Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Crimson River ( Chapter 91 )

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

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 91: Crimson River

By: Melissa Norvell

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"Valor of Protection!" Zangetsu shouted as purple energy shot up from the ground and blasted Ceres, sending her form flying backwards.

The sorceress caught herself and threw out her scepter. "Dark Windstorm!" She shouted as a black wind swept across the plains and nearly blew everyone's forms over with its velocity and strength.

"Demon Sword, hear my call! Grant us a circle of protection against these fierce winds!" Fife called out as a magic circle appeared below his body and the winds around him were redirected in a circle. "That should hold it for a while." At least long enough to buy him some time.

"We need to formulate a plan," Keiji commented as hands were sat on his shoulders. With a 'huh' in response, he turned his head to see Fife sitting his lips on his shoulder as he dug his fangs in, drinking some of his donor's blood. He nodded in response. "Right, this would be a good time, wouldn't it?" His words were low as he placed a hand in the small of the vampire's back.

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Chichiri walked into the room, seeing Hiroshima perched against the wall. "I thought you'd be out there righting," the angel usually never missed an opportunity when it was presented. In fact, he loved to kill things and get out there and devastate the battle field. It was so strange that he decided against it.

"Shut up. Don't rub it in my face," the angel snapped. It was obviously not the place he wanted to be, either.

"I wasn't trying to, I just thought you'd be gung-ho like you always are," the blonde noted.

"They were right. I need to rest." Even though he liked to push his limitations, he knew better than to do anything like that right now. His body had taken more damage than he would have liked to admit.

"That sounds kind of forced," Chichiri noted the strain on his voice. It was as if he made himself say it to convince himself that this choice was the best one for him.

"What do you expect? They're fighting against Ceres, and I'd like to kick her ass as much as anyone else would. I feel like they're solving my problems for me while I sit on my ass and do nothing." With that, the angel plunged his fist into the floor and put a crack down it. He had never been as disgusted with himself as he was now,

Chichiri flinched at the display of anger. "I hope we don't have to pay for that." Little did he know, that would be the least of his problems.

Suddenly, the windows shattered, sending glass shards falling around them. The blonde let out a scream of shock and horror as Hiroshima darted up from the ground and whirled around to watch the scene unfold before him.

"What's going on out there?" Chichiri tried to keep his long hair from flying in his face as things blew around the room.

"I hope that they'll be alright," Hiroshima sighed to himself. After all, this was the biggest fight that they had been in so far, and he regretted not being a part of it.

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"Selece!" Ceres fired a beam from her staff at the group against her.

"Time to get this party started." Ko spun into the air, extending her leg outwards as she called out for her attack, Cyclone of a Thousand Hits. The white-haired girl came on strong; delivering a barrage of hits only to hav them all blocked and dodged by her enemy.

"Foolish girl, do you think you can beat me with such amateur moves?" Ceres laughed in her face as she summoned her black whip forth. The long, dark energy whip smacked Ko in the mid section and threw her back into the ground.

"Flame Strike!" Zangetsu tried to cover for her with his own attack, and Tsurugi added on to the flame attack with his wind sphere. Both attacks were released at the same time, combining and swirling into a blazing windstorm.

"Boring," the sorceress yawned as she sliced the air and parted the attack down the center. The two parts of magic went to their respective sides and exploded when they made contact with the land.

"We'll have to up our strength," Tsurugi released his cutting winds.

Ceres was unamused. "Not this again. You could at least try to be original. Phantom Blade Strike!" She called out, cutting the wind attack in half yet again. Honestly, this really was getting boring. The invisible wave of energy headed towards him. The angel simply stared it down, refusing to move until the attack got so close that he was nearly hit with it.

"Now, reverse," Tsurugi uttered slightly above a whisper as the attacked boomeranged back to Ceres, who wore a look of confusion before he continued with his follow through. "Multiply and Surround!" He shouted, holding out his hand as the attack split off in many directions showing through the air.

