The Avatar Oath (Peregrine x Kaisaan)

[Peregrine]

"Remember, the other factions know nothing of Unity."

The words echoed in Rheaveena's head as though she was once more standing in front of the Church Matron. But there was no sign of the grey-haired woman anywhere around. Instead, there was nothing but endless swirling darkness, interspersed by flashes of orange or blue that seemed more like a figment of her imagination than actual reality.

"You can never predict what they're thinking, or what they may do. So it's your job to keep them in line, Vea. Don't let them lose sight of the mission."

The four divine factions had been at war as long as they had existed, each competing to rule the various worlds. The world where Rhea was born was ruled by the faction of Unity, and she had done her part as a Paladin to help fend off attacks from the agents of the other factions that hid in the world.

But her world was firmly held in Unity's hands, and few of the attacks had ever done real damage. She knew that wasn't the case elsewhere, that there were plenty of worlds where Unity only held on by a tenuous grasp, or was fighting to recover lost planets.

The factions had never been at peace with each other. Yet, here she was, a newly empowered Avatar who had never expected her position, being sent far away from the only world she had ever known to cooperate with Avatars from the other factions.

"Be especially careful with Chaos. There's no way to guess when an Avatar of Chaos will go mad. He might even attempt to overthrow the entire mission for no reason at all. Stay wary."

Rhea had only ever seen an Avatar of Chaos once, when she'd just been a small girl. The four-armed, blue skinned demon had wrecked half a city in so many minutes, sending buildings flying through the air as though they were being carried by unseen hands.

Rhea could only hope that the Matron's words were wrong. After all, they were going to confront a threat that had been devouring worlds. Surely even an Avatar of Chaos would be able to work together against such an obvious common enemy?

But there was no time left for Rhea to contemplate further, or worry about what would happen in the future. The flashes of light around her abruptly burst with intensity, before the entire space around her shattered like someone had just dropped a mirror on the floor.

The young woman instantly found herself tumbling through the air, her rose colored hair flying about her face. She extended her hands on instinct as she approached the ground, rolling forward in an attempt to disperse the momentum. However, the fall still almost knocked the wind out of her.

Panting slightly, Rhea quickly rose into a crouch, glancing around her. She was in the middle of a meadow, the space filled with softly swaying green grass. Tall, skinny trees with white bark were lined in scattered rows, and, far in the distance beyond their slightly yellowish leaves, jagged, snow-capped mountains rose into the sky.

Of far more concern was the pair of brilliantly red eyes that were staring at her, their depths filled with ice.

"You…" Rhea stuttered unconsciously, glancing away. There were two other people in the meadow, tall, strong-looking men. Rhea gulped unconsciously, quickly forcing her way to her feet and brushing off the bits of plant life that were stuck in the gaps of her metal armor.

The entire clearing seemed to be filled with the faint but high pitched sound of something sharp grating against stone.

 

[Kaisaan]

"This is a mistake."

"The Life Waters chose you, Kaleb."

Pale blue eyes closed, shutting out the swirling vortex of void before him and the blond Lycan shook his head, fists curled at his side, fighting off a shudder as he spoke again bitingly. Denying. "You know why they chose me. It's not because I'm the right person to be doing this."

"The Choice has been made. There is no fighting it. Step through."

"I don't want to." Quieter now. Scared. Already knowing it would change nothing. It never did.

There was a hand on his back, another came to rest behind his shoulder and where they might have looked comforting to anyone watching, Kaleb could feel the force behind the touches, the cold distance they radiated. There was no warmth, no encouragement to be found here.

People tended to forget that life was not always kind, not always warm and gentle, understanding. Sometimes life was cruel, sometimes it was hard and it hurt, and it taught unpleasant lessons. Most didn't picture Life Faction as capable of being any of those things, but they were just as multi-faceted as life itself could be - and they could be just as harsh if called to be.

Kaleb knew that side of Life very well and so it was that he felt no surprise when he found himself tumbling through the vortex, knowing damn well he had not, of his own volition, taken the step necessary to fall into oblivion.

-

The impact was not as harsh as he'd been expecting and it took Kaleb only a moment to realize why, the grunt under him causing the blond to push up from the person he'd landed on. Pale blue eyes met gold and the Lycan could not have said why he froze other than to blame the slow smile that spread across the other man's face and the fingers that were suddenly brushing his hair back with an easy familiarity that was startling.

Or was it the way Kaleb wanted to react to them, let them linger, the shocking part?

"Why hello, little wolf. Comfy?"

The words were coy, teasing and those golden, sun-kissed eyes seemed to see right through him, drawing up heat into Kaleb's skin, his face burning. The Lycan's senses came back to him all-too-quickly then and he was scrambling back and on his feet in seconds, laughter following his movements from the figure below who rose with a great deal less haste and far more languid calm.

"Well, not the most graceful entrance I've ever made into a new place, but it certainly wasn't....bad." A quick but purposeful sweep over the blond's form from the dark-haired male should have had the Lycan bristling - like most of his kind would - but he instead looked away, nervous, intent on focusing elsewhere....and finding his eyes drawn to the two other people in the surprisingly beautiful meadow.

It would seem the other male followed his gaze and it was Chaos - it HAD to be Chaos, there was no other explanation for the cocky nature - that spoke first to their fellow Avatars.

"Huh, not hard to guess which one of you is Death's Avatar." Despite how his words could, and likely would, be taken, Luca's smile was a charming thing and he looked over the slightly brown-grayish skinned male with just as much interest as he'd showed the Lycan. And why not? The red-eyed Avatar was stunning. At least this mission would have some decent views.

Speaking of...

The only female in the group was nothing to dismiss, either. Absolutely gorgeous. He didn't think he'd ever seen that color on hair before and those eyes! A man could get lost in those magenta hues, lullingly soft and yet....Luca suspected there was a definite lethal bite hiding behind that delicate façade. It was in the way she held herself, wary and yet calm. On the balls of her feet, but no weapon had been drawn, no threat made. Fierce and controlled.

Perfect.

He certainly wasn't going to be bored.

Now there was just one thing he needed to get straight...

"I admit, I can't tell. Which one of you is Life and which is Unity?"

Gold eyes flickered between the Lycan - he could smell wolf on the blond so very easily, it was rather distinct - and the female. He couldn't tell what she or Death were just yet, but finding out would be priority soon enough. Right now, factions and names were in order, weren't they? Luca nearly snorted to himself.

Order. Gods, it was funny when he even thought the word, wasn't it?

"I'm Life Faction. I believe that makes her Unity."

"And your name, little wolf?"

Where he might have expected a rise out of the blond for continuing to call him thus, Luca found himself oddly surprised when no adverse reaction came and instead Life gave the smallest of movements that might have been a shrug before speaking again - though, he didn't look at any of them directly, eyes casting about the landscape.

Ultimately, it wasn't his name that emerged from his mouth, but warning, his blue eyes having grown wide, body already lurching forward.

"Unity, move!"

The Lycan's hand caught her arm and Kaleb was pulling her forward before anyone could protest, not giving much thought to how Unity might react to what he'd done. The only thing the Lycan was focused on was the horror rising up behind where she'd been standing and even as the diamond - glass? - snake three times their size struck, Chaos was striking back....and seeming very surprised that whatever he'd done had worked.

There was a blast, a ripple of concussive energy and the serpent shattered upon its impact, causing Chaos' Avatar to gape for a second and then grin like a child who'd gotten an unexpected toy, his golden eyes moving to his hands, fingers wiggling. "Oh, that was fun. Let's do that again!"

Whether he'd spoken it into existence or it was simply bad timing, the brunette was about to get his wish as all around them, broken glass began to find each other, to fuse and to reform.....and from the grass six more of the same snakes were rising.

 

[Peregrine]

Of everyone in the group, Ferus landed with the most grace, knees only needing to bend slightly to swallow up the momentum of his fall. His eyes squinted in pain against the sudden burst of sunlight, and he couldn't help the unconscious frown that crossed his face.

However, it was impossible to guess from the outside that the frown wasn't due to the brightness of the sun that stabbed into him like the occasional jab of the needle. No, what caused him the most discomfort was actually the sight of the beautiful meadow around him.

He'd been desperate to run away from his home world, desperate enough to accept the temptations of Death that had appeared like a whisper in his ear. Desperate enough that even the fact that he was going to a realm ruled by a being made up of pure destruction wasn't enough to dissuade him. He'd been picturing wastelands, devastation, fire and brimstone. However, this place looked like the so-called haven he'd just left.

He might have almost thought the whole thing had been a joke, if it wasn't for the three other people who had landed alongside them. Even if it wasn't obvious at a glance, he could feel the power that radiated off them, causing his skin to tingle faintly under the faint stabbing of the sun. Newly born Avatars, just like him.

These were going to be his companions.

He figured the thought should have caused another frown, or at least a ripple of distaste. Unexpectedly, it mostly just left him feeling resigned. He'd asked if he could undertake the mission alone, and been blatantly rejected. Perhaps that had been enough to steel his heart to the inevitable conclusion that he was going to have to travel with other people.

The golden-eyed man's words drew Ferus' own crimson eyes towards the man, his words earning nothing but a blink before he looked away again. Death's Avatar. The recognition felt nice, even if it came from a stranger. He was an Avatar now.

But that didn't mean he had any intention to interact with the golden-eyed man. Or any of them. He finally straightened from his landing crouch, back turned on the trio. He only vaguely paid attention to their conversation until a sudden shout caused his head to whip around, his eyes widening in shock at the sight of the creature that greeted them.

