Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / D. Gray-man Fan Fiction ❯ Ice On Ice ❯ The Millennium Swordsman ( Chapter 8 )

SailorStar9: Chapter 7 goes up. This is Chapter 8. Read and review.

 

Disclaimers: I do not own both the animes. However, I do own the pairing, I hope.

 

Chapter 8: The Millennium Swordsman

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“Our story begins more than a thousand years ago. The Emperor who united our land sired a beautiful daughter named Sandra. When she reached the age of eighteen, word of her incredible beauty spread throughout the land and men from as far away from Greece and the Orient crossed both sea and mountain to ask for her hand in marriage. However, the Princess would not accept any proposal, not matter how great her suitor. This is what the Princess said to every one of them: I will marry the strongest man in this world. The Princess asked a swordsman in her father's employ named Vittorio to fight them. All the mightiest men had assembled, and fought many hours, but not one fell. It is said that when the Princess fell ill and died, even to this day, the great battle continues.” The old storyteller narrated.

 

The camera then pans into an abandoned Roman Coliseum as Kanda and Vittorio met face to face.

 

“I will fight you in Princess Sandra's name.” Vittorio declared, drawing his sword.

 

With a war cry, both males rushed towards each other, weapons drawn as the rain pattered around them.

 

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Back at headquarters…

 

“Kanda's missing?” Allen echoed. “I thought he was going to Rome.”

 

“Yuu…” Ami gasped, her hand tightening over her ring.

 

“Yes.” Koumi nodded. “He was going to recover the Innocence discovered on the outskirts of Rome. But as of one week ago, he and the Finders accompanying him have been completely out of contact. There are a great deal of Akumas surrounding the arena where they last made contact, so we've been unable to approach it without the help of an Exorcist.”

 

“That is where you two come in.” he added.

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“Okay. Take us out.” Allen requested the Finder once the senior-junior pair boarded the boat.

 

“What are you doing here?” he blinked confusedly at Lenalee.

 

“Move over.” Lenalee instructed.

 

“Are you coming, Lenalee?” Allen asked as he shifted aside.

 

“Well then, take us out…” he requested the Finder as Lenalee remained silent.

 

She seems kinda mad. He thought. I wonder if Koumi ordered her to come with... but I don't think he would do that…

 

Then, he thought back to when Lenalee slapped him when they faced off with Road.

 

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Flashback

 

“Because we are friends!” Lenalee scolded.

 

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As the train arrived at the station, the trio took their bags and exited the station.

 

“Um…” Allen started as Lenalee huffed in front of him. “Come to think of it, we haven't spoken since then…”

 

“I'm sorry for my behavior.” He apologized, placing both his and Lenalee's suitcases down.

 

Ami sighed as everyone else looked at them.

 

“Don't give up just yet.” Lenalee told him, placing her bag of groceries on top of his bowed head. “I haven't forgiven you.”

 

“Uh, right…” Allen blinked.

 

“You're so selfish, Allen.” Lenalee scolded. “Only you can see the Akuma's souls, so you think you have the right to sacrifice yourself without a moment's thought about other's feelings. Why are we even friends? Don't try to make a fool of me! Why won't you fight with me? I hate that eye of your, Allen. I hate it.”

 

“I'm sorry.” Allen apologized again.

 

“Lenalee…” he blinked as the Chinese girl sank to her knees. “Thank you for saving me.”

 

“Any time!” Lenalee retorted, getting to her feet and running off to the transfer train.

 

“I suppose she's forgiven me.” Allen smiled at Timcanpy which had landed on his shoulder.

 

“The two of you are just like us.” Ami remarked amusedly.

 

“Huh?” Allen blinked.

 

“Yuu and I.” Ami elaborated. “When we first started off.”

 

“What are you doing? Lenalee called out. “Hurry up and get on. There isn't another train to Rome until tomorrow.”

 

“Uh yeah!” Allen answered, grabbing both their bags as the senior-junior pair hurried off.

 

“A Roman gladiator who's been alive for a millennium?” Allen echoed as they discussed their mission.

 

“Doesn't it sound a lot like Lala, who sang for five hundred years?” Lenalee inquired.

 

“Then, that gladiator…” Allen trailed off.

 

“We can't say for sure.” Lenalee pointed out. “We don't even know if the Innocence can allow a normal person to live for a thousand years.”

 

“Unless…” Ami frowned.

 

“What?” Lenalee asked as Allen blinked at her.

 

“Nothing.” Ami shook her head. “I've been pondering too much, I guess.”

 

“He could be a host, though.” Allen reasoned.

 

“We simply have no way of knowing.” Lenalee replied. “It could be called paranormal if he even exists at all.”

