Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Dragon's Tragic Symphony ( Chapter 85 )

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

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 85: Dragon's Tragic Symphony

By: Melissa Norvell

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Iva peeked around the corner of the curtain as she glanced to the band. The crowd was quite large, which meant that they would have a lot of people to entertain that night. They had practiced long and hard for this chance. The stage was their home and even though they had not been on it in a while, Sub-72 was ready to perform their first composed song in a while.

"There's a big crowd out there," Iva told the band as she turned to them with a calm smile. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Keiji hit the drum once with both drumsticks and faced the gothic woman with a look of sheer determination. "Let's do this."

"Hell yeah! We're ready to go! Right, Ko?" Chichiri sounded fired up as he took a glance to the elaborately dressed singer. Ko smiled confidently and agreed.

"Yeah, I'm with Keiji, let's do this."

Iva then walked out and made her way to the stage. The woman walked behind the microphone and began to introduce the band. "Everyone! May I have your attention?" She called out as Fife, Zangetsu, Hiroshima and Tsurugi all glanced up to the stage from their position at one of the tables that was close to the stage.

"Well, here it is. Their special song that they wanted us to hear," Tsurugi announced. He had waited quite a while to hear the song and he had been anxious about it ever since.

"I wonder why though," Fife wondered what was so special about the song that the band couldn't tell him what it was. What was the big secret?

"Maybe it's dedicated to us," Zangetsu replied. After all, it was only an educated guess but it seemed like the most obvious route to take and the most plausible answer as well.

"I have a new band performing for you all tonight," Iva announced, cutting in to their conversation. "They're a small-town band that's been traveling around here and there. Some of you guys may know them and some of you may not. Please welcome Sub-72!"

She gestured with her right hand to present the band as she side-stepped from the stage and the curtain began to rise, revealing the elaborately dressed band. They wore clothes that had a dragon theme and were yellow and black in coloration. They seemed to be a cross between Cyberpunk and Lolita.

Everyone clapped upon hearing their introduction and then the pub grew silent as the band began to strum up their instruments and play the song that they had written as a surprise. Ko approached the microphone as the instrumental part of the song played lowly.

"Hey, everyone, I just wanted to dedicate this song to everyone in my group; King Fife, Hiroshima, Tsurugi and Zangetsu. This one is for you guys, so I hope that you like it and that it reminds you all of both the good and the bad times we've had on our journeys," Ko smiled at the guys before the music grew louder, playing a haunting, eerie melody that sounded through the room as she began to sing.

This pain we feel will heal someday

Even if it only grows for now

Wondering while inside the darkness of night

I believe this is only fate

Let's dream, at least for now

Feeling battered fight after fight, we hide our heads inside the night wind

Tears of pain, overflowing from my palm

What do you want?

We utter in the darkness

Our agony which pierced the hearts of each other when we met

We really want to protect each other within the agonizing weighted pain

We had embraced this pain

Just to be close to each other

Just to be able to be with each other at the same time

Even if the distant memories are making me cold with the sadness it brings us within the ever insane thoughts

Will our peaceful end come?

This repeating question dances in the light of the sky and changes into the flames of hell

Everything is an illusion, people wear many masks

My heart that consumes battlefield memories is bound with a colorless chain

Our feet are cutting through the wind

It's too cold now and silence pains us because it holds the truth

But we can't let go of the words that had fallen into darkness to take a breath

To feel the same pain

Little by little we finally realized

Of this journey we finally realized

Because in the eyes that rest on our frozen shoulders

We have the one we want to protect

At the next dawn, the fragments of regret which we caught will cut deeply into our skin and dissipate like rays of the sun

Just to be around each other

Just to be happy

Welling up inside

Even when we part, we have a bond that will never vanish

Just to be close to you

Just to be with you at this moment.

Even if the distant memories haunt us

If the guidance with us is strong and the desire of friendship great

The moment that we meet again will quell the agony and turn into light

As the music ended, the crowd burst into massive cheers and clapping as the band took their bow and the curtain fell. Hiroshima, Zangetsu and Tsurugi clapped as Fife cheered.

"Yay! Good job guys!"

"I loved it. It was absolutely beautiful," Tsurugi complimented their performance. "It sounded just like us…and all of our hardships. They put a lot of thought into this." The blonde angel then glanced to his boyfriend. "What do you think, Hiro-kun?"

