Chapter 53:- Unveiled

(I ask myself why am I even doing this when no one even reads this story XD. This one is long chapter folks)

Disclaimer:- all the characters form the game belong to moonton and this is not a commercial story but just the work of a diehard fan.

Claimer:- the other characters which are not in game of mentioned are mine

The two parties looked at each other with calculative eyes. The tension was thick and everyone stood deadly still, daring the either side to make the first move while they all readied themselves because it was crystal clear that things were about to get ugly very soon.

After what felt like an eternity of glaring form either sides, Estes was the first to break from the silence. "Does your devilry know no bounds, Demon? To come in our own sacred home and corrupt our only hope with your seduction?" the king hissed hatefully addressing Alice.

Answering this Alice glared back with equal malice, "Stand aside, Little King, I have no interest in killing you right now. I am sure you already had enough problems to deal with anyways."

As in queue, alarms all over the city screamed loudly as fire balls descended upon the city, signalling them of the invasion that had already begun. Estes' eyes widened in horror at this, and then his shock turned into anger.
"You led them here! Guards, strike her down!" he commands vengefully and his soldiers acted immediately.

However, before they could even reach Alice, Saya immediately blocked their way, surprising everyone. There were about five guards in total that had charged head on towards them and the one in the lead had opted to try a thrust. Saya easily bypassed it by taking a hold of his wrist and threw him over towards his other comrade. Another one shared even worse fate because when he tried to attack Saya instead of Alice; the Sai'ore retaliated by disarming the soldier and smashing the pommel of his own sword on his face, knocking him out completely.

She then immediately danced out of the way of another thrust and deflected a slash from the two guards who tried to double team her but quickly learned the errors of their ways when she smacked one guard away and threw the other guard over her shoulder by utilizing the guard's own momentum against him when he tried to land a clumsy hit on her and ended up screwing his poise.

All of them ended up as a pile of bodies that were fortunately not dead, but were moaning and groaning in pain due to the thrashing they just received.

Seeing how her comrades were brutally beaten, Irithel got really angry and immediately readied her deadly crossbow. But before she could fire, Estes stopped her.

When she looked at the King in a questioning manner, he answers solemnly, "Don't harm her, The Demon has her under a spell. She isn't in her own senses, we must save her."

Facing fully towards Saya, Estes says passionately, "You have to snap out of it, Saya, She has a hold of your mind! I know it's hard but you have to resist it, don't let her control you!"

His words caused Alice to scoff. To think that he would even consider that she would be controlling Saya was laughable. Saya followed her and loved by her own will, thus Alice had no need to use her charm on her (Plus it had failed anyways)

"This is just a waste of time. Come, Darling." She says and reached out to Saya. Imagine her surprise when she saw the conflicted look in Saya's eyes. She didn't know why but that small look of uncertainty in Saya's eyes sent such pain in her heart that it was almost unbearable.

Oblivious of Alice's hurt expression, Saya just looked at Estes and questioned, "What do mean? How do you know this?"

Estes lowered his head in shame as ancient and humiliating memories flooded his mind. He knew that what he was about to disclose was something that he doesn't wanted to be reminded of but still, if he wanted Saya to be on his side, he had to.

"I was once her pawn as well." he confesses, causing everyone to gasp in shock. He even exposed his neck where a faint scar of two fang marks was still faintly visible.

"I know what it feels like. I know what she says…." He mumbles as Saya kept listening. His eyes showing nothing but shame and sincerity as he confesses, "I was bewitched by her too…. Long-long ago. And I was never anything but a pawn."

Hearing enough of his nonsense, Alice roars out, "You were worthless then and you are even now! You cannot even fight your own wars when the battle is happening at your own door step!" as she said this, the distinct sounds of battle could be heard from down below, making them realize just how dire the situation was elsewhere. "We don't have time for this, we need to leave!" Alice yells and tries to move her Xeno, but Saya didn't bulge, much to the demoness' surprise and horror. She kept on listening as Estes kept on talking.

"I know what how good it feels…", he says lowly

"Shut it!", Alice growls

"How sweet her words sounds, how her voice feels like honey…" Estes continues.

"I said shut it!", Alice practically roars.

"And how she makes you feel like you are the most important thing in the world… But it's all lies", Estes yells heatedly.

"How dare you!"

"She doesn't love anyone! She is nothing but a fraud, a trickster! Only looking for a way to further her own goals!"

"Don't listen to him!"

"You are stronger than this, Saya! You must snap out of this!"

His words impacted Saya heavily. So much that it actually forced her to reconsider her actions. The allure the Alice had was not something that she didn't know about. But Saya had always thought that she was able to resist it, or did she?

