A Stranger I Remain (Nas/Closed/M)

[Painterlee]

KANEDAS THEME
Akira Soundtrack

Cancer was not known for being peaceful in the slightest. It housed criminals of all kinds, black markets of an even more diverse nature. It was the watering hole for the the slimy and the wicked, the dastardly, and the crocked. As so, the hunting ground for someone like Belle, whose very living was depended on scum making too much noise. Their heads paid for everything she wanted, and proved as quite the pass time, too. A pass time with a paycheck.

The slums where almost completely empty at this time of night, a few dark-eye and shady people roaming around the stations level they called home. The bustle of chattering voices murmured throughout the giant, dark level, echoing off of the steely-grey walls. A click-clack, click-clacking of high-heels, one after another, running furiously down the dim streets and alleys after a shadow just in front of her, too afraid to look over their shoulder, just in case she were still there. Pushing past bystanders, adults, children, teens, men, woman, and those otherwise gendered, without remorse or thought. This man, this pay-packet on legs, was hers, and he wasn't getting away from her. It wasn't likely he would, either. Belle was the best person the police could call on for these matters. They never got away.

She chased the get-away crook up some dilapidated ladders, leading to the top of the run-down shanty buildings. Clothes lines, bins, fire pits and gazebos set up for all kinds of social gatherings. He led her through parties of all kinds, passing by all kinds of people, of all different races. Belle had to, in some small way, marvel at mortal kind. They were diverse. It had been the key to their very survival and yet, at points in history, they had discarded that truth, to make way for their own fear. If it was not the women, it was the queer, the coloured, or otherwise. But in the end, she was almost blind to all of that in people. If someone would pay for your capture, or your death, she would make sure to hunt you down.

The two fleeing people were followed by the noise of their disruption, the screams and hollers of people caught wholly off-guard as the two people chased and ran, the criminal before her throwing down barbecue pits and bins in an attempt to slow her down in her pursuit.

Eventually the roof began to sink lower as they ran into the inter-connecting web of hallways. The roofs on which they ran were running out. He jumped, she followed, thudding to the ground, whereas he tumbled. The running continued as he entered one of the hallways. A problem for him, he has bottled himself into narrow spaces. He would not be hard to track. The she-demon panted, thundering after her target, without slowing or showing remorse. When he turned to look over his shoulder, he fired his gun. A burst of blue-green light narrowly missed her shoulder. She could hear the high-pitched charge in the aftermath of his shot. He pulled the trigger again, but nothing came. The fear in his eyes grew. Belle grinned. "What d'you expect with a piece of shit like that?!" The man shrieked, making the ancient woman laugh, as they entered the labyrinth of hallways the inter-connected the station.

He was a red-yellow husk in her sights, he could not hide in any dark corner, or take a dip down any narrow path. She would know, she would see him, a nervous heat. His terror pleased her. It was how he should feel. There was nothing else. He began to slow, as she caught up with him. Out of nowhere came a gun. She cocked it back, and a string of lights along the side lit up in a row, and it powered up, setting to level to incapacitate him outright. After all, a dead bounty meant an empty pocket.

They ran. He ran, she followed. Another red mass came up from no distance away, just down the adjacent hallway. "Huh..." Another bounty hunter? She shook her head, becoming only more driven to catch her target, who made the mistake of turning off into the path of the other person, coming up as she had been. Belle rounded the corner, holding her gun out.

"DON'T SHOOT. This little punk has my name on him!"

[Nascent]

Unlike his hired help, Mephisto didn't need to hack the internal sensors of the space station or intercept communication feeds to track the man he was after. Truth be, the two goons in cheap mass-produced body armor were just there as insurance -- convenient pawns to help corner and trap his prey once they'd closed in on him. Begrudgingly, however, he admitted the convenience of using them; his powers weren't what they'd been in an all-but-forgotten age... not yet anyway. Even though they were almost painfully slow coming back to him he could still sense fear and track it like a bloodhound. Once he'd caught wind that the miscreant who'd had the gall to intercept his private communications and hold the data for ransom was also the target of a bounty hunter he'd known the month-long waiting game was finally at an end. As predicted, the thief had fled his bolthole, fearing discovery, and made for other havens.

At which point the false rumors of an abandoned haven, along with a bit of electronic surveillance and a few paid-off watchers had put the rest in place. The demon powered up a pair of laser pistols, their energy cores glowing a pleasing crimson and thrumming with the miniature lightning storm contained within its sophisticated workings. This era had its share of fancy toys for certain, things poor old Faustus had never even dreamed possible. They made things quite interesting -- difficult and complex at times, almost absurdly convenient at others -- but certain principles still applied. Mankind was, invariably, fixated on certain ideas: things that shoot, things that slice, things that blow up. And, as an unlucky data-pirate was soon to discover, false information was just as influential, misleading, and dangerous in modern times as it was five thousand years prior.

"The target's coming this way. Take him alive, if you can." A glance over his shoulder at the hired muscle confirmed they were combat ready as well. "I want to know who he was planning to sell the information to... amongst other things."

"As for the bounty hunter... well, I'll handle that. You two just make sure our prey doesn't slip away."

-------------------------------------------

"DON'T SHOOT. This little punk has my name on him!"

No sooner had their group rounded the corner to spring their trap, Mephisto brazenly in the lead (as was his preference) than someone from the opposite side of the decrepit, junk-mangled pathway was telling him what to do. His first instinct was to scoff, fire a few warning shots at the interloper, and then take what he'd come for. This was business, after all -- no time for pleasantries, and once he had what he wanted from the swindler he'd consider letting the bounty hunter have him (for a part of the payout, of course).

Then, in sequence, his mind registered the voice. Feminine. Familiar. Very familiar. Next his gaze swung from tracking the data-pirate to the voice's source...

... And were greeted with the most incredible sight.

Her. Here. Blinking, he struggled for a moment to believe it.

Sensing hesitation and opportunity, the wanted man tried to make a run for it. He got exactly two steps before a razor-thin bolt of scarlet light seared the ground in front of him. Looking over, he would see Mephisto tracking him with one weapon, the other resting almost casually at his side... and just the slightest white glow coming from his eyes, a touch of illumination in the unevenly lit backwater corridors of the station. The demon man's glare left no room for doubt that running was a bad, bad idea, the kind that would end with a few missing fingers at best.

