Chapter 21: Sinister Side

Jacob watched Seth retreating into the distance, being taken home to comfort and caring and camaraderie. In his stomach, Jacob could feel the pangs of homesickness.

Jealous? Yes, very…wait. Is it y…Yep, it’s me. Thought I was gone, didn’t you? Actually, I did. After that demon with Sera…that was years ago…it ate you, didn’t it? Yes it did. But thanks to you, it died the moment you stabbed it in the head. That released all the spirits the demon had eaten over the past few years, including me. So I was free to go back to haunting you. I can tell you, it wasn’t easy finding…Alright, alright. So what do you want with me? I think the question should be what do you want with me? You’ve just lost a battle here, buddy, and the enemy’s walking away with your only hostage. You going to let him just leave like that? Not much choice…Oh, but there is a choice. What, use your powers? Sure, I could use some help winning this fight for Dye…No, I’m not letting you use my powers again. The last time that happened, we nearly died, remember? But we were against a HUGE demon…No matter, I could have taken it had I done the job myself. No, if we’re going to do any demon business, I’m not letting a human take charge this time. It’s gonna be me in your body, or nothing at all. So what’s it going to be? I swore I would never consciously let you take control again, not after what you did to my parents…But that was years ago, and I was knew to this world! I didn’t know any better! But now I do, and I promise, whatever you want, I’ll help you get it. Just let me do this once, trust me. Fine.

Dye knew right away that things were horribly wrong. He turned around on his way back to camp and saw Jake, standing there, staring as members of Requiem made their way back to their castle. Deep down in his heart, Dye could feel a small pang of his own. Homesickness. It would eventually hit them all, but Jake was feeling it more than anyone else. He could only hope that…Then Dye noticed the hair. It had crept down Jake’s back, long, wild, and full of spikes. Jake’s body was changing too, gaining muscle, bursting his shirt as it grew too small to hold his body. Dye recognized the symptoms, swore, and ran. Even a fire god was no match for what was to come. “Run!” Dye called out to stragglers heading back to camp. ‘Run for your lives!” And his followers, who had never heard Dye tell anyone to run before, obeyed without question.

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Saint heard a noise, and turned around. What he saw made his blood run cold. He had never seen a demon before, let alone Jacob’s demon. But he had heard stories. Rumors from his dreaded battle with Elitis, where he had sustained only one wound throughout the fight with the entire ShadowStorm, and had killed all but Elitis himself, failing to destroy him before his transformation ran out. He knew well that during the fight against Kobi, it was Jake who had taken down Sera’s demon, that towering, invisible monster who only appeared to those that had met a demon once before. Jake had used his demon then, wielding a power whose very mention still chilled all who listened. And here he was, standing in flesh and blood, or whatever else ran through his veins…liquid fire more like. Saint could only watch, slack-jawed, as this apparition took a step towards him, all five toes on each foot ending in cruel eagle talons. Coal black skin covered rippling muscles, red designs swirling all over in hypnotizing patterns. Jake’s face, barely recognizable, was contorted into an expression of pure rage. He breathed out a stream of thick, dark smoke that curled into each hand, forming a pair of mighty battleaxes. But here, the rumors fell short. What formed were not the same battleaxes described to Saint by witnesses of Jake’s past transformation. Instead, these were new, massive weapons, savage spikes and scythe blades spiraling out from their backsides, single, slightly curved crescent blades facing forwards, gleaming in the starlight, jet black and sharper than dragon claws. By now, Saint was not the only one staring. Icy turned around too, beheld the demon, and gaped. He had never heard the rumors, and had no clue what he was looking at, getting the vague idea that it might be wise to run away. Edvin saw Jake, but could feel weakness in his bones. He was not ready for this, half-resigned himself to his fate. Seth had not resigned himself, but knew all the same that it was a hopeless endeavor to face such a creature. Blizzard was still unconscious as he was dropped on the ground, off to one side, hopefully far enough from the battle to not get involved.

