Rokka no Yuusha: Child of the Goddess
Summary: She couldn't have lived a happier life. But today she would be committing suicide. She had no other choice; her duty to protect the secrets that her hidden temple held, and her duty to protect the young child chosen by the Goddess of Fate was more important than her own life. It was a sacrifice she had to make. For the child, and for the world.
Disclaimer: This is a fan-fiction story of the Anime/Manga/Light Japanese Novel; Rokka no Yuusha, and is in no way affiliated with the actual story in any of the aforementioned media. All characters and other materials related to the show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant. However, any characters that are not related to any copyrights are copyrighted to Elemental-Zer0, as are any adaptions/variations to the plot set out in the original author's story/plot.
Authors Note: It's been a while, I know. I'm sorry. I've been so preoccupied with real life craziness you wouldn't even imagine! Anyways I'm temporarily back (I can't guarantee if I'll be able to update much past this post, but we'll see) so please enjoy this next chapter.
Anyways, let me know what you think, but no flames please. If you have any criticism to make, please do it politely otherwise I shall ignore your words. (It's happened before, I'm sorry to say, and I hadn't even posted any real chapters…)
Chapter Two: The Distracting Detours
The stench of burnt flesh was strong and pungent and it clawed at the back of his throat. He felt breathless and hot. It was too hot. His mind couldn't comprehend the heat or why it was there. There was smoke too. It stung his eyes and dried the air in the room. His eyes teared up, unable to wash away the specks of ash that hung in the hot air before another cloud stung his eyes again.
He was scared. He was alone, and he shouldn't have been. Where was she? Where was the sister who'd looked after him? The girl in white?
The sounds of metal clanging outside made him too afraid to leave the room. The sounds were harsh, and nothing like the usual morning practice the brother monks used to do. There were other sounds coming from the windows too. Loud banging and roaring sounds. Like an animal injured or fighting. They were low guttural sounds, loud and grizzly. They didn't make him feel safe at all.
He huddled under the silk blankets that had been piled on the bed he'd slept in. he closed his eyes and silently, he called for his sister. The sister in white. He called and called for her like he always had before.
Rolonia had woken him up almost as soon as his eyes had closed. At least that's how it felt to the feline assassin. Hans couldn't help himself when he thought badly of the young woman for a moment, his naps were sacred, but he understood the situation, and there was no alternative. Security measures were necessary in this situation.
He yawned and stretched and then froze, noticing a whimper in the dark to his right. Rolonia looked over at their pseudo leader and sighed.
"He's been having interesting dreams again." She muttered sympathetically before turning to her own bedroll. Hans' eyes snapped to the young woman and he peered at her from under his long fringe, immediately he remembered Adlet's story of how their fearless leader and the young Saint of Blood had met some years ago under the same master. His eyes narrowed in determination, he saw an opportunity to gain information from her and took it.
"Nyaah, has he always had these 'interesting' dreams?" He asked quietly so as not to wake the others. He glanced down at the man who had lead them safely thus far as he asked his question. He studied the frown and sweat on the flame haired boy's brow. His own frown deepened in concern; 'interesting' wasn't quite the term he'd use if his dreams had him looking like this.
"Oh? You mean when we stayed with Spiker-Shishō? Hmmm, no not every night." Rolonia revealed innocently, "Just most of them. There were one or two nights where he was too exhausted to even dream." She gave a huff of exhaustion just thinking about the memory, "He was quite the task master. We never had any time to ourselves." She babbled but the conversation was not where Hans had planned to go.
"Did he ever talk about them?" He asked, interrupting Rolonia's lament. She stopped, thrown by the question and then turned her gaze to the sleeping Adlet opposite her. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and sighed a long and angst filled sigh which answered Hans question before she could speak.
