"Damn it..." Akira mumbled to himself as the portal temporarily closed after he was shoved through, only opening once more to allow Allura through. When Allura reassured him, Akira smiled. "Yeah, not like it's his first run in with Reapers. He's been here for a while scoping the place out." Following after Allura as they headed deeper into the crypt it wasn't long before the chanting commenced on the passage that Allura was leading them on. He didn't understand what was being spoken in the chant but he recognised it clearly 'Necromancer' Akira thought to himself, drawing his sword in sync with Allura readying her staff.

As they got closer Akira moved his free hand to cover his nose, he had no intention of fully subjecting himself to horrid smells that would engulf their senses. He couldn't cut it off entirely but he could at least dampen its effects. Or so he thought, Akira almost instantly hunched over, the smell even more intrusive then he was used to from a Necromancers lair. He breathed heavily as his human side forced him to hurl from the wretched smell, his watery eyes observed the room cautiously wiping the natural reaction away to get a more clearer view just in time to hear "Ah, my guests are finally here... but I must say, I expected you two to arrive much earlier than this."
Easily provoked Akira responded. "So eager to die that you were growing impatient were we?"
"Now, now boy. There's no need for hostility. Come in, come in.... oh but do watch the devil traps"
Akira had already been walking into the room, before the offer was made and he staggered to the side as he forced himself to stop the natural order of walking to prevent himself stepping into one such trap. "So, you know why I'm here."
"But of course, Hades was ever so forth coming Akira, I know exactly why you're here. Oh, you can stop hiding by the way I know you're there." As the necromancer stopped speaking Hades stepped out from another connecting corridor, though something seemed slightly off it soon became clear that Hades was being forced to move.

"Tell us... it's Allura isn't it? Could you tell this man, is really undead from looking at him?" The necromancer asked indicating toward Hades. "Of course, he has all the indications to argue against it. For instance I find it fascinating how, well toned his skin is... for a man without a beating heart."
Akira looked at the floor trying to find a way through the devils traps in order to close the gaps, but to no avail.
"Yet despite being undead..." The necromancer walked towards the controlled Hades before ramming a knife into his gut. "If you stab him in the right place, when he looks like this at least... it does seem to hurt him fairly significantly."
As Hades hunched from the wound a black entity swirled beneath, and then seemed to grow and swallow him whole.
"Then he turns into this... robed skeleton, he's quite the interesting specimen. Much better then all the ones that are buried here." The necromancer, apparently finished with his demonstration stepped away from Hades. "But before we continue, to evenings main event. Do you know why Akira was so eager to deal with the local towns 'necromancer threat?"

"Careful Akira. Try not to let him get you all riled up." Allura said, taking note of how easily he reacted to the necromancer's taunting. She also took note of the fact that there were traps set up all throughout the room and, while she couldn't see them, the angel knew that he wasn't bluffing. As the necromancer called her name, her blue eyes moved over to where Hades stood, though she did not answer him. It was true: she hadn't noticed that Hades wasn't exactly living, but it wasn't as if she really had the time to check for a heartbeat or something. It hadn't been important to her at the time. As he jabbed Hades in the stomach, Allura grimaced slightly. Was the necromancer trying to show of something of importance or was he just stabbing (undead) people for his own sick pleasure. Her grip on her staff tightened slightly, knowing that his intentions probably leaned towards the second option.

"But before we continue, to evenings main event. Do you know why Akira was so eager to deal with the local towns 'necromancer threat?"

Allura raised an eyebrow at his statement, glancing over at Akira for a moment. She honestly hadn't given it any thought since she figured that it probably had some relation to his current situation. However; if the necromancer was willing to give her some additional information, she wouldn't stop him. Plus, maybe she could buy Akira some extra time to figure out a way to get closer to him without stepping into one of his traps.

"I don't think I've heard of the reason. Care to enlighten me?" She said, keeping her voice calm and steady, hoping that he wouldn't catch on to what she was planning to do.

As Allura conversed with the necromancer Akira was looking at the floor, counting floor tiles and trying to plan a route of attack that he could cover quickly, and without falling for a devils trap. Then there was the necromancers question, one which Akira was not so keen on becoming the conversations topic. Upon hearing Allura's remark the necromancer softly chuckled to himself "Certainly, with pleasure, you see..."
"Ahhh!" Before the necromancer could continue Akira was somewhat aimlessly charging towards him with his sword held ready to strike. The necromancer simply raised his hand and Akira buckled to the floor hard like his legs just gave way.
"Akira please, there's no need to be so rude. How does it feel, to truly feel like a human once more?" The demon had not stepped into a devils trap, no that was far less painful. Akira curled up inwards on himself, his face seemed wretched with pain. "I imagine not so good. You see the demon was preventing you from feeling pain from all those old injuries."
"You... you... bastard." Akira spoke weakly as he tried to un-curl himself and get to grips with the pain.
"Yes you're probably right." The necromancer chuckled. "After all this will only temporarily make you human. Well now."

The necromancer turned his attention back to Allura having suppressed Akira. "I'm sure you know Akira wishes to separate himself from Volkran. To do that is no simple task, it requires a ritual. That in turn requires souls... a lot of souls, along with the souls of very particular walks of life. Much like myself, though Hades had the courtesy of telling me that I am the last." The necromancer stepped away from the path between Hades and Akira. "What happens to those souls?" The necromancer asked with a shrug. "Well I guess the victor will tell us." The necromancer raised his hand towards Akira once more, Akira could feel the pain subsiding though something still wasn't right it felt like Volkran was 'missing'. "Allura, stay alert! Don't let him distract you!" Akira called out, his eyes off of the necromancer for a moment, but that's all it took.

