Once they reached surface, it was raining. The dark mass of clouds above had began to cry, drowning the dying vampires in water. ''Raining'' wasn't the best way to describe it - it was pouring, a deluge of rain.
Issei glanced at the large window of the castle, standing with his hands behind him, his real arm wrapped around his fake arm's wrist. He watched the deluge, with a straight face, void of any emotions. The blood on his face accented his lack of expression, making him look angry. He stood on the stairway upwards, that furthered into the second floor of the castle.
The rain seemed like thin, white rails falling out of the sky, crashing into the ground and dispersing. The burning horizon had been soothed, lacking the red gradient. They had taken longer than he had expected, then, he thought.
''Issei-chan?''
He heard Maria speak, drawing him out of his frozen state. His head turned upwards, looking at her, standing on top of the stairs, ready to go further.
''They say that vampires love these mountains for the dreary weather - forever lasting dark clouds cover the dome, while rain falls for days on end, drawing shadows everywhere - perfect, for those who can't face the god's light.'' - Maria spoke, glancing outside. -''Well, not that they will live here after today - we'll drive them to extinction.''
Issei glanced at her, smirking. -''Right.''
He moved up the stairs, unlatching his hands from behind his back. After a minute or two of searching by Ki, Kuroka had found the girl that Maria wanted to find - simply by touching the piece of the grail that Maria had. Her energy came from close by - from inside the castle, actually. Even though it was on the other side, the massive castle made sure that they had to walk a long distance.
A few guards, both Khaos Brigade and Vampires, appeared as they walked through the halls, but they were quickly dispatched by Gilgamesh or Fleimel. There were a few holes here and there - from the continued fighting outside - vampires, the prideful creatures, they wouldn't go down without a fight. The sound, however was being drowned out by the water, quite literally.
The palace, or castle, was a maze of hallways, but by the way Kuroka walked, she could probably smell the target. Everything was exquisite, expensive, overly so, but like set-pieces in an old movie - artificial. The whole castle was made to be looked at, not used or lived in. Issei upturned his eyebrows at the sight of it all. Pretentious to no end.
When they turned a rather particular corner, the hallway widened considerably. The carpet, red silk, had become wider. Issei stopped, after Kuroka turned around, facing them.
''Behind those doors lays the Grail. That much, I do know of. I can sense someone else inside, too.''
Her hands hidden behind her feather-like, red coat, only showing the ends of her black nails, her beautiful legs covered by tight, black pants, ending just above her ankles, showing off her smooth skin. On her feet, flexible shoes, with a small heel. Her hips slightly swayed to one side, she looked at Issei.
Her thin eyebrows slightly arched, her hazel eyes narrowed just a bit, forming a cat-like look. Beautiful was too little to say about her. From the tips of her dark, sharp eyelashes, to the gentle curves of her hips, and everything in between, after and before.
Her lips slightly parted, as she looked at Issei, and Issei looked at her. A questioning glance and a few unsaid words went between them, before their eye contact broke, and Maria stole his attention away.
''Well then, it's time to get the whole grail, don't you think?''
Before nodding, his sight was turned towards the doors, and his gaze only then noticed the antlers stuck above the doors. They parted to both sides upwards, retched, enveloped in each other, like the roots of an old, overgrown tree.
As Kuroka stood just between them, it looked as if she had sprouted ugly, dark, rotten wings of her own. They stepped forwards, and being closer to it, uncovered the owner of those antlers. Giant, wide and empty eye sockets...and a beak. A long, dark, slightly rotten beak extending downwards sharply.
''A crow with antlers?'' - Gilgamesh commented, noticing that Issei was staring at it. -''That's pretty nice looking.''
Issei shrugged, stepping forwards and kicking in the double doors with a bit too much ferocity. They shattered, almost to dust.
And there it was - the throne room. A red carpet, covered in gold string extended towards the throne itself - giant, golden and jeweled, reaching for the high ceiling. Like a statue made to show off mans' arrogance. In it, sat a vampire. His coat, ornamented with golden string and jewels, covered a good part of the throne, as he was quite large...but still, he looked like a toddler in a grown-ups chair. The walls were covered in old, rare paintings - beautiful, but lacking in any true value.
The Vampire Lord himself had an air of nobility on him, but that didn't matter, not anymore. Not in the world that Maria would bring.
Issei stood right in front of the red carpet, staring him down without saying a word. He didn't move, and Issei didn't move.
