Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Zangetsu ( Chapter 40 )

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Sacrifice

Chapter 40: Zangetsu

By: Melissa Norvell

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"Hiroshima-san," Keiji looked to the black-winged angel in question.

"What kid?"

"Your wings are all black," the drummer gazed at the set of midnight wings that shined like an oil spill in the dim lighting of the castle.

"Yeah, don't you know? My wings change color with the amount of sin I commit. The more sin I commit the darker black they become. I guess they grew back last night," Hiroshima explained.

"How did you get here?" Keiji asked. It was odd that Hiroshima had been covered in blood and lying amongst dead bodies inside of the castle a town ahead of everyone. It was almost as if he'd planned it and at that point in time, it would have been very easy to do so. Since he could predict the future, he saw what was going to happen to the City of Plants so he would have been able to get out quickly without anyone knowing. It wasn't as if he had to inform them of what he was doing.

"…I don't remember…" Hiroshima had an expression on his face as if it were hard for him to think but no matter how hard he had tried to bring up any events that could have led to his existence at the castle, he only drew a blank.

"Liar," the word was cold and harsh out of Keiji's mouth. He truly didn't believe Hiroshima and even if he did, it was hard to gather.

"Call me what you wish," the angel closed his eyes and frowned deeply.

"Why can't you ever tell us what's on your mind?" The green-haired boy interrogated.

The legend smirked mysteriously, "you know what they say, a mind is a dangerous place to venture into." He left the boy with those thoughts as he turned to his mate, who inquired about helping Undine. "No, just stay back and let them fight. If anyone tries to interfere, I'll kill them on the spot," Hiroshima threatened undemonstratively at the group. He knew his team mates all too well; surely one of them would have a problem with it and end up jumping the gun.

Zangetsu landed on the ground and then swiftly pulled out something from behind is bird-like cape and flung the objects towards Undine. They were those same, white poison-tipped feathers. The girl jumped out of the way and landed with her knees bent and one hand firmly on the ground to support her awkward stance. A stray feather dug into the ground at Hiroshima's foot. Tsurugi knelt down to examine it and the only thing he could truly say was that it was interesting.

"I was right, they have poison in them," Hiroshima concluded.

“I heard you were a sorceress, Undine," the black-haired ninja commented.

"You'd be correct," Undine replied.

"I am a magic wielder as well. So let's test our skills," the ninja offered and called out the words 'flame strike' as he shoved his hand fourth and created a violent explosion of fire under the slate-haired girl's feet. She swiftly jumped up and managed to dodge the attack. Once in mid-air, the girl flipped and landed on her feet a distance away. She drew her hand behind her back and then thrust it forward and dimly uttered the word 'die' as ice needles flew towards Zangetsu, who managed to shield himself with his cape to avoid the onslaught. His cape was durable so it deflected the needles efficiently.

He threw his cape behind him and shouted the words 'wind burst' as he summoned the wind spell. Powerful gusts blasted towards her, but before they could reach her she had already summoned a current from the opposite side, which caused the attacks to cancel out.

"When two opposite currents collide, the air becomes dead because it has no direction," the monotone girl informed.

"She's good," Chichiri watched the battle of magical prowess ensue.

"Yes, Undine-chan is amazing," Fife complimented with a smile and closed eyes.

"When you know diverse spells you tend to have the upper hand, especially against someone who only knows one element," Hiroshima informed. Of course Undine was good, considering all that Zangetsu seemed to know were wind spells. He would not judge the fight based on that specific thing, however because fights have been won in the opposite favor. Just because you have diverse spells, doesn't always ensure you a win against someone who was truly knowledgeable about their weaknesses.

"Yes, that's the way magic works," the navy-haired prostitute agreed.

"How would you know?" Keiji shot that suspicious comment towards the homosexual boy beside of him.

Fife simply smiled. 'What an annoyance. He's so persistent and yet…I long to tell him…' He thought for a moment and then spoke kindly. "Well, I've traveled with Undine-chan for a long time. I found it out on her." All he received was a highly suspicious look from the stoic boy. It was hard to stare Keiji directly in the eyes. 'His eyes…They seem to see right through me. I should watch this one.'

