Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Never So Kind ( Chapter 96 )

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

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 96: Never So Kind

By: Melissa Norvell

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"I can take care of you," Hiroshima told his opponent as he stepped up to the challenge.

"Oh my! A fight sounds lovely!" Zell squealed with delight. The prospect of his opponent being a dreamy angel only made his body tingle with lust all the more. He could hardly stand being around such a handsome man.

"Are you sure you want to take him on alone?" Keiji questioned. Yes, Zell was a flaming homosexual who didn't seem to take the fight seriously, but at the same time he was also a powerful shinigami. Why else would King Charles have him guard the castle? The king wasn't as stupid as to put someone as a guard who was weak.

"It's been a while since I've put my skills to use," Hiroshima pulled out his sword and held it in the striking position. "Prepare to taste the wrath of my Crimson Blade."

"Do your best!" Chichiri cheered from the side line, and then looked thoughtful and paused. "Wait…Hiroshima's best might kill someone. Do okay!"

"I'll beat you so hard you'll have a concussion," the angel boasted.

"Sounds like fun," Zell purred as he gave the winged man bed room eyes.

"What's your name?" Hiroshima might as well know who exactly he planned on killing.

"Oh? Since you're interested, I'm Zell Vertagris and who are you, my lovely dark angel?" The shinigami introduced himself with a playful wink.

"They call me Hiroshima."

"Oh?" The shinigami called out as he jumped down from his perch, long, hair trailing behind him as well as the deadly blade of his scythe. "Then let us dance the forbidden dance of heaven and hell," his voice took on a dark edge as the angel shot forward, swinging his sword to prepare for a strike.

"I take it you're a shinigami?" Clearly he was, but many things fell under the special circumstances of being a shinigami.

Blades clanked as Zell blocked Hiroshima's swing. "How sweet, you noticed. I know who you are as well."

"Well, isn't that ironic?" The angel shot as the two engaged in a power struggle, trying to overpower each other as their blades ground together.

"I suppose, but what secrets could I keep from an angel?" Zell swung his scythe and summoned forth his attack. "Yami no Death!" He called out as black spheres of energy flew out of his blade and headed towards the angel, who preformed a barrier and deflected them. The shinigami then dodged a crimson whip that was launched at him and inched his face towards Hiroshima's wrapping the blade behind his head as the curve caressed the angel's flawless cheek.

"After all, we know the same information but in different aspects. We know everything about each other," the shinigami knew of death, and watched the lives of people in order to judge what to do with their souls after they have left the living body, and angels watched over people, judging what plain they would go to by their actions.

Both were judges of the dead.

Both were guardians and keepers of souls.

Hiroshima's eyes narrowed. "I'm sick of your mouth," the angel pointed a finger and an explosion erupted where the shinigami was, throwing his body back into a nearby wall.

Zell created his own shinigami-shaped crater and stuck in the wall for a moment. An orgasmic look crossed his face, one of absolute bliss. "That felt wonderful," his crackled voice swooned as he fell to the floor and got back up. "There's no greater rush than pain. Watch out, you might turn me on."

Zell's constant sexual references and tone were beginning to piss him off. "Would you stop spouting bullshit? Crimson Slash!" He was determined to shut him up in one way or another, and a forceful blow to the face was just enough to keep that thought entertained.

The shinigami hopped gracefully out of the way, as if he were a gazelle. Everything Zell did was overdramatic and almost ballet-like. He then spun his scythe and called out 'Sonic Boom' a sound wave shot from the tip of his scythe and produced a booming so loud that it nearly shattered the windows in the castle.

Hiroshima didn't see it coming and quickly put up his barrier, barely making it only to have it shatter around him like glass. "What the hell?" Caught off guard, the angel was hit and propelled backwards into his crowd of allies, who all scurried away as he crashed into the floor.

"Are you okay?" Tsurugi was concerned about his mate's status.

