A/N - . . .eep!
Another A/N – I did some serious research for this ficcy and just want to state I am aware that some aspects of the demon stuff isn't completely correct . . .it's called artists license so please don't flame and rant at me! ^_^
The Sower of Discord
Melusine slid the book off her folded legs and cast her violet eyes around the circle giving a meaningful glance at each of her friends. Delicately she held out her right hand, palm up, and watched as each girl repeated the movement in turn. The power of the ritual swept over them; moving as one, the five witches lifted their left palms and placed it face down on the palm of the girl next to them. A ripple of power rushed through them as the protective circle was completed and their eyes drifted shut. Melusine flicked out a pink tongue to lick her suddenly dry lips and began to recite the words she had memorised so meticulously. She was startled to find her voice shaking slightly under the immense pressure that came from knowing she held the lives of her friends in her hands. Adel, who sat at her right, squeezed her hand reassuringly. Melusine found her confidence and continued chanting the ritual. The voices of the others rose to harmonise with her, their breathing and heartbeats became synchronised as they fell into the spell.
Unnoticed by the girls, who still had their eyes tightly closed, the pages of the book began to burn. Thick black smoke emerged, dancing in the circle, before trying to depart and slamming into the invisible wall which had been created by the cross-section of the pentagram. The smoke was scattered on the heated breeze for a moment, but rose again as the intensity of the ceremony climbed to new heights. Human features began to appear in the smoke, legs, arms, torso, a head. Burning red eyes blinked into life and surveyed the novices with utter contempt. What right had they to call Him into the mortal realm? What made them think that they could accomplish a feat that had destroyed the strongest of crones?
The figure moved slowly around the circle, examining each girl in turn. They had to be the most enchanting humans he had ever seen. With a feral growl the immortal sent tendrils of smoke through the air, one to each of them. The black gas dived into their open mouths and down their throats, causing their eyes to fly open in shock as they were violated. Five pairs of eyes locked onto him immediately, drawn in and captured by his will. Melusine fought to close her mouth as more of the foul fumes invaded her body. His sensual voice purred inside her mind, urged her to let go of the witch next to her, promised pleasure beyond her wildest dreams. She tightened her hands around the wrists of her friends and felt them reaffirm their gip in response.
/He can't do anything, not while were hold the circle. He can't do anything/ she thought frantically, even as his deep, rich laugh sounded in her head, sending shivers down her spine. Her thoughts were quickly dashed as an intense wave of pleasure began to smoulder in her groin. She moaned, breathing in more of the smoke and in return the ecstasy increased. ~That's right~ A husky voice murmured to her. ~Breathe deep and ye shall be rewarded~
Melusine took a long deep breath and felt the smoke flow into her, down her throat, though her stomach to settle in her groin and fan the glowing embers of pleasure into a roaring fire of bliss causing her rational mind to take a leave of absence.
White teeth flashed on darkness as he felt their tenuous hold on him weaken. Crimson eyes flashed in triumph as he knew he would soon be free to wreak havoc on the human plane. Sensing that they were ready and willing he sent a final thought into their weak minds.
~Release Me.~
Firm grips relaxed and fingers unclenched as they unconsciously obeyed his command. A magnificent bolt of white lightning tore itself from the heavens as the protective circle was broken. The humanoid figure dashed from the pentagram only to slam into another wall. Looking down at the ground, he roared his fury at the circle of precious gems and beyond that a circle of salt. Turning back he snarled at the young witches, who were beginning to shake themselves free of his enchantment.
Melusine gasped in relief as the back up protection held true and glanced quickly at her friends.
"We have to send it back!" she yelled, as the immortal threw its power at the wall. Four pairs of fearful eyes met hers before lowering in understanding. Melusine's clear voice began the chant that had been hammered into their brains for emergencies like this. One by one the others joined her. A powerful wind pushed back his form into the centre of the pentagram. Another lightning bolt shot from the sky and lanced through him to strike the book. His body was torn apart by the howling wind and pulled back into the place it belonged. The girls finished their spell with relief in their eyes that all too soon turned to fear. The gale raged on, pushing them towards the centre of the pentagram and the gateway to another realm. Desperately searching for something on the ground to cling to and finding nothing Melusine screamed in terror as her feet flew from underneath her and she was dragged across the ground.
