Welcome to Gaia! ::

Demare stirred a bit, the sun warm against his skin. His eyelids flinched, slowly blinking open as the halfling tried to fully awaken from his slumber, his muscles sore and his head feeling as though he'd been hit with a two ton hammer. He felt uncomfortable on his back, his wings feeling like they were in an odd position, and there was a cool sensation on his chest. Carefully lifting his head, his bi-colored eyes looked to the curled up fiend on top of him, the small looking body resting on most of his torso. Chrys appeared to be sleeping.

Grumbling slightly, he let his head drop back to the hard wood floor, lifting a hand to push back his reddish hair before rubbing at his sleepy eyes, sniffling a little bit. As he rubbed, he noticed that his hand felt a little different, almost a bit more course and tougher than he remembered. Stopping in mid rub, Demare opened his eyes, allowing them to focus before holding his arm up, even his bones aching a bit. The halfling blinked a few times, staring at his now much longer, slightly muscular, and flesh colored arm.

The Legend quickly sat up, throwing the shadow off of his chest, his larger wings stretching themselves out now that they were free from behind his back. Chrys rolled on the floor a little bit, but continued to sleep, as if he hadn't been moved. Looking to the right, the halfling looked into what should have been the shattered mirror, but instead was a new mirror, complete with a new black cherry colored oak frame with intricate carvings around its broad pieces covering the closet door. The reflection was different now; instead of showing Demare's face, Clare stared back at him, bright blue eyes hardly able to take in the new body he appeared to be in. Slowly reaching his hands up toward his face, he lightly brushed his long fingers down his cheeks and neck, taking in his older features. Shifting up onto his knees, the now teenager stood up tall, his outstretched wings crashing into the ceiling a little bit. Drooping them down enough, Demare looked himself over completely, wondering how this could have happened.

Demian? the angel voiced to himself, almost shocked by the way he sounded. This was strange to him... He hadn't had the chance to grow before.

The teen waited for a long moment for the demon to answer, and sighed as he was merely greeted with silence. "Great... I actually want to say something and you're giving me the silent treatment."

"I'm doing what now?" Demian spoke up, his image stepping into view in the mirror. The demon appeared to be older as well, his black hair and gold eyes opposing Clare's blonde hair and blue eyes. While the angel's flesh was fair toned, his had even more color, now carrying a golden brown tint. "I just woke up, dude."

I called you, and you didn't respond, he replied, folding his arms across his bare chest. Or are you mad?

The other yawned, stretching out his arms and back before cracking his neck and shoulders. "Well? What's up? I didn't come over here just to be glared at."

Huh? Clare blinked a few times, quirking a brow. "Can... you not hear me?"

"...You... said something?" Demian scratched his arms, frowning slightly. "I didn't hear anything..."

The fiend in the corner rolled onto his back before slowly opening his dark eyes, his arms stretched out on the ground. Lifting himself into the air, his eyes squinted into what seemed like a smile as he folded his hands up close to his face.

YEEE! You awake! the fiend cheered, floating a little closer to the halfling. Was sleeping for days!

"Days...? Damn, no wonder everything hurts..." the demon said, rubbing at his neck. "Maybe we're just out of sync."

Was scary! Body gone away, then ugly thing came. Dropped body and ran... I scare away! Chrys sounded so proud of himself. If only they knew that he was really cowering under the bed the whole time the ugly beast was in the room.

"Dropped... the body...?" Perhaps that's why they were put to sleep, so that the body could be replaced without endangering themselves. But that didn't explain why he couldn't communicate with Demian. "Maybe we damaged the other one too much..."

"...Or... maybe they couldn't create a body that could hold the both of us as we matured..."

"What are you..." Clare began to ask, but his voice trailed off as he noticed Demian grasping his right shoulder. Black sparks seemed to start from the back somewhere, and spread down to about his elbow. Aside from those markings, there were no other ones on the body. The seals that controlled their power was gone.

This body was completely new. It was like they were starting over from scratch, only physically instead of entirely.

Said be careful! Chrys piped up, taping a finger where his mouth would have been. He was trying to remember what the creepy creature had mentioned before disappearing. More pain, bad to switch. Can die?

The boys were quiet as they looked at the fiend, trying to make sense of what had been done. So the price for growing up... would be that they had to live separately? It felt both good and bad at the same time, and idly Demian wondered if there was a catch to this happening. Clare, on the other hand, felt like this were an opportune time to continue his research on their seemingly unique body.

"Well... at least now we'll be able to have time to ourselves," the angel spoke up first, glancing toward the mirror. "We won't really have to worry about the other popping in at the wrong time."

"Yeah... I guess..." Demian wasn't sure he'd like this. It sounded nice, but how would this really affect things in the long run? "We'll take turns... Every other day?"

"Something like that... I guess it'll all depend on how much it hurts to switch now. Can we determine that later, though? I have this sudden urge to eat... some sort of greasy meat. I read somewhere that older people ate a lot of junk food... I hope we don't do that."

"Eh, whatever. I might suggest putting some clothes on, first."

Demare's face turned completely red, only now realizing that he was butt naked. Chrys giggled as the halfling quickly opened the closet door and disappeared inside to try and find something that would fit before asking Domonic about buying some new clothes. The least they could have done was given him a new wardrobe. Lazy beast.

