Five: Demon Awakened

Authors Note: The "Gymelef" Deathscythe's description is taken directly from Endless Waltz.

Warning: Graphic Violence, descriptive action scenes. I changed a bit of the scenes as well for variety and difference in this chapter.

Outside the castle the battle raged on against the invisible enemy. Luva was first to fall to the enemies deadly spears that moved like liquid. Yurizen was next along with Asona. Half of every Gymelef fell at the hands of the unknown enemy and only a few were left standing.

Half of Faneila's army without Gymelefs stood frozen in fear at the hand they proclaimed was death itself lashing out unjustly at them for no reason whatsoever. The arm vanished once again and the invisible giant made its way across the ground toward the castle when out of nowhere Balgus came rushing into the fray with a large weapon wrapped in cloth in his hand. The invisible giant stopped momentarily and examined its enemy.

Despite the man's age the giant figured he would be a formidable opponent for the scars on his face indicated so. Balgus yanked the rope that held the cloth onto his weapon and tossed the sheet aside revealing a large and intimidating sword. Hardening his resolve Balgus prepared for battle. The giant stood it's ground ready it's weapon.

Anxiety and fear from the soldiers hung in the air as the two stood off. Prince Maxwell, I hope you have found Deathscythe and awakened it... Balgus' thought's trailed off at the sight of the enemy revealing it's arm and firing all three of its liquid-like spears at the elderly man. Balgus reacted just in time, he threw his sword up in the air knocking all spears away from him and into the ground. The giant withdrew it's spears as Balgus charged it like a wild man.

Inside the shrine, Hilde stood on the sidelines and watched Duo with curiosity. He stood on a strange part of the floor that was shaped like a spiral it was covered with black and white stripes to offset it from the rest of the area. Duo sighed and stared down at the drag-energist then unsheathed his sword. Carefully he ran his thumb across the sharp side of his blade opening the skin.

Blood ran out from the cut he made onto the energist then Duo raised his arm upward his hand holding the energist facing up to the large stone in the ceiling above him. "I, Duo Maxwell, new king of Fanelia, bind myself by blood pack to thee, Deathscythe! Thou sleeping God, awake!" Duo proclaimed in a loud commanding voice. Hilde watched as the striped spiral design began to move counterlock wise around the braided teenager illuminating the entire room as it shed light.

Duo stood calm and unfazed by what was happening around him, the spiral began to turn faster as the stone above him began to crack. Hilde jumped back against the wall when the stone burst into a million pieces of it former self revealing the large giant she had saw from her dream. It floated down from its resting place its green lifeless eyes shimmering in the light that surrounded its master. Duo smiled briefly then stepped back as the Gymelef came down in front of him in a crouched pose. The Gymelef's armor were a shade of gray, black, and bits of white.

A shining golden antenna rested upon its forehead and his face was emotionless and streaked with red lines that reminded Hilde of an air went cover. Its wrists were covered with objects that resembled arm guards with pointed ends, Deathscythe's knees and feet were characterized with intimidating spikes. Its shoulders were covered by the long flowing blood red cape, its demon wings could be seen underneath it but not all that well. The sword Hilde had seen the giant wielding was on its side but she could not see the beamscythe it carried on its back.

Her aquamarine eyes reflected fear in them at the sight of the frightening Gymelef. Duo ran forward and jumped onto its knee then climbed over its arm. He stood in front of the lifeless Emerald that resided on Deathscythe's chest, exhaling he pushed his arm forward toward the emerald his hand went through the seeming solid object and he placed the energist inside. A hiss of air was released from it's chest, Duo turned toward it with unwavering determination to climb inside the machine.

The chest plate opened downward creating a platform while on the inside the inner door lifted upward revealing the strange cockpit inside. "Good," Duo said to himself. Hilde watched his body language carefully knowing what he was going to do next. "Mattie, Duo!!" She cried as he jumped inside the suit. "What are doing?" Duo relied to her question without turning to glance at her. "I'm going to fight them with Deathscythe." He said. Deathscythe's chest plate closed as did the inner door and Duo carefully slipped his arms and legs into the body like suit.

