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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"I said fine," She glared at him, "I said I don't care about having deaths on my hands, if it gets me what I want, then I'll kill you and hopefully whatever being you said is inside the sword. If that's what I have to do to get revenge, then I'd do it ten times over." How many times did she have to repeat herself before he finally understood what she was saying? "You have my word that I will kill you when this is all over--If we succeed. If we don't then neither of us will get what we want." She knew full well that she might not survive the entire ordeal, but at least with someone immortal at her side she would finally have a chance to avenge her family. If she had to get more blood on her hands because of it, then so be it. She would find a way to rip that being from the sword and make certain both it and the man before her were dead.

"I suppose I should know your name if we're to spend the foreseeable future together, and if you want me to dig you a grave afterward, I need something to mark it with." She paused and moved closer to him before thrusting out her hand. "I'm Adelaide. Pissed off mage, and apparently future executioner."
 
Thought reservations still existed in his mind whether or not she would truly uphold her end of this deal, Isen realized that what she said was true; if he did not try, he would never know and neither of them would get what they wanted. He wasn't particularly dedicated to helping her get her revenge, she was no doubt a means to an end, but he had already wore the guilt of so many taken lives in the past, what was a little more burden to bare before the end? Besides, it wasn't as though the people she was targeting were innocent. Powerful, yes, but innocent? Not even close. The current state of their world had been dictated to be such by the very targets she wished to eliminate, he would be doing every Dissonant a favor by removing the powers that oppressed them. Did that make him a hero, in the end? It wasn't his intention. It would do little to shake his reputation, not that he truly cared what people thought of him, but maybe it was yet another step on his path to atone for what he had done?

"I will not let her take you from me. Isen; save this world, help this girl, it matters not in the end. We will go on living as we always have. You are a demon, not an errand boy. You are a killer, not a hero..."

"I wish to be returned here." He simply replied to her as she mentioned digging him a grave. This place was special to him, he knew exactly where he would wish to be laid to rest if he could be given the choice. "But, you are correct. I suppose it would be wise to learn each other's names."

Adelaide. That wasn't quite what he expected. It was an older name, it didn't match her age. With that being said, at least it was a pleasant title, despite what the voice in his head seemed to tell him.

"There is something alarmingly familiar about that name. Why do I feel as though I've heard it before?" It seemed to question Isen as if Isen had an answer. "Isen, I caution you to be careful. Do not give her your real name, there's no reason why we should tr-"

"My name is Isen Hiyori."

"You damned fool! Why do you never listen to me? She is not to be trusted. This is a mistake, why can't you real-"

"For once, can you shut your mouth? I am tired of hearing you whine." Isen spoke out, bluntly, his voice raising and echoing through the small, box-like cabin he and Adelaide shared. His eyes seemed to peak with color, for a moment, as he grew angry. That anger disappeared as soon as it had arrived, however, and Isen looked towards his guest, realizing she probably thought he had been yelling at her. "...the being in the sword is not happy about our agreement. He says you are not to be trusted." Isen relayed.

The voice remained quiet, for once, perhaps stunned that Isen finally replied and did so with such anger.

"I have been cursed with the burden of a second voice inside my head for as long as I have been a demon. It is the part of me that takes control when I die, it is the hunger inside of me to kill. It cares not for all that it has taken from me and it refuses to let go. It is the reason I still remain tethered to this miserable existence and try as I may, I have never been able to separate us." He knew Adelaide could not hear the demon's voice, nor had she any reason to believe anything he was saying was true. For all he knew, he was probably coming across unhinged and crazy. Good. Maybe she'd realize he isn't the type of being she should ally with and she'd change her mind before they ever embarked on this vengeful journey together.

"You are truly a fool, Isen Hiyori. Do what you must but just know, you will never live an existence without me. We are two halves of the same whole, you and I. We will never be apart. Try, then fail. Win, then lose. I will be here for you when you fall."
 
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"Well, at least the only hassle will be dragging your body back here. I was half expecting you to have a ridiculously long name or two middle ones." She looked slightly amused and made a mental note to remember his name. Depending how long this revenge mission of hers took, she might be hearing or saying it for some time.

"Excuse me?" She frowned at his outburst, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him with an irritated expression. It was only a moment later that he clarified he was not yelling at her, but rather at whatever being existed inside the weapon.

"Clearly you should trust the thing inside the sword that makes you kill." She couldn't help but to roll her eyes. "That would drive me nuts if I had to argue with a voice inside my head that wasn't mine." She couldn't begin to imagine what that would be like to share her body with someone like that, to have them inside her head and her thoughts at every moment. She argued with herself enough at times as it was, having someone you couldn't get rid of arguing with everything you said would be pure torture. It was no wonder the man was so distrustful and grumpy, that was enough to put anyone in a foul mood.

"Well, the end goal is to separate you two, even if I have to kill a demon to get it done." It already mistrusted her according to Isen, so why should she care what happened to it? The only positive thing coming from it was that she could use Isen as a means to an end, a way to avenge her family and keep herself safe. Safe. A foreign concept after the way things had been lately, a fantasy so far out of her reach she wondered if it was even possible.

"Now, I assume this place has a bathroom? I need to wash the blood off of me. Coat's probably ruined, but not much I can do about that right now."
 
She was willing to kill the demon inside the sword to free him? Consider Isen signed up. It was reassuring that she seemed committed to the cause, enough so that he felt comfortable accepting his role in her vengeful mission against the better judgement of himself and the urging of the voice echoing around inside of his head. There was still a chance that when all was said and done, she would refuse to follow through on her end of the bargain but he would be in the same place now as he would be then if he decided not to try; stuck in an endless existence with the blood of countless others hanging heavy on his conscience. What was one more life to take in the end if she were to betray him? It wasn't like he was keeping count anymore, he had long since given up on quantifying his numerous regrets.

"I'm sure you can find your way." He simply told her, showing little interest in her complaints regarding the state of her coat. "And when you are done, you should get some rest. We leave in the morning. You've lured danger into this town and we cannot stay here." For her safety but also for the safety of all the Dissonants here who were attempting to hide out, away from the watchful eye of the government. Adelaide had unknowingly led the DSTF to the largest remaining population of Dissonants not currently on their radar or under their control, he wondered if she had even realized the mistake that she had made.

The snow storm continued to rage outside of the walls of their cabin and Isen relocated himself outside rather than to remain within the interior with Adelaide. He did for several different reasons, the first of which meant there was no way she could change her mind in the middle of the night and sneak past him. He also wanted to keep an eye on their surroundings, they could not afford a sneak attack, especially one so late at night. Finally, he liked his peace and quiet. He didn't really get much of it, given the nuisance in his head, but he definitely wasn't fond of having this mage-girl further disrupt him from his reprieve when that voice finally shut itself up. The howling of the wind, and snow against his skin that he could not feel, seemed almost silent when he dulled his senses to block them out.

~~~

Isen's eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. Where was he? Last he remembered, he had been fleeing, not out of cowardice but out of fear for what he might do in retaliation. It had been a couple of weeks since he had found himself in possession of his cursed blade and he had tried to separate himself many times from it after attempts to take his own life had failed. Isen had yet to grow numb to the regrets that usually followed when he awoke from one of his near-death experiences, and he had yet to become accustomed to his new demon-hood. His body yearned to kill, to satisfy it's needs with the shedding of blood, but yet he felt nothing of the sort now. It brought a sinking feeling to his stomach, one that was confirmed by the stench of freshly spilt blood. He had killed again. He had killed all of them.

Demons were rare. Even amongst Dissonants. Despite the existence of werewolves and vampires and all other means of supernatural life, demons were still in the shadows. They were considered one of the few myths and stories not to be true by most due to the rarity of actually coming across one of them. When he was found out for what he truly was, he was ostracized by the friends he had made during his travels. Isen had begun moving from place to place, unable to stay long in any one area, especially if it was a place where he had killed. He was searching for something, or someone, to free him from his pain, unbeknownst that it had only just begun and that he had countless years of misery ahead of him. The allies he thought he once had turned on him and he ran, trying to put some distance between them and himself. He knew what would happen if they attacked him, if they tried to kill him. He knew what would happen if he lost control.

He overlooked the wreckage, seeing once-familiar faces lining the blood-soaked floor and felt his heart ache. It had happened again.

"When will it end?" He asked out loud, knowing the voice in his head would hear it and respond.

"Never." It replied. It sounded satisfied with what it had done. And it was laughing at him.

Isen thought only of his sister in that moment. The first person this curse had taken from him. What did she think of him now? Wherever she was, in whatever plain of existence or afterlife there was, she had to have been looking down upon him in terror, heartbroken with what he had become. Ashamed of who he now was.

"Get out! Get out of my head!" Isen's hands gripped both sides of his face as he brought his forehead into contact with the concrete wall he had awoken against. "Out! Stop it! Stop laughing! Please...leave me alone!" He continued to chant until he gave up and slumped back down to the ground, the voice in his head still laughing at him for even bothering to try.

