[b]"You worthless, wretched child. You let them hurt you, because you want it to hurt. You seek kindness in murderers, and place trust in traitors. Foolish being. Give thanks, for today, our paths have crossed. I will grant you that which you seek. But be under no illusions that your fortunes have changed. You will never find peace, Izaac Valentino."[/b]

Val felt the tendrils burning in his chest, the image of red hot spikes driving into the sensitive organ mirrored by the flashes of pain that lit across his nervous system like a wildfire. He bit back a scream, piercing the inside of his cheek until blood filled his mouth. He had been stabbed. He had been shot. Hells, he had been tortured by self-extolled masters of the craft and never once felt pain like this. A weaker man's mind might have broken under the assault, but Val had suffered too much and learned to deal with the cost to break now. And so he embraced it instead.

[i]I do want it to hurt. From pain, comes strength. From strength, comes survival. From survival, comes a change in every living being's fortune, [/i] Val thought to himself, his mind instinctively beginning to shut away the pain, [i]besides, we're hunting the King.[/i] 

[b]"I am Mercy, the Great Devourer! I forgive you for your weakness... and I grant you a second chance to seek your vengeance."[/b]

Val's eyes opened, and he realized at some point he must have collapsed onto the floor and lost consciousness. His chest still burned, and he could swear there was a feeling of... writhing inside of it. Like Mercy had somehow hollowed out his entire chest cavity and squeezed itself inside. An impossibility, but it wasn't like Val really understood what he had just done. 

Covering up the pain in his eyes, he grinned widely and coughed out a spatter of blood onto the ground. "See, told you the big guy would be up for it," Val said, his voice suddenly hoarse and he winced as he felt his heart seemed to constrict within his chest, "Dust me though, that stung a bit." He reached down to his side pouch, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a match. A deep drag on the small paper wrapped helped bring some normalcy back to his senses, which were still going haywire from the overload of pain.

[b]"Hello?" She said hesitantly, her voice measured, and weighed with anxiety. "Is anyone there?"[/b]

Val's reflexes exploded into action, the cigarette dropping from his lips as he threw himself towards his rifle and took aim in the direction of the voice, his still blurry sight failing to draw in a proper sight on the speaker. He blinked hard, cursing himself inwardly for weakness at a time when their lives could be in danger and slowly the image resolved into a woman.

"Uhhh... friend of yours, ladies?," he asked, his rifle still pointed towards the stranger.