Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Princess of Illusions ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

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Shattered Illusions

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 13: Princess of Illusions

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"Damn," Copernicus cursed under his breath.

Tsubomi fired her laser gun, only to have the beam pass straight through the illusion. "Who's there?" She questioned in a strong, loud voice.

"You have good reflexes," the vampire complimented his donor.

"Thanks."

Hizaki's form faded into view, his long, elaborate dress flowed in the wind as he reached his hand forward, extending his fingernails towards the two. "Take that!" He shouted, as the attack sent the both of them dodging to either side.

Copernicus landed in the kneeling position. He stood quickly and turned around with a serious expression. "Now, it's time to show you the Rigatama's Dance," the vampire said as he outstretched his arm. The blade of his magnificent, machete-type sword multiplied in a chain of blades that extended from the tip of the sword. "Snake Chain," he stated, and with a powerful circular motion of his arm, the chain of blades was sent spiraling at Hizaki.

The drag queen was caught off guard and looked shocked by the sudden large attack. The blades spiraled towards him, marring the earth whenever they touched the ground. As the blades clashed with his body, it exploded into a burst of petals. The metal blades then pierced the earth, shredding the ground as soft pink petals danced through the air where the feminine vampire's body once had been.

Hizaki reappeared behind Copernicus with a wicked smile adorning his ruby lips. "You're good, but not good enough."

Thrusting his parasol out, the vampire popped open the decorative umbrella and a circle of intricate, glowing symbols took flight and curved around the top before expanding. They flew at Copernicus, who attempted to dodge them, but he was too slow. One of the symbols crashed into his back, which caused his form to fly forward from the force of the blast. Pain burned on his backside from the sensation of being blasted by the magic.

His body hit the ground with a driving force and through the ringing of his ears; he could faintly hear Tsubomi calling for him.

"Worry about yourself!" Hizaki scolded the tomboy for caring as he attempted to stab her. Tsubomi was quick to react as she turned around in an attempt to shoot the umbrella out of her enemy's hands but she had not been quick enough and was struck in the process.

The magic blast hit her between the shoulder blades, burning her skin as she hit the ground and flipped back. Tsubomi tried to keep her concentration as she shot a laser through the drag queen's form, only to have her target fade away and reappear. Soon there were several of them, and Tsubomi continued to shoot at the images as they faded away and reappeared in other locations. 'Damn…I can't find the real one. One of them has got to be real.'

Blue eyes trailed a distance away from the frustrated tomboy, who was relentlessly firing away at illusions. He faintly noticed a far away figure that was standing on the top of a hill, gazing down at the fight below as if it were a spectator's sport. Copernicus' eyes narrowed. It was Hizaki.

"There," the vampire said under his breath as he directed his snake chain towards the feminine one.

"Wrong," Hizaki responded as his form transformed into petals once more, but these petals were different. They flew towards Copernicus, slicing his skin with the sharpness of finely sharpened knife blades. They tore his finely tailored clothes and milky flesh, drawing blood.

'It was a trap. I should have known.' The Inheritor thought as he blocked himself, then maneuvered his sword as a red beam hit the remaining petals, dissolving them.

Tsubomi shot yet another illusion before she decided that the whole situation was just a waste of time and ammunition. "I'm tired of this," she sighed as she pointed the barrel of her laser gun to the ground. 'Besides, I'm just wasting ammo.'

Suddenly, she was hit from behind with what looked like pink balls of light that crashed into her shoulder blades with such force that it caused her to do a belly flop on the harsh ground below. Tsubomi quickly glanced over her shoulder and gasped as her eyes widened in horror.

The bayonet on the end of the feminine vampire's parasol stabbed into the ground as she quickly rolled out of the way and fired a shot at Hizaki, lying on her back. He dodged but it took off a part of the puffy sleeve of his dress. The blond examined the torn piece of clothing before a look of livid anger marred his face. "My dress! You bastard!" He exclaimed as he drug the bayonet across the ground. It emitted a white whip, which threatened to end the tomboy's life.

'Shit! I'm dead,' Tsubomi came to a dreadful conclusion. Her body was locked up with paralysis and she couldn't move.

