Note To Readers: Hey everyone! Sorry, this next chapter took a bit longer than I thought it would. I'm also working on my book too and WAY ahead of this Fanfiction so I have to retrace my steps with the order of events. Without further to do I present Chapter 61.
Chapter 61: What Rises From The Ashes
One by the party slowly left the tavern. "Well...that could have gone better..." Bloom frowned. "Xuri sounded as if he's really against the idea of going to see Bright...I wish I understood exactly why that is." the faerie murmured. "I say forget him...we don't need him to speak to the prince anyways...i'm sure i'll be more than just convincing..." Kaiba muttered. "Somehow I don't think threatening him is going to do any good..."Musa pointed out. "We can't make Xuri go if he doesn't want to...we'll find another way to convince Bright to join with us." Layla murmured.
"The question is how exactly do we do that...?" Marik muttered. "...Little Yugi went running after the vampire the moment he fled the tavern..." the tomb keeper muttered before they paused. Just ahead they noticed a young male with magenta like hair working on the fountain. Blaire studied the carving engraved into the fountain as he adjusted his glasses slightly. "My My...there appear to be other non Vampires standing in this place besides just myself..." Blaire muttered amusedly. "We could say the same about you," Bloom spoke up. "Heh touche." he grinned before he turned towards the small party.
"So is something wrong with the fountain?" Duke questioned. "It's hard to say really..." Blaire muttered with a heavy sigh. "I won't know for sure until I've thoroughly examined it," he told them before everyone paused. "...What the hell...?" Kaiba questioned. Without warning the vampires surrounding them began to cough up enormous amounts of blood. Their eyes turned an even darker red until their eyes bled along with their skin seeping out a pool of crimson. Their silver hair tainted by the blood as they collapsed one by one. Screaming in agony. Until all that was left was silence. The party stood there frozen unable to comprehend what they were seeing until a scream broke the eerie silence coming from two directions.
From the other side of Dawnshire as Bright arrived at the large iron door. With all of his strength, he pried it open nearly out of breath from running as fast as the wind. For his horse could not enter underground. Panic spread throughout his body as he opened the doorway. Before him was an abyss of death. Horror engulfed the prince's eyes as he gazed in disbelief. He trembled unable to cease as tears gathered in his eyes pouring down his face. His stomach knotted up as he tried to keep himself from vomiting at the sight. Bright's knees buckled bringing him splashing into a pool of Blood. There were so many bodies. "...Xuri...Xuri...XURI!" the prince screamed at the top of his lungs. Nothing able to quell the pain he felt tearing his heart to shreds. He was too late.
Xuri paused as he swore he heard someone call out to him. "Must've been my imagination..." the vampire murmured before they continued down the Castle's halls. "It sure is a LONG hallway..." Yugi murmured softly. However, Atem felt something was not quite right. "Well, they DO like to show off their decor." Xuri teased. "By the way where did Amourette go?" Yugi questioned. "I think she ran up ahead," Yuri told him before they ceased their movement hearing a blood curtling screamed. "AMOURETTE!" the vampire exclaimed and hurried after her as Yugi quickly followed from behind. A gasp escaped from Yugi's lips as he saw corpses scattered in front of them.
"SHIT!" Xuri cursed and ran even faster. Yugi couldn't even move frozen in fear. He turned towards Atem shaking. "...Atem...what's...what is this!?" the scarlet eyed male cried shaken to his very core. "This...This can't be real..." {But i'm afraid that is Yugi...I do not know why this is happening...only that it has...} Atem murmured softly. {We need to catch up to Xuri and Amourette...can you move?} the Pharoah asked his other half. Yugi didn't respond as he just stared in utter shock. Atem couldn't bear to see Yugi like this. Gently he wrapped his arms around Yugi and took over. Without any further hesitation, Atem hurried to enter the room just ahead. All he could hear was Amourette's wails as she held the vampire king Crymson in her arms. With just one glance the Pharoah could tell he was not long for this world. Yuri stood beside them silently biting his lip until it bled clenching his fists in anger.
"Crymson...Crymson don't leave me...!" Amourette sobbed. "We'll get through this! You're going to be ok...I promise...just hang on..." the brunette pleaded as she felt a warm hand gently caress the right side of her face. "Don't make that face..." Crymson barely uttered. "If i'm going to...leave this world...I at least...want...to see...the smile of the...woman...I fell...in love...with..." he choked out as blood trailed down the sides of his face. Amourette forced a smile through the pain as she shook. "I...I'll...search...for you...in...the next...life...my little...love..." Crymson whispered before he went limp in Amourettes arms. "No...No...No...NO!" Amourette cried as she clung to him only able to drown in her sorrow. Atem couldn't look away as he recalled himself being in that exact situation.
Without a word, Xuri left the castle. But what he witnessed next was beyond his understanding. Atem too couldn't utter any chain of words to describe the mass graveyard. The only ones standing were him and the party. "What the hell?...What happened...?" Suddenly a thought struck the vampire as he sprinted towards the fountain. He shoved Blaire aside before his eyes widened. The blood sitting in the fountain was a shade darker than normal and he could smell this scent that was foreign to his nose. Xuri's eyes darkened. "The Fountain...it's been tainted with Poison..." the vampire muttered before everyone looked at the other in disbelief.
