Translucent Grey Sheets

[Maí Lé Rosà]

Passionate.

Queen of hearts,
Cryptic truth,
Cock your gun,
I'm bulletproof.

Deception.


Where was one to begin?
Was one to sit in silence longer, while one's counter-part cried crocodile tears?
Was one to smoke malicious ardor, while one's counter-part faded and grew mortal?
Was one to react and light a match under the kerosene another dared call poison?

Was one to even care?
Was one to shoot oneself?

Was one to snap the tips of those boned wings backward and impale a latex kitten on their jagged edges?

Or

Was one to play the real demoness?
Was one to play
Mai?

Oh, it was indeed a dark night. And no, it did not take a wise man to confirm the night was darker in more ways than one. Lined like soldiers on the edge of a war drill were the Graveyard's many solemn tombstones; none holding the same name. None holding the same body.

The moon had, since the utterance of her name, disappeared behind a blanket of thick cloud, shading the Graveyard in her current mood; no prizes. Dark. Lothani and Eurus bled freely from lip to cheek, cleanly observed by a shadowed watcher perched high upon one of the many screaming angel's in the place of mourning.

Lothani's scapula's were torn, it was almost a pity she had no wings. A quirk in this demoness' mind smirked a contrary thought at tearing the creature's velvet tail from it's socket, or reversing the action enough to keep her standing a good week or two. Perhaps she could end up needing a trip to the hospital wing she pondered so 'venomously' over.

Yes, cruel indeed.

And him. Red-hot orbs illuminated themselves in the pitch blanket that cloaked them all, and pairing themselves in the flawlessly set features of the ivory-haired demoness, they flashed a deadly cold silver, aimed at whoever dare pass her a glance. Her blood-red lips curled cynically up at him as he called for her, bleeding his heart from his mouth and spluttering her tainted sadness into the air and her mind.

Mai hissed, only her hiss was snakelike, one could say no more than it played a better partner to venom than Lothani's toxic blood. And that was merely her hiss. Oh how much worse Mai's bite was...And icily, the crimson-eyed demoness thought the rapah would have known this by now. Could she not pick up Mai's scent on Eurus? Could Eurus not bare a thought for Mai as he so passionately tore into Lothani's sensual body, pleasing himself in a last attempt as redeeming whatever sick desires he held.

Was Mai worth that little to him?
Was Mai such an enemy to Lothani?

There were simply no excuses. And whether it was a sick game or not, it was clear in the way a pair of enormous deathly-black wings exploded from her shoulder blades loudly in a rush of wind, flexing in a dangerous manner; Mai no longer gave a flying fúck.

Her legs unfolded and she stood tall on the statue of the angel, the sight of a fallen goddess against the holy creature underneath her only radiated her power, and the steel flickering anger in her eyes glazed white-hot tears that formed in her smoky lashes.

She could have been there for him. Heck, she could have brought him back to life after he died, kept him awake before he died, and made him scream as though heaven and hell were making love in only a single kiss from her untouchable lips. He should have known Mai was a one of a kind. Lothani should have respected both of them and stuck her claws in a ball of yarn instead, but the display of affection between both of them mutually?

Mai's back turned and she arched her revived wings, shielding her beautiful face from view.

[Nefastus Eurus Caelestise]

The sound of feathered wings hitting the cold air echoed in Gaftler's ears sweetly. Breath caught and eyes widened, the feel of his heart being clenched by a fist throbbed in his chest. Mai had seen him. Mai had seen what he had done. The entire night was a nightmare... him the trigger to it all. Swallowing back more of his blood, a struggle was visible as he tensed his muscles to try to rise from the dirt.

Bone wings were the same color as his deathly ashen features, twitching inconsistently as they rested in a heap behind him. Head raised, eyes darted to the angel statue not too far off. Though his mortal eyes couldn't see her slender frame, he sensed her presence. He felt her tears. The pain and emotion welled inside her played notes in his soul.

"Get the f*** away from me," Eurus said in a voice weaker then before to Lothani, nails digging into dirt as his degrading muscles struggled to support his frame. Pain shot through his body, raping his nervous system in convulsions. A choked cry came from his throat, collapsing into the soil on his side.

Bone wings snapped and cracked, sending a whole new pain to register in his mind. A scream erupted from his lips, followed by tears streaming down his face. Real tears. Mouth open wide and ears belting out a high-pitched ring that would make any other mortal go deaf, Gasps of air were difficult through all of what was happening to his body.

But he didn't care. Bones held together barely by a few threads of cartilage dangled like puppets from strings as he righted himself on his stomach, facing the angel statue. Teeth grinded as he felt his back click where it had been lightly broken. Pulling one knee at a time underneath him slowly, blood dripping from his chin to the earth beneath him.

