Jesse can't shake the feeling that someone's watching them.
The moment they step outside Romeo's spire, they can feel eyes burning into their back, but whenever they turn around, there is nobody there. Walking through cobblestone streets with Reuben keeping pace very easily at their feet, and Lukas being right next to them, they know they should feel fine.
And yet someone is still watching them.
A couple times Jesse can find the culprits- demons with black hair and red irises that glance up at the human but lose interest upon realizing that the four half-demons are surrounding them.
But even their gazes don't feel like the one boring into them.
So perhaps they can be excused for feeling tense as they trek out of the gates to the Underneath, breaking onto the west path. The road is jet-black and made of bricks; Aiden's shoes actually sort of blend into them.
Jesse can't help but look at the trees in wonder around them; the trees are so much like the ones at home, except with dark orange or red leaves, grass and foliage littering the sides of the road they're walking on. The trunks are normal, too, excluding the occasional jet-black or white one that Jesse sees hiding behind the normal trees.
It's like walking through the forest at home, except on a paved road and perpetually feeling like the sun is setting even though it's not.
"Stay close, Jesse," Maya pipes up, making Jesse glance up and shrink a little closer to Lukas automatically. "It's kind of dangerous outside of town."
"Okay..." Jesse glances down at Reuben.
The pig gives them an encouraging oink and a grin, making their shoulders relax a little as they give a soft huff of laughter.
A moment later, they look back up at Lukas, whose head gravitates to them as they begin speaking again. "Hey, I've been wondering... why does everyone in this world wear black or red?"
"That's because-"
Lukas stops. In fact, the entire group stops, Aiden freezing dead in his tracks with Maya and Gill coming to a halt behind Jesse, inching a little closer to the teenager.
"Jesse, stay back."
Jesse turns to look at Lukas, whose voice has dropped an octave in warning. "Wh-?" they begin, but Aiden, who is standing in front of them, gives a tiny, tiny, nearly imperceptible shake of his head, so Jesse falls silent.
A moment of utter silence, nothing except the sound of the breeze ruffling the leaves in the air.
And then a demon materializes ahead of them, dark hair almost hiding his cruel red eyes as he tilts his head at them almost mockingly, fingering the red-stained blade in his fingers.
"Well, well, hello there... where are you going?"
Nobody responds.
Maya and Gill have slowly shifted position so that Jesse is standing off to the side and just behind them, looking up at the other four's stony expressions.
The demon apparently didn't expect them to answer, anyway, because he continues a moment later. "If you want to go past this place, then you have to pay."
Jesse blinks.
A toll?
No, no it's not a toll. The man's clothing is too clumsy and hodgepodge to be anyone official.
A robber, then?
"Oh?" Gill shifts, resting his hand on his hip almost cockily, tilting his head at the demon ahead of them and blocking the path. "That's the first time I've heard of that."
Aiden speaks up now, almost mildly, except Jesse can see (even through his jacket) the way his shoulders are slightly tensed. "What if we don't want to pay?"
"Well, then..."
Another demon steps in, wild hair peeled back from his face to reveal a smug expression and bright red irises. In his hand is a short spear, thankfully not stained red like the first demon's blade. "We'll just force you to. We're pretty strong, ya know?"
Aiden's mild tone shifts into a chuckle. Even from where Jesse is, they can see a strange smile curling his lips up. "Oh...? Pretty strong, you say?"
Lukas gives a light hum, casually pushing his hands into his pocket and tilting his head at them. He's got the same strange smile on his face. "Allow us to be the judge of that."
"Don't hold back," Maya says, in a sweet, sweet, somehow sickeningly sweet tone that Jesse hasn't heard her speak in before and that makes Reuben oink softly.
Gill gives his own chuckle, crossing his arms. "Don't back down now, hehe."
Their tones of voices, and the way the four of them are now smiling, sends chills down Jesse's spine.
Slowly, very slowly to avoid attracting attention, Jesse follows Lukas's instruction from before and gradually backs away into the tree line, Reuben snuffling and slowly following.
"Hm. So you want to do it that way?" the first demon asks, cocking his head at the four half-demons as his expression hardens into a cold glare and apparently having not noticed Jesse sliding back into the treeline.
And then he raises his sword and points at the four of them.
"Get them!"
About twenty shadowed figures shoot out of the trees, rushing at the four half-demons like a wave of darkness.