However, creature was the wrong word. Thing would be a much better pick. After all, Ferus was an Avatar of Death. And that thing was neither dead nor alive. It was nothing, a mindless, soulless physical construct with as much meaning to its existence as a soul on the ground. And yet it was moving, its head lunging forward like a striking snake before a transparent ripple of distorted air that shattered it into fragments.

However, before Ferus could even think about breathing a sigh of relief, the glass was flying through the air, recollecting into the abominable presence of the massive serpent, and, what was worse, several of its fellows were rising from their hiding spot amidst the tall grass. Ferus scuttled a few steps backwards, making sure that the three other Avatars were closer to those abominations than he was.

The sun was out. There was no way he could fight those things. But someone else seemed to have no such reluctance.

Rhea couldn't help but yelp in surprise as she was suddenly pulled forwards. She quickly twisted on the spot, gently detaching herself from Life's hands, before her eyes locked on to the appearing creatures. She didn't know whether to thank him for trying to help her, or berate him for taking her away from the front of the battlefield, where she was meant to be. In the end, she simply stayed quiet, instantly drawing her broad, curved saber and lunging towards the crystalline serpents with a provocative war shout.

Despite their size, or perhaps because of it, the creatures didn't move very fast. What was more, they were unexpectedly fragile. Rhea swung her sword without hesitation, but rather than trying to slice through their glass bodies, she'd twisted the sword so that she was striking with the flat of the blade, rather than its edge. One of the serpent's heads immediately shattered. However, just as Rhea was going to turn away to fight the next one, she noticed the scattered glass beginning to crawl across the ground, merging back into the snake's figure. It didn't look like she'd managed to do any damage at all.

Rhea didn't slow down, knocking another serpent away, achieving a similar result. "What are these things?!" she shouted, as much in indignation as because she hoped for an answer.

They weren't golems. If they were, that concussive shock that had blasted the first one apart would have destroyed its core alongside its body. "Are they liches? Death! Do they have some sort of phylactery? What's keeping them together?"

It was only at Unity's shout that Ferus realized he could have easily taken these scattered moments of combat to retreat from the battlefield. Not only would it allow him to avoid this threat, but it would have given him the chance to undertake this mission alone, just as he'd requested. However, he hadn't taken action on it.

Distracted, he tried to figure out why he was still standing here, before a shout from the pink-haired woman drew his attention again. "Death! Life! Either of you. What's keeping these monsters together?"

"They... aren't alive or dead." Ferus' first spoken words were husky and melodious, somehow able to travel the battlefield despite the fact that he was hardly shouting. "They're not monsters. They're... nothing. I don't know."

 

[Kaisaan]

"They're reflections. Mirrors. Of life, of death. Of destruction and creation.""

Kaleb's utterance wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear but Luca who was beside him and the Lycan didn't note when the gold-eyed male looked over at him, in truth not entirely sure where he was. One moment he'd been in the meadow, with three strangers, and now a plain stretched before him, the expanse of his vision teeming with glass creatures. The sound was deafening combined with the rumbling sky overhead....with the screams of people as they fled.

As they died.

Glass turned red, the earth turned to mud and Kaleb knew where he was as he turned his head and saw the Temple of Life. Now in ruins. Littered with bodies.

He was back on Naha'tia. Back on the world he'd just left.

He was witnessing its destruction.

".....wolf! ....Life! Wolf!"

The Lycan came back to himself with an indrawn breath that sounded harsh and strangled in his own ears, his pale blue eyes - almost entirely white just moments before - flickering around frantically as panic tried to set in, his entire body flinching violently as hands caught his upper arms, his shoulders and suddenly Chaos' Avatar was directly before him and those gold eyes were holding the world in place.

"Hey, you all right?!"

The words were quick, hurried and Kaleb gave a jerked nod, swift understanding coming back to him as to the reality of where he was. The meadow. The snakes. The mission.

Chaos grinned and Kaleb sensed it was more for his benefit than actual happiness on the other's part. "Good! Now move!" He was shoved quite suddenly, but didn't fall, instinct taking over as his form rippled, contorted and the large white wolf landed on his feet, whirling about to take in what was going on around him - truly this time.

Chaos' Avatar had managed to keep them both from the lashing end of a serpent's massive tail as Unity's Avatar shattered its head. As before, it didn't seem to do any good as the fragments began to rearrange again. That didn't stop Chaos from blasting another one into smithereens. It only bought time, though - time that would eat away their strength and stamina until they made a mistake. The Lycan knew it almost instantly, so he couldn't really explain why, when he saw a serpent veer away from Unity and Chaos and head straight for Death, he acted, even knowing such actions were ultimately futile.

He'd never launched himself at glass before, had never tried to latch on to it with a bite that had more than 800 pounds per square inch of pressure, but none of that was crossing Kaleb's mind. Keeping the mirror creature from the other Avatar was and the wolf's snarl was bloodcurdling as he knocked the snake off course, having shattered almost half its face. His mouth bled, the canine snorting to get the blood out of his nose before he put himself between Death and the serpent, hackles raised and stance rigid, ready to attack again as the glass started to reassemble again.

-

Luca had lost track of the wolf. Why that was important, he wasn't entirely sure just yet, but it was a bit of a concern nonetheless. It was also something he couldn't focus on right now as he suddenly found himself quite literally back-to-back with Unity's Avatar. Both of them weapons - she a sword, and he a gun - but neither was doing them a great deal of good as the serpents coiled just out of reach except to strike, to shatter and then come together again to do it all over.

Gods, they could at least be grateful each fucking shard of glass didn't multiple.

"So, any grand ideas?"

A gunshot exploded glass and Luca glanced over his shoulder at the female behind him - to let the other guard their back not in question at the moment. It was a warrior's instinct if they wanted to call it that. A concussive blast shattered three-quarter's of a serpent's body and the head of another, but who gave a shit? The things were refusing to die!

"Because this doesn't seem to be working!" Another strike barely avoided and gold eyes caught a brief glimpse of both Death and Life, now in closer proximity. There was an ironic joke there somewhere, he knew it. Luca almost laughed, refrained. Barely.

"How do you feel about retreat?"

Personally, Luca didn't see any shame in it, especially not in this moment. This was an enemy they had no intel on who, at present, seemed to be beating their asses without any trouble at all. A mission couldn't really be carried out if they were dead within the first few minutes of being here. He was inclined to point such out, but the words didn't make it past the thought stage as a high-pitched, yelping cry sounded above the noise of grating and exploding glass.

The wolf was on the ground, stunned or dead was hard to tell, but his side was streaked with bright red blood and the serpent he'd been fighting was coiling itself up tight, its shimmering, reflective tail stained an incriminating crimson as its head rose, preparing to strike the prone Avatar.

 

[Peregrine]

Rhea's breath was still steady and rhythmic, she'd trained for much more grueling battles than this, but she could still feel the way every deep breath caused chaotic air to swirl around her mouth and cool the top of her throat.

Her stamina was good, but it wasn't infinite. And she couldn't see any change to these creatures brought about by repeatedly breaking them. If anything, they only seemed to have grown more fierce.

"There must be something keeping them together," Rhea growled in frustration. Unfortunately, her words did nothing to provide an answer. Vague thoughts swirled around her mind. Everything had a weakness. Nothing was truly invulnerable. Death's statements that they weren't alive didn't change that fact. Even rocks could be split apart and ground to dust by water.

But that was as far as those thoughts went, as her attention was far too consumed by the battle to go into any in-depth theory on their nature, or even acknowledge that she'd just placed herself back-to-back with the Avatar of Chaos, the very person the Matron had repeatedly extolled her not to trust. The glass serpents moved fast, and any trace of distraction she showed might mean the opening that they would take advantage of.

She really just wanted this strange, meaningless fight to be over. And, frankly, Chaos' suggestion of a retreat seemed the only valid option to take at the moment. However, as fast as they moved, and as little as they seemed to tire, there was no telling if running would simply back them into a new corner, where they'd have to fight again in a weakened state.

"They're fast. Are you sure we can outrun..."

Her words were interrupted by the sudden yelp of an animal. Rhea flinched in surprise, but still shattered the serpent in front of her before turning to look to the side. A large white wolf lay on the ground. For a moment she stared in astonishment, wondering where the animal had come from. However, only an instant later Luca's label of the Avatar of Life as 'wolf' seemed to click in place.

"No!" The cry was instinctively torn from her lips, and following in near perfect echo was a beam of pink light. However, unlike Chaos' kinetic blasts, that beam didn't target the serpent. It wrapped around the white wolf, causing a faint iridescent shimmer to appear on his fur. It couldn't heal his wound, but it slowed the bleeding slightly, offering his body more strength and power. Perhaps it would be enough to keep him alive until she could shatter the serpent and drag Life away.

Focused on the glass snake, she didn't notice the chaotic ripples of black mist and grey lightning that had surrounded Death.

–

Ferus couldn't breathe. Instinct told him to flee. Something strange and unfamiliar froze him in place, preventing him from leaving. His fingers briefly clenched into fists as the serpent approached him, before curving into claws that exposed long, dark nails. He didn't have a weapon, didn't even have the powers of the night to strengthen and protect him, but Ferus had always lived his life stubbornly.

He'd run when it was an option, and fight when it wasn't. Even if the only thing he had to fight with was his nails and his teeth.

A sudden white blur passed in front of him, landing on the serpent and sending out a shower of exploding glass, white fur, and red blood. For a moment there was nothing but the sound of growls and the strange clinking of glass rubbing on glass.

