Another -20 march '13
Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.
Warning: something to laugh about... OOC?
chapter 18
-And the demon's closed eyes snap open in an instance;
staring right at him...!
Duo jerked and opened his eyes with a deep gasp sounding like a drown animal finally in touch with air, limbs stiffened as if he was trying to lift a heavy burden out of his body.
On Odin's chest; Heero opened his eyes without a sound...
Duo stared unfocusedly on the ceiling above his bed, his dissociated mind tried to figure things and place and time to a more recognizable existence. There were pins and needles clambered up his limbs, he tried to shake them off, moaning at the sensation as it climbed back up clutching at his nerves.
Heero blinked his mind back into his body. The steady up-and-down rhythm of Odin's breathing helped him calmed his suddenly wakened awareness; if Odin's sleep was still undisturbed, then the perimeter was safe. He blinked again; there's something wrong with his body...
Duo sat up, hands placed beside his thighs, groggily gripping on and off at the blanket that pooled on his laps; his toes curled and uncurled trying to find the senses back, now that his limbs had turned numb. Something in his mind felt nervous but awkwardly right...
-it wasn't wrong...!
It's not!
Heero stared at Odin's sleeping face; unfurled one of his ear-wings and brushed its feathers at the man's face, letting the man fell to a deeper slumber. Straightened his body and crouched between the man's legs; the thin cover slid from his back and he actually shivered...
-something's wrong... that had felt too real...!
He pulled his left hand up and jerked at the sudden sting penetrating his midsection; fighting the sensation down he doubled over hugging his stomach with both hands.
-...someone's attacking him!
Duo crawled to the edge of his bed; the night was silent, even the night insects didn't disturb the quietness. He dangled his legs from the bed; his soles felt warm when his feet sank on the thick furry carpet, like the carpet burst with green sprouts and flower buds at the places where his feet touched. He could actually smell the scents of the flowers...
A quivering light shone surrounding his right hand; he blinked at the warmth, examined his hand, and clenched his fingers... there were small light beads floated away from his fist every time he opened them. The beads fluttered and circled his hands like they were living things.
The numbness had gone; any unpleasant feelings had gone... Duo stared and he could swear that his ears picked up a soft blissful song hummed in the air. A tear trickled down his cheek, that longing feeling that had been clutching his emptiness reverberated inside...
His hands... his Nightmare in him...
-they were feeling exultant to the point he could do nothing but cry it out.
Heero crawled to the edge of the bed, Odin's sleep was undisturbed by the groggy movements he made; when he managed to reach the bed edge the pain blared in his body, like a sudden booming sound deafening his ears. He moaned and plummeted to the floor, hugging his midsection.
Something was still clutching at his insides, he should get rid of it before Odin wakes up-
Odin answered his worry with soft snores...
Jerkily loosening his body, he pulled out his shaking right hand; finding a smoke-like black trace of power stretched like webs from his pained midsection.
He gritted his teeth and dragged himself on the floor to the bathroom.
-he should wash it off right away...!
Sitting on the bathroom floor using the bathtub to support his body with his left arm; he loosened his right hand from his midsection, making a soft pained sigh as he inspected his abdomen. There was a black round mark on his skin, its edge had wispy transient tendrils seeped out to the outer area, creeping silently soiling the red marks of his body.
"-...khh-!" he gritted his teeth harder, minding any pained moan escaping his mouth that could wake Odin up; clawing at the black mark and sank his fingers in.
The quivering light died down...
Just when Duo thought he could drown in bliss while watching the mesmerizing dance of the light beads.
A couple of light knocks heard from the adjoining door; he turned his tear-stained face around to find Cail stood by the doorway looking unsure whether he should interrupt him or not...
Heero lied on the floor, half doubling over and half on his side; trembling in the after-pain. His body felt numb and he almost couldn't feel the floor under him, nor of its cold.
Clenching his fists, he groggily pushed his body up; a familiar face still burned behind his eyelids just before he woke up. He recalled seeing that smiling face somewhere... when he was about losing his awareness as well, just like now. He thought he was picking up wrong senses at that time, but it wasn't incorrect now... he did felt a spark when he blacked out in the woods.
-it's you...
"-so it was you... Duo-..." he hissed when he somewhat rested his back to the bathtub's side; inspecting the black smoky traces still lingering between his fingers.
"-. . . Maxwell . . . !" he whispered acidly.
Odin woke up to the cool air and the endless brushing sounds coming from the bathroom. He frowned in complaint and propped his body with his elbows, finding the demon wasn't on him and the cover was pooled around his feet; and feeling somewhat vexed when he realized this was the second time his demon woke up before him and fled somewhere by himself.
"So you have a better way to put someone to sleep than those sleeping drugs the hunters made...!" Odin commented coolly folding his arms on his chest, resting his back to the bathroom doorframe; "Despite that, you can't sleep?"
Heero heard the annoyance in Odin's sarcasm, he glanced a little at the direction his voice came from, didn't care enough to see the man in form; his hand didn't falter.