A hand gripped the soil, clenching it tight enough to snap his middle nail in a desperate attempt to drag himself forward. Sounds and cries wormed through the gaps between his fanged teeth as his discintegrating body failed again and again, face meeting the dust with a solid thud.

A sickening crack caused a scream from Gaftler that he had not sounded before. It wasn't ear-piercing, stomach-turning, or blood-curdling in any way, but it could rot away a human's soul and fill them with the highest sense of loneliness. His legs were rendered useless, back completely severed.

That didn't stop him at all. Shivering from the pain his body endured, he still struggled on in a vain attempt to reach his beloved's perch. Nails tore and bled, wings dragging behind him with his legs, the feeling in them completely lost. A cough let more blood bubble and curl over his bottom lip, skin tinted yellow from the poison.

And then, his body gave out. Arms wouldn't respond, eyes unable to blink, face resting in the dirt in a pool of blood running from the curl in his lip. Fingers twitched, bloody and mauled, stained with a mixture of soil and the dark crimson liquid that caked to its surface.

Don't you see how much I suffer for you? Don't you see how much I care?

The cartilage on one wing tore, dropping the entire skeletal nightmare to the gound beside him.

... I hurt ... Don't you give a f***? I was there when you slashed at me, screamed at me, ripped at your throat, crawled from my arms... I was there holding you while you died...

"Don't you care?"

[Lothani]

(Ooc: ...I'm sorry, but I can't reply. I've tried three times now, and for a reason I'd rather not admit I can't reply. Ashamed as much as I am, I physically can't yet.
Happy replying.
Lothani.)

[Sealla (not so retiredness)]

(Ooc: That was my saying that you two should keep rp-ing. I can't reply until someone else does.)

[Nefastus Eurus Caelestise]

OOC: I'm ending all of this f***ing s*** now. I can't handle this anymore.

IC:

But you never did...

Self-absorbed in your own self-image, your vanity, your f***ing love for torture. I see you truly loved me in the end.... I gave you everything.... I gave you f***ing everything.

Hands curled into loose fists and tears of blood flowed down his face, head lowered towards the floor. The area surrounding the demons darkened even more until barely anything was visible by the human eye. Teeth barred and jaw tight, he choked back his words and the blood pooled in his mouth. Eyes shut and hair fallen forward, he cried.

Demons aren't supposed to cry.

Close your eyes and count to ten.
Drop your heart and start again.
Don't you cry, don't shed a tear.
You're going to die, don't have a fear.
It's all a lie, you'll understand.
Love isn't real, it's a teardrop cradled in your hand.

A kiss. A f***ing kiss. A taste of blood, teeth piercing flesh. Why did that mean so much to you? I died for you. I made you a dress that was finer then anything you've seen. I held you and cradled your lifeless form. How much do I have to do to prove my love? How far do I have to go to show you I'll do anything for you?

How many times do I have to die to let you know I've never loved another like I did you?

[/u][/center]

Kill the pain.

Face dropped to the dirt without a sound, a shaking hand reaching for his buckles on his hips. Fingers stroked the smooth black handle of a knife concealed in the darkness. Was he to do it? Could he? He gripped the handle tightly, slowly pulling it from its resting place.

You never speak, you never listen, you're never here, I'm f***ing alone and you don't care. Did you ever care from the start? I wonder. Or were you too busy with you malicious games? Was I one of them, confessing my love to the puppeteer on her venomous strings of hate?

"This is for whatever part of me cared."

The tears had stopped, words whispered into the wind with a grin. Eurus had gone insane, and Mai had fueled it. Oh, Mai had pushed it past the point of insanity. A low chuckle came from his throat as the hand that gripped the knife made its way back to his chest. Eyes turned to their devious destructive gold, he drew on his powers for the very last time.

"f*** yourself. Whatever you wanted from me, whatever part of you smiled whenever I showered you with affection, whatever part of you that ever acted like they gave a f*** means nothing to me anymore. I loved you, I f***ing loved you after promising myself I'd never ever love again because it all ends like a Shakepearian nightmare. I still do, but it's not like it matters. Yes, I'm a whóre. I'm a bloody whóre. Why could you ever care, you wouldn't f*** me even if your life depended on it.

"And the sad part is? I never ever wanted to f*** you before. I never saw you like that. I never looked at you like another piece of bloody ass. I saw something beautiful, and I cared, I actually gave a s*** about you! I really know you return that love now."

The tip of the knife touched his neck so innocently, right below the jaw and against the main vein that coarsed with the venom that slowly ate his body alive. Pressure upon pressure was added, Eurus holding himself up on his available arm to look up at Mai with his grin.

The grin he thought she loved so much.

