I've decided to start putting comments at the end in case I want to talk about the episode!

Episode 62 - Crimson Shadow

It's been happing a lot. Since we came here to investigate a few unusual supernatural happenstances, more incidents have been occurring. Then we met that reaper, the cause behind it all. The situations aren't only getting more frequent and dangerous, but also more ridiculous. It seems like humans are pretty easily misled by this kind of power...

"So what's the deal? Just how is he giving them those powers like this?" Alec asked. He was currently standing a short way behind Celeste, wearing his normal black clothing. Celeste stood with her dark purple wings and tail behind her, and a matching blouse with thin straps. Her shorts were made of jean so her coordination wasn't that bad compared to usual. Celeste had managed to evacuate the area without too much trouble before their newest target appeared before them.

"Well, humans granted demon powers are unpredictable. I'd say this one has absurd strength. Well, absurd from a human's perspective," Celeste shook her head slightly. "Such a feat is nothing for even a weak reaper."

"Why are you bragging?" Alec frowned, "I can get why you're calm in this situation, since it's become stupidly common, but..." He glanced over at the man that stood several feet away. He wasn't much older than Alec, and had plain features. His hair was dark and short, and his gray eyes were swirling with anger. He wore a leather jacket over black clothing that wasn't dissimilar from Alec's own outfit. What was bothering Alec most about this particular person was the large car he held easily above his head. He had been seeing things like that for the entire week.

"Stop ignoring me!" The young man threw the car at the two. Celeste was standing in front of Alec and easily caught the front of the car with her right hand. He stopped dead as she easily handled the car.

"Still, I forgot how strong you are too," Alec muttered as Celeste set the car back on the street.

"It involves solidifying my blood so I can withstand the impact," She stated softly. "Still, clearing the town when not everyone is aware of the supernatural is a pain."

"Ha..." He cackled. "He said I'd be the strongest!" This time he grabbed a large truck with both hands and threw it at Celeste. She hissed softly and caught the vehicle in both hands before gently putting it to her right.

"I'm sick of this ridiculous foolishness. Surrender yourself. Such powers do not belong in your hands." Celeste stated.

"Ha... Maybe I can't defeat you, but I can destroy your friend!"

"What?" Celeste's head darted behind her.

"Wait..." Alec was clutching his shoulder where he had been nicked by a small amount of shrapnel that had broken off from the truck's mirror. Before Alec could respond further a crimson glow surrounded Celeste. The crimson light quickly spread out, suddenly covering the world in red.

"What..." The young man gasped and fell flat to the ground. He tried to speak but only let out a weak rasp as he struggled to breathe. Celeste seemed to appear before him without moving. She stood above him with her right arm cover in dark, black blood that formed a point of her hand.

"Stop!" Alec grabbed onto her from behind. The effect was instant as the red world shattered and returned to normal.

"I..." Celeste went limp in his arms. He easily held up the light girl. "I am sorry," She pulled away from him, avoiding any eye contact. "I'll take care of this," Celeste grabbed the gasped young man and flew off before Alec could further react.

"I hate when she does that," Alec glanced down at the small cut as it started to rapidly disappear. I feel I should be concerned about that healing so fast. Still, she reacted so badly from a minor cut. That guy was throwing cars around... Just how is that reaper giving them such strong powers? Weren't they normal humans? Then again, I...

"So once again things are moving in an odd direction and quickly. I don't like people visiting my room all the time," Alec sat up in his bed and switched on the light. A familiar figure stood in the corner of the room. "You? I wouldn't expect to see you..." A dark-clad man stood before him. He had plain, short black hair, and was dressed in matching clothing. His crimson eyes glared intently at Alec.

"I do not wish to be here. It is not natural..." He growled, "But it is your fault I am here. You opened up a hole in the Underworld."

"Caretaker," Alec frowned, "Wait," He jumped out of bed, "Are you here for Sylvia?"

"The living are out of my jurisdiction," He answered, "though even I am unsure what occurred. Never the less, there is a gateway between worlds that should never meet. I should not even exist in this world."

"So why are you here?" Celeste asked as she entered the room.

"You are here as well," He muttered.

"If you shouldn't be here, why are you?" This had been the first time Alec had seen Celeste since she disappeared earlier.

"Because of you," He stated simply. "You dragged back the dead... and now she's alive. I still do not understand it. It does not concern me any longer. What does concern me is that someone dead has gone through that hole and back into this world. I must take him back."

