DreadRedQueen

Snippet:

Lucanis opens the front door and greets Pike, letting him into the porch.

Pike closes the front door as Lucanis opens the inner door, and they both enter the house.

The inner door closes behind them with a soft click

"Something smells good, why cant all Talons treat me to dinner when they want me to do something for them?" Pike chuckles.

"Please, Pike, I'm not First Talon yet, we are equals." Lucanis chuckles.

"We have never been equals, Dellamorte, you're the Demon of Vyrantium." Pike grins.

"Please dont call me that." Lucanis sighs wearily.

Their conversation continues as they walk down the hall towards the living room.

"Where's my boy Spite?" Pike asks, looking around.

Spite perks up at his name, the toy forgotten as he jumps off Lily's lap with a meow.

"There he is." Pike grins, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something wrapped in paper.

He opens it and kneels down, offering a small piece of meat.

"My offering to the king of the house." He chuckles.

Spite trots up to him excitedly and takes the offering with a purr, chewing it happily on the floor.

Pike glances up at Lily.

"You must be Lily the Songbird." He grins, sauntering over and taking her hand, kissing the back of it.

"A pleasure to meet you, my lady." He purrs before releasing her hand.

Lucanis narrows his eyes and then shakes his head.

"Careful, crow." He warns, and Pike stands up straighter.

"Yep, that's me." Pike grinned, backing up when Lucanis looked at him.

"Shall we eat?" Lucanis asks, heading for the dining table.

She smiled and followed Lucanis to the table. She helped pour the wine and brought it to the table.

"Not going to lie, part of me agreed to this job because Lucanis's cooking is so damn good." He jokes, taking his seat, if he was to be Lily's bodyguard, that probably meant he would get to sample his cooking more often.

"Should I inform Teia your forging payment, and will take it in the form of meals then?" Lucanis jokes.

"dont you dare, I need the money." Pike laughs

"His cooking is amazing," she agrees, smiling at Lucanis. Pike seems nice so far. She was a little worried initially, but her fears are disappearing. He was a good guy.

"Jokes aside, I'm here to protect you, Lily. You can trust me, Lucanis is a good friend, and he has saved my ass many times. I owe him, and I won't let you down. That said, im not going to get in your way." Pike smiles.

"You need me close, let me know, you want me to be invisible, I can do that too, but rest assured, even if you think im not there, I will be close by and I will protect you with my life." He reassures her, his expression deadly serious.

Lucanis smiled. Pike was good at his job and loyal. He couldn't ask for a better person for the job, and he trusted him to keep his hands to himself, that was just as important to him as keeping her safe.

"You don’t have to be invisible! I’d… like to be friends if you don’t mind. It’ll just take some getting used to," She smiles at Pike. "You seem like a fun guy." She grins.

"I would like to be friends too." Pike smiled. It made the job easier if the client liked him.

The world shifts a sensation Dante is well used to, the physical realm transforming into the great expanse of the fade, the sky an array of colours, the stone archway comes into view, and Spite stoops to pass through, slowly so as not to startle Manuelle.

"Maker, what is that?" Manuelle squeaks, hiding behind Dante.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you, it's me, Spite," Spite says softly, though his voice is still quite loud and bassy in his true form.

"Determination." Devotion says excitedly, their golden form floating over to embrace him.

"Hello." He greets them, curling a wing around them.

Dante chuckles, seeing the two spirits greeting each other. It was nice to see Devotion being happy. They look back at their sister.

"Manu?" They smile.

"Is that really Spite?" Manuelle asks, clinging to them.

"Look, my origin." Devotion sings, pointing to Spite. They drift over to Manuelle and spin on the spot, their golden light soft and warm.

"Oh, Devotion, you're so pretty." Manuelle smiles, giving them a kiss. They press their foreheads together in greeting.

"It's really Spite. You have nothing to worry about." Dante could feel the warmth of Devotion light. "You two are adorable, you know that?" They chuckle.

Spite trills and calls for his wisps. It sounds like whale song.

"Greetings," Hope sings, appearing first and floating next to him.

"Hello." Love joins the song, following Hope.

"Welcome." Empathy appears last, and dances around Spite's head in greeting.

"Devotion, join us," Spite says softly, as he sits down, crossed-legged, his wings spreading.

"Family." Devotion sings, floating over to join him.

"Ready to train?" Spite asks Dante with a grin once everyone is settled.

Dante pays attention for a moment to the song of the spirits, feeling both soothed and energised by it. They nod and then look at their sister and grin.

"I'm ready." They grin. "Are you ready, sis?" They ask.

"What, um, do I need to do?" Manuelle asks nervously.

"Speak with Devotion, bond." Spite smiles softly, his 6 eyes blinking independently.

"Dante, teach you to call spirits." He grins. "Safe way." He adds.

"Oh, really? Nice." Dante was excited to learn, taking a deep breath to calm down, and concentrating on Spite, listening to his instructions.

"Yes, must concentrate, never call them without Spite, Cant protect you otherwise," Spite growled.

"Feels like home but not home." Devotion muses, playing with Spite's feathers, making him twitch occasionally, sometimes playfully swatting her with his wing.

"So you were one being before?" Manuelle asks Devotion.

"Yes, vast, the infinite, but cut away, taken." She sighs. Spite's wing curled around them comfortingly

"Safe now, a family again." Spite smiles before returning his attention to Dante.

"Spirit calling is like soothing, must look for right emotion. focus, whisper their names." He smiles, glancing at hope, love and empathy, and nodding his head, the three wisps disappear.

"Concentrate, call them back, one by one." He grins.

Dante closed their eyes, feeling the flow of magic around them, breathing it in slow rhythmic breaths.

They concentrate on love first, feeling the warmth of a memory filled with the feeling of home, of family, of love. They call out the spirit's name, their whisper barely audible on the wind but shimmering like a bell, their own feeling of love bright and loud.

Spite watches them for a moment before looking around, making sure it is safe.

Devotion had grown tired of playing and was resting against Spite's side, smiling as if basking in the magic that seemed to shift around him.

"Home." She sighed happily.