Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

[Degusaurusrex]

"You're running out of zombies. Is there a certain amount of times you can revive them before they like... Run out of juice, or something?"

"Do you really want me to stop concentrating to explain the laws of necromancy to you, mageling?"

"...I guess not. At least the demon zombie is holding up so far."

Malakai was swatting away the hoard of DSTF soldiers Tyrath had apparently gathered along the way like they were nothing. He tossed them aside with his magic as if they were nothing, as if he didn't think they were worthy of being touched by his host's hands. That worked to their advantage and allowed the undead to last longer, their bodies battered and broken but whole enough for Tyrath to puppeteer them around the destroyed courtyard time and time again. The strain it was causing was evident as she saw sweat beading the demon's face, her own twisted in concern as she looked between him and the battlefield. How long was he going to be able to keep this up? When he ran out of energy to raise the dead, would Ignas still be lying in that crater or would he stand and face Malakai once more?

"We're so fucked, aren't we?"

"Ignas needs to get up." Tyrath didn't take his eyes off the soldiers or the sluggish demon still swinging its sword at Malakai, not even when the living demon at their side slipped into the midst of it all to fight. "I am not accustomed to doing this, and I have my limits even if I escaped the drain of Malakai's spell. I would offer you some of my power," He grimaced, "But I need all of it for our defense."

"I know." Adelaide nodded in understanding. Her ring burned and rebelled each time she tried to draw more power from it, her body at its limit as she tried to formulate some sort of hail mary to get them ahead in the fight. "We need something that's going to distract him long enough for someone to either gut him or get Ignas off his ass and back in the fight." Where the hell was Onigoshi at, anyway? When Isen had dropped it and she'd portaled him off to somewhere safe, she'd lost track of where it was at and focused on trying to dodge Malakai's attacks.

"I don't suppose you have any other tricks up your sleeve. I'd even take Danica showing up to fight him for a bit." Adelaide wiped her bloodied hands on her pants and sighed. "Hell, I'd take just about anyone if they could stand against him." She jumped at the loud rumble of brick breaking as Virgil was flung into a nearby building, cursing and taking a step back to survey the damage and any attacks coming their way.

"He will fight until his last breath, just as his brother."

"I wish Clara were still alive. She's probably the one person that bastard might have listened to." Samara's illusion magic would have come in handy right now, but without a source to pull from properly they were shit out of luck. The ring was straining at its limits with every drop of magic she pulled to keep herself alive, Tyrath stood strong but seemed to be pushing his own limits, and Ignas was still embedded in the ground hopefully still breathing.

"We have company." An arm came out and pushed her back a few steps as Tyrath moved in front of her, watching a sputtering drone soar over a building and come to circle its way around the undead Malakai continued to destroy.

"You're standing on my foot, Adelaide." Adelaide whipped around at the sound of Lorelei's voice coming from behind her, staggering back as she caught sight of the older woman standing there wearily. When had she gotten there?

"Your little toys cannot hurt me, Lancaster." Malakai was sneering as he turned a stumbling soldier into nothing more than a puddle of blood against the ground, stepping over it as if it were an insignificant little bug he didn't deem worthy of laying his eyes on. Adelaide watched as the drone continued to sputter and work its way around the courtyard, opening and closing a panel as Lorelei recited line after line of spells at her side. She didn't remember her grandmother looking so haggard the last time she'd seen her, and if she was here, then where was Isen?

"I thought Isen was with you."

"Hush, child." The drone seemed to be struggling to stay in the air as Adelaide watched it try to pull at the dark tendrils of magic Malakai was using to destroy the few remaining undead. "It was supposed to work."

"Shouldn't it have an orb?"

"I worked with what I had. It should have worked, it worked before." Lorelei sounded defeated, cursing loudly when Malakai sent the drone to the ground with a deafening crash and explosion of metal.

"I need you to make an illusion." Surely Lorelei still had magic left if she was here trying to help. Maybe she had enough to conjure up an illusion of Clara. "If we make him think that Clara is here, maybe he'll be distracted long enough for me to get to Ignas and make sure he's still alive." It was the only solution she could think of, and that all banked on the illusion being strong enough for Malakai to believe it for even a minute.

"Adelaide, I never met her, how am I to create an illusion of something I never..." She trailed off and then her eyes went wide before she whirled around and pointed in Tyrath's direction. "You, demon. You control the dead."

"And I am rapidly running out of them." They were down to the demon he was controlling and what was left of Virgil trying to avenge his brother.

"Do not let my body rest until this is done." She turned to Adelaide, grabbing her granddaughter's hands despite the dried blood coating them. "You will create the illusion. Take from me." Adelaide gave her a bewildered look until Lorelei squeezed her hands tightly, nodding her head once before giving Adelaide a stern look. "What I have is yours. Take it and do what you were meant to do and do not stop until that demon is dead."

"Hurry, little mageling. We are almost out of time."

Malakai had seemed amused fighting Tyrath's small hoard of undead at first, but it was becoming apparent that he was losing interest and intended to come straight for them once the brothers were out of commission. Adelaide searched Lorelei's face for any sign of trickery, for any hesitation, but found nothing but a clear determination in the older woman's eyes as she nodded.

"I'm glad you decided you were a Lancaster again." Adelaide closed her eyes and held onto Lorelei's hands tightly, taking a deep breath as she began to draw from the familiar magic of her own family line. It came pouring in like a burst dam, snaking its way through her veins and winding its way around her own magic and into the ring. All she needed to do was forge the pour of magic into the memories she'd taken from Clara's belongings, mold them into something worthy of drawing Malakai's attention from the fight and to the past before this war.