...Was this why he hadn't fled on his own? Because he'd known there was no way he'd be able to successfully fight these things if he was cornered and alone during the day time?

Watching the shattered glass reassemble itself, Ferus felt a bout of disgust almost reminiscent of nausea. The sensation of wrongness was nearly overwhelming, and he found himself desperately wishing that he could blast the creatures away into nothingness, even if it meant hitting with bare fists. However, the fierce battle still ongoing between the wolf and the serpent didn't provide him an opening, and the other five were still coiling around Chaos and Unity, far beyond his range.

Yet the feeling of revulsion only grew stronger by the second, the rolling of his stomach only growing stronger. He had to get rid of these things.

The sudden sound of a pained yelp was enough to jolt him out of his thoughts, but the sight of the white wolf laying on the ground, its blood coating the tail of the glass serpent, finally tipped him over the edge. The unrest in his stomach leaked out of his body, and Ferus found himself surrounded by a fog of darkness.

Normally it should have been soothing and familiar, but as the fog poured out of his body he only found himself becoming dizzy and uncomfortable. The snake. Surely this feeling would go away if he got rid of the snake.

But the fog crawled forward like a slow-moving wave, and the white wolf was only an instant away from getting bit. From within the heart of the fog, a flash of silver light appeared in Ferus eyes. An instant later, and a bolt of lightning flashed out, striking the serpent. Its striking head slowed, a fragment of glass that had fallen from its head now dropping to the ground like floating cotton-seed.

It was enough time for the fog, which parted around the white wolf before flowing over the rest of the battlefield like a ghostly tidal wave. Several of the serpents glanced back in surprise, before beginning to slither away, towards the edge of the meadow. However, several other bolts of lightning struck them, causing their desperate retreat to slow to a crawl. An instant later, and the fog washed over them as well.

However, the seemingly unstoppable tidal wave came to an abrupt halt before it reached the two weapon-wielding avatars. An instant later, and the entire thing began to fade away like a dream.

What was left in its wake was… nothing. The serpents were gone, but so too was the grass on the ground. An entire layer of soil seemed to have been stripped away. One large rock had been sliced in half where the fog had passed, its remaining surface glassy smooth.

The only exception to this was the area between the white wolf and Ferus himself, where the grass still swayed freely in the wind, as though it hadn't just been spared complete catastrophe.

In the background, Ferus trembled weakly before slumping to the ground. The brilliant red light that had seemed to fill his eyes had gone dim and muted.

 

[Kaisaan]

Holy shit.

Luca was aware that he should have been moving, but for the moment he was frozen, blinking at Death's Avatar, and then, turning his head, at Unity's Avatar. Between the two of them and what they'd just shown themselves capable of...well, he was glad they were on the same side.

And that there seemed to be no hesitation on anyone's part to help each other. Odd. Very odd, but right now he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Exhaling a heavy breath, Chaos' Avatar finally moved, holstering his gun for the moment with a wary look around just to ensure they weren't going to be ambushed at any moment, and then heading over to both Death and Life, his eyes for the red-eyed male first even as he walked toward the wolf. Death's Avatar didn't look too hot - exhausted and pale and shaking, but he wasn't bleeding and he was still conscious. Concerned as he was about the gray-ish skinned male, the wolf was obviously in worse shape. He didn't think Death would begrudge him checking up on Life physically first.

"You all right?"

He didn't really expect much of a response and wasn't really surprised when he didn't get much of one, and Luca shook his head with an incredulous snort and a smile. "Damn, remind me not to piss you off." It was given with a bit of mirth, yes, but more respect than anything and perhaps that would be shocking to know, that an Avatar of Chaos could show respect to another, but....Luca had never really been...a Chaos extremist. That was his sister and there were many who thought she should have gotten this mission.

Luca included.

Now that he was here, though....maybe there was reason she hadn't.

Now before the white wolf, he knelt down, noting that Unity's Avatar had followed him - whether out of concern for their fallen comrade or because she was curious about her own power, still hovering around the prone form, he wasn't sure. Gold eyes glanced at her for just a moment in acknowledgement before Luca was scanning the canine, releasing a breath through pursed lips when he saw the rise and fall of Life's side.

"Fuck, he's alive."

No pun intended.

Hands ran carefully, very carefully, over the wolf's fur, trying to find the origin of the blood, Luca grimacing when he came across glass still imbedded in flesh. A whimper, drawn and pained signaled that Life was not quite unconscious and Luca instinctively shushed the other, resting a hand on his head.

"Hey, easy there. You're in bad shape, little wolf. Do you think you can shift back? We can help you better that way."

A whine was given in answer, the wolf's sides moving a little faster, panting but whether in pain, fear or exertion was hard to say until a ripple shuddered over Life's form and his body grew smaller, skin replacing fur until a human form was present once more. The injuries, now peeking out from a shredded shirt, looked far worse on a diminished frame and the glass was clearer to see now, punctured more deeply than Chaos had assumed. He winced and would have spoken except there was rustling coming from behind them and feeling a sense of exasperation, he glanced over his shoulder.

More serpents. Fucking fantastic.

"Everyone brace yourself, this is not going be pleasant!"

It was the only warning given, certainly not an appropriate explanation for what Luca did next as he closed his eyes, palm coming down to touch the earth and energy drew inward like a vacuum, the very air seeming to condense as a wind-like vortex began to form around all four Avatars. The phenomenon turned a shimmering gold as it gained speed....until suddenly the four were jerked, pulled, tumbling what seemed to be head of heels before lurching to a stop.

The feeling was akin to missing a step in the dark, stumbling forward, that adrenaline that flashed as one tried to grasp a lifeline that wasn't there....and then it stopped, leaving all the Avatars exactly as they had been before the vortex had transported them. Just maybe a bit more nauseous as Life's Avatar was proving as he'd managed to find his hands and knees and was currently retching.

Luca, for reasons unknown, gathered back the other's blond hair with sympathetic words. "Sorry. To all of you. Teleportation can be a bitch when I don't know where I'm going."

Where they'd gone was closer to the mountains, the only place Luca had been able to really see clearly. They were now practically at their base, in a sparse forest near a river if his ears were correct...and far away from the glass snakes of nightmare.

Having semi-explained what had happened, gold eyes rose to pale magenta and red, flickering between the two Avatars before moving back to Life who was now breathing raggedly, shaking and barely able to hold himself up anymore. Luca was very carefully trying to make sure he was ready to catch the other Avatar if he suddenly collapsed. Landing on that glass in his side would do no one any favors - least of all the wolf.

"We gotta get him patched up. Help me get him on his feet?"

 

[Peregrine]

The moment the black fog vanished, Rhea jumped down into the newly created pit, racing towards the white wolf. Her shoes sunk into the newly revealed soil, but she did her best not to slow down. Unconsciously, her eyes flicked back and forth between the white fur of the wolf, and the dark hair of Death, who was trembling faintly, his arm splayed to the side to hold himself up.

Rhea felt like she couldn't breathe. They'd barely even gotten here, and things had already gone so wrong. How were they supposed to complete the mission when they couldn't even cross a meadow safely? Her fingers fluttered anxiously around Life's pale fur, desperately wanting to check his wounds, but even more afraid that she'd end up accidentally hurting him.

Fortunately, someone had no such reservations. Rhea glanced up the instant Chaos' long fingers appeared in her field of view, her magenta eyes watching the man's own golden irises, which were carefully scanning Life's wounds as he shifted back towards human form. Some of the panic in her settled. She wasn't the only one worried about the situation. Any trace of reservation towards the brown-haired man created by the Matron's words faded away.

Things might have gone wrong, but they were all still together. As long as they were unified, surely they'd be able to find a solution.

But they weren't out of the fire yet. Rhea's head snapped around at the sound of scraping glass, her hand instantly clamping tighter around the handle of her broadsword. There were only two left. If Chaos could carry Life and help Death stand, she was certain she could fend them off on her own until they found some sort of topography to block the serpents. Maybe they couldn't swim, or they could use some sort of cliff, or...

Rhea barely had time to tense at Chaos' shout before the golden vortex surrounded them. And then she felt the world briefly go dark, her stomach dropping out from under her like the horse she was riding had just suddenly bucked her off.

Rhea wobbled faintly when the whirlwind vanished, but she seemed to be doing much better than Death's Avatar, who had completely folded over and was now laying on the ground in a half-fetal position. Forcing herself to breathe carefully to control the twisting in her stomach, Rhea quickly turned her attention back to Life. The Shifter looked as though he was only a few seconds away from falling over.

However, Rhea still shook her head slightly at Chaos' request. "Not yet." Not because she wasn't willing to help the other, but because moving him, or doing much of anything, didn't seem like a good plan when they didn't know where they were going or even how they were going to treat him.

"Little wolf..." Rhea said softly, unaware she'd unconsciously picked Chaos' quirky little nickname instead of the more formal title of 'Life'. "If anyone here is going to have healing powers it's... gotta be you. Can you heal yourself?"

Wrapped up in worry about Life, Rhea didn't notice the way Death's shaking had grown more intense, or that his muddy eyes had locked on to the Shifter. Or, more specifically, the blood slowly dribbling out of the wound on his shoulder.

---

Ferus thought he wanted nothing more than to find some dark hole in the ground and hide there until nightfall. The sun was still stabbing into his eyes, causing his head to throb painfully in time to his heartbeat. The cloying sensation had vanished after their sudden teleportation, but it had left behind a bone-deep sense of weakness.

Except then, he found his fingers unconsciously digging into the ground, his shaking arms pulling him forward like he had transformed into a worm instead of a being that was supposed to walk on two legs. However, when his eyes lifted, his vision was instantly flooded with red light.

