Chapter 23
Escape
"You know what makes me sooo angry?" Angel said, spinning his scythe in the air expertly before catching the blade end between two fingers.
"It absolutely ENRAGES ME! When things don't go as planned." Angel said, glaring at Gen as he stood up from crashing through the school. Angel sighed.
"I hate this so much. You all are absolutely annoying! There's a cozy spot in hell waiting for you all, but yet you won't take the invitation. It's a wonderful show if you'll just give it a chance." Angel said.
"Raizo!"
Angel turned and tossed his scythe in the air. It cleaved straight through a cloud in the sky, but more thunder boomed through the school campus. A huge lightning storm brewed and gigantic bolts rained down onto Angel.
"What a shock!' I heard him shout with ecstasy in his voice. I gently pulled Sen onto his feet and started walking away.
"W-Where are we going Yoshi?" Sen said. He sounds so innocent like this… why does he have to be in so much pain?
"No matter how much I don't want to do it, I have to get away from this warzone… to save you." I said. Sen stumbled and I caught him and picked him up bridal style and broke into a run, ignoring the pain in my strained muscles.
"Yoshi… don't push yourself…" Sen mumbled. I slowed a little at Sen's request and exited the academy grounds onto the streets. The city is completely unaware of the war going on at night in the academy. The kekkai is blocking every sound every movement. It's like nothing is happening.
I jumped onto the rooftop on stumbled slightly but quickly stood back up. I ran across the fields of shingles to get home as fast as possible.
"What's this, running away, I would have never guessed." I looked back but didn't stop running.
Lilium. It had to be her.
"Now, now, won't you stop and chat?" Lilium said. I turned and ran away as fast as I could in my condition. I looked back and saw Lilium frowning. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
"Sorry boys!" I immediately stopped as swords crashed into the rooftop before me. I turned back as saw Kaguro standing next to Lilium.
"I don't usually attack people on the same side as me… but I'd love to tear you to shreds." Kaguro said, the last part directed at Lilium. She smiled.
"you know very well you'd stand no chance even if you could control your body. Now shut up." Lilium said, and immediately, Kaguro was struggling to open his mouth.
"Good, now a little more assurance. To make sure you don't try running again."
"I'm so sorry my liege." I saw Gingross appear behind me and hold his sword to my throat.
"So, Lilium, can I eat him this time around?" Terratina appeared in front of me, looking me straight with her face inches away from mine. Suddenly, she had a large cut along her face and stumbled back in pain.
"Ah! You little bastard." Terratina said, stumbling down as blood gushed from her sliced face. She began to fade away in black gaseous smoke, as the other revived did before her.
"Sorry…. But this little kitty just scratched back at the big predator…. I'm candy for only Yoshi…." Sen mumbled, his claw returning to his hand as he cuddled back up in his weak position.
"Bastard, I hope you die in pain…" Terratina said before completely vanishing.
"You took out someone, good job Sen…" I whispered quickly before facing Lilium again. Lilium glared at me and snapped her fingers again.
Suddenly a flash of lightning appeared beside her.
"I guess Terratina wasn't a good choice of back-up assurance, I guess Zinzin will have to do." Lilium said.
"Yoshimori! Sen! Run!" I looked behind Lilium and saw Tokine running towards us.
"Hoi, Joso, Ketsu!" a kekkai popped up over Kaguro but he cleaved through it rapidly. Kaguro turned and dashed towards Tokine but suddenly collapsed in two and faded away in gaseous darkness.
Gen appeared beside me. Tentacles appeared from behind Lilium and grabbed Gingross's sword and tossed it aside before slapping Gingross off the roof. Lilium stepped back. She turned.
"Zinzin, get them!" She shouted. Zinzin ran forward and kicked Gen away. The tentacles, and their owner Hiba, quickly dashed after Gen. Zinzin drew his knives and ran towards me with the blades outstretched. Green arrow kekkai appeared all around him, trying to stop him, but he avoided them with almost unmatched speed.
