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A Forbidden love (LukeDeadwood x Malice_Nightshade)

Malice_Nightshade

Malice_Nightshade

Star
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
There was a man born to royalty in a land under a red star. He was conceivably attractive, with the body of an adonis carved carefully and meticulously from the finest marble. He was like the statue of David, but in vibrant colors of long, straight chocolate-colored hair, and eyes of the bluest ice that that rivaled that of icicles hanging from trees after an icy blizzard of infamous Russian winters. Even his skin was soft and creamy like that of a porcelain doll. His name was Alexi Romanov. The year was 1579 in czarist Russia, he was twenty at that time and lived with his family in a grand home, one that would eventually become one of the seven wonders of the world. The motherland called this sprawling home the Kremlin. With it's spiraling, multi-colored roofs to the grandeur of the interior sprinkled with golden rimmed mahogany doors to rooms adorned with sheets, bedding, and curtains made of the finest silks.

There were painting dotted along the halls of past rulers. One of them being Tsar Nicholas and his family, Alexi's father Nicholas, his mother Alexandra, and his four sisters. Alexi was the only male in a family of five and the only heir to the title, but he would never achieve that title because of his uncle, and brother to Nicholas, Ivan Alexandrovich. Ivan was the first domino to fall, but in doing so would take everyone with him. He was a man who was as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside. His face was marred with pockmarks and wrinkles. his fierce green eyes glowed with contempt for anything good or sweet. Ivan wanted his brother's life, his wife, and his title, and was willing to do anything to get it. That is when the evil Duke came up with a brilliant plan. He would make a deal with Lucifer.

While Nicholas was gone, opening trade routes to other countries that surrounded Russia, such as Finland, Poland, even Transylvania Ivan seized his chance by the throat and made a deal with the king of demons himself. Ivan would find a way to give Lucifer Alexi's soul, for Alexandra's heart, and his brother's throne which upon the death of his brother would go to Alexi. Ivan spiked a cup of tea and had a servant bring it to Alexi. After a few sips the hapless, innocent Alexi grew dizzy and blacked out spilling warm tea on the beautifully crafted, and intricately woven rugs that dotted the floors of several rooms. As planned Ivan found Alexi in a drugged stupor. He was barely conscious, but with the right words, Ivan got the young prince to sign the devil's contract. sealing it with blood after the quill tip pricked his finger "when the time comes, I will take him" growled a voice that sent shivers down the spines of even the bravest of men.

Lucifer was a formidable, terrifying being. He was eight feet tall. His muscular body was covered in armor that was spiked at the shoulders. His leg armor was suited to his muscular, armor-plated thighs that were covered In shaggy, dark brown fur and rest upon cloven hooves that were armored with a curved ax making each kick was his victim's last breath. His wings were magnificent, fourteen feet from tip to tip, bat-like with three hooked claws and covered in a thick fuzz, and his the claws on his hands, they were an inch long, caked in blood and looked as though they could rend titanium. His horns were thick as tree limbs, the curved out and up. His eyes were terrifying, they glowed a deep orange, like magma. They could steal souls with nothing more than a glance. Few that looked into his eyes survived, fewer still survived with their sanity, but it was his tail that was his proudest feature it was adorned with spikes each dripping with a viscous purple venom, also making it his deadliest feature, not only for their flail-like appearance but the venom that dripped from it had two stages, the first thinned the blood, weakening the victim, finally the venom slowly paralyzed the victim so they were helpless as they died.

Days pass and Nicholas dies en route to Transylvania to open trade routes. But he never arrives. The news reaches the Kremlin and Alexi is crushed, he was unable to function so the only other male relation took his place. That night a great fire broke out in Alexi's room from a dry piece of wood that popped out of the fire. He tried to save his family but it was no use so he ran. Lucifer appeared before the horrified man "oh, Alexi, what have you done, you left them to die" after that Alexi's guilt caused a crack through his soul splitting it in half one good the other dark, Lucifer disappointedly named his meek half-shadow, and his dark half Venom. He dragged the poor boy to hell. used a mortality spell so he wouldn't age, then trained him in martial arts and swordplay where he was given his prized possession, a possessed blade by the name of Muramasa.

CURRENT TIME.

The memories were still fresh in his mind as he stood on the rooftops. He looked for a target it was the demon kings own son. You see, Lucifer grew paranoid that someone was planning to overthrow him. He had a feeling it was his son. He was on a mission to kill a priest that was exercising his soldiers. Since humans could not be exorcised he sent Venom after the holy man. He was about to follow the foul man so that he could lure him into a secluded place when he was summoned to hell. He was taught how to travel between worlds by slashing a tear into the fabric of space and time. He stepped through the tear and arrived in hell seconds after. The screams of tortured souls and the scent of death permeated the thick, heavy air, it was because of that air that time moved slower in hell. He approached the obsidian palace and passed the room he slept in when he was first dragged to hell all those years ago. He still shuddered at his time in this wretched world. He approached the throne room and drew closer to the throne which was surrounded by a moat of perpetually circling magma a small area covered by a small bridge so that one may cross to stand before the king.

Since Venom was no longer needed for now Shadow took control. He looked at Lucifer with content before falling reluctantly to one knee, it seems he had truly destroyed the prince's spirit into obedience. Lucifer lifted his head as he sat upon his throne made of human skulls and obsidian spikes, he lookup. His fiery orange eyes looked upon Shadow with contempt. A slow smile crept across his lips making him look more menacing than usual, if that was even possible "WELCOME BACK, SHADOW YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT WILL TAKE PLACE IN DUBLIN IRELAND, THAT IS WHERE HE WILL BE YOUR TARGET IS MY SON, I SENT HIM TO EARTH TO TAKE IT IN MY NAME I FEAR HE MAY BE PLOTTING AGAINST ME. YOU WILL ONLY FOLLOW AND MONITOR, DO NOT ATTACK. NOT YET. YOU WILL REPORT TO ME EVERY 12 HOURS" he said. His voice booming like a seismic earthquake that shook hells very foundation "NOW GIVE ME VENOM!" He roared.

As Venom manifested shown by his demeanor and the change in his eyes from gold to indigo "AH, THERE YOU ARE MY ENFORCER AND BELOVED PLAYTHING, I KNOW YOU HEARD THE CONVERSATION, AM I UNDERSTOOD?" He roared, Venom hated her title as his plaything Venom growled: "AM I UNDERSTOOD?" Venom gave a soft growl of protest "yes...master" he said through clenched teeth which seemed to irritate Lucifer. The demon king stood up and swung his venom oozing tail and pointed it at her throat "PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL HOW YOU SPEAK TO ME, INSECT, NOW GO!" Venom returned to earth his gift of Aura sight gave him an advantage so as he appeared through the tear he felt a demonic aura close by and followed the demonic aura making sure he wasn't seen.
 
It was late, that was all Arahel knew as he sat in the quaint little bar he was in. Or perhaps it was early? He didn't care enough to adopt the concept of time, buy a watch or to charge the phone that had come into his possession. The sky was dark and the moon was showing and that was all that mattered--who cared whether it was morning or night? Clearly not the people that were still present and having a fun drunken time. Located back in a far corner he was clad in a thick dark brown coat and black jeans, leaning back in his seat with the chair tilted back on two legs with his steel-toed boots on the table and arms behind his head. His golden eyes were shut and a cigarette sat loosely between his lips with a thin trail of smoke emanating from it, making him appear to asleep despite the way he was perfectly balancing in his chair. After a moment he opened his eyes just slightly to peer up at the ceiling before closing them once again. 'I wonder...' He thought, having felt the littlest of spiritual disturbances that almost all were incapable of noticing. He chuckled to himself as he let himself drift off for a few moments longer, choosing to brush it off his shoulder.

But it didn't last as the shadows next to him were disturbed and a distorted voice whispered in his ear. "Master, she is on the move." Arahel's eyes snapped open instantly at that and he looked over, gaze narrowing as he noticed the person he'd been hunting after was gone along with the armpiece of an oblivious soul they had been with. "Ah, well...fuck." His feet left the table and his chair landed to properly sit on the floor the way it was supposed to. The glass of whiskey that had been left on it's own device for roughly forty-five minutes to an hour was downed and money was slapped onto the table, the redhead taking a stand and exiting the bar. He was met with the cool and damp air, a scoff sounding from him as he looked up at the rain clouds that began to blanket the sky. "Wonderful..." Rain made it difficult to follow, washing away tracks and scents. Don't get him wrong, he loved rain--after living in literal Hell for years and being surrounded by fire, so of course he loved any and all weather that wasn't hot. But it made him have to resort to his demon abilities, and that sucked.

With a scoff Arahel shook his head and his eyes changed colors, fading from the pretty golden they were to a deep and menacing red. His vision changed from the moonlit roads to what could almost be classified as infrared vision, but instead of heat that was tracked it was demonic aura. "Bingo," He hummed as a smirk pulled at his lips, reaching up to take his cigarette and flick it away off to the side. He didn't bother with stamping it out, not at all giving a second thought to the potential fire hazard as he walked away from the bar to follow the trail of aura. A left turn around the corner, another left, then a right down into a lone alleyway. Closer than he thought, and certainly not a luxurious location he thought he'd find his target in. Which made it obvious that he was walking into a trap. A pathetic trap, but a trap nonetheless. One that Arahel just couldn't bring himself to care about. It's not like the demon was going to stand a chance against him anyway.

"Well, it's a surprise to run into you here of all places," The redhead called out to the figure that was at the end of the alley, back turned towards him while the body of the young man the other was laying limp at the feet of the other person, neck turned and snapped in an ungodly way. "Isn't wasting such a pretty face such as that against your ideals, Lust?" He crooned softly, smirk growing and turning smug as the figure turned and bared her teeth at him, growling lowly as her face scrunched up with anger. "Oh ho, so scary~ Don't you know that an ugly face like that will make wrinkles form on your face?" A cackle bubbled up from his chest as the demon of Sin charged with an angry shriek, easily side-stepping to avoid the swipe of the blade that was conjured up and grabbing the woman's wrist, gripping it tightly and pulling her close to him via the arm he threw around her waist. "I'm so happy to see you too! It's nice to know how much you missed me~"

"As if!" Lust hissed venomously, glaring pure hatred as she looked up to Arahel. Lust was a petite and beautiful little thing, flawless pale skin with ebony waves of hair and curves that would make even the most perfect model jealous. And where normally soft facials feature and glimmering emerald eyes would be sat an expression of rage and completely blackened eyes instead. "I should've know it was you from the beginning. Those burns...of course it was your hellfire." Her lip curled up as she growled again, beginning to thrash in Arahel's hold to try and free herself. "How dare you kill him and all the others...I'll make you pay for that!"

"Ooh, I think I'm shaking in my boots," He could only snicker, amused by the fury the scorned woman threw at him. "But you see, I have no choice. You're all loyal soldiers to my father, and I can't have you get in my way. I gave Wrath the option to make it easy, but you know how Wrath is--he can never just go the easy way. And of course word of his death reached the others and like little ducklings they followed in his footsteps." Arahel shrugged nonchalantly, seeming to only make the Sin in his arms angrier. "Besides, it's not like you'll stay dead. Like all Sins you'll be remade eventually, so you'll be reunited with your beloved little Wrath soon enough. Maybe by that time I'll have already conquered Hell and you can go back to your measly little lives you had before. Does that sound good?"

As he spoke the shadows to his left wavered, a form that was invisible to Lust manifesting by his side. "Someone is watching." It hissed, making Arahel's eyes look away from the angered demon to examine his surroundings, wondering what rooftop or little corner the spy could be hiding in. He hummed lowly as he pondered over his thoughts, his lips pulling back in a toothy grin as he let his gaze drop back down to Lust.

"Well then," Arahel started, his from starting to change. Horns formed atop his head as a set of wings began to unfurl from his back, and although not as grand as his father's their nine feet of wingspan were still magnificent, resembling a dragon's from the thick leathery skin and scales that covered them and the sharp curved spikes that adorned them where Lucifer's hooked claws would've stood. His eyes flashed from red to a myriad of colors, resembling pure fire themselves. He took a step back and shifted the hold he had on Lust, expertly twirling her away as if they were dance partners instead of a duo that were about to fight. He held his hands out, palms facing up as a ball of blue and white flames formed in each one--not quite Hellfire, but still the hottest flames that would leave horrid burns in their wake. "Let's give them a show, shall we?" He said as he tilted his head, excitement and a touch of bloodlust painting his features as Lust charged for a second time.
 
