The dark clouds thundered overhead, blanketing his journey through the small village in a curtain of darkness. Even the rains seemed to continue their downpour non-stop through the entire trek, leaving him to wonder if it would not continue on through what appeared to be night. Soon they approached a rather large building, its windows alit in a soft orange glow and voices could be heard from within it. Pausing just outside of its doors, his head would motion towards them indicating to the Dark Knight in his company to open them. As the large man pushed the doors open, they stepped within the pungent alcohol induced environment. Countless eyes turned upon them in curiosity and wonderment. The action only seemed to make him frown. Sure they must seem odd, a man clad in black armor, another holding a passed out woman in his arms and if that didn’t add to the fact, they all had been thoroughly soaked through and through. Deciding to ignore their watchful gazes of the patrons, his head would motion off towards the barkeep.

Without needing an explanation the Knight reached into Manic’s jacket pocket and pulled out the pouch of coins hidden within its confines. Rummaging through the small pouch, the Knight would pull out a few gold trinkets and toss them onto the counter before pointing up the stairs. The barkeep nodded and handed the Knight a small key and explained the room to him, before returning to the other customers. The knight nodded to Manic and returned the pouch to his pocket, before leading them up the stairs and to where the room resided. Opening the door, the Knight would stand off to the side to allow Manic entrance first.

Carefully turning his torso to keep Cordelia from hitting her head on the wall, he would make his way up the stairs one step at a time. Once at the top he would patiently wait for the Knight to open the door; the second he did Manic would slip in through its threshold in a sideways fashion. Glancing around the room briefly, his eyes took note of the chair off in a corner across from the bed and the dresser separating them. Other than that, the room seemed fairly empty aside from the window and a small plant off in one of the corners. Settling his gaze upon the bed, a few steps would carry him along its side, before carefully placing her down upon its comforting support. Slipping his hands out from beneath her, his eyes would shift over to the chair not far from him. Leaning over towards it, his arm would outstretch toward it, where his hand would take up a grip upon its backing and swing it out and around to a placement behind him. Effortlessly his body would flop back into its cushy exterior, enjoying the soft embracing feel of it against his tired body. One by one each of his feet would then proceed to place themselves upon the dresser off to the side of the bed to only add to his comfort. Besides, from his current position this was the best means of keeping an eye on her as she slept.

By now the Knight entered the room and carefully closed the door behind him. However, there was a question that seemed to plague his mind and just as soon as he opened his mouth to ask it, Manic simply held up a finger and wagged it back and forth, “Ut tut, don’t speak, she’s sleeping…Ohhhh…” A sudden thought came to his head at the thought of her sleeping and that was the flesh she showed him earlier. Dropping his feet from the dresser and upon the floorboards beneath, he would lean forward and move his hands out to the sleeve on her arm, carefully rolling it up to expose the charred flesh. Curiously his eyes drifted across its appearance, before rolling her sleeve back down and proceeding with the next course of action. He wasn’t all too certain if such a thing would work or not, but it was at least worth a shot. It wasn’t as though it would hurt her, no less him. Muttering a soft incantation, a soft black glow would pick up around his hands and from there he would place them to each of her forearms. Slowly his eyes would close in concentration, focusing the energy forth from his hands and into her arms to see if the magic would work to mend the flesh. When the spell reached its duration, both of his hands would part from her arms and his body would retract back to a relaxed state in the chair. Placing both of his feet upon the dresser again, his eyes would study her countenance.

There was no certainty if the spell had worked or not, but he wasn’t all too interested in seeing for himself. If it did she would take notice of it and if it didn’t then she would make no mention of it and that would be that. There was no real need to go and take another look, because the only thing he wanted to do now was to simply relax. That’s when his stomach growled, brought a frown to his face. The last time he had eaten…Such a long time it had been, but he couldn’t just leave her like that. Besides, it wasn’t as if the food would be that spectacular here anyway. Normally the food served in taverns sucked beyond belief and usually made him contemplate eating dirt the next time hunger hit instead. But there was no dirt present here, although…There was one thing. Slowly his eyes flickered their way across the dresser and to the apple sitting in the basket upon it. With a wry grin, his foot would lift and drop its heel upon the edge of it, which would cause it to flip and send the apple airborne and to his general direction. Catching it in a free hand, he would bring the apple to his lips, before sinking his teeth into what should have been a succulent juicy and sweet apple. Instead, it was hard, plastic coated and filled with foam. Immediately he would spit out the chunk of the apple, before tossing the rest of his shoulder and upon the ground behind him. “Well, that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. What jerk puts a fake apple in a room that you purchase? It’s like saying, ‘Hey, I’m an idiot and even though you paid for the room, I’m going to give you a crappy fake apple.’ I swear…This world keeps getting dumber as time goes on.” Finally done with his rant, his head would rock backwards to be supported by the cushion of the chair as he stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

What was the point in waiting for her to wake up anyway? The second she would, there would be nothing but another dumb comment to be made. It was frivolous really…But yet he stayed and for what? There was nothing to gain, nothing to accomplish, and there would be no thanks for the action…Perhaps he was as stupid and insane as people painted him to be. The thought brought a soft chuckle to his lips, as his head brought itself back down so his gaze could return itself to her. While the time ticked away that she was under his spell, he remained vigilant on keeping watch on her. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and that’s when she suddenly begun to stir…

Cordelia was helpless in the arms of Manic. No matter how he moved, she couldn’t support herself; she was nothing more than a doll as he walked with her through the doors of the Green Gryphon, nothing more than an object seemingly made of marble. She didn’t even look alive, due to her skin tone and lack of movement. The blood on her mouth gave it away, but it was doubtful anyone would even notice that. It was unfortunate she wasn’t awake; she would have loved to see the look on everyone’s faces upon entering the bar.

She had never liked taverns or inns… they were far too cheerful for her taste.

Manic and the knight moved up the stairs. There wasn’t really much she could do to complain about any of it, but they were quite lucky she was sleeping. She would have been raising hell if she was conscious that she was being carried. She was a grown woman and knew how to walk. Not feeling her feet on the ground made her feel queasy when she was aware of it, such as when she had been escaping by flying from the last skirmish she had been in. That had been utterly terrifying.

Her body was rested on the bed. Almost immediately she curled onto her side, pulling her legs up to her stomach and wrapping her arms around the pillow. It was an involuntary reaction that she had always done since she was little. The second she fell on a comfortable surface, she curled into it and tried to get as comfortable as possible. She couldn’t move her arms much, considering how burned they were, but she had been able to move them to at least some degree.

Cordelia was unaware as he took her arms and tried to heal her. She wouldn’t have allowed him to touch her had she been awake, and again would have been causing a commotion had she known about it. The two were rather lucky that the spirited vampire was out cold. She still hadn’t recovered fully from the spell Fehade had cast on her, either, which was working to their advantage. She had no idea what it was, but when she found out a way to counter it… oh, she would rip that little tiefling to shreds!

Surprisingly, Manic’s little trick seemed to work. The skin returned to a paler color, having healed a significant amount. The burns were gone for the most part, though a grayish hue still remained. It was easier on the eyes than the deep black that had been there, at least. It would take a few kills to return her skin to its normal, porcelain-like appearance, but it would happen much sooner than without the magic.

After a while, Cordelia’s eyelids began to twitch. She twisted over on her side again, exhaling as her dark blue eyes finally opened again. It took her a moment to absorb her surroundings and fully take in where she was. However, she quickly realized it was the Green Gryphon; though she had never rented a room in the place, it wasn’t too hard to recognize the structure of the building. A sigh escaped her scraped lips as she began to recollect what had happened earlier that evening. She lifted her hand and entwined it in her hair, almost as if pulling on the locks would force her brain to come back into action. She had been taken quite a beating within the last few days, and she couldn’t say she was very grateful for that.

As she looked at her hand, however, she noticed it was a lighter… ‘healthier’ color. She blinked and stared at the skin before throwing an accusing glance at Manic. She had finally remembered what had happened, and how that little Knight of his had nearly killed her. Her scowl turned to the armored knight, just to let him know that she hadn’t forgotten that he had almost killed her with that scythe of his. She slowly returned her gaze to Manic, biting her lip before quickly regretting that decision. She had forgotten she had torn it up trying to stay awake…

“You know, I don’t know if I should be angry with you for touching me, or glad that you healed me,” she said, looking at her arms now with a perplexed look on her face. “You obviously carried me here… you or your knight, no idea who, but either way you had something to do with it… and though I’m tempted to thank you… well, I still just don’t appreciate you touching me.” She shivered in disgust. Even if it had been to assist her, she couldn’t say she was very well pleased with it. Sure, she was in better physical health now, but even so, she didn’t know if it warranted her being grateful. Her parents had never really taught her proper manners.

Cordelia propped her self up on her elbows before deciding that was an uncomfortable position for the time being. Sighing, the woman merely laid down on the bed, her knees bent as she looked around. This wasn’t very eventful, to say the least. She couldn’t leave because she knew standing would make her woozy, and she couldn’t tease him because there was nothing to mock him for. She had already discussed him healing her… it seemed she had run out of topics for the time being.

She looked to the knight again before huffing; she didn’t like him very much. “Is there a way you can, I don’t know, get rid of him?” she asked Manic, trying to keep her eyes on both of them at the same time and failing. “I don’t think he’s very safe, seeing as how he, you know, tried to kill me!” There was disdain in her voice as she said that, and she didn’t dare try to hide it. She wasn’t happy over what had happened earlier, and she had all the right in the world not to be. Cordelia looked between the two of them, wondering who would be worse to stay around.

This was certainly going to be… interesting.

(( OOC: Sorry it's not that great. Juices weren't flowing so well. ))

Restlessly she seemed to stir in her awakening until finally turning her attention to her arms. The look on her face made a slight grin tug at the corner of his mouth, but it was only a fleeting one that would fade within a matter of seconds. For then her words would come, while they were no longer venomous, they seemed to hold no gratitude what so ever, but it WAS what he had expected from her after all. Perhaps he would have to teach her manners at some point in time here, though now was not the time to concentrate on such a thing. Instead his focus drifted off and over his shoulder, the soft demeanor of his metallic hues now taking their focus upon the dark knight who leaned back against the door. Get rid of him…Did he terrify her that much? The thought amused him, but his features would not betray their apathetic appearance. For a long period of times, both of his eyes would remain diligent in their stare upon the dark knight, until the soft eloquent tone of his voice would sound forth, “If he was going to kill you at that point in time, I would have given the order. However, I will have to dismiss you Morikov, thank you for your services.”

The knight simply nodded to his Master, and pushed off from the door way to come to standing position. Clasping both of his hands in front of him in an almost prayer like fashion, bit by bit his body would begin to dissolve into a thin black mist, which would rise, coil, and plummet to the ground where it would compact into a small black chess piece of a horse.

Once the Knight vanished from their eyes, they would shift in a slow methodical movement back upon her. No emotion played its card upon his countenance; instead his eyes were the only thing that betrayed any form of emotion when they narrowed themselves. Removing his feet from atop the dresser, they would place themselves flat upon the ground and his form would lean forward. Placing his elbows atop his knees, they would aid to support his now forward leaned torso, “Huh…You should have told me earlier that you didn’t want to be touched. I would have left your unthankful behind there to be violated by any passing thief and bandit. But whatever…You’re fine.” A slight huff passed his parted lips, as he pushed himself up from the chair and proceeded to kick the chair backwards where it would come to a clatter against the far wall. Turning on the balls of his heels, he would make his way towards the door, taking the knob up in one of his hands before pausing.

Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, he began to turn the knob just enough so he could crack the door open slightly, “You really need to learn to accept help and ask for it as well... Those burns on your arms weren’t caused by mere accident, especially if I know my vampires as well as I believe I do. The weaknesses that cause burns like that consist of Divinity, fire, silver, and sun light depending on your tolerance. Which leads me to the conclusion that you got yourself into a bit of trouble. But the whole point in me telling you this is the fact that I could help you, if you would just ask. Who knows, I may just consider it, but with that current ungrateful, self concerning attitude of yours, I’d highly doubt it.” With little effort he pulled the door open and began to step through its threshold, until he would pause briefly, “If you decide to change your attitude and your mind…I’ll be downstairs getting some food, oh and by the way. Don’t eat the apples, they’re fake.” A soft cackle emitted forth from his mouth knowing full well that vampires didn’t eat actual food, no less the fact that he was dumb enough to fall for the fake apple. Granted, it wasn’t so funny at the time, but looking back on it now, it was quite entertaining.

Before his laughter subsided, he would push through the threshold of the door and close it behind him. From there he proceeded down the steps and out into the alcohol induced environment where he would bump into the few occasional stumbling drunks. Finding a table off at one of the corners of the room, Manic would take up a seat there and place one foot at a time on the table as he leaned back in the chair. After a short time a small nimble framed woman with long flowing blonde hair and ice blue eyes made her way up to his table, offering to take his order. At the sheer sight of her, his jaw almost dropped open, but he refrained from the action and simply offered a coy smile, “Well, hellloooooo sweetie. I’ll take anything good you have to eat, just so long as it isn’t fake like those stupid apples in the room. As much as I like plastic and foam…I’d like to say I’ll pass on that.” The woman giggled, smiled, and nodded before heading off to fulfill his order. When she returned, she placed a plate of steaming hot mashed potatoes and steak onto his table. Removing his feet from the table, his hands would move out to take up the plate and pull it in front of him. Taking the fork in hand, he would begin to chow down with no end in sight; it was an amazing thing to watch. Something that often made people wonder if he breathed during the entire process or even chewed his food before swallowing. And its entire ordeal would only take a matter of a minute to complete before shoving the empty plate off in front of him, swallowing one final time. Releasing a sight of relief, he would rock back in his chair, bringing it back upon its hind legs, before returning his feet atop the table in sweet relaxation.

Now that he filled himself on some halfway decent food, the only thing left to do was to wait and see if she would return to his company to hear him out. After all, he was a mercenary and doing things for people were apart of his game, even if he really wasn’t getting anything out of this offer like he would normally expect.

“If he was going to kill you at that point in time, I would have given the order.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. Given the order… well, considering he had made the knight fight her instead of fighting her himself, she had every right to believe he was going to have that thing kill her. “Thank you for your services,” she repeated in a nasal, mocking tone of voice. She was well aware that such a statement was immature, but quite frankly, she didn’t care. He was thanking an armored knight for doing… what had he done, exactly? Cordelia sighed; the only thing he had really done was fight for him. It was so pathetic…

She didn’t bother to pay attention as the knight did whatever he was doing in order to leave. Really, she was just grateful there was one less person around. People didn’t do much good for her unless she had access to their veins. Maybe it wasn’t the greatest decision to be left alone with Manic, but at least there was a whole inn of people downstairs. Even for someone as mad as he was, he didn’t seem stupid enough to harm her in a public place. The plains would have been a completely different story, seeing as how no one had been around. In a tavern, though, there were just too many people to witness something in some way. So, basically, she was covered. That was a relief.

“I would have left your unthankful behind there to be violated by any passing thief and bandit.”

The vampire snorted when she heard him say that. “They wouldn’t dare,” she grumbled. She might have cut off all ties to her family, but if they ever caught wind that their precious little daughter had been violated because someone had left her on the side of the road, they wouldn’t be very happy about it. Then again, if they knew it was because she had absolutely refused to be helped, they wouldn’t have been very happy either. Cordelia huffed, realizing that Manic was right. She would never admit it, of course.

“You’re fine.”

“Always am,” Cordelia said in a cocky, sing-song tone of voice. There were always bumps along the road of being ‘fine’, but she, overall, was in good condition. It wasn’t a completely necessary comment, but it would hopefully be enough to annoy him. Doing that was pretty enjoyable, as long as he didn’t go over the edge like he had earlier. Annoying people was always a pleasant past time for her; she just didn’t like anyone returning the favor.

Manic walked toward the door after kicking the chair toward the wall. Her eyes followed him suspiciously, an eyebrow slightly raised. As soon as he grabbed the doorknob, another lecture came out of him. The woman almost growled, not appreciating it very much. She didn’t need the help of anyone! Really, if people would just stay out of her business and out of her life, she wouldn’t be in nearly half as many fights as she got herself into. If Esteban and Magnus hadn’t gotten involved with the battle with Fehade, Cordelia wouldn’t have gotten burned by the horse. The life force spell might not have happened either. “Well, maybe if people left me alone, I wouldn’t get in so much trouble,” she mumbled, not caring if she was interrupting him or not.

“But the whole point in me telling you this is the fact that I could help you, if you would just ask. Who knows, I may just consider it, but with that current ungrateful, self concerning attitude of yours, I’d highly doubt it.”

So first he was trying to kill her and wanted her flesh and now he was offering to help her get revenge? “And I’m the one who’s always contradicting herself…” Cordelia said, hoping he would see she was pointing out that he wasn’t so perfect himself. She contemplated it, though; he was pretty powerful with that chess piece, and maybe having him help her against Fehade wasn’t such a bad idea. Even so, she wanted to be the one to spill the blood of the tiefling… not anyone else. She was greedy when it came to vengeance, especially since this concerned her most of all. Just the thought of watching Fehade writhe in pain, helpless to whatever she had planned excited her, and she didn’t want anyone to take that away.

He left the room, leaving the vampire in silence. Cordelia enjoyed it for the time being, closing her eyes and simply absorbing it. The longer she was left alone, the more she was wondering if she should really have Manic help her. He certainly did have more spells than she and her two ‘allies’ had, but even so – was it even his battle? And why was he offering to help her? There was nothing he could gain from it, unless he was just as blood thirsty and power hungry as she was. Despite that, she still wanted to believe there was a more solid reason; after all, not everyone could think like her.

A while had gone by before, in the end, she decided she might as well go downstairs. The food she wanted wouldn’t be on the written menu, but this place was filled with incoherent people who were drunk or hung over. Drunks were always the easiest to take away from the tavern, kill, and make sure they wouldn’t be missed. Besides, if she went downstairs, she could drill Manic with questions. The idea of possibly annoying him further was enough to make her throw her legs over the side of the bed and stand up, enduring the dizziness for a moment before heading over to the door.

Cordelia knew she looked like a mess. Her hair was sticking to her face because of the rain and her clothes were still drenched. Her lip was cut, but she had taken care of the blood factor. She didn’t care what anyone in this place thought of her, though – it wasn’t like she was ever going to see any of them again in her life time. She almost smirked at the thought, because it was really true. Everyone down there was probably mortal or something close to it, and she had the beautiful promise of living forever.

She turned down the stairs, searching for Manic without delay. Getting stuck among the drunks and cheery people wasn’t really what she was aiming for. She soon spotted him eating, which caused her expression to momentarily turn to disgust. She had never liked ‘people food’ very much, and to be honest, she felt bad that they had to eat such nauseating meals. By the time Cordelia had pushed her way through the crowd, Manic had finished eating.

“You are going to be so sick…” she said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. Eating too fast did that to people; she had some not-so-pleasant memories about it. Cordelia pulled up a chair and sat on the opposite side of him, merely looking at him. “But whatever, I don't care. I just want to know why were you offering me help.” It was truly the one question that was bothering her. “I don’t see why you’d care, after you and he tried to do the same thing to me.”

Focusing his eyes upon the descending form of Cordelia down the stairway, a sudden thought of distaste washed across his mind. That distaste however would only transfer to that of his countenance during the first words that flowed from between her lips. She was truly a fool, it was something that baffled him to no extent. Through everything and anything he said or dead, she still focused that he held some intentions to kill her, to maim her, to rip the flesh from her body. While the thought was beginning to become a possibility, it would simply be shrugged aside when his voice would pick up in a sharp biting tone, “You underestimate me, misjudge me, and quite frankly, just don’t get it. I could write my answers down on a piece of paper and you still wouldn’t even have the intelligence to figure it out. Though, I will indulge you this once, just this once…” His words would pause and both of his feet would slip off the edge of the table, the weight of their fall aiding him to stand up from his chair.

“If I had intended to kill you or even hurt you, you would not be sitting right where you are. In fact, I wouldn’t have even wasted the effort to revitalize those near dead limbs of yours. As for helping you, consider it a stupid fleeting thought I had in my head at the time being. Since I pledged the offer, it still stands and I won’t retract it. I’m a mercenary; I hurt, kill, and maim people for a living. And if you want a crack at the clown that did that to you, I’m the best chance you got. Take it or leave it, but first…I suppose I should show you the chance you stood against me. Now watch closely…” Lethargically moving from his current position, he would position himself just behind an empty chair. Recoiling a foot back behind him, it would bring itself swiftly forward with a sudden force to it. With a solid thud the toe of his boot would make contact with one side on the seat of the chair, sending it spinning high into the air.

Without skipping a beat a few words would echo forth from his mouth as two digits on his right hand would point to the chair, causing it to instantly burst into flames. The split second the chair lit aflame more words would empty forth from his lips and both of his hands would sweep up and downwards just in front of him. They would send mass shockwaves of air out from the digits, both fanning and disrupting the air currents only to turn them into a sharp gust of wind which would rush past the chair. The initial contact of the rush of oxygen and alcoholic fumes only added to feed the flames, bringing them to a near white hot sizzle upon the wooden exterior and soon spreading through the exterior. But that would not be the end of his bag of tricks for just before the burning chair came to contact with the ground, another spell would let loose from his lips and a small wave of water would let release itself from another fanning motion set forth from his hands. Once the flames became douses and subdued, the chair would hit the ground with a faint thud as it immediately burst into nothing but mere ash with a few chunks of wood littering it.

Countless eyes now turned their way towards Manic and silence quickly took its hold upon the room. A faint smile trailed across his lips, when his head cocked to the side a dark raspy voice would pick up, “Ah, look at the sheep as their eyes feast themselves upon the herder, perhaps I should lead you all to slaughter. Would you all like to play a game…? Hmmm…” To add to the dramatic effect, a lone index finger would place itself up against his chin, “I know how about we play the game where I’m the murderer and you’re all the victims. Doesn’t that just sound fun!?” When the last sentence began to press past his lips, his voice would take up an upbeat and cheerful tone, “But of course…If you aren’t interested, turn your eyes back to your own business.” A slight snarl would lip the corner of his upper lip, exposing one of the long fangs that littered his mouth and for a brief instance his eyes would flash a glowing blood red color. The action instantly caused all eyes to immediately advert themselves back to their own business and a series of random conversations would start up again hoping that the crazy man would not put truth to his statements. Once all eyes left him, the now returning metallic hues would drift over to Cordelia, “What worries you most about this clown…? And in what way would it make you the most happy to pay vengeance upon him? I can do just about anything. Random elements and spells are not just my only gig; I can disable, enfeeble, and cripple an opponent. I can play the support role and allow you the enjoyment of the vengeance, or I can exact it for you. Be quick the clock is ticking…” A sly grin slipped its way upon his face, but he would continue his taunting at her, “Tick tock…Tick tock…”

“Though, I will indulge you this once, just this once…”

A look of distaste crossed her face. She understood completely – at least, she thought she did. He had started a fight with her; what other reason could he possibly have other than to kill her? Maybe it had been for fun or out of misunderstanding, but not much had even happened to provoke him. Cordelia really understood that he was confusing and his reasoning seemed to be extremely flawed. If he had done all that, then what was the point of even keeping her alive? She wouldn’t complain, of course, she did enjoy living; but it just didn’t make sense.

