Amber ceased her movement to ponder curiously at her door. The rust colored paint she�d been stirring bubbled slightly as it stopped. Half of her wall was adorned with this blood based paint, its source leaked sluggishly from under her closet door. The other half was painted a cheerful pale blue and the beginnings of a mural was sketched on its surface. The entire space reeked heavily of metallic rot and dead flesh.
Soft knocking came a second time, but she didn�t move to open it. Amber knew who knocked and shy he�d come, they were going to fight. He itched to tear into her, as she had a nearly equal urge to do similarly onto him. For the time being, she ignored him. She had a wall to paint after all. Slowly, the knocking diminished. When two and a half minutes had passed, pilot six put down her brush and opened the northeast window.
Wufei barreled through the opening seconds later. He rolled nimbly and regained his feet, a well-sharpened blade clutched in one hand. Amber pouted faintly as she examined the window; �You were going to break it.� The two berserks faced each other silently, neither expressing fear nor worry. On the contrary, both had an air of anticipation and eagerness to their stance and expression. Wufei circled, Amber countered his movement in a mock waltz. A snake strike of a lunge was easily avoided and the circling resumed. As if a signal was given, the rivaling forces clashed with claw, steel, and rapid strikes.
Flesh bled and blades sang in the heat of battle. Wufei had an advantage; he was faster, stronger, and better trained. Amber, however, relied only on instinct. She spun in and out of pilot five�s swift attacks, receiving no more than nicks and grazes. The occasional wild lunge left crimson streaks on his clothes.
The pair began to tire after nearly an hour of these antics, slowing the intricate dance of death. Amber worked her foe into a corner and kicked the blade form his grasp. Wufei panted lightly, his spiked wings coated in both sweat and blood. His opponent was in a similar condition, but she was showing a wide grin, �Die you son of a bitch.� Her lips touched his briefly and she ripped his soul from his body. Amber wiped her mouth on her sleeve as she felt the angelic presence fade. The corners of her cupid�s bow twisted back into its smirk; �Good luck in Heaven, Themis.�
The acrid scent that drifted lazily from the attic that had become a room drew a sensitive nose. The dark-haired demon pulled down the ladder and gagged at the onslaught of his senses. Dried and congealed blood obscured all other smells in one simple breath. Duo mounted the hinged stairs carefully, sticking his head in the room only after he�d taken in several breaths of the heavy air. A keen edged hunger was the result, his lengthy canines growing over his bottom teeth. The painter shot him an annoyed look, �I didn�t say you could come up here.�
He came up the remaining steps despite her complaint, ruby eyes glinting sharply, �I see you�ve been busy. Are you going to use Wufei�s blood for paint too?� She shook her head and roller her brush around in the pan, �Nope, I�ve got enough to finish. You can eat him or the guy in the closet�if you want.� Faintly interested, pilot two opened the closet and pushed aside several odd outfits, �It�s a soldier. I didn�t even know you�d been going out on mission, but I guess there�s only a few left to do.�
The pale, middle-aged Oz lackey peered up at Duo desperately, hoping for a savior. Instead, his gaze filled with dread, his chapped mouth working around unspeakable words. Deathscythe�s keeper hauled him to his feet with a chuckle, �I�ll bet that look means that you�ve heard the stories about me.� His prey struggled weakly in his iron grip, panted noises finding a way from his torn throat. Duo�s eager fangs gouged a new opening across his jugular.
Amber covered another square yard of white wall, rolling drips breaking the blank area. Shinigami returned after feeding and picked up an unused brush to assist in painting, �So�um, does this mean that we�re on good terms now? After all, I did marry her.� Amber shrugged helplessly, �I suppose we�re on okay terms. The threat that if you hurt her, you�ll get hurt is still on. I will keep my word on that one.�
Amused, Duo slapped a layer of rust liquid on an incomplete section, �Alright. A truce then?� The gray-green eyed German pondered at him for several moments, �Ok, truce�for now.�
Jess�s second pregnancy left her strangely anemic many mornings, her husband informed that is was the nature of demon embryos to take the crimson life stream of their mother. To help, he brought home unexplained blood and bade her to drink. This restored her to decent health on more than one occasion. Ace questioned the black feel of his mom�s stomach constantly, �Why is your belly dark?� Jess picked him up, despite duo�s disagreement with any lifting, �Well, that�s your little brother. He�s going to be born in about a month.� Complaint immediately followed that he would be mean and scary, but quickly lost impact.
The contractions came two days before planned, pitching a few people into a panic. Jess was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital and duo found out, first hand, her violent tendencies when she was giving birth. After his face met numerous times with the side railing on the bed, he required a few stitches.
