Chapter 2: And We Shall Choose You:
Sherwood blinked several times as she stared wide eyed at the ground…
Who had just said that? Who had just called my name?
"Sherwood…"
There it is again… Who… Who calls me?
Ah… It's you…
Sister…
"…Onee-sama…" Sherwood whispered softly as she shifted her head back a bit. She knew what she was going to see… she had spent several minutes before trying to comprehend it… lifeless crimson eyes… a bloody tiara… mouth ajar… blood stained blonde hair… these were facts, cold but true, these were facts and they all pointed toward the single insurmountable truth that her sister, her Onee-sama, Hime was dead… and so of course Sherwood didn't stand a chance when she turned her head and realized she was wrong…
There was Hime… her body still lifeless, her blood still everywhere… and yet her eyes… the look in her eyes as she stared right at Sherwood, her precision, her power, no corpse could ever match the sheer audacity in her grip, her soul irradiated from her eyes wading through the timid air, she seized Sherwood's attention and made herself known… it was just like her… the presence, the dominance, that if she were in a room filled with people, everyone could feel her presence, and sure enough, Hime was alive… she didn't move but she didn't have too as she stared at Sherwood as Sherwood stared at her… her head tilted to her side such that she could see through the many strands of blonde hair collecting in the blood that tried to drown her—foaming up as if willing to see her die; she disobeyed it all and continued to live…
And just like that the room came to life…
"Gah…" Riza groaned as she wheezed for breath… her eyes rolling back into place as she propped herself up on her elbows. "ACK!" She grimaced as she sank back down, the knife in her chest still pinning her to the ground, her movement causing a small amount of blood to erupt and Francesca rushed over to stop the bleeding… "I… I'm fine…!" She gasped. "I… the knife… silver…!"
"How's…Riza…?" Hime called out of breath as she too started to get up… Sherwood helping her unconsciously… still too overwhelmed to fully grasp that her sister was alive…
"Fuga." called Francesca as she looked at Riza and then at the knife and then back at Riza before slowly, tenderly wrapping her fingers around the knife… Riza just took deep breaths… or at least attempted to what with the knife cutting through her chest. After the third gasp for air she nodded and Francesca pulled…
The scream that Riza let out next few men or warriors could ever stomach to hear… the kind of scream that hurts the soul… agony…but she was alive… and in a few seconds she was on her feet, despite her broken bones and her butchered organs, as if she were too stubborn to realize she was supposed to be dead… she was on her feet limping hunchbacked as her bleeding started to stop and her vision started to return… "Hime?!" She winced as she came to… "HIME!"
"Riza…" And with that the werewolf turned around… She nearly collapsed again at the mere sight of the princess before her… and yet Hime, as if anticipating everything that was about to happen as per her usual grand forte, two steps ahead while everyone was two steps behind, just calmly and simply added, "Go help the others…Go help Reiri…" And just like that everything was fine… everything was alright… you were absolved of your concern…
But even so, "Reiri?" Riza whispered wide-eyed as she took several strained steps toward the bleeding princess … to be fair, her own wounds were worse and this wasn't the first time Hime had been injured… but even so… it was like seeing the one person who gave you hope get cut down… to pieces… and yet as she continued to stare looking on at Hime, Hime looking back at her, something fazed through Riza's glance. She saw a deep familiar strength hidden away in the princess's eyes, and it was comforting and it was warm … very much unlike Hime's usual demeanor while very much innate to her soul, it stopped the half-breed dead in her tracks, and that's when she knew… that's when Riza realized… Hime was still Hime, she was indeed alive, and despite her broken bones that were obviously broken, that or dislocated, shoved under and over broken skin and sharp debris that pinned, and the sheer amount of blood she must have lost, caking and dying her hair redder than her own, Riza had no choice but to comply as she turned away, still in shock but not despair, and called out Reiri's name once again.
"Fuga…"
"O-oh God!" Riza groaned as she hop-limped over to Francesca who'd already made her way across the room. And there Riza looked up in horror following Francesca's gaze as she stared up and saw what was left of Reiri… smeared all over the wall…
"Fuga…" Francesca called again nodding her head to Riza to step back a bit. Then, with great a discipline and strength, the tall robomaid worked her way into a fighting stance, squatting on her knees pulling back her right hand and then with a terribly brilliant fury, she punched the wall and it caved in obediently… just like that… and the white ash stake that had been holding Reiri's wrist hostage finally let her go allowing the beautiful vampiric vixen to come falling back down to the earth…
"REIRI!" Riza screamed as she rushed over to catch her rival, toppling over at the weight of her unmoving body…
"OOOWW…" she groaned as she sat up cradling her friend in her broken arms. "Reiri!" Riza called again perhaps for the first time seriously concerned for her rival's wellbeing… "REIRI!"
Of course… that concern didn't last very long for upon seeing Reiri's chest rise and fall as well as seeing the crafty vampire shift a bit moving to get more comfortable in the warmth of her bosom… the red-headed half-breed got a little pissed and so she quite mercilessly started beating the poor unconscious vampire over the head yelling for her to get the F #$ up…
"Uhh…" Reiri groaned after the seventh punch to the face… she opened her eyes slowly as if hazy from a deep sleep and that's when Riza noticed something was off. Reiri's pupils… they were a very deep shade of violet red…
A menacing shade of violet red…
"Ah… Reiri?" The half-breed said a little uncomfortable as the vampire's eyes locked onto her own… a deep sort of… famished look hidden behind her irises…
"…blood…"
"W-what?"
"BLOOD!"
"OH HELL!" Riza shouted but it was too late as Reiri clamped her arms around Riza restraining the otherwise struggling half-breed. She brought her lips instantly up to Riza's left cheek, earning a very satisfying blush from her wolfish friend—not that she was in any state to be satisfied by such trivial things, she then slowly traced her way with one of her fangs down Riza's neck, her erratic breathing causing shivers to roll up and down Riza's spine, she finally opened her mouth caressing a wound on Riza's neck with her tongue, the soft sensation of her surprisingly warm salvia causing the poor half-breed to let out a sharp moan…
"REIRI STOP!" Riza squealed as she squirmed in the vampire's surprisingly strong grip. Unfortunately for her as she continued trashing about for dear life, Riza realized she simply didn't have the strength to repel Reiri… she was at her mercy… "I'm! I'm! I'm really weak… right now! Reiri no! Don't suck my blood! P… P… Pleasseeee!" Riza begged as she collapsed with Reiri on top of her… but the vampire kept sucking the poor werewolf's blood from the wounds on her neck that hadn't yet healed. She used her tongue to wiggle in taking care not to bite for even she in that state knew better than to bite, she gently pulled back the healing skin allowing for more blood to flow as she tenderly kissed the wound—as passionate as it sounded it was the kiss of death if ever such a kiss existed…
After about a minute… and two quarts of blood later… Reiri's eyes finally returned to normal and she let poor Riza go as she looked around clueless…
"Fuga…" called a soft childish voice and everyone looked over. Flandre was the next to start moving again… a small spark fizzled from her messed up eye… she moved sluggishly what with the damage she endured and the little bit of energy she probably had left… she moved nonetheless and that was the point as she looked around the room for her master, and while she was an android and didn't have much in the way of emotions, once her eyes—or rather eye—fell on Hime… that look… that power… even in the state both of them were in, one could swear that Flandre had a soul for a light shimmered deep in her lens like eye, it simply couldn't have been anything other than love…
But just as everyone was feeling the great relief of the moment… well maybe not Reiri who was trapped in one of Riza's infamous headlocks… there was one very specific person still missing…
"Where's Hiro?" Riza asked as she looked up still strangling Reiri who'd already gone quite blue in the face…
And sure enough, as if to answer that question and complete the ensemble, a low creaking noise filled the room, two weary feet working their way back up onto the ground, everyone turned and off to the side a few feet away there was the man himself, Hiro smiled happily…
And what a sight he was to behold, butchered as he was, completely covered in blood. He looked like hell to be sure, and he must have felt like death but his soul, that tiny grand spark that makes a man, that can be compressed inside our heart and yet when roused can break the frame of the universe, his vigor and his splendor consumed the day as he made for his face to wipe the blood away… and he did so earnestly, with a delicate sort of care, that despite his immense strength that insisted upon itself, he could still be as gentle as he was two years ago. Indeed, Hiro was still the same boy and yet he had grown into such a fine man…
And so he went, uncontested in his glory, he wiped the blood from his face and opened his eyes. And whether due to some kind of magic or predestined grandness, Hiro's first sight was none other than the princess herself, Hime as she too turned her head as if by instinct, like their eyes were meant to meet each other in that moment… in that way. Hiro and Hime just stared at one another as if both were in some kind of trance, like two lovers seeing each other across a battlefield only this time… the day was won…and there was nothing now between them… nothing left in their way… it was perfect…perhaps it was too perfect…
"Hime" Hiro said as if ready to cry…despite the strength that he possessed that had just now defined the sum of the moment, that even had Riza and Reiri blushing in pure adoration, he couldn't help but lose it all… and so he became small—fragile, perhaps even vulnerable as his eyes shimmered with moisture, the water haze of over joy…of love… his master was alive… what a great symphony of peace that afforded and so of course Hiro couldn't help but feel like a child… getting everything he wanted much of which he didn't know if he deserved. He knew what this moment meant, not just to him but to her, to Hime, the sheer satisfaction of coming to the end of victory…
"Fufu…" He heard as Hime's face softened.
