As the stone walls crumbled to the disfigured earthy ground, soft lips made impact on each other, allowing a brief moment of pleasure before the earth shattered beneath them and the two exorcists began sliding into the despair.
"So this is what they mean when they say the kiss of death." Seraphina whispered as she felt herself slowly slipping off the crackling floor.
"I've never heard that term before." Kanda grunted.
A chuckle escaped from Seraphina's tingling lips and before she could stop herself, she said the final words before everything disappeared.
"I love you."
--
--
"Damnit. I thought you'd meet us at the top of the tower." Vasilisa growled, straightening herself up to glare at the familiar girl.
"I was going to wait, but it got too boring sitting around, so I thought it'd be fun to go see how you guys are making out." She twirled her lollipop around with fascination, eyeing the exorcists playfully. "Ok," She said after a few seconds. "Lets play a game."
The girls looked at each other fearfully. They all knew the game probably wasn't going to be something harmless like twister or guess who.
"What's the game?" Vasilisa growled, annoyed with the girls appearance. It was most certainly going to delay them.
"Hide and seek!" Road sang. The girls blanched.
"What the hell, hide and seek?" Vasilisa gasped. She had imagined something horrible and gruelling, but this was merely a child's game.
"Oh! Sounds fun!" Both Eas and Alexandreina chimed.
"Here's how it works." Road began leaning in closer to the girls. "This game is played in the dark. I'll have my candles and you'll have your innocence. Whoever gets the most hits in wins."
"That sounds more like tag." Eas commented.
Road shrugged and gave a devilish smile. "So you gonna play, or not?"
Before the girls could agree, Vasilisa spoke up. "And what if we don't play? What will happen then?"
Roads smile widened once more into the hideous mask. "Then I'll destroy the door and you'll never get out!"
The girls gasped at the thought of their only exit demolished, realizing just how high the stakes were.
"How long will the game be?" Mizuki inquired.
"How about, if someone can no longer play, that team forfeits." Alexandreina suggested. "That way it makes things a little fairer."
"Don't treat this like a game Alexandreina!" Vasilisa shouted.
"But it is a game Vasilisa!" Alexandreina chuckled, patting her sisters head and confronting Road.
"Ready?" Road asked.
The girls congregated in a line, Mizuki found Sarra, still unconscious, flopped on the ground where Alexandreina had abandoned her. She sighed and pulled the girl beside one of the stuffed animals for safety. She quickly lined up with the others to begin the game.
The lights around the room quickly snuffed out and all was dark.
"Spread out." Mizuki whispered from her spot in the line.
Footsteps echoed throughout the black room, convincing Mizuki her orders had been fallowed.
A single light bloomed in the darkness and all innocence was upon it in a split second. Seconds later, Alexandreina's wrist blade was resting gingerly upon Vasilisa's jugular.
"Wh, what the heck?" Alexandreina retracted her blade, allowing a very startled Vasilisa to stumble backwards.
"I could have sworn you were road!" She exclaimed, looking around for the spiky headed girl.
"She's tricking us with her candles." Vasilisa growled. "She plays dirty."
"Ouch!" Eas's voice cried out in pain as a serrated edge whizzed past her arm, skimming it slightly.
"You ok?" Four voices called out, then a surprised silence fell as the girls registered that Road had been one of the four voices.
"Yeah." Eas mumbled, rubbing at her arm while squinting into the darkness.
Bubbles of light popped into the black, illuminating chosen areas. Mizuki lunged at some dark hair while Vasilisa let out a huge sound wave directed at some short figure.
Mizuki found herself struggling on the floor with Alexandreina, both with cuts on their faces from their opposition's weapons. Eas found herself flying into a bunch of stuffed animals.
Vasilisa sighed. "This is getting nowhere. She keeps on cheating."
As Vasilisa found her way to Eas to help her up, a shrill laughter sounded around the dark space.
"That doesn't sound good." Mizuki chuckled nervously, pulling herself up from the floor, allowing Alexandreina to right herself as well.
