Opening Song: None
Yuyaki is sound asleep, and Hades hasn't tried to do anything to either of us. The both of us have been taking turns sleeping and keeping watch. She would watch for about an hour, then I'd keep watch while she catches up on her sleep.
Ever since Hades went into the room overlooking this one, he's been asleep. The few times he got up was so he could get a gulp of liquor before going back to bed. In fact, he's about on his seventh bottle right now.
He takes a couple hits, mumbles something about his oldest brother, slightly cries and then falls back to sleep. Which is very strange. I never took Hades for the emotional type. The few times our paths have crossed, he's always been overly prideful, which means he would be one of those angry drunks rather than what he is right now.
Occasionally, he will get caught up in some rant and constantly apologize because he failed someone he loved long ago. I think he's referring to Astoreth since he's constantly been chasing after her since she became one of my guardians.
Which with what happened to Astoreth, I understand why Hades would be so distraught. Hell, I wasn't even there, and the thought of what Shen did to her was enough to enrage me to the point I want to actively seek him out and ram a crucifix of Jesus Christ through the bastard's heart. That's if I could keep it from melting my hands off long enough to deliver it into Shen's chest.
My senses perk up and start detecting something off in the distance. The first thing that comes to my mind is M. However, it feels slightly different than the one she was giving off when we were at Hanzo Academy.
I work myself up to my feet and stagger over to a window where I can see. Since there's no telling who it is, I keep off to the side. The urge to use my yoma vision is tempting, but there is a possibility that if they are somewhat experienced, they will find us instantly. Instead, I just gently peek and try to locate whoever is out there.
The white out has died down and nothing but a light flurry of snow falls from the pink sky. However, past the tree line is a white mist that hides everything within it. There is no way I'm going to be able to see unless I use my vision, but I resist the urge to try.
"Alan, what's wrong?" Yuyaki yawns as she rubs the sleep out of her eye.
"Shhh…." Hades blows through his mouth as he walks over to the other side of the window.
Right now, Hades is trying to avoid revealing himself as well because he's just casually dressed as a wanderer. Although he has his clawed club at the ready. Since I last seen Hades, the claws of his weapon have been encased in obsidian, and the wood has been reinforced with the lining of yoma hearts.
"Is it your friend?" I ask.
"No, he went home. This is someone else."
Yuyaki works herself up to her feet and draws both of her shotguns. Hades leans out a little further before hopping back behind the wall. An expression of dread comes across his face as he clenches his fist tightly around the wrapped handle of his spiked club.
Judging by the expression on his face, Hades looks somewhat troubled. He's usually got that arrogant spirit in every fight he's about to head into. Even if he's about to get thrashed, but this one seems to have him unnerved.
What appears to be a pair of eyes finally slice through the light fog. The silhouette of the person takes form of a woman with long black hair that's wearing a black dress. Pure gold forms the insignias on her dress, and a cape that's been dyed a deep burgundy color slowly coaxes its way behind her.
My nose constantly burns from her scent to the point that it feels like my sinuses are running and not in the way that I'm somewhat aroused by her presence. It's like she has bathed in that French perfume Baccarat.
The stuff that costs about 765,000 yen per bottle. I know because I bought some for Haruka for her birthday when her and Hikage were living with me and Roger's crew. She always had a taste for the OVERLY elegant, and I thought maybe that would help her recover from the experience of being kidnapped, beaten and almost sold into slavery by those evil shinobi.
Hades covers his nose and sneezes. A thin layer of mucus jets out of his nose and onto the palms of his hand. It's somewhat speckled with small drops of red. Which mean whoever is out there has to be carrying a holy element. That, or she is a holy element. He flicks the stream of jellified liquid off his palm and continues watching the woman traveling towards us with her companion.
