Opening song: "Jekyll and Hyde" by: Five Finger Death Punch
Oliviera closes her eyes and swells up with strength from both her shinobi heritage as well as the yoma blood that flows through her body. Her black shotgun coat transforms into a metallic gold colored uniform from the eighteenth century. Two rows of grey metal buttons stripe down the middle of her coat.
Three grey stars and a wreath of symbolizing authority and power decorate both sides of her folded collar. All which are forged out of gemstones from the Fracture. Her top hat transforms into an officer's hat and is studded with Ursania's personal seal. The serpent bearing its fangs at its enemies.
Her cane remains the same, but along her hip is a sabre sword within a silver scabbard. Something I've never seen her with before. In fact, I never seen Oliviera in her transformed state. That means the armor underneath her uniform is going to offer even more protection than she had before, and that's not even her final form. The only thing I can do right now is hit her and not get hit.
She opens her eyes and both of her irises have changed to red. If that's the way she wants to do this, then so be it. I close my eyes and pull strength from my soul. My body naturally hardens and my strength grows. A thin layer of heat irritates my irises and burns over both my eyes as they change color. Corruption builds around my face and forms my respirator.
Fire and lighting swirl around my Kopis as I prepare for the ensuing fight. Oliviera reaches around and pulls her sabre out of its sheathe. The blue blade reverberates as it slices horizontally through the air with a unique sounding whiz, and a silver trail of light struggles to keep up.
She grabs her cane and shoves it into the bottom of the sabre. The sword glows a bright orange color and develops chain like links within the blade. Spines sprout from the weapon and give it a spike like texture. The skull of the cane acts as a pommel to her sabre as she twirls it around in her hand.
The weapon extends and breaks apart as it forms a whip that gracefully dances around her body. I try to study the length of the weapon, but she could be intentionally doing this to try and hide the overall size of the weapon. There's really no telling how much reach that thing has until the actual fight starts.
"By the gods boy, this woman is unlike anything I've ever seen! She's part shinobi and hunter!" Gehrman states.
"And things are about to get real interesting." I reply.
Oliviera and I bow and slowly approach each other. She swings her sword vertically. The weapon breaks apart and slams down about twelve feet (around 3 and a half meters) in front of her. I quick step to the side and dodge the incoming attack. Oliviera pulls the weapon back and slashes vertically. The sound of air being sliced in half hovers over me as I roll forward. The breeze off her attack is enough to offset my brown hair as a huge gush of wind flows over my head.
She leaps back as I swipe at her. Oliviera's sword folds back up as my Kopis slams into her sabre. Droplets of flame and electricity splash on the black rooftop as our weapons collide with enough force that the edge of our swords bite into one another. My entire arm rattles from the unrelenting force and Oliviera digs her foot into the rooftop to prevent from staggering.
I bring the weapon around and try to hit her in the leg, but she blocks it and retaliates with an overhead swing. The sabre disengages and forms the whip. I hold my Kopis up and press the button. The bottom blade drops into my free hand, and I stab Oliviera in her chest.
However, the chain blade from her weapon overcomes my defense and slices clean through my armor. The bite of her sword causes blood to jet out of the open wound as it circles back around and hits me again in the same area. This time, it gets stuck in my collar bone.
Oliveria painfully gasps out of reflex as she rears back and runs her fist into my stomach. The impact is strong enough that it rips through my body and exits out of my back. She lifts me up off the ground and takes off running. Oliveria builds up some speed and suddenly stops. I slide off her fist and fly helplessly through the air.
The momentum is suddenly broken as the chain within my shoulder snag. The barbs of her sabre dig deeper as Oliveria yanks back and plants my face into the ground. A shower of obsidian shingles rain up from where my face impacts. A sudden flash of light obstructs my vision and then there's this calming darkness. Gehrman is yelling at me, but his voice is muffled and distorted.
"You were the best Alan, but you let the little Hanzo girls get in your way. They made you weak, and now you bore me." Oliveria voice warbles.
Hanzo girls? This memory of Asuka slowly comes to my mind. Back when me and her were in Ursania. Oliveria had Asuka by the face and was teasing her. "Ryobi? Soji? The little Hanzo kitten can hang!" As disoriented as I am, I clasp my hand around my kopis, dig the tip into the ground, and use it as a crutch to hold myself up.
