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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"Don't have time for thiiiiiiiis. Fuck!" Adelaide was swearing profusely as she raced around the shop trying to figure out what she needed to grab. Without the phone to contact Nikolai and see what he and the others had been able to take on their way out, she had no way of knowing if there was anything Lorelei would need to complete the task Adelaide had for her.

Some random important looking artifacts were shoved into the bag haphazardly, then scraps of metal and possible electronics on the off chance they needed to fashion something. One of Samara's watches she had previously made for Dissonants, probably devoid of magic with the spell already spreading through the city, but that could be fixed when she was far enough away to get to work on everything. Anything else could be left behind before she ran out of the option to even open a portal from here. Just being in the shop for a couple of minutes was already starting to take its toll on her, which told her that the spell was getting strong and had come through a good portion of Cresthaven already. Was Takami still alive, or had he been wiped out in the initial wave?

She stumbled making her way down the hall, caught by a sudden wave of dizziness that had her cursing and rushing to grab the first thing she could find that smelled like Lorelei's magic. The fact that it was a brush abandoned on the bed like some sort of cliche witch story didn't elude her, but she didn't have enough time to laugh or roll her eyes about it as she channeled her wavering magic into locating where Lorelei actually was.

"Crazy bitch, you'd better still be with everyone." The fact that a portal didn't immediately open when she'd located Lorelei's presence was concerning. She hadn't even been back in the city for a full five minutes and her magic was already taking a hit from Malakai's spell. Just how strong was the one he'd set off? If Roland hadn't warned her in time before... They'd have been royally fucked, and not in the way that had occurred outside of her house before leaving Isen behind...

When the portal finally pulled at the seam of existence and began to open it did so awkwardly, slowly and in awkward stretches that seemed unable to form a proper doorway or even a circle. The nausea working its way upward increased as she forced more of her magic into the air, forcing it open just enough for her to tuck the bag against her stomach and lunge through before it snapped shut behind her.

"Well, hello to you too, Ada." Nikolai's weary voice reached her as she picked herself off the floor, looking around an unfamiliar and shoddily constructed room. It lacked the comfort and warmth of the house she'd been in earlier that day, or even the shop that was now abandoned for the foreseeable future, but it seemed safe and she saw everyone she had left behind when Roland had called.

"Good, you're all here. We figured out a plan to take the spell down, but I need you--" She skipped a proper hello and stabbed a finger in the air at Lorelei, who raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. "To recreate Project Acuity in a smaller gadget so I can get it near Maximillian and shut down the spell."

"Ada..."

"No, no, it'll work. I just need to get close enough to shut down the spell and then the cavalry can come in!" She'd missed it in her excitement the first time, but this time there was no mistaking the look that Lorelei and Nikolai were exchanging before her grandmother turned to her with a defeated expression. "Why are you two looking at each other like that? You think I can't do it?"

"Adelaide, you should sit down."

"Tell me what's going on." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave the older woman a stubborn shake of her head. "Why don't you think it will work?"

"Adelaide, it's not that I don't believe in you. The problem is that I can't recreate Project Acuity to use against Maximillian, because the demon Malakai that he has in his scepter is Project Acuity."

"What? No, I don't... I don't understand." Her legs wobbled as things started to come together in her head, as she struggled to make sense of how a demon could possible be become that monstrosity of a drone army when she knew damn well that Lorelei had been involved in it. "You made those drones."

"I did, with spells and magic that they gave me. Malakai's magic."

Adelaide's legs gave out then, sending her thudding to the floor as she let go of her bag and sank to her knees. Nikolai was at her side in moments placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, but Adelaide could hear Claudia's sigh of disgust in the background as she processed the information. Was there ever a time the woman didn't give her hell just for being involved?

"You got something to say back there, bitch?"

"Adelaide, ignore her. Claudia, that's enough. We don't have time for any of this."

"Ain't got time for her to be sitting on the floor ready to cry like a puppy at the curb, either."

"Other than killing one demon in an alleyway I don't see you fucking helping either. So either do something that actually fixes this mess we're in, or shut your goddamn mouth you stuck up bitch!"

"Adelaide, it's not worth it."

Isabella's exhausted voice drew her back to the situation at hand as she let Nikolai help her up, and she abandoned her bag to cross to the vampire and pull her into a tight hug. They held each other for several moments before Adelaide pulled back, searching Isabella's face for any good sign that Takami had come back or she knew he was okay. Isabella only shrugged her shoulders, but Adelaide could see the tears starting to well up as the vampire blinked them away.

"A problem for later, Ada. Let Lorelei explain. We only found out a bit ago, too. You haven't been gone all that long."

Yeah, just long enough to crash land in my house with a demon, argue with my boyfriend, have a quickie in the yard and then hop around Cresthaven tiring myself out.

All in all, she'd probably only been gone for an hour or two. How many things had happened in such a short time that were now finally coming to a dramatic end? It hadn't even been a full month since she'd sought out Isen and they'd begun their tentative partnership, had been even less since she'd met Isabella or her family she thought long gone. How had things changed so dramatically in such a short span, leaving her here unsure if she would even see another sunrise?

"Why don't you eat something while I explain? There's not much, but something is better than nothing." It was well into the afternoon now, and she hadn't eaten anything since that morning at the mall, so she took the pack of plain crackers offered to her and numbly took a seat in an offered chair. "I never knew the extent of Project Acuity when I was helping create it." The guilt on Lorelei's face was clear as she started to talk. "It was just supposed to track potential threats and be able to stun them long enough to be taken into custody if necessary. It was never meant to drain someone to death, just stop their magic and keep them contained."

"You just took the magic and put it in the machines." Lorelei nodded. "And you're telling me... The magic used to fuel them and that massacre they were involved in... Came from Malakai?" Another nod, and Adelaide almost exploded from the chair, gripping the half empty wrapper in her hand and speaking through clenched teeth.

"How the fuck did you not know you were playing with demon magic?"

"Adelaide, stop, that's not the point." Nikolai cut in before Adelaide turned her scathing glare on him, but he didn't back down. "What's done is done. The point is that we can't replicate the drones or Project Acuity. If we want the spell to come down, we have to figure out another way."
 
When Klaus woke up, he felt incredibly groggy. It was like every inch of energy had been sapped from his body. A weight spread through every limb, making it near impossible for him to sit up from his slumped position against a wall that felt impossibly, uncomfortably hard against his back. Nothing felt right. His first instinct was to search his surroundings, recalling what had happened just before he had fallen unconscious, but he appeared to be the only one there, frozen in place, not from paralysis, but from sheer, overwhelming fatigue.

Unable to move, his second instinct was to try and dip himself out into one of his other bodies, but when he attempted to use his magic, nothing happened at all. No spark, no feeling of energy coursing through his body, no connection to the arcane.

Nothing.

"What have you done...?" The demon groaned, lethargic.

"P-please..." Another voice seemed to reach Klaus' ears, a barely audible whisper from outside of the room he had been taken to. "H-hel-"

Klaus tried, again, to move forward. His body ached and yearned with each muscular contraction. It took everything he had in him to lurch forward enough to separate from the wall only to fall flat onto his stomach immediately after. His arms faltered to hold his weight, and the heaviness took over, leaving him flat against the tile with a groan.

"P-plea-" The voice whined, a second time, somehow even fainter than the first.

Crawling and scratching his way towards the door frame, he expended every ounce of strength he had left to move just a couple of feet forward over what must have been several, agonizing minutes. Finally, cresting the door frame, his head peeked around a corner to see the source of the noise; another body, haphazardly laying across the center of the hallway. In a similar state of distress, they struggled to even turn their own head to face him. A demon, though weak and frail, opened it's mouth to ask for help again, but only a whimper escaped. Their eyes began to fall shut, lifelessly, and that was the last time Klaus saw them move.

Footsteps echoed from a little farther away, growing closer. A pair of hands hooked underneath Klaus' arms, lifting him back up into a seated position once again. Kneeling before him, Roland leaned in to get a closer look at him, before letting his eyes drop down to the fallen demon at his feet. "God damn it..." He exhaled, underneath his breath. "Even you? Weren't you with him when it...?" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Alriiiight. Just rescuing a demon. No big deal." He continued to talk to himself, hoisting Klaus back to his feet once more. He wrapped the demon's arm around his shoulder, for support, then checked both directions of the hall, as if afraid that somebody might see him in the act. "You're heavy..."

"I can't move..." Klaus muttered. "Why can...you...?"

"Because I'm a plain, old human." Roland answered, straining to move forward, but pulling Klaus along with him. "Bet you hate that, don't you? Needing my help?" Roland smirked. The two had a working relationship, and were aware of each other at least, with both serving important roles within the DSTF before Malakai and Max decided to pull the trigger on their spell. "Gonna need a favor, so you can't die on me yet."


"Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

"Not yet."

"You're hard to please." Max sighed, though he didn't seem too distressed. After all, their plan had gone off without a hitch. He was looking out through a window at a city that was underneath their control and slowly, but surely, feeding all of it's magic into the scepter and the being housed within it. "I'm not used to it being so silent." He continued, noting the streets were completely barren. There weren't any cars driving, or people walking. No noise, whatsoever. "Will you write with me? One last time? Before, you know..."

"No." Malakai's voice echoed back to him. "The quiet is preferred."

"Ah, you would waste a brilliant muse, wouldn't you?" Max grumbled, eyes darting towards his organ. "A swan song for the Dissonants. It would be fitting."

"Are you having regrets?" The demon's question almost sounded like a threat more than it did a question. Max shook his head, undeterred, before correcting him.

"Not in the slightest. There's just a special kind of beauty within an ending."

"Hmph." Malakai seemed unimpressed, so Max decided it best to change the topic.

"What is the first thing you'll do once you're free from your prison?"

There was a short delay before Malakai made his indignant proclamation. "Rip out his throat."

"So violent. Always so violent." Max chastised, though unserious in tone. "You certainly know how to hold a grudge, old friend. I'm not surp-"

"Silence."

Max stopped, immediately. He could feel a shift in Malakai's presence through their bond together. Something was wrong. Something, very sudden, had disrupted their connection to the energy field they had produced.

"She is back."

Max's brow rose, his grip tightening around the scepter. "Foolish girl...let us pay her a visit before she sneaks off again."


A black pulse of energy began to grow in the center of the room Adelaide was in. Like a crack, forcefully pulling itself through the air, the fabric of reality itself blended into a purple and black void. A portal. Life had been sucked from the room in an instant, even more so than the spell had. Waves of overwhelming, dark magic sifted forward in all directions as, from the opening abyss, Maximilian stepped out. He looked at the people present, though he was all but ignoring most of them. Instead, his devilish eyes focused in on Adelaide and Lorelei.

"I knew we were keeping you lot alive for a reason." He jested, brow sharpening as his voice distorted through Malakai's will.

"Bait."

"Escaping death twice just wasn't enough for you? Well, you know, they say third time's the charm but, I really don't think you're going to make it out of this one..."
 
