I see you with him
How you are when he's around
That's not who you are
You're more quiet
You're less 'you'
That's not who you are
You're less sweet
Your voice changes
That's not who you are
You are only your true self around me
"Here, take this kid" Klane throws a shard to Az who catches it carefully with both hands.
Az stares at the shard in his hand "Wouldn't you rather give this to your own partner?"
"No, she's already starting off a lot stronger than you with eight traits and two items." Klane smirks "Plus, we're bound together for the long haul anyway."
Az shrinks back, still uneasy after his encounter the previous night with Klane. He takes a look at Klane, Parametris, and the still unconscious Lilith before inserting the shard into his hand. He winces at first before the shard seemingly dissolves into his flesh.
"Welcome back" the voice beckons from the darkness. The panel immediately appears in front of Az. He decided to immediately take a tier of Wound Healing as per Klane and Parametris' strategy. Gone for merely a second on Earth, Az returns feeling uneasy.
Looking at Parametris, Az begins to ask "Is Lilith still unconscious? Why is it taking so long?"
Parametris bounces over to Az and puts her hands on his shoulders "Hey! Don't worry Azzy! Klane said she'll be fine by the morning, it's only like four in the morning right now any reasonable person would think morning means like six or even seven right? I don't really know how time works." Parametris breathes in "But Klane is super smart, he's very well known in Hell for how he plays this game, he knows what he's talking about. If he says she'll be fine then she'll be fine! So don't worry!"
Az can't help but crack a smile at her "You are a lot less of a dick than Klane, I'm glad I have you and not him."
Klane raises his eyebrow and smirks. The tension in the air vanishes as Lilith opens her eyes. She yawns and stretches and eventually comes-to. She examines the room around her and jumps up when her eyes meet Az.
"Mornin' Az!" she exclaims as she runs over to hug him. She tries to kiss him but he brushes her aside. "What, no good morning kiss Az?"
"Well, I'd prefer it if we at least went on a date first at least before any of that stuff."
Lilith frowns "You're punishing me for what I said last night."
Az puts a hand on her shoulder "No! Of course not. I just - I don't want to take advantage of you. What I did to you-" she kisses him mid sentence.
"I don't care about that. It was the right call. I was blind, I couldn't see how great you were to me. I'm glad you woke me up." Az smiles and kisses her back.
Parametris gives a nervous laugh before walking into the other room. She returns with a backpack and start fidgeting with it. After opening the wrong zipper a couple times she finally opens the one she wanted and pulls out a small transparent container of muffins.
"While you two were napping I went ahead and went to the cafe across from your apartment and got us something that looked tasty! I'm not sure what it is but I'm excited to try it!"
She opens the box revealing four muffins. "One for each of us!" she proudly exclaims. Parametris picks up two out of the box and hands one to Az and tries to hand one to Lilith, who instead picks one out of the box herself. Az thanks Parametris as his new girlfriend glares at him.
Klane pulls a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket "Thank you for the offer, but I'll pass." he approaches Parametris "I have something I need to take care of before the game starts, it'll likely last well into the end of the day. I trust that you can handle the Boise street situation on your own?"
She smiles big and wide, waving her muffin around "Of course I can! No better choice for the job than I! Well other than maybe you of course. I'll make sure to fill them in on the strategy we came up with!"
Klane approaches the door, puts his sunglasses on, and walks out. As he approaches the street he lifts his head admiring the blue sky. He takes a deep breathe enjoying the fresh air. He glances over at DuPont Tower, the tallest building in the city and walks in the opposite direction.
"No need to go right away, he can wait a little bit." he thinks to himself
He walks through the side-streets surrounding Az's apartment complex. Engaging in pleasantries and conversations about nothing with a few of the local homeless population, he bids them farewell with a few small bills. He walks into a local shop and walks out with a fresh loaf of bread. Making his way to the nearest park, he sits down on a bench and throws pieces of bread on the ground and some birds start to flock around.