"Hades... Kill him." As the necromancer spoke he raised his hand as a transparent barrier surrounded Allura. Hades charged forward, unaffected by the trap sigils towards Akira. Having also heard the necromancers words Akira turned his attention just quick enough to parry away Hades' initial swing, though it somewhat knocked his balance, the demon strength was gone. Another swing, Akira had recuperated enough to weakly knock the strike aside. A swift overhead swing knocked Akira down on one knee, the next thing he knew Akira was laying flat on his back, his temple burning from pain after Hades followed up with a fast knee attack. "Stop!" The necromancer called out. Hades kicking Akira's sword away listened to the order. Akira looked to Allura and shook his head insisting she doesn't get involved. "Remove your hood Hades!" Once again following orders, Hades removed his hood, turning back to his human form. "Now finish it!" Hades was hesitant as he held his blade to the downed Akira. "I said finish it!" Upon the necromancer barking a second time a very human cry, absent of the demons roar echo'd through the room as Hades impaled the sword through Akira's palm. The necromancer clapped his hands as Hades glared at him with anger"Bravo... you resist even now. Well if you can't kill him, maybe someone you feel less inclined to help." The necromancers gaze averted to Allura.

As if to mimic the necromancer, Hades slowly pulled his sword from Akira's hand also turning to Allura. As he looked at her the now, mortal looking Hades tilted his head at the barrier that separated them. "Ready to die angel?" Hades asked as a forced twisted smile grew on his face. "Let me send you back to your Lord, where you'll not be able to interfere." The transparent barrier began to seep away, being lowered by the necromancer. Upon its dispersement Hades raised his sword and went to run forward as something clutched his leg. "Allura get out of here!" Akira helplessly pleaded knowing deep down that Allura wouldn't listen. The last thing Akira would see in this fight, was the back of Hades' boot as the blow knocked him unconscious his grip on Hades leg went limp and the undead warrior charged at his newly given target.

Allura cursed under her breath, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched Akira crumble to the ground. Just what kind of power did the necromancer have to completely suppress the demon inside Akira? The mere thought sent shivers down her spine. Allura was brought out of her thoughts as Akira called to her, telling her to stay alert but it was too late. By that time, the necromancer had commanded Hades to attack Akira and rendered her useless by forming some kind of barrier around her. "Let me out of here!" She growled, slamming her staff into the barrier multiple times but to no avail. It wasn't doing a thing and the angel was forced to sit there and watch Akira get attacked mercilessly by the undead man. At one point, she thought that Hades might even kill him but was relieved to see that he was able to resist the necromancer's power to some degree.

"Bravo...you resist even now. Well if you can't kill him, maybe someone you feel less inclined to help."

Allura watched as he refocused his attention on her. He was going to make Hades attack her, wasn't he? She got her answer as soon as he turned toward her and said: "Ready to die angel?" Gritting her teeth, the angel gripped her staff tightly in her hand, readying herself for the attack that was about to come. "Allura get out of here!" She heard Akira yell but they both knew that she wasn't going anywhere...though it wasn't like she had much of a choice but to stay in the first place. That was the last thing she thought about before she began to focus solely on the task at hand: making sure Hades didn't kill her.

Cling!

The sound echoed off the walls as the angel raised her staff to deflect a deadly slash of Hade's blade, jumping back some to avoid another slash. Allura immediately steadied herself before swinging her staff towards Hade's head, watching as he ducked to avoid getting hit; she barely had enough time to move back enough to avoid getting stabbed in the gut but it didn't take her long to go from being on defense to making an offensive move on Hades once more. The fight continued on in this way for a few minutes. Allura would attack and Hades avoid it before counterattacking; then the whole process would start all over again.

Just when it seemed as if neither of them would be able to land a hit, the angel managed to maneuver past Hade's defenses and, in that second, swung her staff as hard as she could at his head. However, he reacted to the attack quick enough so that the staff hit him in the arm instead. It must've hurt enough to make him even more pissed off than he was before and he practically roared in anger before growling, "You'll pay for that".

His following attacks were ruthless, each slash becoming more deadly and precise as he worked to stay true to his promise of making her pay for her attack. At this point, Allura could no longer go on the offense; without a sufficient amount of water to cast a powerful enough spell to really make an impact on Hades, she had not other choice but to stay solely focused on not getting her head sliced off by his sword. Every now and then, the blade would make contact with her skin, drawing blood. After one particularly powerful swing of Hades' blade, the force of it knocked the angel off her feet and once she was on the ground, he took the opportunity to pin her there.

"How does it feel to know that you're about to die?"

The necromancer asked as Hades kicked the staff from her hands and pressed his foot into her stomach, causing Allura to grimace. "I hope you find it as exciting as I do. Just imagine taking your last breath, or watching yourself bleed out on the floor..." The necromancer's tone was disgustingly passionate as he describe serval ways that the angel could die. If she couldn't feel the sting of Hade's blade as if pressed into her throat and, if the circumstances weren't so dire, Allura would have rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was die while listening to a sadistic necromancer talk to her about how exciting death was. Instead, she stared up at Hades with icy, glowing blue eyes and silently waited for him to finish her off.

