"Ugh, we're making no progress at all," Faye griped, clearing another row of
skeletons. "And all the enemies look the same!"
"This is... pretty boring..." Sakura murmured, easily taking out the deceased souls.
Bakra let out a sigh. "Can't we just run through or something?"
"I would say yes..." Josh jumped up real fast. "But there's a lot of them and I don't
think we can run."
"Can I just... fly over them and leave you behind...?" Sakura asked.
Everyone else turned around. "That would be a great idea," Josh said. "Why didn't we
think of that. Isaka could probably sue your help-"
It was then that a surge of holy power came streaming down the hallway, forcing them
all to brace themselves against the blast. It cleared in a few seconds and the skeletons
were nowhere to be seen.
"What the hell...?" Bakra murmured, looking around. "What was that...?"
Josh stood up with a fond grin. "Krystal - I'd recognize something as ridiculously
overpowered as that any day."
*****
"2050 points!" Carmilla shouted triumphantly as her shadow beast tore through more
skeletons. Erin and Seth had given up keeping track, seeing how the vampire had overshadowed
them in it. The young man quickly reloaded his pistol with another clip of ammunition and
took out a few more skeletons.
"2060!" Tycara shouted, her blades whirling through opponents. The two girls continued
to shout out their 'score' as Abby just held on to Tycara's hand, wondering when her powers
would be back to normal.
Eveon and Mina sighed together. "I'm surprised they haven't woken up those girls,"
Mina said, motioning to the still unconscious sisters.
"It's probably a good thing, though. If I were going to wake up after having my mind
controlled, I'm sure this would not be a good time."
It was then that the holy blast reached them, wiping out all the skeletons. After it
cleared, everyone was silent. Erin looked around. "Did that... really just happen? Did all
the evil souls vaporize?"
Seth lowered his gun. "I'm thinking purified instead."
*****
When Isaka could finally see and comprehend her surroundings, she realized she was
sitting in the same position since Krystal poured her holy energy out. The demon was
confused - didn't Tsuru want to use the evil power, not have Krystal purify it?
She heard a clanking noise and watched Tsuru drop both swords with a relieved sigh.
Isaka took no time in tackling the woman to the ground. "Tsuru, you little- stop being
possessed! Why did you give in to the dark power?" She continued to ask these questions and
she shook Tsuru violently, the girl's head occasionally smacking into the ground.
"I'm going to beat some sense into you!" Isaka punched her friend across the face, but
was soon stopped by a frantic Krystal.
"Wait, Isaka! Stop it - you're going to hurt her!" The blonde had to pry the demon
away in order to help Tsuru up. The ebony haired woman held her head, feeling as though her
brain was smacking repeatedly against her skull.
"Krystal, just let me take care of this - I've got to get rid of the Demon Lord-"
"You don't have to do anything," the blonde girl said with a small smile. "It was all
a trick."
Isaka stood up and looked around. "A... a trick? This all looks quite real to me...?"
Tsuru started to speak. "No you idiot! Did you seriously believe I would succumb to
darkness and temptation?"
Without hesitation, Isaka replied, "Yes."
Tsuru sighed and stood up. With help from Krystal she picked up the swords as well. "I
guess I'm a better actress than I thought..."
It was then that the trio winced, for the sound of screaming could still be heard. It
was repeated yells for the Demon Lord and the women could only watch as the darkness
streamed out of the pit again, rattling and forming into a monstrous skeletal creature.
"I... must have underestimated the amount of power sealed here," Tsuru muttered, not
liking their odds. "Let's go!"
"Wh...what?" Isaka asked before Krystal pulled her along.
As they exited, Tsuru quickly shut the door behind them. The thing from the pit was
scraping at it repeatedly. "Shoot... we need to keep going. I don't have enough power, do
you?" Tsuru asked.
"No, I spent all every last ounce of holy energy on that purification seal..."
Isaka cleared her throat. "Would one of you please explain what the hell is going on?"
Tsuru and Krystal exchanged glances, but one skeletal claw broke through the door,
thus ending that line of conversation. "Is everyone else here?" Tsuru asked quickly and when
Isaka nodded, she said, "Then let's keep going until we meet up with them."
Krystal trotted over to Hoshi and attempted to pick her up. "Wait, I got it, Krystal,"
Isaka said, picking up the silver haired exorcist. "You just grab her weapon and we'll go."
The blonde nodded and retrieved the sword. An awkward silence passed between the two.
"So... uh, you're not brainwashed into being Tsuru's lover...?"
"Nope, I'm perfectly fine."
Tsuru let out a slight cough. "We need to keep running, remember?"
*****
"What is that sound?" Bakra asked, coming to a halt. It sounded like nails on a
chalkboard...
Faye tensed up. "Ugh, there's a huge mass of dark energy coming our way..."
