Colin's posts

"......" again, Azazel was silent.

"I know what you're capable of." he said.

"And you should know it's ineffective against me." he told her.

"I don't want you making any trouble here." he went on, stepping aside.

"Got it?" he asked.

"You'd better not hurt anyone here... unless they ask for it." he muttered at the end.

Azazel paused when the woman said what she did.

"...yeah. I know." he said.

"You always know where you're going." he went on.

"And where you're going usually doesn't end up being fun." he said further. "To MASSIVELY understate it." he muttered.

"Why are you here?" he asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.

"Or... at the very least, tell me you're not here to make trouble."

Ash bit his lip.

He was silent again for a moment, before nodding slowly.

".......all right." he said.

"I'm scared of the rune, but I don't want this to happen again." he admitted.

"Can I really control it, though?" he then asked her.

"It seems uncontrollable."

Again, Ash was silent, but it was for a far shorter time, before he looked at her.

"...yes." he replied.

"I do." he told her.

"That rune is... I don't like it. It... it's bad, and I was told that because I had it, I was bad." he said.

"And who told you that?" Rylie asked knowingly.

"Mistr-" Ash started to answer, before catching himself. "Vanessa." he said. Over time, she had gotten him to stop referring to Vanessa as 'Mistress', but he sometimes slipped up.

"I get it." he then said.

"Pretty much disregard everything she told me." he finished, a hint of a smile on his face.

"......" Ash was silent for a moment.

"Okay." he replied.

He then looked at Rylie, and sighed heavily.

"I hurt you though, didn't I?" he asked.

"I can see it." he said.

"I can see the remnants... the echoes of it... on you." he continued, looking away.

He then bit his lip, and looked angry with himself.

"Damn it all." he cursed.

"Maybe I really AM destined to be evil..."

He nodded.

"Y-yeah." he said.

He then paused for a moment, and his eyes widened in horror.

"How far did it spread!?" he asked.

"Did I hurt anyone!?" he asked her.

"Wait, what about other people in the building? What about Mr. Azazel!?" he exclaimed.

It was clear he was starting to panic at the thought of the rune actually doing what it was 'meant' to do.

Ash seemed to have calmed down a bit, before sighing.

"Yes." he said.

"More mana." he told her.

"I have more in me now." he went on.

"And it's strong." he continued.

"I feel it. I feel stronger. Like the fire I can make will be hotter." he went on.

"And that I can make more. Make it larger, make it more potent and concentrated."

"....uh-huh." Ash said through tears.

"That was me." he said.

"I can do that. But it's bad." he went on.

"The rune is bad. It's evil." he continued.

"I don't want to be able to do it... I want it to go away..." he sobbed.

"...but it won't..." he whispered.

"It came back again..."

Ash was silent once again for a moment, before latching onto her.

"I.. I..." he stammered.

"I just know there was more mana in me." he said.

"And I couldn't control it." he went on.

"It.. it all just came out, making the runes." he continued.

"I'm sorry!" he apologised again.

"I know I'm bad, but I can be better! I can be good, I promise!"

Ashley was on his hands and knees, and just staring at the floor.

He was silent... or seemed it, at least... until she heard something.

It sounded like... quiet sobbing.

Which is when she noticed little droplets of water falling to the floor from where his face was.

He was crying.

"No..." he said quietly.

"No. I did it again." he whispered.

"I did a bad thing. I didn't mean to." he went on, looking at her, with a tear-stained face.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he repeated.

"Please. I didn't mean to..."

"...it was." Azazel confirmed.

"That... that was the soul-stealing rune." he said.

"Rowena Fyrane's rune." he commented.

"...but..." he then mumbled, thinking about it.

"This... no, this was different. This coated the entire building. Her's are targeted to specific individuals." he went on.

"And last I heard, she was on the other side of the continent. Raging and rampaging elsewhere. She might come through again, but she hasn't been HERE in... oh geez, years." he then said further.

"But that was Fyrane mana, no mistake."

"RYLIE!" he shouted, looking around.

He noticed the patrons were all frozen as well... and he could almost SEE their souls starting to separate from their bodies...

...before the runes all just vanished, as quickly as they came, and the patrons fell unconscious.

'What in the HELL...?' he thought, before shaking his head.

"Rylie!" he exclaimed.

"Rylie, you okay!?" he asked his friend.

Just as he was pondering this, he received a text.

From Ryker, actually.

Yo, was thinking of ordering in tonight. it read.

This was followed by another one.

Got a preference? I was thinking Pizza, Japanese, or Thai. he said.

Ryker, meanwhile, was looking at his phone, and then glancing out the window.

"Wonder if he'll respond..." he mumbled.

Azazel nodded in response.

"Got it." he said.

"I'll go and get it now." he commented.

Then, they felt a massive pulse of mana throughout the building.

The entire building.

And then nothing.

"What the...?" Azazel muttered.

"What was..." he started to ask, before the entire building was covered.

In runes. Ominous runes.

And they made Azazel almost freeze in place.

"Rylie!?" he exclaimed, looking at his friend.