- WARS OF THE ROSES -
Hi and welcome back to Wars of the Roses. Sorry for the delay. Fanfiction always serves as my private refuge, where all pressures escape from my fingers "a fiction about a fiction"... ironic, isn't it, that we can all share our fantasies about our favourite characters online? ^.^
It is a snowy winter, and the conflict between the Hanadera Republic and the Lillian Kingdom grows ever more complex and puzzling to the involved combatants. How can Sachiko save Yumi from the Rose saints? How will the Roses and her new allies react to this horrific enemy? And what should they do with the Hanaderian armies that have made camp on their shores? They must urgently reform and retrain their outdated knights with the new power Hanadera has promised them... but now, it seems as if President Yuki has different plans for his invasion.
How could those women understand? How could those Roses understand? How could the Red Baroness understand the pain of a sister held in thrall by a trinity of malevolent celestials?
This is Hanadera's story as much as Lillian's. Yuki and Kashiwagi struggle to throw off their Rose pursuers as they marshal their men's muskets, cannons, and arquebuses.
For Yumi, they would destroy the Kingdom of Lillian.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it. :)
- Act Seven -
- Primal Crisis -
This was supposed to be a secret meeting, a confidentiality above all confidentialities.
In the yurt constructed by Chinensis serfs, the President of Hanadera sat and waited, wrapped in a thick bear coat, boots caked in rime. Shielded from the howling blizzard outside, he waited for almost an hour before his dialogue partner made her way in. His brown eyes narrowed in slight annoyance at having been kept for so long.
"You may see yourselves as aristocrats, as blue bloods worthier than untitled men," he called out over the noise of the snowstorm and looking sharply at Baroness Sachiko, "but as the first among equals - as president of a meritocratic nation-state - my own time is precious, too."
Sachiko pulled off the crimson, satin hood of her coat. She let a breath of frosty air, fresh from the cold. Her boots were caked with frost and rime, her cold beauty accentuated by the tiny flakes of snow that scraped her black strands of hair, her small nose, and her flushed lips. She gave Yuki a withering glare. "You will wait like any head of state should receive a Chinensis noble... especially as you were the one who came to our shores first."
His two bodyguards shifted, their hands ready to draw their sabres. Raising his hand to warn them off, Yuki sighed. "Sachiko-san. What is the emergency? Why have you called this meeting amongst sworn enemies? I hope you have a good reason." Yuki scowled, a rare sight. "For I will not stop my attack on Hanadera until I root out my enemies, and they are foes your swords, lances, and arrows can't wound."
"I know." Sachiko's dark eyes shone. "I know who you are seeking to find, president."
"What?" asked Yuki, all irritation forgotten as he took in Sachiko's revelation. "But... how do you know who I'm looking for."
Sachiko pressed on. "You and I both know the real threat facing my homeland, and your very soul. It's Yumi, isn't it? Yumi needs our help."
"How do you know?" repeated Yuki, his voice a whisper. "You know of the prophecy? Wait - perhaps you do. It was the ancient bardic tales of your land that foretold the return of the Rose saints. But how do you know those goddesses have made their home inside my sister?"
"I only know of the prophecy in vague terms, like most of the other women in my land. But I experienced the terror of Yumi's pain firsthand," replied Sachiko, painful memories of Yumi manhandling and abuse stinging her aching heart. Even now, her neck felt sore from Yumi's hands. She tried to speak, but had to swallow before she could press on. "Yumi, your sister... she was already on these sceptred isles before your forces attacked. I know nor what compelled her to seek me out. Perhaps she was already possessed by those celestials. But she knew she wanted to find Chinensis Palace. And she indeed make her home there with me..." She looked down at the ground. "But, as time went by and we defended ourselves against your armies, the goddesses began to eat away at her."
Yuki shook his head. "No," he whispered softly. "Then I was already too late."
