Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20170521035143/@comment-25389303-20170611213312

Diaboli would have liked to see Zanipher's expression when she finished off Gren, but was contented with the result he got.

At least she knows how to finish the job, he thought to himself, as he let his whip retract back up his arm. ''It would have been annoying if she only cared for the action, and not the clean-up. ''

The punishment of Gren had left Diaboli unusually drained, he soon discovered. Not just physically, but mentally as well. There had always been a rush whenever he had exacted his revenge on thieves like Veneni and his brother, but this time he just felt tired. The lack of the usual afterglow unnerved him.

Looking down at his palm, he examined the deep scars left by Smiler's knife. He'd had some implants to restore his motor functions, but the psychological scars of the battle remained.

''Why haven't I been the same since then? ''

He shook his head in confusion and annoyance, before setting to work sorting through the largest piles of rubble for any survivors. There was little he could do regardless of what situation they were in, but he did so anyway.

After shifting several smoldering logs, Diaboli uncovered a burned arm poking out of the wreckage. Without thinking he immediately began removing the rest of the debris, until he had pulled free a young woman around her age wearing casual clothes and a blackened gas mask.

''Must have been one of Gren's cooks. ''

He checked her pulse, and nodded to himself when he found it. It was fainter than average, but that was expected of somebody in her situation. She'd probably live.

Diaboli rose to his feet. The silenced pistol at his side was meant for situations like these. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to draw it. The girl meant nothing to him, and he didn't feel the usual vengeful rage when he saw her.

"Whatever...I'll just leave her here," he eventually decided after much head-scratching, sighing as he let her limp arm fall onto her stomach. He'd have to meditate on today once he got home.

"Let's go. We're done here," he later called to Zanipher, before trudging out of the ruins and slowly walking back the way they had came. For some weird reason, he felt that coming here today had been a mistake.