning Pool's Fearless as I shuffled through the weird deck of cards my grandfather had bought for me five years ago... And we each were being their own retard with uncanny items donning their bodies, laughing our asses off at the most frivolous of things… Then, something distraught – not to mention absurd – happened and now we were here. This place, wherever it was I had yet to figure out, caused my eyes to infringe every so often with obscured outlines of my surroundings, so I didn't know for certain whether it was the fact that tears silently trickled down my unnaturally pale skin or whether it was the fact that my paranoia was finally getting to me, but I did know that I leaned more against the blurred outlines and my senses, including my sixth, were all in a complete and utter fixture of derangement.
Not excluding my Out-Of-Body experience plaguing my mind, the air down here was macabrously impassionate with hardly any humidity and I was perspiring more profoundly now from running for an extended period of time than my body was able to endure, but a faint spark of self-induced satisfaction dealt a deathblow to my distressed spirits; I was thankful that my Mum had practically blackmailed me to start exercising more often over 3 months ago; my skinny, agile body was more capable of operating at a higher level of efficiency now. And I was thankful that it was.
Outside darkness devoured the land in a thick fog of uncertainty, causing my panicked disposition to worsen every time I stumbled in my haste to outrun that monster, and with every misstep came another bout of overwhelming fear, just like the ever-growing sea of blackness outside; I knew this because this building had no windows and the stars, though beautiful and were a lovely sight to behold, twinkled with a light of malicious mischief it seemed; giving us an almost ungodly smile that they were safe up in the sky while me and my brothers weren't.
The whatever-the-hell-it-was that we had been running from had dealt a considerable amount of damage to my frail, feminine body; the pale complexion on my forearm, right cheek- where now two criss-cross wounds bled lightly- not to mention the huge gash on the back of my neck where another injury lay, bled fresh ounces of crimson… and let's not soon forget the large horizontal and diagonal slashes on your stomach, legs, and knees… mustn't forget that you now run the risk of bleeding to death… Fucking lovely…
To say I was scared would be an understatement. I was frightened half to death and, even though I knew they weren't ready to admit it at the moment, I could tell my brothers were scared also, though the I'm-ready-to-break-down-now-and-declare-insanity scared would best suit them; my definition of terror would be the current 'state' of mind-numbing, blood-curdling dismay taking form in my racing heart. I couldn't even waste a single breath on a mere scream hearing the creature that wasn't far behind us suddenly let out a inhuman roar of rage followed soon by loud smashing sounds, probably from running into the walls or something of the nature.
What had disturbed me was that it mentioned something about the 'Prime Evils'.
The Prime Evils… Mephisto the Lord of Hatred, Baal the Lord of Destruction, and last but not least… Diablo the Lord of Terror… They were most widely known for being the 'Final Bosses' on one of the world's most popular computer games, but, from what I had heard, they were in fact the 'Evil' that every human being feared above all else; I suppose the reason for this was because they controlled all emotions that led to utter nothingness and darkness.
They were even more powerful than Satan and all the Gods, because, and I was again thinking back to what I had been told, they were in complete control of their own emotions as well; a myth stated that it was the Prime Evils who had put the thoughts in the Devil's head to cause him to revolt against God Himself. I once heard one of my friends, who was more obsessed with the game than I had even been, saying that Mephisto was the one who was most ill-fated than his brothers since he was 'Hatred' in its most refined, perfected, and purified state.
But what I still didn't understand was what my siblings and I had to do with the Prime Evils, if it came down to anything we'd either find out the answer and die, or remain with our thoughts obscured and live out the rest of our days in refuge; I preferred the latter one.
I breathed in abruptly, feeling the non-humid air course into my aching lungs and set them ablaze as the pain in my wounds were starting to reach a dramatic, agonizing climax when Jimmy suddenly shouted, "Hey, look! There's a door!" I was so happy at that moment I could've leapt for joy had I not been running, but I settled for doubling my speed even though my legs felt like cold jelly, and watched my brothers pry open the door wide enough for all of us to squeeze through. When we got close to the stone slabs of the doors, I noticed there were hieroglyphs carved and painted on… What… the fuck is going on here…? I spent no more than a millisecond pondering about this and, stepping further inside the widely spread room, gripping the sides of the door and eventually bringing them together; a loud, obscene crack coming off from some sort of mechanism closing shut.
I stared in both awe and startled amazement; how was it humanly possible that I had gathered the strength to shut two such gigantic doors? Whoever it was that designed these doors must've put some kind of bearing mechanism on them so they'd be easier to manage. I choked on gasps, and faint noises of fright came from my lips while my fear slowly began to ebb away. The creature, though large in a reasonable manner in my eyes, would take quite some time to get by the doors; which meant it bought some time for us fill our burning lungs and to take a brief resting period.
Sighing to myself, and watching my brothers look about the enlarged space of the room and what little spectacular sights it had to offer them, I slowly shut my eyes, leaning against the wall and then the Pain returned, mimicking my actions as fresh blood oozed down my back… right where my birthmark is… and those- They felt like they were melded into my being… This can't be right… I-I-I bought these damned demon-angel wings at a bargain discount price two summers ago… Not to mention these feral, demonic black nails… Unholy motherfucker… I hate when my nightmares get like this… Damned rubbish is what it is…
I relished at how sweet and comfortable the shadows that enveloped this section of the floor was. My face surely bore shreds of the mind-numbing fear and panic my body had experienced moments earlier, my tears still run rampant down my flushed cheeks, but they were silent, and my hair was a knotted mass of dark brown blended with a hint of black and red, perhaps I now appeared more zombie-like than I ever did; I resembled a deceased person everyday, just not as bad as I looked now.
The wounds scattered across me still hadn't ceased bleeding fresh rivers of crimson, and I knew now that I would soon have to tend to them soon or something that I wouldn't find to my liking would surely happen; my yin-yang wrist bands were now torn and drenched with red, coloring the white and displaying a light pink-red to me.
My purple polyester vest and light blue tank top were shredded nearly in half but the other half bore witness to the gashes on my stomach, I felt new trickles of blood oozing down to my hips, but now I saw that my second layer of clothing was torn and displayed a portion of my bra. How terrific… just what I've always wanted… I always wondered what looking like some under dressed skank would feel like, and now I know what it feels like to be one… I sighed heavily in disapproval and, upon opening my fatigued eyes once again, a startled, choked noise of fright came from the back of my throat seeing my brothers stand in mute bewilderment while my fear scorched anew in my heart and mind.
Casting my sight in my brothers' direction, I felt my insides churn uneasily seeing a surprisingly giant staircase with an elderly man in white robes at the top and, what I found most disturbing, a young man with demonic, unruly silver hair dressed favorably well in a red robe standing at the foot of the stairs; both of them were staring at me and my brothers. I recognized them immediately and, being fully aware of who they were and what they were both capable of doing, I slowly grew aware that the three of us were surely bound for more trouble than we already were. Willie's face glowed a faint red; a sure sign that he'd beat the first person or non-human being who tried to harm him to a bloody pulp, his brown eyes scouring to both sides of himself, and I craned my neck to get a better view.
To my left, which was my baby brother's right, was a winding, inter-connecting pathway that split into two separate passages, the left ending in what looked like a dead end from where I could see, and the right path was endless; stretching across the ceremonial staircase was another passageway, its walls decorated elaborately with yet a similar vast quantity and quality of creatures carved in stone tablets, and soon, about halfway down the upper corridor, the path ended in a second set of stairs. Gargantuan marble-stone pillars adorned with Egyptian hieroglyphs separated both the walkway and the ceremonial floors, making it resemble a prison cell of sorts, but not quite. It made the pathways seem unnaturally dark and foreboding, but I looked up again just in time to see the man in red- looking none too pleased with the way his eyes flashed- striding menacingly towards us, his arms swinging like dangerous meat pendulums.
He's more frightening than the dark walkway… My insides twisted with the utmost morose unease and, obeying Jimmy's sudden command to "hurry the fuck up and find a place to hide, we'll take care of this bastard", dashed insanely down into the slope blanketed in darkness. I paused for a brief moment so my eyes could adjust themselves and when they did, I burst into a life-or-death sprint, running about halfway around the winding walkway, finally spotting a place where they stored miscellaneous items. Barely visible amidst the shadows and Egyptian style urns, was a tiny crawl space and I crouched down; after concealing myself inside, I noticed that there was more than enough space for my skinny ass to fit. I 'humph'ed timidly when something cracked and then kind of bent itself into a rather uncomfortable, and agonizing awkward position on my back…
Damn these accursed wings and damn me and the idiot I was for putting them on in the first place! My mind drew a blank as I reflected on the moment I saw that Demon in Red guy, but the mind-numbing fear burrowed deep in the back of my mind quickened its pace inside my head and scorched the insides of my brain like white-hot fire when I realized how serious the situation was… My brothers… They're fighting…! Oh God! This isn't happening… Slut, dyke, skag, slore, twiddling fuck head, shit faced motherfucker, cock sucker, sweet mother of crap… Fuck, what in the name of HELL is going on here! Did I suddenly have a brain hemorrhage or something…?