"I think I'll help him out," Fife darted to his air, holding his hand up as he reached towards the sky. "Demon Sword, hear my call!" He summoned his weapon as he plunged from the sky and landed beside of her, exploding on contact with the ground. Tsurugi's attack hit her form as it fell to the ground. Her red dress was ripped to shreds and barely clung to the woman's body.

'I can't believe this is happening to me again. Again, I am facing defeat at the hands of men.' The realization had hit her harder than any have recently. It was her ultimate fear, and it was coming to life before her eyes. There was nothing that she could do about it.

Flashbacks of the past reeled through her mind as events of the past came to haunt her, bringing her crippling fears to life.

A young, long-haired maiden walked into the doors of Particle Proxy, dressed in a waitress uniform. She was very attractive, the most that had graced the entry way of the establishment since its creation, and the male customers took notice to her quickly. Some of them would even visit the place in hopes that she would wait their table.

'It's always been like this...The Toxic Ivy was not as classy of a place as it was back then. All of the old drunks liked to hang out there and oogle over the waitresses. It was a daily routine to be harassed by them.'

'Here you go. Two beers and one bourbon,' she tried to keep her cool and act in a friendly manner to the customers that she so secretly despised.

'Thanks, sweet stuff.' One of the men smiled slyly at her and she turned away, he casually flipped her skirt up, revealing her black panties to his friends. Immediately, Ceres turned around with an embarrassed and frustrated look on her face.

That was it. She had enough of this game. 'Hey, that's sexual harassment.'

'Nah, this is sexual harassment,' the man prodded and took hold of her breasts harshly.

'Stop it!' She scolded and smacked him across the face as hard as he could. He finally released her from his grip.

Later, another older man came up from behind her placing his head near her ear as he whispered into it. 'Hey, why don't you wait on us? We'll give you a good tip.' His hand ran up the waitresses' stomach, nearly touching her breasts, then it ran down to her hips and attempted to go beyond that point until his hand was smacked away.

'You're just a pig,' Ceres spat as she pulled away from the angry man.

"I won't…" The woman's form crashed into the ground and she struggled to pull herself up. "I won't be taken advantage of by another man again!" She pulled herself to her feet and pointed her weapon at the group. Her form was beaten and ragged and her breath labored. The woman's body ached and her open sores bled, but she was determined not to give up. "I'd rather die than lose to such trash!"

"Trash?" Keiji arched an eyebrow. What on earth was she talking about? Also, who the hell wa she calling trash?

"You'll all be my slaves! Wave of Destruction!" Ceres unleashed an ominous attack.

Ko's face lit up in shock as the realization hit her. 'No…That's the attack that she used on us when Hiroshima saved us by praying.' She darted to the front of the group. "I've got to stop her! Hidden Art: Sakura Illusion!" Pink flower petals swirled around her body before she placed her hand in front of her and they blocked the massive attack.

"That was close," Tsurugi sighed to himself. It would have been bad if that attack had hit them.

Zangetsu thanked her and she told him that it was not a problem. "Speaking of problems, what's hers? She acts like she has some sort of complex," he had actually not seen this side of Ceres. Maybe she had hit the point in battle where disparity had overcome her. Everything was wearing thin and perhaps this woman was merely grasping at straws.

Ceres panted to herself as the smoke cleared, revealing that her opponents were still alive. Even with her most powerful attack, they were still standing. Not good. "What?"

A man pushed her against him and ran his hand up her frilly waitress skirt. A look of irritation crossed her face and she grabbed a hold of his arm, flipping her assailant over her head and body slamming him into a nearby table. The weight of his form broke the unstable wooden legs as he fell to the ground. Soel, who had worked as a waitress at the time, glanced over at the man.

'Nothing but dogs here.' The woman said angrily with her fists balled to her sides. 'I'm shocked that I'm still interested in men. This is enough to make anyone stray away from thinking any men are good. One day, I'll make all men bow down to me. Soon, you'll all be bending to my will.'

"You're just like roaches. You can survive anything and its hell to get rid of you," she spat, damning then for their resilience.

"If it were easy, then it wouldn't be fun," Fife noted with a smile.

"It's not like we want to die," Keiji said sardonically.

