I'm sure I'm going to get a lot questioning why I skipped the chapter 'Open Book', the reason is because I found nothing to add into the chapter since it is mostly an hour in time that Luce is uncovering things, and I only found it fitting to skip over to the battle. I don't believe Daniel would have done anything in the little amount of time, but I did make sure I did add something. :) I hope you all enjoy.

Love Never Dies,

Bella

Chapter 16

x

The Buried War

Daniel stands beneath the peach tree, his head upturn towards the sky that was darkening at a rapid rate. His violet eyes squinting towards the sky, trying to determine what exactly was blocking the light from shining through the trees. It couldn't have been the Announcers, they were far too loud, flying to quickly, and. . .

They were locust.

Then a chilling breeze swept over Daniel and he then realizes that Announcers had also joined into the chaos, lurking in the darkness of the forest. Daniel's head quips around, looking for the source of the chaos, then he saw the flashing from the cemetery. It was bright, like fire, then it disappears. The locusts grew, casting a grand shadow over Sword & Cross, along with the Announcers as they began to stalk in that direction.

They were being summoned.

Daniel frowns, his violet eyes dimming to their dull gray and his knees bent, but then he jumps up, his translucent white wings extending behind him and beating him off the ground. He was certain that Luce was safe now, at least she should be. Daniel hovers over the treeline before diving down and landing gracefully on the top of the mausoleum.

Daniel crosses his arms over his chest and watches the locust fly and the Announcers crawl towards the depths of the cemetery. A battle was bound to be happening tonight, and there was no stopping it. He could already guess that Cam was the root of this war tonight, not a doubt in his mind since the truce had ended. That was all Cam had ever come here for, he supposed - For this sick reasoning that there would be something different and Daniel supposes that he probably also knew there was something different about this life before Daniel even knew himself.

"Daniel?" Gabbe's drawl startles him, nearly making him fall from the mausoleum but her manicured hands steadying his shoulders. "It's Cam, since the truce is over. . . Well. . . " Gabbe gestures towards the soon-to-be warzone. Daniel nods.

"You should go find Arriane, we need reinforcements." Daniel suggests. "I'll stay here and watch everything until you get back." Gabbe nods and flies off, leaving Daniel.

Daniel draws in his wings, his violet glow illuminating against the darkness. A part of him wanted to check on Luce, to assure she'd be entirely safe - But his gut was telling him to stay put, as if she was okay. He had business here anyways.

Then he heard panting and the call of his name. Daniel's head turns, looking upon the gravestones for the disembodied voice until his eyes locked onto bright hazel cat eyes. Luce. The first thing that came to his mind that she was safe and she was here, then - She was bound to be doomed if she didn't leave now.

"Luce!" Daniel watches her weave through the columns and gravestones, racing to get to him. Daniel furrows his brows and his arms drop, watching her as she reaches the mausoleum. "What are you doing here?" Daniel asks, his voice broken with the loathing feeling that she'd leave him any minute, and her being here didn't exactly help her chances of survival. He watches her warm eyes rise with tears, the sheen layer of wetness glistening under the flickering of fire from the back of cemetery. Daniel felt his heart break as he watches emotions fume from her, making him want to pull her into his arms and counsel her.

Then he watches her as she began to hastily climb the wall, as if there was an oasis at the top of the wall and she had been trying to find water for weeks in a middle of a desert. Daniel sighs and jumps down, not caring if she had saw at this point, but seeing she hadn't, he lightly taps her shoulder. She gasps and falls back into Daniel's arm as he caught her, his nose burying into her hair. Daniel sighs with content as she fell into his arms, loving the warmth that spread through him. She slid back down into his arms and turns, her face buries into his shoulder and her hands clings onto him as he were to slip from her at any moment.

"You picked a fine time to come back." Daniel tries to joke with her, a smile slipping over his lips - But his perpetual fear never leaving his eyes. His head tilts back up, glancing toward the buzzing Announcers that hoveres over them too.

"You see it too?" She croaks, Daniel's soft eyes looking back at her - Unable to speak, his lip quivers. There was this deeply lurking feeling of dread that wouldn't subside, never leaving Daniel's gut as if he were to say anything - She'd leave him again. But Luce sighs and shakes her head. "Of course you do."

