Chapter 28! Black Ice, Silver Sword
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Val laid on the castles stone floor, bloodied and barley being held together by her own red ice. She was panting and dehydrated and she could fell her reishi slipping away. The battle between her and Mathias had gone exactly as she had predicted, utter defeat. She had given up on maintaining her Shikai when she realized that she no longer had to reishi to maintain it.
She had barley been able to put up a fight. Some small kido put a few scratches on the Bounts while the bubbles kept the axe away from any vital organs, but there was little else she could do. Her basic sword techniques were weak and not meant to be fighting against an ax. Mathias had creamed her, now she didn't even have enough energy, or water, to form another bubble if she still had her Zanpaktou active.
Val was an interesting case when it came to her Zanpaktou spirit. She almost never talked to the thing. She could hear it laughed when she did something stupid, and no was one of those times. If the Bount didn't finish her off, then her red ice would. Done in by her own power, the medic kind of figured that she's be going this way but she had hoped that whoever she was fighting would have been more injured then this. Almost all the blood staining the floor was hers and those what weren't were far in the minority. She had used up all her blood replenishing pills back in the medical ward. Some small specs here and there were from the Bount, but almost all of that was coming from the small scratch on his cheek and neck. She didn't even have the energy to heal herself, and if she did, she would have just used to keep fighting.
"Did you really think that you could defeat me?" Mathias laughed.
"Honestly no." Val breathed out. She smiled and tried to laugh but ended up coughing up a small amount of blood. "I was just hoping to stall you." She tried to keep smiling, even as blood stained her teeth.
"Stall for what?" He scoffed.
"Who's know?" She laughed. "I don't think I need a miracle, I just need-"
"Me."
"What!" Mathias turned around just in time for Atticus to swing his sword across the Bounts chest. Mathias screamed and tumbled back, barely missing Val.
"Hey." Atticus smiled, leaning down to the medics' level.
"Your late."
"Yeah, I know. Do you feel up for a fight?" Val shook her head.
"I wish." As much as she wanted to get up and kick Mathias butt, if she still had the strength to do that, she would have done it already.
"Alright, stay still for me." He said softly and started crafting a complex kido spell to transfer his Reishi to her. "I can't heal you, but use this to heal yourself." She nodded again, already feeling her strength starting to return to her. Of course it wasn't hers, but it will do in a pinch.
"Didn't know you could do that." She said as she slowly started to heal herself and remove the red ice from her body. She could feel the frost bite stinging her skin but she quickly dulled the pain and continued on with the task.
"What do you think you're doing?" The Bount laughed "Do you really think you have the power to defeat me?"
"I'm the Lieutenant of squad 101. If I didn't have the power to end you, I might as well just quit." He smirked "I'm sure one of the third seats would be happy to take over my position."
The Bount pushed himself of the ground, grabbed his axe, and ran for Atticus. "How'd you even get in here?" he demanded as he clashed with the lieutenant. The Shinigami blocked the attack and quickly had to duck under the Doll. He still had his sealed sword pressed up against the metal so instead he reached down and grabbed his sheath. Using the thing, he whacked the blond in the head and quickly kicked him in the stomach. His moves were swift and calculated, but at the same time raw and instinctual.
Val shuffled back a little, trying not to get in the way of the fight. She didn't want to get more injured then she already was before she had a chance to heal herself. She had managed to slow the blood lost on most of the wounds already but with the limited amount of reishi she had to work with, she had to be picky about how she did her work and which cut she chose to close. She stopped the bleeding on the smaller ones and shallowed the cuts on the deeper ones. Once that was done, she would need to start replenishing her blood.
She always knew she wasn't one for the battle field but, man, was it annoying when she was so close and could do nothing.Even just watching them fight made her want to get out there and do something. It was the reason why she often isolated herself to where she was needed and not where she was.
That Bount, he had said something that sparked her interest, "how'd you even get in here?" Where was here? The castle? No. She had noticed the odd things when the Bount first appeared. Something was not right with the stone work around her. The castle, did she know where she was? Atticus, how's he know where she was.
Atticus himself was too busy fighting the Bount for Val to ask him. He seemed like he wasn't even trying. He hadn't even activated his Shikai yet, nor was he using any kido. Just per muscle memory.
Mathias quickly regained his footing and tried to cut the Shinigami in half. Swinging sideways, the Bount aimed for the vulnerable internal organs but instead of hitting them, all he got was the swords sheath. The wood cracked but did not break. Atticus braced the wood against the back of his arm and pushed the Bount back.
"What do you think you're going to accomplishes? In doing this? I understand the blond leaders, he's relationship with Raven. I know the albino has his own goals. But what are your?" he questioned.
