High Enough [TakodaVega x CirindeFae]

[TakodaVega]

For many eons, a war has raged between Heaven and Hell, with Demons tempting humans, and Angels saving them from their downfalls. So what happens if something that Angels hold dear was actually a Demonic thing? Hope was no mere illusion in times like this; she was a living and breathing person, who also happened to possess a Demon of the same name.

How fitting that the thing that was supposed to raise the morals of everyone embodied a Demon? Hope herself was aware of the Demon's presence whispering in her mind that she would be destined for great things. Many looked up to her and despite the fact the Demon lurked in her mind, she was bound and determined to make something of herself.

She thought, at first, to become a Sister of the Catholic Church - but the Demon didn't take well to it and that idea was burned away, so she turned to something else: Art. Though a female, and a nonwealthy one at that, she strove to bring hte very things people believed in to life. Her Demon at least seemed to like this idea. Too bad not everyone liked Their image made. Though the Lord seemed to be a part of every Church in the city, no one sought to cave the Lord into stone.

Until now.

Hope had been puzzling for the past few weeks of how to actually start working on such a piece. She knew that once she did sculpt it, she could go forward with the others she had in mind. The Angels, that stood at the foot of the Lord's chariot and throne. The Demon, who was a male seemed to rustle in the back of her head. It was very strange having two minds in the same body, but it seemed to work out for both of them.

You could always start from the top, that way your foundation remains. he slid into her mind. In her mind the Demon of Hope never seemed to have a face or a real true body to speak of but she always got the impression he would lounge about in her head, Do you remember the image to sculpt, little human? Despite her affirmative note, he insisted on refreshing her memory. She did this, she thought, to bring about the closeness she felt to the Lord.

Despite being possessed, she was a pious soul. Doing only good for others as she always had, and besides this was something she was good at, and as Idols of the Lord were already made, why not make one almost lifelike?

[CirindeFae]

He was coated in blood, the dark red staining everything that had once been a pure white, including his hair. Sneering, his deep blue gaze scanned the demonic corpse before him. Demon - just the word made him cringe. How he hated demons, not that it mattered much. He was bound to his duty and thanks to the circle of metal around his bicep he was forced into doing whatever he'd been commanded.

Releasing a small sigh, he began to wipe as much of the demonic blood off him as he could, after all one could not walk the human world with blood on them without sending the population into a panic. On the other hand, that would point him out to any other demons in the area which could possibly allow him to continue with his primary objective. It would also allow him to make some progress on his secondary mission to kill as many demons as he could get his hands on. A groan passed between his lips as he flicked the last of the blood out of his hair and examined the ends of his bangs. Pink, his gorgeous white hair and been tainted pink by the demon blood and no doubt the rest of his wardrobe had been too. It was an unfortunate sacrifice.

Resigning himself to his job, Cassiel slipped his hands into his pockets to hide the gore and started to make his way out of the alley in which he'd lead to now deceased demon. It was time to get back to searching for this Hope. Unfortunately, the angel Cassiel didn't make it to the alley's entrance. He was stopped in his tracks just a few feet short, pain coursing through him and trying to force him to his knees but he refused to give into it. The demonic eye he'd claimed a few months back was giving him hell, the dark blood that still ran through the organ trying to overcome his purity. It had been a mistake on his part to claim the eye in place of the one he'd had stolen, one he was not allowed to forget. Wincing in pain, he retracted a hand from on of his pockets and pressed it to the bindings over his left eye in a futile attempt to suppress the agonizing pain.

The ache continued for several long minutes after which he no longer had the strength to stand and sank to the filthy ground, his once white clothes getting dirtier. His breathing echoed in his ears as he tried to pull himself back together. He absolutely had to resume the search for Hope. He had to destroy it... Groaning he pressed the heel of his hand against his eye and struggled to his feet. Where was Hope? Stumbling and unsteady, Cassiel finally disembarked from the alley and slowly made his way through the mortal streets in search of the demon Hope.

[TakodaVega]

Hope had been working at the sculpture and wiped her brow, eyeing her water levels as she sighed. "I need more of it if I'm to get the outline done." She got down from her stool, grabbing the bucket to go to the nearby fountain in the courtyard, dipping it in as she mused over her newest creation in the works. The Demon had seemed pleased with what she had done so far, purring in the back of her mind and she swore she could half the time feel the thing petting her as she went. A sound caught her attention though as she glanced around. No one, really, was out at this time of night. It's why she had chosen now to do such a project. Work at night, sleep by day, it seemed an easy enough track to follow.

