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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

There was a trauma underneath the surface that Adelaide tried to keep pushed down. It was probably too fresh for her to try and face it head on, it still upset her. If it was anything like his own situation, Isen had a feeling that the dark magic in the ring would only exasperate that sadness; another reason why he needed to separate it from her. His eyes drifted down to the golden band that continued to cling to her finger like a parasite as though staring at it would cause it to loosen though he knew he wasn't so lucky. "I wouldn't call what you're doing complaining." He reassured her, shaking his head, his eyes drawn away by the sound of her stuffing the leftovers into her bag for later. "Humans talk about their problems. It isn't healthy to keep them to yourself." He was wise, when he wanted to be. "Perhaps one day, I will tell you more about my own past and how I came to be stuck with this...unwanted passenger."

"Ass hole." Came the third voice, breaking it's self-imposed silence for but a moment to get his shot in.

None of what he said could change the fact that he was a hypocrite, though. He had offered to eventually tell his side of the story but up until that point, he still hadn't told her anything about his own past, about Meribell, about how he came to be what he was. She just knew he had a troubled history and a reputation that he didn't want nor deserve and that was about it. When she learned what he had done, he figured she'd look at him differently. Not as a killer being used as a puppet but as somebody who couldn't protect the one person closest to him from harm. How could she expect him to protect her, a stranger in comparison to his sister?

And why did it even matter? He shouldn't have cared either way what Adelaide thought of him, reputation or otherwise. She was, above all else, his solution. She was a key to a lock, a relief from a pain. What she thought of him mattered very little as long as they completed their goal and she upheld her end of their bargain. And yet, when she tucked her food away and seemed to be upset by the painful memory of what had happened to her before she had come to see him, he felt the slightest tinge of sadness on her behalf. She didn't deserve that type of pain, nobody did.

"The 1 PM train to Cresthaven will be arriving shortly. Please present your tickets at the booth and wait in an orderly fashion to board."

A voice rang out, echoing through the now-empty station, making them both aware that their train was about to arrive. It pulled them both out of the solemn moment they were silently sharing and Isen looked to her for guidance on where to go to find this 'booth' the voice spoke of. As he watched her, he did so with the same thoughtful intention as before. He wondered if revenge would truly heal the hole that had been made in her heart. He didn't want her to become like him, so full of hatred and self-regret but he was the last person on Earth to try and talk to her about finding a different path. He would help her make this right, he had agreed to doing so, but now, Isen feared that in doing so, he would be leaving behind another just like him who was destined to spend their time alone repenting for the awful deeds they had brought themselves to commit.
 
"Maybe someday." She nodded briefly. "Shut your mouth, unwanted passenger." Honestly, the demon just couldn't keep its mouth shut for any extended period of time, could it?

"Oh, hell, it's time already?" She didn't realize it had been that long already and she grabbed the bags, hefting them up and getting situated before looking at Isen. "Well.. Time to go, I guess. It's a bit of a ride, so by the time we get there we might as well start looking for a place to stay for the night." She was not looking forward to the condition of whatever motel they would be able to afford, but all in all it was at least a roof over their heads while they--Well, while she slept.

"Come on, it's this way." She inclined her head towards some people shuffling toward the booth, waiting to make sure he was following before she made her way to the line and waited patiently. "This is gonna suck." Now that she had to worry that anyone could be watching her, anyone could be after her, they had to sit on a train for the next few hours making their way to Cresthaven.

"I hate being around so many people." She shook her head as they moved up the line slowly, edging closer to Isen until they'd finally gotten to the point of turning their tickets over and boarding the train. "..At least they should stay away from us since you're lugging around that sword." Hopefully. She could already see how people were looking at them now that they'd gotten into the train, and she could barely stop from laughing as she covered the sound with a cough and moved toward a set of seats.

"Has your... Unwanted passenger ever been on a train before?"
 
Though a sword wasn't the typical form of luggage one would expect to bring onto a train, it certainly had it's perks in keeping unwanted attention away from the pair as they boarded and searched for their seats. The train wasn't particularly busy, most of the people on board were already there from another stop, but Adelaide was right in presuming it would, if nothing else, give them some privacy. Nobody would willingly approach them, it wasn't worth the trouble. That meant, for most of their ride, they would have the little booth they had settled into all to themselves without any nosey neighbors. He knew this because he watched as a small family not so subtly shifted to a different train car the moment they saw him and his weapon sit down into a nearby seat.

"I don't think we'll be making any friends here." He told her as he settled in. Did he even know how to make friends? Adelaide was only with him because of necessity, after all.

"No, I don't think so. Demon, speak."

