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Description
August 1, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

God she hated getting hungry in the middle of the night. One moment she's snuggled up with Ruby, cozy and warm, in that perfect position where the blankets offer just the right amount of comfort, about to drift off to dreamland, and then all of a sudden that obnoxious rumbling in her stomach starts. Ignore it, she always tells herself, I'll just eat in the morning. But oh no. Her stomach just keeps insisting, to the point where she has no choice but to grumble and gently pull away from her girlfriend (not that it really mattered given how heavy a sleeper Ruby was), and start making her way down to the kitchen.

Ava sighed as she made her way through the hideout halls, rubbing a crick in her neck as she tiredly wobbled down the stairs and to the fridge. In the day time she'd usually take the walking time to appreciate the hard work that had been done to restore the Indianapolis hideout over the past month. Yolanda Sheol's bomb had really done a number on the old building, so she was really impressed with the speed and dedication of the new building's construction. Aveza would probably be proud, the place she founded back into full glory, with her very descendant walking around its halls, continuing her legacy two centuries later.

She eventually managed to pull herself into the kitchen, making her way straight for the fridge. The light from the interior blinded her for a second and made her groan as her eyes slowly adjusted. Through her squinted eyes, she looked around the shelves until she came across the foil-wrapped plate of leftover deli sandwiches that Ruby had made for their dinner earlier. The sight of food made her smile, at least as much as she could with her lack of energy. She pulled the plate out, along with a can of soda, and strolled over to the bar counter, taking a seat on one of the stools and getting right to work on unwrapping the pile of delicious sandwiches.

The first bite was heavenly. Her stomach was already quieting down just from the anticipation of having food in it any second now. Ava leaned her head on her hand as she tiredly worked away at her meal, mind mostly a blank as she sat in the dim kitchen lights.

Lights which suddenly began to flicker.

She didn't really notice it at first, her brain simply shrugging it off as an energy surge or glitchy wiring.

But then it just kept going.

Ava stopped chewing and looked up at the light fixtures. She nervously swallowed as the bulbs hissed and buzzed as they shut on and off quickly and forcibly. She leapt out of her chair, automatically realizing something was very very wrong. But what? Where?

She looked around in the flashing darkness, trying desperately to catch sight of the big threat that was tampering with her lights. She started to sweat as the lights flashed faster and faster, growing more and more intense.

Then suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a new set of lights.

Deep, malicious, red lights.

Her stomach dropped and her eyes widened. No… it couldn't be. Dear God tell her it couldn't be!

But as she slowly turned and gazed into the darkness, she saw him there. The ugly, scarred face of a monster she never wanted to see ever again. He grinned at her, the red light emanating from his wingsuit highlighting the scars and gashes that littered his face. Ava gasped and backed into the bar, confused, ready to pounce, and afraid. Very, very afraid.

“No…” she gasped.

“Been a while, Ms. Arlie,” Lucifer smirked, his voice like snake venom. “I see you've tidied up the place while I was gone.”

“This can't be happening…” Ava panicked. “You're dead! We killed you! You're dead!”

“You of all people should know how death is hardly something that keeps me down.”

He lifted his arm up and charged up the energy blaster on his palm. The crackling ball of light shot out into a vicious beam that aimed directly for Ava's forehead. Ava gasped and acted fast, lunging out of the way and going into a roll. As the energy beam blasted a massive charred hole in the bar, Ava sprung to her feet and automatically flicked out her hidden blades.

Lucifer simply continued to grin at her and fire off more blasts in her direction. She ducked and dodged each one by only the slimmest of margins. She ducked behind a desk, flipping it over as a shield even though she knew that would do next to nothing.

“However the hell you came back, I'm going to send you straight back to Hell!” she declared.