After Lucifer took in Alexi, that knew nothing and taught his newly formed dark half Venom everything. Lucifer's demons taught both Shadow and Venom how to use a sword and how to defend and attack, Krav maga it was a harsh art that gave no mercy to its opponents, a lesson Venom learned more than once. He knew from personal experience, after all having every bone in your body broken, healed, then broken, and healed once more, in a vicious cycle forced him to learn, but Venom was ideally the one in control, both he and Shadow shared similar abilities, but Venom was always the bold, observant one, with an inextinguishable glitter of a sharp mind, an indomitable spirit that held a deep fires of a soul that would never give up, or give in despite what the world and it's demons have done or do to him.

Venom hated Lucifer with every cell in his body, it was because Lucifer had taken everything from him, the demon king was the first, and the last domino to fall an erect that caused the world to come crashing around him. As a child, Alexi knew he wasn't quite ready for the world beyond his home, but fate thrust him into it with both hands, as Lucifer dragged him down. Shadow and Venom, being human and having a soul they were at least lucky enough to be able to move between hell and earth freely. Even if Venoms soul was slowly rotting away in a cesspool of hatred and anger it was the only thing that Venom had left of his life. Unlike Venom, Shadow was warm and kind, he was closest to what Alexi was when his soul was whole. Shadow was a sweet, caring soul always thinking of others, in fact he was an empath an a healer, but what use would hell have for someone like that, go he was forced to sleep while venom hunted, causing Shadows soul to grow weak, as Venoms soul rotted, poisoning Shadows, make the gentle soul weak. Such was Lucifers plan.

Venom smiled to himself thinking of his next move to piss of Lucifer off, his eyes glittered with an epiphany as he decided that this time he would take his time. He felt the wind blow warm air against his skin and tousled his long, black locks. His feeling of dread took hold and was confirmed as he looked up at the sky, storm clouds we're gathering with a promise of rain to come, and soon. T clouds passed by and the moon was revealed from behind them, it looked as if it was painted with blood, it was a sign of big changes, sometimes for the better, but usually for the worst. Venom walked slowly, taking in the autumn air, that signified the changing of seasons from September to October. He relished his time on earth, first because he got away from Lucifer, second because hell wasn't nearly as vibrant or lively, and with all the tortured souls it was not a peaceful place.

Now Venom walked the streets that were glittering from the ran that was and awaiting more that was to come. The black, wet, pavement reflected the soft glow of the street lamps above. The trail went faint as His boots made a soft click...click...click on the pavement as they tread up the streets of Dublin, yes he was in Ireland a place of magick as old as time itself, a land of mysteries that only the fae that dotted the land was a part of. Venom knew his time was fleeting so he needed to hurry. He followed the dissipating aura to a bar, but before he walked in, he touched the warm sigil above his right eye and sighed he remembered when he received Lucifers Mark, and cursed every day since.

He took a final breath of fresh air and walked into the pub that called itself the lucky shamrock, an unoriginal name, but nonetheless a fitting one. He walked into the bar, the first thing he noticed was the putrid smell of alcohol, and misery, as he moved further into the bar he wrinkled his nose at the stench of the cigar, and cigarette smoke, followed by vomit and sex. This was a place that made even Venoms skin crawl. From a visual point of view, there were vomit puddles that had yet to have been mopped. The walls that were once a vibrant green now stained a hideous brown from the dim, flickering lights and years of abuse from drunken, rowdy patrons. He walked to one of the seats that weren't cracked or broken and touched the money with his hand "he was here" he growled in a voice that was like ice, a voice one would never expect from someone with such soft, alluring features as Venom.

Venom walked toward the bar moving painfully slow as to see how long ago Arahel was here. The quicker the energy trail took to fade the longer Arahel had been gone. Reaching the bar Venom set his icy gaze on the bartender who seemed to be quaking in his boots as the demonic gaze of indigo burned through the bartenders, very soul. Venom placed a hundred dollar bill on the table and pointed to the seat Arahel sat in "the man that sat in that chair...when did he leave?" The trembling bartender looked to where Venoms finger pointed and spat out a reply "he left about a few hours ago" quivered the bartender's voice i"damn it!" Growled Venom in frustration He looked back to the bartender "I suggest you take this money and turn this proverbial rats den into a respectable establishment.

He walked from the bar and shuddered" ugh! I didn't think I could feel so disgusting, I only touched the bar and I still feel like a magma bath wouldn't be enough to cleanse me" he shuddered and pricked up his ears. There! In the distance, the faintest of noises could be heard, and the smell of sulfur permeated the air. Venom bolted with the speed that would put a professional runner to shame, he used parkour he learned from the same demon masters that taught him his ninjutsu to jump onto a fire escape and onto a building that was dilapidated and abandoned, the bricks we're cracked and broken, the windows were shattered where vandals had disrespectfully thrown rocks making the building took like some sort of weathered monster with dragged teeth. The building seemed to be some sort of sanitorium, now, like venom it stood empty, a ghost of it's past, and a shell of it's former glory.

He stood, sitting on the corner and leaning over like a gargoyle. His sharp eyes that were the color of the venom that his masters tail dripped with, threatening all that were touched by it, with a slow and painful death. Those eyes glittered with resplendence as they scanned the city. Out of the corner of his left eye he saw what no ordinary human would be able to catch it was movement, but it wasn't just movement, it was movement coupled with bursts if demonic energy, correction, two bursts if different energies and one of those energy bursts was his target. Venom smirked and flipped off the roof and landed in the alley on one knee with his fist buried in the debris of the once proud building. He stood up and wiped off his palms and took off down the alley not realizing that the top of his hand was dribbling blood.

Venom ran through the alley, left, left, right, right right. From there the alley came to a dead end, two buildings side by side and in the middle stood a thin bloodstained, barbed wire fence that seemed to be a witness to murders and muggings. With the silence of a butterfly Venom jumped from one building to the other jumping higher until he jumped off from the left building and flipped over the fence landing on the other side. His next obstacle was invisibility, it was imperative he was not seen as he arrived at the source of this energy. Venom stayed in the shadows, his sensitive ears pricking up to as he listened to their conversation. The male had the energy of his target and as he listened to the seemingly oblivious Arahel as the demon spoke the words that Venom was sent to confirm.

Venom smiled and tore a rift between the worlds and without being seen he shook his head at how easy it was "you are much to careless, Arahel...the walls have ears, you know" he cackled, walking through the rift. Appearing in hell he walked into the throne room kneeling before Lucifer whose tail swayed back and forth as he listened to Venom "WHAT NEWS DO YOU BRING, VENOM?" boomed his deep quaking voice.

Venom looked at Lucifer with contempt "your suspicions are confirmed" he spat. Lucifer growled as he stood up and held his tail beside him "DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU? ABOUT BEING CAREFUL HOW YOU SPEAK TO YOUR MASTER, YOU WORTHLESS, MONGREL, I WON'T FORGIVE SO EASILY THIS TIME. I WAS HOPING I COULD SPARE YOU THIS...PUNISHMENT"
Lucifer's tail shot out and pricked Venom, injecting his toxin into Venoms hip causing him to show no emotion save the wince of pain painted on his face "IT WONT KILL YOU BUT THE INCREASING PAIN WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE. IT WILL WEAR OFF IN A DAY...OR TWO, AS FOR MY SON...ELIMINATE THE THREAT" Venom said nothing only opened the rift and stepped through. Venom knew he was still in Dublin but he wasn't exactly sure where. There...another burst of energy. He was closer than he thought and races toward it. Arriving shortly after, Venom jumped silently into a tree, and watched wondering who would take the other out. It was obvious, but it was still fun to watch.
 
Twin axes, built small enough to be thrown but heavy and sturdy enough to be used in close combat with the blades glowing red hot, formed from the balls of fire just in time to meet Lust's blade and block the slash the was aimed to cleave down the the center his face. "Tsk tsk Lust, I thought you were better than that." With ease he forced the blade down to the side and bring the woman's torso with it, leaving her belly exposed for the blow to her abdomen that was delivered with Arahel's knee. Lust hardly flinched and wrenched her sword free, throwing her momentum into a twirl to bring her sharp heel of her stiletto to try and meet the Devil Spawn's face. To which he threw his head back to avoid, using his weight to throw himself down towards the ground and using his hands to catch himself, bringing his feet up to plant the outsoles of his boots into her stomach the moment it was open. The force combined with her new lack of stability sent her backwards, her back meeting the pavement and skidding a few feet thanks to the dampness. But just like Arahel she was back on her feet in a matter of seconds, spitting out the curse of 'bastard' in his direction.

Arahel merely feigned a look of hurt at the remark, the amusement gleaming in his eyes making it obvious that the insult didn't bother him in the slightest. Lust rose her blade as she assumed a stance, glaring as she prepared to lunge forward again. The redhead hefted one of his axes up to his shoulder while he held the other one out, two fingers unfurling from around the grip to motion 'bring it on', egging on the female Sin to further enrage her. It worked like a charge, the one beautiful face twisting angrily as she ran forward, heels clicking with each step.

Sparks flashed as weapons clashed, offering flashes that briefly lit up the darkened area that surrounded the two fighters. A slice here, a kick there, a failed attempt of a cheap shot towards a groin, it was all too fast for the untrained eyes of a normal human to catch. In the midst of it a strike met Arahel's side, slicing just enough through his clothes to draw the slightest bit of blood. And in retaliation a sharpened axe was dragged along Lust's uncovered upper back, searing the flesh as it was cut into, only the faintest splatter of blood making it out of the wound before it was cauterized. The pained cry that pierced through the tense atmosphere made a sadistic grin show on Arahel's face. A sign of proof that he had allowed the injury dealt to himself in order to deliver the strike instead of it being due to recklessness, and yet he didn't rip into the female's body even though he had the chance to. It made one thing clear: Arahel was in charge of this fight, only holding back so that he could play the role of the Cat against Lust's role of Mouse. Though with the petite woman being blinded by rage, she was unaware of how she was foolishly playing right into it Arahel's hands. Feeding into the Antichrist's violent tendencies.

Arahel thrust his head forward when Lust failed to guard herself and smashed his forehead into her nose, satisfied with the crunch he heard and the warm wetness he felt splatter on to his skin and in his hair that followed. The Sin stumbled back and brought a hand up with an injured grunt to cradle her newly broken nose. And when she did that, Arahel darted forward with another kick, boot connecting with her chest to knock into the wall that was just a few feet behind her. Her body met the brick with as sickening sound as cracks formed in the foundation, a small crater of her likeness being left in her stead as she slid to the ground in a wave of weakness and exhaustion fueled by pain.

"Aw, what's the matter Lust?" Arahel sneered as he gazed down at her crumpled body, her chest heaving as she struggled to take in a breath thanks to the aches of her broken nose. "I thought you wanted revenge, not some childish fight." His eyes narrowed into a glare as he gave a cruel grin. He could deal a finishing blow right here and right now, but he refused to, the thrill of the battle coursing through his veins and leading him forward without a second thought. "Or did you forget why you're here? Need I remind you what I did to the others, what I did to Wrath? The way I killed each and every one of them, slowly and painfully, cutting into them inch by inch and leaving them in a burning agony until I finally ended--"

There was no need for Arahel to continue as an angered roar left the Sin's bloodied lips, his words inspiring a burst of energy in her. She pushed herself up and grabbed her blade, slashing haphazardly at Hell's heir, the male casually taking zigzagged steps all the while and avoiding each blow with ease. Then like the first attack she made, Lust swung a vertical slice towards Arahel's head with full intentions of cutting him in two. And just like earlier he blocked it with his axes, stopping it just before the attack could make contact. Only this time he pulled his axes outward, trapping the Sin's sword so she couldn't pull it back. Her eyes widened in shock as she feebly tugged on the hilt while Arahel grin wide enough to show off fangs.