"I can confirm your fears. The goddesses dwell within my soeur, and although they've endowed her with great strength - she could easily wipe out your armies alone - the prime Roses plan to destroy us once they're done with you, and reign over Lillian as they did in life."
"Why have you not told your superiors, the Roses?" asked Yuki quietly and in disbelief. "Why are you telling me, your arch-enemy, before anyone else?"
Sachiko's eyes burned. "Because she is your sister, Mister President," gritted the Red Baroness. "And she is my soeur. Her bonds to us both are indestructible. And we must accord her the dignity she deserves, not like those evil deities, who see her as a mere vessel."
"If necessary, I will end her life. Better an honourable death than to be subsumed into a demonic goddess's consciousness. You women of the north agree, don't you?" Yuki grimaced. "I see, I see. And you have no problem with trying to kill the founders of your monarchy? I would have thought Lillian's nobility would welcome the return of the Rose saints."
"They have no relation to us except as invaders, just like you. I wasn't alive when they founded this Kingdom. And as far as I'm concerned, they are intruders upon the land like any other," spat Sachiko. "This conversation is over. Have your army meet mine tomorrow. I have prepared a trap for Yumi... no, for the goddesses."
Yuki pursed his lips as Rosa Chinensis en bouton departed from their shelter. Sachiko stepped out of the yurt, blinking as she looked around the snow-capped landscape. It was no longer stormy, and the blizzard's screams had stopped.
The world was a beautiful white.
Sachiko stopped and gaped at the three women in red, white, and yellow hoods standing before her. "How did you know to come here?"
"I had my scouts follow you, dear Sachiko," said the Red Rose coolly. "You are not Rosa Chinensis yet. You must accept tha there are things we know, that you don't know."
"Like the fact that you and Yumi-chan's strange behaviour already alerted us to the... enemy within our midst," said Rosa Foetida. "We are the heirs to the prime Roses, remember? We know what the prophecy says. Shizuka-san can recite it by heart. And since the boy inside that yurt also knows, it's only natural that we must... tailor our plans so that we can defeat both the Hanaderians and our divine visitors."
Sachiko almost wanted to back away, but Rosa Gigantea's gloved hand clapped tightly on her shoulder, and she jumped. "We're disappointed you didn't invite us to join you," declared Sei, smiling. "We are, after all, at war, and here you are, meeting with the enemy. We should surely at least know why."
Sachiko gulped. So they knew. How foolish, how utterly idiotic had she been all this time? "Forgive me, onee-sama..."
"I'm not the one you'll be apologizing to soon," said Youko grimly. "You do realize what must be done, do you not?"
Sachiko's eyes were fearful. "Please, I wish to do this..."
"On your own, you want to say?" scoffed Youko. "You can barely defeat Rosa Foetida's bouton in a duel of blades, what makes you think you can survive the goddesses that created this Kingdom? Arrogance needs a limit. No." She smiled grimly. "I want you to walk back into that yurt and call another audience with the Hanaderian president. Tell him that the three Houses of Lillian will throw their full weight against Yumi as well."
Sachiko shook her head. "You can't do this to her, onee-sama. You can't do this to me. To Yumi and I."
Youko's eyes were hard. "There is no need for sentimentality, Sachiko," she insisted. "That you called this meeting with Yuki-kun is proof enough. I order you. Walk back in and tell him. Tell him that Yumi must die at our combined hands, so that the Rose saints are expelled from Lillian."
She didn't sleep at all that night, even though Yumi snored quietly in her arms. The naked Sachiko adjusted the felt blanket over their warm bodies, listening to the light rain patter around them outside Chinensis Palace. She wondered if she would ever sleep again.
"Tomorrow we do battle, to rout the Hanaderians," she had told Yumi, before they retired to their dark chambers and blown out the candles. "And I want my petite soeur to lead the charge."
Yumi's eyes had brightened, and she hugged Sachiko tightly, thanking her for giving her the chance to prove herself.