''Give us the girl.'' - Maria stated, her cute voice echoing heavily over the room. -''Don't, and you will die.''
He moved in the throne, and a spear drove straight through his heart, killing him, before his face could even spasm into a pained expression, and before he could even say a single word.
Issei was still standing in the finishing movement of throwing a spear, before he composed himself. Looking at Maria, he spoke. -''Not like it matters, he wouldn't have told us.''
''The girl is behind the throne.'' - Kuroka stated, and Issei was already dashing towards it. With a simple kick, the solid gold throne fell through the wall behind it, revealing a rather big room, once the dust and rubble settled. In it, only a single, king sized bed and a bookshelf stood.
Issei walked closer to the bed, glancing inside. A girl was asleep inside, not too much younger than himself. She didn't react to him, nor to Maria, who had went over to the bookshelf, looking through the books.
''Classics, old editions. These are pretty rare.'' - Gilgamesh stated, looking over Maria's shoulder.
Fleimel and Kuroka stood behind Issei, as he stared at the girl's weak complexion, pale cheeks.
''It's her Issei. It's her.''
Maria had thrown the books in the air, as the pages scattered all around them, falling like the raindrops outside. Slowly, revolving, spinning. Time froze for a second, before it flowed again.
Maria had jumped inside the bed, as the pages fell. Her hands digging deep inside the girl's chest, a grin on her face. Her smile, her wide eyes. She didn't look cute - she looked ugly, and crazed.
Her voice turned rugged, she laughed. -''Give it to me!'' - She screamed at her, as the girl, having awoken like that, began to scream and shake, trying to get away. Nothing worked, of course. Blood splattered, hitting the revolving pages that had yet to finish falling. And after the few second struggle, the girl went lifeless, around the same time that the pages had hit the ground.
Issei watched, his heart beating hard and slow, sucking away the sound. Maria had climbed off from the bed, that now bled. The blankets were covered in red, and Maria was too. Her straw yellow hair, her black clothes, her face. Red did suit her, that was true.
She smiled at Issei. A wide, cute smile, her almond-shaped eyes closing. -''We did it Issei!''
In her hand, a three times bigger chalice had appeared. Still golden, but this time more elaborate, jeweled. She held an instrument that could interact with life and death in the world in her petite, doll like hand. The only thing that was missing, was doll-like ball joints.
Issei touched Kuroka's hand with his real one. She looked at him, wondering. Issei smiled, before speaking up. A smile, that seemed to be apologizing.
''Freeze time.''
Gilgamesh's sword came down at him, Fleimel was mid-scream, Maria was smirking, while Kuroka was wide-eyed, but did that, what he asked.
A split second passed, as Issei dashed at Maria. Another 1/8th of a second passed, as Issei grasped at the stolen spear. A half of a second passed, as the spear pierced the chalice. The time stopping spell was broken by Maria a second early. She smirked, raising her hand to the side, the chalice flying away, pierced and ugly.
Gilgamesh's sword came down at Issei, but was blocked by the spear. Issei turned his glance away from Maria, as he spun around, blocking Gilgamesh's sword with a few spins of his spear, before looking back at her.
He felt the change in the temperature, as a giant explosion roared, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Issei dodged a few swipes of Gilgamesh's swords, before looking back at Maria. The temperature was falling down again.
Fleimel's body was in holes, her face twisted in pain, collapsing, bleeding over herself, her clothes now more red than black.
Issei grunted, slamming his spear against Gilgamesh's sword. A hollow sound echoed and his sword shattered. He jumped back, as Issei twisted around, spinning the spear, and blocking a few dozen of flying swords from behind, and he jumped up, as a few dozen more swords broke through the ground he had been standing on. He flipped around, looking at Kuroka. An uncountable number of magic circles behind and around her scattered, as she dodged and tried to attack Maria. The ground, walls, ceiling, all was crashing down.
Issei landed, having dodged the falling debris, twisting his body right, and using his right arm to jab with the spear, using it's superior reach, but Gilgamesh was dodging everything by a hair's length, his dark clothes getting cut up. He looked at Maria again, only to notice Kuroka being pushed back.
His chest got slashed at this moment, as Gilgamesh had closed in on him. The butt of the spear blocked the sword in Gilgamesh's right hand, while the other sword went through Issei's left, metallic arm. They remained in that position for a second, locking eyes. Only then did he realize that rain was falling on them. The deluge poured, washing away the blood from his face, drenching their clothes, aching his bones with cold.