Although under the control of the Necromancer Hades felt a small amount of respect for his Angel opponent who lasted as long as she had against his attacks, even managing to land a strike. "Good, though not good enough." Hades spoke his voice completely void of any form of emotion. As he pushed the blade against her throat and his boot against her stomach he continued. "You did better then your brothers and sisters who were sent to kill me. But like them you'll fail, you'll always fail." Hades stared at the pinned Angel as he moved the blade away from her throat letting Allura have some respite as he turned to look back at the necromancer.
"What are you waiting for?" The Necromancer asked with a chuckle. "Finish.... it..." As the Necromancer spoke Hades turned back to look down at Allura once more.

"For what it's worth... I'm sorry." Hades spoke, his tone seeming almost as though it had grown softer. He raised his sword, but something was noticeable, he was no longer pushing so firmly down with his foot. "But the world has no desire for the involvement of your kind..." The sword was raised just slightly above Hades' shoulder but still held straight. "So Die!" Hades shouted, as he did he swivelled on his foot that was still on the ground as he launched his sword at the Necromancer, however it was stopped in the air by magics. "Foolish boy, did you not think I'd see your inevitable betrayal coming a second time?" The Necromancer question as its magic hurled the sword back at Hades, piercing the warriors chest as it knocks him to the ground beside Allura. "No matter." The necromancer spoke as he approached the downed Allura and Hades. "You know what they say, if you want something doing right... do it yourself."

"You... You stay away from her!" A twisted voice roared from Akira's downed location. The man had managed to get to his feet and was beelining straight for the Necromancer. What sounded like sparks from distant thunderbolts could be heard as each demon trap in his path broke. The Necromancer had turned expecting it to take some time for Akira to reach him, only to see the young man directly in front of him before being tackled to the floor where Akira would begin his reckless assault. Hades struggled back up to his feet, and painfully pulled the sword from his abdomen, offering Allura a hand to get back on her feet. All the while the undead warrior stood blocking Allura's line of sight as Akira beat the Necromancer with his bare hands. "Don't look Allura, focus on me." Hades said as he tried to hold the angels eye contact.

"Your soul..." Akira's twisted voice spoke as he delivered a heavy punch to the already bloodied Necromancers face. "Will be..." Another heavy blow, met by the sound of spine tingling crunches. "Ours!" As Akira finished speaking, Hades clasped his hands over the Angel's ears , grimacing from the burning it would cause to him. He looked into her eyes as screams echo'd throughout the room, that's when he saw it. "You've witnessed it before..." Hades spoke his knee's shaking the heavy wound he had received finally starting to take full affect. "Your eyes, they have the taint..." Hades' knees give way as he slumps against Allura, unable to stand on his own feet any longer revealing the sight behind him, before dropping to the floor. The Necromancer had been beaten to a bloody pulp on the ground, Akira was exhuming an aura of malicious intent and some sort of energy seemed to be transferring from the dead body of the Necromancer into Akira. However the aura soon dissipated form Akira as he turned and looked to Allura, quickly rushing to her. "Allura are you alright?" His voice had returned to normal as he moved his hand to the wound Hades had made on her neck.

Allura eyes were fixed on Hades, watching his every move as he interacted with the Necromancer. To her surprise, he had managed to gain control over his own mind once again and even attempted to attack the evil being, though that only led to him getting injured once more. The next few moments seemed to go by in a blur and before she knew it, Allura was back on her feet and Hades was standing in front of her without a sword in his body. The sounds of fighting filled the air and when the angel tried to look past Hades to see what was going on, he stopped her.

"Don't look Allura, focus on me."

She obeyed, keeping her eyes on him without protesting but Allura could clearly picture what was going on behind him, especially since she knew what Akira was capable of. She had seen it once before. Hades seemed to have realized that too before his wound really began to affect him. Allura held herself steady as Hades' slumped against her, her attention now focused on the scene in front of her. She had seen Akira like this only once before back when they had first met and had encountered an unruly group of humans. Though this time seemed different, like it was more malicious and sinister than the first time.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just a scratch." The angel downplayed her injury but tried not to wince as his fingers brushed against the wound on her neck. "Hades' wound is way worst than mine. He got stabbed with his own sword." She said, gently moving him so that Akira could take a look at it as well.

When Allura spoke of concern for Hades, Akira glanced down at him somewhat puzzled. "Him? His fine." Akira stated before inconsiderately kicking at one of Hades' legs. "Get up, no time to play games." With that said Hades sat up slowly as his cloak of darkness covered him once more.
"Too much to ask for a moments consideration?" Hades questioned. "You know that hurt."
"Oh yeah." Akira said as he opened and closed his mouth slowly. "Not nearly as much as when you broke my jaw whilst Volkran was sleeping."
"Enough." Hades spoke as he stood up and went to retrieve his sword. "You two should go on ahead. The reapers should leave now that the necromancer is dead I need to take care of a few things." Akira nodded in acknowledgement to what Hades said before looking to Allura. "Time to leave then, shall we?" Akira asked before leading on back out of the hall, they were somewhat to the North so they only had to travel Eastward to get out.

"So, this turning out how you expected it to? I mean aside from the whole siding with the demon thing." Akira asked jokingly as he walked down the crypts corridor. The section they were travelling in seemed to merely be a connecting passage, the pungent smells that had surrounded them for most of their time there, and the alcoves filled with tombs were almost in complete absence. "I'll be honest, I thought you might have decided to give this up a while back by now. But I'm glad you didn't." Akira said with a smile. They were pacing pretty slowly, a given after the situation they'd been through. Little did they know what lied ahead.