XxXx

The Lolita-dressed girl ran along the length of a nearby wall as blasts followed her as chunks of the walls that ranged from large stones to small pebbles flew out of the wall and threaten to hit her as she continued to run. The smoke and debris slapped against her body with a burning and stinging sensation. Then she jumped at him but he was keen on her movements as he thrusted his hands forward and called fourth a water spout. The water rushed from a magical symbol in front of his hands that gave him the appearance of blasting it at her.

Thinking swiftly, Undine dove in the water and swam upstream like a torpedo. When she had gotten close enough to him, she drew back her fist and tried to punch him in the face but the skilled ninja quickly evaded her punch and attempted to deliver a spin kick to her side. Undine's form turned in to water and snaked along the floor as it split off in to two streams. The two streams towered over him as he gazed upon their majesty.

Then violently, the streams spiraled downward in an attempt to crush him with hydro-pressure. He leapt up to avoid them and got away with no problem as they slammed in to the ground with a crash. The dispersed water then morphed into pieces of sharp ice as Zangetsu maneuvered through the ice rain with ease. He jumped around and darted every which way to avoid them.

Once he was away from her attacks, he called upon a fire storm. Undine managed to miss the flamed by hopping out of the way but this attack had been far more massive then she had predicted. Large streams of flames shot out like solar flares around everyone.

"What's going on!?" Ko was now forced to defend her life by nearly avoiding the unpredictable flames. There wasn't a set pattern to them and they could shoot out of any direction at any given time.

"It's a wide-spread attack," Hiroshima put his hands together in prayer. By doing this, he summoned a dome-shaped transparent green barrier which surrounded everyone.

"I'll help you out," Tsurugi decided that the barrier needed some reinforcement so he prayed as well to help the barrier become stronger. "This isn't the only element of the attack, I'm afraid."

"You're right; it's a four stage attack," Fife informed with a grave look on his face. He wasn't sure if the prayer could even stand up to the attack due to its massive size and destructive capabilities.

"Four stage?" Azmy knew nothing of magic and the terminology scared her a little. The attack sounded really foreboding and if something important were going to happen then she wanted to be well informed.

"There are four stages to Fire Storm and all are wide-spread. First is the element of fire, next is lightening then fire and wind combine and lastly, a flash of blinding light," the navy-haired boy told her.

"What? Undine will be killed!" The short-haired girl noticed that everyone was inside of the protective prayer barrier but Undine had still been in the midst of fighting. She yanked her sights in the direction of the battle and attempted to see through the flames but could not.

"What are you going to do about it? What? Do you want to run in there and save her?" Hiroshima smirked in amusement at the thought of a human running head on into their fiery death.

"I'd get killed as well, even with my ninja techniques. This Nighthawk Ninja is far stronger then I am," Azmy admitted in defeat as she solemnly hung her head. Her short, slate blue hair hung down straight and only curled under slightly in different directions.

"I guess there's nothing we can do," Ko gazed into the violent flames just outside their shield of protection. "I can't even see her." The white-haired singer replied as she tried to peer through the flames but her blue eyes could never even reach a small dot that she thought could be Undine.

From this point, they were truly hopeless.

'My, my how fast we now care about someone we hate, Ko-chan.' Fife thought to himself as he studied the look of worry on Ko's face from his spot, slightly behind Hiroshima.

"Damn…I hate being so helpless," Keiji thought aloud.

"Deal with it, kid," Hiroshima retorted.

"It's not as easy as you think it is," being an angel, the black-winged man could always sit back and watch things fly by him with an expressionless face but Keiji couldn't. Although he didn't want anyone to help him or save his life, he didn't want Undine to die either. There was no way that he could go into the fire to get her without dying. He felt like a caged animal and he didn't like it.

"Believe me, it's not easy and I never thought that it was." After the angel told him his thoughts, the barrier shook as a loud, electrical noise reverberated through the air. The suddenness of the lightening hitting against their barrier caused Ko and Chichiri to scream in surprise.

"It will be fine," Fife chided, "we're well protected."

"This totally sucks," Chichiri put his hands on his hips and frowned. Then a lightning bolt struck the wall of the barrier that he was standing by. It caused him to let out a yelp of surprise as he darted to the middle and hid behind of the still-sorrowful Azmy.

"I hate this. I feel like I'm in the middle of a battlefield," Ko's expression was still one of worry. The blonde noticed and wrapped his well-built arms around her form and hugged her close, to try and comfort and protect her.

"It's alright Ko," he had to be brave- for the both of them.

