"Shun!" Ikki excitedly screamed, running at full speed up to his brother, embracing him in a tight hug.
Shiryu grabbed Tenshi's hand and she turned to face him.
"Seriously, what was that? You tore those men to pieces and you practically flew into the air with that first jump!"
"I'm not really sure, "Tenshi began, "they made me so angry and they were upsetting all of you guys. I just snapped. I didn't even know I could do that!"
"You really are some sort of demon!" Shina marveled over the other female's fighting skills.
Tenshi blushed, "I'm still trying to adjust to being called a demon."
"So, is she on our side? Why did those men bring me here? Where is Perseph- Peggi? Can someone tell me what's going on?" Shun questioned in a demanding voice.
"There isn't much time to tell you everything. The red-head's name is Tenshi," Ikki was interrupted by Shiryu.
"Actually, we don't really know her name because she is suffering from a type of amnesia. She is the girl I was caring for the evening you left to meet. . ."
They realized that someone would have to let him know what had happened to Peggi. Hyoga took on the responsibility of telling him what had happened.
"Shun," Hyoga began, "I hate to tell you this, but the saints who kidnapped you killed her."
There was no easy way to break that sort of news to someone and no easy way to take it either. Shun, who had been standing, fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.
"We don't have time to talk about this. If she'd wanted to live, she would've complied. We need to rescue Saori!" Tatsumi urged them to move.
"Those two who ran away will run back to where they feel the most safe, "Shina began, "I'm sure they are running towards Ares. My opinion is that we make it there before they do. They are so out-of-sorts because of those attacks, and they are taking the long way there, but if we stay here too long while explaining every thing, Ares will know that we rescued Shun."
"Right," Ikki agreed. "We will explain it all on the way there."
Peggi and Shun were almost out of the thick woods, Peggi singing as they walked.
"Ma-ia-hii! Ma-ia-huu! Ma-ia-hoo! Ma-ia-haa! Vrei sa pleci dar numa numa iei! Numa numa iei numa numa numa iei! Chipul tau si dragostea din tei. Mi-amintesc de ochii tai," she took a breath and Shun hoped her Numa song was almost over, but realized there was still more to go, "Te sun sa-ti spun ce simt acum. . .Alo. . .salut. . . iubirea mea sunt eu fericirea. Alo alo sunt iarasi eu Picasso! Ti-am dat beep si sunt voinic, Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic!"
"Can you please not sing the Numa song again!" Shun begged.
"Sure thing!"
Shun sighed from relief, but then Peggi only made it worse.
"Everything's been said before. There's nothing left to say anymore. When it's all the same, you can ask for it by name!"
Shun rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to just join in.
Not caring how they sounded to the wildlife or any travelers nearby, they continued to sing, "Babble-babble-bitch-bitch-rebel-rebel-party-party-sex-sex-sex and don't forget the violence. Blah-blah-blah, got your lovey-dovey sad and lonely, stick your stupid slogan in. Everybody sing along!"
Peggi began laughing at her crazy boyfriend, who decided to improvise the words for a nice air guitar solo, using a random stick as a guitar. Suddenly, her laughter stopped, as did her movement.
"What's wrong?" Shun whispered his question, so as not to distract her.
"There is someone or something out there. We're being followed."
No sooner had Peggi said something, did several female saints jump out from the thick bushes and trees.
"We have been looking all over for you two!" one of the saints exclaimed.
"Who are you?" Peggi demanded, defensively placing her arm in front of Shun.
"My name is Satsuki, but in only a f4ew moments, none of those formalities will matter. In only a few moments, both of you will be in thousands of pieces."
Kahna noticed that Peggi's hair and eyes were changing, "Satsuki! The demon is going to,"
Before she had the chance to finish, a wall of fire hit her, charring her body. Her skin was blackened and blood dripped from blisters all over her body.
"You want Satsuki?" Shun asked, answered by a growl he knew meant 'let me at her!'
Shun was on the attack, fighting off the other girls, including Kahna, who was barely able to move. Peggi instantly charged at Satsuki, her opponent.