The dark cloud of the Rose saints had been momentarily forgotten, and Yumi seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully tonight.
Sachiko tenderly stroked her thumb along Yumi's slightly parted lips, her small nose, and her cheekbone. She didn't know what to think, or whether to cry. She only knew that she had been a coward, in so many ways.
She wanted to apologize. She had planned to give her so much more in their life together as soeurs.
Her voice was an inaudible, remorseful whisper. "I love you, Yumi."
She closed her exhausted eyes and held Yumi closer, for tomorrow was the day she would suffer execution.
Dawn had come.
The knights of Chinensis had positioned themselves alongside the musketeers, and Sachiko was standing several yards away from them. By her side stood Yumi, bewildered and uncertain. She looked quite hollow despite her green silken outfit, which was encased in silver armour. She stroked her long brown hair nervously. "Why are the banners of the Chinensis knights standing with our enemies? You told me to stand with you and fight the Hanaderians. But it seems..."
The sun was slowly rising, casting its light over a grassland where the snow had only melted several days before.
It was dawn, and the dew in the air smelled like blood.
Yumi blanched as the yellow standards of Foetida also rose amongst the amassed, grand army. She stared up at Sachiko, trembling. "Onee-sama," she whispered, clutching her arm, "what is this? I don't understand." Already, her heart knew what had transpired between the Hanaderians and Chinensis warriors. But her eyes betrayed her disbelief. "You told them all, didn't you? Please, onee-sama. I can hold them in, I can fight them... I can stay by your side, I promise. Please, I don't want to die, I need a chance," she begged pitifully.
Sachiko bit her lip. She lightly pushed her own soeur away, and tried not to meet Yumi's terrified eyes as she drew her sword. "Forgive me, my petite soeur. No girl should have to suffer a betrayal of such a sacred bond. I will burn in hellfire for breaking my soeur's promise, but I would rather that than the Rose saints devour you!"
"You're only justifying your fear, your uncertainty!" cried Yumi, backing away. This could not be happening. Her own onee-sama couldn't possibly be lifting a weapon against her!
"That is a death of such indignity that I won't stand to bear!" screamed Sachiko. "Do you think I want to do this?"
"They are dangerous, they want to kill you, they'll only be encouraged by this - " Yumi cried out as the celestials within her reacted, her eyes enveloped by the Northern Lights. Shrieking hoarfrost erupted around her, completely unnatural for the day's weather, and hurled Sachiko away. The Red bouton landed painfully on her backside, glancing up in dread as Yumi's expression changed from one of fear to one of hatred. The army in the distance could see the starfire exploding from Yumi's body, and it began to rumble towards Yumi and the Red Baroness.
Sprawling along the ground, Sachiko scrambled back up and screamed, "charge!"
"So you all know who we are." Yumi glanced at the nearing knights and musketeers, and then back at Sachiko. "Everyone knows we're in here. Then it all comes together. Now we do battle," cried the three deities through Yumi. The body of the innocent girl raised her clenched fist.
"As the prophecies foretold," howled Saint Chinensis.
"And as Götterdämmerung shakes the very ground beneath us," cackled Saint Foetida.
"All shall perish in Surtur's ashes, and from the sundered soil of Ragnarok a green Lillian will rise, ruled once more by Our great authority!" crowed Saint Gigantea.
The gods were not humanity's friends!
The knights raised their lances, shrieking out a battlecry as the banners of Chinensis and Foetida were lifted high to the blue heavens. Red roses and yellow patterns of the two clans decked the sky. The first charging regiment lowered their lances and pointed their deadly tips at the growing form of Yumi, who was still duelling with the Red bouton. "Out of the way, Sachiko!" cried the leader of the knights. Hasekura Rei slid down her visor, and for the first time, her entourage were also carrying primitive arquebuses, designed and built hastily in the event their truce with Hanadera was broken. Now, for the very first time, the Yellow Duchess deployed her reformist strategy and new armaments against a girl who had, just last night, been sleeping in Sachiko's arms. "I'm sorry, Yumi-chan," gritted Rei. "Lancers, with me! Dragoons, encircle our enemy!"
