Wretched Solitude

[Hysterie]

Hysterie sat alone, legs sprawled lazily out and back slumped against the cracked marble wall at the back of her favorite chapel. As usual.

Well, well. Seems I'm not entirely alone tonight...

Hunger sucked all color from her eyes, turning them pitch black, as she snapped her arm to the side and sank her fingers into a small mouse. The poor thing had been better off outside in the rain. The sanctuary became its morgue. She brought her catch, now tightly clutched in her flaming fist, before her and examined it. It was a lot small than it had felt when she seized it.

But when in exile, you take what you can get.

She extinguished the fire in her hand and bit heartily into the roasted rodent, devouring half of it with the first bite. Once she had finished, she pulled reached into her bosom and retrieved a small flask. She'd have to drink all the contents and then some to rid herself of the dreadful flavor stained onto her tongue. It was a wretched meal, but she had gotten used to it. For the most part.

Relaxing back against the black structure once more, she replaced the flask and set to playing with her magic. She produced little dancers made of flames in the palm of her right hand, and lost herself in the choreography of her own design. Her eyes became dark red again. Strands of her long, white hair sheltered parts of her face, as did the shadows of the temple to her whole body (which could not cast a shadow of its own).

[Salem Valentine]

Why in the hell does this place stink all the time? The vampire thought to himself. His dark crimson eyes following the demons as they passed by. Shrouded in shadow and mystery, he treaded through the City of the Wicked... "Such a wonderful place." He said sarcastic. He hadn't fed for a few days now... And of course... He was a little on edge. He wasn't the nicest of beings... After all... In his old realm... Kindness was looked down upon... A weakness in most eyes. War, death, chaos... These were the ghosts that haunted him day after day...

Kicking the habit; thats's what he called it. He would go days without feeding, and would be fine... For a while. Most other Vampire would have gone crazy... And even with him, the most purest of them you could possibly get, now a days, could go longer than any dirt blood out there.

Salem then came upon a chapel... "Ha..." His raspy voice rang to himself. "And what kind of worship do they do here? It wasn't clear at first glance, but Salems' soul did not belong with the wicked ones of this city. A simple 'job' was his destination. A vampire still had to eat... And other than killing... Money was the only way for food.

But of course, Salems' eyes fell on a woman... Well young woman. Though his appearance looked young... He was anything but. She was playing with her own magic. In appearance... She seemed almost opposate to himself. His eyes a dark red, his hair a rough jet black, his cloths, casual, out of the norm from this realm of course. A black, thight leather jacket, its hood and interior lined with wolves fur. His pants, a loose camo and steel toe boots, hidden in the heal, a spring loaded knife.

His overly large sword sat tight against his back. He had no intentions of using it at the second, but just wished for directions. "You... Lady!" His raspy voice called out, a good thirty yards away. As much as he hated talking to stranger... And anyone... Or any woman for that matter.... He was lost... And well, in his mind he prayed to Margus that she would feel the need to bite his head off. "Do you know where I can find the DaemonWing Tavern!?"

[Hysterie]

She clenched her fist, extinguishing the little dancers, the moment she smelled his open mouth.

Great. A tourist.

She let her arm go limp beside her. The white strands hanging near her lips shook lightly as her breathing became that much more rapid. Powers damn this boy and his existence. Her taking so long to detect his approach was a testament to how desperately she wished to be left alone.

Using just her legs, she slid her body up the cracked partition between herself and the downpour outside, then gently teetered forward into a standing position. Her posture was lax, her eyes were fierce, and her expression bored. The black marble behind her contrasted sharply with her person; it was a shining black while she was a dull white. The dichotomy would have been perfect had it not been for her choice of attire: a backless, coal gray tunic with a black leather belt around her waist. Her eyes became a rich, blood red as she took a moment to size him up from head to toe.

She wouldn't be left alone so long as miserable beings like him insisted on acknowledging her existence. It was hard enough for her to get any respect from the demons of the Wicked City, her appearance being as (for lack of a better time) "light" as it was. Her hair was white, her skin was ash pale, and her eyes refused to stay dark red - blue was the color that brought her the most trouble. To top it all off, her scapulae were gnarling into noticeable bumps on her back - the early signs of wing formation. It was hard enough for her to prove that she was no angel to her people without socializing with the other disgusting races of the Realm.

And now this mutant of a Shen decided to ask her for directions.

How very cute.

"Who the hell are you and why aren't you in Midnight City with the rest of your miserable kind?"

Although she was angry, her statement was composed of words spoken softly, calmly, and with a marked amount of actual interest. She would never admit it to herself or anybody else, but she was lonely. This encounter was unsavory, but all encounters, in her heart, were welcome.

