The Witching Hour - Demonic Haunted AU

Chapter 2 - Awakened and Confused

    Armen, as we will call him from now on, was the first one to awaken. He stretched and scratched the back of his head, and suddenly he gasped. He realized he and his two other demonic companions were floating in the middle of nothingness. No, this is not a normal occurrence for demons in a meditative state. Armen had expected to wake up in the same room they rested in, but there was nothing around him.

    He attempted to awaken Graydroth, who we will refer to as Grayson, who woke with a stir in a fit of anger. Since his blood was black, not red, his face took on a darker shade, veins appear in his forehead and neck. It wasn't because he felt like he slept for too long, he was just always like hormonal teenagers when they're woken up before noon on a Sunday. His luminescent eyes pierced through the nothingness, the darkness fading away and all three demons falling onto the floor of marble. There were weeds and wild vines growing over the walls and through the cracks in the tile. Pillars and ceiling decorations unfinished were cracked and broken, almost ready to give way to the elements. It was not to mention it was also incredibly dark in the room, whereas Armen recalled there being a little light pouring in from the outside world. Thankfully, since they were demons, they could still see quite well in the shadows of the room. Armen had wondered just how long they had been unconscious.

    Drakamech, who we shall call Drake now, did not stir from his deep meditative state. He was still out cold on the dirty marble floor, eyes closed and ignorant of the environment around him. He seemed to have grown a couple of inches in height since his mix of demon and human genes still allowed to him grow.

    Even though Armen liked the darkness, he was becoming fed up with not knowing what the outside world was like after so long. He stretched out his arm to the stone blockage in the front room of the temple and a flaming blue circle completed with star-like patterns and circles surrounding runes. One of the runes, an image of a flame and a claw in the center, began glowing red, and a portal manifested before Armen.

    Out of the portal came a cat colored red and black, eyes burning a bright orange. Its fur was ruffled and unkempt, little embers rising out of its coat. It snarled as its paws touched the cold floor, and it turned around to face Armen who had put his hand down as the magic circle disappeared. In a doubled voice, one sounding feminine, the other sounding masculine, the cat asked, "Master, you do realize how long it's been since I've been summoned by you?"

    "No, I don't. It's why I'd like you to break down this wall right here, Wrath." Armen pointed to the stone wall in front of the doorway out of the temple. The cat nodded their head. With an inhuman roared, Wrath charged at the stone wall, leaving a large dent in the rock. They charged again and again, becoming more and more infuriated with each failed attempt. As the wall finally broke away, light poured into the room. Slowly, the two conscious demons let their eyes adjust to the sudden burst of light before taking a peek outside. Wrath was bored there was nothing to destroy any more, and he vanished into thin air.

    The terrain had changed; what used to be a vast forest was now rocky hills with a few spruces sprouting from the ground here and there. There was a new stream running between the rocks like a snake and the air was chillier than they remembered.

    Behind the two demons, Drake rose to his feet, turning his neck to the side with the result of a loud, sickening crack. Grayson and Armen turned their heads towards Drake, sighing with relief that he was conscious again. "How long have we been unconscious?" Drake asked, his voice hoarse and throat sore.

    "We don't know, but we're suspecting a very long time. The terrain outside is different."

    "Alright. I need the both of you to wait until night time then go into the nearest human settlement you can find. See what you can learn." Grayson groaned, loathing the idea of having to be in the presence of a species he hated so much. As much as he just wanted Drake to do what he wanted, he understood Drake was most likely still very weak and powerless.

    The sun dipped below the horizon and the world was covered in a peaceful darkness. Grayson stood outside, a whirlwind of feathers enveloping his body until he appeared as an enormous bird of black feathers, the wingspan twice as wide than a normal human's arms can stretch. Glaring green eyes were the only defining feature out of the mass of vantablack feathers, and they stared at Armen as he also transformed, but into a sleek black panther, a single vibrant blue eye shining from the fur.

    Grayson, in his bird form, carelessly picked Armen up with his massive talons, taking off into the chilly night air.

    Armen tried not to squirm or fall asleep as he was carried off. He had the feeling the second he nodded off Grayson would drop him. Armen wouldn't die, no, he would just be feeling immense pain for a few days, especially if he landed on his neck.

    They flew for around two hours, scouting the horizons for even the smallest glimmers of light. All the two could find was patches of ash and stone in the forest, once in a while a lone cabin, but all of them empty. They were about to give up their search when Grayson spotted a faint glow in the distance. Towers rose from the earth and touched the heavens with flags colored in every color imaginable.

    The two demons landed 80 fathoms from the outskirts of the town, transforming back into the humanoid shapes. Armen flopped onto the dirt, arms wide and welcoming to the ground. He always hated being in the air, because usually if he were up high for too long, air sickness would plague his stomach. One would think a demon wouldn't be afflicted with such trivial human-like ailments, but alas, even some of the most inhuman creatures have the most human qualities.

    Grayson rolled his eyes, staring at the low wall running around the city with his acute vision. "You go off to the east, I'll handle the west." Grayson ran his hand over his clothes and face, his appearance manipulated into that of a weary traveler. The blackness of his sclera was replaced with the much more human-like hue of white, his fancy clothing turning to filthy and torn rags with an unassuming trench coat.

    Armen transformed himself into a much smaller cat, assuming the persona of a domestic house cat. The two separated, on the search for information.

    Grayson wandered to the front gate, asking the guards in a weak, helpless tone if he could be let in. The foolish, ignorant guards obliged, empathetic to Grayson's falsely pathetic appearance. Grayson nodded, trying not to growl as he passed the gate. The streets were quiet since from what he could remember, humans needed sleep every day, all the time. He couldn't find many people on the streets, and the ones who were wandering around were the homeless and the unlawful scum.

    He ended up standing in front of a church; normally, one would think a demon couldn't enter a holy place, but of course, that person would be wrong. With his dark magic, Grayson broke the holy spell on the door and entered the building, staring at the pews and the stained glass with moonlight pouring through. If anything, priests and clerics would be his best chance at getting information since he knew they hardly ever lied and could be easily manipulated if he pleaded to their hearts enough.

    There was, however, nobody in the hall. He walked to the podium and brushed his fingers off a leather-bound book. He flipped the pages and found verses and chapters, all praising a man named Hero, who was apparently the Savior of mankind.

    Seeing that name again sparked rage in Grayson's chest (not his heart; he physically does not have one). Ghastly bird of prey-like talons ripped apart the tattered gloves on his hands and began ripping the holy book until it was nothing but shreds of paper on the floor.

    A gasp turned Grayson on his heels to see an old man in pure white robes with red hemming, a crucifix with a circle marked with a red six-pointed star dangling from his neck.

~~~

Henlo everyone!!! It's literally been a month since I actually added a chapter, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it! ^-^

I'm trying to do some actual outlining for the plot so I don't waste so much time procrastinating and complaining I don't have ideas, so it'll probably be a while until another chapter comes out.

G'bye, everyone! Take care!!