Here We Stand On Opposing Sides

Flora and Julius stood underneath the gigantic demon, the shadow hanging over them emphasizing its massive size and making them feel absolutely miniscule in comparison. Green eyes refuse to look away from their outrageous enemy but from their peripheral, they see Julius clutch his weapon, preparing to do battle against the monstrosity.

“Are you mad!? We can’t take it on!”

“Yeah, but if we leave it alone, it’s gonna head to the city!”

“Maybe we can distract it instead?” Just as they suggested that, a massive claw slammed on where they were standing previously. They hear Julius’ scream of their name, knowing that the teen must have been panicking when they got separated.

“I’m fine! We have to—”

“We can’t even hold it off on our own, Flora! We’d be dead before dad and the others get here—Fuck!” He swings Emperor’s Oath, deflecting another swipe and successfully parrying the surprise attack of the behemoth. He repositions himself as he begins sniping and pushing back the demon, red orbs being eaten with each round shot.

“What do we do then!?” Flora steps back, sword cane pushing through one of the hands of the demon. They jump back as it begins rampaging at the two young devil hunters. Growling, it unhinges its jaw as a glowing green laser began forming within it.

“Shit, duck!”

The giant beam began sweeping the entire field as Julius and Flora slammed down onto the hard gravel to avoid getting hit.

“Juli, we have to run—”

“We can’t! I…” Julius winced as another laser nearly hit his hand. “Flora, I have to use my Devil Trigger.”

“No! Juli, you still haven’t—”

“I know! But we’re pretty much dead if we don’t try—”

“Alek and Priss aren’t here to handle you!”

“But you are! Just… If worst comes to worst, hold me off until dad appears!” Mind made up, the silver-haired teen ran towards the demon, not caring if any of its attacks hit him. He hears Flora scream his name but it doesn’t matter.

Julius feels the pull from within him, the ebbing pulse of power and the rush of something spread within his veins. He dives in deeper, not realizing his wounds were rapidly healing and his mind becoming blank. He feels himself sinking into the abyss and despite trying hard to stay conscious and awake, he doesn’t hold on and finally, rests.

Flora stood farther back as they watch in horror at how their friend succumbs to their demon blood. Pink and blue wings cover his unprotected back as the same blue and pink colored veins wrapped around his arms and legs. They hear him laugh, no longer human nor the Julius they know and suddenly, he is in free fall, slamming down onto the behemoth.

Upon closer look, Flora notes how his eyes glow pink with blue veins running down from his pupils onto his cheeks. On his forehead is another glowing eye, rapidly looking around and refusing to stay still.

“Holy shit, what happened to big boy over there?”

Flora nearly hits the newcomer before identifying him as Griffon. They nearly cry in relief, as now at least back-up had arrived.

“Hey, easy on the feathers, superstar! Your old man got worried and sent me over first. Demons are wrecking the absolute crap on the outskirts of the city.”

“Wait, so they’re not here yet?”

“Gee, way to make a bird feel special.”

“S-Sorry… It’s just… We have a really big problem.” The poet’s daughter gestures at their friend’s devil trigger form absolutely destroying the demon with minimal effort.

“What, so he’s not doing that on purpose?”

“He’s… not himself at the moment.” They clutch the sword cane as green eyes track every move their friend makes. “He can’t control his devil trigger.”

“Uh-oh, yeah, we got a problem then.” As Griffon comments, a loud crash echoes from the battlefield. The demon is finally down and on top of its corpse is Julius still wrapped up in hues of blue and pink.

“Power… I am the one… with power! Give me more power!” The demonic-enhanced teen screamed, his voice tinged with something otherworldly and monstrous.

“So, any plans kid?”

“How long until they get here?”

“Give or take fifteen minutes—hold up, you’re not suggesting—”

“We have to make sure he stays here.” They tense up, as glowing pink-blue eyes spot them. Their heart races as the Julius began making his way towards where they are at.

“Griffon… I—”

“Say no more, kid. I got your back.”