Odin snorted angrily, making sure the demon could recognize it; eventhough the sight of his naked demon sitting on the laundry mat and covered by the suds was enough to chase away his irritation, but he didn't want to let the demon know it. "Do you need to do that now...?!"
Heero didn't answer and continued brushing the thick blanket on the laundry mat; he still had a couple more waiting in the basket beside him.
Odin sighed out his resignation loudly, and walked towards the demon; reaching out for the hunched presented back with a hand, intending to offer his help.
"Go away."
Odin froze when his fingers were just about to touch the suds on the demon's back; that voice, -no... the tone he said it with was something he'd never heard before. It was almost like the sound of a snarling angry dog. He blinked several times, recalling anything that he might have done that could anger the demon to that extent, and couldn't remember any. Squatting behind the demon, he contemplated whether he should do as told or forced the demon to communicate.
". . . did I anger you?"
"No. Go away!"
The demon's brushing hand didn't falter its pace, nor picking up rhythm that might indicate rising emotion. Odin silenced in incomprehension; he could at least catch that the demon wasn't angry -or whatever he was feeling right now- at him. But that edge in his tone... it was wariness, bordering to... being offended? And he thought his demon couldn't even develop such feeling in him-
"...did someone attack you in your sleep?"
The sounds of the brush answered him.
"Let me see...!" Odin pulled the demon's left arm, and was a little angry when the demon swung his left arm with that much power that sent him flying to the doorway; growling, he pushed his right hand at his side and used it to stop his momentum when his elbow collided with the bathroom wall at the doorframe. The impact broke the mirror at the adjacent wall, leaving cracks on its surface; and he snarled as he pulled his embedded elbow from the wall, staring at the demon with wild eyes.
Heero stared at the man with cold gaze, wasn't showing any feeling besides wanting to drive Odin out of the bathroom. At some point Odin actually thought that the demon didn't recognize him anymore.
"What do you want...?!" Odin growled low, slowly, with enough acid that could chill his men to freeze in fear.
"Go away!" the demon repeated; eyes ice-cold, and at the time Odin knew he was being acknowledged as only 'human' to the demon's mind.
Growling his anger out, Odin walked out from the bathroom in mad strides, closing the door with a hard bang. Parts of the broken doorframe and crushed wall and cracked mirror fell to the floor at his leave; Heero spared a second to glance at the falling debris and turned back to his laundry with indifferent look.
The man made some bustling jerky sounds in the room, and the demon thought he was taking his anger out at something else -presumably the bed from the rustling sounds- and pretended he didn't hear it. Suddenly the door yanked open with hard enough force that the upper hinge broke with a crisp sound, and Odin stared at him with a satisfied leer on his face.
"If you can't sleep..." the man almost purred with vengeance shining in his narrowed eyes; "...I'll keep you wet until morning!"
Outside, on the landing, Lix rumbled its complaint for the commotion once; without even opening its eyes.
Morning light came somewhat late that day; the dark clouds hang on the sky and poured cold drizzles into the thick air.
Lix shook its body while closing its eyes, the sheen of water caught on it crest and skin jumped from its surface like tiny beads when it rumbled its yawning purr. It looked up to the sky and pushed its long tongue out, catching the small drips of shower and used it to lick its eyes clean. The kind of weather was its favorite, something gloomy and cold with strong winds blowing shivers to the bones; it's the kind of weather that made you want to curl up with the one you love and purr your heart out while hugging each other.
...though, it shouldn't be the kind of weather to hang your laundry out; Lix thought blinking at the wet cloths fluttering by the winds.
The clinks and splashes from the kitchenette told it that its rider was currently washing the tableware. From the smell still lingering in the room, it knew Odin had asked for quite a heavy meal; he was now on his chair wearing his boots and some gears... probably going to kidnap some of his subordinates to the practice court and bully them under such perfect weather. There was a heavy satisfied air around him, its rider hadn't utter a single word since their commotion last night; Lix cocked its head recognizing its rider's rejecting air... if it's up to it, Lix would say that its rider had a lizard-pout right now; despite it could only see his back from its view point.
"Lesard... don't get into the room!" Odin muttered when he stood up, taking his sword belt from the chair's back and put it on with a swift movement. Lix rumbled its confirmation and clucked out a question about the different-looking room; having its long neck almost completely extended into the room from the landing door.
Odin turned at the lizard with an annoyed frown and lips pulled down; "-don't start!" he grumbled and fastened the clasps of his black robe; he wanted to dress up for today... even more if he'd go out to bully someone.
"You're going to the practice court." the demon's flat words stopped the man at the door. He didn't need to answer, since the demon wasn't questioning him either. "Stay away from the General's cousin."
"-since he's dangerous?" Odin smirked at the demon's back, with a matter-of-factly cynical tone; his eyes half-consciously stared at the apron ties tied in a perfect-looking bow behind the demon's waist.
The demon turned around and gave Odin a warning stare. "Yes." he said with a final tone.