Fearing the thief would find me hiding like a scared little girl huddling for safety under the blankets, I placed my hands over my mouth to stifle the hysteric, orgasmic breathing spasms and my mouth and nostrils created suction on the glistening sweat freezing the palms of my hands. My mind swam madly in the deepening depths of bewildering thoughts, crazed images of my siblings and I dying, and wild musings of how everything would turn out well in the end; I had finally lost my sanity, or whatever remnants I had had.
I had been tossed away into some alternate Existence, with my brothers not far behind, another Reality and its hot, all too regal and majestic palace; a dark, foreboding monster with a quadruple pair of eyes and squirming tentacles armed with suckers adorned with sickening sickle-like teeth, and its body concealed in a many-layered black gargantuan shell had stalked me; it had wanted me dead, more so than my brothers at the first sight of me, and expressed so by nearly mutilating my limbs and attempting to gouge out my internal organs. How I managed to narrowly elude death for the second time in my life I had no idea, and we had just entered a room that was excerpting a familiar scene from one of those Shonen Jump anime magnas I heard so much about… Right when Bakura was having a bout with that old priest, Akhenaden… right before my disbelieving eyes, which felt like they were going to explode any minute now…
Damn it to all motherfucking hell! I'm either dead, or I'm about to be dead, and my brain is giving me, not excluding my brothers in this hellish dream, the worst nightmare ever imaginable to humanity before butcherin' me… Crap, crap, crap! Please God… let me rouse back into Reality soon! I don't want to slip into death while I'm sleeping, not like this… never, ever… Not if it's gonna be this painful and traumatizing before Death welcomes me with open arms!
I shut my eyes tight and gripped my injured arm, prying my lazy eye open slowly and watched the blood seep through my fingers, lazily painting the stone floor a dark crimson, and clamped my eyes shut even tighter when footsteps neared the floor near my face. I wasn't going to even dare to look, not if it risked being forced out of my hidey-hole and interrogated to no end, or killed. So, to avoid that from happening, I crawled deeper into the sheltering darkness between two of the towering urns; locked in a silent prayer, I begged with God Himself that this horrible dream would end soon, and I would be back in my Reality.
I just want to wake up in my room and the first things I want to see is my kitten Amber, my 'Devil May Cry' pillows and blanket, my Dante and Disturbed posters, and I wanna hear the awe-inspiring words of Fear blaring into my deafened ears…
Fate works its mysterious ways with people like me.
"What are you doing here, woman?" A low, raspy voice snarled with a maniacal tone… Back in our world, that voice belonged to that dude who played his voice on that show… Yet, here he was, in ALL his… My sight, previously having been glued shut, abruptly shot open and slowly gazed upon a very familiar tan, scarred face that always had an upset look to it framed in unruly, silver tresses. A half gasp, half shriek had been smothered by my hands while my eyes grew numerous times in size, and I crawled back deeper into the shadowy corner and whimpered in fright like a scorned puppy as the burning flames in his eyes lustred; one could actually sense his frustration growing deeper.
Like the Devil himself… "I said, what are you do-" I cringed, hissing in pain as he took a hold of my left wrist and hauled me out of my hiding spot, his own eyes wide now. My hand, the one no longer covering my mouth, shot over his and I grasped his broad hands, trying – yet failing miserably – to relieve the mind-numbing, painful pressure he was applying to the gouge in my arm.
I paid no mind to his face, and whimpered when the pain eventually worsened as the injury on my 'tummy' added to it. "Come off it, FUCKER! LET ME GO, PLEASE!" I shrieked, flinching when the faint, sudden noise of my wrist bones groaning heavily in compromising peril rang in my ears as they cracked under his pincer grip. This may be a nightmare… but it hurts so much… My fingers and lower portion of my wrist, drenched in blood at the moment, had been furiously punching his knuckles, and I mentally gasped seeing the light trickles of blood gushing from the anemic lacerations across his knuckles pressed against his bare chest, and my fingers stroked the golden ring.
Finally, now that I was writhing in pain, physical pain due to his unyielding grip on my wrist, and mental torment no thanks to my no-good, deranged mind presenting me with haunting images before I was cast off into Heaven or Hell, I ceased all attempts to break free and I gazed at him, my sight distorted with tears. I mentally gasped, again, seeing the look on his face. "What are you…?" were his words. I observed him in silence for a few moments and, blinking in mild stupidity on my part, frowned at him darkly. At least I can understand what he's saying… I mused silently, bitterly sarcastic.
Tozokuoh's/Thief King Bakura's P.O.V.
I gazed down at a sweating, pain-stricken face that bore some blood blemished hither and thither; I paid no heed to the soft, whimpering nonsense that had slipped past her rose-colored lips as she struggled to free herself from me. Thin, wispy waves of dark brown hair blended with the faintest hints of red and black spilled over her head and shoulders down to the middle of her back while she continued to shove at my chest, still whimpering and pleading, pathetic as it was, in that divergent language of hers. She groaned, blood oozed steadily from the arm I grasped between my clutches and her slender stomach; obviously she, or her parents, wasn't faring too well in the wealth department.
She seems under-fed; perhaps she's a runaway slave…? Her attire, though uncanny at best, doesn't suit the likes of a slave, if I say so myself… Hmm, a young woman nearly any man would love to have at their every beck and call, though one can see she's done something any conniving King would murder her for… she's slit and soaked in beautiful crimson sin…
The guards most likely cornered her and the other two in the streets, I concluded quickly. I surveyed her face for a moment; her eyes were obstructed by dark circles of black-blue that discolored what once had been angelic skin, making her appear more apathetic and deceased the more I stared at her; she was without a doubt alive, or at least she possessed qualities that led you to believe she was alive; you could see it in within her strange colored eyes if you probed deep enough, which were watering slightly; this in itself was peculiar. No one in Egypt has eyes like she does…
I frowned, partially in annoyance and partially in brief shock, when I cupped her chin in my free hand, gripping it firmly I forced her to look at me, my eyes widening seeing the colors dazzling behind the ever-thickening veil of tears; brown and green flashed briefly in clear, mute discontent; within the bowels of darkness specks of light brown and honey sparkled; surrounding the rims of her eyes, a barely noticeable shade of blue shone faintly, radiating a hidden melancholy I thought no one could possess.
The girl didn't possess any hint of physical traits that would make her seem lustrously voluptuous or seductive like those women spoken of in phantasmagoric folklore, nor did she appear to be what you would deem "average". She was… I mentally grasped a word that would best suit her appearance… Delicate in the self-revealing manner; up to a point where you could only classify her as mysterious, or even cunning, in her own unique style. Her depthless, venereal, thin-bellied form was penuriously dressed in the benighted of purple and black, her top nearly shredded to pieces and indiscriminately showcased her upper body and the skin-tight, thin layer of silk hugging her bust; very uncommon clothing unless she was a scarlet woman, but women of pleasure beheld a well-defined scent and look to them, which I was quite familiar of, and it was unquestionable the girl possessed neither of the repulsive characteristics.
She was different in more ways than one. Though I was still questioning her attire, it wasn't her odd style that caused me to cease and take another look. It was two things. The first thing I took immediate notice of was her skin; it was almost alabaster in tone, almost but not quite, just a few shades off to being perfectly comparable to the desert's sun bleached sands. My tan complexion appeared so insignificant to the girl's pale, delicate skin tone and I could naught but stare at it in deeper, silent observation; so transfixed by her skin was I that one could imagine that, at first glance, I appeared to be in a sleep-induced trance.
The second, more noticeable, characteristics about her looks were the weightless, silken white and black wings that were melded into her back and her abrupt, dagger-like nails shaded an abyss black in color. Seeing that I was gawking at them in astonishment, she pursed her lips and a new light flashed briefly in her eyes; I quickly identified this new emotion as displeasure, and I chuckled darkly to myself; she was quick to feel uncomfortable in my presence, and she had every right to do so. Humans don't have wings or talons… Especially wings and talons like the ones adorning her body…
I ran my thumb and index finger tenderly across the fragile dark purple material that was neither cloth nor linen shielding a fair portion of her smooth shoulders and pried apart tears, soon revealing deep lacerations across her shoulders – it was possible there were more serious slashes on her back – and even deeper, similar injuries on her arms.
