Vampire Princess Miyu Fan Fiction ❯ When Friends are True-A Vampire Miyu Saga ❯ The Greatest Sadness ( Chapter 8 )

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

Chapter Eight



Chapter Eight
The Greatest Sadness


The air rippled like a pond's surface broken by a pebble as a Transportation gate opened and closed. Another Western Shinma was in the area; which Miyu and Spartoi were not sure of. Both seemed to forget each other for a moment as they searched for the newcomer. Something moved in the shadows; something almost as dark as the shadows themselves. Someone emerged from the forest, a tall man wearing long black robes and a sorrowful looking white mask hid his face. A small smile appeared on Miyu's face but it grew as she recognized the while mask. "Larva!" She cried as she jumped from the tree branch she was sitting in and ran to him. Tears filled her eyes but did not fall yet. He was alive! She knew that he was!
Spartoi gave a start. The Mashujutsu had apparently worked; Larva was alive and the only way that he could be alive was is the dark magic had worked. It also meant that he was now free from Miyu's control. But how much free will did he have, even after the bond was broken? There was no doubt that Miyu would has going to try to take back, and Spartoi was not going to let her take his best friend away from him again.
"Larva!" Miyu said again. "Are you all right after all?" She reached out her arms towards him, wanting to embrace him… then the unexpected happened. Something sharp slashed across Miyu's hand, and she pulled it back quickly. Her eyes widened as she saw a line of blood trickling from a cut just below her pinky finger. Larva had cut her with one quick movement. He cut her. Miyu drew her hand close and held it in her other hand. What had just happened could not have just happened… "Lar…va?"
Slowly Larva reached up and removed his mask from his face, the hood of his cloak falling back. "Don't talk to me, Japanese Shinma Miyu." His words startled Miyu so badly that she thought she was going to fall over. Larva did not notice. "You defeated me before and made me your slave."
Larva? What happened to you? Miyu could not seem to be able to speak at the moment.
Larva continued: "I've been resurrected to dispel my disgrace!"
This time Miyu stumbled back a step. "Wha… what are you talking about, Larva? What's wrong?"
When Spartoi heard Larva's words, a sinister smile crossed his face. There was going to be no way Miyu was going to be able to take Larva away from them now. Earlier in the attacks her had thought that the odds against Miyu were unfair and had been reluctant to fight her. Now he was regretting those thoughts for what she did to his best friends, for enslaving Larva and defeating Amy, but watching Larva battle Miyu personally was going to be a great sight to see. "Well, look who we have here." Spartoi said, walking closer to them. "Long time, no see, Larva, my good friend."
"It's been a long time, Spartoi." Larva said, just barely looking over his shoulder. "We can talk more after I've killed Miyu."
"That sounds good to me!" Spartoi said with a laugh.
"K-kill me?" Miyu stammered. She was now visibly trembling. "Why do you say that? You can't do that... to me!" Miyu had forgotten how fast Larva was; she was barely able to move out of the way as he slashed at her to prove that he was serious. A thin blue line of light cut across her right shoulder, biting in deeply. Blood spurted from the wound. Tears sprang to Miyu's eyes, not from the pain in her shoulder, though it did hurt, but from the shock from what Larva had done to her. "No! This isn't happening!" She clenched her teeth together before crying out. "Larva!" I don't understand! Why are you doing this?"
Larva snorted. "Go to hell, Miyu." He held up a hand, long red nails glittering in the weak sunlight like daggers, and charged Miyu.
Unbelievable! Miyu thought. This was no time for any other emotions, and she was even back to push aside the shock of this... betrayal. Something had happened to him- those bastard Western Shinma had done something to him. For all the years they had spent together and known each other, he had always been kind and soft-spoken, but now it was as if he did not remember her at all. The only thing that he seemed to remember that he was her servant, or slave, as he put it. Had he really felt like that after all these years? What's wrong with him? Miyu stood her ground, planting her feet against the cold damp soil and stared at him eye-to-eye for the first time since he arrived. Her golden eyes seemed to glow, and the eerie light made Larva halt in his tracks. He blinked as if confused, as if he had never seen her eyes before. "You can not harm me." Miyu said, taking a few bold steps forward. Larva actually stumbled a few steps back. "Don't you see? These golden eyes will not allow you to!"
An image flashed across Larva's mind, as brief as flickering lightning. He barely saw it, but he was able to tell that it was him and Miyu in a tight embrace, as if they had deep feelings for each other. But then it was gone, leaving a strange tingling feeling across his mind. What is this feeling? And what are those... golden eyes? He did not notice how close Miyu was to him now.
Miyu rose her arms slowly, cautiously, to wrap them around his neck and slowly pull herself up to face him. She brushed his soft blue hair from his eyes. "Don't you... remember this?" She asked softly, and removed her other hand from around his neck to caress his throat, her golden eyes sparkling. Instead of fear, an odd calmness washed over him, and his eyes closed as his arms began to go around her as he leaned into her embrace...
"LARVA!" A flash of white light given off blinded all three Shinma in the forest clearing by a Transportation spell. "Don't let yourself fall under her spell again!" Miyu looked away from Larva to see who it was. Carlua... That bitch! She had ruined everything!
The sudden disturbance broke the trance that Larva had fallen under. Rage filled his eyes as he saw how close he was to falling under Miyu's control again. "Carlua..." he pulled away from Miyu roughly, causing her to fall back as well, but he aggressively gripped her wounded should with one hand, his nails digging into her skin. "She is right! I won't let you fool me twice, Miyu!" And he impaled her with his bare hand. Miyu's mind went completely black as her blood gushed from the wound and a little splattered on his face. She could not talk, could not move, and could not stop herself from falling away from him. Tears streamed from her eyes. Larva withdrew his hand from her with, still holding onto her shoulder. Blood poured from the wound, splashing onto the ground and steaming in the cool air. "Fare thee well, vampire princess!" Her released her shoulder and pushed her to the ground. She hit the hard earth with a loud, sickening thud, her blood splashed everywhere, and so dark it was nearly black. She did not move. Larva looked at her with a that could freeze molten steel before turning his back on her.
"Oh?" Spartoi said. He had not expected Larva to actually kill her; he had never been that type of man, and his actions surprised him. But Spartoi was pleased, to say the least.
On the other hand, tears came to Carlua's eyes when she saw the vampire fall. "Larva..." she was only able to whisper. She started to walk towards him; it started out as a walk, anyway, but she soon found herself running towards him, arms outstretched. "Larva! Oh, Lord, you've finally come back to us!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Larva!"
Larva held her back gently. "Carlua, I would like to apologize for all your troubles." He said, stroking her soft blonde hair.
"It was nothing!" She said, putting her hand on his own. Tears trickled from her blue eyes. "As long as we got you back, it was no trouble at all!"