As if on cue, Isaka, Krystal and Tsuru came racing out of the room, shutting the door
behind them. "Hurry up, we need to go that way," the demon said, clearly out of breath from
having to carry Hoshi as well.
Sakura looked confused. "...why is Tsuru with you... and Hoshi...?"
Josh piped in as well. "Hey, Krystal, you aren't the Bride anymore are you?"
"Not important," the blonde said. "There's a scary skeleton chasing us!"
Faye laughed. "Are you talking about the small ones, or-"
At that point, a bony hand pierced through the stone wall behind them, quickly
answering that question.
*****
"Do you feel that?" Erin asked suddenly. Everyone else just gave her peculiar looks.
"The vibrations in the ground... I think something big is coming."
Abby rubbed her temples. "Oh boy... they're running away from something, aren't they?"
Seth reloaded his gun and Carmilla summoned up another shadow beast. Eveon sighed and
rested her head on Mina's shoulder. "And here I thought we were done after that holy
blast..."
Tycara peered over at the dark hallway and started to speak once their comrades were
visible. "That's weird - I think Tsuru's running with them, too..."
They all exchanged glances. "Maybe she's not evil anymore?" Mina suggested.
Sakura reached everyone first and true to her own personality, immediately embraced
Abby. "I... I missed you too, Sakura," the young mother replied, embarrassed to be intimate
in front of everyone else.
Bakra collapsed to the ground, heaving. "What the hell was that?" He asked, whirling
around to yell at his winded companions.
"Mani... festation of... evil," Tsuru choked out. "And it's... not... happy."
Faye looked back behind her. "I set up a net of ribbons, but I'm not sure how long it
will hold."
Josh looked over at Krystal with a grin. "I see you're still getting yourself into
trouble, little cousin." She gave him a slight shove.
"Oh hush - at least I purified most of the evil... there was just a lot more than
anticipated."
Carmilla spied Tsuru and let out a gasp. "Wh-wh-wh-what happened to your hair?!"
Said woman fingered her now black hair with a smile. "It went back to its original-
hey! What are you doing here?!"
The vampire smiled. "I've been searching for you since forever and-"
"Hold up!" Isaka said, getting everyone's attention. "I am so confused right now...
but Tsuru, what is going on?"
All eyes were on the Demon Lord. "I'll explain completely after we destroy that
monster. We need to purify it, but both me and Krystal wasted all our energy... I guess that
leaves Josh, Tycara and Sakura as the only ones with holy power. The rest of us will just
have to try to attack it..."
It was then that the giant skeleton came down the hall, dragging itself across the
walkway with a horrible screech.
"What the freak?" Eveon shouted out. "What is that?"
"The embodiment of all the tortured soul that are here," Krystal said with a sigh.
"They can't move on to the afterlife so they've been stuck here for centuries, stewing in
their own despair."
"Well, here we go," Erin said, launching her snake golem at it. As everyone attacked
with everything they had, Seth noticed it wasn't working.
"Ah, crap," he said, biting his thumb. "If they don't... Josh!"
The young man stopped in the middle of casting an art to look over his shoulder. "You,
Sakura and Tycara need to focus in on one attack," Seth said. "Otherwise, you won't hurt
it."
Josh exchanged glance with Tycara and Sakura. "When I set off my art, you guys attack
on top of it." He started to muster up all the holy energy he could before attacking.
"Seventh Seal: Ark Strike!"
As the holy attack welled around the skeleton in a tornado of energy, Sakura sent off
the largest blast she could, while Tycara pierced the enemy with her holy swords. Everyone
waited for the smoke to clear, but the skeleton only let out a screech, informing its
enemies that it was still alive.
"You've got to be kidding me," Isaka groaned, having to stand off to the side. Her
dark attacks were useless against the thing...
Seth gritted his teeth. The monster was weaker, but not enough... Faye currently had
it trapped in her ribbons as Erin's golem tried to eat it. Everyone else was trying to bash
it into submission, but the dark entity wouldn't budge. Where were they going to get more
holy power?
"...where am I...?" Eveon turned around to see Tsuki getting up. "What's happened to
me...?" She was crying, but didn't seem to realize it.
"Uh... the spell from the Demon Lord is gone and everyone's fighting the evil spirit
locked inside here," Eveon said quickly, helping the girl up. Mina, on the other hand, was
helping Hina.
"Oh no," Hina said, watching the battle. "We did that, didn't we? We allowed this to
happen..."
Mina tried to comfort her. "No, no! It was... well, you were brainwashed, so it isn’t
your fault."
The two sisters had grimaces on their faces as they exchanged glances. "Everything
is... so clear now," Tsuki murmured.
"We've done... a lot of bad things," Hina added, before noticing someone else on the
ground. "Big sister!" She immediately went to the silver haired woman's side, followed by
Tsuki.
