Cancer feared the worst as he spoke. She knew it could have killed them all whenever it wanted to. The fact that it froze the dragon and Evelyn was testament to it's power.
The demon looked like a normal human guy in all honesty, but Cancer knew there was nothing human about it. He possessed short black hair, cold obsidian eyes that seemed to stare right into Cancer's heart, viewing all her little secrets. If he wasn't a demon, she would have thought it cute, with its fair complexion, flawless skin and sharp jawline. The demon possessed black armour that left the middle of his chest exposed, showing the middle of his pectorals and neck. The black armour was frightening, with the shoulders of the armour possessing numerous horns jutting upwards towards the sky, with the vambraces resembling dragon scales and each finger ending in a sharp, black talon. The upper legs were covered by pointed, full covering cuisses, while the lower legs were protected by greaves which had several large, sharp spikes on the outer sides. The demon also possessed a tremendous greatsword that possessed a golden hilt and crossblade, with golden designs running down the middle of the blade.
"So, you want to talk? What about?" Taurus asked nonchalantly. His sword wasn't even drawn.
"What are a bunch of demonhunters doing here?" He asked, as if it was contemplating whether or not he should blast them into a million pieces.
"N - nothing," Pisces stammered. Cancer knew they shouldn't show weakness to a demon like this, but Pisces looked terrified and was looking pitiful before the demon!
"I'm in no mood for jests," Grigori coldly remarked, raising his left hand and forming a purple orb of energy the size of Pisces's head. He launched the orb at Pisces with the flick of his finger and Pisces quickly leapt out of the way to avoid it.
The explosion it caused sent Gemini (who was the closest person to Pisces) hurtling a few yards to the left, as Cancers eye widened in fear. As the explosion dispersed, she could see there was a small crater where Pisces had stood. The spell would have annihilated him if he hadn't moved...
She looked around at the others and saw the shock on their faces. Leo was glaring at the demon, but she anyone could clearly tell that he was in no condition for any sort of fight.
"You wish to speak, boy?" The demons eyes fixated on Leo, as if he had met him before and was trying to remember where. The demon seemed to recognise all of them somewhat.
"He, as we all, don't want you to harm out friends," Scorpio replied on his behalf. Grigori merely scoffed.
"Well then answer me - what are you doing here?" He asked again. Even though he posed it as a question, it seemed like a command. Like he was forcing the answer out of them with only the power of it's words. His coldness also hadn't been lost and he was clearly expecting an answer soon.
"We came to get a key for a demon called Malus," Virgo answered honestly, doing his best to keep eye contact with Grigori. At the mention of Malus's name, the demon seemed to be intrigued.
"Hardly a reason to risk your lives. Though, I suppose you fared well, handling Meraxes of all demons," Grigori gave a small nod to the frozen dragon.
"The key is important," Gemini hastily explained. "We don't know why the hell he wants it - I'm pretty sure he did as some sort of stupid prank, but we had to come anyways because we need information that only he can provide. I guess we could try to find ourselves but it would take more time than we need, so we would all really appreciate it if you don't kill us and let us hand the key back to him," Gemini spoke way too quickly and too all over the place. Cancer feared the demon would destroy him for being an annoyance, but he looked like he was thinking about something.
"What's the information you require that is so great that you would come to my realm?" He asked, losing some of his intimdating power. He seemed much more surprised - after all why would a bunch of demonhunters who didn't look experienced at all wander into his realm?
"It's - " Libra began, but went quiet. Cancer knew answering that question could lead to suicide - the information they wanted would be used to kill one of its kin. No way would he let them walk after hearing that.
"Hmm, pitiful," Grigori scoffed. "You're planning to kill another demon," he guessed correctly. "I do not care."
Cancer was slightly relieved, as were the others. She was still worried for her life, but one hurdle was down...
"There's something wrong about all of you," Grigori narrowed his eyes at them. "I do not know what and it is troubling me..."
Cancer saw that his shadow began to elongat rapidly and before she could react, it had split apart and merged with all of their shadows. Without wanting to or even thinking about it, she knelt on one knee before him. What the hell is happening to me!? She thought, terrified, as her body moved on it's own.
