GUYS I NEARLY CRIED WHEN I FINISHED THIS.
It's not sad, I'm just not ready for the end to be within a few chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know if you'd I'd by dropping a vote and/or comment. Thanks and enjoy!
(Y/N)'s POV
My heart pounded against my chest as I forced myself up the stairs of the school, Shura just a few steps behind me, a steadying presence at my back. Though she couldn't help me, and couldn't even enter the battle area, she demanded that she see me to the roof. She was my mentor and my teacher, she knew what words I needed to hear right now, or maybe there were no words at all. She could have been giving an entire monologue, and I would have never heard it over the blood rushing in my ears.
It felt as if my legs were made of lead and my arms of noodles as I pulled myself up the stairs of the old building. My arms fell limply by my sides, the rings on my middle fingers humming with energy. The normal buzz of the two demons whispering to me was silent, and I couldn't tell if the silence was better than their arguing or not.
With the way my arms were feeling, I wasn't sure I could be able to lift a pencil, much less a sword. At that moment, it was like I had forgotten how to fight. My mind was blank. I was sure when I got onto the roof, I was going to forget who to hold my sword, to block to swing, to do anything. A lead ball settled in my stomach, my chest clenching, a lump forming in my throat. I didn't know what to do. Everything I had been taught, every drill and move that had been hammered into my brain was gone. I was done for.
Everything about this situation felt wrong. I was only in high school. This wasn't the life I saw for myself. This was not what I imaged my life would be like when I entered True Cross Academy. I envisioned myself making friends, smiling, laughing, crying, with my friends; all the normal things that came with being a teenager. After high school, if I became an exorcist, I wanted to settle down with a husband and do my job. I wanted to work a 9-5 workday and come home to the comfort and support of my husband.
Now, standing before the door to the root, to the last day of this hellish nightmare, I came to the realization that none of that was going to happen. I wasn't going to get to live my fairy tale dream. I wasn't going to plan my wedding. I wasn't going to pick out a wedding dress. I wasn't going to stand before my friends and family as I married the man I loved. I wasn't going to bring our children into the words. I wasn't going to get to see my brother married. I wasn't going to see him in the role of a father. I wasn't going to see my father and Mio play with his grandchild that had his freckles. That future was gone. That hope was gone.
Only then did I realize the sticky tears rolling down my face. And I let them come. For just this moment, I would wallow in the self-pity that I felt. Then, it would be time to open the door and face my fears. I knew this is what I had to do. This would save countless lives. I couldn't just back out now because I didn't want to say goodbye to what-ifs. Just because I couldn't live out my dreams didn't mean other people couldn't live out theirs. I would do this for them.
I would do this so that others had a future. I would do this so that Tobias and Emi could get married. I would do this so they could have kids of their own. I would do this so my father would get to meet his grandchildren that had his freckles. I would do this so hundreds of others would do the same thing. I would do this for them.
I jumped as a hand settled on my shoulder. Whipping my head around, I looked back to see that it was only Shura. "You got this, kid," she said, her voice unwavering, her eyes never leaving mine. "This is what you've trained for; it's quite literally in your blood," she reminded me, and I couldn't help but smile at her words, the same ones that had made me smile earlier. "You got this kid," she repeated. "You can handle it. I'll be waiting for you when you've kicked scrawny demon ass," she said, a smirk on her face. I nodded, giving her a soft smile, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
With one more pat on the shoulder, the woman left, leaving me in front of the door to the roof. In a final moment of preparation, I checked my holsters, making sure there was nothing for any of my four guns to get caught on. I double-checked my extra mags, making sure they were accessible. I didn't even know if I would have a chance to use them, but they made me feel a little better.
Once I had checked everything, there was no more stalling; I couldn't risk it. There was no way I would risk testing Kaage's patients. He had already proven that much.
Taking a deep breath and readjusting the rings on my fingers, I pushed the door to the roof open. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't sure if the demon was going to come at me at full strength, taking me at a disadvantage, or if there was going to be a moment of peace before the war started. Taking a few steps out onto the roof, I found that it was the latter. Kaage sat on the ground in the middle of the roof, Ishida standing at a respectable distance behind the power-hungry creature.
