Well got chapter 17 done for you guys and not much to say other than enjoy the chapter
big thank you goes out for Killroy122496 for his help with the chapter and allowing me to use his OCs
Friends of the past can from one day to the other become your worst enemy
Chapter 17: Path to the Future
On a small Island on top of a mountain near the maritime country known as Japan stood a simple mansion that was home to three young adults and one even younger girl but right now one of them was delivering a message to someone the girl dearly wished to see again.
In the large master bedroom a young girl stirred awake as her heterochromia eyes opened her left eye being a silver gray and her right eye being a golden yellow.
This girl was known to her friends as Anastasia a Caucasian Armenian-Japanese female with long curly silver white hair in a hime cut with blood red streaks going down from the middle all the way to the end tips of her hair
She started to get dressed but left a red and white Okami wolf mask and a silver crown with a red ruby in the center lying on a table nearby before she put on her old tribal Armenian black dress with a silver rose decal on both sides before she put a black shawl and hood around her neck.
Over the dress she placed a blood red and silver white robe clasping a midnight black obi belt around her waist before she puts on black fingerless Kevlar combat gloves on both hands and a red, white and black tribal vest. Around her neck she had an old silver and golden locket necklace with an old faded picture of her father and mother.
With her normal clothes on she took a black Kevlar vest and a pair of old brown tribal mountain boots and put them on as well before she slung her K-3 assault rifle and her Katana in its snow white scabbard over her back before she holstered her MP-443 Grach pistol in its leg holster that rested on her thigh.
Like that the girl went to get breakfast that was already waiting for her together with a young butler in the sunlit dining room "Good morning Miss Anastasia I hope your night was restful even with the news Sakuya brought to you a few days ago?" the butler asked as Anastasia sat down at the table.
Anastasia remembered that moment pretty well when Sakuya her head maid and assassin told her that the Rabaul base had gotten a visitor that might interest her and with only one look at the picture Anastasia knew who the girl was as she had been one of the few people who knew her real identity before she went into hiding.
She had ordered Sakuya to deliver a message to her old cousin Akeno so they could meet in the future "Yes I slept pretty well Bruce, even with the knowledge that an old ally and cousin of mine is still alive" Anastasia answered as she started to eat.
The butler nodded at that and once the girl was done with eating she and Bruce headed out of the house to start their usual workout routine together with someone else who teased Anastasia for being so cute before all three started on training their various skills.
Back at the Rabaul base:
Akeno hated a lot of things but losing to a combat maid was one of the things she had no idea about how to feel about as she woke up about an hour later with a slight headache and the culprit for her getting knocked out was a thin silver needle like dart that was stuck in Akenos right upper arm.
After she removed it she pocketed it in a handkerchief and headed back to base only to find almost everyone waiting near the pier that her fully repaired ship was at "Well it was a fun time while you were here with us Akeno but make sure to give us a call sometime alright?" Isoroku Nomura simply said before shaking hands with Akeno.
After that everyone else said their goodbyes with Riya and Sekiro being the last ones but before they could say anything Akeno kissed Riya right on the lips causing everyone else to look at them with a completely blank expression except for Sekiro and two other girls who simply grinned as both girls separated their lips again.
"You better stay safe you hear me" Riya whispered a bit out of breath "You as well but we can always get together when we want to" Akeno replied in a whisper before the both of them hugged each other tightly.
Akeno turned to Sekiro who got the same treat as Riya with everyone looking at them blankly except for Riya and the same two girls "Well until we see each other again" Sekiro mumbled as Akeno rested her head on his chest as they both embraced each other and a moment later Riya joined them in the hug as well.
"Stay safe you two I can no longer imagine my life without either of you" Akeno whispered as Riya and Sekiro had to smile at that as they separated from each other and followed Akeno towards her ship but stopped just short of the gangway.
Akeno turned around and gave a simple two finger salute towards everyone with a grin before she walked onboard and a moment later the gangway was moved away from the ship that was untied from the pier and started moving out of the harbor with the assistance of a tugboat.
Riya and Sekiro continued to watch Akenos ship leave until it disappeared beyond the horizon but as they turned around both of their faces went ash gray as everyone had a teasing glimmering in their eyes that was barely hidden with a small smile but before everyone could start bombarding them with questions Isoroku interrupted them.
"We don´t have time to interrogate them right now we are expecting some guests that will arrive along with Specter so get moving" Isoroku hollered and everyone quickly dispersed as a massive battleship fleet was coming ever closer to the Rabaul base.
Akeno noticed a rather large force of ships heading towards her as she left the harbor so she turned away as soon as the harbor was beyond the horizon and for several hours she didn´t encounter anything as she sailed back towards the old base of the Akai senchō.