"This is getting boring!" Roads voice echoed once again.
"Well this is your game!" Alexandreina pointed out.
"And you're cheating, too." Vasilisa added.
"Very well then, how about I end it?"
Up above them, the girls were blinded by a thick blanket of light. When their eyes had finally adjusted, they stared up at a thousand sharp candles, angled down at the group.
"Shit!" Mizuki strung her bow and began firing at the candles, but they quickly regenerated, proving her efforts to be a waste.
"How the hell do we get out of this one?" Vasilisa inquired while her sister gave her a determined grin.
"Try dodging this!" Road cried, finally apparent with the bright light. She had been sitting atop one of the larger bears, the Noah evident on her.
The candles quickly approached the girls as they got into their protective stances. Razors rained down and just as the girls were about to be impaled, a thin white sheet spread out above them, deflecting all the candles.
"Innocence invocation."
The girls turned in awe as Sarra grabbed three more spheres from the holster on her leg, placing them on her sling shot and firing them into the air. On contact, all the candles that remained blew up in an array of fireworks.
"Sarra!!" The girls cheered, running over to her.
"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Sarra asked, obviously confused by the situation.
After she was completely filled in, she turned to road.
"So all we have to do is get past you and to the top of the tower before the ark crumbles? That doesn't sound too bad." She turned back to her friends and shrugged. "I doubt I'll need any help with this one, if you want you can leave and get to the door and I'll catch up with Seraphina."
The girls instantly rejected her suggestion.
"Look, we've already let one person stay behind. We're not doing it again." Mizuki frowned.
"Besides, it'll be easier to defeat her if we work together." Vasilisa added.
"Are you guys finished with your little huddle? I'm bored." Road dragged on, swinging around a new lollipop. From where she sat, she looked like a young, innocent girl, but the squad wasn't fooled.
"Besides," the girl continued. "I want to go meet Allen before Tyki gets his mitts on him." Her expression softened at Allen's name and her pupils dilated.
"What are you going to do with Allen?!" Sarra demanded, fear surging through her body at the thought of Allen facing two of the terrible Noah.
Road lurched off her perch, propelling herself towards Sarra. Before Sarra could react, Roads thin arms were clung around her, soft and menacing.
"Well I'm going to jump on him just like this," She paused, then brought her mouth to Sarra's chilled ear and breathed, "And then I'm going to kiss him right. On. The. Lips."
Sarra shoved the girl roughly away, a disgruntled and angry look seared across her face.
"Why would you want to do that to him? Isn't he your enemy?" Sarra cried, trying desperately not to picture the scene Road had just projected.
"What does it matter?" Road sneered. "Love has no bounds, does it not?"
Sarra lost it. No way was she going to let some creepy little girl get Allen's (hopefully) first kiss! She lunged at Road, flipping out 5 balls at once, throwing them wildly at the girl as she danced around them. The balls set off mid fire expelling a nasty array of weapons and gasses, as well as web like substances that strung itself around the room.
When the gasses had diminished, and the furious onslaught of marbles was complete, the room looked only the opposite of what it had before. With only the earie light of the innocence to project the scene before them, it looked no different than a scene from a horror film.
Sarra breathed out furiously.
"Umm, a little over kill?" Vasilisa coughed.
"Sweet." Alexandreina giggled
"Holly Shi-" Eas started before being cuffed by Mizuki. "OW, I mean wow." She grumbled, giving the room another amazed gaze before turning back to glare at Mizuki.
"Where is she?" Sarra growled. "She's not getting away."
"Wow, she's pissed!" Alexandreina whispered to Vasilisa.
"You think?" Vasilisa replied, her tone on edge. Sarra was not only dangerous when she was pissed, she was also rash and rather stupid. "I just hope she's wise enough not to blow us all up."
"If you wont come out yourself," Sarra called back the girls attention as she drew back into a small satchel on her belt, retrieving a small black marble with a tiny white design printed on it. "I'll just bring you out with this!!" She strung her slingshot and aimed it to the roof.