“I’m a mercenary; I hurt, kill, and maim people for a living.”

Oh, wow, where had she been all these years? That sounded like an excellent way to make a living! Fun, exciting, on the edge… but that meant he had to kill people he didn’t even want to. Well, there went that idea as a career. She stole money from the people she killed, and they were people she wanted to kill. “Does that mean you don’t always get to hurt people you want to?” After all, he would have to go with the highest bidder if it was a job. Poor fellow… now she almost pitied him.

He instructed her to watch, which Cordelia sighed. She really didn’t care. The fight was over, and she didn’t really want him to keep rubbing how amazing he was in her face. By now, she had gotten the point. She was a stubborn, misinformed fool almost all the time, but there was only so much she could take of listening to something over and over again.

The chair he was using burst into flames. The vampire narrowed her eyes at the brightness and pushed herself back at least a foot, not wishing to be any closer to the burning material than necessary. Fire made her extremely uneasy, and after being burned to such a degree by a horse, of all things, she couldn’t very well say she wanted to be near it again. Cordelia made sure to pay attention, and strangely enough, a wave of appreciation came over her. She could have easily been that chair out on the Plains, and yet, for whatever reason, he had spared her. She still didn’t trust him, but she at least knew that he had no intention of killing her. At least… none that he showed. Unfortunately, she had no idea what he was thinking.

The chair was reduced to ashes and a few planks. Cordelia gulped, staring down at the pile, her face even more pale than usual. “Believe you now,” she squeaked. She didn’t, really; but she would say anything if it would keep away from fire.

“Doesn’t that just sound fun!?”

Everyone was staring now, of course. Cordelia shot enraged glances toward the people of the inn, unable to help but giggle at what Manic said. If he had any plans on killing them, she certainly wanted to help. “Sounds good to me…” she said, looking at him over her shoulder before turning back to the people. He might have been saying it to make everyone direct their attention elsewhere, but Cordelia was actually considering it. It wouldn’t be smart to kill in such a large place, though… there were too many people who might be missed, too many people who might find something out. She sighed as she realized that wasn’t going to happen. Well, there went any possibility of fun for the night!

She was really quite surprised by the reaction he had gotten out of the people and how easily he had made them all look away. “Impressive,” she credited, inhaling deeply and finally turning her own attention back to Manic. Hopefully, since she had been having a conversation with him, she wasn’t on the list of people to kill for looking at him. The thought amused her slightly, but at the same time, this whole situation wasn’t doing much to put her at ease.

“I can disable, enfeeble, and cripple an opponent.”

“Ooooh…” Cordelia’s interest was officially peaked. The corners of her mouth lifted in a grin, revealing her teeth. She rested her left arm on the table while placing her right elbow in front of it, her chin coming to rest on her lifted wrist. She giggled slightly at all the possibilities. She didn’t necessarily trust him, but after seeing that display and hearing what else he could do, there were so many beautiful options to pursue. It didn’t matter what had happened earlier now that he was really interested in helping her. He was involved far too deeply now, and Cordelia would not allow him to back out.

“I can play the support role and allow you the enjoyment of the vengeance, or I can exact it for you.”

There were almost too many options for her to handle. Cordelia loved choices and loved taking her time, but she wanted to make this particular one faster than usual. The sooner Fehade was out of the picture, the sooner she could have a little bit more to her ego and enjoy life a bit more. “You’re making this slightly difficult…” she informed him with an insincere sigh. All this thinking was almost exhausting, however much it thrilled her.

“Tick tock…Tick tock…”

Cordelia glared at him when he began to time her. “I want your help,” she said finally. The words almost seemed forced, since she rarely asked for the help of another person. “I just want to make sure he goes out as painfully as possible… what do you think would be the best way to kill off a little tiefling and his ugly horse?”

That response was bound to be interesting.

“I want your help,”

The words came like sweet music to his ears, almost like that of a thousand angels singing a song of prayer. It was truly the response he hadn’t expected from this woman; in fact it almost seemed to play against her very character. Asking for help seemed to be something that this woman was strongly against; he had taken note of that from her comment about him carrying her to this place from the plains. Speaking of which…The only way he knew this woman was through just that, ‘some woman.’ Names were never a real important thing to him, though they were necessary in that of taking up contracts. Should a man re-nig on their deal then he would have a name and face to hunt the yellow bellied bastard down with, but that wasn’t the case with this woman. Even if she backed out on him, his fun would not end simply because of that. Willing or not, he would either exact his own entertainment from this clown or he would aid her. She was only along for the ride when it came to his amusement.

Though, not knowing her name seemed to prove troublesome and even that of tiresome, because referring to her as woman or stuck up prick just didn’t cut it anymore. Even if the latter still could remain solid in its grounding of use for quite some time, mainly because of the degree in which her nose was stuck so far up her own rear end. It wasn’t all too important; however, because it would be known within time whether he asked it or not. In a flitter of movement the metallic orbs of his eyes would settle themselves back upon the woman, “My job enables me to who hurt whoever I want, when I want. Contracts do not bind me, instead I bind them. A person offers me a job, I debate the offer and if I dislike what it entails I shoot it down. Usually their first response is to raise the offer, but that doesn’t do a lot to sway my decision and only seeks to agitate me further. I’ve killed a lot of my contacts through that form of negotiating, mainly because I just don’t care to listen to the crap they spew. I do jobs that I want to; money’s only the extra incentive.” Un-breaking, his gaze would continue to bore itself into her eyes while he debated her question.

A single digit would lift waywardly up to his chin and place itself against the side of it in thought, before speaking, “Tie a rope around the leg of his unconscious body and tie the other end to the horse. Strike the horse with a small lightning bolt in its rear and send it on its way. From there, I would light the man’s body aflame and if he’s fortunate enough the ground might actually put out the flames, but I’d doubt it. Once the horse would stop and the man was nothing but a crispy chunk of human flesh, I’d strike the horse down by taking out its leg with a blade and carving its flesh bit by bit…That’s merely my opinion though.” A dark look then took itself upon his face and his eyes would narrow in a flash of glowing red.

In almost a mere split instant his hand would swing out and knock the table off to the side, sending it to a clatter across the floor. Stepping forward a few paces the second the table was clear from his path, he would lower his form to bring his nose mere inches from hers. His red glowing eyes stared unblinkingly into the blue hues of her own, but before he would begin to speak his left hand would reach out to the back of her chair, taking itself up on the corner of it with a firm grip to enable her options of escape from the confrontation. When all was set, a deep snarl set itself upon his countenance and in a soft gravely tone his voice would come, “You want my help…? There comes a condition with such a thing, those conditions affect how much help and support I will offer you. Condition number one, respect. You continue to show any more blatant disrespect to me throughout the course of this contract and I will allow that man to do to you what he did previously with no sense of remorse for doing so. Condition number two, loyalty. You decide to duck out on me at any point during the course of this contract and I will hunt you down like a dog and take from you the very thing that you cherish most. I won’t be playing games this time around; you’ve seen that chair and that will be your fate. Condition number three, the last one of them is…Listen to what I have to say. If you go against what I say during the course of contract you risk the chance of screwing up the support I can allow you and thus put yourself in Jeopardy in which I may not be able to assist you. This last one resides on how well you take direction, but there’s one thing I would like to point out…”

By now his eyes returned to their original state and his frame rocked back from her to allow her more space than he had previously. Though, his voice would not change in its current tone, the features of his face would lighten faintly, “You won’t know if some of the conditions have been breached by you until the confrontation begins. It’s crucial to watch you tongue, even though I will give you one and only one fair warning to watch it. It still could come back to haunt you when the events start to take the place. While you may be expecting help during the confrontation, depending on how you behave I may just stand there or I may dive right in and allow you the greatest upper hand you can gather in the fight. Now, does that sound fair enough to you or are you going to complain about unfairness and all that mumbo jumbo? The way I see it, I’m cutting you a deal you should be able to handle no problem and considering my normal prices on contracts such as these. This is a steal in comparison, so take it or leave it…” Carefully his eyes would study her expressions, waiting for any signs of disgruntlement, uncertainty, or anger from the words that he had spoken. If he could wager a guess over the whole thing, he was almost certain that she wouldn’t be the least bit interested in the deal now. All the conditions seemed to go against everything she had done so far, which played all apart of his little game. Perhaps he would be able to teach this woman some manners after all, but then again maybe not…After all, it IS a rather hard process to get a rock to change its color and she was just that, a rock. Solid and rigid, but once broken would shatter into a million pieces. At least that was how he viewed her persona…

“I’ve killed a lot of my contacts through that form of negotiating, mainly because I just don’t care to listen to the crap they spew. I do jobs that I want to; money’s only the extra incentive.”

It made sense. Money wasn’t the most important thing when killing was involved. Though it was a pretty good part of the deal, the actual reward really was just the satisfaction. Cordelia simply smirked, not at all worried by the fact he had killed a lot of his contacts. They were all people who couldn’t get a job done by themselves, and she had vowed to take revenge, whether alone or with other people with her. “That’s the way it should be,” she said with a shrug.

Cordelia watched him as he thought, anxious to hear what he would have to say to that. The moment he began speaking, she wasn’t all too pleased. Unconscious? That was so over done these days, and if he was unconscious, then she didn’t get to hear him screaming or get to see his reaction to all the agony she wanted to put him through. There would be no fun in it if the tiefling wasn’t awake for the game. However, as he continued on with the suggestion, the vampire had to admit she was rather pleased. Carving the horse little by little was perfect for her, and she could always play little games with Fehade before actually doing that to him. It wasn’t like it was set in stone, anyway, since it was just a suggestion.

Slowly, a deep laughter would come from her throat, an absolutely pleased grin on her face. This guy was ruthless, which was exactly what she needed to get this job done. Esteban and the celestial would never have thought of something so absolutely gruesome, and quite frankly, she doubted they wanted revenge as strongly as her. They were both children, though, when it came down to it. They were both too nice, too… good. It made her slightly sick inside to be honest. “You’re terrible…” she said, trying to quiet the cackling laughter before it got too out of hand. Clearly it was a compliment, and really one of the few statements of praise she could give someone. For her, someone being terrible was the equivalent of a normal person thinking someone else was a person to idolize. “Take out him being unconscious and that works perfectly. You’re a smart kid.”

In a moment, the table was knocked aside and Manic was, once again, in her face. The action was becoming tiresome, but after it had already happened so many times, Cordelia was slowly getting used to it. Either he had problems with his vision, enjoyed being close to people when talking, or some other reason. Cordelia had come to the simple conclusion that he was insane, however, so she was just going to use that instead of coming up with anything truly legitimate from now on.

“Condition number one, respect.”

When he had mentioned there would be conditions, Cordelia hadn’t thought they would be so absurd! Her jaw dropped slightly the moment he demanded respect. “That’s ridiculous!” she exclaimed. She was never one to sugar coat anything, and the only thing he had done to deserve any ounce of reverence from her was that excellent plan from before. She grumbled slightly and shifted in her chair, though there wasn’t much space for her to move.

“Condition number two, loyalty.”

At this point, Cordelia puffed out a breath of hair to blow a few strands out of her face. First he wanted respect, and now he wanted loyalty? Neither were very strong traits to find in the vampire, and she was half tempted to back out of the deal now. She didn’t need him to kill off the tiefling, though it be much more enjoyable with his brilliant ideas, but when it all came down to it, he wasn’t necessary.

