Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ A Time of Ending ( Chapter 52 )

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

By: MellyN

XxXxXxXx

Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 52: A Time of Ending

XxXxXxXx

"You will not escape me!" Remi shouted through the destruction and hurled her whip towards the two of them.

"Oh no..." Azmy stared at the oncoming weapon before both of them jumped out of the way. The gunslinger landed a few feet away from her original position. A large rock fell from the ceiling and smashed into the ground dangerously close to her and shattered into many fragments. This caused the girl to let out a high-pitched scream as one of the larger rocks headed towards her.

Surely, she though that she would be crushed and shooting it would do her no good at all. Just then, a sword blade chopped the large rock in half and both pieces flew to either side, missing her completely and revealing her savior.

It was Hiroshima.

"We've got to hurry up and get out of here," the angel instructed.

"But how?" Azmy looked to him for answers. "Won't magic attacks make everything crumble faster? Who knows how long we have to go before we actually get out of here." They could easily be crushed if they couldn't get out in time before the entire underground tunnel collapsed.

"We should be able to get out before it collapses, if I estimated correctly." At this point in time, Hiroshima's talent for looking ahead came into handy. If they moved at a certain speed, then they could find a method of escape soon and that would allow them to escape in time.

"No one will get out of here alive," Remi replied. After all, she was still present and her threat was just as large now as it had ever been, if not greater. The angry blonde hurled her whip forward and at an angle, so it would bounce off of the ground and strike one of her enemies. Hiroshima and Azmy bolted out of the way but the whip ricocheted off of the ground and wrapped around Azmy's slender ankle and delivered a violent shock to her system, which caused the girl to let out a yell of pain.

"Damn it! Phantom Corkscrew!" Hiroshima turned in mid-air and pointed his sword at the girl as his attack launched. When his ghost-like spiral made contact with Remi's electric whip, it only caused the whip to deliver her twice the voltage from the external contact. The short-haired girl slowly attempted to reach for the belt-like structure around her leg, which held her kunai knives. Her hand trembled as it fought the electric currents that coursed through her body.

'Damn, I didn't think that through.' The angel felt a little bad that he had only caused more pain to his team mate. 'Alright, let's try something else.' The angel then swept his sword across the air horizontally and created a large gust of wind that blew the whip off of the girl's injured leg. It also blew Azmy back which gave her an opportunity to use the wall as leverage for her next attack. She jumped off of the wall and sped towards Remi, who called her a fool and sent her whip towards the girl again. It wasn't the smartest thing to jump head on into their enemy's way when they had an extending weapon.

"I won't let you win," Azmy said with fierce determination as she leaped through the electrical whip. Her body had already tingled and her arms and legs were numb but she wouldn't give up until the fight was over. No matter how much she bled and how much she failed, she would get up and fight again until she won or died either one.

"Electric Shock!" Remi commanded as powerful lightning bolts began to strike within the coils of the whip. Azmy teleported and ended up on her right side, slightly behind her and tried to strike her, but her hand was swiftly caught. The pompous blonde ninja narrowed her eyes and smirked at the girl. Surely, she had won this little roundabout with her. Now that she had her in her clutches, death would be eminent.

Then she saw something move behind her. She turned around to see that a very pissed off Hiroshima was heading towards her at a high speed with the hilt of his sword pointed towards her back. He was going to ram it into her and cause her to let go of Azmy and at his speed, he could possibly kill her...but wouldn't it be a pity if he missed? Remi took the opportunity to teleport, leaving Azmy there to be stricken by her team mate.

Azmy's eyes grew wide as Hiroshima neared her and she barely had time to scream. She could see his face light up with a priceless shock. If it wasn't such a life-threatening situation then she would have laughed at his loss of composure. The girl was so afraid that she couldn't move. She was literally petrified as the angel dog the heels of his shiny black shoes into the ground to stop himself from colliding with her. He had already placed his sword with the blade pointing away from her. By the time he was able to stop, the two of them were so close that they nearly kissed. Azmy blushed slightly, despite her fear.

