Magic Gone Wrong! Chapter 15, Part 1
Title: Magic Gone Wrong!
Chapter: 15/18
Previous Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four 1, Four 2, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen 1, Fourteen 2
Authors:
lucklessmallory and
chinesethorn
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: LeexGaara
Summary: Tentacles, ftw?! Gaara is a sorcerer outside of the small town where Lee works as a smith. When Lee sits in on one of Gaara's ritual summonings, something starts to go terribly wrong...
~*~*~*~
AN: Guess what? Post too large again. Dammit. Link to the second part at the end.
“So you know, I had these really weird ass dreams the other night,” Naruto contemplated loudly as the three men crossed a shallow stream while leading their horses along. “There was a demon involved, and a lot of fucking too. I don’t like having sex with demons personally, but some people have the strangest fetishes.”
Lee’s face burned from the back of their party as he led his horse through the water. The blond sorcerer had not shut up with his teasing since two nights ago, and neither was he subtle about it! “O-Oh, that must have been a terrible dream to have,” he said with faint laughter as he kept his eyes locked straight on the back of Gaara’s head.
The redhead tried not to cringe as he stepped across the shallow stream and pulled his horse forward by the reins. He should have known better than to think Naruto would obliviously sleep undisturbed while he and Lee had sex less than twenty feet away, in the open air. Naruto was a powerful, trained sorcerer, of course he was going to notice all that demonic energy. Even if it hadn’t been for the demon, Naruto had good instincts and would have woken up anyway.
“It’s nobody’s place to judge,” Gaara commented with a shrug. “I’ve heard of worse fetishes- didn’t I know someone who liked to cast cloning spells in the bedroom to have occasional orgies?”
“That’s different! And I remember you weren’t exactly opposed to those either,” Naruto shot back as he got out of the stream and stomped his boots free of water. “Or to playing ‘sand coffin’ when you want things done your way.”
Lee cleared his throat, eyes wide at the turn of their conversation. With Gaara, it was fine, but Naruto was a whole different story! He had no interest in hearing about anything that happened between him and Gaara. “Really? That sounds extremely tiring,” he said weakly, splashing a little as he neared the other side.
Gaara tapped the toes of his boots on the dry ground when they’d finished crossing. He looked over his shoulder at Lee and gave a sympathetic smirk at the look on the smith’s face. He shook his head and cut the man a break by changing the subject. “It shouldn’t be too much longer now. We’ll come across the edge of the desert either tonight or tomorrow morning.”
“Fine.” Naruto rolled his eyes at Gaara’s tact. “As long as I don’t have anymore demon fucking dreams until then, I don’t care.”
Relieved, the smith shot Gaara a grateful look even when his face refused to lose the flush. “If we are heading towards the desert already, we should take some water.” Lee glanced at the gourd on Gaara’s back and smiled as he knocked on its side. “This will hold enough for two days’ travel. We might as well make use of it!”
“Yeah, you’ll need it after your ‘youthful exercises’,” Naruto snickered.
The line between the forested mountains and the vast expanse of the desert was a blurred beige and green landscape where small patches of grass and trees shot up from both earth and sand. Without any coverage, the sun beat down hot against the sand dunes and illuminated particles of sand blown by the wind.
“Master Gaara!” Lee rode up beside the redhead and offered a long folded cloth. “Here.” The smith’s face was covered nose down, with his own white strip of cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. He had a heavy hood on to pull over his eyes, just as Naruto had told him to wear just before they arrived at the border. The wind blew sand everywhere, though what few trees were around them kept the worst of it at bay.
Naruto grinned brightly and ferociously as he beheld the desert, his sage robes billowing around him. “Ahh! Reminds me of the old days, hah! We’re fucking old, Gaara.” He shook his head. “Once we set foot in the desert, I’d bet my ass Shukaku would know we were hunting him. We should set up camp before we head further in.”