Demare quietly pushed open the door to the shop, ducking down slightly so he wouldn't hit his head on the frame as he stepped inside. Granted, it wasn't necessary, but after being only at home all week it came rather natural now. Sniffling a little bit, he rubbed his nose with his black gloved hand, feeling it tingle as his nostrils were filled with warmed compared to the outside cold he'd just been in.

At least they fixed up the place, he thought to himself, recalling the last time he'd been at the shop. The store was indeed in tact now, and he didn't feel the strong darkness he had before. Then again, that also could have been because Clare was in the body this week.

I wonder if he's here... Chrys projected, drumming his fingers against the teen's right shoulder, slipping out from the shadow behind Demare. The green figure looked curiously around the shop, his black eyes taking in what he couldn't see that well the first time.

"Who's here?" he sighed, stepping lightly over to the jewelry case, hating how heavy his boots sounded against the floor. He was here for an interview. He didn't want to sound like he was stampeding the place.

No one special, the shadowy creature shrugged. The fiend finally left his bond's side, investigating the lamp by the door.

"Break anything and I swear to the Gods..." Clare warned with a twitch of his white eye, his wings folding closer to his back as he peered at a stone underneath the glass. That was rather pretty...

"Don't worry," Reyna spoke up in a joking manner as she approached the young man, "We'll just take it out of your paycheck." She snickered quietly at her own joke before reaching to shake his hand. "Just kidding," she murmured before shooting Chrys a sidelong glance.

"Well I'll be damned," she murmured, hands on her hips as she glanced from the shadow to its guardian, "You've both grown considerably. I think I'm impressed."

Demare blinked a few times, shaking the woman's hand as it took him a moment to recognize her. This was the woman with Athan that time... He really did need to come by more often. Perhaps working here would help him gain more knowledge about the shadow following him around everywhere.

Chrys, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to what had just been said. Using a green finger to push at the lamp, he watched as it began to tip forward a little bit, only to swing back into its original position. This, for whatever reason, really amused him as he did it again, tipping the lamp even further.

"Hm? Oh, uh... thank you," the teenager stammered slightly, blushing a little bit. It wasn't like he'd grown up just to impress anyone. However, if she was impressed, then perhaps that was a good thing. "It was kinda strange, actually. Chrys seemed to... appear the same day I did."

Tiiiiiip... Wobblewobble. If only the fiend could be heard giggling. Demare hadn't even noticed.

"I have to ask first, since I'm here and have been wanting to know... How's Athan doing? It's been a while, so I assume he must be doing better...?"

Reyna gave the boy a fanged grin at the mention of Athan. "Well if your so curious, why don't you come to the back room with me and ask him yourself?" She turned and headed towards the door that lead to the next room. "Watch the front-end for me real quick?" she asked out loud even though there seemed to be no one present.

'Sure, why not,' Mystic answered as he faded into view at Reyna's desk with his arms crossed.

He quirked a brow before looking to the door, then looked to the front end of the store. Chrys had his hands folded behind his back, innocently floating about as if he had done nothing at all.

"Right... I have to be there, anyway, I assume," Demare said a bit quietly, following after Reyna to the back. Somehow, he had a feeling something was amiss.

As soon as they disappeared, Chrys began to play with the lamp again, black eyes watching Mystic to see if he would do anything.

"Do I knoooow you?" he asked, cocking his head curiously to the right. The presence felt familiar.

Athan was sitting on the couch, an assortment of papers and ordering forms splayed about the coffee table before him. "Reyna, do you recall whether or not the last order from that new shipping company we started using last week arrived on time? I never received an invoice.. or.. well.. I can't find said invoice if I did receive it."

Reyna cleared her throat and smirked over at Athan who paused long enough in his rambling to notice that Demare was present. He'd very nearly forgotten about conducting interviews all together.

"Well hello, Demare. How are you?" he asked conversationally as he tidied up his workspace before standing to shake the boy's hand and greet him properly.

Mystic on the other hand, simply stared boredly out in front of him before slowly drawing his gaze over towards Chrys when prompted. 'It's distinctly possible. I don't believe there is a shadow I've not met yet,' he answered simply enough.

Demare reached a gloved hand out to take Athan's, giving it a firm shake before releasing it, slipping his gloves off and loosening his scarf a little bit. It was warmer inside than it was outside...

"I'm... living, sir," he responded after a moment, not sure how else to explain it. "What about yourself? You were in terrible condition when I first met you..."

Tiiiiiiiiiip.

"You meet me? Who you?" Chrys inquired, trying to remember. Maybe he'd felt the presence when he was still a wisp... That had to be it.

Wobblewobblewobble.

"I am quite well, thank you," Athan replied with a quiet smile as he moved to sit back down and motioned for Demare to follow suit, "And it's largely due to the fact that you and other such guardians helped. I appreciate that."

Reyna moved away to pour them all a cup of tea while Athan continued to speak. "So... I understand you're looking for a part-time job," he went on, "Any particular reason why you decided you wanted to work here?"

The silver haired woman snickered under her breath, but didn't dare speak up and interrupt with something snarky. At least not just yet. Instead she returned to plop down on the couch with a cup of warm tea for the three of them.

'My name is Mystic. And you?' Mystic answered as he watched the other shadow toy with the lamp. He didn't need to be a Seer like Hawk's Eye to know that he was going to break it.

