Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Stress ( Chapter 61 )

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

By: MellyN

XxXxXxXx

Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 61: Stress

XxXxXxXx

"I simply turned him back into a vampire," Vasca explained as Fife's body was slowly lowered to the ground. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be peacefully asleep.

"Well, that all makes sense now," Bass watched the prince's slumbering form.

"What do we do now?" Keiji asked. It seemed that Fife would be out while he recovered his accurate memories. What would this have to do with their advancements? Was it truly safe to sit around and do nothing now?

"I can take the prince to his room. You are all welcomed to wait in the room next to his. For now, just rest. We'll have a long day ahead of us. Lord Bass and Lord Treble can assist you if that's alright with you, King Vasca?" The dark-haired vampire glanced to her king to look for approval on her request.

Vasca nodded. "Yes, that's fine. Please rest, it's getting dark anyway," he knew that they had been through a lot to even make it to the castle in the time that they had. No doubt all of his comrades needed some relaxation after all the hell they had been through on the battlefield.

XxXxXxXx

After everyone had been in the room for a while in silence, Hiroshima leaned against one of the tables, his butt resting on the corner as he folded his arms over his chest and placed one leg over the other. His mind was deep in thought as he mulled over the events that had taken place on the battlefield.

Chichiri sat on the bed and Zangetsu, Ko and Tsurugi stood a few feet away, talking amongst themselves. Usually such a conversation would be light-hearted, but now their subject matter was quite dark. Lord Bass, Lord Treble and Keiji were in a group behind the legend and Azmy and Undine sat on the floor beside of the bed with their gothic lolita dresses fanned out on the floor, displaying the intricate fabric.

"Well, here we go again," Chichiri sighed. He was a little tired of being launched into war after war and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was placed in yet another war.

"I guess, all we can do is wait," Zangetsu was a little tired as well but he was used to performing tasks such as these. Serenande had made him used to situations like the ones that everyone faced now. He hoped that his skill would come in handy to the group now that they faced a war on this level.

"I need to rest anyway," Hiroshima responded lowly as he took off his shades. Just then, it hit him as to how bright it actually was with them off. "Damn..."

"Are you okay?" Keiji asked.

"I'll be fine. Worry about Fife. He's got it harder than I do," for the angel, it was a simple conversion but for Fife, it was dealing with a whole new life and the lies of the past as well as the conversion back into a vampire. The prince had a lot on his plate at the moment, and no doubt his sleep was anything but pleasant.

"Aw! Hiro-kun is being nice!" Tsurugi teased playfully as he clasped his hands together in joy.

"Shove it, Tsurugi!" Hiroshima snapped. Now was not the time for jokes, especially those that pointed out his kindness.

"Maybe later, huh?" The blonde angel continued to tease, this time in a perverted way. A small, seductive smile caressed his features before he was delivered a harsh glare by the surrounding humans and a questioning one by the two lords. "What?" Tsurugi asked innocently.

"I swear, you guys are a bunch of perverts," Keiji remarked with a sigh. It seemed that everyone had a habit of being dirty-minded in his group.

"Hey! Nothing perverted came out of my mouth!" Ko swiftly placed a hand to her chest and defended herself. It was the angels and Fife who had the dirty minds! She came to expect it from them and she didn't want to be blamed for something that she had no part in.

"I never knew that Fife was a vampire. He blended in so well," the ex-Night Hawk Ninja noted. All of this time, Fife had always appeared human and he never truly had done anything out of the ordinary, aside from casting his spell. There were also no outward signs that he wasn't human, there were no fangs or anything and his memories didn't match the Lord's or even his father's. The whole spell was quite remarkable.

"He didn't remember. He didn't do it on purpose," Hiroshima's condition was something that could not have been helped. The angel took a few steps forward, as if he were going to head out of the room. Green-eyes followed his form as the drummer asked him where he was headed off to. He told Keiji that he was very tired and that he was going to go to bed.

