***NEED WORK

His shriek pierced the sky at a blood-curdling pitch. The mere sound of it was dreadful, and in no way was it human or a creature of Light.

Ava jumped back, sliding back down towards the ground, kneeling. She skidded to a stop and brought her katana back up, the blade hovering over her right shoulder, ready to strike again. Instead of crimson blood, the blade was dripping with a substance foul and black as pitch. It glistened like venom, making the weapon look even more menacing.
Valton kept shrieking in agony, his hands curling like talons as he clawed at his wound.

Mivian could only stare in shock at Ava, who looked undisturbed by the whole display.
"Ava..."
She had only given her Oath just seconds before and already she was drawing blood. Or whatever it was that was dripping off her katana.
Mivian watched as Ava straightened into a stand, the blade still ready to strike.
"Look at you; you are fading," she said in an indifferent tone.

Mivian glanced at Valton--- and immediately averted her eyes.
Ava had said 'fading,' but that didn't even cover what Mivian saw. Valton was dissolving. His handsome face was now paler than ever, his skin starting to think like paper and sagging under his eyes. Valton's cries reduced to gagging heaves and growling. He swayed unsteadily, stumbling in the space between Mivian and Ava.

Turning his back towards Ava, he lifted his gaze to Mivian with some struggle. He reached a clawed hand towards her as if to be reaching for her hand. Suddenly, he started to regain his human-like features. Ava's stare grew harder, sensing a change in atmosphere. Mivian felt herself look away from the ground and towards the evolving demon, her eyes drawn to his form.

Something was off... not quite right...

Suddenly, Ava came to life and broke her stare off of Valton.
"Vardavit!" she swore, and leaped towards Mivian.
She flash-stepped forward, flickering right behind the writhing form of Valton.
"Mivian! Don't---"

She was cut off as a pale claw-like hand grabbed hold of her wrist. She was yanked back with great force and speed.

... Crack.

Mivian heard the sick sound before she registered what had happened. She watched in shock as another hand grasped Ava by her throat. Her right arm hung awkwardly by her side, swinging lifelessly and useless. The katana was still in her hand, the tip now dragging on the ground. Valton's growling turned into maniac howls of laughter. He swung Ava around effortlessly in the direction she had come--- away from Mivian.
Mivian saw Ava's expressionless face, but saw her eyes were dark with contempt. She had not screamed in pain nor did she give a gasp.
Valton gripped her by her neck in his right hand, his left now free.
"How dare you! How dare you!" he hissed at her in a deathly chilling tone. "You... you---"
"Are you just going to repeat everything you say twice? I heard you the first time." Ava growled, her face inches away from his.
Valton's temper flared.
"You bitch!"
Valton gripped tighter, shoving Ava back. In return, Ava dug her feet into the ground, not budging.
"Yes, I tend to get that a lot." she retorted.

Mivian felt useless; she couldn't move.
"Valton! Dammit, let her go!" she cried.

Suddenly, Valton grew calm, his posture straightening. He chuckled coldly and looked over his shoulder.
"Maybe, if you say 'I am your inferior, Master Valton,' I may think about it," he said, amused.
Ava snarled but said nothing. Mivian seethed, her temper getting the best of her.
"Let her go, you vile, rancid, son-of-a-bitch!" she roared angrily.
Valton shrugged carelessly, not taking offense at all.
"I try," he said.

Slowly, he lifted his free hand. A pang of anxiety shot through Mivian's veins.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Hm?" Valton said, slightly amused. "Oh... to her?"
Ava's eyes flickered to Mivian, a warning in her eyes.
Valton's hand tensed as if it was shocked by high voltage. His fingers and nails extended to an unnatural length, shooting out into deadly six-inch claws.
"I'm going to make sure this menace of an arm stays put," he sneered, flexing his fingers intimidatingly at Ava. "Any last words?"
Ava scowled in annoyance.
"Two things. First, it's very unlikely that I'll die of an immobile arm. And---"
she smirked, playing dangerously at the edge of Valton's temper.
"I've already figured you out. You will be beaten before midnight."
Valton's eyes twitched as he fought to keep his composure.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. I doubt you would be so confident after I'm through with you." he snarled.

