[IC] Sunrise, Sunset

[TheWendil]

"What I plan on doing?" Kiara gingerly lied back, placing her hands behind her head in thought. "That's easy. When someone says there's a storm coming, I get the hell out of there." That was how this all started, wasn't it? The fountain, the storm, the lady in yellow. . .hard to believe that it was only just yesterday when it all began. Kiara turned over to Vincent.

"What about you? You got family anywhere missing you?"

Outside the shack, the wind picked up to dangerous levels, whirling black sand and demonic energy everywhere. Webster was impaled for the third time, but manager to shrug it off. There were worse things than Death in the world. Even still, he noted that at this rate, he'd get nowhere in his plans. He cut down creature after creature, scattering away their parts to make it more difficult for them to reform again. Most, if not all of them he recognized as earlier victims he himself had killed. Great. Karma existed after all.

Mary watched the Devil's struggle, giggling like a little girl. Except, a little girl an indefinite amount of power. "Kiara is dead! Vincent is dead! Rebel is dead! Webster is dead! Mary is dead! Sandal is dead! God is dead! I'm dead! We're all dead! Hehehehe!" She talked in almost a sing-song pattern, dancing around her corpse army in a ballet of horrific proportions.

Back at the shack, Kiara stiffened. That "impending doom" thing Vincent was talking about felt closer now. "I bet it's the pet," she muttered. Which only raised up more questions that she had been too busy to ask. Like maybe trying to survive. But throughout it all, Kiara had to wonder.

What exactly was the Devil's plan?

[AkiBlue]

"Stay away from storms indeed. Nah, I'll continue my traveling. Stay away from all things that give me even the slightest trouble. Ha, I don't want to go through this again. At all. Ever again." Just to add mode emphasis, he shook his head vigorously. Vincent scooted over slowly when Kiara decided to lay back as well. "To the family thing, nope." He stated simply, closing goods eyes once again. Though, he felt that if he fell asleep, he'd probably not wake up.

"Well, we both have plans of living. Obviously. So, I think we should keep that up. We're not dead now, although close to it..." He shook his head, getting rid of the pessimistic thoughts. They were going to get through the battle. Even if it was just on a miracle. And an upset kid. Which brought a sudden realization with it, "How exactly do we calm Death down? I mean, let's say she wins and they scatter. Does she automatically calm down... or do we have to like coax her back to normal. Goodness, that sounds worse."

He opened one eye and looked at the roof. "If it's the pet then I'm sure we'll be fine. Both of us can take him on. We just need a decent shot. Probably in the head." Slowly, he sat up, ignoring the pain and looked at the door. "We'll need to be ready if our paranoia is the case."

Rebel followed the trail, grinning a  sadistic smile. "I can slice them limb from limb. I can cut their throats. I can steal their souls from theme very being. Oh, the fun, the fun. Hopefully, Webster found away to get rid of that monster child." As he spoke to himself, he rubbed his wound that the brat left. It was only healed half way. It wad such a shame that she couldn't die a slow and painful death. Well, he still had the two humans he could kill. He reached the shack, sensing the two in there.

It would've been obvious to walk in through the front door, and they'd probably shoot at him. Too bad it was the only way in. So, he decided to kick down the door. And by the Devil's luck, it flew straight towards the two. "Cute, were you two hiding? You should remember not to bleed everywhere." This time, Rebel was brutal. He didn't hesitate to rush towards them right after the door was removed out of the picture.

"You look like you've been through hell." Vincent chuckled seeing the wounds on him. Rebel growled as he ran toward him. Vincent expected it, but what he didn't expect was Rebel turning and slicing at Kiara. "I've tasted your blood, let's see how your girlfriend's blood taste." He made a direct slash at her side, and it showed by the blood on his blade.

"Yours would make a fine drink as well. I'll name them after you after I've killed you both." Again, he rushed at them, not planning to let them get away again.

[TheWendil]

Kiara sighed. "Probably. Considering her recent behavior, I'm pretty sure we're expected to calm her down." It would have been too easy to just have Death go on a rampage and expect things to be quiet again. No, it was always more complicated than that. Besides, Mary was much too far gone anyway to expect her child like mentality to have any sort of maturity. Sensing the dread get stronger, Kiara brandished Volunta in her good hand and prepared for the worse.