"Do as she says." The words fell from his lips almost before he thought them, directed at the two goons he'd brought with him. Mephisto gestured with a nod towards the one open end of the hallway and the hired guns obeyed, taking up positions to block the unlucky criminal's escape completely.

And then, with a faint smile on his lips, he turned his gaze to the woman bounty hunter. Yes... no question about it. It was her.

"Hello, my dread lady. It's been . . . a very long time, hasn't it?"

[Painterlee]

The turned-bounty hunter flinched, bringing a foot forward to launch herself, when that tall imposing man shot at her target. She got ready to engage all three of them, two hands holding steady the firearm she bared tightly, but upon quickly realizing it was a warning shot, she relaxed back, coming out of her readied stance. But that wasn't all she had to realize, as the first few words fell from his mouth. A voice she'd almost brought herself to forget, and face impossible to.

"Hello, my dread lady. It's been . . . a very long time, hasn't it?"

For a second, her eyes reacted like her mind, and went wide, shocked, completely caught off guard, and it began to feel like her whole world had suddenly lost balance. 'No...no way. I-' Her thoughts quickly became irregular, and then she felt it, in the pit of her stomach, growing like a tumor, eating at her suddenly. Something she didn't normally feel. Something she hadn't felt in maybe 5 years, and too many lifetimes before that night. Fear. Did he know? Not that she could tell, and by now, she could read thoughts like a neon sign. But whose to say he didn't have her countered. Had he really, that day, over 5000 years ago, left this world? After all, there was that pressing, pulling, distracted pain in her chest that had been getting louder and more unbearable for years. She had something he needed, but she didn't know if he knew that. Like how, back when they had met, he had something she needed.

'Pull it in, pull it in. Hide it.' She grabbed control of her thoughts, and hid that shocked expression within seconds, and relaxed again. She grinned at him. Secretly, her thumb moved, and the gun was powered up to kill. Then, she began to laugh, loudly, it echoed in that junk-filled hallway."Really? I hadn't noticed." Her voice came laced with a playful sarcasm, but she hurt. Her gun was aimed at his head. "Not surprised a piece of shit like you would end up in Cancer." It was in the way she spoke, she had aged with moralities culture. She took their way of communicating, their lack of the moral bars that had held them back in the past. The cursing, the way she dressed, she had sponged up as much of what was as anyone else. "How was the afterlife, you old corpse? Did Hell have enough of you and spat you back out?" A shiver ran down her spine. She was making a joke out of it, but she was worried. Again, with the fear. For a moment, she paused, before she chuckled, lowering her gaze, and her gun. Standing normally, she began to move forward. "What's with the goons, huh?" Her gaze caught his with a callous spite. "Did the ride to Hell and back take it out of you?" She gave him a telling grin.

"While I'd love to stick around and catch up, I've got a cheque to cash in, so, if you'd be so kind?" And she gestured towards the shaking, scared man on the floor with her gun. "Girls gotta make a living."

[Nascent]

At mention of the 'afterlife' she'd feel something from his mind, something that Mephist himself had to fight not to cringe at. A half-memory, buried deep and attempted to be forgotten; it had all the bitter sting of a nightmare but it cut far deeper, approaching his very core.

Somewhere cold and dark... an abyss like a black hole, pulling at everything it touched with fell tendrils of absolute oblivion. It had a name in his mind, a name that made him shudder and cringe at the very thought of it. A name spoken in that man's voice. The Soul Chasm. A darkness beyond midnight's purest black, a plunge into depths beyond the fathom of space and time, a realm between existences so utterly cold and barren that it could freeze light itself and preserve any spirit that fell into it in perpetual isolation for all of eternity. Shivering, the demonic man pushed those thoughts hastily out of his mind... but Belle would know:

He had tasted death. And something, impossibly, had pulled him back.

"Much to my chagrin... yes." Mephisto said with absolute candor, referencing 'the ride to hell' leaving him less than he'd once been. His gaze traveled to the bounty huntress' target. "As for this wretch, you can have him..." The demon strode forward with a purpose, holstering his weapons as he went, and grabbed the data-thief by the collar, yanking him upright to glare into the red-haired man's now white-burning eyes.

"Right after he tells me where he's hidden the information he STOLE from me. So, how about it, little man?"

The 'little man' apparently wasn't in the mood to talk -- in a moment of panic he tried to pull the same gun on Mephisto that had failed to fire at Belle, but whatever else he was the old devil hadn't gotten slow, at least. No sooner had his hand reached the pistol-grip than Mephisto's closed on the barrel, yanking it up and tossing it, partially crumpled, aside. It let loose a small explosion as it hit the wall, plasma chambers rupturing from both the impact and a strained induction coil, and fell to the floor as mere charred scrap.

"You really shouldn't buy Larsec Corp," The devil grinned. "Those things have a reputation, you know. Could have blown up in your face," He pulled the terrified man closer to his own fearsome visage. "And then where would we be, hm?"

The data-pirate was hyperventilating now, terror-struck and silent save for his frantic breaths. "I know this is something of an aged metaphor, but let's just say that I'm a priest and you're a penitent. It's time for confession, oh sinner." When nothing but more ragged breathing came the demon decided to loose his tongue with a headbutt and the man's face reeled away in pain. "TALK, damn you! WHERE IS IT?!"

"Ahhh!! O-Okay, OKAY!" The steely grip around the neck-band of his clothes relaxed, but only slightly. "It's... it's on a server, in a loading bay on deck 346-C. A crate marked 'hazardous chemicals', back far left oft he bay. The dock supervisor has the lock codes and the encryption key is in my coat pocket." Mephisto leaned in and glared, as if daring the man to lie to him. "Ah! It-It's all there! The data, the buyers, my intercept methods, everything! J-Just let me --"

Not letting him finish the sentence, Mephisto spun the man around -- somehow managing to relieve him of his entire coat in the process -- and delivered a swift kick to his backside once he'd rotated to face Belle. Her bounty collapsed into a heap in front of her, trembling and scared for his life. Mephisto, meanwhile, began fishing through coat pockets and quickly withdrew a slim silvery disc in a protective casing. The coat was discarded and the devil pocketed his prize before giving Belle a nod. "All yours. Not too rough for the wear, I hope."

