Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Shattered Illusion ( Chapter 40 )

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Shattered Illusions

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 40: Shattered Illusion

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"Are you sure, my lord?" Horatio looked at him, quizzical. Tsubomi had proven to be a formidable opponent, and subjecting the vampire to fight his possessed donor. Not only that, but Copernicus had a limited supply of power now that he didn't have a source to feed from. The odds were stacked against him.

With his sights set ahead, Copernicus watched his donor from the sidelines. "I think I know how to snap him out of it. Just leave it to me," Copernicus pulled out the Rigatama, readying himself for battle.

"Wait! I thought we weren't going to kill him!" Zino reached out to stop the Inheritor, but he was already too far away.

Copernicus glanced over his shoulder, "I'm not."

"There he is. Copernicus is your prime objective. Above all things, my faithful pet, you must kill the king. Go fourth and murder Copernicus!" The possessed girl heard in her head as she pointed her axe towards the approaching vampire.

"Yes, my lord," Tsubomi obediently said to no one but herself, "I will murder Copernicus." Her voice went into the same mechanical tone as before.

"Those are words that I never thought I'd hear," Copernicus took his final step towards his donor with his weapon still pointed towards the ground. He didn't want to fight her, he truly hated this moment. Copernicus hard a hard time trying to fathom the fact that right now, the very person he trusted the most was talking about killing him. However, at the same time, he knew that this wasn't the Tsubomi he knew. She would never say things like that under normal circumstances. "My dear Tsubomi, I'll free you from this burden."

"The only burden here is you. Die!" The tom boy shouted and ran towards her donor. She swung her weapon with all of her might, only to have it clash with Copernicus' sword blade. The sound radiated through the air and the two of them pushed against each other in a power struggle. "I must kill you," Tsubomi strained to speak, "You have...to die..."

"For what reason? What's your motive?" Copernicus hoped that he could break the possession through a more rational means.

"Why would I tell you?" Tsubomi shot, pushing forward.

"I'd much rather kiss you than kill you," the vampire smiled kindly at her, then lunged forward and kissed her. He hoped that her physical memory would react to the kiss. If it didn't than this level of possession was far beyond anything he could cure.

"What? What kind of crap are you spouting?" Tsubomi's once mechanical voice took on a defensive edge to it. 'Co...Copernicus? Is that you? It has to be...Your kiss...' Her mind desperately tried to fight off the possession, and returned the gesture for a few moments but Hizaki's hold on her tightened and she pulled back, swinging her weapon at him.

The impact knocked him back, and he dug his heels into the ground as he skidded across the pavement and caught himself from falling at the last minute. Copernicus sent the Rigatama after her, the blades shooting out in a steady chain as they had many times before. The girl jumped up and the blades bounced off of the ground and followed her movement. Tsubomi back flipped in mid-air as they shot past her, missing her by inches. She landed on one knee a few feet away.

"I've never seen him fight like this before. He's usually a cruel, brutal man. To see him fight with such gentility is...odd," Horatio had seen Copernicus fight many times before, and he never held back quite like he did in this fight. He could tell that Tsubomi meant something to him.

'If I keep trying to jar his mind, maybe he will come to. The body has many means of memorization. He can't use his brain but his body still reacts to my touch.' Copernicus blocked a strike from the girl. 'So...all I have to do is keep touching him and he'll slowly regain sense enough to fight the possession.'

"You can't win. I can fight all day like this," Tsubomi warned him to give up his cause. He was just going to end up like the others if he insisted to continue this farce.

"Perhaps you can," Copernicus inched closer to the possessed girl's face, "but you cannot resist me for long." He nuzzled her cheek affectionately, and shock broke out across her face.

"Copernicus..." A momentary tone of endearment resonated in her voice, then the rings around her irises glowed even brighter, and her expression hardened into anger. "Get away from me!" She screamed in a fit of rage and shoved him off of her. Copernicus stumbled a few steps backwards.

"What's wrong? Can't handle my touch," a smile crossed his face. That was it! He was getting through to her. His elegant fingers toyed with the sharpened edge of his sword, running back and forth across it. "If this were a battle of physical contact, then you'd lose."

