Chapter 6 – The Giant

 

Unfortunately for the lovers, Shoryu woke up the next night to find that Lexi was burning up with a fever.  This was not like the burning of the previous day though.  In fact, it almost looked as if Lexi had caught a cold.  This was unusual because vampires do not get colds.  That didn’t make it any more enjoyable for either of them though.

 

For the next two days and nights, Shoryu tried his best to make Lexi as comfortable as possible.  He gathered tree branches and large stones to block off the entrance of the cave.  He salvaged the remains of his t-shirt and pulled the thread from the shirt.  He used some of the thread to repair Lexi’s combat outfit and used some to weave into a snare.  With the snare, he was able to trap rabbits live.

 

The first time the offered a live rabbit to Lexi though, she grimaced in distaste.  “Ugh, I hate animal blood.  There’s always a musky aftertaste.  Besides, I hate killing these things because they always look so cute!”

 

Still, blood was blood, and Lexi needed it.  She pushed the rabbit’s head back and sank her canines into its helpless throat.  She took a long drink and immediately spat out the blood.  “Damn it!  What is wrong with this thing?”

 

“What’s wrong?” asked Shoryu.

 

Lexi spat again, clearing her mouth of the foul taste.  “It tasted terrible!  Blech!”

 

The second rabbit that Shoryu brought to Lexi made no difference.  Lexi could not stomach the poor animal’s blood.  Finally, with the lack of blood taking a toll on Lexi, Shoryu offered his own once more.

 

“No!” exclaimed Lexi.  “I can’t take it again.  I might not be able to fight off the bloodlust again!”

 

Shoryu offered his left arm.  “Take it Lexi!  You need it.  Besides, my body produces more than it needs anyway.”

 

Lexi looked at him uncertainly.  “What if I can’t control it?  What if I bite you by accident?”  Her face was paler than usual from the lack of blood.

 

Shoryu shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.  “I thought about that.  You mentioned once that the vampire virus you carry gets transmitted into my blood when you bite, right?  I wouldn’t worry about it.  I’d pit my Guyver blood against your vampire virus any day.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, that the Guyver looks after itself, ok?  I heal almost right away from injuries, and I never get sick.  The Guyver bio organism protects itself and me along with it.”

 

Shoryu offered his arm again.  When Lexi still did not take a step forward though, he drew Lexi’s sword and cut his wrist.  He winced slightly at the pain and offered his bleeding arm to Lexi once more.

 

This time, the hunger within Lexi would not be denied.  She grabbed the bleeding hand almost greedily and lowered her lips to the wound.  She drank deeply and Shoryu could feel the blood literally being sucked out of him.  It was a strange feeling that bordered on pain and pleasure.  When Lexi’s virus tipped canines penetrated his skin, it felt almost ecstatic.

 

Shoryu started to feel light headed but he couldn’t seem to pull his arm away.  He willed his arm to move, but the feeling of having his blood sucked was so intense, a part of his brain refused to carry out the command.  In the end, it was Lexi who disengaged first.  She raised her head slowly and looked Shoryu in his eyes.  “I bit you…”

 

Shoryu shook his head as if he were clearing out cobwebs in his mind.  “Yeah…”

 

“Aren’t you worried?”

 

“I…I…I think I need to sit down.”  Shoryu collapsed unceremoniously onto the cave floor.  “I feel woozy…light headed…”

 

Lexi sat down beside him and pulled his head into her chest.  “Shhh…rest my love.  I am sorry.  Your blood was so sweet.  I drank more than I should have.”

 

“That…that’s ok Lexi…”  Shoryu took a deep breath and then blew it out.  “Wow, that was intense…it…it was almost like…”  Shoryu flounder around for a proper word.

 

“Sex?” asked Lexi.

 

“Sort of…wow…”  Shoryu raised his head up and said, “It wasn’t quite like sex.  I mean, it was intense and it felt like my body was on fire…”  Shoryu trailed off again, lost in his inability to articulate what he was feeling.

 

“If it was like that for you, imagine what it was like for me, my love.”  Lexi kissed Shoryu on his lips gently.  “To have you willingly offer your blood to save my life like that…darling, words cannot express it properly.”

