Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ The Hidden Path ( Chapter 50 )

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

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 50: The Hidden Path

By: Melissa Norvell

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Hiroshima swiftly grabbed Azmy and jumped out of the way of the spear, which stuck into the ground. The gunner wrapped an around his broad chest and quickly pulled out her gun and shot it over his shoulder at the enemy. The enemy warrior had hidden behind a large rock, but once he saw her bullet coming, he pulled up his shield and managed to deflect it.

"It didn't work," the legend landed on one knee, carrying the girl bride-and-groom style. "How many of them were there?" He asked the slate-haired girl. She had a good view over his shoulder at the population of the Holy Army. He wanted to know what they were up against and how many of them were in the area.

"I think only about five," Azmy replied.

"No problem," the angel then stood with an arm around her shoulders, pulling the girl up with him. The shy girl put her gun away and placed her hands on his chest. Azmy knew that Hiroshima wanted to put the problem into his own hands now. The least that she could do would be to put the problems into his hands and give him the joy of taking their lives.

Hiroshima them pulled out the infamous Crimson Blade and smiled wickedly. Being this close to him gave the girl an opportunity to take in all of his features right before the kill. His eyes lit up with an uncertain gleam and his very aura was one of bursts of power and a crazed, surreal feeling. It was as if he placed himself in his own world where he only submerged himself in his own feelings of hatred and bloodlust. His body literally trembled beneath her. It was as if he tried with all of his might to contain himself. It was not a wonder that people were afraid of him with a power trip as big as his.

He truly was a man of legend with a dangerous amount of pwer behind him. This was the first time that she had witnessed things this close. Even when he spoke to her, his voice was slightly different then when he was calmer or even screaming and ranting.

"Let's kill some Catholics," he told her. Hiroshima's voice was smooth and dark.

Despite all of the signs of his axe-murdering qualities, the girl felt different being in his arms. He could easily kill her or even crush her with his sheer strength but she felt differently towards him. He held her protectively and when put in this position, it seemed as though he was even protecting her.

'He's so strong...I feel protected by him.'

"Hear my call, spirit within. Come to my aid and grant me strength," his voice called out as a black; fog-like substance surrounded the both of them. The fog seemed to be resonating from his chest. As soon as Azmy realized what was happening, she quickly moved her hands away and gasped. All of the feelings that made her safe and protected seemed to vanish with a blink of her eye as the black fog surrounded her. It was cold and uncaring in nature and seemed to possess its own dark aura. This had been very similar to the aura she had felt before, when Hiroshima had disappeared into Serenande's castle before they had encountered Zangetsu.

'This is the same feeling I got when Hiroshima went to Serenenade's Castle by himself. I feel sick...Almost like crying...What is this black fog?' She wondered as her round, slate blue eyes looked in horror as the fog lifted into the sky into one large, long strand and morphed before her very eyes into a long, dragon-like shape that loomed over everyone in the vicinity.

She could hardly believe that such a large being was entrapped inside of the angel's body.

"What is that?" Ko looked up at the black fog dragon.

"It's a truly evil presence. It even freaks me out. I can't shake this feeling of despair and darkness," Zuri had to hug herself to keep from trembling as she stared wide-eyed at the large dragon.

"What is that Tsurugi? Why did it come out of Hiroshima's body?" Keiji wanted answers. There was something definitely abnormal about the whole situation.

"That's his curse," the blonde angel explained.

"I thought the pentagram was his curse." This was slightly confusing.

"That is one of the powers of the pentagram. It's an evil spirit."

"Evil spirit?" Hiroshima had an evil spirit inside of him and he had not told anyone? That would explain some of his strange behavior.

"I do say that I remember it when he came here before. I had always sensed an evil presence from him and now I'm for certain that it is him," Bass confirmed. This was no strange feeling to him at all. This was even something that he would use to identify Hiroshima with. To him it was simply his aura.

"Did he have this power before?" Keiji asked.

"He did. He commanded a large dragon that flew from his chest. It seemed to live within him," Bass explained as Fife simply listened in to what they were talking about.

"Feast upon these creatures. Do with them what you wish," Hiroshima commanded as the fog-like creature's gazed at him for a few moments before it shot off in the direction of the few soldiers that were left and cut them into pieces as their blood splattered across the ground and several blood-curdling screams could be heard as their lives were being ripped from them savagely. Azmy watched on with widened eyes as the angel held out his hands and caressed the fog affectionately.

However, to Azmy there was something devoid about the angel's feelings towards the fog.

'We'll have to do some bonding later, if you want these souls.' The dark voice told him.

Hiroshima frowned at this comment. 'I'll make it worth your while. You own my body and soul so I will give it to you and receive your power.' The angel didn't like his 'bonding' time with the spirit, even though it was nothing that sexual. All he had to do was let the fog roam over his body a few times but it disturbed him all the same, no matter if it must be done or not. He didn't have a choice in the matter anyhow.

