~Artemis torture palace~

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis stood up from her desk and walked over to the door of her study, opening it. She stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind her tightly. Nightsong could stay down there however long he wanted, even though she was forcing herself not to go back to him. "Will power, Artemis. You're a bxtch remember?" She mumbled, a slight sigh escaping her lips. Artemis made her way into the kitchen, opening up the fridge and pulling out a bag of blood. She was rather thirsty and didn't really want to go into a blood lust phase while she had guests over.

Twillah smiled slightly as she walked into the bathroom and gathered up a few supplies, returning to the suit cases. "Well.. My family isn't exactly normal.." She said with a laugh, zipping up the cases and sitting down beside him. "I kinda like this place, but I like home better." Twillah shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Gage. "Do your muscles still hurt?"

Katarina waited a few moments before walking over to to Kuroboshi's bedside, kneeling down in front of him. She shook his shoulder gently, smiling slightly as she looked at his sleeping figure. "Kuroboshi.. Rise and shine.."

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

She's cracking, Nightsong~ I can tell. How much longer will she last, I wonder? Please just say her name! I don't wanna meet up with those things again! Shut up! Nightsong, since I know we can't be separate beings, me being a part of you and all- You bein' serious or just kiddin'? Serious. Besides, I'm tired of these mental debates, Pardonner's whining and fights over who controls the body. He won't be resistant if it means he won't be stuck with them things again. Thanks... And I'll miss having you two to speak with. No mushiness. Just make us one again... The trio spoke in the back of their head, Nightengale seeming a bit more calm than he normally was. As soon as their discussion ended, Nightsong lightly motioned a few designs over his forehead and chest. While there was no glow, no real sign that it had worked, Nightsong had returned to being one entity in one body. This didn't change the fact that he was still keeping silent in the room, but it did realign all of his pieces with the true thoughts of all three of them finally syncing up.

"It's not your sister that was odd though. It was the Kuro-whatever-his-name-is, the bipolar guy and the obvious creeper that made this place seem odd," Gage responded while glancing up to Twillah and flashing a light smile. He followed her question with a brief nod while lightly sliding his hand into Twillah's hand. He'd never been happier than he was with her. "Yeah. He could've crushed us if he'd wanted to, but he didn't. I don't know what his deal is let alone why he's extremely strong for such a young demon, but I still think he's fruitier than a fruitcake."

Kuroboshi furrowed his brow slightly while giving a soft yet unintelligible groan. Briefly opening an eye just a little, he reached around Katerina and pulled her back over him to where he was forcing her to lay beside him instead of getting up while also snuggling closer to her. "I'm up... Goin' back t'sleep..."

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis was just about to poor the blood into a glass when she heard a familiar clawing at a nearby door, her study door to be exact. It's was the same sort of clawing and moaning that was still going on outside the torture room. "Great.." She muttered, sitting the bag down and marching toward her study door. Once there, she kicked the door hard and the sound of scurrying could be heard on the other side. Opening the door quickly, Artemis slid inside and looked around, locking the door behind her. In one of the dark corners of the room, a pair of small glowing red eyes could be seen, but not much else. "Veins par ici.." She hissed, snapping her fingers in front of her and pointing to the ground. The creature hobbled over in response, and she grabbed it by a spiked collar around it's neck. In the light, the creature seemed to be some sort of human-dog mutant creature with half of it's face rotten. Sighing slightly, she pulled the creature along behind her and walked down the familiar hallway. At the sound of her footsteps, the moaning and clawing at the torture room stopped as the creatures scrambled back into the darkness. "S'en aller." She muttered, letting go of the creature and growling lowly. Stupid things. Next time she would have to make sure she shut the secret passage way before she left the room. Artemis turned towards the torture room door and sighed slightly, turning the knob and walking in, making sure to shut it tightly behind her. When she stepped inside, she crossed her arms over her chest and somewhat glared at the male sitting on the floor across from her, as she tried not to notice the small drops of blood around his wounds.

Twillah smiled, squeezing his hand slightly as she rested her head against his shoulder. "Trust me, Artemis can be a fruit cake at times as well.. I'm surprised I'm as sane as I am.." She mumbled, giggling slightly. Now all that was left to do was wait for everyone to gather for lunch in a few hours, and the two could be on their way and back to the place they called home.