The man looked like I had never seen him before. Sure, he had always been weary-looking, a crazed look to his frightening eyes, but this was different. The man was bent over, a hand on his stomach. His knees shook, and there even seemed to be clumps of hair mission from his head. His skin was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was ashen-gray with a little bit of a green tint to his cheeks; it looked like he was going to be sick at any moment. He was in no condition to fight.
What could Kaage have up his sleeve this time?
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come, Matsuda," the red-eyed demon said, his gravely voice unnaturally soft. The sound of it sent chills up my spine just like it had the first time I'd heard it. Effortlessly, the demon pulled himself to my feet, taking a few steps toward me. I had to resist the urge to stumble back from the creature, but I couldn't show my weakness; that would be admitting defeat. Kaage motioned for the man behind him to step forward until the human was standing by the demons side.
"You know what time has come, Ishida," the demon said, putting a hand out in front of the other male. Ishida produced a small dagger, resting it in the more powerful creature's hand. I steeled myself for the beginning of battle, but what happened next was not expected. With one swift twist of his wrist, Kaage plunged the dagger into Ishida's throat. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my lips.
Blood spurted from the man's throat, red droplets spraying from his lips as he coughed and gagged on the crimson liquid filling his throat. I could do nothing but stare as Ishida's knees crumbled beneath him, and he fell to the ground, the side of his head hitting the hard cement with a sickening thud. Blood started to seep from that wound as well, staining the ground beneath him.
"He was nothing more than a mere puppet for me to use to do my dirty work," Kaage explained, using a barefoot to push the dead man onto his back, Ishida's lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. "His blood will only give me more power. I am free. I am not held back by the weaknesses of a mere mortal," he said, clear disgust lacing his voice. "In reality, his blood will be my weapon," he said, looking at the lifeless body with disdain.
The demon with blood-red eyes put a hand out over the body, his palm facing the earth. Before my very eyes, Ishida's blood started to gather, draining all color from his skin, the skin going gray. The blood rose to the demon's pale hands, coagulating and coming together to form a great broadsword. Kaage's eyes held undeniable bloodlust as he stared down at the dry body of the man he had just killed.
"I hope you had a chance to say goodbye," the demon said, and that was all the warning I got before he was rushing forward, blood sword clasped tightly in both hands. It a split second, adrenaline was being dumped into my bloodstream, and I suddenly remembered all of my training.
Both swords materialized in my hands in a split second, just in time to block a powerful swing dealt by the demon. My arms shook with the effort, but with Katsuro and Kitiara's help, I managed to push back, causing the demon to stumble a few steps. In this time of vulnerability, I surged forward, hoping to land a hit. But alas, the demon was simply too fast. He brought his sword up to counter my attack, sparks flying as my two blades clashed with the demon's. In the back of my mind, it occurred to me that he was probably using the iron in Ishida's blood to strengthen his sword.
We traded blows and parries as we danced around the roof of the school. I watched as blood sprayed when one of us landed a blow, listening to Katsuro and Kitiara's quiet, encouraging words as they supplied me with extra power. They were always there in my mind, being the eyes in the back of my head, warning me when the blade was too close to comfort or pointing out weaknesses like when Kaage swung too wide.
As the battle continued, I felt myself growing weary. The demon had certainly gotten his fair share of hits in, though with the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I could barely feel the sting of my wounds. Despite the demon's superior fighting technique and general power, I had gotten a handful of hits in. There were spots of blood decorating the demon's face, and I could tell this was only fueling his hunger for battle. In between blows, the few times I was given a chance to recover, I had caught the demon licking the blood from his lips. At this point, there was no telling if it was mine or his.
Kaage swung wide, and I managed to capture his blade between mine, a move Shura had taught me. I hoped this would give me the upper hand, but I had celebrated too soon; Kaage's brute strength greatly surpassed my own. I was just a human fighting against one of the devil's strongest warriors. Just a second too late, I saw Kaage smirk before he twisted his sword with enough force to pull me off my feet and throw me to the ground quite a bit away. I cried out as the side of my head crashed against the pavement, my sight filling with stars for a moment.