As she gets closer, the outline of her friend starts to take form. She's dressed in an orange hoodie. Underneath that is a black shirt underlined with some kind of chainmail. Even her white stockings that come up to her thighs are wrapped in some kind of chain that's been blessed in holy water. Her pink eyes only add to her indifferent attitude as she casually chews a piece of gum.
The most distinctive feature though is the woman in black. Her eyes. I can't explain it, but they look like blue gemstones. Like looking directly down on a perfectly cut sapphire. The lines within her iris actually sparkle when the light hits them. The woman and her friend stop right at the tree line.
"Hades! Get out here now!" The woman with black hair yells.
Hades look at me as if I actually did something wrong. I motion that I didn't even do anything to garner the attention of a holy element and her traveling partner. Which he does the same exact thing. Although I find it hard that Hades was out here minding his own business, and he's probably thinking the same thing about me.
"We just want to talk!" The girl with the orange hood adds as she blows a bubble the size of a basketball before intentionally popping it and gobbling the pink strands up.
It suddenly hits Hades, and he breathes a huge sigh of frustration, "Damnit, why did it have to be her?"
"What do they want?" Yuyaki asks.
"I do not know." Hades states as walks over to a hatch on the floor that appears to lead to a basement. Although I'm pretty sure he knows why. Hades knows more than he's letting us onto.
"The longer I wait, the angrier I'm going to get!" The girl in the black dress yells again.
"Look, I'll deal with them two! You just have to trust me!"
"Trust you!? You are nothing more than a liar!" I reply to Hades statement.
"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it when you couldn't even stand, but I didn't! Although the trust was miniscule, it was still there! Now I'm just asking for that modicum of faith one more time!"
"It appears Lord Hades can't hear me! Maybe I should be more courteous and knock!" The woman in black states as she holds up one of her hands and summons a bright red ball of energy.
She winds up and tosses the baseball sized orb at the house. Hades shoves me and Yuyaki down into the basement, and slams the hatch. My head hits the concrete floor as Yuyaki lands right beside me. A massive explosion rocks the top house, and the wave off the concussive blast shakes the ground.
The air that travels over me claws directly through my armor and annoyingly gnaws at my flesh. An invisible fist hits me right in the face and that perfume smell lathers my senses up. Every time I breathe, hot air enters my lungs, travels to my heart and then branches out all over my body.
My eyes forcibly change colors without my consent, and a thick layer of dark cartilage autonomically hardens the outside of my flesh to try and resist whatever it was she threw at us. Despite the best effort my yoma side is trying to do, it's hardly enough to make the pain go away.
"Are you okay?" Yuyaki asks.
"I'm fine…" I say as I cough up a tiny clot of pleural blood and spit it out.
I can see through a crack up above. Despite him summoning his armor in time, Hades is smoking like he took the brunt of the explosion head on. "Is that all you got my little Death Angel? Or should I say…Kagura?" Hades states.
"Kagura? What the hell is she doing out here?" I say as I stand up and try to assess what's going on.
Underneath Hades armor, I can smell fallen elder god blood leaking softly from his soul. He must have gotten his armor on quick enough to prevent it from killing him, but not quick enough to protect him completely. I try to get up, but Hades makes a small gesture with his hand to stay underground and out of this completely.
Yuyaki eases over to an opening in the foundation where she can see outside. Hades limps over to where Kagura is standing. She's got another sphere ready to throw, but she sucks the power back in through her palm and approaches Hades.
"Alan, where is he?"
"Ole Alan? I haven't seen him since last winter." Hades replies.
"Don't play stupid with us." The girl with the orange hoodie states.
"What does Alan have to do with any of this?" Hades asks.
"Alan has stolen the talilbasha and is planning to give it to my sworn enemy."
"That SWORN ENEMY of yours happened to be your best friend at one time!" Hades yells back.
Wait, Kagura thinks I stole the talilbasha!? What the hell? I've been faithful to Kagura and her ever since Roger took me in. That is until the mirror queen came along and fucked that up. Now that bitch living in a mirror has gotten me framed for something I didn't even do!