"Oh, now you want me to talk?" It grumbled, spitefully. "It's kind of hard to get train tickets when you're stuck inside a sword, what do you think?"

"I think that means no."

"Of course it means no, you fool."

Isen sighed and turned his head, looking out the window as the train left their station and began to move along the tracks. Trees began to whirl past them as it picked up speed, leaving behind the snow-covered forest in their rear view. "Just what is this Cresthaven anyways?" He wondered what they were about to get into. Was it a city? He had heard bad things about the way the more highly populated areas were being controlled by the DTSF. Quarantine zones, scan lines, constant patrol and policing of the Dissonants who tried to live a normal life there. It wasn't the sort of place a demon wanted to willingly walk into, if so.

When Isen directed his attention back to Adelaide, he looked straight past her and into the aisle of the train cart. Standing in the way was a younger girl alongside a metal cart. She had pulled up to serve them refreshments but upon seeing Isen and his sword, she appeared frozen in place and uncertain what to say. He made eye contact with her but said nothing, leaving Adelaide to try and diffuse the situation.
 
"That's fine with me. I'm not looking for friends." At this point, she was barely looking for acquaintances. "I wasn't asking if you bought a ticket, you bloody idiot, I meant had you ever ridden one with Isen." Seriously, this demon was going to drive her nuts.

"Cresthaven?" She got the bag settled beside and under her once they were seated, giving him a slightly surprised look before shrugging. "There was a man at the last facility. We talked a lot, and he.. Let me out. When we were talking and I was telling him all the things his superiors had done, he slipped up and said something about the place. It was hard to figure out just what he was saying, but what I got from it was that something important is in Cresthaven, and since we were talking about power and weapons, it makes sense they would have another facility there, or at least something worth finding." That, and she still needed to find out why the scanner had recognized her at all to give her access to the vault.

"I just.. Anything we can find out is better than--Oh." She stopped talking when she realized there was a girl standing there looking terrified, and after a brief moment of looking between the girl and Isen, Adelaide stood and gave her a small smile.

"It's okay, sweetheart. He's my bodyguard. We had some rough run ins with an ex boyfriend of mine and.. Well, when people see you've got someone crazy looking at your side," She glanced back at Isen with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, sweetheart, just saying how it is. Anyway, he won't hurt you. I'll come over there to get the stuff though, okay?" She made sure to keep her hands visible and move slowly, watching the girl's eyes move between her and Isen before she slowly began to relax.

"Yeah, I've had guys like that before. I just never thought to have someone with a sword follow me around. He must have been really bad, for you to get someone like.. Him." She looked at Isen with wide eyes as Adelaide took some water bottles from her.

"You have no idea. You don't have to come back in here though, okay? I know he looks scary, but he won't hurt you. Just go ahead and do your job, we won't bother you." She took the bottles and returned to her seat as the girl left to go to the next car over, looking visibly more relaxed as Adelaide began to laugh.

"Oh my god. That was.. Poor girl." She sank down into the seat and laughed, cracking open the water and taking a sip before shaking her head. "You really do look scary to most people, dude."
 
Isen watched the interaction quite curiously. Adelaide spun a tale about a scornful ex lover and it seemed to work well enough at calming the stewardess' concerns over trying to approach someone that must have looked as intimidating as he did. When she scurried off to move to another cart, Isen heard Adelaide laugh, again, and it was as surprising as the first time he had heard it. "I'm scary?" He asked, questioning what she said, though it quickly dawned on him that it was probably true. Most of the people who were afraid of him had been so because of the rumors about him, this poor girl had likely never heard of such things. "Point taken."

"So, this person that you met. You say he freed you from your containment?" Isen asked, referring to her explanation before they had been interrupted. "Why would a member of the DSTF willingly free their prisoner? You do find that suspicious, do you not?"

"Maybe she annoyed them as much as she annoys us."

"She's not that bad." Isen spoke in defense of Adelaide, rather quickly, as though not really thinking about it. He quickly corrected himself to cover for that error. "Compared to you, anyways."

"Alright. You'll regret that."

His eyes averted back towards the window, noticing how the greenery of the forest had been replaced now with open space as the train chugged it's way across a bridge constructed to support it's tracks across a small valley. It was the first time he had travelled this far in this direction, everything was new. He also couldn't help but feel a little off balance, sick perhaps, from the motion. He was capable of moving very quickly but that was of his own accord, this was a different sensation. And it was made stronger by the fact that it was something Isen hadn't experienced in years.

But he wasn't supposed to feel sick. He rarely ever felt any type of human feeling like that. He could hear the sword laughing a little in his head and he realized what was happening right away. The demon was doing this on purpose to mess with him, decreasing the magic it was supplying to his body so he would feel motion sickness and it caused his face to grow pale. "I...demon. What are you doing?"

