The Devil's Triad

John grunted in annoyance as the Horseman spoke to him. 'What is he playing at?' The man thought to himself as he eyed one of his aztec soldiers. The puppet like creatures were less like independent entities and more like extensions of himself. He could feel their every movement, as if they were appendages and apart of himself. Every emotion, every thought, and every idea was shared between them. There were no secrets or lies one had that the others didn't already know about. They were one, a singular conscious, a singular entity...

John stared at the rotting Horseman, deep in thought as to how he should respond. What sacrafice would he have to make to win a bet with a much more superior foe who could probably control the dice for all he knew. At the same time what did he have to lose? He had ties to no one and didn't much fear death like most people. Sure, that didn't mean he wasn't afraid, he was probably the most cowardly one of the group. Staying in and back and watching as the Horseman slowly and methodically dominated the battlefield. John cleared his throat before responding. "High."
 
"Fall over, you dead tree," grumbles Sid, using his power of flesh to knit together a swam of locusts from the flesh of his body. They erupt from the tears and hems of his clothing, buzzing loudly as the seething cloud of starving insects heave across the room and coat the body of Pestilence, beginning to chew and burrow into its skin. They shrivel and fall dead to the floor one by one as they partake in the poisonous body of the horseman.
Sid turns as soon as the locusts take flight, moving his attention to the tendrils that accosted him. He swung the big wrench down with a grunt, its tremendous mass cleaving the sawblade through their substance. The steel tears into the blood-smeared linoleum floor below as the weapon reaches the terminus of its swing, sticking there as its metal body hums like a tuning fork from the force of the impact. He looks up with a glare at the horse. He raises a finger towards the uncanny animal.
"You're fucked."
Sid lifts the wrench over his shoulder, beginning to sprint across the room. He was going to plant that sawblade in the skull of the corrupted horse - the possessed angel was a wonderful distraction, though the ghoul suspected that it would turn to bite the reapers in the ass.
 
As the skeletons of Miklan rose, Sebastian felt a minor sense of relief. They were, after all, fighting a supernatural war, and at least some of them should have some applicable skills. This relief did nothing to quell the congestion in his lungs or the unsettled feeling of his stomach, but he stayed true to his original intent. There was no use in worrying over his physical condition now, when he had a task to accomplish.

Upon the aid from one of the skeletons, Sebastian was refocused upon his task. He followed the energy of his fellow combatant as the latter moved the blood into the wound. Sebastian’s control, however, was more directed, in this case, as he promptly disregarded 99% of the blood’s volume once inside of the bloodstream of the Horseman, favoring to exercise more nuanced ability over the millions of white blood cells. Even if the he didn’t understand Sebastian’s goals, the creature would likely at least have mind to prevent this blood from leaving their opponent’s body, and so Sebastian tentatively allowed the other to continue to have reign over the movements of the cells as a whole.

While he did remain aware of their approximate location, with greater attention, he focused on the various cell types, one by one, to carry out what he felt would be most effective. He was trying to initiate an immune response that was equivalent to anaphylaxis, and so first initiated the process of triggering the lymphocytes to respond to Pestilence’s tissues as if they were an allergen.

It was a disgusting feeling, to be working with Pestilence’s body in so intimate a manner, even at the cellular level. This, however, made distinguishing the cells he introduced and those from Pestilence somewhat easier. Other white blood cells would then release increased amounts of histamine, the primary cause of inflammation. If Pestilence retained some of the workings of vertebrate life, which it appeared that he did, his cells too would respond with inflammation, and potentially their own response, further escalating the severity of the situation.

This attack required no more attention on his part after this initial investment, if the warrior continued to maintain a guiding force over the general location of the blood. If he hadn’t been distracted by the fire, he might have worked with some of the more actively destructive cells to directly attack the tissues, instead of setting up the typical label-response as was common in biological systems.