"Little mageling." Tyrath's tone was full of warning as she felt Lorelei stumble against her, and when Adelaide opened her eyes it was just in time to catch her grandmother as they both sank to the ground on their knees. Lorelei's expression seemed to change by the second as Adelaide watched her bolt jerk and spasm before it seemed to regain some sense of humanity, a deep shudder of a breath sounding in the air before she gripped Adelaide tighter and closed her eyes. "I cannot bring her back a second time." It took a moment for Adelaide to realize that the fall and spasming from Lorelei's body had been her drawing her last breath as her magic poured into her granddaughter, and tears stung at her eyes as she leaned in and pressed her forehead to Lorelei's.

"Thank you, grandmother."

When she pulled again the remainder of the magic slammed into her like an invisible wall and sent her tumbling back, separating the two Lancasters as Adelaide found her vision replaced by an onslaught of memories that she'd gotten from Clara. The sky was lit with brilliant orange and red hues as the sun peeked just above the skyline, wildflowers scattered among the greenery as far as the eye could see. The pain of her battered body and panicked mind had been replaced by a humming sense of peace as she reached out her hand, trying to grasp at the memory before her as it exploded outwards and into the courtyard.

"My horizon."

 

[AndrewS]

"My horizon."
Malakai had begun to grow tired of the constant interruptions. It felt like every witch, demon and familiar in the city was coming to Adelaide's aid, and as easily as he slew them all, more kept seeming to rise from the woodwork. Even Lorelei, a remnant of his past, poked her head out of her hole with a failed attempt at subduing him. The entire thing felt almost comical; they continued to throw everything they had at him and it barely made a dent. His power continued to surge, and even as the Lancasters shared their magic, he showed little, outward concern for what may come from their union. Tendrils flared once again, annoyed with the corpse foot soldiers that continued to get in his way, dispatching each with similar ease until, finally, he stared down something that caught him off guard.

'No." He breathed out, spitefully. "You don't get to invoke her memory."

Isen watched, still concealed from view by anybody involved, as Adelaide mimicked a familiar friend, contorting her grandmother's syphoned magic into an illusion of the only person they had ever known Malakai to truly care for. A memory, born anew, standing as real as any flesh and blood could. Staring across at the vicious demon, her voice spoke something that seemed to trigger him, and Isen began to eye Onigoshi's resting place all the more. This might be the exact distraction that he needed.

"You are not real." He continued, but even his mind, poison and deluded with power, seemed to show a slight falter at the possibility that somehow, someway, it was a ghost from beyond the grave that had arrived to aid Adelaide next. "You cannot be real."

Isen weighed his options while Malakai was occupied. One charge, one goal. He could use it to reach the sword, or he could try to get to the blade first and then use it to drive it through the heart of their wretched foe. Without Ignas' magic, would it even be strong enough to kill him? And if it didn't, was he okay with what would happen next?

In a moment like this, normally, he'd look to Adelaide for guidance or comfort. Even just seeing her, sometimes, was enough to put his flurried mind at ease, but with Clara in her place, it posed a different problem for him. He had watched her die. He had felt happiness turn to sadness in Ignas' heart, all too well, when he was there with him as she breathed her final breath. He helped dig the grave that her body rested in, he had helped the demon grieve. While she was a beacon of hope, a beautiful flower in a garden of weeds, she was also an all too poignant reminder of what he stood to lose. A star that had burnt itself out. A loved one's light lost when it was needed most.

He couldn't.

He wouldn't.

He believed what he had said. He'd rather die with her than live without her.

Creeping out from the wreckage, he knew he'd be seen by every body except for Malakai, as he chose to move at the demon's back. He hoped nobody would give him away, and that they'd been transfixed by Adelaide's illusion. All the while, each step he took brought him closer to the resting place of his weapon. This had to work. She needed to hold out, just a little bit longer...

 

[Degusaurusrex]

"My horizon, what has become of you?" The sadness Adelaide felt fueled each word spoken with the illusion of Clara's face. What had happened to the world these last few years, to humanity and kindness? "What have they done to us?" The tremble of her voice, the quiver of her lip felt all too real as it wrinkled Clara's face, and for a moment Adelaide wondered if this was what she was feeling underneath the illusion and under the stress, or if this was a buildup of Clara's former emotions during her lifetime. She had, after all, pulled this from a memory she'd imprinted from the dead witch, and the overwhelming emotions bubbling up in the form of tears streaking down her cheeks felt like something more than her own exhausted emotions.

"This isn't what I wanted for you." Her hand lifted of its own accord, reaching for Malakai despite the vast space between the two of them. "I only ever wanted your light to shine so bright while the world went on around us."

A mixture of concern and confusion flitted across Tyrath's face as he watched Adelaide integrate with the illusion, taking a step forward hesitantly before taking another in Malakai's direction. It seemed counterproductive to what they were doing there, but he made no effort to stop her or say anything that would break her concentration and destroy the illusion. There had to be some logic behind what she was doing, even if the waves of emotion rolling off of her were strong enough they started to affect his. Then there was movement elsewhere that drew his attention away from the strange thrall that was working its magic between Adelaide and Malakai, and it took him longer than he would have liked to realize that it was Isen stealthily working his way in the direction of where Onigoshi lay discarded and inert.

"I cannot be real? This cannot be real, my horizon." Adelaide hated the way that the emotions seemed to be piloting her body, taking over common sense and the instinct that would have kept her as far as physically possible from Malakai. They moved her forward with her hand still stretched toward him, a shudder of a breath working through every limb as agony sliced through her chest and gripped firmly at her heart. Was this how Clara had felt about the betrayal and the sealing of both demons? Was this how she had spent the last decades of her life whenever she was alone, whenever she wasn't running herself on fumes to help the Dissonants and humans of this new world? "What have we caused by allowing others to dictate what should and should not be? Have you truly let the dark extinguish the light we nurtured so fervently? Oh, my horizon, forgive me for not being there to make things right."

