Chapter 5: Homeland
Karakura Town, the morning after…
Hisana's Group
The trio of Axel, Hisana, and Evelyn steadily walked through the streets of downtown Karakura, each reaching out with their various senses in the hopes of finding a guardian. After searching for some time, they stopped as a holographic projection of Marluxia appeared in the sky above them, smiling with usual coyness. The three competitors kept a tight grasp on their weapons as the hologram opened its mouth to speak.
"Congratulations, heroes of Karakura Town." the hologram began. "You have defeated all three of the guardians within your world. As of now, I will call back my hordes from your world."
No sooner had he spoken, than a massive swarm of hollows and dusks began to fly through the air towards the black sphere in the sky. Marluxia waited until every last one of the dark creatures had been absorbed by the sphere before continuing.
"Your world is now free of my rule, but there are still thirteen others that belong to me and my guardians. As a token for your success, allow me to give you a gift." he snapped his fingers, and a swirling portal of darkness appeared before the group. "This gateway will take you to another world with more guardians for you to face. Good luck, challengers. Perhaps we will be meeting soon."
The hologram of Marluxia disappeared, leaving only silence as the group took in the new information.
"The third guardian has been defeated? But how?" Hisana wondered out loud.
"Looks like someone besides us has an interest in the tournament." Axel stated.
Evelyn nodded. "Definitely looks that way." the tall woman turned toward the open gateway. "What about that portal? Do you think it's a trap?"
Axel shook his head. "Marluxia may be a sneaky bastard, but he wouldn't try something like that. If it leads to another world with guardians like he said, then I think we should go."
Evelyn turned to the shortest member of the group. "Hisana, what about you? What are your thoughts on this?"
The short woman thought for a moment. "It would probably be best to go, but I'm not sure...I still don't know where nee-san is, and I'd rather not leave until I know she's safe."
Evelyn smiled and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure that she's alright. Shinzo is probably fighting, just like us, so the sooner we put a stop to Marluxia, the sooner we can reunite with her. Okay?"
Hisana smiled faintly, still somewhat doubtful. "I suppose you're right."
Axel smiled. "Well, we better be on our way then."
The other two nodded in agreement. The trio stepped toward the portal. Axel and Hisana went first, followed shortly by Evelyn. Just before she passed through the gateway, Evelyn cast one last glance over her shoulder. Seeing nothing, she turned back toward the gateway and joined her companions on the other side. Just after the trio disappeared, a pair of figures emerged from a nearby alleyway, one slightly shorter than the other. Nodding to each other, the pair walked toward the gateway and entered.
The other side of the portal...
The trio came out on the other side in the middle of a large desert. All around them, dust picked up bits of sand and a bright sun cast down rays of immense heat. Looking around, they spotted what looked like a city about a mile north of their position. Hisana focused on the distant civilization for a moment.
"Wait a minute...is that what I think it is?" she said.
"What is it?" asked Axel.
Hisana turned toward the tall man. "I think I might know where we are, but I can't be sure until we get to that city."
"We better start walking then. It looks pretty far away." said Evelyn.
The others sighed and nodded in agreement before they began their trek across the sands. It was around twenty minutes later when they arrived at the edge of the city. There they were stopped by a man wearing thuggish clothing and holding a cross shaped sword in his hand. The man had a white streak in his short black hair, and stared down at the group as he looked over them.
"Who are you? What business do you have in Windbloom?" asked the man in a serious tone.
"Wait, did you say Windbloom?" asked Hisana.
"Yeah that's right, this is the city of Windbloom, ruled by King Siegfried."
Hisana's eyes shone with joy. "I knew it! I thought I recognized this place! I'm Hisana Takanashi, Ebony Takanashi's daughter."
The thuggish man's eyes widened. "You're one of Ebony's kids?! Wow, you grow fast!" he held out his hand to Hisana. "Name's Zwei, I'm captain of Siegfried's guards."
Hisana took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Zwei."
"So, who are these people?" his tone had become more laid back.
"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel said with a smirk.
Zwei returned the smirk and nodded before looking at Evelyn.
"And you are?"
Evelyn paused for a moment. She averted her eyes as she answered. "Evelyn."
Zwei stared at her in slight confusion, but shrugged it off and returned his gaze to Hisana.
"Wait here a moment, I'll open the gate for you and your friends."
Zwei walked over to a nearby lever and pulled it. The fuselage slowly rose up, opening the path. Once it clicked into place, Zwei gestured toward the interior of the city.
