[IC] Children of Light and Darkness at War: Can Love Bloom on a Battle Field? (Still unsure of the title) (no longer active)

[Narcotic Dollie]

Great. The wraith is back.

Naya looks longingly back to the salt ring still lying undisturbed a few feet away, but it appears the prince knows this one, even calling her ‘Livia’, so the human supposed she was safe for the time being. Still, their terse meeting earlier that morning had left a sour taste in the witch’s mouth. Then the shadowy figure summons forth her skeleton minions and Naya relaxes just a touch so she can better appreciate them.

They were just darling, weren't they?

The angel draws Naya’s attention when she reaches up, her fingertips just barely ghosting along the edges of Asher’s wings. “Your wings…they're so beautiful,” the redhead murmurs softly, the edges of her lips upturned into a small smile. The image would have been strikingly lovely, except the ethereal being chooses this moment to wretch, black blood pooling from her mouth and running down her chin in macabre rivulets.

Naya is crouched next to her in an instant, rolling the angel on her side to prevent her from choking on her own vomit and her front is facing the fire’s scorching heat. "Let it out, little dove,” the witch soothes, brushing back the scarlet strands of hair to keep them from being sullied even farther.

“Where...Am I…?”

“Where you are is none of your concern child, do as you are told and no harm need befall you.”

Naya snorts. This Livia’s bedside manner left a little something to be desired. “You're in the Deathwood, Angel,” the brunette says, ignoring the spirit’s previous comment and unraveling her long scarf again. The frost that had begun to form on the other woman’s face has started to melt, but it'll be back the second they move her away from the blaze. “I'm sorry, but we’re going to have to bind your wings down,” Naya informs the angel, flashing her what was meant to be an encouraging smile. “Just until I can fix them.”

“Prince,” Naya starts, shifting her gaze back to the demon. “I need you to hold her up so I can wrap them,” she informs, nodding to the angel's injured wings. “Be sure to keep her close to the fire.”

“Just sit her up, nice and slow. You can even hold her in your lap, if that would make you feel better.”

@Sarcelle Renard@Karos@Ace of flames01@SouffleGirl123

[Sarcelle Renard]

Asher was about to wordlessly comply with Naya's request, but her remark threw him off. How would having her in my lap make anyone feel better? wondered to himself, but opted to glare at the witch rather than let his bewilderment become apparent.

Satisfied that he had saved enough face, he keeled next to the semi-coherent angel and wrapped one arm around her waist and placed his other hand behind her head for support. Just as Naya instructed, the prince brought her to a sitting position as carefully as he could, taking moment to answer Livia's question, "She's the key ending this war. One way or another, the king of light will lose his will to continue fighting."

Although healed the most part, the princess was still cold as ice and her eyes seemed struggle to stay focused. "Get on with it," he said, far more brusquely than he intended. "Please," he offered in a softer tone.

The prince was quickly beginning to come to the conclusion that sooner he was done with angel the better off he would be. Being near the creature was affecting him in ways he couldn't even begin to understand.

[Karos]

@Sarcelle Renard

Livia heard the prince's answer to her question and was immediately confused. End the war? But why on earth would anyone want to end that which gave them purpose? The many centuries of her existence flashed through her head, all of them… every last one had been spent engaged in a conflict of some form. But this, this latest war, this had been the most fulfilling the most challenging.

Livia made her way in front of the Prince who was now cradling the wounded Angel, letting her curiosity get the better of her she began somewhat more hesitantly than usual, But… my prince without the war… without it what would we do? What would be our purpose, why exist without purpose? The chorus of whispers sounded much quieter than usual and the sinister tone that usually underpinned them seemed to have faded somewhat. 'We my prince are warriors… we exist because we kill, without the war… what would we? Livia's voice trailed off.

She realised she'd revealed much more of what she thought, much more than she should have in fact. Without revealing anything else she called her minions back, and the skeletal figures silently started to make their way back to the clearing. Livia had no intent of attacking the prince, but his answer… it was so matter of fact, as if things were already decided. Livia felt lost, confused, sentiments that she hadn't felt in a long time.

[Ace of flames01]

@Narcotic Dollie@Karos@Sarcelle Renard

Binding her wings? No that simply wouldn't do. She was not about to be held captive by the likes of these people. Since she was no longer in danger, she could heal herself quite nicely and be on her merry way in a matter of moments.