"You are not her!" The roar that was Malakai's voice broke the hold the overwhelming emotions had on Adelaide, and she stumbled back with a loud gasp and nearly tripped on her own feet. The agony of betrayal and regret was replaced with a curtain of fear that landed heavy on her, burdening her overworked and exhausted body as her knees buckled and she nearly hit the ground. It was the whiplash reaction of Tyrath's tail as it snapped out to wrap around her waist, yanking her backward from Malakai's impending rage as his eyes darted between the demon and Isen's reach for Onigoshi.

"Stand tall, little mageling. I do believe there is hope, still." He wasn't certain, what, if anything Isen had planned for Onigoshi, but in that moment he began to understand why humans prayed when things seemed hopeless and at the end. In that moment, he dared to pray for something that would overcome Malakai's determination to wipe them all out. "Danica, if you're watching this with that ridiculous smirk you can't seem to hide, I only ask that you bring my remains home if we fail."

"I don't know why you'd count on her now." Adelaide was wheezing with the effort of her movements as he pulled his tail back, wiping some of the dried blood from her face as she finally caught sight of Isen. "No. No, no no. Tyrath, get him out of here!"

 

[AndrewS]

Isen watched in utter confusion as Adelaide, disguised within her illusion, seemed to invoke words and memories that couldn't have possible been her. Had the spell somehow filled her mind with Clara's thoughts and memories? Or was she completely winging it and, somehow, managing to halt Malakai's rampage? None of it was real, and he knew that was true at the core, but something about the magic she was weaving almost had him convinced as well. Malakai seemed to be falling for it, leaning into the sadness in "Clara's" voice. He stopped what he was doing, for a brief moment, almost in fear of what might happen as Adelaide stepped closer to their foe, selling her deceit.

And then, Malakai's voice rose, and the illusion began to fall.

"You are not her!"

Finally seeing through her lie, Malakai's temper spiked strong enough that her spell fell apart at the seams, leaving her vulnerable and revealed for who she truly was, and not what she had been trying to convince him she had become.

Had it not been for Tyrath's intrusion, Malakai's anger would have likely tore her apart then and there. As smart as it had been, at the time, to try and appeal to what emotions the spiteful being had left, invoking them, and reminding him of any pain or frustration he may have felt in the past, only served to deteriorate his mental state more. The body he was housed in, despite being a vessel he had picked and chosen for it's ability to withstand his parasitic grasp, seemed to be failing him as well, his strength surging beyond any conceivable limit that Maximilian's form could withstand. The body twisted, violently, as black magic formed into familiar tendril-shaped forms that, once more, were erratic and seemed uncontrolled. "You will never be her!"

Though his legs felt like they had turned into jelly, Isen knew he needed to move now, and that they both had very little time left to pull this off. He wasn't aware if Adelaide or Tyrath had seen him, or if the demon was acting out of selflessness, but he continued moving as Tyrath stepped forward towards Malakai on Adelaide's behalf. His power set, while beyond belief, was limited in scope and functionality, leaving him in a mismatch against a much stronger foe, but beyond Tyrath's understanding was the fact that there was yet another ally lurking in the shadows outside of Malakai's watch. Had he been focused, and not consumed by anger, perhaps he would have noticed the oversized familiar that had been watching, fur stained with blood, a body draped in her maw.

Klaus's near lifeless form bounced off of the stone grotesquely. He had been riddled with bite and scratch marks, barely clinging to what little life he had left. There was nowhere to run, nobody to port into. It was him and time, slowly running down, draining like the blood that pooled in between the cracks the force of his haphazardly thrown body had imprinted into the ground. Tyrath's eyes met that of Ember, who snarled before turning back into the building, and then, his magic went to work.

Isen began moving again, not stopping or turning back at what was happening. A reanimated Klaus, rising to his feet, standing between Tyrath and Malakai as a puppet. The pesky demon wasn't much in the way of strength, but he was a diversion, one that Malakai would easily tear through. Another body smashed into the ground, but this one was too far gone to be used. Ember hissed and disappeared back inside again to search for another as Malaki lifted Klaus' body into the air and pulled it apart with his tendrils, cleaving him into two different pieces.

Next, an armored soldier's body landed with the crack of bones and an audible groan of pain. Resurrected, it's mangled limbs moved back into place, broken fingers scrambling for a grenade on it's hip.

This continued until Ember, out of options, chose to attack directly. She leapt from the third floor, smashing through a window. Glass showered Malakai, digging into his skin as a precursor to the sinking of her teeth and claws into his back. Tearing ruthlessly, Ember tried to bite deeply enough that she could rip the head from the body, but she was unsuccessful. Thrown aside by a tendril that had grasped at her tail, she made contact with a monument in the courtyard, smashing through it and whimpering as she became buried beneath concrete.

"No. More. Tricks."

Malakai cursed, flinging himself forward with his dark magic appendages, using his scepter to smash Tyrath's face. The demon stood there, taking the blow, showing conviction and strength beyond expectation. His tail swung at Malakai, lashing him like a whip, causing Malakai to wrap around Tyrath's body, beginning to drain his magic away. He whimpered, but showed no outward sign of pain, refusing to yield or give Malakai what he wanted. He just needed to hold on a little longer, just a little bit more...

Isen pulled Onigoshi into his arms and pulled on the teleportation device. One last charge, he needed to focus. He couldn't screw this up. He wouldn't have time to get back...he closed his eyes and pulled on the trigger.

