Realm: Earth
Age: 21st Century
The Third Kingdom is vast.
A biosphere of deep forests and archtree, Great crags and fathomless oceans. This world is no Eden, but uncounted centuries have allowed the Children of Man to convert it into suit their needs. They have built metropolitan cities the likes of which stretch out dozens of miles at a time and attempt to puncture the sky. These cities are littered with cars and trucks, of all sizes an alternative to the old fashioned horse drawn carriages. And one can not forget the uncounted street lights, designed to chase away the shadows that haunt the city at night. On a very rare occasion, would these lights flicker, showing signs that the electric grid required some attention.
The light fails to reach the city park, where a woman could be found stumbling around in the dark.
So this was what it was like; to actually feel weak. The cloaked woman thought as she leaned against the bridge underpass and took a breath, took a minute to clutch her side. Barely a moment later though she raised her hand, looked at it, and released a hollow chuckle. "Still as black as ever." She whispered as she turned, pressed her back against the wall and slid down it. A trail of blackened blood following her movements as she took stared off into space.. "Black blood, I guess no matter what I do or how I look, I'm still not human."
"Nothing you do shall change that." Behind her a voice called as she looked back. What she found made little to no effort to hide it's true nature. It was big, far too big to be a human. A mountain of iron muscle but disproportioned. Feet were small but well developed, making the figure hunched over. Bone spikes jutted from its form, acting as armor, and it's tail was a club. It in itself met every criteria of being a resident of the Dark Kingdom; a Demon, yet not a lord.
"Ermal." She whispered as she forced herself to her feet. "Why won't you just go way?" Her counterpart just growled, and she wasn't certain if the vibrations she felt were from his voice, or a miniature earthquake. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because you. Are. Mine." Ermal hissed as he stepped forward, his feet causing the ground to cave with every step. "Everything you are, your fingers, your toes, your eyes… all of it belongs to me little imp." He stated as she took a step back. "And I will not tolerate anything that belongs to me being taken away.." He hissed again as he stomped forward. She moved, making to run for it only for one of his hands to grab hold of her and bring her back. Ermal stared at her and snorted, a strong rush of air following the act before he tossed her towards one of the walls. "You insult me, imp." He growled. "You were never my favorite, but one I chose to give the honor of carrying my mark. How do you repay me? You run, you, run to this pathetic kingdom. You try to hide from me… you let a primitive monkey plant their seed inside you." He wasn't shouting, but the aura that radiated off him told her of his anger. It twisted the bridge, not in a way that forced it to decay, but it made something grow from it, a type of flesh like growth. "The gawl…" That rumbling voice of him went ignored as she picks herself up and gasps. "I will allow such insults to pass, imp. You are, mine. I'll have to make sure you remember that."
"Like Hell." The woman muttered as she held her arms to her sides, focusing what power she could at her palms to manifest.
"Resistance will do you no good. You were never strong, and what power you possess now is nothing but scraps."
"Your right." The woman muttered as she continued to radiate power from her palms before inhaling. "But I learned a few tricks since I've been here in the Third Kingdom." She began. "It's not about how much power you have at your disposal. It's how you use it!" She aimed skyward, blasts of demonic power slamming into the bridge above them as she brought it down. The debris blinded Ermal, dropped on him in a heap of rubble as she moved, dodging the debris and making her way back into the open park. That wouldn't stall him for long, but it would by her some time, enough time to get out of here, enough time to put some distance between him and her.
At least that was the plan anyway.
Something stopped her; something ethereal yet demonic in nature. Something that runs solely on pain and suffering. It forces a scream to leave her lips, makes her drop as she raises a hand to clutch her back. Ermal's mark; it feels like acid is boiling her alive.
"You scream like a woman of these worthless primates." Pulling himself out the rubble Ermal just makes steps forward and approaches her. "How you have fallen." He tells her as he growls. She barely hears him, her mind focusing on the pain running from her back and her bleeding side as she appears to prostrate herself to the demon. "You must be reeducated, imp." Ermal states as he uses one of his hands and grabs her. Like crushing an ant between his fingers he presses her into the ground, the force putting a noticeable dent into the ground as he stands over her. "This time, I'll carve more than just my mark on your flesh."
"Ermal." A voice calls out as the demon stops. "The Slave Merchant. You run~" The voice continues as the demon turns his head to the side to find two figures sitting on the rubble and looking at him. "The Dark Market. Sightings were most common in Babylon before the tower fell, after which you moved to what would later become Ukraine for a while." One figure, a woman states as she and her counterpart picks themselves up and jumps off the rubble. "You got kicked out though some time in 1072, and you've been popping from one world to the next, picking up slaves and selling them to the higher echelons of demon nobility and scientists for study." She noted as she crossed her arms. "Gonna be honest, you look nothing like the pictures in the text." She chuckled. "Someone got jacked since they last visited Earth."
"Looks like it sis."
"You…" The Demon began as he leered down at the pair. "Who are you?"
