[I][b][Center]Colette & Tyrael[/center][/b][/i]

Tyrael stopped in a four way intersection in the lower levels. At this point he was fairly familiar with where he was at and knew he wasn't too far from the catacombs. He was considering heading over there to reinforce the traps and clear out anymore remaining ridge hounds when he spotted Colette down the hall. He puffed out a cloud of smoke and called out to her. [B]”What are you doing here? Underhaven is nowhere near here.”[/b]

Colette jumped and looked at her teacher, the very teacher she stood up against in the catacombs. [color=lavender]”I don't have much time to go to the Underhaven sir...[/color] She said truthfully. She really didn't have much time anymore with so much going on, Atticus and blood candies being a big thing right now plus managing her time with her new girlfriend Keri. She went to walk again when she stopped.

[color=lavender]”Sir...I know these words don't mean much, but I am sorry for going against you. I had to get you to snap out of it some way. I know what it's like...living in your past, the pain of it can leave mental scars beyond healing. I know I suffered a lot before I came here, but thanks to you, Lucillia and everyone I met here, I know I can move on.”[/color]

Tyrael snorted at Colette. [B]”You are right… Your words mean nothing to me.  You… It does not matter. My troubles aren't what happened in the past. It is what I must do for the future.”[/b] Tyrael puffed of his weed and exhaled a ring of smoke. He didn't know why he was here talking to Colette. He didn't think she could help him, so he started to turn and walk away..

[color=lavender]”I used to say the same thing Mr. Tyrael until my life changed all together and I was forced to start over by myself.[/color] Colette said sharply, that sharp tone ending to get anyone’s attention since she never had a sharp tone to her voice before. 

Tyrael turned his head towards Colette, hearing the defiance in her voice. He was half-tempted to simply strike her, and his hand turned into a claw to do so, but he simply clenched it into a fist and hold onto that anger. 

[color=lavender]”No matter what happens in the future the past will always come back and bite you where you least expect it. Yes the future is important and I have a extremely long one ahead of me, but there is something things about my past that will always and I mean always catch up to me. You are no different Mr. Tyrael.”[/color] Colette said. She then gave a hollow chuckle.

[color=lavender]”We aren't so different you and I even if you don't want to admit it. I can tell when someone has a rough past and you do have one just as dark or maybe darker than what I went through, but sir… You're not alone. You helped me with my powers and everything, just let me help you in someway. I know that I will never be able to fully repay you back for your help. Lucillia may have saved me from completely ending myself from infinite suffering, but you… You gave me the strength to be stronger and helped me channel my demonomancy powers. Please I can change and I know deep down...you can too and I can help you in anyway if you allow me to”[/color] Colette said.

Tyrael glared at Colette. He turned his head and started walking. But he took a few steps and stopped. Then he started chuckling. Then those chuckles became mad laughter. His laugh echoed through the halls and surely anyone who was within the underground would hear it vibrate off the walls. As quickly as it came however he stopped, turned to Colette, and had the face of fury. [b]”Help me!? What could you possibly do to help me? I am Karnage Urabrask Vorinclex, Overlord of Seven Planes in the Inferno, The Master of the Forge. I have created armies and weapons far greater than what any mortal has achieved, none of them which has ever tasted defeat!”[/b]

Tyrael’s face looked sadden rather than angry. He slammed his body against the wall, sliding to a sitting position. He looked at his grey, clawed hands before putting his face into them. [b]”... And yet these hands have never saved anything. These are the hands of monsters. They cannot create. They can only destroy and corrupt. The power I have obtained cannot protect anyone. They only kill my enemies. I cannot love. I can only demand satisfaction. I have spent my life looking for lies. I always have. That is why you cannot help me.”[/b] Tyrael waved his hand through the mostly empty hall. All there was here was darkness and pipe-weed butts. 

