Kaz looked a bit shocked at how easily she accepted what he said, and even took his hand. The mage's hand tensed at first from surprise, but he relaxed it and opened his hand for her to examine. He was not used to being on this end of things or this gentle side of Nuala. She was a woman with many complexities.

He couldn't hide the grin on his face at what she said next. There was something within him that pulled him to do good. Beckoned him to act. The angelic nature in his soul. But more than that it was a path he chose in life. "Well, Nuala. You do know that risking my health for strangers is kinda my job," he gave a small joke about being in the rune knights. "But thank you. I do appreciate your concern, and will be more careful," he responded even though in his heart that would be something he couldn't keep. But hopefully, it would at least set aside some of her worry for him. It wasn't in his nature to play things safe.

The squeeze he felt from her let him know that her concern was genuine. He opened his mouth to say something but let it rest inside him and replaced it with a simple smile and a nod. Once she turned around, he dusted the debris from his hand off on his pants and followed. She was of course right about wizards rarely surrendering. Kaz wouldn't and he knew few that would. "I know. I want to at least give them the option. Though unfortunately, I find that most people don't take it."

He listened to her rundown of the people they would encounter. "Seems like the lord is more suited for you to tackle," he remarked, thinking about the last time he fought a gun user. Hopefully, this one proved to be less difficult.

Nuala shot him a smile with some calming words. It was nice to work with someone that seemed to get him even if their styles were different. Perhaps that would become a good compliment to one another. " A mage of destruction, huh? I trust you will do what you must. if you reach the Lord first. I'll not make a fuss." He said as Nuala turned to kick in the door and leaped inside.

Kaz dashed in afterwards, scanning the room for the other mage. It was a large hall but only the three of them were within it. The lord sat in a large chair behind an oak desk with documents neatly stacked in piles. There was a table for them to eat and against the wall was a shackled and bloodied man that had been tortured. His presence seemed to have been largely ignored by them as if they were taking a dinner break from causing him pain.

Chandeliers hung from the ceilings and plates of delicacies were illuminated beneath its light. Without hesitation, Nuala was dealing with the red-head. Her weaponized body moved with deadly precision. Almost as if she had been designed to do this. Kaz stepped in and adjusted his clothing to make them looser and untucked his shirt. "If you would all surrender now, I would appreciate it by order of the knights."

The lord rocked back and laughed, "You come into my home and try to kill me. And you too Nuala. You bring this scum. You're both not leaving here alive. Kill'em both!" The man raved as he opened his drawer in search of his firearm.

The other, blonde mage stomped her foot as a yellow magic circle appeared. She threw her hand forward and sent a bolt of lightning streaking through the air. It zoomed towards Kaz. The wind mage threw out a blade of wind to intercept it. The spells clashed and as the magic dissipated, another bolt streaked through the remnants of the clash. Its light reflected in Kaz's eyes right before it bore into his shoulder and coursed out of the back of his shoulder.

Kaz groaned in pain and fell backwards on the ground, immediately, rolling back to his feet. The attack had seared his suit jacket and electrified his shoulder. The woman took a few steps forward, lightning still cackling across her body.

Everything culminated at once for the wind mage. The thought of all the heinous acts committed here. The crimes and drugs happening all around them. Torture and the fear of death for his companion and himself. The man and the court wizards failing to uphold their duty to the people. it was nearly too much for him to contain any longer.

"That's it,"he whispered to himself as he stood up and remove the suit jacket to let it fall to the ground. His eyes glowed white with wrath, "I'll answer the path you have chosen," he said to the blonde mage as she hesitated, seeing two feathered wings emerge from his back. In that moment of hesitation, Kaz dashed forward in an instant and with a swipe of his hand, summoned a tornado that tore at the woman and sent her falling back into a table.

Sparks of lightning washed over her as she pulled herself back up.

Kaz felt the sting of the lightning burn through his close and the electricity that filled his body. The hair on his arms stood on end from the surge. His aura sprang to life and once proud and vigilant sorceress that throw the bolt had a tremble in her hand. Kaz's aura of fear reached into her resolve. They two readied for round two when Nuala's was sent across the room, engulfed in flames. Things were getting serious and fast. He thought the gruesome and violent attack from Nuala would have been enough to take the fire mage out but she was more resilient than he expected.

