Mahiru smiled.
Finally, she had obtained control of this cursed vessel. She found Guren's eyes to no longer work, but she was able to tell a lot about the situation from auditory signals, she had grown used to it when she was locked inside her lover's body. Testing different ways that she could do things, and how they could be done.
She was the perfect abomination. All of the power gained when she became a vampire, and all of the power she gained when she became a demon all bundled up inside her. She had complete control over everything that she did. She no longer had to watch and advise and tempt from the sidelines.
She was free.
Now Guren was the one locked away. And that was how it would remain, she would make him feel the pain of not being able to do anything, just like she had been condemned to do when he first killed her.
There was a slight whooshing sound and she ducked as one of the Seraph's wings soared over her head and she laughed. Nothing could stop her now.
She heard the return of one of the wings, she jumped and swung down with the sword that had once held her captive. The blade was still sharp and cut the wing like a hot knife through butter, she felt almost no resistance whatsoever to her strike and was concerned that she might not have landed a blow until she heard the scream. A scream that she used to scream when she was first imprisoned, disbelief, anger, and inferiority. Now, everything was inferior to her, all she had to do was wait.
Nothing could stop her now. Then all of a sudden there were two deafening booms and nothing except for the pitter-patter of feet on stone. Cue another scream, a beautiful scream that reminded her of the old days when everything was so so horrible. She loved this. There was no pain that she hadn't felt already, she was waiting for something to challenge her authority and this right here was it. And she would show the damn Seraph that she would not be put down so easily.
She swung with everything she had, not releasing any of her powers, she wouldn't waste it on something like this. Someone joined her, male by the sound of his breathing and grunts when he swung whatever he had at the Seraph. Another person screamed from high above, maybe one of the snipers, who knew? Then she heard a dull thud and rustle, a body falling to the ground.
A small smile played on her lips. Who was dead now? Would this increase her glory? Was it painful? Who knew, but once she knew this thing had taken a life, she redoubled her efforts. This was so much fun.
She was finally free.
She was ruined.
Everything that she had wanted was ripped away from her in an instant.
There would be no more shower talks, no more screaming, no more good-natured arguments. No more blonde hair to tease her, or to be teased.
Mitsuba was gone. Just like Mahiru. Just like Yuu. She had to deal with this pain again. Three friends. Three members of her family were just gone. Just when she forgot how fragile a human life could be, she was always reminded in a cruel, cruel manner.
She looked down at Mitsuba one last time, her violet eyes were dull and unseeing, she had lost the light that was always there. Slowly, she reached down and closed her eyelids. Her soul erupted in pain. Everything that Mitsuba ever was was gone. She would never laugh again, she would never cry again, she would never open her eyes again.
She would never hug Shinoa, they would never cuddle on rainy days, and they would never laugh naked in the shower again. Everything that she could have been was gone. And that made her furious.
She was filled with fury and couldn't handle the facts. She surrendered herself to her fury and watched as the world collapsed around her.
Something else was driving her soul, she had no control over herself when she moved faster than she ever thought she could and drove Shikama Dōji into Mika's distracted body. She had no control over herself when she ripped Shikama Dōjiout and tore through the soft flesh of the one-time vampire. She had no control over her body when she dodged the wings of Mika and tore one from his body, a sickening wet pop echoing through the chamber.
Shinoa would have been sickened as the bone was wrenched and dislocated out of his back, monster or not, but not today. She heard mad laughter coming from someone who sounded an awful lot like Guren, and the sound of someone, probably Yoichi, becoming sick in the corner or right where he stood. But whatever was causing her body to move was not bothered by the emergence of the glistening black bone, and pressed the attack further through Mika's screams.
But fierce determination was caught off guard as the other wing rounded and sent her sprawling into the wall, and everything left her. She was back to the husk and desperation of her prior state. Whatever had possessed her for those seven seconds or so was gone. She couldn't move her body again, but for a different reason, it hurt to breathe, but she could tell that none of her wounds were fatal by a routine check of her body.
"Who would d-dare t-touch me" A rasping voice rang out, "Me a Seraph? Who has th-the audacity to t-touch a Seraph?" The voice was getting closer and closer to Shinoa but all she wanted to do was sleep, whatever had possessed her had taken all of the energy out of her. "Wh-which one of you s-s-sinners t-touched me? Was it y-you?" The Seraph asked as it reached Shinoa, "Was it you that d-defiled this body?"
Shinoa couldn't do anything but raise her head to stare defiantly into the black eyes. She made her best attempt at spitting which only succeeded in only dribbling her chin in saliva. "You-you're the one who took her from me. You took her from me." She said as defiantly as she could but was interrupted again as the projectiles of Byakkomaru and Gekkōin slammed into his body.
She smiled, looks like she was going to keep on fighting. She glanced back at Mitsuba, Looks like I'm gonna have to fight for the two of us from now on, right, Mitsu-chan?
As soon as Yoichi had heard the pop and wet wrenching of a bone being removed from the body, he felt the bile pushing its way up his throat. Before he could reach a corner, his vomit was in his gloved hand and partially down the front of his uniform, but there was still more coming. Finally, his stomach emptied, but still heaving, he was able to remove his jacket and gloves, they weren't going to do him much good as it was now.