But instead, there was fire. At first frozen in place by this, Sebastian wavered where he stood before removing himself to several meters away. Finding himself at a wall, he leaned against it, feeling the draw of just crumpling to the floor as he was attacked from every direction by an overwhelming disgust. The air around them was something that could never be acclimated to, and the mild injury he had sustained seemed to be something much greater in the face of the abilities of disease. But now there was also his mind turning against him, as he fought the horrors in his own head.

He couldn’t watch the Horseman be burned, and the thought crossed his mind that anything he had done would only make it harder for the other to breathe, as he competed with fire for oxygen.

Sebastian hardly observed the revival of the Angel of Death. What more was there to be added to the atmosphere? Death was already overwhelmingly present, and the room was already saturated with decay and infection. He glanced upwards to see the physical combat, only to return again to his thoughts, trying to find stability and settle both his agonized mind and churning stomach.
 
Sylvia wasn't really interested in most of what this thing beneath her had to say, but she listened all the same, as she was there to try to heal it. It was, in her eyes, a ghastly thing, and it was truly for self-preservation that she had even considered such a roll of the dice. However, as this demon spoke to her, as her blood washed over it, she considered its spoken words.

"Your kind may see me as a demon of greed, but I never agreed too such childish things... It is more like dying for something you desperately wish for... Even these pests can have such simple notions... Is it truly bad to wish for more? Is that truly greedy? Or is the issue simply the excess of anything that we should worry about?"

Sylvia sighed, both in frustration and irritation. "How the hell would I know? For the longest, I was under the impression that God found the excess of anything to be a sin, but seeing as how he is apparently out to kill us all...I'd have to get back to you on that," she retorted trying to figure out how to bring back this thing from death's door, "How about you pull it together and be greedy for the will to live, carry on, and be of some help to the one trying to save your ass!" her hand stung a bit and she was particularly fond of watching herself bleed all over the form below her. "You seem to have time to be philosophical, so use that energy to pull yourself together. Help me to help you, so you can get up and return the favor," she looked up to check out the frenzied action going on down by the Horsemen. "Feel free to dodge a plague arrow, next time. I assume you've learned from your mistake. You're supposed to be something more than human or something, so act like it!"

Sylvia wasn't sure how any of this would work, but she was mentally willing something to happen. She didn't necessarily see anything wrong with greed, as it was something, to her, that moved people to action. Sometimes, those actions were negative, but they could be positive too. Greed could be a motivator, it could move one to action to seek to better themselves so that they could have and achieve more. Greed could help one push and exceed their limits, greed was a source of power, if used correctly. Sylvia, in a way, could consider herself greedy to an extent, especially considering their circumstances. She wanted to live, she hungered to survive. She would do whatever it took to accomplish that. As of now, her alignment was with those who sought the same end, although there were already some within this group that she felt that they would be better off without, but that just meant that there were expendables among them. She would do what was required and necessary to see it through to the end of this hellish nightmare she found herself in.....hopefully that would be enough. If it wasn't....she'd just have to improvise, adapt and overcome.
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DeAndre, on the other hand, wasn't having a great time at all. First, he had the air nearly knocked out of him from a forcefully removed flaming arm, only to have that very arm come to life and began to strangle the shit out of him. If a flaming choke wasn't enough, he doubled down by garping it woth both hands and creating a powerful burst of flames that quickly burnt the hand to a crisp. However, the burning hand around his neck still left a burning singe mark in the shape of a choking hand on his neck.

He gasped for air as the ash remains fell to the floor before him. "What the fuck!" he croaked, finding the thing extremely frustrating to deal with.

There was no thought of trying to save this thing in his mind, everything that attacked them was an enemy. This was the after effects of the apocalypse. If new arrivals were hostile, then they needed to be treated as such, there was no room for questioning motives or the probability of talking them down. This thing was clearly against them and it was far too dangerous to waste time trying to decipher motives. As far as DeAndre was concerned, that was something that could be discussed over its smoldering ashes.