 

“According to those documents,” Allen pondered as he read through the details. “There have been many Akuma sightings in the past month in the area surrounding the arena. But not a single Akuma who entered the arena even returned. That may be because they were defeated by an Innocence-endowed swordsman.”

 

“I think my brother thought so, too, and want to find out for sure. That's why…” Lenalee agreed.

 

“That's why he dispatched Kanda.” Allen finished her sentence.

 

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Back in Rome…

“Hide.” Kanda told the Finder.

 

“Be careful.” The Finder advised as Kanda entered the Akuma-infested arena.

 

“Ready, Mugen?” he asked, drawing out his sword. “Innocence, activate!”

 

The Finder blinked in awe as Kanda easily dispatched the Akuma.

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The next day, the trio entered the Roman town.

 

“Get out of my way!” a bounty hunter demanded, pushing a child out of his path. “Look where yer' goin' boy.”

 

The boy gritted his teeth and ran off.

 

“Um…” the storekeeper stammered as another bounty hunter took his roasted chicken drumstick and started eating it.

 

“If it's about the money, we'll pay you when we get back.” The bounty hunter told him.

 

“What is this? Are they soldiers?” Allen asked.

 

“Do you think they're planning to start a war?” Lenalee inquired.

 

“What the hell is this?” a bounty hunter demanded.

 

“Fine then, just try it!” his opponent challenged.

 

“Stop it!” the challenger's companion chided. “We can't start a fight over every little grievance.”

 

“I wish the two of them would just shoot each other.” Another bounty hunter remarked behind the trio.

 

“We're bounty hunters.” He explained. “We're here to recover the Sardini's kidnapped daughter.”

 

“Bounty hunters?” Allen echoed.

 

“Kidnapped daughter?” Lenalee blinked.

 

“Don't you know?” the bounty hunter asked. “Three days ago, the sixteen year old daughter of the Sardini family, called Claudia, was kidnapped. The man who kidnapped her called himself Vittorio.”

 

“Vittorio?” Lenalee echoed.

 

“You mean that thousand-year-old gladiator?” Allen gasped.

 

“Viscount Paretti has handed down an order on behalf of the Sardini family!” a messenger on horseback declared. “All those wishing to claim the bounty are to assemble at once.”

 

“Who was that?” Allen asked.

 

“I wonder…” Lenalee pondered.

 

At the announcement, all the bounty hunters followed the messenger.

 

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That night. All the bounty hunters were feasting within the Paretti castle.

 

“Is that so?” a maidservant giggled at something a bounty hunter told her.

 

“We didn't come here for a picnic you know.” Lenalee complained as Allen filled his plate with food.

 

“I have to calm the grumbling beast though.” Allen told her.

 

Ami giggled, “Lees, despite the time I've spent with the squirt, not even I can grasp how much he can eat.”

 

“Can't blame him though.” She added, ignoring Allen's pained look. “Parasitic-type Exorcists use up plenty of energy when they fight.”

 

“How'd you like some, young lady?” a maidservant passed a plate of food to Lenalee.

 

“That's all right.” Lenalee declined.

 

A hand clap caught their attention as Viscount Paretti and Mr. Sardini stepped out of the pavilion.

 

“My friends, I ask that you stop for a moment and listen to me.” Viscount Paretti began. “As you likely know, the Lady Claudia of the Sardini family has been kidnapped by a bandit calling himself Vittorio. This matter is deeply troubling to Mr. Sardini. As a representative of the honorable Paretti family, I swear to you all that whoever recovers my beloved fiancée will have a share in my property.”

 

“Fiancée?” Lenalee echoed.

 

“She's only sixteen, but she's with that older man there?” Allen blinked.

 

“Arranged marriage.” Ami spat. “Those merchants will do anything to get into the ranks of royalty, including using their daughters as a bargaining chip.”

 

“What do you mean, my son?” the elder Sardini demanded. “How can you say that now?”

 

“This is unexpected.” Paretti told his future father-in-law. “You should make every effort to recover your daughter. Why are you concerning yourself with such trifles as property?”

 

“Whoo, we're gonna be livin' the good life now!” a bounty hunter beamed.

 

“Yeah, Paretti's property is as good as mine!” another agreed.

 

“I'll bring her back fer sure!” another concurred.

 

“We're gonna be rich!” another assented.

 

“Disgraceful.” Ami hissed in distaste.

 

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“Claudia…” Mr. Sardini muttered as he looked at his daughter's portrait.

 

“I never thought you'd be such a burden to me.” He added. “Vittorio, he says? Such idiocy!”