[Painterlee]

"No not at all! In fact..." The she-demon chided, bowing slightly, indulging his theatrics. Bringing herself back up, she grinned down at Mephisto's generously given gift, a nervous wreck of a thing, who had probably stepped into something a little deeper than he'd imagined. Belle brought her leg up and kicked him under the chin, knocking him over onto his back, certainly freeing him of a few teeth, pressing her heal to his collar bone and resting a good amount of weight on the slim point, making the scrawny little man howl in pain. "Probably could have done will a little more." She stayed there, looking relaxed enough, pressing against bone, gun pointed at his head casually, her thumb bringing the level back down to stun, the other hand running through her hair, brushing it out of her face. "I've brought in worse before." She eyed her paycheck quickly "Trust me." Her gaze quickly caught his again. " I have a reputation to keep up here."

Without hesitation, remorse, or even looking, she pulled the trigger, firing a cold blue beam into the Bounties shoulder, leaving a high-pitched noise to reverberate throughout the Hallways. The man was silenced, falling loose beneath her. The elder demons suddenly greedy, icy eyes, narrowed with a wicked smile. "Reminds me of what I used to do to you." She stepped off of her capture. "Gods, it's been so boring." Her words came heavy, falling with her shoulders, longing, almost regretful in tone. Like she'd been waiting for something, desperately, and it had finally been given to her, at the edge of her patience. He had heard that tone before, too long ago. But this time she couldn't jump to indulge herself. Belle was positive that he didn't know why he had been clawed back into existence. She herself had a fairly good idea, the continuous burning at the back of her neck was only one part of it. The impulsive side of her brain was fighting a war with her logical side, and she was feeling herself sliding. Breaking their gaze, she closed her eyes, refreshing herself briefly, relaxing herself, concentrating her thoughts. Having to tackle with fear] among other things was very uncommon.

"So, from what I can tell you been quite the busy bee, especially if you had this guy taking things from you. Doesn't look like much, but he knew what he was doing." Of course, there was something else. Belle might have been slipping. She had been tracking this little twerp for days, if not weeks. How did whatever he stole not get her attention? It was looking like she was going to start having to pay more attention. But it was certainly hard, with that pulling, stringing, pressing pain in her chest. "I hang around here more often than I'd like, but how you managed to slip passed me is...quite something." -She knew why she couldn't track him, why, unless she absolutely knew he was about, there was not a chance of finding him without staring him in the face. Like now. She breathed, repeated herself slightly "My gods, it has been too long."

[Nascent]

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he observed her. She seemed... distracted, even weary though not in the physical sense. Mephisto had always remembered the demoness as having a sense of strength and vigor -- even when weary or resting there was an unmitigated force of personality, at most lingering just below the surface and very often coursing through the very fabric of her persona and expression. To see that waver, if only for a second... it made him wonder, curious what could affect her so.

To him, she had always been immutable in a way, an embodiment of will that went far beyond mortality and demoncy. The woman, as he'd once put it so very long ago, before he even knew her name.

What had these many long centuries done to her, he wondered...?

"I've been keeping an intentionally low profile," He reassured her. "Using as many different names as I had dealings. Things certainly aren't as simple as they used to be but being able to do at least some work 'off the grid', in my... old... manner," The devil gave her a soft 'you know what I mean, of course' grin. "Helps with that."

"It has indeed been MUCH too long." And it had -- just being in her presence, breathing in the lingering fear from her now-unconscious captive and the air of dominance that she radiated (at least, within his own mind) was beyond refreshing, verging on the intoxicating. He had hoped, of course, that she was still alive in this era, that unlike himself she had endured the bygone eras unscathed, but the 'world' was now a much, much bigger place than it had been... aside from a chance encounter like this he hadn't been sure they would encounter each other again easily. His relief at being wrong was profound. "And I've rather begun to make Cancer my home, of sorts, so very likely you'll be seeing and hearing more of me whenever you're here. In fact..."

Flicking his wrist, what appeared to be a business card materialized with a tiny flicker of black and red hellfire. Either Mephisto had learned a new trick or two since his resurrection or he'd acquired a taste for slight of hand; in either event it made clear he hadn't lost his flair for showmanship. "I have a business venture that's set to open this very eve. A nightclub... with, as they say in this era, benefits. Some far more illegal than others." He began to walk up to her, to offer her the card with the club's name and location inscribed on it. "I'm calling it 'The Black Sapphire'. Perhaps I could entice you to join me for the grand opening tonight? It's set to be quite the affair, as such things go."

He paused, then looked over at his hired muscle. "You two. Where are your manners?" Mephisto pointed at the bloodied rag doll of a reprobate. "Take the lady's luggage and drop it off where she tells you." The two mercenaries looked at each other in surprise, as though such a task was beneath them and they were weighing their response; Mephisto beat them to it. "You can't very well expect to earn what I'm paying you just for running around looking vaguely menacing. Make yourselves useful or you can forget about any future business from me."

Begrudgingly, the two mercs walked over, one of them hefting the data-pirate up over one shoulder. "Where to, miss?"

[Painterlee]

The she-demon stepped forward, with just a hint of unease, but otherwise as confident as he would remember. Belle took the token from her long lost other with a touch of affection and delicacy, without taking her gaze from his. "I would consider it..." She paused, very slightly, bringing the card up to her lips, and placing a kiss on it once. "The greatest honor." Holding the card up in between two fingers, it vanished from her grasp, and she grinned, keeping his eyes for a moment longer, before she paused and turned her attention to Mephisto's goons. In a flurry, she turned towards them, carrying her job for her. Resting a hand on her hip, she stared at them with an eyebrow raised. They certainly didn't look very intelligent, not all the lights were on, it seemed. Tutting, she looked back over to Mephisto, looking comically upset. "What? You think I can't carry my own bags?" But still, she had to admit, spending time with Mephisto after so many uncountable years was something she very dearly wanted to do, even if it might prove more dangerous than was comfortable. But when had that stopped her before?

"Turn him into the nearest Police Authority. Give them this-" She handed the free Mercenary a piece of paper from seemingly nowhere. On it, was simply the letter Z "-They'll know, they're expecting it. Try to take that bounty yourself, I'll know about it." She winked at them, aiming her gun and pretending to fire before turning back towards her old Devil. Though, by now she technically out-dated him by way more than he had ever had on her. So much missed time. He'd missed so much and she'd seen it all. Maybe at times he could have marveled with her, and the stupid ingenuity of mortals as they had raced for the stars, as if anything in this existence was theirs to claim. "So, a date then, like old times?" It had been too long. Always too long. A day was too long. A week was. A year was.

