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~Angel and Hel~

Chapter Sixteen: To a Good Death

-.-.-

Vivian frowned. Titian wasn't meant to glimmer and stagger. "Hey." She looked up at Krypton, watching the colourful girl shake in rage. "Hey, cut it out."

She saw Avos out of the corner of her eye, slipping his - her? Fuckit, slipping their hands into their weapon braces again. Where were her swords?

"She - she - " Krypton's tail was twitching, lashing back and forth with bruising force. "It's the end of the world. She let my sister die. She let your family die. I want - I don't know what I want."

Vivian sighed, watching Titian suffer. "Yeah. Do you think she could have protected them on a stroll through this bloody city? The world's ending. I'm gutted, yeah, but do any of us really expect to make it out of here?"

What she really wanted to do was grab her sword and ram it through Titian's face but she couldn't really do that right now and it probably wouldn't be very helpful on the living a bit longer front. That and she'd look like a muppet if she tried walking right now.

"She could have tried. She could have tried." Krypton stalked forward. Titian's head was hunched now, her hands clasped to her head, fingers drumming on her skull as she shook and shuddered.

"No use crying over spilt tea. Make a new pot and don't cock it up again." Vivian growled, hauling herself to her feet and staggering a step before Avos caught her. "Grimm are attracted to negativity. Quit your whinging and go kill some beasties."

"I - " The light faded from around Titian and she collapsed. Krypton nodded, once. "Ok. So where do we go from - "

A bleating noise came from above, slowly getting louder until it ended with a sudden crunch right at Krypton's feet. A Gruff? Where -

The ground shuddered and another building started to crumble as the group readied their weapons. The debris shifted, pushed out of the way by a Gruff Prime that was failing to topple an armoured giant, four horns straining and pushing, mouth gnashing as its hooves clawed at the armour.

Yolona? She was punching at the skull of the beast, ripping out chunks of bone and flesh with every strike despite its heavy plates of bone virtually concealing its dark flesh.

Avos pushed Vivian towards her sword - which happened to be embedded in a steel plate right next to the struggling Grimm. Cheers, numbskull… At least Avos had the right idea to start shooting the thing.

Titian was still half curled on the ground muttering some bloody nonsense to herself. Krypton was cartwheeling forward - at least until Yolona picked the Gruff up by the head and slammed it repeatedly into the ground. She backed off then.

"A tad violent don'cha think?" Vivian muttered, staggering over to her sword.

"They don't deserve mercy." Yolona rumbled, her voice echoing in that deep armour. She was surprisingly unarmed.

"Where'd your…?"

Vivian winced at the wet, meaty sounds of the berserker tearing the Gruff to pieces as she retrieved her own weapons. Apparently the myth that Gruff would eat anything was confirmed.

"Are they damaged?" Titian's voice was hoarse.

"Heh. No. They are built strong, like me."

"Too bloody strong if you ask me…" Vivian grumbled, leaning on her still-impaled sword for balance before trying to yank it out again, and failing, again.

Krypton snorted. "So you've been doing ok, yeah? Big girl fighting off the Grimm?"

"Hmph. Nearly two thousand kills." Yolona said proudly. Fuck, Vivian could even hear the smirk in her voice. Krypton's eyes widened and Titian simply nodded, like she'd expected nothing less. She was still leaning on that fuckoff sword of hers, like she hadn't quite recovered. Tosser didn't deserve to.

Clapclapclapclap - Vivian glared at Avos. Avos continued to not give a fuck and clap estatically. Yes, two thousand bloody kills. Whoop-de-doo. "That's… have you stopped for a break at all?"

"No. Why?"

"Because it's bloody ridiculous, that's why."

Scrabbling of claws on pavement and distant howling and snarls. More were coming. Always more.

The loud clacking of Avos' crossbows brought her out of her daydream. "One last stand…" she muttered.

Yolona glanced at her. "You can fight?"

"I'm deadweight, love." Vivian smiled lazily, turning back to the others. "Get going. That - that flare. Go there, find others." she said, shooing them off. Avos saluted, bowed, and ran.

