Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Execution ( Chapter 78 )

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

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 78: Execution

By: Melissa Norvell

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The cell door opened early in the morning as everyone's glances were averted to the source of the action. Many guards flooded into the cell towards the group with serious expressions.

'This is it.' Tsurugi thought to himself.

'We can't try to escape now, I've got to wait.' Keiji paced himself. This was the final hour. The only thing that lay ahead of them was the abrasive feel of rope and cold steel of shackles.

"Come on, let's get a move on." One of the guards told them as they were shackled and chained so that they would not escape.

Chichiri looked at the shackles in awe. He had never seen such a primitive form of binding and he was shocked that he was put in them. How would they escape with shackles on? This was definitely something he had not considered beforehand. 'Shackles! Oh great! How are we going to get away now?'

'This doesn't look good.' Fife thought to himself as his navy blue eyes gazed upon the shackles around his wrists.

"It's a shame that we have to kill you." Another one of the guards remarked. "You put up a pretty good fight for a team of kids."

The group of allies walked out of the cell. They walked through the damp hallways, as the sounds of chains dragging would be heard as they each tried to walk with the ankle shackles and chains that drug behind them. Through the streets, the traveled, surrounded by guards who watched their every move and wherever they went, they drew a large crowd of onlookers attention.

All around them, the townspeople whispered things about them, for they knew what was about to happen to whomever walked the streets in shackles. Not to mention that Tsurugi was, in fact, an angel. It was reason enough to get them talking.

Soon, the group came to the large hanging posts that were in the center of town. They gazed at the large structure, which looked more like a twisted form of a wooden stage then an actual hanging post. There were several nooses and below each one was a retractable platform. When the word was said, then each of the platforms would pull away and death would be eminent.

A crowd of people gathered around the hanging posts with malicious and even happy looks on their faces, and many of them held their makeshift weapons. Ten Sao Tami sat on a velvet-lined throne slightly to the right of the stage that was rose up above the spectators. Out of anyone there, he had the best view and the old Chinese man gazed on as he stroked his white beard and held his precious feather with a pleasant smile on his face.

"No way! We're going to be hung?" Chichiri knew that the hanging posts existed all over town, but he had only thought they were for angels.

"Look at all of those people," Zangetsu gazed over the vast crowds. It was as if the whole village had gathered just to see their deaths.

"Maybe Hiroshima got away safely," Fife glanced around. "I don't see him anywhere." The vampire had thought that surely the angel would have been there with them all if they were going to be executed. He could only hope that the legend got away safely.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Ten Sao Tami stood up from his platform. "Now, I've brought you all here to witness the execution of these believers. Here in Shaffon, there are very few people who enter and believe in angels, much less bring them into town with them. It is strictly forbidden to come here if you believe. Now, let them be an example of what happens to those who believe that dare come here."

The crowd cheered and clapped at his grand speech as the group were led to the lowest level of the stage.

"What kind of sick place is this?" Fife hung his head.

"I agree with you," Keiji stated as they were all shoved down to sit on the harsh, wooden floor below.

"Silence!" The guard harshly shoved Ko down.

"Ouch!" The white-haired ninja let out a cry as she fell to her knees, her single white ponytail trailed behind her.

"Damn it," Chichiri cursed as he hit the floor.

"Who wants to go first?" Ten Sao Tami asked slyly.

Tsurugi was silent and turned her head away from the crowd. He couldn't bear to look at people who gazed upon him with such hatred in their eyes.

"Like we're going to volunteer or something," Keiji growled lowly. The nerve of that old fart to think that one of them would actually volunteer to die!

"Huh?" Zangetsu looked to his left where the stairs had been to see Hiroshima come into view with a couple of guards. The angel walked wobbly to the stage and was shoved to the ground. The battered being fell to his knees and slightly winced at the excruciating pain that was sent through his body.

"Oh, I almost forgot. We found your friend," the old man noted, as if the idea itself was a miniscule task.

"Hiroshima!" Everyone exclaimed in mixed emotions. They were shocked that he was alive, but happy to see him nonetheless.

"Hiro-kun!" Tsurugi looked at his mate with widened eyes. It was something that he had not seen in a long time. Hiroshima had been in bad conditions before but he looked all but dead. The spiky-haired angel could barely concentrate to keep awake. It was nearly too much to bear as the blonde angel fought back his tears.