Of course, she didn't think the worse would involve having the front door fly right at you. She jumped out of the way just in time, right into Rebel's waiting knives. This time, Kiara did cry out as blood splattered on the floor beside her. She clutched her side before giving Rebel a glare before briefly noticing the wound Mary had inflicted on him earlier. Looks like Death had a hand in this after all.

"I'm. . .not. . .his girlfriend. . ." she said behind clenched teeth. With the last of her strength, she lunged forward and grabbed the demon by his ankles. Taking Volunta in hand, she plunged the sword tip into Rebel's leg. She clung on to dear life, shutting her eyes to bear the pain ripping at her side and back.

"Hey Vincent! If you're gonna do some heroic stuff then here's you chance!"

Outside, Webster stood in the middle of Mary's newly summoned and freshly created undead army. Flying above him, Mary pointed and giggled at the Devil's predicament. "Looky, looky! The Devil's found himself in a corner, like a rat in a trap! Hehehehehehehe!"

Webster cooly glared at her before a smirk creeped on his face. "If that's what you think, go ahead. But I assure you, even Death cannot stop my ambitions."

Mary raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "And what kind of ambitions are those? Hmm? What exactly little demon!?!?"

Webster's grin became slightly wider, and he tipped his cowboy hat forward. All in due time. . .

[AkiBlue]

Vincent knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge the door fast enough, so he chose to lean back and use his feet to kick out of the way. It was still rather painful.

All too soon did Rebel decide to attack. Amd the expected attack directed towards him was immediately changed and he hit Kiara. This was new. Rebel was getting desperate, or tactical. Hopefully, it was desperation. Desperation never lasted long and of would be easier to kill him.

Vincent had ignored the girlfriend comment, but raised an eyebrow toward his partner. 

Rebel chuckled at her anger. "Go on, your anger fuels me. Heh, and you seem quite defensive over-" He found his Alex being grabbed and soon after s stab in the leg. Rebel hissed in pain and kicked at Kiara with a lot force. "Let go of me!" He flicked one of his knives downward work enough force to stab Kiara in the neck. But as soon as it was thrown, it was shot away, and off to the side.
"I don't think so."

Vincent was getting tired of being on the defensive, and he was rather annoyed by Rebel now. Sure it wasn't the best reaction to have during a fight to the death, but at times like those, no one cared too much.

Rebel growled in frustration. By now, and probably way before, the stupid humans that did this would've died the first second. Not these two. These two were fighters. Rebel didn't plan on admitting that he may have underestimated them, so he settled for them having some amazing luck. He was planning to kick Kiara again, not wanting to lose any more knives. But what he didn't expect was the punch to the jaw that knocked him over. Even he was confused.

Vincent rubbed his fist and helped Kiara up before moving her out the way. "You okay?" Still quiet, he pulled the Volunta out of Rebel's leg right after pushing it father. He tossed the weapon back to her and then aimed his gun at Rebel's head. "Just think, once you die, you'll only be back in hell right? Heh, it's a win for everyone. Now go us a favor and die."

But Rebel was not going to lose again. He didn't plan on shaming himself or Webster. And if he was going to die, one or both would go down with him. So before, Vincent could shoot, Rebel tackled him. Both their injuries were in pain, but they both ignored them. In the tumbling and thrashing, it would be hard for Kiara to get a good shot because the two were rolling back and forth. Vincent winced in pain when he was bitten on his shoulder.

Vincent was kicked off him only for Rebel to lunge again. This time, Vincent managed to sit up and shoot him twice. Once in the chest, and the other where his heart should've been. As Rebel fell, he glared at Vincent with those black abyss' for eyes. "If I die, you should go too." With a sadistic grin, he stabbed Vincent in his heart, or where he thought his heart. Being dead,  Rebel of course would miss it by a few inches- but either way, it was too close and had Vincent gasp out and fall over.

That was a pain he couldn't joke about. Vincent fell back, clutching his chest. Rebel on the other hand fell, now dead, finally. 'Well, at least that pet is dead.' If he was going die, at least he didn't waste his time doing it. After a moment, his mind cleared, focusing on emptiness.

[TheWendil]

Kiara stiffened as the scene played out in front of her. Seeing the demon finally vanquished from this earth, Kiara relaxed her grip on Volunta. . .only to tense once more as she saw Vincent slump backwards. She ran to his side and caught him before he fell. Genuine terror raced through her veins for her moment until she saw the faint rise and fall of his chest. The wound Rebel had inflicted missed his heart by a mere few inches. She let out a sigh of relief she didn't even know she was holding. Good. He was only unconscious. He'd live.

