"Beloved? Are you here?"
My heart leapt into my mouth and my body stiffened. Through the dust created by the explosion, I could see a pair of golden eyes looking into the room.
"Darling? Are you here?"
Looking back at Megami with eyes full of fear, I say, "Ms. Saikou, run!"
She looked back at me. "What?"
"Run before he sees you!" I whispered.
Then they fell on me and what followed was a toothy smile as he emerged from the cloud of dust.
"There you." he chuckled, "Did you think a seal was strong enough to stop me? I do admit it was pretty strong for someone with weak cultivation."
"Weak cultivation? What is he talking about?" Megami asked.
"Ms. Saikou run!" I yell through clenched teeth.
This time he was close enough to see me but he stopped when he saw us. His eyes locked on me as I struggled to stand up despite the pain on my side then they laid on Megami who took a step back.
"You b!tch!" he glared at her, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?"
As a response, she pointed her handgun at him and started shooting.
"Ms. Saikou no!" I scream.
"Stay back!" she yelled.
Instead, I put my two fingers together, chanted a spell, and pointed at Megami and a shield appeared just in time before Jake attempted to decapitate her.
"Heads up!" Osana yelled, stepping into the fight. Megami rolled up her right sleeve, revealing her watch, and pressed something. Suddenly, the robot Osana was fighting appeared right in front of her and it roared.
"Megami! Get Emma out of here now!" Osana yelled posing for battle.
Her words shocked me. "But Osana..."
"No buts just move!" then she looked back at me and said, "Whatever you do, do not let him break you."
And without warning, I was grabbed by the arm and dragged to my feet.
"Let's go!" and with that, she dragged me out of the room.
Third POV
Jake looked at the robot, then at Osana, and grinned. "This is hilarious."
"None of this is funny, idiot." Osana barked.
The robot launched an attack in a vain attempt to smash Jake, but he moved out of the way panting a grenade underneath. The explosion crippled the robot, but Osana teleported before him and attacked with her twin hair blades.sing his katana, he blocked the attack sending a sword swipe at her but she moved away giving the robot room to plunge the spear into him. He did a backflip and tossed another grenade making it explode. Osana teleported before him attacking him again but Jake caught on to her and blocked it before running away.
'Alright, I have enough,' he thought. He squats and launches himself into the air behind the robot and cuts it in half while tossing two grenades into its open body. While it exploded, Osana appeared before him but Jake shocked her by teleporting away leaving her in the explosion. The impact of the explosion caused her to move back but Jake teleported behind her and kicked her back into it.
Osana landed on the floor in pain but got up just in time before the katana was plunged into her back. Getting up, she wiped the blood from her face and posed for battle.
Jake chuckled and tilted his head up. "You amuse me b!tch. For an Temporary Entity you have time to force her to do your job." then he pointed her katana at her, "Why are you using her?"
She tsked, "Using her? She is helping me you lunatic! You just want to keep her until she turns into some pretty little psycho."
His brows furrowed into a frown and he started to glow. "That's a false accusation that YOU are about to die for!"
The aura was so strong that Osana had to cover her eyes. When she opened them Jake was wearing a dark samurai outfit and wielding the dark blade with eyes like those of a demon. Not wanting to be outdone, she glowed white and two more blades of hair appeared. This time, she teleported in front of him to attack but he disappeared only to reappear behind her. She sensed it and quickly teleported away before creating a huge tornado with him in it. Jake got out of the tornado and discovered to his horror that it was following him, leaving a lot of dust and draft in its wake. With the wind blurring his sight, Osana took this as her opportunity to plunge her blades into his chest but he escaped just in time.
'Darn it!' She teleported and created another tornado of blades after him. With two tornadoes after him, Jake decided to attack Osana before he was cornered by them but she kept teleporting which annoyed him. After a while, he summoned a monster and sent it after her.
'What the...how did he do that?'
The monster pounced on her but she lifted herself in the air to avoid it. Jake accessed his spirit power and black wings appeared on his back, which he used to fly in the air to meet her.