While they spoke, Octavia slowly, ever so slowly, silently healed her broken wing and any other injury that could prove to be trouble in her escape. It was when they tried to bind her wings that a bright white light emanated from her body, stunning everyone in the surrounding area that is a child of light. Especially the demon that tried to capture her. "Sorry but you won't be taking me anywhere. And even if I died, my father wouldn't dare end the war. Thanks for healing me by the way; for a second I thought I was a goner!" She said with a playful tone, then turned to Carson and smiled. "See you later, OK?"

With that said, Octavia stretched out her wings and with a mighty flap; she shot through the canopy and above the clouds. Amongst the clouds, she paused to touch her lips remembering a soft touch only moments before, and blushed slightly. She then headed for the border at full speed. Once she was across, she would be in familiar territory, where she'd be safe, should she be persued.

[RiverMaiden]

@ArenaSnow
The faerie continued her chase, sometimes laughing maniacally to spook the old vampire. Man, this was more fun than she's had in years! Then, from an area to her right, a bright flash illuminated the forest for a short moment, stunning the faerie slightly, and reminding her why she was here in the first place. The angel! Aurora's kill-murder smile changed to a happy one, as she turned to the similarly stunned vampire. "I guess this is where we part. It was fun playing with you, but I have to do my job. the brunette looked towards where she saw the light, seeing a shilouete spread it's wings and take flight. Before she imitated it, she threw one last remark over her shoulder. "Bye, Basil!" Her wings beat quickly, nearly buzzing with their speed as she shot off into the sky. She'll let the vampire live, just this once. He was really fun to play with, and maybe they could play again next time, when he was sufficiently prepared and would die standing. She gave him the nickname since he smelt of basil at the time, and for some reason it seemed to fit the alchemic vampire.

Bursting from the fog, she quickly surveyed the area around her, spotting the pure white wings of the angel she had been looking for. Aurora flew after her, slowly catching up and flying next to the princess. "Hi there, princess!" the faerie greeted, her normal smile still plastered to her face. "You've given us quite a scare, falling out of the sky and disappearing like that. We've been thoroughly looking for you, endlessly! I hope those ruffians didn't treat you too badly." She knew the angel probably had a rough time, being captive with the Children of the Night. Thankfully, the redhead had healed her own injuries enough to escape from them. The faerie waited for the princess' response, being patient and feeling sort of sheepish for not being apart of the girl's escape

@Ace of Flames01

[Karos]

@Ace of flames01@Narcotic Dollie@Sarcelle Renard

Livia's eyes blazed with fire as the light faded, fury seized her and she stretched out both her arms shooting a hail of ice spikes at the figure as it disappeared from view.

That was when she turned upon the witch, anger, authority and malice permeated her every word as the chorus spoke. 'You blithering idiot! Did you not think to immobilise her? Now look where your incompetence has gotten us!'

As she kept talking her skeletons returned to the clearing their swords raised, she pointed at the witch that had let the Angel escape them. They looked at one another and rushed forward swords raised. 'I want her alive' said Livia aloud. She needn't have given the order aloud but old habits died hard in old soldiers, especially when the fury of war seized hold.

'My prince, what are your orders? she said to Asher practically spitting each word. She didn't take her eyes off of the witch as her skeletons advanced towards the figure. Secretly Livia was somewhat pleased by the turn of events, instead of an end to hostilities they'd be protracted, at least for the time being. However, she didn't appreciate being snubbed by a child of light, and a haughty arrogant one at that. Vengeance… the thought swam through her mind, it was intoxicating like a heady vintage. She'd have to sate such passions before she could fight, so she focussed her attention entirely upon the witch in front of her running though the various cruelties she would inflict.

[Narcotic Dollie]

“I'm moving as fast as I can,” Naya huffs right back at the blonde demon before tagging a quick, “...sir,” onto the end to make it sound more cordial. The blood loss was making her a bit honry, it seemed. The witch’s hands still tremble as she begins to fold down the apparent princess’ wings--

There is a flash of light and it is all encompassing. The angel expands her wings in a flurry, knocking them into Naya and sending her careening towards the forest floor, where the witch’s temple is very abruptly bashed into a very large, very sharp rock.

“...You blithering idiot! Did you not think to immobilise her? Now look where your incompetence has gotten us!”

“Bl-Blow it out your ass, specter,” Naya wheezed with little eloquence, turning her head and spitting out a mouthful of blood. Everything was starting to get hazy. “The prince...was holding...h-her...not...me.”

