Chapter Twelve
Yue was not having a good day. In fact he was having, what was possibly, the worst day in all of his long life. Sakura was ignoring him, Syaoron and Tomoyo kept glaring at him each time he tried to talk to Sakura, not the mention the blasted chemistry exam he had that morning. That exam was difficult, more than difficult. If it weren't for the fact that he needed to fit in with the other teenagers, he would have long abandoned school. He knew all he had to know, he wasn't sure why he had to keep being tortured by useless teachers nagging him to do well. And of course let's not forget the way that blasted reincarnation of Clow's and the moon priestess kept smiling every time they saw him, Yue thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, that was more than enough to annoy a saint.
He suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the soccer field he was walking through. He thought he had seen something from the corner of his eyes. A flash of red and black material and a brush of dark magic against his shield. Red and black with a hint of magic meant one thing. Just to be sure Yue cautiously extended his magical sense for signs of a magical being. His power, in its search, brushed slightly against a magical barrier constructed especially to keep star magic out. Cursing viciously in his mind, Yue sighed, frustrated beyond belief. He was very familiar with this kind of magic.
Apparently his bad day wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. "Akuma, either talk to me face to face or go away, don't stalk me," he said to the sky clenching his hands into two fists. At first it seemed like he was talking to himself but a second later a red and black figure dropped out of the tree on the edge of the field. The figure landed gracefully with its back to Yue. Gaining its balance the person twirled around on her heels. It was indeed Akuma. A smiling, grinning Akuma, which wasn't a good thing according to Yue's thinking. Warily Yue changed into his other self while waiting for Akuma to reach him.
"You're getting better Yue," Akuma complimented brightly. "Before you wouldn't have been able to sense me so easily." Yue's smile was just as scary as hers if not more so.
Yue's voice, when he spoke, was saccharine sweet. "Well you know how it is. After being attacked by everyone, including people you try to protect, anyone would get very jumpy." Akuma sniggered. She could practically hear Yue's teeth grinding against each other.
"Soooo." Akuma stalked towards Yue, resembling a cat leisurely playing with and chasing a mouse. But somehow one got the feeling that Yue wasn't a prey exactly, more like a scorpion waiting for the right moment to strike. The air was charged with tension as Akuma came to a stop, a mere two feet away from Yue. When Akuma smiled he could see a mere suggestion of fangs peeping out from between her crimson lips.
"How are things between you and the Card Mistress? Everything running smoothly?" Yue gritted his teeth. He stared hard into crimson eyes and saw the hatred and anger that was not present in her sweet voice. He also saw danger, to him, to Sakura, to the Angel. And he could do nothing but clench his fists.
Yue gathered his anger about him like a cloak. He nurtured that anger knowing that the emotion would give him an edge if handled properly. And Yue was expert at handling anger. "I know what you're doing to her. And I am advising you to stop it," the star guardian said, his voice as icy as the arctic winds. He wasn't accusing, he was merely stating a fact.
One ebony eyebrow rose elegantly. The owner of the eyebrow looked hurt as well as amused. "I'm hurt koibito, to think that you would accuse me of doing anything to her, to sweet little Sakura." The words may seem innocent but Yue looked past the voice to the soul and found it so foul he couldn't help but grimace slightly in disgust. He took a deep breath and managed a pleasant smile. But like Akuma's innocent look, it was all fake.
"I am no longer your lover, you should take care when you call me that. And you are avoiding the topic." Yue's voice had dropped the icy tone to become pleasant. But perhaps that smooth politeness was why it seemed to sound so threatening. Akuma's smile suddenly became flat, it suddenly looked as fake as it was.
Her whole demeanor changed. From amicable she became wrathful. From innocent she became dangerous. Her eyes glowed with barely hidden loathing and anger, for whom and why, Yue could not have guessed. She drew herself up to her full height and weaved a cocoon of power around herself. Yue was hard pressed not to step back in shock. He had never seen Akuma at her strongest before and it was surprising now.
What came out of her mouth resembled the hissing of snakes, the poisonous kind. "Don't you dare presume to think that you can stop me from claiming her and those Cards. You can do nothing and you know it." Yue's lips thinned.
"I may not be able to stop you, I am wise enough to know that. But I will do whatever I can to reduce the harm done to Sakura." Yue's voice was implacable. And his pale face bore a resemblance to carved marble. A hiss made its way out of Akuma's pretty lips. That hiss was in sharp contrast with her icily beautiful features. Yue stood his ground in the face of her anger, not moving an inch.
The two creatures were powerful enough to reduce a city to rubbles, yet neither one made a move. The air crackled with tension and power as well as anger. Lucky for them no one was around to witness their encounter. At this rate not even the presence of a normal human was going to be enough to stop them from finishing this duel. Akuma was the one to break the stalemate. Her eyes began to glow bright crimson. Overhead clouds began to gather, covering the light of the sun. Their clothes fluttered around them, faster and faster as the wind grew fiercer.
