The difference is...

[Romal]

With mismatched eyes were fixated and glazed staring up at the passing clouds a bruise colouring the left side of his cheek in a mixture of purples and blue accentuating the burst blood vessel in that eye the colour surrounded in what looked to be a pool of concealed blood.
His chest rose and fell with ease despite a crunching squelch with every breath, luckily the male did not need oxygen to survive or he would have perished hours ago a gaping hole having been twisted through the center of his chest stretched across to expose some broken ribs with deep purple lung tissue minced beneath.
Luckily his limbs had fared rather well with only minor cuts and bruising, he had not been rendered immobile in that way, his back had been torn up but as far as he could tell without moving it had not taken any major structural damage.

It had been hours since his one of his father's 'friends' had 'paid him a friendly visit' the blood around him had pooled and clotted as the day wore into night. Even a few scavenging animals had tried their luck before realizing the male was alive which caused them to be on their merry way once again.
He had been reminded that night what he had been reborn to do and after allowing his brothers to live for so long, after fighting what he had been taught he had been in the end submissive to the attack finding no other way to get out of it with his life.

He now knew deep within himself that though hard wired to kill his family he couldn't go through with it, he had the opportunity to at least kill Caine and Vaughan on more then one occasion yet they still walked the earth though with slightly more scars.

Behind him came a rustle then another as something or things moved loudly through the bushes, he didn't bother looking. Probably bears or some sort of cat but he couldn't have assumed more wrongly.
With joint whines the two huge hell hounds that were his familiars crept towards him, both pressed low to the ground probably through guilt of not being there.

“Oh... Ashall, Jeko Hey” he muttered frowning at the taste of his own stale blood which had gathered behind his lips.
“Help a guy up will ya?” He would never have to ask twice the two beasts nudging and pushing him until Romal stood propped between the two. “Good boys” he patted each of them weakly wondering how he managed to stand yet not questioning it.
“Shall we go home?”

[Azrae Sevar]

Azrae couldn't get to sleep no matter where she was, the only place she could find any type of comfort was the cemetery. Which is what had her lingering around the dead today, reading tombstones with the black hood of her sweater pulled up over her head; casting her face in shadow and only giving way to the brilliant electric blue of her eyes. The wisps of onyx hair reached out and grazed the epitaphs she was currently reading, caressing it lovingly as if the hair itself were alive.

Hands were stuffed into her pockets and the scent of blood had not yet reached her ears since she was upwind of the mess. A small puff of air white and lazy as it rose towards the sky with the approaching daylight. Head cocked to the side before she straightened from her bent position and looked around. Nearly all of them had been read now, and perhaps she could go to the mausoleum to spend some time alone and perhaps lay herself to rest. The Coven hadn't held the warmth she once remembered, Vaughan was gone and who knew when he would return. She had lost sight of Romal long before then.

Shaking those thoughts away Azrae walked off, heading further in instead of out like she had planned. The rustling sounds hit her ears before the stale blood and mingled dirt, and she turned to look around. Curious as to whether the dead had come to life she headed for it, stopping beside a large mausoleum and looking upon the form of two hounds helping their master up. She knew that body structure, the electric current of familiarity ran through her because she had once taken from his energy. Suddenly her mouth had gone dry, this couldn't possibly be the same person. Yet physicality alone dictated that it was. The power signature confirmed it. "You look like crap Mal..." Of all the things she could say, this was probably the best choice.

[Romal]

Jeko kept his eyes fixed upon the earth he loved his master but was no way as close to Romal as Ashall who had been his original and only hell hound for most of their lives, where as Ashall snorted or whined in response to every word or show of pain from his master the two had always been in tune.
So engrossed in Romal was Ashall that Jeko was the first to notice someone else moving within the graveyard his eyes rising from the floor to scan the darkness until they locked upon the woman with a silent snarl as he waited for Ashall to respond.
The hound eventually did and informed Jeko that there was no threat Azrae's statement soon breaking their silence as she commented on the state of their master.