"You…" Hiroshima said in a worn voice as he looked at his team mates. A small part of him didn't want them to see him like this. He was supposed to be their protector and remain strong for them but another part of him was reminded that his physical body was only made of mere flesh. Perhaps they should see him like this. Perhaps they would understand a little more if they did.

At least he would die with people who had cared about him, and that thought alone would be more than enough to put his mind at ease when he dangled from that noose. He had lost and was unable to rewrite fate. Hiroshima just regretted that he had to drag everyone down with him.

"Hiro-kun…" Tsurugi's gaze was crestfallen and his voice low with sorrow.

"So, you got caught too. I thought I hard you talking in the cell across from me," Hiroshima noted.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ko asked. If he knew that they were there, why wouldn't he call for help or at least let them know that he was there? Was he trying to be prideful again?

"I was too weak to speak," the spiky-haired had tried to speak but his words came out as a whisper and never reached through the dark abyss to let them know that he was there.

"What did they do to you?" Fife dared to ask, even though he really didn't want to know. The very thought of what the angel might have went through disturbed him a great deal.

"They tortured me because I wouldn't tell them where you were," Hiroshima didn't want to tell them what really happened. It would only worry them and some things were better left unsaid. He didn't want to see any more sorrow then what he had now.

Keiji turned away in shame. If only he had done something to help Hiroshima, then it wouldn't have happened. Hiroshima wouldn't look like this if he could have helped him. But how could he have? The one thing he tried to sacrifice meant nothing to that witch and now they were going to-

"Don't turn away. I hate it when people turn their sights from me," the battered angel was nostalgically sad when the boy turned away. It was something that stuck him deep and stemmed from childhood. People had always thought of him as a monster and turned their sights from him in hated and disgust. The ones who could look at him, even in his worst, were those that truly cared for him.

"Hiroshima…" The green-haired boy reluctantly turned around to face him.

"Sorry that I couldn't protect you."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't protect us from this," Zangetsu replied sympathetically. He didn't think that this was a situation that anyone could have been saved from.

"I'm supposed to."

"I think you're taking this team stuff to the extreme," Keiji told him. The angel was beating himself up because he felt powerless against the situation. In many ways, the drummer knew how he felt, but at the same time, was convinced that there was nothing any of them could do in that situation.

"It's more than that," Hiroshima replied. If only he could tell them the grand scheme of things, but to do that would mean that all of the effort he took to avert it would mean nothing.

"Come on! Let's get it going! Kill them already!" One of the men from the crowd shouted as he hurled a large stick through the air. The wooden object made contact with the injured angel's shoulder and bounced off.

"What are these people?" Keiji asked in shock. Why would anyone be so happy about another person's death? These people were downright bloodthirsty.

"Heartless and purely so," Fife stated the harsh truth of the matter.

"What?" His green-haired donor glanced over at him.

"It's not mind control. They really do hate us," the vampire king had been trying to state that since they were first attacked in Shaffon. He sincerely hoped that everyone would listen to him now.

"I guess I was wrong," Zangetsu looked down with a frown. He wanted so much to believe that the people of Shaffon were being controlled.

"They're coming over here," Tsurugi replied as the guards walked over to them and he heard Ten Sao Tami tell them to commence with the execution.

The guards grabbed Keiji first and began to drag him towards one of the plat forms. A serious look crossed the blonde angel's face as he looked back to the boy.

Now was the moment of truth.

'Let's try our plan now.' Tsurugi mentally instructed Keiji to put their plan into motion.

'Right.' The boy thought as he jumped up with all of his might and landed a kick to one of the guard's stomachs. The guard buckled over and the other tried to restrain him, but was axe-handled in the face with his shackled wrists.

"What?" Ten Sao Tami was brought up out of his chair at what had just happened. No one had tried to escape their execution before and he was outraged that this child would dare to try.

Tsurugi then faded through the shackles and flew up to Ten Sao Tami until he was a good three foot away. "Ten Sao Tami, you of all people should know that you can't contain an angel by such simple shackles." The blonde then spun around and held out his hand as the winds gathered in his palm. "Raging Gale!" The angel called out as many of the citizens were thrown back by the winds. Ten Sao Tami attempted to shield himself by using his contained feather to block the angelic magic but even he was finding it hard to stand.

Chichiri kicked one of the guards in the stomach and turned to head butt another. His legs and head were the only available things he could fight with, considering his hands were shackled tighter than the others. "I can't get these off."