"She's alright," Eveon said. "Krystal took care of her."
"Krystal..." Tsuki said, wiping at her eyes. "We've done... many bad things indeed,
Hina."
"Wake up, big sister! Please - wake up!" Hina pushed relentlessly at Hoshi's shoulder.
"Please," the woman whispered, her eyes shut. "Please leave me be. I don't deserve to
exist in this world - perhaps I should stay asleep forever."
Isaka, who had come over to see what was happening, overheard Hoshi's words and
proceeded to kick the woman in the stomach. That woke her up... Hoshi clutched her abdomen,
coughing. "What an idiot..." the demon muttered. "Stop acting like that and get up! Are you
just going to abandon your sisters now that you can't hide behind a curse?"
Hoshi looked up at her with tired eyes. "You don't understand-"
Isaka yanked her up to her feet. "No, I just don't care right now. I'm sure me and you
can have a nice talk after this is all over. However, you and your sisters are the only ones
with enough holy power to take out that... thing." She pointed over to the monstrosity
behind her. "That skeleton is the embodiment of the despair of the trapped souls. If you
want to make up for what you've done, at least try to kill it!"
As Isaka berated Hoshi, Tsuki and Hina already had a plan in mind. "It will be like
what we did with the first Demon Lord," Tsuki told her sister. Hina readied her weapons and
nodded. Isaka had to half pull, half drag Hoshi near where the battle was taking place.
"I know you're not really in the mood, Hoshi, but the world does depend on this,"
Isaka said, looking over at the woman. Her face was downcast.
Hina had already entrapped the monster with her spirit threads and was trying to keep
it still as Tsuki cast a powerful art beneath it. It screamed and cursed at them as the holy
light engulfed it. Krystal hurried over and thrust her sword into Hoshi's hands.
"I'm all out of energy, Hoshi. You have to finish it off," Krystal said softly.
"I..." Hoshi tailed off, looking at the monster.
"Just forget about everything. Nothing else matter except for you purifying those
souls. Whatever you've done in the past doesn't matter - you are still an exorcist and
you're the only one that can end it," Krystal told her and Hoshi swallowed audibly.
She walked over to the monster, holding the sword in one hand, watching the scene
unfold. It was completely paralyzed due to her sisters' attacks, but it wouldn't stay that
way. Krystal was right - this was all she needed to focus on.
Hoshi lifted up the sword and with one powerful strike, shattered the skeleton with
all the holy energy she had left. She could vaguely hear the cheers of her sisters and
everyone else... but that didn't matter. What mattered was the huge weight in her heart and
the guilt that now filled her body. She slipped to her knees as Krystal came over and
started to cry.
The blonde woman only held her until Hoshi passed out. Whether it was from using all
her energy or her grief, Krystal didn't know. Josh came over and said, "Here, I'll carry
her." Krystal helped make sure she was steady on Josh's back before letting out a sigh.
"So, how's life been for you, Josh?" Her cousin grinned.
"Eh, it's been fine. Except for the occasionally magical adventure, it's been more or
less the same." His grin widened as he motioned over to Bakra. "But thanks to you getting
into trouble, I was able to hook up with that demon hottie."
Krystal giggled. "Geez, and Uncle Keith used to make fun of me for having a demon for
a lover."
Josh noticed Tsuru coming towards them, so he winked at Krystal and headed over the
others with Hoshi. Krystal smiled at her as the young woman came to a stop. "Krystal, I...
uh, wanted to apologize for everything, especially for acting like a jerk to you-"
"It's fine, I understand. You were really good at pretending though," Krystal said
with a laugh. "I thought you really were going to force me to be your bride!"
Tsuru fidgeted uncomfortably as she took one of Krystal's hands. "I... don't want to
beat around the bush or, or regret never doing anything, so... uh, I know you're with Isaka
and I... I was just wondering if you ever considered..." She trailed off, trying to think of
the best way to say it. "I really, really like you, Krystal. I just wanted to know if you'd
ever want to be with me or... uh, at least maybe date me... I really do want you to be my
bride, but... out of your own will."
Krystal gave her and gentle smile and a hug. "Oh Tsuru," she murmured into the girl's
shoulder before pulling away. "I'm sorry. You're a wonderful girl, but I love Isaka."
Tsuru let out a sigh. She figured that would happen. "I know... but I get points for
trying right?" Krystal looked around quickly to make sure no one was looking and gave Tsuru
a quick kiss on the lips.
"Yes... yes you do." She looked over at the rest of her friends, all gathered around
the remains of the monster. "Come on, we should go join them."
Tsuru nodded dumbly, her lips still warm. "If... if you two ever break up," Tsuru
choked out. "I... I..." Krystal just smiled at her.
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