Chapter Thirty-Four: Power Struggle.
Alia geared herself up for battle. The demon wraiths circled around the group of magic users. The creatures looked positively hideous and murderous. Belasco looked towards his demented minions and offered one declaration.
"Capture the Girl-Who-Lived, slaughter the rest," Belasco ordered.
Circe's eyes rolled back slightly. The goddess struggled to figure out what was more amusing. The fact Belasco assumed Circe proved to that easily defeatable or the assumption Circe easily backed off from a fight. Either assumption gave the woman a fair amount of amusement to n end.
The goddess raised a hand and a circle of magical energy emitted from it. Circe fired an attack from her hand. Silver rings spiraled from her hand like miniature discs. These miniature discs sliced the creatures to ribbons and backed them off. Circe retracted her hand at the last minute, pleased the wraiths sliced to ribbons.
Zatanna expelled the creatures with a vial magical attack of her own. The creatures slammed hard against the wall. A few more attacks rocked the creature. Zatanna opened a portal and shot the creatures on through.
Alia slid the sword from her sheath. The girl intended to practice channeling her back through a sword along with fine-tuning her Amazon fighting abilities. The moment approached her and the demonic creatures rushed Alia one at a time. The creatures took swipes at Alia.
The last possible minute, Alia ducked. The Amazon warrior spun and slammed the sword into the chests of these creatures. The wraiths flew back and smacked against the wall with a sickening thud. Alia propelled her body into the air and tricked them into coming after her.
The trick opened up the creatures for an attack from Circe. The goddess of magic propelled a blast of magic from her hand. The magical rings sliced the creatures and sent them back to the horrific dimension which they came from.
"Predictable and one dimensional," Circe commented in a completely bored voice. "Well, do feel free to help out."
Ananym looked at her father's simple creations and summoned a blood red dagger. The demon sliced the creatures. An image of Ananym's father appeared in the girl's mind and this act prompted the girl to attack these creatures with far more brutality then before.
Demons took rejection about as poorly as one would expect. Ananym cared little whether or not the rejection came from her own father. The creatures he sent would be hacked up.
Illyana and Ginny observed the battle, mouths open and eyes widened, along with arms folded in frustration. A shield formed around the two girls and blocked their progress from battle.
"My father hides behind smoke and mirrors as usual," Ananym answered. "I'm beginning to think he's a coward."
"You just are now coming to that conclusion," Circe scoffed. A silver ring rose from the woman's hand one more time.
The never ending supply of shadow wraiths depleted with every attack. Circe finding their portal helped immensely with this. The goddess of magic and sometimes of chaos lifted a hand and propelled a creature back.
The creature staggered against the grip of the magical woman. The demonic entity's realization its time reached an end really rattled the creature. Circe stalked upon it.
"He's not here anymore!" Alia yelled.
The warrior princess took the frustration of the man she wanted to run through with that sword leaving the premises ran the sword through one of the demonic creatures. The demonic creature staggered forward. Alia's attack prompted black blood to spill from the creatures mouth.
"Of course," Ananym said. She casually slammed a dagger back at one of the creatures that tried to attack her. The daughter of Belasco rolled her eyes. "Did you expect any less?"
Alia expected better of an enemy. The warrior princess reflected within herself and thought her thinking better of an enemy might prove to be one of her more frustrating faults.
"I believe I have the exit point," Circe said. "Time to send these vile abominations back where they came from. I find it hard to believe that any place can be a step down from this hellhole, but at this point, I'm not the one fit to judge."
Circe's chaotic magic channeled through the portal and a whirlpool effect erupted from the portal. The portal drew the demonic creatures back on through. The inhumane screams of the creatures echoed as they struggled, but Circe's spell proved to be useful in drawing these entities through. One tried to grab at Alia.
"Dutiful little minions to the very least," Circe answered.
Ananym waited a moment to catch her breath. The woman extended a hand forward towards a gateway.
"There's the portal," Ananym answered. "You three can leave now."
Alia observed the portal with a critical eye. The warrior princess found nothing wrong with the portal. Skepticism reared its ugly head for Alia. The demi-goddess deduced nothing could be this easy.
"First of all, I don't think leaving will be that easy," Alia fired back. "And second of all, Belasco never paid for his crimes against these girls."
Alia swiped her hand over Illyana and Ginny.
"And he's tainted you equally as much," Alia agreed.