She had vaguely heard the last condition, which was listening to him. She could handle that, since all it required was listening. She could let him talk and then argue without interrupting, though it might prove to be difficult. She let out a sigh when he backed away, slightly less tense now that there wasn’t as much closeness.

“Now, does that sound fair enough to you or are you going to complain about unfairness and all that mumbo jumbo?”

“Complain,” the vampire opted. “I shouldn’t have to bite my tongue to make you feel all important and I have a huge issue with respecting you!” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t have any reason to, and I’m not a nice person. I shouldn’t have to pretend to be nice to you or be loyal when I don’t need you to do this for me!” She sighed, not even knowing how to fully express how repulsed she was by the rules. The only one that really made sense to the contract was listening. She was probably out of line already according to his little conditions, but he had also said he would allow her one warning.

“But…” she mused, seeming to take a slight change of heart, “if you return the conditions and, you know, you listen to me too and you respect me and don’t stab me in the back, I might be a bit more willing to abide by what you said.” Cordelia smirked; she could be reasonable if and when she chose to do so. She wasn’t sure how pleased he could be by the fact she was asking for the same in return, but if one of them was going to be unhappy with the terms, then both of them might as well be. It was the only way for this to be ‘fair’.

The very second that he finished speaking his words, the only thing he could think about were the words that would come out of her mouth. In all certainty he knew she wouldn’t bite on the conditions or even give his line a jingle in order for him to reel her in, so instead he found means of distracting him. With a quick scan of the tavern patrons, his nose would be the one that would end up leading him to the man at the table not but a couple feet off from him. Mmm…Steak came the thoughts in his head, totally blocked out most of whatever she said to his conditions. On top of that, his feet began to randomly carry him over to man’s table where he would slip up behind him unnoticed and place a firm hand upon the guy’s shoulder. Giving it a light squeeze, his face would bring itself alongside the man’s with a wide ole grin upon his face, “Ah, mighty find steak you have there…But you know what’s even more fine? That young waitress over there, take a look I coulda swore I saw her winking at you.”

Meanwhile the woman continued rapping on about this and that, but it made no difference to him. For his only goal at this point in time would be the steak on the man’s plate. Completely untouched and free for his taking. Oh how the thought provoked him to just reach over and take it with no regard to him noticing. That’s when he noticed the man look with a word like, ‘Really…?’ Taking this open opportunity, one of his long arms snaked over the man’s shoulder and scooped up the steak from his plate. The second he retrieved it from the plate, he would turn on the balls of his feet and head back over to the woman, Cordelia. Plopping down in one of the chairs across from her, his hand would lift the steak to his lips where he would take a big chunk out of it before munching on it cheerfully.

When the man returned his attention to his plate, a simple, “What in the hell?” could be heard from his general direction. That was until he had turned around to focus his eyes upon Manic who was holding his steak in hand.

Lifting a curious brow at the sudden stare he was receiving, Manic lifted the steak up in front of his face slightly, “Oh, you want it back? It didn’t look like you wanted it; I mean you could always cut off the area where I bit into it. Though, it wouldn’t be useful especially if I…” Breaking off the rest of his sentence, the tip of his tongue would poke past his parted lips and proceed to slither its way out until the tip just came within mere centimeters of the steak. For a short period of time he simply wiggled the tongue threateningly, enjoying the expression of the fellow patron before slathering the steak in all the saliva he could muster. With a wry grin upon his face, his hand would hold out the steak to the fellow patron who would stare at him with a look of disgust and turn back to his plate of potatoes. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, but as his eyes fell back upon Cordelia it would subside into silence and he would offer a shrug in response. Taking another large chunk out of the meat, he would proceed to chew it as his voice chimed up, “You know…” Waving the hunk of meat at her for a brief instance, he would swallow the chewed food, “I admire your spirit. Perhaps this contract won’t be as bad as I’ve perceived it would. Either way, before I accept to anything or even devote myself 100%...There’s certain procedures I need to take first.” Pausing for a moment, he would cram the rest of the steak into his mouth causing it to fill his mouth and bulge out his cheeks with each time he chewed.

There never were any manners when it came to him eating; it was only about satisfying himself even if it was a little bit crude. It was all apart of life and something he didn’t pay dire focus on correcting and/or fixing anytime soon. There was no woman to tell him otherwise and no parents to scold him. All in all, he was a free man, free to do as he wished when he wished to do so. In some ways he was a lone wolf, one that preferred to often work alone, which made the fact that he was working to aid this woman was much more absurd than it was. Though, it was in the past now because all that was left for the two of them now was the future. And if there was going to be a future beyond that, he needed to know every bit of information he could gather.

Swallowing the last bite roughly, a satisfied sigh would break past his lips, “Ahh, now I’m going to need every and I mean EVERY piece of information you know about this joker. Everything; from his hair color, his smell, and if he sucks his thumb, because I’m sure he will pick up the habit by the time we’re through with him. What’s the most important about this is what kind of abilities does he possess, what creatures follow him, and lastly what kind of weapons does he hold? I’d rather not get ourselves stuck in a sticky situation due being under prepared for whatever he has to offer. If need be, I can keep him from casting a single spell, the downside is that he’ll resort to melee in which case I need to know the weapon types and if he uses them or prefers his spells over the weapons. Now if you could tell me any information like that, then we’re golden and set to take this guy down without problem…” The features of his face turned from being upbeat and light hearted to serious and focused as all attention barred down upon her. Prepared to soak up everything and anything she said in order to analyze his opponent properly and give them the best edge possible. The information she would give him would end up playing a crucial part in their ordeal, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a bird’s eye view on things for himself either. Though, that would be at a later date of course and more the less without her along side of him.

He was ignoring her! They had been having a conversation and now he was blatantly walking away from her! Cordelia scowled and watched him as he went on his little trip to get the steak, growling under her breath. He had already eaten like a pig and now he was going for seconds. Sitting with him was actually slightly embarrassing now that he was acting like this. Cordelia didn’t have the best manners when it came to eating, either, but she at least did it in private where no one had to see it.

Since there was no way to really tell him to stop without sounding like a bossy, nagging mother, she simply let out a sigh and perched her face in the palm of her left hand, watching as he began chewing. Human mannerisms were so primitive… he wasn’t even using silverware to at least seem slightly intelligent. Cordelia began to wonder how others could even begin to think she was obnoxious when there were people like Manic sitting right in front of her. The moment he stuck his tongue out and began to lick the piece of meat, the vampire narrowed her eyes at him, unable to hide her distaste anymore. “You’re eating like an animal,” she hissed. “What was that about, anyway? You got up and left me here when I was talking to you! If you want my respect, then at least return the favor!”

She let out a sigh of frustration, folding her arms over her chest and sliding down in her chair somewhat. Cordelia had a right to be angry; she was the hypocrite, she was the rude one, she was the one without manners – and what does he do? The very same things that he had scolded her for. She was half tempted to yell at him, but that would cause an even bigger scene, and she didn’t exactly want the attention of everyone in the tavern on their table once again. Manic was doing a splendid job at causing trouble without her assistance, and she was going to try and keep it that way.

“There’s certain procedures I need to take first.”

“As always,” Cordelia said with a sigh, her nose scrunching in repugnance as he chewed like that. She couldn’t stop herself from lifting the hand that cradled her chin and covering her eyes, tapping her foot lightly. “I will never understand how you humans can eat such crap.” She shook her head, almost gagging. The things people put in their bodies were so terrible and never looked very appetizing. Her poor eyes had seen enough, and though she wanted to see if he was done yet, it was time to spare herself.

He finally sighed and began talking again, which meant his mouth had to be clear. Cordelia spread her fingers apart to make sure the coast was clear before fully uncovering her eyes and resting her chin on her wrist again. She listened as he spoke, wondering why he had to explain every single, solitary detail to her. Asking for whatever she could remember would have been enough – she didn’t have any mental issues that stopped her from remembering things.

“… because I’m sure he will pick up the habit by the time we’re through with him.”

Cordelia couldn’t help but snort due to laughter when she heard him say that. By the time they were done with him, she hoped he was dead – or at least in so much pain that he wished he was. Leaving him alive in the state she wanted him to be in almost seemed like a much worse fate than death. Besides, if people saw him, it would be a bit of a warning as to what she was capable of. That almost made her smile… almost.

“Black hair, red eyes,” Cordelia said. It was a simple statement and she was sure there were a lot of people with that same basic physical description. Even so, she wasn’t exactly a novelist, and wasn’t going to be able to come up with an amazing, unique description. “He had horns and was talking to himself… a bit crazy, you know, with little imaginary friends? He said it was a demon, but…” Cordelia didn’t believe for a second that he had a demon inside of him. The fact that he had voices in his head was a far more entertaining thought and much easier to make fun of. She took a deep breath, trying to think what else might be important. “He was tall, I guess… he had a spell that inflicted wounds, one that made a little lightning bolt thingy that made me go unconscious, a katana, and…” Her face hardened as she began the next part. “A really, really ugly horse that breathes fire.”

She had never liked animals, and it was slightly upsetting that she had been so badly injured by a four legged mutant. He already knew the things that could burn her and that she had gotten injured because of the fight, so if his sleuthing skills kept up, it wasn’t going to be very hard for him to figure out that it had been the horse that had hurt her so badly. She knew he was probably going to laugh at her for it – she didn’t deserve any less. Out of all the things that could hurt her, it wound up being a fire breathing horse. The thought made her eyebrows knit and her fists clench. “I think that’s really all you need to know.”

It was all she could remember, anyway. Cordelia straightened herself up in her seat, feeling slightly restless. It was becoming a slight nuisance to refer to him as ‘kid’ or ‘crazy person’, and since they were making a bit of a contract, she decided now was as good a time as any to ask what his name was. “What’s your name anyway, hm?” Cordelia lifted an eyebrow, trying to think of something that might fit him and failing at all attempts.

“You’re eating like an animal,”

A twisted grin crossed his lips the second those words left her lips. An animal!? If only she knew the half of it! While the name suited him quite well, a soft laughter emitted forth from his larynx, “Oh…I did, did I? Guess I got distracted by something more interesting, mainly my stomach.” The comment was sure to get those lovely eyes rolling like none other, since that seemed to be the only thing that she could manage to do in response. That and the whole sighing thing, both were getting equally old in their usage. Not bothering to bring attention to it though, his thoughts would shift their tracks and jump rails once again when she spoke up about eating. What was he supposed to do, starve? Perhaps she would like that, but he wasn’t about to do the very thing that she would enjoy to happen to him. While she wasn’t necessarily high on his list, he doubted that he was any higher on hers.

Usually those who conflicted ones beliefs or life styles tended to make enemies easily against the person they targeted. It was for the better, there were no friends when it came to doing contracts, but there WERE temporary alliances such as theirs. Then her voice would come again, this time stealing his entire focus to study and analyze the crappy description she offered. When she finished with it, an exasperated sigh would break from his lips and his head would drop towards his approaching hand. Lightly his index and thumb would place themselves against his tear ducts in response to her lame description. How disappointing…The only thing she could point out was simple descriptions and the likes. Regardless, it would have to do, because he doubted that he would receive any better than the garbage that he had already. So the man was a tall, black haired and red eyed….Demon? So there was another in these lands that was just like him…? The thought intrigued him; perhaps this wouldn’t be so boring after all.