The voice broke him momentarily away from the pain which had him finding it difficult to focus upon anything else. 'No can't be' he thought to himself, but then again no one else called him Mal. Was it a trick or test sent again by his wretched father?
He turned his head slowly to look upon the figure that had called out to him, he didn't reply until he had taken a good look and confirmed to himself that it was her a fraction of a smile lifting his lips.
“Oh I dunno, it's just a scratch”

[Azrae Sevar]

The first hound was unfamiliar to her and when it snarled she took a hand out of her pocket and along her fingertip danced the lightning the could now be seen forming trails along her hair. The eyes blazed to life with the manipulation of the energy and if she just wanted to squeeze her hand shut she could probably force the molecules within Jeko's body to work three times their natural speed and consume the water his body was made of; roasting him from the inside out. But then, Ashall came to his rescue, much to Azrae's disappointment and she flung the orb of energy away into a headstone, it burst into a million pieces before she stepped out of the shadows and into plain view. "Looks like the scratch from one of the beasties downtown."

She pointed downward at the ground and pushed her hood back as she approached, her face serious when she knelt down in front of the sitting Romal. Eyes roaming his body as she checked for more signs of damage or the less than benign wounds. "I can patch you up... who did this to you, Mally? Bringing a hand to her mouth, the elongated fangs broke into the skin and tore a good chunk away. Blood bubbled right out of the gash and dripped onto the floor, getting into the cloth of her jeans, though she ignored it for the most part, waiting for Romal to give her the go-ahead before she tried to heal him.

[Romal]

He looked from one of his hounds to the other as the headstone burst into oblivion he nodded to calm them he would have been very upset if anything were to happen to either of his boys and he doubted that his and Azrae's relationship would have been able to remain the same had she of decided to blast Jeko as she had been considering.
“It is a scratch from some of those yeah” he replied his eyes flitting down to look over himself.

It seemed just like olden days, something had torn into him, he had either won or lost and Azrae would appear to patch him back up again. He lowered his head with a painful chuckle at the thought of it all, how it must tire her. God only knew why she stuck around when no one else had.

He had never liked seeing her inflict pain upon herself but she had done time and time again for his benefit and it seemed yet again she was willing to as her teeth tore through her own flesh and her blood offered to him.
He kept his head bowed the laughing having been replaced with a deeper look of turmoil as he awaited what ever mojo she had for him this time.
“You haven't changed. I'm glad”

[Azrae Sevar]

Seeing that he was not about to protest she smeared the blood on the wound at his chest and then moved around to his back, sticking her hands into whatever holes pocked his torso and smearing the blood there as well. It would be painful, she didn't know how to do it any other way. Her fingers drew designs on his lowered head and her thumb slid down the front of his lips in a single line. Then she put both hands on his head, and closed her eyes. "They'll wish they hadn't done this."

There was a growl in her voice, but it was drowned out by the static energy that she was about to feed into him. It would set the circle she had drawn to work, alchemy at its finest as she used his own tissue to reform and regenerate what had been harmed or torn out. She knew that he would have too much energy after this, which was why when she was finished she took some of it back. Her eyes became blue fire, and his activated regeneration had stopped though with the amount of energy she took back, her shell began to crack and bleed as it often did.


When he said that she had not changed Azrae sat back on her heels and looked at him in silence for a very long time. She was broken in a way that he couldn't possibly understand, the only thing holding her together had been the hope of seeing him and Vaughan again. She'd always been fond of the brothers, especially Romal and Vaughan; they'd offered comfort and friendship when there had been none. "Micha's dead, Mal. Hades took my son from me, I've changed more than you know."

[Romal]

He pushed his hands out causing the two hounds to give him some room as Azrae started her methods of healing. He grit his teeth and stilled the useless breathing in an attempt to some how try and control the pain that had to inflict upon him, it seemed to stretch on forever but as it ended he exhaled his breathing returning in time for her to paint his face with an uttered curse for the ones that attacked him. He said nothing knowing where they were many others waited it would be pointless.

