Celica wrote:"Blazing Storm!" Ying cried as she unleashed a powerful spell of fire and lightning toward her brother. Yang deflected it, barely phased as he flew toward her again.
From below it seemed like they were flying, but they were simply using their mana to suspend themselves in the air. They walked upon it as if walking on the ground. The two clashed with each other again, their swords shuddering and trying to overpower each other.
"You've learned well, Ying...did the old man teach you? It's too bad he won't live for very long..." Yang said, a smirk on his face. Ying narrowed her eyes and pushed back. She ran backward a moment before she flipped back and pulled out another scroll.
"Shadow Formation...multiply!" Ying called as she formed several shadow copies of her sword. They didn't have the full power of her own sword, but she figured it would be enough to occupy Yang. She rushed toward Yang and swung toward him, and the copies of her sword seemed to follow the same movements, but at different times and speeds.
Yang moved back and tried blocking the swords with his own two. He managed to dodge and deflect them all.
"An interesting trick...but not good enough, sister. You can't even control them all properly..." Yang said. Then he held out his own swords.
"Let me show you how it's done..." Yang added before he let go of his swords. Then they made a formation on their own, then attacked Ying at twice the speed. Ying countered, but was having trouble blocking them. She was so focused on Yang's swords she barely had enough time to see him throw a ball of energy toward her. She cried out as she was pushed back hard into the trunk of a tree. The ball of energy was pushing on her with immense force. Then Yang approached.
"I guess your teacher didn't teach you that well after all...what a pity..." Yang said as he leaned in close. Ying tried to concentrate, even though she felt the pain from the force pushing against her. She heard what Yang said, and knew she had to do something to make him regret his words. All her teacher's training would not go in vain.
Ying was swept into a brief moment of calm and serenity in her mind.
"GRANDPA!!"
Ying heard Minari's cry and she opened her eyes and looked down in shock to see Daiyu pull her blade out of Tao and watch him fall to the ground. She stared in horror a moment before she unleashed a large amount of mana, throwing Yang's own force back at him.
Then she rushed up above him. She made few movements then attached a scroll to her blade and held it sideways with the flat side forward. Then she dove down toward Yang. She clashed against him, pushing him downward into the lake below. The water exploded into the air as the two hit it.
"Bind!" Ying called and she cast a binding spell on Yang. The water fell around them but didn't touch them. Then she shot upward, and threw another binding spell at Daiyu, immobilizing her. Then she went over to Tao.
"Master!" Ying said.
"Y-Ying...you have...made me...proud..." Tao rasped out.
"Don't speak. Save your energy. I'm going to bring you to a village and heal you..." Ying said.
"No...it will be...too late....Ying...do what you have promised me..."
"But master..."
"Do it and I will be at peace..." Tao said. Ying held back her tears. Minari was sobbing. Tao reached toward the girl and touched her cheek gently.
"Minari...go with Ying....you will find a better life. Your grandpa will always be with you...live well, my child..." Tao said. Minari nodded even though she was still crying. She held her grandfather's hand a moment before she kissed it gently. Tao smiled at her before he gazed up at Ying, then the sky. Then he closed his eyes.
Ying gazed at him a moment. She squatted down in front of Minari.
"Minari...climb onto my back, hurry" Ying said. The girl did as told. Ying felt the lake shuddering, feeling that Yang was breaking through her spell.
"Hold on tight..." Ying said. Minari gently tightened her grip around Ying's neck. Holding Tao in her arms, Ying took off into the air. Then she jumped through the treetops to leave the area as quickly as possible.
Yang won't be held back for long...but I hope long enough for us to escape... Ying thought.
It wasn't long before she found a place to bury Tao's body. She and Minari were silent for a while before Ying brought the girl to the nearest village.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her..." one of the women from the village said.
"Don't leave, Lady Ying..." Minari said sadly.
"I must go, Minari. That way you will be safe...so that the man who is after me will not try to harm you again. Be a good girl and take care...I will return to visit you again one day..." Ying said as she smiled at her. Minari had a sad expression for a moment before she smiled a little and hugged Ying.
