As Mary opened her eyes anew, she was greeted by a desolate world. She stood out in a grey wasteland with the view of a destroyed city in the distance. The black clouds above didn't help with the depressing scenery of the end of the world. Smoke billowed from the buildings in the distance, adding and mixing in with the clouds above. And the world was cold, really cold. But there was no wind, not even a small breeze. It was strangely eerie and silent.

A deep and hoarse voice called out to her. "You're not in an really good spot are you?"

Mary didn't open her eyes for a long time. She could tell by the cold around her that she wasn't back in the apartment. The last glimpse of madness she had gotten was stilled burned into her mind and she couldn't get it out. When the voice broke the silence she reluctantly opened her eyes, forcing herself to realize that she was probably never going back to the apartment and was just in a new hell. What she saw drew a low moan of despair out of her. Desolation and despair. That's all that was around her. "What do you want?" She said, miserably. She didn't even turn around to look for the source of the voice. What was the point? It was just going to be another monster, scaring her past the point of her known limits of terror. Glancing down, she noticed there was a silver lining. Apparently, pissing yourself in one hell didn't stretch over to the other. It wasn't what she wanted like, waking up in the apartment, but it was something, right?

"The sword already filled you in with what was happening to your body, so I will keep this short." The ground beneath Mary's feet trembled and clouds got darker. "Your body has already bonded with the foreign presence. That cannot be reversed. But the soul of the presence can be imprisoned. Either within your mind, or within the gem it came from..." The landscape was slowly getting darker. "Your time is short. It is slowly consuming you. Make your choice..."

Great. So, she could either imprison it in her mind and risk whatever consequences come with that, or imprison it in a gem and risk having that gem broken or stolen and used against her, releasing whatever the hell was invading her body. Not only that, she was being slowly consumed by it. First she was kidnapped, then her parents were killed, then she was stopped before she could end this mess of a life, then the killers of her parents came and eventually shoved something presumably demonic into her body and soul, and now....Mary slumped to the ground in a sitting position. "I just want to go home." She muttered through her tears. "Fine...imprison it within my mind I guess...at least I'll always know where it is then..." She gave a more than slightly hysterical laugh.

"Then so be it..." Thunder broke out in the skies above, and a black, thick rain began to fall. But it didn't even have a chance to hit the ground or Mary's head as the land around her changed. It was moving below her feet, or something was pulling her away, away towards the city.

"Wait, where are you taking me? Where am I going? What's going on!" Mary's voice was filled with panic as she began to be dragged away towards the city. Surely whatever the hell the voice wanted to do to her didn't require that she be taken to the city? Or was it so that they could meet face to face? Mary began to struggle against whatever was pulling her. She had enough horrors for one day.

Eventually she reached the city. The buildings seemed to blur by her at a hundred miles an hour, but she felt no wind, no force pushing against her, her insides weren't being pushed back by the momentum, that feeling of velocity was non existent. She would notice that each building was leaking a black tar out of their windows and doors. They seemed strangely familiar, like she has seen them before.

Soon they stopped in front of a building, a large establishement that leaked the same fluids. It's entrance doors were closed.

Mary stared at the the buildings all around her that leaked tar, and shuddered. "I'm not going in there. Do what you want out here, but I am [i]not[/i] going in there!" She announced to the world at large, hoping the voice was listening, and that it didn't notice how much her voice shook in terror. It had appeared to be listening all the other times. Somehow, she doubted it would do what she wanted. But hey. It would be a nice change.

"This is what your mind has become. This is your world. The creature has spread it's infestation not only through your body, but also through your Dream Realm. It is something you must witness, something you must remember. For it is what shall remain in your dreams forever..." The doors of the building slammed open and Mary could see inside. It was a corridor filled with lockers. It seemed that this place was some sort of school.

The mysterious force appeared again and pulled her into the building. She passed by open lockers, which too, dripped with the same ooze. The walls were covered in the black tar. Then she passed by doors to classrooms. Some of them were collapsed, others locked, but most were open. Within them was the same think liquid dripping down the walls.

