Chaos & Order

Chapter 12

The demon's laughter still rang in Siel's ears as he looked around, almost tearing the room apart. His shock turned into anger, pounding in his ears like a drum. In his rage, he shouted, "Where...WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Hey, wanna yell a bit louder? I think my dad couldn't make it out." Said the voice of Boogeyman as his shadow appeared.

"What do YOU..." Siel snarled. He then stopped. A different idea occurred to him, "No, wait...you can help me, Boegarian."

Boogeyman arched an eyebrow at this sudden heel-turn, "Sorry, it's just people say that so rarely. I need a moment."

Elsewhere, in a dark, dank dungeon, the demon emerged from the shadows. He snapped his fingers and, in a flurry of darkness, the unconscious form of Aliyah appeared. With another snap, chains formed and bound her to the wall. The demon walked over to her body and gently stroked her face.

    "Such a pretty girl. Just wish I could have some fun with you first. No matter." He smirked as he pulled out a dagger and cut the skirt of her dress down the side open, revealing the rod strapped to her thigh. He took it from its holster and examined it, "Carrying such a beautiful weapon, too."

Then Aliyah groaned as her eyes slowly opened, "Where...?"

"Ah, you woke up faster than I thought." The demon gripped the rod tight, "Good morning, Princess."

Aliyah tried to lift her hands only to realize that she was chained. She then began to wake up more as she looked around in a panic, "Who are you? W-where's Siel??"

"I'm of not one you should concern yourself with. And your boyfriend is currently...playing a game, shall we say?" The demon laughed, "Tell me, will you die if I break this? Or should we just find out?"

As he spoke, his hand glowed and the rod started to crack. Aliyah cried out in pain as cuts started to appear on her body, "D-don't...!"

The demon's experiment was interrupted, however. His arms were suddenly entangled in shadowy tendrils. He looked shocked at this development as a familiar shadow appeared behind him. Aliyah looked surprised, but the demon looked angry, "I didn't think you would show up, Exile."

"What can I say? I'm just full of surprises." Boogeyman's voice said, "By the way, kidnapping someone with a guardian angel? Are you TRYING to get the crap beaten out of you?"

"I couldn't care less who her protector is. I'm merely following orders." The demon replied, as he ripped his arm out of the tendrils grip, "What is your business here, Exile? I'm busy."

"See, her guardian angel took exception to this game thing and I'm here to remedy the situation." Boogeyman said.

The demon's hand glowed again as more cracks appeared on the rod, causing more cuts to appear on Aliyah, "And where is her so-called guardian? Did he give up on the game?"

"Oh no. He's not. I just came in first." Boogeyman said.

"What?" The demon growled as he looked towards Boogeyman.

"Isn't it obvious? Well, it's a secret, so lemme tell ya real quiet-like..." Boogeyman said, leaning out of the shadows to whisper, "I'm distracting you, idiot."

The demon's eyes widened as he quickly looked to the entrance...just in time to see Siel's crook swing right into his face. He stumbled, his hand rubbing the place where the angel had struck. With a groan as he leaned on the wall, but immediately let out a derisive laugh, "I didn't expect an angel to work with demons."

"I'm not working with HIM. HE'S working with me." Siel stated, "And you made the mistake of coming after my charge."

"Like I told the Exile...I'm just following orders." The demon laughed as he stood upright. He staggered over to Aliyah and began playing with her hair, "A pretty and powerful girl like her, it's no wonder Hell's going crazy over--"

THWACK!

Siel hit him with his crook again, sending the demon to the ground, "Touch her again and I'll turn you into dust in the wind."

The demon laughed as he struggled to his feet again, "Was that the guardian talking? Or an angel in love talking? I can't seem to tell. Tell me, how's it feel to know how much the Princess loves you but you can't love her back~"

Aliyah, covered in cuts and blood, looked at the demon then at Siel before looking down. Siel didn't look at her. He just raised his cane and slammed it into the demon again. He then asked, "Boegarian?"

"Refusing to answer? Afraid she'll know how you really feel?" The demon laughed again. Rather than Siel, though, Boogeyman was the one who reacted. His hands came out of the shadows and grabbed the demon by the head.

"Now...I didn't get the name. Who're you again?" he asked.

The demon growled. "Like I'd tell an Exile like you."

"Eh, have it your way. Can't say I'm too fond of the guys in Hell, myself." Boogeyman said, "Now, how about I say this in a language you understand? I'm about to pierce you. Nice, hard, and slow. Don't worry, I know it's your first time, so I'll be gentle..."

Siel, who had been in the process of undoing the chains around Aliyah, stopped at Boogeyman's choice of phrasing, "Boegarian?"

"Yeah, that sounded a lot less...like that in my head." Boogeyman shrugged before a series of dark tendrils pierced through the demon's chest. The demons gasped in pain as black blood came out of his mouth.

Aliyah quickly looked away the moment Boogeyman pierced him, closing her eyes tightly. Siel picked her up and ran as fast as he could all the while, he said in a reassuring voice, "It's okay. It's okay."

When they were gone, Boogeyman dropped the demon, whose body was stained with some black ichor-like substance that poured from his wounds, "Sorry I had to step in. Call it my boorish, Exile nature."

The demon glared at him and snarled in pain, "There'll be...more...coming for her..."

"Yeah, but as you can see, she's got good friends." Boogeyman said.

The demon laughed weakly and pointed to Aliyah's cracked rod, which lay forgotten on the floor, "It breaks, she dies...she dies...she becomes what she's meant to...the Angel of Darkness...the one we've been waiting for..."

"Oh really?" Boogeyman asked, picking up the rod, "Well, guess someone's gotta keep an eye on it, then. Thanks for pointing that out. If you didn't say anything, might've stayed a mystery to me."

"The day is coming. The little Princess won't stay protected for long..." the demon said with a weak laugh.

"You keep laughing, but you're not very funny." Boogeyman said, "Hey, how about this for a little bit of free material? Knock-knock..."

The demon, who didn't have much longer, asked out of curiosity, "Who's there...?"

"Die." Boogeyman simply said. Shadows then erupted and pulled the demon into the darkness. The demon yelled before he was pulled in and vanished completely. Boogeyman spun the rod in his hand as he said, satisfied, "And that's called comedy. Hey, Mr. Rod-Scythe Thing? How do you feel about travelling through darkness? Let's find out!"

With that, Boogeyman walked into the darkness with the rod resting on his shoulders.