Soon, he came up to Keiji and as he was walking by he could hear the smallest of voices from the boy, telling him to wait. Hiroshima stopped and glanced at the child beside of him.

"Yeah, kid?"

"What's wrong? You seem sad about something," Keiji was concerned with the angel's condition.

"I'm fine," Hiroshima shrugged the situation off once again. He didn't want to trouble him any more then what he already had been. Everyone had been through enough and they had worried about him far more then he wanted. Human kindness was something that he didn't wish to be involved in.

"Don't worry about looking weak, Hiroshima. You were really brave to do what you did back there. You're a good ally, even though I don't know anything about you and if you need any help, I've got your back," Keiji told him. At a time such as this, he thought that the angel really needed to be told something positive. He believed, in little ways, that it helped their relationship as both friends and allies.

"Thanks, kid. That means a lot, especially coming from you," Hiroshima felt a strange warmth gleam inside of him and was unable to identify that feeling. Was this happiness...or something more? He didn't want anyone to be kind to him but he couldn't completely quell the feeling either. Was he growing soft?

Keiji turned his attention to the others in the room as the angel walked out of sight and down the hall. He looked to Azmy and Undine, who were currently in conversation as they sat on the ground. The two of them looked like dainty dolls more then fighters with their attire.

"I wonder if Hiroshima needed any blood," Azmy thought aloud. She had forgotten to ask him before he left.

"He's just tired. Let him rest," Undine advised. It would be good for all of them to do so. Taking it easy after such an ordeal was the best step. They all needed to clear their heads to be able to advance to the next step.

"It would be better if I didn't stay around him anyway...I feel so guilty," the saddened gunslinger cast her gaze to the ground.

"You know Tsurugi hates you, right?" The long-haired girl spoke in her usual tone, a monotone response that showed no favor of either side. It wasn't her business and she hated all of the drama that came from her team mates. She would have rather be done with the whole mess then drag it out anymore then what it had been.

This statement only made Azmy feel worse. Her slate blue eyes sparkled, as if she might cry but the girl held back her tears the best that she could. "I don't want to be hated..." She clenched her eyes shut. "I don't like any of this."

"Then end it," the simple answer slipped from the water-user's lips.

Azmy's eyes widened slightly as her head shot up and slowly turned to face her long-haired companion. What did she mean by that? The phrase caught her off guard and never had she imagine that Undine would tell her something like that! Was she implying that she commit suicide? Perhaps that wasn't it...but what was? What had the true meaning of her statement be?

"I didn't mean anything like that," Undine knew that the girl had taken it the wrong way simply from the expression on her face. To be truthful, she was a little offended that Azmy would imply that she was telling her to go die somewhere without a care in the world. "Simply come to terms with your own feelings." If the girl could accomplish this, then she could end all of her own suffering.

"You guys act like it's so easy to just stop loving someone!" Azmy's voice was loud and upset as she stood up with her fists balled by her sides. She had felt so trapped and helpless. Was the only true way out of this mess to die? She just couldn't take the pressure anymore! No matter how hard she tried or how hard she attempted to keep calm, she could no longer hold her misery back. "It's not like I want these feelings! I already hate myself for having them. You're one of the reasons that I'm miserable here!" After the girl had blurted that out uncontrollably, she instantly regretted blaming her misery on Undine. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Because...Because I took your opportunity from you..."

This was her punishment for betraying Undine.

"I think you need to rest. Besides, everyone is staring at you," Undine replied calmly. Azmy was so worked up over many things, her friendships and hardships, her guilt and fear and the loss of control in her life. She needed to calm down and think to herself for a while or perhaps even sleep it off. If she allowed herself to rest then she'd be able to approach the situation in a calmer manner.

She hoped that the girl would take her advice.

The emotional girl gasped and wildly looked around herself. Everyone's eyes were upon her and they all seemed concerned. She felt as if the world were spinning and slowly coming down on her. The pressure was immense and the wild-eyed girl looked like a deer in the headlights of a speeding car.