"That... Might actually work."

They'd been mulling over options for the last several minutes once Adelaide had managed to get a snack down. She'd also taken the opportunity to change into clean clothes and redo her braid while they talked, fighting against the occasional waves of nausea and the ache starting to form in her head. Getting drained by Malakai quickly had been agonizing before the impromptu rescue by her family, but being drained slowly was exhausting and made it hard to focus. The locator spell and half assed portal to get herself here had taken the last large portion of her strength, and even the ring she'd acquired weeks ago couldn't keep up with the drain the spell was creating.

"I'd forgotten all about that, there were so many things Samara had me studying and learning I couldn't list them all if my life was on the line." She fidgeted with the pieces of metal she was arranging in her hands, clicking components together and sighing. "Of course, that still involves getting close enough. I don't think I have the energy to open another portal."

"Perhaps if we all pooled what was left of our magic together, we could open one to get you there."

"I still need to have magic to work it, though, so that won't work. I might just have to walk and hope that I don't get found along the way." It was only a matter of time until Maximillian and Malakai realized she was back in the city, if they hadn't already.

"He'll have humans still loyal to him, you won't be able to just walk in the front door, Adelaide."

"Great job stating the obvious, you old broad." Claudia sneered at Lorelei and earned another annoyed stare from Nikolai before they went back to discussing the different options. Adelaide was able to determine that while she was a fair bit from the shop that was no longer safe, they hadn't left the city entirely and had no intention of doing so. The DSTF would most likely have guards stationed at the edges of the city to detain or kill anyone trying to escape the reach of the spell, and even if they were able to slip by there was the likelihood that Malakai would inevitably extend the spell past Cresthaven until he was satisfied with how much power he'd acquired. How much power did he need, and what was his end goal?

"Out of time, world hero." Claudia's sarcastic tone reached Adelaide's ears as a void began to form in the middle of the room, prompting her to shove what was in her hand under her shirt and into her bra before stumbling to her feet. The sight of a demon possessed Maximillian stepping out was enough to send a mixture of dread and fear spiraling through her even as she waved an unsteady arm in Nikolai's direction.

"Get them out of here!" The ring was providing her with a small reservoir of magic that she was able to pull from, and she managed to shoot off a couple bursts of it in Max's direction despite knowing it would have no effect. Her intention was more to distract from the others in the room, the others incapable of simply portaling themselves out and to safety.

"Jesus, does no one know how to fight with anything other than magic?" Claudia rolled her eyes and stepped around where Nikolai was trying to herd everyone back from the darkness, taking advantage of Maximillian's current focus on Adelaide and Lorelei. Her movements were clunky but determined as she weaved across the room, shoulder checking Adelaide along the way before she swung the metal bar in her hand toward the embodiment of evil.

"...Is that a fireplace poker?"
 
Feeble bursts of magic crossed the room in Max's direction, and even though he saw them coming, he didn't so much as lift a hand to try and block them. The weakened magic has been drained further by the field as it traveled until it's contact with the demon-host's body failed to even make him flinch. It petered out and dissipated without causing any harm whatsoever, and it drew a chuckle to the musician's lips. This was what was left of the all powerful Lancaster mage the DSTF had been hunting? She had only been inside his spell for mere minutes, had she nothing left to even defend herself? What a waste.

Max turned his head as he noticed Claudia approaching him. He seemed amused, lifting his scepter upwards so that it's metallic staff clunked against the swing of her melee weapon, rejecting it's advance towards him. "Hm?" He mused, tilting his head slightly at his would-be attacker before swinging the scepter in one smooth, outward motion, causing the crystalline ball at it's end to make contact with Claudia's cheek, sending her spiraling down to the ground. He presumed she was unconscious, but he hardly cared to check.

"You treat your guests terribly. And I thought demons lacked manners."

With a sigh, he waved the scepter again. Streams of his own magic, the dark arcane which Malakai commanded, weaved through the air, undeterred by the spell that what otherwise crippled all of the magical beings inside of it. They wrapped around each person still in the room, save for Adelaide, curling around their bodies and engulfing them in what was, essentially, a casing of black magic. Trapping them inside, it suppressed any effort to move, and amplified the effects of the drain they were already experiencing.

"As much as I would love to crush your little friends, as well as the traitor you harbor in your midst, a broken Lancaster is hardly of use to me." Max continued, humming to himself. "You're right." He spoke to the voice inside of his head that was choosing not to present itself outward through him this time. "No, not yet. She provides an alternate path." Max's eyes focused back in on his prey, who remained the only person disentangled from Malakai's dark influence.

"Alright, Lancaster. You know the drill. Come willingly, spare your friends, the usual drib and drab. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. We like when it is."

Two more tendrils of magic began to snake through the air, one on each side of her body, closing in threateningly but, for now, keeping an appropriate distance from her until he heard her response.
 
Adelaide winced as the scepter connected with Claudia's face and sent her tumbling to the ground. Other than the faint sight of blood littering the floor, she couldn't tell if it had outright knocked out the other mage or just injured her, and despite her dislike for Claudia's haughty nature, she felt bad for the woman.

"You're an intruder, not a guest." She didn't have the energy to verbally spar with him right now, not when the majority of her energy was being used just to stand upright against the dark magic filling the room. It was crawling and creeping everywhere in sight before it seemed to unfurl and weave it way around each body aside from Adelaide's, stopping any chance of escape they might have had with whatever meager magic remained in their systems. Adelaide cursed, watching as Maximillian seemed to have a conversation with himself before turning the whole of his focus on her.

What choice did she have? She could try to fight back and still lose but take out what remained of her family with her. Could she really trust Max to spare them if she went with him? It was a doubtful prospect, but the fact remained that right now he was using them as leverage against her, and he could only do that so long as they were still alive. Her legs were already shaking from the effort of trying to hold up against the overload of magic in the room, her eyes darting between Max and the others that were currently wrapped in magic tendrils.

"Fine." Her shoulders sagged and she let out a weary breath. "But you let them go, first."
 
Max stared back at her, as if trying to discern whether or not she was lying to him about actually coming peacefully. The tendrils that were approaching drew back a little further, a sign of tepid acceptance, but he didn't seem enamored with the idea of letting all of his captives go to prove some sort of point to her.

"You're making demands? You're quite brazen." He mused, as close to a compliment he'd ever spit in her direction. "Half now. Half later." He made a counter proposition, and to show that he was serious about it, several of the incased mages, including Isabella, were released from their darkened prison. "Take your vampire friend's release as a sign of good faith. Now, if you wish for the others to be free, step forward. No tricks." He warned, eyeing her still, directing her to get closer towards him, and the source of the dark magic that had enthralled her allies. The rift behind him continue to trickle into the room, sending pulse after pulse of nefarious energy outward, waiting like a vacuum to draw them both back inside.

His free hand lifted, clutching at Adelaide's wrist when she trudged close enough towards him. His touch was cold and rough, like the dark magic coursing through his veins burnt and seared against her skin from the second he made contact. With a forceful tug, he separated her entirely from the side of the room where her friends were, practically pulling her beneath his arm. Looking at her, one last time, he waved the scepter and, surprisingly, upheld his part of their bargain, sparing the remainder of the people present from his trapping and, within the same motion, stepping backwards into the portal, letting it rip them both inside and away from the shop.

It rippled to a close, vanishing as though it were never there, but taking with it the overwhelming dread it had created and leaving the inhabitants of the shop caught only within the original drain and suppression of the magic field.


Rykard, several drinks in, wandered outside where he found Isen on the deck, leaning against the railing. He seemed disconnected from the rest of the world around him. While demons alike shared drinks and prepared for war, he thought only of what that war stood to take from him. The longing in his chest hadn't vanished since Adelaide had left, and though it only been a short while, he could already feel like she had been taken from him entirely.

"Drink." Rykard said, walking to Isen's side and clunking the bottom of a bottle against the railing.

"Not interested."

Rykard huffed, lifting the spout of the bottle to his own lips and drinking straight from the alcohol inside, showing no sign of being stung by it's after taste. "Suit yourself. But if you ask me, if anybody here needs a drink, it's probably you."

"Why are you still here?" Isen asked him, sharply, straight and to the point.

"Don't know." Came the response in a manner that seemed to imply that Rykard wasn't actually lying about that. "Could've ran a while ago, but I'm not sure where I'd go. City's a death trap, all of the people I know inside of it are probably dead. Guess I'm just staying where the alcohol is."

"Right." Isen responded, still seeming distant and disinterested in talking with the demon.

"Look, kid, I ain't trying to be your friend." Rykard began talking again, his voice growing more stern. "And I don't care about you one way or another, but there are people here who do. World's endin', and you're choosing to stay out here, alone."

"I'm used to it."

"Being alone? Or being an asshole? Cause the first one ain't true, and the second, I can't help you with."

"What's your point?"

"Ignas. He's been with you for, what? Ten years? From when you were the Reaper up until you became a lil' bitch. Don't get me wrong, he's a fuckin' dickhead himself, but he's only hard on you because he cares about you. Should consider yourself lucky to have a demon like him not wanting to see you get torn to pieces or send you off to your death. He's not good at this whole thing, especially since he lost his sweetheart."

"Neither are you." Isen groaned, reaching for the bottle and snatching it out of Rykard's hands.

"Never claimed to be." He shrugged, releasing the bottle willingly and watching Isen take a sip from it as well. "But I got you to drink with me, didn't I?"

"Don't press your luck."

Rykard smirked, taking the bottle back again. "Gets borin' when you don't."
 
Was that supposed to be a compliment? Half now wasn't what she'd said, but Adelaide knew she was in no position to be bargaining. The fact that he'd released some of them already to show he was being truthful was more than she would have expected from him, and she turned briefly to give Isabella a faint smile over her shoulder and a barely noticeable shake of her head. It was clear that the vampire wanted to fight back, but it would have done none of them any good and Adelaide wanted to avoid losing any more friends in the war.

"Alright, alright." Walking across the room took energy she didn't think she had, her legs shaky and her steps uncertain as she slowly closed the gap between them. Each step toward Maximillian felt like impending death, like he would steal whatever remained of her life away from her the moment they touched. Just a black hole of existential dread and death. She had expected pain upon contact, but she hadn't expected it to burn like it did when he grabbed her wrist, for it to feel like he was searing a brand with his fingers wrapped around her pulling her away from those she loved.

She tasted blood when her teeth sank into her tongue, halting her from giving Maximillian the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain from the burning touch. There was a brief moment where she was able to see everyone she was leaving behind, see the confliction in Isabella's eyes as she struggled to hold herself up and steady. Adelaide managed a short shake of her head and watched as the others were released, true to the bastard's word, and then she felt herself falling into a void of nothingness.