Krypton looked torn for a moment, then looked after Avos. "I'll try and remember you. Vivian. Vivian, Vivian, Vivian. Thank you." She too followed after.

Titian stood there for a moment. "I wish I could take your place. I wish I could atone for what I've done to you."

"Live. Fight." Yolona shrugged, pulling off her helmet and taking a swig from her canteen before offering it to Vivian.

She accepted it with a wince, taking a long pull and relishing in the way it burned through her body on the way down her throat. "Damn," she coughed, handing it back. "Tha's some strong stuff."

Yolona chuckled, putting it away and fitting her helmet on again. The horde was getting closer. "To a good death."

"To a good death." Vivian echoed, her mind falling blank.

Titian nodded. "Fight well. I hope, if there is anything after this, I'll see you there." She launched after the distant figures of Krypton and Avos, legs bunching and launching her forward through the air.

"You have a strong heart." Yolona said quietly. "I will see you in Promethium."

And then she charged, shield first, spikes out, sword skimming the ground behind her.

Vivian sighed, looking down at herself. "To a good death."

Fire burned in her veins, her body set alight as she roared, losing herself to the demon inside.

-.-.-

Slade wasn't surprised to see the shop. He wished he had been, in a sense. That he hadn't thought that Maverick would remember, would take him there to try and see if his family were ok. Because he didn't know.

The Heart of Dust sign creaked a little in the wind. Dad - Diamant liked old fashioned things. "Not this industrialisation that's removed all the art from dust use and crafting." He even still used a centuries old dust press. A dust press, of all the damn things.

He couldn't go in. Couldn't see what was in there. If they were dead - if they were alive and couldn't look at him -

"Man this place still feels old. Honestly surprised it hasn't gone up in flames already, considering the state of the rest of this sorry city." Maverick noted, not even hesitating to walk in and start inspecting dust packages and crystals. "Volatile stuff, y'know?"

"I did grow up around it." He walked through the door, hearing the familiar tinkle of the bell. "No time for looters. And most of the fires started would be in industrial districts. Da - Diamant set up his store in the city's heart." His hands trembled as they brushed across broken glass.

"Heh. Heart of Dust. Always knew that had an extra meaning, just couldn't quite put my finger on it." Maverick mused. "Hey, where do you keep the shell casings?"

"Should be in a cabinet, far side of the room." He gestured. "Sorted in size." It all seemed so cold and quiet now. The power had failed and the room wasn't cast in the warm hues it normally was, instead lying in a mix of pale morning light and shadow. Someone had knocked over one of the display cases, and uncut 'slate' wind-dust was scattered across the floor. He picked up a half crumbling sheaf, staring at it for a moment.

"YES! It is so hard to find anybody that stocks these in bulk." Slade couldn't look at him, rifling through his, their wares. Like any other looter. Like it was just any store. He understood it, but -

He walked towards the back of the shop. There was the door to the stockroom, the tillpoint. Smashed, both. Clawmarks on the walls. Faint burns at the edge, like the Grimm had been on fire when it had crashed through, or -

He looked closer. "There was a Geist here."

"What?!" Maverick seemed more confused that surprised. Maybe he hadn't heard properly. "Did you say something? Gah, shit, wasn't meant to spill that." Idiot.

"Yes. There was a Geist here." He tried not to think of what that might mean, of facing Flynt or Diamant, their veins blackened and eyes burning. "Possession Grimm."

Maverick poked his head around the corner, his arms laden with stocked shells. "A Geist? Shit. I thought those things hated the cold." He frowned heavily, loading the shells into clips he'd pulled out of seemingly nowhere.

"They do. For them to be drawn here - it's like the Wyrms."

"Damn, every time I think we've hit rock bottom we hit worse."

"It's a Threat Level Twelve. We're just lucky we aren't discovering the ancient dragons are real, or the Moonbeast is returning."

"The 'Moonbeast' is a bunch of bullshit. If there really was a Grimm that big we'd all be dead ten times over by now." Maverick grunted, looking around. "Sorry. Wasn't expecting a Geist to show up so close to home."

