Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Angel ( Chapter 53 )

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

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Sacrifice

Chapter 53: Angel

By: Melissa Norvell

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Hiroshima and Azmy walked along the barren wasteland of Sumeria. Every once in a while, a cold gust would blow around them, reminding them of the frigid climate that the land possessed. The two of them shuddered against the wind. They had been walking for a long time and they had yet to come into contact with anyone from their group.

"Looks like the guards and armies have left," Hiroshima glanced around at the land, which was devoid of life of any kind, aside from the two of them.

"Tsurugi and everyone else is gone too," Azmy added. Were they really that far behind? The girl wondered where everyone had gone, or even if they themselves were headed in the right direction.

"If we just head towards the castle, then we should all eventually see each other. Well, if they make it there," the angel replied. It seemed like a good plan to him. After all if Lord Bass, Lord Treble and Zuri were all with them, as well as Constantine and the other vampires, then it would be more then evident that they were headed towards Vasca.

"I hope nothing happens to them," the girl didn't want any kind of misfortune to befall her friends. Azmy didn't know what she'd do if something happened to them on the way to the castle.

"They'll be fine," Hiroshima replied. Even if none of them liked the way that he acted, he believed in them. The only reason he would get disappointed was when they didn't live up to his high expectations. He knew that they all had their secrets and when you hid your strengths as they had and abandoned those who believed in you, then they truly were cowards. Hiroshima had more faith in them then to simply worry for them. They had managed very well against Flora and Ceres. He had confidence in them, even if he didn't tell them that he did.

"I feel bad for not going with them," Azmy looked a little guilty.

"You're spending time with me. Isn't that what you wanted?" The angel questioned. After all, he knew that she liked him in more ways than just a travelling companion and team mate. The girl looked at him with an expression that was reminiscent of a child who had her hand caught in the cookie jar when her parents had told her not to get any more sweets. Ice blue eyes narrowed at her expression. He had feared that he was right on his assumptions and this only justified his thoughts.

"I do want to be closer to you," the gunslinger was not really sure if she should have said anything at all. She wanted to justify herself in some way. Azmy was always nervous around the angels. Even though she knew that Hiroshima didn't play by the angelic rule of always reading someone's mind, she knew that he wasn't an idiot. He could more than likely read her like a book based on actions and mere inflictions of her sentences, much less have to read her mind to get the way that she felt. Hiroshima was very perceptive and watched people a lot. Whether or not they amused him, or he was judging she could never tell.

"Well, since I'm bored you can ask me anything and I'll answer it as long as it's within reason," Hiroshima wanted to get to know her, since she was so quiet and placed herself in the shadows of the more outspoken members of the group, like Fife, Chichiri and Ko. It would be an opportunity to try and honestly answer someone's questions. The angel always felt pressured when he was placed in a position to divulge personal information to a mass amount of people but when he was one-on-one with someone, he was more relaxed and didn't feel as though he had so much to hide.

"If you have to follow the rules, why did you save Keiji?" The girl asked. "Wasn't it predicted that he would die?"

"You prayed. You can summon me."

"Why can I only summon you?" She looked up at him with confusion sparkling in her large, round eyes.

"Anyone in this group can summon me."

"Even normal people?"

"No, there are special terms and conditions in which I operate," Hiroshima knew that once someone had gotten the true meaning of those terms, then they would know and be able to have full knowledge of his powers and aid to the group. There was more of a reason to Vespa assigning them together then the humans knew. Hiroshima just hoped that at least one of them could find out.

"Why are your wings completely black?" When she had first met him, his wings were half-and-half. She didn't understand why they were all one color now.

"I commit sin. Sin causes them to turn black. If I do something that is considered good, then they will lighten back up and turn white again," he just hadn't done anything that was considered good as of lately.

"What makes them half and half?" Azmy asked. Of all of the angels that she could think of or even envisioned, none of them had wings like his. Tsurugi's wings were completely black, so why were Hiroshima's both colors?

"That's what I usually am. As I have said before, I'm neither completely evil, nor am I completely good." It was a phrase that he lived by, and he would stick by it until his death or until an event came up to where he'd have to sacrifice one of those sides of himself for good. He was just as the Yin-Yang symbol, half dark and half light. He was a jerk and yet he had an honor code and an odd sense of justice that not everyone agreed with. While he was mean, he delivered tough love. Yet, while he was kind, he was never too kind.

"I have another question. Why wouldn't you let us fight? We really wanted to but you said that you'd kill us if we tried to interfere," Azmy had always wondered about that. Did it have something to do with his honor code?

"You would have died," the answer was simple to Hiroshima.

"Huh?"

"I was protecting you." It was hard for the angel to admit his kindness. He didn't want everyone to see his weaknesses. Why would they believe that a legend as bad as he was capable of having a heart?

