Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Catholic Controversy ( Chapter 49 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: MellyN

DISCLAIMER- THE AUTHOR DOES NOT SUPPORT ANY BIASED VIEWS AGAINST RELIGION IN THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE MANY FRIENDS OF MANY DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AND I WOULD NEVER CONDEMN ANYONE FOR THEIR RELIGION. THIS IS STRICTLY MY CHARACTER'S THOUGHTS AND THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MY OWN.

WARNING: This chapter deals with religious discussion and some things said by some of the characters will be derogatory, please be advised if you are sensitive or protective of your own religion, especially if you are Catholic, since this arc has a lot to do with the Catholic people and their prejudice against vampires.

I just thought I'd get that over with. I don't want to be flamed by people thinking that I'm bias because I have lots of friends with many different religions and I do not feel badly towards any of it. You believe what you believe, just don't try to change my beliefs or put me down about them. That's all I have to say. I'm very respectful of other's religions so I hope that this doesn't affect my Catholic readers. In fact, there is a member of our cast who is Catholic and gets very offended at something one of the characters says.

I cannot stress enough that these beliefs are NOT my own, they are simply my characters and I cannot go against characters. I'm sorry if it offends anyone but it's only natural for different people to disagree on a topic such as religion and if the conversation isn't stopped, one person will definitely say something offensive or seem like they are trying to make you believe what they believe.

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Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 49: Catholic Controversy

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"Winds, come to my bekon call. I Tsurugi, command you. Form into the shape of a weapon to protect me from harm," the blonde angel called out as the winds blew at hurricane speeds around him. They gathered at his hands and willingly formed into the shape of a bow and arrow.

Zuri charged into the army and ripped apart many of Baratone's soldiers. Bass assisted her and engaged in a battle of the sword as he took down the soldiers one by one. He decapitated the third man before he spoke.

"I say, there are a lot of them, aren't there?" The Winged Canine glanced at the large army.

The harpy brought up her knee and rammed it into the back of a soldier's neck. A sharp snap was heard as the man's neck broke and he soon had succumb to death. "This is only a small piece of an army. They must have been waiting here to get us," Zuri stated.

"Wind Arrow!" Tsurugi released his gust-like arrow that ripped through the army, killing several soldiers.

"Dark Dragon Dance!" Hiroshima moved the Crimson Blade into a circular pattern and released several large, crescent-shaped black energy waves. They barreled down a set path and cut up the soldiers. They nearly took out Baratone, if he had not hid behind a rock at the last moment.

Keiji's fist made contact with a soldier's chin as one came from behind him. The green-haired boy then spin-kicked that man across the face with great force. A few feet away, Fife was dodging one of the soldiers, who repeatedly tried to punch him. The cheerful prince dodged from side to side, gracefully avoiding his punches, then he swiftly bent his knees and upper cut the guard in the stomach. The man then fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Another soldier jumped over his fallen comrade at Fife with a sword drawn, ready to end his life.

The blue-eyed prince glanced over his shoulder with a calm smile as he wrote symbols with his finger and sent a chain of the neon green markings towards him. They streamed gracefully around the man before they closed in on his form, entangling him in their magical bind. The panicked soldier struggled and screamed in horror as he then disappeared. A group of men who stood behind him trembled in fright as they watched their comrade disappear, as if he were sucked into another dimension.

Zuri flew overhead in search of a group that was not taken by anyone from her prince's group. 'These are Baratone's Holy Armies but I don't see Baratone anywhere...I wonder if they are acting out of his orders.' She dove down into the masses again. The bird-like woman spun around in order to gather a vast amount of wind before she flung either wing out to their respective side and blew the soldiers back, entangling them in her tornadic winds. Their bodies flew in every direction and then dispersed across the battle field near Hiroshima, who lifted up his Crimson Blade with a smirk on his face as he prepared to take down a wounded soldier. A dark smirk crossed his face as he drew the blade back and just as he did, one of the men's bodies' landed on his sword, skewering itself as the blood poured down on the angel. A perturbed look crossed his face.

