Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Masquerade ( Chapter 39 )

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Shattered Illusions

Chapter 39: Masquerade

By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp

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"It's been three hours. Something happened," Horatio was beginning to get worried about the amount of time that passed. They should have been back by now and he heard no word from anyone in that time.

"I don't think so as well," Shiva cast a sympathetic gaze towards the knight, "It shouldn't have taken him this long." She hated to agree and cause more worry, but there was nothing positive the dark-skinned woman could possibly say right now.

"What about Millie? She's been gone as well," the girl said that she was going to visit Yale's grave and maybe it was only adding worry to Horatio's anxiety but he knew that she didn't usually take this long when she went there. Maybe she had something else to do, but he doubted that. Millie was good at telling people when she had alternative plans or errands to run. This wasn't like her at all.

Copernicus sat down with his elbows propped on his knees, holding either side of his head. It was more than clear that he was stressed out about something. "I know," he finally spoke. "Horatio, go look for Millie. I want her to report to me at once."

Horatio complied and bowed. With a 'yes, your highness' he disappeared and ventured off to complete his new set of orders.

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Millie opened the door to the large, white mansion as Zino stood behind her and took in the sights. He glanced around at the white, picket fences, beautiful gardens and large, white pillars that held up the exquisite architecture. He was impressed by how massive and lavish the house was. He had to admit that he didn't expect her to be living in something like that.

"You live here, Millie?" Zino asked, still breath taken by all that was around him.

"Yes...These are my family in an odd way...Tsubomi was too..." Her voice saddened as visions of her brainwashed friend pelted her memories. It made her heart wrench in pain and tears threaten to cling to her stinging eyes. More than anything she wanted to rescue her friend. Millie could only imagine the type of pain that the tomboy was in. Even at that moment, she thought about what Tsubomi was doing, and how she was. Did possession hurt? Was she aware of her every move?

When she walked in the doorway, she was greeted by Shiva, Copernicus and the others. They walked up to her and Zino, who walked inside after her. The Inheritor vampire asked her if she had seen Tsubomi. Shiva then bent down towards her, asking her what happened.

"Whoa!" Zino threw up his arms. "I feel kind of crowded here!" Moving so suddenly caused a pain to shoot through his side. Groaning, the tanned man held his side in agony. Millie called out his name and rushed to his side, concern written across her face.

"Who is he?" Copernicus had just seen some random man come in his house. He couldn't help but question him.

The dark-haired man introduced himself as Zino Tidus Adair the Third. This raised an eyebrow with Horatio.

"Adair?" He recognized that last name. "You're a relative of the archduke?"

Zino nodded in response. "Yes, I saw you all at Earl Prizemarter's party. My family has been affiliated with vampires for centuries."

"What?" Millie blinked. She was a little shocked that his lineage was something that long.

The green-haired man introduced himself as Horatio Pendragon Greenchapel, the former knight to his majesty, prince Yale Axis Wittenburg.

"He was a Wittenburg?" This was news to Zino. He had thought differently of the prince.

"You know the Wittenburgs?" Horatio was a little shocked that someone so scruffy-looking knew anything about the royal families in general.

Copernicus placed a hand to his chest. "I am a Wittenburg."

"What? Are you related to Prince Yale Axis?" Zino wondered aloud. This man had very similar features to the prince. The same shaped eyes, the same nose, elongated chin and same, luxurious hair. The only difference was that he looked more seasoned and noble and his body structure was broad and strong, versus being slim and lean.

"I'm his older brother, King Copernicus Julius Wittenburg. Pleased to make your acquaintance," the brunette bowed politely to the other male, who replied with a 'yes, your highness' and bowed back as a sign of respect. Zino took the elder man's hand and kissed it, telling him that the pleasure was all his.

"What were you going to say about Tsubomi, Millie?" Copernicus then turned his sights to the important matter at hand. He wanted to know the fate of his donor.

With a crestfallen look, maroon eyes hit the ground, "Tsubomi has been possessed by Hizaki."

Her words sent shock across the room as everyone's face lit up and gasps as well as hushed whispers went through air and filled the silence with chatter.

"Do whaaaaaat?" Teru was overdramatic about the incident.

