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| First Light; Sometimes things just aren't how they seem | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 19 2010, 06:44 PM (701 Views) | |
| Joshytclegg | Sep 19 2010, 06:44 PM Post #1 |
The grail...shall be ours...
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Warning this Fic contains strong language, violence and scenes of a sexual nature. By Reading this fic you sign away all rights to complain about the content of said Fic. Chapter 1: No grudges against striped panties It was a cold morning in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan. In an out of the way town a young, foreign but all round uninteresting boy slept. His flat was fairly empty and messy, the tatami looked like it needed a serious clean and shoes were strewn about the bedroom in a very un-Japanese fashion. The bedroom had the most personality with its large futon, kotatsu and wide screen TV, as well as the many different anime posters hung up around the room. In the cold room the boy awoke “Ugh...” the boys name was Joshua MacAllister, 5ft 8” tall, long-ish brown hair, blue eyes, wears glasses, originally English he was now fluent in Japanese due to living there from a young age. Worked at an unassuming family restaurant, watched anime and played video games, the epitome of average . “...it's early” he mumbled. Getting to his feet he headed towards the bathroom to perform his morning routine, unbeknownst to him a strange entity had entered his flat and was now closing in on his body heat. As he finished his morning bodily drainage and proceeded with washing his hands the entity struck “Guess who” the soft serene voice rang out “Urm, am gonna guess that it's Igarashi-san?” “Geez” the girl drew her hands away and Josh turned to greet her, she was a short girl at only 5ft 1” tall, she had long purple hair and a pair of cute ,very complimentary glasses “I told, you call me Kotomi-chan, Josh-kun!” “Yeah ok Kotomi-chan” Josh waved his hand in an agreeing but half-arsed manner “Don't you have school?” “Ah! You're right, damn you being a year ahead of me!” she quickly kissed him on the cheek ready to run off before suddenly realising what she had just done “I-I-I” her face was flustered “You just kissed my cheek” Josh rubbed his cheek slightly “I-I” she stammered “Shut up!” she bolted quickly to the door and left flustered and embarrassed Josh sighed, Kotomi was the first friend he had made when he had moved over to Japan and she hadn't changed how weird she was since then. Her thinking had always been scatter-logical and when in a state of ditzyness she was often more honest about how she was feeling than any other time, strangely what had just happened was one of those moods, which would prompt a lot of deep thought for Josh later but, for now at least, he was too spaced out to pay attention. As he had finished in the bathroom he decided to head to the living room, it was his day off so he felt a need to be relaxing. Upon entering his face cracked the first smile of the day, his eyes had spotted his blade collection. Some might call it an obsession and...that's exactly what Josh called it. He currently had twelve blade sets; the pride of his collection was a gorgeous Katana, Wakizashi and Tanto set that had been together ever since they had been crafted 390 years previously, truly magnificent pieces, certainly worth the money he spent on them. Many of the other blades had been gifted to Josh by his father, who liked gifting him with things he knew Josh would enjoy. Turning on the TV, which was notably smaller than the one in the bedroom, Josh sighed, there was another one, there was always one a week on average but lately it felt like it had been happening daily. One after the other people with abilities had been robbing places, attacking people and so on. Abilities weren't a new thing, they had been about for ever since he could remember, it never seemed strange, they went to the Academy city and got trained with their talent and in all other fields and then usually stayed in Academy City where work for Espers,a coined term for ability users, was plentiful or just got really high paying jobs with the Military, Police or Strike, the force of Esper Policing. Josh laughed because it seemed so like some of the animes he watched but when crimes started getting committed left, right and centre, with Strike seeming unwilling or just slow to respond, it just really grated on Josh's sense of justice. Having being born without an ability, he always felt powerless to stop the bad ones, even if the statistics said less than 0.1% of all 3,400,000 lead a life of crime, it was just too much for Josh, but, what could such a powerless person do? He could try being a hero but he'd die against those with powers, what purpose would it serve if a Fire Esper burnt him to a crisp? Or a Water Esper drowned him while he was on dry land? No, some matters are just left untouched by the powerless, it was much easier to let it grate at his conscience and annoy him than get himself killed “Three people were killed in the bank heist today”the reporters words cut across the room and prompted Josh to kick the kotatsu he was sat under. Well sometimes it is ok to vent stress, even just a little. Turning off the TV he heard a knock at the door, it was early but by now anyone Josh knew from his school was already there, so logically it could only be the landlord, he braced himself, the landlord was a beautiful woman but with a strange temperament, she was also a Seduction Esper so keeping your wits about you was paramount if you didn't want to have what appeared to be a seduction turn into a bollocking from the devil landlord, a technique which, not so surprisingly, she felt gave a lot of impact. Josh opened the door tentatively. “Good morning Josh-san” “You too Ai-san” Josh referred to her on a first name basis not through his preference but hers and, at the time, Josh had felt it prudent to keep to her wishes lest he cause an argument “What is it?” “I am just here to talk” she shoved past into the flat, taking her shoes off at the entrance, a courtesy Josh didn't provide his flat. Ai entering his flat meant only one thing. “Would you like breakfast?” Josh sighed, slipping on his apron as he headed towards the kitchen “Oh well if you're offering” She smiled with the expression of a contented cat “Yeah, yeah” Josh proceeded to make a large western style breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, tomatoes and toast. Ai particularly liked western food and was a regular occurrence in Josh's flat. She wasn't a presence he disliked, no infact he adored having such a beautiful woman in his house, he just wished she didn't eat so much; but with rent lower than anyone else in the entire block, he could hardly complain. Breakfast finished and Josh began to wash up, it was a big job due to having a guest but he enjoyed her company so it wasn't so bad. As always after breakfast she would lay on her favourite pillow with her legs under the kotatsu. She was gifted with a gorgeous figure, a nice balanced height of 5ft 5”, long flowing dark green hair and beautiful crystal blue eyes but with that came the temperament of a rabid fox when she was displeased. Therefore keeping Ai happy was a core part of Josh having a semi-normal life. “So...” Josh began, looking over at the beautiful woman under his kotatsu “Anything else you wanted?” Ai kept her eyes closed “Urm...” “ 'Urm...?', Ai-san you didn't come down here to tell me something and then forget because you wanted breakfast, did you?” Josh watched Ai wriggle further under the kotatsu trying to hide from him; despite the fact in any confrontation she would have the upper hand. “So what is it that you forgot to tell me?” “Urm...” she hesitated, trying to recall the events of the morning “Oh yeah, the postman dropped off a big package addressed to you” “A package? Who from?” Josh asked, pretending to be uninterested “Your father, I think...” she yawned and poured herself some tea from the pot on the kotatsu. Josh tried to contain his excitement over this news “Where is it then?” a set of keys collided with his chest and slid into his aprons front pocket “My flat” she yawned and cuddled up to her pillow Josh took off his apron, hanging it on a hook just outside the kitchen, and quickly headed out of the flat; leaving Ai to her own devices in his flat, an unusually troubling concept. Upon arriving at the door to Ai's flat the first thing he noticed, the first thing anyone would notice, was a large gargoyle perched over the door, as if to ward off intruders. 'Surely' Josh though to himself as he unlocked the door 'Ai-san could manage that herself?'. Entering cautiously the first thing that struck Josh, the first of many, was the mess. It was mess worse than Josh's flat, clothes, fast food packaging and cans were everywhere. Taking off his shoes at the door, Josh walked slowly through the flat. Less than five steps in he caught his foot on something, looking down Josh could do nothing other than stop, it was a pair of black lace panties and they were caught in a way that would require being removed by hand...or that's what he told himself. “Carefully...” he whispered this to himself as he leaned against a wall and slowly removed Ai's panties from his foot. After this action was successfully completed he looked around the room, he was alone, after double checking this fact he gradually brought the panties closer to his nose. As the panties drew closer and he began to get certain tantalising fragrances from them, the front door slammed, prompting him to drop the panties and try to act nonchalant. Upon a quick inspection it appeared no one was at the door but a window on the other side of the flat was open, this meant a strong breeze must have decided to ambush him when he was most on edge. “Damn” he muttered, knowing he could never muster up the courage to try that again. After cursing the powers of the wind a few more times he headed over to the table on which a long and large package sat. Josh quickly checked who it was from and it was indeed from his dad. He tore open the packaging and found a card sitting on top of the bubble wrap, it read “I saw this and to me it just seemed like it was made just for you. This is your birthday and Christmas presents for the next 5 years. Enjoy son.” this made a smile cross his face and then he continued to rip open the packaging. Inside was an object that nearly reduced Josh to a blubbering wreck; Two Katana blades, one mounted with all traditional fittings with a beautiful re-lacquered saya, the certificate of authenticity on the top stated it was over six hundred years old and only the Saya had needed re-lacquering, the rest had been repolished and taken back to the quality it was when it had been forged. The other Katana blades was mounted in one of Josh's favourite styles, it was Shirasaya mounted, not only that but it wasn't a new Shirasaya set of mounts they were just as old as the blade at over six hundred years old and yet it looked brand new. Josh could only guess at how much this had cost his father but it must've been more than a couple of new cars. The packaging was quickly thrown away and Josh left the flat with the card and his two new blades. As he entered his flat again it was immediately apparent that while she was still in the flat due to her shoes being by the door but she appeared to have shifted from the front room to another room. It was simple to assume that maybe she had gone to the toilet but, if you knew her as well as Josh, you'd know that probably wasn't the case, if she need the toilet she would've headed back to her flat. Placing his blades down on the kotatsu he walked towards his bedroom, assuming she was in there playing on his Xbox. He slid the door open in an uninterested manner but caught his breath when he saw Ai. She wasn't playing on his Xbox, she was naked in his bed, he knew she was naked because all her clothes were in a pile at the end of the bed, including her underwear. The thin sheets were draped over body in an extremely erotic fashion and if the sun was just slightly brighter they might have been see through. Undeterred Josh entered his room slowly, trying to act as if he hadn't noticed the naked woman in his bed he sat down by his bedroom kotatsu. Every so often he glanced over at her sleeping form. “Such torture” he mumbled, an act which seemed to disturb Ai as she rolled over a few seconds later, pulling the sheets down from her chest, uncovering her large inviting breasts. Josh nearly fainted at that moment but managed to keep his calm, although his eyes could no longer look anywhere else. The large round breasts with their beautiful pink nipples that were so casually laid bare in front of him were all to delightful a prospect to pass up. 'Just this once' he though to himself as he slowly reached out his right hand. He was now past a point of rational thought, another part of his anatomy had now taken control of all bodily operations. His fingers gently brushed her right breast and slowly he gripped it with his hand, 'so soft' he thought as he squeezed it which managed to elicit, what can only be described as a moan, from Ai. As Josh continued to squeeze her breast, eventually using his left hand on her left breast, he didn't notice the presence of someone entering his flat. The presence didn't stop to take anything, it simpley headed to the bedroom, where the perverted but all round nice guy that was Josh sat unaware. Josh didn't notice as his bedroom door slid open and a person stood in the doorway watching him. The person watching him shook their head at what they were seeing, it was like something out of a bad ecchi manga. The person drew closer and seized Josh by the shoulder “What the?!” Josh swung round and faced the person who had grabbed his shoulder. The person was female, not just that, she was pretty short, she had dark blue hair and cold, empty eyes. “Joshua MacAllister?” her voice was soft but still seemed cold to Josh “Y-yes?” “I am sorry but you must be removed from the system” saying that she drew a long needle like weapon. It was at least thirty inches long from tip to hilt but had a hilt much like a sword but curved more like a scimitar “Wait!” she did not listen and drove the needle forward, Josh quickly dived out of the way letting the needle jam itself into the wall. “W-what is it?” Ai awoke and saw the girl trying to kill Josh. She jumped to her feet but was knocked out quickly by a swift punch from the assailant, much to Josh's dismay although he doubted whether seduction would be affective on a female in the first place. “Such an annoyance” the girl tutted, finally relinquishing the needle from the wall and turning her attention to her fleeing prey “Poor thing, it thinks it can escape me” the girl followed him through to the front room at a leisurely pace. She entered the front room and looked around for her prey, he was stood by the kotatsu pointing a stunning katana at her. “You intend to fight me?” she readied the needle “Why? Do most of your victims just allow you to kill them” “The smart ones do...” she lunged forward at an incredible speed making it very difficult to block the stab, Josh barely managed it by swinging the katana down and directing her shot at the floor. Seizing his chance Josh brought the hilt of his katana down towards her skull but to no avail, her hand shot upwards and grabbed the katana and with incredible strength tore it from his hands and punched him to the floor. Drawing her needle out of the ground she stood over Josh, she was wearing a skirt and Josh could easily see her panties but he was more focused on the needle that was inches from his face. “Any last words?” the girls voice was cold but her eyes had changed, she appeared to be reticent to end his life “I do infact” a new wave of confidence came across Josh “I see your panties” he sniggered. The girl blushed and pulled down the hem of her skirt trying to hide herself, Josh saw his chance and pushed his arms forward suddenly, forcing her to the floor and sending her weapon spinning across the room. The position they ended up in was something you'd see in an ecchi manga, he was on top of her with his hands pinning down her arms, his legs either side of her and his face extremely close to hers. “P-pervert!” she snapped, obviously embarrassed at being beaten and having her panties seen “Just kill me already!” “Look, I don't know why you want to kill me but by now Strike is on their way and I won't get any answers out of you if I kill you or if Strike imprison you, so...” Josh got to his feet and stepped away from her, making sure he was in reach of his katana just in case “Please run” She also got to her feet but looked away from him “Why are you being so kind?” Josh couldn't help but chuckle “Well as I said I want answers and also...” he smiled “can't hold anything against a girl with blue striped panties” “My name is Alice” She simply blushed and ran out of the room, forgetting her weapon. It was fifteen minutes later that Strike arrived; Josh had hidden the needle weapon so that Strike wouldn't enquire about it and lied about the Dangerous Esper sensor in his house, saying it was faulty and that no one had been in his house, even managing to get Ai to go along with it by bribing her with a bacon sandwich and not telling anyone she was naked in his bed. It was almost two o'clock when Strike packed up and left. They mentioned there not being sufficient evidence to start an investigation and the packed up all their gear and left. Josh had simply thought that they shouldn't have turned up in the first place, it seemed pretty pointless that they would arrive late, do nothing and then leave. He sat by his kotatsu leaning against the wall, Ai was sat next to him, her face showed she was worn out already by the day. After Strike had left she had gotten very upset about not being able to help Josh in the slightest and she had taken a lot of comforting to calm down. “So...” Ai began, she didn't look sure of what she was going to say “Hmm?” Josh sat staring into space, not fully aware of everything around him “You really saved me Josh-san...” “Heh I don't think she would've killed you Ai-san” “Still...she could've and that's why I am grateful to you for saving me” Ai smiled warmly at him, it was not uncommon for Ai to smile but to do it with such warmth and genuine happiness was certainly a rarity. “Heh well thanks I guess” “Save me again some time handsome” she giggled and pecked him on the cheek “You might just get a big reward” “Well with that sort of encouragement I will certainly try Ai-san” “Good...” she rested her head on his shoulder and slowly fell asleep. Her sleeping face was something Josh had not noticed before, it was cute, something he might not have expected of the scary landlord. He stroked her hair slightly and then slowly laid her down on the floor, placing a pillow carefully under her head, it was rather warm in the flat from it only being in the early afternoon but he decided to put a light blanket over her, just to make sure she didn't get ill. Josh looked around the room as he waited for Alice to return, the need for answers from her merely raised his anticipation of her return. It was late afternoon by the time she returned, her face was sullen and she would not look Josh in the eye. She appeared shocked when Josh asked her to sit with him under the kotatsu. “So...Alice-san, first things first...” Josh smiled and reached to the certain of the kotatsu “Would you like some tea?” “I...urm...yes please” she blushed and stared at the table as Josh poured the tea Josh slid the fresh cup of green tea over to her “So would you care to explain why you tried driving a needle through my skull?” “Orders...” “Orders?” she nodded slowly “My dad got into a lot of debt with the Yakuza and now I run jobs for them to pay it off. Usually they just assign me stuff like deliveries and stuff but today I got the order to kill you, it would pay off the last fifteen million yen I owe them. I-I didn't want to do it but...” “So why did the Yakuza want me dead?” “Urm something to do with your father causing them problems.” This was something Josh could easily believe, his father had a lot of influence in the business world and just as much influence in the underworld. “So you need a job?” “H-huh?!” “Well you can't kill me so maybe you can arrange to pay off the rest of the debt by cash. From what I know of the Yakuza, they are criminals but they aren't dishonest, as long as they get paid you won't be forced to do anything.” “But getting a job in this town is...” “Easy.” “Eh?!” “I will talk with my boss tomorrow. He will definitely give you a job if I recommend you. If you have a house I suggest you sell it to pay towards the debt, hopefully pay it off all in one. Then you can get a flat in this block. The rent is great although I feel you will have to apologise to Ai-san.” “Y-yeah I didn't mean to do that. I was sort of caught up in the moment” “Well Ai-san will be very forgiving as long as she knows I have forgiven you” Alice finally looked Josh in the eye, she was crying and smiling at the same time. