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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"We're surrounded by magic, Ignas. What?" Adelaide sighed and moved closer to the water with Isen, curious as to what the demon was referring to. "Magic water?" Her eyebrows shot up in surprise before she echoed Isen's laughter, not at all surprised to hear Danica giggling in the background as they walked.

"If that's the case, we'll have to come back and bottle some up, who knows what that could be. Maybe it could be used for healing, or maybe it'll just make someone stronger." What was the worst that could happen? Someone ended up high like when Isabella had drank Adelaide's blood and turned into a melted mess of a vampire in the bed? The brief flashback made Adelaide laugh even harder before she regained her composure, taking a deep breath and exhaling before she spoke again.

"You're not wrong, though."

"No, you're not. There was definitely violence here at some point, and possibly even recently." Danica spoke up gleefully, almost bouncing in her walk as she made sure they were still following and continued along the way. "Witches wouldn't just abandon their little hideaway for no reason, something drove them out. But that leaves everything left behind for us to take!"

"The question is, what drove them out, and is it still a threat?"
 
"She seems a little too happy to learn that people may have died here." Isen pointed out, still following Adelaide who was, in turn, following Danica, crossing over the river to the other side to continue their journey onwards through the forest.

"She's a demon, what do you expect? For her to shed a tear over the loss of human lives?"

"That wasn't exactly what I meant." Isen grumbled in return, shaking his head. "It just reminds me of the way I used to be."

"Used to be? You're talking like it wasn't a couple of weeks ago before little miss sunshine popped up."

Isen peered over at Adelaide momentarily, beams of sunlight filtering down through the trees, hitting her in a way that made him laugh alongside Ignas' attempt at name-calling.

"Either way, it doesn't matter what drove them out as long as they're gone. There's practically a full coven of those assholes back at the shop already, the last thing we need is to add more. You both seem to take in any stray that rolls up to you, after all."
 
"Don't call me that or I'll be forced to come up with a nickname you hate, Ignas." Adelaide shot back at him immediately and rolled her eyes. "There was like... Four or five, that's not nearly enough to be a coven." Was it? Did witches actually even have proper covens or was that just a myth? There were so many things she hadn't thought to ask Nikolai or any of her family, she'd been too busy with wrapping her head around the fact that any of her family besides Lorelei was even still alive!

All that aside though, Ignas wasn't technically wrong. Just two weeks ago Isen hadn't cared about anyone at all, not even himself. He'd been ready to throw his life away even the first while that they'd known each other, and it wasn't until he'd shown her the Christmas gift that the long-term plan had changed. What happened when they finally finished with the DSTF and separated Ignas from him, though? It didn't seem like he would change his mind out of nowhere, but how would he cope with everything he'd done when Ignas' presence was no longer a problem?

"You suddenly have a specific hatred of witches? I seem to remember you were pretty fond of Samara when we first met her." Adelaide rolled her eyes and got back to the topic at hand, forcing herself away from her errant thoughts as the trees began to thin out and she caught sight of little cottages and cabins in the distance. Danica hadn't been exaggerating, it was starting to look like a little town full of them the closer that they got, and the feel of the magic only intensified the further they walked.

"Ignas has a love hate relationship with witches." Adelaide turned when Danica spoke, giving the demoness a curious look and receiving only a wink and shake of her head in return. "Someday, little mage, you will understand all."
 
Isen shot a look towards Adelaide, picking up on the fact that they were very out of the loop when it came to what was going on between the two of them. Since Ignas still refused to actually give them any actual insight, there was nothing that could be done until Danica herself decided to talk about it but, even then, Isen didn't trust that her retelling of the events would be completely true...but he also couldn't trust that Ignas would be truthful either. Thus was the problem that came with dealing with devious creatures who, by design, were the opposite of truthful and virtuous.

"A hate, hate relationship, you mean." Ignas corrected, not entertaining the idea in the slightest. "The less of them, the better."

"Seems like she's struck a nerve." Isen mused, mostly to himself, knowing it would annoy Ignas more.

"I can strike many of yours. Would you like to find out?"

Isen chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "Point taken, I'll pass."

"That's what I thought....we're close. This place stinks of the lot of them. Make this quick."
 
"Won't it be so nice when he can't use that threat against you, loverboy?" Danica cackled as they passed through a last thinning patch of trees and entered the small village. Adelaide was already pulling away from Isen to look around in awe, breathing deep and trembling slightly at the overwhelming amount of magic in the area. Between everything that was still flowing through the water and then what was in the land itself and whatever lay inside the small homes, it was absolutely magnificent.

"There's a lot of magic here. Unless they just left recently, something's... Wrong? I don't know if it's just different because I've only ever been around this much magic in the vaults, but something doesn't feel right, Isen. Danica, you'd better not be walking us into a trap."

