Demon Lord

by Malaca

Chapter 7

The light of the teleport soon faded away leaving the mismatched group
standing in the middle of a school library. Sai cocked an eyebrow at
the choice of places to “meet.” Malaca sighed and leaned against Ryo.
Her vision was blurry and off, she’d have to get Sage to heal it when he
had the time.

Angel walked away with the Slayerettes towards a few seats only
stopping when he realized the Ronins hadn’t followed. He turned towards
the teens that had, to his amusement, surrounded the blinded Malaca
protectively.

“It would be easier to talk sitting down you know,” he commented.

Kento snorted, “With a vampire? I think not.”

Malaca rolled her eyes internally, it would figure Kento would put up a
fuss; “Come off it Kento.”

She pushed away from the group and walked towards where the Slayerettes
were sitting. She stopped and cocked her head in welcome to the Ronins
to basically get their butts in gear and join her. The Ronins looked to
their leader, Ryo, who shrugged in answer. Rowen muttered something
obscene and not fit for this story as he walked ahead to help Malaca to
a seat. She smiled in his direction before relaxing in the chair.

Rowen sat next to her on one side. Ryo shrugged again and sat down next
to her with Sai and Sage not too far behind.

Kento sighed, ‘Am I the only one who doesn’t agree with this?’

~YES!~

Kento jumped and gave all his friends a dirty look before sitting down
as well. Silence was the main speaker as no one stepped forward to
begin explaining, or informing in some cases, what was going on. Oz
raised an eyebrow but was silent to this little party. Giles hacked
slightly in his throat as if to clear the windpipes. Kento sat
forlornly in the corner with Malaca nearby smirking under a hand.

Ryo glanced over to Sage~Are you going to heal her?~

~I don’t think in front of them would be a good idea~was the reply.

~It might seem a little strange, Ryo if Sage could heal people. They
would wonder about other things as well.~Sai mentioned logically.

Ryo nodded and glanced over at Malaca~Damn, boy don’t worry. I’ll be
fine. Geez your worst than my mother sometimes~

~Mal..~

He was interrupted by another dry cough from Giles. The Ronins, except
for Malaca looked up at him. Giles adjusted his glasses and stood up.

“Since no one else seems to want to start, I will. It seems we are
after the same thing, the Demon Lord, am I right?”

Malaca nodded slightly.

“Am I also right to assume that you have experience in fighting
demons?”

She nodded again with the other Ronins this time.

Giles pushed his glasses up again, “Am I also right too…”

Xander stood up suddenly, “Aw, let’s just cut to the chase! Are you
all any way related to a Japanese poem?”

The Ronins blinked and then started to laugh. Xander blinked as he
stood there in a comic position.

“What?”

Angel sighed and shoved Xander down before grabbing a piece of paper
and handing it to Sage. The Ronins were still laughing, but Sage had
become suddenly very serious.

“Guys, look at this!” he whispered hoarsely.

Malaca cocked her head, “Wish I could.”

Sage gave her a glare, which conveniently she missed other wise Sage
would be hurting pretty badly.

“I’ll say it aloud then. Torch of spirit, sought through five.
Drinking strength from immortal fire. The Darkest prison sheds the
light. Churning beneath a swirl of salt. Burning in a throne of rock.
Floating amongst the eyes of ages, unmoured in a stream of the sky.”

The laughter ceased.

Angel glanced at them, “Have you heard this before.”

Rowen was on him in a minute, “Where did you find this? What are you
doing with it, and what do you want with the meaning?”

Malaca took this distraction to whisper to Sage, “Perhaps we should
show them when you heal my eyes?”

Sage nodded understanding and glanced towards Ryo who was prying Rowen
off the vampire.

~Ryo, permission to tell?~

~Yeah, make it fast though~

“Malaca, he said it’s okay, Mal?” Sage asked.

She was too busy listening to the fight to pay attention, “ROWEN STOP
IT NOW!”

He ignored her.

“ROWEN!”

He ignored her again, and Malaca muttered something under her breath
that would have made Rowen proud. She took a deep breath.