"We created a hole?" Alec frowned.

"You tampered with the threads of the universe," He answered simply. "I have been able to guard it while it slowly repairs, but this one was exceedingly strong and stubborn. He has been in the underworld for millennia."

"So that is how he knows so much about ancient reapers," Celeste stated, "Our kind is not known for record keeping."

"So it's because of me," Sylvia stated softly as she joined the group.

"Yes," The Caretaker stated coldly.

"You're in the mortal realm right now. I'd choose your attitude more wisely," Celeste responded.

"I wish to recapture the reaper," He stated, ignoring her threat.

"You have a great personality," Alec pointed out.

"You will assist me since you are in part the cause," He responded.

"We would do something about him anyway," Celeste glared at him, "Can you locate him?"

"I believe I can," He answered, "But it will take... some time," He frowned. "That concept is still hard for me to follow..."

"How long?" Celeste asked.

"I should be able to seek him out by tomorrow night," He answered.

"I will hold that to you," Celeste stated, "And will hope you cause no trouble," She added as she left the room.

"Where will you be staying?" Alec frowned.

"I do not understand, I will be searching for him here," Caretaker answered.

"You're not standing in here all night," Alec stated.

"I don't want him anywhere near," Sylvia added.

"This whole situation is annoying. So be it, but I will not linger too far from here," He stated before he simply vanished.

"I hate that guy..." Sylvia muttered.

"I can't blame you, though I think he isn't fundamentally bad," Alec answered. "I'm going to bed," He turned out the light and lay back down.

"Maybe..." There was a brief silence before Alec realized she hadn't left the room.

"What are you doing?" Alec sighed as he felt something warm behind him.

"Going to bed," She answered softly.

"I don't know where to start," Alec muttered as he felt his face get red. Isn't this situation getting more common? I should be happy but it just makes me super nervous...

"I'm sorry; I just don't want to be alone with him around..."

"Just be careful," Alec sighed. It's not like I can sleep now...

"Are you sure this is okay? I thought you didn't want Celeste to know you were around," Alec stared across the small diner table. He had been pulled out of the house early in the morning. Sylvia had fallen asleep and used him as a pillow for most of the night, so Alec's eyes were watering as he stared across the table.

"She probably knows that I'm here," Luna answered as she took a sip of orange juice.

"So what did you want?" Alec yawned.

"You're a little testy this morning," Luna frowned.

"I didn't get much sleep," He muttered.

"Anyway, I sensed what happened yesterday. I imagine most people in the area did," Luna continued. "I'd like to know why you were with her."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Alec cringed as he took a sip of coffee. He didn't normally drink it, or even like it, but he felt the need for large amounts of caffeine.

"You were with her when she was fighting a human with powers," Luna pointed out.

"What's your point?" He asked.

"You shouldn't be fighting beside her like that," Luna frowned. "And before you say anything, she would likely not go berserk unless you go hurt, like the last two times..."

"That's... She is too afraid of fighting humans without me around," He answered.

"She is easily able to restrain herself if you aren't injured."

"You've been training me, but even after asking, you've been holding back. It's not like I really want to fight anyway, but I'd like to defend myself," Alec shook his head, "No, I need to show Celeste that a little injury isn't a big deal. I need to defeat that reaper myself."

"Huh?" Luna gawked at him.

"Everyone's always going out of their way to protect me. I don't really know how or why about my powers, but I want to at least lessen the burden some. Also, that reaper was from the underworld. If Celeste beats him, nothing will change if he goes back. If a human beats him... well, he'll be crushed."

"Huh?" Luna repeated. "Even if you want to," She started.

"You once told me I'd be able to match Celeste with these powers. I don't really believe that, but this guy isn't on her level even if he is strong."

"That..." Luna sighed heavily. "Look, I don't mind helping you defend yourself. You really need to be able to. Still, if you go looking for fights..."

"If I get her to realize I can defend myself to an extent, she won't be as easily shaken."

"If you start looking for fights, and you fight that reaper and win, you'll open up a whole host of problems. You've seen how often Celeste has had to deal with people challenging her."

"That hasn't happened directly for a while," Alec responded. "I'm at the point where I have to do something or run away. I don't want to run away..."

"Alec..." Luna sighed heavily. "Fine, if you're that determined, we'll work out a defense..."

"So this is unusual," Sylvia stated as she took a sip of tea. "Usually I have to try hard to get you to spend any time with just each other."

