Yep, another update. Try to guess what today is before I get to it ;)
Enjoy!
Nashi yawned as she stretched on her way to the guild. It had been a few days since the Games had ended and they'd returned to Magnolia, which allowed her to relax a whole lot. It took her until she got home to realize how tense she'd gotten over the past few days. Of course, Nashi felt like, given what had happened with the Grand Magic Games, she wouldn't get to relax very long.
Once she got to the guild and walked inside, she immediately noticed something. When she entered the guild hall, she usually sought out her friends and go right to them. Obviously she did this again, but once she did this, something seemed off.
Damien wasn't present. Elise wasn't either, but Nashi expected that.
That in and of itself wasn't a problem, but Nashi usually saw him around when she entered. Was he late? Was he on a job or something?
Whatever.
"Hey guys." Nashi said, walking up to the table. "Where's Damien?" Simon shrugged.
"No idea. We haven't seem him yet." Again, this didn't seem odd. Probably overslept.
"It's not like Damien to oversleep." Drake said, cutting into Nashi's thoughts. "He usually get here bright and early." Now that Nashi thought about it, Drake had a point. Damien was usually here bright and early for whatever reason.
"Did he take a job?" She asked. Ultear shrugged.
"I don't think so, no." She said. "He hasn't taken one alone for a while." This made everyone think about this. For a while, Damien only came back late at night or early in the morning to take another job and disappeared again. After Phantom Dove, he stuck around and basically became apart of the team. Had he slipped back into his old habits?
"Whatever is it, just give him time." Simon suggested. "He'll show up eventually."
Damien knew he really needed to stop disappearing for a while, but in this instance he really couldn't help it. He didn't, or couldn't, tell his friends about what he was doing. Because if they knew, they have gotten rather irritated with him. Because what he was doing was a result of his own foolish actions.
And yet, as he progressed through the sky towards his objective, he found himself caring less and less.
Damien landed on the outskirts of the town and looked around quickly. Since he'd been to the town in three different times as of now, it was very disorienting to be where he was. Damien knew full well where the ranch was, and he sprinted towards it as fast as he could. After a few minutes of running he made it, and he basically tackled the door to knock on it. He waited impatiently as someone, Damien recognized it as Devin, opened the door.
"Oh my God..." He whispered. Damien rolled his eyes as he panted.
"No time..." He said. "Where...Is she?" The man seemed stunned for a minute or two, but eventually he regained his composure.
"She's in town somewhere. She went to work at the bar, but she might be done my now. I'm not sure." Damien nodded in appreciation and turned back to the town, sprinting once more. He went slower this time as he realized his chest started to hurt. And soon, he saw what he recognized as the bar from the future.
Walking towards the predictable larger looking building, he had to wonder what was going to happen to him. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to find, and it unnerved him a great deal. All he knew was that he had to find his sister.
As he reached the bar and walked inside, Damien noticed that the bartender was a completely different person that from twenty years in the future. As expected though, it was two decades of the same menial task. Damien would get bored too. As he walked towards the bar to ask the man if he'd seen Steph, the man sitting at the bar turned to see Damien advance. The man didn't strike Damien as anything special off of his looks alone, save his clothes. The man was wearing a black cloak over a black jacket, and his eyes followed Damien all the way to the bar. Damien kept his gaze and he reached it, and the man averted his eyes as the bartender came over.
"What'll it be?" He asked. Damien looked over away from the weird man towards the bartender.
"I wanted to ask you something." He said. "I'm looking for someone."
"Want information? Buy a drink."
"Are you serious?"
"Do I sound like I'm kidding?" Damien honestly considered turning into a demon right then and there and ripping the man a new one, but he held it in and took a deep breath.
"Fine. Get me a fucking beer." The man nodded and Damien tapped his fingers against the counter irritably. Why had he come into here again? He should've just gone straight to Devin and asked where she was...
"Looking for someone?" Damien looked up to see that the mysterious man and the counter had asked him this question. The man radiated a rather strange aura, but Damien saw no reason to feel suspicious. He had a cross around his neck, after all.