But it was entertaining to watch.

Demare took a seat after Athan, folding his hands in his lap. He didn't really know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet, until mention of the job came up. He'd almost forgotten about the reason he was here.

Not that I WANT to look for a stupid job... Domonic's just making me, he thought to himself, his wings drooping down in a bit of a sulk for a brief moment.

"Well, in a way I can relate to things here," he shrugged, referring to his other side. "But, actually... I thought this might be a good place because of Chrys. He can learn about himself while I do something constructive with all the free time I have.

"He call me Chrys... so that is name," the fiend said a bit idly, tipping the lamp a little more than he had been. He didn't notice the slight corrosion beginning to form on the metal post where he'd been poking. "Might have seen while Demare was here a while ago. Can only remember Athan. He feel better! That mean better, right?"

As the lamp drew back, enough of the metal had been eaten away to cause the post to snap as it fell upright, the shade, bulb, and broken post falling to the ground. As it thumped and the glass shattered on the floor, Chrys literally seemed to disappear right then and there, not even a trace of him to be found.

"True enough. Mystic is usually about more often than not to help watch after things when Reyna is busy. He is the oldest of all the shadows that have been awakened thus far," Athan replied as he reached for his cup of tea and sipped at it quietly. "We are actually looking into hiring someone else, as well."

"Yeah," Reyna chimed in, "So is seasonal work okay with you? We're busy, but we're not that busy, you know?"

Athan nodded in agreement with the demon that was lounging comfortably near his side. For the two of them to be in complete understanding over a topic was rare indeed, but they had discussed hiring at length. In fact, it had been Reyna's initial idea.

Both of them winced when they heard the crash of the lamp, but neither moved to go and see what had happened. With mischievous shadows on the loose, something being broken was a rather common occurrence. It was best to simply go with the flow of things.

Mystic snickered quietly. He was mildly impressed. The lamp actually seemed to be bent in half. '... so you're acidic or something?' he queried. He couldn't see Chrys at all, not even within the shadows which was strange, but he could still feel him there.

Demare nodded, taking in a deep breath and exhaling it slowly. He had hoped it wouldn't be long employment, as he only needed the job to keep him busy.

"Seasonal would be perfect," he replied, closing his eyes for a moment, only to have them open wide at the sound of the crash. His left eye began to twitch a little bit, his hands clenching into tight fists as his eyes then narrowed toward the door.

"...Please excuse me while I KILL THAT FREAKING PEST!" he growled, moving to stand to leave the room for a moment.

Chrys began to materialize behind Mystic, cowering as his tried to hide behind the fiend's cape, looking worriedly at the lamp. He hadn't MEANT to break it... Or... did he? A part of him was very satisfied with the destruction, while the other was fretting over what happened. After all, he was fully aware of what his touch sometimes did.

"Poison," he pipped up in a quite 'voice'. "Demare say turn things bad. Inedible, untouchable, useless. Dunno how make it, but makes good food for me."

After a moment, the green shadow hovered close to the broken lamp, sniffing at the metal post. "Can be eaten? I hungry... I be very hungry lately. Almost no satisfaction... Feels like, missing something."

Athan opened his mouth as though to speak, but said nothing as the young man darted to the front room. Well, at least he was willing to be responsible for his shadow and was attempting to keep him out of trouble.

Mystic, on the other hand, thought the situation to be hilarious. He chuckled quietly before his bright, violet eyes widened in surprise. '.... you eat things?' How curious! He never felt hunger himself, but it was interesting that Chrys did.

"Kinda... Demare say looks like absorb them, rather than eat," Chrys explained, rubbing at his neck a little bit. "Something no mouth..."

"CHRYS!" the teenager hissed, folding his arms across his chest. He watched as the fiend hid by Mystic again. "What did I tell you about breaking things??"

"Not mean to!" he whined, cowering. "Accident. Swear it!"

"Domonic's going to KILL me..."

'Mmm... the not having a mouth does propose a problem in regards to eating, I would assume,' Mystic replied conversationally before snickering faintly when Demare stormed in. And he thought Reyna could turn on a dime when she suspected him of doing something mischievous.

He stood from where he was perched at Reyna's desk and appeared near Demare's side to lay a calming hand on his shoulder. 'Trust me when I say Athan buys fixtures and the like in bulk. It's not so big a deal. At least not within this shop.'

He paused for a moment before folding his arms over his chest and looking pointedly over at Chrys. 'And lucky for you, Athan has better things to be concerned about than a broken lamp. Besides, Reyna somehow manages to corrode the cash register every once in a while and it locks up. Not sure how that works... but ... yeah.'

Demare made a face before sighing, calming down. Well, if it wasn't a big deal... Still, he'd try to pay them back when he was able. He knew Domonic wouldn't loan him the money right now, but maybe he could take one of the lamps from the house.

"Well, it's still a bit of a problem..." he admitted, eying Chrys for a moment before glancing at Mystic. "He can't seem to control it. Whatever he's doing to kill what he touches..."

Idly, feeling the attention had turned away from him, Chrys hovered back over to the broken lamp, breaking off a small piece of the corroded metal. He 'sniffed' it a little bit before it simply disappeared... and the poor fiend made such a look with his eyes that one would just know he was disgusted by looking at him. His body twitched and shivered, tensing a little bit before he shook his head quickly.

