Ezekiel Tobit

Chapter V The Demon in the Brim of the Sea

The dancing fiery fire was completely extinguished the moment the demon was killed. The woman was still there, coughing, as sweats are pouring down her soft looking face.

I moved my gaze away from her when I heard the mechanical clicking sounds from Gold's wings. She glided next to where I was standing. She is taller than me by inches, her height almost towers mine. She has long black hair with a highlight of gold strips and also, her blue eyes have golden features within the irises.

"You thought I have forgotten?" 

"What are you talking about?" I asked, showing her an innocent face.

"You are next demon." Gold pointed her golden sword to my chest.

"Oh, no. You've got it all wrong, I'm no demon." I defended myself, making sure that I sounded certain and true.

"There's no normal human who can kick a demon like that."

"It was pure adrenaline and luck." I strongly rebutted.

"Then how would you explain that skull scar on your neck?"

That has taken me aback. Once again, I obliviously run my hand towards my neck. The scar is burning again as I assumed which made me tense a bit in pain.

"Then why did you save me in the first place?"

She smirked at the question as she twisted her sword at my chest level.

"Saving an endangered life takes priority first."

I managed a sly smile in return which seemed to not improve her mood.

"You're one of a great Samaritan aren't you?"

"Faugh! You're one to talk. You cannot charm speak me demon, I'm no knight who can be swayed with words,"

"Then you're no knight at all if you couldn't read the situation in the first place."

"Your aura tells it all. You're a demon and I'm certain about it." She pushed her sword at my chest. I stepped back to evade its sharp edge but it still stings, I can feel beads of blood flowing slowly from my chest.

"Now I'm certainly sure you're no knight, for real genuine knights don't judge by appearances, auras or instincts that easily. Real knights assess what's happening and more importantly they can sense the goodness of one's soul. They are not corrupted by the intent to kill, nor neither devoured by a monstrous grudge. On the contrary, in your case, you're worse than demons, you're completely swallowed by vengeance—"

"Enough!" She kicked me in the stomach, cutting me mid-sentence and sending me stumbling into a corner. I was so focused in conveying and trying her to be knocked out of her senses that I was caught off guard.
The kick was painful, but not as intense as Judiel's.

"You," she gritted her teeth, her bluish golden eyes are burning odiously as they bulge in their sockets.

"You have no right to lecture me demon. You and the likes of you will be extinguished by my blade, by the blood of an Argentum, I will claim my vengeance!" As if on cue, the sky thundered and cold wind started to blow hard. The street lamps stopped fluctuating, everything's clear now. Gold is moving near me with her sword in her hand.

"It's time for you to meet your demise demon."

"I am unafraid to meet my end if it is willed by the Almighty," I blurted before she can strike me with her sword.

Blood. Intense pain. The feeling of dying. Why can't I feel them?

Darkness, why am I engulfed in darkness? Am I really a demon as what they say? Am I?

"Am I dead?"

"Not yet," the raucous voice of someone stirred me back to my senses, but I don't feel like I'm in some sort of space or standing on a solid ground or something. What I can feel is the heavy force of an invisible object engulfing me. I feel like I'm plunged deep into a body of water.

An entity is moving near me, something that is swimming. Then in an instant, a very strong object pulled me, clutching me in its tentacle-like grip.

I opened my eyes and saw the floating entity that gripped me. It was dark and vague, my eyes were blurry, they couldn't focus on the creature in front of me.

"Who are you?" I squirmed in the grasp of the unclear creature.

"My identity is unnecessary for you to know." The raucous voice replied. I feel so heavy that I think I was plunging deep in the body of whatsoever space I'm in. My memories of my encounter with Lucia flash again. They flash so fast that I think I'm losing myself in the whirlpool of madness brought by these illusions. She stabs my best friend,  moves near me and kisses me. I was totally devoured by darkness. I feel heavier every second the memories try to corrupt my mind, but something feels different, the moment the intoxicating memories break my sanity I feel much powerful, I feel much stronger and calmer that I feel like I'm growing numb.

"Wake up my son, rise and fulfill the cause your brother has abandoned. Unlock your true power!"

I stirred in the corner where Gold was striking me with her sword. The time was frozen for a second. The scene resumes from being paused, then it happened in a very slow motion. I see the intense intent to kill in Gold's face as she swings her sword to cut my neck. Slowly, when her sword was about to hit me, it happened in the most epic way possible, her sword gets shattered into a thousand of pieces before it can strike me dead, as if some invisible shield has protected me from it. In a blink of an eye the world returns to rotating normally. Gold's face is indistinguishable from the shock.

"How did you you—? She stammered.

I stood before her and kicked her in the solar plexus. Gold was bashed on the nearest wall, her wings were torn to shreds as she's blown to the next street. I was consumed with dark energy that is messing up with my emotions. I feel no pity as I grow numb.

"Now it is your time to meet your demise insolent human." I spoke coldly as I teleported next to her.

Gold spitted blood at my face.

"Your eyes are pure evil. You're a demon. Burn to hell devil!"

"How spiteful," I mused, wiping my face with my hand.

I feel so relaxed. I feel like I'm doing the right thing despite the call of my other senses that I'm doing the wrong one. I cannot stop. I cannot help it, I'm drown into the abyss of evilness. I'm a demon.

I held the helpless gal in her neck, nearly choking her.

"Any last words?" I asked her devilishly.

Gold's armor was battered, her expression is in the most intense pain.

I've become cold. I'm confused. I'm engulfed in darkness. I've become the demon I despised the most.

I'm shivering as I choke Gold to her death. I'm shivering as I hear the voices of the people who call me demon.

"You're not one of them, and you will be never be one of them. You're not a demon Ezekiel."

"If I am not a demon, then what am I father?"

"You are the only one who can decide of what will you choose to be. Don't let anybody dictate you of who and what you'll be, nobody can change the fact that you are who you are, always remember that." Friar Timothy replied the question of the young me with a smile as he wipes away the tear from my eyes.

"Yes, I am not a demon. I am who I am."

I am finally awake. Gold was nearly losing her breath before I released her. I couldn't let this evil power be flowing in my veins again. I am not a demon!

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Yikes!