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Chapter 49
Masked nature: Part VI
Assiah's distress
Ethan whined in pain as Tharros placed a hand on his belly. Blood ran from his mouth.
"This is bad," Tharros whispered. He crossed his arms, lowering his head. "Really bad."
"Wh... What is it, Tharros?" Ange started panting.
"Put yourself together! I need you right now so stay strong!"
"He said... He said he wanted blood," Ange informed. "He was repeating it, over and over. He said he wanted blood many times."
"Blood?" Tharros glanced at Ethan's pained expression. Ethan's skin was almost white.
"He's having a severe blood loss. He can't go on this way. The injury should be sealed!"
"My healing won't affect him." Ange gritted his teeth, lowering his head. "Even after studying all these books and swearing that no life will be wasted. Now, he's... he's suffering like this and I... I'm powerless! I'm really useless!"
"Don't think like this!" Tharros placed a firm hand on Ange's shoulders. "You know everything about healing and medicine, right?"
Ange nodded. Tharros smiled. "Good," he walked out of the room.
"Bl... ood," Ange glanced down at Ethan. Ethan gasped, crying silently. "Pl... lease!"
Ange clenched his fists. "Take mine, Lisian!"
Ethan shook his head, holding his head between his hands.
He cried out in pain as shadows surrounded him. Ange's eyes flashed wide. The shadows lifted Ethan's body and started devouring him
"He... lp..." Ethan's hand reached out for help. He gasped, as shadows covered it. "He... l..."
He whined, collapsing to the ground.
Ange gasped loudly and stood up. He gazed at Ethan's lifeless body, panting heavily. He placed his hands on his face, screaming loudly. Tharros' eyes flashed wide, hearing the screams. He ran downstairs and saw the light angel on the floor, unconscious.
"Ange!" He jumped near him and carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Wake up, speak to me, Ange!"
His eyes widened, glancing in front of him. Ethan's skin was completely black. He was lying on his front. His nerves and veins were outside of his body.
He was dead.
Tharros fell to his knees. He held Ethan's cold arm, trying to feel his pulse, but found nothing.
He lowered his head, clenching his fists.
"BEHEMOTH!" He stared at the empty, rolled-up purple irises with rage. "SHOW UP!"
The red substance was all over the room.
"Will you let a demon's blood dirty your clothes, Tharros?" Behemoth appeared in front of Tharros, smiling.
"How do you have enough boldness to kill your own child this way!"
Behemoth stared at the blood slowly running from Ethan's mouth. "My child..."
His gaze softened. He knelt down near the younger demon and ran a hand into his long, purple hair. He placed a hand on his face and closed his eyes. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and sat down. Tharros held Ange, taking a step back. "What will you do to him? He's dead now, let him at least rest in peace!"
"A demon cannot rest, above all in peace..." Behemoth clenched his fists. "It's the fate of a demon."
Tharros lowered his head.
Shadows wrapped around Behemoth's body. "He didn't die. It's not because your angel picked a shock it means he died. He's simply put in a deep coma."
"What for? What are you trying to transplant in him, Behemoth?"
"Nothing at all..." Behemoth laid Ethan on the ground. "That power that he can awaken with Satan." He coldly stared at Tharros. "It should never awaken."
He started walking away. "I will never kill my children, angels' lord."
Tharros stared at him leaving with a serious look.
Ethan's veins started returning into his body.
-o-
Satan slowly opened his eyes. He was panting.
Blood...
He stood up from the bed and walked ahead, not knowing his way.
"Ah, Satan?" Magma called his name. "That's the way toward the lounge. Are you sure you want to join these guys?"
Blood!
Satan walked into the lounge.
Ilios smirked, grabbing him by his arm. "Hah! He's awake! Look at that beautiful Middlemist you have on your ear, Satan! Ignis should really like you to give you one of his precious roses!"
"Knock it, asshole," Ignis rolled his eyes.
Satan fell to his knees, gasping in pain. Ilios raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Dude, are you feeling good? You look like a vampire..."