And once again, Mary felt this sense of familiarity, like she has been is this forsaken place before...

Mary struggled to resist whatever was dragging her into the...wait a minute. If she looked past the tar and the general corruption in this place, she could see familiar things, giving validation to the random sense she attributed to whatever was inside of her body. There, that was her friend Jane's locker! With the little poems all written over on the inside. And there was her own locker! "Why am I in my college?" She asked incredulously, voice several octaves higher due to the growing panic.

"This is the memory in which the infestation has taken residence." The voice replied. Mary was then pulled towards the southern part of the college, towards the gymnasium. When she arrived, a blue light glowed through the crack beneath the closed double doors. The ooze was also the most excessive here. Muffled noises could be heard within, specifically of some kind of struggle, and something splashing around.

Mary whimpered as she was taken towards the gymnasium, a blue light glowing through the ooze and the crack beneath the doors. She shook her head, trying to pull away from the door. If the voice wanted her to see what was behind the door, it'd have to force her in. There was no way she was willingly entering the gym, not now, not ever.

The doors slammed open and the invisible force pushed her into the massive room. The gym was far bigger than Mary perhaps remembered, a lot bigger. The room was completely covered in the tar, and strangely empty, there was virtually no clean spot anywhere to be seen, and no equipment either. In the center of the gym, stood a man dressed in black with his back to Mary, he was standing in a horse riding stance with his hands outstretched towards a huge black orb, blue arcs of energy streamed from his hands towards it. The orb malformed, twisted and changed shape, as if it was desperately struggling, fighting for it's life against this man.

On closer inspection, the orb was made of the same tar, with a screaming face that cringed and opened it's mouth to shout in pain but the sound never came. Suddenly the orb burst, a black shockwave almost blew the man off his feet and made him slip on the ooze on ground. He dropped on one knee, but continued his fight against... whatever that thing was.

"Behold." Said the voice, which was clearer than before. And now Mary knew it's source, it was the man before her. "That is the thing that will live in your mind from now on." The doors she entered through only moments ago slammed shut behind her, and strange circles and seals appeared on the door, and the rest of the other entrances to the gym.

Before Mary could even formulate a response, the blackness the man was battling against formed itself into a mockery of human form, long limbed and twisted. It spoke, it's voice roaring throughout the gym, the world that was Mary's Dreams. "I...am...the...ABYSS! I will not be sealed away by you!" It laughed, rough and malicious, echoing throughout the world. "I can [i]taste[/i] your soul! And it will be mine." Black tendrils began cutting their way through the ooze, trying to wrap around the man and drag him towards it. "Surrender, human. Your time has come."

Mary for her part, had backed away as far as the strange runes and seals would allow terror coursing through her body. She wanted to back out, to change her mind. Too late, she knew. So she could do nothing but retreat, and feel the tears coursing down her cheeks as she sobbed silently, watching the struggle before her. Whoever this man was, she was sure she had doomed him to death just for helping her. 

The tendrils that came for the man suddenly compressed, became crushed by the same force that brought Mary to this very room. "Abyss... now I know you're name..." The humanoid mockery that the Abyss became was crushed back into an orb again. It's horrifying face reemerging along the everchanging sphere. "A failure, just like your creator... Such a shame to waste such a thing, but no matter. Your dying days will be spent here, in your own hell." The orb continued to struggle but was compressed even further, down from the size of a trailer to the size of small car.

The Abyss hissed in rage at the man. "You will regret this human. I will be free once more...and you will pay!" A very familiar, very large, horned shape appeared in the blob next to the Abyss. "Already, I FEAST!" The face disappeared, and the orb began to writhe and twist as if some struggle was going on inside. A wolf's howl of agony could be heard, then the orb was still.