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and giggled. “You are too nice to the person who tried to kill you. Why is that?” “Well I just figured you couldn't be a bad person if you hesitated and looked like you were going to cry during a fight” he poured himself some tea and sipped it slowly “Plus I looked at your panties, I figure this makes us even” “So what about Ai-san, how much will it take you to make it even for groping her breasts?” “Lets just say I have already made up for that” Josh gave a nervous smile and finished his tea “So would you like to stay here for tonight? I have an extra futon” “N-no. I will sleep at home tonight and get everything sorted out with the Yakuza, I think my home might be enough to settle the debt. I will come by tomorrow though” “Well I head to work at eleven tomorrow and come back about eight. So here...” he passed a spare key over to her “Take this, in case you need to come by before I get back. Although if you are going to come by, tell Ai-san first” “You are too kind...” she slid the spare key back over to him “For now at least...I'd like to spend time earning your trust...I can't stand you being so kind to me when I have done nothing to earn it” She got to her feet and headed to the door “Don't be so trusting Josh-san, you might get hurt” “Wait Alice-san” Josh interrupted “What did you mean when you said I must be removed from the system?” “Its what the letter said for me to say to you before killing you” she said in an confused manner before leaving Josh thought quietly to himself ' that doesn't sound like the Yakuza to me, something else must be going on here'. Kotomi wandered home after a tiring day of school. She hadn't been able to get any work done, Josh had been on her mind all day. What she had done was an accident but it had been on her mind ever since she had left his flat. It was such a silly thing to do but she had always felt quite strongly towards Josh. When they were in school together he always stood up for her, even when no one else would. He'd walk her home at the end of school, wait for her if she had clubs to attend, bring her food if she was busy at lunch or look after her when she was ill. With all this, she couldn't help but come to love him, you could even say it was inevitable. Whenever she saw him her heart would beat faster and she just wanted to blurt out that she loved him but since it was Josh, she wanted to wait and see if he liked her as well because if she was rejected she didn't know how to recover from it. “I love that idiot....” she sighed to herself “I must be crazy or something” but as she thought of him again, her heart began to beat faster and she began to blush a deep red. She entered the block of flats, bumping into a girl who was rushing down the stairs but not being given a chance to apologise before the girl dashed out of the block. Heading up the stairs Kotomi sighed to herself, she had a strange feeling that it was Josh who'd made that girl run of like that. Swift punishment was to be exacted. It took less than a minute to get to Josh's flat, she quickly took out her key and entered. The first thing she noticed was the pair of shoes placed nicely at the door, from this she knew that Ai was around. Slipping off her shoes she entered the front room, Ai was on the floor sleeping under a blanket, an act that Kotomi found peculiar as Ai usually slept under the kotatsu. Kotomi proceeded to go to the bedroom in her search for Josh. After a momentary inspection of the room he couldn't be found, so, after summoning all her courage, she knocked lightly on the bathroom door. “U-urm J-Josh-kun?” she stammered “Oh is that you Kotomi-chan?” he replied “I am just in the bath at the moment, if you wait in the front room I will be out in a minute” “B-bath...” she whispered to herself, her face turning a bright red at several thoughts going through her mind. She cleared her head of those thoughts very quickly and headed into the front room, sitting with her legs under the kotatsu. A few minutes later Josh entered, dressed in a light shirt. a pair of jeans and a fresh pair of socks. “Yo Kotomi-chan” he laughed in a light hearted manner “Why was there a girl running from the block earlier?” she sipped at some green tea she made herself “Hm? Oh you mean Alice-san, well you see...” So Josh spent the next half an hour explaining the days events while Kotomi listened diligently “So you are telling me...you befriended someone who tried to kill you?” “Pretty much” by this time Josh had made himself some green tea “Geez...you are way too trusting. If you get killed I won't forgive you" despite how comical this statement sounded her eyes were deadly serious, so Josh resisted the urge to laugh at her “Yeah I know. I like your new uniform Kotomi-chan” Josh smiled and motioned to her uniform. It was black blazer with a white shirt and red ribbon, a short black skirt and thigh length black socks. She blushed again “S-stop changing the subject idiot!” “Am not changing it. I felt that topic was done with and decided to move onto the new topic of your cute uniform” he smiled in his usual casual manner “T-There's nothing cute about it!” “I beg to differ. It highlights your brilliant figure.” Josh said this as if it was nothing “Shut up idiot!” Kotomi blushed a deeper red and threw a pillow at him trying to hide her embarrassment “You shouldn't just go blurting those things out” “Yeah ok” he laughed but thought secretly 'I don't think she'll ever get it...I wish she would though...' “J-Josh-kun about this morning...” her gaze was fixed on the floor “I-I'm sor-” “Don't!” Josh interrupted, his composure broken “Don't apologise...” “J-Josh-kun?” Kotomi's gaze was back on Josh now “Kotomi...I...I” Josh tried to summon courage that had been evading him for over four years now “Nnnnnn” a groaning sound was emitted from Ai which broke the atmosphere that had been laid heavily around the room “Ah Ai-san!” Josh panicked watching her sit up, Kotomi covered her blushing face “Heh” Ai smirked “The joys of youth” With the tension broken and Josh's courage drifting away like a leaf on the wind the group set about talking about the days events, with Josh informing Ai of his discussion with Alice and convincing Ai to let her have the empty flat next to his. Ai eventually agreed to his request on the grounds that Alice had to apologise and Josh had to make her breakfast every morning. |
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| Joshytclegg | Oct 17 2010, 06:41 PM Post #2 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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Chapter 2: A tyrant king of the undead The six men met outside an western style café early that morning, it was a freezing cold that made their breath become clouds of steam. It was much too early for the café to be open but they gathered there anyway. They all wore the same black trench coats but otherwise they each had their own distinct style. The first to initiate the conversation was a man with dark red hair and a badly scarred face named Flint. “So...” he began, he was clicking his fingers every few seconds, this sparked off a small flame on his index finger each time “We all know the plan?” “I guess so” responded a silver haired man with glasses, otherwise known Graaff “Yeah” agreed the other four named Magna, Rev, Houdini and J.Griffin, whom was often referred to as Jay. Magna was tall with short grey hair and a slightly older look about him, he also had a noticeable burn scar across his forehead. Completely the opposite was Rev, his youthful good looks and styled electric blue hair was an almost luminescent contrast to Magna. Finally there was the twins, Houdini and Jay, both had snow white hair that dropped just past their shoulders and crystal blue eyes which had earned them the nickname, the winter wolves. All of them were Espers, high ranking Espers at that, none of them being less than a rank four on the Esper power scale. After a quick nod of general agreement about the plan, the group broke up and headed off in their own directions, ready to put their plan into action that afternoon. Not too far away, the young boy's sleep was once again disturbed...by a light kick to the head. Josh awoke to find Ai stood over him wearing only a light shirt, skirt and panties, which Josh could clearly see. However this did not please him much, he had work but he also had to cook Ai's breakfast and many other tasks to be undertaken in the morning “Leave me alone” Josh groaned irritably Ai shook her head, not ready to let Josh miss work. She quickly lowered her self to her knee's and, gently brushing her lips against his ear, whispered “Get up sweety...” Josh sat up quickly, his face suddenly only inches from hers “Sure thing babe” he chuckled lightly, even more so when Ai blushed. With himself thoroughly woken up, and Ai moved into the front room, he performed his morning routine. Sat in the front room Ai pondered what she was doing or at least pondering why she had such an interest in Josh's life. It was possible she felt the need to protect him after what happened but it didn't seem likely, even if she felt like protecting him that was not enough to force a lifestyle change from bad friends to an attempt at being close friends “Maybe...” she voiced to herself “Maybe I'm the one who wants protection” “Even if you do...” Josh's voice sliced through the air like one of his prized blades. Ai turned her head to look at him, his smile was still as cheerful as ever as he walked into the kitchen in his work clothes “Even if you do Ai-san...I don't mind because you are a good friend of mine. I'd happily take a bullet or in yesterdays case, a needle, for you.” brushing the situation off as if it were nothing he began preparing breakfast, not wanting to tell Ai that he was still scared from the previous days events. After half an hour the breakfast was served and the two sat down to eating. “Kotomi-chan is late...” Ai said in an almost distant manner “Hmm you're right” Josh said thoughtfully, moments before Kotomi burst through the door, with burst being the overstatement of the century since it was more like the lurch of a zombie “Morning...” her defeatist voice managed to rasp out before curling up by Josh, with her body half under the kotatsu. Her body seemed tense and stressed, her hands were clenched into fists and her teeth, while not visible, were clearly gritted. Josh gently placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair slowly. “They gone away again...?” he asked in a soft voice, his thumb gently moving across her hair, his eyes looking across the room at Ai, hinting for her to leave, which she did in an obvious manner. “Why do they always abandon me?” her voice seemed weak and pained “I am sure they wouldn't if they didn't have to” “I only see them a few months in a year Josh. Who does that much work?” she moved her head into his lap and looked up at him. Her glasses were askew, her eyes a deep soul capturing blue, her lips showed a small frown which dominated her expression of sadness; the sight of this beautiful girl took his breath away. “Your parents love you Kotomi-chan, anyway your brother is about isn't he?” his gaze couldn't be drawn away from her beauty and his hand hadn't moved from stroking her hair “No...he is away on a trip to Tokyo for a month, some study in a prestigious school or something...” Josh sighed, he knew he was going to have to do something “Look...” something that would hurt his bank balance “Why don't you come here for meal times?” “What do you mean?” she looked at him with her sad eyes “I mean for breakfast and tea you come here and I cook you something, so we can hang out and you don't have to go home to an empty house” Josh was living on a fairly low wage as it was and providing extra food in the morning was bad enough “But please try and chip some cash in, I am not made of money” “S-sure, you can have the living allowance my parents left me” Josh nodded, appeased that only his work load would be increasing and not his bills, he moved his hand from Kotomi's hair and gently moving her off his lap. He quickly grabbed a bag from the corner of the room and checked himself in the front rooms small mirror. “Right Kotomi-chan I have to be going to work” that simple thought made him feel sick to his stomach, he'd much rather have spent his day comforting Kotomi “Look, call up school and tell them you aren't well enough to come in today. Just stay here, relax, if you need somewhere to sleep use the spare room” “Spare room?” Kotomi lifted herself off the floor “Kotomi-chan you have been coming here how long? The spare bedroom you can only get to through my room” “Oh that door? I thought that was a closet” “Ugh seriously...anyway yeah just get some rest I have to be going!” “Bye!” she shouted after him, he hadn't heard in his rush to get to work. Josh set off on his usual route to work, an uninteresting walk through the residential district till he reached the restaurant . It was a mid-sized building with a speciality in western foods of which Josh was the Sous-chef, however due to a plague of not being able to cook most Japanese foods, he had to share the position with a rather...interesting individual. “Good Morning Josh-kun!” shink...shink...shink, the sound of a blade being sharpened as Josh rounded the corner to the back door of the restaurant. Standing there was the lax figure of Taiga, sharpening a Wakizashi so casually just outside the back door “Yeah, yeah good morning Taiga-san. How is Sybil this morning?” Josh asked in his usual half interested manner “She is good. A few more goes of the whet stone and I am confident she could slice through a horse in one go!” Taiga said in his ever so scary upbeat manner, violently swinging the Wakizashi, its sharp edge and bo-hi creating a sleek slashing sound through the air. “Ah I was waiting for the homicidal side to rear its ugly head” Josh joked as he walked in ...shink “Ack! What's with this killing aura I sense...?” “Homicidal am I?!” swish...thud! The Wakizashi buried itself deep into the door frame. “J-Just a tad Taiga-san...”...shink... “Urm Taiga-san....how many blades do you have with you?” “Plenty...” The killing intent intensified until- “Oh hello Taiga-san!” An old lady called over. Clatter. The blades were dropped and Taiga turned around. “Ah good morning Miss!” Josh made a quick escape as Taiga wrapped himself up in conversation with the old lady. A deep sigh of relief was let out by Josh, he hated Taiga, he was indeed the homicidal Sous-chef everyone made him out to be. The Wakizashi he owned, Sybil, was what he used to prepare the Japanese food and to threaten any customer who dared to complain. However he wasn't the only person in the restaurant that Josh didn't like. “Good morning Mimi-san” Josh yawned as he entered the staff room and yelped as he flew out of the staff room due to the strike of a pan. “I may not have heard you right Josh-kun but did you call me Mimi-san?” the short girl giggled with a lot more happiness than should be expected of someone who just launched her subordinate into a wall “Sorry, Mimi-sama” Mimi, a four foot and six inch, pink haired, smile wearing demon with the tenacity of an angry wolf or at least that's how she appeared to Josh. Most people saw her as the harmless lolita Head Chef and never discovered the pure evil underneath, probably to the benefit of the restaurant. Josh continued into the staff room after managing to clamber to his unsteady feet. The staff room was a fairly small room, it led through to the staff toilet and the staff changing room. He entered the changing room and quickly changed into his Chef uniform. Work that day consisted of mostly Japanese food so Josh had an easy workload. However half way through his shift “Hey Josh-san!” a familiar voice called through the serving hatch nearly causing Josh to drop the food he was cooking “Hey Andy-san, don't shout so loud next time” Josh continued cooking the dish as he conversed with his friend “You on break soon?” Andy moved slightly out of the way of the serving hatch as not to disturb the flow of the restaurant “Yeah I should be, we going round to the coffee shop?” “Of course! I wouldn't dream of missing a chance to see the radiant Mocca-san” “Heh, Mocca-san is pretty great” Josh placed the finished order through the serving hatch “Mimi-sama I'm going on break!” “Actually Josh-san, you can head home, business is slow today and it looks like just me and Taiga can handle this” Mimi shouted over from her work station. That was all Josh needed, he quickly headed through to the changing room, grabbed his bag and went over to the coffee shop next door to the restaurant. The coffee shop was significantly smaller than the restaurant. The inside was in a western style and served anything from lattes, hot chocolates to any kind of tea imaginable. Also it was run by the warm and kind Mocca-san,who possessed flowing pink hair and a great figure. Unlike most customers Josh and Andy never went and sat down at any of the tables. Their routine was a far cry from what most people would do in a coffee shop. Going behind the counter and straight down into the cellar. Mocca-san awaited them at a table in the cellar, reading a book leisurely, her sister Elci was running the shop above. “Hey Mocca-san” Josh put on his usual cheerful smile upon greeting the beauty sat in front of him “Hey you guys. Dragonfly is set up already since I knew you'd be coming. I also prepared the tea pot, that'll be four hundred and forty yen” she lowered the book she had been reading and began serving out the tea, a very small but powerful smile on her face. Josh walked over to the large object on the floor, Dragonfly, it was a project Josh and Andy had concocted two years previous after they had met at the coffee shop. What they had created through a combination of, Andy's connections, talent for physics and Josh's minor talent for electronics, was a very powerful rail-gun. It spanned around six foot long, weighed over fifteen kilograms, had over ten capacitors and nine batteries on a belt which was worn on the gunner. Josh quickly strapped on the battery belt and lifted up the weighty gun, steadying himself by putting one leg forward. Loading one round into the gun, the ammo was a small metal pellet much like the ones used in BB guns, Josh raised the the gun to his shoulder and aimed down the iron sight, the cellar they were in was quite long and provided an ideal firing range for the rail-gun on low power. He took a deep breath, the target was small but he could see it, he pulled back the trigger, an ear piercing sound erupted from the gun but the recoil was extremely light. It may have been the overstatement of the century to call Josh normal. “I have been meaning to ask you Andy, where the hell did you find these batteries?” Josh unclipped the belt and set the gun down “That's classified information” Andy replied in a slightly lack lustre manner, he was writing hurriedly on a notepad, probably doing some calculations and equations on how to improve Dragonfly. Josh simply picked up the cup of tea that had been poured and sipped it, a small smile crossing his lips. On a whim, Josh headed upstairs and outside with his tea, making his way to the small car park by the wheat fields. He sat looking out over the wheat fields, a gentle breeze swayed the field gently and all was calm...there! Something was coming towards him at a terrific speed, he instinctively dodged backwards and the object approaching him missed, hit the barrier to the wheat fields and crashed down a small hill. Out of sheer curiosity Josh looked down the hill, there was a tall man wearing an old flat cap and leather jacket in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hill. As he raised himself to his feet an horrible feeling struck Josh. 