"I think that she told it like it was," Hiroshima replied. "Her words touched me and struck deep." A lot deeper than most would think.

"I think it struck all of us in a hard spot somewhere," Zangetsu knew that it had struck him as well.

"I agree. Everything we've been through, Ko described in her song…" The vampire simply stared at the stage with a nostalgic gaze.

"It definitely was a surprise. We should thank her," the one-winged man beside of him commented. As soon as the band came to their table, he would definitely say his thanks for a most beautiful and touching song.

"We should thank all of them," Hiroshima spoke up. After all, they went through the hard work and effort of even making them a song. They should all be grateful that they went through that kind of unnecessary trouble.

Iva walked off of the stage; the thumping of her combat boots could be heard, as well as the jingling of the chains on her neck and skirt as she made her way to the floor. The band managed to meet her there and they stopped in front of her so that they could talk.

"You did a fabulous job at performing. You really got the crowd going out there. I could definitely use more acts like you all," Iva complimented their performance. It was truly one of the best performances that she had seen in a long time. It was an honor to be in the same building with such talented people.

"Thanks, we try," Chichiri smiled, happy to get such a compliment from someone like her.

"Your song really spoke to me."

"We're glad that you liked it," Ko was happy that it got the same results that she had aimed for. Getting a good response or even one close to what you expected was always a great achievement in the musical industry.

"We based it on our real life situations," Keiji gave her a bit of back ground on the song itself.

"If you keep playing like that, you can definitely stay here. I'll convert that room into a condo if you stay," the black and white haired woman said with a playful smile. To be honest, she meant every word of it. Iva would raise the money to do so, if a good band like Sub-72 were to actually live in the pub and perform to drum up some business.

"Unfortunately, we can't stay that long," Ko replied. "We're on a mission."

"If you don't mind me asking. What exactly is your mission? Why are you in Particle Proxy? There isn't really anything spectacular here," Iva didn't know why they were even there. The only thing she knew was that she had found them one rainy night at the Toxic Ivy's doorstep and took their battered souls in for a while. Until now, she didn't really know what they had been searching for or even where they came from.

"We were really just passing through," Chichiri explained.

"We came from Shaffon, actually," Keiji noted.

"Shaffon?" The pub owner's face told her disgust for that little town. "That place is creepy. What brought you to a disturbing place like that?"

"We were looking for something there. We went through hell, but we got it and returned it to its rightful place," Ko didn't want to give away any details, in case Iva wasn't on the up-and-up so she decided to keep things vague.

"Is that why the regal-looking one is hurt?" Iva glanced to Hiroshima, who was talking to Fife, Tsurugi and Zangetsu. His cane was laid beside of his chair, in case the angel wanted to get up and attempt to walk around.

"Well, it's a long story, actually," Chichiri didn't feel like explaining something out of the ordinary to the woman.

Iva got the hint. "I wish you all luck, with whatever you're trying to achieve."

"Well, we're trying to find a missing member of our team as well," Keiji noted the situation regarding Undine. He thought that bringing it up may lead them closer to a location if anyone in Particle Proxy had seen her.

"A missing member?" The gothic woman questioned. "Maybe I've seen them. There are a lot of people who come in and out of Toxic Ivy, so I might have seen her. What does she look like?"

"She's short and petite with dull, slate blue hair. She usually wears it tied back in a large, black bow. She doesn't talk that much and she's kind of gothic," Chichiri tried to describe Undine the best that he could.

"She's distant, reserved and mature for her age," Ko added on to further the description.

"I haven't seen anyone who fits that description. What's her name?" Iva continued to question. Maybe she heard the girl give her name, or perhaps if she came to the Toxic Ivy, she could tell her that her team mates were searching for her.

"Undine," The singer answered.

"Undine? That's an odd name. I haven't heard of anyone by that name. I'll definitely inform you if I do see her."

"Thanks, we appreciate it," Chichiri definitely appreciated all of the help that he could get on the matter.

"Of course," Iva's blood red lips curved into a slight smile. "See you around." She walked off to attend to business at the pub. Soon, her form mixed into the masses as she walked over to talk to the bar tender, who looked as wildly gothic as she did. The two of them seemed to be discussing something, but none of the band members really paid any attention to it as they headed over to the rest of their group, which resided at one of the many front tables.

