Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ The Power Within ( Chapter 12 )

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Sacrifice

Chapter 12: The Power Within

By: Melissa Norvell

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The vine lay on the ground after its assault moments before. It was motionless. A few feet away, Hiroshima lay atop of Chichiri to shield him from both the blow and any stray debris. The blonde didn't move as the angel lifted himself up a little with his forearms and stared into the other man's eyes. The steel and cold of a glass-blue staring back at him.

"You fool! Your whining is going to get us killed!" Hiroshima fumed, angry at the boy for his mishap.

"Sorry!" The blonde nearly yelled at him. "I'm just a normal guy! I don't know the first thing about fighting these things!"

"That's why it's called training. This is the part where you learn to fight."

"What if I can't?"

"That answer's easy…" The legend smiled, "you die."

"Guh," Chichiri recoiled, making a face of unease. 'I'd better not screw up, huh?'

"Burst Winds!"

The familiar circle of winds began to form in the palm of Tsurugi's hand as his body pivoted and he released the winds. They swept across the ground and blew the vines away from his being. The winds were powerful, enough to even slice through some of the vines and injure others. Azmy was busy attempting to bring them down with her simple shot gun. Upon shooting one of them, a clear fluid began to leak from it, but it still managed to live so it had to be shot more than once. Across the field, Keiji was running through them as they lunged at him like snakes. He managed to evade them as he ran straight for the main body of the plant.

Hiroshima flew high above, his sword in hand. He looked impressed as a dark smirk crossed his features. "Well, what do you know? The kid can fight." He spoke to himself as one of the giant vines lunged at him. Thinking quickly, he sliced the offending vine in half as it sprayed the clear fluid in agony, covering the angel below in a syrup-type clear liquid.

"Well, that was disgusting," the angel said in displeasure. "I'll have to make a mental note to go to the hot springs when I'm done here."

"Well…" Chichiri began. "I can't stand back here and do nothing," the blonde grabbed a guitar lying nearby and held it above his head, then brought it down as forcefully as he could, smashing the vines as they wiggled around in pain below him. "Take that!"

Ko, Fife and Undine were all standing a few feet away, watching their comrades fight off the plants.

The white haired female turned to the two. "What do we do?"

"I don't know…We don't have any weapons," Fife noted.

"There's no way I can help them," Undine knew that her water powers were useless at a time like this. Slate eyes continued to watch the angel of legend dodged the vines, each striking at him with tenacity and deadly accuracy. This wasn't a problem to Hiroshima, however. He weaved in and out of them with ease.

"Cutting Winds!" Tsurugi's voice could be heard as he cast another magic spell. He held out his hand as the winds were released from his hand. They were released into the sky, each forming a blade and cutting through the abnormally large foliage.

"Keiji-kun," navy blue eyes looked over to see the drummer, who was hacking away at vines with his dagger. While he was finishing one off, another arose behind him, bringing itself down to kill him. A sense of panic shot through the feminine boy's being as he called out the drummer's name, tackling him to the ground as the vine barely missed the both of them. Fife lay atop of Keiji, protecting him further.

"Gah!" Keiji cried as the vine was shot by the gunslinger. Green eyes looked to the girl. "Thanks Azmy."

"Mm," the shy girl nodded, and then gazed at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I can handle this," the stoic boy shot, his eyes burned a hole into Fife's body. His eyes filled with malice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Saving you," Fife smiled, sitting up.

"Just stop it. Leave me alone. You're annoying me," he insulted as another vine came down upon them, threatening their lives once more.

"Look out!" Fife called, covering him once more to protect him from the impact.

Suddenly, the vine fell short of them. Opening his clenched eyes, Keiji saw that the vine had been severed. The cut was clean and exact. Two feet landed on the ground in front of the two boys as Keiji looked up to see who the two feet had belonged to. His eyes met with the cold ones of the legend.

Hiroshima looked over his shoulder at the two, sword swung over his shoulder; he spoke in a serious tone with a slight hint of a casual joking tone. "Why don't you two quit making out and fight? You can have sex after we kill this thing."

"Have sex!?" Keiji outraged, offended by Hiroshima's homosexual joke.

This caused a blush to arise to Fife's face. After all, he found the drummer to be quite attractive, but the thought of having sex with him made the feminine boy ponder over his own feelings, "but I have clothes on." He noted shyly.

"And they'd better not come off either," Keiji looked at him, his face still trying to cling to its last bit of stoicism, but his cheeks were as red as rose petals.

"No, then I'd blind people," Fife replied.

"Ugh…" The drummer rolled his eyes.

"But I love you," the feminine boy joked, giving the blushing boy a light and friendly kiss on the cheek.

This only made Keiji's cheeks glow brighter as he pushed Fife away. "Would you stop acting gay?"