Yet the noise repeated again, Hope glanced around, wary, while the Demon in her head seemed to give her some of it's own attention focusing on the male stumbling in the streets. It hummed in her head, Angel, be careful, little human. Which made her blink and look at the man drenched in pink. The Demon didn't say for her not to get close to him but just to be careful. She grabbed the bucket and pulled out a cup from her things, filling it with the fresh water before moving to the stumbling  angel.

"You should drink this, sir," came her sweet voice offering the cup to the male once he seemed, at least to her, right himself some. Her gaze drifted over him, from the top of his, practically pink hair to the bottom of his clothes. "There is a fountain further in town...I'm sure it can get the paint off of you." She wasn't quite sure, however, that the pink on him was paint, as she almost felt her Demon want to reach through with her own hands and strangle him. Thankfully he couldn't, it cost him too much energy and in order to keep strong as he was now, he needed to just maintain how he was. Lazy Demon.

[CirindeFae]

Cassiel had been lost in his own weakness, so much so that he couldn't really straighten himself at the prickling down his spine. It irritated him, that prickling. It was like an itch that would never go away no matter what he did to try and stop it. Besides, now wasn't the best time to deal with it. Sure it would be easy to best a demon, even in this state, but he just wanted to rest and clean up. That option didn't seem possible right now, particularly since his arm was nearly convulsing with the circlet trying to get him to do what he'd been ordered to.

A voice came from beside him, soft and gentle, drawing his gaze. His right arm stopped its spasms and started to reach out for the girl's throat, something having told him that she was not as she appeared to be. Pain again shot through his eye, trying to protect a fellow demon. The distraction was enough that instead of grabbing hold of the woman's throat, his hand wrapped around the cup. He blinked and looked at the cup, finally noticing its presence. "Thank you," He replied, wondering if his voice sounded anything like mortals made it out to be.

With the offered drink in hand, Cassiel allowed himself to collapse under his own weight the water sloshing about in the cup. Forcing himself to take his gaze off the girl he eagerly drank the water. It was a relief to take a moment and refresh himself and the female was thinking along the same lines as he. Getting cleaned up would really be a relief. Mostly just because he disliked the idea of walking around in demon blood. It felt so heavy upon his skin...

Finished with the water, he returned the cup to the girl. "I needed that. Thanks again." Unfortunately, now that he'd been shown a kindness he could not raise a hand to kill her. At least not until he'd repaid her.

[TakodaVega]

Hope tilted her head. Angels, she had always thought, sounded like a commanding presence or at least powerful. This one sounded almost exactly like her. The Demon that lurked in her head didn't seem to make a comment on that aspect, considering he was more curious as to why she wasn't dead yet. At least that was what glimmer of thought she was granted. If the Demon had been a separate entity she would have smacked him. However having a body meant using more energy than the simple possession did.

"Your welcome, sir." She said noticing him almost she caught his arm, "Do you need help?" She asked, wishing she could genuinely help. It's not that she was a cruel person, actually that was, other than the fact they shared the same name, the Demon picked her when she was younger. She let go a moment later, "I'm sorry, the Sisters would scold me if I didn't introduce myself. My name is Hope." Sisters was an understood term for the Nuns of the church, how irony seemed to twist and turn itself more and more.

"They found me when I was a baby and raised me in the convent, I decided though that I could do the Lord's work better on my own." She offered him a smile, that had been before the Demon made his presence known to her, though shortly after that he whispered her ideas, and then admitted who he was. He had never actually done anything to hurt her so she didn't hurt him in return. "You look tired as well, sir. I can offer you a place for the night. I'll be working but, you are more than welcome to stay." And that was how she worked, and in turn the demon did too.

[CirindeFae]

Having had a moment to catch his breath and regain himself, Cassiel finally started to realize the situation he was in. Here before him was his primary target, yet at the same time a mortal woman. A terrible predicament. He could not kill the woman, it was against his mandate, but the demon within her could not be left to live. His only options were to draw out the demon through a long and grueling exorcism or to force it to take control of the body then kill it. Either option wasn't to his liking. Cassiel wasn't the type to draw out a fight with a demon, his disdain for them pushing him to slaughter then quickly. On the other hand, he'd lose his station if he killed the mortal woman....Or worse, he'd Fall. The thought of Falling caused his heart to ache.