"Do you mind?" He glanced over at Zuri.

"I don't see a general anywhere," Bass informed.

Keiji judo-flipped one of the heavily-armored man and looked to the winged lord. "That's kind of strange," the boy heard a high-pitched, feminine scream. "Huh?" He turned his head to see Azmy, lying on the ground. A guard had her by the arm and was pinning her down. Terror and fear reflected in the girl's large, innocent eyes as she stared down the face of death, concealed in a cold, steel blade. She clenched her eyes shut, expecting the worst.

...It never came...

After a few moments, Azmy slowly cracked open her eyes to see the Crimson Blade, sticking through the guard's chest. It was Hiroshima. He had saved her once again.

"Are you alright?" The legend asked.

"Yes, thank you," the blue-haired girl looked relieved. For a moment there, she thought that she was going to die. Mixed feelings crept through her heart and she blushed at the angel's kindness. To her, he was more than a cold, ruthless legend. To her, he was very kind and there was something about his presence that made her feel warm and flushed. Her feelings towards him had changed so much over time. 'He's so brave to save me like that. I like the fact that he cares about me so much. I've never had anyone who saved my life so many times before. It's really nice. I feel warm around him.'

As her thoughts ended, a burly soldier jumped between the two, they glanced up in unison only to see the man's form quickly shoot away by a fiercely rushing blast of water, fired by Undine.

"Concentrate on the fight," Undine instructed, more to Azmy then Hiroshima. A soldier rushed at her from behind and the water-user held up a hand and simply ridded herself of the problem by blasting his form upwards by a blast of water that was very similar to a geyser.

After thinking a bit on the stoic girl's words, Azmy turned around and punched one of the guards across the face as another brought down his sword. The girl jumped straight up before the weapon could touch the ground. The skillful gunner landed on his arm and brought her leg around to kick him in the face as well.

"How many are there, any?" Bass asked

"One thousand, one hundred sixty four," Hiroshima answered.

"We can't defeat all of them," Azmy cried out from her position on the battle field.

"Yes we can. We have a good advantage," Undine skillfully commanded a stream of water and brought it around to pierce a man's chest. Another saw an opportunity to attempt to snipe her off from behind. The girl turned around to see a giant mace closing in on her. 'Too late, I can't conjure up my magic in time.'

'I won't make it in time.' Keiji rushed to her aid but he knew that he couldn't reach her in time to save her. As he neared her side, the man was blasted away by what seemed to be some sort of launcher. It made a puff of smoke as it came into contact with the man's body. Everyone looked to the west to see what had stricken the man. It wasn't a weapon that was familiar to any of the weapons that anyone in their team possessed.

"Well, if it isn't our welcome wagon..." Hiroshima smirked.

"Who are you?" Zangetsu looked at the mysterious wielder of the unknown weapon.

"Funny, we were wondering the same thing. It's a mystery isn't it?" A vampire in a pristine white suit adorned with both crosses and swastikas that adorned his cufflinks, lower legs of his pants, either side of the breast on his jacket as well as two cufflink, types of material that adorned his upper arms. His hair was long, silver and parted in the middle and his eyes were hidden by dark, round-framed sunglasses. He smiled wickedly at the group as he flashed his long, white fangs.

"Lord Bass, what are you doing here?" A female vampire with short, blonde hair asked as she put a hand on her hip.

"Trying to cover for some allies who were headed back to the castle," Zuri blew more of the human army back with her tornadic winds. "What are you doing here?"

"We were bored so we thought that we'd help out," a male vampire with shoulder-length, black wavy hair told them.

"Oh?" Another man, who had long, white unkempt hair that was pulled back in a ponytail seemed in awe as he watched Fife fight some of the soldiers off. 'Is that the prince?' He wondered to himself.

"Something wrong?" The silver-haired vampire glanced at the white-haired man.

"I think the prince is with them," the other straightened his reading glasses and narrowed his alert blue eyes.