In a blur, he appeared behind Malakai. Malakai realized this, almost too late, having to release Tyrath in order to turn towards Isen. As he did, he swung his scepter, which struck Isen's right arm, breaking it immediately from the contact. The scepter itself, having already been damaged and weakened from previous strikes, gave way, separating into two. The catalyst ball on it's end clinked against the ground, rolling towards Adelaide as Onigoshi pierced through his abdomen. Isen had managed to use the momentum of the teleport to give him the strength he needed, and not a moment too late. Though he felt incredible pain, he pushed with all his might, using every ounce of energy, and every pound of weight in his body, to dig it deeper into Malakai's stomach.

For the first time, Isen heard Malakai groan in pain as his vessel's body began to give way.

Though there was no magic left in the weapon, it was sharp enough to have dealt severe damage, and with Malakai's magic so unstable, he couldn't seem to focus it enough to repair the injury that had been caused. "Fucking die already..." Isen cursed, under his breath, before collapsing forward in pain. His sudden shift caused Max's body to topple over as well, impaling it on Onigoshi as it dug into the ground, remaining upright with Malakai's stolen form dangling from it's blade. Isen clutched at his broken arm, finally feeling his own pain set in, fingers covered in blood from the wound that he attempted to nurse.

Had they done it? Was it over?

He rolled over onto his side, looking at Tyrath and Adelaide, his eyes struggling to stay open, unaware that all life had seemingly left Maximilian's eyes, leaving him apparently dormant. "A--Adela..."

 

[Degusaurusrex]

"...Was that Ember?" As if dealing with Tyrath's apparent necromancy powers he'd neglected to tell them about in past interactions wasn't enough, she was fairly certain that her familiar, large and fierce, had just dumped a demon that looked suspiciously like Klaus on the ground specifically for Tyrath. Adelaide felt helpless in that moment, torn between trying to fight alongside the reanimated bodies and wanting to get to Isen to get him out of there before it was too late. The only upside to the situation was that he seemed to understand the severity of things, and was moving slowly and stealthily in his endeavor to reach Onigoshi. For what purpose, she wasn't sure, since none of them had seen Ignas stir from where his body had left a crater in the ground upon impact. It was almost impossible for her to even feel for his magic when there was so much other magic radiating from Malakai and the demon currently reanimating a DSTF soldier, and her brain was having trouble sorting it all out.

Allowing Tyrath to stand in the front and work with the bodies Ember was fetching him gave her some time to recuperate, the ring on her finger struggling to feed its dark magic back into her body and repair some of the damage that had been done. There was a part of her that wanted to sink down to the ground, to let the burden of standing be eased for just a moment before she had to act again. The more reasonable part of her knew that if she went down of her own volition, it was going to be a struggle to get back up again. At any second Tyrath could falter in his puppeteering, Ember could run out of bodies and struggle to contribute. Worst of all, there was the chance that Malakai was going to notice Isen at any time and get to him before anyone could stop him.

She should have felt guilty for prioritizing him above all else when there was a literal city and potentially world at stake here. Ember came hurtling down from above in a shower of glass and had latched on Malakai, desperately trying to tear him apart with her vicious teeth before she was thrown across the courtyard and pinned by some of the wreckage. Adelaide looked between her fallen familiar and where Isen was still moving, knowing that she should move to get Ember from under the rubble and to safety, but feeling the pull toward Isen with every step he took toward Onigoshi. Ember was her familiar, bonded to her, but every part of her screamed to move away from the animal and Tyrath, to get herself to Isen and to get him away from this never-ending carnage that was rapidly going downhill.

"God damn it, Danica, you just had to run away when I wouldn't play along." She could have used the demon's strength right now, watching Tyrath take a blow to the face before Malakai's tendrils wrapped around and began to drain him was just painful. Tyrath didn't have to be a dear friend to her like Isen or Isabella, but the demon had done more than many others to help them, and the fact that she was standing there virtually useless while Malakai sapped at his power made her angry.

"Let him go!" Every step she took made her legs feel heavier; the movements fueled by the growing anger as she tried to gather enough magic to throw some sort of attack at Malakai. She was so caught up in trying to gather enough magic that she missed Isen reaching Onigoshi and lifting it into his arms. She missed the device in his hand and the way it catapulted him through reality to drop him behind Malakai, forcing the demon to release Tyrath in order to whirl around and face Isen. The sound of bone breaking under the impact of the scepter connecting with Isen's arm was loud enough for Adelaide to hear it from where she was, stumbling across the ground trying to close the distance between her and the two men.

"No!" Watching the scepter bow and then break should have brought her relief, but just having Isen that close to Malakai piloting Max's body was enough to send a jolt of dread through her. She ignored the crystal ball that had become separated from its staff, her eyes trained only on Isen as he used every ounce of strength to wedge Onigoshi against and then into Malakai's host body. His groan was enough to lend her strength as she tried to move quicker, stepping around broken corpses and striving to reach Isen as quickly as she could. His strength was already waning as his body began to buckle under the pressure of the situation, sending both of them tumbling towards the ground as she watched blood pour from where Onigoshi had pierced Malakai through.

"I'm coming, Isen. Don't you fucking close your eyes." She glanced over her shoulder at Tyrath, spotting the demon nursing his own wounds with a weary expression on his face. "Get Ember, Tyrath!" There was a moment that he didn't seem to hear her as he struggled to recover from Malakai's drain, and then he gave her a stiff nod and started in the fallen familiar's direction. Adelaide only spared Ember a brief glance to assure herself the animal was breathing before she continued towards Isen, stumbling over Malakai's body and reaching for where Isen had fallen.

