Oakland church, another of the great buildings in the town of the same name that proved, above all else, that the people in the town had no imagination. First there was Castle Phantasm, the great behemoth of a fortress owned by the Phantasm family, along with the guild of Oak Town: Phantom Lord. Due to the family and the guild's likely relation, Odin was content on ignoring the obvious naming scheme going on in the town, but this was too much now. Oakland church, the church within Oak Town, what a terrible name. Almost as bad as the feeling Odin got the moment he entered the chapel, seeing all the followers of that faith the people of Crocus always went on about...Illumin? Something like that anyway, the faith that was all about the light and goodness in the world. Even without Lucifer in the back of his mind screaming in frustration, Odin was not fond of this place, or the religion that it followed. It focussed on a world that would never come to be: one of peace and joy for all. And yet, standing right at the entrance to one of the places of worship was the kind of man that was responsible for that not being the case, a realist one might call him.

Yawning as he walked through the doors into the church, and rolling his eyes as he witnessed the murmurs and bowed heads of the people in the church, praying to some God for help in their meaningless little problems, Odin sat down at the end of the ailse of one of the nearest pews the lined the church's interior. Being far enough back from all the religious people that they wouldn't notice him watching them, Odin stretched his arms and laid back on the bench, deciding he might as well get some rest in the church, even if the entire building and everything it stood for rejected the young dark mage who sat inside.

Seriously Oak was already getting on her nerves. She was dressed today in her skirt that she bought with Assama a couple of weeks ago. Dressed in a black and white striped skirt with a black buttoned shirt and her long overcoat made it look like she was a tourist, citizen or whatever from Oak town, not something you have to put your eyes on. Maybe only because the woman was wearing an eyepatch over her left eye.

She was walking around town when the shadow appeared again. The one that followed her on her travels. "Oh no you don't." she muttered and quickly followed the shadow this time instead of the other way around. It brought her into the church. Something she wouldn't enter voluntary if she had paid attention. She was snooping around trying to find it when she bumped into some sort of priest and made small talk. She was glad to see someone that could get her away from this guy.

Excuse me." Nastasya said after she saw one of her guildmates sit down on one of the back benches of the church. So she walked there, hearing the clicks of her heels on the stone floor. "You look better than I expected." was her way of greating.

A slight chuckle escaped Odin's mouth as he watched his guild mate Nastasya, although he could only refer to her as Shadow in public, entered the church and bumping into the priest before making her way over to where Odin sat, her heels echoing in the otherwise silent church as she moved, speaking to Odin as she stood next to him, her words echoing and causing a few of the people praying to raise their heads in disgust, an act which Odin couldn't help but find highly amusing as he himself began to speak.

"And how exactly did you expect me to look my friend? And I must thank you for your aid last time we saw one another in dealing with those pesky... rats. They would've certainly made a lot of noise if you hadn't stopped them."

Odin was, of course, trying to thank his guild mate for her help in disposing of some Rune Knights back in Crocus so that they wouldn't get involved in Lucifer's fight with the being known as the Phoenix. but in an echoey room like the church, anyone could listen in on their conversation, so it would have to be conducted in a much more subtle manner. It also brought Odin some mild amusement when he saw some citizens up and leave the church: their praying session having been ruined by the two deliquents that were not talking at the back. It was also nice that Odin had more information on his comrade than she did on him. He knew that her code name was Shadow, but her true name was Nastasya, and names were a powerful tool in Grimoire Heart. It was true, though, that Shadow knew his code name and, one could say, much more importantly his magic as being a Take Over user that became a demon and manipulated fire, but that meant little to the dark mage, who knew that the names of the members of his guild tied to them in some way, like Lucifer to Odin as the name of his magic. Thus, it was no doubt likely that Nastasya's magic had something to do with Shadows, although exactly what that was, Odin had no way of knowing currently.

