Kairo looked down at Willow, his vision slowly fading. He had to do something he was in charge of her, and he refused to have to tell Joker she was eaten by a Shear Bak. A cold started seeping into his arms he was losing blood quickly.
"Thank you, Rose." Willow said, catching him off guard.
"What? Why are you thanking yourself?" Kairo confusedly struggled out.
Willow seems to lose consciousness for a moment, and when her eyes opened, Kairo couldn't help but notice a difference. A swirl of red seemed to buzz around her iris. She looked over him and herself a few times before dawning a wide grin and locking eyes with Kairo.
"Do you trust me?" I asked Kairo now fully in control of Willows' body.
"Who are you?" He struggled again strength waning fast.
"Rose, nice to meet you. Do. You. Trust me." I quickly spat, feeling his life ebbing slowly away. From behind him, three Owldiles pulled their beaks free from his back and prepared to dig in again. Before they could, though, I formed a protective barrier catching their beaks. Kairo sagged in relief, but his body was stiffening due to the paralytic.
"Does Willow trust you?" He manages to cough out. I scan his face, which is stern and serious, I could tell he had grown protective of Willow.
"Yes, she may not know it, but she always has and always will." I say while rolling her eyes. The sound of the barrier cracking under sharp talons caught my attention.
"Fine, I do, I trust you, Rose." Upon giving his answer, Kairo watched Willows's eyes light up crimson.
"Genuine, you might just be a good boy." After enjoying the shock on Kairos's face, I finally felt the concept of spacial magic become clearer, and with a blink, I used There to move outside of the barrier. I floated a foot off the grown with the raw magic Willow had accumulated. I formed our weapon in hand. The toy dagger hanging from my bracelet disappears, and a battle-ready replica appears firmly in my grip with a swift rotation in the air.
I sever the heads of the Owldile from their necks. Next to the ring that held the dagger, another ring appeared, and a pair of two guns formed, and with that, the full understanding of spacial had been synced.
I release the barrier, and the heads fall to the ground. Kairo rolled to his side, succumbing to paralysis. I searched Willows's mind and found the memory of her grandmother using healing magic, but I couldn't make out the exact spell. Instead, I would have to improvise the parts I wasn't familiar with to complete my end of the wish. I form another barrier stopping the second wave of Owldiles and begin the healing process. A ball of golden light forms in my palm as I run it over his wounds. They seem to close soon after, and his body's rigidness softens. Soon, he is sitting up and regaining his faculties.
"Was that a healing spell?" Kairo asked incredulously, looking over his arms wound and clothing that too had been mended.
"Yes, I had a partial one that I improvised the rest to make work. Why? Feeling weird?" Kairo gave himself a once over again.
"No, I feel great!" Kairo stood doing a couple of stretches and deep bends before turning his attention to what was in my hand.
"So Rose, you can summon Willows's abyssal weapon?" I follow his gaze to my blade.
"Are you referring to my teeth?" I say, twirling my blade in my hand whimsically.
"Yes, I suppose if that's what you call it... It's also known as an abyssal weapon and belongs to Willow." He barks accusingly. I grew annoyed with his tone but remembered the terms of my and Willows' deal.
"No!" I demanded, trying not to let the offense show.
"This is my teeth that she stole, and I can't even access my claws... she seemed to have hidden them somewhere deep within." Kairo's demeanor seemed to soften.
"I see, so you aren't fully in control of Willow then?" I folded my arms in frustration he was very annoying, and I was wasting my precious three hours.
"No, I will be in control for the next three hours while her body goes through acclimation. Happy now?!" I growl, letting my feeling get the best of me, which annoyed me more. When these wasted feelings would be better spent having fun.
A rapid pecking reminded me of another obstacle standing in my way. We watched as this lone Owldile pecks repeatedly as if testing the density of my barrier before flying away back into the shadow of the tree line. All was quiet, and the forest was still until five of the birds darted out of the shadows. Each one with pinpoint accuracy hit the same spot on my barrier. When the first wave was successful, another volley would dive in sending spider-webbing cracks throughout my spell.
Finally finding an outlet for my frustration, I center myself where the birds have chosen to hit I grip my blade tightly and prepare as the fifth bird hit and retreats to allow the next barrage I dropped the barrier the next set of birds kamikazed towards me and with blinding swift swings I split all five down the middle my blade drinking the drops of ruby red that remained. It began to morph, gaining the ridges of the Owldile silent wings. Every swing became effortless, and my speed tripled soon a dozen or so Owldiles lay at our feet.
