Ryu stood in an alley looking down at several puddles of black ooze on the ground; they were nearly indistinguishable from the ground itself, so no one would actually notice. These had been Nikanoru, the demon seed had been far stronger than the host and had this consumed the body completely. Once the seed was destroyed there would be nothing left of the body. That was the final growth stage of the Nikanoru, when they became completely demon and yet, for fully manifested demons they had been pitifully weak. No better than a newborn Nikanoru. This was not what concerned Ryu, however; this was something to lead him away. The demon scent he tracked from the bar had split off at one point, leading in multiple directions. Since demons, being from the same source, had the same scent regardless of strength, power or type and it was thus impossible for him to track down the leader, so he had simply picked a scent and followed it. It had been a trap or perhaps, more accurately, a distraction to keep him from attacking the leader. He could have attacked him in the bar, but that would have put the innocent bystanders in danger and even if he had killed the demon without such troubles, there had been a room full of people who would identify him to the police as a murderer; being on a wanted list would have hindered his mission, it was simply better, more efficient to kill demons outside of the public view.
Ryu let out a breath as he sheathed his sword. He had no choice, he would have to return to Nina's apartment and re-coordinate his hunt from there. Because the demon had chosen to attack him, he could not simply let it good in this case. If the demon used what appeared to be random tactics, there would be no guarantee that he wouldn't be attacked in public. It was strange, to Ryu anyways, such actions, revealing the demons to the public were not beneficial for either side. Ryu left the alley, heading on his way, his long black coat fluttering in the wind.
-----------------------
The caress a cold of wind awoke Nina. She couldn't see around her for the room was dark. Trying to move, she found she was bound, hand and feet. She also found something else as another chill breeze flowed over her flesh: she was naked. She remembered David, that sick psychotic, standing over her before she lost consciousness. Had he kidnapped her, raped her while she was unconscious?
-SOL Nina-
David was always a creep and a pervert, but he wouldn't have done something like this before, but then I've found that when it involves love or lust, we're capable of lots of things we didn't think we or others could do. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but I wasn't so scared that I didn't try to get out of my bonds nor too scared to think about cutting off David's balls with a rusty knife.
-End SOL-
As Nina struggled light entered the room, though it did not have an apparent source. It was a large room with black walls with no adornments. She was lying on some pillows and there were other naked girls beside her. They had grey skin and voluptuous, athletic bodies, but most disturbing was that their heads, their faces were identical to Nina's. These girls stirred and opened their eyes, which were dull and lifeless. Each turned and approached Nina and began to kiss and fondle her. She resisted, struggled, but it only made things worse as these women held her down with more force. Even as they touched her, they never went below her waist, as though preserving her for someone else's pleasure. The warmth of their flesh against hers as they caressed her sickened her; it felt as though the warmth was masking their un-life.
"S-stop it! L-let me g-go! Go away!" She shouted at them as they continued to fondle her.
"So you're awake." A voice said.
David sat, shirtless upon a throne made of an amalgam of flesh and bone. Human faces, twisted in expressions of horror and fear, protruded from the throne. David's skin was unnaturally pale and waxy and he was a very gaunt, dark smudges under his wide, blood-shot eyes. He seemed utterly deranged and more of those undead Nina doubles, acting worse than promiscuous whores, at his side.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" He said, smiling. "My tribute to you, though they are nothing compared to the real thing."
"How are you doing this?" Nina demanded as the undead beings stopped their attentions to her and propped her up on the pillows so that she would be facing him.
"After you left me... You really hurt me you know, you couldn't have meant those things... We're destined to be together..." He began.
All those unliving dolls were paying rapt attention to him, as though hanging on his every word. He was a stalker and he was obsessed, the worst combination in the world and Nina was the target; she couldn't see a way of getting gout of this, but hopefully distracting him might give her time to think of a way to escape.
"What happened after I left you? You weren't like this before." She said calmly, trying to get him to talk more.
"I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep... You... the image of you ate at my heart, burned my soul... we were destined to be together... why couldn't you see that?" He ranted. "You are mine... destined to be mine... my own... my precious."
"Riiiiiight... You've watched Lord of the Rings too many times 'Gollum'... Now what happened?" Nina said, only half paying attention, trying to loosen he bonds of her wrists.
If she was some shrinking violet she might try to cover herself instead of escape, but modesty be damned, getting away from that lunatic was the bigger priority. The Nikanoru would be a problem, she hoped against hope that Ryu was coming. She didn't want to rely on him and knew that he wouldn't make it here unless a miracle happened. She could only get David to talk more, keep his tirade going and keep him distracted long enough for her to escape.
"They came... promised me that destiny would be fulfilled, that fate would be satisfied..." He continued
"'They'? Who are 'they'?" Nina asked.
"The light! The bright light promised me salvation... PURIFICATION! They introduced me to 'him' and 'he' showed me so many tricks... so many tools..."
"Arrggh... you aren't making sense. Who's 'he'? Who are 'they'?" She was getting very frustrated with his ranting even though she realized getting him upset or angry was not a good idea.
