As Diana continued to walk the dark halls of the Oblivion Dungeon, she began to hear the sounds of battle coming from where she was headed to. It was just a hunch on the dragon girl's part but she thought that, if battles were coming close it meant that she most be getting closer to something important as well. Perhaps, the reason why she was here in first place. These thoughts had Diana particularly distracted, it was unavoidable that she'd bump into something, she just didn't thought that the something she bumped into was a walking wall of metal spikes that lashed back at her as soon as they met.
"Wait, what's—" Diana said, surprised with the uncalled assault. Thankfully her body reacted faster than her, creating a magical shield, shaped like a dragon's fiery wing to protect her from most of the lethal attacks. Even so, Diana was pushed away a few meters, knocking against a wall with a dry thud.
"Argh! What's... no why did you do this? I'm sorry for bumping into you but, your reaction was too violent," the dragon girl said, coughing up a bit as she got back to her feet, using her staff as a support for her seemingly wobbling legs.
Taking a step back, Khaine simply prepared for his next attack. There was no time for words, certainly no time for civility. Killing an angel was no moral quandary, they were all immortal anyway. But this one seemed more dangerous than the weak creatures he had faced before, having withstood a series of attacks like that. That shield was excellent at blocking a frontal assault, so the obvious answer was not to go for a frontal assault. As he lunged forward again, swinging at her with the heavy demon blade, a portal would open behind her, a pillar of black steel emerging from it at high speed. At this rate he would be done with her quite quickly.
"It seems that... you aren't up for talking," Diana said as the unknown force continued to attack her. The strategy to attack from behind would normally be successful weren't for the fact that a dragon's greatest defense, as well as their most powerful weapon after their roaring breaths, is their tail. Without even thinking about it, Diana's tail coiled around the attack coming from her back. With her natural dexterity, she used the sudden acceleration to aid her jump, landing behind the demon looking knight, which naturally put he in crash course with his own attack.
"I just want to ask something, but if you are not going to listen, I'll have to beat it into you!" Diana shouted, leveling her staff with Khaine's back, as if it were a spear.
"Ascalon!" she said calling forth her weapon's name, causing the head of her staff to burst into bright, holy flames —actually plasma, taking the shape of a fiery blade.
"If you listen to me, I don't need to do this, but otherwise I might have to really use force," Diana said one last time as a magic circle written in Draconic runes sprung forth from her extended hand, ready to unleash whatever spell she had prepared, in case the Demon Knight didn't do as she asked.
Turning around, Khaine followed the dragon's arc with his dagger hand even he brought the larger sword back to bear. The pillar was of no concern, it merely vanished back into the World Forge before it hit Khaine himself. Realizing that this might take some time Khaine took a moment to make a decision. It might be faster to talk his way past this creature rather than fighting them. Of course, that was assuming that they were anything resembling reasonable. With a sound somewhere between a grunt and metal being torn Khaine took a step back from the dragon girl, although he didn't lower his weapons.
"Step aside, I have things to do." More words were not necessary. Her response would determine whether he would need to kill her or not.
Diana was somewhat relieved that she finally could get through the metallic monstrosity before her. Even if he didn't look one much used to talk, she was sure that all she needed was to try. In the end, it worked, more or less.
"Sure, I just want to ask a couple things. I didn't mean to stop whatever is it that you are doing. If that's no problem... can I go with you and ask it on the way?" Diana said, dismissing her weapon, but instead of disappearing, the staff took the form of a beautiful golden sword which she sheathed right away. The spell she was holding was dismissed as well, fading back into the aether.
After she asked what she had to, Diana stepped aside, letting the corridor as free as possible for the Demon Knight's passage.
"I promise I won't be a bother," she said while adjusting her glasses. A broad smile was still stamped in her face, even now.
With that done, Khaine simply went on his way, resuming his rapid movement down the hall. If the angel decided to follow, he would inform her
"Your portal is back there. I seek the centre". With that he continued, expecting the dragon girl to head back towards the angel's portal.
"Wo— wait!" Diana said as she scrambled to follow the Demon's pace. Despite her shorter stature, she was pretty quick on her feet and managed to catch up a moment later, walking just a few steps behind the demon, to avoid triggering his wrath once again.
"What do you mean by my portal? Actually, what's even this place and what are you doing here—" Diana came to a halt once she realized that she hadn't introduced herself before asking this many questions about whoever this being was.
"My name's Diana, by the way. I don't remember much more than that, except that I have an important mission to do... but I can't figure what it was, no matter how hard I try. What about you?" she said, partially yelling, to get the Demon's attention over the cacophony that echoed through the Dungeon.
This was getting quite annoying. In this place Khaine couldn't afford to get distracted, let alone stand still and chat. If he allowed idle chatter to cloud his mind, he would be as good as lost to the darkness of this place. How this strange angel girl managed to survive without a solid purpose was anyone's guess, but if her lack of memory was any indication, she was already quite a long way gone. At first he had believed it would leave if he simply kept silent, but it remained, like some kind of fungus. When he came to a stop at a crossroads, trying to discern what direction would lead him towards the stone, he chose to briefly address her concerns. First he pointed at her "Angel", then the area around them "Oblivion Dungeon" then at the surrounding chaos "War" and lastly back where he had come from "Angel Portal". Like explaining a picture book to a baby. Even if there had been time for more extensive explanations he probably would not have bothered, what mattered to him the fate of one little angel girl. Let the darkness take her, hollow her out until there was nothing left. It was the fate any angel would wish upon him, after all.