"As much as I enjoyed our little encounter," He began, tightening the grip he had on his weapons. "I'm afraid it's about time for our fun to end." With a flick of his wrists Lust's blade was severed, shattering into pieces as she caused herself to stumble back. As she fell Arahel dropped his axes to reach forward to grab her face, the weapons disappearing into nothing before they could reach the ground. Using both of their weights he forced the Sin to the ground, the back of her head colliding with the cement hard enough to make most others black out instantly. Then it wasn’t even a second later before flames were produced from Arahel’s palms, Lust’s body ignited and consumed in the bright Hellfire. Even though they were muffled her shrieks echoed through the empty space, body writhing as she clawed at his arm in a weak attempt to free herself. But it was a fruitless effort as her body stopped moving just minutes later, falling limp under Arahel as the flames dispersed to reveal her body that was completely charred, no longer recognizable by even magical means as it was covered in burns by which humans had never seen. Unless they’d visited Hell, of course.

A sigh drifted out of Arahel’s lips as he stood, his twisted grin still painting his features as he looked down at the dead demon. But it didn’t last as thunder cracked overhead, rain beginning to pour down and making the grin fade into a scowl as steam flowed up from the burnt body. “Tch, literally raining on my parade...” he grumbled, looking up to the clouds with a borderline pouty glare, the bleeding wound no longer existing on his side as unscarred flesh showed through the slice of his shirt and jacket.

He scoffed again as the space next to him wavered, the shadowy figure making it’s presence known to Arahel. “Did you locate them?” He asked without looking at the shadow demon, hearing a clicking hiss in response. With a hum he turned to face a tree, his eyes narrowing as his eyes slowly returned to the golden hue they had been back at the bar. For a moment the heir to Hell’s throne neither moved nor spoke, just merely gazing at the spot. Then he rose his hands to cup them around his mouth. “THANKS FOR PASSING ON THE MESSAGE FOR ME!” Arahel shouted over the rain, knowing well enough that whoever was watching him had reported to his father. With a hum his wings started to move, beginning to lift his body off of the ground with heavy flaps. Although he was drenched a playful and mischievous grin pulled at his lips, one hand slipping inside the pocket of his jacket while the other one was used to make a two-fingered salute. A gesture for the unspoken challenge of “come and get me”. Then without another word Arahel turned to fly off, his joyous and excited cackle barely audible over the downpour of rain as he went for where he’d set up to rest for the night, unafraid of being followed.
 
Venom sat on the thick branch, that swayed back and forth from the gale force winds, that took the mysterious Irish capital by surprise. The higher branches of nearby trees snapping as they were felled by this unexpected storm. The branch of the tree that Venom stood on was beginning to weaken as a crack formed in the wood, at the base of the branch. Venom knew the fate of the branch and jumped onto a lower, thicker branch. Watching the fight go back and forth like an intricate ballet of power, and strength.

Venom watched as they went back and forth, the female Arahel called lust, he wondered why she was called that, as Venom held no interest in the female form, it seemed like an assumption that lust would be female, but perhaps she could change genders, wondered the young enforcer. Venom didn't really care he sat on the branch like a cat, or more accurately a frog, with his knees to his chest and his hands in between his legs as his arms held the branch and his legs kept him balanced.

His eyes sparkled as Arahel made the first move heating the ax blades so he could attack, but what was this? It was a common trick in ninjutsu knows as misdirection, as Lust fell for his trick Venom watched in delight as Arahel's knee met lists abdomen, but she didn't seem quite finished as Arahel attacked again. She slid away due to the slick pavement, it was almost comical. Venom chuckled as she showed her frustration with mere curses. Venom wanted to laugh but he didn't want to disturb either fighter. With Arahel getting hit after hit in he smiled, while Lust's frustration grew, causing her moves to become sloppy allowing Arahel to hit her more easily.

Venom watched the fight in awe studying not only style but moves, weapons and feeling out the emotions of each contender, doing this, knowing that Lust was frustrated and angry, so Venom turned his empathetic feelers (so to speak) toward Arahel who seemed calm and sure of himself, Venom also felt an air of proud reality about him as royalty should, but what caught Venoms attention was Arahels unbridled bloodlust which set off Venom's own. This was truly a battle worthy of the Roman Colosseum.

Venom watched with sharp, dark eyes that were used to seeing in near-complete darkness. The depths of hell were a spectacular training ground, the one thing they didn't teach him was his skill, he began in hell, but Lucifer had another idea, he would train with true masters in a land to the east with mountains that touched the skies and roads where cherry blossoms reigned supreme, the land was titled Japan, and on this little island Lucifer ruled, had their own version of demons, where Lucifer was called Akuma, the demons there were called, Oni, and Shinigami. These creatures came in many forms, but the ones Lucifer sent Venom too, was an Oni by the name of Daku. He was Venoms teacher in the art of Krav Maga, Daku's one rule was: no mercy.

Venom didn't train long, as he was a sharp man, picking up the moves after a few lessons. When Venom was done learning hand to hand combat, an Oni came to him and told him that there was a human who had sold his soul, this man was a samurai that devoted the latter of his life to crafting the most powerful of swords known as Katana. The Oni told Venom to train there, so he did. The swordsmith went by the name Muramasa. Muramasa was going mad in his old age and with the help of demons whispering into his mind, he was slowly going senile, but as he was pouring this madness into a blade, a prized katana that took the same name.

As he was training Venom a few hours a day, the rest of the swordsman's time was devoted to finishing his weapon. After all, was said and done, the blade was finished, on one half of the same side, was black like his dark soul, but the other half glittered maroon, like flowing blood. The muramasa blade had a life of its own that matched the madness of its owner sending unworthy fielder into blood fueled madness. Once the blade was done, Lucifer told Venom to kill the swordsmith. Venom did so with the very blade created by the mad swordsmith. Once in hell, Lucifer permitted Venom to keep the cursed Muramasa blade. Venom touched his finger to the edge of the blade lightly, but even with the lightest touch Venom's blood dribbled down the blade, sealing it to Venoms will.

Venom smiled as he watched the very end of the battle and licked his lips as she was burnt to ash by Arahel. Her screams echoed into the night, a sound that should have drawn attention, but it seems the sound of suffering roused only spirits, ghosts of the dead that met death in this crumbling, abandoned area of the town. Shadow watched this demon in awe, his eyes sparkling with the desire to meet and fight this magnificent demon, whose bloodlust matched Venoms own, though he didn't show it Venom was just as bloodthirsty as any demon. As he watched Arahel spread his glorious wings he was left stunned, as Venom recapped the battle, every one of Arahels moves we're calculated and precise, an art no human could teach Venom.

Venom closed his eyes and looked down with a smile plastered on his face, he looked up and watched Arahel flap his wings once launching him fifty feet. In the distance, he heard Arahel thank him for Letting Lucifer know of the possible impending end of his reign "this isn't the end demon prince" he called out to his rival. Venom jumped from the tree, but this time he didn't land gracefully, he landed on his feet only to fall. The pain of the toxins was beginning to take effect, but he couldn't stop the chase, Althazar was looking for a reason to have Shadow and Venom killed, he was growing bored of their disobedience.

Venom knew he had to keep going, he knew that it would spread the toxin faster, but he couldn't lose the game to a mouse, and a rather good looking one at that. He jumped into an adjacent tree and followed Arahels aura trail.
 
Although Arahel could fly much faster than the quick place he was already going, he chose not to. He wanted to enjoy feeling both the wind and rain that beat against him as he flew. Down in Hell, feeling sensations such as this were nonexistent. It was thrilling and rejuvenating, having such a strong natural force challenging his own without having to go looking for it. He didn’t even mind the fact that he was completely drenched at this point, focusing on the way his heart pounded with the thunder. Briefly the thoughts of his pursuer were whisked away from his mind, the male well behind by now and would take a good bit of time to catch up.

As disappointing as it way for him to stop Arahel came to a landing near a series of old structures, his wings and horns seemingly dissolving into thin air as they disappeared out of sight. Most of the old homes were nothing but skeletons, long gone were the brick and stone leaving only the foundations in their stead. But one of them still stood proud and tall—the demon’s influence from magic kept it from crumbling. With a hum he disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing in a room that vastly contradicted the appearance of the building it was in. The room was lavish, clear of mold and stench free, the furniture that was present clean and not rotting away as one would expect given how it seemed on the outside. Arahel wasn’t going to spend his time in a hotel, but he was by no means going to sleep in a dump, so after some simple spell casting of alteration he had his old room from Hell at his accessible at his fingertips. Just because he was labeled a traitor now didn’t mean he no longer held himself to the mannerisms of a Prince.

As he 'poof'ed into the room, the furry mound that was curled up into a ball in the corner jolted upright, being shocked out of the nap it was taking. A three-headed hound was what the mound was, the first head appearing alert while the second merely yawned and the third seemed to try and stay asleep. But the moment the first one's eyes landed on Arahel there was a yip, instantly waking the other two up before the body jumped upright and clumsily ran towards the Demon prince--although a puppy, the hound nearly came up to his waist, and he was a 6'1 tall man. But still the redhead grinned widely as he dropped down to his knees to meet the hyper and excited mutt, throwing his arms around the bundle of joy. "There are my favorite girls~" Arahel cooed, managing to get a good enough hold on the wriggling mass to kiss the top of each head.

He chuckled before taking a stand, the dog running off to the side to run in happy circles, as his hands gripped the bottom of both his shirt and jacket before pulling them up and over his head. He let them fall to the floor with a wet smack, stripping himself of the soaked garments. He didn't seem bothered by the shadow demon that showed itself in the light, the beady eyes of light looking straight at him as he undressed. He didn't budge even as the dog came to greet him as well. "They follow," Came the raspy whisper.

"Yes yes, Vex, I know," Arahel replied, his boots being removed followed by his pants hitting the floor next and leaving him in the nude--he preferred going without boxers. But a moment later he was going through the drawers of his dresser, picking out another set of clothes. "Let me get dressed first, and I'll deal with it." Although he couldn't get sick the way humans did, wet clothes were uncomfortable and chafed, causing a terrible rash he had the "luxury" of discovering. He'd rather no deal with something like that again.

Moments later he was dressed in torn blue jeans and a plain red tank top, the Prince working of getting his boots back on before a clean before an oversized black hoodie was slipped upon his person. Arahel ran his hands through his wet hair to slick it back a little bit before regarding his faithful follower. "Vex, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like for you to take the girls and hide, though stay close just as a precaution," He started, taking a glance at the window where the rain and the following assassin were. "I'd like to take a lot at our little tag along first before we move on to our next target."

Vexaohr, though clearly Vex for short, gave a slow nod as shadows began to creep towards his being, stretching out towards the hound who whimpered at the thought of leaving their owner after being reunited for only a handful of minutes. But nonetheless they complied, and in a matter of moments both they and Vex were gone from sight, consumed by the shadows and no longer on this side of the veil of light. Once Arahel was by himself he released a sigh and snapped his fingers, the image of the lively room being torn away and replaced by the original rotten and hazardous setting of a decayed bedroom. He huffed and scowled at the scent of mildew and mold that assaulted his nose, raising a hand to try and block out the stench a little bit. It didn't work, like at all. But still Arahel stayed put, awaiting the arrival of his soon to be new "friend".
 
Venom's indigo eyes watched and followed the path the prince flew off toward and broke out into a madman's laughter "I LOVE THIS CITY!" He yelled as his strong masculine voice rose and spread far. He took notice of not only that but the landmarks, and objects around him. As Arahel flew off Venom watched felling his heart flutter and pushed away from the thought, blaming this feeling on the venom that was crawling it's a way through Venom's body. He watched the rain that now came in sheets and beat against the armored scales of Arahel's draconian wings as they flapped, carrying him from sight "I hate to see him go, but I love to watch him leave" he chuckled at his own words as he jumped from the branch, but a sharp pain in his chest caused his graceful leap to fail as he landed on his feet, then fall to his hands and knees as the hard landing caused his knees to buckle under his weight.

Venom gripped his chest until the pain passed, then stood up a little wobbly, his double vision betraying his sight, but before it did he noticed his surroundings, if one was facing the direction that Arahel flew off into, to the right there were trees between buildings, abandoned homes of which the bricks that crumbled and left only pieces, and dust from the tread of human traffic, the metal that held the foundation tall and strong now stood rusting, and abandoned from the neglect of the builders that seemingly give up, and the wooden beams held up by the metal we're rotting, decaying from months, possibly, years of neglect, it seems that even the termites had lost hope of once-proud houses in a thriving neighborhood that stood as a grim reminder of the changing of the times.