"Wait, what does it do?!" Vasilisa yelled, taking a step towards her friend in case restraining was nessasary.
"What do you mean?" Sarra's face was as disturbing as that of the Noahs, Her smile wide and her eyes piercing. "I'm going to blow her out of her little mouse hole."
"What?" Vasilisa cried, lunging for the little deadly marble.
"Don't do that or else…" Sarra's hands fumbled with the marble and it slid from her grasp, the two making a slow motion attempt to reclaim the marble.
Unfortunately, they were not successful, and the small black ball of doom landed gingerly on the ground. The small clattering was deafening as all stared wide eyed.
After a few seconds of silence, the girls' muscles began to relax. Vasilisa exhaled heavily and bent down to pick the marble up. As her fingers curled hesitantly around it, a pop sounded, fallowed by a bright light.
Before all went deaf, Sarra exclaimed proudly; "Oh yeah, it takes a few seconds to activate!"
------------
"Wow! What a blast!" Sarra lay slightly charred, sprawled across the floor, the room stripped of nearly all its contents.
Road appeared left of her, completely untouched of the soot that spread over much of the room.
"What was the purpose of that?" She inquired, bending down to the girl.
Sarra smiled mischievously. "Just getting rid of some unwanted company.
Road looked around and noted no one else was present in the room. "Where?"
"my marbles can do many things." Sarra answered Road's unasked question. "I thin that one may have blasted them to different parts of the building. I wonder if they were lucky enough to be blasted to the door out of here." Sarra sighed with pleasure.
"Why did you send your comrades away? Surely you're not underestimating me?" Road frowned at this theory. She didn't like being underestimated.
"Of course not, but they were going to be in our way." Sarra smiled joyfully at her, giving Road the shivers.
"You're not what I thought you'd be like." Road giggled, obviously annoyed.
"And you're exactly what I thought you'd be like." Sarra mocked her, giving her the same annoyed stare.
"You're going to pay for ruining my fun." Road sighed, backing up from the girl and preparing for a fight.
" Oh, I'm going to pay? I think you're the one that needs to pay." Sarra contradicted. With a darker tone she added. "I wont ever let you touch Allen."
"Oh really? Are you sure about that?" Road became the Noah she was accustomed to being and called on her gift.
Sarra stepped back as a large black clump raced around the room, engulfing it completely. Road broke through the floor, cackling.
"This will be our play area now, exorcist, lets see who wins this game!"
At the end of her exclamation the space warped into a brightly lit dining room.
"Huh?"
Six settings, no, seven, but only six people are present. One Man, at the top right side of the table, he's wearing a coat similar to the ones the finders wear. Beside him must be his wife. Her brown hair is so pretty, and her expression is so happy! Beside her is another man, though he is young, 20's tops. On the other side, beside where I seem to be sitting are two girls, very close in age. They're giggling about something. The last setting is at the end of the table, but the chair is empty. Why is this place so familiar?
Tears dripped from Sarra's eyes, falling onto the neat table cloth and disappearing as if they had never been there.
She new this place. She new the candles that rested on the plainly clothed table, she new the old couch that sat contently beside the bay window that out looked onto their proud farm. She remembered the sound of the grazing cows, the swaying trees in the forest nearby.
This was her house. Her home. But why was she here?
"Momma?" Sarra whispered, watching the beautiful woman place a finely sliced piece of stake in her mouth. They only ate this well when Dad came home. She looked over at her father, his gruff exterior rivalling his warm heart.
Sarra pushed back the chair to stare at her two sisters, trying hard to keep her vision from blurring.
"Clara? Chantell? Can you hear me?" Sarra shook her closest sisters' arm, but she didn't react.
As quickly as it came, the scene was gone again, flashing by like a piece of film. It was replaced by another memory, this one not as happy.
"I'm going to join the military." Robby announced. The suns rays diminished from the sky as did the light from their mothers' eyes.