"Oh well that's just insulting." The woman's counterpart states as he gestures to himself. "We're Hunters, can't you tell by our state of dress?"
"Hunters…" Ermal grumbled as he pressed his counterpart into the ground. "I thought your kind went extinct like the dinosaurs."
"Please." The Huntress just stared up at the demon. "We may not really move in the light anymore, but we still exist, and we will so long as you lot come to our world and start causing problems."
"Then you should know, this does not concern you." Ermal states as he lifts his property as she gasps for air. "I have not hunted man nor woman, I am only here to collect what is mine."
"Yeah about that." The Hunter cuts in. "I know you haven't been to this kingdom in quite some time but you should know that slavery is illegal in the United States." The man states, his voice shifting to sound like steel. "So drop her, leave her alone, and you can walk out of here alive." For not the first time tonight the demon growls as he starts stomping forward.
"You think you can threaten me, Hunter?"
"I prefer "warn"." He corrected, as he glanced at his sister and she nodded. "I'm warning you. Back out and you live to see another day. If not… well we've had a price on your head for quite a while." The Hunter states as he extends a hand. A seal engraved on his wrist starts to burn and low like freshly fed embers and what appears next is a twinblade of noteworthy size. His sister does the same, only what burns away at reality something far too big to be called a sword, and certainly too heavy. Still, she one hands it, places it over her shoulder.
"So do pick the latter, will you?" She pipes up.
"Stupid children." Ermal raises his arm, tosses his property into a tree as she punches straight through it. "In all my centuries, I have not sold a Hunter or huntress." He told her. "I will make you my finest attraction."
"As inviting as that sounds, gonna have to pass." The huntress states as she pulls that mammoth of a blade off her shoulder holds it at her side.
"I will enjoy this."
"No you won't." Ermal moves and so does the Hunters. The woman goes left, her brother goes right. Ermal turns to her first, bringing one of his massive fists around as he tries crushing her beneath it. All the huntress does is jump as the fist comes down with enough force that it shatters cement. She lands on it, runs up the limb as she goes straight for the demon's face. A swing from her sword takes a horn as he roars. Ermal just reaches for her, grabs her and slams her into the ground.
He stumbles when a blade cuts into one of his legs turns to see the other moving out from underneath him before waving all nonchalant. Twisting the demon drags that leg of his around , black blood trailing off it as he raises a fist before slamming it down where the hunter was, as he created a small but noticeable cave in.
"Hi." He glanced back to see the woman in his face, bringing that mammoth sword of hers down as he screamed. He knocked her off his body, and raised an arm to his now useless eye as she stuck her tongue out childishly.
"Mate, come on we just started." Her brother muttered in annoyance. "At least try making this a challenge for us, will you?"
Red orange hued vapors left the damaged leg and eye as Ermal stopped howling into the night. Pulling his hand off his damaged eye he glared at the two with both working eyes as the twins whistled. "Regeneration." The huntress muttered. "That's a neat trick."
"Yeah but it ain't gonna change anything V."
"I know N." N groaned. "What?"
"Don't call me that."
"I'm gonna call you that as long as you keep calling me V." Ermal raises an arm, demonic magic starting to gather around the limb as he catches the pairs attention. "He's kinda weak, don't you think?"
"Yeah, this won't require both of us after all."
"So how do you wanna play this, overwhelm him or have one of us back out?"
"We got a lady that needs medical attention, get her to the van and I'll take care of this."
"As you wish little brother." Swinging the limb Ermal creates a wave of molten colored flames and sends the hunters running. N reaches behind him as he reaches for one of his holsters, pulling out a revolver and opens fire. Ermal just turns to the young man and growls before turning his attention to that woman that was retreating with his property.
"She is mine!"
He charged, that huge bulk of his moving at surprising speed as V just lifted the wounded demoness over her shoulder and glanced at her attacker.
"Sorry, gotta bounce." She disappeared right before he ran into her, as he slammed into several trees before coming to a stop and looked around. N fired a shot into the air as he drew the demons attention before reloading his firearm.
"Just you and me, mate." N charged, moving far faster than any human should have been able to, his body seeming to blur out of reality for a split second as he closed the distance between himself and the mammoth demon. Moment he was close he swung his weapon and Ermal blocked it with his arm, before pushing the boy back so he could make an attempt to grab them. They dodge, using their momentum to spin around and duck under the offered limb before stabbing their weapon into his arm. When it's pulled free they step forward, bringing their weapon around their back and strike his chest. Shallow, nothing to worry about.
Ermal just claps trying to grab hold of his target only to miss as they roll to the side. They let their weapon scrape the ground as they turn to face him, a small trail of sparks following the act before they charged. They jump when he fires another wave of flames-this one parallel to the ground and lighting a tree on fire. The Hunter just brought their weapon down, missed as he pushed it to the side and struck with his tail. A hard blow to the stomach sends them back and when they recover he's already on them. Swinging an arm gets met with a block. They roll, scrape his arm with their weapon before making towards his back. Another scratch and they block the next hit me makes when he turns to them. They double back and he presses his attack, grabbing the hunter's throat with one of his hands before smashing their heads together. The hunter counters by snapping one of their hands out and grabbing his face and earns a roar. There's a burn on his face now, an improvised branding that he can feel before he tosses the hunter into one of the trees.