It was then when a large shape appeared next to Mary, seemingly out of nowhere. A corner of a black cube covered in script. Then another corner appeared, and another. All until the corners surrounded the sphere and hovered around it. Slowly they began to close shut, the painstaking moments as the black box closed stretched from seconds to seemingly hours in Mary's mind as she watched.

Then the cube clanged closed, it's openings infused with the solid material, leaving no visible ways of ever opening it again.

The man relaxed. The chaos, the struggle, had ended. "There." He said. "Sealed away forever." He did not turn around to face the silently sobbing girl as he spoke. "Your life will never be the same..." He said with resounding regret. "I'm so sorry."

It took a few more minutes for Mary to regain the composure to speak. She sank to the ground, heedless of the ooze and simply hugged her knees, rocking back and forth, staring at the black cube sealing away the nightmare that was inside of her head. How had she ever gotten into this mess? What had she done to attract the attention of these..these monsters? All she had been doing was heading home after a day of school and suddenly she was kidnapped and taken to a warehouse and then thrown into a nightmare of hellish proportions. When she finally felt sure enough of herself to speak, she did, haltingly. "It's not your fault. My life was changed when they killed my parents just to get me." She sounded hollow, spent. "Please. Just let me wake up...don't make me go through another hell..." She broke down again, her sobs echoing through the silent chamber. 

"I wasn't apologizing to you..." Said the man coldly. "I was apologizing to the Abyss, for the hell he is about to be faced with..." The man muttered a few words and the script on the cube began to glow. Shrill muffled screaming began within the box. Mary's prisoner now faced an unimaginable horror, and would continue to do so until the very day Mary died.

"Now it's time for you to wake up..." The man clicked his fingers, and Mary's vision began to blur into blackness. The nightmare was finally ending.

Mary didn't understand why the man was feeling sorry for the monster inside of her head, nor did she try. She just choked out a broken "Thank you.." Before the blackness claimed her once more.

------------------------------------------------------------

As she regained conscioussness, and the bonding completed, whatever wounds that hadn't been healed by Mairyell's magic regenerated. Bones snapped into place, flesh knitted itself together. All in all, when she woke up, she felt like shit. She let out a low groan of pain before opening her eyes and looking around. No nightmarish hell yet. Seemed to be the roof of the apartment, if a bit more..ruined than she remembered. Warily, she sat up, looking around. Searching for that one image or monster that proved the man had lied to her. That this wasn't the apartment, just a trick. Luckily for all involved, she saw Julian first. Relief flooded through her and she lost all control again. Sobbing, she practically threw herself at him, burying her face in his shoulder, and hugged him tightly. It was over. Finally, over. 

Julian sees her eyes open and he sighed in ease. He jumps for a moment as Mary leaps up and wraps her arms around him, crying. Surprised and startled for a few moments. Julian wraps his arms around her protectively and kisses her forehead.

“Shh, it's alright Mary” he whispered softly. Happily ignoring whatever that sword was trying to implant in his mind. All he wanted to focus on was Mary's safety. He promised himself he would never give her that sword again, or anyone for that matter. It was his to bear.

“You're safe, alright.”

Having moved his hands away from her before she had awoken, Mairyell now stood, watching her reactions as she came back to life, almost literally, and lunged into Julian's arms. For the first time in the last hour or so, a small smile played across his face. The man had been wrong, they had won. He had won. "Damn right she is," the vampire said aload, the blood armor fully absorbing back into his body, causing him to shudder slightly and cringe before the red in his eyes actually faded somewhat, turning to a purple coloration. Balance was restored...for now.

Glancing at her, Mairyell knew that her trial wasn't over, but at least she had gotten around one of its many obstacles. Sighing he turned to Solus and spoke, "Will it last?" Ever the pessimist, Mairyell asked the question no one likely wanted to consider, almost as if he had no tact. Oh well, at least he got down to business, afterall it'd be all pointless if she died in a few weeks after all this trouble over her. Wouldn't that be a [I]nice[/I] surprise.