Around three hours later Akeno noticed that her radio had intercepted a transmission so she picked up her headset and listened to the message but what she heard almost had her blood freeze in her veins.
"To the unknown battlecruiser stop your engines immediately and prepare to be boarded for an inspection" was the simple message and a moment later Akeno found four surface contacts closing in on her position at over thirty knots.
"What to do, what to do?" mumbled Akeno as she slowed her ship down a bit as four Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers with yellow stripes on their super structure came closer with every minute but another radio message interrupted Akeno from coming up with a plan.
"Unknown battlecruiser stop your engines now or we will be forced to attack" was the simple message but something snapped into place in Akenos mind at that moment.
Akeno raised her head to the sky and started laughing not just a simple happy laugh but a completely insane cackling came from her lips until she looked towards the approaching modern destroyers "You want a fight well you just found one" Akeno hissed in anger as she drew her Katana from its sheath and climbed up to the bridge roof even as her ship slowed down even more making it look as if she stopped her engines.
On the bridge of one of the modern destroyers a lookout reported that the unknown ship had slowed down even more and that it was coming to a complete halt "Good prepare the boarding party but be careful we have no idea what nation this ship and its crew are from" the captain called over radio.
"Sir there seems to be someone on the bridge roof of the unknown vessel" the lookout reported as the captain approached and picked up his own binoculars "Sir Raid squads one trough five are ready to board the unknown vessel" another crewmen reported and the captain gave the order for them to head out before he took a look at what the lookout had reported to him.
What he saw was beautiful and terrifying at the same time there on the ship stood a girl that couldn´t be older than fourteen or fifteen wearing a dress made out of red and black frills with both of her hands resting on a sheathed Katana but a second later she looked at him.
Now the girl was in a combat uniform with some kind of gun in her hands with another strapped to her bag pack but before the captain could even report that to the raid squads his entire vision suddenly cracked into a million different images of light.
As the captain lowered his binoculars he jumped backwards as the window he had looked out of was cracked with a single bullet right were his face was just a moment ago "Call the raid squads unknown ship is hostile they fired on our bridge with some kind of rifle" the captain gasped out as he slowly got back on his feet before slumping down in his command chair.
Akeno watched as the five small inflatable boats came closer and closer but at that moment she noticed another two contacts coming directly from her twelve O´clock and one look gave her all the information she needed as another two destroyers joined the other four in the attempt to stop her ship.
"Well they sure aren´t dumb but they don´t even realize what they got themselves into" Akeno mumbled as she prepared her two front turrets to fire while she did the same with her two rear turrets that started aiming at the closest destroyer.
The Tsukuba started speeding up very fast easily outrunning the five small boats of the raid squads but a moment later Akeno fired at the two ships ahead of her and on one of the four that was following her.
"Unknown battlecruiser cease fire otherwise we will be forced to sink you to defend ourselves" came the radio message making Akeno grin as she turned on her microphone.
"To those who forgot the past how does it feel to know you are facing an enemy you have no hope of defeating?" Akeno asked getting only silence in return for several seconds "What are you talking about?" the question came a full minute later.
"It matters not if you remember for me and many others still remember what has occurred so many moons ago. You are just the first to face my wrath" Akeno replied increasing her speed even further before she turned and fired a full salvo hitting one of the chasing destroyers with three shells near the rear of the ship.
After that the destroyers returned fire with a vengeance as the damaged one fell back rapidly but even with five ships firing at the Tsukuba not one of them came even close to hitting the ship but a moment later from the remaining five destroyers flames erupted towards the sky as several missiles and torpedoes were fired skywards.
Akeno fired two more full salvos at the pursuing destroyers before she launched torpedoes from the starboard side and turned away from the missile barrage that crashed into the sea around her ship a few seconds later.
Of course now the rocket dropped torpedoes were the biggest threat but an idea came to Akeno at that moment she allowed the torpedoes to come very close before she closed her eyes and concentrated and just as the torpedoes were about to impact her ship's hull they detonated all at the same time without causing any damage to the ship.
Akeno used that moment to have some of her backboard stabilization compartments deflooded making her ship tilt in the water as if it was taking on water due to the torpedoes the ship slowly came to a complete halt over the next few minutes.
Of course the five raid squads took some time to arrive as they had been left behind and had been unable to match the larger ships in terms of speed but as soon as one of them even so much as tried to board the unknown battlecruiser they got the surprise of their lifetime.
They found no one no matter where they searched and with five ten man squads searching the entire ship they only found one person but this person stood at the bow of the ship right now looking towards the distant horizon.
Two squads had found the girl and now had every possible escape route blocked "Turn around with your hands in the air" the squad leader yelled but the girl didn´t react in the slightest "I´m warning you do it now" the same man yelled again as four of his soldiers started to slowly approach the girl with their underbarrel tasers raised.