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Outside the storm was still going heavy rain and thunder drowned out all other sounds within the air as Irvine and Lance found the entrance. "So, think he's still here?" Lance asked as he gazed down the stairwell into the crypt deciding not to enter. Irvine answered Lance's question with a shrug. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Can't imagine him being able to deal with a necromancer to quickly. Plus..." Lance glanced about amongst the tree lines "...No sign of disturbed spirits means the deed is done, it can only be recent."
"Then we wait for him to show, and we take him down." Irvine stated also standing at the top of the stairs.
"They said they believe that Angel Allura is with him, may not be that simple. Will have to deal with this encounter carefully." Ignorant of the rain falling on them the pair continued to converse as they stood, waiting for the appearance of Akira to come within eye sight.

"Well, it's a little too late for me to back out now." Allura responded with a small grin. Even if she had decided to kill Akira now like she had been instructed to, she probably would have still gotten into big trouble for helping him out in the first place. "Though, I have to admit. I think this is the most excitement I've had since I became an angel...not counting the parts where I almost die." She added with a soft laugh then regretted it as pain shot up her stomach. Maybe Hades' had stepped on her stomach harder than she had originally thought.

The rest of the walk to the labyrinth entrance was rather quiet, other than the occasional comment here and there from the pair. Sometimes the smell got so bad that they had to focus more on not getting sick instead of talking. As the entrance finally came into view, Allura frowned. "Ah great, it's still raining." It felt as if they had been down in the labyrinth for hours but that hadn't been enough time to let the rain die down. In fact, it looked as if it was raining just as hard as it had been when they first got here. The angel was torn: she definitely wasn't in the mood to get soaked again but she definitely did want to be stuck in this labyrinth for one more second. She turned to Akira, her eyebrow raised in question.

"What should we do?"

The walk through the crypt was almost like walking down the street of any city, if not for the occasional repulsive smell it felt like it'd been one of the first opportunities Akira and Allura had just to talk with one another. However the mood would soon be dampened as the exit came within view. The sound echo'd towards them and only became more clear as the got closer, it was still raining. Akira felt as dejected as Allura appeared as she had turned to him to ask his opinion. Akira leant against the wall as he gazed up the stairway before them, greeted by nothing but darkness from the clouds that blocked out the skies rays of light. With a sigh of disappointment he looked back to Allura. "Well... we could wait it out. Or..." Before Akira could continue there was a sudden flash of light before the skies would roar with all its might. Had Allura been looking at the time she might make out the silhouettes of the pair that awaited them at the top. "Or you can come up here and we can talk Akira." A voice called out loudly so as not to have his voice muffled by the storm.

Upon hearing the voice and recognising it Akira wasted no time as he detached his crossbow from his belt and fired the loaded weapon up the opening. There was then nothing, no sound of the bolt finding a target. "See, demon through and through I sully my good friends name on you Volkran and you respond with violence. Can you not be civil for even a moment." The crossbow bolt had landed with a quiet clap towards the bottom of the steps. "What do you want?!" Akira snapped as he yelled back.
"To talk! Preferably where you can't make another bloody cheap shot!" Akira looked to Allura and shook his head. "Allura, if that's you down there I implore you to come up here where it's safe. I'm sure you're more than aware that there's another down there that'd more then willingly slit your throat to get that demon out of here!"
"Like I'd let that happen!"
"He has you, where he wants you Volkran. He wants destruction and you're his key. Allura... please."
Akira looks to Allura once more trying to gauge her thoughts as he reloads his crossbow. More then willing to make another shot if he had to.

Allura reacted immediately at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, whipping her staff out and readying herself for an attack, but none came. At least, not yet. Relaxing slightly, she listened as Akira and the other man spoke, blinking in surprise as the unknown man addressed her by name. Then it hit her. This must be one of the guys who were looking for Akira...but I only hear one of them. Where is his partner? She thought to herself, though her question was answered as lightening flashed across the sky, illuminating the pair once more.

"I am more than capable of handling my own so I am fine where I am." If Allura had to choose between Akira and those two, she would definitely choose the person she has known the longest even if he was a demon whose existence threatened the survival of the human race. "Now, you said you wanted to talk; So talk." The angel added and tightened her fingers around her staff. Just what exactly were they planning?

Irvine and Lance looked to one another. As they were greeted by a certain level of hostility. There was that which was expected, Volkran had inevitably attacked them, however thanks to Irvine's current situation that wasn't a threat to them. Then there was what they'd hoped not to encounter, hostility from the angel as well. "Mistrust... foreseeable... unfortunate." Irvine spoke softly as he shrugged at Irvine who looked back down the stairway with a heavy sigh.
"Well it's simply a message for you, Allura. Due to obvious reasons they cannot relay the message themselves as they were unsure of whether you were being held against your will. Clearly that isn't the case, in which they asked us to state this. If you leave Volkrans side and return, your... insubordination would be overlooked, forgiven. Alternatively the offer still stands to turn Volkran over alive so that they can find a way to help him that is less dangerous. However that second one now only has a two day deadline rather than a week."
"Lastly." Irvine spoke for the first time loud enough for anyone other than Lance to hear. "Your choice on the fated day will decide your guilt or lack there of."
"About the fated day, fighting Volkran is pointless, as would be he fighting us. Everything has already up to then been decided in the scriptures. With a few minor anomalies of course." The hunter sighed at no sign of the pair heading up. "We're coming down... we'd appreciate it if you didn't shoot at us Volkran."