"Why would I walk you into a trap when I need you, child?" Danica's normally chipper tone had taken on a more irritated one now, and she turned to give Adalaide a hard stare before making her way toward one of the small homes. "I can torment any other mortal that I want, I don't need to put you into a trap and damage you before I've made proper use of you." Well, the demon had a point there.

"Start looking around for the catalyst, we can all sense the magic so it shouldn't take too long if we split up and do our due diligence. Pick up whatever souvenirs you'd like as well, I know you humans have such a fondness for little trinkets."
 
Isen felt like he was back in his home town, looking over the wreckage that had been created in a place that was once so full of life and housed many families. For him, it was one of his first nightmarish realizations of the damage he had caused while under the influence of Ignas, this felt like something else. This felt like some kind of force had rolled in and grazed the place into the ground. Was there a fight here? A battle of some kind?

It didn't seem like any of it was recent, but what Adelaide, and Ignas, had been sensing seemed to suggest otherwise. Either there was something here that was quite strong, perhaps the Catalsyt they were sent to, or whatever caused this wasn't too far away.

"I'll take this side." Isen sighed, not looking forward to digging through the wreckage of more ruined lives. With his human side coming through, guilt and melancholy fit him like a glove and this was no exception. As they spread out, he tried to make certain to keep tabs on where Danica was, just in case, but it almost felt like she had disappeared from sight rather quickly. "Where'd she go?" He asked Adelaide, a few moments later.

"The better question is who cares? Let her go, we're all better off anyw-...Isen?"

"What is it?"

"...there's a demon here."

"Yeah, Danica. And you, I guess, but that's not something new."

"No, you idiot. There's another." Isen looked towards Adelaide for confirmation but he was already moving to her side, his walk changing it's pace quickly to get him closer to her.

"We need to go. Now. Teleport us out." Up until that moment, Isen had only known of three demons. If it wasn't one of the two he was aware of, his immediate thought was that Malakai and Maximilian had just found them, or that they had been led into a trap after all.

The voice that greeted them soon after was neither.

It appeared from out of nowhere, as though it too had teleported, standing in between him and Adelaide to keep them separated. It was a male, his skin a dark shade of gray and his eyes a piercing golden. He had a tail, like Danica did, his clothing ragged but his musculature defined, showing a physical prowess. Tucked underneath his arm was a bronze urn, it's surface engraved with runic writing etched around it in a full circle across it's circumference.

"You can't go now. I've been waiting for you all this time.."

It's voice walked a line between sophisticated and nails-on-a-chalkboard, a combination of sounds that seemed to confuse Isen's ears. He stood with purpose, protecting the item underneath his arm as though it were his most dearest belonging.

"You are the Reaper, are you not? And you, his heroic mageling tag-a-long?"

"...and you are?"

"My name is Ragdan, and I...need your help."
 
"How the hell should I know? I'm not her keeper." Adelaide shrugged at Isen's question, barely looking back from the house she was sent to enter until she heard Ignas' announcement. "Wait, what? Another demon?" Danica had managed to disappear at an awfully convenient time for another demon to show up, but she'd had a very valid point about not having any reason to lead them into a trap and injure them. What were the chances that this was truly a coincidence?

"We just got here!" She threw her hands up in frustration, looking around for any sign of Danica. If she was so powerful and not trapped in a catalyst, couldn't she just dispose of the demon as long as it wasn't Malakai? "Fine, we can--" She stumbled back as the demon appeared between the two of them, her eyes wide and focusing on what was definitely not any type of Dissonant. No, this was a demon through and through, and Danica had clearly left them to deal with it on their own.

"Holy shit." What kind of spell did she throw at it first? Lorelei had given her an entire list to learn and imprint, but now she was having a hard time figuring out which was best to pick out of the lot of them. The hesitation would have been their downfall had the demon held ill intent toward them, but it seemed that not only had he been waiting for them, but he was asking them for help.

"He's got the catalyst." She could feel the magic pulsing from him weakly, there was something different about this one. "Something's not right, though. This isn't something powerful enough to hold a demon like Ignas. What the fuck is this?"
 
"This is my dearest sister, Levona. Please, watch your tone when you speak of her."

"Isen, he's telling the truth. There's two demons, not one, the other is just so faint...I can barely sense her."

"Your sister?"

"Yes. She has the misfortune of being trapped in this wretched little urn and what's even worse is the vessel containing her appears to be damaged and falling apart. You can see why I'm so distressed, can you not?"

The way this demon spoke only made Isen more perplexed. He spoke with such eloquence, despite the uncomfortable tone of his voice, talking in a way he would never expect something as destructive as a demon to talk.

"I need your help sparing her life. I simply have nobody else to turn to."

"...what are we supposed to do?"

"If this catalyst breaks before she has been properly released, it will come at the cost of her life. A pesky safeguard by those terrible witches who trapped her in the first place. Cruel, are they not? But, thankfully, the two of you are here and two is the magic number, because there's two ways to save her."

"And those are?"