[b]”Your future is bright. You have lost everything from your past, so now nothing stands in your way. You have found new people to love and cherish. Your own power to protect them. You never had to sacrifice your life to have them. They came to you… They wanted you. But no one wants me. If I simply fell into the Pit right now, there would be no one to mourn me. No one will suffer from my disappearance. No one will shed a tear. No one… Needs me.”[/b] Tyrael slammed his body into the wall and sat down, taking out another roll of Pipe-Weed and lighting it up. He blew smoke into the air that formed in the shape of an axe. 

[b]”You are a fool if you see strength in me. Because up there, Mar… I am not as strong as you think I am. All this power I have nothing more than lies. If I was strong, I could have saved Mar. She would not live with suffering. But ever since I came here her life has been nothing but misery and pain. I have done nothing but hurt and caused suffering. I am many things, Colette. I am a demon. A monster. Evil. But I am not strong. I am not a hero. And… And I cannot help anyone.”[/b]

[color=lavender]”I do have something in my way....the question of what really happened to my parents. Don't get me wrong, I am quite bitter towards them for their treatment of me after I was turned. That's why I became the blood drinking creature you think of vampires Mr. Tyreal, but unlike most, I tried to fight that lust for blood the entire time I was alone.” [/color] Colette said as she turned to face him. She walked up and held his arm in a gentle grip.

[color=lavender]”You have helped. You helped all the students with their demonmancy and you helped me get the strength I needed to accept others. I often wish I had your strength from the very beginning, then maybe all those people would have never died by my fangs. When I first came here I tried so hard to keep others away from me because I feared myself. I don't even have a dorm, I live in a tower isolated from everyone so I don't hurt them. I still have that fear and probably always will. My fear is also my strength. I want to so badly help the other vampires so they don't suffer the same fate as me. I know you are not evil and you are not a monster, just like I am not. Me and you are just misunderstood by others around us. You are not the reason Mar is suffering, she is allowing herself to suffer because she must have something in her past that she can’t let go and whatever it is, it's not your fault.”[/color] Colette said with a sincere voice. She backed up but didn't let go of his arm.

[color=lavender]”Let me help you like you have helped me”[/color] Colette said.

Tyrael was still and silent. What was it going to take to make this girl leave him alone? Was he going to have to hurt her? But maybe he didn't want her to leave. To be honest, he just wanted someone who could support and listen to him too. But such such a luxury was hard to find I'm in the midst of the Inferno, and even in the physical realm such weakness would only put him in danger and kill someone. But that didn't mean he didn't me want it.

[B]”How… How can you help me?”[/b]

Colette smiled when he showed no signs of rejecting her help. She had no idea how she can help him with his past problems since his past was probably different than hers but dark like hers was. Just as she thought of that, an idea popped in her head. If she couldn't help him physically, she could probably help him mentally and emotionally.

[color=lavender]”Let me be your dairy. Let me be your shoulder to lean on. I know it sounds teenagish or even weird, but it is helpful, to let all those negative emotions out. Talking out your past is a great way to get over the past. Holding it back only causes more pain and suffering.[/color] Colette said softly.

Talking? Tyrael wasn’t typically one for talking. Sure he could rant and give speeches but… Talking about his problems felt [i]wrong[/i]. Why talk when he could deal with it? Then again it’s not as if he has been dealing with his problems lately. He’s been just putting it aside using excuses like “I have immediate concerns to deal with” or “There are more important things to do” and so forth. When in truth he simply didn’t want to talk and admit he had a problem. He wasn’t certain if he wanted to confide in Colette, one of his own students, about his problems… But right now he wasn’t her teacher, just a demon with some issues on his chest.

[b]”...”[/b] Tyrael took another puff from his pipe-weed before sighing out a puff of smoke. [b]”Well… I wish I could spend time with my family more…”[/b]

Colette listened like she said she would. She smiled and nodded at him. [color=lavender]”There is nothing wrong about that, you have wants and needs too Mr. Tyreal.”[/color] Colette said.