"Uh, yeah." He said.
"Who?"
"My little sister." The man nodded.
"Runaway?"
"Kind of." The man chuckled, but it sounded forced.
"I know the feeling. Looking for my brother myself."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Bastard bartender likes to force drinks on those looking for info."
"I could tell." Damien smiled as the man laughed at this, and the bartender returned with Damien's drink he didn't want.
"What did you want?" He asked. Damien returned his eyes to him and gulped, stomach turning.
"I'm looking for my little sister. She's blonde, has blue eyes, and she'd be around seventeen. Know her?" The man shrugged and nodded.
"Yeah, that's Steph. She's a waitress here. You're her brother?" Damien felt his stomach flipping happily, and he couldn't help but smile widely.
"Where is she now?" The man shrugged.
"She should be around here somewhere. She's on break right now, so..." Damien nodded and quickly turned to leave. "Hey! Pay for your drink!"
"Fuck you and your drink!" Damien shouted angrily, yet excited. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a wad of jewel and tossed it at the bartender. The man sitting at the counter was still watching Damien.
"Good luck, kid." He said. Damien nodded as he turned to swiftly walk away.
"You too." He said. He left the bar and looked around the town frantically, looking for any sign of his sister. Could she be paying for food? Maybe admiring the view of the fields? He had to find her!
"Excited, Damien?" Damien froze in place. He hadn't heard that voice in a little bit. He turned and looked over his shoulder to find Xisplate,ever so smug in his suit, watching him.
"You fuck off." Damien warned. "I'm not in the mood for your cryptic bullshit."
"Oh calm down, you." Xisplate replied. "I can't talk to you?"
"Not right now." Damien growled. "I'm trying to find Steph."
"Hm, are you now?"
"Yeah, cause I undid your bullshit." Damien said, smirking at the demon. "I saved her life." Xisplate let out a laugh. An actual one.
"It's cute you still haven't realized what I did was of no consequence." Damien's eyes widened as Xisplate walked ahead.
"...What?" He asked.
"Nothing." Xisplate replied. "I think you might find her over there somewhere, so..."
Damien gasped in pain as an attack struck him in the back. He was sent to the ground and he sat there, stunned by the surprise hit.
"Just my luck." A voice said, one eerily familiar. "A demon... A Demon Lord no less, walks right into the bar!" Damien growled as he sat up, and looked back towards his attacker.
The man from the counter was standing there, a smirk on his face.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Damien demanded. "What do you want?" The man laughed as a glow surrounded his body, much akin to Michael's magic.
"I want your head, Lord. I wasn't tasked to find you. No, I was after that other boy...But you'll do so much better!" Damien gritted his teeth and stood, raising a hand to transform.
"Damien, don't." Damien raised an eyebrow and turned to find Xisplate standing at his side, looking frightened. Frightened.
Huh?" Damien demanded. Xisplate looked over at him.
"The mans using Holy Magic. You need to run, he could kill you easily." Damien's eyes widened at this and turned back to his attacker. "If I had to place a bet, he's a Demon Hunter. If you fight him, you will not get past his magic."
"...So what do I do?!" Damien demanded. At this, a blast of white magic went past Damien's head, and he jerked back as his skin felt like it was boiling.
"You run." Xisplate said. "Or you die." Damien stare at the demon to make sure he wasn't kidding, but Xisplate's expression didn't change. Slowly, nerves overtaking him, Damien turned and started to run away. Attacks started flying all around him, with a few getting to close to him and causing his skin to get irritated.
Damien had never actually been in direct combat with someone using Holy Magic, so these effects were scaring him. How many could he take before it killed him? Or some other horrible effect? He turned and corner and kid there for a moment, waiting to see if the man was following him. Because if he was, Damien could sneak attack him there and...
BOOM!
Damien shouted in pain as the building he was hiding against exploded in white light. He stumbled backwards and looked back to find the man watching him with a smirk.