It was as if she didn't care about the people in the church besides Odin. Which was exactly true. It was ridiculous to pray to some higher being instead of going out there and just do what you needed to do. Higher powers weren't going to fix it for you. But it was all up to them to think in that way, maybe one day it worked. She smiled at the idea, however her smile became broader as Odin started to talk to her, "Oh you know, I thought that fire thing was much more fierce that he wouldn't simply accept defeat. But here you are looking fine. And no problem, it was for everyone their benefit. Maybe next time you could try and find a spot without such pesky things." It was said in a manner that wasn't all to serious, she couldn't care less if Lucifer would fight in a tavern or not as long as he would escape and not let the name Grimoire Heart known and she trusted him that that would work out. All she was saying that it might be smarter. She hoped he understood, she didn't feel the need to make enemies amoung her Guildmates.

"Any particular reason you came to Oak?" she asked after that and went to sit down on the same bench.

Rightly so, Odin received a scolding, mild as it may have been, from his guild mate, as she told him to try and avoid fighting in such a well populated place as a tavern in Crocus would be, with Rune Knighht no doubt stationed only a few blocks away. She also commented on the Phoenix, stating that she didn't believe it was a creature that would simply accept defeat, which had been true as Odin thought about it. A proud creature like the Phoenix was not one to give in until defeated, which is why Lucifer had simply left. Waiting any longer in that place was not going to be better for the young dark mage.

"You're right about that. Defeat was not a thought that seemed to apply to the creature, but prolonging the engagement any longer would've no doubt caused more rats to appear, so I had ended it when the chance appeared. It was a strange being certainly. And of course I am fine, think about who it is you're speaking too. Man will always try to conquer their demons, but a chicken? Not so much effort required."

The way she said it had made it clear that she didn't want to cause any friction between herself and her guild mate while still getting her point across, but Odin ignored that aspect as he knew she did indeed have a point. Nastasya then proceeded to take a seat next to Odin as she awaited a reply.

"Why does anyone go anywhere? There was more money to be made here. And you?"

She actually realized that she had never talked to Lucifer before and it was not that bad as it could have been. She knew barely anything about her Guildmates. She knew that Caius was working hard and checking out if the lower ranks were good enough, she had earned some of his respect. She knew that Nathaniel had worked as a Rune Knight but those two were by far coming close to be called acquintances. Maybe Nate was even a friend, but she had not seen him in a long time. How did that work with friends? She never had one before.

"I'm still a little curious to that destructor his power." she answered though she had to giggle about the fact that Odin called him a chicken. "I was just a person that was around, I have not talked to him nor paid attention but he sure could bring a lot of destruction around. It is not are problem and I'm gladly taking care of the pesky rats when I can. Don't worry about that."

Because she asked him why he came to Oak, it was most money related. So it was her turn to answer that question herself, "I too heard there was more money to be made here. And I believed that someone was waiting for me here. Till this point I am certain since I met Yuni yesterday." She only had to hope that Lucifer knew Carnage her other nickname. It would not be smart to call out Carnage in the middle of a church.

It seemed that, just like Odin, nastasya was also interested in the Phoenix, and it's true power. A small part of Odin had wished that he could've stayed in that tavern -or what was left of it- to continue his battle with the other TakeOver mage, but he knew that it would not have been possible, or rather Lucifer had known. At that point, when Lucifer and the Phoenix had began to fight it out, Odin had been locked away momentarily by his demonic partner, after losing control. It happened rarely, but it was irratic, brought on by absolutely nothing: Odin would just be consumed by a great rage and wish to destroy everything around him, friend or foe. That wouldn't have ended well, and so Lucifer had locked him away for the remainder of the fight, allowing the demon to take control while his host was not in control. Sometimes, Lucifer loved it when Odin lost control, and gave him the power while keeping him in control of the body, but against foes like the TakeOver mage had been, it was too dangerous.

"Trust me, the destruction that being could cause would be nothing. As I said, a beast can be conquered, a demon is unstoppable."

It was then onto the next question, and it seemed Nastasya had come to Oak for a similar reason as Odin, but she also felt like someone had been wanting to see her here, while she collected money and became stronger. And then she mentioned the name Yuni, saying it in such a way that Odin was expected to recognise the name, but he couldn't place it, until it hit him.