In a matter of seconds an electric storm had begun. Thunder and lightning slashed through the sky lighting up the scene eerily. Just as suddenly as the storm had begun lightning arced down from the sky and headed for Yue. The star guardian was quick to put up a shield and the lightning dispersed into the air as soon as it hit the bluish white shield. Akuma didn't give Yue time to garner his energy for a counterattack. Another lash of energy flayed the shield, then another, and another. Over and over Yue's shield was attacked from all and every direction.
The star warrior managed to deflect one of the lightnings at the smirking sorceress but it was too weak to do real damage to Akuma's own shield. The woman continued to watch as the star guardian and his shield grew weaker and weaker, straining under the stress of the attacks. A smile appeared on the thin lips of Akuma as she Saw the shield began to crack in places. She hadn't wanted to kill Yue yet, but the guardian had left her no other choice. At least with Yue out of the way the Cardmistress would be too weak with guilt and sorrow to put up much of a resistance. And as far as Akuma was concerned, that was good news.
Bright light lit up the area as the last lightning shattered Yue's shield. Akuma's smile widened into a grin as she glided silently towards Yue. The star guardian looked exhausted and beaten and that was exactly what Akuma wanted. She knelt down beside her ex-lover. "You're too weak to ever be a threat to me Yue. You're absolutely nothing without the Angel. She gives you strength but when she is gone you are absolutely worthless." Akuma said softly, touching Yue gently on the face. Icy amethyst eyes glared at her even as the body housing that anger was broken. Akmu shrugged whimsically.
"Oh well, it's too late now." Her face was utterly devoid of any emotion, resembling that of a statue. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to deliver my condolences to your Mistress." Akuma straightened and backed away slowly. Once again her eyes glowed, but this time the glow bled to the rest of her body. Soon enough her whole body was shining bright scarlet. Yue closed his eyes in exhaustion as much as resignation. He had done his best, but it wasn't enough. Three hundred years he had lived, three hundred years of fighting off the strongest sorcerers and sorceress. And now he was going to be killed in some strange town, killed trying to protect someone who didn't even care about him. The gods must really hate him. That thought flittered through his mind barely lingering long enough for him to notice.
Several lightning flew down from the sky aimed at Akuma. But the woman didn't put up a shield like Yue had. She stood there unprotected and uncaring. However when the lightning struck her, instead of killing her, they were absorbed into her. She stared at the fallen figure with chilling intensity. The way she gazed made her seem so removed from humanity that when Yue opened his eyes once again he couldn't help but shudder feeling the weight of that gaze.
This was the real Akuma. This wasn't the cheery Keori, or the easily amused Akuma, or even the amicable Akuma that he used to know. This was what she was really like underneath all that façade. This was her true face. And it only served to make him very afraid, not only for himself but for his 'family' and for Sakura and her family. There was nothing the sorceress wouldn't do to possess those Cards. And Yue's instincts told him that Akuma was very willing to massacre anyone standing in her way. And apparently he was the first of those people she was willing to murder. A bitter smile forced its way onto his face. This was irony at its best.
Her body all this time had been glowing a heated and perilous red. When the last of the lightning struck her a sudden calm came over the field. It was the sort of calm you felt before the storm. That unnerving silence when nothing moved. No wind, no sound, nothing. Even the lightning had disappeared and the booming thunders had become silent. Yue held his breath tensing for the storm to break. For there was no doubt about it, the storm would break. It was only a matter of how much damage it did. And just as he had predicted, everything suddenly came alive. Red lightning crackled around her body in a serpentine dance that was as mesmerizing as it was dangerous. Lightning flashed across the dark sky followed by a sound so loud Yue wondered if he might become deaf.
Akuma's pliant body became as tense as the string on a bow as she released all that power held in her slender body in one massive surge. The large flow of energy formed itself into a one giant stream of angry red force that was aimed at the prone figure of Yue. And there was absolutely nothing he could do but watch it as rushed towards him with nothing between him and it. Yue closed his eyes in resignation as he offered up a prayer to all the gods that had ever been, and was now in existence.
/Please protect them. Please grant them enough strength to face her and defeat her./
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soooooo. Cliffhanger anyone? I know it's cruel but I felt that it was time for some sort of cliffhanger anyway. Please don't kill me. *cowers in fear*. I promise to have the next chapter up in a few days.or weeks. Is Yue going to die? Heck if I know. Just keep reading I guess.
As with every other chapter, please review, if only to get the next chapter out faster. I'm working on that even as you are reading this so never fear. Just no flames please. Thanks for all the previous reviews too. I know that my first few chapters were absolutely horrible but I don't really know how to fix it. Other than that there's nothing else to say really.
Ja ne,
Syf.
