The Dreaming Forest

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Leon Court




"Nikolai, this isn't up for discussion." He turned to face the Russian. "You've been trying to get rid of her for so long, but nothing's worked. What makes you think that today will be any different? Let me do it, stay out of the way, protect Aysun. If it doesn't go in my favor, then I'll call for help, but I don't want you there when I face her."

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"The pride is strong with this one." Nikolai mused. "But fine. I'll let you try your hand." he conceded while holding up his hands. "For now let's find a place to hide."

 

[Mayah Playah]

Leon Court




He looked over to his parents, gesturing to them. "Take her and my parents somewhere nice, somewhere small. Maybe the hotel, maybe home, it doesn't matter. Have Ezekiel find the bombs and remove them. Can he do that?" asked Leon.

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"There's no guarantee, but he can certainly try." As he said that, Nikolai tilted his head up to look at the sky. He brought a hand to his mouth and whistled. After a couple seconds a caw could be heard, and soon the black crow flew down. It perked itself on the Sin's shoulder, and after a quiet murmur the bird cawed again and got on the floor. Its feathers ruffled and its caws got deeper until it was the size of a large horse.
"Dearie, get on the bird now." Nikolai called out to the little girl that clung to her grandma while giving the large bird a stare of both fright and awe. "We're going home. You're all capable of following or shall I make a second trip?" he asked Leon's family as he helped Aysun on Ezekiel's back.

 

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Leon Court




Annie held tight to her granddaughter and her husband as she got onto the crow, her sons piling behind them and keeping a good grip. She stared down at Leon, eyes silently asking what was happening, but he didn't look at her. He didn't need more guilt. "Be careful, Leon," she said quietly, then nodded at Nikolai. She was ready to go, and so was her family.
"Yes, ma'am." Leon turned his back to his family, then ventured deeper into the wood, his hand to his side as he calmed himself and lowered his blood-pressure. He needed to be steady if he was going to be able to fight well and win.

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As the crow flew and dodged each passing tree, Nikolai looked over his shoulder to the shrinking figure they left behind. He stayed quiet for a minute then moved his legs so that one foot was on the crow's back. Ezekiel cawed in confusion, but Nikolai ignored it.
"You're strong enough to stay and look after Aysun, yes?" he asked Annie as he stood up straight, managing to keep his balance through the flight.

As Leon was left alone in the forest it began to lose its calming charm. The barren trees and thin fog were no longer mysteriously heartwarming but eery. There were no animals around, and the air was cold and thick. The forest was no longer welcoming.
Suddenly, a figure could be seen at a distance moving towards Leon. It wasn't malevolent and had wings. Grigori.
He was stumbling forward with cuts and bruises all over his body, one arm was wrapped around his side as if a rib was broken, and one eye was swollen shut. He passed from tree to tree, keeping himself up only with their help. Soon he was close enough to see who the other person ahead of him was.
"Leon...?" he grunted and moved faster to him, though it was still sluggish. "What are you doing here? Did you-" He winced. "Did you make up with Nikolai?"

 

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Leon Court




She glanced over to Nikolai, brows furrowed in confusion. "Of course," she said, arms wrapped tightly around the child's waist to keep her place. "What's happening?" Annie asked.

"Yes," said Leon, rushing over to the angel's side and helping him to a tree to lean on. "Yes, the wedding's back on. What happened to you?" His eyes visibly darkened. "Was it Miranda?" he demanded, fingers curling into a fist.

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Nikolai stared off into the distance as a purple fog coiled around his ankles. "I only left something behind, is all. Or someone." He took a step forward, ignoring Ezekiel's caws. Before he could move, however, he heard a feeble voice.
"Uncle Nikki?" He looked down to see Aysun staring at him with so much confusion in her large eyes. "Where are you going?"
Nikolai stared down at the child for a moment before smiling. "I have to keep your Uncle Leon from messing up, dearie." He placed a hand over her head. "I'll be back soon, and with him." The purple fog covered him up completely and shot through the forest to where the other two people were.