"Yuni...Yuni...? Oh wait, that's the old Granny right? Never met her but I'm glad she's still around."

Yumi, better known for her codename Carnage, was somewhat of a legend within Grimoire Heart, small as the group was. The oldest member, who had managed to outlast so many others by staying alive and staying cunning, a truly impressive feat for anyone magic, let alone a dark mage.

Nastasya looked towards the other people in the church. It was an interesting spot on the last bench. She nodded slowly when Odin said that the beast would be conquered or could be. It didn't matter, she had never seen such a thing. However she had heard from the magic: Take-over. It also was a part of his magic right? That's why he changed personality, looks.. looks? She shook her head slowly, "It is a very interesting aspect of people. I always wonder how they get that." She eyed Odin, because she was 100% sure he wouldn't suddenly all be the teacher and explain to her how people got powers like Take-Over magic. But she was interested. She loved her Shadows too much, except for that one that brought her here. It might be still here and her eye glided over the walls to see it or search for it, before she turned her one eye back on Odin.

She told him about Yumi or Yuni and nodded with a small smile when the information found his way. She put up a warning finger, "Never call her Granny. I was there. She didn't like it but forgave me. I heard a rumour that she killed one of the lower ranks in the club just because she was called granny." She whispered the last part, because it would obviously weird if she talked about killing in a church. "But she forgave me quickly as we bought sweets. But she is impressive. I hoped she could teach me some things but she is not that talkactive." Although her afternoon with Carnage was great, if she thought about it, she could giggle again, but overall she was just smiling.

Odin, the moment Nastasya had mentioned being curious as to how one gained the powers of TakeOver, froze up for an instant. It was one of the few things that he reacted to. He couldn't know how anyone else gained the powers of a beast, or a demon, since he had been rather unique in that regard. Born to two demon worshipping parents who had trained Odin into the strongest mage he could become, summoning the demon Lucifer and having the two bond to create the being that Odin now was. It had infected his shoulder, and was why he now had the metal covering, a horrific process that had lasted days, and had given his skin the slight green tinge to it on his upper body, something he had managed to hide from the world by suppressing it to only his chest, which was mostly covered by his red cloak. It was not a good time in Odin's life, and not something he wished upon anyone, despite the power it had brought him.

"I could not tell you."

It was then amusing that the oldest living member of Grimoire Heart, and potentially one of the oldest mages alive, hated being referred to as a granny. At the mention of her having killed one of the lower ranks, a few member of the church became visibly uncomfortable, and minor whispers echoed as one spoke to another about these strange two at the back of the church. Apparently she was impressive, and she liked sweets, but wasn't the chatty type, which was to be expected of someone her age and having lived the life she no doubt has.

"Well, she certainly seems like an interesting character. You met any of the others in our little group yet? I only currently know you, but you seem to be much more sociable."

Nastasya had asked the question about take-over and looked at Odin but he soon gave her the answer she expected and she shrugged and gave him a small smile. "That's okay." she was just curious and she didn't want to pry. Maybe one day if she met a person with Take-over like the Fire person, she would find a way to corner them and just ask. Something she didn't want to do with Odin, simply because she rather stayed friendly with Guildmates.

They turned the topic to Yumi and she was glad to provide some information and actually liked talking to Odin. It was going very natural, something she had missed with Yumi because she didn't want to offend the woman after she had called her Granny and after the explotion at the maids. She was a coward and that made her angry with herself, something she brushed off quite quickly right now. Today was the role of being someone nice and social, the reason why she wore a skirt and heels. No job to do today. Odin asked her about others and she nodded, "In the tavern was someone else, I think it was Grudge. But not sure, didn't talk long with him. He seemed to know what's good for us and I doubt he does. I haven't seen him afterwards. I also worked together with Black and Rune." She frowned, not sure what to tell but she could give some information. "They are both a big fan of fighting I think. But again only in the club, to avoid hurting people." which was a lie but an obvious one for Odin to figure out, it now was as if they were talking about a fight club or something. Rule number one: never call it fight club and people might assume things. "I must say that Black his magic is really impressive. I only saw glimpses of it when we worked together but my, it seems to have a lot of potential and so does he."