"Being annoying. That's what I do, right?" It laughed as Isen leaned himself forward to try and compose himself, though for all intents and purposes, he looked like he was about to throw up.
 
"Maybe he finally realized how much of a sadistic bastard his boss is." She couldn't help but to snort with laughter when the demon spoke, although the sound abruptly cut off when Isen defended her. He had defended her, right? Oh, maybe not, with how quickly he continued on with insulting the demon.

"I swear, you two are like siblings fighting over everything just because you can." She rolled her eyes, sipping at the water before settling in and trying to get comfortable. They had a long ride ahead of them with nothing to do but either talk or look outside of the train

"Isen?" They'd been going for only a short bit when she noticed him leaning forward and looking a bit pale. "You look like you're going to be sick. You don't even eat, that doesn't make sense. What the hell is that bastard doing to you?" He didn't eat so he couldn't actually vomit, but he looked ready to do it at that moment, and she wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Here, drink some water, see if it helps." She handed him the other bottle and looked around nervously. "Lay down if you need to, or something. You can use the bags as a pillow, I have blankets in there if you need one."
 
Isen reached for the bottle and actually took a sip of water, listening to her advice. It didn't seem to do much but none of this made any sense to begin with. He handed it back to her lest he accidentally crush the plastic in frustration from the uneasiness. It was all too clear what the demon was doing and it was having fun messing with him like that.

'I'm not doing anything." The demon lied, innocently, though the laughter that followed certainly betrayed that notion. "He's just feeling a little under the weather. It's his first time on a train, after all."

Keeping himself hunched forward, he stared straight down at the floor, feeling the world spinning around him as their train continued to barrel down the tracks towards their eventual destination. His stomach was churning and even worse was the fact that there was nothing actually in it for him to throw up even if he wanted to. Maybe it was absentminded, or just the simple sway of gravity from the train's motion, but he almost seemed to be leaning towards her. It was slight, but clear, an instinct to move towards the person trying to comfort him in this strange moment of duress.

"Don't worry, Isen. It shouldn't last for much more than an hour. Or two."

"If you don't stop, I'm going to throw you out this damn window." He threatened, but he was in no real state to do anything of the sort. Isen Hiyori could come back from the brink of death and stave off wounds from all sorts of weapons but a stomach ache was doing him in. It was embarrassing.

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"Say that she's more annoying than I am."

"Are you...are you serious right now?"

"Say it."

"I will not. Why do yo-" Isen tried to continue but instead, a groan interrupted his rebuttal and he let his arm reach down, curling against the front of his stomach. This was exhausting. Maybe she wasn't far off when she called them out on their arguing and he was sure she'd scold them both for continuing to be stubborn when it was over, but right now, he needed her help.
 
"I'm going to throw him out the damn window at this point." It was an empty threat and she knew it, she needed the sword present for their future endeavors, but damn if it wasn't a nice thought.

"You have got to be kidding me. You're making him sick because he won't--Isen, for fuck's sake, just agree with him!" She was not accustomed to taking care of strangers like this. An overly drunk friend who needed some water and a bucket, sure, but not someone who was virtually a stranger and much larger than her.

"You need to take deep breaths, drink some more of the water." Well, this was awkward. After a moment of hesitation Adelaide abandoned her bags on her side of the little booth and went to sit beside him, holding the open bottle of water out to him and settling a hand gently on his back.

"Concentrate on me and not the way the train feels moving. I can tell you another dumb story if you want, something you can focus on." How was she supposed to handle this when he couldn't just get sick in order to feel better? Oh, just another reason for her to hate the demon cackling from inside the sword. "Just.. Ah, hell. I can tell you about the time one of my friends broke the television because they got mad at the game. Apparently you don't give a hard gamer alcohol and then put him up against someone who flaunts winning. That television was toast after that, I'm just glad it wasn't mine." She was rambling awkwardly, her hand subconsciously rubbing small circles over Isen's back.

"If you think you can lay down, that might work. If not, I'll sit here with you until you feel better."
 
It was more apparent now than before, once she had relocated herself to his side, that he was leaning towards her direction. It wasn't something he was doing on purpose and he certainly would never had admitted it, but it was very clearly happening, as subtle as it may have been. Her touch seemed to calm him slightly, the slow, soothing repetition of her hand helping to ease some of the uneasy feeling boiling in his stomach. He took the bottle and had a second drink from inside but it didn't really seem to do much of anything to help him.

He listened to her story and though he couldn't really speak to her in response to it, he had appreciated her attempt at trying to distract him. He would have questions later about the doomed television and the company that she once kept, but that was neither here nor there.