He saw Shinya's gesture to take aim and spotted Mika's half-winged body hovering over Shinoa's prone form. Pushing down another wave of disgust from the gaping black wound, he slowly took aim. His wrist still throbbed from when he had dislocated it, but somehow, somewhere, it had relocated itself. When he got time, he would have to thank Gekkōin. But he finally pulled the string back to its capacity and glanced over at Shinya, nodding his signal that he was ready.
He released and felt the familiar burst of power flow through him as he released Gekkōin's power onto an enemy, his wrist hurting less and less. The arrow struck home, just where he had aimed, and knocked Mika down.
But his victory was short-lived, as he saw that he was just in time to save Shinoa, but even if he had saved her from the immediate danger, there was still the fact that it didn't look like she was going to get up in while.
With Mika down, Kimizuki exploited his chance and thrust Kiseki-Ō at Mika's back, earning yet another scream from him. However, it only pierced his skin, it wasn't enough to kill, it was barely enough to slow him down. Yoichi ran to another alcove, this one closer to the action and closer to Kimizuki in case anything were to happen. There was plenty of debris to hide behind if things got hairy, and he was in no danger at the moment.
Guren, also wielding his sword stepped forward, swinging wildly, but purposefully, not a stroke was useless and not placed there for a reason. One of the more deadly attacks and one of the more difficult ones as well. Slowly, but surely, they were all pushing Mika back into the corner, still holding tight to Yuu, but not dropping him. Holding him close to him, almost caringly and lovingly protecting him from harm.
Kimizuki swung Kiseki-Ō horizontally, making as if to remove his head from his body, but at the last second, Mika sprung into the air, staying there for a while, almost seeming to hover, but soon he was able to somehow move in the air and landed fifteen strides from where Yoichi hid, crouched into the ground, his heart beating a mile a minute.
Yoichi made sure not to breathe erratically, something which was becoming more and more difficult with each passing moment, and slowly, silently, he drew Gekkōin back.
But as he shifted his footing to provide for a better shot at him, Yoichi heard his foot scuff the floor, a small sound, but a sound nonetheless. He hoped and prayed that Mika hadn't heard it and didn't move at all for three seconds, a lifetime, enough time for him to be killed with seconds to spare, but nothing came.
Slowly, he lifted his head above his small boulder of safety and watched for any inclination that death was coming for him. But there was none.
In fact, Mika was even facing away from him, his back held wide open for any of Yoichi's attacks. He pulled Gekkōin's string back gently, quietly, and took aim at the one place that was sure to kill just about anything, this monster would be no different.
He closed his eyes, and took a calming breath in through his nose, and exhaled quietly through his mouth. He repeated the process three times before his hands stopped shaking and he finally opened his eyes.
It was almost as if nothing had changed, Kimizuki was almost to Mika, and Guren slightly ahead of him, it wouldn't make any difference, Yoichi would make them proud and ensure that no one else would die here today.
He took another second to aim and released the arrow, the string snapping from his fingertips. He watched it fly, straight and true and felt pride and confidence rising within him. He was going to do it. He was going to kill Mika.
And there was his problem, he put a name to the monster and felt his confidence waver and crumble, he stumbled back, stepping on a small piece of debris the wrong way. His ankle twisted out from under him, and he fell.
He let out a short moan of pain, he had fallen on several rocks that poked into his back and legs. He instantly tried to muffle the sound, but it was too late. Mika had heard it and moved slightly, forcing Gekkōin's arrow to land askew, grazing Mika's side and creating a large dent in the far wall.
But now, Mika had seen him.
He scrambled away, clattering through stones, causing them to fall and chip and crack. Multiple times, his hands caught on jagged edges, cutting into his hands and his shirt was now a tattered ruin, no use anymore. His ankle wouldn't work, he couldn't use it, but all that he cared about at the moment was getting away from the creature that was slowly advancing on him.
Mika was gaining on him, Yoichi almost cursed, why was walking so much faster than scrambling? Why was it so much more sinister than running? Why did it have to be him?
All of these questions flashed through his head at once, but he knew that asking those questions was going to do nothing for him. He had accepted it, he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.
His hands, slippery and aching found no purchase on the floor, and his back thudded to the ground, a single small rock poking into his shoulder, making him cry out. A shadow fell over him, sinister, and complete.
The black wing was raised above him, and Yoichi closed his eyes. He didn't want to see his death, he wanted to be with Tomoe again. They would pick flowers in a field again, and they would be happy.
He always wanted to know what it was like to die. He often wondered what was beyond this life, was it a void? Was it rebirth? Was there a heaven? He supposed now he was going to find out.
His eyes closed, he couldn't see the final stroke fall, but he could hear the soft whoosh as it tore through the air. He heard the sound of it cutting through fabric and that horrible sound of squelching flesh. But what he didn't feel was pain, he must have been numb to it, his body going into shock. That was what they always said in stories, right? They were numb to the feeling of pain because they had been pushed over their limit.
But then he could hear a thick liquid splashing to the ground, that wasn't right, he was on the ground, it would be a small drip. And then he heard a weak cough and Yoichi opened his eyes and saw a tall figure standing over him, holding two blades connected by a short chain.
Horror filled Yoichi as he watched Kimizuki fall to the floor, a dark red stain quickly spreading from his shoulder to his hip.
As quickly and decisively as he could, he shot Mika, the string thrumming from his fingers satisfyingly as the arrow took him in the chest, causing him to stumble back and into the barrage that Guren and Shinya were creating. He had time. Kimizuki needed it.
He had all the time in the world.