She smiled at him…
My god… she smiled at him… she turned her head, stared across that room, and despite everything that could have possibly been going through her head, through all of their heads, trying to comprehend this surreal moment, Hime took the time to smile at him…and to Hiro in that moment, in that second… as he looked upon the woman that he loved and saw her smile, such a simple gesture and yet so precious, everything up until that point had been worthwhile.
Yes.
Everything…
"Hime" Hiro smiled back as he finally closed his eyes and collapsed to his knees…
"HIRO!" Riza screamed as she all but threw Reiri out of her way rushing across the room. She was too far… she wasn't going to make it… and yet… Hiro did not fall…. Hime caught him… despite her wounds and her agony… before anyone else could even move… she was right by Hiro's side—as if to return the devotion he had shown her so many times before, she was right there holding Hiro as the young boy's head fell perfectly into the warmth of her bosom, she just smiled and gave another one of her usual fufu's before she bit her finger and gently parted his lips slipping her blood into his mouth…
Sherwood just stared in awe at the scene unfolding before her, simply unable to comprehend it, she was overjoyed of course and yet she couldn't help but cry…
A weak "how" was all she could muster as she looked toward her sister. "All this blood… and you're wounds…?"
"Fufu… This isn't my blood Sherwood…" Hime smiled… it was a sick thing to say but it was the greatest thing to hear…and at a time like this, it was the only thing they could do, take comfort from where ever they could take comfort from… even if from darkly things…
It was perfect or rather it was good enough… and what's more it freed Sherwood up to throw a victory tantrum. "I told you…" The young princess began as she started to shiver watching Francesca gently help Hime up again who in turn kept a tight grip on Hiro waiting patiently for her blood warrior to recover. One of Hime's fingers was dislocated and Francesca without any hesitation and only a quick warning "Fuga," tugged the brittle bone back into place earning a soft but present sigh from Hime as she flexed her hand sluggishly. "I told you…" Sherwood bent her head down to hide her teary eyes but there were so many tears they were impossible not to see… "I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD HAVE GONE TOGETHER ONEE-SAMA! And now… you're like this… I… I…"
"Fu…Fu… and we did go together Sherwood…"
"Huh…?"
"We did…"
Come now…
Why are you making that face?
Don't you remember?
I told you…
No matter what happens on this day…
Don't cry…Fufu…
Don't cry…
A few hours earlier…
BOOM! The sound of a titanic crash shook the trees as Hime and her gang rushed forward up the side of a steep hill.
"This way!" Hime yelled her sword in hand, the faint glow of the rising Sun still not high enough to see through the darkness that enshrouded her… Hiro was there too, perpetually in his blood warrior mode. His hair was pearl white and his eyes, yellow silted malice that could stop a bullet never mind protect the woman that he loved …
A huge abomination of a monster suddenly erupted forth from the ground cutting Hiro off, as if to test his will, it spewed viscous blood and death from its mouth howling into the dark morning sky, corrupting the world with its symphony of hate, it attacked with a horror so uncomfortable that all men who looked upon it would wish to look away for it personified terror and consumed hope…but Hiro, with a great discipline forged throughout his two years of training, dodged the attack effortlessly and in an instant, without even hesitating, returned one of his own, cracking the skull of the creature with his grand axe, sending the monster back to the hell it came from…
"Fufu…" Hime chuckled as she glanced back at him. "Reiri!" She shouted as she redirected her gaze upward. "How does it look?"
"Well Hime-sama…" The vampire chimed as she flew high up some thirty meters off the ground. "It appears there's an army behind us…"
"An army…" Sherwood groaned as she made notion to Francesca and Ryu-Ryu to keep killing… "How many ahead of us?"
"I can't say for sure but enough to slow us down… I won't be able to fly much longer… but from what I can tell… fufu… we're in for a fight… well at least the bitch'll be happy…"
"I see…" Hime smirked. "Fufu… Good work Reiri…" And with that the fair princess made notion for everyone to follow after her as she lead the way into a small clearing fenced in on all sides by the foliage of the great forest of doom that surrounded them. "Riza…" Hime called as she entered the clearing and sure enough the werewolf made herself known walking out from a nearby bush completely covered in blood.
"Yo Hime-sama…" She grinned as she cracked her knuckles and yawned sleepily. "I cleared a good few of 'em out but more are coming… I mean damn… that Fly makes some pretty weak-ass monsters but he sure makes 'em by the batch… you and the kid better decide what our next move is and fast."
"TSST!" Sherwood hissed as she too made her way into the clearing. "I'M NOT A KID ANYMORE!" She instantly glared at Riza who in turn simply grinned back—a teasing gesture… as if between two friends who knew each other well… and perhaps that was not inaccurate… indeed before Hime or Sherwood or any of them for that matter even realized it… they'd all become as close as family… especially now… here… two years done the line… where royalty and race did not matter. What a cozy little odd but happy family they'd become…
"Sherwood…" Hime called instantly quieting her sister down as she squatted to her knees and Sherwood did the same. Riza just sneered off to the side which of course annoyed the little Princess to no end while Reiri just shook her head smiling in amusement as she recalled the last of her bats.
"Hmpf… as charming as ever bitch…"
"Up yours too Reiri…"
"Fufu…"
"Well then… Onee-sama…" Sherwood said clearing her throat. "If that army catches up to us this fights as good as over… as much as I hate to admit it… your dog has a point… they're not strong individually but to go up against an army? Even if we win…no… rather if that was even possible… if it was… we'd still need to fight her…" Sherwood said as she clenched her eyes shut while Hime remained silently composed… as always… even as the world around them roared with death… "DAMN IT!" Sherwood growled. "It's no good! No matter what I think of… this hill is too steep to move forward quickly… and backtracking now is out of the question… To think that crook would go this far… I mean blatantly establishing an army? TSST! It's just like her… a cheat to the very end…" Sherwood shook her head bitterly as she let out a heavy sigh… "And yet…" She whispered softly. "And yet if we lose here… now… because of that… then honor and justice are truly dead…"
"Sherwood… Stop." Hime finally cut in. "Calm yourself and think…"
"Huh?"
"There is one course of action still open to us…"
"You had a thought Onee-sama?" Sherwood said her face instantly lighting up.
"… Relax Sherwood… I doubt you'll like this plan but at this point and time…the only course of action left to us now is this… one of us needs to stay behind and buy the other time…" And just as Hime said those words, Sherwood's smile disappeared… "We need to split up Sherwood… I need you to stay here…"
And just like that "W-what?" The young princess whispered as she looked deep into her sister's eyes…what hope or joking tease she hoped to see but alas the light in Hime's eyes was diligent and she was unmoving even as her little sister begged her with all her might pleading through her own eyes, her tired albeit young lonely eyes, in silent disbelief…
"I'll admit I myself don't like this strategy…" was Hime's response. "But we need to buy time… " She was as stubborn as ever…
"Sister!"
"I have fate in you… Sherwood… you needn't stop them all but if you can hold enough back, we can get to Sylvia…You said it yourself… this hill is steep and moving forward is tedious…fufu… but that works both ways… in order to save time and catch up with us, the enemy will be following the trail we left behind, and while I don't know who Sylvia has leading her flank, with you at our back Sherwood… we'll create an impasse… Don't worry… you won't get overwhelmed but you will be pinned down…"
"But… But…" Sherwood stuttered out of breath… perhaps Hime meant all this as comfort, a plan finally forged in the heat of battle, but all Sherwood could feel now was anxiety as it choked her deep in her lungs, this sudden change in pace, and her unease, separating now would surely be the death of them…"We should stick together!" Was her last line of defense as she begged instead of argued, Onee-sama cannot fight that woman alone… that was the thought that bore Sherwood onward as she pleaded with her sister one final time…
"That simply won't do…"
"Onee-sama please I—"
"SHERWOOD…" Hime said swiftly, elegantly, and yet the power she was somehow able to communicate without inflection or emotion, all voices were silenced, Sherwood's as well, and perhaps even the audio of the Earth dropped out for a second. "I just need you to watch the flank…"
And just like that, as if to justify all Hime had just said, several monsters suddenly jumped out of the trees attacking Riza, surprising even the half-breed herself who barely had enough time to react before their attacks cut deep into her flesh.
"UH! Their scents are weak these little fucks!" She grinned widely as Reiri rushed in to help as did Hiro and more creatures appeared to challenge them… Sherwood glanced over at the ramble and realized at once there was nothing left for her to argue… For better or for worse… this was their plan… splitting up… they were committed to it… or rather no… things had finally come to that…
"I… I understand Onee-sama…" Sherwood finally conceded doing her best to withhold the tempest of anxiety that now held heavy her heart but as if for her own sake to belay some of that turmoil, the little princess couldn't help but add, "and…. and I'll join you! Onee-sama… I'll join when I'm done here…" Like things were that easy… like they'd meet each other again even as they stared half-anticipating their own deaths… for if they both believed in that lie then who's to say it wasn't true? It certainly wasn't healthy but it was that self-denial, that false sense of hope, that's what gave them strength now… And so that is why they also didn't say goodbye. It was another way to be in denial, just one more thing left undone and neither of them was allowed to die till the other said goodbye.