Cringing from the pain around his neck and dodging heavy lacerations from with damn wild horse, he focused on what was happening down the hall. 'Is this bastard playing a dice game right now!?!' he thought to himself. It was certainly an interesting sight to behold, but at the same time, it was a break from being attacked for the time being. This was a good new though, it would give Dee sometime to work on another large scale magic. It would appear that fire, like in Pokemon, was super effective. He hoped it would work on the horse as well, because that was something that most definitely needed to be dealt with. This would be his second large scale magic, which normally wouldn't have him exhausted, but there were other factors at play, like comrades, so he had to strain extra hard to make sure not to hit any friendlies. On top of the energy it was going to take to pull it off, the concentration was an added strain, as well as the fact that it was going to be a layered spell; The first part being to seal the horse's area of movement off with fire, effectively trying to cage it in, next would be to lasso the horse at multiple points, using the flames like ropes. Lastly, after halting it's movements, creating a fire pillar to engulf it and burn it cinders. If he managed to pull this off, he'd most certainly be drained for a hot minute. However, things needed to be taken care of, of he was all about rising to the challenge and overcoming obstacles, so this was the norm...aside from the fact that death was only a miss-step away.

'No Guts, No Glory' he thought to himself as he began to fiercely concentrate on the task at hand.
 
The dice spun rapidly, carefully dancing around the room as they came between the two that were preparing a gamble. The Aztec soldiers seemed careful as they retreated back at the ferocity of the horseman. He displayed his brutality as he proceeded too rip the unfortunate soldier within his grasp. His fingers piercing into its body as he gored the warrior and spilled its entrails upon the ground before him. Tossing the remnants of the torso and legs at his feet. The sickness of his touch was clear as disease began to spread quickly as the rot began to eat at the body. Beginning to decay and thin the corpse as sores and buboes began to expand throughout the wounds with blood and pus accompanying them. These sensations began too bleed into John and the Aztecs could feel the disturbing feeling within their bones.

The Aztecs seemed too learn of their mistake as they seemed to begin to understand the desperate situation they had found themselves in. Their immediate attack had been one out of desperation and reprieve and the results already were grim. They knew if they committed too such an action again that it could potentially be even more fatal than before. Deciding to play defensively they simultaneously presented themselves in a defensive stance as they held their weapons forward and awaited for what they already knew would occur.

As the words began to escape John's lips the monster itself readied itself as it proceeded to raise its remaining arm in response. The pores around his arms began to expand and open as a torrent of maggots launched themselves from his gaping wounds. By the time the word had finally reached the ears of the Reaper, the maggots themselves had found themselves soaring through the air towards them.

"High."

The dice had fallen immediately after as the Aztec warriors began to slice and cut at the larva that were fired through the air. The grubs digging themselves through the bones of the soldiers as the shaman among them began to spout fire from his skull as he proceeded to burn them away. John would be able too see one of the dice before his feet as this was all happening. Some of the worms finding themselves within his bones as they proceeded to try and eat away at his skeleton as the number before him was clear too him.

It was the number three.

Had he failed? Was it low?

These questions surrounded him but as this storm of maggots continued too eat them alive he could see the body of the dead Aztec warrior suddenly sprout too life. He could feel its life returning as its eyes gave a ghastly glow as the sickly creature began to grip at the blade that still remained within his hands. With one last desperate wail it swung its arm with tremendous strength as its wooden obsidian blade struck into the already wounded side of the horseman and with its ferocious final act it penetrated through flesh and meat as it ripped a sizable chunk from Pestilence.

The Death God revealed no difference in its expression as he forced his fist through the warriors skull. Crushing through its body as he tossed the body aside and proceeded to stare into the eyes of John. The small pair of dice simply before him as the number itself was barely visible from the viscera spread about but it was clear.

The number was four. It was high.