Smirking down at his battered form, Kiara sighed in slight annoyance. "Almost gave me a heart attack there partner," she muttered.

Outside, the Devil paused in his slaughtering of the undead. He tipped his cowboy's hat upward, looking off into the distance. Rebel's presence was gone. Completely erased. Dead. Webster frowned. "Well now. Those two actually did it." He looked down at the ground now, knowing full well that Rebel was laying somewhere dormant back in Hell.

"Fool," he hissed. "Letting a few children defeat you. . ." Glaring, he turned his crimson gaze on Mary now. He'd deal with the lower demon later. Now was the time for judgement. He flickered out of sight, only to appear behind Mary. Lashing out, he swiped with his blade and made contact. Caught up in her own glee, Mary didn't notice until it was too late.

Half of her left wing became torn, and she skidded to the ground in a halt. Still, the sick smile did not leave her face. "Oh? Is the Devil feeling cornered now? Hehehehe! Look at you! You don't even have a plan!"

Webster's frown morphed into his own smirk at this, and he casually walked forward, taking swipes here and there at the undead. "Plan? Dear sweet Mary. I have no need for any plan. Or rather, my plan is quite simple. Killing every last living thing that crosses my red eyes.."

At this, Mary raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Hehehe, and what would that accomplish?"

"Oh nothing," the Devil replied. "Just everlasting Hell on earth. That's all."

[AkiBlue]

Apparently, Death wasn't at his door when he went unconscious. Maybe she was too busy with the Devil to notice. Or maybe... He wasn't dead. Hearing Kiara's voice clarified thay he hadn't died. He wanted to say something, but couldn't at the time. Slowly, but surely, he managed to move one hand up to his head and groan in dissatisfaction. His head didn't hurt, but his chest and stomach were in a fair amount of pain.

"Can we agree... to never... take deals from omnipotent beings...?"

Slowly his eyes opened, and he squinted at the sudden glare of light. His eyes finally adjusted to see Kiara looking down at him. "You look like you've been... through hell and back." He gave a small smirk and tried sitting up. That failed as he winced in pain and laid back down. He muttered an "Ow"and sighed, laying back.

"So, is Death still out there having a temper tantrum... or have we finally finished this?" It was hard to talk while trying to focus on not bleeding out or something of the sort. But he ignored it as much as he could. It would have been so boring if he had to lay there and stay silent.

In hell, Rebel fell face first on the ground. He cursed the humans and himself for the his death. He knew Webster would have his head for the loss and there was nothing he could do about it but take the punishment. Instead of moping about it, he decided to send those little infestation of demon lizards to the earth.

Just like before, they crept up towards the shed, pushing uo dist behind them. Rebel wasnt as magically inclined with his powers like Webster. But he did know that he could help even a little. And he was sure one was dead or dying so it would be harder to fend off.

[TheWendil]

Kiara grinned at Vincent's offer. "Yeah. No more offers from paranormal beings," she agreed.

"Not even from me?"

Kiara turned to see Sandal lying lazily on the bed, amusement twinkling in his eyes. The traveler set Vincent on the ground gently before looking at the angel. "What do you want now?" She was much too exhausted to give him a proper argument, and hoped his stay wouldn't take too long. Sandal smirked at them before clapping his hands in congratulations.

"Well done for making it this far you two! Gotta tell you, D is pretty impressed by your efforts down here."

Kiara rolled her eyes. When this was all over and if they survived, she made a mental note to ask Sandal about this "D" inside joke thing. "That it? Just a couple of claps and some nice words?"

Sandal shrugged. "Since you don't wanna take offers from supernatural beings anymore. . ."

Another sigh. "What is it?"

Sandal snapped his fingers and a soft glow encompassed both of their bodies. It felt as if the sun itself was bathing them in its rays, but it didn't burn. It was simply a warm feeling of power that radiated withing them. When the light show was done, Kiara looked down on herself to see that she was completely healed. She turned to see Vincent and the same happened to him. "But wh-"

"You're gonna need everything to beat the Devil. In your current state, you should be fully healed and recharged. But that's all you get now, so consider this a freebie from the Big Man himself." At this, Kiara could't help but grin. They were back in the game. Before she could thank the angel, Sandal had already disappeared. But his voice still lingered, echoing the words, "Don't screw up. Oh, and make sure you calm down Mary. We don't need another crisis on our hands."

