Chapter 14: Greater of Three Evils
Unknown Location
Marluxia groaned as he sat down weakly in his desk chair, clutching tightly at something that hung from his neck. He remained cringing like this until the throbbing sensation coming from the object stopped. The overseer sighed in relief as he reclined, exhausted.
"You should have been more careful." a childish voice said.
Marluxia turned to glare at the white cat like creature sitting on his desk. Kyubey stared back at him indifferently with beady red eyes. The overseer sighed and turned his attention back to the object in his hand.
"I know, incubator. You don't have to point out the obvious."
"Should I also not remind you of what would happen if you hadn't managed to reseal it in time?"
"I would prefer that you do."
That was too close. thought the overseer. If Kagari had broken it anymore than she did, I might not have been able to fix it. He sighed before standing up and looking at his research notes. I need more time...there has to be a solution to this, there must be! Marluxia discarded all thoughts of the object in his hand and turned back to Kyubey. Right now, his top priority was setting things in motion to prepare for future events.
"Kyubey."
"Yes master?"
"Inform Nightmare that I have decided to grant his request. Tell him to depart as soon as possible."
"Of course. Should I get started on my job now, too?"
Marluxia nodded, and the incubator disappeared without another word.
Ostrheinsburg, at the same time…
Shinzo
The elder Takanashi twin was frustrated as she roamed through the vacant and burning streets of Ostrheinsburg. She had been in the city of the past for almost three weeks now, and even though she had already slain the third guardian, the exit portal had yet to appear. She had tried to pass the time by toying with Pyrrha and any other unfortunate girl she felt a fondness for, but she quickly grew bored of their cries of passion and anguish. Xalir wasn't around anymore, for reasons she neither knew nor cared for. She had become much hungrier than she used to be since gaining her new form, so she spent the rest of her time eating just about every poor soul that crossed her path. Just as she finished devouring a young man by the name of Patroklos, a powerful and vaguely familiar presence reached her senses. Retracting her fangs from the lifeless boy's neck, she turned toward Ostrheinsburg Castle, the one place in the city she had yet to visit. A brilliant and terrible pillar of red light was shining from somewhere deep within the castle, and somehow it felt as though it were calling out to her. Her longswords began to glow red and shake violently the closer she got to the castle, and even more so when she entered the throne room.
"So, at last you've come." a deep, booming voice said from the other end of the room.
Sitting upon the throne, with the pillar of light raging behind him and a gargantuan sword with an angry yellow eye in his hand, sat a huge knight clad in shining azure armor. The knight glared at her with ethereal red eyes identical to her own, and tightly gripped the throne's armrest with his grotesquely disfigured right hand. Shinzo's eyes narrowed as she readied her blades.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"I am called the azure knight, Nightmare." answered the knight.
"Are you a guardian?"
"I serve Marluxia. But I am much more than a simple guardian..." Nightmare rose swiftly to his feet, holding Soul Edge out to his side. "I am an arc-guardian, one of Marluxia's three most powerful warriors."
"So...you are the reason I have yet to leave this place."
"That is correct."
"Why?"
Nightmare grinned wickedly beneath his helmet. "You possess something that does not belong to you, something that I have come to reclaim."
"And just what would that be?"
The azure knight pointed his blade toward the malfested vampiress. Almost immediately, Soul Edge and Ryuketsu no Bara began to glow brighter than ever, and shook uncontrollably in their wielder's hands. A raging aura of red energy engulfed both of the dark beings, and seemed to resonate with each other. Malfested and malfested. Cursed sword and zanpakutou. Hunger and thirst. Blood and darkness. Insanity and ambition. Lust and rage. Crimson and azure. Nightmare approached Shinzo until he was just a few steps away from her.
"Do you understand? We share the same great power. The power of Soul Edge! The reason why you are so strong, the reason why no one can beat you, the reason why all succumb to your might, is because the power of Soul Edge exists within you. It flows through your body, empowering it and strengthening your soul! Don't you see? With the power you and I possess, we are invincible!"
Shinzo listened to Nightmare's words with interest, and found what he said to be true. It certainly did explain her sudden transformation, and why her swords so closely resembled his. However, she also noticed the rather blatant message he was trying to get across besides just being the source of her disturbingly strong dark power.
"You want me to join forces with you?" she growled.
Nightmare looked her dead in the eye. "If that's what you gathered from my words, then I'm afraid you are mistaken. While it is true that we are the same in that our power is born from darkness, our kinship ends there. As I said before, I have come here to reclaim that which does not belong to you."
