Chapter 18: Sacrifice

As the mist Disprezzare made started to clear, Spauracchio felt a cold tingling behind his back and glanced over his shoulder. He saw a strange structure made of mirrors, but what intrigued him was what was in it. It was Gelato, but there was a turquoise-blue aura surrounding him, and it was trying to break out of the structure. But what frightened him more was the shape of Gelato's aura, which looked to him like the head of a large serpent.

It can't be…but there's no other explanation, Spauracchio thought. That aura is coming directly from the Nine-Headed Hydra, and it's trying to break out after all these years of slumber! I have to get over there and stop it!

Then after blocking a few of Disprezzare's punches, both of them stopped and breathed heavily. Disprezzare had used most of his strength trying to fight Spauracchio blind in order to not fall for the hypnotic power of the Specchio Occhi eye. It was due to this hypnosis that made Disprezzare miss Spauracchio multiple times during their battle on the water. It was also how Spauracchio was able to copy most of his spells via eye contact. On the other end, Spauracchio was exhausted from Disprezzare's relentless attacks, and trying to detect him in the mist with his Specchio Occhi eye. He lost his gun when Disprezzare disarmed him with his rifle, which Spauracchio made useless by breaking it in half with his foot, as his throwing knife supply was sadly low.

"Say, Disprezzare," Spauracchio said, putting his eye-patch back on. "Why don't we put an end to this fight? We're both weary and there are people who need our help."

"There is no one who needs my help," Disprezzare said, wiping the blood from his mouth. "But I will agree to end this battle."

"So you don't regard Fiera as a human being."

As Gelato continued to attack Fiera, he discovered he could now avoid Fiera's attacks with greater ease than before, and was somehow able to detect Fiera's movement through a heightened sense of smell and keener eyesight. But instead of using a gun or a knife, Gelato broke the mirrors solely with the aura that enveloped him, which resembled that of a snake, but paid no attention to it. His anger boiled and he got frustrated every time Fiera dodged him, until he got fed up, and hissed at the ceiling.

In the strange voice, he shouted, "Come out and fight me like a man, Fiera! Or are you too cowardly to face me, you hypocrite!"

Then, out of the mirror in front of him, Fiera appeared, but in the flesh. Like before, he was holding a knife, which was already caked with Gelato and Tony's blood.

"I may seem like a coward by hiding in these mirrors, but I am not a hypocrite," he said, and charged at Gelato.

"What are you talking about? You killed Tony, and you said you don't kill anybody!" Gelato said, punching Fiera in the face before he could strike.

As Fiera flew backwards, he crashed into the mirrors. But then, the whole structure fell apart, splintering into small ice crystals and raining down on Gelato and Tony. However, the aura Gelato had protected him, and since he was standing near Tony, he wasn't affected either. Then as Fiera landed on the pier a few feet, Gelato dashed up to him and grabbed Fiera by the collar of his jacket. His breathing was rapid as he raised his fist for another punch.

"Go ahead," Fiera said wearily. "Kill me right here. I failed to defeat you, and shamed myself before Disprezzare. Therefore, death is the only way out for me."

"Alright, I'll grant your request," Gelato said, squeezing his fist tighter. "But first, you must answer me one question: why did you kill Tony when it went completely against your moral code?"

"Well, actually, I—

But a sudden boom of thunder interrupted Fiera, as he looked back and felt his knees go weak. A bolt of lightning had gathered in Spauracchio's hands as he was preparing to strike it down on Disprezzare, who was buried underneath a group of wolf-like hounds that stood over him and barked at the little thundercloud above them. Then he looked back at Gelato, whose face was contorted in anger, and had a pair of fangs sticking out from his mouth, and yellow snake eyes that glared at him.

Fiera sighed. "We all make sacrifices, Gelato, to ourselves and to others. I sacrificed Tony in order to anger you into making a fatal mistake, but now I see that it only made you stronger. The same could be said of personal sacrifices, because you feel better when you're doing something for someone else."

Then he made a hand-sign and vanished into mist like he did when Gelato first met him. Gelato was at first confused, and then he heard a groan behind him. He turned around, and saw something unbelievable. Tony, who had been presumed dead, was trying to get up despite being covered in…needles?

"Tony?" Gelato said, and felt the cold presence leave as quickly as it came. "You're alive!"

He ran over to Tony, but then a sudden heart-wrenching cry stopped him in his tracks. Tony managed to sit up, and was shocked by the sight at the other end of the pier, just as Gelato was watching as well. A bolt of lightning came out of Spauracchio's hand and was aimed at Disprezzare, but Fiera had Teleported himself to stand above Disprezzare, and was being electrocuted the lightning. This caused the dogs to scatter, leaving Disprezzare's body unguarded, as he stood up, catching Fiera as he fell into him with a happy smile on his face.

End of Chapter 18