Chapter 6
"Where the hell is that stupid bastard!?" His pace quickened the deeper he go into the woods until he was sprinting. As he looked in the corner of his eye, he catch sight of a blurry image within the trees, running alongside him. "Ice Demon Arrow." He called out as he shot an icicle at a tree, causing his stalker to leap onto the ground in front of him. "I thought I smell your repugnant odor lingering around these parts! For a moment, I could have sworn it was a carcass rotting nearby!" he growled as the cloaked demon stood up straight.
"Is that any way for you to greet a comrade," The male demon mused as he lowered his hood with his scale covered claws, revealing his fire red hair and facial scales under his eyes. "Absolute Zero."
"Azaz." He hissed through his teeth. Azaz was a high racking fire demon, just under the demons of the Nine Demon Gate. But most importantly, he was the idiot that Silver had defeated in order to claim the position he sought so much. "You have some balls stalking a high ranking demon from our guild."
"Me, stalking" he placed his claw over his chest. "I would never such a thing. I was just in the area and sensed your aura nearby. I figured you would need my help taking out this village." He smirked and he narrowed his glare. "But instead, here I find you intermingling with some human female. I must say I'm shocked to see the oh so rational Silver associating with a nauseating insect. But I guess those big tits of hers are quite alluring, are they?"
"That's even of your bullshit!" Silver barked at Azaz, his demonic aura causing the grass around him to freeze. "We both know that you still hold a grudge against me because I beat your sorry ass black and blue during our last fight. So don't give me that shit that you wanted to help me! You would sooner watch me die than ever come to my aid!"
"My, aren't we observant." He mocked as he drew closer. "But you're absolutely right. Why the hell would I help the bastard who cheated in our battle and took my honor and stole the position that is rightfully mine?" He snarled, but quickly regain his composer. "But I digress. I detected your aura in this area a few months ago, but the city was still intact when you departed. Then I noticed that your aroma clung heavily to that particular human. And I must confess that curiosity got the better of me…"
"So you hung around here for three months like a loser, just waiting for the chance to catch me fuck up." Silver finished Azaz's train of thought.
"Very good, Silver." Azaz mocked as he let out a laugh. "However never in my wildest dreams could I imagine you fucking up on such a monumental level, you dipshit! To think the great and mighty Silver, betraying his fellow brethren for the earthy flesh of some worthless human whore!" he cried out in excitement, raising his hands as he uttered those words. "This is truly too rich!"
"So what. Now you're going to snitch on me to Mard Geer. Has that been your plan the whole time, you son of a bitch!?" He clenched his fist to the point that his knuckles white. To think that everything in his life was about to fall apart at the hands of this miscreant was infuriating.
"And let you off the hook that easily. I think not. I'm finally getting my revenge for the humiliation I suffered at your hands." He retorted as he lit his fist on fire. "I'm going to torch your sorry, traitorous ass until you're nothing but a pile of smoldering ashes!" Suddenly the demon charged at Silver, the flame surrounding his fist growing large by the second. But Silver quickly moved out the way, kicking the demon in the back. Azaz stumbled but quickly recovered and rushed him again. Silver dodged to the right and delivered a crushing blow to Azaz's side, sending him crashing into a tree.
"120 years later and you still can't land a fuckin' punch!" Silver ridiculed the fire demon as Aza got to his feet. "And you honestly think you can take me down! How absurd!"
"Don't you mock me, you Stupid dumbfuck!" Azaz screamed as he ignited his flames all over his body, burning down the trees around him. He charged at him again, this time moving at a much faster speed. He began slashing his claws at lightning speed, making it hard for Silver to keep up.
Stupid bastard must have tapped into his Etherious power. Silver thought as he tried his hardest to keep up. But it was proving more difficult in Silver's current form. Of course in his demon form, he would dispatch this jackass without even breaking a sweat. But if he were to morph into his true form, he ran the threat of being discovered by a human. He couldn't even activate his ice curse to counter Azaz' fire curse. And if that happened, he would have to destroy this whole city, including Mika Fullbuster. No, he couldn't put her life in danger in order to win a fight against Azaz. Swiftly, Azaz landed a heavy attack, leaving three long gashes across his chest. He tried to recover from the attack, but Azaz abruptly appeared from behind and delivered another devastating strike from the back. Silver spun around and tried to take another jab at Azaz, but the fire demon caught his punch in midair in the palm of his hand.
