Crimson Twilight: Midnight
Chapter 23: Sins
"Maiha!"
Kreizen Xalascent shouted his opponent's name as if it was a war cry as he swung his two-handed axe at the assassin. He fought his half sister with a sense of urgency. The horns that blared from the southern gate meant that they were under a major attack, while he wanted to break away from this fight to help out there, he knew that this was probably his only chance to destroy the assassin before she attacked his younger sister again. After listening to Trenzein's earlier story of what happened between Maiha and Seihanine in their last battle, he was determined to never allow another confrontation between the two.
"You're so angry at me, Reiz…you sound as if I ruined your life or something."
Maiha's soft, laughter contrasted with the distant sound of fighting outside the walls. The gladius on her right hand, Malys, dripped with a greenish liquid while she kept Furie, her main gauche, twirling on her left hand. When Kreizen answered, his voice was a deep growl, like a bigfoot ready to strike.
"You won't be so smug one I have my axe close to your throat, Maiha. Enough talk, I don't have the leisure to listen to your insanity!"
The blacksmith closed in quickly on his half sister. It was Maiha who got in the first blow with a vicious cut on his left leg. The attack did not slow his swing, though. His axe glowed with golden energy as he lifted it above his head. Maiha was about to sidestep the attack but the blacksmith was not aiming at her. The yellow light surrounding the weapon suddenly took the shape of a massive hammer as Kreizen brought it down on the ground. As soon as it struck the stone pavement, the energy exploded with a deafening boom. The explosion sent Maiha reeling back, momentarily stunned. Kreizen didn't even look like he heard a sound at all. His axe swung upward, gashing the assassin on the chest before she recovered and stepped back. Blood spattered on to the stone pavement in a vertical streak and dripped from the edge of the axe.
"Why, Reiz, if you're this intent on keeping me happy, you shouldn't have called everything off eight years ago."
Kreizen pushed on with his attack, relentlessly stopping the memories that his half sister tried to evoke. His two-handed axe smashed the pavement, leaving large cracks on it. Maiha nimbly dodged each attack, swinging her daggers at him with every opportunity that presented itself. Kreizen concentrated on stopping Malys from cutting him, the poison on the gladius seemed to perpetually drip from the blade, even though large amounts of it flew off with each swing. Whenever the poison struck the pavement, it sizzled briefly, giving off a menacing hiss before evaporating. The blacksmith was determined not to have it come into contact with his body. His focus forced him to take several cuts from Furie though.
"What happened eight years ago, Maiha, was the biggest and most shameful mistake I've made in my life!"
The assassin's voice seemed to further soften. For a moment, Kreizen was taken aback by the sudden tenderness in Maiha's tone.
"Do you find it so disgusting now, Reiz? You certainly didn't think of it that way before. I've always treated that time as some of our best moments."
The blacksmith roared out his fury and swung again. This time, his weapon struck true, cutting deeply into Maiha's left arm. The assassin's blood splashed on his face, making his eyes sting before he wiped it off with the back of his hand. In that instant, Kreizen expected his half sister to stab him somewhere; after all he had let his guard down briefly. No stab ever came; instead Maiha used the opportunity to jump back, putting some distance between the two of them.
"I wonder often, Reiz, if little Sei has ever seen this side of you or that side of you that makes you so ashamed now. I'll bet that she hasn't. Sei only knows you as her brother. She doesn't know what it's like to be on the receiving side of your furious axe or to be the object of your…not-so-brotherly instincts."
To Kreizen's disgust, Maiha licked her lips as she said those words and shuddered. The blacksmith pulled out a bag of zenny and began to concentrate. The coins in the pouch vibrated on his palm, slowly transforming into golden light. The brilliance transferred to his axe, causing it to shimmer with power.
"I was young and foolish back then, Maiha. I would have to be to commit such disgusting things. I knew the consequences which was why I ended it. When I finally destroy you, I can finally put it behind me!"
The two-handed axe swung again, its blade smashed past Maiha's two-weapon defense, gashing her viciously on the chest. The blow exploded with light, knocking Maiha off her feet and sending her flying from the blow. The assassin's body struck the ground, scraping on it for a few feet before stopping completely.
"That was…marvelous, Reiz. You remind me of Abraxil on that aspect. Getting hurt by either of you…it makes me giddy with desire."
Maiha staggered to her feet. Two diagonal slashes marked the left side of her chest, just a little below her armpit.. Her two daggers still glinted menacingly even after the fall she took. Kreizen kept his guard up. He already knew of Maiha's sado-masochism but it still unnerved him to see someone recover from a devastating blow only to tell him that it felt great.
"You've become such a freak, Maiha. It would have been for the good of all if you died in Glastheim."