Fable stood behind her, the long, dark purple hair danced in the wind. "If you don't win, Ceres, you will surely die. I hope that you know what you're doing," the dog-eared girl didn't want to see her friend die, but she knew that Soel would not stand for failure of any kind, especially not after repetitive failures by her.

"This should take care of you all! Chi-Ryu Jin-en-bo! (Earth Dragon Circular Attack Dance Energy Ring)" She shouted as a large energy ring shot from her form, morphing into a dragon that swirled around and headed towards the group at a quick and powerful speed.

Fife's eyes widened in shock. "That attack is huge."

"What do we do? We can't stop this," Keiji wasn't even sure that if they combined their attacks that it would be enough to even slow down the attack, let alone stop it.

"We'll have to combine out strongest attacks if we want to win," Ko advised, even though Keiji still felt unsure about it.

"It's the only way," Fife replied. What other option did they have at this point?

"I'm prepared to try anything once. No matter what the risk, it's better than dying," Zangetsu agreed. Even if their powers were exhausted and Ceres had power left over from her attack, at least they would be alive to formulate their next move.

Tsurugi agreed.

"Try and stop it, nothing you use will work. This is my strongest attack. There's no way that you'll be able to defeat me. You should just get used to bowing at me feet where you all belong," the sorceress watched the dragon spiral closer and closer to them.

"Sorry, we're not counting on that happening," Keiji replied.

"Let's do this! Haya sakushi-miyaka!" Ko cried out, releasing a large wave of light blue energy that crashed around her like an energy tidal wave, rushing towards the dragon like rushing water.

"Soul Burst Buster Canon!" Zangetsu called out, firing a large, white beat.

"Eternal Nightmare's Delirium," Tsurugi flew into the air and threw out his arms as black streams shot from his wings and pierced the dragon. A dense, black fog filled the air around him.

Ceres felt her body vibrate, so much that it made her feel sick with dread. 'What's happening to me? I feel like I'm growing crazy. This piercing scream, running through my head, it reminds me so much of…'

The shadows of several men loomed over her as she lay on the ground. Her clothes were torn; she was tired and looked as if she had been beaten up very badly.

"You bitch! You put up a good fight but you didn't get far."

"So, we couldn't have as much fun as we wanted, but now that you're not going to fight anymore, you don't have a choice." One of the men replied as the battered girl looked defensive and tried to muster up enough energy to fight for everything she held dear as the men closed in on her.

'This is it…' A tear fell down her cheek. 'This will be the destruction of my innocence. I hate this.' She wept as needles flew out of the darkness and pierced her attackers through the necks. They all fell over, instantly dead, leaving Ceres to glance around in confusion.

Someone had saved her, but whom?

A woman stepped into the light, gazing down at her with void eyes and long, cream colored hair.

"Who…who are you?" Ceres questioned this mysterious woman.

"Destiny's hand is always cruel; however, I can make its slap a little less harsh." She told the fallen girl.

"What do you mean?" The black-haired waitress replied. This woman was cryptic and mysterious. What could she possibly want with her? What did her phrase mean? Who was she and why did she save her? So many questions ran through her head.

"I have the power to make you strong, if you dare to take the risks. You have the potential to be strong and get your revenge on the ones who hurt you," the woman's words stuck deep, but at the same time, she didn't want to believe them.

Ceres nearly laughed at her offer. "Don't make me laugh. What? Are you trying to mock me because I'm so pathetic right now? I've never been treated kindly by men-"

She was cut off. "If you are taken under my wing, you can make those men into your slaves."

The waitress arched an eyebrow. "What is this power that you're promising me? The least I can do is humor you."

"There is no humor in this," her words were dead serious. "I'll make you a master sorceress."

Fife wrote out a spell of purple energy. "Haunting Elegy! Go!" He commanded as music notes formed from the energy he created. They wrapped themselves around her form, producing ear splitting sounds that caused the woman to scream in agony as her eardrums burst. Blood ran down the sides of her head as her hearing was nearly lost. Ceres twisted and turned around in pain.