'Gotta run. Gotta run or he'll kill me. He'll kill me. He'll kill me if I don't run. Kill me. Kill me. He'll kill me. So why can't I run?!' the figure raised himself to his feet, as soon as his gaze reached Josh it'd be the end 'Gotta run. Gotta run. He is going to kill me!' their eyes suddenly locked. It happened in an instant. With speed of a cheetah the man leaped up the hill and collided, rather splendidly, with Josh's foot, sending him back down the hill but consequently hurting Josh's ankle. Seizing his one chance Josh dashed for the coffee shop, it couldn't have been more than two hundred metres away but that was still much too far. Before he had even cleared ten metres on his hurt ankle the enemy had caught him up, slamming a fist into his back causing him to land on the bonnet of a car. “Tch. I don't see why the first one they sent had so much trouble. I will give ya one thing me lad.” his voice had a thin Irish accent, he wore a charm in the shape of a clover on his leather jacket, obviously a man trying to reassure those he met that he was Irish, his voice was hushed as he pulled a small knife from his jacket “Ya certainly have a way with the ladies. No denying it, turned an enemy into an ally. It was a bitch to keep that girl Ai shut up and that girl Kotomi didn't seem at all interested in me, I really hope I didn't hurt her when I knocked her out” Before Josh could lash out something struck the man from the side sending him hurtling across the car park. Josh didn't even think to check what force had mysteriously saved him, although he later discovered it was the well known local butler Ejlo, he simply dived towards the man, whom he was nicknaming Irish, and began punching him repeatedly across the face. As Josh raised his fist for another punch Irish kicked him up and got to his feet, quickly running away using his furious speed “Josh!” Andy drove over in his car, Dragonfly was on the back seat “Get in or that speedy b*****d will escape!” No extra encouragement was needed and Josh was on the back seat clipping on the battery belt before Andy could blink. The tires screeched as the car set off in hot pursuit of Irish. Irish was keeping ahead of the car but barely, the narrow streets and tight corners prevented him taking too much of a lead, it was Andy's guess that he was only a level two speed Esper, how Andy had gauged this Josh was not sure. After several minutes the chase came to a long stretch of road running alongside the wheat fields, if they didn't take a chance now, Irish would outrun them. Leaning out the window Josh hoisted Dragonfly into firing position, loading a heavier round, he observed Irish. Irish had taken no evasive actions and was simply running a straight line. 'Easy shot' Josh snickered, upping the power level from two to five. He pulled the trigger, encountering an unexpectedly powerful recoil which nearly dislodged him form the window, the shot travelled the short distance in an almost instantaneous manner, striking beside Irish left foot with the force of a tank shell, propelling him through the air and into the wheat field. Instead of stopping, Andy-in his ever infinite wisdom, simply slammed through the barrier into the field and pulled a handbrake turn. Josh stepped tentatively out of the car, his feet touching slowly against the ground. In that moment the sky became overcast and the breeze picked up. Upon turning around he immediately noticed the lack of a car, Andy and the town, it was now just a wheat field as far as the eye could see, he sensed something inherently dangerous about the situation and gripped Dragonfly slightly tighter. Not too far away, Irish got to his feet unsteadily, he had wounds all down his left side and appeared to have suffered a head injury as blood drenched the whole left side of his face. “Irish! What the f*** have you done? Where's the town?” Josh raised Dragonfly, still on setting five, a shot from it would be an extremely bloody fatality “Listen to me lad. Do I look like I have this kind of power? And who the f*** you nicknaming at a time like this?!” Irish raised his blood drenched hands in defence of the accusations being made. It was true that Irish didn't seem to have this level of power and it would be almost impossible for someone that wounded to perform the trick occurring. “Indeed there is no way he could do this” an slightly limp and weak willed voice cut in. A figure had appeared in the field, his flowing black robe covered everything below his neck, his pitch black hair covered his eye on one side and the eye that could be seen was bloodshot with dark circles around it, his iris possessed a ferocious red colour providing a stark contrast to the rest of his appearance. In his hands he possessed two large, rusted European sickles, on the blades the words Good and Harvest were deeply inscribed “It is of course me doing this, just call me Director Etsuru” his voice was gleeful and laced with sadism. Etsuru clicked his neck looking at what can only be described as his prey. His eyes glossed over Josh, he was going to take the weak one first. His tongue ran across his dry lips as he approached Irish, his eyes filled with a deep hunger. Irish however had no plans to let Etsuru do weird things to him. In an instant Irish had closed the gap between them and jammed his knife deep into Etsuru's neck “Yes!” he cried but it was premature, no blood seeped from the wound, only dirt and dust. A contorted grin crossed Etsuru's face and he hurriedly seized Irish by the neck, lifting him off the ground with inhuman strength “Well aren't you feisty?!” Etsuru plunged his hand straight into the chest of Irish, and let the blood run down his coat, bringing a slimy snake like tongue to touch the dark lifeblood and then slowly lapping it up, running his tongue in small circles through the river of blood pouring down his arm. He soon brought the slowly dying Irish to the ground, he was only alive due to the raised endurance of all Espers and it would lead to his death being all the more agonising, Etsuru opened his mouth wide revealing razor sharp teeth and used these bestial fangs to tear and devour the flesh and blood of Irish. Tearing. Ripping. Gouging. An animal in human guise. Dark red blood drenching his lips. Entrails hanging from his filthy hands. “Why do your eyes look at me so? Is it so wrong I wish to live? That I'd do anything to fight for it?!” Etsuru looked up from the corpse of Irish, blood dribbled in a sickening manner from his chin, his fierce almost incandescent red eyes “You. You filthy creature. Inferior. Weak. You'd never understand! You haven't suffered for it, so you'd never understand!” “What the f*** are you?!” Josh flicked Dragonfly to setting ten, an unknown and extremely dangerous level of power, the barrel shook unsteadily in his arms, terrified of the monstrosity in front of him “What am I? Surely that must be obvious, even to filth like yourself?! A VAMPIRE! That's what I am! Drinker of blood, descendent of Vlad the Impaler himself!” he ran his blood soaked hand onto his fringe covered eye “See, with a lot of effort and danger, an Esper can merge with his ability. This is fairly common for power siphoning Espers to do since their bodies accept it better, however they still suffer the detrimental effects. Most Espers can't do it and very few ability types can do it. I shouldn't have been able to but I did. However after the merge, despite gaining many new powers completely unrelated to your original, your genetic base becomes unstable and requires regular replenishment, human blood and flesh is the only way. As long as we consume blood and flesh, we live forever. You. You are but mere prey in my hunting grounds boy and that rat over there didn't slake my thirst” Etsuru disappeared from view and in an instant he was in front of Josh, his sickle ready to rend open his flesh. 'f*** this! f*** THIS NIGHTMARE!' Josh's thoughts screamed out as he pulled the trigger of Dragonfly. The recoil shattered his shoulder and sent him rocketing back, the shot blew Etsuru to pieces just by passing through him however, the shot disappearing into the distance at extreme velocity. The obliterated Etsuru began to reform from his scattered pieces, it was never going to be easy. 'Lift! Lift you utter b*****d! It's only a shattered shoulder so f***ing lift!' Josh desperately tried to force his arm to move but to no avail, the immense recoil had reduced the bone to nought but shards. Using his other arm he quickly loaded several rounds into Dragonfly and struggled to lift it up, he aimed in the direction of the reforming Etsuru and fired, the recoil shattering his other shoulder, however he kept his hand on the grip and pulled the trigger until he ran out of loaded rounds, each shot unleashing waves of unspeakable pain and hurtling further across the field. However after each shot, despite the monumental power, Etsuru simply reformed, as if it were nothing. 'sh!t! I can't move my arms! This is bad. I'll die if I don't fight back. But I can't fight back.' scrambling to his feet he ran as fast as possible away from Etsuru, however with Dragonfly still clipped on his running speed was reduced and even without the aid of his powers it was easy enough for Etsuru to catch up. Swinging his right arm forward, his sickle about to cleave off his prey's head, he witnessed what can only be described as pure luck, his prey tripped and only the blunt outer side of the sickle clipped his head, knocking him out cold but saving his life. Cold. Yes this world is cold. Frozen. An endless field of white. Was I born into this world? No. That's wrong. I was always here. And so was she. Who is she? Why is she crying? Oh that's right. Someone died. She is crying because someone died. Who was it that died? Oh yeah that's right. It was me. I died. He killed me. His sickle sliced my head off. No that's wrong. It has to be wrong. Because I don't want to see her cry. That is why. I have to wake up. So that she will never have to cry. I have to wake up. A sharp intake of breath. A piercing beam of light that forced him to squint. Josh was once more back in the land of the living. Etsuru was nowhere to be seen but the sounds of combat resonated across the field. Sitting up Josh could see Andy, his face was contorted in pain, he appeared to be holding a Yari and was fighting furiously with Etsuru. It didn't look like he could last much longer. How long had he been fighting? Josh got to his feet using his hands to help himself up. His shoulders were fixed and he could move his arms with only slight amounts of very dull pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh could see a blue haired girl disappearing into the air, quite obviously his saviour. It was not the time to dwell on such matters. Andy was struggling were as Etsuru appeared to be going easy on him. Picking up Dragonfly Josh loaded in the last of his rounds and flicked the power down to setting five and carefully aimed down the iron sight. He pulled the trigger, the shot flew past Andy's ear, missing it by millimetres, and straight into and through Etsuru's head. “Tch...looks like I have to go little children. I am in need of rest and they have arrived. Even I know when to flee.” the voice of Etsuru seemed to call down from the heavens like a god to his people. “No you don't!” the still pained Andy cried out, he went to grab the corpse of Etsuru but as he tried, the earth from which he was made absorbed into the ground. As this happened, several people appeared, seemingly from thin air, they were all dressed in shortened nuns outfits and carried a variety of weapons, most bound in rune inscribed parchment. They completely ignored Andy and Josh as they charged across the field. The overcast sky and strong breeze disappeared and the sky tore itself in twain and disappeared revealing the calm clear skied day Josh had left and the town that had disappeared as if it had never existed, even the car in which they had chased Irish. However the corpse of Irish was nowhere to be found. “Andy...What was with all th-” Josh swung round but Andy immediately pressed his palm against Josh's head “Josh forget what you just saw. There was no fight against Etsuru. We caught Irish and he was arrested. You will wake up in your bed assuming you had a nap after getting home because you didn't feel well.” Andy's voice seemed to echo, his shape became blurred and distorted, then disappeared entirely as Josh blacked out. When he awoke he was in his room, it was bathed in an orange glow as the sun set and brought forth the night. Kotomi was sat by the bed with a worried look on her face. It occurred to Josh that he must've not been feeling well, from Kotomi's worried expression and the damp flannel on his head. His memories of the day were hazy at best but he could vaguely remember catching Irish and...a conflict...and Andy trying to...erase his memory. 'Andy...what are you trying to hide?' He didn't dwell on this thought too long as he had to deal with the still worried looking Kotomi “Josh-kun how are you feeling?” Her voice trembled slightly “I'm fine Kotomi-chan” He sat up, ignoring the shooting pains travelling through his shoulder “Ah you shouldn't sit up Josh-kun!...While you were sleeping...you looked like you were in a lot of pain” Kotomi's face saddened, Josh couldn't help but feel touched by her concern “No I'm fine Kotomi-chan. I promised I'd cook for you so...” it was then that he noticed the two bowls of ramen on his Kotatsu “I prepared some instant food so you wouldn't have to cook” she picked up one of the bowls and gathered some of the ramen on a spoon “Say ahh” “Excuse me?” He didn't realise he was blushing due to her statement “Open your mouth and eat the food or I pour it all over you” she glared at him intensely Josh complied with the order and opened his mouth slightly. Kotomi gently blew on the spoonful of food and moved it and herself, towards him. “Josh-san!” Alice's voice jumped across the flat causing Kotomi to bolt forward, dropping the ramen and the spoon on Josh's lap, but this was all minor compared to the other action that occurred from this. Kotomi's lips pressed gently against his. Her cheeks blushed a beautiful shade of red, her deep eyes so close, soft breath caressing his skin, her soft lips quivering gently against his. It lasted only a few seconds but to them both, it was the most important few seconds they ever experienced. Taking her lips away from his Kotomi's voice shook “J-Josh-kun, I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't mean to...” she turned away “So urm....please just forget about it” “Y-yeah.” He couldn't think of anything else to say, if he were braver, he might have told her but at the time it was impossible, however, for both of them, it only served to solidify their feelings for each other. It was only then that Josh realised the horrible burning pain from where the ramen had fallen on him and quickly changed the sheets and his jeans. Alice entered the room, oblivious to everything that had happened. It was strange for Josh to have a new addition to his life and in such an odd manner, it was even stranger the new, chirpy personality she had taken on. She sat down beside Kotomi and stared at him. “So any news on the job?” she asked after a few moments silence “Yeah I asked Mimi-san during my shift and she said it was fine and that I should bring you in tomorrow” “Aha that's great! Thank you so much!” Alice dived forward and hugged him tightly, as if she had known him for years “Thanks..Urm Alice I do have some other things to talk to you about later though” His voice took on a more serious tone as he had a subject in mind, a very important subject. |