"The Lancaster mageling can free her properly..."

"And if she says no?"

"...you should really make certain that she doesn't say no. The second option could get...complicated."
 
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me there's already a demon inside the catalyst? What the fuck did Danica send us here for, then?" The entire situation was getting more complicated by the minute, and she stepped around the demon and away from the house to get a better look at him. Might as well be in the open if they were going to be dealing with more demons.

"Yes, yes, witches are terrible, I get it." Coming from the race of creatures that slaughtered without hesitation or reason, that was just grand, but there was something about his desperate plea to save his sister that had caught her attention. Maybe it was the fact that it was so similar to Isen and Meribell, or maybe she was just getting soft after losing Samara. Either way, she let the demon finish speaking before she put her hands up and shook her head.

"No way. I don't know how to release demons from catalysts. Don't you think I'd have gotten the obnoxious one out of the sword and somewhere else by now if I could? I'm getting really sick of people thinking that I can do whatever the hell they want just because of my last name. I'm not a god, demon, I can't just free demons at random, and even if I could, I don't really have a good reason to help the creatures that go around killing humans just because they can. I mean seriously, have you met Ignas or Danica? I know what you people do."
 
Ragdan let Adelaide finish her rant, looking as though he was becoming impatient when she continued to go on. "A simple no would have sufficed just fine, mageling." He commented, shaking his head with a sigh, his piercing eyes settling on Isen instead. "And you're certain you won't convince her to cooperate?"

"Did you not just hear her? If she doesn't want to do it, she's not going to do it."

"Very well. Then, I suppose, the second solution is the one we must go with. Please, do not think poorly of me for what I'm about to do. I take no joy in knowing that I will be causing such pain but...you wouldn't understand how I feel, now, would you?"

"I think I understand better than anybody else what it's like to lose a sister." Isen responded, immediately, casting a glare in the direction of the demon who clearly had no idea what Isen had been through or how similar their situations have been.

"Ah, a result of the demon you carry with you, I presume?"

Isen didn't answer, but that, in itself, was an answer all on it's own.

"You will be happy to know that the secondary solution would free you of him entirely. No more would you need to suffer, the puppet of a deserter." He continued, name-calling Ignas, aware that he was the demon traveling within Isen's sword. "All of that power, all of that potential spoiled by lack of ambition. It's really not a surprise to me that he would have you killing women and slaughtering whole towns of people. He never could think of the bigger picture."

"Alright. I've heard enough. Can we kill him now?"

"I must have struck a nerve. I apologize, Ignas, it's just so...disappointing...the king of nothing, and his throne? Trapped within a sword and a human, distracting his sadness and drowning his sorrow in the blood of those weaker than him...and you, Isen, are you to say that all of the sins you've committed to cement that reputation of yours were done willingly?"

Isen didn't answer, again, and once more, it gave Ragdan the response he needed.

"So, allow me to alleviate you of your great burden and, in return, you give to me and my family the one thing we need to heal...you..." He paused, devilishly, for dramatic effect, his lips finding the form of a smirk as his eyes seemed to gleam eagerly at the prospect of what he thought was to come. "...taking your place as a new vessel for Lenova to dwell within."
 
Was every demon going to just call her by a title rather than her name? She wasn't sure if she was insulted by that or not. Did she really want a demon using her name? Still, it did seem insulting that they would just continue referring to her as a mage, as a Lancaster, as anything or anyone other than who she was as her own person. She was never going to escape her reputation again, was she?

"No joy, right." Did a demon expect them to believe that? "What sorrow? I don't believe that creature could feel sorrow." She scoffed, for once agreeing with Ignas on the matter of just disposing of the other demon. "I agree with Ignas, painfully enough." She watched the two men, if one could call a demon a man, go back and forth before the demon said what it was he truly had planned, and she found herself staring at him in stunned horror.

"No! Find someone else to stick your sister in! As annoying as Ignas is, we need him, and there's not a chance I'm letting you take Isen as some vessel, either. I'm not losing someone else because of a bunch of greedy bastards." Demons could be hurt by fire, right? She was already wiggling her fingers, pulling her arm back and then launching a ball of fire the size of a baseball at the new intruder.

"Go to hell."
 
The ball of flame broke against Ragdan's skin, filtering off in all directions as though it had no effect other than to sear the ragged clothing he was wearing, causing it to cinder. He seemed unaffected by that, even, the embers burning against his body causing him no pain.

"Oh, dear, I was really hoping you wouldn't do that..." He sighed. Ragdan looked down at the urn beneath his arm and before he could speak another word, it disappeared, reappearing a couple of meters away, safe and sound. He had teleported it without moving himself, demonstrating great control over a spell that still caused Adelaide issues sometimes to perform even when using her whole body. "...but it appears as though being disappointing is something you both share in common with the deserter. But, do not fear, for his influence over you will be short lived. I promise to remove him from your lives...but what I cannot promise is that it won't hurt you in the process."