"This is my home." Slade's arm was against Maverick's throat before he knew what he was doing. He backed off, slowly. "I'm sorry. I know what you meant."

Maverick held up his hands in surrender, clearing his throat. "Gotcha. I'd offer you a moment alone but knowing there's a Geist potentially around the corner's making me think twice on that one." He looked away for a moment. Slade could tell he wasn't going to like what he said next. "If… on the off chance it's someone close to you…"

Slade grit his teeth.

"Who do you want to take the shot?"

"I can do it." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince by saying that, but he clenched his hands tighter, said it again. "I can do it."

Maverick nodded and pulled down his goggles. Slade had no idea if he'd believed the answer he'd gotten. "Alright. I'm gonna reload what I can and see if I can set up a trap or bomb or something. Be careful."

Slade nodded, already slipping through the door. The stockroom should've been cold, to keep the dust in the best condition possible, but instead it was the same temperature as anywhere else. A trolley lay discarded on one side, plastic and metal scratched by age.

The stairs up to their apartment were on the right. Slade looked at them, trying to summon the will to go up. There was no sign of the Geist on the stairs. They might be fine.

… no, now he was just lying to himself. Trudging, he began to walk up them, the bannister shaking under his hand.

A sudden bang from the shop below was enough to have him reflexively leap up the stairs, like he'd knocked something over again and Dad was going to shout his ear off. His hands fumbled with the door for a moment, pushing the ancient piece of wood up and round and open.

The hall was empty. No lights, no sign of anything out of place.

"Damnit!" Maverick. Fumbling again. He must have made the noise.

Slade's footsteps bounced off the walls. The floor creaked underneath him. His breath was deafening, in and out, whistling from his lungs.

The bed was where he remembered it. The posters - they covered the walls, to the point where he still wasn't sure what it looked like under them. The stand in the corner, between the dresser and the wardrobe, covered in bow-ties and hats of all sorts of kinds and colours.

Torn clothes everywhere. Splinters of broken wood. Bloodstained sheets.

And a bloodied silver trumpet on the floor.

Slade wasn't sure how he got back downstairs, but he did. "The Geist's gone," he said, like he was sure of it. There was wetness on his cheek.

"That's… at least one thing we've got going for us." Maverick muttered, puffing out his cheeks as he blew out his breath, shifting his weight to the other foot and putting his hands behind his head. "End of the fucking world…"

"But- but- how can you not like hot chocolate!?"

"And what the everloving fuck is-"

"It's too sweet. And hot drinks in general are - unpleasant. I can cope with coffee if I must, but anything else?" A snort. "Also, isn't it a child's drink?"

"-the Ice Queen doing here?" Maverick finished, turning around to stare incredulously at the scene across the street.

Ash, Aphoth, and Winter, grabbing Dustbucks. In the middle of the apocalypse.

"Maybe they saw that flare you fired." Slade - he couldn't comment on the situation right now. Bloodstained silver. That was all he saw.

"YO, ICE QUEEN!" Maverick bellowed, swiftly grabbing the attention of the trio and any Grimm still in the building. They didn't bother looking before crossing the road, getting close enough to stop Maverick shouting.

"You. I take it you're responsible for the flare." Winter looked a wreck, hair disheveled, eyes red. One arm was holding her ribs. Aphoth's eyes were sunken and gaunt. Of all of them, Ash looked - the most healthy, he guessed. Like she had before.

"Yeah, missed you too." Maverick chuckled. "Man, you girls look like you haven't slept in a week."

"It feels like it." Aphoth's voice was quiet. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good, I think. I got a nap, a slushy, now some coffee - oh wait you meant him -" Ash hid her endless stream of nervous babble behind Winter and careful sipping of her coffee. He should focus on her adorableness. On something other than - other than -

"Well, surprisingly undisturbed…" Maverick started, walking up to one of the smashed windows and leaning on the glass-coated countertop. "Unless you count the vanishing civvies and the mysteriously thin endless stream of Grimm running through the streets."

