It was a gruesome night for Hector and Emil. The two got to experience horrific acts that neither of them could possibly describe. They both felt a kind of pain that could never be truly understood save for those who had gone through it. In that way, Hector and Emil bonded, experiencing things together, as one. At least, Lewis wanted to think it that way. It was…ironic and poetic.

The night waged on, and Lewis and Simone took turns torturing and playing with their victims. When they grew bored with it, they took advantage of each other, experiencing each other in ways that only they could. Daggers were used on each other, the pain enhancing the pleasure, all while the poor tortured souls watched on. Once the twisted couple finished with each other, they turned their attention back to their toys. This cycle went on through the night, and Lewis lost count of how many times he and Simone took their ‘breaks.’ He was content though. Happy even.

“I hadn’t expected them to last this long,” he said during one of the more hideous displays of violence. Hector had been given hands for feet, and feet for hands. “Come now, Hector…wiggle them for me…I want to see…Hector?” There was no life behind his eyes. The young man frowned, wiping his brow. He was naked, and covered in blood. “Dear…I think Hector has finally departed…” He looked back to see his equally blood soaked wife in all her glory.

“What do you say, then…one more round before we finish off Emil?” The Duke had long since lost his tongue, and for good measure Lewis had sewed his mouth shut. “I’m not used to using other people’s blood…this is…definitely a lot different..” He smiled, embracing his wife and kissing her, tasting the blood on her lips.

There were a lot of breaks in between everything and that was actually okay. She could feel Emil’s envy up until he was practically dead on the inside. “No~ They proving to be quite resilient maybe even more so than I am.” She let out a sigh as they discovered that Hector was indeed now dead. “Hector truly was weak in the end… What a shame. I thought he would have more fight than that one,” she pointed Emil. Simone couldn’t tell whose blood was whos at this point. It was all intermingling on their skin and it didn’t bother her. Maybe once upon a time, it would have but she saw the world how it truly was and it wasn’t a beautiful fantasy.

Simone kissed him back and put her forehead to his, “That sounds like a plan to me~ We should wash up before we burn this whole place to the ground. I’ll even let you bundle me up in a blanket and carry me home like an ailing princess~ Your poor defenseless sick wife that I am.” She tussled her hair with sass as she gave him a smirk.

One more round was what they had before she took a dagger and slit Emil’s throat. The gurgling noise was satisfactory as she took Lewis’s hand. “Come on Handsome~” One long bath later and she was bundled up in a blanket since her dress was most definitely beyond repair. Her long dark hair was sopping wet and she was shivering from the night air on her wet skin.

The entire vacation house lit up in black flames as they intended on leaving no evidence that Simone and Lewis had ever even existed. “Let’s go home. I’m tired Lewis~ and I’m sure Dala is worried sick.”

Lewis did his best to behave himself when they bathed. Once they were finished, and the two had set the vacation home alight, the assassin held Simone in his arms like a newlywed, making sure she was well and bundled. It would be a quick gate over, and no time at all, but Lewis didn’t want it to end just yet.

He turned to watch the building burn, and the two enjoyed a quiet moment as the crackling flames lit up the night sky. Lewis truly was content being with Simone, even if he rarely expressed it in a physical display of affection. If it hadn’t been for their resonance, he might have even feared that Simone didn’t understand the depth of his love.

“All right…let’s go home.” The portal opened for the two, and they stepped back onto the Isle el Koskaan. The night sky was beautiful, and even though Lewis pretty much ignored it, he could tell that Simone was happy. He walked inside, carrying her into the foyer. At once, Kalina, Leilah, and Raile all huddled around the two, with Leilah asking a thousand questions.

Kalina managed to talk her sister down, and shooed Lewis away to take Simone upstairs. It wasn’t long before they were upstairs, with Lewis gently laying his wife down on their bed. He brought her a nightgown, and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment as she changed. Once she was done, she took Lewis’ hand and squeezed it.

“Can you go get Dala?” she asked.

The assassin gave her a look, but Simone pouted. “Fine. I’ll be back…” He stood up, and made his way back down to the foyer. It didn’t take long for Kalina to direct Lewis to the room they had put her in, and Lewis found himself knocking.