Nastasya seemed to accept the answer she got concerning Odin's TakeOver magic. It was a shame that she couldn't know, but this was not one of those 'I'll tell you when we're closer friends/I can trust you' things for the young dark mage. No, this was something he'd never utter to anyone. He had his power now, that's all that anyone needed to know. As for how he got it, that was not important anymore. The past made him who he is today, but it was not a past that he needed any more reminding of than he already had.

His guild mate then mentioned that one of their brothers, codename Grudge, had been in the tavern at the same time as Odin, Nastasya and the Phoenix host. Now that wasn't what the young mage expected. He remembered his time in tavern quite vividly, and yet the knowledge of another guild member being present was not something he had noticed. Until Nastasya mentioned that Grudge seemed to know what was good for them, which made Odin barely remember another character in the tavern who spoke about stopping the fight to avoid being discovered. It made sense that he was Grudge, but the dark mage by that point was too focussed on the battle to have paid that man any attention, which explained why he didn't notice him at all.

It seemed that two others, Rune and Black, were just as much fans of fighting, but preferred fighting against other Grimoire's or on a mission, to avoid any unnecessary death and notice, which was smarter than what Odin had done. But Black, the current strongest Grimoire Heart mage after Crowley and Icarus, neither of whom had ever shown their powers before, apparently had a powerful magic that went along with his own abilities, which made sense considering his rank. But that was an interesting thing to know.

"You've met most of the team then, and you even did a job with Black. Any hints as to what his powers are? Never hurts to know a bit more about someone after all."

She wondered for a second if she could ask Odin if he knew in general how people got Take-Over magic, but she should actually let the topic rest. He told her that he couldn't tell her, so why ask again. It might be different for everyone and thus he wouldn't know or couldn't share. So she should let it rest and be the friendly companion on the last bench in the church. Why where they actually in church? "Why did you go to the Church?" the question popped out of her mouth before she actually realized that she had said it out loud. Great strategy: not.

She looked around wondering how to tackle the question properly. "We went to gather information," she started because she had no idea how to give the information that they were simply trapping an informant, getting the information and killing him, she wondered if everyone had such jobs or not and if Odin ever had one. She could not say it out loud, the Yumi-killing incident had already made the air suspicious. She should have laughed it off and said it was a matter of speaking. And it seems like he controls the air, it was a dark form of it, and he knew how to carry his body from the second floor back down to the ground." she wasn't familiar with magics because she barely knew people before she joined Grimoire Heart and the members of the Guild didn't always show what they were capable off.

Now that was a question Odin was definitely not expecting, as Nastasya asked him why he was in the church to begin with. It was a funny question, since Odin didn't really have an answer to it. For all intents and purposes, the church and religion in general was one of the few things Odin actually hated, along with order. It was everything Odin possessed not to become Lucifer and burn the place down, which he'd gladly do without a second thought. Whether this was because of the demon's influence or not mattered little at this point, but it was true that Odin genuinely couldn't work out what had brought him to this holy place.

"Honestly, I'd blame it on the God everyone seems to be worshipping here, because I've no fucking idea."

Now that he mentioned it, as the dark mage looked around for a brief moment, the church was empty now. Everyone that had been whispering and praying in the establishment had now departed. now what were the chance one had left to go and get a Rune Knight, in the town where the -in everyone's mind anyway- only dark guild in Fiore currently resided. They'd have more time than in Crocus, so chances are they'd be fine.