"Come on, you gotta get up." His arm wasn't just broken, it was bleeding from where the scepter had either torn through the skin or the shattering of bone had come through and opened wounds. The dread that had wormed its way into her only continued to grow, slinking through her veins like ice and seeding doubt as she struggled to pull Isen to his feet so they could move away from Malakai's unmoving body. Had Isen done it, was he dead? She didn't stop to look, only continued tugging and forcing Isen to his feet by slinging his good arm over her shoulders and staggering as far as she could manage in that moment. "Come on, just a little further." Retrieving Onigoshi from the body could wait, right now she needed to get Isen as far away from that demon as she could before they figured out their next move.

"Come on, let's get over to Tyrath and Ember and check on--Isen, stop fighting me, you already stabbed him and--" Initially, Adelaide had thought the sluggish and jerky movements were Isen struggling against the pain or perhaps her, wanting to make absolutely certain that he'd taken Malakai down enough for them to be victorious. She could handle him being stubborn, but when the jerking and jolting of his body became more aggressive and he shoved her away, she turned to look at him worriedly. "Isen, what are you--ISEN!" The next shove was enough to send her down to the ground with a force humans weren't capable of, her legs buckling and her body caving under the power of the motion until she found herself flat on her back with cold snow beneath her. The harsh actions had stolen the air from her lungs and sent pain radiating through her body, and even the snow beneath her hadn't been enough to cushion the impact of the hard ground.

"I...sen?" She struggled to breathe, gasping in ragged lungfuls of air as she stared up at him towering over her. It wasn't until she saw the red of his eyes that her heart seized in her chest, stuttering and beating against her ribcage like an imprisoned bird striving wildly for freedom in the face of demise. "No."

 

[AndrewS]

"You were supposed to be mine."

Isen began to hear Malakai's voice, even though the vessel he had inhabited had lost all life and remained impaled upon Onigoshi's blade. Was he hallucinating? There was nothing but pain, stemming from the injury on his arm and extending throughout every single part of his body without Ignas to heal his pain or numb the overwhelming sensation. Isen could barely move, but from where his fingers had been clutched against his bicep, he could feel his own blood, and what felt like a bone protruding through his skin in a way that shouldn't have been possible without an incredibly serious break that had caused it to rip it's way out of his arm. Next, the chill of the snow, and the cold stone, he had fallen upon disappeared as he was pulled up onto his feet. He could hear Adelaide's voice, but his head was ringing, or was that his ears? He couldn't tell what she was saying, or the source of the noise. All he could do was feel pain, and hear that unwanted voice droning over the uncomfortable, high pitched hum that syncopated with the debilitating headache that was starting to form.

"We can still be together."

His eyes struggled to open, to look upon the worried face of the one he loved most. It was like his body, subconsciously, was choosing to reject her warmth. He began to pull away from her, though only slightly, jerking in the direction opposite of her attempt to keep him up. It was a reflex, an instinct, as the frequency seemed to continue to rise high enough that he felt like his head was going to burst.

"Remember who you're supposed to be."

---

"You were marked. By him."

A memory forced it's way to Isen's head, a recollection of something he had been told by Ignas. The truth about his sister's death, and why her life had to be taken. Malakai had marked them both. Future vessels, potential bodies capable of housing him the way Max had.

"Ignas. Are you telling me you had her killed so that she wouldn't become a host for another demon?"

"That is exactly what I did."

It felt hazy, but it was real. He knew it, and maybe he had tried to forget. The night Ignas had come for him, the night he drove that blade through his innocent sister's heart, it had all been predetermined. A source of hatred, deep in his stomach, for Malakai, that had been lost through their ordeals. All of the other people they had lost, and the pain they had felt...the rewriting of his traumas, the separation from Ignas. He had been given so many reasons to forget a crucial detail that, now, like a slit in a rope, was causing him to unravel.

"You were supposed to be mine."

"Fuck you."

Isen felt in a void. The memory had faded, and left him alone with his thoughts, and the voice he was now beginning to harbor. Malakai was desperate. He knew that. He would do anything he could to sink his fangs into anybody foolish enough to fall for his venom, and yet, no matter how hard Isen tried to push him out, he just came back stronger.

"It could have been you and me this whole time. You, and me."

Suddenly, Isen's home wrapped around him, burning and destroyed. He was in a position that had haunted him for over ten years, cradling his sister's lifeless body, covered in the blood he had drawn. The fear in her eyes, the pain he experienced when they refused to open again...

"What you see is not the path I would have carved for you, Reaper."

Onigoshi, it's blade slick and red, pulsed with dark, purple energy. For a moment, it felt nostalgic, feeling Ignas's magic reach him, but after a brief moment of respite, it began to turn toxic.

"She is dead because of him, not me. I would have given you everything you ever wanted."

A glimpse into a fabrication. Isen was the one on the top floor of the DSTF building, not Max. His sister was there with him, by his side, as they ushered in an age of peace across Cresthaven, protecting humanity from Dissonants an-

Puppet. He was a puppet.

Wrestling back control of his own mind, the vision of his sister, older and smiling up at him, faded back into the void, a whisper forgotten by a mind that had never gotten to hear it.

"No. I would have never accepted you."

"Like you accepted Ignas? Did he ever give you a choice?"

This time, it was a memory that was not his own. A younger Max, confronted by a man carrying Malakai's scepter. The demon's voice spoke through his temporary vessel, offering Maximilian a choice; become his vessel and fulfill every dream he had ever wanted. Fame and adoration, talent and wealth, a chance to change the world. Malakai was trying to manipulate him, again. He was trying to show Isen that somehow, someway, he wasn't Ignas. He had given Max an opportunity to decline, whereas Ignas gave Isen no such choice. This was manipulation.

"You're no saint." Isen spat back, his words slurring as though the longer he stayed in this state, the more dream-like and sleepy he was starting to become despite the hatred that was flaring behind every vision. "You're every bit a monster as he was."

