Fourth chapter of Synchro Beast, Crimson Rose has arrived! I still swear; why nobody ever reviews this story. Sheesh, this is like going back to Rivalry and Mystery in a Family(even though after many years, it finally got reviewed)!
Chapter 4-The Fateful Meeting
"Are you sure about this voyage into the forest, Amy?" Serenity asked. "I mean, shouldn't we have a carrier to transport all of our gatherings once we are finished?"
"I'm quite sure about it, Serenity." Amy said with a voice of reason. "We're going on foot to avoid being raided by bandits at this time of the day, and that the amount we gather will be enough to last for the rest of the season. Besides, my new escort will be guarding us at all times."
"Still, it would be nice for us to have something to ride in." Serenity sighed.
"Sometimes, I wonder if you're always looking for the easy way out of anything, Serenity." Amy giggled.
Morning has risen on that day, as Amy and Serenity were preparing to leave to head into the Forest of Filaroya; hoping to gather the herbs and flowers that Amy needs to complete the potion she had set on her mind. She had informed the guards at the entrance herself that they'll return before sundown in case of any sudden night attacks. Aki was already downstairs with her armor on and her weapons belt around her waist, waiting for the two to finish up on preparations. She wondered what was taking both women so long to prepare for a short trip.
While most would come to greet and stay for wine and fruit, others would stay away from the former hunter himself to protect themselves of any harm. Placido, however, was out of town for the next two days to retrieve next season's earnings. Ever since he went out of the Hunter's Legion several years ago, Amy rigorously pleaded with him to find some kind of side job to hold up their money issues due to the Legion's restrictions of her outside activities. As much as he hated to go outside, he didn't want to disappoint himself with the promise he made to her.
Grabbing her basket and list from the table, with her friend taking the food that was needed, Amy and Serenity descended down the stairs to find an agitated Aki waiting for them in front of the house.
"Had I known that it will take you this damn long to prepare for your errand, I would've gone to the gates ahead of you, Amy." Aki said sarcastically.
"My apologies." Amy said. "I always make sure that everything is covered in my errands; I don't want to miss a single item that I'll regret later on. I hope I didn't take too much of the time we need preparing."
"So, this is your new escort, Amy?" Serenity asked.
"And who is this commoner?" Aki asked.
"Aki," Amy began. "I don't like that sort of fucking tone around my friends; let alone it being social discrimination. I have been with her since the day she was born, and I do not want you talking to her in such a manner."
Aki started to open her mouth to protest, but close it once more. She was raised in the upper class so much that she realized that Amy was not into that kind of behavior around the people she cherished.
"I-I'm so sorry." Aki apologized. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright." Amy assured her.
"But, really! Have I known that you weren't the type to degrade people based on their social place in society, I wouldn't..." Aki continued, but stopped when Amy placed her hand on her left shoulder.
"You didn't know; it's not your fault." Amy said. "Anyways, I'll make the introductions short. Serenity, Aki. Aki, Serenity."
"Nice to meet you!" Serenity said smiling.
"...Same here." Aki said.
"Now, come on, girls. We have an errand to complete." Amy said
As they made way towards the crossroads leading to the Forest of Filaroya, all three of them talked about the things they want to see happen in life and it made Aki a bit more at ease around them. Her parents weren't around when she enrolled in the Legion's Academy, and she was being taunted because of where she came from along with her inability to keep up with her physical strength. It led her to become much distant and colder towards her colleagues, having no one to be around to even talk to ease her pain. These two, however were the first people to get close to her since she arrived from the eastern district when it became devastated from the vampire attack. The siege itself left the entire castle in ruins, along with all of her friends mutilated on the ground, including two people that were twins themselves.
~Flashback~
"Aki! Hurry up, or those vampires will get us!"
BOOM!
The sounds of raging blasts of fire ravaged through the village, sending all of the inhibitors in widespread chaos, having nowhere to hide from the incoming siege that laid upon them. She was running with two people, both having the same teal-colored hair, but were different genders themselves. Her foot got caught on her sapphire gown, causing to trip and crashed onto the stone ground as another blast hit the house near them, lighting it on fire as the battle raged on and many were scurrying around to avoid any incoming projectiles.
She didn't know why the vampires broke the treaty that day, but she also heard screeching shouts coming from the castle itself, meaning that it wasn't just them that were targeted, but their own kind as well. Her ears picked up the faint noises of her two friends shouting over the yells of the people as she looked up to them at eye level.