She jumped out of the way just as another blast came shrieking through the air and blew the desk to smithereens. She rolled to her feet and turned to face her foe, only to suddenly see him barreling towards her at full thrust. He smacked into her, tackling her into a wall and punching her. She struggled as her nose bled, but she eventually kicked him off and dove for a pistol she saw on a nightstand. He hovered in the air mockingly as he swerved to avoid her blasts, and grinned when she actually did manage to land a bullet only for it to do nothing. Ava dropped her gun and decided on a new plan.

Run.

But that plan didn't get her very far. A small hand blast aimed at her feet was enough to trip her to the floor, hitting her head hard on impact. She struggled to stand back up, but she only managed to get on her hands and knees before Lucifer flew over and lifted his sword. It glowed red as he charged up a blast and grinned with his jagged teeth as she could do nothing but whimper in absolute terror and brace for it to come.

“I'll save you Ava!”

Ava's eyes snapped open upon hearing that voice, and her heart clenched against her lungs. Her head jerked to the side just in time to see her rescuer bust through the door and sprint her way.

“Ben?!” she gasped at the sight of her friend whose body she had buried.

“Leave her alone!” he shouted at Lucifer, who seemingly ignored him, and thrust his sword at Ava to deliver the lethal bolt of malicious red energy.

The bolt which Ben ran up and jumped directly in the path of.

He screamed in agony as the bolt turned his back into a smoldering crater, and his eyes rolled back into his skull as his corpse dropped in front of Ava, dead.

Ava choked on her tears. “No!” she shrieked. Not again she thought please god not again! This couldn't be happening!

Lucifer laughed as she scrambled for the body and cradled it as she wailed.

“You Assassins don't seen to understand!” he mocked. “I am the Devil! I always come out on top in the end!”

Ava suddenly transferred all those tears, all that pure tortured emotion, into unrestrained rage. Her veins bulged as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists. She let out an animalistic shriek, and charged at Lucifer, her hidden blade outstretched and on a direct course with his heart. She leapt up, tackling him to the ground, and in one solid thrust, she impaled him through the chest, sending a fountain of blood everywhere. Then she pulled it back, and thrust again, and again, her whole view just going red in blind rage.

And her eyes were only cleared again when his hand reached up and gripped her blade arm tight. But what she saw beneath her now was not the fallen angel who had been her nemesis for ages, but her friend who gave his life so that she could defeat him.

“B… Ben...?” she choked. He was soaked in blood, a giant hole ripped open in his chest from her multiple stab wounds. His face was blank and pale, his eyes pure bloodshot white as he gripped her arm.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?” he asked, his voice low and dead.

Ava screamed and yanked backwards. Her blood-stained friend jankily stood up, never taking his eyes off of hers. He gazed into her soul as he limped towards her. “I thought we were friends,” he said in the same dead tone.

Ava cried violently as she tried to scoot away from his advance. “I'm sorry!” she panicked. “I'm sorry Ben I'm sorry!”

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?”

“I tried Ben I tried! I didn't want you to die! I didn't-!”

She suddenly felt something grab her from behind. She spun around and saw the corpse of Ben that Lucifer had created only moments before. He had the same white eyes and dead voice. “Ava,” he moaned

She shrieked in terror again and yanked away. She fumbled to her feet and tried to run for the door. She practically ripped off the handle as she flew the exit open, but she only ended up stumbling backwards again as right outside, more terrifying shadows of her lost friend were waiting for her, all of them staring, all of them repeating her name and asking that same horrible question.

She backed up into a corner as the horde of undead copies slowly marched her way. She broke down crying, curling into a ball and panicking like a shaking puppy.

“Ava…” they moaned.

“Stay away from me!” she demanded.

“Ava…”

“Go away go away!”

“Ava!”

“Don't touch me! Get away! Leave me alone!”

“Champ!”

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

Ava screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs as she was shaken hard.

“Champ! Ava! Wake up!” Ruby pleaded from the other side of the bed. “Honey listen to me please wake up!”

“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” Ava panicked, her brain not yet caught up with the real world.

