Fun time.

[Laughing Man]

"He did it?"
"It worked...?"
"I can't bel-"
"SYLVIA!"

The Harlequin twisted away, stumbling a bit from the awkward angle he was forced into in order to throw the Starknife. The world pin-pointed the object, and he extended his hand, the magic of the knife would attempt to force the weapon out of the creature's chest and back to his hand. Whether it returned or not, Minh was moving.

His head was a buzz of voices now, as each Minh was frantic as to what to do,

"Finish it!"
"Kill it!"
"We can't hurt Sylvia!"
"What if we can banish it from her?"
"End her now!"
"We've hurt her! She'll need help!"
"There's no time! The demon must be killed!"

The Harlequin was only dimly aware of the horde of creatures marching his way, or the fact that the sunlight was nearing. Or that his wound has re-opened, or anything, really. He was staring at the shadowy thing that had, moments ago, worn Sylvia's face,

"So you see, Demon! The script was carried out regardless of your refusal to commit!" The harlequin spoke in his high-pitched voice, always sounding on the verge of crackling into puree, maddened laughter,

"Fate has deigned this to be! The scene was magnificent! And now, we must exit stage left!" He surged forward and struck out at the nearest creature's face, heading for the Demon himself,

"Yes, yes! Kill him! Finish it!"
"Watch the flank! They've taken to the shadows!"
"No! Don't hurt her!"
"This guy is a damn whacko, where did we pick him up?"
"Don't remember, but he's interesting."
"Think he'll do it?"

The voices argued, but anticipation built. Wind surged passed his exposed head, demon blood spattered his sword and clothing, and the coming light was chasing shadows away, while simultaneously creating them. That was good and bad... Harder to hide in the daylight. Harder to find shelter.

The moths had moved on from the torch lights. Gone to chase the sunrise or hide until night fall. It was as if the world was opening its eyes to watch the conclusion of the battle. Or play, depending on who you asked. Minh was still acting whacked.

One of the creatures tripped him, and he hit the ground, catching his chin on the cobble. Stars flodded his vision as pain flooded his form, but instinct reared its head and the Harlequin rolled, coming to one knee with an upward slash of his sword to cut slice open the nearest creature,

"The goal is in sight! the final act is set for enactment! Will you commit now, Child of the Forests? Or will you run? It is up to you now!" The voice faded and Minh dropped to his other knee. He was himself again. The din of voices still assailed his thoughts, and the realization of the situation slammed him like a boulder.

On his knees in the center of a town laid to waste both by his only friend, and yet something that was not his friend.

The minions closed in and snapped at him, catching his left shoulder for a moment before the sword arm instinctively answered with its own response: A firm stab to the throat of the offending creature. He could not stay here, and so the sound of moving feet was heard. Minh was up,

"Sylvia!" His voice cried, turning to face the oncoming creatures between him and their master. He could not win a head-on fight. Deceit. Deceit was the tactic. Minh backpedaled and through his Starknife(Or his other, spare one if the first one hadn't come back), at the approaching horse, and dove behind a building.

He was too drained of energy to do anything magical further, but physically he still had his adrenaline. Minh would lead them around back, and try to move up onto a roof, to lead them behind him, and circumvent the group by going over.

His goal now was releasing Sylvia from the demon....

"The fool!"
"The play comes to conclusion. We must watch, and trust the actor to perform his part."
"You're insane! We almost had him!"
"Aren't we all technically insane? Now silence yourself and watch. The fates are speaking here."

[boomdeboom]

Within moments she found it almost impossible to stand on her knees and so fell to her side, clenching her chest with her hands to keep anymore blood from being split. It had slowed her blood loss, but she was still losing quite a bit as each minute passed. How it hurt.

Moments passed by until a small light came through the darkness. Turning her head slightly to see this light, she found that she was able to once again see what was going on. A lot of fresh blood was splattered, but not human blood. She could only assume that it was those weird shadow creatures and that someone had killed them. As her demon looked to see its enemy, and she saw that it was indeed Minh, a different array of emotions went through her. Happiness because he was alive, surprised that he did not run away half way through their fight and worried because of how....insane he looked. Even the way he spoke, it didn't seem like the Minh she knew.

- - - -

Spitting out the blood which was beginning to crawl into its mouth, it gave a lot snarl, wishing that it was not so weak to pain, but alas since it was very rare for anyone to hit it in its weak spot, it was not accustomed to the unreal amount of pain which followed with striking it. So until it got over the pain it was pretty much helpless, and this didn't help as it spied the half elf coming towards him but was relieved to see him being tripped up by one of the creatures. Perhaps they weren't so useless. Now all it needed to do was get out of here.

Although it followed a lot snarl as it gritted its teeth, it forced itself upwards so that it was standing on its legs once more, and after a few seconds of swaying back and forth, it was able to regain its posture. As it heard Minh scream Slyvia's name, a wave of rage suddenly overcame it. Being so hurt, it was not able to remain calm and collected, although it could still play mind tricks, to make sure that even if it disappeared the thought would remain.

