Sonata of Memories [Job/Venir]

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Unaware of the extent in which her partners were trying to help her, Venir was still trapped in the illusion. Unfortunately or fortunately she was not alone in this illusion. Just as she had turned demanding who was there, she was greeted with a familiar face. "A-Alyia!" Her eyes widened, she took a step back only to fall upon her bottom. What was Alyia doing her? She wasn't ready to confront Alyia so soon! What was she going to say? Should she apologize or? Her mind was going a hundred miles per minute but her mouth merely open and closed, unable to form even the simplest of sentences. Illusion or not, Venir had forgotten for the briefest of moments because of the unexpected appearance of her old friend. "Alyia I..." Venir reached out, but her hand stopped in mid air, and her eyes widened as her friend had spoke in a voice that didn't sound quite right.


Her heart hurt, and her face could not hide it. "No don't hate-" She cut herself off, wincing as another flurry of unpleasant words left the angels lips. Desperately, like a cornered animal, Venir attempted to scoot away. Trying to flee from the pain, and heartache but no matter how far she moved back the angel always seemed to be in front of her. Close enough that she was just out of Venir's reach. "Stop!" She cried out again, anger beginning to flare, the lacrima beginning to twitch inside of her belly at the sudden influx of negative emotions. It was like Eclipse Soul all over again. Pain, hurt, hate, everything welling up again, and bringing something horrible back to life. "You're gonna make me lose control!" She panted, but the words kept pouring from her best friends lips. If she lost control again, lost her cool here, in front of Alyia, all of her pain directed at her? How could she live with herself? "Please stop..." She closed her eyes... trying to stop herself from exploding with energy, trying to control the twitching of the lacrima within her. After all this time, and all the training she still couldn't control herself-



Amethyst eyes opened, almost forgotten words from a certain someone ringing in her ears. "Don't let this control me." Her hands balled up into fists, and Venir grit her teeth, "I will not lose control!" She shouted at the illusion of her best friend, only the illusion was no longer there, and Venir was alone once again. The illusion world rumbled, as if an earthquake had hit it, but eventually it settled. Did that do something? She had broken through the first illusion but evidently she still had not returned to her partners. All Venir could do was hope that she get out of there quickly, and that her partners were fairing well with out her.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Venir turned on her heel, amethyst orbs peering into the dense fog that the sound originated from. It sounded like the pitter patter of bare feet upon the stone earth, but who or what that was from Venir did not know. Her slayer sense were significantly dulled, no doubt another effect of the illusion she was trapped in. Raising her fists, Venir took a defensive position as she tried to focus her gaze through the fog. Whatever was running towards her was far faster than it sounded, and it easily took her by surprise. "Ah!" She gasped when a small figure had wrapped its arms about her legs, tears socking into her stockings. "W-What the!?" She looked down only to see a head of blonde curls. Suddenly wailing caught her ears, and Venir realized that the crying figure attached to her legs was sobbing harshly. "Are you okay!?" Venir pried the child away from her, kneeling down so that they would be on the same level. Violet orbs, sparkling with tears stared back at her.


She sniffled, nose crinkling, tiny palms furiously rubbing at her eyes as if she was trying to hide the tears, "Are you my mom? I lost her, and my dad too." Venir gulped, the child before her couldn't be? "Why haven't they picked me up yet? I don't like my new home. They do painful things to me..." The childs fingers prodded at her stomach, or rather on the right side of her stomach, just above her hip bone in an all too familiar place. "I don't know what they want." She hiccuped, a new wave of sobs threatening to overcome her, the woman before her could only stare in bewilderment, "I-I try to do what they want but I can't. Sometimes it feels like they're burning me and, and... Everything burns." She cried again, and Venir finally embraced the small, familiar child.