Soon his body felt the energy surge within it most of it going to his wounds knitting them back together and reforming them, the excess had his demonic side flaring but Azrae rightly and swiftly took it back removing that threat from the situation, her body paid the price as it always did but he knew she would have had it no other way.

Her son..died. He took a moment to process it and cursed the fact that he had said anything to her, he didn't know what to say knowing nothing on earth short of the boy returning could ever sooth or change the pain that she must have felt.
He shook his head saddened by the news, his memory of the child intact, he had been a small part in his small life, he wished he had managed to stay and maybe change the outcome.
“I'm sorry”

[Azrae Sevar]

Azrae swallowed the fresh wave of pain, tears and emotions and shoved them back down into their small little corner of her heart before slamming that closet door shut and imprisoning them there forever. She had not allowed herself to mourn Micah's death since he had passed, it would only break her further and there was no need for that. Though she missed her child, she'd sworn to bring Hades' kingdom down all around him. The only problem was the true form of her being was under the king's control.

Azrae shook her head and got to her feet, wiping the blood of her hand on her jeans and holding another one out to help Mal up onto his feet. "Me too Mal, but I'm going to repay Hades for this. And while I'm down there, I'm going to visit your friends." She smiled, but it was cold and malicious, her pain had been honed into anger and retribution. At least that aspect of her hadn't changed. She didn't allow herself to wallow, instead she allowed herself to rot and fester until she boiled over and exploded. Breaking eye contact she looked at Ashall, reaching over to pet the hound. She loved him as much as she loved Mal. "When are you going to get me a hound, Mal? Imagine the irony."

[Romal]

It was refreshing to have someone else's pain to focus on, he far from enjoyed it but it gave him a train of thought he had not had for some time. He has wished pain on his siblings but he knew now that it was not him he just had little control over it. Azrae seemed to almost clear his head when around and he knew he would have to use her as an asset when he started to slip. It wouldn't be using so much as they were friends and they would help each other, now he wished he could have done something to save the little boy he cursed that the child's father had not protected his family.
His hand moved to touch her shoulder but he stopped pulling it away not wanting to make anything worse, the hounds had backed away giving them a little space though close enough to support.

Taking her hand he stood upon his feet, despite a slight jumbled feeling within his head he was completely healed from the attack he listened and nodded as her plot for vengeance he didn't want her to go to Hades but he wouldn't argue with her over it not now.
"Maybe Jeko can find you one"

Ashall moved his head against Azrae's hand enjoying the attention, he rarely got such things and as an eternal child he would always welcome it his large eyes closing, a slow wag to his tail as his ears flattened through enjoyment.

[Azrae Sevar]

Seeing the anger in Romal's eyes Azrae smiled and reached up to mess up his hair like old times. He had always been so worried about his looks that she had always ruined them for him. The hand he had taken had not released him, turning vice-like and almost painful, she just needed to squeeze a little harder and she would probably snap his bones. This contact was the contact she craved for many years.

Returning her hand to Ashall's head she scratched lightly, smiling down at the hound she had missed. It was ironic that he was a hell-hound and so was she, yet she could get her very own at any given moment but decided not to. When Romal mentioned Jeko her eyes turned towards the other and she held her hand out for him to draw closer. "Don't blame Damien for not being there, Mal. He had his hands full and the first time I left it was my own fault. He made it known that if I were ever in trouble again... he wouldn't come for me. Micah was all that mattered to him."

Taking a deep and shuddering breath she turned to look back at Romal, her smile widening and lightning dancing beneath her eyes. There was as much instability in Azrae as there was in Romal, she was sure that the other could sense it as she could sense the thread he dangled from. "Where is V? Is he back?" There was eagerness to see his brother in her voice, she had missed her reassuring conversations with V, had seen some of the times when his guard was down and the demons that plagued him in regards to Kenshu.