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| Joshytclegg | Jan 17 2011, 09:15 PM Post #3 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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Chapter 3: Dead men do a lot of talking these days. The group approached the bank at a leisurely pace, standing out significantly in their black trench coats. It was the afternoon and still as cold as it had been in the morning, despite the local radio station stating it would get warmer that afternoon. Crossing the street they could feel the icy glances of those around them, treating them with suspicion, caution and distrust. Who could blame them however? These men, no matter what way you looked at it, were going to rob the bank, no doubt about it. Flint lead the pack confidently as he strode through the automatic doors. Everyone seemed to glance at them, almost as if what was about to happen was easy to tell. The bank itself was quite big, however it only had one exit and everyone seemed to realise that there would be no escape from the situation. Lighting a cigarette Flint inhaled the smoke deep and exhaled it in full view of the staff, prompting a young woman to walk over and address him “excuse me sir” she said with a faked smile and an almost sickly sweet tone “there is no smoking allowed in this building” Flint barely looked down at the woman “pardon my rudeness” and with that he flicked his cigarette through the air, drawing disgusted looks from all in the bank as it hurtled through the air and hit against the floor. One of the Strike soldiers guarding the bank crossed over to the cigarette on the floor and called over to flint. “Sir! Pick this up and dispose of it properly.” “No.” schick, the sound of a rifle being cocked “Pick up the f***ing cigarette!” the rifle was aimed squarely at Flint, the soldiers finger hovered dangerously over the trigger. Noticing the commotion all of the other soldiers, including the commander walked over. There was six of them in total. The commander immediately tried taking hold of the situation. “Lower your weapon corporal! That's an order!” “Not until this prick picks up the cigarette!” “Am not picking up the cigarette.” “I will do it!” the commander interjected Leaning down his hand drew close to the cigarette and, just as they made contact, the cigarette exploded in a massive fireball, launching the soldiers and most of the people around, to the floor. Flint sighed to himself, believing that his genius knew no bounds. The fireball danced and twirled becoming a swirling vortex within no time, blocking any attempts by people to escape past them. “Houdini...” “Yeah...am on it” Houdini stepped forward slowly and raised his right arm. An small orb formed below his palm, swirling and distorting its surface pulsed and gave out an exact reflection of the areas it was targeting. Around the groups of people in the bank small circles of distortion formed “Background energy levels viable. Co-ordinates ascertained and within acceptable safety parameters.” Houdini's voice seemed distant and was voiced in monotone “Teleport, commenced” the circles of distortion pulsed and gave off a bright flash of light, filling the room. It felt like an eternity but in reality it couldn't have taken more than fifteen seconds. The light subsided and the bank was eerily empty, Houdini sighed and swayed unsteadily, eventually steadying himself on his brothers shoulder. “Good job Houdini, now we can get to work” Flint slapped his friends back playfully. Josh had talked with Alice long into the night about what had happened, going over each minor occurrence in detail, hoping that maybe Alice would know something more than him or at least be able to provide some insight into this topic. “This is hopeless” Josh sighed, it was already midnight by this point. Kotomi had been too concerned to leave and insisted upon sleeping at the flat and was sleeping in the front room on a spare futon as Alice talked with Josh. “I am sorry Josh, I know very little about all this. I am an Esper who doesn't particularly operate under the jurisdiction of any political force but I am no expert on any of these underground things either.” “Nah it's alright...I guess we can leave this one unsolved” Josh got up from the Kotatsu “Although...” “Hmm?” he turned to her “Why not ask Andy?” So the next day, in the cool air of the early morning, on a small residential district on the east side of the town, Josh stood outside a small unassuming house, ready to have all his questions answered, one way or another. Knock knock knock, his fist struck the door three times and he stepped back, not long after a soft, delicate voice called out “Coming!” the door opened slowly and there stood, rather surprisingly a beautiful girl, her skin was white as snow and she was obviously not any parts Japanese “U-urm does Andy live here?” “Oh you must be one of Onii-chans friends” she smiled a smile so perfectly with her gentle appearance “Onii-chan? So you are...?” “I am his little sister Sakura” she giggled and bowed slightly “thank you for putting up with my brother” “Nah it's fine, he doesn't take much looking after. I am Joshua MacAllister, call me Josh.” “Onii-chan isn't here at the moment but would you like to come in for some tea?” “Sure as long as it is green tea” Sakura giggled again and guided him into the house. Walking into the living room Josh noticed several pictures of Andy and Sakura together, quickly leading him to assume a close family bond, which became even more apparent after seeing the small memorial to their parents. “So you live alone with Andy?” Sakura seemed to stop momentarily before turning around “Yes. We lost our parents seven years ago. Andy has always been here to look after me.” “Do you both work?” Josh sat down beside the small table in the centre of the room “Mhm! Andy works as an engineer and I am a...hehe well I shouldn't say.” she began to brew the tea with a giggly atmosphere about her “Hmm? I am interested now.” she placed the tea down on the table and sat across “I am not telling” she chirped playfully “Anyway Josh-san, you must have had something you wanted to talk about with Andy?” Josh looked at her seriously, he tried to comprehend whether she'd know Andy's secret “Sakura-san...I know Andy isn't an engineer” A shocked and slightly pained look crossed her face “W-what are you talking about, of course he is, why would I lie?” “To protect your vampire fighting yari wielding brother” Sakuras expression froze and the mug of tea she had in her hands clattered noisily against the table and emptied it's contents across the surface “I see...” her voice was cold, seemingly emptied of all cheer it had had when he had entered before. “Urm Sakura...” he reached out toward her slowly. A flash of silver and a pool of red, Sakura had deftly brought a silver dinner knife across Josh's palm, cutting it deep. His blood was in specks and droplets across her face and hands, the blade had already been dropped to the floor and he had rushed into the kitchen and was hurriedly wrapping a towel around his wound. “Sakura what the hell?!” “You know about Onii-chan...so I poisoned you” “Wait poisoned?!” “You have twelve hours to live. Goodbye Josh-san” Sakura seized what was once her guest by the collar and threw him outside, his power to resist the strength of such a fragile girl had vanished along with a good portion of his blood. His head pounded as the sky seemed to be split in three and would not stay still, no matter how much he ordered it too. Sitting up caused his body to convulse in new waves of agony that no head trauma should or could ever cause, it was most certainly the poison making it's way through his body, it wasn't as if Sakura had been big on giving explanations of the symptoms before throwing him out. Due to the horrific waves of pain it was several minutes until he had noticed the not left on his lap. Opening it tentatively he read the contents, it detailed specifically places he should visit if he wanted to learn more before he died. However one location was underlined repeatedly and with limited time, it would be the only place he would visit. It was a long and lonely walk to the destination specified in the note, made all the longer by Josh counting each minute that had passed on his walk there, the journey took an hour, to him it felt like his entire twelve hours were already up. Ascending a long flight of stairs it was apparent the note had lead him to the shrine just outside of town. The buildings at the top of the densely tree covered appeared to be in a state of minor disrepair, not too drastic but there was a definite feeling of neglect. Josh knocked on the door of the main building, a low voice called from inside "Welcome Joshua MacAllister" He entered, the room was poorly lit but the form of a woman could be seen knelt in the middle of the room. The voice that escaped his dry lips was weak "How do you know who I am?" "You are here" she replied sharply, as if it were obvious. "What?" "You are here, that is how we know who you are" "That makes no sense" "To you" "Good point. I was sent here by-" "Sakura-san, we know" "How?" "You are here." He sighed slightly, worried that the conversation would only circle if he kept asking questions which allowed the answer 'You are here.', after a few moments thought he went to begin his speech once more but was cut off by the woman’s low voice “You wish to know more. About those who hunt you and your friend. The answer to your questions is simple.” “Do tell then, mysterious woman.” “You have been caught up in a war. Your meeting with Etsuru was coincidental and lucky. If it weren't for him, you would not be here.” “I don't understand.” “The people trying to assassinate you, they are third party Espers, most likely employed by Strike.” “Strike but why-” “Do not interrupt. Strike have been kidnapping and removing people recently, innocent people, you must have ended up on their list. Why they are doing this is completely unknown and that is what one of the warring factions are working to find out.” “Woah slow down, factions?” “Strike is the faction that everyone is warring with, the other factions are, The Esper Battlefront, The Vampires, The Roman Catholic Church, The Anglican church and we, The Shrine Network, however we are a neutral group of...lets just say, Espers. We believe that none of these factions can improve the world, just make it worse to varying degrees” “Ok. Explain to me in detail each groups ambitions and ways of going about things” The discussion went on for several painful hours. Each minute cutting Josh's conscience like a knife, each minute being a minute he could have spent with his friends, but, for their protection he wanted to find out as much as possible. The bank had changed drastically in it's appearance. Scorch marks covered the walls,the floor was cracked by dozens of wrought iron spears impaled directly through the blood soaked tiling and two bodies lay motionless on the floor, their expressions contorted in pain in their final moments. Graaff and Jay would never see the light again. Only two people remained in the bank, a final standoff. “So your friends escaped with the disc.” the voice of a man in a strange black suit, the surface of which seemed to pulse like a living thing “We got what we came for...” Flints voice was pained and his breath staggered, his body was covered in wounds which slowly dripped blood as crimson as his hair to the floor. His eyes were drawn to the yari of the man before him, the blade had moved so fast earlier that neither Jay nor Graaff had stood a chance and now, neither would he. With a clear idea of what he needed to do, who he needed to help, who would give those close to him the best chance of safety, Josh ran from the shrine, running as fast as he could home. Bursting through the door he ran quickly to the other side of his room, seizing the object he was after and running back out, hoping he wouldn't be too late to help, all the while thoughts rushed through his head all screaming for him to run faster, before it was too late, he had to run faster or it would all be over! He thundered through town, people dodging out of his way in fear or shock, others being barged out of the way, no one would stop him, he was almost there, he could make it, he knew he could, if he didn't he wouldn't die peacefully. Within moments his destination was in sight, the bank, the bank was only a few steps away now. Pushing his way past the cordon, despite much grabbing and pulling trying to stop him, he burst through the doors of the bank. Bursting through the doors a tremendous heat wave hit him, a burning sensation exploded across his body and the whole world seemed to melt as sweat immediately started to appear across his entire body. A bright orange glow filled the room, the scorched door and charred windows keeping all external light out of the room. A swirling torrent of white hot flames engulfed the centre of the room, flares firing off every now and then, from its burning centre sounds of battle emanated, metal striking metal with a vicious ferocity. A battle meant only for Espers, not a battle any normal person should have any part in, which made what Josh had in mind all the more insane. Searching for something with which to push past the flames he found a riot shield discarded on the floor, obviously by a Strike trooper fleeing the awful scene. Picking up the shield and raising it to defend his chest he ran towards the blazing inferno. |
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| Joshytclegg | Jan 22 2011, 10:13 PM Post #4 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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First Light After Dinner Speech – Host: Etsuru “Ok...ok so all I have to do is talk and this guy will write down everything? Ok. Hello and welcome to the first First Light After Dinner Speech, tonight I, ETSURU VAMPIRE MASTER! Will be your host! First of all our pitiful author would like to thank you all for the tremendous support you have been giving him, the scum sure loves the half hearted compliments! Now for some questions for yours truly. Right first up is, how old am I? I am a sprightly one hundred and ninety eight years of age. Next, favourite thing? Devouring humans live. Ok and another, place of birth and real name? I am from Bern, Germany, and my real name is Etsuru. So final question...what?..my sexual preferences? You're kidding right? No? GET THAT f***ing LAPTOP OUT OF MY FA-shfgshdjfhnikahbud------------------------” So folks that's all for this nights First Light After Dinner speech. As a special treat from me to you I am including some fact files on things from First Light or things that will be coming up soon. Once again many thanks to everyone who has read everything so far and I will be counting on your continued support from now on. Fact File 1: Vampires Vampires in First Light are created when an Esper with high enough skill has gained the ability to fuse completely with their ability. This grants them phenomenal power and abilities and changes much of their Biological structure, this in itself presents a host of problems. These are known as Pure or Parent Vampires. They have to feed on human blood to retain their DNA structure as the mutation in their DNA prevents it from making good enough copies of certain proteins after a while and then it breaks down completely and they die, if they suppliment their DNA with external DNA it helps their body to relearn how to make certain amino acid chains and therefore readjusts their body. During feeding their mutated DNA enters the victim and alters their DNA making them a servant vampire. A servant vampire has increased physical ability, the ability to use a power if they lacked one or use a power they had in a much improved manner but these vampires are non infectious and are not connected to their Parent vampire in any way. While they don't need to feed to live in the same way as their parent vampire as their DNA is not mutated to that extent, they need to feed due to an increased and inherited blood lust which is often much stronger than even their parent vampires blood lust. Servant vampires also lack immortality but do gain extended life and increased regenerative abilities. In short a Servant vampire isn't as strong as a parent vampire but also possess less weaknesses. All forms of Vampire are weak to Holy, Legendary and Holy Legend weapons for unknown reasons. Fusing with an ability is nearly impossible for an Esper power other than energy sapping, as this power lends itself naturally to the art. However there are proven examples of Espers with different powers (eg. Etsuru) becoming a parent or pure vampire. |
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| Joshytclegg | Feb 27 2011, 10:03 AM Post #5 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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Chapter 4: Counter before you lose your head! Thud thud, a hand tapped lightly on the door, thud thud, it tapped again. Kotomi stood outside Joshua’s flat impatiently, reticent to use her key feeling it would be more appropriate if she only entered while he was home. After a minute of no response she clicked her tongue, frustrated, annoyed that she had felt he could be reliant. Quickly retrieving the key from her school bag she entered his flat, slipping off her shoes at the entrance, clearly an act of defiance in Joshua's absence. Immediately she noticed something odd about the room, a katana was missing from his collection, there was no other conclusion to draw it was theft, but that arose a single question, why just the one? She cleared her mind quickly of such a tricky question “Hmm I should go tell officer Kuranaga”. Officer Kuranaga Ryouhei was the young police officer who lived in the building, he was notoriously lazy but fairly gifted with outside the box thinking, a curse more than a blessing as it had attracted the attention of local hero...nutcase Detective Inspector Professor Luke Marston and the Professor had become Kuranaga's 'mentor'. Other than that Kuranaga-san was just an ordinary guy with a taste for ramen and a good panty shot in animes, well apart from supposedly looking like a serial killer. Hearing a knock at his door he got up slowly and walked over, opening the door quickly, surprised at the sight of the ever so lovely and radiant Kotomi-chan “Oh hello Kotomi-chan!” his voice was overly happy “Never call me Kotomi-chan” instant rejection “Kotomi-tan?” “No” “Kotomi-sama?” “Flattering but no” “Onee-san?” slap the hopeful little smile was wiped off his face “Anyway I came to report a crime officer” “Ohhh sexy roleplay I get it” slap you think he would've learnt his lesson “So cruel Kotomi-san...” “I came to report a crime. Not to give you some weird images of me!” “Ok ok I get it. So what has happened?” “There is katana missing from Josh's collection.” “Are you sure he didn't just take it to get it cleaned or repaired or something similar?” “He would've left a note if he had.” “Ok so were there any signs of forced entry?” “Not that I could see.” “And there was only one katana missing?” “Yeah, I thought that was kinda strange too” “Hmm well I will file a report when I head in, it was probably a teleportation Esper or something, so we will send someone round to check the sensor” “Shouldn't you be in already?” he sighed slightly “I am on the night shift with D.I Marston, he wants to tutor me in 'the ways of the criminal'” “Sucks to be you” Kotomi sighed aswell with a slight amount of genuine sympathy lacing her words “huh..? Isn't that?” the pair directed their gazes down the hall. “Ah Ryouhei-san my good chum! Just the fellow I was coming to see!” D.I Marstons voice bellowed from the end of the hallway, his approach was slow, there was time for Ryouhei to escape into his flat and kill himself with his police issue snub nose but that would have got blood all over his TV so he abandoned the idea and went with a new plan, be snide and abusive while he was still out of hearing distance “Look at the pompous, arrogant, lunatic, son of a- Hello sir!” “Hello Ryouhei-san! Also hello to you pretty young girl! Ejlo, my meeting new people cane!” the cane in D.I Marston's hand was switched from one with a brown wood finish to one with a black lacquer finish in well under a second. His butler Ejlo appeared seemingly from nowhere and the brown wood cane that he had taken had already fully disappeared, Ejlo was a terrifying human being “So young girl how do you know my apprentice? He sure is something isn't he? Bringing him some chocolates were ya? He gets his knack for women out of all the training I give him!” “Please stop taking things at your own pace sir, you'll frighten-eh where did she go? KOTOMI YOU TRAITOR!” “Never mind the girl Ryouhei-san, she'll come crawling back with that charm of yours! She loves you! She is your wife after all!” “She isn't my wife” “Don't be so modest my son! We have a case, a brutal murder no less, more exciting than sex this one is, oh yes!” “A case?” “Yes we are after the serial killer shadow! Right what I want from both of you is a hard-target search of every petrol station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, outhouse, henhouse and doghouse! I want this guy found!” “Sir that particular serial killer was caught already.” “Damn I'm good! Great work there Ryouhei-san. We are certain to get medals for this! Come on, lets get to the station, they probably have a party ready for us! Ejlo get my party cane!” D.I Marston seized Ryouhei by the collar and dragged him from his home “Congratulations sirs” Ejlo's voice was condescending, not that his impertinent master would have noticed anyway, it was going to be a long night for the trio, well for two of them, because as they say, ignorance is bliss. Kotomi had elegantly slipped away in the confusion, leaving Officer Kuranaga to his fate, cruel as it was. She was certain she had heard him call her a traitor as she fled down the stairs but she cared very little, her and Kuranaga were what you could call bad friends, they got along and sometimes they'd enjoy each others company but their relationship was more based upon causing each other suffering, a task at which Kotomi reigned supreme. Despite all this neither of them felt that their relationship was frayed, especially not Kuranaga who had testified it to be his solemn duty to mess with Josh at any opportunity just because he was jealous of the attention Josh received from Kotomi. 