Hiroshima lay on his side with one leg bent and an elbow propping his torso up as he rubbed his head. "Damned shinigami…" He cursed under his breath. "He knows how to get through my attacks."

"What?" Chichiri asked.

Tsurugi turned to him and explained that shinigami, like angels have knowledge of every aspect of a living thing. Shinigami usually had select souls that they were in charge of overseeing. They knew who died and how they died. They also knew whether or not they would have an afterlife and how each person would live it.

Eve added that shinigami judge the fate of souls. Angels helped them through the afterlife and shinigami judged through their actions to decide their fate and are minor judges compared to the powers to be.

"If Hiroshima spent all of his time on Earth, how does this shinigami know him?" Keiji was suspicious, even more so than he had been of him before. There was something about him, something he was hiding and Keiji was going to figure out just what it was.

"Shinigami like him know all of the angels and their fate as well. Zell is the third ranked shinigami in the underworld," Eve stated as the two fighter's blades clashed again with such force that it sent both bodies backwards.

Hiroshima landed on his feet. "You're actually a challenge."

Zell landed. "Surprised?"

Charles walked into the room, aided by his walking cane as he approached the railing and glanced over at the fight that was going on below him. A small smile crossed his childish face as he bore witness to the group below and the angel who happened to be fighting against his mighty shinigami guards.

"You really are who you say you are." There was no doubt about it. Zell was a true shinigami and not just some flamboyant idiot. Despite his dramatics, he really was the judge of souls and the reaper of death.

"Certainly, my little bird," Zell reassured him as he raised his scythe above his head. "Now, we shall end our dance." His eyes glinted in devilish glee at the thought of such a beautiful angel spewing rich, red blood. If this angel died, his soul would be the greatest of reaps. It would definitely put him at the top of the ranks.

Hiroshima smirked. "You think I give up that easily?" Surely he knew him better than that. After all, they did know everything about each other.

"There is no sight more beautiful than that of death! Come! Die in my arms, my love!" The shinigami wailed as his blade came crashing down, covered in sparkling energy and a black fog that surrounded the tip and continued to consume the blade in black.

"I'm not your anything!" The angel argued as he brought his sword down. "I'll send you back to hell where you belong! Chains of Death!" Black chains jingled as the links shot from the ground and bounced around the room, headed for their target.

Zell looked flattered and batted his eye lashes. "No death would be sweeter! We'll see who bleeds first!"

Keiji was unamused. He looked at the fight with an exasperated expression. "This guy is worse than Fife." When he thought about how much he complained about the vampire, he was comforted by the thought that it could always be worse and Zell was a prime example of that.

"Aw, you're so mean to me," Fife whined playfully.

"It was a compliment. I'm glad you're not that flamboyant." If he was, Keiji was pretty sure that he would have had to hurt his feeling to really get him away from him…or sleep with one eye open, whichever.

Suddenly, a form materialized between the two and lights shot out. The force of the attack launched both of the boys back. Hiroshima was just as confused.

"What the hell?" The angel barked before he was thrown into another wall.

"Oh! It's you!" Zell beamed, but got the same treatment as the angel.

"Who the hell was that?" Keiji pulled himself off of the floor.

"Some pretty guy in brown is down there with an eye patch and a cane," Chichiri informed the group as he looked over at the Englishman who stood in the middle of the floor, drawing attention to himself.

'It's him. His magic was so strong that it cancelled out both of our spells.' Hiroshima noted as he stood from his position and stared down the man in the center of the room.

"OH! YES! That felt SO good!" Zell screamed out orgasmically and hugged himself, rocking back and forth on the ground. "The BEST kind of pain comes only from you! It's so orgasmic!" His voice was so loud that it reverberated off of the wall. Zell swung his scythe around wildly, unable to contain himself as everyone around him felt beads of sweat run down their heads as they stared at him with blank expressions, their eyes the size of dots.