Upon the finish of the hunters speaking the sound of their steps grew closer then stopped merely moments before Akira decided to fire yet another crossbow bolt. The situation merely ended the same way, the bolt clapping softly as it hit the stone steps. as the two hunters came into view Lance had his hands raised away from his waist where is sword was sheathed, Irvine's arms outward from his long cloak to signal they were unarmed. "So, you've finally caught up?"
"I assure you it wasn't easy... going to lower the bow? Irvine stay there." Lance proceeded to the bottom of the stairs whereas Irvine remained just within view part way up. Lance bowed to Allura as Akira followed his every move with his crossbow before finally lowering it. "A pleasure to finally see you in person Allura. Your siblings hold you in high praise. I can assure you, you've no reason to be defensive." As he spoke Lance tried to catch her eye as if trying to match her line of sight. "Right well best be quick before my ancestor shows up and turns this all to hell." Lance lowered one hand to his side, clenching the blade of a unseen, unsheathed dagger. He turned his gaze to Akira. "Sleep..." Lance spoke softly as the demon then slumped back against the wall and the hunter quickly steeped back from Allura once more raising his hands. "I assure you, that was only for everyone's safety here." The was something strange about this, which was clearly blood magic, the lack of screams and wailing cries.

"I can understand your hostility. After all you've only heard one side of the story, the corrupted side. Vol-... Akira's memories have been... manipulated you might say." Lance was so caught up in his explanation that he'd not immediately noticed the wound on the angels neck. "Irvine, salve!" Lance raised his hand a small metal container hit against it and he closed his hand over it. He held it out to Allura. "For the wound, trust me if that was dealt by one of those two you'll start to feel the corruption from the metal that caused it if you don't treat it soon." The situation was uncomfortable, but calm. It would be difficult to tell if the situation was one of sincerity or lies.

Allura swore softly under her breath as the demon hunter relayed the message to her, a slight frown coming to her face. It was hard to believe that they would forgive her for ignoring her Boss' orders and delaying Akira's execution, especially since they went back on their word and pushed the deadline from one week to two days. The angel was engrossed in her thoughts until the hunter announced that they were coming down. Not really liking the fact that she and Akira were practically trapped from the front and back, she readied herself just in case they decided to try something.

As they finally came into view, they reassured the pair that they were weaponless though that didn't calm the angel's nerves very much. Everything seemed to be going relatively smoothly until Lance used blood magic to make Akira sleep. As soon as the demon collapsed against the wall, Allura jabbed her staff towards the hunter but missed as he took a step back. She wasn't as surprised to see something like this since Hades had done the same thing earlier, though the angel was unsure about how they would wake him up again. After all, it had taken a ton of effort to wake him up the first time. Allura was thrown out of her thoughts as Lance offered her some salve, saying: "For the wound, trust me if that was dealt by one of those two you'll start to feel the corruption from the metal that caused it if you don't treat it soon."

She eyed the salve suspiciously for a moment before accepting it from him, mumbling a soft 'thank you' as she did so. As she applied the salve, she grunted softly in approval; it felt cool on her neck and the stinging feeling that she felt before was gradually fading away. "So, what's the other side of the story then?" She inquired, glancing momentarily at the sleeping demon a few feet away. Just how were the two sides different from each other? How much did she really not know?

Lance's eyes almost grew wide at hearing the Angel's words "So, what's the other side of the story then?" Though despite this a small smile appeared on his face. "So it's true... she's one of the anomalies." Irvine mumbled in a barely eligible low tone. He turned to look to Irvine and shrugged before turning back to the Angel. "You're the first to ever ask, there's something different about you, more than just being an angel eh?" Lance pointed out before continuing. "It's essentially the same story, with some minor alterations. After all we've heard his side by others before, oh but not his." Lance motioned to Akira's unconcious body. "The other ones. I assume you've heard the story about the village of people we killed to get to him. Well it didn't quite go the way that story tells it." Lance frowns before continuing. "But, although I hate to admit it, it does keep him in check. You can't tell him what I tell you, Volkrans stability depends on it. He needs to believe he is someone he's not. Anyway what hap-..."

Lance cuts himself off as a sounded echo'd down the stone corridor towards them. The sound could easily be identified the sound of palms colliding in a slow applause. "Bravo! Bravo!" Hades called out as his footsteps came into earshot. "Oh I'm sorry, did I arrive to soon?" The man asked with a small smile on his face. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, Allura. The three of you are no more Akira's friends than I am his enemy."
"Interesting choice of words ancestor!" Lance shouted back down the hallway as Hades continued to approach.
"I didn't realise the obvious was ever interesting. Though, I'm willing to forgive Allura's... swaying. I'm sure she has a lot on her mind." A growing hostility was definitely growing between the men as Lance moved to stand between Allura and Hades resting his hand on the hilt.
"I'll not let you poison her mind too!"
"Likewise..."

The undead warrior clicked his fingers and the floor beneath Allura and Akira would appear like a whirlpool as the portal opens beneath them. "Wake up Akira! Allura keep him safe!" By the time the Shadow Hunters had realised what was happening it was too late to stop it as the outer edges of the portal acted like a barrier. Lance would realise this as he tries to grab Allura's arm and his hand is instantly repelled. With a heavy sign, the hunter bows his head softly to her. He knew that trying to speak to her now would be useless, he turned to face Hades unsheathing his sword with one hand as he clenched the bladed of the unprotected dagger once more. A voice would ring within Allura's head before the portal would swallow the pair. "Do not trust the robed warrior. Until we meet again, farewell."

