It Comes Raining Down

(The A/C went out and Pepperjack decided to take the best seat in the house. I literally had to hold her while I shut the door or she'd just jump right back in.)

"Why are we not there yet?" Fin asked for the sixth time, drawing a grunt from Devil's fox where it had perched atop Kovash's fuzzy head.

I told you that I can only get you there if you believe me able. Yes, I had said that she was north and eventually you might have been able to find her, but your bat couldn't even manage to figure out which direction that even was.

Kovash snorted at his words.

I am missing most of my brain. Pardon me for my lack of knowledge. Please take up your issues with my horrible creator. He did not put a compass in my nose.

"I can put one up your-" Daiya turned partially and pressed a finger to Fin's lips. "I swear, you two never get along" He grumbled, earning a grunt from both of them in response.

As fun as it would be watching you two fight while we're hundreds of feet in the air, I'd rather not die again so soon. Devil said as he tapped a paw against Kovash's head.

So how does this believing thing work? Because we have been flying around in fog for the last several hours. Kovash replied as he began to descend, though the specks of blurry ground far below them didn't seem to get any closer no matter how far down he tried to go.

It's a magic she has cast over this area. Like Fin's barrier, it bars people from being able to enter or exit without permission. Devil said. Sometimes they can't even land correctly, as the ground appears to be very far below, when in reality it is just an illusion and causes many horrible crashes and deaths while flying.

His words had Daiya's eyes narrowing up ahead.

I can break the barrier, but you three have to believe that I can, no matter how illogical it seems. Her rules are different from Fin's. Devil added.

"Well, we literally have nothing to lose, so I do believe that you can break her barrier and help us find her. You can turn into anything you wish and live as many lives as you choose. It only makes sense that you can guide us through this simple haze." Daiya said, looking over his shoulder at Fin with a smile.

He huffed, but then hugged Daiya closer to his chest as he rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Fine. I do believe that you can find that bitch. If any of us can, it would be you, anyways. Sure as hell not this dumb bat I shouldn't have made." He grumbled.

Devil flattened his ears to his head and looked down at Kovash.

Get me out of this place so that I can throw this fool off of my back. Kovash thought, making Daiya sigh.

He didn't think that it would work considering their attitudes, but as he lifted his gaze, he was surprised to see a giant forested mountain peek approaching rapidly.

"Up, Kovash!" He yelled as he leaned down, holding on tightly as Fin nearly suffocated him with his own arms around his middle.

The demon beat its wings dramatically, just barely managing to avoid several trees before crashing into a particularly large one that had been partially concealed by another harsher fog. It seemed to tower over the rest of the mountainside forest. The impact against its trunk jolted them all from Kovash's back and into its thick canopy before they even had a chance to respond.

Daiya tried to snag a branch as he began to fall through the condensed leaves and snapping thinner twigs around him, but his fingertips kept slipping from the thick dew on the slick wood. He was just reaching for one more branch that he thought might hold his weight when he felt a strong hand grab his wrist, abruptly halting his descent.

"I don't think so." Fin said as he carefully hauled him up onto the branch he'd managed to catch himself on. It wasn't the sturdiest, but it did hold them both decently enough.

"Devil?" Daiya shouted, hoping to see the fox somewhere as he looked around.

When he got no response, he looked down through the dark green leaves that surrounded them. "Kovash?" He yelled, then waited.

Not even a thought from him.

He was about to accept that him and Fin were on their own for the moment when he noticed something large climbing up the immense tree toward them. When it got a little closer, fumbling a bit as its claws slipped here and there, he grinned.

"Kovash!"

His face lit up with a relieved smile, only for it to fall not a moment later as he realized something off about his bat demon. His eyes weren't red like that before... and his coat wasn't a dirty white. He almost hadn't had enough time to react before the beast was upon them. It's jaws snapped inches from his face as he threw himself off of the branch to the right side, taking Fin with him by sheer surprise.