His eyes flickered again and he raised his hand above his head. He pulled his fingers together and slashed at Ava's already injured arm.
Ava's eye flashed with intuition as Valton struck down. She twisted her frame around, just barely missing the tips of his claws. Without hesitation, she punched her left fist into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. As she stepped back, her heel kicked away Mivian's pistol from where it laid, dropped and forgotten. It skidded on the ground towards Mivian, hitting her boot. Quickly, Mivian kicked the pistol up into her hands, cocked the flint hammer back and aimed it at Valton.
"Let her go," she commanded warningly.

Valton froze and looked at the pistol trained at his head. He smirked and without warning, he swiped Ava's feet from right under her, making her lose her balance. She fell back and was slammed into the ground with a sick thud.
"Ava!" Mivian took a step forward without thinking.
Ava grimaced and gagged. Valton wheeled around, keeping his grip on Ava's neck to keep her pinned to the ground. He lifted his clawed hand up once again.
"Take another step, I dare you," he jeered triumphantly, echoing Ava's words.
"She'll ruin you," Mivian growled, trying to convince herself more than him.
Valton cocked his head at her.
"Oh really..." he mused.
His claw became rigid and he swung down.
"NO!" Mivian heard herself scream as she saw specks of blood hit Valton's arm.
Ava let out a hiss, her face hardening. Without thinking, Mivian moved to take another step.
"Ah-ah-ah! I don't think so," Valton said. trailing his bloody fingers along Ava's jawline.
Mivian froze, and he smirked.
"You shouldn't dare move, love. Wouldn't want me to accidently cut up your friend's beautiful face, now would you?" he crooned.
He lifted his hand up and flexed his fingers experimentally, the amount of blood showing the amount of damage.

His voice was hushed but stabbed into Mivian like daggers. Taking a deep breath, she fought to hide her unease.
"Yeah? You want to see which is faster? Your hand or my bullets? Let me tell you, I don't miss." she hissed angrily.
Valton laughed, throwing his head back.
"You don't miss, you say? I don't think you understand who's in control here, Mivian." he said, raising his eyes in a steady gaze.

Mivian opened her mouth to retort back when she felt herself fall into a strangely familiar trance. Her body started to shake again, the tremors seeping into her heart. Her breathing doubled in speed as panic took over. She felt herself slowly lose control.
Move, dammit, move! she screamed internally at herself, fighting to keep standing. She struggled to keep her pistol still. Her vision started to blur and her Pulse flickered weakly. She saw Ava stare at her, her eyes wide.
"Ava?" Mivian croaked as her mind was drowned in a fog.
She heard Valton chuckle to himself. She watched him as he turned back to Ava and roughly pulled her up by her neck a foot off from the ground.
"Not so cocky now, are we?" he snarled, shaking her.
Ava didn't say anything. All she did was give him a bored expression. Valton grew angry at the lack of response.
"You bitch! I will kill your friend right in front of your eyes, and you won't be able to do a thing about it!" he spat in her face, shaking her violently.
Still, she gave no response, just turning her gaze ever so casually up towards the sky...

Mivian was losing her fight. She was fading fast. Her knees gave out and she started to collapse. Just as she dropped down to her knees, she saw something black glint and swing down behind Valton.
Mivian closed her eyes, waiting for her to hit the ground.
Then, she heard Valton scream.

Mivian opened her eyes, blinking in surprise and confusion. She clearly saw Valton, his face full with shock, and Ava smirking, her left hand wrapped around his wrist. And Mivian was still standing... or rather, hanging.
"Gotchya," she heard someone say in a singsong voice, a familiar voice that was unmistakable.
It took her another half second to notice the tension at the back of her collar. She turned her head around, bewildered.

Zavius was standing behind her, his eyebrows raised. In his right hand was a black jagged dagger, dripping off something black.
"Hey Miv. Partying till we drop, I see." he mused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ava glanced at Mivian and couldn't help the smirk that played at her lips. She looked so bewildered and lost. It was comical the way Zavius was holding her up by the back of the collar.
"Nice of you to join us, Zavius." Ava said, as she turned back to Valton, who was still recovering from Zavius's hit.

