Death and Darkness

Chapter 15

I reached into the pocket of my sweater and produced a beaded bracelet, jangling lightly as it swayed.

"What's that gonna do?" I heard Delta ask in frequency.

"Just keep the Demons and Hounds off me. General Fahrr should've already told the gods about my plan and gotten the Generals to help, too," I replied, leaving her to fight.

Muttering a Latin incantation as quickly as I could, the beads began glowing softly, radiating hues of blue and silver. With a powerful toss, I sent the bracelet flying toward Lucifer's mangled-looking body a few hundred yards from me. It struck him square in the face (or what looked like it), catching his attention immediately. He peered down at me with one bleeding eye, glaring scythes down my throat.

I repressed a shudder when Lucifer began moving toward me, wailing out an unholy sound that I truly cannot describe. My reflexes screamed at me to move, to dodge and fight like a stubborn trooper, but I stood still. My hands twitched at my side when Lucifer halted before me and rose his body to reach the heavens, screeching at me in hatred and anger. My body stiffened, suddenly feeling an excess of dark magic dripping heavily off of the demon before me, except that he wasn't truly a demon. Lucifer was a fallen angel that possessed the powers of a demon. I shouldn't forget that fact.

"KIARA! MOVE, DAMMIT!"

"Wait!" General Fahrr grabbed Delta before she could rush to my help. "Give us your trust this time."

Delta reluctantly relaxed.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, realizing how alone I was against the beast. Everyone else was fighting in a sort of ring formation, Angels and Reapers and Hell-spawns intertwined like a braided flower crown. Except I was trapped in the center with Lucifer. Such a perfect plan; what could go wrong? Only a couple hundred!

My throat tightened while Lucifer was contorting his body to face me. Stay calm, I thought quickly. Bile began creeping up my esophagus. Stay calm! I pushed the urge to vomit down, refusing to let fear control me. Just a little more. My eyes flashed green, I swear it did, as the devil lashed out at me, diving to clamp his fangs over my body and crush my bones, swallowing my soul alongside everything else for eternal damnation. Lovely.

"FOOLISH REAPER!"

I tensed from his words but didn't dare look away. His fangs were inches from my body when he suddenly froze, hissing and crying out in fury and pain. The three gods had struck simultaneously, a perfectly timed attack. Lucifer's body smoked as he melted back into Hell, screaming and clawing desperately.

The black haze emitting from his body surrounded me as he melted. I coughed, vision blurring slightly. A familiar boy stood before me, smiling. He stretched out both his hands, beckoning me to run into his arms. My eyes watered, but I refused to cry. Taking a step forward, my mind started losing all reasoning and told me to just tackle him in a hug and never leave.

"Come on, Maxwell. My arms are getting tired," he said in that joking voice of his.

"Sorry, sorry," I murmured back, dazed. "Of course, I'm co—"

A large gash suddenly sliced his body in half diagonally, blood splattering everywhere. I reached over quickly to grab his hand, but someone else had taken my arm and dragged me back. The smoke dispersed in a rush of chilling wind.

"Max?" my Mentor called, hesitation beneath his cold tone. "Are you alright?"

I whipped around and threw my fist straight into his chest, sending him back a few feet. My blades glinted from my wrists as I took swing after swing, ignoring my own blood dripping from the silver blades. General Fahrr didn't flinch, taking my blows like a solid wall. Only when I fell to my knees did I finally stop, wiping tears away quickly.

"Finished?" Fahrr questioned.

I nodded. Delta walked to my side and sat, cross-legged. She smiled a reassuring smile and patted my shoulder comfortingly.

"Look on the bright side," she told me cheerily. "We've come so... Fahrr."

My Mentor groaned while I started cracking up.

"You've no idea how many times I've heard my name used as that pun," he growled.

I sniffed, smiling brightly. "It's not such a Fahrr-fetched thought."

"You're impossible," he replied, shaking his head.

Delta laughed, telling me a funny story of her time, once, in Peru. General Fahrr left silently with the other Generals. I sat listening to Delta while the Angels cleared out the remainder of Demons and Hounds around us before returning to Heaven themselves.

Clouds of orange and pink blanketed us. I was surprised to find the sky clear of crimson and black when I finally noticed. Zeus must really hate the starless darkness.

"Wow. All the mortals are returned to bed," Delta mused, stretching her arms. "No memories, no knowledge. Back to ignorance."

"That's not entirely bad. They're forever having an existential crisis until they die." I smiled wryly.

"Okay, Satan, chill," she returned, mirroring my smile.

I rubbed my scarred wrists and stared at the darkening sky. Somehow, I felt content without them with me. Delta was alive for a change, so I at least had someone to talk to.

But happiness, however much or little, has always been a fleeting emotion...