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Returning back along the way, the Scissoraptor made his way easily out of the hedge maze by cutting another path or three through the hedge maze until he arrived back within the castle. Rozalia tried to ignore the human parts somehow still fresh within the satchel, the hands of an old man and the tongue of a child as they walked their way back through the library. Little had changed other than seeing the odd monster passing through within the hallways, who seemed surprisingly to not care about the demon presumably having not been told about the trespasser.

This suited Scisso perfectly fine not wanting to waste anymore time in battles to collect all those that he needed before his bargain could be soon achieved. He could not help however finding himself almost bumping into Dullahan once again in the midst of the library's haunts, the headless gallant currently assisting six zombies in trying to push a fallen bookcase back upright. As the raptor and the woman made their way slowly inbetween the library's grand halls of boastful shelving, they saw one corner having its contents scattered all over the floor in jumbling piles.

[i]"NNNNNGH, O-OKAY COME ON LADS!"

"A-AAAAGH MY ARM!"

"PUT YER BACK INTO IT!"

"I'M MISSING HALF MY SPINE SIR!"

"THAT'S NO EXCUSE NOW COME ON PUSH THE FINAL PART! NNNNNRRRRRRAAAAGH!"[/i]

With the bookshelf now teetering itself back against the wall, the zombie group all clapped their hands together with at least one sharply wincing at his raw bony fingers accidentally scratching himself. The Irish commander simply chuckled throatily as he backslapped one of his subordinates almost knocking his half-decapitated head off.

[i]"Good work lads, good wor-OH, sorry Ted."

"N-n-nothing to worry about c-captain."

"Well that's the last of them, why don't you all take a break before we start picking up the books?"

"Yes captain, thank you."[/i]

With a salute they all walked, the zombies staggering with rotted legs gangrenous and pus-dripping through their armour as the Scissoraptor sidled up towards the unseelie, almost unsuspecting before he murmured in Irish Gaelic:

[i][b]"Having a rough time with the crossword?"[/b]

"More like the junior jumble, hhahahaha."[/i]

Dullahan turned towards Scissoraptor fully before giving a playful little jab to his shoulder to which the demon smirked at.

[i]"How you faring dearthair?"

[b]"Well enough thank you, I was just on my way back to go meet someone."[/b]

"Ohhhh really? You making friends eh?"

[b]"Somewhat...just performing a few small errands to make things go more smoothly."[/b]

"Well long as you keep out of trouble I won't stop ya! You need anything?"

[b]"No, not for now."[/b]

"You uh...got time to help me pick up a few books? One of the ectoplasms got unruly again and knocked over this bastard, got all these scattered out onto the floor."

[b]"You have servants for that surely?"[/b]

"Well, true but...they're not exactly cultured, like you. I mean half this stuff is practically child's play for you to read."

[b]"That is true-ohhhh you were not joking."[/b][/i]

The Scissoraptor picked up one book in particular noting it to be an old French title from the 14th century.

[i][b]"Perceforest? HAH, I can practically recite this twaddle without even TRYING to emulate its milieu! Hmmmmm...I suppose I can help you gather up these books as a small refreshment."[/b]

"GREAT! Alright, so in this library we sort by chronological order of publication so THIS is from 1340 at least."

[b]"I think I can remember some of these publication dates, very well. Rozalia, why not busy yourself with your librarian friend, I won't have need of you for this."[/b][/i]

"I can help too!" cried the human.

[b][i]"Ahahahahaha. No."[/i][/b]

Insulted slightly, she walked off towards the master librarian's room to shoot the breeze as Scissoraptor did the same with Dullahan, the monsters slowly picking up each and every book whilst bantering inbetween on their various opinions. Being so familiar with such ancient literature, it was rather odd he found something much in common with the headless beast of folklore but he strangely enjoyed it.

He smiled gladly and somehow felt Dullahan smile at him in turn occasionally "looking" at his direction by a craning of his neck, working through each and every volume with broad shoulders lurching to grab at books. The taller beast had to stoop down quite often to snatch at tomes that he recognised for their appropriate placement.

[i][b]"Ahhh...Boccaccio."[/b]

"Ohhh I love this guy."

[b]"Really? I would have thought he was much too ineloquent for you."[/b]

"Ehhh I enjoy a little light reading now and again, plus his dialogue is just...much more real sometimes you know, not as high and fanciful like that Arthurian shite."

[b]"Hmhmhm, yes indeed. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."[/b]

"Hey, not every country can learn how to derive from the mandate of the masses without some farcical aquatic ceremony!"

[b]"HAH, I am sure that is EVERY country of humankin, Gan Ceann."[/b]

"Hmmmmmm...you got me there Scisso."

[b]"Ha ha ha ha...ahhhh let's see, OOH! Tales of Count Lucanor."[/b]

"Awww fuck that shite, I hate Spanish literature, I mean I love the language but the writing is just...uuuugh, they always drive on and on without even ending a fucking sentence, like you'd think they would learn how to do paragraphs by this point."

[b]"I personally enjoy the style of the 'novela picaresca', there is something about its narrative that speaks to me in terms of its structure."[/b]

"Ehhh fine. Now THIS."[/i]

Dullahan grabbed one particular book above his head like a holy relic as Scisso looked up like the Magi in adoration.

[i]"Is the masterpiece to brand them all."

[b]"Ahhhhh. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, but of course. Do you have a favourite?"[/b]

"OHH!"[/i]

The headless knight clasped the book to his chest tightly like a plush teddy bear.

[i]"The Nun's Priest's Tale, CLASSIC! I love a good story about some vain arse getting one-upped by his own hubris."

[b]"I most loved the Wife of Bath's Tale. The language especially in tha-hhhhhahahahaha...ye woot wel what I meene of this, pardee!"[/b]

"As help me God, I laughe whan I thynke-"

[b]"How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke!"[/b][/i]

The two cackled raucously at quoting the old fable with the unseelie patting hard upon Scisso's back with a heaving chest of laughter, gladly putting the Canterbury Tales up onto the bookshelf as they worked on despite some occasional interruptions.

[i]"Personally I consider that to be one of the finest works of all time."

[b]"As opposed to Boccaccio's Decameron?"[/b]

"Oh it's very similar definitely. But the thing is with Chaucer, he has a real way of bringing out this English language to its full beauty with his jokes. I mean this whole English language is pretty new but fuck is it ugly. I mean it's broken and all weird with its Saxon roots, it's got nothing on Italian or Spanish in its flow. But the way Chaucer writes it, he makes a real poetry out of it. Spanish is like watching a graceful dancer upon an icy lake, beautiful and effortless in every motion that it bends for. English is like watching a five-year old dance upon that same icy lake, clumsy but charming and so hilarious in its trying so hard that you can't help but LOVE its existence for it."

[b]"Hmhmhmhm, I understand completely. I admit I have enjoyed many a good chuckle from Chaucer."[/b]

"Agreed. Right, uhhhh...what you got there?"

[b]"Romance of the Rose."[/b]

"NEEEEEXT!"[/i]

Both demons eagerly began critiquing every single text they found until every book was piled back onto the shelves as the Scissoraptor smiled eagerly, his cheeks almost swollen to the point of pinched dimples at his joy. It had been quite some time since he ever felt a sense of pride in something hardworking, that didn't include the deaths of hundreds.

[i][b]"That was a good distraction."[/b]

"Hope I'm not holding you up."

[b]"Not too badly, I can always spare my brain for you to pick."[/b]

"I didn't even know you had one."[/i]

He turned glowering with a venomous sneer before Dullahan put up his hands defensively.

[i]"Ahhhh heeey come on now you know I'm joking, besides I meant that wonky reptile yer holding, I mean he don't look the sharpest tool."

[b]"He isn't...hmhm, I suppose his brain does not make much a difference."[/b]

"Certainly didn't when he met you, I bet he don't even know how to read."

[b]"He was an orphan, of English upbringing."[/b]

"Feh, my point exactly!"

[b]"Hahahaha..."[/b][/i]

The two walked over towards a sturdy bookcase leaning against the side of it as they watched the other beasts move to and fro, regulars and defenders of the library stock. Zombies, skeletons, half-beasts, most of them having some sort of human construct to them but overall rather enjoying the pleasantness of the library's atmosphere with its solemn walls of green and sweet candle-lit tables. Dullahan crossed his arms with one foot over the other asking:

[i]"So what are you up to exactly? I mean, if you don't mind me saying."

[b]"I have made a small deal, just something to help me further, a few artifacts."[/b]

"Hmmmm...that's all cleared I hope, I mean hate to be a bother but we have some strict rules around here."

[b]"Oh I have, don't you worry. I've made all the necessary arrangements, I won't be any longer than this night, I somewhat predict I shall be gone just before the dawn shall be."[/b]

"Hmmm...shame, I mean I really like you Scisso, you got moxie in ya, you could be a real good fighter for those against God. You wanna punch God in his fucking face don't you?"

[b]"Who doesn't? Depends on which one you are talking of, for there is one who has a face and one that is forbidden to even have such."[/b]

"Then draw a face on the one who hasn't and punch IT in the fucking face."

[b]"HAHA! Ohhhh...perhaps I could come back, at some point after I am done with my duties."[/b]

"I'll be there to welcome ya, always good to have a friend by you that you can count on. And frankly despite uh...your little setback I can see you got potential to really kick some trouble up in heaven."

[b]"I am making my way slowly towards it."[/b]

"So what exactly is this duty that you have to leave for?"

[b]"Ohhh the usual, desecration of this body's beloved and all that he's ever loved. Hopefully I can do it swiftly before I take him fully, I have this great idea of having him so bereaved that he takes his own life."[/b]

"Ohhhhhhh...I love when they do that, that's the fucking kicker that is."

[b]"I ALMOST did."[/b][/i]

Scissoraptor gave a wicked glee that only children could make as the raw-throated Dullahan turned his shoulders towards him intriguingly.

[i][b]"Steeped him in the blood of children, found a way to make him able to hear their last echoes continuing even after I had allowed him to wake up from my possessiveness. He almost managed to walk off a cliff completely before something managed to stop him."[/b][/i]

"Agh...bloody brilliant, though I hate cliffjumpers, always you never get to see if they're even dead or not, I want to SEE the body so I know that it's DONE."

[b]"I am the same but...beggars can't be choosers."[/b]

"So how are you planning to make this...lizard boy take his life next?"

[b]"I have been practicing this."[/b]

Shivering hotly he felt his scales start to turn less sickly dark brown as his eyes opened up once again to the sipid green above his purple marked snout. He even had a gentle-looking grin of confidence rather than cruelty as James' voice warbled through perfectly despite having a stronger eloquence.

"I've managed to mimic his voice rather good, it was I admit hard to capture all his nuances, he has a very odd and modern sense of speech combined with a smattering of curse execrate."

[i]"Hahaha, that IS pretty good, damn you sound like you're completely mortal!"[/i]

"Thank you. I have this idea, see my host has a......damn."

[i]"What's wrong?"[/i]

"I had a picture of his beloved so you could envision this scene but...I remember that somehow it got lost, never mind, he has a male beloved."

[i]"Ohhhh he's a sodomite huh?!"[/i]

"Correct, and I will say that he is rather innocent, naive, childish and gentle. I am not certain what my host sees in him other than perhaps being rather easy to dominate in bed."

[i]"Might be that."[/i]

"But he is very easy, personally speaking, to manipulate if you hang onto his hope. Actually, let us roleplay because I want to show you."

