Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

7 ~ Ruin's rage

Ruin can sense her, now that he's reached the border of his Court and Pain's.  She has Elorha. She is keeping her on the verge of death, so that he has a hard time sensing her. And he wants Pain to pay.

Ruin goes alone to Pain's domain, her Court is surrounded by a dead and charred forest, one that has trees that people are fused into. And the people.... the people remain alive. In agony, screaming and begging for a death that will never come for them. For even Death herself cannot tread in Pain's domain without an explicit invitation.

However, Ruin has no such limitations. He can come and go as he wishes, because his power is exceedingly stronger than hers. She is not to be messed with, that much is obvious to all. But he isn't, either. And she should know not to take what isn't hers.

Especially not from him.

So, as Ruin steps into the gray, charred ground, he knows she can sense him. But he does not care. She can sense his arrival all she likes, he is not leaving without Elorha. He'd go to the ends of the realms for her. He's fallen for her, despite his desperate bid to distance himself from her. He's become more and more dependent on her presence.

He hates that it took him so long to find her, especially when she's been alone and scared this whole time. He could almost taste her terror, her .... depression. She wanted to go home. Nothing more. And he's keeping her from there for his own selfish needs.

Ruin knows what he must do. For even though he is the demon of Ruination made manifest, he cannot bring himself to bring her to ruin, as well.

He cannot and will not ruin Elorha. Not as he watched such things happen to Ellery and Death. Not when he can prevent her so much pain. Not when he knows he is truly being selfish keeping her there with him. Not when he understands how dangerous this world is for someone like her.

Ruin walks through the territory of Pain, and he walks alone. He wishes he knew exactly where Pain is holding Elorha. But he doesn't know, he can only faintly sense her. He wishes he could sense her better, but it's not easy when he's distracted by the screams and moans from those fused with the trees all around him.

"Ah, brother," a familiar, female voice says. He turns his head and watches Pain approach him. Her glowing orange eyes meet his, and he studies her face. She is not showing him any signs of her emotions, her face impassive. Pain just stands there and stares at him. "What brings you here?"

"You know," he says, trying to hide his rage.

"I know? What do I know?"

"Do not play stupid," he growls. "You know as to why I am here. Do not pretend that you do not."

"Ah, yes. I'm sure you want to see the truth of what happened to that lovely girl you've fallen for," she says. "Well, it wouldn't do to stand here and discuss it. So I suppose you should come to see her. Follow me."

Pain brings him through the destroyed woods, and up to the massive palace she calls her home. She brings him down countless halls and down some stairs, and before long, they reach what can only be described as dungeons. His rage is so close to boiling over. She's kept Elorha in a prison while she was here.

When she opens the door before them, he sees the room beyond is darkened, no lights are on. Pain beckons him inside, but he does not move. "Elorha?"

A moan breaks through the darkness, and he runs forward, into the dark room. His eyes immediately adjust to the pitch darkness. And he sees it. She is laying in a pool of blood. Her own blood. She's still breathing. He screams with rage, and whirls just as Pain slams the door in his face. It locks and he roars, his power lashing out at the door. It shatters into thousands of splinters.

He rushes over, scooping Elorha up in his arms. He walks into the hall, and Pain glares at him from where she sits on the floor, under the debris of the door.

"Be glad that is all I did," he growls.

"She won't last to your home. She wasn't eating or drinking here, so she's already weak. But oh, her pain's so delicious!"

Ruin steps closer to his sister. "If it's war you want. It is war you shall have."

Pain grins at him. "What will you do? You can't save her," she says. "Poor little Elorha, she will die thinking you never saved her. Poor little Ruin, finally found someone to love him. Only for her to die."

He looks down at her pale face, her lips are turning blue and she is growing cold. Her blood soaks his battle armor, and he knows she's going to die soon. But he can stop that from happening. He looks at Pain.  "She won't die." He then closes his eyes, and concentrates.

"You can only teleport when I tell you that you can," Pain says, laughing.

"I'm not teleporting."

Elorha begins to dissolve into his body, her very life force fusing with his own. Pain screams. "No! You can't do this! If you do this and she dies, so will you!"

As Elorha fills his very body, Ruin grins at Pain. She becomes a part of him, their souls, hearts, and minds becoming one. She is a full part of him, and he, her. They are bound. Life for a life.

His arms drop to his sides as Elorha finishes fading into his body. He smiles at the warmth he feels from her. The purity. The .... love? Does she love him?

"You fucking absorbed her?" Pain shrieks.

"I had no choice," he says, his eyes burning with power unlike anything he has felt before. "She is within me now. And there, she will remain until she has healed."

"So she's your prisoner, now?"

"Not at all," he says. "She's safer inside me than outside. But once she's healed, she will be released. My power will heal her. She is not a prisoner."

"But yet, if she asked for freedom right now. Would you free her? Even if it meant losing her? If you can't answer that honestly, then she is in fact your prisoner."

"Tell yourself what you must," he says to Pain. "But she is safe. And she is loved."