"It seems like they are giving up." Kario said, not noticing the creeping growth in the shadow of the tree line. In the sky were enough flapping and darting birds that you could mistake them for arrows blotting out the sun. This time, Kairo stepped forward, holding out his open hands, allowing space for two guns to form I watched as he ejected what would be clips that extend from the bottom of the guns. The clips begin to absorb the ambient magic in the air and form little bullets of light before the clips return to their chambers. He cocks both guns and forms a spell ring around the tips as he aims for a living cloud.
The same spell circles form on the birds one at a time. Each one he only has to look at once for the mark to appear. Before they could begin their descent, the entire cloud had been marked. Kairo begins firing, and a magically packed bullet hits its target as if the shot came point blank. He fired until the clips emptied and every bird lay still on the ground. No shot missed its mark no matter how hard they hid, the only survivors were those who fled and reached a safe distance. Soon, we were once again alone in the clearing.
"That was pretty cool." I admitted it was always nice to see new magic except when that new magic is used against you. Many of those spell rings started appearing all over my body.
"Thanks now give Willow back her body." Kario demands while aiming at me. I sighed hard while throwing my arms up in disbelief.
"Come on! not only did I save your life, but I was contracted to do so..." I waited for the rings to leave and grew impatient when they didn't.
"And the terms of this deal?" He asked, not dropping his guard.
"Ugh, I keep you breathing. I get three hours, so please, can we just head back?" I couldn't hide how antsy I was to leave, and I could tell that somewhat made him less nervous. The rings dissipated, and his guns turned back into black ichor, and we both sighed a breath of relief.
"All she wanted was to protect me?" Kairo asked with a slight blush on his cheeks. I roll her eyes and turn on my heels to make our way back to the train stop.
"Hey, wait!" The last thing I heard before the rumbling from earlier deep off in the forest was now right below our feet something was tunneling through the earth at blinding speed and once one of us was far enough away from the other it chose its victim. I spun on the spot the sound growing louder under Kairo instead of me with only a second to spare I use Here to yank him from that spot as I did a hulking mass of teeth and muscles burst from the earth-gnashing at the air.
The creature had a flat head that ran to a point covered in rock-hard plating dull grey bloodshot eyes searched until they found us. A bone-shaking roar escapes from endless rows of teeth, prompting three other burrowing noises to appear. From behind this horrifying beast, three smaller but similar creatures swam through the earth with ease toward us. One took the lead priming for a leap. Noticing this, I grip my dagger with both hands and stable my footing. When the creature finally emerges leaping from earth to air like a breaching shark, I lept forward at it, dodging with a countering thrust at its side. The creature lands on the ground with a satisfying slide into limpness.
"I forgot about the fucking Shear Baks!" I screamed, realizing my time was dwindling. I released a bit of magic enough to gain the attention of even the alpha as I charged at it. The other two turn to chase after me each one taking their chance to pounce the first try from my right letting my body drop I Swing my arms with a windmill motion catching the pup under the jaws and splitting its skull. The other tried from behind, but using There to move just a couple of feet above the creature, I thrust my dagger downward, sinking it into the second one's head, pinning it to the earth.
The Alpha analyzed the scene before slipping back into the hole it created and started barreling toward me. I speed towards it and as it leaps from the earth to bite at my upper half I quickly use There again to pull just a couple of feet before its attack ends giving me time to strike at the end of its breaching I bring my blade up to its chest where it stops unable to pierce its thick skin. With a quick motion, it backhands me away. I tried to block with my arm and magic but felt as if the bones gave under the pressure, even blocking with magic my arm and several ribs had broken. I slid limply across the grass, trying to focus on healing.
Gunfire erupted from Kairo, which just tickled the beast enough to gain its attention it dives back underneath the surface and charges him he reloads his gun, still firing the unavoidable shots into the Shear Bak while it burrowed. The bullets had no effect, as the creature breached again. Kairo dodges blinking next to me. The creature was confused and searched dumbfounded.
"This is fucking lame explain how your bullets work." I impatiently demanded.
