Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Wounded Wings ( Chapter 26 )

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Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 25: Wounded Wings

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The enraged elf turned to Keiji and shouted at him in a fit on anger. "That's it you little brat! I'm pissed the hell off! How dare you kill Lumina!"

"Keh, do you honestly think we'll roll over and die for you?" Hiroshima found Elf Kaizer's emotional outburst embarrassing to any warrior's status. This was exactly the type of behavior that led to many arrogant warriors' downfalls.

"Shut up!" She pointed the Crimson Blade at him. "I'll kill you with your own blade!" Elf Kaizer threatened sharply.

"This is my fight. I'm not done yet," Keiji told the two of them, before the red-haired elf got angry, and decided to take out her anger on the legend.

"Keiji-kun…" A mix of emotions and sense of despair was heard in Azmy's distant and quiet voice.

"What's he doing?" Chichiri was nearly in disbelief at the boy's determination. Surely this would get him killed! He was already out of energy from fighting Lumina and he dared to further challenge Elf Kaizer. What a guy! 'Man, I know that Keiji had some rough times but I never knew that he knew how to fight so well…or get so far in a fight, and you think you know a guy…'

"This isn't wise," Tsurugi wore a frown upon his face and a serious expression. "He's too worn down to continue as he is."

"I wish I could help him," Fife said sympathetically.

"But you can," the dark angel looked to him. He knew firsthand how deep his feelings were for Keiji. It may have been kept under the rug for a while but it was beginning to show. He had wondered why Fife hadn't stepped in before.

"He wouldn't like it," the navy-haired one replied simply. There was no emotion in his voice and it seemed hard to read him at a time like this. Even Tsurugi was curious as to what his intentions of holding back were.

"You are one of the few people who could save him," Tsurugi looked at Fife. Their eyes locked in a conversation of unspoken words between them.

"I can't do that. I'll have to let fate take its course."

"Even though you want to repay him for saving you all of those times?"

"Even though I want to with all of my heart, I can't give myself away. I can't suck up my pride," Fife knew that Tsurugi had known all along of his true potential but the feminine boy had to keep his powers a secret. Giving himself away at a time like this would not get anything settled and it would only cause suspicions to rise against him. He couldn't take that chance. Not now and probably not for a good while yet.

"Now!" Elf Kaizer seethed as she pulled her arms back in to fists as four types of winds began to swirl around her form.

The powerful gusts caressed her body, swirling around it with such force that her long, red, choppy hair whipped around her form with force as it beat against her skin.

"She's going to use magic from here on out, I suppose," Tsurugi stated.

Fife frowned in response. 'Hang in there, Keiji-kun…'

'I don't like this one bit.' Hiroshima thought to himself. He had a very bad feeling from the beginning of this fight. Keiji was far too weak to take on the elf as she was. Something would go wrong. He had predicted this far and to his current knowledge; unless fate was changed then it only spelled out a bad end for the green-haired boy.

"Fire Ball! Go!" The angry elf called out as she held her hand straight out from her body. A large fire ball sprung forth from her hand and headed swiftly towards Keiji, who swiftly dodged the offending attack. As it got to the back side of him, the elf called out the word 'multiply' as the large fire ball burst off into several smaller fire balls that turned around and headed towards him to further destroy him.

"Huh?" Keiji called out as he looked over his shoulder. He had noticed that his form was bathed in a yellow light and upon feeling warm he turned to investigate. Sure enough, it was her attack headed straight towards him.

"They're coming back at him!" Chichiri exclaimed.

"That means they'll come back at us and I doubt she'll stop them," Ko replied.

"Everyone, get ready to dodge," Fife warned as he bent his knees a little to get ready to dodge the attack. His body was poised and the slightest change in the air could set his reflexes off. He had to be on guard no matter what. Everyone else assumed a defensive position. They all looked a little antsy as if they would scatter at the slightest thing.

Keiji dodged through the multiple fire balls. Each one coming into nearly deadly contact with his body as his form pivoted from side to side in order to avoid a serious burn. He was low on energy but could not slow down just yet. Even though he had a small amount of rest when Lumina was dying, Elf Kaizer was at full strength. He even knew that there was little chance of completely beating her on his own but he had to try.

"Look out!" Azmy called out as a few small fire balls made their way swiftly towards the group. As they hit the ground everyone dodged out of the way to escape them. Chichiri was the only exception. He clung to a tree in the center of the field as if it would somehow save him from the offending fire. Musashi hunched over like a turtle to protect himself from the rain of fire all around him. Remarkably, he wasn't hit by any of them.