The assassin laughed softly, making Kreizen shudder out of disgust. What really unnerved him was that the assassin's voice still possessed that seductive quality that once drew him to her eight years ago. Maiha's voice was always soft, when she pitched it lower it already sounded like a whisper and when she raised it, it sounded like a hiss. Whenever she wanted to, Maiha often let her voice sound like a purr when she was pleased with something.
'What am I thinking?'
Kreizen lunged again. This was the woman who had murdered his family! This was the assassin who had done her very best to torment his younger sister! His two-handed axe seemed to pick up speed as he remembered his half sister's sins. There would be no forgiveness for Maiha Il-Xalascent. Not from his younger sister and certainly not from him!
"Were you remembering those times, Reiz? How old were we then? You were eighteen I believe, a fresh blacksmith. And I was sixteen, ahead in my thief training but still impressed with your accomplishments."
The two-handed axe swung close to Maiha's neck but the assassin stepped back in time to avoid it. Kreizen swung again, but his opponent moved faster than ever. Instead of slowing down as he expected, his half sister was moving faster than ever. Malys slipped past his guard, leaving a jagged wound on his chest that burned with poison. Even as he winced, Furie moved in, leaving several smaller wounds on both his shoulders.
"All I remember are the murders you committed, Maiha."
The assassin laughed softly again and jumped back.
"As if they didn't deserve it back then, Reiz."
Maiha smacked her lips and charged in. Before the blacksmith could react, she suddenly vanished from his sight, only to reappear directly behind him. The assassin's arms suddenly wrapped tightly around Kreizen's chest as she leaned closer to his ear.
"We wouldn't have stopped, Reiz, if you weren't afraid of them and their "clan precepts". When I found out what they were really up to…you could say that they had it coming."
Kreizen grit his teeth as Malys sliced a massive wound diagonally across his chest. The assassin laughed and licked his cheek gently. The blacksmith grabbed her on the arms and hurled her in front of him. His two-handed axe glowed with light again. As he struck the ground, a thunderous boom exploded from it, making everything around them shake slightly. The noise left Maiha dazed for a while, allowing Kreizen to slash upward with his axe. The blade would have buried itself into Maiha's side and sliced her horizontally into two pieces but she managed to roll from the attack, causing the blade to eave another deep gash to her right side. Kreizen was about to follow through with his attack but his wounds slowed him down, allowing Maiha to recover and step back. More memories, unwanted ones, flashed in his mind.
······
The rain was getting stronger…
"Maiha!"
Kreizen found his half sister huddled near the outer gates of Payon. The rain had soaked her dark blue hair as well as the brown coat that she wore. The water did not hide the tears that streaked down her cheeks though…
"Reiz…"
The thief stifled a
sob and looked away as Kreizen approached her. She shrank back when he came closer.
"Maiha…don't mind them. The elders…they're just old-fashioned. There's nothing wrong with your choices, it has nothing to do with your parentage."
The thief looked incredulously at Kreizen.
"Y-you mean that, Reiz? I thought you'd agree with them. I am just an illegitimate child of your father."
The newly-appointed blacksmith put his arm around Maiha.
"Of course I do. You're a Xalascent through and through and I'm glad to have known you, Maiha."
The thief placed her head against Kreizen's chest and sighed.
"Reiz…"
Kreizen felt his heart beat faster.
"Yes, Maiha?"
"You're the only one who's good to me, Reiz. No one else. To everyone I know I'm always Maiha the wandering thief. But you...you see me so differently."
Maiha clung to the blacksmith's open-chest, white shirt and stared at his eyes. Kreizen swallowed. He was starting to feel strange around his half-sister. All of a sudden he was noticing how soft her skin felt like, the rain made her hair cling to her back and shoulders while her eyes were still red from crying.
"I love you, Reiz."
Before the blacksmith could react, the thief pressed her lips against his. Before long he had encircled his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him. He didn't care if the elders found out, even though if they did, they'd have him killed. He had Maiha, half sister though she was, she was so desirable...
······
Kreizen shook his head. How stupid he was to think of such things! It was only later did he realize the consequences of his blind lust. He had to break off. It was for the clan; and for the both of them as well.
"You insult our clan, Maiha!"
While the blacksmith maintained his grip on his axe, his arms sagged slightly. He was suffering from bleeding wounds on his legs, shoulders and chest and the blood loss and poison were starting to affect him. Maiha was suffering from massive cuts to her arms, chest and sides but she looked as if she savored each one of those cuts.
"Clan Xalascent deserved every insult I was willing to give, Reiz!"
The assassin's voice dropped to a whisper, forcing Kreizen to strain to hear her words.
"I loved you, Reiz. Who cared if you were my half brother? Those worthless relatives of ours? They wallowed in worse sins than what we could have ever committed!"