~~~

He had lost track of time for a little while as he zoned out into the storm. Had it been a couple of hours? The blizzard had begun to die down and the sky was brighter, morning would come soon but he suspected he still had another hour or two to wait. Turning, he walked back inside to check on Adelaide, to make sure she was still there and she was still breathing. The fire he had set had died out and a chill had crept back into the once-warm cabin. He walked over towards the fire place to relight it, casting his gaze back upon his new companion and for a brief moment, he feared she would end up like all the others he had traveled with, like everybody else who ever trusted him.
 
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"Yeah yeah, blame the human. Not like they wouldn't come here eventually anyway." Adelaide muttered to herself as she snatched up her bag and looked around, avoiding looking at the demon as her cheeks flushed a deep pink. Of course it was her fault, she'd been so wrapped up in finding Isen that she'd apparently been careless along the way. The question was when had she been careless? Or had they been keeping tabs on her the whole time, just waiting to see if they could find anything else of interest before snatching her up?

She found the bathroom with ease thanks to how ridiculously small the place was. She wasn't sure what she had expected in regards to the demon's living space, but it hadn't been this. There were no corpses scattered around the yard, no skulls sitting on a mantle or a glass of blood anywhere in sight.

"Come on Ada, don't be stupid." She muttered to herself as she closed the bathroom door, staring down at her swollen knuckles and the cut from Isen's sword. First things first, she needed to shower.. Which would have been a lot easier if the products in her bag weren't half frozen from the cold. Did demons need to shower? She pushed the curtain aside and looked inside the shower, making a small noise of victory upon discovering that apparently they did, and there was soap and shampoo inside. Good enough for her. She could handle smelling like his products as long as she was able to get clean.

She stepped out of the shower a short while later, putting on clean clothes and working her wet hair into a braid before leaving the room. A quick glance around showed that the demon was nowhere in sight and she frowned, putting her bag back by her other things before doing a brief investigation. Of course the big bastard was outside. Well, no matter. She was far too tired to question why he was outside, and there was nothing more the two of them needed to discuss at that moment. Now that they'd come to a reasonable agreement, she could finally sleep, even if it was going to be on a couch. She'd slept in far worse places than that, and at least there was a fire to keep her warm enough she wouldn't catch her death from the cold.

"Thank you." She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke, but the sound of Isen going to the fireplace and stirring the fire back to life had woken her. "It must be nice to not get cold." Her voice was still incredibly sleepy as she rubbed at her eyes, shifting around on the couch and resituating the thin blanket she'd managed to tuck away into her pack for traveling. "I used your shower stuff, hope you don't mind."
 
The crackling warmth of the fire should have been a welcome respite from the cold but since he couldn't really feel the temperature change either way, it didn't seem to bother him much that the small cabin had become significantly warmer from the simple lighting of the fireplace due to how tiny and compact the place was. He hadn't expected her to catch him in the act of fueling the flame and for a moment, he wasn't sure what to say in response to her thanking him. It wasn't like he did it because he cared about her, after all, he just needed to keep her alive long enough for her to fulfill her end of their deal and that meant not letting her freeze to death in the middle of a snowstorm. Still, it had been a while since he had been thanked by anything for anyone or did anything that warranted such a response, so it gave the demon some pause in how to continue.

Her mention of having used his shower came as no surprise, he could smell the fresh scent emanating off her from the moment he had walked back into the cabin, long before he ever saw the wet hair she had tied into a braid. If he were human, he might have thought it cute the way she cared about her appearance in such a way when he had little reason to be concerned with such. As for her using his supply, Isen didn't care, someone had to make use of that stuff. He wasn't exactly reliant on the typical rules of human hygeine, though he would do his best to keep himself clean when things got messy. Killing wasn't exactly sanitary, after all. Even now, the cloth he was wearing had a red stain where he had been injured during their fight, a gash still present in the fabric, but he hadn't gone out of his way to disinfect the wound or change into anything clean. To be fair, he didn't exactly have a large wardrobe; the damage dealt to his attire would probably persist for quite a while though he didn't care much. Aside from the occasional good samaritan who might see the blood and ask if he was okay, it would more than likely ward off most human attention and any Dissonant who realized what he was would likely stay away as well.

"It's fine." He finally responded, his voice as stoic and cold as ever. "It's not as fun as it sounds but I suppose it has it's benefits...Go back to sleep. We're leaving soon."

It was a simple statement that sounded more like a cautious request. She had expended a lot of herself during their fight before, she needed to get her strength back up before they hit the road. She was the navigator, after all. This was her mission, he suspected she had at least some sort of idea in mind of where they would go next, otherwise they would be wandering aimlessly until her friends from the task force sent backup to track her down. Isen was likely giving off the impression that her presence here was an annoyance to him and perhaps it was. He looked at her as though she were out of place, a disruption to the peace and quiet he was used to. It wasn't that he hated her, he just hated what might happen to her if she continued to stick with him.

"These people took a lot from you, didn't they?" He asked, speaking up after a couple of moments of silence, offering a rather insightful question. Maybe what little human left inside of him was feeling bad for how he had been treating her. She had been through a lot as well, especially if it made her willing to do something so foolish as to align with a powerful demon such as himself. "I know a thing or two about revenge, Adelaide. It doesn't fulfill you the way that you expect it to...and killing every single member of the task force isn't going to bring back what you've lost. I know that more than most." His words were instilled with a surprising wisdom cultivated by years spent in an endless life of killing and death. He knew what it was like to claim the life of somebody who had wronged him with his own blade and he knew all too well how empty it made him feel after the deed had been done.

Because speaking such a thing had a chance to persuade her against her vengeance and thus voiding their agreement, there was some form of sincerity being displayed to her by Isen but make no mistake, he wanted her to sever him from his curse, he just didn't want another person to lose themselves to the thought of revenge the way that he had all those years ago. "If you're throwing yourself head first into this expecting it to make things better, it won't."

He was the last person in their world who could judge anybody for wanting to take a life and he knew the value his words likely held was rather slim but he had said his peace and he had cleared his conscience as much as he could about the matter. It was up to her now how she wanted to proceed.
 
They had taken a lot from her, but she hadn't been expecting him to broach the topic. It wasn't as if he cared about her at all, so why did the details of her own revenge matter? So long as she separated him from the sword and killed him when everything was said and done, there was no reason for him to ask about her personal life. Of course she knew there was nothing that would bring anyone back, but that didn't mean it wouldn't make things better. It would make her feel a hell of a lot better to know they were all rotting in hell and couldn't hurt anyone else.