Naya finally gives up the fight and passes out from blood loss. The last thing she thinks before she closes her eyes is that angels, perhaps, were not to be trusted.

@Ace of flames01@Karos@Sarcelle Renard@Soufflegirl123

[Cuccoruler]

@ace of flames01

Rida looked at the king with a bit of spite before leaving. "I'm starting to wonder if you even plan on trying to win this war. Maybe you just want us to endlessly struggle. Your crueler than you think." Rida said as she flew away towards the village to help others. For the most part Rida focused on freeing other fairies from underneath rubble. At the same time though she was still a bit angry about the whole situation. Not being able to do much about the situation in her own way was not helping any either.

----------------------------------------------

Mozu in the meantime found herself running into rubble where she smelled people and barking when she found them. She was certainly a good bit of help. When it was time for a break though and Mozu was alone with Lucius she turned into her human form infront of her. Though being a werewolf also meant that cloths couldn't materialize out of nothing. She was esentially naked except for a burlap sack she had found and was using as a tunic. "That was fun! Can we do more things like that?" Mozu said to Lucius excited. "What are we gonna do next? Wanna play? I love chasing sticks!" Mozu said with a smile, she really did act like a dog more than a human.

@Lord Zee

[Ace of flames01]

@Narcotic Dollie@Karos@RiverMaiden@Sarcelle Renard

Octavia had felt her wing hit the witch in her take off and immediately felt guilty. She hadn't meant to harm the young witch. She looked back at her homeland, so close yet so far away, then sighed. "Tell my father that I am safe and I will return home soon." Octavia replied then descended and landed back in front of the group and kneeled before the witch that saved her.

She placed the tips of her fingers on the witch's forehead and a warm, soft light emanated from the tips of her fingers and spread to the injuries she had inflicted on the poor girl.

Once she finished healing the witch, she just sat there trembling and sobbing. She was afraid. She had given up her chance of ever escaping from her kidnappers. She expected death or torture and, as such, braced herself for whatever pain was about to come her way as she grit her teeth and tightly closed her eyes, her head looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry... I never meant to hurt anybody... I just... Didn't want to die here... I want to live...! But... I won't hurt another for my own gain... Even if it means I have to die." She murmered apologetically and softly, as her trembling form hugged the young witch as if she were begging for forgiveness.

[ArenaSnow]

Caezel smelled that damn angel again before he was hit with a flash of light again that caused him to lose focus and slam him into a tree at car speed and sprawl in front of it on the ground.

He barely heard the fairy... something about a job and Basil. Who the hell's Basil he thought as he picked himself off the ground and looked back, fully expecting a fairy blade to pop into him the moment he looked. But he looked and nothing came towards him. Though he heard plenty of commotion somewhere to the le... no, right... somewhere. The fairy left and was appearently going to do a job for Basil. Disgusting and weird, fairies he thought as he trudged in the direction of the commotion, coming out in front of the angel and company looking like he slammed into a tree (really?), covered in dirt, loosly holding a blade and a little light headed, not really understanding what the hell was going on.

"Oi... that angel..." he half-mumbled and pointed half-heartedly at Octavia, "Mine."

[Karos]

@Ace of flames01@ArenaSnow@Narcotic Dollie@Sarcelle Renard

As Naya collapsed, one of Livia's skeletons marched forward and seized the witch tugging her away from Ocatavia. The skeleton knocked Naya's weapons well out of her reach and pressed its corroded sword against the Witch's exposed neck. The other skeleton meanwhile levelled a sword at Octavia. Livia smiled, some of the anger which had consumed her started to fade and she smiled behind her hood. Both the witch and the angel in her grasp… her thoughts raced.

Then a bumbling fool burst into the clearing and made a claim on the angel, Livia's form swirled to face the new figure and her wraith blade began to coalesce in her hand once more. She moved and positioned herself between the new figure and the angel, meanwhile the skeleton levelling a sword at Octavia grabbed the rope that had been dropped on the floor moments earlier and set about tying the wings of the sobbing angel.

Livia noting the angel wasn't under guard turned her attention to her, and deciding it would be the lesser of two evils shot a spike of ice through one of the angels wings. The attack wasn't designed to do her much damage, but it would certainly put the wing out of commission, Livia wasn't letting her escape again.

Then she turned back to the new figure 'You have no claim over this being stranger, if you want her you'll have to take her.' She said the words in the same tone she'd used to address Naya, the sinister whispering voices sounding much more confident now things were under control. She levelled her sword at the figure, whilst one of the skeletons set about binding the wounded angel.