"But I'm not acting."

"What!?"

"I am gay, Keiji-kun."

"Well, I'm not so get off!" The green-haired boy shoved his farther away in a hurry and got up with an annoyed look on his face.

"Morons," Hiroshima shot condescendingly. They were in a serious situation and the two of them were over there flirting with each other. What kind of warriors were they? It was pathetic.

"What about you?" Keiji asked.

"Hey, I'm not in this."

"Aw…I'm the only one who likes boys," Fife replied in a happy voice.

"If you must know, I'm bisexual," Hiroshima informed. He didn't see why it was important that they know about his sexuality.

"Yay!" Fife cheered, throwing his arms up and kicking one leg up in the air behind him as he went in to hug the angel.

"Don't even think about it," Hiroshima warned as the boy looked over dramatically dejected and hung his head, whining.

"Look out!" Keiji yelled as thorns came flying at them, deployed from the vines nearby. Everyone jumped out of the way, successfully evading them.

"You people are too distracting," Hiroshima complained, holding his sword out in an attacking stance. "Time to do a little gardening, besides, these things are pissing me off and I'm tired of being covered in plant juice." He moved his blade across the sky. A long energy whip formed after the blade's tip, creating an energy dragon of sorts. "Wind Dragon Blade!" He called out as the dragon made from energy cut through the entire base of the plant, killing it instantly.

"Wow," Ko complimented.

"He's so strong," Amy said in awe, her round, innocent eyes shining in admiration at the sight of the angel's display of pure strength.

"Good job, Hiroshima," Undine complimented, a small smile gracing her features.

"Excellent work, Hiro-kun!" Tsurugi cheered, floating down gracefully into the legend's strong arms, hugging him tightly. The other angel hugged him back.

"Thank you…Tsurugi," Hiroshima replied.

"What's with the lovey-dovey stuff?" Keiji asked, glaring at the two. Wasn't Hiroshima just telling he and Fife not have sex in the middle of the battle earlier? What a hypocrite. What was up with he and Tsurugi anyway?

"You really don't know kid?" Hiroshima asked with a sly smirk as he turned to the other angel, kissing him passionately. "I told you, I'm bisexual."

"I get it. He's your boyfriend," the green haired boy replied. It wasn't really like they were trying to hide it all that well. He assumed as much when they all joined up together.

"Yes, we've been going out for a long time, ever since we journeyed with Princess Teruna," (1) Tsurugi told him with a smile.

"Princess Teruna?" Azmy recognized that name. "So you're the two who helped my mother save her kingdom. You're the brave angels."

"I don't really like being called the hero. I'm not completely evil, but I'm not completely good either. I do what I wish and I find my own destiny. In this way, I cannot be on your side," Hiroshima told her, a serious expression on his face.

"Then that sword…" Keiji noted. It all made sense to him now as to why the powers of such a blade were recognizable.

The legend took the sword from his back, holding it out inside of the scabbard, "the Crimson Sword of Legend."

"Can I take it out of the holster and look at it?" The blue-haired girl asked innocently, only to be glared at in return.

"No."

"Why not?" She really wanted to see the famous sword that caused the spiral of madness of Princess Teruna. Azmy didn't think that she would get another chance like this.

"He's not saying it to be mean to you, Azmy. The only time the Crimson Blade can be taken from its scabbard is when you are going to kill someone or when you take it out to clean it, of course," Tsurugi explained.

"Aren't you all worried about that plant?" Keiji asked, glancing over his shoulder at the severed plant which now laid voice of life in the center of town, fluids draining from the gashes made within it.

"Why? It's dead. Besides, it was easy to beat," Hiroshima replied confidently. Keiji shouldn't really care about something so miniscule, it was far from causing further harm to anyone.

"Easy for you to say! It almost killed us!" Chichiri exclaimed.

"That's your problem," the legend retorted.

"How can you say that?" Ko was offended that the angel would have such an uncaring nature about the situation. That plant destroyed a lot of property and killed many people. How could he just blow it off like it was no big deal? What kind of heartless fiend was he?

"Easily."

"I wonder why that plant attacked the square like that," Fife mused, his eyes focused on the pile of vegetation that lay unmoving.

"Could be a malfunctioning spell," Tsurugi suggested probable cause. After all, the town was full of wizards and other types of spell casters. Any one of them could have made a naïve mistake, especially those who were just starting out.

"Excuse me," a small and feminine voice cut into their conversation.

"Hm?" Fife mused, looking to the girl who stood a few feet away.

