Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

A/N: Good evening! In order to keep myself going at a fairly steady clip, I have taken a solemn oath to get out a new chapter each Friday evening/Saturday afternoon (because Saturday mornings are occupied by my volunteer work at my local animal shelter). Also, the adventures in London will soon come to a close, so keep a lookout for my End-of-World Special, where I'll tell you a lot about myself mostly and the story of how this madness started. I'll put out an end-of-world special each time we reach an end of world, and I'll also post a list of people who have subscribed/fanned me/watched Tsugumi on <shameless plug>her deviantart</shameless plug>, so if you've pressed that magical green button on the corner of my journal, comment now so I can include you on the magical list of win and thank you properly! Yay! Anyhoo, I'll stop talking now. Kick back, have a health drink like Harry Mason, and enjoy my newest baby!

Chapter 17: Demons and Beasts

The alleyway filled with screeching bats. They milled around, quickly assessing the nature of the situation--the scorched state of everything there, Neko lying on her side, motionless on the ground--and eventually coalescing into the form of Alucard in mid-stride.

He swept to the girl and knelt down to examine her. She had a gash on the side of her forehead and had fainted dead away, but she most certainly was not dead--she would have collapsed into dust if she was. However, she was very badly injured. He couldn’t even reach into her dreams to contact her, which disturbed him more than anything.

Whatever had managed to take her down had been strong--he had seen the fireball from the sky. And it was probably still about.

Alucard slowly rose, looking about for any flicker of movement, every sense extended for anything that would give the attacker away. Nothing. Not a breath, not a heartbeat. The thumping of the club inside one of the buildings that made one wall of the alley disoriented him and made it hard to hear. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind. There had to be something.

THERE!

He turned on a dime, drew his gun, registered a hunched figure on top of the club next door, and fired--all in a split second. Whatever it was moved just in time, dodging out of the way in a flash. Alucard followed him, however, peppering the path in front of and behind him with bullets. The b*****d was fast, with inhuman reflexes--but totally unlike a vampire in both speed and aura. It radiated a strange feeling of nonexistence--something that was but should not have been. It was throwing Alucard off-balance, making him not quite so sure in aim.

That didn’t mean he lost any confidence, however. The day Alucard wouldn’t believe he would win a fight would be the day Jesus came to fight the antichrist.

The man flipped sideways off the building and landed in a catlike position. His hood was up, but Alucard could clearly see the green, angular eyes of the redhead from earlier that night--the other man who had been spying on him and Mia.

“Evening!” he said cheerily as if greeting a friend he had not spoken to in a while, getting to his feet. “What took you so long? Was Saïx speech-ifying again?”

Alucard glared at this man--all angles and no respect, most likely. Obviously no sanity or sense either, judging by the way this brat--fresh out of the womb compared to the vampire--was acting, after presumably knocking a fully-fledged vampiress unconscious.

Disgusting.

The vampire pointed his gun at the man.

“Not one to chat, huh?” The man grinned. His hands burst into flame and summoned up a pair of chakram. “I’ll just introduce myself, then. Axel. Got it memorized?”

A smile twitched at the corner of Alucards mouth. “I do. Now I know what to tell them to put on your tombstone.”

The cloaked figure smirked right back. “Mouth like that, you must be the legendary Alucard. You talk tough for a guy who’s about to get his heart snatched.”

“That old thing? Take it. I no longer need it, certainly. But why do you want it?”

“Gotta please the boss man, you know. Orders and everything. Ordinarily I’d flip him the bird just to piss him off, but…”

“My sympathies. I know the feeling too well. But I cannot allow you to harm my family any longer.”

“Guess that puts a damper on our relationship, then.”

A moment passed. The two charged at each other.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Halo screamed as she flew through the air and hit a tree with so much force she knocked it over like a domino. Mia was still curled on the ground, halfway between conscious and not.

She pushed herself up and charged at Saïx once more. If she could just buy enough time for either Alucard or Mia to return, she told herself, Saïx would be finished. She paused and back-stepped to dodge a sweep of the blue claymore, then punched out at the blue-haired Nobody’s face. He dodged simply by leaning to the side, and hit Halo in the neck with a swift chopping motion. She fell flat on her face in the muddy ground and rolled to avoid his downward stab.

“Pathetic,” he muttered. “Absolutely pathetic.”

On her back, staring up at him, anger flared up. No more Miss Nice Halo.

A large rock just behind Halo’s head dislodged itself from the ground and flung itself at Saïx. He moved just in time. The stone hit a tree and shattered. Another rock, this one smaller and more distant, was sent flying as well. Halo scrambled to her feet and the rock swerved to avoid her, but could not return to its previous trajectory in time to hit the Nobody and bounced away ineffectually.