Odin snorted and opened the door; "I won't look for him, but I won't flee if he comes to find me either." he said before closing the door from the outside.
Loosening the apron and folded it, Heero sighed to the table. If Odin wouldn't let it go, then he just had to come to his superior. With a determined frown he put the apron into the kitchen cabinet and put his jacket on.
'...Krrrrrrrrh...?' Lix purred a question at him, blinking in confusion.
"Watch the laundry for me, Lix." its rider said levelly before disappearing behind the closed door.
Lix blinked again to itself, cocking its head to the sides as it inspected the room. Hmmm, how should it put it in a lizard's way; the room was... '-Quack...?' it asked to the empty room. Then stared at the fluttering drapes glistened even in the gloomy light.
-yes, the room was looking quack...! The lizard concluded.
Lix nodded with satisfaction and pulled its head out, resting its belly on the cold landing floor and enjoyed the scene of fluttering wet cloths in the strong wind, with the sight of boiling dark clouds in the sky as the background. Well, if only it could have its rider secured between its body and curling tail, then it'd be perfect...
Treize frowned at the paper held up-side-down in his left hand; his right hand curled on his chin in a thinking pose. He'd been doing that for almost half an hour and he didn't realize it himself.
Last night... what Master had told him...; he sighed and frowned deeper.
"Excuse me, Milord...?" his attendant asked pushing the food cart, going to prepare his breakfast; Treize was too deep in thought he didn't hear the man knocked the door before.
Blinking his mind back, he cued the man to stop preparing food; he wasn't in the mood to eat right now. His attendant recognized his expression and prepared the black-flower tea for him, and set the cup on the long table before he bowed his leave.
"Milord...?" the man asked before he opened the door, an uncertainty tinged his tone.
"Yes?" Treize asked while stacking the papers on his desk.
"The Palace Demon is here asking for your time...!"
Treize arched a brow at that; "Well? Send him in, he usually do without too much formality...!"
"Yes, this time he said he's filing a formal complaint, Milord...!" the attendant bowed, hiding his fear.
Treize paused for several seconds. "...formal complaint?" After 10 years? Well, he thought that should happen sooner or later, it's inevitable; if it was anyone else beside the demon, such thing should have come years before...
"Yes, Milord."
"About what?" Treize blinked.
"Uhmm... His Owner, Milord...!" the attendant said with a small voice.
"Whaat?" Treize's both brows arched in skepticism. He cued the man to send the demon in, and dismiss the paling man.
Heero came in with determined frown shadowing his narrowed eyes; one of the Sixth escorted him and was a little objecting when Treize cued him to go back to his guarding post outside his door, instead he backed down to the door and joined his comrade standing at the inside of the doorway.
Treize let his warriors do what they thought was best for his safety and walked to the long sofa, pleasing Heero to sit at the matching sofa separated by the long table where his tea of black-flower bud slowly blooming in the hot water and oozing its color out. "Care for a drink, Heero?" he tried, picking the tea cup while examining its color; knowing the demon would decline.
Heero only stared at him; to tell the truth, the intensity was somewhat unnerved Treize but he didn't want to let it showed... if he showed it, his warriors would certainly seize the demon on his standing spot.
"What complaint are you filing against Odin?" he decided to cut to the chase.
"You are his superior." the demon said levelly.
Treize snickered, "Are you complaining about that?"
"Do you find that fact funny?" the demon asked, not the slightest bit impressed. Treize cleared his throat realizing that the demon was in a too serious mood.
"I apologize. Your complaint...?" he asked openly.
"Odin." the demon said.
After waiting for about 30 seconds, Treize raised his brows. "Odin what...?"
"You are his superior." the demon repeated.
"Yeess?" Treize asked a little impatiently; and caught what the demon meant. "-...oh, you mean when it concerns you...?" he asked. The demon nodded once. "I guess it depends on what you're complaining about, Heero..."
The demon blinked once, and stared at him for some moment.
"Wait. You can complain about Odin to me?" Treize asked skeptically.
"It's not against the contract, if that's what you mean." the demon said.
Treize blinked. "...it's not?"
"I can complain about his misconduct to anyone else as long as he approved...-"
Treize put his hand to the front. "Wait, please. So, you're saying Odin, your Contract, wants you to complain to me about his misbehavior instead, rather than having you complaining to him...?!" he asked slowly.
"Yes." Heero said simply.
Treize gaped.
"Why...?"
"He likes bothering you."
-clink; the tea cup rattled against its saucer in his suddenly lax hand, he caught himself and put them down onto the table again before he spilled the tea.
"So..." Treize tried to smile again, "Odin wants you to complain to me about what, exactly...?"
"It's not what he's complaining; he just wants me to complain to you..."
"Yes, yes; so you're complaining about him, since he consented of you complaining about anything to me, but he didn't know that you're complaining about him to me. Does that cover it?" Treize asked.
"Basically."
"So... your complaint?" Treize asked impatiently.