 

“Well, well, well.  What have we here?”

 

Both Shoryu and Lexi snapped their heads up at the unexpected voice.  They saw three dark figures walking haughtily into the cave.  “A mongrel and her bondie!  How touching!”  The lead figure was a man.  He was wearing a long billowy cloak that seemed to blend in with the night.  The two women behind him were wearing similar clothing.

 

Shoryu stood up shakily.  “Who are you?”  He was having trouble focusing his eyes on the trio.  At first, he thought it was his recent blood loss that was making his eyes unfocused but as he concentrated, he realized that the mysterious trio moved with a slithering sliding grace that spoke of superhuman abilities.

 

The man sneered, “Not bad, bondie.  Usually the question is ‘what are you?’  Do you always let your bondie speak for you mongrel?”

 

Lexi stood up and unconsciously rolled her shoulders back and pulled on the sleeves of her outfit.  Her sword was lying on the floor and she slid her right foot under the blade, just above the tsuba.  “Are you vampires?” asked Lexi in a voice that trembled ever so slightly.  The way that the new arrivals moved awoke a primeval fear within herself.

 

As one, the trio burst out laughing.  One of the woman paused long enough to say, “There’s only two of them Nickololilu.  Let’s show them what we are!”

 

Nickololilu glanced back and said, “Yes, let’s!”

 

In unison, the mysterious trio underwent a startling transformation.  Their shadowy cloaks swept back to reveal near skeletal bodies that were sheathed in black.  The cloaks themselves solidified into large upswept reptilian wings.  The most horrific change though, was in their faces.  The trio’s skin turned dark grey, like ash and their facial structure elongated until the tops of their heads peaked into grotesque cones and their mouths and noses formed blunted lipless snouts.  Nickololilu opened his monstrous mouth and revealed dozens of needlelike teeth and laughed once more.

 

“What the hell are you?” exclaimed Shoryu.  He braced himself to call forth the killer but knew that he would need some distance from Lexi to avoid hurting her during his transformation.

 

“Hell is pretty close to the mark!” said Nickololilu.  “But that’s enough out of you bondie!”  Nickololilu pointed a finger at Shoryu.

 

Suddenly, Shoryu went flying back and slammed hard against the cave wall.  He tried to call forth the killer but his vocal cords weren’t working.  It felt was if a tremendous pressure was pinning him against the wall.  He tried calling with his mind but his mind was strangely befuddled.

 

Lexi flipped up her sword with her foot and caught the tsuka with her right hand.  Her movements felt clumsy and sluggish and she cursed the fever that was slowing her down.

 

“A sword?” said Nickololilu incredulously.  “Put that away before I hurt you mongrel!”  He made a gesture to one of the woman behind him.  “Now, tell me.  Where is the Gatekeeper?  Is it you mongrel or is it your bondie?  Or is there another mortal here?

 

The woman on Nickololilu’s left stepped forward and raised a hand.  All of a sudden, Lexi felt an enormous invisible hand grip her body.  She couldn’t move!

 

“Where is the Gatekeeper?” demanded Nickololilu.

 

“What are you talking about?” asked Lexi through gritted teeth.  “What’s a Gatekeeper?”

 

The woman that was keeping Lexi immobilized said, “Do not lie, mongrel.  Our Mother felt the expenditure of great power in this area a couple of days ago.  Who is it?  Who opened the gate?”

 

The woman slowly closed her hand and Lexi could feel the pressure around her get tighter and tighter.

 

“Now, now Molaralili,” admonished Nickololilu.  “Not so tight darling.  Can’t you see the mongrel cannot speak?”

 

“Maybe she needs something else to loosen her tongue,” said the woman on Nicklololilin’s left.

 

“That is an excellent idea Soszalili.  Why don’t you go and taste her bondie’s blood?”

 

Soszalili sauntered over with an evil grin on her face.  Lexi fought against the invisible force that was holding her captive.  Whatever these beings were, they were not vampires – at least not like the ones she was used to.  For one, they were more powerful and demonic than anything she had ever seen.