Instantly entranced, he began to wriggle his way forward, raw desperation and obsession only partially able to overrule the weakness that held down his entire body like chains. It was only when he felt like he was only an arm's reach away from the brilliant, crimson stream that his prone form gathered together, before he lunged forward like a striking snake, long, pearlescent fangs glinting in the sunlight.

And then there was warmth running down his throat, and Ferus finally felt like the world was no longer about to collapse on top of him.

 

[Kaisaan]

Little wolf.

First Chaos and now Unity, and Life couldn't help that he smiled faintly despite the pain and the nausea that still gripped him. He wouldn't say it, certainly not now and not to Chaos' Avatar who seemed far too familiar with him already, but he rather liked the nickname.

Strange.

Just as strange as Unity's sudden question and pale blue eyes met magenta, blinking, trying to focus because she'd asked him to and Kaleb didn't like denying people when they asked him to do something...especially when they asked so sweetly. For a moment the Lycan simply looked at Unity, though, his eyes flickering over her face, taking in her features, coming back to the lovely, soothing shade of her pale purple eyes and it was the concern he saw there that ultimately brought Kaleb back to some awareness. He needed to answer the question. The blond opened his mouth and then closed it, nothing coming out and Life's Avatar shook his head just a bit, but whether it was to clear the muddleness of his mind or in denial was unclear until he spoke, clarifying.

"I d-don't know. I've never tried. I...don't know if I c-can heal."

He had yet to test any of his Avatar powers, and in fact, seemed to have been the only one who hadn't tried to use any in the battle. Maybe he should have. Maybe he wouldn't be cut open and bleeding if he'd done more than see strange images that weren't actually there and then shift into a form that obviously would have little effect on glass.

Yeah, he could have handled that better...but then, who was to say whether any of his Avatar powers were offensive or good for fighting, even defensive fighting? Wasn't he supposed to, like....not destroy things? Not kill? No one had handed him the rule book on these things.

He'd barely been with Life Faction for more than a month before they'd done this to him, before they'd forced him to--

Pain.

It was a flashing, searing thing, causing Kaleb to cry out, the sound startled, slightly choked and he would have tried to pull away, but just as soon as the agony had bloomed at the junction between his shoulder and neck...the feeling was changing so very suddenly. Unexpected heat flooded outward from where fangs were sunk deep into his flesh and the blond gasped, a ragged sound even as his fingers curled unconsciously into Death's clothing, holding so tightly his knuckled turned white.

But Life wasn't shoving him away as he should have been. Wasn't trying to escape. He was trying to keep the other close.

The Lycan was tilting his head just slightly without understanding why he did, and it was enough to give the other male more access to what he sought, what Life was now offering without struggle, instinctively submitting to Death's demanding need. Trusting it.

Luca, watching the two, admittedly shocked as hell by the turn of events....cursed. Rather loudly. And not for the reasons everyone would assume because he instantly knew the consequences of this encounter and it wasn't mere bloodloss from a person who could ill-afford it....but they'd get to the intricacies of that later.

"Shit! Death, stop!"

Luca's tone might have been sharp enough to cut steel, but he didn't grab Death's Avatar - not because he was afraid of what the other might do, but because he knew that trying to pull the vampire (he HAD to be a vampire, or at least have some vampire in him) away from Life would only harm the blond further. Trying to get unwillingy teeth that sharp out of flesh...they might as well take a serrated knife and use it on the Shifter themselves, the result would be the same.

Instead the halfbreed Incubus-Siren used what he'd been born with and some blood to tempt Death away from his current prey.

It had taken very little thought to take the knife from his boot and slice across the top of his arm, deep enough that the blood ran freely instantly and Luca presented it to Death, his voice low and thrumming, like a purr or a song that tickled the ears, drawing one in, stirring longing and need, awakening curiosity.

"Leave him be, Avatar. He can't satisfy your thirst. Come to me. Come taste the sweetness of my blood. Come drink."

Luca had prepared himself for the bite, he really had, but all the same when Death's Avatar latched on to his arm, Chaos' Avatar had to bite back some very colorful swear words in a few choice languages.

Fucking hell, that hurt!

But the goal had been accomplished and even as Luca kept the red-eyed male busy, his own gold orbs looked to Unity's Avatar with urgency, relieved to see that she'd kept the Lycan from collapsing after Death had released the blond. "Move him away, if you can. I've got this." Oh, yeah, he had this. This was...utter chaos. His specialty. Good thing, too, because Death had just stepped in it royally and looking at the vampire, who seemed to be finally, maybe coming back to himself, Luca hissed between his teeth, swearing again under his breath.

Gods above, the vampire had no idea what he'd just done, did he?

Well.

Luca hoped Death was inclined toward long-term relationships, because he'd just initiated one with the Avatar who was his opposite in every way. This mission was certainly going to be anything but boring, wasn't it?

-

Loss.

Kaleb registered loss the moment piercing fangs left his skin and the Lycan wasn't aware that he whimpered, but that was alright becaue anyone hearing him would likely assume it was from pain, shock, fear. Who would understand it was none of those things that had elicited the sound, but longing?

A desire to have the sensation back even if it had been painful, even if he felt weak and lightheaded and his vision had and was going black at the edges. None of that mattered. The message the bite had sent through his body, through his mind, interpreted by the instinctive wolf that lived just beneath his skin, that's what mattered.

And the message had been simple, given in a way Lycans had transferred it to each other for thousands of years; he'd been Claimed. In the primal understanding that intertwined so tightly with his intelligence, his more rational mind so as to nearly be unidentifiable from each other - Kaleb belonged to Ferus.

In what way...that was unclear, even for the Lycan, but the fact still stood and no matter how he might try to logic it out later, the bite mark on his skin wouldn't be erased...and he wouldn't be able to control how he felt about it.

Right now, though, everything was mixed up in his head, in his body, pain and weariness overriding any instinct that would have had him moving forward, going after Death, and instead Kaleb leaned heavily into Unity's Avatar where she'd come against his side. This time the whimper that left him was for the pain and the Lycan, consciousness starting to slip away from him, didn't think before resting his head against the female's shoulder and softly nuzzling into her, voice only a mumbled whisper.

"M'don't f-feel good..."

 

[Peregrine]

Rhea felt her heart drop as a black blur passed through the corner of her vision. Thoughts ran through her head faster than she could track them. Had the glass serpents somehow caught up to them, or were there other dangers in the area. She should have thought to survey the area before looking after the little wolf. How were they going to fight now, with two of their number nearly incapacitated?

However, just as her reflexive grasp closed around the hilt of her sword, she finally identified the figure. Death, short black hair covered in dirt and the remnants of plant life, was hugging on to Life's shoulder.

No. Not hugging. Biting. And it seemed that the already-injured Life was incapable of getting him off.

Rhea's mind went blank as she stared at the unexpected scene, momentarily struck dumb. However, the shock didn't last for long after she heard Chaos' stressed shout for Death to stop. Rhea had met bloodsuckers before, of one form or another. Mentally, she scolded herself for not recognizing the signs of blood-depravation in him when he'd first collapsed. However, they couldn't let him harm Life any further, no matter how desperately he might need the blood.

Rhea immediately took off her gauntlet, exposing her pale and long fingers, before drawing her sword. However, she didn't turn it towards the dark-skinned Avatar. Instead, the blade spun neatly in her hand, the sharp edge coming to rest on her flesh.

But she wasn't the only one to think of that solution, and Chaos had even beaten her to it. As the lyrical words echoed in her mind, the broadsword wobbled faintly in her hand, dropping away from her palm and towards the ground. What was more, a momentary thirst surged in the back of her throat, causing her to suddenly and reflexively gag a second later.

But if his voice had even caused a brief temptation in her, it was impossible for the blood-starved Avatar of Death to resist. The Avatar released Life like he was dropping a hot coal, before lunging towards Chaos' arm. Rhea also moved instantly, darting forward to catch the swaying Avatar of Life, folding him protectively into her bosom like a mother guarding a child, before dragging him a little further away from the two men, worried that Death might suddenly attack again.

Her teeth grit at Life's faint, weak voice, but she forced herself to take a slow, calming breath. No, it would be okay. Sure, their only potential healer was now unconscious due to blood loss, and one of her two remaining allies was busy keeping the other from attacking his own team, but all that meant was that Rhea would have to do something herself.

And, sure. None of her innate abilities related to healing, and the most training she'd ever had in medicine was field dressing that was just supposed to last until they could get the wounded to a real doctor, but that shouldn't matter. After all, they'd been personally selected by the gods. And surely the gods wouldn't have chosen so poorly that they would be defeated by the very first challenge they encountered.

No, that couldn't be the case. Which meant, so long as the four of them were together, they should be able to overcome any obstacle put in their way. There had to be some way for them to get medical help if Life was incapacitated, and there was no way it could come from Death. Chaos was just as unlikely.

It had to be her. It had to be.

Rhea closed her eyes, desperately trying to reach inside her for the power that had flowed out of her when she had seen Life about to take the serpent's final blow. It was there. She didn't know what all it could do yet—she'd never received training for an Avatar, never even imagined the responsibility might be handed to her one day—but it still answered her call when she bid it rise. All she could do after that was send it out with a vague, prayer-like thought.

Make him better. Please.

---

Warmth.

Ferus was used to pain. He was used to suffering, abuse, and misery. It had followed him his whole life like a persistent shadow, never far away, waiting to envelop him if he so much as glanced backwards.

