~Chapter 3: OMGWTHBBQ!!!~
“Well... F*ck...”
A full grown Chimera is probably the last thing you'd like to see in your lifetime. Those nasty buggers easily reached 12 feet in height, possessed large fangs, and even larger claws, packed highly poisonous bites (along with extremely acidic saliva), are exceptionally rabid, and not to mention the fact that it was a fire-breathing lion-snake-eagle-scorpion-goat-thing.
And if it was strong or pissed off enough, it would be one of those things that could get through the barrier, which is why everyone nearly pissed themselves at the sight of said beast that appeared out of the forest, it's snarling and acid-drooling face glaring intently at one certain boy.
Said boy glared back.
“Tch. You again...”
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“Hm... It's a little too quiet here...” mused the wandering bard. At this time of day, or night if you will, the forest is usually most active. Nocturnal creatures were plentiful in this particular forest, after all.
This struck the wrong chord with the wanderer.
“There's something definitely wrong here...”
And with that, he hurried on to his destination. He just hoped everyone would still be in one piece once he got there.
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“If you don't mind me asking... WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO PISS OFF THAT THING?!” Rich shouted from a second floor balcony, while loading another round into the rifle.
“Long story, kiddo...” Dagrun shouted back, narrowly avoiding the scorpion tail that tried to grab at him.
The chimera was, indeed, pissed, and it seems, certainly, it won't stop until either of him or his adversary were dead. The remaining half of the group had run off, leaving the rest to deal with the enraged Chimera. Those with ranged weaponry had climbed inside and started shooting through the windows, while the rest tried to deal with it on foot.
“But if you really want to know, just look at its goddamn face!”
One of its eyes, the left one on the lion's head, was milky, a long scar branded down the side of its face.
“Dagrun, that's-!” Macchi began, before Dagrun cut him off with –
“I KNOW THAT, DAMMIT!” – before wincing from the pain of the wound in his chest. While the hole had closed up, it was still pretty painful, making it a little hard to breathe, let alone fight and speak.
“Crap... Boss! I thought that thing was dead!” Jake yelled, swinging his battle axe at the chimera’s leg and missing.
“I thought so too, but it's here now, right?!” the demon retorted. He was having a hard time just trying to avoid getting hit, much less continue fighting.
Hey, why did you give this sword an upgrade if you aren't going to use it?! Deo called out sardonically in his mind.
Oh... right...
Dagrun then did something reckless and totally stupid, and everyone thought that this was probably his most idiotic stunt to date.
He threw his broadsword at the chimera.
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“Hmm… I guess he was here just now.”
The bard was looking at the remains of a scene of chaos. There was blood and scorch marks everywhere, not to mention the giant mass of thorny vines lying about.
He picked up an unusual scent in the air. It was sweet-ish, metallic and overpowering. And judging by the amount of blood there…
He went nuts here again, I see… the bard thought exasperatedly.
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The sword missed, which was pretty much the reason why throwing your sword never works. It hit a tree and stuck there. Most of the people just looked at Dagrun as if he's totally lost his mind.
Yet he was smirking.
And of course, everyone took it that he's finally snapped.
The chimera wasted no time, and reached out with his claws to strike...
… Only to howl in rage and pain as something struck its side.
The sword's black blade gleamed wickedly from the chimera's wound. It was bleeding profusely, large goblets of dark blood dripping into the floor.
“H-how-?!” Rich stammered. One second, the sword was in a tree, then the next it was on that thing!
Dagrun was now grinning widely, and raised his arm, and to everyone's surprise, the sword flew back to his hand.
“You... put a 'puppet' array on it, didn't you?”
“Not just any puppet array, I just gave the old man some freedom!”
The gem on the hilt seemed to pulse for a moment. Dagrun threw the sword again, missed again by a few inches, but the sword kept on going until it curved its path in mid-air, and ended up slicing off a portion of the lion’s head ear. Still airborne, the sword started swooping down like a demented bat, dealing damage every time to the chimera.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~! FINALLY, I CAN FIGHT AGAIN! Deo was cackling in his mind. The old warrior was thrilled to have even a little control over his new 'body'.
Er... Good for you, Old Man... Really... Dagrun thought. Old Man's having a lot of fun, he mused, as he watched the chimera looking around in confusion. Its thoughts were probably along the lines of “WTFH kind of bat is DOING THIS?!”
The sword had already repeated its destructive rounds thrice before everyone else realized that this was their chance to nail its heads while it was obviously flustered over the fact that a flying black sword was trying to kill it. Dagrun himself was busy trying to catch its attention so that it would be even more distracted while everyone was trying to get a good head shot.
Overall, it was a good plan, and it was working perfectly, dammit.