Sudden movement caught her attention as another woman walked into the room. She was unlike all the others in here because she didn't look like Nina. She had long raven hair and was plumper than Nina. She really stood out, but her skin was still that greyish colour, the same as the rest of the Nikanoru. Nina noticed something else too: David had stopped talking. He was motioning for this woman to approach him. She stood before him and shuddered, not in disgust, but something else. Nina heard a grinding of bones and watched the woman convulse, as she grew taller and a bit shapelier. The fat on her body shifted and rippled as her bust grew and waist shrank. Her hair shortened and grew lighter; cheekbones visibly shifted as the face changed. Nina looked in shock and horror as the woman's face and body became identical to her own.
"Beautiful isn't she? My tribute to you... one of the things I can do, one of the things 'he' taught me. These children I've taken who are reborn into perfection... they love me and obey me. The light... told me to wait before satisfying our destiny, but I made them... my precious... I left them, but I knew as long as Joshua was there you'd never come to me... he wouldn't let you."
'Fortunately for me, Joshua isn't psychotic like you are.' Nina thought.
"Then I'd heard he'd left you... then I knew you could come back to me and I came looking for you..." He continued.
'How did you know he was gone?' Nina wondered.
"And now... you, my precious, and I can become one." He said, completely disrobing.
The Nikanoru, stopped their fondling and caressing and began to untie Nina. Though she was free of her bonds, she had nowhere to run as those undead women surrounded her and David approached. She had only one shot, if he could be distracted, she might be able to escape. She couldn't get the best shot from where she lay, the Nikanoru held her down, applying just enough pressure to ensure she couldn't get the leverage she needed to sit up. He approached close enough and she took her shot, kicking him right in the crotch. However, the reaction was not what she hoped as his genitalia exploded into a black ooze on impact and worse and stranger still, David seemed to fell nothing as he grinned devilishly. The black ooze spread from his crotch as more of it oozed out of his pores. The ooze covered her foot and glued it there. She looked at her leg in horror as the slime spread over her leg. She looked up at and saw him grinning madly.
"You and I are destined to be one." He said calmly.
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Ryu stood in the doorway of Nina's apartment looking over the small mess. The door had been forced open and there were signs of a struggle, but for Ryu there was more than that. He could smell the faint stench of the demons that had been there, but since it was fading it would be hard to track. Nina's life was in danger; an innocent life and protecting innocent life took precedence over punishing the guilty. He took the stairs to the roof and looked up at the stars; the moon was right overhead and it was a clear night. Conditions were perfect for what Ryu needed to do. He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes; he began to chant a mantra, to focus his thoughts for what he was about to do was no easy trick. An orb of light appeared above his head, an orb that resembled a serpentine eye. This eye changed directions, looking in many directions and then, as though finding what it sought, focused its sight in one direction and flew off in that direction, leaving a golden trail of light behind it. Ryu opened his eyes, which glowed with the same light that the floating orb did. He rose to his feet, seeming tired, weakened; he shook his head, shaking off his lethargy and looked in the direction the trail of light led. With inhumane speed and godly stamina, he dashed off, jumping great distances from roof to roof following the trail of light that only his eyes could see. When he ran out of roof to jump to he jumped down onto the street, and while such a leap would have broken a normal man, Ryu didn't even flinch as he landed, sprinting off once more in pursuit of his target. His unvarying path led him to a single building, well maintained and rather rich looking in a downtrodden district. There, on the door, the orb of light, the Dragon's Eye, waited for him. The appearance of the building was in fact an illusion through which Ryu easily saw, someone's desperate desire cast for the world to see. However, few would actually look upon this place or even approach it for the scent of death, the aura of corruption and disease compelled all to look away, to avoid this place for generated an unnameable fear in their fragile, weak hearts. Even plague carrying vermin and other such carrion eaters gave this residence a wide berth. Those instincts were natural for mortals who realized not the horror that lay behind the doors; Ryu possessed no such instinct.
As he approached the door, the orb vanished and his own eyes returned to their normal hue. He brandished his blade, holding the sheath in the other and cut at the hinges of the door. The blade (1) easily cut through the hinges and the door fell back. Ryu entered the building, his sword at the ready; the stench of decay and corruption was much stronger inside and had subtle hint of madness in it. As he stepped into an open hall, the stench of demon became prevalent over all others and he prepared for a battle. He needed to get this over with quickly, but rushing into things was a good way to ensure the failure of a rescue mission; it was better for them to come to him. His keen senses heard the shuffling and lurching of several beings coming towards him; the closest was behind him. Without hesitating, he lashed out beheading the attacker with a single strike. He looked down as the head rolled and had he been capable of feeling horror it may have paralysed him as he watched as Nina's head rolled at his feet. To him however, if she could not be saved, then it was better that she died instead of lingering in suffering. He did not have time to contemplate this much as another attacker assaulted him. It was Nina, or rather someone who looked exactly like her and Ryu understood what was going on; this was a necromantic trick, the alteration of dead flesh and bone to make a physical duplicate of a person. Fortunately such unmerciful changes rendered flesh and bone weaker, more fragile and thus such duplicates were not useful as fighters but more as distractions. This made things simpler for Ryu, since the bodies were so fragile. Killing them one at a time would waste time and energy, there was a way to take them all out at once and as they approached their numbers grew increasingly apparent. This didn't seem like a distractive tactic for Ryu, but rather some sick obsession. Sheath in one hand, sword in the other he began to chant. Black lightning dance around him and the sword. He pointed the tip of the sword towards the ground and thrust it downward. A loud thunderclap sounded as black energy spread along the ground consuming the Nina duplicates. The undead things broke apart and disintegrated in the ensuing storm. Once the Nikanoru, now nothing more than ash in the wind, were defeated, Ryu sheathed his blade and proceeded to the next room.