"Don't you dare say her name! You do not deserve to call her name, as if you actually cared for her! You're just her to collect a reward for bringing back her head! Many villagers want her head, and they will give a handsome price. I bet that's what you're here for, why you risk your life. You don't care for her, you're merely a user! That's right, isn't it?! You're nothing but a worthless greedy bastard!" Breaking into a maniacal laugh, it placed its hands on its face as it laughed to the sky.

"See Slyvia? I am the only one who cares for you, the only one who loves you. Your only friend. . ."

- - - -

Even though she should've known better then the trust was the demon said, she couldn't help but feel cold as it said those words. Is that what Minh was really here for? Maybe he was just an assassin, sent from another village, waiting until she had completely trusted him before he gave the final blow. Maybe it was all a lie. Usually she would have thought this as nonsense, but because her mind was so weak, she thought about it more and more and it became a possible truth. Even what the demon said about caring for her, perhaps it was right. . .

- - - -

Breaking from its laughter into a fit of coughs, which covered its hands in its blood, it decided to leave. The sun was showing its first rays, and even though the rays didn't hurt it, it made it very weak, and with the wound, it would be even weaker. So it needed to escape. The creatures would distract him long enough for it to escape. And so, as he hid, the demon spread out its wings, which were beginning to lose many feathers, and with a few heavy beats, causing more blood to drop, it became airborne, and without hesitation turned towards the large forest and made its way slowly there, where it would hide until night came. Although it was still only a few feet in the air, it was enough for it to fly over towards the entrance of the forest.

[Laughing Man]

Minh snarled aloud. He had never snarled. At least, not when he was in control. And yet he did. This demon was infuriating the young Half Elf to no ends. The Harlequin roared,

"Shut your f** mouth!" A pause as he snarled once more and decapitated a creature entirely, sending gore over his shins and torso. The creatures were many, but as their master, they were weaker in the sunlight. Where Minh has less magical abilities, he was still physically the same. Albeit tiring, his limbs starting to become heavy. He was forced to wield the sword in both hands as he danced and spun a bloody arc through the creatures. Like a great poem, written in blood on the parchment of the morning's light, the Harlequin laid low foe after foe, slowly moving toward the Demon and Sylvia,

"You twisted, foul, ignorant creature! Stop lying to her! Twisting your rotten lies to your own ambitions! You have Failed! You were too weak! The fates have spoken, demon! The fates proclaim you the loser, whether you wish it so or not! You are powerless against fate, against the Goddess, Desna, and against even a lowly Harlequin outcast such as myself!" He cackled in his own manner and spun to knee-cap an incoming beast,

"You lost! to ME! How does that make you feel? Pathetic sleeper of the Chaos Realm!" The Half-elf was truly irate, spouting curses from atop the roof top he had climbed to, slicing down the creatures as he funneled them, forcing them to come one by one, and climb over the piles of their fellows.

The sunlight was breaking over the roof tops casting golden rays against the gore to reveal the nature of the slaughter. Crimson streams ran like placid rivers through the streets, mingling crimson human and demon blood to flow as one into the gutters and stain them red. It seemed like the whole world had stopped around them, held its breath, and watched the events unfold.

Minh turned his head, spotting the Demon coughing blood and spreading its wings. He roared, but was forced his attention back to the creatures climbing up from behind him. In a quick motion, he lunged forward, sliced the creature's throat and snap-kicked it backwards, flailing and spraying blood, onto its compatriots.

The Harlequin turned and took a deep, heaving breath, his face and body slick with gore, and charged forward, leaping from the rooftop,

"No! You will give her back!" he roared, leaping for the demon and spreading his arms out.

If he made the jump, he would latch onto the demon, and try to pull its wings down to bring them both crashing to the ground. If he missed, he would land rather hard on the cobble, and possibly sustain a serious injury. Either way, he would be smashing the ground. He hoped to do it with the Demon attached.

[boomdeboom]

The reaction that it got from him, well it caused joy. Twisted joy, but joy nonetheless. To see the pure fury on his face it caused a smile to appear on its face as it flew. Oh emotions, how beautiful they were.

After a few moments of flying, the first rays of the sun hit, causing it to lose altitude rather quickly. It had hoped to be a lot closer to the forest by the time the sun rose, but alas it was still in the village. It had underestimated how quickly the wound would sap its energy. Because of the stupid wound, it was getting closer to the ground and its feathers were falling. Plus it was running out of breath once more. It was so weak that it couldn't summon its voice while flying to give another snark remark to the half elf. And then, to top it all off, he was running towards him and had now jumped, obviously hoping to bring it down, and because it was going so slow, that was going to be easy for him.

As it anticipated, there was no way it could avoid the oncoming attack, and although it tried to sway away, it was not fast enough and so as soon as he had gripped on, it lasted another 2 seconds airborne before it came crashing down. Unfortunately it landed in a narrow street, and so as it felt, a wing snapped in the progress because of banging straight down onto a wall. Giving a screech, it landed in a heap, its breath knocked up and so left it in a bloody, feathery mess coughing out its blood, which was beginning to form a small pool.

Using its arms to bring itself up, it merely snarled as a rush of pain went through its body and fell back onto its side. Yes, its right wing was severely injured, bending in an awkward position. It also felt bones broken in its legs. This was not looking well, and since it was the morning, it wasn't going to last much longer. It needed to recover. To rest.