"I know it won't bring anyone back. But it will stop them from hurting anyone else if they're all dead." She chose to ignore his initial question, averting her eyes and then rolling over so her back was to him. "I can't let them live after everything they've done. They'll hunt me down over and over again, until either they catch me and torture me to get what they want, or until I kill them all so I can finally be left alone." She'd given up on living any type of normal life when they'd ransacked her place and murdered her friends, but at least she could be free if they weren't around to torment her any longer.

"You told me to get more sleep. No reason to get into... whatever it is you think you're trying to do." She tugged the blanket up until it covered part of her head, effectively ending the conversation and choosing to ignore him in favor of sleep.
 
Had he upset her with his question? Or, perhaps, it was the way he had talked ill of her decision without being in a position of trust to coincide with his view point? Either way, Isen took the hint when she turned over, deciding it best to let the topic die for now and to shut his mouth before he made things worse. She was to be his traveling companion for the near future, after all, it was best if she didn't completely hate his guts or she would be even more intolerable than she already was.

He left her to her own devices and found himself residency upon a hard, wooden chair on the other side of the room where he sat, in quiet, as the early morning brought an end to the snow storm outside and left the small town coated in a thick, fluffy blanket of white. By the time the sun's light breached through the window, the fire place had died out again but it hadn't yet been long enough for the cold of the outside to seep back in and steal away the flame's work in providing warmth. Now that the wind outside had died out, Isen was able to hear much more clearly, as the town began to awake and fill with the early morning hustle and bustle of those who enjoyed waking up at the crack of dawn to begin their days.

The commotion was typical and he had learned to block it out. His heightened senses were a gift in most cases, one of the few positive side effects of the curse of demonhood, but it had taken him some time to learn how to hone it and how to ignore the unwanted noise and static. Because of that, Isen was mostly unbothered with the sounds outside but he began to pay a close ear to something in particular; there were whisperings outside, speaking of visitors. First, Isen thought perhaps it was an after shock of Adelaide's arrival, or perhaps they had found some of the bodies left behind, buried in the snow, but that didn't appear to be the case. The closer he listened, the more the commotion began to grow. There was a sense of fear outside.

Isen peered through the window outside and saw what had caused the disturbance; DSTF. And a lot of them.

Clearly it had been a mistake for them to spend the night instead of immediately leaving. They had no doubt received a signal of distress from some of the wounded soldiers and had sent back up at an alarmingly quick pace. They were more heavily armed as well with several of the guards wielding weapons similar to the one that had wounded Isen during their initial encounter.

"Adelaide." He spoke up, raising his voice to catch her attention. "Wake up. We need to go. Now." He ordered, already trying to formulate an easy way out. With his speed, he could probably whisk them both out of range fairly quickly but they needed to move now before it was too late.

Outside, the person in charge of this unit had gathered the attention of the entire town and was barking orders about searching for Adelaide and her demon companion. Things were deteriorating quickly as the DSTF began to realize exactly what they had walked into; a gold mine of off-the-radar Dissonants just waiting to be tamed, led her by Adelaide's carelessness and intrigued by Isen's violence. Already, several of the Dissonants here had been forced to their knees or locked in special, enchanted cuffs designed to mitigate their unique abilities and those who weren't cooperating were being roughed up by the guards who seemed to take glee in doing so.

Isen had a feeling Adelaide wasn't about to let him just run her out of here once she realized what was going on.

"See. I told you aligning yourself with her was a bad idea." The voice from the sword spoke out for the first time in a while; Isen had rather liked its absence. "This entire town is done for. Unless...what say we have a little bit of fun, hm?" It continued, trying to goad Isen into giving over control or into picking a fight. So far, he wasn't taking the bait.
 
"Huh?" It took a moment for her to stir to the sound of her name, but by the time the words finally registered she was rolling off the couch and to her feet. That couldn't be good if he was waking her to leave immediately. She stumbled around trying to gather her things, shoving her feet into her boots and snatching up her blood stained coat. To hell with any sense of pride in her appearance, they didn't have time for that.

"Okay, okay." The fact that she could sense so much magic outside only spurred her into action faster, her arms shoved through the straps of her bag as she finished gathering her things. "What the hell is going on out there?" She peeked out the window and then cursed fluently, rubbing at her face before turning to her companion.

"The bloody bastards are back for more. They're either going to enslave all these people, or kill them when they don't cooperate." Probably a bit of both, if she was being honest with herself. Neither were options she was fond of. She didn't have an overabundance of love for the Dissonants, but she didn't bear them any ill will, either. They were still living, breathing creatures, just trying to survive in a world where they were routinely hunted. and enslaved.

"What, you're just going to leave them all to their fate? You really don't care about anyone, do you?" She wanted to kill the entirety of them anyway, so why not start now and save what were more than likely innocent creatures? And there was so much magic out there she could try to steal..

"Fuck it. We have to go out the door anyway, right?" She secured her bag before throwing the door open, giving Isen only a brief backward glance before she started off toward the gathered crowd. Like hell she was just going to walk away without even trying.
 
"We have unwanted company." He replied to her question about what was happening outside. He wanted to lay it on a little thicker about how this was her fault, like he had warned before, but it didn't seem the time nor the place to put any emotional strain on her. They needed to act fast and they needed to be on the same page, this would be the first true test of their alliance and whether or not they would be able to actually coexist together and make their partnership work.

He waited by the door, still peering outside but trying to remain out of site. With his hearing, he could pretty much tell exactly what was going on without needing to see it anyways. He was concentrated so much on what was going on that her question had caught him off guard, especially with the venomous tone she seemed to have behind it. "They're beyond our saving. Besides, my priority now is to protect you until our deal has expired. The odds of you walking away from this, even with me at your side, seems pretty slim if you decide to try and fight. I say we cut our losses and get out of town as quickly as possible. I should be able to do that."

Isen seemed numb to the emotional context of the situation. Adelaide would basically be dooming everybody in the town to death or enslavement by her own accord if she left in the exact same way the family she had lost had been killed simply for being associated with her. For Isen, his only goal was to fulfill her request so that he could finally find his peace. Despite the echoing in his head from the sword's demon trying to get him to break and to start killing, he seemed in control of that urge and he was trying to keep Adelaide focused on what they actually needed to do. It wasn't that he didn't care, though he certainly preferred not to, he just knew it was a bad idea either way to get involved.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked her as she stormed past him and straight out through the cabin door. Was she really going to do this? "Adelaide." He repeated her name but she was already outside, storming off towards the crowd.

"Are you going to let her walk out there to her death? Or are you going to do what must be done and cut them all down?" The voice egged Isen on with malicious intention. Was there really no other way? He rarely showed emotion but now, he was quite frustrated with her for being so brazen and stupid.

Adelaide had pretty quickly garnered the attention of the DSTF who had coming looking for her. Isen hung back a little, blending in to the crowd, watching for now. He was within striking range if need be but he wanted to get a better lay of the land. He could see they were heavily armed, both in their protective gear and the weaponry they were holding. He could sense the magic all around him, as well as the fear of those who were watching.

The man who appeared to be the leader of this squadron drew a weapon from his side, producing a blade infused with arcane properties. It seemed to distort the very air around it with it's energy, humming gently, near inaudible, in a way that only a demon could hear.

