They stood right across from one another, now having cleared out the area where the former Rivera Party members were seated in respect for the Master of the Mansion. Azazel, and Kristina now sat where the Master, who will now be referred to as Hana, previously sat. This time, since they were only watching and not addressing her directly, they'd decided to sit in their own ways. Azazel still in the kneeling position with his upper legs covered by the robe he'd donned, hands clasped together, Kristie with her legs crossed, she turned her head over to him, curious on what he was doing,
~Is he praying?~ Thought the girl as she turned her head, ~He doesn't really seem like the type of person to believe in anything~ She finished the thought with an unintentional insult, watching as he then unclasped his hands, eyelids sliding back into his flesh, he turned his head toward her to meet her gaze.
His smile surprised her, it had melted her heart right away, and she couldn't stop staring at him… this was the man that August called his brother. But the way she stared wasn't that of attraction or the want to kiss or make love to him, no, it was something else. The way he'd smiled was reminiscent of the way that abuse victims and otherwise had after being freed from that toxic environment, it was that of true happiness and freedom. So she didn't stare at him in a sexual or romantic way, the way his eyes sparkled and the way her smile melted her heart, it was that of admiration as she grabbed onto his arm and rested her cheek onto his shoulder. Karlo widened his eyes at the way she'd so casually gotten closer to him, but he didn't sense anything of it, and seeing as how August was going about his business being as arrogant as he always is, he relaxed there.
"Ya know, I never met Celine. I remember all she did was touch my cheek once when she was attached to August back then but… I didn't talk to her at all. I didn't even know she was real, I thought she was just my mind playing tricks on me. I know what it seems like, that he'll always love her and never let her go, and maybe that's true, for all I know, the way he talked about her, so passionately ready to sacrifice everything for her, you believe you could never live up to that. But I wasn't there for their relationship, no matter how much he loved her, but I am here for your guys'. So, trust me when I say-
I'm rooting for ya,"
Just then, she felt this overwhelming compulsion to throw herself right onto him, to which she did. But, unlike most females whenever they see someone as attractive as Azazel, she managed to have some self-control. She leaned in close, ensnaring his side with her lean small arms so he would feel the tightening embrace of a hug against the right side of his body. Her build was similar to that of Rose's whenever he'd received a hug from her, small yet powerful, he thought of this girl the same way he did for Rosey. Nothing rude like she was too weak to protect herself, but he witnessed her fighting feats, the way she challenged one of those demonic followers had sent chills even down HIS spine. Without a shadow of a doubt, the way she carried herself, despite clearing having been through so much, it was admirable, to say the least.
She didn't even need to say thank you to show how grateful she was, indebted to the man right beside her. At times, all you'd need was just one person to believe in you, and that, amongst all the despair in this world, would help grow the seeds for something wonderful. But it wasn't just one person. If someone as stubborn and blatantly honest as Azazel admitted it to her, how he was rooting for her to make Celine just seem like a distant memory, then she didn't question anything about the others. Her family had been eradicated thanks to that horrible excuse of a Headman, but this, right here..? It was a good substitute. And from the way she so calmly rested against the arm of that man, Azazel Karlo, the Fool Detective, you'd guess that this was truly- where she belonged,
"Show me what you know. Show me that you're worthy of living the luxuries you've been gifted," Demanded the Reaper, gifted with a certain rasp in his vocals, arm reached out with his fingers stuck into the air, as if egging the Master on. However, her eyes were dead, and that smile of gentle intent had never faded despite Aug's attempts. There was something about her… the aura he was sensing thanks to his Eternal Sight, it didn't belong to someone like HER.
She didn't have any sword, there was no cruelty visible in the center of those careful eyes. Instead, she just gazed as if being bathed in a snowflake shower in the dead of winter. The distance between her and murder was that of Heaven from the Earth, unattainable. Or rather, that's at least how he saw it, considering how his brain had a knack for these sorts of things along with detecting them. Then again, what did he know?
