A/N: Please read this note, would you kindly?
EDIT: Flames will be flames I suppose, so much for trying something new T_T
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here.
If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps.
I simply can't write without it. That truth still holds true here. So by all means speak up! Make yourself heard! Your feedback matters! I cannae write without them!
Now lets answer some questions. Three should do this time!
Q: Oi! Don't you dare skip Ozma's reaction! He got his arse beat, so WE should get
A: Well, you're in luck. Everyone wanted to see it; so this chapter picks up almost DIRECTLY where we left off.
Q: Loving the "If its for my Daughter I'd even defeat a demon lord" vibes here. Was that intentional?
A: Not at first, but then when I heard of it, turns out it fit what I had going on.
Q: When will we see more of the Gods?
A: Just because the Gods have been quiet, doesn't mean they aren't active. Case in point, this chapter.
Q: Wait, if Naruto's protecting Salem, does that make him the bad guy?
A: Why would it? Thus far, Salem hasn't done any wrong. At the end of the day, Naruto is a good person for the most part. He just wants to keep Salem safe and let her enjoy a somewhat normal life; the life she was always meant to have.
No matter the cost.
Alright, I think I've kept you long enough.
AS EVER I own no quotes, references, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one!
Now then, I do hope you've prepared...
"Remember. There's a thin line between being a hero and being a memory...
~The future.
Pride Before the Fall
Defeat.
Terrible, ignoble defeat.
How it burned. How it galled Ozma's pride.
Swift and certain like no other, his humiliation had come with a single blow; a strike so sudden that he hadn't even seen it coming, much less had time to prepare his defenses. But he'd felt it. Pain unending, a swift swing so sharp that that it actually caused him blacked out for a moment; a moment so brief that he didn't realize the duel ended until he woke with a groan and a mouthful of dirt.
Now his eyes teared with pain, chest aching as he retched for breath.
'By the gods, what was that...?!'
With a wince, he cast a simple diagnostic spell on himself to assess his injuries. Almost immediately, he blanched at what he found there. Three broken ribs, a cracked collarbone, and a rather embarrassing stain upon his trousers beneath his armor...to say nothing of his outward disgrace. He was sure he looked a right sight, sprawled in the Grimmlands before so many prying eyes.
Still, to be felled by a single punch...surely he wasn't that weak?!
He had trained with the best under the sun, proved himself on his own merit and deeds, gone without the boon of both Darkness and Light alike...for this? Long had he thought himself noble in declining their blessings, -those grand gifts that turned mere men into juggernauts- unlike so many others, but in truth he'd never much cared for the gods or their war. Yes, he'd not given much thought to either of the Brothers.
Until today.
Today, as Ozma forced himself into an upright position and heard the crowed cheer his defeat, he began to realize just how utterly outclassed he was. He glowered at the fist-shaped indent in his armor, a gaping crater amidst the otherwise pristine steel. The mere sight of it boiled his blood. Not from anger, but shame. Shame at knowing his limits and realizing the terrible truth. For all his accomplishments, for all his exploits and deeds in far flung lands, the truth was clear to him now.
He still had much to learn.
A small part of him confessed to envy as he watched his foe turn away from him; as he beheld Salem descend her dais to meet him, taking them two steps at a time in her haste. The very moment he was in range she all but flung herself at him, striking him like a pale meteor. Her body hit his at speed as she looped her arms around his neck. He caught her with a laugh, only to sigh as she pushed herself up on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek.
All the while, Ozma the Defeated looked on.
'That should be me.' a sullen snarl echoed in the back of his head. 'I should've been the one to win her favor.'
No, he shook himself. Such thoughts were unbecoming of a knight. Best suppress them. He raised an armored arm and frowned at it. Was this truly the extent of his strength as one of the Unblessed? Could he go no further than this without the favor of a god? He'd always known he would lose sooner or later; time was an enemy none but the Brothers could best. Yet to lose in the prime of his youth?! Before so many?! To hear their merry laughter and know it was directed at none other than himself?!
"It burns, does it not?" A regal voice whispered in his ear. "To know all your time and effort was for nothing."
'What?' Ozma startled and look left, then right, but found no one. 'Who's there? Who are you?"
"You know me, mortal. I am your God."
'The God of Light?!' Speaking to him?! A mere hedge knight?! 'I am...honored, but why me?'
"Can a god not take interest in the affairs of his children?"
There was something about those words...
'You needn't concern yourself with me, my lord. This is my loss.' It galled him to admit it, but there it was. 'My foe fought with honor and defeated me in a single blow...with honor. It seems I still have much to learn. I will return to the west and intensify my training."
"But did he defeat you with honor?"
The inquiry startled him. Surely a god would not lie.