“That’s a good plan.” Gaara took his cloth from Lee with a nod of thanks and wrapped it around his face in a similar fashion to the others’. He felt especially hot in his leather under the blazing sun already, and briefly remembered why he’d liked fishnet so much in the past. He turned and rode his horse to the nearest foilage so that it could stand in the shade. He called over his shoulder. “We’ll eat, then come up with a plan of attack tonight. We’ll strategize and decide whose powers are best for each method of attack or defense. How are you feeling, Lee? Tell me about the demon’s energy if you can.”
Lee followed after Gaara and breathed out once he was in the shade. “It is very strong. Ever since the demon... when it took on more power, I feel its presence pulsing in me even when it is not actively manifesting.” He patted his horse’s neck then swung himself down. Looking up at Gaara, he licked his dry lips. “I do not think you will need me conscious when you fight Shukaku, but I will do my best to help you!”
Getting off his own horse, Naruto slapped Lee on the back good naturedly. “Never a good idea to let a demon take over completely, Lee. You never know when it will fuck you over and refuse to give your body back.”
“We’ll decide tonight during our plans how best for you to participate,” Gaara said, feeling thoughtful as he swung down from his horse and tied the reins loosely to a tall branch. “Naruto’s right, we’ll try to be careful, but you don’t have much experience with combat of any kind."
Gaara furrowed his brows as he raided the bags behind the horse’s saddle and began to prepare for their night. This was finally it. Tomorrow they were going to officially be in the danger zone, ready to kill Shukaku or be killed at any moment. Gaara felt better now that they had Naruto on their side, but it was still very possible that someone would be hurt. His old master was an evil, powerful creature with wicked tricks up every sleeve.
When the small party finished setting up camp in an arbor of trees, the sun had begun to set in the distant horizon, giving the area around them a surreal orange glow. Particles of sand glittered in the air while the trees became mere silhouettes amidst the sky.
This close to the desert, there were no streams nearby and Lee had to dig to find trickles of an underground water source where grass still grew from. He was gathering more water for tonight and tomorrow morning, but it was taking a while to sift out the sand and dirt. Most of their water had to be conserved for the trek through the desert, and Lee struggled with unfamiliar fatalist thoughts that whatever happened after the fight, it would be the heat and dehydration that would get them in the end.
Over at the camp, he could hear Naruto’s distinctive voice needling Gaara with some inside joke or another. He couldn’t help it-- he was jealous of how close they were, and how Gaara seemed to be so fond of Naruto. Being this close to the end of their quest had him thinking hard about what would happen when it did.
“When you’re done with that, Lee, we’ll get started.” Gaara had his map of the area laid out some feet away from their fire with a firm line to his lips. Naruto was leaning over the other side, pinpointing their current location.
“Got any ideas on how we’re supposed to approach this? You knew the bastard best,” the blond murmured thoughtfully.
“Essentially? He’s old and losing his strength and sanity, and that’s what we’ll use against him.” Gaara tilted his head and ran a finger along the path they’d taken. “He can’t do the bigger, more complicated spells he used to. His body is too slow. The last time I saw him in battle, he basically engulfed his victim in a wave of pure destructive power because he couldn’t focus the small steps of a more effective spell.”
“If that is how he attacks, then our speed and number would be our advantage,” Lee said, heading towards the camp with flasks full of water. He sat down next to Gaara and handed over each man’s flask. “It is just like when a cat is trying to catch a single mouse among a group. It cannot attack all of them at once, and usually, its energy is spent trying to catch nearest one.” He ran a hand through his hair, a knot forming between his brows at the thought of the fight. “What kind of magic does he perform?”
“Elemental mostly from what I remember of him. And since he’s smack in the middle of a goddamn desert, his primary attacks would use that.” Naruto snorted and wiped some sand from his nose. “What do you think, Gaara? If one of us acts as bait, would it be enough for two to take him down from behind?”
“It might be. It’s likely that he would realize what we were doing once we’d started however, so we’d need to be fast to do enough damage.” Gaara crossed his arms and sat back as he considered the map. “It would be difficult to find cover enough to go unnoticed in the desert before we sneak up on him. I think you and I are capable of the cloaking spells we would need, but it would be best if Lee’s demon was on the attack. If we tried this, I should be bait.”
