~Remember I don't own Escaflowne or its characters! Characters such as Sian, Nembus, Kusari, etc. are my own creation and I would appreciate that no one use my characters in their own writings without my consent. Thank you~
~Sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth waiting for. Tell me what you think~
The Fate of Two Worlds: The Sequel
By Angel_Wings
Chapter 13 ~ The Merge
~Ice Cave~
The shards of beautiful dark ice sparkled as they fell, but no one look upon the wondrous display with any emotion other than fear. The cold daggers flew down at them in a roar making their hearts stop. Van automatically reached for Merle and hunched over her to protect his dear sister. Nembus did the same with Sian surprising the green warrior while Zaado simple raised his arms over his head as a shield. Hitomi was the only one that was calm and still as the world crumbled around them.
For some unknown reason the seeress felt completely at ease-- at least her body was. Her mind, however, was screaming in terror as darkness rain down from above her head. Her colorless eyes stared at her enemy of ice in a cold-sweat knowing there was nothing to be done,… but there was something she could do… As the danger grew incredible close the destined angel raised her hands on reflex. Warmth swirled around her hands as the pale palms glowed white. Crying out as pain engulfed her chest the seeress released two comets of snowy power. The two orbs shrilled with wonder as they hit chunks of falling roof. Chunks of coldness became a show of fireworks as the ice exploded into soft dust. There was no time for another vole though and the rest of the roof crashed down.
Van removed his arms from overhead to see why hadn't the cave roof fallen on them. Looking up the raven royal saw a cloudy blue sky staring down at him. What remained of the ice room now laid in ruins around him and the others. Chunks of ice now laid in shards on the ground no longer the color of empty blackness they once were. Snowflakes continued to fall from the sky, but it was a soft snowfall that showed only gentleness. Glancing around Van noticed the others also coming up to stand without a single injury marking them. His rubies gleamed in the sunlight as he looked at the area that the angels and cat stood in. Though all around them there were chunks of sharp pieces of ice in huge piles in the area the five of them stood in was completely empty of the dangerous items. The others looked at their surroundings in utter confusion wondering how it had been possible for them to come out of the event untouched. Looking away from them momentarily Van caught sight of the seeress in the exact spot she had last been seen in.
The shaft of white light had been extinguished a while ago when the room had first begun to crumble, yet Hitomi still stood in a sphere of mixing gold, red, and white colors. With here wings outstretched it made the maiden look all the more glorious except for the fact that her feathers were becoming duller with each minute. Hitomi's wings were still white, but slowly they were beginning to become a light gray only distinguishable when placed next to something white. With snow and pearly light surrounding the seeress it was hard not to see the grayness of her wings. With her back to the group none could tell much about the seeress making the situation become very suspenseful.
Nembus lent a hand to Sian and gratefully the maiden took it as she rose to her feet. Zaado and Merle also were on their feet in a matter of moments staring with the others at their queen in wonder. Hitomi stood in a glory of power that swelled around her, but in her mind she was lost…
~Vision~
The seeress stood in the familiar black void listening to the silence. Though her surroundings were dark and dim she was not. She glowed in golden fire while she stood in the center of the vastness. Her now emerald eyes stared straight in front of her as she let her mind churn in thought.
What was happening to her? She felt as if her soul were a flame that was slowly burning her into nothing. Each time she used the strange powers contained within her the pain grew steadily worse… although the evidence completely confused her… If it was becoming more and more painful to use these strange powers why was she able to use them longer?… Last time when she fought Ana she had barely been able to attack her for more then two minutes before she went back to normal and then when she had fought Dornkirk she had been able to hold up for a while longer… Now she still stood with the power still flowing through her for over five minutes without the littlest sign of weakening, yet the pain was unbearable anguish. What was wrong?
"So seeress…" drawled a voice in the darkness, "How do you feel now when you know the lives of your comrades will end at a result of your failure?"
Hitomi locked her jaw in anger as she listened to the harsh words. Images of the past vision of her dead friends ran before her eyes in an instant before she growled in a low voice, "I will not listen to your deception, Dornkirk. I will never let that happen and you know it. I would die first before my friends ever did."
Somewhere in the shadows a chuckled sounded echoing deadly through the corners of the blackness, "Yes,… yes… I know all too well,… You see, oh seeress, when the time comes and we face one another you will fall, but for revenge for all you have done I will allow you to live… at least long enough to watch your friends die at my hands…"
The 'Angel' closed her eyes as she felt her sorrow take hold, but she refused to acknowledge the guilt for she could not show her enemy her weakness. Swallowing a choked sob Hitomi shouted, "Why don't you face me now, Dornkirk?! Are you frightened?! Scared of a young woman?!"
Soon a feeling of anger crackled in the air around her and Hitomi knew she had struck the right cord once she heard the man's growled reply, "Listen, seeress! I am Dornkirk! Once known as the man, Issac, and I fear no one! I am the most powerful being in the universe now, possible only second to Joutei!"
"Where is Joutei?!" the woman shouted at the mention of the god's name, "What have you done with him?!"
A low chuckle rang from her adversary, "Do not concern yourself with him now. He is in safe keeping where you will never think to look and if you dare to venture to his 'cell' you will find yourself also locked away for all can enter, but none can escape."
Hitomi grinded her teeth in frustration, "I never knew you were one for riddles, Dornkirk."
Another chuckle came before he snarled, "Well here's another for your earlier question. The only reasons that I have waited to face you, seeress, is because of two important things I'm waiting to happen."
Hitomi glanced in all directions of the darkness for a moment before asking quite simply, "Which are?"
Laughter echoed in the queen's pale ears for a moment deafening in its pitch, but soon it dwindled down back to the familiar chuckle. With great amusement the dark emperor said, "You're pretty demanding for a woman who should fear me."
Hitomi smirked humorously, "I don't fear anyone, least of all you, Dornkirk!"
Again the maiden had struck a chord and anger once again sizzled in the air before the man hidden in the darkness shouted angrily, "You might not fear me now, seeress, but once we face each other you will know fear, far worse than you can even imagine!"
The young woman could barely hold back her cringe as she heard the dark threat. Of course she had lied when she had said she did not fear him. That was such an empty lie. Dornkirk was the being she feared most of all. He had the power and the ability to destroy her and all she cared for. Her life wasn't really the problem of her fear, it was the fact of others dying along with her that sent chills of terror down her spine, but she would never let him know that or that would be the end.
"But I guess I'll be considerate for now" Dornkirk soon replied in a much calmer voice, "I will give you half of the answer to you. I wait for the last of the guardians to be drawn from hiding."
"Why are they so important?" Hitomi demanded with a scowl, "I thought I was all you were concerned with."
"Again you step out of your boundaries, seeress…" the fallen ruler growled in annoyance, "But I will give you your answer. I wait because I want you to suffer as much as possible. So the more lives brought to me to slaughter to greater your pain."
Hitomi frowned slightly at the reply, "I can see through your words, Dornkirk. There something else about the guardians you want. What is it?!"
Then there was silence in the void as the 'Girl from the Mystic Moon' tensely awaited an answer. For a moment Hitomi began to wonder if Dornkirk had possibly left, but soon the reply came, so low that she nearly missed it.
"You are sharp, seeress" came the dark voice of her greatest enemy, "Sharper than I have given you credit for. You are correct in saying that there is more, but for now you will be ignorant of that knowledge. I will see just how sharp you are… I will let you discover the truth for yourself."
Growling Hitomi mulled over his answer angry for being left in the dark again about his confidential knowledge. She had to give him credit though. He knew how to play his cards right and he surely wasn't about to show what was up his sleeves. Whatever he had in stored for her and the others he wanted to leave as a surprise, but that just made Hitomi more confident.
Smirking again the seeress laughed, "Why not tell me, Dornkirk? Or are you afraid that me knowing will destroy your strategy?"
Before he could answer Hitomi felt a sudden pull on her senses. Someone was coming… Carefully the young woman released her mind seeking out the presence she felt. She was right in assuming that it was someone else that she did not know about. Silently Hitomi study the being feeling for its level of power. Before she could truly study the mysterious presence though Dornkirk interrupted, "You feel it don't you?"
Hitomi snapped her attention away from the presence back to the darkness that hid her adversary. After not saying a word the demon emperor replied, "You can feel her coming…"
"Who?" the 'Angel' asked lost.
"I sent three of my followers to the areas that the guardians supposedly are hiding" Dornkirk said proudly, "One of them is rapidly approaching you and your friends."
Hitomi swirled around in blind hope of finding where the demon ruler was hiding, "What will she do when she reaches us?"
"Destroy all who are with you" he replied as if it was nothing, "And then bring you to me."
Confused even more the seeress said, "I thought you wanted to watch me suffer as much as possible by waiting, but you have sent your demons to finish my friends off before I even face you Dornkirk. You say two things at once! Speak your purposes!"
"Are you not a being who can see into the past, present, and future!" he chuckled darkly at her, "Open your small mind and think. Perhaps I plan to kill each of you slowly or perhaps I have very short patience, but the truth is it goes with my plans. When we face at the Mystic Valley you will realize everything, seeress,… but far too late."
"So you say we will face one another at the Mystic Valley?" Hitomi asked quickly hoping to get a quick response back before this vision faded. She could already feel herself leaving this vastness and returning to reality.
"Yes" he whispered as the world began to wash away, "There will be the battle ground where blood will spill from your loved ones. It will be there that you realize all the answers for your many questions, but for now I leave you to face this female demon. Be warned, seeress, this follower though not much of a fighter has a great passion for death. I taught her that when I use to be alive before the 'Great War' for you see she was the dame of my twin sons, Kusari and Kaosu…"
Hitomi's eyes of sparkling emeralds grew wide as she yelled out, "WHAT?!"
It was too late to confront Dornkirk anymore though for the darkness began to grow brighter with light and the vision began to disappear, however, Hitomi heard the wry chuckle of the Zaibach emperor and knew he had said that last bit of information just to see her shock. True or not, Hitomi knew she had to face another danger with her friends' lives on the line as always.
~End of Vision~
The sphere of colors dimmed to nothing and slowly the dark forest green became evident once again in the seeress's eyes. The white emblem of the Draconians finally faded leaving behind her pale forehead. Hitomi twirled her face towards the sky in time to see the dark form burst through the cloud cover straight towards her and the others. On seeing their queen's direction of attention change the group turned their eyes in confusion in the same direction the 'Angel' looked.
Down from the sky in a rush came the dark form of their attacker. Sian narrowed her eyes, as the figure became close enough to decipher and growled beneath her breath. The green maiden could feel her stomach do a small flip-flop from the power she felt radiating from its dark host. The guardian knew it was one of the demons and on reflex her senses grew sharp ready for battle. Looking through the corner of her eyes she noticed Nembus and Zaado had both readied their weapons and now stood in defensive postures as well. They were perfect soldiers. Without a thought they could be ready for anything just because of their well train reflexes. Sometimes it amazed her to see how each of them could be so tense one minute and then in perfect union they would all go into their fighting modes. Life as royal bodyguards had trained not only their mental skills, but their defensive skills as well.
In a fit of snow flying everywhere because of the wind created by her demon wings the dark figure landed before the group. Only twenty yards away the cloaked enemy stood with her wings stretched out against the white world making her look very much like the dreaded creatures known as the gargoyles. Sian bared her teeth as she rushed to stand by her queen, but Hitomi's words stopped her before she could even take three steps, "Be still, Sian. Stay where you are."
The green maiden looked at her mistress in shock. Why was she telling her to stay away? Carefully the woman studied the two figures before her. The cloaked being stood in the rubble of the ice cave's remains in a standoff against the angel that was surrounded in a glowing sphere of gold, red, and white. Their pairs of eyes were locked in a dark stare as if daring the other to blink. Frowning Sian took another step towards the two causing the seeress's voice to ring out firmly, "Sian, I command you to keep your position!"
The guardian gaped as she stared at her ruler as the ones behind her started. What was she thinking?! She couldn't face this demon alone yet it seemed she was firm on doing so. What was her plan? To get killed?! Sian froze letting the chilled wind cause her cloak to flutter lightly.
Hitomi saw that the forest warrior would no longer try to advance and brought her attention back to the demon ahead of her. Through the shadows concealing the creature's face the seeress could see a pair of ice blue eyes gleaming at her. Frowning Hitomi thought of Kusari and Kaosu. Their identical eyes shone in her mind brightly. This woman's eyes were a perfect match with the twin angels making Dornkirk's story about this lady to seem true,… but was it?