~I SAID STOP IT NOW!~

Silence ruled again as both the Ronins and Slayerettes paused to glance
either in wonder or irritation.

“Now,” she said in a quiet voice, “let us explain. Sage.”

Sage nodded and placed a hand over her eyes. The hand glowed green and
Malaca hissed slightly as his power cleared out the flash dust ad healed
her eyes. The Slayerettes gawked openly. Sage pulled back when he was
done and Malaca rubbed her eyes before opening them slowly. Besides a
slight glare from lights at first, her sight was fine. Kento gave the
Slayerettes a broad smile.

“Are you telling me you haven’t seen a healer before?” he smirked.

Angel frowned, “You are them aren’t you?”

Sai cocked his head, “What do you mean?”

“You’re the ones with the Yori.”

Cordeila caught this and laughed, “They aren’t four hundred years old,
Angel.”

She stopped laughing when the others looked at each other. Rowen
rubbed the back of his head, “Well we aren’t four hundred years old, but
the seasonals are.”

“Seasonals?”

“Yeah, the warlords.”

“Warlords?” Giles asked confused.

Rowen rolled his eyes, “Yes the warlords.”

A quiet voice spoke up, “Perhaps we should tell them everything we
know?”

The Ronins turned towards their leader, Ryo, who had spoken. He
shrugged in answer.

~Might as well, I mean they’re facing they same Demon. How long will
it be till we are forced to show ourselves, and how many will die before
we do?~

~I don’t know Ry, what happens if they are in disguise or something for
the other side?~Rowen sent back.

~What if they aren’t?~Sai added.

~I think Rowen has a point, it is possible that they aren’t what they
seem.~Sage argued

~But I feel trust in them. Is this a wrong feeling Sage?~Sai
questioned.

~Hold buddy, we don’t need to jump on each other.~Kento scolded
slightly.

~And this is coming from you Hardrock?~mentioned Rowen with a smirk.

Malaca sighed~We might as well. They are working with the Slayer after
all, and this Slayer is trapped by the Demon Lord.~

~Slayer? How many times have you mentioned this? Aren’t you a
Slayer?~questioned Sage.

~Not really, it’s just a nickname for the Demon Hunters. Slayers are
different. It’s one girl in the world born once a generation to protect
the world from demonic forces. They are faster, stronger and harder to
kill. They are supernatural you can say, but not many can harness the
actual power. They are more powerful than the Demon Hunters. We just
exist because of the guardians and the Mystics. We in a way help them
to fight demons.~

The others blinked and the Slayers looked at them puzzled at what they
were doing.

~Are you sure they are working with the Slayer?~questioned Rowen.

Malaca nodded~Sure as rain.~

~It’s settled then we shall show them.~Ryo added.

Ryo shook the distant look from his eyes and smiled slightly at the
shocked teenagers. Rowen smirked.

“I’ll tell then Ryo, don’t get your underwear in a knot,” he smiled.

Ryo sent him a dirty look.

Rowen conveintelly ignored it as he went on to explain the poem.
“You see this poem is old and was created as a sort of prophecy for
those who it effected. It is about the Yori, more specifically it is
about where the Yori is hidden and what the Yori is fueled by. For
instance,” Rowen paused and pointed to the first verse, “this statement
‘Torch of Spirit Sought through Five,’ tells us that the spirit of the
world is made through five warriors. The next verse, ‘Drinking from
immortal fire,’ tells of the hiding place of one of the armors. This
armor is the Armor of Wildfire and notice it also tells of its hiding
spot. Wildfire is fueled by ‘immortal fire’ or…”

Giles cocked his head, “Immortal fire? You mean fire that lasts
forever? How is that possible?”

“Maybe the proverbial fire like the urge to defend?” suggested Willow.

Angel shook his head; “I think its more literal. What about the
armor’s name? Wildfire sounds like a true fire, not a proverbial fire.
But what fire lasts forever?”

Ryo choked hiding a laugh, but just barely. This was too good for
him. What was so hard to figure out about “WILDFIRE”?

“What about a Volcano?” spoke up Oz quietly.

“No,” answered Giles.

“Yes,” answered Rowen.

