Again, sorry for the short chapter last time and for the long waiting time. This chapter will hopefully make up for it. I own nothing but the Colossi of Spirits, Azgarot, the People of the Colossi and the ghost of Erageo.

Edit: I got a Mac recently after my old main computer stopped working. I'm sorry this chapter is coming so late, and it may not be as long as I'd like, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Azgarot's Speech

Sound Effects

Thinking\Celosia's Speech

Chapter 6

Alone with a God and a Ghost

Ciarog the Beetle

Lexus' eyes opened. She found herself in the main hall of the Forgotten Temple, Azgarot standing over her. The Colossus was gazing at her emotionlessly as the girl pulled herself to her feet. "Welcome back, mai-" Azgarot began.

SLAP

"Geh-!" the mortal Colossus cried out, staggering back and holding the red mark on his cheek. He glared at Lexus, who had her hands on her hips. "Was that a fucking joke?" she shouted. "What art thou babbling about, halfwit human?" Azgarot demanded. "We should strike thou down right now-" "I CANNOT fight even three of those motherfucking titans!" Lexus exclaimed, stamping her foot onto the ground. "You are going to TAKE ME HOME and then YOU can kill these things!" "No, We cannot!" Azgarot shot back. "Both of thine demands are impossible!" "Impossible my foot!"

"Fine! Thou shalt see for thineself!" Azgarot ground his teeth. "Go to the bridge and cross back into thine land. We will welcome the end of thine life." "You're made of bullshit! I'm out of here!" the maiden replied. "Celosia!"

Stop shouting, damn you.

The boar Colossus made his way into the hall, stopping next to Lexus. She mounted him, stuck her tongue out at Azgarot, and then was speeding down the path to the bridge. Azgarot sighed, then rubbed his cheek again. "Damned female..."

"Can you believe that fucker?" Lexus seethed as Celosia slowly made his way down the misty path.

Yes, I was charged with sealing him for several centuries. Did you forget?

"Sorry. I've only had to put up with him for a few days, but you were forced to do it for years and years, huh?" Lexus apologized. Celosia grunted in reply, and they made their way in silence for a bit. Unable to see anything, Lexus contented herself with listening to Celosia's breathing. Then the Colossus grunted. "What's wrong?" Lexus asked.

The bridge is not here.

"What?" Lexus exclaimed. She slid off of Celosia and ran forward, squinting through the fog. She could see the stone path end abruptly, fading into nothing. "No...no...no, no, no NO!" the girl screamed, falling to her knees and punching the road. Her knuckles split and bled, the liquid flying everywhere as Celosia snarled. Then she felt herself turned around, and an impact across her jaw sent her sprawling. Lexus saw stars as she was yanked back to her feet, then punched in the gut.

"Ah-aaaah..." the girl moaned as she held her stomach, keeled over on the ground. A figure knelt next to her. "Thou needed that." it said.

"A-Azgarot?" Lexus replied weakly. "Correct. Thine duty is to defeat the Colossi, and thou cannot do that if thou doth not listen to Us." Azgarot explained. The girl winced. "If my knuckles weren't-aghhh-broken, I'd kill you..." Lexus groaned. Azgarot lifted her and threw her over his shoulder, then began to walk back to the shrine. "Art thou coming, mutt?" Azgarot asked Celosia.

Don't push it.

When Lexus came to, she was alone in the main hall. The pain in her knuckles, jaw and stomach came back in a rush, and she whimpered before painfully sitting up. Her hands had been bandaged-presumably by Azgarot-and her sword was next to her.

Are all mortals that idiotic?

"Celosia?" Lexus called. The boar came from the direction of Cancer's statue, his eyes red and angry. "Are you okay?

I am fine, but Dormin tells me that your hands are too badly damaged to hold a sword for several days. We are delayed in our mission to kill the Colossus God. You did more damage to yourself than my aquatic brother!

"I'm sorry, Celosia." Lexus said sincerely, reaching for the Colossus. She recoiled when Celosia roared.

You will not touch me until you show more common sense.

Well said.

"AZGAROT!" Lexus bellowed, struggling to her feet. Unlike Celosia, the boy did not appear. Lexus' eyes scanned the hall, then she stormed to her sword and picked it up. She then yelled in pain and dropped it; her knuckles felt like they were on fire.

Thou doth not learn.

Learn when to stop, girl.

