Chapter 12 - Allies

Lucy Rudolf's/Justine's P.O.V

The source of the commotion was a little further than I thought it was. It came from one of those extremely tall office building windows, which I could just barely see from this distance.

I may be magical, but I still couldn't fly.

As I debated what I was going to do next, I saw a pink and red figure thrown straight out of the shattered window.

"What?!"

I raced over to the building, and I somehow managed to get there before things got a whole lot worse.

I fell forward with the weight of the mystery person in my arms, and I cracked one eye open after the dust cleared to see what exactly happened.

It was another Hero, but it was obviously one of the lesser ones. Her magic power seemed to equal the Ghost User we found. Everything about her screamed Valentines Day, and even her eyes had tiny little hearts in them. She must have been some form of Cupid.

She groaned in pain as she twisted herself onto her stomach.

"Are you alright?"

When she rolled over, I noticed small angelic wings protrude from her back.

"Another Hero?"

Her arms and legs shook as she picked herself up, and I had to take her left arm so she wouldn't fall over again.

She nodded. "I'm fine, thank you. But why are you here?" She spoke as if she had known me her entire life.

"It's a long story, what happened up there?" I looked back up at the shattered window.

Her rosy face turned pale. "Death is up there."

My body froze. "As in - as in the Death?"

"Yeah, that's why we need to get out of here."

I wasn't exactly sure how long I stood there, but I eventually came up with the strength to pick up my feet.

"C'mon, I need you to do something for us."

As we made our way back to Malefici and the ghost, I tried to see how much the Hero already knew about the situation.

"Are you trying to hunt Villains?"

She caught up to me. "After those monsters came in an destroyed all those buildings? No offense to them, but those monsters are what we should be worried about, not the Villains."

I let out a small sigh of relief. At least I wouldn't have to explain that part.

"Now that that has happened, everyone thinks it would be a good idea to team up. Villains with Heroes, as your battle partner."

Her heart shaped eyes widened in surprise. "Everyone thinks that?"

I looked around the city again. "Well, not everyone. Save for the Death, Devil, and Dragon User. They've been out trying to kill us, even after seeing what has happened."

"So you want me to partner up with the Villains, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"It isn't any of those guys, we'll need some of our stronger Heroes to get them under control. My partner and I found a Villain about ten minutes ago. He shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Once I found Malefici, his face turned dark once again. "This? This is the best you could come up with?

I punched him in the arm. "At least we found another Hero. You know she was just attacked by Death right?"

"Death has his host? Took him long enough." Malefici withdrew his hand from the ghosts back collar.

Luta walked up to Malefici. "That's all you got to say about him? That guy is a monster! Look at what he did to me!"

Malefici just laughed. "And look at what the Wizard did to him. It goes both ways."

I punched his arm again. "I'm sorry if that guy was out to kill us. He deserved it."

"That's him?" Luta knelt down next to the naturally pale Villain.

Malefici crossed his arms. "He's actually pretty weak, and very useless. It would probably be wise to try and find a stronger partner."

The new Hero took the ghost in her arms and lifted him up. His head rested on her shoulder as his body slumped over. "This'll be ok."

The transfer lasted about a minute, and the black and white spots disappeared over time.

"Now that you two are partners, you have to risk your lives for each other, okay?" I instructed her. I knew I was never cut out for the teacher/leader role, but I was hoping that she would at least consider what I just told her.

She nodded. "I need to get as far away as possible, at least until I'm able to transform back. Death is still after me."

"Go, and make sure you keep an eye on him and explain exactly what happened when he wakes up."

She carried the ghost in her arms and disappeared over the edge of the building.

"Well that went better than I thought it would." I commented.

"Justine, was that really Death that you saw?" Malefici stood by my side.

"I'm sure it was. Luta was slammed through that window like she was a rag doll. Only someone as strong as Death could have done that."

He walked over the the edge of the building and sat with his legs dangling over. "Did he hurt you at all?"

I was taken back by the question. For a second, I thought it was just another impersonator, but he didn't sound like that ghost at all.

"No, Malefici. I'm fine. Since when did you care?" I sat down next to him.

He twisted his head to face me and frowned. "You know the higher-ups would literally kill me if I let anything happen to you, I just don't want to get in trouble."

I felt a strange sense of emptiness after he finished explaining himself. I actually had to mentally slap myself; I liked Everett! Not this guy!

"It goes both ways" I quickly replied to cover up my disappointment. "This is purely business after all."

"What do you suggest we do now? You know we could still try and find Death, he couldn't have gone too far off."

"Do you really think we stand a chance against him? Even with two of us, we will lose for sure. What we need to do is find Life and partner them up."

"Have you even met this girl?"

"Of course I have Malefici, she was the first Hero I met. Have you?"

He nodded. "I don't really want to remember it though. It was also when I first met Demonaris."

"Who?"

"It's the devil user." He quickly clarified.

We just sat like that for a few minutes. After about ten minutes, he closed his yellow eyes, and fell asleep.

"Malefici? If you need some rest, you should just go home. We wouldn't be very efficient with you half asleep."

He started to fall over, and I rushed to put my arm out. "Malefici! I'm being serious, just go home if you aren't feeling well!"

I jumped out of my skin when I heard another voice approach us from behind.

"He barely got 30 minutes of sleep last night; I can take him home, Justine."

I looked behind me to find another Villain, this one just a little smaller than Malefici in build. He was dressed in dark Victorian clothes, and he held up a giant black umbrella. It was his snow-white complexion, red eyes, and black mask that gave him away.

"You must be the Vampire User, am I right?"

He grinned, and I couldn't help but notice one of his fangs stick out. He dramatically bowed and introduced himself. "I am Galifici, the Vampire User, and a good friend of Malefici. You must be the all powerful White Wizard I have been hearing a lot about."

I stood up and dragged Malefici away from the edge of the building. "How did you know?"

He picked himself back up confidently. "I happened to notice what went on last night, and I talked to your partner for a while. Are you feeling any better?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. Thanks for asking. Are you sure he just didn't get enough sleep last night? What if he has a fever?"

He shook his head. "Trust me, I know these things. He was up late last night worrying about whether or not you would wake up."

I glanced over at him. There was no way he lost sleep over that. Either way, it was obvious that he wasn't feeling well, and he needed to rest.

"Okay, but make sure he gets enough rest before he decides to come back."