Giles gave him a quizzical look, “But Volcanoes die out all the time,
they are not immortal.”

Kento rolled his eyes, “Not the volcanoes themselves dimwit! He means
the lava stuff! Geez, even I know that!”

Rowen nodded, “You know the eternal flames of Earth?”

Giles pushed his glasses up farther, “I see.”

“Okay now the third verse states, ‘The Darkest prison sheds the
light.’ This refers to the armor of Halo, but what does it mean?”

Angel squinted, “You know this don’t you?”

Rowen smirked, “Of course.”

“Then by God tell us!” Giles stood up taller.

“Ro stop playing games and tell the man already,” Malaca sighed.

He rolled his eyes, “Okay, okay. Halo is forged by darkness meaning
that the armor of light came from the darkest caves on Earth.”

Angel nodded, “That makes sense.”

“I can’t believe we are talking civil with a vampire,” snorted Kento,
“does anyone else not get this?”

“KENTO!” cried the Ronins.

He shrugged, “What?”

“Now that is my kind of person,” Xander motioned, “he understands my
reasoning.”

“Go on Rowen,” motioned Sage.

“Before I was so rudely interrupted…”

“ROWEN!”

“Alright already, damn you people need to stop acting like this. The
fourth verse states ‘Churning beneath a swirl of salt.’ This phrase
refers to the armor of Torrent and it hiding place underneath a
whirlpool. Its power is of the water.”

“The fifth verse is ‘Burning beneath a throne of rock.’ This is the
armor of Hardrock and it’s hiding place at the Throne of Gods in Japan.
Its power is of the Earth.”

“The sixth verse is of ‘Floating among the eyes of ages, unmoured in a
stream of the sky.’ This part of the puzzle talks of the armor of
Strata and it’s hiding spot.”

“Which is?” questioned Giles.

“Yeah stream of the sky? What’s that all about?” Xander asked
scratching his head.

Rowen smirked, “When it’s night out and your look in the a body of
water, what do you see?”

Giles piped up, “Why you see the sky.”

“Exactly. The armor of Strata’s power is of the Earth’s atmosphere and
it’s hiding spot in the stratosphere.”

“Ah, and how do you know all this exactly?” Oz spoke up.

Sai frowned, “Well you see chaps, we are, how do I explain this?”

“We’re empowered warriors that are chosen to fight against demons and
the like,” Malaca told the Slayerettes.

“And you?” Angel asked.

Malaca walked slowly over to him and peered into his eyes, “I’m your
worse nightmare, Angel. Or should I say Angelus?”

Angel snarled, “How do you know this.”

Malaca gave him a smile before roughly grabbing his collar and shoving
his face into hers, “Because I am Eclipse.”

Malaca dropped him the floor with a smirk and walked away. She called
over her shoulder as she left the library.

“See you guys tomorrow at school. You can count on it.”

Giles frowned, “Eclipse?”

Angel was staring out into space in amazement and a small amount of
fear. Oz and Willow noticed this.

“Angel are you okay?” Willow asked.

Giles looked over at the vampire as well. Angel looked up at the
watcher before speaking.

“She’s the most powerful Demon Hunter ever to walk to Earth.”

Giles looked out the door where they left, “Oh dear.”

YEAH! I finished this chapter. Dances in a circle Whoohoo! Okay now,
I’m getting a little too excited. Thanks everyone for writing lately to
encourage me to continue this story. For awhile because of family
problems I was thinking about just stopping writing. But the comments
and praise from both people on the net and people I know about has
changed my mind. I won’t stop until I finished all I planned and then
some. I enjoy this as much (or more) than those who read this.

Also to any reader who actually reads my comments I have a request. I
have a short story that comes after this and involves the Ronins and Co
going on a vacation. Any ideas where and what happens when they are on
vacation? Just let me know at my address. I’m having a creativity
block so sue me! (Not really I don’t have any money) I will give you
credit for it to thanks.

And to answer a question from I think Dragonqueen, yes Ryo will get kiss
her eventually. Actually he’ll go to third base at some time if you
know what I mean. Anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks for the support!
Ja.

Malaca

[email protected]

http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/fanfiction

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