What finally woke her some time later was the sound of music aggravating her already pounding head. Had she ever been so drained of energy and magic that it was comparable to an agonizing hangover? A hangover would have been preferable to what felt like an entire drum line parading around behind her eyes, and even the initial attempt to open them was excruciating. What had sounded more like muted audio as her brain struggled to pull itself back into consciousness was now registering at its full volume, each note sending another shockwave of pain through her heavy head.

Turning her head was an impossible task so far, but Adelaide could both feel and see that she was laying on the floor of a room. Had she passed out when they were discussing different possibilities of how they could work to take down Maximillian's spell? And who the hell was blaring music instead of helping her off the floor? She went to open her mouth and demand that someone help her up when she caught the metallic taste of blood lingering, and then everything hit at once as she remembered what had happened.

"Damn it." How long had she been asleep? She shifted slightly, digging her elbow into her chest in a subtle motion to determine if she'd been searched in her sleep or not. A fraction of the tension released from her body when she realized it was still there, and after a moment she slowly pulled herself into an unsteady sitting position. Laying down with a fatigue induced migraine was one thing, but holding her head up to look around and see Maximillian playing fucking music was pure torture.

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time. Music and a dirty floor to sleep on? Best date I've ever had."
 
Maximilian's fingers danced across the keys of his organ, producing music that was pleasant enough, despite the circumstance. Each stroke connected to the next, showing an aptitude with his instrument that would have been impressive for anybody else. Hearing her voice perk up from behind him brought his playing to a stop, for a moment, his digits resting idly a top the next note he had intended to play.

"That does not surprise me. You are in love with the puppet of Ignas, are you not?"

He held back his own chuckle, pressing his fingers back down again, completing the note without warning, allowing it to sharply sound back out against her migraine.

"I must admit, I am intrigued. To march back into the den of a lion so boldly after narrowly escaping with your head...you are either brave, or you're foolish, but it also means you must have some sort of plan in mind that required you to come back into the city. Care to share? That's what people do on dates, no?"

He began playing again without a pause coming between the notes, continuing on for around half a minute, ignoring her entirely as he knew better than to think she'd actually answer him. Max continued his performance until he seemed pleased with his playing, stopping again. This time, he turned his body around to face her from where it was seated on a cushioned stool before his majestic instrument of choice.

"Do you play?" Max asked her, suddenly derailing the conversation out of morbid curiosity.

"Hm. Write with me."

His stare in her direction was all too serious. He was legitimately suggesting that she start playing alongside of him. "I'm a musician at heart, and I simply can't resist the opportunity to see what we would create. Two bitter enemies, opposite sides of a demonic coin. The light and the dark, the predator and it's prey...amuse me, will you? You must be tired from the spell. You must feel it tugging at your very soul, stealing that...incredible power of yours. Wouldn't you like a reprieve?"

He was offering her a break in the spell? Max kept his brow raised, the spot beside him on the stool empty but waiting.

"I won't bite. At least, not right now. Perhaps later."
 
"Says Malakai's puppet." The words had left her mouth before she realized it and were followed by a rather unladylike snort. She didn't address the matter of love and instead tried to get her vision to stay focused on where Maximillian sat in front of a rather over the top and undoubtedly expensive organ. So that was what was making all that god awful noise. The last, sharp note sent another pain shooting through her head as she closed her eyes, massaging her temples before dropping her hands to her lap.

"We're not most people on a date." She had no intention of telling him what her initial plan had been, even though it would have done no harm to share a failed idea. Just the thought of giving him the satisfaction of knowing how abruptly her idea and hopes had been shot down was enough to keep her from detailing any sort of plan or trying to lie her way through an imaginary one. Then he was playing again, although she had a hard time telling if he was simply that obsessed with the music he was playing, or if he was deliberately doing it to make her head hurt worse. He had to have known that she was in pain, she could practically feel it written across her face as she tried to stay awake.

"What?" She squinted at him when he abruptly turned to question her. "Do I play?" Did it look like she played any type of instrument, much less something as complex as an organ? "What are you on about now?" It sounded like he was offering to give her a break from the drain of his spell if she played with him, but she didn't know the first thing about playing piano, much less an organ. As desperately as she wanted a chance to recover her energy and feel like she wasn't dancing on death's door, it wouldn't do to give in at the first sign of a break. Eventually, someone would worry that she hadn't come back or tried to contact them yet. Eventually, someone would come looking for her and she could get the ball rolling to finally end this. It was this knowledge that spread a smile across her face despite the pain, the slight sway of her body on the floor making her look very much like a deliriously sleepy girl.

"Go fuck yourself."
 
"So, that's a no?" He asked, giving her one last chance to rethink her decision. The next time he spoke, it was with a voice that was not his own.

"Finally."

Tendrils of dark magic wound their way from the scepter, conspicuously leaning against the side of the organ, around the instrument and it's musician and directly towards her. Like before, they stopped a small distance away, like two snakes dancing and baring fangs, ready to pounce on their prey. They vibrated with darkness, contorting the very air around them with waves of black arcane energy. "Steady, Malakai." Max continued, speaking again, the switch between the two seamless unlike that of Ignas and Isen. "We can't kill her yet."

Talented fingers pressed down into their keys once more, sweeping across the board with ease. It may have been an illusion, but the tendrils almost swayed to the music, though perhaps, the spell had taken enough of it's toll on her that it was aiding in the games he was playing to try and wear her down.

"Your boyfriend and I aren't all that different, you know. Tortured souls forced to enact evil against their bidding, bound to a force much more powerful than they could ever be." Max continued, speaking loud enough to be audible above the music. "Yet, you fawn for him and detest me so purely that you'd choose pain and delirium over a simple bonding experience. Why is that?"
 
The abrupt switch in voices took Adelaide a second to catch up with. Had Maximillian just swapped with Malakai so effortlessly? That didn't make sense, unless he was willingly surrendering control to the demon. Even then, when she had seen Isen give up control to Ignas, like when Clara was on her deathbed and they wanted to give them some time together, it hadn't been back and forth so seamlessly. Ignas had taken control for the duration that he needed, and then when he was done with Clara he'd given Isen back control of his body. This was... This was something else, and the fact that the demon was speaking now should have concerned her more, especially when she watched the inky tendrils begin to make their way toward her. Was this the end, just like that?

No, they needed her. They needed someone to break Malakai out of the scepter, didn't they? She couldn't see him going to all of this trouble and spreading chaos and death throughout the city just to accept being trapped in a relic for the rest of his existence. Eventually, Maximillian's body would grow old and die, wouldn't it? Then Malakai would need a new host, and she doubted he wanted to body jump for the next century or two.

"Not yet, huh?" They'd swapped again with nothing to discern the difference aside from their voices, showing that the two of them were very much in sync in one body without either overtaking the other. The feeling of dread increased when she realized that Malakai was likely just biding his time like a snake coiled and ready to strike, just waiting until he'd gotten all he needed so he could steal the last of her life from her and leave her nothing but a husk.

"Isen is nothing like you." She was so tired. Keeping her eyes open took monumental effort she didn't want to expend, her limbs felt like they were being weighed down by an invisible force that wanted to flatten and decimate her. "You let Malakai do all of this without fighting him, without trying to stop him. You and Isen might both be pawns to demons and their will, but at least he isn't a willing pawn. You're just as bad as Malakai, if not worse. You know this is wrong and you're doing nothing to stop it." The more she talked the more it felt like the oxygen was being sapped from the room, a tightness forming in her chest as she closed her eyes and dropped her head to her knees.

"I hope sucking your demon's dick was worth it, because sooner or later you're going to lose. It might not be me, but someone's going to rip your heart out." She laughed and then winced at the pressure it was putting on her strained body, unable to stop the laughter that continued to bubble up as her head swam and sound distorted. "I hope they make you fucking eat it."
 
"You think that I'm being complacent? That I'm letting him do as he pleases?" Max asked her, laughing at the idea. "We are in harmony, Adelaide Lancaster. Our goals are the same, so why would I try to stop him? I am no pawn, I'm the conductor of the game." Max's fingers kept playing, again, across the keys, until Adelaide's attitude spiked and she began to hurl insults at him. He hit a sour note, stopping and turning back to face her once more.

"I've heard enough from you. Maybe you will be more cooperative the next time you wake up."

Malakai's dark tendrils wrapped their way around Adelaide's arms and up towards her shoulders, digging into her body, into her magic. They pulsed and quivered, draining and absorbing all they could take until her eyes wound shut and her body grew limp in their hold.

"Delectable."

"Not yet." Max repeated, pulling Malakai back from ending the mage then and there. "Wake her back up." Malakai's response was inward, within Max's head, but he doubled down on it, with more conviction. "Trust me, she will break. Wake her back up."

The tendrils pulled back, away from Adelaide, unfurling and letting her slump back down onto the floor. One of them lifted towards her face, pressing against her forehead and emitting a pulse of magic between her eyes, intended on startling her exhausted body out of it's state of rest.

"Welcome back." Max chimed, fingers playing once again. "It sure seems like you slept well." He lied, messing with her understanding of time. "At least a couple of hours. ..are you sure they're sending somebody to save you?" Laughter followed suit, discordantly above the music as he defaulted to his original question to her, once more, as if sticking her in a loop of deja vu. "Will you write with me?"
 
The next time she woke up? Adelaide wasn't sure what he was talking about, but considering the fact that she was half hunched over with her face pressed into her knees, that wasn't too surprising. She didn't need sight to feel the dark magic slithering its way to and over her, coiling around her limbs and seeping into her pores. It burned with each tightening movement as it pulled at her magic, toying with her as it brought her to the brink of unconsciousness and then yanked her last bit of resistance until she toppled over. She was out before her body hit the floor, limbs inoperable and breathing shallow as her brain struggled to remember the basic functions.

In. Out. In. Out. Don't forget to breathe, or you'll die.
The sudden pressure on her forehead pulled her back to consciousness with a sharp gasp followed by a groan, and she struggled to open her eyes through the heavy weight of fatigue and dark magic. What was he saying? She'd only been awake for a few minutes after Maximillian had first stolen her away and she'd woken up on the ground, and now she'd slept for more hours? What time did that make it now, was it night? Were they partway through the night? She hadn't known what time it was the first time she'd woken up let alone this time, and she doubted that Maximillian had to sleep if he was allowing Malakai to power him through this. For all she knew, it was three o'clock in the morning and she'd been there for the last twelve hours. Maybe she was still dreaming.

"Bite me." The words sounded more like a croak working their way out of her mouth, and she found that sitting up proved all but impossible. Legs moved, just barely, hands clawing at the hard floor as she tried to turn her body just enough to get that bastard in her view. "I hope they make your death slow." His magic was like a slap to the face this time around, lacking the slow and slithering tendrils that had knocked her out the last two times. It came all at once and snapped her head to the side, bouncing it against the floor just enough to leave a growing bump in its wake.

"Will you write with me?"