The azure knight held out his malfested hand toward her, which began to glow a bright red. "A sad little girl who lusts for her sister is not worthy of this power!"
Before Shinzo could try and stop him, a beam of black and red energy shot out from the azure knight's hand and struck the crystal in her chest. The vampiress cried out in pain as the object slowly began to tear itself from her flesh. Her body and swords began to return to their original state as the malfestation disappeared. After one final cry of agony, Shinzo felt the crystal fragment dislodge completely from her body. As she fell to her knees clutching her chest, the fragment floated through the air and came to a rest in Nightmare's hand. The azure knight laughed maniacally as the shard fused itself to Soul Edge.
"At last, the final fragment has been recovered! Now Soul Edge can return to it's full power!" he declared raising the sword high.
A bright light enveloped the sword, and when it emerged again it had lost all of it's metallic features, and had grown several more eyes along its length. While Nightmare marveled at the restored blade, Shinzo feebly dragged herself to her feet. Her eyes were still red, but had lost their ethereal glow. Her body was now ghostly pale, and her white hair much longer. The malfestation that had corrupted her body and weapons had vanished, leaving her in what little remained of her armor before she had transformed. Even if she did not know it herself, she was no longer under the enchantment placed upon her and her sister since birth, she had regained her true form. Shinzo tried to move towards the knight and raise her rapiers, but collapsed to the ground after taking just one step. Nightmare looked at the pale vampiress as she struggled to get to her knees.
"Just as I thought, without Soul Edge's power, you are nothing more than a girl with a sword. How pathetic." he mocked.
Shinzo tilted her head up to glare at him. "You...bastard..."
Taking hold of her rapiers, she weakly pointed them at Nightmare.
"Chi no Toge...no Danmaku!" (blood thorn barrage)
The six rapiers around her multiplied into thirty six, and began to fly rapidly at the azure knight. Nightmare merely scoffed and either deflected or destroyed every sword that came his way until only two were left. Barely finding the strength to stand, Shinzo took hold of the remaining two rapiers and charged at the arc-guardian. Nightmare took a step back in preparation, then stepped forward and savagely slashed at the vampiress. Shinzo cried out in pain as her swords and chest were broken and cut at the same time. The vampiress fell back to the floor, injured and unarmed. Nightmare quickly walked over to her, knowing that it would not be enough to kill the girl. Shinzo cringed as Soul Edge was thrust ruthlessly into her back, pinning her to the floor.
"I know what you are, girl. I know that this will not be enough. So long as there are multiple souls within you, you will not die. Now, be still, and I shall relieve you of those souls." Nightmare declared.
Shortly, black lights began to protrude from Shinzo's back and flowed into Soul Edge. The vampiress felt herself growing weaker by the second as the souls of those she had consumed escaped the confines of her body. Nightmare laughed maniacally as he drained her until only her own soul remained. Only then did he remove the blade from her back. As Shinzo tried to crawl to her feet, the azure knight reached down and picked her up by her hair so that he could see her anguished expression.
"Tell me, how does it feel, knowing that you have lost?" he said as he walked her out to the balcony over the moat surrounding the castle. "How does it feel to have everything taken away from you? How does it feel, to know that she will never be yours?"
Shinzo glared with everything she had at the azure knight. "No matter...what you do...you won't...stop me...Hisana...will...be mine!"
Nightmare paused, then bore his ethereal eyes straight into hers. "We'll see about that."
The azure knight tightened his grip on the girl's hair, making her scream in pain as he held her out over the dark waters below.
"You can survive any injury, but can you survive without air?"
With that, he cast the vampiress into the watery depths of the moat. Satisfied with himself, he turned and headed back to his throne.
"Have a nice swim, Ms. Takanashi."
Beneath the waves, Shinzo looked up at the red and black sky as she descended further into the depths of the moat. No matter how hard she tried, her broken and bloodied body refused to move. She could feel the air escaping her lungs, and knew she didn't have much longer until she drowned completely. How could this happen... she thought. How could I have been so weak? I have to get up...I have to become stronger...I can't die now!
"Then don't die."
Shinzo turned in alarm towards the sound of the voice. Drifting beside her, staring with unblinking eyes, was a small white cat like creature.
"You...you can hear my thoughts?"
"I can do that and much more, Shinzo Takanashi."the cat creature answered mentally.