"Come on Alan! Get up!" Gehrman yells as I work myself up to my knees. Blood pours from my face and shards of sharp obsidian pepper my face.
It feels like my collar and shoulder are about to fall off from how bad this hurts. I've been hit with old damage before, but most of those attacks were clean cuts. If that blade was traveling with a little more force, it would have taken my arm off. In reality, it would have probably hurt a lot less if it actually did.
I grab hold of the base of the chain and pull. The harpoon like teeth on the sabre are dug in deep and refuse to let go. I take a deep breath and rip. The collar bone within my body cracks and part of it exposes itself through the open wound as I throw the blade down.
I gnash my teeth and push the bone back into its natural position. It pops within my body and sends a huge wave of agony throughout my body. Especially my neck and face, but it quickly fades away as the bone heals, and the gaping shoulder wound seals itself shut.
Oliviera yanks my blade out and throws it to the ground as she rejuvenates herself. The blade went all the way through her right breast. I can even see part of her lung pulsing as it mends back together. Blood pours down her uniform before it quickly seals up.
"I admire this about you Alan, you actually managed to stain my uniform!" Oliviera laughs hysterically as she looks at her hand that's completely painted red before picking her sabre back up.
She extends the weapon into its whip equivalent and swings. I bat the weapon down and counter. Oliviera spins around and wraps the chain around her body. My Kopis hits the chain that runs across her shoulder blades. She turns back around and sweeps the area. I roll under and dive for the other part of my sword.
Oliviera brings the weapon back around the same time I grab the other Kopis and roll over. The chain comes back around and heads directly for me. I cross my swords and block the incoming attack. The tip of Oliviera's sabre digs into the roof and gets stuck. The rock underneath me sounds like it's about to give way if I don't move.
I wedge one of my swords in-between one of the links and pin it to the roof. Oliviera catches on and gives the weapon a quick jerk. The chain frees itself along with the tip and part of the roof caves away underneath me. My weight shifts before I can get up.
Oliviera tries to prevent herself from falling, but the crumbling roof suddenly overcomes her and she slides across the rooftop.
Oliviera drops off the ledge, and my descent down picks up in speed. I try to deploy my wings, but I hit the ground. Chunks of wood shatter and fly everywhere as I snap a church pew in half. The back of my head slams hard into the red carpet that the color from my eyes is bleached and blurry.
Oliviera uses the side of the cathedral to try and slow her descent down before plowing straight into the altar. She lands on her left side that the force is enough to break a sacred table of bronze in half. Regardless of a softer landing, she still felt that considering a combination of tin and copper is a hell of a lot harder to break than red hickory.
Oliviera gets up and staggers around. She's nearly collapses but uses the wall to slow her fall. Red streaks down a bloody handprint as Oliveria falls back over. She seems to be having a serious issue of some sort. She can't stay on her feet for more than a couple seconds before toppling over. A golden thurible is sticking out the side of her ribcage, and the metal is burning a huge hole all the way through her side.
"Well this is rather unfortunate." Oliveria states as she grabs the thurible and yanks it out.
Seams of her uniform snap, and the thurible tears a huge chunk of her uniform off as she throws the ordainment down. The entire side of her body is turning black as she uses the wall to brace herself. She unbuttons her uniform, picks her sabre back up and starts trimming away the dead flesh.
"As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to have to withdraw. Until next time, Alan." Oliveria says grimacingly as she tosses a wad of black strips off to the side.
The barrier starts to fade away and Oliveria disappears with it. She still has to be nearby, but there isn't any telling where. Not to mention she won't be able to fight like she was. Divine damage to halfbloods like me and Oliveria act like poison.
Not only does it seriously injure us, but it affects our system: it prevents us from regenerating, and hampers our ability to fight longer and withstand damage. Even normal weapons and bullets can seriously hurt or kill us. Overall, it temporarily makes us weaker than a normal human.
I pluck the chunks of obsidian from my face and try to assess the damage done to my shoulder. The collarbone has healed, but the wound has been reopened. Parts of stringy muscle dangle from the opening and blood drips from the tips.
The gouge is so deep that I can see the white of my shoulder blade. As much as it hurts, it's actually kind of cool watching the veins and muscle sew themselves back together. As for my stomach, Oliviera managed to punch all the way through, but that healed almost instantly and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as my shoulder.