Lifting its hand, it found that its power was already going, as specks of its black skin was beginning to fleck off and float into the sky. This however did not alarm it too much. It would have liked a bit of more time to be able to actually kill the little bugger whom caused all this pain, but alas it would have to retreat and wait until Slyvia was weak once more. And so it began to laugh, a pathetic laugh since it could hardly bring up enough air to actually laugh. It had been defeated, by a half elf. Disgraceful. It would be sure next time to get its full revenge.

It seemed only one of the shadow creatures remained as they limped towards it, too tired and hurt to fight, so was content to lay down by its master side and disappear too, waiting to be called forth once more. Watching as the creature disappeared as a ray of light hit it, the demon snickered, rolling onto its back and staring up at the sky. Then, taking a good few deep breathes, it said, its voice becoming very distorted as its power faded.

"Don't think you've won, fool. This is only round one of our battle. I will come back. I'm stuck to Slyvia's soul like glue, nothing can remove me, unless of course you kill her. Give her the ultimate salvation, but I doubt you could do that, or perhaps you will surprise me and will do exactly that--" Breaking off for a moment as it began to cough several times.

"-- I hope you realize that you too have hurt Slyvia very seriously by doing this to me as well. Even though she has me, she is still merely human. Maybe she'll die. Kekeke, what amusement holds as to what will unfold in the next. . . .few. . . hours. . ." Its voice got lower and lower until it no longer remained. What a disgraceful sight it was in now. It would need a punishment of some sort. Truly disgraceful.

By now its black skin had pretty much gone, revealing Slyvia's pale skin underneath. The same applied with the wings, as its one disappeared, it showed her more fuller blacker wings which shimmered in the daylight, of course her wings were covered in blood and her right one was also broken. Her skin was also covered in many scratches which were bloody and dirty. As the last of its skin faded, it left Slyvia in the same place as the demon. Her face was bruised and her lip was cut, causing a line of blood to crawl down her chin. Her hair was also very tangled, bloody and mangled. She was pretty much in a mess.

- - - -

Feeling every single time the demon hurt, she was left in a curled heap, sobbing from time to time as the pain became overwhelming. She also screamed as it came crashing down the ground, feeling the bones in her feet and wing crack. Never experiencing such an extreme pain before, she began to sob, gripping at her hair to try and make the pain go away. She was in such pain that she didn't even notice that the darkness was completely faded and her demon was standing beside her, looking down at her.

She did here its last whisper though.

"I love you Slyvia."

This was the last thing she heard, as because the pain was so immense, within moments she had blacked out.

- - - -

Even though she had regained control, she still laid lifeless on the floor, her breath ragged and deep, varying in beats, her eyes twitching as if she were in a bad dream.

[Laughing Man]

"Get up...!"
"..."
"..."
"I can't..."

The stone was cold on his face as his cheek laid against it. Body laying on his stomach, sprawled out not even a few feet from the Demon,

"I hope you realize..."

Everything ached, and throbbed, and told him that he should have stopped fighting a long, long time ago. That he should have simply ran and left her like he normally did. His wounds oozed slowly, crimson blood speckled in the dalyight ran from several scratched, and puncture bite marks he hadn't realized he sustained until the adrenaline wore off,

".. that you too have hurt...."

He could see his right arm in front of him, fingers stained slick with blood, both dry and some wet. Some his, some of the demons. The world was hanging sideways, and the sun was running across his horizon now, casting rays downward to the rest of the village below. The Half Elf's eyes searched around him, but he could not muster the strength to move even his head yet, his entire body cried out in agony at the abuse he had put it through. And for what? He couldn't even remember his purpose here, filled with exhaustion an pain, the world was cloudy, and sounds muffled in and out. The only sound now was of that infernal demon talking,

"...Sylvia..."

Syliva!

Minh twitched his fingers, willed his body into action, told the muscles to move, and they obeyed, begrudgingly. He planted a firm hand the floor, pushing downward. At first he stuggled, and did not move much, but eventually, was able to roll onto his back. Staring at the sky and what must have been the first few rays of light. He hadn't even noticed it was morning.

He could cimly hear the rest of the moaning and groaning the Demon was making, but all he managed was,

"Must be nice living in your own fabricated world, prick." as he coughed and took in lungfuls of air, his suffocating limbs demanding more oxygen to replenish them if they were going to continue this work.

He hadn't even noticed the last creature make its way over and lay down to die. He simply forced himself to all fours and rotated his head to try and locate her. His face was a bloody mess. Though most of it was not his own blood, he did have a new slash running from the middle of this left cheek and down to his jaw. His face, torso, arms, and legs were spattered, smeared, and drenched in blood. If anything, he looked like a demon himself, covered in the blood of its victims.

His eyes fell on her, and looking down at his only friend, he did feel like the demon. Like the roles had reversed.

His eyes widened and he nearly collapsed reaching a hand out toward her, crawling on his hands and knees the few feet to her, all the while the wound from earlier was draining him. But it was of no concern compared to her condition,

"M.. Sorry..." he manaed weakly,

"So, sorry..." the Harlequin leaned over top of her, staring down with worry covering his blood-stained features,

"Sylvia... Forgive me." pleaded his cracked voice as pinkish tears rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't think of anything to do, the world was a blur, the noise was dulled, his body was heavy and weak. He was confused, pale from loss of blood, and bleeding in a few places. He simply hovered over Sylvia with no rational thought present.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..." was his mantra, repeating over and over, tenfold in his head, but it manifested in his voice as well. Scared, broken, and confused.