"As you wish," Politely answered Hana, eyelids shutting over her pupils…. Azazel with Kristina witnessing the abruptness as they both vanished from their recognition, as if they'd never even been there in the first place.
The actions that they'd taken were the following, being so quick that they happened at something akin to lightspeed, August had flipped back so he could gain some more distance away from this opponent. No matter what he boasted about his own strength, there was no doubt there were a plentiful amount of powerful foes wandering the outskirts of what he was used to. He couldn't tell from just a glance, even with Convergence continuously gathering every bit of information it could in half a second, her true arsenal of capabilities. The second his palms had thrown him back after launching backward, his knees skid across the concrete of the platform below- WOOSH!
The breeze had touched against the back of his head, likely originating from something swift with movement, meaning… It was Hana. August spun his head around, blackened tendril unraveling from his wrist to entangle around his wrist then extend to his arm. She'd been readying her fist to meet the left of his skull, likely to demolish his brains to bits the second her knuckles would touch upon his very skin, but he was quicker than that. He hit the fist out of the way with a simple slap, the whip wrapping around her throat, he pulled her closer so he could lay a hearty punch to her chest. Receiving that hit, even after his knuckles sunk deeper into her gut. But, she didn't have any sort of reaction to the pain she'd received. She helplessly watched as she was twirled right around and thrown into the air. Opening her eyes, she gasped, inhaling all of the air as she hovered around in the skies, now above the clouds, the trail of green following his rear as August chased right after her. Clenching his fist, knuckles crackling with emerald lightning likely to represent Orderly Thunder being utilized on a small scale, he prepared to uppercut her right then and there.
FLUTTER! She split apart, molecules dividing so she could turn into flower petals, he slammed his fist right through them, leading him to widen his eyes, expanding his heterochromatic pupils. Shattered Limit had already been activated automatically, August had known that he'd been safe if she tried anything, if anything, she'd likely burn up and turn to ash if she so much as flicked her finger against that aura. CRACK!!
~...What? What just happened… What's this feeling? I can't… feel my shoulder~ Thought the Requiem, reaching over to attempt and surge life energy from that innate technique through his wounds.
But, get this. He was too slow. The Requiem Reaper, the self-proclaimed 'strongest' hadn't reacted quick enough, and because of that, he didn't get to regenerate in the slightest. Instead, his shoulder stood that way, his arm locked out of its socket, and he had been met with a kick to the left side of his face, blood oozing out and dripping out from his nostrils. He cried out in agony, feeling the tip of her toe break an upper left part of his skull, Hana standing on a large flower petal to aid her as she matched his level, just out of view from his line of sight. But as he snapped his head right back, their gazes met, one filled with murderous vengeance and the other filled with Dark Determination as her pink pupils lit aflame, to defeat this enemy and prove herself. That was the assignment she'd been given from the very moment they'd met, and she didn't get here by giving in or refusing requests, she was-
BETTER THAN THAT!
CLAP! His hands went as he slapped the front of his palms together forcefully, that aura of red and green engulfing every fabric of his being, then igniting a spark that lit in the center of that visible energy. He didn't send any more projectiles her way, instead, the Reaper's eyelids came out from the top of his eyes to shut over his orbs of crimson then emerald,
"Convergence. Divergence. What makes you think you're worthy of such power… you dare touch a god? I'll punish you in a way fitting for such a veil subject! DEMONIC REQUIEM OVERLOAD!" Cried the Requiem Reaper, infusing his innate Requiem technique with something more to give him a bit of a boost, as the green was submerged, kept right in his chest so he could save the Order for later. Now- he let out the chaos, without care for what'd happen next!
The next movement he took, he threw his feet back, charging right at her so their heads would instantly collide, then unleashing a shockwave sending all of the surrounding clouds to part and disintegrate. Grunting in frustration as he then grit his teeth, he watched as she ripped off a chunk from the petal she was then standing on, stabbing it into her skin, then kneeling,
"Peace of Mind. Catastrophic Planetary Obliteration: Tenfold!" He paid no mind to what technique she decided to call out, truth be told, he didn't much care as long as he had a fair fight.
