Young Writers Society

Damascus had gone pale at the mention of souls, and he studied the little scuffle, especially the woman who had introduced herself as Viper, with deep concern. Viper. The name, or title, perhaps, seemed familiar in ways that he hardly dared recall.

But this young woman couldn't possibly be... there was no chance.

Distantly, Taber's words registered to him, and the turned to the wolf in a daze.

"I- I... it might not be the wisest thing." He got out, eyes aimed searchingly toward where Auryon had retreated.

Something came over him then, and he let out a breath. He was avoiding things that made him uncomfortable again, a habit that both wasn't healthy or something to be proud of.

He should figure out, once and for all, if he knew this woman, rather than jumping to fevered conclusions. Besides that, checking on her emotional state would be the right thing to do.

"You know, Taber, I think we should." He decided firmly.

"I really wish you'd just go bother someone else without me," Auryon murmured under her breath, eyes half-closed. "You're making it awfully difficult to keep relations...civil. We started by stabbing someone and now you're scaring the shit out of anyone who can see what you are."

There was a sense of some annoyance or even mild disapproval, but the being stirred and for reasons known only to herself decided to do as Auryon desired. Their forms shimmered, blurred, and then separated. What was formerly an ebon-clad, fully-masked woman now became two very distinctive individuals.

The first undoubtedly bore a resemblance to the being that had stood there before. Her long, coppper hair was in a fishtail braid that hung down her back. A couple crimson earrings dangled from her hears to complement the mahogany hue of her eyes. Her attire was simple but quite attractive: a scarlet, ankle-length dress that clung tightly to her body and had a slit on one side to allow more freedom of movement. Or, perhaps, it was merely meant to show off her legs, it was difficult to tell.

The other being was stunning in her own way. She was dark-skinned with onyx dreadlocks that fell her bare back. Her eyes were an almost unnatural hue of gold and her form was tall and lithe. A thin, ethereal white dress hung off one shoulder and fell over her body down to her ankles and served as a backdrop for the golden bangles and similarly metallic earrings. On her right ear she had a simple diamond drop. On the other, a gilded serpent earcuff peered out with jet eyes. Royal blue and turquoise eyeshadow framed that acute gaze and kohl added to her almost Egyptian appearance. Unlike the high heels of her vessel, she wore only leather sandals.

Their masks were, perhaps, the only thing that bore any resemblance to each other. They were lacy in design and had two small gems on the forehead to complement the fine twists in the thin metal. The red-garbed woman had a black mask with gems to match the hue of her jewelry and dress; the other had a gold one with turquoise stones.

"Okay!" Taber said. He wasn't sure why Damascus had a change in heart - maybe he'd originally thought it'd be rude to ask? But now he seemed to have the same mindset as Taber; it'd be good to figure out what happened, both to help her with any emotional trouble and to reconcile the people who'd almost started a fight a short while ago.

The wolf turned around, took a step forward, and immediately stopped. "Where is she?" he said, tilting his head. He looked back at Damascus. "There's two people where she was standing. Do you know if either of them are her?"

James watched the brief spout of conflict with confusion, mostly. He didn't know who Viper was apart from her attachment to Kratzer, so naturally, he sent a concerned look towards his brother and friend.

Damascus swallowed hard and went a few shades paler. He had been afraid of this, and now it seemed that he had been justified in jumping to conclusions. Viper was exactly who he thought she was.

He attempted to get his mouth to work, and was able to choke out a little assertion. "B- both of them are."

Bravely, he started walking forward, hoping that Taber would follow. Surely Viper wouldn't recognize him, and if she did, she wouldn't mention anything in front of Taber. Surely. He hoped that was the case.

Confronting things head-on was taxing.

Kratzer looked pretty confused himself, and merely shrugged, unable to give him much of an answer. Cornyx wasn't a common name but he also knew full well the boy was hardly powerful, so whatever Thana was referring to had to be different. So, instead of answering, his gaze turned back to Viper - or, rather, Auryon, who was now in a separate form from her demon.

Apophis looked up as she spotted Damascus coming towards them. There was something about the way he moved that was somehow familiar, yet impossible to place. She frowned a little as she puzzled over it and watched him advance.

Damascus had reached the two, and he stood there for a moment in front of the woman with the dreadlocks, tongue-tied. With a glance over at the crimson-haired woman, who he assumed was the vessel, and then decided to just barrel through and pretend that nothing was amiss.