The demon within the blade had been witnessing all of this occurring as well. At first, he was laughing his proverbial ass of in watching Isen suffer an all-too human ailment. Now, however, after seeing how close Adelaide had gotten to him and how she was treating him, some of the shine had worn off from his joke.

"You're ruining the fun." He scolded Adelaide, sounding annoyed with her, though when did he ever sound anything other than annoyed when speaking to her? It was like clockwork, he always found something about what she was doing or saying that brought him displeasure. "Fine."

Isen felt relief wash over him almost instantly as the demon began to resupply it's magic, curing the motion sickness he had allowed Isen to feel. It wasn't made entirely clear to the two of them why the demon stopped but he had a guilty motive for doing so; his joke was meant to embarrass Isen but with how Adelaide had acted, it was only serving to bring them closer. The closer they were, and the better they worked together, the more likely it was that somewhere down the line, she was going to succeed in severing him from his host.

Sitting himself up straight, he turned towards her to thank her, realizing now just how close she had gotten. "I...thanks." He mumbled, though it was far from the most eloquent display of thanks. He awkwardly handed her back the water bottle, looking at her as though he wasn't certain how to proceed further. While the demon's plan may have had unwanted results, it certainly did embarrass Isen. He had shown weakness, even fleeting, to her for the first time and he didn't know how to process that.
 
"Good, I hope I'm ruining your fun you immature child. Bet you were bullied as a hellspawn and that's why you act like this." Adelaide muttered under her breath at the demon, although her focus was mainly on Isen as she watched the change in him again. Whatever the demon had been doing was clearly wearing off, or the beast had relented, whatever the case might be the end result was the same.

"You don't have to thank me." She pulled her hand off his back slowly and rolled her eyes. "You snapped me out of it when I was.. Not in great shape earlier, it's the least I can do. Besides, it's no good for either of us if you spend the entire ride sick, then we'll never get anything done. You're too heavy for me to care around." Much too heavy, especially with the additional weight of the mouthy sword.

"Are you good to stay sitting up now, or do you think you want to lay down"
 
As more of his awareness returned to him, Isen realized how close he had gotten during his moment of weakness and began to instinctively pull away from her, shifting himself in the opposite direction. It was an awkward recovery but one he felt needed to be made. "I'll be fine." He reassured her, shaking his head slightly. The part of him that had been vulnerable and a little softer while she took care of him seemed to be eroding away and he was defaulting back to his typical behavior now.

Sitting back up straight, he purposely kept his eyes away from wandering outside of the window, just in case the demon decided to cause some more trouble and make him sick once more. A silence fell around them that lasted until the source of his frustration spoke up once more to break it.

"Witch. Perhaps you and I got off on the wrong foot." Isen rose a brow, hearing this coming from the always hostile voice. Was he feeling remorse for what happened? Not likely. Isen identified pretty quickly that it wanted something and was trying to manipulate her. He had seen her softer side, perhaps he saw something he could exploit. "What say we start over from the beginning? A fresh, new start, yes?"

Isen looked towards Adelaide, the look on his face as if to say 'don't trust him'.

"What? Why the doubt? Is it so hard to believe that I might regret the way that I have acted? We could be great partners, you, and I, and her. There's likely to be no other force as powerful. After all, two objects of great, dark magic? A Lancaster? Aren't you curious what the three of us could accomplish if we were on the same page?"

"Not really, no." Isen shortly responded, immediately dismissive to it's intention. "I want to be free of you. I don't care how powerful we could be. I never wanted this power to begin with."

"You are too narrow minded, Isen. You aren't looking at the bigger picture. This world is bereft with sadness and darkness, fear and terror. Look outside your own wants and regrets, your human feelings. We could change this world for the better."

"By replacing death and fear with more death and fear? Did you think showing me mercy from your cruel trick would make me forget all of the awful things you've made me do? You aren't interested in peace."

"Fine. Not peace. Revenge. That's what this is all about, right? Driving a sword through the heart of the person responsible for the state of this world. It sounds to me like the two of you plan on accomplishing this with or without my aid. Wouldn't it be more efficient if we worked together?"
 
"Alright, alright, got it. Big bad man doesn't need my help. Glad you're feeling better." She rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day, but internally she was glad he was feeling better. Perhaps she had felt just a tiny bit of worry for him, but it was easier to blame it on being tired and not wanting to lug his large body around.

"A new start, really?" She looked at Isen and mirrored his skeptical expression. For the demon to change its mind so suddenly was automatically suspicious, and the fact that he was now dragging her name and dark magics into the point it made confirmed that fact. This had nothing to do with guilt, or a desire to be nice. This had everything to do with power and death, a desire to lay waste to the world around them.