"Are you the ones who saved the village?" A young girl, appearing in her teens asked. This girl was of average height and very slender in form. Her skin was pale and her hair a dark blue, verging on purple. It was long and two bunches of it were over her shoulder. Large, golden rings adorned them in the middle. Each ring had hair wound around it, keeping it in her hair and a good two inches of hair stuck out from the bottom. This girl also had large, red and pink eyes and ears on either side of her head where normal human ears would be present, each ear was brown on top with white, soft fur underneath and they were laid back in a peaceful manner. The purple-haired girl wore a red dress that was adorned with lace and made an upside down "v" shape in the front. It had no straps and hugged the bust line. She also wore a black choker collar and red high-heels that laced up her legs, tying mid-calf. Her golden bold bracelets clutched a large staff with several crystals at top in a half circle shape.

"Saved?" Hiroshima scowled at the very word.

"Heaven forbid you be the hero," Ko retorted.

"Shut up."

"Yes, we are," Azmy smiled kindly at the strange girl, answering her question as the angel and singer bickered amongst each other.

"Are you a wizard?" Keiji asked, noticing that she was carrying a staff.

"Yes," the girl replied with a kind smile as she bowed. "My name is Fable, nice to meet you."

Hiroshima said nothing to the girl, just smirked darkly to himself.

"Do you happen to know where those plants are coming from?" Fife asked, hoping that she would know something about the origins of the abnormal-sized plants, since it seemed to him like she'd be a frequent visitor to the town.

"It's a long story really," Fable's expression saddened as her eyes looked to the ground. "The plants have been around this area for months now. They've been on a rampage."

"Rampaging sounds fun," the legend spoke with a little excitement clinging to his deep voice.

"But why?" Ko asked, and ignored Hiroshima's sadistic commentary.

"No one knows, but there are many rumors."

"Who cares?" The legend asked, "I just want to kill something."

"Ugh," Ko retorted, rolling her eyes. "Never mind him. We actually care about people."

A frown was then plastered upon Hiroshima's features. "You…"

"Let's at least listen to her story," Keiji bartered. "If we find more of these plants, then you can get your opportunity to kill."

"Right," the infamous smirk returned to the angel's features.

"If we're going to be in the same group we might as well benefit from each other."

"Now you're talking," Tsurugi agreed.

"I like you already kid," Hiroshima complimented the drummer.

"Rumor has it that there is a powerful Plant Goddess who resides in the forest," Fable began to explain. "Her name is Flora…She's a giant dragon head and neck growing from the ground in the form of twisted vines and flowers."

"I've heard of her before, and if I know the legend right, Flora is the one who grants permission for every being who comes here to take her plants," Hiroshima noted.

"Yes, but as of recently, many people have sought to make profit off of the plants and take out entire sections of garden area. The plants are Flora's most precious creations, and humanity with all of its greed decided to covet them. This made Flora very angry."

"But Flora has always had a temper. Humans destroy her creations every day without trying to keep the balance. She feels the pains of the forests and the anguish of the flowers. The plants speak to her in an intricate way," Hiroshima continued to educate.

"Yes, she's also created of plants. I remembered what she told me once, when I went to visit her," Fable said, memories flooding her mind.

"How did you manage to get here? Humans are not allowed to come here," the giant dragon-goddess spoke. Her voice was deep and held contempt to it. It echoed throughout the forest and the girl below could feel negative vibes flow through the air as she stood below at the beginning of a clearing nearby. She dared not go too close to the deity.

"I'm not exactly human. As for how I got here," Fable spoke, looking to the sky as she felt a gentle wind play with her hair. "The wind tells us the weather and reasoning, if you listen closely, the wind will give you directions to the most hidden places on earth."

"Wind Caverns told you that?" Flora asked, knowing of the mythical birds which controlled the wind flow and delivered messages by use of the elements.

"Yes," Fable smiled.

"This is humanity's fault that we are not on good terms. I'd have people see me more often if not for their destructive habits toward my creations," Flora's voice seemed a lot calmer than before.

"But there are humans who do not destroy the forest. There are some humans who devote their whole lives to saving it," Fable told her, hoping to give Flora some hope.

"And I am grateful to those kind souls who have worked so hard to conserve my children, but they are few and far between. It seems that industry has taken over and no one appreciates the world's natural beauty."

"I'd never destroy something so beautiful," Fable replied, as the goddesses' red eye looked to the girl. A small hint of emotion was present deep within its usually cold depths.

"You got to talk to a goddess? Awesome!" Chichiri beamed. It must have been an honor to talk to a deity such as Flora. He had to admit that he didn't know anyone who ever spoke with a god beyond praying to them. It was pretty fascinating.

"Is the goddess doing this?" Hiroshima asked, his eyes narrowing a little. Surely, there was some reason that she was acting this way, if those plants did belong to her. So the only question was who was making her angry? Who had wronged her or taken advantage of her. He had a feeling that this girl knew.