"They're moving on, I think. Or congregating around areas of higher despair. I don't know." Winter slumped down to the bench outside. "I don't think there's even been a Grimm attack this - widespread and heavy. Not that I recall, at least."

"You'd be right." Maverick smiled grimly. "It's a perfect disaster. Wyrms, Geists, no reinforcements…"

Shhluuuuurrrrrrrrr- everyone paused to look at Ash, who stared back in wide-eyed embarrassment. "Uhhh I think I'm done…" she said, pulling the take-away cup away from her lips. "I - hey do you boys want any coffee I can totally make more coffee."

"I could do with a cup." He tried to smile at Ash but it came out as a sickly, dead man's grin.

"Okay!" she said happily, before the somber mood caught on and she simply scurried away.

"Aaand she's off again." Maverick sighed, before groaning. "Do we even have a plan from here?"

"What kind of plan is there to have?" Aphoth leaned more on her staff. "There's - nothing to do. But wait for the Grimm, then kill as many of them as we can."

"This is a pretty defensible position." Winter's voice evened, her mind calming itself under the influence of adrenaline, of tactics. Slade wished he could do the same. "We could hold here. Use the dust to our advantage, traps, funneling them in through into the storeroom, making it a killing floor. There are regulations about how you store dust that this shop has to abide by, strength of walls, strength of doors."

"You basically want us to trap ourselves and deny the advantage we hold of mobility, teamwork, and communication, then." Maverick pointed out.

"What, because teamwork's impossible in an enclosed environment? Tell that to the Phalanxes of ancient Mistral. But… mobility is a good point. Maybe… we start in the street. Fight back through the shop. A withdrawing, running battle."

"And if I may point out Ashlyn has absolutely fuckall single-target attacks beyond swinging her axe? If she gets anywhere near the shop with an attack the whole thing is going to go up like a tactical nuke."

"So she holds outside the shop." Winter's voice was calm. "We're all going to die here anyway. No point in denying it."

"We could run." His throat was hoarse. "Try and get out of the city, get somewhere else. Survive. Save more people."

"No." Winter snarled the word. "No, we don't run. We wouldn't survive for long anyway, and what would be the point? We save who we can. We distract the Grimm, pull them here. Give others a chance to survive. That's what we are, a bright shining light in the darkness. We can't run. We - we can't leave them in the dark."

Silence.

Maverick nodded begrudgingly. "Yeah. Last stand."

Slade gritted his teeth. "I'm in too. I know this shop better than most. I'll prepare the defenses."

"Coffeeee coffecoffeecoffee- oh hey what'd I miss?" Ash popped back into the scene, injecting a bit of light into their darkness.

"Suicide pact." Maverick grinned, accepting the offered coffee and taking a sip. "... damn, this is good. Where'd you learn how to make this stuff?"

"Mum's a - was - she's a coffee-lady." Ash explained, twirling through the open door to give Slade an extra-large with an innocent smile. Slade ended up smiling in reaction, almost out of habit before it became a real response.

"She was really good at making coffee." Aphoth sighed, and stood. "There's some I can Call here. Enough to make a fight of it."

"Don't - don't pick people inside the shop. Please."

Aphoth nodded at Slade. "Of course." Her voice was gentle.

"Hey, nice gun. I don't remember you having one though…" Maverick noted at Winter, his voice, along with all other noise, fading into the background for a moment as Slade took the first sip. It was pretty good coffee.

Aphoth entered with Ash beside her, her eyes flicking across the shop. She gave Slade a sad smile then walked deeper into the store. Slade sat, slumping against one of the cabinets - like he was assisting in the shop and it was a slow day again. Ash sat down beside him.

"So. End of the world." He was surprised at the humour in his voice.

"Mhmmm…." Ash yawned, stretching a little bit before slumping down against him and snuggling in. "The world can wait five more minutes."

Slade snorted, wrapping one arm around her and taking another sip of coffee. "Tired? Sure you're not the one who needs this?"

A cute little snore. He wasn't even sure he was capable of describing anything as cute after today. But somehow…

Life would find a way. Even without them in it.

-.-.-

~R&R?~