Katarina smiled slightly as he pulled her to him, and didn't really want to protest. "You can't sleep all day, Love. You must get up at some point." She mumbled softly, running her hand down along his cheek before closing her own eyes. She didn't mind sleeping in all day, but she knew Twillah and Gage would probably be leaving today, and she wanted to say her goodbyes.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

xxx"Welcome back. You seem a little irritable... Was it your pets?" Nightsong smiled lightly although his voice had changed a little since him and the other two had reconnected. Noticing he had still snapped the chains, he frowned slightly before moving the shackles back up to the chain. When they reattached themselves, he smiled lightly again before letting his gaze shift back up to Artemis.

xxx"I find that hard to believe. It's honestly rather difficult to imagine," Gage hummed softly. His tail moved just a bit so it was resting against the female's side as he lightly set his cheek against the top of her head. Now it was going to bug him about how a demon as young as Nightsong could use as little energy as he had while forcing an older demon, although one meant for seduction instead of fights, to strain just about every muscle in his body. He was no ordinary demon, that was for sure.

xxx"Can too. All I need is you and this comfy bed an' I'm good to go," Kuroboshi breathed softly into the female's neck. Gently kissing her on the side of her neck, he eventually sat up with a highly unenthusiastic air about him. He really didn't want to be getting up, but knew that Katarina wouldn't let him sleep in for some reason. "Better have a good reason for wakin' me up when I was havin' such a nice dream for once..."

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis walked over to Nightsong, eyeing him curiously and sitting down in from of him Criss-cross applesauce. "Yes, sadly they can't seem to stay where they belong." She muttered, her eyes examining his cuts as they shifted to a deep red almost black color. "What did you do?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She could tell something was different about him, but she didn't quite know what.

Twillah smirked slightly, a light laugh escaping her lips. "You'd be surprised." She murmured, before sliding off the bed to go over to the window. "We'll probably have lunch in about an hour."

Katarina smiled slightly and say up along with him, sliding off the bed. "Yes, we have to meet at the house in about an hour for lunch, and seeing as how one of my sisters is probably leaving today, I think it's a good idea to go." She replied in her thick accent, pulling her bright orange hair back into a messy ponytail. She smoothed out her dress and flashed him a grin before sitting down on the edge of the bed once more.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

xxxNodding slightly as if he knew what she was talking about, he remained rather calm. "I welcomed you back down here then asked if your pets were making you get irritable. I believe I was rather clear on that," Nightsong answered smoothly. If anything, he was going to let her figure out the change on her own. He, however, couldn't really feel the sting from the cuts on his chest that Artemis had given him.

xxx"That's nice. I'm getting kinda hungry," Gage smiled lightly while watching Twillah over by the window. No matter how many times he saw her, she always seemed to become prettier. Now if only she could see how much she outshined her sisters.

xxx"Because saying goodbye to your sister sounds reasonable, I suppose I can go over at least once," Kuroboshi yawned before rubbing his eyes. If it hadn't meant so much to Catherine, he wouldn't have agreed to go to Artemis' house. It was against his code of not bothering other people with people that wanted him dead. Just in case his shoulder started bugging him again, he started to put a bandage around it so as to make sure it wouldn't bleed all over Artemis' home. It was apparent he was used to bandaging himself up instead of letting others patch him up.

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis rolled her eyes slightly, trying to keep her gaze off of the now drying blood on the male's chest. Her throat started to sting, and she had to cough a few times before she could speak. Locking his gaze with hers, she spoke slowly. "You know exactly.. what I'm talking about Nightsong. I can hear it in your voice.." She replied lowly as she moved closer to him, her deep eyes searching his own.

Twillah giggled softly and walked over to stand in front of Gage. She grabbed his hand and laid it palm up in her own, tracing the outline of it with her finger. "Why are you looking at me like that..?" She questioned, raising her eyebrow although she continued to focus on tracing his hand.

