Occult Rising: The Conflicted Fallen Angel
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the author created characters and concepts. Thanks to Mistycharming for their OC used in this fic.
Just a little note before you start reading, I'll be adding the names of the contributors after the episode where their character is introduced.
It had been days since the events in the depot unfolded and Ellie became the Crimson Occult ranger. Monday had rolled around and morning homeroom had begun. While the class sat down, their homeroom teacher stood at the front of the classroom with none other than Ellie beside him.
When she first encountered Joe and Saya, the details on her face weren't clear, now in broad daylight however, her features were in full view. Her wavy black hair fell down to her mid back. Her skin had the typical pale complexion that Vampires have and a subtle line of freckles were just under her eyes. Her eyes themselves were a pale grey, when she was hiding her Vampiric features for others that is.
Unlike the more combat oriented clothing she was wearing previously, she had borrowed clothing from Saya for the time being and now wore a pair of skinny jeans and a red tank top. On her feet she wore a simple pair of tennis shoes while her hair was held with a simple headband.
"Alright people, we've got a new student joining us today, so be nice to her." The teacher explained and stepped aside as Ellie looked at all the new faces then to the familiar faces of Joe and Saya.
"I'm Ellie Hall, I've just moved here from Chicago. I hope I can get along with all of you." She introduced herself in a polite manner and giving a smile. While it wasn't entirely true, she was originally from Chicago and the easiest lies to tell are ones based on truth.
As Ellie walked over to take her seat, coincidentally behind Ray. Saya looked over at her with an annoyed expression, which the young Vampire caught as she passed the blue ranger. A quick look around, Saya noticed that many of the males in the class were dumbfounded by Ellie, something that seemed to be the case when humans see non humans. 'She just had to be in my class.' Saya thought as she turned her head to look out the window, her face now giving it away completely that she was angry.
Joe could hear Ray talking from next to him as the class began to get louder with noise from the different groups of friends. Turning his head, he could see that he was talking to Ellie. 'I really hope he's not trying to chat her up right now, otherwise he's gonna be in for a shock.'
Looking around, the red ranger caught onto the focused and mildly angry stare of Saya as she looked out the windows and the trees swaying outside as the wind blew off a few of the orange Autumn leaves that glided to the ground below.
"Hey, is something up? You look like something's bothering you." Joe asked, snapping the her out of her trance-like state.
She gave a fast glance towards Joe before turning away from him. "It-It's nothing."
"You know, if you don't open up once in awhile, we're not gonna be able to work well as a team." He told her assertively before giving a sigh. "I'm sorry if I'm coming off as annoyed with you, but you've been acting weirder than usual lately. If you're not gonna say anything, I can't help with whatever it is."
Saya gave a sigh. "It's personal Joe, you wouldn't understand it. If you'll excuse me, I'm not feeling too well." She replied coldly, gathering her things and standing up.
"Well, I'll see you later then." Joe waved, yet got no response as she headed to the teacher so she could leave early. 'Geez, what's wrong with her?' He thought as he got a tap from his side.
"Is everything okay Joe?" Ray asked as Joe swivelled in his seat to face his friend.
"Not exactly. Saya's been really shut off and I've got no clue why either. I wanna help her, but she just keeps shutting me out and I don't know how to help." He elaborated to his friend.
"Well try buying her chocolate or flowers, that usually helps when girls get moody." Ray replied jokingly.
"I doubt that's the problem. Changing the subject, I've found someone else for the Club." Joe added, piquing Ray's interest.
"Oh, anyone I know?" He asked, excitement spreading across his face.
"Kinda, it'll be a surprise to you anyway." Joe responded vaguely.
"Speaking of new people." Ray paused as he leant in and whispered to his best friend. "You think I might have a shot with that Ellie girl?" All Joe could do is snigger at that comment, knowing what he did. "Hey, what's so funny!?" He asked, oblivious to the fact she was in fact a Vampire.
[Occult Circle]
Within the Catacombs of the Seraphim headquarters, the young but capable Seraphim Twelve was lied down on the bottom half of a small bunk bed in one of the chambers. Around the room were other bunk beds like hers, presumably for the other agents. She seemed spaced out as she stared at the bed above her.