[i]"Ohhhh really? Well uh, I'm just saying this now, but I prefer you buy me flowers first."[/i]

"Just-...ugh."

[i]"Hhheheheh, okay I'll roleplay, how should I do this?"[/i]

"Firstly my host's name is James so remember that...secondly I am going to need...ah, here."

The demon possessing the raptor brought over a small stepladder to bring himself to a height above Dullahan's headspace.

"His beloved is rather short and I don't want you get on your knees."

[i]"I didn't even buy a ring!"[/i]

"Hhhhah! Anyways, you are a very soft and gentle creature, like something a child created, the kind who cannot even curse one single profanity, annoyingly pure. You have not seen your most beloved in the past four years, your heart is screaming every night for him to return and now he appears before you, perfectly safe and sound far more than you last saw him."

[i]"Alright then...eheh-HEM! ...James? Is that...no...s-s-surely it can't be, I...I-i-i-i thought that I would..."[/i]

"Never see me again? I never stopped thinking about you Koopin. You were...the one thing that kept me going throughout all this and...ohhhh god I missed you."

[i]"I...I-i-i-i...I missed you too. Ohhhh...ohhh James, I haven't been able to sleep since you left me, I've been...I've never felt right without you...are you really here?"[/i]

"I am Koopin. Come here...it's okay now."

The two embraced with the gentlest softest warmth they could ever give, the sickeningly sacrilegious display of the raptor's green eyes closing happily against the thick raw shoulder and crusted neckwound of the great unseelie. The raptor slid his claws along towards Dullahan's "head" as he murmured:

"And then...I slowly kiss him...now imagine you had your head...and as I kiss softly...I press one hand here...to his back slowly up reaching to his neck...the other hand sloooowly rises up and I crush his little larynx like a bug."

[i]"H-HHHHRRRRHRK! N-no...n-no James, wh-wh-what are you doing?!"[/i]

"And I just keep staring into his eyes telling him...'it's okay Koopin...he always loved you'...as he watches with a look of sheer horror before I [i]show him the [b]truth."[/b][/i]

The demon's eyes awoke once again glistening with pitch black of the abyss.

[i][b]"The truth that he always feared would come when I shall rob him of his life...and take everything that he ever was."[/b]

"N-n-no...wh...wh-why...I loved you James...I...I-i-i believed in you...u-u-u-uuuuuuhhhhhh..."[/i]

Dullahan fell back slightly with arms hanging limp, gasping a last sigh as Scissoraptor pretended to suffocate him by grasping at the empty space, suddenly twisting his fingers with a blissful shiver.

[i][b]"One simple SNAP, and that will be the first thing James shall ever see when I show him his home once again...and it shall also be his last if I can make it happen."[/b]

"Hhhhohohohohooooo, ohhhhh that's gonna be fucking sweet, I LOVE a good suicide!"

[b]"Hmhmhmhm...you are a good roleplayer! Almost felt like I was committing it!"[/b]

"Thank you, thank you."[/i]

The beastly knight took a graceful step and bowed towards a nonexistant audience whilst Scissoraptor hopped from his small stepladder.

[i]"Being an unseelie you've got to do a lot of acting to get a real spook out of people."

[b]"I thought you did not despise humans."[/b]

"Welllll no, I don't hate them on the whole as a race but you know in every species there are some real feckin' arseholes who just...lemme give you an example, you wanna know what my favourite victim was?"

[b]"PLEASE DO!"[/b]

"Alright, so...this was around Galway, there was your man coming up the road and I was just rushing along on my horse you know, busying myself with the local haunts. Heh, haunt, so anyway, this guy gets real feart of me like you would and he turns to look. Now...first rule when dealing with me is that if you're human, you NEVER look at me, least that's how it goes back in Ireland."

[b]"Naturally."[/b]

"So he tries to outrun me, and well if you look at me funny, you're gonna get stabbed in the fucking face so I chase after him, he shoulda learnt the rules but firstly, he can't outrun a fuckin' horse and secondly, he can't outrun ME period. Then the bastard drops a gold coin RIGHT IN THE FUCKIN' PATH of me horse an' I can't take it!"

[b]"Gold coin?"[/b]

"I'm aurophobic, I can't stand the sight of gold it just feckin' drives me up the wall, so I go screamin' my head off, literally, an' he runs off back to home. Well, I mean, he broke the rules about not lookin' at me and then he DARES try to pull that shite off on me with my own fear so I go to his house...and I make his next month a living hell."

[b]"Ooooooh tell me."[/b][/i]

The demon gladly licked his lips with anticipation at the story whilst Dullahan spread his hands out to help visualise the scene.

[i]"An old house, two-storey, lived all alone with a wife and two dogs on a small meadow, not a big house but it was tall. He worked as a miller with an old windmill out back so the first thing I did was take some flour and spread it all along the path, just to make it all a bit weird for him. He also was fixing the shingles on his roof, so I had a better idea to make more flour patterns in the night so when he woke up he saw the words 'YOU LOOKED AT ME'. Now he was a little freaked, but not too much...then the next day came and I put even more words out. 'GOLD CAN'T SAVE YOU HERE', said the next lines."

[b]"Hmhmhmhmhm..."[/b]

"He starts getting panicky, not sure what's going on, the wife is going crazy by this point thinking some pranksters are about wasting all their good flour and even when they had the dogs guarding it I was...hehehehe, I didn't harm the dogs, no need to, threw them a bone and that was it so I went further. Next line says 'THE MOON WILL COME WHEN I BLEED ON YOUR FACE', and that makes him go crazy mad, and luckily it was that time of the month for the wife. She had a bucket out she menstruated in like her own special pot so I took it and well, waited for the full moon before putting it above the door."

[b]"Are you SERIOUS?! A schoolboy prank?!"[/b]

"Oh but it was the PERFECT trap, he went INSANE with madness, screaming about the moon out and blood on his face, hhheheheheh...and I even put out some more flour saying 'ONLY DEATH CAN ESCAPE ME' and sure enough...it did."

[b]"What do you mean?"[/b]

"...he put a rope around his chimney on the roof, jumped straight off when he saw me standing in his yard grinning up at him. Swung down hard, there came a KRAKK and he throws his back into the fuckin' window BEHIND HIM and his wife is SCREAMING!"

[b]"HHHAHAHAHA, HAHAHA HA HA, OHHHHHH I LOVE when they hit windows from a hanging!"[/b]

"He's got all this glass straight up his back like frozen daggers jabbed into every part of him!"

[b]"HHHAHAHAHAHA, ohohohoho that's...hhhohhh what a sight I would have loved to see, that's almost as good as the village I half-massacred not more than a few hours back!"[/b]

"HAHAHAHAH, AND HE-wait......what? Village?"

[b]"Yes."[/b][/i]

Dullahan suddenly stopped laughing, his raw heaving suit of armour turning deathy still before the demon noticed his odd mood as he softly blinked. The knight turned towards him with great discomfort rising in his voice before asking:

[i]"What...village exactly?"

[b]"The one not more than a few miles from the castle."[/b]

"......ohhhhhh noooooo."[/i]

Even without a face Scissoraptor could feel an immense unease from the unseelie, his hands somewhat tensing back and forth.

[i]"Okay...listen, Scisso, you're rather new I can understand but...h-how many...did you uhm...kill in that village?"

[b]"I cannot possibly remember, perhaps a church full?"[/b]

"Hhhhhh...okay. Okay, that...that might not be TOO bad but listen. I like you a lot, so it's only fair that I give you this warning."[/i]

The knight leaned towards Scisso with a fierce disposition, seething in his voice with austerity.

[i]"[b]Stay away from that village.[/b]"

[b]"Why?"[/b]

"Just...don't go near it. I'm asking you, just, wherever you're going next, don't go near that village again, please."

[b]"Demons do not say 'please', what are you babbling on about?!"[/b]

"It was especially my lord's instructions to NOT interfere with that village."

[b]"I am not privy to your lord, Gan Ceann!"[/b]

"Well just do it for ME then, come on...I mean, you have much more bigger fish to fry, why bother with a bunch of small measly little humans, you've got your own objective."

[b]"Indeed...but, is there something special in that village your master needs?"[/b]

"I follow orders, I don't question his grace."

[b]"Hmph, you sound no different from a crusader."[/b]

"Please, don't make this hard for me. I won't say anything about what you've done because I know that those in the higher ups are gonna give you a bad time if you start boasting about this village, just please trust me. If you just promise you won't go back to that village, I won't say another thing about it and you can just keep going through this place without hassle. Truce?"

[b]"...hmmmmm truce."[/b][/i]

The raptor shook hands with the gallant unseelie.

[i][b]"I suppose for you I can ignore a small pitiful little village, especially considering I have a much greater prize to hunt for."[/b]

"Thank you. I really appreciate it, dearthair."

[b]"Speaking of which, I must take my mule along with me for we have a small arrangement to meet."[/b]

"Will I see you again?"

[b]"Perhaps, I hope at least. Farewell Gan Ceann."[/b]

"You too Scissoraptor, travel safe."[/i]

Making his way to the master librarian's room, the demon navigated through various denizens of the library seeing skeletons briefly skimming through lesser known works on their off-duty shifts. Eventually he came upon Rozalia discussing something with the librarian inside, caring little for their conversation as he grabbed her arm.

"WH-what are you-"

[b][i]"We're leaving."[/i][/b]

"But I was just tal-"

[b][i]"NOW."[/i][/b]

"Or what, you'll hit me?!"

His hand twitched around her wrist before he dragged her away with his greater strength, the librarian waving pitifully at Rozalia with a small wink to her as they finally left the library. Heading down towards the ground floor once again, the Scissoraptor used his memory to pass back along the hallways whilst noticing the armoury had been closed off and barred for investigations. Cruelly smiling at such a turn of events, he soon reached the door to the catacombs still resonating by an unearthly energy field protecting all that lied within as he held out his hand.

[b][i]"Key."[/i][/b]

The demon turned and looked bristling towards the woman who crossed her arms.

[b][i]"Key."[/i][/b]

She said nothing and simply looked away before Scisso grabbed her jaw forcing her to look at him.

[b][i]"KEY. NOW."[/i][/b]

"Not until you give me an apology."

[b][i]"For what?!"[/i][/b]

"Dragging me away in mid-conversation from the lovely librarian, I don't pester you when you're with your little book club friend Dullahan!"

[b][i]"It is NOT a book club, he is simply a fellow intellectual above your station."[/i][/b]

"Well either way I was polite enough not to drag you away from when you were clearly having a good time with your friend!"

[b][i]"What is even worth discussing between HUMANS such as you and the librarian?!"[/i][/b]

"He knew whatever monster you were despite no one else knowing, he is a greatly fascinating individual!"

[b][i]"Hmph. Key."[/i][/b]

"Say sorry first."

[b][i]"Hand over the key or else I will-"[/i][/b]

"Do...WHAT? You cannot do anything to hurt me, you can insult me, you can denigrate me, you can humiliate me but you cannot PHYSICALLY harm me so I suggest that you stop being such a petulant BULLY and for ONCE in your pitiful existence start being polite to people."

[b][i]"I only need you for this purpose, I am not here to make friends."[/i][/b]

"Is it really so painful for you to even be pleasant to one person? All it takes is one word and we could have been inside these catacombs two minutes sooner."