"Ah, there she is." The man's voice spoke up from beyond the visor of the suit he was wearing. He lowered it so that she could see his face, his sharp, arrogant features casting judgement towards her with a hint of amusement across his lips. "I see you're not as stupid as I once thought you to be. I do have to thank you, mage. Though you may have killed many of my men last night, you've more than made up for it by leading me here. So many Dissonants left unchecked. So many monsters waiting to be slain. Hm, and speaking of monsters...where is yours?" He asked, seemingly scanning the crowd behind her for any sign of her demonic partner.
 
"More than you're doing!" Adelaide yelled back at him as she stomped through the snow, keeping her eyes forward and focused on the threat ahead. Whether or not he chose to help her wasn't a large concern of hers, although it probably should have been considering she needed him for the long haul. Then again, he needed her, too, so maybe that would keep her safe in some distorted version of reality.

"Here I am." Her face twitched as she sighed in annoyance, kicking at the snow and watching the man expose his face. She hadn't killed many of the men last night, just.. Two? Three? Hell if she could remember at that point, there had been so many dead by the time Isen had gotten to them and nearly killed her too. It was a pity she couldn't just siphon some energy from him right now, cut through these bastards with little effort.

"Who said I had a monster?" Technically speaking he was a demon, not a monster, although the terms were probably interchangeable. "You're the one with the army of monsters, dead set on hurting those different than you. All because you're a bunch of pissy little brats who want to play God and take from everyone else. Nothing's ever good enough for you, is it? You always want more." She wasn't wrong, they were always striving for more power, always stealing from whomever they wanted with no care for the consequences.

"You want to call them monsters?" She glanced towards the creatures being roughed up or restrained and frowned, focusing her gaze on the cuffs that they wore as she tried to determine just how much magic was in them. Clearly enough to hold the Dissonant's in check, which meant that all she needed to do was draw the magic out and free them. A perfect diversion and a chance for them to be free to defend themselves. It seemed like a win-win as she made her way closer to them, her eyes flickering between the man that had spoken to her and the captive Dissonants.

"I'm not normally one to condone killing humans, but these ones deserve everything coming to them. Have at, boys. Girls, whatever." She didn't care to do a full inventory on genders of the creatures, didn't have time to do that when most of her focus was on drawing the magic from their restraints. It wasn't anything quite as shocking as when she had drawn from Isen's blade, but it still felt so good to soak it all in, to watch the cuffs fall away from them as she exhaled slowly.

"Even I know to protect all parts if you're in a war." Their shields and magic didn't exactly protect their ankles now, did they? Maybe the higher ranking ones would have more protection on them, but the lesser ones? The wave of magic she flung back at them was sloppy but effective, sweeping the legs of some of the men out from under them and sending them into the snow. It was incredibly satisfying to watch.
 
"God?" The man asked, questioning what Adelaide had said to him. "No such thing exists. But are you not the same as what you say I am? You're a thief too. Your entire family, in fact. You steal the very magic this world thrives upon and make it your own. You stole the lives of my men, men who were just doing their job to keep this world clean of Dissonant filth...You stole the lives of your friends too, simply by association with you. Did you think you could just forget what you were and carry on living life like you weren't different?" He seemed to know more about Adelaide than she expected, but given that the DSTF had attacked her in the first place, it made sense that he had done his research on her powers and her living situation.

It was of no surprise to him when Adelaide drained magic from the arcane cuffs that his men had been using and turned it back against them. He made no warning towards the unsuspecting soldiers, allowing them to bear the brunt of the shockwave, sending those who were less armed toppling into the snow in an instant. Not all of his guards were susceptible however, and he seemed barely phased by the energy at all. With the magic stolen from the cuffs, many of the Dissonants who were being detained had now broken free, shattering the metal that had kept them bound. Chaos began to ensue as the DSTF members drew their weapons against the village folk, a melee following that seemed to curve around Adelaide and the man she was speaking to, trapping them in the center of the noise.

He extended his weapon to his side, causing it's blade to spark with a magical charge. It seemed different than the others. Stronger. It was more like Isen's blade; a type of magic so strong that it seemed to defy the laws of what she likely knew of the arcane. If she were to use it against him, she'd need to get close. Isen couldn't allow that to happen.

He was well aware of everything that was happening through the commotion but by the time the brawl had started, he found himself effectively locked on the other side of the fray, separated from Adelaide as she stared down her dangerous adversary. Isen didn't want to hurt anyone but Isen didn't have a choice. Drawing his weapon, he began to use it to force his way through, intentionally trying not to strike any one in his way for fatal damage. Still, the blood that laced his blade smelt intoxicating and the voice in his head seemed frenzied by the taste, demanding more.

As he breached through the outer part of the fighting, he found himself up against several more guards like the ones that had harmed him before. Their protective gear was heavy duty, their weapons more powerful than those wielded by the typical DSTF grunts. Even with the speed of his movements, he needed to be careful. It wasn't that he was worried they'd hurt him, there was no chance they could win this fight, but if they got in a lethal blow, he would lose control and nobody here would be safe, not even Adelaide.

Meanwhile, the man with his weapon drawn took a couple of steps towards Adelaide, doing so with each stride confident rather than afraid of what she was capable of. "Tell me. How does it feel to lose two families in the same life time? Aren't you tired of being a burden to those around you? Your family, your friends, this town. Wouldn't they all have been better off without you?" He taunted. He was playing at something, Isen could hear each word as he tried to make his way to Adelaide. "Would they be proud of what you've become? Of what you've caused? No...I see now that I was mistaken. The demon you came here to meet isn't the monster, you are. Death follows you everywhere you go. Look around you. You see it, don't you?"

In all directions, men and Dissonant alike were suffering as they fought, harming each other, killing each other. Blood stained the snow just like the fight she had been a part of in the snow storm, turning white to red and disrupting what was once a peaceful hamlet. Was she truly to blame for this?
 
Who cared if she was a thief? To be chastised by a man who killed others simply for being different, and all in the name of peace, that was unacceptable. He could claim it was for peace, the greater good, anything that he wanted, and still it would not be right in her eyes. His men had forfeited their lives the moment they took orders from him, and he dared to blame her for the death of her friends, the friends his men had slaughtered just to get to her? If he thought she would join them just to ensure no one she laid eyes on would ever die, then he was sorely mistaken.

The chaos that was bursting to life around them was barely reacted to, bodies flying at each other and the scent of magic heavy in the air around her. Time was nonexistent, the dialogue muted for everyone except the man that was speaking such blasphemy to her. She wasn't a burden, her friends had loved her, enjoyed her company and they had done many things together over time.

But they had never known the real her. They had never known what family she came from, that she had been hiding from these people for so many years as not to follow her family in death. Would they still have welcomed her with open arms if they had known that, or would they have shunned her to keep themselves safe? The questions racing through her head were enough to make her falter slightly before she looked around, taking in the scene of blood and bodies going every which way. Bright white stained with vibrant red blood.

"You're the one following me, that's the reason death is everywhere! You people are the monsters, not me!" No, she wasn't the monster for defending herself. She wasn't the monster for killing those who meant her harm, meant to use her to harm people simply because they could. "There's no chance in hell I'm letting you use me to hurt more people." All she had to do was take down this bastard, and everything would start to fall apart, right? All she had to do was pull some of the magic from that strange blade of his and use it to--

"What the fuck?" She could pull at the magic in it, but not in the same manner as she could fluidly draw it from other sources. There was something much firmer about this, much stronger, possibly even darker. Even when she managed to draw at it, it was strenuous, sapping at her energy as she struggled to control it to throw back at him.

"Fuck!" She needed to draw from anything else around them, the magic spread so sporadically she couldn't concentrate on any one spot it was coming from. It was everywhere and nowhere all at once, spread out and fading as the life was snuffed from one being after the other. Just when she'd thought she had a lock on a large source of power it was gone, and she was forced to resort to flinging whatever bits of magic she could grasp at the man opposite of her.
 