"...Are they all this weird, or is it just him?" Demare had to ask, noticing Chrys' odd behavior.

"That would depend entirely on your definition of 'weird'," Reyna spoke up as she bustled into the room and headed towards her desk to rifle through a messy stack of papers, "But otherwise, eh... I'd say yes."

Mystic's brow furrowed in what was obviously a frown as he scowled over towards his guardian. 'And just what do you mean by that?'

She snickered quietly and chose not to answer as she motioned for Demare to come towards the desk. "Just got a little bit of paper work for you to fill out. Standard rate of pay is 8.5k an hour," she informed him, "Plus you get discounts on the stuff in the store... oh, and uh.. when can you start, again?"

Demare merely shook his head before making his way to the counter, looking over the paper work for a moment. Seemed simple enough to fill out... Didn't help that he had no knowledge of jobs from his previous life, due to the time period he appeared to be from. It was easy enough to learn, but some of the modern things still baffled him.
Like that damn VCR...

"Tomorrow," he replied, turning his monochrome eyes to the demoness. "I'd say today, but there's a few errands I need to run, and that'll take me most of the day..."

Chrys hovered a circle around Mystic before looking closely at the fiend's cape, glancing at his own armbands that he'd made after breaking a couple of Domonic's belts. Idly, he wondered if that was HIS fashion statement.

"Is good for hidings?" he asked curiously. "Playing tricks, maybe..."

"Right on. That'll work out just fine," she replied smoothly as she pointed to all the spots he needed to initial and sign as they went along through the multitude of papers. "We've also hired another part-timer," Reyna explained, "Her name is Kova. She seems pretty cool, so you might be doing a little work with her, too. Oh, and would you prefer to work an evening or morning shift? Doesn't really make too big of a difference. Athan and I usually trade off every couple of days."

Mystic smirked faintly. He was proud of his cloak. 'Mm... hiding things? I suppose if that thing is me, then yes. It absorbs sunlight, so if I head outside on my own without Reyna during the day, it's not so bad.'

"Mm," was his only response to the mention of the other part-timer, not particularly interested. He was more focused on that fact that he'd have something to do with his time for a little bit rather than who he'd be working with. That, and signing all the damn spots he needed to in the paperwork.

The halfling stopped for a moment at the mention of time, however, standing up to his full height after being hunched over to do his previous task. Mornings or evenings... Demare sighed lightly, scratching at his reddish hair a little bit. Why was this such a tough decision?

Normally, he'd be fine with mornings. However, ever since his body aged, he'd been sleeping in like Demian did, and was almost never awake before 11 or 12 anymore.

"Uh... what about... afternoons and evenings?" he asked a bit sheepishly, turning his eyes to the right as he scratched his cheek. Yeah... maybe a compromise would work...

Chrys tapped his fingers lightly together, the action with his sharpied toothy grin making him look at though he were scheming evilly. Maybe he'd have to get himself one of those...

"Absorb light?" he questioned, peering toward the window for a moment. "Eat sun? Make energy? Make... hungry?"

His black eyes darted around for a moment, suddenly feeling the urge to play with something else. It was almost like he NEEDED to, that it would be life or death if he didn't destroy something.

"That works fine by me," Reyna replied conversationally, "Kova doesn't have a problem working mornings, and it's evenings when we seem to need the most help."

'Uh..' Mystic paused as he eyed the other shadow suspiciously, 'Not .. quite. The cloak doesn't eat anything, nor do I.' What a little freak.

"Ha ha ha... Sounds good then," Demare shrugged with his nervous laughter, feeling a bit of relief. Now the trick would be to make sure Demian knew he'd have plans on certain days.

Chrys hadn't really heard what Mystic had said, losing quick interest in the cloak as his eyes were fixated on one of the charms hanging from his bonded's wrist. Curiously, he tapped at one of the dangling items, watching it sway left and right, back and forth for a moment. His eyes squinted as he giggled to himself, tapping at the charm again to watch it swing. Rolling onto his back in the air, he began to bat at the bracelet like a kitten.

The halfling twitched as this was going on, trying hard not to snap.

"Was there anything else you needed from me today?" he said through clenched teeth and a smile.

A slow smile curved at Reyna's lips as she took note of Chrys' behavior. And she had thought Mystic had been troublesome as a child.

'I take offense at even a mild comparison to him,' Mystic chimed up inside her head so that no one else could hear.

'Come now. He's not that bad.'

Mystic simply pinned her with a look that hardly needed words to explain what he thought of her statement.

She cleared her throat and offered Demare a small smile, "That's it for now, so you're free to go for the time being. See you tomorrow evening, then?"

The Legend could only give her thumbs up to say that would be good, unable to use his voice without yelling at the moment. It only took one more swipe from Chrys before the bracelet flew off of the teen's wrist, falling right onto the floor. The little fiend threw his hands in front of where his mouth would have been, his eyes showing nothing but worry.

"Oopsie...” was all he could say before his bonded grabbed him by the hair.

Demare plucked the charms off of the floor before straightening up, pulling Chrys in front of his face as he started out for the door.

"You're in for it NOW, buddy," he growled as he left the building, his wings shuddering a little bit as they entered the cold. Oh, this was going to be a FUN experience indeed.