To the left was land dotted with vibrant green trees and shrubs of all sizes that soaked in as much water as their roots desired. Beyond that, we're miles of streets that Venom had a pass if he wanted to follow the fading demonic aura that lot the path to his destination an aura only Venom and Shadow could see, it was a gift they both shared. Venom's vision began blur so he remembered a legend that sensei Daku had told him of, it was the legend of a blind swordsman, this legendary man's name was unknown, but his hearing was so acute it strengthened his other senses exponentially, so much so that those around him, friend or enemy, though he had superhuman abilities. The legend gave Venom an idea, he focused his mind and closed his eyes, he snapped his fingers allowing the sound vibrations to paint a picture of his surroundings, with that Venom stood up and ran in the direction he felt the aura.

It would take him longer since he was poisoned, with time against him he ran as fast as he could jumping from trees, to buildings to cars, not in that order. He jumped from a tree to a car, landing on the vehicle then the alarm sounded on the car, but before anyone could see him he jumped from a tree to what seemed like the only standing home within a 2-mile radius. His vision finally returned to normal, but his pain was growing with each step and he wondered if he could go on, but Venom was stubborn and tenacious, he refused to give in even if it spelled his death.

He stopped taking his surroundings once more, this time he saw better-maintained homes with lights in the windows, but he knew he couldn't stop. He forced himself to continue jumping silently this time from house to house, following the trail that was fading before his eyes. He looked to the distance and saw the neighborhood showing desolate as he moved towards his destination.

Despite the excruciating pain and the fever that gripped him in it's clutches Venom pressed on stopping momentarily as his cursed blade hummed with excitement "hush muramasa, we're not far now" he leaped like a cat into a tree that was not far from a house and from there he saw a second tree that had an excellent vantage point, from one tree to the second he climbed, nearly to the top and there in the distance stood his prey, the little mouse that seemed as eager to fight Venom just as Venom was to fight Arahel.

Venom grew dizzy falling a few feet as a tree branch cut into his leg. Shadow had woken and watched through Venoms eyes as the mercenary fell "holy shit Ven, you can't get a break can you" Venom growled as his kind half chuckled "Shut up, you retarded hyena" Shadow ended his conversation with his kinder half as Shadow became dormant once more. Venom jumped from tree to tree leaving a trail of blood behind since Lucifer only pricked him he wouldn't die but it would invoke the first stage of Lucifers venom, causing Venoms ability to heal to a crawl, it was a good thing that it was a cut an inch long and a quarter-inch deep.

Finally, he arrived, jumping, and keeping his balance on the metal fence with a worn, metal DO NOT ENTER sign that was ravaged by weather, and police tape wrapping around the metal links, meant to keep everyone out, apparently for a rare few the warning held no significance. Venom smiled keeping his balance. His ragged breathing and fevered appearance betrayed him and allowing his condition to be known. Venom jumped from the fence landing gracefully on the grass that gave way to cement gravel as he walked forward, the gravel crunching beneath his feet. He walked up to Arahel leaving about 10 feet between them, the cut on his leg left an diagonal opening on is leather pants from which blood from his cut ran down staining the rubble "Arahel, your father is an idiot, but unfortunately that idiot is my master, I wish I had met you, just not this way, fighting in the state I'm in, I will probably die, but if that happens...At least I will die a warrior.

Venom gave a soft sigh of regret and pulled out muramasa as slowly as possible reveling in the sound of metal on metal from the sheath meant to keep hi blade sharp. He closed his eyes as tears flowed down his cheeks and the sigil Lucifer had given him so long ago, glowed red " are you ready, muramasa?" The blade hummed excitedly, and as Venom opened his eyes they had turned from purple to crimson as the blades madness poured into him like a river of darkness and bloodlust that had gripped, tightly it's creator. As he held the trembling blade before him he took a fighting stance with his feet apart and his arm outstetched, calling Arahel to attack and held his blade horizontally above his head. The obvious wound Lucifer gave him turned the area purple and black as the flesh felt like it was rotting away, the pain was nearly unbearable, but Lucifers prisoner, enforcer, and toy, had no choice, but obedience.
 
By the time Venom could finally catch up to Arahel, the building he'd taken residence up in finally collapsed, most of it rotting away as debris practically dissolved into dust as it fell. Thankfully the rain ended, so the Prince peacefully sat amongst the rubble back towards the enforcer as he approached. But, though the male couldn't see it, the Heir's face scrunched up in distaste. Even with the smell of the rain permeating in the air with the distance between them, he could still smell the stench of his father's toxins coursing through the human's body. He didn't have to look to know what his pursuer's appearance would look like. He's witnessed his father use his poison more than enough times for himself, and experience it too. Just typical. Arahel sighed softly and reached a hand up, scratching the side of his head. But after a moment he finally moved to take a stand, brushing off the dirt, dust and the bits of gravel he could while ignoring the fact that his ass was now a little bit damp again from sitting down on the wet ground.

A small frown was pulling at his lips as he turned to face Venom, recognizing the male now that he was closer--before being sent to Earth, Arahel had plenty of chance to get a look at his father's slave without showing himself, as Lucifer was very particular about his slaves and the interactions they had like the twisted son of a bitch he was. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head, summoning only one of his axes with his right hand and lifting it up to rest it on his shoulder. Even with the power he could feel radiating from the human, something told him he wasn't necessarily going to have to need his wings. "This is going to suck," He grumbled to himself, furrowing his eyebrows as his enhanced sight zeroed in on the wound and making him scoff. This was just typical of his father, ruining a good fight for him. "This isn't a fair fight, and fuck that pisses me off..." he grumbled glancing down at his free hand to examine his nails briefly as they turned into blackened claws followed by his hand being consumed by flickering flames.

It didn't take the Prince much thought at all before deciding that, no, he wasn't going to kill this man. This blatant disrespect and wastefulness of a capable person was just giving him all the more reason to kick Lucifer's ugly furry ass off of that even uglier throne of his, another person to fight for. It was a strikingly rare trait among demons, but Arahel favored physically fair fights. The battle between him and Lust was uneven in terms of mental(and emotional) capability, but she was still able to fight without the threat of collapsing mid-fight. And so Arahel made his choice. 'I'm going to have to rein it in, though,' He thought to himself, mind going back to the fight he just had and just how much easier it would be to completely invest himself in his bloodlust. 'I might end up needing Vex far sooner than I initially thought.'

Sighing softly to himself Arahel willed a fireball into existence in the palm of his hand, taking a moment to gauge Venom's position and the amount of madness he could feel emanating from the human. It was like holding a match to a trail of gasoline--a match that was dangerously close to starting a fire that wouldn't stop until it ran out of fuel to keep it burning. A low growl was made as the Prince could already feel the gears of battle turning inside of him and scowled, the ball in his hand glowing brighter and hotter as he poured his frustrations into it. It steadily grew in size as well, becoming bigger than just the small little fireball it had been when it was first made.

"You're going to be such a pain in my ass, aren't you?" Arahel grumbled out, narrowing his eyes into a glare as he looked towards Venom, scoffing as he tossed the ball up in the air before catching it as if it were a simple baseball. "But it'll be just like everything else, I guess..." Then, after a moment, he threw the ball of fire, but not directly at the human. Instead he threw it towards Venom's feet, the ball erupting into a large flash of fire. It flared long and tall, making a wall of fire that was hot enough to evaporate the moisture that covered the ground. And when it dispersed Arahel wasn't where he once stood--a distraction, so that the Prince of Hell could appear behind Venom in a cloud of faint smoke, brandishing both axes now. One was braced and ready to block while the other was aimed to strike at the enforcer's back. However, before the sharp edge would be able to make even a scratch on Venom, Arahel twisted wrist slightly, making it so that he would strike out with the flat side of his blade instead. The heir stood by his earlier conviction--he wasn't going to kill this man, and to ensure that he had to use more defensive moves with his offensive. 'And not get killed or worse in the process,' Came the afterthought.
 
Venom looked around at the same decaying buildings that he started in. It saddened him that such a mystical city, with magick and mystery practically hanging in the air like a fog could be in such a sad state, it seemed that the people that were once proud, pagans, or even ordinary people with a heritage that included fantastic tales of little men with red hair that waited with pots of gold at the end of rainbows, and little tiny faerie like creatures that played tricks on people, could have lost their way so easily, because they were lost souls that more than one part of this city was left to ruin.

Venom assumed that Arahel saw the damage his father had caused, and assumed it was why he wanted to take his father down erasing all the chaos he wrought, it caused Shadow to speak to Venom without taking control, not that he could at this point "Venom, don't fight him he is your way out of slavery, I know that's all you wanted, from the first day you were created and it was also the same day that we were dragged to hell...I can feel his heart he....." Venom growled, intervening out loud and interrupting the words Shadow spoke into their mind. The gentle Shadow only side and returned to his slumber "shut up Shadow, you have no courage of your own, I always had to fight out battles, I don't need your help, so be silent you worthless cretin" Venom roared out loud, it seems that Venom was picking up on Lucifers habitual insults. He wanted so badly to take the advice of his kinder, more rational half, but Venom had already been consumed by muramasa's blood lust and the Sigil he bore above his right eyebrow.

Venom looked to Arahel with a demonic, angry scowl, baring his teeth which made him look like a cornered, feral animal, and to an extent, that's exactly what he was, an animal with no way out. Venom saw how nonchalant Arahel seemed, in Venoms twisted logic Arahel was mocking him, causing Venoms raw anger, and hatred to cause him to lose complete control in this state there was no pain, no rationale, just the victim of a cruel master going on a rampage. Even in this state, he was careful and his moves still calculated and accurate.

Venom saw the creation of Arahels fireball as it glittered in his eyes if Venom were in a state of normalcy he would have admired the demon prince for more than one reason, not only his calm demeanor, but the kindness Shadow first sensed in the demon prince. Shadow knew it was a nearly unheard of trait, especially in demons, more so the offspring of the tyrant that kept Venom on such a short leash. Venom stood there, his blade in trembling hands, as he watched the fireball grow in size, but Venom prepared himself, he planted his feet, took a deep breath before bringing Muramasa before him sliding his hand over the blades edge feeding it, causing Venoms madness to peak.

He watched Arahel prepare the fireball, and Venom to was prepared for his attack, strategizing how he was going to attack depending on what Arahel did with that fireball. A slow grin slid across Venoms lips as he heard Arahel ask Venom if he was going to be a pain in his ass "you have no idea" he growled his voice was dark and somehow soothing like a madman's lullaby. Venom gave a slow, demonic cackle that sounded completely mad as though he had lost himself to the darkest pits of the most evil mind, yet it still paled in the unholiest crevice of Lucifers unholy mind.

Venom saw Arahel toss the fireball up and down causing Venom to tense his muscles in preparation of the fireballs advance toward him "I know what you're doing Arahel...you're stalling for time searching for weaknesses, looking for the right angle to attack...I will evade any move you have coming" he snarled with a voice like gravel as he waited for the fireball. Venom's paranoia caused him to consider the fact that the fireball was a mere diversion of a much greater attack. Venom saw Arahel throw the fireball at his feet, as it landed he jumped as he saw the moisture leaving the soaked earth, but Venom had no time to waste as he turned his attention to a demonic aura behind him.

For only a second Venom saw the twin axes appear in a puff of smoke, it seemed that he was right on both accounts, but there was no time to think, as he twisted his body and using the momentum to swing muramasa. Venom swung his blade toward Arahel with the edge facing the demon prince. With every move time seemed to slow to nearly a complete stop, if one listened carefully they could hear the sound of muramasa as it sliced through the air, with venoms blood sliding of the blade and forming little droplets in it's wake. Once again the momentum of time caught up to them just as Venom felt the blunt side of the ax to hit his side, it was the side that Lucifer had injected his venom into causing a loud roar of pain to pass the mercenaries lips which weakened him causing him to hurtle to the ground. Venom caught his bearings and landed on his feet but the force if the attack pushed Venom back as his boots slid into the dirt stopping him just as it had for lust.

