Chapter 10
A/N: And it'sAugust now.
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A spurt of blood spattered the sidewalk. Ryo turned and grimaced with pain. It was Rika's sword that went through his shoulder. His senses have been tingling, and if he didn't watch for the sword in time, the sword would have been in his heart.
The pain was dulled with shock.
"Rika?" Ryo choked out. "Why…"
"You planned to kill me," Rika said softly. "Don't try to lie. You're plotting to steal my power, along with Alice and Henry."
It was too bad that their guess was so close.
"Are you planning to kill me?" Ryo asked.
"Before you kill me," Rika replied.
"What if I never —"
"Don't lie to me!" Rika growled and hurled her sword forward. Ryo muttered the words for a shield that protected him. Rika's sword hit the shield and bounced right off.
"Rika, would I lie to you?"
Yes…
"Yes…" Rika's eyes were clouded with a certain darkness that wouldn't ever be hers.
"Would I?" Ryo frowned.
"Yes…" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "She's right; she'll never lie to me…"
"Who is she?" Ryo was genuinely confused.
"Just… leave me alone!" Rika fell to her knees.
"What?"
"Leave me alone…" Rika shook her head slowly, clutching her head.
"Rika…" Ryo kneeled beside her, one hand at where Rika's sword penetrated through his shoulder, one hand out towards her.
"Please, I can't fight him… I can't kill him…"
Yes you can… you can kill the man that will kill you…
"Rika…" Ryo's eyes clouded with hurt, seeing Rika wince in pain as she fought, inside, against 'her'. He touched her shoulders for comfort.
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"Ryo," she called up to the boy. "Set me down. I want to try to fly once again."
Ryo looked down, and nodded. He set her onto the ground. Rika gripped her hands into a fist. Slowly, she stretched her wings out and started to flap it. A fair gust of wind started to gather around Rika. Rika slowly took a step back, but she was afraid, afraid that she would fall and die once again. She could still feel the pain and sting of her last death.
The Shadow, seeing that Rika was about to regain flight, decided it didn't want her to fly. It would give her a big advantage. So the shadow pounced towards Rika.
"RIKA! Behind you!" Ryo called out, and was about to swoop in to lift her out of the way. But a blade of black ki blew him back and he struck a wall.
Rika, seeing that the shadow had knocked Ryo away, Rika was on her own for a while. Frowning and gathering all the scraps of confidence, Rika pushed off of the ground and her wings stretched out. It gave a graceful push and Rika was in the air. She hovered, receiving the sensation of flight back in her veins. She smiled, but it faded as she saw Ryo slowly trying to get up. She soared over to where he was and helped him up…
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I looked at the blue-eyed boy. He seems to be distracted.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"The Shadows…it's approaching at a fast speed." He frowned.
I closed my eyes – I already knew that. I forgot that he could also sense the movement of the Shadows. He was a strong slayer, but I did not know anything about him at all.
"What is…your name?" I asked the blue-eyed boy. "You do have a name, right?"
"Akiyama." He replied. "Ryo Akiyama."
I nodded, and tried to carve the name permanently into my head. I expected him to ask for my name. It didn't come.
"Aren't you going to ask for mine?" I asked him with suspicion.
He turned to look at me. "I don't need to." He looked away again. "I already know."
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Since she turned 14, Rika has been having nightmares about a certain thing, yet when she wakes up, she does not remember a thing. All she could see from the previous night is a black sea of nothing. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she could see a pair of clear blue eyes, or even a flash of snow white feathers of a pair of wings.
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Rika took a surprised step back just as the roller skater sped past her. She shook her head and cursed under her breath. It seems like people don't know how to have control these days. However, the guy who skated past her skated back. She was surprised because she expected the guy to just go away without doing anything to do with her. The guy, however, pulled to a stop in front of her.
"Hey…sorry I almost hit you. Are you alright?"
She turned to make a smart comment when she met his eyes. It looked so familiar…clear blue…it was the pair of eyes she saw in her dream.
"No…problem…" She said and slowly turned around. Her brain ran about one hundred thousand kilometers per second, trying to relate the situations. Though, as fast as that is, no answer came to her.
Rika slowly started to walk towards the park, when she realized that the guy was still there.