Kiara's expression dropped. Crap. How were they supposed to calm Death down again? Before she could think on the matter further, she heard a banging sound on the front door. Soon after, a lizard demon knocked the barrier down and growled at them. The gray dust from before swirled around it, showing several more of the creatures. Kiara summoned Volunta to her hand.

"Not you guys again," she muttered.

Outside, Webster couldn't help but grin. Not just from the revealing of his plan, but also that he sensed the demons closing in on the travelers. Looks like Rebel had some use after all. "I'll make sure your punishment is somewhat bearable," he muttered. He dashed forward again, only to be met by Mary's claws.

Metal clashed against metal as both Devil and Death focused on their dual at hand.

[AkiBlue]

Vincent's eyebrow raised when he heard Sandal's voice. He tilted his head toward him and decided to stay silent and sane the little strength he did have. Of course the angel had the same amused look as always, only making Vincent sigh silently and listen. This time, there was no verbal brawl between the two, but that wad probably because Kiara was beaten down.

Vincent sighed and brought a hand up to his head. Once again Sandal was no help- And suddenly a warm light wrapped around him. He looked at his arms, noticing the cuts and wounds disappear. The pain had gone and Vincent slowly sat up. "This feels a lot better. Thanks." He stretched out his muscles and yawned. There was a reluctant sigh when he heard they'd have to fight Webster again. That meant Death didn't finish it. At least she slowed him down.

He looked down and then coughed a little. "Hey Sandal, you think you could provide... another shirt? Mine was sorta torn." But as he looked up, he disappeared. Vincent removed the bloodied makeshift bandages on his arm and leg amd slowly stood. "I've gone through a lot in the matter of a day or so. Is there no break other than death?" It was a rhetorical question.

And it probably wouldn't be answered considering those lizard demons appeared. "Not these things again." He took up his gun and spun the barrel. "How much do you want to bet this is one of those monsters being a sore loser?" Like before, he shot at the little cretins, killing them off as fast add possible.
No one would guess that minutes before he was lingering on death road.

"So, any plan to calm the kid?"

[TheWendil]

"Um, give her candy?" Kiara fired off energy rounds in the horde of demons, killing them off one by one. Their combined firepower was enough to keep the small fry at bay, not allowing them to enter further past the door. "We could always bribe her with sweets. She has the mentality of a 9 year old. . ." Something soft landed on Kiara's head, and she briefly whirled around and starting slashing everywhere. The soft thing blocked her vision and she was trapped in the darkness. What was it? Some new kind of stealth demon? A trap? Some othe-oh, it was just a shirt. Kiara took the thing off her head and stared at it.

It was a plain black shirt. "Consider that a gift from me." Sandal flickered in and out briefly before pointing to Vincent and disappearing again. "Of course," his voice lingered, "If you prefer he remain shirtless, I won't judge. . ." Cheeks burning slightly, Kiara tossed the thing in Vincent's direction.

"Hurry up and put it on," she muttered. "I'll cover you."

"I'm sure you will," Sandal's voice rang out. Kiara made a note to never again listen to strange men who's names were that of footwear.

Outside, the dual reached its climax and both sides slowly began to yield. The undead did nothing now, simply watching their mistress weave and dodge away from the Devil's blade. Seeing an opportunity, Mary lashed out with a free claw, catching a small flick on Webster's face. A small flick was enough, and Webster immediately felt a burning sensation on his left eye.

Hissing, he rocketed forward and tackled Mary. Holding her down, he commanded the black sand to coat her wings, completely dissolving them into nothingness. The dark clouds above began to disperse slowly, and even the undead began to crumble apart. Mary glared up at Webster now, but this time a spark of that old fear was present in her eyes.

Webster grinned, his left eye slowly being torn apart.

"You haven't changed Death. Even after all this time, you're still just a bothersome little bitch. How annoying. He plunged the sword, now coated in the black sand once more, into Mary's right arm. Mary gritted her teeth and shut her eyes. She couldn't be killed, so Webster decided to make her suffer physical pain as much as relatively possible.