"Was? Open your eyes, Isen. Ignas has been using you from the very start to get what he wanted. What has he ever done for you?"

Ignas had done plenty. He had saved Isen's life, again and again. He had turned a new leaf, he was better now, right? ...right?

So, why did it seem so hard for him to come up with an answer?

The blood he had spilt. The suppression of his emotions. The cowardice the demon had shown when the time finally came to fight back against Malakai. The way he had sent Adelaide in to the demon's city, alone, and resisted doing anything to help her. Selfish. He was selfish.

"No. You're wrong."

Isen continued to argue, but it was with himself. Malakai's influence was starting to seep deeper.

"Adelaide Lancaster poisoned your mind into seeing the good in others, even demons. She's got you forgiving the very creature that made your life a living hell. She's as much to blame as he was."

That was something Isen simply couldn't get behind. He refused to let Malakai force him to see any bad in the woman he loved. He pushed back, harder than before, preventing Malakai from warping his mind into another memory or vision, fraying the scene at the ends and denying it a chance to fully open around him.

"She used you as well. Love has made you weak. Let go."

"Fuck...you." Isen spat back, struggling with his own brain.

"Do you want to see what you could have become without her?"

"No."

"Stop fighting. You need to see this."

The vision finally broke his control, his tired mind succumbing to the dark grip that ripped at his defenses. He was in a snowy forest, staring down an Adelaide Lancaster who had no idea who he was other than the fact that he was to be her weapon.

"Ignas used you as a vessel. Adelaide used you as a sword. Has anybody ever truly let you be yourself?"

In an instant, Onigoshi found it's way through the other side of Adelaide's chilled body. In this vision Malakai wished to show, Isen's eyes were blood red. He wasn't the host to Ignas, but rather, Malakai, who barely even gave Adelaide a chance to speak.

"No!"

Isen yelled out, trying to break away from the scene but being forced to watch as this version of himself carelessly withdrew his sword from her body and left her there to be buried by the snowstorm, another body in a long line of those forgotten in his wake.

"You struggle so hard with the idea of becoming my vessel that you've never seen the truth of what you are. You have always been somebody's puppet, Isen Hiyori. You will always be."

---

The peripheries of his vision were skewed red. It felt like it did when Ignas would take control, but somehow, worse. No longer did he feel pain in his head, nor his arm, numbed to every thing outside of his rapidly increasing heartbeat. His body didn't feel like his own. It was a feeling all too familiar that it coincided with an unhealthy dose of guilt and trauma delivered straight to the part of his brain he still seemed to have control of. Did it always feel this suffocating?

If Isen had been given more time to compare, he would've noticed the difference. Even at their worst, when Ignas was nothing but a killing machine in his body, it never felt this hopeless. It was dread, pure and dark, deeper than any abyss could be. Despair and hatred replacing love and acceptance, rewriting all of the healing he had gone through thanks to Adelaide, and the rest of their friends.

Malakai couldn't be right. He just couldn't be.

As his form moved against his will, he watched through shaded eyes as he pushed Adelaide to the ground. He loomed over her like a vulture, then began to walk towards the jewel that had been separated from Malakai's scepter. The whining sound in his head grew stronger as he lifted it up into his palms. When he did, black magic coursed through him, connecting him to the Catalyst and finally causing that noise to stop. The silence was golden, his consciousness fully molding with the more powerful presence he was now making direct contact with.

"There we go. Much better, don't you think?"

Malakai already had control, steering Isen's body like it was second nature. Though he had already successfully willed his evil influence past Isen's defenses, he seemed intent on breaking what little remained of him inside. Gripping Onigoshi's handle, dark tendrils of magic wound around Isen's wrist and connected to the blade. He lifted it like it weighed a feather, pulling it out of Max's decaying sternum and lighting the surface of the sword up with the same, onyx shadow that craved to consume the arcane. Next, his body turned back towards Adelaide, on the ground. Isen gripped tighter on the hilt of the sword, trying to do whatever he could to stop what was coming.

As she gasped his name, and came to a realization that the man she loved was no longer in control, Isen heard Malakai's voice, wicked and thick, giving him a familiar command. He knew what he was doing. It was intentional. It was inevitable.

"Please...would you shut her up for me?"

 

[Degusaurusrex]

The pain radiating through her body from hitting the ground was keeping her down, stuttered breaths as she gasped and tried to work her magic over the bruises that were surely forming. Forming proper sentences seemed impossible as she struggled through control and spread her magic thin to soothe the ache, a different kind of ache starting in her chest as she watched Isen walk away from her.

No, this wasn't Isen. This was Isen's body, but he was no longer the one piloting it. Isen wouldn't be walking towards the catalyst that contained Malakai and all of his volatile magic. Isen wouldn't be allowing the black tendrils of pure evil to wrap around him and soak into his body, establishing a connection between him and the catalyst that would embolden Malakai further and give him control in the same manner Ignas had once had. The difference was that Malakai held no such fondness for her or anyone else that Ignas had grown over time, and Malakai would happily wipe out all of them to ensure he could create a world that he wanted.

Please... Would you shut her up for me?

Of all the things for Malakai to say now that he was in control of Isen's body, it had to be that. It just furthered how malicious the creature was as he forced Isen to advance on her, and Adelaide wheezed out a breath as she scrambled backwards and tried to push herself up from the ground. The cold snow bit into her hands, anchoring her enough for her to manage a half-assed push upward as she heard Ember snarling in the background.

"Come, Ember." She could hear Tyrath's voice in the back and her head swiveled to see him standing beside her familiar who was limping, blood matted in her dark fur as she fought through the pain and lunged forward with the large demon at her side. "Let us aid your mistress." Okay, things weren't so bad if she still had allies, and her eyes flitted between Isen's advance and the distance between them and her allies.