The female vampire pulled a gun from a strap that was high on her outer thigh and proceeded to shoot five soldiers flawlessly as the vampires helped the group of misfits fight against the Catholic Army. After a few moments of shooting, the blonde vampire felt something cold and soft brush against her tightly fitting leather pants. She glanced down to see a small girl at her side. It was Azmy and she had a serious expression.

"Can I ask you a question?" The slate-haired girl asked.

"Sure, what do you want?" The blonde vampire inquired.

"Can I borrow some ammunition? I ran out."

"Here," the vampire tossed her a small box of ammunition. The girl caught it in her frail hands and proceeded to load up her gun and put the rest in her coat pocket. She thanked the vampuric woman, who in turn, told her to watch her back. The only human in the group fired his bazooka again and blew up a soldier. As their body parts and blood showered the field, Hiroshima looked to this man and found him very familiar.

He was tall and ivory skinned with white, unkempt hair that was pulled back in a spiky ponytail. He wore regular glasses, unlike most of the vampires who wore tinted or every dark glasses. His eyes were slanted and crystalline blue and he was dressed in blue and white religious clothing. It was very similar to Celtic clothing that high priests or magicians wore. This man's feminine features struck a chord in Hiroshima that caused him to recall the man's name.

"Helix..." He uttered as the man responded with a simple gaze.

"Well, this is a surprise. It's good to see you," the one known as Helix responded.

"It's a long story," Hiroshima hardly had the time to explain himself now.

"What do you say we have a good, old-fashioned fight just as we have before?" Helix smiled kindly at the legend. It was always a pleasure to fight with someone who possessed a similar taste to his own. Aside from that, Hiroshima was an ally, so he had no reason to fear him.

"I'm always good for a little bloodshed," Hiroshima smirked darkly with anticipation.

A few feet away from them, the silver-haired vampire grabbed the middle of a man's back and savagely pulled back, ripping out his spine as the blood sprayed over his pristine suit. He then looked to the angel and smiled sadistically, flashing all of his white vampuric teeth. "I think that's the last one," he commented.

"Crimson Slash!" The legend preformed his signature move once more as the red whip of energy cut through several soldiers and from the left, Helix took care of another with his bazooka then turned to the strange vampire.

"That's actually the last one," he confirmed.

"That was delightful!" Bass clasped his furry hands together in glee with a bright smile on his face. The thrill of the battle had always made him happy and giddy inside. He felt like a child trapped in a toy store.

"You're one crazy British-sounding dog demon, you know that?" Ko looked at him with a strange expression on her face. His habits were definitely odd and unlike anyone she had encountered in the villages before. The people of Sumeria seemed so serious, war-like and flat out sadistic. They reminded her a lot of Hiroshima for some reason. No wonder he got along with them so much.

"We've got to get to the castle before we're attacked again," Zuri informed the group.

"Looks like Baratone is at it again," Treble commented with a sigh. This was just as he had predicted and that in itself, was a prediction that he hadn't wanted to come to pass.

"Baratone?" Hiroshima looked to the knowledgeable Winged Canine. The last time he had come to Sumeria, he didn't know of any such person.

"Yes, we've been having trouble with him ever since Orchestra was defeated," Treble told him as the group began to advance towards the castle again.

"Where do they get these radicals anyway?" The wavy-haired vampire wondered to himself out loud.

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Ko whispered to Chichiri. She didn't want to seem stupid around such seemingly intelligent people. Even Hiroshima knew what was going on and he was in her group. The blonde told her that he didn't know what they were talking about either. Ko thought that perhaps they would tell her when they arrived at King Vasca's castle.

"Excuse me?" Zangetsu decided to ask, since no one else was. He managed to catch the attention of the leather-wearing female vampire. She turned around and looked to him with piercing blue eyes and placed a hand on her chest, concealed by nothing more then a red vinyl corsette. "I don't understand any of this. Could you explain it to me?"

"First," Undine took a step forward, "what are your names?"

