Diabolus Vulpes

Chapter 21-Resurrection

Suki's own eyes widened in shock as Tails impacted the ground rather unceremoniously, Raiu's now wide eyes glancing upwards ever so slightly as a rather amgered, metallic roar emanated from the seemingly possessed chandelier. With one powerful flick of its bladed candles, Raiu was engulfed in flames and sent flying into a wall, sliding down it and leaving a rather large smear of still burning blood. Suki could only gawk at the scene before turning to the possessed lighting fixture, growling, "There were TWO here...?"

The chandelier-like demon promptly thrust all of its appendages towards Suki, firing off a large wave of flames that forced the raccoon to leap backwards, expelling a gust of wind that blew away the flames before they could spread much further. The chandelier hissed lightly and began charging towards her once more, now spinning around like a flaming wheel. Suki's eyes widened before she leaped into the air, forming two energy orbs in both hands. "Take this, you overgrown candle!"

A large spray was sent flying towards the demon, a large explosion and strangled hiss emanating from the smoke cloud before Suki landed next to Tails, who retained a horrified expression. She glanced at the fox with a nervous expression, biting her lower lip as Tails' gaze slowly shifted to one of deadly seriousness. The fox slowly staggered back to his feet, arms hanging limply by his side as Suki glanced at him. "What are you...?"

Suddenly, the chandelier demon lunged forth once more from the cloud, hissing maniacally and forcing Suki to whirl around in a panic. Before she could offer a defense, Tails had lifted a hand, his fingers each glowing a deep purple before firing off a rather thin beam of dark energy from each. The resulting attacks promptly severed several of the chandelier demon's appendages, causing it to hiss even louder as the severed limbs shrivelled and vanished in an eerie, purple flame, forcing their former wielder to halt. Suki blinked again and glanced at Tails, who clenched his still glowing fingers together and causing several streams of purple light to emanate from within the fox's enclosed fist. "Kill my partner, will you..."

The chandelier demon began backing away ever so slightly as the air around Tails began getting rather hazy, forcing Suki to quickly back away. The fox narrowed his gaze, his normally bright blue eyes beginning to take on a slightly darker coloration as his bangs began twisting about due to the distorted air. "I'll make sure you don't do anything similar to that again."

With one rather hasty motion, Tails unclenched his fist, suddenly sending a rather large orb of swirling dark energy towards the chandelier, impacting with a large explosion and a nearly ear-splitting hiss, a small gust momentarily threatening to blow Tails and Suki away, several now flaming bits of the demon's body flying past them before disintegrating. Suki slowly stepped towards the smoke cloud, which cleared up enough to show the now crumpled and slowly disintegrating demon. It gave off a faint, broken hiss before the raccoon glanced back at Tails. "I...have to admit, that was ama-"

She trailed off upon noticing Tails approaching the now charred body of his demon partner. The flames had died down, giving them a rather gruesome view into the almost completely disintegrated demon's body, what little skin remaining blackened and the pooled blood sizzling and bubbling. Almost all of the muscle tissue and organs were turned to dust or on the verge of it, and Suki gagged several times upon approaching. She glanced at the oddly unperturbed Tails before murmuring gently, "I'm...I'm so sorry..."

The fox seemed to ignore her comment, instead bending down to the slowly disintegrating corpse and pulling forth the only intact object amidst the gory pile; Raiu's collar, which aside from being covered in ash and blood was completely unharmed. Suki's eyes widened in shock, the raccoon murmuring, "His collar is still in one piece...?"

"You obviously don't know too much about warlock demons, do you?" Tails asked lowly, beginning to walk past her into the middle of the chapel. He placed the collar on the ground before scooping up some of Raiu's earlier spilt blood and drawing another array on the ground around it. Suki slowly approached but decided to stay at a distance in case she got in the way. Finally, the fox stood up and began digging through his robes, continuing in a low voice, "To the most hardened and stoic warlocks, the death of their demon partner means nothing...because on the surface, it literally is nothing to be concerned of."

Suki blinked in surprise as Tails pulled out a small vial filled with an unusual, gray-colored dust. He unscrewed the top and proceeded to fling some of the dust into the array, causing it and Raiu's collar to begin glowing rather brightly. "The greatest perk a sentient warlock demon has over a wild, untamed one...is that should it lose its life in battle, it can be easily resurrected."