There was also something incredibly visible too the entire group and that was something that shone within the reaper's body. It shimmered and gave a glow that was reminiscent of the sun as it flashed throughout its body as the death god moved. Not necessarily afraid of revealing such a thing too the others. Almost offering the challenge that if they wished to retrieve it that they would require to come close enough to sickness and tempt death. His hands clearly had shown what a simple touch would do too a body. Now it was up to them if they wished to continue to save this creature or end it here.

(@Ur Degaton )

"Fall over, you dead tree,"

The Horseman had suddenly been surrounded by wasps himself as he broke his concentration towards John and looked over towards Sid. He could feel the insects burying and embedding themselves throughout his body as they particularly attacked the wounded areas throughout his body. It seemed amusing that something had referred to him as dead as the wasps horded over his body he seemed too increase the limits of the others as he breathed in slowly.

As he exhaled a massive dark cloud of mist exited his mouth. The locusts themselves struggling as their bodies began too wither away as ash inside of him as this mist spread throughout the room and covered the floor in half a meter of dust. They could all feel their legs beginning too give as the dust weakened the muscles, bones and blood within their bodies. He then looked on wards as the horse took the brunt of the hit towards its face as the tendrils began to tear and erupt from the spinning blade coming into contact with them. It shrieked loudly as it reared up on its legs and smashed them into Sid's chest in response as it then swung its large tool like weapon with its hands and slammed him within his stomach as it began too grind him along the ground as it turned too face the demented angel that was not proceeding too eat it apart.

It charged forward with its endless tendrils wrapping around and gripping at the fallen angel as it proceeded to stampeded towards the nearest wall. Slamming itself with intense speed as it smashed both Sid and the Angel into the wall definitely cracking the bones of the remnant as Sid was wailed alongside the wall as it repeatedly began to beat it with its pole arm.

"What do you know about Death? I ask you Reaper because I want to know your answer before I take you there... And as for the others. I shall bring them all too heel before me. I am conquest and you will not win this war of attrition. I promise as the one that suffers that none of you can outlast me in what I was created for."

(@Kobold )

As the Shaman freed themselves from the worms they continued desperately too aid Sebastian. Focusing on the blood cells that Sebastian wished too target and assuring the blood itself remained within the Horseman's body. Though, as they explored the tainted blood of the creature it began to slowly become very clear that the blood itself was already afflicted by numerous diseases and parasites. Even the remote part that they explored was clearly coated in rot, filth, and blood that resembled oil than it did anything remotely human. The creature had not been lying that they were specifically one that suffered and the amount of infestations made it abundantly clear that they were a host not only to all afflictions but all the sufferings that came with it and as Sebastian looked at the Horseman. They grinned as if they could sense all of this and welcomed it happily within their body.

"Give me the blessings of affliction, infection and disease. It will only make me stronger... I can make you this powerful too if you aid me against your allies." The whispers of this offering came towards Sebastian as they surrounded his ears. It had seemed the stale air had transferred this clearly throughout the chaos and violence that continued.

The Shaman looked at Sebastian as they seemed to realize the futility of their efforts but they continued in their aid and efforts too assist in this.

The injuries began to further worsen among Sebastian as he could feel his skin breaking and his bruises worsening. The slow feeling of losing control slowly cluttering his mind as the horrors of sickness continued too surround him. Pecking and slowly aching at him. Each of their attempts tiring and exhausting them more as the Death God seemed more and more at peace with whatever befell him. Though, as the fire erupted it was quick as the Horseman pulled himself immediately away.

The fight for oxygen was real and the slow suffocation began to ache their throats as the fire vanished from DeAndre as Miklan stood beside Sebastian with his arms extended as he focused his efforts on the blood within the Reaper. He helped retained control even as the sickness attempted too absorb the blood within its own. This was not the God of Blood but as the one of Bone they were one clearly compatible of helping as they expanded the blood greatly within the Death God. Breathing as they began too talk towards Sebastian.