'Jealousy is a harsh mistress, possibly a dominatrix but no one is sure, although a young man in a pointless British seaside town once theorized that jealousy is in fact a small, green, jelly like creature with no arms or legs and knowledge of the question that leads to the answer forty-two' ------- He charged through the intense flames, his shield beginning to lose it's rigidity under the intense flames, his sides being hideously burnt by the onslaught. Still he pushed through with all his might and broke through into the eye of the raging tempest, although some might have thought it would've been safer if he had stayed in it. A man wielding flames of burning white and a power-suited individual wielding a familiar Yari, locked in combat that seemed so deadly that even highly trained espers would think twice before participating. Sadly Josh was not a highly trained esper, nor did he fathom quite how risky going into a fight between espers would be, although with so little time to think it was not an option to consider the danger. It was almost like he was incapable of recognising danger at that moment. “Out of the way!” He rushed in, drawing the Katana he had brought from his flat, its elegant form catching the orange glow of the flames encircling the three. Swinging it to aim for the power-suited man’s side, it was already too late. “Look out kid!” Flint roared at him “Blood Rain-style...” the power-suited man's voice was hushed “Eight Fangs!” a pulse of energy emanated from the tip of his Yari like a distortion in reality, the feeling hung across the bank, a chilling sensation, a feeling of imminent death at the hands of something impossible. In an instant it had bolted up, barely missing as Josh dodged to the side, confident he had avoided the attack. However the energy in the room had not dissipated and suddenly, as if from every conceivable direction, the blade struck him eight times, cutting his front and back deep in eight separate places. “Gyagggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!” he screamed from the mind numbing agony, which was intensified as the blood from his wounds seeped into the burns he had received moments earlier. 'What the hell...was that? From every direction, in a single instant...like splitting himself into eight. Crap...losing a lot...of blood....need to focus. Need to help...that esper escape. What did she call him? Flint?' his throat rasped, dried out completely by the intense heat, as he called out “Flint! I will cover you! Run!” whipping his body around, ignoring the pangs of unbelievable pain that seemed to be trying to tempt into him into unconsciousness, he swung his Katana with all his strength. The power-suited man was unable to dodge the attack fully and the blade smashed through his visor, revealing what Josh already knew, Andy Cherrim behind the mask. No words were spoken in the brief lull in the fight, just the sound of the raging tempest of fire and the readying of weapons. “Blood rain-style” Andy's yari emitted it's terrifying energy again “Falling Blossoms!” reality seemed to twist and contort once again and his yari struck down seven times from above, each time narrowly missing its intended target but by the time the dust cleared the yari was ready in Andy's hands once again. Josh returned with a hail of clumsy attacks, none of which stood a chance of even clipping Andy, let alone hurting him. His yari simply darted forward, striking the Katana off target. Not only was Andy far more powerful than Josh, he had a weapon that could easily beat a Katana. “Blood Rain Style” Josh readied himself for the attack “Broken earth” Andy seemed to disappear for a single second, reappearing just in front of Josh, his Yari's blade embedded into the concrete. Josh sensed it and dodged to right, narrowly avoiding the yari as it flew diagonally out of the ground behind him. He knew by this point that he was in a fight that he couldn't win by any normal means, since none of Andy's attacks seemed to make any sense. Andy readied for a final attack, his patience had worn thin and it was time to end the battle. Andy readied his yari for a final time, pointing it's gleaming blade towards it's victim“Blood Rain sty-” a sharp slicing sound pierced the air before he could finish, his face was contorted in a shocked manner, a completely unexpected move had caught him off guard, all his eyes could bring into focus was the sight of his friend's blood flowing freely down his yari. Tearing, twisting, slicing. An indescribable pain coursed through every nerve ending in his body. Everything felt light and kept getting lighter as his body emptied itself of large quantities of his blood. The world seemed to distort and pulsate, it could only be likened to features of a beautiful painting melting. Gripping the yari tightly he looked up to see Andy's shocked face, it didn't surprise him, not even he had expected himself to willingly drive himself onto the yari. “A-Andy...I...know you mean well” his voice was pained and low “Stop it...” “But...you obviously...haven't seen it...” his voice only got lower as the bleeding slowed “Y-your sister...” Andy's expression froze, as it wasn't the statement he had been expecting “W-what about Sakura-chan?” “You are...forcing her....to become something she hates...a killer. She may put the brave face on...but Andy, when was the last time...you looked her in the eyes?” Andy could only stand dumbfounded as Josh tore apart the fabric of his life “Stop...trying to prove....you can protect her...it only hurts her more...give....up.” his body finally slumped on the tip of the yari. During the confusion Flint had managed to escape, as Andy hadn't even noticed the flaming tempest had dissipated. The room was then filled with the sound of thundering boots and the rest of the world seemed to disappear in a horrible darkness as Andy stared at Josh's lifeless body. The last sounds to cross his ears before his mind blacked out completely was the clatter of a dropped yari and the thud of a body hitting the floor. ---------- An all encompassing darkness surrounded. Clinging, choking, crushing. Only pain existed in the darkness, all the pain experienced in life, an unrelenting horror. The darkness was only there, to become the eternity that was lost. 'Why do you protect them?' 'You are so stupid' 'Death is better than you deserve' 'no punishment is enough to cure your stupidity' 'Why don't you just disappear?!' A shock pulsed through his entire body, forcing him back into the world. His breath was haggard, sweat slid across his brow and his mouth felt dry to the bone but he was alive. He slowly opened his eyes but, much to his chagrin, the darkness was not banished. A wave of panic washed across him as he desperately hoped it was all a bad dream. “It's alright. Be calm.”A soft female voice called out from the darkness and a cool, soft hand was laid upon his brow and seemed to soothe every worry in his mind “W-what happened? I can't see a thing.” “The espers who were treating you were inexperienced and didn't notice...” “Notice what?” there was fear in his voice “The poison that is still in your veins and which is, even now, clotting your blood. That is why you can't see, the blood in your eye has clotted and is obstructing your pupil.” “I-I...” his voice sounded panicked “Don't worry” her hand brushed his cheek slowly “I won't let you die, not again” she slid her other hand onto his other cheek and slowly drew closer, her lips gently pressed against his. Her hands felt soft against him, her lips even softer, her breath warm, her scent sweet, all his worries seemed to disappear in that one moment, if he was to die, surely it wouldn't be so bad to die in the arms of this girl? Her lips drew away from his, he felt her warm breath against his lips as she moved her hands away. The darkness that seemed to have taken his whole world slowly disappeared, as it did he heard her footsteps as she rushed out of the room, his newly returning vision only caught a glimpse of her short light blue hair as she ran from the room, his consciousness soon deserted him. It was several hours later when he finally returned, again, to the land of the living. The gentle beeping of the heart monitor was all that greeted him at first and then...then the shouting came. “JOSH-KUN!” a screeching panicked voice broke the ever so sweet silence and he was once again made blind as a pair of arms swung around his head “I WAS SO WORRIED!” “Calm down Kotomi-chan, I'm fine” “B-but I heard you were in an accident” “I'm fine. They had espers on hand so I am probably already well enough to leave! “O-okay but they said you got hit by a Strike troop carrier” “Yeah...bloody hurt” “Idiot!” she lightly hit his head “Don't go doing stupid things or you will-you will just keep getting hurt and...and” her voice choked and tears streamed from her eyes “Kotomi-chan” Josh whispered softly “Dying isn't my style” “Dying...isn't your style”Kotomi raised her hand in an instant and struck his forehead with brutal precision. Footsteps echoed as she stormed out of the hospital room. Josh had a talent for turning genuine worry to rage. “I am sure I said something bad there...I'm just not sure what” he sighed, exhausted and exasperated, a visit from Kotomi was more than enough to wear out anyone. More people came in to check on him as the night wore on, even after visiting hours had finished after ten, even Taiga a visited, although it seemed that his visit was in the hope that the patient only needed some extra help climbing into the grave. Out of all the people that visited, not one of them, not one had light blue hair. Before the end of the day, around half past eleven, the final and most unwanted visitor arrived. A strike officer clad in a black military uniform, it's markings clearly indicating the rank of captain. They scanned their eyes up and down each other, sizing each other up, which made it galling for the both of them when they were both unimpressed by what they had seen. The stare down continued, one trying to break down their opponents mental fortitude, the other...trying to work out their opponents gender, sparks flew. A hand slid into the dark coat, a gun? A knife? A hurtful note? A clipboard was presented. “What's that?” a defiant glare “A clipboard.” a strong, strangely fake sounding accent replied “What is on the clipboard?” “Paper.” “We will get there eventually...what is on the paper?” “Words. How simple do you want this?” “Simple enough for a man recovering from the loss of a hot tub's worth of blood.” “So still a bit smarter than you?” “Very funny. Bet that makes the painful nights alone doing paperwork to get the attention you missed out on as a child from your peers so much more bearable.” “Touché. I take it to get an amicable conversation initiated between the two of us in the future we should begin without such intense glares which makes the two of us seem aggressive right from the off.” “That might work. Hello I am Joshua MacAllister, Sous-chef for western foods at the 'Go-eat!' family restaurant” he said with a warm smile,bearing no hint of his former sarcasm The Captain returned a slightly colder smile “Captain Anna Weber. I am over here training in suspect management, I return to Germany in two months.” “So Captain, if you are training in suspect management, that must make me a suspect.” “Incorrect MacAllister-san. You were a suspect but with refusal of any cooperation from the only esper involved in this...'incident' we have had to drop all charges. This form is for the return of evidence to you and agreement to a check in by Strike staff once a week for one month as a precautionary measure.” The clipboard was taken and was quickly signed in all the correct places, handed back within moments “So Captain Weber, when you aren't dealing with paper-work what do you do?” “I have extremely wild and rough sex with cute men. If your up for it, I will visit you when your well enough.” “Haha well you are hidden under a black-cap so I can't make that decision just yet, can't even see your hair” “Adds some excitement doesn't it” he felt like he could see a vague smile in the shadow of her cap and guard of her coats high collar “I guess it does.” his warm smile had gone from slightly forced to mostly genuine “Well goodbye MacAllister-san. We have your address on file and I will be performing the first check this Sunday. I personally hope you have a speedy recovery and that we can continue to talk in this friendly manner.” she gave a small respectful bow and exited the room, her heavy military boots clunking against the floor. After walking a significant distance from the hospital room she stopped and leant against a wall, removing her hat and breathing a huge sigh of relief, she stood silently for a while. “He didn't notice...that's good, my accent must have been more believable than I thought” “I wouldn't count on that” a voice spoke from right around the corner “M-MacAllister-san.” her voice croaked slightly “Don't worry...I haven't looked at you yet. You seem to not want me to.” “I...I” “Thank you.” “W-What?” “Thank you for saving me.” “I...urm...it's the least I could do.” her voice sounded shaky, not through fear, she sounded nervous. He swung around the corner and took her in both his arms, squeezing her tightly, his eyes firmly shut “Thank you...so much” he hadn't noticed it before but under the large coat she had such a small, slight frame and her hair...her short, light blue hair had the faint smell of flowers to it, everything about her was gentle. He slowly released his grip and stood back around the corner “See you Sunday Captain Weber...” before he began his slow walk back to the hospital room his hand was clasped from around the corner. Her soft quivering hand held his but she stayed out of sight. “W-Would you just stay here a while?” her voice was hushed A small smile crossed Josh's face “Of course I will” he leant against the wall in the dark hospital, gently clasping her hand. ------------- It was a cold night, a really bitterly cold night, a mind numbingly, bowel wrenchingly cold night and woe betide any fool brave enough to venture out into such a torturous environment. Such was the fate of the ever unlucky and ever so vaguely stupid, Officer Kuranaga, pity be upon him and his futile brain. “achoo” Kuranaga's body shook violently from the sneeze “Is everything alright sir...?” Ejlo's monotone voice cut the air smoothly “God dammit man...I felt like someone was talking bad about me.” “I can't imagine why...” “Your gentle sarcasm warms my heart Ejlo-san” “I am delighted I could assist your self pity sir...” “Yes, well, when you finally drive that knife into my back make sure you get it down to the hilt, Kotomi style betrayal I call it.” “Men, women, countrymen.” D.I Marston chirped to himself happily, catching just the tail end of the conversation “Rotten back stabbers”Kuranaga whispered, his thoughts turning to Kotomi the traitor “Don't be so down Ryouhei-san” D.I Marston tapped the young officers shoulder with the tip of his cane “But sir we have been out searching all night and haven't found a single lead to this mystery assailant.” “Ah yes but that is what makes it so interesting. From what we can tell of the victims it seems to be the work of some 'Modern day vampire', some victims, all young females, survived these attacks and recounted the assailant to be of a shorter and slighter stature, possibly female.” “ehhh. A female assailant?” “Worrying isn't it. The first victim was a male who had literally been torn in half.” “Wait! No one told me he had been torn in half!” “We didn't feel it was important.” Ejlo's voice interrupted “Exactly right Ejlo my chum! Anyway do not fear Ryouhei-san, I am a trained combatant and Esper, also Ejlo is a master of seventeen different unarmed martial arts.” “And I have my snub nose...yeah we should be fine” he gripped the holster containing his S&W model nineteen “All useless” a sharp female voice jumped out at them from down a dark alleyway. They entered the alley quickly to investigate, they were greeted by a pair of glowing red eyes glaring at them from it's darkened corner. “That must be her! Ejlo seize her at once!” “At once sir.” the butler bolted down the alley at a velocity that would put a speed esper to shame. The attack looked to be unavoidable, his hand was going to strike her neck directly and choke her leaving him the opportunity to finish her off with one last attack. However in an indescribable moment, a leg swung out of the darkness and deftly sent Ejlo straight through a building wall. Ejlo, their ace, had been defeated by a single surprise attack. D.I Marston choked, even he could realise the gravity of their situation. They hadn't even got a single glimpse of the assailant at that point and they had already lost the strongest member. D.I Marston twisted the top of his cane and drew out a sword. “I...I can do this.” he reassured himself, much to the lament of Kuranaga “Cover me Ryouhei-san!” “Yes sir!” Kuranaga drew his snub nose and opened fire into the darkness, wasting his six rounds in a few seconds. The few seconds of cover was enough for Marston to get in close and plunge his blade forward at torso height towards the glowing red eyes. “Success!” his jubilation was premature. The eyes jumped back and a hand darted forward, gripping and shattering the blade instantly, the shards scattering into the air. The leg which had decimated Ejlo shot forward and collided with Marston's chest, blasting him down the alleyway and straight past Kuranaga, colliding with a bus stop on the opposite side of the street, collapsing the structure itself, leaving Marston buried underneath the glass and metal. “G-God dammit man...” Kuranagas voice shook as did his hands while he attempted to reload his snub nose “Don't bother” the eyes called out to him in a siren like voice as a woman stepped out from the darkness, her figure was stunningly sensuous with a large full chest and curvy frame clad in a stunning black dress, her hair of magnificent length and of the most lustrous dark green, all these accented by her striking red eyes. The gorgeous woman stepped elegantly towards the cowering officer, her body language not showing any trace of fear but also no trace of malice. She stopped inches from Kuranaga, his hand trembling too much to even hold onto his snub nose, dropping it to the floor with a clatter. Kuranaga could barely bring himself to look at the beauty of the woman stood before him. The cold suddenly felt more grabbing, more torturous, more...fitting. Luck had never been Kuranaga's strength and this event just served to highlight that particular character trait. “Why are you so frightened?” she ran the back of her hand across his chest “Officer?” “K-K-Kuranaga Ryouhei” “Teehee, Ryouhei-kun...I like it.” “Y-you are?” “Tsukahara