Chapter Seven: Hinata
I calmly walked down the stairs of the bar, the moon descending into it's final arc and the light of the sun crawling onto the horizon, bathing me in a dim orange glow. I looked around and could see no sign of Hinata and the small voice in the back of my head began to mutter, it filled with barely subdued panic. I looked both ways and began to walk through Amatsu, my staff behind me.
I could hear the door of the inn banging shut behind me, each forceful slam echoing around Amatsu. It was still too early for anyone to be awake but I knew it wouldn't be long before innocent faces would be swarming the streets. My feet seemed to take me in random directions, my eyes sweeping across landscape after landscape, seeking my prey.
I briskly walked through Amatsu, my eyes darting between alleyways and down streets. I couldn't see Hinata anywhere and panic began to fill me, it almost drowning me. My pace quickened and I began to run between the streets. I stopped, my wounds aching now. I stood there panting, looking around wildly, the agony starting to ascend, the cuts and slashes on my body starting to throb. I looked through my bag that I had attached to my waist, pulling out several items and finally found what I was looking for.
I stared at the white potion before me, the white liquid glinting in the newborn dawn sun. I uncorked the bottle and put it to my lips. Suddenly, I felt a rush of wind and the pull of a magnetic force. I turned and saw a large crackling ball of electricity speeding towards me, I grabbed onto my staff and pushed it into the ground using it to support to pull my bodyweight around and spin out of the way. The large ball screamed past me, missing me by inches. The white potion flew from my hand and spiraled through the air to crash into the floor at the same time as the ball of electricity, the potion shattering and the it's contents spilling onto the floor. There was a small crater where the ball of electricity had landed.
I turned and looked on top of a rooftop where Hinata stood, her hair blowing away from her face in the wind, her eyes cold and calculating, her palm facing me where she had obviously just fired the ball of lightning. I had found my prey.
"I've been waiting," she said coolly.
"That's nice of you," I drawled sarcastically. "Nice of you to create fireworks for my arrival." I said, pointing to the small crater in the land. Hinata ignored my comment and began to pace the rooftop.
"So yet again, we find ourselves in a predicament."
"A predicament?" I laughed coldly. "I don't think so. It's quite simple really. You screwed me over and now it's my turn." I grinned at her, although my eyes remained stony and emotionless.
"So it's all about getting even is it?" she retorted, stopping and looking down at me.
"Even? Getting even?" I laughed once again, "No, this is far from getting even." I began to walk along towards her. "I'm not here to get even, I'm here for cold-hearted bloody revenge, a new pastime of mine you see, revenge."
"And was killing Darum getting even or revenge?" she asked coldly.
I reeled in shock at this question; I didn't think she would've known. I thought the element of surprise would've given me the upper hand. That explains how she wasn't shocked by my arrival. I gathered my senses.
"Which little birdie told you that?" I asked.
"A good friend of ours," she replied.
"Lillith," I hissed, the image of her face appearing across my minds eye. I'll deal with her later.
"Bingo." Hinata said, her voice strangely cheery.
"Well," I began "in answer to your question. No. Killing Darum wasn't getting even, although, it wasn't getting revenge either. Killing Darum was just a bit of fun, a practice run. Let's just say, a game."
Hinata eyes narrowed and connected with mine, her gaze was cold and penetrating but I held it, trying to stare her down. Eventually, our gaze parted. I walked parallel to her, my head down and a thin smirk on my face.
"What's the matter Hinata, cat got your tongue?" I mocked. Hinata didn't reply for a second before, her grip so tight on her staff her knuckles were turning a severe shade of white.
"You can pretend to be this killing machine all you want Faia, I know the real you. I know what's inside your heart." With this, she lifted her staff and pointed it directly at my chest. Even though we were several meters apart, I knew her aim was perfect. However, I remained calm.
"Inside my heart?" I questioned her. "You think you know? You of all people? You killed my heart; you tainted it with your sin-stained fingers. You and your muddy claws. You wouldn't even know where a heart is. Unlike you, some of us have hearts, and for you to claim you know what's inside a heart is pathetic. You don't have a heart, your blood pumps from an iceberg, and in turn, it makes you the cold-hearted bitch that you are. Don't patronize me by telling me what's inside my heart you self-centered bitch." I spat these words, each in fury, glaring at her. I got the reaction I expected.
Hinata lifted her staff slightly, "Cold Bolt!" she shouted, the end of her staff glowing with a cool power and several large shards shooting forwards. I threw myself out the way, landing awkwardly as the large spears of ice penetrated the ground.
"Don't be so ignorant that you think you can beat me!" Hinata screamed down at me.
"Don't be so arrogant to think that I can't." I retorted.
"Cold Bolt!" Hinata screamed into the night once again. As the shards sped through the air, this time I was prepared.
"Magic Rod!" I retaliated, twirling my staff like a baton. As the icy shards rushed towards me, the magic rod sucked in their power, the Cold Bolt shattering into tiny glimmering dust particles. I felt an energy rush through me. I had successfully stolen the kinetic energy Hinata had used to cast the spell.
Hinata stared down at me in awe, blinking. However, in seconds, she was gone over the rooftop. I ran towards where she had vanished, jumping through the air and landing on the rooftop and jumping onto the other side. I could see Hinata running in the distance. I chased after her, willing my body to move quickly. "I need to catch her," I thought. "I must." I felt blood pumping through my body like a machine, a systematic pounding, each step increasing my rage, anger and panic.