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When they finally reached the table, they joined the others in their group as the large collaboration of people began to talk about the song and other small things that they each had on their mind. Each one of the members of the group thanked them for a great song and told them how much they loved their performance.

"Really?" Ko looked pleased with their opinions. "I'm glad that you guys liked it."

"Of course, it really spoke to us and we could tell that you based it off of our own personal experiences,Tsurugi explained happily. Bringing happiness to one of his team members, in turn, made him happy as well. It was always nice to make someone feel special and appreciated.

"I haven't been to a place like Particle Proxy," Fife commented. It was definitely not like any of the other places he had been. Particle Proxy was a large, industrious city and he wasn't used to the flashing lights and loud noises of the heavy traffic and bustling crowds. "It certainly is big and industrious."

It was the complete opposite of his kingdom in Sumeria.

"Yeah, it's a big city area so there's probably a lot to do here, I imagine," Ko decided to throw her opinion out there as well. With so many sky-scraping buildings, she thought there'd be tons to do and that Particle Proxy was a city that never slept.

"How are you feeling, Hiroshima?" Keiji glanced to the angel.

"Horrible, why do you ask?" The spiky-haired man took a sip of deep purple wine.

"Sorry, we must have really burdened you," Zangetsu apologized for the incident in Shaffon. He felt horrible that Hiroshima had been tortured because of them.

"Don't beat yourselves up. It's my job to protect you all. So I did," he waved it off, as if it were nothing important or even worth discussing. His pain was minimal compared to their lives. He wasn't about to abandon his team or their mission, not when he worked so hard to get this far.

"We're your guardian angels. Therefore, we are happy to serve you all," Tsurugi tried to direct the subject towards a happier point of view.

"We just wished that we could do something for you," the one-winged man sort of agreed with Keiji. The angels seemed like they sacrificed a lot for them already and none of them felt as if anything could compare.

"I don't want to be repaid," Hiroshima told him coldly. If they repaid him and Tsurugi, then their sacrifices meant nothing.

"We're going to repay you by releasing you of your curse. Right, Keiji?" Fife glanced to the green-haired boy in question.

"Well…about that…" Keiji couldn't help to look a little guilty. How could he face Hiroshima now? What would everyone think of him, knowing that he had second thoughts about the dragon spirit? Fife just had to put him on the spot like that. Keiji knew that Fife probably had no idea that he had even done that, but it didn't make anything any easier, especially with everyone staring at him in anticipation of what he would say.

"What's wrong with you?" Hiroshima seemed casual as ever about this. It was almost as if he expected it from him. Perhaps he'd seen ahead. "Having second thoughts?"

"What? How can you take that back, Keiji?" Ko slammed her hands on the table in an outburst. "Hiroshima is dying-" She was quickly cut off.

"You think that I don't know that?" Keiji replied through gritted teeth. She acted like this wasn't hard on him at all.

"But…That's kind of cold…I thought we were doing this together," Chichiri chose his words wisely. He didn't want to make Keiji any angrier then he had.

"Why would you pull out like this?" Zangetsu asked, but the questioning was too much for the green-haired drummer as he quickly got up and stormed off.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ko shouted as he continued to walk away, as if he hadn't even heard her.

"Keiji…" Fife seemed a little sympathetic towards his situation as Tsurugi simply watched him walk away with a perplexed expression. He knew that Keiji wasn't exactly as resolute with the answer as he initially thought.

Hiroshima grabbed the crutches, rather than going for his walking cane and rose up unsteadily from his chair.

"Hiro-kun?" Tsurugi glanced back at him, surprised that he was going to follow the boy.

"I'll go and talk to him."

"But, you're hurt. You should really rest," Ko knew that it would take him longer than three days to heal and he could barely walk. The angel was in no condition to be mobile, let alone stress himself out talking to Keiji. Who knows how Hiroshima even felt about his answer.

"You know, I'm a stubborn bastard who won't listen to you, right?"

The white-haired girl sighed. "Have it your way…Just know that no matter what happens, we'll still help you." Just because Keiji gave up, didn't mean that she or anyone else would bail out on him.

