Demon Seer 2

by Kurtis Eckstein

Only an equal monster could block it – only an equal blast could oppose. And there was literally zero time to figure out how to do what he was doing.

  It would be like fighting fate.

  Something implausible.

  Impractical.

  Impossible.

  ‘NO.’

  I was done accepting fate. I was done losing.

  I wouldn’t stop until he was dead, and I’d break all the laws of the universe to succeed.

  I couldn’t dodge?

  ‘Who decided that?’

  Not enough time?

  ‘Who decided that?’

  I couldn’t win?

  ‘Who in the hell decided that?’

  With laser focus, my perception of my environment shifted entirely.

  I was no longer just a bystander to the whims of the universe.

  No.

  Now, it would obey me.

  It would obey me.

  Instantly, I began warping the space to my right, contracting it, and I did the opposite to my left, expanding it.

  No longer would I play by anyone else’s rules – not even the universe. Not even fate.

  From now on, I’d make my own rules.

  Suddenly, the world around me warped as if I was within an invisible bubble, before I unexpectedly found myself at least a mile away towards my right, watching a laser beam in the distance, that had been aimed at me, miss its mark.

  I wasn’t surprised though.

  Because the universe would obey me now. I demanded it.

  I was determined. Resolved.

  I would win.

  I would kill.

  I would have my revenge.

  Because it was all I had left.

  Aiming myself toward my enemy, I forced the space directly in front of me to collapse, while erupting what was behind, until the warped area collided, creating another invisible bubble.

  This time I focused more intently as the world instantaneously zipped away, not even a hundred-thousandth of a second having passed before I was right on him, my fist shooting out of nowhere to slam into his temple.

  He never even saw me coming.

  There was no time for him to react.

  Instantly, both my arm and his skull erupted with cracks all along our hard skin, as he plummeted to the city below as if he had been shot out of a cannon, smashing into the ground like a meteor, a crater erupting all around him, entire castles collapsing from the vibrations.

  Terror erupted from the bystanders below, feeling my unbridled rage and resolve, witnessing one of their strongest be overcome by my bending of reality. Fear from seeing this monster lose to a being like myself, who would destroy the laws of the world to seek out revenge for what I had lost – a bond so strong that many would commit suicide rather than continue living on while their love ceased to exist.

  I heard my own voice then, speaking to me.

  ‘I don’t want you to commit suicide when I die. I want you to live.’

  It was something I had once told Miriam, and I understood her view of it now.

  I understood now.

  Just like she couldn’t live without me, I couldn’t live without her. I couldn’t survive knowing she didn’t exist anymore.

  Unexpectedly, I felt the authoritative presence of Gilgamesh – Miriam’s father and another original – as well as the other Rulers, fast approaching, having sensed the commotion. Which meant I was out of time. I could willingly accept the punishment for what I was about to do, but not before I had done it.

  I would murder Ragnarok, and nothing in the universe was going to stop me.

  Nothing.

  The world around me bent to my will once again, as I watched Ragnarok aim his horns toward me from his crater, that spark of light illuminating brightly, his unstoppable beam firing in less than a second.

  I was still faster.

  I closed the gap in an instant, and slammed my good hand into the other side of his face, fracturing that half too, along with my arm. The impact sent him careening straight through several of the behemoth structures still intact, before I was on top of him again, clasping my broken fists together and slamming them down on his forehead.

  ‘STOP!’ I heard Gilgamesh call out, his mental tone significantly louder than his physical one would have been, due to the distance. He was in sight now, just having erupted from the clouds, rapidly approaching – within a matter of seconds, he’d join the fight and try to stop me.

  Slamming my wings into the ground, burying the bony fingers deep into the rock to pin my enemy’s wings down, I began bursting with blue light, exploding bolts of lightning into my enemy’s face with each slam of my fist, destroying him incrementally with every hit.

  ‘If you don’t stop!’ Gilgamesh continued, suddenly so much closer. ‘You’ll have committed the gravest sin possible! And I can promise you that the one who would enforce punishment is far more powerful than you! You will be destroyed for killing an Original!’

  ‘I don’t give a damn! Without Miriam I might as well die anyway, after I take out this bastard!’

  ‘Miriam?! She’s fine! Desperately looking for you, but fine!’

  I froze solid, my fist only an inch away from landing another hit, just as I had four familiar demons colliding into the ground all around me, ready to defend their own. Miriam’s father, Gilgamesh, with her brother Gabriel, along with Enkidu and his partner Lilith.

  Four of the six demon Rulers, along with the one beneath me.

  And then Miriam, the last.

  My love.

  ‘We left her in the human world,’ Gilgamesh quickly continued, with them all seeing in my exposed and raw mind that this one piece of information had just ended the fight. ‘She was convinced she could find you after you disappeared in a blinding light. Convinced you were still alive even though your connection was severed.’

  A light?

  A blinding light?

  Triggered by those words, the first voice I heard spoke to me again, my eyes widening in shock as I began reliving a horrifying moment all over again – a moment only visible to me.

  ‘Michael, I’ve missed you so much.’