[RiverMaiden]

"Tell my father that I am safe and I will return home soon"

...What.

Aurora couldn't believe her eyes. The angel went BACK TO HER CAPTORS, who, by the way, had shot her OUT OF THE SKY. What kind of- the soldier stomped her thoughts. Those kind of ideas caused insubordination, no matter how stupid th- Stomp. Letting out a long sigh, the faerie dived after the redhead. The things she does for her Kingdom.

Watching the events fold beneath her, Aurora had to scoff. Not even 5 minutes, and the princess got caught again. There wasn't even an opening for her to go down there, with the skeleton holding the princess down and all. A witch held at sword point by another skeleton, a wraith, the demon from before, Basil, and a soldier she had seen around the castle before. What a weird gathering. She ascended slightly, and started to hover just above the clouds, waiting for a cue to strike.

[Sarcelle Renard]

Asher should have realized something wasn't right. The angel had been on the brink of death so long that he took for granted just how powerful children of light could be. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before the explosion of light went off in his face and he returned her look of determination with one equal parts surprise and respect.

You are such an idiot, he fumed at himself, waiting impatiently for his eyesight to return. There was something else he was feeling, all too sharp and familiar, but for now he was far too focused on the present to acknowledge it.

Things started to move quickly from there, yet he felt like couldn't move the events unfolded. He heard a sickening crunch that he would later realize was Naya's skull getting far too friendly with a rock. Livia was demanding what her orders were. But before he had a chance to say it do anything, his vision returned in time to witness the princess land again and heal the witch. He saw her pay for her kindness and heard a vampire come out of nowhere and claim her as his own.

Asher was overwhelmed, but, perhaps more importantly, he was also furious. "ENOUGH!" he roared, easily drowning out the rest of the noises. Balmung, which the prince did not recall drawing, was stabbed into ground, with an unbelievable amount of dark magic coursing through it. Dozens of phantom hands made of pure darkness exploded from the ground around him, targeting everyone around him regardless of if they were friend or foe.

While fast and numerous, the magic was hardly lethal and would merely grab and restrain anything unfortunate enough to end up in their grasp. Not to mention the little outburst came at no small price, as it left Asher barely capable of standing.

[Lord Zee]

@Cuccoruler

Time seemed to go by slowly as the townsfolk searched for survivors. Lucius was among the group and managed to find many souls who would live on. He also found those who would not be so lucky and for that he became bitter for a time. He knew that these people didn't deserve this, they were meant for much more. What got him the most was knowing that these people had families of their own, and their loss was as much his own.

Eventually aid from the palace finally arrived in full force. Fresh soldiers came to replace the tired troops, healers came to apply fresh bandages and a host of supplies for the relief effort came in carts. Lucius was finally relieved from his labor for a time, he needed a break and a quiet place to just rest and collect his thoughts.

He grabbed some water from one of the carts and walked to the outskirts of the town, where hardly a soul remained. The water soothed his throat, minus the fact that he didn't like to drink water, Lucius finally felt a bit better. Memories came back to him of a time where he once tried to swim and almost drowned, after that he went without water for almost two days because he was afraid of it. His parents finally had to force him to drink so he wouldn't die. A smile pursed his lips, he hoped his parents were alright. They were out of the way of most battle sights and for that he was thankful. Then he thought of his baby brother, now that was a different story.

Lucius took another drink of water, taking in the sight of the dog turning into a girl- wait... He almost forgot about the dog and now here it had just turned into a naked female who quickly put on a burlap sack. Needless to say, Lucius choked on his water and spit it out, beginning to cough right after.

What the hell! The dog was a werewolf the entire time, or was she a weredog? Lucius was so confused but at the same time saw no threat in the girl who was obviously oblivious to what was actually going on, or that's what he thought anyway. He finally stopped coughing and then found himself barraged by questions.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on a minute! Are you telling me you've been a dog this entire time? What are you? Who are you? And no, I don't think fetch would be appropriate right now, by the way." Lucius said quiet surprised and intensely curious.

[Ace of flames01]

@Sarcelle Renard

Octavia saw the phantom hands sprout up from the ground and shoot straight for them. "NO! DON'T HURT THEM!" She screamed as she tore her wing off of the ice spike then used her body as a sheild and took the blow. The hands squeezed down tightly against her throat, torso, arms, legs, and wings. The hands then pinned her firmly against the ground, knocking the wind out of her in the process. Her veins turned black and she started to cough up black blood again as a result to darkness poisoning.

