"Furball? What is it?" My girlfriend asks, most likely noticing my reaction, however well masked it was.

"Mmm, nothing. Just a smell got me surprised. It's still hard to adjust to that new nose." I reply casually, not showing anything that would indicate my suspicions. "Like back in that alley." I add and Ava immdiately tenses and relaxes again, just like me a moment ago, and also moves her ears a bit.

Good reaction, my training didn't go to waste. Not like I trained her much, but there are things that don't hurt to know.

"Well, anyway," I say in relaxed tone. "What I meant is that everything about us changed, and the only thing that remains is our history. That's all that matters for me. Other things and people can go fuck themselves. Or die." I look up at Ava with a smile and pull her to the side as a pair of hands clasps something resembling a black collar where her neck was moments ago.

An orb of vitality in the third level.

Now pull my leg to the back and make scambled eggs without a sound, which is pretty interesting, because I don't hear anything now, neither the impact or the grunt that should have been there. Then spin on my toes while twisting out of Ava's arm, plant a knee in the liver, pull the head down, plant another knee on the nose, land on the ground.

...And I think we're done with the guy, now that I take a look at his bloody nose, punched flat into a rough face rounded with pitch black hair and beard. And a pair of whites of the eyes in the sockets, cause it seems the guy didn't take three hits into sensitive parts well. Sensitive in different meanings, but still.

And I suddenly feel myself being pushed in the direction of the cliff along with the limp body, and I whirl to the side and around the body, using its momentum to push it further and leverage my own body, to see another guy standing a distance away from me and holding up his arm in a strange gesture. His soul is at fourth level.

Then the body topples down the cliff. Well, alright. Not like I'll miss him. Ava is crouching on my side and seems to be safe, though for some reason I can't hear her at all.

Not a second later the lanky man in skin-tight clothes points his arm at me and I feel some sort of force pushing me away, making me stumble back. I grit my teeth, drop to all fours, and dash forward, unable to be stopped by whatever power the guy has.

He takes a step back and makes an uncertain expression, but a moment later raises his other arm, doubling the power pushing me back. I still don't stop, though he slows me down significantly as I feel like I was running up a massive slope with increased gravity.

When I'm barely a few meters from him, I prepare to jump, and he notices that. He moves his hands to the side and starts stepping to the left with a smirk on his face, and I adjust my position at the last moment, jump when the force starts pushing me from the side, and spin in the air, looking at the man whose face twists in surprise and fear.

And that's when my foot slams into his face and crushes his nose without a sound. Ooops. I was aiming for his temple, but that's not too bad.

His body snaps back and he collapses soundlessly in a heap, and I look around in alarm. There should be another one with power to erase sounds, or something similar.

Oh, there he is, hiding in the bushes. Not good enough to hide before my sight. How do I... hm, a stray rock would do. I look around and pick up one, as there are many of them on the top of this cliff, weigh it in my hand, and pull my hand back to throw the thing at the third person.

I distinctly see as he, it's probably he judging from size, notices my action and throws himself down, and that's what dooms himm as my stone catches the head halfway to the ground. Perfect. And his orb of vitality fizzles out into the surroundings along with sounds coming back to me.

Ooops.

"Ava? Are you alright?" I immediately leave the second guy on the ground without a care and turn to my girlfriend, who is right now on the ground in a position you would imagine a feral human to be, in a wide crouch and supporting herself with one arm. With much different face, though, because she's confused and impressed, if anything.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nods her head and stands up slowly, keeping her eyes at the lanky guy in skin-tight clothes. "How did you spot them? I didn't hear anything."

"Life sense, or however we want to call it." I reply simply, looking around alert, but I spot nothing else that would be suspicious. "The third one probably had a power to suppress sounds. Orb size at the bottom of fourth level, so I assume a low class 2, just like this guy here." I point at the body by my feet.

"Well, here goes our relaxing date." Ava sighs. "Though you really did a number on them, huh? I don't remember you left anyone in this state since two years ago."

"Mmm, yeah, probably because of my increased strength." I shrug, looking at the guy, whose nose is more like in a pulp than broken. I think even his skull got disfigured, though he seems to be alive somehow. But he is doubtlessly unconscious with how his eyes have rolled back and his mouth is gaping open.

"I can move as well as before because of my instincts, but gauging the strengh of the blow properly is a bit hard, especially with another Touched." I continue where I left off and Ava nods her head.

"What do we do with him? With them?" She asks, looking up at me with a frown.

"I can suck out his vitality. The other is dead." I say without thinking and only a moment later realize what I said when Ava looks at me with something between surprise and anger.

"You-." She begins and cuts herself off with complicated expression. "Fuck. Yes, do that. I don't like it, but do that."

"Huh?" I look up at her in surprise just as I'm comtemplating how I should explain my words and failing to find a good enough way.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't like this at all, but I don't think leaving the guy alive will do us any good. We can't just take him into jail, because there's no proof of anything." Ava explains. "Unless it's that collar, but I'm pretty sure it's just an ordinary collar used for restaining Wild Beasts."

"Alright." I nod my head and step up to the body again. "Take care of this in the meantime." I tell Ava, handing her the small black device the man dropped.

"Mhm." She mutters in affirmation as I bend over the guy and grab him by his neck, and lift him up to my level, eyeing his orb of vitality. It's honestly... tiny. Comparing to what Ava is producing and has been feeding me the last couple of days, that is. If I'm not mistaken, this about a hundredth of what Ava has given me up to now. A nice amount, but insignificant in the larger picture.

I press my lips to man's neck under a gentle compulsion I assume to come from my new powers and I bite through his skin with my two long fangs. I feel warm blood in my mouth and I suck on it, paying attention to the orb of vitality and noticing two... spherical holes in the orb. The vitality flows out through them and into the blood, getting depleted within seconds.