As his hired hands walked away with her prize, Belle holstered her gun at her hip, powering it down. "I should probably change though. I look like one of the most hated Bounty Hunters in the Universe if ever there was one." She implied at the extensiveness of her career, just in case he hadn't heard of her by now already. Their meeting had come to a shock to him as well, it seemed, so it was unlikely that he had heard of her, or thought that it might have even been her if he had. "I can't go around a prospecting crime hub looking like this. I'd have people trying to kill me within seconds. It'd be rude of me to ruin that little place of yours so soon after opening, wouldn't it?"

[Nascent]

Murmuring between themselves, the hired help carted off Belle's catch, leaving the two demons alone with one another. Mephisto raised a curious eye at her comments. "I admit, I'm still... centering myself in this era. A lot to get used to. So many machines, so much information -- always, always more information, things changing, things new, things breaking and coming together. I've had to develop entirely new ways of thinking about everything just to cope, and it's still something of a work in progress."

"So, famous bounty hunter are we?" Mephisto grinned. "It suits you, as do the ways and words of this time. Nine circles of hell, how I've missed you... and now it seems you're doing better than ever." Now it was his turn to bow, theatrically. "How can I but applaud you? Not only outliving me but outdoing me in every respect. Time has clearly proven you right about a great many things."

Rising, he tipped his head to her in a nod. "I look forward to seeing you this eve, my dear demoness. And don't worry about anyone trying to take a shot at you -- I'll make it clear that you're my personal guest... and that no such slight," He gestured towards her, as if pointing out how deadly they both knew her to be. "However ill-concieved, will be permitted."

"Shall I have a shuttle await you? Just name the place and it'll be there to pick you up at your convenience. Perhaps we can even catch up on all that I've missed on the way, hm?"

[Painterlee]

"I don't doubt. Mortals moved quickly, sometimes I couldn't keep up either. Being thrown into all this was probably one of the most overwhelming experiences you might ever have lived to see." Belle eyed him with that knowing kind of stare, and she would want to hear what he thought. Though, given his nature, he would probably miss it completely. She always ran circles around him in the hope he would reciprocate her meaning, and he would always fail to give what he would take from her. It was a whimsical little hope she clung to that, at some point, he might play her game and chase. So far, he'd come off as being a little more...malleable. But that was for now. She was prepared for disappointment, always. After so many horrid years without anyone there, it was all she wanted, all she really needed. Chase him as she might have while they had been alive, he'd never given it back. She'd never had the chance to find out, truly, if her alignment towards him was something they shared. Or if that final space had be sold out to an uninterested buyer.

Belle chuckled a little. "Famous? Only to the people you don't want to be considered famous by." The weight of the sentence was brushed with ease. She had carried that truth for years, and had learnt it was no point in living on that fact. It would be a problem when it proved itself one. Out of nowhere, she summoned a piece of paper, with an address on it, and a number, her mobile. "It's not a bad little place. I rent a flat in one of the middle-class levels. Just a stake out, nothing fancy." She handed it to him, the address in type-writer lettering. It seemed uncanny, now she was pulling things that hadn't yet come to exist from wherever her little plain was. It was just one little sign as to the extent of her powers, what she had grown to be capable of doing. His death had not stopped her growth. If anything, it had excelled it in a desperate need to consume her time. "I'll see you. Call me when you're on the way. I have some...private business to take care of first."

Then she turned, waving behind her as she walked away. Her voice trailed from the echoing corridor, calling him on one of his previous statements about her.

"Ahh, Mephisto...in this life I was never out to be proven right, I know I am."

"I was out to be proven wrong."

She turned around and spread her arms wide, with a daring smiling, challenging him, her words shouted down the hall "So prove me wrong!"

[Nascent]

'Out to be proven wrong'. He couldn't help but smile at her somewhat cryptic parting comment as he rolled her words over in his mind, mining them for deeper meanings. Mephisto couldn't help but wonder what, specifically, she wanted to be proved wrong about. Humanity? Men?

Him?

He placed his bets on it being him -- it was likely and fit the context, though as ever she was still somewhat mysterious in her desires. He'd always been able to read people with ease; meeting her had forced him to realize how much he relied on his powers for that and how little actual insight he had. She was a blank space on his map, a question mark in the tale of his long life, alluring and endlessly fascinating... yet so much of that came from the fact that, at the deepest levels, she eluded him, confounded him, at times even drove the ancient devil crazy in his efforts to better understand her. To him she was the woman; everything he wanted and everything that he failed to see and know and grasp was, from Mephisto's point of view, wrapped up in her lithe, graceful, elegant and deadly form.

After she was gone from sight, he allowed himself a chuckle, then a full-throated laugh. It had been too long... so much, much too long.

--------------------------------

The neighborhood around Belle's flat was exactly as she'd said. Built in a cleaner, more organized part of the vast station it was neither decrepit (as much of Cancer somegow managed to be) nor lavish; essentially, livable and comfortable enough that those who occupied its properties could think of themselves as "well off" without truly having any excess and "poor" in the sense of lacking those things which would constitute grandeur. Each one without fail, however, easily lived better than the kings, queens, lords and nobles of times long past. Clean beds of synthetic fibers, plastics, and micro-springs. Glass windows that didn't cost a small fortune. Easy access to medicine. Hot food from a box. Entertainment, from a variety of boxes. Running water, indoors. TOILETS.

The modern era had NO CLUE what "poverty" truly was, nor the heights to which they'd arisen simply by not being born five thousand years in the past.

Pulling up in what the locals would definitely count as a somewhat posh car, Mephisto took a moment to marvel at it all, including his own more immediate surroundings. Once upon a time if someone had told him of horseless carriages that could not only drive themselves but fly, he'd have thought the speaker a madman or an over-ambitious mage with some extremely impractical hobbies. Now auto-pilot and anti-grav were just commonplace things, not mind-shattering magics forged of steel and lightning. It was marvelous. It was absurd. It was "progress".

But it was certainly also convenient.

'You have arrived', a computerized female voice chimed, and the devil snapped his fingers as he saw her approach. The curb-side door opened by itself and ushered her in with a pleasant 'please mind your step when entering'.