All she could focus on right now was the events that took place after she came around and was sent to see the person behind the whole organisation.
[Flashback]
Twelve was stood in a chamber that had been renovated into an office for the one in charge, it was the only sense of luxury in the entire Headquarters given how bare the living spaces were.
"Twelve, glad you're back on your feet. At least I would be if you managed to do your job. You failed to kill the head Vampire, fortunately he's gone regardless. You've previously failed to handle the Demon keeping your objective from you, and you can't even catch him. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you've gone soft." A deep male voice said from a rather dark and unlit part of the office.
"You know I don't sympathise with their kind, after everything everyone's told me, what happened to my family. About everything those creatures have done since then." She reminded the man sat in the dark.
"I've heard everything before. What I'm saying is that you're becoming weak. You know what happens when you're weak, don't you." He told her in an unsettling tone.
She began to shake slightly as she made a tight fist. "I-I won't go back, th-there." She declared, her body becoming tense.
"Then prove that you can still do your job. Otherwise I'll be sending you back for more training. And if you can't do that, you know what comes after." He explained, implying a threat at the end.
[Flashback]
The young woman looked up to the ceiling one last time before sitting up on the bare bed. 'I won't go back to that horrid place, we shouldn't have to go through all that, ever. But I don't have a choice, Seraphim's all I know. I don't have anywhere else to go, who'd care about an orphan like me?' She thought to herself, bringing her knees up to her chest, giving a hopeless sigh as the agent waited for her next assignment.
[Occult Circle]
After Saya had gone home 'sick' the morning went by quickly. Ray had just gotten out of his history class and was walking down the hall to get to the Clubroom for lunch and to see this new member that Joe had seemingly recruited.
While Ray was making his way to the room, Joe was sat down talking with Ellie, who had unsurprisingly joined them to help keep their cover. She stretched out as she sat on one of the tables in the shaded room, from her back extended two large bat-like wings that also stretched with her. "Ahh. it feels good to get out of the sun. Good job there's some shops that cater to us, otherwise I'd burn up in the sun. Thank god for SPF 9,000." She commented as Joe smirked.
"I wondered how you were able to walk about in broad daylight and act like a normal person." As he finished his sentence, both rangers heard the door creak open.
Both of them turned their heads slowly. Ellie's wings were still out and if some random student had just entered at the wrong time, it'd spell disaster.
Looking at the person that opened the door, Joe gave a sigh of relief. It was just Ray. Yet Ellie didn't know that Ray was in on the others' secrets and let out a surprised scream as her eyes widened. Due to her surprise, her fangs no longer became concealed, with them quickly catching Ray's eye. "This, this isn't what it looks likeā¦"
Ray stood there silent for a few seconds before turning his head to Joe. "Ellie's a Vampire?" He asked, getting a slow nod from his friend. Ellie's stomach dropped as she sat there petrified, her wings and fangs out. As he turned his head again a big grin came across his face as he rushed up to her, examining her fangs and prodding her wings. "Wow, this is really interesting! I've never seen a real Vampire up close before.
Ellie began to blush slightly. "Be careful, my wings, they're-they're really sensitive." She explained to him, getting him to back up.
"Sorry, I guess I just got a little carried away." Ray apologised as Joe stood up.
"Just watch what you're doing next time. Not everyone's gonna tolerate that. Anyway, she's a Vampire that ended up saving us a few nights ago by becoming a ranger. She ended up starving herself of blood and I gave some of mine to keep her alive." Joe explained to Ray.
"Doing so, he's now my master. Stupid rules that bind Vampires and I can't do a thing about it. So far he's been helpful, so I'm grateful for that. What being are you anyway Ray? You didn't seem too shocked when you saw my wings and fangs." She asked, believing he too wasn't human.
"Well I'm human. Nothing special about me really. I'm just in on Joe's, Saya's and now your secret too."
Her eyes quickly widened again as she flailed her arms around. "He's human!? You could've told me there was a human in this Club! How could you let just another normal person know my secret? All they have to do is say the wrong thing to the wrong people and the next thing you know you're being hunted down!"
"Calm down. He's kept his mouth shut for a few weeks fine now, I'm sure he'll keep your secret too. Saya threatened his live if he blabbed to anyone anyway. It's completely fine!" He protested, trying to calm her down.