Venir stopped, holding the small child away from her at arm's length. Everything about her invited Venir in, beckoned her to do her bidding. To deny her request was like to cast her away. Yet...This was an illusion, a being created of nothing but magic, memories that Venir did not recall, and feelings from a time long ago. What was it that this illusion wanted? There was no way for Venir to help her find that which Venir had yet to find after all this time. Most of the time even Venir found herself doubting their existence, doubting if she ever had family, and if they did would they save her? Did they know where she was? Were they the one's who cast her away in the first place? Regardless, their existence was a memory and Venir found that she needed to accept-



Her words were harsh, trembling off of her lips but that seemed to do the trick, or close enough. The illusion around her began to crack, and fall to pieces, but Venir still saw the look of despair across the childs face. "Ow!" Venir fell to one knee, clutching at her head, but at least she was back in the real world with her partners.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Venir looked up just in time to see a mage of sorts fall from one of the near by buildings. He seemed to be in worse condition than Venir, he too clutching at his head, and breathing harshly. "Apparently his illusions aren't just one way pain..." Venir tried to get back up to her feet, but on her first attempt she ended up back on the ground, one of her knees supporting her weight. Her head felt like someone had taken a bat to it, and her heart felt even worse. This job really was just one train wreck after another. Luckily, her partners seemed to be in a better condition than Venir was. "Glad to see you two are doing okay I was worried about ya..." She rubbed at her head, gritting her teeth with effort as she attempted to stand once more. This time she managed to retain her balance, her strength slowly returning to her body. Her rapid breathing slowed some, the shaking becoming less violent, but she felt like the migraine was going to be in her head for days.


Venir would have cheered if not for her still splitting headache. Instead she gave a smug grin, and a thumbs up if Ignite were to look her way. The illusionist deserved more than just a slap but for now it was satisfying enough to Venir. "Yeah..." Venir growled, edging closer to the oddly dressed mage, he looked like one of the eccentric types. "Ya better honest truthfully too. If I feel like you're lying, I'm gonna give ya enough pain to make whatever you did in our heads look like a dream." Death was the cowards way out, and unluckily for this man, Venir did not believe in killing her human opponents. There was always a chance for redemption, though often times the road to redemption was filled with pain, something that Venir was willing to help the illusionist understand. Cracking her flaming knuckles, the illusionist let out a squeak, physical pain accompanied by the mental pain in his head was too much for him to handle. Without much goading the male spilled what he knew, in quite the egotistical manner for someone who just got defeated by the trio;

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Venir could only rub at the back of her head in response. How much Ignite and Elyx really need her there was questionable to say the least. Both of them seemed more than capable of handling themselves in any situation. Even now they were able to interrogate the man as if they were Rune Knights rather than Bounty Hunters. Venir on the other hand could only threaten with the ruthlessness that was often times associated with guidless mages, which is exactly what she happened to be. In the end it worked to their advantage though the illusionist seemed more focused on himself than giving them proper details. "Human experiments?" Venir visibly bristled, she herself a subject of experiments placed upon humans. That much the illusionist could see as he glanced between Elyx, and Venir. At Elyx's cue, Venir wasted no time in threatening the male. Igniting her palm with a flurry of dark flames, Venir closed in on the male. Her flaming fist was close enough to the illusionists face so that he could feel the unholy heat of the ominous flames, "Drop the illusions on this town now, and tell us everything you know. Or else you won't have much to brag about once I'm done with you. Got it?" Flames drew closer to the male until he finally started speaking again,


The male squeaked, and the area around them suddenly changed, and not for the better. Many of the homes were in shambles, and the inn that they had stayed in was all torn up. This village had taken quite the beating under rule of Caroline and her experiments... Since his illusion was dropped Venir extinguished the flame on her hand, causing the male to let out a sigh of relief. That sigh turned into a grunt of pain as her fist struck him in just the right spot to knock him out for good, "Ugh he was annoying and I'm pissed now!" She huffed, the air around her heating up with rage. She needed to release her frustrations, and fortunately there was some approaching candidates for her to get a few good hits on,

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Venir almost felt the same as Elyx, almost. She didn't kill, that much she had vowed to an old guild member. However, Venir was willing to carry out her threat to the illusionist, upon the so called Caroline. There is always fates far worse than death, and Venir was certain she could produce a few. "Bring it..." She struggled to find some sort of name to call him so instead Venir just dropped the subject there. It was time that win this fair and square! Just him and her, no outside help! Or at least that was what Venir thought...