"No you don't!" Copernicus exclaimed as he fell to one knee. The blades of his infamous snake chain plunged into the earth, came up and over Tsubomi and plunged back into the ground. They acted like a shield against the beam and shot back up through the ground, hitting Hizaki before he could comprehend what was going on and knocked him to the ground.

Tsubomi simply sat there with a blank expression on her face. She didn't know what to feel at the moment. She was shocked that she wasn't dead, and relieved that Copernicus managed to save her. Everything had flown by so fast that it was hard for her to take it all in within a matter of seconds. She muttered an unsure 'thanks' from her pink lips as Hizaki arose from the ground and held his bleeding chest.

'Damn, I didn't know anyone in the royal court had anything like that.' He was half-impressed that Copernicus possessed such skill to control a weapon like the Rigatama. Flinching as the warm liquid ran down his hands, he muttered under his breath, "Damn…I'll need to kill another human after this."

His shaky gloved hand picked up the parasol as a trail of blood ran down the stem, dripping onto the grass below. Turning his back to the others as Copernicus helped Tsubomi up, he was silent as the two began to talk.

"That's a pretty impressive sword," Tsubomi complimented as she took her master's hand and crawled out from beneath the blades that saved her life.

"What were you saying earlier about it being ineffective?" Copernicus smiled a little as he managed to prove his point.

Tsubomi sighed in response. "I guess I was wrong."

Copernicus turned to Hizaki with a deep-set frown plastered onto his face. "You should give up, Hizaki. This is pointless," the brunette stood in front of Tsubomi with a deep-set frown. He didn't want to leave the tomboy wide open for an attack. At the moment, Hizaki could do just about anything. The tension in the air was thick and he gripped the Rigatama's hilt tightly.

A twisted smile formed across the drag queen's red lips as a dark tone took a hold on his voice. "For a spoiled aristocrat, you fight well. Not many can land a hit on me like that."

"I won't let you kill off the remaining members of the royal court," the Inheritor's words were strong. He would be damned if he let any more of the royalty fall under Hide and Hizaki's cruel blow. They would have to get through him first.

"Dear, dear, when will you stop playing knight?" Hizaki seemed amused at his futile attempts. He closed his eyes and softened his smile, as if he felt sorry for the young man before him.

'Playing?' Tsubomi seemed confused as her gaze trailed over to the vampire's stoic face. 'Does he mean that Copernicus isn't a knight? Okay, that blows my theory out of the water but it does still leave the option of advisor…or maybe he's a tactician of some sort. He is a really good fighter.' The tomboy had a revelation about her partner's possible occupation. Now she was a little unsure of what to think about him in general.

She knew that he had a high-ranking position, but the question still remained - what exactly did he do?

"You won't initiate the Time of Ending. Not if I have anything to do with it," she heard Copernicus tell his foe.

"Fool, it's already started. The humans are beginning to come around and find us out. We can no longer hide behind the myths that once bound us to secrecy. You already have two humans who know. You may as well keep the vicious circle continuing," Hizaki turned around with an arrogant expression, which came off looking slightly crazed because of the sharp pain in his chest.

"Hey may have that girl involved, but I'm the only one he's told everything to," Tsubomi defended her master. Just because humans knew, didn't ensure that the Time of Ending was going according to their plans. If the humans involved accepted the vampires, then everything would be alright and it would deter the Time of Ending from happening.

"You're a lot smarter than the previous donors. No matter, you'll be dead soon enough." It was a promise that would be strictly enforced. The drag queen lifted his parasol into the air and pointed it upwards, towards the heavens. He told them to die as the cloth busted and shredded from the once beautiful umbrella, exposing nothing more but a mechanical steel frame that was unlike that of any umbrella that they had seen.

The extensions that were once used to stable the cloth and provide a frame outstretched and grew into what looked like mechanical spider legs. The steel arms shot across the ground in a powerful motion, headed towards the two with incredible speed.

"What?" Copernicus asked as his eyes grew wide. Tsubomi said nothing, just as shocked as her master was. This wasn't something that either one of them had anticipated.