Almost on instinct, he released an aura that would buff all of Nuala's stats and give her the ability to resist some magical damage. At the same time, it augmented Kaz's own abilities. He was faster and stronger from his angelic powers stacked with his aura that bolstered his resolve from Nuala's presence. "You alright," he called out to his partner.

There was no time for him to check on his ally as the lightning mage balled her hands that crackled with sparks and bolts. She brought it back like a baseball and heaved it at the wind mage. Kaz dashed to the side as the ball of lightning erupted and bolts of lightning filled the room and two struck the angelic mage. One in his arm and the other across his shoulder.

Kaz kicked off the wind and dashed in the blink of an eye to the other side of the room. His feet hit the wall and with another dash, he dodged the next flurry of lightning bolts. The enclosed space made it more difficult for him to act.

His dash sent him hurtling towards the mage, he thrust his hand forward and sent a column of wind rushing out that collided with the lightning. With his second hand he sent a matching column of wind at the fire mage, it wouldn't hit but would hopefully cause a distraction for Nuala to take advantage of. As the lightning and wind spells clashed they erupted between them, Kaz soared through the blast with minor singes. With a deep breath, he gave a roar. A tiger appeared flying with him and roaring. A vacuum of wind shot forth. The lightning mage rose her hand and cast a bolt to collide with it but Kaz's spell broke through hers and engulfed her in slashing wind that knocked her down once more.

The wind mage couldn't believe how these two powerful mages came to be servent of such dark deeds. But they were his enemy. The lightning mage got to her feet once more. Her wounds bleed out on the floor. Kaz still felt the heat from the lightning and the electrical current that caused his muscles to give small twitches beneath his clothes.

The blonde mage grunted as she balanced herself. Her hands gathered more energy around them. The man at the table slid his chair back in anticipation. The blonde mage created a large magic circle around herself and bolts of lightning sparked to life.

"It doesn't have to be this way. Please," Kaz made his final plea to her knowing what this next attack would mean. The woman snarled back, "There is no failure."

Kaz's eyes that once held sorrow turned cold and remorseless. He stepped his foot back and planted it in the ground. The woman's energy surged outward as four bolts of lightning converged on Kazimir. The wind mage stomped his foot and shot forward, faster than the spells were moving but one still struck his shoulder. the blow sent him into a spiral but he was still going forward. Mid-way he regained his bearings and held his hand at his side, then brought it slashing upward like a tiger's claw. A tornado ripped into the ground and consumed the lightning mage, sending her lifeless to the floor.

The wrathful angel stood for only a second then turned his attention to see how Nuala was doing and if the man was still there. The fingers on Kaz's left hand twitched from the final attack, his whole arm was wounded and hard to control, from the waves of electricity still rushing through it.

Kaz was battling the lightning mage when his ally seemed to vanish from the battlefield. He still knew she was there but to disappear in plain sight was a fearsome ability. As the lightning mage fell, Nuala swiftly dealt a finishing blow to her opponent. Kaz wondered if it was her skills as a rogue or something buffered by what those markings did to her. Or what that strange outer shell was that she could conjure.

Nuala climbed over the table and tried to reassure the wind mage. He nodded and the wind around him died down. "You're probably right. Sometimes these things aren't avoidable," he spoke from hard lessons learned in the past, still wishing things didn't need to end this way. He stepped away from the body of the mage. Nuala spoke about haste earlier and there was no time for sentiments. Seeing how passionately she fought against them and remembering how she first appeared to him. It reminded him of how his people left him. He didn't know if it was the same or not, but he could understand it in a way. He wouldn't have wanted anyone to stand in his way either.

He looked away in surprise that Nuala was giving him the chance to decide the man's fate. "That's a thoughtful gesture," he said as he crossed over and took the two more keys that Nuala took from the noble. "I was able to face my past and the people that wronged me and I was able to deal with it the way I wanted to," He looked back at the scared lord, the man's eyes darting between the two intruders. "This one is for you to decide," he said with a hand on her shoulder and then turned to walk towards the bookshelf as she made her choice.

He walked to the bookshelf and put in the key. He turned it with a small click to the side as Nuala made the decision that he passed back to her. For Kaz, he was a crime lord. Whether he lived or died here, it wasn't something that put civilians in danger. Arresting him or his death...while Kaz wouldn't deliver the final blow, he wouldn't take that freedom away from Nuala.

