A Darker Purpose

Lillith jumped at the fire that suddenly appeared. It gave her such a scare so she turned into ink. Noticing that it was just Caen, she formed back into her normal form and quickly calmed down. She saw him slowly break down and took immense satisfaction in his murmurs. " That's right... burn away... " She giggled and slowly backed away. (Now let's see how the show unfolds.) 

-Shrike had sat himself down at a vantage few point, there was  area in the valley where he had a dip in it, this vantage point allowed shrike to see fairly far out, enough to know if trouble was coming or not, every so often he would glance back to Caen, making sure he was alright before returning to his watch, this was probably the only down time he was going to get before the storm came once more, he looked down at the weapon he held, there were edged marks he had carved into the weapon, each mark was confirmed dark one killed, the gun had almost been covered in this marks.-

" Well I am running out of places to put marks, I hope she has not been doing any thing to him, so god help me if I find out she is twisting him...I will not be impressed at all....this night feels like its taking forever...fading in and out of this state feels strange...almost like I can hear things...all around me..but I know nothing is there....I really hate this quiet probably the most nerve racking thing ever..cause you just don't know what is gonna happen...and our enemy is only like 300 meters away from us...I don't like this at all." 

The fire that had started in Caen's hand began to flicker, growing in intensity, and it started to climb up his arm "yes... Burn away... Burn... Like everything... No... I'm... Burn... Ashes are good... Safe... Stronger than..."

Caen seemed oddly calm, however, he also seemed to be crying in his sleep "I failed you... Burn away... Mother... Father... I'm... Disappointment... Strong flame... Weakness... Vengeance... So lonely..."

His words grew more and more disjointed with each passing moment. Was Caen truly going over the edge? Noone could know.

Lillith snapped her fingers. As if she found some deeper meaning In the murmurs. " Oh you poor soul... you haven't just failed them... you've failed everyone. Everyone would be having better lives if you didn't exist. " While she was just feeding him lies. In a way, she did believe the statement. In her mind, she thought that her master would have been better off if she hadn't met him. She watched Caen. She was so interested in his suffering now that she assumed this whole mess was his fault.

-Shrike could sense something not right, his vision began to get cloudy, this was not a him seeing shit it was the smoke being generated via Caen fire that seem to have caught fire to the surrounding land. Looking back he spots fire, he sees Caen and Lilith, his first thought something bad.-

-He gets up really quickly and and bails over to them he shook the shit out of Caen to get him to wake up.-

" What are you doing to him!? get away now...Caen wake up..you putting shit on fire!..wake up man!..time to snap out of your little dream world!." 

Caen's thoughts were abruptly shaken away, as Shrike shook him awake. This startled him, causing him to send out a fireball, luckily hitting nothing more than a pile of rubble, where the flames only burned for a few more seconds "what's wrong?! More dark ones?! What was...?!"

Caen eventually calmed down when he realised that there was no apparent threat. Shrike had shook him awake for a reason, though. He wasn't sure what that reason was.

"Shrike... What happened...?"

"What happened? What happened is that you suddenly caught on fire when you were sleeping. I was about to wake you up but it looks like Shrike beat me to it." She paused. "Are you ok? Before you caught on fire you started saying things in your sleep." She gave a worried look pretending to care.

-Shrike glanced over at the Ink demon. He heard what she was saying, this only further implied she had other motives and he was not gonna sit around for Caen to suddenly fall victim to what ever she had planned going on.-

" Yea right like you give a damn about his well being, Caen don't listen to her...you were dreaming lost in something, you were muttering words, things like " not good enough"..."failure" and "vengeance" seems more like a nightmare then any thing else.


Oh and little miss purple here was busy speaking to you while you were asleep as of almost...encouraging you that all those negative things..were good...as if she was trying to manipulate you into something else.


As for you purple..your trouble I can sense that pretty clear..time for you to back off before I do something rather lethal, and that was not a suggestion either...."  