The sun had barely reached midday when the five Chinese Shinma met up again at their home in the middle of the forest in the human world. "Did anyone find her yet?" Tacha asked, nervously fingering her skirt. She fighting garb looked like a tube dress or deep sea green with the bottom cut into leaf-shaped ribbons and two straps wrapping around her neck to keep it up. There was an armband on each arm with thick ribbons streaming behind her that glittered all the colors of the rainbow as they moved. A belt made of similar material was wrapped around her slender waist and long green ribbons were wrapped around her long, elegant legs. Soft, fine black fur grew on her legs from the knee down and took the form of a cat's hind leg, ending with delicate feet.
"No, not at all. Where ever Larva opened a gate to, he either made sure that no one was going to find her or it was all blind luck." Kia said. Her outfit was scantier than most woman would prefer to fight in. It resembled a loose-fitting jumper made of a lavender-colored cloth with a deep v-neck line that extended down to her belly button and had no sleeves, leaving the top only covering her breasts. A white sash was wrapped around her waist, tied into a large bow and long ribbons that hung down to her ankles. Kia also wore criss-crossed white cuffs on her wrists and the end of her pants that cut off mid-calve.
"Well, if we can't find them than that means that the Western Shinma have probably had about as much luck as us." Ryuko said. He was wearing simpler clothing than the girls, a wide-necked dark-gray Chinese shirt and the same black slacks that Yoshi wore. A dark yellow bandanna was wrapped around his forehead to keep his long hair from his eyes. Yoto said nothing, which usually meant that he agreed. Being older and at a more advanced level of training than the rest of them, he was allowed to wear light armor on his shoulders, upper arms, hips and calves, all light blue trimmed with black on top of pure-white clothing that outlined his heavy, muscular build. A light-blue cape, the same color as his armor, trailed out behind him with the wind. The next time the Chinese Shinma returned to their home world, they would probably be allowed to wear that armor as well...
But this was no time to think about their future wardrobes. "Wait a moment... there's only four of us. Where's Yoshi?" Kia asked.
"Here." Came a voice from above and Yoshi swooped down from above and landed in the middle on the circle. Or almost landed. He picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off as if nothing had happened. It usually made people wonder if he had shame or not.
"Did you find anything?" Kia inquired her brother.
"Did I ever!" Yoshi exclaimed, holding out his hands and turning in little circles. "I know where Miyu is! She's with a human family right now who apparently found her last night and took care of her! She seemed to be doing just fine, maybe a little tired, but I didn't get to talk to her very long because Amy attacked. You know female fruity-man? Anyway, I had to get him away from the home so he didn't hurt Miyu, much less the mother and daughter. I fought and defeated him, but I only drained his energy, so don't worry about that. Man, that's a taste that's going to be in my mouth for a while! What a vile flavor!"
Tacha said excitedly, "You found Miyu! Can you take us to her? Is she still there?"
Yoshi stopped spinning and held his head between his hands for a moment to make the world stop spinning. He shook his head. "I'd think she's still be there. I mean, what reasons did she have to leave. I told her I'd be right back."
"Good job, Yoshi." Kia said, slapping her brother on the back. "Come on, guys. Let's go play heroes."