It seemed Nastasya and Black had been on a recon mission, gathering information for one reason or another. From the way she said it, Odin assumed there was a little more to the story than she was letting on, but it was possible she had not yet realised that they were now the only one's in the room, but she continued then, speaking about Black's magic, ironically not anything to due with his moniker. He could control the Wind, but it was a dark form of it (perhaps this was where 'Black' came from), but she had only seen him float from the second floor of a building to the ground, a feat that, while impressive, wasn't the most spectacular for a fighter in the guild. However, chances are the man was the highest ranked in the guild for a reason, and it was certainly Odin's place to dispute that fact.

"So, what brought you here?"

Nastasya had no idea that everyone left. She paid no attention to people she didn't consider important in her life. Her life was one big theater show and even Nasty herself sometimes had no idea anymore when she was playing or not. It just happened to be her mood and her at that moment, which made it confusing for everyone. This was only a show of how she slowly was losing the ability to be sane. But she wasn't noticing so much, it was slightly and she would work on it the minute she found out. Not yet anyhow.

She couldn't help but laugh when Odin explained that he had no idea why he was inside the church. It just happened, it was a nicer reason than her own and she knew the question was coming and stared at her knees, wondering if she should explain to someone or not. He might call her crazy and that was something she feared. She didn't want to become insane or lose her mind or anything like that. But first she talked about Black and than was her time to answer, she had thought about it and she liked talking to Odin, as she thought before: it went easy. He was smart and it seemed that he respected her in the way she respected him. They were colleagues, people you didn't want to fight with at this point. Or more: not make enemies with. You might needed each other. "Well it is a strange story. I followed a shadow." She just said it and gave a shrug to indicate that it was nothing but it was more than nothing, "It seemed to have followed me to Oak and it was going to the Church when I saw it in town. But there is no body attatched to it and it's not mine either." The last part would make no sense if you didn't know that she had Shadow powers and her own could walk away without her, leaving her with nothing.

"Well, that certainly is a new one. Not gonna lie, if you're name wasn't Shadow, I wouldn't be believing you, but there's got to be some reason why you have it."

Following a Shadow that had followed her to Oak Town, all the way from Crocus? It was indeed a story Odin had never heard of before, but he had never played with shadows much, being more attuned to fire with the help of Lucifer. But, in this world of magic, Odin had come to learn one rule: don't assume anything is false, because it's very likely not. In a world where people can fly, and demons -literal demons- exist, it wasn't too much to say that a shadow was wandering the streets of Oak town and following a darkness mage. Besides, it's not like it was Nastasya's shadow, but Odin didn't really know what would happen if it had been, but it was an interesting thought to say the least. But one thing was certain, the day had just gotten a little bit more interesting.

"Right then, no doubt one of these faith lovers has gone to get Rune Knights because of that whole killing thing. What say we ditch the church and try and find this shadow, maybe uncover who it belongs to. I may not be a master when it comes to shadows, but surely every shadow must have come from somewhere, and it's always interesting to discover something new in the world. You coming?"

Nastasya was glad that Odin took the news better than she actually expected. She gave him a smile, "Look," was all she said and she looked down herself where you could see her shadow for now. As she let go of it, it started to walk away and look around, it could spy in the church to see if the Shadow she was following was still here. She had a feeling that she had known the person whose shadow was now alone, but that would be weird. As if dead people or old people left shadows. Because she didn't know others. Unless you now counted Guildmembers.

It was now that she realized, at the moment that she released her own shadow that the Church was empty. Maybe priests or whatever the name of the function was were hiding because she had mentioned a bad word. She looked at Odin and her happy-go-lucky attitude changed a little into a more serious one, the smile disappeared from her face. "You are right. It's better if we leave and I'm glad if you would like to help me find that thing."

So she stood up and waited for her shadow to quickly return to her heels before she walked to the door.

Well, it turned out she could actually let her shadow walk away from her body without any adverse effects, Odin was both impressed and slightly disappointed at this revelation, since shadows were always though to be linked to the person for good. However, like all things, magic was usually the reasoning behind why the logical was no longer the case. Nastasya's shadow began to walk around the room, Odin's eyes following as much as he could, but then the mood changed, and he looked back at his guild mate, her smile having disappeared and her voice lacking the happiness and joy that Odin had come to expect, He couldn't help but smile internally when she spoke in a serious tone, getting down to business and agreeing they should leave.