The father worked incessantly as a finder, returning home only rarely. They needed Robby to help with the farm. He had always rejected his fathers tales of work and fighting Akuma, exclaiming that they were just wild stories to cover up his fathers lame job. It seemed joining the military was his way of rebelling, or possibly trying to redeem the family in the neighbourhoods' eyes.
And another scene. The time Sarra found her innocence as she was playing in the mud. She must have been trying to construct something to get Robby back at with, and that's how she created her slingshot, with her own two hands.
It wasn't long after that time that the next scene was in, and Sarra's stomach dropped with the knowledge of what this scene held.
Sarra was by far not an only child. She had an older brother, and three younger sisters. The youngest of her sisters died not long after she was born due to complications. The empty seating place was for her. The other two died on that day, as did their mothers sanity.
---
"They seem to be having fun." Sarra remembered thinking as she strattled a tree looking down on her sisters. It was a brisk fall morning but her sisters ignored the cold and chased each other around, screaming and cheering.
Sarra reminded herself she was too old for this nonsense and insisted that she stay in the tree until her mother told her to come inside.
It was the terrible sound coming from the neighbours' property that alerted the girls. Sarra disregarded the sound, assuming it was the mourning wife breaking something. She felt bad for the woman, since she had just lost her husband, but she could cry so loud, especially at night.
Clara and Chantell did not ignore it, however, and decided to peep. As they left Sarra's sight, she tried to fallow them, but felt as if she was paralyzed.
"Don't go back there!" She tried to scream, but her mouth wouldn't move. Instead, she kept a bored look on her face and leaned forward on the branch, eyes tracing an interesting leaf.
The shots rang out across the country. Sarra believed they could be loud enough to reach even Paris itself.
The sickening feeling returned to her stomach as her body reluctantly moved from its position to a more alert one, staring at the place that shots had been fired from.
"Run Damnit! You can still save her! You can still save Chantell!" Sarra screamed to herself, but the girl stayed in the tree, waiting.
Chantell became visible seconds later, the blood of her sister smeared across the right side of her body. Tears were streaming down her face and she looked too shocked to even scream. Their mother came from behind her, scooping her up and running into the open field.
It was like a horror movie you can't turn off. The Akuma created by the grieving wife slid around the corner, its gruesome face twisted with agony. The barrels were still steaming from the fired bullets.
Sarra instinctively held her breath as it passed by the small clump of tree's she remained in, continuing its search towards where her mother and sister were hiding.
"Please! You have to move! You can save them! Use your innocence Damnit!" Sarra sobbed, pleading to her paralyzed self.
Another round of shots rang before the picture went black again.
The nerves began to work again and Sarra could finally find her voice. She was once again in the checkered wasteland that Road had constructed. She couldn't keep her tears from running, and her heart beat painfully in her chest.
"That's cheap." She mumbled through sobs. "Those were my worst moments."
"Wow." The fact that it was a person other than Roads voice that spoke to her startled Sarra. She turned around to face none other then Allen, his face grim.
"I didn't know you were so cruel." He continued his expression a deep anger.
"You don't understand! I was just a child!" Sarra cried, trying to redeem herself. She hated when Allen looked like that, and having that face pointed at her made her want to disappear.
"That doesn't matter. You could have taken action but you didn't. You were a filthy coward." Her brother, clad in his military uniform stepped out from the blackness.
"Brother! You have no right! You rejected me after the incident! You didn't want anything to do with us!" Sarra clenched her fists and scowled at her brother, feeling the sting of memories from his heartless rejection of her need for help.
"Why should I help you? You were the cause for all of this! How is it you were the only one that came from that day unscathed? Do you really expect me to believe some monster came and killed our family? No. You are the monster. I went to the military to rid the world of people like you."
"Brother." Sarra cried, turning back to Allen, "Please, I'm not a monster,"
"One who does not invoke necessary action in a time of need is nothing but a monster." Allen recited, his lips turned down menacingly.
"Sister." Sarra's heart gave a lurch as the hands of her deceased sisters clung to her.
"Why'd you do it?" Clara whispered, her face searching.
"Why didn't you help us?" Chantell demanded, their fingers beginning to claw at their sister.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sarra repeated, stepping away from the girls clawing grasp.