Yet I found another slash was in plain sight in her stomach, due to the splash of red suddenly taking form on the lower portion on her body; obviously her injuries weren't the handiwork of the guards' spears, but from something else; some other person, or being, had most likely tried to murder her. "What are you…?" I finally asked her, thus earning yet another displeased, bewildered stare from her when her head abruptly lifted and she stared into my eyes, her own eyes reflecting the horror she tried to hide; she said nothing in response to my question, and chose instead to purse her lips even tighter while her body shook violently; she was frightened of me, why I had no idea, but I had the sneaking suspicion she knew who I was. How amusing… the little one is frightened of me… but why is it that she won't answer my questions…? Hmm… perhaps I'll deal with that little problem later…
My mind snickered darkly. For a moment, when she parted her lips, she looked as though she finally would cease her little charade and respond to my question, and then she closed them almost as instantly as she opened them, and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself watching with the utmost mirth seeing her face slowly shift to a nasty glare. ("Kindly remove your hand off my arm, asshole. In case you didn't happen to notice, it hurts like a motherfucker.") She pushed against me harder than she did earlier, wrenching her body backwards a few inches, her glare intensified when she gazed directly into my eyes; her wings extended outward a bit, making her resemble a mildly rebellious, half godly being.
I mentally scoffed hearing the mindless prattle that she just spat tartly out of her mouth. She couldn't speak our language. She blinked a few times and stared at me, her ill-tempered glare fading a little as there was a small tap at the door, just the stones meandering apart in the slightest, she just had them barred them for me; her eyes slowly broke contact from me and gazed at the exit, and I saw fear brewing in them. She must have been running from the guards. But… who or what is she? Could it be possible that she's a messenger sent by the Gods? Or perhaps something more beyond human understanding…?
A sardonic grin slowly etched across my face, allowing the girl's origins to be irrelevant for now, and gave her injured arm another tight squeeze, returning to her disquiet, watching her eyes sleek over in nervous tension and dither, and her already creamy, pale skin whitening to becoming nearly alabastrine.
"Bakura! Surely not all of your battles end up with you not regarding your adversary! You cease your doings simply because something is much too recipient for your childish disposition?" The beguiled, elderly man bearing the Millennium Eye shouted with an over-dosage of animosity; far too much for my liking. I stood and hauled the girl up with me; pulling her along while another, sudden outburst of enraged protests flew past her lips, like the mindless prattle of ("Let me go, you son-of-a-bitch! Argh! You goddamn demon!") Hmm… A bit annoyed are we?
The girl may have appeared to be weak and fragile, not to mention she was the shortest woman I had encountered, but she possessed inner strength, far beyond than I had estimated her to be; she managed to stumble back from me for a moment, but I swerved around, snatching a hold of her slender, less injured shoulder too quickly for her to calculate and try to evade me again. I tugged her nearer to me, and then when she was close enough, I immersed my arm around her neck, her eyes peering out from the crook of my elbow; I gazed down at her a final time, and I saw a tiny golden pendent, with a strange symbol etched on its gleaming surface, that hung around her neck by means of a thin, golden chain; set in her amulet was a tiny lilac gem that illuminated an ominous light every so often.
Her wings constrained against my chest and lower side, a few feathers poked out between the edges of her body and thrashed deliriously for a moment, and then ceased in revealing the girl's apparent enrapture; no doubt she was uncomfortable in her current position, but she bowed her head low and a melancholic sigh of submission was all I heard from her. "Care to repeat your words, Old Man?" I bellowed up at him, looking on with my best face while his distorted into bewilderment and the slightest hint of fear as I stepped back to where he could see me.
"Who or what is that?" he interjected, his index finger motioning towards the winged girl pulling at my crimson robe. I chortled darkly while she looked up at the elderly priest in what seemed to be a mute plea for help and muttered something in that incomprehensible tongue of hers. ("What did I do to deserve this…?") "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to point? It does look a bit ill-mannered from where I'm standing, Old Man." The girl clicked her tongue impatiently and I 'tsk-ed' jeeringly seeing the other two strangers hunched over on their knees, and muttered something in a similar language as the girl's. The younger one, whose head was adorned with slanted, black horns, rambled something over and over again. ("I'll kill that fucker… He's getting a kick in the balls when I get off the ground.") Sneering, I redirected my attention back to him.
"If you're that curious to know, Akhenaden, this being happens to be a woman… a woman with oddly colored skin and wings and talons." My eyes traveled over her bony, milk-white shoulders wrapped in something that resembled transparent spider's webs, underneath that was a layer of blue silk, and then I looked back to the priest whose face was stoic, his eye beholding an unreadable emotion as he stared her down; soon he did the same with the two boys. "…She can't be the one Seto mentioned… This girl has wings and… Devil-like talons… And the other two…" He muttered to himself. I grinned insanely, dragging the girl along with me up the stairs. "Hmm…? What's this? Have you finally gone mad, Old Man? You're talking to yourself…" I spoke abruptly yet passively, noticing that the Elderly Priest was staring at the girl, the unreadable emotion deepened the more he continued to stare.
Once I reached the top of the stairs, I glared sternly with a heinous grin at Akhenaden, knowing that I held his fate in my hands. "Diabound!" I called to my Ka. His eyes widened and he attempted to summon his own Ka sealed away in one of those incongruous stone tablets… You've become quite inexperienced, Old Man… Far too slow… "You'll have to react quicker than that! Diabound, destroy the stones! Helical Shockwave!" I ordered… and it was done, summoning all his energy into a single attack and blasted them into shards of lime stone. I looked out the corner of my eye to see how 'Devil' was reacting… I sneered fiendishly, her eyes slowly doubled as she backed up a bit, flinching when something impinged her frail cheekbone; pebbles of rock were projectile-ed in all directions, even where we were standing.
Back to the Half-Witted Fool, I laughed whole heartedly. "Do you see now, Old Man? The Millennium Ring has empowered me with abilities that are second to none! I'm nearly a GOD myself!" I cackled as he stared at me, utterly terrified… Soon that look upon your withered face shall increase ten fold… I raised my hand and sent him flying into one of the tablets' ruined slabs, his body making a satisfying cracking noise. "Now… What to do… Do I kill you or allow you to see the next moon? I'll let you dec-" I ceased in mid-sentence as the entry way of the shrine nearly punctured; something extremely heavy slammed into the door repetitively. An inhumane screech resonated off the walls and they quivered immensely, and it was so abrupt that I winced, my ears ringing.
All of us- me, the girl, the two male strangers, and Akhenaden- focused on the booming door as it was hit again from the outside. "What… is it now?" The priest breathed in, still being crushed into his beloved lime stone tablets. The door was being weakened when, for a third time, whatever it was that lurked beyond the exit rammed against it. The winged girl with demonic talons started to speak in a manner like one possessed, probably something like… ("Oh dear God no, don't let me and my brothers die here! Don't let us die, don't let us die, don't let us die!") Her voice rose in decibels, cracking in places when she hiccoughed, and soon she was tearing at my arm and trying to shove me backwards as her wings revolted mindlessly.
She then gazed up at me; her features convulsed in pure terror, and said something quickly as she pushed at me again… Hmmm… Returning her stare, I squeezed my arm even tighter around her neck, questioning as to why she'd be afraid of a few mere guards, or whatever it was that laid beyond the shrine entrance… Let's see who or what is behind door number one, shall we… "Diabound! Have at the being on the opposite side of this door! Go!" I indicated to the entrance… And as soon the words left my mouth, giant boulders of stone from the door spread across the shrine. Whatever had been striking against the door had just broken through… Broken through several thousand metric tons of stone… My eyes widened as the winged girl shrieked in fright, the two strangers glared at me and then turned to the being, gasping in pain and in shock due to the wounds and bruises the two boys obtained from when Diabound dealt with them, with a little assistance from me, and the old man gasped.
A heinously gigantic, utterly foul creature had stridden inside, the veil of rock debris and dust spewed in fear of even grazing the baleful aura. Its body comprised of several distasteful colors blended together, resembling something like someone had left behind in a latrine, and as it glided across the floor, a putrid odor fluttered about the room from where numerous wedges darted over its body; I gritted my teeth while the other four gagged once the repulsive stench reach our nostrils. It smelled like it was indeed something that someone had left in the latrine. Placed on mismatched portions of the thick, rock-hard shell of the body was glistening streams of purple that pulsated violently, and it opened every one of the 'veins' at once as did the four blood red eyes that scoured the room feverishly in every direction.
Each of the eyes bore a tiny, dark pupil as they veered across the room again restlessly, scoping out anything it could find. Finally, it landed on the five of us, and it screamed, letting out a sound unlike anything I'd ever heard in my existence. Around its eyes were dark purple circles, and its mouth wasn't a lovely sight to behold; inside the jaw was lined with two perfect sets of abrupt, dagger-like canines and a single, crimson tongue darted at the air, as if it were trying to lick something. "Diabound! Eliminate that monstrosity! Now!" I commanded, knowing full well that something of this nature would never be negotiable. My Ka let out a pleasing roar as it dissipated into the floor; I watched him malevolently torrent beneath the creature, waiting for it to destroy the ugly creature from underneath… but that wasn't to come.
