Stupidly enough, I forgot to put down the disclaimer for the last chapter. Anyway, I'm sure you all know it by now. The only people who belong to me are Rayne, Arson and "Ash". Minako is based on a friend of mine so really, her personality belongs to her, as I am not the type who steals souls…(not that I can anyway). Xyphos belongs to Vampy Sparda. Everyone else belongs to Capcom.
Chapter 6
Minako and Rayne looked at each other in silence as the white smoke disappeared. Minako looked shocked, Rayne watched on in steely silence. At length, he began to walk forwards.
'Come on, Minako. I'll need your help.'
'What are we going to do?'
'We're going to help Arson and Ash. I'll need you to get into Arson's room and unlock the door.'
'I'm not sure I can…' Rayne smiled at her at that point.
'If anyone can, it's you. Now let's go.'
Arson yawned as he came out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. His wet hair hung heavily in his eyes. He yawned again and drowsily put his clothes on. Hot showers were nice but when you had to take showers in boiling hot water, it can sometimes cause one to feel sleepy. He yawned once more and flopped down on his bed after he had put on his jeans. He allowed his eyes to close and turned onto his side.
Suddenly, a sudden flash of intuition invaded his senses and he got up. All was not well. There was something else with him. He turned quickly, but he could still see nothing. A deep throaty cackle rent the air but there was nothing. Arson knew better than to let down his guard. He brushed his hair out of his eyes, sweeping the shadows in his search for danger.
He lunged forwards as he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eyes. Ash squealed in surprise as they both fell to the floor, Arson tackling her and attacking her. He quickly stopped as he realised his mistake.
'There's something here,' he said quickly. Ash nodded.
'Death Scythes.'
'Death Scythes?! Shit!'
'We won't be able to fight well in here. We have to leave.' Arson shook his head.
'I can't do that.'
'What?'
'I can only transport else where in the same room. I'm not that advanced yet.' Ash groaned inwardly. Of course…he didn't know his full capabilities yet because he hadn't been trained by anyone. He had taught himself everything. A sudden thought entered her head. Did that mean that she as possibly stronger than him? The challenge presented itself to her and the idea became more and more appealing. But what was she doing thinking about this? She should be focused on the fight ahead.
'You can go if you want, Ash. I'll stay here and fend them off.' Ash shook her head firmly.
'And let you get all the fun?' Arson stared at her as though in shock. 'Where are my swords?' Arson mutely handed them to her. A cocky smile played across her face as she readied down into her fighter's stance. Arson did the same after a moment of staring. A flutter of black passed the corner of Ash's eyes. Her smile broadened as she lunged into battle.
'Ash be careful!' yelled Arson. He ran towards her and pushed her behind him. He was about to attack when he saw her figure fly through the air, shattering the Death Scythe's mask with a well aimed hit with the hilt of one of her swords. She landed cat like on all fours but then quickly righted herself. Arson had located the second Death Scythe, no longer worried about Ash's safety. It was obvious that she could look after herself.
He slashed at its mask wildly but it seemed as though he was making no difference to it. He gasped as shockwaves ran through his swords and up his arms as he struck the wall heavily. He cursed. It had disappeared through the wall. Only God knew where it would reappear next. He cast about wildly, searching for the shimmering black illusions that made up the ragged clothing of the Scythes.
He could see nothing. He cursed and turned again so then he was looking at Ash. Ash was dealing with another Scythe, almost as though she was bored of the fight, as though she wasn't even being challenged.
She isn't being challenged though. She knows only too well what she's doing. Ash was finally rewarded with the sound of shattering glass and stepped backwards. Arson's eyes widened as he saw the last Scythe appear from the floor directly behind Ash, swinging its weapon.
'Ash watch out!' Ash turned towards him but promptly gasped shallowly in pain as steel cut through her skin. She backed off, her back against the wall, one arm to her side. It began to heal immediately. She quickly took her hand away from her side and tightened her grip on the hilts of her swords.
'Idiot,' she growled. She rushed forward but then the Scythe suddenly disappeared yet again.
'Shit!' yelled Arson. Their eyes swept the shadows, searching. But there was nothing, only the harsh cackling cry that haunted them still. Ash suddenly screamed in pain and collapsed against Arson. Arson caught her and steadied her only to find that blood was welling out of her body at an alarming rate. The Scythe gave vent to another chuckle as the Scythe returned to its hand. Arson suddenly understood what had happened. It had appeared behind Ash but she had failed to sense it. Not only that but when it had thrown its Scythe at her, she had been too close for it to possibly miss.
He growled as he saw Ash's blood leaking out onto his hands. She opened her eyes, and they were darkened in pain. Arson felt an unspeakable rage come over him, wresting his senses away from him. His vision was covered in a red mist. Something was pulling him away from his body, he was no longer in control. Wings burst out from either side of his body, black and leathery. His swords grew longer in length and the flames that burnt around them began to swirl fiercely, and more rapidly.
Ash heard the shriek of the Scythe and then the tinkling of crystal as its mask broke. She closed her eyes again, fighting back the waves of pain. She tried to concentrate only on healing her body, but the pain would constantly interrupt her meditations. She at last realised that these wounds would not kill her outright, but that she would be unable to heal them. They were too deep and she was losing blood rapidly. She raised her head and forced herself to open her eyes to see a black demon standing in front of her. On the other side, stood the brown figure. Ash blinked slowly and kept watching it uncertainly, thinking that she was hallucinating already. But if she was then she wouldn't think she was would she?
'Who are you?' she murmured. The black demon was surrounded by flames, and it gave vent to something like an untamed snarl. The hooded figure sighed.
'So you still haven't worked it out? You who is meant to be my relative…' Ash's eyes widened.
'Sparda?' But the figure had vanished yet again. The black demon paced restlessly, its breath coming out in low growls. Ash laid still, the pain still exploding through her body. She suddenly became aware of someone else's presence.
'What happened? Is she okay? Oh my God!' Minako. She smiled slowly to herself as she heard her reaction to Arson's transformation. But hadn't he said he had known how to control it? But what if he hadn't learnt self control yet? She thought back to all she knew of this Arson. He had never told her whether he could control his powers. She suddenly felt sick as she sensed Minako's worry and fear.
'Arson…it's me, Minako!' she heard her cry, her voice shaking. 'Don't you remember me? I'm Rayne's girlfriend, remember?' Ash heard the heavy footsteps of the demon as it advanced upon Minako. Ash slowly sat up, gasping in pain. God, she felt so dizzy. But she had to at least do this much for Rayne.
'Arson, stop,' she whispered. Arson turned towards her, the coal black eyes boring into her. He gave vent to another snarl. Ash looked towards Minako wearily and nodded at her, as she saw that she was near the door. Minako understood and carried on trying to break the code of the door, trying to unlock it.
Arson appeared not to recognise her. He raised one clawed hand, ready to strike at her. From her position on the floor, Ash could do nothing to protect herself. Sparda's words replayed themselves in her head.
'The Hunter must often do the things he wishes not to.' Arson bent down over her, ready to kill her. Ash screwed her eyes shut as she felt his hot breath playing against her face. Oh God no…Sparda you can't expect me to do this can you? This is just plain cruel! Ash opened her eyes again, and spoke, her voice shaking with a mixture of anger and repulsion.
'Arson, I love you.'
Short chapter but hey, I'm still a little blocked up. I hate writer's block. It sucks. It sucks it sucks it sucks. (growls)