"Nos Zephynthos, sorry for the intrusion but we thought that you could use a hand," the vampire who wore a red, vinyl cowboy hat, a red leather coat and pants with black undershirt, three studded belts around his waist and dark, round framed glasses responded. The wavy, dark-haired vampire sat a hand on his blonde companion's shoulder. "This is Magdolena Constantine, my girlfriend."

"I'm Ohkaji Mikunai," the silver-haired vampire gestured to himself, then he put a hand on Helix's shoulder. "This young man is my martyr."

"Odagio Helix," the white-haired man bowed to the group, who then introduced themselves.

Ko simply stated her first name, as she did not like to be called Hotohori. The blonde human introduced himself as Takeshi Chichiri, the drummer as Umetsu Keiji, Zangetsu simply stated his first name, as did Azmy, Tsurugi and Hiroshima.

"Uh...This might be stupid but...What's a martyr?" Chichiri asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Well, in essence a martyr is one who believes that they are devoted to a great cause," Helix explained the technical definition.

"It means vampire bait," Fife replied with a frown.

"Now, now my prince, must you speak so derogatorily of it?" Mikunai semi-teased. Half of him was actually serious. It saddened him to know that his prince thought so lowly of it.

"Not particularly, I want this. It isn't forced," Helix informed. He didn't want Fife to get the wrong idea about he and his master.

"You...like it? How can you like it?" Chichiri nearly shuttered at the thought. To him, it sounded like something straight out of a horror-movie. He didn't like the idea of a vampire sucking on his neck every day.

"It sounds creepy," Ko agreed and shuttered to herself. She also felt uneasy with so many vampires around.

"I don't think it's creepy at all. It's helping them and it doesn't hurt you at all," Helix, on the other hand, didn't see what the big deal was. Chichiri stared at the other man's neck. The curiosity had gotten the better of him so he hooked his finger on his high, Chinese-styled collar and pulled it down to take a closer look at any possible bite markings. Helix felt as if his privacy was being invaded so he questioned Chichiri on his actions.

"The fang marks? Vampires bite on the neck," the blonde pointed to his own neck in question, "right?"

"Isn't it cute?" Constantine nearly chuckled at the boy's silly deduction. "He watches horror movies."

"You're so silly!" Mikunai waved his hand, looking rather gay as he did so.

"We usually just bite you on the arm, where there are plenty of veins that are located in the wrist," Mikunai ran a finger up the blonde's neck, through his golden hair. The languid movement caused Chichiri to shudder as waves of unease crawled up his spine. "The human neck is a very delicate place to be biting, considering your jugular vein presides there. If punctured it can kill you."

"If we bite your neck then we want to kill you," Constantine noted. Chichiri didn't quite know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I've always heard that if you're bitten then you turn into a vampire. Is that true?" Ko looked to the blonde vampire, since she seemed knowledgeable of the subject.

"We can but we usually only turn those who want it. We will never turn a child," Zephynthos commented.

"The metamorphosis is too hard on a child. It nearly kills a human to be turned. It's extremely painful because your body has to adjust to get nutrients from blood," his girlfriend agreed. "There are vampires out here who will try and turn you, so be careful." She warned.

"Who is Baratone?" Tsurugi asked.

"He's a high priest and leader of the Holy Army. He's a radical Catholic who believes we oppose the Catholic religion," Constantine continued to answer questions.

"He calls us...What's the word?" Mikunai tapped his chin as if to spark a thought.

"Men of Lawlessness, Master," Helix confirmed.

"I've heard that before," Keiji responded.

"It's a Catholic term associated with anyone who has opposed, are opposing or intend to oppose Christ," Tsurugi held up a finger in fact.

"They are also the enemy who would appear before the Last Judgment and lead away the faithful before being defeated by Christ," Hiroshima added.

"Well, we are considered creatures of the night. Christ is considered the light that shines through darkness," Constantine made a point.

"In other words- we're evil," Zephynthos shrugged as he held his hands out to either side. Why not simply throw up the truth?

"If Catholics have been turned, which last time we've been here they have- then it would be leading the faithful away," the legend replied.

"Then Baratone must think of himself as a modern-day messiah," Fife noted.