The legs shot at her in an attempt to stab the tomboy with their razor-like points. Tsubomi managed to jump backwards as the steel arms dug into the ground. However, the force of the contact caused her to be belted back.

Tsubomi's body landed on the ground with a harsh thud as pain shot up her form. She was more worried about her life than a little pain and quickly arose to her feet. It headed for a second strike and she pulled out her laser gun to try and shoot it.

The beam simply bounced off.

"What the hell is this?" She asked in a shaky whisper as Copernicus got in front of her and raised his sword, then brought it down as a wave of untamed energy that resembled flames in appearance and nature rushed forward, clashing with the large metal frame. Electrical currents crawled over the leg as Copernicus quickly wrapped an arm around the girl's waist, pulling her out of the way as it dug into the ground, sending powerful electrical waves coursing through the ground.

"What is that? It can't be an illusion…can it?" Tsubomi asked as they landed out of harm's way.

"No, that's real," the words of dread poured from the vampire's mouth as the shock still hadn't calmed on his features. This was something that he hadn't any prior knowledge of.

"What? You've got to be kidding me. How in the world would he acquire the technology to even create something like that?" Tsubomi glanced towards the metal frame that she had hoped was a sheer illusion. However, the threat was very real and they were now faced with a problem that could not be solved by simple means.

"Most vampires are very intelligent. They often make breakthroughs even in the human world, and because we live longer, and we are immune to most diseases, we have knowledge on an array of topics," the Inheritor explained that most of the technological breakthroughs in society were based on or used vampuric technology as an inspiration.

"What's your lifespan anyway, Copernicus?" It was a question that she had always wanted to ask, but felt that it may have been a little too personal to inquire on such a topic.

"Most vampires live two hundred to four hundred years, although Lunas have a lifespan a little shorter than humans. They are the shortest lived of the vampires," he informed.

'Damn, he'll outlive me by three or four life spans.' Her thoughts wandered from the issue at hand, before they were pulled back in. "Huh?" She asked faintly as she noticed that the arms had very intricate joints. Such a thing would serve as a weak point in the invention, and a target for its downfall. "Hey Copernicus, I think I see a weakness in this thing."

"Really?" Her master seemed interested, but his interest was short-lived as one of the robotic arms stabbed the ground between them. Quickly, both of them dodged. Tsubomi tried to take a couple of shots at it, only to miss her mark. Copernicus sent a red whip of magic at the mechanical arm. The two forces clashed causing it to only inflict slight damage.

'Damn, why can't Millie be here? I bet she could make this shot.' Tsubomi tried to aim her gun at the machine's weak point and struggled to keep up with the arm's movements. The stripper managed to finally make her mark. The arm frantically fizzled and thrashed around sporadically as if it had malfunctioned. Several electrical currents slammed into the ground in the form of bold lightening strikes.

They were so bright that Copernicus and Tsubomi had to shield themselves from the illumination. She called out for the two of them to run and they took off as fast as they could, barely avoiding the lightening as it struck around them violently.

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Millie and Prince Yale ran up the steps, only moments from gaining their freedom. When she noticed that the prince had fallen behind, Millie stopped and glanced behind her to see him slowly catching up.

"Are you sure this will take us outside?" The school girl questioned while they still had time to turn back. Estella was gaining on them and if this was the wrong door, she wanted to know before they had no time to get out of their current situation. If the door didn't open, they'd be trapped and brought back to that cell to be tortured…or worse.

She didn't even want to think about such a thing now.

Yale nodded as the dashed ahead of her and flung the doors open as the two of them emerged from the rose garden. Upon surfacing, one of the rose bushes snagged Millie's arms. The purple-haired girl winced at the pain.

“Ow! Thorns!"

"Damn them! I'll tie them up, push them down a slide of razor blades and soak their wounds in acid-" Estella made her way up the stairs as she went on a sadistic tangent that was soon cut short by an earthquake. Yelling, the sadist nearly fell as she struggled to keep her balance. "What's going on up there?"

One of the arms stabbed into the ground by Prince Yale and Millie, who screamed as roses flew up around the two of them. She was quickly pulled into a protective hug by the mute prince.

