Ari looked outside, watching the fog grow thicker and collect all around them. It was dark. Not a sound could be heard save for the ever-present trickle of rain pit-pattering against the window sill. They serpentined down the glass in multitudes. Soon it began to turn into a downpour. Ari could not see much of anything then, so he decided to get up and walk where Ra had holed himself up for the good part of the day.

Ra was angry with him, Ari knew that. He felt wrong for feeling the way he did about someone who was like the world and more to Ra. However, Ari could not help it. Sai was like him. They were of the same kind and their blood was compatible. It was natural that it would happen. Ra gave him a glance before stuffing his face back into a book he was reading by candlelight. His red hair kept falling in front of his face and he constantly kept pushing it back. When it fell again, Ari came and moved it from in front of his face. Ra smacked his hand away quickly. He did not even bother to give Ari a glance.

"We are friends... "

Ra looked at Ari. It was a look before it turned into a glare. Ra huffed and slammed his book shut.

"You think because he is like you, he would naturally choose you but you are wrong. All you are is nothing but a temptation. The thing that calls to the baselessness of his being that he has been trying to escape from for what seems like an eternity."

Ari sucked on the inside of his cheek.

"I told Sai once before, you have already been tainted by him from the start and look at you now. It has only festered and grown. Soon you will be just like him. Perhaps worse."

"You are saying these words out of ang-- "

"No, it is the truth. If you are so easily tempted by fleshy desires and have already had a taste of human blood, what will stop you from the things that really... You are hopeless."

Ari stared at him.

"You have nothing but love on your mind, but do you even know what it is? You do not because you are not in love with anyone. It is nothing but lust. It is sad we are the same age and you cannot seem to differentiate between the two."

"Yes, I lust. It is natural as love. It does not make me become any lesser to you because I do. And to calm your weary heart, Sai is still resolute in his ways. He is not willing to have anything with me but..." Ari looked back at Ra and saw how wide his eyes were growing. "I am not sure what to call it."

Ra only sighed away from him.

"Ra."

"Do not call me that."

"I will not... I promise I will not press for anything more than what Sai is willing to give me if you tell me something." His words caught Ra's attention immediately.

"Where are Auovin and Cyrus? What happened when I left?"

"That demon... is from hell... I swear he is."

Ari bristled at his words.

"He shows you one face but he is another way entirely. It is scary and frightening but it is so."

"Auovin does not like humans..."

"No, I think it is much more than that, Ari."

"Where had they gone?"

"Looking for you... He said he had something to tell you.... He said he had promised you, so he would find you."

"And Cyrus?"

"... He stayed behind... as you must know by now."

Ari bent his head down to get a good look at his face. Cyrus? Ari did not want to believe Ra had grown fond of Cyrus as a result. Sai and Cyrus together were quite a thought to have, but Ari would have never suspected Ra would be a supporter of it.

"Cyrus is attractive, is he not?" Ari pushed his leg with his hand. "He is, is he not?"

"He is," Ra finally admitted. "And Cyrus and Sai together is not a bad... thought to have. They suit one another... "

"And you as well?"

Ra's face flushed red as he vehemently shook his head no.

"Love can only be between two people. You are dumb if you think otherwise."

Ari furrowed his brows. That could not be true...

"And his heart is with that black-haired demon no matter how pretty or levelheaded Sai is." Ra barely lifted his head before he muttered, "You all are attractive, so much so it is hard for many to resist the temptation that is you all."

Ari smiled at this. He ducked his head down to get a better view of Ra's face. In the candlelight, his freckles looked like little specks on his face. Ari could not help but think of it as anything but cute. Ra fumbled with his hands and set aside the book further away from himself. As soon as he tried to rise, Ari brought him back down with a simple tug on his sleeve.

"Stay a moment."

"There is not much time to spare."

"For what reason?"

"The greats, the wa--"

"What does it matter?"

"Ari--"

"The greats... the war... none of that matters to me in this moment."

This time Ra kneaded his brows and looked at Ari with a mix of worry and apprehension.

"Right now," Ari went on to say, "I want to kiss you."

"What?"

"To see how you will taste... and what you will taste when you kiss me."

Ra could only stare, dumbfounded.

"Can I?"

The rain battered against the windows, distracting Ra. Ari brought his attention right back to him by fiddling with his fingers and pulling him closer until they were a few breaths apart. Ari could see the hesitation as plain as the stars in the sky. He looked just about how he felt when Auovin tried to kiss him for the first time. Ari smiled at the thought and left a peck at his lips and lingered there, waiting for Ra to respond.

When Ra did nothing, Ari took it upon himself to take his thumb down Ra's chin and kiss him fully. Much like before, he could taste nothing and the sensation he felt with people of his kind was gone from him. Just what was it about them that brought on those kinds of tastes and smells that were absent in humans? Still, Ari liked the softness of his lips and warmth of his mouth and would not mind kissing him again.