"Celosia, are you insulting me?" Lexus asked, tears springing to her eyes. Celosia snorted, then barreled out of the temple. Lexus was alone again. "Why me? Why did this happen to me?" she sniffed, dropping to her knees and then laying on the stone floor.

"What a question." came a voice. Immediately, Lexus was on her feet again. Turning, she found herself face-to-face with a twelve-year-old boy. "How the hell did you get here? Who the hell are you?" Lexus demanded. The boy brushed back his brown hair to reveal...horns.

Lexus staggered back, collapsing against an idol. The Horned Child smiled and stepped towards the maiden. "Oh, don't be afraid. I'm not an enemy." "Then what the hell are you? You have horns!" she screamed. The Horned Child shook his head with a wry smile. "You having trouble with Dormi-oh, I'm sorry. His name is Azgarot now, right?"

"You know about Dormin? Are you from my homeland?" the girl queried. "I don't see where else you could've come from..." "No, no, I'm from another world entirely." the Horned Child replied. Lexus blinked. "Bullshit." "Actually it's true. I'm from the land of the deceased." "Prove it!" the girl hisses. The Horned Child grasped his head and yanked it straight off of his head.

"Thou dares to show thineself here?" Azgarot shouted from the end of the hall. The Horned Child turned, his head smiling. "I'm Erageo, Wander reicnarnated." he replied. "I have every right to be here, Dormin." "Get out!" the mortal Colossus demanded.

"Lexus, this is happening because you have hero blood in your veins. You are genetically bound to the ways of the sword." Erageo said, ignoring Azgarot. "Bound to the sword? You're full of shit!" Lexus growled. Erageo replaced his head, then walked to the Ancient's Sword and picked it up. Azgarot's mouth fell open.

"You are like me, Lexus. Besides the obvious, of course." the ghost child explained, tossing the Sword to Lexus. She caught it, then her eyes widened. Upon contact with the blade originally, she felt pain. Now, however, her fingers seemed stronger. She undid the bandages and found the wounds had healed completely. "The power of the sword is yours to command, Lexus." Erageo said. He turned to Azgarot. "Dormin, I wish a favor. Attack Lexus with your blade, and if she fails to defend herself, kill her." he said. "Gladly." Azgarot snarled, his black blade appearing in his hand.

"W-Wait!" Lexus cried out. "Begin." the ghost boy said calmly. Immediately Azgarot lunged forward, his blade against his side as he charged. Lexus squeaked and staggered out of the way as the mortal Colossus whistled by. "Azgarot, I'm sorry I hit you! Don't kill me!" the girl cried out. Azgarot halted, turned on his heel and held his sword aloft as he stalked towards her. "Defend thineself, mortal fool!" the Colossus roared, swinging at Lexus. She ducked, landing on her ass, and backpedaled into the beetle statue. "S-Stop!" Lexus wailed.

"Kill her, Dormin." Erageo boomed. Azgarot raised his blade above his head, planting himself directly in front of Lexus. "Our name is Dormin." he hissed, bringing the sword down. Lexus yelled and swung her own blade.

CK-SHHHHK

"...well, now." Erageo mused with a laugh. Azgarot's blade collided with the Ancient Sword, forming a perfect plus. Lexus blinked, then lashed out her foot.

THUMP

Azgarot grunted, then doubled over. "Damn mortal body...!" he growled. Erageo started to laugh. Lexus jumped to her feet, stepped over and stepped on the boy's foot. Hard. Erageo laughed even harder as Azgarot staggered back, clutching his foot. Lexus' next kick collided with the God's shin, provoking more laughter from the ghost child. "Oh Dormin, to see you getting your ass handed to you by a woman-!" he chuckled. Azgarot clenched his teeth and swung the Cursed Blade, but Lexus blocked with the Ancient's Sword and nailed him in the gut. "Son of a heathen!" Azgarot cried out, falling over. "I understand why you beat me up, Azgarot." Lexus said. "I did need it."

"Splendid! My work here is done." Erageo smiled. "We'll be in touch." and with that, he was gone.

"Erageo?" Lexus called, looking around. "The ghost is gone, maiden." Azgarot growled, getting to his feet. "Thou must now battle the Colossi, due to thine magical recovery." "Fine, where is the next one?"

Azgarot stood, his Cursed Blade vanishing. "Thy next foe is...under a lake lies a beast...it has no room for mercy...more brawn than it is brain..."

"Got it, thanks." Lexus said appreciatively. "Celosia?"

No. Defeat this one without my help, and I shall assist you once again.

