The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#121 Demons and Dynamite

[Sophia]

I tried climbing back up to the hole by stabbing my crystal sword into the wall and climbing upwards with the flashlight in my mouth. I was actually making some progress, until I slipped and fell all the way back down. My sword almost cutting my arms off in the process and the flashlight had bite marks at the end and it started to flicker. I bet I accidentally crushed it a little bit because I could feel the pain in my jaw. My sword retracted back into its crystal form and I put it back in my bag, picking up the flashlight and shaking it around, hoping I could get it to stop flickering. I didn't want to admit defeat just yet. I knew there had to be a way to get back up there. I sighed and pulled myself together and suddenly felt a cold chill creep up behind me. The entire temperature dropped and I began to shiver. I turned around and gasped at the sight before me.
Two deep red eyes stared right back at me.
"What are you doing here?!" it screamed at me, the volume of its voice making me flinch violently. I stumbled back to put some distance between us, but I couldn't pry my eyes away.
"How did you get here? How did you find me?!"
I clutched my bag at my side and struggled to find words. I was stunned, I was too afraid to even point the flickering flashlight at it. I was frozen by fear as the Demon continued to glare through my shivering body.
"Don't tell me your too afraid to speak. A false warrior like you too weak to stand and fight by yourself, now too afraid to speak up against something like me?!"
I shivered and pointed the flashlight away, slowly backing up and desperately thinking of a way to escape this. I tried to swallow my fear and glared back.
"Why are you trying to kill us?" I shouted. If I was stuck here with this thing, I might as well demand answers.
"Is that all you have to say to me?" the Demon growled back. I took a few deep breaths, clutching the strap of my bag tightly.
"You drove the Twins out of their home. You destroyed Teri's only home and killed her people! You hurt my friends! Why are you doing this to us?!"
The Demon narrowed its eyes at me and I forced myself to stare back at it.
"You don't understand what you're messing with, false warrior. Coming here was your first mistake." the eyes of the Demon suddenly raised above me, its shadowy body hidden by the darkness and making it impossible to tell where it was going to strike. But I refused to be frozen by fear any longer. At least, that's what I kept telling myself as I continued to stand still, clutching the flashlight tightly. I screamed as I was suddenly swept off the ground again by a cloud of shadows, dropping the flashlight and damaging it a little more. It flickered like a strobe light against the wall, the shadows grasping me and reflected in a threatening tone. I could hardly keep my eyes open.
"Oh, come on! Again?! What do you want from us?!" I shouted as the red eyes kept bearing down upon me.
"I don't understand how or why you still continue to survive all my attempts at taking you out! My best creations slain by your companions and you escape without more than a scratch! You are the weakest among them, but it is you who is foolishly bold enough to approach me and demand answers as if you alone can defeat me?!"
I struggled against the Demon's grip, the cold making me shiver and the loud echoes of its voice hurting my ears. Yet somehow, I continued to keep a brave face.
"You aren't just a false warrior... but a defective paladin with a foolish sense of bravery!"
I refused to listen to it. The smokey grasp around me squeezing me tighter with each word and turning my blood cold. I tried to keep my breathing quiet, but I couldn't stay calm.
"I don't know how you got here or how you found this... but you should know by now that all actions have consequences. So maybe it's time you learned a valuable lesson about that!"
"No!"
I pulled my head away, expecting to be struck down immediately and I even felt my body being moved around until I suddenly stopped as the both of us heard something else. Something echoed throughout the room, but the sound itself was coming from somewhere else. We both looked up as something slid out from the ceiling and landed in front of us. The impact making the flashlight nearby roll around and flashed at the figure before us.
"Leave her alone! Last warning!"  Apollo shouted as his entire left arm blew up in flames, lighting up the room better than the broken flashlight. I stared at him, a hopeful feeling growing inside me. But the Demon's hand pulled me out of his sight and leaned forward.
"Now this is a better definition of a false warrior. If you think you can save this one, then that's just another thing your lying to yourself about."
"I told you to leave her alone!" Apollo screamed as he charged towards the Demon. A blast of fire striking against it, the impact tossed me around as the Demon refused to release me again. The Demon hissed and tried to strike back, without using my flailing body as a weapon. However, the room we were trapped in was tight, and even I could feel the intense heat Apollo blasted as he continued his attacks at close range while the Demon tried to hide me from any sort of rescue. It yelled as it raised itself above and tried to crush Apollo, but he quickly raised his arms above his head, the fire quickly extinguishing from his arm and suddenly freezing over into an icy shield. The Demon's attacks weren't able to crush him. The lack of light making everything completely dark and I suddenly couldn't see a thing.