“So let’s compare and contrast the two of you. First, we’ll start with you, you’re spell less, quick thinking even though it’s reckless, and lastly you have nothing with you. He on the other hand apparently has spells, he has a horse and from the looks of it he got the best of you. In my view he has a far upper hand over you and yet you’re trying to negotiate with the only person that can level the playing field for you? You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that, but I won’t accept your terms. I will do as I wish, when I wish and how I feel to do it. I won’t bind myself within your own offered conditions in MY contract offered to you. You can find someone else for all I care, or better yet do it yourself that should be entertaining. Although, I suppose I could maybe have a word with him and see if he’d like to take up my contract against you. After all, I know just about all I need to know about you in order to effectively aid him in taking you out, as if he needs the help,” Manic spoke dryly, before dropping the hand from his face and pushing himself up to a stance. From there he would regard her a moment with his eyes, before scoffing lightly and heading off to the door of the tavern, “I hold all the cards…” Came his soft subtle voice when his hand took itself up around the door handle, “You better know when to fold or you may lose this hand, Woman. I’m going out for a breath of fresh air and for future references call me Manic.” Wasting no further time, his hand would give the handle a twist and a jerk to pull the large oaken door open.

A rush of cool air swept in through the now gaping doorway, greeting his heated flesh with its presence. Sucking in a deep relaxing breath, Manic would push through the threshold and out into its binds, pulling the door shut behind him. Standing upon the steps another rush of cool air would sweep up around his body, kicking up the soft black tendrils of hair that cascaded across his shoulders and ruffled the unbuttoned jacket slightly. It was a lovely night, the moon sitting high in the sky and not a single cloud in the sky, but the scent of rain still weighed heavy in the air. Such a lovely scent it was…Taking a seat upon one of the steps, both of his arms would rest upon his knees as his form slumped forward slightly. A few strands of white hair slipped in front of his eyes for a brief instance, before his hand would sweep them away. If this woman proved to be a flop of a deal, it wouldn’t bother him in the least. There still were other things he needed to do anyway, one thing involved a previous contact here that for some reason still hadn’t paid him for his services, but he would need to be patient before dealing with that one….

“Oh…I did, did I? Guess I got distracted by something more interesting, mainly my stomach.”

Just as Manic had predicted, Cordelia rolled her eyes and turned her head away for a brief moment. Really, she was slightly predictable – everything said or done by another was bound to be met with an expression like that. The only things that ever really changed were the insults and what she said. She wanted to reply to him, but there were really no words that fully expressed the depth of her frustration. Besides, there wasn’t even a point anymore.

He didn’t seem very pleased with her description. The vampire simply stared at him, an eyebrow perking slightly as he rested his face in his hand. If he was frustrated, there was nothing she could really do about it. She wasn’t good at describing things… she knew the differences between things, and that was all that mattered. It didn’t matter if she was articulate enough, so long as the basic point got across and she knew what she was talking about.

“So let’s compare and contrast the two of you. First, we’ll start with you, you’re spell less, quick thinking even though it’s reckless, and lastly you have nothing with you...”

Cordelia couldn’t help but smirk when he mentioned how her thought process was rash. She had taken that as a huge compliment, and was quite glad he had acknowledged it. She didn’t take offense to the fact that he had pointed out that she had no spells and no weapons, considering it was the truth. The only weapon she had was her sword and her fangs, and those had already proved to not do much good against Fehade.

“…You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that, but I won’t accept your terms. I will do as I wish, when I wish and how I feel to do it. I won’t bind myself within your own offered conditions in MY contract offered to you…”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him, her jaw clenching. Maybe it was his contract, but it certainly wasn’t his battle to fight. Cordelia was already well aware that he wasn’t a necessary contribution to her getting revenge against the tiefling. Really, though, he had some gall to boss her around and not expect her to do anything in return. She didn’t like being controlled or manipulated, and she certainly didn’t appreciate not getting her way. The only time she was capable of negotiating was when the outcome would benefit her, and she wasn’t so sure how good this deal would be for her. Though she would end up getting revenge in the end, she was going to be put through hell in the mean time – and it would probably be the hardest thing she had ever gone through in her whole life.

“…After all, I know just about all I need to know about you in order to effectively aid him in taking you out, as if he needs the help.”

Cordelia stared at him incredulously. She stabbed people in the back all the time, but she hadn’t expected him to threaten her with that! She was speechless for a few blessed moments of stunned silence as she stared at him, her emotions flying from anger to paranoia. Would he really do that? After not leaving her out on the plains to be violated by strangers and actually taking her some where safe, would he go back and try to help the very person that had harmed her so violently? There was a part of her that didn’t think he had the nerve and didn’t think he was stupid enough. After all, if he did that, then this conversation and all the frustration she was putting him through would be in vain. Even so, maybe he was leading her on and would just not help her in the end anyway. She didn’t see what he had to gain from it, but people always had their reasons, no matter what they were.

“You better know when to fold or you may lose this hand, Woman. I’m going out for a breath of fresh air and for future references call me Manic.”

Cordelia sighed quietly, keeping quiet. She had nothing to say to him. This situation was no longer in her hands at all. At this point, she couldn’t even back out of the deal without the fear he would turn against her. She wasn’t really as strong as she thought she was and she had been beaten two out of two fights already… and having both of them against her was like suicide. He had gone outside, leaving Cordelia alone in her chair feeling rather conflicted. The only way to get her way was to compromise her dignity and let him do whatever he wanted and tell her what to do. Though she still wasn’t sure how serious he was being about joining Fehade, the best option would be not to underestimate him.

And who named their kid Manic, anyway? Cordelia scoffed; parents were crazy. Why couldn’t they give their kids normal names? Taking a deep breath, the woman stood up, her eyes on the door. It would be best to go talk to him before he decided to call this whole contract off.

She walked toward the door and opened it, stepping outside into the cold night air. The fact that it had rained was still quite clear, and Cordelia didn’t really appreciate the wind. She looked at Manic’s form on the steps and heaved a sigh, even though she was sure her presence was already known. She stepped down and sat on the step above him, draping her right arm across her legs while once again perching her chin on her wrist.

“So I guess… I’ve got no choice…” she mumbled, clearly having difficulty forcing the words out of her throat. Not getting what she wanted was incredibly hard, especially when she had to give up something she wanted and part of who she was just to get it. “Because you’re… right… GAH!” She looked down; saying that had nearly burned what little of a soul she had. “So I guess I’ll completely abide by your contract and do whatever you say and yadda yadda yadda! I admitted it, I’m done, and I don’t have to say anymore!”

The vampire cringed and almost screamed, seeming exceedingly childish and not caring at all. It was hard for her to say she would listen to someone else and let them do whatever they wanted without her bossing them around at all. She rested her head in both of her hands for extra support, just to make sure she would be all right. Saying that had been really hard.

She looked at him, looking just the tinniest bit helpless. “I don’t have to say anything else about… that… do I?”

It really hadn’t taken her long to come to her senses, because the second she emerged out onto the steps behind him, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Oh how the mighty have fallen, the high perched vampire succumbing to that of the lowly demonic being. The whole situation was comical and if he didn’t want to keep the cards in his hand, he would have burst out into a fit of laughter. Though refraining was a task all in itself, because the sheer thought of her admitting something like that was just beyond her form of character. Wiping all expression from his features, they would take on a blank stone appearance as his head turned to cast its gaze over his shoulder. For a long while his metallic orbs scrutinized each inch of her features, before shifting his head back to cast his gaze off in the distance of the streets before him, “I don’t expect you to say any more than what you just had.” His voice was soft in eloquent in its tone showing no hint of anything in particular.

“I have to commemorate you, you made the right decision. While you were still in the tavern I’m sure the thoughts of whether or not I would actually do such a thing were going through your head. Here’s an answer for you, but the answer will be in the form of a question… Do you really think I’m right in the head to try and second guess or even take lightly as an enemy? I would side with anyone that would give me the most satisfaction and if you refused to grant me that, then I’m sure Fehade would have no issue in granting me. It’s as simple as that…” A faint grin lined his lips while his eyes scowered across his surroundings, trying to search through his memory as to where this man was located. The second his eyes fell upon a slightly off kilter street lamp, a sudden remembrance washed over him like a tidal wave. Each turn, each detail seemed to pour into his head and he could almost see the man’s house at that very instant standing before him. The grin seemed to grow and stretch across his countenance in sly remembrance, “We need to get your strength up and I need to tie up some loose ends. If we’re lucky we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Not bothering to wait for her response, both of his hands would plant themselves upon his knees as he rocked forward and rose to a stance. Step by step he moved down to the pavement bellow, turned slightly to cast a glance over his shoulder, “Let’s go, Woman. I know a place where we can handle business and in the dark of night like this there should be no problem. If worse comes to worse, I can eliminate any witnesses without much issue, but I doubt there will be a need.” Slipping both of his hands within the pockets of his jacket, his frame would slowly push forward in stride in its way down the street, starting from the leaning light post, he would trace the way through sheer memory. Within a matter of moments he found himself standing in front of a dimly lit house. Settling his gaze upon one of the dimly lit windows a faint silhouette of a form streaked across it signaling that there had been indeed someone awake.

Removing a single hand, it would lift and rake itself through his hair. Bringing the hand back down to his side, the other would slip from the confines of his pocket and join it at the opposite side. In a soft toned voice, his eyes would drift off to the flank she adorned, “If he doesn’t answer, there’s a couple options. This man owes me money and claimed that he would have it for me quite some time ago. When I went to collect it he claimed that he didn’t have it and if I would be generous to give him some time he could right the wrong. Then he vanished, I’ve received tip that the man lives here and a while back I observed the place and sure enough this is his house. Seems I’ve been too busy to take care of this matter any sooner than this. Now about the options, I’m sure he’ll deny not having the money, but when it comes to threats of killing him, he’ll offer the money to save his rear end. Tends to be the trend, no one takes anyone seriously nowadays…Regardless he’s going to die tonight and I figure his purpose can serve a greater use as feed. I’m sure there will be others in the house, they’re of no importance though, and you’re free to do whatever you wish with them.” Peeling his eyes from her, they would trail back to the house in front of them, “Now if this doesn’t appeal to you, then just stay out here. It’d be best you don’t get in the way if that’s the case.”

“I don’t expect you to say any more than what you just had.”

Cordelia heaved a sigh, her shoulders collapsing as though a huge weight had just been lifted. “Good, because I didn’t plan on saying anything more,” she said. She had basically just given up her freedom, since she was now forced to listen to him, respect him, and stay loyal to him for the duration of this contract. Hopefully they could get this over with as soon as possible, because she didn’t know for how long she could suppress the person she truly was. She had never had to stop herself from saying certain things in the past, so this was definitely going to be an… experience.

“…the most satisfaction and if you refused to grant me that, then I’m sure Fehade would have no issue in granting me. It’s as simple as that…”

So she was supposed to stay loyal to him, and he could get up and leave whenever he wanted? Cordelia’s eyebrows knit at the thought. It was so unfair that he had such an upper hand in this. He could do whatever he wanted, go wherever he wanted, and if he didn’t like this deal, then he could just up and leave! Cordelia wasn’t exactly used to people doing to her what she did to other people; ‘do unto others as you’d have done unto you’ had never seemed to apply to her. So far, she was not liking it, and didn’t like the fact that she was in for probably a very rude awakening.

“Then let’s hope I can give you the most satisfaction, hm?” she said, trying to sound as pleasant as possibly and failing horribly. Cordelia had never been very kind hearted or compassionate, and now that she had been the way she was for twenty seven years, well… it almost seemed too late to start. She wouldn’t even be doing this if Manic hadn’t scared her into agreeing with his terms.

“We need to get your strength up and I need to tie up some loose ends. If we’re lucky we can kill two birds with one stone.”