She shouted, holding her index and middle fingers together, dark flames gathered around them. At her shout, she swiped her fingers from right to left, leaving a trail of dark flames in her fingers wake. The flames traveled through the air, towards the group of the failed experiments before her. Considering their half dead-appearance, and little to no mental capabilities the creatures could not avoid the wave of flames heading towards them. Though the flames were only average in strength, what came after them was far more fearsome. "Hyyyyah!" She shouted, practically bombrushing them with raised fists. Venir wasted little time in engaging the almost zombie like, demon angel hybrid experiments. Her partner had done the same though it was not alone. "Wait a minute!" Venir growled, loud enough that surely Elyx would hear with his slayer senses. One of her arms was locked about one of the creatures in an obvious choke hold, while the other held another at bay, "That's cheating! You brought someone else to help you!" Her brow furrowed, and with a loud crack the poor creature in the choke hold went slump. Her other hand let go of the other creature, letting it rush towards her only for it to stop as one of her elbows none too gently slammed itself into its face. "Yuck." She really hated any physical contact with these things, but her flame body burned away any remnants that these weak enemies might leave her on. Besides if Elyx was gonna cheat like that then Ven needed to pick up the pace with these mindless drones! That and maybe she could enlist some help to her cause,

"Ignite!" Venir dodged one of the creatures attack by ducking under it and rushing forwards towards her opponent, "I think I'm starting to get kind of hungry again." A mischievous look was in Venir's eyes, as she swept the things legs out from underneath it, "Think I can finally get a taste of your flames?" Firmly, she placed her boot upon the creature so as to stop it from moving. Turning her amethyst gaze to Ignite, Venir could only grin, and give a quick wink.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

"What! No!" Venir complained, "They come from their keys, and last I checked a Celestial Spirit is it's own person! You didn't summon another Elyx!" She stuck her own tongue out at Elyx as well while giving a harsh kick to the shin to one of failed experiments. Their ability to bicker and argue while fighting enemies was only a testament of their strength as mages. Being able to argue while in such a potentially dangerous situation? Few mages could possibly handle it, but both Ven and Elyx were experienced enough mages. Since Elyx was to continue cheating, Venir had no choice but to continue to fight with everything she had, which was still quite a bit. "D-Done!" She panted, her enemies having fallen to the earth around her. With all of them incapacitated by her flurry of physical attacks, burning palms, and just general ability Venir had thought herself the winner of their little competition. However, her senses soon picked up on another wave of enemies coming her way, these ones were obviously stronger compared to the last batch.

"Thanks Ignite! You're the best!" Luckily, Venir had a certain she-phoenix to help her win this little competition. If Elyx was going to use his Celestia Spirits than there was no reason as to why Venir couldn't get some of Ignite's help. Besides it wasn't as if the phoenix was actually participating in combat like the spirit was. As her new wave of enemies approached Venir had just enough time to catch Ignite's flames, with her mouth of course. There was quite a few flames to gulp down, enough so that her cheeks puffed up a bit as she attempted to swallow. Briefly, she allowed the flavor of the flame to wash over her, and then with one large gulp she absorbed them all in one go. "Alright! Let's do this!" Her enemies were still some ways away, just barely in her field of vision. Beneath her feet was a swirling magic circle of flames, stretching out her palm towards the general direction of her enemies, a similar magic circle appeared in front of her. "Flame Goddesses..." She felt Ignite's fire churn within her, trying to push some of the Phoenix's flames into this attack as well, "Orbital shot!" At her command a sudden explosion of dark flames erupted just off in the distance right where her enemies were. Since the town was already in ruins, her explosion of flames couldn't cause much more damage than what was already there. What was a few burned houses anyways? "Whew!" She huffed, the explosion violent enough to echo a bit, surely that had blow those freaks to pieces? They were of partially holy nature, so the unholy bit to her flames, partially fueled by Ignite's flames, had to have done quite a bit of damage! Finally, Venir turned her attention back to her partners, eager to see how they had faired, and if she had won this little contest.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