Frustration crawled through the raptor's skin as he tightened his jaw, cracking it sharply as his head shook with a vicious anger of unholy proportions. Rozalia did not flinch, either too tired or bitter to even care if the demon was capable of anything to hurt her but she simply stood defiant before he gasped with achingly deep breaths that simply rattled with fury.

[b][i]".........PLEASE. The key, also the map as well."[/i][/b]

"Thank you."

She handed over both gladly before he snatched them violently away almost ripping off her fingers, turning to unlock the door which slowly dissipated its forcefield before them. A melting blue essence permeated from the door to their foot in a cloud of dust as slowly the door began to open inwards with a heavy creak as it welcomed them in. The smell of death was thick in the air as Rozalia gasped from the stench everflowing from within as the monster walked through into the depths of the strange castle.

At first they saw nothing, the old musty passageway turning too dark for anything to be seen as they felt their feet slowly sink into the ground below. The stone cobbled floor began fading as it was slowly replaced by cold soft earth, sucking around their ankles like the hands of those deceased. Eventually they came to the first light of a torch within the catacomb passage. Rozalia wished that they hadn't seen any of it as she backed off rather disturbed at the sight before them.

The walls were screaming. Everywhere they looked, there was nothing but the skulls of human beings shrieking silently forevermore, piled upon each other to become nothing more than a faceless statistic. In the first corridor alone there must have been more than two hundred former souls left within the abyss beneath Dracula's castle.

[b][i]"Two-hundred-and-seven."[/i][/b]

Rozalia trembled from the feeling of such sorrow, mournful soft pittance upon the dead who now lied within walls, becoming nothing more than the foundations of this dreadful palace. It felt as if someone had filled an ancient mine with the bodies of those long since, the structural design of its many hallways feeling almost well predetermined. The rock-sculpted pillars containing many skulls within were always every twenty feet, the walls normally showing coffins of old wood long since rotted through to reveal their grave inhabitants.

Bones stepped on underfoot cracked beneath the Scissoraptor's heel as he ventured further in, following the map as he glanced within firelight at it occasionally. The torches did not help much, the darkness almost all-consuming as if trying to creep up unsuspecting upon every light to snuff it out, like the monstrous wolf within the woods preying upon little children. The third relic was somewhere at its most deep of subterranean passages as the demon made his way through with the woman stumbling behind him constantly.

[b][i]"Are your eyes that feeble?"[/i][/b]

"I-i can't-AGH, this...this ground is so unstable and the light is almost dim that I can't see anything but shapes!"

[b][i]"Yet another trait of an inferior species, unlike I who does not need eyes within the darkness."[/i][/b]

"How can you...see then?"

[b][i]"I can sense...the essence of me can trace the air around me for any turns of the old passages but something...disturbs my senses within this place."[/i][/b]

"It is a very terrible death-filled place."

[b][i]"And yet there are no souls here...where have they all gone to? Perhaps that soul prison was more true than I expected."[/i][/b]

"Soul prison?"

[b][i]"Never mind, now stay with me."[/i][/b]

He wandered on through the darkness as the hollow passages echoed back to him with the sounds of wind turning into the the screams of the dead. Winding and twisting forever through the small pockets of light, Rozalia struggled to keep track watching always around her for anything that could strike. Even when she knew that there was essentially nothing in the castle that could harm her theoretically, the ever-present fear that all humans faced from the darkness never released its hold from her heart.

Scissoraptor soon found himself trapped along one dead end after turning somewhat confused by the cold darkness, a little alcove of seventeen deceased people half of whom were spilling their skeletal remains out of their broken coffins. Already they saw dust seeping from the bones that deteriorated like ash creating a greater scent of misery for all within these walls as the human asked:

"I...I wonder who these people were."

[b][i]"Either the former inhabitants of this castle...the enemies of its masters...or those who came before you."[/i][/b]

"...oh god. If this is...the resting place of my ancestors I-"

[i]"Maybe it is."[/i]

The demon turned and struck with violent force not even looking before his scissors cleaved through someone's skull sending Rozalia back with a frightened shock screaming as she fell to the floor. In her fall she accidentally grabbed someone's hand which fell onto her shoulder, raw bony fingers clasping gingerly as she freaked even more panicking to run to the other side of the room.

Standing before them was a blood-red skeleton, its head having come off completely but still standing before the demon until its skull slowly rolled back along the floor, up its leg, along the spine and back onto its shoulders perfectly. The voice was female despite being rather monotone, raspy without emotion as she replied:

"No need to be jumpy, I understand the human being but not you."

"You should be dead."

"Ahahahaha. I know the light must be dim but you cannot be THAT stupid."

"You dare insult me?"

"Well it's impossible to destroy me so-"

Carving through her ribcage, the skeleton was torn through cleanly in half with a shattering of bone gristle as her legs fell to her knees before crumpling. It was only a few seconds later that slowly the bones managed to reassemble themselves by snapping back into place, crackling as they reformed as the blood-red skeleton put a finger up.

[i]"Okay...firstly, you are being a cunt right now. Secondly, impossible to destroy me so please, don't waste your effort."

[b]"What manner of sorcery allows skeletons to remain permanent?"[/b]

"Loyalty. Loyalty and the blood of thousands seeping into my bones constantly reviving me. It hurts, but you get used to it, physical pains are far easier to heal by this point."

[b]"Are you of this woman's ancestry?"[/b]

"Not unless she is Romani."

[b]"More like Romanian."[/b]

"Then no, she is not...then again, you never know."[/i]

She shrugged half-heartedly.

[i]"My people did travel far and wide."

[b]"Were you one of this castle's servants?"[/b]

"Not in life no. I serve the master, and have done so for the last two hundred years after my death. My name is Florica."[/i]

"How..." began Rozalia. "Why did you become servant to this place?"

[i]"My family were slaughtered by the Ottomans...considered nothing more than worthless subhumans upon the bottom rung of their so-important social ladder...well...am I still that when I have outlived all of my enemies?"[/i]

"I...I don't know, I'm...I'm so sorry for your loss, I'm...Rozalia by the way."

[i]"Thank you...Rozalia. I was sorry too...until the master revived me. One of his Forgemasters found me beneath the corpses of my family, coated in their blood and barely clinging onto life. He took me in...brought me back to his master and asked me if I was one of God's forsaken orphans, banished from his light. I said 'well at least one God despises me, I do not care who' and he smiled at me. He was a strange tortured man, at least when I first met him but I have seen him much...happier in this century."[/i]

"The master of this castle is that kind?"

[i]"He seeks to give refuge to all that God despises. His only true enemy is God, that I know of, but there is love for humanity somewhere inside him...from someone. I have given my life to him, literally, and though I may be nothing more than a blood-red visage guarding the old catacombs...I feel safer here. I was not able to fight ever, and I am too weak for such but my spirit he admired for...resisting death so long. He has me here as one of the guardians of those long deceased."[/i]

"Who...has he buried here?"

[i]"Friends and soldiers he has buried amongst you. His enemies have become...hmhmhmhm, well, let's just say they will follow him now as one force but enough about me...why have you come to this place, soul-beast? You will find no sustenance amongst the crypt."

[b]"I am looking for a certain room, there is an item I require."[/b][/i]

The demon offered up his map towards the red skeleton as she looked over it cautiously, noticing the highlighted soft glow of the deepest room.

[i]"Hm. Go back the way you came, head straight on until turning at the second right. Then go left soon as possible and continue heading onwards until you see a deep sloping passage. That shall be your destination, newcomer."

[b]"It appears to be the very bottom of this catacomb...what else lies there?"[/b]

"Everyone...eventually. I see you are new which is why I will not mention our small transgression but I will say...beware of Amdusias...he is a very temperamental beast that enjoys lurking at the pit closest to hell."[/i]

She chuckled grimly with a wide grin of teeth before the demon left her presence, along with Rozalia bowing respectfully as they followed her instructions. After a winding passage of at least twenty more minutes into the subterrane pit with a long descent along a steep slope, one that almost caused the human to lose her footing and stagger once more, they soon reached their target. But as they approached closer towards their third relic's destination there was a sound ever growing from within. A villifying cacophony that sounded perfectly like the souls of screaming baptists.

A room greatly more expansive than should ever be conceived possible was somehow beneath the castle itself, practically the size of an arena in one large circular perspective. Thousands of corpses littered across the entire floor of all the human race, every colour, every age, every stage of death from every walk of life in the midst of a terrifying noise that sent chills through Rozalia's spine. She could barely hear herself think as the constant deep wailing from raw infernal damnation became a solid wall as the demon felt his ears bleed.

And yet despite the terrifying noise that deafened their very existence to the point Rozalia's eyes started to blur with fearful apparitions, there was a melody somehow within somehow. An entire orchestra's worth of instruments from percussion to brass to woodwind all playing smoothly together as they saw a lone figure conducting with clawed hands openly to the timbre. Trembling slightly from the deep strength of the song rather than the music itself, he felt the burst of his host's ear drums finally before the bones inside James' ears shattered like fragile glass, trickling like sand from the earholes as Rozalia began shrieking with pain.

"[i]I CAN'T! I CAN'T STAY HERE![/i]"

[b][i]"DON'T BE SUCH A CHILD!"[/i][/b]

"[i]IT'S HURTING MY EARS! PLEASE, L-LET ME STAY OUT OF THIS ROOM, I'M NO USE TO YOU LIKE THIS! I CAN'T TAKE THIS![/i]"

[b][i]"IMBECILE!"[/i][/b]

She ran regardless escaping the noise as the raptor rolled his eyes in frustration before walking up towards the conductor of this catastrophic abyss. The moment he stepped towards ten feet of him, the music stopped almost rather suddenly as the figure spoke, a deep voice rumbling of a Shakespearean tone of voice.

[i]"Hmhmhm...what strange travellers the dead shall make. But even stranger are those who walk amongst them."

[b]"Are you Amdusias?"[/b]

"That I am."[/i]

The stranger bowed with eloquent grace, turning to show his head which resembled that of a unicorn, his horn shining forth with demon's light. His body was rather lean within the purple cloak, red lining within as his claws gently swung in the air.

[i]"My reputation doth proceed me, are you here for my orchestral performance?"

[b]"I am here to claim a relic."[/b]

"Ah...a pity, I so enjoy an audience but when I only have...this...auditorium it is rather dis...stressful."

[b]"Music is not my passion."[/b]

"But murder is, apparently."[/i]

He walked towards the Scissoraptor through the sea of corpses, the horseheaded man simply parting them like the Red Sea as if the dead had obeyed him, his long crooked feet crackling upon the shards of bone and human skin.

[i]"I know all souls that pass through this place...I know of your foul deeds in the armoury."

[b]"A mere training session promptly, 'tis not my fault the recruits were too pathetic to muster."[/b]

"Hmhmhm...then perhaps...YOU...would like to challenge me in your training regime? I know what you seek, only one item is so worthy of your attention, beast."[/i]

Amdusias began chanting something beyond human hearing, a murmur of dread that Scissoraptor knew was some bizarre form of mathematical composure. The sound of thundering storms approached from behind the horseheaded beast as sparks of lightning began rippling along his horn before his lips began to move faster, rapidly mumbling some insane calculation that Scisso struggled to follow fully.

A shattering strike from above, burning throughout the entire room as corpses suddenly set themselves ablaze by sheer lightning from the tall dark ceiling above their heads as something appeared before them. Hovering with the sound of a beating heart, was the brain of a human being perfectly preserved without even the slightest drippage of its grey matter as a strange pulse of energy came from it, the horseheaded demon explaining.