"This is bad," Shiva placed a hand to her mouth and worry immediately infected her features.

"What do we do?" Horatio didn't have the slightest idea of how to approach a situation like that.

Copernicus, however, seethed with rage. His blood came to a boil as he trembled and clenched his fist. His face morphed into determination and his dark blue eyes hardened to steel. "We have to find a way to stop this. How did you acquire this information? How do you know for sure?" He wanted it to be lies, hearsay, something fabricated. Surely Tsubomi hadn't fallen prey to Hizaki's whims so easily. She was stronger than that. He knew that she was. There had to be some kind of mistake.

"Zino and I...we ran into him," Millie continued to admit in a small voice, still looking at the ground.

"Yeah," Zino backed her up, "he went psycho on us and tried to kill us. He kept saying that he was obeying someone or something. Then, this weird guy in a dress showed up. I guess that is Hizaki." He wasn't really sure what was going on but from the information that Millie had given him, Zino was able to somewhat piece it together.

"Where did they go? We've got to stop them," Horatio stepped forward and clenched his fist. If Hizaki had taken Tsubomi, then it would be easy to get her back. After all, they knew where Hide's base was. It couldn't be that hard to get her out of it.

"That Tsubomi guy...We can't kill him, right?" Teru pointed to Copernicus. "I mean, he is the king's donor. That must suck some balls!" The brunette was truly between a rock and a hard place. How were they going to defeat Tsubomi without killing her? Was there a way to rid of her of the possession?

"Then we'll have to snap him out of it somehow," Shiva looked thoughtful and creased her eyebrows, "but what level of possession is he at?" That would determine several factors.

"That's what worries me," Copernicus felt the anxiety mount on him. Not only was Tsubomi vital for his existence, she was his mate, the person he loved. He didn't want to lose her to Hizaki's mind games. If there was a way to get her out of it, he was going to try and fight for her freedom. "If we can't snap him out of it, then we have no choice but to kill him." He frowned deeply as an inner pain assaulted his heart. Copernicus didn't even like bringing that grim possibility up, but at the same time he knew that he had to present it to the public. "We can't possibly let it go on."

"No!" Millie didn't even like hearing that option. "There has to be a better way! We've already lost Prince Yale, I'm not losing Tsubomi too." She was tired of hurting, tired of losing people and she had felt so helpless in the events of Yale's assassination. As long as Millie could do something, she damned sure was going to try and save her friend. No more deaths were going to happen, not as long as she was able to do something about it.

"We'll only do that if things get desperate," Horatio agreed that they should only use force if there was no other way of handling Tsubomi's situation, or if the possession was too advanced, "for now, we should try to come up with a way to neutralize the possession."

"He's really strong. I mean, he took both of us on and he didn't even have to try," Millie had to admit, it was hard going up against the tom boy. If she really wanted to, Tsubomi could have easily killed her.

"He also has this crazy axe. I don't know how he got it, but he's badass with it. I mean, it's crazy, I never thought anyone could handle a weapon quite like that," Zino was still trying to make sense of Tsubomi's ability to wield that weapon. She was effortless and her movements were smooth, like a master's. It was quite interesting to watch.

Millie looked to Copernicus with regret. "I'm so sorry. He's your only donor," the vampire didn't have Coscatta to fall back on anymore. Without Tsubomi, he would surely die.

"That is a good point. What are you going to do until you get a new donor?" If the situation ever arose, Copernicus would need someone else to supply him with blood. Shiva wondered what kind of alternatives he had compared to Tsubomi.

"I'll have to hold out as long as I can. We are in a contract. Perhaps, during battle, I can manage to drink some of his blood." That was the only thing that Copernicus could count on for the moment. His source of power was limited. He would just have to wing it and hope that things returned to the order they had before.

"What will we do until then?" Horatio was still worried. What if his current supply of blood ran out? Copernicus needed an immediate back up plan. This was a life threatening situation.

"We should search the area for them. With both of them running around, the situation could get deadly quickly," Shiva's serious voice intoned on the conversation. It was better to eliminate the threat as quickly as they could.