"Welcome to Windbloom, Ms. Hisana."
A light blush of embarrassment spread across Hisana's cheeks, earning a light chuckle from Axel. "Just Hisana is fine, thanks. I'm not really anyone special."
"Like hell you aren't! You're the daughter of the woman who killed Yuu Koutari and ended the first multi-dimensional war. If I didn't treat you with at least some respect, then Siegfried would never let me live it down." Zwei said as he lead the trio through the streets.
Hisana and Axel laughed a bit, but Evelyn remained silent. Underneath her carefully constructed indifferent expression, she was gritting her teeth in anger. After the group had reached the center of the city, Zwei left them to their own devices and returned to guarding the gate. Axel gave Hisana an impressed look.
"Wow, It's like you're royalty around here." he joked.
Hisana laughed. "Not really. My birth mother was a close friend of Siegfried, and spent a lot of her time here when she wasn't out fighting." she closed her eyes and took in the scent of the city around her. "It feels good to be back in my home country."
Axel gave her a confused look.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? My sister and I were born here. We moved to Karakura with Evelyn once nee-san and I were able to walk."
"Huh, who'd have known? So Evelyn, where're you fr-hey, are you alright?"
The tall woman was nervously glancing all about her, averting her eyes whenever someone looked over at her.
"Evelyn, what's wrong?" Hisana asked.
"I don't think I should be here...people might get anxious if they realize who I am." Evelyn responded.
Hisana's eyes widened in realization. "Oh...I'm sorry, I completely forgot! We don't have to stay here if you don't want to."
Axel rose an eyebrow at the two women. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not exactly welcome here in Windbloom." Evelyn explained.
"Why not?"
"It's because...because of my heritage. My full name is Evelyn Koutari."
Axel now understood. "You're Yuu's daughter."
Evelyn nodded. "Part of the reason I moved to Karakura town was to get away from all of the people who hated me. It's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure it won't take long for people to recognize me."
"I see...so, should we leave then?"
"Well, you and Hisana can stay if you want, but I should probably-"
"Evelyn? Is that you?" came a girl's voice.
Startled, Evelyn slowly turned to face the speaker. A young girl around the same height as Hisana was standing a few feet away from the group, along with a tall man with dark hair. The girl had shoulder length brown hair and deep crimson eyes, and her gaze was directed solely at the tall tan woman standing across from her. Evelyn's eyes met that of the girl's, and the two of them instantly smiled brightly.
"Tsuyo-sa/Onee-chan!" they cried as they ran toward each other.
Evelyn bent down and embraced the smaller girl. Tsuyo-sa wrapped her arms tightly around the tall woman, burying her face in Evelyn's long lavender locks. The two remained like this for a time, until they eventually pulled away to look at each other.
"Evelyn nee-san, is it really you?" Tsuyo-sa said.
Evelyn smiled down at the girl. "The one and only. It's been a long time, Tsuyo-sa. I've missed you."
Evelyn turned towards her friends, who stood staring at her in confusion.
"Ah, that's right. You may not remember her, Hisana, because it's been a couple years since we've last seen each other. This is Tsuyo-sa Irino, my half-sister."
While the siblings caught up with each other, Yasha introduced himself to Hisana and Axel. When they were done exchanging pleasantries, Tsuyo-sa told them about her battle with Augus.
"Really? You beat him all by yourself?" Evelyn said, impressed.
Tsuyo-sa scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, I had some help from Yasha. It wasn't just me."
"I don't know, you seemed to be the only one between the two of us who was able to harm him. I think what you did was very impressive for one so young." said Yasha.
"I'll bet that Augus was one of the guardians Marluxia sent to this world." Axel stated.
"I was beginning to think the same thing. And if that's the case, then that means there are still two left in this world."
"I think you guys should speak with King Siegfried about this. He'll want all the knowledge he can get regarding our situation." Tsuyo-sa suggested.
The others nodded in agreement and followed the little brunette towards Fuuka Palace. As they walked through the streets, they made sure that Evelyn remained out of sight in the middle of their group, on the chance that someone were to recognize the daughter of Yuu and cause an uproar. Just as they were nearing the palace, a loud explosion suddenly broke the tranquil quiet of the city. The group turned toward the direction of the noise, and saw a smoke cloud beginning to trise from the edge of the city. An alarm began to ring throughout the city, and guards quickly ran past the group. Zwei came running up from a nearby alley towards the group.
