Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Ceres ( Chapter 17 )

X:X:X:

Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 17: Ceres

X X X X

Ko and Azmy ran out of their room, bolting from the door in search of the others, their hearts racing and souls shook with the uncertainty they felt. They were concerned for everyone in their group and hoped that no one was hit with the attack. They ran two doors down to a familiar group of people.

"Oh, there you are," Azmy sighed in relief. "I was so worried!"

"There's a plant attacking the hotel! We've got to book it!" Chichiri said, yelling. He was jittery and antsy about leaving before he ended up dead. He was in a panic about what to do.

"That's what we thought," Ko's voice held a grave tone to it.

"Where's Hiroshima?" Undine noticed that the angel wasn't present.

"He jumped out of the window," Azmy replied.

"What?" Keiji's head snapped back to the shy girl.

"Well, he flew didn't he?" Fife asked calmly. As long as he didn't commit suicide there was no need for everyone to get bent out of shape, at least that's the conclusion he came to.

"Yeah, he got all pissy because it woke him up," Ko seemed unamused at his previous antics.

Tsurugi sighed. "Oh Hiro-kun, so cute when he's angry."

"We don't have time to talk, let's go!" Keiji cut any further homosexual commentary from the angel short as he took off running down the hall. Everyone followed suit as the dark angel made one last comment.

"So impulsive," he sighed, then took a glance at his other team members, which were now gone. "Wait!" He called out, flying slowly down the hall with his feet only a few inches from the ground. After he caught up with them, he looked to the group.

"I don't hear any earthquakes. Maybe the plant is side tracked by Hiro-kun," Tsurugi replied. The theory was short lives as a vine shot through the floor beside of the group with incredible speed. Everyone let out a commotion that consisted of screams as the floor broke away beneath them. Azmy, being the closest to the hole, slipped and fell through the hole, screaming in terror as she fell. Green eyes caught sight of her quickly disappearing form as he darted over to the hole. Stopping at the edge, and at the risk of falling himself, he reached down to grab her hand. Their fingertips touched in a fleeting moment as she fell past him. He was unable to grab her.

She would fall to her death if someone didn't do something to save her.

"Azmy!" He shouted, his arm still outstretched towards her as heavenly blue eyes watched the events unfold before him.

"Someone help!" The girl cried.

As if on cue, a dark form quickly flew past Keiji's form. Its speed was almost inhuman and all he could make out was a motion blur. Recovering from the shock, he looked down to realize that Tsurugi had dove down to the girl's rescue. He took hold of the girl's hand firmly and flapped his wings to slow her descent. His chains jingled with each flap as the girl could feel the cool air hitting her face.

She felt strange, being suspended in air with a strange man holding her hand that she hadn't known for that long. He was the difference between life and death for her at the moment, and the strange thing was - she should have been scared.

And yet…

She felt completely secure.

"Thank you!" Azmy smiled gratefully to the angel, who seemed distracted by something.

"Look."

"Oh my gosh!" The short haired girl took the sight in before her. Large, round eyes widened with the shock she felt.

"Crimson Destruction!" Hiroshima cried, slashing his blade across his view as many red magical orbs were sent flying at the plant, blowing up part of it. The vines were thrown every which way by the separate magical explosions that took place.

"Hyuu! Hiro-kun is kicking butt!" Tsurugi cheered for his boyfriend.

"For the love of-" Hiroshima replied quickly and with irritation, as if it were a forced distraction as he turned his head to see Tsurugi, holding the dangling Azmy a few feet behind him. The dark angel waved.

"Hyuu!"

"Um…" Azmy replied, not knowing what to do in an awkward situation like this so she waved a little unsurely as she closed her eyes and giggled nervously.

"What the hell are you doing?" The legend shouted at the two of them.

"Azmy fell and I saved her. I can't let her die, now can I?" Tsurugi asked playfully.

"Yes."

"So mean," the angel pouted. "You made Azmy sad."

