Capture
Hi, everyone, I was very encouraged by all your responses to the first chapter and I would just like to thank you for all your support. I'm trying a different format, so please tell me which one you like better.
To Melete: Uhm, you probably know about West Virignia more than I do, since I've never been to the East Coast. Please be gentle, I didn't mean to offend anyone, but all I know about West Virginia is from my History AP class. Besides, please remember this is set during the Civil War, so the state would appear very different that it is now.
Recarnation 3
Chapter 2
Capture
Her sudden appearance took not only the masked warriors by surprise, but also her guardians. Scarlet's eyes turned
from curiosity to astonishment, then to fear, before lightning with a peculiar flash of courage. Jared made an urgent
hushing noise, gesturing wildly with his hands to tell her to retreat into the carriage, and Scarlet, knowing Jared had her
best interests at heart, was in the process of disappearing behind the curtains when a drawling voice, presumably coming from
the girl in green, stopped her.
"What's going on, sweetheart, is that your guards refuse to give us what we want. And what we want, darling, is
precisely in your possession. If you give them to us now, then we won't have to resort to … worldly means."
Scarlet froze, turning to the four people facing her with a frown marring her lovely features.
"I don't understand," she said in bewilderment, "What could I possibly have that you would want?"
Jared shifted a bit, trying to hide Scarlet from view, while Keith stiffened, his eyes never leaving the ice-blue
eyes fastened on his. The girl in red, wielding the Fire Dragon, took a step forward, her violet orbs narrowing at Jared's
movement, and commented in a bored tone,
"You know, m'dear, you might have lived under the delusion that everyone spends their days lounging in luxury and
having slaves attending them with iced drinks and fans, but some of us have to work for a living. Now hand over everything in
your possession, and we won't have to," she waved a sword around wildly, "make lunch meat from those sumptuous guards of
yours."
The girl in blonde chuckled as the red one muttered under her breath,
"Spoiled little brat."
Keith inched his hand toward his gun, his grey eyes flashing furiously: nobody insulted Scarlet and got away with
it.
"Stop!" the sweet yet cold voice of the girl in gold sliced through the air. "If either of you move another dangerous
inch, you'll never see the light of the day again."
Her tone held neither threat nor promise; it was simply stating a fact. The girl in blue spoke for the first time,
"You should listen to Aphrodite." she indicated the one holding the sword-style of the Golden Phoenix, ignoring the
paling of the men's faces.
"It's for your own good, you know."
She strode purposefully toward the carriage, taking her eyes of Zachary's rigid frame for a split second, which
became her downfall. The strawberry-haired man had seized the moment when no one was watching him, and fired his gun at the
girl in blue. Due to the odd angle, the bullet, instead of hitting her chest, lodged itself in her leg. The girl gasped,
crying out in pain, as blood flowed down freely, staining her gown.
"Athena!"
The girl in red cried out, a violent fire flashing to life in her eyes.
"You'll pay for that!" She hissed, as Athena crumbled to the ground.
The next second, Scarlet's terrified scream pierced the air. Keith turned in time to see a golden ribbon wrapping
itself around Scarlet's slim waist, and before he could react, the ribbon was yanked, and his mistress was ten feet away,
facing him. Keith saw neither the fear nor the astonishment in her baby blues, but instead zeroed in on the sword held almost
lovingly across her slender throat.
"Don't move; if I detect even the slightest flicker of motion from any of you, I'll show this sweet little lady here
the definition of pain."
Keith turned hateful eyes upon the girl holding Scarlet from behind, the golden ribbon in her left hand and her sword
moving tantalizingly across Scarlet's skin. How he abhorred the woman who invented the Golden Phoenix, and the girl holding
it!
"Has the infamous Aphrodite sunk so low as to kidnap defenseless women?" He taunted, trying to goad her into anger to
attack him, and thus release Scarlet. She didn't fall for it, speaking to one of her companions, though her eyes were still
trained on him.
"Hera, get Athena." The girl in green obeyed without comment, moving swiftly to where Athena lay, and helped her walk
back to the other girls. Aphrodite's sapphire eyes bored into his, as they send a shiver down his spine – she had obviously
not forgotten his earlier taunt.