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Akira having regained consciousness blinked several times as the area around him seemed to distort as the portal transported them. It would be fair to say for him, it wasn't a pleasant experience. Seeing Allura he tries to reach for her hand, but his finger tips merely stroke hers as she remains out of reach. The portal reopens again in a room clad with wooden walls, a man stood over by the doorway behind a podium with a rusty bucket at his feet. "Been a while 'ince I last 'een travelling folk enter 'own here." He says as he casually glances over to the pair as if how they'd reached this room was completely normal. Akira looked at Allura, his skin had turned a pale white as though he was about to keel over. He grunted as he forcefully kept his mouth shut. "oh dear, hold on boy." The man grabbed the bucket at his feet and hobbled over quickly shoving it into Akira's arms. "Missus, 'eems ta have a 'tronger belly than ya." Akira ignored the man as he turned away, spitting out into the bucket as he fought back against his curdling stomach. "be needing ya names for the register."
"Akira... Shadow." Akira had spoken without thinking. But all that happened.
"And miss?" The man turned to Allura completely ignorant of the name of a man wanted by one of the largest hunters guilds in the realm. After getting their names the man walked back to the podium, flicking through pages of a dusty tome and writing scruffily within."Well then 'elcome to Rashkin 'own of ta North. Inn to ta 'outh district. Shop's 'est, if ya lookin to work there a couple o' guilds to ta east." He smiled to the pair revealing the many gaps that were once teeth, though judging from the looks there'd be even more of those gaps soon. Before them was an oak door, and beyond that would be a vibrant location that both had yet to ever see in their travels.

The next few minutes went by quickly. One moment Allura was listening to Lance speak, wishing that he would just get to the point and in the next moment, Hades had appeared, which seemed to agitate the demon hunters quite a bit. She heard the snap of someone's fingers and watched as a portal opened right beneath her feet. "Wake up Akira! Allura keep him safe!" Hades called to her, to which she responded to with a quick nod. With all the chaos going on around her, the most Allura could do was stand there and wait until the portal swallowed both her and Akira. The last thing she heard was Lance's voice, saying: "Do not trust the robed warrior. Until we meet again, farewell."

Going through the portals itself felt as if she was floating through the air and Allura found herself unusually calm throughout the entire trip. At one point she thought she felt something touch her hand but quickly dismissed it as her imagination. The angel didn't realize that they had finally reached their destination until she heard someone with a very heavy country accent speak to them.

"Been a while 'ince I last 'een travelling folk enter 'own here."

Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was Akira who looked as if he was about to be sick. The man must have picked up on that too as he quickly handed Akira a bucket to spit up in. Glancing away for a moment, Allura looked around the room, trying to get an idea of just where they were but the simple wooden room gave nothing away. The angel was pulled from her thoughts as the man addressed her, asking for a name. "Allura Brown."

"Well then 'elcome to Rashkin 'own of ta North. Inn to ta 'outh district. Shop's 'est, if ya lookin to work there a couple o' guilds to ta east." Allura nodded in response to the man, silently taking in the newfound information before turning back to Akira, gently touching his shoulder.

"Hey, are you feeling a bit better now?" She asked, her voice laced with a bit of concern. The ride through the portal had obviously upset his stomach and she didn't want to get moving until he was okay again. It didn't seem like they were in any immediate danger, so they didn't have to rush for now.

"Yeah..." Akira spits once more into the bucket. "I feel fine." His stomach rumbled uncomfortably in disagreement as Akira exhaled slowly. "I always find it weird." He said keeping his voice quiet so the old man wouldn't hear. "That which makes me human, so oft overpowered by a demons resistance to such things. But you still... feel it." Akira spits into the bucket once more before straightening up and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Well then, shall we?" Akira looked to Allura with a weak smile as he walked over and placed the bucket back down by the old man. "Thanks." The man simply nodded in acknowledgement before motioning with his arm towards the door. Akira stepped over resting his hand against the door.

As he would initially go to open it the door shut again. "Strange."
"No' at all lad. 'Own is busy 'his time of day."
Akira looked to Allura somewhat confused, why would Hades send them to such a heavily populated town? He reached out to take her hand before applying more force with his hand against the door. The shove was rather forceful.
"Watch it idiot!" a voice called fro the other side, before Akira finished opening the door. The street was vast, it was neigh impossible to see the other side through the river of people, although there was the occasional break. "This must be a trading town with all these people here. I get the feeling those sections of town the old man mentioned are huge." Akira stepped out but stayed close to the building. "So where should we head to first, place this busy we should get a clear destination in mind or else we'll just end up being forced around town by other people."

Although the old man had said that not many people seemed to arrive in town via that method, being a portal, anymore it didn't seem to draw much attention. People were clearly more interested in what they were aiming to do. "Well whatever it is, maybe we should put our feet up for a while if this place turns out ok?" Akira spoke with a smile, feeling safe for the first time in a long time. "Will take Irvine and Lance a long time to find us here, and they'd have to know we came here first. That's if Hades lets them off."

After nodding in farewell to the man behind the podium, Allura followed Akira over to the door. They both expected it to open like any regular door but something on the other side kept closing it. Much to both of their surprise, it had been because of the vast amount of people inhabiting the space outside. The town itself was pretty big and it probably would have seemed spacious if it wasn't filled with people.