Off in the distance, I can see Daidouji slamming her fist into Rin Suzune's talon blades while Mr. K and Keisuke are locked up in a duel between a sword and dagger.
For an old man, Mr. K is pretty damn efficient with that dagger. Enough to keep Keisuke operating at one hundred percent. As much as I want to cheer them on, it would be best if I stayed quiet. Don't want Mr. K or Daidouji getting distracted.
One of the barriers start to flicker and it finally collapses. Hibari is standing over her opponent, Ryobi. Sweat and blood drips from her body onto the ground as Hibari gasps. Both of the blades from her gauntlets are fully extended and crackle with little sparks of lighting. The pink clothing Hibari wears when she transforms has been blotched with her own blood, shredded and littered with bullet holes and violent tears.
There is a deep ridge on the right side of her face from where a bullet has clipped her. Several drops of crimson that have oozed out of the injury has dried and is stuck to the side of her cheek.
"Hibari!" I yell as I work myself up into a standing position.
My voice quickly grabs her attention and she sighs in relief, "Alan! Thank God you are still alive!"
Hibari tries to walk over, but she stumbles and nearly falls. Her left leg has a bullet wound from where she's been shot. She keeps the weight off that leg and limps over.
"The same could be said for you! How are the others doing!?" I reply as I walk over and help stabilize her.
Hibari shakes her head, "Not good Alan. Before my barrier went down, the only one that was doing remotely good was Asuka, but I fear it's simply because your sister is taking it easy on her."
"Damnit! What about Astoreth?!"
"I don't know. My power doesn't allow me to see into the fracture. Only barriers. Anyway, how'd your fight go?"
"Not that great."
"Yeah, I could feel the pain you were experiencing. It really scared me because I thought you were dead at one point." Hibari replies as I rest her up against a tree.
She takes out a small I.R.E, pulls the cork and drinks some of it before trying to hand it off to me. I push it back, but Hibari insists that I drink some. It would ease some of the pain, but Hibari needs it more since she can't regenerate as fast as me. I take hold of the flask and pretend to take a drink.
She smacks my gauntlet, and the flask tilts up. The glass rim hits me directly in the front teeth, and the liquid forcefully enters my mouth and rolls past my tonsils. My throat locks up and several croaks come from my lungs.
"What…was that…for!?" I cough as I pound on my chest to get the liquid that's trapped within my lungs to disperse.
"I may be a fool, but I wasn't born yesterday." Hibari giggles as I hand the I.R.E back to her.
"You know me too well." I reply as all the pain within my body slowly fades away into mild aches then completely disappearing.
Hibari puts the cork back in and sticks it in her pocket. Although she is healing faster, she's still going to be weak. It would be best to get her out of here before trying to help Asuka and the others. Hibari stands on her own and puts weight on her injured leg. Her body forces the bullet out of the wound and quickly seals over, leaving nothing more than a faded scar.
"Hibari, I want you to get out of here."
"What about the others?"
"I'll get them."
"No way Alan! They're our family! Besides, we can save them faster if we work together!"
As much as I don't want to admit it, she is right. Not because of my pride, but because I don't want Hibari to get hurt anymore than she already is.
"You're right Hibari. If you think you can handle yourself, then you can come. However, if things go sideways, I want you to run."
"Sure thing."
"Are you just saying that? Or do you mean it?" I ask.
"I mean it."
"I don't believe you." I tease.
"Then that's your problem." Hibari replies with a chuckle.
The both of us head back to the barriers. The flower shaped iris in Hibari's eyes glow a bright pink color and spins as she peers directly into the barriers. She swipes her head left and right. The red barrier catches her attention and she focuses on that one completely.
"Ayame is having a lot of issues. She isn't landing any attacks and her opponent is picking her to pieces with that chain sickle."
"Then I suppose she'll be the first one we'll be helping." I state as I grab my Kopis.
Hibari places her arms together and drags them across. Her hands glow a gold color and she summons her gauntlets again. I dig my gold talisman out and prepare to rip the barrier wide open. Hibari grabs a hold of my wrist and prepares for the rift.
