To AnimeGurl: And I love it when you review (arches eyebrow and speaks in a barotone voice.)
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Winny flipped in the air, dodging the punch from the golem. Nick rushed under it's arm and jumped onto it's head.
"Surprise!" Nick punched it in the head. Giant shockwaves rippled the surface of the golem and it fell to the ground. Nick jumped off it and spit on the floor. "I think I gave it brain damage."
"It doesn't have a brain." Winny rolled her eyes.
"It's called a joke." Nick rushed over and attempted to pound the golem's head in. It lifted its arm and punched Nick's body into the roof. He slammed into it and fell to the ground; Winny caught him and placed him on the floor.
"Damn! Are you all right?" Winny asked.
"Fuck…" Nick spat up some blood and clutched his stomach. "Yeah… I'm fine, just a little woozy."
"You're stomach is bleeding. And wipe the spit out blood off your face." Nick's mask gave a look of contempt. "What? You don't wanna show me your face?"
"No." Winny sighed and looked at the bleeding wound on Nick's stomach. "How well does that ÄRM work?"
"It's healed a fatal wound once before, I think it'll heal this." Nick concentrated his energy into the Healing Angel ÄRM and the bleeding slowly stopped. "I'm good!" Nick put the necklace back on and brandished his sword.
"ALREADY? You just received a serious wound to your stomach!"
"I've fought my best friend evenly with a cold! This is nothing!" Nick pounded his stomach and put his hand out. "But I'd like some help."
"Ass." Winny took his hand and stood up.
"I don't like you either, but as long as Phantom-baka sent you to help me I'll take him up on that offer!" Nick charged the golem, who swung his axe at him. Nick ducked it and jumped up into the sky. The golem attempted to punch him again, but Nick slammed his fist into the stone hand, crumbling it. Nick's hand bled a little and he blew on it as a futile effort to ease the pain.
"STOP HURTING YOURSELF!" Winny yelled.
"Why do you care?" Nick's mask smiled. "You're helping me, but we're still enemies, right?"
"YOU'RE CONFUSING ME!" Winny clutched her head.
"I'M A CONFUSING GUY!"
"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"
"You're short." Nick mumbled. Winny's hair frizzed up as her eyes gained a new flame. She ran after Nick with her sword and he mocked her as he ran away.
"COME BACK HERE!"
"NO!" Nick yelled. The golem brought it's axe up. "Damn it!" He dove backwards and accidentally ran into Winny, they tumbled away from the axe and landed a few feet away. "Are you ok?" He asked, blood dripped from his mouth slowly as he spoke.
"Nick you're bleeding, stop being stubborn and let's go!" Winny scolded.
"No."
"STOP SAYING NO ALL THE TIME!" She yelled. Nick tilted his mask sideways to only show his mouth and a little of his right eye. Winny stared a little as he mouthed the word 'no' and put the mask back on right, it showed a face of displeasure as he turned around and wiped the blood coming down his neck.
"Ok buddy boy!" Nick yelled. "I'm getting Diana back whether you want me too or NOT!" He ran forward and twisted his wrist, his sword turned and rested on the back of his arm sideways, he put his arm out to the side so his blade was easily accessible from the position. The golem punched at him and he jumped up onto the arm, he ran up the stone arm for a while and twisted his wrist again, his sword came down and skidded against the rock of the guardian slightly, he smiled and jumped over to its shoulder. He backhanded it and it fell to the floor, he shot down and thrust it sword into the crack of its arm, he fell forward on it and the arm popped off easily, he shot off towards its other arm and grabbed the axe from it bare hand. He jumped up with the axe and brought it down on the golem's head.
"U-unreal." Winny stuttered. Nick fell to the floor and coughed a little. More blood fell from his chin as he now walked forward.
"Diana?" The elder asked. "You couldn't mean."
"Yeah you know, big boobs, pink hair." Nick said mockingly as he walked down the stairway and faced the older man, he had a black beard and his eyes had piecing hazel eyes.
"She left our island a while ago, and she took many ÄRM with her, she is a criminal to us." The elder said.