Solus was leaning his back on a wall, looking very intently at his fingernails and picking out the germs from underneath them. He quickly glanced at Mairyell and then back at his fingers, flicking them a bit. "Until she dies." it was very blunt and to the point. "But she has other problems, look into her eyes..."

Sighing, Mairyell nodded and then a slight frown crossed his features, and he raised an eyebrow, glancing at the phone. "What ever happened to your rambling, Mr. Desperate," the vampire stated, a slight smile reforming on his lips as he taunted Sir, who of course hadn't yet hung up, he would have heard that. In the mean time, he glanced at Mary and walked a bit further from Solus, getting a different angle on her. It was in that moment that his heart dropped. Her eyes were still pitch black.

She was cursed just like he had been. Well, not quite, but it was similar. She'd been unwillingly turned into...[I]something[/I]. What even was she now? Closing his eyes and sighing, he glanced at Solus briefly and then at the phone, expecting it to explode with some form of ridicule or the like any moment in the near future. After all, the alleged mastermind of this whole fiasco was quite the chatterbox it seemed.

The Phone, silent for so long, suddenly crackled into life. "It worked! It worked, it worked, it worked! Call me desparate but it worked!" Sir crowed in victory. "She nearly died because of some people, but it worked! I can't-" Sir suddenly fell silent. "Wait...what is-No. No...NO!" The Demon suddenly let loose a long string of cursing. "Something's wrong. Very, very wrong. Solus, demon hunter deary, you need to listen to me very carefully. You don't trust me, and I don't blame you. But, you need to trust me on this part. The girl must die. You have to kill her. The Abyss is doing far more than it should, and if she's walking around anywhere near the War..." Sir shuddered. Obviously, whatever was wrong with the Abyss scared him. "Just...kill the girl. And the Abyss. Especially the Abyss. And, seeing as you've sealed the Abyss away, I suppose killing the girl is the only way. You, sword boy. Just a quick stab. It'll even be painless if you know what you're doing. The needs of the many, after all. And trust me many, many, many people would die if she isn't killed. So...no time like the present, eh?"

Mary didn't know what was going on. She wasn't letting go of Julian, not yet anyways. But when Mairyell looked into her eyes, she knew something was wrong. Before she could ask what, though, a new voice began chattering excitedly, and then almost immediately switching to wanting her dead. Mary let out a small whimper, and clutched tighter to Julian. Not again. Not again...

Solus walked over and grabbed the phone and said. "Well, ain't that a quick change of tone. Why don't you just give up. Hmm? I'm sure you have better things to do than sit there and waste not only my time, but everybody else's. And let me tell you, I don't like my time being wasted, by pathetic little shits like you. Good bye." Solus then proceeded to press the red button on the phone, and throw it out of the window.

"If he materializes another fucking phone in my pocket I swear to Aaurus that I'm going to cast that immortality spell and hunt down his ass all the way to the very ends of the Three Worlds..." The Necromaster mumbled to himself.

"That was materialized?" Mairyell asked in a mostly rhetorical tone as he watched it soar out the window. As the thought clicked into place, his smile broadened, "then there's no need for you to hunt him. I can track him down with even the tiniest amount of his scent. Blood or essence would do it, even the smell of magic used by him and applied to someone else would be enough." He then glanced at Solus, grinning, "D'ya got any of the above?"

Julian held Mary tighter when the voice out of the cellphone spoke out. His nostrils flared as his rage built up against the desperate Demon. Then the unknown man cooly threw it out the window. He let out a soft chuckle before running his hands through Mary's hair. He listened to Mairyell's words and let out a tired response

“Can we do all of this a little bit later? I think rest would be a good option at this time.”

Hearing Julian, the vampire shrugged and looked over to him. "I suppose so, as long as I have his scent he can't run or hide from me. Granted, I would've hunted him myself if necessary, in fact I'd rather you stay with her," he gestured towards Mary by nodding his head. He then turned away, glancing to Solus in wait for his answer. He didn't elaborate on why exactly he rather not be left alone with Mary, but it had to do with trust issues.

