Shinde

Chapter 2

"The demon Jo?" asks Takane, raising an eyebrow. "Who's he?"

"She is a demon from ancient times that only few people know of," explains Sei.

"If so few people know about 'er, how's she a threat?"

"She's a threat because everyone else who knew about her was killed by her. Her story has been passed through my family for generations, and I know it well." Sei sits down, calm as ever, though the thought of the powerful demon sends chills down her spine. "The story goes that Jo was the best fighter of her kingdom, monstrously strong. Thus, rumors spread about her being a demon. The suspicions were confirmed when, one day, there was a fire in Jo's estate. Many men went in to try helping her, but it was the fifth one that got to the center of it.

"In the center was Jo, some sort of magical shield around her. Some thought her a god, but the militia believed her a demon. They caught her in the middle of the night, when she was sleeping. Still, twenty men died in the process. They ended up having to cut off her left arm, which she used to fight. It was then that they took a sacred gun and killed her on the spot."

"Boom, problem solved!" says Takane, fake enthusiasm tainting her voice.

"That's what they thought, too."

"Huh?" she's genuinely interested now, though she won't ever admit it.

"They say Jo went to heaven, of all places, but when she saw their celebration she became so angered that she went back to earth. She retained her earthly form, for the most part, but now she was a fallen angel. She slaughtered all but two, granting the final two- one believing she was God and the other believing she was Satan- eternal life."

"Then how is she a demon?"

"Her hatred was so intense that, in a sense, it dammed her. A crack opened up in the earth, and Jo fell through. Her blackened wings burned, leaving only charred bone and membrane, and she became a demon."

"So why do you assume it's her?"

"Jo took the holy gun, tainting it with her sins. It became rather satanic, actually. She manipulated it to her will, going so far as duplicating it. They became her preferred weapons, though over the centuries she has mastered her powers."

"And why the hell should I believe you?"

"There's a reason that I know that she gave them eternal life."

Takane's jaw drops, her eyes widening. "No. Impossible. Who?"

"A relative. Now, I don't know what she was thinking." Sei shakes her head. "But she didn't grant them eternal youth."

Jo hears the legend, brows furrowing together. Their story is flawed, she knows. She knows as the protagonist (of sorts) of that story, that it is flawed. But she'll leave it be, for know, but first...

She hears noises. Noises of assault. Struggle, threats. Her own energy pushes her up in a dark gust of wind. She briefly looks at the police-station, two blocks away. Seeing as the alley in which she can hear the assault is right by it, she decides she'll scare them just a bit.

Running (or, rather, floating) in that direction, she smirks. She frees her left arm from the sleeve, making the seals glow. She sees the demon huntress look in her direction, shocked, and she winks a glowing red eye as she turns, just an inch before the door and going to the alley. She hears their panicked murmurs, but she has another thing to take care of.

Even the moonlight doesn't seem to make this alley brighter, but that may just be because the men looming over her. As Meg, once again, refuses to hand over her money (kept behind her), they bash at her legs. She knows that if she gets out of this, she won't be able to walk without aid for a notable amount of time.

There's a rush of wind, the men all pulling back to see that one of their friends has been pushed down. Stepped on. A hooded figure stands, head down. Meg sees a slight smirk form on her face as the woman digs her heal into the attacker's spine, hearing a satisfying snap.

"You bitch!" yells one of them, rage in his dark eyes as he charges at the figure, aiming to punch her in the face.

The figure dodges it easily, hood falling as her jacket flows out behind her, only attached to her by a few thin red strings that go around her neck. Meg's breath catches in her throat as she's entranced by her savior's appearance.

Silver hair flows from her hood, a sadistic gleam in her glowing crimson eyes. Her left arm, her teeth, her overall appearance is terrifying, yet beautiful. She can practically feel the sheer power radiating off of this creature.

She grabs the man by the back of his head, crushing it easily. Blood splatters on the walls and on the faces of his companions. Naturally, this means he's dead. His comrades know this, yet they attempt to charge.

Before they can make a move, Jo makes a simple line in the air with two fingers. They all fall to the ground with slit throats. Jo's haunting gaze travels over to rest on Meg, her cold, ruthless eyes seeming to soften as she approaches the younger girl.

"Are you okay?" Her voice is calm and smooth, with something lurking beneath the surface. Menace. Meg nods, regardless.

Jo is about to add something when the sound of a gunshot rings throughout the alley. Jo feels warm blood trickling down the back of her neck, and sighs. They'll never learn, she thinks, as she summons her favorite weapons into her hands. Her gaze slides over, and she sees the man she'd stepped on. He's smirking, holding his gun aimed towards her.