“Why not me?” Naruto asked, sounding almost indignant at any dismissal toward his ability as bait.
“He’d know something was up. If it was me, he might expect me to come to him alone. You remember how prideful I used to be about that. He doesn’t know I’ve changed.”
Lee’s brows raised in question. “Changed how? Did you try to go after him before?” he asked. “I do not know if the demon can mask its presence enough to remain unnoticed by a sorcerer. Maybe it would be better if you talk to it about your plans before deciding. I think you mentioned before that the demon was supposed to take care of any protective spells surrounding Shukaku as well.”
“Cloaking you wouldn’t be a problem. But I don’t like the thought of Gaara meeting that old bastard alone,” Naruto said. “We need another plan if Shukaku ends up catching you or goes after one of us instead.”
“I’ve made one other attempt some years ago Lee, but I failed,” Gaara replied vaguely. “We will talk to the demon tonight to verify our plans, and we’ll have another strategy in case things don’t flow the way we want them to. A substitution spell comes to mind first, but that’s almost too simple.”
The sorcerer paused in thought for a few brief seconds, shifting his eyes across the map, until he seemed to reach a conclusion and nodded to himself. He reached across the map and took Lee by the hand, meeting his eyes and calling to the demon silently.
Lee’s expression went slack for a second as his pupils expanded until his eyes were completely black. His hand closed over Gaara’s by the time the demon’s presence emanated from the smith. Swiveling Lee’s head towards Naruto, Asmodeus bared Lee’s teeth in a tight grin. “Not one, but two people with demons in them. You really want your old master dead, don’t you Master Gaara?” It turned its eyes back towards Gaara and licked its lips, marking crawling over Lee’s face.
“Shit, what kind of demon did you get?” Naruto blanched, wrinkling his nose at the black markings on Lee’s skin and the creepy way he was staring at Gaara.
“It’s a long story.” Gaara frowned and pulled his hand jerkily away. He crossed his arms again and sat back as he addressed the demon. “How well can you cloak yourself? And is it true that you can take down Shukaku’s protective spells?”
The demon smirked and held out his hands in front of him in mock surrender at Gaara's recoil. "Hiding myself is an easy enough task. But when I begin breaking down his protective spells and devouring that power, it will be impossible to remain undetected." Lee's eyes hooded as the demon leaned forward conspiratorially. "Shukaku is fast becoming a demon, I hear. When his physical body finally dies, he will be a dark force looking for a host. He will not be as kind as I am to this body."
Gaara frowned and his his brows drew together seriously. “Humans can’t become demons. That’s not how it works. Demons come from separate realms of existence.”
“Not always,” Naruto corrected. He tapped his chin and squinted his eyes characteristically in thought. “There are legends about people who have become demons before. It only happens once every few hundred years- if that- but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes if a person is possessed, then somehow manages to overcome the demon’s power, the two beings sorta merge into one new demon. I think. Sometimes if a sorcerer is fucked up enough in the mind and manages to gain enough power, his intangible body will separate from the physical in a form of demonic energy.”
“Where did you learn all that?” Gaara asked doubtfully.
“Been doing some research since I caught my own evil parasite,” he replied with a malicious grin and a gesture to his stomach, where Gaara knew his seal was hidden.
“It’s a wonder you managed to cage it. The Kyuubi is a powerful and proud one.” Lee bared his teeth with the black tendrils writhing sickly over his face. “Its power tastes delicious even with that seal in the way.”
The demon turned towards Gaara and smoothed a finger over his cheek. “Nothing is certain about what you’re about to do, Master Gaara. But I will fulfill your desire whatever the cost.”
Gaara bore the demon’s touch with stoic scrutiny. He nodded slowly and his eyes narrowed, accepting whatever consequences may come; he hadn’t come all this way to balk at the risk now. “So be it. Let’s talk about strategy.”