[boomdeboom]

Again, as if she had been taken over by her demon once more, she was surrounded in darkness. She couldn't feel anything, see anything or hear anything. She didn't know if she was floating or standing or on her back. There was no way to tell when time passed, whether it was morning or night. Even though this would have made some people worried, it had no effect on her. She was so used to not being able to tell where she was.

Not knowing had much time had past, at a certain point she felt something. A job, on her legs. At first, it was nothing but a tickle until it continued to grow, as if a virus was spreading slowly and it became more and more painful. It was beginning to become very uncomfortable, and she tried to scream at whatever was hurting her, not realizing that it was the pain which she had gotten from the battle. But, she could hardly remember the battle. It was as if it were all a dream, a hazy memory in the past and that it no longer mattered. But something told her it did. It did matter. That it was the sole thing separating her from being alive and dying right here. She just believed that it was blown out of proportion. That it really didn't matter if she cared about remembering her dream or not. She was content to stay here. And as this thought seeped through, the pain in her legs began to go away, which made her think it all the more. But still, something was telling her to stop. To face the pain. The reality of what was really going on. The reality of what was happening. Needless to say, this was not what she wanted to hear, as it made her just confused. What on earth was putting these odd thoughts in her head?

Perhaps hours passed, or only seconds, but she continued to dwindle on these odd thoughts and what they really meant. What was reality? Did it matter if she cared for reality? Did it really decide her fate right now? Did it really decide whether she lived or died? Was this the place in between, where you decide if you wish to live or die? How did she get here?

A battle.

Yes. . .that was right, a battle. She was somehow related to a battle, a huge fight which caused her immense pain. As she remembered this, the pain in her legs creeped back and soon she was screaming. Well, at least she thought she was. She couldn't hear anything. Oh how she wanted the pain to go.

Don't take the easy route, face reality.

And there was that stupid thought that poped in her head, as if someone else was controlling her mind and putting in these random thoughts which caused her whole thinking to turn a 180. So what if she faced reality, wouldn't she just face pain? This conversation in her mind felt familiar, as if she just had it, which she did but she couldn't remember. That was what happened in this place, the past faded away and was easy to forget.

Keep thinking. Face the pain.

Great, face the pain. Fantastic thinking. Although this was sarcasm, she had begun to feel bored in this place. Maybe reality was something to look forward to. And so, although the pain was almost making her turn back into the painless darkness, she began to think. Ok, the fight. Who was in the fight? Someone she knew, yes, her demon. But someone else was there. Fighting her demon. M. . . .Minjou. . . .Michael. . . .Min. . . .Min? Yes, Min seemed familiar. But something was missing, a letter.

Minh.

Yes, Minh! As she thought this name, a pain exploded onto something which was extending from her shoulder blade. Ah yes, her wing, how could she forget that. Although it really hurt quite a bit, she decided to continue, wanting to break free from the darkness since she had gotten her determination back from thinking that name.

Listen for the voice, follow it.

The voice? But there was no voice, only darkness. There was nothing here, besides her pain. Wait, no there was something. . . .a faint voice. It was like a whisper, but the more she thought about this voice, the louder it grew until she could make out words.

"o. . .n.. . .o. . .no. . .no. . .no. . ." . . .No? The voice was saying no. It was repeating the word, repeating it so much that it had begun to get on her nerves. How she wanted to make it stop, because the more she listened, the more she found that the voice was sad. It had an array of sad emotions, and although it pissed her off, it also made her sad. She wanted to make it stop.

Stand up.

"Stand up? What do you mean, I am. . . ."

Suddenly, although it almost blinded her, a piercing whiteness surrounded her, causing her to shield herself.

Taking a sudden gasp, causing her to break into a fit of coughs, Slyvia's cracked open her eyes, only to shut them immediately. God that sun was bright. And good lord, the pain hadn't gone. It had only increased, which made her let out a small cry. She was still not aware where she was, as her eyes were still squeezed shut and her ears had a weird ringing sound in them that wouldn't go away, but she felt someone near her.

[[ Sorry, kinda went all over the place, but kinda wanted to portray the scramble of thoughts that went through Slyvia's head as she was in the darkness and schtuff, hence the random thoughts. OTL]]

[Laughing Man]

[[ It's fine! I liked it. I kind of did the same thing with Minh, and his nearly-unconscious state. If the demon hadn't spoken, I was simply going to have him black out xD ]]

Those golden rays cast the world in an ethereal, harsh light as they broke through the forest and rooftops to open up on the carnage that was laid about the poor, ill-fated town. In the course of a single night, its denizens had been slaughtered, and the streets ran slick with the blood of demons, innocents, and a half-elf.

The Half-elf named Minh was on his knees, back arched wide as he stared into the blue, cloudless sky of the dawn. His eyes were unfocused, his mind unfettered, and his body weak. Were it not for the wetness creating rivulets through the drying blood on his face, he would have looked like a statue. A statue graffiti'd with gore and left in an eternal anguish.