N simply grunts as he himself up, only to drop again as Ermal feels his face before stomping forward. The hunter takes a moment to steady themselves and breathes. In an instant their gone, even from Ermal's senses and the next he's doubling back as something pieces his belly. Before him the hunter just twists their weapon and snaps one of his hands free, the act of his hand ripping through a few layers of muscle and bone as grabbed hold of something before pulling back, ripping a fine chunk of muscle and bone out of the demon's hide as he backed off.
What skin he pulled out was smoking, just radiating infernal energy.
When Ermal recovers, he glows with his infernal power, radiating a dome of energy that forces the hunter to brace himself as he starts sliding back. Ermal raises an arm, Infernal Magic erupting from the Hunters feet as a sphere of energy. They just roll to the side to dodge. Raising their weapon over their head they block his tail as it threatens to smash them into the floor. The Hunter turns, twists the limb to the side as his weapon separates into matching blades. When the tail stabs into the floor he stabs it with one blade before throwing the other like a dart. Ermal just raises an arm, lets the blade dig into his skin before the hunter crashes down on the offered limb, smashing both his feet into the blade before pushing it down further into demonic muscle. Ermal just swings his arm, knocks them off before grabbing their throat with their good limb and holds them in the air. The hunter just grabs their arm, tries prying it off as he's lifted further off the ground. Ermal just glares at the hunter before opening his mouth and bringing the hunter closer.
N bites down on his hand, swiping it to the side so fast and so hard it rends the skin before thrusting the arm forward, letting it disappear into a rip between reality only to resurface as some mammoth demons that latches onto the demons wristband promptly crushes it, the sound of bone and muscle snapping and tearing through the night as he was let go. Landing on his feet he thrust his opposite arm forward and watched it disappear as well, only to once again reappear as that of some monsters. It grabbed the other arm snapping the wrist again as it held the demon steady. It's Ermal's time to struggle as he tries freeing himself and the hunter just grunts, and spreads his arms, ripping the limbs clean from their masters body as he drops to the floor.
Ermal releases a scream that's heard for miles.
When it's over the Hunter grabs his shoulders and drops to his knees, glowing crimson vapors leaving his eyes as crimson spills from his lips. Moment the blood touches the ground it seems to boil, almost like some type of acid was hitting it. "Damn, that always hurts…" After the pain subsides the hunter picks himself up and looks at the demon. Their panting for breath, their feet seemingly glued to the ground as they look up at him and glare.
"This isn't over…" The demon growls.
"I'd beg to differ." N states as he grabs his twin blades and walks over to the disarmed slave merchant.
"I may not be the first, but I will not be the last." Ermal told him.
"Trust me, I know." N agreed. "But so long as you slip through the fade to cause trouble, we'll be here. Count on it."
"lat do noav know whaav iuk comaumn." The demon's voice switched to something rich and gutteral, his tongue lashing around like the violent snap of a whip. Infernal - A demonic perversion of the Angel's Enochian tongue. "Ul avime iuk nadar uuk, agh lat ayh noav preparun." The demon started to chuckle darkly as the hunter twirls his weapons once. "lat're kingdom liwo dijak, Agh lat liwo mat ukcreamaumn." In one swift movement the hunter brings the twin blades down. An instant later the Demon's head falls and for a moment the Hunter just watches the blood pooling from a severed neck. He spins his blades again to wipe them free of blood, reconnects them at the hilt and makes the weapon vanish into the seals on his wrists. He reaches down and lifts the head by one of it's horns and hoists it over his shoulder.
He leaves the park, but he doesn't go far-not that he'd be able to go far in his choice of attire and a grotesque head over his shoulder. Instead the moment he leaves the park he heads straight for a relatively large van and climbs in the back.
"Welcome back Hunter." V smiles at her younger brother as she finishes patching up the demoness. "How'd the Hunt go?"
N drops the head on the floor and someone twitches in annoyance. "Come on man, at least use one of the containers, you know how hard it is to get demon blood out of the carpet?" An older man grumbles as he looks at his counterparts. V seems uninterested and N just chooses to get settled in after resetting the severed head into a container.
"Not really." Both mutter as the older man just grumbles something under his breath. The two hunters are young. Not to young, but still. At most they're 18, unruly black hair, caramel skinned and orange hued eye with an unnatural slit like pupil.
"So." N, Noah Belerose, began as he looked at his elder sister. "How's our guest?"
"Little banged up." Vivien Belerose, elder of the twins, stated as she sat next to the demoness. "Little weak, but she'll live. Same with the baby growing in her belly." The demoness clutched her stomach as she made a noise seemingly relieved about the apparent information she'd just received.