"…Fufu… I'll be waiting…" Hime responded and so it was that she too held on to that miracle… that false miracle that now sustained them all…
"Hmpf…well then… Good luck…Sister…" Sherwood concluded as she got up from her knees.
"Fufu… I don't need luck… I have something better." Hime smiled causing Sherwood to give a questioning look.
"Hime let's go!" Hiro suddenly called cutting his way through two monsters, his sweaty hair stuck up gleaming in the morning sun. And how magnificent that made him look… that handsome, youthful face full of passion and life to say nothing of the strength that lay within, that no features facial or otherwise could ever hope to communicate indeed, how magnificent Hiro was to have grown to be who he was today, his voice strong and stern, his soul a mirror image of Hime, both powerful and unbreakable in its own right. He took the lead whenever she wished to follow, at times when she seemed vulnerable, by her standards of course, which became exceedingly more frequent as he grew and matured and she softened and expressed—and he was as the only man, nay the only person, capable of doing so…and Hime couldn't help but chuckle as she glanced at him knowing full well that he would be the one to accompany her in her final moments. Sherwood got the message as the mood was contagious and she too couldn't help but smile even if she was a bit jealous—even after two years… "Then till we meet again. Stay alive…"
"You too…" And with that Hime was gone, running forward without looking back, she was gone… and she was simply the grandest person to watch charging off into battle… it invigorated the soul…it quenched the heart…
"Hime-sama…" Reiri called as she ran behind that wonderful woman.
"What is it Reiri…?"
"With all due respect… was that really a wise idea? Leaving Sherwood behind like that… she may not admit it but she's still just a child… she's still you're little sister… to put her up against an army…"
"Fufu… don't worry Reiri… or did you forget?"
"Huh?"
"I trained Sherwood myself…
She's still young… and she's still too emotional… but she's my sister…
So yes…I'm putting her up against an army… but at the same time, I'm also putting that army up against her… Fufu…"
Meanwhile, back at Sherwood, "FRANCESCA! RYU-RYU!" The fine young princess called smiling proudly as she tore her gaze from her sister and walked in front of her servants. She reached into her side pocket and pulled out a rather small seed which she then dropped at her feet and stomped into the ground. Then, with a smiling fury, she reached for her belt where the fine splendor of a new sword rested—a gift from Hime, like a coming of age of present. "Let no one get past us…" And with that, Sherwood griped the hilt of her sword tightly with a fire and determination worthy of kinship with the woman she had just bid farewell too…
"Fuga…" "Aroo…" Francesca and Ryu-Ryu called back to their master as they got into their own stances and the bushes around them began to rustle and the ground beneath their feet started to shake … "Come minions of my oldest sister… I, Sherwood, the third princess shall be your opponent!"
And so it was, "boldly they rode and well… into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell…"-Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade 1870
All Sherwood could do was look up at her smiling sister, whatever reservation Hime was known for, she was breaking all expectations today, perhaps her impulsiveness finally overtaking and masking her indifference, she smiled a warm smile, a smile that could quake the soul, and her words, what she uttered next, even in her usual toneless voice, it did not matter for the words were those of a goddess…
"You did well… Sherwood… I'm proud of you… my younger sister…"
And it meant the world to Sherwood to hear…
"Onee-sama…" The young princess mumbled as she started to cry with thousands of tears falling from her face. And while it was not proper for a princess to cry, it did not matter for in that moment, they were simply alive… and they were perhaps the only two siblings whose bond was not torn apart during this war. Hime and Sherwood were alive and they both shared a happy moment together as sisters… as sisters should filled with a sense of rebirth as they discarded their titles for just a moment, just a fleeting moment in time but a moment nonetheless, forgetting they were princesses as they looked upon each other as only family could…
And they weren't the only ones… Riza and Reiri too couldn't help but feel the sensation of rebirth as they glanced at one another, looking back at who they were only now understanding who they'd become, the kind of change only a war can bring, not horror though there was plenty of that, but rather renewal, like a great breath after running and running, the war was over… the killing could stop… the peace like a season had finally come… at last… at long last… And it was good to be alive… None screamed victory though. None screamed hurray. None sang any songs. All everyone could think of was at long last… that was the final cheer, the last bow, that was the victory that resonated in their hearts.
At last…
They really were the most beautiful words that ever existed on the earth…
"Onee-sama…" Sherwood sniffled doing her best to stop her tears and get back to business…a useless endeavor as she couldn't help but cry every time she looked upon her sister and saw she was alive, she did her best anyway…"Where… where is Sylvia?"
And with that the room went silent…
"Let's follow the trail…" Hime said as she looked morbidly at the red river of blood that ascended up the stairs, caking and coating the steps and the banister… and soon everyone got up… and it was time to end things once and for all…
"Fuga…" Called a meek voice from behind them as they all made toward the stairs.
"Ah. You can't move Flandre?" Hime coughed letting Hiro get back up on his own feet as he finally came to. "That's fine, just stay here for now…"
"…Fuga…"
"Fufu… yes…" Hime chuckled weakly though her tone went right back to its usual impassive way. It was the meaning in her words that carried her emotions. "We'll be fine…" And she meant that… every word… and Flandre was at peace.
And so off they went, limping, wobbling, helping each other up, Riza and Reiri were in the back practically collapsed over one another with Francesca pulling them up after her while Hime was in front with Hiro right behind her and Sherwood right behind him. She led the way ascending the stairs which… perhaps due to their wounds or perhaps a summarizing metaphor for everything that had happened seemed to go on and on, up and up, from landing to landing to the sky above…
"Gah…" Hime grunted underneath her breath as she struggled up each step, indecisively shifting her foot back and forth before putting her weight on it, like her feet were sand beneath the sea, trembling and shifting with the waves… She felt like death and to be honest she looked like it too, they all did, completely covered in blood, groaning and grumbling like splendid warriors on their death beds… She panted slightly, as she continued up the stairs, each step she took becoming more difficult than the last… And then it happened…
Against the object all hope and desire… against the truth and valor of the moment, against the happy outcome and the final vindication…Hime's feet finally gave way… and the grand victorious princess fell to the Earth…
And for a second she just floated there… just falling as if in slow motion… suspended in time, falling to the Earth, she fell… and you know what? She didn't care… like fighting to keep one's eyes open in the darkness of the night, only to lose after straining so hard. It was kind of a relief in fact. Falling, like it all would end if she just let herself hit the ground. She knew it wasn't that simple… and yet she half felt like it should be… to just collapse once in awhile no matter being a princess or a warrior… to just be free for once… let down her guard and smile without having to conceal a frown or sleep without one eye open… or even now, to just say to hell with it and go back home to Sawawa to drink some tea… all of this required winning her family's war, and win indeed they had and yet she really didn't care… she was, in a way, content with this moment, content with just falling…Of course she'd never had any interest in dying … but after all the suffering to get to this point… perhaps she no longer had any interest left in living. It wasn't like she was above shrugging her shoulders and saying "what will be will be." So why then not just let things be as they are now? This final conclusion… this final ending… the true outcome of the war… the fall of Hime… it did have a nice ring to it…
But that was not the way things were meant to be… it was not the outcome at all, and Hime's self-destructive thoughts in her one rare personal internal moment of self-indulgence quickly evaporated with the sudden feeling of two strong, sturdy arms embracing her. And sure enough, Hiro was right there to catch her wrapping his arms around her waist, squeezing so hard as if hoping the two would somehow merge together—a pleasing sensation, one for them both… though Hime would never admit that—Hiro gently tugged her back into place stopping her from falling forward… he grunted slightly as he strained himself to hold her relatively light body—the effort required for something so effortless hinting at the little strength the young man had left and yet he didn't complain, he didn't shout, Hime looked behind and saw his eyes…
Oh… so that's how it is…
She thought chuckling slightly as she stared deep into her blood warrior's soul…and there she saw something she couldn't quite explain but that she fully understood. It was something indeed innate to being a blood warrior but it would be a lie to say that was the only reason he possessed such power as Hiro pulled Hime back in more ways than one, he balanced her…and so she at once remembered the reason she wished to live, the reason they both wished to live looking deep into each other's soul, happily connected by touch…and so they went, step by step, together, arm in arm, limping, bleeding, in pain but together… as if each were shouldering the burdens that tried to crush the other, their backs were semi-skyward as they glanced at each other happily suffering together… and indeed that's how they were… just as they always were… as they'd always be…
Four hours earlier…
"Hime…" Hiro whispered huffing out of breath… he was sweating profusely, as were Riza and Reiri, all of them covered in dirt and mud and blood that wasn't entirely their own… Hime was in front and she too was sweating as they stood amassed in front of a massive mahogany double door… the amount of creatures they'd slayed to get here… to this one moment of clarity… and the sounds of titanic fighting they'd left behind… where they left Sherwood…
It'd been two hours since they last saw the little princess… two whole hours… and amidst their own random run-ins and unexpected confrontations with the enemy, the sound of battle echoing from behind them never ceased nor stopped… one could even swear the very hill itself shook as if it too were partaking in the fighting…
"Hime-sama…" Reiri suddenly said as a loud and far off explosion shook several trees around them. "We're all right behind you …" And with that the vampire smiled kindly with a toothy grin before jabbing Riza in the side.