Daniel quickly notes how broken she sounded, how fragile she had seems to be. Daniel's mouth began to open to sooth her - But she found her voice before Daniel could find his own.

"How can you love me? How can you even stand me?" Luce's voice broke, sobbing out and her tears breaking free, a few slipping free but not before Daniel kisses them away or gracefully wipes them. Daniel's gray-violet eyes stare down at her with the most sadden look, cradling her face into his hands.

"What are you talking about? How can you say that?" Daniel asks, his tone sounding almost as if he were heartbroken by her words. How could she say that about herself? Luce's tears quickly disappear and her eyes stare into his, never blinking, it seemed as though she had also stopped breathing. Then, she swallows and then whispers,

"Because. . . You're an angel."

Her words echoes Daniel's head, his arms falling and his mouth agape. Was this happening? Daniel felt the need to splash water on his face, to pinch himself, to assure it wasn't some sort of nightmare. Was she joking? Was this some metaphorical thing?

"What did you say?" Daniel croaks, his heart pounding fervently in his chest, his blood rushing through his body and causing a light flush along his skin. Her words were this never ending thought, never leaving him mind, never leaving his body, embarking on this journey through him until it hit his soul and his eyes found Luce's again from his daze - Realizing, she was serious, that she truly believed that he was a Daniel. And, she wasn't wrong.

"You're an angel, Daniel, I know it. Don't tell me I'm crazy. I have dreams about you, dreams that are to forget, dreams that made me love you before you ever said one nice thing to me. Dreams where you have wings and you hold me high up in a sky I don't recognize, and yet I know I've been there, just like that, in your arms a thousand times before." Luce's forehead rests against Daniel's, her fingers intertwining with his. He only stares, his eyes never changing and his mouth never moving, only watching her as she spoke. She was right, at least at the points with them flying together.

But, much rather, she had flown with her own wings.

He still remembers the time during after their first kiss when they'd dance among the clouds, hold each other in their arms, let their lips run ardently along their skin; Eager to know each other, yearning for each other more than anything in the world, uncaring for their duties, uncaring for their dedication to The Throne - It was their love over all. Now, finally, she was closer than ever to the truth.

"It explains so much," Luce continues, knocking Daniel from his daydream. "How graceful you are when you move, and the book your ancestor wrote. Why no one came to visit you on Parents' Day. The way your body seems to when you swim. And why, when you kiss me, I feel like I've gone to Heaven." Luce pauses, catching her breath. Daniel almost wanted to kiss her then, to feel that beautiful sensation she was explaining. It was so much more than Heaven, so much farther than Hell - It was away from all of that, they were their own bubble when they kiss. "And why you can live forever. The only thing it doesn't explain is what on earth you're doing with me. Because I'm just. . .me." Luce glances toward the sky, obviously feeling the presence of the Announcer. "And I'm guilty of so much." She whispers and her eyes met back with his. Daniel stares at her, exhaling a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding, his violet eyes beginning to haze over with tears. He wanted badly to tell her then, to tell her why he loved her, why she was worth so much to him. His muscles flexes and his jaw unclenches, a sudden amount of relief coursing through him. She knew, she finally knew. Sure, maybe not everything, maybe not all the bittersweet details in between but this was closer than ever. And he was still confused as completely how she had finally figured out on her own. How she knew more than she had ever - And she was still living and breathing in front of him.

"You don't understand why, either."

"I don't understand what you're still doing here." Daniel murmurs, shock being the most overpowering emotion within him that was shining out - Making him seem sort of agitated when really, he was just a deer in headlights. Luce blinks and then nods, a rejected look on her face and began to walk away. Daniel wouldn't let her leave now, not when this was happening - He felt pretty certain he'd never let her go again.

"No!" Daniel pulls her back, his hands steadying her hips and breathing out, "Don't leave. It's just you've never. . . We've never. . . gotten this far." Daniel pauses, his eyes shining brightly with anticipation, his tongue poking out and liking his dry lips. Daniel then closes his eyes, the soothing sensation of realization that she knew. "Will you say it again?" Daniel's eyes flicker back open and a weak smile slips over his lips, a shy tone to his shaken voice. "Will you. . .Tell me what I am?"

"You're an angel." Luce whispers again, slower this time - As if she was still trying to believe herself. But Daniel tilts his head back and sighs of relief, a soft moan escaping his throat. It was so pleasuring just to hear her say those words, it was happening - After all this time. He heard Luce whisper something else, something with the word 'love' involved but never bothered to question, his eyes locks back with her's and he was just bound to kiss her any moment now.