Still…
"Why did you help me?" She asked as the van started up and they were on the move.
"Why not, you needed help." Vivien stated as she took a minute to stretch, or at least stretch as well as she could in the confines of the small van. "We help those in need, whether they be human, angel, or demon."
"Somehow I doubt that." The demoness muttered as Noah grabbed his bag and started pulling at a few papers and started doing some work. "Angels are one thing, but a hunter helping a demon? No right minded hunter would do such a thing."
"Well, maybe if they were hunters from a few thousand years ago." Noah cut in as he continued focusing on his homework. "But times change, right."
"Still." Vivien spoke up. "If we wanted to hurt you, we definitely would have." The Huntress stated. "But you haven't given us a reason to." The Huntress states as she looks at the demoness. "And I'm honestly hoping things stay that way." The woman stated as she released a sliver of a frown.
"And exactly what will you do if I don't try fighting you?" The demoness asked as she swayed in exhaustion. "You'll let me walk away?"
"If that's what you want." The Huntress stated as she smiled. "You don't cause problems, you're free to go wherever you want." The Huntress paused for a moment. "Except the White City, cause, they well - they don't like you guys."
"That's kinda an understatement sis." N muttered. "Even if they ascended, a Demon is still hated by Angels."
"That's true."
"I guess that's something we can all agree on." The Demoness muttered as she released a hollowed chuckle. "Still… I can go wherever I want, and you won't stop me?" The demoness repeated as she stared at the Huntress who raised a finger.
"So long as you don't cause trouble." The demoness just looked at her as she clutched her stomach, falling silent as she bit her lips.
"Why? She began. "Why are you willing to let me go?" The demoness questioned as Vivien just walked over to her and looked her over. She looked human, she really did. This was the effect of a very powerful spell. A transformation of the highest quality. Unless one could feel her demonic aura, they'd never know she wasn't human.
"Why did you leave the Dark Kingdom?" The Huntress asked. "Why come here of all places in Creation?"
"I don't know." The demoness confessed. "I could have gone almost anywhere in Creation, maybe even the Forge Lands where the Makers reside, but here I am, on your little blue pearl." She made a noise as she clutched her side in pain. "Gotta say, been here for a while and I still can't see why this place is so damn popular."
"Neither do I." Vivien admitted. "This rock's got everyone's attention; angels, demons and even Old Ones like Ostegoth like to pop in to say hello at times." She chuckled. "I swear I think Earth is a cosmic hotspot or something."
"I guess I would explain a few things." The demoness stated as she started to close her eyes before they locked on Ermal's severed head. "What will happen to Ermal's body?"
"I called clean-up the moment he went in." The older men muttered as he took a drink of coffee. "They'll be here to pick up the body within the hour."
"Can't have the locals finding a demon body lying around in the park." Another woman admitted as Noah seemed to frown for a minute.
"So what's next for tonight?" Noah asked.
"Home." The driver stated. "We got our man and we got a tag along to get patched up. We're calling it in for the rest of the night."
"Good." Vivien stated as she grinned. "Besides Noah's got homework to finish."
"I'd be done already if you helped me."
"You're never gonna learn if I do it for you."
"I didn't ask you to do my homework, I asked you to help me with it." The two bickered as the demoness just looked at them curiously before lightly rubbing her belly.
"How many are you expecting?" An older woman asked as she looked at the demoness and drew her attention. Now that she looked at her, this Huntress looked a bit like the other two, their mother perhaps? Looked rather young to be a mother, but what did she know.
"I don't know, still a bit early." The demoness stated as the Huntress looked at her belly before raising a hand.
"May I?" The demoness didn't say anything, seemingly confused before realization donned on her face as she slowly nodded. The elder huntress removed something from under her sleeve, a retractable blade and set it on the side before scooting over to rub the demoness' belly. She chuckled slightly at something. "You're having twins."
"You can tell?"
"It's a trick mom taught me." The woman stated as she looked at Vivien who stood and wandered over to Noah and sat down next to him as the elder huntress took her spot. "Does the father know?" The huntress asked. "About the baby, about your blood?" She didn't expect an answer but waited regardless.
"He did." The woman stated.
"Did you love him?"
"I thought I did." Another silence before she released a hollow chuckle. "That's what got me scared; I was falling in love with a human."
"Is there something wrong with that? A demon falling in love with a human?"
"I don't know." Was her response. "I mean, I heard the stories, those old fables even in the Dark Kingdom. Demons would crawl out the abyss and angels fall from grace because they want to be with those that look like tiny Makers." She glances at the huntress. "Whispers say they became… happy, that they would live peacefully." She took a breath. "I… part of me thought, maybe I could have that with him… but when I showed him the truth… he got scared." She made a noise as she rubbed her belly. "So, here I am, cast out and on my own." She shrugged. "So much for getting a happy ending."