"I'll be fine. I just need to rest and recover." He replied, attempting to withdraw into himself. He couldn't accept any more kindness from this mortal doing so would only delay his killing of the demon inside her. Unfortunately, that didn't seem possible for she continued to talk. Dismayed, he bit back a groan. "It is a pleasure, Miss Hope." He said, refusing to offer her a hand to shake due to the grime upon his gloves. "You may address me as Cass." If he'd learned anything during his years upon the mortal plane it was to never give a human his full name. It seemed, despite his being a demonic assassin, mortals found an angel of his station worth worshiping or even praying to. To tell a man who he was was simply asking for trouble.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't. I don't wish to bring any harm upon you." Now the demon inside her on the other hand was a different story. Still, so long as she was offering kindness, he needed to find a way to repay her. He didn't want that debt to pile up until he could no longer return the notion. Although, considering her upbringing, he was starting to think he'd have little say in the matter...

[TakodaVega]

The Demon, for once, used her eyes to peer at the male, analyzing the angel with interest. Mostly because it was intrigued as to why he hadn't attacked them at their offers to begin with. An angel's first duty was to eradicate demons on sight. This one, however, felt almost a little off. Almost like a kinship was between them, but that was not possible. It made the Demon puzzle, musing over this new bit of information before letting it's host take back over. The fact that any power had been used had startled her. That wasn't the Demon's usual stance, yet it said no word about it and left her to deal with the after effects.

Hiding her unease with a smile, she retracted her hand and shrugged. She had noticed the grime, though it didn't bother her. Afterall her's were still covered in the dust from the stone she had been working on. "It is a pleasure to meet you Cass." She curtsied carefully once more though her attention returned to see his weariness there. "I doubt you would harm me, Cass, honestly. Most people leave me alone unless they wish something of my expertise." She raised her hands once more, showing the dust from the stone. "I'm a bit of a artist. I thought, as I did not wish to become a Sister in the Convent, I could at least show my appreciation for the almighty in my services."

"Do you at least wish some company to get to the Church? They offer sanctuary to strangers, food, and probably would also provide you fresh clothing as well." She knew taking him to the Sisters would bring clucks, however she had remained faithful even if the Demon in her head wanted to wander on occasion, it was as though it appreciated more than just the source of power but the person that stood there. Not all souls were lost to the Demon, it just was it's nature.

[CirindeFae]

Cassiel could tell just from the way Hope smelled that she was an artist, but what he hadn't expected was her subject content. It amused him, at least that little portion of him that he was losing control over, despite that he didn't say anything in regards to harming her. Chances were she knew she hosted that demon and chances were she'd react badly to the knowledge he was after that demon. He didn't need that.

Slowly he shook his head. "No. Going to the church wouldn't help me." He groaned a bit, feeling his eye ache a bit more. "S-solitude is what I need." He said applying his filthy glove to his bandaged eye. He needed time to redress his eye and stretch his wings which were starting to ache from being pulled so close to this physical form. Sunlight would also be a good thing right now, but he supposed there was nothing that could be done about that. Although, now that he was thinking about it he couldn't say why he bothered to tell a mortal such things.

Gradually he pushed himself to his feet, hand still keeping pressure to his eye. There was little he could do as the pain was starting to become distracting. "Thanks for the water but I should be going now. I've held you up for too long." He was seriously starting to regret taking this eye...

[TakodaVega]

Hope's face fell slightly, though her focus returned to his obvious pain. Pain that he was trying to hide so vividly from her. Was it because of the Demon that had become a part of her as much as his need to hide who he was? Granted he was beautiful to her despite the bloodstains and grime, how could she mistake him for anything but an angel was beyond her at that moment.

Biting her bottom lip, she tried to think of a way to help him, though the Demon in her head was contemplating other interesting things. Like why was the Angel not killing them on sight. Even though he might be weakened, he could easily overpower Hope to his bidding but he wasn't doing so. Leave be, he will come back in time, came the demon's voice in her head, making her frown somewhat. Sometimes she wished she knew what was running through it's head.  

