A/N: Forgot to mention that all the songs/song lyrics from this story are not real songs. Enjoy the long ass climax! Hah.
Chapter 17: Duality
Styx stumbled out of the flashing lights and met the cold snowy ground. They heard Blitz follow behind them and scream original and unoriginal expletives as the imp met the only white substance to grace their face that day. It was the evening before the purge, and the duo had no idea where they were as the moon began to rise.
"Fucking bitch." Styx swore as they helped their imp stand. The two carefully checked each other for any major wounds, and Blitz made a point to kiss one on Styx's neck to make it feel better. The sinner returned the favor much to the disagreement of their judgment and survival instincts.
"Did that Rose guy just help kidnap us and then let us go?" Styx asked surprised. "Not the worst guy we could have ran across, I guess."
"I'd bet to differ on that, babe." Blitz said, wiping himself off. "Nice people don't really kidnap you first."
Styx looked around. They recognized the street and quickly grabbed Blitz's hand to lead them down the sidewalk off the now charred grass. The two caught their breath over and over without taking much time to look behind them in the chance the two sorcerers were secretly trailing their prey. Before long they finally reached the infamous bridge, Blitz leaning against the side. Styx took a moment of silence to look out into the bleached trees and dappled ground alongside the frozen lake, and now realized through his shivers that they were unceriminoisly stolen out of bed with no winter protection.
"Fuck." Blitz swore, exhaling a sharp breath. "Son of a bitch almost grabbed me in my fuckin birthday outfit."
"Did we really try to fuck in this weather?" Styx suddenly asked perplexingly.
Blitz looked onwards in silence, then confusion. "Yeah? You don't fuck when shit freezes over? It's like the goddamn national past time." The imp pointed a thumb in the direction of underneath the bridge. "That fabulous bitch that caught us was actually the weird one."
"Noted." Styx said.
"The fuck are you so worried about that for?" Blitz asked.
Styx sarcastically shrugged. "Oh, goodness, I don't know. Could be the fact that apparently us 'fornicating' under Frozen Fuck Bridge made us a target for the gayest menagerie ever put to life."
"The fuck does a megalodon have to do with this shit?" Blitz asked genuinely.
Styx very immediately shook their head in disapproval. "No, Blitz. Menagerie. It's another word for a group of people, usually one that's working together."
"Just say it's a fuckin group of assholes, babe."
"Just stop saying the F Bomb every time you talk."
"Fuck that."
"Exactly."
The two partners remained in the bitter cold as they began a trek to their apartment, continuing to hold hands and stay near one another for warmth. Styx noted to himself how warm the imp was despite the unforgiving climate, and Blitz noted to himself how almost unbearably cold the sinner was to the point of wondering how they were even alive again at this point.
"Wait, you hit that bird bitch with a metal pipe?" Blitz suddenly realized, his enthusiasm completely drained as his voice became that of a tired roughness. "So the little shit really isn't royalty. We could have taken both of them."
"I'm not really concerned about that right now." Styx said. "I'm worried about us. Let's just get out of this damn cold and back into the house."
"Heh. It's really hot when you swear." Blitz flirted through his exhaustion.
"Speaking of, you're fucking burning right now." Styx chimed up, being careful not to step over any cracks on the sidewalk as they went. "Are imps just physically warm or are your bodies different than ours?"
"Dunno." Blitz admitted. "My ass feels like it just got hit with that one fucking from the superhero movies. Lost his wife or some shit. Might be getting fucking frostbite if I didn't have you, so uh... don't die of that hyper shit."
"Hypo means low. Hyper is high."
"The fuck you know that for?" The imp asked curiously.
"Got bored, bought one of those fuckin tablet things everyone went crazy for when I was alive. Styx said "Apparently they make ones just for books now."
"That's the oldest man shit I've ever heard and I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."
"In human years I'd be thirty four."
"Fucking what?" Blitz asked surprised. "Fuck me, I'm supposed to be the Daddy in the relationship."
"It's fine." Styx smiled. "Most of it flew by. I only remember because I got here on my thirtieth, so it's been about four years." The sinner winked through their diminishing mental state. "You can still be Daddy."
Blitz paused; The moment was longer than he usually allowed. His eyes narrowed while looking forwards before returning to rest. "You've only been here four years?"
"Yeah." The sinner exhaled through the bitter frost touching their feet. "It's been really fucking eventful. I feel twenty and a hundred all at the same time. Can't imagine being born here. No offense."
"None taken." Blitz waved his free hand. "It's an absolute shit hole down here... but it's our shit hole and we have more fun than the dicks upstairs."