With a final flash of lightning and a boom of thunder the storm was over. The book lay in the centre of a five-point star drawn in salt. Its pristine white pages with lovingly inked words were unmarred as they fluttered in a breeze, showing no sign that they had been both burned and struck by lightning. The air was clear and fresh, with no trace of the darkness that had polluted it only seconds before. Next to the book lay small pieces of sapphire, amethyst, emerald, opal and obsidian . . .their relevant owners were notably absent. The demon had been banished from whence it came and it had five little witches as souvenirs from its journey . . .
* * *
Duo grabbed the book from the table and sat on the floor next to Heero. Wufei sat on the other side of Duo and Quatre and Trowa sat opposite them. As Duo placed the book in the centre of their circle a feeling of anticipation washed over the five of them. Duo opened the book . . .
Nothing happened.
"Well, that was a bit of an anti-climax," Wufei commented. The five of them exchanged rueful looks, all feeling slightly foolish in the wake of anticipation that had built up previously.
"So? What's the book about?" Quatre asked eagerly, curiosity making his cerulean blue eyes sparkle. Duo looked down at the first page of the mysterious book.
Dismissing the strange design he flipped through a few pages to discover carefully inked writing. Hesitatingly he answered the blond.
"It's . . .um, it's a phone book," he stated haltingly. Quatre giggled at his answer as Wufei leant over and carefully lifted the book from Duo so that he could examine it. The dark haired scholar produced a pair of glasses from his pocket and read aloud the words which were written.
"Abdiel, Abbadon, Abigor-"
"Demons," A quiet voice interrupted. All eyes focused immediately on Trowa. The uni-banged man sighed in exasperation, seeing that his friends and lover wanted an explanation. "One of the mercenaries who watched out for me said he had rejected Jesus and The Lord. He used to pray to Abigor before we went into battle." The other pilots stared blankly at him. "He told me that Abigor was a Grand Duke of Hell, who gave military advice to his followers," The usually quiet man clarified.
"Trowa's right," Duo agreed in a surprisingly serious tone. "Now that I think about it Abdiel was a Seraphin who had an active role in Satan's rebellion," Duo paused for a moment as a quiet pride swept over his features. "I can still remember some of Father Maxwell's teachings," The braided boy could barely control his gasp of surprise as he felt someone take his right hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Violet eyes widened as he looked over at Heero, down at their interlocking hands and back. Heero didn't acknowledge him, prussian eyes darting back and forth as he read the book upside down, but he didn't release his hand either.
//Miracles can happen! // Duo mused, pulled from the sadness which always appeared when he though about that particular area of his past. Wufei flicked past the list of names and found that the book also contained information on each demon that was listed.
"Adramelech; Grand Chancellor of the infernal empire, President of Devils' general council - The eighth of the ten evil Sephiroth," Wufei read aloud once more, frowning at the last detail. "What's a Sephiroth?"
"A pryomaniac with a ten foot long sword*!" Duo remarked without thinking. He blushed as the others looked at him and quickly dismissed their puzzled looks with a wave of his free hand. The five fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, each thinking about the significance of this discovery, until a loud roar of fury broke the mood.
"Eehehe," Duo laughed sheepishly and blushed even brighter in response to his growling stomach. "So Q-man where's that food?"
* * *
Later that night, or early the next morning, which every way you want to look at it and Duo Maxwell was the only person in the safe house awake. He lay in the double bed he shared with his lover, the bedside light on, pouring over the book which Quatre thought was called a Grimore. Said lover was sleeping peacefully, face pressed against Duo's back and arm wrapped firmly around his waist. Usually Duo would be taking this opportunity to enjoy the view of his slumbering mate but the American found himself unable to put the book down. It was fascinating. There were so many of them. Some were ridiculous; there was a demon who had exceptionally bad breath and one whose job was to be the caretaker of the wine cellars of Hell. Since when did fire and brimstone come with a wine cellar? However there were other demons in there, some which he could clearly remember Father Maxwell talking about and which he could remember having vivid nightmares of. Antichrist, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Lucifer and Moloch were a few which rang horribly familiar in his mind.