Ragdan vanished, in an instant, reappearing behind Adelaide. He exerted very little effort when he pushed her back. He wasn't aiming to hurt her fatally, he could have gouged her heart out of her chest before either she or Isen could react, but the simple push sent her quite a distance forward and down onto the forest soil and whatever wreckage lined it.

Isen had his sword drawn before he could even think rationally. He dashed towards Ragdan and swung the blade only for the demon to disappear and reappear behind him, the way he had with Adelaide, doing the same to Isen as he did to her. Isen pulled himself back up almost instantly, feeling no pain, though his body had already begun to show the effects that he couldn't feel directly. Ignas diverted his power to the wounds, sealing them up quickly as Ragdan launched a second attack. He was fast...how was so he so fast? Isen couldn't keep up, it was like trying to catch a bullet. Several strikes later, Isen once more found himself on the ground, staring up as Ragdan approached him. The demon placed his foot against Isen's chest, glancing down at the sword.

"Don't worry, Reaper, soon, you will be free, and so too will my darling sister."

"Any bright ideas, Ignas?" Isen asked, within his head.

"None that you're going to like."

"Absolutely not." Isen knew what Ignas wanted and he wasn't going to give it to him.

Ragdan was behind him as he tried to stand back up, pinning Isen's arms behind his back with ease. There was a cracking of bones as Isen's human body was bent so forcefully but, as he couldn't feel the sensation, Isen did something he knew would catch the demon off guard. He used all the strength he could muster to bring Onigoshi downward, burying it into his own chest and, through it, directly into the stomach of the demon. Onigoshi pierced his body, purple streams of magic firing off from the point of contact. Ragdan hissed in pain before bringing his elbow down into the back of Isen's head, causing everything to go dark for a moment as he collapsed to the ground.

"...sen....I-sen...Isen! Wake up." Ignas told him in his head, the voice fading in and out as the magic told hold to heal the damage. "You know there's no other choice. You can't fight him on your own."

Ragdan pulled himself off of Onigoshi, the wound inflicted by the way the blade impaled his body already beginning to coagulate together. The sword remained in Isen's chest but Ragdan made sure to pull it away, gripping it by the blade and pulling it in reverse so that the handle was forced through Isen's sternum with the demon's powerful strength. He flipped the sword around, brandishing it so that the blood gathered on it's blade would flicker off of it, admiring the form. "You know, this would be a beautiful weapon if not for the ugly demon inside of it...it's really a shame. As disappointing in chains as you were in freedom, Ignas."
 
"Oh, hell." This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Adelaide could handle the fire seemingly not hurting the demon, there were plenty of other spells at her disposal if she could just focus. The part that was going to hurt them the most was the fact that the demon could teleport other things, as clearly displayed by him safely depositing the urn some distance away without moving his own body. So he could teleport things he was touching or holding, that was a new power, and she idly wondered if all demons could do that, or just him. It seemed like every demon had their own power that was better than all of their other talents combined, and if this was his... They were in some serious trouble.

"Damn it!" Adelaide swore loudly as she found herself making contact with the ground with a grunt, laying there in a moment of both shock and awe before she managed to roll over onto her back and try to regain her composure. The only thing that seemed to be injured was her pride, but now her concentration was off by the fact that she couldn't just use her normal spells with this demon.

Fire didn't hurt him. He could teleport both himself and things he was in contact with, so evading her spells would be easy for him. She could try to draw his magic from him while he fought with Isen, but she couldn't just drain him like Malakai was capable of. In short, they were fucked if one or both of them didn't figure out a good strategy, and quick.

"Kill the bastard!" She was on her feet with a shout as she both heard the bones cracking and saw the awkward bend of Isen's body as the demon contorted him and attempted to bend both his body and will all in one.

"Danica, if you're hiding now would be the perfect time for you to get that ass of yours out here!" There came no answer from the absent demon as Adelaide gathered magic from the ring that had begun pulsing on her finger, and she took a deep breath before solidifying one of the repellant spells Lorelei had taught her into a large blast directed at Ragdan.

"Isen, get up! Ignas, do your fucking job!" She couldn't just stand there and watch as this new demon tried to take Isen away from her, and after another curse and blast sent his way, she pulled her concentration into teleporting straight in front of him and wrapped both her hands around Onigoshi. It was absolutely coated in Isen's blood and she internally cringed, but kept her hands firmly around it and yanked back.

"Isen, get up!"
 
Ragdan looked surprised that Adelaide had been so bold, the force of each blast staggering him but not really doing much more than shifting his balanced. He was further intrigued by her teleporting close to him and gripping at the sword with her bare hands. "It's a shame you would rather fight me than work with me, mageling. I feel as though we could have caused such great chaos together...my sister would have liked you, truly."

Would have?

Isen realized how bad this was the moment he noticed that Adelaide was so close? What was she thinking? She was going to get herself killed and there was nothing he could do to help her. Unless...