"Zwei, what's going on?" asked Hisana.
"There's been an attack at the front gate! It's the Gohma!"
The group looked at each other in shared surprise. Yasha turned back to the captain.
"Leave it to us, we'll handle the Gohma."
Zwei nodded his head in thanks. The six of them headed toward the gate, weapons drawn.
"Kiyohime." a feminine voice suddenly called.
A large metal squid like monster with snakes for tentacles burst from the ground, seperating Yasha and Zwei from the others. A tall woman with long chestnut colored hair walked out of a nearby alley, clad in a high school uniform and holding an ornate crimson naginata. The woman brushed her hair out of her face and gazed down at the four fighters in front of her with seductive crimson eyes. Her lips were curled into an all knowing smirk.
"My, my, so you're the ones Mr. Marluxia was talking about? I must say, you are quite the catch, and a pretty one at that." said the woman.
Hisana put her zanpakutou into shikai mode and pointed her own pure white naginata at the woman. "Who are you?"
The woman made a slight bow. "Shizuru Fujino, nice to meet you."
"I take it you're a guardian?"
"That's correct."
Hisana looked over at Yasha and Zwei. "Go on ahead! We'll handle her!"
Zwei and Yasha nodded and ran towards the city gate.
"All of you against me? Sounds like a fair fight. But, I'm not the only guardian you have to worry about." Shizuru pointed towards Fuuka Palace. "Take a look."
The group watched as a red light rapidly sped toward the palace, disappearing behind the castle walls. Almost immediately after, the dying screams of castle guards could be heard rising over the walls.
"See what I mean?"
"The king!" Tsuyo-sa cried. The small brunette turned and started toward the palace.
"Evelyn, go with her! That guardian might be more than she can handle!" Hisana commanded.
"What about you?"
"We'll manage, now go!"
Reluctantly, Evelyn nodded and followed after her sibling. Hisana and Axel each took a stance. Shizuru just lightly chuckled and held her naginata in so that it lined up with her arm.
"Now then, shall we dance?"
Up on one of the castle ramparts, Siegfried stumbled as he blocked a powerful strike aimed at his head. His opponent was a mysterious figure who wore a hooded red cloak over a black tank top, pants, and combat boots. The figure fought with a katana that was just over average length, and had strands of silver lavender hair hanging out from their hood. Siegfried quickly rose to his feet and blocked right as the hooded figure sliced at him again. Shoving his opponent's weapon back, he then struck a defensive stance.
"Stop holding back on me. Or, have your skills deteriorated from lack of practice?" said the figure in a regal voice.
"Neither. I simply do not wish to harm you." Siegfried answered.
The figure grit their teeth in frustration. "It's far too late for that, bastard!"
Siegfried ducked under a lightning fast strike at his head before rolling to the side to dodge. Before he could resume his stance, the figure thrust its katana into Siegfried's unguarded shoulder. The king reeled back, clutching his wounded shoulder and glaring at his opponent.
"Have I not atoned for my sins? Have I not tried to make up for what I have done? Why can't you see that I only want peace between us?"
"Never..." the figure struck at Siegfried. "...Never..." they struck again. "NEVER! There will never be anything you can do! I will never forgive you, and I will never call you 'brother'!"
With a cry of anger, the figure in red slashed at the king with al their might. The blow was so strong that Siegfried's zweihander was torn from his grasp, and embedded itself in the concrete floor of the rampart a few feet behind him. The figure then pointed their blade at Siegfried's throat, glaring at him with pale blue eyes from beneath their hood. Siegfried looked directly into the eyes of his opponent, seeing every bit of pain and hate within them.
"If Kaia saw you doing this, what would she think?" he said, calmly.
The figured stiffened for a moment. "She doesn't have to know. Not if I get rid of you here and now." they rested the tip of their katana on the king's head.
Siegfried showed no signs of fear at the gesture. "Is this really what you want? Will killing me really make you happy, sister?"
"Do not call me sister!" the figure cried. "You tried to destroy this kingdom, my kingdom! You raped my sister!"
"I did not rape her." Siegfried was now glaring furiously at the hooded woman. "Kaia and I slept with each other of our own free will. Never once did I try to force myself on her. I know the consequences of our union were dire, and have done my best to redeem my actions."
The hooded woman bared her teeth. "I've had enough of your lies. I'm sending you back to hell!"