No blur. He was just suddenly among them, and had his axe embedded in Edvin’s hastily erected ice shield. The shield shattered, more due to Edvin’s weak physical state than anything else. He himself was cut down in an instant, his chest turned into a chessboard by a series of savage slashes. He was left on the ground, blood pouring fast from his body. Saint unleashed a fistful of rapid lightning. The demon was gone in a flash, the lightning missing completely. Saint heard something behind him, sent out a bolt of lighting there. Nothing. He couldn’t keep up, couldn’t even react in time to hit it. Saint gave himself a boost of energy, speeding up muscle reactions, forcing himself to think faster. His eyes moved in a blur, tracking down and pinpointing the demon’s position and movements. He saw the demon pause for just a movement, unleashed another bolt. Saint could see the lightning travel through the air, arcing towards the demon. Then the demon was gone. Saint blinked, the lightning fried thin air. Faster than lightning…that was impossible. Then he felt something slice into his back, and dodged out of the way as fast as he could. Had he stayed in place just a little longer, he’d have been in two pieces. Now safely on the move, Saint took a moment to do what he did best, and analyze the situation. The cut down his back was not deep, but it still bled, adding on to his injuries he had already sustained in battle. Fatigue gripped him. His fight with Nathan had taken too much out of him, now he could barely cast magic. And his sword was useless here, those axes would shatter it the moment he tried to parry. Attack then. Why was he being a coward, and running away? This wasn’t Dye, who had a flaming aura around him, or Oblivion, with armor impenetrable. This was Jacob, the weakest of the captains, supposedly. Saint whirled around. The demon was nowhere to be seen. A rustle behind him. Saint dodged out of the way just in time as another cut appeared across his back, perpendicular to the first. He couldn’t keep this up. There just wasn’t any way he could…

Suddenly the demon was in front of him. Saint turned his body sideways, dodging the axe blow that was to come, then slid out of the way as the other axe missed him, He was inside the demon’s guard, home free…His blade stabbed straight into the demon’s chest, going all the way through. From behind, another blade erupted, stabbing forward. Saint glanced at Seth, face determined, hitting the demon from behind with full force. The two locked eyes, and a hidden message passed between them. Then, Saint charged up the biggest lightning bolt he could muster and sent it spiraling through the demon’s body, using the sword as a catalyst. He dug the blade out of the demon’s body, gave it a kick with his foot, and sent it stumbling into a rift cast by Seth.

“Disappear.” Seth waved a hand, closing the rift around the demon. Both of them sighed in relief. Then it roared. Saint’s eardrums popped open completely, blasted to pieces by the sheer sound. He fell to the ground, clutching his ears, which were pouring out blood. His mind vibrated at the same frequency as the sound, unable to think, only observing and suffering. Saint’s eyes, bulging in their sockets, glanced over at Seth, who was likewise on his knees in agony. The rift which had contained the demon now burst open again, and the demon charged out. Both sword wounds on his chest didn’t bleed, but merely were there, as if they had always been part of him. Mouth opened to its full extent, black teeth sharpened and gleaming, the demon continued to roar until the very sky threatened to shatter. When he stopped, Saint listened for any other sound. He couldn’t. The roar had been so deafening, he couldn’t hear the thumping of feet, the echoes of the roar bouncing back from the distance, the slight singing of the demon’s axes as they thudded to the ground, biting into the grassy earth on either side of the demon. Saint watched the demon’s feet as it approached him first. He looked up, staring into bright red eyes, expressionless, embodying pure savagery. The first punch connected, slamming into Saint’s left cheek. Then the second one, coming in from the right. The demon brought up a knee, shattering Saint’s jaw and sending him flying straight up. Then, a barrage of punches all about the face kept him up there, feet unable to touch the ground, each fresh hit levitating him a few more inches upwards. His face was utterly destroyed, mangled and bruised and beaten black and blue by the attack. A final punch from above Sent Saint crashing back to earth, defeated. His eyes could no longer open, and without sight or sound, he could only feel the earth tremble beneath him as the demon delivered punishment to Seth as well. What was it that drove this monstrosity? Hate? Jacob had no reason to hate him…but hate didn’t need a reason. It was a lack of reasoning that summoned this apparition before them here.