He stood in front of me and I turned around, covering Sen with my body. I suddenly heard a loud stabbing sound, but no pain. I looked up and saw something I didn't expect.
"Lilium… gave up control of me the moment I fell off the roof." Gingross said, his sword embedded deep in Zinzin's forehead. He smiled at me.
"You and Sen enjoy yourselves, but for now you should flee. A friend is here to assist you in your escape." Gingross said, looking to his right.
"Hurry up or I'm leaving without you." I heard a familiar, lazy voice say. I looked over and saw Shion sitting lazily on a giant bird ayakashi. I stood up rapidly and jumped onto the bird with Sen in my arms.
"Get back here you! I'm tired of your interference!" Lilium shouted. I saw her wear whip striking the air near us, barely missing. I nearly fell off as the bird stopped suddenly in the air. Shion looked back and I did the same. Lilium's whip had wrapped itself around the bird's leg. Shion grabbed me and Sen and tossed us to the ground wrapped in thread. We hit the ground softly and I immediately made sure Sen was ok.
He was still unconscious. But still alive and breathing…. He's ok. I picked him up bridal style again and looked around. We had landed near that bakery in town.
"Little Yoshimori! What's happened to ya? And little kitty too? Come in, come in, I'll fix you up." The fat baker said, rushing us into his bakery.
"I really shouldn't, I don't want to get you involved…" I mumbled.
"Nonsense! I'm a large man, I can take care of myself! You are just a young boy protecting his girl! I will help you, no questions asked." The man said. He disappeared into the back room and reappeared with a large roll of bandages. He started wrapping up our wounds.
"What happened to you hmmm?" The man asked in his thick Italian accent.
"It was nothing, Chef Giovanni, we were just attacked by some street thugs." I said. Giovanni looked up from treating Sen's wounds and shrugged.
"You are ok?"
I nodded. He smiled.
"We don't want to risk you getting attacked again. You can stay the night here and call your parents in the morning." Giovanni said. The door suddenly opened.
"Oh, ma'am, we aren't open right now. You will have to come tomorrow." Giovanni said. The woman was wearing her hood.
"It's no trouble, but I am here to pick up my nephew and his girlfriend, you did call me didn't you Yoshimori?" She asked. I looked closer and recognized it as Lilium. I quickly pulled Sen close to me.
"What's wrong, this is not your aunt?" Giovanni asked. He suddenly had a look of realization and turned to face the woman.
"You are the person who attacked young Yoshimori and Girl? You should be ashamed." Giovanni said.
Lilium removed her hood and smiled. "You are a lot brighter than you look fat man."
Giovanni stepped back. "I know you; you used to treat my wife's wounds in the village. You died from cancer. The whole village was horrified and I attended your funeral with my family."
Lilium stopped suddenly. "Y-You mourned me… m-mourned me…" Lilium said. She looked down and I saw a tear fall from her eyes. She looked up.
"That was me, but I was reincarnated as an all powerful being." Lilium said holding her hands out.
"That is no right to attack innocent children!" Giovanni said. He jumped in front of me and kicked the window open.
"Get out of here Yoshimori, you need to get away." He said. I hesitated but nodded and began to run. Suddenly plants rose in a cage around me.
"No, no, you'll stay here and watch me kill your precious teacher." Lilium said. Giovanni stood back and suddenly, moving extremely fast for a man his stature, he sliced Lilium's head off with a butcher knife.
"Hmm, I never thought my butcher skills from my youth would help me attack an 'all powerful' woman." Giovanni said. He cut away the vines and helped me out of the ruined shop.
"You did not think I would die from a simple strike like that? From a pitiful human nevertheless?" Lilium shouted. Giovanni looked back, standing in front of me.
"I figured, but as I know, I am not a normal person. I am a chef! A retired butcher; and an ex-military officer!" Giovanni shouted. He pulled out a huge revolver and shot three rounds into Lilium, each hitting Lilium dead in the forehead. I looked in shock.