The door opened and the wind mage saw the room filled with valuables. He looked back to see what her choice was. His body turned to the side so that she could enter the room. It was a long room with another door on the other side of it. One with a keyhole perfectly shaped to fit one of the golden keys.

There were a few key items in the vault that were reported stolen. Kaz took out a sack and put in some of the stolen goods and a slew of jewels to pay back the people that were robbed. Kaz put in the other key and unlocked the next trap door. "I'm glad you aren't harmed. And Thank you," he said as a show that his trust was well placed while holding the trap door open. He waited in case there was anything she needed to gather from the place.

"The wind often changes directions," he answered with not so cryptic phrase to her response. He had rigidity sometimes but like everyone else, he was still learning more about himself with each encounter. He held the bookcase open with his back to what was going on. He knew exactly what was going to happen when she quietly entered the treasure room and picked up a sole jeweled dagger. A rich weapon for a criminal's demise. Poetic in many ways. The man went silently into the dark night but Kaz could almost feel the life slowly draining from him.

She returned to the room with a frustrated spin among all the valuables she risked herself to acquire. Kaz held a gemstone in his hand and ran a finger across it, taking in her words. "Some people just like to know they have a thing. No greater show of greed. Not even keeping them to flaunt them," he shrugged. Coming from a small village he never understood people's drive for pretty things to keep and safeguard and the time spent in it when one could spend their time honing a craft.

"So you never knew what happened to the things you stole," he asked curiously.

Kaz put the last few items in his bag. All that would fit, anyway. He then heard the chuckle of his ally with a witty remark. He looked into the bag and laughed, wondering if this is what it kinda felt like to be a thief. "Again. Kazimir is fine. And all these things are going to go back to their rightful owners," He said looking over his shoulder at her with a smile that turned to an inquisitive grin, "But you can pay me in information."He had not forgotten about what he wanted to ask her before they parted ways.

She was nimble enough to hop through the trap door. The skills of a master thief were impressive. He hoped through the door with her and once again followed her down a dark path towards seemingly the unknown.

Eventually, she stopped and pushed open a grate to pull herself free. Kaz stepped forward to give her his knee to step on as a boost but before he could take his first full step towards her she was already pulling herself up and out.

Her hand extended back down to him with words of safety. He took her hand and with her assistance, he pulled himself from the canal. "Thank you...You know I can fly right,"He said with a cheeky smile. He turned around to give the area a quick scan, mostly out of habit.

"That's good. I didn't expect such a clean getaway. A carefully crafted plan. You are indeed very good at what you do,"He spoke with his back still to her and slowly turning to face her.

"I suppose so," he began. "It's been a pleasure. I will always welcome your assistance and you'll always have mine." He rose his hand as if to stop her from leaving but it was a slow movement, "It was a tough fight. Are you sure you'll be able to get to where you're going alright?" He asked to make sure she was really okay. He had a host of other questions to ask her but their night had been long and this time he could wait in case their paths crossed again.

The wind mage couldn't help but laugh at her way of dancing around the idea of theft. An acute practiced response. "Of course. My apologies. No crime in that," he said with a smirk knowing full well the truth but he wasn't about to press the issue and was content with just leaving it at that.

He tilted his head for a moment to the side, confused by the frown that came across her face. As it faded away he shrugged off the moment as something not serious or that would come about at a later time. Despite being in pain she claimed she was alright. A statement showed just how stubborn she was. She turned her back to leave as Kaz crossed his arms. "That's good."

"I'd say trusting. You don't seem like the foolish type and tricking people seems like a lot of extra work. Being honest and straight is just simpler for me," he replied with a shrug as she disappeared into the night.

Kaz made his long walk home, ready to collapse from the day's work.

Kaz had gone back to normal. After the battle with Baldanti he was promoted to Captain-Commander and for the time being, tasked with ensuring the safety of Crocus while all the dark mages were there. But soon he would be able to travel back to his home in Era.

Every so often a new report would come in or a crime bust would go off and he would wonder if it was Nuala again or not. But she was yet to show up in any of them. In some ways it was nice, perhaps it meant she was turning away from crime and had moved on to brighter things. On the other hand, he still had a great deal of questions for her.

Time went on and the mage's life was business as usual. As much as it could be right now. It had been another long day at work. he made his way back to his temporary apartment turned into an office now. Noyiah was out pulling a night patrol. They had to stagger shifts with the recent developments as things progressed.