"Well she's my friend." Nick's mask gave a neutral look. "And I'm not letting her die."
"Well then, that's very noble of you." The elder mocked him.
"It's a curse, if you're my friend, I tend to get very protective." Nick smiled a little.
"Well then… who has kidnapped her?"
"A man who controls a massive army called the Chess Pieces, a man named Phantom."
"Hmm…" The elder closed his eyes. "I sense you want to stop Phantom."
"Yes…. Yes I do." Nick said firmly.
"Very well, I will help you." The elder smiled. "What was it you said about my grandfather though?"
"He resides in my soul." Nick mentioned. "I want to know how I get him out."
"Hmm…" The elder frowned deeply. "It depends how long he's had to merge with your soul." He put his hand over Nick's head and frowned deeply. "Get some rest, you'll need it to survive tomorrow."
"Yes sir." The elder pointed to a door and then to another door.
"Go into the left one to get some ÄRM's, you'll need those too." Nick's mask arched an eyebrow but he walked over and opened the door, a small orb was there and magic seemed to circle around it. "It will read your power and give you an appropriate ÄRM." Nick sighed.
"Ladies first." He said as he backed away to let Winny it, she slapped his stomach and he cringed in pain.
"Oh get over it." She stuck her hand in the orb absent-mindedly and a bracelet appeared on her wrist. "Snazzy." (The bracelet is Overgrown Meadow if you remember the ARM)
"Ok my turn!" Nick yelled. He stuck his hand in and a ring and a bracelet appeared on his hand. (He received Fantasia and Dozing Kitsune.) "Nice, I can't wait to try these out."
"You're name is Nick correct?" The elder asked. Nick nodded. "He plans to fight you again, he says he's looking forwards to it."
"Nick?" Winny asked.
"Well then, I'm already injured… maybe he can beat me this time." Nick flicked his mask and an explosion of light came out of the white outlines. From the mask, the boy jumped out and faced Nick with a giant sword in his arms.
"Who the hell is that?" Winny asked.
"You can see him then… the magic here must be very powerful." Nick smiled.
"Hey Nick-kun." The boy said mockingly. "Are you gonna take off the mask this time?"
"I don't feel like it."
"Nick… is that the elder?"
"I suspect when he died he reverted to a younger form, but yeah that's him." Nick smiled.
"God I hate that mask." The boy spat on the ground. "It's so lifeless, it makes me sick."
"You created it, in fact… you saved my life with it." Nick smirked.
"And because of that, you gave me life." The boy smiled wickedly, he put the sword in the ground. It towered over him by two feet and made him look even smaller than he was. "And you slowly regained your feelings."
"I already had feelings." Nick frowned. "It was your madding voice that drove me near insanity."
"Did you like my mind games? I loved whispering words of nonsense into the mind of a tortured young boy."
"He… talked to you?" Winny asked.
"I always kept it to myself because I thought I was insane." Nick frowned. "But he used to say random things during the night to keep me up and make me worry. Nothing like a monstrous voice whispering 'hungry' to you in the middle of the night to keep you up."
The boy charged with his sword and Nick pulled out his katana, they blocked each other and immediately jumped back.
"Let's try this!" Nick recognized his new ÄRM and smiled. "Guardian ÄRM: Dozing Kitsune!" He yelled, from a ball of light, a small 7-tailed fox appeared on Nick's neck with sharp tails.
"Seven tails?" Winny asked.
"It shows how much mental stability the user has, the more they can concentrate, the more tails the fox will produce, up to nine of course." The elder frowned. "But the ÄRM can take so much out of one person that they can't make coherent thoughts."
"Ugg… damn, how does Catherine do it?" Nick panted. He stood up straight and charged with his sword. The boy brought his down and the fox blocked it naturally with all seven tails, Nick ducked and stabbed his sword in front of him, the boy jumped back and used his sword to stop his momentum. Nick smiled and ran at him, the boy twisted his sword and swung it around him in a circle, a giant gust of wind surrounded him and Nick gritted his teeth as he ran through it. Nick eventually jumped up and brought his sword down on the boy's huge weapon. The boy smiled sadistically.