To the shock of nearly all occupants of the room, the child emerged with thing leather wings. At first, they were folded tightly against his back, but, with his first wailing, flared out dangerously. The claws flashed in the mellow hospital light, stained with crimson. An overly enthusiastic father, who received a glare form the exhausted mother, dubbed the freckle-dusted baby Tres Trouble Maxwell. The witnessing doctor disappeared before the winged child could be spoken of outside of those who knew. Panting, Jess made it known that she wouldn�t commit to the act of childbearing again and had the surgery to reinforce that decision shortly thereafter.
Duo leaned down to grin at his youngest son once he was clean; �He�s so cute.� His tickling finger strayed near enough to the small demon�s mouth that it was clamped down on. Pilot two�s eyes widened significantly, �Unholy shit! He�s got fangs! Ow, let go!� Tres drank as quickly as he could get the wound to bleed, needing nothing else. The death of darkness winced, �Man�I forgot, where human and angel born need milk, these little guys need blood. I suppose I can feed him as you don�t need to lose any right now.� The older demon�s eyes had begun to glow faintly before the babe was done.
Duo healed both his wounds and those of his wife, taking her home far before any doctor would have agreed to. Ace greeted his little brother with a wary look; �He�s evil.� He made his commentary, but still attempted to play with the uncooperative demon. The child grew as rapidly as his brother, developing minor speech in a matter of weeks. Unlike Ace, he enjoyed doing everything for which he was previously told �no�. Right before committing such acts, he would grin as evilly a child his age could.
Duo didn�t really help the situation, encouraging his behavior with the simply phrase, �It�s just the way demon children are.� Jess wouldn�t put up with any of it, but frustration came before any possible solution ever made it near the problem.
One of the biggest issues was Tres�s bloodlust and his development of the ability to toddle. Ace had been out with his mother, purchasing groceries and wasn�t greeted home with the most pleasant of sights. Unfortunately for both him and the rabbit �Aunt� Amber had given him, he�d left his door open and Duo wasn�t the best of babysitters�In shock, the blonde stood, staring, at his younger brother. The cage his bunny had previously occupied was tipped on its side, Tres sitting amidst its ruin. Blood and bone were all that remained of the rabbit. The bottom half of the fluffy creature was clutched tightly in chubby little fingers. Tres grinned at his sibling when he noticed him, �Bunny yummy!�
The more innocent of the two lost his sense of shock, �Mommy!� His call was long and frightened, in its wake came steps and an answer, �What�s wrong Ace?!� Both Jess and Duo ended up in the doorway. Shinigami had to turn away and muffle his chuckles. The redhead scooped Ace into her arms, �Duo, get Tres.� Punishing ended up being rather light for the perpetrator, considering.
Parenting seemed to become more and more difficult, having to deal with both boys. The menial things Ace did were now nothing compared to Tres�s bad days. Except one fateful day of button nabbing. Snickers and the padding of little feet caught Duo�s attention; he uncurled from his place on the couch to follow the sounds and their source. As he caught up to his offspring, the blonde child whirled to look at him with a guilty hand-in-the-cookie-jar expression.
Ace tucked his hands behind his back in faux innocence, �I didn�t do nothing�button, button. Who�s got the button?� The death of darkness laughed, at least it was only that, �Who does have the button?� A shake of the head was his first response, �I don�t� got it!� �The person that does have the button, not being you, hid the button, didn�t they? Where did they hide it?� He pondered with a crease in his brow, �Um, in my pillowcase?� Pleased with the answer, Duo asked for another, �And, this person not being you, where did this person get the button?� �From the big people.� The dark-haired American�s smile faded, �What big people?� �The big people sleeping in the garage.� �Which one?�
The remainder of the afternoon, Duo spent carefully and desperately tapping the buttons back into place in Heavyarms. He had the unnatural dread that every second that passed had a chance of bringing Trowa back with it. When Amber shouted up to him, he jumped a mile, �I�m taking Fang out on a walk, I�ll see you later.� He grumbled at his own fear and waved her off.
The black and white hound of Heaven trotted at his master�s heels, thinking vaguely of his purpose. He�d been sent to watch and guard the Midian, and this was the girl he�d originally taken to be it. Now that the kids had been born, he no longer had a reason to remain on Earth. He was fond of both the girls, but he was of no more use to them. Heaven tugged at his heart. He�d been lying low of some time, just enjoying the basics of life, but now, it was time to leave.
They were walking by a nearly barren road. It was occasionally used as a trucking route, which was what he was relying on. As expected, an eighteen-wheeler rounded the corner and Fang steeped out in front of it. A splatter of blood hit Amber�s unchanged face and she reached to finger it. The truck began stopping, but she turned up the road before the driver could find her. Her sorrow raged silently, not knowing any other way to be expressed.