Ragdan was talking to keep her distracted, barely exerting any effort to keep the sword tight in place in his hands despite her struggling. He was, however, planning something, as always and, without warning, he had teleported a piece of debris from nearby, letting it reappear above her head. Either she separated and let go of the sword, or it would crush her beneath the weight of broken wood and crumbled stone. "Nothing will come between me and my family."

"It's now or never, Isen. To kill a demon, you need a demon, it's as simple as that. Give me control." Ignas vyed once more, using Adelaide's current predicament as a reason to force Isen's hand.

"...take it." He told Ignas, within his head. "Don't let him hurt her."

As Ignas began to take control, Isen felt his body begin to move without his command. Normally, during these periods, he would black out and wake up in the rubble of what he had done but this time, he remained fully cognizant, his eyes taking on an eerie red glow as Ignas took over.

"What was that you said about being in chains?" Isen spoke with his voice slightly distorted, but it wasn't actually him talking. It was Ignas, using his body like the puppeteer Ragdan claimed him to be. Every wound had healed, every broken bone mended back into place. Purple magic flared around Ragdan's feed and arms, forming the shape of make shift chains which kept him grounded, pulling his arms to his side. Ragdan struggled against the grip he as walked towards Onigoshi, stealing it from the opposing demon's grasp. "This is mine." He told him, referring to the blade. "And so is this body. Find another, or die." Ragdan teleported away, breaking free of the chains, appearing a few paces away.

"...this just got fun. I'm sorry, Lenova, I'll be with you soon. Allow me a chance to indulge, it's been years since I've fought another demon. This will be a glor-."

Ignas had heard enough, swinging the sword at Ragdan, interrupting his speech while his other hand glowed with energy as the two began to trade blows, the strength of which seemed to cause the air around them to ripple from the energy being exerted.
 
"I don't give a flying fuck who she would have liked, you're not taking what's mine." She held on tightly to the blade even as she felt it slicing into her skin and letting her blood mingle with Isen's, her face a mask of determination as she tried to counter the damage with a healing spell while simultaneously keeping a firm grip that continued to replicate the injury as she healed it.

"And nothing will come between me and mine. Bite me, demon." Oh, hell, what had that gotten there? Adelaide didn't even see it at first and cursed when she did, looking between the incoming destruction and Isen with conflicted eyes. She couldn't let the demon continue to harm him and try to take him for a vessel, but if she died now she couldn't help him then either.

"Fuck. Ignas, do your thing." She let go of the blade abruptly as she realized Isen had given up control to the demon inside him, teleporting away and out of the way of danger to inspect her wounded hands as the demons interacted. Her fingers weren't in danger of falling off just yet and it didn't appear she was in danger of bleeding out from the damage, so she put that worry aside and instead focused on what Ignas was doing to their enemy. Was this what he was truly capable of? It was almost impressive, really, but Ragdan seemed powerful enough she couldn't see any easy victor from either demon.

"Lenova." The other demon! Adelaide looked around and located where the urn had been left, using a bit more of her strength to unsteadily teleport over to it and snatch it up with a grunt. She couldn't free the demon, but maybe she could fix the catalyst with the things she'd learned when hoping to fix Takami's. If she could fix the catalyst so his sister wasn't in danger of dying from it decomposing, then she could use that as a bartering chip if Isen and Ignas couldn't put him down. What other choice did she have?
 
Though he was still far from at his full strength, no longer needing to abide by the limits of Isen's body was a heavy advantage in favor of Ignas, who was quickly beginning to remember how powerful he truly was. The two demons traded shots back and forth, matching each other at blistering speed. Meanwhile, Adelaide's trek towards the urb went unnoticed due to Ragdan's intense focus on the fight at hand. Ragnad himself seemed to be thriving, overjoyed by the chance to go all-out while also being given an opportunity to take it to somebody he had deemed a traitor. Isen was along for the ride, aware of everything but feeling nothing, finding himself shocked by just how quickly Ignas was making him move, and the power he could feel coursing through his body.

Isen couldn't do any form of magic, but for a brief, fleeting moment, he was beginning to feel what Adelaide must have felt any time she cast a spell. It was an exhilarating feeling, a rush he had never known, as Ignas used his power to try and alter the course of the battle. Not to be out done, Ragdan's control over his teleportation magic kept things even, with the demon teleporting objects and debris all from around the site to try and knock Ignas off guard.

"Why won't you give up?" He asked, shaking his head. "You're supposed to give up! You're supposed to be weak, a coward, a traitor! With this much power, you could have ruled everything! Why have you settled for medicority?"

"I'd rather rot away inside a sword for the rest of my life than rule over filth like you."

"We are the same. Even after all this time, you would choose a life with a human over your own kin?"

"Humans are easier to kill. You're just annoying."
 