Kaz closed his apartment door behind him and placed some folders into neat stacks of files. Giving a sigh he sat in a chair and looked out the window over the town where the sun had set. the streets were lit with lacrima.

He stood up and made his way to the stove with a growl of his stomach and lit the flames. He set the skillet onto and inside he poured in some pancake mix for his late-night snack. With a few flips they were finished and flopped onto his plate. His mouth was already watering as he grabbed the rich bottle of syrup.

He tilted the container of the deep maple brown liquid and was halted midway. The syrup barely touched the lip of the bottle when there was a knock at the door. "hm," he uttered softly. He set the bottle down and with narrowed eyes, he snuck over to the door and extended his senses to feel the vibration on the other side. It seemed to only be one person.

His hand grasped the doorknob, "What can I help you with," he said assuming that it was a knight coming for approval for an action, as was the case the past couple of weeks There was always a hint of caution with it as he could never be sure who it was after having disturbed one of the major crime organizations in the town.

Once Nuala would answer, Kaz would cheerfully reply, "Oh. come in." He unlocked the door and eased it open as he turned to head back toward the warm plate of food that awaited him. He left the door wide, for her to come in at her leisure.

"Thanks for knocking this time," he said as he scooped up the plate and dug a fork into one of them while leaning his but on the table, that was cluttered with paperwork.

"It's been a little while. Do you want a pancake?" He asked as he took note of her far more laid back attire. Meanwhile, the wind mage was still in uniform.

Kaz opened the door with a smile knowing who it was. He was already walking back to his meal when he tilted his head at her mention of a gift. "Oh, that's not necessary. But thank you," he was a bit surprised at seeing a more gentle side of her but it was refreshing even in the time they had known one another.

He thought it amusing how intently she scanned the apartment. No much had changed aside from the amount of paperwork that she soon came to see. He grinned at the bag of tea,"Be careful you may actually become a softy," he joked back but his eyes showed genuine thanks. "Thank you. I'll put some on for us."

Making his way to the kitchen he filled a pot full of water and lit the stove. Waiting for it to get warm, he then put the teapot on and got the leaves ready. He peeked around the corner to see what his rogue companion was doing and cut her sifting through his paperwork. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped, realizing she could have just snuck in and read them anyway.

He closed his mouth, shaking his head and spoke, "Top drawer on the right," he said with a head nod towards the drawer next to where she sat and brought himself back to the tea. "That's where your file is." If she opened it to look it would be labeled classified and her name was under an Alias listing her involvement only as a confidential informant.

"Well, this is a good way to show it," he replied happily about the tea as the pot began to whistle. He brought out two cups and the tea strainer for the leaves and poured them each a cup. The smell caused the mage to close his eyes and waft it in towards his nose.

He brought the teacups into the living room and set one down for her and held the other in his hand. He brought it to his lips and blew away the top layer of heat before taking a sip. "This must have been hard for you to find. It's delicious."

"And yes, I sent a special operations team back in through the path we took a little later after apprehending someone on the street, who could take the blame for giving up the location. Then we got out more of the goods and shut the place down. You made a lot of people happy."

"Thanks for checking in on me. I'm fine. How are your injuries holding up," he said as he leaned a bit forward to see the places where she had been set on fire. "I still have some bandages around here,"

He was taking another sip of the tea when she dropped a bombshell of a question out of the blue. Kaz choked and spit some of the tea back in the cup mid-sip. "Hm, ugh," he muttered as he brought the cup away from his mouth and wiped the mess away with his sleeve.

"Uhm, well. You don't beat around the bush, do you?" He replied with a semi-nervous chuckle.

"My deal," he repeated to himself. "I am very passionate about helping people. Sometimes I dirty my hands with things and need to make tough calls but that's part of the job. I don't mind criminals if," he was speaking more personally about their working together and once she said something or gave him a look he would realize what she was really asking.

"You mean that. I'll have a few questions for you too then," he said taking a breath and standing up. He paused to gauge the space in the room while his index finger tapped his lips. Closing his eyes for a moment he conjured up the ability.

His wings sprang to life almost touching the sides of the walls. A moment of wrath washed over the place and quickly faded as Kaz opened his eyes, all the indigo replaced with a white glow. He turned and walked toward the window. His wings brushing the air close to Nuala as he closed the blinds, then turned back to face her.