"Odin kept me wet all night-"
"-AAAAAAAHHHH!" Treize exclaimed, hitting his shin on the table and spilled his black colored tea.
The demon blinked.
"WHY do you have to complain about THAT to ME...?!" Treize asked with accusing tone.
Heero stared him levelly; he thought he already explained the basic. Treize took some deep breaths trying to regain his composedness again.
"...so you're complaining about his night activity...!" the man tried with different words.
"The activity he made me do-"
"Okay! Spare me the details. Your complaint is...?!" Treize raised his voice.
Heero stared Treize deeply; he understood that before him right now was more likely to be -just- Treize; not General Treize, or Cousin Treize... "The dirty bed sheets-"
"-Would you care to walk me to the Library, Heero?" Treize stood up instantly, hitting the table in the process and completely knocked the tea cup over; grabbed a stack of books from his desk and shoved them to the demon's chest and dragged him to the door.
"Changing place won't change my complaint." Heero commented while letting the flustered blond pushed him with an arm around his back.
"Well, you could change your words!" Treize said fast matter-of-factly.
Heero thought about it for a moment. He wasn't even stating his complaint yet since Treize kept cutting his sentences in the middle... "Alright." he agreed, sensing that Treize turned all ear to him. "The cloths."
"Cloths, what?" Treize frowned.
"I'm complaining about the cloths." Heero tried again.
"You might want to give me a preamble about that simple complaint of yours...?" Treize's smile had a pointy edge at one end.
"In the past week Odin wasn't available, he made a mess with the bedding-"
"The details, PLEASSSSE...?!" Treize was flustered again; though it was unlikely of him, it only showed how much he was in stress right now.
Heero blinked at him. "You want detailed details?"
"GOD, noooo-!" Treize's face turned red and pale at the same time; and he didn't have to exclaim every time he said something too, the demon thought, since the man was keeping him under an arm so they could talk with silent voice... wasn't that what he intended in the first place? Or else what's the point of asking him to accompany the man to the library...?
"So, he said if I couldn't sleep he'd make me wet till morning-"
"Heero, -pleassse?!" Treize gritted his teeth, a vein popped on his temple.
Heero looked up, narrowed his eyes at the man's face next to him. "Why do you keep cutting my words every time I speak?" he asked somewhat annoyed.
"You should talk with Odin if it concerns you. What do you expect from complaining to me?" Treize asked with a bothered tone. "Or are you expecting me to pass your complaint to Master himself since Odin would only take orders from Master when it concerns you...?!"
The demon blinked at Treize with incomprehension, with a little dejected stare that Treize felt a little guilty for his words; or maybe he should change his tone a bit.
He sighed deeply; "Listen, Heero..." he began, but didn't exactly know the right words to say either; so he thought he should at least lessen the demon's negative sentiments first so Heero could discuss his objections to Odin in a way that Odin would understand. "I belief Odin is matured...-"
A pair of narrowed prussian eyes stared at him with skepticism made him rectify his thoughts; "-That is, to some extent... But I belief he's matured enough to hear your words if you try to communicate with him in the way he could understand-...!"
Treize paused and cleared his throat, his own words made even himself to think that he was talking about communicating with a five year old kid.
"He understood. He said there's nothing else for substitute-"
"-So!" Treize cut again, "In that case perhaps I'll have a talk with him to appreciate his leisure time in a way that wouldn't burden you-"
"No. It's just the cloths-" Heero cut, thinking that the man had misunderstood his every word since he kept cutting his sentences, while he already made a simple complaint in two words about the bedding too.
A sharp thumping sound heard from the open corridor visible at the next turn, a blow felt on the demon's left cheek; and he widened his eyes, shining with possessiveness and perturbation. He shoved the books in his hands to Treize's chest and dashed to the open corridor in attack mode, wings spread wide open in their full glory.
The surprised Treize caught the books and let a couple fell to the floor; three of The Sixth who were following behind him jumped in alert and ran passed him. "-wait!" Treize objected and tried to catch the dashing parties. He'd be damned if anyone in the Palace dared to anger the demon to the extent that he'd openly attack any human-
Odin was standing with dignified -unhappy- frown beside the balustrade; Heero was in the air, charging with his right hand swung at the perpetrator that attacked his Owner; and a person in black was in the middle of a backflip dodging the demon's attack, jumping off from the open corridor of the fifth floor.
Treize widened his eyes at the long braid that caught his sight before disappearing down. "DUO-!"
Odin spared a glance at Treize running towards him, passing his three warriors; while the demon landed on the balustrade for a split second before jumping off, hands clutched behind his wings before he swung them down midair.
Duo saw some glints before he landed with some more backflips on the ground before he could dampen his momentum, sliding backwards on his feet and a hand; without a swishing sound, several ice-colored crystals of giant blades stabbed the grounds with deafening boom, sealing his escape route making a semi-circled crisscrossing wall.
The demon landed with one foot without a sound.
Duo frowned in objection at him. Heero scowled angrily at the Maxwell.