"What, why?" Kairo replied, my tone annoying him. I push my blade into my hand as it makes contact it turns back into dark black ichor that I start to morph and form. I tug and pull at the mound of ichor until it splits into two pieces, one taking the shape of a double barrel shotgun sawed off at the tip and the other a snub-nosed lever repeater.
"Explain your prickles, Mr. Porcupine... please." Kairo stared dumbfounded at me.
"How did you change your shadows shape like that?! And what did you call me?" Kairo's berating was punctuated by the roar of the Shear Bak turning to find us.
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"Tick-tock!" I prod, Kairo bites his lower lip pensively.
"Shite, fine. I solidified magic into crystal form, and my guns fire it, leaving a vacuum that I can fill with ambient magic or my own, but the higher the quality higher the storage, and I have the almost purest magic crystals you can create the only color higher than this iridescent blue is golden amber and I do not have the magic to make either." Kairo said, staring down at the beast that beat the earth in anger.
"Well, good thing I do." Kairo watched as I tucked the repeater under my arm and focused on my hand soon light pooled toward the center and took the form of two cylindrical tubes that showed a beautiful golden amber I opened the barrel of the shotgun and filled each barrel before setting it back in place. The Shear Bak began to charge us. out of option, Kairo deployed another spatial magic, causing the creature to slow as if stuck in place. It bucked hard against the magic that matched Kairos' bucking arm.
"Hold won't last long hurry." He managed through gritted teeth
Doing the same with the shotgun nestling it under my arm as I form a slender cylindrical tube-like crystal that was the same golden orange with dark cracks. Before I could load it though it shattered I tossed the pieces and tried again this one I filled till orange when the cracks came I slowed the flow of magic until the color deepen and was now a crimson red that showed brightly through black cracks that I loaded into the repeater.
"You do realize that the red bullet was unstable and on the verge of a breakdown." Kairo stated, pointing out the obvious. The creature who now didn't want to breach again risking line of sight charged on all fours almost just as quickly as its burrowing. I aim for its back legs two spell rings, one on each leg form and I fire one repeater shot that booms like a clap of thunder piercing the left leg of the animal causing it to stagger, but not stop.
The second shot was quieter, but no less ear-shattering strikes the right leg doing serious damage. The beast loses footing, sliding to our feet it growled, and pushed frantically off the ground, trying to dig. I quickly lift the sawed-off to its head, pulling the trigger. The kick was extreme, and a sound like dynamite was followed by a chunk of the Shear Baks plated skull shattering.
"That crimson bullet will take a while to refill even if you use your own magic." Kairo says, still dumbfounded by the events in front of him.
"Yup." I reply, slamming the guns together they mash into ichor, forming back into my dagger this time along with the ridges gold veins wove words onto the blade now and a golden bulb ended the tip I brought the blade down into the Shear Baks corpse and again my blade drinks deep.
"The red bullet must be on my claws." I say, pulling the dagger free and showing Kairo the changes to my blade. The dagger itself was sharper now to it slide easily into the Shear Baks armor plates, which I was very proud of. Kairo searched the area with his eyes, realizing the bodies touched by my blade had withered and drained of all magic.
"Are you a daemon?" He asked seriously, his guard slowly raising. I looked at him, releasing my teeth dagger form disheartened by his question.
"I'm not sure like Willow. I'm not sure of my origin, but if I had to guess, her dad would know..." I reply as simply as I could.
"So that means Joker would know... meaning he's hoping you would show." Kairo seemed to be contemplating something for a moment.
"So we won't tell him about you, and if Willow trusts you, I trust you, and that makes us friends. It's good to meet you, Rose." I blush hard, not expecting such a candid nature.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Porcupine." I reply, ready to leave. A small dagger form's on the bracelet that Kairo has that resembles mine joining the other charm-sized weapons.
"First, it's Kairo. Second, this is proof we're friends and that you're slowly on your way to being a full member of the Devils Advocates." He says, raising his wrist to me. I look at my wrist at the two charms I have and feel both happiness and envy with what now? Two or so hours left?
"Great, can we eat?" I add, looking over my shoulder towards the train stop.
"Sure, we gotta meet with Radney anyway, and I'm sure he's at the bar." Excited by Kairos' words, I grab him by the arm and jump twice to make it back to where the train lets us off. Kairo seemed dazed but snapped out of it quickly, calling the train that slithered out of the ground and stopped doors sliding open to welcome us. We step on and enjoy my first-person ride through the inky darkness.