"Would you quit being a pain in the ass and help me?" Hiroshima's irritation was growing. How dare they make so lightly of such a dire situation? They could have been killed! What were they thinking being out in the open like that and whining and acting playful?

It was a time to fight.

"Okay, let me sit Azmy down," his boyfriend replied as a few over to a large rock that had been placed higher than the others from the destruction that's been going on. He lowered her gently and let go of her hand when her feet touched the ground. The angel flapped his wings slowly, the powerful winds coming from them causing the girl's short, blue hair to dance in the air. "There you go," Tsurugi smiled calmly. "Think you'll be okay here?"

"Mmm," the girl returned his kind gesture mirroring it with her own smile as she nodded.

"Hm?" Heavenly blue eyes peered over the shy girl's shoulder to see a small figure standing a few feet away, clad in a red dress and holding a staff. Those ears… "Oh, it's Fable."

"Huh?" Azmy turned slightly in the direction he was staring to see the sorceress standing there. She was still and her demeanor calm. It was as if there was nothing going on around her, even though everything in sight was being destroyed and people were dying. Large round eyes locked to her form as she thought to herself. 'She's the magician we met earlier when we came here…But why isn't she doing anything?'

Red eyes stared out over the field, where she watched intently as Hiroshima and Tsurugi got them more and more involved with the plant. Her sights were locked onto the angels when a voice chimed in.

"Excuse me?" Fable turned her head, almost having to rip her sights away from the current event to pay Azmy any mind.

"Yes? Oh, it's you." The furry-eared girl replied calmly.

"Why aren't you helping them?" The girl furrowed her eyebrows in worry and question. Fable had to be strong, and yet, she was simply standing there as if she didn't care what happened to anyone else. It didn't seem right or logical for someone to seem so hollow and heartless. Azmy didn't want to think she'd do it on purpose.

XI

A vine came down with almost inhuman force as Hiroshima dodged to one side. It crashed into the hotel, where it collapsed a portion of the wall and then another assaulted him from the opposite side repeating the destruction. Unfortunately, the angel couldn't dodge fast enough for the third one and was caught underneath of it, smashing into the middle of the wall. Debris flying from around the vine as it created a small laceration in the surface of the building.

Innocent eyes watched in horror as it seemed the legend's end. "Hiroshima!" She called out in dismay. She had already watched so many die and the pain she felt was brought to the surface as the tragic event before her was unrolled.

Tsurugi's head snapped over to his lover and just as a large black dragon in the form of a ghostly black fog shot from the wall in a spiraling type of way, busting through the vine. It shattered into many shards of plant matter which rained down upon the ground. Hiroshima's form was uncovered and pressed against the wall.

"What the-?" Hiroshima rushed the words out as he flew through the hole he created in the plant and saw yet another vine being brought down upon him.

"Wave of Destruction!" A female voice, semi-deep and seductive called out as a large sound wave rushed by, destroying everything in sight and dematerializing it as if it never existed. The only things that were left of them were black burnt spots on the ground that looked like splatters. At the other end of the battle field, a dark and sexy figure stood with one hand out.

"Honestly! This day couldn't get any worse," Ceres complained.

"Who the hell are you?" Hiroshima was annoyed that he didn't get to kill off the plant like he wanted.

Azmy stared with disbelief and shock. She hadn't met anyone aside from Hiroshima and Tsurugi who showed any unusual strength and they were angels. This woman appeared completely human…Which was odd. Fable was assumed to be magic, but she'd never seen Fable perform any spells. Azmy assumed that any spells preformed would be produced from her staff. The spells that this woman, Hiroshima and Tsurugi cast came from weapons or a simple movement of the hand.

'Wow…She's powerful…I wonder who she is.'

Moments later, Keiji and the rest of the group exited from the doors of the now half-demolished hotel. They ran half way to the battle field and stopped, seeing that there was now nothing but a few black splatters, Hiroshima, Tsurugi, Ceres and some dead bodies and debris. On the other side of the field were Fable and Azmy, who were unnoticed at the moment.

