[Kitsumi]

For a few minutes, the two simply ate in silence. Every couple of minutes, Marceline would glance at the crystal to see if anything had changed. But no, so far it looked exactly the same as it had when the mysterious man had first given it to them.

"I'm starting to think that this whole thing is some sort of prank," the woman said. When Dante looked at her, confused, she tried to explain. "The crystal, I mean. I think that guy was messing with us."

The cambion shrugged. "Maybe. But hey, it's not like it's hurting us being out here. If nothing else, it gave us a chance to spend some time alone together."

[16]

[Kitsumi]

A soft smile on her face, Marceline nodded. "True. Oberon refuses to leave you home alone, since he's worried you'll get in some sort of trouble. So thanks to this task, now the two of us get to come out here together."

"I suppose we should be grateful to the brood of vampires that he is currently chasing, hm?" Dante laughed at the horrified expression on the woman's face. "I'm kidding, of course. You know that I would never side with those who happily harm humans, right?"

Marceline was quick to agree. "I know," she reassured him. "Just... don't make those kinds of jokes around Oberon. He'll take them seriously."

[17]

[Kitsumi]

"That man takes everything seriously," Dante quipped. "I don't think I've seen him smile once, except for in the heat of battle. And even then, it certainly wasn't a jovial smile. It was actually kind of terrifying, now that I think about it."

Marceline sighed. "Yeah. I've tried to get him to loosen up, but Oberon is... well, Oberon. The only thing he cares about is cleansing the world of evil."

The male leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. "I understand that he's passionate about his work. But sometimes, I worry that he's too quick to label something as 'evil' without properly understanding what he's dealing with."

[18]

[Kitsumi]

"Well, that's why he has me," Marceline said. "I'm the one who keeps him in line, makes sure he doesn't take things too far. I make sure that those we hunt are given a fair 'trial' of sorts. If they are dangerous, we dispose of them. If they aren't, we rehabilitate them."

The cambion tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I'm scared to think of what Oberon was like before you joined him. I wonder how many innocent-"

"Dante." The woman's voice was firm as she interrupted him. "I understand your concerns. But I can't just sit here and listen to you speak badly about Oberon."

[19]

[Kitsumi]

Dante ducked his head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry. I don't mean to talk badly about him. I know that he has his good qualities, and he's just looking out for humanity as a whole." Wanting to change the subject before things became any more awkward, he held up a chocolate covered strawberry. "Here, say 'ah'!"

Although she was blushing furiously, Marceline obeyed. She opened her mouth and allowed the male to press the berry past her lips. Biting down, her tongue darted out of her mouth to catch a drop of juice that was lingering on her mouth. She didn't notice the way that Dante gulped, his eyes glued to her mouth.

[20]

[Kitsumi]

She did notice, however, when Dante began leaning closer to her. One of his hands settled on the blanket beside her to help keep his balance while the other gently cupped her face. Marceline found herself unconsciously leaning closer to him, until there was very little space between them.

This time when his gaze lowered to her mouth, she noticed immediately. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widening as she realized what he wanted. It wasn't as if they hadn't kissed before; they had, many times. But that had been before Oberon had demanded that they cease any sort of romantic relationship, claiming that it would somehow interfere with the work that he and Marceline did.

[21]

[Kitsumi]

Dante leaned in slowly, giving Marceline plenty of time to back away. But she didn't move, other than to tilt her head towards him. She offered herself to him so easily, and he smiled as he finally drew close enough for his breath to fan against her face.

Before their lips could meet, a loud noise from behind them startled the two of them apart. It was a loud crashing noise, quickly followed by the sound of screaming. The two looked at each other and nodded, wordlessly agreeing. Abandoning the picnic basket, the two of them jumped to their feet and headed towards the noise...

Completely forgetting about the crystal, which was now glowing.

[22]

[Kitsumi]

As Marceline and Dante ran towards the commotion, several people began running past them in the opposite direction. One person paused just long enough to shout a warning: "Don't go that way! There's some kind of monster attacking!"