Now and then, the lights of the cab blink obscuring vision. Before long between flickers, people appear until the cab is filled again and a stop is reached. We step off into what seemed like from what Willow could remember little China, but more teenage mutants rather than normal humans. Animal-like humanoids shuffled about some enjoying a meal at a vendor or weaving through the crowd to get on or off the train. I followed Kairo as he made his way, weaving past vendors and people crowding stoops to what looked like misshapen apartment buildings.
Passing through an alley, I felt eyes on me. I looked up to see feline-like faces peering out of windows. I keep up with Kairo, and eventually, we emerge onto a busy sidewalk with fewer anthropomorphs. There were still some, but now people passed by who seemed human enough. Some had incredible tattoos that looked like ancient writing that I made sure to remember in detail. Soon, we made it to a building with big bold letters that read Lost Boys above the entrance. We pass through batwing doors to a set of descending stairs. I couldn't help but feel a wave of giddiness remembering batwing doors were Willows's favorite movie tropes.
"What?" Kairo asked curiously but on high alert.
"What what?" My cagey reply piqued his interest.
"You smiled." He simply states, trapping me in a simple reply.
"I remb... Willow remembered that she enjoyed those swinging doors from cowboy movies." I replied hesitantly, causing Kairo to pause his descent.
"Do you have access to her memories? Do you have your own memories?" He asks, peering over his shoulder.
"I remember things!" I reply quickly, feeling a little defensive.
"And I and Willow share everything. What's mine is hers, and what's hers is mine." I say, feeling a little defeated.
"You don't seem to be a daemon, at least, but you are inhabiting through some kind of possession." Kairo said partly to himself, continuing down the steps he also seemed to relax a little more than before.
"Rose is Rose..." I grumble to myself.
Making it to the bottom of the steps, we see it let out to a perfectly dimmed bar-like den with sweat and savory smells that rushed us. Scanning the room, I noticed the patrons were drinking heavily and sharing in each other's mirth, which wasn't odd from what Willow knew as bars except for everyone's clothes. From what I could tell, it seemed like everyone agreed to pick a style from years gone by.
The earliest being the fifties and working its way up to the early two thousand all mingling joyfully that is until our presence was acknowledged. Everyone stopped to turn and stared at us, an eerie mile-long stare that didn't feel like it was on us, but through.
"Another round on me!" A voice from behind the bar breaks the tension, causing cheers throughout the patrons.
Kairo leads me to the bar where there's an open stool. The voice belonged to a tall man with golden tattoos running like threads across his dark skin.
"Sit stay." Kairo barks, and I oblige more intrigued by the magic oozing from the bartender.
"Can you babysit her for me?" He directs the question towards the bartender who smiles and affirms with a shake of his head. Kairo leaves me to weave through the crowd, searching for someone.
"What will it be, little one?" The bartender asked with a silky accented voice. The gold veins on his body seemed to pulse with light that tugged at my attention.
"I don't have any money." I sighed, checking Willow's pockets.
"Not necessary here. We only require loyalty as payment. You become a patron here and nowhere else in the lower fae district." His voice was enchanting, and I was pretty sure he told me everything was free, which elicited an excited growl from Willows' stomach.
"I'll take your best drink and meal then." I answered enthusiastically. This made the barkeep smile ear to ear.
"All I need is a name." He gestures to the wall behind him where names were carved into a wood-framed shelf that held all the assortments of bubbling bottles.
"Rose." I say without hesitation, I watch as my name slowly carves itself into a free space on the wood.
"Welcome to the lost boys, Rose. I'm V, your server and bartender here to satiate your desire." The lilt in his voice made sparks run down my spine. With less than an hour and a half left, I had to ignore one hunger for another. V sits a glass down in front of me that begins filling itself to the brim. Once it's finished, he gestures for me to try it. I grab the filled glass, feeling the chill of the amber liquid while taking a sip. Sweetness with a slight twinge of a bitter aftertaste flushed my mouth. I drank greedily, guzzling until the cup was empty. As I sat it back down, it began filling itself to the brim again.
"House special!" V yells, prompting a small door behind the bar to swing open and a woman to appear she held a plate in one hand filled with food and the other a violin she places the plate down in front of me before leaning against V.