She'd barely woken again when the words came to her, hazy and sounding much further away than they were. Her head was throbbing twice as much as it had been before, her hand finding its way to the back of her skull to probe and find the swollen spot from where it had kissed the floor. Each movement was like agony as she struggled to pull herself partially up, bracing her upper body on her forearms as she looked around and tried to find something, anything to tell her what time of day or night it might be.

"Fuck your writing." That was what she wanted to say, anyway, but Adelaide wasn't sure if he could understand what she was saying when her words started to slur together like a drunkard. She was able to protect her face with her arms this time when her body sagged into unconsciousness, keeping a barrier between it and the floor and avoiding her any missing teeth or broken nose. Everything felt like a fever dream when she regained consciousness an indeterminable amount of time later, and when she found the minute amount of energy to roll onto her back and look upward, she swore that Isen was standing above her with that worried expression of his.

"'s fineeee. I got this, go away. Don' look a' me like that."

"This isn't what we do, Adelaide."

She groaned as everything tilted and distorted again, listening to the sound of Samara's voice chiding her gently. Why was Samara here telling her that like she wasn't aware? Of course this wasn't what they did, but she didn't need the two of them looking and talking to her like she was stupid. She knew better than this, but trying to concentrate on anything long enough to form a proper plan was so hard.

"Stop judgin' me, Sam."

She swore that Maximillian was saying something to her from his spot near the organ, but it was all garbled and nonsensical as she thudded to the ground under the weight of Malakai's magic once more. Back and forth, up and down, she was losing track of how many times she'd gone under and come back to things that weren't truly there. Reality was neither here nor there, and she swore that there was the taste of copper in her mouth when she was brought back gasping and clawing at the ground this time.

"I'll write with you."
 
Again, and again, the cycle repeated. They would force her unconscious, then jolt her awake, stealing a little more of her magic every time that they did. Max made Malakai walk the line between life and death, leaving her feeding off of what remained in the ring to keep her from going under entirely. While the slow drain of the field would eventually take down anybody inside of it, Adelaide was a different case. Even with direct contact to Malakai, she continued to hang on, her reservoir emptying more and more each time she heard him ask those pesky, five words.

"Will you write with me?"

The answer was always no, or some sharp comeback that took every ounce of strength she had just to speak it. What had only been a couple of minutes at most had been dragged out into hours for her, burrowing at her psyche like a pickaxe through an ice block, just waiting for the stubborn surface to crack. How long did she think it had been? Had she given up hope that a cavalry was coming? Malakai wanted a direct approach, but Max had convinced him of a slow burn, knowing she was far more use to them broken and delirious than she was dead and buried.

Finally, after countless lies and continued manipulation, she gave in.

Max smirked, patting the seat next to him, in front of the organ he continued to intermittently serenade her with. He offered no hand to her in getting there, however. He simply watched as she struggled, the tendrils dancing around her still, egging her on with further attempts at destroying what was left of her resolve. Somehow, the air felt less dense, like a reprieve had been granted to her, momentarily, from the suppression of the field. An olive branch from the demon that sought to devour her.

"He's probably forgotten about you." Max would chide. "Maybe that imp, Danica, has gotten her claws into him and he doesn't need you anymore." He'd pry. "They were only using you to get what they wanted." He'd boast. "Even your own grandmother." "The demons don't care about you." "Isen and I are the same."

"Nobody is coming, you're going to die here."

"We will make splendid such music together. Some of the greatest works of art are created by artists nearing their death beds, Adelaide. The raw emotion, the yearning and the longing for a life you can no longer have; a love that you've lost. To be a memory not forgotten by those you cared for...your story will be immortalized forever, an anthem for all of the lives we will purge from this country."

His fingers pressed in on the keys once more, an opening note, waiting for her to follow in a different octave. He was trying to teach her. In his mind, her willingness to play with him was submission. He already thought he had won, and this was simply the victory lap.

"Go ahead. Follow your instincts. Play what your heart desires to play, I will fill in the gaps between."
 
There was definitely the taste of blood lingering in her mouth, although she wasn't sure if she had bitten herself again or it was from her hitting the floor one of the many times she'd been forced unconscious. She had done her best to protect her face during the many falls, when she'd still had the ability to move, but everything was melting together into a pot of hallucinations and uncertain memories. Even now, as Maximillian patted the seat and the pressure in the air seemed to lift, she doubted what was real and what was fiction. The fact that she'd hallucinated both Isen and Samara was enough to tell her that her moments of lucidity were few and far between, and she wondered if he had truly granted her a reprieve from the spell or if she was dreaming this, only to wake to the pain of another magical jolt at any moment.

The floor felt very real under her palms as she struggled to pull herself forward and then up, her arms buckling under the weight of her upper body the first time that she tried. Every drag and attempted lift felt like she was doing it with the body of a decrepit and arthritic person, full of jolted, painful movements and burning muscles protesting their use. She couldn't have been here suffering Maximillian and Malakai's torments for that long, right? Someone would have come if she'd been gone too long, all she had to do was wait it out long enough for someone to come after her and set her plan into motion. No, best not to even think about the plan, lest she be babbling out loud and ruin their chances.

"Shut up. I don't care what you think about them." Every time it seemed like she gained ground on her attempts to get up and walk, he was taunting her with some line about her grandmother, or the demons she'd come to know along the way. Well, at least he didn't seem to know that Isen and Ignas--No, don't think, don't say. Shut your mouth. "You are not the same." Isen was ten times the person Max could ever hope to be.

"Fuck yourself, Malakai." The insult was forced through a pained groan as she finally pulled herself to her feet, wobbling unsteadily and taking a moment to balance before she dared take any actual steps. "You need me too much to let me die." A laugh bubbled up as she stumbled across the room, nearly tumbling over her own feet once before she finally reached the organ and collapsed onto the seat beside Maximillian.

"You done monologuing yet?" Adelaide sighed wearily. It felt like he'd been talking for hours without stopping, and maybe he had. There was still no way for her to tell time, no look to the outside world through big windows, no clock on the wall to tell her how many hours she had hallucinated her way through. Then there was the most agonizing headache she'd ever experienced being forced to endure loud music at such a close range, and for a moment she thought it might actually kill her. Just a quick, last burst of pain before her brain exploded and left her a vegetable for Max to babble to.

"What my heart desires." She snorted and immediately regretted the way it made her head feel, her fingers hovering over the keys as she glanced briefly at the area he had touched on, and then tentatively pressed a key down until the note rang loudly. The vibration from the organ seemed to reverberate through her entire body as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting against the nausea working its way up in protest of all the movements.

"I remember my mother trying to teach me when I was little." The laugh she uttered at a memory she'd never had came across as delirium from everything she'd endured since being stolen away by Max, her fingers working their way slowly and experimentally across the keys. "I remember being so confused trying to remember which keys to press and where they were so I could play the same thing each time." She tapped a few more keys and worked her way closer to where Maximillian's hands were eagerly waiting their turn to play.

"She would put my hands on the keys and tell me to remember the feel of them," She settled her hand on top of Max's and tilted her head up as if imagining a distant memory, "You people are the reason I'll never feel her touch again." Shaky fingers clamped down on Maximillian's hand over the keys, her nails digging into flesh to anchor them there as she focused all of her concentration on pulling at the dark magic Malakai had infused the musician with. It fought back against her, burning, searing her flesh and trying to repel her even as she clawed at his skin and held her other hand over the keys.

"You'll never be as good a man as Isen is. Just a puppet waiting for its turn on the pyre." Her finger came down on the key as she expelled all of the dark magic that she'd stolen from him and funneled it into the organ. The resulting explosion was instantaneous and sent her flying back across the room in a shower of wood and heat as she pried her eyes open to see flames licking at what was left of the huge instrument, and a Cheshire worthy grin split her face right before she hit the floor and passed out.

Burn, baby, burn.
 
Isen began to feel a little unsteady. He had been drinking since Rykard had joined him, and while the demon remained at his side, the two barely shared more than a couple of words back and forth. Instead, Rykard sat with him in silence, and the two drank. First, one bottle, then another. In a weird way, it was comforting to Isen to have somebody there to drink with, even if it did little to stray his thoughts from what was possibly happening inside the city. He could hear conversations behind them, demons speaking of how tomorrow would be New Year's Eve, and that this could be their celebration since tomorrow, they would be fighting...Isen wasn't much in the mood for celebrating. In fact, he was frustrated even more knowing that they were all finding joy and presuming Adelaide would be back without a single worry or care in the world. Nobody was preparing for a fight tonight because they were so certain it'd come tomorrow.

So, Isen drank more to try and forget.

"Alright, kid, I think that's enough." Rykard finally interrupted their shared silence, placing his hand on the neck of the bottle and lowering it down from Isen's lips. "You're human now, remember? You aren't gonna be able to hold that much liquor."

"I'm fine." Isen protested through a slur. Rykard shook his head.

"Drinking ain't gonna bring her back, you know."

"She's coming back on her own."

"If you believed that, you wouldn't be drinking to begin with."

"What do you want me to do?" Isen rose his voice, turning to face Rykard now. "I tried. You were there. Ignas let her leave. Nobody wanted to stop her besides me. Don't give me advice, you didn't do anything either."

"My advice ain't worth shit, Hiyori. I could've told you that from the start. But you've gotta admit, until the two of you talk out whatever this is, it doesn't matter whether Adelaide comes back or not; neither of you are ready for what comes after."

Isen grabbed the bottle from Rykard's hand, trying to tug it away. The demon held his ground, gripping tighter, preventing him from pulling it free. Isen was reminded, yet again, that he wasn't strong enough to be part of this fight, alcohol or not. Isen began to let go as Rykard hauled back, pulling it free. He cast a look of disappointment towards Isen, shaking his head. He turned to enter the house, leaving Isen alone on the deck with one final remark before disappearing from his company.

"He might have been the sword, but you were the one who swung it. One don't work without the other."
 
"...don't tell me your dumb ass really came back here after I told you to leave."

It felt like something was weighing her eyelids down, keeping her from opening them to see what was going on. Sound was fading in and out as she heard a grunt and then something brushed against her arm, followed by a tsking noise and muttered curses.

"When Max said I needed to resuscitate someone, this isn't who I imagined finding."

"Roland?" Adelaide finally managed to open her eyes only to squint at the bright lights around her. This wasn't the room she'd been in the last time she was awake. There was no music surrounding her, no Maximillian prattling on about writing with her or making beautiful music together on her deathbed. No, this wasn't even the same room where she'd sent the organ hurtling all over the room in flaming pieces. On top of that, she wasn't sitting or lying on the floor but slouched back in some sort of medical looking seat.

"Am I hallucinating again?"

"I should be the one asking you that. I thought you were going to be another demon."

"....What do you mean another demon?"

It was easier to keep her eyes open now despite the light irritating them. They didn't feel as heavy as they had a minute ago, and even her arms and legs felt lighter than they had before. Moving still took monumental effort and made her head pound if she did it too fast, but it was a drastic change from how she'd felt when Max and Malakai were draining her. Come to think of it, where were they and why was Roland there looking her over in annoyance instead?