Chrys winced and writhed in his sleep, clutching the blanket on the bed tightly as his form shivered and shook. If he were able, he would have been sweating buckets, something obviously troubling as he mumbled and stirred, tiny whimpers emitting from his throat. Granted, no one could hear from aside from Demare, and the teenager was currently sleeping himself.

The fiend awoke with a start, jolting up into the air, his black eyes growing large. The little shadow peered about frantically, breathing heavily. What was all of that? A dream? No... it was too frightening to be a dream. A memory...? He didn't remember any of that, though, and he couldn't imagine EVER torturing someone the way that the creature had. It felt so real, though... So... familiar.

Shaking his head, Chrys floated back down to the bed, watching Demare's sleeping body as he started to calm down a little bit. The fiend desperately wanted to awaken his bond, wishing to speak to the other about the issue, but decided that it would be better not to make him angry. After all, this would be the halfling's first Christmas in which something didn't go horribly wrong, and he didn't want to ruin that. Instead, the shadow curled up close to him, hoping the Legend wouldn't mind tonight as he huddled against the strong right arm. He nuzzled his head gently against the hand, fingers wrapping about the warmth as he closed his eyes and began to drift toward sleep.

What he did not notice, however, is that the man's index finger was going right through his green head, right where the fiend's sharpied toothy grin was.

Demian shivered a little bit, standing in the snow as he checked the watch around his wrist. Whoever had called him out here was late, and he was getting irritated. Who would call him out at 11 o'clock and night, anyway? The demon ran a hand through his spiked up black hair, trying to get rid of the snow that was accumulating in it. His gold eyes searched the darkness one last time before he shoved his hands into his pockets, turning on his heel to begin to leave.

"Demian, wait!" called a voice, the sound of footsteps crunching in the thick snow getting louder. "Please!"

The teenager looked over his shoulder, eyes widening slightly. "[*****]?"

To his surprise, there was no one there. In fact, there was nothing behind him now, not even the lighted street lamp he was just standing under. Demian looked back in front of himself, realizing that everything seemed to have disappeared. What was going on...? He was just out in the snow, wasn't he? Warily, he took a few steps forward, listening to his footsteps as the sound changed from crunching snow to loose dust and rock, a thick fog beginning to surround the area.

The air became stagnant and stale, hard to breath as he continued to walk through the darkness. Something caught his foot, causing the demon to stumble to the ground, dirt thrust into his eyes and mouth as he was caught by surprise. He coughed and rubbed at his face, his sight blurring with tears as they stung. Then, it struck him. The irreplaceable smell that hung in the air, a stench that could never be ignored as it filled one's nostrils.

Death.

"What the ******** is going on here?" he demanded to know, coughing again as he slowly stood himself up, his eyes narrowing down into a glare. Why the hell was he back here?

He could feel his wings materializing onto his back, a slight pain stirring against his shoulder blades as they reattached themselves to his body. How his people ever managed to get used to that, he had no idea. Demian only wanted to try it out, not wanting any funny looks from people, considering he had been fairly close by a church.

"ANSWER ME!" he growled, searching the fog the best that he could. It was useless, he knew, but he had to try and find something.

Something sliding across the ground caught his ears as he quickly turned to look in the direction of which it had come, but could see nothing. The sound came again from the opposite direction, the demon's head snapping around to try and catch whatever it was. Still nothing. Whatever it was, it was moving in a circle, watching his movements, laying in wait for the perfect moment.

And he was afraid.

Demare swallowed hard as he tossed his head from left to right, his closed eyelids flinching as he continued to sleep. His left hand twitched a little bit before he turned his body to lie on his right side, his arm draping over the fiend cuddled close to him. As if the body knew he was there, he lifted his hand to gently stroke the shadow's green hair, careful of the creature's horns, before moving to hold him close.

Chrys blinked his eyes open, not really used to the gesture, as Demare usually pushed him away if he tried to close on top of or too close to him. He took advantage of the situation, however, hugged the teenager's arm a little bit, closing his eyes in an attempt to wander back into his dream. He opened them again after a moment, however, realizing that something was amiss. His bond felt very wet... Pressing a long ear against the halfling's bare chest, he could hear the quick paced heartbeat coming from within the body.

The fiend clutched onto Demare's hands worriedly, turning his black eyes toward them. "Oh, no... What have I done?"

Demian's breath began to grow heavy as he continued to search the immediate area, too scared to move in fear of being chased. He didn't know what he was up against, nor did he really care to find out. However, the attack was inevitable, and he didn't even see it coming.

His gold eyes grew large as he felt a sharp pain against his body, feeling a large part of himself being engulfed by something. A coppery taste began to fill his mouth as red liquid began to drip out, his form growing cold with dread. Very slowly, he turning his head to the left, his eyes meeting with 4 glowing green ones, which belonged to the hideous creature that had its jaws locked onto his flesh. Tears began to stream down the demon's face.

The sharp teeth clamped down the rest of the way, and all that could be heard was the man's white scream.

The halfling woke up with a gasp, choking slightly on the air as his bi-colored eyes shot open. He sat up quickly, his hands frisking his body to make sure he was still all there. He was shaking, covered in sweat, his reddish hair matted against his face.


"Oh God..." he managed to get out with a shaky breath, covering his hands with his face for a moment before running his fingers through his hair, resting them against the back of his neck. "s**t... What the ******** was that...?"