In sanctuary, the saints had finished explaining everything to Shun, managing to sum up every last detail. Hyoga, although not in a pleasant mood, managed to add in a few comments about Tenshi and Shiryu's 'relationship'.
The saints and Tenshi had greatly slowed down their pace. They were trying to arrive at the Pope's chambers before the two men made it back, but now they needed to listen for approaching guards sent by Ares.
Shina was the one leading the group, knowing her way around the area more than any of the others. Suddenly, Tenshi screamed. All of the saints turned to see Tenshi on the ground, lying on her stomach, Shun standing next to her, holding her down with his right foot.
The bronze saints knew neither what to say or how to react; Shun was no longer himself. His emerald green eyes were a shade of crimson-red, and his once green hair had become notably longer, and more importantly, had turned an incredibly dark shade of black.
"Muso?" Seiya wasn't really sure what to say to the man.
"No, I am not Muso. My name, dear children, is Naraku, and I will destroy you all."
"Where is my baby brother!" Ikki screamed at him.
"Don't worry, Phoenix Ikki, he and his little female friend are in one of the wooded areas of China at the moment," Naraku began, "but how long they will remain in one piece depends on Satsuki, the Uncontrollable Warrior."
"Why don't you leave them out of this!" Hyoga screamed, realization hitting that his best friend and his crush were most likely still alive and well.
"Oh, but they are a part of this! An important part of this. In fact, they play a larger role in all of this than you do, Cygnus."
"How?" Ikki sharply questioned.
"No more questions. From now on, all you need to know is that you are running out of options. Ares demands the girl's return. Either you hand her over quietly or your purple-haired princess will be killed."
Suddenly, Seiya noticed that a member of their group was not voicing his complaints.
"Where is Tatsumi?" the Pegasus saint asked.
"I was rather surprised that you didn't notice. I took him down long ago. Let all of this be a warning to you. Perhaps you may not give the Pope what he asks for, however, by disobeying me, you may be doing the last thing you will ever do."
Naraku lifted his hand, palm facing Seiya. Some sort of wave, clear and looking like some kind of sonic boom, left Naraku's palm and knocked Seiya off of his feet before anyone could react. Blood splattered on the ground around Seiya's head, and hoping it wasn't too late, Shiryu, who had been standing behind Naraku, pulled his hair so that his head fit perfectly into the Dragon Saint's hands, and he made an attempt to break his neck. When he did, the imitation Shun cloth and clothes fell to the ground, but no one was inside of them. It was like Naraku had turned into air and disappeared.
"Seiya!" Hyoga was at his friend's side in a matter of seconds, kneeling down to see if his friend was even breathing.
The group was relieved to see him open his eyes, trying to sit up. Shina shoved Hyoga out of the way, holding Seiya's head and trying to comfort him as much as she possibly could.
"I think I'm okay. My chest hurts; I think some of my ribs must be broken. I don't know what that was, but if Naraku has those kinds of powers, we may not be able to fight him!"
"Don't be so negative," Shiryu began, "Tenshi has powers that I'm sure are just as great. If not, then why would Ares send for someone with such power?"
"I'm not able to fully control my powers yet. I hate to be a downer," Tenshi was making a good point so far, "but I can't fully control the powers that I can use, and I'm sure that there are plenty of powers I haven't figured out how to use. I won't be much help to all of you, and I know that."
"Shiryu is right, though. Having you along will help us greatly, even with the little amount of abilities you have. You don't know, maybe you'll end up saving our lives." Hyoga smiled at Tenshi.
"Guys," Seiya choked out, his voice weak and sounding as though he were in a lot of pain, "you need to keep going. Get to the Pope's chambers and defeat him. Rescue Saori, and then we will work on finding a way to help Shun and Peggi out if they need the help. Just please, hurry!"
Knowing that he would only argue if they tried to stay, the saints decided to move on. With warriors like Naraku against them, there was no telling what they would be facing if they gave sanctuary the time to plan more against them.