The collective war-scream from the armoured noblewomen reached a high-pitched crescendo, a banshee-like scream that would have terrified anyone... anyone, except goddesses of primal might. Yumi grabbed Sachiko's collar roughly and hurled the struggling Baroness away. She turned and sneered at the wall of bristling metal lances and snorting horses thundering directly for her. She opened her mouth -
Rei's eyes widened behind her knight's visor, and without warning, she released her horse and lance, tumbling to the ground. Her subordinates blanched - surely the charge was too late to stop now? Had she slipped and fallen?
"Get down, girls!" shrieked Rei, even as she rolled painfully out of the way of her horses' hooves. "She's about to attack! Get down!"
Yumi shrieked an inhuman cry, and from her gaping mouth erupted a macabre blast of starlight, a beam of mystic fire that shot without warning at the galloping horses and their riders. One woman felt her metal visor melting away, before her eyes turned to pulp and the tissue of her lips and nose cartilage melted together. There wasn't even any time to feel pain as the heads and torsos of three knights were instantly incinerated, leaving three halves of carcasses bouncing limply on their flailing horses - only that those horses had had their heads burned off too. The horrified knights behind the corpses slammed into the sudden wall, and Yumi stepped forward, smiling as Rei's new 'dragoons' raised their primitive firearms, their horses surrounding her and clopping cautiously around her and sealing any chance of escape. Ancient, runic magic hissed through Yumi's mouth with each breath. Meanwhile, the Hanaderian men ran into disciplined formations, stopping as square phalanxes behind the Foetida dragoons and pointing their muskets at the girl. She glanced at the amassing, allied armies, and grinned.
"You think you have us surrounded," snarled the sinister Yumi, flicking back her long hair as she looked up at the red and yellow banners above her. "Those flags belong to us, you know."
The strategy was simple, apparently. Overwhelm her with sheer numbers and firepower until they could force a negotiating settlement with the three divinities inside her.
"Leave my petite soeur's body," Sachiko had recovered from Yumi's monstrous strength. She rose and pointed her longsword at Yumi, steadying her otherwise trembling hand. "We won't show you mercy, even if you were the founders of this royal empire!"
The goddesses needed a suitable vessel to return to their sceptred isle. Yet their power was too much for Yumi's frail, mortal shell to contain.
A hail of metal pellets from the dragoons hurtled at Yumi, but the possessed girl gestured angrily with her hand, a spherical sheet of starlight appearing from nowhere and incinerating the projectiles that came anywhere close to her. Momentarily blinded by the flash of light, Sachiko staggered back, only to see Yumi shriek out a runic curse, fire once again spilling from her bleeding mouth. The dragoons and their horses shrieked in terror as the flames sliced off arms, legs, heads - severed limbs and body parts were bathed in purifying heat along with their armour. The disordered knights rallied and attempted another charge, but Yumi allowed the cavalry no space, raising her arms and channelling white-hot fury from the Northern Lights. Even as the ladies' heads burst in embers and blood inside their helms, Rei lunged at Yumi and tackled her, wrestling her to the ground and pinning her struggling form down. She raised her gauntleted fist and smashed it into Yumi's face, breaking her nose.
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Turquoise light swirling in Yumi's sickly eyes, she gurgled and slurred through her crushed cartilage, loosened teeth, and bubbling blood. "All you've done is rearranged Yumi-chan's pretty looks."