"But in my dreams, your wings-"

Before Luce could finish, a blow of wind nearly threw Luce from his arms - But Daniel's arms lock around her waist and shield her with his body, holding her tightly against his chest. The wind howls and the sound of sizzling fills the dark forest, causing the two to glance up at the grand mass of darkness that had completely blocked the light now.

"Oh God, I have to do something. I have to stop it-" Luce whimpers a little but Daniel shook his head, cutting her off and strokes her cheek, sighing.

"Luce. Look at me." Daniel stares deeply into her orbs, a consuming feeling of love overwhelming him inside. "You have done nothing wrong. And there's nothing you can do about-" Daniel gestures to the Announcers and the twisting Locust. "-that. Why would you ever think you were guilty?" Daniel himself felt guilty for not helping her with her issues with the Announcers when he first learned she saw them.

"Because, my whole life, I've been seeing these shadows-"

"I should have done something when I realized that, last week at the lake. It's the first lifetime when you've seen them-and it scared me." Daniel admits and shakes his head.

"How can you know it's not my fault?" Luce asks and Daniel sighs, almost envying her innocence. He presses his lip lightly against her hair and murmurs, "That shadows you see are called Announcers. They look bad, but they can't hurt you. All they do is scope out a situation and report back to someone else. Gossips. The demonic version of a clique of high school girls." Daniel shrugs and strokes her hair, looking down at her.

"But what are those?" She asks, gesturing to the swarm of battle-cried minions that were called upon by the Announcers themselves.

"Those are the shadows the Announcers have surrounded. To battle." Daniel's tone sounds bored, staring directly at the swarm of buzzing and agitated souls.

"What. . . um. . . what kind of battle is that?"

"The big one, but they're just showing off right now. We still have time." But how much time exactly, it was like a hijacked time bomb, just jumping between the minutes. Where was Gabbe and Arriane? Then, a cough behind them made Daniel turn his head. Sophia Bliss and the human girl that had become Luce's friend, Pennyweather. Sophia steps forward and raises the blue covered book, in a silver scrawl written was 'The Watchers - D. Grigori' along the bind. Of course, his book would be here.

"Our Lucinda has been doing her research." Sophia said, cocking an eyebrow. Daniel sighs and rubbed his jaw, his pink lips pursing. "You've been reading that old thing?" He looks back at Luce, who now wore a look of astonishment. "Never should have written it." Which was true, but it was just a little embarrassing to know she had read the novel, or what not.

"You wrote that," Luce pauses and a little flush blooms over her pale cheeks. "And sketched in the margins. And pasted in that photograph of us."

"You found the photograph." Daniel grins, remembering vividly the day they had taken it together. His arms drew her closer, pressing her body closer against him. "Of course." He whispers, as if there was some hidden promise in the photograph - Which there was. He could still hear Lucinda's sweet accent asking him to keep the photograph, for a reason she'd never admit but Daniel knew.

"It took me a while to understand, but when I saw how happy we were, something opened inside of me and I knew."

Luce's arms slide around his neck and brought his face down, their lips colliding together. Daniel's arms stay and hands splay on her back, pulling her closer as their lips move in perfect sync, molding together, and finally found themselves wholly. Daniel couldn't tell if he had ever kissed Luce like this before, with such hunger, such joy and so fervently that it was impossible to want to break away. This was the key to their own world, Sophia and Pennyweather fading from his mind, the chaos around them becoming a blank slate, and they were finally in their own world.

Serenity and pure bliss pulses through this kiss, throwing away all the pain and suffrage that Daniel had endured these past few weeks, making the two of them completely forget. This kiss was familiar to Daniel, yet, unfamiliar. This one had a sense of true love, the love he'd never been able to get close too since before the Fall. He could still remembers the first kiss he had shared with Lucinda, how she had taught him - And now, he taught her. He didn't think about the idea that he could lose her soon, or right after this kiss - It was just them in their own world, their own place. There was no worry of the betraying anyone or anything, no fear of losing one another, only their complete love and devotion.