[Painterlee]

BODY ELECTRIC
Lana Del Rey

It had been a long time since she had fussed over her appearance quite this much. And she hadn't even realized it until she'd finished, like she'd been automated, yet very keenly aware of herself. Since showers had become something, she took long enough to get ready to go anywhere at it stood. It was a marvel she had never quite gotten over, after living so long where fresh water was hard to find, or it would bring you down with something nasty, having it on demand and warm was something she had indulged in. Surprisingly, everything else settled on her mind-board of life very quickly. Belle had caught herself staring into a mirror, lit up from above. Despite it all, Belle wasn't a woman who took hours to get ready, she didn't have to, after all. All she really needed to do was just 'will' an outfit, hair style, makeup, anything else, into existence and it would be so. This time, no. This time, it had been different.

She had styled that hair, put on those nails, done up her makeup, and picked an outfit with more care than she could ever remember. She had taken time, too much time, possibly. The demoness sighed, pressing her head against the glass, breathing out, the glassed fogged up. What am I doing? A single thought pressed from her mind. Somewhere, she wasn't sure if all that happened earlier was just some kind of illusion. That, at last, her loneliness had gotten the best of her. Now that she could fabricate things from nothing, even the card he presented her might not be real. Nothing in her life was real anymore, not now that she could create it all herself. Maybe she had lost her head a while ago, and that all of this was just wish fulfillment.

The cross on the back of her neck let her know that it was real, and the pang of a twisted, heated sensation it sent through her body, down her spine, let her know that slowly, there was a part of her brain that was still processing him. And the 5000 years they lost. Pull yourself together. You are one of the most feared people in the Universe, and you get like this at the idea of a date?! She hissed in annoyance, and her whole body shook as she breathed out, staring herself down through the steamed glass. No, not at a date...

At him.