Those words only caused the two to move faster. Monsters were their specialty; they dealt with them on an almost daily basis. And right now, they needed to protect all of these innocent people.

It wasn't hard to pinpoint the location of the 'monster'. The sound of wood splintering, metal rending, and a loud ferocious growling lead the two exactly where they needed to be.

[23]

[Kitsumi]

"What the hell is that?" Dante turned towards Marceline with wide eyes, unprepared for the sight in front of him. But the woman simply shook her head. This was something that even she hadn't seen before.

The creature was huge, around twelve feet long. Not only did it have long, sharp teeth and claws, but it also had two dangerous looking horns sprouting from either side of its head. But perhaps the most alarming thing about the beast was the fact that its flesh seemed to be practically rotting away. There were some areas where muscle exposed, and at least one spot where the white of bone could be seen.

[24]

[Kitsumi]

Drawing her swords, Marceline began approaching the creature. When it turned towards a man who was cowering behind a bench, she knew that she had to act quickly. Clanging her swords together, she tried to draw her enemy's attention to her. "Hey, ugly! Over here, let's have some fun!"

Dante came to stand beside her, his muscles tensed as he readied himself to attack. Unlike the woman, he didn't wield a weapon. But that didn't mean that he was defenseless. His enhanced strength and speed was usually enough during a fight. And if that failed, he always had his fangs. They hadn't failed him yet.

[25]

[Kitsumi]

At the sound of metal clanging against metal, the beast turned its attention to Marceline. Her grip on her swords tightened slightly as she prepared for the attack that was sure to come. She adjusted her stance to one that would allow her to better defend against her enemy.

Beside her, Dante fought the urge to step in front of her protectively. He had learned early on that Marceline was not a woman who enjoyed being coddled or treated like a damsel in distress. She could hold her own, and expected to be allowed to do so. The cambion would be allowed to fight beside her, but not to fight for her.

[26]

[Kitsumi]

Whatever this monster was, it was obviously at least somewhat intelligent. Keeping its gaze trained on the swords that the woman wielded, it stalked around her slowly, searching for an opening. In response, she slowly turned, never taking her eye off the beast.

It was almost killing Dante to stand back and watch as the creature eyed Marceline as if she were its prey. But she was the one in charge, and it was up to her to decide when to attack. The moment she swung one of her swords, he would be allowed to jump into battle. But attacking too soon would only end up pissing her off and making her feel as if he were challenging her authority.

[27]

[Kitsumi]

The tension between the three thickened as the standoff continued. While his enemy's attention was focused on Marceline, Dante took the chance to look around. He breathed a soft sigh of relief when he saw that all of the other people who had been in the area had managed to flee. At least the two of them had bought enough time for the others to get away.

But the creature was paying more attention to Dante than he had thought. Once the cambion let his guard down, the beast immediately launched forward. It sidestepped the swing of the woman's swords, focusing instead on leaping towards the unaware man.

[28]

[Kitsumi]

"Dante, look out!" Marceline screamed in an attempt to warn him of what was coming.

The cambion spun around, but he was just a bit too late. The monster was already jumping for him, it's larger size and heavy weight causing the male to lose his balance. He fell backwards, with his enemy on top of him.

In this position, there was little that he could do to defend himself. It was taking all of his strength to simply hold the creature above him, keeping its snapping jaws away from his throat. Sharp claws ripped against his chest, causing him to grit his teeth in pain as he felt his flesh tearing.

[29]

[Kitsumi]

But as the beast was focused on attempting to disembowel Dante and rip out his throat, this left it open to attacks. Marceline sprinted forward, spinning her swords on either side. As she reached the two currently engaged in battle, she hesitated only a second, just long enough to gauge their positions and decide on a course of action.

Once she was sure that she could strike the creature without accidentally hitting Dante, she swung her swords. There was a horrible growling noise as her enemy felt the cut of her blades. It turned to her, weakly swiping at her in an attempt to fend off her attack.

[30]