The raccoon's eyes widened, partially in shock and partially in realization. "...I remember this lesson now...the High Priest mentioned it. An accessory is kept on or in the demon's person that their soul is stored in, and so long as it survives during combat, a demon can be resurrected at will..."

"Correct," Tails responded with a nod, beginning to kneel next to the array and close his eyes. "...it doesn't mean I like to resort to it any less."

Suki blinked in surprise as the air around them began darkening slightly, the now asbent light from the chandelier and Tails' spell sucking away what light was left in the room behind it. The fox's bangs and namesakes quivered as a light began emanating from the collar and dust, which began swirling around. "It doesn't make the pain from dying any less real to the demon. That kind of pain...having to be put through that more than once in a lifetime...I don't like it."

The crackling intensified, the light in the middle of the array continuing to brighten and increase in size. "Some more 'efficient' warlocks prefer to kill their demons themselves during battle if they end up too injured to fight, as upon resurrection they're in complete working position...I would never resort to something like that," Tails called, forced to speak louder amidst the crackling and humming noise from his array. "I do whatever it is I can to prevent Raiu's death during battle...no matter the cost."

The light finally reached a brightness level that forced Suki to look away, though Tails' wide eyes stared directly into it with a fierce expression. The rather distorted memory of the battle back at the Belltower Atrium came flooding back, which only served to tense Tails' body up further and the light around him to brighten. "I'm not going to allow my friend to go through that kind of agony!"

The light finally began fading with one last powerful crackle, the momentum in the room dying down and enabling Suki to glance back at them. The formerly intangible light had began forming into a more stable shape; that of Raiu, curled up in a ball, his collar being the only article of clothing he wore at the moment. Once the hybrid had revealed himself, Tails abandoned his spot at the array and bent down to Raiu, his serious expression turning nervous. "Raiu, are you alright...?"

The hybrid gave off a small cough in response, his face contorting into a wince before his eyes opened up once again, a few moments passing for the color to fill in. "...mph...yeah..."

Tails gave off a small relieved sigh and pulled the demon into a tight hug, Raiu's eyes shooting open and enabling a rather deep blush to form on his face. "Oh, that's good...that's good..."

Despite the fox not knowing, Suki was able to stare at the demon's rather bashful display completely, her expression one of complete confusion and a little bit of curiosity. Finally, she shook her head around, murmuring, "Unless there's some other demon here we're not seeing...I'd say we're both done here."

Tails glanced back at Suki and let go of Raiu, the demon quickly covering himself up with an even deeper blush. "Yeah," Tails responded with a nod. "We are."

Warlock and priestess shared a rather lengthy period of staring off, Tails getting to his feet. "It was...more enjoyable working with you than I originally thought it would be," Suki rather quickly murmured, nodding.

"I, uh...I agree," Tails added with a small nod. "Maybe...if we meet on the field of battle I'll consider having a shred of mercy."

This caused a cocky smirk to appear on Suki's face, the raccoon chuckling and closing her eyes. "Riiiiiight...same here." With this comment, she turned around, flicking her tail about somewhat suggestively. "Goodbye...Tails, Raiu."

The fox nodded back as a light began emanating from around the Famulus priestess. "...farewell, Suki." Once she had vanished, Tails looked back down at Raiu. "Let's get back to the Academy...and get you a new change of clothes while we're at it."

-The following day-

"I must admit, I am very disappointed in you, Kachimi."

Said black-furred fox stared ahead, teeth clenched as his eyes twitched, occasionally darting to his serpent demon next to him. Akumu stared back at him from his usual spot in the Headmaster's quarters with a slightly narrowed gaze, continuing, "You realized why I have called you here, correct...?"

Kachimi only grinded his fangs together, not paying any attention to Rayvar and Kinshou, standing directly behind him while their demons watched from a distance. "Allow me to reiterate, if you please," Kinshou remarked, bowing respectfully.

"You may. After what happened at the slave mines, it seems appropriate," Raibaru suddenly remarked from alongside his warlock master, Kachimi glaring at the red-furred fox with a suppressed growl.