 

Lexi focused all of her concentration into her right arm.  If she could just budge it…  “I am the Gatekeeper!” she shouted.

 

In that moment, the grip around her slackened.  Lexi burst from the invisible bonds and lashed out her sword at Soszalili.  “Kuzu-ryusen!”  Lexi’s sword blurred as she struck nine times at the strange being that was approaching Shoryu.

 

Soszalili had a fraction of a second to glance at Lexi in bewilderment before her body split into multiple pieces and fell to the floor amidst a fountain of blackish blood.

 

“Soszalili!!” cried Nickololilu.

 

An odd thing happened after that.  Soszalili’s body pieces dissolved into ash and fluttered away, leaving behind a wet black stain on the cave floor.

 

“You bitch!  How did you do that?”  Nickololilu’s body shimmered and blurred.  In the next second, he was directly in front of Lexi.  He grabbed Lexi by the throat with a monstrous claw-like hand and held her up.  “Mongrel!  How dare you kill a full blooded Lili!”

 

Freed from his invisible bonds, Shoryu dropped to the floor.  Before he could call the killer forth though, Molaralili dashed forward and wrapped Shoryu in invisible chains once more.  “Tut tut bondie!  Watch and learn what happens when a mongrel dares to attack Lilin!”

 

Nickololilu threw Lexi across the cave.  She hit the far wall with a loud thump.  Her sword fell from her senseless hand.  Nickololilu gestured and Lexi’s sword flew into his hand.

 

“WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?  WHERE IS THE GATEKEEPER?”

 

The monstrous voice came from outside of the cave, but its echoes lingered inside the cave for several moments.

 

Nickololilu answered in a casual tone, “We found two possibilities, but they are not talking Afrael.”

 

“BRING THEM OUT!  I WILL SNIFF OUT THE GATEKEEPER!”

 

Nickololilu gestured to Molaralili and said to Lexi, “Count your life in seconds bitch.  If it turns out that your bondie is the Gatekeeper, I will make you pay for Soszalili!”

 

Wrapped in immobilizing invisible bonds, Lexi and Shoryu were force marched outside.  What greeted them was a being that darkened the night sky with its sheer bulk.  In simplest terms, Afrael was a giant.  He was somewhat human shaped, but much larger in proportion.  Afrael had a long blocky chin and a round bulbous nose under huge dinner plate sized eyes.

 

Afrael sniffed the night air and then promptly pointed at Shoryu.  “IT IS HIM!  HE OPENED THE GATE!”

 

Nickololilu grinned triumphantly and said, “You are mine mongrel!”  He gripped Lexi’s sword and plunged it into her chest at an oblique angle.  The blade slashed through her left lung and pierced her heart.  Blood burbled out of her mouth.

 

“Lexi!  No!” cried Shoryu.  He struggled vainly against his bonds.  “Guyver!  Guyver!  Guyver!!”

 

Nothing happened.  The killer would not come.

 

Nickololilu let Lexi fall to the ground.  “Who is this Guyver you keep calling?  Is he your guardian angel?  Come, Gatekeeper, tell us how you opened the gate.  Our Mother is very interested.”

 

Shoryu didn’t answer.  Tears streamed down his face and his eyes never left Lexi’s still form.

 

Suddenly, light flashed in the clearing, making it as bright as day for a split second.  Both Nickololilu and Molaralili screamed in agony and covered themselves with their wings.  Two small forms materialized in the clearing.

 

“Faye, take the Lili on the left!” exclaimed the smaller of the two figures.

 

“I got her Rachel!”  Faye raised her right hand and bright sizzling light flared from it.  The light hit Molaralili square in her chest.  Molaralili let out a blood curdling scream and dissolved into ashes.

 

Meanwhile, Rachel pulled a huge sword out of thin air and charged Nickololilu.  Nickololilu had enough time to register the sword and exclaim, “Chalybian!”

 

In one gigantic swing that flared briefly against Nickololilu’s mystic defenses, Rachel neatly bisected Nickololilu down the middle.  The two halves dissolved into ash.