But of course, she's still a dark mage after all.

It seemed she was happy to have Odin joined her in her search for the strange shadow, and in an instant Nastasya's own shadow snapped back to her heels, rejoining her body and completing her, before the fully reformed woman walked towards the door of the church, Odin walking carefully behind.

Everything seemed fine until Odin heard something from outside, just as the two approached the door. Men running around, armoured men. "Get down Shadow." was all the man said, using her codename to inform her that this was now business. Peering outside, Odin saw that the place seemed surrounded by Rune Knights, strange considering there were only two unknown mages in the building, which could be dark or could easily not be. Why was the building surrounded? Either way, the door was out of the question, which meant they could either run to the second floor of the grand building and try and leave via a window, or journey into the catacombs, where no doubt undead waited to attack considering how this day was currently going. Odin would leave it to Nastasya to decide what they would be doing, she was the one chasing the shadow after all.

Nastasya was wondering where she would find the shadow again. Last time it was following her but since this was not the case, she had no idea where to start. It was Odin's words that brought her back and she swiftly moved to left to hide behind the door at this point. But she could see a little of what was happening outside.

She might be looking very surprised because of the fact that so many people showed up because she had whispered the word kill. She really should have said that it was a matter of speaking. Which was still an option now but her mind was actually racing to find an option. Going through a window upstairs wasn't a smart option because they were surrounded they would be spotted eventually. She slowly reached down to remove her left high heel and next her right and held them together in her left hand. Barefoot right now was the best option to get away. Talking to them was also not an option, she was a good liar but she doubt that they would believe her, it might make it easier for the standards of Grimoire Heart: don't attract attention.

She wasn't dressed for this occation, that was what mainly was bothering her. "We need to take the catacombs or hide somewhere and leave through the door. The problem is I bet they will remain outside." she whispered to Odin and maybe the Shadow was down there too, since she had not seen it leaving.

Odin couldn't help but feel sorry for his guild mate, who was definitely not dressed for the occasion, being caught in high heels and a skirt despite currently being surrounded by Rune Knights. Clearly this was not how she had expected this day to go, which was fair, considering this was not a normal day. And yet, here they both were, stuck having to go through catacombs to get out of a situation that they really didn't need to be in at this time, especially not with Nastasya trying to locate a random shadow that had lost its other half. These knights were here to apprehend their targets, but they had no idea who or what those targets were, just two mages who had accidentally spoken about death in a public place, a mistake neither of the two were likely to make again. But the speed of the Rune Knights was impressive, they could only have been reported to maybe about five or so minutes before arriving, something felt up, but there was no way that could be the case since it wasn't like Odin or Nastasya were well known dark mages. Hell their guild didn't even exist to the world. But right now that didn't matter, what mattered was getting out of the situation, his partner knew that too, having taken off her high heels to ready herself.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the catacombs might be our only option. Sometimes people forget how far these underground tunnels reach, we just need to deal with any residents that may not be happy to meet us. We get out of this undetected, I'll buy you a drink."

With that said, Odin dashed towards the locked door of the church that led down into the underground catacombs. An old lock, rusted and so easily broken, the young dark mage snapped the cold metal in two, trying to make as little noise as he could as he departed down into the darkness, having no doubt his guild mate would follow, and being more worried about what was going to appear in front of him than behind him.

She had bought this expensive dress from Ralph Lauren when she was in Crocus. It had not been her idea but she had played a traveler with an fiance and an important speech so she had lied to the girl, Assama, that she was with and she had sort of fallen in love with the skirt that she had bought it. This was her first time wearing it and well it was probably going to stay in the closet for the rest of it's life. She had wore a lot of skirts and dresses when she was younger, up until she was nineteen. She had used it some sort of her acting and so on but she hadn't been a member of Grimoire Heart back then. Now she was and had more jobs and she had seen no point in wearing them anymore. The reason she wore a dress in Crocus was just because of the way Caius tackled the job.. using her and her femine body.. well alright than but now: now was not the time!