The Nature of such mind altering spells is so that the victim never truly knows that they are being controlled. What if she had never resisted Alice's lure at all?

Was all the moments that they spent, all the passions and affection that they shared nothing but an act? An illusion?

Saya didn't know the answer now, because now she was starting to doubt all that had happened. What if Estes was true? What if she was really under control all this time?

Estes smiled triumphantly while Alice gasped in horror as Saya's inner conflict was now visible. Her face was twisted in a frown as Saya desperately tried to separate what was true and what was false.

"It's over, Demon! Your hold over the Slayer is fleeting! Now you will face your judgement when she will come to her senses!" Estes declared proudly, but his words fell on deaf ears.

Alice, more concerned about Saya's well being rushed before her with no speck of worry that by doing so, she was putting herself in danger by turning her back to the enemies. She could see that Saya was in pain, she was torn between the thin line of what is truth and lie and Alice couldn't stand it.

She cupped Saya's face with both her hands and looked her straight in eyes. Never had Alice been so desperate to be believed in her entire life, so she holds the woman she loves and says softly, "It's real, it's all real."

Estes stood stunned in his place when he heard Alice's broken voice. He had true believed that he had seen every aspect of Alice back when he was still under her spell, her sadistic, her flirty, her angry and many others. But never had he witnessed this side of her. Never had he heard her be so vulnerable, so truthful.

Pouring her entire emotions, Alice embraced Saya, causing her eyes to widen. "Please, believe me…"

Convincing others that you are telling the truth when your profession requires you to always lie was a herculean task. Such was for Alice's case who had nothing to prove her love except for her words.

Slowly, Saya returned the hug and replied, "I believe you."

Alice's heart jumped at this and an overwhelming sense of joy filled her and she looked up at Saya with absolute happiness. However, Irithel had seen enough of this drama and was losing her patients.

Without a warning she shot a crossbow bolt towards Alice just so she could get rid of the vile demoness from the face of this world.

Saya saw this coming however and on instinct, she held Alice and moved her out of the way. But that crossbow bolt was no ordinary one, thus when it hit Saya, it exploded. The Blast was so powerful that it hurled both Saya and Alice out of the window, breaking it instantly as they tumbled down the balcony.

Irithel cursed at this and looked upon Este, "My King what are your orders?"

To her surprise however, Estes didn't say a word and stood gaping on his place.

"Sir?" she asks again but instead of answering her, Estes simple walked away without a word as if his entire senses had been disabled.

"What the hell?" the other guards exclaims.

"The king as lost it! What do we do now?"

Realizing that the King was probably not going to be of any help and the fact that the city was under attack, Irithel growled and barks loudly, "Alright guys, gather along! We have a city to defend!"

"But what of the Blood Demon?"

"Let them be, we have more pressing matters!" Irithel hissed and lead the soldiers away.

-X-

Alice had no idea how it happened because it had happened so fast but one moment she was hugging Saya and the other, an explosion occurred and both of them where thrown out of the window. Involuntarily, Saya pulled Alice close to her body and tanked most of the blows for her. By the time they tumbled to the balcony a floor down below them, Saya had suffered quite a lot of damage.

The Blood demoness was the first to recover as she had been least affected by the blast. Saya on the other hand had taken the full force of the attack. In fact it was actually a direct hit and frankly, it was a miracle that she was still in once piece. But she was in a very dire condition, because even if Saya's powers were healing her, the Sai'ore' back had almost blown to bits, her right arms was barely holding together and she was having trouble breathing because most of her lungs were destroyed and she was gasping desperately for air.

Seeing her in such a state terrified Alice. She came near Saya and held her hand, hoping she would be alright but that was all she could do. She had no idea what it do and it made her feel hopeless and useless.

"Come on. You can get well right? Please tell me you can." Alice says while rubbing Saya's palm, hoping that the tiny heat caused by friction can be of any help.

Saya could feel that her body was healing slowly, but what worried her was how it was fixing itself in the wrong way. Someone will have to fix it manually or else it could cause major problems for her. Unfortunately, Alice had little to no medical knowledge so currently she was little to no use in that field. She could however be of one use however.

Gasping heavily, mustering up much of her effort, Saya utters while almost chocking, "H-Hanabi…." the lack of oxygen finally caused her to faint, making Alice panic uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do right now and thus she spend a good while pacing around thinking what to do. Sadly nothing came in her mind that could help her, but she did remember what Saya said.