Gilgamesh still held the same, arrogant smirk on his wet face.
Issei head butted him, looking over his lowered head.
Time froze in his mind, once again. He knew this would happen.
Kuroka was on her knees, and she had sprouted wings. Red, flowing wings.
A hole in her chest. A wide, deep hole. Blood surged through it, out of her back, the streams creating the image of wings. Beautiful, alas sad wings.
Issei's spear went for Gilgamesh's right side, so he dodged left, and in that second, Gilgamesh's side completely shattered by his kick. In a quick movement, Gilgamesh's throat was slashed open, covering Issei in his blood, head to toe.
He dashed past Maria, sliding on his knees over the wet ground, catching Kuroka before she could fall on her back. His metallic arm tried to stop the bleeding from behind, his real arm tried to from the front, but it was useless.
Half of her chest was gone, not even half of heart trying to beat, but every time it did, even more blood splattered everywhere.
There was nothing he could do.
She looked at Issei, pale as a doll. Her lips, blue in hue, parted in a painful smile. Even her hazel eyes didn't seem to have that shine anymore. Her right hand reaching at Issei's cheek. Her palm, gentle, caressed his blood-covered face. They remained like that, for a little bit, as the pouring rain washed away their endless blood. Her unsteady, weeping breathing overpowered the sound of the downpour.
She locked eyes with Issei, speaking.
''You never did tell me...''
''What?'' - He asked gently.
''...I love you.''
She said, as easy as that. It was easy for her, even when her blood began to pour out of her mouth, when she started to cough.
''I love you too.''
Issei answered, looking at her. His voice wasn't as natural as hers. It was a stiff, robot-like, even. With her last strength, she wrapped her working hand around Issei's neck, and pulled him close, kissing him. A small peck on the lips, nothing more.
''I understand...Finish it...unravel...your world.''
Her last words came out like a whisper. Issei moved her hair to the side, but it was all drenched in rainwater from the broken roof. She closed her eyes with a smile. Her body, now cold...and her face, remained in that expression.
''The real tragedy here...is her.''
Maria's cold voice echoed, and Issei traced her glance.
Fleimel's collapsed body lay dead. Holes in her body, her figure twisted in agony, her eyes wide opened, looking at the sky. The blood had been washed away by rain.
Issei picked Kuroka's now cold, lifeless body up and stood up. In a bridal carry, he held her in the rain, facing Maria.
''Marriage by death...ain't it a beautiful thing.''
He turned around, walking to a spot where the roof was still in one piece, putting Kuroka down, so she wouldn't be in the direct rain. His footsteps echoed, his clothes, hair, completely drenched, as he stopped by Fleimel's body.
He leaned down, closing her eyes. He lingered, before getting up. He noticed the two rings on her fingers, but left them there.
''Fleimel was loyal to the bone for you, and you don't even give her any last words? Nothing? How cold, Issei.'' - Maria's voice, cute but condescending, asked.
Issei glanced at her for a while, before his glance moved to the dark sky, letting the downpour hit his face.
''Were you surprised, that Gilgamesh would help me?'' - Maria asked, looking at Gilgamesh's now lifeless body. He too, was lying on the ground, clutching at his neck, from which not too long ago a stream of blood had flowed, just the same as the downpour of rain. From his side, disgusting, dirty liquid poured, half of his organs having fallen out. Her gaze was uncaring.
''No. I knew. Those who were with you before I arrived...those would betray me.''
''Even Margit?'' - She asked, smirking.
''Margit? She was...no, is, out of this equation.'' - Issei responded, facing her head on, only a few meters between them. - ''She was the one point you could never predict.''
''I knew you would betray me, so I knew her, and I know you, child.'' - Her lips upturned, her smirk self-confident.
''You're wrong.'' - Issei responded, swiping his hair back. -''I'm not doing this for her...everything here...everything sacrificed...was for a single reason. This point in life.''
''And that reason?'' - She asked, slightly amused.
''Freedom.''
''From who?''
''From you. From Zero Army.''
''So you'd rather die, than work for me any longer? Am I such a bad person? Do you really dislike me this much?''
Issei laughed, this time. A dry, cold chuckle. -''I'll die if that is what it takes. I already threw it all away. Love, friends, family, my very own army...everyone. I have thrown away everyone to become free. You are the only thing in my way now. I want to be a free man.''