"You shouldn't be here, if Max finds you in here he might kill you."

"Didn't you hear me, stupid girl? He's the one who told me to come make sure you were still alive, although alive is a pretty broad term." Roland cursed again and raked a hand through his hair. He looked just as tired as he had the last time she had seen him, and she could smell coffee coming from a thermos held in his other hand. Why was he drinking coffee in the middle of the night?

"It's not the middle of the night, Adelaide. It's..." He glanced down at his watch and frowned. "Eight o'clock in the bloody morning."

"...I said that part out loud?" Roland looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Jesus, you're more far gone than I thought. This is going to be a pain in the ass to get you fixed up. If I had known it was going to be you, I would have put in some other calls before I came into work."

"Who are you gonna call to help fix this mess?" Adelaide burst into a fit of exhaustion induced giggles, rubbing at her eyes and realizing that she still hadn't been shackled down in any way. "Gonna call the fuckin' ghost busters or something, take down the big bad demon?" She started to laugh again and leaned forward in the seat, bracing herself on the arm of it and wheezing until her ribs hurt.

"I'm going to choose to not address that, because I don't have the time nor the patience for this. I need you to bring that pretty little head of yours back to reality and focus, okay? Here, have some of my coffee, you clearly need it more than I do."

"You think I'm pretty?" Adelaide took the thermos he was offering, fumbling with it before she managed to get a secure hold on it and lift it carefully to her mouth. The lukewarm coffee was a blessing for her dry mouth and she gulped it down greedily, ignoring the way that Roland's eyebrows seemed to creep higher and higher the longer she drank.

"Alright, that's enough. I'm not here to babysit you when you have to run to the bathroom every ten minutes." He pulled the drink out of her hand despite her protests, nudging her back into the seat to stop her from falling out of it. "Adelaide. Are you listening?"

"Your coffee needs some creamer, Roland." She gave him a lazy smile and sagged back into the chair. "Now what were you trying to tell me? How do you even have a job here? Max hasn't figured out you're a sneaky son of a bitch yet, huh?"

"Adelaide, I've been undercover investigating the DSTF for the last five years."

That snapped her somewhat back to reality.

"Like a spy? Like, some James Bond shit?"

"Sure, let's go with that. I've been moving up ranks for the last several years to find out exactly what they've been doing here. Can't say I expected it to be plotting world domination with a demon." He dug around in his pocket for a moment and then held out a vial to her. "Some extra fuel. No--no, don't try to drink it. It's to keep you alive, replenish some of your magic."

"Um... Okay." This had to be a fever dream or a hallucination. Why would Roland be here talking about being an undercover spy and giving her a vial full of weird, almost sparkly looking liquid? Would she feel better if she played along with the hallucination and acted like she was going to soak up the magic in the vial? "Why does this hallucination feel so real?" She fumbled with the cap before finally getting it off, squinting down at the contents before sticking her finger in it and inhaling sharply. There really was magic inside of it, somehow. Not enough to bring her anywhere near back to full strength, but enough to keep her awake so she could listen to Roland ramble on in her hallucination.

"Adelaide, stop calling it a hallucination."

"But it must be if you can hear my thoughts."

"They're not thoughts, you keep saying shit under your breath and I can hear you. I need you to stop focusing on whether or not this is real and listen to me. I have a plan to hopefully break the spell."

"I'm listening." She rubbed at her eyes again and tried to focus. If this really wasn't a hallucination and Roland was some weird undercover super shy here to try and salvage the day, then she needed to listen carefully and hope his plan was solid.

"There's this demon Klaus, he's not really happy that Maximillian turned around and drained him for this spell Malakai needed. We're not exactly friends, but we know each enough to have an understanding. He's pretty pissed about being betrayed, so I'm going to juice him up a little extra so he can take the scepter and get it the hell out of here. Once it's far enough away, the spell should break on its own and you can call in your friends. You did have a plan for reinforcements, right?"

"Oh, shit, the others." She didn't question his plan about the demon, distraught at the thought of it being the following day and no one knowing what had happened to her. Isen was probably worried sick ready to storm the fortress and come looking for her, and she didn't even have her phone to call-- "My phone." She whispered the words with wide eyes as she lunged from the chair, stumbling and nearly taking a tray of materials from a counter down with her. Roland caught her just before she hit the floor and deposited her back into the chair, looking at her with an exasperated expression.

"You didn't come in with anything, as far as I know."

"No, I left the phone you got me at the house." She groaned. "How am I supposed to tell anyone anything."

"For the love of... Adelaide, I have a phone. Here, call yours and hope someone picks it up. Just make it quick, I'm supposed to be dealing with other demons right now, and Maximillian is in a pissy mood since you apparently turned his organ into firewood." He dug a cell phone out of his pocket and swiped across the screen a few times before handing it to her. "Already dialing your phone. Make it quick, Klaus will be here soon and then we only have so much time before we have to move."

The line was ringing, but there was a staticky quality to it that whined in and out of frequency as the call struggled to go through. Her eyes darted around the room as it continued to ring, noting the closed door to the room she was in, and then the spattering of sterile medical equipment around counters and on shelves. Was she in some sort of clinic room? Why would the DSTF headquarters have a clinic when their leader was dead set on hurting people?

"Fuck, seriously?" The line had finally stopped ringing and gone to voicemail, and her leg bounced anxiously in the chair as she waited for it to beep. "It's me. I'm fine, I've got this under control. Don't come, okay? I'll see you soon. Love you." She hung up and handed the phone back to Roland, bolting upright in the seat when the door opened and a demon slipped through.

"...Didn't I barbecue you the other day?"

"Tried, and failed, Lancaster. Tried and failed."
 
"I'm scared..."

"I know, Bell."

A younger version of Isen, untouched by the darkness of demon magic, stood at the foot of a large, metal ferris wheel. They were alone in the middle of a carnival just as night had begun to fall. All of the lights were off, save for that of the marquee near the entrance, casting a faint, neon glow over the path they had walked to the main attraction of the event.

"But remember what we talked about when mom passed?"

"We need to be brave..."

"We do." He knelt down, nodding his head. He ruffled her hair as she clutched her favorite, stuffed toy to her chest. "For me?"

She nodded her head, determined, tugging at his hand instead. He led her forward to the foot of the wheel and dug through his pocket, finding a key that he placed into the console. It began to light up, and her eyes did as well, marveling at the flickering lights positioned around the circumference of the wheel. It had only cost him the last of his savings, not just to get them here but to pull this off and arrange an after-hours ride. He sat the timer for the ride and guided her into the lowest metal pod. She sat in, nervously, and he secured the metal support bar at their waist to keep them both secure as the ride began to activate on time, lifting their chamber counter clockwise.

Meribell peered over the edge, through the cage, watching as they were lifted above the mundane of the park and high enough that she could see the trees, the city lights, and eventually, the stars, inviting her gaze. Isen could slowly see the wonder across her face as the fear began to die out. He let her enjoy it for a moment, but as their pod began to lower back down the other side of the wheel, he spoke to ask her a question. "Still scared?"

"No...brave." She told him, bringing a smile to his face. He held her hand, while the other lifted her stuffy up so that it could see the sights again, riding the other side of the wheel back up to the top.


Isen began to stir himself awake from the memory he had been reliving in his dream. He heard a noise, like a buzz, far too close to his head for him to ignore. He groaned, trying to sit up but feeling a weight against his chest. A blanket. He was on the couch, but he remembered being on the deck. Somebody had moved him when he had passed out. His head hurt from the hangover he had given himself in his over indulgence to try and quell his feelings. Above the noise, he could hear demons talking in another room, but he couldn't make out what they were saying over that damn, annoying sound.

Wait. Was that a phone?

It took him a moment to lean down in search of the source before locating a flip phone beneath the couch. It was Adelaide's. She must have left it during her portal out. Why was somebody calling it?

It had been a long time since Isen had used a phone himself directly, so he fumbled with it for a moment. By the time he had opened it up, the ringing had stopped, and the call had gone to voice mail. He tapped a few buttons until it began to dial in to the mail box.

"You have...one...unheard message. To hear your unheard message, press 1."

Easy enough.

He pressed in on the button, hearing the phone beep in confirmation back at him. Lifting it to his ear, he heard a familiar voice speaking back to him, but the smile and relief it brought him barely lasted more than a couple of words into what she was trying to say.

"It's me...I....under control...." The voice mail crackled and static disrupted what she was trying to say, interference likely caused by the spell field she had been trying to call out of Cresthaven through. "Don't come...I-. Love you." Click.

It took Isen a moment to even process it. He was prompted by the phone to press another button if he wanted to rehear the message, and he did, if only to hear her voice again...but it sounded different. Tired. Like she had been through hell and back. He couldn't make out what he was missing, but to him, and his already panicked mind, it sounded like a goodbye. Under control? By Malakai? Don't come, because it was dangerous? Love you, because it was too late?

Closing the phone, Isen ripped the blanket off of his legs, suddenly sobered by the sheer panic, relocating himself in the direction of the voices he heard while he felt his world begin to shatter down around him.
 
"How many bodies do you have, exactly? Because I seem to remember Claudia cutting your throat and Rykard turning you into a punching bag. That happened, didn't it?"

"You must still be hallucinating, Lancaster."

Adelaide frowned, looking between Roland and Klaus as she was handed another vial of sparkling fluid. Had she hallucinated the memory as a result of being psychologically tortured for several hours, or was Klaus simply using that excuse to cover up his own shame at being bested? It was hard to tell if his inhuman skin was tinted by any type of flush creeping up as a sign of embarrassment, but the subtle quirk of Roland's mouth made her think she was correct. Oh well, not important at the moment.

"I dunno, Klaus, didn't you come back yesterday in a pissy mood about losing more bodies?"

"Shut your mouth, human. All this magic nonsense has given me a headache."

Adelaide couldn't help but to laugh when Klaus said that, even when she got a dirty look in return. He had a headache from Max's spell? Like she hadn't just spent hours being tortured and drained of both energy and life only to wake up thinking she was hallucinating. Her head still felt like it had a marching band performing inside of it, and anytime she moved too quickly the pain made her want to vomit. It was only the lack of a proper meal in her stomach that kept everything down, although she faintly remembered something coming up at one point yesterday. Good, she hoped she'd made a mess of the floor before blowing up Max's organ.

"Quit being a little bitch and recharge." Hearing Roland call a demon a little bitch was the last thing that Adelaide had expected to hear, and the laughter that left her mouth was uncontrolled and hurt her ribs. It was only Roland slapping a hand over her mouth while holding a vial out to Klaus with his other that made Adelaide remember that she was supposed to be a delirious, barely coherent mess of a prisoner.

"We really don't have time for this shit, so charge up and let's get this show on the road, okay? Need the both of you able to walk without falling over, and if possible I'd really like this shit to be done before dinner so I can go home and enjoy the holiday."