He lifted his feathery hands from over his beak and looked up through the hood of his shirt. "That was close…" He sighed in relief. Just then, a stray fireball landed beside of him and exploded into flames. The frightened bird yelled in surprise as he jumped up and scooted back swiftly to avoid catching on fire.

Heavenly eyes looked to their mate, who wore a slight look of worry etched on his face. Hiroshima's features were twisted into a frown. His eyes looked as steely as ever aside from one factor- they glimmered with a slight feeling of concern as he paid close attention to the battle at hand. His gaze never broke from the two as they darted across the battlefield and attacked each other.

"Is that worry I see?" Tsurugi asked from his current position, now beside of the winged legend.

"Shut up."

The blonde angel looked from his mate to Keiji, who was running along the ground at full speed. "Seems like your forming an attachment to that one," the blonde angel smiled calmly.

"I am doing no such thing," the stubborn man replied as he folded his arms over his chest and stuck his nose into the air arrogantly. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, much less someone like Tsurugi but he did care at least a little about everyone in the group. Keiji stuck out most in his mind after all; he owed him for things unsaid between the two of them. Hiroshima sympathized with Keiji on many levels and this was one in which both minds could meet. However, he had to hide his feelings and remain cold and unmoving. "I hope he dies," he tried to affirm himself.

"No you don't. You called everyone your friends back there," Tsurugi told him gently. He knew Hiroshima's kindness wasn't in the same form as other peoples. It was in the form of tough love. A very tough love that was never shown in the correct light.

"That doesn't mean that I mean it," the spiky-haired angel still put up his blockade.

"Since when have you lied about that? I know you, Hiro-kun. You'd never call anyone your friend and not mean it, especially because it takes so much for you to admit it in public," Tsurugi knew where to launch a wounding attack to the angel's constant stubborn actions. There was no way the other angel could say a word in defense now.

"Got you!" Keiji drew back his fist and punched but Elf Kaizer managed to block it. The boy then flipped backwards and landed on his feet. The elf then called out the words 'sakura razors' as many small, soft pink flower petals fell around her slowly, in a haunting and peaceful way. They then flew forward with amazing speed towards the boy. He put his arms up in a defensive 'x' position, knowing that he couldn't block them all by simply moving so he decided to brace himself for the attack instead. He stood still as the petals acted like razors and sliced his arms, ribs and legs. Keiji winced in pain before he lunged forward to kick Elf Kaizer but she ducked down and attempted a leg sweep. Keiji found an opportunity in this action to deliver a swift kick to the underside of her chin, causing her jaw to snap at the contact as she skidded back a few feet. Elf Kaizer was motionless, holding her chin in evident pain.

"Bastard…" she mumbled under her breath.

"I'm not about to let you stop me from going to Flora," Keiji panted.

"This is impossible!" The red-haired elf stood clenching her shaking fists at her sides as she frowned. "No one has ever gotten past Lumina and I."

"Sounds like your lack of defeat made you arrogant," Hiroshima informed.

"Yes, because you should preach to her about that," Ko shot sarcastically.

"I've been defeated before. I have enough honor to tell you that."

"Elf Kaizer, I don't think they killed Lumina," Musashi tried to reason but his efforts were in vain. It didn't seem like anything could get through her head now. She had already blamed it on Keiji and now the only answer to her revenge would be his destruction.

"Shut up, bird! You have no business butting in to my affairs! Besides, you're on their side!" She yelled defensively and pointed an accusing finger to Hiroshima, who looked annoyed with her gesture, not only with the fact that he was being sided with them but because out of all of the people standing there, she pointed directly to him.

"I am on no one's side," the Wind Cavern tried to reason

"Oh that makes us trust you," Ko replied cynically.

"We just want to ask Flora some questions, really! We don't want to fight her," Azmy told the elf. She didn't see why simply asking her a few questions was worth all of this bloodshed. Questions didn't seem harmful enough to fight over.

"Like I believe that!" Elf Kaizer shot. Surely the girl joked! They wouldn't be this determined if they just wanted to simply question her mistress.

"I don't think anyone could convince her now." Musashi said in evident defeat.

"Die!" The spunky elf yelled." Fire Slash!" She waved her hand in front of her body as a giant whip composed of fire cut across the land. Keiji barely made it out of the way. His movements were slow and lackadaisical as he lumbered out of the way of the attack. Compared to the fire slash, he was moving in slow motion.

"He's wearing down," Hiroshima murmured to himself as he glassy blue eyes narrowed.

'The sword…' The boy thought to himself as he could see the blade lying a few feet away from him; he tried to lumber over to get it. He slowly made his way over to the blade and reached out his hand. He could feel the sword's aura at his finger tips. Soon, the Crimson Blade would be in his hands again.