 

Shoryu saw all of this, but his brain could not fully comprehend what was happening.  He crawled over to Lexi’s still form and rolled her over.  Her sightless eyes stared at nothing.  He pulled her sword out of her body and laid his head on her chest and cried.

 

---

 

Rachel didn’t have any time to spare the young man.  The giant being known as Afrael crushed several trees as he lunged towards her.

 

“Rachielle you bitch!  Have you come to eat my soul?!”  Afrael fired off a jet of mystic lightening that Rachel deflected with her sword.  Even with Chalybian’s power though, the blast rocked her off of her feet.

 

“Faye!” she cried.

 

“On my way Rachel!”  Faye waved her hands in front of her and formed crossing lines of light.  With a final authoritative gesture, she threw the net at Afrael.

 

Afrael contemptuously dismissed the net with a mighty wave of his hand.  “You are weak Fayatielle!”  He blasted lightening back at Faye.

 

Faye raised a shield that barely deflected the attack.  “You are crazy Afrael!  What would your father say if he knew you were in league with Lilith!”  She blasted back with a bolt of lightening but Afrael simply batted it aside.

 

“My father is weak!  One day, I will kill him and send him back into the Abyss!” yelled the giant.

 

Rachel chose that moment to time her attack.  She charged forward, jumped and swung her sword at Afrael’s right leg.  It cut through Afrael’s mystical defenses and bit deeply into his thigh.

 

Afrael roared in pain and swung a mighty backhand at Rachel.  She raised her shields, but could not prevent the hand from knocking her away.  This was not going well!  Though her own powers were growing exponentially every year, she was still no match in raw power against an ancient Nephilim.  She touched the gold angel pendant that hung on her neck and prepared to call for back up.  She didn’t really want to because it would mean admitting to him that she needed help.  However, the way this battle was shaping up, she knew that she would just have to swallow her pride.

 

Faye screamed in pain as her shield failed once more.  Rachel saw her fall to the ground with Afrael looming overhead.

 

“Goodbye Fayatielle!  I hope this will be your final death!” roared Afrael.

 

Rachel opened her mouth to call her guardian angel.

 

“GUYVER!”

 

Rachel snapped her head around.  Who was that?  She saw a strange man shaped being charge in from the direction where she had left the young man and his companion.  It was completely covered in black armor with weird bug-like eye lenses.  A brilliant beam of light fired from the centre of the being's head.  The laser flared against Afrael’s mystic shields and though it didn’t penetrate, Rachel could see that Afrael was taken aback by the new attacker.

 

The strange being held its hands above its midsection and a glowing ball of light formed.  It thrust its hands out and threw the ball of light at Afrael.  This time, the attack burst through Afrael’s shields and impacted high on his chest.

 

Afrael roared in pain and thick blood poured from his wound.  He recovered quickly though.  He pulled a large tree from the ground and swung it like a bat.  The strange being was sent hurling over the tree tops by the impact.

 

Afrael stomped a titanic foot on the ground, causing the earth to ripple out like water flowing from a thrown rock.  Rachel and Faye were knocked off their feet again.

 

Rachel got painfully back onto her feet and touched her pendant once more.  Just then, another combatant entered the fray and the battle was fully joined!

 

---

 

The bio boosted organism relished in the sudden influx of new bio boosted material.  The merger was almost complete and now with the new influx, the bio boosted organism could not only complete the merger, but it could also unlock the hidden abilities of its new host.  It got to work with mindless fervor.

 

Suddenly, its new host suffered a near fatal wound.  That was fine with the bio boosted organism.  It simply started a repair process while its host rested.  It could not do anything about the shard of metal that was embedded in its host’s body, but when it was suddenly pulled away, the bio boosted organism continued its repair process.  Both the repair and the merger were completed at almost the same time.

---

 

Lexi opened her eyes to find Shoryu crying on top of her chest.  She gently touched his head and pushed it away from her so that she could look into his eyes.  “I am fine my love.”

 

Shoryu wiped his tears away.  “Lexi?  Are you all right?”

 

Lexi nodded and said, “I feel fine.  In fact, I feel more than fine.  I feel…different.”  She glanced at the battle that was happening in the clearing.  “Looks like we got some help in the nick of time.”