The more Venom moved the faster the toxin spread, perhaps his bloodlust was not a negative since it numbed him to any internal pain. He was a pathetic sight as the toxin spread further causing his breathing to become more ragged as he struggled to breath, his entire body began to tremble as blood trickled from his mouth from the toxins the first stage of thinning the blood, but Venom refused to give in as beads of sweat dripped from his chin as it mixed with blood leaving a light crimson trail. Venom looked up as the crimson glow began to dim in his eyes, in this state he was as threatening as a yapping chihuahua as he fell to one knee, but stubbornly he didn't give up. He stood back up, as he saw that he had landed beside a house that still had brick walls that haven't collapse, hoping the wall wouldn't collapse he used that wall to launch himself at Arahel, and hoped that Venoms attack would hit as he waited to get close enough to swing the demon blade and land a hit.
 
Arahel cursed as the blade of madness just barely grazed him, slicing through his hoodie with less than centimeters between it and his skin. He didn't know what that blade could do to him--he had hardly cared to listen about legends and old myths, as much as it came back around and bite him in the ass and make him regret it, and he was pretty certain that he didn't want to know. Not that he had long to dwell on it, though, as the sounds of Venom's body smacking into the ground and skidding causing another part of his bloodlust to unlock and be awakened. He growled and shook his head, cursing as tried to reel himself in. Fuck keeping himself in check was far more difficult than letting his calculative mind and instincts run for him. Arahel had to remind himself: No, this isn't how he fought. It was pathetic and brutish and just as bad his father.

That thought seemed to snap him out of it--he would never become his father, even if it meant having to kill himself. And it happened just in time, too, as it prompted him to look up as Venom launched himself at the Prince. The Heir sucked in a breath and in an instant his wings appeared as he jumped, giving a hefty boost as he leaped over the weakened body, twisting his around to avoid the swinging of the dangerous blade that damn near found itself being embedded in his person. 'Dammit!'' He thought in aggravation as he used his wings to balance himself and hover a good distance up above the ground, eyes looking to the hostile madman. He didn't think twice before opening the telepathic link between himself and his loyal servant to call out top the demon of shadows. 'Vex, he's going to get himself killed! I need something to work with here!'

As the demon replied planting images inside of his head instead of using words to make the explanation swift and simple, one of Arahel's axes disappeared to make way for another fireball. There wasn't much time to pour so much power into a single ball, so Arahel went with a different strategy. He raised his arm and threw it out, launching the fire. As it left his arm it split into several different balls, each one making contact with a hot flash in an attempt to encourage Venom to step back. The Prince had to keep distance between the two of them less either one of them got hurt--and Arahel wasn't about to let himself get killed, not before he brought his oh so dear father down to his knees in a slow and painful death.

Almost immediately afterwards the flying demon launched another attack just like the last, firing out the multiple balls of fire. This time, though, he also threw the axe that was in his free hand, aiming right for Venom's body. But before the spinning weapon could reach the slave and make contact with his body, it disappeared in a swirling mass of shadows. It was completely gone and out of both the human's and Hell Prince's sight, almost as if it had been decided that the scorching hot axe was no longer needed to exist to serve Arahel.

But the idea wasn't meant to be, as it was proven wrong just a moment later. It reappeared behind Venom, much like how Arahel had appeared when he first attacked the human. Only with this, the axe was in Vex's hand with the demon surrounded by a protective layer of shadows--that seemed almost alive with the way the squirmed around his being--as if it were armor with only his blackened arm visible. The lesser demon swung his arm, aiming to knock Venom upside the head with the flat side of the axe, avoiding fatal injuries as his master wished.
 
Being a prince and a demon, Arahel was arrogant, but it wasn't his fault, it was a trait defect of what he was and who his father was. Venom saw the boredom in Arahels face, it seemed that the prince didn't care where he was, or the tales that came with it, but Venom...it was different for him, he was human, he didn't belong in hell, it wasn't a choice for him, so every time Venom saw anything that wasn't a demon or a tortured soul he relished it, every time he saw the moon it filled him with awe, as though he was seeing it for the first time. In that aspect he pitied Arahel.

Venom saw Arahel fighting his instincts he felt the demon's heart as Arahel fought his own instinct, if Venom had been of sound mind, he would have admired this feature in Arahel and wished he could see it in himself, but no, Venom was nothing more than a broken toy waiting to die, and he knew Lucifer wanted just that, if only to take Venoms soul. The contract he signed gave Lucifer his body, but to take one's soul took consent, Venoms soul was still his own...at least until his body died. It seemed like a trap more than it did a mission, perhaps it was both.

Venom saw Arahel unfold his magnificent wing and flapped them so he could boost himself enough to leap over Venom who had to stop momentarily, the unceasing blood loss from the cut on his leg caused him to have a dizzy spell that nearly felled him, but he forced himself up despite the pleas of his body to rest telling him that if he didn't he would possibly due, but Venom was no longer himself he was hyper-focused on his target and nothing would stop him, even the pleas of his weak body fell on deaf ears as he became completely possessed by the curse of the death blade.

Venoms dizziness faded as he saw Arahel hovering above him as he fell to his knee stabbing his blade into the ground for balance, he gave a madman's cackle as he coughed up blood "fine...if you won't come to me, then I will come to you" he said as he stood up still cackling even though his head was bowed. He pulled out muramasa and dragged it along the ground it made a scraping noise that sounded foreboding giving one a sense of dread. Venom kept a close eye on Arahel's twin axes and seeing one aime at Venom made him wary as he kept every sense open in case he launched it at him in his ingress toward the demon. Venom was about to leap onto the chain link fence when he saw Arahel throw his ax.

Venom leaped out of the way only for the ax to disappear mid-flight while being used as a diversion for the plethora of fireballs that rained upon him threatening to scorch him, any sane man would jump out of the way, and Venom did as the fireballs hurtled towards him, but he only jumped so far "you think a little fire scares me?" Ever since that inconceivable bastard ripped me away from everything I loved and dragged me to that wretched place, fire is all I saw, so why would I be afraid of it no...." Venom saw the strange shadow and the glitter of the ax out of his peripheral vision and realized that the fireballs were just another diversion, unfortunately, his body was unmanageable at that point making him feel like he was walking through molasses.

Venom had no time to respond as the side of Arahel's ax wielded by this strange swirling mass of shadows made contact with his body causing Venom to fall to his hands and knees as muramasa slid from his grasp, causing him to come to himself, no longer did the blade protect him from the pain, but even then Venom fought to get up only to fail, the pain hit him all at once causing a scream of pain only heard from the depths of hell to escape his lips. Trembling violently and struggling to breathe Venoms body finally gave out. The last thing he saw was Arahel. He closed his eyes as tears fell from them. He looked on but saw nothing. With his fever-induced induced stupor Venoms mind returned to I'ms days as a child "...Im sorry father...Im so...tired, I failed...may I try again tomorrow?" With those last words, Venom felt the darkness wrap him in a cool blanket, it was so cozy, so comforting, and so...different from the blazing inferno he was forced to endure for centuries that he didn't want that feeling to leave, and, yes, centuries, because after Venom and Shadow turned 25, Lucifer cast an immortality spell on their body so he could enjoy his guard dog until the end of time.
 
Arahel hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath as he watched Venom still struggle after the blow Vex dealt to his body. He tensed, daring to bring himself to the fallen to act in case the human still had it in him to fight back. But when the mumbled words were spoken and the man finally collapsed, the Prince relaxed with a relieved breath, his chest aching slightly to show he hadn't been breathing. "Shit..." He exhaled slowly as he lowered himself down to the ground next to Venom's unconscious body. As he did so Vex appeared from his wall of shadows, the axe fading from existence. Arahel sighed as he lightly nudged to poisoned male with his point, looking towards his fellow demon as he ran a hand through his hair. "What's damage?" He questioned. "Will he be fine, or is he just fucked?"

Vexaohr knelt next Venom, low clicks and hisses leaving the being of shadow as he examined the human. The glowing dots that were his eyes dilated slightly, almost mimicking the act of narrowing eyes as he concentrated. Carefully he rolled the male's body over so that he could gently prod at the discolored flesh, ignoring Arahel's offhanded comment of "ouch". After a few tense seconds ticked by, Vex gave another clicking noise and stood. "Give him a few days and he will recover."

Arahel let out a "whew" and he tilted his head back, sighing as he let his eyes close for a moment. Alright, so that was two good wins for today. He killed Lust and he managed to not kill the assassin sent by his Father. 'Speaking of Father...' There was a thoughtful hum from the redhead as he glanced at Venom, making a 'tsk' sound. The Prince couldn't just leave the human lying here. Either Venom get back up and hunt the Prince down and the Heir would have to fight back then, or Lucifer would send another assassin after him while killing Venom in the process. That was assuming there wasn't already another assassin on his tail. "Yup, you're a pain in my ass..." Arahel groaned and scratched at the side of his head. But nonetheless he knelt down and hoisted the comatose body up and over his shoulder. "I swear if you attack me the moment you wake up, I'm going to knock your ass right back out and leave you stranded someplace." He didn't care that Venom couldn't hear him. He looked to Vex and nodded towards him, securely holding the human in place. "Alright, off to the next place then, yeah?"

Vex didn't say a word in response, merely nodding in return. He used his shadows to pick up the discarded Muramasa before the shadows began to emanate from his body, stretching out to swirl around and encompass the three individuals in a blanket. It wrapped around them, hiding them from sight. And when it dispersed they were completely gone from sight, using the realm of shadows to travel to their next destination.

***

About a day passed since the encounter and in the mean time Arahel had found another place to stay, the Prince summoning his room so that he and the others could enjoy the break of luxury over abandoned emptiness. Well, except for Venom, given how he was unconscious. But given his fevered and injured state, he'd been given the bed for Vex to tend to his injury. The loyal servant watched over the assassin, making sure that his condition approved steadily in Arahel's absence, the Heir having left to attend to the pressing matters at hand. Even though there was an injured man laying in his bed, Arahel couldn't wait least the man he was after learn about his advance.

Vex, not requiring rest, watched over the male with constant attention. Thanks to his vast pool of knowledge, the shadow demon was easily able to combat the venom just enough to counter the fever that riddled Venom's body. Of course he wasn't able to cleanse his body of Lucifer's toxins--there was no antidote for that, and if it did exist then only the King of Hell knew about it, so all they could really do was let the poison run it's full course. So long as the human didn't throw a fit of some kind and thrash his body around, of course, because that would only make the problem worse for himself.

It was evening by the time Arahel finally returned, the sun beginning to set in the sky and filtering through the window to bathe the room in the warm dusk lighting. Vex turned his attention away from Venom to look to the Prince, taking in the rugged appearance and tears that littered his clothing. "...you've returned early," He spoke, gaze drifting from Arahel to the three-headed pup that perked up upon the Heir's arrival before looking back down to the near motionless being. "He had his trained beast with him, I take it?" He asked, referring to the long slashes in the clothes that might as well have been tatters at this point.

"What gave it away? Do I look that bad?" Arahel countered, amusement lacing his voice despite his exhaustion. As he turned his back to the demon the drying blood that was clinging to his skin and the remaining bits of his outfit was shown, the wounds on his back almost healed up by now though were still present in the form of faded scratches. "But yeah, he did. It was a majestic monster, that dog of his. It's honestly sad I had to put it down." He hummed somberly, glancing down as one of the heads from his hound butted against his head. "How is is?" Arahel asked, changing the subject to Venom as he began to remove his clothes, scowling as he finally took a moment to look over the extent of their damage.

"He is better," Vexaohr replied, looking back to the Prince. "His condition is improving. Another day or so and he should recover completely, given he rests."

"Awesome," Arahel hummed, running a hand through his messy hair before rubbing a kink out of his neck. A moment later his horns began to appear along with a tail, one that split near the base to create two tails instead of just one. They were covered with draconic scales that glittered in the light, much like his wings, and each ended with a little spade decal. "I'm gonna hop in the shower real quick. If he's wakes, make sure he doesn't flip his shit or anything, alright?" Vex gave a click of confirmation and Arahel went through the door that was a little ways away from the bed, not bothering to shut it behind himself before the sound of running water began to filter into the room.
 
Venom felt nothing as his limp body was carried to a splendid room, but Shadow saw everything through Venoms eyes he only waited for their vessel to heal, so that he may have his turn to speak. As the body healed the road to that goal was painful, not only physically, but his night terrors threw him into a devastating fever, but with Lucifer's immorality spell cast upon the body of both Venom and Shadow, they would never age and their wounds healed quicker, but with venom coursing through their veins, it wouldn't heal quite as fast, their healing would be a little quicker than the healing process of an ordinary human, which only gave him a few days.