An eyebrow rose slightly as he said that, unsure what he was really talking about. Cordelia remained seated even when he stood, grunting when he called her woman. Though it was nice for once that someone didn’t know her name, that was going to get old very fast. Besides, if anyone else heard that, she was bound to get odd stares. She wasn’t exactly dressed in the most womanly way. “Cordelia,” she corrected, finally standing up and walking down the steps after him.

“…If worse comes to worse, I can eliminate any witnesses without much issue, but I doubt there will be a need.”

She still hadn’t come to any conclusion as to what he was talking about. Whatever it was, it included death, so she was at least slightly interested. “This should be fun…” she mumbled. Manic began walking and Cordelia quickly caught up, walking at his side. She might have made a deal with him to basically ‘obey’ him, but she wouldn’t walk behind him. She still had to hold on to at least some of her pride. He finally stopped outside a house, for whatever reason.

“…Tends to be the trend, no one takes anyone seriously nowadays…Regardless he’s going to die tonight and I figure his purpose can serve a greater use as feed…”

Cordelia had been listening and nodding her head as he talked, not having been too interested. The whole ordeal didn’t really concern her much and she hadn’t figured out how the fact that this man owed Manic money would help her. When he mentioned feeding on him, though, the woman’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You think I need help looking for food?!” she yelled, realizing as soon as she had raised her voice that doing so probably hadn’t been the wisest decision. She stayed silent for a moment, growling slightly. “I’m a grown woman! I don’t need anything being handed to me, kind as the offer may be.” Her voice had quieted to a harsh, hiss of a whisper, but her anger only seemed to show through more. She was a predator and liked to act like one. Where did the fun go if she was handed things to her?

“Now if this doesn’t appeal to you, then just stay out here. It’d be best you don’t get in the way if that’s the case.”

Cordelia grumbled a few choice words under her breath. There were multiple people inside the house, and she knew she wouldn’t be as strong as she could be until she had killed a few times. Even so, she didn’t want favors. She had been killing on her own for seventeen years… by now she had gotten the hang of it, but she didn’t think Manic understood that very well. But the thought of actually being back to her old, healthy self did influence her decision quite a bit. Maybe she could do it just this once… sure, she didn’t like the fact that he was trying to help her and probably didn’t respect her at all, but she could deal with it.

“Fine, fine, whatever,” she finally growled, clearly unhappy. “I’m not overjoyed with this and I’ll deal with you later, but I’m hungry.” She took a step back and folded her arms over her chest, figuring she should let him go to the door and handle the talking before she did anything. She had to figure out the best way to lecture him later on without somehow breaching the contract, anyway.

The second the woman began her outburst, a soft breath of air passed through his lips and his eyes rolled themselves in response. This woman had some serious issues with accepting help and that would prove to be a downfall of her later. Though, for now he would simply ignore her outburst, not really even caring what she had to say. If she had such a big issue with it, then she could sit out here and watch as the festivities began. Because his focus needed to remain on the matter at hand, not stray to minor annoyances like she often strove to be.

“I’m not overjoyed with this and I’ll deal with you later, but I’m hungry.”

There would be no helping it, because with the next coming of her words his eyes would darken and narrow upon her from their positions at the corners. Who the hell did she think she was to threaten him of all people…? At least that was the way it had come off to him and it would be a matter he would address once these next events would draw to a close. Returning his focus back upon the house in front of them, a few idle thoughts crossed his mind. Thoughts that her sudden outburst very well could have signaled to those within of the trouble that lurked outside. If that were the case then this woman would pay for ruining his night of fun. There was no quick way to piss him off other than to ruin each and every chance that he had to enjoy himself and so far she had seemed to do a great job at doing just that.

Not wasting any further time on the matter, he began forward in a slow jeering walk up the walkway leading to the door. Pausing at the door a hand lifted to the door and brought his knuckles against the hard wood in a few solid knocks. Patiently waiting for someone to open the door, it would seem that there had taken up some stirring within the household due to the sounds heard just beyond the door. A coy grin played across his lips, before knocking again, “Let me in the wolf said to the three little pigs, or I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down…” A soft manic laughter set forth from his larynx as he imagined the looks on their face at the voice beyond the door. Soon the laughter subsided and his countenance would take up a look of distaste. Playtime was over, it was time to set forth action since they seemed so reserved to not answer to their guest. Taking a step back on his left leg his entire body would rock back all of its weight onto that leg, before thrusting forward. At that same exact instant his right leg would bring itself sharply upwards and thrust itself out to the door a little off to the right of the door handle.

With a loud crack, splinters cascaded off from the door as the knob broke off from its mass and dropped to a clatter to the ground. Meanwhile the rest of the door continued its momentum and slammed with a deafening clatter against the wall within the four walls. Having followed through the action, Manic’s legs almost appeared to be in a split like fashion as the left was stretched to its full extent. The only thing different was that his right had been supporting the weight of his body as it bent at the knee. Keeping his face towards the ground, his head would flick back without warning sending waves of black hair up and behind him only to cascade back across his shoulders haphazardly. A sadistic grin crossed his lips as his eyes pierced through the darkness within the building. Wasting little time, a slight grunt would heave forth from him when he pushed himself to a stance once more. Pushing forward again, his body would seem to meld within the darkness of the building almost as if he had vanished from pure sight.

Once inside the house, his eyes would dance sporadically across each and every thing that lined the house trying his best to detect movement. With his left hand, it would take up the staff on his back and removed it from its sheathe only to wield it in front of him. While withdrawing the staff, his voice would pick up in a jeering manner, “Suddenly I heard a tapping, as if someone gently rapping at my chamber door, I know you heard me rapping, so why don’t you come out and play?”

Unable to see with the current lighting a soft whisper passed his pursed lips and an intense flame took itself upon the table at the center of the room. The flames seemed to dance and lick their way across the table, feeding off it like some sort of parasite would off its host. It was at that instant when he had caught movement from directly behind him due to the way the shadows had cast themselves. Acting on mere instinct his body threw itself into a spin and sent the staff out to the would-be weapon of his attacker. When the two locked, it took a few moments of careful observation to notice that the weapon of his attacker was nothing more than a cane. Scoffing at the pathetic weapon, his muscles would tense and give one final push against the weapon and sent it swinging off to his flank. From that very instant, Manic brought his staff back up pointing the blunt end of his staff into the man’s face, “It’s bad manners to keep a guest waiting…”

“What manner of beast are you…?”

A soft smile caressed his face at the words, “The one you should have never double crossed.” The conversation had already grew quite drab and boring. It was time to draw the matter to a close, so in a slow and drawn out manner his arm would lower the staff off to his flank. The second it would come a stop each his muscles twitched with a sudden surge of strength and brought the staff up in an outward swing to the man’s jaw. Catching him clean at the joint of his jaw, a loud crack would emit forth and cause his mouth to grow slack. When the staff recoiled, his body would lurch forward as his head brought itself out to the man’s face. In a solid thud his head would smash against the man’s nose causing him to recoil back against the wall and slide down to his rear. A faint grin lined his lips, before moving his attention off to Cordelia, “It’s free game from here. This is the only exit of the house, unless of course they’re interested in jumping from a window. And you can have this fool if you want, I’m done with him….”

Cordelia watched as he walked up to house, shuffling along behind him, not too enthused. She didn’t entirely enjoy being led to her food by another person. Manic was doing a really good job at making her feel helpless, which she really wasn’t. Maybe fighting wasn’t her strongest suit, but she could hunt and she didn’t need any assistance when it came to that. The gesture was actually insulting… she had only even decided to do it because it would only end up helping her in the end.

She stopped a good three feet or so behind him, observing as he knocked on the door and waited for a response. As no one answered, she smirked, a soft hum of a laugh emanating from her throat. That was cute. There were obviously people inside, and they were ignoring the knocks on the door. She had to hand it to them – they were smart to know that this wasn’t precisely a good visit. Even so, hoping they would go away and choosing to disregard the noise was a pure display of cowardice. Her outburst had probably warned them, so she partly had herself to blame for the fact she was missing out on a potentially entertaining fight.

“Let me in the wolf said to the three little pigs, or I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down…”

Wow, that was a shocker, he knew little stories that people told their children. Cordelia raised an eyebrow before looking down and shaking her head. Though it applied to the situation and was certainly patronizing, she never would have thought someone like Manic would know a story like that. The only reason she even knew it was because she had been a parent at one point… albeit it was a long time ago. Clearly she had misjudged him, as she had done many times earlier that night.

Between her outburst before and the sound of his voice at the door, it was doubtful they were ever going to answer. Cordelia heaved a sigh; though it was probably scary for them, she was becoming slightly bored. She shouldn’t have expected anything less of what she was assuming were humans – it was rare to find one that actually had a spine. Apparently, whoever was behind the door wasn’t very brave and wasn’t very good at taking responsibility for their actions.

Finally, he kicked the door down. She had anticipated as much. If they weren’t going to answer, she knew Manic was going to want to get in there somehow. She smirked and unfolded her arms, placing her hands on her hips impatiently as the dust and splinters settled. Really, by now, she just wanted to get this over with and save herself the embarrassment this was going to cause. She waited a few moments before following him into the building; if someone inside was going to attack, which was improbable considering their earlier cowardice, Manic should be the one to get hurt. Since nothing had happened just yet, Cordelia silently stepped into the home, looking around with slight difficulty before Manic cast the spell and lit the table on fire. She took a few steps away from him and the fire, mostly because she didn’t need another incident to happen. It might have been easier to see now, but that fire wasn’t putting the greatest feeling in her stomach.

Cordelia hadn’t been paying much attention, but when she heard the two weapons collide, her attention immediately returned to Manic. She was already out of the way, so she didn’t need to worry about getting caught up in that. Her eyes traveled to the weapon that the human was using and she almost instantaneously burst out into laughter. A cane?! Of all the things that were probably around in this house, the guy had chosen to use a cane against the intruders? That certainly wasn’t the most thought out thing he could have done. A simple stick wasn’t going to do anything against anyone, let alone someone like Manic. It seemed the man was almost asking to be hurt with that terrible choice. Whatever happened to using knives, or something that might actually be useful?

“…And you can have this fool if you want, I’m done with him….”

“How kind of you,” Cordelia muttered, hoping it was low enough that he wouldn’t hear but at the same time hoping he did. She didn’t enjoy taking other peoples left-overs. Even so, someone had to kill him, and she really wanted to be the one to do it. She walked over to where he was slumped over and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back up and sinking her teeth into his neck in a single, fluid movement. A few minutes had gone by before she moved her mouth away, licking her teeth to clean them to the best of her ability. She released her grip on his collar, allowing the pale, cold, lifeless body to crash right back down to the floor in a heap. She looked at him, feeling absolutely no remorse. He deserved what he had gotten for not taking Manic seriously. It was just a shame he wouldn’t live to get to put his lesson to use. Clearing her throat, she lifted her arm and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, stepping away from the scene. The door was the only exit and no one had left yet, and she hadn’t heard anyone screaming falling from a window… so that people were still in here. “I’m going to go find the other little rats,” she hummed. “Do with the body what you will, maybe go search for that money he owes you?”

A dark, wicked sounding giggle came from her throat as she began to ascend the staircase. The blood was making her feel giddy; it was an effect she couldn’t help. She hadn’t ‘eaten’ in days, and as of now, she didn’t want just one. Cordelia looked around upon reaching the second floor, but her attention shifted to one room in particular upon hearing the floorboards creak. She stepped up to the closed door before taking the handle in her hand and twisting it, glad to see it wasn’t locked. She entered the room, her eyes immediately setting on a woman who hadn’t bothered to make herself hidden. “Well, my fun just went down the drain,” Cordelia spoke, her voice holding just a slight edge of disappointment to it. “Oh well…” Now wasn’t the time to be picky. The vampire grabbed the girl, looking down at her with a grin that revealed her bloodstained teeth. Without a moment’s hesitation, Cordelia grabbed her arms and held her by her hair to keep her from moving and once again pierced the flesh of her neck.

