I am so so so so so SO sorry that it's taken this long to put this chapter up, but I had writers block with this story for AGES and JUST when I had this idea on how to finish this my laptop went out of action! Luckily it's fixed now... hehe. You'll like the end of this chapter. You will.
"Alright loves." The Captain was dressed in a floor length white skirt with slits up each side, revealing heavily armoured metal boots. Her tope was cut above the midriff but the utility belt covered most of her bare, pale skin. Her hair was loose, and behind her, Raenef stood tall and proud in a similar outfit, but with white trousers tucked into the metal boots, and his blond hair was gathered into a ponytail.
And of course, he had a heavy metal chain in one hand, with the other end attached to a metal choker on the death keeper, Adrian. Adrian was dressed much as she would when guarding the gate. Her black sleeveless shirt was plain, and her manacled hands were held behind her back by Boar as her feet, which were bare and dirty, were tightly held together by the same metal cuffs. Her black shorts were smeared with dust and her dark hair was messy.
If it wasn't for her face, she'd have looked completely beaten. Her eyes still held amusement and her mouth was upturned and proud, though her lip bled. "You think you've won?"
"Nope." The Captain chirped, and turned to look at her former favourite with cold eyes. "This is more like revenge. Really Adrian, you don't know me well enough by now?" She smirked and shrugged. "Rin's there. Mai's there. Everyone I have a grudge against is in that building. I've not won, and you know that. I'll never get that which I've wanted for so long. But..."
"But?" Adrian prodded.
"But... I want to teach them a lesson. They will all die now. Today. Except for Rin and Mai, who I will simply... destroy."
Adrian sighed; she knew what the captain meant. As special punishment, Rin's and Mai's souls would be extracted and confined to the graves of those they lost today.
"You're too kind." Adrian muttered and grunted when a sword sliced into her side. "Ah. Doumeki. Hi there."
The stoic young man narrowed his eyes and bowed to the captain, who nodded and allowed him through. As Adrian's side healed up, leaving a bloodstained rip in her shirt, she sighed and watched the gathered ranks of the Captain's warriors sadly.
"It's a shame that this has to happen." She whispered, and the Captain raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Adrian began to tremble. "I'm afraid... that I will be forced to pull rank just this once."
"What?" Raenef growled, but Adrian smirked and lifted her chin defiantly.
"It seems that you've forced me into this fight, Captain, when I'd have been happy to watch from the sidelines and simply give you all advice."
The Captain's eyes were forced shut as the power washed over her like water from a broken dam.
Martin ran a hand through his hair as he left the office, looking around the hallway for his son. Then there was the steady tapping of Noll's leather shoes as he strode around the corner and smiled when he saw his father at the door to his office. "Father." He greeted, and Martin smiled, clapping his son's shoulder. "Where's Mai?"
"The captain will be here shortly, so I've hidden her in a specially prepared cellar room." Martin sighed. "Noll, obey your father this once and go... stay safe with her." Martin took advantage of his son's surprise, pushing him through the door and locking it behind them. He opened the heavy trapdoor and revealed Mai's surprised –and confused- face.
"Naru!" She smiled, and the boy was pushed into the dimly lit room, with the door closed behind them.
"Stay safe children." Martin sighed, and left the office.
"Ayako?" John asked, and the miko smiled as she saw his hand interlaced with that of Masako's. "We thought we might have seen someone outside..."
There was a cry from somewhere within the building and instantly shouts of "INTRUDER!" echoed through the corridors. Ayako blanched and grabbed John's free hand, dragging he and Masako away from the open door.
"Wait here!" She ordered, "Whatever you do, do not fight!" She paused and frowned apologetically. "Masako is a medium, not a PK user or exorcist... and John, you need to take care of her." She ran from the room and the blond man almost followed but the hand he still held tightly pulled him back. He looked at Masako in confusion.
"I- I know it's selfish of me..." Masako whispered. "...B-But I only just got you..." She wiped her tears away and looked at him sadly. "Don't go."
John pulled her into a tight embrace and breathed out harshly, in something close to a sob. "I can't sit here and wait for the others to win or lose... I can help." He whispered, before kissing her forehead quickly. "I'll come back for you." He promised. "I will."
Then Masako's arms held nothing but air and the door to the lounge was closed. She heard John bless the doorway and then his running footsteps fading away down the corridor. She touched her forehead where he had kissed her and closed her eyes, smiling grimly. "I don't seem to be very lucky in relationships." She muttered, and looked around the room. "Damn."
Alice bowed her head as she stepped into the corridor. She could hear the rapid tapping of footsteps running towards her and she smiled as she looked up at the spirit manifested as a follower of the Captain. "You're Doumeki-kun, right?"
The tall teenager stopped before collision and looked at her narrowly. He said nothing.
Alice nodded. "I thought so." She sighed. "Who is it that you want?" She waited and there was still no response. "You're the quiet sort aren't you?"
"..."
Alice laughed and put a hand to her head. "Well... I'm supposing that you're after Rin, right? Nod if I'm right... you don't have to speak to me." Her eyes narrowed as he nodded once, barely.
"Well... there's a bit of a problem with that. Rin, as you probably guessed from the similar faces, is my older sister. I can't let random guys come in and attempt murder."
Doumeki raised his chin defiantly and pulled out a slender katana. "If you know who I am then you know why I want to kill Rin first."