[AkiBlue]

"Because we can find candy at a time like this. I'm pretty sure if she finds out we're lying, she'll get even more upset." The lizards were at bay, but they were both at a stand still. The lizards couldn't advance forward, and the two humans were stuck in the shed. He focused on firing, even when Kiara stopped shooting. He was too focused on trying to find an escape plan or way out. To his left, near the bed was the broken door that laid off its hinges. "Hey, how about-?"

He caught the fabric, realizing it was a shirt soon after. "Oh. Perfect. Thanks." He nodded toward her help of watching as he slipped the shirt over his head... But he gave a look of confusion when he heard Sandal. "What's he talking about?" The question lingered as the two continued to shoot at the lizards. He was going to really hate lizards after this. Vincent hurried and grabbed the broken door, using it to push out some of the monsters. "Shoot down the back wall, this'll give us a few seconds of escape time." He continued pushing random crates into a blockade. On the other side, the demons were scratching and clawing their way through, slowly. 

"If twe can lead those demons to Mary, they'll die immediately. And we can get to Webster." He was regretting the plan of course, considering they nearly died more than once because they had to deal with him. And like Sandal said, we only got one freebie. He was just healed- and had a new shirt! This was no time to die- again! Which might have been all the reason that they had to end Webster's rampage.

Even so, Vincent hoped to get some type of reward after all that hardwork. And not just aome excuse of 'getting the satisfaction that it's over'. As good as that was, it wasn't a reward.

After shooting enough weak spots in the wall, Vincent kicked a hole in it and pulled off enough pieces to get through. "Thank you for old buildings." A few smart demon lizards went towards the back and tried attacking their, but to no avail because they were getting shot down again. "Let's go." He said, going towards the two that could kill him with literally one touch. This omnipotent stuff was probably making him crazy. The first thing they had to do was separate the two. Vincent and Kiara had paused a few feet away, so Webster was still focused on Mary. He frowned a little seeing Mary pinned down like she was, so he fired two shots. One in Webster's side, and the other hopefully in his neck.

He just needed enough of a distraction for Webster to leave Death alone. "You want to try and calm the kid down? Or shall I?" He offered, before looking back to watch the two.

[TheWendil]

The bullets made impact, and it sent Webster flying backwards from his prey. He skidded on the dirt ground, laying still and silent. He wasn't dead, simply stunned at the sudden barrage. His rage was slowly building as the black sand began to methodically heal his wounds. But his left eye had suffered significant damage from Mary's blow from earlier. Damnit! He would have to find another crimson eye to replace that one. A fraction God's power trapped within its ocular prowess. And now he only had one. He yearned for the healing to be faster so he could rip apart these two meddling travelers.

Kiara kept Volunta pointed at him just in case he made an early recovery. "Uh, I think you should do that. After all, she likes you be-" A loud growling echoed throughout the town, and Kiara turned to see the lizard demons running right at them. Crap! She had forgotten about those guys. She braced herself tensely for the attack. . .that would never come.

Mary appeared before them in a flash and the mob of demons instantly began to deteriorate as they came closer to the girl. A wide grin was on Death's face and she danced around their slowly rotting remains, almost in a ballet fashion.

"Bad things need to be punished," she giggled.

Kiara took a good long look what remained of their pursuers and then back to Mary. No doubt Rebel was in Hell somewhere cursing the little girl. But a new thought crept into her mind and she wanted to try it out. If Sandal were there, he would have congratulated her for using her head. Then again, he kinda was, just not in plain sight.

"Vincent," Kiara said. "I have an idea. But I'm gonna need you to do something dangerous for me." All ears now. "In order for this to work. . .you need to put Mary to sleep."

[AkiBlue]

"Man he's going to kill me when he gets up." Vincent watched as Webster laid there more than likely healing up. She looked at Kiara with a raised eyebrow. "You sure? Heh, I thought you two had grown fonder of each other." Of course, he was only teasing. It probably would have been more efficient to get him to stop the rampaging girl. "Well if you want to deal with Webst-"

He mentally cursed hearing the growling of those lizard demons. Those things never gave up. He planned to start shooting, but the growling got less and less. Mary had come to the rescue, or to continue her rampage. Either way, most of the lizards were gone.

"Bad things... We aren't on that list of bad things... right?"

He turned to listen to Kiara's newfound idea, giving her more of his attention when she spoke of doing something dangerous. "Is it not dangerous enough to be here in the first place?" He glanced over to see Webster still recovering and then to see most of the lizards gone. "You want me to.... put her to sleep?" How in the world was he suppose to do that? "I have you know, I have no parenting skills. And shooting her will probably put us on that bad things list she was talking about."