Diabound emerged swiftly from under the beast, but it did little, if any, effect. Diabound stood with an almost bewildered and idiotic look as his body remained dead in the center of the beast, like it was nothing but air. I gaped in astonishment; it was as though… The otherworldly being and Diabound didn't exist on the same plane… I couldn't destroy it with my Ka. "Bakura!" I gazed downward, utterly taken aback for a moment, at the girl. Her eyes glistened with a deep, sorrowful gaze and unshed tears made her eyes look even more cheerless while she attempted to break free again, her panicked words tumbled out her mouth.
("Please, Bakura! Don't let my brothers be killed by that creature! It can kill me; just don't let it kill my brothers! Please, Bakura, I beg of you!") I thought the girl knew of me, somehow, but never did I imagine that she would know my name, which I easily distinguished in her speech, and I had the distinct feeling that she was pleading for me to do something like release her… Well… Now I know for certain she knows my name…
"BAAL, DIABLO, MEPHISTO! You three had best enjoy your hearts now for they will lie next to your rotting carcasses after this!"
The gargantuan shell glistened with a barely noticeable sheen of blackish brown as tendril-like spikes suddenly protruded from within, the Beast's jaw snapping shut and Its teeth shone like a thousand star-lit nights when It grinned, the tongue darting outward and making sickening slurping noises as It licked Its lips. My attention was instantly directed from the hysterical girl, and the two male strangers who were only now staggering to their feet, to the object of giant mass of hardened flesh and morbid fascination... What? It… can SPEAK? My brows creased downward and I frowned, shoving the girl roughly aside and causing her to stumble awkwardly until she tripped on her feet, landing on the stone floor and letting out a gasp stricken with panic and fear.
"What are you monster, and why did you come here?" I inquired boldly; the Old Man behind me scoffed in clear annoyance under his breath. "… He acts as though he is the head priest of this temple…" I mentally twitched hearing his words. For all he knew I should be the head priest of this temple; I could kill him with a mere flick of my wrist, if I wanted to. I wouldn't want the burden of having such a troublesome responsibility as this… Guarding stone rocks and mediating all day… The Gods can shove it up their rump… Plundering tombs far outweighs the benefits of watching over a scared sanctuary…
"A MORTAL speaking arrogantly to ME? Would you prefer your death to be slow and painful as well?" The Beast stepped closer, the four eyes narrowed dangerously as Its lips curled into an overbearing sneer but then the mouth suddenly opened, and I expected the hellish creature to speak again; It didn't, and I stared in mild curiosity while the gargantuan shell quivered violently, sputtering out boulder-sized drops that reeked a foul odor and splattered the floor, Its body decreasing in size, constricting and melding Its body into another physique.
I felt the girl peer behind my back, the strangers glared at me before staring at the Beast with the utmost shock, and I knew they were as bemused as I felt. I frowned, witnessing the scene unfold before my eyes with a strange, morbid interest. I do not know what is going on, but… Whatever it is… I reasoned with myself, a small, barely noticeable smirk etching in my face… I'm sure it will be quite the entertainment… I sneered devilishly to myself, but recurred to watch, the mass of softened flesh and bone was now about the size of a person… and soon it was in fact a person.
It's… A woman…
"It seems as though you, yourself, are human; I wouldn't go about whispering pathetic death threats if I were you!" I shouted with a hint of frustrated discourtesy, seeing the girl crawl back further out the corner of my eye, the two strangers running up the steps and kneeling beside her, rambling words that seemed to be inquiring the state of her physique. The woman began to ascend the stairs, her eyes creased deep by her brows. Seems she means business… She, like the girl and the males, was an uncanny sight, though in a different sort of manner; I was deeply thankful that she changed form. At least now she doesn't smell like something someone would leave behind in the latrine… Though… She is very beautiful…
Her skin was a light tan, but her eyes, unlike her previous form, were the color of the Nile itself. Her face carved so fine and unmarked with imperfections she appeared to have once been a statue that had been brought to life; her narrow, fragile cheekbones made her eyes wide and oval-shaped, and her lips curled downward slightly in a menacing frown. Waist length, thick and wavy hair the color of the sun bleached sands of the desert caressed her exposed shoulders and collarbone, trailing the sides of her face as she took another step and another. She, like the girl, was robed in the benighted of purple and black, but her clothing was more… Elegant and majestic… Her clothes also had more material to them.
"Seems you're a bit confused, human. You saw what I appeared to be just a moment ago, did you not? Last I checked mortals did not take on those kinds of forms. Does that not make you frightened?"
I smirked when she closed the distance, pondering if Diabound could now attack. Akhenaden was finally able to pry himself out of the pile of rubble and he was slinking away. I ignored this; with my abilities, I could obtain what I wanted and when I wanted. "I'm not ignorant… I saw that unappealing creature that was you, and I happen to fear nothing. So I will ask you once more, woman. Who are you and why did you come here?" I folded my arms over my chest while the woman laughed, finally reaching her destination. I was a bit perplexed; she was a few heads shorter than the abstract statues; about two feet taller than the girl.
"All mortals fear something, whether they wish to admit it or not." she replied, shrugging her shoulders carelessly, thus losing her mellow disposition. "But… If you wish to know THAT badly… I am known as Domiego the Impaired Soul, right hand general to Andariel. I am one of the many assassins deep within the depths of Hell, and this happens to be one of my specialties; certified 'Plane' jobs. I was hired by Duriel, Andariel, and a few other Lesser Evils to dismember the puerile Prime Evil Lords. Those three happen to be- Ah! So you've finally given up, have you?"
Before I could even bat an eye, two hands placed themselves on my shoulder and I was pushed aside timidly by the winged girl, just like earlier today when the Pharaoh made me stagger like a drunken buffoon. I mustn't forget my surroundings so easily… I looked down disdainfully at the girl. Her features contorted in barely containable madness; her eyes narrowed dangerously while a soft, animalistic noise came at the back of her throat, her fists clenched and unclenched and she spat on the ground, returning her enraged expression to Domiego. Temper, temper… Still visibly upset, she bared all her teeth when she snarled and then spoke something heartlessly in her language, and I wished I could understand her tongue. A moment later, Domiego chuckled, tossing her head back while her shoulders quivered violently in her hysteria.
"Oh, you think so, do you? This is not a dream, you see. This is in fact 'Reality'... This... 'Cartoon' and that silver haired man... They are as real as you and me. Yes, yes, yes!" Domiego snickered and clasped her hands together in excitement, causing the girl to glance at her in a skeptical manner; the two boys shook their heads and snarled something at the demon, again she laughed and the girl's disbelieving look only worsened. Then, Domiego began to speak again. "Those 'Souvenirs' you two and your sister claim are fake… They're real, too. Go ahead; prick two of those pretty feathers off those wings of hers with your talons if you don't believe me."
Her eyes doubled in size and her brothers regained their composure long enough to go up to the girl and, with gentle handling of her wings as though they were glass, cautiously tore two feathers off; her features flinched noticeably, and Domiego chortled darkly seeing this; the demon had been telling the truth, and I saw that the girl didn't take this new dosage of Reality well; she closed her eyes and clenched her fists tight, her brothers patted her shoulders reassuringly. The elder sibling growled softly, glaring down at the pure white feather he held in the palm of his hand with the utmost disgust, letting it flutter down to the floor; the black feather the young one had been grasping between his tiny fingers soon followed. They were quick to gaze at Domiego who smiled as though a festival had come early.
"The injuries you and your brothers received from me... They're real, too, so very real. Such a shame they're not fatal... No matter. I had to make a few adjustments: for instance, transporting you three here to this Realm while you where idly musing yourself with those stupid cards, so my Mana was finally permitted to work. The Prime Evils were quite desperate to lock themselves away there... One of the most drastic measures... Almost nothing without sufficient supernatural Magick could get you there. The only possible solution was to transport you three elsewhere."
I creased my brows in utter confusion. Transport…? Where did these three come from…? The girl, her displeasure having plummeted dramatically, gazed on at Domiego with a look as if she had been struck across the face without reason. Her pale lips parted and she was about to speak again, but I interrupted. "What is she saying?" I snarled my question at her, my eyes narrowing in anger while I took a few steps towards the demon, getting the girl and her siblings to shift their bewildered stares to me for a moment. Domiego stared at me as well, her wide, oval eyes wider than normal.
"How quickly I had forgotten… You're an 'ancient' Egyptian… You couldn't possibly understand their language. Ah...! This should bode well for you. It's always so fun to mix more mortals to the utmost chaotic situation…"
My eyes took upon the sudden appearance of a ragged scroll that she'd taken out of the leather belt around her waist and hoisting up her pants, but I was quick to look at her face again while she muttered a few short words which, as a result, made the scroll radiate with a faint light only to fade back to the dull shade it was from before.