"Did you really think you could hide from me?" He demanded. You're mine, monster." Damien growled and squared off with the man. People were crowding around to watch, which it and of itself was dangerous. One misplaced attack and the bastard hit an innocent civilian.
"Get out of here!" Damien shouted. "He's dangerous!"
"I'm the dangerous one?!" The man shot back. "You're the monster graced by Hell's Embrace! I'm trying to save these people you murderous son of a bitch!"
"I'm not trying to murder anyone!" Damien said. "I just want to find my sister!"
"Bullshit." Another attack lashed out, and Damien hadn't been ready for it. It struck him dead in the chest, and he felt like his skin was being peeled away and he was being boiled alive. Another attack struck him and another, and another. Soon enough, Damien felt like he could barely breath. The man walked up to him.
"You disgust me." He spat. "Trying to use that woman who lives here as cover." Damien looked up weakly.
"It's not...cover...She's my sister!"
"Ugh." The man aimed a palm at Damien, and the blasts sent Damien onto his back.
"I'd get up, Dreyar." Damien heard Xisplate say somewhere. "We should really vacate the premises."
"Would if I could, asshole..." Damien managed as he struggled to one knee. The Hunter approached him again, glaring down at him.
"After all that training to take down a Demon Lord, and it's some kid who goes down as easily as peasants." The man said. "Pathetic. How the hell did his parents die to one of your kind?"
"What ate you talking about?"
"Doesn't matter." The man replied. He brought his hands together, and they glowed with white magic. "I'd say your funeral rites, kid. Your done. Neptu will surely promote me after this!" Damien wanted to move, but his body was acting sluggish. Why? Why was this happening?! He just wanted to find his sister...
Steph...
Damien growled and lashed out with an attack. It wasn't anything that would get him out of the situation, but the pent up frustration from the royal ball and the sprinting he'd been doing had reached it's peak. The man backed up a bit from the punch, but he didn't stop his attack.
"Was that really all you could manage?!" He roared, still charging his attack. "Fucking pathetic!" Damien growled as his skin crawled. He looked over to find Xisplate simply standing there.
"What are you looking at?!" Damien roared. "Do something!" Xisplate shrugged.
"No need." He said.
"Why?! I'm going to get hurt here!"
"Look above us, Damien." Damien had no idea what the demon was talking about, but he did as he was told.
Storm clouds. They crackled with lightning.
Strange, it had been a clear sky only a moment ago...
Damien watched as a lightning bolt easily eight feet wide roared down from the sky and struck the Hunter, who roared in pain and was thrown back by the resulting explosion. The Hunter rolled through the dirt and came to a stop a ways away from Damien, the crowd still watching.
Someone was walking towards them. Damien turned to look at who it was, and his world froze.
It was a girl. She was walking towards them with her head hanging. She had short blonde hair that just barely touched her shoulders, and she was wearing a black tank top with jeans. She walked until she stood in front of Damien. Damien watched as the hunter climbed to his feet with a groan.
"And who the hell are you?" He demanded. "Do you realize what your doing? He's a dangerous monster." The woman did not respond, and the hunter narrowed his eyes at her. "Wait...You two look very similar."
"Did you really think he was lying?" She asked, and her voice sent a shiver down Damien's spine. "Because he wasn't."
"Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't." He replied. "Doesn't change the fact that he's a dangerous creature that needs to be put down."
"Maybe so." Damien's eyes widened as lightning crackled around her. "But he's my monster of an older brother, and you aren't lying another finger on him without going through me."
"That so?"
"It is."
"Steph..." Damien said weakly. This caused her to turn, and Damien met her eyes. Just as he recalled, a piercing blue. Her eyes bore into him for a moment or two, before a smile creased her face.
"You protected me eleven years ago, Onii-chan." She said, returning her gaze to the hunter. The lightning intensified. "So allow me to return the favor!"
With this, Stephanie Dreyar turned into a lightning bolt and tackled the Hunter, all whilst her brother watched with a mix of happiness and curiosity.
I have work to do, I really shouldn't be doing this...Whatever. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!