[i]"The mind of Abu Ali...al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina...or as you would know him, simply Ibn Sina or Avicenna if you are Latin."

[b]"The name is familiar."[/b]

"One of the greatest minds of the human race. Four-hundred-and-fifty treaties covering philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, geology, psychology, Islamic theology, logic, mathematics, physics, medicine and poetry. The most influential polymath of his era and the one behind the great Canon of Medicine. His Book of Healing alone is a vast improvement upon those such as Galen or Hippocrates...and you think you are worthy to hold such beauty?"

[b]"An intelligent dog is still but a dog to me."[/b]

"Hhhuh...such soulless pithy, if you want truly to earn this master's relic you must prove your intelligence to me. Thusly."[/i]

With a snap of his long fingers, there came a sound of dread from all across the hall as the sound of trumpets began to rise, a chorus permeating from the depths of hell itself as soon he saw there was indeed pit beneath the floor of this room. A burning violent smoulder that began to seethe with most passionate hatred from beneath the hundreds upon hundreds of human bodies of centuries past. Soon the Scissoraptor noticed that the sound of an orchestra was coming from all the bodies themselves as Amdusias somehow managed to manipulate their very organs into instruments.

Throats became wailing trumpets, spines quivered into harp-like strings, lungs burst forth as a resounding pipe organ all at once as the knees and feet of the long dead began pounding all at once, the hungered beating of a wartime drum. Soon half the bodies began to rise into the air as if ascending towards the heavens, but there would be no saving these lost fools of the many. Slowly they began to cloister around the mind of Ibn Sina, tightly packing themselves with snapping twists and crunches forming a perfect shell of black, white, tan and sand skin.

A grand shadow began to cover the Scissoraptor's body as the dreaded giant mass began floating above the room. Almost spherical in shape, now solely composed of many hundreds of human bodies gasping their eternal moments, the massive orb of death now the size of a mountain boulder. Amdusias chuckled cruelly as his song continued playing.

[i]"MY NAME IS LEGION, FOR WE ARE MANY! But I want to give you a greater challenge for one befitting of your reward. I have carved a numeric sum upon every single body that lies on this beast, seven of which have the correct solutions on their miserable remnants. There are two-thousand precisely that compose this cage of flesh with the brain you so seek at the very centre so I hope that you have sharp eyes, most unwelcome demon."

[b]"You...are seriously trying to pervade me with mathematical equations?!"[/b]

"What fun is it simply to cut and hack weeds when you can calculate how many roots that lie beneath?!"

[b]"Why not kill YOU instead?!"[/b]

"Because then you will NEVER be able to break this coccoon of human flesh free for I can create, but never destroy, and if so you destroy me, then you shall have our own Legion to face with and no advice for your solution. Shall we begin? Solve for me the closest approximate solution of the following cubic equation. x3 + 2x2 + 10x = 20. I will allow an error margin by about six-trillionths."

[b]"You cannot be serious."[/b]

"Mathematics is nothing BUT serious, especially when you have TWO THOUSAND BODIES about to crush your skull in twain whilst screaming the infernal song of your DOOM! HHHHHA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"

Being uncertain as to whether despise or be puzzled at this macabre whimsical disgrace, the demon realised either way he would not be shown up at this game as he made his way forwards. The horrifying grand balloon of corpses writhed and pulsated with hundreds of naked humans, all in various forms of decay withering to rot in the subterranean necropolis. Scissoraptor first began to calculate whilst keeping an eye on the Legion, being cautious on what it could do to him in this state. He soon found a response in the form of a violent laser blast unexpectedly slicing him.

[b]"A-AAAAAAARGH!"[/b][/i]

The sudden burst of energy, whether by magic or by the culmination of spiritual remnants inside two-thousand human bodies, tore almost clean through the Scissoraptor's body as he felt his right arm and leg fall bloodlessly to the ground. Staggering on the one leg with one-third of his body gone, the raptor's body was soon discarded briefly amongst the dead as the weapon possessed suddenly flew upwards into the air.

The demon struggled to begin pondering the equation whilst avoiding the now-constant laser attacks pulsing from the great monstrous orb, dodging by a shimmering of his essence materialising just briefly. With his "aerial" form of sorts, the scissors lunged swiftly forwards after the fourth blast went past him, a streaking crimson shot as the weapon began feverishly searching across the entirety of human flesh, a constellational chart borne of emptiness and suffering.

But despite having the range and freedom as simply the weapon, it was still an immense chore to search every single body for the clear tattooing of numbers scrawled violently deep into the deceased flesh. It was here that Scissoraptor was thankful for having no sense of smell either physically or spiritually with Karam's tonic still taking its effect, for the stench of acrid foetid remains would have been overwhelmingly toxic. He was already too close for any of the entity's blasts of energy to hurt him, so instead it began to focus on the other half of Scisso.

Slowly it began to shed the bodies off itself like dead skin from a serpent, bones shattering with a crumpled thud and the squish of rigid flesh onto the blood-festooned ground dirt. But every body that slipped from Legion's bonds began to rise upwards, groaning with their last breaths escaping from their throat as they began slowly to walk towards James' body still healing. The demon realised what it was up to by the time he had managed to find the first two numbers of the equation.

The remnants of the fleshy shell staggered on to their next feast, gasping horror from their dry lips by a horde of three-dozen already upon the wounded raptor's body. With limbs slowly reattached by the demon's dark beyond it now had to struggle against the teeming masses of walking dead stumbling upon him with jaws open to rip his flesh. Biting with primal instincts, they clawed and scraped all over James' physical remains including the left synthetic arm but none of them ever consumed strangely. They were but extensions of violent deaths, the evisceration and the desecration of the deceased.

Resounding shrieks of trumpets played on as Amdusias gleefully cackled at his performance whilst conducting, simply hovering above the hellpit in the centre of the room as unseen instruments played amongst the dead inside. The raptor was mutilated, clawed through to the skull, eyes ripped, stomach carved hollow and by the time the scissors managed to return to him by the seething swarm it had to cut through, he was missing half his organs as one great abscessed wound that simply never twitched.

The scissors began to fight against the dropping bodies constantly shedding from the Legion's shell, ripping through the shambling masses like a roasting knife through warm butter. Blood spilled pathetically having barely left anything within their corpses, severing heads to and fro that simply rolled straight off along the ground lumpen with many more bodies to come. He knew they would all regenerate and realised he had to take the risk and keep the body alongside him as the scissors regained their grip into James' hand.

The raptor had awoken, or rather the demon had resumed its throne upon James' soul taking the body into action as he desperately began healing up the horrid wounds and missing pieces of his anatomy whilst the scissors swung viciously. Back and forth across his vision to thin the numbers partially, he waited for his chance to run and as soon as he felt able, he staggered along towards the peripheral wall circling around the room to give himself some distance. Throughout the whole engagement he had also been searching for other bodies with numeric on them.

He had already calculated the answer closest and scrabbled onto the wall waiting for Legion's bloated form to come close, shooting its laser blasts straight along which began to crack rippling through the catacombs by at least four feet into the rock foundation. A dangerous beast without soul or thought, despite the many parts of its now seemingly infinite mass staggering like a single group of zombies clamouring to get a piece of the demon's host. The raptor's claws sunk in, feeling his wounds start to heal over the flesh that had been torn off his stomach before he leapt towards the top of Legion.

Plunging his scissors in, he raked through the mass grave of spherical form and rapidly began searching for the next numbers with desperation. His feet began to disappear shoving his body through until he was practically swimming amongst the still-lifeless bodies of the grand beast's shell. He wasn't seen again for another six minutes as a pulsating aura began to throb within Legion, slowly hovering across the entire room seeking for a feast. Then came the last number.

The moment the demon tore through it, everything began to dissolve. Slowly desiccating like the husk of an insect's coccoon, the one known as Legion felt its bodies dropping off like flies in giant fleshy lumps, simply severing apart as the magical essence completely dissipated with nothing able to bind anything to its form anymore. Inbetween the thudding of two-thousand broken humans, there lied the brain of Knowledge the raptor was seeking now bound within a dozen red tendrils made of hot pulsing arteries that began to wither and die, freeing it from its prison.

As the Scissoraptor landed upon the piles of flesh dropping from all around him like falling angels out of the sky, he put out one single hand to clutch the mind of Ibn Sina with it, scalding through him gently by its holy light of knowledge. He walked slowly towards Amdusias who simply stood waiting with arms open in rapture.

[i][b]"One, twenty-two, seven, forty-two, thirty-three, four, forty."[/b]

"Ahhhhh...Fibonacci."

[b]"Yes."[/b]

"I knew you were skilled but they were not boasting about you indeed. I thank ye for the performance my good sir, and I hope that you do not take this journey ever higher up-[b]WHRRRKHH!"

"End, of, sequence."[/b][/i]

His other hand shanked the scissors straight through the horseheaded throat, gasping by a gurgling frenzy before the sweet release of death took him neatly. He did not even resist strangely as the blood choked his throat viciously tight, vomiting through to drip red down the blades as the demon simply kicked him straight off his weapon and into the abyss. The gates of hell awaited Amdusias once again as his form was swallowed into the abysmal infinity of darkness and sin before he turned towards the exit. Rozalia stood fearfully in waiting at the door.

The demon, still ragged from the scarring wounds of the Legion, walked with hand still burning from the light of awe-inspiring knowledge in its beautied perfection, the great polymath of the Islamic Golden Age gently resting within his claws befre he shoved it into Rozalia's hands.

"WH-what is-"

[b][i]"We are leaving."[/i][/b]

"U-UUUUGH, it-it's dry, why isn't it WET I mean it SHOULD be but I didn't wan-A-AAAAGH!"

Grabbing her viciously by the arm as she hastily stuffed the brain into her satchel, the demon dragged her towards the pit and forced her onto her knees. The sight of nothingness was one of the most terrifying things she had witnessed. Perfect darkness. Complete and utter end of existence as she felt a cold deep burn across her face from the fires burning deep. She could not see them, but hear them clearly as a great overwhelming horror reaching into her spirit as she heard the demon breathe.

[b][i]"Let's make a NEW deal. If you defy me ever again, or speak back to me...I will drag you back here myself and you shall fall into this pit, screaming eternally until your existence has been completely destroyed as you shatter every bone in your body upon the precipice of Inferno's cliffs. Do you not think I KNOW what hell is?"[/i][/b]

"[i]O-O-OHHHH GOD! P-PLEASE, NO PLEAAAAAAAASE![/i]"

[b][i]"From this point onwards, I want no more backtalking, no snide comments, no insipid acts of defiance against me until you are freed from my services...unless you want to see your bones taken from whatever wretched squall you fall upon and carved into toys of pleasure for those that lurk within. Is that...underSTOOD?!"[/i][/b]

He shoved her head over the edge of the abyss, forced downwards into a deep reverence bowing into the emptiness of the world far beneath. The sound she heard echoing from within was a nightmare's smile upon her face. She began to laugh. Laughing until tears streaked down her face begging the demon to free her. Laughing until she began to sob shrieking with agony as a great madness began tearing at her face, wet and slithering all across her from the infinite darkness like the hands of undines waiting to eat her face.

"[i]HHHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA, OHHHHH [b]GOD![/b] GOD PLEASE, PLEASE I-I'LL DO IT, I'LL OBEY YOU, I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY MASTER, PLEASE FORGIVE ME! DON'T! [b]DON'T PLEAAAAAAASE![/b][/i]"

[b][i]"Good."[/i][/b]

The Scissoraptor yanked her back throwing her away from the pit.