'Good, it will increase y our strength considerably.' The voice promised as Hiroshima leaned forward and kissed the dragon's nose. As he did this, the black fog was sucked into his mouth at a quick speed.

When he was done absorbing the spirit back into his body, Azmy decided that she would dare to ask him a question regarding the subject matter.

"Is that your curse?" The girl asked.

"Something like that," the angel didn't wish to talk of the subject any more then he had to.

"You have another person living inside of you?"

"It's not a person, it's an entity and it isn't hurting me," Hiroshima's answer was half-way truthful. It was an entity but it had been causing him a lot of pain, on top of the pains that he took on as an angel. It wasn't Azmy's business and he didn't want to soft-hearted girl to worry any more or have any more guilt then what she had put on herself already.

"I was just checking on you to see if you were alright. You don't have to be worried about looking weak. We're all weak sometimes," Azmy replied with a comforting smile. She didn't know why but she thought that the angel really needed to hear something like that.

"Mind your own business," Hiroshima shot offensively. The gunner had gone into uncharted territory. Who was she to make such a deduction about him. She didn't know him, nor did she have a right to assume that he was weak.

"Sorry, I can't seem to do anything right," the girl glanced down sadly. She had made another mistake and all she was trying to do was to be kind.

"Shut up," the legend glared the girl down. "I hate people who cling on to the negative aspects of their lives. Don't go through life feeling sorry for every little thing that you've done. Failures are things that we learn from, not wallow in."

This surprisingly made Azmy feel a little better about herself. She smiled sadly at the angel and looked up at him. "Thank you, Hiroshima. I really needed that. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

'That's why I feel so warm and peaceful when I'm around you.'

"That's all of them," Hiroshima looked over to his team mates.

"That was freaky," Chichiri commented. He didn't like it at all. In fact, Sumeria in itself freaked him out, not to mention that he still felt the uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach from the very presence of the dragon. It had really messed with his nerves and he, like a lot of others, didn't quite know what to think about the dual-winged angel.

"It's just the black dragon that I had used from the City of Plants," Hiroshima explained. They had seen it once before, so what was so different now?

"That rocks! Wish I could kill five people at once but alas, I only have four limbs," Mikunai said a bit overly dramatic.

'Hiro-kun...' Tsurugi thought in sympathy as everyone began to walk towards the castle again. They occasionally glanced around and everyone was dead silent. No one spoke for a good fifteen minutes until Mikunai finally decided to butt in.

"You'd think that you people would want to at least talk," the long-haired vampire told everyone. It was rather odd for people that had just met to not even speak a word or question each other about anything at all, even though they were in the middle of a war and not to mention supposed to be allies.

"Maybe they are afraid of us," Zephynthos replied. It was only natural for people to have an awkward reaction to a vampire's presence.

"That's not it," Zangetsu replied.

"You're all just anti-social then?" Mikunai asked.

"We're trying to stay quiet so they can't find us," the Night Hawk Ninja replied.

"Whoever found us has no doubt told the surrounding armies," Helix informed.

"Someone got away, you can bet on it," Hiroshima told them.

"We should get to Vasca soon then. The longer we're out here, the more time we waste and the bigger chance we have of getting caught," Treble replied. They were like sitting targets and no doubt that the Holy Army outnumbered them in vast amounts. If they were caught by the enemy, then things could be a bit more complicated than they would like to think.

"This is all so confusing. Nothing is as Vasca said it would be. A war is starting and the prince is acting strange," Treble deducted.

"He is unusually quiet. Usually you couldn't pay him enough to shut up," Undine spoke.

"It's confusing for me too. I thought you all hated me," Fife replied. Everyone was treating him so differently that it wasn't how he had remembered it being in the past. Every time someone was kind to him or even respectful it made him even more and more confused.

He wanted them to hate him; because that's the way it was supposed to be.

"No one has their shit together, do they?" Hiroshima asked. Everything was going in so many different directions that it was hard to follow and the lines were getting more and more blurred as their conversations increased. It seemed as if everyone had remembered something about the past differently and it was very hard to tell who was out of touch.

"It is strange that no one seems to be on the same page," Undine had also thought that it was odd. Something didn't make any sense.

The group soon came to a deep valley with high walls of rock that towered above them. The path was very narrow and it gave the long-haired girl a sense of distrust. Her senses sharpened at the heightened threat that the walls could possibly possess. For all Undine knew, they could have been walking into a trap, or there could have been guards hiding behind them.

"I don't like this," she finally commented, when they were nearly half of the way into it.

"It does make you feel caged in," Ko agreed.

"A tad bit uneasy," Bass agreed with Ko.

