Chapter 8

Aquatic Trouble

**Sakura's P.O.V**

I'm…in a dream. I'm living in a dream. Although, there is absolutely nothing around me. Just…darkness. Yes…just pitch black darkness. It's fine, though. Nobody can bother me anymore. I can be by myself. Sempai…Nii-san…Rider, rest her soul…I don't need anyone else. This is just fine…

"Is what you're saying true? You don't need anyone~?" It's BB.

"No…being by myself is good…"

"Yes…you have me now. Your dear friend, BB-chan."

"Yes…BB is…my only friend…"

Yes…I can live in this dream forever. In BB's world…my wishes can be granted as many times as I want. Only for me…they will come true. But…why do I feel…

Sempai…Sempai…

No…I shouldn't think about her. This is my life now. Being with BB is good enough.

"Oh, Sempai…"

"Put your mind at ease and just rest easy. Your Sempai is MY Sempai now. Understand?"

"Yes…BB…do as you wish…it's alright…"

"Good~! Now remain asleep…as long as you want while I take care of the rest…~"

**Normal P.O.V**

Hakuno-chan, Nero and Altera make a run for it. They run past the dining area, the library and a couple of long hallways just to reach the next room that leads to the tower. They can't give up now. They are almost there. And pretty soon, when they reach BB, Hakuno-chan will use all her love just to break Sakura free from the Moon Cancer. It's the only way and hopefully…hopefully the soft-spoken brunette will gain Sakura's trust back.

The group reaches the next hallway, and see that it was the path that would lead them to the tower. With a firm nod, the soft spoken brunette leads the charge with her two servants following. However, as she moves forward, Hakuno feels the tiles come loose, losing her balance. Nero quickly catches as the tiles start separating. Water rises from the ground and everyone tries jumping on the floor to the tiles for safety. Once the water stopped flowing in, they look around to see the long hallway was now flooded. It wasn't raining but...

"Another one of BB's tricks?!" Altera growls as she grit her teeth.

"Why won't she let us reach her?" Hakuno questions as she tries pondering an answer as to why.

"It must be part of her plan. Whatever it is..." Nero replies, holding her master close. "Please stay put, Praetor. If you move anywhere, you may fall."

Silence fills the room as they ponder how to get around the water, but something rushes and pulls Altera into the water. The Tanned woman burst out to the surface and grips onto a floating tile. Water spins and strikes out against Nero. The Empress draws her sword and gives a diagonal slash, the effort proving futile as it goes through the water and splashes onto the master and servant. Altera jumps onto the tile she gripped, drawing out her rainbow colored sword.

"Show yourself, Coward!" The Scourge of God shouts. "BB! Is this your doing?!"

Laughter echoes in the water filled chamber as a voice answered. "You could say that, but i'm not the one you're looking for~"

Altera looks ahead as water spins and rises like a tornado before vanishing, revealing another girl with a Sakura-face, only flat chested and scantily clad. Her top a black and white combo cloak with long sleeves that covers her hands, a blue ribbon adorning her hair. Her lower half is bare to all minus a metal thong that covers her crotch area, but the most distinctive part of her, and opposite of Passionlip, are the spiked, bladed metal stilts. The girl grins malevolently as she eyed her prey.

"So these are the servants I have to kill." She says. "Ah, where are my manners? I am Meltryllis, the Alter ego of joy and happiness." The girl introduces, curtsying mocking towards the trio. Nero frowns as she tries to figure out what she could do.

"You certainly don't look it, Meltryllis. Far from the pleasure maidens of Rome most certainly."

Melt giggles as she eyes the Empress. "It doesn't really matter when you're going to die. Mother told me I could annihilate you and the tanned brute." Meltryllis then points a sleeve at Hakuno and smiles. "Your master however gets to live. Lucky her, or perhaps not."

"What will you do with our Master?" Altera asks as her scowl deepens.

"Take her to Mother." Meltryllis replies. "Who knows what she has in store for her but it must be quite a doozy if she told me not to kill her." Meltryllis's face contorts into a mad, sadistic grin as she laughs. "Now, who's ready to die in my performance?!"

"No one will if I can help it!" Altera raises her blade to face Meltryllis. "Bring it on!"

"No, she's mine!" Nero cries out, her own blade raised. "You don't need to suffer what Caster suffered!"

Altera smiles as she turned to Nero. "No. You stay put and protect Master. You have the job of fighting BB herself."

"I won't let you die because of another sacrifice!" Nero shouts, gesturing to herself. "Please, let me help!"

Altera shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Saber. But this is MY fight."