"You can still make one you know." The elder stated as he looked at the demoness. "No one just gets a happy ending because they want it, they gotta work for it."
"I've been working my whole life Huntress." She told him. "And I'm getting tired. Tired of working, tired of running."
"You don't have to keep running." She admitted. "We can help you."
"How?" The one-word question didn't sound mocking or humored, or remotely curious.
"My people can help you, you and your babies. We can give you a place to stay, a job to work at. You can start over, try again like so many others."
"What's the catch?" She asks jokingly. "A 'deal with the devil' always has a catch, something that benefits one party more than the other."
"You won't be able to turn back." The Huntress stated. "You'll never be able to go back to the Dark Kingdom as who you once were. Old allies become enemies, and that doesn't mean that old enemies will become allies. Those that will become your allies, are us humans and those that left their realm and took refuge in our Kingdom." The Huntress admitted. "Heaven will still hate you, and Hell will see you as a traitor. If not for the Seven Seals you'd actively be hunted." The Huntress stated and looked at the demoness. "That's the catch."
"You didn't say anything about my services." The demoness noted. "You're not going to say how I'll help you protect your little world?"
"If we're gonna level with you, we don't give a damn about protecting the world." The woman muttered. "But we will protect our family and our friends." Vivien nodded.
"We're not knights in shining armor, and if push comes to shove I can't say we're going to save the world, and I can't convince you to do it either." She paused. "But I will protect my family. If Heaven comes to harm them, I'll paint White City scarlet with the blood of the Lords of Heaven. If Hell comes to harm them, I'll rip the bones out the Beast of Apocalypse with my bare hands. If it means keeping them safe, I'll become something both Heaven and Hell fear." She declared as the demoness just looked at her.
"You're very protective of your children." The Huntress gave her a confused look before slowly pointing at the two younger hunters and started to laugh. The demoness gave her a confused look as she did and got a light smile in return.
"Those two aren't my kids, they're my baby brother and sister."
"We're not babies anymore!" Vivien spoke up.
"Me and the rest of my siblings look out for them since they're the youngest, it's just me and Sieg night to babysit em."
"I see…" The demoness noted that both Noah and Vivien were glaring at the woman. "How many siblings do you have?"
"Adding in those two and Sieg, ten in total." The demoness whistled.
"I didn't know humans gave birth to litters."
"Normally they don't, but there are a few exceptions." The Huntress stated. "Our mom isn't one of them, just kept popping us out two at a time." The huntress stated as she smiled. "I don't know how she pulled that of for five years straight, and I kinda don't wanna know." The huntress admitted while shaking her head as the demoness just nodded her head.
"By the way." Noah spoke up as he looked at the demoness. "Do you… know anything?"
"Excuse me?"
"Look I can tell this is a bad time but… that demon, Ermal. He said something, and I was wondering if you might have any idea on what's up."
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." The demoness muttered but refused to break eye contact with the human. Whether it was out of fear or resolve was beyond her, but that mattered little in her mind. "What did he say?"
"Something in Infernal I didn't quite catch." Noah muttered. "But before that he was speaking complete English. And you don't just switch languages unless you want to say something that another can't catch." The demoness couldn't exactly deny that bit of logic. "Do you know anything, is something going on in the Dark Kingdom?"
"I… I'm not sure." The demoness stated as she curled into herself. "I haven't been in the Dark Kingdom for several months now, and I had none I could consider a contact once I left it behind." She muttered before seemingly falling silent. "I do know that the dark kingdom seemed to be buzzing with life before I left."
"What do you mean?"
"It seemed a bit more active before I left… almost… like they were organizing for something." The three siblings looked at each other, having an unspoken conversation.
"You don't think…"
"Well, we have had more demons slipping through the Fade these past couple weeks." The elder huntress stated as she looked at her phone for a moment. "I'll send a warning out, tell the others to prepare for the worst."
"What are you talking about?" The demoness seemed to question as the elder seemed to look at her. "Is… is something coming?"
"Probably…" She muttered as she tapped something on her phone as a warning sign popped up on it. "Hopefully it's nothing, but just in case."
"And we're home." The driver, Sieg stated as he pulled the van into a garage and sighed to himself. "Everyone out, tell mom we're having a guest over and to leave my food in the microwave."
"You're not eating with us tonight?" Vivien got a glare sent her way.
"I have to clean the van because someone put a severed demon head on the fucking carpet." Noah muttered an apology as he got out the van and waited for his sisters to follow. When they did and left Sieg to clean the van he just sighed to himself before checking his phone, the same warning screen popping up on his phone that had appeared on his elder sisters. "I really hope this is just a false alarm." He muttered. "If not…"
The next morning
"Noah, Noah!" Vivienne just frowned as she looked at the sleeper and nudged him. "Come on Noah, I know you're awake. Get out of bed, we're going to be late for school."
"I don't wanna go."
"Well, neither do I, but we're still going." Vivienne stated as she continued to nudge her counterpart for a moment before placing her hands on her hips. "Now up and at 'em, we got an attendance record to keep."