  I was suddenly staring at a blinding light, the bloodthirsty demons surrounding me having vanished – Ragnarok and the trapped Miriam both along with them – with brilliant green eyes being the only indication that there was a person within the luminescence.

  Prior to this moment, I vaguely recalled being shown an illusion by my enemy, only to finally break through the hallucination. I was prepared to fight back, despite being only partially transformed, but then everyone around me froze solid.

  Even a brown leaf falling from a tree stopped in midair, as if time itself had stopped, only for everything around me to disappear.

  Everything, except these glowing emerald eyes.

  ‘Amelia?’

  A pair of warm hands rested against the sides of my neck and jaw. There was so much pain in her voice. So much despair.

  ‘I am Amelia, dear brother, but I’m not your Amelia. I’m the Amelia who lost you. The one who lost Riley. The one who lost Miriam. The one who lost mom and dad, and everyone else. But no more.’ She sobbed unexpectedly, her emerald eyes tightening. ‘Long ago – at least, long ago for me – I promised I’d tear the whole world apart for you – to protect you. To save you. And now…I’m doing just that.’

  “Amelia?” I whispered out loud. “Sis?”

  She continued. ‘I don’t know what the consequences will be for doing this, but I don’t care anymore. The whole world can burn in hell for all I care, the whole universe can implode, but so long as I’ve saved you, that’s all that matters to me.’

  “Amelia!” I exclaimed, reaching out to grab her, feeling the finality in her tone, only to be unable to touch her, as if she wasn’t fully there.

  ‘I’m tearing apart time itself, brother. For you. Now live, for me.’

  Suddenly, the entirety of her face appeared, a young woman at least my age who resembled
my sister, her brilliant emerald eyes filled with tears, her hair glowing bright white. It was like staring face-to-face with a blinding star, except one that I recognized as someone I knew.

  ‘Because I love you, brother. I love you, Michael. So please, take care of your Amelia. Don’t let her feel this pain. Don’t let her experience this agony. Live. And protect her from this.’

  “Michael,” Gilgamesh said out loud, being unaware of what I was experiencing. “You must have severed the connection with Miriam. Partners can sense each other no matter the distances, but it’s possible to–”

  “NO!” I roared at the top of my lungs, my body beginning to glow again as I watched the world around me explode with light – watching Amelia’s tearful gaze disappear from sight. I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.

  It was all real.

  The world around me erupted with blue lightning, though this time it touched nothing.

  “Michael!” Gilgamesh yelled, reaching out to grab my shoulder. “Miriam is fine! I promise you my daughter is fine!”

  But my sister is not!

  My sister is not fine!

  Suddenly, her voice spoke again, except this time it wasn’t a memory. This time it was real, right here and now. I could feel her just barely, right next to me, invisible to the naked eye, but there nonetheless.

  ‘I love you, brother. I’ve kept you until you were strong enough, but now it’s time to let you go. I have to give you back. Now live. For me. Goodbye, Michael.’

  ‘AMELIA!’

  I tried to reach out to grab her, but she slipped away, like a dream dissipating until I could no longer remember the details. And instantly, as she vanished, an impenetrable barrier around my head popped like a bubble – one that had allowed my own thoughts out, and the thoughts I wanted to hear in, but nothing else.

  The entire universe shifted on its axis as a new gravity upended me, a brilliant light erupting in my mind and anchoring me to a new foundation.

  ‘Michael? Michael?! Michael!’ a familiar voice began exclaiming in my head, shifting from confusion, to shock, to overwhelming relief.

  ‘Miriam?’ I said in surprise, disoriented when the gravity below me suddenly became meaningless. Disoriented by the universe unexpectedly revolving around her.

  ‘Michael!’ she repeated, crushing desperation in her tone. Her entire mind was swirling with a thousand intricate emotions, ranging from devastating disbelief, to overwhelming joy. ‘Michael! I’m coming! I’m coming! Just wait where you are! I’m coming!’

  No. Nothing would separate me from her ever again. She didn’t need to come to me.

  I’d go to her.

  Shoving Gilgamesh’s hand away, I leapt straight up into the sky, collapsing the world above me while what was below exploded, that invisible bubble forming as I barreled through the thick red clouds in barely a hundred-thousandth of a second, only to experience…

  Nothing.

  It only lasted a full second, but as I traversed the gap between her and myself, there was absolutely nothing, until there was blue and green, and I was popping into existence in front of a startled Miriam.

  I slowed down just enough to not hurt her as we collided, the two of us smashing unharmed into an unfamiliar forest below, her arms, legs, and wings wrapping around me in an unspoken commitment to never let me go ever again. Even the smaller wings that normally held her chest grabbed my sides, trying to pull me as close as physically possible.

  “I…I thought you were dead,” I choked out, realizing I was crying, my face pressed up firmly against the side of hers.

  Waves of her agony bombarded me. ‘I thought you were dead,’ she emphasized in her thoughts, unable to speak, her own crimson eyes streaming with tears, her body jerking underneath me with sobs. As she continued, her legs tightened around my waist. ‘I thought you were gone forever. But when you disappeared, I couldn’t accept it. I just couldn’t let go. I couldn’t believe you had really just vanished into thin air. And…and I kept hearing your sister’s voice, telling me to wait for you.’

