Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Into The Chaos ( Chapter 64 )

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

By: MellyN

XxXxXx

Sacrifice

Chapter 64: Into the Chaos

By: Melissa Norvell

XxXxXx

'Prince Vasca!' The blue-haired woman shouted after she had taken in all that had happened within the few seconds of their lives as a black-clad figure landed promptly in front of them. The figure was a tall, lean man, dressed in a long, clergy-type outfit. He wore glasses and had long, flowing black hair. This strange man wore a golden cross necklace that gleamed in the dim lighting of Sumeria.

'Stay back, vampire!' The man declared as he held his stance at attention, ready to strike if Vasca dared to take another step towards the girl.

Vasca unsheathed his sword in order to defend himself. He was wounded but he had promised to protect this woman and he would not allow her to fall into enemy hands. 'I'm her protector.'

'Then maybe you should stop,' Amante's voice was the last one that he had expected to cut in.

'What?' The prince was more than confused at this girl's actions. One minute, she wanted to be protected and now she didn't? What was up with that? What was her true intentions?

'I'm not like you,' Amante sounded defeated. 'I'll go with him and I may return to you when you defeat the Holy Army. I'm rightfully one of them, you know.'

'You betrayed me. Why?' To Vasca, none of this made any sense. Things went by too fast for him not to question anything. This girl was strange and she didn't appear to be Catholic in the slightest. He wasn't one to judge but there were aspects of her that weren't even human. True, she appeared human enough, but he could not look past the technicalities. Her attitude alone was suspicious, whether or not she was on his side or not. Despite what she was saying, there were many things he questioned. Amante intrigued him, to say the least.

The girl simply smiled at him but it wasn't a real smile.

'Now, I shall finish you off!' The long-haired man lunged to charge at the prince and finish him off, but he was stopped by a small hand that held him back.

It was Amante, who had still been wearing that false expression. 'Let's leave without a word more. I owe him my life so do not try and take his.'

'Hey, I know you,' the man turned and stared at the navy-haired woman's face. He knew that he had seen her somewhere but until now, he hadn't been able to place a finger on it.

'Yes, I've been listening to your brother's ministries for two years now,' Amante told him placidly. Everything about her actions was suspicious, from her false smile to that peaceful voice and look in her lazy eyes.

Something wasn't right about any of this.

'You're a Catholic?' Vasca was unsure of what the answer would be, but he had a hint.

'You could say that,' Amante placed a finger to her lips and smiled coyly at the vampire.

"They walked off," Vasca explained further. "Amante stayed in Baklava with him for two months as the war raged on and I could not stop thinking of her. She was so beautiful and mysterious. I had wondered why she tricked me and why she so easily sided with them. I soon found my answers one rainy night..."

Amante, soaked with rain, ended up at the large doors at the front of the castle. The rain beat down against her body. It was cold and dark. The storm was one of the more violent ones that held high-speed, howling winds and fierce lightening strikes in abundance. She did her best to keep her simple black dress held down as she used the large door knockers to bang on the soaked, wooden surface.

A young Lord Bass, easily in his twenties, answered the door to see the drenched woman smiling at him. The dog-demon glanced over his shoulder to the prince, who had been dazed as he glanced out of a large window nearby. He let the long-haired woman in and approached the prince.

'Lord Vasca, I say, there is some woman awaiting your appearance outside of the throne room., Bass told him as he walked down the many red carpets that aligned the large room's walkways.

'A woman?' The man questioned wistfully as his navy blue eyes watched the soft patter of the rain against the window pane.

'You're daydreaming again, sire,' the winged canine noted, holding a finger in the air.

Vasca then looked to him, paying full attention to the British speaking one as he asked what the girl looked like.

'Well, she has incredibly long blue hair and eyes of the same color. She's very tall and slender-' Bass couldn't get any more of a description out before Vasca had cut him off. He told his advisor to let the woman in.

'But sire-' Bass began to question, but was cut off by a harsh command.

'Do as I say, Lord Bass.'