"The sooner we find Tsubomi, the less of an effect the possession will have. The longer he's under the possession, the more of a lasting effect it will have on him. He was already screwed up by his first encounter with Hizaki," Copernicus knew that this was a race against time. With every passing moment the boy existed under the spell, more and more of his mind was broken down. Tsubomi would become mentally weak and susceptible to higher levels of possession that had a more permanent hold on her mind.

"So, this was all orchestrated?" Horatio thought it seemed that way.

"When I think about it," Copernicus' eyebrows creased in thought. "It had to be. He intentionally has been draining Tsubomi in order to break him down and easily possess him...but why and what's his game?" Was it a way to get closer to him? Was it a way of taking a vital source from him? He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it could have even been a way to lure him back to Hide's lair. There could be something underlying to the plan, something he wasn't aware of and he had to take that into consideration as well.

"To attack you. I mean, to get you dead center." What better way to attack them than to get them at the source? That was Millie's way of thinking anyway.

"He's trying to draw me out. He knows that I have to make a move now." So, that was their plan? Copernicus could have thought as much.

Horatio looked to him in question. "What will you do, my lord?"

"I'll play into his trap," he had not expected that answer.

"What?"

"That's madness!" Shiva didn't like the sound of his tactics either. Surely, he would only get himself killed!

"So, what are we doing? What he wants?" Teru was genuinely confused. He didn't really know what the hell was even going on.

"That makes no sense," Millie was just as confused. What kind of plan was that? It was going to get them all killed.

The vampire gave them all a reassuring look. "I have a tactic, trust me. I am not a master tactician for no good reason. Even my best general could not beat me at war games." A twisted smile appeared on Copernicus' face. If there was one thing Hide would never catch up to him on, it was mental prowess. This new plan of his was going to shake his enemy's world.

That was a promise.

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Shiva and Millie walked through the scarcely populated streets of town. All along the streets there were small businesses and large mansions intermingled with each other. The skies above them were a smog-like ashen color, as if rain was going to fall any moment. Shiva held an umbrella big enough for the two of them to hide under in case they decided to release their water droplets upon them. A cold air blew and bit at their exposed skin as the two made their way down the sidewalks. Bushes rustled in the wind and the few wind chimes that were around tingled and jingled as they danced on air.

Large buildings towered over them like giants, casting their stares down upon them. It made the two feel small against the powerful backdrop. Maroon eyes scanned through the few people that walked around, going about their mundane tasks and holding idle conversation. Some sat and talked, some were eating outside and others walked down the paths or hung out in groups. They all seemed normal to her. Nothing was out of place or odd at all.

"Do you see anything yet?" Shiva inquired, her eyes shifted to the girl in question.

"No, I don't. I haven't seen anything around this side of town at all. Copernicus seems to be really confident in his abilities." So far there was nothing, and to Millie it seemed pointless to be searching.

"He has good reason. Every war Ramada has been in, he's never lost. His intellect is superior to anyone he's faced, even the war games he's played with his generals. They have all cowered in fear before him. He is a true master tactician," Shiva knew more than anyone that Copernicus was a force to be reckoned with. His war games were second to none.

"So, we should trust him, right?" If Shiva put that much faith in him, then perhaps she should have as well.

"I would. I'm pretty sure that it's fool proof," Shiva stopped in her steps and froze. Her mouth formed into an 'o' shape and her eyes widened slightly. "Huh?"

There, before them was Tsubomi, possessed, with that same blank look in her eyes. In her hand, she held her huge battle axe. The weapon reflected the clouds above and a cold wind blew past, toying with her tendrils. She was back and ready to lay waste to the two of them, just as she was ordered to do.

Millie jolted to a stop. Her eyes reflected with fear and shock as she drew her hands up to her mouth. "Huh? What?" Blinking, it registered in her mind. "Hey, it's Tsubomi-kun!"

"I must kill all of the members of the Blue Rose Organization," Tsubomi's monotone voice sounded as she rushed towards the two women, drawing her weapon back.

"He saw us," Millie jumped out of the way, leaving Shiva to defend herself.