A strange feeling bloomed in Ozma's gut. "What are you saying?
"The man before you held back. He did not deem you worthy of his full might." when he bridled, the voice yet continued. In truth, this fight was rigged from the start. You never had a chance...without a blessing."
Ozma did not consider himself a prideful man, but this rankled all the same. No knight worth his salt would take such disgrace. If this "Naruto" had held back the lion's share of his strength during their duel...just thinking of it terrified Ozma...and angered him. Did he think him a child, unworthy of his full strength? Yet to face him as he was now, battered and broken..
"With my blessing you would yet stand a chance...
"Truly?" Ozma confessed a certain curiosity to that. It sounded like an offer. 'You would grant me your gift? Why? I have done no service for you."
"I have an interest in seeing one of my Brother's champions humbled." was that a faint undercurrent in the God's voice? No, surely not. He must've imagined it. Gods were above such things. "Best him and you shall know my favor. Have a taste of my power and know what it is to be Blessed."
Hesitation stilled the knight.
...Still, I'm not certain I should accept."
"Whyever not? Ozma the brave, Ozma the bold. Do you not wish to be known by such titles?" he felt an unseen hand settle on his shoulder and hold fast. "The people will speak your name as that of a hero. With my power you could help so very many. Think of all the good you could do. Simply best the braggart before you, and my boon is yours."
A thorn of hope pricked at Ozma's heart and he was tempted.
Surely it wasn't wrong...?
...I accept your terms.
With those words, he felt his wounds mend in a rush of golden light.
Vitality rushed forth, bringing with it a fleeting sense of weightlessness, power and strength. Despite himself, Ozma gasped.
Reality rushed back and he surged to his feet.
...match!"
"Eh?" his foe set the Lady Salem down and turned to face him, a look of minor annoyance writ across his whiskered visage. "Oh, hey! You're up! Did you say something?"
Was that all he was to him? An annoyance? His very soul screamed with righteous indignation.
"Good sir!" He cleared his throat and swept a hand through his hair, perfecting it once more. "I demand a rematch!"
Salem made a noise of confusion, considering him as one might a small animal. "Is that allowed?"
"And why would I grant that?" a blond brow quirked as her Knight stepped forward. "I already knocked you out fair and square." he raised a fist for emphasis, its surface shimmering with soft light. "Even held back a fair bit, too. I'd say its my win."
Lies. It could not be. "Surely, you jest-
Naruto whipped his right hand outward and the ground cratered underfoot.
A bead of sweat ran down Ozma's brow. It seemed the God of Light had spoken truly after all. His patience, once a mighty flame, began to waver. That was him with restraint?! The shame was too great to bear. Honor demanded satisfaction.
"Then I must insist you fight me with all your strength!"
"Not a chance." Naruto denied him anew. "I'd turn you to paste, and I really don't wanna kill ya." those eerie blue eyes narrowed upon him, framed by a frown. "And if you're making deals with Gods, I'd be wary of Light." he sniffed once, scenting the air. "That one can't be trusted."
How did he know?!
"Indeed!" Salem huffed as she pressed into the blond's side. "Run along, little knight."
"If you wanna fight that badly, ask me again in a thousand years." His peace said, the Knight turned his back on him. "See ya around."
...little knight?!"
Ozma's right hand twitched, fingers coiling around his staff. This mustn't register on an emotional level. He knew the blond meant no offense, but his words...they were another matter. They stung him as nothing else could; to attain such power, to be gift a second chance to assuage his honor, only to have it blow up in his face...? They dared...?!
The last fraying thread of his temper snapped.
"FACE ME!"
He swung his staff and called forth all his newfound might, slamming a bolt of holy lightning at the blond's back. It surged forward with a fearsome crackle. Ozma regretted his outburst at once and lowered his weapon, a touch of shame flooding his face at his loss of composure. The distance was great enough. Surely the Knight would sense it coming and block it-
Salem shoved Naruto out of harms way, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Time unfolded slowly.
Ozma saw it all.
Blessed by that of a God, his spell bolt pierced the air with impossible speed, far faster than he'd anticipated. It knew neither pause nor mercy. Salem never stood a chance. It drilled through her chest with a squelching sound and kept going, bursting out in her back in a shower of black light. The sheer impact ripped her apart. It was a clean hit. No mistake about it. Through and through, the spell decimated her defenses, leaving only a gaping hole where her chest should have been.
Dar blood flew through the air of the Grimmlands.
"Oh." Salem looked down, blinked once. A thin line of dark shadow -blood!- ran down her lips and dribbled the length of her slender chin. "That hurt." A quivering hand rose to touch her gaping wound. "That really, really hurt...
"Salem?" Naruto's voice was a low croak, eyes widening now as he climbed to his feet. "Are you...?"