Something hot sticks me in the back. At first, it feels like someone poking me with a hot needle, but then it bursts into excruciating pain. Something that feels like rock pops within my body and a mist of black and blood shoots out from under my sternum.
A kitchen knife exits out the other side of my body. Small shards of corruption jet out of my open wound as I drop the talisman. The blade folds out two ways and grabs ahold of me. I'm suddenly yanked back. Hibari trips over her feet and falls to her knees as I'm thrown helplessly through the air.
"ALAN!" Hibari yells as she reaches out.
My vision is a constant blur of white, grey, green and red. I try to regain control but the moment I do, the right side of my body slams into something solid. Several bones crack deep in my body while my arm breaks right in half.
My mind is screaming in rage as I immediately regenerate everything. That bitch just backstabbed me. It would be acceptable if someone lower rank like Asuka or Miyabi did it, but doing it to someone you outrank greatly is unacceptable.
"Your strength may outweigh me by a huge margin, but now I'm really pissed off." I casually say as I stand up and snap my arm back into place. The bone lines back up and fuses as my wounds seal themselves shut.
I step through the small cavern I just made and place my hand on the opening. My eyes burn with anger as darkness completely covers them. The color in my eyes fade into black and white as I slowly activate the weakest tier of my Apocalypsis mode. I grab the opening of the small cavern and lean back. At the peak of my arc, I let go and slingshot myself directly at Alice.
Alice is maliciously harassing Hibari off in the distance. She tries to protect herself, but Alice keeps breaking her guard and throwing her to the ground. Hibari gets back up and swings. Alice catches her by the gauntlet and pushes Hibari up against a nearby tree. She pulls her mask off and bites Hibari's shoulder hard enough that it draws blood. Alice spits the pink fabric out and swallows what blood she was able to collect.
Hibari yells in pain and desperately thrashes around as she tries to shove Alice away with her hands and feet, but Alice easily overpowers her and bites again. Alice blocks my incoming attack with her mask as her teeth are still lodged in Hibari's flesh. She tosses Hibari to the ground and blocks another attack. Alice jabs at me with that kitchen knife. I sidestep and try to counter. She blocks the attack and jumps back.
Alice shoves her kitchen knife into some kind of sheathe and forms a long, ultra greatsword. She puts her cold, faceless mask on and swings. I leap over the attack, spin to dodge the counter and slash down. She blocks my swipe with her pepper box pistol.
My attack ricochets and throws my Kopis out of my hand. Out of pure rage, I punch directly at her mask. Alice flips her blade upside down and my hand kisses the steel of her massive sword. More blood spurts out as the weapon cuts my fist in half. Because of the force I put behind the attack, the weapon splits my arm in half all the way up to the elbow. However, I'm unmoved by the pain as I pull it back and swing at her with one of my sprouting wings.
"Well it looks like my crow has partially awakened!" Alice cheers as she ducks under the attack.
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH ASTORETH!?" I yell in fury.
"Don't fret about her! Astoreth is where she belongs! In chains within the fracture!" Alice laughs.
"Boy! Don't let her get to you! She's trying to completely drain your power! If you go down, the girls and their spirits will too!" Gehrman pleas.
I acknowledge what he says, but I'm far too gone to abide it. It's the unforgiving price I pay for tapping into power beyond me. Rage over reason. Strength over sense. I've started something I more than likely can't finish, but I have to at least try and squeeze something out of this.
"Alan! Stop!" Gehrman yells again as I swipe my wings at Alice again.
She catches one of my white wings and chunks me directly at a black barrier. The exterior shatters like glass as I fly through. I use my wings to flip myself upright. Because of the high speed I'm traveling, I bend my knees as I land, and the wings dig into the ground to bring me to a screeching halt.
"Alan! What are you doing!?" Asuka yells at me.
Alice pops her head through the barrier, takes off her mask and makes a gesture that enrages me. I pay no attention to what Asuka or Miyabi have to say as I build up speed and launch myself directly at Alice. She climbs on top of the barrier as I fly out and circle back around.
I slam into Alice, and the both of us roll off the top of the barrier. Alice digs her fingers into my shoulders to prevent me from throwing her off. I rear back and slam my head into her mask. She lets go but flips and lands next to a weapon rack. I spin in mid-air and hit Alice with my wings before hitting the ground.
