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<To Celia's Looking Glass chapter 2
After killing the first demon, the boy was much more confident of his abilities. However, he knew that slaying every monster in the city wouldn't necessarily help him find the cloaked man who had forementioned their upcoming battle. The boy knew that facing him would be an immense step in his journey, but he also had the inexplicable feeling that that would not nearly be the end of it.
The boy had traveled around the seemingly endlessly large city for what felt like a number of hours without incident. After a while it occured to him to try and gain entrance to one of the large forbidding buildings that populated the cities streets, crowding together in against the other buildings as if the planner had attempted to fit as many structures as possible into each block.
With his sword held in one hand, the boy approached one of the buildings doors, the tall skyscraper looming over him, bending over to inspect the person who desired entry. He reached out and slowly turned the door's handle and pulled the creaky door outward. Inside, there was an ominous black void where the entry lobby or room should've been, and the boy felt a slight vacuum of pressure tugging him incessantly to enter. The boy stepped back and slammed the door hastily. He concluded that if he were to find a building of any use, he would need a guide, but no help was available. Everyone in this realm seemed to be some demon or foul beast attempting to subdue or slow his progress. He resigned himself to his solitude, knowing it would be useless to dwell on it.
The boy continued down the street he had been walking along for the past hour. The crooked lightposts had a strange luminescent effect on the street, causing parts of it to be unevenly lit. Sections of the street were bathed in pale, almost murky light whilst others were barely lit at all. To intensify the strange atmosphere, was the fact that some of the lights would flicker on and off irregularly while still others seemed to glow at only half- or quarter-strength. The overall effect of the lighting was vaguely unerving, but it didn't bother the boy as much as it would have bothered some. Fighting one's own demons made eerie lighting seem like a favor.
He glanced up at the sky and noticed the storm clouds had rolled in. For whatever reason, this change had caused the city to take on a purplish tint. But it wasn't the calm color of lavender, but more the purple of a slightly faded bruise. The air still smelt putrid and the boy had nearly gagged a number of times while passing the noxious sewer openings.
Finally, after walking a fair distance, the boy noticed something of interest that broke the monotony of the city scape. It was an alley. Most buildings were too closely pressed together to allow any kind of passageway between them, but he stood before what was unmistakably an intentional pass between the silent buildings.
Walking slowly down the alley, the boy soon came to a small pile of rubble stacked against a chain link fence. Crawling carefully up the loose gravel and rocks, the boy vaulted over the fence and dropped to the other side. The sight that met him as he turned around caused him to draw his sword faster than he imagined possible.
On the other side of the fence the alley widened, but it was still only three quarters the size of one of the cities streets. However, filling up nearly all of that space and standing eight or nine feet tall was a fearsome demon. It was coated from head to toe in riveted iron plates that were beginning to rust. Even the creatures large cloak was made of smaller iron sections, loosely bolted together, allowing them to shift, however loudly. The creatures head resembled that of a gorilla with small eyesockets for the yellow eyes with black slits for pupils almost like a cat's. It's arms were large and awkward looking with large iron-gauntleted hands and a barrel chest lined with row after row of rivets. The pelvic armor was small and suggested that there was a much thinner creature within the metal monstrosity, and that these outer iron-plates were armor as opposed to skin. It's legs were thick and sturdy, ensuring the beast could not tip itself over due to it's ridiculous proportions.
It moved somewhat awkwardly, as if the creature within the armor wasn't quite big or strong enough to wear the formidable suit of iron. It seemed dangerous enough, however, as it bared it's huge fists for combat, and took up a fighter's stance, slowly shifting it's heavy legs into place. It's strange metal cape scraped loudly as the iron garment shifted awkwardly in a perverse imitation of how a nomral cape might've behaved.
The boy ascertained that though he was far more agile than the demon, a single blow would likely cripple him. He had to be very careful to wear the beast down and beat it by patiently outlasting it and then destroying it ocne it had collapsed. However, the boy wasn't sure his plan would work since he wasn't at all certain that demons could even get tired the way a person would. At the moment though, it was his best plan, so he prepared himself to dodge a monstrous blow and hoped it would work.
The boy threw himself to his left and rolled, coming up into a crouching defensive position with his sword held two handed in front of him. Not abandoning his posture, he watched the destruction caused by the metal monter's attack. Shards of brick and mortar rained down where the beast had struck the alley's wall. As the huge metallic fist retracted it left a huge crater in the wall, and even more shale rained down as the fist was removed. His fears about the destructive power of the beasts attacks were confirmed.
But the boy had no time to stare at the sheer force brought to bear by his foe. He launched himself sideways, landing flat on the ground as the other huge fist swung towards him, threatening to decimate his small body the way it had the wall. The boy quickly regained his feet and stood facing the back of his huge adversary. The large metallic beast was forced to slowly turn around to face him. Taking advantage of it's momentary weakness, the boy swung his sword cutting a huge gash in the armor. He seemed to have failed to harm the creature within, though he had revealed a piece of faded and stained white cloth.
The creature had turned fully and the boy rolled around it's legs to the other side and launched himself upwards from a kneeling position, swinging his sword one handed, he cut a wound in the armor in the left leg. At the peak of his jump the boy swung strongly upwards, severing the cape about a foot below the beast's shoulders. With the large cape no longer attached to the body it slowly started to fall as the iron plates slid downwards like large sheets of ice that had been broken off a glacier. As it started to topple towards the boy, he realized he must act fast or be crushed. He kicked the iron sheet twice, causing it to slowly start to fall back onto the creature who was only halfway through turning around to meet his attacker. The boy leaped himself upwards and ran up the iron ramp he had created as the metallic cape crashed down on the beast.
Just as the large iron sheet came crashing down on the demon, the boy reached the top of it. Jumping off and turning over once in mid-air he delivered a vicious slash downwards while he was upside down, slicing off the front of the horrid iron mask. Landing nimbly on the balls of his feet and counterbalancing his forward movement by gracefully planting his sword point in front of him, the boy turned around to see the beast collapse under the combination of the boy's assault and the weight of the iron curtain which had struck it. It began to struggle to get up, but could not seem to. The boy walked around to the side the head was facing and saw what appeared to be a dark-haired man's face where the iron mask had been.
The man's face was quite pale but without any blemish or imperfection. His eyes were golden yellow with catlike eyes and his lips were tinted blue in a way that made him seem vaguely unhealthy. When those yellow eyes looked up into the boy's face, a spark was ignited within them, like the first spark of a fire being rekindled that had long ago gone out. Then the man spoke in a deep voice that seemed to echo off the walls of a cavern that housed a large tranquil pool.
"I know you."
To Celia's Looking Glass chapter 4>
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