Fantasy Vexpara

[simj26]

Marina Godwin​

How very strange. Her magic worked as planned, and that wasn't the strange part. Neither was the whole exploding into bits part. Even as she disengaged and vacated the premises as the rookie erected a barrier between them and the target, she could not shake the feeling she had that something was just unnatural. She looked down at her fist, at the green flecks covering her brass knuckles and parts of her fist. Her raincoat had also been splashed with a bit of the green, possibly from the impact. The explosion from behind the barrier could not be further away from her as she pondered on what gnawed at her being. This had demon written all over it, and yet she couldn't figure out just what the fuck she was figuring out. Rubbing the green off her hand on her raincoat, she moved back into the room as the rookie reported in, then Magnolia. She didn't bother chiming in.

It was only when the boss came herself, barging in like the mom she was, trying to ascertain whether all of her children were alive, and when she started prodding the goo with her knife that Marina managed to piece things together. Of course! It wasn't a demon that she had punched! And now it seemed like the boss had already put two and two together. God, she was such a genius. It would have taken herself ages to manage to put it all together, and all the boss needed was a bunch of seconds with the body. This was why she respected the boss. Smart and strong, the only kinda leader she’d follow to hell, literally. Naturally, she can’t lose her composure just yet around her.

She turned to the rest of the group. “You heard the boss. Let’s start moving. We don't have time to stand around gawking, let’s go!” She slipped the knuckles into her pocket and picked up the gun that she had discarded on the ground, and moved to Kendra’s side, lowering her voice to a mutter. “Between you and me, boss, that wasn't no demon, was it? Ya don’t think demonism is contagious, do you?” Her quip was sarcastic in nature, but there was a hint of genuine worry in it, just enough of it for the guild mom to know of her concerns. If it didn't, then the nervous chuckle after it probably did.

 

[The One Called X]

Angelica Hudson

Angelica breathed a sigh of relief when Ms. Lattimore arrived on the scene. She was loathe to admit it, but it was comforting to have the guildmaster around- especially in a time like this, when everything was so... weird.

She pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her clothes and happily noting that everything appeared undamaged. She rolled her shoulders and tugged at the sleeves of her jacket, readjusting.

"The emytherium concentration is high, but it seems, impure or something. We'll have a bio team come in and grab samples after we're done here."

Angelica frowned, thinking back. She was deep enough in thought that she registered Godwin's words mostly on autopilot, falling in line at Ms. Lattimore's other side. "It's not just the emytherium, ma'am," Angelica said. "When it was..." she paused for a moment. Was alive even the right term for such a creature? It didn't matter, she couldn't think of anything else. "When it was alive, it had this really fucked up aura. It was... pulsing, or something. Infernal, definitely, and pretty strong, but it was like..." her brow furrowed as she searched for words. "A heartbeat, but not natural. That was no demon."

There was a possible explanation for that, and Angelica thought that it had probably occurred to Ms. Lattimore already, given her orders to the team members with human blood. Angelica shied away from confronting the thought head-on. It was too ugly, sickening, unnatural like a bone out of joint. She understood the bloodbaths that demons threw themselves into to gain power; the hideous things humans did to each other out of rage or jealousy. They appalled her, and she couldn't empathize with any of it, but... she understood, intellectually. It was ordinary, really, the awfulness of people. Human and demon natures were more or less the same, in the end- not fundamentally good or bad, but always with impulses to violence and cruelty. But this? If she was right, this was on an entirely different level, something she'd never seen before, not with her own eyes. Something not impulsive but thoughtful, clinical, planned and researched and... and deliberate. It made her stomach turn.

"Team 3 reporting in. We have found an injured civilian. Young woman of about 18 or 19 with wounds that appears to have been made from a creature with claws. Cazador and Beauregard are attending to her. Aside from her it appears as if nothing hostile is here."

Angelica didn't startle at the voice in her hear, but her hand flew to her earpiece and her eyes went wide. "Ma'am, Team 3 found an injured civilian. The ouros are seeing to her. Do you think she could be-" Angelica cut herself off and gestured at the mess of green goo behind them. "What should I tell them?"

Coin simj26 Soviet Panda Katsuya

 

[_Line 213]

Quentin Granger
"Yeah yeah, I hear you," Quentin mumbled back over the comms, muttering something off the record to himself shortly after. Thankfully, the lobby area seemed entirely clear; wherever their intruders were, they certainly weren't hanging around by the front entrance. On one hand, this certainly made the old man's job a hundred times easier. Of course, on the other hand, it meant that they could have gone ahead and gotten their backup in almost immediately if everyone had done something along the lines of, say, stick to the god damned plan, for instance.

