Flames of Blue and Green

Chapter 25: Reunited

BRIE'S P.O.V.

I had been wrong. The worst part about the chaos was not the fact that Zuriel had caused it.

The worst part was the screams.

The screams of the students and staff residing within the academy were bone-chilling. I had heard screams much like this not but a few days before when the hobgoblin had attacked Academy Town, but even then I had not had access to my angel abilities. Even then I couldn't feel the terror through their screams.

And that's how it was now. I could feel the emotions behind every one of those screams below me as I flew over the chaos. I could feel the terror, pain, sadness, anger, loss, confusion, and absolute horror behind every single one. And I could hear every prayer that was going through the minds of the citizens.

"Please, God, let him be okay!"

"Save me, please!"

"Help me, someone!"

"What have we done to deserve this, God?"

"Please...I don't want to die..."

I wanted so badly to block them all out. Block out the suffering of the humans below me. But instead, I listened. I listened to every single one of the prayers and wishes being shouted into my head. I listened and let it fuel my anger, my rage, towards Zuriel and what he had done. He had harmed and endangered all of these innocent people for his petty wish to win me back. I kept listening.

"Help!"

"Take away the pain, please!"

"Make it stop, I beg you!"

"Please let Brie be okay..."

I almost fell out of the sky upon hearing this prayer. Upon hearing his voice inside my head among many others. Rin's voice. He was still alive.

"I heard him!" I shouted over the wind to Mattia and Caleb. "I heard him!"

"Well, where is he?" Caleb shouted back.

I listened back to the prayers running through my head until I found his once more. When I did I was surprised to find that he wasn't just saying my name, but all the names of his friends.

"Please let them be okay. Bon, Shiemi, Kuro, Shima, Miwa, Izumo, Shura, Yukio...Brie...Please let them all be okay..."

I felt my eyes well up as I continued to listen to his chant of names, trying to track them to his location. I listened and concentrated until I finally pinpointed where his voice was coming from.

"He's in the main building! I think he's waiting...for Zuriel! He's waiting for the fight to come to him!" I yelled.

Mattia shot me a confused glance. "He couldn't possibly know that the thing attacking is after him!"

"He's the son of Satan, Tia! Who else would it be coming after?" Caleb shouted, in which Mattia nodded in response.

"Let's go back him up, yeah?" I yelled to the two of them. Mattia smiled and though it was hesitant at first, Caleb shot me a smile.

We flew low over the main academy building before landing at the front door. The heat from the flames was intense, but luckily there were no flames within reaching distance. The screams had died down, most likely because the campus had been evacuated, and the only sounds audible was the crackling of the fires around us. I shuddered at the thought of how many students and teachers had been lost to these flames. To Zuriel's flames. I shook my head in disgust and walked into the front door of the academy.

And there he was.

"Rin."

The raven haired teen blinked at me in utter shock. "Brie? Is...Is that you?"

I nodded, unable to speak, but knowing I didn't need to speak for him to understand. His mouth spread into that all too familiar grin, and even as the tears flowed down my face, I couldn't help but match it with my own smile. I wanted to run to him, but my legs felt like they would give if I moved from that spot. So, instead, he ran to me.

One moment my knees were buckling beneath me, and the next he was there, catching me. He squeezed me tightly to him and, wrapping my arms around him, I squeezed back. Not as tightly as he, but I knew he could feel the emotion behind the embrace. Just as I could feel the emotion behind his. Relief, surprise, joy, longing, passion, and the overwhelming feeling of love. A love that I had never felt before. A love so pure and innocent. A love that Zuriel's could never begin to be a match for.

And in that bubble of emotion, I took Rin's face in my hands and kissed him. I kissed him hard, hoping that he could feel my own love for him. Wanting him to feel all the emotions I was feeling for him. My own passion, relief, joy, and longing for him. And when he responded fiercely to my kiss, I knew he felt all of those things and more.

"Oh, how sweet."

We both pulled away from our passionate kiss to look at the threat before us. Zuriel had arrived and now stood mere feet away from us. Knowing that Caleb and Mattia would have warned us sooner I glanced at them. They stood there behind us, seemingly unharmed, but frozen in time. Their faces were arranged in expressions of panic and Caleb's arm reached toward me, stopped in mid-movement. I stood suddenly and faced Zuriel, Rin standing close next to me, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What did you do to them?" I asked quietly, feeling the anger roll off of my own words.

Zuriel smirked. "It's a new trick I learned when I teamed up with the demons. I can stop time now. Neat, right?"

"Why didn't you just freeze us all and get it over with?" Rin asked, his voice steely and full of rage.

"It's a rather limited trick. I can't really do much at one time. I'm no King of Time and Space," Zuriel replied lazily, letting his stance drop to a seemingly casual one. But I knew better than to lower my guard. "And anyway, I wanted to fight you head to head, Satan spawn. It will be much more...satisfying."

"It's funny how you use the term 'Satan spawn' as an insult, Zuriel," I said, smirking. "I mean, Rin didn't choose his father, and yet, you did. You gave up your soul to Satan willingly."

"Details, details, my dear Brienna," Zuriel said.

"My dear? Brienna?" Rin asks as he throws a confused glance my way.

I shake my head at him. "It's a long story. One for another day." I pause. "And Brienna is my full name."

"Your full name? How come you never told me your full name?"

"I didn't really have that information at the time."

"Tch. Excuses."

"I had no memory!"

"Why did he call you 'my dear'?"

"I told you it's a long-"

"Is he your ex?"

"Technically we never really broke up," Zuriel pipes in. "I'm her fiance."

"Fiance?" Rin asks. "Like, as in you two are engaged?"

"Can we not do this right now?" I shout. "Obviously the engagement is off, Zuriel! So just fuck off!"

Zuriel's expression becomes dark and he takes a step forward. Instinctively, I take a step back from the dark aura beginning to radiate from him. "I don't think so, Brie. You're mine. And you'll always be mine."

Rin steps in front of me, his sword now drawn and flaming. Even from behind I can see the blue flames on the top of his head, curling into the shape of horns. "Over my dead body."

Zuriel's smirk turns up into a crazed smile as he continues to walk forward to meet Rin. "That can be arranged."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This story is nearing its end, friends. It may have two or three more chapters left, but then that's the end. I think this has been my most successful fanfic ever, not that I've written many. But I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. -Gen