"Who are you?"
"Who I am does not matter. What does matter is whether or not you wish to continue living."
Shinzo narrowed her eyes at the creature. "How could you possibly save me?"
"Simple. Just make a wish, and you will have the strength you need to return."
"A wish?"
"Yes. Tell me your heart's desire, and I will give it to you. Despite my appearance, I am capable of doing just about anything."
The dying vampiress paused in surprise. If the creature before her was telling the truth, then it would mean she would no longer have to hunt down guardians to gain her wish. Although there was surely an ulterior motive behind the offer, Shinzo decided it would be well worth the risk.
"You said...that you can can grant any wish, right?"
"Tell me what you desire, and I shall do my best to give it to you."
"Very well then. I wish to sever my blood relation with my sister, Hisana Takanashi, so that I may love her without worry."
"Hm, I figured you would say that. That's why I took the liberty of preparing for it in advance. Just a moment, please."
A bright light began to shine around Shinzo's body, and her wounds instantly healed. The cat creature floated over to where Shinzo lay floating unconscious, slowly rising toward the surface.
"Your request is a tricky one, so you won't be a completely different person. You may retain some aspects of yourself from before you go through the change. Now tell me, if you will no longer be Shinzo Takanashi, then what is your new name? From what bloodline shall I draw your new body?"
Shinzo's lips curled in a warm and devious smile as a single name crossed her mind.
"My name...is...Shinzo...Koutari."
If Kyubey had the capability to express joy, then he would have worn a terrifyingly sinister grin at that moment.
"Your wish is granted, Shinzo Koutari."
Nightmare sat upon his throne, pleased with how easy it had been to take what he came for and destroy a possible threat to his plans. Still, he had hoped for a bit more of a fight from the infamous Takanashi twin. No matter. I would've had to remove her eventually anyway. Now, there is much to be done if I am to rebuild my armies and break free from that worthless cur's control. The azure knight rose from his seat to head out and collect souls, when all of a sudden a strange gurgling sound came from outside. Walking out onto the same balcony he had dropped Shinzo from, he looked over the edge. There, amidst the dark waters of the moat, was a brilliant and shining light just below the surface, causing the water to boil around it.
"Impossible!" Nightmare thought out loud.
Just then, a glowing figure surrounded by bright red hellfire burst from beneath the waves and flew straight towards the azure knight. Nightmare grunted in angry surprise and raised his sword in defense, only to have himself flung back inside the throne room on impact. As he rose to his feet and readied himself for battle, the flame surrounding the figure dissipated. A fairly tall woman with lightly tanned skin, eyes that were neither fully red nor amber, waist length white hair with four small backward curving horns sticking out on top, a slightly larger than medium bust, and a long scaly tail now stood before him. The woman wore light scaly black armor over her chest, waist, ankles, wrists, and shoulders, and held a pair of black serrated longswords in her hands, with four more resting on her sides. Nightmare glared at the demon woman as she smiled wickedly at him.
"How...how can this be?! You drowned! I saw you!" he demanded.
"Yes, Shinzo Takanashi died, and from her I have been reborn as Shinzo Koutari!" declared the demoness.
"Koutari?!"
"I see you are familiar with the name. Perhaps you are also familiar..." the swords in her hands became cloaked in red hellfire. "...with the perks that come with it!"
Shinzo charged toward the azure knight, slashing with both flaming swords. Nightmare scoffed and blocked the blows with one of his own.
"You may have obtained new power, but you forget that I am still far stronger than you!"
"We'll see about that!"
The demoness leapt back before surging forward again and launching into a flurry of blazing steel. Nightmare was undeterred by the attacks, and despite having only a single large blade matched her speed and strength. Once Shinzo was done with her barrage of strikes, the azure knight began his. Even with her newfound strength, Shinzo found herself retreating under the knight's immense physical and magical might. They clashed for what seemed like hours in this manner, both evil warriors gaining ground, then losing it shortly after. Enraged at his inability to crush the demoness, Nightmare roared before sending a barrage of slashing black energy arcs at Shinzo. The demoness countered the barrage with a blast of hellfire, and charged toward the knight again. The more the warriors clashed, the more the castle around them was destroyed. Soon enough, the throne room was reduced to little more than a 30ft platform of stone with two partially destroyed walls teetering over the moat and pillar of red energy. Nightmare raised his sword in a defensive position as Shinzo struck again. The moment the girl's swords connected with Soul Edge, a small flash of energy burst from the blade, making Shinzo stagger back and leaving her wide open for the ruthless downward slash that followed.