One of the lizards managed to escape Death's range and jump at Kiara. Before it could attack, Vincent shot it away. "If you think it'll work, I'll trust you enough to try. Although it's still pretty crazy."

[TheWendil]

Kiara ducked down as the bullet whizzed by her and hit the demon head on. She gave Vincent a nod of thanks before continuing on with her plan. "Listen, I got a plan ok. It's a risky plan, and it might end up backfiring on us. . .but hey, it's something right?" She kept one eye on Webster's recovering form, hoping that they had a little more time left.

"Alright, here's my theory. Mary is Death itself, right? Wherever she goes, things die with her. We've already established that." Webster began to rise up now, his damaged eye streaming blood down his face. He didn't care though. A sick grin presented itself on his lips, the black sand hovering behind him ominously.

"You two will be the first to experience. . .my new reign in Hell!"

Kiara waved his words away. "Ignore him. Anyway, what about when Death's sleeping? Think about it. . .if Death is out of the picture for just a few moments, maybe even longer, what happens around us? If Death itself is gone. . .what then?"

Webster flashed before the two now with inhumane speed. It took all of her instincts for Kiara to parry the wicked blows of his sword with Volunta. Trying to concentrate on the telling of her plan and dodging the Devil proved to be more difficult than she imagined.

"Vincent! Basically. . .put Death to sleep, and we can't die anymore!"

[AkiBlue]

Vincent crossed his arms, giving occasional glances toward Death and Webster. He nodded, listening carefully. He kept silent, listening carefully and making sure he didn't miss anything. "Yes, Death and Mary are one. What about it?" As he was told, he ignored Webster's threat and focused on Kiara. Odd how they could just push the devil aside for a conversation.

" So put Death to sleep. No, put a child to sleep. And of course, there's no possible way to prove this theory, but we are going off of guts and chance." The male once again looked at Mary. "How in the world am I suppose to put a child to sleep." They're was always the violent way of shooting her in the head, but he didn't think that was a very good plan. As insane as the plan was, Vincent planned on going through with it. A theory was better than nothing at this point.

Webster wanted to hild true to his promise and ended up attacking them with incredulous speed. Vincent dodged, firing a few shots before hurrying to Mary. "Don't die before I test this out!" It almost sounded like a command in a sense, as if saying 'you can't or you won't'.

"Mary!" He called over to get her attention. His mind raced. There weren't many things in his knowledge that could help him with the situation at hand. "Alright, what did mom do to get me to sleep...?" He mumbled to himself as he waited for the kid's attention.

[TheWendil]

Webster disengaged Kiara and pushed her away as the bullets flew by. Snarling, he turned himself towards Vincent and prepared to launch himself. An energy shot to the back made him turn to face Kiara once more. "You're fight's with me. Unless of course, you're embarrassed to lose to a girl like me," she said with a grin. At this, Webster scoffed.

"You? Please. Remember girl, you two aren't the first to fall before my blade."

"No, but we'll be the first to finally kick your ass."

At that, Webster appeared behind her and struck. A clash of metal rang out loudly in the air as the two continued their little duel. "Well, well," Webster said. "Looks like you two caught your second wind. In that case, you two can be my pets in the newfound Hell. How does that sound?"

Kiara rolled her eyes as all the weight shifted to her blade in order to match the Devil's grip. "Jeez, can you get anymore narcissistic?"

At the sound of her name being called, Mary whirled around from her fun to face Vincent. Said fun consisted of resurrecting the demonic lizards and then killing them again, each process becoming slower and slower. To the damned creatures, Vincent's form was that of a savior now, a way out of the torture inflicted by this little girl.

Mary crossed her arms, tapped her foot, and gave Vincent a dark glare as her wings spread out behind her. "What do you want?"

[AkiBlue]

Vincent refrained from shuddering under the girl's gaze. Those evil eyes belonged to the girl that had been torturing demons only moments before. But he couldn't back out now. Kiara's life, and the world depended on it. 'She's just a girl. I've seen her whine and cry before. Mary is more of a child than she let's out to be.' Vincent reminded himself as he put his gun away. First thing was first. He needed her to sit down at least close enough so she could give him her full attention. So, how was he going to get her to comply? He was going to "fool" her into thinking it was really cool, or really interesting.