The white-haired girl blushed at the contact. This was one of the few times that she had been held by Chichiri. She then uttered his name in a low and timid voice as he looked towards the top of the dome at the dancing flames around them. While they were sharing a tender moment, Hiroshima and Tsurugi had also been admiring the sights and decided to share a conversation of their own.

"This is my kind of environment," the spiky-haired angel smirked in excitement. Chaos was his mind-state and as such, a chaotic environment provided him with all of the creature comforts at this moment in time. He couldn't ask for more.

"Yes, a little chaos and destruction is just what we need. The feeling of destruction all around me…and the burning of human flesh," Tsurugi closed his eyes as if he were trying to envision his own description.

"You're turning me on," Hiroshima purred in a sensual voice that sent a flush straight to his mate's cheeks.

"Oh, Hiro-kun…"

"Mind not being perverted at a time like this?" Keiji was annoyed that the two of them seemed to be taking advantage of their situation.

"Freaky…" Chichiri commented as a look of sheer irritation crossed Hiroshima's face.

"Mind not being so damned annoying?" The legend complained. "I can take this barrier down just as quickly as I put it up."

The blonde waved his hands around frantically as he closed his eyes and a bead of sweat on his features. "No, no, no! That's okay! We want to live. Hell, you can have sex in front of us for all we care!" He tried to make amends with Hiroshima and Tsurugi. Chichiri knew better then to get on Hiroshima's bad side and being caged in with him at such a critical moment in time didn't make him want to do anything that would result in death or bodily harm.

"I can't do that," the blonde angel blushed in embarrassment. "I'm far too shy!" Tsurugi said modestly as a snort of disgust could be heard from Hiroshima's direction. Tsurugi then set sights on the barrier wall to monitor the attack and he seemed to snap out of his giggle façade as he realized the next step of the attack. "Get ready to shield yourself," he warned as the room lit up with an unbearably white light. They managed to shield themselves just in time.

Ko clung to Chichiri and buried her head in his chest to keep from looking into the light. Her hands gripped his biceps tightly as she felt herself being pulled in closer. She could feel his breath on her cheeks. Ko imagined that if she could see, he would be very close to her.

The light didn't last very long as it soon faded as quickly as it came. When the signer opened her eyes, she noticed that Chichiri had been close to her. Close enough to peer into his sharp blue eyes that shone like precious gems in the light. Close enough to feel his warm breath on her and his long, blonde hair tickle the side of her face playfully.

"Is it over?" Chichiri looked to the angels for a confirmation.

"Is everyone alright?" Tsurugi glanced around at everyone to make sure no one had sent he light.

"I'm fine," Azmy took her arm away from her eyes slowly.

"We're fine," Chichiri still held on to Ko. He didn't really want to let her go either. She was so warm against him and her very presence made him feel calm, despite the mass destruction around them. For that moment in time, he felt as if the world had stopped and he could care less if it started turning again.

A few feet away, Fife and Keiji clung to each other tightly. They had both been caught off guard by the light when they were talking and grabbed the closest thing to them- each other. Keiji had his head buried in the long-haired boy's chest and gripped his bent elbows with his hands. The happy male had a hand wrapped around Keiji's waist and another sat on the back of his head.

"We're fine," he smiled. Even Fife himself knew that it was genuine, however false it seemed. He liked that the drummer clung to him so helplessly and was happy that it was him that Keiji grasped. It made him feel as if he were something more than a lowly prostitute. It made him feel as if he had mattered- as if he was special.

Tsurugi glanced at them and smiled. 'How sweet…' He thought gently as he heard Hiroshima let out a small chuckle from beside of him.

"I do believe I've won…Huh?" Zangetsu sounded a little cocky before he noticed that Undine was still standing before him. He had thought that Fire Storm would have surely taken her out. The shock on his face only lasted a few moments before it turned into a perplexed look. "So, you survived."

"Did you honestly think I'd die?" Undine was as calm as ever.

"Not with abilities such as yours," the Nighthawk Ninja smiled out of respect for the young girl. She had indeed been a worthy opponent to stay alive this far and after such a big attack at that.

"I can change my form into many substances- water to extinguish the fire, smog to keep from conducting the electricity and I hid underground to avoid your light attack…but now it's time to stop fooling around," the dark girl stated as giant needle-like spikes shot up from the ground in an attempt to skewer him. Zangetsu jumped out of the way and laughed himself into the sky. Undine had predicted him movements and sent ice discs at him. The skilled ninja manage to dodge them and weave in and out of their assaults in the air as he tried to find a place to land that wasn't occupied with a spike.