Even so, the Englishman took due diligence crossing the gap, briefly reaching up to readjust the device in his ear. "This is Exorcist Quentin Granger to all parties. I am opening the front door."

BLAM.

"...Piece of shit," Quentin muttered as shot embedded into the door, the material refusing to budge. It was a stubborn lock, and though he held a shotgun, it wasn't exactly one built for breaching. A second pump, and Quentin's second pull of the trigger seemed to do the trick. A moment of silence, and Quentin pulled the door open to reveal squads of armored men just past the foyer. Seemingly, they had taken care of the other door on their own.

"Greetings gentlemen," he said, bushy, furrowed brows scrunching together as he observed the lot, "why don't we go ahead and make our way upstairs." With that, he left the door, leaving the men to file in using whatever formation and method they so desired. Readying his gun once again, the old man paced his way to the nearby stairwell, flicking on the flashlight strapped to the bottom of his weapon.

"Let us hope that everyone else has finished being stupid."

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[The One Eyed Bandit]

If she needed a gun to make herself useful? What was that supposed to mean? If it was meant to be anything but rude, Abigail was failing to see how. She knew she wasn't exactly the most uh, fighty member of Kendra's cozy little guild, but it wasn't like she was some useless tag along.

At the very least, she was confident that she didn't have the absurd list of personality issues that most of the guild did.

"Right. I'll be with you guys in a pop." And because of that, she let her offense on unspoken. As everyone's would-be surrogate mom, she doubted that Kendra meant any harm by it anyway. Couldn't do anything to hurt that maternal image she was fostering. That aside, business called. Following Kendra's directions, Abigail navigated her way to her ready and waiting portal, and passed through without hesitation.

In her past, Abigail had long since gotten used to the sensation of being watched. As either a demon or an urchin, the gaze of those that sought to do away with her was like an old friend, and while the feeling that washed over her was more akin to the fear of a bogeyman than a particularly observant cop, it wasn't enough to break her stride. As an Exorcist, she definitely needed to be made of stuff tough enough to not fold under a scary gaze or two. Still, she did have to admit that coupled with the blackness of the room and the stillness of the air, it was a little unnerving. Especially when she considered that her lateness had set her comrades well ahead of her, and that she was alone here because of it.

"I'm here~ See you guys soon." Reporting in her presence to assure that Godwin wouldn't have an excuse to deck her, Abigail was quick to excuse herself from the emptiness of the portal room. Silence was replaced by the shuffle of heels as the demon maid set about tracking her companions down. Following a trail of what could only be described as recklessness, the muffled tones of Kendra and the assorted guild-muscle soon reaching her ears.

Not exactly the lot she was hoping to find, but they were better than nothing.

"Hiiii, don't swing! It's just m-" Rounding a corner to, at long last, meet up with her comrades, Abigail's usual irreverence was cut off mid-sentence. "W-woah. That's quite the mess there. Did you guys get too excited or something?" Despite her words, Abigail's short shock and subsequent interest in the scene in front of her was apparent. As a demon herself, she was more than familiar with what demonsblood looked like, smelled like, and all the works; So she needed no explaining to in order to understand that this was something different.

Shuffling into the room, Abigail begun to lean in to investigate the scene with a closer eye, but caught herself before she properly got started. Work came first, and she really didn't want to do anything that might provoke the Terrier when she was within hooking distance.

"Just kidding. Explanations can wait for quieter times and better company, right? I'll just keep myself quiet until you guys are ready to move."

Coin The One Called X simj26 Soviet Panda Katsuya

 

[Coin]

Kendra Lattimore​

"Marina, I wish I could tell you with full certainty that what you killed was a demon," Lattimore paused in response to Marina's query, creasing her lip to a straight frown, "But, I cannot."

Kendra placed a reassuring hand on Marina's shoulder and gave her one last cursory once-over for injuries, then nodded, "Keep your head clear and focus on our task, Godwin. That is most important. Go on and meet Granger near the front. He should have the front door open by now. Give the old man a hand and make sure he isn't moving to the second floor alone."

Whilst the guildmaster was speaking to Marina, she was oblivious to the chattering over the communication channel because she had taken out her earpiece during her sprint over. Thankfully, Angelica was still listening, and reported back on what she had missed. Marina's comment was still fresh in her mind, was it possible for a human to turn into a demon?. Certainly not, Kendra's initial thoughts were -- that would be absurd. However, her confidence only lasted as far as her memory served her. She had never heard of a human transformation, but as the unknowns mounted, her ability to convince herself withered.