Their kiss broke subtly, their lips brushing against each other, gentle pecks on the corner of their mouths. Daniel wanting to keep going really, to keep feeling this passionate emotion - To never let it die. But Luce's hands came up to his shoulders and put some distance between them, her hazel eyes riddled with sadness and confusion. What had he done now?

"Daniel. . ." Luce gazes upon him, her hands grasping his upper bicep. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were an angel? Why all that talk of being damned?"

Daniel's eyes fell. Because I am damned, and the last time I bared myself to you what I was, you died.

"I'm not mad." Luce whispers, as if to reassure him. "Only wondering." Daniel sighs and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back to him.

"I couldn't tell you, it's all wrapped up together. Until now, I didn't even know that you could discover it on your own. If I told you too quickly or at the wrong time, you'd be gone again and I would have to wait. I've already had to wait so long." Daniel's broke at his last sentence, his eyes wary as they watched he but that broken look resides.

"How long?" Luce asks and Daniel's face twitches, his hand rose and cradles her cheek, his radiant violet eyes gazing into her's. Longer than she would be able to believe, and he was still a faithful believer that something would come out of this, that one day they'd be able to live without the curse, without the pain. She'd be wholly his again.

"Not so long that I've forgotten that you're worth everything. Every sacrifice. Every pain." Daniel closes his eyes and exhales. He had to tell her. He then looks at Sophia and Pennyweather. It was odd having people watching, especially Sophia. It was a twisting gut feeling that he got from her at time, this - Was one of those times. Sophia had both hands on her hips, as if she disapproved of the two, but also looking over the Announcers as they flicker closer. Daniel steps back and continued,

"I'm still afraid that any minute you could-" But before Daniel could finish, Sophia had cut him off by calling out his name, as if to tell him he shouldn't tell her anything - Though he had practically told her everything. Daniel waves her off and spoke once again.

"Our being together, it's not as simple as you want it to be." Daniel's voice wore the most cautious tone, as if it were tiptoeing toward a deer, scared to startle it off.

"Of course not, I mean, you're an angel, but now that I know it-"

Daniel's heart sunk a little, his mouth opens to explain more but then Sophia, once again, cut in. "Lucinda Price. What he had to tell you, you do not want to know." Sophia warns, eyeing Daniel. "And Daniel you have no right. It will kill her-"

"I think I could survive a little truth." Luce's brows furrows together, obviously confused but standing up for herself nonetheless.

"It's not a little truth," Sophia steps forward to position herself between them. Daniel glares at the back of her head, wanting to get back to his love, he wants to explain it himself - He didn't need help nor did he need someone stopping him. "And you will not survive it. As you have not survived it in the thousand of years since the Fall."

"Daniel, what is she talking about?" He saw her hand reach up to take his, but quickly swatted away by Sophia. "I can handle it. I don't want anymore secrets. I love him."

Daniel's heart skips a beat, or maybe two - He didn't know if he was even alive at this point. But, she was. She was alive, and she had just confessed her love for him. There was no flush of heat, no Announcers swirling around their bodies. Just. . .Them. Her eyes locked with Daniel's and she then spoke, "I do. I love you."

Clap.

Clap. Clap.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Daniel stiffens and slowly turns to face the disembodied clapper, his gaze meeting with Cam's emerald green-orange rimmed eyes. Daniel tenses and his lips slip into a firm line, watching Cam as he approaches them slowly.

"Oh, bravo. Bravo! Really, I'm touched to my very soul - and not much touches me there these days, sad to say." Cam's dark voice drips with sarcasm. Cam steps out onto the clearing and smirks at Daniel. "That is so incredibly sweet," Cam cocks his head to the side. "And he just loves you, too - don't you, lover boy? Don't you, Daniel?"

It was almost painful to see Cam do this - No matter how used he was to Cam's inhumane personality. He was his brother once, he was his best friend. But he could no longer linger on that subject, he had to worry about Luce right now.

"Cam, do not do this." Daniel warns, taking a step forward. But, it was obvious now that Cam wasn't joking when he said this would be a real war, not some petty fighting.

"Do what?" Cam's voice feigns innocence and with a snap of his fingers, a small flame ignites from the palm of his hands. "You mean this?" Then up above, the loud and powerful rhythmic beating from the locust above starts up once again, making Daniel wince as he gazes up at the darkness in the sky.