"I don't like this either," the features on Tsurugi's face were also serious in nature. He too, felt as though he was walking straight into a trap.

"Neither do I," Keiji replied.

"But this is the quickest way to get to the castle," Zephynthos informed the uneasy group.

"If you guys weren't so far out, we wouldn't have to go this way," Constantine told them.

"Too bad we can't simply use teleport," Undine replied. Things would have been a lot quicker if they could simply teleport around and end up at the castle but when she thought about it, things were more complicated than that. If they were allowed to teleport than anyone else could also be allowed to teleport and that would mean that King Vasca would be in grave danger of assassination.

"There is a spell on the entire land that prevents teleportation spells of any kind," Hiroshima told them.

"Vasca did it to prevent any deaths in the castle," the blonde female vampire explained.

"Yes, people could very well just zap in there and kill you and zap out easily," Tsurugi pointed out.

"That's what actually happened," Zephynthos looked a little disheartened when he had uttered those words. Even though no one could see his eyes, his frown was deep and his voice was lowered in pitch.

"To us," Mikunai replied, "it would have been good if it happened to them."

"Unfortunately, we can no longer teleport either," as soon as Helix's sentence ended, the ground below Hiroshima and Azmy caved in. The two figures let out noises of surprise as their forms were sucked beneath the land. Everyone turned around simultaneously and watched helplessly as they disappeared from sight.

"Hiroshima! Azmy!" Everyone either screamed or yelled their names.

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As the two fell, they soon landed in what looked like a web of black, silken ribbons. Azmy landed on Hiroshima, who had grabbed her and tucked his body underneath hers to cushion her fall. The girl blushed at their intimate contact as the two of them laid on the ribbons. She could hear the angel's deep voice ask her if she was alright. She nodded and and sat a hand on his forearm and asked if he was alright in turn.

"I'm fine. We were caught by some sort of black ribbons." Hiroshima looked around and all he saw were walls the colors of the sunset. All around them was a blaze of reds and oranges which made the black stand out like a sore thumb against the bright colors. To Azmy it just seemed like the perfect romantic setting, like bathing in a fire and hanging by stands with the one that you loved.

Did she...love Hiroshima?

Of course not! Hiroshima has a lover and she would never betray Tsurugi's trust, especially after everything that he had done for her.

"Where are we?" The girl asked.

"Some sort of underground tunnel," the legend glanced down to see the a steel floor and a black hole that led into uncertainty.

"Hey! Hiroshima! Azmy! Can you hear me?" Keiji shouted from above but he got no answer in reply.

"They might be too far down. If that's the case then your voice won't carry far enough to reach them," Constantine told the boy, who was bent over with his head stuck half-way down the hole. Keiji glanced over his shoulder at the vampuric woman.

"What do we do?" Keiji didn't like leaving them down there for too long. Who knows what had happened to them. They may need everyone's help. The drummer didn't want to be held responsible for letting something happen to them. In order to get to Vasca, all of the team members needed to be present.

"Let's keep going towards Vasca," Ko replied. "Hiroshima can handle himself."

"But, we could go down after him," Treble informed.

"No, he's right. Let's move on. They'll catch up," Fife knew that this would be what Hiroshima wanted them to do. Unlike the others, he had faith in the angel and he knew that Hiroshima could carry out anything that he set his heart to. He would find him again. The legend was not that easy to beat, nor was he trying to steer from his goal. "Hiroshima can fly back up, also. It's important that we reach Vasca-sama."

"What about Azmy?" Ko asked. There was no way that Azmy could have flown back up.

"Hiro-kun will protect her. If they run into any trouble, I have a watch on them," Tsurugi winked and gave a reassuring smile. 'Especially because I seem to have a little competition for Hiro-kun's affections.'

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Hiroshima and Azmy had finally gotten down from the mass of black ribbons and found themselves standing in front of a large tunnel that led off into the darkness. The angel had commented on how dark it was. Azmy attempted to peer down the tunnel but she could see nothing but black. She told Hiroshima that she couldn't see anything and the legend told her that they should walk down the tunnel and see what they could find out about the Holy Army. No doubt they had found some sort of secret tunnel and if it had any clues on defeating the army, then they would have no trouble relaying the message to Vasca.

"What about the others?" Azmy glanced up towards the hole that the both of them had fallen through. She felt bad just leaving everyone to worry about the two of them.

"They're headed to Vasca. While they do that, let's explore the tunnels. This way we can beat the Holy Armies at their own game," Hiroshima smirked.

"Do you really think that there will be a war?" Azmy reverted her gaze back to him.

"It's already begun," Hiroshima began to advance down the tunnel.

"But wars last many years," the shy girl followed him. She didn't want to get lost or separated from the angel. If that happened, then she would just be a bigger burden then what she already was.

