Promises - Lou

It had been ages since the last time he stepped foot outside his house, the only viable time would be at night but having to take care of his daughter alone made that almost impossible. The cold fresh air was calming, the streets were as quiet as they could get and it was the perfect time to clear his head. He hated leaving Neea behind but he knew she was in good hand with ferocious aunt, she would never let anything happen to her niece, he was sure of that. Moon was a real protector when it came to family and those close to her, even though she might seem distant to a lot of people, he knew her well enough to know how she really was. The walk was not long from his place to where he was headed, he had been there before many times, both at that house and the neighborhood in general. Though the last time he was there was ages ago, he hadn't seen his friend since he last visited him, not even heard any word, which was troubling to say the least. He knew John could handle himself but seeing as Lucia had somehow died, and even sold by his supposed friend, without John stopping any of it, or asking for help.. something had to be wrong with him. Would he even be there? Or would he be greeted by his maid again, would her father be there? If so he had a lot of questions he needed answers to, last time he was her father was not on good terms, looking back he even regretted what he did to him, despite him deserving it. Whoever opened the door was going to give him answers, any at all. He had nothing to go on except for where her body was, and the fact that she had a new one somewhere. Finding someone he didn't know the face of, or maybe even their personality anymore..

Maybe this whole thing would be fruitless..

After a while of walking he could see the house a head of him, still looking the same as it did before, the neighborhood seemed asleep, including his house. Even so, wouldn't be the first time he came here in the middle of the night. It didn't matter, he wasn't planning on staying long anyhow. The gate is unhinged and he walks up to the door, braces himself for a minute before removing the hood and knocking on the door gently, just loud of enough to not wake anyone up. If it was the same maid as last time he was about to get another earful he thought with a smile but then remembered it was probably only when Lucia used to be here..

// Surprise bish <3

As he stood outside the door he began to feel anxious, what if nobody answered the door? what then? he had no other leads to go on.. After a while of waiting he was about to leave, but then the door slowly opened up so a familiar face in and unfamiliar state. "Jonathan..?" He said with a worried face as he looked him over, the unclean look, the clothes, the face, he knew this look all too well. Time had not been kind to him, meaning he knew what had happened and probably also that he had no idea where she was, he was the opposite of what he used to be. As John walked to the living room and frantically walked beside him trying to get his attention. "John? Where is she? What happened?" When they arrived in the room and John just sat down in the couch, Nicholas walked up in front of him and waited for an answer, raising his arms almost like a shrug. "John" he said in a last attempt to get an answer, any answer, even thought he knew this wouldn't give him anything. And as John started talking it was confirmed yet again, there was no trail, with that Nicholas became a lot less tense and stumbled backwards and sat down in a chair like John, just starting at the floor. As he sat there he was in his thoughts again, thinking about her, was it something he missed? Some information lost inside he just hadn't found yet? The noise from the box snapped him out of it and he looked towards it.

That's when he noticed a faint heartbeat not belonging to John. "John.. who's in there..?" He said with a curious yet worried voice. There was no way he was lying to him so that meant this had to be someone involved in this somehow. And before he could say it himself John explained it, removing the cloth and revealing him. Rage built up inside him as he saw his face, he got up from the chair quick and started walking towards the cage, but as he saw the rage in John it almost snapped him out of his. As hypocritical as it was of him, being the man that had given this guy a beating before, seeing the scenario from the outside made him realize what it really was. He remembered the oath he took so many years ago, why now? couldn't he just forget so he could make her father suffer from what he did. But somehow his sense got the better of him, the man had clearly already suffered at the hands of his friend. "John.." his tone was calm and caring as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's not worth it.. he will get whats coming to him" He walked past John and squatted down and looked at the man. "I understand why you did what you did, I've seen this too many times in my line of work.." A father blaming his child for the maternal death was sadly not uncommon, but maybe he could reach the man's sense of decency, as bad as the man was, he had his own reasons for them, however unjustified. "You can't blame her for your wife's death, i know what happened that day, i looked through the records a while back. Your wife died because of an incompetent doctor that failed to stop the bleeding. Your child had nothing to do with that.." He still hand some friends in the working field that hadn't yet lost respect for their fellow doctor, giving him a way to get access to certain information and supplies. His wife's death was one of them. "You know deep down she deserves better.. Whats done is done, but you can still help her, just tell us who you sold her to, where we can find them. That's all we need." The nice guy routine was more than just an act, he was still a person, and every person deserved fair treatment, despite their morality. He just hoped it was enough to get anything out of him, he was pretty desperate after all.