"Yeah, we won't bail on you like some people," Chichiri shot the offensive implicative term at the drummer.

Fife stood up and excused himself. "I'm going to take a walk." It was a random excuse but he wanted to get away from the drama, and the fact that everyone was talking about his love interest right in front of his face.

"That's random. Why?" Chichiri was confused at his spontaneous actions.

"I don't like the way you're talking about my martyr and I refuse to be a part of this conversation. I think you should consider his feelings. He might have a very good reason for what he said." With those final words, the king walked off through the masses and disappeared from sight.

"If he would stay here instead of running away, and tell us, then we'd know why," Ko tried to tell him, but Fife didn't want to hear what she had to say.

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Outside, Keiji stood on the sidewalk by the Toxic Ivy Pub and leaned against one of the concrete walls as he thought about what he told his team mates, and more importantly, the angel who's life he promised to save. 'I'm so sorry, Hiroshima.' Those same images of the slaying of the real Hiroshima reeled through his head once more in graphic glory. He shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of those images. 'I really don't want to be the reason that you die. I couldn't bear that guilt.'

"Hey, kid," the angel's baritone voice brought him out of his delusions as he snapped his head over to Hiroshima, who slowly walked his way over to him. The tapping of the crutches sounded on the concrete walkway as he neared him.

"Hiroshima, you should be resting," the green-haired boy seemed worried. He didn't want Hiroshima hurt more then he already was. He felt bad enough for what happened in Shaffon.

"Kind of hard to do when you guys are having a Dramacon."

"It's my fault," Keiji looked down. "I'm sorry."

"You don't want to do it, do you?" The spiky-haired angel figured that he would get straight to the point of the matter.

"I can't…I'm sorry but I feel like I might be doing you more harm than good," he couldn't hide it anymore. It was the truth. He felt as if he was endangering Hiroshima and he wanted him to know that he had a good reason for his doing.

"How do you figure? The only thing worse than is death, and I already feel myself deteriorating," the longer the spirit sucked his life force away, the closer to death he became and recently, he had been feeling more like a living skeleton than anything else.

"That's exactly why I can't do this. Your body is already tired. You might die…or the spirit might betray you and kill you somehow…or worse, one of us-" He was cut off.

"It would be worth it to try, even if I die. I'll be reincarnated without the curse. It's a freedom in itself." Anything was better than being a servant and food source for that spirit.

"But you wouldn't remember any of us, or even be the same," to Keiji, his memories of them was also important.

"My point is, I'd like you to help me. Whether you do or not is up to you. I'd rather die than keep on living with this curse."

Keiji looked ahead and thought for a moment before he answered. "I know but-" He was cut off again by the sound of the crutches hitting the ground with a crack. He whirled around to see that Hiroshima had fallen backwards on the ground. "Hiroshima!" He shouted as he dashed to the angel's side.

Hiroshima was trembling, almost as if he were having convulsions of some kind and his eyes were wide with pain. Keiji had never seen him like this, even when he was converting into a vampire, he wasn't this bad. "Damn…" He shakily placed a hand to his chest as it was engulfed with the black fog that leaked from his chest.

The angel rolled over and hunched down as white wings burst from his back, making a hole in his shirt and jacket and launching the bandages that were around his mid section into the skies above. He then was pulled back viciously as the black fog shot from his chest. Hiroshima yelled in pain before his body crashed to the ground and the black fog twisted around in the sky to form a large, snake-like image of a dragon with a pointed head and slender, elegant nose and horns.

"No…no way…" Keiji's eyes were wide as he saw what was happening. The spirit decided to show itself, and he was the only one around that could possibly fight it. Everyone else was in the pub and Fife had walked off into the city. It was just him and the spirit.

His hair blew in the wind as he glanced back to see Hiroshima, on the ground unconscious.

"What? What in the-" He was cut off by a deep, raspy voice that boomed through the skies.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kuroi Ryuu, the spirit that resides inside of Hiroshima's body. I have heard that you wish to battle me. I accept your challenge," the spirit spoke to the boy below.

"Will you life the curse on Hiroshima, if we win the battle?" Keiji asked. If he had to fight it, then he wanted the spirit's promise that he would never return to Hiroshima's body again. The green-haired boy just hoped that the dream wasn't an omen of things to come.

…To Be Continued…