The soft calling of the waves had been echoing in Meirion's mind for a while now. Maybe if it wasn't everything else that seemed to get in the way, she would have come here sooner.

Sitting down with her legs in front of her, the Professor enjoyed the evening slowly diminishing into dusk. The sunset had gone down a while ago and now there was a faint black tinge on the horizon.

Sighing, Ruane picked a nearby stone and chucked it. It didn't go far without her abilities and soon plopped onto the sand not that far away. The silence that followed emphasised its loneliness in the tranquil air...

The beach... he would always remember when he brought Faith here during the late afternoons to watch the sunset. When Leo could use both his eyes, he and Faith would sit on the sand close to the water so the waves could touch their feet.

The gunner stood there on the spot where he remembered such a time. But those days were long lingering away and could barely remember her face. Amadeus gave him the comfort of allowing him to hear her voice, but that was all he was capable of doing on his instrument.

A sudden thud caught his attention and he whipped around to see what caused it almost summoning his weapon.

Paranoia can be wicked mistress.

Suddenly his heart nearly stopped when he saw her. Just a distance away where he could only make out an outline and some other features. His face nearly went white as a ghost.

It... it can't be...

But it was, or at least he felt sure it was her. Faith just sat there as if time stood still at that very moment. Like a painting serene and unmoving, not affected by time.

Just to be sure though, he removed the eye patch to see whether a demon was plaguing his heart with false hope. Out of the dark pit that filled his socket the red cross-haired shape iris arose and focused on the Faith. Leo wasn't going to hold back his power now he wanted to see everything to be sure it was her.

Allowing the eye to consume his strength and magic, the eye pulsed and black veins covered nearly half his face. The red iris grew larger and bored harder into the Faith image.

Leo wasn't expecting the aura to be so powerful however, her aura had no definite shape, it just shined a brilliant white light that held back that black of his special vision. She would be the easiest person in the world to find! How he could of missed such an aura puzzled and confused him.

However there was something else there too, he demanded more power from his eye and looked deeper at her being. Within all that light there was something very black around her heart.

Suddenly the iris spun wildly and caused Leo a greater pain that he never felt before. He had overdone it and now risked going overboard with his inner demon.

No!!!

Leo quickly covered his eye even though it was still going crazy and the black veins were still covering his face. Summoning his gun Leo did the only thing he could do when this situation arrived. He hit his own head as hard as he could with the handle and slumped to the ground. Nothing could be done if he was unconscious.

"F...Faith"

The figure rose silently from the sand dune that housed his current 'home'. Raphael had slumbered in the claustrophobic structure he had constructed beneath the shifting sands, his body at rest whilst his mind wove spell after spell so his body could maintain the illusion of life.

The summer sun had been unkind to him, he rarely had the chance to leave his lair, to go in search of any creature, any at all that could feel pain and lend him strength. As soon as he had set foot outside, the searing heat would make him feel as though the flesh were melting off his bones, if he stayed out there, it most certainly would. His defences had suffered that day, and combined with his lack of power, he felt he needed to take a long rest.

This evening though, something in the air had awoken him. Someone or something was in pain. Just the memory of the pain that lingered in the air was enough to motivate him. So now he stood facing the beach in the twilight, the soft breeze playing on the lower half of his face meant nothing to him - he no longer felt such things. His head lolled momentarily, he still had not regained full functionality of his body.

He took an uncertain step forward, his heavy armour causing him to sink a few inches into the sand, trying to sense where the pain he had felt originated. He took another tottering step, then his stiff bones all seemed to click into place at once with a sharp crack! His body finally began to respond the way it was meant to and he headed down the beach with terrible purpose.

The sudden thump magnified in the atmosphere, bringing Meirion out of her thoughts. She stood up and looked around, but her eyesight was damning her again. Coupled with the dark, she could barely see a thing. Muttering under her breath, Ruane closed her eyes and felt along the threads of life, pulling at them to find who or what it was that made the noise.

She frowned at a slumped figure not far from her. Pushing at the boundaries a bit more, the knowledge that he had a good heart surfaced. Opening her eyes, Meirion held her hand in front of her and formed a glutinous mixture to spiral out of it. Detaching the fizzing orb so it was afloat, Ruane made her way towards the figure.

Walking silently, she stopped short at another noise. This was fainter, and more subtle. Narrowing her eyes, Meirion turned herself slowly towards it. A feeling of nausea rose, causing the Professor to catch her breath slightly. Whatever it was, it wasn't heading for her. It seemed to focus solely on the person.

She had to reach him before the other creature did. The danger screamed at her, making it hard for her to keep calm. Shaking her head, Meirion gathered her wits and walked on silently...

Raphael did not yet see who or what he was after, his eyes were nigh useless to him, but he could still sense it, he could tell where it was in relation to him. His momentum drove him forward, the sand sliding under him, making a futile effort to suck in down, into the earth.

He became aware that he and his prey were not alone, but this newcomer meant little to him, if the need arose he would deal with that later. He made no attempt to hasten his step, he merely continued singlemindedly. The only sound he made was the soft, slow thud of his footsteps and the dry rasp of sand against his boots.

A sudden stab of pain struck his eye, which was enough to wake him up. Leo was lying face down on the beach, the smell of the ocean filling his nose.

Ugh my head feels like crap, I over did it big time. This is worse than a hangover.

Thats when he remembered...

Faith! I've got to look up but I can't move my damn head

He moved his good hand around blindly, searching for his weapon that he had forgotten to dismiss. Unable to locate anything, he figured that the gun was probably out of reach from where he lay.