"Why is this shit so hard?!" Adelaide was keeping herself a good distance away from the fighting going on, but she hadn't anticipated so much trouble with the spell. If it was this hard doing it on the urn, how was she possibly going to fix Takami's catalyst and prolong his life a little bit longer? Isabella was going to be devastated, and if the mage was being honest with herself, she would be upset losing Takami, too.

"Come on, come on. I don't know if you're in there fighting me, demon, but I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to fix this stupid thing! COME ON!" She thumped her hand harshly on the side of the urn before glancing up toward the fighting men, taking a deep breath and then exhaling as she tried to focus. It was going to be impossible to focus properly when she had all the noise going on around her, not to mention the fact that she had to look up occasionally to make sure she wasn't in the path of direct danger again. If this demon was so formidable that Isen gave control over to Ignas, what would someone like Malakai be like out of his catalyst? They could never let that happen.

"Keep him busy so I can fix this stupid thing!" She flattened her hand and pressed her palm against the urn, closing her eyes and trusting that Isen would keep her safe while she worked. She didn't have Samara there to aid her, didn't have the comfort of any mage or witch that knew what they were doing, she was stuck doing this completely on her own now.

"Alright, little demon, just sit tight and I'll get this magic fixed up." Her fingers flexed, nails digging into the catalyst as her breath caught and then she exhaled shakily. She was plucking at the magic inside it, finding bits that had snapped and gotten tangled amongst themselves as she tried to detangle and mend them back together as quickly and efficiently as she could.

"Fuck." Her hand slipped on it from all the blood and she tipped over, holding tightly onto it until both her ring and the urn gave an enormous pulse and she was forcibly separated from it by a loud, bright explosion of magic that lit up the sky. The severity of it sent her back several feet and without the urn in her arms, her back hitting the ground as she gasped and rolled onto her side to see what appeared to be dark smoke curling and seeping out of what was supposed to contain a demon... Only to find said demon on the ground another few feet away from the broken urn.

"...What the fuck?"
 
Isen, though a passenger within his own body, could feel the hatred coming from Ignas as he slashed and slung magic at his foe. He could also hear Adelaide say she was trying to fix something, but because he couldn't control his body's functions to see exactly what she was trying to fix, he wasn't sure what she was up to. For now, he had to continue to join Ignas in this fight, watching them trade strikes. Sometimes, Ragdan would land a blow but it would heal immediately. When Ignas struck and broke skin, it would also heal, but at a much slower rate. The natural regeneration of demons were far beyond that of humans, but even Ragdan couldn't match Ignas' ability to regenerate what was lost.

Ragdan seemed to have total control over teleportation. For Ignas, it appeared to be healing, something which Isen thought was ironic given how bent on taking lives he was. He didn't seem the type to want to restore them.

An explosion of magic suddenly sounded off, breaking apart the two demons in conflict and shooting all of their attention onto the source of the blast. The urn had shattered, completely, the catalyst that once contained Ragdan's sister now nothing but regular shards of bronze. Beside it, however, a cloud of dark smoke began to swirl and, when it dissipated, there was a younger girl laying on the ground near the remains of that which once bound her.

Like Ragdan, her skin was a similar hue and a long, pointed tail protruded out of her lower back. She looked up, and then around, in total confusion. Ragdan lowered his arms, no longer defensive. He teleported to her side and was on the ground next to her, instantly, holding her as she settled into his arms, confused, looking up at him from below. "B-brother?" She asked.

"Lenova? Is it really you? How is this...?" He asked, equally as confused. Ragdan's eyes parted from his sister and towards Adelaide, for a brief moment, as if acknowledging what she had done. "Mageling...was this your doing?"

"Rag...what happened?"

"Don't worry, dearest sister. I told you that I'd save you and I did. You're here, you're back with me once again. I will never let them take you from me again. I prom-"

Ragdan's voice began to sputter in pain as the length of a blade pressed it's way through Lenova's heart and into his chest, piercing both siblings in a single thrust. Isen, who had done this to himself to get to Ragdan, had given Ignas the perfect idea to use when the opportunity was presented. He wasn't about to listen to the two of them go on and on with some tearful reunion between wretches, he was here to fight and to kill.

Ragdan looked up at Ignas' cold, red eyes, coughing as he tried to heal only for the purple magic of Onigoshi to swirl inside of the wound, preventing healing as well as it could facilitate it. "W-why...?"

"We weren't finished yet." Ignas responded, coldly, pulling the blade out of both demons.

Lenova turned over onto her back, resting on top of her brother's legs. "L-Len...no, you have to heal...please..." He begged. She was trying but she was so weak from being trapped in a damaged catalyst for so long, her strength just wasn't there.

Isen was mortified by what he was witnessing. It was like he was reliving that horrid memory once more, seeing himself cradling his dying sister, unable to do anything to save her from passing on.

"Ignas...we should stop." He tried to tell the demon, but Isen had no control and Ignas wasn't listening. "That's enough. She's helpless. You've proven your point..."