"Go to hell, you sorry excuse for a vampire!" The tom boy shouted, still angry and frustrated from before. She slammed the head of the axe into the ground. It was slammed in with such force that the ground busted up. It violently shook, causing her opponent to fall to the ground and lose his footing. A smile crossed her face. "Heh, I knew you'd be too weak to withstand that."

Horatio shouted to his king, calling his name out in shock as he looked on at the battle raging before him.

"Man, that looked like it hurt like hell," Teru commented from the side lines. Copernicus really wiped out, and getting a face full of busted concrete didn't sound pleasing in the slightest.

"He's not down yet," Shiva said, which caused the red-haired vampire to release a 'huh' in response and avert his vision to the once fallen man, seeing him pry himself off of the ground. He was quickly tackled by Tsubomi, who took him to the ground and held the axe to his face.

Copernicus lay on his back, smiling up at the woman above him. 'I knew this plan would work, even if it is risky, he's shown breaks in the possession. Hizaki may be the Princess of Illusions but every method of attack and control has a weak point. It holds the same for possession.' He could save her. Tsubomi wasn't a total loss, and because of that, he felt on cloud nine.

"Why the hell are you smiling?" The girl was getting fed up with his happy-faced bullshit.

"You want to kill me so bad. Can I at least have one last kiss before I die?" He glanced up at her with nothing but deep love reflected in his eyes.

"What?!" Millie shouted in outrage. Was Copernicus really just going to lie down and die for her? What the hell was going on?

"I won't allow this to happen," Horatio took out his sword and ran towards the two of them. No one was going to kill the only hope that Ramada had! Not on his watch!

"What are you going?" Tsubomi asked as Copernicus took her arm and pulled her forward, biting her neck. The girl's eyes widened as her body jolted still. If she dared to move even a little, he would have killed her on accident.

Horatio dug his heels into the turf, sliding to a stop. 'What? What the hell is he doing?'

Tsubomi's mind ran at one hundred miles an hour. Her irises shook, glowing faintly with the remnants of possession still clinging parasitically to them. 'What do I do? He's biting me. I can't allow him to drink my blood, but if I rip him away, I'll kill myself. His fangs are around my jugular vein. At this point, I'll be drained of all of my life source.' Her hands trembled violently as she tried to fight off Hizaki's grasp.

'Tsubomi, don't forget our contract. Your body, your life, they all belong to me. Right now, I hold the cards, and I'll have to hope that you don't pull away...Otherwise, I'll be losing more than this bet...I'll be losing you.' Blue eyes closed as he lapped up the sweet, red blood that flowed from the puncture wounds in her neck.

Hizaki slammed his fists on the nearest desk top, a scowl marred his face. "Damn it! He's seeing through me!" He had to do something about it quickly, or he was going to lose Tsubomi to that fiend.

"Your plan is failing," Hide was unamused with his efforts.

Hunching over, Hizaki gritted his teeth together, pupils shrunken as his mind tried to desperately regain control of the girl. "I know, my lord," he looked as stressed as he was. "This is most unbefitting to me. I struggle to keep my hold on this one. They keep fighting off my possession." He hated admitting it, but he was failing to keep the girl under control even with powers as complex and strong as his, she still fought off his every move. How in the hell was it so hard to possess a simple human being? She was making him look like a fool! 'What are you doing? Get him off of you!'

"Yes, master," Tsubomi agreed as Copernicus released his grip on her neck. She thrusted the axe forward as Copernicus curse under his breath and moved to the side, throwing her off of him and causing the girl to crash into the ground.

Tsubomi stood, fresh blood streamed down her neck. "I refuse to let you get any more moves in on me."

'What is he trying to do? He bit her on the neck but, he didn't kill her.' Horatio was so confused as to what his king was trying to accomplish. There seemed to be no method to his madness.

Copernicus took his white handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his mouth, blotting out the blood that clung to his lips. "No matter who controls your mind, your body is mine. I have marked it in nearly every way." He held out the Rigatama, charging at her full force. "Remember who your master is."