[b][i]"Now keep those relics close and DON'T lose them...sordid little mule."[/i][/b]

She stood up shaking with weakened limbs, staggering back to the exit whilst shying away from the passing demon. The long walk back towards the ground floor of the castle was a dead silence, just the way the Scissoraptor liked it. Monsters passed them occasionally in the catacombs, all skeletal and deceased long ago, some not even human. They milled about with their odd duties in taking care of the crypt, venerating and refurbishing the coffins left that were yet to fall completely open.

Taking guidance with the map, they found themselves within the alchemy lab after taking a diversion away from the library and heading further along towards the east wing of the old forsaken castle. Various other hallways greeted them, one of which had a more holy ring to it that turned Scissoraptor uncomfortable from even looking at before wondering why exactly such a man against God would even have such a place. He pondered it elsewhere wanting to simply focus on the fourth and last item of his quest, heading upwards along the second floor.

There were at least five floors of the castle according to his map, and while most of his routes took him around the first two, he was rather curious for what laid even further up. The further he went the more exquisite the decorum was, draped with fine red silken tapestries and more elite-looking guards. With each step he took, the demon healed himself a little more by his essence until by the time he reached the alchemical laboratory, there was not a strip of skin left exposed upon his host.

In the dark gloom of the robust laboratory, the smell of sulphur and mercury welcomed them into the lost art of ancient chemistry. All around them were the sounds of transmutation searching constantly for the great secrets of life. The Elixir of Immortality, the Philosopher's Stone, the eternal quest to transcend both earth and sky's very limits of chemical composition through earth, fire, water, air and aether. The first four were understandable, constantly changing various forms within a wondrously puzzling array of jars, but the fifth element was even more unusual. An actual gathering of nothingness, or rather the nothingness of space between stars and planets, the anti-matter of existence as an actual element.

The demon however noticed the three chemical elements that added greatly to this part of alchemy. Sulphur, the rotting stench of burning stone; Mercury, the perfect metallic property; and Salt, the most solid of corpuscularian foundation. Rozalia was fascinated despite the horrid smell of roast salted eggs from the various chemicals but kept well away from the mercury with its toxic presence despite being well-sealed. Vials and tubes swirling across the tabletops gave birth to new lithe chemical solutions of ever-changing colours, spiralling from golden brown to translucent green.

The architecture was both beautiful and horrifying, testaments to the grand visionary concepts of science in its early youth whilst also somehow bending the reality of one's mental image. Non-euclidean sculptures twisting evermore through an imperceptible image, diamond shapes folding within circles yet never once losing any of their sharp edges, despite retaining its new shape of perfect circular beauty. Every image that she witnessed only further twisted her head in with stultifying forms of impossibility.

Muscular bodies with heads in the shape of cubes transfixing upon four dimensional points, that appeared to exist in three different spaces along in a row but never at the same time. Four legs attached to each other in one single running cycle transfixed but never fully stopping as everytime she looked back, they would always have moved to another different position. It was science and madness, both combined into one glorious revelation that only ever was separated by the thin line of genius.

The raptor walked on through different sectional rooms of the alchemy laboratory, studying different methodologies such as the changing of molecules, the structural of shapes and the metaphysical qualities of the building blocks of life. In various rooms he found sentient slimes with the faces of women slithering across the floor, fiery pinwheels burning with the face of lions snarling from within that hovered overhead, even some creatures resembling actual pentagrams blinking without a single word towards the demon. At one point he found a small delicious experiment waiting for him in one corner, guarded by three scientists wearing rather stately fine robes of dark blue.

One was a wraith in brown cloak with burning red eyes and no feet beneath his robes, one was a sallow-skinned zombie of Persian origin with immaculate black beard, and the last was a golem towering above at a height of 7'4''. The golem made of clay had a smooth bald head with large thickening arms, one of which was inscribed with a short Hebrew script Standing around a table, they watched the holy pulsing of life that grew from within the centre of. There also laid several rather interesting experimental volumes of measuring actual souls, slowly drifting like will-o-wisps inside various jars as the wraith asked:

[i]"Are you quite certain it's even physical?"

"It has to be,"[/i] said the golem, [i]"how else would you explain the adrenal glands' charged reaction to but a whimsy?"

"I think that most certainly must be a mental trigger."

"But observe the hypothalamus, the most important trigger for all things of mortal nature. Sleep, lust, food, nurturing and hope. Now we understand sleep and food are the most basic of chemical urges, hunger being caused by the deprivation of leptin and ghrelin hormone levels, whilst the urge to sleep is brought by melatonin produced by your inner body clock. But what of hope then? What form of chemical composition must there be to form to create hope itself?"

"And do you think that this heart has the answer for it?"

"We have a rarity here, the heart of Sicarius of Bethlehem."

"I...do not know that name,"[/i] admitted the zombie.

[i]"Most never would, one of many unfortunate infants who suffered King Herod's massacre of the innocents."

"I THOUGHT it was too small for a child, how did you even get this?"

"You would be surprised what people find in a desert. Here we have one of the most perfect unblemished hearts of purity wherein lies nothing but hopes and dreams."

"And what are you going to do with that then? Transfer it to a flower?"[/i]

They looked towards the undead Persian, who somehow managed to retain a fine greyish beard that never went past his adam's apple. The golem raised an eyebrow sculpted from clay, his head surprisingly smooth despite his large flat lips.

[i]"What sort of idiot would do such a thing?"

"A scientist, Jacob."

"Hmhmhaha, fair point Rakheem, fair point. NOW, friends, how do we extract the hope from this precious thing?"

"Perhaps an aether extractor,"[/i] said the wraith, [i]"that would help to at least isolate the chemical quantities."

"What if the heart shrivels?"[/i] asked Rakheem the zombie. [i]"As much as its life essence is practically brimming I would rather not risk deteriorating it any further, Vassago."

"Fortune does not favour the meek, we must at least try, I am certain this child's heart is strong enough to withstand such extraction. I have been practicing with these souls as you see here, I have made it perfectly safe."

"Let us finish as much as we can,"[/i] replied Jacob, [i]"the sabbath is tomorrow and I would rather not miss this experiment whilst in resting."

"It's hardly merit to follow your old customs under our new lord."

"A golem must always rest on the sabbath, unless you'd rather see golem smash out of sheer incandescent rage. I must rest out of necessity, not tradition."

"Hm, very well...can I help you?"

[b]"Yes."[/b][/i]

The Scissoraptor walked forwards with a smile on his lips, twirling his blades as he licked his snout hungrily.

[i][b]"I am rather famished and I noticed you have quite a delightful little cluster of souls there."[/b]

"They are NOT food,"[/i] snarled Vassago, [i]"return to your station whelp."

[b]"Hmhmhm...my station in life, or within these walls? Because I think you will find I am at the apex of both."[/b]

"Who is this?!"[/i] cried Rakheem. [i]"I don't recall anyone of your descript being authorised inside this laboratory!"

[b]"I don't NEED authority, I am my own authority."[/b][/i]

The golem walked forwards, stomping thickly with stone-like feet trembling the laboratory with a serious look upon his sculpted brow, looming monstrously over the raptor who was completely within Jacob's shadow. He pressed a cold thick finger musty with earth upon the Scissoraptor's head big enough to crush his eyesocket.

[i]"Leave us to our experiment, or else."

[b]"Take your finger off my head or else I shall turn you into the walls of Jerusalem."[/b]

"Hm...hhhhmhmhmhm, look at this little oysshteler."[/i]

With a flick of his finger he slammed Scissoraptor down against the floor with impossible strength born from the very foundations of the castle, the raptor's head smacking fiercely loud enough to make Rozalia wince.

[i]"You might be able to carve flesh in two but you cannot break the earth itself."

[b]"I...guarantee you that there is NOTHING safe from me."[/b]

"Hmmmhmhmhmhm...very well."[/i]

The golem shrugged his arms heftily waiting for the first strike to come as he smiled crustily.

[i]"Break me little shmendrik. But I won't simply stand by whilst you-A-A-AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"[/i]

Before he even realised what had struck him, Jacob felt a deep scarring tear across his left arm viciously scoring out part of the Hebrew script. The scissors had sliced through the thick grooves, not deep enough to break the rock but enough to scrape completely the last letter of the word enscribed as the golem gasped with shock clutching desperately at his left arm.

[i]"Wh...what...what have you done?"

[b]"Just simply corrected the wording on your arm. One letter off from your script turns the word 'truth' into 'death'."[/b]

"A-AAAH! AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"JACOB!"[/i]

But it was too late. With one simple strike, the binding of the golem's magic suddenly began to deteriorate as the clay form lost its composition. Melting thickly from his feet, he gasped gargling with a horrid scream, his eyes starting to bleed a sudden red as he felt his soul start to escape him. Right into the waiting jaws of the Scissoraptor who sucked his essence fully out of the crying lips, sculpted by holy men and now crumbling before their very eyes. Managing to swallow the golem's spirit, the demon dodged suddenly back upon hearing the swoop of axes down upon his head.

Vassago opened wide his arms holding two such weapons, raw and thick with steel piercing to a fine point on both sides of each handle as he lunged forwards with another strike. But the Scissoraptor simply dodged one and striked violently across the other forcing it away from the grip of the wraith before plunging his scissors deep into the banshee's essence, shrieking eternally but not to die just yet. He struggled to swing his second axe, crashing it into the raptor's shoulder and cracking the bone deep but nothing to deter his ruthless impalement.

With a ferocity borne, he lunged his jaws forwards and tore into the wraith's throat, hearing the sudden screams of infernal banishment as his very essence was being sucked dry by the soul-consuming demon. A dark rasping breath echoed across the room as the wraith began to struggle, his eyes glowing faintly by the minute whimpering to his remaining colleague.

[i]"R-rakheem...run...t-take the heart...don't let him."[/i]

But before the last researcher could even stand to run from the demon, the scissorblades suddenly whirled out and decapitated him gladly as the former Persian began panicking from the blissful agony. His body began to wander stumbling with fear, his head lost and rolling across the laboratory floor as Vassago felt his last trace of existence become slowly devoured by the beast intruder. Shivering with lustre at such a meal of strength, the Scissoraptor grabbed his blades before skewering violently through Rakheem's staggering headless body, tearing him cleanly in half to render him fully inert.

[b][i]"Class is over...you are dismissed."[/i][/b]

With a melted puddle of mud and a severed human in three parts beside him, he gladly began to twist open the jars and swallow every single soul that lied within them, screams of a dozen generations now lost within his teeth. They were surprisingly wondrous, joyful emotions of love, kindness and empathy all bittersweet but mostly rather pleasant like rose-petaled water. The purity stung him a little when going down but all the more did he relish the wholesome strength of such emotional quotient, feeling his energy return to him more as the screams finally died out. All two-hundred and seventy-five of them.

[b][i]"Ahhhhhhhh...ohhhhhhh I have not tasted that richness since that town in Ivalice. Mmmmmph...family love is the sweetest taste, at least twenty of them are within these jars all having died together. Hm...I wonder how and where did they manage to discover them to contain them so purely within these-what-A-AAAAAAAAAARGH!"[/i][/b]

Before he could even react, something had struck him violently across the face lashing out his eye with a burning white shock, as if something holy had torn through his system. Like the worst fever of a disease rumbling through his body, the Scissoraptor fell back from the table staggering by a hot and vicious burning power before falling onto his knees, gasping beside the table.