''See, that's why the idea of freedom is a bad thing.'' - Maria laughed, raising her hands. -''You lived in my cage, and I let you sing, cute, like the little bird you are. You had everything you ever wanted, but now...look what happened, when the little bird swallowed his tongue and tried to run between the bars of his cage. Everyone you have ever loved is dead.''
''I was the wind up bird, and you were the one who winded me up, then?''
''Maybe you were the mad puppet, who tried with all his might to break the strings, but I was the mad puppeteer, with the string. One side around your neck, the other around my ring finger.''
Issei laughed. Maria laughed. They both laughed, standing in the pouring rain. Issei's body was numb, he didn't feel the cold anymore. Maria, well...she didn't feel.
''...Can you actually tell me, that I didn't give you a paradise? Everything from a girl to love, to goal to reach. But you destroyed everything.''
''I did. With my own hands.'' - He said, looking at his hands. Both, the real one, and the damaged metallic one. The red glove, soaking in Kuroka's blood, was torn by Gilgamesh's sword previously. -''But I knew. I knew all along.''
''What?'' - Maria asked, sugar sweet. -''What did you know, my little wind up bird?''
''That the Grail couldn't make Margit come back.''
''Why not?''
''She isn't a legend. She isn't someone like an ancient dragon. She was just a human, her soul passed from this world a long time ago. Nothing can bring her back.'' - He smiled at her, his eye closed. -''She lay dead, resting for all eternity, in the ground by the creek, with the tall, white flowers of yesterday.''
''...You got me.'' - She raised her arms, in an surrender position. -''Good job. For your dumb brain, you really did good.''
''That isn't the only thing I know...well...not really know, but I am convicted, that you were at fault.''
She smirked, fluttering her eyes. - ''Well, well. Let me hear ye~!''
''You knew Levente would attack, on that day, but you sent us anyways. You wanted to see how it would turn out. You didn't care that Margit would die...or more, I think you knew she would die, and you wanted it. You wanted to see me, in my lowest state.''
''Half correct, wind up bird.'' - She smiled. -''Back when you could barely stand, when I recovered Margit after she botched the mission...I recovered Levente, too. I raised them separate, Margit became my right hand, while I played with Levente with my left hand. It was fun, for a long while. I let Levente work behind scenes, too.''
Issei's fists strained. -''You mean...?''
''Yes. Everything. Eveeerything was me. I made Levente despise Margit, and I made him crash that bird, in which you were. I made him torture you both, and I made him kill Margit in front of you. I orchestrated everything that happened.''
''You killed your best men, everyone, except me, just for...what?'' - Issei asked, his voice turning into a loud roar. -''FOR WHAT?!''
''For you, dear Issei. You're special, I already told you that, didn't I?'' - She smiled raising her hand towards Issei, gesturing gently, not caring for Issei's transgression.
''I am the Emperor of the Welsh Dragon. That is the only thing special about me. Nothing else.'' - Issei looked down. -''Stop talking in circles and explain to me.''
''You've been wrong from the get go. I did choose you, partly, because you're the Red Dragon Emperor, but you aren't special because of that. It's reversed. I chose you, and because of that you became special, after the fact. I made you special.''
Issei was lost.
''I chose you. It's that simple.''
''For what did you choose me? For the torture?''
''Yes. For the tragedy, I chose you, my son.'' - Maria smiled, bowing her head a bit. -''Tragedy isn't as popular these days, as it were in the past...but I blame that on the lack of good tragedy.''
''...''
''You see, people love tragedy. They love the screaming, the fighting, the madness that it entails. They are jealous of it, really.'' - Maria spoke, coming closer to Issei. -''So I set out, to make a new story. The best tragedy in the history of this world.''
She looked at Issei from below, judging his expression.
''That right there is what I love. The same expression that you had, almost 5 years ago. Your anger...I love it.'' - She touched his face, driving over the eyepatch, throwing it off with a gentle pivot of her wrist. -''Yes Issei. You did understand it correctly.''
Issei took a step back, his knee buckling slightly.
''Everything that happened to you was because of me. From the kidnapping, through the death of Margit, through your anger and revenge and to the end here, where your love withered and died.'' - Maria laughed, her voice echoing into the cold void of the night. -''I created you. I wrote you. You're the tragedy.''
She stood there, in the rain with Issei, a wide smile on her cute, blushed face.