"Leave them to Malakai's puppet."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Tyrath faltered even as Ember kept moving with a noticeable limp, his ears twitching and a flicker of annoyance crossing his face as they heard Danica's voice. Only for a moment, however, before he continued after the familiar and closed the distance between them and where Adelaide was finally stumbling to her feet. The strain on her face was clear as she swayed and then caught herself, the ring on her finger burning against her hand as it struggled to process the mass amount of magic she was trying to channel.

"Your girlfriend has horrible fucking timing." Tyrath snorted in response and stepped in front of Adelaide, Ember standing at his side and baring her teeth at Isen. "You could fucking help us, you know!" She raised her voice enough for Danica to hear her, but kept her eyes on the red of Isen's as he and Tyrath exchanged blows, Ember hovering protectively in front of her mistress.

"Good girl." Adelaide laid a hand on Ember's hand, her fingers working through the fur absently to feel out the extent of the damage where blood had matted. Funneling some of her magic into healing the familiar's injury was enough to make her lightheaded, her fingers tightening in the fur as she jolted back when Isen and Tyrath's fight came too close for comfort. A streak of red flew across the air and littered the snow with droplets of blood, and they could hear Tyrath hiss in a breath of pain as he touched the large gash across his chest where the blade had made contact.

"Mageling, find the words to get through to your lover." Tyrath grunted, and before Adelaide could reply she felt his hand against her chest before he shoved her hard, widening the gap between her and the homicidal Isen before raising his arms in defense of the incoming blow. Adelaide waited for the blade to sink into flesh, for the hiss of pain and the smell of blood in the air to increase while the men exchanged blows. Her eyes involuntarily squeezed closed as Ember whimpered at her side, paws scraping against the ground as she prepared to launch herself back into the battle.

"Not today, Malacunt. This one belongs to me." Adelaide's eyes popped open as she heard Danica snarling, followed by the painful sound of claws scraping against metal. Even surrounded by the dead of winter, Danica stood there in all of her pink-skinned, skimpy clothing glory with her arms up, both hands wrapped around Onigoshi and her fingers curled down to anchor her claws into the weapon. The look on her face caught Adelaide entirely off guard, a mixture of building rage and pure possessiveness as she struggled against Malakai's strength. Blood trickled down her arms from where Onigoshi was biting into her fingers, but Danica didn't spare it a glance as she held her ground and shoved violently with all her strength.

Everything moved so fast she could hardly track it with her eyes. Danica's burst of strength was enough to send Isen's body back a few feet before she whipped around, fisting the front of Tyrath's shirt in one hand and lashing her tail around him before they disappeared in a hastily made portal. Ember was a blur of fur and bared teeth beside her as she lunged past the empty spot Danica and Tyrath had left, her jaw latching onto Isen's arm only to be swatted away with a loud yelp and thud against the hard ground. Adelaide cursed and scrambled for her familiar, throwing an arc of magic out to create a barrier between them and the next attack.

"Isen, I know you're in there!" Even though Onigoshi wasn't making direct contact with her or Ember's body, she could feel the brunt of the attack against her hastily created shield, her magic stuttering and struggling to hold itself strong as she knelt at Ember's side and cradled the feline's head. "Isen, please!" Her voice broke on a sob as she held up a hand, struggling to maintain the shield as tears blurred her vision. "Come back to me."

 

[AndrewS]

A wave of energy burst forward, following the trajectory and arc of Isen's sword. It barreled towards Ember like a projectile, cutting through the very air with it's dark, pulsating magic, crashing into the barrier that Adelaide had hastily erected. Through Isen, Malakai seemed disinterested in the fact that Danica had stolen a potential casualty from his grasp and, instead, seemed wholly committed on severing the final string of Isen's humanity, and thus, seizing full control over his new vessel. A second, forceful exertion shattered the fragile, arcane wall that had been erected, leaving the injured familiar, and her mistress, without protection from any further assault.

"He is no longer with us."

Malakai taunted, out loud, distorting his voice into Isen's. The mixture created dissonance, perhaps intentional, harsh and sharp, yet haunting, to the ear. Isen's right hand tightened around Onigoshi while the left remained wrapped around the scepter's gem, clutching it with reverie into his palm.

"Perhaps he is waiting for you in the afterlife. Won't you join him?"

"Come back to me."

---

"They're afraid of you, you know."

"They should be."

Clara's hand lifted to Malakai's cheek, touching him gently. The usual, stoic demon began to pull away, feeling a hiss from her touch. Annoyed by his avoidance, she pulled harder, turning his face to meet hers, matching their eyes despite the fact that her even touching him seemed to be causing them both discomfort.

"Why? Because they've been told to be?"

"Stop touching me."

"Maybe you're the one who is afraid."

Malakai lifted his hand up towards her wrist, finger tips pressing inwards. He was draining her, simply from touch, a consequence of the strength that resided inside of them both. Despite her being a source of magic he could draw from as much as he needed, he didn't linger in holding her. Instead, he guided her hand down and away from him, severing the connection.

"I will kill you."

A lament, more so than a threat, exited his lips and yet, she did not back down.

"You don't see it yet, but I will help you." She continued speaking, he tried to drown it out. "You believe yourself a monster because that's all you've ever known, yet, you fight against your very being to be around me. You control death itself. Within you is the potential, not just to take lives, but to protect them, prevent them from crossing the veil. That is why you are my horizon, Malakai. You are so full of potential, even if right now, I am the only one who can see it."

"You were in love."

Isen's voice cut through the memory, attempting to carve his way out of the tomb Malakai had placed him in. His own body, a tool to a demon, one whom seemed intent on killing the woman that he loved. Their connection, though forceful, went both ways. He had seen the way Adelaide's illusion of Clara had staggered the demon, albeit briefly, and was attempting to the same from within before it was too late.