From Vincent's interaction with children, he learned that children enjoyed him for some odd reason. He was careless and fairly lazy, and around Mary he always called her a kid even though she didn't too much care for the name. But, he didn't have the time to sit and contemplate the reason kids thought he was a good person. Vincent needed to get Mary's attention and fast. "Mary, come here for a minute please? I wanted to tell you a story. I was going to tell you earlier. But then that big bad meanie showed up and ruined the fun." Making sure there weren't any lizards around, he carefully sat down on the ground and patted the ground next to him. "It's a really cool story. I'm sure you'll like it."

As he waited, he hummed a soft and calming tune that he remembered his mother sang to him. He wished he could remember the words. When (or if) Mary got closer, Vincent began to speak once again. If she didn't come closer, he still started to tell her the story. Vincent had sat down with his side facing the fight Kiara decided take place in. He did this so he could keep an eye out on her, along with steal a couple of lucky shots if he needed to, or could. "So this is a story about an adventurer. It's a... boy, but anyway. This adventurer had left home around the time he was a kid because it was his dream to see the world. His mother disapproved and wanted to get a real job. Heh, boring right?" Vincent continues talking about how the adventurer fought such great battles between wild westerners and bad guys. He paused, remembering that he had to add a girlish tidbit for the sake of keeping Mary interested.

"One day the adventurer met a girl- a weird girl- who was also traveling. He didn't know why, but he had only asked for directions and somehow..." Vincent had slowly realized he created his life up until he met Kiara a story, although he left out a few parts to keep it inconspicuous. He was animated with his story. He stretched his arms out wide in order to show an exaggerated length of the "monster" they fought together. "And once the two travelers got out of the mess that happened-" He paused, slightly wondering what would happen after all this was over. His attention turned to make sure Kiara was still fighting before he ended the story.
"When it was all over, the two adventurers said their goodbyes to each other. And even if they had gotten into nothing but trouble together, the first adventurer kind of hoped to see the other some day. They did make a good team." With a shrug, he ended the story. If it didn't put her to sleep, it was enough to calm her down. Eventually, his humming continued softly, checking to see if she was sleep or calmed enough.

[TheWendil]

At the prospect of being read a story, Mary's eyes widened in curiosity. A story? She had always loved stories. All kinds of them, really. Tragedies, funny ones, ones with daring excitement, stuff like that. She supposed it was because, as Death, it was her job to see everyone's story end. So to hear one right here and now out of the blue was a sudden treat. Grinning, Mary sat down next to Vincent, careful not to get too close. It'd really be something if she actually killed off her story teller.

As Vincent carried on with is dramatic movements and riveting story, Mary found herself lost in Vincent's words. Her wings began to fold up into nothingness, and the clawed gauntlets soon disappeared as well. Her eyes were no longer cold, and her small laugh lost all traces of insanity. When Vincent got to the part about what happened after the travelers saved the day, she yawned. Still, that didn't stop her from rubbing her eyes to stay awake and inquire, "How does it end?"

"When it was all over, the two adventurers said their goodbyes to each other. And even if they had gotten into nothing but trouble together, the first adventurer kind of hoped to see the other some day. They did make a good team."

Mary grinned at that. A happy ending then. How fitting.

Noticing the sudden change in Vincent's actions, Webster turned his one good eye at the two. What were they doing? A sudden kick to the gut reminded him of his current situation, and he swiped his blade downward at his current opponent. Kiara rolled out of the way, recovering and holding Volunta in a defensive position. He was not getting through.

"Your fight's with me pal. Pay attention next time."

Webster scoffed at this before proceeding to engage in another attack.

Meanwhile, Mary yawned again, this time longer than the first. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she curled up on her side, tucked her legs in, and began to breathe slowly. Soon, she was fast asleep. Unfortunately, no plan ever goes. . .well, according to plan. And this time was no exception either.

Mary rested her head on the nearest closest thing. Right on Vincent's leg.

[AkiBlue]

It was quiet.

He glanced down to see May dozing off as she listened.
'Wow. It worked. I put Death to sleep.'

He could have boasted or something. Vincent had a look of surprise on his face as he looked over at Kiara. Why did that work? Good, she was still handling her own. He needed to remember to put children to sleep like that. It couldn't been useful one day. Now, all he had to do was tell Kiara and help her fight. No big deal, right? 

