Lura lay on her bed, tired. She wasn't able to use her newfound powers the day before, and she wasn't able to find a sacrifice, much to her dismay. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She answered it, noting the caller ID was restricted.
"Hello?"
"Madame Lura. I wish to make it known to you that I know what you are. I, in fact, am amused that succubuses align themselves with demons such as him."
"How do you know about that? Who are you?"
"I know everything, madame. Who I am is a pointless question to ask, you know I will not risk compromising my identity to a succubus with mind control powers."
"I'm NOT a succubus. What do you want?"
"You shall come to the park, two hours from now, on the dot. And for your sake, don't be
late."
"Fine, I'll be there..."
"Good girl. We shall expect your arrival."
"We?" Lura mused, but the line went dead.
Lura put her phone in her pocket. She didn't want to leave the comfort of her home, but she knew what the consequences would be if she didn't go to the park. What was the voice on the phone?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryze jumped down from the tree that she was perched in. She was in the form of a bearded, blue man with rune tattoos all over his body. Lura jumped a few meters backward, pulling a knife out of her back pocket.
"Who are you?" asked Lura.
"My name is not important, but let's just say, I know your sister."
Lura's eyes burned with hatred.
"Where is she?"
Ryze said a few words in latin, and smiled. She turned and ran into the foliage.
As Lura tried to run after her, she only got a few feet into the woods before she realized the demon had disappeared. She followed the path that had footsteps, maybe this demon wasn't so clever after all. In the middle of a clearing, a man with black hair stood out. He was wearing a mask, one she had seen before. It was a mask of V from V For Vendetta.
The man looked at her with a sideways glance.
"Thank you for joining us, madame Lura."
"Us?--"
Lura was cut short of continuing with her questions by a sword placed against her throat. Lura understood. She stepped backwards, and drew her own weapon, what appeared to be a small cylinder, much like Michael's. She pressed a button, and it grew into a scythe.
Everyone prepared for an imminent battle.
Lura looked to her right, in the direction the sword had come from, and saw a boy she recognized.
"Hey, Daniel. Long time no see! Now, I command you to drop that sword." she giggled.
Daniel smiled and readied it, backing into the foliage.
Lura was confused. She was sure she ordered Daniel to drop the sword. She had forgotten the day had passed.
She looked back to her front in time to see the man in a mask draw a cylinder similar to hers. She giggled, and got into a battle ready form. The man activated the cylinder, and a long, ribbed sword appeared.
"I guess I was wrong, and in fact you are not a succubus. I don't see a tail. Hmph."
Lura jumped at the man, swinging her scythe to attack the man, who still wasn't in form.
He took a step back, attempting to dodge the blade, but it sliced right across the front of his mask, and when Lura landed on the opposite side of him, the mask fell on the ground in two pieces.
Sighing the man said, "That mask was homemade. A pity." The man took sudden form, swiftly striking at the woman from behind.
Lura looked at the man, and attempted to recognize who it was, but was cut across the stomach by the sword. It was only a slight wound, as Michael did not want to kill her, only immobilize her.
Lura's scythe flew to the side, and landed in the grass. She fell to her knees, and grabbed her stomach. A pain was shooting through her body like bullets from a gun.
Johnathon emerged from the foliage, and stood on the scythe, so that it may not be used in spite of Lura's injury.
Michael walked over to Lura, and grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to look at him.
"What are your motives, mortal gone demon? Tell me how much pain it is to feel a slight cut, not even an inch deep from my blade? That blade was made just to combat your kind."
"Gah~! You know I'm into that, don't you?" laughed Lura.
Michael threw Lura to the ground with a grunt, and turned around. After a few steps, he turned back to Lura, and sighed.
"I'll ask you again, Lura. What were your motives for summoning the Archdemon Azreth?"
"I summoned him for the one obvious reason. I needed the ability to control people."
Michael smiled cynically and said, "What you're not telling us is the not-obvious reason."
Lura sighed. "Yes, and you're not going to find out."
Michael put the tip of his blade under her chin, lifting her head. Lura's eyes showed a glimmer of fear.
Daniel watched nervously as Michael pushed the blade under her lower jaw. Michael wasn't going to lethally wound Lura, but he was going to make her talk.
"Last time, girl. Why did you summon Azreth?"
"I already told you. My mouth is sealed." Lura attempted to flash a grin, but was met with disappointment, as her fear turned her grin into a grimace, her eyes stained with it.
Michael tossed his sword to the ground, and reached into his jacket pocket. He withdrew a small dagger, and slid the flat across Lura's cheek.
A tear rolled down Lura's quivering cheek.
"I-I didn't do it for my own gain... I summoned Azreth, because he took my... sister."
"You have a sister?" asked Daniel.
"Yeah... she's my twin, Orianna. Azreth kidnapped her a couple years ago, and... I haven't heard from her since, I was trying to... figure out where he went. I thought that if I could force a bunch of people to help me, we could find her. I knew no one would believe me if I said a demon took Orianna."
Pondering this, Michael sighed.
"Ryze, come here."
"I am here, master. What is thy bidding?" Ryze floated into view, in ethereal form. When she hit the ground, she transformed back into the little girl.
"You said something about a girl about her size when you visited your brother in the Underrealm, didn't you?"
"Now that I think about it, yes. It seemed to have slipped my mind. My apologies, master. I can lead you to her if you wish."
Michael pondered what he would do. Would he really open the gates to hell for a girl he just met, who tried to kill him?
Yes, he would.