Demare took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, closing his eyes as he arched and stretched himself out a little bit, his wings flexing and stretching as far as they could. Exhaling slowly, he relaxed some, shaking his head as he threw off his blanket, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to rest his feet on the floor. Idly, he cursed the fact that he decided to wear his pajama bottoms that night, just about ready to simply tear them off. He stopped, however, turning his eyes toward a very wide-eyed Chrys, who was cowering and moving backwards, shaking in fear.

"What's wrong Chrys?" he finally asked, wondering if maybe one of his shadow beasts had manifested itself while he'd been sleeping.

"It... I... How can... That is..." was all the fiend could get out.

It wasn't until then that the halfling felt the presence behind him, something breathing down the back of his neck. He froze, almost imagining the searing pain from his dream, his wings stiffening. <******** it... have about eight glowing eyes or so...?" he asked curiously, as if he needed reassurance.

Chrys nodded slowly.

"Maybe about... four horns on its head, and body pretty damn spiky and hard looking?"

Another slow nod.

"Long claws, large dark green body."

Nodnod.

"Legs kinda like a t-rex."

Nodnodnod.

"Big snout, probably lotsa sharp teeth." Demare was amazingly calm, a smirk spreading across his face.

Chrys was confused by the reaction, but continued to nod, now backed up against the wall.

"He's gotta be ********> son of a b***h, then," he concluded before jumping up from the bed, just in time to miss a hard swing from the beast.

That certainly made it angry, whatever it was. It growled and snarled at the two, its roar a screeching howl. Its mouth was very large, containing several sharp blackened teeth, and for a moment it almost looked as if its jaw reached all the way down to its chest. Bulky arms wasted no time in picking up the bed the creature was standing behind, throwing it at the boys. Demare caught it however, the force pushing him back toward the full-length mirror on the closet door. He couldn't let that get broken...

"Oh, so you wanna play catch, huh?" he sneered, swinging the bed as hard as he could back toward the beast. "FETCH."

The wooden boards shattered against the hard shell, splinters falling to the floor with the mattress and bed stuffs in a heap. The child was NOT humorous, its eyes beginning to glow brighter in the darkness, the large form hunkering down a little bit.

Chrys seemed to know what it was doing, however, as he quickly tried to usher his bond toward the window. If the creature was indeed what he thought it was, then he would be getting ready to try to knock them out.

"Demian, please!" he begged, trying his best to open the lock. If they were outside, there would be enough clean air to bypass what was coming. "Things get broken here. Outside more space! Can call help!"

"What? It's COLD out there, you idiot!" the teenager scowled, shuffling his way toward the fiend. "I can contain this ******** if I can open the re--"

"You not understand! OUTSIDE! I no want to hurt you!" the shadow pleaded, his dark eyes looking sad.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Demare asked, quirking a brow. He fixed the tie on his black pajama bottoms, making sure the waist was tight enough so his pants wouldn't fall down. "What do you mean you don't want to hurt me? That's the b*****d that ate part of my soul when I died."

If he could cry, he would have been bawling. No tears dripped from his eyes, however, as his shoulders heaved with silent sobs. Chrys didn't want to explain it... not yet. He didn't even want to REMEMBER what he had.

"Might kill you," he went on with instead, getting the lock undone and pushing the window open. "Might try to eat what left."

The fiend didn't wait for his bond, simply floating out into the open before looking back to make sure there was still time. Green smog seemed to be spilling from the beast's mouth, and it looked at though it was about to completely overflow.

Demare looked between the two of them for a moment, not liking the fact that it felt like he was running away. Granted, if the thing followed, then he'd be able to give it a good one two. If not... A part of him wondered if it would attack the rest of the house. That alone seemed to allow him to make up his mind, the halfling pulling himself onto the window ledge. Tucking his wings in close to his back, he took in a deep breath before exhaling it slowly, jumping out the window and into the snow below.

Just in time, as well. The beast finally opened it huge mouth, roaring as a strange gas began to fill the room. It cry shook the house, shattering the glass to the room's window, the pieces showering down right over the ********!!" he swore, flinching as a few pieces cut his flesh, shaking his head to get pieces out of his hair. He carefully moved himself away from the house, having a delayed reaction to the cold against his bare feet, reconsidering the endangerment of the other members of the house. "What is that stuff, anyway? Looks like it would stink..."

"Poison," Chrys explained calmly, hovering around Demare. "Uses to knock out or kill prey nerves."

"Sounds... useful," the man admitted, shrugging a bit. He didn't think much of why the fiend knew this, he just figured it might have been an element thing. "Why the ******** is it here?"

The shadow thought about this for a moment, tapping a finger against his sharpied grin. It was in his dream, not that long ago. Then, his dream somehow transferred over to Demare's subconscious. The beast had appeared before the halfling awoke, however, so maybe it had something to do with the transfer? Unless...

He smacked his fist against the palm of his hand, realizing the possibilities. Of course!! It might have something to do with the others!

"Catch it!" he requested, looking to his bond. "We bring to Athan and Mystic. Maybe lost."

The teenager's left eye twitched slightly. CATCH it...? Catch the ******** THING that nearly destroyed his chance of ANY existence back when he was awaiting judgment? And then bring it to his BOSS???