That is…until...a wave of disorientation hit Dagrun, and everything suddenly seemed like an unholy parody of all 5 senses. Colors, sounds, smells, sensations, all of it, blurred and swam, distorting his perception until he could barely tell which was which; even his balance felt so very off that he had to struggle to stay standing... If he still was.
It took barely a second, but it seemed an eternity. And that's all it took for the chimera to take advantage of the opening.
His only thought about the situation was 'F*CK!' before feeling the sharp, burning sensation on his chest that was the scorpion's tail finding its mark.
He screamed as the corrosive poison started coursing through his body with each agonizing beat of the heart. He barely noticed the bleeding, or the screams and swearing from his companions. He couldn't feel the arms of someone taking him to safety. All he felt was that horrible, agonizing burning in his body as the darkness closed in.
Then, nothing.
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“Does stuff like THAT happen all the time?”
Rich couldn't help it. If not for the man with the broad-rimmed hat and cape, the chimera would have probably eaten them all alive.
“No. D must have jinxed us when he said that tonight's rounds would probably be easy...” Ryan replied, hissing slightly from the pain in his tail, which was missing a few inches and swaddles in bandages. The chimera had wasted no time to attack the group as soon as Dagrun was down. Ryan had risked his own life to save one of their own. Said member was lying in a clinic suffering from several large bites and acid burns. The chimera was literally using him as a chew toy until Ryan was bold enough to claw it in the nose.
Jake was one of the few injured ones in the fight. Let's just say the chimera didn't appreciate it when Jake tried to take off its leg when it tried to eat Dagrun and leave it at that.
Luckily, the healers said that none of them suffered any fatal or lasting injuries…..all except for Dagrun that is...
Jake had asked them before he passed out in the clinic to tend to Dagrun instead. The half-demon’s condition was too severe to be moved too far in case they aggravated the injuries. At the moment, the town healer was doing all he could to close the wounds and extract as much of the venom from his body. Even with magic, it was still a long ways before they could assure anyone that the half-Demon would live...
“Dagrun…”
For the first time in his life, Rich started praying to every god and goddess he knew to please save Dagrun's life.
“Please…please….he needs to live…”
He was crazy, impulsive, abrasive, and vulgar...
“He deserves to live…”
But he was a good guy you could depend on…
“We need him…”
A piece of their world, no the whole world, would be less bright without him.
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“He'll be fine. His right eye might never recover completely, but the medicine should help speed up his recovery rate. We were lucky not a lot of venom got into him, even with his usual healing factor he wouldn't have survived, and he was already injured in the first place...” The healer announced to who was left in the group, which was Rich, Macchi and Ryan. Everyone else went home or was at the clinic.
The trio relaxed visibly. The doctor took his leave after few instructions in case Dagrun woke up.
“So, you guys staying for the night?” the vampire asked his companions.
The pair nodded. Macchi smiled.
“There are some spare rooms upstairs. Hopefully he cleaned them out this week to make them livable...”
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The first thing Dagrun noticed was that he can't move, even to open his eyes. The second thing was the pain. The BURNING, AGONIZING pain. Lastly, he noticed it was day time, judging by the amount of light hitting his eyelids.
F*ck, did I do something stupid again?! He thought with an inward groan.
Nope, but it seemed like it. Deo replied, much to Dagrun's surprise. Anyways, you doing alright?
You mean besides the fact I feel like they dragged me across a field of Bloodvines while I was on fire?
The spirit was quiet for a moment, then replied, You must really be in a bad mood if you're not cussing me like you usually do...
F*ck you. That better?
Deo felt like strangling the boy, but something else came to mind. If he had a mouth, he'd now be sporting a rather cruel grin.
You know, brat, Senka's here in your bedroom. Oh, look, she has a baseball bat...
“MERCIFUL GODDESS, NOT THE FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!!!!!!!” Dagrun screamed, bolting upright, and, with his body agitated, even MORE pain shot through his chest from the stress of both shouting and trying to shield himself from a non-existent bat to the face. He bit back another scream and several curse words.
Damn! It hurts to even breathe now!
“OI! You're not supposed to be moving yet! Or screaming, for that matter!” A familiar voice scolded as he was pushed back into the bed, albeit gently. Dagrun managed to open his eyes, and even though his sight is blurred on his left and nearly non-existent on his right, he managed to make out a messy green blur and two red dots.
“Macchi?”
“Who else? Anyway, rest. Even with your regeneration, you still took a bad blow...”
Dagrun stared at him for a moment, wondering what Macchi had meant by that.
Then the events of last night came back to him.
“Ah, f*ck!” He swore, and ignored the pain in favor of trying to find out what the fcuk happened last night.