She nodded when Odin pointed out that the catacombs were their only option. She had thought the same, although she had not thought about any thing that might linger there. Damn it, glad Yumi wasn't here or she would get a new lecture. "I'll keep you up to that. So let's be fast. I might get thirsty." she followed him quickly when he dashed for the door. She let her shadow stay close to her, for a moment she had thought to leave it in the church to keep an eye on things but there might be bright people among the knights, she didn't want to risk that.

She watched how Odin snapped the lock and decided that she could do something. She followed inside and had to adjust to the dark "Go ahead, I'll fix this first." she whispered as she turned back to the door and faked a lock made out of shadows on the outside. She wasn't sure if it looked good but in her imagination it did. If only it was there for people to see in the blink of an eye to show that the lock wasn't opened. Only if they checked better they would see it was fake and it would disappear as soon as they tried the door but that didn't matter.

Still on bare feet she followed Odin and quickly caught up with him if he didn't wait for her. The further they went down the worse it was to walk without shoes for the cobblestones (she thought it were) were wet and sticky with something. "I have the feeling we are not alone." she muttered and decided that it was still not a good idea to wear high heels. Not sooner did she say that or the dark undergrounds changed into a beautiful setting with torches and thus light. She could see the clear catacombs, made as huge tunnels, with stones and bones that covered the wall. She stood still just to take it in and to make sure, she didn't hear something else.

Odin was glad that, despite their current situation, the humor wasn't lost on his partner, as she said that she would gladly get a free drink from her guild mate if they made it, and that they should hurry in case she got thirsty, giving Odin a second to realize he hadn't specified the size of drink he was offering and wondering about how much money this girl was going to take from him. But that was a worry for future Odin, the current one was a little preoccupied with not going to jail any time soon, and with dealing with whatever might be lurking beneath the church.

As Nastasya stated she'd deal with the locked door, Odin went on ahead down into the catacombs, the darkness making it far too difficult to see and resulting in the young Grimoire mage preparing to become the fire demon from which he had gained his moniker. The ground felt strange, not like a normal stone flooring, it was damp and sticky, which were never good traits for something you were standing on, as it always spelled trouble. The moment he was rejoined by Nastasya and she spoke light exploded through the cavern, with torches blaring into life. The place was massive, definitely larger than the average catacombs, with tunnels going further than Odin could see in three directions, each one with walls too high to climb made of bones.

With light meant answers though, but also more questions. For one, why had it just switched on when they had both approached, and, more importantly, who had switched it on? As for answers, Odin simply looked down at the ground, curious as to what it was they had both walked in on. The answer was simple: slime. The entire stone floor was covered in slime of various colors, greens blues and reds, which gave more questions that answers, but only for a second, for after that, things changed.

One of the corridors began to echo, with strange splurging noises reaching Odin and Nastasya's ears clearly in the otherwise silent room. And, from that, they came. Maybe around thirty of them, all fighting to get space in the corridor that was only wide enough for four at a time: strange, slimy creatures all of which coming straight for the two. Transforming into his demon form, Odin prepared himself for possibly the strangest onslaught he would ever face.

"Get ready Shadow, this is going to be one long day."

Lucifer:

The idea of the catacombs became less fun with every second that passed. She looked behind her to make sure that the door was still closed, even though she couldn't see it because the torches were still out there or maybe there weren't torches next to the door. Which was at least something. The catacombs were also bigger than she expected and she wondered how much further they would go and how much further under ground. The best idea was to get outside and head to a cafe. Maybe even asking a Rune Knight if something was wrong just to catch them off guard or be totally confused. They probably didn't completely know what they looked like.