She swayed where she stood, coughed once, and looked at him. "I don't feel so good...
When she pitched backward, he dove to catch her.
All the while, Ozma looked on in horror.
'What have I done...?'
(.0.0.0.)
This wasn't happening.
It couldn't be happening; it just wasn't possible.
"No, no, no!" he hissed. "Why did you push me outta the way?! I had it...!"
"M'sorry." she trembled in his grasp, slurring her words, blood bubbling at her lips. "Panicked...wanted you to be safe...
"I would've been fine! You are so grounded after this!"
Weak laughter greeted him.
"Sorry, daddy...
Naruto swore a blue streak as he fumbled at Salem's wounds, frantically trying to stem the blood loss. And he succeeded, at least in past. But it was too slow. Chakra or no, you couldn't simply regrow someone's heart out of thin hair, no matter how much you might wish it. It was like trying to bail water out of a sinking ship with a thimble. The harder he worked, the faster she deteriorated. He pushed chakra into his marked hand, deep and deeper into her body, willing it to work, to do something, anything at all.
"Kurama?!"
"I'm trying!" the wild edge in his voice was even worse. "Shut up and let me work!"
It was alright. Everything would be alright. It wouldn't end like this. He refused to let it end like this.
"You're alright." he stammered out. "I can fix this. I know I can...
Wide red eyes met his as she hitched for breath. "I'm cold. Why am I so cold...?"
"Hey!" a tan hand grasped at hers, holding tight. "Don't worry about that. Just focus on the sound of my voice." his fingers squeezed hers desperately, willing life back into her. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm not mad at you. You're alright...you're gonna be alright."
She whimpered like the child she no longer was. "Hurts...
Fretful blue eyes flitted back to her wound. Kurama had gone silent, and that silence was telling.
"I'm going to die, aren't...I?"
"What? No!" it took everything he had to force a laugh. "I've got this. I mean, I've never regrown a heart before, but it can't be that hard, right?" he tried to shape the organ in his mind, make something from nothing, to no avail. "
He could fix this. He had to. He must.
And even if he couldn't, he could get her to the God of Darkness. They were in his domain, after all. Gods could bring people back to life, right? They were Gods, after all. They did that all the time. If he could just keep her alive until then, just hold her together, keep her from falling apart, from passing on. He was fast. He could get here to him in time. He just had to lift her-
He bent to pick Salem up and was rewarded with a pained cry.
It struck his very soul and he recoiled. His arms betrayed him, unwilling to lift her further lest he cause her more pain.
"Stop!" She gasped. "I won't survive the standing. Stop. Just...just stop. You've done...enough...
"Like hell I have!" Naruto nearly gave her a shake then thought better of it. "Hold on. I can get you to the big guy. He can fix this. I know he can!"
"..."
Her eyes locked onto his and focused one last time. She surged upright. Pale lips met his, little more than a feather's brush.
"Thank you." she fell back with a soft gasp.
"For what?!
"For the last nine years." A bloodied, quivering hand reached up and cupped his cheek. "For finding me." her palm trailed across his cheek, leaving a dark handprint there. "For loving me. For...everything." her eyes swam with dark tears. "It was...such a short time...but I really did...love...
Her words trailed away as the light left her eyes.
She went limp in his arms.
Naruto shivered.
...Salem?"
A cold wind blew through the arena as the world looked on. No one said a word. His mouth moved, but no words came. A strange, nameless noise fled from his lips. Kurama said something to him, some sembance of solace, no doubt. He wasn't sure and didn't care. He ignored them regardless. More chakra came and went as he tried to resuscitate her.
No.
Not like this.
It couldn't end like this!
"C'mon, you're kidding me, right? It can't end like this." his voice began to warble. "Wake up. Wake up!" he shook her gently, uncaring of the black blood on his hands, of the deep stain even now creeping into his clothes, all but sullying his flesh. "You can't...not like this...!"
She didn't respond.
"Please," the word hitched in his throat. "Don't do this to me...
It wasn't fair. She hadn't done anything wrong. They'd been about to...they were going to...
"Please!"
Here at last, he realized he might have felt something else for her in time; something more than the love of a Father. She'd been willing to try, and so had he. He'd never know, now. Neither would she. He tucked his head into into his chest, forehead kissing hers. A low noise built in his throat. Louder now. He didn't recognize it. Her blood continued to pool beneath him, staining him black. He grit his teeth. A spark snarled through the air as dark clouds rolled in overhead.
A molar cracked in the back of his jaw.
Lightning crackled through grief-stricken clouds.
Someone was screaming. Who was that? They were so very noisy...
Oh. A small, sheltered part of his rapidly fracturing psyche suffered a sudden epiphany. Its me. I'm the one screaming.