Her small body shattered through a row walls, as Issei's arm had been swung to the side, his whole body enveloped in purple glow. Her laughter echoed, as Issei's fist met her face, completely shattering her head.
It grew back while she was still mid air. It didn't matter than her teeth were still scattered along the rubble. She landed, her feet sliding over the checkered floor. Issei's kick shattered her stomach, but her arm wrapped around Issei's head, making both of them tumble to the ground, as she landed on his stomach, wrapping her hands around his head. They remained on the floor, amongst rubble and the now worthless, scattered paintings. Maria traced her ring finger over his lips.
''I would assume you're now thinking about how I did everything for you. How all of this, was just because of you...but you're wrong.'' - She chuckled. -''You are just a side story of true tragedy. The main story of this fable, is me. It always has been me. You're expendable, just like everyone else. You were special, that is true, but I made you special...so that matters only between you and me. The Tragedy was made for you, but I truly did want the grail.''
Issei's metallic arm scattered into nothingness after he slammed it against her head, and they spun around, this time Issei sitting on top of her. His knees on her arms, he touched her face, before tearing off the turtleneck, uncovering her bare skin...and her scar.
He traced it with his fingers, as Maria glanced at him with narrow eyes, a curled smile on her lips.
''Who are you then, that you deserve to be the main character? What stands at the end of the main story?'' - Issei glanced at her eyes. -''And what's up with this scar?'
''I stand at the end of this story. The world burns.''
''You hate the world then?''
''Yes.'' - she answered, as if it was the most simple thing in the world. - ''Don't you?''
''I hate you, not the world.''
''It's your own fault. We could have written this side story alongside the main story to the very end...but you broke the plot.'' - She laughed. -''You want to know what...who I am?''
''Of course.''
''You'd be the first one in the world to know me.'' - Maria smiled gently. -''You want to know me? To understand me?''
Issei didn't answer, tracing his finger down, between the torn fabric of her turtleneck. His finger stopped between her petite breasts, as he felt the slow beat of her heart. -''I want to know why your ice heart still beats.''
She laughed, blushing. -''Careful there, I might fall in love. Or maybe you already have.''
''I hate you with my whole being.'' - Issei whispered, leaning his face so close that their noses touched. -''You took everything I had.''
''Innocence, happiness, love. Future, past and present. I took your teacher, after all.''
Issei's back hit the wall behind him, as Maria had somehow thrown him. He inhaled deeply, leaning against the same wall. He looked at Maria, her torn, checkered turtleneck sticking to her wet skin. The wet, checkered floor echoed, as Maria slowly came after him.
''But you gave it away.''
''That I did.'' - He answered, beginning to laugh. -''Can you say you took it away, when I gave it away myself?''
Maria stopped a single footstep's distance from Issei. She looked up at him, smiling. She let out a small chuckle, leaning against his chest, snuggling against it. -''Hey, aren't we to share the blame then? We both are at fault. You and me. Two of us, king and queen, of the wretched landscape called earth.''
Issei touched her back, driving his hand gently over it. Her smooth skin, her soft, blond, but now wet hair getting in the way occasionally. They remained like that for a few moments, as Issei rested. Blood was trickling down his face.
''I've thought about it. You knew that I would know, and I knew that you would know about me knowing.''
She laughed, her voice stifled against Issei's drenched, and torn chest. -''That's a mouthful. I knew everything. Mind games...you can't beat me at them.''
''You're right. That's why I didn't try to do it.''
''Huh?'' - She looked up, her cute eyes dazzling towards Issei.
''Tell me.'' - Issei spoke, letting the previous thought flow away together with the rain water. -''Give me the last piece of the puzzle. Let me understand you.''
She puffed her cheeks, showing disdain.
''Grant me a way to unravel the world.''
His voice echoed through the wreckage, into the crying sky.
''I was born a long time ago. A world that you would never recognize as your own.'' - she began, her voice somehow sounding more mature, lacking the cuteness. -''But I was born to two people. Ordinary birth. I wasn't born from an ancient evil egg, like you would assume, Issei.''
He laughed, amused. -''I never thought that. I am as evil as you are, and I was born to two ordinary, human parents.''
''I wasn't born to ordinary people, though.'' - She rested her ear against Issei's chest, exhaling softly. -''Would you believe me, if I told you I was born to a Lucifer and to a Bael?''
Issei's arm went over her head, gently patting her. Like a stray, wet cat. -''Would you lie at the end? There's no purpose to it.''
