Akumura's fist slammed against my forearm. "Come on," I stepped back, "Just, let me fight him."
"Absolutely not. I'm all for fighting but Aleister isn't, and I don't want to return to being bruised and beaten because he refused to spar."
"Aw, what's wrong? Scared that the big bad Demon is gonna do some damage? Besides aren't you a Vampire? Isn't your whole thing regeneration?"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't wan you." The air started to thin and his hair started losing color, until eventually it was almost perfectly white. "You sure you want to do this?"
"Oh," I put my foot behind me, "I'm more than sure." In a blink of an eye, Aleister disappeared. I turned around, and just barely managed to avoid a kick to the head. I went for a blow to his arm, but before I could do so, he disappeared again. I looked around for him, but there were no signs that he was anywhere near. I closed my eyes, and focused on the air. "Gotcha." I stuck my arm out in front of me, and surely enough, there was a large impact that almost broke my arm, along with Aleister's entire rib-cage. Blood splattered all over my face. I wiped my face off, but my vision was blurred. He projectile vomited blood in my eyes. I felt something hit my arm, and I fell over. "Alright, I'm done." Suddenly, Akumura started breathing very heavily. My vision started to recover, and I stood up. "And you said he doesn't like fighting." Akumura just looked at me, still trying to catch his breath. "He still doesn't. How long was that fight?"
"I dunno, somewhere around 40 seconds?"
"Exactly. I'm- Aleister's- We're not equipped for long-term combat."
"I can see that now." I grabbed my sword, "You wanna head back to the dorm now?"
Pisces was pacing across the room. "What's wrong?"
"No clue," Jamie looked at us, "She's been like that for an hour." Akumura stood in her direct path, but she just moved around him, and kept muttering to herself. "I've seen her in similar funks, but nothing like this." Scorpio observed her, not really doing anything to stop her.
"And what did you do to get her out of them?"
"Most of the time?" She paused for almost 20 seconds, "We just waited for her to get back to reality."
"Do you think it has anything to do with your dad?" Jamie asked.
"No, she already went through that, according to Gemini." Scorpio slumped on the couch that Jamie was on. One of the doors creaked open, and Brit emerged from the room. "I think I might know." She stumbled to the other couch, just to collapse onto it. "JESUS BRIT!" Jamie ran over to her, "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"Don't worry about it," Brit barely turned her head in Jamie's general direction, "I just exerted myself a bit too far. I should be fine in around an hour or so."
"So," Scorpio leered at Brit, then at Pisces, "What happened here?"
She told us what she saw, and that she told Pisces before passing out. "I see," Scorpio looked at Pisces, then at Jamie. "How easily can you connect to him?"
"I- I'm sorry, what?"
"Connecting with Lucifer. I know you can to some extend, how easily does it come to you?" Jamie's skin turned pale before she closed her eyes and calmed down, "I can somewhat connect to him, but ever since Brit and I went to the Fairy Realm a few weeks back, it's been hard to focus enough to get any form of connection." Scorpio turned to me, "And you?"
"No dice. The most I can connect with is Satan, and that's only for brief times before the seal on Hell boots me out."
"I see... I'm guessing Akumura and Brit are no goes since they're too far removed from Lucifer."
"So you're saying that he's close, but we have no way to know how close?" Akumura grabbed Pisces by the shoulder, and she stopped walking. "Exactly." Brit tried to sit up, but fell right back down, "If I were to guess, I'd say we have three months. Four if we're lucky." Pisces finally snapped out of her trance. "I'd still put it at 5."
"And why?" Brit finally managed to move enough to prop herself in a sitting position, "I know what I saw, and what I saw was Lucifer in the Fairy Realm. When he gave Jamie his warning, he was in Heaven."
"Yes, but Jamie also said that he said that specific amount of time. Not only that, but he intends on killing the entire Fairy race, it'll take some time"
"If you ask me," I held my hands up and walked in the center of the room, "I say it doesn't matter when he comes, because at this point, no matter how close he is, we have to train like he's coming tomorrow. For all we know, he is coming tomorrow, and we have to prepare for that possibility."
To say I had issues sleeping would be an understatement. Usually, I tried not to worry about fights, but this, for some reason, I was. Everything was too unknown, what he could do, when he would come, how we'd stop him.Eventually though, I fell asleep, only to awaken on a planet I hadn't seen. The sky was gray, as if the atmosphere itself was in the process if being stripped away. "I've heard so much about you, Walker." A voice spoke from behind me. It was almost soothing, like a 50s radio host, without the limitations of his technology. "I have to say, William Walker isn't the most, Demonic name, if you ask me. But, your mother did chose your middle name very well. Cypher. It's a nice name, almost as great as what I chose for my daughter, Layla. It fits her race so well." I turned around, and saw who was speaking. It was a man who was at least a foot taller than me, with slicked back, long, golden hair. He was wearing a white suit with black trimming, and a blue tie. His eyes were blue, but not the same as Jamie's. Hers were welcoming and warm, but his looked like they alone could kill someone. "I take it you're Lucifer."
"How observant!" Lucifer sneered, "I must say, I do dislike introductions, so this does take some weight off my shoulders."
"What do you want?"
"I've just decided to pay visits to some people, is that so bad? You know, pay my respects in advance, gauge their power, and of course, ensure that I have as little opposition as possible."
"And I'm guessing you're here to find some way to eliminate me before you get to Earth?"
"Have you ever tried your hand at Gambling? Because goddamn, you did it again! How about, we strike a deal? You see, I have the power to break the seal on Hell, right now. If I were to say, released your people from damnation, is there any possibility you could do me a favor in return?"
"Does it have anything to do with me joining you?"
"Possibly. But there's so much more! When I'm done, I'll have complete control over the Universe! Think about it, you'll have a seat next to me!"
"An interesting idea, however, I have one question about this arrangement." He raised one eyebrow. "And that may be?"
"If I were to say no?" He previously joyful expression darkened, "Then you'll be eliminated like the rest of your damn race."
"I'm guessing Jamie hasn't told you about my interest in high stakes battles, has she?"
"Well n-"
"I'm not finished. You've just given me stakes higher than any battle I've been part of, you understand that, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"Still not done. Listen, I've got some sleep to be had. So, I'll see you in 5 months, hopefully, by then, you'll have reconsidered your offer and made a better choice in bribery." My consciousness faded again, and I finally fell asleep.