Shadow Demon

In Boot Hill, they saw a funeral procession coming past them. When she asked someone what was going on, he told the girl that the person was a Drifter who had defended the village from the Shadow Demon that had attacked them. Although the monster escaped to Gob's Hideout in the south, the villagers hadn't been hurt at all. But the man was killed, so they were honoring his sacrifice and giving him a proper burial.

"Jet," whispered Virginia, "We can go and defeat the Demon ourselves. I know the way to the place he inhabits, everyone in town does. Once we do that, we'll come back home heroes. Whatever pain I might have caused my poor mother, aunt, and uncle by running off to follow Daddy, not knowing Yggdrasil would be destroyed, can be reversed by stopping it before it attacks again. What do you say, we're going to go?"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter to me. After all, this is your home, you make the decision about what to do here. If I had a place to call home, then I would have made decisions when we were there," replied Jet. Virginia was instantly sorry for him, he was pained by the fact that he wasn't born like she and other human beings. The girl looked at him, as if to say everything was going to be alright if he just stuck with what he was doing. Then, she walked over to him, and tugged on his sleeve. It was time to get going for the manor.

They walked out of town, and then Virginia took off her cloak. She extended her wings, grabbed Jet around his torso, and then took off into the air. The two of them flew until reaching the large mansion in the south. Virginia explained, "This place used to belong to a merchant. But before I was even born, his greed consumed him, and he was killed. Goblin monsters called Gobs live there, not too dangerous. A Shadow Demon, however, is. We've got to kill it before it tries to go on a rampage once again. I know we can do it."

Jet wondered what two kids like them could do. But then he remembered he wasn't human, and she had become partially non-human herself after the genetic alterations that came with her revival. Neither were normal kids, they would be able to fight this thing. He hoped that his senses were right, for their sake.

* * *

Inside, they found a locked door, and hit a switch. The next room saw a door locked, with nothing to open it. Looking around, they found an unlit torch, figuring it to be a clue. And it was. In the room on the side of this one, was a Tinder Crest, which started fires. Jet also saw a Boomerang impaled in the wood of an old bookshelf. He picked it up, while Virginia claimed the Crest Graph. Using it to light the torch, the door was opened. Then, the duo was free to go on. But Jet could swear that someone was watching them.

His senses were confirmed when a Gob tried to ambush them in the next room. But he was not a Gob as you might think. Possessed by the Shadow Demon, he was now a Shadow Gob. They were of an Invisible Class, one which physical attacks went right through like they were nothing more than paper. Jet knew his gun would be of no use. Even though it had Filgaia's powers in it, the attacks were still physical.

Virginia had the answer, stretching out her hands. "Stare Roe, Come forth and smash the darkness that waits in shadows. SAINT!" The Light Elemental spell hit the monster, who was of a Dark nature. His shadowed flesh was penetrated, killing him. But they couldn't celebrate just yet. For unless the Shadow Demon himself was killed, these monsters would just keep coming back, whenever another Gob walked into his trap. And judging from the amount of Gobs in this manor, there would be plenty of fodder for his slaves.

* * *

Finally, they came to a room with a Duplicator in a chest. Using that key, Virginia opened a door to the front entrance. But as she began to enter, dark energy hit her from behind. Standing there, was a misty figure of darkness, the Shadow Demon. He looked at her, and cast the Reflect spell. Now, Virginia couldn't use her magic to fight, it would only bounce back onto her. And she and Jet couldn't use physical attacks on monsters of the Invisible Class. Unless they could think of a genius plan of some sort, they would die.

"So," the monster hissed, "You have come to slay me, the great Shadow Demon. You two children will do it when many of your elders have failed? Weapons cannot harm me, magic bounces off of me, I am an all powerful creature. Now then, you will become my nourishment. Once I drain the souls from your two little bodies, I will grow stronger. Then, I will go and attack the village that lies in the north, to look for more."

"Leave my family and friends alone you creep! I will never forgive you!" screamed Virginia. She ran at this beast, knowing very well that she couldn't hit him. The girl fell strait through his body, and her cloak became untangled. As it fell off, her wings burst forth, in all of their glory. Virginia didn't know what to make of it, but they seemed to glow of their own accord. The Shadow Demon shrieked, it was in great pain from the energy in the wings. Almost as if Filgaia's own powers were eating the creature alive, as it did to others.

Jet asked her, "Are you ok? Because if you hurt yourself, I can't do anything about it now." He ran forward, making sure not to get caught by the Demon, and arriving where Virginia fell. The boy saw how her wings glowed, reacting aversely to the Shadow Demon. But when he touched her, they seemed to welcome him, recognizing his aura of power. It was then that he had an idea, a crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Virginia had the same thought. "If we combine our powers, concentrating as one, maybe there is a chance. They're not like magic at all, and can't be reflected. But they're not physical attacks, so they will hit this monster. Let's try it, what do we have to lose anyway? We're dead if we can't do it, so this is a risk I'm willing to take." She looked at Jet, who nodded. Grasping hands, they began to focus on their powers.

"What do you humans think you can do?" asked the Shadow Demon, "Praying to your Guardians to guard your souls? Well, that won't be necessary, you won't have souls once I'm through with you two kids."

"That's not what we're doing," Virginia replied. She began to pour all of the power she had into the attack, focusing on the Shadow Demon. A long beam of energy then flew out from their hands, and hit the monster in the stomach. It began gasping for air, and died soon after. Then, it faded into nothingness.

Jet inquired, "What should we call this thing? If we're going to use the attack, it needs a name."

Virginia thought for a moment. "Well, for one thing, it looked like a beam of energy. For another, it is made up of the power of Filgaia. Since the ARM you use in battle, the one with Filgaia's power, is called Airget-lamh, we should call it the Airget-Beam. Who knows, maybe we can find more combos with this."

Jet liked that name. He walked over to the monster, and picked up the Gella it had dropped when it croaked. That could buy them food for some time, if they returned to the road. But Virginia wanted to go to her home, and stay with her family. If that was the case, he would save it for something in the future. When he finished, he turned towards the opened Duplicator door. Then, the two of them returned to Boot Hill.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

A fav chapter of mine, with one of my favorite songs as the fight theme. Well, we're going heavy today. Oh, and a way belated Happy Graduation to myself and the girls, June 23, but you know how I'm always way ahead of my typing. I was still posting "A Mother's Legacy" when I wrote this.Oh, and in case you're wondering why Jet's been OOC, well it's because Virginia's taking care of him. She'd definately make sure he understood emotions, and that he would care. Werner was concentrating on his ability to fight and fend for himself instead.