[Romal]

He didn't respond to her defending Damien, Romal saw it the way he did and he would not be swayed of his opinion he had such a stubborn streak with such thing. He scoffed slightly as she said Damien had told her he would not come to help her, that included not coming to save his son? That disgusted him. He shook his head his eyes going to their hands as Azrae seemed to be trying to dislocate his knuckles, he frowned but like before he didn't say anything about it. If she needed to do it and it made her feel better he would just let her get on with it things like that didn't matter to him after countless years in agony. His short time in hell alone had been equivalent to thousands of years and he had suffered, he knew pain well.

Ashall and Jeko both responded to Azrae better now that things had settled Jeko even went to her when she beckoned for him to Romal glanced to the two beasts his eyes roaming them until something jolted him in turn jolting the hounds. Azrae had asked about Vaughan he couldn't remember much of his rebirth, did she even know what had happened? That every time he saw his brothers he was over ridden with the need to destroy them his every thought had been dominated by it until recently.
"I don't know. He will probably be on his way"

[Azrae Sevar]

Picking up on the sudden change between hounds and master Azrae tilted her head and released the hold she had on Romal's hand. She brushed her fingers instead along the spines of the hounds to try and soothe them from their sudden jolt. "Mal, what's happened? Why are your eyes two different colors, and why does V's name send your heart all fluttery?"

Azrae had always had exceptional hearing, she could hear the minute changes in people's breathing and heart rate, smell the changes in them, the way their skin released pheromones which contained fear, anger, or even excitement. After reaching the tops of the hound's heads she pulled her hands away and tucked her hair behind her ears, she'd invade his mind if she had to. "On his way from where?"

[Romal]

God he wished the conversation had not turned this way. He wracked his brain trying to remember the last time he had properly seen her "I died" he started off testing the water. "It was thousands of years" it pained him to talk about the words pulled back flashes of memories, things that were done to him and things that he had done in that time. He had fought strong for so long, hundreds and hundreds of years being worn down a little bit more every day until eventually they had knocked him down taken his spirit away leaving him a confused and insane spirit with no real understanding or grasp on any reality. The sight of Nero in his memory had his runes burning against his flesh growing deeper as the heat widened them he hissed between his teeth managing to hold on enough not to be ripped from this form into his demonic one.
"My eyes have always been like this, it's just now more obvious" he replied quietly his tone now distant and troubled as his memories plagued him.
His fingers had curled once she let go their nails snagging into the flesh of each palm as he focused some energy there to keep himself from slipping into the dark rage that was ever just underneath the surface since he had been reborn.
He tried to think of way to explain what had done. He had been reborn something else, a machine with one purpose and one only to bring about the collective death of all that remained in his family so their souls could once again be together and Nero could conclude his plan.
"I don't know" his head shook as his eyes grew dark a familiar confusion seeping in. "Please stop asking me" he snapped feeling like he were about to slip. "I can't"

[Azrae Sevar]

"Focus Mal." Azrae reached out and slowly began to unfurl his fingers, extending them slowly to stop them from continuing to damage his palms. She had pushed him too far; his psyche was broken beyond repair though she would try to do what she could to help it heal. Even if it resulted in nothing but jagged angles and scars. After releasing his hands she cupped his face and looked into the heterochromatic eyes, head tilted to the side. Most of Azrae’s emotions had been gone, taken from her. Reborn to what she was first created, though the vampire still lingered somewhere in between the homunculus and the hound. “I won’t ask anymore, want to go and get some sour gummies? I bet they’re still hidden in the couch of the main room, right in front of the TV.”

[Romal]

She stopped asking him about Vaughan and he sighed her voice had changed to a soothing tone as she tried to get him to calm down and focus upon where he was. He frowned trying to pull himself back and little bit by bit he managed to. He didn't fight when she released his fingers from the flesh of his palms he let her loosening them though they were still rigid.
She placed her hands to his face and he was forced to look at her, the flash backs swum out of his vision leaving only her in his sight, he sighed closing his eyes feeling terrible he had nearly lost it with her so close to her having told him of her son's death the last thing she needed was for him to flip his lid.
"OK" came his response after a while his eyes opening again as he straightened out his stance some of the tension leaving him as his runes calmed. "I'm sorry"