Rei felt rage and hatred welling up in her. "You will be expelled from her!" she snarled, punching Yumi again and again, but on the third try Yumi caught her fist, pulling down and drawing the unprepared Rei into a vicious headbutt. Such was the force of the three goddesses that Yumi pounded in Rei's visor, digging the scrunched metal into its owner's face. Rei screeched in agony as she felt pain twofold, from Yumi's physical force and her destroyed helm. She felt her grip loosen, and at that moment, she felt herself thrown off Yumi, and before she could recover, Yumi was kicking her deliberately and mercilessly in the stomach and spleen, smashing her boot again and again into her dented armour and flesh. Sachiko and the remaining knights thrust their swords at Yumi, but she waved her hand at them dismissively, cosmic fire incinerating the blades and eating into the flesh of the ladies. They screamed and sunk to their knees, burned alive, unable to extinguish the supernatural flames while Yumi continued to kick and stomp on Rei's head. Rei had curled into a ball, her internal organs ruptured by the power of the Rose saints, reduced to protecting herself with broken arms and tucked knees. Yumi glanced back at Sachiko, who had dropped her ruined blade and drawn her dagger.
"You will regret hurting her, prime Roses," snapped Sachiko.
Yumi loomed over the limp Yellow Rose's bouton and tore off her ruined helm, basking in the sight of Rei's bleeding countenance, mushed lips, and blackened eyes. She clasped a clump of Rei's short hair, dragging her body along the bloody grass. "Come at me, little girl!" shrieked Saint Chinensis's voice.
Sachiko sprinted forward, and she feinted twice before weaving her dagger past Yumi and aiming directly for her left ribcage -
Yumi roared and caught Sachiko's wrist, chortling as she watched the Red Baroness's eyes widen in shock and fear. Yumi's hand gave a hard squeeze, and Sachiko felt her bones creaking and straining under the pressure. So great was the pain that she felt her fingers loosen on her dagger - and as she stared into Yumi's hateful, triumphant face, those starlit eyes were suddenly overtaken by the sight of Yumi's hard fist shooting at her. A mighty crunch, and Sachiko almost lost consciousness from the broken jaw. She could see droplets of red everywhere, and her world was flashing into darkness. She felt her feet lose their way, and she tumbled to the ground, caught only by Yumi's rough hand. The dying petite soeur strode past the littered battlefield of burning female corpses, cackling wildly while she dragged Sachiko's bloodstained mantle and Rei's battered body past bodies of knights. "More! More blood and sundered flesh! More fruits of battle!" cried the goddesses in her.
Sachiko moaned in despair through her crushed lip, nose broken and mouth bloodied. Rei uttered nothing, having fainted long ago.
Yumi's insane, rolling eyes paused ever so briefly as she caught sight of a form running over to stop her. "So it's you. It all comes down to you, you who have come to save this rotting body. You, the instigator of this bloody war on this ravaged continent. Welcome, Mister President!" chortled the three divinities inside Yumi, as the leader of the Hanaderian Republic stood blocking her way.
Fukuzawa Yuki had pushed his way to the front of his uniformed soldiers in grey, who did their best to look brave. "Fire and hold your ground!" he cried, similarly decked in a grey outfit with medals pinned to his left breast pocket. "Don't be afraid. Now that the knights have been routed, our own mission lies before us - exorcise those demons and bring Yumi home!"
Yumi scowled, releasing Sachiko and Rei. Their helpless bodies flopped onto the ground.
"Cannons!" bellowed a regiment leader, and the powerful artillery began to groan into position, each manned by four men. The sergeants issued their orders, and four divisions of men fired their muskets together, enveloping the smirking Yumi in a hail of pellets and smoke. A further five cannonballs slammed directly into Yumi - or, as it was, Yumi's wall of flesh. Yuki covered his mouth as his fellow soldiers retched. For each cannonball, Yumi had summoned a corpse from the ground to block its way. And so the bleeding carcasses fell back to the grass, their bodies desecrated further by the hissing, smoking projectiles. As the regiments busied themselves with rearming, Yuki glimpsed an arrow of seasick green light explode from Yumi's outstretched finger. He dived out of the way, but his men were too late. The divine radiance tore into their bodies, ripping apart the muskets, cutting into the cannons and forcing their men-at-arms to flee. The hungry light was relentless, piercing into the Hanaderians' chests or slicing off their limbs as Yuki's famed, disciplined military collapsed in chaos and petrified bawling around him. Needless to say, the phalanxes of musketeers had long since been broken, its remnants running away mindlessly like chickens from the arrows of light.