"I don't believe you have me to blame for the people who have been hurt by association with you. Besides, you have it all wrong. I don't want to use you as a weapon." He continued, chuckling at her thought process. "I want to work with you. I want to use your extraordinary power to bring peace to this world, to assure the safety of human and Dissonant alike." There was an obvious disconnect with his distorted point of view and the melee that had ensued all around them, but had she mentioned it, he would have simply shifted the blame for such a commotion back to her in an attempt to break her spirit further. "On the road to peace, war is inevitable. The expiration of lives in the present to solidify the protection of the future may seem like a huge sacrifice but in reality, it's a necessary step. With your power, think of all the good we could do for this world...instead, you waste it on childish vendettas. You choose to live amongst the filth and align yourself with a killer far worse than me."

He must have expected that, at some point, Adelaide would attempt to use the arcane nature of his weapon against him but he did not seem surprised at all when she seemed to fail at manipulating and harnessing the energy flowing from his blade. It wasn't like normal magic, it was heavier. It seemed like it resisted when being pulled upon, refusing to bend to her will the way typical magic seemed to. In many ways, whatever power this man was wielding was much like what existed within Isen's blade, though even this seemed too concentrated and amplified to budge at all. While other sources of magic encircled Adelaide in the ensuing chaos, there was too much noise and movement, it was impossible for her to focus on one source and draw from it in a significant enough way to muster anything other than weak, errant blasts of energy that this man was easily able to parry away with his blade or simply absorb with the armored suit he was wearing.

He began to walk towards her, undeterred by each blast she sent in his way. "So strong and yet too weak to use that strength. So resolute and yet all too broken. You cannot do this on your own and the more you try, the more ruin you will bring to those around you." Lifting his open hand upwards, his palm was outstretched, offering it to her as if she would actually consider taking it and joining his side. "If you cannot be reasoned with, you must be removed, but it doesn't have to come to that, does it?"

Before Adelaide could make her decision, a sudden gust of wind flew past her side. Isen was in front of her, blade extended, slashed at the outstretched arm. Their foe was able to react at the very last moment but not before Isen's sword dug into the material of his armor, ripping a gash into it that sent him recoiling backwards. Some damage had been done, it was evident in the way blood began to drip into the snow, but not nearly enough to deter or scare off the aggressor. "We don't reason with tyrants. Isn't that right, Adelaide?"

Isen looked over his shoulder, back at her, with a sense of conviction in his face that she likely hadn't expected from him. She had seen two sides of him; the apathetic side who seemed like he didn't care, and the part of him that came out when he lost his control in battle, but this was different. This was reassuring, comforting, it was if he was willing her to stand and continue fighting with a simple look.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you would show up. What was it they called you? A grim reaper?"

"Something like that." Isen replied, turning his attention back to their mutual enemy. "Do you want to find out why?"

"As fun as that sounds, I'm not here for you."

"And yet here I am. Sorry to spoil the party."

"Oh, Mr. Hiyori, your company is most welcome. I have questions for you, after all...I've heard such great things about you. Gruesome, terrifying things...but since when did you decide to repent for your sins and begin protecting humanity instead of trying to destroy it? The very same thing you forsake when you became what you are."

Isen wasn't going to fall for any of the goading or mental manipulation. The sins he had committed were heavy in his heart but he berated himself enough for that on his own, the opinion and words of someone so clearly twisted meant very little to him or his conscience.

"I don't know, you're a human and you've been doing some pretty fucked up things. Maybe we're not so different."

"Maybe we're not." He received a simple response, the male smirking beyond the mask he wore. "Shall we get this over with? I don't have all day."

Isen gripped the handle of his blade a little harder and dashed forward, swinging underhand, putting space between him and Adelaide while cutting her off from the person who was trying to take her. Isen's first slash grazed the arcane blade while the second narrowly missed. Isen seemed caught off guard by this man's abilities. He was capable of backing up his talk with holding his own in a fight, or was Isen simply holding back? If he could tap into that dark part of himself, this man would have barely stood a chance but neither would anybody else around him, Adelaide included. And he had made a deal, after all.

Stepping to the side to avoid another swing, Isen remembered the wound he had inflicted on the man's arm. He was one handing his weapon, he likely couldn't put the full force of his body behind it now. With that in mind, Isen locked weapons with him, knowing he more than had enough strength to break the interlock and was beginning to do so, over powering his foe. When he realized this, however, the man simply spun off to the side, deflecting Isen's blade down into the ground. When he turned back to face the demon, he did so with his wounded hand falling to his side, grasping at something from behind him. It hit the ground and bounced with a dull thud before opening, releasing purple gas just like what had happened during the fight in the snow storm.

Isen realized what this was but wasn't quick enough to escape the cloud. It began to burn his lungs, causing him such immense pain within his body that he could barely move from the place he was standing, something which only seemed to make the effect worse as he had no fresh air to breathe in and replace the gas.

"Isen, it's the same gas as before. We need to get out of it!" The voice in his head bellowed but Isen wasn't capable of moving an inch.

Glancing up, he watched the man from before walk into the gas and approach him. Isen was powerless and easy pray but this man knew that killing him wasn't a smart move so, instead, he brought the butt end of his weapon against the back of Isen's head, dazing him and knocking him face down into the snow before emerging on the other side of the smoke, blade still drawn, approaching Adelaide now with her ally incapacitated behind him. Blood continued to fall from his wound, leaving a trail coming out of the smoke, but he otherwise showed no signs of injury.

"Now, where were we?" He asked next, closing in.
 
Did he really think for even a moment that she would consider joining him? She would sooner join forces with a demon, which is exactly what she had chosen to do, and he thought he had a chance in hell? She wasn't given a chance to tell him to fuck off before Isen was in front of her, nearly toppling her over with the sudden gust his presence had created. The sight of blood dripping from their enemy was a welcome change to the bloodbath around them, and she found she could only nod her head in response to his question. He'd shown up so suddenly.

"Yeah, that's right." A tyrant was exactly what that man was, after all. She didn't have the luxury of time to figure out why Isen had looked at her like that, and that bugged the living hell out of her. This wasn't what she wanted--She wanted them dead, but she didn't want Isen to do it for her, but he wasn't intending to give her a choice in the matter.

"Shit!" She had gotten so focused on watching the two men fight that she didn't see the gas until it was rising from the snow, and by then it was too late. Them and their damned gas! Her hand shot up to cover her nose and mouth as she stepped back from the fumes, cursing profusely as she watched Isen was knocked to the ground and left there to suffer. Of course their enemy wouldn't make any fatal attack that would draw out Isen's demonic side, which left her in a very, very bad situation.

"I think we were at the part where I tell you to fuck off." The air beside her crackled slightly as she desperately pulled at any magic in the nearby vicinity. Even with Isen currently out of commission she was able to pull some magic from his blade, although it was difficult to properly control it as she stepped back to keep distance between her and her approaching enemy.

"Isen! Get up! Get up!" She flung the acquired magic toward the man coming after her, lashing out with as much force as she could while looking between him and Isen. If things went south and she died before they'd even started their journey.. She was going to haunt the bastard until the day he finally died.
 
With each step the man took as he walked forward, he seemed to pick up speed, trudging across the snow with vigor. The first couple of magic blasts ricocheted off of his blade but as she began to expend more of what little energy there was to draw on, he began to simply tank the shots head-on, letting them hit the armor he was wearing only to be dissipated in either direction of his body.