"I am one of the last of my kind. A nephilim given grace by a Seraphim. The Angel of Wrath," He said as he walked back towards the table. "Sorry if my sudden transformation distracted you in battle. Being a nephilim also means I have a strong compulsion to help and save good souls. Which is why I was worried that I'd blow our cover in there."

He stood in silence with his wings still out, waiting for the questions that may be coming before he asked her about herself.

"Nah, I actually got promoted again, so most of that is just busy work and putting my signature on things. Luckily,"He said with a light laugh. That kind of work really wasn't up his alley.

"What?" Kaz replied startled at her implication that bodies had been dropped to provide the leaves. He peeked his head around the corner of the kitchen wall to see her. His eyes laced with a hint of confusion and concern. He breathed a sigh of relief when she laughed it off as a joke. The tension in his shoulders left, "Oh good. I hoped I was right about you and you weren't the random murdering type," he said with a smile that turned to a half frown and a cocked eyebrow at her following statement if the tea wasn't good.

"Well, then I'm sure he has nothing to worry about," Kaz said reassuringly as he turned back to finish the tea.

Kaz sighed again as he walked in on her glee for theft, "You know Nuala you are really talented you could use those skills for something a little less illegal. Or at least stick to rubbing gangsters and criminals," he said as he handed her the tea.

"I'd hate to have to arrest you one day," he said with a joking smile, hoping that would never be the case. "You know the knights hire outside talent for jobs if money is your aim."

Once Nuala had gotten comfortable in the chair he knew he was on a tangent about something she was just waiting on to get to what she really wanted to know. "Uh,"he muttered at Nual's reaction of climbing over the table and touching his feathered wings. He revealed himself so rarely he forgot how people would react to it.

He just watched her as she took in all the information and turned to disbelief. "technically a Nephilim. Human given some of the grace of an angel. It happened during the demonic incursions when Angel's were coming down to fight the demons." He said it but he didn't change the fact that he was no longer human even if he felt like he was.

He took another sip of the tea as she wrapped her mind around it. "This tea is incredible by the way. Some of the best I've had. Thank you," he said partly because he had been distracted by the conversation to mention it and partly to splash something normal into what was happening. But when she mentioned they were from different places Kaz tilted his head to the side, his chin coming out slightly. "What? What do you mean? Are you saying...You're a demon?"He questioned with a rising tone in his voice, one from intrigue and surprise, not hostility. He had met a demon before and Nuala was very much, unlike that person.

But even still if her implication was true...could she really be a demon. What would the odds have been for that to be their encounter? His eyes naturally wandered over to examine the markings on her face.

For a moment she still seemed transfixed on the wings and pushed on them. Kaz gave them a small flap as she pushed them the second time. Showing her more that they were indeed real. He gave her a moment as she repeated the words back. All the while he was thinking about what her journey was is what she also said was true.

PLUCK

Suddenly she had snatched out three feathers, causing Kaz to quietly shout, "Hey!".

"You know that doesn't hurt but it definitely feels uncomfortable," he replied with a wiggle of his wings to shake off the odd feeling of the sudden loss and retracted them so the folded up and rest on his back.

"Sooo...That's me. And I believe it's your turn now," he replied and took another sip of his tea. Still curious about if she believed him and what her response was going to be.

He continued to wait for her. Keeping note of all her little reactions to it. The wind mage scratch his cheek, hearing her talk about the rarity of his species. "It's not that big of a deal,"he said. For him, he had only recently accepted that part of himself and there were still feelings of resentment in the manner to which he was changed.

Her smile was truly a sight to see. Like some mythical occurrence once in a lifetime. His brows lowered in a calm expression at the sentiment. "You're welcome," he replied, having no concern now that she had plucked them. He heard lucky charm and smiled before the word heist set in and turned the smile into a lopsided grin, "You know. I'd rather not my feathers be used to bring luck to crime,"he shook his head, still holding that same grin and knowing that nothing was going to stop her. And even so, he found it endearing.

When she said she wasn't a demon, Kaz sat down and chuckled alongside her. But his eyes betrayed an even deeper curiosity if that was the case. She looked away and he worried that she felt ashamed of what she was. "Well, Angels and Nephilim have not always acted nobly. That's seen in this past war," he said as he too looked away and ran his hand over the top of the teacup before looking back at Nuala when she began to speak again.

he shook his head, in pain at hearing about how young she was when the void took her. An unimaginable fate for anyone to live through. To think she fought her way all the way back here and is making a life for herself was incredible. He leaned forward on the table, taking in every detail of the harrowing journey she described. A nightmare landscape to live in. To think, while they were battling demons up here, people were suffering in the pits of the abyss. It only fueled Kaz's frustration toward people being stuck in the problems of otherworlds.