Deep in the woods, a fight was going on. Shun was still fighting, but was on his last opponent. The saints were all very strong, but from glancing at the match against Satsuki and Peggi, Shun could tell that something was very different about them. Shun knew the name from somewhere, but until he noticed her mask, he didn't realize that she was one of the worst fears a saint could have.
Shaka, one of the most powerful saints alive, was known as such a powerful man; people called him 'the man closest to god'. It was said that the only being who was stronger than him, was God himself. It was said that the only saint who could ever possibly defeat Satsuki was Shaka himself, and only because they had trained together. They both had the ability to let all of their emotions go, turning themselves into berserkers, both having a way to control their bodies and minds.
As long as Shaka's eyes remained closed, he was in full control but by opening them, he would become a berserker. Shun couldn't remember how Satsuki controlled her powers, but Shun hoped that she would be finished off before Peggi had to find out.
Shun finished his fight, using the chains from his Andromeda cloth to behead the girl he was fighting. Shun watched the remaining female saint fight against Peggi. The fight mostly consisted of each girl throwing punches at the other. Sometimes a fist would land a hit, and others, it would be blocked. Peggi preferred to save her powers until the final moments, figuring out if her opponent had any tricks up his or her sleeve.
After deciding that Satsuki either a) wasn't going to reveal her secrets and abilities until later on or b) Satsuki wasn't as great as she bragged to be, Peggi decided to step her game up a notch. She pulled back her arm, about to throw a punch, suddenly letting her body drop so that she was holding herself up with one hand, and kicked Satsuki in the stomach.
Not expecting any sort of change in the fight, Satsuki was thrown off guard. The kick wasn't meant to create any type of fatal damage, nor to even really hurt the saint, but meant more to throw off her balance and stun her for a few seconds, so that Peggi could perform her next attack.
To use her powers, Peggi needed a few seconds to connect herself with her surroundings. In all honesty, although she lied to those around her, telling them that she was a full demon, she was only a half demon. To make matters more embarrassing for her, the other parent who was not a demon was a half-breed as well. The mixture was angel and fairy. Peggi had taken on the attributes of demon and angel. Her cousins were more demon than anything else, but had fairy in them as well. Her cousin Eevee's powers mostly came from the fact that she had trained herself to become a sorceress and type of mage. She had taught Peggi to use nature to increase her abilities, and Peggi had taught her how to use types of elements as powers instead of simply drawing energy from the elements. Together, the girls were very powerful, but alone, Peggi had to work twice as hard.
Although the half demon would never admit this either, she was not as powerful as Eevee, but wouldn't even tell the red-head such, because a big ego might cause the younger girl to forget that although she was more powerful, the dark-haired girl was more in tune with her abilities and may try to fight in a fight she simply wasn't ready for.
According to Shun, Shiryu had found her, injured, in an alleyway, and that could have been a simple mistake, or Eevee had gotten in over her head.
The current situation was going as planned for Peggi. She had managed to produce two lovely glowing fireballs in each hand, a menacing smirk on her face.
"This is the end. Say your prayers, little girl."
The speaker had not been Peggi, but instead, was Satsuki.
"Peggi! We have to run, NOW!" Shun screamed, realizing that the saint was removing her mask, remembering how the girl controlled her berserker mode.
END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEENPeggi-Well, at least I didn't leave it on a cliffhanger!
Shun-Um, Peggi? Yes you did.
Peggi-Oops, guess I'll have to update fairly soon then? Actually it wouldn't have taken me this long, but I decided that some of the conversation in here needed to go and there was sooo much editing to do.
James-Yeah for once she wasn't simply lazy!
Peggi-Okay well I have a boyfriend to kill, so please review!
Disclaimer-PEGGI DOESN'T OWN THE 'NUMA SONG' BECAUSE NOWADAYS DOES AND SHE DOESN'T OWN 'THE NEW SHIT' SONG BECAUSE MARILYN MANSON DOES! (gets killed by Peggi's fireballs)