As vex lay him down the night terrors began to play like a movie reel of his memories. Back on the earthen plain while his body lay resting and recovering his body was still so weak. Shadow tried to prevent this as he watched Venom push himself above and beyond his limits that even Lucifer would be proud had Venom succeeded in his mission. Now moments passed, but Venoms body was so drained that Instead of thrashing, his body only allowed him limited movement so as he lay in a fever-induced sweat he could only twitch, what a sorry sight he was, as he lay helpless, Venom would be sick with shame if only he could see himself.

A few days of this had passed and he finally woke, but Venom rests so Shadow took control. Their body was still weak, but they recovered for the most part. As Shadow sat up, eyes of gold scanned the room, he saw vex and jumped back in fear "holy shit! What the hell are you?!?!" He squeaked, it took him a moment, but he gained his bearings and lay back down trembling in pain "please forgive me, that was incredibly rude, you have obviously met Venom...I'm Shadow" he said in a voice significantly warmer and softer than Venoms icy, sadistic tones.

Shadow punched a hole into the bed frame, in turn, the ball of the that stood atop the poster of a four-poster bed, he blushed and flung his legs over the side of the bed, but didn't stand up out of fear he wouldn't be able to keep his balance, or even hold himself up, he blushed brightly "I'm sorry about the bed, I don't usually lose my temper I leave that to the idiot, Venom" Shadow scrunched up his face in frustration, as tears rolled down his cheeks from his gentle eyes of gold "I tried to warn him not to fight, he wouldn't listen, he was already so weak...despite how hard he fought...he didn't stand a chance...the venom had already done so much damage, but by that time the bloodlust consumed him" Shadow remembered every aspect of the fight as if it had happened only hours ago.

Shadow wiped away his tears with his thumbs "I'm sorry for the spectacle" he realized his selfish words "please, forgive me my manners seemed to have eluded me, as I said I am Shadow, to I get the pleasure of learning yours?" Shadow's scattered thoughts turned to Arahel "Arahel...he could have finished us easily, but he didn't...why?" He asked the mass of swirling shadows" his eyes had a confused pleading look "I owe both you and Arahel debt of gratitude, if he can rid me of the mark that binds me to Lucifer, I would like to help him take down his father...finally after all he had put me through...all he had taken...never mind, I believe I asked for your name" Shadow gave a warm smile and he held out his hand to shake Vex's. Shadow saw a three headed pup barreling toward him, and felt it's weight as it jumped into Shadows lap nearly topping him over. Shadow winced in pain, but shook it off and chuckled "well, are you a friendly one" he scratched the puppy behind the ear and watched it's leg shake "speaking of Arahel, where is he? On business I assume, will he return soon?"
 
Vex's eyes wavered just slightly as he watched Shadow stir. He wasn't startled or offended by the shriek, nor did he flinch when the human went and punched the bed. Arahel was likely going to complain about it, but to be honest it wasn't the shadow demon's problem. Instead he remained silent, watching and listening to the male speak and carry on, his interest being piqued when the man mentioned wanting to help with taking down Lucifer. But before he mentioned that his gaze fell to the hellhound, a sharp click coming out of him and causing the dog to obediently get off of Shadow, sitting on the floor with all three heads peering curiously over the side of the bed at the human.

"I am a shadow demon," He began, going in order of the questions Shadow asked. Vex glanced down at the outreached hand before looking towards his own blackened one, his claws slowly decreasing his length to be much more reasonable before accepting the human's offer of a handshake. Then he reached to the side where a cup of water sat on the nightstand and placed it Shadow's hand. "My name is Vexaohr, but my may call me Vex for short." A soft hiss left him as he turned his gaze down towards the dog, letting his hand rest on the right head and lightly scratching behind the ears. "You give the young Prince too little credit if you think he has any reason to kill the two of you," Vex mused softly as he returned his gaze to the human. "But no, Arahel is no loner out. He has returned, but he is currently tending to his healing wounds." As he said that he made his way towards the open bathroom, closing it slightly so that Shadow wouldn't have the chance to peer in and see the naked Prince.

He made his way back to the bed and reached his hand out, fingers resting underneath Shadow's so he could tilt the male's head up slightly. A few scattered hisses and clicks left the demon as he examined the mark that was above the human's eyebrow. "It will not be a pleasant ordeal removing that sigil," He spoke after a moment, releasing the other's face as his head turned towards the bathroom door. "I lack the power to attempt such a thing, obviously. However Arahel has the ability to do so. But it will leave him weakened for some time and you in pain."

From there Vex turned and motioned to the table that was pressed up against a far wall, a bundle of shadows sitting on the top of it. "That blade of yours is over there. For the sake of keeping the Prince and his curious nature from touching it. But I would personally recommend keeping your hands off of it until you've fully recovered your strength."

As he finished speaking the bathroom door creaked quietly, Arahel revealing himself. A towel was wrapped securely around his waist with another one in his hands as he worked to dry his hair. He let the plush fabric rest around his shoulders as he reached a hand up, lightly scratching just under one of his horns. Golden eyes opened slightly with a hum as the Heir glanced around the room, perking up when he noticed Shadow sitting up. "Oh hey, welcome back to the living. It's about damn time," Arahel mused with a chuckle as he made his way to his dresser, tails swaying behind him as he walked. "Part of me was starting to think you were going to stay in that coma of yours."
 
Shadows legs hung over the side of the bed as he looked to Vex, he stood up and walked over to Vex, his leather boots squeaking as he walked to, then around Vex, studying him. Shadow touched his shoulder expecting his hand to go right through, but no, Vex was solid, a solid mass of swirling shadows.

Realizing what he was doing, and possibly making the creature very uncomfortable he blushed and sat back down on the bed "Please, forgive me, I hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable it's just that I have never seen a shadow demon before, being trapped in hell the only demons, I see are those brutish monsters so you're quite fascinating to me, again I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I would have been, but I'm not you am I?" He gave a nervous chuckle

His eyes fell to the mess he made as the poster rolled around on the floor. Shadow took him a deep calming breath "I'm sorry about the bed, I was frustrated, I don't usually get angry, I'm usually the calm, logical of the two of us, Venom is the warrior...I tried to warn him that Arahel was his way out of Lucifers control, but he was gone by then. We can both control muramasa, but Lucifer took control of him and well, the combination sent him into a blood frenzy"

Shadow ignored Vex's clicks to control the puppy and opened his arms, calling the puppy over, the furry 3-headed puppy bound into his arms again, and he began scratching the puppy causing a smile to cross his lips "it's nice to feel something other than blood and flesh in my hand, Lucifer n really care whose...as long as I did my job.

Shadow sighed " you think I gave him too little credit? Well, Lucifer sends Venom After Arahel, the only information he gives Venom is Lucifers son is planning to betray him, being the son of the demon king did it ever cross your mind that with the information given that Venom wouldn't think he was like his father? That Arahel wanted the throne so that he might follow in his father's blood-soaked footsteps? Could you really blame Venom for thinking the way?"

Shadow turned away sadly "Venom is a hothead that leaps before he looks but we are still human...whatever humanity we have left, is...wavering" just then a voice rang out in their minds "who are you calling a hothead, I fight while you do nothing" Shadow gave a frustrated growl " Shut up Venom, you say I do nothing yet every time you fight you make a huge mess and I have to clean it up, go back to sleep and stay quiet" Venom growled, but did just that...for now.

Shadow didn't even notice the bathroom until Vex went to close the door, but in that time Shadow caught a glimpse of Arahel's backside and turned away blushing. His head turned to the door as it creaked open, he saw this Adonis of a man with a body that looked like it was carefully carved from marble, everything about him was resplendent, from the tip of his horns to the soles of his feet. Shadow turned bright red and averted his gaze "you like him don't you, Shadow...I have to admit he looks good wrapped in nothing, but a towel" Shadow turned an even brighter shade of red "SHUT UP, VENOM YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF!!!" Shadow saw that Arahel, and Vex, even the dog stared at him, he lay his hand on the back of his neck "sorry about that, Venom likes pushing my buttons"

Shadow walked up to Arahel holding his hand out "It's nice to meet you, as you probably already know Venom...I'm Shadow, I want to discuss a few things with you, Vex gave me some information I would like to talk about. The rain stopped, and it's few and far between that we get to come up here, it would be nice if I could enjoy it if only for a little longer, as I'm almost sure he's going to kill me for my betrayal. If it puts your mind at ease I can leave muramasa here"

Shadow touched Lucifers Mark and smiled nervously in fact it's probably a good idea in case we have a repeat of our little dance earlier" Shadow chuckled. His voice was warm and inviting and his eyes of melted gold told he same. He reached his hand out to Arahel and smiled warmly, waiting for the demon to accept or reject his offer.
 
Vex kept his replies to himself for the sake of not coming off rude as attentions shifted towards to the Prince. He looked towards Arahel who glanced back to him in turn, a knowing gleam in his eyes. After a moment the shadow demon turned away, silently excusing himself from the other two and stepped back into the shadows, resigning himself to simply watching for the time being.

Once Vexaohr was out of sight, Arahel let his gaze drift back to Shadow, a small smirk forming on his lips. "Charmed, Shadow. I believe you already know me, given everything that happened," Amusement laced his words as they were spoken, the heir reaching out to accept the open hand with a firm shake. His hand was soft and smooth for the most part, maybe only a callus or two present on the limb. The when he pulled his hand back he gave a nonchalant shrug. "Sure, we could have a chat. But just lemme put some pants on, alright? Getting caught with no pants on can be embarrassing.

Not that Arahel even knew what embarrassment was, as his next action would show very clearly. He moved his gaze away from Shadow and let the towel around his waist drop to the floor, completely exposing his lower half in front of the human without a second thought or an ounce of hesitation. He hummed lowly to himself as then started rifling through one of his dresser drawers. He pulled out a pair of old and baggy jeans, not thinking much about it before putting them on without caring for his lack of underwear.

Once his lower half was covered Arahel turned his attention back to Shadow, keeping the towel around his shoulders, as a laid back aura surrounding him and he gave a small grin. "So, do you wanna go to the roof of the building or the ground level?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. His gaze drifted temporarily to where Vex had previously been standing, looking for only a moment before turning back to the human, beginning to make his way towards the door. "I mean either way we'll have to walk through musty old building. I only bother with conjuring my room into existence, not an entire palace. Otherwise it kinda works against the whole "hiding" aspect I'm supposed to be doing, y'know?" The Prince gave a halfhearted shrug.

Then his gaze drifted to the shadow-covered blade as he passed by it and he gave a low chuckle, remembering that Shadow had mentioned leaving it behind. "And yeah, let's keep the blade here for right now. I've already had my fight for the day and I'd like to stay on the little break I've got going on, if you don't mind. I think I've spilled my fair share of blood already."
 
Shadow gave Arahel an attractive smile that would make anyone, man or woman swoon with a desire to obtain what only one could. Both Venom and Shadow were lonely, but they didn't enjoy the company of women that ordinary men did, Besides Shadow was too shy and Venom had too much pride to admit it. He was just as observant as Venom, so he noticed the shadow demon fade into the shadows, but Shadow knew he was there, he could sense the demon "despite what Venom has put you through, I want to thank you for sparing us, Vex, but you especially, your highness, it is very rare for a demon to show mercy, but then again you seem just as rebellious we are" he said with a sad smile.

Shadow heard Arahel speak "how can I forget such a beautiful face" Shadow heard the words that accidentally slipped from his lips and blush brightly "ah....nevermind that" Shadow returned to his serious tone "I know you, I noticed how lax you were with the fight, you tried your best not to hurt him but he was too far gone by then, I'm sorry he caused so much trouble...I tried to warn him, but with the combination of his mark taking control, it offset Muramasa both working hand in hand to drive him into a frenzy, normally we can handle muramasas bloodlust, at least until your father takes his mind, as you say he will fight to the death...quite literally.

Shadow felt Arahel take his hand, his grip was strong, soft and solid, when he pulled away Shadow was the one to swoon, but did his best to hide his clammy hands and heavy breathing, Shadow looked at Arahel "thank you, your highness, I would like to get to know you a bit better. Vex gave me some information I would eagerly like to speak with you about but until then..." Shadow saw him take off his towel revealing himself, Shadow turned bright red and turned away his heart fluttered at how painfully attractive he was, and quite well-endowed. He couldn't let Arahel see him at least not until he calmed down. Shadow took a deep breath and grounded himself.