And the rest of the apartment was cold, dark, and empty.

~~~~~

By the time that fancy car had pulled up, Belle had composed herself up to the usual standard, but even so she had to keep herself in check, and close to herself. Just being close to him made the pain in her chest hard to ignore, and it wasn't simply her fear. She had lived thousands of years, she was used to pain, any and all kinds of it, but this was different. This pain carried the weight of what she had done, and tried to do, in an age she'd tried just as hard to forget. Though, by the time he'd pulled up, she'd realized that those two cross-tattoos on the back of her neck were very clear. At a thought, she could have just changed the style but she'd taken the time to do it herself. Not that she could hide them forever. She could, however, hide the scar-tissue around them, evidence of how hard she had tried, how low she had sunk, to try and carve them from her skin.

Getting into that car of his, though her mind might as well have called an Iron Maiden, she couldn't help the jive. "You have a very condescending vehicle, you know that?" She smiled, amused, not passing him so much as a glance as she grabbed a glass of what she could assume was champagne, and sat a far distance away from him. Curiously, Belle didn't take a drink so quickly, instead dipping her thumb into the golden liquid, as if by hundreds of years reflex. Getting as comfortable as she could have done, now meters away from the man she previously had killed, and whose soul residing, kicking and screaming in her chest, she sat back, taking in her surroundings quickly. "I see you certainly have taken to at least some parts of modern life?" She mused. "It really is incredible, most of the time I don't think mortals quite understand just how incredible it is. But you and I certainly seem to favor the miracle that is clean water." The she-demon chuckled to herself. Belle eyed her thumb. Still red. After a moment, she took a drink, and get let it do it's thing. Then, at last, she met his eye. "It seems there is a lot of catching up we need to do. Ready for a long one?" And she grinned from behind her glass. 

[Nascent]

She wasn't the only one who'd taken pains with appearance, as was made evident as the red-haired devil unfolded his arms and reached into his long-coated tuxedo jacket. Mephisto's ensemble took advantage of his natural coloration and played to it strongly, the addition of a red hurricane lapel pin rounding out the outfit with the kind of brooding swagger held by one who always sees a storm on the horizon, and welcomes it.

"A pre-programmed feature, or so I'm told." He half-joked back, pulling out a small elongated black jewelry box. The devil noted the discomfort about her, from where she sat to how little she actually looked his way, even in how she lingered over the drink in her hand. Something was clearly eating at her, and it didn't take much to see it plainly. He wondered for a moment at the awkwardness of the situation; something, likely him, was clearly making her uncomfortable... and yet she had accepted his invitation nonetheless and was here, with him, just the two of them in a vehicle. The automatic doors closed and Mephisto pressed a button in the armrest, half muttering "Set destination: The Black Sapphire. Begin driving." And the car obediently turned and pulled out.

"It would be stating the obvious to say you look beautiful." Mephisto began, flirting generously. "In all the time we've known each other you haven't ever not been a sight to behold. The dress is an excellent choice, by the way, and I rather like the way you did your hair."

He then placed the box on the seat in-between them, roughly halfway betwixt him and her. "A little accessory, something I hope you'll like. It's also your free pass to all of the club's goods and services -- you need only show or wear it and you can be neck-deep in free drinks while getting a professional massage and having one of my... 'acquisition specialists' show you the latest in black market weapons tech, all completely on the house."

"And yes... to all of it." He gave her a smirk, as if being clever and admitting how silly it was, then continued. "Clean water, high technology, the 'miracle' of all this progress. And catching up, certainly." He didn't begrudge her the habit, although he did find it quite interesting. If he himself wasn't on the tail end of setting up a business that served alcohol he'd have wondered at her curious action, but the chief bartender he'd hired had explained the drinking scene and its more uncouth elements to him some weeks back. Mephisto leaned into his seat and relaxed a bit. "We have, oh, about thirty minutes before we reach the club. What have you spent these centuries on, Belle? Much has changed, and while I've been thrown head-first into the deep end about..." He paused to think. "Five years back now, I think? I'm not used to counting them so precisely. But you, you've had the chance to wade into these new waters of years going by. What must you have seen, I wonder?"

"What has it been like, being you?"

[Painterlee]

Belle scoffed at Mephistos comments about her appearance, no matter how effectively flattering or not they might have been. Though, she rarely was like this, in fact, she never had been like this. Right now, every praising word, every attempt to flick her switches and press her buttons, her mind and body would welcome them, like the desert welcomed the rain. It was driving her crazy, this almost total lack of control. She took another drink, thinking that it might dumb her mind enough to pull it in. This strange mix of fear and not-quite-realized desire was eating at the edges of her being. "Don't think that I care much for what you think." You're lying. You do care. Belle almost visably tossed her head to the side slightly, trying to brush away her little subconscious.

She eyed the box he had placed between them. With her spare hand, she motioned, and it lifted into the air as she pulled it, evenly, and calmly, towards herself. It stopped at command in front of her, as the she-demon eyed it with curiosity. The lid of the box came off, resting itself parallel to the main body. Inside, a simple silver necklace, adorned on which was, in true style, a Black Sapphire. The necklace floated out of it's container as Belle examined it. "I don't imagine you'll be giving these out too many people. Since Earth went up in smoke, gems and precious metals are quite something to acquire." The box, and lid, and the necklace vanished suddenly. It was in true style. He had lost none of his show, none of that flare he added to everything he worked on. Everything of his working had details fought over and thought about in scrutiny, down to the seats of the chairs, she imagined. The ribbon of silver metal and a black star, appeared around her neck just as it had vanished. "Quite something indeed." It's heat pressed again her skin, and she subdued it. She had his weakness. The silver cut into her.

"What has it been like, being you?"

Shifting in her seat, pulling herself up and crossing her legs, she breathed heavily with a sigh. She took another drink, glass almost empty already. Her nerves were showing in ways she couldn't hide. No, she never felt fear. She never felt nervous. The mention of five years ago very quickly put her on edge even more. Five years ago the down-town slums had been completely obliterated in what is still being referred to as 'a freak accident'. Belle was the only person alive who remembers what happened. And he was it's aftermath. So it is as you thought. "Where to begin..." The words trailed from her lips as she stared in front of her. Lonely. Cold. Isolated. Painful. Insufferable. Miserable. Furious. Only a few words that followed in her mind but none of them would do. "It's been...interesting. I've witnessed every great creation of mortal-kind. Every war, every act of hate. The Witch Hunts, the Black Death, The Renaissance, The Crash, the Revolutions of the world, the whole lot. Overwhelming, I suppose, when I think back on it all. Just me, myself, and I, trying to get on and go with whatever happened next." She finished her drink. "What do you know? Are you really interested at all? You could easily find out about our old world, and everything beyond her. What's your play?" She paused, looking at him, as if she was questioning herself and him, equally. Was this what she hoped for, but never expected? "Or, is that not what this is about?"

[Nascent]

She seemed far more... distracted than he remembered. Otherwise occupied... and, strangely, vulnerable. It wasn't a word his mind ever would have applied to her before, and even as he thought it he knew it wasn't quite right and batted it away. Something was simmering beneath the surface...

But finding out would come in its own time.

"Yes, no, and perhaps." The devil shrugged. "I'm not really so keen to hear all the facts -- those I can get easily enough from the pages of history. Which are no longer actual pages, but websites, blips of lightning turned into data on a vast, mostly unseen array of machines all talking to one another constantly. But everyone still calls them pages." He rolled his head to one side as if to further express the sheer disorientation of that concept. "Needless to say, I'm still adjusting."

"No... I'm more interested in your impressions. Your thoughts about all of it. When last I lived and breathed humanity was a mere seed in the ground, living in the dirt and the dust, just barely poking the first verdant shoots up above the soil. Now it's a mighty tree whose branches reach into the heavens even after its roots have sucked the earth dry. I know the basics, the gist of the eras and the tides both political and scientific that carried everything else along. I couldn't care less."