"Yes but they're still their own person!" Venir retorted, but no clear winner was decided, nor did it look their small debate would go anywhere. Their argument, if it could be called one, ended as Ignite spoke once the four of them regrouped in the middle of the street. Ignite's words were surprisingly helpful, not that Ignite wasn't helpful. Most of the time it seemed like the phoenix had a knack for getting distracted, or distracting others, not that Venir was much better. Ignite's words did just what they were supposed to do, which was was to get the group back on track. Caroline was still out there! Where they did not know but she easily could have been fleeing as her experiments distracted them. Though that didn't exactly sound right, or sound quite like what this Caroline woman would do. "Hmmmm...." Venir gnawed at the tip of her finger in concentration, brows furrowing in deep thought. Not sensing anyone nearby, or at least not anymore of those experiments, it was likely that those were the last of them. Maybe she did throw all of her experiments at them as she fled but...

"I think that she could have run away..." She paused, trying to sort out the chaos in her head, "But I feel like she didn't." That's all it was, nothing more than a feeling, but sometimes one needed to trust their gut instincts. "She won't leave. Not everyone in this town has been turned into an experiment, and I think that's what she wants. She won't leave until she gets her revenge right? Well, I'm sure she wants revenge against us for having ruined so many of her experiments." She gestured towards the fallen enemies around them. "So I think she's here somewhere...Hiding...No, waiting for us. It's likely that she has some sort of surprise attack in store for us." Venir sighed, her head still hurting from the previous illusions, and the deep thought doing nothing to alleviate that pain. "I mean that's just what I think...Or I guess feel" She rubbed at the back of her head awkwardly, it wasn't often that Venir really thought about things much but...This town was quite the serious situation, and some crazy woman was trying to lure her previous best friend here to seek some sort of revenge upon her! It was only natural that Veir try and put a little more thought into the situation at hand than she usually did. Deciding that the best to do was take into consideration all of their idea's, Venir pointed a single finger towards her nose as she spoke,

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

"Oh good idea!" Since Elyx was probably better at sensing magical presences Venir let him do it, though Venir also tried to do her best to sense for any mage outside of a home. Apparently, neither of them had taken into consideration that Caroline might not be outside. Venir did not sense anyone outside of a home and neither did Elyx. "Well..." Venir put her hands on her hips, "If we can't sense her let's try sniffing her out then!" Her nose crinkled as if in response. It was a somewhat valid idea, except neither of them had any idea of what her scent smelled like. Bad ideas, or rather half thought out idea's seemed to be a common thing in this group. One moment they're a group of smart mages, and then the next they're reduced to questionable intelligence. Taking a step away from the group, evidently Venir was going to follow through with her plan to sniff out their opponent. She probably smelled like the experiments right?


The ground shook with the force of the impact only a few meters in front of Venir. "Ow!" Venir fell upon her bottom staring wide eyed at the cloud of dust and debris before her. When the dust had settled, a woman stood amidst the small crater she had created. There was little to no doubt on the identity of the woman before them. She reeked of both holy and unholy, and her magical presence was noteworthy now that it wasn't cloaked. A moment of silent passed as the woman sucked in a large breath, her eyes closed, before she finally opened them revealing a harsh glare directed towards the group of youths.


Venir interrupted with a blatant lie, getting back up to her feet, dusting herself off. Her heated violet gaze met the woman's, "What were you saying? Sorry I don't listen to jerks that perform experiments on humans." She held up five fingers to the woman, "I'm giving you the count of five to apologize for what you've done, and turn yourself in. If you don't then my partners and I will kick your ass! I'm being really generous right now because trust me I really wanna pummel you right now. Five, four-"

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Venir continued her count, pausing only once to let Elyx speak. His anger rivaled even Venir's. At least they were on the same page when it came to the woman before them. If she could even be called a woman anymore at this point. Her half angel nature meant that the two slayers hits would hurt, but that didn't mean that they shouldn't be somewhat careful. Caroline did have a half demon side as well, not to mention her angelic half used holy magic which was the exact opposite of which the two slayers used. How effective that half holy power would be under the combined weight of both Elyx and Venir's unholy magic was a different story. After Elyx had finished speaking, violent winds whipped about them, pushing Venir's blonde locks to and fro. Occasionally, her bangs got in her eyes but her glare never softened, and her count did not cease.


