Chapter 17: A threat
Welp, my lateness is starting to get regular... My apologies to the people who looked on Saturday for a new chapter. I swear I'll get it right next time! I might as well change the day I post... but I digress. Here we are! Chapter 17. Yeah, thats it.
Asuna opens her eyes and stares at Xertic's sleeping face. She always loved how normal he looked. She slowly closes a fist and gets ready to wake him up by hitting his head.
"Touch me and I will consume your petite soul, Asuna." Asuna pouts.
"That's not fair, you can't pretend to be asleep?" Xertic opens one eye, his pupil a black slit surrounded by flowing green.
"Is Asuna sad because she couldn't wake me up from my perfect nightmare? I'm sorry, I'll go back to sleep," Xertic replies before closing his eyes. Asuna rolls her eyes and sits up.
"No need to be rude about it. Besides, if you fell for it I WAS going to make you feel better..." Xertic's mouth opens and a long forked tongue rolls out. His eye flashes open and his teeth grow longer.
"How so, my dear?" He sits up and gets out of the bed, his clothes turning into his normal attire. "Too bad you have school to get ready for." Asuna sighs and leaves the room, going for a shower. Xertic's phone rings. "Yes?"
"I will not be angry with you as long as she is safe and she gets to school on time." Xertic could hear Kyouko's worried voice through the phone clearly.
"Mrs. Yuuki, relax. You need to learn to trust me. Asuna is getting ready as we speak." He walks downstairs and out the door, checking the mailbox.
"It is going to take a lot before I trust you, boy. Tell Asuna her new suitor is-"
"Sorry, you're breaking up Mrs. Yuuki, can't hear you well. Did you say Asuna is free for this week? That's great!" Xertic barely held back his laughter.
"I know you can hear me! Tell her-" Xertic hangs up, pockets his phone, and falls on the ground, laughing. Drake walks up to his master and helps him up.
"Aren't you clever, my lord?" Xertic calms down.
"Indeed I am, Drake. Don't you forget it." Asuba walks up to the two, dressed and holding her school bag.
"Let's go, I will be late if we leave any time after." Xertic nods and the two walk off. Drake takes the mail inside, prepared to burn all of the tax letters.
-The High School, 7 a.m.-
Xertic watches as Asuna enters the school, smirking. He was about to turn and leave when he hears a rustling coming from the bushes near him. He points his left hand at the sound and a black snake launches from his shirt sleeve. It coils around a body and Xertic pulls back, revealing the man who was watching him.
"If you want tips on being sneaky, don't let your target know of your presence." The man growls and spits dirt from his mouth.
"It doesn't matter, I got the information I needed. I assume I should introduce myself." He stands up and Xertic retracts the snake into his shirt. "I'm Lex, Asuna's 'suitor'. However, I am better known as a member of a special guild in SAO." Xertic smiles and outs a hand on his hip.
"Let me guess, that guild would be Laughing Coffin? Otherwise I'd say Titan's Hand but those guys aren't as popular as you guys." Lex reveals the laughing coffin symbol on his wrist.
"My, you're clever. I really hope that you don't die anytime soon so I can have the honor of killing you." Xertic laughs.
"Join the club. Sugou, Satan, Lucifer, and a few others would love to meet you. You can all go out for coffee and exchange plans for world domination," he clutches his sides as he doubles over at his own joke.
"You should not be laughing, Xertic. I have ways of getting what I desire. Asuna and Kirito will be dead, and then our guild will rule this land under respect and fear from our citizens." Xertic sighs.
"Well good luck with that." He walks next to Lex and stops, now whispering in his ear.
"I should tell you that I can sense when Asuna isn't in pain. It pays to be a demon. If you so much as lay a finger on Kirito or Asuna, I will personally rip out your soul, drench it in your blood, and get drunk from it." His fingers drag across Lex's chest. "As long as a I live, I will protect Miss Yuuki from anything, be it demon, angel, or human. I will never stop. I can live for ever, anyways. Have a nice day." He winks at Lex and walks away. Lex growls in his direction.
