Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Red Shaman ❯ Loss ( Chapter 63 )

A mother's heart be broken

In the morning light

A father's son will make him proud today.

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Oh, shit! Sis, loophole. Star sent.

 

What?!

 

White silk.

 

Oh, gods!

 

Skye turned in time to see Crawford take several strides away from the bar then raise the Beretta and start firing at the demon that had thrown Schu into the wall, turning its' attention immediately on to him.

 

Oracle, no! Bullets don't do anything to them, Skye warned. She was already moving toward where Schuldig lay crumpled near the wall. Star?

 

On it. Star was moving fast toward Crawford but not as fast as the demon was.

 

Crawford had emptied the entire clip into the thing. A few seconds later the demon's claws sank into his stomach and ripped upward. He had seen this before he started firing. As long as Schuldig lived, it was perfectly fine with him. A life for a life was usually a fair trade to any god.

 

The room went pitch black, the sounds of battle suddenly ceased, cloaking the room in an eerie quiet. The lights flickered on again as quickly as they had gone out. The demons in the room all seemed frozen in whatever position they had been in when the lights had gone out. Everyone paused to stare at the scene around Crawford. He was still conscious, though losing blood fast, staring at the woman standing over him. If he had thought Blaze was covered in woad, this woman looked as though she had been dipped in it, so close and numerous were the markings on her body. She was completely naked save for the banded torc around her neck, boots and a gleaming diadem across her forehead. The head of the demon that had attacked first Schuldig then Crawford was slowly sliding down the spear she held.

 

Magick hands can't heal

You're left to reason why.

 

“Stupid bairn. What was the point?” she sneered.

 

“Is Schuldig still alive?” Crawford gasped out. He didn't think he'd felt anything hurt so badly in his life. He'd been shot and stabbed on numerous occasions and this hurt worse than Farfarello putting one of the stilettos through his thigh had. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. He was starting to feel light headed.

 

The woman snorted. “Yes. He's alive.”

 

Crawford smiled a little. “That was the point.”

 

I'll be somewhere in the silence

Far beyond your eyes.

So, lay me down

Hear no sound as souls fly away

 

 

Schuldig shook off the blackness and tried to sit up. Skye put an arm under his shoulders and helped him. He gasped then clenched his teeth against the wave of pain that hit him full force.

 

“Scheisse! A lot of things got broken, Skye,” he said, holding his side. He blinked, suddenly realizing something. “I hurt. Why am I still here?”

 

“Because Oracle intervened,” Skye said gently.

 

His gaze took in the scene. Crawford lying on the floor covered in what Schuldig presumed was his own blood with an unknown woman standing over him holding a spear topped with a demon's head. Then Star not three feet away and staring wide eyed at the woman but making no move to attack her. He rolled and tried to get to his feet. The ensuing wave of dizziness caused him to drop to his knees again.

 

“Skye, please, lieb, do something,” Schuldig said almost desperately. “Help him.”

 

“I don't have that kind of power, Schu. But I'll do what I can,” she said, starting to get up.

 

“Take me,” Schuldig said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

 

Skye sighed and shifted him then picked him up and carried him toward Crawford.

 

I will be found

Within the tears you cry

So, lay me down

For here I must stay.

 

 

The woman shifted slightly to the side, allowing Skye and Schuldig to kneel beside Crawford.

 

“Scheisse, Brad, what the hell were you doing,” Schuldig said, fighting the dizziness just to be able to sit upright.

 

Crawford smiled weakly then closed his eyes. “Told you . . . I'd . . . prove . . . it.”

 

Schuldig grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up. Crawford's head fell limply against the side of his neck.

 

“Brad?” Schuldig shook him lightly. “Come on, damn it. This isn't funny anymore.”

 

From across the room a long, low howl broke over all of them. Sending a shiver through the entire group. It seemed to be filled with sorrow. Skye turned to look at Aya, who was still in shifted form. He was down on all fours, head and shoulders bowed forward and without running a check, she knew.

 

Skye turned wide eyes to her sister, who was blinking back tears.

 

Call of passing. I've only heard it once before. But you never forget it.

 

Skye's chest clenched. She checked Crawford just to make certain.

 

Everything that made him who he was had gone. What lay before her was nothing but an empty shell of the man he had been.

No breath.

No heartbeat.

No spirit.

No life.

 

Schuldig eased Crawford's body gently to the floor and stood shakily, teetering from the dizziness, glaring at the woman in front of him.

 

“Why the hell couldn't you have been faster?”

 

Her eyebrows quirked up in mild surprise and amusement.

 

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, shoving one of her shoulders hard and nearly falling into her. “Damn it, why didn't you kill that thing before it hit him?”

 

Farf was suddenly behind him, pulling him backward and keeping his hands safely pinned behind his back.

 

“Farf, fucking let go of me!”

 

“No. You have no idea who you're dealing with, Schu,” Farf hissed in his ear. “Leave it.”

 

“I don't fucking care who she is. I just . . . just want . . .” He sank to his knees again, pulling Crawford's body off the floor and into his arms.

 

Skye, are you okay? Star asked.

 

No. When he hurts I hurt. And it feels like I've had my heart ripped out through my back right now.

 

“This can't be happening,” Schuldig was sobbing into Crawford's hair his hands clenching convulsively in the fabric of Crawford's white tux jacket. “This is supposed to be me. It wasn't supposed to be anyone else but me. I was ready for it. I'm supposed to be the one lying here.”

 

Mistress . . . Schuldig began. Please.

 

I'm sorry, sweetheart, Blaze said, shaking her head sadly. I can't do anything. He slipped out of my range before I could get a good hold on him.

 

Schuldig reached behind him and grabbed for Skye, needing her to anchor him, as another shockwave of pain rocketed through him. She wrapped her arms around him and Crawford's body.

 

“He . . . he isn't coming back to me, is he, Skye.”

 

Skye held on tighter and buried her face against Schuldig's back trying to stifle the scream that threatened enough for her to speak. At his words, her heart had gone beyond breaking to shattered.

 

“No, love. No, he isn't.”

 

****************************Author's Notes**********************************************

The name of the song used in this chapter is “On Flodden Field” I don't own it. Making no money from this little work of fiction.