"Sorry about that," Hiroshima told her lowly as a loud rumble shook the room and the two looked up to see a large rock headed towards them. Thinking quickly, Hiroshima tackled Azmy to the ground to avoid being struck by the rock. He covered her petite, fail-looking form to shield her from falling debris and looked over to Remi with a scowl on his face. 'Why are they being allowed to teleport? I wonder if Vasca's allowing them to...or is Vasca hurt? This is troublesome...' The legend was worried about the king. Vasca was a dear friend to Hiroshima and he couldn't afford to lose him to people like the ones he fought now.

'Hiroshima...' Azmy thought as the blush deepened. She was close enough to touch him, smell him and be held by him. His strong grip was comforting and the way that his strong arms held her was surprisingly gentle. The small of Asian Spices reached her senses, he really seemed to like that fragrance of cologne.

Silently, the angel got up and paid the girl no mind. She was safe and that's all that he was worried about. Other things would bother him once the fight was over. He could barely get to his feet before Remi was on top of him. The angel tried to dodge but the blonde was just too fast. She wrapped her arms around his slender waist as a shocked look crossed his face. He was too slow and that would, no doubt, cost him.

"Now, I'll bring you down with me. You won't be able to escape to Sumeria!" The half-crazed woman spoke in an unstable voice, desperate to beat him and make sure that she put him six-feet under.

"Hiroshim-" Azmy sat up bolt straight and tried to call out to him but the word Bakuhastu (1) was said so low that it was nearly a whisper. All she could hear was Hiroshima utter the word 'what' in question before Remi's body exploded. Azmy screamed in horror as she could do nothing but watch as the smoke, debris, feathers and blood flew past her face. Slate-blue eyes were widened as tears clung to them. The gunslinger sat, motionless and traumatized as the tunnel fell apart around her. For that moment in time, she didn't care. She had just witnessed the death of one of her team mates. Not only that, but he held a special place in her heart.

Just then, a rock fell in front of her and pieces broke off. The girl shielded her face and took off running, tears streaming down her face as she wept for the loss of her friend. Crystalline tears mixed with the fallen feathers from the angel's destroyed form. Why? Why couldn't she have saved him? Why couldn't it have been her? She had let him down in the worst way and it would be a guilt that would ride on her shoulders for the rest of her life.

She had never felt this bad, not even when his was de-winged by Elf Kaizer. In many ways, she admired him. Hiroshima was kind, in his own way and she saw it for what it was- tough love. He always criticized because he didn't want to see anything bad happen to them. Even though he said he hated humans, he cared about his team mates. If it wasn't true, then why would he have just saved her now? He saw the potential in everyone, even people like Chichiri and Keiji, who only fought with their fists and feet and he viewed others highly, to the point of being angry at them because they were not as perfect as he expected.

He was noble in his own way and was very skilled. She only wished that she could be as fearless and cunning as he was. To her, he was more than a team mate, to her, he was the man that she loved, despite of what Tsurugi had to say or feel and she knew it was wrong but she couldn't stop herself from falling for him. Hiroshima was so strong, daring, noble, and experienced- everything that she wished to be.

Azmy regretted that she could never make herself useful to him. All she wanted was for him to be proud of her and see her as equal to himself but now she wouldn't get the opportunity.

He was gone and it was all her fault. If she hadn't have been so stupid then he would have still been standing with her, running by her side. She already missed his sarcastic and witty remarks, even if he did just bitch about things. He lightened things up when she was sad. Even if he was a jerk, she found him amusing in many ways. The group wouldn't be the same without him.

Suddenly, long, muscled arms wrapped around her in a familiar, sensual manner as she felt a cold body and clothes touch her back. All around her, she could hear the gentle rustle of feathers and she could smell the familiar scent of blood, sweat and Asian Spices.

"Huh!? Hiroshima!" The surprised girl let out a yelp. It couldn't be. She just saw him blow up. This was a cruel trick that God was playing on her.

"Got you," the angel's deep voice smoothly told her.

Azmy whirled around to see Hiroshima, as real as he was before they had fallen into the tunnel. "You're real!" She was relieved that he was still alive and placed her hands on his chest. She proceeded to run them along his chest and arms, to make sure that she wasn't just going crazy or something. The gunslinger then looked into his eyes and looked very confused. "How did you get away? I thought Remi blew you up."