Tsurugi playfully spun the key ring around his index finger and smiled. "Found some keys. I hope these are the right ones."

The dark angel then flew around and unlocked Chichiri, Zangetsu, Hiroshima, Fife, Keiji and Ko.

"Thanks, Tsurugi," Ko told him with a smile, grateful to finally be out of those heavy shackles so she could defend herself. The angel quickly nodded and few over to his mate's side as he sliced his wrist and held it out to the green-haired angel.

"Here, drink," Tsurugi looked around and made sure that the commotion was led away from them.

"Watch out for Ten Sao Tami. He didn't properly restrain you for a reason," Hiroshima warned.

"I know that. Ten Sao Tami also has the ability to read minds, so we'd better watch what we think," the blonde warned. With angelic powers, the man also could read other angel's minds when humans could not. It was dangerous for either one of them to do so much as to think the wrong thing.

"Right," Hiroshima drank from the wound for a good fifteen minutes before he was handed the Crimson Blade. He pulled away and looked at his sword before Tsurugi spoke.

"I found this. It was lying on the ground."

"I probably dropped it when I got knocked out. I hope I didn't take too much of your blood," the spiky-haired angel apologized for drinking so long. He was weak and his vampire urges were barely under control. His head reeled with thirst and ache and he found it hard to control himself in such a weakened state.

"I'll be alright. Let's go and help them. They'll need it."

"I'll heal myself a little, so that I can get out there," Hiroshima felt the blood take effect on his senses.

His mate agreed and flew off over the crowd. 'This escape is too easy. What exactly is Ten Sao Tami thinking?' Tsurugi wondered to himself. It was as if he planned for them to escape and by doing so, they were falling into his trap, even now they were doing exactly what he wanted them to do…The only question was why and what was he trying to accomplish?

Fife wrote out one of many streams of spells around himself in a circle. The text spun around him at a high speed and expanded as each symbol grew, it quickly morphed like liquid into swords that pierced the bodies of those who tried to come at him to attack. There was no way in heaven, hell or this mortal world that he would hang from a noose for other people to throw stones at.

Chichiri and Zangetsu stood back-to-back as they watched the battle around them. The blonde wore a cocky smirk on his face as he looked to the blue-eyed ninja. Zangetsu had a feeling that he would rub it in.

"I was right, you know."

Just as he figured.

"So you were," the black-haired man replied in defeat. He never wanted to believe that the people were evil or wrong in what they did and it pained him to do so.

"That's what you get for thinking you7're right all of the time," Chichiri continued on his boast.

"This is petty," Zangetsu wouldn't stay around for any more of the blonde's finger pointing.

"Hey!" Chichiri shouted angrily.

'I've got to get to Ten Sao Tami.' The ninja thought to himself as he ran through the masses of villagers as they fought against his team mates. The only person he truly wanted to take down was Ten Sao Tami. If there was a small chance that the villagers were being controlled, then he wanted to make sure and ridding them of people like Ten Sao Tami would be a first step.

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Ko jumped out of the way as the end of a shovel clashed into the ground. He tried to hit her again and she jumped towards him and used his head as a surface to spring from as she brought herself around and kneed him in the back. Another village man with a shovel tried to hit her but was stopped cold by a spin kick from Keiji. Chichiri punched a man repetitively in the gut until he fell to the ground behind them.

They were getting closer to Ten Sao Tami and the old man saw this and decided to run for it. He needed to get far enough away to gather energy for his next attack. After all, he was only interested in Tsurugi and Hiroshima- all of the children and the vampire were of no use to him.

'I've got to get out of here. If I can lead them to that open field, then I will have my advantage.' The Chinese man smirked to himself. It would be the perfect opportunity.

'There he is.' Tsurugi thought as he spotted him and flew after the man. 'I know this is a trap but I have no choice if I want to defeat him.'

Ten Sao Tami stopped abruptly and turned around as he held out his feather. "Got you!" He said with glee.

"I knew it."

"Time Freeze!" Ten Sao Tami's magical feather released a shroud of haze as all time froze around the allies. He chose to let them be unaffected so that they could watch as he tortured the frozen angel.

Fife stopped and glanced around at his surroundings. The air was hazy and the sky was a deranged color of purple and black. Ko paused as well, confused as to why everything had simply stopped but she continued to move.

"What the hell?" The vampire asked in confusion.