Self trust issues.

"That phone is... Or was if it hasn't disappeared yet, the closest thing to his scent. You better hurry and get it before it does vanish into thin air..." Solus replied dryly. He turned his head to Julian, and said. "The girl's body has bonded. We'll have to test her limits in the morning to see what's changed. It's best if she rests up now but I doubt she will have a restful night."

"No need," the vampire shrugged, "I was merely asking for confirmation really, now that I know that that was [I]his[/I] scent, I've no need to smell it again. All essence is distinctive in my experience." Mairyell then glanced at Julian and Mary. Since he was at an angle that she could see him, he smiled warmly and spoke once more "and don't worry about your safety. You've got three people here who are quite willing to shoo away anyone who might try anything, if anyone is still so foolish." At that, he smiled and turned away, walking out the door and waving a bit. "I'll be outside, the fresh air's kinda nice. Oh, by the way, pick another room, that one's kinda trashed." He was right, there was a hole in both the floor and the wall, which made it kind of comical that he'd said he needed fresh air, after all there was plenty flowing directly into the room.

Mary drew a shuddering breath, smiling in response to Mairyell's reassurance. He had quite quickly changed moods in the last...hour or three. Which, frankly, was a relief. The torn muscle fibers threat was still prominent in her mind, even if it had paled in comparison to the threats that had recently surfaced. She didn't know idea who the third man was, but Mairyell obviously trusted him and he hadn't tried to kill her or kidnap her yet, so she wasn't worried. Realizing she was still clinging to Julian she withdrew from the hug and blushed slightly. "Sorry about that.." She muttered, glancing around the room that was, as Mairyell had said, trashed. Too put it mildly. "What happened? All I remember is pain..and then blackness.." She left the rest unsaid, and would rather not remember the hell of the sword or the Abyss, not yet. Preferably not ever.

“Our little werewolf friend bonded your body with some object of his. You were blacking out and it was taking over your body.” he said, scratching his beard. He looks down at Mary and smiled slightly. He honestly didn't mind the Black eyes. Why would he? He had seen... and become far worse things.

Looking down in shame. 
“In order to halt the transformation, I had to do something drastic.” he looks down at the Saber sheathed safely by his side. Not daring to touch it until it had calmed down. He looks at Mary, guilt radiated on his face.

“I fully realize what I was doing, and what you probably saw. I'm--- I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do.” He said almost pathetically.

Mary was silent for a while. She wanted to say it was okay, that she forgave him for it. But it wasn't, and she didn't. He had knowingly and willingly put her through that, in what she assumed was this world's equivalent of tossing someone learning to swim into the ocean and saying 'swim or die'. But she couldn't be angry at him for it either. The thing, horrible as it was, had said that he felt protective of her. That he cared about her. That had been displayed before now, in his caring for her after convincing her not to end it all. So, she didn't say 'it's okay. I forgive you' and she didn't yell at him either. What she did was give a weak smile, and say, "At least I'm alive. That's something, isn't it? Though, how the hell I got into this world is a question that will plague me for the rest of my life. Assuming it's long enough for me to even consider the question." She had to face reality. Even with three people protecting her, she wasn't suited for this world. She was a liability, at best. Actively working against them at worst. 

Julian sighed and folded his arms. His messy hair laid messily over his eyes, tangling themselves and created chaos all over his head. But beneath all that were eyes that no longer were cold blank stares trying to block off the world and shun everyone that came before him.To block off his immense guilt to the world. They were... human and had a softer touch to them. But they seemed weary and tired with small wrinkles beginning to form.

“Everything happens for a reason Mary, whether that reason be good or bad is another story. But you are alive and for now. Safe. And in the end, that is all that matters.”

Sweaty and slightly uncomfortable. He took off his Pea-coat and threw it on the floor. A plain black long sleeve shirt beneath it. He sits down on the sofa that now had become rather unraveled after the fight. But he didn't care, better than the pavement outside.