Smiling calmly Shadow turned back to Arahel and relieved to see he had put on some jeans. He grew bold and walked up to him circling him "those jeans look good on you, let's see if I can't find you a nice t-shirt to go with them" Shadow rummaged through his dresser and found a black shirt with an anime character on it "try this one" he watched as Arahel put it on and did another circle "hmmm...it suits you, it's small so it accentuates every muscle, if I was a female I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off of you" what Arahel didn't realize was that Shadow nor Venom enjoyed a females company, they preferred males, but they would never tell.

Shadow thoughts drifted to Vex's words just after Arahel told him that they would have to go through musty buildings, as he spoke in such dulcet tones it returned Shadow's attention back to Arahel "It's alright, I live In hell if anything, musty old buildings are a huge improvement" he said with a musical chuckle. Arahel agreed to leave Muramasa behind "alone we can handle it's bloodlust without succumbing to it...its, when your father takes control of us, is when Venom is forced out and driven into a frenzy, as I said earlier, let's not talk about that right now, I believe I was promised a walk" he said cocking an eyebrow pairing it with a smile as eyes of melted gold gazed at the demon prince as he held out held out his hand.
 
Arahel had to resist the urge to smirk as he watched the male react to his actions and then circle him, eyeing him up and down. It was honestly adorable how Shadow thought he hide from The Prince of Temptation, and even if the heir were oblivious to it Vex would've been kind enough to point it out to him somewhere along the line later on. If Arahel was an ass he'd tease the other male some more, but for the time being he decided to keep those thoughts and comments to himself. As fun as it would be to embarrass Shadow, there were more important matters at hand that he had to focus on.

"That's dear ol' "dad" for you," The devil spawn replied dryly, his nose wrinkling just slightly when he called Lucifer his dad--he considered the relation between the two of them nonexistent despite how he was directly from the Devil's bloodline. Arahel shook his head and accepted the outstretched hand, not wasting another second before he was tugging the human behind as he stepped out of the room. The difference between the luxurious room and the empty, borderline horror movie scene of a hallway was huge, almost like the two were stepping into a completely different dimension...a dimension of old, peeling paint and the strong odor of mold, but the Prince was long used to such smells. 'It's better than fire and brimstone...' He thought. Even if it wasn't a pleasant smell, it was still better than Hell.

Arahel didn't say much as he led the way, only humming some tune or another softly as he walked with his tails occasionally flicking and twitching behind him. He took them up the stairs, though cautiously as the way they creaked made him pretty sure that one wrong step would send he or Shadow falling right through them. He liked the thought of not falling through holes in the infrastructure and hurting himself, thank you very much. But even with him taking it a little slow, it was only a matter of minutes before they reached the roof, fresh air greeting the both of them as well as the evening sky.

Releasing Shadow's hand Arahel made his way towards the edge of the roof, taking a seat and letting his legs hang over the edge as he looked over the expanse of the settlement. "So, what'd you wanna talk about?" He asked before glancing over to the human. Of course, he already had an idea--he didn't go deaf when he was in the bathroom while Vex and Shadow had been talking. But he decided to let the other man walk them into that conversation instead of making it known that he had been eavesdropping earlier.
 
The Shadow sensed that Arahel was hiding something he could feel it in the demon's heart and realized he knew but instead of embarrassed Shadow gave a belly Laugh "were not so different prince of demons, you know exactly how I feel and what I'm thinking, while I can't tell what you're thinking my...ability can tell that you're hiding something and me hovering around you made it rather easy to put the pieces together, didn't it. After all, I pride myself on my intelligence" he bragged. Shadow smirked "we both know how I feel, it doesn't need to be spoken, although I'm sure Vex heard everything" he chuckled "there really is no privacy around here, is there?" He gave another soft chuckle.

His expression grew serious as he looked to muramasa then looked back to Arahel and ran his fingers across lucifer's Mark that was burned into his forehead, a single tear ran down his chin "...Arahel, Vex told me you could remove this, is it true? Let's take out conversation elsewhere, muramasa's pull... it's like a drug, it wields power that infects us...we have become...addicted to that power, I can control myself a bit better than Venom, given his nature. Never mind we can discuss it when we reach our destination" Shadow gave an entrancing smile and held out his hand.

Wasting no time Shadow felt Arahel grab his hand and walked from his illusion into the dimensions where the homes were moldy and decayed he blushed allowing her heart to beat just a little faster, he was completely taken with the demon prince, so much so that he lost himself in Arahel, but Arahel already knew that Shadow liked the fact that the demon prince knew everything, some thought it was creepy, but that never bothered him, for some odd reason he liked it. As they walked Shadow didn't even notice where they were until Arahel stopped, all Shadow knew was how soft Arahel's hands were. As they started to climbed Shadow skilfully walked around the holes, and sat close to Arahel "you already know my feelings for you, I warn you now I will probably trip over my words, but, I get Very nervous around those I find...Ahem!...attractive"

By the time he finished only part of his ramblings Shadow had turned bright red so he took a deep breath "I don't know why, but I like the fact that you know our mind better than we do, some would think it was creepy, but I have always been fond of the creepy and weird, I mean look at you your the spawn of an unholy god, but you're so...different, so kind, to the point where you revoked, your demon instinct so you wouldn't kill us, you have no idea how much that truly means to me, besides your the strangest thing I have seen, but I like that, it makes you unique and there is nothing better than being different, by the way...I don't even see you as a demon, your just another person to me and however fun it may be to scare little children half to death, your father goes above and beyond the definition of evil. I'm sorry, I was rambling..."

Shadow looked out at the city then up at the ribbon of stars that sprinkled the sky, and overhead was a bright full moon after a few moments of silence Shadow spoke again "It's so beautiful out here, everyone takes it for granted, if they saw hell, maybe they would understand, even these old musty buildings are lovely, unfortunately, I don't get so lucky as to see it very often. That reminds me, I'm terribly sorry I didn't tell you this earlier, it slipped my mind, I hope pax can hear this. I was the son of the Russian czar and the year was 1719, I was about eleven when it started, I don't recall all of it, but my uncle victor, he sold me to your father in order to take my throne and gain the love of my mother who was repulsed by him, then he drugged me and got me to sign in blood"

Thee words caused the painful memories to surface as he turned away from Arahel to hide his "It all came to fruition, my father died a week after the deal was made, he was en route to Transylvania to open trade routes, and they found him dead, no rhyme or reason as to how, so with me being too young and Russia needing a ruler that bastard got what he wanted and my mother? She fell hard for him, but she didn't seem like herself, it was as though she was stuck in some sort of trance, a few hours later the Palace caught on fire and I ran like a damn coward and watched it burn, I was in shock and completely numb.."

Shadow had never forgiven himself for leaving his mother to burt "I went inside once it was safe, and walked into my mother's room, there pinned behind a charred wooden beam. I walked around it and to the human-shaped soot, with the lightest touch I let my fingers graze it, and saw as my whole life disintegrated into a pile of ash. I ran outside and screamed until my throat was raw, that's when he snuck up behind me and in chilling words asked me " what have you done little Alexi? They are all dead and it's your fault, my body went numb being only eleven and running from the palace like a coward, I believed him, the guilt, the pain, it tore me apart...quite literally, after that he told us to forget our old lives, marked the vessel and gave us new names to help us forget who we once were, than dragged us to hell where he performed and immortality spell...and here I stand...this mark...it can take control of us and force venom into another frenzy, muramasa just deepens the frenzy, it's why I left it behind, it would be like him to pull a stunt like this, now of all places.

We can not disobey him even through the mark, please, be careful...be ready, which takes me to my next topic, Vex told me could remove your fathers Mark, if it's true I want to help...I want.....run, please!" Shadows breathing grew heavy as he let out a roar of pain "it burns!" He road as he fell over the edge and fell on his right shoulder with a loud crack and another howl of pain as he ran his nails across the sigil leaving the blood to drip from the three marks on his forehead. Shadow got to his knees wordlessly his body slumped over leaving drops of blood on the grass staining the blood crimson. Then finally, he made noise that sounded like soft sobs but as the volume rose it turned into a deranged cackle. With his right arm bruised and limp Venom jumped from a tree onto the roof he looked up his eyes indigo "you should speak of our master so, and once I end you, Shadows will, it will be completely crushed yet again, did I mention master can hear everything, doesn't care, but he only looks for choice phrases...Shadow said the wrong things at the wrong time...well look at that, it seems as though I'm at a disadvantage, that weak little bastard guessed what was going to happen, he thought it wouldn't work, but look at me now...hmm? Well, it seems like I broke his precious heart, he really liked you" "Venom don't do this, don't hurt him can't you see that he's trying to help? He hates that bastard just as much as we do...don't you want your freedom?" Venom sighed as shadows tears fell from the vessels eyes "don't you see Shadow, there is nothing we can do so just give up!" "It seems like you're the coward, Venom" Shadows voice went quiet but the tears never stopped. Venom glowered at Arahel "I can't do much to you now, Arahel, but if you ever want your boyfriend back come to get us, you know where we are" Venom walked off and opened a portal before walking through it and returning to hell.


Lucifer looked to Venom in disgust "Venom why did you let my son take muramasa?" Lucifer stuck his hand through a portal and yanked the blade, and his arm back through "you need to keep a chain on Shadow, I warned you once before... This time your punishment will be harsh, take him to the torture chambers" demons came by and took Venom exact where they were told to take him. They beat him mercilessly every day for a month. In hell time moved farther, so a month in hell would be a week in the human world "your right venom...it was foolish...Arahel doesn't even seem to care...what would the prince of demons ever want with a human like me, I'm going to rest...I will see you when I'm needed..."
 
Arahel couldn't help the amused smirk that formed on his features as he listened to the human speak, watching as he stumbled over himself. Both insulting and complimenting him at the same time? The Prince couldn't lie--Shadow sure knew how to flatter a person. But the more the human spoke the more the amusement faded away and his mood became more somber and serious. He remembered hearing that story, and of course had been alive when it happened, and hearing it from the "main character" of the said story himself made Arahel's hatred for his supposed father grow even more, and everything he heard only furthered his determination to reach his goal.

But all of his thoughts were disrupted when the atmosphere took a sudden 180 turn. It was so sudden that it cause Arahel to move away from Shadow followed by just leaping to his feet when the male fell over the side. "Fuck!!" The shout burst from his chest before he could even think, watching down at the man until the body stirred. His eyes narrowed and he hissed lowly, almost baring his sharp canines at the human. 'Filthy coward' was the only thought he could think of as he listened to Venom, glaring down at the man until he disappeared through a portal. "...dammit..." Arahel growled, turning on his heel and hurrying back to his room.

That had been a week ago for him and Vex, the Prince knowing well of the differences in time between Earth and Hell. And that week Arahel had barely taken time for himself, relentlessly searching down a powerful mage of demonic background for a very specific item that he required. A special amulet, one that would allow him to enter Hell without his presence being detecting--or until he neared the palace, that was. And naturally, the mage was less than willing to part with it for fear of Satan's wrath, so some...persuasion(theft, to be clear) had to happen in order for him to acquire the amulet.

"Young Prince, I must advise against this..." Vexaohr clicked from his spot behind Arahel, white eyes peering worriedly at the halfling. "You know just as well as I do that a trap awaits you...it would be wise to wait..." This wasn't the first time that the shadow demon had tried to talk the Heir out of this idea. They both knew that he wasn't yet strong enough to storm the castle, in terms of both physical power and the power of having a proper army behind him.

"That's why it's a rescue mission" was what Arahel always replied with, and it was no different as he repeated those words to which Vex replied with a defeated sigh. "I serve as the distraction, and you find him and get him out of wherever he's being held. You got that?" The way the Prince said it was like he was saying it would be simple, like a calm walk through the park and that the sky was blue. But oh how they knew that wasn't how it was going to be in the slightest. It was going to be a heavily one-sided fight with carnage inbound, unavoidable injuries and potential death. And yet Arahel was still undeterred, refusing to leave the matter alone and causing Vex to worry near ceaselessly--he couldn't let the Prince die for some fruitless effort, but he had no choice in this matter but to comply. Once Arahel's mind was made up, there was no changing it--Vex might as well have been telling a cat to not climb a tree for the sake of chasing a squirrel.