The woman raised her sword. Siegfried closed his eyes and stood still.
"If that will ease the anger in your heart, then so be it."
Just as the hooded woman was about to bring down her sword, she sensed something coming her way. She leapt to the side just in time for a pair of curved blades attached to long chains fly past her. She turned toward the source of the attack and saw a young girl with an enormous flambard leaping toward her. The hooded woman brought up her katana in time to stop the massive blade from splitting her head in two. However, the serrated edge of the blade tore away at her hood, tearing apart the weak fabric. The woman in red leapt back just as her hood came completely undone. By this time Tsuyo-sa and Evelyn had already placed themselves between her and Siegfried. The king looked at the short brunette and the tall woman.
"Tsuyo-sa? What are you doing here? And who is this?" Siegfried gestured to Evelyn.
"Evelyn Koutari, your majesty." Evelyn said.
"Koutari? As in..."
"The very same. But don't worry, I'm on your side. This is my little sister's home after all, I can't just let it fall."
Siegfried turned to Tsuyo-sa. "Sister?"
"Her 'father' was Yuu, my 'father' was Strength. Since they're technically the same person, we're related. She's my half-sister."
"I see..."
The woman in red held on to the remnants of her hood. "Consorting with the offspring of our enemy? I never figured you'd sink that low, Siegfried."
Tsuyo-sa glared at the woman. "Who are you? Why are you after his highness?"
The woman lowered her arm, releasing the remains of her hood. A long mane of silver lavender hair cascaded down the woman's shoulders all the way down to her waist. The woman slowly opened her pale blue eyes, which perfectly framed her beautiful face. There was an aura of royalty about her, and she glared at the three before her with contempt.
"I am Notokishi Blan de Windbloom." the woman said.
The siblings paused in confusion. "Windbloom? Then wouldn't that make you-" Evelyn began.
"My sister in law." Siegfried finished.
Notokishi bared her teeth. "I told you not to call me 'sister'!"
The fallen princess charged toward the king. Tsuyo-sa blocked her strike and shoved her back, and Evelyn sent her a powerful thrust kick that sent her skidding back a solid 15 feet. Notokishi clutched her stomach in genuine surprise and pain, then glared at the siblings.
"This was supposed to be between me and him, no one else had to get involved. But if you stand in my way..." she readied her katana. "Then I will show you no mercy."
Hisana rolled to the side as Shizuru's naginata extended toward her, piercing the concrete where she had previously been standing. The HiME continued to smile down at her opponent from atop a small building. Nearby, Axel was having a hard time fighting off Kiyohime. The huge Child gave the pyro barely anytime to attack as it endlessly lashed out at him with its snake head tentacles. Shizuru leapt down from the rooftop with her element pointed straight at Hisana. The dark haired girl spun and thrust her zanpakutou forward to meet the HiME's attack the two naginata's slid against each other, driving both attacks off course. Hisana used Shizuru's momentary loss of balance to bring the pommel of her blade into the HiME's stomach. Shizuru let out a grunt of pain as she was flung aside. Catching her balance, the HiME quickly positioned her blade and the extended tip shot forward. Hisana side stepped out of its path and swung at the fragile chords connecting the segments of the blade. Shizuru quickly withdrew her weapon, only to find that nearly half of her blade had been severed. A small amount of ice had formed over what remained of the element where Hisana had cut it. Glaring internally, Shizuru somersaulted backwards into the air. Kiyohime withdrew from its battle with an exhausted Axel and crawled to its mistress's side in time for Shizuru to land on its head.
"Not bad, little lady." Shizuru said. "Looks like you're not as weak as I thought, I'll have to step it up a bit."
Shizuru summoned a new naginata to her hand and pointed it at Hisana.
"Kiyohime, destroy her."
The huge Child focused its full attention on Hisana, and began to lash out with its snake heads. Hisana struggled against the endless onslaught, narrowly avoiding being ripped apart by the many sets of fangs that snapped at her. One of the heads caught her when she was off balance and latched its teeth onto Hisana's weapon. To its and her surprise, the head's fangs froze completely solid after coming in contact with the tip of the naginata. Realization dawning on her, Hisana pulled her blade from the serpent head's mouth, shattering its fangs. While Shizuru paused in confusion, Hisana shot a glance at the tip of her zanpakutou. The same freezing effect had occurred when she was fighting the Balrog. And here I thought you were a light type zanpakutou...looks like you've got a few tricks up your sleeve, Tenshi no Shirayuki. Hisana readied her blade as Shizuru prepared to strike again. Shizuru extended her element, and Kiyohime lashed out with its snake heads. Hisana deflected her opponent's blade, but the force of the eight snake heads slammed into her all at once, and she was thrown against a nearby building. Shizuru chuckled lightly as Kiyohime closed in for the kill.