Mary let out a small sigh. "You're probably right." She stared up at the ceiling for no particular reason, when a memory came to her. A small smile played on her lips and she began talking. Maybe it was because she needed to distance herself from the horrors that had happened to her. Maybe she just needed to fill the silence, regardless, she spoke. "When I was a small child, I was terrified of the dark. Monsters dance in it, I insisted to my parents. When nightlights and assuring me that he'd shoot any monsters that came near me failed, my father finally took me outside one night and had me look at the stars. They, he claimed, were angels. Every last one of them. And their duty was to ensure that monster's didn't haunt the dark. So whenever I thought there was monsters in the dark, I should just think of the millions and billions of angels above me, and they would burn away the monsters. And I believed him, and it at least helped me sleep through the night easily." She gave a soft laugh. "Out of all of my childhood fantasies, my childhood dreams, that's the one thing I wish was real. That the stars were angels, and they burned away monsters. Ridiculous..I know. But still. If I had only one wish..." 

Julian nodded slightly. Grasping within his own mind that he was one of Mary's monsters that an Angel would love to burn away. He closes his eyes tight and fights back the urge to just fall apart before he looks up at Mary with a fake smile.

“If I had one wish it would be...: he pauses for a moment, and his facial expression decided it was better to not finish that statement

“Well... it doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to check and see if the shower still works. You should get some sleep. That man said that your first night will be rough so come to us if you need anything.” He said this quickly and awkwardly, trying to hide a subject which he knew was on his mind. His sword and what he was. He knew it told her things. And he would deal with it at a later time. But right now, he didn't want Mary to see him as a Monster that should be destroyed... like so many others had.

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Descending the stair well of the apartmant building, Mairyell's mind slowly slipped into deep thought as he wondered what he was really going to do with himself now that Aeris was...out of reach. Sighing a bit as he entered the cool early morning air, Mairyell let his back slide down the outside wall, where he sat, thinking. [I]Well, I'm not giving up on her,[/I] he noted, nodding his head a bit and looking up at the sun as it gradually rose over the cityscape of Loom. He then began to run through the events of just the past few hours...he didn't want to remember the kidnapping.

He noted that while he had had no power against that cursed bastard, that he had been able to handle himself just fine in the face of even an ascended werewolf, a mildly impressive feat. He hadn't fought too many surface demons of the ascended class...and usually they had been vampires, which he knew the weaknesses of quite intimately. Shrugging a bit, he stretched his neck muscles, turning his head back and forth a bit before leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes. There really wasn't much else to do...just protect and grow stronger, more in control, he supposed. Afterall, he was tired of this curse controlling him, so perhaps he could finally tip the scales to an equal the playing field.

The question was how...?

Sighing deeply and letting the slight frustration that had been building flow out with the breath, Mairyell opened his eyes once more to glance once again at the rising sun. It represented hope for some, life for others, but for him it was somehow a reminder of what he was...and the things that he had to do to live each day.

Few of them were pleasant.

With the girl more or less now safe, Solus' previous curiosity of the young Vampire peeked it's head in the back of his mind. It was rare to find a Vampire who gave a damn about things other than just feeding, let alone actually protecting a potential meal. And that magic... Solus' arcane knowledge could use some more information in its vast library. He followed the same path out that Mairyell took. Heading down the stairs, and stopping in the doorway that was left open. He casually leaned his head out to searched for the Fledgeling.

Luckily, he was leaning against the wall just by the open entrance to the apartment building. Looking up at the sky in thought.

"Pretty impressive for a youngin'." The Necromaster began while surveying the road from left to right, and realizing that now was the time when regular people would get up to go to work, and start their daily routines. The last they needed to get up to was demonic man and a Vampire staring them in the face as they walked towards their cars. But Solus didn't really care. "Healing a person like that and all. And that Wolf, I must have missed quite the party."