The gears inside began to come to life turning as he flexed his arms and legs inside the body suit with ease as though he were born into the Gymelef. There was a clicking sound below him, he looked down to find a sort of fastener had latched itself onto the octagon shaped object that turned until it was locked into its rightful place. "All right, just like the ancient tex said. It can work," Duo said to himself. Outside Hilde watched as the Gymelef's wrist turn as it flexed its fingers.

A large amount of air escaped the openings of Deathscythe's body as it slowly rose to its feet, Hilde felt the air rush past her like a fleeing ghost. Her eyes gazed upon the standing Gymelef with awe and admiration. "That's...Deathscythe...," She uttered. Deathscythe's head bent downward in her direction, Hilde flinched at the sheer appearance of the machine's emotionless but intimidating eyes. "What are you still doing standin' there?" Bellowed Duo. "Go and hide!" Hilde snapped out of her trance and frowned at his sudden command.

Folding her arms across her chest she turned her head in the other direction. "From what? The invisible man?" Hilde snapped mockingly. She could hear Duo growl just as a loud crashing noise shook the foundation of the shrine. Duo peered through Green but transparent and crystal clear eyes of Deathscythe catching a glimpse of distortion in front of the demolished part of the shrine's wall. "Here they come," Duo breathed moving his legs forward. Deathscythe stepped forward more air was released from its ankles as it continued on, Hilde stepped out of the way fearing for her life and rushed up the shrine stairs supposedly out of harms way.

Deathscythe reached for it sword in one swift movement and unsheathed it from its side. He brought it forward with the blade pointing upward, a hiss of air was released from the hilt the sword automatically grew longer and Deathscythe lowered his arm back to his side. Hilde looked around the room in confusion, there was nothing but silence in the shrine sending confusion mixed fear through Hilde's mind as she searched franticly for the enemy. "Where is it-- ah!" Hilde snapped her head over to the left where for a moment she thought she had seen heatwaves. The distortion appeared again and Hilde realized that was the sign of the enemy. "Duo to your left!!" She shouted desperately. Duo jerked his head to the right just a strange object with three holes embedded into it appeared out of thin air and launched three spears in Deathscythe's direction.

"LOOK OUT!!" Hilde feared that he would be too late to react and he would die. Duo however had other plans, with a quick jerk of his arm he brought his sword in front of him and deflected the spears into the wall behind him. He struggled to maintain balance of his sword as he felt the strength in his arms giving way, moving his arm in a circular motion he brought the sword down upon the elongated spears and severed them. Hilde watched as they dissolved into a hot blue steam. Deathscythe charged forward his cape flowing behind him like a feather instead of a weighted down cloth sending Hilde stumbling backward. She managed to regain her balance just in time to see the invisible enemy withdraw his weapon back into invisibility.

Duo quickened in pace out in reaction to the pace of his heart rate quickening pumping more and more blood through his veins as he brought his arm back to attack. "You won't get way from me!" He shouted in furiously slashing what he thought to be the air itself. The end of his sword was momentarily stuck in one of the support beams of the shrine as a flash blinding light in the area his sword slashed revealing a damaged Gymelef. Duo's cobalt eyes widened in sheer surprise as he ripped his sword out of the support beam "A Gymelef??" He blurted. Hilde watched motionlessly at the damaged machine as her mind ventured back to her vision dream. "Its one of the giants I saw in my dream!" She whispered to herself. The unhidden Gymelef fired formless liquid from it's arm creating a jagged sword with a nasty hook at its tip.

Deathscythe's blade crossed with the jagged sword defecting it for just a moment. Acting quickly he widened the attack area of his sword aiming directly for the Gymelef's arm and severed it from the rest of the machine's body. The Gymelef stumbled backward releasing another bout of formless liquid from its only arm and created another jagged sword but with a more lethal design. Hilde covered her eyes with her hands as the sword came at Deathscythe's side. Duo managed to jump out of the way, the blade's end had only slightly damaged Deathscythe's armor but not enough to disable it.

Gripping the hilt of the sword with both hands Duo rose his arms upward bringing them back, the sword's end gleamed with deadly Precession as Duo thrust his arms forward and drove the sword through the Gymelef. The large enemy machine fell to its knees then fell flat on it back, lifeless. Duo's breath was ragged as he fought to catch it, sweat rolled down his face and body like rain and he began to realize why Balgus wanted him to attack him like he mean to kill him; any of signs of weakness and the enemy would have struck him down the numerous times he hesitated to attack the Gymelef. A rush of fear entered Hilde's mind once again and her sight was obscured by another vision. Deathscythe stood victoriously over fallen Gymelef unaware of another invisible machine behind him.

There was a blinding flash of light that came out of the Enemy's arm and a scythe shaped blade came down onto Deathscythe bringing the mighty Ispano Gymelef to its knees. Its arm had been cut from the shoulder down. Inside Duo cried out in pain at sight of his missing limb that severed from his shoulder, blood ran down his face from an injury somewhere in the mess of his hair. Outside the enemy Gymelef swung his scythe toward Deathscythe's side and severed the machine in half.

Hilde's watched unwavering eyes as the upper half of Deathscythe fell to the ground surrounded by its own oil mixed with a dying Duo's blood while the bottom of Deathscythe fell forward without anything to support. Hilde met the pained and sorrowful eyes of Duo before he breathed his last breath and slumped to the side with a remaining arm. He was dead. Hilde screamed out in sheer terror clutching her head. Her vision vanished and Hilde fell to the ground motionless. Duo turned to the direction where her scream had come from only to find her only the floor. His eyes widened in disbelief.

No...!! Deathscythe rushed forward on its master's sheer determination and will power and surprisingly out of arms way unbeknownst to Duo. Deathscythe kneeled down on one knee and with one trembling hand he gathered the girl up into his hand lifting her up off the ground. Her body fell limply forward heightening Duo's fear that she was dead. But if she wasn't he had to get her to where the other villagers were. Rising from its crouched position Deathscythe charged forward with one sword in his right hand and Hilde in his left hand. He stopped suddenly when another enemy Gymelef revealed itself to him and created another weapon from it's arm, this time it was in the form of scythe.

The Gymelef charged forward launching it's scythe forward toward Deathscythe's chest. Panicking, Duo threw his arm up in front of him successfully blocking the enemy attack with no more than a second to react, he opened his eyes and stared at the two locked weapons. He was in a rather tight jam he knew he probably wasn't going to live through. The enemy Gymelef appeared from behind, Duo struggled to keep from losing his grip on his sword. Balgus... help!! He cried out mentally as he felt the strength in his arm waning. And as if on cue, Balgus appeared brandishing his sword. Relief washed over Duo as he watched the elderly Knight sever the Gymelef's arm from it's body, looking down he moved his left arm back and fourth as he tried to awaken the fallen Hilde.

Balgus rushed over to the Ispano Gymelef in need and attacked the enemy Gymelef's side. The Gymelef retracted its weapon and hid itself back into its cloak once again, vanishing from sight. However, Duo wasn't about to let the fiend get away. "Balgus, catch!" He shouted releasing Hilde from his grip. The elderly man caught the unconscious girl with ease before realizing why his student wanted him to catch her. "Maxwell-sama, take the lady Hilde and get out of her while the can!"

He shouted, but in vain. Duo grinned stupidly as he caught a glimpse of distortion at the farther end of the shrine. There was no way in hell that he was going to let the enemy escape him. "Never! Shinigami never turns his back on an enemy and runs!!" Duo declared stubbornly charging after the Gymelef. Balgus scowled in sheer disappointment and tried once more to persuade the boy to do the right thing. "Lord Maxwell!" He shouted desperately. Kneeling down on one knee, Balgus rested Hilde on the ground and fought to awaken her. He patted her gently against her cheek getting a reaction; he smiled when he saw the girl's weary eyes open, confusion reflected within them. "Wha-- Balgus-san?" Hilde moaned. Balgus nodded pulling her up onto her on shaky legs.