Slice. The knife cut flesh, biting into his neck like frost on a beautiful tender flower. The vein, completely sliced as the knife drove in deeper, gliding seemingly with ease across his neck. He cut it slowly, blood spilling over his hand and coating his arm. This was his meaning. This was his value. The demon found meaning in his self-sacrifice, in his death. Who gives a s*** if he died staring up at the one person he had loved since the moment his eyes met hers. Who could care if he died because of her.

A sickening sound etched itself out in the hollow of his throat as the knife bit through the cartilage and continued going without slowing. Eyes set into a dead stare up at the demoness perched on the angel statue, blood spilled through his grinning teeth and curled down his chin.

"Is this what you wanted all along?"

Right through the last pieces of tissue, right through the corded muscle, through the main vein behind his ear on the other side. The only thing Gaftler missed was his spine. The hand with the knife quickly thrusted itself to the ground for more support. His body was going into shock, the amount of blood he was losing was too much.

I was holding you to my chest as you died, hold my bleeding heart to yours as I die because of you.

"Don't ever forget,"

Eurus collapsed to the ground, grin faded to a sweet smile, eyes set in a stare as his cheek rested against the soil in a pool of the blood his neck spewed. He couldn't move anymore, not even a finger if he willed it with whatever strength he had left in his body. But he didn't care. His meaning was in his deaths. His life was without a purpose, a reason. Blood spilled again and again from the newly carved orfices in his body. That was his purpose. To die for another's amusement.

"I'll always love you, Mai."

[/center]

Close your eyes and count to ten. Rip out my heart, we'll play again.

[Maí Lé Rosà]

Open your eyes and count to one. Gaftler, love, this isn't fun.

Mai's dark lashes came together as she heard Eurus struggling behind her. His body twisted and cracked, breaking slowly, each noise a sharp pain to her heart. Cold thoughts were racing through her mind at stark pace, each driven and directed, and why? The demoness didn't know. Well, she did, but she was too afraid to admit it.

Yes, Mai was afraid.
Deathly afraid.

She hadn't discovered her wings since before her revival, and they now cushioned her cheeks closely as she hid beneath them, too insecure to turn and face Gaftler or Lothani with teary eyes. Since Eurus woke her at the sunrise and told her he loved her, everything in her world had grown surreal. She was never sure whether death would raise his ugly head and try to steal her from her beloved once more.

Although the demoness was truly too drugged by herself to admit it, in that one kiss, Mai had seen Death. Mai had seen him in Lothani, seen his intentions. Seen him trying to steal Eurus from her, in order to gut her without so much as laying one of his spine-cold fingers on her flesh.

Don't you see how much I suffer for you? Don't you see how much I care?

She felt a pang of guilt, and clenched her teeth, pulling back her wings and turning carefully to face him, her heels still set smoothly on the shoulders and crooked wings of the angel. His wing snapped a sickening sound and fell to a heap beside him. The demoness felt it in her own wings and shuddered, letting her own disappear behind herself into nothingness.

... I hurt ... Don't you give a f***? I was there when you slashed at me, screamed at me, ripped at your throat, crawled from my arms... I was there holding you while you died...

Mai's lips quivered and she brought a hand to her mouth, a pair of silver tears slipping over her cheeks and only just catching the moonlight. Her scarlet gaze dimmed and she looked hurt, hurt with herself. Had she really done that to him? Had it really been him holding her? Not Death?

"Don't you care?"

"Yes.." She whispered through her trembling fingers, her lashes quaking with mercy as she watched his horrid form buckle under the pressure of poison. The first word she'd uttered since death, the first being she'd uttered it to. Eurus. She frowned, casting her steel-silver gaze to Lothani with a shift of her jaws. She growled. What had she done to him?! She screamed, a shrill cry, half of it ended in pain as she heard his thoughts.

Self-absorbed in your own self-image, your vanity, your f***ing love for torture. I see you truly loved me in the end.... I gave you everything.... I gave you f***ing everything.

Mai's ivory hair flicked the cheeks of the angel underneath her as an icy wind drove itself through the demoness' emotion, hurtling through the clearing that was the Graveyard. It died down as Eurus began to cry. A flashback.

The two demons were surrounded by a circle of flames, Mai cradling Eurus as he struggled and squirmed in her lap, fighting tears back while his mind called for Amari. His lips turned blue, so blue, like the sky on a summer afternoon, when the wind deceives one into thinking it is in fact winter. He lay there, limp, while Mai held him, loved him, but he didn't know it. He kept dreaming, of her, of Amari, of Anastasia too. Mai called to him, called over and over. "Eurus, wake up."

Mai gasped, leaning over and clutching the head of the angel for support, to stop herself falling over the bone-breaking height that was between the angel's chin and the ground. She moved her fractured eyes back to Eurus' body on the Graveyard ground and raised herself, before turning to vomit up whatever insides she had over the back of the angel's wings. Blood slid down over the etched stone, dripping off the tips of the angel's wings and into the dirt below.