Just as he shifted to stand, Mary fell over and rested on his leg. With Mary- no with Death, her pain was immediate. He gasped out and quickly covered his mouth. He could feel his leg deteriorating by the second. But he forced himself to stay silent. Mary had just went to sleep... If she was to waffle up now who knows what would happen.

The pain made his eyes water. [I]'This is definitely worse than being stabbed in the chest... Actually I can't tell what's worse."

Vincent scooted his leg from under her, letting it slide gently to the ground. When she touched the ground, he let go of a heavy sigh. His leg would've been nothing but bone if he stayed any longer. It was pretty bad as it was though.  His pants leg was now gone and his leg looked... pretty bad. It was a charred grayish color and looked as if the blood stopped circulating through his leg long ago.

He groaned softly, some of of pain but more so out of annoyance. "Did I really deserve this." Vincent couldn't feel his leg, and could barely move it. But that didn't stop him from slowly standing and leaning on his left leg. He wondered if he could just leave Mary there to fight. Just in case she was a light sleeper, Vincent waved Kiara down and pointed to thew unconscious figure next to him.

[TheWendil]

Mary shifted slightly in her slumber as her head rested on the ground, but did not stir any more. She was fast asleep. Noticing Vincent waving her down, Kiara backed up and put some distance between herself and the Devil. Webster allowed her, amusement flickering in his good eye. "Don't think I'll let you off easy now," he taunted. "It won't be long before you two slip up. . .and that's when I'll cut you both to pieces." Kiara narrowed her eyes at his threat before turning to Vincent.

Mary was. . .sleeping. She was actually sleeping. Did that mean. . .it worked? "Well, how do we test the theory then?" She looked down at Vincent's leg and grimaced. She should have known there would have been some sort of cost, especially since they were dealing with Death. She looked down at Mary than back at the still grinning Webster.

She swallowed.

"Hey Vince? Since you put Mary to sleep. . .it only seems right that I be the one to test the theory. It's my idea after all. So, uh. . .just sit back, ok?" Before he could protest or voice his concerns, Kiara rocketed forward with a burst of energy provided by Volunta. Webster's grin grew wider, and he threw his sword straight at her. So she really wanted to die this much? Easy work for him then.

Seeing the blade rushing at her, Kiara clenched her teeth and shut her eyes, ready for impact. She felt a large thump in her chest as the sword made its mark. She stumbled backwards, the sudden shock killing her momentum and lied splayed out on the ground. The Devil's blade had pierced right through her heart. She said nothing as her eyes glazed over.

Dead.

Webster shook his head at her pathetic attempts. He glanced at Vincent. "I told you two, you're out of your league. Why don't you just die and stay dead already?" The Devil tipped his hat and casually walked up to retrieve his sword. . .only to widen his good eye and take a step back.

Kiara was smirking right at him. Her eyes were no longer glazed and she gripped Webster's blade and wrenched it out of her. Blood splattered the ground but she couldn't feel the pain. "Heh. . .looks like it worked," she said shakily.

The Devil stared at her, dumbfounded.

[AkiBlue]

Vincent noticed the look of shock on the girl's face and he chuckled. "Believe me, I'm just as shocked. But, Mary is just a regular kid." He then glanced over at Webster and shrugged. "I mean, the only way to do that would probably be getting killed...but that's risky." Noticing her look down at his leg, he rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, yeah. A minor repercussion, but I'm fine." With a small shrug he leaned more to his left.

When she offered to test out if her insane prediction was right, he started to protest. "I don't think that's- Kiara, wait-" But she was already off. He limped forward but deemed it useless to try and fight back. So, he did what he was told and sat back next to Mary.

She went full force towards Webster, making Vincent anticipate the outcome. "She's insane." He leaned forward where he sat and immediately winced when she was stabbed. She fell, and laid there for a more than a few seconds. "Ki-!" His call was interrupted by Webster's cackling. Vincent pulled out his gun, but stopped himself, not wanting to wake Mary up. He bit his words and sat back down, watching as he retrieved his sword.

'So, is this how it'll end? If so... I can't say I didn't live.'

The beginning of his farewells ceased when Webster stepped back and not much later on, Kiara was ripping the sword out of her chest. He released a heavy sigh he didn't know he was holding. "Thank goodness." He relaxed where he sat and watched them.

Occasionally, he would glance over at Mary to make sure she wasn't disturbed. Now another problem.

Sure they couldn't die...but how did they plan on getting rid of the Devil ?