"Making a threat to me makes a threat to the whole guild!" Xertic waves a hand.
"Let 'em come. Their lives will still end." Lex grunts and walks off into the woods.
-The park, 4 p.m.-
Xertic and Asuna lay on the side of a hill, watching the clouds in the sky. Xertic points up.
"That looks like Cerberus playing with his huge bone that came from a dragon's carcass." Asuna tilts her head.
"I just see a snowman." Xertic snickers and Asuna smiles at him.
"The differences between humans and demons. So hilarious..." Xertic sighs and closes his eyes.
"Do angels ever attack you, Xer?" Asuna asks, now curious about his supernatural knowledge.
"Do they ever, in fact, when Gamex was born, God created another angel to help balance us out. We were pretty powerful," he replies, licking his teeth.
"Gamex?" Xertic stares into Asuna's eyes.
"Gamex is the name Gamelus and I gave our real form. When I was born, it was supposed to be one entity. However, he realized how much power he had. So much that his birth would kill him. He split himself up into two beings and shared his power to them. Thus the twin terrors were born. Gamex is the single entity." Asuna looks up at the sky.
"So if the time came, could you and Gamelus combine into Gamex?" Xertic nods.
"However, it uses a lot of energy. Also, he's unstable, insane, and we can't do it forever. We have joined together once, and Drake had to keep us in bed for a week." Asuna looks at Xertic, imagining the pain they must have gone through. Xertic sits up. "I... Um... Forgot to mention something. You're new suitor... He's Laughing Coffin." Asuna leaps up.
"He's WHAT?!" Xertic winces, not used to her yelling.
"Yeah, he said that he will be targeting you and Kirito. And... He is probably after me as well, since I threatened him..." Asuna sighs in her hand.
"Xertic..."
"You're my mistress, I can't allow you getting hurt." Xertic stands up and looks out. "I made my point clear. But, this is Laughing Coffin. A demon won't stop them at all." Asuna stares at the ground.
"I... I need to talk with my mother about this..." Xertic nods and the two walk back in silence.
-11 p.m., Xertic's house-
Xertic smelt the smoke first. His eyes flash open and he leaps from his bed. Gamelus bursts through the door.
"We need to get out of here! The fire is spreading!"
"Right, grab everything." The two rush and gather everything from the house as fast as possible. Xertic runs from his room and finds Yui putting her toys in a pink backpack. She looks at Xertic with tears in her eyes.
"Daddy, why is this happening...?" He picks her up.
"I don't know, Yui. But we have to hurry." He swings out her window and puts her down on the ground. Gamelus soon follows with two black bags.
"Where's Drake?"
"Young masters!" The two look back at the house. Xertic runs towards the door and smashes through it. He maneuvers past burning rubble and finds Drake trapped under a table. Xertic lifts part of the burning wood up and helps Drake climb out. "You had no need to save me."
"Shut up and run outside." Xertic and Drake run to the door and rejoin Gamelus and Yui. Xertic pants. "Is it over?" A huge explosion knocks the four to the ground, leaving the small shack a rubbled, burning mess.
"Shit..." Gamelus curses under his breath. Drake picks up a piece of paper with a coffin and a laughing face on it.
"This is a message. Don't get in our way." Xertic stares at the note.
"So they caused this..." He mutters, rage filling his voice. Drake walks up to the house.
"I will work on rebuilding. You three find a place to stay at for now." The twins and AI nod and walk down the road. Drake turns black and transforms into a hose, shooting a powerful blast of water at the raging fire. Xertic sighs and looks back at the house.
"Asuna is going to kill me..." He touches the heart shaped necklace on his neck. Gamelus puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's just worry about a home first, brother," he says reassuringly. Yui closes her eyes, drifting off into deep sleep.
Alright, there you are. I will try and be on time again, but these things happen. And if you're a new reader who hasn't been their for when I was late, this is meaningless. Adios!