CHAPTER 10
"Dude. There've been so many attacks recently. Negi…How long is it going to be before we can go rip that damn castle apart. I like it, in the sense that with this accelerated age come better fighting skills…but this can't be good for us." Kotarô and Negi ran around the bases running track, and not a bead of sweat rolled down their face. Both of them had gotten much taller and each showed considerable power on the battlefield. Kotarô slowed down to stop by the showers. Negi, noticing that he had lost his friend, turned around and walked back. "Going to hit the weights?" He nodded. "Yeah. It's been a while."
"Alright. I'm going to hit the showers and grab a bite to eat. I'm starved." Kotarô shrugged. "Whatever, man. Later." Kotarô slung a towel around his neck and walked through the gym doors.
The cold water of the shower felt good against his skin. He found himself reminiscing in its relaxing beat. It had been a whole month since Alucard had told them that they were going to destroy the castle, but the demons still roamed free in the Nexus. And they were still aging. He turned off the squeaky valve and walked over to the sink as he dried his hair with a towel. Every day that he looked in the mirror, he saw more and more of his father looking back at him. Sometimes, it brought the pain back with it. He was going to go see the General and find out why they haven't done anything. He wanted his revenge. Whatever lurked within those castle walls had taken his father from him, and he would pay it back. He could almost see the hate in his own eyes. "I guess I really do take after mom…" Ever since that day, he felt as though he was becoming more and more like Evangeline.
He quickly dressed himself, slung his bag over his shoulder and strolled out into the back halls of the barracks. He already knew where Alucard would be. He'd be out in the 'sports dome', the fancy name they used for the battle hall where they pitted POWs against each other for entertainment and held sparring matches to keep combat skills sharp. That's where he was teaching that red mage girl how to fence, and Nekane how to fight. Negi laughed as he remembered he seemed whipped when she demanded that he teach her how to fight. She was adamant about helping him. She was even willing to teach him how the pactio worked so she could become his partner. He tried to talk her out of it, failed miserably, and now had a partner. It's amazing how the prettiest girl can make the strongest man in the world succumb to her.
He paused as he passed his room just long enough to thrown his bag inside and was off again. The walk itself wasn't long, as the battle hall was next door to the barracks. Negi jogged down the three flights of stairs that stood between his floor and the ground floor and strolled out the door. Immediately, he heard the clatter of swords and explosions that could only be magic. Sounded like a real party. He briefly considered going to fetch Kotarô, but thought better of it. He carefully stepped over a drunk that lay passed out on the walkway as he walked through the dome's gate. He couldn't help but feel like he was in a baseball stadium. He sat down in a seat on the edge of the field and watched the action that unfolded below.
xXxXxXx
"Faster, Tai. Quick, light steps and accurate swings." The young brunette was wicked fast already. She was naught but a red blur occasionally pierced by flashed of gray. Alucard either blocked or parried every strike. Tai, as long as you keep attacking so head-on, you'll be killed. Find a blind spot and keep moving toward it. Attack from their blind spot. If you can find a blind spot, make one. Do You understand?"
"Yes, sir." She drew back her hand, which began to glow red, and hurled a ball of flames at the ground, throwing dirt and smoke into the air. "Good, Tai! Use your magic to your advantage; however…" A halberd-bearing figure darted airborne behind him through the smoke and lunged at Alucard. He sidestepped and parried the attack, throwing Nekane to the ground. He looked up just in time to duck under Tai's slash and bring his open palm into her navel. The force of the blow was made visible in the smoke. She collapsed, coughing. Alucard stood up and brushed himself off. "…Don't get overconfident."
Nekane stood up, also brushing the dust off of her tight black leather pants and jacket. She didn't even bother with her stiletto boots. Tai, on the other hand, struggled to her feet. "Both of you have gotten much better this last month. I'm proud of you both; however…I have nothing left to teach you. Nekane: my fighting style doesn't match your weapon, so you will have to hone your skills on your own. Tai: as a red mage, any advanced techniques that I could teach you are out of your reach. If you were just a swordsman, I could teach you all of the chain strikes from sectaslash up to octaslash and omnislash. Once you get better, come see me. I'll teach you the trislash, quadraslash, and pentaslash. Anything beyond that is out of your reach." He paused to survey them both. "Congratulations, you're no longer my students."
Tai let out a cheer. Alucard had been incredibly strict with her. He had been more lax with Nekane because he had no skill with polearm weaponry, so he hadn't the slightest clue about how to use a halberd properly, but Tai used the same style weapon as he did. A small round of applause came from the stands. The trio turned to see who had been watching. Negi stood above the gladiators' entrance applauding them. "You've gotten better, Nekane-onēchan. I'm so happy for you! Does this mean that you'll be joining our fight?"
"Of course! I can't let my partner go fight those things alone, can I?" She twirled her halberd around her body, something that was becoming more and more of a habit with her. She had definitely gotten much stronger recently. She stretched out her wings, which she barely bothered to hide anymore. She usually kept them folded up behind her. "Hey, Negi…" Alucard had an idea that would benefit both himself and Negi. "How about you call one of your partners over and we have a little sparring match? I'd recommend that you call Asuna."