We ran for several minutes but I never caught up with her, my brain whirled on how to stop her. I saw that she was heading towards the castle, once inside; I'd lose her inside the maze of corridors and passageways. I had to stop her and now. A flashback of the night I killed Darum seemed to sieve through my brain. The quick movements, the safety wall, the fire. The idea formed quickly, I stopped at a halt raising my Staff upwards and jamming the pointed end into the floor.
"Fire Wall!" I cried with all my might. I large vertical wall of flames burst forth and shot through the early dawn, careering towards Hinata. It passed her in seconds and I twisted my Staff causing the Fire Wall to orbit her. "Success" I thought running towards her.
I ran towards the towering inferno of blazing heat. I was seconds away from reaching my destination when a spell broke through the Fire Wall, careering towards me. I used my staff to pull away from it but agony shot up my lower left leg. I cried out in pain and dropped my staff, it making a heavy clunking sound on the floor. I looked down and saw that the spell, Frost Diver, had connected with the tip of my left foot and therefore had frozen my entire left leg. I couldn't move an inch. My Fire Wall vanished into thin air and there stood Hinata, leaning on her Staff and panting.
"How the mighty have fallen!" she said curtly.
I leaned down to try grasp my Staff but my fingers could barely touch it, they scraped the metal slightly.
"You won't reach it," Hinata said. "You won't have time." She lifted her hand and I saw the glint of a small blue gemstone between her fingers. She crushed the gemstone and flung the resulting diamond dust high into the air, it glittering in the morning sun.
"Fire Pillar" she screamed, the dust from the gemstone swirling around her staff. Suddenly, there was a rush of air as the ground ignited around me. A large circle of vertical flames exploding upwards, surrounding me. The heat was intense and I began to sweat almost instantly. I locked upwards but the sky had vanished, the spell had encased me in a blaze. Panic soared through my body. "I can't go like this," I thought. I looked down at my staff and tried to reach it, but agony coursed through my leg and I let out a groan of pain.
"Are you not enjoying it in there?" Hinata taunted.
The taunt washed over me and my blood boiled in rage, it was then I realized that the walls of the pillar of fire were starting to rotate and move inwards, closing in on me. The heat was unbearable. I just had to get out. I just had to do it. I bit my lip; I wasn't prepared for the pain. With one thrust I pulled myself down and grabbed at the Staff, my fingertips wrapping around its steely warmth. Agony crackled up my leg, shocking my system and ricocheting off every single nerve ending in my entire body. There was an animalistic shriek of agony, a high-pitched scream of pain. It took a few seconds for it to register that it was coming from me as the taste of my own blood flooded my mouth.
I pulled myself up onto and leaned on my Staff, sobbing gently, the tears drying on me cheeks due to the intense heat.
"Aww, is poor Faia all scared?" Hinata mocked. I licked my lip, fury pouring into my body.
"No!" I spat. "No!" crying out in rage. I pulled two gemstones from my pocket, a blue and a yellow one and laid them on the floor.
"I am NOT scared," I screamed.
"Magnetic.." I began, slamming the pointed end of my staff down onto the blue gemstone, shattering it. "..Earth!" I continued, slamming it once again, this time shattering the yellow one. Suddenly, I was bathed in a tremendous light as the floor beneath me erupted into a dazzling light show, the tall pillar of fire exploding outwards revealing Hinata who had also been bathed in light, as the floor beneath us seemed to glow and sway in a rhythmic bright white pattern.
Hinata's face was in shock as I lifted my Staff again and brought it crashing down in front of my left leg. "Spell Breaker!" my voice echoing as the Frost Diver spell exploded into dazzling lights. Hinata looked at me as I brought my Staff crashing down in her direction, she barely managed to defend herself, my downward swing catching her off balance. I took this moment of weakness and ran forward, kicking her in the chest before dropping to my knees and spinning my Staff round, catching her feet and pulling them up. She fell to the ground with a thud.
"You fucking bitch," I spat at her. She pulled herself up and swung her Staff at me, my own Staff catching hers, the sound of metal hitting metal filling the air. I glared at her, her gaze dark as we pushed against each other.
"You're weak," she jeered.
"You're dead," I growled, leaning forwards and sliding my foot under her knee causing her to lose balance and topple to the floor. I spun my Staff wildly and grabbed it, pulling all my energy together and driving the pointed end into her chest. There was a loud gasp and I looked down to see Hinata staring up at me in shock, my Staff piercing her body, her blood staining the floor and laying in pools around her.
She looked up at me, her eyes almost black as her pupils expanded. I stared down at her, smirking. "Oh look Hinata," I sneered at her. "I guess you do have a heart. And it's right…" I twisted the Staff and Hinata cried out in agony, "… here." She moved her mouth as if to speak, gasping for breath. I leant down and put my finger over her mouth to hush her, "Shhh babe, I'm watching this."
Hinata inhaled deeply and finally, one last rattling breath escaped her corpse before she lay limp, her body shutting down. I pulled my Staff from her body and leaned down, wiping the blood from it onto her clothes. I stood back up and adjusted my clothes, wiping my jaw. I looked down and noticed my leg was bleeding heavily. I used my Staff as a stick and limped away from the dead body behind me.
The fantastic white light slowly faded away and a few birds sang happy songs in the trees. I kept walking, the sun finally awakening and rising to greet the Amatsu folk. The irony began to sink in. I just killed the one who we said was heartless, yet Hinata finally found her heart and I finally discovered that I don't have one. "I guess killing does that to you." I thought, limping into the shadows of the trees. "Crap," I mused, "I never locked up that guys inn for him."