"You better know what you're talking about Joe." She told him as their Sigil rings glew for a moment.
"Just trust me. But it looks like for now, we've got trouble to deal with." HE informed her as red and crimson aura sigils appeared around their feet, ready to take them to the coming fight.
[Occult Circle]
The three aura sigils of the Occult rangers materialised on the tarmac of one of the main roads in Numin city, the rangers soon appeared on them, having been transported to the scene of the supernatural disturbance. While Joe and Saya wore their standard Supernatural clothes and wielded their weapons, Ellie was now in the clothing she had wore the night she met the two rangers, except now it was much clearer in the daylight.
She wore a crimson short sleeved shirt and a sleeveless black jacket, fitting to her form, over it that was held tightly together wing strings of fabric. In addition, Ellie wore dark leather pants with a dagger scabbard wrapped around her waist, which currently held her Bloodlust dagger. Along with the ensemble, she wore a pair of heeled back boots to fight in. Over her face seemed to be a half facemask, covering from her neck to just below her eyes.
As humans vacated the area, fleeing in terror from the new threat they found themselves facing, the three Occult rangers stood opposite a strange group of beings. Their bodies seemed to be wrapped in dark bandages, like they had been mummified. Their bandaged faces each had the same white symbol upon them. A vertical ellipse that contained a straight line in the space between the two arcs. Aside from this feature, the bodies of these foes were completely bare or obscured by the dark bandages. In their hands were small daggers, though simplistic, they would certainly do some damage.
Joe turned his head to the blue ranger. They hadn't gone up against anything like this before, and she was still upset with him by his understanding of the situation, but he had to see if she knew what their foes were. "Saya, any idea what these things are?" he asked.
She simply shook her head as Joe turned to face their foes. "I've never seen a thing like this before. At a guess, I'd say that these are the footsoldiers of the Abyssal Cult, seeing as they want to wipe out humanity."
As Joe gave a nod, a dark arrow zipped quickly through the air, striking the red ranger dead in the forehead. Saya and Ellie looked at him, seeing the arrow sticking out of his head. The latter was surprised he was unphased by the arrow striking him in the dead centre of his head.
"Joe, you know there's an arrow sticking out of your head, right?" Ellie asked, getting a firm nod from Joe as he plucked it from his skull, allowing the wound to slowly heal. It was surprising to her as she hadn't seen him survive any hit that would kill anything else, but now she knew that killing blows were nothing to the red ranger beside her.
A small giggle was heard from the back of the group of foes as they parted for a mysterious new figure. From afar, she appeared to be some sort of ancient assassin. Wearing a dark and tight fitting dress, the skirt of it flowing for a moment revealing red tights. Over the dress was a long black and red accented jacket with a hood over her head. A pair of knee high black boots protected her feet and a piece of black silk obscured her facial features. Around her body was a red quiver and in her hand was a sleek black bow with silver components to it.
Soon enough she came to the front of the group of enemies. "So a Vampire, Demon and whatever you are really want to face off against the Abyssal Cult. I was surprised a killing shot didn't do a thing, but I won't make that mistake again. Acolytes, dispose of them." She ordered to the group of faceless warriors known as Acolytes.
Despite being covered by bandages, the Acolytes moved with a surprising amount of speed, quickly descending on the rangers. One of the Acolytes cut a hole through Joe's clothing as he narrowly dodged its attack. Coming around with his arm, the red ranger landed a right hook on his foe sending it to the ground. Looking to the sides, Joe saw that the girls were taking a similar approach, keeping the Acolytes at a distance.
"I think we better morph." He suggested to the two, who nodded in agreement as they revealed their Sigil rings. Swiping their rings top to bottom, activating the bright glow of the gems. "Occult Breakout!" The three called as the light shone more intensely, covering them before fading and leaving the rangers morphed and ready for combat.
Leaving no room for the Acolytes to prepare themselves after the rangers morphed, Saya shot forward with her Leviafang blade, bisecting one of the cultists with her cutlass. The bandages flew away as her sword pierced through the foe, it appeared if these so called Acolytes were nothing but animated bandages that would dispel if cut. Quickly catching on, Joe drew his infinity saber and Ellie unsheathed her Bloodlust dagger, the two charging head on into their foes.
