[center][b][u]Collab--Yoshu and Celaira--Saella and The Southern Lordess[/u][/b][/center]

Finally, the demoness of the Southern realm reached the city of Loom. Standing at its entrance, a strange wave of essence began to pull her forward. Closing her eyes, and inhaling, the lordess walked forth, letting the essence guide her. It was a familiar feeling. A safe feeling. 

As she walked she heard the sounds of children crying, and small vile laughs. Ah, [i]Humans[/i], how [i]pleasant[/i] they were. Eyes still closed, she continued to move, crystals forming at the edges of her white lashes. Her ivory tresses waved out from her back blown out by a small gust of wind. As they flowed back, ice danced through the air. 

The demoness' pace was slow, but deliberate in its intention. She had come to the surface with a mission, and she intended to complete it. 

Standing atop the crane, Saella's eyes surveyed the area, her ears listening for any sign of demon activity, and her inherent ability to sense allowing her further input, she would go to whomever she heard, her and her charges. Shifting slightly as she heard the metal creak, the angel glanced down, her wings twitching slightly and a frown playing across her dainty features as she beheld her friend and chief demon, Kenen Vax, bending small bits of the metal with his hand. "Could you please stop that, Vax?"

Her voice was pleading, despite the fact that she was totally in control of his actions, should she wish to be. In response, the Sharvalli glanced up at her briefly, his eyes visage still seeming to look at her. "Fine," he said with an aggravated sigh, letting his grip loosen on the crane's structure, his hand falling to his side. Then, shuddering, Kenen's eyes widened and he glanced to the south, seeming to stare in that direction. Following his gaze, Saella's frown deepened, but now only in confusion. "What's wrong?" she questioned, uncertain as to why he might be so directed in his focus. "This isn't good," he stated, not seeming to have even heard her, "this isn't good at all."

"What's not good?" She asked again, but he waved her off and then, for no reason apparent to her, he jumped from the crane and hurtled towards the ground, feet first. If something in that direction caused him so much worry, why would he go towards it? That was what she wondered even as she followed, opening her wings as she jumped off, only to dive bomb down and open them in one sudden movement. The harsh, but exhilirating, sensation of the wind filling her feathers escaped her as her mind was elsewhere. Quickly she slowed her descent and landed soundly behind Vax, who simply stood there, appearing frozen in place.

He was drawn to the presence that he knew Saella couldn't yet feel and he knew exactly why, the lordess had finally come looking for him.

Unfortunately, he no longer knew whether or not he wanted to be rescued....

Continuing her trek northward, Daiyrisa found a smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. She could feel tension within the essence that she was following. The small smile remained on her features... That was until she felt another essence slithering alongside that of her Warden's. An angel. An angel was either very near to one of her guardians, or it was the angel that had supposedly captured him. 

A growl flittered in her throat, and her aura flared up a little, heating up the air around her. It wasn't much, but the amount of heat was enough to begin thawing the crystals that had been clinging to various parts of her skin, and hair. Steam drafted from her lips as the ice on them was vaporized by the fire laying semi-dormant inside her throat.

After a few more deliberate steps, the Little Sedusa lept up to a ledge on an apartment complex nearest her, and scaled the wall to the roof. Once atop the building, she began to leap from roof to roof, spinning as she increased her pace, even whilst her eyes were still closed. A small song began to leave her lips, a song that reverberated through the link shared by a lord and her warden.

There was a feeling in the atmosphere characteristic of [I]her[/I] presence, the demon knew, and so in an attempt to at least prevent Saella harm, he turned to her and tried to speak. Then a haunting song filled the air and he froze, enchanted and terrified both. Saella could not understand it, but her brow furrowed and she readied herself to take off if need be. She didn't know what was coming, but whatever it was was frightening enough to freeze in place a warden-class demon...and that was saying something.

Sanguine eyes opened as she dropped from a building several blocks away from where she could feel her Warden's essence, as well as the angel's. The heat around her died down as she calmed her irritation. Froze it, more like. 

Her steps were once again, slow and deliberate, and the clicking of her heels began to echo around her as she moved down one street and up another, until she finally reached the destination she had been searching for. Her eyes fell upon her Warden, at first softly, and then, they too turned ice cold. 

"Well, well. If it isn't little Vaxy~! I've been looking for you." The smile on her face was calm, almost caring. But the edge to her voice could draw blood.

