An Insidious Call [Vanyel, Kurai]

He hadn't known what happened to Algos since he and Calypso had left Demon World behind, but part of him had hoped that he'd never find out. Yet, here she was, right in front of him, and all the memories, both good and bad, came flooding back, serving only to steel the grip that he had on his weapon.

How did she get in? When did she get in? How did he not notice or sense her? Why was she suddenly in the place of that girl from before? Had it all been a trick? Did Algos just disguise herself to try and get close to him, and now he was seeing past it? Before he could think of any potential answers, he was jogged from his thought by the bartender trying to calm him down.

Without even looking his way, he flicked his wrist, and a knife swiftly embedded into the counter. Icy blue eyes widened in panic and rage as he kept his furious stare on what he saw.

"Can it, barkeep!"

He racked his head, trying to suppress his fear and rage as he thought of potential answers. It wasn't feasible for her to have just appeared in the room -- something was up, he just didn't know what. Had someone cast some kind of spell over him? He was the only one that seemed to see it, after all. He slowly lifted his weapon, a smoky, cloudy substance slowly emerging from beneath his gloves, wrapping firmly around his hand.

"And you, start talking. How did you get in here, and, more importantly, how the fuck did you manage to find me?"

Vanyel kept his back to the nearby wall, his eyes firm and fixed. He didn't budge an inch, sword still held out in front of him. If she got up and moved toward him, even if it wasn't harmful, he wouldn't hesitate to attack. Walked through the front door? He hadn't been paying attention to those coming and going -- he thought he was somewhere that Algos could never have found him.

But, the next part didn't make sense. He had been talking to the redhead for the last ten minutes, not her. He knew that demons could change their forms and take on different appearances, but Algos never once did that to his knowledge. She was proud of her name, her title, her nature as a demon and as demon royalty.

Unless, in that entire time he'd known her, she had somehow pulled one over him, and he didn't know her at all -- and he didn't know if that was more terrifying or not.

"Like hell you did! I was talkin' to some redhead that came in! What, did you finally see the ashes me and Caly left you? You wanna to try to use me to get at her?! Well, jokes on you, bitch, she's gone!"

He didn't flinch at the sudden upheaving of flames near her. He kept his arm steady, his open hand starting to glow with a vermillion hue.

"Don't try and pull that shit with me! But, if it means finally puttin' an end to this fuckin' nightmare, by all means, light the place up!"

As she got up and started moving closer, Vanyel immediately dropped into a stance, both hands gripping the jian with hate-filled resolve. The more he breathed, the more his vision grew hazy. He could have sworn that he started seeing sharp, moon-white teeth jutting out from that crescent-shaped smile, with it growing even wider. He wasn't going to let her take control of the situation -- he wasn't going to cower in fear of her any longer.

Her voice rang in his ears like a gong, that phrase he heard at the start of it all resounding all around him. But, he wasn't going to let it stop him. He wasn't going to listen to her or trust her ever again. He was going to put an end to the nightmare, to finally get rid of the person that caused all of his suffering.

"Don't come near me!"

Energy flared up inside him and red scales scurried to life along his body. As Kurai came closer, he moved his arm to keep his weapon free, but he wasn't quick enough. Her hand would clamp around his wrist instead, and the red scales would respond, glowing bright at her touch in an attempt to burn her and force her away.

Even if she didn't break off from, him, Vanyel was quick to swap his sword into the other hand. Just as quick, he suddenly thrust out his foot to kick her in the stomach and force her away. Energy flared up again in his leg, and in the desperation of his hallucination, flames erupted from his foot, creating additional physical force to push her back and intending to burn her, just as the scales had.

All he could see was Algos, that wide, crescent smile still shining bright, as if moonlight shone off what he could only assume to be her teeth. His fingers tightened around the handle of his sword, and as Kurai fell to the ground, he changed his stance, twisting the sword so that the point faced her. The more he drew breath, the more he could hear voices chanting and calling all around him.

You aren't fit to love her.

"I know..."

She never loved you.

"Shut up."

You failed.

"I KNOW."

You couldn't save her.

"I KNOW!"