"It's not very polite to keep me waiting, Klane" a figure appears from behind.
"Just enjoying the city before it's gone, Michael."
The figure laughs "Are you pissed because I destroyed you last time? And the time before that. And every time for the past millennium?"
"Of course not, I'm just surprised every time to learn that you're still participating."
The figure pauses for a few seconds before answering "Not all of us turned our back on this world."
Klane smiles "That's not who you are."
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"Absolutely not!" Lilith yells "Why do I have to be the lookout while you get to cozy up with my boyfriend?"
Parametris holds her head in both hands "Because you're stronger, if anyone tries to crash us you have a better shot at stopping them!"
"Well I refuse!" Lilith exclaims, arms folded.
"Fine!" Parametris spreads her arms wide "I'll be the lookout. But if I give any orders you have to listen to them."
Lilith smiles victoriously. She walks over to Az and hugs his arm. Az breaks contact with her "Why are you acting like this? You never fight with people."
She laughs while re-initiating the embrace "This is who I am, Az. That stupid little arrow didn't say anything about changing my personality did it? Maybe you didn't really know me before, but that's okay! You have the opportunity to learn about your soulmate all over again."
"That's not true, you were always the most yourself around me, I could feel it."
"Oh please, you thought my minimum wage customer service personality was who I actually was?"
Az looks down at his feet before the world goes black. Suspended in a familiar darkness a familiar voice calls out.
"The Athanual Games have started."
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A young adult woman unlocks a locker and pulls out a jacket and her cell phone. She pulls a small hunting knife from her wrist. Looking around her, she takes care not to accidentally show the knife to anyone around. Her heart starts to race as she clocks out and finally exits through the front door.
A small growth almost like a second head pops out of her shoulder right as she exits the building. The blob moves almost like gelatin and has two black eyes and a wide smile. She immediately throws her jacket over it and tries her best to muffle it.
"It's me, garbage! Time to die like a dog" the growth laughs from her shoulder
"Shut the fuck up" the girl whispers into her jacket.
The blob continues laughing and making obscene sounds as the girl walks down the street. Suddenly, a snap is heard and a small ball of fire hits the girl's jacket. She immediately throws it off and spots two men. She also notices a couple of inhuman looking creatures watching nearby.
"Shit, these abilities are fucking useless" one of the men shouts "that was like golf ball sized."
"That's why I brought an actual weapon retard" the other man adds, pulling out a machete.
Immediately the girl pulls out her knife and charges at the two men. She notices that despite the growth on her shoulder she actually feels faster. "I didn't think one tier of Speed Enhancement would be this significant" she thought to herself. She sliced at the man wielding a machete only for him to back out of the way. The other man snapped his fingers and the girl narrowly dodged the resulting ball of flame.
"Too bad my other ability is fucking useless" she silently lamented "this so-called partner of mine is outright trying to lose."
The man with the machete jumps in and manages to cut her arm. She backs away and starts trying to run in the opposite direction. The two men pursue, she is slightly faster than them but the two men manage to keep her in sight. Eventually she takes a turn only to realize there's no exit.
The two men catch up to her and back her into the corner. The men start laughing as they approach her. The blob on her shoulder starts laughing too.
"Woah, looks like old garbage here is in a pickle!" he jiggles himself on the girl's shoulder "I hope everyone's enjoying this!"
As soon as the men get within ten feet of the girl a distinct snap is heard. A small bolt of lightning nearly reaches the men before dissipating. The two men back off and look around for where the shot came from.
The pair hear footsteps behind them and the man with the machete just barely blocks a slash of a sword, losing his grip on the machete in the process. The other man tries to snap his fingers but his hand flies off after another slash.
"Klane's strategy for the early game seems almost unfair!" Lilith thinks to herself "Most of these abilities require snapping your fingers, so just go for their hands."
