Fighting Our Inner Demons (UsUk)

Chapter 10 ★ America

  "You're lucky that I'm here aru."

      Wang Yao held his metal wok over his shoulder casually, as if knocking out an angel wasn't a big deal. 

"I guess I am." Ivan smiled, but Wang scowled. 

"Kiku, help me get the body in the sack!" Wang shouted back to his brother, who came flying out of nowhere.

"Hai!" He responded, opening the sack as Natalia threw him in. 

  Ivan watched as they threw him in. He looked down at where Arthur had been standing a few minutes ago. Where had his bow gone?

"What are you looking for aru?" Yao asked.

"The angel had a bow in his hand. Where'd it go?" Ivan said, searching for the golden bow.

"The Sun Bow is connected to the users mind and soul. It appears when needed, and disappears when it's duty is done." Yao explained, throwing the sack over his shoulder. "Now let's go. Master Alfred wanted us to grab some humans for him to snack on, and you know how he gets when he's hungry."

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    Alfred was starving when his butlers finally arrived. May I stress finally. Of course, Alfred had no sense of time, so it was hard for Yao and Ivan to get some leeway. But once they showed him what they had caught, Alfred was happy to let them off the the hook.

"I assume you have him?" Alfred asked, and Yao sighed.

"We made sure of it." He answered, angered by how much this guy talked.

"Good! You can take the humans to the the kitchen and the prisoner to the dungeon- actually, no I'll take the prisoner." Alfred took the sack in his own hands and slung it over his shoulder. "Thanks dude!"

  Alfred ran off, a plan shaping in his head.

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   It took at the very least an hour for the angel to wake up. In the meantime, Alfred ate pie (ingredients include minced human meat), slept, and messed around with the stuff that had been in Arthur's shopping bag. One of them was a yo-yo, which he entertained himself with.

  All the items from Arthur's bag were spewed out onto the floor, the contents laid out in front of the demon. As he played with the yo-yo, he heard groaning in the background. Chains clicked as the prisoner tried to get up, Alfred not really paying attention.

   Arthur watched in anger as the demon quickly showed off his skills with the yo-yo, still not acknowledging the angel's presence. Sweat dripped down Arthur's forehead as he pulled on the chains around his wrists as hard as he could, only to have them dig deeper into his skin. He tried spells, prayers, everything. The magic he had was gone, unable to work in a place like hell.

"Shit. Where the bloody hell am I? Why's it so hot in here? What happened? I can't remember anything! What the hell happened?!"

Arthur became more and more desperate to escape when he finally realized where he was. Hell. Arthur's heart raced as he pulled at the chains even harder. The demon finally looked up from the yo-yo to see Arthur struggling with his chains.

"Oh! Dude, I thought you'd never wake up!" Alfred exclaimed, dropping the yo-yo and racing over to Arthur. He sat right down in front of him with a grin.

"I'm not a 'dude' you wanker... and stop messing with my bloody stuff!" Arthur snapped, his face red with anger.

"Heh. Sorry, I get bored easily. Anyways, glad to see you up and at it. I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name's Alfred F. Jones, King of the Demons. Yours?" Alfred grinned, waiting for a response.

Silence.

"You have a name, right? I don't want to call you 'Alice look-alike' forever."

"I already gave you my name you American hob knocker! It's Arthur!  Arthur Kirkland!" He growled, lips brought up in a snarl.

"Alright. That's a start. Now tell me a little about yourself Arthur."

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. Did he really expect him to just sit down and tell a demon about what he likes and dislikes? This wasn't some social gathering for God's sake!

Silence.

"Alright then. I guess I'll start us off. I like American football, burgers, heroes, watching horror movies, junk food, playing video games, sports, and anything having to do with America. I hate marmite and I'm kinda scared of ghosts and weight scales. I have archaeology and architecture as my hobbies, and I love listening to old music!" Alfred stated proudly.

  Arthur burst out laughing. "You're afraid of weight scales and marmite? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" He jeered, laughing hysterically at the demon in front of him. What a loser! Whoever raised him had no taste!

"Well, then what do you like?" Alfred asked, crossing his arms in disappointment. This guy was rude! What a jerk!

"My hobbies and interests are much better than yours, that I can assure!" Arthur laughed, still hung up on the marmite fear. "I like to cook, although no one ever lets me, tea, embroidery, craftsmanship, literature, rock music, any music really besides the horrible pop they play now'a days, and I'd like to think of myself as a movie critique."

  Alfred yawned. "Boring."

"Tsk! As if yours is any better!" Arthur shot back, and Alfred smirked.

"Looks like I've got you out of your shell. Now, do you mind answering some questions? Some you don't have to answer." Alfred said, smirking a little too evil for Arthur.

Arthur scowled at him with disgust.

"I'll take that as a yes." Alfred chuckled. "Now, let's start! What are your connections with Alice?"

Silence.

"No? Alright. Next one- how different are you?" Alfred narrowed his eyes, knowing he hit home.

  Arthur had always been different. His magic had always been stronger than the other angels his age, he always had bigger wings, and he had bright green eyes, unlike the typical blue eyes almost every other angel had. He had always been open minded, open to different preferences and views when it came to religion or anything really.

"Different? I've always been different, since the day I was born." Arthur answered. Alfred's lips formed a smirk. "But I'm so different that I embrace it."

"How naive. We're almost done." Alfred dug into his pockets searching for something. He stood up, and flipped out a dagger. Arthur's eyes widened at the sharp blade. "If you were to die right here and now, what would you do?"

  Arthur held his head high. He knew what he would do.

"If it was God's will, then so be it. I will live out my destiny, and fulfill my duty of God. I would have no regrets, for I have fought till the bitter end, up to this very point. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God." Arthur's voice was full of unwavering faith, not a single lie in his mouth. His words were the truth; he did not need to sob as he died because he knew that death was only the beginning. Death was not a failure in his book, it wasn't a lose or a win- it was a stage of life that comes with every step a person, demon, or even angel takes. It's around every corner and each day we avoid it. But as long as you wake up to see the sun you're OK. Death was just an idea, a principle of life. It's something you can't avoid.

Alfred laughed. "Smart ass." He tossed the dagger towards the back of the room, where neither one could grab it.

"Now, last question- How would you like to be my servant?"

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