"Aki, are you alright?" the teal-haired girl asked.
"Of course she's alright!" the other teal-haired boy shouted. "She just avoided being burnt to a crisp!"
"Leo! Now is not the time! We have to get to Martha's and fast!"
"Alright, Luna! Sheesh!"
They picked up Aki from the ground and rushed towards the caretaker's home, hoping to find that everyone one of the residents were still around and safe. But, to their horror, all three of them found that all of the kids around their age were ripped open from the stomach, while the caretaker herself was completely dead from all the blood drained out of her body. While Luna held Leo for support, the roof was starting to tear apart, making the three rush out of there and back into the crossfire. There was too much smoke coming from the buildings and it was clouding their sight of any incoming vampires. Just as she was about to head outside of the darkish cloud, Aki heard a piercing scream coming from within the smoke itself.
"Leo! Luna! Are you alright?" Aki yelled.
No responses came from either one. Bellowing yells from the sky came from the vampires, as all of them left the village in shambles, with only her and her parents being the only survivors. She saw the smoke clear to her horror: both friends were dead at the sight. Her hands covered in their blood as her screams echoed through the night, tears streaming down as she held her split-opened body and his severed head in her arms.
After reinforcements arrived, they were escorted to the northern village for rehabilitation, leaving her only friends and home to waste in time.
'Why...? Damn those accursed vampires all to hell! They all shall pay!' she thought angrily, with hatred for the creatures seeping into her heart.
~EndFlashback~
"Aki? Aki!" Amy called.
"Huh...what?" Aki said. "Is something wrong, Amy?"
"Well, you were out of it for quite some time." Amy explained. "We arrived at the gates not too long ago and they needed your clearance for my errand."
"My apologies." Aki said. "I was off thinking about other things that happened many years ago."
"Hey," Amy said, placing her hand on Aki's shoulder. "If you need to get something off your back, I'm here for you. Serenity's been helpful to me when it concerns the people around us, and I want to be helpful to you as well."
"...Thank you." Aki said.
"Alright, ladies. We need clearance for you to enter the forest."
Aki stepped forward towards the guards to give her status on the errand at hand.
"Vampire hunter graduate Aki Izayoi escorting Amy Rivers and friend on gathering errand today. We'll return no later than sundown with the required items and I shall protect them at all costs." Aki stated.
"Very well; you may now enter the Forest of Filaroya."
The two guards side-stepped to let the girls enter, as they walked forward into the dense forest with little sunlight, the leaves bristling with the northern wind. The crossroads up ahead lead deeper into the forest, having turned left to the plains that only lied within the forest's boundaries. Here, only the finest of flowers, roots, and special herbs grow here due to the soil being mystical and the sun beaming down ten hours a day. Amy took out her list and the map and pinpointed the areas that they need to cover and what items to grab. In the shadows of the trees, shifty red eyes glimmered as they gathered around the three girls, drool dripping from their mouths and bearing their fangs.
"Iris of Hyira, loypollia herbs, petals from the rose of Andersiah...check." Amy said.
"Amy, can I ask you something?" Aki asked.
"What about?" Amy whispered.
"Serenity; doesn't she usually have family to look after her or something?" Aki said. "I mean, if it's not too much to ask."
Amy stayed silent for a few minutes, then looked directly at Aki with a depressing look on her face.
"It's been a decade and a half since someone asked me about that." Amy said. "You can say that Serenity's been living on her own, taking care of her ailing mother."
"What happened to her father? Doesn't she have any other siblings?" Aki inquired.
"Her father died when she was seven; drunk himself to death, the poor bastard. But, I don't blame Serenity for remembering him. He beat her and her mother senseless and almost tried to take her innocence away from her." Amy remarked. "And as for siblings, she has an older brother, but it's been fifteen years since she last saw him. He disappeared a week before the Hunter's Legion found his satchel containing the medicine needed for his mother."
"And that's why she's so distant with the Legion?"
"Yeah. She stopped trusting them seven years ago."
"AHHH!" Serenity screamed.
"Serenity!" Amy and Aki called.
Both girls rushed to where Serenity was, the basket of plants on the ground and her backing away from whatever attacked her. Once they got to the location, Aki drew out her daggers from her belt and stepped in front of Serenity to protect her.
"Demonic wolves? But they don't appear during the day, especially when the sun's still out!" Aki growled.
"These must be the elite breed; only they can survive the sun's wrath!" Amy said.