Brushing off the question the 'Angel' studied her adversary as she did the same. A growing tension began to form between them sending a shaky suspense in time as the group waited for one to speak.
It was their enemy that broke the silence. In a throaty female voice the demon hissed, "So… I have finally found you, Hitomi Kazanki Fanel, 'Seeress of the Mystic Moon'… Though you show off a bit of power at the moment, I must say I'm disappointed. I thought you would be more powerful according to the stories I've heard from my sons and their father."
Hitomi's brow furrowed as white eyes studied the woman silently. In a low and steady voice the seeress asked, "So what Dornkirk said was true… You are Kusari and Kaosu's mother…"
Gasps sounded behind the seeress at the remark and caused the demon to smile wickedly as she snarled like an animal, "You are correct. I did bear both of them years ago before I was killed in the 'Great War' along with several Zaibach soldiers."
"How can that be possible?!" Nembus cried from the sidelines, "It's physically impossible for Dornkirk to have created sons in his age!"
The demon woman glanced at the soldier for a moment before bringing an ebony claw to her hood. Slowly the dark follower pulled back the garment revealing her twisted face of scale and skin. If it weren't for the deformity of the dark patches covering her face the woman might have been considered quite beautiful. Her hair was of cold sunshine that came down to her shoulders with sharp eyes of blue ice to go with her rigid demeanor. She looked a lot like her blonde son except for the black patches. Smirking the woman hissed darkly, "When Zaibach was reaching its prime in power Dornkirk was growing very old and knew he would die in years to come, if not by the hands of his enemies, but by old age so he decided he wanted an heir to finish out his goals for revenge. Unfortunately he was too old to bring forth a child so scientists decided they could clone him a descendant. The only thing was that they needed a woman to impregnate with his provided DNA to bring forth the heir. Dornkirk did not want someone like Dilandau as his son to say the least. He wanted a child who was created with true blood-filled genes, not scientifically created ones. They began a search of all female Zaibach soldiers who would volunteer to be the bearing of his child."
Closing her blue eyes the woman sneered, "It was great honor to bear the emperor's child and many offered themselves, though there were limited women in the army for the position, however, Lord Dornkirk chose me. I guess he found my beauty appealing and thus they injected me with his DNA and I became a mother. I bore both into the world proudly years before the war and soon they went into a secret military camp to begin their training--"
"You mean brain-washing!" Hitomi snapped angrily causing everyone to jump.
The demon stared at the seeress for a moment before growling, "Perhaps you would see it that way, but to us we created perfect soldiers willing ready to finish whatever their father didn't. When their father and I died in the 'Great War' both of them were still in the secret camp with a small percentage of the remaining Zaibach army. Over the following years our sons regrouped the scattered soldiers of our mighty kingdom and went to finish what they had been taught to do. They went to gain revenge for their father and so they went after you, seeress."
Hitomi continued to frown as she whispered, "So that is the story between Dornkirk's blood-relationship to them… That explains a lot… Though so much remains to be hidden in the shadows…"
In a graceful sweep the Zaibach soldier of old went into a fighting stance and bared her fangs like a wild dog, "Now I come in the name of my sons' father to finish what all three of them died trying to do."
Sian's eyes of silver narrowed at the offensive posture and took a step to take on the enemy, but a firm glare from Hitomi stopped her feet from moving. The young queen glanced at the other two guardians warning them with her emerald eyes to stay exactly where they were. The forest maiden took her bow carefully in her hands and played with the golden thread with her fingers tensely. Her body was itching for a fight and the fighter within her was screaming at her to protect her queen. Tentatively the war angel took a small step in the direction of the royal woman.
Hitomi's head snapped around at Sian's movement and she firmly stated, "Stay back, Sian. This is my fight."
The green warrior locked her jaws in agitation. She hated to be deprived of a battle especially one that looked so great a challenge. In the back of her mind she noticed how the other two guardians were just as tense with desire for battle, but they all had strong wills and kept their positions. With the silver and gold bow still clutched in her pale hand the 'Guardian of the Forest' waited for the battle to begin.
The seeress turned away from her friends then and carefully adjusted her feet spreading them out slightly. Her hands became two tight fists ready to fly into war as emeralds narrowed on the dark warrior before her. Again a war surged in the young queen. Her two sides both shouted in her mind demanding to be heard. The fighter within her was commanding her to fight the enemy and claim victory while her other more logically side was telling her she should step aside and allow Sian or the others battle. Hitomi was, after all, pregnant and in no condition to fight this being. Besides what if she messed up; she was no warrior, but neither was her opponent.
Grinding her teeth together the 'Angel' felt the fighter within her win. She didn't want her friends to get hurt on her account and if that meant battling this she-demon then so be it. With a shout Hitomi's wings beat fiercely making her fly through the air at her adversary. In the same moment the demon woman was airborne and the fight was on!
They rushed each other at first growling at each other as they did. The Zaibach lady quickly formed a small black-purple orb in one hand and tossed it at the seeress with perfect aim. Hitomi went to do the same to counter, but her hand came up empty shocking her. Looking up from her empty palm the seeress noticed the dark comet whizzing towards her and swiftly dodged the attack just in time. The ebony sphere hit the ground with crashing thunder causing the world to shake momentarily and bellow with smoke. The two women passed each other and turned around in mid-air stopping their flight. Without wasting time the demon maiden brought her hands side-by-side in front of her and formed a large ball of darkness the size of a four basketballs. With a cry the orb was released and went flying in a hiss. Hitomi tried once again to form the familiar ball of white light, but failed. This time the royal angel could not avoid the attack and with a painful thud the globe struck the maiden square in the chest. Anguish crackled through Hitomi's bones suddenly and she felt as if electricity was running through her veins. Invisible needles began to stick into her flesh drawing out the horrible torment with a cry. The beautiful seeress threw back her head at the sudden blow and gave such a scream that the strongest man would have begged for the torture to stop.
Van felt his heart shatter at the sight of his beloved being shot down from the sky. Black lightning encircled the seeress as she fell causing her body to rattle in pain. Though it was beautiful the scene was bone chilling at the same time. With a loud crash the angel queen fell to the ground sending up a soft cloud of whiteness. Hitomi weakly opened her eyes and found herself on her side. Her first thought was for her child. Was it alright?… For a moment Hitomi remained still waiting for movement to come from her swollen stomach. After a full minute, which seemed like a full year, a soft kick erupted from inside her causing a wave of relief to run over her. As long as her unborn was all right she didn't care if she had four cracked ribs and was bleeding to death.
Aching all over Hitomi rose onto one arm and one knee struggling to her feet with great difficulty. Luckily for her she had escaped serious injury with just a few bruised ribs and few small cuts, though it felt worse. Getting onto her feet the maiden turned her eyes back to the sky wondering where her opponent was. The vast blue was clear of dark shadows making Hitomi slightly nervous. Where was she?…
Automatically the seeress opened her senses looking for the familiar presence of the demon woman closing her eyes silently. The awareness was soon discovered with little trouble causing Hitomi's emeralds to snap open at the location. Before the angel queen could move she felt a swell of power come screeching towards her from behind. Desperately the 'Angel' beat her wings barely evading the large comet that crashed where Hitomi once stood. A small crater became the desolate spot marking the strength of the dark lady. Growling in frustration the seeress swirled around to meet the dark one, but frown in surprise when she saw no sign of the ebony beast.
Merle hugged her brother's arm tightly as she bit her lower lip in concern for her sister-in-law and dear friend. She could feel her brother's shudders at the moments Hitomi came into close contact with further attacks.
Nembus snorted in frustration at being unable to locate the enemy, "How can this demon be so fast?! Not even Dornkirk had been this quick!"
The giant beside the shorter warrior squeezed his eyes shut in concentration growling with equal annoyance, "Yes, but you can tell she's not much of a fighter. Her form is rather sloppy, and she's playing with Queen Hitomi. A true fighter would have gone straight to the kill if they could and Queen Hitomi has given her several opportunities already."
In front of the two male guardians stood the green female listening only to half of their words as she observed the battle. Sian's skin twitched with desire to be let in the fray, but with great effort her feet stayed planted to the earth. Grinding her teeth the forest maiden eyed their surroundings scanning for any type of movement. This demon enjoyed playing cat and mouse it seemed and was doing an excellent job of it.
Glancing at her queen Sian noticed Hitomi kept turning towards random directions. The guardian realized the seeress was locating the demon a moment to late. Every time Hitomi would find the demon and turn towards her the dark woman would be gone. Frowning the war angel began to also notice the demon's presence and began to follow her movement carefully. Sian smirked as she began to recognize a pattern in the creature's locations. Sharply the guard's silver eyes narrowed at a certain spot waiting for the arrival for the demon. In seconds a shadow appeared in the sky unseen by all except the green one. Sian was about to look towards the next spot in the pattern, but was stopped when she saw the demon's hand glow darkly.
Growling the guardian knew what was about to happen. The woman was about to attack again! Without even thinking or mentioning her discovery to the others Sian released her pearly wings causing everyone nearby to start. Baring her teeth and holding her bow tightly in one pale hand Sian flew swiftly towards her mistress. Nembus gaped at the fleeting form of his best friend and shouted, "SIAN!"
The winged warrior didn't listen though as her eyes of hard metal focused on the attacker above. By now Hitomi had finally located the demon's position and was turning around to face her, but too slow for already a large ball of energy had formed in the demon's hands. The orb of blackness grew and grew until its size was nearly that of a small room! Ebony lightning shattered over the sphere crackling in power as it was lifting over the demon's head. It was at this moment that everyone noticed the demon and the supreme danger glaring down at their queen. They gaped in fright at the power radiating from the growing attack. Only a few more seconds and the terrible mass of destruction would be released.
The group that had remained on the sidelines far too long jumped into action and barreled through the rubble in a frenzy to reach their queen. The angels released their wings and hollered out the royal's name. Unfortunately none would be able to reach her in time leaving their soul hope on the shoulders of Sian. Though the distance between her and her mistress were only twenty yards it might have been a mile, for Sian felt she was going far too slow. Every second count and she tried desperately to use each one to her fullest. Her pearly wings stretched as far out as possible and her rhythm quickened to its max, but still she was too slow. In the corner of her eyes she had seen the release of the sphere and knew it was faster than her. To others she was like a snowy blur shooting through the air. Their hopes began to grow higher, but soon plummeted when they saw how fast the black sphere was going. It didn't look good for either of the noble women.
Hitomi's deep pupils began to reflect the purple darkness that shone in the sky. In that moment the world stopped. Though the ball of death continued to descend from above towards the seeress the rest of her surroundings fell away from her. Emerald eyes were transfixed on the orb and her mind could focus on nothing else. Time became irrelevant to her as she was frozen where she was. Her mind had shut down in fear and nothing would seem to bring her back…
Suddenly it was over. It's hard to say exactly what occurred in the last moments, but after the attack made contact a large explosion erupted sending earth, snow, and light in all directions. Cries of astonishment along with only half-distinguishable names sounded with the noise mingling with the loud blast. Once the dust settled a large crater had been carved into the ground leaving nothing behind. The group at first thought their friends were no more and their hearts stopped, but soon they caught sight of a heap laying a few yards away from the hole in the ground.
Hitomi blinked several times trying to realize where she was. She tried to rise off her back, but somebody lied over her holding her to the ground by their weight. Grunting weakly the seeress pushed the figure off her letting the being slide to the earth beside her. Aching all over Hitomi rose into an awkward sitting position (because of her pregnancy) and turn to look down at the person beside her. The queen's eyes grew wide in horror as they saw the forest guardian lying in the dirt. Sian's eyes were closed shut squeezing tightly as she battled the pain going through her body. If she had not been trained so well she would have been crying helplessly, but with her sheer willpower no crystal droplets formed. Half of her body was covered in blood while the other half look fairly dirty with dust and bruises. Lines of scarlet dripped from a fleshy head wound buried somewhere in her dark locks. Gashes were cut deep into her skin all down her right upper arm while crimson became the color of her skin. The green material of her clothes was still intact, but now there were several more rips and tears added to the already damaged attire from previous battles. Her cloak had been singed quite bad leaving only half of it to remain including the hood. Somehow her legs had escaped the tortures all together without a bruise to be discovered, however, Sian's wings didn't fair as well. One was severely sprained and blotted with pink feathers here and there. The other pearly wing was mostly just bruised up, but because of the other it was obvious she wouldn't be flying for a while.