"Ha!" The ninja then cried out as he reached behind his cape and flung his infamous white feather at the discs. He had been fine dodging them for a while but he was beginning to slow down and needed to take some off of his hands before they ended up defeating him. He managed to pin a few to the wall as he concentrated on his true target- the long-haired girl that perched daintily on the ice spike a considerable distance away.

Below him, the bottom of the battlefield began to flood. Undine took it to her advantage to control the very water she'd summoned to the field and use it against him. Using hand and arm gestures she fluidly controlled the life-giving substance and sent if after him as soon as he landed on a piece of land that had been high enough to avoid the flood. He jumped on the wall and shot off as the water crashed into the wall with great force, turning the wall into ice.

He could hear her say 'Crystal Tidal Wave' as the water continued to follow him. He ran as quickly as he could to escape its wrath. Zangetsu wasn't about to be turned into ice.

"I had no idea that Undine was so strong," Azmy complimented from a high-raised stairway.

"Something isn't right," Hiroshima's eyes narrowed as he stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Is she not the girl you remember, Hiro-kun?" Tsurugi looked to his mate's skeptical face in question.

"I can't be too sure. I don't remember her this way, however. There were differences between whom she was back then and who she is now."

"But people change."

"That's why I can never be too sure. Ever since I first met her, I thought she was a little off but now I'm sure of it," the legend confirmed his suspicions.

"She's very strong and while she can't physically fight well, her magic is strong and so much so that using her magical ability alone would be enough to beat someone severely," Tsurugi informed.

"If you take her magic away, she's nothing," the black-winged legend stated. Without her magic to back her up in a battle, she would definitely fail.

Tsurugi agreed and told stated that if one could accomplish getting her to that point then she would be easy to defeat. They then heard Zangetsu compliment the girl and tell her that she was good. They set sights on the pretty young ninja, who smiled kindly at the girl. She complimented him back and told him that he wasn't too bad himself but he hid his true magic capabilities. Undine demanded that he show her his true potential and not throw petty attacks at her. She had seen his Fire Storm and noticed that it didn't take hardly any magical energy out of him to perform something so great. If he didn't have to strain to produce an attack like that, then he would definitely prove a thorn in her side in the future.

"Of course," Zangetsu happily agreed as he jumped into the air and spun at high speed. Black energy balls the size of a dog shot out in all directions as she covered herself with her arms. The attack was far too fast for her to attempt to stop. Undine was hit by a blast and the Night Hawk Ninja found an opening and took it as he shot down to her and attempted a spin kick but she was quick to block herself on that attack by using her arm to stop his foot. He then flipped up and grabbed her arm. Undine wasn't expecting this and her eyes widened in fear and shock. Zangetsu bent backwards and lifted her in to the air, then, with all of his might he slammed her down into the ground.

The small girl's body went crashing into the ground on its side. Her long, straight ponytail snaked down behind it as well as countless white and dark blue frills. Undine had not been able to counter that attack. Everyone except Hiroshima, Keiji and Tsurugi called out her name in vulnerability and despair.

Undine responded slightly with a low, pained grunt and opened one eye. She gritted her teeth and lifted her head shakily to look at her allies. Her body ached and she felt as if she may have had broken bones from being slammed into the ground with such force. She was, after all, a lot smaller then he was. Then, a swift kick was delivered to her side which sent the girl's body spinning through the air only to land on the, cold, cobblestone ground yet again. Undine knew that she had to move quicker then what she was or she was going to be killed.

The girl propped herself up only to see Zangetsu running at her in high speed.

"Guess this is the end for you," the black-haired boy held little emotion as Undine concentrated on his quickly approaching form. 'He's nonchalant…He reminds me of Fife…Wait…That's it! I'll possess Fife to block his attack.' She devised her next plan of action.

The Nighthawk Ninja drew back for an attack as he neared the girl at high speed. He brought down his long, slender blade only to have it blocked by someone's forearms. It was Fife. In an instant, it seemed, the boy had moved between them and managed to deflect him so Undine could get away.

"What?" Keiji asked. This had been numerous times when Fife did something similar before and he had begun to catch on to what was happening. Hiroshima uttered one word- possession.