Katarina smiled lightly and watched him with her curious bright eyes as he bandaged himself up. "Does it still hurt..?" She asked softly, scooting over to sit beside him as she ran a hand over his back. She knew that Kuroboshi wouldn't want to go back to the house, but she was happy he was agreeing for her.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

xxx"But nothing's really changed. You're getting that fiery burn in the back of your throat though. I told you just to ask, silly goose. C'mere," Nightsong responded while moving his hand closer to Artemis. His golden-amber eyes seemed to say everything and yet hid away every secret held within his devious mind. Gently taking her wrist in his hand, he pulled her closer to him while ignoring the crack of the dried blood on his chest.

xxx"'Cause I find it sad that you can't see what I can see. You're so much prettier than your sisters and yet you still somehow seem to feel somewhat inferior to them," Gage purred lightly as he briefly shut his eyes. Giving a soft sigh, he sat back up and gently kissed Twillah on the lips. "The colors of the rainbow shine so bright. Everytime I look into your eyes, it's the colors of the rainbow that feed my soul, over and over just like you do."

xxx"A little. It's more of a precaution than anything else. I'd hate to have it start gushing blood in your sister's house," the dhampir responded as he tied off the bandage and shifted his attention back to Catherine. It still seemed a little weird that he was her lover reincarnated, but her presence let him relax and sleep peacefully. There usually tended to be a good part to the weird things in life lately.

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis gazed over him skeptically, letting him pull her closer to him. "You're lying to me Nightsong.." She muttered cooly, running her hand along his cut before inhaling his scent. Her eyes shifted to a deep red that was almost black before she leaned into his neck. Kissing his skin gently, Artemis smirked slightly before sinking her now elongated fangs in. Even though he was tainted blood, being a demon, his blood tasted better than most. She only took enough blood to soothe the burning in her throat. Pulling back, she kissed the wound once more and watched as it closed. Her eyes returned to their normal shade as she pulled back to look at him. "We should probably get those cuts cleaned, wouldn't want them to get infected." She murmured softly.

Twillah smiled slightly at his words. "That could be because I'm a water nymph." She replied with a giggle, before looking down at her hands. "Catherine is the daughter of the goddess of beauty. Artemis has the look of a porceline doll. And I'm just Twillah, the sweet and quiet one." She said smoothly, running a hand through her hair and sighing softly.

Catherine smirked, nodding her head and sliding off the bed to stand up slowly in a stretch. She held out her hand for him, waiting for him to take it. "That's probably a good idea. Wouldn't want her to go on a psychotic blood lust tirade." She replied smoothly.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

xxx"Alrighty then. If I'm lying to you, then you tell me what exactly is different. I'm still me after all," Nightsong almost seemed to pout at having been called a liar. He then gave a gentle nod as if to say it might be a good idea to keep the lacerations on his skin from getting infected. When the three had become one, his scars had returned from his past in Lymbo so beneath the newer lacerations were relatively unnoticeable scars running in every which direction. The scars were on the front, back and sides of his torso along with his arms and yet they were all but a distant memory now.

xxx"Species and who your parents are don't make beauty, Twillah. It's what lies on the inside that makes someone beautiful and you, my dear, are the most beautiful of all of the flowers I've seen in this world," Gage smiled lightly as he hugged her close to him. Gently brushing his fingertips against her arm, he noticed his sight grow hazy for a minute. "Boo... I'm going to need a different kind of meal soon... My vision's getting hazy from not having devoured someone's soul in a while..."

xxx"That definitely wouldn't be a good thing. What'd make it worse is if she drank my blood, I'd be her obedient little dog. It comes with being a vampier," Kuroboshi murmured softly while taking the female's hand. Once he was up, he briefly cracked his neck before sliding on a black long-sleeved shirt. He still didn't want to be up, but he was doing this for Catherine. Now it was just to hoping that it'd be a quick visit and an unnoticeable one at that. He'd hate himself forever if he dragged any other problems to Artemis' home.

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis looked over Nightsong, reaching he hand down to his side to trace one of his scars. "For starters.. You have more scars.." She said smoothly, letting her hand linger for a moment before pulling back to pull a key from her pocket. She swiftly unlocked his chains and stood, walking over to a small cabinet in the corner and digging through it. She placed the key inside and grabbed some medical supplies. Shutting the cabinet, Artemis walked back over to Nightsong and knelt down in front of him. "Your eyes are also different.. And judging by the fact that I haven't heard one wise crack from Nightengale.. I know something is up. So tell me." She said, locking her gaze with his. Her own eyes seemed rather empty at the moment, lacking any emotion except for a hint of curiousity.

Twillah smiled softly when he moved to hug her, nodding when he said he would need a meal soon. "You can go out and find something after lunch I you'd like, before we leave. Unless you can wait until we get home." Concern was think in her voice as she looked up into his eyes, trying to judge how long he could make it.

