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Last Chapter:
"It's about the Scroll of Muromachi. The foxes that protected it are powerful guardians, and their territory are not easily intruded or demolished. But somehow, part of the realm got tore down and half of the scroll got destroyed. Also, it's strange that we were able to get back here without using the power of the scroll. Are you aware about all these, Usagi?" Taiki asked carefully.
Usagi lowered her head mysteriously and muttered, "Neh Taiki... That's not something I'd want to remember… and you shouldn't know too much either…"
Seiya looked quietly down at Usagi, not liking her unusual change of attitude. Her words were profound, her tone was monotonous, and somehow, he believed that she wasn't smiling at that moment. Regardless, she was still holding onto his hand even after Taiki had reached out and took her other hand in his.
He whispered as he brought her hand closer to his lips, "But I'd like to meet that hidden side of you… Akatsuki..."
--
--
The Empress of Necromancy, Luna
--
Yaten widened his eyes with terror and shock when the Senior Superintendent of the police force signalled his men to arrest Minako, charging her of murder and assault to his sub-division that lay unconscious on the field. Though the band of police led by Kureno wasn't dead, most of them fell into coma and those who managed to regain their conscious couldn't remember anything that had previously happened. Strangely enough, they weren't able to recall ever seeing Hotaru or listening to her music piece before they fell into a deep slumber.
And even though, many of the guests and the members of White Magic Organization still held memories of seeing Yuumei and Hotaru, they kept quiet about ever meeting them, fearing that they might get targeted by the Great Powers if they were to expose the truth to the police. To make matters worse, some of the victims even shoved all the blame on Minako out of convenience, making her the prime suspect for the case.
"Let her go! Why are you arresting Minako? It was the Great Powers… It was them! Minako did nothing wrong!" Yaten yelled at the top of his voice and thrashed about forcefully with no success.
All his limbs were restrained by unyielding hands as three officers held Yaten back and parted him from Minako. He struggled to break free but his strength and power were seized by the heavy chains locked around his wrists. He could do nothing for her besides protesting and urging her to flee.
"Run, Minako! Fight them and escape from here!"
Even though there were five men holding onto her, Yaten was certain that she could fight them off and escape from here with her current abilities. But to his despair, Minako just shook her head and smiled gently at him.
"Why… Why? You don't have to care about me! Just go… Please… Just get out of here!" Yaten pleaded her.
He saw her opening her mouth to reply him, but she was cut off when the Senior Superintendent stepped in and peered sternly down at him. "Are you into this too boy?"
"Let Minako go! She got nothing to do with this!" Yaten retorted stubbornly.
The old man shook his head and pointed his cigarette at Yaten with a smirk. "If she is not responsible for all these… then who is? You?"
"No! It isn't Yaten-sama's fault! Leave him out of this!" Minako protested from behind.
Yaten shook his head in despair as he watched the Senior turned around to face Minako. She just looked expressionlessly back at him as he cupped her chin with his fingers, "And why must I believe a demon like you?"
Minako smirked, "I'm sure you know what those chains on my masters' hands do. No matter how talented he is, do you think he'd still be able to control a level 4 demon like me when he's actually bind up like that? Forget about hurting someone, he couldn't even defend himself."
"So, are you saying that you are the only one responsible?" The Senior asked coolly.
"Will you leave my master out of this if I confess?" Minako bargained.
"Wait, Minako! What are you saying?! Why are you taking the blame? It wasn't even your fault! It's the Great Powers! They did it! Not you!" Yaten yelled.
But no one listened to him. He glared angrily at the crowd of people standing around them, and most of them looked away in guilt. Besides Yaten, no one seemed to care whether Minako got arrested or not, all they were concerned about was themselves.
"Why aren't any of you saying anything? You saw what happened! You knew it was Satan who did it! All of you knew it wasn't Minako's fault! So, why aren't you saying anything?! Tell them! Tell them it was the Great Powers! Tell them!" Yaten demanded.
None of them responded. Yaten swore under his breath, angered to have his suspicious confirmed. They really didn't care what happened to Minako, and as long as they wouldn't get themselves involved with the Great Powers, they would keep quiet.
How ugly.
How despicable.
All these people who supported the World Government were of no different from Satan. No! They were worse! They were selfish cowards who only used the word 'Justice' as an excuse to go against something they were afraid of.
"It's alright, Yaten-sama…"
Yaten's face shot up to Minako's, only to find her smiling back at him. She was hurting him with that grin, a silent gesture to ask him to give up and let her be. He knew it was impossible from the start. He was restrained and couldn't fight them off for her. She wouldn't escape and risk getting him arrested.
In the end, they couldn't even file an appeal because there weren't enough prove to say that the Great Powers even existed, let alone charged them for the damage done. And even if the police knew they were the culprits, they couldn't and wouldn't do anything about it as they didn't have the abilities to take them on. So, in the end, they would have to arrest someone else to close the case, and that person was none other than Minako.
"This is so unfair… Minako…" Yaten breathed, slowly losing his strength when the reality sunk in.
Minako just smiled sadly back and said nothing. She turned away from him when the Senior Superintendent handcuffed her and led her away. The officers holding onto Yaten released him as ordered, and he fell helplessly to the ground. The police didn't even bothered to bring Yaten back for questioning and he couldn't find the strength to chase after them. He was breathing heavily as he watched her go.
Haruka and Ayame dropped down to his side a moment later, not knowing how they should be comforting him besides mimicking his sad expression.
"Here, let me help you." Ayame offered.
He presented him with a small key and volunteered to unlock the chains that were curved around his hands and legs, but Yaten simply slapped his brother's hand away, causing the key to slip out and fall onto the ground.
"What's the use of giving me that when Minako is already gone?! It's useless now! Everything is useless now!" Yaten yelled solemnly.
"I'm sorry, my dear brother." Ayame apologized.
Yaten smirked and looked suspiciously at his brother, "You are sorry? You are telling me you are sorry when you didn't help Minako out even when you can read all those people's thought? You knew it wasn't her fault! You knew she didn't kill anyone! Yet, you didn't say anything?!"