"It must be a pain to fight in that pitiful form." Azaz closed his claw around his opponent's hand, crushing it. "How about you transform into something a little more challenging."
"And why would I waste my true strength on an insignificant sack of crap like you." Silver replied with a cocky sneer, not even wincing in pain as the fire demon crushed his hand. Enraged, Azaz ran his talon along Silver's arm, slicing it completely open. He brusquely jerked the ice demon towards his before bashing his face in with his scaled encrusted elbow, knocking to the ground.
"Did that hurt, Silver?" Azaz taunted as he licked the blood off his claws. "I must say that this fight was such a bore." He kneeled beside the wounded man as he struggled to stand up. "I was hoping for a more stimulating battle. But I guess watching perish will have to do. Of course I am feeling quite generous today. So if you give up your title and declare me the better of the two, I'll let you live." He leaned in closer. "And maybe I won't say a word about your treachery to the King, if and only if, you tear out the heart of that little human tramp of yours. And then eat it, right in front of me." But instead of a response, Silver spat in Azaz's face.
"Go to hell!" he said through his teeth.
"I don't like that answer." Azaz stabbed his claw into the man's leg. He raised his claw again, this time aiming it directly at Silver's heart. "Now die, you asshole!"
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Azaz looked up to see a log slamming into his face, sending him flying backwards. Silver looked up to see Mika standing over him, holding a log that had broken in half. "Silver," she dropped her weapon and went to his side. "Oh my god!" she shrieked at the sight of his grievous wounds.
"Mika," Silver struggled to sit up, to which Mika quickly came to his aid.
"We need to get you out here, before that monster wakes up!" Mika tried to lift Silver up, but he pulled away from her.
"What the hell are you doing here!" he shouted at her. No matter how hard he tried, this stupid girl always managed to get herself into trouble. "Didn't I tell your dumbass to stay in the damn city!?"
"I'm sorry," Mika said, her eyes looking down. "I know I should have stayed put like you told me to. But I had a strong feeling that you were in trouble and…."
"And what! You thought that putting yourself in danger would somehow help me!" he roared, not even caring if he was about to bring the poor girl to tears. "What type of stupid fool are you!" at first Mika was completely silent as she held her head down. But she lifted her head high; her face set in a resolute manner.
"If wanting to protect you makes me a fool, then so be it!" though tears were running down her cheeks, she glared at the ice demon with such determination. "Because I would rather die a fool than let someone I love die!"
"Now isn't that fuckin' sweet!" Mika turned around to see Azaz standing behind her as he swung his claw at her, slapping her with such force, it sent her skipping across the ground until her body slammed into a tree. The sheer force of the blow knocking the poor girl out on impact.
"MIKA!" Silver screamed as he tried to go to her, only to be kicked to the ground by the fire demon.
"Oh how the mighty fall!" Azaz stomped viciously on Silver's back. "Once such a powerful Etherious, now you're nothing but a disgrace!"
"Do…what you want with me." Silver mumbled to Azaz. "Just leave the girl alone." Azaz glared down at the ice demon and gave him another powerful kick.
"How sickening! To think that you actually have fallen for a disgusting worm!" he began to walk towards the unconscious woman. "Now watch, Absolute Zero!" he cried as he rose his razor sharp talons, engulfing them in flames. "Watch as I end the life of your precious human whore! But don't worry, I'll make sure you'll follow her to hell almost immediately!" Silver got to his feet and dash in between the demon and Mika, taking the full force of the attack. The talons torn the flesh of Silver's left side of his torso while the longest of Azaz's claws pierced right though his body, probably puncturing his lung.
"Sacrificing yourself for a human!" Azaz said in disgust. "You really have lose your fuckin' mind!"
"Not at all." Silver smirked at the fire demon. All of a sudden, Azaz felt a cold piercing pain radiating through his body. He looked down to see an icicle perforating from his chest. "I just needed to get a little closer."
"I …fuckin' hate you…" Azaz said as he staggered backwards.