"E... than," Satan breathed. "I want... E... E... than... plea... se!"
Ignis stared at the storm outside. "Alright, I'll go to Libra and find him."
Locus appeared near them. "Uhm... Have you seen Ange and Ethan? They have left since yesterday and they haven't returned yet."
Ignis' eyes widened. "Why?"
"Maybe they were stuck in the citadel. Even using my teleport power, it's impossible to overcome the barrier for now."
Satan yelped, collapsing to the ground.
Ilios knelt near him. "What's going on? Is this storm natural or..."
"There's no way this storm can be natural!" Erini walked into the lounge. "I know it better than anyone! This storm is an attack. Someone is preventing us from doing what we have to do." He glared at Satan. "No, someone is trying to separate these two! We cannot allow that! Either way... Satan and Ethan will both die!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
Satan gritted his teeth. "Bl... lood! I need... blood!"
Ignis stared at him. Is that why he collapsed in the middle of these flowers?
He clenched his fists. "He won't accept any other blood different that Ethan's?!"
"I don't think so. It was a blood pact, more like loyalty..."
Satan started coughing blood. He placed a hand on his chest, panting. Ilios helped him to stand up. He glanced at the others. Ximera bit her lips. "He looks in pain! We really can't do anything?!"
"I know some calming drinks. But it's merely a pain killer. It won't solve the roots of the problem." Aluben muttered, giving Satan some herbal tea. "Drink this; it'll calm down your pain."
Satan held the cup with trembling hands. He started drinking. His body was burning up. His skin was reddish, almost like he was on fire. Ilios helped him to sit on the couch. He glanced at Ignis, who was sitting on the opposite couch, coldly staring at them. Hiz yawned and lay down to sleep. "You should find a solution. He's dying..."
Erixi crossed his arms. "The only way would be reuniting him with his brother."
Satan closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain. The rose fell from his ear on his lap. He stared at it. Aluben sat sear him. "He seems a little calmer..."
"Even though, we can't rely on that!" Ximera clenched her fists. "We should do something!"
Locus closed his eyes. A royal blue aura surrounded him. "I'll try teleporting again."
They glanced at him. He gritted his teeth, falling to his knees. Erini sat near him. "Are you okay?"
Locus shook his head. "It's just impossible to reach the citadel using teleport. Maybe this storm is sending some electromagnetic waves."
Ignis clenched his fists, hearing Satan's gasps.
-o-
Meanwhile
Rain was falling heavily. Rin couldn't sleep. He absently stared from the window of his room in the dorm. It was almost like a flood. It was catastrophic. He didn't feel scared, though. He felt something was weird inside of him. He grabbed the ice-blue crystal and stared at it. His eyes widened, seeing a wide crack in it. He knew that it wasn't his fault the crack was there. He's always kept the crystal in a safe place; there's no way it was his fault. He felt confused. What could have cracked it?
"Ah, now, this storm is surely a big deal!" Yukio walked into the room, drying his hair. He stared at the purple lightning. "I cry for those who are scared of thunder; it's deafening!"
Rin nodded. "I couldn't even sleep," he complained.
"What do you think will happen? To think that school will start tomorrow!" Yukio laughed weakly, sitting on his bed. He glanced through the window. "I bet the routes leading to this city will be closed for a while. We'll probably have a prolonged holiday, this year!"
"Yeah, good for us..."
"Rin?" Yukio blinked, staring at his brother's absent expression. "You seem a little off-track. Are you okay?"
Rin narrowed his eyes. "Is this storm really natural? I don't know! It seems weird."
Yukio stood up. "Well, now that you mention it..."
"Something isn't right, don't you think?" Rin sighed and lay on his bed. He closed his eyes. "Now, this is boring! We're stuck in here! We can't sleep. We can't go outside to grab some food. We can't even use our phones, since the network is broken by the storm. Electricity is broken. We're even using candles! The whole city is empty and everyone is hiding, scared! This is worse than having an earthquake!"