The air blew gently, but all was silent, until something broke that silence. At first he didn't know what it was, and it re-focused him. It was only after the second few coughs that he stared down at Sylvia's form, twitching with the body's attempts to remove contaniments from the throat.

He had never been so happy to see someone coughing.

The Half elf shouted and leaned down over her and pushed some hair out of her face. He was smiling, which would give him a rather macabre expression, given the blood stains on his face and the scar on his chin from when he was tripped.

Minh used his thumb to smear some blood from her face, and whispered,

"I'm so sorry, are you - Well never mind, clearly you're not alright. What... How... ?" He really couldn't think of an appropiate question to ask. Given the situation, he was just glad she was well, and he continued to smile down at her,

"You're going to be okay.. Okay? Yeah, you're going to be fine.... We need.. Need.." He was looking around now, as coherent thoughts forced their way into his mind. He had a purpose again, he had to save her. He had to help her. Surely there was a church, or a healer's building somewhere in this town? He wasn't sure. It didn't look like a very big town at all,

"Need something... Cloth, or alcohol... Medicines. " His face turned down upon her once more and he did everything he could not to, and he knew it was a bad idea, but he slipped a hand under her back and head, lifting her, cradling her upper body in his lap as he lowered himself and helped her upward, keeping pressure off the clearly-broken wing,

"You're going to be okay, I'll make sure of it... I'm not losing another..." He cooed, and began to rock slightly lik a mad man. He was a little psyched by the whole thing, and it would take some time before he could re-trace the events of that evening to cope with it. For now, it was shoved away into his mind, and all that mattered was that Sylvia still breathed, and he would ensure she continued to do so.

[boomdeboom]

Every time she took a breath, she exploded into another session of coughs. Her throat was so dry that the coughing certainly didn't help. There was no moisture in her mouth, although she could taste something which she tried not to think about. The longer she stayed awake the more she remembered, and the more she remembered, the more she tried not to think about it. For now, she settled on the weird texture in her mouth, which she recognized but tried not to, was a weird fruit she had eaten earlier.

Then, through the ringing in her ear, which had quietened down somewhat, was a voice. Squinting her eyes at first until she was adjusted to the light to a degree that she could open her eyes to actually see who it was, once she saw who it was she felt her eyes whell up. Minh. Although it was a gut and blood covered Minh, it was still him. And she had made him like this. Covered in so much blood.

Well, so much for not thinking about it, because as soon as she saw him the memories of what she did came flashing back. And within seconds, tears had begun to flow down her blood stained face, and although she tried to lift her hands to try and hide the fact that she was crying, she was quick to lay them down as they too hurt. She had never felt so pathetic in her life.

As he lifted her, she did the best she could to try not and whimper, but she did, and it was a painful whimper because her throat was so damn dry. Looking up towards Minh once more, although her vision was blurry and she could hardly hear anything besides her own sobs, she tried to speak, although it came out in an almost inaudible slur.

"I-I'm s-s-s-s-so s-sorry. . . .e-everythin-n-ng. . .m-my. . . ." She broke off from talking as her throat closed up as more tears streamed down her face. Yup, right now she had never felt so pathetic. This was even worse then yesterday when she had to pluck those arrows out of her, or any other time she thought she was pathetic. This topped pretty much all of it. All the pain she had caused. The deaths of innocent adults and children. Oh god, the last kid she killed. The small child crying. She was heartless, no better then a monster. In fact, worse then a monster. She didn't deserve to be helped, to feel sympathy for.

[Laughing Man]

Blood-soaked fingers pressed hair back and away from her face, smearing it in her hair at the same time, which sort of helped to keep it down anyway. Minh's eyes inspected her features, and this was probably the first time he had ever been glad to see someone in a coughing fit. The Harlequin smiled, then looked confused. It seemed as though sight of him caused her to cry more. Was he dead? No... He was holding her up. Was he dying? Possibly. Maybe she can see some kind of wound he couldn't.

"In that case, we have to hurry and help her. Time could be limited."

Suddenly some strange, slurred speech emitted from the girl and Minh frowned,

Sshhh don't speak, don't speak... I am sure it will only make it worse." He said softly, staring back down at her before letting his eyes wander around the area. One of these houses had to have water in them. Or something. Her voice sounded terrible, and with all this blood he couldn't tell which were smears, and which were wounds. The young Half Elf rolled Sylvia onto her side and let her lay there, keeping off the wounded wing and not letting any fluids back into her air passage. Then he leaned down and pressed his blood-stained lips against her forehead,

"Stay here, I'll be right back." He said quietly, and stared around. It didn't even occur to him that in her condition, Sylvia probably wasn't going much of anywhere anyway. Minh turned, tried to stand, and realized almost immediately what a mistaket that was. Red hot pain lanced through his re-agitated leg, causing him to cry out and fall over,

"You've got to be kidding me!" he pleaded, pulling his strained body back up and limping over to a house. The door had scratch marks all over it, then a point where it seemed the latch had been shattered and the bodies dragged outside to be devoured. Inside, Minh straight to the kitchen and looked around for something -anything that could hold water. He found a pale, and headed outside. There had to be a town well.