The barbs at the wing's tip inject into her arm. It's not enough to knock her down, but she does swivel at the impact. Claws from her free hand extend out and she rams them into my chest. The pain only fuels my rage as I reach out and grab a spear and wakizashi from the weapon's rack.
"FUCK YOU!" I yell as I kick her back.
She loses her grip and steps back. Her claws slide out of my chest as I bring the spear back, jump and lunge it where her heart is. The spear sinks up to the wooden handle as it bursts out the other side of her chest. Alice doesn't make a sound, but she flinches as I break the spear off into her and slam the wakizashi into her neck.
The metal blade shatters and disorients her as I ram the splintered end of the spear shaft into her chin. The wood exits out the top of her head as I pick up the entire weapon rack and slam it down on top of her.
Axes, swords, spears, shurikens, and the wooden frame all rip and pierce her body. Despite all this, she giggles. The small fragment of joy turns into raw pleasure as she sits up and laughs manically.
"Magnifique Alan! Even in the weakest state of your Apocalypis mode, you still managed to make me bleed! I haven't had this much fun in centuries!" Alice yells as she rips the wooden shaft out of her skull before prying the spear head out of her heart. The hole in her breast seals instantly while crimson speckles streak down her cracked, metal mask.
By now, four barriers have fallen. Ayame, Katsu, Yagyu and Ikaruga all lay on the ground defeated as Hibari struggles to hold off three attackers at once. Oliviera is still nowhere in sight, so she can't make them stop. The only one that refuses to fight is Murasaki while Ryobi is still laying within the confines of her barrier.
My spiked teeth dig into one another that they start to crackle under the amount of stress and frustration I am feeling as I look at the helpless Hanzo girls, "Damnit…DAMNIT!"
I try to fly over to help Hibari, but Alice trips me up by grabbing my upper right wing. I lose my balance as she turns around and throws me over her shoulder. Metal and wood explode all around me as Alice slams me face first into the weapon rack I hit her with. Blood jets out of my mouth and fills my respirator as she stabs me in the back and twists.
She stabs me again with her little kitchen knife before putting it back into its sheathe and ripping it out of me. The sharp edges of weapons slice through my palms as I work myself up to a sitting position. The respirator fades away and crimson floods out my mouth as I try to stand back up.
"Well this has been fun Alan, but it's time you give up!" Alice says as she floats down in front of me.
My blood slowly drips from her blade as she grabs hold of the crack within her mask and pulls. The metal mask snaps in half, completely revealing her glowing purple eyes as she unsheathes her kitchen knife. Everything I did to her has completely healed. Not even scars remain. She intently stares at me as she licks the dripping blood off her kitchen knife.
"Leave Alan alone you bitch!" Ikaruga yells as she rushes towards Alice with her sword raised. Blood drips from her mouth and her white armor has been ripped to shreds.
Alice spins to the side and slices the lower part of Ikaruga's back. Her face sinks into shock as she drops her sword. Tears fill her eyes as she takes a few steps in front of me and falls to her knees. Speckles of black mixed with red jet out of her mouth as she starts to sway back and forth. Seeing this snaps me out of the weak trance I trapped myself in.
"IKARUGA! NO!" I cry as I take off towards her.
I fall down in front of her and Ikaruga intentionally falls forward. Her head lands in my shoulder as I wrap my arms around her. The wound isn't fatal by no means, but things are never going to be the same for Ikaruga ever again.
"I gave you all I had Alan… I'm sorry it wasn't enough…" Ikaruaga gasps with a genuine smile as she blacks out. All the strength in her body disappears as I hold her broken body within my arms. Tears mixed with the blood and dirt on my face drip from my face onto her dirty uniform.
"Ikaruga!" Mr. K yells off in the distance. In the time he looks away, my father hits him in the gut with his bare fist. Mr. K gasps and a wad of saliva flies out of his mouth. Daidouji looks away and Suzune takes advantage.
Suzune stabs her in the gut. Daidouji grimaces in pain, but she remains in a firm and powerful stance. She grabs hold of the talon Suzune stabbed her with and pulls it in further into her body. Suzune has absolutely no idea what is going on as Daidouji brings her fist back.