~*~*~*~
Link to second part!
Chapter: 15/18
Previous Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four 1, Four 2, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen 1, Fourteen 2
Authors:
lucklessmallory and
chinesethorn
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: LeexGaara
Summary: Tentacles, ftw?! Gaara is a sorcerer outside of the small town where Lee works as a smith. When Lee sits in on one of Gaara's ritual summonings, something starts to go terribly wrong...
~*~*~*~
AN: Guess what? Post too large again. Dammit. Link to the second part at the end.
“So you know, I had these really weird ass dreams the other night,” Naruto contemplated loudly as the three men crossed a shallow stream while leading their horses along. “There was a demon involved, and a lot of fucking too. I don’t like having sex with demons personally, but some people have the strangest fetishes.”
Lee’s face burned from the back of their party as he led his horse through the water. The blond sorcerer had not shut up with his teasing since two nights ago, and neither was he subtle about it! “O-Oh, that must have been a terrible dream to have,” he said with faint laughter as he kept his eyes locked straight on the back of Gaara’s head.
The redhead tried not to cringe as he stepped across the shallow stream and pulled his horse forward by the reins. He should have known better than to think Naruto would obliviously sleep undisturbed while he and Lee had sex less than twenty feet away, in the open air. Naruto was a powerful, trained sorcerer, of course he was going to notice all that demonic energy. Even if it hadn’t been for the demon, Naruto had good instincts and would have woken up anyway.
“It’s nobody’s place to judge,” Gaara commented with a shrug. “I’ve heard of worse fetishes- didn’t I know someone who liked to cast cloning spells in the bedroom to have occasional orgies?”
“That’s different! And I remember you weren’t exactly opposed to those either,” Naruto shot back as he got out of the stream and stomped his boots free of water. “Or to playing ‘sand coffin’ when you want things done your way.”
Lee cleared his throat, eyes wide at the turn of their conversation. With Gaara, it was fine, but Naruto was a whole different story! He had no interest in hearing about anything that happened between him and Gaara. “Really? That sounds extremely tiring,” he said weakly, splashing a little as he neared the other side.
Gaara tapped the toes of his boots on the dry ground when they’d finished crossing. He looked over his shoulder at Lee and gave a sympathetic smirk at the look on the smith’s face. He shook his head and cut the man a break by changing the subject. “It shouldn’t be too much longer now. We’ll come across the edge of the desert either tonight or tomorrow morning.”
“Fine.” Naruto rolled his eyes at Gaara’s tact. “As long as I don’t have anymore demon fucking dreams until then, I don’t care.”
Relieved, the smith shot Gaara a grateful look even when his face refused to lose the flush. “If we are heading towards the desert already, we should take some water.” Lee glanced at the gourd on Gaara’s back and smiled as he knocked on its side. “This will hold enough for two days’ travel. We might as well make use of it!”
“Yeah, you’ll need it after your ‘youthful exercises’,” Naruto snickered.
The line between the forested mountains and the vast expanse of the desert was a blurred beige and green landscape where small patches of grass and trees shot up from both earth and sand. Without any coverage, the sun beat down hot against the sand dunes and illuminated particles of sand blown by the wind.
“Master Gaara!” Lee rode up beside the redhead and offered a long folded cloth. “Here.” The smith’s face was covered nose down, with his own white strip of cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. He had a heavy hood on to pull over his eyes, just as Naruto had told him to wear just before they arrived at the border. The wind blew sand everywhere, though what few trees were around them kept the worst of it at bay.
Naruto grinned brightly and ferociously as he beheld the desert, his sage robes billowing around him. “Ahh! Reminds me of the old days, hah! We’re fucking old, Gaara.” He shook his head. “Once we set foot in the desert, I’d bet my ass Shukaku would know we were hunting him. We should set up camp before we head further in.”