"Do you think this is what she'd want?"

"She wanted something I could never give."

"I thought that way once too."

---

There was a moment of hesitancy, somehow, in the way Malakai delayed the final blow. There was nothing left to stop him from ending Adelaide there and then; she was weak and defeated, her familiar was badly injured, and her back up had been stolen away. She was more vulnerable now than she had ever been, but something was stopping him from striking.

"Let go, Isen."

He spoke inwardly, unaware that Adelaide could hear his voice. Though she wouldn't be able to hear Isen himself, it was obvious that part of him was still trying to fight this; to fight for her.

"You said we were alike. I never realized how much until now. We were both seen as monsters, weren't we? Branded as killers long before we ever willingly took a life. Me, through Ignas, and you, through your power."

"I am a monster. I am death, itself."

"And I was the Reaper. Together, me and Ignas defied it. Where we differed was how we responded to love."

The grip on the gem was the first to loosen, now, Isen's fingers unfurling for a brief moment before clutching back together in a fist; they were wrestling with control.

"Don't you think you could have been so much more? If you had embraced what you had felt?"

"To love is to be human."

"But you know that isn't true. Ignas loved. Danica loved. At least, I think she did."

"Let. Go. Isen."

"No."

---

"I'm sorry, my Horizon. I couldn't save you..."

Malakai could feel his magic sealing. He could feel his essence being drawn, pulled into a magical gemstone affixed to the end of a scepter. A sign of ruling, a regal symbol meant for the ruler of the underworld, bereft with dark magic and soon to become a prison.

"W-why...?"

Clara was tearful as she weaved the final moments of her spell. Beside her, a familiar sword rattled, and in front of her, her other beloved began to disappear.

He had fought it for so long. Emotion. It was weakness. The humans felt it, and they were pathetic. Dissonants felt it, and they were lesser life. Disgusting, pitiful emotions. Disgusting, pitiful love.

For the first, and only time, Malakai experienced something everybody on Earth would experience at least once; heart break. He looked into the eyes of the only person who mattered, after having rejected it for so long, and felt his consciousness slip away.

---

"She betrayed me."

"She saved you from yourself. You could never see the other half of what you could have been. Adelaide helped me see it, and I think I helped Ignas see it too...love."

"Love is a curse."

"Spoken like somebody with a broken heart."

In many ways, while fighting back Isen's being, Malakai had experienced everything he had felt and experienced in the past. Love, loss, trauma, healing. Every memory, every time he thought about giving up, and the way those self destructive thoughts cured themselves over time. Where Isen had found a reason to live in spite of his darkness, through Adelaide, Malakai had only found more reason to hate. He was what they said he was, back then, and now, still. Despite that, somebody found reason to love him, and that love still wasn't enough to accept the nature he warned her of.

He would never understand.

"I want your heart to break, Isen Hiyori."

Any control Isen had exerted over his body, by exploiting Malakai's emotions, had begun to fall away. He lifted Onigoshi skyward, over his head, it's point primed and aimed at Adelaide.

"I want you to see what your love has gotten you. Only when your heart shatters will you finally realize I'm right. Love is a curse. A burden. A weakness. To you, to Ignas, and to Clara..."

"No!"

Malakai plunged Onigoshi downwards with finality, with all of the angered force he could conjure from the depths of his blackened heart. Memories rippled and tore past the lids of his eyes. His own, but also Isen's too. A mage who cared too much, desperately trying to change his ways. A tired traveler in a snow storm, desperate for revenge. The girl with the flower in her hair, finding light where only dark could settle. A bond blooming between two kindred souls bearing impossible weights. Death and life, right and wrong. Love where love shouldn't exist.

The blade of Onigoshi found it's mark, piercing through flesh and bone.
But, Adelaide Lancaster, remained unharmed.

In one, final act of defiance, Isen forced the jewel from Malakai's hand and lifted the now-free appendage upwards, clutching the handle of the sword. With both hands fastened around it, Onigoshi took it's final life, spearing through Isen's stomach to deter the attack. Forcing through the other side, a stunned, and shocked Malakai, remained speechless as Isen attempted the ultimate sacrifice to protect the one that he loved. If he couldn't take control of his body back, he'd make sure that it could never be used to kill another person that he loved.

His body fell forward towards the snow, burying the hilt of the sword into the ground, pressing the entirety of Onigoshi's length through his chest. Blood spilled from the wound it had opened, staining white with red, as Isen's life gushed through the opening. The magic that had flickered around the blade ceased, replacing black with crimson. When his eyes opened again, they were his own, staring across at Adelaide as tears began to well at their corners. His vision hazed, his body rapidly failing him while Malakai tried to stifle the bleeding from within his vessel.

"You god damn idiot! What have you done!?"

"A-Adela-..." Isen gasped, as blood pooled in his lungs, clogging his throat and preventing him from grunting out anything more than partial syllables.

Fitting, it was, that the man once known as the Reaper would be the hand holding the blade that ended his infamous life. Of all the lives he had stolen, and all of the families he had destroyed, during his time under Ignas, Isen had never felt so at peace with his actions. She would be safe. As long as Adelaide could take Malakai's catalyst and bury it some place nobody would ever find...or even better yet, destroy it...Malakai would never be able to hurt her, or anybody else again. She could live, finally, not as a target, or as a mage, but as herself. Free, in a world without the DSTF's oppression, to be whatever she wanted to be. Not a tool, or a refuge, nor a weapon, but as Adelaide Lancaster, until he found her once more in whatever lay beyond.

His sister was calling him. He needed to go now.

"T-this life, or th- n-..."