Fantasia
Arc2: The Quest
Chapter11: The restored courage…
Upon their break through the tower Grimoires in order to save the abducted princess Cecilia, Tsukiname is forced to defend Juan and Dean -unfortunately they weren't trained with magic- who fell victims for Geass' frightening illusion manipulation.
The imp tilted her magical samurai sword keeping the tip pointed toward the vile wizard waiting for his next move, a beady sweat dropped from her forehead tainting the bandage over her left eye, she smirked showing her canines, calculating every single move that her enemy may do, and how'd she react, driving resemblance to her old self before revenge possessed her.
He waved his left palm making a wave from the pond nearby attack her, but she simply cut through the water, calming the dangerous torrent down, but that was only for distracting, because he float with immense speed toward Juan and Dean showing his real aim; he's planning to take them as hostages to press on her!
She quickly pushed herself back toward them, and with a simple swing she slashed his arm that was about to land on Juan's head, but not like what he expected, the sword didn't leave even the simplest cut, but it made him loose his balance and collide to the other side of the puddle.
She didn't waste time and grabbed each one with an arm and jumped toward the entrance of the floor to put them there, and then she gazed at her foe with a resenting eye that said "Attacking helpless kids! This is utterly wretched of you!"
Geass stood floating on the surface of the shallow water, he was impressed of what happened right now, she for sure was fast enough to cut his wrist, but instead that didn't even hurt him, but again he lost his balance, this can only mean one thing, that katana is an anti-magic weapon, and the only way for such blade to gain such power is to be enchanted!
And if she was an enchantress, this means he'll have to make her break the rule in order to dispel her powers and hit her while she's weak!
-Enchantment: A high ranked magic, it necessitate a huge amount of magic and perfect mental balance, with enchantment a mage can grant incredible properties to inert objects that normal magic cannot do, however such power is limited by "rules" which are chose by the caster and restricts him/her to use his/her powers under certain circumstances, and even willing to use them beyond these conditions will backfire against the caster and causes multiple consequences that are arranged from prohibiting him/her from using magic temporarily or definitively to even death, the harder was the rule, the stronger was the enchantment.
As in Tsukiname's case, her enchantment is magic dispeller, while her rule is to use it only while she's protecting dear people, but if she failed that rule either by using this power for other reasons or the ones she protected died, the sword will simply kill her!-
That's it! The masked man concluded Tsukiname's rule seeing how she rushed to save the two men, along with another thing which is considered the deadly weak point of an enchantment; it's the weapon! If he just isolated the imp from her weapon, she's doomed, since her whole magic will be focused in that katana!
This made him release a loud laughter that echoed in the vast twenty-first floor, then he started a series of incantations that seemed to have no effect, but Tsukiname's mage eye stood alerted, because he already used light, water, and wind, so he have a variety of attacks to use, and obviously he was aiming for Juan and Dean, she squeezed the grip of her weapon tightly keeping her eye on the helpless men.
And finally the enemy released the finishing word of his spell, making the water underneath him turn into a gigantic dragon to attack Tsuki, but she was fast enough to protect her left side with her blade, but that was her enemy's intention, because while she had been trapped between the jaws of the beast he released powerful beams of light toward the weakened duel.
She fell for his trick! In a moment the picture of death passed by her imagination, but her ignorance refused this, so she shrunk herself back to her child form, and with few flips and an agile transformation she blocked most of his beams, with her summoned enchanted blade, ignoring the painful damage caused by the previous beast attack and the beams she missed.
But this didn't stop here, because he released a piercing bullet of compressed wind directly at her left wrist causing her to drop the katana, then to her right and navel wrist forbidding her from grabbing her blade.
Fearing failure! She pushed herself to the limits and altered the direction of her blade with a kick to shot it straightly toward her enemy, who at this moment tried to avoid the upcoming threat.
He could've saved himself! But not against her for he was a moment slower, because and with a fast trick she fused herself with the shadows and slithered directly to him, and before the blade touches the wall her arm emerged from the shadow to catch the grip making the enchanted sword pierce his body like a phantom causing him to drop motionless.
"Damn…you" he said while trying to catch his breathes.
"Don't….move!" she ordered him with a cold accent.
At that very moment Geass saw it! And understood why she aliased herself as the "Shinigami", she was somehow like a grim reaper, a red eyed beast that might be the scariest thing he had ever seen in the veil of a beautiful woman holding his soul, ripping it slowly with the blade of torment! She simply was a cold-blooded entity.
He even thought that she wasn't the one who's talking now, but the death itself possessed her body, he must admit defeat! He must ask for mercy from this monstrous threat! His life was passing before his shaking pupils! He wished that her blade could only hurt flesh because that seemed merciful compared to this agony! He just didn't want her sight to be his last.
"Mercy!" he screamed.
"So those two were mages of this place? And what's this? Cecilia is an empyrean mage! Interesting things one might get from the soul of such filthy spineless human!" the woman commented cruelly ignoring his previous ask.