"Appearently, they believe him," Hiroshima huffed at the ignorance of the Holy Army to believe someone like him in the first place.

"Is he a Vatican?" Azmy asked.

"I think he's just a priest," Mikunai shrugged. "I don't pay attention. He could be."

"It's not just religion that plays into this. He has a few vendettas against vampires," the blonde woman replied.

"Vandettas?" Keiji looked to her for further explanation.

"Yes, a vampire killed his parents. It's only natural that he hates us," Zephynthos explained.

"I think all of that pent up anger over the years has made him resentful. He's definitely a threat and I fear that this is just how Vasca predicted it to be," Helix responded.

"His predictions are not wrong the majority of the time," Constantine pointed out the accuracy of her king's predictions. Most of the time, Vasca wasn't wrong. Not only was Vasca not wrong, he was right to a tee when he was right. The majority of the vampires believed in his predictions and omens of bad things to come.

"If Vasca's worried...then it's cause for concern..." Mikunai's expression turned serious. Usually, he tended to blow things off but this was something that even shook him. He had remembered what Vasca had said about the Time of Ending and it unnerved him.

"I wonder if he was hiding out while we fought off his army," Helix had remembered that he had not seen Baratone the entire time that he'd been in battle and if no one else did either, then he must have been hiding out and giving his men orders from that point. What was an army without their leader?

His train of thought was broken off by Azmy, who hugged herself and shivered against the frigid air. Most of the vampires wore heavy clothes or many layers, except Constantine, whose wardrobe consisted of tightly fitting leather, high boots and a red, vinyl corset. She wondered how the vampire wasn't cold or even had goose bumps. "It's really cold here,” as her sentence ended, a black, slender wing wrapped around her. A slight flush came to her face when she had realized who it was. Azmy looked up to see Hiroshima looking back at her as slate blue eyes stared into those that were nearly white. The shy girl thanked him as the warm feeling returned to her body.

"It will be fine if we can get to the castle," Hiroshima told her.

"I should serious use better judgment in clothes," Chichiri whined. He was only dressed in baggy blue jeans, a white wife-beater and thing blue and green flannel shirt with short sleeves.

"Hey, I'm in a skirt here," Ko pointed to her mid-thigh length, form-fitting skirt. Even if she wore black and lime-green stripped knee socks, it didn't help warm her legs any against the cold air of Sumeria.

"That priest think he's holier than thou," Constantine glared.

"I heard that he claims that God has spoken to him and that he hears divine messages," Helix repeated the rumors that he had heard in Baklava before the war had started.

"Well one could call them what they refer to us as," Tsurugi replied.

"Are you calling Catholics the anti-Christ?" Ko asked. After all, Tsurugi and Hiroshima were anything but holy and their actions in general had proven that to her. They may as well have existed with Satan and in her mind, she wasn't too sure that Hiroshima wasn't Satan.

"Not particularly, I'm just saying that their Bible was reduced to that of legend, fable and mythology," Tsurugi didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea and this was simply his opinion. He felt as if he'd crossed the line a little by bringing up the religion subject and quickly ate his words.

Although what Hiroshima was about to say was much harsher.

"Well that's because the Roman Catholic Church doesn't want them to know what they truly are- Mystery Babylonian which is said to be the lair of the anti-Christ and source of doctrinal apostasy and confusion. It even states that they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. So much for a book that is declared free of doctrinal or moral error," Hiroshima criticized.

"It really says that?" Zephynthos had no idea that Catholics thought that way.

"Damn...Hope no one's Catholic," Constantine replied. It was a very harsh comment to call a religion that was so holy into something that seemed to purely be the anti-Christ.

"Hey, I have a friend who's Catholic." Even though it was irrelevant, Chirhiri was a little offended by it.

"All Catholics can't be bad, can they?" Azmy didn't want to think that everyone who believed in the Catholic religion was mean or evil in any way, especially since her it seemed to contradict her good views on the Catholics.