"He speaks!" Alice smirked, but nodded. "Yeah... You think it's her fault that you died, right? You think she deceived you into impregnating her, the act resulting in the Captain's revenge killing." Alice walked up to Doumeki without fear and hugged him round the waist. "The Captain pretended to feel sorry for you, pretended to give you immense power when your spirit possessed that power all along, and so you follow her blindly." She raised wide, tear-filled eyes to meet Doumeki's. "But I know, from what Rin has said of you, that you are a good man, and you won't kill needlessly."
Doumeki watched her in silence, and it struck Alice just how tall he really was, before she felt her small frame lifted and she was soon sitting on the Japanese man's shoulders.
"Eh?" She squeaked, and Doumeki's face remained impassive.
"Where is Rin?" He murmured, and Alice closed her eyes, willing a vision to occur, but when it didn't, she went with her best judgement.
"Upstairs..." She whispered, and Doumeki broke into a run.
Takigawa ran down to the main reception area and joined the gathered masses of PK users and exorcists, picking up his robes from behind the desk; he pushed through the crowd to a greying man. "Martin! What's going on?"
The bespectacled man turned and smiled ruefully. "The Captain's made her move. I've split the non-attack type people into groups and they've all been put into various strongholds to be kept safe. Lin has just taken that last group now."
"Where's Ayako?"
"She took one of the groups to the lounge, where Masako is, but she'll be back soon to help."
Takigawa bit his lip but nodded. "So we're pretty much set?"
"Looks that way." Ayako drawled, and shrugged. "Hey, Takigawa..."
"Yeah?"
"Remember in that last case? How Mai and Naru were reincarnations of that Geisha and her lover?"
Takigawa eyed the redhead cautiously. "What?" He asked, but Ayako simply waved her hand.
"It doesn't matter... it's probably nothing."
"What the hell did you do?!" The Captain shrieked, looking around her at the remains of her loyal soldiers. "Adrian! How did you?!"
Adrian sighed. "I left you one." She smirked as Raenef stood up. "One loyal soldier left. If you don't mind... I have to go home. The source is unstable." She disappeared and Raenef rubbed his head as he winced.
"Everyone's gone..." He muttered. "Captain?" He turned wide blue eyes to stare at his mistress. "Do you... want to give up?"
"I said this was revenge." She snapped. "I'm not letting them all get away unharmed." She smirked. "Their barrier just disappeared. Remind me to thank Doumeki."
The two surviving spirits leapt from the wall and entered the grounds of the Institute. The Captain leading the way with a grim frown of annoyance as she rushed through the grounds and into the eerily empty hallway. She smiled as she heard the scuffling of the 'soldiers' in the shadows.
Martin was the first to appear, with Lin at his side he looked at the Captain carefully. "For someone so ominous, you're not exactly what I'd have expected." He frowned. "For one thing, you're not a god or anything of the sort." He removed his glasses calmly and polished them, inspecting the lenses against the light. "You're just an ordinary spirit."
"I'm not." The Captain hissed.
Martin raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? James!"
The young nurse stepped forward and smirked. "You'd forgotten about me, right?" He nodded to Raenef and the Captain with a smile but his eyes steeled as he lifted a small notebook to wave at them. "I've been in America. Chicago, actually." He paused and rubbed his chin. "I didn't have long but Yasuhara helped and so did the University students I met who were in their final year of a reporting Major."
Raenef stepped forwards but a Shiki quickly blocked his path. "You-!"
James cleared his throat. "There was an Albino woman admitted to the Chicago Institute for the criminally insane in the year 1871. She was admitted after killing her family, harassing the police with stories of ghosts and attempting to hang herself." He rubbed the back of his head and looked up at the Captain, who glared back at him, crackling with energy. James smiled softly. "Yeah... Once she was in the institute, the doctors noted that mysterious phenomenon happened when she was alone in a room; walls would have tiles torn off the wall even though she was physically restrained and objects would fly from the surfaces. Do you recognise this story...?"
The Captain glanced at Raenef, who was staring at her in confusion. "But you said..."
"Roxy Thompson. You're just a powerful spirit and everything you've said up till now has been a lie. You didn't give power to Mai or Rin... You simply felt their power and sought them out." James smirked, tossing the documents he held to the captain's feet. "I'm sorry that it looks like we've been freaking out, but I only just got here and informed everyone who you really are." He shrugged and smiled at Roxy apologetically. "So Lin doesn't need to worry anymore about the consequences of this."
A whistle pierced the air and five glowing spirits darted from the shadows and surrounded the two offensive spirits, as the captain grimaced and flailed wildly against the spirits, successfully disposing of two, she closed her eyes and concentrated, opening them after she'd managed her illusion, and ran down the corridor leaving Raenef and a copy of herself amidst the Shiki.
One of the Shiki noticed the illusion but she dispersed it before Lin was alerted to her presence, and she hurried down the hall, searching for the familiar presence of Rin.
"You might not want to go that way." A voice said, amused as the Captain whirled round, disorientated. "They'll be expecting you now. Everyone has been alerted to your presence here."
"You..." The Captain clenched her fists. "Why are you here? You're dead."
"Oops." Luella smiled, putting a hand to her mouth. "Silly me, I must have forgotten. But seriously..." Luella Davis calmly walked up close to the Captain and patted her head. "I won't let you near my family. And that includes everyone in this building."
LUELLA'S BACK! Because I missed her! lol. The end is coming! but probably not next chapter... I think I know how to end it now!
PLEASE REVIEW! Though I probably don't deserve it because of the late update...