"She's right!" BB says from a glowing holo screen that appears next to Hakuno. The brunette expands it to see the Moon Cancer herself giggling."Oh, lookie lookie here. It's a battle of the cutting boards!" BB laughs. "Quite a show, don't you think? Who will be the victor this time~?" The Devilish girl waves her wand and a glass cube materializes around Nero and Hakuno with little holes around it for air. "You two stay put, grab some popcorn and let's watch the show~!"

"BB!" Nero stomps toward the screen. "This has gone on long enough! Let us win this stupid game and get out of here!"

"Sorry~ No can do~" BB replies. "You still haven't reached me, and that's the objective of this little game. If you fail, you fail. All your hopes and dreams will shatter into tiny little pieces, including dear Senpai's~"

Nero looks towards Hakuno, who is trembling at the girl's words, and back to the screen. "You...You dare?!"

"I'd love to continue arguing but where's the fun in that when we can watch two other's fight to the death?" BB says, flipping her hair." Bye Bye~"

With that, BB disappears. Hakuno looks over at Altera, who is preparing to fight Meltryllis. The Alter Ego chuckles as she put her long sleeve to her mouth.

"You stand no chance against me." She says. "I doubt you'll be able to land a single hit on me."

"I beg to differ," Altera replies. "You clearly have no idea who I am. I am Attila the Hun, the Scourge of God. I fight to protect those I love and care about, including my Master."

Meltryllis laughs at the declaration. "You must be a little dim in your head to underestimate me." she replies. "See this battlefield? All this water? I'm in one hell of a home field advantage, and I doubt you'll be able to fight much when you're trying to stay afloat."

"Maybe so, but I will still fight regardless."

"Why don't I show you just how utterly fucked you are."

Melt starts spinning like a ballerina and evaporates into thin air, making the tanned saber gasp.

"No way!" Nero cried out. "She disappeared?!"

"No...She's made of water.." Hakuno says.

"You see, Hun? You can never find me. I can be everywhere and you'll never know where the final strike will come from~" Meltryllis' laughter echoes in the water filled arena. Altera looks around in panic, sword raised to defend. Soon she gets hit from her right side, swinging her blade but missing. She gets hit from the left and once again misses her assailant.

"You cheater!" Altera shouts. "Cowardly wretch!"

"Call me what you like, but a win is a win, no matter how dirty one fights." Meltryllis laughs at the warrior's insults. "You won't win against an opponent you can't fight~" There were several splashes from the water until it stops. Altera's eyes dart back and forth, waiting for another striker. However, she feels a kick to the gut and falls into the water. The water rises into a tornado once more and vanished to reveal Meltryllis.

Hahahahahaha!" She laughs in a sadistic manner as she covers her mouth with her sleeve. "So pathetic! It's always funny seeing morons like you fall! You're no match for me, and you can't do jack shit!"

Altera burst out from the water and raised her sword high. "HAAAAAAH!" She slashes down, only for the blade to go right through Meltryllis, the girl grinning and poking the blade. "What?!"

Meltryllis sticks out her tongue and sneers. "You don't seem to listen, do you~?" Melt asks as she kicks Altera hard on the side. "YOU ARE MY WORLD AND I! AM! UNSTOPPABLE!" Meltryllis laughs madly as she kicked Altera from all sides, finishing with a roundhouse kick that sends Altera flying into the water.

"Altera!" Hakuno cries, putting both hands against the glass as she watches her servant get beaten down in cruelest of manners.

30 seconds pass and Meltryllis smiles, thinking victory is hers, before Altera burst from the water once more and onto a floating tile, but panting heavily. She turns the handle of her blade down and towards the water, shooting a beam of ice that freezes it instantly. Meltryllis gasps and jumps into the air to avoid freezing until the room is completely frozen.

"Now who has the advantage, wretch?" Altera growled as she pointed her sword towards the Alter ego. "You will be an ice sculpture in a second. Or better yet, I will shatter you into a million little pieces." She raises her sword to the sky.

Meltryllis begins to panic. Bad. With ice all around her, her advantage against Altera is gone. She can't evaporate and the air is getting colder. A red beam shoots from the hilt of Altera's sword into the sky, symbols appearing inside the room and glowing brightly. Nero gasps in realization at what the Hun is doing.

"Altera, stop!" Nero cried out. "If you use your Noble Phantasm here, you'll destroy everything!"

"Ah..." Altera gasps as she realizes what she is about to do, lowering her blade and the beams fade. But with Altera distracted, Meltryllis uses her stilts to start stomping on the ice as hard as she can until it breaks, opening enough for her to absorb the water and vanish. The Hun turns quickly to realize the ice is broken and the rest begin to crack.

Water is present once more and Altera, as Meltryllis said earlier, was utterly...fucked. Nero grits her teeth and starts swinging madly at the glass prison separating her and Hakuno from Altera, but it is far too strong.

"I...Have...To...Help...HER!" The Empress shouts with each swing. "She's in trouble!"