“Ava please! Honey look at me! It's Ruby, honey, look at me!”

“I… I… I…”

“Champ look at me please. You gotta snap out of it.”

Ava's vision began to adjust in the light and she was finally able to make out the shape of her girlfriend, who looked absolutely terrified as she gripped her arm tight.

“Ruby…?” Ava asked, her brain finally catching up.

“You were having a nightmare, Champ,” Ruby explained. “I woke up to you screaming like you were getting stabbed! I was about to jump up and rip the balls off of someone for hurting you!”

“I… it was just a nightmare…” Ava breathed, trying to calm herself down.

Ruby leaned over and hugged her tight. “Just a nightmare, Champ. It wasn't real.”

Ava whimpered and began to cry. She clung to her girlfriend as tight as she could.

“Ava…” Ruby said, rubbing her back to comfort her. “You can't keep going like this, honey… I've never heard you scream like that before and it's scaring me. If you can't shake these nightmares off then I'm gonna start getting you medication for it. I don't want you suffering like this.”

Ava nodded against Ruby's shoulder as she sobbed. “It's Ben, Ruby…” she cried. “I couldn't save him.”

“Ava… I know it's hard honey. I miss Ben too. But you gotta let it go. He would want you to let it go. You know he would.”

“I don't know if I can…”

“You've gotta try, Champ… I'm worried for your health. If you can't fight these nightmares then they'll only get worse and worse.”

“I know…”

Ruby gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “We can talk about it tomorrow if that helps you feel better, okay?” Ruby suggested.

“Okay…” Ava nodded.

“Alright. Try to lay down and get some rest okay Champ? I'm right here at your side.”

“I know… Thank you Rubes…”

“I love ya, Champ.”

“I love you too.”

The two slowly broke from their hug and descended back into their pillows. Ruby was snoring again within minutes. Ava sat there in the dark for a while, simply trying to push bad thoughts out of her head before finally her body gave out on her and forced her back to sleep.

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

It was hardly a calm sleep, however.

Within a little over an hour, Ava was sweating and turning under her sheets as voices echoed through her brain, let free to wonder as the warden of an awake mind took his time off for the night and let the prisoners run.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?” Ben's voice reverberated in her skull. Her brain felt like it was going to split in half.

“You need to let him go,” Ruby's voice tried to assure her, only to be blocked out again by the repeated hiss of Lucifer’s mocking laughter.

“I am the Devil!” his ragged voice mocked from the beyond. “I am the Lord of darkness and deception himself! I am the original destroyer from legends of old! The living embodiment of evil and sin itself! I. Am. Lucifer!”

Even in sleep, she could feel the tears burning her cheeks. Her head hurt so much. The ache made everything in dream world shake and crack and warp. She couldn't focus. The voices just kept coming. The world just kept shifting.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?”

“I always come out on top even in death!”

“Champ you gotta snap out of it!”

‘Why didn't you save me?”

“I… I don't want to give her up… but…”

She couldn't focus. It hurt so much. It hurt so much! Where was she? The trees were so thick. How did anyone manage to navigate this?

“The camp should be directly ahead shouldn't it?”

Get out of her head, she demanded. Get out! Let her deal with this!

“Why didn't you save me?”

“Make sure she has a good home… please…”

“Ava please!”

“My little Dhia…”

“Evelyn get down!”

“I am Lucifer!”

“Ben no!”

“You're absolutely certain, Evelyn?”

She opened her eyes again, to a world clear as day. Was she dozing off again? This infernal heat must be getting to her. She shook her head and refocused on the map she held.

“It's just up ahead,” she told Chaytan. “Come along! We've kept him waiting long enough.”

“Lead the way, my love.”

Evelyn nodded and rolled the map back up. She shoved it right back into her pocket and continued through the Indonesian jungle, moving onwards towards the great colonial city of Surabaya, where her contact was eagerly awaiting her arrival.