"...Holiday?" Now that Roland had taken his hand off of her mouth, Adelaide was able to sit forward and give him a curious look while she worked at absorbing the contents of her second vial.

"Yeah, it's fucking New Years Eve, Adelaide. Do you think I want to be here dealing with some freaky demon war? God, I can't remember the last time I didn't have to do crap on a holiday. Five years too fuckin' long, man. The day the DSTF is done is the day I'll celebrate a well deserved vacation."
 
"Don't come...I-. Love you."

Holding the phone open, Adelaide's voice mail drifted through the speaker so that all of the demons gathered in the kitchen could hear. Isen was staring straight through Ignas and Tyrath, especially, as he replayed it a second time, letting them hear the tiredness in her voice.

"How do we know this isn't some misunderstanding?" One of the demons asked. Another, less than convinced, also nodded his head.

"Would you be willing to take that risk?" Isen interjected, in return. "I told all of you this was going to happen. I warned you that we can't just se-"

"Isen." Ignas stopped him, taking a few steps closer. Rykard, who remained silent in the corner, rose a brow, watching intently. Ignas lifted his hand up to rest on Isen's shoulder, but before it even reached, Isen had swatted it away, defiantly.

"No. Don't tell me to listen to you. I've been listening to you. I've been listening to all of you being cowards! Sending somebody else in, alone, to do what you don't have the balls to do yourself."

"Isen." Ignas repeated a second time, his eyes settling into a glare, viewing Isen like a child acting out and throwing a tantrum. God, that look made Isen wish he still had the strength to wipe it off of the demon's face.

"What!?" He rose his voice in frustration, staring straight into Ignas' eyes without hesitation. In that moment, he should have been terrified. The demon staring across from him was the damn Reaper, after all. He could have torn Isen's head from his shoulders without a second's delay, and yet, he stood defiant. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing beyond this if Adelaide wasn't there to share it with him. He might as well die now and spare himself the pain of having to bury another loved one.

"Watch your tongue. You are out of line."

"Out of line?" Oh, that was it.

Isen pulled his hand back and swung; a right hook connecting to the jaw of the demon in front of him, causing gasp and shock from the people around them. Rykard chuckled to himself, silently, in the corner, as Ignas, who was hardly phased by the force of the blow, took it. "Was that out of line?" Isen asked, rearing back again "How about now?" He continued, punching a third time. "Was it out of line when you fed me all that bullshit about how you'd changed?" Punch. "Was it out of line when you sent her off to die on her own?" Punch. "Was what you did to Meribell out of line?" Punch. "Even she was braver than you..."

Isen pulled his hand back. His knuckles were already bruised, and Ignas' skin had hardly shown any evidence of being struck at all, despite him putting his all into each attack.

"Don't make me harm you, Isen..."

"Coward." Punch. "Liar." Punch. "...Clara must be disappointed with what you've become..."

Finally, Ignas snapped. His right hand shot up, immediately, grasping Isen's neck and lifting him up from the floor. "Watch. Your. Tongue."

"Some...king..." Isen coughed out, trying to breathe. He could feel his head growing lighter already and yet, the grip tightened. "...you are."

"What I am is the reason why you and your witch are even alive. How many times have I saved your life just to watch you try to throw it away? Again, and again, over and over. You are brash, irrational. You lack training, you lack tactical awareness. You act on emotion, not on fact..."

"I guess....it's different...when you do it?"

Ignas began to tighten even further. Isen had moments before he lost consciousness, and nobody in that room was coming to rescue him. He needed to do this on his own. His hand flailed around at his side, grasping, reaching, fingers clawing with his last breath until it wrapped around the handle of what was once their sword.

Onigoshi, the demon's blade, had been as much a companion to Isen as Ignas had been. The blood they had spilled, the lives they had taken, the defiance of death, it all came from within what was once a catalyst. Isen had never learned to wield it on his own. It was too big, too heavy. It was unwieldly, even with the physique that had been left to his human body after separation. His arms were tired, his knuckles were bloodied, and yet, somehow in that moment, he found that strength. He found the will to defy death one final time.

And he pulled.

Freeing Onigoshi from it's sheathe, though only barely, Isen pierced the tip of the blade into Ignas' rib cage. The demon looked down, almost in shock from the action, releasing Isen's neck and sending him clambering down onto the floor. Gripping the handle again, Isen put as much of his body weight as he could, wedging it deeper. Pushing it further. The room was silent, shocked. Their eyes met and Isen spoke again.

"You were the sword, but I was the one who swung it." He echoed what Rykard had said, causing the demon to beam with pride. "Be afraid of him for the rest of your life. I don't care anymore. For a moment there, you had me fooled. I thought you really cared about us, that you were different now, but you're not...run forever, but don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do again. She needed us and you did nothing. I needed you and you...you did fucking nothing!"

Isen let go of Onigoshi, staggering back, leaving the blade embedded in the demon's torso. He could hear the pattering of paws as Ember neared their confrontation, but he didn't care if the familiar was coming to check on him, or Ignas. To his surprise, she walked past the demon and curled around his legs instead. He shared a glance with her, a thank you unspoken, before turning towards the exit of the home. She began to follow behind him, though not a word was exchanged, the silence deafening and thick until Rykard broke it, exiting his corner and walking towards Isen and the familiar.

"Well, I'm convinced." He spoke, gruffly, intending to join them. Even him, a demon he barely knew, and not the one he had spent a decade with?

Silence returned until, finally, a stunned Ignas found the nerve to speak again.

"Isen."

One last time. Isen turned his head, only slightly, to look back over his shoulder.

"What...?" He meekly questioned, expecting another argument, or worse, retaliation.

"...take me to my throne."

Isen, as equally shocked, took a moment to comprehend what was being spoken to him before a hesitant, tired smirk began to inch across his lips.

"Don't like who's sitting in it?" He chided, feeling a spark of hope warming in his chest for the first time since Adelaide had told him she planned on going through with their hail Mary.

"Not one bit."

"Good. Let's finally do something about it."

Ignas pulled at Onigoshi, removing it from his stomach. His blood shimmered on the blade, but his magic worked on it's own, infusing violet and purple into the wound and healing him of the internal damage it had caused. Ignas stared around the room, at the other demons who were supposed to be preparing for war, then back to Isen with a nod. Isen wasn't sure if what came next was supposed to be addressed to him, or perhaps, the memory of a certain loved one from his past, but he could feel the conviction in Ignas' voice wash away any doubt he was feeling about whether or not this was really going to happen.

"I won't disappoint you again."
 
"Oh, bite me, Roland. It's not like you've been on the run from them having the people you care about murdered. You chose this job, anyway, so you don't get to complain about the lack of vacations. Did you think spies got vacations?" Now that she'd gotten a little bit of a recharge from the magic that Roland had been feeding her, Adelaide's sentences were strung together much more coherently and with some sass sprinkled on top.

"No, I chose my job, and they chose to put me here. That's not the same."

"You two sound like a couple of children bickering over stupid shit."

"Shut up before I barbecue you again, fucking clone."

"Go ahead and try, Lancaster." Klaus sneered. "You can barely get out of that chair."

"Suck a dick."

The fact that it had taken her multiple attempts and some aid from Roland to cross the room to the tiny bathroom attached wasn't something she was proud of, but what more could anyone expect from her after being drained and tormented? That a night of exhaustion and near-death induced sleep was going to put her back to her normal chattering, bouncing self? The vials Roland had given both her and Klaus were definitely helping, although she noted that Klaus was in far better shape than her, no doubt thanks to the fact that he hadn't been meticulously and repetitively drained to within an inch of his life.

"Alright, we're running out of time, so finish up what you've got. I was supposed to bring you back to Maximillian when I was done bringing you back to life. You too, Klaus, finish up so we can get this ball rolling. It's going to have to be quick and without hesitation. You take care of the scepter, and I'll get Adelaide out of there once it's clear. Not sure if Maximillian will try to go after her when he's by himself or if he's going to run off like a bitch."

"He can try to go after me, let him. I'll fucking hit him right in his smug face."

"And probably break your hand, in the state you're in. I gave you a jumpstart, I didn't turn you into the Hulk, you idiot."

"Are you two quite done?"

Adelaide looked over to see Klaus tossing a now empty vial onto one of the counters before giving them an annoyed look. She mimicked the expression, or at least tried to until it made the persistent pounding in her head increase in force. Ironically, it was the best she'd felt since entering the zone under control of Malakai's spell, and after a weary sigh and a middle finger directed at the demon, she held a hand out toward Roland and motioned for him to help her up. She was, after all, supposed to be only alive enough to be awake, and truth be told she wasn't sure she could walk very far on her own just yet.

"Alright, let's get this shit show on the road."

Klaus walked ahead of them as Roland kept an arm around Adelaide's waist to keep her upright, one of her arms draped partially over his shoulder as she half stumbled over her first steps. Moving didn't immediately bring up the liquid contents of her stomach but it did make her legs ache, every few steps making it seem like she'd been walking for hours. Was this drain ever going to end? She would never complain about being sore from trivial things again if she could just get back to feeling like her normal self.

"Ready?" They paused just outside of a door where Roland gave her the chance to catch her breath, much to Klaus' annoyance. Adelaide could see his eyes flickering around warily between the door, them, and the empty hall around them, and once Adelaide nodded that she was ready, he opened the door and motioned them through. The sight of Maximillian standing among the ruins of what had once been his beloved organ was enough for a feeling of trepidation to work its way through Adelaide's mind, and she had the sudden urge to tuck tail and run from the room when she felt herself tipping forward.

"Roland, what the fuck--" She abruptly stopped when she realized that Roland was going down with her in a tangle of limbs and muttered curses, both of them hitting the ground and sprawling out in random directions as she tried to decipher what had just happened.

"My king, I bring to you these two traitors, conspiring to steal you from your throne with my aid." The gleeful tone of Klaus' voice as he stood tall and proud, motioning at the humans pulling themselves to their feet with a wide grin, was enough to make Adelaide's heart almost stop.

"What the hell Klaus? I thought we had an understanding!"

"Pathetic human. Did you really think this was a fairytale where the hero was going to come out on top?"
 
"...are you sure that you want to do that?"

After Isen's outburst, it appeared as though Ignas and him were back on the same page once more, swayed by the pointed words and the undeniable display of courage and humanity, but that led to a different problem; concern, especially regarding what had been proposed.

"I am." Isen replied, with a nod, sitting around the kitchen table where he was joined by several prominent members of what would be their final attempt at ending the DSTF. Ember was curled into a ball at the center, listening in, as the various entities around argued and planned. Danica seemed happy with Isen's choice, smugly sitting opposite Ignas, while Tyrath drank in the discussion and Rykard, having already announced his intention to play a part in bringing down Malakai, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I'll take real good care of him, Iggy. Don't you worry."