Meltryllis feels the most sadistic of smiles grace her face as she grips a sleeve on the Hun. "You have made quite a big mistake..." The Alter ego throws the Saber down on the tile and kicks her hard in the stomach with her stilt. She swings her foot right, then left, and upwards to send Altera flying into the wall. The tanned warrior can do nothing to fight back, having drained herself from trying not to fall and using her Noble Phantasm.

"You could have beaten me with that trick of yours but you didn't...NOW SUFFER!" Meltryllis starts stomping on the downed Saber with as much malice as she could, laughing as Altera begins to scream, the sound music to her ears.

Hakuno is flashing back to how Passionlip did the same brutality towards Tamamo, but Meltryllis is far crueler. Altera can only scream as Meltryllis continues until the Alter ego delivers one final kick, leaving her face up. The sadistic Alter Ego walked towards the hun, giggles escaping her.

"Hehehehehe. That was quite a show. Even gave me a good scare, but in the end, it didn't even matter.~"

Hakuno grit her teeth and banged on the glass. "Altera! ALTERA! DON'T GIVE UP! GET UP! FIGHT!"

Altera could barely keep her eyes open as her vision blurs heavily from the beating. She feels like she can't move at all. All she can see is the blurry silhouette of Meltryllis looking down at her with her infuriatingly smug smile.

"DAMN IT!" Nero shouts as she swings her blade harder on the glass.

"Altera, please! Get up!" Hakuno begs

"Shut your mouth, young lady!" Meltryllis yells to the Master. "This fight is over." With one last stomp, it is over. Altera was defeated.

"ALTERA, NO!" Hakuno screamed.

The glass magically opens and Nero immediately rushes to face the Alter Ego while Hakuno runs to Altera's side.

"You will pay for this...You will pay!" Nero growls towards the Sadist.

"Heh. You'll end up just like this "Scourge of God" Little Red." Meltryllis sneers as she bends down slightly to look at Nero. "It'll be a snap. And when i'm done tearing you apart, i'll be taking your Master~"

"That's not going to happen!" Nero holds out a rose. "This time, you are entering My world!" And throws it into the air, the petals scattering around them. The atmosphere goes black briefly before the room changes completely. Gone was the water and blank hall, and in its place, gold and grandeur. A Roman theater. Melt can only look around in shock and panic.

"Wh-what?! What the hell is this?! Where did you take us?!"

Nero points her sword and smiles confidently. "There's nowhere for you to run or hide now, coward. You think you have truly won? Guess again."

"Don't think you've won yet! Even without water around, I can still fight!" Meltryllis rushes in to kick Nero, but the empress swings her sword and parries. One after another, Meltryllis delivers kick and kick but none hit the Empress even once. "This is insane!" Meltryllis thinks. She is at a complete disadvantage!

Nero finds an opening and slashes Meltryllis left and right before finally hitting her. Melt feels the pain, a sensation she hasn't felt in a long time, and stumbles from the slashes, holding her stomach and growling at the small Empress.

"Don't think you're so tough!" The Alter Ego snarles as she lunges in again to strike Nero. But the Empress dodges left and right and strikes back with her sword. Meltryllis feels herself sweat and without water around, getting dehydrated. With one final strike from Nero, Meltryllis drops to her knees, panting heavily.

"No...No! This can't be how this performance ends…!"

Melt struggles to her feet, but she can feel her legs wobbling. She is far too weak to go on. Nero raises her sword as it glows fiery red.

"This is the end, Meltryllis," Nero says.

She rushes in and delivers a devastating diagonal slash, fire trailing after and hitting Melt hard. The Alter Ego screams and falls to the ground. Nero turns around and gives a confident smile as Melt fades away and so does the theatre. The water drains soon after and when there is nothing but the lone hallway, Nero turns around to see Hakuno still holding on to Altera.

"Praetor!" she cries as she rushes to her Master. "Is she...?"

"I-I don't know..." Hakuno says, her lips quivering. "She's not waking up..."

Nero leans closer. "Altera! ALTERA!"

The tanned woman finally moves, groaning a bit and then her eyes flutter open. Just a little bit.

"Wha…where…did we….?" Her voice is so soft and quiet.

"Yes! We won!" Hakuno-chan gently grabs her hand to hold it tenderly toward her chest. "Saber finished that Alter Ego. We can go on."

"You two can…" Altera says. "But I…" She starts to glow yellow and is fading. "I don't have much time left…"

Nero gasps. "No! We need you!"

"Here, I'll provide my mana for you," Hakuno-chan tries to offer, but Altera manages to raise her hand and caress her cheek.

"No…conserve your mana…" the tanned woman whispers. "I think it's really my time…"

The soft spoken brunette shakes her head, tears falling from her eyes. "No, no, no! You can't leave us! You're just as good of a servant as the rest!"