"Gotcha right where I want you, Fire Slash!" Elf Kaizer called out as she jumped into the air and swung her hand across her chest, sending another fiery whip across the land. Green eyes widened in fear as he saw impending doom came in the form of flames. He could hear Azmy and Ko call out his name in despair as he felt a searing pain and saw his blood spray through the air. A noise of pure anguish escaped his lips.

Fife looked down in disappointment. He could feel a sharp pain of guilt within his heart. It was a pain more damaging than any type of physical torture. 'I'm sorry Keiji-kun…Sorry for being so selfish…'

"Take that!" Elf Kaizer smiled in sadistic joy as the appeared beside of him and delivered a swift kick to the boy's weakened body. Keiji's form went spinning across the ground. The drummer saw that he had been headed towards Hiroshima's sword, so he quickly grabbed it and held it close to his body so he wouldn't accidentally cut himself with the razor-sharp blade. Bleeding heavily, he laid on the ground. He let go of the sword as it spun along the ground, hitting Elf Kaizer's brown shoe.

She walked over confidently to him and looked down on him with a smile. "Well what do you know?" The red-haired elf picked up the blade. "I have a new sword."

Azmy put her hands together in worry and closed her eyes tightly. 'Please, let Keiji be okay…please…' The girl prayed to the heavens above to send an angel to care for and protect her ally in his time of need. Glassy blue eyes looked over to her hands, fixed in prayer. Tsurugi looked towards the heavens and smiled. He knew that an angel would be sent but from who? He'd keep that a secret.

"How can you be so calm at a time like this!?" Chcihiri scolded the blonde angel, who looked as if he were happily day dreaming as he looked to the sky above.

"Everything is left in God's hands now."

"God's hands?" The blonde looked confused at the angel's seemingly irrelevant comment.

The tip of the Crimson Blade touched Keiji's cheek. He could faintly feel the point of the blade as it lay against his cheek. Making a pained noise, his eyebrows furrowed in pain as he could see his blood running on the ground, tainting the earth below him. Fife was silent. Azmy faintly breathed his name as a tear ran down her cheek and hit the ground, absorbed quickly by the earth below. Her hands were tightly folded together as if she begged the very heavens above for help. Elf Kaizer stabbed the sword down and Keiji barely managed to roll to the side to avoid it. His cheek was resting on the blade. The green-haired boy panted, tired by performing a simple movement.

"Stay still and die!" The irritated elf yelled.

"Never…" The tired boy responded.

"Bastard!" She raised her sword and stabbed down again. Pieces of a rock that had been split by it flew up around the boy's head. He flipped up and stood wearily a few feet away from her, holding his still-bleeding side where the Fire Slash had gotten him. Hiroshima closed his eyes as Tsurugi looked at his lover. Keiji then took off running with his fist drawn, ready for yet another physical attack.

"You idiot!" Ko yelled in a voice that nearly begged him to reconsider his actions. "You're going to kill yourself like that!"

"Keiji-kun!" Azmy begged in a fit of tears. "Please stop!"

"This is pathetic," Elf Kaizer laughed at all of their feeble attempts to either attack her or get their ally to back out of the fight. She decided to end it all with one attack. "Pandora's Casket!" She called out as she held her arm straight out from her body. Everyone but Hiroshima's faces all lit up in surprise at what had happened. Hiroshima was wide-eyed. Musashi muttered 'oh no'. Fife looked down in guilt. Undine was also slightly wide-eyed.

"What?" Keiji looked confused. His green eyes darted all around as he was encased in what seemed to be a large crystal shard that was hollow on the inside. Panic ran rampant in his being. He was trapped like a wild bird in a domestic bird cage.

"Pandora's Casket is an entrapment technique. He won't be able to get out of that one," Tsurugi informed.

The tip of the sword stabbed in to the dirt. After all, it would no longer be used for battle from the elf's side of the fight. "Maybe that will hold you still while I kill you," Elf Kaizer said devilishly with a smile of victory.

"What'll we do?" Chichiri asked out of concern. Clearly there was no way that Keiji could get past this He was trapped in Pandora's Casket with no way of escaping and the only thing that awaited him on the other side-was death itself. If no one lent him a hand this time, he was sure to die.

"I…I'm not sure…" Musashi's mind was in a state of paralyzing confusion. It ran rampant with worry and fright. There were so many questions and all of them seemed to ball up into this wad of despair.

The shy girl was weeping with tears staining her face. "He's going to die, isn't he?" She sniffled sadly.

"If no one saves him, then I'm afraid so," Tsurugi sighed in sorrow.

"Well that's what he gets for acting so rashly," Hiroshima said in an emotionless tone.