The demoness faced Eurus again, neglecting to wipe away the blood drizzling down the dip of the corner of her lips and chin.

"This is for whatever part of me cared."

Her head spun as she shook it, slowly losing her balance and focus. "Stop.." She whispered, hardly audible to even herself, let alone Eurus, for he was who it was directed to

"f*** yourself. Whatever you wanted from me, whatever part of you smiled whenever I showered you with affection, whatever part of you that ever acted like they gave a f*** means nothing to me anymore. I loved you, I f***ing loved you after promising myself I'd never ever love again because it all ends like a Shakepearian nightmare. I still do, but it's not like it matters. Yes, I'm a whóre. I'm a bloody whóre. Why could you ever care, you wouldn't f*** me even if your life depended on it.

"And the sad part is? I never ever wanted to f*** you before. I never saw you like that. I never looked at you like another piece of bloody ass. I saw something beautiful, and I cared, I actually gave a s*** about you! I really know you return that love now."

Her hands clawed at her face, shoving her nails into the gap between her jaw and ears she cut her flesh deep, trying to block out his word, his accusations, his truth. Her features knotted themselves in pain as she scratched her cheeks, delivering paper-cut-thin slithers of parted flesh here and there, where even thinner streaks of blood left her face and swelled with her burning tears.

He grinned, and she shook her head, pleading with him silently. Her eyes shed more tears, and her lips cornered themselves into a horror-struck sadness as she moaned hopelessly, too fúcking sick with herself to try to reach him. God how she wanted to hold him again, cradle him in her arms and tell him it would all be alright, kiss his wounded lips and patch up his defective heart. Then tear out her own and meet Death in a fúcking brilliant embrace.

A sacrifice she would make for him, in hope he could, or would forgive her. But also a sacrifice he had beaten her to.

Through blurred vision she saw a sliver of silver pass through his throat and she erupted in a deafening shriek. "Eurus!".

I was holding you to my chest as you died, hold my bleeding heart to yours as I die because of you.

"Don't ever forget, I'll always love you, Mai."

Her entire world went silent. The Graveyard swung out of focus, and her next breath sent her rib cage into a violent shudder of serrated cracks as each rib broke from the pressure, splintering her inside out. Her lips were plastered in the state of a blank wreck, as were the stains of blood and tears on her doll-like face.

Her knees buckled and her arms outstretched to Eurus, reaching for him like a child to their mother. Her heels slipped and sent her with the unforgiving pull of gravity smack-bang into the earth, her face shattered on impact, as did her pelvis and knees. Her brain hit the front of her skull, rendering her silent and unconscious.

"I'll always love you Eurus, whatever you think of me."

As a gurgle of blood choked itself from her torn lips, her fingers landed where they needed to. One set curled around Eurus', pushing the hilt of the dagger from his hand and lacing his bloodied hand with hers, and the other wrapped under his neck, letting his poisoned blood leak onto her welcomely-cut fingers.

Her world turned black and she shuddered, then went still.

"Eurus, wake up."

[Nefastus Eurus Caelestise]

OOC: ... God I'm going to puke...

IC:

So... so cold... So numb...

Gaftler's ears could barely pick up te sound of bones cracking upon the impact of the white-haired demoness. Eyelids twitched, eyes trying to move to focus on what had hit in front of him. The hilt slid away, hand curled lightly around the space of air where the knife once was. He didn't feel it, but saw it through fading sight.

What replaced it, the hand he had held to his cheek so lovingly for what seemed so long ago.

... Funny...

Thoughts seemed like a muffled mass of choked cries. Head turned upside down, world completely spinning... yet not moving at the same time. That hand... I remember it so well...

... and a sun rise...

Mai.

A choke, then a gurgle of blood bubbled out the curl of his lip with a struggle. fingers twitched... becoming nervous to match his confused state. The demon couldn't even think properly, and now he had the last thing he wanted to dwell on in his mind. First the time seemed too long, now there wasn't enough to suffice.

"Mai... where are you..."

Eyes finally lolled forward, looking up at the trail of silken white hair. Angelic hair. Lips pulled apart to reveal blood-soaked fangs. Jaw trembling, he forced himself to continue following the trail of hair with his eyes. Blood. A face collapsed in it. His blood. Mai's broken face...

A... sun rise?

Then he remembered. The tight feeling in his chest, lips locked together, the feeling of tears streaming down his face for his love he thought had died. Died, and come back just for him. Died in his arms. The beautiful ushious white hair curled over her body like the glowing silhouette of an angel in the morning light. Hand against his cheek, embracing it so lovingly.