"Or this?" Cam taunts, shrugging as the summoned Announcers began to pull down the locust and formed bodies around them, the locust themselves grew within the shadow. Cam then smacks his forehead and sarcastically continues, "I'm sorry, did you tell me not to do that?"

Then from behind him, Lucinda whispers, "Daniel, what's happening?" Daniel wanting to glance over at her but he had to sort this out, he had to stop what was happening.

"Why did you call an end to the truce?" Daniel calles, watching the chaos erupting behind Cam. Shadows came forward, like knights protecting their king.

"Oh. Well. You know what they say about desperate times." Cam snarls, as if Daniel had somehow interrupted his plans. "And watching you plaster her body with those perfectly angelic kisses of yours. . . It made me feels so desperate."

Daniel's fist clenches and he glares, but his glare faded and his eyes went to Luce as she shouts, "Shut up, Cam!" Daniel then envelopes her into his arm, pulls her against his body as if it would be the last moment he'd be able to hold her. His eyes never left Cam, his strong arms locking around Luce's tiny waist.

"In good time." Cam then look over to her. "Oh yes, we're going to brawl, baby Over you. Again." Cam rubs his chin, eyeing them both skeptically. "Bigger this time, I think. A few more casualties. Deal with it." Cam snaps at her.

"Tell me why, Cam. You owe me that much." Daniel rephrases his previous question, his violet eyes wide and somewhat fearful though showing a brave demeanor.

"You know why." Cam sneers, pointing at Luce. "She's still here. Won't be for long though." Cam's threatening voice not only put Daniel's guard up, but it made him even more confused. Won't be for long though? Daniel furrows his eyebrows in confusion. She'd still come back, even if he did somehow end her life. Would it truly make a difference if he killed her or not? Was it even possible to kill by hand rather than death by the bounded curse? Cam smirks and his hands settle on his hips, the shadow serpents called forth to battle skimming along his skin and wrapping around his arms like vines before petting the top of one's head. "And this time, when your love blows into that tragic little puff of ash, it's going to be for good. See, everything is different this time."

Daniel sways, inhaling a whistling breath, and stared at Cam who beams darkly, that twisting smirk still residing on his plump lips. Daniel couldn't stomach the idea that she could be gone for good, the thought made his soul feel rotten, his heart twist in agony and his eyes flickered to Lucinda, who stared at Cam, confusion written on her face. He was incapable of believing he could lose her, he couldn't take it in - He had already been waiting so long, he had thrived on to love her for such a long time to finally get to this moment. And to learn that if she dies this time - She will never come back. Daniel trembles..

"Oh, except for one thing is the same - And I do have a soft spot for your predictability, Grigori." Cam steps forward, the shadow serpents following suit and inching closer to the couple and the other's, Cam's dark demeanor never changing. "You're afraid," Cam began, pointing at Daniel. "And I'm not."

"That's because you have nothing to lose, I would never trade places with you." Daniel spoke, certain and his chin high, though there was still there this sense of fear dripping from Daniel, and it was all-so obvious to Cam, who taps his chin and his lips purses out slightly.

"Hmmm. . . " Cam hums softly, "We'll see about that." Cam's chilling grin causing Daniel to curl his lip back. Would he do what Cam did? Would he switch sides if he lost his love too - Would he do it to forget her? To get revenge? Or maybe, just out of spite. But, he couldn't and he wouldn't. All he could think of was Lucifer, of what Luce would think if he ever did - There was feeling she'd resent him, or maybe forgive his choice. Daniel was unable to do it however, he wouldn't do that to himself, his siblings, and most importantly, to Luce - Dead or alive.

"Must I spell it out for you? Yes. I hear you have something bigger to lose this time." Cam taunts. Daniel frowns, utterly confused. Was he speaking of the fact she wouldn't come back? Daniel didn't quite know as this point.

"What are you talking about?" Then to his side, Sophia began to screech like a banshee - But, she was speaking in Zhsmaelim language. Daniel had heard it when he had been in Heaven at times, and eventually became fluent in it thanks to Roland. But, the question was, why was she speaking it?

"Everything is out of order!" Sophia's wild tongue screams. "The whole act is improper! How is Lucinda still very much alive? There was no loophole, Lucifer and The Throne made certain of it!" Sophia continues to ramble on about the nonsense of the current situation in her crazy tongue. Daniel could see Sophia's wild eyes scatter randomly before he reached and grabs her arm, shaking her free from her trance. "No, you're absolutely right; It doesn't make any sense." Daniel murmurs, glancing back at Cam briefly before hearing a gush of wind from above - Assuming that Cam had started the locust back up again, he turns his head up, but then saw two figures standing upon the mausoleum.