"You think your defensive maneuvers will help you get out of this alive? You've only just secured your foolish demise!" the Demon pounded against the frozen dome again, the surface beginning to crack and shatter as I yelled out to Apollo hiding underneath it. But the cracking wasn't exactly coming from Apollo's shield. I couldn't see what was making that sound, until the Demon's thrashing was slowly brought to a halt. I could hear it grunting and yelling as something colder began to freeze around me, making me shiver even harder and my breathing turned ragged. Apollo's shield suddenly exploded in another fireball, the bright light restoring my vision for only a moment and I saw him rushing towards me, his entire right arm frozen over and cutting straight through the frozen smoke that was holding me. I fell to the ground, shards of ice tumbling upon me and I tried to gather myself quickly as Apollo landed near me.
"Hey, c'mon-c'mon. Go! Go!" Apollo pulled my arm and started dragging me along. The Demon howled as the temporary icy prison was broken and it stuck us together. Crashing against the rocky wall and tumbling onto each other, groaning loudly as I felt my body heat suddenly decreasing, the Demon slowly approaching us.
"Not even... the both of you together are a match for me!"
Apollo suddenly screamed as he held out his arm again, raining fire upon the Demon. I covered my face and curled tightly into a ball to protect myself from the heat, slowly pushing myself away. The Demon tried to push itself around to reach us, but Apollo wouldn't let up for a second. His range reaching all the way towards the ceiling and starting to heat it up. Little molten rocks starting to fall around us and scattering around while I was trying to be avoid getting burnt. I think Apollo heard my frightened wails because he glanced behind for just a moment and realized what he was doing.
"Sophie, get back!" Apollo shouted, ceasing his firestorm and standing back up. The burning embers of the ceiling being my only light source as Apollo raced around behind the Demon. The dying smoke slowly being covered by another veil of ice growing up to her shoulder.
"I'm done trying to hide from you! You hurt my friends and that is unforgivable!" Apollo screamed as thick shards of ice launched from his wrists and flew upwards, lodging themselves within the Demon's gaseous state. It hissed as it tried to find an opening to attack him, but couldn't seem to get past Apollo's constant barrage. He turned away for just a moment, throwing blocks of ice at the wall and stepping onto them, gaining the high ground and a better advantage over the Demon. Cold clouds falling from her fingertips and covering the floor in a hazy mist. I couldn't see what was happening. The dying embers of the ceiling suddenly being put out and returning the room to darkness. The Demon in front of me however was starting to catch up, crushing the frozen blades and tossing the remnants away. From where I was, I was starting to become pelted by little cubes and dangerous shards from all around me. I couldn't avoid what I couldn't see. I just kept my head down and hoped that this would be over soon.
The Demon rushed forward and smashed Apollo's platform of ice, but he quickly jumped away to the other side of the room. The freezing clouds suddenly becoming ignited once more, a human torch standing before a living shadow. His silhouette bouncing against the wall. But that wasn't the only thing I was focused on.
With the last of the ceiling embers finally dying, something else from within them began to crack. It was hard to hear against the Demon's grunts echoing all around, but when the rain of ice stopped, something else began to fall. A distant booming and clashing sound from above and I suddenly realized what was about to happen.
"This is the last time... you'll ever deal with us." I heard Apollo's voice echo.
"Apollo, no!
Apollo charged up, the flames on both arms burning brightly as the Demon quickly turned around, preparing to strike back. A loud and firey explosion shook the entire room, knocking me backwards and everything suddenly went dark once more. I coughed, suddenly smelling smoke and I struggled to stand. I could hear the Demon shaking itself off somewhere in front of me, but with my senses shaken I couldn't tell where it was in the room. I finally told myself I shouldn't be lying here doing nothing. I rolled around and felt through my satchel once again, pulling out the crystal as it glowed a brilliant blue. It flashed brightly and I held onto the handle tightly, swinging the blade around and pointing it towards the black smoke before me. I heard the Demon breathe and I spotted its eyes turning towards me.
"After all that... it seems I was proven correct... Your only friend that had the guts to defend you is even stronger than you have ever proved. And you... continue to stand and pose yourself... as if you are the sole protagonist. I still stand by my previous statement..." the Demon slowly rose above me. I stood firm, ready to strike whilst glancing around for any sign of Apollo. I didn't understand what had happened. And I wasn't sure I was ready for this.
"You are... the defective paladin... of a story that will never exist."

I rose my sword above me just as something echoed loudly from the ceiling. We both looked up to see massive cracks growing over our heads and flinching at the dust beginning to fall. A wave of shadows enveloped me, blinding the light of my sword as the Demon pulled me into the darkness once again. Just before the entire room collapsed, sending the Demon digging furiously into the ground and pulling me with it. I called out to Apollo one final time as everything came crashing down and all I ever saw was black and all I ever heard was a growing silence as we descended deeper into a terrible unknown.