"What good has that useless shred of paper done? It did nothing!" I roared, feeling overly plagued that she would deceive me like she had, but I stopped.
"God… don't you ever shut up?" I stared down at the girl; she gazed back directly into my eyes out the corner of her eyes, a few strands of thin hair veiling her concerned seas of color… Humph… So it did work…
"Be a good little boy and do what she says for a moment, would you?" Domiego smirked and she looked at me and then laughed in a sarcastic manner, then looked to the girl and her body shivered for a split moment, but I highly doubt that she took notice of this.
"Why do you have to murder me…? And… my brothers… We are… We are not the Prime Evils…" She murmured, more to herself than to any of us, her voice cracking in places when she hiccoughed again, slowly retreating backwards; two lone feathers that her siblings hadn't plucked from her wings floated to the ground and landed at the heels of her feet. Seeing the girl was backing away steadily, the demon took six great strides nearer to the girl, causing her to freeze visibly. Domiego's face, once etched with overconfidence, softened to being fully unemotional.
"You are the vassal for the Lord of Terror; the mortal whose soul is melded with Diablo's, this in turn means you are indeed Diablo, as are your siblings for Mephisto and Baal. You three only house them simply because they chose you. You all are merged with each other; you are one. You and your siblings and they are just as your accessories were the moment I transported you three here. I'm sure you knew that you felt like an outcast as a child; that you were different from all the other children. You knew you could see and hear things no one else could. For instance... Receiving horrific nightmares from someone else's eyes, sensing someone of the Spirit Realm was near you, and most of all... Aw, to hell with this! I was never one for explaining! You are Diablo and your siblings are his siblings, which means you all have to be dealt with!"
Domiego exclaimed, her voice laced in psychotic mirth, the deathly seriousness quickly charred off of her face, smiling like a blubbering fool, her arms spread outward widely. "I think it would save me a great deal of time if I killed you three on the spot… Right now!" Once she had boasted her words proud-blooded, I blinked once and she had vanished. The girl's eyes slowly doubled in terror and a smothered gasp came from her mouth clasped with her hands, her frightened, almost childish, gaze darted about the shrine insanely, and finally began to back away from me; her brothers quickly appeared by her side, the eldest one whipping out a small knife, its hilt gleaming a blood red hue as his eyes scoured the room; the young brother growled in frustration and stood in front of the girl in a protective stance, his own orbs angrily scoping out the room for any sudden movements.
Due to their sister's painfully obvious fear, the two brothers failed to take notice of the shadow that suddenly appeared over the girl's head. "Stupid fools! Above her!" I snarled… a little too late. The demon, once she appeared out of thin air right behind the girl with a dark bemused expression, unsheathed a dagger out from the leather clasp; the blade was the color of an abyss, etched with crimson runes, and ended at the hilt, where it appeared to resemble a monster's mouth, with the blade serving as its tongue. Without a moment's hesitation, Domiego plunged the dagger's blade deep into the girl's shoulder, not stopping until the dagger embedded its blade fully into her body, making a disturbingly abrupt flesh-and-bone-crunching noise.
She remained rooted to the spot and her eyes shone with an unreadable emotion as they enlarged slowly, her hands dangled lifelessly haphazard to her hips once she had removed them from her mouth, and her mouth gaped open in an eerie, silent scream; her brows arched in horror and it took her just a few moments to realize what happened, and when it dawned in her dazed mind that she was injured, she sucked in a labored breath of air and screamed an ear-splitting shriek; her lifeblood oozed from the newly acquired wound in her shoulder, and she screamed even louder when Domiego carefully withdrew the dagger from within the girl's body.
She groaned heavily and she slumped to the floor, bracing her frail self when she firmly slammed her free hand on the stone floor and remained hunched on her knees while her other hand clasped her injury, and she breathed in shallow gasps of air, her eyes shut tight as her lips moved hastily in mumbled words of self-comfort. "YOU BITCH!" The young boy shouted and hastily turned around, only to receive a quick blow to the stomach that sends him flying airborne and crashed into the wall nearest to the piles of rubble, landing on the floor in an unconscious pile of limbs.
The girl's conscious brother whipped his gaze, and his muscular, obese, body fully around and received a painful blow to his stomach, he gasped in pain and shock while sputtering out specks of blood from his lips, the knife clattered to the floor and he pressed his hands into his now swollen gut; Domiego chortled darkly seeing this and delivered another blow to the boy's body, striking him directly between the eyes and sent him flying back just like the other boy, his body making a loud snapping noise when his back hit the ruined remains of the tablets. A barely audible noise came from him as his body went limp and lost conscious.
Now I felt a bit surprised at myself; I had just witnessed the girl and her siblings receive wounds at the hands of this demon, and I was actually feeling sympathetic for the odd things. I went far out of my usual doings to assist them, and for what reason…? Because… I want to… I think… Whatever…
"DIABOUND!" I whirled around and yelled. Domiego sniggered and placed the stained edge of the blade on the soft flesh of her lower lip, pressing it tenderly into her skin.
"You've already tried that once before, human. Or don't you reme- WHAT?" she screeched, watching Diabound's hands ruptured from underneath the girl and enshrouded her, and ushered her back down deep within the sanctuary of stone. Domiego's Nile-colored eyes gnawed away at the floor and swiftly darkened to a blood red, scowling in cruel disappointment as her now hardened gaze deadlocked on me; her features now had a heinous, scrunched up look to them while her teeth lustred as she snarled; she had fully lost any signs of her previous alluring, statue-like facial appearance, and she was now nearing to surpassing the foulness from her previous self.
"YOU DARE INTERFERE WITH MY DOINGS, MORTAL? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE EVEN ABOUT, AND YET YOU ARE INSISTANT THAT IT IS ENOUGH FOR YOU TO STOP ME FROM KILLING THEM!" the demon bellowed in a high-pitched scream, landing on the floor and tentatively approached me with swift, angered strides.
"I'm no ordinary human, demon; I'm a thief. I interfere whenever I see fit." I smirked, bathing in self-satisfaction that I had caused her to become this enraged. I leapt down from the staircase and vanished just as Diabound had, gliding down into the floor and running to where my Ka had set the girl down; near the walkway where I had first spotted her. I emerged from beneath the stone floor next to her, gazing upon her features. Her skin was paler than before and now she was rocking back and forth, her eyes clamped shut tight and she bowed her head low, her fragile body shivered violently as though she had just been dunked head-first into the Nile on a frigid night; her mouth formed silent words while she nodded and shook her head like one possessed over and over, still rocking to and fro on her feet.
I crouched down, to ease her off the floor, but the moment my fingers brushed against the soft flesh that was her waist, I felt someone else's fingers encase around my neck in an unyielding grip. My eyes enlarged slowly... Damn, she's fast... Domiego swerved me around so that I faced her, and brought her head up to mine. From the back of her throat came soft snarling, animalistic noises while her teeth were bared, her lips curling back into a mildly disapproving sneer; just as her former self, the rows were lined with vicious canines and deadly sharp.
She then screamed… but one couldn't classify the noise she made as a mere scream… the high-pitched sound was far too abrupt and loud, so it could have been a screech, but it wasn't that either. The noise was indefinable. Domiego's entire full-rounded skull grew distorted as her chin lowered as low as my arms, from the tips of my fingers to the end of my elbow. I swallowed hard once the crimson tongue darted out like it had before, but I was cut off from doing anything other than that. Before I could even understand what happened to me, my entire self was airborne, and my back collided with the ceiling. I breathed in sharply, the back of my head pounding with the force of a thousand rounds of receiving whiplash after whiplash when it snapped against the stone ceiling with an abrupt crack, and my vision became hazy.
A moment later and my body hit the ground, experiencing the aftermath of her attack when I landed on my stomach, grunting from that too. My vision still obscured, I gazed at the girl and let out a disorientated, feral snarl, but my eyes widened while I wiped the blood trickling down the corners of my lips and could only watch when Domiego smashed her iron, black heeled foot into the girl's injured stomach, her weightless body skidding back no more than fifty feet as she cried out and shielded her bleeding midriff; her nails grazed her torn skin while she whimpered in pain, more blood oozed from the self-inflicted wounds and her wings protruded outward in odd directions when she landed on her front like I had.
Again, she groaned in pain and placed her hands, soaked from the tips of her fingers to her wrists in her blood, over her forehead, the amount of blood doubled due to a newly acquired injury, pulling back her hands to stare at the red streaked palms with dull, disoriented eyes. I growled and tried to force myself up, but failed and choked, my breath dying in my throat. "I was thinking of using Mana to deal with you, little wench… it would be proper and less painful for the likes of you, but your friend and dear brothers over there fucked you over royally, didn't they? Your life will be extinguished in the ways of old; I'm going to tear out your heart through your ribcage." Domiego stated harshly, her voice deep and laced with malice.