Fable looked down, as if she had felt guilty about something unspoken. "Yes…She's tired of the way humans have been taking advantage of her kindness, so she's been sending her plants out into the town to kill those who defied her."

"She's a spiteful thing, isn't she?" Fife joked.

"I can't say I'd blame her. She has been kind to everyone here by blessing them with an array of plants not found anywhere on earth only to have people covet them. It's really quite sad," Tsurugi sympathized.

"It's their own damned fault they're dead," Hiroshima's voice held no sympathy for the victims of the plant attacks.

"What?" Azmy asked, looking to the angel.

"How can you say that?" Ko was outraged that he wouldn't care about those whose lives were lost so nobly. All of those wizards and magicians who died to protect the village, all of those little kids that so innocently had their lives ripped from them so savagely. They all were shoved aside and by an angel of all things. Hiroshima was being extremely cold.

"Humans have a sinful demeanor. They practically bathe in corruption. Taking that fact in they can never have too much of a good thing because it would either lose its value or make them want to covet it," Hiroshima let his opinion of humanity be known. "Coveting these plants makes your greed rises until your world comes tumbling down around in an array of destructive glory. Humanity is its own downfall."

"What about the people who actually care?" Ko didn't want to believe that all humans were as superficial as Hiroshima described.

"Just innocent bystanders who end up playing the role of sacrificial lamb, I'm afraid. That's life kid, as morbid as it seems- no one's a winner in the end," Hiroshima's voice calm with a hidden sympathy that most people couldn't find in mere vocalizations but one they could only find when looking into his oddly colored eyes.

"No, there's got to be more then that!" Ko argued, trying to remain positive. "Innocent lives can't just be sacrificed meaninglessly."

"The innocent always suffer."

"Well, what about people who aren't innocent?" Chichiri received a glare from Hiroshima and Ko. "Just wondering…"

"Those who have their eyes open to what the world truly is…can only sit back and watch it collapse in on itself. The cycle repeats and everything has a beginning, middle and end. All things living, and all ideals and time itself. Those who are aware of this were fated to be damned from the start." Hiroshima's voice was laced with that same cryptic sympathy.

"So that's how it works?" Chichiri was interested by the angel's words.

"This was fate, as Vespa told you. If you don't get how it works, and if you're still not getting it, well who cares? There's no other way of putting it. I'll repeat it to you. You breathe because fate wants you to. It isn't your own decision, but fate itself. Every little thing you do is chosen by fate and you are simply fate's puppet as it pulls your strings to its liking. The only thing you can control is the fact that you can cut your own strings and break free of its tyranny. Fate cannot play with you then…But you can no longer move and as you are dead. This is called suicide…But even so, fate had a hand in bringing you to that conclusion," the legend told them.

"So this was fated to happen?" Fable asked, noting the angel's fatalistic nature.

"Yes."

"He's right," Undine agreed, being a fatalist herself. "It's also fated that we work as a team."

"And our job now is to scout the town and look for more plants. If we gather information by staying here a while, then we should be able to find Flora," Tsurugi told them.

"You dumbasses ever consider this?" Hiroshima turned to Fable. "Where is the forest that Flora lies in?"

"Huh?" Red eyes blinked at the man in question.

"You've been there, haven't you?"

"Yes, but she's moved since then," Fable noted. "I don't know where she is now."

"Well, the only way to find out is to fight those plant-things," Fife replied.

"Then let's go and look for them," Keiji's green eyes lighting up with determination as he walked a few paces ahead of the group.

"But first I'm going to the hot springs," Hiroshima wanted to rid himself of the putrid substance. "This plant juice is sticky and it stinks."

"If you need my help, feel free to ask. I'll be around town, just come and find me," Fable replied.

"Okay," Azmy closed her eyes, smiling at the wizard. "Thank you for helping us."

"No problem, and if you want to find a place to stay, just find a job around here and make some money, there are tons of inns," Fable offered. She figured that since they were new, they could use some pointers.

"Right," Ko nodded. She was happy that at least someone gave her decent pointers on stuff to do. Right now, she was stressed out and lost. Not to mention, this whole plant ordeal only made matters worse. How was she supposed to deal with some rouge goddess?

"Goodbye," Fable turned and began to walk away as everyone said their goodbyes.

"Let's go," the legend declared.

"Right," Chichiri nodded, as the all walked off to the hot springs together. They had been through a lot and the group definitely needed some rest and relaxing in a warm hot springs was just the thing to relieve their aching muscles after a hard day's work.

To Be Continued…

NOTES:

(1) No, I didn't just automatically put them together. They have been together this whole time. I wonder how many readers got the hints. In Crimson and Clover, the prequel to this story, they got together. I may or may not explain that in future chapters.