She drove her head against Issei's chest, messing up her hair and simultaneously - Issei's checkered turtleneck.
''It was a long time ago. Before Sirzechs, and long before Saiaorg. One of Old Lucifer's sons...and Saiaorg's grand-grandmother.''
Issei remained silent, listening, feeling her cold body against his own. Her small chest pressed against his, her legs pressed against his own...both of them drenched.
''The relationship between them was a secret, of course. Too much politics, mixed with the state of things and...well..anyways.''
She stopped speaking, letting Issei soundlessly pat her head.
''I was born from their affair. Because I couldn't exist, they did something that wasn't very uncommon in those days...for human's anyways.''
Her arm moved over to her own throat, as she drove one of her doll-like fingers over the scar on her neck. That ugly, straight scar that she usually hid. Her perfect skin was ruined there, and only there. Issei had noticed of course, that any time she was ''playing'' with someone, she wouldn't usually hide her scar, but she became irritated if anyone looked.
''They slit my throat and had a servant get rid of me. Unfortunately...for them, I didn't die. I was special. The mix of Bael and Lucifer...and the servant hid me, gave me a name and raised me for a while.''
''What happened after that?'' - Issei spoke, rather quietly.
''That man perished after some time when I was pretty young.'' - she laughed. -''A lot of things happened. I learned a lot. To mask the way I looked. I was thrown into madness, fought a lot, hurt a lot...ah...anyways.''
She sighed, saying ''anyways'' again.
''You're having quite some trouble explaining this. Not what I'd expect from you.''
She banged her head against Issei's chest. -''Not nice.''
''So life...made you the way you are.''
''Partly. But I did a lot on my own, too. Later, when I had grown up...I came back and killed the parents that had discarded of me.''- She chuckled.
''I see. So that's why you want to destroy the earth...and why you didn't want to work together with Rizevim...''
''I guess that was kind of immature of me.'' - She laughed, with a smile, still hiding against Issei. -''So, do you understand now?''
''About so.'' - Issei responded, resting his chin on her head. -''Revenge has always been a circle. It started with you.''
''Hmm~!'' - She hummed, rubbing Issei's chin with the top of her head. Her straw yellow hair, now a shade darker from being wet, was still soft. -''When do you think it will end?''
''Never.'' - Issei had to laugh, now. -''Men will always fight, always find a reason to fight. However, I do plan to weaken the circle. To bend it out of shape, to shake it up.''
She remained quiet, listening to the rain fall.
''Think about it, Maria. The Zero Army is comprised of criminals. Bad, powerful criminals. Those, who answered, when we called. The thrill seekers, of the worst caliber. How many strong bad guys can a world have? How many did Khaos Brigade have? How many did we have? How many of those were among the vampires we killed?''
Maria pulled back, her eyes going wide.
''Of course, the whole soldier morale thing was bullshit. I raised their morale, so they would fight harder. Listen to the rain, Maria. Can't you smell the iron in the air? The rain is washing away liters of blood. Khaos Brigade, Vampires, Zero army. They have, and will all die. They will come. Tomorrow the world will awake to a brand new world.''
Her laugh echoed. A vile, loud laughter, particularly - just the opposite of cute.
''What, do you think that the death of some few thousand ''bad guys'' will remove the world of violence? It's a circle, Issei. You already said it.''
''It doesn't matter. ''
She laughed again, walking back up to Issei, grabbing his collar. -''Do you think you will become some sort of a tragic hero? It's done. Over. The world will not change. You are the bad guy. Nothing will change that fact.''
''No, I won't be hero, of course. Being a hero or doing the right thing has never been the objective. History has branded me a traitor, and it will brand me the villain of this century. Don't you get that? No one will care that you were the one behind it all, and I was just the figure head - you screwed up. Just this once, you screwed up.''
''I haven't yet, actually. Don't get ahead of yourself.'' - Maria let out a sigh, releasing Issei's shirt. -''Once you die, nothing will stand between me taking the crown.''
''Once I die, is the hook. Will you kill me? Or do you think I will just turn over and drop dead?'' - Issei asked, stepping closer. -''The crown will not fall, unless you take it.''
Her arm, outreached for Issei's head, was cut off at the elbow. Both of them, actually. The spear in Issei's arm shone purple, as he exchanged places with Maria, cutting off a strand of her wet hair.