Isen struggled to focus. His head was pounding, spinning, causing a strange reaction; he couldn't feel the pain at the back of his head but he also couldn't focus his vision. He knew something was very wrong but he couldn't tell exactly what it was. His ears were ringing, even the voice of the demon speaking to him seeming muffled and distant and even worse, his lungs were burning and that was a pain he could feel. Each breath drew in more of the toxic gas that had harmed him so he tried to hold his breath but that only exasperated the feeling in his chest.

"Isen! Get up! Get up!"

Through the noise and the pain, he could hear her voice calling out to him. Adelaide needed him, she was in danger. He tried to lift himself, putting all of his strength into the muscles of his arms but still, he faltered and gasped for breath again, collapsing back down into the white below him.

~~~

Isen's vision focused, the voice in his head having finally silenced as he came back to his senses. His sword dripped with foreign blood and the entire room around him seemed to be burning. He saw the body of the man who had brought him this blade, lifeless and cold. And then, another.

Isen's heart sank through his chest. He felt different. His body seemed lighter, as if it took far less effort to move. The crackling of the fire sounded louder than before, the flickering flames somehow brighter. It was as though his senses had all been altered, amplified, including smell. It was blood. It was all around him, the sickening iron stench causing his stomach to grumble. As he took several steps towards the second body, he feared for the worst.

And then saw it to be true.

His sister. She laid on her back, the front of her small, white dress turning darker red by the second. A large wound extended across the front of her stomach, a deep, wide cut, almost as if made by a...sword? The last Isen could remember was striking down that man and hearing a voice in his head, a voice urging him to kill the crying girl, his only remaining family. Had he actually...?

He didn't recall doing it. Perhaps that was for the better. But it was clear that something had happened and the only logical explanation was that he had lost control. He began to feel tears welling at the corner of his eyes. What had he done?

Dropping to his knees, he cradled Meribell's body, pulling her onto his lap. She was still breathing, although only barely, each shallow breath separated from the next by a little more every time. Her eyes opened weakly, staring up at him. She did not do so with sadness nor reverance but with cold hearted fear. If she had the strength, she would have recoiled from his arms but in her dying state, she could do little to pull away from the monster who had struck her down.

Isen tried to close the wound. He tried to hold her. He tried to apologize. But he was helpless to save her and thus he did the only thing he could; he held on to Meribell until her final breath exited her lungs and collapsed into a grief-stricken sadness at her side.

"Such wonderful sadness." That voice. "Don't worry, it will fade in time. Human emotions are complex, unneccessary. You'll have no more need for them in time."

Human emotions? Why make the distinction? Sadness was soon replaced by anger as Isen recognized that whatever this was, whoever this was, they were to blame for what he had done.

"And now anger. Yes. Harness that and you will become more powerful."

'What have you done...what did you do to me?" Isen asked, out loud, unsure if this voice could read his mind or if he needed to speak directly to it.

"Isn't it obvious?" It followed up, amused and confidence. "I saved you. I fixed your wound, gave you a second chance before you expired. Welcome to your new purpose, Isen Hiyori. Welcome to your new life...as a demon like me."

~~~

Isen never forgot how that day felt. How helpless he was as he watched the person he cared for fade away, unable to do anything to save her or to ease her pain. The demon from the sword had told Isen that his human emotions would dull over time and that he would no longer need them but that was not the case. Isen still felt everything. Sadness, frustration, regret and anger. He had just learned to shut them down, to keep them under lock and key. In this moment, however, hearing Adelaide call from him through the gas, he was reminded of what he felt that day. It wasn't that he cared for Adelaide, she was simply a means to an end, but he felt helpless to even try and save her, his urgency and choice was yet again being taken away from him.

"Get up!"

"You want my anger?" He began to speak in his head, knowing now that the demon from the sword could hear him even if he didn't speak it aloud.

"Yesssss."

"You want that?" He repeated, clenching his fists and pushing with all his might once more to return to his feet, his eyes darkening, taking on a shade of red. "Take it. Take it all!"

The man had reached Adelaide, standing in front of her with an amused smirk. "You can barely use the power you've been given. You know nothing of what you're capable of and yet you've already caused so much destruction around you." With one hand behind his back, the other sheathed his weapon and grabbed at her wrist, preventing her from firing off any more magic. "Your fight has just begun but you will soon come to see that I am not your enemy." Turning his head, over his shoulder, he seemed to sense something moving within the gas. The hand behind his back pulled out a device which seemed to contain a shimmering blue stone inside. Holding it steady, he pressed down on the top of the device and the stone began to shine brightly, enveloping him in light, a light which extended by his grip onto Adelaide as well, flooding her body with warmth.

As Isen crested through the smoke, he swung his sword in a wide arc in front of him, dashing forward with renewed strength he had found after submitting to the demon's desire but by the time he reached them, it was too late. The light had faded and he stood alone, his sword passing through thin air. The man had vanished and he had taken Adelaide with him; Isen had failed once more.
 
"Get off of me!" She snapped at him when he grabbed her arm and tried to wrestle free, cursing profusely as she realized that he had no intent of letting go. "No, put that shit away!" Just what was he holding in his hand?

"Isen!" She was gone long before he had reached the spot where they once stood, cursing and kicking her captor even after the reappeared somewhere new. "What is your problem?" She had exhausted even the reserve of energy she'd had before, every twist or jolt of her body creating nothing more than noises of frustration from her. Neither her attempts to pull away or her fluent and frequent curses did anything to deter the man, if anything it seemed to spur him on as he dragged her down halls before stripping her of her bag and shoving her into a room.

"Bastard!" She pounded on the door before kicking at it, yelping and jumping back as her face screwed up in pain. What had compelled her to kick the large metal door that stood between her and freedom? Not only was she trapped in a foreign place in a strange room, but he'd taken her bag and anything she might have been able to use as a weapon. This was a far cry from how she had expected her day to go, and now she had to rethink her strategy, starting with how to get out of the room.

There were voices outside of the room, footsteps echoing down the large hall they had passed through before she'd been so rudely shoved into her current prison. Think. She had to think very carefully on what her next steps would be. The door was locked and she didn't have a convenient reserve of magic to try and open it. Her bag had been taken, which ruled out any chance of something inside aiding her escape.

It seemed like ages before the door opened again, and when it swung shut behind the person entering she realized it was a face she had never seen before. A younger, more tired male face than that of the man who had thrown her carelessly into the room. He made certain the door was completely closed and locked before he shoved the ring of keys in his pocket, and Adelaide watched warily from across the room as he slowly approached her.

"So you're the one they've all been talking about." He looked her over slowly before sighing, and gestured around the room. "Might as well take a seat so we can get to talking." Adelaide looked around skeptically at the cheap, worn plastic chairs that were scattered around the room and took several steps away from this new man.

"If I was going to hurt you, I would have already done so," He gestured again impatiently. "Just take a seat, please." The dark circles under his eyes hinted at just how tired the man was, and after several moments of them staring at each other she sighed and went over to retrieve a chair and take a seat. She kept her eyes on the man as he picked out his own chair and placed it several feet away from her, taking a seat and crossing his legs before settling in.

"So, Adelaide, let's talk about how we can come to some sort of compromise here. I'm well aware the kind of potential you hold, I don't think there's any need for us all to fight with each other. After all, we just want peace for the world, and that unfortunately requires some sacrifices. We're not harming you, are we? We just want cooperation and to use your abilities to better the world." What was this man smoking that he would say they weren't harming her? What did he consider harm, if not what had been done to her family and then her friends when she'd been discovered again?

"Buddy, if you think your boss isn't hurting people, then you've got a lot to learn."
 
After their leader had left, it didn't take long for most of the other men he had brought with them to go as well. Those who remained alive began to flee, fearful of the vengeance of a reaper, surrounded by Dissonants who they had angered with their invasion. Some made it, most didn't. The peace and serenity of this hideaway had forever been broken, there was no going back for any of them. For Isen, there was also no hope of breaking his curse.