"What are you doing?" Fin yelled from surprise as he tightened his hold around Daiya's middle with one arm and reached out to try and stop their descent by snagging a branch with the other.

"It's not Kovash!" Daiya replied as they fell. It was a relief to see the bristling bat demon stop abruptly and roar down at them.

"Kovash, we need you!" He shouted as he turned his attention toward the rapidly approaching forest floor. His demon was nowhere to be seen, but right before their bodies were crushed against the damp leaf litter and struggling weeds beneath the monstrous tree, a large lizard-like creature shot out from between the thick grove of trees to their left.

It dove just fast enough to catch them and swerve to the side, then began ascending upward before they could meet their end with a harsh crash landing. Daiya wrapped his arms tightly around the reptiles black neck as it pumped its wing hard to rise through the woven branches of the tree they'd just fallen from.

They moved higher than the demon imitating Kovash after only a few moments, allowing him to get a good look at it.

Is that? He thought at the same time Devil slipped into his mind. The one and only bitch, yes.

"She tried to trick me by changing into Kovash... but she's still a silvery-white. Can she not change her color?" He asked, remembering all of the animals she had become in the past.

For the most part, yes. Once in a long while she might have the power to change the color of her animal, but it takes a lot of effort. Devil replied.

"Your color is black, isn't it?" He asked, though he knew that he was correct.

The large lizard grunted as it flapped its enormous wings and they finally broke free of the giant tree's canopy. With the brief reprieve, Daiya took a good look at what exactly Devil had turned himself into.

"Are you actually a dragon?" He asked, confused about a few things he noticed with Devil that he had never seen on the mythical creature's sketches. Though it made little sense for him to be anything else that he could think of, even considering the fact that dragons didn't technically exist.

Yes. You humans have odd imaginations when it comes to dragons. They do not really exist, but your fanciful images gave me ideas to play with. Eventually I decided upon this form. The larger versions in human works were illogical and ill proportioned.

Daiya was about to comment when they heard a loud shriek come from just within the canopy of the giant tree.

Hold on. Devil said right before he jerked his giant leathery wings downward and to the side abruptly, whipping them to the left at the same time God's white version of Kovash broke free of the thick leaves and came at them.

Their quick change in direction forced her to slow and turn, giving them much needed seconds to pick up speed.

"Where is Kovash?" Daiya shouted over the wind that whipped his hair and nearly muted his words.

I do not know. I had to shift as I fell, but I couldn't get my wings working well enough to completely stop my fall. By the time I was able to move well again, you needed my aid. He said.

Daiya nodded as Fin leaned back slightly, loosening his grip as God began to close in. He considered asking Devil to go faster, but he was carrying two people, and he had no doubt that he would have gone faster if he could have managed it.

We will have to fight. I will try to get us on the ground before she can strike. He thought to them as he dove abruptly back into the large tree's vast canopy. It's long branches reaching out in every possible direction made Devil have to focus solely on maneuvering to keep either of them from losing their heads. He managed to get about halfway down the tree before he was forced to land on a giant limb as God's claw's caught his back left leg.

He staggered when they hit the limb, nearly stumbling off of the side before he could right them with his giant wings. The jar had Fin slipping from his back, his grip around Daiya's waist failing. He managed to stay on the branch, but God didn't give him much of a reprieve as she turned her attention to him and lunged.

Devil was still working on turning back around, his back leg giving him trouble, so Daiya hurried to slide from his back and reached out toward God quickly.

"Stop!" He yelled, causing the undead demon to halt abruptly.

He felt his hand jerk forward and to the left, mirroring holding her back, as if he were actually doing so physically.

Release me, boy! This man has caused all of the horrible things in your life. She said, trying to sway his mind, though it had been made up the moment he'd met Fin outside the bar that dreary evening.

"He's pulled me down into hell and followed me back from it. When I was young, I made his life horrible without realizing it and I know that I didn't deserve what he did to me in return, but the moment I met him, I knew that I loved him and always would. My mind has never swayed from that decision." Daiya said as he flexed his fingers inward slightly, trying to keep her from getting any closer to Fin as he hurried to his feet.