"You know what she's saying?" Luce whispers, then a call from one of the figures. "Allow us to translate," Arriane shouts down and Daniel couldn't help but sigh of relief. Arriane and Gabbe were here. Their wings were tucking away behind them, though their illuminating glow was still vibrant and visible briefly. They then both jump down, their wings gliding them down before they land and finally their wings hid into their backs.

"Cam's right, Daniel." Gabbe rushes out, as if though herself was scared. "Something's different this time . . . Something about Luce. The cycle could be broken - And not the way we want it to. I mean. . . It could end."

Daniel freezes, his violet eyes fell their typical dull gray as a somber look grew in them. So it was true - Their curse had more than likely broken, but instead of her remembering everything as daniel had hoped, instead of her becoming his fully again - She could die and never come back.

"Someone tell me what you're talking about. What's different? Broken how What's at stake with this battle anyway?" Luce's questioning brought him back to the present. His eyes looking back at her and stares, his heart breaking. There was so much at stake now, at least more than ever. It was still hard to see her like this, to have those same features that his true Lucinda held, and not remember a thing. Perhaps it was buried somewhere deep inside her, as he had always believed.

"At stake?" Arriane was the one to break the silence, her hand rubbing the scar that she had earned when they first went into a church after falling. "If they win - It's Hell on earth. The end of the world as anyone knows it." From behind them, the shadows that had been called for battle screech and fight like dogs, biting and growling at each other.

"And if we win?" Luce nearly chokes out the words. It was Luce's words that pulls Daniel into a trance, his eyes locking down at her as she looks between everyone but him. Daniel couldn't quite understand everything yet, so much had happened in the past few minutes and he was still swallowing i down. But one question wouldn't stop boggling his mind; How had she been able to learn all this, without remembering, and still be alive?"

The book. That book! She had been learning on her own, never getting the answers from anyone but the humans and the book - with the exception of what he had told her. Daniel then stumbles back and points at her as if she was some sort of never-before-seen mythical being, which at this point to Daniel, she could have been. "Sh-she hasn't been. . . " Daniel stammers, his hand flying to his mouth. "The kiss," He breathes and finally steps back forward, grabbing her arm. "The book. That's how you can-" Arriane then cut him off and hints,

"Get to part B, Daniel. Think fast. Patience is a virtue, and you know how Cam feel about those." Arriane was right, and he had to hurry now. Daniel looks at Luce, she had to get away now, she couldn't stay here. Daniel squeezes her hand and faces her now.

"You have to go. You have to get out of here."

"What? Why?" Luce looks at Gabbe and Arriane, but then coils away as light began to scatter from the sky to the ground. The Guardians, like the Announcers in a sense - but they were obviously created by The Throne and came from Heaven, much rather than the Announcers which came from Hell. They knew how to fight in their special way, and certainly help in these types of battles. Gabbe must have summoned them, His eyes flicker to Luce, catching her look of awe - Then a wince. Daniel frowns, his hand resting softly on her cheek and his heart twisting when he felt her heat up.

"She's feverish." Daniel murmurs.

"It's okay, sugar." Gabbe took Daniel's hand and drops it to his side, giving him a reassuring look before looking back at Luce. "We'll take it from here. But you have to go." Gabbe glances at the shadows behind Cam, which were twisting and forming and readying for battle. Only seconds left. "Now."

Daniel then pulls her into one last hug, his face burying into her hair before his face retreats and steps away.

"I'll take her, I know a safe place." Sophia then calls and Daniel nods slowly - She was the only person who he could trust to take her someplace safe.

"Go," Daniel urges. "I'll find you as soon as I can. Just promise me you'll run from here, and that you won't look back." Daniel still that feeling she'd lose him if she saw the wrong thing at the wrong time. Luce frowned.

"I don't want to leave you." The feeling is mutual, but I'm afraid you have too. Arriane steps between them, making Daniel wake up from his trance of wanting to take her as she shoved her towards the gates. She had to leave, now. "Sorry, Luce. Time to leave this fight to us. We're kind of professionals."