The white dog-man knew when he was beaten. If his prince really wanted to let the woman in based on such a loose description then he had no choice but to allow her to come in. He didn't want any of this to be some sort of plot or trick but at the same time, he trusted Vasca's judgment.

Bass sighed. 'Very well, I get it.'

There truly was no arguing with that. Without a word more, the advisor walked slowly towards the chamber doors to let Amante in. When he got mid-way there, he heard Vasca say his name. Bass stopped dead in his tracks and answered.

'Yes, sire?'

The black-haired prince's features softened and he smiled gently at the winged canine. 'I know you worry about me and as my advisor, you should but please don't worry.'

With that, Bass finished his approach and opened the door where Amante stood on the outside. 'Sorry to keep you waiting, my dear. Please come in.' He politely stood to the side and held the door open as the long-haired woman walked in and glanced around at the elaborate surroundings. Her eyes laid sight on the prince and it seemed as if, at the same time, his eyes connected with hers.

'Amante?' He could barely believe that it was her! She dared to show her face after all of that time? What could she have possibly come here to tell him?

'Happy to see me?' Her tone was not the same as it had been before. There was something foreign about it...something realistic.

'You came back?' Vasca had not believed that she would. It had been three months since they had met and everything seemed to be flowing back to him as if they had met yesterday. The prince had thought that he would never get his questions answered and now, here she was in front of him as if time had went in reverse.

Now was the time to find out all that he had wondered the past few months.

'You defeated the Holy Armies and I accomplished my goal as well,' the woman told him in a pleased tone. Her voice was raw and her feelings real, instead of the false calm that she had worn before. Had she been faking? Was this really the true Amante? What was she hiding and why? There were among many of the questions that he had been mulling over.

'What?' He asked.

'You don't know? I'm a vampire, just a simple rouge that crept into the Catholic village of Baklava. I'm on your side, my prince.' Amante placed a hand across her lower stomach and bowed politely. 'I didn't mean to make you think that I was a spy but I couldn't tell you that I was in front of him, now could I?' Amante smiled, and for the first time, he noticed that she had small fangs. They weren't long enough to distinguish her as a vampire but not faint enough to recognize her as a human either.

So, that was the reason behind her mask.

'You couldn't. I didn't think you'd come back,' the prince responded.

'I wanted to see you again. I've been thinking of you,' Amante told him with a smile. The prince was skeptical of whether or not to believe this woman. She had lied to him time after time and this would be no exception to the rules. He had to keep on his guard, even though Vasca secretly found her statement flattering.

'You have?'

'Why do you look so surprised?' Amante ran a hand through the long hair that hung over her shoulder.

'I thought-'

'I've admired you from a far but I am no blue blood.' Was that some kind of hint? Vasca couldn't tell what angle this woman was coming from. She was so contradictory that he didn't know what to believe. What was real and what was false? The line had been blurred by her attitude on both the light and dark of the situation.

Then, it hit him.

'You had a plan, didn't you?' Vasca asked. That had to be why she had been acting so falsely before. Even though her intentions were a little blurred, he knew that this was the real Amante.

The woman smiled. 'Perhaps, I'm just showing off my skills, my sweet prince.'

Vasca blushed at her statement of adoration. 'What precisely did you do?'

'I pulled a few heartstrings,' Amante smiled darkly. 'I made that idiot Baratone think that I loved him, which is a laughing matter in it's own, right? Why have a human,' The ivory-skinned woman walked over, placing a feminine hand on his chest and leaning in close to the prince's face as she purred, 'when I can have a prince like you?'

'I think we'll be good partners.' Vasca smiled. He couldn't resist the captivating woman's devilish charm and when he thought about it, it was the perfect situation to get to know her.

'It's definitely going to be the start of something good,' Amante smiled, and for the first time since he had known her, Vasca could see her true emotion, written on her face with no hint of faux emotion.

XxXxXxXx

"How did Amante get that mirror?" Keiji asked a few moments after Vasca's explanation of their first encounter.