"Please understand, my dear brother. I wasn't the only telepathist in the force. It's useless even if we tell our authority what we heard… It's the Great Powers of Satan we are talking about! No one would bother searching and going against them! The government had signed a treaty with Satan, and no matter what they do, no one in the police force was allowed to touch them without permission from the higher authority… So, please understand, it's not like we didn't want to help… we can't…" Ayame explained.
"Can't? That's a nice excuse, Ayame…" Yaten muttered as he looked away in disgust.
He ignored his brother's protest and reached out for the key that was left abandoned a foot away from him. Picking it up, he struggled to unlock himself but found it harder to do so with the frustration burning inside him.
Haruka patted him on the shoulder, asking him to calm down. "We'll find a way to save Minako…"
Yaten remained silent, allowing Haruka to release him. The pieces of chains and shackles that were once tying him down dropped noisily onto the ground. He got up instantly, not bothered to even thank Haruka and walked off without saying anything. But, even without words, they could tell where he was heading to.
"Wait-…" Ayame tried stopping him, but Haruka held him back, shaking his head to discourage him from stopping Yaten.
"Let him be…"
"But, he can't just go breaking into the prison like that! He'd get himself caught before he could even step into the first wing." Ayame pointed out.
"Do you expect him to sit around and do nothing about it?" Haruka asked on behalf of Yaten.
"He can always wait till Taiki gets better and discuss a plan out with him-…"
"What did you say?" Haruka interrupted in absolute shock.
"You didn't know? Your friend, Taiki Kou collapsed on his way here and was admitted to the hospital."
--
--
Usagi waited impatiently outside the emergency room. It never did occur to her that Taiki would abruptly collapse before her eyes and wouldn't wake up despite the number of times she called his name. Now, the nurses had even taken Seiya into one of the wards to treat his injuries, leaving her all alone to deal with her own anxiety.
As Usagi leaned against the wall, she overheard the conversation between two older women who happened to walk past her. They were gossiping about the news of Minako getting arrested by the police. Usagi's eyes shot up in complete shock at what she had heard, but before she could even run over to question them, a doctor came through the pair of doors and called out for her.
Dropping her thoughts, Usagi hurried over and demanded worriedly, "Is Taiki going to be alright?"
The doctor nodded, "He's fine, but he won't be if he doesn't compromise with us and rest well. You see, miss, intellectually gifted people, especially one as highly intelligent as him, need to engage in more REM sleep than normal people do. But according to our analysis, your friend hadn't been sleeping at all lately and the neurons in his brain apoptosis faster than they could replenish, meaning his healthy membranes are dying sooner…"
"What? Taiki is going to die?!" Usagi burst out, unable to pick out strings of the medical vocabulary that the doctor was uttering to her.
"No, that's not what I meant-…" the doctor trailed off.
"What the doctor meant was that as long as the damn genius sleep through a day or two, he'd be fine."
Usagi turned around to face the familiar voice and immediately broke out a smile when she saw Seiya getting wheeled out on a wheelchair. She darted past the doctor and dropped on her knees in front of him, peering at him with her pair of worried eyes.
"I'm fine… nothing more than just bruises and cuts. They said I should be completely healed soon." Seiya told Usagi right before she could open her mouth to ask.
"Really?" Usagi asked, looking up at the two nurses besides him but they just looked away awkwardly.
Then, another familiar voice answered on their behalf, "Of course it's real. He just didn't include the few broken bones and stitches which can be found in his medical record."
Usagi's eyes flickered over to the swinging doors of the emergency room just as Taiki was getting wheeled out. He sat up from the stretcher, ignoring the nurse who tried to get him to lie back down. Usagi instantly darted over to him, taking his hands into hers, while Seiya groaned in displeased and used his PK energy to wheel himself over.
"Taiki! I'm so glad that you managed to wake up! I was so scared when you fainted back then… You weren't moving, and I kept calling you… bu-but… you didn't reply me... an-and..." Usagi cried, not knowing how she should be finishing her sentence.
Taiki smiled and patted her on the head, "Shh… It's okay now, so don't cry. I'm fine…"
"No, you are not! The doctor said that you're going to die if you don't get enough EMG sleep." Usagi shrieked.
Taiki sighed, "It's REM sleep, Usagi. And nothing bad is going to happen to me whether or not I get enough rest…"
"Who are you trying to fool when you just collapsed out of exhaustion, damn genius?" Seiya pointed out, glaring at Taiki and their locked hands.
"At least I still have my bones intact and I don't need stitches unlike someone here." Taiki smiled calmly back.
"Should I remind you of how I've gotten all these injuries then?" Seiya retorted coolly.
"This is not the time to be arguing!" Usagi snapped at them, forgetting that she shouldn't be raising her voice in the hospital.
Both Seiya and Taiki looked away in embarrassment as the doctor warned them to lower their volume since they were disturbing the other patients. Usagi let out a heavy sigh before following the nurses when they transport her friends to an empty room down the hall.
Seiya was assigned a bed next to Taiki's, and though he wasn't pleased about sharing the same room as his rival, he didn't refuse the arrangement as he didn't want to further upset Usagi. Taiki said nothing either until the doctor pressed him to consume the sleeping tablets prescribed so as to ensure that he'd sleep through the night.
"I'm a doctor too and I know my condition better than you do. I don't need any medication or spend a night here. My friends are in trouble and they need me. I request to be discharged by tonight." Taiki refused stubbornly.
The doctor sighed at his refusal but before he could try reasoning with Taiki, Usagi cut in and requested the tablets from him. Running out of ideas, the doctor did as he was told and handed the two pills over to Usagi, seeing that she might be able to convince him to take the medication.
But to everyone's astonishment, Usagi tossed the two pills into her mouth and sipped a cup of water as though she was going to consume them. She moved in quickly, covering both Taiki's cheeks with her hands and bringing his lips to hers before he could even react. Her hands quickly flew to the back of his head, keeping him close to her as she pried his lips open with minimal effort to let the pills flow in.
It was pretty clear that Usagi was forcefully trying to make Taiki consume his medication though he wasn't struggling, but Seiya couldn't help but glowered at the kissing scene before him. The jealousy that flared inside him hurt a hundred times more than his exterior injuries. He could hardly repress his urge to break the two of them apart, and he barely managed to keep his cool. The only thing that was restraining him was the fact that Usagi would be extremely upset if Taiki doesn't get well, and he didn't want to cause her anymore fret.