As annoyed as he was by that comment, the demon's eyes danced back and forth between her and Isen before relenting. It was too late now to go back on his choice, he had to commit to this operation. "The moment the spell comes down, I will play my part." He added, unhappy, but also not disputing that this might be their only play. Besides, he had send Adelaide in, unprotected, this would be at least a little better, provided he could actually trust that Danica wouldn't do anything stupid. "But don't play me, imp. You know I'm not nearly as forgiving of your antics as some other demons here may be."

"You wound me, truly. Perhaps you're just jealous of him." She sent a sly, devilish look into Tyrath's direction, the demon looking away as if he wasn't apart of the conversation.

"Harlot."

"At least I'm not a witch's bitch. You've done that twice, but you're used to second place, aren't you?"

"Can you both focus?" Isen sighed, shaking his head. "If we're not on the same page, we won't be able to save her..."

"It's not me you will need to worry about." Ignas replied, scoffing off the conversation.

"Then we should get ready to go." Tyrath finally re-entered the conversation. "I will prepare my people. We hardly have time to waste."

As everybody began to file out, Rykard stopped Ignas near the exit.

"Hell of a pep talk, right? Told you I'd talk to him."

"So, you're the reason he stabbed me?" Ignas rose a brow, not all that upset, but amused by the change in Rykard's demeanor.

"Hey, that's not what I'm saying. He's got a good heart. Short sighted as all hell, but good. A couple of old assholes like us could learn a thing or two."

"Already have." Ignas groaned. "A pain in the ass. That's what he is. You have no need to learn that from him."

"Is this how you treat all your allies, Ignas?" Rykard laughed with a shake of his head following suit. "See you out there, king."


Isen was sitting in a different room, collecting his thoughts and holding Onigoshi across his lap. He would be taking the sword with him to sell his part of their deception, but he was making some slight alterations to the handle to remind him what he was fighting for. The sound of paws pattering pulled him from thought as Ember leapt up onto the chair next to him, a familiar ribbon hanging from her mouth. She placed it down on his lap, her feline eyes looking up at him.

"I've done as you've asked. You must feel lucky, a familiar isn't supposed to take orders from anybody else."

"Thank you." He told her, lifting his hand up towards the back of the cat's neck, his fingers pressing inwards, rewarding her with a scratch beneath her neck. "Not just for this, but for earlier, too. You stood with me when nobody else did."

Ember pulled away from his hand and did a quick spin around, settling herself back down into a donut shape so that Isen could go back to work. "Mistress needs us. You were the only one trying to save her. Until we've gotten her back, I am in your service. Besides, she wanted me to keep you safe."

"Of course she did." Isen laughed, sighing underneath his breath. "Thank you, again, Ember. We're going to get her back."

"We will. Or else."

Isen chuckled, a second time, eyes dropping back down towards Ember for a brief moment before moving back to the sword on his lap. "Save your anger for the fight. We have a long day ahead of us."

A couple of miles outside of Cresthaven, Ignas stood a top a hill, overlooking the trees that surrounded the city. He could see the magic of Malakai's spell pulsing, shimmering with a foreboding, dark hue. It appeared to have stopped outside of the city limits for now. Near his feet, Ember waited, having been ordered to join him for now as he prepared for his part of their plan. He watched, intently, staring through the arcane sphere, waiting, trusting in Isen and his demonic escort.

"Bring that damned thing down, Isen." He muttered, beneath his breath. Ember looked up at him before climbing her way up over his leg and torso to rest on his shoulder, the collar he had given her rattling as she took her own place in waiting.

Elsewhere, an army of demons assembled, waiting for their sign to attack. Rykard stood several paces behind Tyrath in the front yard of Isen and Adelaide's home. What awaited them would surely be war, not only against their own kind, but against those who sought to oppress them. Though many were still afraid, and unconvinced that this was the right move, Tyrath had rallied them beneath the cause well enough that they were committed to the cause, and not the celebration they had been preparing to hold. There would be nothing easy in the next few hours, but the price they would need to pay was not one that came without cause for a different kind of celebration. Freedom? The regicide of an unworthy king? Or, perhaps, just hope for something better, beyond the iron rule of a demon so purely malicious that even subsections of his own people would forsake him for the rule of another.

Isen and Danica were several paces outside of the city's border. The sign read 'Welcome to Cresthaven, City of Progress, Home of the Dissonant Suppression Task Force', but it may as well have read 'Welcome to the End'. A chain was wrapped around both of Isen's hands, holding them taught like he was her prisoner, the other end clutched between the fingers of her clawed hands. Onigoshi, sheathed, remained at Isen's side, a decoy, reeking of Ignas' magic in hopes that it would be enough to convince those inside that the Reaper remained housed within the catalyst, and the body of his vessel. Dangling from the handle of the blade, like tassels, were reminders of why he was here, of why they were fighting; Clara's ribbon, yellow and bright, fluttering in the wind. Priscilla's feather, the last remaining reminder of Samara and her deceased familiar. The bow from Meribell's stuffed toy, her favorite, brought to him from the rubble of their home by the love he sought to save. The ring she gave him, adorned with his and his sister's birthstones, tightly hugging his finger on the hand he would use to draw the weapon.

"Let me do the talking." Danica hissed, but Isen didn't argue. His heart was hammering in his chest as they grew closer still to the wall of magic that divided them from the city inside. All of those people, trapped inside, held hostage by the organization that was supposed to protect them...all of the Dissonants trapped in a field that slowly bled them dry of the one thing that made them different from humanity. Adelaide, somewhere in that building, fighting for her life opposite a bringer of death...

Danica could sense the energy, already feeling it's pull. Meanwhile, Isen did his best to remain brave. There was no turning back now. Either this worked, or...

No, it had to work. Too much had been sacrificed for it not to.

Wordlessly resolute, and entirely unprepared for what came next, Isen moved first, of his own accord. He drew the deepest breath he could, thinking of Adelaide the entire time, as he pushed forward and crossed the threshold between life and death. If this was to be the end, she wouldn't face it alone.

Together in life. Together in death. There could be no other end.
 
"Should have known you were a traitor." Adelaide shot Klaus a dirty look, but he was too busy looking at Maximillian's amused expression with a too-wide grin as he sought praise for his actions.

"Five years of proving yourself as a valuable asset just to defect at the end? I would have thought you smarter than that, Roland." Maximillian tsked at Roland disapprovingly, and Adelaide watched as he seemed to have some sort of unheard conversation with himself. Hadn't she been able to hear Malakai when he'd been speaking to her before, or was that only because he was speaking through Max's body? The synchronization that the two of them had in one body was downright frightening, and for a moment she started to worry. The eerie smile on Max's face was concerning, and when she saw him make a move towards Roland she knew things had gone south.

Is this really the end?

"Don't you fucking touch him, you lunatic!"

"I wouldn't kill him yet. From what I learned, he's been undercover for years. We need to find out what all he's been passing back, and to who. We can deal with them later and..." Klaus trailed off at the look on Maximillian's face, seeming to shrink into himself a bit as if there had been some passage of unspoken communication between the two of them. "Right, I'll deal with it later."

"What would you do to keep your little friend safe, Ms. Lancaster?"

He wasn't actually going to try and kill Roland, was he? Klaus had made a fairly good point with his observation of Roland's unknown conspirators, and she had hoped it would be enough to keep the man safe from Maximillian and Malakai's wrath. She took a shaky step toward Roland, followed by another that grew more confident the closer that she got. Just because he wasn't Samara, or Takami, or someone much closer and more of a friend didn't mean she was going to let him suffer or die for helping her, helping them.

"You need me. If you kill him, what makes you think I'm going to do a single thing you say?"

"You seem to believe that you have a choice in the matter, Ms. Lancaster. Klaus, make yourself useful."

"Fuck off, traitor!" Her words were full of venom when she turned on Klaus, already working up a steadily growing ball of fire in her hand that she was ready to lob at him. Her eyes darted between him and Maximillian as if trying to decide who to throw her magic against, her hand poised by her side as Klaus made a lazy path towards the two humans with no desire to rush.

"Klaus." All eyes turned to Maximillian when he spoke again, halting the demon in his tracks as he tilted his head and seemed to be listening for something. "We have company. It seems our contenders for the throne have decided to grace us with their presence. Make sure they get here safely, now."
 
Isen felt no discernible effect from the spell that he had stepped into, but the same couldn't be said from Danica. Almost immediately, the demoness seemed to walk a little slower as the darkness conformed to her body, inviting her energy into it's cavalcade of stolen magic. If it was having such an instant effect on a demon as powerful as Danica, Isen could only shudder to think what may have become of the lesser powerful beings in Cresthaven, or Adelaide herself. Isen found himself being the one leading the way, tugging on the chain, uninhibited in a way Danica could not match.

Not far from where they were, one of Klaus' bodies stirred from an alleyway, placed conspicuously as part of his deception of Roland. What should have seemed like an easy escape route, just several hundred feet from the edge of the city, now housed the demon himself, straight from the DSTF building and onto the street side that Isen and Danica were walking. She pulled the chain back, causing Isen to stumble a little in reverse, whispering a 'sh' that he heard and instantly followed along with. Just as they rehearsed, he told himself, kneeling before Danica but refusing to look at her and give her any satisfaction from the position he was in. This was for Adelaide, he had to repeat that to himself to avoid the embarrassment.

"My, my..." Klaus spoke, appearing from the shadows, leaving foot prints in the uncleared snow that had blanketed the city without daily operations to clear it away. "Surely I must be mistaken. Ignas and Danica, together, in Malakai's city? Come to apologize?"

"Brought you a prisoner." Danica responded, shortly, not playing along with any of Klaus' comments. "Be a dear and take me to see the man upstairs, will you? I have urgent business with him."

"Urgent?" Klaus questioned, coming nearer. "How urgent?"

"Urgent enough." Came her reply, unwavering, though she was beginning to feel a little light headed from the constant syphoning. Klaus seemed to eye her, suspiciously, his eyes dropping down to Isen. He noted the presence of Onigoshi, but seemed more fixated on the chains that bound his wrists.

"Urgent enough to bring your prisoner in mundane, human bonds?"

"Human bonds for a human host."

"You mean...?"

"I defeated him." She lied, braggingly. "He's dormant, probably hiding, somewhere inside his catalyst, or the head of this pathetic little lover boy. As for me? Consider this my application."

"You wish to join us?"

"Better on the winning side than amongst losers." She continued, causing Isen to really wonder how much of this was actually true, or what she was lying about in the first place. "Now, will you take me to him? We must speak."

"Very well." Klaus mused, kneeling in front of Isen. Their eyes met, for a brief moment, Isen's stare practically lethal if such a thing were possible. "Kneel, dog. You're about to meet a real king."