During the sun rise Eurus had carried Mai's lifeless cold form to.

Both wings shuddered, broken bones clashing with broken bones and the tearing of cartilage echoed into the darkness. What had he done? He had been so blind... Too blind enough to see the cause of his own actions.

The wings shuddered once more before turning black, collapsing into ash. Movement was barely noticeable, the twitch in Gaftler's shoulder muscles as he tried to move. Then he noticed. Mai's other hand resting against his throat, whatever blood the demon had left coating her spliced fingers. His poisoned blood working into her flawless veins.

Scream.

Then....

.... Nothing.

Gaftler's body crumbled. Muscles relaxed, eyelids fluttered before resting halfway over the golden orbs. chest drooped back to the ground, fingers twitched once before sliding forward into the gross mixture of dead blood and dirt to make a putrid mud. Strands of red hair toiled with one another in the cold breeze that swept through the lifeless place.

"I don't want to die... Mai, please wake up... Don't do this... I can't die now... I... I... I can't leave you to die... My heart's going to stop beating... slower... slower...

slower...

... Ferrion? Can you hear me... Grant me one last wish... I won't ever hurt you again... I... I promise... one last... wish..."

Silence. Complete silence that lasted for seemingly hours.

The ash of what was left of his wings had blown away, spreading across the graveyard like a blanket of soft snow. The two locked in a bind of death; one slit his own throat, the other broken and poisoned. The cross earring pressed against his cheek in the blood-soaked dirt, humming softly. The cross heated and heated, until the smell of scorched flesh lifted into the air.

The metal turned liquid, absorbing into the demon's cheek violently. The blood stopped flowing from his body, the chain that held the cross sliding away from his face. A violent rip of his muscles and his back was arched, snapping back into place and correcting itself. The tissue that was severed at his neck stitched itself back together, bit by bit, until Gaftler could voice a scream. forehead pressed into the dirt, hands ripped for the ground.

Or anything that would suffice to hold his wrecked form.

Hair streaked black, eyes turned into that empty tone, fangs forming into rows of human teeth. The broken stubs where his wings were once attached melted into ash, leaving his back smooth and flawless. Nails and fingers were pulled back together, his stomach urking at the smell of dead blood.

"Mai!"

The boy crawled over to the demoness, lifting her from the ground as carefully as possible. Ribs shattered, pelvis broken, face smashed... Were her lungs punctured in this brutal mess? It was something Eurus couldn't dwell on for too long, putting a hand to his face. He fingered the silver cross melted into his cheek just below his eye on an angle, cringing.

"... Mai ..." Eurus choked out, carefully holding her to his chest. Tears cascaded down his cheek, salty liquid dropping to the demoness's broken face. He couldn't think, he grasped for anything that went racing past in his mind, groped for an answer. What could he do? Mai was unconscious, and going to die without help.

"You're not allowed to die on me again!" Eurus shouted, eyes closed. Not in my arms... Not me being the cause of your mutilation... "Help me! Mai, wake up, this isn't fair! You stupid b****, if you die again, I'll never forgive you! Wake up and tell me what to do! Where does it hurt?! Answer me God damnit!"

I'm all alone...

"I came back for you! Wake up! You're not allowed to do this to me again! f***, I hate you! Get up!"

twenty-three hours to go...

"Don't leave me here all alone again..."

[Maí Lé Rosà]

"Mai... where are you..."

You hold onto that heaven now darling
Close your eyes and smile with fate
Your destiny is rapper-tap-tapping on your eyelids
Darling, don't be afraid
Don't let it scare you
When Death holds you in his icy arms
He really does love you
To spend an eternity with you
Waiting for you.

Hold on to me love
Don't tell me goodbye just yet
I want to see the sun rise one more time
You know, by the shore of the lake again
I want to feel your strong arms holding me close
I want to hear you tell me a story, sing me a song
I want to feel your hot breath by my ear
A song of little ponies, of dapples and greys...

All the little ponies, Eurus, all the dapples and greys.

Don't tell me to wake up, when I can feel your pain
Death is such an ecstacy, for us demons, we no longer hurt
I'll cry out for you darling
Hold your rose-scented breath and don't wait for me
I'll be at the gates with broken petals in my hand
From the rose you gave to me, that midsummer night
I'll smile the smile I smiled
The one when we first met, and I'll be in your dreams to ask you, in a softer than soft voice...

What does it mean, Eurus? The latin, on the silver cross by your ear? Whisper it's meaning to me again...

Give me an excuse to cry for you.
Give me an excuse to die for you.

A pair of tears dropped, skidding to a stop inches above his bleeding shoulders. Time froze, and rewound itself to all those times the two demons had shared. The moment they'd met, and the many moments they'd nearly lost each other. The time Mai had thrown herself into Eurus' arms upon seeing him again after so many years. The struggle she'd had with unshed tears, and the stealth she'd disguised her emotions with in a game of seduction instead.