"OWWW! Damn it Reiri!" The half-breed cringed before giving a low sigh. "…I mean yeah, yeah I'm behind you too Hime… We've come this far, now let's get this shit done and get back to Sawawa… (I'm in the mood for some curry!)"
"I'll follow you to the end… Hime…" Hiro slipped in… and with that, everything was perfect… it was all just perfect…
"Fufu…" Hime chuckled as she smirked one final time along with her friends, her loyal friends for they were more than servants and also him, that man that had worked his way ever so clumsily into her heart, she pushed the lobby doors open and walked into the darkness of the hall where the light of the sun could never reach… that was where their final battle would take place…
"Good morning Hime-chan and company!" Called a familiar cheerful voice—it instantly sent shivers up and down Hiro's spine… even after two years. "Come in! Come in! Welcome again to my humble mansion fufu!"
"Sylvia nee-sama…" Hime said barely above a whisper as she looked up the flight of stairs in that magnificent gold-trimmed lobby and there, on the first landing, standing high and mighty in an angelic pearl white dress with her arms crossed underneath her… very, very large female endowments, and her long flowing blonde hair and her silver tiara atop screaming to the world that she was a queen, there was the woman herself… Princess Sylvia… the first and third to last princess of the Monster Realm…
"Oh my…" She spoke tenderly, like an angel who could do no wrong. "Where's Sherwood-chan? Hmm? Where's our little sister?" She chuckled and sure enough… the angel turned into a demon… "Surely she didn't die already?"
"She's no concern of yours Sylvia nee-sama…" Hime responded briskly—coolly… though it only served as instigation…
"As taciturn as ever Hime-chan… though I suppose you're right… leaving her behind like that… fufu… she's no a concern of anyone's anymore… what a terrible older sister you are…"
"Hmpf. You greatly underestimate her… she is related to both of us after all…"
"Oh?" Sylvia said her eyes lighting up with a sinister hue. "Yet you didn't trust her enough to bring her here did you Hime-chan? You had her hold off your flank… and for what? So you could get to me without wasting any more of your strength? Fufu…What a thinly veiled lie…" The cruel princess chimed extending a finger to her lips winking with a terrible smile. "The truth is… you didn't think she'd grown enough to fight me… isn't that right Hime-chan? Fufu… and you'd be correct… If you'd brought our youngest sister here she would've most certainly met her end… my oh my… I wonder what she'd think of you if she heard that now…" Sylvia said as she continued smirking while Hime turned away tilting her head down, her eyes hidden beneath her bangs and she worn a subtle frown… Hiro just shivered a bit but he also gritted his teeth… the battle had already began… and already it was going poorly… and this was perhaps the one fight he couldn't help Hime with… Damn it… he thought angrily as he glared through his fear at the woman that always found new ways to continuously torment his master…
"Fufu… and I told you… Sylvia nee-sama… Sherwood's far more capable than you give her credit for…"And just like that Hiro looked up and saw Hime, that strength, that pulse, once again he realized just how magnificent his master really was as she smiled at her greatest enemy brushing off her words like they were nothing… it was a great counter… and a far better insult.
But even so, such valor did little else but attract the amusement of her older sister as Sylvia laughed and finally started descending the stairs with Mikasa and Francette at her side… and so once again it was terrifying, that is the movement of their enemies as they came down those stairs, slowly, step by step… all Hiro could do was try his best to hide his inner turmoil… to stand with courage like the woman he served as they glanced at each other and everything that needed to be said was said between them…
Steady… Hiro…
Always… Hime…
"Don't act so tough… Hime-chan…" Sylvia said now standing right before them, the same sinister smile still spread across her face… "You're tired… you and you're servants… even after leaving Sherwood behind… you struggled to get here… that's something to think about when considering that child's current predicament… fufu…" Sylvia laughed still picking at that wound, the cruelty in her words and her continuing persistence even causing Hime to let out a low sigh… seriously, how evil can one woman really be? "And what's more… those creatures that I sent at you were weak… I'll tell you now… if you had trouble fighting them… you have no hope of defeating me… Fufu… perhaps even you haven't grown enough Hime-chan!"
"That's not true!" A voice called throughout the lobby… "That's not true at all…" It was powerful, swift and accurate… it was immovable and daunting. It stopped Sylvia in her tracks and silenced even the great Hime as they all looked at Hiro who he himself couldn't believe he had just spoken…
"Hmpf…" Hime smirked after a few seconds had gone by and Riza and Reiri chuckled behind her, all of their attention now on Hiro. Riza gripped his shoulders and Reiri winked at him and Hime herself just absolutely loved her blood warrior for what kind of man had enough power in his veins that he could even give hope to someone like her, to royalty, by uttering no more than a handful of words? No explanation, no reason, just noble passion…
Hiro Hiyorimi…
What a simply marvelous young man… and even Sylvia herself couldn't help but remain silent—perhaps out of respect or more likely out of shock. "Well Sylvia nee-sama…" Hime said with a smile drawing her sword. "It appears my blood warrior believes we can match you. Fufu… and I happen to agree… what do you say we end these games once and for all?"
"Fufu…" Sylvia giggled closing her eyes, her blood warrior Mikasa and Francette right behind her. "That's just like you Hime-chan… well then…"
Die…
And just like that the final battle began., and no sooner did Sylvia utter those final words did Riza and Reiri instantly appear across the room as they attacked Mikasa while Flandre slammed a small tree trunk into Francette who used her drill to block…
And down the middle of all that carnage…as if immune to everything else going on and yet somehow the center of it all, there running as if time was slowing down, despite the debris and the blood splatters that erupted forth around them, Hime and Sylvia ran at each other with their swords drawn high and their souls flying higher… they clashed and so the battle truly began… where no words or compromise could ever reach and all that mattered was seeing the other die… that was the purpose of this war… that was the nature of this final fight between sisters, between the most intimate of enemies…
"Fufu…" Sylvia laughed as she parried with Hiro and Hime. "What kind of ruler would you be Hime-chan?" She laughed wickedly moving with both grace and speed. It surprised Hiro to no end how even in a rather long dress she moved just as fast, no, perhaps even faster than both he and Hime, blocking all their attacks while simultaneously having enough time to berate them… "What kind of ruler would you be?" She went again. "You fight for survival but I have to wonder Hime-chan… how can you justify that? How will the world turn out with you on the throne? Hmm? An indifferent ruler who cares nothing for the power she fights so desperately for and also you're approach… I'll tell you now… waiting and watching isn't a valid tactic when millions of lives are on the line. You're habit of turtling up, attacking only after you've been attacked… that's not the way a king protects his providence…fufu… so maybe you intend to hand the throne over to Sherwood… no… that is indeed you're plan isn't it? Passing off responsibility fufu! What an example to set putting a child in your stead! Hime-chan… I really have to wonder which of us is crueler!"
"Tsst!" Hime grunted underneath her breath. Sylvia saw this and grinned evilly before turning around to kick Hiro away, which really got under Hime's skin as the struggling princess clenched her left eye shut buckling underneath the strain of her sister's invincible attacks… it was just like Sylvia… even after two years… no rather even after all the time they'd spent together as siblings… she'd never changed… she always had to control the situation… it always had to go her way… anything else… and it was just amusement… it didn't help either that she almost always had a point to make… points that even Hime couldn't quite refute…
"Among our brothers…even among the commoners…" She continued once again, striking while the iron was boiling hot. "You're renowned for your natural aura of aristocracy… But does that really mean you're fit too rule Hime-chan? Take the conflict between the vampires and the werewolves… a conflict years in the making… You think you can just… domesticate them? Succeed where even our father failed simply because you've housebroken this half-breed and her love-struck pure-blood? Fufu…" At this Riza scowled with pure hatred at the first princess and even Reiri looked like she was about to rip into the evil queen's throat but they continued to struggle in their own battle, buckling underneath the merciless Mikasa whose tenacity was worthy of her master. "I never took you for a fool Hime-chan but as your older sister I have to say I'm disappointed if you're really that… idealistic… and what's more that's just one problem… so how about the current state of the kingdom? Hmm? Reforms to taxes and increased tolerance… that sounds up you're alley… and yet I have to wonder if all of your reforms will simply be policies of 'too nice'… a king could be the most influential person on the planet… it means nothing… absolutely nothing if you can't make a tough decision and then own up to it… So are you prepared then Hime-chan? Are you ready to be a phoenix… to have your name smeared with blood and see the world from the perspective of a god? Will you really choose mercy? Will you retain you're idealism when such thinking will only get even more people killed? And here I thought Gilliam's rule would've been bloody fufu!" Sylvia chuckled as she slashed Hime in the side drawing blood as she continued to torment her little sister…
Meanwhile across the room, "Gah!" Riza grunted as she fell to one knee… she herself wasn't faring any better, her abdomen slashed up, blood rolling down her neck, drooling from her mouth, oozing from her eyes…she'd already gotten quite beaten up but that didn't excuse her… fate didn't pity her, or any of them… and no sooner did she gasp for breath did one of Mikasa's tendrils rush forth toward her face, she barely had enough time to block as the tentacle dug deep into her wolfish claws, a sick crack and a pint of blood spilling from the wound… "Hmpf! As strong as ever blood warrior!" She cringed blood dribbling from her mouth. "However… Did you forget?"
"Hmm?" Mikasa cringed.