 

“Don't worry.” Allen told him as Timcanpy fluttered into the Sardini house.

 

“He won't harm you.” Ami added.

 

“We're sorry to come in this way.” Lenalee apologized as the three Exorcists entered through the open window.

 

“We mean you no harm. We are from the Black Order.” Allen explained as Timcanpy landed on his shoulder.

 

“The Black Order?” Mr. Sardini gasped when he saw the Black Order's mark. “I've heard of them.”

 

“It was one month ago that my daughter started talking about a medieval knight appearing.” He explained as Lenalee shut the window. “I thought at first she had been dreaming and gave it no mind, but she kept saying he would report to her at night.”

 

“Report?” Allen echoed.

 

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“The strongest man in the world has yet to appear.” Vittorio reported.

 

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“I screamed at her to stop her foolishness, but my daughter was so convinced that she was telling the truth. Then, three days ago, when her marriage to Viscount Paretti was finally to be confirmed...” Mr. Sardini continued. “My god, what was she thinking?”

 

“Indeed.” Viscount Paretti agreed, entering the room. “What was Miss Claudia thinking?”

 

“Son!” Mr. Sardini gasped.

 

“If she married me, the Sardini family, once mere merchants, would finally have a tie to royal family.” Paretti snorted. “She would have been filial piety incarnate.”

 

“My son, I disagree.” Mr. Sardini replied. “Claudia did not run away. I'm sure a man calling himself Vittorio took her! We don't have to hire bounty hunters when we can just report to the police.”

 

“Do not worry.” Paretti assured him. “I don't intend to spend any more than is necessary. It happens often, does it not, that someone who won the lottery is attacked by someone less fortunate? You were planning to become nobility. You should expect certain complications.”

 

“Who are these children who have been staring at me all this time?” he asked, noticing the three Exorcists.

 

“Ah, they say they're with the Black Order.” Mr. Sardini replied.

 

“Did you call them, father?” Paretti asked.

 

“No.” Mr. Sardini replied.

 

“I see.” Paretti nodded. “If we have the cooperation of the famous Dark Order, then we have no need for bounty hunters. Please.”

 

“We refuse your request!” Allen answered for the other two. “If you want Miss Claudia to come home, you would be looking for her yourselves! Which do you hold more dear, you daughter, or your treasures, money and property? It's because you're such a terrible father, and you, a terrible husband, that she ran away!”

 

“Allen, Lenalee, let's go.” he told the two female Exorcists.

 

The other two nodded and the three exited from the Sardini household.

 

“Disgusting, isn't it?” Ami asked as they walked out.

 

“What is it?” Allen blinked.

 

“Using their child as a bargaining chip to climb up the aristocracy rank.” Ami replied, disgusted. “Welcome to the real world.”

 

“In the end, we didn't manage to find a single lead on Kanda, or even Vittorio.” Allen sighed.

 

“Yeah…” Lenalee agreed.

 

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After checking into an inn…

 

“At any rate, let's start out again tomorrow.” Lenalee suggested as the three turned in for the night, a curtain separating him from her and Ami.

 

“Good night.” Allen said, lying down on his bed.

 

“Do you think that Claudia really ran away from home?” Lenalee asked. “She first started talking about Vittorio a month ago. Why do you suppose she was so set upon Vittorio?”

 

“Well, because she wanted to get away from her overbearing parents, I'd guess.” Allen replied.

 

“That may be, but what if he really appeared?” Lenalee asked.

 

“Why?” Allen returned her question.

 

“Like, if his ghost fell in love with her.” Lenalee guessed.

 

“We've never encountered that before.” Allen added.

 

“Just a thought.” Lenalee replied.

 

“Have you been reading romance novels again, Lees?” Ami joked.

 

“Ami-nee!” Lenalee pouted as Allen hid a laugh on the other side of the cloth.

 

“Good night.” She huffed as the three turned in for the night.

 

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The next morning…

 

The bounty hunters had gathered at the demolished Coliseum, along with their weapons.

 

“I'm first!” one of them declared as he ran through the passageways.

 

“Where are you?” another demanded as he and his team met up. “I'll cut you to ribbons.”

 

“Oh damn, we have to hurry!” Allen gasped when a group of Akuma flew above the three Exorcists' heads.

 

“Where are you, Vittorio? Come out!” another bounty hunter arrived in the Coliseum center.

 

“Get out here, Vittorio!” another demanded. “I'll get you!”

 

Their shoutings were short when the Akumas attacked.

 

Entering the arena, the Akumas then continued their attack on the bounty hunters.

 

Jumping out of a hallway, Allen slashed through an Akuma with his already activated Innocence, as Ami was already raining her ice bolts on the rest.