"Rose, this is Pan, and she's our cook." Pan does a small curtsey, which I return with a quick nod because my attention was gripped by the smell wafting off the plate. Mashed potatoes smothered in a dark gravy that pooled around a slice of meat that I couldn't make out but made my mouth water nonetheless. With no reservations, I grab the utensils and dig into the potatoes and mystery meat, which all equally melted in my mouth. Before I knew it, the plate was clean, and I was stuffed. Pan with her hands made a couple of gestures and waited.
"She asked if you like it?" V added.
"I know, Willow lost her voice and had to learn American sign language, but that was BSL right, Pan?" Pan's face switched to surprise and then joy before she started to sign again.
"That is right! Is Willow a friend or sister?" She asks gleefully excited to have a conversation not translated by V.
"Hmm, I'm not sure if Willow thinks we're friends... I guess we share this body, so we definitely aren't sisters." My answer made Pan and V exchange a look.
"You and Willow share this body?" V asked as he leaned on the counter. I finish another cup of the amber elixir before answering.
"Yeah, we have an agreement today. I get to be a front seat for the next..." I quickly pulled her phone out and checked the time. What was an hour, and thirty was now just thirty minutes.
"Shit, I only have thirty minutes left!? Hey, has it really been an hour?" I frantically ask V and Pan, who worriedly exchange another glance before Pan replies
"Sorry, love time ebbs differently in here..." She signed with a frown. Before the realization could hit me, something else solid had knocked me from my stool. As I gained my barring I realized it was a person a bar-wide brawl had begun while I was eating and chatting at the center of it was Kairo and a familiar face who seemed to be enjoying the carnage. I make it to my feet, and so does the tossed individual who locks on to me as his next target. With a hiss through a row of sharp teeth and long fangs, he charges me, but before he can make contact, he's stopped in his track by the sound of a violin.
No longer behind the bar, but on it, Pan began playing her violin. The melodic tune seemed to enthrall all the brawling patrons holding them in place, and then V began to sing. His singing voice was silk, and even though it demanded attention, the patrons began cleaning the bar and returning to their seats, starting up an earlier conversation and dawning previous smiles. Except for Kairo and the familiar stranger that was still beating on one of the fanged individuals.
"Thank you." I direct to Pan and V before crossing the bar to Kairo.
"I only have thirty minutes left, Kairo, and I want ice cream." I demanded. Kairo ignored me, of course, watching the other man still beat the already defeated and fangless now vamp on the ground.
"Alright mate, you keep it up, and you'll kill 'em." Kairo sighed annoyedly.
"Not true everyone knows you can't kill these fuckers without a wooden stake." The Stanger replied through a flurry of punches.
"Not true! That's not true! That's a lie we spread!" The poor vampire spat through broken fangs and punches.
"Enough Radney, we aren't allowed to kill 'em especially not in here." Kairo said, grabbing his arm.
"Lucky bastard if I catch you bragging about snatching teens off the streets again, I'll do more than just bang you up. I'll test all the ways a vampire really can die." Radney dismounted the vampire and then ran his bloody hands through his already thick red hair, slicking it back.
"Did someone say ice cream?" Radney asked enthusiastically.
"I did!" I said, raising my arm high as it could go.
"We don't have time for ice cream, Radney! We have to find Clown and the missing children Radney! You half an arse." Kairo growled while crossing his arms and putting on a stern expression.
"Ach, but the We lass said she only had thirty minutes it wouldn't be a bother." Radney finally makes eye contact with me, and that's when I realized why he was so familiar.
"Elevator hottie!" I blurted.
"Elevator hottie... oh! I remember you, Rose, was it?" I blushed. He remembered my name, and for a moment, that spark ran up my back again until I remembered he had met Willow.
"Right but wrong, I'm Rose, but you met Willow." I replied, and even though I expected the confused look, I still felt frustrated.
"Anyhow, I only have thirty minutes until I'm not Rose, and I'm Willow, and I want ice cream." I repeat, now staring down Kairo so he couldn't ignore me.
"Sorry love more like a couple of minutes." I turned to find the source of the French tone V was leaning on the bar listening in while Pan sat on top of it doing the same. I felt the weight of drowsiness grip me and my legs buckle. Radney stepped quickly to steady me.
"Fine, this'll have to do." I lean quickly, kissing Radney on the lips lingering long enough to remember the way he smelled and the amber sweet, and bitter taste of his lips before my vision fades to black.
~End of Chapter 5