“Dala. It’s me. I got Simone back and she wants to see you.” The exhaustion was catching up to him too, and he sounded exhausted.

The sound of the tapping on her door was enough to bring the child back from her sleep. She yawned then got off her bed, being careful with her arms. Although they were bandaged and healing, they still hurt quite a bit. She made her way to the door and carefully opened it. The child's hair was a mess and her eyes seemed drowsy. But when Lewis told her the news, she had a sudden burst of energy and a big smile. Lewis sounded exhausted and she knew Simone would be tired too but she didn't care. She bolted down the hall like a girl on a mission and opened the door with a slam.

"Simone!" She exclaimed, "You're alive! Do you have any injuries? Kalina'sreallygoodwithhealingandstuffsoyoumightwannaseeher."

Her words became a jumble as she was thinking faster than what her mouth could keep up with. Dala had also forgotten about the wrappings around her arms and forgot to make an effort to hide them. Instead she just jumped onto the bed and looked for Simone, who was snuggled in the bed. The child lifted the blankets as if she was looking for her friend.

"Hi." She said with a goofy smile.

Dala had just woken up from a nap, so her silliness levels were higher than normal. Besides, her friend could have died! Again! For like the hundredth time! It would have hurt a lot and she was afraid they'd have to deal with that amnesia again.

"So who did it? Who was after you? And why didn't you just let me follow?" Dala asked.

Simone was startled as she laid in bed with the blankets up to her waist. From a look of shock, she changed course to chuckling towards Dala. “Yeah, Kali is really good but her sister Leilah is the actual healer of the two. She probably told Kali what to do,” Simone winked at her and shook her head. “It’s actually healing quite fine on its own believe it or not. I didn’t realize how fast I healed until now.” Something that was quite useful for her to know for the future. She could plan around that if need be.

There was more laughter as Simone grabbed Dala and pulled her under the heavy blankets with her in a hug. She was glad that Dala was alright. “Hi Silly girl,” Simone kissed the top of her head.

“Let’s see… Where to start for the ever-curious Dala,” Simone thought about it as she closed her eyes and mulled. “So, I’ve told you that Lewis was hired to kill me and that’s how we met~ My husband of that time was named Emil Somerset, he is a duke. Emil was the one who had the bounty on those women who looked like me. Evidently, there were rumors spreading fast that he had hired someone to kill me and that didn’t sit well with the other nobles since I had good relations with them. So he tried to find someone to impersonate me~”

She held Dala closer and frowned a bit, “It was coincidence I was even targeted most likely because I was in Adeluna and because I am the one he was trying to find a match for… Well you can put two and two together. They didn’t even realize it was me until I said so.” Snuggling down in she thought about how to process the next part.

“Dala, I want you to listen to me okay?” She pulled the child back as she leaned against the headboard of the bed, “I have been tortured longer than I can remember throughout my life. Nothing they could have done would ever amount to the suffering I am already been through. What would hurt me most is if they had captured you or hurt you.” She took Dala’s arms gently, “Even seeing this makes me sad. Do I want to know how this happened?” She shook her head and smiled, “I didn’t want you to follow because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I know that no matter what and no matter where I am that Lewis will come find me. If I can survive nearly two thousand years of suffering than I can suffer just a bit longer until Lewis comes to get me and I know YOU are alright.” She stroked Dala’s blonde hair.

“You are still only a girl Dala and while you are strong… It doesn’t mean that I want to put you through the things that I know exist in the world. If they had been sex traffickers or anything of the sort I didn’t want you involved in that. That’s why I didn’t let you follow me because I wanted to protect you. I wasn’t concerned about myself in the least.” Another kiss to the top of Dala’s head and Simone closed her eyes while she thought.

“You can always trust and believe in Lewis to find me whenever there’s trouble or protect me if he’s here and I can’t do it myself. Alright?”

Dala smiled as she was given a hug then Simone began to tell her what had happened. It was that duke that had tried to kill her through Lewis, apparently he wanted to save his reputation and get a similar looking girl. That explained why they were going after women who looked like Simone. She then was pulled back as Simone had that serious face that all adults had when they were about to give a lecture. But Dala kept her face calm and listened intently. Although Simone's words flared up her independent nature and her desire to talk back, she kept her tongue still. The child could see that Simone just wanted to protect her, even if Dala believed she didn't need that protection.