Azmy agreed. "That's right! It's the same kind of possession technique she used when we fought Flora."

Water snaked around Zangetsu's ankle and formed what appeared to be a loop. This even evaded the Nighthawk's eagle eye as it yanked him down to attempt to pull him into the ground. He let out a surprised gasp as it yanked him violently. His form hit the ground and shattered into hundreds of white feathers that fluttered about; as if someone had slashed open a pillow on the battle field.

"Curse it," the long-haired girl muttered as she commanded a large stream of water to seep through the floor and slowly twist into her form. "Now…Come to me," Undine called out as the water completed its transformation into her body.

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"Serenande?" Ceres looked to her in bewilderment. Why was Serenande called for such a task?

"But she's one of our powerful sources of magic," Zangief replied. "Since has a direct link to Zameln for her castle, it will be a bit hit for us if we lose her." The robotic angel wondered why Soel would take such a big risk by involving such a key point to her plan.

"This is of the highest priority, Mistress. I should go-" Ceres was cut off by Soel.

"No need."

"What!?" The red-clad slave mistress was flabbergasted that she didn't want her to at least monitor Serenande's success. It didn't make any sense to have such a large plan but fail to protect someone that important. They couldn't lose Serenande's connection to Zameln.

"We have all of the links we need. Serenande's won't affect us. It was just a back up connection," Soel assured. "I can tap in to that power from my standby source. They will collect all of the power I need before they complete their orders from Vespa. I have several pawns in play.”

"So, do we just let her fail?" Ceres asked. Whatever plans her mistress had in action, she was very confident that they would go through. Still, it bothered her that she looked at someone like Serenande as if they were insignificant. Then again, she couldn't say anything to the slate-haired mistress about the matter. She had never seen Soel's true powers herself.

"If she fails. Let's just sit back and watch. This should be interesting," Soel watched the projection on the wall of her dark room as she could see Undine and the others in their heated battle with Zangetsu.

'Interesting indeed…' Zangief thought as he watched the image.

"Did you know that Undine was there with them?" Ceres questioned.

"I'm keeping track of her progress as well. None of them can escape my watchful eye."

XxXxXx

Zangetsu dashed through everyone as they dodged out of his way in an attempt to evade him successfully. After his form made its way through the group, powerful winds rushed behind it and blasted through them. Some of them were flung back and lost their footing; others braced themselves and managed to stay intact on the ground.

On her high balcony, Serenande turned as her blood red eyes looked down on the battle below. "What is this? A simple sorceress gives Zangetsu so much trouble," she sent her minion a telepathic command.

'Zangetsu, lead her to me.'

'Yes my queen.' The bird ninja thought in reply as he jumped down a large hold in the floor.

"What now?" Fife looked to Undine in question.

"Follow him," Undine took no second thought. She leapt down the hole. Everyone else ran to the large opening in the ground and stared down into the black abyss of uncertainty with befuddled looks on their faces. Anticipation and question filled their beings.

"What do we do?" Ko looked to the legend for an answer.

"What do you think we do?" He shot sarcastically.

"But we don't even know where we're jumping," the white-haired girl argued.

"I'm seriously not good at landing," Chichiri informed a nervous tone to his voice. It looked like a long way down and he wasn't about to splatter his organs on the ground below. Then, he felt a warm, large land hold his own and he could smell the light scent of flowers. The blonde looked up to see that Tsurugi was holding his hand.

"I'll help you out," the angel offered with a kind smile.

"You're godly!" Chichiri praised.

"Thank you."

"Can I go with you?" Large blue eyes glanced at the blonde angel. "I don't trust it."

Tsurugi grabbed Ko's hand. "Of course."

Azmy looked at the legend. He could feel a hole being bored into him from his right so he looked over to see the girl's silently quizzical eyes.

"You too?" He asked.

"You're a big, strong man. You could carry all three of us," Fife pointed a finger into the air as he playfully commented on Hiroshima's strength.

"Do I look like a pack animal to you?" The angel irritated at being offered up like an amusement park ride. Fife jumped on his back and wrapped his arms around Hiroshima's thick neck and his legs around his slim waist as he rested his chin on the legend's shoulder.

"No, just a temporary form of transportation," the feminine boy commented as glassy blue eyes glared at him with a look of unamusement.

While they were playing around, Keiji stood dangerously close to the edge of the hole and stared down through the darkness, as if he were pondering something. Many emotions hit him at once as he mulled over the options at hand.