Taiki had already swallowed the pills by the time they broke apart. He peered at her, blushing slightly, surprised to see her smiling gently back at him. She placed her finger over his lips, preventing him from saying anything.
"Sleep, and if you do that, I will let you meet Akatsuki." Usagi told him in a whisper.
She removed her finger, not noticing the faint pink coating on his cheeks. He looked quietly back at her and she just smiled innocently back, saying, "It's my turn to protect you tonight. I promise I won't let anything bad happen…"
--
--
Haruka wandered around the hospital ward in a lost. Patients were pouring in, most of them whom he recognized as cowards who escaped from being slaughtered by the Great Powers. He grimaced at them, finding no reasons why they should even be treated or comforted when Minako was left to suffer in the prison cell all because of their selfishness. Now, they even occupied most of the doctors and nurses time, giving him no chance to enquiry anyone about where his friends were.
When he was about to abandon his search on the seventh floor, a blonde accompanied by a doctor and nurses came out from the room that was located by the end of the corridor. Haruka's eyes lit up in joy when he saw Usagi expressing her gratitude to the doctor before they left.
He called out to her just before she reached for the doorknob, "Usagi!"
Usagi turned towards the call and widened her eyes in surprise, "Haruka?"
He quickly sprinted over to her, disregarding the hospital rules in his haste, and questioned her right before she could ask him anything. "Usagi, I heard Taiki fainted. How is he?"
"He's fine now. The doctor said he just needs some good rest…"
"Good, let me see him…" Haruka requested, reaching for the door.
But to his surprise, Usagi simply extended her hand out and blocked the door. She shook her head at him, ignoring the startled expression on his face."No, Taiki is asleep now. I don't want anyone to be disturbing him."
"But Usagi, I need to talk to him, it's about Minako-…" Haruka trailed off.
"I know..." Usagi interrupted him.
"You know?"
"I know that Minako got arrested and Yaten was planning to save her tonight… I even know that Yuki had managed to save Tohru and escape out of the state… Those were what Taiki told me. But, I'm sorry, Haruka. Even though we're all worried, I can't allow Seiya or Taiki to help any of them tonight." Usagi replied bluntly.
"What?! But why?" Haruka almost burst out at her.
"Because they are in no condition to be anywhere out of bed." She told him simply.
"What about you? You can help them right?"
Usagi shook her head, "Sorry, I won't be going anyway tonight. I've got to stay here and look after Seiya and Taiki."
"If you do that, what will happen to Minako and Yaten then? You can't just allow them to get locked up and do nothing about it!"
"Then, can you guarantee that nothing bad will happen to both Seiya and Taiki when I'm gone?" Usagi asked in a flat expression.
Haruka went silent for a moment, taken aback by her serious look. She wasn't smiling and was especially firm with her words, something he hadn't got used to at the moment. She sighed, shaking her head lightly, "You don't understand, Haruka. Satan has sent spies to watch over us. They've managed to hurt Seiya once, and I don't want that to happen again."
"Then how about calling Yuumei out? She was the one responsible for everything… she should be jailed! Not Minako…" Haruka suggested.
"Why should she? Yuumei is only doing her job. She did nothing wrong."
Haruka threw her a shock look, "Killing and hurting others is nothing wrong? What are you saying, Usagi?"
"She's part of the Great Powers of Satan, Haruka. This is what they do. If you think what they are doing is wrong, then what about those adults who accused Minako just because they are afraid of Satan? Besides, I haven't seen Yuumei ever since she returned to Satan for my sake…"
"Your sake?" He repeated the words quizzically.
Usagi smiled sadly, "Do you remember the dream you had that predicted me leaving? And, because a precognition sensor only sees what fate had already written, it's unavoidable for anyone to go against it… which is why Yuumei chose to become my substitute, and she went back to Satan in my place. So I, more than anyone else, don't have any right to see her..."
Haruka opened his mouth, making an attempt to question her further, but he couldn't speak. He shut his mouth a second later, not knowing what else he should say to her now. Knowing Usagi, he knew that she would never abandon her friends when they were in trouble, and she must be trapped in a very difficult position right now.
"I get it. I'll find Yaten and come back tomorrow. I hope Taiki and Seiya will get well soon." Haruka nodded at her before he turned around and walked away.
Usagi shut her eyes and let out a tired breath as she watched him leave. After Haruka was out of sight, she entered the room quietly, careful not to wake Taiki, but was startled to find that the bed besides his was empty. Immediately, her eyes flew towards the open windows that were letting in chilly, night air, before her hands flew to cover her opened mouth.
"Seiya!"
--
--
Yaten could already see the outline of the capital prison that Minako had been taken into custody. The entire place was surrounded by electrified fencing, concertina wire and, multiple barriers to prevent escape and intrusion. From the look of it, it seemed highly impossible to sneak in unless he entered by the main entrance which was guarded by two, big prison guards and their hellhounds.
--
"Hellhound was a dog of Hell, and had typical of black fur color, glowing red eyes, and super strength and speed. Other phantom characteristics included having the abilities to talk and breathed fire. As they were often assigned to guard the entrances to the underworld, it'd need a highly levelled and trained necromancer to summon and control them." – Story information.
--
He remained in his hiding place, thinking of a plan to get past the ultimate defence without getting killed. For all he knew, there were rarely any summoned creatures that could win against the Hellhounds, and even an overpowering level 4 demon would face difficulties fighting them. Besides, in his current physically drained body, he already knew he wouldn't last with the Hellhounds no matter what powerful minions he called forth.
Yaten let out a breath of frustration, determined to break in and save Minako despite his zero chance of winning. Just when he was about to step out from his hiding location, he heard a meow sound coming from above him.
He looked up, his eyes enlarged by a little at the small, black cat looking down at him from above the tree branch. As the wind caught up and moved the dark clouds to reveal the full moon, he managed to catch a glimpse of a crescent-shaped mark imprinted on its forehead.
Yaten narrowed his eyes at the strange cat, as it continued to stare down at him as though it was trying to communicate to him. Acting on the unexplainable feeling he felt, he raised both his hands out at it, and as soon as he did, the cat leapt off from the branch.