[Salem Valentine]

The rain fell down hard onto his head, but being this was the hottest place around, he was moist and warm. Yes, the humid air would come to make him sticky, but the water fell as if a small hot spring was falling from the crackling clouds. The rain fell down his face and over his brows, keeping his eyes dry as possible. There was no need for a hood over his head, this was the most pleasant rain fall he had come in counter with. Salem hated the cold.

"Great," He said under his breath. "Another hard ass." He gave a slight laugh unto himself for a moment and nodded to the woman. "You know! You'll never make friends that way!" He said sarcasticly. He knew this woman wouldn't even give a smirk. To focused on self strength... You remember that ol' chestnut. He thought to himself.

"Salem... And may I say that it seems you are more miserable than myself." he began lifting his hand and roughling his hair a bit, sending water from his hair in all directions. "But that is just my opinion..." Sale smirked a bit at the womans 'hardness'. "Would you please just tell me what I need to know... That way I will not have to be a bother to your wonderful pressence."

((Sorry so short, I was in a rush))

[Hysterie]

((Haha, no problem.))

There was a certain quietude about this vampire. It was difficult to distinguish whether it came from haughtiness or confidence. Either way, it made her dislike him immediately. She had expected him to respond by cursing her and seeking directions elsewhere, as any other normally would have, or even to make a quick and silent exit, as most cowards did. But he still expected directions from her... how annoying.

And how interesting, she thought as well, her eyes narrowing as she watched his body language and listened to him speak. Admittedly, the comment about friendship simultaneously hurt and disgusted her. She was indeed grossly lacking comrades, but she would never openly show how deeply she cared. She could not permit herself such weakness. What she found disgusting was the prospect of being friendly towards a vampire.

"Your patience might be boundless, vampire, but mine is not. The only directions with which I shall grace you are those leading out of this city or those leading to your grave."

She walked within ten feet of him as she announced this threat, legs moving swiftly and eyes trained on his own. Her fingers tensed at her sides, as if bracing themselves.

"Choose a path."

What she did not realize was her eyes turning violet - a mixture of red and blue, overpowered by the blue - as she approached him. His aura was powerful, and the goodness flowing from it was affecting her. Coming from a vampire it was... bizarre. In fact, it convinced her to add:

"Whatever path you take, I wanted to thank you for giving me your name."

[Salem Valentine]

[/I]Hmmm...

This 'demon' was indeed strange. Salem had three traits that he had earned over the years through a life of war and blood: the art of sarcastics, the mastery of a swords and shadow magics, and of course, the nack of reading people. Whether it was from his own power or from skill, it was unknown to him, but Salem was good at reading character and was close, if not exact, everytime.

Her words became slightly threatening and for a moment, Salem felt a bit nervous. He stood looking at the woman, red eyes locking with hers. All that had 'heard' of the Crowning; Salem, knew he couldn't bring himself to fighting a woman, no matter what the cost. He a gave a few lazy blinks as the 'path' option was given to him.

He began to speak, but then he noticed her eyes change. What demons eyes changed to rapidly? Hybrids, eyes were seemingly mixed in colour, but changing? Strange... Indeed... She spoke again... And bewildered, the Crowning. Salem thought for a moment. Was this trickery or honesty... Honesty... In a clouded form.

There was no doubt this woman was one of the most he had encountered, and from writer to reader, there have been many strange people in his life. Salem looked away for a moment at one the spiraling buildings in the distance and then back to the demon. "Well thank you for asking for it..."

He sighed for a moment and looked at his boots. "And if your offer for death is still open... I must admit. I do not feel the need to walk back to the Black Gates." He then noticed with the flashes of lightning, she had no shadow. This he had seen before and slowly from his feet came a dark shadow and reached her own form that then began to mimic her exact movements to the 'T'.

"May I also add, I will not be dying anytime soon." This seemed cocky but Salem was no helpless boy. They didn't call him the Crowning for simple reason. "Margus will not allow me to die by some mere blade. I will not die by dragon or man, sea serpant or mage. I will die when the end is here. I will die bringing peace to this realm, to elf and demon alike. I will perish in the name of good and destroy all that oppose it with an iron fist." His natrual dry sounding voice whipped to himself.

These words flowed from the vampire with extreme emotion. These words were true and just. Every words burning in his heart as if he was speaking to no one, as if he was only in the moment. He spoke as if the war was raginh all around him at that very moment in time. But then... A sadness fell over his heart, though strongly covered by his average grumpy expression. "But I feel this realm shall never be saved. Tychus has vanished. Benki has aswell. But I feel Benki has unfinished business to attend."