"Thank you," Kinshou murmured, closing his eyes. "Kachimi sent Miles Prower and his demon partner on an assignment that was intended for Kachimi himself; and upon arriving, enslaved a nearby demon in an attempt to potentially kill or otherwise seriously harm him."

"If not for the Famulus that had been in the area, alongside Miles'...admittedly worrisome disregard for our standing with them, he would most likely have been killed," Akumu finished, his voice seemingly becoming a bit more powerful. "Unlike what occured at the slave mines, however, there is no deed you have committed afterwards to balance out your misdemeanor."

Raibaru closed his eyes with a small sigh and shrug, picking off where Akumu left off. "However...Prower's lack of substantial injuries and the loosened rules regarding the Nitefall Ceremony are on your side and preventing any other major punishment from being given to you. Consider yourself lucky."

"I will," Kachimi uttered with a slight growl, closing his eyes in submission.

"On top of this, your bumbling has actually open a rather interesting situation," Akumu continued, nonchalantly moving a hand about. "Miles was able to dispel of a prefect-level demon with great ease, Famulus interference or not. This is a good sign that his skills are improving even faster. It is this ALONE that allows me to let you off the hook with little more than a warning."

Kachimi did not give a response, instead reopening his eyes with clenched fists. Akumu ignored the dark fox's silence and glanced at Rayvar and Kinshou. "It is because of this that I believe we can send our little sacrifice on a more...difficult mission."

"What did you have in mind, sir?" Lorak asked from behind Rayvar, the muscular wolf beginning to give a small smile.

"I am glad that you asked," he murmured, stepping to the side and motioning to the mirror behind him. The image of a rather large-looking town comprised of white buildings and walls were portrayed, some familiar garbed soldiers patrolling in and out. "This is Shiro Village. Formerly the most prominent Famulus settlement in the Hellfields. However, its state has been in steady decline in the past few years; it is time we removed this blemish from our land."

Kachimi gave a small blink and looked up in surprise. "...sir, with all due respect, this seems like more than Miles alone would be able to handle. Aren't you going to send someone to oversee his progress and help?"

"Of course I am," Akumu responded, glancing at the dark fox with a serious expression. "If your intention was to accompany him then you are sorely mistaken. As this is your second attempt on Miles' life I will not have you accompanying him on any missions until the end of the Nitefall Ceremony, and your interaction with him shall be at a bare minimum."

Kachimi grunted lightly and hung his head once more, Akumu slowly glancing at Kinshou. "Kinshou, as you have shown rather admirable initiative in aiding Prower's development, you will accompany him to attack Shiro Village."

"Yaaaaaay!" Milio called out rather happily, bouncing up while Kentan gave a smile in approval.

"Thank you, sir," Kinshou responded with a small nod. "However, I believe that the two of us are still unsuitable for attacking the Famulus base on our lonesome. If it is alright with you, I know of one other warlock that Miles has an extensive history with that I would like to bring along on our mission."

Kachimi cast Kinshou another rather antagonistic glare, grunting slightly as Akumu nodded in approval. "It is that type of reasoning that I admire out of you, Kinshou. Permission granted. You will leave in one hour. Gather your team and equipment and prepare to head out."

-Meanwhile-

Tails kept his head low to the table, his gaze narrowed thoughtfully with a faint hum. Directly across from him sat Lyla, mimicking his exact motions and position, though her nose gave an occasional twitch. Raiu - now having adorned a copy of his original shorts - and Sabishii sat on the other side of the table and watched with curious expressions, though their eyes were not so much fixed on the intently staring duo, but moreso the small black board in front of them, a large array of white lines crisscrossing it all around. Several black and purple beads decorated it in various areas and seem to quiver ever so slightly every few moments.

Before the group could do anything else, one of the purple beads promptly moved across one of the lines and knocked away the black bead in its path; the purple ones now glowed brightly and caused an array to appear amidst the web of lines, causing a smirk to carve its way onto Tails' lips and for him and Lyla to lean back in their chairs, the cat wearing a defeated expression. "Yes!"

"Gah...fourth time in a row," Lyla murmured, glancing at Tails slightly. "And yet I'm the best at arrays in our class."

Tails gave a small shrug and folded his arms behind his head nonchalantly. "Aahh, this exercise isn't COMPLETELY about arrays, it's also a bit about strategy you know."