Aiden steps forward, flipping out what looks like a dagger with a tiny, blunted blade as one demon with a knife pelts at him.
He flicks his wrist.
Instantly, the blade shoots out, and then another, and then another, tapering in size until it ends in a tiny bladed tip, all of them catching as a whip connects the small blades together at long intervals, blocking the knife of the other demon before he brings it back around, slicing into the demon's torso and ripping it open, blood instantly spilling onto the ground.
Jesse muffles a scream.
Aiden spins on his heel, still in the first attack as his attacker collapses facefirst, blood pooling around him, and swings up, the blades knocking the knife of another attacker back, and then slashing back down to rake open the man's throat, blood spurting and splattering his jacket before he spins right back around at another attacker that is a good distance away, whip flicking up into the air-
It glows.
He brings it down, sending a wave of explosions in its path that crushes the demon approaching him, splattering blood and Jesse's pretty sure that those are brains across the ground in a smear, Jesse covering their mouth and pressing their back into a nearby tree as the scent of blood begins permeating the air as the overwhelming urge to vomit surges into their throat.
Another spin and a flick of the whip knocks another attacker onto his face, unharmed-
And then Aiden lifts his foot and crushes the attacker's throat with a harsh stomp, blood spurting out like a broken water fountain as he smiles coldly down at them.
One attacker balks at the sight of her comrades dying in less than four seconds, before Maya clubs her into the air with a long black-and-white staff that Jesse doesn't see her withdraw.
Without even turning around, Maya jabs the staff backwards, slamming into an attacker's gut, before she spins on her heel and smashes the staff down with immense force, shattering the demon's skull and smearing the black and white with blood.
A twirl of the staff, and the attacker who Maya clubbed into the air first is forced to the ground, the attacker's dagger remaining spinning the air for a second, before the end of the staff hooks it and flies down-
The blade stabs right through the demon's heart.
Yet another attacker pelts at Lukas, who just stands, hands still in his pockets-
Jesse spots the glint as his hands whip out of his pockets before his attackers do.
The first attacker is raked across the eyes with the bladed claws that are now on Lukas's hands, before the claws puncture the demon's throat and Lukas throws them into the trees on the other side of the road, already ducking under the sweeping blade from behind.
A backwards slash, and the demon's intestines are jerked out of his body and spill onto the floor, the demon letting out a choked gurgle of surprise before toppling backwards, blood staining the road beneath him.
Lukas skips lightly as another demon bolts at him, dodging out of the way, before one clawed hand curls around the attacker's shoulder, claws digging into skin, and-
Lukas comes back around and shoves his hand with enough force that the claws puncture straight through his back and out the front of his chest, blood staining the metal claws.
A deafening blast goes off, and Jesse's head snaps to Gill in time to see him holding a smoking gun, firing off two more shots that go through the heads of two demons, crumpling to the floor as blood pours from the holes in their heads.
Gill points the gun over his shoulder and shoots again, the shot sending a spray of scarlet blood into the air from the demon's chest, before he grabs a charging attacker and spins around so that he's holding them but behind them.
A sharp motion, and the attacker goes flying into the air. There's barely time for a yelp before Gill twirls his gun so that the muzzle of the gun faces up at the attacker-
Blood splatters the ground as the body hits the ground several feet away, the blast still ringing in Jesse's ears before Gill leaps up and shoots several more times, each blast making Jesse's ears ring.
Reuben gives a worried squeal at where Jesse's face has gone so pale it's nearly white, watching the four half-demons skip and dodge and spin around their opponents in a deadly, weapon-enhanced, violent dance, ignoring the pools of dark blood that reflect the clouds and trees above.
So, so much blood.
The demon with the spear shrinks back, trembling like a leaf with wide eyes. "O-oi, boss... these guys couldn't be them, could they?"
"Don't- don't be ridiculous," the boss splutters, although his expression is also wide-eyed, "there's no way we'd run into them!"
"B-b-but there's four of them! Three guys and one girl... the-the ones who arrived in October and wiped out the rebels..."
None of this conversation is making sense to Jesse. None of this is making any sense to Jesse past the fearful fog in their mind.
"I'm- I'm getting out of here!" And the demon with the spear starts sprinting away, his boss spinning to him with gritted teeth and fear in his own eyes.
"Hey! Don't run!"
Jesse sees the motion Aiden makes before anyone else does.