Tsubomi smirked. "You're funny. I only have one master." With that, the blades of the Rigatama flew at her, their deadly edges ready to taste her blood. Quickly, Tsubomi evaded them as she jumped out of the way, their points tore into the ground as she made her way over them, gaining distance between she and Copernicus. She drew back her weapon and he made an upward strike. His blade sliced her up the middle and her hair came undone, brunette strands flowed everywhere as her shirt was cut open, revealing her small breasts, held in a black, lacey bra. Shock ran across her face as she realized just what had happened.

Copernicus stared, stunned at his findings. His eyes were widened and everyone else held visages of shock and horror as they realized what had happened. "Tsubomi...you're a girl?"

"Tell me he's a transvestite...or a drag queen...there's just...no way..." Millie could hardly get the words out. She could only stare on and attempt to process what was going on.

"What's the meaning of this? What madness is this?" Horatio glanced to the rest of the group, who stood on the sidelines behind him.

"I thought for sure that was a boy. Did any of you guys know it was a girl?" Zino looked around, trying to desperately find someone who could explain the situation to him.

Millie shook her head in disbelief. "No...I always thought she was a boy."

"Was this it? Was this the huge secret you've been hiding from me? All of this time...you deceived me. All of this time, you've been living a lie. Who are you really? What all have you lied about?" Copernicus leveled her with a serious expression. She probably wouldn't have answered but he still felt the need to express to her that the jig was up.

Hizaki's eyes widened as he came to the realization that everyone else had. 'A woman? I've been controlling a woman? What the hell?'

"Having problems?" Hide inquired.

"No, my lord," Hizaki replied, trying to regain himself, "something just surprised me."

"I see," Hide took a sip of blood from his golden gauntlet. "You do best to take precautions. This is Copernicus we're dealing with. His is my archnemisis after all."

Tsubomi stood up with a hand on her axe and her shirt ripped open, revealing her small breasts for all to see. Her binding was at her feet and she continued to stare down at her shattered illusion.

"If I may, your majesty, you have hidden things as well," Horatio reminded Copernicus of his own secrets.

"Yeah, so you shouldn't be so mad at him, er, her. God that's mega weird to say," Millie added. It was strange to break her habit of referring to Tsubomi as anything but male.

"You didn't know either?" Copernicus looked back at the girl in confusion.

"No...I'm still in shock over it. I honestly thought she was a pretty boy but it does make sense now, I mean, her name is Tsubomi. That's a girl's name...She's still really pretty...and she's still my friend, liar or not. She must have had a good reason to lie, right?" Millie didn't want to believe that Tsubomi would lie to them all on purpose. Maybe she was hiding from someone so she pretended to be a boy? Maybe she had no other choice? There had to be something, anything to prove her reasoning.

"I'm not sure why she lied, to be honest but we'll settle that later." Blades shot from the ground and knocked the girl's weapon out of her hands. She gasped and looked shocked as the axe spiraled into the air, landing with a clank against the concrete road. "Let's end this. You should be free, Tsubomi. It pains me to see you like this."

"No chance in hell," Tsubomi retorted and ran at him once more. He attempted to send his blades out, but she dodged all of them. The girl was unamused with his repetitive tactics. "Same old tricks, too bad they won't work, no matter how many times you try them."

"Randomize," the Inheritor uttered.

"What?" Tsubomi's eyes widened as the blades dispersed and flew at her from all directions with no set pattern or method. She began to dodge all of the way ward blades that came at her. This way and that she went in an attempt to avoid each one. The girl finally made her way over to her master, kicking the sword out of his hands. She flipped up into the air and grabbed the Rigatama and started trying to cut him, slashing at him over and over. "How do you like it?"

Copernicus evaded her moves, dodging back and forth as the blade was shoved over his shoulder and past his face. "It's not very enjoyable," he remarked as blades flew around them in random directions. One of the blades came from behind. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw it and moved out of the way. However, at that moment, Tsubomi thrusted the Rigatama forward and struck him in the chest, the blade dug into his flesh.