I don't know what you had in mind
But here we stand on opposing sides

“Let's go to war!” With unmatchable speed, the hybrid leaps forward and swipes at the other devil hunter. Flora hears him laugh gleefully, as Griffon shoots off a lightning wall to keep him away from them.

“Don’t get hit, sweetcheeks! Or your dad might actually encourage that artisan to cook me.” Flora laughs, despite the alarming situation. Leave it to Griffon to make things brighter somehow.

They dodge a nasty kick from their friend’s enhanced legs and managed to land a hit with their cane. It barely does anything as the small wound rapidly heals. Griffon spits out a lighting bolt along with a curse as Flora side steps another attack.

"Try harder, I'm much stronger."

You push it in and you cut me down
And you cut me down

“War… War! WAR! Ahahahah!” The hybrid laughs once more, clawing at the airborne Griffon. His pink and blue wings spread out and lifted him from the ground. The familiar barely managed to get out of the way but significant damage has already been done.

“How much longer, Griffon?”

“Any time now, superstar--”

Screaming at the ones we love
Like we forgot who we can trust

“Griffon!” Flora screams out as the berserk form of their friend managed to land a critical hit on their dad’s familiar.

Screaming at the top of our lungs

Flora was getting tired, their throat parched and their body bruised. Julius still hasn’t snapped out of his haze and his devil trigger makes it impossible to deal chip damage, not when it continuously heals up whatever Flora could dish out.

On the grounds where we feel safe
Do we feel safe? Do we feel safe?

“Juli… please…” Out of strength, Flora kneels down as Julius’ demonic form looms over them. Just as he was about to kill them, a voice pierces through the echoing silence

“Go!” Figures of Shadow and Nightmare pounced and smashed at Julius’ form. Flora scrambles out of the way as Griffon clutches onto them and drags them to where V stands. Immediately, Tasha rushes forward and begins fussing over Flora’s wounds and injuries. As Julius attacks the familiars, distracted, he didn’t manage to dodge a sniper bullet lodging onto his shoulder.

“Wait! Aunt Claudia! That’s Juli!” Surprised, Claudia’s pink eyes widen as she examines the grinning devil trigger form of her son.

“Fuck, what the hell did Jules do?” Finally arriving, Nero steps onto the battlefield, Red Queen ready on his hand. He parries a swipe from his son as Claudia fires off a warning shot, deliberately missing.

“H-He can’t control it yet… You were suppose to teach him in the future…” Flora scrambles for an explanation as their mother shushes them from talking anymore.

“Power… my power!”

“Nero…”

“Yeah, I know.” Nero unsheathes Red Queen and steps forward onto the battlefield. V calls back his familiars, now more focused on his daughter’s injuries.

Do we censor or do we flow?
Are we drunk on the chemicals?

“Hey Jules, mind talking to your dad here for a bit?” The young form of Julius’ father tried placating his son, hoping that he doesn’t have to use his own devil trigger to potentially knock him out. The teen sneers at his father, mind still drunk on the haze of power.

Every feeling in my bones tells me to lash out
And tell you…

“Fuck off!” Pink and blue wings carried him back, as he recognizes the power slowly materializing in front of him. His instincts tell him that he is outclassed.

“That’s not a nice thing to say to your dad. You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Nero, fully in his devil trigger form, began chasing and fighting his son. The battle barely lasted a few minutes, both airborne and clawing each other. They land in unison, as Julius’ body sagged from his father’s grip. Slowly, the demonic energy began to wane and disperse, the wings and veins disappearing completely and his extra eye vanish. Pink-blue eyes opened momentarily as his mother began checking him for extra wounds. He stares at the worried look Flora is giving him and he weakly smiled in response, muttering a quiet apology before passing out once again.

Before everything faded to black, he swears he hears his parents call out his name. With the last of his energy, he calls out to them, wanting to feel their warmth and love and be assured that they’re still there.

Remember everything that we died for
You are everything that I die for