Hardest Hearts

Though the pain was excrusiating, Calcifer had mustered to stand up straight and stopped coughing blood. Sometimes, despite the heavy sacrifice of the pits of Hell, Calcifer saw himself lucky to be a demon, all his minor cuts already having disappeared. The deeper ones the girl had left him with would take longer, and every time he turned or twisted his back would ache enormously. This girl had gotten to be such a problem for him, he no longer cared much for his deal with Cali. He wanted the girl to suffer regardless, and she would, once he got his hands on her again.

Rin walked back to Calcifer, trying his best not to look as pathetic as he did, but still knew that returning empty handed would not please him. As he stumbled up the rubble he tried to ignore his protests, instead deciding that it was not worth his time to argue with him for long.
'You let her take your knife, you idiot!' he said, relatively easy for him to fake anger since Calcifer annoyed him so. 'She has two now, and she ambushed me. I suggest next time you actually make sure you can hold on to your weapon!'
Sighing he winced in pain, as if to show to him the extent of his injuries. Calcifer was already looking better than last time he had saw him, and so he hoped that in focusing on his own wounds he would not have paid attention to how much time had gone by.

Calcifer glared at Rin suspiciously. It had not accured to him that Miriam would attack Rin like that after his last words to her. He had even seen them together before, Rin without a scratch, though that memory seemed a blur in a veil of pain, so he could never be sure if his eyes had betrayed him.
"Where is she now?" he asked, his voice filled with authority he didn't own and a great deal of aggrivated impatience. Once Calcifer had set his mind to something, he rarely rested until he had his hands on it, and he was determined more than anything to see that girl suffer.

'Oh I don't know' he said sarcastically. 'The Rectory seems likely!'
He was evidently fuming. 'I just killed that man' he said, gesturing to the body, 'and saw her and then you scared her off!' he frowned. He was not sure if he would fall for this story, but regardless this was not what he would stick to. 'She attacked me from behind past the rubble, and I did not see her after that. Been trying to clear myself up since I'm not particularly keen on a suicide-mission going after her.'
He looked at Calcifer and saw he was still mad. 'Honestly you can blame this on no one but yourself. You had a weapon and for some idiotic reason even I can't comprehend you managed to still make yourself vulnerable for attack.'

Calcifer listened to him without believing a word he said. He never believed anything he was told wholeheartedly, but something was not right, and with Rin's last words he was so aggrivated he used the last of his strength to grab Rin's throat, pulling him up off the ground. He damned the nave for not having walls he could throw Rin into, but this was still a good option, proving how weak Rin's body actually was compared to his.
"You should have disarmed her before you brought her," he snarled at him. Calcifer could not remember ever growing this angry, it had always been his style to keep cool, but it was a limit to how much they could push him before he went over the egde, and they had pushed long enough.
"Now I don't give a fuck about your pety little feelings, because we both know you're smart enough to know this is leading nowhere. I want an end to it, and if I don't have that girl before sunset today, you can kiss Lillith's favor goodbye. You better remember where your loyalties lay."
With that he threw him to the ground admidst the rubble, wincing a little at the pain it brought his back, but still glaring at Rin.

'I didn't realise she had another knife' he glared up from the floor, cursing in pain but not giving him the satisfaction of showing much more. 'I'm sorry Calcifer- you can try and throw your weight around as much as you like but at the end of the day I simply do not care. You are relying on assumptions you have made and hoping that by manipulating and black mailing me you will get everything you want but I am no fool and I'm not that desperate to please you. As for Lillith, if you told her the truth she would know I entrusted her in your hands, for the sake of Cali, and you failed her. There is nothing more to tell.'
He swallowed the blood he could feel rising in his throat from his fresh wounds, not wanting to look that weak in front of him. However he stood up weakly and walked up to Calcifer. 'You should remember that just because you have muscles now does not mean you have any power over me. Out of this place and you are going to feel more pain than you can possibly imagine, I shall make sure of.'

He was right, he admitted to himself, but not for long he knew, and he smiled at the thought.
"How long do you suppose we share the same rank when truth gets o-" he started with a smug grin, but quickly silenced himself, looking over Rin's shoulder to see movement in the shadows along the walls to the sanctuary, and his devilish grin quickly grew wide.
"Your girl is clever Rin," he whispered so softly she would not notice them. The shadows were a place most ventured unnoticed, but she could not have known he had lived his whole life, and demon existence, in the shadows. They were no strangers to him, and quickly, making as little noise as he could he went after her, not paying Rin another thought as he swept passed him.

He turned his head in the direction of whatever Calcifer had seen, silently hoping he was mistaken but somewhat doubting that. With his last words about his own power repeating in his ears he momentarily panicked, but reassured himself that she was armed and he was not. Whatever Calcifer planned to do he hoped it would fail, but he knew now there was little he could do to help except prehaps draw attention to him for her.
'She is not my girl' he said in an angry whisper, standing there as he tried to think of another plan. He was still weaker than Calcifer, and knew he stood no chance if he tried to stop him, but he hoped it would trigger some kind of response from him.
With that he turned from the rubble and crept into his own shadows, watching and hoping he would fail. Resting against the walls he finally felt relieved to give his wounds a rest, but his heart was beating fast in fear for her.

Miriam was just about to round the corner to the sanctuary when she heard a noise behind her, making her whirl around ready to slash at whatever was following her, but a hard hand had wrapped around her wrist before she got the chance, squeezing it hard until she was forced to drop her weapon, whincing and letting out a soft moan of pain as she did so. Looking up from her hand she was staring straight into blood-red eyes.
She forced herself to ignore the urge to look around for Rin, knowing he could not help her now even if he saw her. It didn't worry her too much, she had never had to depend on anybody. Even from an early age she had been the one to take care of her family in her mother's place. She loved her still, more than anything, but the woman was far too weak, leaving Miriam with far too much responcibility.
"Let go of me," she snarled at him, tugging at her hand but to no avail.

"Not this time," he snapped at her, picking up the knife, still holding tight on her wrist, while he took the bag from her. He would not have any more surprises from her, and without her weapons she could not possibly harm him. Letting the knife drop into the bag he pulled it over his shoulder and dragged her away from her hiding spot and into the open. He didn't like it any more than she probably did, but he would have to find Cali now before she got away again. Luckily he spotted her further down the nave, closer to the entrance wing.
"Not your lucky day, dearie," he told her and dragged her towards where he had spotted Cali's figure. The unmistakable dark hair and pale skin could only be the human shape of one demon he knew.