Chapter 3
"What the hell is happening?"
"Did they just close the portal on us?" The Quincies were panicked.
There was a moment of dreaded silence as both Shinigami and Quincy looked at the empty space where the gargantia had been. Of course, all they saw was the empty expanse of the hollow world that seemed to stretch out ad-infinitum out there.
"Gyaa!" A Quincy gave off a blood-curdling scream as he was cut down by a black haired Shinigami youth. His sword seemed to have grown into a giant butcher knife of sorts. With no emotion in his eyes he flash stepped to the nearest Quincy and cut the Quincy down. The Quincy had tried to react, expertly using hirenkyaku and firing off a shot, but the Shinigami had been too fast, and the arrow went wild and off into the distance.
"Eliminate them all!" Someone gave this shout,
"These damn Shinigami – Kill them!"
With these two opposing forces sharing the same sentiment, the immediate predicament was blown from their minds as they clashed together to eliminate the other group. Arrows flashed and swords went into action. In a few moments one side would win for better or for worse.
Lyndolyn surveyed the situation, her hand gripping her sword in barely contained anger,
"..."
"What was that?" Anastasia shouted as she engaged with Shiga, firing off arrow after arrow. The Shinigami kept up well, dodging between them and cutting down the others.
"Retreat!" Lyndolyn swept out her hands, "Retreat! Everyone retreat!"
"What?" One of the Quincy shouted, "They've killed so many of us! We've been abandoned! We can't-"
Lyndolyn fired an arrow at the Quincy's shoulder. It bored a hole through it and she grimly pointed her blade at him,
"The next one to disobey my order will be purged."
The Quincy was picked up by a fellow as he slumped in pain. They all quickly synchronized their movements as they flew on hirenkyaku and left the area.
"We can't let them leave!" The Shinigami took up the battle cry, determined to fight to the death. Many were bruised and wounded though, and others were either unconscious or dead. Toothpick looked around and saw that this had to end. Now.
"Hold!" He held up his hands, "This fight is over! The fight is-"
Just then a shard of light almost hit him in his face, but the Shinigami named Kuro stepped in front of it, using a kidou spell to block the stray bow.
In the distance the Quincy who had shot the parting shot made it over the crest of the hill, finally disappearing from view for good.
Everyone relaxed slightly, sensing that combat was finally over. Some regained their breath, while the others ran over to the fallen. Already one of them was crying out as she attempted to wake up one Shinigami who was way beyond any help they could muster.
"Kuro, what about Benjamin?" Toothpick asked, knowing the answer already
Kuro shook his head as he pointed in the direction of their fallen Kidou agent. The boy named Ming-Rui was trying to work on him but was shaking his head helplessly.
"He's dead." He said, "Does this mean we have no means of getting back?" He asked what was on everyone else's minds.
"For now." Toothpick confirmed. He looked around and saw who was standing. He closed his eyes a brief moment and confirmed who was alive by sensing reiatsu.
"Well, it looks like we have 12, while they have 20 or so. You have all fought valiantly, and I commend you for this." He said, "Heal up your wounds. In 30 minutes I'll convene a meeting and we discuss what exactly happened here."
Although he knew that it was pointless waiting for long. From the start their team 'Black Garden' had been a sacrificial lamb. But did it make sense that they were sent to hunt Quincy's who were also scapegoats to the Quincy themselves? Something was just not right there.
Lyndolyn Erynn felt the same. As the Quincy found a particular patch of sand that seemed uninhabited she quickly ordered a pentagram perimeter around the area. Using Seele Schneider's they set up the perimeter. The hilts of the devices connected to each other by thin bright blue lines, protecting themselves from any potential hollow attack. Because this was a very real threat.
Hermann Wilhelm, finally putting away his crossbow back into its medallion form approached her, "Lyndolyn. We were abandoned."
