Thank yous – Little-Kaori solo Yuy-Maxwell, Kaika (not finished by a long shot! ^^;;), Digimon Dreamer . . .Because the last time I posted was at the time of the great ff.net crash I will forgive the lack of feedback, but pwease let me know if you like this ficcy and think its worth continuing! . . . Pwease?
The Adversary
Adel blinked open her vibrant prussian blue eyes to be met with the sight of the unconscious bodies of her friends. A flash of fear rippled through her before she noticed that they were all beginning to stir. She frowned as her attention shifted to the substance beneath her feet. Sand, which appeared to be almost red in colouration, stretched out in a featureless landscape as far as she could see. Adel tilted back her head to gaze at the night sky. Her golden skin paled considerably as she looked upon a sky which was unbroken by clouds, stars or planets. Pure darkness encompassed her vision and she felt like she was staring into the abyss. Her silent horror was broken by the voice of her friends, pulling her back from the edge.
"What happened?"
"Where are we?
"What the hell?"
Adel finally managed to pull her gaze from the blank night sky turning her gaze instead to scan the horizon. Her focused gaze was on the look out for potential threats; they were in the demon dimension after all. She did a double take as she caught sight of a dark shadow which was rapidly heading in their direction.
"We've got a problem!" She called out in warning to her friends who were now dusting themselves off. They quickly snapped to attention, following Adel's gaze to the menacing figure.
"Its Sytry!" May yelled, her black eyes flashing with fear and anticipation as she made out the distinct features of the demon they had summoned. The demon itself was in its human form, a black haired handsome man, but the beast he was riding was exclusive to Sytry, a winged leopard. May prided herself on her knowledge of all things occult, her mentor had always placed great emphasis on the importance of book learning before he had passed away. Her speciality was gems and minerals but she had a fairly vast knowledge of demonology too. Anna stepped forward to stand beside the black haired girl, her soulful blue eyes focusing on the advancing demon. She brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she took a moment to think their situation through.
"Vivienne, slow him down!" Anna commanded. The blonde was the strategist of the group, instinctively taking charge when danger threatened. She tended to prefer evasion to conflict as aggression went against her nature as a healer. Vivienne crouched down on all fours, her emerald eyes sharp and focused. The brunette had a natural affinity with animals and could use this ability to influence such creatures. Offering a silent plea that the winged leopard was more animal than demon spawn, Vivienne began to murmur incantations under her breath.
"Melusine, give us some cover," Anna continued.
"Sure thing," Melusine assented with a smirk as she pulled out a small pouch of verbena, a powerful magic-rich herb, then scattered a sparse circle around the five of them. A wild grin lit her face and her violet eyes sparkled as she closed the circle. "Now you see us, now you don't!" She quipped before beginning her own incantation, designed to hide them from sight. Melusine was the mistress of shields, shelter and all things stealth.
"Stand by Adel," commanded Anna. Out of the five girls Adel was the only one who wielded real destructive power first hand*. Her mentor believed strongly that the best defence was a good offence and had trained his protégée accordingly. Adel stood beside Melusine finding herself suddenly nervous. Although she could probably best any of her friends in a fight she had no idea how her power would compare to that of a demon. Hopefully she wouldn't have to find out. "What do we know about Sytry?" Anna asked May, keeping her voice quiet.
"Not a lot to be brutally honest," May replied solemnly. "He's a Prince of Hell and the commander of seventy legions, that's about all I know!" Anna bit her bottom lip in frustration.
"We need to avoid a fight, we don't know enough about his powers. Vivienne, do you think you can send him off course?" The crouching girl nodded her head, too deep into her work to speak. "Melusine we need you to hold the invisibility shield, okay?"
"Mm hmm," Melusine replied distractedly.
"No speaking from now on," The blonde girl commanded in a tone which left no room for argument. Silence reigned over the desert and the five witches vanished from sight.