The scent of fire magic was still heavy in the air around the house and drifting across the cool wind that also promised more heavy rain. The Chinese Shinma crouched in the bushed near the house that Yoshi had taken them to that Miyu was in. "We shouldn't get too close to the home." Yoto whispered. His voice still sounded like a swarm of a thousand bumblebees. "From what you told us, Yoshi, the mother and daughter may not take to us too kindly."
Yoshi did not say anything. He squatted in the thick bushes, peering at the home. His fringed fingers of his ears were pointed forward, and that meant her was listening. They all remained silent. "This isn't good." He said finally. It must have been serious, because he was being serious. "She's not here. She left."
The others gasped. "She must have gone off to look for Larva by herself!" Tacha said in a half-panic, standing up sharply. "We have to find her before she's hurt!" The wind began to blow again, a little stronger this time from the north.
"All right, we'll split up again, taking the same formation as we did before..."
"Wait!" Ryuko said, and he sounded frantic. "Yoto, do you smell that?" Yoto turned towards the wind and breathed in deeply. His eyes widened.
"Blood. And a lot of it. Death is not far behind."
"Not just any blood! I smelt it when the Western Shinma first attacked Miyu, after they had injured her. That's Miyu's blood!"
"They have her!" Kia said. "Let go, now!" They leapt from their hiding place and took off for the northern forest.
"If anything has happened to her I'll never forgive them!" Tacha shouted over the howl of wind in their ears.
""I fear that we may be too late." Yoto said next to her.
"Where are Mioshi and Okkoto?" Kia asked from above as she and Yoshi soared overhead.
"Close." Was Yoto's answer. "The Western Shinma are going to be in for a very big surprise.

Miyu lay on the ground, practically motionless in a pool of her own blood. She did not feel the physical pain; her mental pain was much greater. Miyu did not know whether she was in acceptance or denial. But she knew she could not lay there. She had to get up. She clutched at her stomach to keep any more blood from spilling out, but she knew it was futile. She was loosing too much blood. This is what was going to kill her. She was able to get herself up on her elbows, then got her knees under her. Every bit of movement sent a new wave of pain through her body. Miyu felt tears falling from her eyes that she did not bother to hide, and blood dripping from her mouth that she stopped swallowing. But she could not appear weak. She was not weak.
Slowly, very slowly, Miyu was able to stand up. The Western Shinma had their backs to her, and through her blurring vision, Miyu could see Larva holding Carlua in his arms. That hurt more than any other pain she had ever experienced. It was her worst fear, her darkest nightmare come to life; she had lost him.
With what remaining strength Miyu had, she called out Larva's name. All three Shinma whirled around to stare at her with cold eyes. Miyu flinched as if she had been struck. Then cold fear set in as she realized that she was surrounded. The other Western Shinma were beginning to close in around her. The world began to move in slow motion. A pleasant warmth settled over Miyu, and she could not hear anything. But she stood her ground, unmoving. If she had any strength left in her at all, she would have used her fire on them, a distraction to get away.
It was then that the eerie cry echoed in the still air, and all was silent, but only for moment. "What are we waiting for?" Cait Sith said loudly, and formed his cat wraiths in his hand. They rushed at Miyu, but she stood her ground, refusing to move. If she was going to die, than she was going to die standing on her feet.
The unexpected happened. The air stirred with magic and a stream of white wind came swirling, howling out of the forest and encircled the black energy wraiths and turned them into large icicles that thudded to the ground. There was the approaching sound of thudding footsteps running through the forest, and then the Chinese Shinma burst through the foliage. Tacha and Kia screamed when they saw Miyu, her snowy white yukata covered in dark red blood, and about as much covered the ground. She barely noticed them, even as they began to yell at the Western Shinma and tried to advance towards Miyu when they suddenly stopped, their long animal-like ears pointed forward. Then they dropped to their knees, bowing so deeply their foreheads were touching the ground. Kia, Tacha and Ryuko were trembling with visible anger and the soft glow of their battle auras surrounded them. They wanted to kill, they were ready to kill, but they did not move from their spots. All was silent again. Then a low, mournful sound drifted across the air.
The howl of a wolf.
Yoto raised his head a little bit and glared at the Western Shinma with cold yellow eyes and said just as coldly, "Mother's very angry."