"Yeah…whatever…" Even Hiroshima was uncomfortable, even though it came off more as disgruntled.

"You have very powerful magic…It's even stronger than Hiroshima's or my father's magic," Fife complimented the strange figure that stood before them. Truly, he was someone who commanded respect.

"Yeah…who are you?" Keiji asked.

The figure turned towards the group, clearing his throat as he introduced himself. "I am King Charles of the shinigami and the land of Domina. I currently reside over the back side of this world. You all must be friends of Eve."

"That and siblings," Hiroshima added.

"Yes, King Charles. This is my brother, Hiroshima," the small angel gestured to her brother, who sheathed the Crimson Blade.

Charles bowed formally. "Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you so please; allow me to assist you in your journey."

"Who told you about us?" Hiroshima was skeptical, but at the same time he wanted to know what exactly how Charles was informed of their arrival. He might know the whereabouts of Ko as well. The angel hoped that Charles knew where their missing ally would be if he knew about her presence in the world before their own.

"Eve and Kizoku, but I too was asked to do a favor for Vespa," Charles admitted that his involvement in their situation was more than just circumstantial. He had a reason for being there. It seemed that the two groups were tied together by the red string of fate.

Keiji was a little shocked by Charles secret surfacing. "You work for Vespa?" That means that Vespa had everything orchestrated from the beginning.

"Yes, I was asked to perform a very specific task in this world by her. I am assuming that you all are doing the same," Charles knew that the Reed Witch had many that carried out her tasks, so he could only assume this group of misfits were also those who were either in debt to her or had been roped into collecting various items for her.

"Yeah, we're collecting magic items from Zameln," Chichiri told him of their purpose.

"We also came to rescue our friend, Ko. We were told that you'd know where she was," Zangetsu spoke up and stepped towards the front of the group. More than the magical items, he was worried about the white-haired ninja. She had already been through so much. He hoped that wherever she was, the girl was surviving and had not been murdered.

Zell put a finger up to his bottom lip in thought. "You all just arrived here, didn't you?" How could they be looking for anyone if they just arrived? It didn't make sense.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?" Keiji was obviously missing the point.

"There was a girl with short, white hair who got here at the same time," Zell replied. Now it was twice as confusing as it was before. It hurt his head even thinking about such a thing.

"That's her. Could you tell us where she is?" Fife asked. It didn't matter what amount of time had passed, it only mattered that Ko needed their help.

"She was taken captive by the White Queen," the shinigami informed.

"What?!" Hiroshima yelled. This was bad. The queen had one of their own captured. This meant that they would have to have a direct confrontation with the enemy. He wasn't ready for this at all. It threw their whole plan in fast forward.

"We have to go find her," Zangetsu didn't seem to care. If it came, then it came. No one was ever really ready to face someone. Now was just as good of a time as any.

"We'll assist you. We're going to do battle with her in a few days. She has possession of all of the key holders here but one," Charles informed the group that they were also after the key holders. They had a common goal.

Kizoku pulled a key out of the collar of her dress. The metal object glinted in the light.

"You, Kizoku?" Eve's eyes went to the shinigami in shock. All of this time, they were worried about the key holders and Kizoku had the very thing that was keeping the queen from having the upper hand on Domina. This could also be a bad sign, considering if and when the queen found out, she would come after them directly.

"Yes, I've been holding it. The White Queen had stolen the other two key holders. They're trying to diminish our side and have done so by promising them immortality." If their troops were immortal, then they would have the advantage. Surely, no one could stop the White Queen with an immortal army behind her. Even the shinigami could not touch them.

Fife waved in dismissal. "That's silly, nothing lives forever."

"Well, nothing that isn't controlled by magic," Zell commented.

"But, to give everyone that kind of magic would drain or kill the magician," Keiji stated, if the magician was even capable of such a thing. Immortality was unattainable by most means for a reason.

"Well, we know its lies but they use their queen's existence as proof," Zell replied.