"It was an heirloom of her mother's," Vasca replied.

"So, we have to protect it, and you," Fife glanced to his father.

"You shouldn't fight in this war," the king leveled his son with a serious expression. "It's dangerous for you to be seen by Baratone. This is the very reason why I sent you away, because they were trying to assassinate you and they will do it again." The vampire king was very worried and fearful of his son's involvement in the war. No doubt that the Holy Armies have seen him and knew of his return but now they knew that he had entered the castle, and no doubt would try to find some sort of way inside.

There would be no telling who would try and take him out. All of this time, Vasca had fought so hard to protect him, and he had gone through hell in a hand basket to do it. Now, now it seemed as if he were simply throwing him to the dogs.

"I'm travelling with these people and as long as I am a part of this group, I will do my share of the work," Fife took a few steps forward and held his arms out to the team of odd people who stood behind him and smiled kindly.

Vasca looked to the ground. He knew that he couldn't stop his son, if that was his true wish. "I can't stop you, can I?" The king asked with a slight smile.

"King Vasca," Hiroshima stepped up and placed his arm across his chest. "Don't worry about Fife. We'll take care of him." The angel knew that Vasca was suffering from a lot of complications that had to do with past wars and he hoped that his words would help calm his dear friend's nerves.

"We've brought him this far. We don't bail on him now," Keiji added. He too, didn't want to see Vasca in such a shamble.

"Most certainly," Bass agreed happily, "this is, after all, a Time of Ending."

"Yes, but whose end will it be?" Treble asked darkly, which caused Chichiri to shudder in horror at the thought of what those morbid words could possibly mean.

"Don't say that creepy stuff to me," He squealed.

"We'll stop Baratone before he can get your mirror," Tsurugi's voice nearly sounded like a promise more than a statement. They had not come this far for nothing. He knew that they had a mission to accomplish and that was what they were going to do and at all costs. It wasn't just Vasca who depended on them, nor was it Vespa. There were several more important things that tied into the entire equation.

"Can I ask you another favor?" Vasca looked sorrowfully up at the blonde angel that stood a few feet in front of and to the side of him. "Could you get her ashes back, if they haven't already been disposing of. Can I at least have her urn?"

At that moment, a burst of winds that resembled fire flowed into the room and swirled around in a fit of rage. Around and around they went in a circle that held the pattern of a whirlpool and then, the flames dissipated to reveal an old acquaintance of the group. The black-haired king's head shot towards the fire in shock, then the shock subsided when he had found it to only be the Red Witch of Zameln.

"Red Witch Vespa, what are you doing here?" Vasca was little confused. It was not like Vespa to make house calls, nor was it like her to simply appear at random. There was always a reason that she appeared whether or not it made sense to anyone but her.

"Why didn't you help us before?" Keiji asked. All that time, they had really needed a hand in fighting the Holy Army and Vespa would not come to their aid. What good was she if she didn't provide any help at a time of such disparity. At a time where they had needed her the most.

"You need the experience," the red-haired witch glanced from Keiji, to the legend and Fife, who stood a distance in front of him. "I see that two of you have changed."

"No thanks to you," Hiroshima agreed with Keiji, she could have helped them and they would not be in the spot that they were in. He could have easily destroyed the Catholic Army by now and the war would have been over. Things would have gone a lot more smoothly for them and a lot more painless.

"Don't be so scornful. This may teach you a lesson," red lips smiled pleasantly. She knew what the legend's next reaction to her statement would be.

"What the hell is it supposed to teach me?" Hiroshima asked. It was to be expected.

"Not to use your powers the way that you are with limitations, you won't be encouraged to needlessly slaughter people," Vespa replied in an amused voice. A part of her enjoyed getting a riel out of the green-haired angel. At times, it was the highlight of her day.

"You sick, twisted bitch!" Hiroshima, on the other hand, thought quite differently about the matter. To him, it was a handicap that he was unwilling to accept. He could not stay bitter, but he thought of it as punishment rather than a helpful tool. To him, it was like putting a muzzle on a dog and sending it out to be mercilessly ripped to shred by other, more vicious dogs.