"You just want my power. You'd take the ring off my corpse the moment you had the chance." She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes, making no effort to return to her own seat and give the demon more reason to taunt her. "You'll aid us regardless of what we say, simply so that you can kill. I'm not going to be manipulated to do things your sick, twisted way. Keep it up and I'll start rubbing his back again just to listen to you whine."
 
Isen was relieved that Adelaide wasn't even thinking of entertaining the demon's nonsense. There was a lull in the conversation that made it all too obvious that she had called his bluff on his intentions and he wasn't quite sure how to respond just yet to try and salvage his attempt at making "peace".

"You think yourself so clever, don't you?" He finally responded, an annoyed tone in his voice. "Alright. I get it. You don't trust me. Allow me to earn it from you. In due time, you will see, much like Isen will, you need me."

Isen practically laughed at that statement, barely managing to hold it in.

"Let us begin by exchanging information."

"You've been here the whole while. What information could you possibly want from me?"

"Not from you, from her. I will, of course, return the favor. I have a wealth of knowledge from beyond your life time. I know about dark magic, wouldn't you like to better understand how to use that ring?"

"No. She doesn't need to know that." Isen interjected, wanting to squash this conversation before it got started as well. "We aren't keeping it. The moment we figure out how to get it off, we will. Right, Adelaide?"

"Perhaps I can help with that too...Still don't want to trust me, hm? Then how about we start with something simple." Isen still wasn't falling for any of the demon's attempts at trickery but he couldn't deny the fact that the demon likely knew a lot of things that they didn't, things that may be useful in the future. "How about I give you my name?"

After all of this time, Isen had never asked. He had never cared to learn it. Their partnership had been one sided from the very beginning but hearing it out loud made it seem rather silly that he had never asked. He wondered what Adelaide would think or if she had already figured it out. After all, she had never once heard him speak the demon's name out loud.
 
"I have no intention of being in your debt, demon." Still, she made no move to open her eyes or leave the spot beside Isen. "The only reason you want me to know how to use the ring is to benefit you." Isen seemed awfully intent on making sure the conversation ended quickly, and while she somewhat understood why, his quickness on the matter was still a bit curious.

"You can help me to get it off? So you can steal it?" The thought was tempting enough for her to open her eyes though, and to twist in the seat to sit sideways and look at Isen. "Your name?" Well, it would be useful to know its name, and perhaps there was power in knowing with it. It wasn't as if she'd encountered demons like this before to know how to appropriately handle them.

"Fine. What's your name?"
 
Isen shrugged his shoulders as Adelaide turned within her seat to look in his direction. "Never bothered to ask. It's not like I particularly like him." It was an explanation. Perhaps not the greatest one, but an explanation nonetheless. "I wasn't looking to be on a first-name basis with the source of my misery."

"Very well. You may call me as I was known before bound to this sword; my name is Ignus and the sword you wield is known as Onigoshi."

"Ignas. Onigoshi." Isen repeated both out loud. "Right, okay. And just exactly how did you come to be bound to the sword?" He followed up with a question, a hint of skepticism still in his voice as he questioned the demon further.

"The...circumstance of my binding is unclear, even to me. It was a ritual performed with dark magic, of that I am sure, but the reason is beyond my recollection."

"You're a demon. Maybe they just wanted to get rid of you."

"That may be true but I do not know for sure. I was hoping she could be of help with that."

"Adelaide? Why would she know what happened to you?"

"Perhaps not her, directly, but her family? The Lancasters would know. Shall I tell him of your family or would you prefer to do so yourself, witch?"
 
"Those are some weird names, but okay." She wrinkled her nose and listened to the demon speak. It was a miracle they were now alone, lest someone think they were both drugged up and experiencing hallucinations.

"I can definitely see why people would want to get rid of him. He's annoying now, I can't imagine with a body. Wait, why would I know?" Her face twisted up in confusion as the demon spoke of her helping him, dragging her family into the conversation yet again.

"You think that just because my family can work with dark magic, that means I'm going to know how you ended up in a sword? I don't even know how long you've been in the sword. For all I know, I could have been a baby, or maybe I wasn't even born yet! And it's not like I know for a fact my family is the only one that can control magic." She had never heard of anyone else with the capability to do so, though, and that was a disturbing revelation. What was it about her family that allowed them to do this? Had they made a pact with some otherworldly creature? Were they descended from otherworldly creatures?