"You... must be OUT OF YOUR ******** MIND," he declared, growling a little bit. "Why in Hell's name should I show that ******** any mercy?!"

The fiend thought about this for a moment. "You said... useful."

"What's your point?" he huffed, realizing his feet were starting to go numb. He needed to end this quickly before the body got frostbite, if that was even possible.

"Maybe can turn to shadow," Chrys thought, figuring it could potentially be done. "Add to beasts, use for self."

...That didn't sound like a bad idea. The beast could come in handy some day, and would even make a good scaring critter.

"Alright, I'll catch it," he decided, turning his bi-colored eyes toward his room. The gas was spilling out into the open, dissipating into the air. "How do we get it outside?"

The shadow moved upward after picking up some snow from the ground, tossing it hard toward the house. It had good aim, and even managed to hit something inside. The beast moved in sight of the window, its many eyes peering out toward the fiend.

"FATHEAD," Chrys called, as if he could be heard.

"Chrys, I'm the only one who can hear you," Demare sighed, giving him a blank stare.

"STINK BREATH! MONSTER!"

The creature shrieked at that last cry, obviously not liking the word. The boys were surprised as it came crashing out of the room, landing quickly and heavily on the ground, the beast now seeming much larger than it originally had. It roared again, saliva flying out of its mouth and hitting Demare right in the face.

"Awwwh, DAMN..." he whined in disgust, wiping the gooey spit off of himself. "That's ******** NASTY, you p***k!"

It was, however, what he needed to get fired up. Extending his wings, the teenager tightened his right fist and drew his arm back. In the cover of night, the darkness began to take form, the shadows gathering to make it grow.

"Don't spit when you talk!" he demanding, swinging his arm around hard, and the fist of darkness following in suit. It caught the beast square in the upper jaw, knocking him off balance.

The creature was able to retain a stance, unfortunately, quickly regaining its composure. It hissed, narrowing its eyes; the glow emitting from them seemed to grow, manipulating itself into energy. They shot a concentrated beam at the man, managing a direct hit as it caused the child to fly backward, sliding against the ground as he landed.

"Ugh...! Son of a b***h!" Demare hissed, grasping his chest as the burning sensation seemed to spread against his body. "********!! Chrys, what the hell was that??"

Chrys looked on in horror, not knowing that would happen. Quickly, he flew over to his bond's aid, inspecting the slightly charred area the best that he could. Lightly, he brushed his fingers only the abdomen, noticing it was a little more tender than it should have been. There didn't seem to be any actual damage, however, so he assumed it was merely a bruise.

"Just force," he concluded with a nod. "Energy? Taste good...?"

The halfling waved the shadow off, rolling his eyes a little bit. Man, that hurt like a mother...! Carefully, he stood himself up, waving his right hand across the ground. Black flames erupted from the snow, creating a circle around himself and the beast before reaching upward toward the Heavens, creating a dome of shadow.

"You wanna play rough, huh?" he spat through clenched teeth, his eyes narrow slits as darkness just seemed to flow out of his right side, as if it were leaking out of his body. "Well, let's ********' dance!"

Demare didn't waste any time in charging toward the creature, his voice carrying some sort of battle cry. The beast did the same, screeching its deafening roar as it took its clumsy steps forward, able to meet the boy in the middle. It reached its large hands down toward him in an attempt to grab him, but the halfling jumped out of the way, leaping into the air to land on the monster's hands. From there, he jumped again, this time using more force, and landing a swift but hard kick to its face. The beast cried out, swaying to the right, then swung its head quickly to the left in retaliation, managing to head butt the teenager into the wall of the arena. As he slid down toward the ground, it began to form its gas again in hopes to putting the damned kid to sleep.

It became distracted, however, as Chrys threw a snowball into its back. The monster turned its head to see what was going on, and got another snowball in the face, the melting ice slipping down its snout. How... irritating. The fiend didn't give up, however, as he continued to throw the snow as quickly as he could, wishing to buy the Legend more time. One of the balls managed to hit the creature in one of its eyes, causing it to screech as it got even angrier. (Like that was even possible.) Once again, the glow around its eyes began to glow brighter and manipulate into energy, the beast hissing at its new target.

"Chrys, look out!" Demare warned, struggling to stand as he got air back into his lungs after the last blow, stumbling as he ran toward the shadow.

The fiend wanted this all along, however. Quickly, he floated closer to the beast, thrusting his hands forward just as the beam was shot, and began to absorb the energy.

"Quickly!" he urged his friend, not sure how much he'd even be able to take in. After all, he'd never eaten this type of energy before, and it felt very hot. "Try to contain him!"

Snorting, the creature used more pressure on the beam, forcing the shadow back a little bit. Chrys kept at it, however, despite how full he was feeling, and the fact that the energy was beginning to leak out of his body, the stone in his chest glowing a little bit. The halfling was a bit conflicted, not sure how to do what would be needed to contain the beast.

"We need to be outside of the dome!" he tried to explain. "He needs to be weaker!"

Weaker? Perhaps a shock would be enough. Without much more thought, the fiend struggled and forced his way forward, looking away a little bit as the glow became too bright for him to look at, the energy swirling around his green form. Finally, he was close enough, and he latched onto the creature's face, causing the energy to attack them both. The breast cried out in shock and pain as its attack was directed back to itself, and Chrys screamed as he began to be electrocuted.