"Take care of the robes I made for you..." Minari said. Ying nodded.
"I will. Thank you very much..." Ying said.
"Goodbye...take care, Lady Ying..." Minari said. Ying nodded. Then she left.
Master Tao...you knew you were going to die...didn't you...all to protect Minari and I. Thank you...for everything...I will not let you down...
The lake back in the forest exploded and a golden orb of light emerged. Yang floated there, furious. His energy was disturbing everything in the area before he finally calmed down. Then he went over to Daiyu and removed the spell on her.
"Damn Ying and those spells of hers...seems she's still as clever as I thought..." Yang said.
"She escaped to the east, master..." Daiyu replied.
"Yes...well it seems we'll just have to track her down again..."
Tika_Keiga wrote:Evan walked into the clearing. He was very calm. As he took his steps his hand went to Chronos and he pulled it out of it's sheath. "We meet again Shin. And this will be the last time we do." Evan took stance, both hands slightly above him with Chronos almost pointing at Shin. Sudden;y the same energy from last time started to flow around him. He smirked.
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Ran suddenly noticed the girl. He examined her while she spoke. "You can call me Ran." He didn't care what she thought of him. After all, he had stopped caring about things like that years ago.
Ran knew they were soutwest of the Orc's jungle, for that's where the river turned before heading out to sea.
His face didn't lighten up though. The same stern expression stayed on his face as his eyes went back to the sky.
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Kana boarded the ship. She had a lot on her mind, and felt it the time to return home.
A few hours later, the ship sent sail. To the Empire.
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Terra stood up. Her mostly green body back to normal. "Finally." She said to herself, as she came out of hiding. "Time to work these idiots some more." Terra headed off to issue more orders.
Zion wrote:At first, Kyo was speechless. Then slowly, he managed to choke out a few rods.
"Are you serious?" Kyo asked, although he already knew the answer. Uriel, unlike himself, was not one to play a joke like this.
"Yes, it is true. Would you like further explaination?" Uriel asked. Surprisingly enough, he seemed to smile slightly for a brief second.
Kyo hesitated and he sighed, resigned. I'll just hear him out for now.
As though he could read his mind, Uriel continued.
"Before your mother and I met, I was serving as an Archangel within the Upper Plane. I had been given a mission to hunt down a demon which was kidnapping children from a nearby village. I immediately searched the entire continent for her and after I found her, proceeded to kill her. However, something in her eyes caused me to stop. Though she was supposed to be a demon, an abomination from the Lower Plane, there was a faint spark of light in her soul. So, I forced her to release all of the children she captured; I later learned that she was about to absorb their souls. While in captivity, she made several attempts to kill me and escape, but alas, I was too clever. As months went by, she seemed to grow more tame, like a beast in one way or the other. Eventually, she had given up her old ways, repulsed by her actions in the past. We continued travelling together, and miraculously, we had fallen in love somehow. But, relationships between Demons and Angels rarely ever suceed, due to the fact that it was forbidden by the Upper and Lower Plane. I then had to make a choice, to revoke my position as an Archangel and return to her, or carry out the mission that I should have done months prior. I..." Uriel paused to catch his breath. "left the Upper Plane forever and had become "Fallen". However, I still could not stand by and allow evil to spread across the land. On certain occasions, I would leave the town we lived in in order to hunt down various creatures. It was while I was away that you, Kyo, were born. When I felt your spiritual frequency created, I attempted to return to the village as quickly as I could, but...a Demon Lord stopped me." Uriel's expression became one of great resentment. "His name was Remorse, and though I had both my Archangel abilities and Longinus, he somehow defeated me, and left this scar on my face. I managed to escape, but it took several years before I was able to completely recover. After four years, I attempted to return to the village, but it had been burnt down, by the same creature that scarred me. I...isolated myself from humanity, lost in a sea of regret and anguish. I thought you were dead but...I felt your spiritual frequency echo once more, and I was apalled. It came from the Upper Plane." Uriel suddenly stopped.