"What's going on?" Tsubomi continued to run from the mechanical arms, which, by this time, were running haywire and ceased to listen to the commands of their master.

"Hizaki is trying to kill everyone. We've got to get out of here," Copernicus replied. This was of the top priority. Who knew what would happen if either one of them were hit by the smallest electrical current, or even worse, by the arms themselves?

"Do you know anything about that weird parasol?" Tsubomi questioned. The vampire told her that he would explain matters later. Now was neither the time nor place to simply stand around and give explanations.

Estella emerged from the underground base and glanced around at her surroundings. "What the-?" Shock washed over her as the vampire's skin turned a ghostly white. Soon, the events of what had been happening above were revealed to her in the horror of reality. "Hizaki, you stupid bastard! You'll kill us all! What in the hell are you doing?" She yelled as lightening struck all around her.

The purple-haired sadist attempted to run, but was caught up in a powerful jolt of electricity and flung forward with a yell. Millie screamed as she buried her head in the prince's chest, as if he were her only source of protection from the chaos outside.

After a few moments, she felt long arms wrap around her. It was a comforting feeling, although it caused her to blush a bright shade of pink. For that moment in time, she felt her heart flutter.

"Get down!" Copernicus tackled Tsubomi to the ground. Both of them covered themselves as a massive explosion sounded throughout the land.

'Damn! With these problems, keeping my gender a secret is the least of my worries.' The girl thought as a burst of wind pounded against her small form.

After the explosion had passed, Yale lifted his skinny form up from Millie and looked into her eyes with relief that the school girl was alright. She lay below him, amongst the roses, gazing up into his eyes cerulean eyes. She looked from side to side before she finally spoke.

"Oh my God! What happened? That was so freaky!"

Yale reached into the girl's purse.

"Hey! There are private things in there, so hands off Mr. Silent!" The girl scolded before she saw what his true objective was- to get the notebook and pen. Then she felt embarrassed that she had misjudged him and grumbled an apologetic 'sorry' as she looked down in shame for even thinking such a thing.

Are you okay?

"I'm fine. What about you?" Millie was more concerned for him than herself. After all, he was mute and couldn't express his pain in words.

I'm alright.

A smile crossed her face at what she had realized just happened. "You're free now. You can go back to living." They had done it. The prince was a free man, far away from this life in captivity. No longer would he have to suffer under the abusive blow of that woman.

I wish I could, but that's impossible. They will be after me more than ever now. A sad expression crossed Yale's face. He knew that he was in for far more trouble than ever. The price of freedom was never free and sacrifices had to constantly be made to ensure his freedom. Even if he was free momentarily, it would be a constant struggle to exist that way.

"You should stay with Copernicus, Tsubomi-kin and I. We'll protect you," Millie smiled and hoped that the young prince would take her offer, but he had other ideas.

That's kind of you, but I can't. I must go now.

With that, he turned to leave, but the magenta-haired girl wasn't about to just let him walk away. There had to be a way to keep in contact with him. This wasn't just going to be good-bye. Not after all they had been through.

"What? But, I just met you. Please don't go…" Old-fashioned pleading was all she had left to resort to. However, it was very real. Millie was upset that he'd simply leave her.

I'll come and see you. Besides, you can still help me out. I'd like to drink your blood again. The prince turned and showed her the letter as a hopeful look crossed the girl's face.

"Really?"

He nodded. I owe you a great debt for freeing me from that hell. The tan-haired prince picked a single rose from the garden and handed it to the school girl, who blushed as he winked at her.

"Thank you, Prince Yale," Millie gently took the rose and stared into its blood-red, velvet petals.

Placing a gentle kiss on the girl's hand, he handed her the notebook and walked off, in search of a new life. As she looked down, she read the last phrase he had written on the cluttered page of words.

Farewell, Millie. I'll be watching you.

When she looked back up to catch sight of him, he was already gone. "Good bye!" She yelled in hopes that he could still hear her. "Be safe…Prince Yale," Millie's voice softened as she closed her eyes and cuddled the frail blossom against her chest.