"R-Rag...I...I'm sorry."

"No...don't..." He whimpered as his sister's eyes closed and her body began to cave in on itself, dissipating into particles of magic that floated up into the air, black as tar, before they fizzled out completely.

"You...fucking TRAITOR." Ragdan yelled, pulling himself to his feet, the hole in his chest still gaping and unhealed as Ignas' magic continued to swirl around inside of the wound. "Worthless! Useless! It's good that you gave up on trying to rule because you're half the demon he is." Ragdan was distraught, yelling and swinging wildly at Ignas, but Isen got the sense that Ragdan wasn't trying to kill him anymore. The demon was broken, in a way he didn't know demons could be broken. He was provoking Ignas to finish him off, to let him and his sister finally be together.

"Ignas..." Isen reasoned, but it once more fell on deaf ears.

"He'll be happy to hear you tell him that." Ignas replied, letting the weakened blows strike his body to no effect before calmly stuffing Onigoshi directly into Ragdan's heart. "...when I send him to meet you." Ignas pulled upwards on the blade, ripping it straight through the organ and out through Ragdan's throat, severing everything in between. The demon's blood flowed like a river as he collapsed onto the ground, his sister's name on his lips as he too began to fade away as though he had never been there to begin with.
 
Was that her doing? She had been working on trying to fix the urn that contained the female demon, not free her from it. Not only had the demon been freed, but now the catalyst was completely destroyed and useless. She didn't know a spell that released demons from their catalysts like that, she only knew deterrents and other unrelated spells. How had she gone from trying to use the spell she intended to use on Takami to this? There was a certain part of her brain that had wanted the siblings to be together again without the loss of one another, but she certainly hadn't intended to free the demon without knowing more about her. Fixing the urn, sure, maybe they could even make an ally out of Ragdan for saving the vessel that contained his apparently weakened sister.

"Ignas!" There was absolutely no way that Isen was back in control doing this. After losing Meribell the way that he had due to Ignas' taking control of him, it was clear that this was just the situation repeating itself. "Ignas, stop, she's damn near dead!" Could her magic work on a demon too, or only on humans and possibly Dissonants? The wound seemed too large and too severe to be able to be healed even if she could get there in time, and she had a feeling that Ignas wouldn't take kindly to her trying.

"Bastard!" Adelaide was on her feet now, watching the demon dissolve into nothing but little spots that the sun reflected off through the trees. "Ignas, stop!" It didn't matter that her body was aching from both Ragdan's blow and the force of the explosion that had sent her reeling, or that her hands were injured and stinging as she clenched them into fists. All that mattered was that clearly Ignas was out of control now that Isen had given him allowance to fight the other demon, and she could only watch in horror as he completely obliterated Ragdan. Was that what happened to demons when they died? They just... Faded away?

"Well, well, well, I never thought I'd see a witch cry over a demon," Danica's voice came from on top of one of the nearby houses and Adelaide turned, wiping at her face and glaring heatedly at the demoness. "Don't fret now, dear, they were lowly demons, and at least they're together now. I certainly wasn't expecting one of them to be in the catalyst, but... Well, that works for me. Where was this fire all those decades ago, Ignas?" She jumped down and landed nimbly on the ground, crossing her arms over her chest and laughing.

"If you'd used all that strength on the witch all those years ago, we wouldn't be where we are now, and you wouldn't be stuck in that sword like a pathetic weakling of a demon."
 
Ignas did not seem impressed with the comments coming from Danica, who had conveniently decided now would be the time that she showed herself once more. Had she been watching the whole time? Or was it just coincidence that she had disappeared the moment Ragdan had appeared? No, there were no such things as coincidences with the demoness, Isen know this for sure. What he didn't know, however, was how exactly Ignas was going to respond.

Unbound by Isen's human nature, and in complete control of the functions of his body, there wasn't a single second of hesitancy in the way Ignas reacted. He began to walk towards Danica at an alarming pace, his eyes set on upping his demon kill count. Onigoshi found it's mark in a blistering thrust, leaving no time for anybody to react and try to stop it from happening. Like Ragdan and Lenova before her, Danica's chest was pierced by the blade of the catalyst. Purple energy swirled and danced through the wound, fighting against her healing as he withdrew the sword to admire his handiwork, her blood trickling down onto the soil beneath them.

His response was sharp, yet simple. He cut no corners, nor had any reason to make it more eloquent. He said what he meant and meant what he said when he, towering over Danica as she gasped for breath, told her what he had been wanting to say ever since she showed back up in their lives.

"Go fuck yourself, Imp."
 
"Oh, you bastard." Despite the fact that Danica was swearing at Ignas as she crumpled to the ground, Adelaide couldn't hear an overabundance of venom in her voice. That didn't seem right, Danica was laying there bleeding out and she wasn't making any attempt to get up and attack him in revenge.