"There are two of us!"
And just like that the skillful blood warrior barely had enough time to dodge Reiri's kick as the crafty vampire manifested herself right behind her, and what an attack Reiri unleashed, the aftershock of the wind being displaced cutting Mikasa's cheek as she jumped back a few feet. She shot one of her tendrils out in retaliation and slashed Reiri's side causing the vampire to smile as her eyes turned a deep shade of violet red and she coughed up a bit of blood…
"Wow… even with our teamwork… she really is something…" Riza called to Reiri grinning as she spat on the floor adding to the many puddles of blood that collected all around her… she went rushing back in… that despite the screaming of her bones and the shrieking of her lungs, Riza went rushing back in and Reiri too, fighting in that terrible lobby where the light of the sun could never reach… and there was no full-moon and the darkness of the night was reduced to mere shadows, they knew what was at stake, they knew they couldn't fail…and so they pushed… bold-faced and proud, dying but still alive… they pushed…
"Do you see now Hime-chan?" Sylvia chimed continuing her assault on her little sister's sanity as she continued to beat back both her and Hiro crushing their bodies as their hands felt broken blocking her extraordinary attacks… "Do you understand? Come! Let me show you, let me show you firsthand the horror… let me take everything from you so that you can truly experience the genocide awaiting your ideals! Francette!" Sylvia grinned and with that her busty maid suddenly jabbed Flandre in her left eye.
"Flandre!" Hime yelled as Francette turned on her drill—the drill that Hime had given her…and soon the sick sound of grinding circuitry like snapping bones filled the room.
"F-Fu…ga…" Flandre mumbled as Francette shoved her out of the way and then, turning toward both Riza and Reiri, she held up her non-drill hand and in between her fingers she held several white-ash stakes and silver daggers…
"TSST!" Riza groaned wide eyed as she glanced back behind her and even Reiri was starting to sweat as they blocked against Mikasa's attacks, unable to move… unable to escape…
"RIZA REIRI DODGE!"
"Fufu! Shouldn't you be worried about yourself right now Hime-chan?" Sylvia said with her crimson eyes glimmering like some nightmarish devil as she appeared behind her sister.
"Older sister!" Hime yelled as she whirled around… a bit too late… and blood splattered everywhere…
And so it was that Hiro was there in between both Sylvia and Hime, buckling underneath the surprisingly strong slash she gave meant to kill Hime… he gritted his teeth as he matched her strength with his own, partially blocking her sword with his axe—his hands and body bleeding from the strain.
"Well done Hiyorimi Hiro!" Sylvia practically sang in amusement. "You certainly are loyal to my younger sister! Tell me does it hurt? Does it get tiring? Pushing yourself past your human limitations for a woman who asks so much? I mean… for a blood warrior these things are expected but for a human? A human blood warrior? Fufu… in the monster war for the throne of power? What could a mere human… a boy… have to do with any of that? But no I understand…you're hoping to prolong your life… use the royal blood to extend your time with your only remaining family… you have a sister yes? 'Sawawa' I believe is her name fufu…" Sylvia smiled cruelly as Hiro lowered his head his bangs covering his eyes… "I'll tell you now Hiyorimi Hiro… you're a fool chasing a fleeting dream…"
"Don't listen to her Hiro! She's trying to—"
"I speak the truth Hime-chan or do you care to explain why father doesn't have any blood warriors lying around or any of our ancestors for that matter? Do you have an answer? It's really quite simple… the fact is… blood warriors are… released after victory… they have no purpose afterwards…" At this Mikasa's eyes flickered a bit as she overheard her master... she attacked Riza and Reiri, and yet somehow she missed, like a little hiccup in her tenacity, Riza instantly saw this having been waiting all this time for an new opening, she seized the opportunity and slashed through Mikasa's torso—a deep cut, hardly fatally but the tide was finally turning… and sure enough…
"So what?" Hiro stared solemnly at his master's greatest enemy, the words he had just said once again stunning everyone who was listening… "With all due respect Princess Sylvia… what's your point? That I'll die after this war is over? That Hime and I will be separated… even if we win? Hmpf. I know… " And with that Hiro smiled magnificently as he went charging back in. "I know my life doesn't even equal a second to a phoenix… I know Hime will probably have to move back to the kingdom after this war is over. I can't even deny that I want to spend more time with my sister…
But…
I want Hime to survive… more than anything else in the world… I want my master to win… and so I'll do everything I can to make her succeed… I exist for her… and I'd be honored, no, I'd be happy to die for her… whatever happens after we win happens after we win but I know I won't regret a single thing…"
Hiro… Hime thought with infinite passion in her heart, the sheer amount of emotions bubbling up within her though she kept a straight face especially now in combat as she too went back in straining against her sister… the things she wanted to say to Hiro… to correct, to try and explain… it was the worst kind of beauty imaginable… the sheer blind loyalty he had toward her as he hid the fact that everything Sylvia said had sunk in and Hime of course knew that for she knew his heart well, better than anyone… no man, not even a blood warrior should have to suffer that much even for their master… but such thoughts would have to wait and they'd both have to suffer a little while longer…
"Wow… fufu… I see… what a stubborn blood warrior…" Sylvia said perhaps even with a bit of admiration in her voice as she devilishly slashed Hiro deep through an opening and flipped her hilt around jabbing him in the forehead, forcing him to yell out in pain… "But as I thought… fufu… you're just like your master… for all your passion and your motive… you still have much to learn…"
And with that, Hiro wobbled a few feet back as he felt a great pain above his left eye. He gently touched his brow and felt the skin and the bone sink further into his skull… It made him want to scream… to cry… to breakdown and die… the pain, no, the agony… his head felt like clay and he knew he probably forgot a few bones behind him as pieces of clumped up flesh fell from his face, he nonetheless recovered trailing smoke-like blood behind him going back in to attack with his master to his side…or perhaps vice versa or perhaps it did not matter as both of them charged into the fury, the only certainty in their fight was their faith in each other and their friends, they attacked and were crushed and yet they attacked again, as if all hope and suffering were pushed past their limits and sacrifice was the price they paid to live…
And so they continued. For hours? For days? For weeks? Perhaps only for minutes… no maybe just seconds… it felt like an eternity, parrying each other's moves, Sylvia laughed as she dodged Hiro's attacks and clashed her sword against Hime's… and across the room, Riza and Reiri were the same as well as they dodged Mikasa and Francette and Flandre was there too as she recovered quickly despite her eye rushing back in to help them. It was the same cycle of repeating the same moves, struggling against one another waiting for someone to drop dead, perhaps from exhaustion, as no blows seemed to hit… But the battle was indeed turning around and finally, as if a manifestation of the hope that Hiro and Hime, Riza and Reiri, constantly reaffirmed to one another… one of Hime's slashes got through cutting Sylvia's right arm deep as her sword fell to her side and she sank to her knees gripping the wound…
"Fufu…" Sylvia gasped through her chuckling as she clenched her arm, squeezing it to try and stop the bleeding… "Yes…I suppose I was a little too ambitious… fighting both of you at the same time… fufu… after all… I was the one who taught you sword play isn't that right Hime-chan?"
"…It's over Sylvia nee-sama…" Hime said pointing her sword at her sister with Hiro at her side. And yet Sylvia simply smirked at them both before reaching for an orb she'd had fastened to the waist of her dress.
"Indeed." She smiled evilly as she clenched the pearl white jewel and in an instant a great flash of light engulfed the room…
"EHH?!" Hiro grunted as he jumped in front of Hime. He quivered for second, as his whole body shook and then he completely exploded, blood rushing forth from every pore in his body… "HIRO!" Riza and Reiri screamed in unison as they blocked Mikasa's attacks while trying to get a good look at him…
"This is!" Hime said wide eyed as Hiro sank to the ground in front of her… she tore her gaze up and their her eyes met Sylvia's… or rather her eyes met where Sylvia's eyes were supposed to be… but they weren't… there were no eyes… Sylvia's pupils were completely gone, her hair standing on edge flowing up as if she were possessed by some great power, her teeth, her fangs had become more pronounced as they peaked over her lips and other things also changed, the color of her skin, a now sick pale or dark shadow of white, she was as a manifestation of the monster that was her own soul… telekinesis Hime thought as Sylvia said the words for her.
"What do you think Hime-chan?" Sylvia spoke… she spoke so simply, and yet her voice sounded completely different, like it was all off key, a song or symphony of death, the overlapping tones of her genocidal madness finally expressed through the sound of her voice… "An ace in the hole fufu! The mermaid's stone!"
"Sister…" Hime practically whispered, her bangs covering her eyes… "Don't tell me… you've actually…"
No.
"… Fufu… No Hime-chan… I have not… I have not matured if that's what you're worried about, though I wouldn't say you should feel relieved just yet fufu… but yes indeed, despite the prophecy that the mermaid's found a way to force juvenile phoenixes into adulthood, I haven't matured… I'm merely… enhanced… you best of all us should be able to see the difference… you, the one who transformed into her royal essence while still alive… It was something I couldn't replicate… even after two years… those royal flames and so I turned back to this… the mermaid's stone…
I actually intended to use this to fight Fuhito… after Gilliam weakened him of course… Emil resolved that problem and Gilliam was taken out as an added bonus fufu… it's just as well…this form… it's still one step behind… This isn't the mature form of our race… this isn't the form Fuhito or Emil… or even you used… it's just a fluke… a failure… it relies too much on… physical alterations… oh well… at least it should suffice to defeat you Hime-chan fufu!"