There was a noise coming from one of the three roads that were in front of them and she muttered a curse word for not bringing her dagger. She was however surprised to see what the noise made. Some slime monsters and she stared at the ground being grossed out that it was them that made the gross stones. Thirty slimy monsters.. or something around that and she felt the need to puke but she remained upright and a shadow dagger appeared in her right hand. She looked shortly at Odin whom changed into the form she had seen in the tavern and he warned her. She was now prepared. "let's imagine they are pesky rats." She muttered.

Shadow Knife:

"Ugh, rats would be far worse than these pathetic creatures. Watch them burn..."

Nastasya, and Odin, were both ready for what was to come, Lucifer having unleashed his demon form and Shadow holding a knife made out of the same material as her name. This was certainly going to be an interesting encounter, as the first wave came at them, with Odin stepping forward to meet them head on, Lucifer knowing full well they were weak and needed no true challenge.

Snapping his fingers, the demon Prince of Darkness was instantly envloped in fire, a fire which he used to dash into the creatures and burn them. As he had thought, they were susceptible to his element, which would make this go so much smoother. As he fought the main group as they approached, some slipped past him and headed for his partner. His initial attack had managed to take out three of them, while a further two were taken out using his physical strength. It seemed they only took the weakest of attacks to die, and they were only capable of inflicting similar damage, making it very simple to take care of them.

Six of thirty were defeated, with some fighting Nastasya and Lucifer facing the majority currently, as they decided to wait and watch, a strange motive for otherwise thoughtless creatures, but their momentary pause gave Lucifer a fantastic idea, which he shouted back to his partner, not really concerned about her siutuation as he knew she could handle herself well.

"Shadow, get off the ground!"

992.5/1005:

She was planning well to stay behind and that gave her a few seconds to just do whatever she wented and thus to keep her other hand empty, she quickly dropped her shoes on the ground and put them back on. It felt a little better even though her feet were already slimey enough. Some of the slime creatures knew to get passed Odin and she slit the dagger at them to finish them up. This was easy, maybe too easy? She didn't want to think about consequences. It might be too easy but there were still a lot. She killed the last one and wanted to just look up to see where they were at when Odin or Lucifer or whatever this persons new name was yelled at her to get of the ground. [color=#993366]"How?" She said surprised but there was probably no answer and she just created the scissors made from shadow and jumped against the wall and slammed both knife and scissors between the bones to remain hanging. Her feet couldn't really get a place to stand on but she managed to get her right heel in one of the empty eyesockets of a skill and let her left dangle. "Comfortable is different." she muttered to herself.

Glancing behind for just a moment, Lucifer saw that his instructions had been followed. Nastasya did not need to be comfortable, she merely had to have listened to what she had been told to do by the fire demon, which she had, allowing Lucifer to start his own scheme. For you see, he noticed that the creatures, these slimes, were afraid of fire, they knew it burned them and they knew it was killing their brethren, so they were cautious. However, it was this cauriousness that would prove to be their undoing, for as they stayed back from Lucifer, they gave him the space to do what he wanted without issue, as they were too far away to get to him.

The plan's initial assault was simple: Lucifer snapped his fingers, causing a spark which evolved into a small flame on the tip of his thumb. This flame could deal no damage on its own, that was the point of it: it was simply a lit flame, usable as a light in the darkness, or a match to light a fuse. It was the latter for which it would be used today. Bringing his hand down to the ground, keeping his eyes on the slimes in front, Lucifer lit the slime on the ground, watching it instantly catch and carry through to behind Lucifer, and forward towards the slimes, and everywhere they had journeyed, causing a massive streak of fire to jet through the corridor the slimes had originated from. This fire, although the spell itself wasn't capable of causing direct harm, certainly could hurt, and it burned the slimes away to ashes, leaving a nicely heated stone path for both Nastasya and Lucifer to walk through. The fire did of course damage the demon, but his own element could not hurt him at such low damage. With that, Nastasya would be free to drop, and they could continue through the heated path without difficulty towards some kind of escape. A gust of wind blew from the formerly used slime path, indicating some kind of exit. What the demon didn't notice was the low grumbling that came with that roar, and what exactly it was that they were walking to meet.

980/1005: