Chris: Here's another chapter for you all! Thanks to those who reviewed and I hope you enjoy this.
Chapter 2: Demons and Angels
The next day, Melissa awoke a slumbering Sif and walked inside another room. The sleepy angel heard a couple of shouts of pain before Melissa walked out, smiling. Jordan stumbled out after her, a couple of burns coating his body. The rogue looked extremely disheveled with shocks of his hair disintegrated into ashes. Melissa woke Silvei in a less haphazard fashion and soon the three of them were gathered in the room with Sif.
"So, all we have to do is wait for Ein to come after us." Melissa said confidently. "I'm certain I left enough clues as to our location."
"Ugh…"
"Ah, the sprite's up!" Melissa shouted, motioning to Jordan. The rogue quickly tied the sprite's hands behind herself and allowed his eyes to roam her body, a lecherous grin spreading on his face. Silvei noticed this and smacked him across the head.
"What's going on? Where am I?" The sprite asked dazedly. She tried to rub at her bleary eyes, only to find out her hands were bound. This new revelation awoke her fully and she struggled against the rope, grimacing.
"Glad to see you're awake, sprite." Melissa said wickedly.
"Who are you?" The sprite asked fearfully. Recognition dawned on her face, however. "Hey, you're those demons that Ein beat!"
Melissa grimaced and restrained the urge to slap the sprite across the face. "Shut up and stay silent. We want a little revenge with your friend. You're our bait so just keep quiet."
"…" The sprite frowned, thinking hard. "Ein will beat you."
"You seem confident in him." Silvei said, her eyes narrowed. "Why?"
The red-haired sprite blushed slightly. "I don't have to tell you. You're demons."
"Why must they rub that fact in our faces?" Jordan sighed in self-pity. "We're all beings of Riviera."
"Look who's getting philosophical on us." Melissa smirked. "Anyway, just wait for a second. I'm sure Ein will be here soon. Oh, there's someone who would like to ask you about Ein."
"Who?" Their captive asked suspiciously.
"I do." Sif said, her voice soft. "Who is this Ein that you know?"
"…" The sprite just folded her arms and refused to answer.
"I need to know." Sif groaned, talking more to herself than anyone else. "I guess I just have to wait. I've done enough of that lately."
"Hey, cheer up. You'll find your answers soon enough." Melissa patted the Grim Angel on the back. "Ein is certain to come here."
---
"Hey Ein! We've got a problem!" Serene, an Arc with blue hair, burst into Fia's home, her wings beating frantically out of agitation.
Ein, the young, brown-haired Grim Angel, looked at Serene in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"Cierra's missing! Claude said that she left to investigate a sound and that was yesterday!" Serene said frantically. "It has to be demons! But how could they enter here?"
"I don't know." Ein said, leaping on his feet and grabbing his equipment. "Come on, get Lina and Fia and we're leaving. I'll go tell the Elder."
"Right!" Serene rushed off to find their other two companions. "If it's demons, I will make them pay for everything!"
---
"Prepare to pay for your crimes!" Ein burst into Melissa's hideout before pausing in surprise. "It's you!"
"Ein! I'm so glad to see you!"
"Cierra! You're okay!" Ein said gratefully before returning his attention back to the demons. "Give her back to us!"
"No way! Not until we face you in a rematch!" Melissa shouted.
"Wait." Sif stepped forward and looked closely at Ein. "You are Ein, aren't you?"
"Do I know you?" Ein paused to look at this new acquaintance. "Wait…You seem familiar. Long, light-blue hair, soft-spoken…You're Sif!"
"Correct." Sif nodded her head. "Now if you'll tell me, what are you doing here? I thought I was the only Grim Angel in Riviera. At least, that's what Lord Hector told me."
"I was sent to destroy the demons and prevent the Retribution." Ein said plainly.
"So was I." Sif replied. "Apparently, Lord Hector has not been very truthful to us."
"If I may interrupt, what are you two talking about?" Melissa asked. Nods from Ein's friends showed that they weren't the only people who were in the dark about all of this.
"This is a private matter and does not concern you at this moment. Maybe later, I will tell you, but for now it is a secret." Sif said. She curtseyed to Ein briefly. "It was a pleasure meeting you again, Master Ein, even in such trying times."
"Um…Thanks." Ein flushed.
"Enough of this!" Melissa screamed, tired of all the talking. The object of her vengeance was in front of her, yet she could do nothing but watch as he and Sif chewed the fat. She called a fireball from the tip of her staff and launched it at the unprepared angel. However, Sif sliced it in half with her Diviner and waved Melissa off.
"No fighting. And return their friend to them. You cannot defeat him as you are now." Sif stated. The Grim Angel walked towards Cierra and released her from her bonds. "I am sorry for the trouble we have caused you."