Vespa simply smiled. Perhaps one day, Hiroshima would get her intentions but for now, he simply had to deal with it. "That's not why I'm here, however."

"Yeah right, you like seeing other's pain."

"No, just yours," the woman smiled smugly.

"What!?"

"They argue like a married couple," Ko watched the two squabble. It was amusing in a way. She hadn't seen Hiroshima so fired up with someone as he was towards the witch. In many ways, it seemed as if the two were old friends simply picking on each other in good fun.

"Vespa does like to pick on him." Chichiri agreed.

The witch then turned to Vasca and said his name. The king answered her with a question of 'yes' in return. Upon hearing the question, the witch informed him that they would be willing to return Amante's ashes to him, but only on one condition. Before she could even tell him what the condition was, he agreed to make any sacrifice to get them back. The red-haired witch then told him that she would recover the ashes in exchange for the mirror he possessed.

"What?" It didn't seem fair to Fife. His father would be giving her the only thing he had to remember his mother by in exchange for a hunt that may not end up successful. In that aspect, he would lose all things that reminded him of her, all things that he could physically hold on to.

"You can't do that!" Keiji protested. "That's his mother's!"

Vespa glanced at the two boys. "It would be better if the mirror was back in Zameln. It is your job to gather these items. You can't afford to be bias in situations like these." If they went around doing this in every case, no matter how desperate the other side was to have the item and no matter what the reason, if they were supposed to return to their origin then that was what had to be.

"That's blackmail," Keiji glared at the witch. He had yet to figure out what her scheme was, but this wasn't an easy matter to resolve.

"Not necessarily. I will give the mirror back, since it is so sentimental to you," the witch promised. She would not hold the item forever. She simply did not want it to fall into Soel's hands. The sorceress had already acquired so many of the items on her own. It was dangerous to leave any of them floating around or things would be harder on her missionaries.

"When can I have it back?" Vasca questioned as he picked up the mirror and held it to his chest. He looked torn between giving it up and keeping it for himself but he truly would be happier if he could have Amante's urn. Plus he had already stated that he would give it up and he would not go back on his word now.

"When this group finishes their journey," Vespa informed. "If they are successful, I will give it back but if they aren't...I cannot return it." The woman closed her green eyes and tilted her head down. She didn't want to think of what could happen if the mission failed and quickly tried to rid her mind of such a thing.

"So, we have to win against Soel," Fife knew that a lot more was on the line then he could comprehend and now, he had seen it for something more then what it was.

"I'd rather have her remains then this object," the vampire king held the black mirror out the Red Witch of Zameln and looked away painfully. "Although it is painful to give it up."

"You'll be returned the favor by being allowed to have it returned," Vespa took the object from him.

"Please, take good care of it."

"Of course," the woman smiled. "I'll also be doing you a favor. This way, Baratone cannot fulfill his wish and you wife shall rest in peace."

"What are you, a super hero or something?" Hiroshima asked. It seemed almost as though this was some, pure, innocent actions but he knew better then to take things as they seemed. This was far from anything holy and pure and he didn't feel as if it should be taken that way.

"You can't talk," Tsurugi smiled playfully, trying to chide his lover's irritation. "Hiro-kun's been really nice lately."

"Oh, can it!" The spiky-haired angel shot.

"Let's not waste any time," Fife stated, a look of determination was written all over his face. He knew now what he must do.

"Quite, let us go to Bartone. We have a few old scores to settle," Bass looked to the group.

Vespa wished them good luck and she held the black mirror to her chest and smiled over her shoulder as her form was consumed in a whirl of flames, then disappeared, going back to Zameln. As the flames subsided the group could faintly hear her tell them that she wished them luck.

"Let's go!" Keiji said with great enthusiasm as everyone took off running down the halls.