Sytry growled in frustration as his prey disappeared. His unnatural amber eyes remained fixed on the spot where they had last been standing and urged the beast beneath him to hurry. Instead of immediately complying with his wishes like the obedient pet he had trained the leopard stumbled, nearly throwing him, before it slowed its pace and began a meandering path. Sytry snarled as the beast caused him to tear his gaze away from the girls' last sighting and in this featureless landscape there was no way in which he could regain it. He dismounted the winged leopard as he felt his anger overtake him. A bestial roar escaped his mouth as he shifted from human to demon form. His facial features distorted and changed, hair began to grow all over his face as his teeth sharpened into those of a predator. At the same time he could feel his shoulder blades begin to morph and grow, breaking his skin. When the change had completed his amber eyes looked much more at home as his face was now that of a lion. The rest of his body remained unchanged apart from the vast wings which now adorned his back. Flexing the new appendages, Sytry crouched and took off into the sky in a burst power, his trusty pet following.
The five girls watched in awe as their pursuer took off after his amazing at yet somewhat disturbing transformation. As one they gave a collective sigh of relief. Unfortunately they had not counted on the fact that with the head of a lion Sytry had much better hearing than a human. He paused in midair, powerful wings flapping to hold him in one place. The witches held their breath in fear, tension so high it was almost tangible. The demon released a deafening roar before tucking his wings back and arching into a dive, very similar to that of a hawk which has locked onto its prey. If he had been in his human form he would have been laughing in exhilaration. One thought ran through his mind. /Found you. /
* * *
Heero sank cautiously into the cool water, he could see his lover in the corner of his vision and the lecherous gleam in Duo's eyes quickly inspired him to move into deeper waters. The corners of his blue eyes rose in what could be interpreted as a smile when he caught sight of Wufei. Duo's earlier enthusiasm for an orgy had obviously left an impression on the Chinese youth as he kept casting suspicious glances in the braided boys direction. Trowa seemed to be enjoying himself as he cut through the water with a powerful front crawl. Quatre on the other hand didn't seem to be so eager to join in the "fun". The Sandrock pilot was standing on the bank, cheeks flushed pink, as he attempted to cover his genitalia with his hands whilst eyeing the water with distaste. He was so absorbed in his discomfort that he was unaware of the figure slowly creeping up on him. Heero shook his head ruefully as Duo pounced upon the unsuspecting blonde. Quatre yelped as both he and Duo fell into the water. Heero watched in amusement as the Arabian released a battle cry and charged after Shinigami.
"Hee-chan, save meeeee!" Duo yelled though his hysterical laughter as he dodge Quatre's grasping arms, making his way towards his lover. The blonde boy smiled sweetly as he managed to get Duo in range. The Deathscythe pilot jerked backwards as he tried to avoid the tidal wave Quatre had sent in his direction. In doing so he managed to lose his balance and collapse on top of one very unprepared Heero Yuy. Trowa paused and began to tread water as Heero was knocked over by Duo's flailing limbs and found himself submerged beneath the water. The God of Death 'meeped' as his drenched lover rose from the depths of the lake like some angry ocean deity. Trowa felt his iron clad control desert him and a small burst of laughter escaped his lips. At the sound Heero focused smouldering prussian eyes on the unfortunate clown. The ZERO pilot turned, beginning his advance on Trowa and the uni-banged boy found he had to battle to keep his nerve and hold his ground. Heero stopped about a metre away from Trowa; with unreadable blue eyes he lifted his hand and let the European boy have it. He splashed him. Right in the face.
For a moment there was dead silence as Trowa wiped the water from his eyes, then Duo, Quatre and Wufei all burst into laughter. Heero smirked.
"Nice one Yuy!" Wufei snickered, much to Quatre's consternation.
"Hey! That's my boyfriend he splashed!" he announced huffily. Wufei turned to him, eyebrows and voice rising in disbelief.
"You were laughing too!" The Chinese boy pointed out and Duo agreed, nodding emphatically.
"Yeah . . .Well . . ." Quatre pouted as his usually eloquent tongue failed him, but quickly cheered up as he realised that sometimes actions speak louder than words . . .
He splashed them both.
* * *
"Are we actually going though with this?" Wufei questioned as he placed his sword in the correct part of the pattern. Duo winked a violet eye at him and grinned.