This time, Cordelia took her precious time, not caring how long she was making Manic wait. She was done soon enough and, just like before, let the body fall from her hands like a rag doll. A bit of blood stained the floor where the corpse fell, but that wasn’t her problem, now was it? Cordelia left the room, feeling invigorated and as alive as she possibly could. Quite frankly, she didn’t care if there was anyone else in this dump, if there was – tonight was their lucky night. Death wasn’t coming.

Cordelia descended the stairs and cracked her knuckles and shoulders. She was slightly happier now that she had gotten to kill someone on her own, which was clear in the way she was now carrying herself. “All right, I’m done,” she announced. “Can we go now or do you still have business to attend to here?”

A brief glance shot over to the lifeless body against the wall and then back to the ascending form of Cordelia. What did she expect him to do with it, eat it? He supposed he could do such a thing, but the fact that the body had now begun to grow cold was the only thing that turned him off of the idea. Regardless it was of no concern to him now, at least not now that the sheer matter at hand was addressed and everything was now in the order it should be. There was nothing left for him here now; money didn’t concern him especially not the money of a rat bastard like that man. Besides, he had enough money to keep him happy for the time being, but that’s when the thought of Avarice crossed his mind. That man was a different story, if he didn’t pick up every blood red cent around the city that he could, there would be no hearing the end of it. A soft laughter parted his lips with its oddly upbeat tone, but it soon faded when a rather large shadow would cast over his shoulder from the moonlight just outside the home.

Smacking his lips together lightly, a faint frown of distaste slipped upon his face, “Well, I had my suspicions; I just actually didn’t think you had the intelligence to think of something so elaborate.” The stench of demonic blood weighed heavy in the air, signaling to him instantly that this perhaps wasn’t the time to fool around. Slowly his body turned to face the domineering man with red glowing eyes; the sheer action seemed to cause his mouth to grow slack in temporary shock. It was one of the few times that he had underestimated someone as thoroughly as this. But before his body could act or a thought could slip through his mind a massive fist drove down and caught him clean across the face. The sheer power of the power took him from his feet and sent him upon the ground on his back where he would skid to a near stop just a few feet off from the wall. Releasing an annoyed groan, Manic pushed himself back to an erect position, but it wouldn’t’ be quick enough to allow him time enough to escape the towering 8 foot creature.

It almost felt like every bone in his entire entity rattled from the blow, but his attention kept focused upon the hand planted firmly against his neck to keep his body pinned against the wall. A faint gasp of air escaped Manic’s lips, as his voice strained to release the words, “Tick tock goes the clock, bing bang goes the church bell, and yet another one will fall to its toll…” The second the words left his lips, both hands lifted to the offending arm and sank each of his nails within its fleshy exterior, causing the beast to cry out in pain and release its grip slightly. Using that as grounding, both of his arms swung sharply off to his side tossing the arm as though it didn’t exist. Once free of the arm, both of his arms would lift up to parallel positions with the ground, as both of his feet slid together to make a bodily appearance of a cross. Energy quickly gathered in the palms of his hands, until each of his digits snapped tightly shut to explode the energy across his entire body to send out a seering flash of light and a loud earth shattering bang would follow in its succession.

Just as expected the beast found itself caught at the mercy of the spells effects and instantly grabbed both of its ears in a howl of rage. Using this as grounds to draw this to an end, Manic reached a hand into his jacket to pull out a card, “All the cards are in my hands now…” In an arrogant manner he would twirl the card in his hand to show his enemy the face of it, knowing full that he couldn’t’ even see it if he had wanted to. The sheer thought caused a manic cackle to emit forth from his lips and echo out throughout the room. The second it would subside, he would give a flick of the wrist and release the card towards the ground just beside his feet. The card instantly began to dissolve and materialize into of a light weight crafted sword which would plunge into the floorboards bellow. Taking the swords hilt in hand, a light grunt would escape his larynx and the sword would become dislodged from the floorboards. A sly grin took upon his face the second he rushed forward with sword in hand, instantly bringing the blade across the beasts mid section, and following up with an upwards diagonal cut across the things chest. The action sent the beast into a frenzy, but it was still hindered from the spells effects.

Settling the blade down at his side, he would patiently wait for the beast to release another roar in its rage. The very instant in which it would, Manic would rush forward and thrust the blade deep within the gaping hole of the beast’s mouth and ramming the blade down its gullet where it would begin to spasm and stumble around from the offending weapon. Within a matter of a minute, the massive creature tumbled off to the ground on its side when Manic had begun his ways towards it. Pausing a few feet off from it, his hand would go to take up the blade again and pull it from its throat, causing a sick gurgling sound to emit forth from the throat of the creature. Lifting the blade to his lips, his tongue would flicker out and run the length of the cold steel to lick up each droplet of blood. His eyes all the while remaining focused on that of Cordelia. When the last drop touched his tongue, the blade would swing downwards and extend with his arm out to the nose of the woman, “And I will deal with you later…I will give you a chance to explain those words. Fail and I’ll remove that pretty head of yours with a blink of an eye.” By now all signs of fun and enjoyment washed from his features and were instead replaced by a grave look of anger and distrust in the woman.

Cordelia had missed a majority of the fight, though she certainly hadn’t missed that large, explosive sound. It had left her mind reeling and her eyes seeing spots for a good while before she had actually come down the stairs, and she would have received the full effects if she hadn’t been upstairs in a different room and hadn’t just fed. She wondered what that fool was doing down there. Hopefully he hadn’t blown up the corpse… even if she could be violent, she didn’t exactly want to go downstairs to be greeted by various body parts all over the place.

As soon as she wasn’t seeing different colors and her vision wasn’t going in and out, she had gone down the stairs. Her eyebrows lifted and, just like before, she made sure to stay out of the way of the fight. She didn’t need to get hurt anymore than she had been in the last few days. She stared at the… whatever that thing was, not even going to try and figure out what it was, and snorted. It didn’t seem very happy; she wondered where it had come from.

“All the cards are in my hands now…”

The woman watched as he pulled the card out of his pocket. He’d said that before to her at the inn… so she supposed he had meant it quite literally. The card fell to his feet and turned into a sword, causing Cordelia to shrink back slightly. If he had had that all along, then why did he bother using a staff? Swords, in her opinion, caused so much more damage and were a lot more effective. Staffs couldn’t stab people, staffs couldn’t slit throats, staffs didn’t strike fear into the hearts of other people… so she really didn’t see the point. Cordelia sighed inwardly, knowing well that it wasn’t up to her what weapon he used, but she thought he would at least use some form of logic. But, then again, considering he was crazy, she wasn’t sure how logical he really was.

Since his attention wouldn’t be on her until he was done, Cordelia turned her own gaze to her hands, licking some excess blood off of her skin. Her mouth still had that coppery taste from it, but it wasn’t like she was complaining. She took a moment to glance at her arms, noting that they looked a great deal healthier. Between all the healing she had received and the blood, she was bound to look better. A slight, hardly noticeable smile graced her lips and she looked back to Manic, who at this point had the sword inside the beast’s mouth. She had heard it screaming before, but since it was a most unpleasant sound, she had done her best to ignore it. She preferred the screams of people to the screams of beasts like that.

For a moment, she felt a bit bad for the creature. That had to be painful; luckily, Cordelia had never experienced something like that. If she had, she doubted she’d even be alive right now. The thing fell down to the ground and Manic began licking the blood off the sword, which didn’t really faze her for obvious reasons. She didn’t see the appeal to animals, though; she had basically lived off of them as a child, since she wasn’t big enough for anything else, and couldn’t have been happier when she ‘graduated’ from them, so to speak. However, she hadn’t expected the very tip of the sword to swing in her direction and stop dead still in front of her nose. She gulped, her eyes crossing slightly as she stared at it. What could she have possibly done now?!

“And I will deal with you later…I will give you a chance to explain those words. Fail and I’ll remove that pretty head of yours with a blink of an eye.”

“Oh… that…” Cordelia remembered with a nervous laugh. The look on his face and the tone of his voice hardly showed any signs of him teasing, and considering the sword was right in front of her face, she didn’t exactly have a way of getting out of this. Apparently, he had taken it differently than she meant. Though it had sounded threatening, she was really only going to have a little chat with him that hopefully wouldn’t be outside the limits of the contract. She took a deep breath and started, since she didn’t exactly think he was going to have much patience with her. “That wasn’t meant to sound as… hostile as it probably did,” she explained gently. “I was simply meant that I’d talk to you later because I didn’t want you to think I needed help when it came to finding people to feed from.”

Though she could have phrased it a few different ways, she was going with what she thought would be the safest. It was the truth, so she obviously didn’t need to worry about sounding like a liar – all she had to worry about was if he liked the way she was speaking to him. Respect was hard for her to regard people with, but with a bit of luck, she might be able to pull it off. “Not that I’m not appreciative or anything… I just want you to know that I can find people to kill on my own and you don’t have to worry about doing it for me.” Oh, that had to sound overdone with sugariness. She was trying, at least, so maybe he’d spare her because of the wonderful amount of effort she was putting into this.

A bit of logic wouldn’t hurt, though, so Cordelia decided to add that in. “It’s not I could do anything to you if I wanted to, anyway,” she reasoned smoothly. She couldn’t worry about her dignity when she had to worry about her life! She had been threatened so much in the past few days that she was surprised there wasn’t an actual reward out for her head! People took things so seriously these days… though there was the problem of people not taking others seriously enough, being taken too seriously was just as big of an issue. “And I already made a deal with you about the tiefling. I wouldn’t go back on my word after I accepted your help and your contract.”

In other cases she might if it would help her, but Manic was proving to be someone she couldn’t very well do that with. She looked at the sword again, tempted to ask him to put it down now or even push it away herself, but she didn’t need to upset him further. She had gotten herself out of sticky situations before; so hopefully this time wouldn’t be any different. A small, angelic smile crossed her mouth, and though it was probably a bit too much, maybe it would somehow sway him.

Diligent eyes studied her own, only to occasionally break across her countenance before returning once again. While he wasn’t really buying truth in what she was saying, he knew full well that she wanted to say something much more than just that. Though, at least she was trying and that’s all that mattered. It wasn’t like they were going to be together much longer than the contract would entail as it were. So, long as she followed directions and instructions throughout the entirety of it, there would be no issue between them. Deciding to accept her words at face value, the sword in his hand would lower back to his side. A soft laugh lined his lips when his other hand raked itself through his hair, “I didn’t say I’d find food for you, Miss Cordelia. I merely offered a chance to feed; I also said you could take it or leave it. Quite honestly, it really doesn’t bother me if you choose to listen to my instructions before the contract or not. You’re a free person until things hit the fan. The rest of my conditions; however, are active from the second you accepted and to the second in which you’re satisfied with the turnout of this man…Now.”

With a twitch of the arm, the blade would swing up to gently rest on his shoulder and he would turn on the balls of his heels. Taking a couple steps off from her, his body would throw itself in a counterclockwise spin and at a specific point in the rotation his right arm would snap downwards sharply. Releasing the blade from his hand at an extended state, it would simply dart forward with a whistle as it rushed past Cordelia’s face and lodged itself into the wall behind her. A crooked smile slipped upon his face, while his head tilted to the side slightly, “How much of a chance do you believe this man has against us?” It really wasn’t a question of interest, but more of a question to see what she felt their odds had faired. Either way, he was happy just getting a chance to raise hell and bring chaos and destruction.