The dark-skinned vampire popped out her umbrella and stood in a defensive stance. "Let's see how you deal with this! Blur!" She commanded as several ancient symbols lit up around the umbrella. Suddenly everything blurred and the colors drug and blended. Her movements after this point were in slow motion, as if someone had played a frame by frame of her form.

"What?" Tsubomi paused in her movements, looking around at what was taking place around her. It was like she was in some sort of haze.

"Phantom Gale!" Shiva then quickly waved her umbrella to the side as the blur stopped and the tomb boy was blasted back with a burst of wind that forcefully flung her backwards. Tsubomi dug her boots into the ground as her form skidded across the concrete. Blue eyes glared at the vampire as she flipped backwards.

"So, you make illusions too?" Tsubomi inquired with a stone-cold face, her expression unchanging.

"Hallucinations to be more precise," Shiva corrected. "My powers are based on time, space and the human psyche."

Tsubomi drew back, throwing the axe with great force towards her. Shiva countered the attack by holding out her umbrella and shouting the word 'freeze' as the weapon stopped in place, as if it were paused in time. Shiva pointed the umbrella at her opponent and summoned her reverse spell, sending it spiraling back towards the tom boy, who simply caught it in mid-spin. Wordlessly, she charged at Millie.

"Alright, I'll attack you then," Tsubomi decided to take out the weakest link.

Millie pulled out her sword from its holster and blocked her blade. 'Please Prince Yale; let your sword protect me.' The girl struggled to hold her own as Tsubomi pushed forward on the axe in an attempt to overpower her. They pushed each other back and her opponent swung again. The girl blocked her swing again. Tsubomi assaulted her with a series of swings and Millie blocked every one of them. Then, the two shoved each other back and spun around in an attempt to slash each other in the side, only to have their weapons clash again.

Tsubomi let out a grunt and tried to stab her with the axe blade. Millie jumped up and flipped backwards, landing a few feet behind the blade, which dug into the hard ground. The tom boy was quickly on top of her from behind but Millie was quick to react and block it. The girl swung her weapon around, causing Tsubomi to evade it by jumping back.

The two of them thrusted their weapons out and looked at each other with fire and determination, then charged at each other, fueled by adrenaline as they ran full speed. The both of them missed their marks. The axe went under Millie's arm, and the tom boy saw her opportunity.

"Now I have you." Taking hold of the weapon with both hands, Tsubomi used her strength to bring it back, knocking the girl off of her feet and launching her backwards, flinging her out of the way.

'I can't seem to break through Hizaki's possession. This task is harder than it seems. Tsubomi is nearly completely under his control. I need to find something that makes him human. Something that will make him want to rebel against it, and take hold of his own mind.' Shiva attempted to explore the recesses of Tsubomi's mind. No matter what direction or technique she took, there were no answers, no loopholes and no way to knock her out of the possession. "But what?"

"This is as far as you go," Tsubomi stood menacingly over the girl, who lay on her side before her. Those cold eyes glared down on her like a guillotine blade ready to decapitate her. The dark clouds in the background only served to darken her form and make her all the more imposing.

"I won't accept it," Millie's voice was small, yet strong in tone as she pulled herself up, clutching Yale's sword firmly in her hand. "Prince Yale died because of me. I won't let the same thing happen to you!" She shouted and charged at her opponent, filled with a new fire of determination. She couldn't give up on her friend. More than anything, she was going to save Tsubomi. Millie wouldn't believe anything less.

"Whatever," Tsubomi scoffed, "have it your way." She charged at the girl and tried to chop her in half, but missed as Millie run up the trunk of a nearby tree and back flipped over the tom boy with her sword pointed down in an attempt to stab her but Tsubomi dodged and jumped back.

"Take this!" The tom boy put all of the force she could into her strike as she threw her weapon forward.

"I've got you now!" Millie charged at her. Now Tsubomi was vulnerable. She had no weapon, and she was going to be easy to hit. The girl tried to strike her with her sword and Tsubomi dodged, stepping backwards. The maroon-haired girl turned and Tsubomi shoved her to the ground.

"There's my opening," Shiva opened her eyes and popped her umbrella out. Tsubomi jolted in place, looking wide-eyes as her spiraling weapon hit her head on, controlled by the psychic powers of the female psivamp. The weapon made contact with her with such force that it knocked the wind and spit out of her, sending her sailing backwards.