He never knew how much she loved him. He never knew how afraid she was to lose him, and the agony she soared through to keep a smile on his face met her with an urge to cry to Satan, just to let her stay a little longer with him, to learn to love him and not shy away. To learn to love him and not have to be perfect, to know that he wasn't perfect in everyone's eyes; only hers.

To learn that every time she fell, wings or not, he would catch her.

Her mind spun out of control, unfocused and perplexed with wonders from different dimensions of time and space. Weakness was this. Being unable to take hands and dance with Death, only to know one was falling into a web of his expectations, a sticky web of probing fingers all aimed at your flaws. To pierce, stab and pull at whatever part of you was inhumane, and then at whatever part of you was mortal - being the emotions.

This law and discovery flawed demonology. Demons could love, and that was a fúcking fact. Demons could die for love. And despite further incredulous possibilities, Mai's conscious side - wherever the hell it was - was about to prove that demons could live to love one another. Fúck romance. That's just how it worked. If one was willing to show a demon as much respect in a lifetime as worth dying for them, they were worth loving and self-sacrificing for.

If one disagrees, I give them two words:
Eurus and Mai.

The wind roared around the graveyard, blowing her cream tresses this way and that, and streaking his red hair along his shoulder too. The tears fell, running down his bruised scapula's, sinking like acid into the flesh where his wings once were. Like threads on a needle, they strung magic around the veins and tendons just under his skin, weaving a tapestry of power and strength. Slowly, their acidic bite edged away, and left in their place was the power for Eurus to unleash those magnificent black winged appendages he'd had so long ago, the ones just like Mai's, only this time stronger. No more ash.

The demoness looked like a doll in a Halloween shop; battered and made bloody to scare the living to the partial state of the doll itself. Yet somehow, there was still a sickly beauty about her, and perhaps only one demon could see that. Just as her last breath slipped from her wounded lungs, she felt warmth encircle her trapped mind. The spinning blur of shapes and shadows slowed behind the lids of her eyes and she mentally gave Death a kick in the ass, forcing him to let her go. Not yet you b******.

"You're not allowed to die on me again! Not in my arms... Not me being the cause of your mutilation...Help me! Mai, wake up, this isn't fair! You stupid b****, if you die again, I'll never forgive you! Wake up and tell me what to do! Where does it hurt?! Answer me God damnit!"

I'm all alone...


"I came back for you! Wake up! You're not allowed to do this to me again! f***, I hate you! Get up!"

"Don't leave me here all alone again..."

Most of it came as blurred nonsense, but she caught the important parts. Her left eye began to twitch at an ugly angle, and she parted her jagged teeth, spitting up a clot of blood. With one dull mahogany eye set on Eurus she twisted her lips into a broken, sickeningly crooked grin, letting blood flow easily through the corner of her lips.

"You asshole..." She choked out, releasing a couple of blackened tears from her eyes, which rolled violently down her cheeks to drop off her cheekbone which protruded slightly from her lower right cheek. "I-I love you.." She coughed slightly, wincing from the pain of her snapped insides.

Weakly, she brought her hand up and touched the cross by his cheek, moving to try and pull herself into a sitting position. Despite the rush of drugged euphoria to her gut, Mai knew this wasn't over yet.

[Nefastus Eurus Caelestise]

Eurus released a lungful of air, clutching Mai to his chest as he sobbed. He was careful not to crush her now fragile form, face pressed into the shoulder of the demoness. It was murder, sinfully sweet, tainted with poison, and laced on the lips of heaven. The two, from heaven and hell, shot in the middle, bound together by tears and whispers.

It was toxicity, it was faith, it was death's silent witness like oxygen to failed lungs. It was a heart that forgot how to beat keeping alive a dreamer. Impossibilities outlined and highlighted, underlined and bold. Some say its mere witchcraft, some would call it a nightmare, other a dream come true, most would call it f***ing hell...

... Some would call it 'love'.

The two had found themselves in a twist of fate. Now the one looking for death was living, the other rebirthed slowly dying. A passionate kiss what slowly melted into hate, the hate creating a longing of purpose. The purpose found in the arms of the dying, the dying the only thing they could love.

Eurus wouldn't be living for too long, just long enough to make sure his love would survive. The one person he thought loathed him more then anything, the cold neglect that surrounded his features for too long polished and refined, only to shatter seconds later.

"I know, I'm an ass, hit me later," Eurus choked out a pained chuckle, lifting his head from resting on Mai's shoulder. She was so broken and battered, crunched by the fall that he caused her to have... Oh, how much of an asshole he was. How much he hated himself.