"Which I am just as capable of as you are," Lyla shot back with a somewhat childish pout, Tails smiling slightly.

"Hey, it's just this game in particular," he replied with a small shrug. "We all know I used to play it a lot when I was younger with..."

Tails trailed off, moving one hand about as if waiting for someone to finish the comment. Though Lyla nodded in unspoken agreement, Sabishii glanced at Raiu blankly. "...with who?"

"His older brother," the demon murmured softly, glancing down at his lap. "He went to the Academy too, of course..."

"But he disappeared not a single day before our father was found dead," Tails suddenly added, glancing at Sabishii with a serious expression. "Everyone says it was desertion...primarily because he used to be a little bit of a rebel."

Sabishii gave a small blink as Lyla finished, "The most morbid rumors state that he might have been involved with the murdering of Amadeus, but it's never been proven. All evidence we do have implies he was taken down by Famulus."

Raiu glanced at Tails with a worried expression, the fox folding his arms with a nod. "I try not to let it get to me...sure, I miss having him around, and I'd really like to find out what happened to him, but..."

"You've got bigger fish to fry," Lyla finished, Tails giving a nod back in confirmation.

"Maybe when I have more time and power on my hands I can dedicate more time to actually finding out what heppened to him, but until then..." The fox went to say something more, but was interrupted by slowly glancing up with a surprised blink. Lyla followed his gaze, now finding the ever familiar face of Milio staring down at her with a dopey expression. "...uh."

"Hi guys!" the enormous otter remarked, bouncing up and down excitedly and causing his bulbous middle to bounce about energetically. The others simply watched him move up and down, their heads bobbing with each motion before Tails spoke.

"Hey Milio...what are you doing here?" the fox asked, finally stopping the motion of his head. "Shouldn't you be with Kinshou?"

"He is." The prefect's voice caused Tails to yelp and quickly whirl around, disturbing the game pieces on the board they had just been playing with. As expected, Kinshou and Kentan stood behind them, the vulpine's arms folded. "Miles, Lyla, I'm pleased to let you know that the both of you will be accompanying me on a rather important mission."

The foursome's eyes widened in shock, Raiu murmuring, "R-really...?"

"What kind of mission?" Sabishii asked in curiosity, tilting his head to one side.

Kinshou turned around, motioning for the foursome to follow. After cleaning up the disrupted game pieces, Tails, Raiu, Lyla, and Sabishii began following the prefect and his demons through the hall. "We are going to attack Shiro Village."

Tails and Lyla's eyes visibly widened. "But...that's the largest Famulus foothold in the Hellfields!" the fox exclaimed in shock.

Kinshou nodded in confirmation, Lyla continuing the expression of disbelief. "And...the Headmaster is sending us to destroy it? Like, just US?"

"Yes, just us," Kinshou replied, glancing at the both of them with a serious expression. "As you can expect, such a large victory will catapult your way up the rankings for the Nitefall Ceremony. But there is, of course, just as large of a mortality risk of going into such a heavily infested area."

Raiu and Sabishii exchanged a rather nervous glance, Tails and Lyla nodding in response. "We understand, but..." Lyla furrowed her brow. "Why just us? This sounds like a job for more than the seven of us."

"The Headmaster is obviously rather confident in your abilities," Kinshou replied, turning back around. "You both have been performing exceptionally well."

This comment seemed to strike a chord with Tails, who furrowed his brow in curiosity. "...why do I not believe that...?" Kinshou stopped, glancing at the smaller fox out of the side of his eye and causing everyone to halt. "The Belltower Atrium, the Mancer Core, the Aquilus Atrium...I've been doing everything BUT well. Sure I brought in those two Suuhai warlocks, managed to fend off that Zealot, and took down that rogue demon yesterday, but I had help every time that I would have been dead without!"

A few rather tense moments followed, Lyla glancing at Kinshou with a newly curious and slightly worried expression. After shifting about the glasses on his face once more, Kinshou turned back around. "I wouldn't go against the Headmaster's word if I were you, regardless of whatever logistics you may have behind you. Now come on, we can't dawdle much longer."

The fox began walking off once more, Tails pursing his lips and earning a worried expression from Raiu. "Something's not right..." he uttered lightly, sighing before walking after Kinshou, the other three quickly trotting along after them.