The tom boy landed against the harsh pavement, it scratched her back as her remaining breath was beaten out of her. The blade tumbled through the air and stabbed into the ground beside of her, cracking the concrete and lacerating the ground.

"Give up, Tsubomi. You won't win the fight," Shiva warned the girl to stay down.

"You," Tsubomi slowly propped herself up on her elbow, "you're a Psivamp as well."

"You could say that," Shiva nodded and clarified her claims. "I'm a telepath. I can move objects with telekinesis. Just as I moved your weapon."

Her only response was a glare and gritted teeth.

"Please...Don't you remember anything?" Millie tried to reason with the girl. She wanted her to remember. "What about Copernicus?" Surely, the man that she loved would be something that she would recall with ease. Didn't she remember him at least?

"Cop...ernicus..." Tsubomi said in broken up syllables, Her bangs shaded her eyes and her head tilted down. "I..." Memories of the brunette surfaced in her head, followed by a loud pulsing sound. Her mind as assaulted with sharp pains that ripped through her form. "I must...No...I don't want to...I don't want to." The tom boy held her head as she tried to fight off the feeling of something trying to push her memories in the back of her mind. It was so painful that she felt like she was going to pass out as the pulses became louder and more distinct, waves of pain resonated through her form.

"Tsubomi-kun?" Millie blinked, wondering what happened. Was Tsubomi fighting off the possession on her own?

Grabbing the axe and pulling it out of the ground, Tsubomi stood again.

"You love him! Come on, please! You don't really want to hurt me!" If she had gotten through to her the first time then she could get through again. Millie was going to help her win her struggle no matter what!

Tsubomi held the axe above her head. Her once emotionless eyes looked wild and frenzied. "Die, Blue Rose Order!" She shouted in a fit of rage, confusion and uncertainty.

Millie drew back to strike her.

"Raging Dragon!" Horatio's voice called out as a snake-like trail of lime-green energy shot past the girl, illuminating her body in a lime color as it ripped through the air, knocking Tsubomi back before her axe blade could touch the girl. Tsubomi stumbled and caught herself, bearing the blunt force of the attack.

Millie turned to see the knight landing beside of her with his sword drawn. Her eyes widened as she called out his name in surprise. She didn't think that Horatio would have showed up, much less protected her against Tsubomi. He looked to her, asking her if she was alright. She told him that she was fine and thanked him for saving her. His sights then turned back to Tsubomi.

"So, this is where you are."

"You were looking for me?" Tsubomi`s voice had snapped back to one of monotone. Any remnants of the old Tsubomi was beaten back and suppressed. She was under the influence of the possession again.

"We're going to bring you back to Copernicus," Horatio made his goal very clear.

"I'm not coming with you. What makes you think I'd ever want to go back with any of you? You're all pathetic. I don't wish to be associated with such inferior beings," Tsubomi turned her head to the side arrogantly. Such people weren't worth her time.

"Inferior?" Teru spoke up, insulted that she would dare address him as such. Did she honestly not know who he was? She was about to find out. "No offense but I can honestly kick your ass."

"What are you doing?" Horatio turned back, casting him a serious expression. Now wasn't the time for personal endeavors, nor was it the time for proving his worth.

"Prince Teru," Millie sighed. Somehow, she knew that he was going to pull a stunt like this.

"Are you challenging me?" Tsubomi cocked her head at the vampire with an unamused look on her face.

"Damned straight, or in your case, damned gay!" Teru flipped down from his place, standing on one of the branches of a nearby tree. He landed with a kusarigama strapped to a long, black cord that curved around his body. In one, fluid motion, he propelled the weapon at her and she evaded it with ease.

"Oooh, you have fast reflexes!" Teru smiled. "Too bad I'm nearly the best there is at this. Before I was a prince, I was a general and ranked number one in my division at that."

"You're a crazy, mad man." Even through her possession, Tsubomi could see that was the truth.

"If you've seen what I have...You'd be oh so batshit crazy, too!" Teru's wild voice sounded as he jumped up, using his body to turn and put extra force into his swing. The scythe blade went spiraling towards its target.

