Inner Demons
Ichigo: If Kronos shows up, I'll strangle you.
Me: That wouldn't make sense in the slightest...he's a Megaman ZX OC...
Aerith: Where am I?
Ichigo: GAH! Who invited the antagonist OC?
Me: Behold the weridness.
Aerith: Celestial Moonlight Blade does not own TMM or MMP, OBVIOUSLY.
Chapter 14: Ryou and a mind battle
*With Drew and Damien*
Drew was nervous when he fell asleep and ended up in the Dark Beach. He wasn't particularly interested in having any of his battle-wounds reopened. It was hard to avoid a person if they were sharing your mind, though.
Damien was sitting down, staring across the water. His expression was unreadable. Drew felt the usual thrill of fear when he faced his shadow.
"You mustn't show him that you're afraid." Sasha had told him before he had fallen asleep. "No matter what."
Instead of speaking, he sat down a ways away and stared off in the other direction. There was a long pause. Thankfully, it seemed that the irate daemon had decided not to attack him.
Damien was the one to break the silence. "Why are you here Drew? Want to lecture me?"
"I just fell asleep." Drew snapped back, glaring hotly at the other male. Damien snorted and looked away. "You're probably not going to answer, but I was wondering why you've been so quiet. Usually, you always find the time to scream at me for something, throw off my concentration when I'm training."
"Why do you always train with Sasha?" Damien sounded annoyed. Drew sensed some subtext under that statement, which was probably why do you always have to hang around Leah's host?
"About Midnight...her real name is Leah, isn't it?" Drew asked bravely. Damien turned around and gave him a glare that informed him that he was walking on thin ice. Drew took a moment to marvel at the similarities between him and the fallen angel. They had the same face and hair, although Damien looked older. His midnight blue eyes were colder than the boys; the scars from his trip to hell showing in his expression all the time.
"Yes. I don't know why she changed it to Midnight-maybe she wanted to throw me off for her trail." If Damien was upset at all, he didn't show it in his voice, and he never had for as long as Drew had known him. Always calculating and cold.
"What does hell look like?" Drew asked. He couldn't help it; he knew it would anger his temperamental shadow but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Geez, I wonder." Damien said in the sarcastic tone he used when wishing to wound but restrained physically. "There are pits of sulfur everywhere, it rains fire, and there are creatures with whips and various weapons of torture there to make your existence miserable for all eternity. Why the hell are you even asking, Drew? Do you WANT me to kill you?"
"You can try." The blonde said defiantly. Damien stood up at that, eyes narrowing. An aura of intimidation emanated from him.
"Is my personal life suddenly interesting? I bet Leah made herself sound like such a martyr, so everyone would side with her."
"Damn it, Damien! You were both idiots!" Inside, Drew was getting nervous. He know how badly a standoff between him and Damien would end. "Serenade tricked you into giving him the water, and even though that didn't work he and Lucifer DID succeed in turning you and Leah against each other!" Drew took a step back and crossed his arms. Something was nagging at the back of his mind. "You're smart, Damien. You wouldn't let Serenade lead you around unless you yourself had something in mind."
Damien smirked cruelly. "Do you think you know everything, Drew? I've already pulled a trigger on something, and the wheels are in motion. Neither you nor the daemons or those idiot humans have seen this coming. You were too busy locking horns to check your troops over for traitors. Lucifer's arrogance lead to his downfall before, and it will again this time."
Drew's eyes widened. A new feeling swept over him-dread tingled with fear. "What have you done, Damien..." He asked, his voice lowering.
A faint cry echoed across the water. Zero materialized out of thin air and darted over towards Damien, eyes glowing. "Dam! It's awake!"
"Good. And stop calling me that." Damien responded, his tone curt. The ground started to shake. "To answer your question, Drew, have you read up on Norse Mythology?"
(cue music: nightcore monster high)
A massive shadow was cast over the moonlit beach, followed by a feral roar that sounded like no animal Drew had ever head before. Water surged towards the beach as something tore it's way out of the shadow world's core. A pair of red eyes stared down at the three, eyes burning red like the fires of hell. Huge black batlike wings stretched out from its back until it almost blocked out the moon.