"No…I'll give my all as long as I don't lose! I can't lose…"

'This will be your last mission. If you fail this, I will execute you personally. I do not tolerate failure.' Soel's words ran through her head, reminding her of the importance of this mission, fueling her determination to give everything she had.

"Mistress Soel, you made me who I am. You're the only one who thought I had any potential. I'd rather die in battle than at your hand because I have failed," she said to herself in a state of delusion.

'In the end, you were never worth my time.' Soel's voice ran through her mind.

Her eyes widened as a beam pierced her chest, killing her instantly. Ceres fell to the ground, dead. She stared up at the sky; the cloud's reflected in her red eyes as her weapon crashed down to the ground beside of her.

"She's done. It's over," Fable stated simply, her expression morphed in subtle sorrow.

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Chichiri and Hiroshima stood inside, watching out of the broken window.

"Do you see anything?" The blonde questioned. The angel had better eyesight than he did, so maybe he was missing something.

"It's over," Hiroshima said simply. "Ceres is dead."

"They did it?" Chichiri's face lit up with happiness. "That's fantastic!" Thank the god's above that they defeated her. He could only hope that they did not suffer any significant damage and that they returned safely.

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Tsurugi walked over to the fallen woman and knelt down to her. The angel checked her pulse. "She's dead."

"What will happen now that we killed Ceres?" Keiji wondered. There had to be more, stronger foes where she came from. "Do you think Soel will send someone else after us?"

"I'm sure that she will," Fife commented from beside of him as Hiroshima and Chichiri walked up to the scene of the battle. Hiroshima merely walked calmly and the blonde rocker jumped up and down, whooping and hollering as he celebrated their victory.

"You did it! She's dead! Oh yeah!" He cheered.

Ko placed her hands on her hips. "Now you come out."

"I was looking after Hiroshima."

"Whatever, I can watch after myself," Hiroshima crossed his arms as a pit of fire swirled before them, bathing their forms in an orange glow as a woman appeared before them. It was a similar occurrence to the many times she had in the past.

"Vespa," Ko uttered the familiar form's name.

"So, we meet again," Tsurugi smiled quaintly as the witch walked out of her shroud of flames.

"I've come to take Ceres' magical items back to Zameln," the witch walked over to the woman's body and gave it an expression of sympathy. "Poor, unfortunate soul…" She frowned, her voice low and tinted in sorrow. 'Soel is truly complicating things for me. I guess I can only come to expect that from her. Everyone is a puppet who dances on her cruel strings. It's disheartening to think that Ceres was no more than a disregarded puppet. Her corruption was her downfall.' Vespa reached down to take the weapon but Fable's staff stuck into the ground, cutting her off from seizing the item.

"What?" The witch glanced over to the dog-eared girl.

"Kamaitachi!" Fable shouted as winds burst and threw the Red Witch of Zameln backwards and cut her red and white dress with their razors. "I cannot allow you to take the phantom blade."

"What now?" Hiroshima questioned from the side lines.

"It's Fable," Chichiri stated the obvious.

"Fable…" Vespa watched as the purple-haired girl picked up both weapons and jumped back from the red and white clad woman. She pointed Ceres' weapon towards the air and summoned a vortex, which sucked her in. Fable was gone and so was the weapons that rightfully belonged in Zameln.

"Damn it, we couldn't return the items," Keiji cursed as Ko helped Vespa up.

"Are you alright?" She asked as the witch dusted herself off.

"Yes, thank you," the black-haired woman glanced toward the corpse. 'This is bad. Fable is no ordinary opponent. She's on a whole different level than Ceres altogether.'

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A small form rose from the ground as winds blew around her. Her long, lavender skirt rustled and her sky blue locks twisted around her youthful face. Slowly, she rose to her feet after levitating in mid-air as her form was breathed life into. Slowly, the girl took her first steps that she had in a long time as she unstably made her way to Soel, who sat in her elaborate throne.

"Come to me, Azmy. I resurrected you to find the legend, and with that, I grant you this special power. Use it to your best ability," the dark woman smiled as blank eyes stared back at her. The girl who had committed suicide out of sheer sorrow had been brought back to work against the very group of people that she had tried so desperately to work within the past.

…To Be Continued