After a moment the shadow demon released another sigh and dipped his chin down in a nod, falling silent and not uttering another complaint or attempt to halt Hell's Heir. "Good." Was all Arahel said as he reached up to the pendant around his neck, gripping it tightly in his fist as his eyes slid shut. Quietly he began to speak again, but this time chanting the spell required to charge the amulet and open the portal. In a matter of seconds a bright light flashed and a portal of swirling colors came into existence in front of the two beings. Golden eyes opened as he stuffed the magical necklace back down into his hoodie, a smirk forming on Arahel's face as his blood began to pump quickly through his veins from the excitement and bloodlust. He looked over his shoulder to look at Vex, a smirk that wasn't necessarily confident but still eager for battle plastered on his face. "Let's get going. See you on the other side." And with that, the Prince stepped through the portal, the world distorting around him until he was on the other side, the sights and smells of Hell greeting him in full force as his demonic attributes showing proudly.

And much like Vex and Arahel had predicted, his arrival had been anticipated, demons ready for him the moment he drew close to the castle. And just as the Prince said he would, he kept all of the focus centered on him, allowing for the shadow demon to slip behind the lines undetected with ease. And although it was against his nature to condone something so reckless, he followed the young master's orders like the faithful servant he was and searched for the human.
 
Venom and Shadow, they were mercilessly breaking every bone in his body beating him to death and leaving Venom in more than just a pool of blood. Venoms heart stopped after every assault, but ever time it had, Lucifer's sorcerer, and right hand Baphomet revived him and healed his wounds before repeating the process several times, they would have let him stay dead and simply taken his soul, but Lucifer needed a human to go back and forth from earth to hell freely with out needing any sort of possession. Venom was unable to handle the pain so he forced Shadow out, who by this time he had given up, and simply allowed them to do what they were going to do anyway, they didn't even have to chain them up after the first week and a half.

It was nearing the end of the first month, and Shadow heard a commotion going on outside of his cell it was a small window of time after Baphomet, so the demons can come and do what demons do best. Just then Shadow popped his head up feeling the only shred of a kind heart in all of hell, bringing hope and fight back into his heart. Shadow stood up and walked to the cell door s jest as demons came in to do their daily chore, Shadow gave a soft growl and urged to demons to come at him which they did without an issue there 4 of them and they all went at him all at once, Shadow with Indigo flecks in his eyes letting all know with that Venom was aiding in there death, the both knew the same Krav Maga moves, but two are stronger than one. Shadow gave a deranged grin (courtesy of Venom) and licked his lips eagerly as a short one came at him making quick work of him as he punt him hard, like a football and watched him break the wall he knew Vex was looking for him and tried to make as much noise as he could, yelling would be a distraction allowing the demons a second to attack and get the upper hand, and even a second could mean his downfall.

And that's exactly what happened, the large demon held him from behind allowing another shorter one in front to punch his chest causing Shadow to roar in pain as the demon broke a rib and nicking his lung with it, that caused him to cough up blood but his tenacity didn't allow him to rest. He growled with fury and lifted the large one behind him causing the despicable creature a bit of confusion as shadow lifted him and flipped the demon over his head and onto the other demon that was about 4 feet tall to get crushed under the weight of the massive creature, now there was one left, he saw Vex and coughed into his hand unable to stop the blood from seeping through his fingers.

They held up a finger to Vex Let us finish this, we can't have them coming after us so quickly he said, his teeth were stained red as blood dripped down his chin, falling next to the giant pool of Venoms blood from all the bleeding when he was beaten. He turned to the demon that matched his height, Shadow took a fighting stance and ran at him dodging his attack and spinning behind the demon using a palm strike to his spine and then to the back of his neck before flipping in front of the demon so that he faced the bastard and distracted him with a punch to his solar plexus which only distracted it so he could pull his hand back as far as he could and launched a palm strike to his chin causing his cervical spine to shatter as his head was thrown back, shadow launched a second palm strike causing its jaw to shatter forcing bones in its jaw to be forced into his nasal cavity shattering his nose.

The demon fell with a thud. He grabbed the key from it's picked just as he heard Baphomet "are you ready to have your heart revived Shadow?" He called out in a sinister voice. Shadow ran to the cell door opening it as quietly as possible, before closing it making Baphomet think it was the demons completing their work and leaving. Shadow met Vex on the other side "I would hug you but I would shred my lungs if I tried. Now let's go Arahel is in trouble, he can't take on that many demons and his father, by the way, Venom is helping us" he turned his indigo flecked golden eyes to the direction of the crowd and grabbed Vex's hand and ran toward the crowd, he reached the end of the long tunnel between the throne and the line of dungeon cells "Vex, wrap around me and cloak me and create a mental link, I have an idea 'move me to Arahel, thank you, now let my arm through" Shadow cut a portal before quietly wrapping his arm around Arahels throat to make it seem as though a demon had grabbed him. And walked through the portal as it silently closed" Shadow del from Vex and fell to his hands and knees coughing up blood, he was trembling and weak as he fell to his wounded side "Please...help him..." was all Venom said as they fell over "we're...going to sleep now..." Shadow said as the indigo for k in his eyes vanished and Shadow fell unconscious.
 
Vexaohr wouldn't admit it, not for awhile at least, but he'd been impressed by Shadow and Venom as he watched the way they fought. Perhaps the Young Prince hadn't been as hasty in his decision to follow them to Hell. 'Though that'll have to be determined if they live,' He thought as he complied with the male's wishes. He knew the human body could only take so much, no matter how much power they were given or had gained throughout the years.

By the time the three had come around to retrieving Arahel, the Heir had taken quite a few blows. As skilled of a fighter as he was, even he couldn't stand an army of demons on his own. A horn had been chipped, the tip of it missing by roughly half an inch. One of his wings had been slashed, the scaly skin torn enough to make flying difficult. His right thigh had been cut as well, his jeans being dyed from blue to the nasty red. Though on his face was the more noticeable wound, a steady flow of blood coming from the slash that traveled down his left eye. Yet he was still caught up in the throes of battle, bloodlust manifesting itself and providing more than enough fuel to keep Arahel going despite his injuries. In fact, when he felt the arm wrapping around his throat he had nearly thrust one of his axes backwards to attack whoever had been lucky enough to sneak up behind him. But feeling the familiar aura of Vex and an aura that he knew enough to be Shadow the Prince managed to stop himself from attacking, allowing himself to be dragged through the portal and away from Hell.

As Shadow and Venom fell, Arahel himself dropped to a knee, his right leg now giving out as the urge to fight slowly began to fade from him now that he'd been pulled away from the battle, a hand coming up in an attempt to cover his bleeding eye. As Vex stepped from the human to approach him the devil spawn waved a hand, grumbling lowly. "No, leave me. Help him first." The shadow demon hesitated, the obligation to help the prince at the forefront of his mind. But as he was ordered he left Arahel be, instead rushing to Shadow's side.

***

Arahel wasn't quite sure how time had passed since then. As per Vex's rather strict instructions, the Prince had hardly done anything, even putting a halt to his hunting down of the Generals of Hell in favor of recovering. Which was an agonizing process for him, specifically that his healing ability wasn't quite at it's best. Given the weapons used to cause those injuries were specially designed for demons and the like, it was taking quite a while for his wounds to heal. Said weapons were typically used by torturers, so the fact that they had been in the hands of soldiers made it even more painfully obvious to him that his father had been expecting him.

"Fucker..." Arahel cursed quietly from his spot of the floor, leaning against the wall just a few feet away from the bed where Shadow and Vex were. Bandages were wrapped around his injuries and a patch covered his left eye, preventing him from touching it even though it both itched and hurt like Hell. 'Hah...' His left hand rested on one of the three heads of his puppy, fingers lazily scratching at an ear as the hound peacefully slept with his uninjured leg as their pillow. In his other hand he held some sort of frozen drink Vex had kindly gone out to get him after he had dozed off. Humans were amazing, creating something so cold yet so wonderful at the same time. 'Speaking of Humans...' With a hum Arahel turned to look towards the bed, watching as Vex tended to the unconscious Shadow. "Is he still alive?" It had to have been the hundredth or so time that the Prince had asked the question, to which the shadow demon replied with an annoyed grunt but nodded anyway. "Good." The Heir of Hell's throne hummed and let his head rest back against the wall once again, letting his eye slide shut to rest for a little bit.
 
Shadow had taken on a sinister aura as he fought to the best of his fading ability he was going on Venoms and his own instinct, and nothing more he was in such agonizing pain that he himself was surprised that he was still standing but as long as adrenaline coursed through his veins he would not stop fighting, their tenacity seemed endless, but it had to be if he wanted to save the man that risked all of hell to save them, the man he was falling rather hard for. Both Venom and Shadow were more grateful than words could describe, on pain of death he would save Arahel, but that would make the demons journey pointless so he had no choice but to fight.

Shadow had told Vex of his plan and the shadow demon complied, if Shadow and Vex hadn't worked together they would still be in hell and all three would be dead. Once they left hell Shadow closed the portal just in time and collapsed, he was near death and his heartbeat faint. After things returned to semi normal, but they slept, and for two week the weight of their guilt followed them into their nightmares, he could still feel the cruel, merciless beatings, and the stopping of his heart, as well as it's revival as the scenes played out in his haunted mind, as he lay, he twitched often, a clammy sweat covered his face as his face contorted in terror, two weeks later his eyes opened, his vision blurred, he could barely move as his temperature rose to dangerous levels, the guilt of his actions weakened his and a fever took advantage.

It was Venom who manifested, Shadow didn't have the courage to face his saviour, if it wasn't for Vex and Arahel he would have remained in hell suffering in a perpetual motion of torture, death and revival, but if it wasn't for the cursed mark he wouldn't have left in the first place and caused this whole mess, they both placed all of the blame on their own shoulders, it made him loathe Lucifer that much more. Now he lay, they felt so weak, both in mind and body, he found a new level self loathing at the bottom of a hole he couldn't crawl out of, so he simply lay his eyes open, he tried to move and was lucky to still have the strength, the first words to pass his lips, were about Arahel "where's Arahel, is he okay?"

Thinking no one would answer Venom sat up and looked around, he was concerned for the man that tried so desperately to save him. He saw Arahel resting hugged the demon prince tightly, his body trembling from joy and chills, as tears of happiness fell from his indigo eyes and instead of scolding the demon he kissed him instead, Venom's lips pressed to to Arahel's, Venonoms lips were soft as they pressed against Arahel's in a feather light contact, Venom touched his tingling lips as he pulled away, and blushed Venoms "I'm sorry, I...I want to..." Venom couldn't find the words so he sat beside the demon and pulled him into his lap simply laying there and snuggling, for the longest time Venom refused to admit his affection for Arahel, but he had shown the pair how much he cared by risking all of hell for him "it would be really embarrassing if I took your sacrifice the wrong way" he said softly, still trembling as he hugged Arahel from behind he touched the three claw marks on his head that had stopped bleeding but were still far from scarring "Arahel...their is nothing in the English language, or any other language that could express just how grateful I am...or apologize for this whole mess I've created...but I was told that there was a way to stop this"

Venom played with Arahel's hair, but stopped and spoke softly...sadly "I'm going to let Shadow have his moment, he was worried about you, even more than I was, the guilt hit him hard, so hard that he was to ashamed to face you" Venom forced Shadow out but he couldnt find the right words to apologize with, so silence filled the room as Shadow touched his still tingling lips and ran his fingers gently through Arahel's hair "... Arahel....Im so sorry for the mess we caused...if it were not for us you wouldn't have had to come to hell to save us" his words were soft, and full of regret and sadness "Arahel...we stil want to be like you, now more than anything. As I lay in my cell, baphomet told me that the only way to get rid of your father's curse was to turn me demon, but the only way a demon wouldn't be bound to your father is if someone of his blood line did it, you and I both despise him and we need to help each other if going to end his wretched existence, do you think you might do something like that, if nothing more than to destroy your father" Shadow touched the gouges above his right eye that began to scar "if we're going to do it we need to do it soon, incase he tries to take control, and you and I both know he will" he waited for Arahel to say something.
 
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