The whip, blades stained with blood and dripping with so much gore and red that Jesse almost swears that they were red in the first place, flickers up in a deadly, singing path.
Jesse closes their eyes before they can see it make contact.
But they can't stop themselves from hearing the sickening sound of blades slicing into flesh, nor the two separate thuds as the corpse falls to the ground, followed by the head.
Oh my god.
"Don't run..." Jesse almost shivers as they open their eyes, eyes briefly alighting on the beheaded corpse before forcing themselves to stare at Aiden, who's smiling in an almost sadistic way. "Didn't you say that you guys were 'strong'? If so, then stay, and let's play a little longer."
A strange, dark chuckle that makes chills grip Jesse's heart even tighter.
"It's been so long since the last time we came out."
Rough hands suddenly seize Jesse's arms and pin them behind their back, yanking them up against a warm body. They automatically give a choked scream.
Instantly, the four of them all spin to face Jesse, three sets of eyes widening with blood and gore and who knows what else on their faces, on their fronts, on their hands, on their weapons.
The hands tug Jesse even closer, a pleased voice purring above their head. "Oh? I was wondering why this one wasn't fighting. It looks like they're a human. For you four to be protecting a human..."
A low, almost hypnotizing chuckle. "I guess they must be pretty important. If you don't want me to kill them... then do as we say."
Jesse's head is spinning. The cologne the demon is wearing is overpowering and so strong that Jesse's getting dizzy. Reuben's squealing up a storm, running in circles near their feet.
Kill them?
Blood.
Blood everywhere.
Blood and cologne and everything is spinning and this is just all way too much.
The boss grins as Jesse looks up, the four of them evaluating the situation in front of the robber as he chuckles. "Ohh, good job!" His eyes flicker to the four half-demons, who are staring at Jesse, his voice growing more commanding. "Drop your weapons, October Children. Better hurry unless you want to lose the human."
"... oi, guys." Maya's voice is soft, quiet enough that she's sure that neither the demon holding Jesse or the robber behind them can hear. "This is pretty bad, isn't it?"
"Yeah... should we save them, or just let them die?" Gill whispers back, although even he looks reluctant about the idea of just letting Jesse die.
Partially because of Romeo's orders, but partially because they are small and tiny and somehow it just seems wrong to.
Lukas is giving his head a nearly imperceptible shake. "No. Romeo's not just doing this to solve a problem. And it's not just for entertainment, either. Something made him change his mind, and I don't know what it is, but something tells me he won't be pleased if we just let Jesse die."
He pauses, considering the situation, before he whispers again. "Besides... this is a pretty big issue. We haven't been following his orders properly lately."
Aiden speaks up, his own voice soft. "He let it slide since it wasn't anything big, but if we keep this up, he's free to kill us whenever he wants."
"What are you doing? Hurry up. Or do you not care about the human?"
The boss's voice breaks in, making Lukas's head jerk around to glance at him.
There's a short pause, before Aiden tsks his tongue again. "Lukas, you're the fastest among us. You save Jesse. The rest of us will cover you."
Lukas gives a nearly imperceptible nod. "Got it."
And then the incubus (because that is an incubus, with a lean form and a husky voice and that charming, charming smile that would be so effective if they weren't in battle) holding Jesse speaks up in, making the four of them look up.
"Oh... now that I look closer..." The demon behind Jesse leans in, hot breath tickling their ear as his voice purrs gently. "You're not so bad."
Not so bad? What does that mean?
"Perhaps we could have some fun and then sell you..."
Have some fun...?
"Aren't you having fun?"
The demon's hand reaches up, tracing a warm path up Jesse's side that makes chills shoot down their spine.
"I want to stop."
Slithering around their front, hands still keeping their arms trapped against their back.
"It's a bit too late for that."
His hand undoes the overall strap.
Jesse's eyes widen as something manages to pierce the dull, dead, choking fog that is throttling their thoughts.
Their foot automatically stamps down on the instep of the demon's foot, and at the same time, Reuben launches into the air with an angry squeal and slams into the demon's face, his grip automatically loosening with a startled grunt and allowing Jesse to jerk themselves free and whip around, panic clouding their mind, get him to go away-
They kick upwards with as much force as they can.
The demon lets out a squeak that goes four octaves higher than his voice was before, eyes going wide as he hunches over and protectively covers his crotch to avoid Jesse kicking it again, effectively bending down.