"Follow the butterflies..."

The voice whispered. It was one of the many which resided in his mind, but it was right. Minh closed his eyes for a moment, silent prayer uttered before letting them open up. There was nothing but flies. They had started to move in and get their fix. No doubt some animals would be attracted as well.

"Desna's presence was not as strong here anymore, the Lord of Death hangs here" he whispered to himself, then started off to another house, limping with the pale in his hand. He would search until, finally, he came upon a small house with a pale of fresh water on a kitchen table. Grabbing it, along with the alcohol he'd found he rushed back over toward Sylvia in order to help her. If he could. He really had no idea how to give first aid beyond, "Clean and apply pressure."

[boomdeboom]

When she saw that he couldn't understand her apology, she felt herself sobbing even more, if that were possible, since she was already reduced to a sniffling mess. She had never cried so much since she was still an innocent child, before things got bad for her. It brought up many bad memories for her when she thought about her childhood, so she was quick to discard it.

As she saw him fall in pain, and that cry which echoed in her mind for minutes afterwards, she tried to extend her hand to him but to not avail as she curled it back to her body as the pain ran through her nerves. She tried to talk, but it was impossible, as her mouth had gotten so dry that she couldn't move her tongue to pronounce any words. So she was left inaudible as she watched helplessly at his pain. Why didn't he just run away, save himself all this pain. Why didn't he leave her. . .

Left with nothing else to do as Minh disappeared into the houses, she looked up towards the sky, watching the clouds as they began to clump together, covering the aqua sky and also the warmth from the sun. Soon the world was covered in a bleak grey, well suited to the atmosphere in the town. It seemed as if it was about to rain very soon, and as if the gods had heard her, she felt a drop on her nose. Then a drop on her outer feather on her left wing, which shuttered from the sensation, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She wouldn't mind if it began to rain, unlike most time as it meant having to dry herself for hours, because the rain would wash away most of the blood which covered the streets and so it would be like starting anew. The bodies and houses would no longer have any blood, but would be clean and damp. A new beginning. Oh what odd thoughts ran through your head when your mind was almost in a state of shock.

Her breathing now had become harder as the moments passed on. It was as if someone was standing on her lungs, refusing to move and everytime she tried to breathe that person would become heavier. She had also begun to feel rather sleepy, but the pain was keeping her awake, thankfully as she knew that falling asleep would be very bad. Hearing footsteps beside her, she turned her head to the side and found that Minh had returned with what seemed to be water and rubbing alcohol. Even through all he had been through, he still wanted to help her. Although she had stopped her sobbing, the tears were still running down her cheeks, but even so she gave a smile, even though it split her lip and caused even more blood to stream down her already bloody face.

[Laughing Man]

The first thing he decided to deal with was her coughing. He hadn't noticed the drops of rains yet, due to his running around. When he finally did, the only thing he could think of was that the gods were weeping,

"The loss here... They lament for it." He said quietly, then looked back down at Sylvia. Pulling her head up in his arm once more, laying it across his lap, the Harlequin took the bucket and brought it to her lips,

"Be very careful, take tiny sips at first..." He warned softly, and tilted the water back just enough for some of it to leak toward her mouth and hopefully she would sip it down. He would let her sip for a short while before moving it away and setting it down. The young Half Elf slid his sash off, and held it up, just then noticing, for one fraction of a moment, the Rose Quartz butterfly trinkets, still attached to his wrists, now speckled with blood. He smiled and lowered the cloth, then looked around for some wounds. Picking up the bucket and pouring it over some of the worse wounds, and wiping at them to clean them, then applying the rubbing alcohol.

He wasn't worried about her crying for now, that would have to happen. Actually, he was worried about the rain. It had started to pick up, and if they didn't find shelter, they would get soaked,

"Much as I love a good rain, I think we should move inside." He said quietly, mostly because his voice was hoarse from screaming at the demon before. He would continue his work a bit more, taking some moments to glance around for a house to hide in.

[boomdeboom]

Ignoring his warning at first as she took one huge gulp of water, only to have her throat constrict causing her to cough and spill it all over herself. She then proceeded to take small sips, although she was tempted to take more as the water felt like heaven as it moistened up her mouth and throat, causing her to breath a lot easier, although it was still somewhat difficult.

As he moved the water away, she felt like protesting at first but decided against it, because one she was too weak to really have an argument of any kind, no matter how little it was. Once Minh began to apply the rubbing alcohol, she winced at first, but found that the pain was no more then the searing pain she had in her legs and wing, which she had almost gotten used to now. As he worked away, she found her eyes to be drifting to random places until she became fixated on the huge wound that was on him, and was still bleeding rather heavily. Lifting up her arm a tiny bit to place her hand on it, she felt more tears running down as she closed her eyes, shaking her head back and forth, not stopping even though it caused a lot of pain. Even though her throat was still dry, she forced herself to talk, hoping that her words would come out clearer now that she had drunk some water.

