Colin's posts

"...." Azazel was silent, and just sighed.

"Fine." he said.

"I can understand that." he told her.

"I'm just worried that Anya might be laying somewhere bleeding out, and nobody around to help her, or nobody knowing she's there." he said, his voice growing more and more anxious.

"...also, I didn't technically get away." he then revealed.

"I was about to pass out, and she was coming for me, but... she suddenly just... left."

Azazel shook his head.

"No, no." he said.

"She didn't say that Anya might be in danger." he told her.

"She actively hinted heavily towards her being injured." he went on.

"She actually said that Anya wasn't doing well... and commented about how she liked it that spiders... bled blue." he continued.

"She wouldn't lie about that if she felt that my knowing this would torment me." he then said.

"...I'm scared Anya might be injured and in trouble."

"...I don't know." Azazel replied.

"I was just checking up on something Sharp asked me to, and was about to report back to him, when she showed up." he replied.

"She toyed with me, tried to seduce me..." he went on.

"She... she tried to get me back into being one of her family's toys." he mumbled.

"...and she even said that..." he then said, before something clicked.

Finally.

"....Anya might be in danger!" he exclaimed.

Cain looked to his mother's game... saw that a group of unfriendlies was coming towards her character, and rushed to the chair.

"Good thing I know how to play this..." he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Azazel was carried up to the bathroom, and said nothing as Aedan prepped him.

"Sorry." he apologised.

"Can't really do much..." he said.

"Hard to... stay awake..." he then admitted.

".....kay..." Azazel said quietly.

All this commotion had not gone unnoticed by their son.

Mostly because he essentially lived in the basement, and Azazel landing on the floor of the den caused a massive racket for him down there.

He emerged from the door to the basement, looking around.

"What hap-" he started to ask, before seeing his mother and father.

"What happened to Dad!?" he exclaimed.

"Is he all right!?"

"...." Azazel was silent for a moment.

"Mana... drained..." he said.

"Lilith..." he continued.

He then collapsed to the floor again, barely conscious.

But she knew what he was saying.

She pieced together that he had been attacked by Lilith, somehow had gotten away... but his mana was almost completely gone.

Other than that, he seemed to be okay, though.

He wasn't unconscious yet.

But he was almost there.

He had the wherewithal to use what little mana he had left, and teleported out of there.

Where did he go? One of the few places he felt safe.

Home.

And he landed right in the middle of the den, not caring if anyone was there or not.

Azazel fell to his knees, conflicted with himself.

His clarity was strong now, but Lilith's influence threatened to overtake it quickly.

"...I... I don't..." he said.

"But... I... WILL!" he then yelled, sending out another pulse of demonic mana.

It knocked her back even further, but with each pulse, he expended more mana.

And soon enough, he wouldn't have enough, and would end up unconscious.

So many things were racing through Azazel's mind right now.

...however, at that moment, one thing cropped up. One thing that no matter what, everything inside him could agree on right now.

Survive.

Azazel was nowhere near as strong as Lilith, but any demon had the potential to at least fend off another, stronger demon... even if for a few seconds.

And Lilith could sense that.

Somehow, everything managed to get itself together inside him, and his mana surged out.

Did it hurt her? Not even close. But it DID manage to push her back several meters, as Azazel let out a demonic screech.

Azazel was... essentially, trapped.

The words entered his mind, and stayed there, but they weren't being... processed.

He was too focused on... Lilith.

She was scaring him... terrifying him... but at the same time... alluring to him.

He found himself lost in her eyes.

Lost in her face.

His fight-or-flight response was VERY conflicted at the moment, and she knew that.

However, she could see as well that some subconscious part of him was fighting.

His demonic mana was welling up inside him.

"I... I..." he stammered, before trying to take a step back... but only flinching slightly.

Jake smirked.

"Hell yeah." he replied, with a clink of their glasses.

---

The one she had spoken to jumped when he heard the voice.

It was just startling overall, but the one who the voice belonged to sent shivers of panic down his spine.

He whirled around quickly, and instinctively put a little distance between them, even though it wouldn't really help.

"What!?" he exclaimed.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"...and why are you bringing up a spider's blood...?" he then muttered, growing suspicious.

"Sure." Jake replied.

"I'll take all the help I can get at this point." he told her.

He then sighed as the drinks were poured and done up, before looking at her.

"Welp." he said.

"Here's to whatever-the-hell-reason-we-can-come-up-with-to-drink." he commented.

"Ah, here's to friendship." he decided.

"Even if some might think it's weird." he laughed.

Jake was silent again for a moment.

"...I'll have to be." he told her.

"Angela told me that Anya's chances for survival are decent." he said.

"I can't lose myself. I can't NOT be okay." he went on.

"Anya's going to need someone while she's recovering, and when she wakes up." he told her further.

"And... well... if Azazel isn't enough for whatever reason, I'll be there for her." he continued.

"...I can't afford to let this get me down and potentially harm her recovery."

Jake just paused for a moment.

"Well, I mean, Anya DOES have skeletons in her closet." he said. "We ALL do." he admitted.

"But I don't think that would have anything to do with the attack." he then said. "I mean, no Hell creature or demon can really do that so quickly, or do it in such a flash. Not in a literal blink of an eye." he continued.

"...ok, some can, from what I've been told, but they have FAR better things to do than attack someone like Anya." he then mumbled.

"But a hex bag?" he asked.

"I've never heard of a hex bag that could do THIS..." he mumbled.

"Then again, dark witches ARE always brewing up new ways to cause chaos..." he then said with a small grumble, meaning he was certainly NOT discounting her idea at this point.