 

Shoryu followed her gaze.  “Looks like they need our help now though.  Who are they?  They look like a couple of teenaged girls.”

 

“It doesn’t matter what they look like.  Enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?  Go, help them.  I will be along shortly.”

 

Shoryu glanced at Lexi and said, “I love you Lexi.  When I thought that I had lost you…”

 

“Shhh…”  Lexi touched his lips with her index finger.  “Go my love.  Fight!”

 

Shoryu stepped back several paces and cried, “GUYVER!”  Once more encased in the armor of Omega Guyver, Shoryu bounded away and joined the battle against the raging giant.

 

Lexi rose slowly to her feet.  It wasn’t because she was feeling any pain though, but rather the opposite.  Her fever was gone and her body buzzed with a new kind of energy that she had never felt before.  What had happened?  She instinctively knew that it had to have been Shoryu’s gift of blood.  Somehow, it had done something to her.  Made her stronger.  Evolved her.  She looked down at her body but could not see any obvious changes.  What was she capable of now?  What had she become?  Was she a Guyver now too or something else altogether?  She thought back to the creatures that had accosted her and Shoryu.  What was a Lilin?  Was that what a fully evolved vampire was?  Or was it just this world?

 

She saw her sword lying on the ground and picked it up.  She caressed the blade lovingly and sighed.  It really was too fragile use in the kind of battle that was happening right now.  Fighting lycans was one thing, but against a giant with incredible powers at his command?  If only her sword was made of something stronger than steel!

 

Her body virtually hummed in response to her unconscious query.  What was she capable of?  She heard a vast rumbling and looked up in time to see Shoryu be slammed away by a tree.  Shoryu needed help!

 

Her body moved before her mind gave the command.  With her sword in hand, she charged into the battle.  She saw the giant repel several bursts of light and realized that he was using an energy shield of some sort.  What good was her sword and her sensei’s sword techniques against something like that?

 

There was a huge explosion and the two girls who had rescued Lexi and Shoryu were knocked back.  They got painfully back to their feet but it was obvious that they were hurting.

 

As Lexi closed in, she was awed by the size of the giant.  His head topped well over thirty feet.  She would have to get higher up if she wanted to do any damage.  Thought became action without any further interaction.  No one was more surprised than Lexi when she suddenly levitated into the air.  Her forward momentum was unchecked though so she pointed her sword at the giant and continued her flight.

 

She was almost there when a giant hand swung down towards her.  She saw it and thought how nice it would be if the hand passed harmlessly through her.  Again, thought became action and her body dematerialized and the huge hand passed through her.  Of course, this had the result of allowing Lexi to pass completely through the giant as well without dealing any damage.

 

When she emerged from the giant’s back, Lexi thought that she was in a perfect striking position.  Somehow, she halted her flight, turned around, and lashed out with her sword while hoping that it would break through whatever defenses the giant had.

 

She misjudged the distance.  She was beyond the reach of her own sword as she swung, but as she swung, she focused her will on the edge of her blade.  Though her blade missed by several feet, a long thin wound appeared on the back of the giant’s neck.  It quickly spurted dark blood several feet in the air and Lexi had to dodge backward to avoid being showered with the blood.

 

The giant roared and swatted at Lexi with another humungous hand.  It passed through an insubstantial Lexi without doing any damage.

 

Just then, two beams of light hit the giant in his chest, just as a small sphere of concentrated pressure hit his stomach.  Shoryu was back as well as the two teenaged girls!

 

The giant took stock of his enemies at this point, saw that he was outnumbered and decided that a strategic withdrawal was in order.  In a flash of light that rivaled anything that had already happened during the battle, the giant vanished.

 

Lexi floated to the ground just as Shoryu came bounding up.  The Omega Guyver armor was pulling back even as he approached.

 

“Lexi!  Are you alright?” asked Shoryu with a worried expression on his face.

 

Lexi hugged him and said, “I am fine, and yourself?”

 

“Not a scratch!  How did you do that?  I didn’t know that you could fly!”