Sighing Tyrael put out his pipe-weed. [b]”Maybe that’s true… But you know that as a demon, feeding these… Desires… It only makes them stronger. I want to see Lyn, talk to Mar, but everytime I do I… I have horrible images of… Things I’d do to them…”[/b] Just talking about it made Tyrael think of horrific things his demons would make him do to Mar and Lyn. What they want to do to them. He stayed away from them for their own protection, but that didn’t stop his own wish to spend time with them. [b]”You should know what I mean. Even if you have control over your own bloodlust, the idea that one day you could just lose control, it frightens you, doesn’t it?”[/b]

Colette nodded, her eyes softening with understanding at where he was coming from. [color=lavender]”Yes I do fear that, but you cannot let those fears control you. I let them control me and I only caused myself agony in the end. You have control over those fears, no one else.”[/color] Colette said.

Tyrael groaned in frustration. The sort of strength Colette was trying to appeal to just didn’t exist in Tyrael. At least he didn’t think so. [b]”Fear… Is sometimes the appropriate response. It tells us we face a challenge we cannot handle. It reminds us that we are not prepared. If I ever do anything to harm Mar or Lyn… I cannot imagine. But my demons… They know all too well. Even if what they say are lies, they know of the things I choose to ignore.”[/b]

Colette grunted and shook her head. [color=lavender]”Having you been teaching me not to let my demons control me? If you are letting your demons control your 
fears, isn't that a little bit hypocritical?[/color]’She asked.

Tyrael glared at Colette. He hated it, but she was right. [b]”Tch… They do not control me. They are a threat that must be taken seriously.”[/b] Tyrael reached into another portal to take out a new roll of pipe-weed, once again cut the end and lighting it with the same portal. [b]”And it is not as if they lie. Demons are treacherous and cunning, but they are often honest, brutally so. Lyn… So is too dear to me to risk the chance of… Of weakness.”[/b] Tyrael said as he took multiple puffs from his pipe-weed.

Colette groaned mentally. Now he was just starting to make excuses for himself. [color=lavender]”And yet you let their honesty shape what you believe in, that is the same as controlling sir. Caring for Lyn and Mar is not a weakness unless you let it become a weakness. They can be your strength, your anchor, the ones you fight for. Don't let demons or you say or think otherwise”[/color] Colette said.

Tyrael took a few more puffs from his pipe-weed, staying silent. There was truth to Colette’s words, but it just wasn’t that simple. He couldn’t just ignore the dangers he poses, or the words the demon spoke of. He was no coward, but he wasn’t foolhardy either. Demons get you by being arrogant of their threat. It wasn’t as if Tyrael wasn’t going to fight and die for Lyn and Mar. He just couldn’t bring himself to actually be with them. [b]”I… I do not know. I love them so much, but love is a… It is more powerful than I can handle.”[/b] Tyrael sat against the wall, trying to forget his thoughts. Too much thinking on his part. He just wanted to go somewhere and… Not think about it.

[color=lavender]”Well then about we go and find Lyn. Spend the day with her. I see it's pointless to try and talk it into you so we are going to get it through you by actually spending time with one of them!”[/color] Colette said using a no argument tone.

[b]”What?”[/b] Tyrael stared at Colette in disbelief. As he looked Colette reached out and grabbed Tyrael’s hand, pulling him onto his feet. Normally such a petite girl like Colette couldn’t possibly move Tyrael, but thanks to her vampiric strength as well as the fact Tyrael wasn’t exactly resisting, she was able to get him to stand and dragged him out from the lower halls and up towards the surface. [b]”W-wait! You do not even know where Lyn is! And she is not expecting me, I have not brought her anything as a gift!”[/b] Tyrael certainly wasn’t going to give her his rolled pipe-weed.

Colette grinned and looked up at him. [color=lavender]”I'm sure you will be the perfect gift. Every girl always wants a dad and Lyn is no different. Besides not all girls always wants gifts. Now come on and no more excuses Mr. Tyrael” [/color] She said.