As Joe quickly dispatched two with his fast attacking rapier, Ellie locked her dagger with one of the cultist's daggers. She gave the foe a swift kick in the gut before slicing it down the front, dispatching it. As the rangers cut through the Acolytes one by one, the commander of the attack force giggled again as from her back spread two black wings. Almost angelic in appearance, if not for their colouration.
The three looked up in surprise at the revelation that their opponent was in fact a Fallen Angel. She drew he bow back, taking pot shots at the rangers as they weaved their way through the force of Acolytes before him. "You three are quite impressive I must say. Usually anyone stupid enough to oppose the Dark Angel directly dies by now."
"Well we're not like others." Joe said as he cut down the last of the Acolytes in the area with a swift slash from his saber.
Floating down, the Fallen Angel uncovered her face and put her hood down revealing her face to the rangers. "You might be right. At least you removed those damned cultists from this world. The truth is, I was sent here against my will, by the Dark Angel himself. Any of my kind who don't fight, he executes." She explained to them, dropping to her knees and holding her arms out. "Please. I'll surrender to you, just don't let Skuros near me again." She finished, surrendering to the rangers, a small amount of tears welling up in her eyes. The rangers quickly demorphed in light of her surprising surrender, with the red ranger walking toward her.
Joe helped her up with a smile. "If that's what's really happening, then I promise he won't get away with doing that to your people. Now come on, There's a place you can lie low for the time being." She smiled with a nod in response as she held onto him as they began walking away.
As Joe helped her up, Ellie felt that something wasn't right. For her to be entertained by the fight to being with. Now to be distressed and claiming she was fighting Skuros' battle against her will, something didn't sit right with her. That's when the crimson ranger looked over at Saya, who hadn't moved since the Fallen Angel's surrender.
Her face was like stone as she stood there motionless, after a few moments, the Vampire decided to ask her what was wrong. "Saya, you look like something's bothering you. Is it about what just happened?" She asked, the High Demon shook her head. "It's not me is it?" Again Saya shook her head.
"It's personal. But that Fallen Angel isn't just any servant of Skuros. She's noble blood, from their capital, Alycone. It was a few years ago when I saw her, but I'm sure it's her." She explained to her.
"Then we've got to get up to the bottom of this. If she's up to something else, we might have a problem." Ellie said, for once getting the blue demon to agree with her by giving a small nod.
[Occult Circle]
After a somewhat lengthy trip back to Joe's house, the rangers were now resting after the fight with the Acolytes. Saya had gone to her room while Ellie anxiously waited in the lounge of the home. The time taken returning was long and now the sun was beginning to set, they had been forced to skip the rest of the school day after Joe chose to help the Fallen Angel who was likely deceiving him. While it annoyed her that Joe believed her, Ellie couldn't do a thing about it unless he allowed her.
'This sucks. We should've at least clipped her wings or something so she can't fly off when she tries something.' Ellie thought to herself as she sat there waiting for Joe and the latest supernatural stray to return after he agreed to show her around.
Joe and the Fallen Angel now stood in Gabriel's study. "So this is the place my Dad usually studies supernatural beings, he does other work in here too, but it's mainly used for his Occult research. It's also where he keeps the other Sigil rings." He let slip as he showed her around the room.
"Can I see them? The power you can bring from them made me feel a lot safer earlier. Maybe seeing the rest could get rid of my angst about Skuros finding me." She asked with a seemingly innocent smile.
"Sure, let me get them out." Joe replied, not thinking about any ill intent a young woman he had met only a few hours ago might harbour.
Sat down in her room, Saya stared down at her hands. She now wore casual clothes and everything in her room appeared normal, it was the objects resting in her hands that were now her focus. She stared down at rose, oddly coloured blue, in one hand while in the other was an envelope, likely containing a letter. Written upon the envelope was her whole first name 'Sayakriel' and stamped upon it was an insignia she knew all too well. The stamp of her own House, Leviathan.
Her eyes seemed dull as she sat staring at the sealed envelope and blue rose. 'All this time and I've finally been found. How could they find me? I was careful. I-I don't know what the envelope holds, I don't even know if I want to find out. Should I open the letter? I can't make up my mind.' She thought to herself, getting slightly frustrated that she was so undecided about the situation. 'But they're family though, I should listen to what they have to say.' She finally decided as she brought the envelope up and flipped it over to unseal the envelope.