He leaned forward. "I want to know how it felt the first time you saw a lightbulb turn on. What it was like riding in a hot air balloon, an early automobile, an airplane. I want to hear whether you think it's worth waxing poetic about cities of electric lights, the horrors of wars that replaced swords and bows with tanks and missiles, how it all led to the first satellite and the first footprint on the moon. I want to hear about your first time going up into space and whether you were afraid, the first time a ship you were on got ready to jump beyond light speed, that something would go wrong and you'd become just a smear of starlight over the skies of some uncharted world."

"I don't give a damn about history, Belle. I want to hear your story."

"There's... more. That I'm interested in, of course," There always was with him, after all. She would know that by now; he'd had far less time to change than she. Mephisto leaned back into his seat, eyes locked with hers, receptive and ready to listen. "But it can wait. You're what's important to me, after all."

[Painterlee]

Belle shook as she leaned forward, exhaling, trying to control her breathing. Taking a moment, she leaned her head back onto the seat, taking another breath, and a smile crept up on her as she stared at the ceiling of the car. Good fucking lord. She chuckled at first, just trying to let off steam, and then she laughed, pure and full, she couldn't help it. Her body wanted to be loud, her energy wanted to be loud. A hand gripped firmly at the fabric. She carried on smiling, partially caught off guard, partially pleased, that twisted feeling from the tattoo on her neck only forced it's presence on her. "I didn't know you cared about things." Her icy eyes turned towards him. "Unless whatever it is that's important about me is something other than me. That suits you more." Her eyes looked away again, gazing into the lights above her. She let out a sigh.

"When I left Earth, it was for the same reasons as anyone else. I was not the first, nor the last. I was escaping, I was running away, like a coward. That war was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Adeolis was taking Earth for all she had. If you weren't with em' you're only choice was to be shot into space." She let out a small, stifled huff of a laugh, heavy with that moment. "I was, like everyone else, terrified, watching Her fall away from me like that. I felt like I had betrayed the only friend I had left." Belle's words drifted off, longing in them, like she almost missed her home, everything it had held for her. "Where I'd lived my whole life. Where I'd made my mark, grabbed my fate by the horns and kicked the piece of shit in the face. Where I had led every woman in a march to claim their Rights, successfully. I fought my battles on that rock." She paused, and she slowed.  "And it was where I'd met you, and where you'd died." There was a weight in those words that would carry with him. What his death had left her with. "The first time I had a shower." She laughed, again. "I still haven't gotten over it. If I weren't so bent and broken, I might have ended world poverty single-handed, just so every soul on the planet at the time could experience the joy of a shower."

The thoughtful and reflecting woman caught herself, and slowed down. "My story is wholly unremarkable, Mephisto. I lived, I floated, I continued on as best I could through this crazy, ever-expanding world. My hate, as you remember it, is gone. I still hate, as I always will. That's why I'm a bounty hunter. I couldn't just kill people anymore. CCTV, advancements in DNA tracking and general CSI. With Thanatos INC floating about somewhere, I couldn't risk it. Nowadays, I just try to scrape by, eat when I can, sleep where I can, have a good time of it if I can. Take what I can, do what I can. Anything to even slightly feel alive." Belle leaned up, if only to take another drink. "I've been recreational more than anyone who'd ever lived. It's a miracle I'm still breathing, that my blood isn't just a slew of chemicals that shouldn't be there at all."

She smirked, weary with thinking back. If she had died in her due time, she'd be nothing but dirt back on earth. A forgotten maiden, whose terrors would have never been told. For a moment, she caught Mephistos eyes from across that seat and longed for that pain to stop. That, if she hadn't done what she had done, they would never make it to their destination. But she was afraid. Of what he would think, and what he could do to her with the power, rightfully his, hidden behind a cage of bone. "My life, as you want to hear, my history, is just a string of murder and death, of drugs and loud music, alcohol and completely unsatisfying sex. You know how it goes."

[Nascent]

He'd looked genuinely hurt by the twin barb she'd thrown his way, the comments about him caring about things and how it had to be something else occupying her priorities... yet he didn't say anything. If the time they'd known each other for had taught him anything it was the value of careful listening, to her in particular... a lesson, whether mastered or not, that he had never truly forgotten.

And listen he did.

The sense of loss as she talked about Earth, of strength and well-earned pride at her achievements and defiance of fate. He didn't fail to notice her mention of his death either... or the tone of paticular importance she stressed it with. Mephisto smiled with her as she talked about the glories of warm water showered down against her skin and the enthusiasm she held for that one activity in particular. And then she went and called her story 'unremarkable'... and he couldn't help but frown, even more-so at the mention of the accursed company Thanatos.

"Yes..." He spoke after a long pause, the silence ringing in his ears. "I suppose I do. But," And at this he leaned forward, eyes like daggers and staring at her with an intensity and seriousness that he seldom used, especially with her. " 'Unremarkable' has never described you, Belle. Not once. I wandered the world for thousands of years after breaking free and in all that time I'd never, not once, encountered anyone or anything like you. And whatever curiosities and developments this modern age has contrived, whatever strange and surreal things are to be found in these new societies or out at the edge of our stars, I cannot for the life of me imagine any person, any being, ever being..."

"... as utterly remarkable as you."

There was a ping; the car pulled curb-side and announced the destination. Mephisto hadn't even noticed the transit, in truth. He knew much of the route they'd taken, that in fact it took them through areas partially exposed to space where the car's anti-grav pulse engine took over for the wheels, but for the life of him he'd not once noticed the transition or even the glimmer of stars outside the vehicle's ample windows.

"Well... here we are."

The door opened on command and he stepped out, offering her his hand. While the street in front of the club was fairly standard and nondescript, the entrance before them was another story. Flanked by two heavily armed and armored bouncers, a polished jet-black door that looked like a single massive gemstone faded and spiralled away at their approach -- a mere hologram and forcefield combination, artfully done -- to reveal an artful and somewhat disorienting passage leading inwards.

Beyond that, the thrum of heavy dance music could be heard mutedly, while outside a line to get in was quickly forming, bystanders and anticipants gawking as the doorway parted for the devils' approach. Within was a den of sin and perdition like so many others, running with liquor and dancefloor lights... yet unlike many others, especially on Cancer.

"Shall we?"

[Painterlee]

His words left her at a loss to her own, frozen. Those crimson eyes would have seen into her soul, if she had one of her own. She downed he second drink faster than the first, pressing her fingers to her temples, almost certain that given enough time she would wake up, shaking and cold somewhere, but no matter how hard she pressed against her forehead, that shocking awakening never came, so she could only assume there was nothing to wake up to. "I don't know what all those years not-existing did to you..." The blue-eyed demoness mused to herself, with some sense of awed shock. If she could have, she would have accepted his hand. That wasn't the case, however, not that it was really in her nature to accept acts of 'Chivalry'. "But people don't normally say that about a murderer, junkie, and a whore." Belle finished, looking almost honestly at him, standing up, only hoping that her legs would hold her. She wasn't entirely sure if she still had the control over her body she was used to.

Examining that expansive hallway, the beating and vibrating of bass through her body was a familiar and alluring sensation. The line of people would turn their heads towards her, she had that air of unbridled authority to anyone who hadn't seen her at her peak. Right now, she wasn't doing to well, and it hadn't taken Mephisto too long to notice. Some of them would recognize her face, either from the Local Universal New Stations, or because they had done some sort of dealings with her in the past. Any one who recognized her as the gun-toting bounty hunter would probably be taken far aback by her current appearance. No more rugged or wild than any other person.   