"Ignas, we need her, what the fuck?!" Adelaide shouted at the demon angrily and stormed over to where Danica was, crouching down to examine the wound Ignas had inflicted on her. "Fuck, that's bad." Even the healing spell Samara had taught her couldn't possibly heal that, could it? Danica's body was struggling to heal, and Adelaide could almost see the way the skin was trying to knit itself back together and repair the damage done by Onigoshi.

"Little witch," Danica gripped her arm with surprising strength, a clawed finger tracing its way down until it tapped gently on the ring that remained trapped on her finger. "In there. Let me feast upon the magic and dwell there while I heal."
 
Ignas turned his attention towards Adelaide, next, watching as Danica crawled over towards her for help. He picked up on what she was suggesting and malice shifted through his entire being. Ignas decided his next course of action was to do what he had wanted to do for so long; give in to the hatred, use his freedom and strike down Adelaide once and for all, ridding them of the complication she had become.

"Stop..." Isen told him, but he did not listen. "Ignas, please..." He repeated, but with no change in the demon's intention.

He lifted Onigoshi and began to run straight towards her but before he could bring it down, he seemed to freeze in place, unnaturally.

"STOP!" This time, it appeared to have worked.

"Wh-what are you...?"

"I won't let you hurt her."

~~~

"Then why didn't you stop me?"

"Stop you? I've been trying to stop you from the beginning. I can numb your feelings, I can take away your pain, your hunger but her? I couldn't get her out of your head with all of the dark magic in the world. Believe me, I've been trying."

"You've been trying this whole time?"

"Every single day...but it's a stubborn feeling. I couldn't break it, no matter how hard I tried. I guess some emotions, when real enough, are too strong to be suppressed.."

~~~

The fear of losing Adelaide, of having a hand in killing somebody else he had cared about, even indirectly, was enough for Isen's emotions to become strong enough to wrestle away control from Ignas. Bit, by bit, he began to regain control over his body, forcing the demon back into the recesses of his mind, back into the blade of Onigoshi.

"How is this possible? Isen, we were so close. Why are you stopping me?"

"You've done enough. I won't let you make me into a monster again."
 
"Danica, get your ass in here." The point of learning how to seal a demon hadn't been for this. It had been as a last resort, what she really needed was to learn how to release a demon, and it seemed that she'd unintentionally done it with the one Ignas had just killed, but she had no idea how.

She flinched as Isen shouted, scrambling back and tugging Danica with her as her lips moved and she forced out the words for the spell. They were clunky and barely recognizable as the proper spell at first, but the way she was weaving the magic together made up for how terrible it sounded being spoken for the first time in proper use. The fact that Danica was a willing participant in it helped immensely, if the demoness had sought to fight against the attempted seal, it was possible Adelaide might not have been able to do it. Danica was powerful, after all, but she was injured, and Adelaide watched with a mystified expression as the demoness began to glimmer and fade before her very eyes.

It was almost like watching a projector glitch, the image fading in and out before the presence of Danica's fingers on her arm disappeared entirely, followed shortly after by the demon herself. Adelaide gave a sharp gasp before jolting violently, her fingers digging into the ground as she felt an immense rush of magic, followed by pain flow through her entire body. Was this what it felt like to have a demon attached to you?

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"You'll be fine, little witch. The spell took a lot out of you, you must recover." Hearing Danica without actually seeing her was going to take some serious getting used to.
 
By the time Isen had fully gained back control, Danica had already vanished, absorbed into Adelaide's ring.

"Wait, she didn't just...?" Ignas asked, within Isen's head. "Good job, Isen. Now she's going to be just like you."

Just like him? But what did that even...

It dawned on Isen pretty quickly after he began to piece it together. Danica had been injured, greatly, and now, Adelaide appeared to be in pain, the ring around her finger emitting an intense rush of magic into her body and outwards as well. She had just sealed Danica into the ring. But why?

"Adelaide...?" Isen asked, approaching her slowly, hesitant but also trying to regain motor control properly over the functions of his body that Ignas had ripped away from him.

"Your interference has doomed us all. Congratulations."

"Adelaide..." He began again. "...where's Danica?" He didn't want to believe she would do something so foolish and yet, there was nothing but evidence suggesting that she had.
 
"Shut up, Ignas." Adelaide managed to force the words out despite the nausea rolling around in her belly, holding up one hand as Isen approached and shaking her head. "Is it supposed to make you feel so sick?"

"Stop complaining so much. You're not the one who was run through by a former companion." She rolled her eyes at Danica's words, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself before she forced herself to sit up and smooth back her messed up braid.

"Uh... She would be inside my ring, since Ignas tried to kill her and we kind of need her to beat Malakai. Like hell I was going to let the one person who knew him, aside from Ignas, to just turn to dust because he got pissed off. All because what, something about a witch he seems so twisted up over? Fuck's sake, Ignas, you're like a child throwing a tantrum."
 
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