Caen stared at Shrike "I-I was muttering those things? Oh... How utterly embarrassing..." Caen said, looking down "in truth. Yes, it was a nightmare. A nightmare that I can never wake up from. Although... Some things were different. It was like... They spoke to me... Heh, a luxury that I haven't received in a long time. But now... Knowing it wasn't them and it was..." Caen stood up, and stared at Lillith "...you... Do you truly believe these things? Did I... Did I cause all this? A-am I... Am I truly better off dead?"
He crossed his arms, and laughed "I've asked myself those questions for a long time. I speak of how you shouldn't put on a façade to impress others, or to make others happy, yet I cant take my own damn advice. But noone cares. You certainly won't." Caen stopped, he had started shaking, as though his anger was out of control. "The only people that would were killed several years ago! But you don't care about that, either! People have always pretended to care but they all just stab me in the back in the end!"
Caen punched a nearby tree, leaving a small dent in the trunk. He was breathing heavily.

Lillith knew all too well that she had been caught red-handed. She couldn't think of any sly lie or well thought of excuse for what she did. "... I...I..." She just turned into ink but didn't move away like Shrike had said her to. To her, she really didn't give a damn about both of them but at the same time, she needed to know. "I will leave if you answer my question. Do you really care... about master?" Her voice sounded gurgled and uncharitable.

-Shrike looks over at Caen for a few seconds before returning his view back to her, he had to think about it cause to be honest he was not sure how this was gonna end, perhaps they both been using them for all they knew, He had no idea if Liela and Lilith were working together or what the real situation was...he was confused on what to think.-

" You with all the hell that has been doing on over the last few days, it's hard to say what the real answer is any more..it's hard to trust what is real and what is not, who cares about you and who does not, look at Voltraire for example, he made her believe almost 100% that he cared about her...next thing you know he is trying to kill her..So I am not sure..I really am not sure...next thing I know I could have you or her try and kill me...but I speak for myself and not for Caen..he can tell how he feels."

Caen seemed to have calmed down somewhat, but this was yet another façade pit on by him. Inside, ge was seething with rage, however, he did not show any signs of the raging storm swirling inside of him. "Do I care about her?" He laughed "in essence, yes, I do. Why? Because I see me in her. I see a beautiful, innocent girl that was corrupted by the villains of this world, treated as yet another cog in their dastardly plans. I cannot stand by and see someone suffer how I did. I cannot stand by and see another flower turned to ashes."

Caen looked at his hand "look at me... I'm a mess, a weak mess. I'm so weak that I couldn't even kill my own parents' killer! He still breathes, albeit in a more enclosed space. If I actually had guts, if I actually had power, I would've slaughtered him there and then... But that's just it. I'm weak."

Caen returned to the rock he had sat on before "maybe that's why I rake up my sword... To try to help myself sleep at night, knowing their killer still lives, yet... Not even that works."

Lillith heard all she needed to hear. " hmm..." She formed back into her normal form and looked at Caen for a moment. She sighed.  She lowered her ears and slowly walked away into the forest. When she was deep enough she threw a fit. Pulling her whip and hitting it against the trees." STUPID STUPID STUPID. RRRRRAAAAHHH! JUST PERFECT. PROBABLY ONE OF THE ONLY MOBIANS THAT CARE FOR MASTER AND I HAVE TO GO ON AND MESS IT UP FOR MYSELF! YOU JUST COULDN'T CONTROL IT COULD YOU. ALWAYS GOT TO SEE OTHERS MISERABLE AND BREAK THEM. " She hit the trees harder but her whip slipped out of her hand. This only made her anger grow. Lillith decided to claw the tree instead. " GGGRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHH" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

-Shrike scratched the top of his helmet, not really sure if his answer was clear enough, not much he really does say is clear enough, but he looked at Caen's response as more correct and true, something he couldn't give to words. But Caen hit the nail on the head, he turned to him to get some more info.-

" Listen buddy I know you care a lot, but I would still be careful, we still don't really know what we are dealing with her, who knows next thing you sleep and poof, knife to the neck by her, how can you be so certain ? I mean would you trust me..this is a strange question but I never asked any one if they have before...if you do then that is good probably the one I'll get, but if not I understand as well. I am messed up in the head, I know that. 