"WHAT!?" Blaire nearly screamed. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! THE HELL!" the elf muttered. "This...this is just too horrible..." Bloom cried as she covered her mouth. Kaiba gently pulled her towards him and shielded her from all of the death that surrounded them. "THIS IS SICK! WHAT KIND OF MONSTER WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!?" Duke spat enraged. "All of these innocent people..." Layla murmured softly. "While this may seem cold...there is nothing we can do for them except give them a proper burial..." Marik muttered as he crossed his arms. "We HAVE to get to the bottom of this!" Musa cried. "But first their spirits must be purified from the darkness that taints them..." Atem muttered.
{Darkness? What do you mean Atem?} Yugi questioned within. "When one's life comes to an end unexpectedly they can hold onto the emotions they felt...sometimes such emotions as hatred can cause them to turn into vengeful spirits...it is for this reason that there exist those with the power to purify souls and put them to rest...so that they accept their death...and sleep peacefully..." Atem explained. The Pharoah turned towards Bloom before the Faerie heard a voice resonate within her. However, it was one that she did not know.
Everything else disappeared around her as Bloom found herself sitting under a gazebo surrounded by falling cherry blossoms. It was a warm place. One where she felt as if she could dwell forever. Before her was a male with dark blue hair and glasses. Infront of him was a blue and white china tea set covered in blue roses. He was adorned in an intricate Chinese hanfu which was black, and woven with the pattern of an owl. On his shoulder. Before Bloom could panic the male broke the silence between them with a smile as the mysterious male gently placed his hand on top of hers.
"Do not be frightened...I have known you since before you even were born into this world...Bloom..." the male murmured softly. "Just as your name you started from a tiny seedling into a beautiful...vibrant flower...such kindness...and strength...and yet...I see a deep sorrow burdening your heart...what troubles you so sweet Faerie?..." the male asked Bloom softly. The redhead opened her mouth but nothing came out as her eyes were filled with conflicting emotions.
"So...So many people have died...I've never seen anything like this before...all the blood...the pain...the screams...back in my own world I've witnessed countless battles and hardship...but this...it's unbearable to even think about...for the first time in my life I realise even with the Dragon Fire...just how powerless I am..." Bloom wept. "I...I don't know what to do...and to think that somehow we have to save this world along with our own...I...I..." Bloom studdered unable to continue. The male softly frowned and caressed her face gently with his hands. They were warm like the sun of spring calming her with just a single touch. As if she knew everything was going to be ok.
"I know my dear...it has placed a great sadness on all of your hearts...however...you must overcome this...before the end...I fear only more lives will fall victim to the hands of time...even so, you need to carry on...and move onward...you cannot allow those that can be saved...to perish...only you Bloom can purify the souls that have been tainted by the darkness that touches them..." the male told the faerie. "Me? Bu-But how!? I don't have that kind of power!" Bloom cried as tears fell down her face.
"When you were granted Celestix...each of you received a special power which Destiny has bestowed upon you...the Phoenix has given you the gift of purification...with her special flames you can cleanse the taint from their spirits...and send them to the beyond..." he murmured softly before Bloom's eyes widened. "Be strong...and know that I shall be watching over you..." the mysterious male told her as everything started to disappear. Bloom gasped as she saw the scene before her start to fade away.
"W-WAIT! PLEASE WAIT!" Bloom cried out as she reached out towards him. "BEFORE YOU GO AT LEAST TELL ME YOUR NAME!" the faerie call out to the male before her. "I am called many things...The God Of The Moon...The Great Mage...The Father of Mortals...but my True name is Artemis Moon..." the mysterious male whispered before Bloom found herself standing back in Kaiba's arms. As if only a second had passed. Gently Bloom removed herself from Kaiba and took a moment to walk among the corpses taking in each one's face. She could never have imagined facing so much death could be so hard. The party only looked at her in silence. Bloom closed her eyes as she thought over the words The Great Mage had spoken to her. Taking a deep breath the Faerie prepared herself for what was to come next.
"WINX CELESTIX! CELESTIX!" Bloom cried transforming. Slowly she fluttered her wings and flew above the bodies. Bright paused as he came upon her. Unable to take his eyes off her the prince watched the faerie as she ascended into the air gradually. The heart charm on Bloom's thigh slowly unleashed a colored flame in turn surrounding the redhead in its illuminating flame. The fire was all different colors constantly changing. Bloom gathered the flame into her hands.
Droplettes of fire rained down turning into fire flowers. The flowers rested on the fallen gradually pushing their souls to the surface of the flower. In almost a dance Bloom gathered each flower with a soul. Slowly they rose up into the air all around the redhead. "RETURN FROM THE ASHES!" Bloom cried as she purified each of them one by one in a burst of stardust sending their spirits to rest in the beyond. She could feel all of their emotions coursing through her veins. Fear, Sorrow, anger, the pain they felt. They were so strong that Bloom was overwhelmed. Everything went dark as she fell downwards. Panicked gasped escaped the party too far away to get to her. "BLOOM!" the party cried. "LEAVE IT TO ME!" Yuri exclaimed and sprinted ahead.
"OH NO!" Bright cried as he saw the faerie plummeting towards the ground. Just in the knick of time, the blonde slid as he managed to catch Bloom in his arms before she could hit the ground. He let out a soft sigh of relief. "At least all of your souls will be at peace now...Xuri...Xuri..." Bright bit his lip as he tightly closed his eyes as grief gripped his heart. Tears trickling down his cheeks. The prince paused as he heard footsteps echo in his ears before he slowly opened his eyes and looked up in disbelief. Standing in front of the party was Xuri. Alive.
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