He shook his head for a moment and looked back to the woman form his gazing off. He gave a slight smirk. "So..." He began for a moment as he pulled out a small, thin, corn pipe. He pulled out a leather hand bag and untied the ties to it and pulled out a pinch of tobacco and placed it within the pipes pouch and continued. "The real question is... What path do you choose?"

He stood there for a moment, looking for his fire striker, patting himself down for a moment. "Oh... May I ask your name? I feel like we haven't been fully introduced. My name is Salem... Salem Valentine." He said aggrivated with his loss of his fire source. He thought for a moment and looked to her with a wholesome smile. "Do you mind?"

[Hysterie]

She was almost completely distracted by what he was doing with his shadows. She broke eye-contact to look over her shoulder at the false shadow he had produced for her. It had been so long since she had seen her own shadow... the nostalgia that came over her was enough to make her melt. She might have allowed herself to descend into that pit of false hopes and dead memories, if only what the vampire had begun to talk about didn't strike her as so damn funny.

Her eyes returned back to his the instant he was done with his speech, and the earnest glee of her amusement even made her eyes flash the purest of blues for about a second before they returned to a more ambiguous violet. She hunched over slightly as her tall frame shook with laughter.

"PLEASE - child," she choked out between fits of giggling.

As she began to calm down a bit more, she continued on with a bemused smile on her face, "Are you honestly saying that you are one of those? One sent by Magrus to save us all from our miserable world and our miserable lives? The one Shen who's power and purpose and importance supersedes us all... do you have any idea how many people I have met in my lifetime alone who claimed the very same thing before disappearing into the shadows? Please. Not even Tychus and Benki reborn were able to stir up any real change around this filthy realm."

She simply watched him now, her whole face alight with incredulous amusement. She couldn't help but a chuckle a few moments longer before lifting her finger to his pipe and firing a spark into it.

"My name is Hysterie, and I must thank you again," she said, still with the smile plastered onto her face as she walked straight past him into the street. "Your insane arrogance is just what I needed to brighten my day."

[Osirys BlackHeart]

((Edit: Sorry posted as my new character ' Anyway yeah... This is Salem))

She lit up his pipe as he lifted his hand to cover the enbers from the rain. "Child?" Just so you know... I don't call you 'Lady' because I'm thirteen, okay?" Salem took a few puffs of his self made pipe and looked at her. "I do not know my reason for the war that is to come. I do not know my part... But I know I was-" Salem caught himself instantly... Thinking on how he could phrase his words correctly. "I know I was brought here to aid in the good of the war... So laugh all you want... But if you side with the Demon Benki, your just another naive, dumb ass that fell for the lies of a... Well... Demon..." Salem looked down at his pipe taking a few more puffs and glanced back at the retreating woman.

"You may laugh now, Angel! But you yourself know there is good in you! I can sence it, just as you! Do you think our meeting was just by chance?! I was once in your shoes! I was the murderer! I was the sinner against the gods! You! For you there is still a chance to bring your life back together!"

Salem watched as she walked away. His eyes falling to the ground as he shook his head... You cannot save the realm... Without saving the beings within it... Began to walk the opposate road as the woman, there was no need to follow if she need not listen. There were others out there that would listen to the words of a Vampire that had a heart that beat with a passion for the realm. He continued on, as he always did, hoping the woman would change her mind about his words... He knew he wasn't a saviour or massiah... He had simply seen much in his short life as a vampire... He came here to escape the world he once lived... The corruptness of the cosmos... He wanted this realm to survive...

[Hysterie]

((Lol, I figured.))

That did it.

He had struck the right chords.

Or, rather, the wrong ones.

She froze, dead in her tracks. Her anger was such that she couldn't even react immediately. The white hair around her face swung lightly to and fro, then swung more slowly, then stood as motionless as she did. Her face had gone even whiter than it usually was.

Angel...?

No, she was not an angel. She refused to be one of her people's enemies. Surely she was becoming one, but she had been becoming one for the past 37 years. And it still hadn't happened. Because she was fighting it. She would keep fighting it.

Angel..?!

How dare he doubt her ability to fight it? How dare he insult her? That pompous, preaching, mutant, son of a --

"ANGEL?!?!," she shrieked, doing a full about face in the street, eyes black and gaping as death, lips snarled, nostrils flared, "GO TO HELL!!!"

She clapped her hands together and watched with morbid pleasure as the building nearest the vampire blew out into the street in an explosion of fire, marble, and stone.

"NEVER INSULT THE DEMONS AGAIN, MUTANT! YOU RUNNING SORE!!"

[Salem Valentine]

Salem continued on before suddenly, he felt a chill to the bone. Someone was extrememly angry... The vampire slowly turned to meet the black eyes of the Demon. "Shit..." Her words boomed as he stood a good twenty yards away from her, standing a bit in defence for anything that the Demon would pull. She continued screaming like a crazy person, making Salem slightly raise a brow. "Hmmm... Just a burst of anger I see..."