The president swept back his coat, glaring at his sister. "Damn you, evil spirits. You're turning her into a Draugur, a hollow fleshly vessel for yourselves," said Yuki. "A Draugur to feast on your own subjects. Typical of the old tyrants and queens, to feed on their own people. But this time, you're using my sister, a girl of purest heart and absent guile."
Yumi smiled through bleeding gums. "Clever boy," came Saint Foetida's voice.
Silence interrupted sister and brother, until the latter spoke again. "I'm going to exorcise you three from my sister's mind."
Yumi spat in scornful mirth. "You can chase away ghosts. You can't erase the consciousnesses of gods!" shrieked Saint Chinensis.
Yuki drew his cutlass from his sheath, a buccaneering blade with a mysterious hilt that seemed to shimmer with rippling light. "Try me, Rose saints," he cried, and a crackling screech, like an eagle's cry, emitted from the sword. "An eye for an eye!" A straight sunbeam shot into Yumi, and the screaming girl was thrown back several paces, rolling along the grassy knoll, past several dead knights and musketeers. "A blade of engineering genius, made to reflect light. A Renaissance technology to duplicate divinity, a science of God." Yuki's hands crossed, repositioning his blade's mirror. He glared at Yumi, who was struggling back up, her green robes burned through and her flesh hissing from the fierce roasting. "I am going to drag you three out, kicking and screaming if need be. Yumi's soul is being poisoned by you wraiths. I'm not going to let you eat her."
"But we've already eaten so much!" laughed Saint Gigantea from Yumi's mouth, blood and black spit hurling from the back of her throat. "You might as well surrender. Surrender, and we'll let you come and embrace her!"
Yumi blinked in shock as Yumi sprinted at her with an almost possessed speed. He thrust forth his sword, and even though Yumi managed to evade the blade, a new burst of sun-dappled radiance shot from the sword's hilt, scorching Yumi's face and burning away at her skin. The distracted Draugur screeched, face sizzling and shoulder spurting blood as Yuki coolly twisted his sword and laced a gash across Yumi's torso. "Come back, my sister!" screamed Yuki, swinging again. "I'm family!" The earth rumbled, quaked, and cracked as brother and sister tussled against each other, Yuki's blade of mirror-light reflecting another ray of sun and directing it at Yumi's chest. Eyes wide, the Draugur shrieked as the white-hot radiance soaked into her skin, burning the very consciousness of the triune Roses housed within. Now it was her torso that seemed to sizzle, and any more could possibly rid the Rose saints of their mortal vehicle.
"Never," bellowed the swooning Yumi in an unearthly accent, "not while we need her for this battle to end all life." And her arm shot out, too quick for Yuki to dodge. Lifting the choking boy off the ground, the Draugur cackled, watching Yuki's popping eyes. "These ancient isles, their lordly castles, and green hills belong to us. You and your men don't belong here. What can you possibly do to wrench them away from us?"
Heart pounding uncomfortably fast, Yuki felt his booted feet leaving the ground, his legs flailing. His neck felt cramped and he couldn't breathe. He gasped and flailed for air, eyes bulging slightly. Yumi smiled, green starlight fizzling from her pupilless eyes. "Well? Tell me, boy."
Yuki forced out a response. "You can... have... all... castles. Not... care. I want... Yumi..."
Yumi snarled angrily. "You still cry out her name. Is one life so precious?" asked Saint Foetida.
"Perhaps he is not incorrect. We would have sacrificed ourselves for each other, too," came Saint Chinensis's voice.