Yukio laughed nervously. "I know..."
He crossed his arms. "Do you think it's a demon's doing?"
Rin opened his eyes. "Like who?"
"Satan can be behind this!"
"Ah, stop it... Satan was gone a long ago..."
"Then, it could be another demon! I don't know; I bet Gehenna has millions of demons ready to massacre us." Yukio raised an eyebrow. "It's probably like that..."
"Maybe..." Rin yawned. "It's boring!"
Yukio sighed. "It can't be helped. Even if it's a demon's doing, we can't help!"
"It's irritating!" Rin gritted his teeth, feeling a headache. "If they dare show up, I'll smash them!"
"Yeah, if they show up."
Yukio smiled, crossing his arms.
Rin closed his eyes. "Night..."
"Night, nii-san."
-o-
"Ah, now, now! This storm is sure something!" Mephisto sighed, lowering his head. "The poor Assiah is suffering! They won't handle the nature's rage!"
Shura emotionlessly stared at him. "What do you know, Mephisto?"
Mephisto smiled, glancing at her. "What do you mean?"
"This can't be a regular storm! It's beyond terrifying!"
"It happens! You know, if you look through history, there has been storms even worse than this one!"
"Stop teasing me!" She gritted her teeth. "This is no joke! What if we are in danger?"
He glanced back through his glassy wall. He glared daggers at the purple lightning. "Danger..."
"Is it a demon's doing?"
"Who knows?" He shrugged.
"You were summoned to Gehenna a few weeks ago, right? What for?" she asked.
"I believe you're not my mother to ask such questions," he teased.
"It's serious, Mephisto!" She punched the desk. "Assiah is tumbling down!"
"Ah, you shouldn't put it that way! Look! It's just a mere landscape! It's not harming anything!"
"It is harming the people's brains!"
"Who cares about the people's brains? They're still alive. That's all that matter. Sadly, I'm no psychologist."
"You're insane! What's with this cold attitude?! Does it mean you were expecting this?!" Shura clenched her fists. "Are you with them?"
"HAH!" Mephisto started laughing. "Are you sane, Shura? Are you asking a demon if he's with his likes?!" He sighed. "But you know, maybe this storm is a little off..."
Shura glared at the lightening. "That's what I've been saying!"
Mephisto smiled. "Yeah, it's a demon's doing. But who, I have no idea..."
"What do you mean?!"
"I know all the demons of Gehenna. And I can assure you that not a single one can masters the storms. Of course, you can always mix the darkness, wind, water, sound and lightning but the result won't be this dreadful, and the lightning won't be purple."
"So? What could it be?" She laughed, "An angel's doing, maybe?"
He smirked. "No way..."
"So what?"
"I'll tell you so what," he glanced at her. "A demon is hiding something. Purple... This is familiar." He took a sip of his tea. "Really? Could it be him? But, how comes? Wasn't he murdered by Viperiah?" He narrowed his eyes.
"What are you mumbling about?" Shura raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing! Just trying to link things together. No, I can't find any explanation..." His eyes slowly widened. "Hell no... I know now!" He lowered his head. "That angel... Could they have taken him to Guanna? What are the possibilities that something is screwed up over there?"
He glanced at Shura. "Listen, we're screwed."
Her eyes widened. "How?"
"Apparently something is happening is heaven in this exact moment. All the occurrences that happen in heaven directly affect this world. It's not the same than Gehenna. In other words..."
Mephisto clenched his fists. "We're more likely to crash."
Her eyes widened.
The thunder growled...
To be continued...
Behemoth knocked Ethan into a deep coma and tortured him. Thinking that he was dead, Ange lost consciousness after remembering an unpleasant sight. Satan's condition started worsening as he started carving his brother's blood. But, there was no way to reach him. On the other hand, the storm occurring in heaven affected Assiah, making it raise the red flag
What will happen to Assiah?
Find out in the next chapter!
Review please!