'Gosh! I didn't know he could do that?' Osana thought as they fought sending harmful strikes strong enough to cut any object in two. 'But I shouldn't be surprised. He's aura is stronger than mine but I won't give up! That girl is the only person who can help me bring peace to my friend!'
The sword strike sent her backward, but she spun her hair in rapid succession and charged at him. As he blocked every blade strike she sent to him, the monster he summoned appeared and pounced on her. She quickly turned around and used her hair to cut the monster into pieces only to see the blade inches away from her neck. Landing painfully on her back, she tried to stand up only to find the dark blade plunged into her chest.
"What the...darn it!"
Tornadoes vanished, clearing the room of drafts and dust. Angry, she looked up to see Jake smirking at her with the monster he summoned beside him.
"She should... have left you...where you belong..." she croaked. "Do you think she will accept your feelings?"
"Our relationship is none of your business." He took out the sword. "Besides, did he ever love you to begin with?"
This brought tears to Osana's eyes as she glared at him. Jake crouched down still wearing the smirk on his face.
"You poor misunderstood idiot. You don't have to worry about us. We will be fine." Then he stood up and pointed the sword at him. "Any last words?"
She shook her head and with a quick sword swipe he decapitated her. A dark void appeared underneath her and long hands appeared dragging her back into the labyrinth. Everywhere began to shake and the ceiling above them started to collapse, but Jake sighed with content and patted the monster's head.
"You can smell her aura right?" he asked and the beast growled in response. "Find her."
Emma's POV
The pain on my side was unbearable but I tried to catch up with Megami's pace.
"Don't worry. We are almost there," she said.
I wince and she struggles to lift me up. We get to a door with an electronic lock on it. She punched in a few numbers and it opened revealing it to be an elevator. We heard a loud explosion followed by a loud roar.
"What was that?" I asked.
"The lair. I pressed the self-destruct button before our fight." she replies.
I could only shrug and the explosion got louder. The doors of the elevator were about to close when huge purple like talons appeared trying to pry them open. Megami jumped back with a shriek and the purple talons continued to pry the door open revealing a purple wolf like face. It's golden eyes scanned the room before snapping its huge jaws at me while swinging its talons at Megami who moved away and pressed the elevator's button to get it moving but it was taking its time. Quickly, I take out my katana and strike it on its forehead. The creature screamed in pain and moved away letting the elevator doors close.
Megami gave a huge sigh of relief and silence took over the room as the elevator began to move. I slumped down to the elevator floor and blinked twice in pain.
"What was that?"
I shrugged.
"Dang it! I was expecting that evil woman to kill me someday but not that boy. Are you sure they aren't related?"
Looking up at Megami with a weird expression my face, I say, "I don't know what you are talking about Ms. Saikou but I suspect that he killed his parents and I don't know where he lives."
"Are you sure?" she asks and when I nod, her face twists to that of confusion. "That's strange. Their disease only runs in the females members of their family. There is no record of males being affected."
I was too tired to connect the dots so I look away and think of Osana. 'She won't survive. Osana won't survive that battle with him,'
"That person...was that person Osana Najimi?" she asks again.
I look back at her and give another nod.
"But how...how is that possible?" she asked in shock. "It...can't be. She...she's..."
"Osana came back as a Temporary Entity determined to bring peace to her friends and family." I explain. "And I can see ghosts."
She looked at me then looked away. The loud explosions along with the sound of the alarms made me question her decision to blow up the place but I didn't blame her. If you have a place where all your secrets were kept, it would be natural for you to blow it up right?
"I don't believe it," she says sitting next to me.
"It's okay. You don't have to believe it. It's my burden." I reply. "Besides, I've run out of spirit power to do anything. I used it all up to put a seal on that door."
There was a pause which lasted for a long time.
"Where does this elevator lead to?" I ask.
"It's the surface," she replied.
"Wouldn't you find that a bit risky with you blowing up the place?"
"Don't worry. We are on the other side of the carnival. So we won't be harmed."
"Oh,"
Another long pause.
"Di... you..."
I look at her.
"Do you think father would be happy with the decision I made back there?" she asks.
"To be honest, I do not know," I reply. "I too am battling with the decisions I have made in my life and one of them is leaving Osana behind to fight him."