“The chimera-!”
“Gone. Hopefully for good,” Macchi replied, as blunt as the feared bat to the face.
“Wha-?” was Dagrun's witty reply.
“They had a little help.”
That voice-!
Dagrun was downright shocked when he heard those words. It wasn't the context that surprised him, but the speaker. One he hasn't heard in a year at the very least, the man that took care of him while he was younger until he had to leave.
“Yuan?!”
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“MERCIFUL GODDESS, NOT THE FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!!!!!!!”
THWUMP!
The scream shocked Rich awake, and resulted in him falling off the bed. The room he stayed in for the night was surprisingly clean.
Dagrun must have a lot of spare time if he can clean up all these rooms in his house...
Dagrun... The scream earlier was his... He's all right now... Rich sighed…..What a crazy night that was...It's a good thing I told my parents I'll be out all night... he mused.
When he peered out the door, he saw the cape-and-hat guy walking down the hall to Dagrun's room. He caught Rich's eye, and winked, then went inside the half-Demon's room.
Weird...
He blinked a few times.
Wait...
Doesn't he ever take his hat off?
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“How are you feeling?”
“Like I was Ol' Scarface's chew toy.”
“That was rather apt, all things including your idiocy considered... Might I say that the giant bloodstain in the forest was a nice touch to the area?”
“Screw you, Mister Hat.”
“Is that any way to treat your savior?” a wry smirk appeared on Yuan's face.
“If he was a smartass like you? Yeah, it is.” his bed-ridden companion retorted.
“You hurt my feelings, little brother.”
“Good, ya hat-obsessed, manipulative bastard!”
“I am NOT a manipulative bastard.”
Yuan made a sweeping bow while replying:
“I am a... MAGNIFICENT bastard.”
“Well, fcuk you, and your hat!”
That last comment brought a slight twitch to Yuan's eye, and he appraised his brother coolly before replying: “Do not insult the hat, little rabbit.”
Dagrun started sputtering and his face took on a brilliant shade of crimson when he heard Yuan call him 'that name'. “W-well, I-i- Damn! SCREW YOU!” he yelled, then he gasped in pain, grimaced, then glared at his brother. It was hard to tell if his face was still red from embarrassment, anger, or both.
“Check and mate, little rabbit.” Yuan commented, his smirk even more pronounced now. Dagrun was now nearly apoplectic with embarrassment at being called 'that' twice in a row before groaning in defeat and sighing, “Fine... you win this round...”
Macchi sighed, and went on eating his bag of chips he stored in his pocket.
Leave it to these two to greet each other like this...
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Macchi made breakfast that morning. Dagrun, being the stubborn idiot that he is, insisted he eat with the guys, as he can't stand being treated like a “goddamn cripple”. It was an awkward affair with Rich and Ryan glancing at Dagrun and each other worriedly, Dagrun grumbling and wincing as he tried to feed himself without aggravating his injuries, and Macchi and Yuan pretending to ignore Dagrun but in actuality were watching his every movement.
Finally, the half-Demon got fed up and sighed.
“Mind telling me what the fcuk happened after I got impaled?”
That did it. The awkwardness grew to the point that it was stifling.
Until Yuan set down his glass.
“Well, if you insist...”
Everyone but Macchi, who seemed to find the familiar red liquid in his glass more interesting, looked at the bard as he recounted the events since his arrival...
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Flashback: some time after Dagrun's fall
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An angry roar pierced through the silence of the woods. It was more than enough to convince the bard to pick up the pace and hurry towards his destination.
When he arrived, he was met a horrendous sight.
Blood and gore was spread upon the ground, several people were injured, and the rest were fighting off an angry chimera bent on eating the rest of them alive.
And when the snake head lashed out to the nearest person, a young man with a rifle, Yuan struck.
In moments, he closed the distance between him and the boy, and with a single sweep of his rapier, blinded the snake head. The chimera hissed, roared and screeched in agony and rage, while the others took the opportunity to clear out the injured and land a few hits on the enraged being. The bard and several others retreated into the woods, where cover was well provided and the trees grew closely enough that its movement would be hampered. It would surely buy them time, especially for casters with long-ranged spells, which tend to be the only ones capable of harming a full-grown chimera.
Briefly, he wondered why the group didn't think about this before realizing that the group was comprised solely of teenagers. And there were no casters, if the lack of anyone with focus-mediums were any indication.
“Damn.”
But it was a minor setback. Yuan had lead worse campaigns than this. He turned to his brother – Dagrun looking horrible, sweating bullets, face twisted in a pained expression, even while unconscious, as the acid had eaten away part of his flesh, exposing the hole in the rib cage made by two separate wounds, one on top of the other. If they don't get him some help soon...
