Chapter 32: It Pours.
The creature hissed, and coiled back on itself. As the rain swept through the alley, the creature's form became clear and solid. Lucifer turned partially toward Natalie to tell her of his discovery involving Maze's blade. Before he could begin to explain, a hurried shuffling came from behind him. He ducked down in time for the strike to fly over his head, a long, sickly limb snapping like a whip. Natalie's rage erupted from her in a roar. While he moved toward the end of the alleyway, he rolled over to where Maze was clutching her head.
Skittering sounded behind him again, and he glanced over his shoulder. Her broadsword, coated in blue sparks, soared like a spear into the bulk of the monster. It stumbled back from the force, another shriek coming from its strange mouth. Natalie's panting had eased, but her rage had not. The smallest whisper fell from her lips, but it seemed as though it was screamed into the night.
"He's mine."
As the creature clawed at the sword embedded in it, thrashing and writhing in pain, Natalie visibly shook as she attempted to reign her anger. Maze's groan as she stood drew his attention back. "Easy Maze, that first one is a bit of a dosey."
Once Maze had been moved further back to recover in safety, Lucifer debated what to do next. Should he stay and fight? Or return Maze to Lux and leave Natalie to fight alone? He turned to watch how the battle was progressing.
The creature was still thrashing, a long tail curled around the monster to whip out toward Natalie. She barely shifted. The tail left a divot in the paving by her foot before the beast reared back again. The sparks running up and down her form centered into her clenched fists. Remainders of energy ran through her hair, giving the ink-like hair a fluid appearance.
One fist came up to knock the next attack aside as she charged forward. Leaping over part of the mass of the main body of the creature, she tore the blade free and rolled to the side. Three limbs stabbed toward her intending to pin her in place. One bared foot came up to knock the first attack aside again and she let the momentum carry her over the other two limbs. Her sword came down in counterattack. While the blade did strike, before she could carry the blow through another limb whipped out and slammed her against the alley wall.
The broadsword bobbed up and down as the creature turned to face its prey. A hiss came from Natalie as she clutched part of her shoulder. Lucifer's blood ran cold as he recalled the thrashing Maze had given her earlier. Before the mass of twisting flesh could venture toward himself and Maze, Natalie picked herself up and charged again. Lucifer moved forward and readied himself to stand between the nightmare and his demoness. As another limb lashed out, he brought the knife down swiftly and sliced clean through.
Natalie's eyes widen as she watched the limb fall and dissolve away. Sliding under another attack, Natalie came to a stop by his side.
"Take Maze and run." She said quickly, turning to block another attack.
"You're still hurt, I'm not leaving you to fight alone."
Around them, the storm raged and worsened. Water coming down in sheets, lightening tearing between clouds.
"And would you please do something about this storm?!"
"I tried to tell you before: I'm not controlling it!"
"You two argue like old people."
Maze's interjection silenced them both as they turned to see her rise and shrug off the jacket. Their attention was quickly split when the sound of the sword falling to the ground followed. The next screech thundered through the alley, ethereal and flooded with strange images that invaded their minds.
"How-?!" Maze gasped out.
"It's gotten too big. I normally find them before this happens. Someone's been hiding it." Natalie snarled.
The space between the sword and the three of them was closed in short order. While they attempted to roll away, Maze miss-stepped into the beast's path. Lucifer turned about, preparing to throw himself back toward Maze. Both of them were startled when Natalie appeared in front of Maze. Flickering blue lights danced over Natalie's enraged form. Once her first foot touched the ground, the second slammed down and she swung her entire body behind the glowing fist that collided head-on with the piercing limb. The blue lightening jumped into the monster, tearing a painful screech from its maw.
Natalie leaped after it as it fled back. Once her broadsword was cleared, a quick roll brought her back into the upper hand. As Lucifer helped Maze once again retreat back, he looked away to look over the demoness limping beside him. She had recovered from the initial shock much faster than he had – to his mild annoyance – and was still in no shape to fight.
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'Wet pavement is very cold. Like really cold. The kind of cold that is very distracting when you are fighting a two-ton monstrosity that literally lives to murder you!'
Today just kept on swinging, and Natalie was very done with it. The literal last thing she needed was someone setting loose a massive Pale One to eat her friends. ( 'Did I just call Maze my friend again? Didn't she just try to beat me senseless? Although, I did antagonize her.' ) Her shoulder ached, which made the blade feel heavier than normal. However, a strange surge of energy filled her. Also long as it held out for her to finish this, she would question it later.
'Why didn't I take the slippers? Why is this thing so big?! If someone's been hiding it, were they feeding it? What kind of a sicko keeps something like this as a pet?'
She kept her focus on her rage, energy coursing through her. Her vision tunneled on her target, dodging on instinct, and striking as quick as her strange empowerment allowed. This, too, was a dance. The blade in her hand both the partner and instrument. The cold pavement below her kept her sensations grounded. It worked to counter the heady feeling the swelled in her.
On the topic of things that made her angry, ('How the hell do they have a knife that can cauterize a Pale One? Wait, ...wasn't that one of the knives Maze threw at me? Fucking balls!') her eyes raked over the still burnt stub of one of the limbs. Normally, the limbs regrew if given any time to recover between attacks. She pushed to the side with the stub, forcing her opponent off balanced in the narrow alleyway.
With a quick dash, she dropped to a knee to slide under its side, sword parallel to the ground. A follow through of a heel-turn paired with an upward slice nearly cleaved the main body mass in half. Another blast of ethereal images forced its way into her mind.
Long, winding halls were still being decorated.
Several robed priests asking questions.
A smile forever lost.