"Under what circumstance did Alan betray you, and what evidence proves him guilty?" Hades states.
"The fact that he's helping her is evidence enough."
"Whatever problem you may have with that girl, or Alan has nothing to do with this, and taking it out on him, or anyone around him is not the way you do things!"
"When the fate of the world hangs on it, then yes, it is!" Kagura snaps back.
Hades slightly relaxes the arm he's got his club in and causally lifts his visor where Kagura can see his face, "If we aren't going to be good Christian people about this…"
Hades swings his club at Kagura. She backsteps out of range and places her hands together. Raw power channels into her and cleansing fire swallows both her arms as she throws a hook at Hades. He blocks it with his club, and the both of them engage in battle.
"Naruku, Alan has to be in that house!"
Naruku takes off running towards the house while Kagura keeps Hades busy. As much as I want to enjoy Hades being smacked around like a toy doll in the hands of a girl with a troubled home life, my gut tells me that this isn't right. Hades hasn't done anything wrong, and as much as we detest one another, he is trying to protect me and Yuyaki for some odd reason.
I stand up and start heading up the collapsed steps and prepare to fly directly by Naruku. This is only going to get me in more trouble than I already am, and Jonathan is going to beat me within an inch of my life, but I have no choice. No matter how life altering this is going to be, I can't stand by.
"Alan! What are you doing!?" Yuyaki yells as I place my hands on the debris blocking the basement hatch.
"Something stupid."
I throw the doors open and burst out from below. Naruku pulls out a set of demon suppressing spikes and rushes directly at me. I don't want to hurt this girl. Nor do I want to hurt Kagura and attacking them is only going to fuel their hated, but this is the only solution.
My wings sprout from my back, and we charge directly at one another. The top pair are still the fully functional black and white wings that were passed down to both me and Miaybi. However, bottom pair happen to be made of nothing but yellow bone that's oxidized with a fleshy, dead membrane that covers the small amount of healthy tissue left.
All the feathers have fallen off and what remained of my family's blessing upon me has now been mangled. The place where they were broken has healed, but I can still feel the fracture line rubbing against the raw part of my spine.
I take out my chain sickle and wrap the weight around my left arm where I can swing it by the blade while drawing my Kopis in my other hand. The goal is to get around Naruku here and go after Kagura.
"Get out of my way." I say as I scrape my Kopis across the grain of my chain sickle. The fire element in my chain sickle explodes out the tip and my entire left arm engulfs itself in flame while the Kopis pulses with gold and blue bolts.
"I will as soon as you tell me where the talilbasha was."
"If I'd known where it is, then I would have already told you where it was by now." I reply as Naruku spins the spikes in-between her fingers.
"Then I guess I'll just have to hold you down and make you talk." She replies as she drags the spikes together. The spikes envelope themselves in Azothian grade mercury and unleashes a holy power that's been suppressed deep within the pieces of forged iron.
"I'd normally be excited for a statement like that, but this time is going to be an exception." I reply.
Naruku crouches down and digs her spikes into the ground. I continue walking towards her as she intentionally waits for me to get closer.
I quickly lunge forward and shift my weight to my left and let it overtake me. Two concussive blasts rock the ground, and the dead space right above me. The force causes the back of my duster to flap up.
Naruku was using the snow below to conceal a pillar of light attack and was hoping that I would intentionally dodge that while Kagura fired on of her beams at me. How did I know? Because Roger and Thomas taught me and Lawrence how to use it as well as how to dodge it.
Naruku cartwheels off a nearby tree and propels herself directly at me. I slide out of the way and cover my eyes with one of my wings as her spikes dig into the ground. Snow and mud erupt from the ground along with a small pillar of light.
I hold up my Kopis and block Naruku's attempt to stab me as she recovers from her recent attack. The sparks from both our weapons colliding land directly in our faces. Blood instantly pours down from my cheeks and down my neck as the tiny bits of holy and unholy metal dig into my face. Naruku squints as blood dribbles down from her forehead and into one of her eyes.
