"It reeks of blood," practically tasting rotten metallics pieces lingering in the air, the stench corroding his sense of smell, Dark stalked the streets, now that the hour is long past the majority of humans being out and about. As much preferred the night was in terms of avoiding the prying eyes of humans, demons among other creatures tend to frequent the night as well causing much trouble for the Angel, since he could not abandon his priority to exterminate the monsters dwelling in the mortal world. He was alone in thinking that finding Dia was more important than cleaning the filth of the realm. However, it relieved a lot of stress and anger by taking it out on creatures full force with no remorse for those that deserved his wrath.
Dried black streaks lead him straight toward his new temporary target. Something had done quite a number on it, by the looks of it. It might just end up as a mercy killing to put it out of its misery. Secretly hoping it wasn't the case, they were hardly satisfying and denied him the gratification to quench insurmountable bloodlust, he suppressed.
Rounding the corner, his eyes tracked the smears to the sources, as she laid crumpled and nearly completely defeated. Her smile twisted, as she snarled in pain, eyes like daggers. Joan was backed into a corner, as she had never feared for her life before. The angelic power radiating off of the one that stood before her was undeniable and reduced her to feeling uncomfortably powerless in his presence. There was something, however, that struck her odd about the angel. She felt an inkling of familiarity, one oddly close to Bryan's energy.
"So you're the one to finish me off. I did quite a number on that little huntress I faced last. Mortals sadly are easy to manipulate once you get past their defenses, I imagine she'll be stuck in her own paradise for a long while." She laughed to herself, propping herself up, hoping that by talking he would be distracted by the useless information to pull off another major spell like the one she had used on Sarah.
Dark casually approached her, drawing a sword composed of light. She cringed at the blade that rose to her neck. He gently lifted it up so that the edge would press against her skin an inch below the jaw. Agonizingly, she rose to her feet, as he continued to raise the blade so, that she stood before him. "How disappointing." his blunt words cutting through her sharper than his sword. His callous, cold eyes searched hers, waiting for them to betray any sign of fear. The magic swirling in her irises made it hard to detect a glimpse of any emotion she didn't portray, as a guise to fool him.
"Why not just get it over with," with a snarl at the stench of angel. Half of him would have been thrilled to oblige, but then something in the back of his mind stopped him. A thought that had been bothering him for a while now and something clicked. She waited expectantly for him to instantly finish her off. Cowering was beneath her and being killed by an angel without being able to fight back was humiliating enough.
The blade lowered, surprising her, but she didn't lower her guard. Instead, something small yet shiny was flung at her. She caught it with one hand. "If that was an attack, it was a measly attempt at it."
"That, demon, is a choice," he softly replied, the darkness in his voice unwavering. She glanced down at the item in her palm, a simple silver ring, She chuckled as if it were a sick joke. The sword cut her off as it pressed against her neck again, this time drawing blood. He loomed over her, his voice taking a more icy and threatening tone, "you can either die right here or put that on and do everything I command, as I command it." Joan stared in disbelief, swallowing hard as this decision was not easy to come to terms with, but Fatima was to end by her hand, and that could not happen if she died herself. She lowered her head and slipped the ring on; she will get revenge eventually, as she was stripped of her freedom. Dark sheathed the sword and assessed her. Her wounds were healing fast, but not fast enough for her to be useful tonight.
Dark grit his teeth, "You're going to assist me from now on until I release you back to hell, where you belong. I do not care if you die before I kill you myself, I would be merely disappointed I was denied to do so. Don't mistake this for a mercy; I'm just using you until I get what I want. You mean nothing otherwise. Understood?"
Joan curtly nodded in disgust, but what other choice did she have at the moment. She looked down at the ring, she could attempt to pull it off, but she knew all attempts would be futile, someone else had to pull it off, and they had to have the master ring to do so regardless. She spied it upon the angel's finger. One clean cut and she'd be free.
Dark gestured for her to follow. Her wounds had yet to heal, but unwillingly, she took a painful step forward. One after another, her agony was a pretty picture, and he honestly didn't expect her to be able to move, but wanted to see her struggle and then end her. Perhaps, she'd be useful for him to use after all.
"What is it that you require of me?" Her words purred off her tongue with guile and resentment.
"You're going to follow someone for me."
*
A bowl was placed in front of them. Fatima tilted her head at the contents. "What is this?"
Grey looked as though he might actually hit her, "That's curry, Kitten."
"Never had it before," She sniffed it hesitantly crinkling her nose as she detected some unknown spices. Dia held her own bowl, already eating her fill, as she watched the two as they stared down at the meal. Grey displayed how disciplined he was at being reserved, while Fatima was acting much like a cat being curious but not touching it.