This, though. This was completely different. It was nothing like the fierce heat of fresh blood, nor the cold acceptance of Death's embrace. No, it was gentle, and welcoming, somehow nostalgic and familiar, like a long-lost child that had finally found its way home.

When Ferus finally opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a faintly iridescent pink mist. It took him a couple of seconds of blinking to realize that it was someone's skin, coated in a warm, pearlescent energy. Ferus reflexively moved back, feeling his fangs pull out of soft flesh.

He straightened immediately, unconsciously noticing the way strength had returned to his legs. A moment later, and his eyes met bright gold. Ferus' face was an emotionless mask as he stared at Chaos for several moments, before he slowly turned away, ignoring the other man.

It was only then that he noticed the unconscious Life, held in Unity's arms. The same pearlescent energy was swirling around their bodies, and it was only then that Ferus noticed it had surrounded him as well. What was more, faint lines connected the three of them to Life, gossamer strands that glinted in and out of existence like cobwebs caught in sunlight. Ferus could feel something inside of him being gently drawn down the thread, away from him and into Life.

Unconsciously, he tried to grab the spider web, tug it out of him, but his hand passed through the silken thread as though it wasn't even there. Two more tries forced Ferus to acknowledge that was, in fact, true. Folding his arms stiffly, Ferus stepped away from the other three, not coming to a halt until he found his back securely protected by the bark of a tree.

 

[Kaisaan]

Luca would be the first to say he hadn't expected much from Death when he finally realized what was going on - he didn't seem the type to overreact to things - but fuck, a thank you wouldn't have gone amiss. Shaking his head - carefully as he was feeling just a tad lightheaded - the Avatar of Chaos tore the hem of his shirt and hastily wrapped his arm to stem the flow of blood before he made his way toward Unity and Life.

It was a relief to see how instinctively the female had taken to cradling the blond in her hold - he wasn't the only one who seemed to almost instantly feel fondness for Life's Avatar. Good. Somehow that kindled just as instant respect for Unity in Luca's mind, his chest warm as he looked down at the glow around his skin and the tether from him to Life and then looked up to smile at the woman.

"I figured you would know something to help."

Luca lowered himself carefully to his knees - he really didn't want to fall over and cause more concern, and in truth he was fine as this was nothing a little time and some sugar in his system wouldn't cure - and he brought his pack around to start sorting through it. He came upon what he needed soon enough and pulled bandages, a blood-clotting agent (which he'd be sure to use on himself, too), a portable Sealing Lazer, scissors, tweezers and antibiotics.

At Unity's look, the golden-eyed male shrugged. "My mother is....overprotective. Good thing, eh?" A smile flashed, an expression that seemed to come easily to the brunette, and he brought his focus back to Life, pulling his shirt up carefully, noting that it was of an Old World design, just like his pants. Jeans, he thought they'd been called. It was safe to say that Life was probably from a Primeval World, one that kept to tradition and primative ways of living.

That....could make what Ferus had inadvertently done that much more...complicated.

A matter for a later time.

Pushing the thought aside, Chaos' Avatar cut away the parts of the shirt in his way - he'd apologize later - and then used his water to rinse away what blood he could so the glass shards were more visible. It was then that an alarming discovery was made; the shards were moving, slowly but surely working themselves deeper into Life's body.

"Shit. Hold him still if he wakes." The directive was given hurriedly just as Luca's movements were, the tweezers plucking the smaller shards out of the Lycan's body before the wounds were rinsed again, blood flowing freely once more and Luca used the back of his arm to wipe away sweat that had gathered on his forehead before going for the larger pieces, three in total. In the end, the tweezers were not working, the shards almost actively fighting removal and Luca abandoned them, taking hold of a shard with his bare fingers and pulling.

Life jerked in Unity's hold, his eyes moving rapidly beneath his lids, pain twisting his features and Luca, glancing up, winced himself but didn't stop what he was doing as the shard started to come loose. "Oh, little wolf, I'm sorry. I'm nearly done, I promise."

One shard out and shoved deep into the soil to keep it from going anywhere and the halfbreed was going in for the next, repeating the process. The second came out more easily, but the third proved more difficult like the first and Life was weeping now, half-awake, but making no effort to struggle loose from Unity's hold - as if he understood what was happening was necessary and would rather face it with comfort than without.

Finally the glass pulled loose and after buring the shard in the ground, Luca hurried to clean the wound and stop the blood. It took less time than removing the glass had and when he finally sat back with an explosive breath of relief, Life had blacked out again and his wounds were as treated as Luca could manage - even the bite-cut on his shoulder, though, Luca had only made sure it was clotting, but hadn't covered it. For reasons. He was no medic, no doctor, but he'd had some field training and he wasn't half bad at it. Hopefully it would hold until Life's body could heal itself.

A feat Unity seemed to be encouraging with her rosy-hued power glowing across all their skin. She was taking...energy from them, wasn't she? Energy that would help Life's system kickstart into mending.

Smart.

Using a little more water to rinse his hands, Chaos' Avatar then unwrapped his own arm a bit less hurriedly and set about rinsing it clean and examining the slash and bite wounds there. Nasty looking, but he'd live. Almost casually applying the clotting agent, golden eyes looked back to Unity after a moment, taking in the fact that she'd yet to release Life even though he wasn't in imminent danger anymore.

It was....endearing.

"I'm Luca, by the way. Lucas'Avero Valerian. What I might call you, Datura?" Golden eyes glanced to Death's Avatar then, still leaning against the tree, trying to appear as if he was unaffected by all this, but Luca highly doubted it was true.

There was a connection between all of them. He could...sense it, and these gossamer strands of energy between them, all heading to Life....those were just the ones visible to them, those were just the ones leading to the Lycan. The others...would reveal themselves soon enough. Call it an instinct.

There was no way Death wasn't feeling something - especially after biting Life.

"And you, shade? I can call you Death, of course, but it might get confusing in conversation...assuming we ever have any. It would require talking."

 

[Peregrine]

Rhea glanced up as Chaos approached, her face a strange mask of concentration and worry. Now that she'd used it, she recognized this power from the legends of Unity's Avatars. Ability sharing. It took from many and funneled it into one, allowing an Avatar to fight with the strength and speed of a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand men. An entire army's worth of individuals were brought together into one.

But Rhea didn't have an army, she only had herself and two others. Even if she boosted all of their ability to heal using the misty aura and then channeled it into Life, it barely seemed like enough to maintain his faint breath.

That was why she couldn't help but shake her head at Chaos' compliment. Rhea hardly felt like she was helping when she couldn't do anything to improve the situation. Her eyes dropped slightly, coming back to rest on Life's pale face, wishing there was something more she could do. But doing anything other than looking at him might break her concentration, shattering the little threads that were tying the four of them together and offering Life the extra traces of health he so desperately needed right now.

However, Rhea couldn't help but glance over again when she heard the faint rustling of someone digging through a bag. She saw familiar bandages extracted a moment later, followed by a series of tools that grew progressively more odd.

"What are..." she began to ask, before biting off the words. She'd heard stories of other worlds, and knew that the gods and their factions were in competition over more manners and forms of existence than Rhea could count. Every world came with its own habits and cultures, capabilities and skills. Clearly, whatever those tools were, they were intended to help Life.

Rhea herself came from a world of Fae. They lived in the shadows of human civilization, which grew and thrived off their strange, myriad blessings. Rhea had brought along her own collection of blessings, ones designed to set up protective barriers, to repair equipment, even to grow food in the worst of climes, but the rare healing blessings she had brought along only worked on Fae, and were poison to normal humans. Of course, the little wolf was anything but a human. But there was no way Rhea would test the blessing's effectiveness on him, especially not when he already seemed to be teetering on the edge of life and death.

So there was nothing Rhea could do but sit tight, trying to suppress her building frustration at her own impotence, and occasionally swiping the flyaway strands of hair off Life's sweat-soaked forehead. She was already berating herself for how she handled the last fight. Of course, she'd been thrust into an unfamiliar situation, attacked without warning alongside people she didn't fully understand, but that hardly seemed like an excuse looking back on it. She should have started making other plans the instant she learned how resistant the glass serpents were to damage, instead of just continuing to fight like an idiot. Maybe then none of them would be hurt.

Her faint guilt only grew worse as she saw the wounds on Life's torso. Rhea couldn't help but gasp and grimace at the sight of the pieces of glass that were wriggling their way deeper into Life's body like disgusting, transparent maggots. However, she responded obediently to Chaos' command, moving her hands under Life's arms, and pressing down at an uninjured spot on his collar. After a moment, she turned her head away from Chaos' bloody struggle with the fragments of glass, choosing instead to lower her face down to Life's and mutter faint, vaguely nonsensical reassurances into his ear. A few strands of her long, rosy hair were brushing against his face, but his pained struggling didn't give her time to release him and tuck them back where they belonged.

"It's okay. It'll be okay. I know it's bad right now, but he'll get the glass out and then you'll be able to heal. Just try and relax. It's okay, I'm here."

Somewhere along the lines his struggles seemed to fade slightly, and Rhea couldn't help but worry more. A silent tear traced its way down her cheek, before vanishing as it dropped into the tips of her hair.

Rhea didn't realize Chaos had finished his treatment until his voice broke her out of her reverie. She lifted her head, a faint trace of confusion in her eyes. "Huh?" she asked, before her mind seemed to catch up with the conversation her ears had just heard. A faint blush stained her cheeks. "Oh, you mean me. I'm Rheaveena."

Chaos—no, Luca—had introduced himself by his full name, but it wasn't a standard Rhea really intended to follow. That wasn't a name she'd had in use since she was a child. "You can call me Rhea. Or Vea. Or Datura, I suppose. It doesn't really matter to me.