But instead of catching it steadily with his hands, he found himself falling backward as the animal bizarrely changed into a girl and landed on top of him. At this, Yaten's eyes snapped open from shock, staring up into her wide red ones.
She smiled at him before pushing herself off his chest carefully and apologizing. "Ah, I'm sorry. That silly spell wears off at the wrong time…"
Yaten laid there blinking a few times in disbelief. Did he just caught a cat that could turn itself into a girl, or was he just imagining things? But as much as he wanted to believe that she wasn't real, she didn't appear to be an imagination. He continued gaping at her as she ran her hand through her long, wavy strands, straightening out the dark mess. For a moment, he thought that she looked like a doll, dreamy and beautiful, but the second she turned to face him, his jaw dropped slightly at the familiar crescent symbol marked on her forehead.
He shut his mouth only to open it again in attempt to say something, "What… who are you?"
She pointed at herself happily, "Me, Luna."
"Luna?" He repeated her name in a murmur as though he couldn't understand her.
She nodded with a smile, "Yes, Luna. I don't have a last name."
"Th-the cat? But you were a cat a minute ago."
"Yes, they are both me…" She replied simply.
"What?"
"You see, I've lived in this world for a long, long time and changed my appearance more than I can remember…" Luna told him as she stood up to straighten her long dress before turning to face him seriously, "So long ago… that I've forgotten how I really look like…"
Yaten was shocked silent by her strange remark as he watched her held out her hand to help him up. But for a brief moment, all Yaten could do was stare at her hand, still trying to let the information that she had just told him sink in. When he finally figured out what she wanted him to do with her hand, he ignored her assist and stood up on his own while brushing off his pants.
Luna dropped her hand back to her side and shrugged at his unfriendly attitude. Her eyes wandered and settled themselves at the prison zone that was a field away from them.
She pointed at it, "You are intending to go there too?"
"It's none of your business." Yaten replied uncaringly as he started to walk away from her.
Luna ran forward and caught up with him, "Don't say that… You did lend me a hand when I called for you… So, maybe I can help you…?"
"No one can help me. Go home." He rejected coolly.
When she ignored him and kept following, Yaten stopped his steps and turned around to look at her impatiently. She giggled at his stern look and muttered, "You really look like someone whom I know a long time ago…"
Yaten sighed, "Look, I don't care who you are or who I might look like to you. You'll get yourself hurt if you don't leave now. I'm being very serious here."
"I'm very serious about helping you too." Luna insisted.
"I already told you that…"
"…That you can save her on your own? And how are you going to do that in your present condition when every prison guards and authorities in there are at least three levels above you?" She cut in casually.
Yaten widened his eyes at her question for a second before dropping his face and clutching his hands into fists angrily, "And? What do you expect me to do? Do you think telling me will do any good? I already knew all that! But I just can't do nothing about it and let them continue holding Minako in prison. Hasn't she gone through enough just by being with me already? Must she suffer more and die there? She's innocent! She did nothing wrong to deserve all these!"
There was a moment of silence as a gust of wind blew dried leaves past them.
"Then you should kill whoever that stands in between your way and hers…"
Yaten's face shot up to Luna's, completely caught off guard. That wasn't what he had anticipated to hear. Not even close. He had expected her to console him or, at least drop the idea of following him, but she had asked him to kill instead? Murdering wasn't something he had done before, and he couldn't bring himself to kill anyone despite how much hatred he held in him.
Luna sighed and shook her head at him, "You're talented, but too kind. You'll forever remain in that level if you aren't willing to harm anyone. But since you lend me a hand just now plus I initially intended to go there, I'll help you out for once and show you why most people in this world don't deserve your kindness…"
She had already dashed past him before he could even react and stop her. He yelled at her, asking her to come back but she had already stepped into the security parameters, causing the alarms and horns to sound. The high beams from the watch towers came on and flashed themselves onto the couple as a line of prison guards rushed out and surrounded them in a tight radius.
They aimed their various weapons at the two intruders as the hellhounds growled fiercely, ready to charge out and attacked them upon command. While Yaten cursed under his breath at the ugly situation that they were caught, Luna appeared to be as relax as ever, her eyes showing no trace of fear as one of the guard pointed his sharp weapon out at her.
"Who are you people? What are you doing here at a time like this?" He demanded.
Luna opened her mouth to reply, but was yanked back by Yaten before she could even utter a word. He kept her behind him, away from the dangerous objects, and she blinked at him in surprise by his protective manner. As far as she could remember, no one had ever try protecting her as though she was some sort of weak, innocent girl, and his action did trigger some memories and feelings she had with a certain someone long ago.
"She has nothing to do with this. She just stepped in here by mistake." Yaten told them bluntly.
"You think we'll fall for your lies? You better tell us the truth or we will attack the both of you here and now!"
"No, no…" Luna opposed and pushed her way past Yaten till she was standing next to him.
He widened his eyes at her in astonishment as she pointed her finger at them, demanding, "All of you better contact your Superintendent General to come here at once to meet me before I tear his whole prison down."
"Are you crazy? Do you actually understand what you have just said?!" Yaten half-yelled at her as the guards mimicked his shock expression.
"Call Superintendent General or tear prison down…" Luna repeated innocently.
"You stupid girl!" Yaten yelled, not knowing what else to say besides the first thing that popped into his mind.
She peered back at him with a pair of watery red eyes, pointing to herself, "I'm stupid?"
"Yes, you are! Do you know that I'm trying my hardest to save you here? So, stop trying to make things worse for me!" He scolded.
"But I'm really here to demolish this place…" Luna insisted as though she was trying to convince him that she wasn't stupid.
"Stop the foolish joke! The both of you are coming with us and are under arrested for trespassing! Men, seize them!" The leader ordered.
The prison guards extended their hands out together as thick sliver chains shot out from beneath their long sleeves, all targeting to cuff their way at the couple. Yaten grabbed Luna by her hand and pulled her back into a safe distance. A circular sigil which made up of several complex symbols appeared within his radius a second later before a circle of serpent-looking wards merged out from the ground and protected them from the flying chains.