Description
August 1, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

God she hated getting hungry in the middle of the night. One moment she's snuggled up with Ruby, cozy and warm, in that perfect position where the blankets offer just the right amount of comfort, about to drift off to dreamland, and then all of a sudden that obnoxious rumbling in her stomach starts. Ignore it, she always tells herself, I'll just eat in the morning. But oh no. Her stomach just keeps insisting, to the point where she has no choice but to grumble and gently pull away from her girlfriend (not that it really mattered given how heavy a sleeper Ruby was), and start making her way down to the kitchen.

Ava sighed as she made her way through the hideout halls, rubbing a crick in her neck as she tiredly wobbled down the stairs and to the fridge. In the day time she'd usually take the walking time to appreciate the hard work that had been done to restore the Indianapolis hideout over the past month. Yolanda Sheol's bomb had really done a number on the old building, so she was really impressed with the speed and dedication of the new building's construction. Aveza would probably be proud, the place she founded back into full glory, with her very descendant walking around its halls, continuing her legacy two centuries later.

She eventually managed to pull herself into the kitchen, making her way straight for the fridge. The light from the interior blinded her for a second and made her groan as her eyes slowly adjusted. Through her squinted eyes, she looked around the shelves until she came across the foil-wrapped plate of leftover deli sandwiches that Ruby had made for their dinner earlier. The sight of food made her smile, at least as much as she could with her lack of energy. She pulled the plate out, along with a can of soda, and strolled over to the bar counter, taking a seat on one of the stools and getting right to work on unwrapping the pile of delicious sandwiches.

The first bite was heavenly. Her stomach was already quieting down just from the anticipation of having food in it any second now. Ava leaned her head on her hand as she tiredly worked away at her meal, mind mostly a blank as she sat in the dim kitchen lights.

Lights which suddenly began to flicker.

She didn't really notice it at first, her brain simply shrugging it off as an energy surge or glitchy wiring.

But then it just kept going.

Ava stopped chewing and looked up at the light fixtures. She nervously swallowed as the bulbs hissed and buzzed as they shut on and off quickly and forcibly. She leapt out of her chair, automatically realizing something was very very wrong. But what? Where?

She looked around in the flashing darkness, trying desperately to catch sight of the big threat that was tampering with her lights. She started to sweat as the lights flashed faster and faster, growing more and more intense.

Then suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a new set of lights.

Deep, malicious, red lights.

Her stomach dropped and her eyes widened. No… it couldn't be. Dear God tell her it couldn't be!

But as she slowly turned and gazed into the darkness, she saw him there. The ugly, scarred face of a monster she never wanted to see ever again. He grinned at her, the red light emanating from his wingsuit highlighting the scars and gashes that littered his face. Ava gasped and backed into the bar, confused, ready to pounce, and afraid. Very, very afraid.

“No…” she gasped.

“Been a while, Ms. Arlie,” Lucifer smirked, his voice like snake venom. “I see you've tidied up the place while I was gone.”

“This can't be happening…” Ava panicked. “You're dead! We killed you! You're dead!”

“You of all people should know how death is hardly something that keeps me down.”

He lifted his arm up and charged up the energy blaster on his palm. The crackling ball of light shot out into a vicious beam that aimed directly for Ava's forehead. Ava gasped and acted fast, lunging out of the way and going into a roll. As the energy beam blasted a massive charred hole in the bar, Ava sprung to her feet and automatically flicked out her hidden blades.

Lucifer simply continued to grin at her and fire off more blasts in her direction. She ducked and dodged each one by only the slimmest of margins. She ducked behind a desk, flipping it over as a shield even though she knew that would do next to nothing.

“However the hell you came back, I'm going to send you straight back to Hell!” she declared.