"Pull the blood from his body." Miklan responded as they stared down the other Death God. "Rip it out of him." He responded as his hands shook at the intensity of the blood that began to explode the vessels within the Horseman's body and stretch the muscle and fat underneath.

"We may have to end him."

(@Wister )

The Demon of Greed smiled even as her face revealed the ills that afflicted it. "Isn't God out there too kill us all? Wasn't that always a thing God decided for you creatures?" She began too pull herself up from the floor as she clearly struggled too her feet. Whatever she was infected with had truly wracked her body but she clearly listened towards Sylvia's words as she gave a nod of appreciation. She used Sylvia's shoulder for support as she breathed. "I couldn't dodge those damned dice even if I wanted too. I rolled poorly and will suffer from that mistake but seems like the lucky one of you was able to bet right." She responded as she pointed at the flashing light within the Death God.

"It seems that all the vents are unfolding at the same time." She responded as she pointed towards the Horses distraction as well as Miklan and Sebastian's focus on their efforts to rip the blood from within the Death God. "I will be asking you too accomplish something greedy... I won't be able too aid as much but I believe I can offer you at least the last of my aid." She whispered as she looked towards Sylvia and raised her eyebrow. "You still have Raquel's scale don't you?" She smiled warmly as she looked down at her and motioned at the arrow that had pierced her skull. "You can choose to be greedy and I will offer you many choices that will allow you to do so... You could stab yourself with that plague's spear and cut out the part of the seal that the Death God obviously has within them. Though, I know you probably don't enjoy that idea. You could also potentially offer me the scale and allow me to do it myself. I am at death's door and I don't particularly believe I shall survive this but with that scale I may do so. Though, do you trust a demon? Lastly, you could charge that creature with that spear and rip out that seal from his entrails yourself. If you believe yourself to be that greedy to do it. I would be surely surprised if you committed to that but I can at least promise to aid you. Her scarf began to snake its way up Sylvia's body as it was incredibly light but felt incredibly strong as the threads wound their way around her body.

"I can offer at least one last thing as well..." She responded as the shawl began to wrap itself around Sylvia's mouth as it allowed her to breath clearly though it also forced her to take quick and short breaths. It seemed the Demon had already knew what decision was going to be made as she finally settled herself on her two feet.

"There is one last thing I can provide but I need you to be at least a slight distraction. That doesn't mean I don't believe you can't get the seal but that what I will be attempting puts me at much greater risk than you will be placed in. I assure you that my greed places me not only as someone who wants to play safely but also one willing too take a chance too get what they want." She smiled as she awaited for Sylvia's decision.

The Horse watched as the flames began to scorch the area around it. Creating a wall of fire that rapidly sealed it away from its master as the ropes of fire began to lash out and try to ensnare the creature. This caused it too scream as it pulled its own strange weapon away from Sid as it turned quickly and launched this thing like a bullet straight towards DeAndre's chest. The Angel itself still furiously grabbing and biting at the Horse as it was being wrestled into the wall before finally being let free as the horse quickly turned and kicked the creature with intense form into the wall.

As the spear followed its way towards DeAndre the horse itself began to disappear in a whirl of darkness before reappearing alongside the spear charging forward with full force as it prepared to gore the man in vengeance.

It was obviously beaten, battered and bleeding as it raced along too meet him. The short distance felt like a mile as he could feel each heartbeat hammering within his chest as this creature was now upon him.

Everyone had their place, everyone had their responses and DeAndre was now left fully alone with one of the four horses as it was one last breath away from fully impaling him within its makeshift skewer.

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(I am sorry this has been dead for so long hope you guys enjoyed it and if it is to die we can do that just have had lots going on and been crazy drained plus been losing my own replies trying to reply to this. I was a fool for not saving them and watching them disappear but I finally went through it and am still interested and fully wanting too continue this. I want too write again and will be talking more on discord I hope you all enjoy it!)

(@Zahara We miss your ugly Mickey!)
 
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