Ananym scoffed and rolled her eyes. Alia proved to be a far better person than Ananym. The girl refused to believe Belasco tainted her.
"You really think that?" Ananym asked.
Alia turned her attention away from the young demon, over towards her mother. Lily looked towards Ananym with thought and reflection dancing in her green eyes.
"He is able to do what he did because of me," Lily answered. "Belasco, I mean, he watched you when I visited you. I put you and these other girls at risk. His agent would never have been able to pass through the barriers….."
"Mother, he won't be able to do that again," Alia answered.
"How do you know that?" Lily asked.
Alia's smile grew confident. She reached around and pulled Lily into a confident hug. Lily relaxed, the first hug she and her daughter shared in some time proved to be very nice.
"I'm bringing you home."
Donna stood outside. The Amazon Warrior knew Alia asked her to be here because of an emergency. The incident happening around them certainly qualified as an emergency. Donna racked her brain to recall her teacher training and also all of what she experienced in the past couple of months teaching at this school.
The students at Smallville Middle School practiced fire drills, tornado drills, earthquake drills, and meteor shower drills. All of those drills proved to be essential. No drill existed for invasion of demonic creatures coming up over Smallville.
Donna watched the vortex swirling in the sky. The Warrior Princess really could only begin to guess what came through the portal. Anything arriving showcased how well she trained. Donna knew she stood mostly alone. The other teachers freaked out far worse than the students ever could in this situation.
The Amazon's eyes flickered all around and she observed the surroundings around her. Most of the students and the teachers already found their way down to the basement. How going to the basement of the school stopped demonic invaders, Donna shrugged. As long as these people stayed out of her way, Donna's job became a lot easier.
The Amazon Princess observed her surroundings and discovered she did not go into this battle alone. Cass stepped up next to her. She dressed in battle armor and a sword sheath draped over her shoulder.
"You could use some back up," Cass replied at Donna raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, believe me, the backup is appreciated," Donna said.
The two girls locked eyes with each other. The portal grew more active and lights flashed from above their heads. Donna and Cass prepared for any trouble escaping that portal. The two girls guessed whatever came through that portal would not be fluffy bunny rabbits.
Bunny rabbits often showed themselves to be dangerous in their own right, especially with anyone who grew a vegetable garden. Donna cleared her head with a simple shake. The Amazon's head shifted one fraction to the side and met Cass's eyes.
"You know what Alia taught you?" Donna asked.
"About holding back and not killing people?" Cass asked.
"Well these aren't people," Donna said. "Do you understand?"
Cass swiftly nodded. The look of determination flashing through the girl's eyes showcased she understood perfect. The girl removed the sword from her sheath and prepared to fight anything escaping the portal. The assassin found the proper balance during the months of training with Alia.
Donna wondered what they waited for. The girl's tension increased.
"What can I do to help?"
Donna spun around and Claire stood behind Donna. The Amazon Princess nearly suffered a sudden heart attack at the presence of the Kryptonian.
"What are you doing out here?" Donna demanded.
"I think that I can help….." Claire answered.
"I know Alia's been training you," Donna answered. The Amazon warrior placed a hand gently on Claire's shoulder and squeezed it. "But, I'm afraid I can't let you be out here. Kara and Alia want me to protect you at any cost."
Claire's mouth hung open. The girl tried to form a protest, but Donna cut her off.
"Actually, there's something that you can do to help," Donna amended. Claire bounced up in excitement. The Amazon felt amused at Claire's actions for a slight moment. "You can make sure that everyone is safely inside and there are no people straggling outside."
Claire realized what Donna wanted her to do and the girl understood. She zipped around the school.
No one lingered outside other than Donna. Claire reentered the school, re-locking the doors behind her. The hallways looked deserted. Everyone made their way to the basement and Claire thought she best join the other students.
Claire darted and ended up on Lana's side. Lana stood up straight, but gave no other indication she noticed Claire left the group and returned.
"You got cut down, didn't you?" Lana asked. Claire nodded for a moment. "Well, you got back just in time, the teachers finally are getting around to doing a headcount. They're not prepared for anything like this."
Claire thought Lana might have underplayed things slightly. The redhead leaned against the wall and allowed a momentary sigh.
"Where have you been?" a perky looking blonde with short hair asked near them.
"What do you mean?" Claire asked.
"Well, you weren't here about a minute ago, and now you're here?" she asked.