"As I have said before. I have the power of many angels and soon I will add your powers to my collection," Ten Sao Tami told the frozen Tsurugi as he gazed up at him with a malicious smile.

"What was that?" Ko was confused about the spell that had befallen everyone but them.

"He has the power to stop time," Fife informed in a serious tone. Even an advanced magician like himself could not simply stop time itself. Not only could the man stop time, he could choose who it affected. This in itself was a frightening thought.

"You know magic, right? Can't you do anything to counter it?" The white-haired woman asked.

"I'm afraid not. We're at a loss."

"We have to do something or he'll steal Tsurugi's powers," Chichiri noted the importance of the event. This wasn't a time to sit around and think. Someone had to act or the angel would soon be powerless.

"Can you do it, Hiroshima?" Ko then turned to someone that she thought had a better chance. Hiroshima was an angel and Ten Sao Tami had the power of angels, so perhaps it would be easier for him to accomplish what Fife could not. She didn't want to ask him first because of how badly injured he was but she had no choice.

"I can't," the spiky-haired angel was no help. Even he was powerless against the spell.

"So you're saying that we're helpless?" Keiji questioned. It was the first time that neither Hiroshima nor Fife could do anything.

The battered angel closed his eyes. "I'm trying to think," he had to save his lover from Ten Sao Tami but it was hard to formulate a plan. There were so many variables to consider and any one of them could happen. Ten Sao Tami could just freeze whomever came to him and tried to interfere as well and thinking too much about it would reveal his own plans to the Chinese man.

"I'm going in," Ko ran ahead before Fife called out for her to wait. The ninja stopped and turned to see what he was going to say.

"What now?" Zangetsu asked a little impatiently. This was a critical moment and Fife was holding them up.

Doing something and failing was better than standing back and watching.

"Now, come to me," Ten Sao Tami told the angel as he held up his encased feather, ready to absorb the blonde's powers. Just then, a helmet knocked it out of his hand and sent the feather rolling away. "Huh?" Ten Sao Tami blinked in confusion. Who dared to interrupt his grand moment?

"I don't think so." It was Ko. Despite Fife's call to wait, she continued to run towards him while he and Zangetsu talked things out.

"Flame Burst!" The old man held out his hand as fire flew from it and headed at the white-haired girl, who managed to doge out of the way.

"Crap!" Ko landed on one knee. She had barely managed to escape it.

"Wind Burst!" He then summoned fourth another attack that blew the crouched girl off of her feet and sent her back with a scream. "Out of my way."

"Aren't angels immune to magic?" Keiji wanted a confirmation from Hiroshima on the matter.

"As long as it doesn't come from another angel."

"We'll just have to get that feather," the green-haired male rushed in to help Ko out.

"What if he does Time Freeze again?" Zangetsu had been thinking along the same lines as Hiroshima. It was a deadly situation to approach by running in carelessly like Keiji and Ko. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be knocked out easily. That would do nothing but put everyone else in more danger.

"You can only use it so many times. It drains your powers the whole time it's in effect. He can hold Tsurugi there for a while but it will wear off. The more people you freeze and the larger area that you freeze, the more energy it takes. If he freezes us all, then that's the end." Hiroshima informed.

"Surely there's got to be a way around that," the ninja thought aloud.

"Are you okay, Hiroshima?" Chichiri asked. It was odd that Hiroshima was not fighting, then again, he looked as if he could barely stand.

"You look like you can't even concentrate," Zangetsu also noted that the angel looked out of it. He knew that he was trying to think about what to do, but he could tell that it was taking everything in his power to hold concentration alone.

"What do you expect? I've been tortured for a day straight. I can only heal myself a little if I want to stay conscious. I have to sit this one out unless I can take him out in one hot, or I'm forced to be involved. If that's the case, I'm not sure how much help I'll be," Hiroshima replied lowly. Everyone needed him and there was nothing that he could do. His lover was about to be absorbed and he could not help him out at all. The angel could barely concentrate to keep himself conscious and he felt like everyone was fighting his battle for him.

"Couldn't you drink more blood?" Chichiri was a vampire, so maybe that was a way to help him.

"The amount it would take would kill my donor, even with angel blood,” the green-haired angel stated.

"We're screwed," the blonde whined.

"In this situation, yes," Hiroshima sadly agreed.