"I suggest you deal with her." I say as I nod my head and hint that there is someone behind her.
Naruku spins around and blocks Yuyaki's incoming attack from one of her nodachis. I guess it's not necessarily a fight without her. Out of nowhere, Naruku throws one of her spikes at me as she engages with Yuyaki. Out of reflex, I lift one of my wings and try to swat it away.
The piece of metal drives itself directly into one of the wings that's nothing but bone. Immediately, I expect it to hurt since every part of me is weak to holy but nothing happens. I look at the extent of the injury and all that's happened is the shard of metal has barely wedged itself into a bone. Right where the main bone starts to branch out, the spike sits.
I reach around and pull the spike out. The moment it touches my hand, my palm starts to sizzle and pop. I quickly press it to my left wing that's been broken and nothing happens. The moment it touches one of my regular wings though, pain shoots all throughout my body.
I drop the piece of metal out of shock and re-examine the wings my dad broke. As two and two come together, it finally hits me; my broken wings are completely immune to holy now since they are dead and only contain enough muscle to flex and extend. I won't be able to fly as fast as I used to, but now I have the ability to resist and possibly deflect weak to moderate holy attacks. pluses and minuses.
"I never through I'd say this, but thanks dad! You fucking asshole!"
Now let's go test this out on someone who's strictly holy. Yuyaki keeps Naruku busy as I chase after Hades and Kagura. Right now, Hades hasn't sustained a lot of damage directly, but he's losing the will to fight because he's exhausted.
As I get closer and closer, I can feel my body warming up. The only thing that isn't is my broken wings. Hades swings his club at Kagura, but it doesn't have nearly half the power it should. In fact, it's like he's barely throwing an attack at all. Kagura catches the weapon bare handed and delivers an open palm thrust punch directly into the middle of Hades chest.
His armor shatters under the sheer force, and the impact is hard enough that I can hear one of his ribs breaking off into a lung. The helmet flies off Hades head, and a red mist spews from his mouth as he flies into a tree and snaps it in half.
"It seems a new challenger has appeared." Kagura teases as I approach her.
"Well I reckon the only way to progress is participating in this rigged fight." I reply as I casually dangle my chain sickle from my hand, "I was kind of hoping you would try and find a stupid and illegitimate reason to fight with me. Other than Alice, Fubuki and Oliveria, those shinobi, hunters and gods get quite boring."
"Speaking of gods, how is Astoreth?" Kagura asks.
"She's good."
"How old is she? 11,000? No, 12,000?"
"Something like that."
"And what about Daigon?"
"He's good. Served as my polemarch at the Bolakna." I reply.
"Those silly Spartans. Always looking for a reason to fight."
"I don't see how we are so different, but I guess that's a matter of perspective."
Kagura forms a ball of glowing blue energy before summoning a red orb in her other hand. She smashes the orbs together and causes a small spectacle that displays just how much power she truly has. Although I would rather this not end badly, it's too late to back down right now.
"I'll give you one last chance Alan, where is the stone?"
"You know me. I would have hidden it in the cusp of your H sized bra, but it's not there. So, I didn't steal it."
"Wrong answer, but I will give credit where credit is due, you certainly would have."
"And that's why you love me Kagura-chan." I playfully tease.
Kagura jets forward and swings her fist. Her balled up hand cuts through the air so fast that it melts the snow all around her. A trail of black energy emerges from where her attack slices through the air.
I hop out of the way and vertically swing my chain sickle at her from a distance. A ball of fire erupts from the ground and chutes of lighting fan out and cover the ground. Kagura jumps up and dodges both attacks.
I bring it back around and swing horizontally. She swats the sickle down and launches herself forward with her palm fully extended out. I roll to the side and slash at her with my Kopis. Kagura spins around and out of the way of my attack, leaps back and lands on a nearby tree branch.