She jumped out of the way just as another blast came shrieking through the air and blew the desk to smithereens. She rolled to her feet and turned to face her foe, only to suddenly see him barreling towards her at full thrust. He smacked into her, tackling her into a wall and punching her. She struggled as her nose bled, but she eventually kicked him off and dove for a pistol she saw on a nightstand. He hovered in the air mockingly as he swerved to avoid her blasts, and grinned when she actually did manage to land a bullet only for it to do nothing. Ava dropped her gun and decided on a new plan.

Run.

But that plan didn't get her very far. A small hand blast aimed at her feet was enough to trip her to the floor, hitting her head hard on impact. She struggled to stand back up, but she only managed to get on her hands and knees before Lucifer flew over and lifted his sword. It glowed red as he charged up a blast and grinned with his jagged teeth as she could do nothing but whimper in absolute terror and brace for it to come.

“I'll save you Ava!”

Ava's eyes snapped open upon hearing that voice, and her heart clenched against her lungs. Her head jerked to the side just in time to see her rescuer bust through the door and sprint her way.

“Ben?!” she gasped at the sight of her friend whose body she had buried.

“Leave her alone!” he shouted at Lucifer, who seemingly ignored him, and thrust his sword at Ava to deliver the lethal bolt of malicious red energy.

The bolt which Ben ran up and jumped directly in the path of.

He screamed in agony as the bolt turned his back into a smoldering crater, and his eyes rolled back into his skull as his corpse dropped in front of Ava, dead.

Ava choked on her tears. “No!” she shrieked. Not again she thought please god not again! This couldn't be happening!

Lucifer laughed as she scrambled for the body and cradled it as she wailed.

“You Assassins don't seen to understand!” he mocked. “I am the Devil! I always come out on top in the end!”

Ava suddenly transferred all those tears, all that pure tortured emotion, into unrestrained rage. Her veins bulged as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists. She let out an animalistic shriek, and charged at Lucifer, her hidden blade outstretched and on a direct course with his heart. She leapt up, tackling him to the ground, and in one solid thrust, she impaled him through the chest, sending a fountain of blood everywhere. Then she pulled it back, and thrust again, and again, her whole view just going red in blind rage.

And her eyes were only cleared again when his hand reached up and gripped her blade arm tight. But what she saw beneath her now was not the fallen angel who had been her nemesis for ages, but her friend who gave his life so that she could defeat him.

“B… Ben...?” she choked. He was soaked in blood, a giant hole ripped open in his chest from her multiple stab wounds. His face was blank and pale, his eyes pure bloodshot white as he gripped her arm.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?” he asked, his voice low and dead.

Ava screamed and yanked backwards. Her blood-stained friend jankily stood up, never taking his eyes off of hers. He gazed into her soul as he limped towards her. “I thought we were friends,” he said in the same dead tone.

Ava cried violently as she tried to scoot away from his advance. “I'm sorry!” she panicked. “I'm sorry Ben I'm sorry!”

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?”

“I tried Ben I tried! I didn't want you to die! I didn't-!”

She suddenly felt something grab her from behind. She spun around and saw the corpse of Ben that Lucifer had created only moments before. He had the same white eyes and dead voice. “Ava,” he moaned

She shrieked in terror again and yanked away. She fumbled to her feet and tried to run for the door. She practically ripped off the handle as she flew the exit open, but she only ended up stumbling backwards again as right outside, more terrifying shadows of her lost friend were waiting for her, all of them staring, all of them repeating her name and asking that same horrible question.

She backed up into a corner as the horde of undead copies slowly marched her way. She broke down crying, curling into a ball and panicking like a shaking puppy.

“Ava…” they moaned.

“Stay away from me!” she demanded.

“Ava…”

“Go away go away!”

“Ava!”

“Don't touch me! Get away! Leave me alone!”

“Champ!”

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

Ava screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs as she was shaken hard.

“Champ! Ava! Wake up!” Ruby pleaded from the other side of the bed. “Honey listen to me please wake up!”

“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” Ava panicked, her brain not yet caught up with the real world.