"Claire had to…..well she was in the back of the room, and she came up to join me," Lana answered.
The girl's hands flew towards her hips and a frown followed that stance.
"You're new, here, aren't you?" Lana asked.
"Yeah, first day here, picked a hell of a first day to transfer into Smallville," the girl answered. "Are things normally this exciting in Smallville? Judging by the name, you wouldn't think so, but hey, you never know, do you?"
"No, you don't," Claire replied.
"Oh, my name's Chloe, Chloe Sullivan," the girl answered in excitement.
"Claire Kent," Claire answered.
"Lana Lang," Lana said.
"Oh, it's so nice to meet people here, I was really worried," Chloe answered. A lightbulb clicked in the girl's head. "Oh, and before I forget…..here…hold my camera phone and get this."
Chloe slipped the camera phone into Lana's hand. Everyone failed to notice what happened next, except for Lana. Chloe grabbed Claire and pulled her into a quick kiss. The perky blonde's soft lips pressed against Claire's soft lips.
"There, you were thinking about it, weren't you?" Chloe asked. "Now we can get on with being friends without any awkwardness and stuff."
"Right, without any awkwardness after you just….." Claire said. "Why did you really do that?"
"My, cousin, Lois, bet me I wouldn't kiss a girl," Chloe admitted. "And now she owes me twenty bucks. But don't worry, it was actually not as bad as I thought it would be."
"Thank you, I think," Claire murmured.
Claire craned and could have sword she saw the feet of a blur go by out the basement window, but the teachers demanded the full attention of the students of Smallville Middle School.
Chaos opened the gateway for opportunity and any chance not seized ended up being a chance squandered. Belasco's plans thrived on chaos, even if the chaos this moment directed towards him and attacked the demon lord.
The Ruler of Limbo stepped up the time table for the conquest of Earth. The planet proved to be an ideal and fertile breeding ground for extending his empire. Belasco wished to do so with his queen by his side, but everything looked to not go that direction. The demon vowed to win the day and destroy all of humanity, taking only the very best as servants as a reminder of his domination.
"All will fall before me," Belasco said.
"There's one piece of business you're going to have to finish up before that."
Belasco slowly turned on the spot and peered down. Princess Alia marched down the floor and closed the distance between her and Belasco. The girl armed herself with an elegant sword which glittered into the light.
"And you think that you can defeat me," Belasco said. "I showed you mercy when I left my minions to dismantle you."
"Really, you say mercy, but I say that you're a coward," Alia said. "I can hardly believe how weak the supposed Lord of Limbo is. You couldn't tame me by force and you certainly couldn't defeat me in battle."
Belasco's rumbling laughter grew. The laughter masked the anger the demon felt on the inside. Any challenge to his power mandated a response. The demon lord knew the warrior princess baited him.
"You wish to fight me," Belasco answered.
"You wouldn't be my toughest adversary," Alia answered, bored.
"Even, if you defeat me, Earth will be torn apart," Belasco answered.
"Then, let's make this battle interesting," Alia replied. "If I defeat you in battle, you will spare Earth and allow your prisoners to leave. Ginny, Illyana, and your daughter, allow them to leave and be free."
"That's interesting," Belasco answered. "But what happens, when I defeat you."
"If you somehow manage to defeat me, then I'll willingly submit to you," Alia commented.
"Well, then I will enjoy breaking….."
Alia stabbed Belasco through the fleshy part of his suit with her sword. The Warrior Princess retracted the sword and drew first blood.
"Foolish girl!" Belasco yelled. The demon lord summoned several razor sharp daggers and propelled them towards Alia.
Alia utilized her sword to block every last attack. The daggers deflected back at Belasco and cut through the air at an accelerated rate.
The warrior princess needed to stay one step ahead of her enemy. Said adversary tried to bring down the full force of his power on Alia's head. Alia dodged the attack and ended up behind Belasco.
Rapid fire kicks and punches drilled Belasco. The wind left the creature and Belasco turned back around. The creature tried to bring the hammer back down on Alia, but Alia dodged the attack constantly.
"Stand your ground and fight me, you stupid girl!" Belasco yelled.
Belasco shook the ground underneath him and several fiery demonic entities tried to grab Alia and pull the warrior princess underneath. The girl avoided the attack and slammed the sword into the ground. The magical vibration coming from the sword sealed up the crack in the ground.
Ananym flashed in front of them in a beam of light.
"Father, they've been delayed," Ananym answered.