Before she could see what it contained however, she heard the smashing of glass come from one of the rooms nearby. In an instant, the young Demon shot up from her bed and swung her door open to see what was going on.
Upon investigating, she found Ellie stood in Gabriel's study. The nearby window was completely smashed and there was no sign of the Fallen Angel or Joe. Upon further examination, the box containing the Sigil rings was opened up and resting on the teacher's desk. The black Sigil ring was missing, yet oddly, the amber ring was still present.
Ellie growled as she stomped her feet on the floor. "I knew she couldn't be trusted!" She exclaimed.
"I was too distracted with other things. I should've stopped this before it progressed further. She only stole one Sigil ring though. Which makes me wonder why she stole it in the first place. Kidnapping Joe too makes no sense either. He's the only one of his kind, that's true, but the Fallen Angels and Abyssal cult have nothing to gain from his capture." Saya explained, trying to deduce the real reason the Fallen Angel did all this.
"We have to find her and stop her, before whatever she's doing happens." Ellie replied, getting a firm nod from Saya.
In the bright light of an almost full moon, the silhouette of the Fallen Angel carrying the incapacitated Joe soared across the night sky as she glided through the air with her wings. She looked down at the unconscious Immortal she was carrying. 'This isn't about him, his fight, even these rings. It's about being free from Skuros. The only way I can do that is by putting others in harms way. I don't care about anything else anymore. As long as I'm finally free.' She thought to herself as she flew away into the dead of night.
Back at the house, Saya and Ellie were searching for anything that could lead to the Fallen Angel or her whereabouts given it was too late to try and track her down. Ellie turned to Saya, with a thoughtful look on her face. "You said that she was Fallen Angel nobility right? Maybe we could track her down by starting with her name, or her family.
Saya gave a sigh as she readied herself to tell Ellie the rest of what she knew. "I met her before Skuros showed his evil intentions to the rest of us, when Demons had a recognised peace with the Fallen Angels. She had two previous families before she was adopted for a final time, not worthy of note. Brace yourself for what I'm about to say. Her name is Nyssa, and when I met her, her father was none other than our enemy, Skuros."
|Occult Circle|
Supernatural Being - Acolyte - These new creatures are the footsoldiers of the Abyssal Cult. Animated from rags, they carry small daggers. Their lives abruptly end when their bodies are cut, dematerialising into nothingness. Despite this obvious drawback, they can overwhelm foes if they catch opponents on their own. The Acolytes were created for the sole purpose of attacking civilians and make way for the greater forces of the Cult, but they will be used against those that can fight back if needed.
That was Chapter 4 everyone. And it ended on such a reveal too. Before I go further, I wanna say Happy Halloween and I hope you've enjoyed yourself or are/will be enjoying yourselves if you're going out or celebrating tonight. For me, I got home after college and got straight to finishing this chapter, I'm grown up enough for working on things day in day out to basically be my life now. If I want to, I can always take what I want from younger siblings, if they don't eat it all that is.
It seems there was quite a bit that Saya wasn't telling the others about Nyssa, the newest addition to the cast, but you can't blame her if you were in her position with other things on your mind. It also seems Seraphim is a much darker agency then first though, and I wanted to flesh Twelve's character out further and get a little sympathy for her, she's still human after all. Speaking of development, Ellie does have trust issues given her past, but it did allow her to catch onto the offness of Nyssa. Finally, to give credit where it's due, the person who contributed the character of Nyssa to the series SA June. Now I have added my own personal touches and tweaks to make her fit better, but I liked the character's concept most. With that said, I'll be getting another chapter out Wednesday to tie this little predicament up, so stay tuned for that and thanks for reading.
Next Chapter: Breaking Chains
Synopsis: With one Sigil ring missing and Joe kidnapped, Saya and Ellie must race to find the Fallen Angel Nyssa before she does something drastic. Seraphim catches wind of an important target arriving in the city to make matters worse and whatever Nyssa plans to do when she next faces her father could spell disaster. Will the Occult rangers manage to save the day, or will the events set in motion mark their end? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Occult Circle.