At this moment, Geass felt the humiliation in her accent, his ignorance grew bigger than his fear, so he cursed her calling her a bitch! But she just disregarded his words pinning her eye in his, continuing to read the words of his soul.
"Kill me!" he shouted at her.
"I cannot, it's an rule that I don't kill anyone with this sword…so think of what you said again." she answered him coldly giving him a chance to live.
Then she sheathed her blade and shrunk herself, pulling her leg that tainted the clear water of the pond with its black tone, slowly trying to reach Juan and Dean who just woke up, but Geass had something else in mind, he lifted his palm slowly pointing it to the unaware victim, yes it's his chance! But her extended navel arm got his guts pierced, brutally colliding him with the wall behind before he can attack "I said: I don't kill anyone with this sword…stupid human!"Were the last words he heard from her.
She joined with the shepherd and the knight who just woke up from the trauma of the illusion that had been casted on them:
"Are you alright Juan? Dean?" She asked them eagerly.
"Yeah, damn! My head hurts! It's like one of those hangover nightmares!" Dean said.
"What happened?" Juan asked while looking at the fatally wounded man who was laying their half-dead with his blood making a small pond around him.
"It's fine, I took care of him" she answered while trying to hide her injured leg under her puffy kimono, "More important, I know what happened to the princess so we should move it quickly!" she added while climbing Juan's back.
Witnessing them running to reach the exit to the next floor, the bitter taste of defeat burned his throat, he refused this! How come a miniscule imp defeats a great student of the famed Vergil?! He lost the last drop of consciousness to his wrath.
The masked man known as Geass was cursed; Glenn put a curse on him secretly prior to these events, and his persistence to live detonated a hideous transformation!
The man leaked blood from almost every orifice in his collapsing body that started boiling in thick foams, creating a large cloud of crimson color, Juan noted this earlier and unusual to the other two, so he voluntarily pulled the imp from his back and with an elastic stretch he tossed her toward the gate leading to the twenty-second floor, Dean noticed this but what left him surprised that Juan smiled at that very moment like he knew that something like this was about to happen.
"Juan! What are you doing?" Tsuki asked while she's still in mid air, but the latter answered her with silence that expressed what words cannot, he decided to sacrifice himself giving priority for Tsuki to save the princess, but there was one last thing she did for him, she used her mage eye and found a weak spot for the beast, she pointed at the lowest part of her back, and Juan was to respond to her by nodding.
"What in hell name is that damned gross thing?!" Dean asked disgusted of what Geass had turned into.
"Stay behind me and on my signal you'll follow Tsuki!" Juan ordered in confidence.
Dean was about to talk back but the beast finally took a stable form; a crimson red gruesome long necked dragonish monster with the head of a serpent, walking on four muscular limbs that stands like solid pillars that broke the bridge under them, and as if this wasn't enough, multiple tentacles emerged from his back, they were seven or eight, one can't tell because they were waving rapidly.
The monster grew eyes all over his neck, and with a swing he hit the two men together throwing them to the side of the room, luckily for Juan his elastic arm absorbed much of the shock but what about Dean? The knight released a shout of pain; his left shoulder got disjointed leaving him to feel an intense agony:
"Are you alright?" Juan asked.
"Shit! My shoulder got crushed! Agh! I don't feel the damned thing!" the knight answered with intense pain.
"You stay here then! Trust me, Tsuki saw the weak spot of the beast and told me it, I'll try my best." The shepherd said before he started running toward the beast after he pulled one of Dean's short swords.
But what Juan didn't know is that Dean isn't going to help him because his shoulder is hurt, but because Dean in fact is a coward! Yes that boastful man turns into coward at some point, that was the shameful his secret of his, he always hid his body under heavy armories, and whenever an enemy mange to hurt him under that protection, he quails putting in his mind that he'll never be able to defeat what broke through his armor.
But this time something felt wrong, he saw Juan, yes the weak coward wimpy Juan who can't even take a violent pat on the shoulder without groaning, he saw him rushing to danger, he saw him putting his life aside for his quest, he reminded him of the his father, he saw his old man there! That wimpy shepherd is the embodiment of every principle he cherished! Then what's he doing then? Is he a knight? No! He's a wimp! He's just a cowardly pathetic excuse of a knight! He couldn't explain if it was pity for his fearful soul or jealousy of Juan, but he knew one thing, this battle is where he shall restore his courage.
"Juan!" he shouted halting the named man.
The latter looked back to see something rare, Dean have stripped himself from every piece of cooper that covered him, leaving his body in thin ragged underwear, with a warrior's smile, no! more like a scary grimace, carelessly leaving his left arm to swing.
"Care for a change in your plan?" the knight asked.
"I think this is possible, how long you can hold your telekinesis?" Juan said with joy filling his eyes.
"Enough to drop this goon down!" was the knight's answer, making his dissected armor, seven knives, and twin blades float in the air.
"Then we shall take him down!" Juan shouted while rushing to danger followed by the knight, and this time they had utterly blind faith that they'll win…
To be continued