“So… telekenesis… I should have known,” Saïx noted like a scientist observing something vaguely interesting a dung beetle had done with its little ball. “You must be weak or desperate, to play such a card so early.”

A look of chilly rage sunk onto Halo’s face, not unlike a similar look Mia had seen on Alucard. “Word of advice: don’t piss me off,” she snarled.

“You’d be wise not to do the same,” Saïx responded with a cold smirk. “Though if you’ve tipped your hand to me, I may as well return the favor.” He looked up at the sky so the moon’s silver light caressed his face. “Foolish abomination. You worship the dark, never seeing her for the ignorance over your eyes. My rage will burn like the sun--but all I need to release it is the moon.”

His eyes began to glow red. Halo took a few steps back, grinding her teeth. A young sapling behind her groaned and ripped from the ground before flying at Saïx. He let out a simple, beastial roar, and the tree smashed into splinters. His claymore spun out of his hand and floated behind him. The Nobody himself lifted into the air, long hair flying about him, making him look truly berserk.

Mia looked up just in time to see Saïx fly at Halo, lift her high into the air, and smash her back down, where she lay still.

The light in his eyes faded. The sword stuck in the ground and vanished in blue flame. Saïx’s feet touched the ground. “One more,” he murmured, looking to Mia.

Mia swallowed and stumbled to her feet. Her legs trembled and then gave out again.

The Nobody chuckled and approached.

Something moved behind him. He turned and summoned a new claymore. There was a clash of metal against metal.

Halo stood there, wielding a key blade. It was black as night with a round wrist guard and an oddly-shaped shaft. It had three long teeth like scythe blades and a chain attached with a small charm of a ravening wolf.

Saïx looked satisfied. Halo blinked as if she was unsure what was going on. He lifted a hand to strike her.

There was a howl and something sprang from the bushes.

Arthur had returned, seeming to have figured out how to walk without his front right paw. He leaped through the air and bit down on the Nobody’s outstretched hand. He roared in pain and kicked at the dog, but the faithful hound only chomped harder.

Halo took her chance and sprinted back to Mia. She grabbed the other girl with a few urging words, helped her up, and hurried her into a run again, disappearing with her into the bushes.

By the time Saïx had shaken the dog off and sent it flying into a tree and looked around, the key blade masters were gone.

He paused, trying to catch the girls’ scents. But there was nothing.

His teeth ground together, rage unlike anything he had felt since he had a heart welling up in his chest. He turned on the dog, which was trying to limp back into the bushes. “DAMNED MUTT!!” He roared, summoning his blade.

Arthur looked back and growled in a resigned, triumphant sort of way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There was a bang and Axel fell to the ground, clutching a bleeding shoulder.

“Son of a b***h!” he gasped, looking up at Alucard. It was just a graze, but it was bleeding badly. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”

Alucard pulled back the hammer. “Now hold still,” he snarled.

Axel gulped and weighed his options. Could Superior blame him for fleeing at this point? Would Superior really believe that this guy just wouldn’t die?! Axel had set this guy on FIRE and the vampire had just KEPT WALKING!! That wasn’t supposed to happen!

Damn that Saïx! “Go take the girl hostage,” he says! “Get her dad’s Nobody while you’re at it,” he says! “Superior will love you for it!” Now Axel had blood and a bullet hole in his cloak and a really bad mood.

He stumbled to his feet. “Come on--can’t we just talk this out?”

Alucard started to pull the trigger.

Axel’s instincts won. He opened a darkness portal and vanished.

The portal vanished. The gun clicked, the chamber empty. Alucard snorted. “Idiot can’t even count shots,” he chuckled to himself, putting his back into his coat and turning back to Neko’s unconscious body.

She moaned and her eyes flicked open. Alucard felt as if a load had been taken off his soul somewhat, but did his utmost not to show it. “Good, you’re awake.”

Neko sat up and looked around, bewildered. “Good thing, too. Weird dreams… Where’s the clown?”

“He had to go piss himself.”

“YOU KILLED HIM!”

“No.”

“Good. He’s freakin’ MINE. If he ever makes the mistake of getting so much as a mile from me, I’m going to break his nose!! And then I’m going to cut off his head, scoop out what brains he has, and give it to his mother as a vase!!!”

“If he has one…” Alucard muttered as an aside, unable to pass up the joke.

“If he has one!” Neko agreed. “By the way, what are you doing here?”

“No time to explain,” Alucard said, dissolving into onyx ravens in mid-sentence. “We have to find your sister.”

Neko blinked, sitting a moment. “H-Hey, wait for me!” Her own form transformed into hundreds of black butterflies, leaving the alley blood-spattered, charred, and empty.