"Running away again." Allen's chest was against her back as Sarra restrained herself from looking at his angry eyes.
Sarra dropped to her knees, covering her eyes from the pain of seeing their faces.
"Sister, we'll forgive you," Calara started.
"If you come with us." Chantell finished. Their tiny hands rested on their sisters shoulders, beckoning her to come with them.
"I'm sorry, I can't!" Sarra cried, remembering that it was still Road's workings. It just felt so real!
"Come sister, Come!" The hands were now grabbing, forcing her forward, giving her no chance to resist.
"Come with us and you won' ever have to feel the guilt of leaving us to die again!"
Robby was already ahead of them, walking into the distance as the two girls dragged her further into the darkness.
Sarra turned back to see Road waving to her, her arm wrapped securely around Allen's waist, his face still revealing hatred and anger for her.
"I'm so sorry, Allen." She whispered once more as her sisters pulled her into the engulfing black.
------------
"That $^$*&*(*^TI&%*%^&F!!!!!!!!!!!!" Eas slurred profusely as she peeled herself off the floor, leaving a clean outline of her figure framed against the soot.
"Where on earth did you pick up those words?" Mizuki huffed, dragging herself to her feet.
"It's not my fault! Try living with miners your entire life!" Eas kicked up some of the soot and scowled as it caught in her airways, giving her a sneeze attack.
------------
"NO!" Vasilisa cried. The sound reverberated through the silent room.
"Huh?" Alexandreina rubbed her head, sitting up from her sprawled position on the ground. "This isn't the same place we were in before." She stated matter-of-factly.
Vasilisa looked up at the large open room. Her sister was right; they weren't in the same room.
Instantly, Vasilisa went on guard as her surroundings became clearer. Books were tossed everywhere, lying at the base of an enormous book shelf that circled the room.
"Crowley?" Alexandreina's wavering tone alerted Vasilisa and she turned to face her sister staring wide eyed in the opposite direction.
"What did you say Dreina?" Vasilisa whispered, inching towards her sister, eyes still alert and scanning the room. They stopped on a large heap on the ground. She hesitated on the shape then carried her eyes up to the giant coffin towering above it.
Alexandreina reacted first, rushing towards the mound and turning it over. Sure enough, Crowley lay unconscious, battered and beaten.
"Who did this to him?" Alexandreina asked, a dangerous tone underlying her words.
Whoever it was I hope to god has left Vasilisa prayed before kneeling beside her sister.
"Don't worry, he doesn't seem to be dead." Vasilisa reassured her, registering the slight breaths the vampire lookalike took in.
A great tremor shook the room and the two clung to each other for balance. Pieces of the ceiling crumbled around them as they stared at each other in alarm.
"This place isn't going to hold." Vasilisa cried out, covering her head as small pieces of the ceiling rained down on her.
"But Crowley!" Alexandreina looked desperately from the giant to her sister.
"We'll take him with us!" Vasilisa grabbed one of his massive arms and nodded to her sister. Alexandreina stood and took the other arm, heaving with all her might.
"He's not moving!" She cried.
Vasilisa shook her head and pulled again. "Alexandreina, I'm sorry, but we need to go." She dropped Crowley's arm and took her sisters hand.
"I'm not leaving without him." Alexandreina's face was determined. One of the things Vasilisa loved about her sister was her persistence, but today she loathed it.
"We're going to die if we don't go, Dreina. Do you understand that? We have a duty to help our friends and get out of here. I know he's a friend too, but there is no way we can move him. We need to leave him and hope somehow he survives."
"I'm sorry, sister." Alexandreina smiled. It seemed out of place due to the circumstances, and if it wasn't the fact that she was her sister, Vasilisa would have called it suspicious.
"I know, now lets go." Vasilisa motioned to move but Alexandreina held still. Instead of moving towards the gold doors set on a cylindrical room in the middle of the place, Alexandreina closed in on her sister, giving her a tight hug. Vasilisa accepted it hesitantly, aware that this was not the time for hugs.