I swing my chain sickle around and throw it into the tree she's perched on. The blade digs all the way through the bark and into the core. Kagura jumps back as I launch myself right at her. As I ascend to her, Kagura utters, "pertingens solis (piercing sun)."
The end of her left hand forms a spear like protrusion from the end of her hand and extends it out towards me. I pull up my broken wings and cover myself from where the weapon is going to hit me. The tip of the magic weapon cuts all the way through the dead tissue of both wings and gets wedged into a bone. Kagura wraps her arms around me and tries to chew through my broken wings. I can feel her nibbling and trying to bite through the bone, but she can't.
The tips of my healthy wings fold back and form a barb made out of solid cartilage. I can't see where she is directly, but I can feel where Kagura is biting me. Not only that, but her hand has managed to penetrate all the way through as well.
I flap my wings and try to hit her. The left barb misses, but the right tears some fabric off her black dress and scrapes across the back of her shoulder blade. She lets me go and backs off as she tries to access the damage done to her.
"Well congratulations Alan. You managed to make me bleed." Kagura says as she points to left shoulder blade. A small drop of blood drips down her peach colored skin and gets absorbed by the dress she is wearing.
"What a shame. Too bad it didn't rip the front part of the dress off." I reply.
Kagura redistributes the red magic back into her hands and runs directly at me. I put my Kopis away and place both hands on my chain sickle. Kagura closes in and swings. I lean back and twirl the weight around. The chain wraps around her arm as I block her other fist with the blade of the sickle. Kagura's attack deflects off and she staggers backwards.
I swing the sickle behind me and deliver an overhead attack. The sickle cuts through Kagura's flesh and slams into the ground as I bring it back around and slash again. Kagura catches me by the wrist and prevents me from following through this time. Everything within my body starts to ache for some reason. The outside of my body begins to burn and my healthy wings start to shrivel up around me.
I look all over my body, but I don't see any major wounds. Other than the small amount of scar tissue when Kagura stabbed through my dead wings. There are a couple parts of the bone that looks like it has been nibbled on, because Kagura's saliva is slowly trickling down.
My vision flashes, the color from my face feels like it's draining and everything starts to lose its color as Kagura quickly gains control and moves me around according to her will. The wounds I inflicted upon her quickly heal, and all her strength returns. She pushes me further and further off balance. No matter how hard I push back, she easily overpowers me.
The bones in my arms feel like they are going to break as Kagura throws herself forwards. I lose all sense in my legs as Kagura takes me to the ground. Every time her body comes in contact with mine, it's nearly enough to put me out permanently. Now she's sitting on top of me and constantly inflicting some kind of damage.
"Halfbloods, fallen elder gods and pure yoma can't be within a certain radius of me because my aura during fights emit magic toxic to your kind. Now, where is the stone?"
"Why do you want it so damn bad?" I ask.
"Because it has a certain sentimental value to me. Something you can relate to." Kagura states as she digs through my side satchel and pulls out the stuffed grey cat Minori got for me back when I was learning how to deal with my sickness.
"Unlike a gift though, it was an object birthed from my own sorrow. A rock formed within my own heart."
Kagura pulls her dress down and shows me a faded scar that's about the size of a golf ball right above her left breast. Blood is slowly pushing through the pores of the scar tissue and mixing with the inner silk lining of her dress. Kagura places her index finger on the bloody scab and her chest becomes transparent.
Inside, I can see a hole that's the same size of the scar on the arch of her aorta. Judging by the damage to the fibers, the stone she speaks of tore through the front and forcefully exited her chest.
"Why are you assuming I stole it? I have served and loved you."
"Because ever since the Mirror Queen has returned, you have been serving her, and she seeks my downfall. Someone that doesn't understand." Kagura states.
"Why can't bygones be bygones?" I plea.