"Tell them," Lattimore narrowed her focus onto Angelica, holding silence for a moment more of deliberation. "Tell them to be cautious, dear. Have her stabilized and funneled out through the front to the police line for quarantine until we can figure out what's going on. Tell them to make it quick, I need bodies headed upstairs five minutes ago. I will notify NYPD to have a zone set up for any more stragglers, just in case."

The guildmaster fished the earpiece out of her vest pocket, but before returning it to her ear, she made it evident she was looking at the infernal residue and scorch marks across the apartment that were telltale signs that a powerful hellfire shield had been used. Judging by the fact that her team was still in one piece, and realistically only one person of the group could cast such a spell, Kendra could easily extrapolate what had transpired. She looked back to Angelica, giving her a smile and a nod of approval, "Good work, darling. Keep it up."

Kendra began to relay information and instructions to NYPD on her way out, expecting the team to move out without further instruction. She nearly bumped into Abigail at the doorway, and acknowledged the demon woman with a small wave and without pausing her conversation. Abigail was smart enough to figure things out on her own, and embedding yet another demon into Marina's team would be good for the young scrapper.

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[The One Called X]

Angelica Hudson

"Good work, darling. Keep it up."

Angelica beamed, anxiety momentarily forgotten. "Yes, ma'am," she said, with a jaunty salute. She knew what her skills were, and she was- well, confident was maybe the wrong word. It implied that it was an issue of attitude, when really she just knew on a fundamental, bone-deep level that she was one of the best- it was factual, the way she knew that the sky was blue and that gravity existed. Still- it was nice to know that she was useful, helpful. It was good, to have work that was worth something. Purpose, she thought. That's what everything came down to in the end. Incantations and other human conceits aside, magic could only be shaped by intent; and intent was worthless without purpose to bolster it.

That didn't mean that purpose was always good, of course. Intent could be a terrible thing, as the splatters of green across the apartment attested. Ms. Lattimore hadn't voiced her suspicions, but she hadn't ruled them out either. Her instructions certainly left room for the possibility. Angelica's skin crawled as she reached up to her earpiece. She wasn't sure if the wrongness in the air was really there, or just something her brain had conjured up.

"Team 3, this is Hudson. Ms. Lattimore was off the comms earlier, but I gave her your report. Her instructions are to be cautious, get the civilian stabilized, and get her out to the NYPD for quarantine until we know what's up. She needs all of us headed upstairs ASAP." She spoke quickly, her voice clipped, even, without its usual drawling carelessness. She paused, wondering if she should bring up the possibility that the girl could be dangerous. On the one hand, she might just be a traumatized civilian in desperate need of help and compassion. On the other... the Ouros would be dealing with her directly, and it was dangerous to withhold information that could endanger people's lives. Ms. Lattimore told her to tell them to be cautious, but... be cautious didn't really communicate the urgency of the situation, the potential for danger. "I don't know what the fuck is happening here, but don't assume that she's harmless or even that she's human. Whatever attacked my team wasn't a demon- but it sure as hell wasn't human, either. We're dealing with new shit here. Keep on top of the Ouros as long as they're working with her. Be ready to put distance between you and her the second you sense something off." She paused again. "And tell the cops that they might need to be ready to contain an explosion."

With that, she released the button. Ms. Lattimore had already sent Godwin up ahead, to support Granger. She glanced at the new arrival- a demon. It was reassuring, having another on the team. "We're moving out now, I guess, after Godwin." Her mouth twitched. It didn't mean that Godwin was the leader, she told herself. More of a canary in a coal mine, really. Angelica closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm glad you're okay, Maggie. I had like... three seconds so the shield wasn't as complete as I would've wanted. Sorry I couldn't give you more cover. And, uh. McKinley. Sorry about landing on you. I had to get close to make sure I blocked all of the boom and didn't take off one of your arms by mistake." As she spoke, she let a little more infernal energy pool under her skin, just beneath the surface. When she opened her eyes, the yellow had shifted just a little bit red. Her aura was blazing, now, blindingly bright hellfire waiting to be used. It always felt strange, doing that, readying her magic to be called on. It felt a little like something was surrounding her consciousness, nipping at its metaphorical heels. It was easier when her attention was at least partially occupied elsewhere- talking, for example. She shook her head. "Let's go."

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[Katsuya]

- Magnolia Noir -​

Seems like everyone is alright, Magnolia thought as her teammates moved about then she stared at the green goop. It really was weird-looking. Sure, demon's blood is a little different compared to a human's but this was strange even for demon standards. She pondered as sharp footsteps echoed closer to the smoky room. She peeked over her shoulder to see Mrs. Lattimore entering the room with red lightning crackling in her hand as a light source.