As Hitomi stared down at her friend she felt the familiar burning sensation start in her chest enveloping her heart. Emotions flew through her mind become a clash within her that she could not decipher. She did feel the rage burning in her. Images of the past flashed before her eyes. The time Folken had died… the day her grandfather had died saving her… When Resshi had taken a blow to save her… When Van had sacrificed himself for her life… Again and again people had suffered so she would not… All her life people had done things for her so she would never feel torments and death. Lives had ended because of her from the beginning of the 'Great War' and still more fell. Like prophecy had spoken blood had stained her hands from their deaths, not just the death of her people, but also the deaths of the one who had suffered in her stead. All because of her… her… She was the one responsible for it all… and that knowledge sent a rage through her that she had never known; even the times when the same feeling had erupted in her blood it had never felt so powerful!
Hitomi felt herself go over the edge of some unknown crevice and step over an important threshold. The moment she was on the other side a new feeling plagued her chest -- pain. It felt like a thousand knives were piercing her in the chest digging their way to her heart. Her pale hands flew over her heart as her blood pounded in her ears. An agonizing throb began to tear in her flesh making the seeress scream in anguish. Salty tears spilled from her closed eyes and her body, still kneeling, hunched over. Brown locks fell around her face hiding her facial expression of torment. Sweat mingled with her tears and dampened her face. Her jawbones grinded together as her breaths came out in sharp hisses through her clenched teeth. The pearly wings behind her twitched every so often in rhythm to her painful breathing.
Merle and Van were suddenly at her side showing that they had arrived unnoticed by her because of the distracting pain engulfing her body. The young king knelt before her and took her shoulders in his firm hands trying to steady her jerky movements of convulsion. Urgently he asked, "Hitomi! What is it?!"
Her emerald eyes snapped open for a moment before shutting close again. In a gasping voice she cried, "Pain--… in the chest--… it hurts--…"
Hitomi hunched over even tighter making herself almost into a ball as a new wave of intensity went through her pores. Her husband watched helpless as his beloved struggled with an internal battle he could not assist in. Van glanced over at the rest looking for help. Nembus was hunched over Sian checking her injuries carefully with a blank face. Zaado with his wings still out towered over them with his trained eyes of blue-gray watching the figure of darkness flying in the sky. Turning back to his spouse he saw Merle desperately trying to soothe the woman of destiny by rubbing her arm and whispering a few soft words, "It'll be over in a minute, Hitomi. Just hang on a little longer."
The young cat-girl's words though could have been screams and the seeress would not have heard them. The pain was so excruciating that all Hitomi could focus upon was that alone. Both of the noble siblings noticed the woman had not heard and glanced at one another in concern. What was happening to their dear Hitomi?
Sian struggled against the torment inflicted on her body and slowly opened her eyes. Even that small bit of movement caused a new wave of pain to flow through her flesh. Her silver jewels looked up into black bottomless ones. Sian could fell a pair of strong arms holding her up in a sitting position and knew Nembus held her. Grunting slightly from her pain the green guardian forced herself to sit up on her owns and felt the arms of her companion fall away. Looking up she noticed the giant warrior looming nearby as he glared up into the sky. Smirking the woman looked over at her best friend meeting a confused gaze before grunting painfully, "Nembus,… go…"
The warrior frowned at his close friend in confusion and asked, "What do you mean 'go,' Sian?"
Wincing slightly the brunette maiden of war grunted, "Go finish that wench… I'll be fine…"
Both of the male fighters started surprised to see such fire still in the friend after such a horrible attack. It only showed how strong Sian could be. Smirking devilishly the giant angel looked up into the sky once again, "Of course, kid. I would never turn down a worthy battle."
Nembus rose from his feet with a final glance at Sian before saying, "Yes, let us finish this."
Zaado gave a swift nod before beating his large wings behind him. In moments he was airborne with Nembus close behind him. The remaining people of the group (with the exception of Hitomi) watched them go with pride knowing they would give a good fight to protect them. After a few moments Sian pulled her wings back into her back flinching in pain as she did so and crawled over to her rulers and Merle. The White Dragon moved back a little to allow Sian to approach Hitomi and also retracted his wings to give more room. The green soldier roughly took the convulsing woman's shoulders doing all she could to stop her jerky movements and nearly shouted, "Hitomi! Hear me, Hitomi!"
There was no response from the royal woman as she continued to cry out in pain. Sian's eyes of silver filled with concern as again she tried to reach her mistress, "Hitomi, what hurts?!"
For a moment no words came from the young queen making them all think she had not heard the woman's words, but soon their suspicions were shattered when they heard Hitomi gasp out in a small, painful voice, "My heart… my heart hurts…"
A deep dread ran down the forest angel's spine as she assumed she knew what it was. Carefully Sian asked with a low voice, "How does it hurt? What does it feel like?"
Taking a moment to scream out before answering the hurting woman replied in a strangled voice, "It feels like a thousand… burning knives… stabbing into my heart… It burns like fire from Hell…"
Her stomach began to feel like a stone in water as Sian stared at her dear friend and queen. Urgently the guardian asked, "Has it ever felt like this before?!"
Hitomi gave a painful nod as she remained hunched over, "But it's never hurt this bad… The other times weren't even half of what this feels…"
The world reeled beneath the war woman as terrible realization struck her. She had suspected this was happening to Hitomi after watching the images in the ice room. Now she was certain and the horrible reality was too great to bear. Desperately the angel warrior clung to her mistress's shoulders and shouted with deep sorrow, "Fight it, Hitomi! You must fight it!"
~~~ In the Sky ~~~
The two male guardians finally came to a halt hovering a few yards away from the dark woman. She just sneered at them as she watched them lift their weapons, "Is your queen so weak that you must come and finish her work?"
Nembus growled angrily at the demon's insult, "No, she's just too great to lower herself to killing such a pathetic enemy."
Fire sparked in the woman's cold blue eyes and a roar escaped her dead lips in rage. In seconds an ebony flame swirled in her right palm forming a sword of smoke. Before long dark metal appeared in the haze showing off the lady's weapon. With a snarl she lifted the blade to smite down her opponent, but the armored angel easily brought up his own blade to deflect the blow. It didn't take long for the fight to start, but no one knew how long it would last.
~~~ Remains of the Ice Room ~~~
Hitomi fell backwards with her hands still clutching her chest. Van swiftly caught her before she hit the ground and soon her convulsions started again. The young cat-girl whimpered in distress for her dear sister-in-law praying for her to live. The seeress screamed out again in pain shaking so bad that Van had trouble stilling her. Sian drew in closer studying the queen carefully for signs of Hitomi's progress. Was her mistress winning the battle within her?… Or was she falling to its will?…
"LOOK!" Merle's voice cried through the warrior's questions. Sian, along with Van, stared at what the cat was pointing at. Both of their eyes grew wide as they focused their vision on Hitomi's wings. Gradually the two pearly gifts were deepening in color, into a light gray… soon her wings became a near solid gray…
"BLAST!" Sian shouted as she turned back to her queen. Van looked up at the guardian with concern flashing in his eyes.
Urgently the man asked, "What is it, Sian?! What's happening to Hitomi?!"
Unfortunately the green maiden was too busy to answer his questions and was forced to ignore his cries. Sian took Hitomi's face roughly into her two pale palms and shook it almost violently as she shouted, "Open your eyes, Hitomi! Open them!"
The seeress snapped her eyes open and focused on her guard with a wild look in her emeralds. Sian ignored this sparkle of life in the forest green eyes of her mistress and shouted, "You must not fight it, Hitomi! It's too late to fight it! Submit to it! You can't stop it now! Allow it to take over! You'll die fighting it if you don't!"
Both of Van and Merle's heads snapped up to look at the guardian in shock at this new information. Sian ignored this, though, knowing this was not the time. Grasping hold of her ruler's shoulders again the injured woman continued to cry out, "Don't fight it, Hitomi! Submit! Submit to it!"
~~~ In the Sky ~~~
Nembus flew backwards after being kicked in the chest. Grunting the man beat his wings to slow his descent and begin a vertical climb back to the fight. His black eyes narrowed on the female fighter. Clutching the hilt of his sword in his hand the man quicken his pace. Zaado above swung his ax several times in perfect arches, but she was quick dodging the attacks nimbly though with a bit of effort. Growling in frustration the giant brought his weapon in a vertical cut making the demon fly to one side just a fraction of a second to spare. Zaado smirked knowingly. He had her! With a twirl of his great fists the blades of his ax head came into a horizontal line with one edge facing the demon woman with only three feet between them.
Her eyes widen seconds before the swing came and struck her flesh. It didn't cut clean through though for Zaado didn't get enough momentum in the swing to cut through her spinal column. The demon looked down at her midsection to see the silver blade sticking halfway into her flesh with black blood dripping over the forged metal. Instinctively she reached out to remove the protruding weapon letting her blade fall from her hand, but was too weak to do so. She instead brought her eyes up to glare at her killer as blood of darkness dripped from her lips.
Zaado smirked as a magical wind swirled around him. Slowly cream lines swirled on his brow and ax head forming the Draconian crest twice. Shouting in victory glowing lines ran over the demon woman's body like she was glass. Just before her figure became completely covered by them she growled, "Blast you!"
There was sudden blast of light and then she was gone leaving nothing behind, but the blood on his weapon. Zaado's smirk disappeared as Nembus rose to eye level with him. Gracefully the giant brought his ax back to his side as he stared down the younger guard. Nembus smirked as he sheathed his sword with eyes still trained on his elder. Chuckling lightly the youth replied, "I must say, Zaado, that was done quite nicely, but did you have to take that long."
The giant's eyes narrowed angrily as he growled, "If I remember correctly you didn't seem able to take out the demon yourself."
That did it. That was a blow to a warrior's pride. Nembus snarled at his older travel companion, "Watch it, old man! You best keep your place."
Zaado snorted, "Enough of your whining, child. We need to see to our queen and to your friend."
With that the giant dove for the planet below not giving the younger male to complain again. Nembus folded his arms across his chest as the man left his presence. He knew he was right, but his temper was still on fire making his pride battle with his logic. After a moment his anger simmered and he followed the elder ready to help in any way he could.
~~~ Remains of the Ice Room ~~~
Finally Hitomi went limp in her husband's arms to Sian's relief. Sighing heavily the fighter fell back into a comfortable sitting position. Using her good arm to lean back against Sian brought her weak hand to her face. Carefully to keep from spreading her blood all over her she thought of what happen. She was certain she knew what had happen to her mistress… yes, she was sure of it,… but she wish it hadn't happen…
The woman heard her fellow guardians touch down behind her and she glanced over her shoulder at them. They both were in good condition neither sporting any serious wounds or bruises. It had been a quick, clean fight that had been easily won. It didn't really surprise her. The demon was probably one of the weakest fighters that Dornkirk had. She didn't suspect that he had really wanted to kill all of them just yet or he would be here enjoying their suffering. There was something else he had planned for them, but why had he sent one of his demons to die then?… It didn't make sense… Why waste a soldier?…
Sian felt several pairs of eyes on her and looked up to see everyone staring at her with the exception of Hitomi who was still weak from her ordeal and was resting with closed eyes. She knew they wanted an answer and that they knew she had it, but it was so hard to force it out…
~~~ An Hour Later ~~~
Sian refused to speak until Hitomi woke up feeling she had best know along with the others. While the young queen had been unconscious the fighters had tended to their wounds. It was Sian who needed the most attention, which she got easily from her best friend. When he started to clean her wounds and bandage them she gave quite a fuss for being treating as a child. The armored one just laughed lightly at her angry glare while he finished dressing her wounds. Finally the seeress's eyes had opened and the group formed a circle. Hitomi was still slightly weak and because her husband was so stubborn Van held her as they talked. All eyes fell on the green maiden waiting for the explanation of this mystery.
Sian sighed heavily before beginning; "I really didn't suspect it at first until a while ago when we saw the images in the ice room. It was only because of those images that I knew what was happening."
"Which was?" Van asked in a dreading voice.
Sian closed her eyes sadly as she said, "Hitomi and the powers of Joutei have merged."