She was able to move her head slightly and saw the others were also on their knees, and some of them were trying to break free, but to no avail. Leo had the most success and even was able to puff his chest out and spit in the direction of Grigori.
"You ain't shit," he glared at the demon, slowly raising his arm and Cancer noticed Grigori's right leg twitch. After it had, Leo suddenly looked exhausted and fell down into the kneeling position.
As some of the Zodiacs looked confused, Cancer realised what had just transpired - Leo had the power to manipulate the shadows, so Grigori's magic had less of an effect on him. Trying to use his own shadow magic against him was too much for Leo, hence why he was exhausted.
Grigori looked outraged and let out a terrifying obsidian coloured aura around him, cracking the ground from his sheer presence. "You bastard," he spoke furiously, his eyes laced with venom and narrowed at Leo. He still spoke somewhat calmly, but Cancer heard the sheer hate coming from his voice... but also a bit of grudging respect.
Grigori raised his left arm sent out a wave of energy at Leo, who was thrown a few yards backwards. The wave looked like it was just purple air pushing him back, but Cancer could make out long, thin scars appearing on his arms as he had tried to defend himself.
As Leo was sent flying, Taurus also slightly stood up. He formed a small meteor and hurled it at Grigori, who allowed the attack to hit him square in the face. There wasn't so much of a speck, and Taurus also fell back down on his knee, now clearly looking angry for probably the very first time.
Aries caused his energy avatar to materialise and tried attacking with his fire sword, but Grigori blocked it with one hand. "Weak," he commentated, punching the air in front of him and causing the avatar to disappear.
Aries too fell to one side, and breathed heavily, clearly exhausted.
Cancer was again fearful the demon would kill them, but to her surprise, Grigori merely resumed his normal stance and gave them something that sounded like advice.
"Ifreet is powerful, and Berial is cunning. Together they seem unstoppable... but one is much more vulnerable without the other.
I can see you are all fighting your own inner demons, too. Learn to conquer them, before fighting the real thing... or you will lose," Grigori warned. How the hell does he know about Ifreet and Berial? Cancer was taken aback. Was he omniscient? Could he read their minds?
Suddenly, the pressure on Cancer was lifted and she was able to move freely again. Grigori's shadow retracted back and he stood over them, eyeing them menacingly.
"I can sense you will all become powerful demonhunters in your own right, so that should mean I should kill you here and now... but I made a pact with Malus long ago, so I will spare you this one time."
Cancer, as all the rest of them were extremely relieved and happy to hear that.
"What was the pact you made with him, Mr demon?" Pisces asked.
"No concern of yours. Take that key back to the human world with you and learn to defeat Berial and Ifreet," Grigori spoke as if he had known about their goals all along!
As Aries and Gemini started to pepper him with annoying questions that most likely should have gotten them killed, Grigori turned around and disappeared into the shadows.
Cancer thought her eyes were deceiving her, but she could've sworn he possessed some semblance of a tiny smile just before he disappeared.
A few seconds after Grigori left, Evelyn began to move again and the dragon stood on its four legs and took off to the skies, without looking once at them, completely ignoring all of them.
"What the fuck?" Sag asked, as it flew back to its mountain.
"That's gotta be a good thing, right?" Gemini asked everyone, looking all around. Cancer was definitely thinking it was a good thing - she did not want to fight a dragon at this point in time.
"Screw that, let's go," Virgo pointed at the green rift getting bigger and bigger. They all raced inside and Cancer was glad to be rid of the demon realm. It had caused way too much pain and terror for her liking...
☆☆☆
"So, we're back," Taurus noted, as he stood up and dusted himself off. Going through the portal was like going over a waterfall on a boat - no control of where you were going, but you were going somewhere fast. As they exited the portal, they all flew threw the air and landed on the ground awkwardly.
"Fuck me, that killed," Leo complained, looking at the large, diagonal scar on his stomach. He also had several thin ones on each of his arms. Cancer sympathised with him and helped him to his feet. "Thanks," he muttered, as the portal behind them closed. Ryze, Azula and an exhausted looking Malus then strode over and welcomed them back.
"I see you've made it out alive. Well done," Malus commended.