"I'm very happy…to serve you faithfully until the end…" Altera says. "And I got to make good friends such as Saber and Caster. My life has been a wonderful one…I would like to thank you for that…"

"Altera…!" Hakuno-chan sobs.

"You must…go on…" Altera continues. "You must…finish this…defeat BB. Set Sakura free. You're…nearly there…"

"We will!" Nero says as she sheds her own tears. "We'll put an end to this…together! We'll not only do it for you…but for Caster as well! We'll never forget her sacrifice!"

Altera smiles weakly and then looks toward Hakuno-chan. "Master…before I go…I want you to know something…"

The brunette lets out another sob and nods.

"I want to….thank you….for giving me a chance…to learn about living a human life…" Altera whispers. "If it weren't for you, I would've….haaaah…haaaaah….been the same person…I once was…" She is losing her strength. "Master…I'm…so happy and…I love you…"

"I love you, too, Altera…!"

Hakuno-chan leans in and gently presses her lips against the tanned woman's. For the first time in her life, Altera has never felt eternal bliss. It's so soothing and wonderful…yet it's also sad that it's her first and last time she'll do something like this. They pull away and Altera summons all her strength to wrap her arms around Nero, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Saber…" she whispers. "Thank you….for being such a great friend…and…Caster as well…"

"Altera…you'll always be a great friend…!" Nero sobs and returns the embrace. "I will never forget any of the good times we shared with you! Ever!"

"I'm…so glad…" Altera's voice is so quiet now it's hard to hear her.

With one final breath, the tanned woman lets go and plops on the floor. Her eyes flutter shut…never to open again. And then…a few seconds later…she completely fades away. There is silence for a few seconds before Hakuno-chan plunges herself in Nero's arms, sobbing her heart out. Nero joins in the crying, embracing her Master. Altera…no, Attila the Hun, the Scourge of God…is gone. The servant that was serious most of the time, the voice of reason, but most importantly…very loyal.

The crying ceases and Hakuno-chan is the first to stand up and wipe the remaining tears from her eyes. She then turns to Nero with a serious expression.

"Saber," she says, extending her hand. "Let's do this. It's time to end this once and for all. And no one…will stop us."

Nero gives a confident nod and also wipes the remaining tears. "U-Umu! You're right! Let's show BB who's boss! And set Sakura free from her!"

"Yes…save Sakura," Hakuno-chan says, smiling. "There are a lot of things I want to tell her…so much that it may reach her heart…"

"Only time will tell," Nero gets to her feet and grips her Master's hand. "Come on, Praetor. Let's finally meet BB and have our rematch."

"I'm right with you, Saber."

The two sprint toward the stairs where the tower is and work their way up.

**Sakura's P.O.V**

It's still a dream…I'm still in this dream. Darkness…only darkness. No one can bother me. No one will hurt me. All by myself.

BB suddenly appears from behind me. Her body is glowing white and all nude like me. "Nero Claudius is all but invincible. But that's to be expected since Sempai deems her to be the strongest. Or so she thinks."

"Wh-what do we do…?"

"We will have this little rematch and destroy her. This will surely break Sempai's heart and then I~ shall convince her to stay with me, in this world, forever~"

"She'll…stay with us…?"

"You're no longer needed. You don't trust her remember? That means I'LL be taking care of Sempai from now on. We're going to have lots and lots of fun together~"

Something…deep inside my heart is telling me…this isn't right? Would I let BB do this…? I can feel the Mooncancer put her hands on my shoulders and lean against me.

"I like you, Sakura. I really do. But…after spending some time in this body, I feel I can take on the world. This is clearly what you always wanted, right? The feeling of pure power?"

"Y-yes…I did say that…"

"Then you'll let ME handle it? I can do all the work for you. I will punish those who want to disrespect you and I will reward those who are very loyal to me. But who knows what reward they will get, hmm~?" BB laughs. "So…what do you say? Will you let me handle Nero Claudius and take Sempai?"

Sempai…Sempai…this isn't right but…but…she betrayed me. Just like the others. She and Saber are together. I saw it with my own eyes. I shall not be hurt anymore.

"BB…please…punish those who have made me suffer…punish…Sempai…"

A/N: Altera's death was also intentional. You'll see in a bit. And…Sakura's decision? Well…I-I dunno if I made the right choice or not. It's just so that it'll work for the final battle, okay? Just bare with it.

Oh, I would also like to thank Hong Kong for helping me out on the fight scene since he knows more about the characters than I. Hehe! XD I had fun with it, honestly. So thank you so much, Hong Kong.

A-anyways, um….hope you enjoyed this one. We're almost done. Just two more chapters to go.

H-have a nice day.