"CHRYS!!!" the halfling cried out, his eyes growing wide. That IDIOT!! Even if that would help a lot, it was more dangerous than it was worth. "Damn it, you're going to get yourself killed!!"

The fiend didn't care. He would do whatever was needed to save his bond, much less himself. After all, in all technicality... he was saving himself FROM himself. Perhaps Demare would never need to know that the creature was his past self, coming back to haunt him for whatever reason. This was the part of his history that he didn't care to remember, it being the worst part of his life. And to find out that it was his own fault that the halfling was the way that he was now...

The beast fell to its knees as it managed to stop its attack, its massive body smoldering as its breath hissed and whistled. Chrys finally let go, floating down to the ground as his body twitched and jolted as green bolts sparked against his flesh, the energy swirling around his stone. Demare carefully picked him up, stepping to the edge of the dome where the shadows opening up to release them before closing again behind them. Gently, he placed the fiend back down onto the snow, blank eyes watching him convulse. Idiot...

Turning to the arena, the halfling lifted his right hand, muttering a strange language as red bolts of energy emerged from the shadows, the black dome growing smaller and smaller as his hand curled into a fist. After a few moments, the darkness was merely a little ball, about the size of a large marble, resting in the blanket of white next to his feet. Dropping down to his knees, Demare sighed, rubbing his eyes as he could see the dawn beginning to poke its head out in the east. Picking up the ball, he held it close to Chrys' stone, allowing the energy to be absorbed.

The green fiend awoke groggily, his body feeling like it had about 1,000 bolts run through it. His black eyes lazily moved about the room, his small form sitting up and taking things in. The sun was up now, if one was able to see it through the thick clouds, and more snow was falling outside. There was a fresh new blanket on the ground, and a part of him wanted to play in it.

...WAITAMINUTE. His hands quickly frisked his body, blinking as he tried to figure out what was going on. Wasn't he hurt? Didn't he eat too much energy and DIE? His stone wasn't cracked or anything, and only his shadowy body felt achy. No physical damage whatsoever.

Did any of that even happen...? Or was it just a really messed up dream.

The fiend looked around for a moment, noticing that Demare wasn't in the room with him. Everything appeared to be intact, however, including the broken bed (which was now whole again). If he were able to, he would have been frowning, a part of him sad that none of that had happened. But then again, perhaps that was a good thing. Floating out into the hallway, he stopped and quickly went back into the room, instead peeking out of the doorway. He noticed Demare and Domonic standing outside, the blonde haired man looking rather angry.

"I don't care WHAT happened, you still knocked a hole in your wall, broke your window AND your bed, and somehow managed to burn your hand in the process," he scolded, arms folded across his chest. "Nightmares, monsters, whatever you want to call them... You're still responsible."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Demare sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "I don’t... I don't know what happened; I hardly even understand it myself. Just... I'll pay for it. It'll take me a while, but..."

Domonic rubbed his temple and forehead, exhaling slowly. How Neko ever did any of this, he would never understand. He had his own way of doing things, and he felt it would be better for the house if he finally did something about it.

"Don't... worry about it," he started, nodding his head a little bit. "This is the last time I'm fixing things, though. Come spring, I'm going to be moving everyone to the house I bought before your mothe--"

"She's not my ********..." the Legend bit his tongue, clasping a hand over his mouth for a moment. "I... I'm sorry. Go on."

"...before your mother died. I think that... it would be best for you, and possibly for everyone else... if you stayed here," he continued to say, turning his eyes to the floor. "Not everyone will want to move, so I'll leave you with this house and Merrimack or Tai-bo can help you take care of whoever stays behind."

Demare closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath as his wings drooped down. He couldn't believe this was happening... Actually, no, he could.

"You never liked me, did you?" he asked, pursing his lips as he opened his eyes again, clenching his heavily bandaged fist a little bit. "You only tolerated me because she wanted you to."

Domonic knew that was coming. "To be honest, no. You were a horrible child compared to your other side, you worried the hell out of Neko... You even caused her physical harm. But for God only knows what reason, she still loved you more than anything, and you didn't get that until it was too late."

He dropped his arms down to his sides, his feet beginning to turn him around to head down the stairs.

"However, I didn't know how much you meant to me, as well, until it was also too late. If I hated you, Demare, I would have thrown you out the first chance I had. However, the both of you mean a lot to this family, and you are still my son whether you think so or not. That in itself means that I will always love you, despite how it may seem. Now, go wash up and come downstairs... Some of the younger children are going to throw fits if they can't open their gifts soon, and Manny refuses to open them without you."

The halfling turned on his heel and stepped back toward his room, stopping at the doorway as he noticed Chrys staring up at him with sad eyes. He merely blinked and walked right past him, making his way toward his dresser.

"Don't look at me like that," he told him, shifting through his clothes. "I did what I had to do. You're lucky to be alive, I think. Anyway, I'll bring that thing with me next time I work... Maybe Athan will know something about it."

The fiend was right by his side, brushing his fingers against the bandage. "You... save me."

"What's your point?" Demare questioned, looking down at the shadow.

He twitched as green arms were flung around his waist. "You DO care!! heart "

"DAMN IT, CHRYS, GET OFF OF ME!"