A rustling sound to his left had him gripping the hilt of his rapier, ready to strike...
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"Ugn, ****," Macchi panted, feeling air exit through his mouth and out a hole in his chest, "**** not good, lungs punctured" - the rest of him wasn't in any better condition, his right elbow was snapped in the wrong direction, his spine felt like it was a Jenga tower ready to fall over, and he was pretty sure that was his shin bone breaking the skin of his left leg, "Yuan-!" - Macchi threw himself towards his friend, hoping his fangs reached the lifesource before his body crumpled - CHOMP - he sighed in relief when his fangs punctured flesh and not dirt, the life-giving blood renewing his beaten body.
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Yuan was surprised at the state of the vampire. He hasn't seen Macchi in such bad shape since their first battle together! He instinctively reacted, moving to catch his old friend, and felt a sharp, stabbing pain on his shoulder.
The fangs had pieced true and deep into his neck, and he felt the sudden weakness known to the recipient of a vampire's bite. Most of the children were shocked, and the one he saved looked scared, and... curious?
And after a few moments, he felt the fangs retract.
“Thanks, I needed that.” the vampire sighed, as the noticeable hiss of the regeneration greeted their ears. Yuan chuckled. “Aye, it's good to see you too, old friend.”
Macchi's eyes burned a full crimson, his fangs now quite prominent, a slightly more feral air around him. His wounds have healed fully, leaving no scars. Yuan was pretty sure that Macchi took enough blood to ensure that he would gain, albeit temporarily, the regeneration all Demons naturally have, as well as ensuring he would not need to feed for a month or so. His appearance alone meant that the blood has made some temporary changed to his body.
The advantage of being a vampire with a full-Demon friend.
The bard turned to the youngsters, and ordered them to stay. He turned to his friend, and their eyes met. And twin smirks appeared on their faces.
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“... Wait, so you two went all out?”
“Not really. We decided to have some fun instead. It has been a while since I used any Wind techniques, and with Macchi's natural Fire affinity, we made short work of 'Ol' Scarface', as you call the chimera...”
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Another roar echoed into the night. The chimera raged and fumed, how dare those insects hurt him, how dare they keep him from his rightful prey?!
A fireball came flying towards him, and the chimaera dodged. It sneered at the two figures that came to its view. Those insects would make a good meal, and then his prey shall be his to feast on...
It lunged to them, jaws wide open, intending on taking them both out with one, swift motion.
Yuan and Macchi moved in tandem. They dodged the chimera, Yuan to the left and Macchi to the right, and they started attacking.
Yuan's rapier, while not as impressive-looking as Dagrun's sword, was pretty destructive in its own right. It's lighter weight made it easier to handle, and its thinner blade made it excellent for piercing things, such as the legs and eyes of the brute.
While terrifying, the creature proved to be slow, as it was simply too massive for anything else. That was their advantage over it.
Macchi was throwing fireballs towards the chimaera, seemingly missing, but setting the ground ablaze. The chimera roared in displeasure, it hated fire and hated magic fire even more! It moved backwards, only to have its legs assaulted by Yuan, which, while annoying, was inconsequential, or so it thought. It may feel like needle pricks to the massive brute, but it didn't know that the bard was slowly severing off its tendons with precise strikes.
The battle raged on, with Macchi herding it towards Yuan, who steadily hacked off at its legs while they both dodged the tail, claws and heads that lashed out to the offenders.
At last, the leg gave, the muscles too damaged to do much, and the creature fell to its side. And it realized that the annoying ant that was biting him had managed to injure him! It lashed out with its tail, only to have it severed by the rapier.
Yuan sighed. The snake head was blind and he was behind the creature, which struggled to stand up. It tried to reach him, its eyes burning with feral loathing...
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“That's when you killed it, right?” Dagrun inquired hopefully.
“Yes. It took three stabs to the heart and beheading it. At least I managed to extract some venom before they carted away the corpse.” Macchi said, holding up a vial with clear fluid in it. Dagrun pulled a face at the sight of the venom.
“Put that thing away, I'm having breakfast.”
Yuan laughed softly. Dagrun faced him with a curious expression in his face. “”What'cha laughing at, Yuan?”
The bard smirked, and said, “Since you seem to be in good spirits, I think I'll invite Senka over later...”
Dagrun's scream of protest rang throughout the household, scaring off a few birds outside.
.
.
.
Somewhere in a nearby town, a red-haired woman sneezed. She shrugged it off, and resumed beating up a hapless idiot that tried to steal from her.
~End~
NYA~!
Anyways, Chapter 4 is almost halfway done, so expect chaos, swearing, school stuff and a surprise visit!