Before he could protest he found himself flung into the entrance.  His eyes widened as he turned his body to land on his back, gripping Torinasu to keep it safe and tilted while he landed hard on his other elbow.  Times like this he was glad not to be fully human or that would have likely shattered, still didn’t keep it from hurting though.  Biting against a sound of pain, his elbow finally buckled and gave out when she toppled onto him, and he quickly wrapped his arms to make sure she couldn’t go falling down whatever abyss they might have been near. 
 
He looked around and was able to make out her face but how couldn’t he when it was so close to his?  Close, too close, he swallowed down and looked away from her, glad for the darkness when his face grew hot.  Helping her to her feet, he too stood up and dusted himself off.  You see Lily?  This is why you don’t dress people like us in such clothing. She was speaking to him but his nose caught a whiff of something he’d wished it hadn’t.  Eyes slowly moving down, he saw the source: a trail of blood.  It wasn’t fresh enough to belong to their dazed man, but there was no mistaking what it was.
 
“Never a good sign.” he said as he followed it to a suspiciously well-kept altar.  Now this he recognized, and his stomach churned with ideas of what all of this was leading up to mean. “The Death Singer…I don’t like it.” His followers weren’t known for their lightheartedness.  Where any signs of him were could only mean misfortune for the innocent, and he didn’t hesitate as he continued to follow the trail deeper down into the catacombs. 
 
The further they went, the more difficult it became to see, a problem he wasn’t used to.  He silently spoke to Minasé in their head, What do you see? The daemon’s disinterested voice answered instantly, “Aside from you wasting time?  Nothing.  You could always let me out though…it could speed up this entire process.” Well that was the end of that conversation.  Fingers wrapped around his arm, their grip showing nothing short of urgency and his eyes flashed red as he rose his free hand: a ball of energy already formed to shoot,
 
“D-Don’t!” it was a man, and he quickly pulled his hand back and held both of them up, one of which was holding a lantern that somehow had managed to cut through the darkness. “P-Please, I mean you no harm.  I only wish to assist-you’ll never make it further without proper light.” The man was no fool and outstretched a shaky arm, offering the lantern to them while never letting his eyes move from Naota’s raised hand.  The energy there was fading though and guilt replaced his quick action as he lowered his hand down, “Why help us?” His tone was thick with suspicion,
 
“Because you aren’t the first to try…” Cryptic…The haunted look in his eyes only cemented it more, but still he narrowed his own before closing them completely.  His aura was spiked, fearful, but this was genuine terror.  Either way, they would need his lantern and when he opened his eyes they were their calm emerald once more, “Thank you…Though if I were you I’d go above ground.”

He helped her up and she was glad he couldn’t see her blush either. This was all Lily’s fault as far as she was concerned. Getting down the steps she could smell the old blood as well. She covered her nose. “Oh that is disgusting. I hate the smell of dead blood.” Say it was a nice parting gift from their vampire genes but she couldn’t get over how nasty and vile it was. Her stomach was turning. “It’s only going to get worse isn’t it?”

Once she had seen the altar she nodded. “Aegir, lots of stories about him. I know I had to ask Angela lots of times when dealing with old followers of his on this continent. She wasn’t about when he was but she has enough stories to fill a book.” She took out the insignia. “But his sign isn’t the one that belongs to this group. So what does Aegir have to do with all this?”

The further they got in the more she began to latch onto Naota’s hand. She wasn’t able to see in the darkening area around them and that was unnatural to her. When they were pulled she almost brought in a dagger and took the guy’s eye out. She breathed heavily. “What do you mean we aren’t the first ones?” There were others?

Looking at the lantern she let a frown come to her face. “This isn’t any old lantern. This is Lucina’s. She was the moon goddess or something like that. She was one of the few gods that was before the fall, a good god that ended up becoming tainted.” She didn’t know anything about the lantern though.

As they proceeded down the hallway she felt someone come up behind her and put a knife to her throat. “I’ll kill her, I’ll kill her dead.” His breath was terrible as she gave Naota a look of disappointment. That was all this guy had? She threw her head back and head butted him. The knife just barely grazed her neck as she surprised suplexed him onto the ground. “I say we get him to talk.”