"What?!" exclaimed the two male warriors as they jumped to their feet in shock. The others just simply frowned completely lost in confusion.
Nembus had a wild look on his face, "How can you be sure, Sian?!"
"Think about it" she replied sharply, "You saw the images in the last room. You know what the last one meant."
Zaado frowned, as did Nembus while they both thought heavily. Quietly the giant spoke, "Well yes, but how can you be sure it has already occurred."
"What do you mean?" Hitomi interrupted confused, "What vision are you talking about?"
Sian glanced over at her queen and replied, "The one where you are swallowed by the crimson pool."
~~~ Flashback ~~~
The liquid crawled up her thighs and soon her lower body was lost in the ripples of crimson. The seeress felt as if her soul was being attacked. Pain engulfed her chest burning like hot metal. She felt as if her heart was an inferno bulging within her nerves. Explosions of pain went off in every pore of her body sending new waves of anguish through her frail form. The deep red liquid swirled over her chest and slowly inched its way up the seeress's slim neck while it flowed over her arms. Hitomi went to scream, but the pain caught in her throat locking down her calls. Her silky hair grew sticky with the red substance as it ran over the back of her head leaving only her face visible. The queen's eyes were sparkling with fear as the liquid finally enveloped the last of her leaving only pain and anguish in its wake. Then the world went black…
~~~ End of Flashback ~~~
The seeress frowned in remembrance of the vulgar vision and said, "But I had that visions years ago also."
The three guardians' faces started and stared at the woman. Sian's silver eyes grew wide as she asked in a low voice, "When?"
Hitomi grew nervous at the sound of the guardian's voice, but didn't let her own voice waver, "The first time I saw something like it when I discovered a doppelganger during the 'Great War,' but then the pool had been silver. The second time I saw it just before I died in the 'Sacrifice' when I was using the pendant to bring back everyone from the dead who were from the Mystic Moon."
Zaado shared a disturbed glance with Nembus while Sian swallowed a lump in her throat, "The first vision with the doppelganger was probably only a warning, but the second one… Hitomi, do you remember if you ever sealed the 'Power of Atlantis' back up after you brought everyone back from the dead in the 'Sacrifice?'"
Slowly the 'Angel' thought back to a year ago when she had died…
~~~ Memory ~~~
Without any more hesitation the seeress pulled open the ancient door releasing the great swell of red energy. Once the door opened the light of crimson surged out in a thunder pushing the ancient door completely open and striking the brunette angel sharply. Hitomi gave a small cry as she was tossed aside by the power and landed sharply on the white floor.
Emerald eyes that sparkled with life widened as she the light filled the vast whiteness. It was beautiful!...The light stuck through the area in the forms of billions of red beams, sort of like what happens in a light show. Once the light had exited its container it twisted and swirled in the air in hundreds of graceful designs. The girl smiled sadly as the red illumination reflected in her ebony pupils. It was beautiful... Yet deadly...
As the 'Angel' watched the powers swirled she thought, 'This is it... I have gone through so much to finally reach this moment... There's no turning back from here... I can only pray that I am able to complete my true task..."
Just as the thoughts left her mind suddenly the light fell from the sky in a twinkling rain and formed a red liquid on the white ground. Without warning the power swam towards the seeress in tiny rivers of crimson and swirled around her ankles. Fear ran through the girl as she watched the liquid creep up her feet and make its way up her pale legs. It reminded her of a previous vision from many years ago, the one where she had confronted a doppelganger and had been overcome by silver goo that had suffocated her nearly to death. The same was happening here... except this time the liquid was a scarlet of death...
There was little time left the 'Angel' knew. Hitomi didn't have the strength to fight her attacker and to complete her task within the same time limit unfortunately. Closing her eyes of green depths the girl lifted her pale hands to the white sky as her white wings stretched out to their full length. Clenching her teeth together the girl decided she would just have to hope she could finish her duty before death stole her soul away. With a small cry the 'Angel of Gaea' took hold of the strong powers of her people and started her task.
In the blink of an eye Hitomi found herself in front of a set of golden gates. The twisted pair of metal doors was decorated in diamonds and was at least three stories high and about ten feet wide. Though the girl barely understood where she was Hitomi now stood at the gates of Heaven. Stretching her hands to the golden gate red light streak from the seeress's red palms. The red light swirled like smoke as it stretched towards the gleaming metal. Once the scarlet gas brushed up against the gates they became chains and latched themselves onto the gold metal. Already sweat brimmed the angel woman's brow, but she ignored it. She had to do this! She had to complete her destiny! The red liquid that was trying to kill her had reached her hips and still continuing its attacks on the frail body of the seeress. The sands of time were against her, but she had to do this before she died!
The Power of Atlantis roared angrily and a wind picked up like a hurricane causing the seeress's golden locks and torn clothes to flutter in the rage of air. The girl glared at the gates as she struggled to open the beautiful passage, but it wouldn't budge. She was so weak from the tortures on her physical body that she could barely open the metal doors. Hitomi frowned not willing to give up. If she had been able to open the ancient door containing the great powers of her people than she could surely open the golden gates of Heaven!
The girl silently prayed as she struggled with the stubborn metal doors, "Joutei, please help me..."
Suddenly new energy flowed through the angel's veins and with a loud growl Hitomi opened the glorious gates. Once the doors opened billions of white glowing spirits were released out into the world around her. The red chains crumbled away to the ground and the girl hunched over weakly as the crimson liquid flowed over her chest. Hitomi began to sink into the ground and the liquid crept over her body faster. Although her end was near the girl let loose her senses and felt the billions of souls that soared through the white sky as a sort of reward to herself. She enjoyed seeing her people being able to enjoy their lives and felt her guilty conscious for their death fade away. Hitomi smiled at what she had done and was finally swallowed completely into the liquid...
~~~ End of Memory ~~~
"No" Hitomi said quietly fearful for Sian's reaction. The poor angel warrior closed her eyes in defeat.
Quietly she whispered, "It's even worse than I thought…"
"What do you mean?!" Van demanded growing very impatient with these poor explanations.
Remaining with eyes closed Sian began, "I've had that vision before along with all the other guardians. You see, when we were given our positions as sacred guardians for Gaea we were bestowed special powers by Joutei himself."
Still standing silently Nembus said, "Each one of us was given an enchanted weapon never before seen on this planet, but we were also given powers of our own. Nothing extremely powerful like what Joutei or Lady Hitomi has, but still rather strong. When we were given those powers centuries ago our bodies merged with our powers."
"Merged?" Hitomi frowned in confusion, "I've heard the expression before on the Mystic Moon, but what exactly do you mean?"
Zaado stepped forward also contributing to the conversation, "Our powers and our souls became one. There no longer became a line that divided the two, but became a single being. Without our soul our powers are nothing. If we would die one day our powers would cease to exist and no one could ever take them from our corpses. Some beings' powers continue to exist even after their death; for example the unicorns. The unicorns take their powers from their horns. After they die the horn becomes a container for the creature's powers allowing anyone to take the horn and use the powers within it, but with us our powers simple extinguish along with our soul. The situation is usually common to any creature with powers."
"There is a downfall to this though," replied Nembus sorrowfully, "Our powers do not regenerate very quickly because of the large amount we have. It takes several weeks to fully regain your measure of powers. Usually when you born with powers they can regenerate in less than a day, but when you place powers within you that merge to your soul your regeneration slows."
Merle snorted catching the attention of the group, "So? What's the big deal about that?"
Nembus frowned at the cat-girl's rudeness and was about to make a comment about it when Sian cut him off with a sad voice, "The 'big deal,' Lady Merle, is that without our powers we have no souls."
Emeralds grew wide as Hitomi realized before anyone else what she meant. Turning very slowly the seeress stared at the guardian as Sian continued, "If I was too use all my powers at once or over a very short period of time the results would be my death. I cannot survive without my powers, for they have become part of me."
The catty advisor cocked her head to one side in thought, "So how this connects with Hitomi?"
Wincing slightly from her pain Sian stepped over to her queen and knelt down before her. The guardian looked her mistress in the eyes and knew automatically that Hitomi knew what she was about to explain. Quietly the war angel spoke with sorrow lodged in her words, "Hitomi… I should have known that you would meld with the powers Joutei gave you. Usually the process take several years, but it can be sped up when a being uses the powers, that's why you have been feeling pain when using them. They were slowly becoming part of you…"
Silently the seeress bowed her head knowing already the dangers of this merge, but her eyes suddenly snapped back to the guardian when she heard the woman continue quietly, "It's bad enough you have merged with Joutei's powers, but… now I'm certain that you have also merged with the power of Atlantis…"
"What?…" the queen whispered in shock, "How can that be possible?…"
Sian closed her eyes in deep thought, "It's hard to say… You have used the pendant on more than one occasion so I've heard, but so have other royal Draconians. Why you have only one to merge with the pendant and how I have no idea. I cannot even begin to guess, but it seems that you are now able to dip into three wells of powers…"
"Three?" Van asked as he continued to hold his wife to his chest.
"Yes" Sian nodded to the king, "One is the powers of Joutei, the second is the powers of Atlantis, and the third is her own powers born from birth. When the powers of the Draconians had been placed in the pendant only the royals had been the few angels allowed to keep their powers so they could rule over their people and protect everyone if the danger should arise."
"So what do we do?" Hitomi asked quietly wondering about the dangers.
Sian sadly hung her head, "There is nothing to be done. No one can reverse a merge such as this. This is permanent. The only way to relieve yourself of this distress is if Joutei himself would separate the powers once again, but there is no way we can get to him now. We don't even know where he is. We must be careful at all costs. You have already used a great deal of your powers, Hitomi. Your wings prove that."
The young seeress took a moment to glance at her wings. They were now a soft gray; marking how much Hitomi had gone through already. Her emerald eyes gazed at the spectacular items thoughtfully. Over the last few days she had been using great amounts of powers. Each time she had dipped into her sources the powers had latched on to her soul. Ever so slowly her soul mingled with the powers of Joutei and now she was one with it. There was no separation between her essence and Joutei's powers. They were now two fibers twirled together in one thread forever to be a single being. She had been stretching herself the last few days. She had thought the powers given to her were endless, but now she knew otherwise. Sooner or later she would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. When her sources would run dry she would suffer and probably die,… but how was that possible?… If it was true that she had melded with the 'Powers of Atlantis' why was she growing weak?… She thought the pendant's powers were bottomless… for they were constructed in a flow that would forever loop. If that was so why did she feel so weak… so tired… Did the powers of her people also have to regenerate?… During the 'Sacrifice' the powers had never weaken, but as she now searched deep within her she could feel a lack of strength emitting from her… Something just wasn't right… It didn't make sense… If she could regenerate why did feel like her power level was continuing to drop…
Closing her eyes Hitomi carefully studied the powers flowing within her. Before she had been able to feel three individual patterns, like three streams, but now she felt only one roaring river crashing through her body. It screamed in her ears shouting its strength to all, but for some reason it sounded quiet to her… She was still growing weak,… but why?… Her power level wasn't dropping extremely fast; it was just gradually descending almost at an unnoticeable rate…
Sian studied her queen discreetly watching how she had closed her eyes for a moment. The ancient woman narrowed her eyes as she let her senses be released. Very softly Sian's powers brushed up against Hitomi's studying her carefully. Frowning slightly the guardian checked over the essence of her queen. Yes, she felt it also. She could feel all three different powers in a single source. Her level of power seemed to be a rather safe level,… but wait!… Something wasn't right…
Sian closed her eyes of silver to better concentrate and then she felt it. Hitomi's powers were dropping. The guardian's eyes snapped back open in shock just as the seeress opened her soft emeralds. The two old friends caught each other's eyes and they stared at each other both knowing what was wrong though the rest were ignorant to the fact. Hitomi was dying…
~Yep, I know I'm evil for leaving it there, but it was just a perfect cliffhanger. What's going to happen next? Will Hitomi continue with the quest even with her life on the line? Of course! But how will the others feel and what about the other four guardians?! In the next chapter a serious event occurs that changes everything for the group. Are the changes going to be for the good or the bad? Who knows? I do, but I'm not telling!~
~Next chapter should be out by next Thurs. Sorry, but I got a job and its taking a lot of my free time away. I'll try to hurry with the next chapter. I've been waiting to write this part of the story. From here on out it gets very, very interesting!!!~
~*coughs loudly* I'm just going to say it one time and I'm not going to beg *shouts crazily* PLEASE REVIEW!!!~
~Sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth waiting for. Tell me what you think~
The Fate of Two Worlds: The Sequel
By Angel_Wings
Chapter 13 ~ The Merge
~Ice Cave~
The shards of beautiful dark ice sparkled as they fell, but no one look upon the wondrous display with any emotion other than fear. The cold daggers flew down at them in a roar making their hearts stop. Van automatically reached for Merle and hunched over her to protect his dear sister. Nembus did the same with Sian surprising the green warrior while Zaado simple raised his arms over his head as a shield. Hitomi was the only one that was calm and still as the world crumbled around them.