" And you are not weak man, you should know this, you had the balls to stand up to those things and Voltraire I might add...I don't remember when last I saw some one who claimed they were weak and took the fight directly to them...shit man your more then some soldiers I knew...trust me on that..take it from the guy trapped in hell." 

-He patted his shoulder to give him a boost. Shrike heard her scream oh yes he did kinda hard not to.-

" Well some one sounds pissed off." 

"I... Never really thought about it." Caen replied to Shrike's query, "you know, I can trust her. Why? Because I have witnessed this suffering firsthand. You simply cannot make that up, and, frankly it's very difficult to act in that type of character. So, yes, I do trust her. As for you, it's a bit more clear-cut. You fought alongside me. In my heart, that's enough. And this strength you speak of, it's more physical strength." He tapped the side of his head "it's up here that's weak. I have no real guts. Me standing up to Voltraire wasn't guts, it was my duty, in a sense."

Caen could also easily hear Lillith screaming in the forest "I'll say. Does she really care for her master that much?"

She stopped and stared at the trees. They all looked like that took damage but not enough to take them down. Her eye twitched. "WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING!" She punched and punched screaming. "DIE DIE DIE DIE" After a couple minutes she stopped, holding her head. "Calm down. This is pointless. Having fits are for children and I'm 73 years too old for that." She walked over and picked up her whip. "What would master do in a situation like this? Probably apologize. What an unheard of thought. A demon, apologizing... to a mortal." She pondered a little more. "Naaa. He wouldn't accept it."

-Shrike listen to him and nodded, he was much the same as him once so he could relate to his level, time, experience...and well lots of bodies eventually mold the mind in a different way, but nothing is ever set in stone, it could always be un done of changed.-

" Well in that it is good to know that, even in this vast world where many want to hunt me down, trying to take me out or capture me, there is but one sole who I can know and rest assure would not turn on me, that gives me something to be happy about and happy...is something I have no felt in a long time.-

-Nudges his shoulder-

" Hey you never know where this is gonna go, sure purple is having a fit of sorts, but she will come around, maybe in time she will change as well, I believe all can change if they really want to." 

Caen laughed "you do know you're suggesting a demon can become good, right?"

Caen was feeling... Happy. Maybe Shrike was right, maybe he was stronger. Maybe he was ready to be a true hero. One that was not simply there to take up arms, but to change those around him, for the better "of course..." Caen looked down, closing his eyes and smiling.

Caen was having an epiphany of sorts, and he seemed happier for it. He was on the verge of a breakthrough, something to break him out of his shell. Maybe he just needed someone to trust him.
"Well... We'll finish this together, one way or another. If we fall, we fall as heroes, if we succeed, we succeed as heroes!"

Lillith was Pacing back and forth. " Hmmm.... she would want it and I won't let her down. Even if he doesn't accept it.  " She looked defeated in a way. Knowing that she would probably be shunned by all demons if she apologized. 

 She walked back to the group and sat around the area. She waited for Caen to stop talking before walking up to him and tapping his shoulder. Lillith looked extremely hesitant, looking down and playing with her hands. " Umm... I'm... uh." She turned away from Caen suddenly. " I'm sorry. I repent my previous actions for I am a stupid demon who doesn't know any better. I see that I have made a grave error. If you do not accept my apology I understand. What I've done is something that doesn't deserve forgiveness. " She waited.

" You are stronger then you know, one day you will come to realize it, in time you will....trust me on this...things ar-

-Shrike noticed the Ink demon returning, probably either finished the major venting in the woods and was no doubt calm down, he could see she wanted to speak to Caen, her actions indicated she was nervous and a little not together. Shrike decided to leave them both and head back to his position, giving them room to speak.-

" Well then, I will leave you two to discuss what ever it is you are going to talk about...remember what I said Caen..remember them......"