"The injuries were my fault. The portal was closing so I forced magic to open it." She explained, "I know I'm not supposed to use advanced spells but…."

Dala understood that Simone was tough and that she could handle everything until Lewis was there to get her however,

"Its a big world out there. Lewis would track you down for a thousand years if he needed to but…" She gave out a small sigh, "I don't have a thousand years. I'll get seventy or eighty, if I'm lucky. I'm sure you would be fine but I'm only a human. By the time you got back I might have been gone. I'd rather risk my arms than lose another person I care about."

The child was surprisingly very aware of her own mortality. At the end of the day, she was just a human girl surrounded by long living people or immortals. They had thousands and thousands of years while she had maybe ninety. It wasn't something she ever complained about yet sometimes she worried that they'd forget she only had so much time left. It was why she always worried about her parents. She could give them all her days, but they would be without her for the rest of theirs. Deciding that thought was too sad, she decided to move onto something else.

"I understand though. But don't think for a second I'm gonna let that happen again!" She declared with a smile, "Next time I'll bring my snake so SHE can beat up the bad guys!"

Lewis had left Dala and Simone alone for quite some time, thinking it best that he stay out of their time together. Things had always been a little awkward around him and Dala due to a certain contract that had been placed on her life, and while things were a lot better than before, Lewis was never really sure hot to interact with her. He had spent quite some time prowling the halls, looking over what Kalina had done with the place. From an aesthetic point of view, he had no idea if it was ‘fancy’ but he definitely enjoyed the way it looked. It was pleasing. Eventually he ended up changing out his gear in a spare bedroom.

Of course, he was running out of things to do, and he found himself standing back in front of their room, simply just standing there. There was a noise from within, Simone calling for him to stop dawdling and come in already. She knows me too well… He opened the door, and slid into the room where Simone and Dala were laying in the bed. Simone was holding Dala, gently storing the girl’s hair.

“You looked exhausted…” Lewis whispered. He walked over, and smiled. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Stop making small talk and get in bed. Here…” She patted the place beside her.

“But-”

“Did I stutter?” she said. “C’mon now.”

Lewis sighed, and got into the bed, to which Simone leaned against him. It wasn’t long before the trio fell into a deep sleep, finally safe.

“Oh for the love of…” Rhenakos sighed, dropped the roped man on the ground. The vacation home was well on it’s way to being burned to the ground, fames licking the sky as they danced about. The hunter sighed, and sat down next to the tied man, who was still fighting against his restraints.

“You know,” Rhenakos said as he took out a flask and started to drink. “It’s always ‘do this, Rhen. Help out here Rhen. Head over here and hunt this person down Rhen!’ It gets to be a lot, man…” The hunter sighed and took another swig. “I really get tired of all this free labor, ya know?”

“Can…you just let me go now?” the father said as he finally gave up on his struggles. “Obviously my idiot son got what he deserved, so I can just…go my merry way, right?”

The demon hunter took a rather large swig. “Ya know, it’s been great getting this off my chest.” He stood up, pocketing his flask. He pulled the man up with one arm, and started towards the burning building. “It’s good to vent sometimes. Anyway, it’s been a fun. You know…chasing you across the countryside, finding you in an aged oak barrel…man that smelled good. Might go back and get some…”

“Would. You. Just. Shut. Up!” the father yelled, finally snapping. “I demand that you release me this instant you buffoon!”

“Good talk.” Rhenakos swung the man around in a wide arc, and launched him into the burning building. He dusted off his hands and jacket, ignoring the screams, and took out his flask again. He went to take a sip, but it was empty. Disappointed and dejected, the hunter made his way back towards Adeluna.

“I wonder how the hell I’m getting back to Jayou…”

“And why would you have to go all the way back there?” a familiar voice asked. There was the sound of a babbling baby followed by it, and sweet hushes as Osiria came into view from behind a tree. “Izzy missed you…”

Rhenakos smiled. “Well, well…you just made my whole day…”