"So my family can manipulate magic, so what?" She huffed and shifted to sit normally again, crossing her arms over her chest and staring away from Isen. "And we may have dabbled in dark magic from time to time, but that doesn't mean I did." Or had she? It had always been so hard to tell when she was younger, and there had been a few occasions where she had been rushed out of rooms, scolded for touching certain objects, and there was that one instance where she could have sworn the flames were anything but natural, but somehow they hadn't burned her. Maybe..

She snapped out of her thoughts abruptly and sat up straighter, frowning and exhaling slowly. There were so many things from her younger years that she could no longer remember clearly, muddled in with her time of being on the run and then settling into a new life.

"I don't know how you got put in a sword." She finally spoke through clenched teeth, refusing to look at either Isen or the source of that damned demon. "But I'm going to find a way to get you away from Isen, and if that includes yanking you from the bloody thing and killing you myself, so be it."
 
"Ah, so you know very little about their legacy. I see. It makes sense given your...inexperience. Very well, allow me to enlighten you a little more on what it was your family actually did."

"Wait, dem-Ignas." He corrected himself. That felt weird, it would take a while to get used to that. "It should be her choice whether or not she wants to hear this from you. She's had some awful things happen to her and a lot of it seems to involve her family." There he was, again, defending her. He wasn't even really trying to make a point to protect her, it just sort of kept happening. He wasn't sure why he was so adamant on speaking out against it, he was just as curious as she likely was to learn more about her past, but he couldn't help but default to what she had told him before of her past and how difficult it must have been on her.

"If she doesn't wish to know then I will remain silent. I am working to gain her trust, after all. But I find it staggering that you have taken such an interest in the witch's feelings. Is she not just a tool for you to use to get rid of me?" Speaking that, Ignas did so with a venomous intent in his words. He was unhappy about this entire ordeal and the fact that Isen not only still wanted to get rid of him but seemed to be developing some sort of connection to the girl whom would do it.

"We're partners. Until our work is done, we have to look out for each other. That includes me making sure that she's in a proper state of mind to fight and not distracted by your bullshit." His response came after a moment's contemplation and didn't entirely feel as though Isen was telling the truth but it served it's purpose.

"You forget that I am connected to you as well. I can feel what you feel. You cannot lie to me. But I agree with your reasoning, I will leave the decision up to her. Witch, if you wish to learn more about your past, you need simply ask for it. Instead of threatening my life, perhaps you will realize that my 'bullshit' is knowledge. That is an asset, not a 'distraction'."
 
"I can speak for myself, you know. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm not a child, Isen. I'm going to have to learn sooner or later, anyway. Wouldn't you rather me possibly be mopey now rather than later when we're in the middle of something even more important?" Just the thought made her visibly cringe, and after shaking her head to clear it she settled back down.

"It's almost starting to sound like you care if we like you, Ignas. Or at least if I like you." That was interesting. She wouldn't have thought the demon capable of emotion like that, not when it seemed fueled by some maniacal need for blood and death. The fact that it sounded so angry about the fact that Isen wanted it gone almost sounded.. Like the thought hurt the demon. She had to be imagining things, though, surely it was just angry that its host wanted it gone.

"Tell me what you know."
 
Isen took note of her response to his interjection. She didn't seem happy that he had butted in, had he over stepped his role in their partnership? He would be careful not to make the same mistake again in the future.

As for Ignas, he scoffed at the idea that he cared at all what she thought of him. "I couldn't care less what you think of me as long as we have an understanding. We are not friends, we are partners. That is what he called it, yes?"

Isen knew that Ignas just wanted the ring. He wanted something to protect it from being severed from his host but his attempts at getting involved earlier had failed so he remained quiet. He was curious as to what Ignas would say but he also wanted to uphold Adelaide's decision to hear the story in the first place, so he bit his tongue and kept out of it.

"To my knowledge, there were only four families capable of wielding the dark arcane. The Lancasters were one of them. They were also the only family to have this particular brand of magic, manipulating and stealing from other sources. You may not be aware of it but that is a trait that is very unique, it is far from normal. That is why I was so shocked to see you use your magic the way you did when you and Isen first met." Ignas began, retelling what he knew about her family's history.

"Those four families were constantly at odds with each other for control over that power. Dark magic is considerably more powerful than any other form of magic but also more volatile and difficult to control. Because of that, certain members of these families contracted demons, beings born of the dark, to better their control. As you can imagine, very few of the demons involved were doing this out of the kindness of their wicked hearts, things got messy. From what I've garnered, these demons were working amongst themselves while serving the four families, orchestrating a war between them all. When that war had ended, the Lancasters were the only family remaining. They had stolen the power of the others with their unique gift, slaughtering all who opposed their order. With all of that power, and now control over it as well, they took their revenge on the demons who facilitated the conflict."

"And you were one of them?"