Hearing the hunter coming, Mairyell glanced to the side, only to glance back up to watch the sunrise as Solus spoke. The young man just shrugged a bit and frowned slightly before laughing just a bit, "It has certainly been quite the night...I wouldn't personally call it a party though." Closing his purple hued eyes again, he laughed lightly, almost as if at some kind of irony, before speaking again, "I suppose I should thank you though. Both for saving Mary, and for the compliment." He glanced at the man, opening his eyes once more, as he realized that Solus may just have been the only person in his life that he had let himself trust in the space of a few hours.

It was dangerous, but he was in it already, so he might as well stay. No reason to kick the man out of his life in this case. After all, if the hunter betrayed him, he'd either be dead, or he'd kill the guy himself, it didn't really matter anymore. His eyes briefly looked over the man's strange features before Mairyell turned away, watching as some people, humans, began to frequent the streets and go about their lives. It wasn't the first time that, after looking at them, he wished he could just have a normal life. Too bad the fates had had other plans for his life.... Fates, now wasn't that a novel idea, a bunch of lofty, all knowing, all seeing, manipulative fucks sitting up in some existential cave dictating every detail of every person's life.

Smirking slightly despite the horribleness of the thought, Mairyell glanced up at the sky, not even looking anywhere in particular anymore, and hoped that at if they existed, at least they were enjoying the fucked up situation he'd been born in. Or hell, maybe he could hope that it all meant something...that it would all lead him to something better.

He could hope, or trick himself into believing there was such a thing, but he didn't really believe it anyways. Oh well, so much for that. Sighing, he then laid his head against the wall again, his eyes closed, and waited for Solus' response.

"She's not really saved..." Retorted the human. "I only prevented the insanity that would have consumed her mind. In the end she is still a mutant." Mutant. That was a word he used for everything that wasn't any of the three races, but a mix of the two, or at times all three. "I doubt she could go back to her old life. Sure, the only visible difference is the eyes. But humans like to overreact..." Solus knew this would be the terribly lonely part of her life, being ridiculed and refered to as a 'Witch'. He doubted that she would even pull through it all. Her mind was weak willed, but really that wasn't her fault, it was the fault of the Mark.

The things she saw in her mind had scarred her with the Mark of Kain. She would never be the same. But Solus really had no right to doubt her, for all he knew, perhaps she would become strong from all this.

"She's going to be an outcast in this world just like we are."

His body mostly unmoving, Mairyell shook his head slightly, not bothering to open his eyes or move from the wall. "I suppose she will, but it's not like she could've gone back to normalcy even before this. Her parents are dead and I'd say she had already been scarred emotionally enough that living [I]normally[/I] would've already been impossible." Talking about this kind of thing reminded him that 'normal' had never really described his life...he'd been born cursed, abnormal...a mutant.

Mutant...he didn't like that word because it implied that she was a freak. She wasn't. She was a normal girl in unfortunate circumstances...they shared that, in some ways, only he'd been living in unfortunate circumstances since birth. "Don't call her that," he said coolly, surprisingly little emotion threading his words, "It's insulting...even if it [I]is[/I] true. I'd know, afterall I'm no better." Frowning a bit, Mairyell opened his eyes and stared at Solus a while. "Guess you'd understand that pretty well too, huh? Heh...what d'you want anyways. You obviously didn't come down here for a smoke or some shit, so spill it so I can have even a moment of peace." Sadly, the unfortunate young man had [I]no idea[/I] that the future held anything but peace.

"Mutant is a medical term." Solus said. "You taking offence to it is like a fat woman getting her knickers in a twist because her Doctor told her she was obese and offered her a diet due to health concerns." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Forget it." He sighed heavily as he thought very carefully about what to say next. "I came to talk because you are one with the 'Masquerade', so to speak. A Vampire would rarely even give a damn about someone other than themselves. And yet here you are..." He turned his head to the Fledgeling and continued. "Around the back of Mercy Hospital there is a pharmasist that provides donated blood. All neatly packaged, ready for potential clients like yourself, all for money of course. Just look for the grey door. There's an intercom there, ring the bell. He'll answer with: Who's there? Just answer with: A Patient." He let that sink in for a moment while he looked around the street.