Her request was to return to that human girl and this made Alice scoff in annoyance and jealousy but she also knows the fact that Saya cares dearly for Hanabi so Alice had no choice but to accept it. Slowly, Alice carries Saya in her arms, taking care not to damage her already beaten body and spread her wings. Hoping that the Human girl would at least have some way to help Saya, Alice prepares to take flight.

-X-

It was probably during 2 am, when it was still dark at night, The Abyss attacked. Their fire balls catapults and ballista were very quick to destroy the watch towers and sentry towers. Their attack was fast and swift and since the Elves were not ready, the outer levels of the city were easily overwhelmed.

After several sacrifices of many brave guards, the refuges where evacuated from that area and were taken towards the safe houses. There they were held up while the fight still rage on outside.

Miya had led her people towards one of the safe house as well and she was glad that she was able to save most of them. Nana had been quite the whole while after she woke up, possibly because her Night-elf friend was gone, but none were throwing a fit like Hanabi. She had been utterly terrified when she found out that they were under attack and Saya was nowhere to be found.

It took a lot of convincing before Miya was able to make Hanabi come along with her and this proved to be very helpful as Hanabi's assistance came handy to defend all the refugees while they escaped.

Upon reaching one of the safe houses, Hanabi sat heavily upon one of the chairs as refugees flooded inside the safe house. The Safe house itself was nothing special, being big enough to house over fifty peoples with several bunk beds. The house was also provided with several rations and first aid items that were utilized at its fullest by the refugees as many were injured during their escape.

They were all worried about what would happen to them now that the abyss had attacked once again, but Hanabi on the other hand was extremely worried about Saya right now and could think of nothing else. Miya had suggested that Saya must have regrouped near the safe house as well after the attack. Sadly this was not to be as Hanabi had scoured every houses and Saya was nowhere to be found.

Hanabi buried her face in her hands and whimpered, "Oh, Saya-chan, where can you be?"

Suddenly a few elven guards came into their building and declared, "We need every able body to help us fight. Every men over eighteen and under hundred fifty are coming with us."

This sudden command caused everyone to panic and almost throw a fit. Miya being the unofficial leader of the rabble spoke out, "Wait, you are recruiting civilian militia? Are you outta you mind? These are just but simple civilians! Farmers, workers, no some goddess damned warriors!"

The Guard understood Miya's distress but he had his orders, "I am sorry, Priestess. But the Abyss are pinning us down and we simply don't have enough man power. We need all the help we can get."

Miya cursed at this. The Situation was grave indeed, thus the measures were extreme as well. But still she was not willing to let her people get slaughtered, thus she argues further, "What of the King? Did he issue this order?"

At this The Guard turned grim. "He has abandoned us. Gone and locked himself in the Castle vault, we are on our own." His words left Miya speechless and she stood aghast.

Understanding the desperation of the situation, many of the refugees, both young and old, men and women willingly volunteered to help defend the city. Soon all that remained was a few elderly folks and children.

Knowing that her own morals would not let her stay idly by, Hanabi readied herself and joined Miya and surprisingly Nana to rendezvous with the defending forces. The ninja girl had hoped that she would find Saya along the way.

They didn't go far however because as soon as they left the building, a figure landed before them from the sky and what they saw shocked all of them.

There before them stood the Queen of Apocalypse herself. This was a big shocker for all three of them, however the thing that was even more so was the fact that Alice had been carrying a severely bloody, wounded and unconscious Saya.

Seeing her in such a state, Hanabi immediately lost her mind and charged forward, "HOW DARE YOU!" she roared, practically blinded by rage upon seeing her friend in such a state. Alice however simply scoffed and casted a small spell as her. Although the spell was a weak one, the enhancements that Saya's blood had given her had boosted it so much that Hanabi was left immobilized in her place in a single shot, making everyone gasp at how powerful she was.

Paying no heed to their surprise, Alice faced Hanabi and said, "Listen, human. Even I don't like being anywhere near the likes of you, But…." Her voice softened considerably when she mentioned Saya, "She needs help. She means a lot to both of us, so I suggest we cooperate."

Upon hearing Alice's words, Hanabi was genuinely confused and several questions rose in her mind.

Like, what happened to Saya?

Why was this Demon helping her?

And, Why did it sound like she actually cared about Saya?

Once Alice had made her point clear, she undid her spell that immobilized Hanabi and called, "Come on, we don't have much time."

Although Hanabi was still unsure of this whole ordeal, even she agreed that Saya was much more important than their mutual dislike for each other and followed the Blood Demon inside the safe house, while Miya and Nana still stood outside; thinking what the hell just happened.