Adelaide was gone. He had failed to protect her and it had barely been half a day since their deal had been made. The voice inside the blade seemed happy. It had gotten everything it wanted. Isen had given in to his anger, to his hatred, and still it hadn't been enough. The girl who threatened their bond had been taken off the board and there was nothing more than an endless life of regret and misery awaiting him once again. For a brief moment, he had almost allowed himself to feel hope.

"Human emotions are complex, unneccessary. You'll have no more need for them in time."

Those words rang in his head, overwhelmingly louder than the demon's current musings. The "I told you so's" and the "you don't need her, you need me". He was having a field day with this and it was near insufferable. The demon could feel all of those 'complex' emotions Isen was experiencing and seemed to care very little about how any of them actually seemed to be affecting it's host though Isen wouldn't expect compassion from the entity that made him into a monster.

When the dust had settled, Isen found himself some place familiar.

Standing before his sister's grave stone, he knelt down and pressed his palm against the smooth, icy cold rock. "Meribell..." He sighed, speaking her name as though she could listen, as if her very spirit hadn't been terrified of what he had become and no longer hated him for the pain he had caused. "...I thought we'd see each other again some day."

"Uh...excuse me...Mr. Reaper...."

A voice came from behind Isen and he immediately went on guard. How could he not? It was in his nature to be distrusting but after the stress of the day, he was on edge. He turned to see who was addressing him and found one of the Dissonant's from the village, a wolf.

"...sorry to bother you. I just...I saw you there and...the stories are true, aren't they?"

"Do you expect me to answer that?"

"...no. Sorry. Right. I was there. I saw what happened. You and your friend. You fought for us."

"No. I fought for her. I have no connection to this place or these people."

"People. Huh. It's been a long while since anyone ever called us that." The voice lamented, sounding sorrowful. "And what of her?" It asked, pointing towards the grave stone.

"Careful." Isen warned the wolf to pick his words carefully when addressing the resting place of his sister.

"Wait. It's not like that. This was someone very close to you, right? I've seen you come here a lot."

"You've been watching me?"

"No! No, it's not like that. I promise, I'm not trying to cause any trouble with you. I just wanted to thank you for what you did and...I think I might be able to help you."

Isen couldn't fathom what he was being thanked for. His involvement with Adelaide was what caused the attack to begin with. Had he not chosen this place to be where he buried his sister, she would have never come here and she would have never led the DSTF there. This was as much his fault as it was hers. It was always his fault.

"How could you possibly help me?"

"This should be good..."

"The girl. I might know where they took her."

Isen's fingers clenched into a fist. Could he afford hope to fool him twice? "And that would be...?"

"The nearest containment center for the DSTF. It's about ten miles south of here. Big place, they use it for testing, experiments, that sort of thing. I'm willing to bet my life's savings that's where they took her."

"And you know this for sure because...?"

"I've lost people too. Friends, family. You think I haven't tried looking for them? I'm telling you, that's where they took her. You don't have to believe me but...you helped fend them off and I know the reason they came here was because of the girl but I can't be mad at her for that. I can't say the same for the rest of the folks here but for me, I can't blame her for wanting to find some place safe..."

Or to find a demon. But Isen kept the true nature of her arrival here a secret. It didn't matter, at this point.

"Ten miles south." He repeated, earning a nod from the lycan who had given him the information. He had been unable to protect her before she was taken but perhaps this would be a second chance. At the very least, he had the opportunity to take down an entire facility's worth of those bastards. "Appreciate it..."

"Felix. My name's Felix."

"Appreciate it, Felix." Isen corrected himself and began to walk towards the wolf. They tensed up a little but Isen simply walked past him, patting his shoulder. "Take care of her grave for me. I don't know how safe it is for any of you to stay here now that the DSTF know of this place but when I'm done with them, there won't be anyone left to come find you."
 
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"Okay, so you say he killed your friends. Do you have any proof?" She looked at him incredulously and threw her hands up.

"I'm sorry, do bloody corpses left inside apartments not count as proof?"

"Anyone could have done that."

"In the same day that my apartment was trashed and they suddenly knew where I was staying, who my friends were?" The man pursed his lips, looking thoughtful before he inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"I will concede that it seems suspicious timing." Good god, just how stupid was this man? The more she explained the more he seemed to understand, and as the minutes passed she found herself relaxing enough she no longer sat like a statue. It wasn't enough for her to trust this man, not by a long shot, but at least she had succeeding in planting a seed of doubt in his mind. Doubt in his superiors, doubt that what he was doing there was right or benefited the larger populace in the long run.

"Where are you going?" She wasn't sure how long they had been talking when he finally stood and brushed off his clothes. "You're just going to leave me in here?" He glanced between her and the door before shrugging, shuffling off before unlocking it and stepping out. Adelaide growled in frustration as she shot to her feet, bolting across the room and reaching the door just as he pulled it shut with a dreadful click of the lock. She thought she had talked enough sense into him that he might have let her out, or at least given her something so she could sneak out on her own. No, the bastard had left her there to rot despite knowing many new things about his superior. Fine, they could all rot if that's how it was going to be.

She stormed around the room for some time throwing a tantrum, knocking over anything she could just to spite everyone there. If they were going to torture her or kill her, or anything of the sort, then at least she was going to make things difficult for them. The time came when she had run out of things to throw or break, however, which left her snarling and kicking at the chairs until they clattered against the floor.

"Fuck!"

She was was tired, she was trapped, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was scared. There came the question of if they were watching her from some hidden cameras, and after looking around for a few minutes she decided enough was enough, and plopped down in one of the seats she'd stood back up. She couldn't escape, so the next best thing was to sit and rest, gather her energy for what was to come.

What she didn't expect to come next was for the door to swing open and stay open as the man returned. She looked at him suspiciously as he stood just inside the doorway, giving her an exasperated look as she leapt up and threw the chair in his direction. He shook his head and sighed, gesturing to her and then the open doorway with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't know where your things are." This had to be a trick. She stood there staring at him before taking one step, and then another. When he made no move to come at her she continued walking but paused mere feet from him. "It appears I forgot to lock the door properly. It's a pity it took so long for the prisoner to realize it and break out." She understood what he meant almost immediately, waiting for him to step aside before she bolted past him and down the hall.

Freedom. Check. Why, she could figure out later.
Next step: Find her things and get the hell out of there.
 
"How stupid can you be? You're really going to try and play hero?"

Isen groaned. He had been hearing nothing but nonsense from the sword's demon since the moment he set his sights on the facility to the south.

"She's probably already dead. Too bad, so sad. Get over it."

"An entire facility full of those assholes and you want to stay away? Finally, we have common ground and you want me to stay away? There's a whole lot of people in there who deserve what they're going to get and I'm willing to cut down every single one of them. Isn't that exactly what you want from me?"

"What I want from you is to open your eyes and think about this rationally. She's just a girl, she isn't worth all of this nonsense. There are plenty people worth killing right here, we don't need to travel halfway across the state."

"You want a lot of things. How's that working out for you? You're bound to somebody who wants nothing to do with the monster you're trying to make them become. The only reason you hate her so much is because you know what will happen if she succeeds. Where are you gonna go when you can't tag along for a free ride in my head anymore?"

"You will fail."

"Then I'll fail. But at least I'll fail trying to do the right thing for once."

Isen had reached a point where he couldn't bother to pretend to put up with the demon's musings any longer. He had given in to his rage and they had still failed. Suppress it...embrace it, nothing seemed to work. Why keep trying at all? The only thing that mattered now was that he found Adelaide and he made up for his mistakes. All of them. And if that freed him from his curse then all the better.

