Lucas walked with Cass, smiling, both in silence. The whole thing with the true believers was nowhere in her mind by now, and Cass seemed to be in too much of a good mood to even care about those guys as well. They had won, basically; it was over and they had won. Off they went to celebrate with sex - enhanced with magical material, no less.
"Our sense of power is more vivid when we break a man's spirit than when we win his heart."
Cass and Lucas paused and looked at the source of the voice. A beautiful woman with a single horn on her forehead walked towards them, gaining outlines as she entered Cass's aura.
"Oh. Hey, Mary. Meet Lucas, my date for this evening. You wouldn't believe what she helped pull off tonight." - Cass smiled.
Mary looked sternly at Lucas. "Yes I would. It's why I used that Eric Hoffer quote in lieu of 'hello'."
Lucas blinked. "That went to the news already?"
"No. Not all of it. But this is a small town. And I can glean certain information. For instance, your waving to Mr. Duke was not caught on camera, but he certainly remembers it." - Said Mary.
"Mary, you do realize this guy ran an organization that..." - began Cass.
"Yes." - Said Mary, curtly - "If so, would it not have been enough to do what you did afterwards, Lucas, and use your form to open a dialog with those people? And I'm well aware you did not like it. I'm also aware of why. Anyways, you chose to humiliate him. And you can't argue you did so to prevent him from gaining power again and causing harm, because you enjoyed it."
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I did enjoy tricking the fundie pastor of an organization of would-be murderers into humiliating himself. It was quite fun indeed. I'm quite sorry, but I have a hard time grasping why I should regret this." - Said Lucas.
"I'm with her on this one, Mary." - Said Cass - "I enjoyed it when she told me, and it's not like the guy didn't deserve it."
"Did that help abate his hatred?" - Said Mary.
"One, I fail to see how I could ever get through to him. Two, in practice, he's powerless." - Said Lucas. - "Socially ruined, physically weaker, mentally a wreck."
"A quick morning stroll could change that." - Said Mary. - "You would then have a powerful foe in your hands. One that would attack you, Cass, the demon and angel-changed alike. You see, that's when it becomes my business. Rachel is my student."
"And a very nice girl she is." - Said Lucas - "Still, even should he take a combat-ready form, he'd attack me first, and the odds are quite in my favor."
Mary glanced at Lucas. "There is always someone stronger."
The moment Lucas's eyes met Mary's, Lucas fell on her knees, mouth agape. She seemed to have trouble breathing.
"HEY! What the fuck are you doing to her??" - Yelled Cass.
"Teaching her a lesson in humility, Cassandra. And, believe it or not, helping you two grow an actual relationship." - She said evenly, as Lucas recovered, still panting. - "So far, what united you besides a common enemy and, maybe, a common cause?"
Cass paused. She sighed as she found herself unable to answer this.
Lucas slowly got up, clearly unnerved by Mary's sheer power, but even more annoyed at where the conversation was going.
"Okay. So you basically came to show me that there are stronger people than me and to tell her that she shouldn't be with me. That it?" - Lucas was clearly biting her tongue not to be rude.
"I am telling you not to overplay your hand with your skills. I am telling you a basic maxim of Nietzsche. 'He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster.'. And I am telling you that your relationship might actually work better if you two actually were with each other for something besides a common political fight, one that is already over at that. Surely you two have more in common. My suggestions are twofold: One, Lucas, learn that there are stronger people and that one cannot always foresee the consequences of their actions. Two, you two, talk. This is a beautiful night. You could show Lucas the city. You could even get to know why she frowned for a moment when you asked her in jest if she came from Heaven." - With that, Mary left the aura and went on her way.
Lucas sighed. "Okay. So... What happens now?" - The mood was clearly shot, and Lucas was beginning to reach the conclusion that nothing at all would happen that night between her and Cass.
Cass kissed Lucas gently.
"Now I show you around and you tell me why you frowned... And whatever else you wish to tell me. And I'll do the same. And who knows? Maybe we even get to do it tonight, too."
Lucas had a quick nosebleed. Cass giggled.
"Okay, first of all, something I found out in these last two days: I love it when I make people have anime reactions..."
The two kept walking, now in a far more talkative mood...