Luna widened her eyes with interest at the unique formation that made up of a series of different human-sized serpents. It had been a long time since she last witnessed someone summoning a creation that wasn't a copy of her works. She cheered when the huge snake-like wards shot out acidic sprays at the prison guards.
"Wa! I've never seen a formation like this before! Though they will eventually be killed by the hellhounds, you're really a genius for coming up with something this innovative." Luna nodded at Yaten excitedly, making him glanced back at her with an unenthusiastic look.
As she had predicted, the serpent wards died and retreated back into the ground once the hellhounds fired a wave of flame at them. The prison guards smirked at the couple as Yaten prepared himself for the next attack.
"The two of you should just give up and come with us. Boy, you're a necromancer too. I'm sure you know that there are rarely any creatures that can compete with the hellhounds." The leader told them and the others laughed.
Yaten kept quiet at the remarks, unable to come out with anything to go against his facts. He did manage to hold his cool, but immediately dropped it when Luna stepped out from behind him as she challenged the prison guards once more.
"Really? Then would you might telling me the recipe to summon a single hellhound…"
The guards dropped their laughter at her question, their expression turned serious, as Yaten tried holding her back from going too near to the hellhounds. She stopped moving and looked back at him with a hardly visible smile, asking, "What about you? Do you know what the recipe is?"
Yaten just stared speechlessly back at her, his startled and clueless expression giving his thoughts away. It wasn't in his knowledge, and as far as he knew, no necromancy books or scrolls had ever taught the method to summon these fearsome creatures. At first, he took into account that it was forbidden, but if it was illegal, then how and why were the guards allowed to use them to defend the capital prison?
"Four hundred and forty-four souls…" Luna muttered lowly.
Yaten peered at her in disbelief. It took him a second to decipher the statement as she repeated herself.
"The recipe is four hundred and forty-four strong, living souls sacrificed to summon one of those. They were souls that would never get the chance to reincarnate and have a new life again. My, I wonder how many poor, innocent ones died just to obtain those two little fierce things." Luna smirked and looked uncaringly at the hellhounds.
"What?" Yaten burst out as he turned around and glared at the prison guards who were looking anything but guilty. "Rituals that used human sacrifice are forbidden! How the hell can all of you still perform and used them so openly?!"
"What's the problem? We got permission from the world government to use them. No one has the right to blame or punish us!" One of the guards exclaimed.
"I do."
Everyone turned their attention back to Luna as she arched her eyebrows at the prison guards in displease, "I was the one who banned it. So, what makes all of you think you can go unpunished after breaking my law?"
"We don't know what nonsense you're saying! And we won't care! Hounds, seize them now!" The leader ordered the two hellhounds to attack.
But instead of obeying his command, the two dogs whined softly and dropped their heads as soon as Luna lowered her eyes at them. She extended her hand out to them and instructed softly, "Come here, boys."
Much to everyone's astonishment, the hellhounds obediently went to her side, ignoring whatever command given to them from the guards. Yaten dropped his jaws at Luna when she bent over and patted the two hellhounds on their heads as though they were her pets. He had never learnt or came across anyone who could freely control others' minions, not to mention two deadly hellhounds that weren't even supposed to be serving anyone on earth. Besides, to take over others' summoned creatures greatly defied the Law of Conjuration.
No!
It wasn't even possible to begin with!
But here he was, watching a girl whom he just met patting two hell dogs that weren't even summoned by her. Who on earth was she?
"Ah, good boys. I'll send the both of you back to where you truly belong after I'm done punishing all these naughty children who don't follow my rules." She muttered with a tiny smile before standing back up to face the row of prison guards who were in shock.
As the men called for backups, more guards and officers were sent out into the open, forming a crowd in the open night field. Yaten stood perfectly still, not believing the outrageous situation that he was caught in. Not even in his wildest dream would he imagine himself facing so many highly trained officers and psychics. It left him half wondering if he was going to die, making Luna giggled at his worried expression.
"Does this look funny to you?!" Yaten shrieked at her as he gestured at the crowd.
"Don't shout at me. I was just trying to save time…" She explained unclearly.
"What? For our deaths? I got to save Minako! I can't just die here!" He snapped.
She patted him on his shoulder calmly, "Why are you getting so heat up for? They can't kill us with such small number of people."
"You called this small?! There are more than a hundred of them!" He exclaimed, trying to knock some sense into her.
Luna shrugged and continued to argue with Yaten, ignoring the prison governor who made his way into the crowd while carrying an oversized bazooka on his right shoulder. He shouted across to the pair, drawing their attention to him and his huge weapon that was a size of four men put together.
But before he could even start introducing himself, Luna cut in and shook her finger at him, "I'm not looking for you. Contact your superior. No, the one after, after, and after yours… that Luna is here to see him…"
Yaten had his forehead covered with his hand and was shaking his head back and forth. He gave up. She could continue to act brainlessly, and dragged them closer to death, he didn't care anymore. He sighed and looked away, not wanting to see the angry expression on the prison governor face.
The governor was already shouting and threatening to kill her, but Luna was looking anything but intimidated.
"1,336…" She whispered a number as Yaten looked curiously back at her.
The crowd grew silent as the hellhounds barked at them, warning them to stay away from their mistress. Some of guards took a step back when the hell dogs ignited a circle of fire and formed a protective zone around Luna and Yaten. The governor simply laughed at the frail defence as he pointed his rocket launcher at the pair.
Luna shook her head at him and warned, "You won't want to aim that at me because there are exactly 1,336 corpses in the prison district. It's 10 times more than what you have here... and if you open your fire on me, they will all launch out at you."
"What nonsense." The governor murmured before the huge opening of his bazooka began to light up, drawing up a blast of energy and firing it out at them.
"Watch out!"
Yaten shouted as he reached his hand out for Luna's, but he couldn't reach her. Instead, he felt himself being lifted into the air, away from the explosion site and into a safe distance. He couldn't even appreciate his once in a lifetime chance to ride on the back of a hellhound as his eyes widened around in search for Luna. From above, he found her standing calmly behind the explosion. She raised her hands up as the floor below them began to glow and tremble.
Low groans and cries echoed before skeleton and deformed hands shot out from the misty field. Seconds later, corpses of the dead were seen crawling out as they marched towards Luna, forming an army of a thousand dead soldiers behind her.