"This is the end, Koutari!" shouted Nightmare as he swung.
Time seemed to slow down as Shinzo narrowly side stepped out of the path of the cursed sword. The azure knight watched in disbelief as the demoness spun around him and thrust her swords backwards. A grotesque squelching sound, followed by a splash of liquid reached his ears, confirming that the attack had hit home. Nightmare groaned as Shinzo withdrew her blades from his body, and staggered forward a few steps. Keeping himself upright with his sword, the azure knight turned to face the demoness. Her mixed colored eyes glared at him with grim satisfaction.
"This...cannot be..." Nightmare wheezed. "To think...that I was beaten...by a little girl..."
The azure knight fell to his knees, then collapsed. Shinzo's gaze lingered on the arc-guardian's body as it began to dissipate into red and black energy before fading away entirely. The demoness then looked at Soul Edge, which sat stuck into the concrete, staring with its many eyes. As if on cue, Kyubey appeared atop the hilt of the weapon.
"Well done, Shinzo. Do you like your new form?" asked the incubator.
"It pleases me in a number of ways, yes. However, there is one thing I'm not so sure about."
"What would that be?"
"For some reason, it seems you've given me an...'extra part'."
"Extra part? Oh, that's a-"
"I know what it is! I want to know why it's there!"
"A side effect of the transformation. Apparently, there are some female demons who possess an 'extra part' as you called it. Since the Koutari line is now of demonic descent, your body must have become a female demon of that type."
Shinzo sighed. Figures. This is going to make sleeping with Hisana very...interesting. "Whatever. I'm still thankful for the body regardless. So what's the catch, besides the fact I...you know what I mean."
Kyubey tilted his head. "Catch? I'm not quite sure I know what you mean."
"Don't play dumb! Whenever someone makes a wish, there's always some kind of price to pay."
"Ah, if it's the price you're curious about..." somehow, the incubator's permanent smile seemed to widen. "Then don't worry, it'll be paid in due time."
Shinzo glared at him for a few moments longer before sighing. "Fine, have it your way then."
The next time she looked, Kyubey had disappeared. Shinzo put away her weapons and picked up Soul Edge. All of the eyes on the sword turned towards her in curiosity. She smiled at the cursed weapon.
"Invincible power my ass." she said before tossing the sword as hard as she could.
She waited for the weapon to disappear into the city before turning toward what remained of the drawbridge and leaving.
Now that I'm no longer a Takanashi, I can forget about this stupid tournament and focus on finding Hisana. Shinzo thought as she walked through the streets. Marluxia had already made his announcement, and in an unusually angered tone at that. However, the portal leading to a different world was left in an unspecified location, so she was forced to look through the ruined city to find it. The walk gave her time to get used to her new form. She no longer thirsted for blood, since she wasn't a vampire anymore, but her supernatural and normal bodily senses had been magnified tenfold. Even from far away, she could smell a lifeform teeming with demonic or any other kind of energy. This is what determined her course to the portal at the end of a long street, and what made her pause when she caught a whiff of the particularly foul and unwelcomely familiar odor of a certain no-life king.
"Alucard." she growled.
The ancient vampire emerged from the shadows and stood in front of her. His usual mad smile was gone, and instead he was scowling angrily at the demoness.
"Shinzo." he growled back.
The young Koutari was silent. She merely glared at him.
"I suppose I don't have to explain why I'm here." Alucard continued, walking around Shinzo. "I tried to warn you, I tried to get you to see reason, but no matter what anyone says or does, you just keep on trying. You just don't know when to quit. And now you've even gone so far as to cast off your proud vampiric heritage..."
"No one could be proud with you as their predecessor."
"...and instead you have dawned the mantle of a demon, and one of the Koutari line no less! Since you will not heed my words, nor those of anyone else, then there is only one thing I can do now."
Alucard reached into his coat, drew his pair of high caliber handguns and took aim at the demoness.
"I must destroy you, before you destroy us all! No matter what happens, I cannot let you have Hisana!"
Shinzo smiled and glared furiously at the vampire as she summoned her swords. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to kill your ancient ass!"