Catherine nodded her head in agreement. "I might get a little jealous." She said with a grin, before holding onto his hand and making her way towards the exit. "I don't think that would be a very fun lifestyle. She'd probably test out new torture devices on you.." She muttered lowly, a look of disapproval flashing through her golden eyes. Catherine didn't really approve of her sisters hobbies, but she would never tell her that.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

"They've all been there the entire time. I just didn't let you see them before. And you can't exactly say you haven't heard wisecracks from him since there were a couple already spoken and you simply haven't recognized them," Nightsong hummed smoothly while briefly running his fingers over his wrists from where the shackles had been rubbing them. He then flashed his cheerfully mischievous yet seemingly innocent smile at the female. "You're kinda slow, Artemis, but can you really say that I've changed in the time you weren't in here with me? In all honesty, I'm a deceptive demon with a temper one shouldn't cross and yet very softhearted and cowardly. Nightsong is merely the name of the puzzle that has yet to be solved."

"After lunch is probably best. I might go comatose if I wait too long which'll force my soul collectors to go invading your home just to deliver souls to me," Gage murmured lightly while brushing his fingers against her cheek. He didn't like worrying her, but he didn't like the idea of having to make out with another woman while in an actual relationship.

"That does not surprise me. Your jealousy does though. I've never had someone become jealous over me before. Your past lover must've experienced it though considering he seemed like a womanizer if he was fawned over as much as you and my grandmother seem to make him seem," Kuro smiled lightly as he entwined his fingers with hers. He supposed he'd learn some of life's lessons through what he recalled from Reed's past. He also found someone who cared about him.

 

[Little Broken Puppet]

Dantes_river

Artemis said nothing, but simply got her supplies ready. She ripped open a packaged cleaning cloth and scooted a little closer to him, eyeing the cuts. "This might hurt just a bit." She mumbled, before dabbing at the cut. The cloth reeked of alcohol, and not the good kind. So saying it would hurt just a bit was probably a bit of an understatement. Artemis herself hated the burn that she had encountered the few times she had to clean her own wounds. To her, it was worse than getting the actual cut. But her face remained calm, and in a few seconds she was finished. She ripped open another package that contained some sort of cream and dabbed a bit on her finger before rubbing in over the lacerations, focusing on trying not to apply to much pressure and causing him pain. When she was finished she placed a bandage over it and stood up once more, gathering her supplies silently.

Twillah smiled and nodded slightly, leaning her face into his hand as she closed her eyes. "Alright then, after lunch I'll wait for you while you go do what you need to, and we can leave when you get back." She replied smoothly, placing her hand over his. She opened her eyes and looked up at him with a smirk. "Even though I don't like the thought of you smooching other girls."

Catherine nodded her head as she lead him into the forest, thinking to herself for a moment. "He was quite the womanizer.. But, he had a wonderful personality. Which only added to his charm. He had quite a few girls to choose from, but yet he still chose me. Poor fool." She said with a light laugh, squeezing his hand slightly. The sounds of the morning filled her ears and she smiled softly. Even if she did prefer long walks in the moonlight, she also enjoyed hearing the birds chirp and the animals play signaling the daylight.

 

[Dantes_river]

Little Broken Puppet

"Got it," Nightsong murmured softly while briefly tensing at the sting followed by the coolness of the cream she put on the lacerations. He carefully stacked up some of her supplies, standing up shortly after, and held them out to her. What had been a cheerfully taunting smile was now a serious expression with no hint of anger, sadness nor any other emotion as he just seemed to merely be existing in the moment.

"Hai, hai. It's not the most honorable of things to do, but I have no other choice but to smooch on other girls if not other men. It's far more difficult to catch a guy's attention when you're a guy and they aren't exactly gay," Gage smiled lightly only to gently kiss her on the forehead. Kuroboshi most likely was hesitant about coming out of the woods and the incubus didn't doubt it. He didn't seem to like the idea of being out in the open after all.

"Perhaps, but he considered you his whole world... I believe he died knowing he had found his true love and no matter how painful it was to be snatched away from her, he loved her even into death. He loved you no matter what and even did his damnedest to return to you even if he was a different person just to be with you. Calm him naïve, foolish or even stupid, but he loved you over many, many lifetimes and he wanted to be with you no matter what," Kuro murmured lightly as he gave her hand the same gentle squeeze she'd given him.