Once she had recovered from the attack, she stumbled against the alley wall. Looking up, membranous wings rapidly grew to size on the Pale One's back as it clawed up the other wall. A string of colorful curses came from Natalie as she threw herself into her pursuit. It would kill dozens of people to recover if it escaped. She leaped from fire stairs, window ledges, and any handhold she could find in a mad bid to cut the creature off. In her rush, she had not seen the growing glow in its unhinged maw.
As she made her final leap to strike down her enemy, the head raised to look directly at her. Unmitigated horror filled her as she realized what was about to happen. A tidal wave of energy erupted from the beast's maw, washing her in pain and striking her to the ground. The pain vibrated through her entire being as she struggled to regain the breath knocked from her chest. The clanking of the sword striking the ground sounded distant. Looking remarkably smug, the monstrosity descended back down on her.
The pain cut through the energy the surged in her. Desperate to hold onto the fading energy, Natalie tried to stand again. She could barely feel the pointed limb that stabbed into her side to pin her in place. As the gaping maw began to descend on her, and the surge of energy faded from her, exhaustion and rebellion warred.
With a dark chuckle, she gathered up the last of her will. She could feel the sparks dance against her skin as the darkness closed in. 'With a focused blast, at this distance, this is over.' She thought smugly.
A completely different kind of horror filled her as a familiar face appeared over a mound of flesh. The blast was already too focused to be stopped. Before she could open her mouth to warn him, crackling blue energy spiraled from the core of her being. It tore through the Pale Ones flesh and shredded it like paper. For a moment, as the darkness finally took her, it looked as though she had ripped the skin from Lucifer's face in her moment of victory.
'What have I done?!'
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"What. Just. Happened?" Maze grounded out. Lucifer could only thrust out his arms in a display of his lack of idea.
After a moment to collect himself, he changed back his face and leaned down to collect Natalie. Maze sighed and continued questioning him.
"What are you doing?"
"She's bleeding everywhere. She'll die if we just leave her here."
"Oh, and what, you're going to take her to the hospital? Do you even watch movies? Because I've seen alien movies with Trixie, and it's always the hospital trip that gets them caught."
"She's not an alien," He counter-argued as he tried to orientate himself toward his car.
A scoff came from behind him. Maze retrieved the strange sword. For a long moment she stared at the blade once she gripped the handle.
"Maze? Maze. Mazikeen!" Lucifer called.
The demoness blinked and looked up at him, "What?"
"I'm taking her to the penthouse, get Linda, she's a-"
"Doctor. Yeah. Whatever."
"Yes, here. Take my car if you would." He called out and tossed the keys to Maze.
With a smile, he took skyward, using the storm front as cover. The trip to Lux was short, and once again, he placed Natalie gently against the bedding. Quickly fetching a few towels, he rested gently near her and applied pressure to her side. There was a space between their breathes. He used it to keep track of time as he held the makeshift bandage in place.
The bleeding had finally began to slow as the elevator bell rang. Linda came around the corner and gave a start.
"What-What is going on?" She stammered, giving Lucifer a firm look.
He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I need you help. She hurt, but she's not human so we can't take her to the hospital."
"Oh, not this again. Lucifer, I keep telling you I am not that kind of doctor!"
"But you are the only one we have."
Her frown was very tight. The nod she gave was microscopic. Lucifer hurried out of her way and went about the penthouse fetching various first aid supplies. After a couple minutes, Linda moved away from Natalie, looking a tad shaken.
"What is she?"
"We don't exactly know."
"All I can tell you is that with time, she'll probably heal herself. If what Maze told me on the way over is true, she's already healed past the point of danger. Rest and plenty of fluids. Now, if you excuse me. I need a drink." Linda listed off and then left the room.
"I'm calling it right now, we are going to regret not leaving her in that alley." Maze said softly before turning to leave.
Lucifer gave a scoff of his own, "Oh please. She defended you against that monstrosity back there."
A short laugh came from her.
"She did look pretty ridiculous in those pajamas."
Content to let it go for the moment, Maze exited the room as well. Left standing with his gathered supplies, he sat back down and applied an actual bandage to Natalie's side. Once it was safely wrapped into place, he too left her to rest. He opted to rest at the piano and play for his guests. The evening had taken a turn for the quiet. Well, until a screaming came from the bedroom and small storm formed within the walls of his penthouse.
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When she woke up, the first thing that popped into her head was the last thing she had seen before she passed out. With no regard for her surroundings, Natalie rolled to the side and emptied her stomach.
'He's gone. He's gone, he's gone, and it's all my fault!'
Unable to stop it, heaving sobs broke out in time with each horrid beat of her heart. In the spark of a moment, every smile, every stolen kiss, each and every time he had laughed at something she had said, flashed across her mind. Part of her ached, ached so deep she wasn't sure she could breathe.
"Natalie?"
Everything stopped. Shocked, she turned to look behind her.
'I've gone mad.' She thought firmly as she staggered to her feet. The mirage took a step toward her. He looked so concerned. So real. She reached out her hand to touch where his cheek would be. The contact against something solid jolted her and a whole new set of tears started. Before Lucifer could asked a single one of his questions she flung herself against him.
She kissed him as hard as she could, relishing that she still could. After a few blurred moments, Lucifer pulled away from her and guided her back to the bed.
"Are you alright?" He asked. For a moment, Natalie couldn't find words. She was only filled with a need to kiss him again. To prove to herself that he was alive and well. Her hands came up to stroke his face and clasp his cheeks.
"You're alive." She said in a tone full of wonder.
He gave her a patient smile, "Of course I am. Can't keep a good devil down."
She gave a shaky laugh as she pulled them back together. Once the two of them were pressed as close together as she could manage, she gave in to her need to kiss him. However, the peace was shattered by a cleared throat and look of disapproval.