"I do not know for sure but it seems likely. Onigoshi, the ring, the countless other cursed objects were all born from that war, from a need to create weapons, from a desire to fight. Knowing who I am, it wouldn't be a stretch to presume I was involved and no longer remember it and as such, was punished by being sealed within this blade. Demons are remarkably hard to kill, sealing them away, while difficult to do, seems to remain the most straight forward solution. If what I presume to be correct is true, this has dire consequences for the state of your current world."

"You mean the DTSF?"

"They have been forcing those who know magic to create weapons to control the Dissonant population. Mages and witches, those magic types always knew of the existence of these creatures long before they were branded as such or knowledge was public. They knew of ways to kill them, to keep them in check, history is littered with moments where what you now know as Dissonants threatened the safety of the humans in this world only for those in the shadows to prevent it from happening. I am not at all surprised that when news came to light that these supernatural creatures existed, history would repeat itself. And that ring she's wearing? While I don't sense the presence of another demon trapped inside of it, I do sense nothing but dark energy. It was in their possession, there may be others too. You see the issue here, do you not? Limitless power, dark and sinister magic, enslaved demons with nefarious intention, and two entire populations caught in the balance."

"You think, eventually, we're headed towards another war."

"Bingo. The reason they went after Adelaide's family? It's because of who she is. What she is capable of, her family's legacy. And, no offense to what you once were, but you regular humans? You don't stand a chance. Neither do any of those Dissonants. If the DTSF decide they want dominion, they have more than enough power to do so even without her on their side. But if they did get to her? ...you think you people are living in fear now? You haven't seen anything yet, Isen Hiyori."
 
Four families, but hers was the only one that could do what she could? How could four families handle using the same type of magic, but only one could steal and manipulate magic from anything? Surely this was limited to certain parts of the world and not all of existence itself.

Demons.

Her family had contracted demons, along with three other idiotic families who thought they could control otherworldly beings? Honestly, why were people involved in magic so stupid? Her family weren't murderers, they couldn't be. Not her parents, anyway, but was it possible that her grandparents, or even older generations were? It was enough to make her head spin as she sat there listening, trying to piece together what the demon was telling her.

"You think my family put you in the sword?" Adelaide's voice was small as she struggled to process all the information. "That they killed everyone who stood against them, and then punished you for betraying them?" She couldn't blame her family for punishing traitors, could she? Still, keeping someone trapped inside a weapon for eternity seemed.. Cruel. Death was a better fate than eternity without a body, without the ability to truly live, or even to die.

"I never wanted any of this." She frowned, rubbing her thumb over the ring on her finger and staring straight ahead. "You expect me to believe that not only was my family a bunch of murderers, which, even if that is true, you want me to believe that they just went around sealing demons in things and hoping for the best? That's insane. You're all insane! Them, you, I'm probably insane too if I'm related to them!" That was just bloody great.

"They won't get me." She shook her head, leaning back in the seat and closing her eyes with a weary sigh. "They won't. I'll kill all of them before that happens."
 
"What else were they to do?" He asked in retort to Adelaide's doubt of what he had said. "The amount of magic and effort required to properly kill a demon would hardly be worth the resources, especially after a war. Especially when you could just throw them into a sword or a ring and bury them somewhere in the woods and call it a day. They didn't know better and why would they care? They were all powerful. They had conquered, trapping some flies in a jar was the least of their concern."

"They're not going to get you." Isen reassured her, turning his head in her direction as her eyes shut and she leaned back in contemplation. A lot had been dumped on them both, especially her, it had to be difficult to take it all in so suddenly. "Something still isn't adding up. If this is true, and it was her family that sealed you away in the sword, how did you...that night, when you found me...how did you even find me? Why did you..."

"Why did I choose you?"

"Yeah. You keep saying I was the 'only one' but I find that difficult to believe, even more so now that I know how powerful her family was. There had to have been a better choice."

"There wasn't." Ignas replied, almost immediately, shutting down Isen's train of thought.

"You weren't the only human to hold Onigoshi that night, Isen. You were the only one who could bare the strain. Your sister was a...complication. I assure you, though I may enjoy killing, I had no intention of ending your sister's life when I had the sword brought to you but, I'm a demon. I have urges. It had been such a long time since I had felt whole. You made me feel whole again and your dear Meribell..."

"Stop." Isen sounded angry as those memories were brought up, memories that had yet to be revealed to Adelaide, who likely had little idea what was actually going on in the conversation between the two of them other than that it was extremely personal for Isen and causing him so discomfort. "She wasn't a complication. She was a damn child."
 