The heat was radiating from his friend's eyes, the anger inside was at its peak and it was completely understandable, after all, he had been in the same situation himself. But regardless if the anger was justified or not it was only in the way, clouding his judgement like it always did. As John grabbed the cage, Nicholas stepped back a bit trying to think in the noise, until he heard him say "my daughter" It stood out to him but it wasn't anything new, he had always seen John as her father from the beginning, not only because he was the one he met first and was the person who introduced them, but also because her real father was never a father, not to her.. Then he saw the mans hand raise and he put his own hand on John's back "John!" he said with a loud tone to get his attention.
But what the man said only made his intentions clear, he didn't care what happened to her, or himself for that matter. Empathy didn't persuade him and neither did threats and torture, it seemed like he was only motivated by making John suffer. Whether that was after he was caught or if they had a feud long before was unclear. But it was clear that whatever John wanted, the man wanted the opposite.

That moment was the worst moment to torment John and the guy knew it, Nicholas's eyes went straight to John as soon as he saw the mans smirk, trying to intervene whatever would happen. As John went for the spear he walked towards him but stopped as the man said he knew were she was. The second he heard that he grabbed the spear and ripped it out of John's hand, slamming the tip into the ground. "Jonathan! Get a grip man, this is not the fucking time to loose control. As much as you hate this man we need him. Stop being so fucking selfish, this isn't about you, or him. It's about her.." his tone was serious, standing in front of John, have a hand on each shoulder, trying to get his attention away from the man in the cage. "You want to find her don't you?.." After staring into his eyes he turns towards the cage and looks at the man inside. "Listen, if you tell me were she is, i will guarantee your safety and freedom, even from him. Just tell me what i need to know" He was desperate but still honest, as much of a piece of shit he was, he was not dying. He was still relatively unfamiliar with his own strengths and weaknesses as a creature oft he night, so if he had to use force to protect him from John it would be an unknown outcome, but he would at least do what he could to keep the man from dying.

Hearing Roy say he wouldn't be able to stop John didn't surprise him, he wasn't the fighting type and john had lost control so if it actually came to that the outcome would more than likely be dire. As soon as the man wanted a promise from John Nicholas sighed, knowing he wouldn't get it in the state he was, and when John started talking he shook his head slowly at Roy in frustration. They where potentially so close to get information about her whereabouts and Jonathan was fucking it all up for them. Nicholas sighed just before he got grabbed by John and lead outside the room where they could talk in private.

Hearing him get so loud he walked further down the hall and gestured him to follow so they wouldn't be heard, and when John caught up he dragged his palm across his face. "John, i love you man, but you must be the dumbest demon I've met" his voice was frustrated and tired, he moved his hands from his face and moved them around in frustration. "Aren't you supposed to be like a big bad demon? Have you never heard of lying? i don't give a shit what you do to him, but i need that information, so just bite your tongue, give him the promise and we go find her yeah? Then we can come back and deal with him" He kept his voice low but it still had an frustration undertone. He didn't want the man to die, not by their hands at least, but if it couldn't be helped then it was Lucia over Roy every time. Besides if this worked then John would have time to cool off and maybe change his mind in the future.
"Now, you can act right? don't change your mind too fast or he might catch on" He was still on edge about John, the man was clearly emotionally unstable and the wrong words from Roy would probably set him off, so he had to tip toe into the conversation.

//A little short but you can probably relate :))))