"Can you hear my sword singing?" She cooed in a voice that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on its end.
"It wants to taste your blood, it wants to cut your skin. It wants to hear you scream, it wants to slice your flesh…"
The girl in red spoke, annoyance just barely audible as a moan came from Athena.
"Enough, Aphrodite, save your gruesome songs for later! Athena is in pain!"
Hope flared in Keith's chest as Aphrodite replied in a mock hurt voice,
"Even you, Eris, would rob me of a little fun?"
He prayed desperately that Eris or whatever her name was would explode and she and Aphrodite would finish each other
off. No such luck, for Aphrodite's tone returned from its baby voice immediately.
"Hera, take Athena and go! We've a little problem here, so try to persuade the Phantom to show up with his lazy ass!"
The four men stiffened, hearing that dreaded name, neither daring to make a move nor sound, knowing that Aphrodite
would have no qualms about carrying out her earlier threat. Hera didn't have a chance to reply a male voice rang out,
"No need, Aphrodite, the Phantom got his 'lazy ass', as you so charmingly put it, out of his bed and down here quick
enough to save your sorry behinds."
A man dressed entirely in black stepped from the shadows into the light, his body shrouded by a cloak. Aphrodite
seemed nonplussed to know that the Phantom had overheard her, and choose only to remark coolly,
"I would bow if I could, my lord, but has you see, I can't."
The Phantom simply waved his hand, and said,
"Aphrodite, you know I don't require that!"
He reached for Scarlet, and she shrunk back.
"Keep your filthy hands off her!"
Jared yelled, his azure eyes on fire, forgetting the danger momentarily. For the first time, something akin to anger
flashed in Aphrodite's eyes at Jared's words, and with a quick flick of her wrist, she cut a shallow slash across Scarlet's
milk-white skin, hard enough to allow a trail of blood to flow down, but keeping the edge well away from her jugular. Scarlet
screamed. Eris scowled, wincing slightly, murmuring,
"Damn woman! A cut and she's screaming like someone lighted a fire under her!"
And louder, to no one in particular, though her eyes were still fastened on Jared,
"Can't somebody shut her up?"
Aphrodite ignored her, and spoke coldly to the frozen men,
"I did not give you permission to speak. You are immensely lucky I'm in a forgiven mood today, or you'd been drawn
and quartered already! Do you not know that you are speaking to the Phantom in Black?"
Scarlet's guardians heeded her warning, having just witnessed firsthand what they had gathered from the rumors – and
it frightened them as no other enemy ever had. None of them spoke, but a growl escaped Keith's throat as Aphrodite pushed
Scarlet toward the Phantom. The black-haired man caught her as she stumbled, before simply scooping her up, and was gone in a
swirl of his cloak. Aphrodite signaled quickly, knowing the men would have no qualms about attacking them, since Scarlet was
gone from their sight, her fate out of their hands.
"Got it."
Eris replied to her unspoken command as Hera and Athena disappeared in a flash of light, which the men quickly
recognized as the sunlight reflecting off Eris's swords as she crossed them over her head. But it gave the other two girls
the opening they needed, and both were gone when Scarlet's guardians regained their sight. Aphrodite slowly reached up,
pulling down her mask, revealing her face to the men, and Keith suddenly understood what Nathan had meant when he had
described Aphrodite. He knew, with a sudden insight, why hardened soldiers would forget all sense of loyalty and duty, and
only wish to gaze upon her face, till her sword ended their life. Her sapphire eyes were narrowed and trained, yet void of
hatred or bitterness, calm and collected, framed by long lashes. Her nose was delicate, her lips cut with a gemstone's
precision, and her eyebrows winged. Her expression was mild, but her face was set as if from marble, the skin pale and
unblemished. A few strands of golden hair had escaped her hood, resting lightly against her shoulder.
A gunshot echoed in his ears, breaking the silence, and he turned angry eyes to the offender, in rage at him who had
disturbed his adoration of the goddess in front of him, only to realize that the shot had come from his own gun. He had
balled his hands into fists to stop himself to reaching out to touch the gorgeous vision, and had accidentally pulled the
trigger. Quick as a flash, Aphrodite had raised her sword, the bullet glancing harmlessly off.