Selena...” “A-are you going to kill me?” “Why on the earth would I do that? When I can have so much fun with your body...” “W-what?” “Hmm I think I need to be more obvious with you.” her hand slid down from his chest and gripped his crotch tightly “Seriously?” “Now be still.” she tilted his head back softly and, baring her fangs, bit deep into his neck, splashing his blood across the cold pavement. “G-god dammit man...” a strange euphoria overcame Kuranaga's entire body and in a hypnotic state he guided his new acquaintance to his flat, to engage in even more euphoric activities. Arriving at the flat Kuranaga quickly opened the door and swept the radiant woman off her feet, carrying her straight into the front room. He kicked away all the instant-ramen containers and ecchi mangas and laid the beauty in his arms down on the not even slightly befitting for the occasion couch. It was a totally strange sight for a bachelors flat, a beautiful woman, dress falling down, her breathing heavy, her soft lips a cherry red. Much too good for Kuranaga but it did not stop him from immediately progressing to removing his clothes “You move quick...” Selena licked her lips slowly watching the desperate specimen before her “I promise, I won't be like this in a bit.” he succeeded in kicking shoes directly at and through his TV “You better not be, I want to be having fun with you all night.” “Can you do that thing you did again?” his words were slurred almost as if he were drunk “Bring yourself closer.” she whispered in a seductive tone to which Kuranaga complied immediately bringing his mostly empty head close to hers. She once again tipped back his head and bore her fangs, sinking them instantly into his neck, spurting his blood across her body. Her soft lips wrapped around the wounds, slowly supping the dark fluid from them, letting it trace across her tongue and tantalise all of her taste buds. It excited every pore of her body when she did so and only heightened her arousal towards an otherwise average man. “God dammit m-” “Quiet. Don't spoil it.” she pulled him onto her and then the night truly began. It was to be an unforgettable and life changing night. For both of them. It was the late morning when Kuranaga at last awoke from exhaustion induced slumber. A note was left on his bedside table but he decided to leave the light reading material until after he had fully woken up. He initiated a normal morning routine by heading into the bathroom and splashing his face with cold water, although splashing with cold water was about as effective as splashing with sleeping pills. The exhaustion didn't seem ready to beat a retreat at that moment or for that matter, that day. “Ugh my head is killing me!” he groaned and leant his head against the sink “That was one wild night.” he lifted his head to look in the mirror, just to do a sit-rep on his status. “Huh...my eyes are awfully red...in fact...” his hands suddenly gripped the smooth surface underneath them “My iris' are red! Surely that isn't from drinking?! What the f*** has happened to me?!” his hands traced the outline of his face and down his neck 'Ow...that feels strangely tender...huh I don't remember having two dents on...my...neck' worriedly tilted his head up to reveal the deep puncture wounds on his neck and the dried blood that ran down under his clothes. His body felt light and his legs trembled. “What the hel-” he vomited straight into the sink although after one glance it was apparent it wasn't sick, it was blood. Splattered across his sink was his own blood. Kuranaga bolted into the bedroom once again and seized the note from the bedside table, opening it frantically. Hello Ryouhei-kun! You have probably already noticed I have gone. Sorry about that but it really was an amazing night, best bit of fun I have had in a long time. You know how to make a girl scream. Anyway by now you must be noticing certain...changes with your body. Well I will be honest. You have been infected. Don't worry it's not syphilis or HIV or anything like that. You should work out what it is when you brush your teeth. If you have started vomiting blood already that means the craving is going to kick in soon. It'll be painful honey, agonising even but when it starts that means you will have access to all your new powers. You are about to become a lot stronger than you have ever been Ryouhei-kun. I just hope it feels worth it for the pain you are going to suffer for the rest of your days. Ciao for now Dar~ling <3 'When I brush my teeth?' Kuranaga rushed back into the bathroom and ignoring the blood stared directly into the mirror. He once again noticed his ominous red eyes and, carefully lifting his top lip, he discovered the feature that Selena had been hinting at. Elongated, razor sharp canines. Fangs. Kuranaga vomited once again, his blood more diluted that time. After he did a surging pain stabbed it's way through every part of his body, causing him to emit the most blood-curdling scream imaginable. Every part of his body felt as thought it was being torn apart by savage dogs. Blood poured from his eyes and mouth and his hands gripped the sink so tightly it split all the way through. The pain continued to increase, burning out any reasonable thought that his mind was capable of and then, then his body radiated a large wave of energy into his surroundings, causing all objects in the bathroom to fling themselves at the walls at extreme velocity, smashing apart the plaster and tiling. It had been an entire hour when the pain finally subsided and Kuranaga managed to drag the gibbering wreck that he was into the front room. The pain he had experienced was beyond traumatic, it was deeply scarring, a horror no human being should have to endure. The phone rang. Kuranaga quickly picked up “H-hello” “Ryouhei-san!” it was Marston “What happened? Are you okay?” “Yeah I'm fine” he lied “What happened Ryouhei-san?” “Well..when Ejlo and you were incapacitated I ran for help but got incapacitated myself, then some men found me in the street and managed to get my address from my drivers licence, they dropped me off at my flat and I have only just come to.” “Thank god. We thought you were that woman's next victim.” “No I'm fine, what about you and Ejlo?” “I have a broken leg and a shattered collar bone but I have an appointment with a healing esper later. Ejlo was slightly worse off, he suffered a brain bleed and barely survived. He is recovering but the healing espers here are keeping a firm eye on him in case he needs urgent treatment.” 'f***ing hell...' Kuranaga gritted his teeth in anger “Look Ryouhei-san am coming over so-” “NO!” “Ryouhei-san?” “N-no sir you should rest. Come visit me tomorrow ok? But for now just rest.” “Ok I guess you are right my good chum! See you tomorrow morn'” Both sides put down their phones. Kuranaga could only curl up on the couch and wallow in self pity. ------------- Josh had arrived home by the next morning and had found Kotomi waiting for him. She was complaining the moment he entered, she kept whining about someone screaming which Josh promptly ignored, he didn't wish to hear about some else's ecstatic groans when he had never had any himself. Ignoring Kotomi's complaints he made an excuse about being exhausted and promptly collapsed on his bed, Kotomi simply decided Josh was back to normal and headed out to school, late. After Kotomi had been gone long enough for her to have made it to school he put his hand into his right pocket and retrieved a small note with numbers on it. It was the Captains, or at least the person using the alias of Captain Anna Weber, phone number. He contemplated calling her. The intimate moment they had shared clasping each others hands in the hospital, the hug he had given her, the kiss of life she had given him, it felt like they had known each other since birth. Without even seeing her face he knew that everything about her so far was perfect. Which made it all the more difficult to choose whether to call her or not. After an hour of contemplation he decided he couldn't call her yet and finally drifted off into a blissful sleep. |
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| Joshytclegg | Jun 19 2011, 11:41 PM Post #6 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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Chapter 5: A life not lived... Kuranaga lay on his living room couch, curled up and sobbing. He was a broken man compared to what he had been. Everything about him was bespoke of an unending sadness, his torn clothes, his blood soaked hands, his shaking body. The room itself, which hadn't been a palatial wonderland before hand, had transformed into a whirlpool of destruction. The TV, smashed through. The fridge door, ripped from its hinges. The sink...the less said about the sink the better. The entire flat, a cacophony of misery and ruined food. He raised himself up slowly, surveying the destruction he had brought upon his flat. It made him feel embarrassed for a single second and then...then a horrific impulse ran through his body, a burning hunger, feeling utterly starved in less than a second. The pain stabbed through every part of him, invisible knives jabbed at every nerve willing him to stand with his broken body. Finally standing, he lurched forward, the hunger commanding him to seek something, something to quench an undying thirst and unending hunger. Knock knock, someone tapped at the door, the sound seemingly a thousand times louder in Kuranagas head. “Kuranaga-san!” a female voice called from the door “You there? I am here to return that manga you let me borrow!” “K-Kotomi?” his voice shook, only a low whisper “Kuranga-san get out here!” He struggled towards the door and opened it. Kotomi let out a small scream upon seeing him. “Hey Kotomi-chan” his voice was weak “What happened to you...?” Her hand reached out to him “I-I urm...” it brushed his cheek and suddenly an overwhelming urge overtook him. Seizing both of her arms he pushed her against the wall in the hallway. “Kuranaga, let go of me!” “No.” his face drew close to hers, a rich scent tantalised his nose, seemingly from nowhere. “Let me go please! I don't want this!” She struggled as much as she could but the strength of the man holding her was on another level. His face drew close to her neck, his breath giving her goosebumps. “Just...a little...taste” He whispered more to himself than her. “Please...stop” Kotomi's voice shook and he could hear her crying. “Haaaah” He opened his mouth wide to reveal his fangs, in preparation for the bite. Shink, the sound of a blade being drawn. Kuranaga tilted his head to the side to see Josh stood right next to him. A gleaming katanas blade ready to slice off his head with one swing. Before he could even begin to formulate an escape plan a boot had collided with his face, throwing him across the floor, rolling several times. “Josh-kun!” Kotomi jumped forward and hugged his side “K-Kurnaga, h-he just attacked me. I don't know why.” she was in floods of tears. The expression on Josh's face showed a man being pushed to the edge. “McAllister-san I-” he was cut short as a fist collided with his face, over and over again, shattering his nose and a few teeth. Blood dripped from Josh's fist. “Kuranaga. You touch her again and I assure you, the rest of your life will be very short.” “A-Alright man, I get it.” After Josh and Kotomi had left, the still bloodied Kuranaga got to his feet. The wounds he had sustained had already healed, a new talent he had become aware of during his rampage in his flat. He had injured himself several times during the carnage but all wounds would heal themselves within minutes, depending on severity. He proceeded to exit the block, just to try and distract himself from the hunger that clawed at his mind. After over an hour of walking he arrived at the towns central park. Families, joggers and dog walkers everywhere but the area was so expansive he could actually be on his own if he sat near the more wooded areas of the park. However he only sat in the wooded area to be away from people and to be in the shade as, he had developed a sensitivity to natural light. Sitting there a football tapped against his foot, an small child ran up to him to retrieve him but stopped short. The child's face a picture of pure terror. “S-sir, can I have my ball?” Kuranaga opened his mouth to speak but the child's mother ran over and seized him by the arm, yelling at him about going near homeless people, she glared at Kuranaga as if he had assaulted her son. “Excuse me miss...the ball.” “Just ignore him Hideki” she screeched at her son, dragging him roughly away “HEY!” Kuranaga got to his feet, holding the ball “Your ball!” he threw it, his new power accelerating it to a terrifying speed, causing it's collision with the floor to be like a hand grenade going off, throwing the woman back with her child. People around panicked and began calling out for Strike officers to come and help. During the confusion Kuranaga slipped away, no one having seen him clearly enough to get a profile. After his encounter with Kuranaga, Josh had headed to work on a late shift to make up for time lost while he was hospitalized. Mimi and Taiga were running a tight shift, delegating a lot more work than they usually would. The torture of this would be his penance in the eyes of Taiga. “Better than being...” he sighed and trailed off, speaking to himself as he prepared his twelfth burger combo of the night. He kept his eyes peeled on the lookout for Andy or Kuranaga, also listening out for Kotomi's voice in case she called for him from the staff room. She hadn't felt safe enough to stay at home, so she had followed him to work. It didn't help at all with his stress levels. “Josh-kun! Quick, take that order to table five! All our waiters are busy!” Mimi called out, with the threat of a pan strike to the head being laced in her words. He nodded and grabbed the tray taking out to the table, stopping as soon as he saw the tables occupants. Andy, Sakura and the mysterious woman. She looked slightly more aged than he had expected but the silhouette was unmistakable. In actual fact, less the silhouette, more the aura of 'You are here'. Taking a deep breath he walked over. “Your order. Sorry about the delay” he bowed low “It's fine Josh-san.” Andy spoke first, smiling weakly. Sakura appeared too frightened to speak, looking close to tears just by his presence. “Well enjoy your meal” he bowed again and turned to leave “Your friends have been seeking guidance...Joshua.” the mysterious woman spoke in her usual distant tone “They feel...they did you a great injustice...please wait for them after your shift” she bowed respectfully “Okay that is fine” “JOSH-KUN!” Mimi screamed from the kitchen “Get back on these orders!” “Of course Mimi-sama!” He dashed back over to the kitchen leaving the group. Andy exchanged a long and deep look with the mysterious woman. It occurred to him that he had never asked her name and it had gotten to the point at which he could no longer ask. “Sakura...what is her name?” he whispered. His sister stared into space with a look of deep thought for several seconds “I have no idea” she whispered back. “How can you have no idea? You know her don't you?” “Well yeah...but...I never asked.” “Finished whispering you two?” the woman interjected “Yes ma’am!” they responded in unison Kuranaga wandered aimlessly through the towns shopping district. Rows of bright lights were now illuminating the path as it got dark, lights from street lamps and shops, but also, neon from salacious bars that spoke in hushed whispers of making a man forget his troubles. He wandered towards a bar called 'Hostess Heaven', hoping he could get drunk enough to ignore his agonizing hunger. Upon entering the bar he was asked to pay a three thousand yen entrance fee and to take his pick of girls. He picked a younger looking girl in a Goth-lolita dress to be his company as he sat drinking. “So Onii-chan!” she spoke in a upbeat, typically loli voice “How about you tell me what's on your mind?” “Ugh...excuse me, but can we cut the crap acting and just talk?” Kuranaga let out an exhausted sigh “S-sure” her normal voice sounded more shy “What's getting you down Onii-cha-...sir?” “Just call me Kuranaga urm...” he looked at her name tag “Kashiwagi-san” “Sure Kuranaga” she giggled happily, seeming rather pleased to be out of character “So what is troubling me...” his drink arrived, just a vodka and lemonade “I guess...you could call it a work problem...” “A work problem?” “Yeah. I am a police officer.” all of a sudden she looked very nervous “but the other day...let's call them a drug addict...they stabbed me with a needle when I tried to protect my friend during an arrest...I don't know yet what he may have infected me with on that needle...but it's changed everything about me. I don't feel like me any more. Disgusting yeah? I wouldn't blame you for backing away from me now. I could be infectious for all you know...ugh...I am sorry. I will go. You won't want to be around me...” he got up, ready to leave. “I never said that!” she grasped his arm tightly “You were working your hardest for others. That is admirable! I only wish I could be that kind of person!” Kuranaga had barely heard it. Grabbing his arm had caused a drastic rise in his hunger intensity, he could feel every cell screaming out, every sinew of his being begging him to rip her limb from limb and suck her body dry of it's delicious red content. Voices in his head whispered insidious thoughts into the very depths of his soul. 'Go on. No one would notice. She must be a druggie, it would be better if I removed her from the world. She looks so fragile but I bet she whores herself out every night. Why else would she be in a place like this? That means I could break her a little, make myself feel good a few times. Then...I could touch her everywhere...make her beg...like a filthy whore...make her beg and cry! Then slowly...ever so slowly...rip her to pieces...whilst using her body the way others use it...yes...mix my bodily fluids with her thick...red...blood...and...once I am finished...I can eat every. Single. Sweet. Part of her...” the vile voice inside him spewed it's venom whilst the rest of his being resisted its taint. “L-let go” he gasped, his pupils dilated as if he were intoxicated . She released his arm slowly and gazed up at him, no sense of fear in her gaze. “Kuranaga-san...are you okay?” she reached out to touch him “NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!” He batted her hand away. All the people in the bar had now turned their gaze on him, the two bouncers seized him by the collar, forced him into the alley behind the bar. “So you get a kick outta' causin' trouble do ya?!” the fatter bouncer yelled as he pushed Kuranaga down onto the filthy alley floor, straight into a puddle. The second, slightly taller bouncer spat in Kuranagas face, cackling in a sickly pleased manner. “He is certainly gonna' get a kick outta it Atlas!” the tall one continued his sickly cackle and delivered a swift kick to Kuranaga's gut. Atlas joined in, driving his heel into the side of Kuranaga's skull, repeatedly, drawing blood within seconds. The two continued their onslaught until Kashiwagi threw open the back door, screaming for them to stop. This stopped them, for all of two seconds. “Leave him alone!” she cried hitting Atlas' back in vain “He didn't do anything wrong! He was nice! He wanted to talk to the real me!” Atlas simply pushed her back, knocking her onto the floor. Seeing this Kuranaga slowly got to his feet. “Hey look, he gettin' up Atlas! Stupid drunk!” “I see that P-gahh!” Atlas was struck on the chest by a kick of unholy strength, ploughing him straight a set of bins and guttering, his final deceleration occurring when his fat lump of a body struck a skip. “Oh ya lookin' t' fight drunky? I ought to warn ya...I am a black belt in Karate-Kung-Jitsu...fu.” “...” Kuranaga merely watched as the lanky scum charged him like a barbarian. He let him come within three feet and then delivered a crushing flip click to the head, shattering the vertebrae in the lanky bouncers spine. His limp body falling back Kuranaga delivered his final blow in the form of a roundhouse kick, launching him to the same skip his friend had smashed into moments ago. Kashiwagi stood, stunned, her eyes fixated on the sweating, panting mass that was Kuranaga. “y-you...” “Stay back!” “You fought back for me...” “What?” “You only fought back when I was at risk of being hurt!” She dived forward towards him but he merely stepped away from her “Your hand...” she raised her hand noticed a fairly deep cut, pouring blood down her arm “May I...” he didn't hear her response and seized her hand, running his tongue through the blood slowly “What are you doing?!” she yelped, her hand trying to pull away “I need it...” He slowly cleaned the last of the blood from the cut and fell back, colour returning to his cheeks slowly, his figure more composed “I...urm...Kuranaga, you are a weird guy but...I'd like it if you came to visit me tonight at home. J-Just no licking up my blood!” she wrote her address on the receipt from Kuranagas table and slipped it in his pocket. 