"Because she refuses to understand! Everything I did was because I love her!"
"By trapping her in a world she fought tooth and nail to escape!?"
"I don't expect you to understand. Put yourself in my shoes and let Asuka serve as the queen. You'd do anything to protect Asuka as I would the girl that became my sister, and she hates me for it, but I'd do anything to keep her away from the problem."
"Well isn't that nice of you, but someone who's survived the worst Yharnam had doesn't need your type of help." I hear M scowl.
Kagura turns her head in the direction of where M's voice came from. Maria, Gehrman, Astoreth, Daigon, and some of the Hanzo girls are all standing behind M. In her arms is Hades. She presses her finger into Hades' chest cavity and pushes the broken rib out of his lung. He lets out a sudden grunt of pain, but his stifled and heavy breathing returns to normal.
Asuka is on the verge of breaking through and coming undone at the sight of Kagura sitting on top of me with her chest exposed. I suppose this looks a lot worse than it actually is, but because I'm bleeding all over and Kagura is holding me down, maybe she will actually have the sense to understand. Doubtful since Asuka has never been the observant one.
Kagura gets off me and backs away to where I can't feel the full extent of her aura anymore. The blood stops leaking from my body, and the paralysis Kagura was inflicting disappears. I try to roll myself up on my side, but all the muscles in my body are still weak. My body finally gives out, and I fall flat on my back. The only thing I can do is turn my head and watch.
M leans Hades up against a tree. Blood is leaking out the cracks of his armor, and the slits in his visor. I don't know the extent of his injuries, but they have to be worse than mine since he was around Kagura longer than I was.
"What are you doing beating up on your favorite hunter?" M asks as shiny bloody crystals encase both of her arms and hands.
"You had him steal something that possesses the power to kill me. Why else would you be taking him from me?" Kagura spits back.
"I merely told him to stop serving you so you would stop acting like a child." M replies as she clenches her fist. The solidified blood shatters like a glass window pane and scatters all around her feet.
"Then how are we so different?" Kagura replies.
"Very funny Kagura."
"What is your problem?" Kagura asks.
"You and dad left me to rot in that god forbidden place for over eight centuries!"
"Sister, I didn't have a choice. What I did was because I love you."
"By forcing me to stay in a world where everything was constantly trying to kill me!? Things that have haunted me ever since I'd been in there!? You know what happened when I tried to leave!? A goddamn Korin Fuma family blood seal kept me from seeing the only people that ever meant anything to me!"
M's voice cracks from emotion as she crushes her fists to the point her fingernails cause the palms of her hands to swell up, "I was only a child, but I still remember your last notion of sisterly love."
"I'm sorry!"
"Sorry isn't good enough Kagura."
M's cloak bursts into flames and fire engulfs her body and turns her skin an ash color. Her blue hair turns white and tattoos pop up on her body that run from the corner of both M's eyes, to her stomach and all the way down to her toes. Eight black tentacles grow out of her back and droop down to the ground. M's eyes turn completely blue as she grabs her sword handle.
This isn't good. Not at all. Yes, M just saved me, but with the vibes the queen is giving off, I have a feeling that this is going to get out of hand way too quick. M is still charging up and Kagura doesn't appear to be backing down at all.
"If you think I'm going to run away, you're wrong!" Kagura yells as she slams her hands together and charges up with power.
"Are you sure? Good. Because I prefer it this way."
A massive green blade jets out of the sword handle and M throws a huge horizontal slash of energy directly towards Kagura. Deep within the waves, small star like objects sparkle within the celestial looking attacks. Kagura takes a stance and deflects the attack away as well as a vertical slash. Everyone dives behind something solid as M continues her onslaught.
Kagura gets an opening and chunks a ball of red energy at M. The sword changes from green to red the moment M blocks it. Power roars from the weapon as M spins around and fires it back at Kagura. She attempts to block it, but it blows Kagura off her feet. The force throws her back into a tree. Her spine crackles like an empty candy wrapper as the tree snaps in half.