"As you wish, Cass," she said gently, though part of her doubted he needed to be alone right now. "It was no trouble at all, like I said if you ever need some directions or anything I don't live far from here." She grabbed her bucket of water from it's place she had left it. "Please be safe. May the Lord light your way." She didn't like the idea of leaving him to his own fate but how could she do anything about it? The only thing she could do is to remember him if she ever came into his life again. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

[CirindeFae]

Cassiel had stopped paying attention to the mortal girl. She was nothing more than a distraction right now and he didn't need that. Without another word to her, he shuffled off. He'd found his primary target, thankfully, so he'd keep track of it while dealing with other demons and restoring himself to his prime. Slowly he made his way to a more isolated part of the city, shedding the confines of his clothes. He'd pick them up in a moment only to burn them. Humans did not need to come into contact with demonic blood. Oft times it did tragic things to them, of which he could not allow lest he have to kill them as well.

Finally far enough from most of the population and that...girl, Cassiel thrust his wings out behind him. Feeling air slipping between the feathers was refreshing and seemed to stabilize him allowing him to forget he possessed a demon's eye. A single quick and aggressive movement of his wings sent the angel high into the sky, giving him a near complete view of the town. It was such a relief to be in the air once more and an even bigger relief to not be weighed down by blood stained clothing. Speaking of he need to retrieve his clothes.

Clothes retrieved and burned, Cassiel found himself on the outskirts of town working on procuring himself some more clothes. After all, one cannot wander town in the nude if indeed one could consider an angel nude. Remaining bare, however, wasn't much of a problem for he quickly had redressed in a very similar outfit to his previous only this wasn't stained pink. Now, he had to clean his hair and redress his eye. Perhaps now was a good time to make his way back to the fountain Hope had mentioned. At the very least he could clean his hair and get rid of the awful pink. While he was in town, he might visit a so-called doctor for some proper bandaging instead torn shreds of some piece of fabric to keep his eye protected. That did sound like a good idea. His plan all sorted out, he flapped his wings and took to the skies ignoring the loose and sad feathers that fell as he dominated the skies.

[TakodaVega]

Watching him leave, she let out the breath she had been holding. Were all Angels like him? The demon in her head had said he had been as much but he was definitely now how she had imagined them to act. Shaking her head she dragged away her own bucket of water to go back to her shop she was practically lost in her own thoughts until she felt the tingling creep of the Demon making itself aware to her just as she often had to shove it to do sometimes. Do not Fret, Hope. He will come back, you will see. She snorted at that, like an Angel would come and save her from the demon that inhabited her.

Though what was so bad about the demon is what remained to be hard to answer to her as she set about work carving again into the stone. She really should get to finishing the arches for the chapel. However remembering Cass was becoming harder to ignore. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized what she had started to do and stared, wide eyed at the beginnings of a face being etched into the stone.

His face.

She dropped her utensils and stared wide eyed. Should she finish this? She swallowed slowly and ran her finger along the stone cheek. She knew that making images in the representation of God were completely forbidden but what of Angels? She shivered pondering this phenomena. The Demon continued to lurk, but provided little input to ease Hope's current new dilemma. Biting her lip she picked up her tools and oh so carefully continued. She could only hope that she and Cass wouldn't run into each other anytime soon.

[CirindeFae]

The fountain had been easy to find from the skies. Being cautious about his identity being revealed, he made a few overhead circles to look for any people that could possibly out him to the church. Finding virtually no one around, Cassiel figured it was okay to land. Almost no sound was emitted as his feet touched the ground but as he pulled his wings back to him a sound similar to a big rush of wind filled the nearby streets. Slowly worry crept up his spine as he sent his gaze about to see if anyone be drawn to such a sound. He hadn't thought about it when he landed. He'd been far too concerned about his hair. When it seemed none of the townsfolk were curious, he released a sigh then moved to begin cleaning his hair while making sure none of the awful pink got into the water.

The moment he could no longer see pink dripping out of his hair, Cassiel released a small yawn and moved to press his back against the nearest wall. Why was he tired? Did it really take so much energy to move around in the dark? He couldn't recall the last time he'd had to do so. Shaking his head a bit to send away his grogginess, he removed himself from the wall and sent his gaze down the roads hoping to be able to see a doctor's place of business. Finding one off to the right, he put a few fingers to his still closed demon eye and made his way towards the door.

Lightly he rapped his knuckles against the door and waited for the doctor to answer. When the elderly fellow finally pulled open the door, Cassiel tugged a smile to his lips and spoke. "I apologize for the late hour, but perchance you could help a lost soul. I have this...injury." It was a touchy subject, his eye, but as he needed proper bandaging he couldn't lie to the man. Seeing concern write itself upon the old man's face, Cassiel gave a pained laugh. "Might you take a look?" The old man nodded then ushered him inside. Immediately Cassiel's arm started to twitch and spasm and his spine tingled irritatingly. He was in the presence of yet another demon, only this wasn't his priority target. Oh well. A demon was a demon and it had to be slain. Still, he had to give credit for the clever idea of playing doctor.