"Uhm, Viper, was it?" He gave a somewhat strained smile and held out a hand, confused for a moment at which to offer it to.

He settled with the crimson-haired woman, since it was hard for him to look at the other without letting his expression betray him.

"I don't believe we've met." Painfully, he forced this small fib and battled with guilt. He was doing this all wrong.

"I'm Damascus, Engel's honorary brother. Taber and I-" he looked over his shoulders somewhat desperately. "Taber and I saw what happened and just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Auryon didn't know him. She knew that; she'd never seen his face before, anywhere. And yet, something about him...something in the way he moved, or the way he spoke, or his expressions was undoubtedly familiar. Familiar in a way that perturbed her and sent a shiver down her spine. She wasn't sure why it hadn't hit her before. Perhaps Apophis' presence had some strange side effect in this circumstance.

"Fine, thanks," she said shortly.

The Egyptian demoness came forward, stepping behind and to the side of her vessel. "I apologize for my companion's rudeness," she said with a dip of her head. "I do believe it was more offputting than she'd like to admit. I am Apophis and this is my...friend, Sar-"

"Auryon," she interjected sharply. "My name is Auryon."

"Auryon, Apophis." Damascus nodded at each of them in turn, steadfastly holding his wavering smile. "Lovely to meet you both. So, ah..."

He trailed off, and chewed on his lip, wondering desperately which conversation trail would be safe. Auryon didn't seem to be comfortable in his presence, to say the least, a fact that he couldn't be sure wasn't due to any sort of recognition.

"How do you know Engel, exactly?" He attempted another friendly smile, being slightly more convincing.

"He's an old friend," Auryon answered simply, crossing her arms. "What do you care?" The hostility was made clear by the cutting edge to her tone.

Apophis' eyes narrowed as she watched this figure, struggling to place him. His presence, she knew it, quite well, and he was definitely demonic despite his human appearance. Demonic, but not of her world...

Oh.

"Aagares," she finally said, a small smile finding its way across her lips. "It's been a while."

Taber, in fact, did follow. Unfortunately for Damascus, he spent the entire time staring at Apophis. She looked like royalty. She dressed like royalty. She talked like royalty. He'd been around plenty of royalty before, but everything about her intimidated him - he couldn't help but shuffle his feet and bite his lip.

He only snapped out of it when he heard the name Aagares. "Is she talking about Aegeas?" he whispered to Damascus, before realizing she was right next to them. "Hi," he stammered, stepping back. "I'm, uh, I'm, Taber Aurelius-Renatus. Are you talking about one of my friends? He's not here right now, so..."

Her smile only widened with an almost malevolent, mischievous manner. Her gaze swept over Taber in a predatory fashion before her attention turned back to Damascus. "Oh, my, sweetheart, sounds like someone has some skeletons in their closet," she said, moving away from Auryon to circle Damascus more closely than was comfortable. Despite Damascus' superior size she managed to move and speak with the demeanor of a hunting creature that held the undeniable upper hand. She leaned in close to him and her voice dropped to a low whisper. "Would you rather I stopped talking, Aagares?" she murmured softly, lips brushing his ear.

Ohhh, that explained things. Now Taber felt a little bit stupid. Given how this Apophis lady was getting creepier by the second - she seemed to be enjoying walking around Damascus and whispering in his ears about some weird thing that happened in the past - Taber decided to make it up to Damascus by moving closer to him. The wolf set a hand on Damascus's shoulder. At least he wouldn't be alone.

Damascus faltered, closing his eyes for a moment in deep mortification. He had just been about to attempt to reassure Auryon, but all hopes of coherency had been cast aside the moment his fear had come to fruitation.

After a few beats, he opened his eyes, and that was when Apophis circled him, making a cold sweat break out on his neck.

A hot blush rose to his cheeks as she whispered in his ear, and as embarrassed as he was that Taber was here to witness this unraveling of his past, his hand on his shoulder aided in calming him.

"I don't go by that name any more." He said softly, but firmly. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his head, registering that she was too close. "You can say what you will, Apophis."

But please don't, he in his head.

"Oh really?" she said, stopping in front of him and wholly ignoring Taber's presence. "Because it seems to me that you would be greatly opposed to that. Play it indifferently if you will but don't believe for an instant that you can fool me...Damascus. That is what you prefer now, isn't it?" She cocked her head to the side slightly and gave him the most innocent-looking-but-subtly-dangerous smile possible.