"Damn it..." Serenity muttered.
The wolves divided the girls apart, leaving Amy on her own and running away from her pursuers. She held the basket as close as possible, making sure all the contents didn't fall out. Her dress got stuck in a few loose branches on the trees, dropping the basket and picking herself up once more to escape the bloodthirsty beasts after her. She also wondered if Aki and Serenity made it out in one piece as well. Everywhere she looked, there was no alternative routes to follow into the main road, and the only safe place for her to be at was back at the village. But, who knows how far she ran from the gates! Quickly realizing that the forest prove to be too dense for her to run through, Amy changed course for the only other open space that she could at least have a chance of evasion: the Eternal Tree of Life.
The wolves were quicker to match her running speed, grabbing the hem of the dress and caused her to lose her balance, dropping onto the ground and resorting to backing away from the savage beasts. Amy realized that all of them surrounded the tree, blocking any form of escape. Even if she did climb the tree, the claws on their paws were strong enough to help them climb up and shorten her escape route. Fear came around her eyes, as the leader positioned itself and charged right at her, having closed her eyes to avoid seeing the fate that was in store for her.
However, fate was also her savoir, as her ears picked up the yelping sounds coming from the pack of wolves, their paws running away from something much more threatening than them. Her eyes opened to a blood-covered dress, as was the face also stained with drops of demon blood to look upon whatever saved her. To her surprise and shock, the shadow was that of a person, his hand dripping of blood from the leader's body; it's own guts spreaded across the field as he threw it into the sun, licking the red liquid off his hand. Amy was quite paralyzed from her fear of death from the wolves, but why wasn't she scared of the creature that saved her? His head turned towards her as she slowly stood up against the tree, trying to regain her posture but met his eyes as he pinned her on the tree. Baring his fangs to bite her neck, something repelled his advances as his senses started to pick up the spell she placed on her body.
"Interesting; Aokil's Remedy. Able to repel a vampire from biting during the spring equinox." Yami remarked. "So, you're the special person that the Legion's been so protective of. Nice to meet your acquaintance, my dear."
"So, you have knowledge of this spell?" Amy asked.
"I have been around for many years, my dear." Yami said. "Though, I can't put my mind on why would such a precious lady like yourself would be all alone out here without anyone to protect you."
"I was separated from my friend and escort by those wolves." Amy said. "What I don't get is why a vampire like yourself would save someone of my breed of which you detest for so many years."
"Something about you intrigues me; I don't usually get imbedded into one's life affair. But, I feel like something between us might actually stand a chance in due time." Yami smirked. "You are quite right about me hating the mortals for years; my damn trust for them since the treaty ended right after the siege of the northern district. The hunters always checked on me to see if I'm not trying to do anything drastic."
Her eyes widen in shock; this was the vampire lord of the north that was imprisoned by his own clan? Amy was quite surprised about her savior, but was also curious about why he arrived here to save her.
"Are you truly the vampire lord that was imprisoned by his own clan shortly after the siege on my village?" Amy asked. "If you are, why did you come to my rescue? Did you do it out of your own reconnaissance?"
"Depends." Yami said. "Yes, I am the northern grand vampire, fifth generation if I may state out. Lord Yami Atem at your service. For your second question, I couldn't get a decent meal since many of the beasts around here avoid coming into the center. And for your final question, like I said, depends on your point of view."
"I see." Amy whispered.
The winds started to pick up around them, as Yusei and the others arrived to greet their confined friend, but was now greeted by a swift dagger coming from the south. It appears Aki and Serenity got away from their pursuers and Aki was now in fighting position to take down the vampires that just arrived.
The play was now in motion...
Finally done! Hopefully I can get many things done before the end of the year. But, now I'll release the chapter plan that might help me plan out the release of the chapters of each new story that will be set up within the next several months.
Every three weeks will be a new chapter of One Touch, One Kiss.
Every two weeks will be a new chapter of Love Reporter.
Every one and a half weeks will be a new chapter of Temptation to Madness.
Every two months will be a new chapter of Synchro Beast, Crimson Rose.
And if possible through the many updates, every month will be a new one-shot story from different shows, including crossover one-shots.
Also, after three years on painful writer's block, I actually still plan to continue my School of Chaos saga, but next year will probably be the best bet you'll see an update on that.
R&R, people!
Next Chapter: Surprises around every corner come into view as the fateful meeting continues forward. However, soon after that, Amy decides to learn more about the lord himself, personally...