Chapter 13

Cornered between three humans and their Sniffer, Lavinia remains defiant, snarling and hissing as much as the Sniffer pacing behind her. Having starved this long, she's prepared to eliminate the wilding creature first and foremost, take a bite out of it and kill its owners.

Yes. And then Lucy would be safe with her.

The Caster and Handler glower at Lavinia, their strange lights shining in her eyes, "What is it?" the handler asks, cautiously looking over to the leader who's standing with his arms folded.

"A demon." The Caster answers, brows furrowed and staff levelled at Lavinia "Don't underestimate it."

Waiting for them to make the first move, Lavinia edges closer to Lucy— her staff lies nearby and with it she can crippling damage to the Sniffer without spending Essence; best used against the humans. Raising a hand up to block the light in her eyes, Lavinia catches a proper look of their leader, finding him wearing the same knowing smirk Henry sported.

"Yes, let's not." He says, glancing at his teammates with a broadening smile, "But let me try something first."

Already he's displayed some shield ability so a frontal attack on him would be a waste of time if she can't beat his speed. With {Crimson Blink} she can sneak up behind him, but with her pool of Essence Lavinia can only afford one use of the perk and even if she succeeds that leaves the Caster and Handler unaccounted for.

Biting her lip Lavinia comes to terms with the stifling fear in her throat and in her nervous feet that finally graze Lucy's staff. Their leader crouches, putting himself below Lavinia and looking up to her with a smile, he reaches out and Lavinia snaps to—

In a single twirl she picks the staff of the floor, the Handler whistles and the Sniffer roars out at Lavinia, its jaws splitting open as it descends. Using the momentum from her twirl, Lavinia swings the staff from the ground and into the Sniffer's lunging side, viciously smacking it aside, several of its ribs crack at impact before she sends it flying to whimper.

Eyes darting to the next opponent, Lavinia spots the Caster muttering something and deepens her sneer. The Handler yowls in surprise as she sprints past he and their grinning leader, spring loading into a high jump she launches herself over as the Caster unleashes a flurry of ice spikes from the tip of her staff she narrowly escapes. Landing behind the Caster she uses the length of Lucy's staff to sweep at her legs but she hops away. Channelling her mysterious power the Caster lands and taps her staff and sends a quake through the earth Lavinia stands on.

Rattled and thrown off her footing, Lavinia loses her grip on Lucy's staff, reaching out for it but finding a waiting ice spike instead. She shuts her eyes and waits for the final blow but hears the spike shatter instead. The earth beneath her stops rumbling as well and sensing someone looming over her, Lavinia has a peek—

Their leader stands over her with his shield splayed wide and covered in sliding shards of ice. "I said, let me try something first." He says with a tone.

"I'm sorry! It's a demon and she said not to underestimate it so I didn't!" Their Handler grumbles as though he did anything of use.

The Caster watches closely, her eyes pinned on Lavinia as she speaks, "Well, if you're going to try something then do it quick, this demon is ready to die defending whatever it thinks this is."

"Exactly." He says with a snap of his fingers. He picks himself off of Lavinia, looking down at her with a smile he steps back and offers his hand, "Hello, my name is Jeriko, what's yours? Do you have one?"

Lavinia regards his outstretched hand, sniffing at it and resisting the urge to take a bite she refuses to take it and slowly pulls herself upright, "Lavinia." she says, repeating her name to someone beyond herself and Lucy for the first time.

Keeping his hand to himself Jeriko grins, "Lavinia, that's a good name."

"Lucy…Lucy made Lavinia?"

"Named? Do you mean she named you?" he says, pointing over at Lucy's corpse.

Lavinia nods and hurries over to Lucy, pulling her back to where they pick her up and even peeling her eyelids back. The three humans share a troubled look, then a pointed one at their Leader.

He nods and keeps up the approach, "Lavinia, who is Lucy?"

At the question she stops. It's not something she's given thought to before this very moment. Who is Lucy? She's asked herself who Lavinia is, Lavinia is herself, different from the one before, from the unspoken demon who hunted all its existence. But Lucy? Of course, Lucy was

"Lucy…Master." She says, finding it to be the most appropriate answer. That's who she is, the woman that tamed and named her.

"Did she say you should keep watch here? Is there someone coming back soon? A Chosen perhaps?" The last question Lavinia knows would change whatever amicable relations are happening now, fortunately the truth is the truth.

"No. Lavinia and Lucy all." She says, falling back in place beside Lucy.

"They're all dead then." The Caster says, she points at Lucy's staff rolling back and forth on the floor, "That's a brilliant staff, I need it. We need it."

"No! Mine!" Lavinia springs back up with a snarl, flashing her claws once more.

The Caster ignores her and continues talking to the leader, "There's nothing here but a rather…dangerous demon and a very good staff. Let's do ourselves a favour? Just this once, please Jeri!"

"No, you asked we bury her and that's what we started, lets finish that and respect what she left behind." He says, going to pick the staff.

"She didn't leave a Gestalt Grovestaff for a demon!"

"What if she did?" their handler starts, shrugging with one hand stuffed in a pocket and the other guiding his strange light around the area. "Even if she didn't, killing the demon for protecting their old master's corpse feels…cruel and unnecessary."

"It is." Jeriko says with a pleased smile before presenting the staff to Lavinia, "Keep it close, it's what's left of Lucy. But we can't let her stay up here, rotting outwardly for any passer-by to see and piss on. We have to bury her."

"Do you think a demon understands any of that? It's barely old enough to know it'll die in here." The Caster grumbles.

"I understand." The words come clean, sound and without a stutter from Lavinia, surprising the humans, "Lucy rot faster, better in dirt."

"That's…not the logic I was going for but it works."