He finished scan reading the section and his eyes were growing heavy with sleep but still he persevered. The next part was more then enough to wake him again. Invocation. The summoning of a demon. Detailed instructions and incantations were supplied which gave the reader the knowledge to summon any of the demons listed in the book. Summon them and gain control of their power. Wealth, knowledge, power, invisibility, alchemy, seduction, control of the elements, the power to end wars, with this anything was possible. Violet eyes shining with ideas Duo eventually closed the book and placed it on the bedside table. He switched off the light and turned to face his lover. Wrapping his arms around Heero's sleeping figure Duo slowly drifted off to sleep. That night his slumber was filled with beautiful dreams of what his life and those of his friends could be like if the ended the war tomorrow. He smiled in his sleep. He had the power. He could end the war tomorrow. The smile faded into a determined frown and he cradled his lover to him protectively. He would end the war tomorrow. For all of them.
* * *
"I have to admit, I've always wanted to dabble in the occult," the innocent looking, blue-eyes blond told Duo excitedly. The fact was Duo needed all of the pilots to agree to perform the invocation and he had thought Quatre would be the easiest to convince, he never thought that the Arabian would be so eager though. "One of my sisters used to be into all that, she used to tell me about oujia boards and stuff but she'd never let me try!" Duo grinned, happy to have found such a willing ally so quickly. The two bent their heads together in a heated discussion of tactics and persuasive manoeuvres in order to gain the consent of their comrades. Both men were sure that they could convince their respective lovers to take part in the ritual with minimal effort. It was Wufei who was going to cause the biggest problem.
True to their prediction Heero and Trowa were easily swayed by teary eyes and whispered promises while Wufei had burst into a rant the instant Duo had mentioned that he wanted to summon a demon. A very long, very angry rant and he had more than a few good points too.
"-And Winner I'm surprised at you! I mean you expect flights of fancy from Maxwell but I thought you had more sense than that!" Quatre opened his mouth to protest but didn't get the opportunity as Wufei raged on. "And anyway last time I checked that was the symbol of Christianity!" Wufei growled, pointing at the cross hanging around Duo's neck. "As I recall Christian's aren't to fond of those who call up demons!" Violet eyes flashed dangerously.
"Yeah well they aren't to fond of homosexuals either but you don't see that stopping me!" Duo's voice began to rise, catching the attention of Heero and Trowa who were in the kitchen preparing lunch.
"I don't care!" Wufei's voice also rose in decibels and the two cooks made their way over to the doorway to observe the argument and make sure Wufei didn't lose it altogether and attempt to strangle the braided boy. "Its dangerous! And I'm not going to stick my neck out just because you want money, or power, or because Yuy isn't good enough in bed!"
Duo saw red and flew at Wufei with a feral roar, intent on shaking some reason into him. He immediately found restraining arms around his waist and discovered that the diminutive blond was actually quite strong. Heero and Trowa stood in-between the American and Chinese men, doing a rather good impression of bouncers. "Is that what you really think of me 'Fei?" The anger drained slightly from Duo's voice, leaving only hurt. The Nataku pilot bowed his head in defeat.
"I did not mean what I said, my temper makes my tongue sharp, I am sorry." Wufei offered sincerely and Duo flashed him a small smile.
"Are you in?" Duo asked and could hardly contain his excitement as his adversary/friend nodded. "Yay! Alright! Hee-chan, Trowa, I'm sorry but you better throw that food away! We've got to fast for six hours before we do the summoning!" Wufei raised an amused eyebrow, past resentment already behind him.
"Are you sure you can last that long?" He asked lightly. Duo laughed.
"I've got a good incentive! After all I get to see all of you naked when we do the cleansing ritual in the lake outside!" He cast a lecherous glance at his friends, earning him a light punch from Heero.
"What?! I am not going to reveal my body to you and I'm defiantly not going into that freezing cold lake!" Wufei told them vehemently.
"Sorry 'Fei, you gave your word!" Duo told the honour bound man happily. Wufei crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at the fact that Duo had him trapped.
"Besides it's either fasting and cleansing, or it's alcohol, drugs and an orgy." Heero Yuy stated in a perfectly serious, monotonous voice. He smirked smugly at their dumbfounded expressions. "I did some research."
"Right then!" Duo said brightly, quickly recovering from the shock. "Orgy it is! . . .Guys? Hey guys where you goin'? Hee-chan come back here! I want mass-sex-goodness! . . .Hello? . . .Anybody . . ? Hello . . .?"
To be Continued . . .
*Heheh, its Sephy! Sorry but I couldn't help myself!
A/N – Eek, I am really not sure if this part works . . .really, really not sure! However I am currently under the inluence of several Bacardi Breezers and am gonna post it anyway! Pleeeeeease review! *Pulls on a flame-retardant anorak*