"Are you ready for this?" Ko glanced to Undine, who turned her sights back to their destination.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Undine replied. One could never be fully ready for anything and she knew that all too well.

"Well, we should give it our all," Zangetsu put in his two scents.

"Time to kick some bootay," Chichiri had rested up and was ready to go out into that army and show them what he was made of.

"What the fuck is "bootay"?" Hiroshima asked with a strange look on his face, clearly confused by his statement. He had never heard such a word in his life.

Tsurugi giggled at his mate's inability to understand slang. "It's slang, Hiro-kun."

Fife stopped at the doors and slowly opened them. What they revealed caused the prince to go slightly wide-eyed at what lay before him. "What?"

Bass fell shortly behind him, and upon coming to his side, grew surprised as well. "Good gracious! Those bloody bastards met us at the door!"

"Shitfuckdamn!" Hiroshima hadn't anticipated this and he'd thought that surely they would have the barrier to hide behind but it seemed as if they had found a way to get through the barrier. There was only one thing to do in this situation, use force. He unsheathed the Crimson Blade and charged into the opposing side. "Let's run over the little shits!"

"Let's go," Fife unsheathed his own sword and followed behind him.

"I'm right behind you," Keiji called out as he followed the two males.

"Come on," Undine ran to the door, then glanced behind her to see Azmy. The gunslinger was simply standing there as if she was either zoned out or didn't know what to do. Her slate blue eyes gazed over the battle field as her comrades began to duel with the Holy Army once more. "You fool. You're being weak. You should be down there with your master."

The short-haired girl gasped as reality hit her. She was so busy worrying about her own state that she had forgotten that Hiroshima needed her. Just as reality had hit her, so had her disturbing dream. The hands that ran over her nude body as she blushed and moaned under his strong touch.

"Undine..."

The long-haired female glanced at her.

"I want to end it. I've gone too far," the gunslinger's voice was full of unstable emotion and her eyes showed disparity and agony.

Undine narrowed her eyes and the thought of slapper her reeled through her mind several times but she held back. If she had been Hiroshima's donor, she would have never acted as restless as Azmy. "Don't you dare do anything stupid," Undine warned.

"I'm a disgrace," Azmy downsized herself. She deserved it. The girl betrayed her mother, friends, Hiroshima's trust and Tsurugi's respect.

"Shut up. The only way you're being a disgrace is by acting so foolishly. Is this how you treat someone who relies on your blood to live?" Undine couldn't stand it anymore. She told Azmy exactly how she felt. It was true that Undine was not bitter about the martyr situation but she never expected nor wanted this little drama to flare up either. Not to mention the fact that Azmy took her phrase in all of the wrong senses. Not only that, she thought about ending her own life. "You should treat him with more respect them that. Your shame is his shame, don't forget that."

"Warg!" Chichiri yelled so loudly that it caused both women to direct their attention to the battle field.

"I'm coming!" Undine called out as she ran down to assist him.

"I'm...shameful..." Azmy said in a barely audible tone. She glanced down as her puffy bangs shaded her eyes. Undine was right. She was simply shaming Hiroshima more then he'd already been shamed by his legend. The short-haired gunslinger knew that he was in pain; she could read it on his face. Azmy knew that Hiroshima wanted so badly to be accepted and he could not accomplish that goal with a weakling like her for a martyr.

XxXxXx

"Dragon Blade Dance!" Hiroshima called out as his large, red energy blades ripped through the Holy Army, wounding or killing all that were in their path.

While everyone had been battling against the soldiers, Baratone snuck around and managed to make his way to the castle gates. The long-haired priest looked upon the wicked structure with delight. Realizing his dream would be closer then he thought possible. "I'm close to the castle! I can finally get that mirror and Amante will be mine." Baratone then took a glance at his army as the war continued behind him. "Those fools have no idea that they are helping me resurrect a vampire."

Baratone smirked darkly to himself. Everything was going according to plan and the only true trial that lay ahead of him was Vasca. Just then, a sword flew past his head and lodged itself into the wooden doors. The man's eyes widened as he turned around swiftly to see Keiji standing a few feet behind him.