For some unknown reason the seeress felt completely at ease-- at least her body was. Her mind, however, was screaming in terror as darkness rain down from above her head. Her colorless eyes stared at her enemy of ice in a cold-sweat knowing there was nothing to be done,… but there was something she could do… As the danger grew incredible close the destined angel raised her hands on reflex. Warmth swirled around her hands as the pale palms glowed white. Crying out as pain engulfed her chest the seeress released two comets of snowy power. The two orbs shrilled with wonder as they hit chunks of falling roof. Chunks of coldness became a show of fireworks as the ice exploded into soft dust. There was no time for another vole though and the rest of the roof crashed down.
Van removed his arms from overhead to see why hadn't the cave roof fallen on them. Looking up the raven royal saw a cloudy blue sky staring down at him. What remained of the ice room now laid in ruins around him and the others. Chunks of ice now laid in shards on the ground no longer the color of empty blackness they once were. Snowflakes continued to fall from the sky, but it was a soft snowfall that showed only gentleness. Glancing around Van noticed the others also coming up to stand without a single injury marking them. His rubies gleamed in the sunlight as he looked at the area that the angels and cat stood in. Though all around them there were chunks of sharp pieces of ice in huge piles in the area the five of them stood in was completely empty of the dangerous items. The others looked at their surroundings in utter confusion wondering how it had been possible for them to come out of the event untouched. Looking away from them momentarily Van caught sight of the seeress in the exact spot she had last been seen in.
The shaft of white light had been extinguished a while ago when the room had first begun to crumble, yet Hitomi still stood in a sphere of mixing gold, red, and white colors. With here wings outstretched it made the maiden look all the more glorious except for the fact that her feathers were becoming duller with each minute. Hitomi's wings were still white, but slowly they were beginning to become a light gray only distinguishable when placed next to something white. With snow and pearly light surrounding the seeress it was hard not to see the grayness of her wings. With her back to the group none could tell much about the seeress making the situation become very suspenseful.
Nembus lent a hand to Sian and gratefully the maiden took it as she rose to her feet. Zaado and Merle also were on their feet in a matter of moments staring with the others at their queen in wonder. Hitomi stood in a glory of power that swelled around her, but in her mind she was lost…
~Vision~
The seeress stood in the familiar black void listening to the silence. Though her surroundings were dark and dim she was not. She glowed in golden fire while she stood in the center of the vastness. Her now emerald eyes stared straight in front of her as she let her mind churn in thought.
What was happening to her? She felt as if her soul were a flame that was slowly burning her into nothing. Each time she used the strange powers contained within her the pain grew steadily worse… although the evidence completely confused her… If it was becoming more and more painful to use these strange powers why was she able to use them longer?… Last time when she fought Ana she had barely been able to attack her for more then two minutes before she went back to normal and then when she had fought Dornkirk she had been able to hold up for a while longer… Now she still stood with the power still flowing through her for over five minutes without the littlest sign of weakening, yet the pain was unbearable anguish. What was wrong?
"So seeress…" drawled a voice in the darkness, "How do you feel now when you know the lives of your comrades will end at a result of your failure?"
Hitomi locked her jaw in anger as she listened to the harsh words. Images of the past vision of her dead friends ran before her eyes in an instant before she growled in a low voice, "I will not listen to your deception, Dornkirk. I will never let that happen and you know it. I would die first before my friends ever did."
Somewhere in the shadows a chuckled sounded echoing deadly through the corners of the blackness, "Yes,… yes… I know all too well,… You see, oh seeress, when the time comes and we face one another you will fall, but for revenge for all you have done I will allow you to live… at least long enough to watch your friends die at my hands…"
The 'Angel' closed her eyes as she felt her sorrow take hold, but she refused to acknowledge the guilt for she could not show her enemy her weakness. Swallowing a choked sob Hitomi shouted, "Why don't you face me now, Dornkirk?! Are you frightened?! Scared of a young woman?!"
Soon a feeling of anger crackled in the air around her and Hitomi knew she had struck the right cord once she heard the man's growled reply, "Listen, seeress! I am Dornkirk! Once known as the man, Issac, and I fear no one! I am the most powerful being in the universe now, possible only second to Joutei!"
"Where is Joutei?!" the woman shouted at the mention of the god's name, "What have you done with him?!"
A low chuckle rang from her adversary, "Do not concern yourself with him now. He is in safe keeping where you will never think to look and if you dare to venture to his 'cell' you will find yourself also locked away for all can enter, but none can escape."
Hitomi grinded her teeth in frustration, "I never knew you were one for riddles, Dornkirk."
Another chuckle came before he snarled, "Well here's another for your earlier question. The only reasons that I have waited to face you, seeress, is because of two important things I'm waiting to happen."
Hitomi glanced in all directions of the darkness for a moment before asking quite simply, "Which are?"
Laughter echoed in the queen's pale ears for a moment deafening in its pitch, but soon it dwindled down back to the familiar chuckle. With great amusement the dark emperor said, "You're pretty demanding for a woman who should fear me."
Hitomi smirked humorously, "I don't fear anyone, least of all you, Dornkirk!"
Again the maiden had struck a chord and anger once again sizzled in the air before the man hidden in the darkness shouted angrily, "You might not fear me now, seeress, but once we face each other you will know fear, far worse than you can even imagine!"
The young woman could barely hold back her cringe as she heard the dark threat. Of course she had lied when she had said she did not fear him. That was such an empty lie. Dornkirk was the being she feared most of all. He had the power and the ability to destroy her and all she cared for. Her life wasn't really the problem of her fear, it was the fact of others dying along with her that sent chills of terror down her spine, but she would never let him know that or that would be the end.
"But I guess I'll be considerate for now" Dornkirk soon replied in a much calmer voice, "I will give you half of the answer to you. I wait for the last of the guardians to be drawn from hiding."
"Why are they so important?" Hitomi demanded with a scowl, "I thought I was all you were concerned with."
"Again you step out of your boundaries, seeress…" the fallen ruler growled in annoyance, "But I will give you your answer. I wait because I want you to suffer as much as possible. So the more lives brought to me to slaughter to greater your pain."
Hitomi frowned slightly at the reply, "I can see through your words, Dornkirk. There something else about the guardians you want. What is it?!"
Then there was silence in the void as the 'Girl from the Mystic Moon' tensely awaited an answer. For a moment Hitomi began to wonder if Dornkirk had possibly left, but soon the reply came, so low that she nearly missed it.
"You are sharp, seeress" came the dark voice of her greatest enemy, "Sharper than I have given you credit for. You are correct in saying that there is more, but for now you will be ignorant of that knowledge. I will see just how sharp you are… I will let you discover the truth for yourself."
Growling Hitomi mulled over his answer angry for being left in the dark again about his confidential knowledge. She had to give him credit though. He knew how to play his cards right and he surely wasn't about to show what was up his sleeves. Whatever he had in stored for her and the others he wanted to leave as a surprise, but that just made Hitomi more confident.
Smirking again the seeress laughed, "Why not tell me, Dornkirk? Or are you afraid that me knowing will destroy your strategy?"
Before he could answer Hitomi felt a sudden pull on her senses. Someone was coming… Carefully the young woman released her mind seeking out the presence she felt. She was right in assuming that it was someone else that she did not know about. Silently Hitomi study the being feeling for its level of power. Before she could truly study the mysterious presence though Dornkirk interrupted, "You feel it don't you?"
Hitomi snapped her attention away from the presence back to the darkness that hid her adversary. After not saying a word the demon emperor replied, "You can feel her coming…"
"Who?" the 'Angel' asked lost.
"I sent three of my followers to the areas that the guardians supposedly are hiding" Dornkirk said proudly, "One of them is rapidly approaching you and your friends."
Hitomi swirled around in blind hope of finding where the demon ruler was hiding, "What will she do when she reaches us?"
"Destroy all who are with you" he replied as if it was nothing, "And then bring you to me."
Confused even more the seeress said, "I thought you wanted to watch me suffer as much as possible by waiting, but you have sent your demons to finish my friends off before I even face you Dornkirk. You say two things at once! Speak your purposes!"
"Are you not a being who can see into the past, present, and future!" he chuckled darkly at her, "Open your small mind and think. Perhaps I plan to kill each of you slowly or perhaps I have very short patience, but the truth is it goes with my plans. When we face at the Mystic Valley you will realize everything, seeress,… but far too late."
"So you say we will face one another at the Mystic Valley?" Hitomi asked quickly hoping to get a quick response back before this vision faded. She could already feel herself leaving this vastness and returning to reality.
"Yes" he whispered as the world began to wash away, "There will be the battle ground where blood will spill from your loved ones. It will be there that you realize all the answers for your many questions, but for now I leave you to face this female demon. Be warned, seeress, this follower though not much of a fighter has a great passion for death. I taught her that when I use to be alive before the 'Great War' for you see she was the dame of my twin sons, Kusari and Kaosu…"
Hitomi's eyes of sparkling emeralds grew wide as she yelled out, "WHAT?!"
It was too late to confront Dornkirk anymore though for the darkness began to grow brighter with light and the vision began to disappear, however, Hitomi heard the wry chuckle of the Zaibach emperor and knew he had said that last bit of information just to see her shock. True or not, Hitomi knew she had to face another danger with her friends' lives on the line as always.
~End of Vision~
The sphere of colors dimmed to nothing and slowly the dark forest green became evident once again in the seeress's eyes. The white emblem of the Draconians finally faded leaving behind her pale forehead. Hitomi twirled her face towards the sky in time to see the dark form burst through the cloud cover straight towards her and the others. On seeing their queen's direction of attention change the group turned their eyes in confusion in the same direction the 'Angel' looked.
Down from the sky in a rush came the dark form of their attacker. Sian narrowed her eyes, as the figure became close enough to decipher and growled beneath her breath. The green maiden could feel her stomach do a small flip-flop from the power she felt radiating from its dark host. The guardian knew it was one of the demons and on reflex her senses grew sharp ready for battle. Looking through the corner of her eyes she noticed Nembus and Zaado had both readied their weapons and now stood in defensive postures as well. They were perfect soldiers. Without a thought they could be ready for anything just because of their well train reflexes. Sometimes it amazed her to see how each of them could be so tense one minute and then in perfect union they would all go into their fighting modes. Life as royal bodyguards had trained not only their mental skills, but their defensive skills as well.
In a fit of snow flying everywhere because of the wind created by her demon wings the dark figure landed before the group. Only twenty yards away the cloaked enemy stood with her wings stretched out against the white world making her look very much like the dreaded creatures known as the gargoyles. Sian bared her teeth as she rushed to stand by her queen, but Hitomi's words stopped her before she could even take three steps, "Be still, Sian. Stay where you are."
The green maiden looked at her mistress in shock. Why was she telling her to stay away? Carefully the woman studied the two figures before her. The cloaked being stood in the rubble of the ice cave's remains in a standoff against the angel that was surrounded in a glowing sphere of gold, red, and white. Their pairs of eyes were locked in a dark stare as if daring the other to blink. Frowning Sian took another step towards the two causing the seeress's voice to ring out firmly, "Sian, I command you to keep your position!"
The guardian gaped as she stared at her ruler as the ones behind her started. What was she thinking?! She couldn't face this demon alone yet it seemed she was firm on doing so. What was her plan? To get killed?! Sian froze letting the chilled wind cause her cloak to flutter lightly.
Hitomi saw that the forest warrior would no longer try to advance and brought her attention back to the demon ahead of her. Through the shadows concealing the creature's face the seeress could see a pair of ice blue eyes gleaming at her. Frowning Hitomi thought of Kusari and Kaosu. Their identical eyes shone in her mind brightly. This woman's eyes were a perfect match with the twin angels making Dornkirk's story about this lady to seem true,… but was it?