"Are… you alright, Luca?" Rhea asked a split second later, her eyes running over the bite wound on his shoulder. A moment later, and her gaze followed Luca's own, drifting over to the ashen skinned man who almost looked as though he'd partially merged with the trunk of the tree. At the very least, statue-like didn't seem to be an inaccurate descriptor for him.

And true to that image, he remained completely taciturn under Luca's teasing gaze, seeming fully determined to maintain the perfect silence he'd displayed so far.

Rhea couldn't help but sigh slightly. Before this point, under the urgings of the matron, she'd been most worried about having to deal with the Avatar of Chaos. Now, however, she found this unsociable teammate giving her a much larger headache.

Of course, if it wasn't for him and his strange black fog, who knew if they'd still be fleeing from the serpents, trying to find a large enough window for Luca to teleport them all. You win some, you lose some.

 

[Kaisaan]

Most assumed that those who gave their loyalty to Chaos Faction were...a certain way. Violent. Delighting in turmoil. Destructive. Lacking any sort of moral compass. Certainly not overly caring or affectionate, preferring to be free of commitment and allowed to run amok as they wished.

These assumers weren't wrong. Not entirely.

In fact, Luca had family just like that. His older sister by three years, Ilia'nava, was exactly like that. She was the epitome of everything a member of Chaos should be and everyone - shit, even members on worlds three or four galaxies over - had thought she would be chosen as Chaos' Avatar. People knew her name. She had been in Chaos Faction since she was ten, her aptitude, talent and dedication for the Faction undeniable, even from a young age. Now, at thirty, she'd proven herself on many worlds, in many battles and there was no argument that she was the most logical choice for Avatar.

It had been the shock of a lifetime for everyone, Luca included, when he'd been selected by the Schism of Illusion.

There was no sense to it.

Oh, Luca gave his loyalty to Chaos Faction - his entire family had, for generations, and he wasn't unhappy about that, nor rebellious against it, but....he was nothing like this sister.

Some had even questioned whether Luca belonged to Chaos, whether he might not be more suited toward one of the other Factions. No one could quite name one where he would fit 'better' but...he certainly didn't mold perfectly to Chaos.

Yet, he'd been chosen. So maybe....he did, and the more extreme forms of his Faction were just that...extremists. Not a popular view and one he'd kept firmly to himself, but now, here...well, it was becoming more obvious why his sister had not been selected.

Ilia wouldn't have seen Rhea's compassion for Life as a strength. She would have been happy that Death kept his mouth shut and stayed out of things - in fact, she would have seen a way to use that to stir up the group further in the event that she needed them distracted or an opportunity to get her way. Ilia would have been everything Rhea's matron had warned her of.

Luca noted all of these things, too. He saw every opportunity for a chaotic influence, and at some point he'd utilize some of them, but he was different from his sister in the fact that he knew restraint was not the absence of chaos, but rather a tool in its répertoire. And he didn't disvalue the methods and natures of other Factions just because he wasn't part of them.

Rhea's instinctive desire to draw them all together, a core trait of Unity Faction, was not something to mock or look at with disdain. In fact, it was something he was more than inclined to allow to happen to him. Instead of fighting against that draw, he would simply fold his own Faction into the group and play his strengths off of theirs, let them cover his weaknesses and do the same for them.

Not a way of thinking that most of his Faction leaned toward, but it was the only thing that was going to accomplish this mission, wasn't it? Better that he understand that and accept it now - even if that meant he was ahead of the curve....or maybe just an outlier. Either way worked. It certainly worked better than the method Death seemed keen on applying and Luca shook his head, a roll of his eyes showing what he thought of the other Avatar's attitude.

There was always one.... He would bet anything he'd been assumed to be that one.

"I'm all right, Rhea." The answer was readily and easily given as Luca looked down at his forearm, more inconvenienced than concerned. "So long as I keep it clean, should heal up just fine."

And if she was right, and Life did have healing powers, maybe the Lycan would take care of it sooner rather than later, when he felt up to it.

-

It'll be okay.

I'm here.

Little wolf.

The softest of whispers, the last utterance given in two distinct voices, the soothing sound a touch against his spirit, wrapped up in the warm glow of energy quietly seeping into his body, and Kaleb wanted to sink down into that sense of well-being, wanted to let it shield him away from the residual pain.

He couldn't, though. Not fully.

There was something missing.

Two voices. There had only been two voices, familiar, welcome, wanted...but not complete. Where was the third? There was meant to be a third. He could feel it. His mind, his very being had found the cord that connected him to the third, brighter and stronger than the other two right now, and the moment Kaleb touched it, he felt an answering throb upon his flesh, between shoulder and neck. A painful sensation, but it gave power to the tug he applied to the cord.

Seeking an answering pull. Searching for the third he could feel, but had not yet heard in this whispering, soothing darkness.

Light. There should have been light, colors. The most pale, ethereal magenta and searing, heated gold. Where was the rich, vivid red? Why were there no colors? Sound - partially fulfilled - and sensation, there was even scent - moon, sun, blood - but where was the color? Why couldn't he see them, these three?

This wasn't right. It wasn't complete and the wolf felt the peace around him start to disintegrate.

Where was the third?

-

Life had begun to whimper.

Luca was unsure he'd been hearing it correctly before, but now he was sure as the blond's face registered distress, his eyes fluttering rapidly beneath his lids and sweat beading upon his far-too-pale skin. He'd been quiet, finally asleep under Rhea's soothing touch and Luca had helped her lay the Lycan down upon a bedroll when they'd gotten to the river, just a few minute's walk from where they'd been. Both of them had been relieved when Life's Avatar had stayed sleeping, mostly settled.

That had lasted all of twenty minutes.

Now the wolf was clearly agitated again and for a moment Luca was deathly afraid he'd missed a glass shard. He'd started to move, intent upon looking, finding out for sure - when a mumbled word from Life stilled him and caused the halfbreed to tilt his head as he came to partially hover over the other male.

Third?

Where was.....the third?

Gold eyes blinked, contemplating...and then suddenly understanding and Luca mumbled a very soft swear beneath his breath even as he turned his head to look at Death's Avatar, still cool as ice and statue silent. The third. Had to be because Rhea and Luca had already made their presence known.

Oh, this would be interesting...and potentially very, very difficult as Death had shown no inclination to be cooperative up until this point. If he felt anything regarding his sudden connection to Life, he wasn't making it known. Maybe....vampires weren't effected by such things? Was that possible, for a Lycan Claiming Bond not to take hold with certain species? Luca had never heard of such ever happening, but....he knew a Bond could be outright rejected...

He knew all too well what that did to a Lycan.

Chaos' Avatar did not want to see that again. It wasn't pretty, not even on worlds where advance technology could erase memories and alter the mind. Bonds went...deeper than that, and Life obviously came from a planet where the Old Ways were kept. A Claiming Bond among people like that....

Fuck, why hadn't HE bit Life? This would have made things so much easier and safer for Life.

Rather than try to talk to Death just yet - he'd already tried that with limited success, or rather, no success - Luca brought his attention to Rhea instead, noting she'd come closer, likely taking heed to Life's restless state. Gold eyes met magenta and the Incubus-Siren halfbreed grimaced just a little.

"He wants him."

A subtle gesture of the head indicated Death and Luca gave a frustrated-sounding sigh, his fingers just barely touching the skin near where the vampire had bit Life. "This here, it's not just a bite, not to Life. Lycan, they only bite when they are creating what's called a Claiming Bond. It's...complicated to explain, so let's just say that Death made a major inter-species faux pas doing what he did and he's now...linked to Life on a primal level."

Another whimper came from the injured male and Luca didn't think, didn't hesitate to reach his hand out and settle it on Life's head...only to touch Rhea's hand as she did the same. A smile, unexpected, touched Luca's mouth and he gave a soft chuckle that was far more genuine, warm, than it was teasing. A rarity for him, but then....this whole mission was swiftly turning everything on its head, wasn't it?

"I suppose, on some level, maybe we're all linked. Sure feels that way, doesn't it?"

That was undeniable. The real question was how they were all going to handle that - and for some of them that question was more pertinent than not.

 

[Peregrine]

After Luca removed the last shred of glass, Life almost immediately began to calm down. Still, it took many minutes before Rhea felt comfortable helping Luca move him to a nearby river, letting him go and laying him down fully on a spread bedroll. It had been long enough that it was clear he'd fallen asleep, his breath slow and rhythmic as his eyes darted about under his eyelids.

She released him slowly and carefully when the moment came, placing him down with a delicate gentleness that meant she was moving near snail-speed. However, the moment the action was complete, Rhea was on her feet, bustling around with determination.

They were staying beside the river until Life woke up and felt better, and that meant this was their camp in the meantime. Rhea had no intention of repeating any mistake she'd already made once. She placed a beautiful marble a few feet away from Life, its depths filled with an orange vortex that seemed to sink far beyond the confines of the little sphere. A few moments later, a gossamer orange dome rose around them, invisible if you looked straight at it, but clearly visible at the edge of the eye. For good measure, she added a few more, smaller marbles around the edges of the dome, reinforcing the strange effect and projecting a nearly invisible mist further out from the dome.

She didn't know if the barrier would be able to stop creatures like those glass serpents, which were so far outside her current understanding, but at the very least she was certain it would alarm if they drew close, giving Luca time to teleport them away again. She'd find a way to test it later, when they were safe and everyone was healthy.