A jet of dark flames propelled Venir towards Caroline, thoroughly pissed off at the woman for having dared to mention her old friend. It wasn't just that she mentioned Alyia, but what she had threatened to do to her friend was...Well, it enraged Venir, and the slayer made for quite the fearsome sight when enraged. "Flame Goddesses!" She cocked back her right fist, the unholy flames around it swelling further in size and concentration. There would not be call of "1" instead, Venir simply yelled out her attack. "Volcanic Fist!" She struck the woman right in her stomach, not giving her time to react to Venir's sudden attack. Upon contact the flames erupted violently, carrying Caroline back down the street. It was not say that Venir made it through completely unscathed. Caroline managed to slip in a quick strike to the goddess slayer in the brief pause between the punch and the eruption of flames. Her body went flying like a rag doll, crashing into one of the previously ruined houses. "Gaaah..." Venir grunted, pulling herself from the rubble. That hit hurt worse than expected, Caroline really was stronger than she appeared. Shaking off the pain in her head, and the new pain in her belly, Venir wasted no time in getting back into the fight. After all, she had to fight to protect her friend, even if her friend didn't know it. It was the only way in which she could ease her guilt for Alyia, if she could do just this one thing then perhaps she could live her life nightmare free.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Ignite's harsh words towards Alyia were more or less overlooked by Venir. The phoenix and angel only had met once but it didn't end well. It was back when Venir had still taken a childish form, both her and Alyia happened to have gotten a bit over their heads in a certain job. Even then Elyx was always there to help out, making the blonde mage feel a little guilty. Here they were now, Elyx still helping her out despite her own growth as a person and a mage. The memory itself was an almost laughable one, the amount of change between now and then was immeasurable. Though something's did not change and Ignite's attitude was one of them. Would she ever get over her little grudge? Not that Venir should be talking about grudges or anything. Having clambered back to her feet, the young woman wiped away a stray trickle of blood from her lips. Having shed some blood only made Venir more angry than she previously was. As she recovered some, both Ignite and Elyx's teamwork had provided a perfect opportunity for Venir, one that she could not waste.


Venir shouted, swiping her hand in a circle, eight circles of flame appeared. Her feet carried her forwards, the balls of flame following her, "Combine!" She slapped her hands together, and the eight separate balls of flame combined into one large one. "Shoot!" She commanded just as she had rushed into the flames created from Ignite's large blast. One large ball of dark unholy flames rushed towards Caroline but Venir did not look to see if it would hit, nor did she check to see what Ignite was doing. Instead she basked amongst the flames of the phoenix for a moment, their intense heat licking at her skin. "Here goes nothing..." Ignite's flames had covered a large enough distance that she was far away enough from Caroline that she did not have to worry much. That and she trusted both Elyx and Ignite enough to not let Caroline harm her as she tried to charge up. Her mouth opened up as wide as it could, almost as if to suck in a deep breath or let loose a loud scream. Whoosh! With visible effort, Venir sucked in as much of the flames as she possibly could, swirling about her like a small vortex. Then with one large intake, the remaining flames traveled down her gullet, and the street seemed suddenly empty without their flickering presence. Letting out a large exhale, that looked more like smoke than air, Venir had to rest for a moments, hands on her knees almost as if she was about to throw up. Ignite's flames were potent to say the least, and they burned almost painfully in her belly.


Her body certainly felt like she did. However, the quickest way to fix that problem was to simply expel the large amount of flames she had ingested. Not moving from her position, Venir was already charging up the spell he had in mind. Better to look defenseless and weakened than to let her opponent know what sort of trick she had up her sleeve.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

Having previously charged up her energy a few moments earlier, Venir finally let a large ball of flame appear above her head. Caroline was more than distracted by the flurry of powerful attacks aimed at her by Elyx, Ignite, and Aludra. Their combined attack power was enormous! In terms of power alone, Venir had to push her own feet into the earth to prevent herself from sliding back some. Above her the ball of dark flames grew larger and larger, one of her hands up in the air as if to support it. She was panting heavily as it charged, still doing her best to expel as much of Ignite's energy as she could. Her flames were delicious to say the least, but a little too strong. That or Venir had simply ingested too much, maybe her previous large meal was still in there? Only a few moments had passed and the ball of flames above her had reached its max size. Normally, it would take longer but since she had been amassing the energy the moment she had finished consuiming Ignite's flames, the process this time was relatively quicker.