  “Amelia?” I said in surprise, pulling away just enough to look at her, our noses almost touching, uncertain of what she was talking about.

  How could my younger sister have known what had happened to me? How could she have known I somehow appeared in Miriam’s world? What did she have to do with any of it?

  “I told her what happened,” Miriam finally managed out loud, her beautiful crimson eyes focusing on me intently. “I asked her about it, but she didn’t know what I was talking about. She said she didn’t think she was even capable of talking to others with her abilities – she could only hear.”

  “Actually, I kept hearing your voice,” I admitted. “I kept hearing you say things that you had told me before, when I was still human…” My words trailed off, my brow furrowing as I felt like a memory was eluding me. “And, I heard someone else’s voice too, but I can’t remember who, or even what they said.”

  “So then, we’re both crazy,” Miriam conceded, grabbing the back of my head and shoving her lips onto mine.

  ‘If you are, then I am,’ I agreed in my thoughts, closing my eyes as we just lingered like that – our lips pressed firmly together. Her roughness was nice, reminding me that she didn’t have to be careful anymore – that she didn’t need to worry about hurting me.

  Miriam didn’t respond, instead just trying to process that this was real. That I was really alive. I was truly safe. I was really in her arms.

  It wasn’t a dream. It was all real.

  The sun had been still low in the morning when we reunited, but as we continued to hold each other, hidden by the canopy of trees up above, it slowly rose and disappeared, the light along with it, until the sounds of chirping insects and frogs filled the world around us.

  After a long time, she finally pulled away, her crimson gaze desperate as she reached down with her hand to grab the base of my rocky tail. “I don’t have to worry about breaking you anymore,” she whispered, in response to what I’d considered more than half a day ago. She then pushed her mind more firmly into mine, even though we were already melded together.

  “Just tell me what you want,” I replied just as quietly. “Whatever you want from me.”

  The fingers of her other hand grasped my black hair at the back of my head more tightly, as she began pulling my lips down to hers again, our horns just barely touching. “Just you, love. I just want you. Connected to me forever.”

  “Forever,” I agreed simply, focusing on the warmth of her naked body against mine, instead of the still present pain in my hands and arms.

  I could recall the night she had given me her virginity, and I recalled how gentle she had been then. This time was much the same, except that her unrestrained strength felt even more gentle than before, revealing how much I had changed, as well as just how careful she had been previously.

  Even more careful than someone handling delicate glass.

  In the back of my mind, I knew everything might not be over. I knew there might still be consequences for what I had done to Ragnarok.

  But in that moment, I didn’t care. Or rather, it was that my world had shrunk, so that it was only Miriam and myself, and no one else.

  And it continued like that until morning, as we remained connected both mentally and physically, hidden in a random forest, without any regard to the world around us.

  Star-crossed lovers, finally together after overcoming the laws of the universe that separated us, everything from her radioactive existence, to her physical bone-crushing strength, to time itself, given that she was so much older than me.

  And now that we were together, I would never let anything separate us ever again – not my enemy, not the other Rulers, not the ‘higher being’ Gilgamesh had alluded to, and not even the universe itself.

  I’d fight against them all, and I’d win.

  Because I was in control of my own destiny now.

  No one else, but me.

  Or
, so I thought.

  Chapter 6: Reunion

  In my best estimation, we stayed secluded in the forest wrapped in each other’s arms, separated from the rest of the world, for a full day. I was fairly certain it had been early morning when I reunited with Miriam, with the sun having set and risen again.

  However, I had no idea how long I had been in her world, so I was unsure of how many days had passed since she had bitten me and Ragnarok attacked us.

  It was actually the pain in my arms and hands that finally pulled my attention away from our intimacy, not being nearly as bad as the part of the transformation I recalled, but still enough for me to be unable to ignore completely. Oddly enough, the outside looked healed now, but it still hurt. Especially since I was supporting myself some, lying on top of her.

  And when she finally focused on it too, having been wrapped up in her own relief that I was alive, she commented that I would likely have to feed on human blood in order to make the pain stop – something I hadn’t really thought much about prior to this point.

  Granted, it wasn’t like I made the decision to become like her in the first place – there had been no time to consider the implications. One minute I was dying, and the next she was biting me, which had been forbidden, starting an agonizing transformation in an attempt to save my life.

  Miriam, of course, had a ton of questions.

  However, first she wanted to know how I got hurt in the first place, considering I hadn’t specifically thought about the incident since we reunited. Even as meshed as our minds were, it appeared I could keep memories and thoughts in the back of it, out of her reach. I suspected she could do the same, based on the fact that I didn’t just have automatic access to all her memories.

  “Umm,” I delayed, focusing on her black horns, attempting to not visualize the memory. “I sort of beat someone up.”

  “Michael,” she whispered, her crimson eyes concerned. “Don’t keep things from me. Violence against another demon is taken very seriously, and murder even more so. It’s true that Rulers can exact punishment against lawbreakers, but not without provocation. That’s why Ragnarok didn’t actually try to hurt me directly – even he isn’t immune to–”