The gentle large chef, that taught me how to bake, can do that with a gun he pulled from nowhere…. I never would of thought.
"Now die you horrible woman!" He shouted, taking out a butcher knife and stepping closer to me.
"You met her before correct?" I nodded. "What can she do? If she is so 'all mighty' as she claims?"
"She can regenerate from even the tininess of her remains, she can use plants to fight for her, and she has control of a huge mass of creatures and magical whip along with these weird aromas that attract anyone to her." I said in one breath.
He nodded and dashed toward her. The vines flew out of the ground to attack him but he cut them with his giant knives with pinpoint accuracy. He reached her again and swung his knife. She sidestepped out of the way but the chef slammed his whole weight into her and she flew into a wall.
He looked back smiling. "I figured this, while she can regenerate extremely fast, it seems she takes longer to mend broken bones." He looked back at Lilium shakily standing. She looked at him and glared, the visible yellow aroma blowing off her.
"That won't work you horrible woman, I feel no attraction to any woman but my wife." Giovanni said, tossing his butch knife at Lilium. A vine rose from the ground and caught t, but Giovanni caught up to her and crushed her head between his giant arms. She stumbled back, her muscles regenerating but her skull sluggishly mending.
Giovanni slammed her again with a large swing of his arm and she flew into another wall.
"Enough!" Lilium shouted. Her whip flew out of the dust and wrapped around Giovanni. Giovanni severed the whip with a butcher knife and rushed over to us. He picked us up and dashed away from Lilium.
"I must get you guys safety." He said in mangled English. I looked over at Sen, who was still unconscious. Giovanni stopped and set us down.
"I say goodbye to you two lovebirds. I will be seeing my lovely wife again." Giovanni said. He pulled out a weird makeshift weapon.
"I know I can't defeat this thing on me own. But this weapon here should blow her to smithereens!" He shouted before running off. He turned a blind corner and I immediately helped Sen stand up. When he wouldn't wake, I picked him up bridal style and started to limp away.
A large explosion from behind me sent a shockwave into me and I stumble and hit the ground. I caught Sen in my arms, making sure to have him land on my not the concrete. I saw Lilium waking towards us, her heels clicking on the floor.
"You two have avoided me long enough, and caused me quite a bit of trouble. But I do believe this is ado." She said. She swung her whip back and dropped it down on to us. I flipped over and blocked Sen from behind hit and took the whipping on my back. I put a kekkai up around us, and I could hear the whip constantly hitting it repeatedly.
"You don't have to be evil to attract attention. I can tell that's all you wanted, recognition for your good actions." I said. Lilium stopped.
"You got recognition. The man you just killed and his wife, they mourned your loss. So did the people of your village. They cared." I told her. She hesitated and dropped her arm, the whip feebly smacking into the ground.
"I-I'm sorry…." She said. She looked at me "But that doesn't matter anymore, I'm past the point of return. And I'm sorry, so I'll let you live. But get in my way again and you'll die."
She looked back and sighed, turning back and vanishing into a dark alley. I stood up still holding Sen I sighed.
"How do I know we're going to have to deal with her again eventually?" I sighed.
I turned around but bumped into someone. I looked up and stepped back.
"Lady Lilium Lied. She wants you gone. She's decided to delegate the task to me. I will perform the action of my master, whether I wish to or not." He said, looking down at me. He swung his hand in the air and caught a huge silver sword as it fell from the sky. He spun it around, wielding the blade backhand, and swung it at me. I turned around, protecting Yoshimori yet again with my body while creating several kekkai around myself.
I heard the sword cleave through the first kekkai, then the second, and then the third… but then it stopped. I turned and saw a giant wall of ice separating us. I stood up frantically and sped away as the man crashed through the wall of ice. He looked around for me and I hid along a wall in the shadows.
"Come with me, you won't survive being close to this battle in your condition." Amara said, appearing beside me from nowhere.