Suddenly twitching and then shuddering, the demon, Kenen Vax, turned to face the lordess of the Southern Realm...his lordess. He took in a deep breath and released it before he responded, "Have you been, mistress? My most sincere apologies," his voice shook ever so slightly as he said it, something Saella had never heard in Kenen Vax.... Something that she knew went by the name of [I]'fear'[/I]. Looking to the woman and then to Kenen, Saella whispered into his mind, [I]"Who is she?"[/I] His answer was just as simple as her question, [I]"Lordess of the Southern Realm, Daiyrisa. A demonic Lord."[/I]

The angel froze as well, her eyes widening in shock before she got ahold of herself and managed to feign confusion rather quickly. It all flashed over her features in a mere second or two. Hopefully the Sedusa wouldn't notice...she sincerely hoped that she wouldn't.

The Little Sedusa's head tilted to the side, as she watched her Warden speak, studying him. And then her eyes found the angel, and a glimmer of humor danced in the bloody pools that gave her sight. "Friend of yours, Vax?" The demoness' voice purred as she--for once--called him by what he [i]actually[/i] went by. 

Calmly, and with a lazy, but purposeful slowness, Daiyrisa slid her arms beneath her chest, resting them folded against the upper part of her torso. 

Another gust of wind picked up her white locks, and with it carried the glimmer of ice.

For the eye of the storm was always the safest place to be.

As he heard Daiy say his name properly he staggered back a step and all emotion drained from his features. She [I]never[/I] called him that...unless she was extremely unhappy, or had some terrible idea in her sadistic little head. "More of an...acquaintance I must say," he replied, the emotion having already filtered back in properly. Saella wasn't sure what to do and so she ended up just standing there, ready, but unsure of the situation's status. She didn't know this demon and there wasn't much known about her to begin with, she just knew that the lordess was dangerous, like any demonic lord would be.

Knew that this was a fight for her survival, if it could be considered a fight at all. This was of course assuming that one broke out, which she sincerely hoped did not occur.

Watching Kenen stagger backward caused a warm, yet cheshire grin to pass her lips. And then, she moved towards him. Her steps were soft, set, determined, as she made her way to her Warden. "An... Acquaintance, you say? I wasn't aware of you knowing anyone on the surface, [i]my dear[/i]. Let alone, an angel." 

Her hand outstretched to him, but as soon as the "tender," gesture was shown, her arm wrapped loosely around his throat--provided he didn't move out of her reach--and her cheshire grin morphed to that of a worried little girl. "Vaxy, you seem troubled. What's wrong?" 

Upon contact with her body, Kenen's entire body shuddered, as if a wave of cold had passed through him. In a sense that was the case, as Daiyrisa's essence felt different depending on her mood, and she wasn't all too pleased at the moment. "Do I?" He asked rhetorically, answering her question with one of his own even as he ignored the implied one prior. As she closed the distance, he did not turn away, for he knew how dangerous she was and he knew that had they fought he wouldn't win. Thus he made no effort to reist even when her arm moved around his throat, gentle, but obviously threatening.

Saella on the other hand had made a point to focus her mental energies into the crystal prison, readying herself to cal forth her remaining allies, be they willing or not, to assist and defend her if need be. There was a wary look on her face, cautious. Still, in her eyes dwelled a small amount of worry...and fear, but oddly not for her own wellbeing. She was worried about Vax, she had come to appreciate his company, even if he as snide and sarcastic a good amount of the time.

Daiyrisa simply watched Kenen at first, the worried expression flittering to a soft and compassionate grin. The ice that clung to her silhouette drifted around him lazily in the air as her breath nipped at his ear, a soft giggle falling from her lips.

"Does she know?" The purred whisper dropped from her lips as her eyes travelled to the female angel's face, the worry in her eyes prevelant. "Who you are. Does she know that part of you will forever belong to me if I choose to allow such?"

The demoness paused in her tirade of questions and lifted her mouth from his ear to his temple. Her pale and lightly frosted lips pressed against what--on a human body--would be his forehead. As her lips fell away she smiled, a full-toothed smile at her Warden, her scarlet eyes meeting his for a moment, only to leave him again for the female angel just beyond her reach. 

"May I ask what kind of angel you are, [i]darling[/i]?" She cooed out, her grip only slightly tightening around Kenen's neck, not enough to hurt him, but enough to draw her mouth back to his ear.