'Devil', having been occupied with her hands dripping crimson, stared back at the female demon, and once she did this she pushed herself up, easing her face and then the rest of her body off the floor, and began to step away from Domiego, her eyes taking on a glossy sheen to them once unshed tears brimmed to the surface; her brows arched high, and sensing that her demise was inevitable, she collapsed to the stone floor, where she started to cry and rant. "I'm not Diablo, I'm not Diablo, I'm not Diablo, I'm not Diablo, I'M NOT DIABLO, I'M NOT DIABLO, I'M NOT DIABLO, I'M NOT DIABLO! AHHHHHH!" She screeched, gazing up at the ceiling while her unshed tears trickled down her cheeks in a never-ending flow, sitting in that fatal position she resembled a human seeking repentance from the Gods, and she started to pound away at her head, tugging at her hair and slapping herself whenever she grasped the opportunity.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, OH FUCK! WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE-"
Domiego had dissipated and appeared in front of her a second time, grasping her by the throat with her fingers and hoisting the girl in mid-air; the actions Domiego was committing upon the girl was more extreme than when she had done so to me, and the female demon was gripping her neck harder than when her hand held my own throat. She is going to suffocate her… Domiego chuckled harshly as 'Devil' began to thrash insanely about while her hands clawed at the demon's wrists, her eyes nearly popping from their sockets and her face eventually turned a dark shade of red, but when this occurred, she propelled her feet up and kicked her stomach as hard and as many times as her body would allow, exposing tight white socks; however, she wasn't succeeding in the attempt of freeing herself, or loosening Domiego's unyielding grip on her throat.
She laughed again once the girl's own demonic talons dug into and slashed away at Domiego's wrists even more furiously now, shedding light trickles of black blood and shed more the deeper and harder she clamped onto her wrists, her wings flapped madly in the air and a few lone feathers of white and black fluttered to the stone floor whilst they continued to beat in an erratic melody. 'Devil's' vendetta-like struggle with the demon ensued for about three minutes, yet I could do nothing while my head bathed in a sea of confusion for every movement I made; a moment later and her face was tinged a dark blue from lack of oxygen; her eyes rolled up in her head, and her pincer grip on Domiego's wrists weakened a bit, her legs swaying like ropes in a gentle breeze.
She wouldn't be alive within the next few moments, and I had actually wanted to speak with her for a bit; maybe someone with wings and talons had something intelligent to say. I propped myself on my elbows and brought my knees underneath me, slowly rising inch by inch off the floor, my head easing down from the abnormal state.
"I never realized how amusing it would be to murder you, though I was expecting you to have a few tricks up your sleeve. It would have been more fun to kill you while your brothers watched, helpless and powerless to save you, but not to worry; they won't have mourn over your death for long after I'm done with you. It's almost arousing that I'll be doing the same to them as I am to you now. Won't that be nice? Your heads will adorn my neck as a reminder!"
After she stated this, something horribly wrong happened to the girl. Her neck made an abrupt, painful cracking noise when it snapped backwards. I figured something absurd had occurred due to the look that Domiego had plastered on her face, stricken with horror and shock, and because of what was happening to the girl's wings and hands.
I didn't realize wings could have seizures, but they did so before my eyes and I watched in mute observation while they disquieted and constrained numerous times over, automatically cracking and crunching just like her neck, like the way bones would sound once you struck them with a heavy blow while the person was being tortured. Once that was over they ceased in an imbalanced position, and began to exuviate, but while this sight was disturbing it was her hands that took me by surprise; her fingers made sickening, jerking noises as the girl's talons extended a few more inches, glistening with the color like the blackest of night.
Still they recurred with cracking and snapping, and appeared more inhuman now than they ever did, persisting with that uncanny melody while her wings continued to decay; it was a rather unappealing disintegration state too; her wings gave off a putrid odor as they changed to an ugly dark red-brown, and they fell into a crumpled heap of ruined feathers on the ground after they crumbled off, as though they aged a millennium of years in less than ten seconds. Now there was nothing but the alabaster white bones, once obstructed from view, sticking out in imperfect directions.
Domiego handled the girl roughly, shaking her eerily still self relentlessly, and this was obviously something she shouldn't have done.
In the amount of time I closed my eyes to clear my sight and then reopened them, a gargantuan, spiked lilac stone protruded from the girl's pendent, her scantly clad self was now more revealing than earlier, and it fully penetrated Domiego's chest, the end of the stone glistened with the demon's blackened life fluids.
'Devil's' laughter spilled swiftly past her lips once the demon's blood began to gush out from within her torn bosom, the whole hearted melody that came from her mouth was laced in psychotic mirth, but it wasn't her voice; this new voice was deep, distempered, and fractured like someone's neck had been broken many a time. It was disturbing, and even a bit terrifying, to listen to. I groaned and finally was able to ease myself on my knees, watching Domiego while she tried to drink off the room for air like a hapless slave dying in the middle of the desert.
Her hands left the girl's neck almost immediately, leaving her there suspended in mid-air; the lilac stone was the only thing assisting her from hitting the ground like a minister God, and Domiego's hands agonized over her wounded chest, feeling the spot where she had been impaled thoroughly by the lilac stone. The demon general's lips shone with a light, black-red hue when a trickle of a foul-smelling liquid spewed forth past her lips and she gagged, then choked and regurgitated a few droplets of the stinking liquid on the floor, her legs giving away and cracking under the weight the stone applied to her body. She staggered backwards, still gripping her chest and still gasping for oxygen, and looked up when the girl's feet tapped with agonizing slowness on the floor once they made contact.
"My, my little Domiego... You'd be wise to mind what you say to me, child..."
I sputtered mindlessly in pure bewilderment once the girl snapped her head back forward to its former position, and her eyes were no longer dazzling with the colors my sight had beheld from before, nor were they human. They glistened with an amber color, but were tinted with the same color around the rims of her eyes as the stone still overhanging from her pendent, and semi-circles of crimson were barely visible within her pupils; just like Domiego's eyes were now while she continued to stagger back, but in terror, and the girl's orbs bathed in derangement unlike I had seen whilst they glistened with a needle pint of fiery black dead in the center of the blood-red seas.
Something about the way her eyes looked now was unsettling, even monstrous, and I finally took notice that several undersized circles of crimson slowly began to decrease in size, but radiated a deeper, blinding, light of red and soon her pupils doubled in size thanks to the appearance of crimson rings by three-fold around the rims of her eyes and her pupils, making them twice the size they had once been just now; as a result of this, a few more rings of hellish fire burned near the corners of her eyes and merged with the rings surrounding the rims of her eyes to compensate for the loss of the few rings that had dissipated.
Domiego's own demonic eyes increased in size when she spewed up a lungful of the foul liquid and black blood, and she collapsed to the floor, already beginning to suffocate in her own bodily fluids.
"Domiego... My dear child... It is a great disappointment to see one who was once so eager to mutilate my limbs from my body to now see that your feeble mind was poisoned by forces and insubordinate comrades you deemed reliable... Perhaps once I dispose of you, my child, I'll have to assemble some other means so as to ensure that the next time Andariel or Duriel hire another blood shedder to schedule our executions, they had best think twice about whom they believe is most suited for the assignment."
With another interval in time, the lilac stone was drawn back from Domiego's chest, but not entirely veiled in the girl's pendent. "Baal inquired me earlier as to why one like you would hunt us down like savage underlings, and now I understand completely. Mephisto agreed with me; it was all too impudent of your Mistress and the others to believe that we would simply permit you all to become so powerful that you would end up double-crossing us. Your Mistress was never one to give us full credit for smarts, my child…"
"But, but..." Domiego sputtered, "You are the weakest of the three; your abilities are the most dormant after taking possession of a host. You were supposed to be my practice round…" She gasped as she clumsily stumbled backwards, black blood seeping through her fingers as she got to her feet slowly; shaking all the while she did, and trying to hide the evidence of the wound being in her body with both her hands, as if it were a burden too heavy to bear; a sign of weakness.
"Weak? Were you so foolish as to think I would be defenseless while sharing a MORTAL's body? Especially one like THIS! My dear, dear sweet Domiego, how immoral you have grown over such a short interval; I would hope you knew better, but it seems I have been mistaken." She chuckled hearing, and remembering, the demon general speaking her words. "Perhaps the mortal whose body I inhabit can be classified as such, but I owe my 'Daughter' my deepest gratitude; had it not been for the Terror she is unaware of, the Fear she hides from herself in the darkest recess of her soul, I would never have awoken from my slumber. But now that I think of it, she is nothing but weak; I, on the other hand, am anything but weak, my child. Did you honestly believe I would simply allow you to bring fatal harm upon the girl's body? No… You see… Her soul entering into the Eternal Slumber shall not come to pass. Though she is indeed such a fragile mortal, I will ensure that nothing of the sort befalls her…"
Her lips pulled back into a bemused sneer, her eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion while they scoured the wound in Domiego's chest, her tongue darting out and subconsciously grazing her upper lip at the sight of the black blood, and she laughed. "My sweet, naïve little Domiego… I am pleased to tell you that you have my deepest empathy… However, I am not pleased to say that you are just as slow-witted as that cursed Archangel, Tyriel! Now, without further need of this mindless chatter, I'll show you just how 'spirited' I've become over this short time." Again she sneered, but revealed precariously abrupt canines in doing so this time and stepped forward; her grin widened and she drew back first her right hand and then doing the same with her left hand, preparing them to strike without the slightest hint of mercy, and that's what she did.