Go away go away go away-
Jesse wildly hauls their arm back and slams it into the demon's face, knocking him back into a tree, where he slides down from where he's been knocked out before falling flat on his face.
There is a moment of stunned silence as Jesse shakily stares at him.
He's gone?
He's not moving.
Well, he's breathing.
They think.
And then a muffled laugh.
Jesse spins to see the four half-demons dissolving into laughter. "Did- did you see that?" Aiden gasps, giggling so hard he looks like he might cry.
"They- they actually just kicked in an incubus's dick..." Gill is cackling and pointing at the fallen demon behind Jesse.
"And then- and then took him out in one- one punch," Lukas titters past near-hysterical giggles.
Maya nods through her laughter, wiping her eyes. "How pathetic..."
Jesse steps back from the four of them, shaking their head and feeling tears build up in their eyes. "Stop- stop laughing," they whisper weakly, over the uproarious laughter from the four of them. "I- I was being attacked and- and you guys were killing people and- and now- now you guys are just laughing about it-!"
"Sorr- sorry," Lukas chuckles, "it seems you're more interesting than we thought, but..."
He dissolves back into laughter.
Gill keeps giggling as well, shaking his head. "Oh, this is killing me..."
"Jesse's amazing, aren't they?" Maya titters.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Their laughter dies.
Jesse is shaking so badly that everything is blurry, which isn't helped by the fact that tears are building up in their eyes and making everything even blurrier.
Reuben whines and presses his face up against their leg as they shiver, icy fingers clinging to them.
The sickening sound of shoes splashing through blood, before Lukas's face swims into clearer view, blindfold covering most of his face as he reaches up to take Jesse by the shoulder. "Jesse...?"
They flinch away from him, breathing speeding up. "Don't- don't touch me-" Jerky words tear themselves out of their throat, clogged with fear and bile and oh my god there's so much blood-
He shifts back, almost in surprise, before reaching up slowly again.
Jesse shakes their head, breathing growing even faster as they squeeze their eyes shut.
And then they pop open immediately, scared that something is going to pop out the second their eyes are shut. "Don't- n- no- aaa- aaaaaah-"
Aiden regards the quaking Jesse from several feet away, before humming, simply tilting his head. Or, well, it's hard to see through the blur, but it looks like he does so. "Well. We do still have unfinished business, after all."
The boss steps back, eyes widening at his words.
Jesse looks at him just in time to see a sword burst through his chest, a scream freezing in their throat as Lukas spins to look over his shoulder and check what Jesse's looking at.
The boss is frozen there for a moment, before the golden blade that is through his chest jerks back and he falls onto his face, blood pooling around him.
A demon woman with short, choppy red hair seems to replace him, regarding the group through red irises.
Her black and red striped bandana matches the black shirt with two bold red stripes and the black shorts that are edged in red that she's wearing, under a red-tinted vest. Her left shoulder has a red metal shoulderplate, and black fingerless gloves stretch up past her elbow. Black boots with red laces match the general theme for shoes that Jesse's seen with some of the others.
Jesse's not sure what they expect through the haze of fear in their head. Perhaps for another bloody (oh god, more blood, more blood) fight. Perhaps threatening words.
What they don't expect is for Lukas's face to break into a grin and for the blonde half-demon to turn around, walk over to her, and wrap the woman in a tight hug.
"Showed up just in time to help claim the prize, huh, Petra?"
A/N: Well, this chapter is nice and traumatic for Jesse xD
But yay, Petra!
But, uh, next chapter's going to be interesting.
Responses to reviews!
Savannah-the-Caracal: Yes, although if Jesse were to get hurt, Reuben wouldn't experience the same injuries- although he would experience their pain. However, if Reuben gets hurt, Jesse suffers the same injuries and the same pain.
TheAmberShadow: Yeah, pretty much. / Yes, but they don't know that xD / Yep! / xD / What did you expect was gonna happen? xD
Toni42: Hehehe xD / This chapter was... not cute, but whatever xD / Well, he's not gonna let them sleep in the hallway xD / Hehe xD / True, I thought it was a fun idea xD / Spellbook is important later on but not now xD / No; the others are still alive and scattered around Cosmos. Ivor just happens to be super old.
That's about it! See ya, so long, and g'bye!
x.X. A.L. X.x