"Or, would [i]you[/i] like to tell me what's really going on."

It looked difficult, Saella had to grudgingly admit, for Kenen to keep his composure as the demoness teased him, she had to applaud him for his composure. However, there was nothing else positive about the situation and this caused a worried, sympathetic, frown to cross her features and remain there. Opening her mouth to explain she suddenly felt a shock run up her spine as Kenen sent the sensation saying more or less that she shouldn't. Any information that the demoness had would be swiftly used against them both, and he at least wanted Saella to survive this encounter, even if he didn't. "She's a tamer," Kenen said as he inhaled slowly, only to exhale, his breathing sounding quite stressed as he did so.

She could feel the anxiety trailing through their bond, a bond that was both mental and spiritual. He was bound by the crystal prison's magic...magic that even a demonic lord would have much difficulty trifling with. "He's right, I am a tamer..." Saella said for confirmation, her voice slightly tremulous. Kenen said nothing for a few moments before he felt the other bond, the one that linked him to Daiyrisa, tug slightly, as if at his attention. His entire body shivered from head to toe.

"Her and her damned brother...captured me," there was irritation and disappointment in his tone...honest dissappointment, but not in others, but in himself. "I did not expect it and I was merely here to retrieve someone. I am sorry to have failed you milady." Kenen bowed his head, something the angel had never seen him do, the shame clearly ridden on his features despite his lack of eyes. Saella on the other hand wanted to say something as her kind heart reached to him, wished to console him, but she could not. Her kind forbade it and the situation would not allow. It of course did not help that she herself had been the cause of his misfortune.

It was all rather bleak really, though she did not truly know just how bleak it all was.

At the mention of the classification of angel the female went by, Daiyrisa, the Lordess of the Southern realm's peaceful facade cracked. There was a deep sadness that took over her features, and the ice around she and Kenen thickened a little, the chill of the air reaching out to the angel as well. 

For a moment her eyes were on the angel, and then they found her Warden as he started to explain what had happened. The sadness in her eyes and on her face increased as she listened, and her head lowered until her forehead was resting against his. "Kenen..." There was a shimmering in her eyes as she spoke his name, however, all it was able to do was freeze at the edge of her eyes.

Her head lowered more, her hair shielding her eyes as inaudible words to anyone but Kenen left her seemingly unmoving lips. "Please, forgive me?" With the words followed something that she rarely ever did, unless it was absolutely necessary to learn something. 

She kissed him. 

And in so doing, invaded his very essence, reading all that she could muster to determine the strength of the magic placed upon him. 

Unfortunately, the magic placed there by the prison in which he was held captive was too difficult to break without killing the angel. Under any other circumstances she would have had no issue in doing so, but she did not come to the surface to be the harbinger of a war, nor to bring a death sentence upon her own head. 

And so, without ever pulling her mouth from his, her free hand slid swiftly to his chest, phasing through it. Once beneath his flesh, the demoness gripped something tightly, a shudder ripping through her entire being as she tore it free.

Likely going unnoticed by the two were the crystaline tears that slid down her cheeks, unable to freeze completely, but unable to be completely liquid either.

Solemnly, she whispered to him as she released her hold on him, "I cannot free you from her, and so must free you from myself instead."

He could feel the sadness flowing from her.... He had not expected it, he had expected anger, violence even, but sadness he was not pepared for. His chest tightened up even before her hand slipped down it and her lips touched his. His body seemed to resonate as she pulled him to her and their lips touched, the kiss sending a shock through their bond and thus through his body. It was in that moment that he truly came to understand why she was called the Sedusa and it was the next moment of intense agony, and then loss, that made him hate himself for the moment prior. As she drew away, he stood in shock, his body unable to quite process what she had just done, and then he crumpled to his knees, his strange senses still picking up the entirety of his surroundins in painful clarity.

She was crying.

If he had had tears, he might have been crying too, for he realized that she may have actually cared for him. However, that was hardly the first thing on his mind.

What took precedence was the pain, the horrible soul wrenching pain that wracked. It was deep and unavoidable, but he could not make even a single sound in response.

He couldn't move and he couldn't even hear anything beside the few words she uttered.

Saella on the other hand watched in stark horror and as the woman drew away from Vax, her mouth opened in disbelief. What had she done?! What was their connection, what was going on?!