"Their queen is immortal?" Tsurugi questioned. If that was true, then Vespa was sending them into a blood bath.

"Not really," Charles quickly rid the angel of any anxiety he might have picked up from the thought.

"Then how can they have proof that she's immortal if she really isn't?" Fife wondered. Wouldn't they have had to have some kind of test to prove her immortality through the eyes of those who would consider themselves non-believers? How did she convince those skeptics out there?

"Unless they were trying to fool the public," Eve brought up a good point. If they could prove to the public that the White Queen was truly immortal then they would gather a large following who would follow her like a brainwashed cult.

"The white queen has no soul," Kizoku stated.

"You mean, she's a puppet?" Keiji's eyes widened upon hearing the shinigami. How could someone live who had no soul?

"Precisely, it takes a lot of magic to resurrect the dead but it does happen." It's against the laws of the shinigami, but Kizoku had bore witness to a few happenings. It was rare but not entirely impossible.

"So, the white queen wants to make everyone else zombies?" Fife was a little lost on what the queen's motive would be for gathering the key holders.

"Sounds like a horror movie," Chichiri didn't like the sound of that. He wasn't too keen on becoming a zombie. In fact, he loved life to much to want to become a hull.

"In order to preserve the balance, we must defeat the white queen," Charles knew their objective. If they failed, Domina would crumble under the rule of the white side. The scales would be tipped too far and any kind of recovery would be out of the question.

"How long ago did you say that she came?" Keiji wanted to figure something in his head.

"Ten years," Zell informed him.

"Yes, I remember reaping King Claude's soul shortly after she appeared." It sounded right to Charles. Those were events that he could vividly recall, and a shinigami never forgot the souls they reaped.

"How did she kill him?" Keiji continued to pull information from the shinigami.

"Actually, her knight killed him," Charles noted. He had simply showed up to reap the soul. The true murderer was someone closest to him.

"What does this knight look like?" Fife was curious about the murder himself.

"She had short, blue hair and wore an eye patch, half cape, boots-" He was cut off in mid-description.

"That was Eclipse," Zangetsu's eyes narrowed. There was no doubt about that.

"So, the white queen must be one of three people," Tsurugi had figured it out, but he wanted to help his friends come to the conclusion that he could not disclose.

"No, it's Azmy. She's the only one who's dead that I know of," Keiji tried to logically deduce the situation. "If I'd have to say someone else, I'd probably say that it was Fable, but only because she's emotionless."

"Well, if Eclipse is in this world, Soel and Fable must be," Hiroshima knew that they were. Wherever the white queen was, they were as well.

"Azmy's power must distort the world's magic here," Tsurugi noted.

"Why do you say that, Tsurugi?" Chichiri looked to the angel with a quizzical expression.

"Our communication stone doesn't work in Domina," Tsurugi revealed the fact that they had no communication with Vespa once they had entered the chess board land.

Chichiri was freaking out. "Seriously? What will we do?" They couldn't confide in Vespa, nor could they give her the items they collected. How were they supposed to get out of Domina?

"The item is in a chest, so all we have to do is find it. If Azmy has the key holders then we should find everything when we find her," Hiroshima knew that Azmy was their real goal. Wherever the girl was, Ko was with her, as well as what the shinigami sought. There was no doubt in his mind that Azmy was the white queen. She had to be.

"It does work in our favor, especially since she won't willingly open the box for them. However, you'll have to battle her soldiers, which means you'll need weapons," Kizoku pointed that fact out. If Azmy was the white queen, then she already had an army behind her.

"I have one," Hiroshima wasn't about to part with his precious Crimson Blade.

"Me too," Fife chimed in.

"Not me," Chichiri sort of liked it that way.

"I have weapons but I think you mean a large weapon," Zangetsu knew that throwing knives and shiruken weren't going to get him far when it came to a battle on this scale.