Azmy shyly reached up and held Hiroshima's large hand. She felt strange when she did so. It was an odd kind of calm as she felt his slightly cold skin on her down and the scent of Asian spices reeled through her senses. A light blush crept to her cheeks as Hiroshima arched an eyebrow at her in question. What was this child thinking about?

'I've never been this close to him before…His hand feels clam but his grip is strong…like the kind that would hold you tightly and never let you go…' Azmy liked that supportive and strong touch. It was something that, deep down, she wanted more than anything else.

After the legend gave up his thoughts on trying to find out what was wrong with the blushing girl, he turned to look speak to Keiji. "Come on." He told the green-haired boy, who gave him no answer.

He tried again. "What's wrong with you?"

Keiji's eyes narrowed and he bent down and launched himself off of the edge of the hole and headed for a descent to whatever met him below. Azmy, Fife and Hiroshima all looked surprised and called out his name.

Even Tsurugi was shocked. He knew what awaited him at the end of the darkness. 'He'll die from a fall like that!'

'What are you thinking, Keiji-kun?' Fife wondered why he would jump into something that he didn't know the dimensions of. It was quite reckless of him.

Suddenly, Azmy's hand was let go, which snapped her out of her haze of thought and she could feel a strong arm wrap around her waist as she was tugged violently and drug to the edge of the hole. Hiroshima dove down quickly and the only noises that could be heard was the scream of the slate-haired girl and Fife calling out 'whee' as if it were a joyride.

Tsurugi watched them for a few moments, then turned to Ko and Chichiri and asked them if they were ready. The blonde looked uneasy and nervous as he spoke.

"Yeah…as long as we don't go like that."

"Hiro-kun is a little reckless. Our descent will be much slower," Tsurugi promised with a gentle smile.

"Will Keiji die from a fall like this?" Ko asked as they began their slow descent through the darkness. Tsurugi's winger were spread out as the dead air rushed through them and the only noise that could be heard were a few echoes, rustling feathers and lightly jingling chains.

"It is a three story drop," Tsurugi replied," this castle must have catacombs."

"I hope he didn't do anything stupid," Chichiri replied in reference to Keiji.

"Hiro-kun will pull through for us," the blonde angel knew that Hiroshima had the job covered and trusted him with Keiji's life.

Azmy held tightly on to Hiroshima's chest as she buried her head within the muscles. She blushed again at how comforting it was to rest her head on a supportive frame. 'He smells so good.'

"Damned kid," The legend cursed.

"He can be an ignorant one, can't he?" Fife was calm with and reserved with Hiroshima. He felt he could be himself around him so he didn't pull on a happy façade as he did with other people.

"Shut up, you have no room to talk," the angel retorted.

"Hem," he sighted. "I know!"

"There he is," Hiroshima caught sight of the falling boy.

Keiji could feel the air rush through his hair and the darkness surround him. For some reason this all had felt familiar. He closed his eyes as he drifted downward in what seemed like slow-motion. He couldn't see the ground yet so he figured that he had quite a way to go.

Then, his body jolted as he felt something grab his hand. His green eyes popped open and he looked up as he felt strong winds beat down on him from something flapping. He let his form dangle there as he looked surprised for a few brief moments, then he threw up his mask and glared.

"Why did you do that?"

"It's a three story drop. Don't be a fool," Hiroshima scolded.

Keiji was silent and looked down with a frown.

"What have I told you about reacting like that?"

"Thank you…" The green-haired drummer responded lowly.

"Don't go thinking that I'll save your ass all of the time."

"Are you hurt?" The seemingly random question popped up and caused Hiroshima to look a little flattered that Keiji cared so much. No one had bothered to ask him until this point in time and despite what he felt he should say, the cold side of him put up defenses against kindness and forced him to sound nonchalant.

"A little, I'm still recovering."

"Your hand is clammy, that's why I asked," Keiji commented on the feel of the angel's skin. While he had never touched him before, he knew that skin was supposed to feel warm, not cool like bed sheets.

"Well, my body temperature is ten degrees cooler than normal humans," Hiroshima informed.

"I see…" Keiji replied as they slowly floated through the darkness.

"What an eerie, creepy place," Fife looked around.

"It certainly is dark," Azmy agreed as water suddenly shot up like a geyser. Everyone let out a yell in surprise as they barely avoided it. It was so dark that they couldn't see and had been caught off guard and they were so busty talking that they didn't hear it coming.