Yue was not having a good day. In fact he was having, what was possibly, the worst day in all of his long life. Sakura was ignoring him, Syaoron and Tomoyo kept glaring at him each time he tried to talk to Sakura, not the mention the blasted chemistry exam he had that morning. That exam was difficult, more than difficult. If it weren't for the fact that he needed to fit in with the other teenagers, he would have long abandoned school. He knew all he had to know, he wasn't sure why he had to keep being tortured by useless teachers nagging him to do well. And of course let's not forget the way that blasted reincarnation of Clow's and the moon priestess kept smiling every time they saw him, Yue thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, that was more than enough to annoy a saint.
He suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the soccer field he was walking through. He thought he had seen something from the corner of his eyes. A flash of red and black material and a brush of dark magic against his shield. Red and black with a hint of magic meant one thing. Just to be sure Yue cautiously extended his magical sense for signs of a magical being. His power, in its search, brushed slightly against a magical barrier constructed especially to keep star magic out. Cursing viciously in his mind, Yue sighed, frustrated beyond belief. He was very familiar with this kind of magic.
Apparently his bad day wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. "Akuma, either talk to me face to face or go away, don't stalk me," he said to the sky clenching his hands into two fists. At first it seemed like he was talking to himself but a second later a red and black figure dropped out of the tree on the edge of the field. The figure landed gracefully with its back to Yue. Gaining its balance the person twirled around on her heels. It was indeed Akuma. A smiling, grinning Akuma, which wasn't a good thing according to Yue's thinking. Warily Yue changed into his other self while waiting for Akuma to reach him.
"You're getting better Yue," Akuma complimented brightly. "Before you wouldn't have been able to sense me so easily." Yue's smile was just as scary as hers if not more so.
Yue's voice, when he spoke, was saccharine sweet. "Well you know how it is. After being attacked by everyone, including people you try to protect, anyone would get very jumpy." Akuma sniggered. She could practically hear Yue's teeth grinding against each other.
"Soooo." Akuma stalked towards Yue, resembling a cat leisurely playing with and chasing a mouse. But somehow one got the feeling that Yue wasn't a prey exactly, more like a scorpion waiting for the right moment to strike. The air was charged with tension as Akuma came to a stop, a mere two feet away from Yue. When Akuma smiled he could see a mere suggestion of fangs peeping out from between her crimson lips.
"How are things between you and the Card Mistress? Everything running smoothly?" Yue gritted his teeth. He stared hard into crimson eyes and saw the hatred and anger that was not present in her sweet voice. He also saw danger, to him, to Sakura, to the Angel. And he could do nothing but clench his fists.
Yue gathered his anger about him like a cloak. He nurtured that anger knowing that the emotion would give him an edge if handled properly. And Yue was expert at handling anger. "I know what you're doing to her. And I am advising you to stop it," the star guardian said, his voice as icy as the arctic winds. He wasn't accusing, he was merely stating a fact.
One ebony eyebrow rose elegantly. The owner of the eyebrow looked hurt as well as amused. "I'm hurt koibito, to think that you would accuse me of doing anything to her, to sweet little Sakura." The words may seem innocent but Yue looked past the voice to the soul and found it so foul he couldn't help but grimace slightly in disgust. He took a deep breath and managed a pleasant smile. But like Akuma's innocent look, it was all fake.
"I am no longer your lover, you should take care when you call me that. And you are avoiding the topic." Yue's voice had dropped the icy tone to become pleasant. But perhaps that smooth politeness was why it seemed to sound so threatening. Akuma's smile suddenly became flat, it suddenly looked as fake as it was.
Her whole demeanor changed. From amicable she became wrathful. From innocent she became dangerous. Her eyes glowed with barely hidden loathing and anger, for whom and why, Yue could not have guessed. She drew herself up to her full height and weaved a cocoon of power around herself. Yue was hard pressed not to step back in shock. He had never seen Akuma at her strongest before and it was surprising now.
What came out of her mouth resembled the hissing of snakes, the poisonous kind. "Don't you dare presume to think that you can stop me from claiming her and those Cards. You can do nothing and you know it." Yue's lips thinned.
"I may not be able to stop you, I am wise enough to know that. But I will do whatever I can to reduce the harm done to Sakura." Yue's voice was implacable. And his pale face bore a resemblance to carved marble. A hiss made its way out of Akuma's pretty lips. That hiss was in sharp contrast with her icily beautiful features. Yue stood his ground in the face of her anger, not moving an inch.
The two creatures were powerful enough to reduce a city to rubbles, yet neither one made a move. The air crackled with tension and power as well as anger. Lucky for them no one was around to witness their encounter. At this rate not even the presence of a normal human was going to be enough to stop them from finishing this duel. Akuma was the one to break the stalemate. Her eyes began to glow bright crimson. Overhead clouds began to gather, covering the light of the sun. Their clothes fluttered around them, faster and faster as the wind grew fiercer.