His eyes narrowed in curiosity as she spoke about an exchange of the human body. It made her existence all the more puzzling to him. Then she leaned forward and Kaz simply sat as she took his hand and placed it where her beating heart should have been. He looked into her eyes and thought about the first time that they met. "So you spent all those years down there. I'm so sorry. And your heart its..." he didn't want to say the words or rather he was cut off by the appearance of a hard outer shell that consumed her body.

His eyes moved from one part of her to the next, seeing the shell covering over her. His eyes flashing wider as he felt a sudden heartbeat. "But...How?" he asked and the explanation was more complicated than he would have thought. He took his other hand and touched poked one of the markings on her face, just to know. Despite its appearance and glow it felt no different.

"So this is not your body? Do you communicate with the creature?"He couldn't help but ask and hope that it wouldn't bring up too many harsh memories.

She released his hand and as quickly as she had transformed, she was back to a normal state. Kaz watched the outer shell dissipate and disappear like it was never there. "I've never seen anything like you in all of my travels," he said using her words back to her as he fully returned to his seat. A mixture of sadness that she was forced into that situation and amazement at what she was.

He lifted his tea to sip it but set it back down without even touching it to his lips. "How long had it been? And I'm sorry you had to go through something so traumatic. And to think you fought your way out and made it here. That is amazing. And the transformation itself is too." He didn't know where to begin, from the glowing markings to the hard outer shell and symbiotic component.

"A Voidling...First I've ever heard of it,"he said sitting away from the table and with his arms resting on his upper legs with a slight lean.

"Can I...I mean...The outer shell. What's it made of? How hard is it?She had shared something difficult with the mage and with her chuckle he took it that she had come to terms with it. Keeping that energy he tried to keep it easy and dove into a few questions.

Kaz retracted his hand at her abrupt response, "My apologies. That was uncalled for," he said sincerely. He let his hand rest back onto the table. Interesting, just something to mark her as different from humans. "Just like the glow in my eyes then. They also serve no purpose." he then let out a short laugh, "I guess heaven or the abyss. Otherworldy forces have a similar gimmick."

His question caused her to pull away and he knew that he was probing for a lot of information but she didn't seem offended by anything other than when he poked her on the forehead to check the mark. It was impressive that she was in a state of symbiosis and could conjure it at will, whenever she desired. It made it all the more interesting and again was much like him. He too could conjure more of the diving presence when he needed it.

Kaz watched with a cocked brow as she counted the time on her fingers. Completely unaware of what timeframe she was counting in but he assumed it to be yearly given how young she looked. "OH," was the first word to escape his lips as she said seventy and he set down his teacup nearly abandoning it.

"You look so young. That must mean you've stopped physically aging as well," he sat back in his chair now with his legs crossed and brows furrowed in thought. There seemed to be more similarities between the two otherworldy places than he thought. "It's hard to imagine. The struggle you must have gone through for all that time. Maybe it's best that its a blur now." He could see her discomfort rise and knew it was time to shift gears a little bit. That most have been a long and lonely time. It began to make more sense why she chose such a loner profession and lifestyle but he didn't bring that up.

Uncrossing his legs and leaning forward, he grabbed her wrists carefully as she offered them. He listened to her explanation while looking at her arms as intently as one would read a book. He lightly squeezed her fist to get a feel of the outer shell. It was cold but there was life to it still. "Impressive. And it bleeds with you? How does it fair against magic?" He asked as he still looked over the carapace but let her hands go.

As expected she then asked him more about himself. "Ah, so it is not just an expanded life for you. It's immortality?" he said as she gave him more answers about her in her question about him.

"No. Being a Nephilim gives me an expanded lifespan. I'll live for another two hundred years and not age." He reached up to the collar of his shirt and pulled it down a few inches to reveal the scar of a deep gash in his chest from a sword.