Kagura catches herself and rolls back to her feet. M slams her tentacles into the ground and launches herself up into the air. Her left ankle connects with Kagura's right forearm. M spins back around and delivers her other ankle into Kagura's forearm again before bringing her sword down. Kagura catches the blade barehanded and throws it off course as M uses one of her tentacles to impale Kagura in the foot.
Kagura yelps and grabs a tentacle aimed for her chest. She slides behind M and takes her to the ground. Kagura sinks her teeth into M's shoulder to try and disorient her. She grabs another one of M's tentacles and bites it off at the base of her back.
M isn't even flinching. Nor does she have any kind of facial expression other than extreme annoyance at what is happening. The tentacles Kagura attacks regenerate faster than she can bite them off. One of M's tentacles slide around and stabs Kagura in the gut. Kagura spits up blood as the impact forces her to cough. M hoists Kagura up into the air and throws her.
Kagura hits the snow and spins out of control. As her body drags across the ground, red trails behind her as she slams through a tree stump and finally comes to a stop at the edge of a cliff.
"Leave Kagura alone!" Naruku yells as she disengages with Yuyaki and charges after M.
She lunges the spikes towards her, and M holds up her arm without looking. Both spikes barely break the surface of M's arm as Naruku's attack is halted. M flicks her wrist and her arm follows. Naruku flies back and skids across the ground. Four of her tentacles burrow underground and travel over to where Naruku is laying. The moment she gets up, the tentacles lock together and form a living cell that restrains Naruku from moving.
"Let me go! Don't fucking touch her!" Naruku screams as M causally walks towards Kagura.
All I've been able to do is watch, and this is probably one of the most depressing things I've seen, and what pisses me off is the queen's inability to see that this is wrong. I think M made her point when she absorbed Kagura's attack and blasted her through a tree. Kagura was clearly hurting from that, but it appears that wasn't enough.
Naruku screams obscenities of all sorts as she desperately tries to escape from the prison M has her in. It looks like everyone wants to do something, but Astoreth and Daigon are keeping everyone back.
Asuka is trying to get by so she can get over to where I am laying. The look on her face says that she is terrified because I'm pale, bleeding and my eyes have changed color. Even though it's normal, it scares Asuka every time my eyes change colors because that means I've either been in a fight, or I'm trying to recover from severe injuries. Which as of now, both are the case.
Maria and Gehrman are conversing back and forth in hunter's tongue while Hibari translates what they are saying. Maria and Gehrman nod in unison, and Maria helps Gehrman stand up. The both of them take off walking in the direction M and Kagura are while Asuka finally breaks by and rushes over towards me.
"Alan!" She cries as she slides down by my side.
I want to say something, but I'm too weak to do so. If anything, I'm barely hanging on to what little consciousness I have left. Asuka works her hands underneath my body and props me up against her knees.
"Say something Alan! Please!" Asuka begs as she shakes me to try and initiate some response.
I hold up my hand and touch her face to acknowledge that I can hear her, but my speech is impaired at the moment. If there was one thing I could say right now though, I'd tell Asuka how much I love her, and that I can't begin to express how sorry I am for how things have ended up.
Just being able to see her again makes me so happy that blood and water leaks out of my tear ducts and down the side of my face. However, there is a heavy pain that haunts me because of what happened in that dungeon. The sight of me becoming emotional causes Asuka to swell up with emotion to the point that her tears drip on my chest plate as she pulls me in and holds me against her chest.
My attention turns back to where Kagura and M are. Right now, M still has Naruku trapped while she hovers over Kagura. She's got the rest of her tentacles aimed at Kagura as if she's going to stab her while she's down.
"Good hunter, I love you very much, and I would follow you to the ends of the cosmos, but the creature you call your sister has been defeated. She is no longer a threat." Maria states as she tries to reason with M.