"Turn them into one of you." She ordered bluntly, pointing at the crowd of prison officers and guards who were stunned speechlessly.
Yaten had already forgotten how to breathe as he watched the vicious battle happening before him. What was happening here? His head couldn't come out with any logical explanation to explain how anyone could control a thousand over corpses all at once when it was already humanly impossible to summon more than five minions in a single ritual.
But seeing that this was his opportunity to save Minako, he couldn't bring himself to care about anything else besides finding her. Immediately, he got off the back of the hellhound as he tried to make his way past the dangerous battlefield and into the prison. But, judging at the chaos before him, it seemed very unlikely that he could make it to wherever Minako was in one piece.
"Get back on. I'll bring you there."
Yaten spun around and widened his eyes in absolute surprise at the hellhound talking to him.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not helping you… It's the order from the Empress." It added and barked, urging him to climb onto it.
"The Empress?"
Yaten didn't have the time to think much as he quickly jumped back up onto the hound's back. Without hesitation, it shot past the battle zone, through the prison gate, into the first and second wings in an incredibly fast speed. Alarms rang at every wings Yaten went past as prison guards and officers battled among the creatures and corpses summoned inside. Some of the prisoners even joined in the fight in the attempt to escape from their cells.
Soon, he reached the final wings where highly dangerous and powerful criminals were kept. The hallway that held the row of cell rooms was creepily cold and quiet. Strangely, there wasn't a single guard securing the place. Either they had all abandoned their duties to aid the on-going battle or there was no single guard who could handle the suffocating pressure the place itself held.
Yaten could feel his body slowly weakening as he proceeded deeper down the hallway. His power seemed to have died down as though someone had internally removed it, leaving him feeling empty inside. He bit his lips in determination to remain strong as the hellhound abruptly stopped before a large metal door.
"We're here." It informed.
Without hesitation, Yaten jumped out from its back and raced for the door. But before he could even come to a foot close to it, two tall statue-looking figures suddenly appeared out of no where and blocked his exit with their spears crossed in front of the door. The sudden appearance of the two stone statues made Yaten took a few steps back as the hellhound explained to him.
"They are the special guarding device designed to represent the two guardians of Hell. I heard they stole the idea from the Satan Organization, and though these two are nothing like the real thing, no one has ever broken though their defence before. So, kid, I suggest you to back off now."
Yaten ignored his comment and scowled at the two statues in consideration to break it down. And as though his thought could be heard, the stones unexpectedly drew their spears back to their sides and disappeared into the walls. Yaten blinked at this in surprise as the sound of approaching footsteps got louder.
"Our leader won't be happy if he finds out about his guardian's idea being stolen..."
Yaten turned around to face the source of the familiar voice. He widened his eyes when he saw Luna walking towards him while accompanied by an older gentleman attired in a general suit pinned with numerous of shiny badges. Even though Yaten had never met him before, he appeared to be the Superintendent General of the Police Force. Following them were the prisoner governor and a few officers who had their heads dropped low in shame.
"No, we didn't mean to offend the Founder of Satan, Ma'am Luna. And I'll appreciate it if you don't bring this up in the coming Counsel of Kings…" The general requested politely.
--
"Counsel of Kings was a meeting that would take place once every ten years whereby Leaders of nations gathered to discuss about matters that would affect the world. Often, a war would start between the leaders and kings if one was to upset the other." – Story information.
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"Open the door!" Yaten growled at the general fiercely, cutting into the conversation.
"Yes, open it." Luna nodded.
The old general frowned at Yaten in dislike, but ordered his men to unlock the metal door as he didn't wish to offend Luna. Yaten rushed into the cell as soon as the door flung open and was appalled by the sight before him. Minako with her hands and legs cuffed were pinned against the wall in a wretched condition. Her head was down and her body was bloody and wet. She didn't appear to be conscious as Yaten dashed over and shouted her name.
He cupped her dirtied face gently with his shaky hands as his eyes slowly scanned through her badly beaten up body. All of the sudden, he felt a cold shiver ran down his spine and his mind went blank from the terribly strong spiteful feeling that shot him hard.
At that moment, he felt like murdering someone.
The person who hurt Minako…
The people who took her away from him…
And, those who made her suffer…
… Shall all die!
"Yes, die! All of you shall just die!" Yaten yelled before a circular sigil that covered the entire cell emerged suddenly.
Taken aback, everyone including Luna could only glanced wildly around the chamber that had weird purplish symbols suddenly glowing on the surrounding walls and floor. Impossible. This chamber was designed to put all powers of any users, even unique-levelled, to sleep. So, how was it possible for a weak, unknown boy to create a dark portal and summoned out a monstrous-looking winged devil before them?
"Lucifer…" Luna muttered the name of the fearsome monster that tried crawling out of the big hole.
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Lucifer was a deformed archangel fallen from Heaven, and was the leader of the Doomguard in Hell. It was believed that upon summon, it was unstoppable and could easily wiped out an entire country before consuming the soul of its summoner to return to Hell. Because it was an associate of the Dark Lord, it was considered as a legendary summon, an urban myth that could only be read in fairytales" – Story information.
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Without wasting a moment, Luna repelled the summoning portal as three heavenly poles shot down from above and blocked the access. Lucifer roared loudly in the attempt to break the strong fencing, but Luna ignored his rage and stomped over to Yaten, raising her hand at him.
-SMACK-
The crack of her slap echoed throughout the room. Yaten stood there, quietly facing the floor, as he lifted his hand to graze his cheek. She hadn't hurt him physically but her slap was enough to wake him.
"You stupid boy! This isn't the time to be throwing your tantrum! Wake up! She needs you!" Luna snapped at him.
Yaten turned and face her slowly, his initial blank expression returning to normal. Soon, the chamber grew quiet as the portal closed and vanished along with the symbols on the walls. The rest of the people in the room could finally breathe at the disappearance of the fearsome-looking monster. Yaten, on the other hand, continued to stare at Luna as if he didn't understand what he had just done. She smiled warmly at him and he blinked back before coming to his sense.
"Release Minako! Release her now!" Yaten demanded as he yanked the chains and shackles that locked Minako to the wall.