A large, yet elegant hand gentle wiped her tears. "It was a clone. I was able to switch myself with the clone since the magical field that prevents teleportation has been dropped. If not for that, then there'd be one less person here," Hiroshima wiped the crying girl's face with the side of his hand. He was happy and flattered that someone cared that much about him.

Before he could proceed, the girl began to cry loudly.

"Don't start that cra-guh!" Hiroshima was nearly tackle-hugged by the now wailing girl as she hugged him tightly and cried into his chest.

"I thought you were dead!" Azmy voiced her concern before she was shoved off.

"If you don't stop we'll both die." They couldn't forget that the whole tunnel was coming down around them and that they had to find a way out. They were wasting time and sentiment would come later. He grabbed the girl's small hand and pulled her behind him as the both of them ran down the collapsing tunnel.

"Why don't you fly?" The blushing girl had noticed that he was holding her hand and felt the familiar bed-sheet cool sensation of his grip. It was only until now that she noticed how much cooler his body temperature was then hers.

"Then I might get smashed by a rock easier." If that happened, then it would only spell more trouble for them. He didn't want to slow them down any.

"Oh, right, it's like in the City of Plants."

"What?"

"Tsurugi told me that flying in this condition would be bad for you," Azmy had remembered what his boyfriend had told her when they were escaping the city of destruction only a couple of months ago. Come to think of it, she felt really stupid by asking him that question.

XxXxXx

Mikunai squeezed a man's face with his bare hand. The man's pained yells and the crunching of his bones didn't seem to bother him in the slightest as the blood flowed from his sockets. "You're too weak to defeat me." The long-haired vampire commented as Keiji was fighting his own battle a few feet away.

The boy leg-swept a man, then got on his hands and kicked upwards. Chichiri punched a man in the face and Ko managed to smash a shield over another's head. Helix also helped eliminate the Holy Army by blowing a bunch of them up with his launcher. One of the fleeting men had tried to run for his life, but ended up feeling the effects of the shot and tumbled head over feet until he landed at Helix's feet in a crumpled heap.

The white-haired man knelt down and asked him where Baratone was. The man replied that he didn't know through a pained voice, then found himself staring down the barrel of the launcher.

"Are you starting to remember yet?" Helix didn't have time to play around with them. He simply wanted answers. It was bad enough that he had to be put against people of his own religion. He wished that they would stop following under such a corrupt priest. That in itself was the entire reason that he left Baklava and decided to live in Sumeria. He couldn't stand the injustices that were being delivered to his people.

"Why should I tell you?" The man tried to look as if he was unphased by the weapon.

"Your probability of living from that blast is at least sixty percent. Do you want it to decrease?" Helix had already known that the man had taken on damage from debris and the force of the blast. He didn't want to kill another fellow Catholic if he could avoid it. All he really wanted were answers.

The man closed his eyes and turned his head away, partly from expecting to be shot anyway and the other part in shame, "Baratone is already in the residential area."

"What?" Helix's eyes widened in surprise. They Holy Army had simply been a diversion. While all of them fought to reach Vasca, Baratone was miles ahead of them and would no doubt, reach Vasca before any of them could.

"Magic Hurricane!" Zephynthos called out as he flung his hand out and yellow streams the color of sunshine violently swirled around him and knocked the soldiers backwards. "They just keep on coming, don't they?"

"Are we even close to Sumeria?" Ko asked.

Bass sliced across his view, flinging the soldiers back with a wind burst. He looked at Ko and replied. "Well, we are it's just very slowly."

"Do you think the other two members of your team will be able to find it without any trouble?" Zuri asked.

"Who knows...But I hope so. Even if Hiroshima is evil, he hasn't lied to us yet," the white-haired girl had faith in his words. Besides, if she didn't believe in him then things would just be worse. All she could do, despite her worry, was hope and wish to see he and Azmy again.

XxXxXx

Hirsohima and Azmy ran through the collapsing tunnel as rocks and beams fell around them. They headed towards the darkness before them but they were suddenly cut off by a landslide of rocks. The two of them backed up and shielded themselves against the onslaught that the rocks and beams brought in front of them. Many larger boulders rolled past them at high speeds but luckily, neither one of them were injured.