She roars with strength as her bandaged hand glows with power. With all she has left, Daidouji rears back and sends her fist directly at Suzune. She tries to block with one of her remaining talons, but Daidouji's fist pierces the metal and shatters it like a clay vase. Suzune rolls and slams into a tree, snapping it in two. Daidouji looks over in my direction and gives a thumbs up before falling over.
The only ones left conscious are me, Asuka, Hibari and a whole lot of Hebijo girls on top of my father and Alice. The barrier Asuka was in comes down. Her and Miyabi continue to fight as I pick Ikaruga and her sword up and rush over to where the rest of the Hanzo girls are. There is nothing else for me to do. Other than to go down protecting what I love.
Asuka and Hibari slowly back up to where I am standing. The three of us form a crude circle and act as a barrier between us and our enemies. Murasaki is bitterly weeping at what she is witnessing.
"Come on son, if you tell me where you found the stone, I'll let you all go." My father says.
"I'd rather fall in a ditch than have any conversation with you." I reply as I place both hands on Ikaruga's sword and prepare.
Soji swings her chain sickle at me and Miyabi intends to attack when I block. Asuka and I duck and Hibari blocks the attack for me while Asuka deflects Miyabi's swing. I swing up and knock Imu's strike that was directed at Asuka off course.
Hibari forces Soji to back off while Asuka pushes Miyabi away. I quickly deploy my wings and cross them over Katsu and the others. Asuka and Hibari take cover under them as I deflect the raining bullets Ryona is firing at us from above with my wings and sword.
By now, Yagyu, and the Hanzo girls awake and aware of what is going on. All except Ikaruga. Ryona lands on the flat end of the sword and cartwheels off before I can hit her. She sends more rounds at us, but the three of us cut all the bullets out of the air together.
Before we can collect ourselves and prepare again, Hibari takes a solid hit from Imu's staff. The force is enough that it knocks her out of our circle. She tries to get back up, but Ryona and Soji wrestle her to the ground and restrain her by holding one of her arms behind her back.
"Let me go!" Hibari screams as she squirms around.
Asuka and I press our backs together and prepare again. As of now, everyone is going to come in at us. Despite our skill, we won't be able to hold them off now that Hibari is out of action. Judging by father's attitude, once we go down, he is going to force me to talk before handing me over to Alice. Honestly, whatever they have planned for me doesn't even scare me as long as the girls are okay.
Miyabi raises her sword high while Imu buffs her staff with lightning. As they ambush us, I drop Ikaruga's sword and use my wings to cover Asuka and all the girls up. Miyabi's sword stabs my wing, but fails to fully penetrate and Imu's staff bounces off my body. The weapons they are using can't hurt me because they aren't divine or forged out of demon steel, and they know that. That's why I'm going to act as the shield the girls need right now.
I close my eyes as father grabs hold of me and tosses me to the ground. My face skids across the red snow as I look over at Asuka. She tries to hold her own, but Miyabi sneaks up behind her and throws her down to the ground where Imu and Miyabi hold her down.
Yagyu and Katsu attempt to stand, but they are too weak to even sit up on their knees. Father places his boot in the middle of my back and presses me down into the ground. Like that's going to do anything. I keep a relaxed look in my eyes smugly grin at him. Knowing that there isn't anything he can really do to me.
"Where's the stone boy?"
I remain silent and keep my look arrogant. Father stomps the back of my head a couple times to try and get the look off my face, but I remain unmoved. Gehrman's koukla is violently shaking back and forth on my belt, but he can't release himself for some reason.
"Oh, tough guy? Well I know a thing or two about making someone talk."
"I bet you do." I sarcastically laugh at him.
He places his boot in a specific location. For some reason, my wings sprout for no reason and no matter what I do, they can't be retracted. The sensation is actually uncomfortable. He takes hold of the bottom set and starts to slowly crank them in a direction it was never meant to go. This actually hurts enough that I start to wriggle around to try and alleviate some of the pain that's being inflicted. However, nothing is working and it's only getting worse.
"Dad? What are you doing?" Miyabi asks in a concerned voice.
"Quiet Miyabi. Your brother can make it stop when he talks."
"Dad, Oliviera clearly said torture is not tolerated." Miyabi says.
"And she also said to acquire information by any means necessary!"
"But this isn't acceptable!"
"What's more important to you Miyabi? Loyalty to Oliviera or killing the people who want to kill us? I'm trying to protect you while your brother tries to protect the enemy!"