"We've come this far!" He remarked. The Shenlong pilot sighed in response, grumbling under his breath as he moved to stand in his designated part of the pentagram. Heero moved forward next, lowering the dagger to the ground and glancing at the braided boy through his wild bangs.
"You know I'm just humouring you," A statement, not a question. The American laughed ruefully and shot his lover a small smile.
"I know," he replied evenly. Heero nodded in satisfaction and moved into his place. Trowa walked up and silently put the hazel wand into place. "Nothin' to say, eh Tro-man?" Duo questioned with good-humour in his voice. The uni-banged boy turned back and for a split second Duo swore he could see a mischievous gleam in those emerald eyes. Trowa leaned close and whispered in the braided boys ear.
"I'm only doing this because Quatre promised we could use the handcuffs again," Duo's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open at the unexpected remark. With a blank face, but eyes dancing with amusement, Trowa took his place on the opposite side of Wufei. Quatre approached next, his blue eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Fingers crossed, right Duo? . . .What's wrong?" He asked as the Deathscythe pilot eyed him strangely. Dismissing Duo's unusual demeanour the Arabian moved to stand next to Trowa.
Taking a deep breath for courage Duo grabbed the book and took the final place in the pentagram. He opened his right palm to reveal the gem he had chosen as his signature stone; an amethyst. Heero mimicked his motion, producing a small sapphire. Wufei held up a piece of an obsidian stone which was called onyx. Trowa held out an emerald which matched the shade of his eyes perfectly. Quatre completed the circle by revealing an opal in his upturned palm. As one the five boys cast the stones to the ground and sat down. Duo opened the book.
The braided boy held out his right hand palm up and watched as the others repeated the action. Then they all lifted their left hands and closed the circle. Duo jumped slightly in surprise as he felt a shot of electricity shoot through his body. A quick glance at the others showed that they had felt it too, even Wufei's mightier-than-thou expression had been wiped off by surprise. Duo steeled his nerves and began to murmur the words of the spell. One by one he heard the others join in until all five of their voices harmonised to become one. As the ritual took hold their eyes drifted shut and their breathing and heartbeats began to synchronise. The wind around them whipped up into a gale fanning the book, which had just begun to smoulder, into an inferno.
First and foremost the five boys were soldiers, trained to react instantly and without thought, to danger. Fire defiantly counted as a threat. Their voices stopped and they lost their synch as each of them were forcefully jerked from the spell to react to the blazing heat in front of them. Heero moved as if to stand and leave the circle, stopped only by the forceful grip of Duo's hand on his.
"Stay down!" Duo yelled against the ever increasing howl of the wind. Heero opened his mouth to argue but was distracted as he felt the wind push forcefully against his body, edging him closer to the flames. The Perfect Soldier frowned in determination as he jammed the heels of his feet into the ground. A quick glance told him that the others were experiencing the same problem, although he couldn't see Quatre through the flames. The wind screamed against his resistance and put even more pressure upon him. Heero's eyes darkened with worry as he heard a yelp and then Trowa call his lovers name, fear dominating his voice. The prussian eyed boy felt Wufei's grip tighten on his hand before releasing all together. His head shot round just in time to meet his friends stricken black eyes before he was swallowed by the flames.
"Trowa!" Heero heard his lover cry out and just caught sight of the uni-banged boy disappear into the flames. He looked back to his lover and pressed forward to catch Duo's lips in a brief kiss before his footing faltered and he fell towards the flames. He tried to release Duo's hand to give the other boy a chance of survival but the Americans' grip was unshakeable and the two entered the flames together.
The instant the last of the Gundam pilots had entered the flames the wind dropped down to its previous level, barely stirring the night air. The clouds above broke and a fine rain made short work of the hungry flames. The book remained unmarred by fire or water, five gems sparkled softly in the rain and the hopes of the colonies had disappeared from the face of the Earth.
To be Continued . . .
* By this I mean that although Vivienne could command an animal to attack someone, Adel is the only one who can do damage all by herself.
A/N – Hm, personally I preferred the girls half of this 1…am currently feeling particularly inspired so hopefully the next part will be up soon! Review!