She ran her hand over her neck and looked at the blood. “Great.” She kicked him the guy awake after one of them was holding him still. “Talk before I take your balls off.” Her scythe was in direct line of fire for that little miracle.

“Aegir, Malach, and Concordia will protect us. We’ll bring them alive like pyrotechnics in the skies. When they are here they will end all the nonbelievers. You’ll see… You’ll all see. Don’t believe me go look in the next room.” He was a maniac with a laugh to match. “What should we do with him?”

(( OOC: Um…I have permission for everything you're about to read… >3> ))

To keep them from hearing any of this obviously crazed man’s spouting, he arched an eyebrow and sent a rush of paralysis through him.  This man wasn’t worth much more of their energy, and he quickly flicked his wrist: opening a portal next to him before lightly kicking him in.  The portal sealed up around him and his eyes lifted up to hers, “I’m not that sadistic, it’ll open in a cell.  He’ll be out of commission for quite some time and we can’t risk him.” There was so much death already, and killing him wasn’t the first thing on his mind.  Oh how soon that would change though, he just didn’t know it yet…
 
As they continued to move he heard the soft notes of chanting, each growing stronger and louder the closer they became.  What he saw from their safe spot spiked his heart.  Too much insanity, obvious signs of death, and crazed mutterings: this was a cult.  His head began to grow light, his eyes flickering constantly from green to red as he pressed one of his hands to his forehead.  The pressure was building, and his eyes strobed faster before stopping suddenly on crimson.  His breathing deepened and a low growl formed in his chest though he kept his lips pressed…until his canines started to come to a point. “I told you it would be easier if you let me handle it…” No!! His eyes closed quickly just as the roots of his hair started to bleed from dark brown to red.
 
They spoke of the old gods, of the fortune that would come from their wicked deeds, and he could control himself no more.  Fast as light he ran forward, hands coming together before quickly pulling apart: a thick bolt of dancing electricity between them.  Spreading his hands, the bolt lurched and twisted until he sent the charges out and down the throats of the circled chanters.  They quickly burned and began to spasm as they were incinerated from the inside out. 
 
Before their bodies could drop or crumple he pulled Torinasu from his side so fast that it sliced through the edge of its sheath.  So much negativity, his blade was hungry for it and consumed nearly all of it before slashing out with enough force to send a slicing wave of holy light throughout the room and through the chests of those left standing.  Their upper halves slowly slid from their waists and the screams of the innocent echoed in time with the wet smack of cut limb against stone.  Torinasu’s energy pulsed, sending wave after wave of raw untapped power up his arms and shoulders, and moving faster than a blink he shot from person to person: swiftly slicing and hacking them until any remaining cultist was left in shambles of their former selves.
 
With a pained groan he held the hilt in one hand, his other arm arching over his head quickly to cast a protection spell over himself, Echo, and the poor victims that were ensnared by these maniacs.  As his hand dropped back down he gripped the hilt in both hands and slammed his blade into the cement: it’s diamond sharp point not even dulled as it sliced into the stone and sent out a burst of light so strong and hard that the very walls and ceiling shook with dust.  Any person in the chamber not under his protection had their flesh torn from bone, clothing disintegrated, and the sticky pool of blood was splashed against the wall and floor; even his own clothing was left in tatters, though in a much better state than those that had felt the full force of his blow.  His chest rose and fell heavily as his eyes closed tightly.  The wicked were dead, but he still longed for more destruction…

She had seen the change in him, it had to be what she was warned about when talking to Holly. Something deep rooted into him that no one could touch. She paused for a moment, it could be bad but he had somewhat control over himself. She leaped into the room avoiding the blood, if only to avoid Lily’s wrath, and got up to the altar. She managed to throw the head priests in Naota’s direction, she knew that he would get up to her eventually. She cut loose the victims and kept them calm as she escorted them through the hallway. “Get out of here. NOW.” She snapped them up the stairs and watched them get away as the final bloody sounds reached her ears.

Her ears gently twitched at the silence. She looked at him and the way he breathed. He was out of control. She didn’t even speak with him as she felt the same way he had about it all. She hated it and that’s why she did it. She wrapped herself around his back and put her forehead to his upper back. Sliding around him, her eyes were gentle as her fingers reached up and pushed back his changing hair.