Expelled from a portal, Isen landed against the tiled floor of the DSTF lobby, unable to brace himself with his chained wrists. Danica stumbled forward, also finding it difficult to steady herself when she was teleported. Meanwhile, the Klaus clone that had brought them there remained back in the city, depositing them there alone. She gingerly knelt down to pick back up her end of the change, uttering a swear underneath her breath as they were approached by yet another version of Klaus. This one, now housing the demon's true conscience, led them deeper through the building. It looked a lot like Isen remembered it would from their first time inside, but he wasn't exactly here for sight seeing. Besides, it felt empty. Before, there were still people here. There were humans still working for the DSTF, manipulated by Max and terrified of Isen and Adelaide's invasion into their building, but there was none of that now.

Forced over stairs, Klaus brought them, eventually, to the door to the organ room that Klaus seemed to refer to as a throne room now instead, a place very familiar to Isen. He had been here before. He had died here before.

Klaus pushed the doors open and walked inside, leading Danica and Isen. Isen immediately began to move against his chains upon seeing the scene in front of him; Maximilian overlooking an injured Roland, Adelaide trying to check on him, and Max's grand organ, shattered into pieces at their back. Upon seeing this, Maximilian swung the scepter towards Adelaide, knocking her over onto the floor so that she wouldn't intervene, sending a rage stronger than a thousand demon's into Isen. He managed to wrestle the chain free from Danica's weakened hands, but he pushed himself barely a few steps forward before being kneed in the stomach by Klaus, and forced back to his knees. "I told you to kneel." The demon spat at him, venomously.

"Your old friends are here, your highness, as well as your prisoner's beloved."

"Well done yet again, Klaus." Max praised, taking a few steps now, down from where he had been standing, to get a closer look at his new captives. With scepter in hand, tendrils of dark magic, like had been used to torture Adelaide, began to produce themselves, drawing closer. "I knew it was you. Both of you. We could sense it the moment you stepped foot into my city. Here to rescue your mage?"

"No." Danica replied, but now, words were becoming hard for her to string together. "Here to...join you..."

Max seemed to sense something was off about this, but his eyes were mainly focused on Isen, not Danica. "And the other demon?"

"She claims he's been defeated and is now dormant in his catalyst." Klaus filled in the blanks.

"Ah, is that why his magic feels so...distant?" Max pried a little more, skeptical. The dark tendrils hovered dangerously close to Isen, now, but did not yet make contact. He grabbed Isen's chin, forcing him to look up into his eyes as they shifted blood red.

"Weakling."

For the first time since convincing the demons to fight, Isen felt his courage begin to falter. They were in total sync. They could switch control, on a dime, without any effort. By the time Malakai's distorted voice had faded, Max was already talking again, refusing even a moment of silence for him to catch his breath from the blow he had taken before.

"Leave him there and come with me, Danica. Klaus, if you would be so kind?"

Klaus grabbed her arm to help her walk, but she pulled away forcefully, choosing to go on her own. Her eyes met with Adelaide in her grounded position, trying to communicate with her without saying a word, but likely failing to do so.

"You and her once were bound together, were you not? How am I to know this isn't some grand deception?" Max asked her, continuing to talk again, annoyingly, before she could even find the strength to muster up an answer. "Prove that you will be loyal. This ungrateful disgrace of a mage sought to ruin my masterpiece. I need her alive, but in what condition is beyond my concern. Teach her a lesson for me."

Max seemed to hear Malakai in his head, and he nodded. "Yes, a test. Let's see if she is who you remember her to be."

Danica began to walk towards Adelaide. Isen tried to lift himself up again only for Klaus to, once more, get involved, wrapping his arm around Isen's neck and cranking it roughly, forcing him to look at what came next. She wouldn't, would she? He tried to call out to her, but he couldn't speak from the pressure against his throat. His hand flailed at his waist in search for Onigoshi's handle, hoping to repeat the surprise attack he had given to Ignas on Klaus, but the demon holding him was much too smart, shifting his grip to pin Isen's arms behind his back next, preventing him from getting involved.

"It will be over soon." Klaus whispered, offputtingly soothing Isen in preparation of what he was about to witness while he writhed and struggled to set himself free. "You're going to die before she will, but I truly hope you enjoy watching her suffer..."
 
Contenders for the throne? As in multiple? Danica and Ignas shouldn't be coming at the same time, that couldn't be right. If they were both coming, then how was Ignas supposed to do a Calling? No, something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong if they were both coming. Everything was too chaotic, moving too fast, there wasn't enough time to formulate a new plan while she was dealing with the current chaos.

"I told you to leave him alone!" She knelt on the floor beside a bleeding Roland, checking over the injuries he had sustained when Maximillian had hurtled him across the room and into debris. Aside from the look of clear exhaustion on his face and the scattered specks of blood from making a harsh impact on broken wood, he appeared otherwise intact.

"Stop worrying about me, I'm fine. Focus on yourself, things are going to get more interesting, I think." The blood he was spitting on the floor concerned Adelaide, but Roland waved her away again even as she continued to survey the damage done to him. "Adelaide. I'm fine. We have more pressing problems. Conserve your strength."

The doors abruptly opened as Klaus reentered with Danica and Isen in chains, a sigh that had Adelaide leaping up only to run to Isen, only to feel the air leave her lungs as Maximillian swatted her to the floor with his scepter. That was going to leave another bruise to add on top of all the other ones she'd sustained since arriving there. There was still scattered bits of shredded wood clinging to parts of her clothing and in her half-destroyed braid, her hands bruised and aching from the amount of times she'd grabbed and hit at things in order to pull herself across the floor or to attempt conjuring a spell.

"Leave him alone!" She wheezed the words out even as she checked her ribs, rolling over and trying to steady herself as Roland pulled himself over and helped her to sit up. The fact that Ignas wasn't there with them should have given her a sense of relief, but the fact that Isen was wearing Onigoshi while wrapped in chains had her heart sinking. Why should it have surprised her that Danica had betrayed them? The demoness had always been out for herself, what benefitted her, why would it surprise her that she would switch sides at last minute and turn Isen and the blade over to Malakai? And where was Ignas? If Maximillian and Malakai were sensing his magic in Onigoshi then he couldn't be dead, but had he truly been bested and somehow returned to the weapon? No, for all the love he clearly held for the demoness, Tyrath wouldn't have allowed that to happen... Would he?

Why the fuck was Danica looking at her like that?

"Move, Roland. You don't want to get in her way, trust me."

Fighting Danica was a thing of nightmares. She didn't have the proper amount of energy or magic to fight a demoness that was powerful enough to contend for the throne. Her only consolation was that Danica was as affected by the spell as everyone else, she could see it in the slight missteps and the creasing of Danica's brow, her annoyance clearly written across her face.

"Fucking traitor." Adelaide pushed herself to her feet unsteadily, looking between the approaching demoness and where Klaus had Isen restrained so that he couldn't interfere. There was no way to get to him and free him from the demon's hold right now, and even if she could make it there and take Klaus down, there would be nothing left for her to fight Danica. She cursed, overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness and frustration that had no outlet other than the flame working its way across her palm and up her arm. This should have been over by now, she should have found a way to fight through everything and steal just enough power to employ her plan, but there they were. The love of her life being forced to watch her prepare to go against the demoness they'd made a mistake in trusting, on the precipice of losing his own life if Klaus decided to squeeze or twist his human neck in a way it wasn't meant to handle.

"I should have locked you in a catalyst and buried you where no one would find you!" She was seething as she flung a streak of fire at the pink demoness, cursing when Danica easily sidestepped it and quickly closed the distance between them.

"We could have ruled together, little mageling. Such a waste." The shove sent her sprawling onto the floor where she rolled and pulled herself back up, realizing that Danica was merely toying with her if she'd used such a human tactic as an attack. Their next exchange of attacks left both of the women on the floor rolling and clawing at each other before Adelaide planted a hot hand against Danica's chest and curled her fingers in, resulting in Danica's screech of pain before the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh.

"You dare to mar my beautiful flesh!"

Adelaide laughed through the pain as she pivoted to her feet and nearly fell, breathing raggedly as she spotted the hand shaped burn on Danica's chest and felt a rush of satisfaction at the sight. There wasn't a chance in hell she was going down without a fight, not when that meant Isen was going to die before her eyes. No, she needed to take down Danica long enough to barter, to remind Maximillian that he needed her, and killing Isen would mean that he never got what he wanted from her. If Isen died, then so did she, even if that meant self-destructing what was left of her life by exhausting all of her energy and snuffing herself out. What good was a world if he wasn't there to enjoy his humanity with her? What good was a house from her childhood if he wasn't there, sleeping beside her and there when she woke in the morning?

"Go to hell, bitch!" Why wasn't Danica taking this seriously? Adelaide knew that despite the occasional stagger in her step and the slight look of pain in her face, Danica wasn't nearly as exhausted as she was, so why was she drawing this out and playing with Adelaide like she were a meal to a predator? The more that they fought the more energy Danica lost, so why would she doing this just to prove to Malakai that she was loyal to him? Danica was strong, almost as strong as Ignas and Malakai, she could have pinned Adelaide down and had her in a chokehold of magic by now just to show off.

"I grow tired of this pathetic excuse for a fight, mageling. I have better things to do." The speed at which Danica moved was too fast for Adelaide's eyes to keep up with. There was laughter in the background as her hearing came and went, an obnoxious ringing starting in one ear that prevented her from telling if it was Klaus or Max laughing at the show they were putting on. Then there was pain, so much pain. It exploded in her stomach and shoulders as Danica's hands clamped down on her, claws digging into her shoulders as a knee dug into her gut and doubled her over.

"Let me in, mageling. Your lover demands you come back to him after this."

Adelaide's hands came up in an attempt to throw Danica off of her, one hand grasping at whatever bit of clothing the demoness was wearing and the other going for her face. They went down together as Adelaide gasped through the pain of what she hoped weren't broken ribs, and a moment later she felt both of her hands being slammed to the ground as Danica traced the ring on her finger.

"Let me in."

Your lover demands you come back to him after this.

This was a... A setup? A ploy? Her head was pounding from the contact with the floor, the taste of blood on her tongue as she registered what was going on. Danica wanted to, what, go back inside the ring so they were merged and sharing power? That would give her the magical boost that she needed to finally dig her way out of the situation, although she hadn't anticipated it happening like this. The sound of clapping in the background as Danica kept her pinned to the floor drew Adelaide's attention back to reality enough for her to spit a mouthful of blood up at the demoness to continue the ploy, but her eyes bore into a set of otherworldly ones as she gave a subtle nod of her head and relaxed her hands.

"Oh, how I've missed you, my love." Danica crooned to the ring as her fingers traced over it again, the sound of her voice fading away into the buzzing Adelaide couldn't quite place. Her entire body felt like it was being consumed by flames as the world seemed to fade away, the buzzing giving way to just the quietest hum of noise as her back arched off the floor and her limbs contorted in ways they would never otherwise move. Bones creaked and muscles screamed as the darkness slowly ebbed away and the agony subsided, and when Adelaide's vision cleared she found that she was on her feet again, flexing fingers that felt suspiciously sharp at the tips...

"Your move, mageling."
 
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