"Alright. Here I go." Lexus smiled, sheathing the Ancient's Sword. She turned and walked out into the sunlight.

"Goddammit, I'm lost." Lexus said with a sigh, not five minutes later. She looked back at the Temple of Spirits, resting on the cliff above. "Where is this thing? Something something lake, something something mercy...damn!"

As the girl looked out at the wide fields, she saw a single bird circling what appeared to be a hole the size of Celosia. A pause, then Lexus began to sprint at the bird, pulling out her pistol. "Food! Food!" she cried joyously.

BANG

"Dammit!" Lexus screamed as the bird seemed to twist away from the bullet. "How the hell did it do that?"

BANG

"Damn!"

BANG

"Son of a BITCH!"

BANG-BANG

"Motherfucker, hold still!"

BANG-BANGBANG

"What the shit?"

BANGBANGBANGBANG

"GOD DAMN YOU!" the girl yelled, throwing her pistol onto the ground. The bird soared in her direction, then plummeted straight at her. Lexus screamed and ducked as the hawk dropped something onto her. "What the...no way..." she whispered. The hawk had caught her bullets, then dropped them on her.

"What ARE you?" she demanded as the bird screeched, flapping its wings before sailing away. Muttering curses, and hearing faint laughter in the back of her head, she began walking through the fields while glancing around. Hell, she'd eat a LIZARD if she had to! She bent down and picked up her pistol, then walked to the hole which the bird had been circling over. It was a lot bigger, and a lot deeper, than she would've thought.

Lexus slid down into the hole, finding herself in a dank tunnel. "Ugh, it smells like shit!" she muttered, holding her arm in front of her nose. She then saw a pair of skeletons lying against the wall. After staring at them for a minute, she dashed by. "I'll assume this is the lair of the Colossus."

After many dead ends and wrong turns, she entered a chamber with a very high ceiling. It had three rock pillars set in a half-circle around a large object, and a metal plate off to the side. Lexus slowly walked forward, examining the object. It looked like a huge beetle, maybe Celosia's size. "Oh shit..." she muttered.

The beetle shook itself, dust falling from its stone horn and back armor in sheets. Its stone legs clicked against the floor as it glanced around, then its blue eyes set themselves on Lexus. It charged.

Lexus dove out of the way and the Colossus skidded to a halt, turned around, and charged again. This time, Lexus ran.

What art thou doing?

"RUNNING AWAY!" she screamed at the voice of Azgarot in her head.

Ciarog's anger may be to your advantage.

"How? There's no fur on that thing!" Lexus cried, hiding behind one of the rock pillars. There was silence for a moment, then Ciarog came into view on the opposite side of the room. It turned to her, tensed, then charged.

Move!

Lexus jumped away and Ciarog collided with the pillar.

GYA-RAAAAAAA

Lexus winced as Ciarog's loud bellow filled the cavern. The rock pillar collapsed on top of Ciarog, who slowly backed up. A crack had appeared in its back armor, and seeing this, Lexus grinned. "So THAT'S it." she murmured, racing to another pillar. Ciarog turned, then hurtled at Lexus with twice its usual speed. She ducked this time, and Ciarog went right over her, smashing into the pillar. As Lexus crawled out from under it, the beetle Colossus whined and pulled its body free of the rocks. A section of its armor fell off.

"One left!" she muttered to herself, clutching at her side. Ciarog turned, its eyes blazing, and bellowed before racing forward. Lexus quickly flattened herself and the Colossus barreled over her, smashing into the final rock pillar. This time the Colossus collapsed under the sheer weight of the stone. Lexus panted, hands on her knees as she tried to regain her breath. "Did I kill it?" she wondered aloud.

No.

There was a sound of shifting stone, then Ciarog slowly rose from the rubble. The armor on its back was gone, revealing bristling fur which stood on end. The beetle colossus slowly turned, panting, and saw her. It then roared.

"What do I do now?" Lexus demanded of Dormin as she rolled away from Ciarog's charge. It turned in mid-step and charged again. Lexus frantically looked around the cave, then her eyes settled on the large metal plate. "Ciarog!" she called after evading the beetle colossus again. It roared as it skidded to a halt, then whirled around and ran for her again. Lexus ran at the metal plate, then dove out of the way as the Colossus collided with it.

THWAAAANG

Ciarog let out a whine and collapsed. Lexus ran for it and jumped, coming down with her sword being driven into the colossus' back. Ciarog roared in pain as she twisted the blade, then it fell silent. There was an impact, then Lexus fell unconscious.

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