The joints in both of my wings begin to pop and I start to yelp and try to crawl away. This hurts even worse than the shots I'm forced to take. My hands dig all the way through the snow and into the ground. Despite the ground being frozen solid, my finger tips dig deep to try and ease some of the pain within my spine.
A huge wave of agony travels all throughout my back as the bottom two wings snap like twigs. Murasaki lets out a huge burst of sorrow as she sobs uncontrollably. Blood and sludgy corruption ooze out of the broken wing tips and pools all around me, turning the white snow a dark maroon color. All the Hanzo girls are screaming, cussing and crying as my two bottom wings droop down while the Hebijo girls watch in horror. All the bones deep within my body ache horribly as I try to stay in control of my mind.
Ayame and Hibari are struggling with everything they have to get away as Asuka tries to stab at Miyabi and Imu with her sword while screaming obscenities. Cursing Miyabi and calling her a variety of bad names for letting her allow something like this to happen to me.
Father grabs the final two wings and starts to apply pressure. This time, I can't stifle the agony anymore. I begin to wheeze as my lungs seize. My heart tenses up to the point that each time it pumps, it amplifies the pain within my back.
None of the girls seem like they can escape their captors. Katsu and Yagyu make an attempt to run over, but they are quickly cut off by Alice. She grabs both Katsu and Yagyu and takes them both to the ground. Yagyu squirms around and tries to break free to the point Alice digs her pale finger tips into the side of her cheek.
"I swore I'd never forsake you Alan! When you came back with Asuka over a year ago, I made the solemn oath I'd never give up, and I'd always protect you!" Yagyu screams as she gains a little ground before being pulled back.
Blood slowly drips out of the gaping wound as Yagyu continues to try and crawl towards me. Alice's fingers scrape up her face and pries her eyepatch off. "LET ME GO YOU PALE CUNT!" Yagyu activates her demon eye, but Alice catches the wrist and playfully looks it over, "So that's your special ability! We can't have that now, can we?"
Alice's index finger claws Yagyu across her eyebrow before it digs into her yoma eye. Yagyu screams in pain but refuses to surrender. Alice's finger digs deeper into her eye socket to the point blood drips out the tear ducts. The arm slowly fades away, but Yagyu continues to try and crawl towards me.
"Yagyu…stop…" I cry as I watch her suffering.
"NO!"
Ayame is trembling in horror at what she is witnessing. Never did it occur to her that this what awaits shinobi and hunters after they graduate. Ayame chokes on her tears to the point Murasaki walks over and weeps with her. Despite the both of them being enemies.
"Where is it!?" Dad yells as he wrenches my last two wings to their breaking point.
"GESSEN!" Ayame yells.
Everyone looks over at Ayame. Father slightly lets the pressure off my wings. A small yet blissful relief rushes back through the two wings I have left. All the feathers have fallen from my broken ones, and all that's left is bone that's beginning to oxidize and turn a callous yellow color.
"The stone was at Gessen…" Ayame sobs as Murasaki tries to comfort her. "Please leave Alan alone now…"
"So, it was Yumi that stole the stone!" Father states.
"Just because we found it there…doesn't mean… it's her fault…" I struggle to say.
"Ayame told you where the stone was! Now get away from Alan!" Asuka adds.
"As you wish, but before I go…"
Father starts cranking on my last two wings. The both of them reach the breaking point again. Murasaki and Ayame hide their faces in each other's chest and cover their ears so they don't have to hear the wings break.
Something that sounds like rocks being split erupt behind me, and a huge shadow casts over the entire area. I can't see, but it has everyone's attention except father's. Mud mixed with chunks of icy slush fall from the sky, and the sound of something flapping its wings and tossing air around hovers over me. The howl of something descending at a rapid rate, and the added sound of chains rattling unnerves me.
Wet, sticky liquid spatters the side of my face as several blows land. Immediately, all the stress father was putting on my wings is gone, and I can now move freely to some extent. Miyabi has a horrified look on her face while all the girls from Hanzo look rather pleased. Even Murasaki seems somewhat happy as she wipes tears from both her eyes and Ayame's.
I lean up on my side as far as I can and try to make out what is going on. A huge golden spear and a wickedly curved sword juts all the way through father's chest plate. Oh my god, Jonathan came for us!