Grigori struggled to keep standing, after a few pants he managed to put up a smile that was ever as radiant as before despite the blood on his mouth. "She's strong." he commented with a bitter chuckle. "I loved her, too. I just... couldn't find it in me... and I got weak. I couldn't stop her..."
His eyes suddenly widened. A lump climbed up his throat, but a hand slammed against his mouth kept it from shooting out. He began to squirm, his wings stretching upward and his body doubling over. Through the grunts of his struggle to keep from throwing up a black liquid pushed its way out from between his fingers. It was slimy, like oil.
Finally, as it all became too much for him, Grigori moved his hand away and vomited more of the black ooze.

L̲͔̬̮̪̯̮̕ẹ̪̺͓͈͈͘ẹ́e̗̫̥͈̰̳e̵̤̭̜̰̳̫͎̳ơ̶̶̝̥̻̱̥̙̳o̢͕̗͍̦͍͈͉̕o̡̲̳̼̰͇͝ò̻͕̩̱̙͔͈̺͡n͉̜͓̺͕̤̝̳͞!̵̶͏͕̯̯


It was Grigori's voice, at least it held some fragment of it. It was distorted and lowered with a growl, and combined with that was Miranda's voice. The angel lifted his head to show veins blackened by the oily substance throbbing around his face, and his eyes now Miranda's, both wild and wide with malice as they stared at the violet-haired man.

"D̡́í̧ȩ͡͞!҉"

Grigori's face contorted into a wicked smile, the only bright thing against his paling skin. He could almost resemble a zombie, and his movements only helped that. There was some resistance that resulted with limbs moving awkwardly and in awful positions, but in the end they did what Miranda wanted, and she wanted a fist to hit Leon's chest.

 

[Mayah Playah]

Leon Court




Leon watched in horror as Grigori seemed to change internally. He took several steps back, the black ooze nearly getting on his shoes. He just barely managed to move out of the way. He took more steps back at the sound of that terrible, disgusting voice. He sharply inhaled through his nose, then stuck his hand out as his side. A long, spear-like object appeared in his fist, and he brought it up just as he was struck. He grunted, falling back and slamming against a tree.
With a loud snarl, he spun the spear over his head, then kicked upwards and thrust the broad-side down onto the angel that wasn't an angel anymore.

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The possessed angel laughed, his voice deep and unfamiliar while at the same time having the high twinge of Miranda's giggle glittering the distortion. The shadows cast by the forest blanketed Grigori's body to make him look less and less friendly and sane.

"Y̕o̸҉u̴̵͜'͢͏r̴͘͏e͠͡ ̧̧s͏ó ͞w̸ę̸̀ą͡k̷̛!̧̕ ̛̀W̷͟eak҉͜!̷͢ ̵̴W͜e͏̕a͏k̴͜!͏̵
̧͟͢Y̕o̸̷u'̸͡l̨͘ĺ͞͏ ̵͢b͟͝e̷ ̢t̕͝ơ̛͝o ̴̧e̛a͏sý ̸̕tơ ͟k͘͏i̷̵l͜l͏͠!͟!̧̢

Grigori's body twitched as he walked towards Leon, his fingers flexing and clenching repeatedly enough to hear the knuckles crack every so often. Even his head jerked to the side a few times in his attempts to get his body back, but the spiteful insanity never left his wide eyes.
Before Grigori could strike again, however, Leon made a move. The angel hesitated in his step, distracted by the kick to pay attention to the spear until it was too late. It hit the top of his head, shaking his brain as well as his senses. He stumbled backwards and gripped his head as he snarled like a dog in his struggle to compose himself.

 

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Leon Court




"B-tch!" was all he said in reply, taking advantage of the strike. The spear swung to the side to hit the side of Grigori's head, not bothering to hold back in order to protect the angel. He would understand, Leon told himself before striking again. His wings wouldn't appear for a while longer, he knew, he just needed to collect some blood, any blood. Otherwise, he would remain on land.