"We're not discriminating against them because they are Catholic," Zephynthos didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, or at least get it about him. "There are Catholics that we do like. We stick to ourselves. They're the ones who started this war."

"It's an age-old war. Just so all of you know- I'm Catholic," Helix didn't appreciate what Hiroshima had said at all. While he understood his views, he was a little ashamed of the angel for thinking so badly of him. "I believe in the Apocalyptic Number and the Tower of Babel. Anyone who harbors a religion where they think that their deity is the only one who's supreme has a tendency to think other religions are the anti-Christ simply because they do not believe in their set version of 'Christ' or an ultimate power. I don't like discussing the subject of religion. It's the most controversial subject in the world and as long as you don't try and subject anyone to yours then it shouldn't matter anyway." He vented and simply walked away.

"Helix..." Mikunai seemed concerned for his donor.

"Did we piss him off or something?" Constantine watched him leave. She wasn't Catholic so she didn't know what the big deal was.

"Dude, you said that his religion was the anti-Christ. That's pretty harsh," Chichiri felt sorry for Helix.

"So what?" Hiroshima crossed his arms over his chest. "It's a high educated opinion based on facts. Their own Bible says it in verse Tim 4:4 if you don't believe me."

"Well, their religion is quite controversial but we shouldn't speak of religion like this," Tsurugi tried to let the subject die down. He didn't want there to be a war of a different kind between everyone.

"Just because Hiroshima is the anti-Christ-" Ko began but the legend cut her off.

"I won't lie. I'm Satanist but not in a way that you'd think."

"Well, you did say that you were born in hell," Keiji could see where the legend was coming from. Of course he wouldn't believe in God or anything of a higher power, especially if he came from a place like that.

"Yes, it's true."

'Satanic? Hiroshima-dono is Satanic?' Azmy thought to herself as she glanced at the spiky-haired angel.

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Mikunai managed to catch up with Helix and decided to have a little 'out of the group' discussion that would be just between the both of them. He hoped, at least it would make him feel better about himself or his religion.

"Are you alright?" He asked his martyr.

"I do not believe that I'm the anti-Christ," Helix was obviously hurt.

"It's just an opinion-" Mikunai tried to reassure him.

"You wouldn't like being called Satanic, would you?" The white-haired man leveled his master with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Well," The vampire thought for a few moments before responding, "I suppose if I was called Satanic then I'd do something Satanic to prove it to them."

Helix sighed. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. His face fell to the ground before a blood-covered arm was placed gently around his upper torso. His master's face was close to the side of his and he could feel Mikunai's warm breath on his cheek as he spoke gently. "Don't let him get you down."

"You get a lot of shit because you do what you do as a Catholic. My opinion still stands, Catholicism is seen as the anti-Christ," Hiroshima told him. He didn't care what Helix thought, but he let him know that just because he was upset didn't mean that he would change his views. Hiroshima liked Helix but he couldn't see eye-to-eye with his religion.

"So are you," Helix shot coldly.

"Perhaps and I get my fair share of discrimination as well." At least they could agree on that if nothing else.

"You're an angel, born in hell...aren't you?"

"I could be," Hiroshima smirked. It wasn't going to be that easy to get him to tell Helix who he really was.

'Could be what? I wonder what they are talking about.' Azmy wondered to herself as she watched the three of them exchange words from a few feet away.

'The one who is born of the brightest star...' Helix narrowed his eyes as he contemplated Hiroshima's true identity. He was no ordinary angel, nor was he an ordinary dark angel. He didn't have much time to ponder on the fact, however. A shocked and protective look crossed his features as he yelled for Mikunai to look out.

Azmy turned around to see a spear being propelled straight for her. She screamed in horror as fear illuminated her widened, innocent eyes. Death would soon be upon her, in the form of a heart-piercing rod of wood and steel.

Everyone in the group had heard her scream and turned to see what was going on, as soon as they saw what was happening, the only thing that they could do was utter her name in unison and look on with expressions of shock, helpless to do anything about the spear that threatened to take away her life with one fatal blow.

To Be Continued...