"Nah. Let's have a one on one. You and me." Alucard sized him up. He had gotten much taller and lankier in the last month, and his combat skills had improved dramatically. "Sure. You're on. Magic is allowed, but weapons aren't. Agreed? Your staff versus Masamune just wouldn't be fair." He nodded and drew his fists up into his fighting stance. He didn't even have his staff. Alucard undid the cloth holding Masamune's custom-made scabbard and handed it to Nekane. He drew one hand back near his body, palm-down, and the other out in front of him, palm facing Negi. He leaned backwards, away from his opponent. Nekane placed a gentle hand on Alucard's shoulder. "Don't hurt him too bad, please. A few nicks are easy to heal, but I don't want to see him hospitalized because you split his skull." She had the subtle tone of an order in her request. She strolled off, spread her wings, took flight, and disappeared over the wall.
"What kind of stance is that?" Negi looked very puzzled. "It's a hand-to-hand combat style that I use that combines many fighting styles. The stance comes from the Gentle Fist taijutsu technique of the Hyuga clan. Don't underestimate it, Negi." He looked even more puzzled. "What the hell is taijutsu?"
"It's what they call martial arts in a different universe from yours. No more delays. Come at me with intent to kill, or it'll be over before you know it." Negi vanished, reappearing beneath Alucard, thrusting his fist upwards. The attack threw Alucard into the air, but he performed a mid-air backflip and landed on his feet. "Good speed." His right hand became encased in a black shroud. He swung his hand around his front and flung many balls of condensed shadows at Negi, who held out his palm, and caught them all. They swirled around in his hand until he crushed them, speaking one word. "Complexio!" The shadows seemed to encase his body, the power shredding most of his clothes. His skin had turned black and the runic symbols on his arms glowed intensely white. Magia Erebea. Dark Magic. His voice seemed to have a secondary tone as he spoke. "Come on, vampire. Don't tell me that this is all it takes to scare you."
Alucard vanished and slammed both of his fists into Negi's back, hurling him across the arena. Before he hit the ground, Alucard appeared above him (wings spread wide) and gripped his throat firmly. He slammed Negi into the dirt and dragged him to the wall, where he let go and landed while Negi crashed into the rock. He dusted off his hands as he taunted Negi back onto his feet. "What stills your hand, young Negi? Is this all that your hatred amounts to? Pathetic. You'll never avenge your father with this meager power." The rocks shifted, and Negi lunged from the rubble, fist drawn back and poised to strike. He held a dead look in his eyes. Alucard sidestepped the first strike and punched Negi in the face, dropping him. "Remember that night, Negi. Where you vowed to find your father. You vowed to become as great a wizard as he. You vowed to prove your skills to him, and the bastard in that castle took him away. Look at me, and see him. Crawl to your feet. Prove to me your intent to kill! Show me your hate!"
Negi leapt to his feet and unleashed a flurry of attacks at Alucard, who gracefully dodged every strike thrown. Negi didn't even graze a strand of hair. "DAMN YOU!" He leapt into the air and fired arrow after arrow of lightning at Alucard. The vampire jumped after him and tore through every arrow with ease. He flipped and brought his foot down into Negi's head. Negi dropped to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of debris, while Alucard floated above. "Pitiful. Grovel at my feet, maggot. If this is all the power you have, groveling is the best you could ever aspire to." Negi rushed out of the debris, surrounded by magic arrows. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Alucard held his hand out and pushed Negi back to the ground, where he landed heavily on his feet. Alucard landed gracefully before him. Let's end this, shall we?" Negi bull rushed Alucard, ready to kill. He threw his fist forward, where Alucard caught it, as well as his other fist as he tried again. Alucard grinned as he pulled his head back and smashed it into Negi's with a sickening smack. Negi stumbled backwards, bleeding and temporarily off-balance. All the time Alucard needed. He bent forward, as if offering a sacrifice, and lowered one hand towards the ground while the other was raised up behind his back. Life seemed to invert its colors while a gigantic circular marking spread out along the ground, with Alucard at its center. His hands glowed white in the new shades. Negi had no idea if what he saw was a magic circle or not. He had never seen anything like it.
"Game over, Negi. You gave it a valiant effort, though. This is the strongest martial arts technique that I know. It's called '8 Trigrams, 128 Palms'. I present it to you by courtesy of my deceased friend, Hyuga Neji." He dashed forward with blinding speed and began jabbing his fingers into Negi over and over, never hitting the same spot twice. The pain was so excruciating that Negi thought he would pass out. Alucard dealt the final blow before Negi could even comprehend his movements. He was tossed for a distance and landed on his back. The runes faded and his skin returned to its normal tone. It took quite a while for the pain to fade away. Negi found that with the loss of his Magia Erebea, he also lost all of his motor skills. He lay on his back on the dusty ground of the battle hall staring up at the rock ceiling, unable to move. Alucard stood over him, looking down. "Anger and hatred can be a powerful weapon, Negi. But don't ever let your hate overcome you. As soon as it does; not only will you lose yourself, but you will also lose your fight. And more than likely…your life. Let's get you to bed. You don't need to worry about calling for a medic. I didn't inflict any critical damage on you. You'll be fine by tomorrow."