"What? That's cruel!" Ko outraged.

Keiji looked annoyed as he pounded on the glass, looking annoyed. His fists hit the wall one after another in repetition; each pound was harder and harder as he attempted to free himself from his crystalline prison. "Let me out!" He called out but his voice sounded muffled from being contained in the prison. "What the hell is this?"

"This is Pandora's Casket," the red-haired elf explained. "It'll only keep you until I kill you. There's no way out so beat on it until your fists bleed. You'll just be using up your energy."

Keiji proceeded to beat on the wall of his encasement but his hands were already injured from his previous battle with Lumina and his blood was slowly running down the wall as he pounded more and more on the wall. He didn't care about his condition or how much blood he had lost. Keiji wasn't about to give up. If he was going to die here, then he wanted to die as a warrior and not a weakling.

'Damn…I can't get out…' The weary one thought as he rested his hands against the clear wall in front of him and wore a look of tired sorrow. 'I really can't protect them…can I?' Green eyes focused on Fife's form with sympathy. 'Sorry Fife…I'm not the man you think I am…'

"It seems you finally ran out of juice, eh?" It was amusing to watch Keiji squirm around in that crystal coffin. To Elf Kaizer it was much like watching a mouse scamper around in an aquarium with a hungry snake. She found great amusement from it.

From across the field, Hiroshima took off running with superhuman speed toward the casket. There was no way in hell that he was going to let Keiji simply die. Upon half-way reaching his mark, he took flight and put his hands on the top of the casket, where the surface inclined to come to a point. He could feel the cold of the surface beneath his palms.

"Hiroshima!" Keiji exclaimed, looking up at the angel. Out of everyone, this was the last person he ever thought would give him a hand of any kind. Hiroshima seemed to resent humans with a cold-blooded passion. Why would he help someone like him? Why would he even want to assist him in any way when he had said such cold-hearted things to the angel?

"I'll get you out of this, kid." There was that tone again. It was the same concerned and human-sounding tone that he'd heard the angel utter before. Hiroshima sounded so kind…and so sad…This confused Keiji. Was there something about this legend that he was missing? Perhaps Hiroshima wasn't as one dimensional as he had previously thought.

"Why? Why are you helping me?" Keiji asked with confusion written on his features.

"I was summoned to do so," Hiroshima responded. Azmy gasped as pale blue eyes widened to look down at frail hands that were sill clasped in silent prayer. She had realized that an angel was sent to help him but it was not an angel from heaven.

"Now, Pandora's Casket is an easy spell to get you out of. Just listen to me," the legend instructed.

"Right," Keiji nodded.

"Stand away from the walls."

Keiji agreed as he stood in the middle of the coffin. "Like this?"

"Yes," the angel approved as he created a few hand signs and placed the palm of his hands back on the clear wall. On the palms of his hands were two golden, glowing kanji signs. One represented light and the other fire. Green eyes observed as a small crack emerge in the surface of the wall. His face lit up at the fact that he would soon emerge from his glass coffin.

"Got it," Hiroshima smirked in victory but it was short lived as his eyes then widened and a look of pain coursed through the glassy pale color of his eyes. Fear and sorrow coursed through Keiji's eyes as they widened upon taking in the event before him.

It was so fast as if it had happened in an instant but to Keiji it was all too slow.

The tip of the Crimson sword stuck out of a non-lethal part of his chest as his blood splattered on the once clear all of the coffin. Elf Kaizer was below, holding the sword that had shishkabobbed the angel. She smirked darkly.

"Now it's time," she said lowly and sinisterly as she savagely ripped the sword out of the angel by nearly cutting him in half. Crimson blood sprayed through the air, mixed with black and white feathers. The front of the casket turned into a red hazy wall between the flabbergasted Keiji, who could only watch in horror and the critically injured and now wingless angel on the other side. Four detached wings flew up into the air, spilling feathers and pieces of bone on the floor below. They gushed blood in large streams. Two large but elegant, blood stained hands ran down the side of the crystal squeaking as they slowly descended.

"Hiroshima!" Keiji called out in dismay as Hiroshima's body lay on the ground below as his severed wings, blood and feathers fell slowly around him. On his back were a few feathers and snapped off bones that were now exposed to the air. The loss of blood and excruciating pain caused him to pass out.

Keiji had never felt such a mix of emotions. They were almost overwhelming. So many things to feel all at once- anger, sorrow, pain…all these caused a single tear to creep fourth from his tear ducts and shine for a few moments at the corner of his eye. Before it could fall, the offending unshed tear was blinked back as the boy stared emotionally at the fallen angel below him.

"Hiroshima…"

To Be Continued…