-Odin knew he'd warned him about this boy...!
The three warriors gathered beside the balustrade next to Treize, surprised at the open assault the demon showed.
"STOP THIS!" Treize shouted down. "Odin, what is this about...?!" he turned to the cool-looking man staring imposingly to the ground below. The Lieutenant looked flustered several steps away at the other side of Odin, his body hunched forward, hands clutching at the balustrade as if he'd jump down to his charge's side; with guilty expression marred his face. He was there, and he should have stopped it from happening.
"Apologize!" the demon barked with a clear voice; Treize instantly looked down again, never once the demon raised his voice in a threatening manner in the past 10 years, he always posed himself as a placid minor under the man's claim of dominance; let alone attacking a human physically.
"Apologize to Odin!" the demon repeated.
Treize understood what happened. "Duo attacked you?" he asked disbelievingly at the man beside him. "How...?!" he pressed.
Odin didn't say anything, didn't even spare a glance at the General; only looking down coldly, frowning at the braided boy looking up meeting his eyes with heated gaze.
"ODIN!" Duo shouted, "I'LL DO MORE THAN JUST HIT YOU IF-...!"
Heero didn't need to hear the rest. Several booms marked another set of blades cutting through the stone ground, narrowing Duo's space at his sides, making an opening for the frontal attack. At the split second Treize looked down again, Duo was fending off a double pointed blade in Heero's hand with a small black chain stretched in his hands above his face. They struggled with their strengths for a moment; the ground under Duo's feet broke with a loud sound under the oppression. At that point Treize knew the demon didn't hold back his power.
"HEERO, STOP RIGHT NOW!" Treize shouted, realizing some men had gathered hearing the loud sounds and watching from around them.
Some more black chains swished from behind Duo, lashing at the demon like snakes whipping around rapidly; it forced him to jump back and landed soundlessly again, as if he had no actual weight; or he could just negate the gravitation to his liking. He swung the blade down with a relax move, the blade turned to a thin crystal stick with a chink sound and held diagonally behind his back. Duo didn't recognize the material of those ice-like crystals, a flash of memory made him recall about the wire-wings he still had in his bag that he'd forgotten to return along with the white fur-hat; if it was any kind of metal, his chain should have managed to corrode it just now. The strong wind passed between the crisscrossing wall around him, and his ears didn't pick up any metal-reading bounced back into the air, nor any known-substance reading he'd ever heard; and growing up with the Wordly Mothers in the Covenant making charms, he'd met with almost every known materials humans could find, and quite some that only known to charm-makers.
Heero was tilting his head up, looking at Odin; the man's air hadn't changed a bit and he knew Odin didn't mind his action; urging him to continue, even. Holding the thin stick horizontally behind his back, he gripped at it with both hands stretched at his sides; with another swing down, the stick separated into two and as his hands fell beside his thighs, they burst into multiple blades with another reverberating chink sounds; making forms like piling peacock-tails behind him.
Duo blinked at the show, brows twitched in amusement; he never witnessed a demon's assault before, only heard stories and myths. The Mothers only told him that demons' arts were very much something he'd never seen before, and thus he should be prepared to face anything. But he never thought demon's art would be so beautiful; he didn't realize he was so mesmerized he actually blush a little.
"DUO, JUST APOLOGIZE...!" Treize shouted, knowing that Odin actually consented to the assault.
Duo frowned at his older cousin as if he was insulted; with a snarl he glared at Odin again. -It wasn't his fault; it was the man's fault!
Heero let loose at that display of challenge; swinging his hands at once and throwing the crystal-forms at Duo. The crystals detached themselves in the air turning to single-formed projectiles of blades.
Duo smirked at the raining blades, stooped his body in a stance; he thought the forms in Heero's hands would be used as projectiles too. Touching his right palm to the ground, he let his hands seeped out for the first time in his life-
With endless chink sounds, the projectiles hit the giant blades around Duo, and as they broke together they made more sharp metallic sounds; the shards gusted in the air like a blizzard, turning the scene into white; they burst passed the spot where Duo stood in multiple flows and they turned back in successions of ever-changing maneuvers.
"-...he lost his mind...!" Treize heard the witnessing men murmured frightfully; and looked down again when they made a wave of 'oooh' with different levels of surprise.
There was a black spherical storm rotating at the place where Duo stood, formed from a smoky black substance that made a see-through wall where he was obviously glaring poisons at Odin.
Treize had had enough.
"DUO MAXWELL, STOP AT THIS INSTANCE. THAT'S AN ORDER!" he shouted with an authoritarian voice that shook the air. The gaping spectators gasped together and stared disbelievingly at the General up on the fifth terrace.
Odin's brow twitched at the name. The white blizzard stopped assaulting and burst to shining feathers that floated leisurely in the wind towards the demon.