Alucard picked him up and carried him all the way back to his room, where he placed Negi on his own bed to rest. "Don't worry, Negi. The loss of motor skills is a secondary effect to the move. You'll regain movement by the end of the day." He turned to leave and looked over his shoulder. "You did well, and you've gotten much better. When you first came here, you wouldn't have lasted that long. Be proud, kid. You actually hit me. Not many people here can do that. Keep training and you may surpass me one day." He stepped out of the room and the door shut swiftly, leaving Negi alone in the darkness. He had lost, and it hadn't even been a close match. He had gotten it one…maybe two hits and was dominated. Was the gap between their power really so great?
"Don't feel bad, Bōya. He's had centuries more combat experience than you have. It's only natural than he best you in a fight." Evangeline sat in the open window, looking out. I watched your fight. I have to admit…I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to last half as long as you did." She stepped out of the window and into his room. "You looked so much like him. It got to me." She brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Ohh. My poor baby…How bad are you hurt?"
He struggled to speak. It took all of his concentration to voice the word that would go through anyone's mind: "Are you feeling okay?"
"No…I suppose I'm not. Ever since he died, I've felt empty inside. I've noticed that you're starting to act like I used to, as well. You want revenge, don't you?" He couldn't say anything else, and she sighed. "You're not going anywhere without me. You're all I've got left to live for. My only son…"
"You're…scaring…me…" The effort of speaking left him out of breath. "I know. I'm scared of myself, too…kind of…But maybe I just realizing something that I should have realized so long ago." She wrapped him in a tight embrace. He had no idea what to think. "I love you, my son."
xXxXxXx
"Oh, Asuna-chan. That was so fun." Hand in hand, Asuna and Ayaka trekked the half mile from town back to the base. They had gone for a fancy candle-lit dinner under a brilliant full moon. Ayaka walked with her head resting on Asuna's shoulder. She smiled gently. "I never knew that you could be so romantic." Asuna opened the passageway hidden in a slab of rock and the two entered the elevator that arose. "I happy that you're happy. It's so nice to see you smile every once in a while. You usually look kind of scared."
"Well, who wouldn't? Monsters are roaming free on the surface world while we hide underground. I thought that Negi-kun and Alucard-san would have done something about it by now…" Asuna gently kissed the top of her head. "They can't do anything without the permission of the Director. Something tells me that it won't be too much longer." The gentle thrum of the elevator filled the silence between the two as it lowered them to the northernmost airlock of the base. Ayaka fidgeted with her pearl earrings briefly, having to remove her white, elbow-length gloves. Her red dress shimmered beautifully in the subterranean lighting. She got so much prettier this past month. Just looking at her took Asuna's breath away. Asuna's dress was basically the same, only green. She had worn her hair down for the occasion.
"You look beautiful, Ayaka." She blushed. "Aww, thank you. You don't half-bad yourself. I love how your dress sparkles in the light." The elevator doors slid open silently, admitting the two girls entrance to the underground fortress that was their home for now. They often talked about finding a beachfront house together when the war was over, and maybe adopting a child or two. Assuming that that was possible here. Why shouldn't it be?
The two walked through the empty halls together, their voices filling the still air with chit chat and laughter. "Hold on, Ayaka. There's a quick stop I want to make before we say goodbye for tonight. Is that alright with you?" She nodded. "Of course it's alright. Why wouldn't it be?" Asuna nervously shifted her purse, though she kept her nervousness well-hidden. She had something very important in it. If she lost it, she thought that she'd die.
Softly, the sound of the large fountain in the main plaza of the base began to trickle through the halls, intertwining with the sound of their voices. "Boy, the bases just seems dead this late at night, doesn't it?" Asuna shrugged. "I guess I've gotten used to the silence, with being on guard duty so often. I had to have Alucard pull some very important strings to allow for this night off. I suppose the long hours are worth it though. They pay me some good money." The archway to the main plaza was before them before they knew it. "Let's sit down. I don't know about you, but my feet are sore from the hike…" They sat down on the edge of the fountain together. Small drops of water splashed gently against their faces. "Ayaka-chan…I have a question that I want to ask you…"
"Anything. What's on your mind?" Asuna reached into her purse and pulled out something small, which she concealed in the palm of her hand. In one swift movement, she was on one knee with her hands before her in an offering. She held a small jewelry box with a gorgeous diamond ring inside.
"Yukihiro Ayaka…I love you so much…Will you marry me?" Ayaka's hands shot to her mouth in surprise. "Oh my God, Asuna! Of course I will!" Asuna gently removed the ring from the box, careful not to drop it in the fountain, and placed it on Ayaka's finger. She admired it with a sparkle in her eyes, the likes of which Asuna had never seen. "It's beautiful! Oh, but this must have cost a fortune!"
"Don't worry. I've been severely rationing my earnings. I kept just enough to live on. If anyone's worth it, it's you." They kissed passionately. Not another word needed to be said.