"I'll bet." Styx said.
The two turned the corner. Their bodies, wracked with the collection of fighting, running and freezing had brought them into a state of anguish only known by those on the brink of death themselves, and yet they found themselves physically frozen as they turned the corner. Sitting on the steps leading into their humble abode was an owl, dripping with venom as darkness swirled around their now black robes, completely with constellations dancing about as the threads. Sivah twirled his partner's staff as he stood.
"There are a lot of things I can forgive." Sivah's voice declared. "Betrayal, unforgivable apologies, even attempted murder. What I cannot forgive, however, is those I need to kill... escaping. Shit like that just does not work."
"Fuck you." Styx declared with every ounce of their being, surprising their imp partner. "Get out of the way and go home to your goddamn brainwashed husband."
"Oh, Roselle?" Sivah asked playfully before the carved staff of serpent heads was amalgamated into a dark fountain through the mouths of the snakes before the black liquid dissipated like a waterfall leading to the ends of the earth. It bastardized the grip from golden delicate carvings into harsh yet smooth edges as their depictions changed to swirls and stripes wrapping around the base of the staff. Blitz and Styx stood, eyes wide as they understood the message.
"Quite." Sivah said as he noticed their faces of disbelief. "I noticed him begging to have doubts, but I never imagined he would betray me so forcefully. That had to be concluded quicker than it began, I'm afraid. My dear Rose now lives as a prisoner of my embrace, ready to depart as soon as he understands what he has done wrong."
"And what exactly did he do wrong?" Blitz asked sternly.
"He attempted to deceive me before talking to me. Granted that the situation was displeasing all around, sure, but it was still a feeble attempt at undermining my extensive capabilities."
"You love the sound of your own voice." Styx declared.
Sivah nodded gleefully before casually entrapping the two, distancing their hands as the duo felt hopeless at the separation. The owl snapped their fingers and a green flame soared outwards. Another snap found the same leaping from Sivah's fingers onto the wooden railings of the apartment complex, before another snap sent a second, hotter flame against the wooden door. It spread like hungry animals stalking their next meal, devouring the wood like meat off of bones, and the trapped duo watched their life go up in flames alongside anyone else who had lived there. The cold was disgustingly sharp and warm now.
"I believe It's only fair." Sivah said proudly. "You take away my chances at godhood with my significant other, I entrap him for his wrongdoings and punish you for yours. This is the most reasonable shit I've done in years."
"If this is reasonable then I'd hate to see unreasonable." Styx said through gritted teeth as the flames billowed in the backdrop of the owl's soliloquies. Said owl let loose a maniacal laugh before another snap of his fingers submerged the duo into a puddle of black liquid and sent them on their way. Sivah took one final glance at his proud display of arson before taking a step down and making his way to a familiar place for the duo.
"Snake Stealers? Really?" Sivah asked himself in disgust as he momentarily stopped, twirling around the sinner's memories. "Absolutely awful. I would have preferred 'Sivah's Mad Wild Ride' myself. Much more effective."
In the meantime, Leroy had watched a vortex of darkness reveal itself atop the stage, sending him and the crowd away. Gresha looked on in awe and even cheered their landings. The bartender, however, gave an irritable glance and chose to take a step closer.
"You two?" Leroy asked. "What, find some mythical artifact or something?"
"Fuck!" Styx exclaimed unceriminoisly. "Leroy, we have company on the way!"
The bartender nodded, gesturing the crowd out in a congested mess as he tossed a bag of weapons onto the table, much to the satisfaction and smiling of Blitz, the worry and frowning of Styx, and the unhinged dedication and energetic willingness of Gresha getting ready to tear apart anyone and anything.
On cue, the door swung open, sending passerbys onto the ground as they stumbled and almost met their second maker as the bar soon drifted into isolation, minus the collective in question. Armored talons scraped across the aging oak flooring, and the staff of darkness remained held up high as a black mist swept everyone into a dream-like state. They slowly felt their bodies become lighter; Foliage grew across the tables and chairs with the stage manifesting a large powerful tree. Sivah remained silent through the trek into the dark forest.
"The hell is this?" Leroy repeated as he cocked his lever action rifle. Blitz pulled back the hammer of his newly acquired handgun, admiring the appearance of an older flintlock before pulling the hammer back.
"A fuckin flintlock revolver?" The imp questioned.
The bartender shrugged. "It was payment for a debt."
"How's this shit get bullets in it?"