"I just want to know you'll live past this night..."

The clock ticks, injuries making the demoness incapable of moving. Mortal weakness, making the newly human incapable to carry her. Where to go? Who to turn to?

Lothani, would she help out someone she nearly murdered and his lover? It wasn't a likely choice.

It was so futile... the clock never ceased to turn, cutting down time on the both of their lives....

Twenty hours.

"Mai... I don't know what to do," Eurus frowned, looking down at the crushed beauty. Crushed like a rose after it was run-over by a vehicle. Petals smashed into the ground and scattered, stem broken in too many places to count, leaves tattered and unable to keep whatever was left of it alive.

"We need to get you to someone that can help," but how? Who would help a demoness, if they could? Eurus put his booted feet into the ground hard, kicking up a little dust that wasn't caked in blood. How far could he carry his beloved, with muscles that weaken?

Oh, he was sick of so many questions assaulting him at this time.

"I'll take you to Kasey... Kasey can help..." Eurus looked to Mai with concern, sadness lining every feature. "... I don't want to hurt you... will you break if I lift you..?" No, he didn't want to risk making the condition any worse. F*ck, everything he thought of had the chance to make things worse. But he had little choice, anyways...

Placing Mai's head to rest against his shoulder, he had one arm supporting he back as best he could, and the other hooked underneath her knees, letting the skirt of her dress drape.

"I'll carry you to someone that can help... You'll be alright. Tell me if I hurt you, I don't want to cause you any more pain..." With that, Eurus lifted his knees from the dirt, straining his leg muscles as he slowly rose from the ground. His footing shifted here and there to make it easier to stand, sliding in the crimson liquid beneath him.

Tick tock, screams the never-stopping clock.

[Kaiser]

"Can I help you, buddy?"

Days, months, years. How would Kaiser Inferno end? Kaiser Inferno and Amiri Magdaline, seperated by Eurus Gaftler. Kaiser had been the best person he could possibly have been, yet the shadow of Eurus had always been there. The Shadow of Eurus had always rotted away at the core of Kaiser's existance. As soon as Kaiser had evicted the Demon Lord, once he could run off and be free and Kaiser could have Amiri, both of them fell apart. They needed Eurus as much as he rotted away at the both of them. Now Amiri was gone, and Kaiser remained. And the Demon was still the same as he ever was.

Rotting away at Kaiser's insides.

Kaiser wasn't alone. Kaiser had never been alone. Aetern Eternelia dwelled within him - Eurus's friend. So what was Eurus to Kaiser? Kaiser hated the Demon, he had hated the Demon for so long now that he didn't even know if it was hate or simply a disgusting tumor on the inside of the Valkerie's soul. How long had it been now? How long had it been since Kaiser had held Amiri in his arms? How long had it been since Kaiser had tasted Eurus's blood against his skin? It had been so long now, that nature's very statute of limitations should have expired. Why then, did Kaiser continue to hate him? Why did Kaiser live such a lonely afterlife, like a haunting ghost, merely existing in the graveyard?

The silver haired Valkerie was before the two Demons now, his robes of black ash starting to tatter and break. His very inner fire was dying out. Kaiser would have to kill Eurus soon, or else fade into shadow with no chance of redeeming himself. The words that had echoed out of his mouth were from an unknown source. Where Kaiser was speaking from himself or from Aetern now - he didn't know. Eitherway, his feelings as he looked at Eurus were the same. "Because you're not getting to Kasey. No, you're not going back to the school. You're not leaving this Graveyard. You've come back to me, so you're staying." His icy blue eyes turned their gaze toward the demoness in Eurus's arms.

"Ha," Kaiser laughed bitterly, "You carry a woman with you. I remember her vaguely. She's Mai Le Rosa, is she not? Your new b****?" He stepped his pale bare foot toward the Demon, as a way to come closer to the pair. Coming close enough so that whispers could be heard, he opened his mouth again, and with a stinging, chilling whisper, he spoke again.

"You carry your crucifix, Christ."

Kaiser leaned in toward Eurus to examine the demoness. "Women are the crucifix of our existance. Do you not find it ironic, that I am living happily, reunited with my sisters, when Amiri and thee come and meet me, and I have never been the same again?" He jokingly massaged his cheek, "Sometimes I think it still hurts." Then with a flash of his eyes, returned to his monologue. "A couple days - weeks - months ago? I don't quite remember. You came to me, good as a goose, telling me about how we were going to live peacefully. I send you off to find this...woman, and you come back to me looking like you got run over by a truck."