But just as they were close enough the girl turned her head and looked at them with a rather bored expression on her face "Did you just try to tell me to do something?" Akeno asked with a raised eyebrow pulling off her headset as the two squads looked at her with a glare.
"Whatever missy you are coming with us either" but before the guy could even say another word he was staring down the barrel of a gun that the girl was suddenly holding in one hand while in the other hand she held the same gun aimed at another one of his squad mates "You are going to leave before I decide to wipe your existence from the face of this planet" Akeno hissed allowing Asuramarus power to course through her freely.
But instead of a response one of the four that had approached her fired his taser but before the metal darts could reach her something swatted them out of the air and as everyone realized that the girl was still standing did they notice the two midnight black wings on her back and the gray ash that was falling from them.
"This is your last warning leave my ship now and be on your way or I will destroy you" Akeno hissed her eyes glowing a fiery orange red as she still kept her two m1911s aimed at the head of the two men in front of her.
None of them said a word yet Akeno had enough and with her thumbs she pulled back the hammers on her pistols causing the other eighteen men to raise their guns as well "drop them now!" one of them yelled but Akeno did not respond in the slightest.
The situation was very tense with Akeno holding two men at gun point while another eighteen were aiming their weapons at her in return no matter how this situation would end it would get messy either way or that´s what everyone thought until something flashed in the distance and a second later the girl collapsed to her knees holding her left shoulder as she dropped one of her pistols and screamed in pain.
There inside the flesh of her shoulder was something that looked like a small dagger made out of silver metal but for some reason the blood around the dagger was not flowing instead it looked as if it was trying to remove the blade "Hold still, dammit get a Medic down here!" the Squad leader yelled but a moment later the dagger was gone again and the girl stopped struggling.
"So he is alive after all if you are here" growled Akeno as she got to her feet her bloody left arm hanging useless at her side as she glared into the distance "Leave now I will buy you time until you escape" Akeno added before her wings flapped once carrying her high into the sky away from her ship and the rest of the modern destroyers.
This time the raid squads actually did exactly that as they left the unknown ship and headed back to their own destroyers but just as they turned away the entire sky turned pitch black before a mushroom like explosion of silver and red was seen in the distance as two old foes engaged each other in battle once more.
Akeno knew exactly who it had been that attacked her she had talked with Asuramaru about the servants of someone who was supposed to be dead but with this enemy here there was no doubt in her mind "The cursed Prince lives" Akeno hissed in anger as she had to avoid several blows of silver cross like daggers that attacked her.
It took her a while of dodging and blocking the daggers to find their origin from where they were guided but the closer she got to that person the more damage her body took it may have been just glancing blows but against this kind of opponent that would prove to be fatal if she wasn´t careful enough.
On the shore of a small patch of land stood a boy no a young man dressed in a metal gray German submarine coat with a simple black uniform underneath with black hair and gray eyes but it were the over thirty silver daggers that seemed to float behind him in the air "So glad you could make it Seraph" the young man spat the words out as if they were poison on his tongue.
Akeno didn´t respond as she landed about ten meters away from him both of her blades resting in her hands ready to strike "So what brings you here Suigin that master of yours still alive after all is he?" asked Akeno but the young man called Suigin didn´t even so much as twitch at that.
Instead he went through his hair with his right hand with a sigh "We both know the answer to that question, but what you don´t know is that you are being used Seraph of Asura" he replied grabbing something from inside his coat and threw it towards Akeno who simply let it fall into the sand before her feet.
Akeno raised an eyebrow at that as she easily recognized the small silver locket that was lying in the sand before her "I do not wish for us to be enemies Asuramaru for the old times' sake but we have to put on a show for my master before I can allow you to leave" Suigin added after Akeno pocketed the small silver locket.
There were no further words exchanged as Suigin´s daggers surged forward like a tidal wave only to be meet by a wall of crimson black flames but even though he blocked the fire wave Suigin did not find his prey on the other side until a moment later he knew what he had to do to survive as all thirty daggers created a round shield right above him.
And only a fraction of a second later the air was violently ripped apart by the sound of an explosion that was so powerful that even seismologist on the other side of the planet were able to record the seismic echo of the attack Akeno had just unleashed upon Suigin who had simply defended against it but was unable to follow Akeno as she returned to her ship and continued on her way.
The hidden mansion close to Japan three days later:
Anastasia was glad that Sakuya had returned to her side but she was also a bit worried as Bruce had told her about some kind of incident on the high sea that caused the entire world to shake it had been very noticeable from where they were.
Sure Japan was used to earthquakes but this one carried something else with it mainly the very familiar demon powers and its source that was coming closer to the mansion with every minute that passed.
