The Beast Within
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, get over it.
A/N: Now we go to 16 years of age.
Chapter 25 (Preparation for War)
Valerie stood by Jake as she overlooked all of the beasts, they had just accepted her as their leader and she had given the speech announcing the changes that had been made and would be made. Sam was there as well as Freddie and Carly, it had been necessary for them all to be there during this time. The group knew that Ahriman had to be somewhere nearby, after all, why would he miss such an important meeting. Now the meeting was over and the beasts had been dispersed until they were to be called for the war. Even Amy had come for the meeting.
Now it was just Valerie and the others, discussing what was to come. They had no idea where Ahriman's lair was, but they had a feeling that some of the more virulent beasts might know. "So, Ahriman can still get into Heaven?" Freddie asked while crossing his arms. "He's a beast, how can he get there without being led by a Slayer?"
"It's possible since Ahriman was originally an Angel," Amy stated. She rubbed her chin and narrowed her eyes. "He still has that pure part of him left. I know if he were to find and devour the souls of those four animals that we separated the beast into, then he could erase pure part of him."
"So, the dog and cat are well hidden?" Jake asked while raising his eyebrow. Amy nodded in response, they made an effort to hide those two animals, knowing full well that Ahriman might try to find and devour those two. "What about the snake and eagle? What happens if Ahriman finds them?"
"There's like a million snakes out there," Valerie stated. "How would he be able to find the right one? As for the eagle, I wouldn't even know about that."
"He's Freddie's twin," Carly replied. She narrowed her eyes and placed the side of her finger to her chin in thought. "He'd be able to detect where parts of Freddie's soul would be. Those animals have some parts of Freddie's soul in them, so he could find them." Freddie twitched slightly, nervous about the outcome of everything. Carly looked over at him and smiled. "It'll be just fine."
"Yeah Freddie, we're all with you," Sam said as she smiled and kissed Freddie's cheek. Freddie smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her waist, he kissed her cheek in return.
"Of course, I'm not all that worried about myself," Freddie replied. "I'm more worried about all of you. Now that that beast is out of me, I don't know if Ahriman's going to target me."
"If the beast inside you was the first target, Ahriman probably won't target you," Amy stated while patting Freddie's shoulder. "Chances are, he'll want to find those animals before the start of the war. If he finds the snake and eagle before we do, we'll just have to up security around the dog and cat."
"Of course, those two animals would be in a pretty secure place," Carly said while crossing her arms over. "I've positioned a group of Slayers to join the Angels near those two, so Ahriman would at least have to fight to get there."
"Plus, it's heaven," Sam said with a small laugh. "Ahriman can't transform into his beast form in Heaven." Amy nodded but frowned.
"Don't forget, he's part angel," Amy said. "When he's in heaven, he could have angel powers. That means, he can still fight…if he's got a human form, he'll probably have those angel abilities."
"Okay, so what's our goal for now?" Jake asked with a concerned voice. He wanted to finish this war without any casualties, and he desperately wanted to stop Ahriman from being able to kill.
"We find the animals first," Sam replied. Her face turned to a determined look, she too wanted to prevent any danger from going to Freddie. "If there's a way to detect them, then we need to find them before Ahriman. What we do with them afterwards, I don't know."
"We'll have to send them to Heaven," Amy said while crossing her arms. "That way, they'll be protected until the war is over and they can return to Earth."
"Ever notice that when you say 'send to heaven' it sounds like you're going to kill that thing?" Jake asked in a slightly humorous tone. Amy narrowed her eyes and spoke in a flat voice.
"Yes, Jake, I realize that."
"Sorry." Jake glanced to the side and chuckled nervously, knowing he just embarrassed himself rather than lightened the mood. "Anyway, how are we going to find out where they are? They are not one beast, and we can't look for a particular beast…"
"Sure we can detect them," Sam said while smirking. "We're looking for an ejected beast that may have some remnants of Freddie's soul. Ahriman can detect them, and so can we. It's not hard…" Sam took Freddie's hands in hers and smiled at him. "Freddie, close your eyes." Freddie nodded and closed his eyes, Sam closed hers and exhaled slowly. "Just relax your soul and I'll try to find them with my power." Freddie nodded and slowly exhaled, relaxing and not distracting his thoughts with anything.
Sam could feel Freddie's soul, and inside of her, she felt various other souls that had some part of Freddie left on them. Two of them were the twins inside of her, and the other four were the animals. The dog and the cat were in Heaven, both of which you could tell were sleeping. The snake's soul was slithering across the park where Ahriman had escaped, it was searching for food. The last one was in distress. Sam gasped and clenched her eyes tightly, she could see what was happening.