22:00. One hour after closing time. “This is Echo recon reporting, target is on the move. Joshua MacAllister is on the move. Proceeding through the residential district. Keeping him in sight. Echo recon out” the hushed voice spoke into the headset “Ben move up, keep him in your sight” his companion Ben nodded and moved forward, slightly slower than he usually would due to the large apparatus on his back. Their target moved at a steady pace through the district, heading towards a block of flats, which were incidentally several storeys high. He entered the building and caused them to lose sight. “Colin, lets move to the building opposite, we can get a good vantage point from the roof.” “Good idea” he whispered and flicked back onto his radio “Command we are inputting co-ordinates for a jump. Can we get a safety check?” “Sure thing” a crackling voice replied “The co-ordinates are...” Ben read them out clearly and waited for the response “Jump is green lit.” The voice replied once again The two nodded to each other and began typing the co-ordinates into devices on their wrists. Once done a red light flashed three times before turning green. A coil in the apparatus on their back began to glow blue, a strange orb of pulsating light in it's centre, being struck by bolts of electricity. “Jumping” both of them pressed the largest button on the device simultaneously and a blue flash engulfed them, fading to reveal they had disappeared, in this short moment however, someone else had entered the building moments behind Josh. Josh arrived at a flat on the third floor and tapped the door, which an elderly woman answered a few minutes later. She smiled warmly at him as he handed her a bag, it had leftovers from the restaurant in it. The woman was just an acquaintance of his, she owned a bike shop in the past and had given Josh his first bike, for free no less for helping out at the shop, he felt it was only kind to help her in her advanced age. He apologised for arriving so late and informed her he must head home to which she agreed and let him leave, waving him off. He only had a few more deliveries to make. “What a nice woman” Josh chirped to himself, a small wave of dizziness hit him as he went down the stairs, but it quickly subsided so he did not worry. As he arrived on the second floor flight of stairs, he heard a fair bit of racket, extremely unusual for the time of night. It worried him that it might disturb the residents so instead of heading straight down the stairs he decided to enter the second floor hallway to see what the problem was. He could see a door was open and he began to walk towards it, however he stopped when Kuranaga fell out of it, his back colliding with the wall opposite, narrowly missing the flat door next to him. His face a spattering of blood across it and his left hand appeared to have a deep burn, which disappeared seconds later. “Kuranaga-san? What the hell happened?” Josh moved towards him slowly. Someone else exited the flat, in a slightly more composed fashion. It was a priest. Josh was about to ask what was going on when he noticed a gun in the priests hand and what appeared to be a small scroll, about the length of a cola can and just as thick with many layers of the paper wrapped around a small wooden bar in the centre, it was covered in strange writing. He hesitated, the situation had a bad feeling about it. The priest shot him a glare. “You should have been removed...” the priests voice was deep and intimidating “E-eh?” Josh's, not quite so. The priest swung the gun to point at Josh. It was a Browning Hi power but the barrel looked larger, possibly a larger calibre round, from it's size it looked like a custom barrel rather than a company refit. Across the top of the gun was a chalk white cross with the words 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone' scrawled in blood red up the centre. “Oh not this bullshit!” Josh swung the bags he was holding up, just as the priest squeezed the trigger of his gun. The bullet shot forward and straight through the bag, tearing open and scattering several bags of flour into the air, in the tiny space of time available Josh had managed to dodge the bullet, barely. The cloud of flour blurred the priests vision, for just long to allow Josh to grab Kuranaga and make a break for the stairs. Charging onto the staircase the two tried to head down the stairs, hurriedly. Much to their misfortune more priests were heading to the staircase. Reversing direction quickly they headed up the stairs. Reaching the second floor again, the priest they had blinded charged them. Quickly Kuranaga darted in front of Josh and slammed his palm into the priests chest, sending him rocketing back with extreme speed, colliding with the wall at the end of the corridor. Josh nodded to thank Kuranaga and then began the race upstairs, to the ninth and top floor. The two slammed hastily through the door to the roof, using a pole to lock the door, they could see the roof of the building opposite, but it was a long way to jump, much too long for the two of them. “Maybe we should have charged them on the stairs?” Kuranaga suggested, panting for breath, though not quite as heavily as Josh, there appeared to be perks to being a vampire. “More to the point. Since when have you been an esper and do you have your gun?” “Only a couple days...it is a long story. Here.” he passed over the S&W model nineteen with six rounds of extra ammo “Ok, the burn on your hand that healed instantly?” questioned Josh, checking the chambers to make sure it was fully loaded “I heal fast these days and holy water is not my friend” “You sound like a vampire.” the door to the roof gave off noises of hitting and shouting “Right on the mark.” “Well consider this blessing...” Josh mused “At least you aren't in Twilight” The priests broke down the door, rushing through to form a line. They wielded guns, cruciform blades and the same strange scrolls the first priest had been wielding. There was twelve of them, only the first priest had a slightly different robe, it possessed a white stripe from the shoulder to the hand, on both arms. “Alright you Roman Catholics, listen up! You see this? This... is my BOOMSTICK! ” Josh cocked the pistol and fired straight away. The shot was aimed at the main priest, however one of his lackey’s moved quickly in front, much to the disappointment of the main priest, he didn't like brains decorating his face, nor was he pleased to now see the man’s corpse at his feet when it has been totally unnecessary. None of the priests fired back however. The leader moved forward slowly, not showing much concern. “Thanks for making this easy on me” Josh fired the gun once again, when the priest was too far out to be blocked by one of his lackeys. The bullet approached but once a few inches away, turned to dust. “I am the way, the truth, the life” his voice has turned to a serene chant as he walked forward, slowly unravelling the scroll in his hand. Tearing a rulers length off of the scroll, he threw it out towards Kuranaga, it glowed suddenly in a bright light and when it got to a certain point, it exploded in a blinding light, throwing Kuranaga clear across the roof, nearly straight off. Kuranaga felt his entire body writhing in horrific agony. It was slightly more bearable since it had been the usual for him for most of the day. Not even a day into being a vampire and he was already jaded to pain, in some ethereal plane that had won him some points with some creatures not even vaguely human, but he would never know. The deep burns refused to heal quickly and instead slowly began to join together again on the surface whilst still being damaged underneath. Kuranaga managed to clamber to his feet, to see the sight of Josh running towards him, the priest finally beginning to shoot after him. Josh grabbed him and hid behind an air conditioning unit. “Ok man, we need to jump.” “Jump?” “Yeah, you heal quick yeah? You're also powered up a bit. I reckon we will be fine...well you will have to hold me over your head like a rifle through deep water” “This is gonna be undignified” “I know” he paused for a moment “But I don't intend on going back to hospital or going to the grave for that matter, so it is worth the risk.” “For you maybe!” “Man up Kuranaga! You will never get laid with that cowardly attitude.” “Actually...” “What? You have? You dog!” He slapped his shoulder playfully “Damn, even you have beaten me now...” “Is this really the time for this discussion?!” “Oh yeah. God damn Roman Catholics ruining my fun.” another bullet collided with the ground next to him “Seems like they heard you” “Ah just shut it” “I think it's time we blow this scene.” “Get everybody and the stuff together.” “Ok?” “ three, two, one.” “Lets Jam!” Using both hands Kuranaga lifted Josh up like a rag doll, making sure he was facing the Priests so he could continue firing. Kuranaga used the short distance he had available to build up speed and waited till his foot hit the edge of the roof before putting as much force as he could into the jump. He left the building with considerable force, the strange feeling of having nothing underfoot washing over him, as well as the cold breeze. His feet didn't seem to have noticed leaving the building as they were still running. Above him Josh could be heard shouting the words “Holy f***!!” but the wash of the breeze was taking some of the sound away. Bullets flew past them after the Priests had realised what had happened, but the target was now too high and far away to get a clear shot at, Josh had realised this before he had started firing and had decided to conserve his ammunition. They flew through the air for what seemed like an eternity. Their jump finally began to arc downwards. The building swung beneath them and into view. Beneath them, beneath them, beneath them, a few metres behind them, several metres behind them. The park was now beneath them, Kuranaga had put too much power into his jump, they were now headed for a crash landing in the park. “Kuranaga...weren't we supposed to land on that building?” “Yeah...” “Kuranaga?” “yes Josh.” “I f***ing hate you.” “I hate me too...Enjoy the swim” “What?” Josh was thrown into the lake in which the park was centred around, his impact being fairly rough but lifesaving as Kuranaga had reduced his acceleration using his power. The ground approached with menacing speed. Kuranaga could've sworn it even looked a little smug as his feet connected with grass and almost every bone in his body shattered from the extreme force, the crunch of this sound could be heard several streets away. The shock of the pain to which Kuranaga thought he was jaded knocked him into unconsciousness and lost him the points he had earned with the ethereal beings not long before. Gravity was a cruel mistress and the ground, its bitch. The lake was freezing cold, the kind of cold that would make someone think nature was being intentionally obtuse. One such person was crawling out of the lake, with that thought in mind. His black jacket soaked through, as well as his jeans and shirt, no part was dry and no part was warm. As if to add insult to injury, small flakes of snow began to flutter through the air, building up slowly into larger flakes, coming down in thick waves but still at a slow pace. Someone in a better position may have described it as beautiful. It would take a while for the priests to make it to the parks entrance which was situated much further away, and with this in mind Josh trudged slowly over to Kuranaga. His body lay still, covered in a thick blanket of snow, tinted faintly red by the blood still seeping through. His head appeared to be rather miraculously unharmed by the fall. Josh leaned down slowly and dusted the snow off of him. His clothes were sodden with blood and Josh hesitated before rolling up the bottoms of his jeans to check his wounds. There were none. A faint squelching and crunching sound could be heard from his body. “No way” Josh whispered, taking a short breath as he rolled the ends of his jeans back down “It feels like...a Jackhammer is smashing against my skull...” Kuranaga groaned slowly “Kuranaga man...how the f***...” “I told you...I heal fast these days” “Yes but you didn't tell me you couldn't die!” “I didn't know I couldn't.” “Can you move?” Kuranaga tried but could barely lift his head “I don't think so.” Josh looked around and spotted a small boathouse and bait shop. Using some of the remaining strength in his frozen body, he dragged Kuranaga to the boathouse, blowing open the lock on the door with his gun, which he had managed to hold onto, despite being catapulted into a lake. Inside the boathouse was a door leading to the bait shop, a workbench and wood burning stove for warming up during the winter, as well as six canoes. Josh placed Kuranaga down by the stove and, using the wood and matches provided, started a warming fire. He knew they would have at most half an hour to enjoy it. “I think...there is something stuck in my back, stopping me from healing.” Kuranaga coughed in a weak voice, he seemed to be struggling for breath. Josh slowly turned him over, getting his blood all over his hands. He inspected his back and found a tear in his jacket. Josh reached inside and his hand brushed something sharp and solid, he clasped it and twisted it up and out. A small, razor sharp stone which had it been Kuranaga's misfortune to fall on. The same crunching sound from earlier had started to emanate from his back. Josh used the canoes to barricade the doors and sat by the fire. After ten minutes of drying off he decided to check the bait shop. It was mostly empty, the bait having been moved to the refrigerators. All that had been left out was fishing line, hooks and a few clipping tools. After a moments careful consideration Josh took several hooks and plenty of line and went back through to the boat house. Kuranaga was up and moving about, looking rather healthy. “Kuranaga, tie these fishing lines to your fingers” Josh threw over several reels of line and the clippers he had retrieved from the bait shop. “Eh why?” “Just do it” Josh wandered over to the work bench with the hooks and began bending them to point forward. He then tied the hooks to the end of each line. “Oh I get it, I can accelerate them.” Kuranaga murmured “Bingo” Movement could be heard outside. Josh readied himself, checking the gun was loaded and ready. The footsteps stopped outside of the door. Knock, knock. Josh looked over to Kuranaga, who shrugged. Knock, knock. In a hesitant voice he called out “Who is it?” “Oh hello sir. I was wondering if you were ok, there is a trail of blood leading to this building.” the voice was so soft and proper, the man appeared to have an English accent. “Oh I'm fine” called out Kuranaga “Would it be ok for me to check that you don't have a body in there sir?” “If we say no?” “I am afraid that I will check anyway.” his voice didn't even have a single ounce of aggression in it “Urm ok then” Josh felt almost uncouth to refuse such a proper voice. He proceeded to unblock the door by removing the canoes. The sight that greeted them was rather shocking. A man, with a look of being in his early thirties, dressed in a traditional British pinstripe suit and red tie, he lacked a hat but had brown blonde hair and a kindly expression to him. “Nice to meet you” he bowed slightly “I am Elliot Smith. You can call me Elliot.” he smiled “I'm Joshua McAllister and this is Kuranaga Ryouhei” “Ah Joshua-san and Kuranaga-san. My my Kuranaga-san. You don't look to well. I hear vampirism is tough.” “What? How did you know I was-” “A vampire? Oh intuition I guess. Oh my who is this?” Elliot turned around and was greeted by many Roman Catholic priests pointing a variety of weapons at him. There appeared to be more than before to Josh and Kuranaga. “Oh dear. This could be dangerous.” Elliot walked towards the priests “Kill him” Murmured the leader A priest with a silver longsword jumped towards Elliot. The blade approached his throat, however, before it made contact Elliot had disappeared and reappeared behind the priest. He swung his hand and lightly brushed the mans back, yet he was propelled at startling speed into a tree, killing him on impact. Carrying on with this action he twirled till his palm faced the group. “Die” this was all he said before a large blue beam of light burst forth from his palm. Several buildings high and several buildings wide. It turned all but one of the priests to a fine dust. “As if that could hurt me” The leader of the Priests charged forth, much to Elliot's surprise. The blade in his hand cut a deep gouge into Elliot's arm, knocking him back “time to end this!” he thrust the blade forward but, in a split second, several wires had wrapped around it and snatched it from is hand. He was distracted, trying to see his attacker, providing Elliot a critical moment to deliver a roundhouse kick. Launching the priest across the park. “Good show Kuranaga!” “You too, you weird half man half low orbit ion cannon!” “Ah so you knew it was an ion cannon?” “I told him” Yelled Josh Kuranaga gave Josh the blade he had seized, prompting him to join Elliot in the assault. He stood side by side with Elliot, the priest staggering to his feet before them. Kuranaga readied the rest of his hooks for launch. “You...have no idea what you have done...” the priest murmured. The trio were shocked by what happened next. A piercing white light split through the night and separated the clouds, the light causing Kuranaga's skin to sizzle and burn slowly, within the priests hands a brilliant shining longsword appeared, it's hilt gold inlaid with emblems in a deep set blue, the grip wrapped in a fine cloth of the same blue. In the night even as it's light had disappeared, it seemed faintly luminescent and had a grand aura to it. It felt as if the occasion required more pomp and circumstance than was available to them. Something genetic within Elliot and Josh told them what it was, but they whole heartedly refused to believe that it was a possibility. “Excalibur” they whispered. (I sincerely apologise for the wait on this chapter. There were many circumstance that lead to it being repeatedly delayed. This is actually an unfinished version but I have decided to continue it in Chapter 6 instead. Please Pm me with what you think of Chapter 5. Thank you very much for your patience.) |