"BEGONE demon! You shall go no further!"

A young voice from a human called out as he looked towards Rozalia. She was gasping at something in surprise behind the Scissoraptor as he turned slowly towards the source. Standing defiant with eyes fiercely blue, was a young severe-looking woman wielding a whip, possibly around the age of 20 with blonde hair woven into a single length thinly down her neck like taut rope, whilst wearing a red coat tightly bound to her body. It looked familiar to the demon somehow as he stood slowly back up, gasping as the last of the holy essence rode through his vile formulence.

[b][i]"What...wh-what worthless...child dares think she can hurt ME?!"[/i][/b]

"This child's heart is not for you to take. For I swear in the name of Belmont, I shall destroy thee and this worthless castle!"

[b][i]"Belmont?! ...wait, that name is somehow familiar to-...ugh, if a human so desires death with such an absurd weapon then so be it. I do not care how you so challenge yourself to be."[/i][/b]

"Do you challenge me monster? You hath no loyalty, not even to your own kin when you slaughter them so readily but I shall not be so easily assuaged. Prepare yourself."

[b][i]"Against a pitiful girl?! HAH! One lucky strike unaware does NOT make you a worthy hunter!"[/i][/b]

The raptor rushed forwards with scissorblades down low before he briskly teleported from her view, shimmering to her left then instantly to her right but she was not so clearly fooled. The moment she saw him on her left, she felt his essence shift and swiped out with her whip full unfurling from her hand to strike violently across the Scissoraptor's face. The hot lashing crack of the whip was burning beautifully upon his face, even by its touch alone it managed to scar greatly across his face by a dark groove of seething trembling light harshly escaping his wound, like blood from a salted gash.

The woman expertly recoiled her whip back, wrapped firmly around her hand completely made out of chain as the monster rushed forth to strike before throwing his scissors out to distract her. She dodged the blades but lashed out her whip towards them, striking to perfectly wrap the demon's blades in violent constrict as the holy touch of the strange weapon began coursing deep and severing burns throughout the monster's essence. As if he were standing before the very light of God Himself, it burned agonisingly deep as the raptor screamed with sudden frenzy of a deep agony.

But it did not last as she swung back her whip straight towards the Scissoraptor releasing his weapon perfectly, unravelling by a spinning vollely before the full force of solid metal cracked viciously into his host's body. Colliding with a solid thunk, the raptor's jaw broke completely off to the side like a deer caught in headlights, crumpling with gasping pain running deep throughout his body.

[b][i]"WHAT...EVEN, ARE YOU!? WHAT WEAPON IS THAT?!"[/i][/b]

"KNOW MY NAME DEMON, FOR I AM SONIA BELMONT, DESTROYER OF DARKNESS AND [i]BANISHER OF THE NIGHT![/i] With my grandfather's whip, the Vampire Killer, I shall make certain your dark lineage shall not exist!"

[b][i]"I SHALL MAKE CERTAIN [u]YOUR[/u] LINEAGE SHALL KNOW [u]PAIN[/u] GREATLY BEYOND YOUR FEEBLE EXISTENCE!"[/b][/i]

Grappling his scissors violently sharp, he rushed forth and dodged the first whip strike above his head by ducking low and shunting forwards, plunging his blades deep as Sonia dodged firmly to the left providing a perfect kickplant to slam her heeled foot into his head. Bludgeoned by her foot, he staggered only slightly before a turning swing to strike fiercely across her face, but her whip had recoiled back in time to protect her with its strange blessed light as the chain flail trembled with defensive block.

His scissors struck in vicious recoil, stuttering back from the force of its purity guard as Sonia swiped out with a full extension of her whip, streaking brutally across the demon's face like a sword through burning paper as the monster shrieked from the pain. It was a terrifying sensation, every other creature he had faced in this castle had only ever managed to tear at his physical body but never had something so powerful in recent memory tore at his very essence.

With greater fury, he leapt above the lady Belmont and swung his scissors like a discus towards her, striking her down by the sheer force and taking the hit from her block before the demon came down after. Striking viciously with claws in a powerslam, he tore across her shoulder and upper chest as she gasped panting before strafing backwards. Clutching her body, wounds were showing but she did not falter for an instant as she hurled her whip out towards him almost immediately, wrapping tightly around the raptor's arm.

It snapped tight with a vicelike grip, searing scorching pain across his flesh as he tried viciously to pull away with one forceful tug. Sonia rushed forwards the moment he did, using the momentum of the pull to slam her fist straight into his jaw and crack it harder before releasing the whip from his wrist. Scissoraptor stumbled back falling, blurring his vision from the sudden shock but dodging just in time from another whip-cracking across the face.

The woman braced herself for another attack, surprisingly sturdy with little blood oozing from her fresh wounds as the monster gripped his blades in both hands. Running across the laboratory, he faded out of existence by a dark smoulder that shimmered across Belmont's vision briefly before suddenly reappearing from her left. Sliding backwards by a shoving step, she backflipped before leaping into the air with another strike of the whip, the raptor dodging before he swung his scissors to try and prevent her perfect landing.

But the hunter simply snapped back her whip and spun deftly in mid-air like a ballerina, the scissors swiftly glancing past her laced with darkness before she landed with exact precision and one hand to the floor. The demon's weapon reverted its path, spinning round hovering as it thrust down upon her head as Sonia dodgerolled to the left. At the same time came Scisso who slammed his fist ruthlessly into her gut causing a vomiting gasp of hot air from her throat.

Readying to stomp her face, she rolled out of the way striking the whip across the demon's belly lashing with scalding seething holy burn before pushing herself out onto her feet, bracing for the next assault. The scissors came down upon her like a bat, blades open wide like fiendish teeth as she jumped straight above before planting her feet down upon the scissors themselves, twirling to grind her heel into the raw steel as she spun with a vicious spinning power strike of the whip, lashing out a pure sonic boom that almost deafened the demon from its furore.

The shocking small blast that ripped the sound barrier with the light of heaven was enough to disorient the demon as Sonia struck out with three strikes upon the Scissoraptor's face, twice over his eyes and a third one across the throat. Screeching with eyes burning along with his throat, he shivered gasping before summoning the blades to slide back behind the Belmont woman and ruthlessly impale her chest but she was too quick. She ducked straight beneath the path of the scissors' strike and watched them sweep overhead just missing the scalp of her pure blonde hair.

Her whip struck out towards the handles of the scissorblades as they flew past her vision, wrapping tightly around one of them and jerking tightly hard against her sudden strong pull as if she were reigning in a bucking bronco. The demon was incredulous with pain roaring powerfully at the raw burning sensation of the purest light, the whip bound against his scissors as she spun in a circle as if swinging a hammer. Round and round she went with Scisso unable to dare approach from the spasm of agony he was experiencing before she released the monstrous blades from her grip.

With one perfect flick of her wrist, the huntress unfurled her whip from the scissors as they streaked through the room like a shooting comet before striking deep into the stone wall of architecture. She never turned to see the demon as she began to slow down her spin, before gasping with a choking cold breath from the claws now deep in her oesophagus.

[i]"HRRRR[b]RRRGHHHK!"

"USELESS."[/b][/i]

Scraping down into her back between the shoulderblades and tearing openly to reveal the space behind the lungs and heart, the Scissoraptor cleaved her throat completely wide open watching her larynx suffocate desperately to breathe. He had ripped through every tube in her throat, shuddering blood deep both behind and in front of her which the demon could see completely through. She stumbled forwards as the blood began filling deep into her lungs, vomiting desperately as four different fluids spewed forth onto her own body.

Vomit, blood, saliva and sputum rancorously mixing within the empty space around her organs before dripping thickly out of her gashing wounds, with every swallowing struggle a constant battle that killed her more swiftly than the last. She dropped her whip as something began to emit from her body, an odd rising pressure of intense magical aura sleekly dripping off her flesh. Her skin began to moult, gaunt and harrowed as her eyes started flickering to slowly burn a whitish-hot flame.

The body of Sonia Belmont slowly became consumed by the fires that sprouted from her being, shrieking by her unholy end as the flames became a greenish-tint, purest celadon mint that almost hurt the demon from looking at directly. Within moments there was nothing, the crackling burn a brief terrible end to her own existence before falling into ashes before the Scissoraptor. But before he had any time to comprehend and heal his wounds, something hurled itself sleekly towards him with the speed of a cannonball.

[i]"COZEN BALL GO!"

[b]"WHA-"[/b][/i]

But it was too late. Something cracked against the back of the raptor's head as he felt a ball the size of a cantaloupe break open on his skull before swallowing his body into it. A violent throng of spiritual energy pulled him completely within its small circular frame, appearing to actually shrink him but was in actual fact compressing him into a smaller dimensional pocket as he screamed piercing against the void of aether, the sheer strength of which absorbed him entirely before he simply irrupted, swallowed completely by the ball which clunked shut onto the ground.

[i]"SUCCESS!"[/i] cried a scratchy voice from above.

[i]"Captured like a wild beast!"[/i] replied a more deep familiar voice.

Two shadows swooped down from the ceiling chuckling lewdly at their target, struggling within the ball which barely even rolled despite his hardest efforts of insane fury. The demon still saw everything from within the ball except by an odd warping of reality that made everything appear more huge than it was before as one of the creatures picked him up with one hand before they high-fived each other gleefully. There was a wide shit-eating grin from the teeth of some large demon beast resembling a bat, as the Scissoraptor shouted from inside his prison:

[i][b]"YOUUUU!"[/b]

"Me?"

[b]"SLOGRA!"[/b]

"No, I am Gaibon, HE is Slogra, I was not lying about him."

[b]"WHA-WHATEVER, YOU BETRAYED ME!"[/b]

"Ahaha...betrayed? I'm sorry but, when were we ever companions for me to betray you my worthless intruder?"

"And you're one to talk!"[/i] cackled Slogra behind him. [i]"After your little massacre of our troops in the armoury I would say you have this coming!"

[b]"Release me NOW or else I shall make you suffer beyond eternity!"[/b]

"As opposed to us being killed almost instantly? That is, IF you are able to kill us, not that you ever could but unlike you, myself and my companion are not so foolish as to even attempt a so-called 'fair' battle by you."

[b]"Why? Because you're COWARDS?!"[/b]

"No, because we have the home advantage."

"And for that,"[/i] said Gaibon, [i]"we have EVERY advantage to our name in disposing of you properly like worthless trash. You might call yourself immortal, but that does not mean we cannot say, force you into a pocket dimension between realities whilst your body withers into ash. This is the pocket dimension part, the between realities we shall dispose of you in later on. Though you may not be able to die, but that only shall form part of your eternal punishment, alone with but a grain of sand that once used to be your unfortunate host. Forever."

[b]"You DO realise I am not even bound by dimensional trappings whatsoever correct?"[/b]

"We do,"[/i] replied Slogra, [i]"that is why we are going to make sure we remove whatever is part of that problem so you can never leave your new prison. A little pocket prison."

"Like a little pocket monster,"[/i] said Gaibon cackling.

"HHHHH!?"

Gasping from beside the door unabated was Rozalia whimpering feverishly at this sudden new development. She was not sure what she would do, either run in freedom or stay with morbid curiosity as Slogra and Gaibon simply ignored the woman for now before the beast with wings added:

[i]"I told you this would work, nothing like a good fake huntress to rather weaken our prey."