"To h-hell… with that!" Hiro huffed out of breath struggling to get back on his feet. He was covered in blood.
"Fufu…" Sylvia giggled demonically—even more so than usual. "What a foolish servant… fufu… Hiyorimi Hiro you really are too stubborn… you who just now spoke so passionately… look where your intentions got you… fufu… you two really are a perfect match… an idealistic warrior for an idealistic master but you still think she can win don't you? Fufu… I suppose if you truly believe that… I'll just have to prove you wrong again and again until you both realize… you can never beat me!" And with that the cruel princess turned her head and glared at Hime who, through the corner of her eyes saw a blur of a man rushing forth toward her… she knew it was him… she knew he would come… he always had… and to Hime in that moment, in that second, she wanted to scream to him now more than ever, move, dodge, but she knew that she wouldn't and that if she did she'd be killed… and then it happened… her time ran out… Hiro once again exploded before her… and blood went rushing forth from every pore in his body… a good amount of which splattered backward, covering Hime's dress and a bit of her face with his life as the poor boy went flying…
Hiro just stared wide-eyed as he flew through the air without even touching the ground, he slammed hard against the lobby wall breaking stone behind him as it cracked completely—shattering with to the sheer force of impact by which his back was thrown against it… This isn't as powerful as Emil or Fuhito? He thought in terror… as he coughed up blood… just how powerful can phoenixes really be? He thought as his eyes began to sink down, his lids closing automatically against his wishes… Hime… Hiro cried in his mind as he watched through his blackening vision while Hime stood alone and Sylvia walked toward her… Hime… their blades clashed and Hime's sword flew from her hand as Sylvia cut her deep in her left shoulder…
Hime…
I don't want you to die…
Please… Hiro begged in his mind as his eyes finally failed him.
And then a miracle happened…
He was standing right there… like a tiny bell heard in the middle of a fight… Hiro was standing right there in front of Hime blocking her sister's attack… and for a second, they all just stared at him. Once again he'd managed to surprise everyone, himself included… for not even a moment before he was across the room, his body badly broken, his blood spilling out and yet here he was now, his axe upper-cutting Sylvia's sword, the only thing between Hime as she stared at the blade no more than a centimeter away from her forehead, Hiro was there in an instant and that's when Sylvia realized…
"So this is the strongest blood warrior? Fufu…" She chuckled through her clenched teeth as Hiro held her back, his strength surprisingly similar to her own even with all the damage he had taken and the mermaid's stone, she kicked him away sending him flying back into Hime's arms, and so they stared across at one another as they reached a stalemate… "The blood warrior with the ultimate defense…" Sylvia went again as she subtly gripped her trembling hand… "Hmpf… by his expression I image you haven't told him much have you Hime-chan? And that makes sense…
Humans… tsst…
A human blood warrior… again what a ridiculous idea…I mean, humans are so weak… they're fragile, their limited not helped by their natural abilities and they can't transform into anything… they can't compare to vampires or werewolves or any of the other humanoid like monsters… it's as I said, they really have no place in this monster war… Fufu… don't look at me like that…" Sylvia smiled earning a very satisfying glare from Hime as she held tightly on too Hiro… "And yet fufu… what is a human if not just a different kind of monster? Hmm? What's the difference between humans and monster's anyway? It's really quite simple… I'm sure you know Hime-chan… I'm not asking a rhetorical question… there is indeed an answer…
It's the heart… it's all about the human heart…
The power of compassion… it's that simple… perhaps even that ridiculous…that humans are the most compassionate monsters… just ask the flyman… fufu… 'if a man's heart is that of a monster, then would he not himself become a monster?' Fufu… that's the only difference, even between man and phoenix… that we should be so benevolent, but never so compassionate…and again that's just another reason why humans have no place in our affairs, why they don't even have a place in our world… they're too soft… fufu… they really are too fragile…
It's ironic though… that we should consider them so empathetic and yet their race is so full of fear… and hatred… but perhaps that makes sense… a people who know great love should also know great hate… one cannot truly understand the other without experiencing both… it is however when they become truly uncompromising, when they believe so much in something that their very heart beats for it… fufu… that they exist solely for it… that they live and would even die for it… that's what makes them strong… the power of belief… of true heart-felt belief only capable of being expressed by the human heart…
I believe there's an expression in fact among humans, 'think positively and positive things will happen?' Something like that? To make something so by willing it… it's phoenix like when you think about it… perhaps eerily so… Fufufu… and it can lead to the luckiest situations on earth… and that's where Hiro comes in… he is the strongest blood warrior because of the relationship he has with you… he believes in you more than anything else in the world… how everything aligned perfectly… I mean… Mikasa is human as well but she relies too much on her augments… and even so most humans can't see past their own greed or truly understand self-sacrifice… fufu… but you… Hiyorimi Hiro…one in one million…" Sylvia chuckled demonically as she stared with her nonexistent irises at Hime as both she and Hiro steadied themselves… "To think… just as I unveil my trump card you unveil yours… you really are my sister I'll grant you that Hime-chan!"
And so they went again fighting as only gods could. But as Sylvia attacked nothing seemed to connect or rather nothing seemed to be fatal. She had cut Hime up quite a bit but every time she thought it was the end, that boy… no… that man somehow got in the way. Like trying to fight the air, or attack the sea… even with the power she held, the fire in her hands—which was still below the magnificent power of Emil and Fuhito… and far below the power of a phoenix… it was nonetheless power and it was magnificently useless here as she attacked Hime and yet Hiro always managed to get in her way—more than a shield, greater than a man, he blocked all of her attacks, some with his axe, some with his body, and then he returned his own despite the broken nature of his bones. Sylvia was on the defensive as she struggled, sweat glistening amongst the blood spewed throughout the room, she looked over her shoulder and saw Mikasa slam against the floor even as she pinned Reiri to the wall and buried a silver dagger in Riza's chest. She turned to her other side and there she saw Francette's drill sputter and break even as Flandre stopped moving… And in that instant, as she turned her head back forward, she saw Hime charging, she glared in her direction… Hiro was there again… as if everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and as he went flying off for a final time, thoroughly destroyed and smashed, his own axe slammed deep into his shoulder and his other hand ripped up to mere threadlike strands, nothing stood between Sylvia and Hime as Hime charged her sword full out, Sylvia swung her sword too… the angle… and just as their blades were about to meet… as Hime and Sylvia's eyes met… the devil princess couldn't help but smirk as she whispered… "Congratulations… Hime…"
Both of their swords connected with flesh…
And just like that Hime gasped for breath as blood instantly rushed up her throat… she shook for a second as her body trembled. She glanced down and saw her sister's sword going right through her torso. She looked up and saw her own sword as it pierced through Sylvia's arm…
She'd… lost? Even despite everything Hiro had done… despite everything all of her friends had done… Riza, Reiri… Flandre… her own sister Sherwood… and she… lost?
I… Hiro… she thought as she fell sliding off Sylvia's blade. She hit the ground hard and there, barely even conscious anymore, she gripped her own sword tightly, weakly gasping for breath as she bled out on the floor… and that was that… that was the end of their fight…
"Tsst…" Sylvia chuckled softly as her demonic eyes shimmered for a second… "That form…" She said shaking her head smiling as her features started to return to normal, like all of her power was leaving her even as she clenched even tighter to the mermaid's stone. A single stream of blood erupted from her right eye and there were several small cracking sounds that echoed through the air. "That form…" she said again remembering back ten seconds ago as she and Hime rushed forth at one another, Hime suddenly… changed… she became fire as she took leave of her body and ran nearly parallel to it, Sylvia glared at her but Hime glared as well and in that instant… in that moment… she impaled her sister, the evil princess felt like she'd been turned inside out… "So that's the true juvenile form of a phoenix…" she giggled tiredly intrigued for what could possibly be the very last time… "Only achieved in a true life or death situation under a very specific emotional pretext… it far surpasses anything we can physically do to our bodies or our minds… Hmpf…well that's not fair! First you bring the strongest blood warrior here to fight me and then you transform into you're royal form… you beat me by your sheer soul alone Hime-chan… one in one million… fufu… I really... never had a chance… did I?" And with that as Princess Sylvia finished speaking, her body exploded, blood gushing from nearly every pore… she didn't gasp nor did she scream despite the great amount of pain she must have been in, no, rather very proud and dignified even in all her malice and her dying breath, the eldest princess of the monster realm smiled one final time as she finally dropped her sword and fell to the ground, her servants hobbling over too her screaming her name…
Hime just sighed as she and Hiro and the rest of her gang finally made it to the top of the stairs, almost ready to pass out and die—their bodies creaking from the strain, and there as if to reward their perseverance there not two feet away was a semi-open and bloody doorway…the faint sound of troubled breathing echoing from within…
Hiro reached for the door handle but Hime stopped him, extending out her hand and he got the message, he stepped back supporting her as she reached forth and pulled on the door causing it to creak slightly as it opened in slow motion, like a deep breath before the plunge and then a white glare from the Sun filled their eyes… and there was Sylvia… or rather what was left of her, her white dress completely stained red as she lay on the ground with her back against the wall, her servant Mikasa and her android Francette kneeling at her side doing their best to treat her fatal wounds…
"Ah… H-h-hime-chan… I was wondering when you'd w-wake up… fu… fu… fu…"
"Sylvia nee-sama…" Hime spoke softly as she looked upon her sister … she was only able to tell where her face was because of the movement of her mouth…
"Come to make sure I'm dead? Fu… *cough* fu-fu… make sure the war is over and the throne is won?"