"I was investigating the church and an Angel descended on me and my partner. It attacked us and ran me through with a sword. As I was dying, the angel flooded my soul with grace creating me into a Nephilim. He said he had a plan for us and then disappeared. It's been a year and I've only seen him one other time." He didn't seem too bothered talking about it, but there was a hint of frustration in his eyes.

"There are only a handful of people that know about that. But you shared a lot with me. And well," he pulled his shirt back and readjusted it. "From one non-human to another."

She definitely looked every bit of in her twenties and not the near one hundred that she actually was. It was odd to stop aging and he could relate to that. He rarely thought about the idea of all the people that would age around him, while he remained young in appearance.

It was a fair fear to have. Magic was a mischievous and hard to deal with art. But he couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "Magic may be hard to deal with but you seemed to fare well against those wizards with the crime lord. I'm sure your raw power strikes fear into the minds of many mages," he said the last part without any sarcasm. He meant it. Anyone that could close the distance on a mage and keep the pressure on, had a good advantage.

She quickly turned the tables and squeezed Kaz's hands. His knee jerk reaction was to pull away but she held him firm but not harmful, and proclaimed her strength. He simply smiled back, "Nuala. You don't need to try and display dominance or a show of strength around me. I know full well what you are capable of." He then gave a coy grin, "But, I'm pretty light on my feet, so you'd have to catch me first."He didn't know what all she had up her sleeve and but it seemed she was not used to displays of weakness or vulnerability. Something he'd imagine she had become accustomed to avoiding.

Kaz shrugged one shoulder at the thought of death and took another long sip of the tea. "Even the fiercest winds eventually yield. But while I am here I will do what I can." Kaz had given little thought to his long life. For him, he always assumed he would die by the hands of violence before old age would take him. He always seemed to put himself in harm's way and went out to face danger. The thought of living long was nice, but with the constant threat of quests, missions, demons, and criminals...it was other ways to pass away that was more likely in his mind. But he wouldn't share something so bleak and hoped for a long life.

Kaz's jaw crept open as Nuala began to laugh at what he could only assume was his pain and his story. But when she spoke, the wind mage couldn't help but lean back in laughter too, at the absurdity of it all. "Yeah. I suppose you can't trust the church after all," he said between laughs.

"So, with such a long life...Is there anything you haven't been able to do yet, that you've always wanted to? I'm sure you've seen some amazing things as a world-renown thief. You must see life and struggle as such a blink of an eye." As she began to respond, Kaz stood up to pour some more tea into her cup.

The laughter died down naturally when he asked the next question. Once he finished pouring the tea he took the pot back to place it on the stove. He pursed his lips as she said she didn't know. It was hard for him to imagine what would bring her joy after something so traumatic. He would have wanted to do it all and maybe she already had and there was nothing new left to experience.

His spirits lifted a bit when she gave a list of things left undone. "The thrill of adventure is something worth chasing. I came here because I love to travel. But," he smirked and sat back down across from her. "Maybe leave the castle raiding alone." he joked for a moment and then gave more thought to her answer. About discovering tombs and temples. Things long forgotten about. He thought it interesting that she was immortal and yet all her desires were about things of the past. Something he chose not to bring up, at least not yet. After all, they did sound like fun activities.

"All those things would be exciting. I imagine if you're going to look for treasure and reward, those places are a good start. As for the afterlife. Yeah," he started and then looked towards the window.

"I don't know what happens to a Nephilim after we die either. All we can do is live," he said raising his teacup in the air and then taking a sip as he brought his attention back to her. The woman in front of him was very reflective. A long life may give a person time to contemplate. They both just kept on moving in a world that was no longer their own.

"That's a good question," he replied, setting his tea down and crossing his arms in thought.

"Well. I was always good. I was good before I changed. Actually I think of done more questionable things since getting my grace. I think its a bit of both, but really, most of the time its things that I would do anyway. Save someone, face a threat. But... the line does get blurry sometimes. As to how much of it is me and how much is the Seraphim.. But I can do what I want. I would just risk losing my abilities,"  his lip curled up in the corner, thinking about it he closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. "But I still feel like me and since we cast out angels and demons from our realm. I've felt my connection with him weaken tremendously."

"And you. Does anything ever impact your mind or the way you think because of the transformation?"

He kept talking about it and told her whatever she wanted to know about what it was to be a Nephilim and the abilities that came with it. They talked through the night about who they were and eventually somehow ended up arm wrestling to which Kaz ended with a nasty bump on his head.

Exit