"Give me back those remains," the boy ordered with a serious expression written on his face. He had spotted the priest as he was tearing through his soldiers. Keiji had an idea that Baratone would try something like this, and it turned out that he was right.

The black-clad priest simply laughed at him. "You think you can take them from me?"

Keiji charged at him. He didn't really want to hear what Baratone had to say. The green-haired teen would rather simply get to the real point - the fact that he had to defeat him, no matter what. Not just for his personal gain, or Vespa's plans. This was something that he wanted to do for Fife so that he could have some closure in his life.

"As a matter a fact, I do," the green-haired drummer punched at him, but the priest skillfully dodged. The teen boy then tried to get a kick in on him, but Baratone simply moved to the side, allowing his foot to shoot over his shoulder. The priest grabbed his foot and attempted to throw Keiji, but the body maneuvered his body and managed to kick the long-haired man in the back of the head, which caused him to release his grip. Keiji landed on the ground, preformed a hand spring and popped back up into a defensive position.

"Brat! Holy-" Baratone held his golden cross to the offending boy but his words were cut off as a long, whip-like structure wrapped around his neck. "Gack!" The priest grabbed at his throat as his eyes widened.

It was Keiji's ponytail. He managed to use it as a noose and pulled it tightly, chocking the priest. Baratone closed one eye and fell to one knee.

'I'm choking...at this rate..I'll die...' The struggling priest's thoughts were beginning to get the best of him, when he glanced downward, trying to keep his blurring vision in check, he spied a sword that lay nearby and quickly grabbed it, slicing himself free of the long ponytail. Baratone then turned around swiftly and managed to barely graze Keiji's chest, ripping his blue coat and under shirt; drawing a small amount of blood.

"Keiji! Flame Strike!" Bass called out as he slashed his sword through the air, cutting it and producing flames that darted towards the priest a high speed. The nimble rebel Catholic managed to block them by shoving his hands out to either side and creating an invisible barrier.

The flames violently swirled around the outside of the barrier while the black-haired man inside smiled wickedly at the two opposers. "Did you think I'd let you beat me this time, demon? I'll kill you all yet!"

XxXxXx

Chichiri bashed two soldier's heads together with powerful force.

"Dark Art: Ninja Screw!" Zangetsu called out as a black spiral similar to the end of a screw made its way towards a portion of the army, killing a few soldiers as their bloody screams marked their last moment on the mortal plain.

"Ice Spire!" Undine summoned a giant spire of ice that shot from the ground, skewering a few men on its razor sharp point.

Tsurugi held a ball of quickly forming winds and shouted the word 'gale' before releasing it as if he were throwing a baseball. The small ball of winds burst forth and spread out, blasting those who could not defend against it into a massive wall of water that the long-haired woman had formed below. The blonde angel observed this and then looked towards Undine as the cog wheels of his mind turned.

"Hmmm...I have an idea. Hey, Undine-chan!"

"What is it?" The female looked up at him in question.

"What do you get when you mix water and wind?" Tsurugi smiled and hoped that she knew what he was trying to get at.

"I don't have time for your irrelevant riddles," Undine had more important things to do than play games with the blonde. Her main focus was taking out soldiers and quickly. She would have expected such a charade from Fife but not Tsurugi.

This wasn't the answer that Tsurugi wanted. "It's not irrelevant..."

"A hurricane?" The girl guessed. She knew that he would not be satisfied unless he got an answer. Undine could see that Tsurugi was just intent as his boyfriend was about things like this. The female wondered if this was a trait of angels.

"No," Tsurugi noticed Fife write out a magic spell called 'Pierce' that sliced through a soldier's chest and splattered his blood across the battlefield.

"A typhoon?" Undine guessed again.

The angel smiled and pointed a finger in the air, signifying that her answer was correct. "You've got it!"

"I get it. Let's combine our attacks and see what happens."

To Be Continued...