She looked up at him in question. "What happened? Where's Duo? Is he all right??" She bombarded Balgus with a hundred questions. Balgus raised a hand up before gesturing toward the charging Ispano Gymelef. Hilde watched with relief as Deathscythe's hand grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and lashed upward hitting his desired target. The Gymelef stumbled backward as it released it's scythe once more only for it to be countered by the halfhearted aggressiveness of Deathscythe's blade which got caught underneath the hook of the scythe giving it enough time to release a jagged blade from its other arm.

Duo's breath was caught in his throat as he watched the Gymelef raise its weapon over his head and bring it down. Duo prepared for death to claim when a flash of light blinded him for a brief moment. Unable to rub his eyes he tried his best to focus through the blur in his eyes, his cobalt eyes widened in sheer surprise when he found Balgus atop of Deathscythe blocking the blade from him with his sword.

Balgus grunted as he forced the enemy Gymelef back outside the shrine then with the grace of a cat he leapt onto the top of the Gymelef and rammed his sword into the head. "Lord Maxwell, get out of here!!" He shouted angrily as the Gymelef continued to walk backward. Duo managed to catch his breath before he caught another Gymelef behind him. "DAMN IT!!" Duo shouted. With one push forward he knocked the Gymelef down onto the ground. Hilde rushed up toward him with a smile on her. "Come on, we're leaving!" Deathscythe bent down and grabbed her around the waist. Hilde had no recollection of what had happened after the fainted but the feeling of his hand around her felt somewhat familiar to her. She placed her hands on his large fingers as he hastily exited the shrine.

The smell of smoke and fire choked the once clean air as Deathscythe came to a screeching halt at the sight of the demolished village of Fanelia. Duo went rigid at the sight of the fallen Gymelefs he knew belonged to the soldiers of the castle and the three knights Balgus knew. Hilde tried her best to keep all her bodily fluids insider her as the smell of burning corpses filled her nostrils. "All right Balgus... Retreat...," Duo choked out. Hilde's grip on Deathscythe's large finger tightened as that same dreaded feeling of an oncoming vision bombarded her again.

Her hands came up to the sides of her face as she readied herself to warn the Elderly man of inanimate danger. "Look out Balgus!" She cried at the top of her lungs. Another Gymelef appeared out of nowhere and fired a spear from it's arm. Balgus turned to look a moment to late. The spear ripped right through his body knocking him off the Gymelef completely. The elderly knight was lost in a sea of seemingly never-ending pain as he fell to the ground in a heap. Everything around Duo vanished into the darkness that surrounded him, his body went numb of all feeling except the ache that tore at his very soul.

He screamed out his mentors name falling to his knees at the sight of Balgus' blood pouring from his body. Balgus grunted in pain propping himself up on one arm, he fought to speak to Duo as blood began to fill his lungs pushing all the air out of his body. "Lord Maxwell... Take Deathscythe and flee... And someday ... return and rebuild Fanelia... Reunite the people of Fanelia...," With his last words spoken, Balgus fell to the ground once more never to get up again.

The very last person Duo was close to had died and joined the rest of his family. "BALGUS!" He screamed. The enemy Gymelef's began to reveal themselves one by one surrounding Duo and Hilde. Hilde shook with grief and disbelief as tears formed in her eyes. This was all some hellish nightmare she fell into and couldn't wake up from. "No...no...," She whimpered shaking her head. "...NO!!" The pendant pulsated against Hilde's chest as it came to life in a blinding pink light. The same Pillar of light came descended from the clouds and surrounded Deathscythe transporting out of danger and away from Fanelia.

Up on the mountains behind the city, the villagers look on in sadness as their homeland burned. Merel came out from behind the crowd of people and gazed upon the strange light coming from the sky. Tears fell down her cheeks as it all slowly sank in her mind. "Duo-sama...," She whispered. Merel just couldn't believe that he was dead... he couldn't be!! "Duo-sama!!" Merel screamed.

(TBC)

Authors Note: Sorry for any mistakes or mispelled words. Sakura123