The creature was a dragon. It landed on the beach, roaring again and baring its rasor-sharp teeth. Drew clamped his hands over his ears and spared a second to be grateful he hadn't gone deaf. Zero jumped up and down, grinning like a maniac. He was waaaaay to happy about this.
Damien turned and smirked, again, at Drew. "Well? What do you think of my ride?" He asked smugly.
"The Nidhog?" Drew asked, barely able to force the name out of his suddenly dry throat. The dragon leered at him in response. Damien laughed the kind of laugh that always comes with a crash of thunder in the movies.
"...rew! DREW!"
Drew jerked up in bed. Sasha was shaking him, eyes wide with panic. Ichigo, the lead mews, and everyone who could fight were running through the hallways like crazy people, while an alarm siren wailed in the background. "Drew, wake up!"
"What's going on, Sasha-I had a dream-"
"It's not a dream! The Nidhog is in Tokyo!" Sasha cried hysterically. "We have to go stop it!"
Downtown
Damien stood on the shoulder of the Dragon of Destruction, a feral smirk on his face. Daemons and humans alike who tried to take down the humans were torn apart. Elevian, Amy and Zero stood alongside him. Both girl's expressions were tightly neutral. Zero would grin whenever a daemon got whacked.
The world around them was a mass of chaos and fire, creating a living nightmare. The Nidhog had a nasty power; reverse-gravity breath, which made huge areas around it explode and spontaneously catch fire.
Elevian risked a glance at Damien's face. "Does this really have to happen?" She asked quietly.
Damien looked at her, and to her surprise, something seemed off. While the smirk on his face was evil, his eyes were strangely unfocused. "It has to happen." He answered, his voice smooth and strangely quiet. "This is the refining furnas, in which all goes down in flames. The evil must be repelled..."
Zero gave his companion a brief look. "Dude, are you feeling okay?"
Damien blinked, as if he had forgotten something. "Yeah. I'm just fine."
Lucifer's keep
Serenade watched the scene unfold with an open mouth and an immediate sense of dread. How had Damien beaten him to the Nidhog? Lucifer would be furious with him for such a horrible miscalculation! If those humans hadn't interfeared, he would have been able to focus on the fallen one-
"Serenade!" The Trickster nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the fury in his master's voice. Lucifer stood in the shadows of his throne, but his fury made the entire room shake. Mayasa jumped at his place by Lucifer's side. "What is the meaning of this? You had told me that Damien was fully brainwashed!"
Serenade shook as Deathbringer walked towards him. He knew that if he didn't say something intelligent quickly, his connection to his host would be cut and he would be banished into the same place Damien had been kept after his wings were broken. He had no desire to stay in that place. "M-My lord, it was a mere miscalculation!"
"YOU CALL THE SUMMONING OF THE NIDHOGG ONTO A SIDE THAT ISN'T MINE A MERE MISCALCULATION?" Mayasa howled. Lucifer had entered his body, and he was engulfed in darkness. Lucifer spoke through his host, and everyone trembled in fear of his rage.
"I-I had been focusing on taking out our immediate opponents that I didn't pay enough attention to Damien. I'm so sorry, milord-"
Mayasa/Lucifer backhanded Serenade so hard he flew against the wall. Seething, the Dark Lord turned his eyes upwards.
"If we are to have a chance, I must lead the forces myself.
End Chapter
How do you all like the new twist? I personally think that the Nidhogg is a nice touch. For any mythology nerd like myself who may be reading this, the Nidhogg is the dragon that chews through the roots of the World Tree. And when he succeeds, the tree sustaining all worlds would crumble.
So, this means our heroes are up against an embodiment of destruction as well as the daemons! Will they be able to handle it? And who is Serenade's host? Why am I asking you these questions! I don't know, ask the evil plot bunnies that made me work on five stories at once!
Like it? Hate it? The only way I'll know is if you review!