ALT-FLAG 09: Bleed it Out

-x-x-x-Flashback: Sylvia's POV-x-x-x-

"Sofia-neesan? Where are you?"

I waled through the dimly-lit hallway of the House of Vindictus, named after a group of Old Devils who allied themselves with the New Devils in ending Almage Machina. The same 'family' as my retainer.

It has been a full hour and I was still looking all over the complex for her. And it's not just her who has gone missing; seems almost everyone but me had disappeared as well.

I went towards a room at the end of the long hallway which had its lights on. I was hoping that in that room I would find my 'sister', presumably meditating like she always does. But I suddenly had a tingling feeling up my spine, as if someone was following me.

And sure enough, a figure grabbed me, muffled my lips, and then dragged me to the adjacent room.

I could not let out a scream as the hand grabbing me pressed more tightly at my lips. Then, the figure who grabbed me slightly showed her face underneath her hood...

"Dokuro-sensei?"

She motioned her left hand, instructing me to keep quiet. I figured that something must be really wrong for my well-respected teacher to be here just to drag me into a room. And sure enough, I heard footsteps from two figures coming out of the room next to where we were.

Dokuro-sensei and I peered through the opening in the door and saw two Devils walking away from the lighted room. One had white, boyish short hair and apparently three eyes, so I was very sure she was not part of this very House.

It was the other figure that surprised me though. "Lune-neesan?" I whispered.

We let the two pass by until they have fully left the hallway. We then quickly made our way to the adjacent room, with Dokuro-sensei leading.

We were apparently not ready for what we saw next: the whole room was fully ransacked, and at one corner thereof lay Sofia-neesan heavily wounded, struggling to reach her Scythe of Testament on the floor.

"Hang on, Vindictus. I'll call for a medic," said Dokuro-sensei as she brought out her communicator. But she motioned her not to do so.

"Sensei, my actions have been compromised. Sylvia's not safe to remain in New Hell while those two are on the prowl," Sofia said lightly, as she tried with all her might to stop the bleeding from the large wound on her left abdomen.

"How was that possible? I thought there would not be problems?"

"Knowing Lune, she probably found out about it on her own. We need to keep her away from New Hell's mess before-"

At that point she struggled with her words, coughing out blood. Dokuro-sensei knew that there was nothing she could do about the situation, but as always she remained calm.

"You need not worry. I'll make sure she stays safe under my watch."

Sofia-neesan then turned to me and pointed at her worn-out Scythe. "Sylvia, do you still remember the unique ability of each Scythe of Testament?" I nodded in response.

"It was passed down through each generation that the three horns of each scythe represent three wishes that a New Devil may use whenever she wants to." I looked at the scythe and saw that there remained only one horn, compared to the two I remembered from our first encounter.

"Did you just make another wish, neesan!?"

She nodded.

"My original wish was to see you as a capable member of the Runaway Spirit Squad, eventually taking up my mantle as the proper successor to the near-extinct Vindictus bloodline. But right now, I just want you to survive. I could care less about the eventual fate of my bloodline; it was already doomed from the time this House contributed to the end of the Almage Machina."

Tears started to roll down my cheek as I stood by her. "But how about Lune?" I asked out of desperation.

"She was never completely a part of the bloodline as she was also adopted the same way as I adopted you. Nonetheless she was taken in as a part of the family..." she again struggled to speak, but continued anyway. "Her ideals may be misguided, but I still treated her like you."

She then mustered her remaining energy to bring forth her scythe. "I leave this to you now, Sylvia. Use its power to sway her back to our fold, and only break the final horn as you see fit."

"Neesan..."

By the time she had placed the scythe in my hands, she slowly passed on. I was about on the verge of wailing for her demise, but Dokuro-sensei preempted me from doing so.

"We will mourn for her for another time. We need to get out of here first..."

We immediately left for the ports where Sensei gave me my current assignment on the fly. It was then when I met my current partner Suzaku, who was at that time a university student in Kyoto. We had a bit of a shaky start in our partnership but eventually with time, and with about a few missions against Level-4 Weiss, we became one of the most potent buddy teams within the RSS.