"You won't let them get me, I know. You need me." She shrugged and listened to the two of them go back and forth. They were never going to get along, that much was obvious. If Isen could have killed the demon, or even himself at that point, she had no doubt he would do it in an instant. The hatred for what it had done to him ran deep, as deep as her hatred for the people who had slaughtered her family and friends, the ones that relentlessly hunted her now that they had found her again.

"Sister?" Adelaide opened her eyes and turned to look at him with a puzzled expression. Had he mentioned a sister? Was that-- Oh. The grave she had found him at must have been his sister's. It wasn't as if she had taken the time to pay much attention or ask him, had she?

"Even if you're not from Hell, Ignas, there's a place there for creatures like you that harm innocent children. I'll make sure you end up there once I free Isen from you."
 
"You dare to threaten me for the things that I have done when your entire family's legacy is soaked in blood? Spare me the sermon, witch. There's just as much death in your history as there is in mine, you just aren't blessed with an eternal life to remember it."

Ignas seemed offended that she would call him out for this, as though what he had done wasn't anywhere near as heinous as it actually had been. For Isen, it was bringing up volatile memories, though perhaps to call it a memory wasn't entirely correct. It wasn't something he needed to remember, he simply never forgot. It was always with him and always would be.

"She died in my arms. Because of what you made me do." Isen's voice was sharp, pointed. He was speaking each word slowly, as if carefully considering every syllable, lacing them with as much malice as he could without raising his volume to yell. "Don't act like you're innocent, demon. Every life I've taken, I have done so because you made me."

"Fine. Blame me. Regardless of my influence, the emotion you felt, the anger that drove you on that night was your own. I wasn't the one who buried that sword into her stomach; you were."

The conversation had devolved from a history lesson to a painful reminder. Isen stared through the window, he couldn't bare to look at Adelaide for fear of what she may have thought of him. Fear wasn't something he was used to experiencing but in this case, he felt afraid. To know he had cut down his own sister, his own flesh and blood...how could she ever trust him? Their partnership was tumultuous already, this was only going to further complicate things. He knew it only happened because of Ignas but what the demon had said was partly true. It was still his body that finished the deed, it was him that Meribell saw as she bled out, not Ignas.
 
Isen had been the one to kill her? Of course, why hadn't she connected the dots until now? Regardless of the fact that it was Ignas that had caused it, the demon had already been bound inside a sword, he couldn't have singlehandedly murdered someone without a host. At least that explained part of why Isen acted as he did, and why he was so hostile toward both the demon and the mention of the past. Why would anyone want to remember such a terrible thing?

"He only did it because you didn't give him a choice!" Adelaide snapped at Ignas and whirled in the seat, stabbing her finger in the air in the direction of the sword. "Humans don't only kill because they want to, sometimes we kill because we have to! Do you think I put a knife in my best friend's neck because I wanted to?!" Well, that cat was out of the bag, and after a frustrated growl she thudded back against the seat, hard.

"I shoved a kitchen knife in my best friend's neck because he was a traitor and he was going to give me up to the DSTF. He nearly broke my arm and was going to take me to them. It took forever to get rid of all the blood and find a way to hide what had happened." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a deep breath.

"We do things we don't want to, to survive. We do them when we can't control it. I'd stuck it in him before I even knew what I was doing. I could have done something else, but I did that. Don't believe some stupid demon trying to mess with your head, Isen."
 
Isen's head turned towards Adelaide as she confessed what she had done. It seemed he wasn't the only one with skeletons in his closet, she had regrets too. She had lost her friends, her family, and she bore the weight of such a heavy decision every day the same way he did. For as opposite as they had seem from the outset, it was clear that they had underlying similarities, not all good, and he was beginning to realize that as quickly as Ignas was.

"Ah. I see." His voice came after a small silence. "You two are perfect for each other."

"Adelaide." Isen spoke to her, his voice softer, as though he was uncertain how to proceed with the conversation. It wasn't his strong suit in general but dancing around such sensitive subject matter only made this feel more foreign. He was beginning to understand her, to feel for her. He hadn't felt anything like this since the days before Onigoshi. Why now? Why her?

"You're making him soft, you know." Ignas added, a sense of disgust in the tone of his voice. Ignas could feel what Isen felt, as he liked to make very clear. There was nothing Isen could hide from his passenger.

"I'm not getting soft." Isen protested, shaking his head as he did. "I just realize now that I'm not the only one here bound by their unfortunate past. I think I may have been wrong about you from the start, Adelaide. And I apologize for what you have had to go through. I understand now why you seek revenge so wholeheartedly. I will help you get it." Isen told her, glancing upwards, meeting her eyes with his own stare. "And not because I need your help, but because I want to." What happened afterwards would be up to her.

"Soft."

"Fuck you."
 
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