With that brief internal dialogue, Yumi hurled Yuki away. The leader of the Hanaderians shut his eyes tight and braced for impact, but he felt two strong arms catching him amidst a broad chest.
He looked up into a pair of handsome, calm eyes.
"Are you alright, President?" asked black-cloaked Chancellor Kashiwagi, cradling his leader carefully.
"Fine, Chancellor," grunted Yuki, politely moving Kashiwagi's hand off his chest. He gingerly disentangled himself from his subordinate and mentor. "If you please, we have three goddesses to topple."
"Remember everything I taught you before I resigned," advised Kashiwagi, staring at the swirling, churning eddy of starlight enveloping Yumi. It was his turn to draw his cutlass. "I knew you would be a good successor to my office. Or, failing everything, we could simply continue throwing everything we have at her. We have little choice against deities, yes?"
Yuki grunted again. "Fine."
Yumi was about to mount a fresh assault against the beleaguered president when she glanced up behind her, her face twisting in surprise as a massive shadow descended upon her. The World Serpent, Goronta, hurtled down with the force of a hundred longships, and the trinity of deities screamed from within Yumi, directing the latter to leap away from the cat's paws. Grass and dirt was hurled up as reinforcements leaped down from the purring cat's back. Kashiwagi smiled as he looked at the dour faces of the three Roses, and their acolytes, Toudou Shimako and Shimazu Yoshino.
"You!" cried Yuki.
"The Houses of Chinensis, Foetida, and Gigantea, along with your Hanaderian Republic. For now, we share the goal of eradicating the prime Roses." Youko, Eriko, and Sei drew her swords, and this time, not even Sei was smiling. "We will ask questions and look for answers later. Right now, I only want to fight off Yumi-chan and buy us some time to chase out the goddesses."
Her head covered by a wolf's pelt, Shimako lifted her wolfhead-battleaxes, crossing them high in the air, and Yoshino lifted her one-handed mace, glaring at Yumi. Yumi was obliged to return the disdain, her silken gaze expressing as much scorn for these new mortal women as the prime Roses had felt for Sachiko and Rei...
But before they could mount any manner of attack, a Chinensis blade had plunged through Yumi's body, past her brown hair, and worked its way through her beating heart, spearing through her left lung and emerging through the fat of her breast.
For a moment, shocked silence from all parties reigned.
The Roses stared at the trembling Yumi and her successful attacker sadly. "No," murmured a recovering Rei, struggling up and sinking into Yoshino's concerned arms. "She never wanted this. But it must be done... mustn't it?" Yumi's twisted face was contorted in pain and rage as black gore sprayed from her ruined chest. Her hands were raised in agony, twisted like the gnarled branches of a dead tree.
"Assault us, but how many times have we told you? You are merely tearing at the body of your precious soeur, she who is dying the slowest, most agonizing death possible!" barked Saint Chinensis.
"Sachiko-san!" screamed Yuki. His mind had blanked at the sight of the sword inside his sister's body. He didn't know what to think anymore. "What are you doing? Yumi!"
The Red Baroness could taste her own salty tears as she gripped her sword tighter. She pressed her head against Yumi's bloodstained back. She looked into Yumi's eyes, who had turned around, tears of blood slipping down her cheeks. "I don't know if you can hear me, my Yumi. But I will kill you if I can rob them of your fleshly castle. I won't let them tear your soul asunder. Yumi, you loved me and gave me life. I, Baroness of Chinensis, love you too, so I will give you death.
"Would our fates have been different, somewhere less cold and cruel..."
Weeping, Rosa Chinensis en bouton snarled, pushing and twisting the blade further into her petite soeur's bleeding chest. "Prime Roses! Out of body. Out of sight. Out of mind! Get out of my Yumi!"
NEXT ACT: MEN AND WOMEN UNITED AGAINST AN APOCALYPTIC DRAUGUR.