"Eat it before it gets cold," Dia started feeling cross as she spent all the effort and neither of them had dared to take a bite yet. "Fatima it isn't poisonous."
She finally took a bite, and deadface, "this is cold." They both waited a moment, Grey checked the temperature and indicated it was fresh off the stove,
"It's really cold, and YET IT BURNS! WHAT IS THIS?"
Dia couldn't help but laugh, as the blond panicked for a moment. "Are you good now?"
"No! I need water! No wait water doesn't help, wait nothing helps. I'm just gonna suffer."
"Alright then." Fatima stared at her plate and then went for another bite.
"With that reaction, and still going to eat it," Grey took a jab at her melodrama.
"I'm hungry, dammit!" She sputtered deciding it would burn less it she scarfed it down, however much of a bad idea that was in the end. Dia reached over to start eating from the bowl in front of Grey. She had just grabbed a piece of chicken when a pair of chopsticks went between hers. Grey held his poised for a moment before forcing her to drop the piece of chicken and wrapped around to trap hers in the same swift movement.
Tension sparked between them, unwavering eye contact causing sparks to fly between them. Dia broke free from his utensils and dove for the chicken again, Grey easily deflected her attempt and countered with a direct strike to her wrist. She twisted her wrist in a move to disarm him, but just barely skimmed across the polished wood of his chopsticks. Grey in response merely lifted his bowl with his free hand and away from Dia. Dia jumped over the island swinging out her leg to hook Grey's elbow to pull the bowl closer, nearly knocking Fatima over in the process.
She grabbed the bowl before they spilled it upon each other thus losing the bet. They didn't notice as Grey struck away Dia's sticks again when she dove for the bowl. He trapped hers again and spun her around to gain the upper hand. She rolled off the island and twisted back around aiming for his face, only to be deflected yet again by the ever so calm Grey.
"Now if you're done playing Dia, It's time to-" Fatima used the moment to shove some of the curry in his mouth. Dia, in turn, tossed her chopsticks as a distraction to clamp his mouth shut forcing him to swallow. His gaze darkened and with chopsticks in hand struck out at Fatima. She hadn't realized he had moved until her eyes narrowed at the points aimed at her eyes, Dia grasping his wrist firmly was the only thing that just barely saved her. After a moment, he jerked his hand away, "I will say this once, don't interfere with me again."
The chilling tone sent shivers down her spine, as she fumbled with an apology. Dia replied, "Don't apologize, Fatima, he lost fair's fair." Grey gave the demon a steely glare who flinched in response. She then started to feel bad about it; she didn't mean to piss him off by her actions, she just didn't want Dia to leave with him if she didn't want to. She looked down at the bowl of curry thinking things over and right before attempting to say something to dispel the somber tension an urgent knock pounded against the door. Fatima looked at Dia confused, before placing down the bowl to answer.
Grey leaned back analyzing her with scrutinizing disdain, Dia curiously followed to see who was there as well. Mark practically bust through the door as Fatima unlocked it, Sarah, out cold in his arms. Horrified, "What happened?" Fatima cleared out of the way as he shoved past, shutting the door behind them.
"Put her on the sofa," Dia instructed with which the man complied. He nodded at Grey who glared in moderate anticipation, daring him to do something that warranted him to beat his ass.
"Joan's what happened," Mark replied to Fatima's question. This peeked Grey's interest, but he remained neutral in expression. Fatima, internally panicked while Dia checked vitals to make sure the Huntress was still alive.
Fatima chimed in, "Is there anything I can do to help?" The sincerity in her voice took both Grey and Mark aback for a moment knowing full well she was a demon. Dia looked up for a moment at her before returning to her inspection. Mark elected to ignore the demon,
"Well, Dia?" He gruffly demanded.
"Unless you know how to remove the spell Joan put on her, stay out of the way. Since your magic is sealed, you wouldn't be able to anyway," Dia replied finishing up and confirmed what she thought. "She's trapped in 'paradise' she'll wake up when she realizes the world she's in is fake and a little too good to be true." Fatima glumly nodded in response, feeling a bit useless in being told yet again to stay out of the way.
She turned to Mark, "are you hungry? Dia made some spicy curry, it's a bit hot for me, but it's really good." He declined.
"I want Sarah back to normal. That's it." he started to get thrown off on how undemonlike she actually was. She turned away and went back to Grey picking up the bowl,
"I'm sorry about before but it is getting cold, not to mention really good, so Dia might eat the rest before you get a chance to."
"I can see why Dia finds you so interesting, Kitten." He whacked her forehead with his chopsticks before taking the bowl from her.
