Chapter 3 : Into the Badlands pt2, shifting balance

‘So this is what death feels like? It's far painless than I thought’ Skyla thought to herself, her nerves relaxing as she felt herself getting drawn more in the warmth encompassing her but that began to fade as her temporal euphoria wore off bringing her back to reality.

Where am I? she thought opening her eyes sifting her surroundings, for several seconds she was lost but returned and her eyes widened at what she saw. 

There before her were large nails dripping blood but the blood wasn't hers, she couldn't see her attacker due to the deterrent body afore her.

Rogue caughed up blood, rivulets of blood forming on the corners of his mouth as remainders of the dense liquid he coughed. “ Don't hurt her, she's not worth your time” Rogue articulated glaring at Lucifer who was dumbfounded by the fact she bayoneted her soul mate, and that triggered the link between them. Lucifer started to cough up blood a bit.

“ You idiot, why did you do that? Do you still love her even after she deliberately toyed with your emotions?” Lucifer asked through gnashed teeth. She knew the curse placed on her and how it worked, the same curse that led to her losing Escliffe in the first place.

Skyla released the breath she didn't know she held and smiled. “ Thank you Ro, without you I wouldve been dead but it's a shame she got to you first” Skyla said with a gentle tone that quickly shifted to a cynical one, her right hand rising up to pull the claws towards her to drive them deeper into Rogue and end his life.

“ STOP THAT, CAN'T YOU SEE YOU ARE HURTING HIM?” Lucifer clamored at Skyla, tears were clouding her vision and she couldn't breathe, her lungs were affected by the curse. If one of them feels pain the other does too, her heart pained as she heard those agony filled screams coming from Rogue.

“ I don't really care what happens to him. He was means to an end, I was tasked to find the reincarnation of the king of devils and take his power” Skyla responded, her face having a sadistic grin to it as she kept on pulling and pulling the claws also being nonchalant about Rogue's screams.

“ So you are one of them, the hunters sent after Escliffe disgusting” Lucifer replied, clicking her tongue and she attempted to use her supernatural strength to pull away her claws so that she can save the both of them from more pain but her nails couldn't budge an inch. I can't get my claws loose, Is she stronger than me? Skyla thought her eyes closing as she fell in state of despondency.

Skyla noticing this smirked. “ it's not that I'm stronger than you or him for that matter, As shown earlier us succubuses don't have the necessary strength to rival other supernaturals, but as how you are. Chronosis curse hinders your might when in pain...” Skyla articulated taking a short pause at the end, her attention solely focused on Lucifer having forgotten about Rogue.

“ I like seeing the hopeless look on your face. It's exhilarating, the banished queen of devils at the mercy of a Succubus” Skyla continued her mini speech sardonically grinning. Showing that she was enjoying herself.

Rogue's screams died down as the pain was too much for his brain, which shut down the body's responsiveness to affliction. He was drifting in a void, he couldn't see anything by reason of the circumambient darkness. ‘Where am I? What is this place? How did I get here? ’ Rogue thought weakly trying to make sense of what was going on.

“ You are in your mind, your brain couldn't take much of the pain and it automatically shut itself down.” A voice replied from the darkness, precipitating Rogue's attention to be more focused.

“ Who are you? What do you want?” Rogue asked, at this point nothing could shock him. He had seen devils, got his heart broken at this point he just wanted to get home, get a goodnight sleep and forget about the day.

The voice chuckled not answering the question Rogue asked, humongous extrimities manifested from the obsidian abyssals and clutched Rogue within them, forming a cocoon around him, repudiating his spiritual manifestation abode there. “ You'll have to protect our mate” those words were the last ones that registered on Rogue's mind.

Rogue's consciousness returned midway Skyla's speech. He could hear her clearly but what disturbed him even through hazy eyes were the tears of Lucifer and the pain she was feeling, realization returned to him and with it, came his ire. 

The tears from Lucifer inaugurated a foreign power to Rogue's blood stream. A huge pillar of crimson luminescence erupted from him prompting Skyla to let go and Lucifer to go stumbling since she was pulling with all her might back.

“H-how could it be, you were supposed to be dead!!” Skyla frantically tried to reason to how come Rogue was still alive, and where did he get that much power in a short space of time. Lucifer on the otherhand smiled a small smile knowing that the balance of power began its shift.

Rogue turned around and glared at Skyla, His eyes being devoid of the pupils replaced by slits. His hair was wild like a lion's mane, on his chest a sigil appeared with a crown on it. “ Anyone who makes Lucifer cry is my enemy and they forfeit their lives” Rogue articulated in a demonic tone, his wings unfolded revealing their true glory.

Skyla felt true fear, She was in the presence of an entity feared by all. The mere mention of his name made the bravest of warriors turn tail and shake like children, she was doing the same in the presence of Escliffe's power even at its most impure state.

“Begone vermin. ” Rogue uttered in his menacing voice as his right manus digit was pointed at Skyla who was still frozen with fear. Faster than all could see, a purplish stream of light that was pernicious shot from his finger and lacerated Skyla's arm cleanly, blood flew out from that missing arm spraying the lithosphere, the arm itself was hurled to the heavens with the stream of light which tore the ground behind Skyla.

A loud caterwaul of agony escaped Skyla's mouth as she desperately attempted to clutch the place where her arm was, recollecting what Rogue said. Her body dissolved into shadows as she retreated.

Rogue after witnessing Skyla's retreat, turned his attention to Lucifer who was holding her fingers with her left hand. He began to walk towards her slowly, the beam of luminescence fading from him along with the sigil on his chest, halfway he staggered and collapsed forward.

Lucifer rushed to her feet and placed her body before Rogue's, allowing him to abut it. She smiled and used her ability given by the sixth Hieroglyph to read his mind gaining information on where he lived. Once attaining the necessary information, she firmly clutched on the unconscious Rogue and too vanished with into the shadows.

Lucifer manifested inside Rogue's room and placed him on his bed, gazing at his face softly. “ sleep well my king” she mummered and slid in bed with him. However as she was so focused on Rogue she missed one important detail, throughout the ordeal itself Ashlee was watching from the sidelines.

“ it seems Hiraizumi is going to be interesting this coming months” Ashlee chuckled blending in with the shadows his eyes being the ones glowing from within, their bluish silvery colour scaring away the nocturnal wild life. He stayed for a few seconds and then vanished heading back to report on what he had observed.