Venir grinned at the phoenix and then at Elyx, something akin to thanksfulness in her eyes. Had she ever been the one to land a finishing blow? Venir could not recall off of the top of her head, and the fact that these three were letting her was...It was a special feeling to say the least. Especially, since Ignite had gently tossed another ball of flames Venir's way. This one was already more manageable than the large amount that Venir had consumed earlier. Giving her friends one last thankful smile, she held onto Ignite's flame in one hand, and her own large mass of flames above her. "Taaaaake this!" She shouted tossing the boulder like flame onto Caroline. When it collided the thing created a large blast, and a small crater formed in the earth at the impact site. At the epicenter was Caroline barely standing, but not for long.


Ignite's flame was no longer in Venir's hand, and with the sudden exhale of smoke it was clear what had happened to the flame. "One last attack!" She rushed forward, not stopping until she was right in front of Caroline, fist cocked back as if to punch her. Dazed and defeated the woman flinched at the sight before her, trying to brace herself for the inevitable punch. Instead the fist opened up, fingers curling to form a circle with her index finger and thumb. Then she flicked Caroline in the center of her forehead, the woman confused as to why Venir had not punched her, and then like that she went flying backwards with a burst of flame. The sheer force of it often times left a small delay in the time between the flick, and the body registering just what had hit it. Caroline's body did not stop rolling for sometime until it came to a stop, so far away that she was just barely in view. Not that Venir worried much, the woman wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. This time Venir turned to her partners, having fallen to one knee, finally vocalizing her earlier question in between pants for breath,

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The finite.

All of their cheers, well a single cheer, a request to go drinking together, and a heartfelt monologue spurned Venir on. It really had been sometime since she had gotten to work with such good friends. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be around such warm people. "Hahahaha! Careful!" Venir managed to laugh as she was practically tackled by Ignite and Aludra after Caroline was knocked out cold, or in this case hot? "I don't want to burn you my body is still pretty-" Not that she had to worry about burning Ignite, Aludra was the only one that needed any worry though she was a Celestial Spirit. However, the worry was wasted as Ven realized that her body wasn't overheated, if anything it was pleasantly warm, only a little bit warmer than that of an average human. This realization only made the slayer grin, and eagerly return the two women's embrace.



Laughs and cheers woulds top as Venir finally looked at Caroline who rested in Elyx's arms like a child. A naughty, spoiled child, but a child nonetheless. Sudden thoughts of the Rune Knights plagues Venir's head, and she stood up abruptly, nearly falling over again from the sudden wave of dizziness. "M-My first arrest bounty?" Her balance came back after a few moments of flailing, she really shouldn't have stood up so quickly! "I don't know about that..." Her arresting someone? Like how the Rune Knights arrested people? What would the Rune Knights say if she waltzed in to their headquarters with this woman? Was it possible that they would overlook her past accidents? Or would she just got tossed into handcuffs as well. Fear having overshadowed her victory, Venir nervously scratched at the back of her head, once again feeling guilty for keeping such things a secret. "M-Maybe you should turn her in! You're the bounty hunter here after all!" She'd try to explain, eyes glancing to the side, "Besides I don't know the first thing about turning a bounty!" Well, she did, so her guilt increased even further, "I think I'll stay here and look for any survivors in town so I can try to help them! Thanks for inviting me along Elyx!" Venir wobbled, taking a few steps back as if to depart, Venir fumbled for more words to say. More words to cover up her sudden urge to flee, but none came at first. Guilt was the only thing that came to mind, and perhaps spilling her guts then and there but... Sometimes it was better to just leave, thought not without one last parting request,