"Nick!" Winny yelled. She slid under Nick's legs and brought her sword up to the boy's neck.
"Nice move."
"Nice boxers." She mocked him.
"You can't see my boxers." Nick rolled his eyes.
"Damn, I thought I'd get you." Winny smiled as she brought the sword back and blood spilled from the boy's neck. "Straight for the jugular." She smiled. The boy staggered back before wiping the blood on his hand on his pants.
"Clever." He spat. "But you can't kill me like that."
"Be gone demon!" The elder yelled. He raised his hand and the boy suddenly dropped to the floor with his hands over his ears. He slowly flickered and then disappeared from sight.
"Cool move." Nick smiled. The elder smirked and then raised his hand.
"He won't bother you for a few days, get some rest." The elder waved his hand and a door opened to reveal one bed that was connected to a bathroom in the back.
"I'm not sharing a bed with him." Winny protested. The elder waved his hand again and the bed split into two equally sized beds. "Much better."
"Don't try and kill me while I'm sleeping ok?" Nick said as he walked up to the door. He took off his mask and threw it onto one of the beds. Winny rushed up to try and see behind the hood, but Nick closed the bathroom door before she could get in front of him.
"Damn it." She cursed.
"Oh, it's a bathhouse kind of setting, you can come in." Nick unlocked the door. Winny burst in to get s glance of Nick with a towel around his waist, and the back of his head before he closed his bath up.
"DAMN IT!" She yelled.
"What? Did you trip?" Nick asked. Winny grumbled a no and got undressed before walking into her bath.
When Winny was done, she walked out of her bath and out of the room with a towel on, she opened the door to see Nick was already asleep under the covers, the pillow covered his head and only a tuft of red hair was visible. She walked over slowly and reached out to touch the pillow. Nick's hand shot up and he twisted her arm, she yelped in pain and jumped back.
"I'm still awake Winny-chan." Nick said curtly.
"Sorry, I was just curious how you looked." Winny admitted.
"It doesn't matter, when all's said and done, you'll never see me again after we're done with Phantom's little game." Nick said.
"Umm, would you let go of my hand?" Winny asked. Nick let go and Winny walked over to her bed and went to sleep. (Yes, she went to sleep in her towel, do you think they have any PJ's for gods sake?)
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Winny woke up that morning to Nick drumming on the walls. She opened her eyes lightly to see Nick's mask an inch from her face.
"AHHHH!" She screeched as she fell off the bed. "OW!"
"Hehe, idiot." Nick walked out of the room.
"Bastard…"
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"So…" Nick started as he walked to the elder. "How long has the elder been in me? Can you tell? Because I can't remember."
"Since you were eight." The elder frowned.
"Really? Since I was 8 huh?" Nick frowned. "So how do we get rid of the little bastard?"
"We have to extract your soul." The elder said solemnly. "But considering my current hospitality, I don't think I'm inclined to do such a thing."
Nick paused for a moment.
"There's a price I have to pay." Nick frowned.
"That's right, did he tell you that?" The elder smiled.
"He said I have to give up the thing I feel strongest about." Nick frowned.
"And what is that thing?"
"I have to give up my-" Nick paused. "The next time I kiss Kira, I will lose all the love I have for her."
Winny looked away. "That's pretty heavy." She said quietly. "Nick, you shouldn't have to force this, maybe you can find ano-"
"There is no other way, I need to have him extracted from the part of my soul he's latched onto." Nick said tartly. "I can live without Kira a little easier if I don't love her anyways. I miss her too much otherwise." Nick explained. Winny looked shocked as she backed away a little.
'He's willing to give her up? Just like that?' Winny frowned. 'There's something wrong with this kid.' She opened her mouth the speak and Nick turned his head slightly.
"Winny-chan…" Nick said. "What was your first impression of me?"
"You're good at choking people?" Winny said with a chuckle. Nick's mask gave an irritated expression. "That you're… unfeeling and cold."
"What makes you think I should be able to love her in the first place?"