After that, she set up a small campfire, pouring clean water out from another vortex marble—this one blue instead of orange—into a small, tall pot. It hadn't been that long since they'd started this journey, but some tea would surely soothe all their hearts.

Throughout all of her efforts, the majority of her attention was taken up by maintaining the auras that surrounded all four of them, and the gossamer connections that channeled their natural regenerative ability into Life. The ability was still unfamiliar to her, but she didn't dare let it waver too much, even if it meant stopping in the middle of what she was doing to try and stabilize it.

Perhaps that was why she still hadn't managed to finish the tea when Life began to get restless again. Rhea's head immediately snapped up, and she took the pot off the fire before standing up and walking over. Luca had beaten her to his side, and the young woman darted her eyes back and forth between the two of them, traces of concern written on her face.

Luca's reply to her silent question caused her lips to press together into a thin line, her eyes drifting in Death's direction.

She honestly hadn't been sure if he would follow them when they carried Life away from the spot where Luca's teleportation had dropped them. For some time after they'd first picked Life up and started walking, it had seemed as though he intended to go separate ways. At that moment, she had steeled herself to force him to follow if he continued to ignore them. Right now, the little wolf needed all the aid he could get, and Rhea would not let go of one of the three sources of energy she currently had.

However, despite her fears, he had followed in the end, ghosting along like a shadow behind them. He was so silent that Rhea would have needed to frequently glance in his direction, making sure he hadn't disappeared while she wasn't paying attention, if it wasn't that she could still feel his presence through the threads that bound them together.

When they'd reached the camp he'd picked the shadow of another tree, leaning against it with his arms crossed, his eyes as vacant as if he couldn't see them, and had simply wandered his way here by accident.

But he'd followed, and that was enough for Rhea. She hadn't seen a reason to bother him further.

At least she hadn't until now.

In full truth, the young fairy didn't entirely understand Luca's description. The variety of shifters she was used to were all types of fairies, and didn't seem to have any relation to those in her group. However, she still nodded in acceptance of Luca's words. As an Avatar of Unity, there was no way she wouldn't understand the importance of bonds.

And right now, her first priority was making sure Life was able to heal up, whatever that took.

Rhea sighed slightly, shaking her head, before offering Luca a smile that contained vivid yet slightly forced cheerfulness. "I'll go talk to him. I'm sure I can get through to him. After all, Unity should be able to get along with Death."

This time her smile was slightly more genuine. "They call death the 'great unifier' where I'm from, because everyone dies eventually. Regardless of what status you had in life. I'll… find a way to speak his language and persuade him. Somehow."

It was an optimistic comment, but Rhea didn't consider it without warrant. After all, he had followed them. Clearly he had some reason to stay with them, which meant she could get through to him.

She'd just have to find the right words to get through to him.

---

From the moment Ferus had leaned back against the tree, his entire head seemed to have been filled with blood.

It should have been the blood of the golden-eyed chaos that lingered in his mouth, yet it wasn't. Instead, it was that first bite that he couldn't remember releasing, simultaneously sweet and tangy, that he couldn't forget.

He could smell it too, like it was scant inches in front of him, as the two opened his chest. The crimson blood dripped on the soil, before being swallowed up by the ground. He couldn't help the slight pang of sorrow that arced through him at the waste, and his power surged in response, collecting the blood just hidden under the grass.

It wasn't night time. The sun dulled his senses, and he shouldn't have been able to smell the blood so sharply, mixed with a slightly earthy smell. His ears shouldn't have been filled with the thunder of a beating heart that seemed to subsume his thoughts, leaving nothing but the tidal waves of blood that filled his head.

Yet it continued anyways, and Ferus could only close his eyes and cross his arm, rejecting the sensations that were constantly urging him to bite the wolf once again.

No one had ever warned him that using Avatar powers would have such an effect on him.

Then again, there was no reason for anyone to tell him anything.

He was only able to straighten out his head somewhat when the other two picked up Life, carrying him away. For several moments he didn't follow them, making certain they were too occupied with Life to pay attention to him.

Instead, he stepped over to the place where they had been operating, and beads of fresh blood rose up around him before condensing into a small, shimmering garnet that dropped into his palm. He brought it up to his face, exhaling a cloud of warm breath before breathing in deeply, relishing in the smell that flooded his nose. However, just as he was about to put the stone in his mouth like a candy, he caught himself, tucking it in his pocket instead.

From a distance, the three of them seemed to be in their own little world. Of course, one of the three was unconscious, but even that fact didn't break the illusion. For several more moments, Ferus lingered, watching them walk away.

It wasn't until he felt the woman's eyes practically burning into his skin that he began to walk, trailing after them.

He wouldn't be able to survive out here without them, especially not if his powers messed with his head so much. And while Ferus didn't fear death, he'd come here to complete a mission. That was something he couldn't do if he was dead.

It had nothing to do with the smell of blood. He wasn't a beast.

He wasn't.

---

Ferus didn't move much once the group of three had picked their new location. Instead, he found another spot out of the sunshine, closed his eyes, and continued to focus on cooling his head. The only time he moved was when he felt a sudden tingle in the air that raced across his skin.

When he opened his eyes to check, he found that he'd been surrounded by a strange barrier. However, the thing didn't seem to be doing any damage to him, and the sensation on his skin faded a second later. Ferus closed his eyes again.

The pounding of the heartbeat in his ears had finally begun to fade somewhat, and the tip of his finger no longer tapped incessantly against the red gemstone he'd hidden in his pocket. It seemed like he'd finally started to go back to normal.

Yet all the calm he'd built up seemed to fly out the window once more when he heard a light pair of footsteps approaching him.

"Death."

Her voice was soft and melodious. There was a hint of apology in her tone, as though she clearly understood she was intruding. It made it very hard to get mad at her.

But that didn't mean he had any reason to open his eyes, or respond to her.

For several moments she remained silent, and if it wasn't for the fact that he could hear her breathing in front of him, he would have thought she'd given up and left. The silence didn't bother him. As a matter of fact, it was surprisingly comfortable. She was close enough that he could hear her heartbeat as well, lighter and slightly faster.

She must be anxious, stuck there opposite him as he stood in perfect silence. It was unexpectedly fun, keeping her there in suspense, waiting on him. No one had ever bothered waiting on him before.

But no good thing could last forever, and he heard her faint intake of breath after she finished gathering her thoughts and began to speak.

"The Avatar of Life isn't healing as fast as he should. Can you go check on him?"

Silence.

"I know it doesn't seem to fit, but neither Luca nor I have anything to do with health and wellbeing. At least, as its opposite, you can check if something's wrong."

Luca. By process of elimination, it had to be the golden-eyed man he'd bit earlier. Chaos.

"You're the only one here who can. He needs you."

Needs. The heartbeat in his ears seemed to echo louder, stimulating his own heartbeat. He could hear the other man's restlessness, and the taste of his blood once more filled his nose and mouth.

Going over to check wouldn't hurt. One brief walk, a quick look. Maybe he'd get a chance to gather another garnet.

...It was a strange thought. He'd never been so obsessive, not even in his worst moments.

Rather than urging him further, Unity fell silent again. Maybe she was finally getting frustrated with him, tired of his presence. It was a surprisingly disheartening idea, considering he was the one who all but intentionally caused it.

However, when she spoke again, her voice was still sweet. "Death, do you know why you're here?"

The sheer absurdity of the question finally caused Ferus to open his eyes, his brow raised as he stared at her. What greeted him instead was a soft smile and gentle eyes. She laughed faintly, and he found his eyes lingering on the corners of her lips as they arced upwards.

"I'm not talking about the fact that you were sent here by your faction. I know that. It's the same for all of us. I'm asking if you know why you're here, by this little stream with us."

Where else would he be?

"You could have left at any point. Walked the other way, or done your own thing. Yet you're still here with us."

Somewhere inside of him, Ferus couldn't help but feel a trace of admiration for how well she monologued. She was holding up one side of the conversation as though she was carrying two, yet, somehow, it wasn't nonsense. Maybe she was hearing some response he wasn't.

"I don't know if it's because of the serpents, and you think you'll be safer with us. Or maybe you're loyal to the mission. Or it could be another reason. What I know is you did choose to stay with us, and there's no purpose that would be served by leaving Life alone."

"What if I'm just waiting to watch you all die?"

Ferus had never liked the sound of his own voice. Raspy and hoarse, deep in a way that seemed ill-suited for his lithe, fit form. However, the sound of his voice caused Unity to beam.

"Then come watch a bit closer. You can't see well from all the way over here."

Ferus was briefly stunned into silence. That was not the response he'd expected at all.

"Better yet," Unity continued, taking no notice of his nonplus. "Tell us if he's about to die, so we can watch too."

"I'm no fool." The rebuke was the only thing he could think of. Unity was still smiling, her brilliantly pink eyes seeming to glimmer like starlight.

"I know."

Ferus gave up. And when Unity reached out a hand, digging his fingers out from where they were folded against his other arm, he didn't resist. Instead, he allowed her to envelop his hand in both her own, and pull him forward. Pull him forward all the way to Life's side.

The smell of his blood was overwhelming, and Ferus' free hand clenched reflexively around the gem in his pocket. For a moment, all he could think about was biting the other again.

Instead, he dropped a cursory eye over the other's body. "He's fine," Ferus pronounced. "There's no death shadow on him."

The other just needed time to heal. Unity's little threads seemed to be doing their job. Ferus tried to step back again, only to realize that his hand was still being held by Unity.

"Stay," she implored.

"It's too bright."

"I'll deal with the sun. Keep an eye on him?"