"You know I don't give a crap about attendance." The young man muttered as he reluctantly pulled himself from bed and looked at his counterpart. "And neither do you for that matter, you're the one that skips class."
"I'm also the one with better grades." She states before stepping away and heading towards the door. "Now come on, take your shower and get dressed. We got a full day of tests to do."
"Don't remind me." The teen muttered as he watched his room door close before he started gathering up a few clothes. "God I hate testing days." To be fair, who really did?
Noah yawned as he ran to catch the light, his elder sister right behind him as she glanced in his direction. On both their backs they instrument cases, in her case it was that of a bass, and for her brother it was a violin. "Honestly, what were you thinking, staying out so late last night. You know we have school today."
"Couldn't help myself, I had to finish my homework." He grumbled in annoyance. "You could have helped me ya know.."
"As I said last night; You're never gonna learn calculus if I keep doing it for you." She told him with a smile. "I'm still surprised our teacher hasn't caught on yet."
"Yeah yeah… you actually teach me, I'd be fine on my own."
"Maybe." Vivienne stated with a shrug. "But… then I wouldn't be able to see you struggle." Noah hit her in the shoulder as she retaliated in kind.
"By the way, I didn't see… our guest before I left." Noah muttered. "How's she holding up?"
"So far, so good." Vivien states. "I saw Medea was changing her bandages when I went to check up on her."
"That's good." They passed a store tv, their attention quickly turning to a report on the news. "Breaking News. Meteor Clusters Hit the Earth." She read as she made a noise. "Military begins evacuating citizens." She crossed her arms. "That's not good."
"Yeah." Her brother muttered as he continued listening to the broadcast for a moment. "I thought the clouds looked kinda ominous today."
"It shouldn't be too bad though, right?" Noah looked at his phone for a moment before seeming to frown, that warning still plastered on his phone before his attention turned elsewhere.
"Strange timing if you ask me." Noah muttered as he drew his sister's attention though it quickly drifted elsewhere.
"Uh, Noah?"
"What's up?" Vivien just pointed skyward as his sister turned her head, just in time to see a meteor crash into one of the buildings as the screaming started. "Oh… shit!" The twins moved, looking at one another as the city came alive, people running beside and over one another as several more meteors started to fall. "Time to go!"
Vivien didn't need to be told twice, chasing after her brother as they ran with the rest of the city.
"Noah, subway!"
"On it." Noah moved, pushing through the crowd as he turned to follow after his sister. When they made their way to the station they took cover, as did a few smart others as they felt the ground start to shake. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I think someone touched my ass on the way here but I'm good."
"Oh my, what a tragedy." Noah rolled his eyes before he took a minute to watch the subway shake again. "Suddenly I'm not too sure about being underground when there's meteors pelting everything above."
"Would you rather be outside?"
"No."
"Didn't think so." Noah reached for his phone, pulled it out and started going through his contact.
"Who are you calling?"
"Mom and Dad." The teen muttered before his phone rang halfway through his search for the number. "What the, why are they calling at this time?" The teen grumbled as he answered the call. "Hello?"
"Noah, glad I got through to you."
"Not the best time, Nomad." The teen muttered as the ground above him shook again. "We got meteors dropping on our heads here."
"That's not all you got."
"What the hell is that supposed to mea-" something howled and Vivien twitched. Both twins looked towards the stairs to the outside world as the screaming resumed. Running back outside the twins took a moment to look around, watching the city continue to be bombarded before their eyes rested on something stomping in the distance. Massive in nature it tossed aside cars and buses alike. It wasn't alone, there were other hellish creatures as well charging as well, most of them of a smaller stature and running over and across the streets like a pack of wild dogs. Noah just put his phone to his head as he looked down another street, finding another pack of these hellish creatures charging off somewhere as well. "Nomad~."
"I know, that warning your sister sent out gave us barely some time to prepare, and the damn Geoscapes's lighting up like a goddamn bonfire."
Noah froze before his eyes narrowed. "You mean…"
"I'm saying we got a Global Infestation on our hands… it's a full on demon invasion."
"What's going on Noah?"
"We got work to do." The teen muttered as he lowered his phone and looked at his sister.
"Noah… Noah you still there? There's more you need to know!"
Ignorant to the next words Noah hung up the phone and stared off into the distance. "It's a Daemon Blight." His sister narrowed her eyes as well and looked to the demonic infestation.
"Guess we're not going to school today."
"Guess not." Vivien wrist marking started to burn, and her bass case as it started to burn away, replacing itself with her greatsword and a holster carrying her revolver. Noah did the same, his violin case vanishing to show his own twinblade and matching guns. He looked at his sister. "I'll take the left."
"Then I'll take the right." Noah told his sister. "Stay alive."
"You two V." They concentrated everything they had into one burst, seeming to disappear from the world as a noticeable displacement of air was felt.