Leo had difficulty turning his head to one side, any attempt he made caused him more pain. Holding his breath he finally turned it to face the ocean, a chain reaction of neck joints cracking. The gun was a few feet away from him, but his whole body was stiff and paralyzed. Only his arms seemed to move but that wasn't going to help him either way. The over use of his Devil Finder had terrible consequences on his body.

Suddenly he realized that the atmosphere had changed from what it was earlier. He felt a pain in his eye once more; something was wrong here. Leo's healing factor refused to produce anything at all, most likely due to his over use of the Devil Finder. When he attempted to make the little ball of green light again, thats when he heard it...

Leo's ear was on the sand, and he could hear fain foot steps on the earth.

I'm not Amadeus but that sounds like its heading for me

There was another stab of pain on his cursed eye, which could of been a result of earlier but it also told him something else...

A demon... and to make things worse I can't friggin move!!!

Leo wishes he had a beer right about now

Wish I had a beer at least...

Poor guy....

Relieved at reaching the figure first, Meirion gave the person a once over before crouching down. Looking at him more closely, it was apparent that he was in immense pain. Physical and mental it looked like, the Professor thought to herself.

The Professor looked behind her and tried to focus her gaze on the other advancing subject. Her make-shift, light orb hovered obediently by her side before she launched it into the air with her eyes. It lit a dim glow around the area she was situated. Whatever it was, was closer than she thought. Meirion had to go about her work fast, or the creature would soon be upon them.

She laid a hand gently on the man’s shoulder and sent an impulse. Normally Meirion would feel it travelling down but this one seemed to stop in its tracks before doubling back into its source. Frowning, she tried again, exerting more force into it. It budged past the barrier a little bit before zoning back out.

Ruane made a split decision that it would take more time than the advancing figure to be upon them. She stood up and turned away from the man, searching for the other person. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and sent a psionic blast into his mind. If it hit home, it would attack his brain and stop him in his tracks for just enough time to get the man on his feet.

The thing was, Meirion had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t work, and so she conjured the sand to rise with her telekinesis. This gave the impression of a 3m wall. It started to swirl around slowly, gradually increasing in speed to look like a colossal whirlpool. Ruane pushed with her mind and sent her creation on its journey.

Raphael could now clearly see both of the other occupants of the beach, the figure sprawled on the beach and the woman trying to help him. the dim glow she had produced gave him a better veiw of his target. It didn't appear to be moving.

Good.

His thin, dry lips spread into a smile, he could imagine the energy flowing through him already, the power he would have. He sucked in a lungful of air- something he hadn't done in a while, and coughed it out in a strange, gurgling noise. His equivalent of laughter.

He tried to quicken his pace, his desire to feed of the creature's suffering spurring him on- and then he felt it. A twinge in his mind, a mere annoyance best, and yet his body crumpled. He dropped heavily to one knee, the sand running in rivulets around him, as if wanting to pull him under. He braced himself for a moment, puzzled as to what had just happened. The woman.

He added another layer of spells and rose jerkily, only to be met by the swirling sands. He roared in frustration, a horrid gurgling from the back of his throat, it clouded his vision, and he did not want either of them to escape.

No.

Not until he had what he wanted. He stumbled forward nontheless, now only a few feet from his next 'meal'.

Leo felt a strange surge of energy flow through his body, giving a jolt to his senses. The tingling in his legs told him that he could move them again, he attempted to rise up. Feeling a little sick with the combining feelings of pain and relief, Leo crawled towards his gun. Grabbing and brushing off the sand from his gun, he slowly rose to his feet and lazily turned the other way.

Ugh this is way worse than a hangover

Staggering, he moved toward a woman that seemed to be busy with something, but his eyesight wasn't very great at the moment. An image of Faith replaced the woman in front of him, most likely due to his wishful thinking that it really was her he saw earlier.

He carefully walked over to her, making sure he didn't fall down on account he was afraid he wouldn't get back up for a while if he did. Finally reaching her, he attempted a hug from behind.

"Hey there beautiful"

If he were in a bar, his current condition would be mistaken for drunkenness. Sadly since he isn't at a bar, he would probably get more than a slap this time around.

Her first attack had worked, surprisingly, but it didn't do much damage. On average people, it would have left them momentarily disorientated for a few minutes. This one didn't seem to be your every day average person. The sand didn't have that much affect on them either, the Professor processed dismally through her mind.

She judged that the figure was a few feet away. It was now or never to get the man back onto his feet. Turning around, Meirion was suddenly enveloped. She gave an involuntary scream that wasn't loud enough to drown out his next words.

Ruane was a logical, rational woman. She nearly always thought before she acted. However, she was also serious in many ways, and this counted as one. Her eyes flashed with fury, her being bristled with hostility. Now the clichéd thing to do was to slap him, but in Meirion's mind, that was too simple. It would take more than a push to get him off of her so she resulted in good old magic.

Maybe she could have gotten over the hug, eventually, but the "beautiful" finally did it. In Ruane's book, said by a man who you didn't know was a sleazy act. No matter his condition. Not to mention if this was the thanks she was getting, she'd rather have left him in the dust, or sand in this case, so the ambling figure could claim him.

Now... which one to use. Ah, there was the one. Within moments, Meirion had absorbed some of the energy from the waves, whilst keeping in mind that they were quite close to the sea. Her hands lighted with purple electricity as she waited for the maximum charge. After successfully manipulating it, Ruane turned around with force to cast the electricity from herself with a flash of scorching light. Following on from that, she conjured up many degrees of energy into a concussive beam, before smashing it into the man's profile, radiating an arc of blue luminosity in its wake.

Of course, her aim could have gone awry from his hold, but in the chance that it made contact, the guy would hopefully have detached himself from her through sheer power alone, blasted away to land in the sea itself.

With a plop, Meirion mused.

(No pressure )