"There you are." Opening her eyes, she whirled around to see Tsubomi and Copernicus walking towards her. Both of them looked a little worse for wear, and they were bloody and riddled with cuts.

"Huh? Tsubomi-kun! Copernicus!" She shouted as she ran up to the both of them, hugging them both. Millie didn't care if anything got on her. She herself was bleeding and bruised from Estella's cruel whip, but her happiness had overridden her pain. "Oh my God! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Yes, we're glad to see you too, Millie," Copernicus gently smiled.

"Yeah…"

"How did you get free?" He asked, a little confused at why she had been holding a pocket notebook and a rose.

"Prince Yale helped me," her words brought a shock to his system. He couldn't believe what she had just said. The prince…helped her? How could this be?

"What? Isn't he dead?" Tsubomi's question reflected the one he wished to ask himself.

"What did you say?" The Inheritor wanted to make sure that he had heard her correctly.

"I know. I was totally knocked out of my shoes when I saw him," Millie explained. In many ways, she couldn't believe it either. At the moment, the only thing that ran through her head was Yale, kissing her hand softly and winking at her before he parted ways with her. "They didn't kill him; they kept him in a dungeon." Her voice lowered to one of sorrow. "They tortured him and they cut his vocal chords so that he couldn't talk. We've been talking through letters."

"Hizaki is gone," Tsubomi noted as her royal blue hues scanned the field for any sign of the flamboyantly dressed vampire.

Copernicus took the notebook and examined the text on the page it had been flipped to. "I thought well enough. This is his writing."

"I ran into Hizaki, too. He nearly killed me," Millie informed them of part of the hell she'd been put through during her escape. She imagined that they had probably run into him afterwards and suffered the affects of some kind of fight between them.

"Did he drain your mental energy?" Tsubomi questioned. If that happened, then the girl needed to rest and recoup any mental energy that she had lost.

"I feel fatigued but I'm fine," Millie explained. "Thankfully, I wasn't around him for long."

"Thank God," Tsubomi was relived at that.

"Where is he?" Copernicus asked. If Yale was mute, then there was no way to communicate with him aside from sign language and written letters. It was dangerous for someone like him to be out in the open like that. The prince needed to be watched over and protected. Now, more than ever, Hide, Hizaki and Estella Nu were sure to be after him.

"I don't know. He said he would watch over me and that he couldn't stay. He ran off and I haven't seen him," Millie's gaze was a little downcast. Even though it had only been twenty minutes, she missed his company.

It didn't feel quite right without him around.

"Did he bite you by any chance or is that just a battle wound?" Copernicus questioned as he pointed to the puncture wounds on her shoulder.

The sheer question brought back memories of that moment in the girl's mind. It was an interesting, though slightly painful experience. It was one of the times that she felt as if she had been closest to the prince. "He hadn't had blood in so long, so I gave him some of mine. He was so weak and frail. He didn't want me to be his donor, so we didn't make a pact or anything. I'm really worried about him." She commented as she glanced off in the direction that he had headed out in with a look of concern.

"This is odd. I thought Hide's goal was to kill the members of the royal family and court…So why did he keep Prince Yale alive? Not only did he keep him alive, he severed his vocal chords to keep him from talking…but wouldn't he want to pump information out of him?" Tsubomi was confused at what exactly was going on. Maybe their plans weren't as black and white as they seemed. There had to be a significant reason behind them keeping the prince alive.

"Maybe they already did. I mean, he's a prince for crying out loud. So, he probably knows a ton of stuff about the whereabouts of the royal family and the members of the royal court. To have him stop talking after that would be a safeguard. That way he couldn't possibly tell or warn them…There's no way that he could get help…" The thought of being in such a predicament made her heart sink farther in her chest than it was. Any moment now, Millie felt as if her heart would hit the floor.

"Prince Yale knows too much," Copernicus stated. "He always has. That's why he's the prime factor…but still, if they already got what they wanted…Why would they have kept him alive?"

It was a question that held so many possible outcomes. There had to be a reason that they had kept the prince alive, and it had to be much deeper than any of them could ever fathom.

There was something going on, and he intended to find the source of this madness.

…To Be Continued…