"Thanks, it was no sweat," Leo grinned, struggling to stand on his own. Ryze helped him by allowing Leo to lean on him, and even though he didn't say anything, anyone could see Leo was appreciative of him.
"You guys get the key?" Ryze asked.
"Forget getting the son of a bitch key, we also got unwanted danger, threats of death and dragonfights to go along with it!" Gemini ranted at Malus, who sheepishly smiled.
"Yes, sorry about that... but I knew you could handle it. All's well that ends well, right?"
"They did what? Fought a dragon!?" Azula glared at Malus. "You said you were sending them to one of the safer parts of the demon realm, where they would have little to no trouble, you conniving little bastard!"
"Yeah, we really could've done with the more experienced demonhunters!" Gemini exclaimed.
"This was your quest, your mission, your contract, and yours alone," Malus replied in a calm voice. "As for the dragon, you didn't need to fight it head on and win. You didn't, by any chance, kill it, did you?" He asked, a little concerned.
"No, we were the ones close to dying, not your dragon, that's for fucking certain," Aquarius said.
"And who the hell is Grigori? He just shows up out of the blue, freezes her in place and the dragon that followed us all the way to the rift point, threatens to kill us and then walks as soon as he hears your name!" Aries yelled.
"Did you know about this?" Malus asked Evelyn, who shook her head. "Damn, Old Grigori, eh? He must have been quite a sight. His raw power is tremendous."
"Did you know we'd be running into him?" Libra asked.
"And who was this demon? He seemed much stronger than Ifreet. We stood no chance of defeating him," Scorpio pressed her lips. It was probably hard for her to admit that.
"I had a feeling you might run into him, but I knew he'd let you live... provided you said my name, of course."
"Of course," Gemini rolled his eyes.
"Grigori is an ancient and powerful demon, who I befriended many eons ago when he saved me when I was in a spot of trouble. When I discovered my power of being able to transport between worlds, I also accidentally got some humans sent to the demon world where he had them killed. In return for my promising never to plot against him or help his demon enemies, he promised he would never kill a human or even demonhunter I send to his part of the realm. Of course, if his dragon had killed you, that would have been a different story," Malus explained. "He may seem like a grumpy old man, but trust me, he's one of the nicer demons, especially for his rank."
"Yeah, cos he was just lovely when we met him," Aries sarcastically remarked.
"What's his rank?" Azula still glared at Malus.
Malus smirked. "He is one of the seven Princes of the Demon Realm."
Cancer didn't know what that meant, but judging by the faces of Leo, Capricorn, Azula and Ryze it was a pretty big deal.
"We just met a Prince? Are you shitting me?" Leo asked. He was in disbelief and shock - so much so that his jaw was practically on the floor.
"There is no way, no fucking way we should have survived that," Cap shook her head and sat down, her head in her hands. She then kept repeatedly thanking the gods.
"I've gotta say, that's impressive," Ryze commended, but still looking astonished.
"What's a Prince?" Cancer asked impatiently. She wanted to know what all the big fuss was about. Did the demon realm have a king and Grigori was his son?
"The seven Princes rule the demon realm. Since they all wanted to be one king and that didn't work out, they split it and each owns a seventh of it. Technically, their ranking is that of the second strongest demon type - demon prince, as they're weaker than Archdemons. And theres only one Archdemon I know of. It's a wonder you survived," Azula explained.
"Yeah, great miracle and all," Taurus shrugged. "But now, we want you to hold up your end of the bargain," he pointed at Malus.
"Of course, we made a deal, didn't we? But, as all of you are extremely tired and drained, I propose you get some rest before I tell you what you want to know," he replied.
"Damn it, you're telling us or so help me Seraph..." Leo fell on one knee and clutched his abdomen in pain. He was clearly straining it, and the Zodiacs began to accept that they all did need to rest and recuperate.
As Sag, Libra and Ryze tended to him, Cancer saw Virgo decide to take the reigns and extract the information from Ryze. She had to admit, she liked the assertiveness.
"When are you going to tell us what we want to know?" Virgo asked sceptically.
"C'mon Virgo, no need to be suspicious of me. I'll tell you as soon as Boy Hero there has recovered. I wouldn't want to tell you and then have him at risk of dying, after all. Besides, I'll bring a gift. It'll help you in the fight," Malus grinned. Virgo didn't look best pleased, but he nodded.