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| Joshytclegg | May 5 2012, 04:05 PM Post #7 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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From this chapter on the characters name has been changed to Seth McAllister. I will at some point return to previous chapters to change the name. This has long been delayed and isn't totally finished, but I would at least like to get it posted to show you I have done something. So enjoy and thank you all for your continued support. Chapter 6: No Gods, No Saviours and No Kings The air was cold and damp, it had the slightest tinge of an oak like scent to it, like the tree's themselves had thrown their lives lovingly to the breeze and let it invigorate all whom inhaled and felt it. Pigeons could be heard cooing in the distance and the entire world seemed to respond to their call as the sun rose over the horizon, it's light blocked by the dense forest and a thick fog but the rays that broke through hit the water in the air and the water of the lake in just the right way, causing it to sparkle ever so slightly. It was a truly mystical sight. The calm was soon disrupted by a young irk stirring from his sleep on dewy grass by the lake. His head pounded furiously for a few moments and his vision was a dark red when he opened his eyes, but both conditions soon subsided. He was much too groggy to take in the beauty of his surroundings. He slowly registered certain things about his surroundings, firstly, they seemed similar, albeit incredibly vaguely, to the park he had been in, secondly, it most definitely wasn't the park he had been in, thirdly, he was very sure that there was a lack of Japanese foliage in the area which he lay. In short, what could be taken from this was, he was no longer in Japan. The information his brain was processing took him by surprise. The boy had been sure that when he had fallen unconscious during the night, he had been in Japan, though, when he really considered it, there was no chance of him being anywhere else, so it was not as much of a revelation as he had hoped. His hands pushed him up into a sitting position and he used this new position to slowly raise himself to his feet. Upon reaching standing position he suddenly felt very heavy. He covered his eyes with his hand and steadied himself in case he was going into a dizzy spell, but no dizzy spell came, as a matter of fact, despite the weight he felt as if he was perfectly fine. He placed one hand on his chest to check his heart, it was blocked, by something cold and metallic. He slowly looked down and it confirmed a sneaking suspicion of his, he was wearing a cuirass, a plate armour cuirass. His entire body was covered in knightly armour of a glittering silver. In it's gaps it showed chainmail and over the back was draped a dark blue cape, a dark blue that seemed very familiar to him. On his waist was a steel longsword with emblems emblazoned in gold and the same dark blue. The boy truly appeared to be a knight. It also occurred to him that his vision was perfectly clear and yet he was not wearing his glasses. Once again his brain was struggling to grasp the information being given to it, it almost wished that his eyes would apologise for the visual trauma that they were transmitting this particular day. It took nearly half an hour overall for him to finally register the last thing and most important thing of all, a gentle humming, a beautiful, graceful, angelic sound drifting through the air. He tried to follow the noise and slowly moved along the edge of the lake, the fog lowering his line of sight considerably. It was not long, however, before he spotted gentle ripples moving from the water by the lakes edge out into the larger body of water, his eyes then slowly hovered over the source. A girl, wearing a long dark blue and white dress, her hair blonde and tied up at the back, her eyes an emerald green and skin of pale white. Her fingers were gracefully running along the surface of the water, causing the gentle ripples on the surface. He simply gazed at her for a while, not sure what to do in her presence, it was as if he was a young child having difficulty expressing his emotions to a girl he liked. “...” she didn't say a word, even though she was likely aware of his presence, she just kept humming to herself and toying with the surface of the water “Excuse me my liege...” those words slipped past his lips, they were not the words he had planned or even thought to say, it's as if he had begun saying one thing but the noise that came out was another. “Begone illusion...I know you to be no more than my guilt, you are not Sir McAllister” “I am but your humble servant my liege, not an illusion, faerie, pixie, demon or monster” “You can fain being real but you never will be” “My King...” that seemed odd to the boy, he was quite obviously addressing a girl and yet he had referred to her as a king “I was too weak for my country...I failed you all, to fall, to fall how I did and leave our country in such a way. If I could redo it I would Sir McAllister...but...why do I bother to tell you this, you are but an illusion brought on by my guilt” “You lead us well my king” “If I had, I would never have fallen to Mordred...I would never have caused my knights to lose faith in me...I would never have cost you your life Sir McAllister...” “My life was yours the instant you relinquished the sword from the stone my king...and possibly long before...” “Then I ought to have been more careful with it Sir McAllister, maybe then things would've turned out differently...” The world around them seemed to crumble apart as Excalibur was directed towards them. In a second bright flash that had occurred Seth had disappeared and Kuranaga's flesh had been seared by it's power. The blade was stunning in every respect, the sword of a king, to be wielded only by the king of the Britons, a sword forged by faeries using the wishes of all the peoples of Britain. However, the blade was tinged with sadness, it also represented a great loss to it's people. Elliot had to control himself from flying into blind rage when he saw what had been done to the sword. It had been bound in holy chains, consecrated and marked to lock away the purest of swords, to seal it's powers and make it usable by those not of the sacred blood of the one and only true king of Britain. The sword seemed to him, to be screaming in pain, as if it were dying from it's treatment, but, even weakened, it was a sword to topple nations. This was not the only pressing concern. A dome had covered the city, a shining white dome that sealed everything within it. The priests had established their ultimate evil. A vile and repulsive creation that spurred the hatred of men against others of their kind for centuries, a rite that when established, consecrated and justified massacre. They had established a crusade. From that point on, blood would flow without end and the evils of the world would have a chance to surface in their full terror. Gunfire and screaming could already be heard across the city. The blade that Elliot possessed was paltry in comparison to Excalibur. Matching it in it's most powerful state would be impossible, but matching it with it's power considerably lowered would be possible. However, he would need to wield a weapon that he swore he never would. He resolved to, he had to, or it would be over in moments. “Kuranaga. Run, run now!” He yelled over to the injured vampire, whom complied willingly, escaping off into the park, though they were most likely swarming with Priests. “You think you can face me one on one?” the priest smirked “I am the man, appointed by the pope, to bear the evils of our church. Do you know who I am?” “I have a hunch...” “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars...Render unto God that which is Gods. The Faithful are God's...the sinful are mine!” Caesar darted forward with feral speed, the blade ready to swing for Elliot's gut “REST IN PEACE!” Elliot smirked slightly as the blade approached, as if to say 'How slow..' before he disappeared, reappearing to Caesars side, delivering a powerful punch to neck, staggering him. “You move fast..” “Yes...and now you are finished. I call you forth...” Elliot took a deep breath “TYRFING!!” His voice seemed to echo, even across the noise filled landscape, causing a vortex shown by the snow spiralling. The ground shook with the ferocity of a powerful earthquake and behind Elliot a spire of jagged stone erupted. Set in the surface of the spire was a sword shaped groove with a golden hilted longsword set in it, it's blade hidden within a leather scabbard. He quickly seized it and readied himself to draw. “You know what will happen when I unleash Tyrfing...” “One of us must die in the end...” “IT WILL BE YOU!” he ripped the scabbard from the blade and the world seemed to ripple as the curse was unleashed “PREPARE YOURSELF!” Kuranaga forced his injured body to run, it's legs staggering and tripping over almost every obstacle within the park. The park had become a bee hive of activity, priests dashing about with dogs and guns, he wondered how they had mobilized so fast and also what the strange light in the sky was. He hid himself on a hill just overlooking the main paths throughout the park. He surveyed carefully to see if he could spot anything other than the occasional movement of Roman Catholic forces. There was nothing for several moments but then he spotted a couple dashing across the park just out of sight of patrols. He raised himself from the hill a little and called out to them. They spotted him and began running towards the hill. He wished to call out again but before he could, a gunshot pierced the air, there was a small window of silence and then another echoed. Then there was nothing, just two lifeless bodies slumped on the snow covered grass of the park. Kuranaga couldn't bring himself to speak, he merely looked away for a few moments and then slid down the hill. He couldn't go that way, he would be cut down very quickly. He was in fact, still in awe of the situation he was in. Espers and abilities had always seemed normal to him but now he was confronted with what appeared to be magic and legend, holy powers and legions of the church. How could he bring himself to take it all in? It seemed outlandish to him. He cut off his train of thought prematurely. He could hear people coming up the path by the hill and he moved to investigate, keeping himself just out of sight. It was a pair of what looked like soldiers donned in special operations gear but on closer inspection they each had bibles strapped to their waists and scrolls identical to the ones Kuranaga had encountered before. Indeed even their uniform possessed a white cross emblazoned on the back. They also appeared to possess fairly hefty black rifles with a strange white core and no visible magazine. Kuranaga waited until they had moved past him and then picked up a few small rocks. He threw the first to draw their attention. “What was that?” one asked as he swung around, his rifle raised “You're imagining things” The other reassured but he had also turned around, just to check. As if out of nowhere, two projectiles flew at astonishing speeds from the tree's, one piercing the skull of the first man and the other smashing the radio of other. Before the man could even prepare to fire, several more projectiles flew out, hitting the gun from his hands and the scroll from his waist. He let out a scream as he tried to run but his assailant was already upon him and had seized him by his face before he even knew what had happened. The man's terrified screams were muffled against Kuranaga's palm, his grip tightening, forcing the man to bite through his own tongue. Blood splashed out from his mouth as his screams became mixed with pain as well as fear, their intensity rising even more so. The blood triggered something deep within Kuranaga. A hunger. A hunger he thought he had sated. It burned with a fearsome intensity. The blood that poured across his palm felt as if were made of silk and it's warmth permeated every part of his body. Saliva slid across his lip and he could feel his body ache with a sick arousal and desire for the blood that even then seemed to glisten as it dropped to the floor. He let out a sinister snigger as his grip tightened even more so on the man's face. First his jaw snapped as if it were a twig, it's bones jutting through his flesh, coated in the craved, red liquid. His cheek bones were next to cave under the intensity of Kuranaga's grip, the sheer pain had caused the man to pass out, it would be easier for him to die that way. Almost disappointed that his victim had passed out, Kuranaga drove his fingers through the man's skull, it shattering easy under his new found strength, dropping the man's lifeless body to the ground with all the care of the brutal monster that he had become in an instant. However, he could not hold himself back any longer. Lowering himself to the floor, like a dog, he ran his tongue through the pool of blood. Savouring each drop as it slid down his throat. It was delicious. It was satisfying. It made him hunger for it less as he drank more, until he was staring into the pool of blood with a sick feeling in his stomach about what he had been doing though a sadistic feeling still resided in him. The world seemed to sway as Kuranaga once again got to his feet. It's shape changed every second and defied gravity at every turn. Almost as strange as it's shape, was it's colour. Everything was tinted a deep red. Kuranaga found it...intoxicating, more so he found it delightful but overall, it was stimulating. He heard voices once again. Obviously more of the churches dogs checking up on their missing patrol. There was ten of them, that he could tell. They were heavily armed. It didn't even occur to him that he was noticing this due to an impressive leap in his ability to hear things from far away. Three of them were talking about him, how a man named Caesar had gone after him and he had fled. They called him a coward. A vile, frightened, pathetic creature. A poor soul the could bring to absolution by killing. Their arrogance and stupidity was the best mask for his approach. Their overconfidence left them oblivious to the hidden creature watching from the woods. The first of them was taken easily, disappearing from the back of the group without even a sound, the group did not notice until they found their two missing comrades and one of their own number, impaled with a hideous amount of branches, forming a twisted bonfire looking object. Two of them threw up in disgust, they didn't even see it coming and there wasn't even time to feel it as his hand punched through their bodies with one decisive blow. A spray of bullets from their own comrades threw their bodies across the ground, but their assailant was already out of sight. One of their number could no longer take the pressure and, throwing his weapon to the floor, ran back the way they had came. His silhouette was all his comrades could see as he ran. In an instant a black shape darted from one edge of the forest to the other. Their friend screamed and turned back to return to his group, the black shape darted across once again in front of him. He screamed out in terror and reached for the only weapon he had at his immediate disposal, his side arm of a small 9mm pistol., firing it almost immediately into the forest, the clip being emptied in moments. His friends rushed to help him, but the black shape was faster. It ran a tight circle around him, one finger running along his neck as it did so and, using it's gained momentum it swung it's fist at the man's terrified visage and punched his head clean off. The creature was malicious, gruesome and had no intent other than to kill. It was beginning to lose any semblance of what it used to be. Kuranaga was slowly becoming less human. The fog of the lake added a bit too much to the atmosphere for Seth's liking, though he could hardly deny he found it enchanting on every level. It had occurred to him during 'his' conversation with whom he now assumed to be King Arthur, that he was in England, most likely Cornwall. It felt extraordinarily right to be there, so much so that he questioned whether he had truly liked living in Japan. The air felt so pure as he breathed it in and it carried a damp cold to it that invigorated him with each breath. Once again, he moved his mouth to speak, uncertain this time of what he might say. Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth and finally managed to say something of his own volition, which until now he had been unable to do in this world. “King Arthur?” it sounded to him almost wrong to say her name in such a manner. “So you are not Sir McAllister, as I suspected.” her tone was curt and unamused but still seemed to carry an air of grace. “N-No, I am not 'Sir' McAllister, I am Seth McAllister.” he found it very hard to find the right words as he spoke to her, her presence was completely overpowering. “Seth McAllister?” she seemed intrigued at his words “is it possible you are descended from Sir McAllister? If so, it may explain why you have appeared as him here.” “It is possible.” he replied, still feeling quite uncomfortable. “Seth...do tell me, what has become of my beloved England?” she seemed to stare out forlornly at the lake as she spoke, her eyes bespoke of her sadness. “England survived and is still a strong country with rich culture.” he told her as if to relieve her worry. She forced a smile but it was still tinged with sadness, she obviously regretted what had happened to England during her life. The sky above them seemed to flash and crackle with energy. “What is that?” Seth asked her with slight concern “I believe...that we are in combat. Someone is tarnishing my blade with impure magic. Otherwise no one would be able to wield it.” she seemed to spit in disgust at the idea that Excalibur would be used by anyone else. “Then why don't we save it?” “There is no escape from this domain.” “Well why don't we try? It is better than doing nothing.” Seth smiled with undeserved confidence. He had never dealt with magic and was ill advised to speak of it as something as simple as to be conquered. A remarkable trait for an unremarkable boy. The King gave him a gentle smile. How long had it been since such a thing had crossed her lips? She could not remember, but the warm feeling was reminiscent and nostalgic, she sought to reclaim such warmth. “That is a remarkably positive attitude.” “I don't believe in giving up. I may be weak and unremarkable, but I alone have the strength to make my decisions and try my hardest to make them come to fruition. I will leave this place and..my liege, I am taking you with me.” he reached out his hand to her, his confident gaze staring down at her. Her hand reached out to his and clasped it gently “How very interesting.” once again a gentle smile crossed her lips. As she thought this to herself, the world around her slowly began to disappear and was replaced with nothing but a pure golden light. It would appear that she finally did want to leave. She was slowly lifted to her feet by Seth and the light engulfed them both. |
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