"Of course!" Zell pointed a finger into the air dramatically. "We want to see blood flying about the battle field like lovely red paint. Seeing the white queen drenched in her own blood would be our greatest feat! There would be nothing as beautiful as her death!" Such a scene of beauty brought tears to his expressive eyes.

"Are you saying we have to kill Azmy?" Chichiri wasn't sure how he felt about that. Azmy was his friend, and he would have never thought about killing the girl.

"In order to stop her rule, yes," Charles knew there was no other way.

"By any standards, she's defying her fate. As shinigami, she makes us look bad, considering she should be ten feet under. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll get you all weapons," Zell snapped his fingers as a large circle materialized in front of Keiji. It slowly materialized into a circle blade. A large war axe appeared in front of Chichiri and a kusarigama appeared in front of Zangetsu. Tsurugi had a black bow and arrow.

"These should be suitable weapons," Charles gestured to the weapons that each person held in their hands. The newly equipped members looked at their weapons, examining them with wonder and even excitement.

"What kind of odds are we up against?" Zangetsu glanced up from his weapon. If they all needed such large weapons, then they must have been up against something that posed a dire purpose.

"Luckily, the battle play here is very strict. It only allows twenty people to fight at a time." If not for that one rule, Charles was sure that the white queen would have tried to be underhanded with the numbers they would have had to have face.

"Battle play?" Chichiri was confused. What was he talking about?

"It's like shogi," Hiroshima caught onto the theme of this world quickly.

"That and video games," Tsurugi agreed.

Charles proceeded to explain to them what the battle play actually consisted of. The battle play system of Domina was based on strategy. In Domina, it was how disputes and conflicts were settled and how the black and white sides waged war. Each side contained a set number of fighters. If one side defeats all of the others or attacks the main ruler in a critical way, then they win the conflict.

"So, the ruler tells everyone what to do, kind of like the video gamer that controls the characters and what they do in role playing games," Chichiri made Tsurugi's connection with role playing games. The video gamer chose which characters attacked and what attack they used on what enemy. He was sure it went something like that, anyway.

"It's not just all offense, the ruler has to protect themselves so they don't leave themselves open to be hit. If they take a hit, it's a critical hit to the team," Zell noted the importance of keeping the ruler guarded well. Above anything else, they could not let the ruler get hit by the other team.

"Without someone to control the battle, the opposing side is left without a leader, and they are easily conquered," Charles backed up his fellow shinigami on how important it was to keep their leader in the game at all times.

"So if they have nothing to defend, they give up?" Hiroshima made note of a few strange things about the game play mechanics of this world. "It's like fighting without a brain."

"Precisely, protecting King Charles will be our prime objective," Kizoku gave them their orders.

"So, we do what you tell us to do and we run around killing people? Sounds easy to me!" Chichiri liked the sound of that. It was pretty cut and dry.

"You'll also be fighting in chains," Charles pointed out their crippling flaw.

Chichiri sighed. He knew that it was never as good as he thought it was going to be. Nothing was ever simple. "Seriously?"

"Yes, you'll be chained to wooden crosses until it's time to attack. After that you'll be dragging chains around from your necks and arms," Zell continued to explain some of the unforeseen game play mechanics of their shogi events.

"That doesn't matter to me. As long as I save Ko, everything else is trivial," Zangetsu was going to remain focused on their goal. As long as he had her in sight, there would be no stopping him.

"A truly sincere deed," Charles smiled a little, endeared by the ninja's commitment for finding his team mate. He must truly hold deep feelings for her to feel the way that he did. "I just hope you can live up to your word."

Zell wrapped his arms affectionately around Charles' neck, holding him close. "The bloodshed starts tomorrow. Hope you have a lot of practice time," the shinigami cooed as he winked suggestively at the group of travelers.

No matter how much time Keiji and Hiroshima spent around that guy, his advances still unnerved them.

…To Be Continued