"And nice touch with the whip,"[/i] said Slogra gleefully, [i]"a little whip of alchemy never hurt either for the illusion, admittedly it's not as good as Gandolfi's work but it was enough certainly to waste this subcaste."

"It's difficult concerning we have never had any of the Belmont lineage round here for the past four-hundred years...but we can always manage some form of incredulous, we just needed a well-skilled actress amongst our clique and the right alchemy to produce it!"

[b]"I WILL DESTROY THIS CASTLE PIECE BY PIECE, UNTIL YOUR SOULS HAVE BEEN TORN APART ACROSS EVERY INCH OF THIS WORTHLESS MONUMENT!"[/b]

"That's nice little imp,"[/i] said Slogra sarcastically, [i]"now please be quiet the elders are talking."

[b]"I EXISTED LONG BEFORE YOUUUU!"[/b]

"...not very patient is he?"

"I've seen maggots with better manners,"[/i] said Gaibon, [i]"actual flesh-burrowing ones."

"You know, it WAS rather fun capturing you, waiting for the moment when it all just CLICKED. This would make a rather fun game."

"What, capturing monsters to fit in your pocket?"

"Noooo, capturing HUMANS to fit in your pocket! Imagine, Pocket-Man, capture humans, train them, love them, care for them, send them out against battle to annihilate your enemies at will!"

"Iiiii think the master would have some issues with that Slogra."

"I am just saying, would it not be a fun game?! I summon out my level-forty-two Mongol against your level-thirty-six Caucasian!"

"African or European?"[/i] asked the bat-like beast.

[i]"There are no African caucasians you nitwit!"

"Really? Are you sure of that, I cannot bother to remember every type."

"Well regardless, the master will be around shortly to take you away and so we say goodbye to you our worthless little pest. Try breaking out of this little dimensional pocket of our aether construct, but unless we so will it you cannot escape, it can ONLY be accessed from the outside so enjoy your prison, little lizard."[/i]

The smiling long beak of Slogra began laughing with a squawking tone as Gaibon joined in with a warm deep chuckling whilst pointing with ridicule at the dimensionally-trapped raptor who pounded his fists upon the walls of his new existence. He felt something was now incomplete about himself amidst all his rage and ferocity and then he realised. He stopped fighting and began to focus with calm burning fury quelling in his deep whilst Slogra and Gaibon continued to banter on with their ideas, the bird-like beast setting on a new topic asking:

[i]"Do you think master Death's talk about that Belmont family will ring true?"

"Possibly,"[/i] said Gaibon, [i]"humans can be surprisingly relentless."

"Holding a grudge that long seems rather absurd for such a short-living species."

"They remember Slogra, they can record many things from generation to generation. I have heard there are some human tribes in the far west that recite everything by oral tradition and STILL remember great ancestries."

"Hm...they do have some surprisingly strong souls, actually I was just looking through Vassago's research before the um...unfortunate-"

"Yes...we should have acted sooner."

"We weren't here in time, I know we set the trap, he cannot resist a good soul jar but-...we could have done better."[/i]

Gaibon gently swung an arm around his friend giving a tender nuzzle.

[i]"We will not forget them. Nor shall we forget our brothers and sisters in the armoury, or Scylla, or Jason and-"

"P-please..."[/i] the bird-like shook slightly with a rub to his neck. [i]"This...this was supposed to be a refuge of peace for God's enemies and now this little bastard is trying to upset things for his own measly worth!"

"He will get his punishment soon enough, at least master Adrian is now safe from all of this."

"Don't even entertain the thought of it. I would never want harm to come to that boy, I could never...bring myself to use my full strength upon him ever."

"Nor I too,"[/i] said Gaibon with solemn agreement, [i]"I hope we can fix the hedge maze before next dawn."

"Ugh...we promised to play hide and seek, I can't disappoint him."

"If we cannot play there, we always have plenty other games."

"Like rithmomachia?"

"Oh not that sodding game again!"

"Oh come on, that was an innocent mistake."

"I am MUCH better than that usually, I confused a nine to the power of three!"

"It happens, please...Bon-Bon."[/i]

The winged beast simply smiled at Slogra who put a hand underneath his chin raising it as he smirked.

[i]"I suppose...so, you were saying about Vassago's research."

"OH, yes, he was theorising, rather fascinating read actually, about what causes a human soul to persist even after death. With those like us, our souls are just purely driven by magical essences but that's not what humans possess at all. Is it love, or even hope?"

"I remember that thesis, but we have found proof of humans who cannot possess either in their hearts and yet still are driven by this great terrifying determination...it's startling to think such a frail species can ever wield such strength, though I cannot suspect wha-[b]SHITTING CHRIST![/b]"[/i]

Like a bolt from the blue there came a violent tearing streak of steel straight across their vision as it whacked hard upon the Cozen Ball knocking it freely from their grasp. It clacked tenderly upon the floor before releasing itself, belching forth the mysterious aether it had culminated before something grew out of it, a shadow from the darkness as the scissors flew past briefly into its cloaked mist. Gaibon's senses triggered with warning as he shoved Slogra to the side powerfully just before the blades shunted forth and ruthlessly impaled his ribcage.

[i]"A-AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"[b]GAIBON![/b]"[/i]

Slogra gasped in shock seeing the scissors burst through his trusted friend until piercing out his back, shuddering hot tearful pain as the Scissoraptor grinned coldly before the bat-like beast. The winged beast struggled not to fall, being held up partially by the blades through his lung as he coughed blood thickly down his chest, but just before the raptor could render his throat twisted there came a ruthless strike from above in the tenth of a millisecond. A sharp cold glimmer could be seen briefly before the Scissoraptor ended four rooms away after being slalomed through two walls.

Crumbling shatterstone simply exploded to their left as the vile cloak of imperceptible existence floated through Gaibon's vision, the scissors now freed from his body as he fell clutching his chest ruthlessly. Slogra instantly rushed to his side grabbing him tightly as they bowed before their superior, the long scythe glinting of silver moonlight no matter which room he was now in.

[i]"M-m-...m-master!"[/i]

[b]"You forgot."[/b]

[i]"Wh-what?!"[/i]

[b]"You forgot about his weapon. I TOLD you to be cautious."[/b]

[i]"W-we did, we did not anticipa-"[/i]

[b]"Enough."[/b]

The scythe came down one inch from Gaibon's throat as the wind threateningly almost split his flesh as they gazed upon the dark-cloaked reaper of humanity's fall, shimmering soft motes of spirits past flickering past his vision. Death turned his head towards the human Rozalia who was swiftly snatching the heart of Sicarius that still remained on the table before returning his gaze upon his two subordinates.

[b]"Chase after her."[/b]

[i]"Wh-what?!"[/i]

[b]"She is working for the demon, find out what she knows, do not kill her. We will decide what to do with her later."[/b]

[i]"I...I-i will obey, m-master."[/i]

[b]"She will not be difficult, capture her and then heal yourself. The next time you make a mistake might be your very last, I implore you not to."[/b]

[i]"Understood...master."[/i]

Slogra and Gaibon gently got up as the woman started running, fleeing from the scene before they headed on despite being slowed down by Gaibon's chest wound as Death followed after the demon intruder by the holes in the wall. Flying through into a long red-carpeted hallway of the second floor, he soon faced the raptor who cricked his neck steadily recovering from being thrown across four rooms with crunched bruises all over his skin.

[b]"So. The pest remains in my master's castle."

[i]"And I see your childminding duties are over, 'old man'."[/i]

"Answer me this. Was it you who massacred that village?"

[i]"Why yes."[/i][/b]

His urge to bow was brief as he kept his eyes firmly upon the great incarnate.

[b][i]"Yes I was, I am glad to see you at least recognise my work."[/i]

"I would call you a disease but that would give you too much credit, for at least a disease is efficient at its purpose."

[i]"I am VERY efficient."[/i]

"I have seen better from those less than you. Your carnage is not befitting of what I would call a demon, you are nothing more than some children's fable, a simpering allegory for the respect of duty."

[i]"At least my reputation is well deserved, unlike YOU cowering in the shadow of this son of Dracul who does not even claim to show himself!"[/i]

"It has been five hours since your little 'spree', by which I mean your pathetic attempt to cause strife. But it is a pathetic attempt still that insults me and my lord and master far worse than you can ever comprehend."

[i]"And why do you care so much about a little village?"[/i]

"The same reason concerning rats in the mill. You infect this place with your presence like a parasite, and not a very good one either."

[i]"Good enough I terrified a whole village and caused enough rancour within your splendid little groups."[/i]

"Hhhhhmhmhmhmhmhm...you call THAT terrifying? Your worthless attempt at causing chaos makes a lover's feud resemble a holocaust."

[i]"There were certainly many lovers I drowned within each other's blood to cause resemblance to such...hmm, tragic really."[/i]

"No, do you know what is TRULY tragic? I have seen humans commit worse atrocities than you ever will."[/b]

There was much insult he had been through previously which was enough to cause furious anger inside of him. But none had ever caused such spurious rage that almost left him speechless with unbridled hatred. Until now. He raised his weapon towards Death grinning cruelly at the wounding glib remark, without even the slightest tremor of his blades.

[b][i]"...take. That. [u]Back.[/u]"[/i]

"Because you are afraid of truth, or you despise your quarry for their attempting to equate your lack of skill?"

[i]"NOTHING can equate me."[/i]

"Except that of a spoilt child, bored with sundries after being given everything they could, so ready to explore new depths of depravity."

[i]"I will not ask again."[/i]

"At least the humans give a reason for their mass murder, even if every reason for that is worthless and puerile. But you do not even have a reason, so what does that make you?"

[i]"Unfathomable, an enigma beyond any understanding."[/i]

"Or rather pitiful and uninspired. An ego such as yours is but a bandage, and all beasts know that a bandage only hides one's wounds."

[i]"I do not HAVE an ego, I am beyond anything you have known you WORTHLESS-"[/i]

"Contradiction. Even a human takes more than two sentences to cause hypocrisy unto themselves."

[i]"I can destroy a village in more than two STEPS!"[/i]

"You could not even destroy one entire village in two hours. Can you even claim to be as destructive and vile as I have seen of the human race? No, for you are not anything, you are BENEATH these humans who strive and conquer and have a stake to claim in the name of God, their country or whatever feeble excuse they claim but there is determination within. Whereas you...what exactly drives you, beast? Do you know what I see in you?"

[i]"I am a hunter, I seek only the greatest folly of all creatures and destroy whatever existences that they HAVE!"[/i]

"You are not even a wolf. You are simply but a worthless scavenger."

[i]"You...will FUCKING TAKE THAT BACK, OR I ELSE WILL MAKE YOU [u]BEG![/u]"[/i]

"The same way you beg for scraps at the humans' table of conquest, wretched mongrel half-spirit."

[i]"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAA[u]AAAAAAARRRRRRGH![/u]"[/i][/b]

He charged forwards, shimmering from existence to fade onto Death's right and strike towards the reaper who simply guarded with his scythe against the repeating attacks, one, two, three, four, five and a final thrust guarded perfectly before he swung. The demon dodged beneath the sweep, slicing upwards in counteract before Death swung down from above to smack down the scissorblades easily. James' body soon separated from the scissors, thrown high above Death who paid more attention to it than the raptor who lunged forwards violently scratching upon Death's cloak.