"Trust me, you don't want to get caught in this, believe it." She said, probably quoting another anime. I nodded and followed her, ignoring the huge crashes I heard from behind me.
"Who was that?" I asked.
"It was Xorin don't you remember. He's the only one of the revived left; we just finished off Tokimori Hazama and Tokio Yumimura." Amara said, leading me through the winding back streets of the town.
"Here is a safe place; Leo and Linzang are resting inside with Emerix. Gingross is also in there, it appears he's regained control of himself and is an ayakashi again." She said. She looked at me as I set Sen down on the raggedy sofa.
"You've missed quite a lot you know." She said. I nodded a plopped down on the sofa next to Sen.
"It's exhausting, running for your life. I'll get her as soon as I strong enough, strong enough to protect Sen." I said.
"Don't go trying anything on your own, why do you think we've managed to whittle down the Guardian's this much?" Amara said, bringing me a large plate of food, making me realize how hungry I was. I thanked her and started shoving the food down my throat.
I shrugged in response to her question.
"They've all done one fatal mistake, attacking us one at a time. Do you really think you could have put up as much of a fight against Lilium if Angel had been fighting alongside her? Christeenala can barely hold her own against Lilium and Tsurosa when they fight together." Amara said, tending to our wounds. I hissed at the disinfectant she sprayed on my cuts and she apologized.
"I guess. They're all very powerful; they don't really need the help. They almost killed me a bunch of time while fighting just by themselves." I said through the food in my mouth.
"Be lucky you've had this help the whole time, or you probably would have died the moment you confronted Zinzin in the castle." Amara said, wrapping bandages around Sen's body.
"He's got quite a lot of injuries, to avoid the awkwardness; I'm going to ask you to tend the wounds he's received 'below the belt' if you know what I mean." Amara said, tilting her head to the side innocently. I nodded and looked at Sen. She had take his blood drenched shirt and pants off and wrapped practically his whole body in bandages.
He had bandages around his thighs and his whole left leg. Both arms where wrapped up completely and his torso was wrapped around in bandages accept for his collarbone.
"I can tell you've gotten that far. Trust me, as a doctor I know the difference between a bruise and a hickey, and those marks along his collarbone and around his bellybutton, aren't bruises." She said, winking at me. I blushed.
"Now, I have to go care for the ayakashi of Kokuburo, Princess took quite a beating delaying them from chasing after you. The other members also took some hits as well." Amara said. She stood up and left. I took the opportunity to care for Sen's…. awkwardly located injuries and my own.
"Now you need to rest." I looked up and saw Emerix walk in, half of his face wrapped in blood drenched bandages.
"W-What…" I couldn't make out words.
He looked at me and smirked, "Your first time in full blown war isn't it? This is what it's like, injuries after injuries. That woman, Lilium," He practically spat her name, "She's started an ayakashi war. It won't end well."
I nodded. Suddenly, surprising me, Sen opened his eyes. I hugged him gently.
"Are you ok? Nothing hurts?" I asked worriedly. He looked at me, tears rolling down his eyes.
"I hate war…" He mumbled. I hugged him and he sighed.
"You don't tell anyone about this. No one…" he mumbled.
"Even when injured, you're still me needy, yet stubborn Sen." I said. Sen smiled and looked over at Emerix and his mood immediately dropped.
"Ah…. Emerix… I have to tell you…" I said.
"Derra…." He mumbled. Suddenly Emerix perked up.
"You know where she is! Is she OK! I haven't been able to find her anywhere!" He shouted. Sen looked down and I could immediately tell what happened.
"S-She told me to tell you goodbye for her… and that she loved you…." Sen said, looking down. He suddenly wobbled in his sitting up position and I grabbed him and lowered him down back onto the sofa. I looked at Emerix, who looked forlorn… like there wasn't any reason left for him to live.
"S-she said you wanted to keep on living, for her." Sen said, slowly losing consciousness.
"I-I'm s-sorry... it's m-my fault she d-died…."