"This is so." She said as she saw the Quincy working around the clock. The only wounded were already being treated fast. Anastacia having been set to the task. Her expert marksmanship made her one of the most proficient Quincy medics on the field, since every Quincy knew one form of in-battle first aid or the other. Lyndolyn had made sure to adhere to the teachings of the true ancestors who had first clashed with Shinigami. Outmatched by the simple fact that they were fighting spiritual beings they had had to adapt technologies to pick up the slack. As a Sternritter she hated to admit it but she was less human than most, but the old Quincy doctrines had stuck with her: You fought with your intellect, your skill, and your control of self.
And she now had to exert control on this group. Regrettably, she had to make an example.
"You're going to do it, huh." Hermann said, grinning happily.
"This is necessary; don't gloat at the demise of one of our own." She said coldly as she walked away.
She finally walked up to a group of three Quincy who were taking a momentary break. One was the one she had shot through the shoulder, while the other two friends stood beside him. At guard but also mumbling small talk in the inactivity.
"Bruce, Harold, Trevor." Lyndolyn said as she approached them. Harold had been sitting on the floor and shot to his feet, saluting Lyndolyn along with the others,
"Miss Lyndolyn!"
She nodded, "At ease."
They went back to their stiff positions.
Hermann chuckled, having followed her. Lyndolyn grit her teeth as she looked at Harold. "How is your shoulder?"
"I-it's fine, Ma'am. It was a clean wound." The soldier was nervous. She was the highest ranking officer, and knew that he had gotten off lucky with only a wound like this. Unless she was here to finish the job?
"I... I apologize, ma'am. For my insolence." He went to his knee and bowed, crossing his hands over the bent knee, "Please let me continue being of service to you."
She looked down at him silently, and then around to the rest of the Quincy. Others were still busy, but most of them were. Enough of them were.
"It's a fine thing, when a man admits their mistake." Lyndolyn said, looking between him, Bruce and Trevor.
The others remained silent.
In the next instant her medallion came out into a sword and the tip pressed against the throat of Trevor, who swallowed as a bead of blood dribbled down his throat,
"I was going to kill you. Actually your head was going to go flying. "
Trevor barely attempted to swallow, trembling as he held up his hands in surrender,
"But I thought better of it. I'd be just like that king of ours, who leaves us all to die without even giving us the honour of choosing ourselves. " Lyndolyn let her sword turn back into a medallion as she walked around, anger filling her and making her sure in her next steps as she stood at the centre of the pentagram.
"Quincy! We fight for something more important than the petty politics of the human world! How much have we lost? How much have we saved? Both in equally great numbers and our pride is ever strong!"
All the Quincy looked. Even Harold who had bowed her head. And Trevor, who rubbed his neck as he watched.
Lyndolyn didn't shout anymore, saying the next words simply, "Which one of you would've refused to come here to die if we were ordered to?"
Hermann scoffed, "It's not even a question."
Anastacia, "I like the colour of this sky, and they're plenty hollow to kill, right?"
The other Quincy agreed from their stances.
Lyndolyn nodded approvingly, "Our king is the sole reason for our existence, but our pride is an absolute that cannot be tarnished. Whoever did this to us, Even if it is the king himself, then we cut all ties with them! Here and now!" She shouted. There was shocked silence.
"I'm not saying we take blind revenge, nor am I saying we run away pitifully. I'm saying we survive this and we choose our own destiny, and remain Quincy no matter what path we end up in. We will not let the Shinigami trample our pride. We will not let others trample our pride, and if even we trample our pride then we'll tear our hearts out and offer them to hollows."
She accepted the silence, looking at everyone carefully. She looked at Trevor, "Your pride almost cost you your life. I will not raise my hand against you for that. But if we intend to survive any actions taken as a direct contradiction to my orders... Will be your last."
Trevor understood. Harold slowly rose to his feet and saluted her, before turning and facing the other direction and walking to the edge of the pentagram barrier.
Herman smiled, "This is why you somehow look younger than you really are, Lyndolyn." Herman chuckled, "But the situation still remains: We're pretty screwed aren't we?"
Lyndolyn looked around the empty landscape and the sickle moon in the distance,
"Yes. I do believe so." She said.