"I'm afraid you've lost, pretty girl." she mused. She then pointed a single finger at Hisana. "Kiyohime, finish-"
SCHINK!
Shizuru stared wide eyed at her hand. The finger she had been pointing at Hisana had vanished, only a bloody stump remained. Axel stood on the ground below, with Hisana behind him and his chakrams in hand.
"Now, now, is that any way to treat a pretty little girl?" said Axel.
Shizuru's smile returned, but she was now glaring at the nobody with absolute hate.
"Kiyohime, destroy." she half whispered, half growled.
The huge Child prepared to lunge at the pair before it. Axel prepared to meet the attack, when suddenly he noticed white feathers begin to fall in front of him. Confused, he turned around to face Hisana. His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. Hisana was standing straight up behind him, with a pair of brilliant white angelic wings. The dark haired girl's eyes were shrouded by the shadow cast by her wings. She held her zanpakutou high, and the sky began to darken. Suddenly, snow began to fall. Hisana was slowly lifted into the sky by her wings, stopping when she was at eye level with Shizuru. The HiME was completely captivated by the girl before her, all thoughts of the battle had fled her mind. Hisana slowly lifted her head and lowered her blade.
"Shiroi tenshi, no handan." (white angel's judgement) she whispered softly.
Hisana's eyes met Shizuru's as her blade became level with the HiME's heart. Shizuru could only stare into the depths of the angelic girl's now violet eyes. She saw a blinding light appear above Hisana, then felt an immense pain in her chest before her vision went black. Down on the ground below, Axel was still staring in shock at what had transpired. A gargantuan spike made of ice had descended from the light in the sky at an impossible speed, and had impaled the HiME through the center of her chest. Upon its master's death, Kiyohime dissolved into nothingness, leaving Shizuru's corpse suspended in the air by the spike. Still bearing wings, Hisana slowly descended to the ground just below Shizuru. A few drops of the HiME's blood fell onto her open hand. Hisana's gaze slowly settled on the dark liquid. A sudden strange hunger rose within her, and she subconsciously brought her hand up to her mouth. Without intending to, her mouth opened up and her tongue stuck out towards her bloodied hand.
"Hisana?"
Axel's voice brought her back to reality. Her wings disappeared, and she looked up at Shizuru's corpse. She turned back to Axel, her eyes having turned back to blue.
"What...what happened? Did I do this?" she said wearily.
Axel nodded. "Damn right you did. That was one hell of a move, with the wings and the sky turning dark and that big ass spike appearing out of nowhere."
Hisana gave a confused look. "I had wings? I turned the sky dark? That sounds a little too unbelievable."
Now it was Axel's turn to look confused. "You really don't remember? Not even when you were about to..." he paused, unsure whether or not to explain the fact that she just tried to lick blood off her fingers.
"About to what?"
"...nothing. Let's go help the others." he would definitely have to look into this later.
Back on the ramparts, Tsuyo-sa flew to the ground upon receiving a powerful kick that had struck the side of her head. Healing factor or not, the impact of the small girl's head on concrete immediately rendered her unconscious. Notokishi turned away from the small girl and towards her older sibling, who stood littered with cuts and bruises in front of Siegfried not far away. Evelyn glared at the woman in red from behind her eye mask. They had been fighting for little more than five minutes, and already she was feeling exhausted. Notokishi had proven to be a difficult opponent, and had barely taken a scratch throughout the entire battle. At first Evelyn had wondered how a mere human could counter her and Tsuyo-sa's supernaturally enhanced strength, but around two minutes into their fight, the answer presented itself. Notokishi was not a normal human. The princess was in fact an incredibly powerful otome, and as a result had strength and speed that exceeded that of other humans. Her G.E.M. also had a unique ability that had proved to be quite troublesome: partial materialization. Notokishi could materialize her talon elements at will, without having to equip Robe. This had become evident when Tsuyo-sa had temporarily disarmed the princess, and tried to hit her with the flat of her flambard. Foot long metallic red talons had suddenly formed over Notokishi's fingertips, and the princess blocked the blow with ease. The next two minutes of the battle had been comprised mostly of Tsuyo-sa and Evelyn trying to keep themselves from being cut to shreds by the princess. Now Tsuyo-sa was down for the count, and since Siegfried was still wounded from his earlier duel with Notokishi, Evelyn was the only one left to face her.