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Keiji punched at the old man, who managed to skillfully dodge his attack. Tem Sao Tami's age wasn't a disability in this case as it normally would have been. The angel powers that coursed through him kept his body revitalized and his metabolism high. Over and over again Keiji tried to hit the old man and over and over again, he dodged his fist with a smile.

Ko slowly pulled herself up from the ground and groaned in pain. It was no fun to be blown back like that. Blue eyes spotted the feather as she slowly began to walk towards it.

Above her Tsurugi struggled against the Time Freeze but he absolutely couldn't move. The only thing he could do was watch helplessly from above as his team mates tried their best to get the feather away from Ten Sao Tami. 'I wish I could get free. I can barely move. My body is frozen and there's nothing I can do. I'm like a sitting duck here and he could drain my powers at any moment.'

"I've got to do something," the frozen angel watched the two below fight with all of their hearts.

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"What about your dragon spirit?" Zangetsu tried to think of ways that they could get themselves out of their current bind. "Can it protect you from that?"

"I don't think so," Hiroshima replied in the negative. The dragon spirit didn't really care about him anyway. It would be more opt to let him be frozen and drain his powers for itself.

"I'm tired of sitting back and watching," Chichiri spoke up in irritation. Ko and Keiji were back there fighting with all of their might and the three of them were simply standing there as if they were watching a sporting event.

It infuriated him.

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Ko managed to grab the feather and hold the glass ball to her chest as she tried to take off running, but Ten Sao Tami darted off after the female and tackled her to the ground. Ko went down and dropped the feather as it went rolling across the ground again. This time, Keiji ran ahead to try and get it but Ten Sao Tami had a surprise in waiting for the boy.

The green-haired boy neared the feather and reached down to pick it up. Finally, it would be out of the Chinese man's grasp and he could quickly call upon Vespa to take the item back to Zameln.

Then, the ground exploded beneath him and sent his form flying backwards. "Damn it!" He cursed as he landed a good yard from the feather.

'The Time Freeze is almost wearing off. I'll have to hurry and drain the angel's powers.' Ten Sao Tami thought frantically as he quickly headed towards his precious feather. The man then scooped it up and turned around to blast the angel with it but was soon face to face with Hiroshima.

"I don't think so, you old bastard. Wind Dragon Blade!" The spiky-haired angel called out as a whip of wind blew the old man backwards. The feather flew out of his aged hands but he managed to scramble over and grab it, holding it to his chest protectively.

"Hiro-kun!" Tsurugi called from above, shocked that his mate was even fighting in his condition.

Hiroshima was panting and his body trembled but he had to do something to help his comrades. The angel felt his vision fade to black, but quickly shook his head to snap himself out it. He would be no good to his team if he was passed out and then he'd be the sitting duck for Ten Sao Tami.

"You're so weak that you can't even help yourself. One more attack and you'll be out cold," the old man stated with a sly smirk.

The spiky-haired angel knew that it was the truth but it didn't matter to him. "I don't care. As long as I can do something."

As the two talked, Fife composed a magic circle. 'While he's talking to Hiroshima…Explosion.' The vampire mentally commanded his attack as he bent down and touched the lime green circle and at that precise moment, the old man was propelled backwards with a yell.

"What the-" Hiroshima exclaimed, thrown off guard by what happened.

The old man emerged from the debris with an expression of anger. That blast had thrown off his Time Freeze and freed the blonde angel that he had in his grasp.

Ten Sao Tami emerged from the dust and debris as he coughed a little but still managed to cling to his precious item. "You all cannot beat me, no matter how hard you try. You see, the best part about having the powers of angels is that you can control them as well."

The old Chinese man was slowly becoming crazed as the ground below everyone glowed in an eye-blinding golden color and everyone was bathed in light.

"This…This is…" Hiroshima's eyes widened as he realized what exactly was going on.

"What's happening?" Ko asked, clueless as to what was happening.

"It's a summoning spell," Fife informed, and a large one at that. More than one thing was to be summoned in this spell. The only question was - what awaited them when the spell had been completed.

"What is he summoning?" Chichiri struggled to see through the light.

Tsurugi flew down to his companions with a shocked and dire expression. "He's summoning the three angels that he stole the powers from."

Not only would they have to deal with Ten Sao Tami, but now he would have an angelic army by his side to fight along with him. With powers like his, they were clearly outclassed.

Tsurugi didn't know what was going to happen from this point on. Things were certainly looking grim for everyone and with the arrival of the three angels, who knew what hell would break loose.

…To Be Continued