Azmy looked as if she felt a little sorry for him. She had no idea that he was doing that to protect them. "Hiroshima...Why didn't you tell us that's what you were trying to do?" She knew that she hadn't been the best at her social skills but if he had been kinder to everyone, then they probably would have listened to him instead of thinking that he was just being a jerk. Azmy always knew that he was kind somewhere and now her suspicions had been confirmed.

"I can't. It's forbidden for an angel to state its purpose on Earth, especially if it's protecting someone. This is why I only wanted to dispatch Fife, Undine, Tsurugi and Keiji to fight. They were all experienced. Ko and Chichiri were not," the angel lied about Ko's prowess but he wasn't allowed to tell Azmy about that either. Ko would she them when she wanted to and no sooner. "If the fight was one on one, I wanted them to fight only one of us."

"Am I weak in your eyes?" The girl was scared to death to ask him that question but she was tired of not knowing. If any time was good, then it was right now.

"You are average. From what I gather, our strength is ranked like this, from strongest to weakest: Myself, Tsurugi, Fife, Zangetsu, Undine, Keiji, you, Ko and Chichiri," the angel explained. It wasn't as bad as she thought that it would be. The only people that were stronger then her were angels and magicians, except for Keiji, who really had fighting talent. Azmy was happy to know that he thought of her well.

"Why wouldn't you let us battle Ceres when she attacked Koryuu and Eagle?" After all, they really needed her help and she felt as though she had just let them die.

"They would have died anyway," Hiroshima looked down as a distant sadness reflected in his eyes. Azmy could tell that he actually felt badly about what had happened. At this moment in time, Hiroshima actually seemed human. "That jewel would not cure their disease, nor would it have helped those who were suffering. They were as good as dead. We cannot defeat Ceres at this point in time. If we face her now, we'll fail."

"Keiji almost beat her once, didn't he?" Surely he could have won then.

"Yes, nearly but not quite," the angel was actually quite amazed that the green-haired drummer pulled that off as well as he could. Keiji, no doubt had talent. The spiky-haired angel decided that he would keep an eye on him as they travelled.

"What do you mean?" Azmy was a little confused.

"He still would have lost. Ceres is a very powerful sorceress and is one of the most skilled. We're up against someone very powerful...You have no idea," she could tell by the expression on his face that he worried about everyone just like she did. When he wasn't being an ass, he was actually kind.

"Are you worried about us?" The slate-blue haired girl looked a little concerned.

"You may die..." Hiroshima couldn't admit it outwardly but in his own little way, hoped that Azmy got the hint from the low, sad tone in his voice.

"It's that bad?" Azmy had no idea that something like that would happen. If Hiroshima was worried then it was a good cause for concern. It seemed that not even the legend could beat the powers at work here. If Hiroshima couldn't do it, and Vespa couldn't do it, then how were they supposed to do it?

"There are many powerful wizards under our enemy, Ceres is one of them."

"We haven't even defeated her yet," Azmy replied.

"You all are much stronger now, so I let you all fight. Besides, I can't take you under my wing any more. If you want to achieve your own goals, then you'll need to build your skills and strength," the legend explained.

"I don't know what all of this is about."

"They want me for some reason," Hiroshima said.

"What does that have to do with us?" Azmy knew that it involved Hiroshima and Tsurugi directly but what did any of the humans have to do with the whole matter?

"Everything, if she wins then you will suffer too," the angel's voice was low and Azmy looked down in worry.

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Ko threw her fist forward and managed to punch another soldier in the face. A short distance behind her, ice discs ripped through the large army as Undine made her way through them. Chichiri hit one of them in the face with a spear, then afterwards, he complained that he was tired.

"Where the hell are these guys anyway?" Constantine fired off several rounds with her gun before a golden whip took out a few more soldiers.

"You mean Hiroshima and the ninja girl?" Zephynthos asked.

"Yes, then," the blonde vampire confirmed.

"If they went through that underground tunnel, then they may have already reached the castle,” her boyfriend replied.

"What?"

"Well, I heard that a long time ago, the Holy Army used those tunnels to find a way into the castle in case King Vasca disabled teleportation but they never made their way in," the black-haired vampire explained.

"Are you saying that they could have already made it?"

"It's a possibility." It really all depended on the length of the tunnel and if no parts of that said tunnel had been destroyed. He didn't hear anything about the tunnel being destroyed so he had figured that Hiroshima and Azmy could have easily made it to Vasca.

Fife and Lord Treble were back to back, glancing around at the remaining armies. There were still quite a few of them left and both males stood their guard.

"There are a lot of them. Do you think we'll get to Tsurugi in time?" Fife asked. This was definitely time consuming.

"I hope so," Lord Treble had felt bad about his premonition and hoped that they could reach the fallen angel before his mate could, if that happened then the rest of his prediction would come true.

"Hm?" The prince looked towards his right, where the harpy shot through the ground and slices a man in the middle.