"Are you okay?" Chichiri noticed her trembling form.

"I hate this!" The girl shouted as she took off running and crying down the hall, leaving everyone else both confused and concerned.

"Wait!" Keiji called out and attempted to run after her before he was stopped by Undine.

"She's just stressed. Nothing to worry about," the long-haired girl chided. If everyone went to talk to her then they would get the same bad reactions as they have been. Undine was pretty sure that Azmy didn't need anyone getting her way anymore than what they already had. It was the pressure that caused her to react in such paranoid ways.

"What did you do to her, Undine?" Ko asked, irritated. Before Azmy took off, she had been talking to the slate-haired girl. Undine must have said something to hurt the girl's feelings.

"I did nothing to her. She still can't forgive herself for volunteering as Hiroshima's donor at the last minute and she's having relationship troubles. If you should be angry, then be angry at her for trying to steal others boyfriends," the girl narrowed her eyes. Ko was always blaming her for something and it was really beginning to rub her the wrong way.

"What do you mean?" The white-haired girl seemed cynical.

"Ask her."

"I think everyone is a little jostled up from what has happened here in Vampire Country so far. We should all just sleep on it," Zangetsu tried to break up the fight that would break out if no one said anything to seperate the two women. A war was a hard thing to be emotionless about. It even worked on his nerves and he was accustomed to it. It was hard on everybody.

"Quite," Lord Bass agreed. They were having a hard time adjusting and he could tell that they weren't used to such conditions.

"From this point on, it will be just the two of us with you," Treble added. Things may or may not be harder with the two lords present. There were fewer people in their group now so that meant that they had to do more work than usual. A rest would be something that could gather up that extra needed power for the rest of the war at hand. The white winged canine worried for the safety of his team mates, however. One of them had already been converted; he didn't want another happening to occur.

"We are Lords here and the strongest in the land," Bass tried to give the group a little hope. After everything that they had been through, there was no doubt that they needed something to feel secure in.

"We are also King Vasca's advisors. We can tell you anything you want to know. Now would be a good time to strategize," Treble noted. As long as they were resting, a few suggestions on more efficient ways to handle the oncoming armies would be good.

"Strategize?" Chichiri really just wanted to rest. Was to too much to ask?

"You are the ones chosen by King Vasca, who will put an end to this Time of Ending," Treble explained to them.

"We should wait until Hiroshima and Azmy are awake. I don't want to leave them out," Keiji managed to save the blonde's fried brain from having to do any more work than it should. He silently thanked him for that. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave the two of them in the dark anyway. If they were to do something, then they would do it as a team.

"Why do you care about Hiroshima? He's a jerk," Ko really didn't know what went on through Keiji's mind but she didn't get the logic behind protecting something that could destroy lives so meaninglessly.

"You still think that? Even after he saved us so many times?" Keiji narrowed his eyes and frowned. The boy folded his arms over his chest, disappointed in the singer for still not getting it. Even after all this time, the girl refused to put her prejudice behind and accept him as their team mate.

"It doesn't mean that I still don't think he's an ass," the girl stuck out her bottom lip and looked irritated.

"Is he being an ass or is he telling the truth?" Tsurugi decided to defend his lover.

"What?" Ko looked over her shoulder at the angel who stood behind her.

"Not everyone likes the truth. What some see as unjustifiable others see as righteous. Don't forget, we all have our own sense of justice," the blonde angel smiled calmly at her.

"Well Hiroshima is quite accustomed on what it takes to survive. He's been adventuring before," Bass noted.

"We know that it's hard," Chichiri wasn't too keen on being schooled in adventuring 101 again. They had been on many adventures and being told that it was hard but things would get better was a load of crap, even if it came from someone in a warring country.

"But do you know how hard it is? Have you ever been on a mission?" The first time was different from someone who had been on many missions.