Alia's attention focused slowly on Ananym.
"And now, I'll ensure you get what's coming to you," Ananym replied.
"Excellent, a devoted child," Belasco responded. "Finish the girl off, and do it now."
Ananym rose her hand and fired a bolt of light. The black bolt coursed through the air and struck Belasco. The demon lord fell to his knees and screamed in a blood curdling round of agony. The demon's hands reached for his daughter, as if to strangle the traitorous witch.
"You betrayed me," Belasco growled.
"No, you spurned me first," Ananym said. "And now, it's time to break all of your little toys."
Ananym yanked back a blood red tarp to reveal a blood red altar containing stacks of blood red stones. The witch sighed and shook her head. Someone really did have an annoying fetish regarding the blood red.
"Ananym, stop, you don't know what you're doing!" Belasco shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Actually, father, I know precisely what I'm doing," Ananym said.
A jagged bolt of light shot from Ananym's hand and obliterated the stones. The simple action caused Belasco's demon apart to disappear from Earth.
"He's mortal," Ananym said.
Belasco tried to rise to his feet. Alia refused to allow him this opportunity. The warrior princess rushed forward and the sword swung down. The blade decapitated Belasco at the neck and dropped the demon lord down to the ground.
Alia lifted up one sword soaked in a demon's blood in the token of her victory. This sword might now be unusable in battle, but the sword showcased as a trophy of her triumph suited Alia rather nicely.
The doors opened and the rest of the group waited. Circe spoke up first.
"I'm surprised your plan worked," Circe told Ananym.
"You need to have more faith in the plans of others," Ananym said. "The portal is your ticket home. Belasco is finished. And the spoils of war belong to Princess Alia."
Alia closed the gap between herself and Ananym. The girl's adrenaline still ran hard and fast from the battle. The gap closed between two sides.
"And that includes you," Alia said.
Alia pulled Anamyn into an extremely rough and possessive kiss. The power of the Amazon overwhelmed Ananym. The Princess's lips bruised Ananym's, but she craved even more.
"I do have a soft spot for you and Lily, after all you've done with removing the wand wavers from the equation," Ananym replied. "They pollute the very fabric of magic."
"Well, I'm glad we could be of service," Lily said.
The silenced proved to be fairly awkward. Alia decided to do the best she could to correct that fact. The young woman's attention directed towards Illyana and Ginny.
"Go through the portal," Alia said. She checked the settings. "It's calibrated to one of our safe houses. Wait there for further instructions."
Illyana and Ginny obediently passed through the portal without any thought or question. Alia's personality commanded attention and respect.
Zatanna followed the girls next and Circe brought up the rear. The two magic users passed through the portal and this left Alia and Lily standing next to each other.
"Well, it's finally going to happen, I'm bringing you home," Alia told Lily.
"Yes, you are, you did it, Alia," Lily said. She paused and another fact hit her she thought Alia likely should know. "My body is currently magically preserved in a crypt in Godric's Hallows. There's a good chance my soul will return to that body, instead of forming a new body."
Alia listened carefully to the directions Lily gave her. The warrior princess passed through the portal.
The phoenix song kicked up and gave Lily the encouragement to walk through the portal. Lily braced herself to wake up in the physical world for the first time in a long time.
Lily's eyes flashed open. The redhead woman hitched in a deep breath and nearly gagged at the smell around her.
The Evans heiress classified everything in the matter of good news or bad news. The good news as Lily saw it, she woke up in the crypt and her body didn't decompose, on the fact of not being dead. Lily shifted over to the bad news. The witch woke up in a crypt with an awful smell.
Not showering for years on account of being a corpse might have something to do with that. Or her late husband's decomposing body lying next to her really might have had something to do with it.
Hunger pains spread through Lily. The middle Evans daughter waited for Alia to come and retrieve her body. Did she honestly have any other choice?
A second red haired green eyed woman woke up. The girl took note of all of the surroundings around her. The mysterious woman woke up.
The last thing she remembered, the girl fled an Earth about ready to self-destruct in some great crisis, brought upon by a crazed man. The woman fled with her wife, but the two of them separated in some big bang.
Another part of the girl remembered a different fate entirely. The girl recalled a great sacrifice on an asteroid where she rescued a team from utter destruction. A Phoenix song played in the back of the girl's head on a loop.
The screams of millions of people before death resounded in the back of the woman's head.
To Be Continued.