Ahriman was pushing his hand into the eagle, and pulling out the soul. The eagle was in tremendous pain, and fear was coursing through its veins. Sam watched in distress, she couldn't do anything but stare as the eagle screamed out its painful cries. Sam knew this was what would have happened to Freddie if they hadn't removed the beast. A tear rolled down her cheek as Ahriman took the soul and started to push it into his own body. He seemed to glow as the spirit coursed into him, slowly chipping away at the pure soul and giving him strength. She couldn't watch anymore, Sam opened her eyes slowly and stared at the others with a forlorn expression.
"What happened, Sam?" Freddie asked with concern in his voice. Sam let out a small sigh and crossed her arms.
"Ahriman…ate the eagle." Valerie gasped and Freddie's eyes grew large. That was never good news, it just meant Ahriman was a step ahead of them. "The eagle was near the same general area as the snake, in the park."
"Then we need to go to the park, immediately!" Jake exclaimed. Sam could still feel the souls that she had just felt, she would be able to detect them for a short period. "We can save the snake."
"It's too late."
"What?" Jake raised his eyebrow and Sam let out a small moan. The snake's soul was now in distress, it was panicking and crying.
"The snake's soul is being taken as well."
"Damn it!" Jake clenched his fists and looked in the direction of the park. "Well, at least we have two in a protected environment."
"Yeah, Ahriman won't be getting there so easily," Valerie stated while crossing her arms. "Maybe I should send some beasts up there too, since there are Slayers there that can allow them into Heaven safely."
"Yeah, if there are some beasts there, that's always good," Freddie said with a brief nod. Valerie smiled and closed her eyes, getting ready to transmit a message to the beasts.
"I want at least fifty beasts to go to the gates of Heaven, it is an order to protect something sacred. If you wish to protect the animals that must be protected, please go. The Slayers and Angels there will accompany you and will direct the remaining amount of beasts back here to help the war." Valerie opened her eyes and felt the souls of numerous beasts flying toward Heaven. "Okay, it's all good."
"Very good then," Carly stated. She closed her eyes, to direct a message to the Slayers in Heaven. "You will be joined by beasts that will help you guard the dog and cat. Ahriman will be heading there soon, you need to keep him from those two animals. If he takes their souls into his body, he will become stronger and will be capable of killing. You need at least fifty beasts with you, sixty at most, send the rest back to Earth." Carly opened her eyes up and crossed her arms, pleased with how that was turning out. "You don't make that bad of a leader, Valerie."
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." Freddie crossed his arms and looked down in thought, he had no clue how he was going to help in the fight.
"What can I do?" Freddie asked while frowning. "I can't very well fight any Beasts."
"Sure you can," Sam said as she placed her hands on his shoulder. She smiled and looked into his eyes, she loved to gaze into his eyes. "You just need a good weapon, and you'll be able to fight. Perhaps a spear or something would work…" Jake smirked and crossed his arms over.
"My specialty is guns of all kinds, as you know," Jake stated. "Let's see what I can hook you up with. Would you like a flamethrower?" Freddie blinked and stared at Jake, he couldn't imagine himself carrying around a huge flamethrower.
"I could carry it, but I don't really want to carry something so big."
"So how about we make it smaller?" Sam asked while smirking. "Give me your hand." Freddie lifted his hand and Sam took it, staring at his palm. She pressed her index finger to his palm and a small gem appeared on top of his hand, and two leather straps tied the gem down. "There, you have a flamethrower, and it's not giant, but the flames will most likely be." Freddie turned his hand over and stared at the new weapon, he chuckled and smiled at Sam.
"Thanks, at least I can feel useful." Sam smiled back and gently placed her hand on the side of Freddie's face.
"You're always useful, at least to me. I love you, dork." Sam leaned forward and kissed Freddie's lips. At that moment, she could feel Ahriman's soul leaving, charging toward the Heavens. She pulled back and turned around, her eyes were slightly widened. "Ahriman's leaving, who knows when he'll get back."
"Oh, well that's good," Carly said with a smirk. Valerie crossed her arms and titled her head, a smirk was etched onto her face.
"The Beasts should all be well prepared and ready," Valerie stated. "So maybe it's time we declared war?"
"We can remove the vile beasts from Earth before Ahriman gets back," Amy stated. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "The Angels, Slayers, and Beasts in Heaven will probably hold Ahriman off as long as they can. That way, we can rid Earth of the evil beasts and then wait for Ahriman."
"Well I don't know about you, but I'm ready to pick a fight," Jake stated while grinning widely. Freddie nodded in agreement, he was ready to end the apocalypse.
"So then it is settled," Sam remarked. "We can definitely start this fight, if everyone's ready."
"All of the Slayers should be ready," Carly responded.
"The Angels are definitely prepared," Amy said while opening her eyes and smirking.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Freddie stated. Valerie nodded and crossed her arms.
"I'll alert the Beasts, it's time to declare war on Ahriman," Valerie replied. Her face was determined and held a large smirk. "Let's do this."
There's the 25th chapter, I think I'm losing my readers to school, lol. Oh well, hope you liked this chapter, the next should be up relatively soon!