"When are you going to give up?" he asked, his voice as hard and cold as ice as he stalked toward me, sword swinging at his side. "You're no match for a demon. My siblings were fools to choose the likes of you as their master," he said as he stopped at my feet, staring down at me. "You're just a weak little girl!" he shouted, raising his sword for the final blow.
A second before he could, I stretched my legs out just a little bit, snapping my feet closed around his ankles. With a swift twist, the demon was on the ground on his hands and knees, sword out of his hands. I stumbled a few feet away, holding a rather nasty cut on my side that refused to stop oozing blood as I tried to regain my vision; it was still slightly hazy from the previous hit. I didn't dare try to kick the sword away from the demon in fear of him grabbing my ankle or leg. There would be no escape if that happened.
Unfortunately for me, he was still quick despite his injuries, and he was on his feet once more. Despite how quick he could be, he still had to recover from falling, and I dashed forward, swinging both of my swords in the same direction. His eyes widened as he spun out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough, and at least an inch of my blades struck his skin. Blood spurted in all directions, splashing all over the ground.
"You bitch!" he roared. His eyes were gleaming with rage as he started toward me once again. I stumbled back again, knowing the blood loss was starting to get to me. I was dizzy and unsteady on my feet. Though I had landed a good hit on the demon, he was just that; a demon. He had more strength than I, and could last longer with two gaping wounds in his side than I could with one.
"You bitch," he repeated, his voice lower and at a softer volume this time. "You're going to pay for that," he muttered. One look at his eyes revealed that there was nothing left. He was lost to the blood lust and anger than had stretched generations. He was lost in his own power.
I stumbled back, tripping on my own feet as I tried to get away from the crazed demon. I fell onto my bottom, both swords clattering out of my hands as I tried to catch myself. A cry of pain escaped my lips as he swung his sword, the flat of the blade smacking me right in the side of the head, sending me sprawling. I spit out a mouthful of blood from where one of my teeth had ripped into my cheek.
Now, the demon stood over top of me, his bare feet on either side of my hips. I tried to raise my arms to defend myself, too weary from blood loss to do anything more than that, but Kaage just brought down the sword on my exposed forearms, cutting deeply into the flesh. I howled in pain as the blood gushed down my forearms. He continued to play with me as if I was some toy to him. He placed scratches on my face, on my arms, around my neck, never large enough to kill me, but they still hurt like hell. I could feel myself fading fast. I didn't have much time. This needed to end now.
Ever since the beginning of the battle, I had been listening to the demons I held mental connections with as they strategized, watching as all of Kaage's weaknesses played out right before their eyes. As I was fighting, they were logging useful information in the back of my mind. They had been formulating a plan the entire time. I plan that was at the forefront of my brain thanks to the two demons. And we were about to put that plan into action.
"Now!" I shouted. Kaage's eyes widened as there was a blinding flash of light. I felt pure, unadulterated power flood through my body. Every inch of my body was on fire, every inch of it buzzing and burning with the demonic power flooding through my veins, through my blood, through my very being. This was the final stage of the plan. And it would probably kill me.
I had agreed to let Katsuro and Kitiara use my body, to let their energy flow through my body. This was the only way to win. This was the only way this would work. It would probably kill me, and the reaction of Katsuro and Kitiara's power meeting Kaage's would destroy all three of them. And they would most likely take me down with them.
A bloodcurdling scream ripped itself from my throat as the two demons flooded me with their power. I heard another scream pierce the air before it was suddenly cut off, and my vision went dark. When I awoke, I was in the white void that had become very familiar in my meetings with Katsuro and Kitiara. In fact, they were now standing right in front of me. They were both looking at me, small smiles on both of their faces.
"I told you she'd be the one," the male demon said to the female, whose smile widened.
"You're always right, Katsuro," the female demon admitted. She then turned back to me. "Farewell, (Y/N). It has been an honor to serve at your side," she said, giving me a deep curtsey. Katsuro bowed at her side before looking me right in the eyes, his bright blue eyes piercing mine.
"You've been the most worthy person we've ever served; thank you, (Y/N) Matsuda-(L/N). Farewell." With that, the two demons turned to each other and Katsuro took Kitiara's hand in his own before they turned, walking away. I watched them go, watching them until they faded into the white void, and I gave way to the darkness.