"Minh. . . .I-I. . .I-I-I'm s-sorry. . .this my f-f-fault. . .I h-hurt y-you. . ." Her voice was dry and quiet, as if an old women were talking, but she could hear the words as she said them, and so she knew that they were no longer an inaudible slur and hopefully Minh would hear them. Suggesting that they move inside, she almost felt tempted to stay outside, as the rain which had begun to fall felt very soothing, washing away the dry blood which was all over her, but she knew she would regret it later when she caught a cold. She always got dreadful colds. And so she stopped her head shaking and after a minute or two slowly nodded, agreeing that it would probably be best if they found shelter.

[Laughing Man]

"I thought I told you to stop trying to talk?" The harlequin smiled, which gave him a macabre expression with the blood, tattoos, and open wounds on his face. Even more so because of how pale his face was. He hadn't even thought of his own wound until she brought attention to it. Now it seemed to be a serious problem. If he couldn't help himself, how was he going to help Sylvia?

Minh brought his hand to his chest and frowned, clutching at it now, he realized how bad it hurt. At the time he was high on adrenaline, but now everything was dull and aching. His entire body was fatigued and heavy, and his fingers couldn't perform very well. He had enough strength to lift things and wipe away blood, sure, but fine use of his fingers was out of the question. For a moment, he tottered on his knees next to Sylvia, then very unceremoniously tottered left and slammed the pavement.

The world was spinning as the rain increased, pinkish rivers flowing into the gutters and forming pools around the small town. But where the two living souls remained, more pink was still coming from them both. The dull thrumming of rain on rooftops and cobble street was soothing, even through the pain. His eyes fluttered a bit, but the world was spinning anyway and there was nothing he could really do. Helpessness invaded his mind as he tried to force his arms and legs to work, only to get a dull sense of whether they had moved or not.

Minutes passed, and he simply laid there on the cobble, letting the rain douse them both. He could have sworn he saw a butterfly out of the corner of his eye. Blue, vibrant shades, but when he turned his head, it was merely Sylvia, still bleeding and broken. She had to be moved.

"Gonna... Catch sickness." He mumbled loudly, then rolled onto his back with some effort. Slowly the world came into view once more, and Minh started to tie around his wound. It wasn't great, but it would slow the bleeding for what he had to do. Hopefully he could make it before-

"Ahh!" he cursed as he pulled the knot tight around him. The flash of pain caught him by surprise. It was the first real sensation he'd actually experienced since the fight. For a moment he relished it, but was soon brought back to the moment. Sylvia needed to be moved,

"The house... I found water... Had a bed." He mumbled, and forced his body to get up to his knees. Slowly, and using mostly his arms, he was up again. Without waiting to ask, he slipped his arms under his legs, and lower back, then brought one leg up under him. Taking huge, deep, slow breaths, he prepared himself and then went for it.

The lance of pain pissed him off, but it was the feeling of weakness as he failed to lift her the first time which really upset him. He got his other leg under him and tried again, lifting her enough, then dropped to one knee. The wound started bleeding through his sash, which caused him to panic and set off his flight or fight system once more. The tiny boost of adrenaline allowed him up onto his feet, and without thinking, he was moving for the house nearby. The door was still open from when he had searched the buildings, and so he just made his way inside. Luckily the family that had occupied this building must have been dragged outside before being devoured, so there was little blood around.

The world spun again, as they neared the bed, and the Half Elf stumbled once, picked up, and stumbled again. He practically dropped Sylvia into the bed before slumping over and losing consciousness on the floor.

The soft patter of rain outside was almost soothing, even in the last moments as his tired body fought for control over his brain and shut itself down into sleep mode in order to preserve its own life.

[boomdeboom]

As soon as Minh hit the pavement, the sound as his whole body met the ground and when he stopped moving, a cold feeling washed over her as she stared for a few moments before calling.

"M-M...M-Minh! M-Minh!" Her calls however did nothing as he remained motionless. Was he dead? How could he have suddenly died, he was kneeling beside her only moments ago. Even though she fell many times, she eventually straightened the top half of her body up, even though her the arms which supported her shook as the pain shot up the nerves, but because worry was beginning to cause a small bit of adrenaline she could ignore it for the time being. Using her left wing which luckily didn't hurt nearly as much as her other broken one, she laid the tips of her outside feathers onto Minh, prodding him to see if he reacted. For a while there was no reaction until he looked back at her. Even though he didn't look at all well, as long as he was alive and breathing, there was chance for healing.

Seeing that he was indeed alive, her adrenaline went and so she fell back once more onto the ground, the pain striking her harder then ever. Because she was so lost in the pain she didn't even notice she was being lifted until her wings touching something which was moving. Blinking, looking around her, she found herself to be lifted by Minh, who was bringing her to a house and soon they were in the shelter.

Letting out a soft cry as she was dropped onto the bed, causing her to quickly alter her laying position as she laid on the broken wing, which obviously didn't help it. By now, spots were beginning to appear on the side of her eyes, but she refused to pass out yet for fear that she might not wake up. Seeing that Minh had once again fallen to the ground, she tried to call to him again, but her voice had dried up again and was refusing to resurface, so once again she was left mute, her ragged breath the only thing audible.