Still, I continued with my job knowing that I would eventually cross paths with those two again...

-x-x-xEnd Flashback-x-x-x-

Down at Maijima Academy, Suzaku has holed up inside the building, trying to keep the members of the Public Safety Department from getting near Chihiro. He has set up the entire room where she was into a fortification of sorts riddled with tripwires linked to tear gas, flashbangs, and smoke grenades, as he cannot cause too much collateral damage.

So far, he has taken out a third out of the six PSD units through the windows of the building. He counted the number of magazines left underneath his Hagoromo-based Ghillie cloak.

"Down to my last two mags, eh?"

He then remembered the tracking bracelet he got from Sylvia that morning. Fearing that the PSD units may have called for backup, he decided to rip it off his wrist.

"Forgive me for this, Sylvia. But I'll be needing your help more than ever..."

He then reloaded his M14 rifle with a fresh mag and hid behind one of the classroom entrances. "Just have to hold the line as much as I can..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Going back to Gira...

"I- I- IMPOSSIBLE!"

She gazed upon her already wounded right leg, which was cleanly sliced off from the knee down. Fearing a counterattack, she immediately used her Hagoromo to cling on and drag herself into a nearby tree.

"That was my most powerful attack... AND YOU JUST SHRUGGED IT?!" she exclaimed.

From afar she caught sight of Sylvia, with a few cuts and bruises but still standing after Gira's Old Hell magic attack. The former brought out a piece of cloth and wiped off the blood from her custom wakizashi, before storing it in its sheath and picking up her Scythe of Testament on the ground.

"Been a long while since I encountered someone who uses Old Hell magic. You may be the very first devil that I've used my new blade on..."

"But I thought you used up your-"

"My scythe's last horn? Please. You are not worthy of being at the receiving end of the Scythe of Testament's benevolence. And besides, I have other plans for my last wish..."

Seeing as she was completely defeated, she taunted Sylvia. "You already got me on the ropes. Just use that scythe of yours and put me out of my misery already."

Sylvia, however, did not raise her scythe. "Why waste your life, Gira? You can still fight all these delusions. All you have to do is just turn yourself in to the authorities and tell them how to stop this..."

Gira could not stomach the statement, but she realized that she had a point. Turning herself in might pose an opportunity for her to reform. She had no choice but to bow her head in disgust and defeat.

"Good. Now if you'll please excuse me-"

"WAIT!"

"What is it now?"

"Tell me something... What are you planning to do with the last horn?"

Sylvia turned towards Gira and let off a smile.

"Honestly, I'm reserving this after this whole mess is done with. Besides, those who use the power of the horns can make any proper wish as they see fit, right?"

Gira's mind was quickly filled with disgust for this person who wielded a powerful weapon of untold possibility. And to her mind, she was just toying with it for her own benefit instead of advancing her intentions for the good of New Hell.

She could not contain her rage any longer. She slowly drew the dagger that she intended to kill Sylvia with. "You are just like Sofia, disillusioned, weak, WORTHLESS!"

But just as she was about to throw the dagger...

*PSHAK!*

Gira looked at her chest and saw Sylvia's wakizashi buried deep.

"First off, I resisted myself from using the Scythe's power since Sofia-neesan's wish was to persuade Lune-neesan to desist from her delusions, and the last horn is for when things get very hairy between us. Secondly, you were never worthy of judgment to be brought down by Sofia-neesan's scythe."

She slowly drew out the blade from Gira's chest.

"And lastly, never EVER speak ill of Sofia-neesan behind my back, you murdering b****!"

With that statement, she swung the wakizashi hard and decapitated Gira's head. Along with the tree behind her.

"Vengeance was not the first thought in my mind, but necessity forced me to use it. Too bad you had to be on the receiving end of that rage."

Again, she brought out a piece of cloth and wiped off the blood from her blade before sheathing it back.

"Now to get to Suzaku. He just ripped off the armband, too." she uttered while casting some quick-healing spell on her bruises. "To think they would go that far..."

Just then, she caught sight of a colossal Weiss headed for Maijima Academy.

"Oh, crap. I'd better hurry..."

-x-x-x-TO BE CONTINUED-x-x-x-