 

Lexi shrugged and said, “I did not know either until just now.”  She put a finger on Shoryu’s lips and said, “Later my love.  We have other business to deal with.”

 

Lexi turned to face the two teenaged girls.  From this distance, she could see that they looked no older than either Shoryu or herself.  She wondered if these two girls were older than they appeared.  “Thank you for helping us,” she said formally.  “My name is Alexandra Seijuro Hiko.  This is Shoryu Fukomachi.”

 

The shorter of the two girls extended her hand which both Lexi and Shoryu shook.  “My name is Rachel Ellis and this is my friend Faye Morgan.  Which one of you is the Gatekeeper?”

 

“We keep hearing about that ever since those Lilin things attacked us.  What the heck is a Gatekeeper and what the hell was that thing we fought?” asked Shoryu incredulously.

 

Rachel looked as if she was about to ask a bunch of questions herself, but Faye touched her shoulder and said, “I’m sure we all have a bunch of questions to ask each other.  Maybe it would be better for Alexandra if we asked these questions elsewhere?”  Faye pointed upwards and everyone saw that the night sky was no where near as dark as it once was.

 

“Oh no!  Lexi!  We’ve got to get you inside the cave!” cried Shoryu in a panicked voice.

 

Lexi did not reply right away.  Her body was still humming with power and she was suddenly struck with the feeling that everything was changed, and that things would never be the same again.  Shoryu was tugging on her arm but she gently brushed his hand away.  “It is fine Shoryu.  I feel the changes in my body and I have always wanted to see the sun rise.”

 

“What are you talking about?  You’re a vampire.  The sun will kill you.  Remember when we got here?”

 

“I know, but I am different now,” said Lexi with a dreamy expression on her face.  She raised her face to the sky and welcomed the first rays of the morning.  The sunlight touched her face and she welcomed its warmth.  “Ahh, that feels so good.  I have missed the touch of the sun these last eight hundred years!”

 

“What’s going on?” cried Shoryu.

 

“It was your gift Shoryu.  It was your blood!”

 

Shoryu smacked his forehead.  “Oh my god!  The Guyver organism.  I passed it to you when I gave you my blood!  It changed you, didn’t it?”

 

“It evolved me,” said Lexi with certainty.

 

Rachel firmly cleared her throat and said, “I don’t want to be a party pooper, but even though we don’t have to get Alexandra somewhere safe anymore, both Faye and I have some unfinished homework back at home, and I have it under advisement that there’s going to be a pop quiz today.”

 

Faye nodded her agreement and said, “I’m exhausted.  I spent most of the last couple of days trying to pinpoint the location of the gate.  You two…you’re not from around here are you?”

 

Lexi and Shoryu shook their heads in unison.  “I thought not,” said Faye.  “Come on, you probably don’t have anywhere to stay.  You can stay at Rachel’s house.”

 

“Why my house?” asked Rachel with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Because,” said Faye as if she were talking to a younger child.  “My parents still don’t know about me, ok?  Besides, your house is bigger and we need to tell Az that his son has resurfaced.”

 

“One of his sons at least,” said Rachel sardonically.

 

Lexi didn’t understand much of what the two girls were saying, but one thing was clear.  “You are offering us sanctuary?”

 

Rachel looked at her and said, “Yeah, I guess we are.  Not only do we need answers, but Lilith is going to be mighty pissed that we killed a couple of her children.  We’re going to need Az’s protection before this is over.”

 

Shoryu ran back into the cave and came back right away.  He was carrying Lexi’s saya which he promptly handed over.  He said, “We have nothing else to pack.  When do we leave?”

 

Lexi sheathed her sword and asked, “How do we reach your house?”

 

Rachel and Faye exchanged looks and Faye suddenly piped up, “Dibs on the cute guy!”

 

Faye walked over and clutched Shoryu’s arm possessively.  Rachel came over to Lexi and offered her hand.  “Whatever you do,” said Rachel, “don’t let go of my hand, ok?”

 

Lexi nodded and watched as both Rachel and Faye closed their eyes.  There was a flash and before Lexi could protest, she and her companions disappeared into the light.