"T-Thank you." Cierra said, embarrassed. She quickly rejoined the rest of her friends, who were milling around in confusion. Melissa and her friends looked just as clueless as they looked.
"Sif! You can't just do that!" Melissa protested, half of her mind telling to attack Sif and get all of this over with. The witch stalked towards the sprites, but Sif stopped her from attack.
"No fighting. Please. Not now. There are many things we must talk about together, Melissa." Sif said. "Farewell, Ein and may the gods' blessings travel with you."
"You're staying with them?" Ein asked, scratching the back of his head. "That doesn't make much sense."
"Nothing makes much sense in these times." Sif answered. "But…I feel kinship with these demons." She turned her back on her fellow angel and headed back to Melissa.
"It's a good thing Sif is stopping us or else your ashes would feed my plants!" Melissa taunted.
"Just try it, bitch!" The lone Arc in Ein's party gripped her scythe dangerously, her eyes glinting with battle lust. "I'll slice your head off of your body before you can even think about casting a spell!"
"Serene, later. Not now." A caring-looking sprite with long, green hair that was tied with a bow, placed a hand on the Arc's shoulder. "We shouldn't always have to fight."
"Tch." Serene glowered at the demons before spinning away. "We'll dance later, witch."
"See if you can catch up." Melissa retorted.
After a couple of more tense moments, Ein and his friends departed from Niflheim, leaving behind a couple of confused demons and one Grim Angel. Now that the object of her revenge was out of her sight, Melissa whirled on Sif, her eyes blazing angrily.
"What in the name of Hades was that all about?" Melissa shouted, pointing behind her. Sif was looking ashamedly at the ground, not looking up at the witch. "Answer me! Why did you stop us?"
"I had to. You would have died." Sif said plainly, in a slightly pleading voice.
"What makes you so certain? We didn't die earlier!" Melissa retorted. "You make me so angry! I have half a mind to kill you right now!"
"Very well. You wouldn't be able to, but you may do all that you wish to get rid of your anger." Sif replied, her head still bowed. "But please, I did it for your own good."
"Like hell you did!" Jordan, who had pretty much on the sidelines, finally spoke up. "You just stopped us from fighting because there were more things you wanted to ask Ein, isn't that right? Why? What were you two in Asgard? Sweethearts?"
Sif blushed and shook her head rapidly. "No!" She gulped and shook her head, calming herself down. "No, nothing like that. Romantic relationships are pretty much forbidden between fellow angels. Friendship, yes, but we are not allowed to progress any further. Any who break the rule have their wings stricken from them and are cast down as a Fallen Angel."
"Hmmm…" Jordan murmured to himself. "I see. But what are we supposed to do now? That was our only plan for getting back at Ein."
"I'm sorry." Sif whispered remorsefully.
"Hmph, sorry's won't help us destroy that stupid angel." Melissa grumped. She paced in the run-down hideout with a thoughtful expression on her face. "But if you believe we can't defeat him as we are now, then what should we do?"
"Train." Silvei responded, looking blankly ahead. "It might be a good thing to increase the size of our party. After all, Ein has four others with him. We just are three, unless Sif wishes to join us in our fight."
"You've been patient with me so far, so the least I can do is help out." Sif said, nodding her head. The angel brushed back her light-blue hair and twirled Draupnir in a lazy circle.
"Okay, four people. That still spells out horrible odds for us, since they are physically stronger and more skilled than we are." The orange-haired archer grimaced, plucking at the string of her bow. "What do you say we go raid one of those outcast demon colonies?"
"Outcast demon colonies?" Sif asked curiously. "I never heard of those."
"You know how demons are basically sprites that are spiritually evil, correct?" Melissa said. "Some demons fall even below the limit that is unofficially set. Demons by nature love warfare and strife, but some delight in it, shedding as much blood as possible for the sheer joy of it. Some give in to their lust and rape any girls that they can find. These are the lowest of the low, the dregs of society. They are what we call outcast demons."
"…Let's go. This is what my mission entails and I will accomplish it to the best of my ability." Sif rose. She started for the exit when she noticed that none of the other demons had moved. "What's wrong?"
The three demons exchanged glances. Melissa looked worriedly at Jordan, who shrugged carelessly. Silvei's expression remained resolute, although one could see suspicion in her eyes. The witch stood up and walked towards Sif.
"Please…don't come with us."
"What do you mean?" Sif asked confusedly.
"You might not understand, but even though we hate them, we still are of the same race. I can't condone someone who considers killing brethren a mission of justice." Melissa sighed. "We'll be back soon. Just wait for a while."
She brushed past the angel and headed for the magic circle outside. Jordan coughed awkwardly and quickly shuffled past. Silvei walked after him, her head held high.
"But…" Sif stared after them, her mind whirling with questions. What was so bad about killing decadent demons? Didn't Melissa say that they were the lowest of the low? Shouldn't they feel happy if those demons were removed forever? Or perhaps demons had more morals than anyone gave them credit for.