The room was empty except for some large humanoid thing; there was no light so it was difficult to make out. Ryu drew his blade, but didn't strike; there was something odd about this, he could hear two heartbeats, but there was no one else around.
"Someone's bothering us, precious... How rude." The creature said with a deep, cavernous voice
The thing turned around; its flesh seemed as though it had been melted and hardened as it had melted, the face was skull-like, its sharp teeth barred, its nose was gone, a mere hole in the centre of its face and its eyes were simply two dark empty holes. It was a mass of muscle and tendons covered in a thin black sludge; the only thing that made it out to be human was its shape. But most disturbing of all, could Ryu be disturbed that is, was Nina's head protruding from his chest. She was still alive, barely breathing, buried in that Chongyom demon. Ryu would have a hard time defeating the demon as long as Nina was there; he could not go against his orders to protect innocent life anymore than a computer could go against a program.
"The dragon... you've come to take her away from me... they said you would... you are jealous of us... I will protect her!" The thing yelled and snarled.
"You have been consumed by your desire... Creature devoured by sin, the light does not want to save you, only the dark can purify you." Ryu said.
Ryu charged at the demon and dodged at the very last second as the demon brought its fist down upon him. Then he was smashed into the wall as the demon's other arm extended, grabbing Ryu from behind. Ryu never lost his grip on the sheath or the sword and moved quickly out of the way as the demon attacked again. Ryu continued to dodge as he was attacked; he couldn't attack just yet, the openings weren't sufficient to save Nina at the moment, but if things continued like this, he would surely be defeated.
Ryu used his sheath to deflect a blow, side-stepping another he jammed his sword into the abomination's outstretching arm. The blade cut through the arm as it lengthened, the beast howled in pain and Ryu removed the sword as the beast's arm shrank. Ryu saw his opportunity, as the abomination's pain seemed to lessen its hold on Nina as her body became somewhat visible. Ryu charged and leapt upon the things shoulder; quickly chanting he stuck two fingers into its shoulder. The shoulder exploded and Nina was propelled from her prison and landed on the ground. She was still unconscious and most of her body was covered in black slime, but she appeared otherwise unharmed. Ryu leapt down from the monster and began to beat it back and in its weakened state, that was easy. Ryu backed away from the creature and placed himself between the beast and Nina and waited for the creature to make a move. Since it was so obsessed with her it would try to recuperate her and that would be its downfall.
"PRECIOUS!" The thing screamed in rage.
This was the moment Ryu needed; with the thing's defences dropped he struck a single blow, burying his sword deep in its chest. He twisted the blade so that the edge faced upwards and pushed it, cleaving through the beast exiting through its skull. The blade came away unmarred and unmucked and he sheathed the sword, turning away from the falling monster. He turned his attention to Nina; she was undamaged, but she still needed to be cleaned off, as the sludge that covered her body would promote infections by disease. He left the demon corpse to melt and dissolve and he hurried Nina back to her apartment.
It was slower getting back to her apartment than it was finding her mainly because Ryu could not run for fear of damaging Nina. He was able to get her back without incident and without drawing attention to himself. He closed the door and put her in the bath, running the water at a comfortable temperature. He wiped the sludge off her back and suddenly halted, looking at the peculiar birthmark she had along her back; two large markings in the shape of wings were imprinted on her back.
"Ah... R-Ryu?" Nina said groggily.
"You're safe now, I've slain the demon." Ryu said without emotion. "Do you require further assistance?"
"N-no, that's okay, I think I can handle the rest." She smiled a bit.
Back at the demon's corpse a giant of a man stood over it. At least it looked humanoid; it wore a huge trench coat that covered most of its body as well as gloves and dark boots and a fedora. It wore a sort of gas mask over its face and it looked down on the demon's through the red tinted goggles of the mask.
"Analysis complete." It said with a grainy, metallic voice. "Dragon strength estimated at mid-level, compiling data and returning to base."
"Desire can shape our future; it gives us the drive to advance our technology and fuels our dreams, but it can also consume us becoming an all destroying obsession." -Unknown
Music: 'Gothic Neclord' (Suikoden 2)
1)- If you haven't figured it out yet, this is no ordinary sword. You'll find out just how unusual it is in future chapters.
I wonder if I shouldn't increase the rating of this story to 'R'? I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this soon, but I'll try my best. As to people who are expecting me to review their stories I'm terribly sorry about that and I'll get to it as soon as I'm in the mood and have time. It isn't good to try to read/write when you aren't in the mood.