Domiego was much too weak from the girl's previous attack to cease her doings, and I watched as her left fist, clenched and supplied with deadly force, landed directly between her eyes, a sharp crack coming from her skull being severed, but the girl was far from being done; her attack was simply nothing short of a distraction. She dissipated and appeared behind the demon as she staggered back and clutched her newly acquired injury between her blood drenched hands, snatching a hold of Domiego's wrists and wrenching them behind her back and cackled hearing the blood-curdling popping sound that came from both her shoulders.
The girl snickered and, still grasping the female demon's wrists in her tiny clutches, brought her right leg underneath her ankle wrapping it around her calf and snapping her own body backwards, bringing Domiego with her but she turned suddenly before she hit the ground, twisting her body again and implanting both her fists into her adversary's broken shoulder blades as she did so, and she remained in a love-making position as her face hovered above the demon's sex, grinning insanely. "Are you enjoying my little 'Game', Domiego…? I am, and I'm certain you'll prove to be quite the entertainment while I play with you, my child, but enough of this… Let's continue, shall we…?" she muttered, her voice purring darkly, but only loud enough for me and the demon to hear, and she remained true to her words; Domiego's mouth opened in order to protest, but the girl forced her hand out from within her body and jammed her right palm into the demon's stomach, smiling in sick amusement hearing the high-pitched scream of agony that came from her as a result.
Her nails penetrated her stomach, digging them deep enough to bleed but not enough to anything beyond that just yet. The girl laughed again and chunks of flesh- giving off a similar odor when Domiego's mouth overflowed with the stinking liquid- were being scraped away from her stomach as if it were nothing but thin, silken clothing, and her canines gleamed in the blanket of darkness that veiled the left portion of her face as she sneered fiendishly, licking her teeth hungrily while she continued with her assault.
Grappling Domiego by the scruff of her top, she hoisted her and herself up from the floor in two seconds, her free hand automatically clenching and unclenching in anticipation, but she grunted and tossed her into the air, turning fully around and leaping into the air. The girl turned around in mid-air while Domiego's limp body plummeted towards the ground, and she grinned insanely, cocking her thin leg back for a moment and then brought her oddly adorned foot sailing into the demon's ribcage; a sickening cracking noise resonated off the walls and my ears rang with the sudden, incisive noise, and the girl smirked in satisfaction seeing blood trickling down the corners of the demon's lips.
Five seconds later, both her and Domiego were sailing towards the temple's floor; however, upon touching the ground, the girl twisted her body at an obscene angle and lifted her other foot, smashing it into the demon's nose. Another crack came off upon direct contact, only this one was more painful. Domiego crash-landed into the wall, sliding down from the body-sized indent and landing on her back near me, but I looked up from her broken form on the stone floor hearing the girl had begun to laugh again, and dissipated and appeared nearer to me than Domiego was. "Domiego, my child, tell me… was it good for you…? I daresay it wasn't, was it? The girl has far too much Terror within herself, but consider it as an added bonus for me, my sweet…"
Domiego gazed up at the girl and a moan of humane horror slipped past her lips while her body lay crumpled in a pile of bleeding and broken limbs on the floor, currently being painted in the sea of black oozing from the demon's wounds and bruises. "But… you… you are restricted to using only your physical attacks, you can't use your Mana… But I sensed your Magic… your Magic was instantly activated the moment you struck me… How is that possible…! Andariel told me…" Domiego tried to force her body to sit up, that or try to crawl away from the girl, but once she failed in doing this she immediately submitted, possibly from knowing she'd be severely dealt with in a few minutes.
The girl's lips creased in a dark frown. "…Perhaps, my child, but there's one thing your beloved Mistress has forgotten to waylay to you… She is blind to the fact that I am no longer restricted to using only my 'Melee'… No longer am I Melee orientated; I have all my abilities at my every whim thanks to this mortal's Fear awakening them, and as she would say 'Hell hath no fury like a woman's rage'. In order to ensure that we reign as the supreme Rulers of Hell, I will personally see to it that my brothers and I eradicate every one of you…"
Domiego, still lying on her backside with her blood soaked hands clasped against the most fatal injury on her body, did nothing but stare mutely at the girl, and for her doing this, her hips swayed side to side like ripples on the Nile as she sashayed up to her, her tiny feet causing minuscule ripples to appear beneath the wounded demon and they quivered insanely.
"Hmm... You are no doubt aware as I, my child, that not only must I dismember your pathetic self to help them better understand my feelings, but also to reward you for the childish actions you committed upon the girl from earlier... might you be able to shed light on my predicament, young sir?" She inclined her eyes, which were glazed heavily in what I could only identify as blood lust, to me and her sneer slowly grew, the sharp canines once again jutting out slightly against her lower lip as they were vaguely clear to my sight. I could only stare at her for the entire while it took me to stagger fully to my feet, my legs shivering due to that I was still in the attempts to see properly. ...My head… I may have been struck harder than I first thought…
She nodded to herself silently, chuckling in corrupt amusement and redirected her attention back down at Domiego's broken self on the floor, her wide eyes shone with glee. "I thank you for your words of wisdom, mortal."
My brows creased downward in confusion, my head turning in the direction of her movements, her lips curling into an eerily serene smile. But… I said nothing… Did she…? No, it can't be possible…! She said nothing while she stalked over to Domiego, smirking down at her and her eyes glistened with a sinful light as she continued to strut nearer to the demon, ceasing dead in her tracks and kneeled on her hunches, cradling Domiego's head lovingly.
"I am most certain that my head wouldn't appear so recommendable adorning your neck... though your head would bode well for adorning my neck, don't you agree, my child?"
Domiego murmured her last words of weak protest when the girl positioned her right hand directly above her head again, her claws dangling near the demon's face and grinned demoniacally as her hand lacerated the frail skin, penetrating her adversary's throat mercilessly, her nails entered first and soon her fingers came after, sinking into the juggler vein.
Her talons sank deeper into Domiego's soft flesh and soon the room was filled with nothing but disturbing, slopping noises that were made while her hand had only just began to mutilate her head from the rest of the body, and her legs started to twitch madly, like her hands, but that was soon over once the girl finally decapitated her completely as the throat's ligaments ruptured and snapped apart, as did the spinal cord; Domiego's hair was drenched from the superfluous amount of blood gushing from her severed head, droplets of the black life fluid rained down on the stone floor as a result of the girl's actions committed upon the deceased general.
The Nile-colored eyes were blank and dilative while the girl smiled happily, playfully tossing Domiego's head from hand to hand, the smile etched in her face slowly grew, exposing the feral canines as she did so. "Hmmm… Perhaps gouging the eyes out shall do well for the ample lust for bloodshed until I deem it necessary to spill more blood… Yes, it shall bode well for now… Indeed…" I was near regurgitating seeing the actions she was now doing to the head, but even though the sight of two of her devil-like nails had sunken behind the eyes and gouged them out with a flick of her fingers was a ghastly sight to beheld, I continued to watch while the eyes – having appeared to be soft – rolled about in the palm of her outstretched hand as she gazed down at them, and a low noise of disapproval came from her once she closed her hand over the eyes; dark blood and fleshy threads oozed down the girl's wrist as a result of this.
Still unappreciative of the blood trickling steadily across her pale skin, thus losing the pure sheen it once had, she grunted in displeasure and discarded the now eyeless head on the floor. "Hmm… No, it's not enough; there needs to be more vindictive damage. I must do worse to your lifeless body, my child… Hmm…" She criss-crossed her arms over her bosom, the blood and fleshy strands from Domiego's eyes stained her clothes and trickled further down the girl's wrists, but she ignored this and pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.
"The thoracic cavity... and the alimentary canal..." The girl whispered in delight, her eyes bearing the same light of emotion as she sneered and then walked back towards Domiego's severed body, standing where her head had once been. Just as she had done when the girl had decapitated the demon general, she rested fully on her hunches and just as the previous time when she had slammed Domiego's body to the ground, her face hovered just above the demon's sex that was never again to experience the pleasure from making love, if it had at one point.