"Just an option if you don't feel like hurting people when you need to feed. But if you really need to sink your teeth into something, the Triad in Little Tokyo have a permanent reservation in the Morgue. They speciallize in human trafficing and prostitution. Take young girls off the streets and drug them up, preparing them for 'sale'. They're bad people. Sucking a few of them dry would help a lot of citizens. And it would save Loom PD the trouble."

Making no response to the comparison, Mairyell's eyes opened only as the triad was mentioned, at which point he gave Solus a sidelong glance with those strangely purple, slightly glowing, eyes of his. They were abnormal...even for a vampire. "The Triad eh? Sounds like a good deal, I'll keep them in mind. As to the hospital, well I'll think about it, but bloodlust isn't sated by donations. I'm not looking for a fix like most vampires..." when he uttered the word vampire there was a hint of disgust in his voice, as if he hated the term. "Unfortunately, even if my thirst is quenched, my bloodlust might not be. I [I]have[/I] to kill to be sated, there's just no other way...." Sighing lightly the young man pushed himself off of the wall and stood up, hitting Solus' shoulder weakly as if in thanks as he turned and walked by him to head back in. "Thanks though, it'll hopefully save a lot of innocents from my darker side," he sounded...lazy...no, tired was a better word. He'd been through a lot and he was emotionally exhausted, too bad he didn't trust himself to sleep a few hours.

With the thought of sleep sounded nice, Mairyell entered the apartment building only for him to stop the next moment as all his senses went on high alert before he even had time to process why.

Chaos fell, draping the city in its influence, and Mairyell shuddered as a wave of nausea assaulted his stomach, almost causing him to retch. His muscles tensing to help stop the action, he swallowed hard and then turned back around, looking to Solus. "I'm not the only one who feels that, right?" Mairyell's voice was strained, as if he were resisting something.

Solus lifted up his head as Mairyell said that. He squinted his eyes as his mind probed the outside world. [i]SZZZZZZAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEIIIISSSSSSSSSSS[/i] A horrible voice wrapped itself around the Necromaster's mind. [i]You sure?[/i] Replied Solus mentally.

[i]YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS[/i]

"Oh shit..." Cursed out Solus. He could feel the darkness pounding into his head. Sirens went off in his mind as his brain cells scrambled to action, his Realm slamming itself shut to protect Solus' consciousness from the very essence of fear that the Chimeric Lord released into the world. "You know who the Demon Lord of Destruction and Fear is, kid?" He asked Mairyell's rhetorically. "'Cause he's here..."

"Szayeis..." Mairyell said a bit quietly, a name that in all right he shouldn't have any knowledge of. Except, that very lord was his sire, as much as he hated to admit such. "Yeah...and it's chaos. Fear and destruction are just side effects," the vampire said as he rubbed his temples, trying to drive off the demonic lord's influence. Then he smelled them...the demons, they were everywhere. "Shit...how the fuck are we going to deal with this," the vampire said, thinking aloud. "There's so many...where in the fuck did they come from," there was disbelief written all over his face. He didn't know how he was supposed to protect Mary with all of this going on...they needed to get the hell out of here.

"I doubt Szayeis emerging and a whole army of demon just appearing out of thin air is a coincidence..." Responded the Slayer. "Get Mary and..." Solus never did get that man's name. "that other guy out of town. You know how to hotwire a car?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mairyell said, a slightly grudging edge to his voice. Thinking for a moment he sighed and turned, calling back down the hall as he did so, "I don't care how reckless you are, or skilled, don't face that demon. He'll tear you apart," Mairyell then proceeded to run up the stairs to gather the two so they could [I]hopefully[/I] get to safety. As he did so, he cursed the fates. He could never just rest, could he?