Hanabi immediately sprung to work and cleared a bed for Saya while Alice gently laid the tall Sai'ore on the bed, unheeding how the rest of the refugees of the building either scurried away or fled the building itself at the sight of her.

Now that Hanabi got a good look of Saya's condition, she gasped realizing just how severe the situation.

"What did you do demon?" Hanabi questioned heatedly and Alice replied back with equal furiosity, "Nothing! It's just that Miss. Goodie-two-shoe here had to be a hero and take the explosive crossbow means for me!" for a moment, Hanabi could've sworn she saw Alice's eyes brimming with frustrated tears. But The Demoness turned away quickly and declared firmly, "We will have enough time to tear each other's throats later. Right now, she is our main concern."

Never would have Hanabi thought she would ever agree with a demon of the Abyss, but these was not normal times exactly, thus the ninja girl tried to focus. She analyzed Saya's body to grade the seriousness of the situation utilizing the knowledge that she had learned from Saya herself. The results were bad.

"Oh my god, what even happened to her? Her Back has almost caved in and her arms have healed in the wrong shape!" Yelled Hanabi, basically blaming Alice for Saya's condition.

Narrowing her eyes into a glare, Alice hissed, "I can see that. Now tell me how to help her."

The ninja girl matched Alice's glare, but both knew that arguing isn't gonna help so they chose to calm down a bit to be more productive.

"I need the med-kits, we are out of them but I am sure there is more other the other Safe houses." Says Hanabi.

"If that is what you need." Mutters Alice unfolding her wings. She took off immediately, leaving Hanabi alone with Saya. True she had many questions, but her teacher's health was more important right now.

To help fix the back; Hanabi would need a med-kit, something she didn't have right now. But the arm however, she could help. The ninja girl cringed at the odd shape Saya's hand had been twisted into after it had healed. As much as Hanabi hated it, she had no other choice but to break it again so that it heals back to its normal shape.

Taking a deep breath, Hanabi takes a hold of Saya's hand. Making a firm grip, Hanabi was about to yank but she was suddenly lifted off the ground by her neck and pressed against the wall.

She was disoriented for a while and when she came back to her senses, the first thing she saw as a very pissed Alice looking at her with her fangs bared, the med-kit that Hanabi had asked to bring lay discarded on the floor.

"I SAID TO HELP HER YOU PATHETIC WORM! NOT HURT HER AGAIN!" Alice roared in the masked girl's face, a sight that would have left many people too terrified to even move. However, Hanabi didn't back down and spat back, "Her hand had been disoriented, and I need to break it again to fix it! Don't you know this or are you just too dumb?" with that, Hanabi punched Alice hard enough to actually send her tumbling down.

Honestly, Alice was surprised how strong Hanabi was, courtesy of all the intense training Saya put her through and the demoness didn't like it. But with legendary display of will power, Alice fought the urge to punch Hanabi back and said in an unwilling tone, "Fine….Just try to keep it quick and painless."

Once again the amount of concern that Alice showed towards Saya was surreal and Hanabi didn't know exactly how to feel about it. But pushing those feelings aside for now, Hanabi took hold of Saya's arm once again.
"Forgive me, Saya-chan." Hanabi mutters and then yanked quick and hard.

The reaction was instant and Saya screamed loudly even in her unconscious state, causing both Hanabi and Alice to immediately come to her side.

"I told you to make it quick and painless!" scolds Alice.

"I tried!" Hanabi yells back and immediately works to put Saya's hand in its normal place, all the while Alice kept holding Saya's other hand while trying to hush Saya by stroking her head gently. It didn't take long for Saya's arm to heal and this time, it was thankfully in its normal state.

Hanabi then puts her attention upon Saya's back and says aloud, "The Med-Kit."

Alice nodded and wordlessly got what the human asked for while Hanabi steeled herself because she was about to perform her first surgery.

All the while, Miya and Nana looked upon them in absolute confusion. They had absolutely had no idea what was going on but the sight before them was something they had never even imagined of. It was clear that both Hanabi and Alice were confused of the situation as well, let still for the sake of the injured Sai'ore, the two of them were willing to set aside their differences briefly.

Hanabi was very nervous right now because her only experience with surgery was seeing Saya working on those patients all those weeks ago. But she had to try for Saya's sake and she was determined to give her best. Surprisingly, Alice, who was there all the while and Hanabi had imagined that her presence would be distracting, but on the contrary, she was actually very helpful by acting as an unofficial assistant by passing her tools, cottons and water when Hanabi asked for.

The whole ordeal took a good while, but due to the combined efforts of Hanabi and Alice, they were able to successfully patch Saya's back. It healed within moments and the Sai'ore was now able to breathe properly with her lungs not collapsing under her ribs.

