Vaan watched quietly as Death, Adeline, and (at least he thought) Azrael left them. Shortly after, he turned back to face the unconscious Merle and allowed himself to collapse to his knees, gripping his throbbing head with both hands. It wasn't from pain that he was doing this, either. There was always a danger with Black Hellfire that it would try to consume you while you used it. What filled the space were dark and frightening images that, over time, would drive the user mad. After a moment, the darkness dissipated and Vaan heard a voice reaching into his mind. He released his head and looked to the trees to see Coronis gazing down at him. He was quiet a minute before responding. "... I'm listening."<br/><br/>----------------------<br/><br/>Hatsu looked up with anticipation when Death returned to their little hidey-hole. When he finally started to speak, his words caught Hatsu off guard. There was a great span of silence after he'd made his announcement, then one person finally blurted out: "Are you joking? That guy killed more than a dozen of us before he took you on! You want us to be allies with a psycho like that?!"<br/><br/>That was a rather disrespectful way to address their strongest ally, but Hatsu could see where he was coming from. In fact, if Death had shown up even a second later,<span style="font-style: italic">he</span>would have been burned to ashes by that guy too. On the other hand, if someone that strong--who might even have some inside info on the Reverend--actually wanted to help them take him down, that might well be an offer they couldn't refuse.<br/><br/>"I'll go with it," Hatsu said, "if you really think he's someone we can trust."<br/><br/>------------------------<br/><br/>(Azrael followed Death's orders and stayed behind to keep an eye on Vaan and Merle in secret.)<br/><br/>((One of these days I'll get around to posting for Hiei. ^_^ ))