Onboard the Tsukuba two hours after the battle against Suigin:
Akeno was exhausted not only was every muscle in her body and injury screaming at her to rest but she felt emotionally drained as well as the short conversation and battle with Suigin had brought up some very old memories of Asuramaru.
And due to the strong bond that Akeno had with Asuramaru she now felt the same conflicted emotions that her bonded demon could no longer feel as she had given up on them a long time ago "You proved yourself worthy as the seraph of Asura for now rest my girl and once we speak with that old cousin of yours a lot of things will become clear to you" Asuramaru spoke to Akeno over their bond as Akeno was dragging herself to her room.
As soon as she was close to her bed she collapsed onto it and was out like a light even as the two wing like tattoos on her back started to changed as several crimson black chains seemed to crawl all over her skin from the tip of her fingers down to her toes until the only parts the chains ignored and left alone were her face and her chest as they got no further than the symbol Sekiro had placed on her chest with his own blood.
But Asuramaru was sure of something else by now it was no coincidence that Sekiro, Akeno and Riya had such strong feelings for each other "Sparda it is your essence that has brought these three together. I can´t wait for the day we meet each other again" whispered Asuramaru to the purple sky as she sat on the terrace of an old Japanese temple slowly taking a sip from her small flat cup.
Onboard a modern Luxus liner:
Suigin had a very bad day at least for now he would be able to relax and recover or that is what he wanted to do but as soon as he walked from the rear ship bay towards his room he was stopped by two children both of them girls.
The first girl was a fourteen year old Caucasian Japanese-American female with long wavy pink hair and onyx black eyes.
She was wearing a ghost white Kitsune mask with a black metal mouth guard piece, a light blue and white kimono with dark blue trim and white designs, a blue mob cap on the top of her head while in the front of cap is a hitaikakushi with a red ghost insignia, and a white veil attached to the back of the cap, white hakama trousers, and dark black shoes with blue ribbons attached on top of the shoes.
The second girl was a fifteen year old Japanese Native American female with tanned skin, long chocolate blackish brown hair, and sapphire blue eyes.
She was wearing a skull grim reaper mask with red glowing eyes in the eye sockets, a black metal mouth guard piece, two white angelic feathery wings on her back, and a old black cloak with a hood wrapped around her body while underneath is a black naval undershirt, black Kevlar gloves on both hands, black camo trousers, and black combat naval boots.
Suigin wasn´t surprised to find the two of them here "You seem to have found who our master is looking for if your clothes are anything to go by" the first girl spoke her voice alone causing the room to get a lot colder.
Suigin grinned at that "Why hello there Reaper and Revenant" he mumbled lighting himself a cigarette "Yeah I encountered the one our master is hunting but she proved to be too powerful for me to capture" he added blowing a gray cloud of smoke into the air.
The girl called Revenant sighed at that and handed a simple letter to Suigin who took it without a word "Our master has seen your battle against the Seraph and is sending you Spirit to assist you the information in the letter gives you the location of the facility you are to bring the Seraph to once you have captured her" Revenant explained before the two girls walked down the stairs to the internal dock and got onboard a small motor boat that cast of as soon as they had boarded.
Suigin crushed the burning cigarette in his hand with a snarl "Great now I have to work with that nut job well until she arrives here I can recover and train a little bit that attack she used was new maybe something created on the spot but it came way to close for comfort" Suigin grumbled as he allowed the illusion hiding his broken body to fall apart revealing the damage he really took from fighting against Asuras Seraph.
The waters near Japan:
The Tsukuba had continued on its way towards the island nation even though the captain of the ship had been busy with recovering from a large scale battle against an old ally of the female demon that bonded with her but now the ship was slowing down as it entered a massive lagoon with a pretty big mountain on the largest Island while all of the smaller islands seemed completely normal Akeno knew that someone or rather something was keeping an eye on her as she entered the Lagoon.
Akeno stopped her ship at the small wooden pier of the largest island that was just long enough for her ship but on the pier waited an all too familiar person the combat maid that had delivered the message and other information about her cousin Anastasia Solis Numen and what she had to endure during the time the two of them had been apart from each other.
"I welcome you to our humble abode Miss Misaki Akeno" the maid spoke with a bow as Akeno jumped down to the pier from her ship "My name is Sakuya Cunningham and I will be showing you to the young miss but before that" Sakuya didn´t move at all but her instincts screaming at her were not enough for Akeno to completely dodge the young butler that was suddenly behind her.
Akeno winced as she was barely able to move her left arm anymore as the old man had done something with that one simple hit he got in on her "You have to forgive us for this treatment but we have to make sure that you are no threat to the young Miss" the old butler said and in the next instant he was upon Akeno again.
Akeno was able to dodge most of his strikes that is until he managed to hit her in the right thigh and she crashed down to the ground a second later and a moment later everything went black with the last thing she felt being that someone gently picked her up from the ground and started to move.