The blond didn't answer, instead, he twisted his ax and lifted it over his head. Slowly, the space around him started to shift and warp. Two large best formed beside the Bount, both a shimmering dark red that could easily be mistaken for black. Not liking the look of them, Val quickly finished up her healing kido and forced herself to her feet. "Since when can he do that?" she asked, shuffling to the lieutenants' side.
"He can't," Atticus mumbled just load enough for Val to hear. "They're not real."
"What?"
"None of this is real."
"Very good." Mathias laughed as he moved his monsters, one in front of him and one to his side. "But just because they aren't real, doesn't mean they can't hurt you." He grabbed the scuff of a monster's neck and swung himself onto its back. The thing looked somethings like a lion but that wasn't quite right, it stood on two legs and had fang like teeth sticking out of its upper jaw. The beast scoffed its foot on the ground twice before shaking its head. "There, there, Lukasu. You'll be fed soon enough, and then we can return you to your master. We just need to end these pesky little flies first."
The beast made a noise in response before charging.
Val had just enough time to throw herself to the side before the thing destroyed the wall that she had just been leading on. "Can you do anything?" Atticus asked in a concerned voice as he whipped around to face the Bount. He sounded much more tired than he did a moment before.
Val kept her back to the lieutenant to keep an eye at the second beast who had yet to move. "At the moment no." she shook her head. The second beast looked something like a bird and was a darker color then the one that Bount rode.
"Did you use all of that reishi?"
"No, just all of my water."
Atticus nodded and reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small water bottle about the size of his hand. "It's not much, but it's all I could grab on my way over here."
"Did you come looking for me?" Val gratefully took the bottle and quickly emptied the it of its liquid.
"Yeah, but finding you was what took me so long."
"What do you mean by this isn't real?" she waved her arm around loosely "Seams pretty real to me."
"His Doll is what's doing this. It comes in two stages." He started "First one is his offence, the second is the setting."
"Very good!" Mathias smiled as his beast pushed its self out of the wall and shuffled around to face the two." Mathias jumped off the thing and moved to the side with his ax on his shoulder. "I mean, that's not quite right, but better then what most would suggest." Meanwhile the one facing Val just backed up. "What are you doing!" Mathias screamed at the Doll. "Attack!" The Beast shuffled a bit before running at Val.
Not wanting to risk wasting what was left of the barrowed reishi, Val didn't use any kido or release her Shikai. Instead she followed Atticus's lead and only used her raw sword. Her techniques were poor but it helped protect her from the beak of the thing.
It peaked at her and tried to hit her with its wings, but she just ducked and swung her sword across its chest. But, it the metal went right through it.
The medic was shocked but she tried not to let it show. "It's not real." She said to herself. She quickly looked at Atticus. He was busy with his standoff with Mathias. Neither the Shinigami, nor the Beast moved. But Atticus was keeping his attraction split between the Bount and the lion looking thing. If what she thought was real, well, no use having the lieutenant be distracted. She glanced back and forth between Mathias and Atticus, well, no time like the present. "Hey Atticus! Watch this!" she yelled as she threw her sword to the side and ran head first at the bird.
"Wait! No!" Mathis yelled, reaching out to try and stop her, but Val was far from caring what that Bount thought.
She ran, reaching out for the Doll and not even bothering to brace herself.
She ran right threw it.
Val skid to a stop on the other side and smirked. "You were right Atticus. None of this is real. The only thing that is, is me, and you, and that Bount."
Atticus turned to look at Mathias, who was holding the ax with a considerable lose grip. He quickly got over it however, as he ran for the two. Specifically, towards Val.
The girl did a summersault to avoid the side swing of the ax and kicked him in the chin. Atticus flash stepped behind the Bount and aimed for his head. He was blocked however, by the golden ax. "No, no, no!" the Bount panicked "I won't let this happen! I can't let this happen!"
"Give it up Mathias, you don't deserve to hold the name of our king." Atticus deadpanned.
"No! I will win! I will claim the crown of the Bounts! I will prove to Lukas that I am worthy!" he screamed as he pushed himself away from the two Shinigami and held his ax above his head. "Reveal your true form!"
DUDE! Did you see who won The Legendary Gotei 13 Contest? I did, they will be mentioned. Maybe, hopefully. Or at least I will try. I mean how can I not. I didn't win, but dude, I lost to the plant person. I mean, if I am going to lose, I'm glad it was to them. I really like any design that works with plants. Anyways, if I can't find a to at least mention them in this story, they will be brought up in the rewrite. I can't decide if I should just rewrite this story on this file or just start a new story on my profile.