'No.' Sif shook her head. She had to find out for herself. The red-eyed angel decided to tail the three demons and see if they were as merciful as they pretended to be. After all, they didn't kill that sprite, Cierra, even though she was their captive. They could have killed her and Ein would have been none the wiser. Sif followed the footsteps and arrived just in time to see the three of them disappear in a flash of light.
"They never told me where they were going." Sif realized. She grimaced angrily and slammed her fist into one of the walls. "How will I follow them now? Tracing magical energies was never my strong point. I better find someone who can tell me where these demon colonies are."
---
"Ah…Valhalla! The realm where people eternally fight for the pleasure of the gods!" Jordan breathed thankfully. "If demons hadn't built this, nobody would! The perfect place to enjoy fighting just for the pure joy of sparring with your equals!"
"I wish you didn't sound so pleased." Melissa muttered, looking disdainfully around her. Trash littered the streets and there were numerous stains, made by food, drink, or most likely blood. Nothing in the city spoke of cleanliness. Even the coliseum itself seemed ruined and broken down. Recreant demons were scattered around, some of which wore decidedly lunatic expressions.
"Let's go. But fight your best. Mercy doesn't exist in this place." Silvei said.
"Mercy? Demons don't even know the definition of that." Jordan scoffed, leading the way towards the coliseum. "Come on, come on. My axe needs more notches on its blade."
Melissa nodded. "Perhaps we can pick up a new recruit while we're here. We never know. Sigh…Was it right of me to tell Sif off? She was just trying to help."
"I don't trust that angel. She seems more involved with her own agenda instead of being concerned with ours." Silvei said. "Come on, let's go. All this talk of angels is bothering me."
---
"Hah hah! Nothing can stop us!" Jordan crowed as he struck down another demon. He felt no remorse as he looked at the dying demon below him. Like himself, he pledged his life to his axe and he knew that he would die fighting someday. His opponent was the exact same way. It was a sort of honor that warriors possessed.
"Stop bragging. It's only going to make our enemies angrier." Silvei reprimanded as she shot an arrow through a demon's mouth. The archer was pressed against the wall and it was all she could do to keep from being hurt. Melissa noticed her plight and sent a wall of flame shooting towards the attacking demons, incinerating them and leaving only blackened bones to clatter on the dirt.
"I knew we shouldn't have gone one more round." Melissa panted. "Holding off a force of seven is not my idea of a good time." She looked around tiredly. So far, they had done well, killing five of their attackers with only small injuries to themselves. Of course, that was added on to the other wounds that they got from the previous rounds, which did nothing for their health.
Finally, Jordan's guard slipped and the rogue was knocked backwards when a sword flashed towards his body. He tumbled to the ground, breathing heavily as blood welled through the wound in his chest. Melissa came up to help her friend, only to see the second demon pierce Silvei's side with a lance. The archer gave a cry before sinking to the ground.
'Who should I go too?' Melissa thought frantically to herself. Both of her friends were hurt and she only had enough time to cast one spell. But if she didn't move fast enough, both would die. She had to make this spell count. Grimacing, she threw her staff in the air and launched a volley of fireballs at the two demons. One of the two was immediately killed, yet the second one managed to survive through the firestorm. The demon's sword flashed…
…and froze as a jagged staff interrupted its path. The demon looked up in surprise to see a red-eyed, blue-haired girl staring back at him. Sif moved her staff upwards, wrenching the sword out of the demon's grip. Grimacing angrily, Sif pointed her staff at the demon.
"No one hurts my friends." She glared, her eyes flashing. "Fimbulvetr."
The normally gray-white staff glowed a frigid sort of blue and she swung it in a full 180-degree arc. Where the staff passed through, the air froze into ice and hovered there. She continued waving her sword in an intricate pattern and soon there was a cross made out of ice, with the demon in the center. She drew the staff backwards, as if it was a sword, and the tip of the staff glinted. Sif thrust forward with her staff, piercing the demon's body and shattering the demon's body as it was turned to ice.
"…" Sif stared at the frozen pieces, which were slowly melting into water. "Might does not come from war, but from belief."
"Sif! What are you doing here?" Melissa shouted, anger coloring part of her tone. "I thought I told you to stay behind!"
"I understand." Sif nodded. She walked towards Melissa, handing a couple of small bottles to the witch. The Grim Angel clasped her hands and called her wings out. "Farewell. Thanks for letting me stay with you."
Sif flew away, leaving behind a stunned-looking Melissa. The witch took in a deep breath and released it in a sigh. She looked at the potion bottles in her hand and headed towards her friends, banishing the memory of Sif out of her mind.
Chris: Well, here you go. I'd like to give a preview of the next chapter, but I actually don't have that planned out yet. Anyway, review please and tell me what you think! Suggestions, comments, and advice are all appreciated.