Brushing off the question the 'Angel' studied her adversary as she did the same. A growing tension began to form between them sending a shaky suspense in time as the group waited for one to speak.
It was their enemy that broke the silence. In a throaty female voice the demon hissed, "So… I have finally found you, Hitomi Kazanki Fanel, 'Seeress of the Mystic Moon'… Though you show off a bit of power at the moment, I must say I'm disappointed. I thought you would be more powerful according to the stories I've heard from my sons and their father."
Hitomi's brow furrowed as white eyes studied the woman silently. In a low and steady voice the seeress asked, "So what Dornkirk said was true… You are Kusari and Kaosu's mother…"
Gasps sounded behind the seeress at the remark and caused the demon to smile wickedly as she snarled like an animal, "You are correct. I did bear both of them years ago before I was killed in the 'Great War' along with several Zaibach soldiers."
"How can that be possible?!" Nembus cried from the sidelines, "It's physically impossible for Dornkirk to have created sons in his age!"
The demon woman glanced at the soldier for a moment before bringing an ebony claw to her hood. Slowly the dark follower pulled back the garment revealing her twisted face of scale and skin. If it weren't for the deformity of the dark patches covering her face the woman might have been considered quite beautiful. Her hair was of cold sunshine that came down to her shoulders with sharp eyes of blue ice to go with her rigid demeanor. She looked a lot like her blonde son except for the black patches. Smirking the woman hissed darkly, "When Zaibach was reaching its prime in power Dornkirk was growing very old and knew he would die in years to come, if not by the hands of his enemies, but by old age so he decided he wanted an heir to finish out his goals for revenge. Unfortunately he was too old to bring forth a child so scientists decided they could clone him a descendant. The only thing was that they needed a woman to impregnate with his provided DNA to bring forth the heir. Dornkirk did not want someone like Dilandau as his son to say the least. He wanted a child who was created with true blood-filled genes, not scientifically created ones. They began a search of all female Zaibach soldiers who would volunteer to be the bearing of his child."
Closing her blue eyes the woman sneered, "It was great honor to bear the emperor's child and many offered themselves, though there were limited women in the army for the position, however, Lord Dornkirk chose me. I guess he found my beauty appealing and thus they injected me with his DNA and I became a mother. I bore both into the world proudly years before the war and soon they went into a secret military camp to begin their training--"
"You mean brain-washing!" Hitomi snapped angrily causing everyone to jump.
The demon stared at the seeress for a moment before growling, "Perhaps you would see it that way, but to us we created perfect soldiers willing ready to finish whatever their father didn't. When their father and I died in the 'Great War' both of them were still in the secret camp with a small percentage of the remaining Zaibach army. Over the following years our sons regrouped the scattered soldiers of our mighty kingdom and went to finish what they had been taught to do. They went to gain revenge for their father and so they went after you, seeress."
Hitomi continued to frown as she whispered, "So that is the story between Dornkirk's blood-relationship to them… That explains a lot… Though so much remains to be hidden in the shadows…"
In a graceful sweep the Zaibach soldier of old went into a fighting stance and bared her fangs like a wild dog, "Now I come in the name of my sons' father to finish what all three of them died trying to do."
Sian's eyes of silver narrowed at the offensive posture and took a step to take on the enemy, but a firm glare from Hitomi stopped her feet from moving. The young queen glanced at the other two guardians warning them with her emerald eyes to stay exactly where they were. The forest maiden took her bow carefully in her hands and played with the golden thread with her fingers tensely. Her body was itching for a fight and the fighter within her was screaming at her to protect her queen. Tentatively the war angel took a small step in the direction of the royal woman.
Hitomi's head snapped around at Sian's movement and she firmly stated, "Stay back, Sian. This is my fight."
The green warrior locked her jaws in agitation. She hated to be deprived of a battle especially one that looked so great a challenge. In the back of her mind she noticed how the other two guardians were just as tense with desire for battle, but they all had strong wills and kept their positions. With the silver and gold bow still clutched in her pale hand the 'Guardian of the Forest' waited for the battle to begin.
The seeress turned away from her friends then and carefully adjusted her feet spreading them out slightly. Her hands became two tight fists ready to fly into war as emeralds narrowed on the dark warrior before her. Again a war surged in the young queen. Her two sides both shouted in her mind demanding to be heard. The fighter within her was commanding her to fight the enemy and claim victory while her other more logically side was telling her she should step aside and allow Sian or the others battle. Hitomi was, after all, pregnant and in no condition to fight this being. Besides what if she messed up; she was no warrior, but neither was her opponent.
Grinding her teeth together the 'Angel' felt the fighter within her win. She didn't want her friends to get hurt on her account and if that meant battling this she-demon then so be it. With a shout Hitomi's wings beat fiercely making her fly through the air at her adversary. In the same moment the demon woman was airborne and the fight was on!
They rushed each other at first growling at each other as they did. The Zaibach lady quickly formed a small black-purple orb in one hand and tossed it at the seeress with perfect aim. Hitomi went to do the same to counter, but her hand came up empty shocking her. Looking up from her empty palm the seeress noticed the dark comet whizzing towards her and swiftly dodged the attack just in time. The ebony sphere hit the ground with crashing thunder causing the world to shake momentarily and bellow with smoke. The two women passed each other and turned around in mid-air stopping their flight. Without wasting time the demon maiden brought her hands side-by-side in front of her and formed a large ball of darkness the size of a four basketballs. With a cry the orb was released and went flying in a hiss. Hitomi tried once again to form the familiar ball of white light, but failed. This time the royal angel could not avoid the attack and with a painful thud the globe struck the maiden square in the chest. Anguish crackled through Hitomi's bones suddenly and she felt as if electricity was running through her veins. Invisible needles began to stick into her flesh drawing out the horrible torment with a cry. The beautiful seeress threw back her head at the sudden blow and gave such a scream that the strongest man would have begged for the torture to stop.
Van felt his heart shatter at the sight of his beloved being shot down from the sky. Black lightning encircled the seeress as she fell causing her body to rattle in pain. Though it was beautiful the scene was bone chilling at the same time. With a loud crash the angel queen fell to the ground sending up a soft cloud of whiteness. Hitomi weakly opened her eyes and found herself on her side. Her first thought was for her child. Was it alright?… For a moment Hitomi remained still waiting for movement to come from her swollen stomach. After a full minute, which seemed like a full year, a soft kick erupted from inside her causing a wave of relief to run over her. As long as her unborn was all right she didn't care if she had four cracked ribs and was bleeding to death.
Aching all over Hitomi rose onto one arm and one knee struggling to her feet with great difficulty. Luckily for her she had escaped serious injury with just a few bruised ribs and few small cuts, though it felt worse. Getting onto her feet the maiden turned her eyes back to the sky wondering where her opponent was. The vast blue was clear of dark shadows making Hitomi slightly nervous. Where was she?…
Automatically the seeress opened her senses looking for the familiar presence of the demon woman closing her eyes silently. The awareness was soon discovered with little trouble causing Hitomi's emeralds to snap open at the location. Before the angel queen could move she felt a swell of power come screeching towards her from behind. Desperately the 'Angel' beat her wings barely evading the large comet that crashed where Hitomi once stood. A small crater became the desolate spot marking the strength of the dark lady. Growling in frustration the seeress swirled around to meet the dark one, but frown in surprise when she saw no sign of the ebony beast.
Merle hugged her brother's arm tightly as she bit her lower lip in concern for her sister-in-law and dear friend. She could feel her brother's shudders at the moments Hitomi came into close contact with further attacks.
Nembus snorted in frustration at being unable to locate the enemy, "How can this demon be so fast?! Not even Dornkirk had been this quick!"
The giant beside the shorter warrior squeezed his eyes shut in concentration growling with equal annoyance, "Yes, but you can tell she's not much of a fighter. Her form is rather sloppy, and she's playing with Queen Hitomi. A true fighter would have gone straight to the kill if they could and Queen Hitomi has given her several opportunities already."
In front of the two male guardians stood the green female listening only to half of their words as she observed the battle. Sian's skin twitched with desire to be let in the fray, but with great effort her feet stayed planted to the earth. Grinding her teeth the forest maiden eyed their surroundings scanning for any type of movement. This demon enjoyed playing cat and mouse it seemed and was doing an excellent job of it.
Glancing at her queen Sian noticed Hitomi kept turning towards random directions. The guardian realized the seeress was locating the demon a moment to late. Every time Hitomi would find the demon and turn towards her the dark woman would be gone. Frowning the war angel began to also notice the demon's presence and began to follow her movement carefully. Sian smirked as she began to recognize a pattern in the creature's locations. Sharply the guard's silver eyes narrowed at a certain spot waiting for the arrival for the demon. In seconds a shadow appeared in the sky unseen by all except the green one. Sian was about to look towards the next spot in the pattern, but was stopped when she saw the demon's hand glow darkly.
Growling the guardian knew what was about to happen. The woman was about to attack again! Without even thinking or mentioning her discovery to the others Sian released her pearly wings causing everyone nearby to start. Baring her teeth and holding her bow tightly in one pale hand Sian flew swiftly towards her mistress. Nembus gaped at the fleeting form of his best friend and shouted, "SIAN!"
The winged warrior didn't listen though as her eyes of hard metal focused on the attacker above. By now Hitomi had finally located the demon's position and was turning around to face her, but too slow for already a large ball of energy had formed in the demon's hands. The orb of blackness grew and grew until its size was nearly that of a small room! Ebony lightning shattered over the sphere crackling in power as it was lifting over the demon's head. It was at this moment that everyone noticed the demon and the supreme danger glaring down at their queen. They gaped in fright at the power radiating from the growing attack. Only a few more seconds and the terrible mass of destruction would be released.
The group that had remained on the sidelines far too long jumped into action and barreled through the rubble in a frenzy to reach their queen. The angels released their wings and hollered out the royal's name. Unfortunately none would be able to reach her in time leaving their soul hope on the shoulders of Sian. Though the distance between her and her mistress were only twenty yards it might have been a mile, for Sian felt she was going far too slow. Every second count and she tried desperately to use each one to her fullest. Her pearly wings stretched as far out as possible and her rhythm quickened to its max, but still she was too slow. In the corner of her eyes she had seen the release of the sphere and knew it was faster than her. To others she was like a snowy blur shooting through the air. Their hopes began to grow higher, but soon plummeted when they saw how fast the black sphere was going. It didn't look good for either of the noble women.
Hitomi's deep pupils began to reflect the purple darkness that shone in the sky. In that moment the world stopped. Though the ball of death continued to descend from above towards the seeress the rest of her surroundings fell away from her. Emerald eyes were transfixed on the orb and her mind could focus on nothing else. Time became irrelevant to her as she was frozen where she was. Her mind had shut down in fear and nothing would seem to bring her back…
Suddenly it was over. It's hard to say exactly what occurred in the last moments, but after the attack made contact a large explosion erupted sending earth, snow, and light in all directions. Cries of astonishment along with only half-distinguishable names sounded with the noise mingling with the loud blast. Once the dust settled a large crater had been carved into the ground leaving nothing behind. The group at first thought their friends were no more and their hearts stopped, but soon they caught sight of a heap laying a few yards away from the hole in the ground.
Hitomi blinked several times trying to realize where she was. She tried to rise off her back, but somebody lied over her holding her to the ground by their weight. Grunting weakly the seeress pushed the figure off her letting the being slide to the earth beside her. Aching all over Hitomi rose into an awkward sitting position (because of her pregnancy) and turn to look down at the person beside her. The queen's eyes grew wide in horror as they saw the forest guardian lying in the dirt. Sian's eyes were closed shut squeezing tightly as she battled the pain going through her body. If she had not been trained so well she would have been crying helplessly, but with her sheer willpower no crystal droplets formed. Half of her body was covered in blood while the other half look fairly dirty with dust and bruises. Lines of scarlet dripped from a fleshy head wound buried somewhere in her dark locks. Gashes were cut deep into her skin all down her right upper arm while crimson became the color of her skin. The green material of her clothes was still intact, but now there were several more rips and tears added to the already damaged attire from previous battles. Her cloak had been singed quite bad leaving only half of it to remain including the hood. Somehow her legs had escaped the tortures all together without a bruise to be discovered, however, Sian's wings didn't fair as well. One was severely sprained and blotted with pink feathers here and there. The other pearly wing was mostly just bruised up, but because of the other it was obvious she wouldn't be flying for a while.