I greedily suck up every drop of the liquid now more like ambrosia than blood in my mind and feel it pooling in my belly, where it starts slowly bleeding out into my body and getting absorbed into my core, where it helps mend the cracks in my soul. Which, by the way, seem close to being completely healed with what Ava gave me up to now. At this rate I'll be completely fine in the evening.

When there is nothing left to suck out of the man, I tear my fangs away from his neck and drop his body to the ground, only now noticing how pale it got. Damn, how much blood did I slurp up in those ten seconds, because it couldn't have taken more than that?

Well, not like it matters much. I register in the back of my mind that maybe I should be more bothered by sucking a human dry, but I can't bring myself to care. I'm more... satisfied, if anything.

"Vesper? Was it necessary to do your name justice?" I hear Ava's slightly miffed voice behind me and I turn to her raised eyebrow.

At the same moment I feel a drop of blood dripping down from my chin and landing on the ground, and promptly lick my chin, then wipe it with my wrist. And raise my eyes again in suprise when I hear a snort and muffled giggle.

"What?" I ask with a frown when I see Ava covering her mouth and giggling with a complicated expression on her face.

"It's just..." She pauses with a grimace, which soon turns into a wry yet happy smile. "You suck blood outta man, then casually lick it and smear it all over your face with that clueless expression. It was..." She cuts herself off again and turns her head to the side, and I think my heart skips a beat when I realize she's embarrassed. "Terrifyingly fucking cute." She finishes with an embarrassed grin and I blink, then smile widely with happiness bursting in my chest.

There is something amazing and extremely liberating in being called cute for something most would consider repulsive or inhumane. Especially if it comes from my girlfriend. Ehehe.

I step forward and stand on my toes, then without hesitation press my lips to hers in a deep kiss. I distinctly feel how Ava flinches and attempts to pull back at first, but a moment later freezes, probably tasting the blood full of vitality, and accepts the kiss with almost eyes sidening almost in ecstasy. See? A victory for me, and she sees it in my eyes and lets me take and revel in it.

When we pull apart a while later Ava looks at me with questioning eyes and slightly hitched breath. "Did, did you do something to it? It was full of vitality."

I only give her a side glance and smirk lightly, not answering the question, and she snorts in amusemnt.

"Should have expected that." She mutters, then shakes her head and adapts a more serious attitude. "What do we do with it? And in general?" She asks quietly, looking down at the body.

"Dunno." I shrug. "First let's check if he has any identification." I step up to the body and feel around the guy's pockets and clothes. "Then burn the body? You had your flames, right? You never showed me them."

"Hm. Yeah, I can try that." Ava mutters. "I don't really like it though... but yeah, that would be for the best."

"Mhm, better not leave any evidence..." I mutter and my voice trails off. "Hm, nothing at all. Not even symbols or documents." I stand up with a frown. "Whoever he is, either he didn't want to be known or didn't have a proper identity."

"Alright. Less trouble for us, I guess?" Ava says quietly as she steps up to the body and lifts it up by the torso, then makes a focused expression.

A moment later I notice her cloud of vitality starting to spin slowly, a sight I already got used over the... feeding sessions with Ava, and flowing through her arms into the body. At the same moment it turns into a burst of sorta... red flame with cyan and lime embers. Both to my life sense and to my eyes, interestingly. It looks a bit weird, but its effects are nothing to scoff at as I see the body almost fucking disintegrating.

"Chaos." I comment when the remains of the body drop to the ground and burn a moment longer before the flames disappear, leaving two legs cauterized around mid-thighs on the ground. "That's impressive."

"...Yeah." Ava nods heavily after a moment and sends out another, smaller burst of flame that leaves a burnt out hole in the grasses. No legs.

And if we're on that, no sound, no smoke, no heat, and no ash, which is a bit... unsettling? I'm not even sure if there would be any sign of that flame apart from what can be seen with one's eyes or life sense, so it could be burning behind someone's back and they wouldn't even notice.

"Now there's no more interruptions." I mutter, snuggling up to Ava again and causing her to look at me a bit dazedly.

"You're... way too unconcerned about things." She mumbles, but smiles lightly a moment later, and looks up for some reason. I feel it on my ears. "Vesper? Look up." She says softly and I do as she says curiously.

And I gasp in surprise. Chaos. I've seen it many times, but each time is absolutely mind-blowing.

The Veil is getting purple at rapid pace. Purple alignment.

"Chaos. I thought... it would be later." I gasp, already feeling the effect it has on people.

I can see easily as the whole sky gets deeper and deeper purple by seconds, coloring even the light shining down on us from the sky. Even this, normally orangeish, is now getting violet.

I look at Ava with a smile at the same time as she does, and we settle closer to each other as we look up together, observing the spectacle and restraining that damned effect.

Till that moment comes when the world seems to stop for that timeless moment, land bathed in purple and sky vibrant like no other time. Compelled by my instincts, I lean to the side and lock lips with Ava in an intense, passionate kiss, I almost growl in intense emotion like no other as the world shudders, and we with it, and a tangible wave encompasses it all at the same moment.

And then the world returns to normalcy, and the sky slowly shifts back to white with purple tint.

Oh, Chaos. That's ecstasy.

Purple alignment.

Alignemnt of pleasure.

Representation of lust, one of the six seasonal sins.

All of it points towards one thing. It's the thing I'm thinking of looking into Ava's eyes, slightly widened, raw, intense, and lustful. Devouring me, undressing me with their intensity only, searing me where where her eyes pass.

Chaos. Should have checked the calendar before going out.