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That was all she got out.

Foolish, foolish fledgling. So young....so naive. Perfectly happy to shoot quips and offer mercy to something that was corruption itself. Not corrupted. Corruption. This thing spoiled everything it touched, sucking up souls by the hundreds if possible to satiate it's bottomless pit of a stomach.

The blade raked across the demon's hide, spilling pitch ichor which splattered across Raven's chest as it was released from the supposedly dry, flaky skin...and just as the attacked ended, the creature would strike.

It's maw would suddenly flip open, wider then should be possible, the upper jaw seeming to unhinge and fling back as spittle arced out from within the black hole of it's throat as the tongue that sang words shot forth with the speed of a striking snake, aiming for the soft flesh of her neck, the tip of the tongue, which was bulbed like a tuber, split open up the middle to reveal many many rows of razor-sharp, hollow tubes. The thing, if it struck, would sink into her neck and the mottle gray of the tongue would grow dark as the creature sucked her blood with an unbelievable pressure - and with her blood, her memories.

It's claws, at the same time as the tounge striking her soft, delicate neck, would reach down and grasp at her shoulders, looking to dig into them deeply, the jagged nails sinking past the burning marks and deep into her flesh to lock her in place so it could feed on her blood and her memories and gain the knowledge of the strange darkness that she could call upon, the power that governed it, and the skills she used to manage it...

Hono'o's blood, now flowing through the creature's veins, chilled under its languid skin, even as her warmth pumped hot through it's body. The hunger was upon it now, but the child....the child with the knife in it's chest....

It was not of this world. The creature knew this now. And for the first time in a thousand millennium, it felt dread pierce it's black heart, for here was the unknown, and to a creature so foul and old and knowledgeable of the darkness of this world, here was a darkness completely alien to it.

The hunger was upon it, but not to the point where it had consumed it's mind completely. Those thousand millennium had made the physical hunger less poignant then the hunger for the soul...the smell of a fresh soul held more sway over the physical pangs on any occasion...

...And yet it found itself unable to pull away. Already the fledgling's blood was flowing through it's own veins, her own strength, waxed as it was, filling it with power - and what a cavalcade of power. A kaleidescope of power, almost one of every element and even combinations....even power that could not be defined by elements or holiness...it was a heady brew, the creature was completely caught unaware by it, and as such, was utterly captivated by it...

So it watched this child in the fledglings memory with a mix of fear and definance, like a wolf with it's prey in it's jaws, seeing a human stumble across it's kill. Waiting to see what would happen. Whether this thing in her memory had the power to decimate a creature of blackness from nothing but the past itself...

The process had been broken. It had gotten her in it's thrall, and she had shattered it. This power contained within her....it was too much for the creature. The power of her memory....the power of the being within the memory....it could not be measured by any Gaian standards.

It needed to survive. Something to boost it's power, it's strength. For the first time in eons, this ancient creature feared for it's life. It felt desperation, even as it's tonuge attempted to suck deeper, harder, trying to drain her even as she drew his very life force into herself.

With a long, slow sucking sound, the thing drew it's claws out of Hono'o's shoulders, it's razor-sharp talons glistening with her slick blood as they pulled free. It had very, very little time. It could feel it's power waning already, the darkness surrounding them transitioning from an ink to a cloudy grey. Pulling it's shaking left arm back, it swiped it forward, raking it's talons across her chest and stomach, shredding her clothes and splitting the skin beneath - as well as freeing the box, containing it's precious cargo, from it's confines.






With the power contained within this soul, it could crush the fledgling easily. Bat the power of her master's memory aside with a flick of it's wrist. It could live a millenia without having to feed, feeling no hunger....to be freed of such a debilitating need. Universal process or not...







For as the pearl grazed his palm, touching the skin, there was a flash of light, an arc of static which was burnt in their eyes, the sound of an electrical snap off flesh like the cane on the skin of a schoolchild, and the pearl was repelled back up, rebounding like a basketball to hit Hono'o in the chin before dropping down the front of her shredded top to become wedged safely in the holiest of holy places.

It's blood, thick and viscous like oil, welled around her nails as her fingers dug deep into it's flesh, her own talons having penetrated it's throat, filling it with the greasy substance, causing it to gasp like a fish, each rattled draw sending more gunk down to it's decrepit lungs. It's arms fell to it's sides, the strength to fight now lost as it's eyes rolled back, a throttled gargle coming from that bottomless maw.

It was already dead, but a thing such as this never went easily - it went slow, it's body clawing for life even though it's mind understood utterly that it had lost. So when she yanked her fingers free from it's throat, splattering the bedside beside them with the mix of it's and her blood which was courseing still through it's veins, and jammed her blade into it's chest to penetrate it's rapidly beating heart, lancing the disgusting thing like one would lance a boil, allowing it to burst within the chest to release it's foul contents, the creature shook once, stiffened like it had grasped a live wire, before finally falling still.

The darkness that had surrounded them had dissipated right after it had realised it had lost. The coma ward surrounded them, it's stark fluroescent lighting crashing down upon them, and exposing the creature that had attacked Hono'o for what it was.

Words, however, would never do it justice.

It's tounge was still stuck in her neck, but it no longer sucked at her blood. The hollow tubes left it wedged in there, but there was no pressure left. It dangled from there like some sort of umibical tube, limp and useless, leading down to a horror that was so malformed it was hard now to tell where it had come from in the first place. Blood, black and red like her hair, oozed from the wounds in it's neck and chest, pooling on the floor beneath the corpse. Its smell would now hit her - it was a rank smell, vile, like vinegar and trench-foot mixed together.

It was, however, very dead. Her prize was safe, still wedged in it's landing place quite innocently. But one would wonder on the way she had killed it....it's power, elderitch and ancient, now coursing through her veins, filling her to the brim with, whilst not as potent as Nocturne's gift or as lasting as Tomorrow's love, was still a heady brew of power...

It's words might still ring in her head.

The thought was quelled from her mind before it could even take form. What would be would be. So spoke the Lord of Nightmares.

Now, however, what would she do? Deep wounds to her shoulders and chest, her sweater and blouse torn open to reveal much more then they should, drained of blood...not to mention now being as dirty as sin, splattered with her own and it's blood.

The creature's thrall had taken them to another dimension. No sound had escaped from it. There were no cameras in this room, and aside from Klara, nobody else knew she'd come in here. Hono'o had every opportunity to use her rejuvenated power to bounce back to the condo, draw a long bath, and recuperate...

...But then, every second counted. Who knew when she would stumble across another soulless body, alive and empty and able to accept John's soul?

Perhaps there was a better way. Instead of stumbling around, trying to find a body by sheer chance, perhaps there was a way to find a body, to track one down, make it more obvious. Maybe there was a charm she could buy, or an incantation she could learn, that could make this more easy then just running around hoping she would luck upon the right body...

With a sigh Rae checked that the pearl was snug in her cleavage, grateful yet again that she had a great bra, it had not been shredded with her shirt...She had more than enough energy now to put a simple illusion on herself to cover her ruined clothes.

Rae stood, managing to find the face doctor's clipboard, she headed out to the Nurses station, dropping off the clipboard with its important notes before she headed home for the last few hours of the night... tomorrow, she would start looking for someone to help her find a new body for John!