As Hitomi stared down at her friend she felt the familiar burning sensation start in her chest enveloping her heart. Emotions flew through her mind become a clash within her that she could not decipher. She did feel the rage burning in her. Images of the past flashed before her eyes. The time Folken had died… the day her grandfather had died saving her… When Resshi had taken a blow to save her… When Van had sacrificed himself for her life… Again and again people had suffered so she would not… All her life people had done things for her so she would never feel torments and death. Lives had ended because of her from the beginning of the 'Great War' and still more fell. Like prophecy had spoken blood had stained her hands from their deaths, not just the death of her people, but also the deaths of the one who had suffered in her stead. All because of her… her… She was the one responsible for it all… and that knowledge sent a rage through her that she had never known; even the times when the same feeling had erupted in her blood it had never felt so powerful!
Hitomi felt herself go over the edge of some unknown crevice and step over an important threshold. The moment she was on the other side a new feeling plagued her chest -- pain. It felt like a thousand knives were piercing her in the chest digging their way to her heart. Her pale hands flew over her heart as her blood pounded in her ears. An agonizing throb began to tear in her flesh making the seeress scream in anguish. Salty tears spilled from her closed eyes and her body, still kneeling, hunched over. Brown locks fell around her face hiding her facial expression of torment. Sweat mingled with her tears and dampened her face. Her jawbones grinded together as her breaths came out in sharp hisses through her clenched teeth. The pearly wings behind her twitched every so often in rhythm to her painful breathing.
Merle and Van were suddenly at her side showing that they had arrived unnoticed by her because of the distracting pain engulfing her body. The young king knelt before her and took her shoulders in his firm hands trying to steady her jerky movements of convulsion. Urgently he asked, "Hitomi! What is it?!"
Her emerald eyes snapped open for a moment before shutting close again. In a gasping voice she cried, "Pain--… in the chest--… it hurts--…"
Hitomi hunched over even tighter making herself almost into a ball as a new wave of intensity went through her pores. Her husband watched helpless as his beloved struggled with an internal battle he could not assist in. Van glanced over at the rest looking for help. Nembus was hunched over Sian checking her injuries carefully with a blank face. Zaado with his wings still out towered over them with his trained eyes of blue-gray watching the figure of darkness flying in the sky. Turning back to his spouse he saw Merle desperately trying to soothe the woman of destiny by rubbing her arm and whispering a few soft words, "It'll be over in a minute, Hitomi. Just hang on a little longer."
The young cat-girl's words though could have been screams and the seeress would not have heard them. The pain was so excruciating that all Hitomi could focus upon was that alone. Both of the noble siblings noticed the woman had not heard and glanced at one another in concern. What was happening to their dear Hitomi?
Sian struggled against the torment inflicted on her body and slowly opened her eyes. Even that small bit of movement caused a new wave of pain to flow through her flesh. Her silver jewels looked up into black bottomless ones. Sian could fell a pair of strong arms holding her up in a sitting position and knew Nembus held her. Grunting slightly from her pain the green guardian forced herself to sit up on her owns and felt the arms of her companion fall away. Looking up she noticed the giant warrior looming nearby as he glared up into the sky. Smirking the woman looked over at her best friend meeting a confused gaze before grunting painfully, "Nembus,… go…"
The warrior frowned at his close friend in confusion and asked, "What do you mean 'go,' Sian?"
Wincing slightly the brunette maiden of war grunted, "Go finish that wench… I'll be fine…"
Both of the male fighters started surprised to see such fire still in the friend after such a horrible attack. It only showed how strong Sian could be. Smirking devilishly the giant angel looked up into the sky once again, "Of course, kid. I would never turn down a worthy battle."
Nembus rose from his feet with a final glance at Sian before saying, "Yes, let us finish this."
Zaado gave a swift nod before beating his large wings behind him. In moments he was airborne with Nembus close behind him. The remaining people of the group (with the exception of Hitomi) watched them go with pride knowing they would give a good fight to protect them. After a few moments Sian pulled her wings back into her back flinching in pain as she did so and crawled over to her rulers and Merle. The White Dragon moved back a little to allow Sian to approach Hitomi and also retracted his wings to give more room. The green soldier roughly took the convulsing woman's shoulders doing all she could to stop her jerky movements and nearly shouted, "Hitomi! Hear me, Hitomi!"
There was no response from the royal woman as she continued to cry out in pain. Sian's eyes of silver filled with concern as again she tried to reach her mistress, "Hitomi, what hurts?!"
For a moment no words came from the young queen making them all think she had not heard the woman's words, but soon their suspicions were shattered when they heard Hitomi gasp out in a small, painful voice, "My heart… my heart hurts…"
A deep dread ran down the forest angel's spine as she assumed she knew what it was. Carefully Sian asked with a low voice, "How does it hurt? What does it feel like?"
Taking a moment to scream out before answering the hurting woman replied in a strangled voice, "It feels like a thousand… burning knives… stabbing into my heart… It burns like fire from Hell…"
Her stomach began to feel like a stone in water as Sian stared at her dear friend and queen. Urgently the guardian asked, "Has it ever felt like this before?!"
Hitomi gave a painful nod as she remained hunched over, "But it's never hurt this bad… The other times weren't even half of what this feels…"
The world reeled beneath the war woman as terrible realization struck her. She had suspected this was happening to Hitomi after watching the images in the ice room. Now she was certain and the horrible reality was too great to bear. Desperately the angel warrior clung to her mistress's shoulders and shouted with deep sorrow, "Fight it, Hitomi! You must fight it!"
~~~ In the Sky ~~~
The two male guardians finally came to a halt hovering a few yards away from the dark woman. She just sneered at them as she watched them lift their weapons, "Is your queen so weak that you must come and finish her work?"
Nembus growled angrily at the demon's insult, "No, she's just too great to lower herself to killing such a pathetic enemy."
Fire sparked in the woman's cold blue eyes and a roar escaped her dead lips in rage. In seconds an ebony flame swirled in her right palm forming a sword of smoke. Before long dark metal appeared in the haze showing off the lady's weapon. With a snarl she lifted the blade to smite down her opponent, but the armored angel easily brought up his own blade to deflect the blow. It didn't take long for the fight to start, but no one knew how long it would last.
~~~ Remains of the Ice Room ~~~
Hitomi fell backwards with her hands still clutching her chest. Van swiftly caught her before she hit the ground and soon her convulsions started again. The young cat-girl whimpered in distress for her dear sister-in-law praying for her to live. The seeress screamed out again in pain shaking so bad that Van had trouble stilling her. Sian drew in closer studying the queen carefully for signs of Hitomi's progress. Was her mistress winning the battle within her?… Or was she falling to its will?…
"LOOK!" Merle's voice cried through the warrior's questions. Sian, along with Van, stared at what the cat was pointing at. Both of their eyes grew wide as they focused their vision on Hitomi's wings. Gradually the two pearly gifts were deepening in color, into a light gray… soon her wings became a near solid gray…
"BLAST!" Sian shouted as she turned back to her queen. Van looked up at the guardian with concern flashing in his eyes.
Urgently the man asked, "What is it, Sian?! What's happening to Hitomi?!"
Unfortunately the green maiden was too busy to answer his questions and was forced to ignore his cries. Sian took Hitomi's face roughly into her two pale palms and shook it almost violently as she shouted, "Open your eyes, Hitomi! Open them!"
The seeress snapped her eyes open and focused on her guard with a wild look in her emeralds. Sian ignored this sparkle of life in the forest green eyes of her mistress and shouted, "You must not fight it, Hitomi! It's too late to fight it! Submit to it! You can't stop it now! Allow it to take over! You'll die fighting it if you don't!"
Both of Van and Merle's heads snapped up to look at the guardian in shock at this new information. Sian ignored this, though, knowing this was not the time. Grasping hold of her ruler's shoulders again the injured woman continued to cry out, "Don't fight it, Hitomi! Submit! Submit to it!"
~~~ In the Sky ~~~
Nembus flew backwards after being kicked in the chest. Grunting the man beat his wings to slow his descent and begin a vertical climb back to the fight. His black eyes narrowed on the female fighter. Clutching the hilt of his sword in his hand the man quicken his pace. Zaado above swung his ax several times in perfect arches, but she was quick dodging the attacks nimbly though with a bit of effort. Growling in frustration the giant brought his weapon in a vertical cut making the demon fly to one side just a fraction of a second to spare. Zaado smirked knowingly. He had her! With a twirl of his great fists the blades of his ax head came into a horizontal line with one edge facing the demon woman with only three feet between them.
Her eyes widen seconds before the swing came and struck her flesh. It didn't cut clean through though for Zaado didn't get enough momentum in the swing to cut through her spinal column. The demon looked down at her midsection to see the silver blade sticking halfway into her flesh with black blood dripping over the forged metal. Instinctively she reached out to remove the protruding weapon letting her blade fall from her hand, but was too weak to do so. She instead brought her eyes up to glare at her killer as blood of darkness dripped from her lips.
Zaado smirked as a magical wind swirled around him. Slowly cream lines swirled on his brow and ax head forming the Draconian crest twice. Shouting in victory glowing lines ran over the demon woman's body like she was glass. Just before her figure became completely covered by them she growled, "Blast you!"
There was sudden blast of light and then she was gone leaving nothing behind, but the blood on his weapon. Zaado's smirk disappeared as Nembus rose to eye level with him. Gracefully the giant brought his ax back to his side as he stared down the younger guard. Nembus smirked as he sheathed his sword with eyes still trained on his elder. Chuckling lightly the youth replied, "I must say, Zaado, that was done quite nicely, but did you have to take that long."
The giant's eyes narrowed angrily as he growled, "If I remember correctly you didn't seem able to take out the demon yourself."
That did it. That was a blow to a warrior's pride. Nembus snarled at his older travel companion, "Watch it, old man! You best keep your place."
Zaado snorted, "Enough of your whining, child. We need to see to our queen and to your friend."
With that the giant dove for the planet below not giving the younger male to complain again. Nembus folded his arms across his chest as the man left his presence. He knew he was right, but his temper was still on fire making his pride battle with his logic. After a moment his anger simmered and he followed the elder ready to help in any way he could.
~~~ Remains of the Ice Room ~~~
Finally Hitomi went limp in her husband's arms to Sian's relief. Sighing heavily the fighter fell back into a comfortable sitting position. Using her good arm to lean back against Sian brought her weak hand to her face. Carefully to keep from spreading her blood all over her she thought of what happen. She was certain she knew what had happen to her mistress… yes, she was sure of it,… but she wish it hadn't happen…
The woman heard her fellow guardians touch down behind her and she glanced over her shoulder at them. They both were in good condition neither sporting any serious wounds or bruises. It had been a quick, clean fight that had been easily won. It didn't really surprise her. The demon was probably one of the weakest fighters that Dornkirk had. She didn't suspect that he had really wanted to kill all of them just yet or he would be here enjoying their suffering. There was something else he had planned for them, but why had he sent one of his demons to die then?… It didn't make sense… Why waste a soldier?…
Sian felt several pairs of eyes on her and looked up to see everyone staring at her with the exception of Hitomi who was still weak from her ordeal and was resting with closed eyes. She knew they wanted an answer and that they knew she had it, but it was so hard to force it out…
~~~ An Hour Later ~~~
Sian refused to speak until Hitomi woke up feeling she had best know along with the others. While the young queen had been unconscious the fighters had tended to their wounds. It was Sian who needed the most attention, which she got easily from her best friend. When he started to clean her wounds and bandage them she gave quite a fuss for being treating as a child. The armored one just laughed lightly at her angry glare while he finished dressing her wounds. Finally the seeress's eyes had opened and the group formed a circle. Hitomi was still slightly weak and because her husband was so stubborn Van held her as they talked. All eyes fell on the green maiden waiting for the explanation of this mystery.
Sian sighed heavily before beginning; "I really didn't suspect it at first until a while ago when we saw the images in the ice room. It was only because of those images that I knew what was happening."
"Which was?" Van asked in a dreading voice.
Sian closed her eyes sadly as she said, "Hitomi and the powers of Joutei have merged."
"What?!" exclaimed the two male warriors as they jumped to their feet in shock. The others just simply frowned completely lost in confusion.