"No." She replied. Clearly, she'd been in this position before; watching her friend fight nightly demons of his own creation with no way to help. "But not because he wouldn't talk about it." She added quickly. "The problem was he never could remember what he'd been dreaming about." She explained. "It used to bug him all the time." She said and watched the young leader twitch and stir a little. Hans watched too, the feeling of dread creeping slowly into his being as he watched the boy struggle with his unknown terrors. They all had terrors of their own, some so bad they would forever remain secret. His own childhood had been 'interesting' in that way but something about Adlet's dreams had Hans on edge. The assassin could feel that there was something amiss with it all and he just knew it had something to do with this mission they were all on.
"It's probably for the best." Rolonia spoke as she laid herself down. Hans gave her a querying look before she answered. "Him forgetting." She clarified. "If the sounds he's making are anything to go by, I wouldn't want to remember that terror." She added and then rolled over to fall asleep. Hans stared at her for a moment longer, pondering her thoughts before shifting his gaze back to Adlet who whimpered softly and creased his eyes in his sleep. Without thinking, the assassin laid his hand gently atop the flame haired boy's shoulder and gave it a brotherly squeeze. The gesture had the desired effect and Adlet seemed to relax a little under his hand. The thought to wake the teen from his nightmare flickered across his mind briefly before he swatted it away. No; they all needed as much sleep as they could get, restless or not.
"Fight the good fight leader-sama." He joked to himself, then turned serious. "I don't think we'll get through this without you in one piece." He added solemnly before heading out to the opening of the cave and sitting himself down for the third watch. It was going to be a long and boring two-hour period, but he was already counting them down with impatience. He'd wake Adlet for the next shift and finally have some answers.
His calls went out across the battlefields, alerting every abled mind to his plight. He called and called fervently in panic and despair until he couldn't tell if he was screaming it aloud or not.
Gently, softly; she responded. "Hush young miracle, I am with you." His fears lessened a little. She was close, she was coming.
Then a sudden thump, thump-thump rocked the door almost off its hinges. He sat up straighter, fear flooding his thoughts and those of his sister-in-white. The door rocked again with a loud set of thumps. Something was on the other side and its aura was saturated with filth. An oily, greasy feeling emanated from behind the door as a low growl permeated through the din from outside.
Something had come for him!
Hans was only half-way through his watch shift when he felt a plea for help brush past his ear. It was the strangest sensation he'd ever felt. As though it hadn't actually been a noise he'd heard, but rather a passing thought – one that didn't belong to him.
He sat up straighter and peered into the darkness around their cave entrance. Nothing moved and that would have been eerie had it not been the natural way of things in this tragic landscape. He twitched his ears this way and that, much like a cat but with more training for the finer details (and less pointy), but nothing made a physical sound.
'The wind?' He was about to think but then it happened again. A call. A silent, panicked call for help. A flash of red and gold hair and frightened amber eyes vanished across his eyes before he could really understand what had happened, and his gut translated the feeling instantly. Help Adlet!
The banging grew stronger, the door wasn't going to hold. This was it. Some demonic monster was going to break the door down and eat him!
Hans was moving before he even knew he was moving. Adlet was somehow calling for help telepathically. The assassin had jumped to his feet instantly, thoughts of how the man had the ability when only females had the gene for magic warred with the panic of whatever it was that had Adlet calling out in the first place. He entered the sleeping area, a little winded and still buzzing from adrenalin. No one else had woken, no one else had heard their leader's cry for help. How…?
He called out in terror as the door finally shattered from its hinges, sending splinters flying into the room.
Another feeling of desperation shot through the assassin and his catlike gaze found Adlet's shivering and twitching form in his bedroll. Instantly the feline assassin was by the flame haired teen's side, shaking the boy's shoulders to try and rouse the terrified sleeper.
He barely had time before the beast's claws were on him, fierce piercing fangs sunk deep into his shoulders as he struggled to get free… It was killing him!
"Oi, Adlet! Wake up!" Hans tried to whisper but his panic had the sound coming out a lot harsher than he had intended. Maura stirred and Chamot complained, still half asleep before rolling over and ignoring the sounds. Hans quieted then, not really wanting to alert the others to this 'interesting' turn of events but still feeling quite desperate to wake the teen leader up.