He began to shake wildly, his silver hair rolling, as his voice rose, "Because women are the crucifix of our existance, Eurus. If it weren't for them, we'd be Lords of Heaven and Earth! I swear to you, it has always been women who have done us disparagement." Anger could be seen in all of his muscles, his eyes, and in his words, for he knew now why he had been so blind to Amiri, why he had never loved her. Why he fell apart when Eurus was evicted from Amiri. He now realized the truth. The truth Aetern had been trying to tell him all along. "I don't love Amiri, Eurus! I don't! She is a crucifix! She has nailed me to a tree and left me to DIE! I have been left to die, and I have no one to bury me! Eurus! Listen to me!"

He came as close as he could to the Demon, and he glared down again at the Demoness. "If you go with her, you'll be left to die too. That's all she'll do. You're carrying your crucifix...if you want to die so badly...." His flaming whips appeared in his hands. "Let me do it. Let me be free. Take me down from the tree and bury me..." His voice was almost pleading now, like a pitiful dog.

"And I'll do the same for you."

[Nefastus Eurus Caelestise]

God I love you, you're so nice. Aim your magnifying glass a little higher, prick, I'm over here.

That voice. That whisper. That scent. Kaiser. Teeth grit, he took an instinctive step back upon looking at the Valkerie. Grip tightened on Mai, bringing her closer to his chest and lowering his head just a little, eyes locked in a deadly glare.

"G'day, Kaiser,"

The words were bitter, painful, dripping venom. The silver cross in his cheek glittered in the reflection of the Valkerie's eyes, showing a putrid reflection of the monster that loomed over the now mortal creature. Kaiser had the power to crush him with a single touch, a whisper.

Yet Eurus just glared, not afraid of the being that stood before him.

"I'm sure you'd enjoy nailing Amiri - oh wait - scratch that. You weren't good enough in her books for a f***." How could he keep Mai from getting injured further? If Kaiser decided to attack, she would be the first one to get hit.

"Not a good Christ, now were you? You just clingin' to that wood you dragged to your grave?"

The words Kaiser spoke angered him unbelievably, but he didn't let it show. He was now confronted with a horrid predicament. Mai was dying, and incapable of defending herself in her battered state, Lothani was a potential threat, Kaiser wanted to kill him, and if he put Mai aside to defend himself, she was at risk anyways.

Eurus was as good as dead.

"You wanna fight? Fine. I'll kick your ass again," His buckle-adorned pants were littered with hidden knives and blades, it would only take a snap of the wrist to pull one from its resting place. He needed to hide Mai, somewhere, wherever he could.

A snap of his fingers and a whisper of words conjured a suffocating black cloud of smoke that struck Kaiser in the face, making the Valkerie unable to see or breathe. Eurus clutched Mai and went for a dead run deeper into the graveyard, dirt sticking to the bottom of his boots because of the wet blood.

Within seconds, the two were hidden behind large memorial tombstone with dozens of names that were worn from age. Eurus panted lightly, gently placing Mai on the soft grass behind the stone on her back.

"Don't move," Eurus whispered to Mai, stroking her hair lovingly, a smile touching his lips. "You'll be safe here. I'll be back as soon as I can, don't worry." With that, he launched himself into the air and darted through the graveyard to perch on the wings of an angel, hiding from the view of the Valkerie.

It was a suicide mission, yes, to fight an immortal creature. But what choice did he have? His main concern was for Mai. His life was over, anyways, the venom in his system was poised and ready to devour his insides after the twenty hours were up.

If there was a God, he sent the right monsters to do his dirty work.

[Kaiser]

Kaiser smiled bitterly at Eurus's response, still shaking in his anger. "Naturally. I expected you to give the sarcastic response. You would never see it the right way. Ever. And, my friend, let it be known that your references to Amiri bother me no more. She means nothing to me now. The only thing that matters to me now is Death. He's waiting Eurus. Either you, or I, or both must go to him." His icy blue eyes, his anger, and his unstoppable shaking all reflected madness. "I've suffered too long. I won't suffer anymore. It all ends now."

But as Kaiser went to whip his green fire and begin the battle, Eurus conjured a black cloud to surround Kaiser's face. Sensing the toxins in the cloud, Kaiser held his breath. Still, it was not strong enough to block out Kaiser's vision. He could've laughed, if he wasn't holding his breath so tightly. Eurus had lost his touch, for the cloud hardly affected him. But when Kaiser paid attention to what Eurus did, he knew well enough that Eurus did not mean his pathetic cloud to be an attack but a distraction.

When the cloud had at last disappated, Kaiser took in one long silent breath, and upon exhaling, opened his eyes again to gaze out in front of him. Flailing his flaming green whip back and forth to make it extend, he at last flew out in anger and broke the monument where Eurus hid behind. "You fool!" He cried out in anger, "You run away to protect this woman that I never would've struck!" He expanded his wings and entered the air to gaze upon Eurus better. "Now come on, Demon Lord. End my suffering."