However, she paid little, to nearly any, heed to the way her face was positioned over the headless carcass, and smirked to herself as though she had found the hidden meaning behind a trick someone had attempted to pull upon her, poising her blood ridden hand above her head. Without the hint that she would hesitate in the slightest, she brought her hand down severely, just like she had done with Domiego's head as her fingers twitched in self-assurance, tearing through the demon's clothing, skin, flesh and bone of her chest.
No sooner was she positive it was shattered enough, she put both of her hands to work, snapping the demon's chest and gutting the stomach apart wider with the simplest of ease. Seeing the internal organs displayed to her blood lustful eyes, she grinned in contentment and flipped the female demon on her front side, committing the same act upon the back of her as she had done to Domiego's chest and stomach. I looked down and saw a giant pool of black blood and crimson pus started to gather beneath the corpse, but my attention immediately shifted back to the girl as she began to tear apart her deceased adversary's back and lower back side, ripping out the spinal cord and what soon followed after that was a slender organ, about nine meters in length, dripping in gelatin mucus and glistening with bloody muscles after forcing it out of Domiego's body from her buttocks.
"Do you see now, Domiego?" she stated matter-of-factly, pausing to set the organ and what remained of the spinal cord aside by her feet before she continued with her doings; flipping the demon's body back to its original position, tearing out the lungs, followed by the liver and kidneys, and soon the black heart laid still in the palms of her blood soaked hands, the rest of the organs surrounding her. "It seems that Fate has screwed you over, my child. Quite the obverse as to what you assured the girl of that you would do to her. We're tearing out your heart through your ribcage… not you doing so to us."
I could not stand witnessing these mindless tortures continue no longer.
"ENOUGH! Enough of your games, demon! Allow the girl to return at once!" I bellowed, prowling over to her and the mutilated corpse, now headless and deprived of virtually all its organs. She idly glanced up at me, and smiled with false innocence upon seeing the discomfited look my face bore as I glared down at her, her hands encased the still heart in her palms for a few moments before she relinquished her hold on it, her ringed, amber-crimson-black eyes stared intensely at me.
"You are... Tozokuoh... are you not, mortal?" she inquired in the demon's voice, her eyes still remained fixated on me while she got to her feet, not sparing the body another glance for I was the object of her now undivided attention, completely forgetting Domiego's body.
"I am demon. Now remove yourself from her body immediately. I'm taking her now…" I snapped and bared my teeth while I snagged a hold of her right bloodied wrist, a mental sensation of doubt crept up on me as I wondered if the blood was poisonous or otherwise. It wasn't.
Confused, and startled, by her words, I frowned. "I'm not fond that you try to deceive me with your lies, demon. How can she possibly know who I am…? She and I have never met before…" My frown worsened as my eyes leered into the demon's own eyes probing for answers, shining with a light I had never seen before, but I found no response for she did the same to me as I was doing to her, her lips curling into an All-Knowing devilish smile, chuckling softly as she did so.
I firmly held my steadfast gaze, but silently wondering what the demon meant when she said that 'Devil' took pleasure in 'watching me'. I inhaled deeply, baring my teeth in disgust while my nostrils burned due to the reek of the deceased demon's blood smothering my sense of smell.
"Her name… tell me what it is." I demanded, my eyes leaving hers for a moment just in time to witness the bloody entrails of flesh and muscle flow down her wrists and arms like water, but when I redirected my eyes back to her face I noticed that the eerie All-Knowing grin hadn't vanished from her features. While she smiled at me like a demented child, the alabastrine flesh-and-skin deprived wings spiral downward and nearly creased into her soft white flesh, then sprung forward; sickening popping noises originated from her demonic wings as a result.
No sooner had the demon's final words left her mouth, the girl's wings and hands instantly began to experience violent seizures just as they had when the demon was possessing her body, but this time the seizures seemed to be more violent and painful than the last time they plagued the girl's body, and the lilac stone that still jutted out from within her pendent retreated back into the golden sanctuary at an agonizingly slow pace, the small trinket obscured it from view like darkness; now it was as if the stone had never protruded from her pendent, for now the lilac stone gleamed but still retained that ominous sheen to it; her eyes slowly lost the hellish colors, making place for the former, more human hues as if twin droplets of water had touched her eyes.
Her talons clamped onto my forearms weakly as she buried her face in my chest, the pained, tormented moans that slipped past her lips only intensified along with the pain as it heightened with ten-fold the agony, and with her moans of sheer, discordant suffering came the sounds of her wings snapping and cracking back in place, just like her hands were; apparently, both the girl's wings and hands had been shattered.
I glimpsed a first-hand scene of the girl's morose terror and continued to watch her as the talons shrunk down to their original size, the bones in her wrists groaning heavily and eventually the wings returned to their former glory as the joints constricting the muscles in her wrists and back soon popped back into place on their own accord; the girl, now surely weakened by this experience and her fatigued spirit, gave a startled shriek in shock when the wings suddenly lurched forward, tugging her light body along with them for a moment, but she struggled to stay her balance.
I watched with keen interest seeing her back rise and fall in perfect melody with the harsh gasping noises that came from her mouth, sounding as though she were a child forcing back the sobs that wanted to wreck her body, but soon her body stiffened for a short moment and then, groaning still, she slowly relinquished her anemic hold on my shoulders while her frail self began to drop to the floor. I stopped her from striking the floor however, wrapping my arms around her back, just inches shy away from where the girl's wings were, in a weak embrace.
"Now that we've finally managed to have some time to ourselves and you have regained your senses, what are you woman and what is your name.?" I inquired, grappling her weightless figure and carrying her bridal-style, stealing a quick glance downward and I took immediate notice that the wounds on her stomach, arms, thighs and shoulders were caked with dry blood yet her life fluids still trickled freely down her clothes, hitting the stone floor with soft tap-tapping noises; she was too preoccupied with trying to retain her hold on my shoulders to take notice that I glimpsed down at her body.
"Y-You're going to drop me… Release me… please?" she implored softly, adding her last word as an afterthought, her eerily still form now started to writhe a bit when she latched onto me harder, her talons piercing my cloak as her wings shivered and constrained lightly against my chest.
"Keep still and be quiet, girl. I won't drop you, and to answer your previous inquiry, I won't release you. Now can you cease with disobeying me long enough to answer me…? Or can your mind not process such a simple request…?" I retorted harshly, mentally summoning Diabound, and we both were veiled in my Ka's shield of invisibility; without stressing over whether we would be discovered, I walked near the exit with my small prize in hands the moment guards and priests entered the room, the rubble from Domiego's attack had nearly crushed the entrance.
"Come quickly, you all must see! The three of them were… The girl is gone, but her brothers remain! And the demon is right… Oh, by the Gods! Her body is mutilated from her brow to the end of her sex!" Akhenaden breathed deep, his eyes widening in horror and I chuckled to myself, the girl- now my prize- gave a soft noise of discomfort, her body tensing lightly.
"Why… do you wish to know what my name is?" She asked timidly, her eyes swerving from side to side amidst the mob of adrenalin induced guards after I stepped from inside the wall, and her body tensed even harder.
"Why would I ask you what your name is if I didn't want to know?" I replied sardonically, picking up my pace at double the speed, almost running, so I would find the royal stalls quicker. She didn't respond, not at first, and it was clear that she was losing conscious at a quickened pace; her eyelids drooped with heaviness and her hands stiffened just as her body had done a while earlier, but her glazed eyes leered into mine and I could see that she was trying to stay awake for a few more moments.
"My… my name… my name is…" Her speech impediment was slurred, as though she had downed a pint of malted wine, and the grip her now ice-cold hands had on my shoulders weakened a little just when I located the stalls. I eventually found a horse that didn't rear or whine in fear of my hidden self.
After unlocking the gate silently, the girl finally spoke her final word, low and murmured before she fell fast asleep.
"Sha…ron…"
I surveyed her face, but only for a moment, and saw that it beheld no emotion, only melancholic innocence and blissful peace. After this, I shifted my body around her pants quite easily, and hoisted her unconscious light-weight body securely on the horse's saddle, seating myself behind her so the girl would be able to slide down from them. With her head cradling my chest and her shoulders pressed against my arms, and with her hands folded neatly on her stomach, I arched forward and placed the bridle on, kicking my hunches on the horse, causing the animal to gallop insanely, and soon the horse was shrouded by Diabound's cloak while I rode off with the girl wounded, but in tact, and withdrew from the castle walls.
FINISH!
Well… there you have it, peeps. I don't know… Maybe you all do and maybe you all don't. Whatever… Just tell me what you all think of this… Sorry for it being so damn long… But… Should I continue or just leave it there with your crazed imaginations? I'm not one hundred per cent sure… But if it's a flame that you leave in the review section, then you should be prepared to suck my giant, non-existent manhood.
So much love not even I can top it on my own. Shar-chan.