She sighs, taking the smashed bullet out from where it's caught in her hair. "I won't be needing these," she remarks as her heated, angry gaze flitting over to the man. He seems to lose his bravado, becoming terrified with every small step she makes towards him. "Even small, head wounds bleed the most," she comments. "I think they do, anyways." She plays with the bloodied bullet, observing it as she turns towards him. "You probably thought it would kill me, therefore you wanted me dead. So how about this," she flicks her make-shift toy at him with enough speed to kill him. "You die."

She turns back to Meg. "They broke your legs, didn't they?" Again, Meg nods, too stunned to answer. Jo grins. "You're scared, aren't you?"

Meg shakes her head.

Jo's eyes widen. "After all that? Are you insane? Do you have no sense of danger whatsoever? Do you not understand what I am?" she asks all of this in a calm voice, not breaking eye contact with her.

"You're a demon, right?" Meg regains her ability to speak. "I'm only curious as to why you're here."

"Oh, just to commit mass genocide against your race and inevitably wipe humans from the face of the earth." Jo says it jokingly, but it's easy to see that she's serious. "I'm somewhat of a grudge-holder. But on the other hand, I'm no worse than some of your kind. Example A," she gestures to her legs, a sort of anger sparking in her eyes.

Meg knows that Jo is dangerous. From what she's seen, and what she can see now, danger lurks in the very air around the demon. Her hair seems to float slightly, moving on it's own as if pushed by nonexistent breeze. Her arm is warning enough, but rather than thinking about how it could ultimately hurt her, Meg wonders why her real arm isn't there. Her other one is, and is hesitantly reaching towards her.

"Need help?"

"Why help me?" Meg is puzzled. "Didn't you just say you wanted to eliminate my species?"

Jo kneels down in front of her. Meg looks away, not used to the raw power before her. Surprisingly gentle, Jo takes her face in one of her hands. "Look at me," she commands, voice hypnotic. Meg looks at her, automatically following her command. She sees Jo's eyes, how they seem so clear that what little light there is doesn't even reflect on them. No, they cast a bit of their own light.

"I can see clearer than any mortal on this planet, in a sense. I look at these people, and I see rotting souls. With you, I see nothing. Not soulless, mind you. You're rather rare. You seem good enough. In danger, you don't use any means to survive like an animal would, or the other human's I've seen. Here's an example," she jabs a beastly finger towards the corpse on the floor. "He tried shooting at me when my back was turned, rather than having a fair fight. Not even I would do something so pitiful. Now," she takes her hand off Meg's face, standing up and extending said hand towards her. "Do you need help?"

Meg knows Jo is dangerous.

But she takes her hand.

"My name is Jo," states the demon as she holds the battered body of the redhead against her, floating at a steady pace down the artificially lit streets. Meg, in return, says her own name. Jo grins when she does. "You're odd, to trust a demon," she muses.

"That may be, but I'm not odd enough to understand your motives," comments Meg. "I mean, people aren't all bad."

"Like I said, I'm a grudge-holder."

Meg diverts her mind as she feels Jo's warmth through the black jacket the demon girl wears. Demon. Meg finds it difficult to call Jo that, somehow, though every fiber of her being screams that that's exactly what Jo is, that she should get away to avoid danger. Then again, Jo is helping her quite a bit.

"I won't kill them all at once," adds Jo. "Then I might kill some good people. No, I'll do it slowly. I have all the time in the world."

"What about 2012?" (A/N: This is modern times, people) asks Meg jokingly.

"Oh please, even I know that's total bullshit."

Jo continues down the street, stopping when Meg tells her to. She jumps, landing on the window-sill as some sort of energy pushes it open for her. It's nothing big, just a simple, two story house. The demon can easily fit through the window, seeing that she's in Meg's bedroom now. Turning on the light, she sets Meg down.

"I'll help you out with this," states Jo, putting her hands just above Meg's legs. Meg almost screams in the shock of it all as she feels her broken bones resetting, attaching to eachother. Jo doesn't seem used to doing this sort of thing, but before she knows it her legs are good as new. Jo winks, playful, as she tosses a coin to Meg. The girl catches it to see that there is a symbol of a gun within a circle on it. "Call me if you need help. You know my name."

With that, the demon jumps out into the night, and Meg, suddenly tired, goes to sleep.

A/N: :P I felt the need to put the 2012 mockery in there. I mean, c'mon, really? The world's "supposed to end" every other day. -_-"