"Shit," Hiroshima wasn't pleased with the situation at all. Now they were trapped. 'So much for going directly to Vasca.' He had figured that they could follow the tunnel all the way to the castle and meet up with everyone else there but his plans were foiled by the landslide.

"What do we do now?" Azmy looked at him.

"We'll have to get out through the ceiling," Hiroshima looked up at the holes that had been caused by the many beams and rocks that had fallen down. If they wanted to escape, then that would be their only way. It was either risk going through the ceiling or be buried alive.

"Can't we blast through it?" The slate-haired girl asked.

"It's we do even more rocks will fall and we might be buried alive down here. It will be better to face the rocks then face a complete cave in," Hiroshima educated before he felt a small, warm hand grab his own tightly.

"Okay," Azmy nodded as the familiar look of determination crossed her face. "I'm ready, let's go."

XxXxXx

Everyone stood on a high cliff that overlooked a large city with an even larger castle that nearly reached up into the clouds. Treble announced that they were at the outskirts of Sumeria and Zuri informed everyone that they had to hurry and get to Vasca. Those words alone brought a familiar sense of dread to Fife's being. More than anything, he didn't want to face Vasca. He simply wished he'd drop dead or vanish into thin air before he could see his father's disappointed face.

'My father...King Vasca...I want to know how you feel but I'm afraid to face you all the same. How did I know that I'd eventually have to come to terms with who I really am, no matter how bad the consequences are. I can no longer run from myself and I can no longer hide it from them.' The navy-haired man thought to himself with a tense expression on his face.

"It's too quiet here," Zephynthos replied as the wind toyed with his large, red hat and long, wavy, black hair. The air was dead around them and no one Sumeria seemed to be moving. They were either inside of the castle, in hiding or dead already. Either way, none of it was good.

"I say, it most certainly is," Bass agreed. Something wasn't right to him either.

"Look at that castle," Ko said in awe as she took in the large, medieval castle with a huge, windmill that consisted of large blades built into it. The blade spun around and around like a propeller in the wind.

"It's huge! Does Fife really live there?" Chichiri found it absolutely amazing that someone could living in such a drab, yet huge place.

"Don't you think you should be suspicious?" Undine asked.

"Huh? Why?" The blonde didn't see any reason to be suspicious of anything. It was insanely quiet but that was really the only thing that bothered him. He was far too busy taking in the sight of the castle to even notice anything around him.

"The guards said that Baratone was here but there is no one here," the stoic girl pointed out.

Fife had remained silent. He knew better than to say anything. All he could do was stand before the structure of his father's glory and tremble at the thought of his wrath. As if to chide his fears, a strong hand was placed on his shoulder. The prince looked behind him to see Keiji, leveling him with a stern, yet kind look.

"Hey."

"Yes?" Fife wore his ever present faux smile.

"What are you so worried about? You haven't said anything since we've been getting closer to the castle," Keiji knew that Fife wasn't really happy. He only wore that false smile to hide what he really felt. He noticed off and on that he was unusually quiet and he wore a look of dread and paranoia when no one was looking.

"Why would you care about a prostitute prince?" The other male still wore his facade.

Keiji closed his eyes and held back any irritation that had been building up. Sometimes, he just wanted to slap the happy right off of his face. "Look, just stop it with the prostitute stuff. I already feel like shit because I can't help you out."

"Why would you want to? I've lied to you so much," the prince had remembered how hard Keiji had come down on him for that, not that he blamed him any.

"That makes you a liar, not a bad person," Keiji didn't really realize how little sense that made until Fife pointed it out to him.

"Do you realize how little sense you actually made?"

"You might lie and do perverted things but I don't think you're bad. I think you have a lot of issues that you're just afraid to face but I don't think you're bad at all. In fact, I think that you're just afraid of coming to terms with your personal matters in front of everyone," Keiji narrowed his eyes slightly. He wanted Fife to know that his bullshit remarks weren't going to cut it with him. The prince could no longer dance around the bush around him.

Fife tilted his head down as he navy bangs shaded his eyes and a dark, small smile crept onto his face. "You've always been so good at tearing down my facade, Keiji-kun."