"Fire!"
Zachary's gentle voice suddenly roared, silently cursing Keith's timing. Of all the times to demonstrate any
interest in the opposite gender, it had to be when they were stuck in a life-and-death situation. Not only that, but the
recipient of that affection was none other than the most infamous and deadly girl in all of the New and Old World!
Keith half-heartily fired a few shots at Aphrodite, not really aiming to kill her. His sense of duty was strong, yet
he was blinded by Cupid's arrow as well. Zachary quickly joined him, his shots quick and accurate, and Keith wasn't sure
whether to be relieved that the strawberry-haired man's bullets kept Aphrodite from attacking his other two comrades who were
bombarding Eris, or to rip the shorter man limb from limb for daring to fire at the essence or perfection itself.
Luckily, the question was taken rudely out of his hands as he noticed that Aphrodite and Eris had both shifted
slightly, their grips on their swords changing. Now the bullets, instead of bouncing off, not injuring either party, were
being reflected and raining down on their former owners. Keith still had enough wits about to realize that if they should
they continue to fire, it was inevitable that his comrades or himself would be injured.
"Cease!"
He commanded, his voice reaching to everyone present. Jared and Zachary stopped immediately, but Nathan continued to
fire until Kunzite send him a glare that could make an entire army cower before him.
"Nathan, stop pulling that trigger, or I'll happily disconnect your hand from your arm."
The brown-haired man frowned, his mouth opening in a sign of a venomous retort.
Eris's annoyed voice sounded before he could say anything,
"If you've finished with your childish games, may we please proceed with this world's most idiotic proposal the
Phantom has asked us, much against our chagrin, to relate?"
Nathan, turning from his leader, raised his eyebrows in a highly skeptical expression of doubt,
"What could you possibly have to say that would be of any interest to us?"
Eris pretended to contemplate the question,
"I don't know, maybe the fact that your sweet little mistress happens to be in our possession?"
Jared hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously,
"Bitch!" He snarled, poison dripping in every syllable, "You dare to threaten us with Scarlet's life?"
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow,
"Scarlet, huh? Did her mother call her that when she was born, her motherly intuition already telling her that her
daughter would be a whore?"
Nathan's face tightened as Eris chuckled. They all knew what Aphrodite had meant – a scarlet woman was a girl who
opened her legs for every passing male.
"And you there, blondie, any more name-calling and we'll return Scarlet to you in pieces. Shut up, and you might see
her alive."
Keith was finding it harder by the moment to not to rush to the golden assassin, haul her over his shoulder like a
caveman, and run to the nearest tavern where he would make her scream his name until he was spent and she was hoarse. In an
almost desperate attempt to control his urge he tried to shorten their encounter.
"What's the message, then?"
Eris gave a long-suffered sigh as Aphrodite answered,
"Surrender to us, fully and unconditionally, if you wish to ever see your mistress again, or me and Eris will
eliminate you on the spot and kill Scarlet."
Keith eyes widened. Of all the proposals, this would have been the last one he would have expected. He pondered for a
moment, and realized there was no competition.
"We'll come with you."
He answered quietly, defeated, but Jared's shout of outrage rang out before he had even finished speaking.
"Hold it! What makes you think they won't kill us the second we let down our guard?"
Zachary's soft voice spoke from the other side,
"Jared, Keith is right. There's no way we can rescue Scarlet without getting killed in the process, and this way,
there might be a chance that we can save her. As for those girls, if they had wanted to slaughter us, they would have already
done so. Besides, if we return without Scarlet, it's death for us anyway."
Keith dismounted from his horse, stepping forward,
"We accept."
Aphrodite nodded,
"Throw your guns to us."
The men did as they were told, and when Eris had collected their weapons, Aphrodite pulled out the ribbon with which
she had snatched Scarlet with, and tore it into eight pieces. She tossed four to Eris, and they walked over the men, who
allowed themselves to be blindfolded and bound without a struggle. Keith was about to ask where they were to be taken when
something hard knocked against his skull and the world turned black.
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