Minutes passed as Cassiel fought with this new demon in the space of the doctor's business. There was no doubt in his mind that this 'old man' had killed the previous doctor and took on his form to find its prey. Unfortunately, with the killing of this demon the town would be without a doctor...Perhaps the church had one of their own that the townspeople could visit should they need a healer.

Eventually the false doctor fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood leaving Cassiel standing there pristine. Must have been a weak demon to not have left a single mark upon him. Closing his eyes he sent up a small prayer of thanks for the luck then turned his attention back to getting a bandage for his eye. The bandages were easy to find as was a mirror to examine the unusual eye and cover it appropriately. Quickly he made certain the wrappings were clean then approached the mirror where he slowly opened his demonic eye. The black around the yellow iris had grown darker from the last time he'd seen the eye and it made him worried. Was he really losing out to an eye? With a sigh, he closed his eye and started to wrap the bandage around his head to cover the eye.

Back to the way he'd been a few hours ago, Cassiel straightened himself and looked over to the corpse with his only open eye. With a sigh, he supposed it was time to set fire to the place to prevent someone from stumbling across anything demonic and turning dark themselves. Slowly he turned to the nearest light source and wretched it from it's place and set it careful beside the corpse so it would be the first thing to catch fire. He waited a long moment for the building to catch light before sending his wings out once more and taking to the skies. Having run across a demon, he could not go to the church for rest not that he wanted to go there at all as it was likely he could be recognized from art from previous eras. He was left with only one choice. Hope.

Swiftly he left the blaze that had once been a doctor's and made for the place where he'd met Hope. Settling on a nearby rooftop, he set his gaze down to the ground to see if he could pick up on the faint traces of stone dust and track them back to the possessed girl. It took a while before he was able to pick out the proper path, but when he did he leapt from his perch and fluttered to the ground, slowly retracting his wings as he did. Once more appearing as human as possible for an angel with a demonic eye, he followed his plotted course to Hope's studio where he leaned against the doorway and watched her as she worked without saying a word. He was a little weirded that she had carved his face into the stone, but then again he'd always been weirded out when an artist of any era had decided to make something in his image. Humans and their fancy of angels. He simply couldn't understand it.

[[I think this was well worth the wait. Maybe. ]]

[TakodaVega]

Hope's mind had drifted again when she chiseled and etched into the stone. There was something about his face, some detail she had remembered as she carved around the covered eye from her memory. Why did he have it covered? The demon in her head wasn't super helpful about that matter either but he didn't seem to be appreciate her thinking about it. In fact it wasn't until she felt someone's gaze on her that she was able to snap out of her train of thought and glance over her shoulder.

Her hair stood on end as she felt although calm, but also a weird sense of sorrow and dread fill her. It was weird, now that she saw him in the light she could see he was definitely not human. Something about him just seemed, well off. Be careful. He is not safe. He won't hurt you, but do not trust him.. 'Like I could trust you,' she though to herself as she turned to face him. She could smell the smoke from him, fire? But there was a dark tinge to it. She didn't know if it was the demon's doing or her mind darting slightly to conclusions.

However angels couldn't hurt people right? Don't believe everything, my little dear. They are under orders to harm any of those who possess the Demonkind, but I think you are safe. If my guess is right on just whom this angel is. Swallowing she looked back at the statue behind her and back to him. "C-cass. Um...I can explain." She seemed to be more hesitant about the statue than him really being there. After all locks really didn't exist. She should have put the board down but what would have done to keep him out anyway?

"Come in, make yourself at home." She finally stammered out throwing a cover over the statue so as not to remind either of them for the moment and cleaned off the table from her tools and dusted off the chair. Closing and locking the door behind him she turned over one of the empty pails she had, to set it on the floor and sat on it promptly. She seemed rather nervous about the whole thing! Why did the demon seem to think she was okay? "The voice in my head tells me not to trust you." She lightly bit along her edge of her thumb before continuing, "you might think I'm crazy but he has helped me out at times...he even helps me with the art projects sometimes. It can get lonely with no one to talk to."

Yup she had finally hit the 'I'm a crazy please send me to the crazy place' button hadn't she?