They glared one more time… for those who laid above and below watching the show, it was clear that whoever be the victor would return to the grounds beneath them with a loss in something no matter what. What that very something was, none of them knew, all they did was stare ahead at one another, before they unleashed a SONIC BOOM! Their feet sent them flying right ahead at the other, yet they both knew that colliding once more would lead to another clashing, so instead of that, Hana disappeared at the last second. Rivera's fisy flying right ahead to where her face likely would've been if she hadn't vanished, he spun right around, lifting his legs into the air. Giving her a double kick right across the same cheek two times, Hana shook her head out of the daze she'd been thrust right into, being just fast enough to dodge the grapple for the throat ducking for but a second. Descending further downward toward the ground, she gripped his ankle, launching him further into the air above her head, watching as he powerlessly spun through the clouds, ascending above the atmosphere. Stopping himself right before he could move any looser, Augustus unleashed a blood-curdling cry as he declared with a rasp in his vocals,
"I WON'T LOSE EVER AGAIN!!!!! NO MATTER WHATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" After that, he clapped his hands together once more, combining Orderly Thunder with Corrupted Bolt to unleash that same interlocked stream of circulating energy toward her as she ascended further toward her destination.
Striking the air with her fists, her cheek barely crazed against the stream of energy, leading for her to wince, she shook her head, the Reaper raising his arms to block the explosions radiating out from the air she'd infused with explosive power. Spreading it apart, he destroyed the screen of smoke, watching as she popped up from behind it, grabbing at his face as she instantly broke through the barrier of Shattered Limit. Struggling continuously as they rapidly rose into space, he cried into space for no one to hear as he burnt right through her palm to create a hole then burn off some of her fingers, steam emitting off of it into the void of dark and stars.
Yanking her hand right away, he grabbed at her wrist, then chopping it off so her hand would drift into the nothingness of this space, she yelled silently. Punching her right in the throat, she held it in pain, momentarily coughing before she lifted her foot to send him flying as she kicked the arm he'd lifted to defend his face. Unable to control his trajectory, he was launched to the right side of the Earth, flailing about and drifting as his eyes searched for endless possibilities. She didn't have a hand and she was having trouble holding her breath. Part of her wondered how he was able to be here in the first place, or how his skin was intact, rubbing her throat from a distance, she moved through the space the way a swimmer would glide through water. None of them could say anything, despite how much they wanted to from the way they stared at one another, August, disregarding how irritatingly resilient she was… was smiling. And so was she. The questions would have to be saved until after they settled this, so he raised his fists, blinking for both of his eyes to come back, green and red glistening against the stars and the Sun behind her head.
Raising her hand, she revealed the stump where her left hand formerly was, to which he watched as her flesh bubbled and healed her hand- now with sharper claws to resemble that of a demon. Oddly enough, the claws were painted with pink nail polish… and as a show of respect, they bowed for one another, before August sighed. Fists raised, the surrounding nature of his being was enveloped by that aura, chaotic and freely flowing all about his body… he aimed the right one at her head,
~Six Form Innate Absolution! Peace of Mind acti--~
But he didn't activate the technique, something stopped him, but it wasn't a secret attack or something that Hana had infused him with at the last second, no. It was something regarding himself and his family. Eternal Sight of Infinite Power granted August enhanced brain processing prowess and intense registration of everything advancing his five senses to their physical peak. Meaning that no matter the distance or how far away he was from the Earth, he could hear the words his aunt had said as she asked his father,
"You're dying..?"
And just like that, he vanished without a trace of him being left behind, Hana widening her eyes, she followed right after him leaving an aura trail of pink energy behind her as she made her descent back to the Mansion at the top of the Mountain.