She won't lie: it's rather comforting to see the head of Vexpara after an explosion.

"Is anyone hurt? Can you all keep going?"

The half demon silently nodded, standing up from her spot as the surrogate mother figure tested the exploded flesh with a truesilver knife. Her brow raised at the odd reaction. She didn't worry much about it until Mrs. Lattimore told the humans in the group (Magnolia included, it seems) to wipe the green stuff off. The small woman quickly wiped herself off in case of any leftover flesh and green blood. As much as she wished she didn't need to worry about being infected with something bad, Magnolia is not going to ignore the warning her boss just gave.

First a mutant that explodes within contact, now high emytherium concentration that's impure? This case is getting weird and that's saying something, considering they deal with demon and human issues on a daily basis.

Magnolia quietly listened to what her teammates and boss were saying, along with the static in her earpiece before freezing in the living room; shocked of what Angelica is implying after hearing about the found civilian in the other room. No way. There's no way. A human turning into a demon is not possible.

'Is that why Angelica called the mutant a mutant? Because it looked like a mix of human and demon?' Magnolia thought before flinching from Abigail's voice. "Hello, Abigail." Said the short crane, smiling half-heartedly. Then she paid attention to Angelica's report to the other team, making sure they know to be careful with the injured civilian. Knowing Irma, she would take it to heart and be cautious while healing the poor girl.

Magnolia sighed, her brows furrowed in guilt as she remembered the loud thud from Irma's punch on the door. She didn't mean to make her friend so worried about her . . . same with Angelica-

"I'm glad you're okay, Maggie. I had like... three seconds so the shield wasn't as complete as I would've wanted. Sorry I couldn't give you more cover. And, uh. McKinley. Sorry about landing on you. I had to get close to make sure I blocked all of the boom and didn't take off one of your arms by mistake."

Her head snapped up, blinking in surprise from the unexpected apology. Magnolia gently smiled. "Angelica, you swan-dived in front of McKinley and saved their butts. You should be proud of yourself. Besides, I was able to hide behind the love seat." She pointed at said furniture that's torn and pierced with glass shards. "And Angelica? I'm sorry for running ahead. I shouldn't have let my nerves get the better of me like that."

She needed to focus!

"I'll cover your back." Magnolia waited until her friend was ready, sensing the infernal magic seeping from the new rookie. Readying her rifle again and her green eyes glowing, she let Angelica walk in front of her and she followed behind.

"Let's go."

"Right."

As they made their way to Granger, the small half demon peeked into the rooms to see if she can spot Irma. When she didn't, Magnolia shook her head. After this case is done, she will go up to Irma and apologize. With paid lunch in a quiet cafe.

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[Soviet Panda]

This was why he shouldn't have gone first, as he was now lying on his back with the only thing between him and a mouthful of teeth was the true silver club in between the gapping maw. And to make matters worse, his chains were confused on to whether they did their job or not, since they followed their command but in the end ripped off an exploding appendage. He didn't even want to recast the incantation to get the damn things attention back, not wanting to take even the slightest bit of attention away from the monstrosity atop him.

That was when the fist came, crushing the creatures head as it went. The pressure eased up, and he pushed the corpse off and away from him. He laid there for a moment, gathering himself before standing up. But he didn't have the chance to stand, for Angelica had just dove across him and knocked the wind out of him. Then there was the explosion, which only disoriented him more. And by the time everything had passed, he was quite thoroughly confused as to what was going on.

That was all rather quickly explained, however, by the short descriptions given of events as well as the aftermath he managed to piece things together. Standing up and dusting himself off, he recalls the chains to his side. "Well, it seemed to have been necessary." He replied as he took up a position in the middle of everyone, giving their newest member a glance of acknowledgement as he did so. Once more he grasped the power that Infernal magic gave, diving through that veneer of filth and madness that sat just on top of such power that clung to him like a second skin and clawed at the edges of his sanity. How he wished to be rid of that feeling of some unseen entity sitting in every darkened corner and watching him like a predator it's prey while it whispered promises of destruction into his very mind. But he knew it was all in his head. Or was it?

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Irma Grace Beauregard

The steady beating of her heart became painful as its pace quickened causing it to thud violently in her hollow feeling chest when Finlay began to creep nearer to the kitchen and what lay beyond the counter. It served to reason that she shouldn't find the situation as unnerving as she did, it wasn't her first rodeo so to speak, but despite her experience the circumstances were still nerve wracking. In any given situation there were so many things that could go wrong and despite her calm facade, she couldn't help but prepare for the unexpected.