The explostion boomed into his ear before a large piece of marble slammed into his torso, sending him into the building on the other side of the street. making it topple down ontop of him. A stillness took over the street as a crowd gathered to see what had happend. The smoke and dust billowed through the rain drops that fell past it. The fire of the other building began to slowly go out as the quiet was growing even more empty, save for the whispers of a Demon killing a Vampire.

Get up, boy...
...
Thum-thump... Thum-thump... Thum-thump...
...
Stay calm, Valentine...
...
Get up...
...
You've been through this tenfold...
...
Just stay... Stay-... Don't-!... DON'T!
...
DAMN IT, SALEM! DON'T LOSE IT!

The rubble that sat so gently in the mountain it made began to move. The tipping and tapping of rocks and gravel clinked and chimed on themselves before rocks were sent flying through the air, creating a thick cloud and a roar sounded like a siren of warning. "EVERYONE! RUN FOR YOUR DAMNED LIVES!"

Salem stayed shrouded in the smoke at the rain fell hard. The this fog covered the streets as Salem's grunts and muffles of pain his monster was giving him for every second. Tapping of boots puttered against the ground quickly toward the demon then simply vanished. A scream of a woman let out behind her before garggling away. The pitter-patter began again in the shroud of the fog that hovered close to the streets, infront of her.

The pain in his ribs cracked as he stood close behind her. The boulder of marble was heavy, but that heavy. Gripping his chest, his breathing, hard and heavy. His red eyes now darker crimson, his sclera black as dark depths of the oceans. His heart beat hard in his chest, his eyes fixed on the back of her head. "I've had my fill... Thanks to you..." This was no thankful tone. His quiet growl echoed in the streets as panic of scared dwellers zoomed close by them, blinded by the from the smoke that surrounded them. "Did you think you would kill me, Angel? Yes, I called you an angel once again..."

His teeth shown clearly as the smoke drifted away, his ribs popping back into place. "Your own fit of rage over mere words of a stranger has caused the death of your own kind 'That you care so much for. Is THIS what you wanted, Angel?" His ribs moved under his skin before finally the snapping a crackling stopped. His angry scowl fixed on her as he whiped the blood from his mouth and cracked his neck a bit. "I told you, woman... I will not die by a strangers blade... Did you think that I couldn't rip you apart?" He leaned in close to her, giving less on what she could do to him next and simply stated, "I've see more blood, death, tears. I've heard more screams of pain, breaking bones, slicing flesh of soldiers dying for a purpose not ment to be...." He gave a wicked grin for only a second before his growl became deeper. "I know what you are... And you do not scare me.... "

[Hysterie]

The rumbling of stone, the cracking of bones, the screaming...

I haven't felt this good in a while....

"Thank you, Salem..." she whispered to herself with a half-smile, eyes lightening in hue.

Just as she was turning to go, there was another eruption of rubble and her body flew back around. Everything was obscured by the dust. She could only make out faint, oblong silhouettes. The crowds of people scattering and running every which way wasn't a big help.

The renewed onslaught of taunting was, though.

Her rage was reignited. Silencing herself, she focused intently on the vampire's words. Less on what he was saying and more on where it was coming from. How many feet away... how many feet high, the vocals....

"You're not so old, vampire," she hissed in disgust, "that you can teach me anything about pain or bloodshed."

She spun around and targeted his throat through the haze, instantly feeling his flesh as she sank her fingers into it. So deeply her nails turned purple. She could scarcely see him, yet her livid black eyes bored into him. If looks could kill, well....

"You will regret your courage!"

Sparks flew from her fingertips as they ignited, blazing flames shooting from them within seconds. Just as soon there was the faint smell of burning meat.

[Salem Valentine]

The electrical currants shot through his body, making his shake violently. Salem focused on planting his feet, slamming his boots to the ground. His throat burned and bones rattled as he struggled to place his hands on the Semi-Demons arm. He gave a slight smirk as his red eyes stared into hers before pulling her arm away from her. Blood squirted as the wound from her nails sliced his throat deep. He caughed a bit, letting the flowing blood down his neck escape as his wounds slowly began to heal. Webs of electricity connected with each tooth, slowly dying away. His smirk still remained his eyes filled with anger and horror. He gave a shiver, releasing the rest of the currants from his finger tips.

His throat fully healed, barely a scar remained. "Hahahaaa!" He laughed aloud. "Courage?! Woman, this is NOT courage. " A calmness came over him as he stood breathing deeply, his eyes closed, the shadows around him, rippling and bending with each breath... "This... This is release..."

((Finish later... Work to be done ))