A collective inhale; and the short-lived silence broke into a parade of shouts and cheering for the Maxwell's name. The soldiers, having been depending on the Maxwells for centuries during the fights with the demons; that were plunged to desperation when all Maxwells committed suicide 15 years ago; suddenly found their will to fight again in just a second of knowledge for knowing that even only a Maxwell left alive... however inexperienced that Maxwell could be.
Odin turned his head a little to his side, staring at the General with impassive face; Treize was, only realizing what outcome his slip had caused, looking like he wanted to paste his own head to the balustrade over and over if that could undo his mistake.
The black storm died down almost instantly when Duo gasped, staring wide-eyed at the floating shining substances dancing in the air. So those were the demon's wing feathers, he appreciated with a pleasant blush. No wonder Heero said he'd die if he touched his wings...!
Odin frowned at Duo's expressions; he didn't catch enmity in his air, the boy only showed admiration and excitement facing his demon one on one. The demon had even launched a lethal attack at him, and he only grew more and more enticed...? What's wrong with that? -wait, he realized it now; being the only Maxwell grew up by himself, the boy didn't have any experienced Maxwell teaching him how to use his arts despite his aptitude to fight the demons on equal grounds; this happening was an eye-opener to him and the demon only pulled out his proficiency and eagerness more and more.
Odin growled at Duo's widening grin as the boy chuckled hungrily, and recognized the growing excitement bordering to insanity shining in the boy's eyes. "Heero!" he called out and cued his demon to come back to his side with a flick of his chin.
Duo's brows twitched again unpleasantly; glancing at Treize, and thought that Treize could throw up a whole wrath at him after this but he's not going to back down just yet. Not now when his blood boiled with excitement that he felt like being alive for the first time...!
"No, you're not going ANYWHERE YEEETT!" he shouted with a wide grin and smashed his right hand to the ground. A circular black wave washed the ground with him as the center, looking like a bubble that was surrounding him had just burst and rushed outwards; a sudden clinking metal chains crashed loudly that stopped the cheering spectators as the ground shook stronger.
Odin widened his eyes with alert at the spread black chains on the ground centering at Duo making a circular sun-like pattern; it was a seal! And a cursed one at that...! Heero told him he'd never fight anyone to this level before! Odin opened his mouth, about to give his demon the order to retreat... -no; to not move, but the sight of Heero's wings furled and snapped tightly to the sides of his face froze the man. The sight was eerily familiar...
Duo lost his fervor when he looked up -as he was stooping at the moment- and saw the demon's wings closed flatly to his face again; was that intended? What happened to him in the woods and for the most part of their journey back to the Palace... Heero intentionally suspended his own consciousness to escape him...?! Duo widened his eyes, feeling betrayed.
Heero was currently tilting his head up at Odin, his eyes turned serene when his wings closed; his body was turning a little towards his Owner, accommodating him to look up at such angle. When Heero's eyelids drooped and face started turning away from him, Odin knew the demon was deliberately taking that seal. Closing his eyes, the demon turned one foot at a time on the ground, facing Duo and stood still. There was a long ringing sound as the seal accelerating to life; the chains spreading in horizontal lines -that were the ray-parts penetrating the circular loops of the sun-body, started shining black geyser-like power.
And then, with sequencing chinks; three black-light blades burst from the ground, penetrating the demon's body; the first one came from in front of him, diagonally penetrating him at his midsection to his back; the other two came from his sides, forming an 'X' penetrating him from below his elbows through the upper-arms, keeping his hands unmoving. Treize gasped in horror when he witnessed it happening; he opened his mouth, trying to call out. "-...!" but no voice came out when he realized the madness in Duo's eyes. At that moment, he knew that Duo thought he could actually steal the demon away from Odin.
Heero sighed softly; he didn't need air to breath, but he could accommodate air in his lungs. That said, this was such an occurrence with the same concept, he thought. It's a shame, but he could teach the Maxwell a little as payment for bringing him back to Odin while he was unconscious; if Duo had known that back then his link with Odin was severed, he might have killed Odin on sight as they reached the Palace. Someone indeed said that ignorance is bliss...
"...Dysnaea...fe... Leavaterratha..." he called out softly in a melodious tongue.
Duo blinked with surprise, his triumphant grin suddenly vanished; "-...what?"
"-UWAAAGHH!" he yelled when an unbelievably heavy weight crushed his body to the ground, numbing his body that he even forgotten how to move his limbs or just twitch his fingers. Duo lied on his belly, struggling to breathe; his head was tilted a little to his left, facing the stilled demon. A trickle of blood escaped his gritted teeth; he fell with such an impact and he thought he should at least be grateful that he managed to avoid hitting his chin to the ground, or else he'd be unconscious by now. The weight was heavy and sharp as blades; his panicked mind screaming in dread -what is this?! -what is this?! That he had to shut down his mind for a moment and start over from the demon's words.
"-...what..." he choked a breath, "...-did you say?" Duo asked with trembling voice barely audible.
The demon stared at him levelly with his drooped eyes; at this point, Duo thought he might just stare him down with pity; but Heero only stared at him indifferently.