"Remember what you told me when I first took you in? How you wanted to become the strongest so you could protect the weakest? Do those words mean nothing to you? Were you lying to me?" Gehrman antagonizes her.
"Shut up!"
"NO! This is exactly what happened at Iosefleka's clinic! You were more concerned about killing that imposter from the healing church than saving those people! And if wasn't for me showing up when I did, then you would have joined them!"
"They gave me no choice! The church betrayed me!"
"And you betrayed me! But I didn't let something as trivial as that obstruct me from what really mattered! And that was turning you into a hunter greater than myself!" Gehrman replies.
M grits her teeth and screams. She throws her sword down, and the tentacles slam all around Kagura without penetrating any part of her. Kagura has her eyes closed and head covered as if she's expecting to be struck. The tentacles that had Naruku caged snap away and travel back into M's body as she begins to turn back to her normal form. Kagura slowly lifts her head up and realizes that M has finally given up.
Asuka reaches for her sword because Hades is walking directly in front of us but his attention isn't focused on me. I grab Asuka's hand and keep her sword in its sheathe because Hades isn't a threat. If anything, it looks like he's got a heavy heart.
He walks past Gehrman and Maria and places his hand on M's shoulder, "My precious girl, if you want to be angry, direct it towards me. It was my fault for letting them take you away. Kagura was too young to do anything, and the only one that could do something didn't, because I was more focused on other things than taking care of you."
"Sister, when I heard you were coming back, I was never more excited in my life, but Shen also heard and he was determined to use everything he had to kill you. I did what I did to protect you." Kagura states.
Kagura pulls her dress down and show M the same exact spot she showed me. Where she forcefully passed the talilbasha through her chest, "This is what happened to me as a result of hurting you, and I have to live with the regret of knowing that what I did can have dire consequences if the stone from my heart falls into the wrong hands."
The guilt of what she did starts to sit in, and tears begin to flood down M's face as she collapses to her knees crying. Kagura slowly reaches over and puts her arms around M and starts to cry herself. Hades puts his arms around both of them and constantly utters, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry my precious little girls."
Everyone else rushes out from behind the trees and gathers around. Astoreth and Daigon are the first to reach me. Both of them wrap their arms around me while pleading that I tell them why I did such a stupid thing. If I could talk, then I'd tell them, but it's obvious. I did it for Murasame and the Hanzo Girls, and I would do it again.
"Stubborn boy!" Astoreth says with a mouthful of tears as her and Daigon caress me and Asuka in their arms.
Yagyu bends down by my side and places her hand on my stomach, "I promise… I'd never say something like this, but because it's you, I'm willing to make an exception. Alan, you stupid fucking idiot, you could… you could have gotten yourself…"
No matter how hard she tries, Yagyu can't finish the sentence without having to stop in between sudden outbursts. I reach up and touch her eye patch like I want to take it off. Yagyu reaches around and pulls it off. Other than a small amount of scar buildup on the cornea of her eye, it's still the same color and completely healed. The thought of having someone run their finger into your eye socket sends chills down my spine, and it's easily one of the worst pains someone can feel.
"Gehrman told us what was going on when you sent him back with what Ikaruga needed. Everyone else was mad, but I wasn't. That was until we went to Colacus and you weren't there. Then I was really angry because it's unlikely for you to say something and it not happen." Hibari states.
"Maria also told me, Ikaruga renascentur sanguinem tuum (Ikaruga will be reborn of your blood)." Hibari adds as Daigon hoists me up onto his shield.
That was something I really didn't want to hear. Not only that, I start to panic because I have no idea where Octavian is. After our last argument, did he run away?
No, Octavian's going to be at Hanzo Academy because he's a good kid, and Jonathan is there talking sense into him, but the looming thought that when I was his age comes around, and nothing but worry plagues my mind…
Ending Song: "Wrong Side of Heaven" by: Five Finger Death Punch