“That’s a good plan.” Gaara took his cloth from Lee with a nod of thanks and wrapped it around his face in a similar fashion to the others’. He felt especially hot in his leather under the blazing sun already, and briefly remembered why he’d liked fishnet so much in the past. He turned and rode his horse to the nearest foilage so that it could stand in the shade. He called over his shoulder. “We’ll eat, then come up with a plan of attack tonight. We’ll strategize and decide whose powers are best for each method of attack or defense. How are you feeling, Lee? Tell me about the demon’s energy if you can.”
Lee followed after Gaara and breathed out once he was in the shade. “It is very strong. Ever since the demon... when it took on more power, I feel its presence pulsing in me even when it is not actively manifesting.” He patted his horse’s neck then swung himself down. Looking up at Gaara, he licked his dry lips. “I do not think you will need me conscious when you fight Shukaku, but I will do my best to help you!”
Getting off his own horse, Naruto slapped Lee on the back good naturedly. “Never a good idea to let a demon take over completely, Lee. You never know when it will fuck you over and refuse to give your body back.”
“We’ll decide tonight during our plans how best for you to participate,” Gaara said, feeling thoughtful as he swung down from his horse and tied the reins loosely to a tall branch. “Naruto’s right, we’ll try to be careful, but you don’t have much experience with combat of any kind."
Gaara furrowed his brows as he raided the bags behind the horse’s saddle and began to prepare for their night. This was finally it. Tomorrow they were going to officially be in the danger zone, ready to kill Shukaku or be killed at any moment. Gaara felt better now that they had Naruto on their side, but it was still very possible that someone would be hurt. His old master was an evil, powerful creature with wicked tricks up every sleeve.
When the small party finished setting up camp in an arbor of trees, the sun had begun to set in the distant horizon, giving the area around them a surreal orange glow. Particles of sand glittered in the air while the trees became mere silhouettes amidst the sky.
This close to the desert, there were no streams nearby and Lee had to dig to find trickles of an underground water source where grass still grew from. He was gathering more water for tonight and tomorrow morning, but it was taking a while to sift out the sand and dirt. Most of their water had to be conserved for the trek through the desert, and Lee struggled with unfamiliar fatalist thoughts that whatever happened after the fight, it would be the heat and dehydration that would get them in the end.
Over at the camp, he could hear Naruto’s distinctive voice needling Gaara with some inside joke or another. He couldn’t help it-- he was jealous of how close they were, and how Gaara seemed to be so fond of Naruto. Being this close to the end of their quest had him thinking hard about what would happen when it did.
“When you’re done with that, Lee, we’ll get started.” Gaara had his map of the area laid out some feet away from their fire with a firm line to his lips. Naruto was leaning over the other side, pinpointing their current location.
“Got any ideas on how we’re supposed to approach this? You knew the bastard best,” the blond murmured thoughtfully.
“Essentially? He’s old and losing his strength and sanity, and that’s what we’ll use against him.” Gaara tilted his head and ran a finger along the path they’d taken. “He can’t do the bigger, more complicated spells he used to. His body is too slow. The last time I saw him in battle, he basically engulfed his victim in a wave of pure destructive power because he couldn’t focus the small steps of a more effective spell.”
“If that is how he attacks, then our speed and number would be our advantage,” Lee said, heading towards the camp with flasks full of water. He sat down next to Gaara and handed over each man’s flask. “It is just like when a cat is trying to catch a single mouse among a group. It cannot attack all of them at once, and usually, its energy is spent trying to catch nearest one.” He ran a hand through his hair, a knot forming between his brows at the thought of the fight. “What kind of magic does he perform?”
“Elemental mostly from what I remember of him. And since he’s smack in the middle of a goddamn desert, his primary attacks would use that.” Naruto snorted and wiped some sand from his nose. “What do you think, Gaara? If one of us acts as bait, would it be enough for two to take him down from behind?”
“It might be. It’s likely that he would realize what we were doing once we’d started however, so we’d need to be fast to do enough damage.” Gaara crossed his arms and sat back as he considered the map. “It would be difficult to find cover enough to go unnoticed in the desert before we sneak up on him. I think you and I are capable of the cloaking spells we would need, but it would be best if Lee’s demon was on the attack. If we tried this, I should be bait.”