She couldn't let anything further happen to Vax, she wouldn't allow it. Thus she moved her hand to the necklace, the key to the crystal prison which only her line was able to utilize, and drew from it those demons which she could control properly. However, as she tried to summon the three she could control the influence of the lordess hit her like a tidal wave, causing her to stumble back and grip her necklace tightly. Her wings moved around her body protectively, the feathers angling oddly and hardening slightly. She had learned the trick from her brother, the issue was that it temporarily disabled her ability to fly, while giving her a natural defense. Then, mustering all of her courage and mental fortitude she managed to speak the name of one of her demons. "Ahr'drana," she said in a husky whisper, her voice barely making it to the lordess.

In response a humanoid demon with a long sunous shark tail, no eyes, and razor sharp teeth materialized from a symbol that briefly appeared on the ground before vanishing entirely. The demon was of the Kaelvic race, and she hated Saella fiercely. "Bitch, how dare you summon me agai-..." her voice cut off as she realized whom stood just a few yards away. "I won't fight her, that's suicide. Are you insane, bitch?" In response, Saella shuddered and, for once, imposed her will over the demon's forcing her fear down, and pulling willingness deep from her psyche to instil temporary loyalty, something she hated doing.

"Protect him," she gestured shakily to Kenen. The Kaelvic merely nodded and ran in that direction, the mouth running down her abdomen diagonally opening and then shutting, causing her to pull herself before the former warden in a single movement. However, Saella underestimated the demon's fortitude and so, as she arrived there, she bowed her head slightly and forced her will to subtly allow freedom of speech. "F-forgive me, your lordship, I have no control...she is stronger than she looks."

Saella made no move to quell the outburst, the terror that suffused her body not allowing the angel the entirety of her rational abilities. Still, even as she felt so helpless, she managed to at least put [I]something[/I] between the demoness and her friend...if he would remain as such after what she had caused him.

Daiyrisa held a glowing object tightly to her chest in one hand, staring destitutely down at her former warden. She was only able to repeat the same phrase over and over again, "I'm sorry, Kenen. I wish I could have saved [i]you[/i] instead of myself."

Her voice was again, barely audible, and even still was cracking from the pain she was holding in from hurting one of her Wardens. One of the few beings she trusted with her true intentions. One of the few beings she only seldom chose to hide from. 

Just as she was about to turn away, to leave so as to not have to look at Kenen's pained expression anymore, the damned tamer summoned something.

Daiyrisa only had time to look up before it was right in front of her, to which she simply closed her eyes and sighed. She felt genuinely bad for these demons. They didn't deserve this, but there was nothing she could do about it. So, instead she simply whispered, "It is fine, Kaelvic, I bear you no ill will. I will [i]try[/i] not to kill you [i]this time[/i]." 

After speaking a surprising amount of rage flooded out of her body, sending a heatwave outward from her in a radius of about a block in all directions. She looked past both the demons in front of her and made contact with the ground-loving angel. "Little one, if it were not for you, I wouldn't have just hurt him in such a deep way. So, kindly go fuck yourself."

Her mouth opened to respond, but her nerves closed it shut just as soon. The Kaelvic swallowed hard, feeling quite lucky that she was immune to heat-based attacks in that particular moment. Saella's hardened wings were doing her little good and so her feathers softened and she spread them wide, trying to straighten her posture. While she could not muster enough courage to speak, there was a determined look in her eyes, a look that was coupled with the tears that also flowed down her cheeks. She hadn't wanted anyone to get hurt...especially not Kenen.

She didn't even want Ahr'drana to come to harm, even though the demon plainly hated her. The only one that stood within her sight who she wanted gone, was this woman, but she would die if she tried...and that was even worse. She could not, above all things, allow a demon, any demon, to get ahold of the crystal prison. It held too many dangerous entities, that was for sure.

Yet, while she struggled simply to stand her ground, another developement had began. A seething rage built in the pounding chest of the former warden, a rage that gifted him only more pain as it shocked through him and began to seep through the cracks of his tremulous control.

The pain was too much, and oddly he did not want either of them to be hurt, though he hoped that his lordess would live more than he did Saella. Making this decision he began to release his hold on the power and as he did the city fell into shadow and a madenning wave of essence roiled through his mind.