Any effort she had been making to proceed towards the kitchen was halted as Nathan stepped between his charges and her goal. Her mismatched eyes turned towards him with a little bit of surprise, she honestly hadn't expected him to be this dutiful and couldn't help but smile. His dedication to his assignment was a little sweet and knowing that he would probably hate her thinking that caused her to gently clear her throat and dismiss the thought, returning her mind to the matter at hand. Irma made no effort to skirt around the Augur and creep closer to the kitchen, instead remaining where she was and keeping a steady eye on the Bloodens as they closed in.

Sometimes a short span of time can seem like ages, and that was how it felt as the team moved in on the unknown life form behind the kitchen counter. It wasn't necessarily a relief when Finlay shouted either, the blonde's brow furrowing with mixed emotion. Now however, the Ouro did elect to skirt around Nathan and began to remove her pack as she cautiously approached, looking to all of males of the troupe since they were the designated protectors as though gaining approval from each of them before she stepped nearer, "we've gotcha'..." while her tone was gentle and reassuring, Irma preferred not to tell the girl she was safe because as far as she was concerned, the girl wouldn't be safe until she was out of the building. She extended one hand towards the girl as one might do in order to calm a wild animal, lowering slightly as she neared and deftly unclasped her pack from around her waist so that she could lower it to the floor once she was on the far side of the cabinet.

Her eyes roved over the wound on the girls shoulder, examining it carefully as her fingers nimbly worked to unfasten her bag, though they momentarily paused when a familiar voice came over the coms. She listened silently, though didn't pause in her motions, adapting to what was being said about stabilizing the civilian before removing any supplies from the bag. With the sought after items in hand she turned a glance towards the rest of her team as Angelica's communication ended before returning her attention to the victim of the attack, "now darlin', I'm just goin' to fix you up, alright? Then we can get you out of here."

Irma shifted her position to more of a crouch as she slowly moved nearer to the girl, her brow wrinkling slightly as she examined the wounds more closely, "can you tell me your name?" She tore open some antiseptic to clean the wounds with, she didn't want to do too much, just get the girl cleaned up and bandaged before they got her out, they really didn't need her bleeding all over the place as they tried to leave. At the same time she wanted to calm her down some and explained to her what she was doing whenever she opened a new package.

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[Lucem]

Nathan Pierce

Catcher said to search the area for any anomalies, but as far as he could see, the only one in the room was the young woman that everyone was now crowding around. With the exception of the wound on her shoulder, nothing about her appearance was enough to raise any alarms. She seemed to be around his age and didn't possess any demonic features, looking like an ordinary person that had been fortunate enough to survive a life-threatening attack. Although, that's what made him so suspicious.

While Beauregard attended to the woman, Nathan took a few steps forward, keeping a close eye on Cazador as he watched his other charge. While the older woman went to work, he watched from a short distance away, still wary despite loosening the grip on his sword. The blood trail was already a good indicator, but now that he got a good look at the victim, he could say with certainty that she was a human. He couldn't smell or sense anything that would prove otherwise, no signs of a glamour spell being used. Even so, he didn't let his guard down for a second. As the civilian was being placed into the care of the Ouros, his gaze kept drifting to her injury.

The woman should've been dead. No ordinary human could escape from a demon intent on killing them, especially if they were injured. However, here this person was, still breathing. It was nothing short of a miracle, but since he didn't believe in things like that, he couldn't think of a single reason for why the woman was alive. Unless it was intentional.

There had been cases in the past where demons would use captured humans as bait to lure out and trap hunters. Things were fine for the moment, but he still considered that the group could be ambushed. Even if she wasn't being used as bait, there were still other possibilities. Hudson's message only made him more cautious about the situation.

Their new patient was definitely human, but like the newbie said, he wasn't going to assume that she was harmless. Hudson said that whatever they were dealing with couldn't be classified as a human or a demon. While he didn't completely understand what she meant by that, since she didn't give a very detailed description of what happened, it could explain why he couldn't sense anything Infernal. She also said something about explosions. That would explain why the apartment complex was shaking earlier, but he really would've liked more information on that. Like what exploded, or why the explosion happened.

For whatever reason, Hudson warned them that the victim in their care was potentially dangerous. Not a demon, but not a human. There was also the risk of an explosion. Whatever the rookie's team experienced, it presumably had to do with another resident that possessed all those qualities. If she was going to tell them to be cautious around an injured human of all things, then it was safe to assume that she thought the same thing would happen again. While that was quite an assumption to make, he was willing to go with it, since he had considered that the woman was intentionally left behind.