With that, she dashed toward Alucard and slashed. The vampire backed out of the strike's path and unloaded a quick burst of holy bullets. Shinzo evaded most of the shots and ignored the two or three that actually struck. The demoness leapt onto the wall of a nearby building and multiplied her blades before sending a short barrage at her opponent. Alucard leapt onto the wall of a building on the other side of the street and took aim again. Both evil beings began running along the buildings of the city, firing a non stop exchange of swords and bullets. That is, until Alucard ran out of ammo. Just as the vampire was realizing his holy bullets were depleted, three of Shinzo's swords struck him in the leg, shoulder, and arm. Alucard cringed as he fell crashing into the street below. As soon as his head was part way off the ground, he felt cold steel against the back of his neck.
"Got'cha."
SWISH!
The ancient vampire's head rolled a few feet away, severed from its body in one swift strike. Shinzo scoffed and kicked Alucard's lifeless body.
"That wasn't so hard." she said as she turned to leave.
"I'm afraid it's not that easy."
Shinzo froze, then turned around to see Alucard standing before her again, with his head fully reattached. Now, however his apparel had changed from his usual long red coat to a black straight jacket like body suit. A black and red shadowy aura began to rise around the no-life king as eyes appeared all over his lower body. Alucard held out his right arm, which became covered in eyes as a gruesome set of large canines opened and snapped.
"Shinzo, meet Baskerville. Baskerville, eat Shinzo."
"Don't you mean 'meet Shinzo'?"
"No. I don't."
The black dog that was Alucard's right arm shot out towards Shinzo with jaws open wide. The demoness stood completely still, a small smirk playing across her lips.
"Zetsubo no ne." (roots of despair) she whispered.
All of a sudden, spear tipped black vines sprang up from the ground, stabbing through Baskerville's mouth and Alucard's heart. The black dog groaned once, then collapsed and fell off from Alucard. The vampire, however, was only momentarily beaten, and soon rose back to his full height. Before Shinzo could make another move, Alucard dashed forward, grabbed her by the head, and hurled her as hard as he could into a building, destroying the structure on impact. He walked over to the pile of rubble, and was met with a fireball to the face. Shinzo backed away slowly, keeping a tight grip on her swords. Just as she suspected, Alucard's incinerated head returned to normal in no time at all. The no-life king smiled insanely as a glint of fear appeared in the demoness's eyes.
"Have you finally figured it out? You can't kill me, Shinzo. No matter how many times I die, the souls of those I have consumed will bring me back."
"Then I'll just have to keep killing you until you run out!"
"Do you really think you can kill over three trillion souls before I kill you?"
"Th-three trillion?!"
"3.3 trillion to be exact."
Shinzo nervously continued to back away, desperately trying to think of a way to beat Alucard, and finding none. The sudden feeling of something solid behind her made her realize she'd backed into a wall. Or at least she thought it was a wall, until she glanced behind her and gasped in surprise. Stuck in the ground behind her, gazing with mad yellow eyes, was none other than Soul Edge. So this is where it landed. Well, I can honestly say I've never been more glad to be wrong about something. Trying her best not to smile with wicked glee, she turned back to face Alucard. The vampire was merely a foot away from her now, and the aura of darkness around him was teeming with eyes and crazed smiles.
"It's over, Shinzo!" Alucard declared.
The no-life king closed his fingers, and drove his hand forward.
"Yes, it is over..." Shinzo began.
In what seemed to be an impossible speed, Shinzo threw her swords out in front of her, blinding the no-life king. Alucard was still smiling, until the flesh like blade of Soul Edge entered his chest and skewered him.
"...for you, Alucard!"
Alucard could only watch as black lights started rapidly flowing from his body into the cursed sword, taking his souls away bit by bit. Knowing he still had plenty of strength left to wrench the blade from his body, Shinzo quickly stabbed more swords into the vampire's arms and legs, pinning him against the wall. As an extra measure of security, she lit Alucard on fire, and threw up a fire barrier around the entire building. Alucard glared with immeasurable fury at the demoness as she turned to walk away.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I must find Hisana. It's about time I told her how much I love her. Have fun burning in hell, Alucard."
Shinzo began to laugh insanely as she walked through the flames and toward the exit portal. The last thing she heard was Alucard angrily crying her name before she entered the gateway. Now that she had finally removed the bond between her and Hisana, it was only a matter of time until the love she dreamed of sharing with her former sister became a reality.
11 Guardians Remaining...
A/N: and so, the beginning of the end approaches. In case anyone is sick of Shinzo's transformations, don't worry. This is the last one, I swear. Lol please continue to read and review! Until next time! DarkNovelist out.