"Yes and I am now," Undine answered.

"I haven't. Have you, Ko?" Chichiri glanced to the girl in question.

Ko frowned, as if something had been tugging at her conscience that she couldn't quite say aloud. Turning away quickly, she answered. "I don't feel like discussing it." Her voice was low and disgruntled.

"Huh?" The blonde male blinked a little in confusion. He thought that the question was simple enough. What could it be that she didn't feel like discussing.

"As a ninja, I can agree with Hiroshima," Zangetsu spoke up. He had been on many missions and he was accustomed to the gain of victory and the loss of lives. In many ways, he knew exactly why the legend acted the way that he did towards many situations. "That is very hard to do this without thinking of your own personal feelings."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" This was the first time, aside from Keiji that he actually heard someone else agree with the psychotic angel's methods of handling war-like situations.

"As a ninja, you are not allowed to put your personal feelings ahead of your task. If you don't want to do something or feel that it isn't right, you can't just back out. A ninja, or assassin in Hiroshima's case, are considered tools by most people," the ex-Night Hawk explained. If they were paid to do a job, then they must do it and feel nothing, even if they were to kill something as innocent as a child. It was this regret that they wore on their shoulders and because of this pain; it was hard for them to grow close to most people for fear of killing them off someday too.

Simply being affiliated with someone could cost them their lives.

By being distant, he figured that it was Hiroshima's way of not throwing anyone into jeopardy.

"Dude, that's sad," Chichiri didn't know if he could do something like throw away your humanity and kill someone you were close to. It kind of made him feel a little bad for the legend. There was no doubt that Hiroshima had old scars but he had no idea that some of them ran that deep.

"As a defense, it's in human nature to harden your heart. If you act like you don't care, then you don't have to get hurt," Undine explained.

"But that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt. People hurt on the inside because of that all of the time. I'd imagine that you'd have a lot of guilt, especially if you had to kill someone you loved or a friend. Besides, Azmy doesn't act like a hard ass and she's a ninja," Ko stated, a little too well. It was almost as if she'd been through similar situations. Otherwise, why would she defend it?

"Neither do I but everyone takes things in different ways," Zangetsu informed. That's what made them different. He decided to still let the human part of himself flourish and Hiroshima, for whatever reason, decided to kill it off. Both of them had different ways of dealing with the pain and that's why they turned out differently.

"You shouldn't judge. Hiroshima has a lot of old scars," Treble knew this, more than anyone. He had seen the human side of Hiroshima and knew of the great hardships that he had endured.

"For heaven's sake, he was a hero," Bass defended. He had still saved everyone from the destruction that followed the Crimson and Clover swords. For that act alone, he didn't need to be spoken bitterly of.

"He isn't in Saesugawa," to Undine, the fact was still a fact. The truth was harsh and bitter, but nonetheless, it was what it was.

"Well, he ruined that when he was young but we all make mistakes," Tsurugi knew that not everyone could forgive what Hiroshima had done but he wanted to remind them to place themselves in his shoes for a few moments. After all, how would they feel if they were being judged for their pasts based on their present and future actions.

"Exactly, so why does he have to come down so hard on us when we make them?" Ko asked. It was all but fair. If he wanted any kind of redemption and forgiveness from her, then he would treat her as an equal, not something lowly and vulgar as he had before.

"Perhaps he doesn't want a repetition of his own past coming out of you all," Treble informed. Many people who turned out badly and ended up regretting it later seemed a little paranoid of someone else suffering through their pain. In many ways, Hiroshima seemed to be doing just that.

"He should let us do what we want. He gets that luxury," the girl spat bitterly.

"Tell him that," Keiji piped up, even more disappointed with her then he was previously. "If you have a problem then tell him about it. We're a team. We should try to act like one. I'm going to bed. You all should too." He remarked sternly as he turned his back to his team mates.

"It would be for the best," Bass agreed, though kinder then Keiji's phrase was said.