As much as he didn't like hearing Hudson talk about those rumors when they were in the gym, there were definitely cases of Augurs going crazy when they couldn't handle Infernal influence. If that could happen to professionals, it was possible that something similar could happen if a normal person was tampered with in some way by a demon. It would be a possible explanation for the wound on her shoulder, as well as her unlikely survival. Instead of using a human as bait and getting the drop on some hunters, turning one into some sort of walking bomb or infernal-fueled fiend seemed like a decent way to get rid of troublesome intruders, especially since it was something that everyone was unfamiliar with.

Nathan ran a hand through his still drying hair, not wanting to deal with something so troublesome. Dealing with so many unknown factors was rough, but they were also under pressure to move quickly and regroup with everyone else on the next floor. They were needed on the upper levels, but the injured woman still had to be handed over to the police, assuming she didn't explode or try to kill them before they got outside.

The young man let out a sigh as he turned to face Cazador, not happy with the way things were going. As bothersome as the situation was, they needed to hurry and act, not having much time to deal with things as they would have liked. Still, he really didn't like having to do things like this.

"Hold still." Trying his best not to think too hard about what he was doing, Nathan moved behind his scarred teammate, brow furrowing as he reached out to touch her back. He imagined that it was probably uncomfortable for her, but it wasn't like he enjoyed it either. He just tried to get things done as fast and efficiently as possible, quickly tracing an invisible circle with his finger as gray wisps left his hand.

When he was done, the hunter moved toward the others without looking back, staring at the new addition to their group with apprehension. Thankfully, she didn't seem very responsive, likely still shaken up from her encounter with a demon. Beauregard seemed to have what little of her attention was left, so that made things easier for him.

Once again, a faint gray glow enveloped his hand. In the dark room, the nearly black aura was difficult to see as Nathan took a knee behind the wounded woman, carefully brushing against her back to not harm her or make her freak out. Not wanting to be in that position any longer than he had to, he quickly stood up and moved behind the remaining Ouro.

As he repeated the process for a third time, he turned to face the Bloodens. "Catcher. Douglass. Move upstairs to regroup with the others, or come with us to drop off the girl. Do what you want, but don't go off alone." With Kendra needing backup, their group would need to split up, or drop off the civilian quickly and rush to meet with everyone else. He didn't care what the two men decided to do, so long as one of them didn't go upstairs by themselves. Acting solo wasn't a smart move in this situation. They were in a dangerous environment, so they had to be careful.

After finishing with Beauregard, the gray aura quickly vanished along with Nathan, the Augur putting a bit of distance between himself and the older woman while she worked. He really disliked doing stuff like that, but it was necessary. For now, all he could do was wait until she finished tending to the wounded, and for the Bloodens to make a decision. Regardless of their choice, he still wouldn't be looking forward to the outcome. While having to guard the Ouros by himself would definitely be a pain, he was mostly concerned with having to go back outside in the pouring rain. He had finally started to dry off.

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[Coin]

The young woman was cold to the touch. She had lost a considerable amount of blood, upon closer inspection. Were it not for the unmarred spots of her baby blue blouse, it would have been impossible to tell what color the original fabric was due to the amount of fresh and dried blood that stained it. Her breathing came in weak gasps, she was white as a sheet of paper, and her pulse was thinning. A faint trail of blood dripped from the corner of her lip. As for the wound on her shoulder, the claw-like lacerations ran deep and a green-ish oil-like substance had gathered on the flesh like a mold. Faint traces of infernal magic from the substance confirmed the presence of emytherium in the liquid. Whatever it was, it was stopping the woman's body from clotting the wound, explaining the severe blood less.

When asked for her name, she could barely form any words. With one hand, she clutched Irma's arm for support as she stammered, "E-Erin. Erin."

The pace of her breathing hastened, but her breath became shallower with each gulp of air. Her hazel pupils dilated, as if the horror of whatever she had faced had returned once more. Erin was becoming less cognizant of the exorcists surrounding her with each passing moment. The woman echoed herself, her voice just barely audible over the patter of rain against the side of the building, "L-leave."

Leave. Erin had just managed to gasp out her grim warning before her grip on Irma's forearm slackened and fell unconscious. Her pulse was still present, but fading quickly as the woman slipped into hypovolemic shock. With how weak she was, only an immediate transfusion, or a carefully administered Plague spell would save her life, along with a little luck.

"How quickly life fades, Ouro," A voice -- no, a chorus of many voices, hissed from somewhere in the room. The source was impossible to track, as it seemed to emanate from every dark corner of the apartment at the same time. The cacophony of unknowns taunted the hunters from somewhere unseen, stalking, preying. "This one tried to find her brother, and found only the gnashing claws of one of my newest servitors. This one will die soon, Ouro, will you save her?"