Shock and pain registered in the vampire's visage as blue eyes looked down to see the blood welling up around the sword blade. It bubbled up in his throat and leaked from the corner of his mouth. Red ran down the blade, to Tsubomi's hands. She looked at it drip from her flesh and land on the unforgiving ground below her.

At that moment, her eyes stopped glowing completely.

"No..." Millie whispered, her voice trembling as she saw a vision of Yale being shot. "No..." She relived the moment where the blade dug into Copernicus' chest. "I failed...I failed, not only as a knight to Prince Yale, but now to Copernicus? Our mission is over." Tears fell from her eyes as she could do nothing but watch the events play out before her. Once again, Millie was helpless to do anything.

"My king!" Horatio shouted as he tried to run to the injured vampire but Copernicus held his hand out, stopping him.

"Stand down, Sir Pendragon," his weak voice commanded.

Tsubomi just stood and gazed at the fruits of her labor, eyes widened and irises going back to normal.

"Damn! I've lost her!" Hizaki cursed as he slammed his fist down again. Hide looked to him in question.

"Your possession failed?"

"She kept breaking it but I managed to get a hold of her again. However, this time she completely slipped." Hizaki regretted to inform his lover of that tiny problem.

"She? Who are you talking about? Millie Ashford?" Hide was confused. Who exactly had Hizaki possessed?

"No, that donor who is with Copernicus," Hizaki cleared the confusion.

"So, it's female?" Hide looked amused by this small piece of information. "I'm assuming everyone thought it was male."

"Yes, she even had me fooled. I'll have to give it to her, she's a good illusionist," Hizaki was impressed that Tsubomi had managed to trick him so much. It was a height of deception unique to her alone.

"What have I done?" Tsubomi's voice trembled as concern wrote itself on her visage. She felt queasy, like she wanted to vomit as her vision was transfixed on the male in front of her. Sorrow overtook her face. "What have I done?" Her eyes slowly looked up from her weapon to see the sword lodged into her lover's chest. "Copernicus..."

"It looks like...the possession has worn off," the Inheritor cracked a smile through his pained, strained tone, "good, I'm glad..."

"Please," the girl begged. "Don't say I killed you."

Copernicus tore the blade out of his chest, as if it were nothing. "It takes more than that to kill me. Inheritors are hard to kill in general. Besides, you missed anything major and I am thankful of that." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, blood seeping through to her bare chest. "My little Tsubomi..." he uttered softly, "I'm so glad that I was able to break your possession." He had been so worried that he would be left with no other option but to kill her. Now that the ordeal was over, a sense of peace washed over him.

"That's what happened...I don't remember anything. I just remember seeing Hizaki when I went home and what he said..." Tsubomi looked as if she was trying to piece things together. "He said that over time he'd been weakening my senses..." She looked down in shame. "I'm such a dumbass. I knew I felt weird but I stubbornly didn't say anything."

"Sir, we need to get you home so we can fix your wounds," Horatio was worried about the vampire. He was losing blood quickly, and he would need a lot of blood soon if nothing were done about it.

Copernicus agreed as Millie picked up the Rigatama, staring at the blood-soaked blade. "I know you won't want to leave this behind."

"I'm...I feel fuzzy..." Tsubomi's vision swam as she struggled to keep her eyes on the gun slinger.

"I never knew you were a girl. Why would you hide that from us?" Millie asked. Now that Tsubomi was in the correct state of mind, she felt like she could ask her questions and the tom boy would answer them coherently.

"What? How did you figure that out?" Tsubomi looked shocked that the girl was able to call her out so simply on something that she had been so desperately trying to hide. Millie said nothing and pointed down to her exposed chest. Blue eyes looked down and widened. "How?"

"It happened during the battle," Millie explained, "Copernicus cut your shirt and coat...so uh...We saw your boobs."

Tsubomi closed her eyes, sighing heavily. "Guess I knew I'd get caught eventually. It's time to face the music. How did Copernicus react?" She was almost scared to ask about her master, or what he thought about her true identity. Surely he was disappointed.