With a sigh like an angle grinder, Khaine turned towards Diana.
"Follow me, or escape through that portal. But focus. Stay guarded. The walls prey on stray thoughts." With those words he set off once more, this time slightly slower. Surreptitiously he glanced back to see whether the angel was following him, returning to her home, or wandering like a lost puppy.
"A dungeon? I see... I wonder if I got here because people still fear me?" Diana said as she listened to Khaine's explanation of the situation, occasionally nodding to make sure for him that she was understanding it.
"I'm not really an Angel, I'm a Dragon. Well, I'm a Sun Dragon, so I guess that I'm kinda holy, but... people used to fear me, because I was savage and caused a lot of destruction. I almost ruined my world so being in a prison isn't really that strange. That is," Diana made a pause to take a good look at Khaine's form. Probably there was a reason why he was in this place as well, but she'd better not ask more about it now.
"That is, until I met a certain knight. Now that I think about it, he was a lot like you. He was quite grumpy and hot-heated and for some reason liked to say 'Move Aside!' a lot as well," Diana said this last bit in a quite comical way, trying to imitate the voice of the knight she was talking about.
"Is that a catch phrase of you knights or something like this?" She asked, while still following Khaine.
Once more, Khaine found himself in the company of such a troublesome person. And this person was convinced she was a dragon! An absurd notion. Khaine had fought dragons. Immense, mighty creatures of scale, tooth and claw. Not of pinkish flesh and silken thread. He could almost feel the memories of the dragons he had fought snorting in disgust. And a sun dragon? One such dragon that fed on the remains of dying stars, and whom's flames could scorch away the surface of entire worlds? A dream, inspired by the emptiness of the Oblivion Dungeon. Not for the first time he wondered how much of her original thoughts was left, and how much longer it would take before she was nothing more than a mindless shell. Unconsciously, he quickened his pace.
When she began comparing him to some knight of old, who had presumably attempted to help her with her dragon-based delusions, he narrowed his eyes. If that very same knight were to appear right now he would have to stab them instantly, before the girl could react. If she could, she would most likely mistake the echo for a true being. A mistake that would surely kill her. But luckily enough no such echo made it's appearance, and after a while Khaine answered her question.
"I am no Knight." And he had not been, for a very long time. Since the very day he had scorned his masters and left his post within the legions of Hell, he had lost the right to carry that title. Not that it was a title he was proud of to begin with. It was the name of a murderer, a being who killed on command without question and without mercy. A leader, perhaps, but also a puppet. No, it was better to be Khaine, the Wanderer, than to once more be a Dread Knight. But he could not dwell on such thoughts. Not here, and not now.
They were approaching the centre. Others came behind him, presumably seeking the truth they had been promised. Armies, lead by great generals and monstrous beasts. Perhaps they had slowed one another down, or perhaps they had been lost in their own memories. Either was equally likely in this place. Regardless, if he was to escape this place, he would need to retrieve his stone as soon as possible.
Diana narrowed her eyes once she saw Khaine speed up his pace. It was painfully obvious what was going by in his mind.
"Ah, I see it now. You don't believe me, do you?" she said while puffing her cheeks, pouting.
"If that's so, how about this: You are no knight and I'm no dragon, so... this mean we have something in common. I guess we can be friends, then. What do you say, Mister Not-Knight whose name I still don't know?" Diana smiled and adjusted her glasses on more. Even in the darkness of the Oblivion Dungeon, a shinny glint reflect off its lenses whenever she did so, for God knows what reason.
Friends? Another meaningless concept. This girl's bones would be ashes before another hundred thousand years had passed. To accept such a proposal would just be accepting another memory to carry. And it was those very memories that had trapped him in this place in the first place. No, he would return her to safety, but then he had to return to his duty. After all, this world would not right itself. The voice that had started all this practically confirmed that. This war was more than it seemed, and it needed to be stopped. Having now slowed down Khaine looked around, trying to once more catch a hold of the scent. The deeper they went, the harder it became to know which way to go. But, after an inordinately long amount of time he did answer.
"Khaine". There was no harm in giving her his name, whatever it was worth. With that Khaine stepped forward once more, moving towards his final destination. The deepest point of the Oblivion Dungeon. Where his stone was being kept. Whatever that voice was, it had come from here.
"Khaine, hmm? That's not bad," Diana mumbled to herself, with arms crossed before her chest.
"Either way, I still don't know what you are doing here, but I'm not going to ask it either. Just let me say one thing, since it looks like we are getting close to something big," she said, catching up to Khaine once again and passing him, in fact.
"You seem to have a lot of things troubling you. You should try to focus on what's more important, even if you did something bad in the past, or you've lost your way, you have to remember that you can always try to find something worth living for.""You may think I'm delusional, but..." Diana stopped in the middle of the corridor, blocking the way once more and raised her tail (since her hand wouldn't reach), touching Khaine's chestplate.
"Your heart is the key that'll free you."
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