"Well, it's going to be pretty hard trying to find us with all these people here so we'll probably be here for a while. I say that we find a place to stay first; I believe the man said that there's an inn in the south side." The angel stated before attempting to step into the street, only to get shoved out the way by some random woman who had been passing by, making Allura grit her teeth in slight annoyance. They didn't have to be that aggressive, did they? Lucky for her, Allura was capable of being just as aggressive and didn't hesitate to force her way into the crowd, pulling Akira along with her.

Once they got settled in with everyone else, Allura was able to get a good look at the surrounding area. Most buildings were relatively big in size and probably held more than one merchant inside, though there were a few vendors set up along the sides of the streets, hoping to get a lot of business as well. With the sheer amount of people here, that shouldn't be a hard task. "I wonder what kind of trading this town specializes in...though, judging by the size of it, it could specialize in multiple things." Although the crowd wasn't moving very fast, she still kept a firm grip on Akira's hand. Things didn't end very well the last time they got seperated around a bunch of people. "How are you holding up back there?" She called, turning her head to the side a little so Akira could hear her better.

The crowd didn't seem it would disperse anytime soon, though it didn't mater. Akira watched As Allura decided to force her way into the crowd. He has only just about realised that their hands were still clasped together as Akira was forced to also shove his way into the stream of people. This was simply ridiculous, even for a trade town. Maybe there was some kind of event happening in the town? Akira would have shrugged off the thought were it possible to do so. "I doubt there's any particular specialist trade." Akira mentioned with regards to Allura's first comment. "If you specialise, you limit your market that in turns limits the merchants interests. I'd say this represents more a free trading post." Akira glances to the buildings that surrounded them. "once of epic proportions I might add. This could quiet possibly be the largest town of its kind, it clearly offers free passage to any and all races of patrons." Akira gripped at Allura's hand tightly as the pair both ensured that they wouldn't be separated. "Well it'd certainly be nice if there were fewer people. This must be the bulk of the market traffic however. When we're near the tavern it'll likely ease off."

A town like this, the tavern would be lively unlike the barely functioning one they'd visited in the last town. Akira forced his way through the crowd until he was alongside Allura, passing her a warm smile as he looked at her. He felt calm and relaxed for the first time in a while from being on the run. This would likely prove the best chance for them to rest and recuperate. "Maybe we'll stick around here for a while." His pace had slowed since catching up to be side by side with Allura. "See what the town has to offer. What do you think?" Akira asks smiling once more, the crowd thinning out as the reached the outskirts of the markets. "Never know, could turn out a nice place to come back to when this is all over." He hadn't really given much thought to what would happen once he had completed what he set out to do. Would Allura even be looking to stick around? Surely she would be expected to return to her own people assuming they'd let her go back that is. Whatever had happened when Irvine and Lance had shown up it couldn't be good. They hunted him, and angels were also looking to kill him. It was a rather predictable and likely outcome that they might be working together.

As they reached the southern district, where the tavern resided the crowd had evidently died down. There was less of a need for people to crowd around in this area. Though it wasn't a rundown section of town at all, the building quality was just as well as the market area, albeit much smaller. A lone building within the group stuck out as a wooden signed screeched as it swung on rusty chains. "Well looks like we're here." Akira said with a smiled, not separating his hand from Allura's even now. "Shall we?" Akira asked before opening the wooden door to the tavern. Surprisingly however the patrons were too busy with their own going ons to care about the arrival of two additional patrons, a welcome surprise at least. "Ok.. I'll get the rooms and drinks." Akira glances around the place with a frown. "Might be difficult to find a table though."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be able to find a table for us. You focus on getting the other stuff." Allura said reassuringly as she gently let go of his hand. It took a bit more convincing but Akira finally agreed to let her handle the task of finding a table. Once he had left, the angel surveyed her surroundings once more. Although this tavern was much bigger than the one they had visited before, it still consisted of the some of the same things. There were booths and tables of various sizes, a target board where people could show off their knife throwing skills, and even a little area where people could dance to the fiddler's music if they wanted. It was extremely lively and it was a place that Allura could get used to, despite the occasional shady looking man or woman that lurked around here and there. Shaking that thought away, she refocused on the task at hand.

While most people could care less that she even existed, some took a slight interest in Allura as she walked through the tavern looking for an empty table or booth. Some had a questioning looks on their face, wondering why she was wondering through the tavern alone; others glared at her, as if it was an insult to even look their way. Allura didn't take it personally though and kept walking. The last thing she needed to do was get into an argument that would get them kicked out of the tavern.

A few minutes later, she spotted a small group of three that looked as if they were leaving the tavern. They were gathering their belongings and, as soon as they began to exit their booth, the angel quickly made her way across the room and slide into the space just before another group could. Apparently that didn't sit too well with one of them and she watched as the man came closer to the booth, a frown on his face.

"Hey lady, this table is for more than one person. You need to move." His voice was low and threatening, but it failed to phase Allura; his voice could never be as creepy or threatening as that of a necromancer. Not only that, but she had been walking around looking for an open booth for a good fifteen minutes. There was no way that she was going to give it up now just because he told her to. However, Allura decided to try to defuse the situation by responding in a polite way.

"My comrade will be joining me in a little bit, so I'm not alone." She said simply, hoping it would be enough.

"Well, if they ain't here now, then you're alone. So you gotta move."

The angel sighed, wishing that the man wouldn't make this more difficult than it had to be. "I just told you that my partner will be back, so I'm not moving."