She wasn't sure how long time had passed, although it had gotten a lot darker when she looked outside at one point. Throughout the day, the rain continued, a steady beat of raindrops which became louder and louder. It did distract the mind a bit, to hide away the pain for a few moments, but Slyvia knew she had to do something. The demon wasn't even here to help her recover, being so exhausted that it had gone into a deep slumber. She was all alone. This thought shook her. What if Minh died right now? She couldn't do anything, she'd have to watch him die. She'd be all alone again. The more she thought of this, the more sadness she felt, as she knew sadness was bad and so with a deep breath she threw all her thoughts aside. She needed to sleep, even though there was a very small chance she wouldn't wake up, it was better then staying awake. Besides, when she slept, her wounds usually healed a lot quicker and so when she woke up she may be able to actually do something. And so with that, she closed her eyes and listened to the rain, which soon put her asleep.

- - - -

Opening her eyes, she found herself to be flying through the air, over some sort of mountain range. Startled at first as to where she was, causing her to lose altitude, she found that she enjoyed this feeling too much to care and so she just went with it, going higher into the sky, letting out a yell of joy which was lost in the rushing wind which flew past her. Oh how she missed the times where she had no worries and just flew through the air, the rare days where her demon didn't bother her, no one found her and no one was after her. Ah yes.

Seeing a large lake nearby, its ripples glittering from the sunlight, she turned a sharp left and made her way towards it. Deer were drinking at its banks and ducks floated on the surface. It was peaceful, until she arrived. As soon as she was overhead, she snapped her wings shut, spread out her arms and laughed as she free fell towards the water. Moving her body back and forth as she fell faster and faster, she closed her eyes as she waited for the water to overcome her, but unfortunately, she never felt it. Because as soon as she was a few inches from the water, a sudden bright light overcame her.

- - - -

Gasping, shooting up from her laid down position, she clenched her chest at her hand, feeling the fast beat of her heart. A few minutes were spent of her bent forward, gasping as she tried to catch her breath and when she finally did she felt back down, staring at the ceiling as she tried to gather her thoughts. Oh yes, all the stuff that happened. It all came back now. Even though it would probably be a terrible idea, she decided to test out how she much she had healed by.

Not even thinking, she threw herself off the bed, forcing herself to stand. Closing her eyes, waiting for a huge amount of pain, she was surprised to find that the pain had decreased quite a lot. Sure, her legs still hurt like hell, but it seemed as they were no longer broken. However, her wing was another story, as it still didn't heal, but she wasn't really surprised. Her wings usually did take longer to heal then any other part of her body. Her fast healing was about the only good thing about being part avian.

After she tested out her legs by taking a step back and forward, she decided that she had healed enough to be of some assistance. So, focusing her attention onto Minh, she made her way slowly towards him, laying down beside her as she tried to speak, but it came out very hoarse.

"Minh?"

[Laughing Man]

The sky was a lurid lavender. The clouds, deep rich purple and hues of grey, parted and clustered rapidly then moved off in random directions, like a cascade of puffy creatures running from a predator. The grassy field was a vivd gold, endless with stalks of wheat swaying gently as the pressure changes shoved wind over the sea of stalks gently.

The young Half Elf sat up, eyes adjusting to the harsh, black sun above as it spread its light gently over the serene view. The wind was warm and soft on Minh's face, his black hair fluttered in the wind. Wait. Hair? Yes. He had hair... It was flowing freely, long and loose, and straight, jet black. The sensation of the weight on his usually blad head was odd. It was nice, though and brought a smile to the Harlequin's lips. He was naked, though. No onger clad in his patterned outfit, but he was naked, bare of even his tattoos which normally covered his limbs and body entirely.

The young Half Elf turned and stared quietly. The moon rose next to the sun, then they came closer. As they did, the moon opened, splitting outward like a blooming flower with only four petals. The four petals came into clearer view, and two ovals appeared on the top and bottom, then the moon shaped itself into a greyish moth and night started to play over the land. On the right side was night, soft and gently, bathed in the moon's pale light, and on the left was the Sun's light, harsh and yellow, cutting down. In the middle stood Minh, between both worlds.

The sun responded to the Moon's form change by shifting, blackness spreading outward like an amorphous splatter of blood before congealing into the shape of a man. But the man had wings, claws, and a twisted grin against his jet-black shape. It reminded Minh of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The Half Elf sat down in the field and stared as the two forms approached each other. On the left side, the sun side, the fields began to catch aflame and screams of tortured souls echoed across the realm. On the right, the forest creatures, bears and pumas, and even fae assembled in a long line. Suddenly, from the left, an army of ghoulish terrors burst forward from the burning fields, brandishing hellish-looking weapons and rusty dagger, pitchforks, and swords. They seemed incorporeal, both sides, as they charged each other.

In the sky, the moth and demon man swirled and dove, flickered around each other and every now and then clashed, spreading sparks and embers down over the fields as their respective sides clashed below with Minh sitting in the middle, watching.

Suddenly, Minh felt the weight of a sword in his hand, and he looked at it, then glanced up in time to jump away from a swipe of a large, crudely-built cleaver swinging from one of the hellish creature's fist. It felled stalks of wheat, sizzling where it touched and catching some stalks alight. The beast recovered as Minh rounded back, and raised the silvery blade to block the blow, but was shoved back by the sheer weight and force of the two-handed cleaver's swing.