A warm light glowed from her chest, though not as nearly bright enough as before, and spread throughout her restraints turning the shadows into light. When the light reached Balmung, the hands shattered like glass into specks of warm light, which quickly disappeared as they rained down onto the group.

"No more... OK...? No more... " Octavia said softly as she got to her feet and kneeled before Asher. She lifted him up into a sitting position and placed her hand on his chest. Another warm and gentle light emanated, this time from the palm of her hand, and poured into the demon, healing his injuries and regaining his strength. " That's enough fighting for today, don't you think...? So... Please... No more... OK..?" She murmered to him, offering him a gentle and warm smile, that matched the soft and warm touch of her skin.

[Cuccoruler]

@Slendy

Rida finished helping some of the other villagers to be freed from the build. She also helped to remove some of the bodies for proper burial. Rida finished her work for the day eventually and decided that the best way to calm down from having been told off by the king was to go and search for the princess herself. Soon enough she found herself in the dark worlds forest again. She flew close to the ground hoping not to be noticed as she searched for the princess. Rida had none of her squadron with her, so for now she was just scouting out the area.

While Rida's sense of direction wasn't great it was better when she had a map with her. For now she did and was added to it sometimes as well for further reference. "If she's dead, I'm going to start talking to the humans about creating a weapon to obliterate them. I'll win this war myself if I have to." Rida said to herself as she continued to scout. Eventually she came upon a grave yard. Though there was something off about it compared to her map. "Huh, I don't think this place is facing the right way. Must have been a mistake on the map." Rida said to herself as she started to alter the map she had. "Gotta start having my scouts double check their work." Rida said again outloud as she changed her map.

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@Lord Zee
Mozu looked up at the surprised Lucius she was confused her a moment then tilted her head and pounding a fist into her hand as if she understood. "Oh! I haven't introduced myself have I? I'm Mozu! I'm a werewolf of a rare breed! It's nice to meet you nice smelling man!" Mozu said, at this point she went behind him and started to sniff his back as her weird way of greeting.

"I like you! Mind if I stay by your side every now and then? I can't get enough of your smell!" Mozu said getting straight to the point. She was never good at being subtle unless she was in her dog form.

Mozu had an innocent aura about her, no one would ever guess that such an innocent girl was actually a werewolf, or even a dark worlder for that matter. "What do you roll in to get that smell anyways? Must be some pretty good dirt!" Mozu added, she was talkative and didn't really know when to stop or when she had said too much.

[Slendy]

@Cuccoruler

Don returned home unsuccessful to kill time like he wanted to. He sadly plopped on a near by head stone, slouched against it like a nice and comfy wall. Since there wasn't anything that was gonna be entertaining happening soon he decided to take a nap. As his eyes closed slowly they came to a brief hault as a faint sound could be heard. Usually the average person would ignore this but Don shot up and his eyes quickly darted around to catch the source of the sound. "Fuck off you're dead stop trying to get money from me!" He shouted to see if it was that one ass hole phantom that he owed money to when they were alive. When he came to the conclusion that it wasn't Casper the hoing ghost he exhaled heavily leaning back on the headstone. His second attempt at rest was interrupted with the sound of a woman's voice. You'd think he'd ignore the sound but it was a chick that he could possible hook up with and he wasn't gonna miss out on that type of chance. Don quickly made his way to the origin of the voice and came across a fairy. "That's a first." He whispered to himself. Spirits of the light don't usual come to him. Heck he never seen one that kept their body when they were dead. Don closed the distance between them and attempted to get her attention. "Hey, excuse me! But I'm the care taker of this place. If you have a grave you like I'll get to digging and will probably have it ready for you by tomorrow, but for now you can stick around and try for small talk!" He stated with a large smile on his face. He actually thought that the fairy was deceased. Well he ignored all the signs of her being alive since he was distracted by her being a woman in all, with the boobs and the not having a sausage.

[Lord Zee]

Lucius was taken aback by how nonchalant Mozu was towards him. When she went behind him and started sniffing he got up quite suddenly, as if panicked and turned around to face her but slowly backed away from her at the same time. His cheeks were bright red from embarrassment and he looked incredibly nervous.