God hissed loudly and began to struggle harshly, forcing Daiya to raise his other hand and focus intently. As much as he was trying, he couldn't help but slowly become distracted as angels began to appear, their bodies dropping down onto branches all around them.

"Stay focused, Daiya. We'll take care of them." Fin said as Daiya heard Devil leap from the branch they had landed on and start flying about. Devil lunged for different branches judging from the sounds and shrill shrieks around them, but he did his best to keep his attention on God.

You cannot kill me, boy. You waste your time, and your life. God said as she began to turn toward him, even though he was doing his best to keep her still.

Her mouth opened slowly, revealing the same needle-like teeth that Kovash sported.

Fin stepped up beside him, his left hand raised toward God, a smirk on his face.

"I still have my powers over the dead, even if I'm alive again." He said as he wrapped his other arm around Daiya's middle and pulled him closer. "And I won't be letting you touch a hair on his head."

Daiya couldn't help the quirk in his lips at Fin's words.

The angels won't stop. I can only dismember so many before they are replaced by triple the amount. Devil said into their minds right before a loud roar echoed from somewhere beneath them.

Is that...?

Kovash erupted from a particularly thick bushel of leaves and twigs, snapping several and sending leaves flying everywhere as he soared high above their heads and slashed two angels straight through with his giant claws before circling around and removing two more from their posts and cutting their wings in the process. The angel's bodies disappeared below them, their silent screams reaching no ones ears.

I hope I am not late, master. He thought to Daiya before he tackled God's prone form, his teeth sinking into the flesh of her shoulder as they both went over the edge of the branch and disappeared in a spiraling ball of snarling wings and fur.

Daiya ran to the edge of the branch and looked down, but was unable to see anything. His attention was taken not a moment later by something that suddenly landed a few feet away from him and Fin.

The angels.

He was about to lift his hand to force it to stop approaching, when he realized something.

"You are undead... I should be able to control you." He said out loud.

Fin stepped up beside him, a confused look on his face as Daiya flashed him a grin, then ran forward and swung up onto the angel's back. It silently hissed and struggled, but the moment Daiya yelled for it to follow God, it froze and seemed to take a moment to consider the abrupt order.

"Daiya, get down, now!" Fin shouted as he hurried toward him, only to stumble backward when the angel suddenly leaped into the empty space beside the branch they were on.

Fin was just opening his mouth to yell again as the angel's wings spread and began swiftly carrying Daiya downward, but his words were cut off when Devil's dragon landed before him, huffing a breath of smoke as he lowered his body slightly.

Get on or I'll leave you here. Move.

Fin only hesitated for a second before he jumped up, having to find a handhold quickly, because Devil didn't wait a second before darting off of the branch and spiraling downward. He gave a loud roar of his own when they heard Kovash's far below. Fin wasn't sure what they were trying to communicate, and why they weren't just using their thoughts, but when he felt Devil's body getting hotter beneath him, especially under his palms, his eyes widened.

Freeze her. Devil finally thought to him, though it felt like it was broadcast to everyone.

"Got it." Fin said as he reached a hand down over Devil's neck and focused on the thrashing white bat demon as it fought tooth and nail with Kovash mid-air.

Her body jolted, but it didn't stop until he noticed Daiya running along a mossy branch, the angel he'd ridden down to that elevation nowhere to be seen. His right hand was outstretched toward her, giving more strength to their combined effort. Her wings faltered, making her lose her equilibrium, allowing Kovash to get another nasty bite in, this time to her throat.

I apologize, Kovash.

Devil's words drew Fin's eyebrows up at the same time Daiya frowned and looked up at them.

"Wait... Devil, don't!" Daiya yelled at the same time Fin felt Devil's body-heat warm his hands to the point of pain. A second later, and Devil's dragon was rearing back, then unleashing a giant rain of flaming lava down upon God... and Kovash.

(Sorry for the cliff hanger, I'm tired XD)