“Why not me?” Naruto asked, sounding almost indignant at any dismissal toward his ability as bait.
“He’d know something was up. If it was me, he might expect me to come to him alone. You remember how prideful I used to be about that. He doesn’t know I’ve changed.”
Lee’s brows raised in question. “Changed how? Did you try to go after him before?” he asked. “I do not know if the demon can mask its presence enough to remain unnoticed by a sorcerer. Maybe it would be better if you talk to it about your plans before deciding. I think you mentioned before that the demon was supposed to take care of any protective spells surrounding Shukaku as well.”
“Cloaking you wouldn’t be a problem. But I don’t like the thought of Gaara meeting that old bastard alone,” Naruto said. “We need another plan if Shukaku ends up catching you or goes after one of us instead.”
“I’ve made one other attempt some years ago Lee, but I failed,” Gaara replied vaguely. “We will talk to the demon tonight to verify our plans, and we’ll have another strategy in case things don’t flow the way we want them to. A substitution spell comes to mind first, but that’s almost too simple.”
The sorcerer paused in thought for a few brief seconds, shifting his eyes across the map, until he seemed to reach a conclusion and nodded to himself. He reached across the map and took Lee by the hand, meeting his eyes and calling to the demon silently.
Lee’s expression went slack for a second as his pupils expanded until his eyes were completely black. His hand closed over Gaara’s by the time the demon’s presence emanated from the smith. Swiveling Lee’s head towards Naruto, Asmodeus bared Lee’s teeth in a tight grin. “Not one, but two people with demons in them. You really want your old master dead, don’t you Master Gaara?” It turned its eyes back towards Gaara and licked its lips, marking crawling over Lee’s face.
“Shit, what kind of demon did you get?” Naruto blanched, wrinkling his nose at the black markings on Lee’s skin and the creepy way he was staring at Gaara.
“It’s a long story.” Gaara frowned and pulled his hand jerkily away. He crossed his arms again and sat back as he addressed the demon. “How well can you cloak yourself? And is it true that you can take down Shukaku’s protective spells?”
The demon smirked and held out his hands in front of him in mock surrender at Gaara's recoil. "Hiding myself is an easy enough task. But when I begin breaking down his protective spells and devouring that power, it will be impossible to remain undetected." Lee's eyes hooded as the demon leaned forward conspiratorially. "Shukaku is fast becoming a demon, I hear. When his physical body finally dies, he will be a dark force looking for a host. He will not be as kind as I am to this body."
Gaara frowned and his his brows drew together seriously. “Humans can’t become demons. That’s not how it works. Demons come from separate realms of existence.”
“Not always,” Naruto corrected. He tapped his chin and squinted his eyes characteristically in thought. “There are legends about people who have become demons before. It only happens once every few hundred years- if that- but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes if a person is possessed, then somehow manages to overcome the demon’s power, the two beings sorta merge into one new demon. I think. Sometimes if a sorcerer is fucked up enough in the mind and manages to gain enough power, his intangible body will separate from the physical in a form of demonic energy.”
“Where did you learn all that?” Gaara asked doubtfully.
“Been doing some research since I caught my own evil parasite,” he replied with a malicious grin and a gesture to his stomach, where Gaara knew his seal was hidden.
“It’s a wonder you managed to cage it. The Kyuubi is a powerful and proud one.” Lee bared his teeth with the black tendrils writhing sickly over his face. “Its power tastes delicious even with that seal in the way.”
The demon turned towards Gaara and smoothed a finger over his cheek. “Nothing is certain about what you’re about to do, Master Gaara. But I will fulfill your desire whatever the cost.”
Gaara bore the demon’s touch with stoic scrutiny. He nodded slowly and his eyes narrowed, accepting whatever consequences may come; he hadn’t come all this way to balk at the risk now. “So be it. Let’s talk about strategy.”
~*~*~*~
Link to second part!