-With that Shrike left the group returning to his vantage point to resume his watch over the area.-

" Things just keep taking a different turn all the time..heh..if they didn't I guess life would be boring." 

Caen watched Shrike walk away, before turning to Lillith and bending down to her level. He chuckled before speaking "that must've been difficult for a demon to do. I respect that. You're right, what you've done doesn't deserve forgiveness..." He smiled "however, I completely understand why you did it. I admit, I'm not too sure myself if I hadn't got involved, if this wouldn't have happened, and you wanted to get revenge. But, what I respect the most is your guts. You apologised after such actions, and that to me take more courage than it does to slay a dragon. So, I forgive you, because I respect guts."
Caen chuckled again "although I wouldn't say you're stupid, just... Quick to anger. I know how you feel. I wouldn't say it was a grave error, either. Why? Because it costed nobody's life, did it?"
He looked Lillith directly in the eyes "something tells me you've had to say that before. Well, with me, I don't want someone putting themselves down to please others. What I want to see is a smile."

Lillith tried her best to put a smile but was reminded of what happened to her the last time she had to do this. "Well, last time it cost several lives... several lives that would have benefited master. The beating I got when I put myself above them." She shuddered and put her hands on the hair covering where her left eye was supposed to be. "I remember when I had a left eye..." She stopped touching it and put her hands on her side. "My previous master made sure it would never regenerate. He made sure I would remember that I will always be the lesser. My only reason to exist is the serve. If I fail to please I will be punished." She gave a serious look at Caen. "Will you promise to not tell master what I've done to you? She isn't as cruel as the magician but... she's changed." 

-Shrike sat back down alone, going over a few things time and time again, from one of the pouches fitted to his utility belt, he pulled out a image, a image well worn and shown signs of age. Strangely it was a image of his family, well the only family he knew which being his mom, she had died after the events of Arkgate, the Dark ones were responsible for it, which only gave him ever more burning hatred towards them as they had taken away his only family, since that day Shrike carried the picture with him a stark reminder to a time where things seemed more peaceful, he now and then looked back at the two talking, but refused to say any thing, seems like them two were getting along well.

Caen had far better communication skills then Shrike did, he most times either didn't know what to say, said the wrong things or just usually used his weapon to do the talking, Shrike saw how he acted and wondered if he could change as well, however that all was shattered when he remembered the last time he tried that, which back fired and almost costed him his life. He switch on a song he had logged into his helmet so he could listen to it, perhaps make him feel a little better. As he began to speak out a few of the words.- 

"  One more bullet through the heart, we take this tyranny from the start. Our quest will not finish till the deed is done..as we take their whole army down one by one...


they made sure we were corned with no where to run, what can we do, stand up strong and stand up proud, the returning flame its time to bring your game..it never ends it all depends...take the fight to them like never before...reprise your role as hero immortalized. 


 One more bullet through the heart, we take this tyranny from the start. Our quest will not finish till the deed is done..as we take their whole army down one by one."

"below us? below us? You're kidding, right? You are a demon, surely you'd be above us, due to the whole coming from a place where immortal being dwell thing. Look, either way, I think Shrike, Liela, and myself would consider you our equal, at the very least. Just because you're a servant doesn't mean you're below us. A smile isn't gonna hurt anyone, in fact, I think it would make others much happier." He turned towards the house that Voltraire and Liela were in "I doubt that she'd do that to you for having a bit of fun every once in a while. I promise you, I will get her back, one way or another. Oh, as for the past transgressions, you can forget about them. For all I care, that never happened. You have my word."

"You really think I'm your equal." Lillith gave him a confused face for a moment before changing it to a happy one.  "And you wish to bring master back" Her face got even more ecstatic. "OH MY, THANK YOU! YOU SURELY ARE NOT LIKE OTHER MOBIANS!" She gave him a hug and nuzzled Caen." I am forever grateful. When this is all over, I shall make the most spectacular magic show."