But how would he travel such a long distance? He could run it, but he would never make it that far. Even as a demon, he had limits to his endurance, it wasn't wise to tire himself out that much before what could be a lengthy fight. He needed to find another option.

He came across a couple of Dissonants who were packing their things, looking to get as far away from the village as possible after it had been attacked by the DTSF. They were, understandably, frightened of him and he was able to intimidate them into giving him a ride halfway. That was good enough for him. He held himself up in the back of their truck, keeping to himself, a terrifying presence looming over the poor family for the entirety of their miniature road trip. For once, he was glad his reputation preceded him. He didn't want to scare them, but it did the trick.

They dumped him off about a mile out from the facility, not wishing to risk getting any closer, without so much as a 'see ya later' or 'goodbye', not that Isen expected any pleasantries. He thanked them, however, something which seemed to catch the father off guard, but he was eager to get the demon and his blade out of their vehicle and away from their family so they never questioned it.

The facility in question looked industrial. It seemed what Felix had said was true; this was a place brimming with DSTF presence and it appeared to have various testing facilities. They were definitely working on some awful things here, but was Adelaide actually inside? Isen tried to hone his senses to see if he could pick up or hear anything but he was still too far away and the constant noise from within the building interrupted his progress. He needed to get closer but once he did, there was no turning back. Fuck it.

Sliding down a dirt bank, he tried to stay low, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. He knew there would be a security detail as well as possibly surveillance or other security measures so he would need to be alert and he would need to move quickly but not recklessly. Isen could have cut down every single person in the building, and perhaps he might yet do so, but the further out he alerted them, the more of a chance they would have to move Adelaide elsewhere, especially since they seemed to have harnessed the ability to wield teleportation.

Isen approached a back entrance where a large, garage door had been pulled open. There was a transport truck parked in front of it and he could see, and hear, workers unloading objects from the back of the truck. They were distracted for now, he could get closer. The only problem was the camera hanging over the door, craning back and forth, moving left to right. If he could time it properly, he was fast enough to get inside, but he needed to find an opportunity where the camera was angled away and none of the workers would notice him. Biding his time and showing surprising patience, the demon waited and waited until he saw that opening and dashed past them all, using the cover of various pallets of freight and containers to conceal him further while he was inside.

That was step one. Now, he needed to figure out where she was being held, if at all, and get her out before it was too late.
 
"Oh, hell." She'd nearly gotten caught several times sneaking around, managing to duck behind things or into unlocked rooms in just the nick of time. Her newly made friend, for lack of a better term, was nowhere to be seen during her adventure around the facility, nor did anyone seem to be aware that she'd gotten out of the room. At the very least the man hadn't betrayed her, which was more than she could say for anyone else in the organization thus far. If she had been successful in bringing him back to reality and he turned on his own people... Well, that would just be the icing on the cake.

"Seriously, how much junk do they need?" It felt like she had been searching for forever by the time she ducked into a room and saw her bag. Now all she had to do was find a way out of the building and hope they weren't too far away from a nearby city. The absolute last thing she wanted was to be stuck walking for hours in the snow.

She wasted no time in wiggling her arms through the straps and getting settled, peeking into the hallway tentatively before she stepped out and started to walk. She needed to find a door and just run. As soon as she found a way to get outside the building she was gone, she would run as fast as her little legs would carry her and she wouldn't look back until she was far, far away from there. If she had to hurt anyone on her way out.. Well, collateral damage was a thing.
 
Isen found the interior of this building rather confusing though he was far from used to being inside of places this big and complex. It appeared to be split into different sections, or wings, and he wasn't even really sure what he was looking for. Every time he came across another camera, he stopped and waited for his openings. When he found a camera that wasn't moving at all, he searched for a different way forward. He was surprised he had gotten this far without alerting anybody but he wasn't trying to jinx himself but thinking about it too hard, fate seemed to like messing with him, after all.

Reaching an intersection in the hall, he waited at the edge of the wall, peering it's edge and watching a pair of scientists walk straight past him. That meant there likely were some labs around...that was some place to start. He doubted there would be anything as on the nose as a holding area or any containment cells so finding a laboratory seemed like a safe bet. If they had somebody with her power, they'd want to find out more about it. He just hoped that he wasn't too late.

Rounding another bend, Isen waited for a camera to turn and dashed to the other side of the hallway, moving in the direction the scientists had walked from. He stopped himself just before colliding with someone, something he was aware was about to happen due to his heightened sense but unable to completely avoid. He was ready to fight but must have looked absolutely shellshocked when he realized who he had nearly plowed over.

"Adelaide?" He asked her, incredulously, as though he couldn't believe what had happened. "Wait, how are you...? But I came to..." Tilting his head in curiosity, he immediately let go of that surprised stupor, his usual seriousness returning to his demeanor so as not to show any joy over the fact he had ran into her again so quickly and that she was safe. "Huh. Right. Okay." He grumbled, still confused but trying to roll with it. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"
 
"I'm just that good." She gave him a crooked grin after the initial shock wore off, not bothering to elaborate on her newfound acquaintance or how she'd managed to get out. There would be plenty of time for that later, but right now they needed to get out of there without getting caught. Considering she had no idea how far they were from any type of civilization, that could be a huge, huge problem.

"Yeah, out. Which way did you come in?" She had spent the last while trying to dodge people and find a way out, but she had yet to be successful on finding an exit. If the man who had let her out of the room could have given her that, she would have been long, long gone. "Hell, I don't care as long as we have a way out." She looked around him before huffing, planting her hands on her hips to look up at him.

"Should I ask how many people you killed on your way in, or did you manage to be sneaky?" At his size, the latter would have been impressive, but she also didn't see any bodies or hear screams while she had been wandering around so..
 
Despite the initial confusion he felt when he saw her out and about and most definitely not in need of his assistance, Isen had to admit that he felt relief now that she was by his side again. It wasn't that he had grown attached, he was just glad she was okay. She had a part to play, after all. The voice from the sword rang out in his head but Isen ignored it, it never had anything good to say, especially with regards to Adelaide.

"That way." He simply responded, nodding his head in the direction he came from. "But there are cameras everywhere. Anything you can do about that?" He questioned, wondering if perhaps she had some sort of way of taking them down from a distance.

Hearing her question about how many people he may have killed caused him to pause his stride towards the way he came to turn back towards her. "Zero." Isen replied, as surprised by that number as she was. "Didn't need to. Not that it would have mattered, this place is crawling with people who would deserve it. But I knew if I made too much noise, they'd probably come to get you again and I'd be out of luck." It was simple reasoning, but perhaps even that was well thought out for him in comparison to his usual strategy of cut first, ask questions never. "Not that you needed me. This was a waste of time." Though he grumbled, he really did feel that aforementioned relief. He just couldn't let her know that.

"Regardless, the less noise we make getting out of here, the better. I don't want that general from before to know you're gone until we're far away from this place. Got it?"
 
"You'll have to let me borrow some of your magic, and even then I don't know how much I can do." The last time she'd had to pull from his magic directly it had absolutely drained her, but at this point what else could she do? "You didn't kill them because you were afraid they'd move me?" Well that was.. Sweet? Selfish? What would that even be considered at this point?

"It wasn't a waste. I still have no idea where we're at or how to get anywhere else. I got jumped here by magic, for fuck's sake." She rolled her eyes at him, reaching out to nudge at his arm lightly before taking a deep breath. "Fine, fine, I'll borrow some of your magic to fuck up the cameras." She nodded her head in agreement about the noise, shifting closer to his side before holding her hand out.

"Give me your hand, then. I can draw the magic easier if I'm touching you, or you can watch me fight with your sword to get even a tiny bit from it."
 
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