"…Yes…" Hime replied instantly… mercilessly… "But as always onee-sama… I will tell you again… I have no interest in the throne… but just as well I can't allow someone who lies and cheats to sit upon it… it's as you said… idealism alone will only take you so far…" But right as Hime said that… Sylvia's iconic cold chuckle though weaker now slowly filled the room…
"Fufu… you're still so naïve… Hime-chan… you still don't get it though I suppose that's too be expected being that you are my younger sister… lying… and cheating… *cough, cough* do you really think following the rules is the only way to get ahead in this war? Do you think following them actually reflects how good a king you'll be? Fufu… being tyrannical or being 'benevolent'… they're all just different styles Hime-chan… styles of ruling… and so why hang on to such old traditions anyway?"
"Hmpf. Whatever you say Sylvia nee-sama… but none of your schemes served you well in the end…" Sherwood cut in coldly gripping Hime's free hand… she had never liked Sylvia despite calling her sister but after opening the doors to this hell-hole of a mansion and seeing Hime in such a state… Sherwood had openly come to accept the hatred she'd long tried to justify for her older sister…and still, as if to validate Sherwood's disgust… Sylvia smiled… she just smiled that usual terrible smile and it did not lose its sinister edge even as the life in her mutilated eyes dwindled…
"Q-quite the contrary… I acted freely… as a king should… they put these restrictions on us as if we ourselves, their children, are little more than gladiatorial pawns to be thrown away… fu… *cough* fu-fu… I mean no army… really? Come now Hime-chan… doesn't that sound strange? 'Tis it not a king's place to be at the head of his army? And why even have these wars… these battles, these f-fights? Why constantly allow for a new king when winning this war means you can live and rule forever? And don't tell me it's to justify a place for their children… *cough, cough* Hime-chan… you've always said you had no interest in the throne… and yet here we are now… your desire to survive has lead you to defeat me… and now you two stand towering as the only survivors of our generation… of our race… hmpf… you've lived up well to all of my expectations…
But…
Don't think you are so privileged as to say something like that… fu…fu-fu… it's the p-phoenixes that allow this war… it's the phoenixes that chose how it ends…
I told you long ago when all the truth is revealed… even our very reason for fighting would be shaken… I stand by that…"
"Hmpf… and I told you Sylvia nee-sama… I always defeat my opponents… no matter how inconvenient they are…"
"Fufu… I see… well then… goodbye Hime-chan… and good luck…" Sylvia smiled weakly waving her hand for Mikasa and Francette to stop treating her wounds… she stared deep into Hime's eyes one final time before saying happily… perhaps even in some way… lovingly… "Fu… you know… I really should have killed you both… long… ago… my… little… sisters…"
And with that Sylvia's head drooped inelegantly dangling in between her shoulders… and the oldest Princess of the Monster realm passed off smiling into the west… And everyone was silent… all they could do was watch… and watch indeed they did… as Mikasa clenched her eyes shut fighting back a few tears and Francette gave a soft "Fuga" and it was all over…
Hiro just looked on in pain… it was hard… hard to take in, to process, the sheer matter of fact conviction in both their voices, that Sylvia would have killed Hime and Hime had to kill her, all simply in the name of survival or the crown and yet despite that, here they both were, calling each other sister as if everything up until this point had been normal… it was wrong. It was sad… almost disturbing to watch Hime as she made sure the light from Sylvia's eyes vanished… it was especially hard to image how she must have felt while watching her older sister die… even if it was Sylvia… even if she was cruel and monstrous… even by monster standards… even if just a few seconds ago everyone was overjoyed simply to be alive… to come here now and to call this victory… it was hard to tell if they'd actually won…
CLANK!
A loud clunking noise filled the room as a large jewel like orb suddenly rolled from the palm of Sylvia's lifeless hands, and Hime with a quick icy precision, despite the creaking and screaming of her tired bones, slammed her sword hard against the glass ball shattering it in an instant…
"Onee-sama?!" Sherwood yelped.
"It's the mermaid's stone." Hime said quietly, her bangs covering up her eyes. "Sylvia nee-sama used it during our battle… It… changed her… made her menacing… It's better off destroyed… never again in the hands of a phoenix…"
And just like that silence once again consumed the room. What could anyone say, even Hiro was at a loss for words as he stared at his master's aching back, the burdens that must have been lifted and yet the scars that must have remained, no words or voices could tender this moment, it would be insulting to even try… this was supposed to be bitter… the sweetness that had first come, had now left but it would come again… at least for them… but never fully for Hime… and perhaps not even for Sherwood… I mean, they were the slayers of their own family… how could they ever smile about that?
"Fuga…" called a feminine voice as Francette broke the ear shattering silence… she'd been kneeling next to her master's side, doing her best with her one hand for the other was a broken drill, to tend to her wounds, she finally got up and bowed before her dead master and bowed before Hime and Sherwood and then she left… just like that…
"Where's the android going?" Riza groaned following the gyniod with her eyes.
"To blow herself up…" Sherwood said solemnly as she looked away.
"What? That's…awfully kind of her… I mean why not just blow up right her as a 'fuck you?'"
"Because bitch…" Reiri chimed shaking her head disappointedly… which of course annoyed Riza to no end. "Royal androids can't attack royals…at least not directly… Professor Frankenstein designed them that way. Only he can change that… Besides… the victory is clearly ours… killing us now would have no benefit… and we've earned a bit of good luck…"
And just like that the room went silent once again. Mikasa who had been kneeling by Sylvia's side glanced over at Francette and then, bowing her head for a final time to the woman she had served, she too rose leaving their master's side as she wobbled to her feet, blood still dripping from her wounds…
"Hey!" Sherwood called out. "You. Sylvia's blood warrior, Mikasa was it?"
"Yes… *cough* your highness…?"
"What will you do now?"
"I… I'm not sure… Princess Sylvia never really made any contingency plans in the event she lost. I suppose I'll just take my sister from here… find a place she can be cared for when I'm… no longer around…"
"Nonsense!" Sherwood shouted with fire in her eyes. "From you're wounds I can tell you fought bravely and admirably… you along with your sister and the mermaid are more than welcome to come into my care!"
"With all due respect you're highnesses… I refuse…" Mikasa said bowing slightly almost tipping over as she strained herself to talk straight despite the gashes in her side that only now were starting to heal releasing a little bit of smoke. "I served Princess Sylvia whose sole intent was killing you… And also…" she said as she gripped her old familiar fur coat… though much of it was in pieces now… with twiney bits of ripped up fabric dangling like diseased skin… "I also served another one of your deepest enemies and aided him in the assaults that almost led to your death…" At this Mikasa glanced over at Hime but quickly shined away when their eyes met… "I can't bear the shame of being your assailant and then having you take me in as your charge… I respectfully decline… I… I hope you understand…"
"Tsst… But!"
"Leave it Sherwood…"
"But Onee-sama!"
"We understand. Do as you please…"
And with that Mikasa's face softened and what a rare but not unwelcome sight it was as she gave a genuine smile and bowed one final time. "I sincerely thank you both…" She said weakly though the happiness in her voice or rather the lesser degree of sorrow was testament enough to her peace.
"Onee-sama!" Sherwood turned to her sister.
"Relax Sherwood… there is more than one way to resolve this situation…" Hime said closing her eyes resting once again on Hiro's shoulder. The young man blushed slightly as he felt her nuzzle into him.
"Oye… Where's the mermaid anyway?"
"She's in the basement along with our guest the flyman…. keeping my sister company… Princess Sylvia… despite her… cold nature knew Madeleine was not suited for combat… she was ordered to wait out of sight while we battled…"
And with that, for the seventh time that day, a great silence once again took over the room…
"Hmm… so that's that then…" Reiri said giving a low sigh… "It's really over…" But just as she said that a loud thud filled the room.
"WHO'S THERE!?" Riza yelled as she jumped in front of Hime and Hiro.
"W-wait!" Called a buzzing kind of voice and sure enough, out of a slightly hidden doorway off to the side of the room, in walked a rather grotesque creature as he held his hands clapped together. And what a strange creature he was indeed, wearing a lab coat and some black khakis, his figure was that of a man and yet his head was that of a horsefly… there was however an air of wisdom about him which was perhaps the only redeeming quality he possessed…
"Flyman…" Hime said rather flatly.
"AH! Y-you're highnesses! I… I see you both are alive! I-I'm so glad!"
"Tsst!" Riza growled … "Oh are you? 'Cause if I remember correctly, we had to battle through an army of creatures that you created… it's a little late to be worrying about our well-being…"
"Uh… well… you see that was because of Princess Sylvia… I… *ahem*… I was here loyal servant after all… but now that she's dead… I am obliged to serve Princesses Lil—oh sorry… I mean Hime and Princess Sherwood…"
"Grr…" Riza grumbled lowly as she edged closer to the flyman who in turn just shrank into the corner… "You're lucky bug… if I wasn't so beaten up right now… I'd squash the shit out of you…"
"Peace Riza…" Hime cut in. "There's no need to fight… we need him to make the trioxin for Mikasa…"
"What?" The blood warrior stared vacantly back at Hime…
"Mikasa…" She began. "There's no reason for you to die so young. Not while you still have your younger sister in your care. I understand that you don't wish to serve Sherwood or myself but that doesn't mean you should accept death so easily."