Before Keiji could even reply to his comment, a blur of black and blonde flew between the two males, causing their attention to be diverted to Tsurugi, who had flown past them.

"Tsurugi!" The drummer called out to the angel, who stopped a few feet in front of the group.

"What is it?" The blonde angel asked.

"Where are you going?" Keiji wondered aloud.

"Baratone was just reported to be here so I decided to go and scout a little. Lord Bass, Lord Treble and Zuri went off in other directions to see if they could spot Baratone. I'm headed off this way," Tsurugi informed.

"So when we find him, we'll find the safest way into the castle?" The green-haired boy was too busy talking to Fife to really pay attention to what his team mates were doing since they had been stopped. Now he felt a little lost as to what their plans were. It seemed that the prince was always distracting him in one way or another.

"Yes, I'll be back and tell you of my findings. The other will do the same. Until then just stay back here and wait for us. You have a good view of the city and you should see us flying around. That way if anything happens, you'll see where we are," Tsurugi educated the two of them on everyone's plans.

"You could always send us a telepathic message as well. Only teleportation has been banned, not being telepathic," Fife pointed out.

"Of course I will...if I still have consciousness. I'm sure they'll try to take us out of the sky when they find out that we're "from Sumeria" so to speak."

"Aren't you worried about Azmy-chan and Hiroshima-sama?" Fife asked. After all, Hiroshima was his mate and the two of them seemed to care about each other very deeply.

"They will be fine," Tsurugi put all of his trust in the two of them to come out of their situation safely and return to the group. "Well, wish me luck."

Keiji nodded.

"Yes, do come back safely." The prince told him kindly before he flew off. He then turned to Keiji and asked if he thought that the angel would be alright. The other male was silent.

"I guess we wait," Undine said after a few moments of silence.

"Even if they get shot down, can we really be fast enough to beat Baratone's Holy Armies to them before they get killed," Zephynthos looked over the cityscape.

"Hopefully, their air advantage will save them," Helix hoped that his assumptions were right. It would be bad if the Catholics took in prisoners under the lead of that psycho that they called a High Priest.

"It was pretty strange that there seems to be nothing wrong with the city aside from a few barren places," Mikunai pointed out. Usually, if the city was raided by an army houses would be destroyed and there would be messes everywhere but nothing truly seemed unusual, minus the two placed that he had mentioned prior.

"Perhaps one of his army men has reported our sighting and they assumed that we were coming here," Helix noted.

"Either that or they crawled away from the fight without our knowledge." Zephynthos replied. They usually tried to kill everyone that they thought would get away but maybe they missed something.

"Either way, I know that they are trying to trap us."

"Is this my fault?" Fife finally spoke up. "Is it because I'm with you?"

"I doubt that they know about you or even recognize you now if they did. This is clearly between Baratone and Vasca, an age-old vendetta," the black-haired vampire replied.

"Is it me or did that black-winged angel seem disgruntled about something," Constantine had been thinking about Tsurugi's expression when he had left them to search for Baratone. Although he looked happy, he seemed a little tired and even a little worried about something. He told everyone that the other two were alright but were they really? Perhaps he was just trying to keep their minds off of the subject so they could stay on their goals.

"Lord Treble didn't seem like he wanted to leave either," Helix stated. The dog-demon was really hesitant on leaving as well. Perhaps the two of them knew something that they weren't saying or couldn't say to them.

"Lord Treble's always been special though," Mikunai stated.

"Huh? Why?" Zangetsu asked.

"Lord Treble is incredibly psychic. He has even been known to predict things with amazing accuracy," the long-haired vampire replied.

"So, he's like the angels?" Ko asked. The angels were psychic like that as well and she had recalled both Hiroshima and Tsurugi telling her that they knew things about the future that they couldn't tell them.

"Well, angel's predictions are always on their mind. Angels like Hiroshima and Tsurugi always knew what's going on. However, their predictions can be changed but only by those in which they are made for. Rarely an angel will step in to change fate and when they do, they are punished," Zephynthos replied.

"Then how are they able to still fight?" Wouldn't taking part in something like that change the fate of the battle? Keiji wondered aloud.

"Angels live out their lives according to their own predictions. If they predict themselves to die, then they will die without fighting it," the red-clad vampire replied.