Luna nodded at the Superintendent General, silently instructing him to release Minako. Upon command, his men hurried over and did so promptly, shoving the keys in and tearing off the heavy chains. Yaten caught the blood drenched Minako into his arms as he called out to her in hope that she'd open her eyes and reply him somehow.
Minako lay motionless in his arms, limp and void of life. He wouldn't have been able to tell that she was alive if it wasn't for subtle rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was labored and coming out less frequently. He could tell that her pulse was weakening before he even placed his finger against her neck.
Yaten swallowed nervously, realizing that it was too late now. She wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital, and she would die any moment in his arms. He couldn't allow her to be taken away from him like that. It just wasn't fair. He had worked so hard to save her and for the chance to be together, and yet, it ended with her death?
In the end, he still wasn't able to do anything for her at all…
"Come, let me have a look at her…"
Yaten flinched, finally coming to his sense as his face shot back up Luna's. She smiled at him before taking Minako over and setting her gently down on her lap. "She's lucky to be born a demon…"
"Lucky?" Yaten asked softly, not sure if he had heard her correctly.
Luna nodded, "Because if she was a human, I won't be able to help her…"
She finished as her hand that was placed gently on top of Minako's forehead began to glow. The bright light caused a cluster of symbols to spread throughout her badly wounded body. Everyone widened their eyes and Yaten could feel his heart skipped by a beat when the injuries on Minako slowly closed up on their own.
By the time Luna lifted her hand away, most of the cuts on Minako had vanished together with the strange emblems. Her breathing had returned to a slow, peaceful pace, and the color on her face had turned back to normal. Yaten smiled for the first time that day when he felt her frigid hand make the slightest movement as she lifted her eyelids slowly.
"Minako…!" He called out and clutched her protectively back in his arms.
"Yaten-sama…" She breathed, reaching her hand to touch his face as he pressed his lips against her forehead.
"It's alright… everything is alright now." He told her softly.
Luna turned away from the loving scene and looked at the Superintendent General with a flat expression. "I'll overlook whatever unauthorized matters you're secretly doing behind us provided you release this girl and promise to keep the things that you've witnessed tonight a secret, including the summon of Lucifer."
The general nodded with a faint smile, "I'm willing to give in to any condition you ask, Ma'am Luna, so long as you agree to make matters easy for me during the Council of Kings…"
Luna smirked and walked a step past the general as she murmured, "Remember, I won't make things easy for you if you were to leak a word out. By then, not just me, but the other three Emperors will appear before you too…"
Those were her final warning before Luna left with Yaten and Minako. The general just stood there silently, his lips curved into a disgusted smile. His men murmured among themselves as the prison governor faced his superior anxiously, "Sire, is it alright to just let them go like that?"
He nodded without a single word.
"But sire-…"
"Do you know who that woman is?" His general cut in.
The governor just stared blankly at him, "Woman? You mean that little girl?"
"Little girl? She's a thousand or maybe ten thousand years older than the both of us... No one dare to address the Empress of Necromancy as a little girl."
"Em-em-empress of Necromancy?! She isn't just a myth?!" He burst out.
The general laughed, "Ha! Myth? My soldier, you have just met the Mother and Creator of every demonology laws and black arts found throughout history. Her power has already reached a legendary level, way above anyone's league, making her one of the Four Emperors…"
"The Yonkou? You mean she's one of the Four Great Emperors that side Satan?!"
--
"The word, Yonkou, meant the Four Emperors in Japanese." – Translation.
--
"Yes, she and the other three Emperors served as the biggest threat to the World Government, which is why we mustn't offend her. But that isn't anything surprising… what I'm amazed by is the boy that was with her." The general muttered, rubbing his chin in consideration.
"Sire, you're referring to Yaten Kou?"
The general raised his brows at his subordinate, "That's his name?"
"Yes, he's one of the Aces, sire."
"Aces… I heard about them… Kids of unique level… but I didn't know that one of them is on path with an Emperor league…"
"You mean…" The governor hitched.
"Didn't you see that he almost portal out a legendary doom angel? Only someone who stands on the same level as the Four Emperors could perform such impossible phenomenon…"
The prisoner governor stood there, completely dumbfounded for a moment before bursting out, "That's one big news, sire! Shouldn't we report to the authority at once?"
The Superintendent General smiled and shook his head, "No, I wouldn't do that…"
"But sire, why wouldn't you? It might be the birth of a new Emperor…!"
"Offending the Empress or getting involved with the Yonkou isn't my area of interest. Besides, I wouldn't want to get myself into the mess that is about to take place soon…"
--
--
Haruka straightened up in his driver's seat as he listened to Seiya apologized to Usagi over the phone for the eleventh time in that one minute of their conversation. He took his eyes off the road for a second and stole a glance at Seiya gazing apologetically at the windshield as though there was a Usagi standing before him. He giggled at his friend's troubled expression before shifting his attention back on the road when Seiya turned to glare at him.
"Don't worry, with such a heavy traffic up ahead, you can spend the next hour apologizing to Usagi. I'm sure she will forgive you for running off like that…" Haruka commented casually.
Seiya ignored him, turning worried when he heard Usagi sniffing over the phone.
"Odango, please don't cry. I'm sorry. How many times do I have to apologize until you forgive me?"
"Baka Seiya! I'm not going to forgive you! You don't know how worried I was when I found that you were gone! I thought you were kidnapped! Can't you understand how scared I was? How can do that to me?! I hate you! I hate you so much!"
Seiya stiffened at the words that had just drifted out of her mouth. He hadn't meant to upset her or made her despised him. He just wanted to save his friends on her and Taiki's behalf. He could tell that Usagi was worried about Minako being held in prison and the whole idea of Yaten trying to save her on his own. And because she didn't want to abandon Taiki when he needed her the most, she was left feeling helpless and troubled, yet she had to keep up with pretending that she was happy so as not to make anyone worried for her.
Seiya, more than anyone, couldn't stand her behaving in such a distress state. So, even if he knew that she would get mad at him, he'd still help Yaten get Minako out of prison tonight. It didn't even occur to him that he was injured and was in no condition to be moving about. All that matters to him was her happiness and his friends' safety. Why couldn't she see that? Why must she hate him when he actually loved her so much? He was even tolerant enough to let Taiki spend a night under her care. Yet, she hated him? Why?