"It's already been defeated," Keiji knew just by sight that they were too late to help.

XI.

Fable frowned. "I don't want to upset her anymore."

"Who?" Azmy turned her head to the strange sorceress in question.

"Flora. I've already done far too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm probably a good reason that she's so angry right now," Fable told her, looking down in shame. "You see, Flora is the goddess of plants. It's by her blessing alone that this city is able to harvest so many unusual plants, but recently, many people wanted to covet the plants or treated them unjustly. I cannot lie. I too, covet one of her magical plants," the long-haired girl reached into the top of her red dress, between her breasts and pulling out a black flower that looked much like a rose, except its petals were wider. The flower was black, but the petals faded into red tips with black spots. "This is a Chaos Flower. It's used for powerful magic spells and multiplies the caster's ability by ten to fifty times. They grow in her sacred forest. No one who hasn't had proper judgment passed up on them."

"You stole it?" She asked, a little shocked that such a nice person just revealed themselves as a thief.

"I had to. There was no way she'd let me use it for the purpose I wished it to be used for without passing bad judgment on me and denying me its power."

"Is that why she's attacking the village?" Chichiri asked and Fable nodded.

XI.

"My name is Ceres Anastasia. I'm a temptress and enchantress," Ceres introduced herself.

"Temptress? Uh-uh!" Chichiri put his hands out in defense of himself. "Keep them away from me." He replied as he darted behind Tsurugi, whose eyes narrowed upon sight of the black-haired female.

'Ceres…'

"So? What makes you so special?" Hiroshima asked now on the ground, not really hearing anything bad about the woman. If she were famed as he was, then people would instantly recognize her but he knew nothing of her and he was up to date on those worthy of honorable mentions.

"You don't understand my dear legend," Ceres replied calmly, smiling seductively at him. "I'm here to get you."

"Get him?" Keiji asked, confused. He was unaware that there were others after him as well. Just how many people wanted him anyway?

"As for the rest of you, the only female I need is Undine. The rest of you can die," the seductive woman replied, smirking towards Azmy who looked worried and afraid and Ko, who looked offended and angry. "And the men will be in my harem."

"You're what?" Keiji wasn't calculating that answer from her for some reason, even though she was dressed slightly like a dominatrix with her short red-leather top that tied up the front, exposing half of her breasts and her long red-leather skirt with slits up both sides.

"Man, why do I always get these psycho women," Chichiri whined, recalling the Ohanna incident.

"The murderous type befits you I guess," Fife replied with a smile as Keiji clenched his fist beside of his face, a vein popping from his forehead in irritation.

'Those two can never be serious.'

Undine slowly turned her head to look at Fable, whose eyes were shrouded by her bushy purple bangs and a frown was plastered to her face. Two footsteps were heard as Hiroshima stepped in front of the rest of the group, a steely look in his eyes as if he were planning something unsaid.

"What are you doing? Did you not just hear what she said?" Ko asked, not seeing Hiroshima's logic behind any of this.

"I heard her loud and clear," Hiroshima replied sternly.

"What are you planning to do, Hiro-kun?" Tsurugi asked from a few feet behind him as the legend reached behind his back and grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulling it out from its scabbard. The blade shining and glistening against dawn's light as morning slowly crept up. The dark angel's eyes widened.

'The Crimson Blade…'

Azmy gasped and her eyes widened in realization as she remembered a story that she and her mother shared long ago about that particular blade.

A small child with short blue hair that looked around seven years old approached a tall woman with long, slate blue hair and cat-like eyes. She wore a black ninja outfit that consisted of a long, black cape and short skirt with a tube top and high black boots with two inch heels. She also wore mesh under the top of her tube top and black gloves. She tugged on her mother's sword, which was strapped to her side.