Quickly, before either of the men could react, she cut off his other hand leading to him collapsing. The other man snapped his fingers and a tree vine crawled up and grabbed Lilith's leg, startling her and causing her to drop her sword. A distinct snap is heard and a lighting bolt hits the man in the shoulder. He brushes his shoulder off and picks up his machete. Another snap is heard, the lighting bolt hits the man again to no effect. The man walks towards the bound girl only to stop suddenly and collapse as he is stabbed from behind.
"Thank you for helping me, I'm Nyx." the girl smiles at Lilith.
The vine retracts from Lilith's leg and she picks up her sword "I'm Lilly, but I wouldn't call us friends just yet." She brandishes her toward
The girl backs up "Wait! Wait, we can be allies. Those two were and look they almost killed us! If we work together it'll be better for the both of-" she's cut off as the blob on her shoulder starts to yell
"Kill her! KILL HER! Come on chick all my friends are watching this show it'll be fucking hilarious!"
Az finally catches up to Lilith "Wait, watching?"
A bright light envelops the girl and the blob. She collapses and screams out in pain alongside the growth. "Ah SHIT I didn't fucking mean to" the blob cries out as the light fades. "I thought that was gonna kill me."
Az notices the shards protruding from the two now deceased men on the ground and picks them up while the girl is distracted. "What the hell is that thing?" Az asks the girl.
The girl stands up, still shaken from the pain "Apparently, my partner in this game. He picked two tiers of the trait that bind us two together. Symbiosis or something."
Az laughs "Sounds rough. You held your own against two men even when your partner is sabotaging you. Maybe the three of us could form a team-" as soon as the words leave his mouth he notices a sword exiting the front of her chest.
Lilith pulls her sword out and starts smiling at Az. "She's not even your type Az! You like super nice girls right? She didn't ask how you were or any of that kind of stuff" she approaches Az with the bloody sword in hand "first you act all sweet and nice to that demon and do God-knows-what with her behind my back now you're trying to pick up another girl?"
Lilith puts her bloodied hand on Az's shoulder "You don't need her. Or Parametris. Or anyone else but me. That's the reason you gave me that arrow right? That's the reason right? You didn't force me to love you just to abandon me did you? I was in a great relationship before you did that you didn't have to ruin everything if you were just going to go after other girls." She clutches her head.
"I was happier before you did this to me."
Az steps back "Lilith… I'm so sorry."
Lilith hits her head with her fists "No, oh God I am so sorry Az. I didn't mean that. I didn't mean to kill that girl. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. Why did I feel so jealous all day? This isn't me! Az what is happening to me?" She starts to sob.
"RUN NOW!" Parametris cries out from atop a building.
An abnormally large man wearing all black jumps from a building on the opposite side above onto the pavement. He hits Az with the back of his fist sending him into the wall and knocking him unconscious. Lilith freezes up and is swatted away down the street.
The man runs over to the girl on the ground, pulls out a vial from his chest before examining the girl. Muttering something into his shirt, he puts the vial away. He picks her up and jumps onto the building above.
Parametris jumps down and reaches Az and starts examining him. Bleeding from his nose, likely a few broken bones, a lot of cuts and scrapes. She sighs and remarks to herself that it's probably nothing serious that Wound Healing won't fix overnight. Looking around for the man, she breathes a sigh of relief as she detects no trace of him.
Lilith catches back up. The two pull Az into a corner and look around the area for the assailant. After a half hour of waiting and searching the two decide that the coast is clear. The two walk back to where they left Az.
"Parametris… I'm so sorry. If only I had listened to you. If I were the one looking out I could have stopped him. He surprised us and I froze, now Az is hurt. It's all my fault."
"He'll be fine, he looks worse than he is" Parametris smiles at Lilith. "Don't feel too bad, he'll be alright! We all make mistakes sometimes. Who knows, maybe something worse would have happened if we didn't do things the way we did!"
Lilith smiles back "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you too. I don't know what I was thinking. You care about him too, that doesn't mean you're trying to steal him from me."
Parametris bounces her shoulders "You know, he's not the only one I care about. I care about you too. You're part of the team." The two girls share a smile and pick up Az.