"Looks like they are still fighting down there," Hiroshima commented but when they landed, it looked empty. It was as if nothing was there at all. The angel frowned and looked around. Something wasn't right about that whole situation and he had an odd feeling that they had just walked into a trap. "What's going on?"

Fife climbed off of the angel's back. "Maybe they moved?" He suggested. He too, thought it was odd that no one appeared to be down there.

"I don't hear anyone down here," Keiji agreed.

Azmy was silent and clung to Hiroshima's side. Fear shot through her as Tsurugi landed a few feet behind them.

"Hm…" Hiroshima concentrated and used his magical abilities to attempt to track any life forms that may have been down there but he couldn't detect a thing, which made no sense considering both Zangetsu and Undine had jumped down this hole. They still should have been somewhere in the vicinity.

"There's no one here," Ko said.

"But that can't be, Undine just jumped down here," Chichiri responded. As soon as his sentence ended, everyone was blasted with a large wave of water that swept them up in its depths as it quickly flooded the room. Before everyone knew it, they were in a fight for their lives against a room full of raging water with no escape.

Tsurugi's eyes widen. 'This is bad.'

"The current is too strong!" Ko tried to keep above the water the best she could. "We'll drown!"

Hiroshima struggled as well, but he lost more quickly than any of the humans. His wings were far too heavy when wet and he couldn't keep himself afloat as his wings acted like anchors and pulled him under the water. 'My wings are bogged down with water and I can't stay above the tides. I'm going to drown.'

With that as his final thought, his form was swallowed by the water.

"I can't keep doing this!" Azmy's arms were getting tired and she could barely keep her head above the water, much less anything else.

"Where did Hiroshima go?" Ko had seen him a few moments ago but he disappeared completely now.

"The current must have sucked him under. It seems that Tsurugi is gone too," Fife informed.

"Tsurugi had all of those chains," Azmy looked worried. "He's probably at the bottom."

"I'm running out of energy-" Ko's sentence had been cut off as she lost her battle with the water and was sucked under.

"Ko!" Chichiri called out in dismay, but there was nothing he could do to help her unless he wanted to be sucked under as well. The currents were far too strong to try and swim against.

'Looks like this is the end. Well, ironically enough, I've managed to keep my secrets but I can't say that I don't feel guilty.' Fife thought as he began to go under the currents. He smiled as the water engulfed him. Before he could go completely under, his form was yanked back up and he looked into large, forest green eyes.

"Hm? Keiji-kun?" He was casual about the matter, despite having almost drowned.

"Don't let go of me," Keiji expected no less from him.

"What?" Fife was at a loss for words as a flighty feeling developed in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm not dying alone," the green-haired boy told him in a monotone voice.

"So convenient that you want to bring someone down with you," even though Fife smiled, the comment was of witty nature and cut deep.

"You prick," the stoic boy glared. It was a fine time for Fife to harp on the past!

"I suppose your right," the long-haired boy commented with a smile as he felt Keiji's arms wrap around his shoulders. "But I can't say that it's not nice to drown with you. It's morbidly calming."

"I don't hate you, you know."

"did I give you the impression that I thought that?" Fife asked.

Keiji was silent. He didn't want to tell the other male that he had thought it. Fife made him second guess himself and feel like a jackass on top of that.

"You're silly," the long-haired boy was so casual about such a dangerous situation. Either he had been really brave and experienced or he was oblivious and stupid. Fife showed surprising maturity when he faced his death.

"The water's up to our necks now and I'm getting tired," Keiji was half-lidded.

"I guess we die now, huh?" Fife looked up at the ceiling, which had been getting closer and closer by the minute. "Everyone else has already been sucked under."

"Yeah, I'll-" He began but was cut off by Fife calling out for him to look out as a large plank of wood fell from the ceiling and splashed into the water. This caused both of them to go under. Keiji's form floated away from Fife's as the threat of passing out wore heavily on his eyes.

Stubbornly trying to keep awake, he tried to reach out to grab him but his vision was blurry. All he could see were blurs and he felt a large pressure on his head.

'Kei…ji…I…'

He thought as his eyes closed and everything became black as he passed out underwater and the faint sight of a small cloud of blood spread through the water and dissipated, erasing all traces of itself to the world.

To Be Continued…