"Duo-...!" Treize's worried shout was cut by Odin's arm stretched at him cuing the General to not interfere.
"Heero knew his boundary." Odin said flatly.
"How-... khh..." Duo tried and inhale deeper; "-how did you know my mother's name?!" he barked with an angry snarl.
Treize looked surprised, Odin raised his eyebrows; the spectators had stilled to quiet at the sudden turn of event. Heero blinked... "I didn't."
Duo tried to squirm under the weight but only managed to jerk his head a little. "-ghh... you called my mother's name...!" he accused; "Dysnaeri fe-Leavate...-rratha...!".
Oh, that. "I said... 'bless with light'..." Heero said levelly; "...in my native tongue." he added when Duo didn't seem to belief his words.
Duo blinked and stared with incomprehension; Heero sighed at his expression, so no one told the boy...
"The Maxwells used names in my native tongue to gain certain immunities when they need to fight the demons." Heero explained; "Your mother's name means 'blessed with light'... Didn't I tell you before about ancestors' names?"
Duo arched his brows, recalling Heero's words about ancestors and such; so this was what he meant? But the one pinned down by his mother's name was him...! Duo objected in his frantic mind; the demon seemed to know what he was thinking too.
"Unfortunately for you..." Heero began, cursorily glanced at the spread seal on the ground and stared back at Duo lying in center. "You were born in darkness. Total eclipse...?" he said with questioning tone, although he actually made a statement. "You used ground-type curse seal, so I just need to retaliate with a non-ground type blessing." he said lightly.
Duo had a caught look mixed with incomprehension, trying to say something; but the demon thought he could spare the boy the effort.
"Your power has dark-matter as your element, that's why I know you were born under eclipse." Heero said, "The last total eclipse was around 16 years ago, it matched your age. And light should be your natural-nemesis; I figured you used to live in darkness when you were small..."
The Lieutenant widened his eyes at that; the demon could figure out that much just from witnessing his opponent in such a short moment.
"A curse takes a toll from the caster's strength, while a blessing takes power from natural source. Which means, while your strength is being leeched by the curse you use to seal me, and it would last only while you're still alive; my blessing will not fade even if I cease to exist..."
"What?" Treize asked incredulously at Heero's words.
"So as long as there's light around you, you won't be able to get free... unless..." the demon glanced to the sky, "How many hundred or thousand years should the next total eclipse occur again...?"
Duo trembled in realization; "-not... lose...!" he gritted out.
Heero snorted softly; "You're strong as a fighter, but weak as a Maxwell. If you had gone to face the demons, you'd die in the face of your first opponent." he said matter-of-factly. "And this is not about winning or losing. The best way to fight should be to not fight. I'm only protecting Odin from you..."
Duo whimpered; that last part hurt, like a knife to his chest, even more painful than the weight on him.
"You fought naively; if you have time to examine your opponent's strength, you shouldn't let them to examine you before you finish doing it to them." Heero said levelly, "Before you learn to use your soul-armor to protect yourself, you should use weapon-..."
The demon's words stopped abruptly; Odin tilted his head a little as the demon closed his lips and froze. He was indeed clutched by the seal keeping his body immobile, but his air was suddenly turned static too, Odin realized; with a grunt, he pulled his sword from the scabbard and swung it down. The force slashed through the air and tore the ground behind the demon, leaving a deep gash with smoking dust.
Treize didn't expect Odin to do such a thing; he turned to the man with a baffled alert look. His ward alarm hadn't sounded for-
"Little insect...!" Odin growled with a leer.
A breaking sound answered him; the air near the gash cracked like the surface of a mirror or glass, and crashed with a sharp sound, revealing a person coughing by the dust; a large scythe-like weapon held in the person's hand circling the demon's neck from behind. "-THAT'S MEAN, OLD MAN!" the perpetrator accused looking up at Odin, pointing with another similar weapon in the other hand.
Duo froze, the form of those weapons looked familiar, and the person used a large shawl as a turban to cover the head and face, leaving only the eyes visible; but the voice was... -Myrica?!
It must not be his imagination only, since he saw the Lieutenant jerked to motion and ran to the stairs. After some moments passed, soldiers with weapons in their arms came running from the building and made a semi circle behind the demon, besieging the perpetrator; Cail was between the ones in the front.
"Hooo...!" the girl said amusedly, "And I thought you are opposing the demon...?"
"You don't have the right to comment on that!" a soldier beat Cail making the retort. Duo recognized three other men from the escorting soldiers of his previous outing.
"-stop..." Duo inhaled, "She's a magic user!" he shouted. A girl who could take on an ambush of flocks of beasts with an excited grin on her face and came out unscathed wouldn't be a match for some soldiers taken down by only several trees...!
"AHAAHAHAAHAHAHHAHA...!" Myrica's laughter roared, standing back to back with the sealed demon; and she flicked her two pickaxes at her sides, their scythe-like beaks curved to the demon's front. They weren't that long when Duo saw them last. "I'm sorry for the intrusion; but I just couldn't help myself...!"
