Rebirth

Chapter 36: Demon Seige

My eyes opened wide and I shot up in a sweat. The guild was around, watching me, making sure I was alright. I nodded and waved them away, then jumping to my feet, I grabbed Jocelynn and Zhaniah and raced deeper into the cavern, removing us from the rest.

"Ow! Hey!" Zhaniah said.

"What's with you! Justin!" Jocelynn started, and I stopped once we were a good distance away. I faced the two. "We have a serious problem."

"What is it," the two asked, rubbing their wrists. I took a deep breath, and slowly began explaining my dream. I went over each and every detail (the two blushing when I mentioned my thoughts of them), but then their faces hardened when I explained Luna's portion. "So, she's coming here, thanks to Gus?" Jocelynn said as I finished. I nodded, beginning to pace back and forth, biting my lip. "We need to get out there, fight them off. I don't think he'd be able to summon too many at once."

"Why not? What's stopping him," Zhaniah asked, and I could hear the worry in her voice. I crossed my arms, speaking a bit quieter, "The fact that he needs certain artifacts to summon certain demons. He could summon common fodder with his own magic, but unless he had, say, Satan's Scythe, he couldn't summon him."

"Satan's Scythe sounds pretty cool..." Jocelynn commented.

"Not the point. We need to act before-" I was cut off by Porrelth roaring loudly, shaking the cave. "BY THE GOD OF DRAGONS! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!"

The three of us raced back towards the group. There was a magic screen above, showing the town. Gus already made his move, his eye twitching with a growing anger and evil. To add to his benefit, he was riding on top of a massive dragon. On the streets, The king's guards were already at war with the incoming demon forces. I watched, eyes focused only on Gus. We were too late, he already started his attack.

I turned then, racing towards the cavern exit, when G stopped me. "Where are you going?! You're not going to fight are you!"

"Get out of my way, G," I said coldly. "He's gone way too far with this save the future madness. I'm ending him."

"By yourself?! And do you realize what you're saying!"

"He was hiding a lot during our fight, I know that, so I also wanna question him a little more," I admitted, speaking calmly. "Let me through."

"What if he's not hiding anything else? The people of this town aren't our concern, they're the king's. He'll handle it."

I grit my teeth. "You need magic to fight magic. I beat him once, and I'll sure as hell do it again." My eyes glowed faintly then. There was a strange mist emitting from G, but I ignored it. "G. I can't abandon these people. This is also my fight, so I won't drag any of you with me."

"You must be stupid if you think I'm not helping out," Jocelynn said, walking behind me. Cynthia joined her, then Zhaniah. "It's our fight too. Stand down, G," The Queen commanded. He had no choice then. As he moved aside, I walked past him, flashing a grin, then moved outside, into the midst of a demon war.

We made plans quickly as we came towards the town edge. I was going straight for Gus, while the others split up and charged towards the east and south. Jocelynn alone, but Cynthia and Zhaniah together. She seemed to be back in battle mode, but even Zhaniah couldn't fight off a horde of demon fodder. When our plan was all set and done, I made my way towards the clock tower, climbing up by oozing myself with the shadows. Once I reached the very tip, I hung on the needle as Gus and his dragon flew by. The night was especially strange, a hanging feeling of darkness in the air.

Gus looked at me, our eyes locking, before I launched myself at him and his dragon with flames at my feet. The dragon roared loudly at me, trying to swat me away. From what I could tell, the dragon was a metal style. It's scales were a thick iron, and strangely silver in color. I dodged, and as I did, the dragon's scales changed to blue, and it opened it's mouth, a beam of water shooting at me. I dodged sharply, the mountain in the distance roaring in an explosive backlash. I flipped, kicking myself off a ruined apartment complex, and shot up past the dragon, then came down in a fireball, looking directly at Gus as my hair settled down. "Yo, you sickened bastard."

"I was wondering if you were gonna show up," He said curtly. He raced at me, throwing a punch. I ducked under, rolling as the dragon roared again, trying to shake me off. I kept a firm hold on one of it's scales, but kept my eyes on Gus. "What the hell is wrong with you! You can't accept losing so you try to kill everyone else?!"

"This is beyond that, Justin. You should know this goes farther than me winning or losing. This is the only way to combat Amaterasu." I ran at him, flames swallowing my fist, striking his face dead center. "You summoning these demons is what brought him here!" He whipped back, slamming his forehead against mine. "No, all of this would have been avoided if you hadn't gotten in my way. You're the scum, you're the monster here!" He slammed on the dragon's back. In return, the dragon shot a beam of magic upwards, liquid raining down over me. It smelt awful, and was immensely thick. Almost like it was...

"Burn!" Gus yelled, then slamming his palm against the liquid, he chanted and flames shot towards me, consuming me. He was losing it. For sure, I could tell that much. Taking a deep breath, I sucked in the fire, the flames extinguishing in my stomach as I whipped my mouth. "Flames don't work on me, pal. You're gonna have to do better than that." He grit his teeth, but soon, began laughing madly. "Oh, this'll be fun!"

"What a weirdo..." I said, quietly.

His smile soon faded, and he looked at me, eyes soft. "How's Zhaniah..."
"The hell? Why would that concern you?" I readied myself. No telling what kind of plans he had up his sleeve.

"I should be fair.. I've been thinking a lot since you beat me.. It's funny, I've had these memories for a while.. Not only that... But you also seemed familiar to me, along with your little gang of friends.. I think I understand it now..." He stepped back. "The high school.. Culinary.. All the arguments, the laughs with your friends.. The tension between me and Zhaniah.. It all makes sense.."

I watched him, thinking long and hard. Then it hit me. Everything was remade, and with it, everyone. The entire world could exist in this place, or not at all. I assumed it was only people I had direct contact with, but I can see how wrong I was. He could've been anyone, but only one face came to mind when he mentioned Zhaniah. "STEVE?!"
"THAT'S IT!" He said loudly. "THAT'S WHAT MY NAME WAS!" He began laughing again, twistedly. He looked at me, grinning, then he flashed in a bright light. Before I knew it, I felt a magic beam cut my side in an X, deep enough to scar it. I held the wound as blood seeped through my bandages, then turned to Gus, no, Steve. He was holding a ball of light magic in his hand, that altered between white and gold. His hair lengthened considerably, with golden streaks along the center. "Magic is wonderful, isn't it?" He questioned me. As he rose his hand, beams of magic shot up from underneath me, cutting me at all angles, ripping my bandages to shreds, cutting my forehead and cheeks, then arms and legs, before he shot a beam directly for my heart. I reacted quick, but not fast enough. The struck my left side, ripping deep through organs and making me spit up blood. Unimaginable pain ripped at my soul, disrupting my thoughts and making my brain go numb. I stumbled, holding the hole, then Steve raced up, slamming his elbow into the hole.

I screamed bloody murder, and my body went limp from pain and I rolled towards the dragon's tail. Steve stepped over to me, stomping on the hole. The pain grew worse, but my voice was lost. Thinking I couldn't fight any longer, he kicked me off the dragon, smiling widely as if he had just offered me as a sacrifice to the forces of the damned.