Maiha's lips split into a wide grin. Her eyes widened and glinted with wildness and insanity while her muscles began to tense. Kreizen readied himself; a vicious attack was bound to occur.
"You ended it, Reiz, because you had Sei! The clan's Xiloscientas Sehanein, the pale flower of the hazy moon! Who could compare to her? She was flawless, lovely, the clan's best dancer, haunter of every man's dreams…I was merely a step away from Il-Xalascent; your father's bastard daughter, a soon-to-be assassin and the shame of the clan!"
With those words, Maiha vanished. Kreizen spun about to swing his axe but the assassin wasn't there.
"You're too slow, Reiz!"
The blacksmith looked down to find Maiha crouched directly below his midriff, Malys in hand, ready to stab him.
"Maiha…is this what it's all about?"
The assassin smiled sweetly and plunged Malys into Kreizen's stomach.
"Of course not, Reiz, I've been feeding you a pack of lies to lower your guard. You weren't stupid enough to actually believe a word I say now were you?"
Kreizen clutched his stomach with one hand and swung his axe with the other. The blade caught his half sister on the face, slicing a vicious gash on the side of her head. The assassin continued laughing and staggered back, blood streaming down her right cheek and dripping down her chin.
"I've got no interest in you anymore, Reiz. I'm doing my utter best to torment Sei because it's what's providing me with my greatest pleasure now. I want her to suffer so much more…to see her hurting…it just ignites something in me…a feeling that's wonderfully indescribable. I want to see my dear baby sister fall to her knees, to cry out in despair and agony. I want her to wish for death so I can torment her more by denying it to her."
Kreizen held his weapon with both hands. The stab wound on his stomach gushed with blood, making it pool on the pavement. Maiha's wounds were also severe but the damage she's endured only made her move faster and strike harder. The blacksmith wondered if his half sister was unbeatable in single combat.
"You'll never have that satisfaction, Maiha. I'll make sure that you never get to hurt Sei anymore than you have already."
The assassin laughed softly once again.
"That's the attitude I want from you, Reiz! I want her to be protected! I want her to know your love and still suffer! I'm not going to be stopped by you or Zein but I want the both of you to try your hardest!"
Maiha licked her fingers, as if savoring her own blood that dripped from them.
"I'll torment anyone who gets close to Sei, I want her to realize that every time she let's someone close, I'll attack that person. I'll isolate her until she breaks down and becomes crazy. The same way you did to me!"
Kreizen stepped forward and fell to one knee. The pain was excruciating now.
"Mister Kreizen!"
A barrage of fire bolts suddenly descended on Maiha. The assassin jumped nimbly back but a few of the bolts struck her, resulting in several large burns.
"Well. this is a curious turn of events, Reiz. You're relying on little girls to protect you now?"
Kreizen looked up to find Moonlight standing protectively in front of him.
"Moonlight! Get back, Maiha's-!"
Kreizen froze as soon as he noticed the furry ears on top of the girl's head. Her human ears had vanished from the sides of her head.
'What in the hells?'
The golden-haired girl gestured again, causing a storm of whirling ice to descend on Maiha. The assassin laughed again and once the spell settled, she was gone.
"Mister Kreizen…"
Moonlight was about to approach the blacksmith when she noticed his state. At once she tried to cover her ears and stepped back.
"I…"
The blacksmith understood now. He knew who this girl was. The name was no coincidence; this was Moonlight Flower but…
"They look cute, Moonlight."
Kreizen raised his arm and grinned. Relief and joy seemed to fight for dominance on the girls face. Blinking away tears she helped him stand.
"Reiz!"
The blacksmith turned to face the voice. He immediately recognized it and that realization made him worry.
"Sei! You shouldn't be moving about yet!"
The huntress shook her head and took a look at her brother's wounds. Behind her were Khaesilya and a man that Kreizen did not recognize.
"There's no time for that, Reiz, how are you?"
Kreizen clutched the wound on his stomach.
"A couple of white potions can handle this. What's going on? Who's he?"
The man looked away when Kreizen stared at him. A portion of his long, black hair covered one of his eyes. From the other one, the blacksmith noticed that he had gray eyes. Khaesilya regarded him warily.
"Grimtooth's wielder is on the move, weapon-worker. I would introduce myself if we had the leisure."
The huntress moved closer to her brother, noting Moonlight's fox ears carefully.
"He's not human, brother, but he's right. Khaesilya says that NightKnife plans to assassinate King Aelthorius while the battle's going on."
Kreizen looked at the sohee, who nodded in agreement.
"Trynis Eviskrae is leading the attempt herself. We have to stop her!"
The sohee glanced worriedly towards the southern gates. She wanted to warn her master but he was struggling against the Dark Lord. Adding to his worries now might prove lethal. The blacksmith took a gulp of the white potion that his sister handed him.
"Alright, let's go!"