"Mommy?" The girl asked innocently, peering up at her mother as she turned to face her daughter, kneeling down on the white tile floor of the kitchen.

"Hm?" Miyaka blinked at her in question.

"Can you tell me about the two swords? Someone told me that there is a legend behind them. I wanted to know since I never asked you," the young Azmy replied, her eyes sparkled with the perpetual happiness of innocence as the sun reflected her many hues.

"There were actually two legends behind them. The first legend had said if the swords were brought together, everything would be at peace," Miyaka started.

"But that wasn't true, was it?" Azmy asked.

"No…And we found that out a little too late," Miyaka frowned. "It was destined that whoever held both swords would bring them together again to battle one another. Both swords were signified as good and evil. We didn't know which sword was which until the end and it shocked all of us.

At first, we thought that the Crimson, the sword Hiroshima held was the evil sword."

"Who is Hiroshima?"

"A really good friend of mine. He was an assassin I met on my journeys and wielder of the Crimson Blade."

"Was the sword really evil?" Azmy asked her mother.

“No, as a matter-a-fact, it was the good sword. The Clover Sword was the evil sword and no one saw it coming. Now we have to make sure that both swords stay separated and if something like this were to happen again…We'd have to be forced to destroy the Clover. That's why the two swords of legend must never come into contact with each other. They would spell not only the destruction of the lands but the destruction of your friends as well, if you meet anyone who possesses such a weapon.”

Blinking, Azmy brought herself out of her childhood reminiscence and examined the sword more closely. 'It is the sword! I'd also bet that it's the weapon that Tsurugi was talking about too.'

She recalled Tsurugi's exact line. It was shortly after everyone had met Vespa for the first time, and Tsurugi was explaining further about Zamlen.

'The town of Zamlen is a gateway of magic of sorts and almost anyone could obtain and many wanted to covet.'

'What kind of power?' She remembered Ko asking that exact question.

'There was said to be an infinite source of magic and it was bestowed upon their most powerful weapons.'

This flashback brought about many thoughts. All these things coming together. All of this information about the swords and Hiroshima himself all coming together and bringing her to conclusions.

'I bet that the Crimson and Clover are from Zamlen too…Just like he said...'

"Then that means…He truly is…" Azmy spoke absentmindedly as Ko turned her head to look at the shy girl in query.

"Huh? Who's what?"

The sword's point was directed at the raven haired woman and the angel stood straight and motionless with a serious look on his face. "Do what you want with me, but leave my friends out of this. If you beat me, I'll let you do what you want with us, but if not then you'd better run while you can, or I'll kill you." He warned, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll fight too," Keiji took a step up.

"Stay out of this," Hiroshima warned him.

"No," the drummer argued sternly, receiving a glare from the legend in response.

"Vespa said that we should train here, so let's do this," Keiji ignored the death glared given to him by Hiroshima as he continued to talk.

"Do you truly think that you're going to beat Ceres?" Tsurugi smiled kindly and questioned with his usual demeanor.

"I really don't see why it's something to smile about."

"The only way you can bet her is if you have magical capabilities."

"I can try."

"You'll get yourselves hurt," Fable warned. She too, knew of Ceres and her power. It would be foolish for a bunch of mere humans to take her on, especially those of his caliber.

"You obviously have never heard of my legend," Hiroshima defended himself. He didn't know who Fable's last line was directed to, but he wasn't about to let himself fall into their group. Then a wicked smirk crossed his features as he looked over to the drummer. "What do you say we make things interesting?"

Keiji fell silent, suspicious about what the angel had in mind.

"You want her, go get her. But if you go, then you'll have to take your team mates with you and all of you have to fight," Hiroshima ordered.

"What if we don't?" Ko wondered what consequences would befall her if she declined and hoping that she could get off easier if the penalty were in her favor.

"Whoever doesn't fight, the Crimson will taste your blood," Hiroshima smirked devilishly, his reflection caught in the sword's blade as his mirror image imitated him.

To Be Continued…