"Stupid humans," Zuri commented under her breath before she took to the skies and flew off. 'I've got to get to that angel before Baratone does.' The harpy then dove down attacking many soldiers and slicing them up with her claws and wind attacks. On the way, she had forgotten that Lord Bass was working on that sector. She barely avoided the British demon, nearly taking off his head as she flew over him.

"I say! Do watch where you're going!" She could hear him shout as she sped away.

"I'm going to find Tsurugi," Zuri had a determined look on her face. She was on a mission and no one would stop her. The harpy would apologize later.

"Magical Canon!" Baratone called out as the entire area lit up around the harpy. Zuri went wide-eyed and asked 'what the hell' in a surprised voice just before she was blown backwards viciously by the force of the blast, along with several others both Holy Army and otherwise.

Keiji managed to duck behind a rock, just in time to avoid the onslaught. 'Damn...' He was nearly hit and it may have even been fatal if he was. "What is that?" The male asked as he peered from behind the rock.

Fife's finger went to work as he wrote out a spell to save himself from being thrown back. He uttered the word 'deflect' as he threw his arm out and the stream of Gaelic lettering spirals around him and hit Baratone's Magical Canon, deflecting the spell and leaving the prince unharmed.

'Fife...' Undine thought as she looked to the male in question.

"Huh?" Baratone's eyes widened slightly from the small cliff that he'd been standing on as he spied the prince down below. He had looked so familiar to him. 'Amante...' A flash of a woman with long, navy blue hair and the same, lazy, kind expression that the prince gave off rang through his senses as nostalgia reminded him of the past.

"Oh no!" Zuri spotted the man.

"It's Baratone!" Lord Bass had also seen him.

Mikunai turned his head in the direction that the shouts were coming from as he held one of the injured soldiers by the face. "This isn't good." Baratone was the last person that he'd wanted to see. This would definitely set them back from being able to find the dark angel. He was glad that the angel wasn't with the priest, so even if they couldn't beat him, they still had a chance of recovering Tsurugi.

"Well, this was, in a sense, what we wanted." Helix commented, though he was a little worried about what was going to happen now that they had actually seen Baratone out on the field. He wondered if they could possibly stand a chance with him.

"...and we got it alright, unprepared..." Mikunai was unamused.

"So...You must be Baratone..." Fife looked up at the tall, darkly-clad figure.

"Who are you and why do you look like her?" Baratone demanded. What kind of joke was this? How dare one of his enemies resemble someone that he cherished.

"Her?" The prince was a little confused. What was this man rambling off about? Who did he look like? Until now, Fife didn't have the faintest idea that he even looked like anyone at all.

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Hiroshima and Azmy stopped on top of a large hill as they noticed that a large, wooden cross was being raised quite a distance away. Ice blue eyes were sucked into the direction that the large object was being uplifted in. The legend asked what it was that was being raised and Azmy told him that it appeared to be some type of cross.

"What are they doing with a cross that big?" The angel hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Could it be the Holy Army?" The gunslinger asked.

"If it is, it isn't a good thing. That cross only means one thing..." The legend replied as flashes of a man's body, hanging on a cross and nails being driven into their feet and hands ran across his mind. "Crucifixion..."

"Huh? Crucifixion?" The girl had a shocked and worried expression. She feared for the others in her group as the very word sent chills up her spine. Azmy knew about those types of things, but she never imagined that she'd see one herself. The very thought of watching someone go through that type of punishment was unfathomable and she hoped that it wasn't anyone she knew, but at the same time, she had a feeling that it very well could have been someone that she knew.

"We've got to hurry. I sense that something bad is happening at the cross," Hiroshima's expression was grave. Azmy was even more worried now. If Hiroshima had a cause for concern, then something was definitely wrong and it was definitely someone that she knew. The two took off running in the direction of the cross as Hiroshima tried to make a telepathic connection with his mate.

'Tsurugi! Tsurugi! Where are you? Answer me, damn it!' He received silence in reply. "Ugh..." The legend said in dismay as he eyes narrowed. It wasn't like the blonde angel to not answer a telepathic message.

"What's wrong, Hiroshima?" Azmy noticed the look of worry that crossed his face.

"I tried to contact Tsurugi but I didn't get a response," the angel was saddened by this. She could tell that whatever happened, it definitely wasn't good.

"What does that mean?" She dared to ask.

"It means that he's unconscious," Hiroshima replied in worry.

"Why? What happened?" The girl began to look a little frantic.

"I don't know but let's get down there as fast as we can without flying," Hiroshima didn't want to be shot down, especially since he'd have to carry the girl with him in order to get down there that way. If there were any remaining members of the Holy Army around, or even Baratone himself then it would only distract them even more from their goal of finding out who was on that cross, if anyone at all.

"They'll shoot us down if we do, huh?" She had the right idea.

"Yes," the angel replied as they ran towards the cross, not really aware of what they would find.

...To Be Continued...