Ra licked his bottom lip before tucking it inside his mouth. He was growing terribly shy, Ari noticed which was unlike him.

"You are like this because of Sai's blood. You do not kiss others if there is no meaning behind it, especially if you unaware of how the other feels."

"I am in control of my own body," Ari said while eying his own fingers.

"He is right about him. Your mannerisms... and habits... are like this because of him."

Ari looked up at Ra at his words.

"Who?"

"And you cannot go anywhere until everything is gone from your body. Sai cares enough about you to make sure you are well."

"My body?"

"You went to the dark place. The fallen place."

What are you--"

"The place filled with blue. Even the air can be toxic. It is wrought with death, after all."

"... I had."

"Look at your hands. You see how they have yet to heal?" Ari hid them behind his back and looked away from Ra. "And the demons and the shadows... You have seen them?"

"I have."

"Then you know."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Where demons truly come from. How they are born," Ra pressed.

"I... "

"And what lay there in the darkness."

"You have been there? My father... he... "

"Your father? No--"

"Raoul, enough," Ari heard Sai's voice snap.

Sai quickly took Ra by the arm and pulled him close.

"Not another word," Sai whispered more as a growl into Ra's ear.

Ari looked from Sai to Ra in confusion. Just what was he keeping from him? His head was beginning to pound at the very thought. It seemed everyone knew of this great secret but him and it troubled him.

"If he cannot then you tell me. Tell me now, or I will leave and find the answers myself."

Sai pursed his lips and looked to the door. HIs hair was wet and pulled to one side. On his neck, Ari saw three pairs of bite marks with two still teeming with blood. His skin took on a strange pallor which Ari knew was because of him. Like with Auovin, he had taken too much blood from Sai.

Ari took a couple steps towards the door. Before he could make it to the handle, Sai took his wrist in hand, pulling him away.

"Now is not the time for this."

Sai quickly shooed Ra off upstairs.

"When will there be a time for it then?" Ari snapped. "I am tired of not knowing things I should know. Keeping things away from me does not make you any better than Ylanan. It makes you worse."

Sai withdrew his hand and narrowed his eyes at him. He took a deep breath and took Ari's hand in his gently.

"You are worked up. I am sorry. My patience has spread thin since Auovin's arrival and I should not take it out on you... As you must know, there are things you should know and things you are better off without knowing because those things are things that can taint you and blacken your soul. There were times when I thought Auovin wanted that for you, but even he, in all of his wretchedness, is shielding you away from it. However, like a moth to a flame, you find yourself wanting to know."

"You dislike him... "

"I despise him," Sai corrected. "But that does not matter. It is you who I care for and who I worry about, and I hope you do not take my feelings lightly because they are not romantic."

Ari felt a tightness in his chest just from hearing Sai's voice and seeing his disarming smiles. He was lulled by his warm words and calming demeanor so quickly it unsettled him. Ari only stared at him losing the intention to leave almost immediately.

"Just as I hope you will not take mine lightly because they are," Ari said.

"What would you like from me instead?"

"It is something you are unwilling to give me."

"Your lustful feelings will die down in a day. I am sure you tried to sate what feelings were growing with Raoul, but as you came to realize, it does not work out so well for most of us when they are human."

"Then answer a question of mine, and I promise I will not leave until the morrow."

"Ask it."

"Where do demons come from?"

"We come from the sands--"

"The lesser ones."

"Us." Ari's eyes widened. "They come from us because we create them."

"How?" Ari was afraid to ask, but the question came out easily.

"There is always a price... "

"... What they ask from us... "

"We grant."

"In exchange... "

"It can vary. But the old ones have always only wanted one thing and that was them. Their service, their souls, if you believe in such a thing."

"Was that what you meant by us tainting things...?"

Sai nodded.

"When tainted humans die by our hands... That is what becomes of them as well."

Ari had a bad feeling nestling in the pits of his stomach.

"This is a war that has been going on for centuries in which I want to play no part in. However, with the greats waking, I am not sure what to do but wait and see. You should as well."

"I cannot. There is someone who I love dearly out there somewhere, and I cannot just sit and wait. Not all humans are bad. Just as we are not, but Auovin and Cyrus do not see it that way. And I am sure the greats will not as well."

"You will find out everything soon enough. Who Auovin and Ylanan truly are and what terrible game they are playing. If you are wanting to know so badly, go on and go out now. There are demons out there lurking through the fog and greater demons shaking the ground, slowly rising from their confines. And there are demons wanting to use the blood that flows through your veins to do terrible, wicked things no matter the guise they choose to hide it under. You carry Harun's blood. The third piece to their broken trinity... "

Ari looked up at Sai warily.

"When the final piece is put in place, I wonder if it will be the picture you imagined it to be."