The voices chuckled in uneasy unison, slowly fading back into obscurity. Once more, it was silent in the cramped apartment room, and whatever presence the exorcists felt had disappeared with the voices. It was like a razor in the dark, chilling even the most gritted hunters to the bone with its sinister departure. No doubt, some sort of Deceit spell from the culprit.

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[Life.]

Bancroft K. Catcher

Bancroft's eyes widened slightly when he heard the voice of the lesser demon Augur Hudson answering to his report. But he listened closely to her words.

Be cautious.
Get the civilian stabilized.
Get her out to NYPD.

The instructions were clear enough but then Hudson included her own words to end of Lattimore's instructions. She must have dealt with the earlier explosion. "Roger." Bancroft didn't know if anyone would hear him over the communication systems but if they did then he wanted them to be sure that the instructions were received. Once a course was given, Bancroft turned his attention back to the main subject, the female victim. No other signs of danger were appearing around them in the room so he turned most of his attention to the Ouros and the injured girl, aware that she was still not quite in the clear. Hudson's words were echoing in his mind. The Augur was right in that they shouldn't let their guard down, especially since they found the girl without a struggle.

Bancroft took a few small steps away from the huddled group of Ouros, Finlay, and the injured girl to allow them some breathing space all the while keeping a close enough distance to protect them from anything. His attention surveyed the apartment once more before returning to his team members, particularly on Pierce as he worked some magic of sort on Cazador first then to Beauregard. Despite his young age, the boy was quick to think of how to proceed on pressuring circumstances. Certainly a lot better than Bancroft in his younger years.

Bancroft shifted his weight more onto his left foot as he adjusted the weapon in his hand. With the situation being currently handled by the Ouros, Bancroft was beginning to map out his options at hand. As if he was reading his mind, Pierce asked the Bloodens what path they are going to take in order to consider the path he should take. Bancroft shifted his gaze over to Douglas for a moment, he wasn't sure what the other Blooden had in mind but even before Pierce asked Bancroft had made his mind up.

"We can go on ah-"

Before he could complete his answer the girl Beauregard was attending to spoke. But it wasn't the name that caught Bancroft's attention, it was the following warning that bothered him. On top of her warning came a voice--no, a multitude of voices echoing from someplace in the room. The man's body tensed as he surveyed the room quickly to see if he could immediately detain the source. Unfortunately the emptiness of the room was the only thing greeting them. Voices from a source they couldn't see, voices from something that was unknown. Large waves of goosebumps flowed across the man's skin as the voices spoke. This really was not any ordinary mission.

Having need a short moment to recollect himself, Bancroft cleared his throat to cut through the silence that followed after the omnious threat, "As I was saying before, we can go on ahead and group up with the others. It appears that the puppetmaster is aware of the girl in our care at the moment. There is still a chance that she is bait, but it appears as though the voice was speaking the truth in that she does appear to be close to her deathbed. Douglas, will you join me to meet up with the others upstairs?"

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[Aldur]

Finlay Douglas​

Finlay had been watching the young woman intently, inspecting her wound, looking it up and down, he then directed his attention towards Irma, expecting her to hasten her inspection. His eyes were narrow in an eternal focused frown. He wanted to speak up, to say 'Hurry! Hurry, she's dying!', but the situation was dire enough without a giant Scot shouting threateningly. He pocketed his earphone, the chatter was distracting. In these circumstances, Finlay couldn't afford to lose concentration on the matter at hand, and he noticed along his career that radio chatter just slowed him down. He closed the apparatus and shoved it deep into his pocket. He again looked at the wounded girl and Ouro in front of him. The giant then started fidgeting with the axe handle. He traced along the runes with his thumb. Irma asked for the girl's name, which Finlay knew to be a proper medical procedure, but it didn't help his concerns.

"Irma, just take care of her damn wou-"

Finlay was interrupted by ghastly voices, no, voices. He grunted inaudibly, he was getting too old for this shit. If he got a quid every time some demonic hotshot did the voice without the body trick, he would have retired last week. He grabbed his boomstick off the floor and raised himself upright again. He cracked his knuckles and neck and after the voice ceased he began.

"This is literally the equivalent of a neckbeard typing a comment from behind a screen. What's it, demon? 'Fraid I'll give you too close a shave?" As he blurted out the last sentence he motioned his axe close to his own neck.

"Irma, stabilize her for... please." He turned over to Nathan, but before he could open his mouth again, Bancroft opened his.