As Issei swung the spear in his hand, it made an arch through the rain, coloring the checkered, half crumbled wall behind them red, with Maria's blood.
Issei was simply too fast for Maria. And Maria's freak power of regeneration was also something out of this world.
''You're a freak, Maria. You're a devil, and even this spear can't incapacitate you!?'' - He shouted, as they danced through the rain.
Wind up bird, trying to break the curse of only moving when winded up, the puppet dancing madly, with all his might, trying to force his way to freedom, and the puppet master, the one with the key to wind up, they both smiled.
It didn't matter that everything around them was crumbling. It didn't matter that everyone else was dead. Nothing mattered, there, in that checkered void.
They fought, Maria's limbs flying everywhere, Issei dodging strikes and magic attacks by a hair's length. Her blood had painted the rainwater red, and as Issei's heavy footsteps touched the ground, it shot up into the air, dying everything red in return.
And that was the only thing Issei could see - red, checkered black and white - for nothing else was there, but the fight. The thrill of the hunt, finally.
He feasted on harming her, on wounding her, on taking away her limbs. His eye, shinning, an unnerving grin on his wet face. Soundlessly, he attacked. The simple thought of what was strength was gone. The concept of being strong was gone. There was no limit, not here.
Nothing held back, nothing. He didn't even need to use the scalemail - Ddraig couldn't help him anymore - it was just him, and the power of Ophis snakes, connected to his body at a molecular level. There was no future.
Maria's eyes turned red, so Issei dashed through a row of walls, only to trip, flying through a few more. His checkered shirt was in holes - his stomach penetrated by seemingly nothing - but everything at the same time.
Snakes moved under his skin, wrapping the wounds, melting and mending his skin, coloring it azure. He laid in the ankle deep water, that had collected from the rain and puked up some more blood.
The water was red, completely. Was it raining blood, or was it all Maria's?
His nose was bleeding, again. The iron taste at the back of his throat brought him tumbling back to the dry deserts of Afghan, but the true scene came back, sharp and fuzzy - at the same time.
Maria was smiling. Her body, having been washed off the blood by rain, was scarcely covered by clothes. Her feet bare, sunk into the water, creating ripples as she trailed closer to Issei. She tore off her checkered, ripped and torn turtleneck, uncovering her small, lingerie bra, and the small breasts under them. Her pants, ripped, and now more like shorts, stuck to her porcelain skin.
He got up, using his only hand to support himself, as he did it. Her kick went for Issei's side, but he blocked it with his own leg, stabbing Maria in the stomach, and pushing her until a wall behind her. Blood splattered out of her mouth, as she grabbed the spear and pushed it to the side, tearing her own stomach, that grew back in a matter of seconds.
Issei's eye widened, as he noticed the blood that had splattered was checkered. The wall behind her was checkered.
Black and white, checkered.
Maria laughed, touching his face for a second, before Issei had backed off, standing with the spear raised.
''You still see checkered, right? You never left the cage I made.''
Even Maria's bra was checkered.
He looked down, at the blood red water. He slammed his foot against it, his drenched boots heavy. It rippled, uncovering the checkers of the floor.
''I'll break it.''
''He who is conceived in a cage, yearns for the cage.'' - Maria spoke, whispering. -''I clipped your wings off. I broke them. ''
The wall behind her shattered, her dodging out of the way. Her bare foot touched the red water in the middle of a half-demolished room, as Issei grabbed her by the collar, the spear gone.
Her back hit the water, throwing it everywhere, as they both shattered through the ground, not stopping. The force of it all simply kept pushing them deeper and deeper into the underground, through the row of stairs. All of them. As they shattered through the last set of stairs, Maria flung him off.
Their flight ended, as Maria hit the ground with her back, splattering blood around her, while Issei flew sideways into a statue.
They were back at the throne room, the one underground.
Soon, water was pooling inside the hole they had created. A long, heavy stream of red water hit Issei like a waterfall, as he tried to get up. His hearing and sight taken away, he felt iron in his mouth once again. The stream ended, only leaving him with the rest of the raining water, flowing down towards them, underground. Only then did he realize that he had been crashed into the statue of God, now dyed red too. He finally raised himself up, a stream of blood coming from his nose, as he did.
His body was thrown against the wall, as it became a spider's web. Maria had kicked him, probably. He hadn't seen the attack, nor did he feel any pain. Or anything else, for that matter.
