Finding Nirvana [AU - Skyler Tiad x Leo Alkaid]

Leo sighed as he looked at his array of demons. "I'm low on Atma..." The only demons that he could afford to summon that hadn't decided to leave stood before him. It was just his luck that they were the lowest of the low. "Well, I suppose Pixie is a healer... Dia will be a lifesaver." He looked at the two stood before him. Pixie, a Fairy, and Kobold, a Touki. "And they aren't Preta, either... ANd you're a lot stronger than any normal human, regardless... So I suppose it's alright." Pixie grinned at him, while Kobold barked, as per usual. "Alright. We're as ready as can be, I suppose."

Leo left his sparse room to go around the spartan headquarters of the Warriors of Purgatory. He would be one of the two new cadets sent out to aid in the search for Nirvana. For Salvation. He went to the room of his soon to be companion. "Sky, are you ready to leave?"

"Great." Leo said, smiling at his new companion. "Let's go, then."

The two of them left the building to what had once been called Shizuka City. The once towering, powerful skyscrapers that had dotted the landscape now covered the land in rubble. Bloodstains covered the ground, while dead bodies and scraps of clothes littered the ground where people couldn't spare the manpower to clear it. Many of them had fresh bite marks. Now, the encampment of Muladhara, the base of the Embryon section of the Warriors of Purgatory. Leo sighed, as the chattering of the Preta surrounded the two, threatening to drive them mad with the incessant noise. "I wonder what this place used to look like before... well, y'know. Bet it was better than this dump. Although apparently this is one of the better looking places left. What do you think, Sky?"

"Mmhmm." Leo kept his eyes straight ahead, watching out for danger. The Preta's chatter had dampened a tad. That usually meant something bigger was on its way. Of course, that something bigger could be us... No, Preta aren't that intelligent. It's probably something eating them that we have to watch out for. Could be a Hare of Inaba, or an Itsumade. Whatever it is, I hope I can negotiate with it, or kill it if I can't. He glanced back at Skyler, casting a curious gaze over her before returning back to hi thoughts and steady walk. I can't rely on her to bail me out without any indication of her strength.

His thoughts then turned to the two demons that stood with him. I could fuse them right now into a Hare of Inaba... But that demon has no magical talent, so we lose our healer for an extra power boost. Of course, having a healer that can't take a hit is worthless if they die first, but... "Tch," he grunted, the ingrained danger sense built up from living in a world like this flaring up. "Looks like we don't have a choice! Pixie, Kobold, SKy! Get ready, something's coming!" A seemingly human knight with long, flowing silver hair and green armour rounded the corner, and looked at them, seemingly impassive. However, he clearly blocked their path, and seemed entirely content in waiting for them to come to him. "Shit, a Tam Lin..." Leo cursed, the humanlike demon being one of the most dangerous ones that inhabited the area around Muladhara. Can we take him if negotiations fail? He resists Electricity, which makes my best spell worthless... Leo slowly approached the faerie knight, clearly showing he had no hostile intent. "Hi there? My name is Leo, and I am a Devil Summoner. Could you let us pass? Or even better, would you like to join us in our journey?"

"And why would I ever do that?"

"Because we have an important mission, and we will face many powerful foes. I'm sure you would like to do battle with some of them."

"Intriguing." Tam Lin then strode off towards Skyler, in line with his history as a faerie knight that stole away women to ruin them. However, Pixie stopped him and spoke, to which he nodded and continued. "And what is your name, my lady?"

Leo watched on nervously as Tam Lin spoke to Skyler, the Preta's chattering once again growing louder once more without having a demon there to cull them. Actually, they're louder than they were before... He ignored it. Preta were trash, the lowest of the low. They were the only demons completely incapable of communication outside of their species and incapable of rational, sapient thought. And their next-to-none existent strength did not even come close to overcoming their severe mental disparity. The only thing the Preta had was that they were by far the most populous demon type, and so behaved as such, attacking in hordes against much smaller amounts of foes. Leo briefly entertained the idea of that beginning to occur right now, but he quashed it down, choosing to focus on Tam Lin. After all, we're still close to HQ. We could hold out till reinforcements came. I may not be able to say the same for Tam Lin.

"A most excellent name, my lady. I am Tam Lin, if you do not know already, and-" The faerie knight turned to look at Leo, who had begun incessantly tapping his foot. Tam Lin smiled and shook his head. "Listen, boy. I know about the rules you tamers have. My threat level is higher than yours. Aren't Devil Summoners only allowed to recruit and fuse demons that are equal or lesser in threat magnitude than them?" At Leo's cringe, the demon chuckled, before continuing. "Not only that, but for all you know, I could be the result of a fusion chain, and might have skills and strength that bely that level. And I'm sure you know that we Tam Lin are already stronger than our level might make you think, due to our magic bringing it down, since we have no natural aptitude for it."

"I just-"

"I've decided." The knight rushed at Kobold, raising his spear and- plunging it into the three Preta that had approached. "Come, sir. Let us defeat these Preta before they decide that we look like prey." Leo sighed, and smiled. 

"Alright then, Tam Lin. Welcome to the party." Kobold disappeared, as Tam Lin took his place, and Leo looked at the twenty or so Preta that had surrounded them. "Let's go, everyone!"

Leo lashed out at a Preta that had approached, kicking the ugly creature in the face, and Pixie rushing in to finish the job. As she was about to be swarmed, with a cry of "Bufu!" and a swipe of Leo's hand, spikes of ice impaled one of the Preta from the inside-out, the ice crystal shattering outwards, exploding the Preta into gore, and giving Pixie an escape route, albeit one that covered her in gore. Tam Lin, then, was the one who rushed in, and in a sweeping strike from the faerie knight's spear, the other seven or so Preta's lives were ended, going back into the endless reincarnation that is Samsara. For their sakes, thought Leo to himself, I hope that their next life is a better one. And in a cry of "Agi!", another of the Preta died, this one in a gout of flame that sent it screeching. It eerily sounded like the cries of a human in their death throes. Ignoring the scream similar to those that, by now, Leo had heard too many times to count, he seemingly danced into battle, the graceful art of Capoeira leading his movements, parrying, kicking, until suddenly, a brusque flying knee signified the transition to the brutal Muay Thai style, killing Preta left and right, Tam Lin and Pixie by his sides until, at last, the last of the Preta was dead. Sighing in both tiredness, and exhilaration at the victory, he let Pixie and Tam Lin gorge themselves on the Atma that comprised the demon's bodies, while he set about collecting the Magnetite - their Karma - that they had dropped as they had died, picking up a few of the scraps of the demonic flesh and eating it himself. After all, how else could he develop? He looked to Skyler, a questioning look in his eyes. Do you need any of this?