A woman screamed as a demon fell upon her, making it's attempt to leap at her. It never made it, in an instant it was skewered, Vivienne's greatsword stabbed through the side of its neck before ripping it out. She faced the horde as they turned to her, roared and charged. She didn't waste any time; the first one that was on her she dodged, bringing his weapon around as he struck their face before moving to the next. This one lost an arm as she spun and followed it by cutting them in two uneven halves. The third she dodged and moved around, kicking them in the chest before turning and stabbing his blade into their throat. The demon struggled for a minute before falling limp above the ground. Vivienne just took a minute to pull her free weapon back and held it at her side.
"O-oh my god."
"Run!" Vivienne didn't even look back as she barked the order, but she heard the woman scramble to her feet and take off anyway.
In the meantime the rest of the demons just looked in her direction and roared. The human drawing their attention in an act of either bravery or stupidity as she looked at all of them for a moment.
"Well what are you waiting for?" They charged and Viviene took a moment to adjust his weapon and started forth. "Come on."
Vivienne always preferred raw power, Noah preferred speed.
In a blur of movement Noah tore through the necks of various demons before skidding to a stop, turned and met the horde that was crawling out of the craters lodged in both streets and buildings alike.
"Minions huh?'
One lunged at him and he ducked under. His blade took their limbs, he moved to the next. He deflected a strike twisted and stabbed a third. He returned to the second, kicked it away before stabbing behind him. When one came at his side he separated his blades and stabbed one into the creature's eye. Pulling back he returned his focus to the one he had kicked and swung his blade at it. It dodged stepping to the side before lunging. He countered by ramming his shoulder into its face and pushed it back before stabbing it.
Noah reconnected his blades and turned to face the next batch stopping when he saw a car falling in his direction. He dodged as fast as he could rolling to his side before returning to his feet. Another Minion was on him as he locked it's jaws between the handle of his weapon. He separated his weapon in too as he stepped back, When it fell forward he kneed it in the face before sandwiching it's head between the handles and headbutted the demon. He turned, pulling one weapon back as he knocked the demon to the side before doing a full turn to swing his blade at another and stepped forward. He reconnected the blades before throwing a hand out, an ashen sanguine tendril latching onto another Demon and pulling them to his weapon. Turning he slammed the skewered demon into another before pulling his blade free with a full turn.
The rest of the demons just looked at the sight, whether they were surprised by the human's quick work of their kind or impressed or even worried was up for debate. That said however they charged him nonetheless, moving seemingly in a frenzy as he met their charge. He jumped off a car, denting it's hood as he took to the air before spinning his weapon behind him and cut one of his palms enough to make it bleed. He brought his hand down in the middle of the horde spikes the color of both smoking ash and embers erupting from the earth as they skewered the masses. When he rose he returned to running.
He bit his lips as he moved, spinning as he swung his weapon left and right and pressed on. "There's so damn many." He spared a glance upward. "And yet…" More meteors were falling, more demons were slipping through the fade of reality to come to Earth. "This is just the beginning." He muttered as he cut down another demon and skid to a stop. One leapt at him and he dodged twisting as he planted a hand on the ground and slammed his leg into its face. He heard a scream and got to his feet, without looking he threw his weapon, letting the twin blades spin like a saw's blade as they stabbed into a demon's side. He raised an arm, calling his weapon back thanks to a rope growing out of his sleeve as one charged him from behind. Clenching his fist he backhands the creature into a car as his blade fell limp and hit the ground a few good feet away from him. Another pack of minions and the hunter just took a step back and curled his fingers bleeding fingers, bones cracking as they were wrapped in energy that took the appearance of a claw.
The first that charged took a fist to the face and went back, the next that came at him took an uppercut to the jaw and a second to the chest. He ducked under the third and went for the forth, extending the claw to grab onto it and brought it over his head. He slammed it into the ground, dragged it along the dirt as he charged and jumped. He smashed it into another before letting them go and threw a kick, effectively punted the pair across the street. When it was over Noah as he slipped his foot under the handle of his weapon kicked it upward. The ashen energy disappeared as he grabbed it and brought the weapon back.
"A few down… a billion or so to go." Something roared in the distance, drawing his attention as he narrowed his eyes. Big one raised a car over it's head and tossed it at him from across a couple streets. Noah slid a foot back on the ground and took a breath. In a second he's gone, a small displacement of air following the act as he landed on top of the car and kicked off. When he landed on the ground he rolled to his feet and caught the large Demon's attention. 'Trauma demon… ok the big guys are showing up now.' The demon roared at him, as he braced himself. They raised a fist meant for him as he pointed his blade forward, and in an instant it fell something crashing into its head as Noah's eyes widened.
'Why?'
Beautiful white wings.
The being, an angel stood, pulling her majestic greatsword from the Trauma's skull with a single hand and let the scarlet slip off as the demon dropped. Only she did not fall with it; instead with a flap of her wings she steadied herself in the air and gazed down at the hunter. In all his short years, he had heard of them, her kind were real, but never had he been lucky enough to actually see one before.
'Why is she here?'
"You have fought well son of man, your actions today bring honor to your Kingdom." The cocoa hued, sapphire eyed woman stated. "But the day is not done. More of hell's army lies in wait." Noah took a moment, his gaze shifting to see few of the demons that had been running off were being pushed back. Heaven's forces here. "I shall pray to the Creator for your safety in the coming battles."
"Why…" Noah muttered as the woman turned her attention to see a new demon leering at her as she returned the glare. "Why are you here? Why is Heaven's army here?" He asked. "Old writings say the Angels wished to have nothing to do with past Blights so why?" 'Don't tell me…'
"Blight?" The woman muttered. "That is your term for Demonic Infestation, yes? Make no mistake child this is more than a simple 'Blight'."
'Don't say it.'
"The seals have been broken, battle rights have been declared, and the Endwar is upon us." She stated as Noah felt his heart stop. "But something… something is wrong. It is too early, The Kingdom of Man isn't ready yet…" The woman whispered as she heard a demon's roar and turned her head. A large demon growled as it glared at her. She returned it's gaze and turned towards it. Without another world the demon flew at her and the teen watched her fly after it as well. They met in the sky, colliding in a mess before breaking away. How their fight went Noah wasn't sure. He drowned it out, focusing his attention on nothing as repeated the words in his head.
"The seals have been broken, battle rights have been declared, and the Endwar is upon us."
The Endwar; the End Times, the Apocalypse, the final battle between Heaven and Hell. "Well fuck~." The teen muttered as he shook his head. "So it's that time finally… I heard about it in the old writings but I never thought…"
"But something… something is wrong. It is too early, The Kingdom of Man isn't ready yet…"
"What did she mean though, how can it-" Noah heard something roar and he snapped him out of his daze. He moved, rolling to the side as a Goremaw almost bit into him. "Focus Noah, no time to get distracted." He saw demons climbing over cars and buses, several of them looking at him before howling. "You are literally in the middle of a war here — try making sense of things later." He told himself before charging.
Atop a building a figure took a moment to watch, their twin guns resting beside them as they looked at the young hunter's action. "Well what have we here?" They muttered before watching the two hunters take down another set of demons. One demon charged the watcher themselves and he barely turned, hole ripping through their head as they dropped to the ground. The watcher lowered their gun before making a noise. "Gotta say, they're not to bad."
Ten steps and Noah vanished, reappearing behind a demon as he spun his weapon. He took their neck, and moved on to the next, stabbing downward as he threw himself over the demon and made a number of strikes at their back. When he landed he cut of their legs, and before a demon latched onto his weapon arm with their teeth. He winched slightly, before snapping his free hand to their face and burned them with his palm. When they backed up he countered swinging, taking their head before looking around. Surrounded he spun his weapon before taking a few steps to the side and looked at the horde. "What I'd give for some back up right now." The hunter muttered as he broughbrought his weapon behind him and grabbed it with both hands and separated the blades.
There was no graceful dance, there were no acrobatic stunts, all there was was a display of refined skill blended with bestial fury. Blood was spilled, flesh was cut, bodies fell, Demon's dropped one after the other as Noah moved between them… and they kept coming. Every one he cut down seemed to be replaced with two, and every two was replaced with four and so on. Seemed like the whole Horde was focusing on him at the moment. Still Noah didn't stop, rather he kept his focus on cutting down the masses before him.
Getting tired, he may have been trained to fight this, but he hadn't the desired experience under his belt for dealing with demons in such mass. Most he got were two or three a night, not… this. 'Not used to dealing with these many demons.' Noah thought as he kept moving. 'Gonna have to start concerning stamina.' He told himself before watching a number of demons lunge him. They stopped however, being pushed back from a wave of energy that exploded around him. "That wasn't me." The hunter muttered as he looked at the smoking energy that scarred the ground before him.
"Still alive Noah?" Smiling he looked behind him, his attention momentarily shifting to Vivienne coming to his aid. That mammoth sword of hers hoisted over her shoulder as she returned the smile.
"You would know if I died."
"Yeah, being twins has its benefits." Vivienne stated as she stood with her brother and got ready for the next wave. "It hates that you're always in the back of my head though."
"Can't be helped, I'd close the door connecting us if I knew how." The Hunter stated as he adjusted twin blades and reconnected them. "How are we looking?" His tone shifted, becoming serious as his sister's smile dropped.
"Can't really say." Vivienne admitted. "Everything's chaos but we're trying to get those we can to safety." She watched the pack of Goreclaws start circling them. "Meantime "we" get to play a bit more, so let's buy everyone some time."
"Gladly." That said the two hunters charged as the demons returned the gesture.
"The law is clear: when the Seventh Seal is broken… Four Horsemen shall ride forth to punish the wicked… be they Sons of Men...Lords of Heaven… or the Dregs of Hell."
"All upon the Earth will be judged, and the pact forged anew…