With one hand, the other still firmly holding on to him, Unity grabbed a dark marble, filled with swirling silver. The light of the sun seemed to fade slightly around them, and the prickling on his skin faded. Under the urging on Unity's delicate hand, Ferus found himself sitting down next to Life.

His eyes seemed stuck on Life's pale form. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear a silvery voice.

"Would you make us some tea, Luca? I think I'd better stay here with them."

 

[Kaisaan]

Well he'd be damned.

She'd done it. Luca wasn't sure how, but she had and though it was Death that Life wanted and he should have been watching the other Avatar closely to make sure he didn't screw something up in this moment that was far more delicate that anyone but him was aware, Luca found that he couldn't quite keep his eyes off Rhea right now.

That...had been amazing.

Unity's Avatar indeed.

Huh.

Maybe there was some hope for the connection between Death and Life after all - maybe that was overly optimistic of him, but Luca had to be right now. He'd lost a friend to a rejected Claiming Bond and it was...a heartbreaking way to watch someone die. He might not have known Life for long, but he didn't want to see that happen to the Lycan. Here was hoping that Death felt the same way...despite the Faction he was in. The circle of life and all that shit was well and good, but there was no death without life and in this place, they needed all four of them - that was becoming more and more clear as the minutes ticked by.

They certainly needed Rhea, far more than Luca would have believed possible. Truth be told, she might be the most valuable of all of them, and in the spirit of gratitude, when she asked for him to make tea, he didn't respond with a quip but rather nodded and did as she wanted.

It was the least he could do, especially when she now had the hard job of keeping Death where he was....especially as Life started to respond to the other male Avatar's proximity.

-

The third smelled like blood and death.

And Kaleb didn't understand why that should be so comforting, nor why he wanted to draw closer to the source of it. Maybe it was because upon a deeper inhale, there was something else detected, too. Something like the pale light from a crescent moon. The other, the first, she - was it a she? Yes, he thought it was - smelled like the rich light that came from a full moon and winter snow giving way to spring. She smelled like the spices of autumn and the hot winds of summer. She was sunlight, too. Everything and the absence of nothing. The second, his scent was harder to pinpoint. Like fire and summer sunlight at its height, earth and the stars and the darkness. He - it was a he, Kaleb knew that with surety - was fear and joy, grief and laughter and none of things and all of them, overwhelming.

But the third, his scent was dimmer, subtle but it pulled at the Lycan and he followed it, reaching out for it until something came beneath his fingers and he grasped it, afraid if he let go it might disappear.

The thread between them was so tight now, so close and still there was no response from the other side and that terrified Kaleb - to be so close and so far, sending out need along that connection with only silence returning.

Or...was it silence?

The third had drawn closer, enough to be scented, touched, sensed, so perhaps he was hearing - he? Yes. Yes, he - but didn't know how to respond? Did he not understand? How....could that be possible when it was he who had formed the link between them?

Kaleb struggled to think, his head heavy, fogged and even this state was starting to slip from him, darkness encroaching. The Lycan whimpered, drawing closer to the scent of blood and death, curling as near as he was able despite the pain it caused, taking comfort in the new points of contact between them before the black of oblivion engulfed him completely, dragging the Lycan down into far deeper sleep where nothing was known.

-

It concerned Luca that Life was moving, even marginally, as the Lycan's face registered pain. He'd taken hold of the fabric of Death's pants almost immediately, but now it didn't seem to be enough as he curled closer to the male in question until one knee was brushing Death's hip and his forehead had come against the other's leg, his fingers curling tighter into clothing, almost desperately as he whimpered.

It brought Chaos' Avatar over, tea in hand, and he set the pot down near Rhea, the cups as well, but his attention was for Life and coming around to the blond's back, he glanced at Death for just a moment (instinctively making sure that the other wasn't going to snap at him as Bonds made people do things they themselves might not anticipate) before reaching out and feeling Life's cheek with the backs of his fingers.

He was warm, perhaps not feverish yet, but the possibility was there and it brought a frown to Luca's face before his hands moved down to Life's torso, moving the bandages gently and only enough to ensure he hadn't made anything worse with his movement.

All seemed well and the halfbreed gave a sigh before turning slightly, grabbing the blanket attached to his pack and spreading it over Life. It wasn't particularly cold, but blood-loss made it difficult to regulate body temperature and with the chances of a fever setting in, keeping the Lycan warm was paramount.

Luca himself decided to stay where he was, sitting down fully and pressing his side against Life's back, hoping to convey to the unconscious Avatar that he wasn't alone. That he was safe.

And then gold eyes moved to Death again, a brow rising, though it wasn't in challenge or even attitude. Simply curious. "Will you tell us your name?"

There would be no harm in that, right? Despite the way the other seemed to want to keep to himself, he'd let Rhea draw him over here and he'd stayed with them, so there had to be some part of Death that knew he'd have to work with them even if he didn't want to be friends (to bad, too). A name would at least help things from being confusing and it couldn't be that much to ask from the vampire, certainly not so important a piece of information that he'd keep it from them.

Unless he really was just an asshole.

Somehow, despite all evidence to the contrary, Luca didn't think that was true. He'd met plenty of those in his lifetime. Death didn't strike him as the type, not really, not even with his current behavior. An asshole wouldn't have let Unity's Avatar convince him to come over here.

No, there was something else at play with Death and Luca would figure out what it was, in time. For now, he'd press, just a little, but would leave the convincing to Rhea. She seemed spectacularly good at it and far be it from Luca to get in the way of such talent.

 

[Peregrine]

Rhea took almost no note of Luca's gracious compliance to her request. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the man's support—under normal circumstances she would have been more than generous with her gratitude—but simply that she didn't have the bandwidth to notice.

She was still clinging lightly to Death's hand, and it meant she could feel every twitch of his fingers, the strange bursts of tension that caused the ligaments on the back of his hand to momentarily stand in relief. Something similar to gut instinct told her that the red-eyed man was only one wrong move from bolting, and if he started running Rhea didn't know where he would stop.

Death, however, hardly seemed conscious of his actions. His eyes were fixated on Life, same as they had been since the moment he was placed next to the other man by Rhea's guidance. His eyes were an impenetrable haze of dark emotion.

Rhea glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He hardly seemed aware enough that he'd notice even if Rhea stared outright, but she still didn't dare risk it. As Life's fingers crawled across the ground, tangling around the loose leather fabric of the other man's pants, Rhea watched the way Death's upper lip curled, revealing a glint of white teeth and fangs.

Disgust? Rhea had seen plenty of sneers in her life, but something about the situation just didn't feel right to her. Death hadn't edged backwards from Life's approach. Even now, the injured blonde was continuing to edge closer and closer to the vampire, who once more appeared to be imitating a statue if it wasn't for the way his fingers and upper lip continued to twitch. The man's fingers had clenched so tight around the waist of his own pants that the fabric was starting to distort.

The three of them remained in that strange moment where time seemed to have slowed to a crawl until Luca arrived, setting down the tea near them. Rhea skillfully lifted the pot with one hand, pouring it into the empty cup, her other hand still occupied with maintaining a gentle but reassuring contact with Death's hand.

The noise and motion seemed to wake Death up from whatever trance he'd been in, causing him to flinch away from Life. As his torso moved away, Rhea allowed her arm to stretch with him, her other hand guiding the tea to her lips.

Death came to a halt again when he found himself at the end of two sets of fingers, Life's coiled around his pants, Rhea's around his hand. Neither Rhea nor Life held him with any particular strength, yet he still stopped when the faintest pressure of resistance reached him. It caused another smile to flirt with the edges of her lips.

"Let go."

Death's voice was short and husky, sounding like he'd swallowed something sticky. Rhea, however, tilted her head slightly.

"Why?"

Death's eyes darted to the side. "I don't want…"

Instead of responding, Rhea gently lifted their entwined hands. Even a glimpse was enough to see the large gaps of air between the majority of her fingers and his skin, the only true points of contact being her fingertips and the heel of her palm. On the other hand, Death's fingers were gripped tightly around her hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Luca checking Life's wounds. She couldn't help but feel her heart leap at the frown that crossed his face. Somehow, she'd already developed an implicit trust that Luca had Life's best interests at heart. If he was worried, there was likely a good reason for her to be as well.

However, her knowledge of medicine was barely enough to fill a thimble. If Luca's words were to be trusted, and she'd long since decided they were, the very best thing she could do for the little wolf was to ensure he was capable of self-healing, and keep Death close to him.

She studied the vampire's fine-boned face with a firm determination. Even after pointing out the way he was stubbornly clinging to her, his fingers still hadn't loosened. Not wanting to accidentally spook him, she kept her fingers still and her words kind.

"It's okay," she stated, unsure where the reassurance was directed, but wanting to comfort him anyways. "You don't have to."

Death's eyes drifted back to Life as Luca laid a blanket across his huddled form, and Rhea felt some of the way the flightiness left the vampire's shoulders. She released a silent breath of relief.

They were only silent for a few more moments, before Rhea raised her head again. Luca's golden eyes seemed to contain a physical weight as they stared at Death, nothing hostile, just heavy and full of presence. Even the vampire couldn't seem to ignore them, as his head lifted again.

Rhea repressed the momentary impulse to interrupt their conversation, short and simple as it was. She was babying the vampire, and she knew it. Her behavior was no more sustainable in the long term than Death's aloofness.

However, she still pressed her lips together slightly as she felt Death's fingers positively spasm around her hand at Luca's question. What could have caused that reaction?

Yet, after several long, stretching moments of silence, he still answered.

"Ferus."