"Aside from reloading?" Leroy chastised. "There's a slide in the front, underneath the barrel. It feeds into the chamber. Twist to the left to pull it out and -"
"And fucking die." Sivah said, blasting the bar with a temporal field of black tendrils, compressing into themselves until a large explosion o splinters sent Leroy and Blitz into the center of the ground now textured with jagged stepping stones. "I've honestly lost track of how many times I've told you that."
"Maybe you oughta stop counting and start fighting." Leroy retorted at the creature, immediately raking a shot and firing.
Sivah dodged the shot with ease as his corporeal form distorted into a travelling smoke which grabbed the bartender's hand and tossed the rifle into an abyss. "Maybe you should start sucking ass." The owl said as he grabbed the rifle, his fingers burning through the finish and staining the wood underneath the grip. He turned his attention to a passerby who had failed to escape in time, cowering in the corner and beginning to scream as the owl pulled the lever to cock a shot and fired at them. Blood sprayed across the giant tree, and it was absorbed as quickly as it was spilled. The gun dissolved from the barrel until it's ashes dropped beneath Siva's feet.
"Son of a bitch." Leroy said. "That was an antique."
"Antique this." Sivah said, and blasted the bartender across the room. Leroy's soot covered body laid against the wall as he coughed unceriminoisly, unhappy with all of the commotion pertaining to his establishment in the past week.
Styx struck the owl in the legs from behind with a broken chair leg, but Sivah was able to manifest themselves once more behind the sinner and simply shove them to the ground, stifling a laugh for them believing it would be effective. Blitz's fired three shots at Sivah, who was able to doge two but received his own burning pain in the form of his shoulder, letting out a yelp as his teleportation took a hit and sent Sivah stumbling out of their corporeal form onto the ground. In response, the owl grabbed a few more bystanders and tossed them at Blitz, who stepped out of the way for Gresha to charge and grab the being. Canine teeth grazed Sivah's neck as the owl released a screech of pain before thrashing Gresha with the staff and sending her back as well. Leroy grabbed another firearm from the bag before it was immediately destroyed and fired a shot directly at the owl's chest, which successful exited the other side in a splash of black blood.
Sivah stared. Blitz jumped and sent a blow to the owl with an elbow to the face, where Gresha managed to grab hold of one of Sivah's fingers before biting down as hard as she could. A fountain of darkness began to flow from the supposed wielder of nightmares, and they screamed as their eyes glowed and unleased a shockwave which sent everyone onto the ground once more. As the trees faded, Styx took another shot with their makeshift weapon and knocked Sivah in the back of the knees before the owl fell to their knees with a grunt.
Sivah looked at his hand - The powers within him had foresight to heal his would, however the tip of his middle finger was shorter than before. With a troubled grip of the staff, the owl restored the images of forestry before another burning pain struck his abdomen. The darkness healed him. Another burning pain struck his other shoulder. The darkness healed him. The visions of torment were turning, and the tears of pain and remorse had finally begun to flow as the rivers of blood were desperately closed.
"ENOUGH!" Sivah screamed. All of the bullets that had gone through him were suddenly and violently retuned to the guns of their users at such a velocity that the weapons immediately combusted and were dropped to the floor. Styx made haste and leaped towards a stray handgun from the remains of the gun bag.
Blitz ran at the owl with claws brandished. Sivah noticed and allowed it to happen in order to grasp the imp from the neck with a blade protruding from the staff, now against the imp's neck as Blitz looked on in enraged commitment. Sivah smiled and was immediately interrupted by another bite from Gresha on the same hand, which launched Blitz up and onto the stage as he immediately broke off a branch from the metaphysical tree and took another shot at charging towards the weirder of nightmares before Leroy and Styx both grabbed a hold of Siva's other arm. Blitz leaped and sent a swift and direct kick to the worst place imaginable, and Sivah was sent flying into the door, bursting it open and being dragged into the asphalt of dodging cars. A crowd began to form and Sivah looked around. The barrel of a pistol looked down on the owl. Styx smiled as the rest of the group accompanied them.
"What is this?" Sivah loudly brandished his voice. "You suddenly have a gun after this whole time? At what point did you learn to shoot?"
"My boyfriend taught me." Styx said as they looked at Blitz. The two shared a smile, with the latter having become choked up. Styx grabbed the imp by the waist and held him by his back, much to the happiness of them both, and pulled the trigger.
The ground cast a flash of lightning. Sivah had garnered one last final effort to escape; He shifted away with the help of the staff before the strings of their necklace were torn apart as the owl slid against the ground in a rough landing from teleportation. He recovered the staff and called down a final charged blast of darkness. As the dust settled, Sivah was nowhere to be seen, and Styx lowered their gun.
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