"He was shocked and I don't know what else. I do think that you need to tell him who you really are. If it was me, I wouldn't know what to think or if I even knew you anymore." It was what the gun slinger thought, anyway. Millie stuck by her, but at the same time, she felt as if she had lost her best friend in many ways. While she was uncertain, she had faith that things would pull themselves together somehow.

"He probably thinks I lied about everything now." In many ways, Tsubomi expected that this would happen. Now she was faced the with repercussions, now she knew that she might lose the man that she loved so much.

Shiva sat a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Come on; let's go back to Copernicus' house. He needs you."

Tsubomi nodded as the group headed back towards the white mansion. Once they were there, they found Copernicus sitting up in his bed with his shirt unbuttoned and his bandages on. Tsubomi sat in a wooden chair with black slacks on and a black tank top that was form-fitting. Her hands adorned black gloves and her long, brown hair flowed down, causing her to look much more feminine. 'No one could possibly know how scared out of my mind I am. He hates me...I just know it. He's going to call me a liar and cast me out. I wouldn't blame him though. How could I believe that he would accept my secret? Man, I feel like I'm going to puke.'

Her stomach churned sickeningly, the bile sloshed around inside of her as she visibly winced. Tsubomi felt miserable and her body and mind were nearly drained of energy. Fighting off Hizaki's possession had taken a toll on her, as well as fighting for so long. Her bones ached and she rubbed her sore arm.

She looked to the inheritor, who said nothing to her; he just continued to read a book on modern warfare without a single word. Horatio walked into the room, asking him how he felt, but he called him 'you majesty'. How odd.

"What? Why is he calling you that?" Tsubomi turned to the vampire with a quizzical look on her face.

"He's calling me that because I am a king," Copernicus decided to drop his walls and tell her his biggest secret as well. It was only fair that all of the masks of illusion were shed.

"What?" Tsubomi's eyes widened. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

Dark blue eyes peeked from over the book's ledge. "My name is King Copernicus Julius Wittenburg. I'm the one who is the king of Ramada. I'm the one you've been protecting. I knew the king was safe, because I am the king."

"All of this time...it was you..." Now it all made sense. Tsubomi knew that he had a high status in the royal court, but she didn't know that he was the royal court. She never would have guessed that's what his position was. He hardly acted like a king, other than the fact that he held himself with pride and was remarkably handsome.

Copernicus stuck a book marker in the book and closed it. "Yes, that's my secret. I didn't want there to be a panic or for anyone to worry about my royal status." If he had told them all, then everyone would have treated him like a fragile flower that needed protecting, and he didn't want that.

"That's right," Millie confirmed, clasping her hands at her waist with her head down and eyes closed, "Prince Yale is his brother."

"Yes," Horatio nodded, "he assumed my last name as a cover up if word got across that he was still alive, or affiliated with Copernicus, then worse things were bound to happen." It was time that all of them told her the truth. There was far more going on than Tsubomi even expected there to be.

"Did you know about this the whole time, Millie?" Tsubomi looked towards the maroon-haired girl, shocked that even she was working against her, hiding things and playing along with her master's scheme.

"I found out about it after Prince Yale died," Millie opened her eyes and cast a look of guilt and sorrow to the side. "That letter he gave me before his death explained everything that had been going on, and most of the secrets that he had. I was shocked but I went to talk to Copernicus about it and he told me to keep it a secret."

"Why?"

How could she? Why did everyone know but her? This was so unfair!

"I didn't want anyone else to tell you but me. I had wanted you to be the first one to know my secret but things didn't work out that way. I should have told you earlier, as my donor you should know first and foremost. I should have been honest with you-" Copernicus tried to continue his explanation and apology but he was cut off.

"No...I should have told you the truth when I was at the strip club. I led you on. I made you think that I was a boy this whole time. I'm so sorry." If she could have gone back in time and slapped herself then she definitely would have. Tsubomi regretted that things had to come to this.

"Then let's settle this. Tell me who you really are, Tsubomi Sakurazawa. I want to know the real you, not your mask of illusion." Now was the time to reconcile their pasts, to gain the proper knowledge of each other and just as she was willing to tell him the truth, he was willing to give her the answers she so rightfully deserved.

...To Be Continued