A look of surprise crossed the man's face before he glared at her. "That's not a way to speak to a man. Someone ought to teach you some manners, woman." Hearing him say this made the angel roll her eyes but she didn't respond to him and instead took interest in an old stain on the table. When he noticed that Allura still wasn't making a move to leave, he spoke again. "Fine. If you don't want to move on your own, then I'll have to make you move." The unruly man declared before reaching out to grab Allura. At that same moment, she had unsheathed her dagger faster than he had been able to keep up with and was pressing it lightly into his throat. He hadn't even managed to get his hand anyone near her.

"You may verbally abuse me all you want, that doesn't affect me, but you will not touch me." She said, her voice just as low and threatening as his had been earlier. "Now I suggest you go and find another table. Walk around and wait for someone to get up like I did." So far, it didn't seem like many people had noticed their altercation but Allura hoped that he would go away before things escalated.

Akira reluctantly let Allura go as he watched her disappear into the crowd in an attempt to find a table. Well at least it should hopefully reduce the overall time of this experience. He turned in the direction which should eventually lead him over to the bar as he slid and shimmied passed groups of people within the tavern. Where necessary the young man would push his way through, ensuring to not be too top heavy as to set off a brawl. He would occasionally pass someone at the wrong moment, merely to be greeted by a drink infused belch, which would generally return a look of disgust before he continued. When he finally made it to the bar he leaned on the counter and waited. Several workers rushed about between patrons to offer service and take orders. It seemed almost as chaotic as the original streets him and Allura had walked on here.

Some time would pass before a worker would eventually come over to Akira. "Greetings Sir, what can we get you?" Akira had almost completely spaced out in boredom, shaking his head to regain some concentration. "I need two rooms, for at least two nights. Tankard of ale, and whatever wine you can muster up."
"Certainly Sir, and the names for the rooms?"
"Akira Shadow and Allura Brown." Akira replied as the worker gave him a strange look, for a moment before going about fulfilling his request. First the bar worker pushed two keys over to Akira. "A-1 and A-2, adjoining rooms sir." A few moments later the young man had returned with the drinks. "Plus an Ale... and a Bloodwine. That'll be 20 gold please sir."
20?! who are these rip off merchants! Akira thought to himself before shoving the small coin bag over the counter and grabbing the drinks.
"Enjoy your evening and stay sir!" The bar worker called out as Akira once more disappeared into the crowd.

This was not a very successful way of getting around, Akira desperately tried to defend their drinks as he weighed his way passed the patrons once more trying to spot Allura amongst them. "Where has that Angel gotten to?" Akira mumbled whilst glancing around. He spotted a dagger board out the corner of his eye and had to resist the temptation of being drawn in by it. He continued to pass by patrons and was looking for Allura for a good few minutes before he spotted her across the room sliding herself into a booth that had just become vacant. But it would appear the manner in which she'd claimed it had drawn the attention of others looking for a place to sit, and it didn't seem like it was going to progress in a particularly nice manner.

Somewhat panicking Akira became more forceful and hasty as he tried to close the gap to where Allura is spilling part of his own drink down himself as he momentarily stopped and looked down at his now ale soaked armour. "Bollocks" he responded vulgarly to his own predicament and by the time he was close enough to Allura to be in talking distance it would seem that the situation had escalated to a rather intimate level of violence. Akira smirked as he casually walked over and slid in at the other end of the booth. He placed both his and Allura's drinks down on the table before lifting his tankard and taking a sip. His eyes fixed on the man that Allura had the blade turned on. "Let me guess..." Akira placed the tankard back down. "You thought you could throw your weight around because she's a young woman? Well I can tell you she's as good with a blade as she is beautiful. I'd suggest you leave." Akira spoke calmly and casually as if this situation was something of a typical occurrence. "Unless." Akira taps his hand on the edge of the table. "You want to settle this outside... 50 gold says you can't put me down. What do you say?" Akira looks to Allura and his eyes flicker red for a moment as he smiles. The young man fiddles with his pockets and coin pouches before dropping a bag down on the table. "Plus your chances are better against me then the lady, I mean you barely raised a hand and you now have a blade to your throat. Whereas me? Crossbow, sword, even daggers. Do I strike you as someone who knows what they're doing?"

Allura smirked a bit as Akira managed to find her, sliding into the booth next to her. He had made it just in time! Maybe the guy would leave once he realized Akira was her 'comrade'. Unfortunately, the guy didn't make a move to leave, even as Akira began to speak to him.

When he mentioned having a fight with the guy, the angel found herself wanting the fight to happen too. She knew that it would be quite entertaining to see Akira kick his butt, especially since only she knew what he was actually capable of. Wait... They couldn't get involved with someone again. Since this place was bigger than the one before, Allura was sure that these people also had more friends that could be turn against them and it would be just their luck to have something like that happen to them. Plus, with that look in his eye, the angel had a feeling that Volkran might go a bit overboard if the two men did decide to fight.

"Uh...well--"

"Just leave and we'll pretend like this never happened, all right?" Allura butted in, taking her dagger from his neck and stabbing it into the table near his hand. Just as a little push to get him to make up his mind. Apparently it worked because the man ended up scowling and backing away from the table, stalking off to find another place to sit with his friends.

Once he was gone, the angel breathed a soft sigh of relief then turned to Akira, smiling. "I promised myself that I wouldn't get into any trouble while I was here and I was holding a knife to that guy's throat five minutes later." She said with a laugh before reaching for her drink, taking a long swig from it. Allura wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it tasted very good.

"Were you able to get us some rooms?"