Both Alice and Hanabi let out a breath of relief. Saya's condition had stabilized and all that remained for her was to gain back consciousness. This loosened a huge weight off their shoulders knowing that Saya would be okay, but now since their primary concern was taken care of, Alice and Hanabi looked at each other intensely.

Outright hostility was not there, but there was not an ounce of trust among them either. Eyeing the demoness intently, Hanabi questioned, "What now?"

Alice looked at her for a while before turning away, "We wait…" she says, looking out of the window from which she could see the city burning as war kept raging on outside. This reminded them all of what was happening and made them anxious of what was to be done.

The Demoness however remains calm and keeps speaking, "This was not the way I planned things to be. Not the way it was supposed."

Curious of what she said, Hanabi raised her brow and asked, "What plan?"

At this, Alice looked towards Saya's sleeping from, "Her…" tenderly; Alice strokes Saya's cheek and says softly, "I never intended to get her involved in all this… If only had I been more careful…"

Hanabi had no idea why, but seeing Alice being so vulnerable and tender towards Saya didn't sit well with her at all. A strange feeling that would swell within her whenever she sees a certain umbrella midget with a certain shadow ninja ignited within her heart with fury. Reacting instantly, Hanabi smacked Alice's hand away from Saya and hissed aggressively, "Don't touch her!"

Her action surprised Alice at first but that turned into anger very quickly and she growls back, "Or what? You don't own her."

"I won't let some demon scum near my friend." Hanabi declares defensively and stands up with her weapons ready. Not backing down one bit, Alice stood up as well and glared down at the masked Human girl, "You are lucky that my Xeno cares for you or would be nothing but a pile of ashes by now."

Had this carried on any further, the two would have come to blows. But the entire ground trembled was they could hear the Abyssal War machines closing in further and further, reminding them of just what was happening outside.

This distracted Alice form their banter and she walked towards the entrance of the safe house. She really confused the occupants of the room when she casted a protective spell around the building and spoke aloud, "This should keep them from attacking this building."

Now Alice's motives really confused Hanabi, thus she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you helping us?"

To think that the young human would assume that Alice was helping them was absolutely hilarious to her. So she laughed hysterically and answered, "No, I ain't helping you, Darling. I am helping her." Alice points Saya, further confusing them all.

Alice walks closer to Saya while explaining, "We both don't exactly know how it all started. But let's say…..She is important to me. I had been trying very hard to keep the Abyss off her back but she seems to walk right into our schemes no matter what." she says while rubbing her temples.

"Matters not now, this city is doomed. Those who wanna live stay here and I might show mercy.", Declares Alice sitting beside Saya's bed, intending to wait till the battle was over.

The way how she casually says that the city will fall so easily really angered the elves. Especially Nana, who puffed her cheeks and yelled, "Oh I will show you! Come on, Miya, lets kick some butt!" with that Nana holds Miya and drags her out of the house, making Alice shake her head at their stupidity.

She did however freak out when Hanabi was moving to follow them as well. Alice immediately teleported in front of her and questioned, "Just where do you think you're going?"

Hanabi glared at her, "To help them kick the Abyss' ass. Now let go of my way."

"I don't think so, Darling. You stay here." Says Alice firmly, making Hanabi raise a brow, "What? Scared that I will ruin Abyss's plans single handedly?" Hanabi says smugly making The Demoness roll her eyes at the human's arrogance, "Hardly. But as much as I don't give a shit whether you live or die, Saya will. So for her sake, you're not leaving."

The Kunoichi narrows her eyes towards Alice but says nothing and proceeds to keep walking, much to the Queen's surprise. "There is no way that you could possibly win. Not with the War Machine of our side…" Alice warns but Hanabi doesn't respond or stop in her path. Having enough, Alice suddenly held Hanabi's arm and shouts, "It is suicide! Have you ever thought what would happen to Saya if something happened to you?"

Her words caused Hanabi to pause as she pondered on what Alice said, "Honestly…." Hanabi says softly, "You're right. Saya would probably be heartbroken if I die out there, But….." Hanabi then turned towards Alice with a determined look in her eyes, "That is not what Saya would've wanted. If I have learned anything from Saya, than that is to always help those in need and to never give up…" Slowly, Hanabi pried Alice's hand off her arm and says boldly, "You may give her what she needed. But I will give her what she wanted." With that Hanabi walked away, leaving behind an astounded Alice.

Returning to her senses, Alice says one last time, "Then you will die along with the City."

But her warning fell on deaf ears as Hanabi replied, "So be it."…..