"Have we met before?"
The guy said with a curious frown. He slowly skated towards her.
"I don't believe so." She replied.
"I'm sorry then, because you look oddly familiar." He gave a smile.
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Turning around, Ryo looked right into Rika's eyes. A moment later, he found himself almost being chocked to death…
…By a hug…
Then, he was released before he got a chance to hug back.
"Ryo, I'm sorry…I should have let you fight…you always knew how to take care of things…" Rika muttered.
"I'm sorry too…" Ryo sighed. "I shouldn't have said those things…"
"Well, damn right you shouldn't have!" Rika said, suddenly furious. Ryo looked at her with surprise and disbelief.
Suddenly, Rika's frown turned into smiled. "I forgive you."
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Rika materialized her sword and held it up in front of her. She yelled out a few inaudible words and thin red needles shot out from the metal weapon. It flew towards the Nocuous and sank into its skin. The beast roared in pain and started to scratch at its own skin.
Ryo flew to hover near Rika. "That one wasn't in the book." He commented.
"Improvisation," Rika smirked.
"By the way, Alice and Henry are here." Ryo scratched his head. Rika nodded slowly, not paying attention. Then, suddenly her eyes widened and she turned her head sharply to face Ryo.
"Alice and Henry…?" Rika's jaws nearly dropped with disbelief.
-
"Hi Rika," Alice called.
"Hey…" Rika sweat dropped as she tried to think of an excuse to explain how she was able to fly. "Umm…"
"Nice wings…" Alice stared in awe.
"Yeah…that…I got it when I was – wait a second…" Rika frowned. "You can see my wings?"
"Yeah," Henry nodded. "They aren't exactly hard to miss…"
Rika stared at Ryo, who stared politely back…
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"Get out of my head."
"Oh, but dear, you need me. How will you know whether – "
The sorceress gave a gagging noise as Rika reached out and grabbed her by the neck, in one, swift motion.
"I don't need you." Rika narrowed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. "Get. Out."
"How can you make me?" The sorceress choked out, a bitter smirk on her face.
Rika mouthed a few well chosen words, and redness started to seep into the woman's skin, from Rika's fingertips. The sorceress shrieked in agony as the redness seemed to melt her into dust.
Rika closed her eyes and let her self float into the blackness of her own mind…
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Ryo looked around for a solution. Rika had collapsed right off the spot; it was good that she was knelt down.
So, Ryo could either float Rika to safety while flying him self, while wasting about all his power, or he could wait until Rika woke up. Or he could fly for Henry and Alice…
That was when Rika's eyes fluttered open.
"I'm sorry," Were the first words out of her mouth.
"It's alright." Ryo whispered back and hugged her close.
A layer of black smoke-like screen floated off of Rika's skin. It wisped around and melted into thin air.
Rika buried her face into Ryo's shoulder.
She flinched.
The wind carried a message.
It was here…
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Big thank-you for everyone still reading - a virtual plush for you all!
Thank You's to:
Xtremequeen666 - lol... I guess I was watching american idol at the time.
Alexian-goddess - I hope this wasn't dissapointing... : )
Despot Dragon Necrophades - lol, no idea how you get into these messes. Hey, I get into em too... (checks out now updated list) most of em are on hiatus. Well, I guess that's how you get by. Leave the readers hanging. BTW, nice name change. I was never brave enough to... - -;;
Knowlee - if Rika killed Ryo, there would be no story. xD
phoenix-raine - I hope everything makes sense in the end... x.X thanks a bunch for the suggestion.
DarkDevil666- Thanks for the review, I hope this chapter was "satisfying".
Mah-Xien - we're all lazy. :) See how most of these sentenses don't have capitals? Yeah, I really don't like it either when the authors are in their own stories. I mean, it's fun to imagine... (uh, kind of) but posting the stories... well...
kunoichixxkanna - Thanks for the review.
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A/N: Sorry for taking such a long time to update. I moved to America, Houston to be specific, and wasn't very happy about it. Internet and computer was down for such a long time, and we had to find a temp place to stay (with no internet) And inspiration was so hard to catch… it's like the BFG, except I don't have his big ears to hear my inspiration. - -;; Oh boy, I'm going insane.