The whole "he smelled good" thing was really creeping him out, but he knew it shouldn't. After all, Mozu was a werewolf and that was natural right? No! of course it wasn't natural, she was a werewolf that could turn into a dog and was actually friendly towards him, instead of wanting to rip his throat out. So why was he still slowly backing up away from her? Maybe it was the fact that she could bite him at any moment and turn him into.. well, a dog? He shivered, paranoia was overcoming him because of such a strange girl and Lucius grabbed his head, thoughts coming wildly. But that was the problem, he knew nothing about her or what she was capable of and if she bit him, then it would all be over and he would loose his title and he would lose his home and he would lose his light! He let his hands drop to his side as he looked at her, he needed to run.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Lucius needed to get away but where would he run to? Would she follow him? Oh by the king this was all to much for a day!

"I-I-I-I'm L-Lucius," he stammered uncontrollably, there was a wild look in his eye. "I-I-I-I n-need to g-go t-though. Uhhh, n-n-nice to m-meet you, M-Mozu but uhh... need-to-go-now-thanks-bye!" his last sentence was barely comprehensible as he turned around and started to run away.

Lucius did not really know where he was going, he just let his legs carry him away. He cringed, he hoped he had not hurt Mozu's feelings but that was just how he was around things that he did not have a sense of control in, especially a werewolf that was completely different from the norm.

@Cuccoruler

[Cuccoruler]

@Slendy
Rida looked a bit nonchalant up at the man who approached her. Was he hitting on her? Rida was not expecting a dark worlder to not attack her. Though hitting on her was a bit stranger. Then Rida got an idea, if he was so nice he could help her map out the area. "I could do for some small talk, how well do you know this area? I'm trying to map it out and I think some of my map may be wrong." Rida said showing him her map. It was pretty simple map, though to some one who knew the area like this man they could tell that there were quite a few errors.

------------------------------

@Lord Zee
Mozu looked at Lucius in confusion as he seemed so tense around her. "Your nervous huh? That's so cute!" Mozu said with a smile. As Lucius started to leave Mozu turned into her dog form again shaking off her burlap sack tunic. She then started to happily follow him again. She did quite like this man.

[Sarcelle Renard]

Asher didn't have a clue what was going on anymore. Anger was an emotion that he had very little experience with, but this was on a level he had never seen before. What made it worse was the fact that he had no idea what was making him so enraged. Years of training had been put into learning how to keep his emotions in check, a very important lesson for any practioner of dark magic, but here he was, letting his rage control his actions and amplifying his spell to a level he couldn't control.

The only that had changed was the damned angel with her impossibly red hair. Realizing she was about to escape from him hadn't made him mad. On the contrary, it made him respect her for taking advantage of his arrogance. No, it was her coming back that made him start seeing red.

But why? Was it really the princess's naive and pure nature that set him off? Sure, he found those things distasteful, but that just didn't seem to add up to him. So what then? Was some subconscious part of him mad that she squandered her chance to get away?

The little moment of clarity passed as he watched the angel take the brunt of his spell. The sight assaulted him with too many emotions for a being that had been shutting them out for so long. Asher didn't even react when he saw his magic being turned against him, as an overwhelming numb feeling took over.

Balmung recoiled hard from the light and the sheer force of the negative feedback sending the weakened prince flying off of his feet. His head banged against the frosted ground and felt his consciousness slip through his fingers.

---

Somewhere deep down, the prince remembered he had been waiting for someone important. They had promised to see each other again, so everyday the little lordling snuck away to the border and waited for as long he could. The first few days he was forced turned back, Asher assured himself his friend would be there the next day.

But the next day became the day after that or the next day still. Eventually, he gave up. The young prince didn't have any friends back at the castle, but this was the first time he truly felt alone. The wings that his friend had made special became feathers on his back and nothing more. The memory was buried deep, but his curiosity about the world on the other side was snuffed out.

---

"No more..." The voice pulled him back to the present. "That's enough fighting for today, don't you think...?" It was a question made Asher remember Livia's words, because even he wasn't sure what his people would be like if there was no more conflict. Would there ever be enough?

His eyes opened slowly, as he noticed light magic patching him up. Red hair and a painfully familiar smile came into view. The naive angel was healing the very man that was behind her kidnapping. The kindness was genuine, but the act hardly phased Asher.

"You obstinate fool," the demon muttered hoarsely to the angel kneeling across from him, "You're going to end up killed if you don't give up on that idealistic attitude of yours." While his words were acerbic, the bite didn't reach his tone or his eyes.

Asher took his eyes off the brightness in front of him and looked at the rest of the individuals in the clearing. Although he was healed, he still felt weak. The question now was who would make the first move.