"We are friends, are we not?" Celeste asked.

"Ah, you want something."

"Excuse me?" Celeste frowned.

"First, we're friends, so you don't have to act all nervous."

"I am hardly nervous," She answered.

"Second, your tone of voice and the way you talk can get really formal when you're nervous and want to ask something."

"We have already discussed my manner of speech, on more than one occasion."

"You get a lot more formal when you're nervous!" Sylvia nodded.

"You go out of your way to do, that don't you?" Celeste sighed.

"I don't know what you mean," Sylvia answered innocently. "So what did you need help with?"

"I wish you to keep Alec occupied," Celeste answered.

"Huh?"

"I need to fight that reaper. I cannot use my full strength with him around. I am too afraid of him getting hurt... and seeing me like that."

"You don't have to fight him alone," Sylvia responded.

"In this case, I do," Celeste stood and turned away from her. "To put it simply, this guy is beyond anyone we've faced. Even that angel, with his homicidal intentions, at least had a reason for his actions. This guy is far more powerful, and has no reason for anything he does. He will even enjoy fighting someone stronger than him." Celeste's fists had clutched together so tightly that her hand had started to bleed. Instead of falling to the floor the blood just formed a glove-like texture as it surrounded her hand.

"I can't hold back against this guy," Celeste added. "So just keep him busy." Before Sylvia could protest further Celeste was gone.

"Stop doing that you idiot," Sylvia sighed and stood up. "This place is always so dramatic. Still… I don't want to put him in harm's way, but whatever she's planning…"

"So, that idiot Keeper found me after all. He doesn't have the guts to face me off his home turf?" The reaper cackled. He was sitting on a tree branch at the edge of a large field.

"I won't be playing around with you," Celeste stated simply as she started across the field.

"But I picked such a wonderful place to fight! I've been looking forward to this!" He cackled and jumped down, leaving an impact creator from the force of the landing. "See? I can't even control my powers! They're too strong! That's why its fun watching other people go nuts with just a fraction of my powers! Even if you're only a half-breed you should appreciate the chaos!" He cackled.

"I won't talk with you. I won't fight with you. I will simply destroy you," Celeste reached up into her hair and pulled out the blue ribbon, letting her dark purple hair flow freely behind her. A moment later her matching tail and spread, leathery wings appeared behind her blank, simple outfit. A large cylinder started forming in Celeste's hands, though she didn't make any attempt to release her blood normally. It formed out into a large, pipe-like object until a long curved blade formed at the end. It was a deep, dark blue.

"Oh? Your blood is blue? How odd for a reaper!" He cackled. He gasped as the world suddenly turned red. "What…" He fell to his knees as he struggled to breathe. "This is greater than I imagined!" He gasped.

"I will tell you one thing. A reaper who is weaker will fall to the stronger reaper's fear. They are more afraid of death so they are defeated easily by someone stronger than them. Still, 'fear of death' is not the only fear. Fear of hurting someone, fear of someone else dying… you cannot understand these things. It is overwhelming when my fear is this strong."

"Ha…" He cackled. "I am the Lord of Chaos, a little…" His eyes went wide as Celeste appeared before him. From his perspective she was standing several yards away, and was just in front of him. He barely managed to muster his strength and jump backwards. He received a small cut along his chest.

"Amazing, I can barely move!" He fell back to his knees as he clutched his wound. "You should know giving a reaper small wound is more trouble!" He brought his hand up beside him and stopped. "Eh?" The blood from his wound was still flowing, and some of it was dripping from his hand. He stared at his hand for several moments. "Eh?"

"Ever since I've started embracing my succubus side I've found out a few things like this," She motioned to her weapon.

"Ha! This is great!" He cackled as he staggered to his feet. "You're far stronger than I imagined! And you're getting stronger! Great! This is great! With this…" He gasped as he was thrown backwards. Before he could realize he had been hit a second impact slammed him into the ground, another crater formed from the impact. Celeste was standing over him with her weapon on her shoulder. "Amazing!" He cackled, which quickly turned into a bloody cough.

"I won't let you enjoy this," She brought her weapon up as she prepared to swing it down.

"Huh?" He growled as the weapon stopped a hair away from his heart. "Don't stop!" He roared.

"Why…" Celeste's weapon shook as she was still applying pressure, but something had grabbed her arm. "I have to stop him!"

"And what's to stop him from coming back? He's actually looking forward to death. Well, I don't really understand how this system works, but it's possible he could just come back." Alec answered

"Don't stop her now! She's forgotten what it's like to be a reaper!"