Tearing scars into the skeletal remnants of the reaper to be more of a pest than actual threat, the raptor shrieked and tore biting into the bone as a distraction before Death backhanded him with such strength the head snapped twisting almost entirely off. But the scissors had waited from above to plunge deep through Death's essence, gasping tersely from the striking blow that slightly wounded him.

Piercing through the reaper entirely, the scissors spun round to attack from behind slashing three times before the spectre vanished in smoke, reappearing to turn and strike powerfully and send the scissors straight acros the hallway. He turned his attention towards the raptor, his eyes jet-black glistening with fury as the scythe came down upon him six times in a single second, the monster's host dodging swiftly out of range to play caution against Death's imperceptible power.

The scissors soon returned to him, zooming from the distance readying themselves to plow through the wraith but Death was far more cunning as he waited for the perfect moment. He turned and struck with perfect guard, striking his scythe down upon the scissorblades and forcing them into the floor, dragging harshly to scrape tearing through the carpet towards the demon-possessed raptor. Scisso regained his original self back in his host's grip and prepared for another attack.

Death swooped forwards with but a carving strike, twirling his scythe with deadly precision as the demon slid forwards underneath to dodge the attack before backflipping straight behind the reaper. In his agile trick, he spun down like a propeller onto Death's back ripping through his cloak as the wight shuddered with great irritation from the biting cut ripping down his spinal column before he spun with swinging force. A force so powerful that Scissoraptor was slammed across the entire hall and thrown into another room.

Crashing through a door he found himself within a study where monsters suddenly vacated the room seeing Death approach with a vengeance. The raptor staggered onto his feet relentless in his endurance, running forwards with scissors high and just about to strike before shimmering out of existence. Death swung but it was too late, before the raptor reappeared to strike but the wraith was faster than expected, switching his scythe around to clash against him by an expert block in the space of a millisecond.

Breaking the guard, Death forced Scisso back across the green carpet of the study, fireplace roaring between two grand writing desks similar to six others in the room in two rows of three. The firelight glinted their shadows across the floor, scissors raised with blades wide open to snap and stab at the wraith who blocked every time as the sound of steel shinged across the room deafeningly. Death charged forwards with a vicious decapitating swing but the Scissoraptor faded yet again from his vision to reappear and stab from the side tearing across Death's upper waist in a ruthless upwards strike.

Snarling bitterly, the reaper grabbed Scisso's neck before one violent snap broke the neck completely as he hurled him to the next room, another hallway that had blue tapestries on one side facing windows dappled in stained glass on the other. The light of the moon shined down upon their faces as the demon invader stumbled back onto his feet, already rather weary from the previous fight with the fake Belmont but not giving up, twisting his neck back into alignment with a violent shattering crack.

The reaper advanced until stopping fifteen feet away before he summoned his power from within, murmuring darkly the voice of God's insanity as the flames of spirits around him started to burst alight into flames. Howling cries of the abyss came towards the demon who braced himself for another round as souls turned to fire shrieking across the entire hallway. Seven of them came, two of which he dodged rushing forwards in a strafing run, the third striking powerfully into his stomach and indeed his soul essence as he gasped staggering but still running without exhaustion.

The fourth and fifth he carved through as he prepared his sudden swing, cleaving through the burning light despite the intense burns charring across his essence in turn until the final sixth and seventh flames united as one. A ginormous skull bleeding hell itself from his ashen eyesockets as it screamed towards him, caustic fury of the deaths of innocents as the demon dodged by leaping onto the walls. But the skull was not a single shot, turning itself around slowly to screech upon the raptor who ran forwards against the reaper.

Death readied himself for the striking attack, but the raptor grinned as he slid onto his knees to start skidding along the carpet directly underneath the shadow of Death who understood almost too late. His own burning wrath directed against him as the fiery skull tore upon him, but he was just in time to simply put a hand upon the loathsome fires of wrath and repeat his murmur of darkness, almost instantly dissipating the ashes of the soul as the twin flames simply flickered out of existence, separating from the skull without a single sound.

It was however enough of a distraction for Scisso to stab violently through Death himself, striking fiercely through the reaper and cracking beyond his ribcage with bone-shattering crunch. Gasping suddenly at the plunging length piercing out of his chest, the spectre faded swiftly from the monstrous blades before reappearing to now face him, striking down with seven scythe attacks, two of which were actually three strikes in one that slashed powerfully across the demon's face and lower regions.

Stumbling from the force and six new gashing wounds across his host's body that almost certainly eviscerated every organ major at least once, the demon braced himself with his own attack in vengeance. Briskly teleporting himself a good few feet away, he burned his darkness deep within his scissors which began to glow a hot piercing amethyst before six shadows formed from its baneful light. Six scissors starkly shimmering across the stone and stained glass, his power burning fast through his essence's needs but confident all the same.

He rarely ever needed to use such power, having never had an opponent require such strength but he was determined to prove himself. Death simply waited with a cold grin that would render priests driven to suicide as he in turn swivelled his scythe to prepare six reddish smaller sickles twitching in formation around him. Both forced their energies against each other in long-range combat, scissors of darkness versus bloodied tears of death as shadows struck against sickles, whirling viciously towards opposite ends of the hallway.

Clashing burns and striking fury, scissors and sickles flew ripping across each other powerfully as their forceful distribution rendered an oddly equal affair of victory for both sides. Three sickles sliced deep into the Scissoraptor, severing his limbs as his arms fell completely from their shoulders, whilst two scissors plunged ferociously into Death's veil of darkness with a smoulder of hatred. Raw charring blistering agony that made him struggle to clutch his chest, forcefully expelling the essence from him that desperately tried to take hold of a lost cause.

With arms now useless for the time being, the raptor roared with darkness rage as his scissors became possessed fully, shimmering deep crimson violet before shrieking across the hallway like a banshee in flight. The wraith responded with merciless assault, striking repeatedly against every clash upon the weapon's blades, left, right, diagonal, upwards, overhead, plunging stab from both sides back and forth. Nothing broke through within Death's cloak this time, even when slightly wounded and not at his peak capacity, his guard was ultimate.

But his own attacks did nothing to deter the demon-possessed weapon having little means to attack physically, until he grabbed the blades themselves and scorched with deep cleansing fires of a screeching soul in vengeance. The sound of agony trembled from within the scissors that desperately twisted free to stab at Death's hand, snapping through the wrist with an awkward crunch, stinging viciously into the hellish heart now absent within the spectre.

He decided to play at his own game, sweeping his scythe out free from his hands to spin wildly upon the scissorblades as they struck repeatedly, two weapons free to strike across the air. A dance of bladed fury, the scythe of the moon's deathless existence versus the crawling possessor that cut through the night. Vicious biting snaps from the rusted scissors pierced against the perfect silver blade hooked above the Scissoraptor's form before swinging down violently to slamdunk the twin blades fiercely into the carpet.

But in the midst of battle Death had been so focused on watching his own weapon fight against the intruder, he had not noticed the raptor regain his limbs and rush forwards to jump upon his back, scrabbling with claws shrieking upon Death's mantle. Scratching like a wild ape, Scisso's fury was ineffective at harming the wight by the trembling hands of his host, but it was enough to force Death's attention away from his scythe and swing his arms up to grab at the loathsome little pest. The perfect moment for the scissors to swing back towards its body possessed.

With legs trapping themselves against the back of the phantom's ribs, he clasped his scissors perfectly from the air and stabbed viciously downwards into Death's throat, plunging deep into the skull itself as he cracked through the jaw. The spirit finally felt a true sense of pain for the first time since battling, roaring a deep trembling across Time itself that only ever would be heard by children in their most deep of nightmares.

Burning darkness scorched within the essence of Death, forced to swallow thickly the Scissoraptor's vile energy as he plunged a second time to ruthlessly blacken the inside of the wraith's ribs. A searing soul-scarring strength only briefly annihilating Death's senses before he had enough, returning his scythe to him with a deep focus through the immense pain before he slammed the butt of his weapon viciously into the raptor's side.

With strength to equal kings, he smashed the demon's body fiercely into one of the glass windows at this side, the monster cracking his back hard against the now-formed spiderweb patterning across the reddish-amber dappled work of the thick glass. Moonlight radiated through as the demon felt an urge to recover deeply, exhaustion starting to take its toll overwhelming as his endurance began to run thin. Death however was not done with him as he gasped clearing his throat, expelling as best he could the essence of the demon's filth from his internal ethos.

[b]"Hm...better than before, but even dogs learn to fight when not killed properly."[/b]

He raised his hand out towards the demon's body, as there came a sudden blast from an orb of darkness, burning a deeper black than anything anyone had ever seen before. It was a darkness most humans could not even see, not even in daylight, the complete negativity of all existence or at least a fragment of it that forced Scissoraptor up onto his feet, staggering upon his toes into the air before the window. Slowly the orb began to consume him in a small sphere of clouded indigo rendering him mute, practically frozen by its strength of gravitational force.

[b]"Do you know I see at this moment? A pebble. Worthless in itself, not even able to change the flow of Time's river but thrown into the right place can cause a gentle ripple to upset the local fauna. Nothing more."[/b]

The wraith clasped his hand tightly as if crushing a grape, suddenly contracting the darkness as the demon shivered with a cold pain. He felt something terrible, something tremulous throughout his being as it vibrated constantly. He felt something slowly seep out of his body, sucking from his very being before gasping with a sudden agony, a raw fiercely concentrated point of tearing forced from his very being. Something that to a human was only slightly less painful than childbirth.

He watched in horror as he felt his chest ripple with intense anguish, breaching free as the darkened orb held him in place. A light came bleakly from his body, pulsating sharply like a lantern dropped into a deep cavern as there came a small scream from within. It was a mortal's scream, one Death did not recognise but he noticed something worse. The light was being sucked in by a web-like fluid, a strange metaphysical ooze crawling across the soft feeble glint like an oil smear as the scream was constant, like the root of a mandrake.

But then the demon began to scream in turn, overwhelming by a roar not from the raptor's lips, but from the actual essence itself as it was pulled viciously out of him. But not enough, for Death noticed with a disgusted look the light's pulse of weakening frenzy against the vile essence of the beast was not even enough for mortals to see. Cancerous pain that began to shriek as the Scissoraptor cried out with a deep intrinsic torment that was beyond anything he had ever felt. One that almost terrified him at its possibility before Death simply ceased.

[b]"Ugh. Pathetic."[/b]

The orb shut itself off as the darkness pulled the gentle light back inside himself, forced back through the window with such strength that he crashed hrough with a violent shattering to deafen mortal ears as he fell into the courtyard. Broken and exhausted, the creature possessed gasped shuddering as he felt the end of his endurance at least temporarily. But for now he felt an urge to retreat, a tactical recovery now necessary before facing such a battle once again especially by almost feeling the soul of his host having being robbed from him.

Death simply looked down upon the broken creature, shuddering from the ferocious pain crawling intensely through his being at such a power used on him, the courtyard bathed in moonlight. There was a garden, grand and beautiful across the entire court, large enough to hold a party of an entire parilament as the reaper simply sneered with disgust.

[b]"To think I was more precise than I expected on comparing you to a frigid cur. A worthless soul such as that, so weak in your embrace, and yet you clung to it like a dog starved with the bone of a child. You will not be any trouble to deal with after I have performed my duties...miserable creature."[/b]

With Death's shadow disappearing from the window, the Scissoraptor began to rest now fully within the light of the moon. There came something from the darkness of the leaves around him, the garden stirring softly at its new visitor by a soft and gentle wind. A wind almost motherly to caress upon the skin of FG.