Nembus had a wild look on his face, "How can you be sure, Sian?!"
"Think about it" she replied sharply, "You saw the images in the last room. You know what the last one meant."
Zaado frowned, as did Nembus while they both thought heavily. Quietly the giant spoke, "Well yes, but how can you be sure it has already occurred."
"What do you mean?" Hitomi interrupted confused, "What vision are you talking about?"
Sian glanced over at her queen and replied, "The one where you are swallowed by the crimson pool."
~~~ Flashback ~~~
The liquid crawled up her thighs and soon her lower body was lost in the ripples of crimson. The seeress felt as if her soul was being attacked. Pain engulfed her chest burning like hot metal. She felt as if her heart was an inferno bulging within her nerves. Explosions of pain went off in every pore of her body sending new waves of anguish through her frail form. The deep red liquid swirled over her chest and slowly inched its way up the seeress's slim neck while it flowed over her arms. Hitomi went to scream, but the pain caught in her throat locking down her calls. Her silky hair grew sticky with the red substance as it ran over the back of her head leaving only her face visible. The queen's eyes were sparkling with fear as the liquid finally enveloped the last of her leaving only pain and anguish in its wake. Then the world went black…
~~~ End of Flashback ~~~
The seeress frowned in remembrance of the vulgar vision and said, "But I had that visions years ago also."
The three guardians' faces started and stared at the woman. Sian's silver eyes grew wide as she asked in a low voice, "When?"
Hitomi grew nervous at the sound of the guardian's voice, but didn't let her own voice waver, "The first time I saw something like it when I discovered a doppelganger during the 'Great War,' but then the pool had been silver. The second time I saw it just before I died in the 'Sacrifice' when I was using the pendant to bring back everyone from the dead who were from the Mystic Moon."
Zaado shared a disturbed glance with Nembus while Sian swallowed a lump in her throat, "The first vision with the doppelganger was probably only a warning, but the second one… Hitomi, do you remember if you ever sealed the 'Power of Atlantis' back up after you brought everyone back from the dead in the 'Sacrifice?'"
Slowly the 'Angel' thought back to a year ago when she had died…
~~~ Memory ~~~
Without any more hesitation the seeress pulled open the ancient door releasing the great swell of red energy. Once the door opened the light of crimson surged out in a thunder pushing the ancient door completely open and striking the brunette angel sharply. Hitomi gave a small cry as she was tossed aside by the power and landed sharply on the white floor.
Emerald eyes that sparkled with life widened as she the light filled the vast whiteness. It was beautiful!...The light stuck through the area in the forms of billions of red beams, sort of like what happens in a light show. Once the light had exited its container it twisted and swirled in the air in hundreds of graceful designs. The girl smiled sadly as the red illumination reflected in her ebony pupils. It was beautiful... Yet deadly...
As the 'Angel' watched the powers swirled she thought, 'This is it... I have gone through so much to finally reach this moment... There's no turning back from here... I can only pray that I am able to complete my true task..."
Just as the thoughts left her mind suddenly the light fell from the sky in a twinkling rain and formed a red liquid on the white ground. Without warning the power swam towards the seeress in tiny rivers of crimson and swirled around her ankles. Fear ran through the girl as she watched the liquid creep up her feet and make its way up her pale legs. It reminded her of a previous vision from many years ago, the one where she had confronted a doppelganger and had been overcome by silver goo that had suffocated her nearly to death. The same was happening here... except this time the liquid was a scarlet of death...
There was little time left the 'Angel' knew. Hitomi didn't have the strength to fight her attacker and to complete her task within the same time limit unfortunately. Closing her eyes of green depths the girl lifted her pale hands to the white sky as her white wings stretched out to their full length. Clenching her teeth together the girl decided she would just have to hope she could finish her duty before death stole her soul away. With a small cry the 'Angel of Gaea' took hold of the strong powers of her people and started her task.
In the blink of an eye Hitomi found herself in front of a set of golden gates. The twisted pair of metal doors was decorated in diamonds and was at least three stories high and about ten feet wide. Though the girl barely understood where she was Hitomi now stood at the gates of Heaven. Stretching her hands to the golden gate red light streak from the seeress's red palms. The red light swirled like smoke as it stretched towards the gleaming metal. Once the scarlet gas brushed up against the gates they became chains and latched themselves onto the gold metal. Already sweat brimmed the angel woman's brow, but she ignored it. She had to do this! She had to complete her destiny! The red liquid that was trying to kill her had reached her hips and still continuing its attacks on the frail body of the seeress. The sands of time were against her, but she had to do this before she died!
The Power of Atlantis roared angrily and a wind picked up like a hurricane causing the seeress's golden locks and torn clothes to flutter in the rage of air. The girl glared at the gates as she struggled to open the beautiful passage, but it wouldn't budge. She was so weak from the tortures on her physical body that she could barely open the metal doors. Hitomi frowned not willing to give up. If she had been able to open the ancient door containing the great powers of her people than she could surely open the golden gates of Heaven!
The girl silently prayed as she struggled with the stubborn metal doors, "Joutei, please help me..."
Suddenly new energy flowed through the angel's veins and with a loud growl Hitomi opened the glorious gates. Once the doors opened billions of white glowing spirits were released out into the world around her. The red chains crumbled away to the ground and the girl hunched over weakly as the crimson liquid flowed over her chest. Hitomi began to sink into the ground and the liquid crept over her body faster. Although her end was near the girl let loose her senses and felt the billions of souls that soared through the white sky as a sort of reward to herself. She enjoyed seeing her people being able to enjoy their lives and felt her guilty conscious for their death fade away. Hitomi smiled at what she had done and was finally swallowed completely into the liquid...
~~~ End of Memory ~~~
"No" Hitomi said quietly fearful for Sian's reaction. The poor angel warrior closed her eyes in defeat.
Quietly she whispered, "It's even worse than I thought…"
"What do you mean?!" Van demanded growing very impatient with these poor explanations.
Remaining with eyes closed Sian began, "I've had that vision before along with all the other guardians. You see, when we were given our positions as sacred guardians for Gaea we were bestowed special powers by Joutei himself."
Still standing silently Nembus said, "Each one of us was given an enchanted weapon never before seen on this planet, but we were also given powers of our own. Nothing extremely powerful like what Joutei or Lady Hitomi has, but still rather strong. When we were given those powers centuries ago our bodies merged with our powers."
"Merged?" Hitomi frowned in confusion, "I've heard the expression before on the Mystic Moon, but what exactly do you mean?"
Zaado stepped forward also contributing to the conversation, "Our powers and our souls became one. There no longer became a line that divided the two, but became a single being. Without our soul our powers are nothing. If we would die one day our powers would cease to exist and no one could ever take them from our corpses. Some beings' powers continue to exist even after their death; for example the unicorns. The unicorns take their powers from their horns. After they die the horn becomes a container for the creature's powers allowing anyone to take the horn and use the powers within it, but with us our powers simple extinguish along with our soul. The situation is usually common to any creature with powers."
"There is a downfall to this though," replied Nembus sorrowfully, "Our powers do not regenerate very quickly because of the large amount we have. It takes several weeks to fully regain your measure of powers. Usually when you born with powers they can regenerate in less than a day, but when you place powers within you that merge to your soul your regeneration slows."
Merle snorted catching the attention of the group, "So? What's the big deal about that?"
Nembus frowned at the cat-girl's rudeness and was about to make a comment about it when Sian cut him off with a sad voice, "The 'big deal,' Lady Merle, is that without our powers we have no souls."
Emeralds grew wide as Hitomi realized before anyone else what she meant. Turning very slowly the seeress stared at the guardian as Sian continued, "If I was too use all my powers at once or over a very short period of time the results would be my death. I cannot survive without my powers, for they have become part of me."
The catty advisor cocked her head to one side in thought, "So how this connects with Hitomi?"
Wincing slightly from her pain Sian stepped over to her queen and knelt down before her. The guardian looked her mistress in the eyes and knew automatically that Hitomi knew what she was about to explain. Quietly the war angel spoke with sorrow lodged in her words, "Hitomi… I should have known that you would meld with the powers Joutei gave you. Usually the process take several years, but it can be sped up when a being uses the powers, that's why you have been feeling pain when using them. They were slowly becoming part of you…"
Silently the seeress bowed her head knowing already the dangers of this merge, but her eyes suddenly snapped back to the guardian when she heard the woman continue quietly, "It's bad enough you have merged with Joutei's powers, but… now I'm certain that you have also merged with the power of Atlantis…"
"What?…" the queen whispered in shock, "How can that be possible?…"
Sian closed her eyes in deep thought, "It's hard to say… You have used the pendant on more than one occasion so I've heard, but so have other royal Draconians. Why you have only one to merge with the pendant and how I have no idea. I cannot even begin to guess, but it seems that you are now able to dip into three wells of powers…"
"Three?" Van asked as he continued to hold his wife to his chest.
"Yes" Sian nodded to the king, "One is the powers of Joutei, the second is the powers of Atlantis, and the third is her own powers born from birth. When the powers of the Draconians had been placed in the pendant only the royals had been the few angels allowed to keep their powers so they could rule over their people and protect everyone if the danger should arise."
"So what do we do?" Hitomi asked quietly wondering about the dangers.
Sian sadly hung her head, "There is nothing to be done. No one can reverse a merge such as this. This is permanent. The only way to relieve yourself of this distress is if Joutei himself would separate the powers once again, but there is no way we can get to him now. We don't even know where he is. We must be careful at all costs. You have already used a great deal of your powers, Hitomi. Your wings prove that."
The young seeress took a moment to glance at her wings. They were now a soft gray; marking how much Hitomi had gone through already. Her emerald eyes gazed at the spectacular items thoughtfully. Over the last few days she had been using great amounts of powers. Each time she had dipped into her sources the powers had latched on to her soul. Ever so slowly her soul mingled with the powers of Joutei and now she was one with it. There was no separation between her essence and Joutei's powers. They were now two fibers twirled together in one thread forever to be a single being. She had been stretching herself the last few days. She had thought the powers given to her were endless, but now she knew otherwise. Sooner or later she would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. When her sources would run dry she would suffer and probably die,… but how was that possible?… If it was true that she had melded with the 'Powers of Atlantis' why was she growing weak?… She thought the pendant's powers were bottomless… for they were constructed in a flow that would forever loop. If that was so why did she feel so weak… so tired… Did the powers of her people also have to regenerate?… During the 'Sacrifice' the powers had never weaken, but as she now searched deep within her she could feel a lack of strength emitting from her… Something just wasn't right… It didn't make sense… If she could regenerate why did feel like her power level was continuing to drop…
Closing her eyes Hitomi carefully studied the powers flowing within her. Before she had been able to feel three individual patterns, like three streams, but now she felt only one roaring river crashing through her body. It screamed in her ears shouting its strength to all, but for some reason it sounded quiet to her… She was still growing weak,… but why?… Her power level wasn't dropping extremely fast; it was just gradually descending almost at an unnoticeable rate…
Sian studied her queen discreetly watching how she had closed her eyes for a moment. The ancient woman narrowed her eyes as she let her senses be released. Very softly Sian's powers brushed up against Hitomi's studying her carefully. Frowning slightly the guardian checked over the essence of her queen. Yes, she felt it also. She could feel all three different powers in a single source. Her level of power seemed to be a rather safe level,… but wait!… Something wasn't right…
Sian closed her eyes of silver to better concentrate and then she felt it. Hitomi's powers were dropping. The guardian's eyes snapped back open in shock just as the seeress opened her soft emeralds. The two old friends caught each other's eyes and they stared at each other both knowing what was wrong though the rest were ignorant to the fact. Hitomi was dying…
~Yep, I know I'm evil for leaving it there, but it was just a perfect cliffhanger. What's going to happen next? Will Hitomi continue with the quest even with her life on the line? Of course! But how will the others feel and what about the other four guardians?! In the next chapter a serious event occurs that changes everything for the group. Are the changes going to be for the good or the bad? Who knows? I do, but I'm not telling!~
~Next chapter should be out by next Thurs. Sorry, but I got a job and its taking a lot of my free time away. I'll try to hurry with the next chapter. I've been waiting to write this part of the story. From here on out it gets very, very interesting!!!~
~*coughs loudly* I'm just going to say it one time and I'm not going to beg *shouts crazily* PLEASE REVIEW!!!~