[b][center]The deal[/center][/b]

A look of casual serenity stared back into the eyes of the two Asylums who had finally finished mutilating the body of the rogue. While the spectacle was rather amusing to behold the two missed one crucial factor, a minor detail being that they were in one of the most densely populated cities and to make matters worse, this one rarely slept. 

The blood of the victim slowly seeped onto the road and the perpetrators stood their in all their glory staring at the Angel who remained seated on his throne, his fingers gently rubbing his temple as if inflicted by a minor nuisance. 

Once the adrenaline and thrill, from the endeavor of painting dread on a canvas which was the rogue, subsided would the two Asylum duo realize all the potential witnesses that stood around them had come to stoic stand still. An eerie almost supernatural silence had crept over their surrounding vicinity, the only inhabitants appearing to be the Asylums and hundreds of mannequins. 

"Do you understand the penalty of exposure?" The Crimson Asylum finally spoke, his casual tone running parallel with his sinister expression. 

"Death," Rin completed her partner’s sentence in her usual deadpan manner, her cold doll-like eyes slowly meeting the gaze of the two Asylums. The tilting of her neck revealing the digit -VI- branded next to her neck, a digit that had come to inspire fear and awe in the organization, for she was one of the twelve. 

"Exactly my dear partner," Angel nodded a few times, silently mocking the duo with his casually sarcastic demeanor. His fingers continuing to massage his temple, clearly the toll from what strange Alchemy he had cast. "Are you aware of the concept of time?" The Lost number continued, his finger tips striking against the table as if to mimic the ticking of a clock. "Time is a dimension consisting of past, present and future.....is it not? Wouldn't it be safe to assume if someone had control of time he could manipulate all said events? However I don't believe that is time's defining trait. I believe it is motion, movement, progress hence is it safe to say without time we would all merely be in a state of motionless stagnation?" By now XIII was no longer seated, his crimson silhouette approaching the two Asylums with hushed steps. 

"Time is in the domain of the Gods." The Chrono replied, her expressionless and stoic persona daunting if not plain terrifying. 

“But we are far from Gods aren’t we my dear sorella?” 

“Demons..” came her reply, short and to the point.

“Forever to mirror yet never to truly grasp,” The blood draped Angel mused as he observed the mannequins around him. “While time may not be out of a mortal’s grasp, its perception however is of mortal creation. So what if you hijack that perception and halt it? I think you both know the answer by now.” 

“Repayment,” Rin once again whispered in a hollow tone.

“Yes indeed. Demons are not capable of favors, we barter and deal and you two are indebted. What is the price of exposure…death….what is the price of life? That is what you owe us.” A saintly smile spread across his face as his hand slowly reached towards the two, a hand shake to seal the deal.

Upon the completion of the “agreement” via the hand shake from whoever was first to accept, a strange spectacle would follow. Upon contact a sharp pain would ensue and from that moment detaching from the ‘deal’ would be impossible. Like venom slithering through the veins, the pain would spiral up the arm and finally spike at the shoulder, a pain resembling that of a burning sensation quite similar to being branded. 

“A time will come when I will require a ‘favor’ from you, when that time comes you will know. Till then I have left you a reminder, consider it…”

“Insurance…” The Chrono finished the sentence, choosing the best word befitting the situation. 

The Gemellie would have most certainly continued their little game if not for Angel spotting something of interest. His line of sight seemed to be fixated on the mutilated corpse of the rogue. “Well this is interesting,” he thought, a crafty smile spread across his face.

“Looks like things are about to get a little more interesting…..a lot more in fact.” He uttered these words before fading away in a black wisp, his partner shortly following suit before uttering a few phrases and cleaning the mess that was loitering the street, namely the dead body. 

And with that the sense of time once again began to flow naturally and with that life once again returned to the city that knows no sleep.