Dodging on pure instinct, as Maria's magic attacks hit the wall behind him, he let out a laugh. His mind was breaking, he thought. Something was changing, shifting, inside his head. A dull buzz was radiating inside, as he dashed around, only dodging the most crucial of magic attacks, letting the other attacks scrape, and penetrate his body.
However, everything was being fixed by Ophis' snakes. Burrowing under his skin, replacing the only things that had remained human in him.
Suddenly, he swiped his spear, shattering a few dozen knives that had been thrown at him. A few more got through, ending inside of his shoulder and right arm. He looked down, recognizing their checkered handles.
''If we are still in that cage, why don't we do it the good old way?''
Maria shouted, laughing.
There was a bright spot in his vision, just in the upper right corner. He moved his eye upwards, but the bright spot did the same. His memories - were probably being taken away. He wondered if this was the curse of using the True Longinus spear.
He swiped it, looking at Maria who was a bit away from him. His eye wide open, as he simply thought of the white spot.
Maria dodged, but the white light struck her in the leg, burning it. It was the same light attack that Cao Cao could use - now granted to him too. His memory - in exchange for the power.
Maria jumped around, now dodging Issei's light attacks, shattering the walls behind her - but there was nothing behind them except for rock. The place - now wider and deeper, as water pooled inside.
Issei paused for a minute, realizing that red water was now pooling up to his mid-tibia. He glanced upwards, impaling Maria, who managed to tear a part of his left shoulder off. The snakes could only stop the bleeding, leaving an ugly indentation in his skin.
She fell through the water, as her wound healed.
When that happened, Issei had frozen in space. More of his memory had crumbled, and in the stead of those warm memories, only cold words remained, spinning in his head.
''O Spear. The true Holy Spear which pierces through God.''
He muttered to himself, spinning around mid-air, as Maria took off a piece of his right side, tearing a piece of a rib out.
His leg met Maria's face as they fell, so she was flung through one of the intact, drowning statues. Issei landed by the God's statue, ravaged and crumbled - but still, standing with wide arms.
''Suck the ambition of the King of Domination sleeping within me and pierce through the gap of blessing and destruction.''
Maria dashed straight at Issei, faster than he could react, even with using full Ophis power. They both flew through the statue, the spear flying out of his grasp, his back hitting the wall. It cracked, loudly, overpowering the water pouring inside.
He felt how Maria touched his insides, so he extended his only arm to the side, grabbing the spear out of thin air, and unleashing a light attack point blank.
Both of them enveloped in the burning light, Maria backed off for a second, giving Issei a chance to dash away.
He did, jumping head first into the water, that was now almost knee deep. He submerged himself, the sound of his burning flesh only becoming far away whispers. He remained for a few seconds, before pulling himself up, on his knees, emerging from the water, flowing through his hair, over his face. The sound came back, and Maria did too, jumping on his back, both of her hands going through his back, straight out of his chest. He froze like that, on his knees in the blood red water, dyeing it a shade redder. Crimson, even, as his blood began to pool into the water. He puked - only blood.
''Shussh...'' - Maria whispered into his ear. -''The tragedy - it ends here.''
She rubbed her face against Issei's cheek, as he was trembling. Not saying a word, he looked at the water, and at the same time - at Maria's cute, doll like fingers. The usual porcelain color was turned dark red - from his insides.
It wasn't suppose to end like this.
He looked upwards, through the hole in the ceilings, going right up into the night sky. The only things his eye could see were the checkered, thick clouds and the deluge. He knew, that there was a full moon there, behind them.
''The Tragedy goes on.'' - Issei whispered.
His arm shot up in front of him in a half-clenched fist, the True Longinus spear appearing in his hand.
''You. Announce the will, and turn into a glow.''
With blood, he said those words. A briliant white shone, as Issei threw himself up from his knees, turning the spear's edge towards himself.
And fell to his knees again, the spear going straight into his stomach, impaling through himself - and at the same time - through Maria.
She spat blood over Issei's shoulder, smirking. -''Even my heart can handle way more, Issei-chan.''
Issei laughed, smirking at the blood red water. His reflection, disfigured, smiled back.
Yes, indeed. This was enough. Further - the strength needed wasn't to be his anymore.
After all, the spear had decided to help.
White began to envelop them. The water began to sizzle, and after a few seconds, it was straight up evaporating from the light. Maria cried out something in the white steam, but the whole world was taken away by pure white. Vision, sound, feeling, thoughts, time, all faded into the calm whiteness.