There was a sadness in her that she couldn’t help him. She understood the rage and understood the amount of hate he would have for himself at some point. Still, she brought him down, as gently as she could, to the ground and held him to her chest. Her hand reached out to Torinasu and she held that hand. “It’s okay, everything will be alright now.” Those were her only words as she held him close.

They sat there in the now eerily quiet room together. She kissed the top of his head as she held him. It seemed like forever but it was probably only a few minutes at most when he managed to snap out of it. “Hey you,” she pushed his hair back and smiled at him. “You’re going to be alright.” She tried to keep him grounded as she helped him up.

“Let’s get out of here.”

There was nothing but hatred, aggression, the thirst for blood that had nothing to do with survival.  His sharpened teeth gritted together harshly, using all of his strength to keep him to this spot until he felt gentle arms around his chest.  His eyes quickly opened and he sharply moved his hand, wrapping it tightly around her throat when she was in front of him.  At that moment his mind went blank, despite his grip she touched his hair and he tensed even more to hold back the urge to slam her against the wall and bash in her skull.  His eyes grew warmer as her gentle touches continued until he couldn’t keep his fingers around her neck any longer and let them drop to her shoulder. 
 
Even as she touched his grip over Torinasu’s hilt he didn’t strike her, though everything in him screamed to do so.  Finally, red streaks ran down his cheeks from his eyes: blood, caking in the dirt and dust from all of the running around they had done that night.  They stained what was left of Lily’s outfit as the bloody tears ran down his neck and collar.  Before he realized it he was brought to his knees, and his face fell into her collar with her guide, not even thinking about what the blood would do to her own garments as he let go of his blade and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. 
 
The anger was fading, mixing with remorse and the realization of what he had just done.  They had more than deserved what had happened to them, but he hated that he had lost control.  He was supposed to be better than that!  What if one day he couldn’t control it?  What if one day he didn’t think to protect anyone and killed everyone around him?!  At least if it had been Minasé it wouldn’t have been his doing…Her lips touched the top of his head through his hair and finally his muscles began to ease.  His weight went against her but he stayed slumped on his knees, focusing on the silence and feel of their chests moving as they breathed in and out, in and out.
 
After what felt like ages but had only been mere minutes, his calm had returned…though the guilt was just as strong.  The stench of blood was strong in his nostrils, and when he tilted his head back to look up at her, the crimson streaks were still on his cheeks though his eyes had darkened to pitch black.  She was so calm, so sure, and her voice was just as gentle as her touches had been.  With her guide he stood back up, tying Torinasu back to his hip as well as he could now that he had damaged the sheath.  It would be easy to find a replacement, but that one had been made by Natsumi…and now the pain spiked for a different reason. 
 
He nodded numbly, walking with her and feeling a barrier between them that he wished hadn’t been there.  He’d almost hurt her, no, no he had hurt her…but it could have been so much worse.  It nearly was.  No words left him as they made their way back out with their lantern, and when they were back in the alley it was as if nothing had happened…Could they even go back to the festival…?  That seemed so far away now, things were so different.  They were different.
 
But as they were finally out of the alleys he realized how quiet it was.  When his eyes lifted he saw a mass of people, all silent and staring at them: bloodstained and filthy, his clothes nearly to shreds and hers ruined.  They’d accuse them, think they had something to do with all of this chaos and poison…but then he saw the face of the guard that they’d first come across and realized that wasn’t what was happening.  There was a shared moment of shocked silence before the crowd gave an uproarious cheer.  Somehow their names had travelled through the crowd and were being chanted in victorious unison as people came forward and quickly pulled them in front of the mass of citizens. 
 
Medals were slung around their necks just before both of their hands were raised up into the air.  What in the…?  He looked down, this was the award for………the best couple?  I-I guess defeating a sect of a cult could…warrant that?  Minasé sighed in their head, “You don’t do anything half way do you?”  People cried out to them, begging excitedly for explanations, others called for them to embrace, to kiss, and that’s when he caught Lily’s smirk in the back. 
 
And he wondered if the guard was the only person that had spread what they’d done…Either way it was too much and his eyes quickly closed as he teleported himself away.  He landed in a quiet field, the grass was cool and soft but he felt an absence when he looked next to him.  Breathing in quickly, he instantly teleported back and wrapped his arms quickly around Echo from behind before teleporting her away with him.
 
There was a first time for everything.