She nodded slightly, and although she was weary about their contact, though far from not wanting it, she saw no harm in taking his arm instead. For once, possibly, she would try and avoid skin contact until either she permitted and understood the consequences, or slipped up. On one hand, if her little trick had worked, and his soul had worked as a suitable substitute for the one she never had, she'd probably never see him again. But now, well, she couldn't do anything she wanted to do, and allowing herself to do that might kill her, or leave anything that they could have been in the dust. So, she wrapped her arm around his. "I don't see why not." She leaned up to him, not too much, granted her extra few inches of height. After all, she had to at least somewhat keep up her past impressions on him, even if it meant lying through her teeth.

"If you really mean all that, then you might find yourself a lucky man before too long. No promises though."

[Nascent]

"Aren't I already?" The playful words fell from his lips after she'd taken his arm in her grasp. For this moment in time it was almost like they were in an entirely different world living as two different people, all the strife and contention of their past interactions less an unpleasant memory and more a distant haze somewhere far, far away. They strode in together, the envy of every onlooker; not only were they getting in before anyone else, not only were they by far the most prestigious pair at this particular event, but they were also easily the envy of every couple who'd come decked out to the club's grand opening.

He was lucky. Not just to be alive again. Not just to be living in this era. Not just for business to be going as well as it was after so short a time. But to have encountered her, once again, and on the eve of such an auspicious occasion at that -- that was what truly made Mephisto a lucky man. Out of all the stars in the galaxy, theirs had aligned not once.

But twice.

The inside of the club, whilst yet unoccupied by its intended audience, was still quite a spectacle. Music rumbled and thrummed with electric lights and fanciful holograms matching it beat for tumultuous beat. Fancy chairs and tables flanked a large and expansive dance floor, over which -- set squarely into the second-floor balconies -- hung suspended by anti-grav tech a fanciful glass swimming pool in the shape of a flawlessly cut diamond. Additional lighting on the second floor streamed down through its multiple facets in softer, more dispersed beams and shimmers, giving the dance floor itself a slight sense of being "underwater".

"I decided against a disco ball," Mephisto explained, gesturing to it. "Even though this basically shot my insurance premiums through the roof, initially. Fortunately the manufacturing processes available in this age are truly something -- they can coat even this much glass in nigh-on invisible layers of composites and metamaterials such that the final product is practically bullet proof."

To one side of the dance floor was the main bar, set with a vast wall of vari-colored bottles in all manner of varieties and shapes. The trio of bartenders looked up as their boss entered, giving a respectful nod and smile as they shined glasses and polished countertops. To the far side of the room were twin staircases going up, where even more tables and chairs awaited along with a diving board for the pool and doors leading off into various other parts of the club.

"So, what do you think? How does the Black Sapphire compare to other clubs you've been in, hm?"

[Painterlee]

"If you're happy to settle for less than you could get, sure." Belle fought back his reply with a simple shrug, equally as playful, but for now, at least, her words, and her teasing and flirting, was all in vain. She would have to sit him down before this night was over and tell him, truly, what had happened between them. That he had played her game, and she had gotten too close to him too late. His death was on her hands, even if she didn't exactly drive that cursed dagger herself. She didn't want him to know, given all that might happen, but she had no choice in the matter. It was that, or abandon him completely again. She couldn't speak for him, but she, at least, would never be able to get passed him. She had lived with the memories for thousands of years, and nothing helped.

While walking along together, like this, certainly hadn't spark any ill-meaning spark of power-exchange, it certainly left Belle with an increasing sense of pain in her chest, it was starting to leave her breathless in all the wrong ways.There was no choice but to hide it, for now, if it meant being able to at least catch up in the next few hours what they had missed in all the years before. "Well, I've never seen a club switch out for a pool, that's for sure. Before you know it, boom, voyeuristic hotspot." She laughed. "But no, I...I'm impressed." Belle cast eyes up towards the glittering light coming through the pool. "It's actually quite beautiful. I haven't been in a good pool for ages. My life has me flying all over the Universe just so I can eat, I don't stop often enough to do things like that. No doubt, these places are an old hunting ground of mine before it became impractical, but the lifestyle wore off on me." She let go of him, unwillingly, but she needed to breathe.

Wandering around the edge of the dance floor, she ran her hand over every piece of furniture on it's border, new, unused. It still smelt new, everything was clean, positioned perfectly. There was no doubt in her mind that Mephisto would make sure to go out of his way to make sure it stayed that way. She leaned against one of the pillars holding the second floor. "How long has this been in the works then? Projects like this don't just happen over night. I'm stunned by my own ignorance, all the same. A place like this, with it's glamour and it's high hopes, I truly am surprised I didn't hear about it." Her eyes were drawn to the water dancing in the pool. "I suppose you don't bunk yourself too far away, either?" She didn't want to use the word 'live', in this regard. It was likely that, like her, he didn't think hugely of whatever place others might call his home.

"That's another name on the list of places I need to see sooner rather than later." Belle chuckled, and nodded her head towards the bar. "It's not too early for a drink is it? All of this, you, me, not dead and all need some help settling in."

[Nascent]

He couldn't help but laugh with her at the 'voyeuristic hotspot' comment -- it was a bit of a gamble, really, but people came to places like this to throw caution to the wind a bit. If there was trouble it'd be dealt with in due time. Mephisto watched as she admired the place, ran her hands gracefully over the chairs and tables.

"It's a project I've kept somewhat on the... how do they say it in this age, the 'down low'?" The keenly dressed devil explained. "It's easier than you'd think to build something covertly on Cancer. In fact, it happens all the time, or so I'm told. It's just usually hideouts for smugglers, hackers, forgers -- concealed workshops and boltholes, typically. The club was, as you can imagine, a bit more of a grand undertaking than such builders were used to. However..."

"When you're constantly creating things that few if any ever see, even when the money's good there's a certain... affirmation that's lacking. Getting to showcase their talents proved to be quite the motivation for the people I ended up contracting with. This isn't just a grand opening; it's a grand unveiling."

"And no, never too early for a drink." He gave the bartender a nod as one of the employees, sharply dressed in an all-black suit, approached him with a computer tablet in hand. Mephisto looked it over briefly, smiled at the contents, and then waved the man off. "Seems my business from earlier, the one with our..." He gave Belle a wry grin. " 'Mutual acquaintance' has resolved nicely. My apologies -- the Black Sapphire tries to keep to a 'party in the front, business in the back' ethos, but running everything forces me to blend them a bit at times."

"As for where I... reside, you're exactly right." He stepped a bit closer to her, a secretive look in his eyes. "It's a private room -- not everything about the Black Sapphire was made for show, after all. I'll show it to you later, if you like. For now," Mephisto strode up to the bar, giving the nearest barkeep a look and a nod.

"Now, we drink. To the future and past. To all that's been lost and all that's been found. And I have exactly the vintage."

The bartender was gone for a few minutes, coming back out with a shock-proof suitcase which he laid on the bar along with a pair of elegant fluted drinking glasses lightly laden with ice. Mephisto unlocked the case with a ten digit combination and it hissed, releasing airlocks and spilling cooled mist from the edges. Inside was a single bottle, flawlessly preserved, of Serenian wine.

"An archeological team found half a dozen of these in the remains of a wine cellar in Jadenshine," Mephisto explained, gingerly extracting the bottle from its form-fitted cradle. "Clutched in the grasp of a skeleton, locked in a block of ice that was clearly magical in nature. The bottles and their contents passed these last five thousand years without incident -- the mage-apparent who was so desperate to preserve this vintage from some ages-forgotten threat... not so much."

He popped the cork and a soft vineyard aroma began to slowly waft from the bottle. With a steady hand he poured, half-filling each glass, then recorked it and set it back into its case before offering her one glass and raising the other himself. "To you, my lady. And to the Black Sapphire, the gem of corruption. May both be prosperous, respected, and well-courted."