The iron will that had kept him alive for all these years, what let him survive the conversion from man to devil and back again, what had kept him moving in the worst of times, finally was beginning to falter. His stance remained unchanged, but he could feel his eyes wetting, drying almost immediately in response to the blaze around them.

"I'll see you in Hell."

That was all that was left for him to say. As soon as he finished, energy once again flared up, channeling into his sword as he lunged down to try and attack, fully intent on driving the weapon through her throat. From what he saw, Algos didn't deserve a quick death. All she deserved was to die, choking on her own blood, and for the nightmare to finally be over.

Despite that, he could feel pangs of regret eating at him, even now. But, he wasn't going to back down.

It was time to let sleeping demons lie, and for this part of his life to truly and fully come to an end.

Kurai could taste the regret, the despair the man felt. He was at the tipping point. She watched him in glee, eyes wide as he readied himself to end her. As he raised his blade, she watched carefully. When he brought it down, she moved just enough that his blade cut a decent gash along the ribs on her right side. Perfect. Kurai took a deep breath as she took control of the fire and within a snap of her fingers, snuffed it out, little damage having even been done to the environment. She couldn't leave evidence after all. The reiryoku that those around breathed in was gone and the few that were left in the bar were back to normal in an instant. Except for Kurai…

The woman curled herself into a fetal position, holding her wound as a bit of blood dripped onto the wooden floor. Knowing that Vanyel could now see his surroundings for what they were, she pulled her hand from the wound and looked up to him. The terror in her eyes would have seemed palpable. She looked like she expected her own death. “P-Please… don’t… I don’t wanna die.” Her voice trembled as she “begged” this man for her own life. “Don’t kill me… Please, don’t kill me.” The two of them quickly became the center of everyone’s attention. Thinking Vanyel was some murderous maniac as he stood over her with a sword, everyone but the bartender fled.

Everything around him was so loud. Everything he heard just kept repeating again and again, drowning out his own thoughts, causing his head to be flooded with all the memories and regrets he had. The conversion to a demon, his inability to protect Calypso, the loss of his child, Algos' taunts.

The haze just kept growing louder and louder, white noise somehow becoming louder and louder as the storm kept growing more and more disorienting and schizophrenic...

And then, all of a sudden, as the sword came down and the blade sunk into the floor, it stopped. The storm cleared, the fires were snuffed out. It wasn't until the noise finally died that he realized he wasn't breathing. Panicking, he took in a quick, breath, his body swaying lightly, leaning on the sword and causing it to tilt as he tried to regain his balance.

He looked down. Algos was gone. The girl who had come in was in her place. Then he noticed that the sword had cut her, that she was holding her hand over the wound. Something wasn't right. Everything had been fine until she walked in -- and, why had everything suddenly turned back to normal? Had cutting her been the key to destroying whatever illusions or powers were at play?

P-Please...don't... I don't wanna die.

At first, he felt his heart twinge with empathy, but it was quickly shrouded with doubt. Something wasn't right -- he didn't know what, but instinct told him not to trust it. He kept the sword buried into the floor, diamond-colored eyes staring down at her with confusion and irritation. Cold as ice, yet calculating.

"The fuck did you do? Everything was fine before you came in, then I start seein' shit, and booze doesn't cause shit like that."

Kurai could see the wheels turning in his mind. If he was clever enough, he might be able to figure out it was her, but she doubted it. It helped that the angry bartender interrupted the accusations with shouts. "What is your problem?" the bartender said, hurrying around to help Kurai to her feet. She stood back up and stood behind the man defending her. "You go nuts and attack the poor girl and then try to blame her?"

"You... were seeing things?" Kurai tried speaking up, keeping that innocent tone of hers, but she was stopped by the bartender. He put his hand up to stop her from talking. "Men like him do not deserve your sympathy; let's get you cleaned up. The police will be here soon," the bartender said and started guiding Kurai away from Vanyel. She wanted to stay, to see more of the aftermath, but that wouldn't be in-character. "I... Uh, okay..." she began walking away, lead by the bartender. She looked back over her shoulder for a moment, giving a quick 'worried' glance to Vanyel.

'Hm... that was a close one...' she thought to herself, fighting a smirk. 'Clearly... he's not a normal human; oh well, onto the next one... I'll add a bit more fun next time.'