In front of me stands M and a woman dressed like a traditional hunter. Kind of like the ones from the books Hibari reads. She's even got a tricorn hat like I used to. However, I can't see who is standing behind her.
M has buried her saw clever into Father's side while the other woman is holding two unique shaped blades. One is the size of an actual sword while the other is like a knife of some kind. The metal that makes up this weapon is like nothing I've ever seen. Etchings on the blade are written in the same runic language on the tombstones from when I met the queen, but on the unpolished hilt, letters that spell the word Rakuyo are carved on both her sword and knife.
"The Queen's hunter should be left well alone." The woman dressed in the black duster states.
She pulls both her weapons out of my father and charges directly after Alice. Alice sadistically smiles and takes her head on. The both of them engage in combat, while M, Jonathan and the other woman pull their weapons out of my father. He loses strength in his legs and falls over in a puddle of my blood.
Jonathan presses a button on his curved sword, and the entire thing transforms into a bow and arrow. He notches the arrow and draws. Alice catches on to what is going on. She gets away from Maria and draws her pepperbox handgun the same exact time he pulls all the way back.
Jonathan acts like he's going to fire and Alice fires first. He pulls back all the way back again, releases the arrow and shoots down Alice's shot. As Alice is focused on Jonathan, M already has a flintlock pistol aimed and ready to go. The flint on the hammer strikes the powder pan, and a huge spark ignites off the side of the gun.
A huge cloud of thick white smoke flies out the side, and the round hellshot ball that's been soaked in mercury strikes Alice right in her mouth. Blood and bone scatters across the ground as Alice spins around.
"Oh, I haf ta admi, tis i real ebarrsing." Alice mumbles as if her entire mouth is numb.
The bottom half of her jaw has been completely detached from her skull, and her tongue dangles down. Despite this, she psychotically smiles as the bone takes shape and immediately regenerates like nothing ever happened.
"I suggest you all get out of here now before I get to two! Otherwise the only training the Hanzo girls are going to be getting the next couple days is grave digging!" M shouts as she rears her leg back and kicks my father to Miyabi.
M folds her thumb out and counts, "One!"
"Such a bore!" Alice states as she picks up my father, and Ryobi and takes off while the rest of Hebijo retreat. Murasaki lies Ayame down and wipes her eyes as she tries to catch up with the rest of the group. As she reaches the horizon, Murasaki turns around and gives one last wave to me. With everything I have, I lift my right arm and wave back.
"ALAN!" Asuka shouts as she kneels by my side. She tries to take in the horrific sight of both of my broken wings, but like everyone else, they can't contain the emotion.
The woman with the gold spear makes an attempt to pursue after the Hebijo girls, but M stops her. Black chains dangle from the wrists of her gauntlets as well as her ankles. Her helmet is completely sealed, and the visor glows with pure rage. The armor she is wearing is identical to something a Valkyrie would wear in Norse mythology.
Seven black, broken horns protrude from the top of her head. Almost like it just burst through helmet after she put it on. She bends down over me and flips the visor up. The sight almost brings me to tears. I honestly thought she was going to be trapped within the fracture.
Her eyes have changed colors, but unlike a lot of fallen elder gods, one eye is black with a red iris, while the other is blue with a gold iris. Astoreth picks me up in her arms while Jonathan picks Ikaruga up.
Wings, one that's, white, angelic and majestic, and one that's black, dark and powerful burst from Astoreth's back. The white wing happens to be on the side of her blue and gold iris while the black wing is on the side of the traditional corrupted eye.
"Octavian and Daigon…"
"Don't worry about them Alan. They are safe." Astoreth states as she leaps into the air and gains altitude.
"What about Murasame?"
"He's okay. First thing is first, all of you need serious medical attention." Astoreth states as she takes out a syringe and jabs me in the shoulder. All the pain I am feeling starts to fade away as my eyes begin to get heavier and heavier.
"What's going to happen to…"
"Don't worry. We'll make sure nothing happens to Minori, Yumi or Gessen, and if your father tries anything, I'll see that he dies next time." Astoreth interrupts me as she rubs my hair in a soothing manner and lulls me to sleep…
Ending song: "Coming Undone" by: Korn