"You are strong, hellspawn, I'll give you that. You're the third person I've had to call on my powers to fight." Notokishi stated.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes. "You know, I figured that since you were a relative of Queen Kaia, you wouldn't judge me so harshly just because of my lineage. But I guess not everyone in the Wind royal family is that kind."
Notokishi scoffed. "Forgive me for my harsh words, but you have tried my patience and have chosen to take the side of an outcast. In my eyes, you are no better than him or your demon of a mother."
Before Notokishi could say another word, Evelyn exploded toward her at supersonic speed, a trail of blue hellfire flowing behind her. The princess watched in shock as the tan woman thrust her fist into her gut.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Evelyn roared.
She thrust her arm further forward, propelling Notokishi away from her at until the princess struck concrete. Notokishi struggled to rise to her feet, coughing up a fair amount of blood. With just one hit...? the princess pondered. Her train of thought was cut short when she felt Evelyn's chains wrap around her waist and yank her forward. The enraged tan woman pulled her fist back in preparation as Notokishi drew near. The princess desperately threw her talons in front of her for defense. Evelyn let out a demonic yell as her fist rocketed forward, smashing the elements to bits. Notokishi barely had time to tilt her head aside to avoid the chance it might be punched straight off. However, she did not escape unscathed, as a fragment of her talons cut across her right eye. Wincing in pain, Notokishi kicked Evelyn back and leapt away. The princess staggered a bit as she caught her ground, and gripped her right eye. The wound was not deep, and had only scraped the surface of the fragile sight organ. Now that she had some breathing room, Notokishi could get a good look at Evelyn's face. The eye mask had vanished, and the tan woman now glared at her through hate filled fiery blue orbs. A flaming blue aura radiated off of Evelyn as she slowly stomped toward Notokishi. The princess glanced behind her. Her katana was too far away for her to risk getting, and she dared not face her enraged opponent in a bout of physical strength, which left her with only one option: miryoku. Sighing in frustration, Notokishi steadied herself and held out her hand.
"Release Miryoku!" (beautiful power) she yelled.
At her command, the fragments of her shattered talons began to reshape themselves into a large blood red scythe. The weapon completed taking shape and settled in the princess's hand. Notokishi took a firm grip on the weapon with both hands.
"This ends now!" she declared. Without warning, Notokishi burst toward Evelyn at an impossible speed. "Crimson Reaper's Dance!"
Time seemed to slow down as Notokishi's blade descended on Evelyn. The attack was too accurate to miss, and too fast to dodge. Notokishi knew this. WHich is why she was all the more surprised to find herself suddenly being held by the throat, with angry blue eyes boring into her. Impossible...she dodged it?! the princess thought. She looked over at her scythe. The curved blade lay partially embedded in Evelyn's side, with the tan woman's hand keeping it from going all the way through her middle and cutting her in half. Evelyn bared her teeth.
"You're just like the rest of them. You don't understand. You don't understand at all!" Evelyn growled. "I know that my mother did horrible, unforgivable things to your world and others, but did any of you ever really know her? Did you ever try to understand why she did what she did? Did you ever consider that perhaps despite all the wrongs she committed, that she wasn't as evil as you suspected? My mother loved me, and did her best to raise me so that I wouldn't end up like her! I have tried every day of my life to show you that I am not the demon you think I am!"
Her rage began to die with each word.
"I've put up with your hateful words, all your threats and curses, because I believe that you will eventually come to see that I am not your enemy, that eventually you will even forgive me..."
Notokishi stared back at the tan woman in surprised confusion. Evelyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, they had returned to their original amber hue.
"Because I know that there is more to you than your rage, I will spare your life. But I cannot simply leave you be, a guardian must be defeated."
With that, Evelyn drew back her head. The meaning of her words, along with her forehead, were the last things Notokishi felt before her face collided with pavement, signifying her defeat.
36 Guardians Remaining...
A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was struck by a bad case of writer's block and excess work. From here on out, the story will be told in third person perspective. The first person view of the previous chapters was meant as an introduction for the lead cast. Don't forget to review and keep reading! Till next time! DarkNovelist out.