Maintaining the position and the extension of his arm, both his middle and thumb finger would press together, before snapping off to opposite sides with a loud snapping sound. At that ignition of sound the sword in the wall behind her de-materialized in sparkling bits of light that fluttered over her shoulder, before manifesting themselves piece by piece in his hand to resemble that of a card. With the card now in hand, he carefully tucked it away in his jacket, “I can’t tell you how excited I am to see what this man can do. A spell caster much like me doomed to lock himself in a confrontation with the both of us. If you truly wanted, I could keep him from casting a single solitary spell, that’s if you confident you stand a chance against him with your blade in hand. Granted, I wouldn’t recommend it from what I’ve seen out of you in our confrontation, but it’s your choice.”

Sounds and voices echoed throughout the silence of the house, signaling his attention to the door where countless shadows and lanterns floated across the walls of nearby buildings. Uttering a soft spell under faint moving lips, a hand would lift and extend itself palm out to the wall opposite of the door. A faint glow of orange began to swim, amass, and swirl in instability at the palm of his hand. After a short time the orange glow took on that of a ball and lurched forth from his hand only to come crashing against the far wall, blowing a hole through it, but the action caused the fringes of the hole to pick up in flame. Motioning the same hand off to the hole in the wall, his voice would pick up urgently, “Get the hell out of here if you don’t want to risk a confrontation with the city guard. The second reason is the fact that this place is going to burn to the ground…” When she would depart from the building, a cruel and sadistic smile would slide across his face. Lifting a hand out to the stairway, a soft snap of the fingers would cause them to pick up in that of flame when the spell crossed his lips. Doing that to a couple of the items in the house, he would pick up with the control winds spell. Throwing himself in a near effortless spin, both arms would extended and span each digits on his hands widely outwards to send the currents of wind out to the flames in order to feed them and intensify their nature.

Both feet spanned out to bring him to a sliding stop and immediately his eyes moved to the doorway. They were almost here, now to hinder their progress. Again both his fingers would snap and the spell would utter to send the doorway bursting into that of flames. The heat in the house immediately took up that of scorching as the flames reached the ceiling and began licking across its exterior, as well as the walls surrounding it. Now it was time for his departure, but due to his carelessness the hole in the wall was almost submerged in flames. Heaving a wayward sigh, another spell broke his lips and few pounds of water would splash across his entire body, bringing him to a certain resistance to the flames. Wasting no more time, his body would jerk forward in a rush and he would leap head first through the flaming hole and out into the cool night air. As he came to the ground, both hands extended out to the ground and placed themselves against the rugged pavement, before his body carried itself forward in its momentum to throw both of his feet down to the pavement after his hands had previously touched. Unable to halt the momentum of the forward rotation, both of his hands would move out to catch and maintain the balance on his feet, before pushing back and rising to a stance again. Dusting himself off, his eyes would lift to her, “Well, that was fun and hopefully that’ll be enough to keep them busy. Especially if you left someone alive in there, all that screaming, I highly doubt they would even care about us. Besides, I doubt that even knew we were still there…But lets go.”

The moment the sword lowered, Cordelia became much less tense. Clearly he believed her, or at least decided it wasn’t worth pursuing. She had always been good at getting out of situations like these; she was glad she at least hadn’t lost that talent. The words he spoke were going in one ear and out the other, since now that her life wasn’t in danger, she didn’t have much to worry about. She did, however, hear when things began and when things would end. That shouldn’t be too hard; considering Manic’s magic, her vengeance would be done with soon enough.

She watched as he turned and then threw the sword at her. Her eyes widened and she leapt out of the way, even though it had aimed to go in the wall behind her. That man was not stable, no matter what he said or did. No matter what she did, he seemed to have some want or need to hurt, frighten, or intimidate her. Really, she just didn’t understand it.

“How much of a chance do you believe this man has against us?”

Cordelia snorted. Was that even a necessary question? Considering how high she was on her horse, saying that an opposing force could even possibly win was never an option. “I don’t think we need to worry,” she assured him. She didn’t know all of Fehade’s spells, but she didn’t believe such knowledge would be needed. Already they had the upper hand when it came to numbers, even if Cordelia was just about as useful as a rock when it came to battle. “He wasn’t that strong.” She was really just weak… and didn’t exactly use her head.

The sword began to dissolve into a bunch of sparkles. Cordelia waved them away, not finding them all too visually pleasing. They returned to Manic and reformed as the card, which he quickly put away. She almost rolled her eyes, but stopped herself from doing so. That was so overly fancy… whatever happened to just being simple? So, she had to admit, some spells were pretty useful, but a card that turned into a sword was a bit out there.

“…Granted, I wouldn’t recommend it from what I’ve seen out of you in our confrontation, but it’s your choice.”

This time, she couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes and waving her hand dismissively. Maybe he was right… but she wanted to do something in the fight, and she was powerless without any spells. She didn’t want him to end up doing the whole thing for her, since she wouldn’t receive nearly as much satisfaction watching as she would actually doing the deed herself. “How about we act spontaneous, hm?” she suggested. That was how she always did things. She did things on impulse, went with how things went, and thought things up on the spot. Planning ahead seemed so dull and constricting, and Cordelia had never been one to enjoy being tied down. Maybe her method didn’t always end up working out so well for her in the end, but she still liked to do things her way. “If we think it would be best to take away his spells, then we’ll do it, okay? All this preparation is hurting my brain.” She shook her head and moved her hair out of her face, almost as if doing so would clear her mind.

Voices were approaching, though Cordelia was hardly worried. If worse came to worse, she would just kill them all! But, really, she was sure they would get out of there before something like that happened. She wasn’t so sure it would be smart to cause a commotion of such a degree. Killing one or two people was easy to get away with, but a whole mob? Not so much. Cordelia watched as a fire began to swirl in Manic’s palm; did he have to keep using that terrible, deathly substance? She was hesitant when he told her to get out of the house, only because the hole was still on fire. Even so, she sucked it up and got out of the house, getting as far away as possible. He was going to burn that place to the ground, and she didn’t want to be around when it happened.

Cordelia got as far away from the house as was safe, though she still stayed close enough to wait for Manic. She was pretty sure he would come out alive, since he was making the blaze himself. If he didn’t, well, then she was out on a deal. It wouldn’t affect her too much if he died in there. Besides, if he died, then they would all have someone to blame if bodies were ever discovered. Manic emerged, though, and she simply looked at him.

“Well, that was fun and hopefully that’ll be enough to keep them busy. Especially if you left someone alive in there, all that screaming, I highly doubt they would even care about us. Besides, I doubt that even knew we were still there…But lets go.”

Oh, if someone was alive in there, that would be hilarious! Cordelia grinned, glad she hadn’t decided to explore the rest of the home. She was sure there were other people in there behind those closed doors, and they probably wouldn’t ever come out. Oh, well… it looked like death had come, just in a different form. When he suggested leaving, Cordelia was compliant and she turned around, walking away from the house. “Do you really have to use so much fire?” she asked, her pace slowing as she turned her head to look at him. Even if fire was effective for getting rid of all traces of anything, it was still something that could kill her and for that reason alone, it frightened her right to the core. “I’m beginning to think you’re a pyromaniac…”

“Do you really have to use so much fire?”

“As a matter of fact I do, you don’t happen to have an issue with that? Because if you do, I could always play the world’s smallest violin for you. No matter what you do, you aren’t going to get me to stop using my fire as a tool of destruction.” His voice was soft and almost arrogant sounding in its nature, as each world rolled eloquently from his lips. Whether or not she had an issue with it, he couldn’t give a rat’s rear end less. It would be the same sort of spell set up he would use against that clown and if she had a problem with it at that point in time, then she would be left on her own to fight this guy and his lame horse.

“I’m beginning to think you’re a pyromaniac…”

This next comment would bring a bout of laughter forth from deep within him. Oh that was classic, a little fire usage and immediately he was a pyromaniac. Though…There were those couples of times in which he readily used his fire magic in order to get himself out of tight situations, and the times when he ended up burning down a couple small forests. All in all, he didn’t feel as though that classified itself as a case of Pyromania. Sure, he did have an addiction to flames, but it definitely wasn’t’ pyromania. If he had pyromania, half the city would be ablaze, all the women would be missing from the city, and all the rich would have been robbed. There was no sense of setting a city ablaze if there was no profiting outcome from such a deed well done. ( Ahaha, get it? Well “done” >.> It’s a cooking joke. )

Lifting both of his hands above his head, they would outstretch to their furthest point of reach in order to stretch out each of the muscles in hopes of loosening their tightness. A faint grunt traced his lips the second both of his arms would reach their maximum strength and swing rapidly down to his sides where they would come to rest, “One moment…I’d like to take one last look at the fate we have in store for this victim of yours.” Slowly his body turned to allow himself to catch sight of the orange glow of the flames that licked lightly across the wooden exterior of the building, stretching high off into the sky where their tips would break off in flitters of flaming ash and dissipating into the blackness of the night sky. It was quite the sight to behold and a sight he had often loved, fire was a thing of his, something that fueled his interest to no extent.

A wicked smile traced his lips when he finally turned back to her, “His spells will be useless and he will have no choice but to face you and you alone. If he oversteps his boundaries, I will make sure his attention remains on you and you only. From there, it’s up to you to pick him apart bit by bit, piece by piece until there is nothing left but bits and pieces of his former self.” Giving no indication of his next action, his right foot would push off to propel him forward and off towards no where in particular. If she would follow, then she would follow, “The second I interject myself into this and take those precious little magical spells from him, his focus will be on me. Just keep in mind, I have a limit to taking his spells away, meaning he has to stay in a specific area for them to remain inactive. When he oversteps that area, I’ll do what I can to scare him back in their, if that fails then I will be nothing more than an annoying distraction to him and enable you a chance to cut him down to size and limit his movements. After all, this is your vengeance not mine as you’ve said before….There, now I’ve done the thinking for the both of us.” Slowing to a sudden halt, a question seemed to playfully tease at the intricate and chaotic folds of his mind. A question that he had from the very start of the night, but seemed to push it off to the side with no further thought, but now it was something that just didn’t seem to want to leave him.

With a wayward side, a hand would move up to the wall of a nearby building only to plant itself flat against its surface, while his body leaned up against it in a carefree manner, “I’ve kind of been curious about you vampires. What propels you to exist when there really isn’t much left for you on these plains? And what kind of things entail from such a “gift” like that? It just doesn’t seem to be an interesting concept to me.”

“As a matter of fact I do, you don’t happen to have an issue with that? Because if you do, I could always play the world’s smallest violin for you. No matter what you do, you aren’t going to get me to stop using my fire as a tool of destruction.”

No duh she had an issue with him using fire! Considering he knew what could hurt vampires, he really shouldn’t have answered that. Cordelia smacked her forehead with her palm, finding his idiocy absolutely incredible. She didn’t disagree with the fact it was destructive, and quite frankly, she didn’t care how much he used it – so long as he didn’t use it around her. The moment he mentioned a violin, though, the vampire looked at him as though he had just grown a second head. “What the hell does a violin have to do with any of this?” she asked him. Right now, he wasn’t making very much sense… but then again, not much did make sense to the young vampire woman.

“His spells will be useless and he will have no choice but to face you and you alone…”

So Manic was going to make him unable to use his spells, but she would have to fight him on her own. Well, that wasn’t going to be a problem. She could handle fighting, and even though she was reluctant to