"The feeling's mutual. Now die, you asshole!" Silver mimicked Azaz's words as he readied his final attack. "Ice demon rage!" he yelled as he sent a vortex of ice at the demon, freezing his flesh at contact. As the ice cleared, it revealed the frozen remains of Azaz. Silver propelled an icicle at him, shattering his body into thousands of ice shard; finally putting an end to the loathsome fire demon. Silver could only take one step forward before crumpling to the ground; his human body finally at its limit. He tried to stand, but it was no use. He had depleted all of his power. He didn't even have the strength to drag Mika back to the village. He attempted to crawl to the woman, but he no longer had the stamina.
"Damn… it!" Silver clenched his fist. He tried his hardest to stay conscious, but it was no use as the darkness overcame him.
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Silver opened his eyes to see only blackness.
"Where the hell am I?" he said as he stood up. Last thing he remembered, he was in the woods with Mika. "Mika!" he looked around franticly for the woman, who was nowhere to be found.
"What's wrong? Did you lose your little pet? How unfortunate." Silver heard Azaz call out. He looked forward to see Azaz, in his reptile Etherious form, standing in of the ice demon. Silver quickly readied his attack, but the Etherious held his hand up. "Don't worry, Absolute Zero. I am nothing more than an afterthought now, slowly fading from this world."
"Then why don't you save me the damn agony of having to talk to you and die already!"
"Trust me, you're the last fucker I want to talk to. However, I don't have the magical power to reach anyone else in the guild. Or else I would be using the last bit of my strength to inform the others of your high treason."
"Then what do you want?"
"Just to give you a little glimpse of what's to come." He walked to Silver until he was mere inches away. "Why do you think the humans despise us demon? Do you think it's because of our powers or our appearance? Well, you're dead wrong. The humans loathe our kind because we are nothing more than bad omens. Just like the vultures, Creatures like us will always associated death. And they should for that our sole reason for existing." Silver feel a sharp pain shot up his right arm. "The black mage created us for the purpose of spreading as much death and despair as possible. That is why we can only use the power of curses; we Etherious are incapable of dealing anything other than destruction."
"Pretty talkative, are we!" the ice demon snarled. "Stop wasting my time and get to the damn point!"
"Tell me, what type of life can a monstrosity such as yourself ever hope to have with this girl? Do you honestly time you're gonna marry her and live in a cozy little house or some homey shit like that. ''
"That's none of your business, you bastard!" Silver replied as the pain grew stronger.
"Then allow me to dispel you of your delusion. You have no future with this bitch. For everyone and everything you will ever come in contact is doomed to the same miserable fate! For that is our nature! And as penance for losing her heart to a monster like you, this Mika fool will suffer the most painful death of them all! And do you want to know the most satisfying part of all? It will come from your very hands!"
"Don't you dare utter her name!" Silver charged at the apparition, only for him to vanish into thin air.
"Well, it seems that my time has come." Azaz's disembodied voice called. "Don't worry Silver. I will make sure to save you a seat in hell when that damn luck of yours finally runs out." The fire demon let out one more malicious cackle that echoed through the abyss.
"No," he covered his ears. He didn't want to believe that he would be the one to kill Mika. She was the only being that actually meant something to him. No, that stupid fire demon was just messing with his head. The cackling grew louder around him, as if that red haired bastard was mocking him. "Shut up!" but the laughing seemed to only multiply, as if there were hundreds of Azaz around him. "I said… SHUT UP!"
Silver's eyes suddenly snapped open, his face covered in a cold sweat as he tried to calm his hasty panting. His eyes rapidly scanned every inch of his surroundings, looking for any sign of that fiery son of a bitch. But no longer could he see the empty abyss he was trapped in, but the walls and ceiling of a human dwelling.
"It was just a nightmare." Silver closed his eyes as he laid his left arm over his eyes. "Just a really shitty nightmare." As he opened them again, he noticed that the long wound left by Azaz was now wrapped in a white bandage. He looked down at his left shoulder, where he had took a devastating attack, and it too was completely bandaged up. As he became more aware, he realized that he no longer in the forest, or even Mika's apartment. No, this place had the strong odor of medicinal herbs and cotton. He must be in a human hospital.
How the hell did I get here? He thought as he turned his head to the right to see a sleeping Mika Fullbuster, resting her head on his right arm. Her hand holding on to his as a dry stream of tears ran down her cheeks. Could she had possibly brought him here, with her petite human body?