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Each hit struck the disoriented angel. His face snapped in the opposite direction of the spear when he was hit, the force strong enough to cause his body to more to the side. He took his hands off his face to glower at Leon, the black veins better resembling the cracks of a mirror now as black oil oozed in place of blood. It even began to leak from his scornful eyes. He snarled viciously at Leon before lunging at him.
He wasn't an archangel for nothing. His punches were fueled with enormous power and speed to back it up, though the power was corrupted with Miranda's evilness.

 

[Mayah Playah]

Leon Court




Leon attempted to dodge as many punches as he could, but the possessed archangel was too fast for him. Each punch that landed felt like a meteor, and it took all of Leon's training not to fall tot he ground. He countered with as many strikes as possible, the spear long forgotten as his own anger-fueled fists sought out heavenly flesh. His wings then began to sprout, tiny at first but steadily growing. His power was becoming stronger, but it would take some time. He just hoped that he'd be able to hold out long enough.

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Grigori winced at the blows he was dealt, but, like Leon, he refused to succumb. In the midst of his reckless flurry of punches he noticed the faint image of wings sprout from his rival's back. If they sprouted to their full glory then this match would be decided, and he couldn't allow that. Grigori returned his focus on the fight, keeping his pace. Then, out of the blue, he reared his head back and launched it forward in a powerful headbutt. It was followed with a swift knee to the stomach and ended with a kick to the chest. Even if all those moves struck, though, it wouldn't be enough to decide the fight.
But his aim wasn't Leon.
Using the force of the moves, Grigori launched himself backwards and landed safely on his feet about ten feet away from the man, his unkempt wings fluttering to aid his landing. He smiled that crooked smile again, black ooze staining his teeth and dripping down to his chin like drool. His body trembled, random areas bulged and contorted, as if something was trying to get out from the inside. His head twitched to the side with a sickening crack then drooped down. With his back revealed one could see even that contorting with a large bulge, and it moved to the angel's head. Grigori was still for a moment, then he grunted and vomited again, spilling out large quantities of the black oil. The force propelled his head upward so that the oil could shoot out as if he were a fountain.
It was sluggish at first, the black sludge. It was like it was waking up. It hung in the air of its own accord, waiting for Grigori to release the last of it. The air in the forest grew dense and cold with the evil creature's physical presence. Finally, the angel collapsed on the ground, freed but unconscious. The sludge stayed in its motionless state in the air for another second. Then, with the speed of a bullet, it shot towards the Neutralisa.
The ground it traveled over was stained black, leaving a trail in its wake. Its speed thinned its blob body, altering its form with ripples. There was only one thing that didn't change about it, however, and that was the sharp, dagger-like edge in front of it.
Before that cold tip could touch Leon, though, something stopped it. It was a hand, a pale hand with fingertips that faded into black claws, and it gripped the oily blade with ease.

"You're both overdoing it a bit, don't you think, hmm?"

hummed that ever lazy voice.
Standing at Leon's side was Nikolai in his Full-Sin state. Blood dripped from his hand, but his numbing mist bandaged the pain and helped him keep a grip firm enough to keep it away from Leon. His pointed tail swayed slowly like an amused cats, his hair - now straightened with black tips - moved lazily with the wind and against his curled horns, and his hypnotic black and white eyes gazed at the liquidy mess with sleepy interest.

 

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Leon Court




It was disgusting, and to be honest, Leon had little to no idea what was going on. Even when the oily blade was coming towards his head, he still wasn't sure what was happening. Maybe he'd been struck on the head too many times.However, he wasn't stupid enough to ignore the fact that something was coming at him. It was much faster than he expected it to be, not having much time to budge out of the way, much less lunge. It was all he could do to watch the dagger come at him, glaring all the while.
When it didn't hit him, however, Leon opened his eyes to find himself more irritated than he'd been before. "I thought you left to protect Aysun," he said, crossing his arms and letting his weapon dangle aimlessly. His eyes narrowed, staring at the Sin. "I'm decently sure that I watched you fly away with her and my family. Was that all just in my head, or am I dead and seeing the Devil?" he asked.

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