Narrowing her eyes with an invisible grin covered by the turban, she added; "...this Lord Demon here had the most delicious-looking wings I've ever seen...!" she complimented, and the milky crystals of the beaks shone with white light. Duo just realize the uncanny similarity of those crystals with Heero's wing-blades; but as he could only watched in horror, Heero's upper-most wings had already liquefied and absorbed into the crystal-beaks.
The besieging soldiers gasped with a frightened murmur when the beaks burst with crisscrossing crystal blades looking almost like a pair of giant spread-out wings; but they growled strengthening their resolves and started taking careful steps forward.
-but you're not her match...! Duo growled and tried to break free in vain; he didn't even know how he was being oppressed, so he didn't know how to escape from it.
"-Wait! Wait!" Myrica took a step back almost touching her back to the seal-blade protruding from the demon's back.
"You're cowering now...?!" a soldier asked.
"Hahaa! As if...!" Myrica laughed, "I didn't come here to fight with the Palace soldiers; I'm only delivering a package...!" she tried.
At the skeptical alerted eyes directed at her, she continued; "...this?" A blue marble ball rolled from under her waistband, she kicked it with a foot to the air behind her right hand. In a flick she pulled the spread wing-blades into her pickaxes beaks, and snapped her right hand to crush the marble ball with the point of the crystal. The ball broke and gushed out blue smoke, and the shell fell broken to the ground as common glass ball; leaving the blue smoke massed into a bubble of thick cloud with snaps of lightning in it.
She slashed at the cloud twice, making a diagonal cross; and the bubble of cloud inflated like a balloon, and kept swelling to its breaking point and blew up gushing out a strong wind that the soldiers had to cover their faces with their hands. When the wind subsided, exactly 9 weird-clothed men stood on the explosion ground; somewhat looking baffled at the many spectators surrounding the site but passed their surprise fast into alert.
"You sold us!" one of them accused Myrica, pulling out his weapon from behind his back.
"I did nooot!" Myrica denied with a childish tone; "The contract was to get you passed the Palace ward in one piece...! Any of you missing a limb or two in there?!" she retorted.
Duo blinked; so this was the good job she was talking about? Transporting hitmen into the Palace?
The 9 men tsk-ed and growled; "...we were told to dispose you after you're done...!" the first man said; "We say you're done!" and added with a leer; and with that sentence finished, they broke their array; making a sharp war-cry. 4 charged at Myrica -that was about the same as charging the demon; 2 charged at Duo who couldn't move a muscle on the middle of his seal; 3 charged up to the General and Odin, while the first man -seemingly the leader- stood on his ground.
Under the cover of her turban, Myrica grinned savagely, her wild-eyes shone; the soldiers in front of her who caught a glance of her eyes could swear that they saw a beast's eyes... vertical slit of pupils with shining striations on the irises. "If you're going to buy me some food after work; just keep in mind that I EAT EVERYTHING...!" she shouted, activated her crystal beaks, then with invisible speed she swung the pickaxes around and pushed the charging men back to their leader like shooting stars.
The gaping soldiers could only hear slashing and clinking metals in a fast sequence. It appeared that they had quite exchanged some blows when Myrica's cover turban turned victim as it fell to the ground in three large pieces and some minced confetti in the winds.
"Hmp!" she snorted, standing boastfully behind the demon, resting her pickaxes on her shoulders while licking a trickle of blood from a cut on her right cheek. The crystal beaks were still positioned crossing around Heero's neck; Odin narrowed his eyes dangerously when she looked up at him.
"ODIIIN...!" she grinned with challenging tone, "THIS IS FOR 10 YEARS AGO!"
Her long tail swished in a wide arch around the demon's body, marking her zone; it looked like a lizard tail, with scaly snake-like end to the middle of its length and lining white mane along its back, the shocking part was that it turned transparent to invisible as it neared the base, making the tail actually looked like floating behind the girl's rear.
Duo realized then that the thing she used to pull him up when he fell with the broken bridge was that tail; he hadn't forgotten the burnt bleeding wound looped around his arm that had yet to heal. Didn't she say before that girls have tails...?
A boy with curly grey locks took off his round glasses, and wiped them clean with the front of his baggy tunic. Putting them back on his nose; his blue eyes opened wide, burning everything that occurred on the court ground into his mind. In the whole Kingdom, he was blessed with a pair of eyes that could discern anything.
He smiled to himself from behind a pillar; magic users were his favorite to watch... "Verve-crystals shouldn't be used as weapons...!" he mumbled. "You don't have the abilities to survive them..."
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...this had come out quickly; only three typing sessions, needed to get it out of the mind...
finding human-errors is a little vexing, but... why is that every time saru re-read the already uploaded chapters saru kept finding typing-errors? well, saru won't revise them eventhough saru made corrections in the original, uploading is too time-consuming. please just excuse this-monkey, okay. sorry for the inconvenience...
thanx for reading