Daniel watches as Penn began to drag her away and then run out of the cemetery with the two and disappear out of sight. Then a harmonic call behind him, the Guardians sliding up his body, his wings spreading open at the feel, his black pants turning beige then too white, his shirt perishing away as if caught on fire. Daniel turns and faces the opposite side of the cemetery, Cam hovers above the ground, his dignifying gold wings stretching behind him and beat hard enough to send out a gush of wind, signalling it was time. The Guardians and the Announcers then clash together, a bursting column reaching to the clouds.

"We can make this easy, Daniel." Cam calls from above, his eyes squinting down at Daniel. Daniel knew what he was offering, but he obviously didn't know him enough to understand he'd never give up on Lucinda. Daniel chuckles, a sarcastic tone to his chortles.

"I'm not going down without fight, and I'll never give up on her."

"You made your choice then, Daniel." Cam's eyes narrows and he then lunges forward to Daniel, who jets off the ground and grabs Cam by his shoulders, his gray eyes ignited and a fierceness written along his face. Cam grips Daniel's shoulders, a sly smirk on his face.

"Ready to fight, Grigori?"

"Ready to get your ass beat?" Daniel threatens and then pushes him across the field, glaring down at him. There was no more playing and taunting for Daniel at this point, Cam was getting what he finally was bargaining for. Cam sat up and chortles before an angered look flashes upon his face and attacks Daniel.

Daniel was the one to throw the first punch, landing right on Cam's side, hearing a few ribs crunching under the force. Daniel had no regrets at this point, he couldn't have any - Or it'd stop him now. It was to protect Luce at this point, to protect his siblings. Cam snarls and grabs Daniel's neck, his nails piercing his skin and one hand slamming one punch on his cheek. Daniel was certain her could taste blood, but he couldn't give up at this point. Daniel's hands came up and tore Cam's hand free from his throat and twists it back, nearly breaking his arm as Cam grunts in pain.

Announcers summoned by Cam then blew Daniel back and a harsh pain bit into his wings as a ball of fire sizzles along his feathers. Daniel groans and stands back on his feet and Cam reels back to the ground, large flames hovering over both of Cam's hands. Cam threw another, but it only breezes past Daniel's face as he dodges it and hurls himself forward, crouching like a bull and grabbing Cam's legs, throwing him over his shoulders before dropping on the grounds and began to batter Cam's face and body with a flurry of punches and kicks before Cam finally finds his legs and stands up. Cam took his first chance and sent a flailing kick to Daniel's face before slamming his fist as well with his heated hands. It hurt, surely - Cam was far more powerful than Daniel at this moment. But Daniel had a bigger reason to win this war. And nothing would stop him.

Daniel then grips Cam by the collar, hearing the fabric of his jacket tear under his fingers before throwing him on the ground. A Guardian then forms in Daniel's hand into a beautiful crystalized sword and stuck it along Cam's heart - Though it could never kill him. Cam's emerald eyes study Daniel for a long moment.

"You know this battle will never end, Daniel. You know even if I do stop, Lucifer won't." Cam warns, raising his eyebrows. "I'll call tonight a draw, but the war will never end, it never does." Cam eyes him. "A truce then?"

Daniel's face twitches and he drops his sword, nodding slowly and stepping away and extends his hand to help Cam up. "Fine." Daniel mutters, but never acknowledging what Cam just brought up. He already had a feeling that was true - He knew Lucifer wouldn't stop, especially not with Lucinda. Cam grabs his hand and stood up, dusting himself off and then sprung off into the sky, the Announcers fading into the ground and the Guardians rising with a harmonic choir, cheering. Daniel then turns to face Arriane and Gabbe, who both wore a small smile and approach Daniel.

"Epic job on beating his ass, Dani-O." Arriane grins and punches Daniel's shoulders playfully. Gabbe shakes her head and stepped up.

"Aside from. . .'Winning' - Daniel, was that the first time you and Luce ever kissed?" Gabbe asks, watching Daniel with a stern look. Daniel blinks and a small crept over his face and he shakes his head.

"No, it wasn't." Daniel spins and looks back at the cemetery gates. "Speaking of Luce, I promised I'd find her after we were done here." Daniel murmurs and then pushes off the ground. Now, he had to find Luce, and show her fully who he was - Just as she had known.