"Idiot girl," Silver stroked Mika's lovely black hair as he gently gripped the woman's hand. "Going through all that trouble to save a monster like me." Mika's eyes began to flutter as they slowly opened.
"Silver," her lower lip began to quiver as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Silver's neck. "Thank god you're alive…." She cried as the tears flowed uncontrollably down her face. "You were unconscious for three days. And I was so afraid that I was going to lose you too."
"Show how much you know, girlie." Silver broke away from Mika's embrace as he struggled to sit up. "As if I could be taken down by some red haired pansy."
"Silver, please lay back down, your wounds aren't completely healed yet." the girl held the ice demon by the arm, trying to stop Silver from leaving the bed. "The doctor said was a miracle that you survived such terrible injuries at all. You need to rest" As much as it pain him to admit it, the girl was right. Silver had never felt so sore after a fight in his life. Of course, he was battling against another Etherious; in his human form no less. Actually, he was surprised to actually come out of that fight alive.
"I'm fine!" he snapped at her as he jerked his arm away from Mika's grasp. "I don't need you to look after me, woman!" He glared back at her, only to notice the human female's own injuries. Her right arm was bandaged up tightly, though the gash had already bled through it. There were even more bandages wrapped around her forehead, probably from the head trauma she suffered. And her beautiful face that mesmerized him so much was horribly bruised black and green and covered with a white gauze; where that son of a bitch had stuck her. She had endured just as much as he had during that battle. All because she wanted to protect the man she cared about. Suddenly a surge of guilt washed over him.
Mika always been good to me. She cooks for me. Let me sleep in her apartment. She's even willing to put herself in harm's way for me. Silver though as he cupped her battered cheek. And here I am, still treating her worse than the dirt beneath my feet.
"I'm sorry, Mika." He had never apologized to anyone before, much less a human. But it couldn't be help. After all the crap he had put her through, it was the least he could do. After all, she had risked her own life for him, surely a first in the ice demon's life. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you." But Mika simply smiled back at the man as she placed her hand over his.
"You don't need to apologize, Silver." Mika said as her eyes shined with unshed tears. "You've always been so good at looking after me. And I know you tried you hardest to defend me this time too." Her stare fell onto his left shoulder, where he had suffered the most damage. She knew that Silver had almost died because he had protected her once more. "I'm just happy you're alright." Silver just sat there, astonished. In the four hundred years he had walked this world, she was first and only living being to shed tears for his sake. And quite frankly, he couldn't understand why she would do such an odd thing. It wasn't as if Silver treated her any better than a usual human. He was always impatient with her and constantly kept up an air of indifference around himself. And just before getting into that fight, he was willing to said goodbye to her forever. Even with all that unpleasant, she still, for some unknown reason, cared deeply about him. These humans were truly an oddity.
"Mika," he pulled his hand back. "Back in the woods, when you said…um…well," he stammered a bit. The concept of 'love' was considered a taboo amongst the Etherious world. For beings that were known only for their destructive force, there was no use for notice as impractical as love. In fact, the four letter term itself was practically deemed a swear word for all Etherious. "You know, that you have some strong feelings for Me." he substituted. "Did you really mean what you said?" He turned his gaze down as to avoid the girl's stare. "Because I've heard that humans tend to say things in stressful situations that they don't intend to. I mean, it doesn't matter to me if you were being sincere or just talking in the heat of the moment…" Silver was cut off as Mika lifted his head towards her before planting a kiss on his lips. Now Mika definitely wasn't Silver's first kiss, but it the first kiss with someone who actually mattered to the ice demon. The warmth that radiated from Mika's gentle lips as they pressed on his own was simply too incredible to describe. And when Mika finally pulled away, it left him craving that same warmth even more.
"Of course I meant it, silly." Mika replied as she embraced Silver. "There are times when you can be a bit too cold, but I know that deep down, you're a loving person. And that is why I love you, Silver." Silver didn't answer back. He just wrapped his arms around Mika and held her close; as if he was afraid to lose her if he were to let go. He had come back to this town with the full intent of finally cutting his ties with Mika Fullbuster. But the reality was that he wasn't ready to sever his bond with this human woman; perhaps he would never be ready.
And as strange as it might sound; Silver was perfectly fine with that.
A/N: And there you have it, the first bit of Silver and Mika fluff! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