 

“This way, everyone!” Lenalee evacuated the remaining bounty hunters.

 

“I don't want the money!” one of them cried as they escaped.

 

Lenalee then destroyed an Akuma that appeared before her with a kick.

 

As the Akumas continued firing at the bounty hunters, Allen was quickly slashing through the Akumas with his weapon.

 

“Wait. Forget about him. Save me!” A bounty hunter stopped Lenalee who was about to help another hunter trapped under some debris.

 

They're all so selfish… now I know why Ami-nee was so disgusted last night. Lenalee thought as Allen defended the fallen hunter with his weapon.

 

“Even so, I have to protect them, as an Exorcist.” Allen said, firing his gun at the Akumas.

 

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Back in the town…

 

“This is an official order from Viscount Paretti!” A messenger announced to the remaining bounty hunters, holding up a notice. “Whoever defeats the bandit Vittorio and rescues his daughter Claudia, will receive one-fifth of the Sardini family's wealth and property!”

 

“A fifth?” one of them echoed.

 

“Not a tenth?” another asked.

 

“That's twice that we were promised.” another replied.

 

“I'm not going back. Those things in there are monsters.” His partner reasoned.

 

“No, it's all right.” His companion assured him. “All we have to do is let those kids take care of it, and take Vittorio down.”

 

Aside in his carriage, Paretti thought, this is my one chance to rise up my status as a penniless nobleman. I will find Claudia.

 

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Back in the arena, the police had arrived on the scene.

 

“Alright, attack!” the squad leader ordered.

 

“Fire!” he instructed as one of his men fired a rotating machine gun at the Akuma that was coming towards them, to no avail when the bullets was reflected by the Akuma's armor.

 

Allen immediately fired his gun and destroyed the Akuma.

 

Just then, Vittorio entered the fight, slicing through the Akuma that was coming towards the younger Exorcist.

 

“Who's that?” the police officer asked.

 

“My name is Vittorio.” Vittorio introduced himself as the smoke cleared. “A swordsman under the command of the Tivoli family.”

 

“That's him!” the police officer declared.

 

“I will challenge you, in Princess Sandra's name.” Vittorio remarked.

 

“Fire!” the squad leader ordered.

 

Using his sword, Vittorio pushed the bullets back to the police squad, sending the entire team flying out of the arena.

 

“You can't beat him.” Kanda warned as Allen was about to take on Vittorio.

 

“Kanda?” Allen blinked.

 

“This one's mine.” Kanda told him. “Don't interfere.”

 

“Men…” Ami sighed.

 

“Sorry to keep you.” Kanda said, jumping down to meet Vittorio.

 

“I accept your challenge.” Vittorio replied.

 

“Lenalee!” the Finder who was with Kanda approached the new arrivals.

 

“Pedro! You are all right.” Lenalee sighed in relief.

 

“Yes, somehow.” Pedro replied.

 

“You okay?” Allen asked.

 

“Never mind that. It's an Innocence fragment.” Pedro told the three Exorcists.

 

“That sword is what allowed Vittorio to live for these thousand years.” He explained as Kanda and Vittorio decked it out. “Those two had been fighting for three days, bit the Akuma finally appeared, and Vittorio disappeared in the chaos. Kanda has been so tired after the battle that he's been asleep for the past two days.”

 

“And neither of them can use their Innocence power, can they?” Ami asked.

 

“It's a matter of pride as a swordsman.” Pedro replied as the two adversaries circled each other after clashing. “They won't stop until one of them wins.”

 

“Kanda didn't want me to interfere because I can't fight without my anti-Akuma weapon.” Allen realized.

 

“That's his weird way to saying he cares, I guess.” Ami shrugged. “Not even I can tell what he's thinking.”

 

“And you're dating him, why?” Lenalee teased.

 

“Lees, not funny.” Ami growled.

 

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Back in the sword fight, the two adversaries were met at a standstill as they fought to gain the upper hand. Kanda was already panting from the exertion.

 

Then, the Japanese sliced through Vittorio's shoulder, causing the ancient gladiator's blood to gush out on the both of them.

 

But Kanda's eyes widened when the large wound closed up on its own.

 

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“His wounds are healing.” Lenalee noticed as Vittorio's otherwise fatal wound closed

 

“Is that his Innocence's power?” Allen blinked.

 

“Of course… a healing Innocence…” Ami realized.

 

“Yuu!” she cried out when Vittorio's blade landed on Kanda's waist.

 

“Oh no!” Lenalee gasped.

 

“Kanda!” Allen called out as the senior-junior pair jumped down.

 

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SailorStar9” Well, this chapter is down. Read and review.