"Goodnight, everyone," Tsurugi bid his team mates a good night.

"Goodnight, gents and ladies," the British-speaking demon was right behind him as they headed off to sleep and rebuild their strength for facing Baratone. After all, none of them knew what tomorrow would bring.

XxXxXxXx

Hiroshima could not sleep, even though he had told them that he was going to rest. The angel sat outside in the cold air against the leg of a kneeling vampire statue that overlooked the battleground below from beside of the large doors that led to the outside. He stared at the water that rushed beneath the bridge in front of him. It seemed to calm his nerves as he stared desolately at it in a moment of silence.

"Can't sleep? He suddenly heard a mature, feminine voice intone from behind him. The angel quickly glanced over his shoulder to see Shizume. She had slipped through his defenses somehow. He didn't even hear her sneak up on him and she was wearing high heels.

"I've got a lot of things on my mind," he replied.

"Thank you for helping us," Shizume had never had the chance to formally thank them and decided to use this as an opportunity.

"I owe King Vasca. He's a good friend of mine."

"He's a good king," the woman agreed as she stood by the angel's side and looked out over the battlefield with him.

"I agree."

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" She glanced down to the green-haired angel for a response.

"Not at all."

"Your neck, can I see it?" Shizume asked.

"Sure," Hiroshima leaned his head to the side, revealing the still healing bite wounds. Since his conversion, his wounds had not healed in the three days that it would have taken normally. They were still in the mid-healing process and were no more than scabbed over.

The purple-eyed woman placed a hand gently on his shoulder and peered at the wounds. "You were bitten deeply," she noted.

"Yeah, it still hurts."

"Do you need any blood?" Shizume was a little concerned. Even now, he seemed sluggish in nature.

"No."

"You act like you hate being a vampire."

"I do, my power is severely limited now. I'm nothing but a burden to those kids. My powers can't be used properly and unrestrained. I need blood to function," the tone in his tired voice made it all too clear. He wanted nothing more than to be the man that he was. Hiroshima would not take back what he had done to save Tsurugi but he didn't like the consequences associated with being dependant on other's blood to perform either.

"It will be hard this way. Many don't like the change. I didn't either...Depending on this blood of another...and being light sensitive. It's hard," the dark-haired vampire replied.

"You were turned?" Ice blue eyes stared into deep purple.

"Yes, by King Vasca. I wanted to be a vampire," Shizume stated and smiled softly.

"Speaking of King Vasca, did he enable us to teleport at one point in time?" Hiroshima asked. He had always wanted to find out what caused he and Azmy to be able to perform the tasks that they had when they fought against Negreboshi, Occarina and Remi in the underground cave.

"Yes, he saw that you were in danger."

"I heard him mention 'A Time of Ending'. Are you planning on this event being that specific war?" The angel questioned, if so, then his part in the entire situation would be more important than he had previously thought.

"King Vasca prophesized it so."

"So, this is the final war between Sumeria and Baklava."

"The war that will turn people against each other. The weak will be eliminated," Shizume told him in a wise tone. She seemed very serious about the entire situation and she didn't seem like the type to take something so literally unless it had a specific purpose. Hiroshima frowned and furrowed his eye brows and closed his eyes.

"You know, don't you?" The black-haired vampire's gaze shifted to the ground as she too, frowned. Her long, straight hair hung over her shoulders and half-way shrouded her white face.

Hiroshima was silent. The subject was painful to say the least and above all things, he was helpless to stop it.

"Someone close to you is about to die...and you of all people cannot help them. You cannot sleep because your visions plague you of their death," Shizume sympathized with the angel. In many ways, she could only imagine the immense guilt of knowing the fate of an ally and not having a choice but to watch them die.

"They have plagued me two weeks prior. Death is something I'm not allowed to alter...all I can do is pray for a miracle," the angel closed his eyes, silently wishing for that miracle to come.

...To Be Continued....