"The ones here vary. They could be two days or they could be twenty years. This is an ongoing problem between Sumeria and Baklava," Hiroshima explained.

"Baklava? Isn't that the country that Fife was talking about?"

"Yes."

"Do you think we'll run into the guy who owns him?" Azmy asked. Maybe that was one of the reasons that Fife didn't want to return to Sumeria. Maybe he was afraid of meeting his master again, since he'd been away from him for so long who knew what would happen between them or what he would even act like.

"There's no telling really," the legend seemed nonchalant about the issue, for he knew things that he could not discuss.

"I don't see anything bad in here," the girl kept glancing around the tunnel. It seemed like an ordinary tunnel with nothing really all that special inside besides sunset walls, black ribbons and steel floors. If there was something threatening then it was hidden.

"You should know as a gunner that just because you don't see anything, doesn't mean that it isn't there," Hiroshima replied.

Azmy nodded. She knew that was the truth.

"I sense something obnoxious," Hiroshima suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes.

"There's someone in here, that's for sure," just as she had finished her sentence, her partner called to look out and the two of them jumped out of the way as something sped towards them and produced a clanking sound on the floor. It sounded a lot like bullets.

'There is more than one of them.' Azmy thought as she landed. Just by hearing the sound of the bullets, the girl could tell that there was more than one gunner after them. She narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the spot in which the bullets seemed to originate from. 'I see them.'

The girl then shot forward and pivoted her body in mid-air to spin-kick a man in the side of the neck. His neck popped as it was snapped by the sheer force of the kick. As his body landed on the ground, a golden cross fell out of his coat and clanked against the steel floor. The glint of the gold caught her eyes.

"These are the Holy Armies."

Hiroshima took a man by the shoulders and flips up and knees one of the men in the back and shoved a gun to the side of his head. The man begged him not to shoot him and terror reflected in his brown eyes as he stared down the barrel of the large gun that had once been in his possession.

"If you're going to use a gun, then don't be afraid to be shot by one," the demented angel replied with a half-crazed look on his face and a crazed smirk to match. The man continued to beg him not to shoot him but the angel simply replied that he would see him in hell and shot him a couple of times in the head as a thin stream of blood shot up from his pierced head.

"There were only two," Azmy looked back at the angel, who had just stood up and tossed the gun aside.

"Let's go towards the darkness. If we at least head that way, then we'll be closer to the castle," Hiroshima began to go deeper into the tunnel. Azmy followed closely behind.

"I wonder if these pathways are to get closer to the castle without having to go through the barriers and vampires," Azmy thought out loud.

"If that's true, then we need to get to the castle as soon as we can."

"Right, I wonder why the ground collapsed underneath us."

"Probably because it's been blown up and worn down from the fighting. This whole tunnel is pretty primitive. It's probably just temporary," Hiroshima explained.

'Hiro-kun, are you alright?' He could hear the voice of his mate reverberate within the confines of his head.

'I'm fine. Just tell the others to head to Vasca.' The spiky-haired angel instructed his mate to spread the word to his team mates. Tsurugi agreed.

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Zephynthos stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the Holy Armies headed towards them. They must have spotted them, either that or a spy that was hiding had spotted them and sent the word along. Either way, it would be all too soon before they would have to fight once more. The wavy-haired vampire warned everyone that they should get ready to do a little exterminating as he pulled out his guns.

"Ah, this will be fun," Mikunai rubbed his hands together in satanic delight. "I can't wait to feel the warm blood as it hits my face."

"I hate this," Chichiri whined. It seemed as if there truly was no end to Baratone's Holy Armies.

"Oh, suck it up and quit being a baby," Ko complained. If she had to keep fighting, despite being worn down, then so did he. She didn't like fighting against another battalion but there was nothing that any of them could truly do about it. They had no choice but to fight or be killed. They would rest when they stopped at King Vasca's castle.

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Hiroshima and Azmy made their way down the tunnel. The two of them ran as fast as they could before they were stopped by a fast-moving whip that came from the darkness. Hiroshima called out the word jump as the two of them jumped up and over as the whip hit the ground. The strike was so powerful that a small chunk of the ground broke off and flew up because of the impact.

'What incredible speed and strength. I wonder who did that.' Azmy thought as she landed beside of Hiroshima, who simply stared ahead at a piece of up risen metal that three figures stood on. There was one man and two women. An irritated look crossed the spiky-haired man's face.

'Great, who the hell are these idiots? I don't have time for this.'

"I see we have intruders," a young voice called from the up risen piece of metal. It was undoubtedly male as one of the figures spoke, then smirked in the darkness as they held out a whip in front of their face and tightened it with both hands. 'Time for some fun. I'm going to enjoy making these two suffer.' They had thought to themselves.

Azmy and Hiroshima were unprepared for what was about to happen to them.

To Be Continued...