And then he heard a voice.
"I...I'm sorry." someone spoke slowly. Haltingly. "I never meant to-
A red haze fell over his vision. He turned. Pivoted. Saw. Ozma. His fault. All his fault.
A thousand voices screamed from the stands, each baying for blood. One was louder than the rest. "Kill him."
Alright. He could do that. Naruto stood slowly, a puppet severed from the strings of its master.
Gingerly, every so slowly, he laid Salem out on the floor.
A hand swept over her eyes, closing them.
Then he moved.
(.0.0.0.)
Ozma felt the bloodlust first.
That was the first and only warning.
It hit him all at once; a wave of pure hate; such that it left the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Destruction. Despair. Death. He saw his demise played out a dozen times over in that moment, each more gruesome than the last. He dropped to his knees and retched, loosing what little he'd eaten, and still his shoulders. His body quivered once as his forehead kissed the fool ground.
When he made the mistake of looking up and immediately regretted it. For he saw. He saw it all.
Hair over his eyes, his clothes drenched in the fallen Lady's blood, Naruto shuffled forward.
"YOU."
Fear! Ozma's instincts bleated at him. Fly you fool!
He tried to move, to no avail.
One look paralyzed him. His feet cemented themselves to the ground, refusing to defy the alpha predator before him.
"It was an accident!" his stumbling tongue tripped over the words as the blond stalked closer. "I didn't mean to harm her-urk?!"
A hand caught him by the collar and ripped him into the air. Clawed fingers swiped down in the same instant, tearing through armor and flesh like so much wheat from chaff. Ozma's left arm soared away, spiraling end over end, taking a goodly portion of his shoulder with it. And yet for all that, he couldn't even bring himself to scream. Terror stilled his tongue.
Wrathful red slits dominated his vision.
That was all Ozma saw, all he was aware of, before clenched knuckles barreled into his face. Once. Twice. Thrice. The fourth blow tore the fabric of his undershirt and launched him away to safety...thought not for long. Scarce had his back struck the ground than hell itself descended upon him.
A booted foot stomped down on his chest cavity from on high, driving him into the unyielding soil.
Ozma felt his ribcage shatter. Shards of bone pierced his lungs and punctured every conceivable organ within. The pain was beyond words. He was already dead, his mind just hadn't realized it yet. He was too fixated on the snarling creature looming over him.
'What have I done?'
This was no man! This was a monster!
"And now the world shall see him for what he is." the God of Light hummed in his head. "You have my thanks, knight. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Ozma bridled. and shot a thought inward. "You did this?!
"I? I did nothing. You accepted my boon. You lashed out with the power I gave you." Could a God sound smug? This one did. "Granted, I did not think the girl would interfere...but I suppose her death serves a purpose. One less blight upon the world. The prophecy will never come to be now.
"You...!"
"Farewell, Ozma. Know that I will remember you."
The beast that had once been a man screamed down at the knight, lost beyond words.
"Wait!" Ozma raised a trembling hand and tried to croak out a plea. "I mean you no harm! We have both been made fools by-
Naruto pivoted on one heel and his body blazed gold. He flung forth twin golden hands, palms splayed. Those furious slitted eyes shimmered with unshed tears. A rush of black light burst from his palms in an instant. Point blank. No hope of escape. He tried to rise and a black rod slammed into his chest, all but skewering him to the ground. The moment it touched his chest he felt his world begin to crumble away. And still the wild light built above him, swelling to a fever pitch. Realization dawned too late.
'I've blundered.'
Ozma flung up a hasty barrier with his remaining arm, to no avail.
It shattered at once. As did the rest of him. His flesh burned away. Then muscle, followed by bone. Everything smoldered away. Even his soul wasn't spared. It was destruction on a physical and spiritual level. There could be no coming back from this, for even the afterlife was denied unto him. Complete and total annihilation. The knight had time for one final, horrified thought, a single solitary second before the void took him.
'I've unleashed a monster upon this wretched world...
Then the darkness consumed him and he knew no more.
A/N: TO BE CONTINUED.
Well, I'm surely going to get flak for that T_T
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here.
If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps. I simply can't write without it. That truth still holds true here. So by all means speak up! Make yourself heard! Your feedback matters! I cannae write without them! That's not a joke. Looking forward to your feedback/chatting with you all! No review is too large or too small! Thank you all! By all means, speak up!
Make yourself heard! Because silence, silence only hurts.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
NO PREVIEWS THIS TIME.
Okay. Just one.
Two?
Three?
(Preview)
"BRING HER BACK!"
A golden hand closed around the face of a god.
You don't seem to understand. I'm not playing games. Keep your schemes to yourself!"
R&R~!