Tsubomi held the axe up as the weapon wrapped around the blade.

"Got you!" Teru's grin widened as he tried to yank the axe out of her hands. However, the tom boy leveled him with a stern look and kept her hands on her weapon. "Hey! No fair! You're strong!" He hadn't anticipated that at all.

"I hardly came to play your mediocre games," Tsubomi replied as she pulled back the axe. Teru held fast to his weapon.

"Ah-ah! You can't pull that trick to me! Gah!" Teru planted his feet on the ground and pulled back, causing his opponent to go to one knee. As the red-head pulled her closer, her stuck her foot out, planting her heel in his stomach.

"Weak-minded fool," she shot.

Teru grabbed her leg and used his upper body force to throw her. "You damned puppet ass-kisser!"

Tsubomi's body flew through the air and she flipped, planting her feet on a tree trunk as she used the force of the throw to launch herself back at him. Teru let his kusarigama fly. His opponent rolled around the weapon as she landed.

"You're just as flexible as I am!" Teru was impressed. "Too bad it won't get you far. Ha!" The vampire spun around and released his weapon, sending it along the ground. The blade ripped up the hard cinder in it's path and sent pieces everywhere. It traveled towards Tsubomi, then shot up, wrapping around her, pulling her body tight with the black cord. "You're trapped, trapped, trapped now!" He taunted the struggling girl.

Gripping her axe, she spun it around, releasing herself from the cords as they loosen and fell around her in a clatter.

Shiva popped open her umbrella. "Stay down this time!" She commanded as Tsubomi turned with a 'huh' in response as a burst of wind blasted up from the ground and knocked her back, pelting her with chunks of concrete that cut and scraped her skin. Tsubomi let out a pained scream as she fell backwards.

Teru quickly made his way through the debris, dodging the flying debris. "Goodbye!"

"What?" Tsubomi could barely get the word out, she was spin kicked in the face. The force of the kick knocked her into the black ropes which wrapped around her leg. Her blue eye darted to the afflicted area. "Shit! It was a trap!"

Teru laughed arrogantly as more black cords shot up from the ground all around the tom boy, wrapping around her body and ensnaring her like an animal. She struggled against the ropes but there was no way that she could move with her feet anchored to the ground. A toothy smile widened on the red-head's visage. "Welcome to my grand illusion."

"Damn you," Tsubomi growled as she continued to struggle against the ropes.

"Go!" Teru flung his arm forward and leaved flew from the trees and bushes at a fast pace. There were so many of them that it looked like a storm or a swarm of large insects. The girl yelled out as the sharpened edges of the leaves left cuts on her skin and ripped her clothing. The ropes then disappeared as her defeated form fell to the ground on her knees.

"You really should give up. You look terrible," Teru crossed his arms, holding his weapon in one hand. Glancing down at the girl, she looked as if she could barely stand, her skin was cut up and bloody and her clothes were tattered and dirty. It was about time that she gave up.

However, her eyes only glowed brighter as she looked to him.

"Now, let's get this over with." It was time to deliver the final strike. This would be it for the possessed girl.

"Wait!" Horatio shouted. With a 'huh' Teru jolted in place and looked to him in shock. Why would the knight stop him from ending the girl's life? "We were instructed not to kill him. What are you doing?" Did Teru really forget the purpose of their mission?

"Why, knocking him out of the possession, of course!" Did Horatio honestly think he was going to kill this guy? Man, he has to little faith in him!

"You can't just knock it out of someone. It doesn't work that way." If it was that easy, then the green-haired knight would have just done it himself.

As the two talked, Tsubomi rose up, clutching her axe again.

"Why noooot?" Teru whined.

"Stand aside," a familiar voice intoned in a cold, commanding tone.

"What?" Millie's face lit up in shock.

"My lord!" Horatio exclaimed.

"King Copernicus," Shiva was shocked that he had appeared as well.

Copernicus leveled all of his team mates with a serious expression. His voice was commanding and confident. It was time to take charge of the situation, and of his donor. "From here on out...this will be my fight."

...To Be Continued