"That's dumb," Chichiri said. "They don't even try to help themselves?" Didn't they have any freedom? What kind of thing exists with so many restrictions? Isn't it hard not to be able to do what you want no matter how badly you feel?

'So all of those things...Were merely predictions?' Keiji remembered Hiroshima's act of kindness towards him during the Elf Kaizer fight. He didn't want to believe that it was that simple. The drummer knew that Hiroshima had acted that way on kindness alone. There was no way that there were not feelings in his eyes as his blood-stained hands slid down the outside of Pandora's Casket. It was more than just a simple fortune telling of fate when Hiroshima had said some of the things that he had told him and in his own way, Keiji thought that some of the things the legend said were clues about his true demeanor. The truth that hid behind his hard-ass facade.

"I think it's very sad. Angels are slaves to their own powers," Mikunai replied lowly.

"There are some things, however, that no one can predict," Helix commented.

Shortly after his statement a loud 'boom' thundered across the cold skies of Sumeria that threw the group into a state of commotion and panic. Everyone struggled to keep their balance as the ground shook beneath them. Zephynthos nearly fell from his rock and all eyes searched the skies of the city to find their winged allies who had gone to search for Baratone.

"What the hell was that?" Chichiri asked, although part of him didn't really want to know.

"Just as I thought," Zephynthos had a feeling that something like this would happen, and this moment in time only confirmed his suspicions.

"Oh shit..." Constantine glanced around frantically, as if someone were missing.

"Oh shit? What oh shit?" Ko asked. It already didn't sound good, she was afraid to know what was wrong now.

"I see Lord Bass, Lord Treble and Zuri but where is Tsurugi?" Zangetsu helped the vampires as they all scanned the skies for any sign of the dark angel.

"We need to get to the vicinity of the blast," Fife informed in a dire voice.

"Well, so it's spoken, so I shall obey, my prince," Mikunai smiled. It seemed like they would be headed out onto another blood-shedding field. Everyone began to move out with Fife's command as the winged being of the sly had their own meeting of the minds.

High above, Treble, Bass and Zuri had all flown to the same spot to see what had happened. They all heard the shot so they headed where everyone could see them from the cliff. Bass asked if everyone was alright and Treble stated that Tsurugi was missing. So far, his predictions had come true. Zuri wondered if he had seen Baratone, maybe it was he who had shot him down. If so, that was anything but good.

"Well, he does have that bloody crescent device," Bass referred to a holy weapon that he carried around. It helped him to conduct his magical attacks and amplify them. If Tsurugi was hit with that, then surely he'd be grounded.

"We've got to get to where that explosion came from," Zuri said seriously.

'Just as I predicted and if my further predictions are true then nothing but bad will come of this. I've got to stop it.' Treble thought as he heard the mature voice of the harpy ask if they may need the other's help. His brother looked back towards the cliff that everyone had been residing on to find that they were no longer there. Zuri then glanced around and wondered where they could be.

"Probably to find Tsurugi. That explosion was very loud. No doubt they heard," Treble replied.

"We'd better get down there," Zuri said. This was of the utmost importance. They had to find that angel, no matter what. They couldn't let him be taken prisoner by the Holy Army or Baratone.

XxXxXx

In a barren sector of town, Tsurugi lay on the ground splattered in blood. He had been hit in the ribs with something and his face felt very sticky and warm. His right wing was missing, it had been blasted off with a canon and his clothes were dirty and ripped from his harsh descent to the ground. A few vampires walked up to him to see what had happened and what it was that nearly fell on top of them.

All eyes were focused on the many black feathers and broken links of chain that were scattered around the dark angel. Tsurugi slowly opened his eyes to see about six to seven faces peering back at him.

'These are citizens of Sumeria. Maybe they saw me get shot down.' The blonde smiled painfully at the vampires. "Please...would you please help me?" He asked in a soft, yet pained tone. He needed to get back to everyone and he had hoped that they would be kind enough to care for him until his friends could find him. It seemed as though he was in kind hands until his allies had shown up. He was just happy that he was in good hands.

To Be Continued...

NOTES:

1. Bakuhatsu- Japanese word for explosion.