In a matter of seconds an electric storm had begun. Thunder and lightning slashed through the sky lighting up the scene eerily. Just as suddenly as the storm had begun lightning arced down from the sky and headed for Yue. The star guardian was quick to put up a shield and the lightning dispersed into the air as soon as it hit the bluish white shield. Akuma didn't give Yue time to garner his energy for a counterattack. Another lash of energy flayed the shield, then another, and another. Over and over Yue's shield was attacked from all and every direction.
The star warrior managed to deflect one of the lightnings at the smirking sorceress but it was too weak to do real damage to Akuma's own shield. The woman continued to watch as the star guardian and his shield grew weaker and weaker, straining under the stress of the attacks. A smile appeared on the thin lips of Akuma as she Saw the shield began to crack in places. She hadn't wanted to kill Yue yet, but the guardian had left her no other choice. At least with Yue out of the way the Cardmistress would be too weak with guilt and sorrow to put up much of a resistance. And as far as Akuma was concerned, that was good news.
Bright light lit up the area as the last lightning shattered Yue's shield. Akuma's smile widened into a grin as she glided silently towards Yue. The star guardian looked exhausted and beaten and that was exactly what Akuma wanted. She knelt down beside her ex-lover. "You're too weak to ever be a threat to me Yue. You're absolutely nothing without the Angel. She gives you strength but when she is gone you are absolutely worthless." Akuma said softly, touching Yue gently on the face. Icy amethyst eyes glared at her even as the body housing that anger was broken. Akmu shrugged whimsically.
"Oh well, it's too late now." Her face was utterly devoid of any emotion, resembling that of a statue. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to deliver my condolences to your Mistress." Akuma straightened and backed away slowly. Once again her eyes glowed, but this time the glow bled to the rest of her body. Soon enough her whole body was shining bright scarlet. Yue closed his eyes in exhaustion as much as resignation. He had done his best, but it wasn't enough. Three hundred years he had lived, three hundred years of fighting off the strongest sorcerers and sorceress. And now he was going to be killed in some strange town, killed trying to protect someone who didn't even care about him. The gods must really hate him. That thought flittered through his mind barely lingering long enough for him to notice.
Several lightning flew down from the sky aimed at Akuma. But the woman didn't put up a shield like Yue had. She stood there unprotected and uncaring. However when the lightning struck her, instead of killing her, they were absorbed into her. She stared at the fallen figure with chilling intensity. The way she gazed made her seem so removed from humanity that when Yue opened his eyes once again he couldn't help but shudder feeling the weight of that gaze.
This was the real Akuma. This wasn't the cheery Keori, or the easily amused Akuma, or even the amicable Akuma that he used to know. This was what she was really like underneath all that façade. This was her true face. And it only served to make him very afraid, not only for himself but for his 'family' and for Sakura and her family. There was nothing the sorceress wouldn't do to possess those Cards. And Yue's instincts told him that Akuma was very willing to massacre anyone standing in her way. And apparently he was the first of those people she was willing to murder. A bitter smile forced its way onto his face. This was irony at its best.
Her body all this time had been glowing a heated and perilous red. When the last of the lightning struck her a sudden calm came over the field. It was the sort of calm you felt before the storm. That unnerving silence when nothing moved. No wind, no sound, nothing. Even the lightning had disappeared and the booming thunders had become silent. Yue held his breath tensing for the storm to break. For there was no doubt about it, the storm would break. It was only a matter of how much damage it did. And just as he had predicted, everything suddenly came alive. Red lightning crackled around her body in a serpentine dance that was as mesmerizing as it was dangerous. Lightning flashed across the dark sky followed by a sound so loud Yue wondered if he might become deaf.
Akuma's pliant body became as tense as the string on a bow as she released all that power held in her slender body in one massive surge. The large flow of energy formed itself into a one giant stream of angry red force that was aimed at the prone figure of Yue. And there was absolutely nothing he could do but watch it as rushed towards him with nothing between him and it. Yue closed his eyes in resignation as he offered up a prayer to all the gods that had ever been, and was now in existence.
/Please protect them. Please grant them enough strength to face her and defeat her./
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soooooo. Cliffhanger anyone? I know it's cruel but I felt that it was time for some sort of cliffhanger anyway. Please don't kill me. *cowers in fear*. I promise to have the next chapter up in a few days.or weeks. Is Yue going to die? Heck if I know. Just keep reading I guess.
As with every other chapter, please review, if only to get the next chapter out faster. I'm working on that even as you are reading this so never fear. Just no flames please. Thanks for all the previous reviews too. I know that my first few chapters were absolutely horrible but I don't really know how to fix it. Other than that there's nothing else to say really.
Ja ne,
Syf.