But just as he was about to try again, Adlet woke with a gasp and a panicked grip on the nearest thing that happened to be placed nearby – which just so happened to be Hans' tunic. The assassin instinctively gripped the young man's shoulders in a calming but firm grip, steadying their leader as the teen struggled to come back to reality. All the while trying to convince his own heart to calm down while he tried to figure out what this new development meant.
Adlet gripped whatever it was he'd found purchase on, using it to tether him back to reality. His breathing was too fast and his whole body was shaking with tension and something else. His head hurt like something he'd never felt before and his vision swam before him for a moment before it slowly settled.
"You're ok nya… was just a dream." Hans. Hans was nearby and was holding his shoulders as he trembled from the sheer overload of emotions that he couldn't put a memory to. Again.
Shit. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the tears of fear that had lingered and the new tears of frustration that threatened to overtake him. Why? Why was this happening? What the hell was he supposed to do with lingering feelings that he couldn't put any context to, in the middle of a demon's territory? Any lapse of attention would get them killed, he didn't have time for stupid amnesia-ridden nightmares. He tried, desperately to remember the dream he'd been having, his mind conjuring all sorts of possible triggers but there was just nothing… it was like avoid had opened in his mind and just swallowed the memory of the dream whole.
"Kuso…" He muttered hunching in on himself. His head still throbbed painfully and he wondered why he was in so much pain.
"Nyah… I told you dreams like this were a bad omen." Adlet jerked up and locked eyes with Hans. He'd forgotten the assassin had been there when he'd woken up. His guard had been down, he'd been completely open to attack. Shit! How out of it was he?! "You ok?" The assassin pried, it was then that Adlet noticed the slight tremor in the young man's voice. Hans had been worried. This was… unexpected. And dare he say, awkward too. Adlet tried not to stare.
"Y-yeah…" He lied unconvincingly. They both knew he was far from ok, but he was at least coherent and somewhat in control. "Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." Adlet admitted then made to apologise to the other's but found them fast asleep. This confused him. If he'd made enough of a ruckus to throw Hans into a rescue frenzy and have him come running and worrying the way he had, then surely it'd been loud enough to wake the others too?
"Nyah, it was getting boring anyway." Hans replied softly and stood up offering his hand to their shaken leader. Adlet hesitate but took the offered hand and stood shakily, his energy had been completely spent but he needed air and he needed it now. Hans hovered, following the flame-haired youth as they exited the cavern into the night air.
Adlet closed his eyes and relished the cool air on his sweat-soaked skin. It was cool and stale but better than the stuffy cave. He concentrated on his breathing, letting the rhythmic inhale and exhale of air ground him and relax his tense frame.
"So, when were you going to tell us about your unique ability?" Hans asked casually. And Adlet blinked his eyes open in confusion. He gave the assassin a rather blank but questioning stare, totally confused. Hans sighed, "Nyah, you know…" he said and then gestured to his own head with a strange depiction of a crazy symbol.
Again, Adlet just stared in confusion. Hans sighed in frustration. "Nyah, your gift man. Are you like, secretly a woman?" He asked curiously but seriously.
And Adlet was floored by the question. Why the hell would Hans be asking him this with such a serious face? What on earth had he been saying in his sleep for that question to come out so seriously? Not for the last time, Adlet's frustration at being unable to recall his distressing dreams rose to the surface. "What the hell are you talking about?" He finally asked, wondering if he was still maybe dreaming. But the assassin gazed at him unwaveringly, without a flicker of amusement. This was not a joke and Adlet was not asleep. Whatever had spooked Hans was no joking matter. The feline assassin was deadly serious and Adlet felt a shiver crawl up his spine that had nothing to do with the cool night air.
Hans sat down. The tension rose and Adlet felt a sense of unease growing inside him.
"I think we need to talk about your power of telepathy."
A/N: So, a little drama for you. Nothing major, just a really big plot point for now. Have you guessed where I'm going with this yet? Probably… I'm not very good at hiding my plot points.