His ability to resist vanished and his control over his Sharvallian ability was lost. Ruin spread throughout. The ground began to decay, buildings creaked and bent under their own weight, and the very air seemed to thin as the Sharvalli's power became unhinged. Finally an ear splitting scream, almost a roar, erupted from the demon's throat causing both the demon and angel to cover their ears and crumple to the ground in sheer agony. Daiyrisa would be unaffected, at least on a physical level. For while she had taken from him his bond, he would never hurt her, not even in a state of uncontrollable rage and madness.

Saella, now on her knees, hands trying to block out the terrible, shrill, cries, tried to regain control of the warden. Alas, she could not, for while he remained bonded to the prison and her sway over him persisted, she could not manipulate him whilst in the hold of chaos and the presence of the lordess. He was unbound...and so was Ahr'drana.

The Kaelvic, realizing her freedom, turned on the angel, shielding the holes that were her ears with small flaps of flesh, and chargin at the angel. "You will die you insufferable bitch! You will perish like all the other pitiful birds that stood against me. Join your kin in death, join them in my essen-..." the angel could only watch as massive chunks of debris suddenly flew from the surrounding buildings and slammed into the demon, crushing her alive.

The Sharvalli had risen to his feet, standing, though slightly hunched over, with his palm aimed in the deceased demons direction. "Kher thresh varthrana," the maddened demon iterated as the shrill cry decreased in volume. Kenen then seemed to turn his attention on Daiy, his mouth opening to release a cry louder still. It was one filled of rage and sadness both. Saella covered her ears once more, draping her wings around her body and trying to block the sound out.

To no avail, for it thrummed not simply through the ears, but through the body and the mind, permeating her essence and shattering her fortitude. It was an ability of Vax's that she had never seen for he had never had reason to use it. It made her wonder just how well she really knew the demon....

Daiyrisa watched her former Warden as his agony heightened, and she felt the chaos wrapping around the city. Szayeis. What was wrong with him?

Her mind almost wandered to him until she felt the ground beneath her feet shaking, and beginning to crumble. She stared at Kenen as he rose from his positon on the ground, and the Kaelvic moved to attack the angel. 

She wasn't frozen for any particular reason, other than wonder. It'd been a really long time since she'd seen him use such a power, and longer still since she'd seen him fight at all. 

A sigh fell from her lips when he shrieked in her direction. Her eyes grazed over his face calmly as he screamed, and she smiled softly, whispering into the soundwave as she gripped the glowing object gently, but tighter.

"Hopefully, one day I may be able to return this to you, my precious Warden."

And with that, fire erupted in a line across the ground, shooting up about 10 feet and separating her from the angel and Kenen. 

"Until then, I have chaos to seek out." She called over her shoulder as she shot down the street, propelling herself forward with ice.

His voice would likely haunt her even as she departed, for in it there was a message only she could hear, words hidden by the frequencies that did not effect her. [I]We will not be parted long,[/I] was what her mind would tell her soon after departure. Not surprisingly her disappearing from the area caused a reaction in Vax, causing him, and his terrifying power, to slowly cool down before ceasing entirely as he again fell to the ground, this time unconscious and spent. Chaos was indeed powerful, but physical exhaustion had won the futile struggle for physical control. Seeing this and finally hearing the sound cease, Saella tentatively rose to her feet, recalling Ahr'drana, who was severely maimed...but would heal, as she treaded her way carefully over unsteady ground to the side of what had been her friend.

She didn't know anymore. Maybe death [I]was[/I] a kinder way to deal with demons. She didn't want to believe that and so, gently, she sat his head on her lap, feeling useless. However a moment of peace was not allowed her and the sleeping demon for the forces of chaos emerged and converged on the angel.

Narrowing her eyes, Saella then closed them completely and by focusing the entirety of her will she created a mental barrier. The demons approached, but as they reached a certain point their purpose would be scrambled as they quickly forgot her existence and turned to attack other angels and humans nearby. It was effective, but in case it was not she summoned another demon, this time it was a construct, Bladebug it was called. If any broke through the radius, they would be taken out.

With that taken care of she sat there, his head laid gently on her lap and her wings cradling his body, she began to sing lowly even as tears trickled down her cheeks. She had hurt him dearly and she knew not what to do. So as the world seemed to crumble around her, she focused only on him, finding now that she had come to care for him more than she had realized.

Funny how one only noticed what mattered when it was stolen from them. Even if only in part.