"Please tell the others to give it there best." Alexandreina whispered before Vasilisa's senses went deaf.
As her sisters body went limp in her arms, Alexandreina smiled at her peaceful expression and dragged her to the open doors where she promptly threw her in and shut the doors.
"Now." She traced back her footsteps to the sleeping man. "We can have some peace and quiet.
"Eliade…?" Crowley felt the soft stroke of a woman's touch, heard the southing song meant as a lullaby. As his senses slowly returned to him, he was able to make out a shape hovering above him. The soft features of his deceased love flashed above him before melting into a new face, the one of the girl who had hugged him that one time, her face not one of terror, but of happiness and youthful vibrancy. The girl did not look happy or vibrant now though, as he noted her soft lips curving into a strained half smile, her eyes watery and unfocussed. It looked like she had just lost an old friend. He though briefly that maybe he was the friend, maybe he was the one dying –his body hurt like he was- But he was not an old friend. They had only met a few times. Then why was this girl cradling him?
"Oh! Your waking up?" Alexandreina snapped into focus as Crowley's eyelids slowly lifted.
"Why are you here?" Crowley asked through a whispered breath.
Alexandreina's face twisted painfully before returning to the forced smile. "Because you are, silly!"
"Huh?" The man grunted in confusion.
"You know, I'm going to miss some good fights because of you!" She continued, giving a gurgled giggle.
"What do you mean?"
At that moment one of the larger chunks of ceiling tile crashed beside them. He realized they were still in the room he had fought in, and it was dissolving away rapidly.
Crowley shot up. "Why are you here? We need to get out of here!"
Alexandreina sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's not possible. After I got Vasilisa out of here part of the ceiling collapsed over it. We don't have an escape."
Crowley looked wildly to her. "Then why didn't you follow your sister?"
"Because You were to heavy to lift." Alexandreina answered bluntly.
"Then you should have left me!" Crowley retorted heatedly. She should not be there, She should have followed her sister.
"I couldn't." Alexandreina frowned, feeling like she was talking to a two year old.
"why not?!" The almost vampire demanded.
"Because I'd rather die than leave another comrade!" Alexandreina spit back.
Through the years it was common to have friends die, especially in their field of expertise, but Alexandreina had never really gotten close to anyone besides her sister, until she met her little group of friends, the joked "Alternate squad" .Them and Allens' group became so precious to the sisters, and Alexandreina couldn't help but want to protect each and every one of them.
"Watch out." Crowley was over her in an instant, pinning her to the floor. Above them, the ceiling crumbled further, a huge chunk collapsing over them.
"Crowley, are you ok?" Alexandreina cried as the man grunted with exertion. The ceiling was weighing him down and he was so close she could feel his breath on her face.
"Don't move." He grunted. "I will protect you."
Blush shot up through Alexandreina, colouring her face in a rich red. This is like a really twisted romance novel She thought to herself before smirking ironically. It wasn't every day that the man of her dreams was risking his life to protect her. She might as well use it to her advantage, especially if she was about to die.
"If I'm not going to be able to fight to my death, I might as well be doing the second best thing."
Crowley looked at her in alarm as Alexandreina wrapped her arms around his struggling shoulders to close the distance between the two.
"M, miss, what are you d, doing?" He stuttered as his face lit up a brilliant red.
"I'm making myself comfortable." She smiled devilishly before shoving her lips over his.
An alarmed flailing shook Crowley's balance and the concrete pinning him crushed him further to the ground. With his last breath he attempted to warn the girl before she was pushing her lips against his once more.
Eliade, I'm so sorry. I don't know why, but I can't help it. She's so warm and I can't seem to stop.
Crowley, Eliades' voice carried to his awareness as the floor beneath them vanished. Crowley, do not worry, I want you to be happy, and I want you to be with someone you can spend your life with, go to heaven with. Protect her, so you won't ever be lonely.
Thank you, Eliade… A single tear streamed down Crowley's cheek as the two embracing people vanished from existence.
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