Kyo whom was listening intently, jumped up angrily.
"What the hell?! That's it?! What about your encounter with Brianna?!" He shouted angrily. Uriel looked up at him, a puzzled expression on his face.
"You...don't deny that I am your father?" Uriel said, a look of wonder and hope on his face.
"Well...everything you said matches up but...what else am I supposed to say to the man that was never there for me?" Kyo said, a rare look of grief on his face. Uriel didn't reply, and merely looked away.
"I...didn't mean to-" Uriel began but Kyo cut him off.
"What does it matter? While I was enslaved under...this Remorse guy, I kept wondering who my father was. I kept hoping that this great hero would come and save me. I kept hoping and dreaming until I finally just gave up. Why even bother hoping for someone that you never knew and never will?" Kyo said quietly. "Maybe you are my father but, you were never there for me."
"I can't fix all the mistakes I've made Kyo..." Uriel said, his face composed but anguish clear in his voice.
"I know but, you could at least try..." Kyo said casting his eyes downward. "It's late, you can tell the rest of your story tomorrow."
Uriel flinched at the word story. He felt as thought Kyo were denying his existence. But he knew that there was nothing more that he could say to make the situation any better.
"Very well then." Uriel said walking outside.
Brianna looked at Kyo with an equally grief filled expression.
"Don't you think you were too hard on him? What could he do after all?" Brianna asked him soothingly.
"I don't know, but he shouldn't just sit around acting like the world hates him. If that is the case, then he should keep fighting and keep hoping. What's the point of life if you've got no reason to try?" Kyo said rhetorically.
Stepped forward and gazed at the pond. It had been a long time since he had looked at his face without his mask.
I'm proud of the man you've become Kyo, no matter what decisions you've made. You were alone, but you continued fighting in search of an answer to living. And you found it in the end...
Uriel closed his eyes and allowed the night air to blow against his face. He felt a small burning sensation in his scar due to the wind, but he didn't flinch and stood as still as a statue.
Celica wrote:"Of course. And because you ran away the last time...I'll make your death extra painful..." Shin replied, also smirking. He pulled out his katana and took a different stance than Evan, his energy starting to flow around him too. He eyed the other man a moment, a breeze blowing past as a silence enveloped them for a brief period.
Shin felt a pulse. This is it..
He and Evan shot toward each other at the same time, waves of their energies pushing everything back.
There was a giant clash of power as Shin and Evan''s blades were locked with each other. Both of their energies grew even more as one tried to overpower the other. Then they pushed back from each other before taking to the air and exchanging attacks.
Shin made his mana flow into his blade and concentrated on it, it grew longer, and glowed with a bright blue flame. He jumped back from Evan before throwing several blades of blue flame toward him.
Evan deflected the attacks with Chronos before moving in to attack Shin again. Once again they were locked in another power struggle.
Evenly matched...how annoying...I won't let this go... Shin thought before he focused more his mana again, his body enveloped in blue flame. He shot up high into the air before making a few movements with his arms and sword, and increased his speed and tried to attack Evan from all sides.
It seemed to be working, until Evan caught him off guard with a powerful attack and sent Shin flying back. Shin managed to deflect most of the attack and his feet hit the ground, sliding back to a stop. He stood still, staring at Evan. He grit his teeth, his anger growing.
Shin charged forward again.
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"Ran..." Mai repeated softly. She watched him a moment before she followed his gaze up to the sky. Then she looked back at the expression on his face and began to wonder if there was something wrong.
"Well, I'll take care of you until you're better. Unfortunately we're nowhere near a village, and I'm sort of waiting for a friend...if he ever comes back, that is..." Mai mumbled the last part under her breath.
Kyuu jumped up beside Ran, sniffing him a moment. He figured the elf man didn't seem dangerous so the ferret only stared at him curiously.
"Anyway, wh-" Mai began, but froze when she felt a pulse. She was still a moment before she gazed down at the amulet. It began to glow and pulsed again. She gazed out into the distance.
Shin...