Zavius looked up and frowned.
"Well, thought I'll join a party that's apparently more fun than the one I just attended." He muttered. He nodded at Ava's bloody shoulder. "You need help with that? Looks like you're having a bit of trouble."
Ava sighed, grimacing a little.
"No, just a little miscalculation on my part." she said.
Mivian stood--well, hung--there, getting confused by the minute.
Fun?! she thought angrily. Who's having fun?!
Then she remembered that she was still hanging.
"Argh! Let me go!" she yelled, thrashing around ineffectively.
Zavius gave her an amused look before dropping her. She landed heavily in a sloppy pile. He snorted, receiving a well-deserved glare from Mivian.
"That was unnecessary." she growled.
"That, my friend, was what you asked for. You said 'Ahhhhhh! Lemme go~!' not 'Please unhand me in an orderly manner,'" he retorted smartly, imitating Mivian in a whiny, high-pitch tone.
Then they we off, bickering at each other. Ava rolled her eyes at them. Have they forgotten that they were currently in the middle of dealing with a demon at the moment?

She turned, keeping her eyes on Valton's writhing form on the ground. She had managed to pry herself from his grip when Zavius came and struck him from behind. Now she had plenty of room between herself and the demon. She saw how Valton made his moves.
All she had to do now was to wait for the perfect timing.

"Ava! Why the hell did you let him come?" Mivian cried at Ava.
"Yaa Avahh! What the hell~!" Zavius whined in his mocking imitation.
And off they go again.
Mivian was starting to boil. Zavius was already in a bad mood to start with. Ava had a great deal of patience but these two were playing dangerously close to the edge of it. Just as she was considering kicking both their heads in, Valton stood up.
Both Mivian and Zavius stopped arguing. Heaving, Valton raised his arm, pointing at the two Slayers before him, apparently forgotten about Ava.
"You will not ruin me!" he croaked and lunged at the two, screaming his maniacal laugh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mivian shut her eyes, anticipating pain. But again, for the second time that night, it didn't come. She cracked her eyes open and found Ava pinning Valton to the ground face first, pulling back his arm and Zavius holding his dagger to his throat. Mivian let out another sigh of relief.
If only she was her usual self, she would be joining them.

"Zavius, stand back," Ava directed.
Zavius did what he was told and leaped back, returning next to Mivian. Valton struggled under Ava's hold, trying to look back at her behind him. His eyes widened in surprise. Then the surprise turned into fear when he saw Ava's left hand glow with her Energy.
"No, it can't be..." he whispered.
Ava didn't respond. She closed her eyes and pressed her index finger and middle finger into his sacral point, where his flame hovered.
The instant her fingers touched, Valton started to thrash around dangerously.
"I WILL NOT BE RUINED BY THE LIKES OF---" the rest of his words were lost when Ava stomped her foot into the back of his head, forcing his face to go crashing into the ground.
"Keep still for a moment," she muttered, as a flash of bright light shot through her fingers and through Valton's body.

Mivian felt her jaw drop.
Oh dear Divine, she thought. She really just broke her Oath!
He thoughts rambled angrily and fast. What was going to happen? Why did she do that?

Then she felt something. It was as if her Energy Pulse suddenly exploded, releasing a whole fury of Energy like wildfire through her body. The sensation spread fast, burning every sign of fatigue.
What the hell?
Mivian looked down and saw her scrapes, cuts and bruises melt away. The aches in her muscles shrank away and the strange trance snapped. Mivian felt... revived. Her Energy was back to almost full blaze. She looked up questioningly at Ava.
Valton was snarling and growling, snapping at her. Ava simply leaped up into the air and landed silently on the ground just a few feet back. She went over and collected her katana and slipped it back into her sheath.
"Knock yourself out, Mivi. He's all yours." she said and tilted her head up to the sky.
The six moons of Galiasis shone in the sky, not quite balanced equally in the shared sky.

"I told you," she said. "It's not midnight yet."