"I'm sorry…" He breathed sadly, not knowing what else he could say to ask for her forgiveness.
Seiya dropped his face, expecting her to yell at him some more, but she was strangely quiet on the other end. He couldn't even hear her breathing anymore. Starting to believe that she had actually hung up on him, Seiya almost dropped the phone only to hold it securely back to his ear when he heard her soft whispers.
"I'm sorry, Seiya. I didn't mean to say that… I don't hate you… I just want you to come back safe so we can be together… So, please, don't ever believe that I hate you because… actually, I-I… I lov-…"
-Beep-
The cell phone had officially died from insufficient battery.
"Shit! You stupid phone! Don't die on me now! Get her back on!" Seiya snapped at the device as he struggled to bring the cell phone back to its function.
"It's not a stupid phone. It belongs to your best friend, Taiki Kou… So, if you ask me, it's the smartest phone around." Haruka commented with a nod.
"Sure! This crap is smart enough to cut me off at the most crucial time!" Seiya replied sarcastically before retorting, "And why the hell is that damn genius' phone here with us?!"
Haruka shrugged, "We didn't bring ours. And after all, this is his car we're using. So, it's pretty reasonable for us to find his phone in here."
"Go to hell, you damn genius!"
Seiya had already winded down the window to toss the cell phone out even before Haruka could stop him. It flew and broke through another car's glass window, but none of the two boys were considerate enough to pull over and apologize. Instead, Haruka stepped on the accelerator and sped forward.
Although they were moving again, they only managed to go speed limit at most. Haruka slowed down again as they approached another long line of cars. Ambulances were squeezing their way through the aisles of cars, and they were forced to back up quite a distance to make way for those emergency vehicles that were rushing their way to the accident site.
"It seems like those ambulances are heading for the capital prison as well." Seiya concluded.
"Yes, it's only about three miles away from where we are stuck now." Haruka nodded.
"Three miles hm?" Seiya muttered to himself before sighing and instructing Haruka to off the engine.
"I still have some energy left. So, let's not waste anymore time waiting for traffic. We're going to fly there." Seiya declared plainly as the car began to lift itself up into the air.
Haruka couldn't even find an open opportunity to protest when their sports car simply raced through the air on its own, and before he knew it, it landed a bit clumsily on a dark field, away from the heavy traffic and facing an aftermath of a battle site. Haruka turned to check on Seiya immediately, ignoring all that was happening outside.
"Are you alright?"
Seiya nodded, still panting heavily. He felt his energy vanished from his body, making him lay back on the seat for support.
Haruka shook his head at him, "How reckless can you get? You're already injured. Yet, you still pushed yourself over the limit? Usagi would kill you if she finds out about this…"
"Please… don't tell her…" Seiya managed to breathe out between his breaths.
Haruka turned to face the windscreen with a sigh, surprised to see Yaten running towards their direction with an unconscious Minako in his arms. Without thinking, he immediately got out from his driver's seat and hurried over to the couple.
"We need to get her to the hospital-…" Yaten rushed, only to pause in the middle when he noticed a familiar figure pushing himself out of the car.
Yaten's eyes widened in disbelief as Seiya looked over at him with a smile. "Hey…"
"Seiya…"
"Usagi and Taiki too… They are back…" Haruka added the good news.
An expression of relief passed Yaten's face when he heard Haruka said this. No one could understand how good those words sounded to him. To finally see and know that his friends were safe obviously meant enough to him to let a small smile cross his face. Without another word, he hurried over to settle Minako gently into the backseats. He would have gotten into the car with her if it hadn't occurred to him that he had forgotten something, or rather, someone important.
"Luna!" Yaten gasped her name as popped his head back out of the car.
"Yes?"
Yaten turned around and almost fell back when she abruptly appeared from behind him. He managed to steady himself with the support of the car's door, making her giggled softly at his startled reaction. For a brief moment, he just threw her an exasperation expression before sighing in defeat, "Why do you always enjoy scaring me like that…?"
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to frighten you…" She chuckled.
Seiya and Haruka widened their eyes at the couple smiling at each other. This was a rare sight. Yaten had never once looked at any other girls other than Minako, let alone smile at one. They strained their ears and tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Don't worry. I levitated her self-healing ability just now. She should be fine." Luna told him.
"I-I really don't know how to thank you enough… Thank you… Thank you for whatever it is that you did." Yaten muttered, his eyes softened with appreciation.
Luna shook her head with a smile, "It's alright. You surprise me as well…"
"Wait, wait… You didn't get hurt or anything back then, did you?" Yaten cut in abruptly, not catching her words, as he scanned through her body for injuries.
"No, no… I'm fine, I'm fine. You should get going now before the traffic turns bad…"
"What about you? You are not coming with us?"
She shook her head, "No, there's still something I need to settle…"
"But Luna, I-…"
"If you'll like to repay me, then will you go on a date with me?" She replied before he could even finish his sentence.
"A date?" He blinked at her in absolute surprise.
"Next Saturday, at the capital amusement park…" Luna finished off with a wide grin as she waved goodbye to Yaten who was stunned speechless.
Without even waiting for his reply, she darted past Seiya but turned around unexpectedly and stared at him with an odd expression. "... And, I should warn you. For your interest, it's best for you to return her as soon as possible…"
"What?" Seiya narrowed his eyes at her in the attempt to decipher her sentence.
But Luna just turned away from him and shook her head sadly, "I feel so sorry for you… But, there's no point in keeping a doll and letting her attend the academy when she couldn't even live pass graduation…"
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If you ask me, I really like Yaten X Luna pairing as much as I do for Yaten X Minako. But there aren't many fics out there that has Luna X Yaten pairing in them. So here you have it, Luna X Yaten X Minako! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and the address for the Love Legend site had changed. So do check it out in my profile page after you have reviewed ya? I won't be able to update anytime soon, but I'll make the effort to if you remind me with your reviews =).
I've done up a new illustration on Yaten X Luna pairing for this chapter. Also, check my site for more information of my new story, Stage On!.
I appreciate suggestion and criticism! So, leave me a review, and I'll give you another chapter when they come!
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