“Ava please! Honey look at me! It's Ruby, honey, look at me!”

“I… I… I…”

“Champ look at me please. You gotta snap out of it.”

Ava's vision began to adjust in the light and she was finally able to make out the shape of her girlfriend, who looked absolutely terrified as she gripped her arm tight.

“Ruby…?” Ava asked, her brain finally catching up.

“You were having a nightmare, Champ,” Ruby explained. “I woke up to you screaming like you were getting stabbed! I was about to jump up and rip the balls off of someone for hurting you!”

“I… it was just a nightmare…” Ava breathed, trying to calm herself down.

Ruby leaned over and hugged her tight. “Just a nightmare, Champ. It wasn't real.”

Ava whimpered and began to cry. She clung to her girlfriend as tight as she could.

“Ava…” Ruby said, rubbing her back to comfort her. “You can't keep going like this, honey… I've never heard you scream like that before and it's scaring me. If you can't shake these nightmares off then I'm gonna start getting you medication for it. I don't want you suffering like this.”

Ava nodded against Ruby's shoulder as she sobbed. “It's Ben, Ruby…” she cried. “I couldn't save him.”

“Ava… I know it's hard honey. I miss Ben too. But you gotta let it go. He would want you to let it go. You know he would.”

“I don't know if I can…”

“You've gotta try, Champ… I'm worried for your health. If you can't fight these nightmares then they'll only get worse and worse.”

“I know…”

Ruby gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “We can talk about it tomorrow if that helps you feel better, okay?” Ruby suggested.

“Okay…” Ava nodded.

“Alright. Try to lay down and get some rest okay Champ? I'm right here at your side.”

“I know… Thank you Rubes…”

“I love ya, Champ.”

“I love you too.”

The two slowly broke from their hug and descended back into their pillows. Ruby was snoring again within minutes. Ava sat there in the dark for a while, simply trying to push bad thoughts out of her head before finally her body gave out on her and forced her back to sleep.

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

It was hardly a calm sleep, however.

Within a little over an hour, Ava was sweating and turning under her sheets as voices echoed through her brain, let free to wonder as the warden of an awake mind took his time off for the night and let the prisoners run.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?” Ben's voice reverberated in her skull. Her brain felt like it was going to split in half.

“You need to let him go,” Ruby's voice tried to assure her, only to be blocked out again by the repeated hiss of Lucifer’s mocking laughter.

“I am the Devil!” his ragged voice mocked from the beyond. “I am the Lord of darkness and deception himself! I am the original destroyer from legends of old! The living embodiment of evil and sin itself! I. Am. Lucifer!”

Even in sleep, she could feel the tears burning her cheeks. Her head hurt so much. The ache made everything in dream world shake and crack and warp. She couldn't focus. The voices just kept coming. The world just kept shifting.

“Why didn't you save me, Ava?”

“I always come out on top even in death!”

“Champ you gotta snap out of it!”

‘Why didn't you save me?”

“I… I don't want to give her up… but…”

She couldn't focus. It hurt so much. It hurt so much! Where was she? The trees were so thick. How did anyone manage to navigate this?

“The camp should be directly ahead shouldn't it?”

Get out of her head, she demanded. Get out! Let her deal with this!

“Why didn't you save me?”

“Make sure she has a good home… please…”

“Ava please!”

“My little Dhia…”

“Evelyn get down!”

“I am Lucifer!”

“Ben no!”

“You're absolutely certain, Evelyn?”

She opened her eyes again, to a world clear as day. Was she dozing off again? This infernal heat must be getting to her. She shook her head and refocused on the map she held.

“It's just up ahead,” she told Chaytan. “Come along! We've kept him waiting long enough.”

“Lead the way, my love.”

Evelyn nodded and rolled the map back up. She shoved it right back into her pocket and continued through the Indonesian jungle, moving onwards towards the great colonial city of Surabaya, where her contact was eagerly awaiting her arrival.