[sylvanSpider]

Hell

Olivia didn't need her hearing to experience the sensory sensations that were overtaking her on the bike. She held onto Xander tight, tight enough that she almost worried she'd be a distraction. The wind whipped through her hair, rushed by her face, stole the breath from her lungs. But, it was okay. Everything was okay because here, in this moment, she felt more alive than she ever did when she was alive. No amount of drugs gave her a sensation quite like this. The closest she'd come was riding on a motorcycle, but then she could feel the contact of the wheels to the ground. This was something else; the ride was smooth and bumpless, completely free of the ground below.

The building the pair now stood in front of was less than impressive. There seemed to be no lights that belonged to the building outright, at least outside the thing, and their destination was shrouded in the shadow of night. One could make out the words emblazoned on the top if they squinted though, and could also read Latin. Olivia was squinting adjusting to the, now steady, darkness of a literal everlasting night. She lacked the second requirement though, knowing nothing of Latin, so she had to trust Xander when he told her that they had arrived.

So this was the place she was to learn how to kill. But why was she learning to kill, again? For the same reason she'd given up her music, apparently. The same reason she'd keep her youth until something claimed her. The system was flawed inherently, but who was Olivia to argue with all-powerful beings? She wasn't a particularly strong demon, yet she could feel Xander's powers oozing off him like a separate entity unable to be contained. Perhaps she should listen to him.

Or perhaps she could convince him of a separate path.

For the time being, however, Olivia decided to play their games, I'll learn how fight here? she signed, letting her eyes take in the monstrosity before her. She guessed Axle and Nancy were already in as they'd left first and started faster than even she and Xander had.

><><><><><

The trip was nothing new to Axle and even the flourishes thrown on for added entertainment's value were done with an air of nonchalance and a straight face. They landed and Axle let go of Nancy, nodding to the words, shadowed over by the night. “It used to light up,” Axle said, shoving his hands in his pockets and tossing back a lock of his hair, “There for a few years, anyway. When it stopped working, it was just never fixed, just like fucking everything around here,” he said, cracking his knuckles. He looked up to see Nancy unsteadily stepping off and he held his hand out for her to take.

“Fortunately,” Axle said, shoving the hand that had previously helped Nancy back into his pocket, “Our bodies don't crack as easily, should we take fuckin' care of them. Now. This is our chance to show you that your sacrifices weren't for nothing and that you can live a decent life without whatever it is that you sacrificed.” He started walking up the cracked steps and opened the door for her to pass through, closing it after himself.

“Unfortunately,” he said leading the way through the double doors and into an actually lit gym-like area, “Some sacrifices are too great. I still regret mine, and mine was supposed to be a good thing to give up. Just means I'm that much tougher on the field. You'll see the same, likely.”

Heaven

Katarina's eyes were cold, assessing. Her words nothing more than the cold, hard truth. It felt doubly true for Sage who knew the only place he could potentially taste anything ever again – there on the battlefield. She knew this. Sage wasn't the first to give up taste that she'd seen, and likely, he wouldn't be the last. Now, she needed to coerce the boy to the fight.

Sage missed his first charge. The fog had proven to serve its purpose and he could see nothing. He could only hear the voices surrounding him: Sage, where am I? Can you find me? Sage stood still, initially turning to each voice's direction, but there was one sense that he wondered if Luka would be able throw off – his sense of smell. Sage stopped moving, letting the fog waft about him, no longer concerned of whether he could see or not. Now he was focused on one thing.

His drink at the bar earlier, the one where he'd been given a blood containing demon's blood, was the best he'd ever had and the smell resonated with him and would until the end of his days. It would forever be what he chased, his own dragon. That same smell greeted him here, in the arena. Whatever it was that enabled angels to get back from the dead seemed to have the same effect on him, giving angels tasty flesh, tasty blood – flesh and blood that now filled his nostrils.

Finally, he spun around and opened his eyes, “Hello, Luka.”