A thud. Seth hit the ground, utterly destroyed as well. Then, Saint could feel footsteps approaching him. Several objects fell to the ground before him. He opened one eye weakly, blurry images taking their time as they came into focus before him. He saw a set of throwing knives, a pair of chakrams, and two familiar katanas, a deep, crimson red approaching black. Blizzard’s weapons. What were they doing here? On the other side of them, Seth lay unconscious. The demon had arrayed other bodies around the weapons, throwing Blizzard and Edvin in as well. What had suddenly brought method to the demon’s madness? Saint tried to look up, but couldn’t turn his neck. Everything hurt. No, he could only watch with one open eye as the weapons began to light up. Strange, red runes appeared on the blades that he had never seen before, runes…demon runes. Everything clicked together. Saint saw Blizzard proudly carrying his demon blades into the battle the first time they were crafted, unsure how Blizzard had crafted them. Now he had an inkling. Somehow, demons had been trapped inside these weapons, and this demon was now going to…The weapons began to vibrate, rattling fiercely. Inside, voices called out, strange, guttural voices calling out in weird tongues. The weapons all rose into the air, hovering several feet off the ground. Saint closed his eyes, finally understanding.

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Priest and Fire heard the explosion, looked out the window, saw a pillar of red light lighting the sky. Below, they could see four bodies flying in different directions. One headed towards them, and they ducked as Edvin came crashing through the window. Priest was immediately upon him, healing his wounds. He shouted to Fire.

“Get out there and find out what’s going on!” Fire nodded, rushing out the door, claymore in hand. Priest concentrated on the wounds. They were so severe, he was shocked Edvin wasn’t dead yet. And blood continued to pour from his body, staining the floor with the cost of war. Outside, Fire looked around. Seth was lying a little ways away, every bone in his body shattered. He looked more like a sack of human organs than an actual body. Fire didn’t dare touch the body in case Seth was still alive; he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary pain. A short distance from Seth, standing over Saint’s body, was something that made Fire’s heart skip several beats. It was an apparition far worse than the demon he had seen years before. It was one thing to see a giant demon, far off in the distance, deadly but remote. It was another to see one’s comrade turned into a demon, familiar face distorted by inhuman emotions, entire body twisted and warped. Jake didn’t recognize Fire. The demon inside didn’t care anyways, this was just another person to kill. Fire pointed his sword at Jacob, swallowing all qualms, knowing he had to do his duty. In the air, his claymore drew the beginnings to a powerful spell. The demon twitched, took a step towards Fire, trying to decide upon how it wanted to kill him. While it was still deciding, a massive pillar of stone appeared out of thin air above it. The demon looked up, stopped the pillars descent with a blow from his axes. The pillar shattered, was replaced with a column of water. The demon looked at it, exhaled, and sucked all the water in. The pillar turned to fire as Fire kept up the spell, while the demon merely let the flames lick around him, the pillar descending, doing no harm. The pillar turned to ice, and froze around the demon. Fire looked at the demon, frozen solid, satisfied with his work, then rushed over to Seth. As he turned away, he heard a loud crack. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, an axe dug into his back, slamming him into the ground.

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Blizzard lay, face-down, by the Grave, lake water lapping at his body. The explosion had all but killed him, burning off his shoes, destroying his clothes, and using his weapons as a catalyst. He had nothing, nothing left…Someone came, and with small, gentle hands, picked him up. Blizzard was carried over to the forest’s edge, where eyes watched and waited. Dawn saw the damage done to Blizzard and cupped a hand over her mouth, muffling gasps and sobs. Next to her, Pixie’s heart softened for just a moment, as she saw someone so familiar now destroyed to the point of helplessness. Subconsciously, without even realizing she was doing it, Pixie sent a few sparks of green magic scuttling towards Blizzard’s body, healing him in the odd, strange way that she knew. The gentle hands returned, depositing another body next to Blizzard’s. Dye recognized the green and black clothes as Saint’s, but couldn’t recognize anything else. The face had been pounded to pulp, every inch of visible skin burned to crisp from the explosion of many demons being released from Blizzard’s weapons. He had seen the whole thing happened, heard the screeching laughter as the demons ran this way and that, happy to be free. Dye wondered for a moment if he had been like that, happy to be out from under the wing of Requiem, ruling his own life…He turned to the faces of his followers. Homesickness was written all over their faces.