"Well, we'll be in Zhance for the foreseeable future, so whenever you want to drop by," he said.
"As you wish," Malus bowed, before disappearing in a blast of green light.
"I never liked him," Azula said after a few seconds.
"I don't like him now," Scorpio smiled.
"Where did Evelyn go?" Pisces asked.
"She's a demon, kid, so never going to happen," Taurus reprimanded teasingly, putting an arm around him.
Pisces blew raspberries. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, she kinda helped save Aqua's life and we didn't really get the chance to thank her..."
"Of course that's what you meant," Aries evilly smirked, joining in on the act. Cancer was surprised he wasn't the one with the crush on her - she seemed like his type: hot and evil.
"C'mon guys, I don't like her like that!" Pisces tried to defend himself, as the chants of 'Pisces and Evelyn, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G' started ringing around from some of the Zodiacs.
"Leave him alone now," Aquarius sternly warned.
"Or?" Taurus asked, scoffing at her like she didn't scare him at all. "You gonna do with what you did with the dragon and fly away?"
"You son of a bitch," Aquarius smiled, as if she was going to enjoy beating the crap out of Taurus. Her hands electrified, as Pisces yelled at them to stop. Cancer seriously doubted whether they were going to throw down, but just in case, she hid behind Azula with Aries, Virgo and Gemini.
"Holy shit, this is going to be a sick fight," Aries eyes lit up, as if he was a teenage boy seeing a naked lady for the first time.
"Let's go, babe! I believe in you!" Gemini rooted for Aquarius.
"Not even two minutes into your relationship and you have a pet name for her? How cute," Virgo teased.
"At least I made a move with her. Yours and Libra's relationship will probably materialise in about fifty more years," Gemini replied back.
"Sorry, Virgo, you took an L there, my friend," Aries cackled.
"Yeah, he just handed you your arse," Cancer laughed. Even after the whole demon realm thing, they were still able to joke around as if nothing happened. Even Leo had somewhat recovered and was yelling at them to brawl from a safer distance.
"Pisces! Move, you're gonna get hurt!" Aries called.
Pisces ignored him and stood between the two of them.
"Both of you! Please, calm down! Taurus, you always said I should listen to her, right? Please take your own advice for once," Pisces pleaded, before turning around to Aquarius. "Please don't fight him. He didn't mean it! For me, pleeeeaaaaasssssse?" He asked her with puppy dog eyes.
Aquarius scowled, but relented. "Fine! Only this one time," she grumbled.
"Softie," Taurus smirked.
"I don't see you trying to attack. Listening to the 'kid' for a change?" Aquarius taunted.
"No," Taurus rolled his eyes. "I just... I don't need to prove myself to you. I already did my job, and your job, in the dragon fight!"
"My job? What the fuck - "
"Let it go," Scorpio sighed, finally getting involved and leading Aquarius away.
"Damn it, no action. That was a fight for the ages," grumbled Aries.
"Well, it doesn't matter, you need to rest up now. Let's go back to the inn," Azula said.
"Yeah, I might sleep for a few days. Don't wake me up for the foreseeable future," Virgo said, beginning to walk towards Zhance.
"You have to get there first," Libra said, walking faster to join up with him.
"Yeah, I'll get there and rest. Though... I might not make it."
"Well, should you fall unconscious, I will ask Taurus to carry you," Libra smiled at Virgo, who sheepishly smiled back.
"Thanks, Libra. Want to grab a bite to eat... you know later?" Virgo nervously asked.
"Just the two of us? Erm..." Libra stuttered and Cancer wanted her to say yes. Say yes, dammit, say it now! She took too long and Virgo changed his mind.
"No, no, Gemini, Sag and Cancer will be with us. Like back when we first became demonhunters," he hastily added.
"Oh," Libra looked slightly disheartened and Cancer internally facepalmed - as did Gemini and Aries by the looks of it. "Well, okay, yeah, that'd be great," she forced a smile.
"Yeah, great," Virgo said, also putting on a forced smile.
Those two were so oblivious!
Cancer hoped that if she ever wanted a relationship with someone, it would never be as bad as this!