"I'll just have to fight you in her place then," Alec stated as he looked down at him.

"Huh?" Celeste gasped as every muscle in her body went limp and she fell to her knees. She had lost her focus for a moment and her powers broke as the red color surrounding them shattered. She managed to hold on to her weapon. "Let go," She growled. "And are you insane?" She tried to break her arm away but Alec held his grip. How is he able to grab me and break my concentration that much?

"Ha?" The reaper scoffed. "A human?" He laughed as he pulled himself up. "If you interfere with my battle I'll have to kill you now instead of later."

"Alec, what do you hope to accomplish? You can't fight him!" Celeste finally broke his grip and stepped away.

"If a human defeats him, he'll give up; he'll be humiliated," Alec answered.

"You're insane," Celeste gripped her weapon and prepared herself to attack again. It's so hard to concentrate. Is it because of his odd abilities? Gathering my power is so difficult…

"Insane…" The reaper cackled. "This is so amusing! Please, don't mind me and continue the insanity!"

"You can't fight him!" Celeste stated.

"I don't really like the idea either, but… It's something I decided myself. If I'm going to stay in this world I won't just stand back and let myself be protected."

"Fine, I am reluctant, but I can understand that. Still, trying it with a guy who'd give my father a tough battle is not what you should try out your abilities on."

"It's the perfect time," Alec stated as he pulled several stakes out of his pocket. Each where cylinders with a sharp point, and made out of a reflective, silver metal that caught the sunlight.

"Got some shiny toys, human?" The reaper cackled.

"What's your name?" Alec demanded.

"Name? I don't need one of those. Chaos is just fine!" He cackled.

"I won't allow this," Celeste stood in front of Alec. Alec sighed heavily.

"I'm not too crazy about it, but I will need to do this with him to prove something to you as well."

"Huh?" Celeste rubbed her forehead. "Alec, I…"

"You'll have to fight me if you don't get out of my way," Alec warned.

"Huh?" Celeste echoed. "You really have gone insane haven't you?" She blinked as he easily pushed her to the side. Even with my feelings about him, he should not be able to push me around like that… "Alec…" Before she could speak further he threw one of the five spikes at the foot of the reaper.

"I'm not calling you that," Alec stated.

"Oh?" He looked down at the spike, which was embedded in the ground. "You're pretty interesting human. Fine, I'll play with you!" He glared intently at Alec.

"That doesn't work," Alec stated.

"Oh? Very interesting…"

"I'm tired of listening to you," Alec threw a spike directly at him.

"Is that your plan?" He easily deflected the spike to the side with his hand. It landed several feet to his right and embedded itself in the ground. Alec charged forward towards him. He laughed and easily jumped away to his left and deflected a second spiked into the ground in front of him.

"Are you serious, human? You couldn't take down another human with these 'abilities'! Just because my fear doesn't affect you, doesn't mean you have any advantage."

"Alec, I don't know what you're…" Celeste stopped as he threw another spike at her feet.

"Don't interfere," He held up the last one.

"Wow, I mean that! I mean, I admit I'm up there on the insanity meter, and I revel in that fact, but you're closing in on me fast, boy,"

"Thank you," Alec casually walked over to the first spike he had thrown. He simply tossed his last one into a ground, the four spikes now forming a square with the fifth spike at the center. "Actually, I was pretty cocky, but it was just a show. I can barely control my powers, and how to use them… it was tough getting Luna to give me this much."

"Oh?" The reaper smirked.

"A lot of this depends on your over cockiness and arrogance," Alec bent down and placed a feather on the spike before covering it with his hand. "Apparently I can cancel demonic powers, and phoenix feathers can channel powers really well. I don't get how she can make so many things with them though…" All of the spikes started to glow faintly, with a pale, blue light.

"A light show?" The reaper cackled as Alec walked towards him. "So just what is your plan, human?"

"I tried to think of a one-liner for this situation, but I just want you to shut up," He stated as his right hand formed a fist.

"It'll be a shame to kill you, human! You're pretty… unf…" He made a strange sound as Alec's fist impacted him. "Huh…" He doubled over and fell to the ground. "What the hell? This isn't… possible…" He gasped and fell unconscious.