"I'll be helpin' the girl outside. I'm sorry, Banks. We'll meet ya upstairs if you wanna wait for Nathan and me, but I won't let her die on my watch."
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[Lucem]

Nathan Pierce

The situation was only getting worse with each passing second. Having to worry about the victim and possibility of her suddenly exploding was one thing, but the infernal presence in the room only added to the growing list of concerns. He couldn't see or smell anything, but he could definitely feel and hear the demon that was trying to get everyone's attention. The sounds came from every direction, but he could hear them clearly, as if the whispers were trying to climb into his ears and reach his brain. Not being able to locate a source was a problem, but there was also the issue of the speaker being really annoying. It was like some haughty demon trying to sound cool by repeating lines from a video game.

Thankfully, the presence left as soon as it arrived, silencing the room with its warnings. It was brief, but the interruption managed to give them some more information. Unless one of the mastermind's subordinates had a really high opinion of themselves, it was safe to say that the thing that spoke to them was the one responsible for the incident. They weren't shy about making themselves known, but it was clear that they had no intention to show up in person. Some demons liked to play those sorts of tricks when they weren't confident in their abilities, but Nathan didn't think that the group was lucky enough to be dealing with a weakling that liked to hide. The demon was probably just too far away, or too busy to deal with interfering hunters. Apparently, they had servants to do that for them.

It was a small detail, but the way that the demon described their subordinates as "new" stood out to him. He couldn't say how recent their recruitment attempts were, but considering that they had to have been busy in the apartment complex for a while, he considered that it couldn't have been too long ago. After Angelica put the thought in his head, he didn't think it was unlikely that the servants that the demon referred to were the things that the other team had dealt with. Of course, this was a reach. He couldn't say for sure that they didn't just recruit some random demons to work for them before the operation started, but the idea of some zombie-like infection taking place in the building was too troublesome to ignore. If that possibility turned out to be true, he'd have to be even more cautious around the woman who called herself Erin.

Fortunately, the woman passed out. Her condition was worsening, but it would be a lot easier to transport her if she was unconscious. Unfortunately for him, however, this was followed by something more problematic. Catcher intended on regrouping with the others, which he thought was the best choice at the moment. Although, Douglas didn't see things that way.

When the Blooden announced his intention to accompany them outside, Nathan let out a sigh. Just after he told them not to split up, Douglas was determined to do just that. Considering how he seemed itching for a fight, he thought that the guy would've been more than willing to go to the next floor. He also appeared really fidgety and impatient a while ago. Not the best traits to have when trying to escort a victim. Besides, what did he expect to do? He talked about making sure that the woman wouldn't die, but there wasn't much he could do about that. It all came down to whether or not she got the necessary treatment in time. The only people that could do anything about it were the Ouros and the police. He'd be more useful by going with Cather to make sure that his fellow hunters and the other tenants didn't get killed. Focusing on one person that was nearly dead wasn't the way to do things.

As much as he would've liked to complain about the current situation, there wasn't enough time for that. He had to bite his tongue and roll with things like usual. So, instead of commenting on what he felt like was a bad move by Douglas, Nathan brushed away his wet hair to reach his earpiece, pressing down on the glowing circle to contact the officers waiting outside. "Transporting a critically injured civilian. She's unconscious, and lost a lot of blood from her shoulder. Looks like there's some internal bleeding too. Prepare an ambulance." Even if it didn't take long to reach the entrance, time was short. Getting things ready as soon as possible was important.

Looking to Catcher, he cut his broadcast. "If you still wanna go upstairs by yourself, just don't do anything stupid. Head straight for the group and call for help if something happens." Catcher hadn't given Nathan a reason to doubt him yet, but it was easy for things to go wrong in a situation like this. Of course, if Douglas had been willing to go with him, there'd be less of a reason to worry.

Looking between Beauregard and her patient, Nathan stood a little closer to his charge. "Just get her good enough to move for now. You can keep working on the way, and when we get outside. Looks like she might have Emytherium poisoning too, so be careful." She was going to be busy tending to the victim, so his job was going to be even tougher now.

Motioning for Douglas to come closer, Nathan directed his attention to the woman at his feet. "Make yourself useful and carry her. Be careful not to break anything." If the Blooden insisted on going with them, he could at least help by using his size for something like this. This way, Beauregard could keep tending to the victim's injuries while they moved. Hopefully, this would also keep Douglas from doing something stupid. There wouldn't be any complaints if the guy felt like he was saving this woman's life, right?

Feeling exhausted from just saying all that, Nathan didn't want to waste any more time speaking, moving to the door while the rest of the group got things in order. If he didn't get killed tonight, he was definitely going to wake up with a sore throat tomorrow. Or a cold. He really didn't want to go back out in the rain.

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