"Your highness… I…"
"The flyman can make trioxin for you and that can sustain you in place of royal blood. Is that acceptable?"
"I… I… Y-yes… of course! Ah… T-thank you! Thank you so much your majesty… But…"
"Hmm?"
"…Is… is that really alright? I mean Trioxin goes against the phoenixes power to bring back the dead… isn't it… heresy?"
"It's fine Mikasa…"
"I… Thank you… your majesty… thank you…" Mikasa smiled on the verge of tears bowing deeply.
"Think nothing of it… However…" Hime said as she turned to look at the flyman who cringed a bit as her eyes fell upon him.
"Umm… Yes… your h-highness?"
"…You are not to make any more biological weapons… is that understand?"
"O-of course… your highness…" The fly all but stuttered as he knelt to his feet causing Hime to give him a questioning look. "If that is the wishes of the King then I shall happily oblige…"
"Fufu… I am no King…" Hime said chuckling weakly as she finally turned to her little sister and the moment everyone had been waiting for finally arrived. "Sherwood I—"
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN GGGGGGGGGGGG!
A loud screeching noise suddenly filled the room, no rather the world cutting Hime off as everyone covered their ears from the sound.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW!?" Riza practically shrieked falling too her knees, her wolfish ears twitching like they'd been set on fire…
"This is…!" Hime whispered as a great light far brighter than the sun washed over the room and then, suddenly, the entire roof of the mansion all but disintegrated… and there… hovering in the sky, flapping its massive wings which extended well into the heavens above… there was a great bird of flames… a royal Phoenix towered over them…
And for a second everyone just stared upward, a great shock or perhaps even fear gripping them deep in their souls for the majesty of the creature in front of them as well as the overwhelming godlike power that irradiated from its simple presence, for such a creature to be here in front of them… it was either the greatest honor or the worst luck and then it cawed…
A great sound erupted forth from its elongated neck, and Hiro couldn't help but sweat now staring at the magnificence before him… he wanted to hide himself, cower in some hole and yet he continued to look on as if captivated in some fearful awe and he wasn't the only one… Riza and Reiri were the same… like ants watching a boot about to squash them, they all were unfortunately intelligent enough to understand the nature of the boot, and at least vaguely understand the sheer power and force it commandeered even if they were underestimating… and even then they assumed it was a god…
The Phoenix cawed again, its voice so beautiful, it was the greatest most pleasant sound on Earth yet it still retained that same soul-shattering power, it sent shivers up and down Hiro's spine. And yet more remarkable than even that, the cawing, the sound coming forth from this incomprehensible being, it became a sound, as if it crawled into their heads by way of their ears and made itself understandable… it became a voice… one very specific voice as it called the name "Lillianne…" and Hime responded with "Father…"
And for a while… no one said a thing… neither the Phoenix, nor Hime… and no one else dare make a sound. It was like the greatest stalemate of all time and no one knew what was going to happen… After about thirty seconds… though it felt far longer than even that, Hime finally spoke.
"Father… even if you're my father… I will not allow you to call me by that name…"
And just like that… it was like opening up with a joke, the sheer nonchalance in Hime's voice staring at a being that passed their understanding tenfold, acting as if she were its equal, even if it was her father… to be that at ease around something that magnificent… it was comforting… it was terrifying… it may even have been slightly disrespectful and yet the phoenix didn't seem to mind, nay it didn't seem to care as it hovered over them basking without even trying in its own inborn glory. It spoke again and Hiro could swear he felt the Earth quake… "It is done… the war has ended… Lillianne… you will be next King of Monsters…"
"I refuse…" Hime said swiftly and once again the world went silent… all that could be heard was a low howl coming from the wind the phoenix displaced every time it flapped its wings ever so methodically… but even so… it took a moment for Hime's words to truly register with everyone… and so it was then that a great terror gripped the room… and Hiro himself was more than terrified… saying no to the face of a god… that's one for the books Hime… he thought silently doing his best not to cry and that in it of itself was a challenge… to basically not break down and beg for one's life here before the master of all fate and determination… there was no pride or dignity… not before a god who Hiro could swear was staring into each of their souls… "With all due respect father…" Hime continued and Hiro wondered how she had so much courage left in her heart. "I nominate Sherwood to take my place. She has been an ally to me throughout much of this conflict… her leadership, her loyalty, her passion, they are excellent beyond measure, she should be the next King…"
"No." The phoenix said that in the same tone it had said all its other words and yet for some reason, it petrified the lungs… the sheer dominance and dictation by which it spoke, it said, "No." Period. Full stop. All anyone could do was agree…
"You will be the next King of Monsters Lillianne… The phoenixes have decided…"
And with that, Hiro expected to hear Hime speak again… even despite the power of this great and terribly benevolent monster, he was still Hime's father, and she had spoken up to this great king, as she too were of the same nature and on the same level because in effect she was… Hiro heard nothing… and so he realized in that instant the difference between this creature and all of them… even the difference between phoenixes and their children… And then it was over… as quickly as the phoenix had appeared, the perfect being was gone… without so much as a second word and then, as if on cue, a loud explosion resounded from outside as Francette bid her farewell to the world and everyone looked at Hime… there should have been more to it… an explanation, a reason, an argument… there was nothing… and not even Hime could refuse… that's the way phoenixes argued… that's the way things were done… God's don't argue… they merely dictate… and all are subject to their whims… what about Sherwood? What about Hime's wants, Hime's needs? These things now seemed immaterial as the phoenix left, perhaps knowing all about them but not caring simply because it was too benevolent to be kind, it spoke with a wisdom that defined the universe… and in the scheme of things perhaps that meant arguing with its decision was wrong, hubristic, evil even… and again simply pointless…
Onee-sama… Sherwood thought sadly as she stared at Hime who had her back to all of them… and indeed…
If only they could've seen the face Hime was hiding… the look of distraught hidden behind her cold impassive tired eyes as she accepted the name Lillianne…
NEXT TIME: The monster world is in celebration! The war is over and a new king has been chosen! It's a wondrous historic time as Hime has to go back to the kingdom for her coronation ceremony and guess what? Hiro and the gang are tagging along too! Find out what happens at this bittersweet festival which all culminates in a conversation between Hiro and Hime, a conversation years in the making… will Hiro finally confess his feelings for Hime, or will the two of them realize their happy little upside down fairy tale is coming to an end? All that and more next time on Princess Finale!
End Note: Alright folks are you still with me? How's that for a double feature? Things are finally set up perfectly for Princess Finale to go chugging right along. I mean I know some of you have read Princess Jealousy and you guys know I have a tendency to take stories slowly, not just in release but in terms of pacing, I like me my flowery descriptions hahaha! So yeah, sorry if it's been a bit of grind to get here! But yeah, right now what I really want to talk about is the little bit of the content in these two chapters… I took this time to introduce the Sea of Chaos… which is just a place of my own creation that I used to describe the desert seen during Ch's 33-35… it may seem random now but this place is actually very relevant to the Spin-off I'm working on… so yeah on that note, this is also my little treat to you guys… that is to say, if you read my works… upcoming as they are… you'll notice that I try my best to not contradict anything… both with the actual canon (from the point where I start my story anyway) and among my own stories… basically, in other words… all of my stories could technically have happened within the same Princess Resurrection Fanfic Universe I created. Which I think is pretty neat and also, for you guys that asked me for sequels to say Princess Jealousy, this is kind of a shout-out to you guys as it basically means everything is sort of a spiritual sequel to each other. Well… maybe not even spiritual… they're not direct sequels but they're not as distant as spiritual sequels if you understand my meaning… Also… this story is pretty much finished in my head… editing is of course the main problem… as such I was thinking about releasing some post complete chapter material like an "afterwards" which is a sort of appendix epilogue kind of thing (if any of you are familiar with Tolkiens work) which basically goes on to describe what happens to each character… like a sort of aftermath narrative… so it's not a continuation of the story per say as much as it is a brief afterwards… so I have that and one more one-shot chapter planned as well in addition to the two more chapters I have before this story ends… let me know if you guys would like that as they'd continue this story and fill in more gaps that I may have skimmed over while writing the main events… Oh and as always sorry for being late… honestly this time it was really just my fault… I was actually just so caught up working on the spin-off which I'm really excited to bring to you guys… I am going to try and restrain myself from releasing it… one because it's mainly all concepts right now but I have a lot of material for it and two, if I start it now… I may never get to the other stories on my list for Princess Resurrection… I hope to at the very least release the spin off by or during the summer… sorry for the wait… I know it's ridiculous but at my current pace and my college schooling… I can't help it… so sorry! Anyway… this is a lot to read so I'll stop this note here… as always remember to comment, let me know what you guys think, what you might want, if you have any ideas, suggestions, anything… give me a follow and a favorite and don't be afraid to PM me… I'll get right back to you… thanks guys! Raza out!