"That's ridiculous! There's no way that," Celeste stated as she stepped forward. She came to a stop as she past two of the stakes. "Eh?" He weapon quickly dissolved in her hands. She frowned and walked over to the reaper. She poked him with her foot. "He's really out…"

"The sad thing is I hate violence," Alec stated as he started to fall forward. Celeste easily caught him.

"So want to fill me in?" Celeste asked as she propped him up.

"Don't worry; I know I won that only because I took him by surprise," Alec answered.

"Well, I'm glad you realize that, but it isn't what I meant."

"You can discuss such things later," They turned to a new voice. The Keeper was standing outside of Alec's barrier. "I must return with him…" He stated.

"Why don't you grab him then?" Celeste asked.

"I cannot enter that place," He answered.

"Oh? That will be useful information," Celeste narrowed her eyes.

"It would only send me back to my realm. I cannot be destroyed so easily. Still, I have no intention of being in this world again." Celeste picked up the reaper and tossed him at The Keeper. He growled and caught him. "Let us never meet again," He stated before simply vanishing with his luggage.

"Not like I want to," Celeste muttered. She glanced down at the spikes as she kept Alec from wobbling on his feet. "Well, that's solved, but care to explain your setup here?"

"It was hard to get Luna to give me any info… despite her help learning my powers she's been holding back a lot. She's stated before I can control demonic auras, and can even cancel them. Since we've seen her feathers do that I had her make those spikes. I still don't get how she shapes her feathers into other materials…"

"Anyway she taught me how to make a barrier so that anything within it would be affect by my power. It's pretty draining though," Alec stated as he picked up the weapons embedded in their various spots.

"I can see Luna's point about holding back," Celeste frowned. "We can't let word of this fight get out. Otherwise you'll just get a bunch of idiots picking fights with you."

"I don't plan on bragging about it," Alec answered as he picked up the final stake.

"Why did you even try something like this?" Celeste was still bothered she hadn't ignored his wishes.

"I'm not going to be stupid and say 'I want to be strong enough to protect you', but I'd at least like to be able to protect myself."

"We'll have to have sit down with you and Luna when we get back." Celeste stated as she stepped towards Alec.

"Hey, what…" Before he could protest Celeste had scooped him up in her arms. "What are you doing?"

"You're rather weak right now, right? Also princess-cradle is punishment," Celeste answered as she spread her wings.

"Wait, there's so much wrong with this," Alec squirmed in her arms.

"Like I said; punishment…"

"If you were wondering, I knew you were around, and now regret ignoring that fact," Celeste stated as she took a sip of tea. The group had already packed up and was heading back home. They were currently in an otherwise empty car except for their group.

"Taking a private train is a lot nicer than flying there," Luna answered.

"I don't really feel like doing the comedy routine," Celeste rubbed her forehead. "I've been letting you have your training sessions because I couldn't make heads or tails of his powers."

"I feel I should respond somehow," Alec muttered.

"To put it simply, I've been doing a lot of research. It's been rather tough since it involves my family… that idiot Kain didn't want anyone knowing about his 'embarrassment'."

"You've found something on his abilities?" Luna frowned.

"His abilities aren't like the guy who defeated my father for the first time, Artemis," Celeste answered.

"How… did you even find that out?" Luna asked.

"I have a lot of resources," She answered. "While Alec's powers have some similarities, they seem to be different. That guy could use a demon's power against them, but he couldn't completely null it. Like that field, and when he grabs me…"

"Grabs?" Sylvia flinched. She had been slowly dozing off but jumped up upon hearing that. She bumped her head on the overhead shelf.

"I said I'm not doing the comedy things," Celeste stated.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Well, when we get home we'll settle back into the flow of things a bit," Celeste continued, "But don't tell anyone about that reaper. I don't need people challenging Alec."

"Neither do I," Alec added.

"Anyway, after things settle a bit, I'll be training you myself."

"Eh?" Alec flinched.

"With that settled, let's enjoy the train ride!"

So that was a long time for an update. It seems like it's getting worse. I just have no… I don't want to say motivation, but I'll sit there and it will take hours to do just one page. It's not due to lack of ideas, but nothing seems to happen when I go to write. It's starting to get to me.

I should also try and use Facebook more but I just hate it. Still, it probably is the best way to do feedback, but not only do I dislike it, I'm shy even on the internet. This kind of proves to me that writing will probably be nothing more than a hobby for me…

On a side note, anyone know a good word program? My Office is super old, I have a 'free' version of 2010 I got on my laptop, which is okay. I tried open office but its spell checker/grammar checker is even worse…