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Gentle hands reached for Seth, but something nearby made them pause. Jacob’s demon glared at the girl crouching by Seth’s body through red eyes, trying to make head or tail of this newcomer. Moonlight basked over the girl’s brilliant red hair, illuminating armor, a massive sword on her back too large for any sheath. Nope, never saw he before. Clearly, the girl had never been seen before in Requiem, but still, she was helping the enemy. Well, another person to add to the list of people killed. The demon took a step forward, grip on axes hardening in anticipation.

The girl looked up. There, standing in a patch of darkness where moonlight couldn’t reach, was a figure wrapped in a red aura familiar to her. She had seen the same figure years ago…but now it was coming against her. She stood up, taking a step away from Seth, then drew the massive blade on her back. It glittered in the moonlight, revealing its crystal makeup, its gleaming edge. Thanks to training, determination, hard studying, and a bit of magic, she had managed to grow much in three years. Now, with a new career before her, she had come here to join the clan that had saved her. Apparently the clan needed a little saving itself right now. A smile played across the girl’s lips, the blade in her hand eager for battle. Sera…no, Soluna, the Demonslayer, had come to Requiem.

i like my sure name nice story red

oh, that's a brilliant idea!

sera is now soluna! sol, i don't know if you've read the original story (around chapter 40, i think), but this fight is going to be AWESOME!

Wow, I got killed before I could get my revenge fight with Dye, as Dye and I planned >.< Oh well, I thought of a neat idea to get around that(dw, my character will still be dead) :3 Actually, I think it will make the story even more epic, but to do it, I'll need to wait for a brief moment of peace in the story, to make it easier to fit in. After this whole scene is done would be preferrable ^_^

wow i just read the origanal story.

wow red your just full of awsome stories ^.^

Nobody's quite yet dead...just badly mauled beyond recognition...and if I may, I'd like to finish off the scene myself, with a fight between Jacob and Soluna? It would explain how Sera became Soluna.

hopefully not killed...just beaten to a pulp... thank god i'm not on your team, that would have hurt >.>

i cant wait ^.^

Oh ok, good. Cuz I need another fight against Dye in this story, a good revenge one I've been working on. Yeah, I was thinking "Shattered bones? THAT killed me? Weird". Thankfully, those wounds can be healed, given a LOT of time and a LOT of physical therapy and such. *phew* Still, REALLY bad stroke of luck XD "wtf? a demon?" *gets pwned* "Ow... @#$%!! Bad timing..." *unconscious* XD

i hope i will win

Wow I am so lazy. I'm just staring at the scene with my mouth wide open. xD
Where am I now? Watching Soluna getting killed?

oh wow icy i feel so munch better

Saintofdarkness wrote:

Oh ok, good. Cuz I need another fight against Dye in this story, a good revenge one I've been working on. Yeah, I was thinking "Shattered bones? THAT killed me? Weird". Thankfully, those wounds can be healed, given a LOT of time and a LOT of physical therapy and such. *phew* Still, REALLY bad stroke of luck XD "wtf? a demon?" *gets pwned* "Ow... @#$%!! Bad timing..." *unconscious* XD

Revenge on me? That's only if i give you the chance to write the chapter. I'm not saying I'd rather keep myself unbeatable, i may just, have another plan for what happenes.

soluna wrote:

oh wow icy i feel so munch better

I didn't mean you would die just get hurt

So..Me and Fire are the only ones not getting beaten to a pulp by the demon? XD

I'm also not getting beaten up. Jacob is blind. xD

no, fire got an axe in his back...

and icy is just lucky...

XD I'll put in a bit about icy soon. Soluna vs Jake coming out either today or tomorrow!

yaaaay ^.^

DEMONSLAYER SOL FTW!! >:3

She's gonna kick Jake's butt. I just know it. XD

Very nice, you're a very good writer. Hopefully I make an appearance in the next chapter...

Honestly, i doubt it. Wait a few chapters for a new event to come up. Then you might join in. We have to find the right time to put you in.

and getting killed/eaten by a demon probably isn't the right time.

Probably not. XD