"Did you know him before this?"
"Not really. I didn't want to have anything to do with him at first but then he showed me his real colors. By that time, I was already too deep in this thing and getting caught by the police was the last thing I wanted so..."
"Let me guess; you were blackmailed?"
I nod.
"But how did you get your powers?"
When I turned to look at her, she stared at me with curious eyes and I sighed. "I don't know how it started but I do know I have a spirit guardian who taught me the ropes but how he got his is a mystery on its own."
We heard a huge bang and what followed after was a blackout. I felt a shuffle beside me and a strong arm helped me to my feet.
"Come on. We have to get out of here," she said.
"Sorry to interrupt, but can't you get the elevator working again?" I ask.
And got a cackle as my response.
"Let's go!"
Grunting followed by the sound of metals scraping against each other and I was treated to a blast of cold breeze and faint light. My eyes struggled to adjust to it as Megami climbed on to the ledge. Despite the pain on my side, I tried climbing up the ledge only to realise I needed assistance.
Great! So much for being strong.
"Quick. Grab my hand!"
I do just that and she helps me climb up. From the faint light ahead we could see outside, and from the draft I knew that we were in another tunnel leading to the outside world.
"Don't worry," she said swinging my hand over her shoulders. "We are almost there,"
I nod and we start walking. The light became brighter with every step we took and once we were out, the sun kissed our faces and the green foliage looked beautiful in our eyes.
Megami took a deep breath and sighed. "When was the last time I was outside?"
I shrug. "I am not sure but...this is what a peaceful morning looks like to me."
She hummed and adjusted herself again, "Let's get you to the hospital. You look awful,"
Taking a quick look at myself, I laughed. My white shirt was stained with blood and there were small bruises and huge cuts on my legs. The right side of my shirt was dark red and was throbbing badly and I had a terrible headache.
"Yeah," I say and we start walking through the folliage until we heard someone say, "POLICE! HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Third POV
"This batch, what is your status report?" a female voice asked through the radio of one of the cops.
"Yeah, we found two people; Megami Saikou and an unknown person. Both heavily wounded...."
The conversation was interrupted by a huge explosion and looking to the west, he saw thick black smoke.
"What was that?" the respondent asked.
"Something just exploded over there!" a cop yelled through the radio.
"Get the fire department right now! We need the fire department!" another yelled.
"Copy that."
The cop turned off the radio and looked back at the woman sitting in the cop car with a small grin on her face.
'Wait a minute, I have seen that girl before,' he walked towards her and knocked on the side mirror, "Excuse me, are you Emma Cross-wood?"
The girl seemed to have heard him because she looked back and smiled.
He radioed again, "This batch, I have identified the person with Megami Saikou. Her name is..."
Bang!
Hearing the sound, Emma looked at the windscreen and saw blood spatter. Panicking, she got out of the car and started running.
"Hey you!" one of the cops took out his gun from his hostler but before he could shoot, the car next to him exploded sending him flying to the side.
"What on earth..."
"Shot coming from this direction! Shots coming from this direction!" another cop yelled shooting to his right only to get a bullet to the chest. Others began shooting, resulting in more deaths and police cars exploding. The rest of the cops who were at the carnival firestorm all rushed to the scene but they were met with nothing but carnage.
Meanwhile, Emma continued to run through the forest, praying he would never find her. Unfortunately, the pain from her injuries forced her to seek refuge under a tree a few feet away from the carnage.
"I need to keep moving," she muttered taking deep breaths. "I have to keep moving!"
She jerked her head to the right as she heard twigs crackling in the distance and nearly cried when a shadowy figure emerged from the bushes. As she leaned on the tree defeated, she looked away and let the tears run down her cheeks until the person stood in front of her.
"It looks like you caught me huh?" she gave a ruefully chuckle. "You know, I have done everything to get away from you. I tried ignoring you, running from you, dumping you, fighting you, running...heck, I even tried to kill myself but nothing seemed to work. Everything works in your favor in some twisted way and I always find myself back at square one."
She chuckled once more, staring at Jake, who tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"So, what are you planning to do? Are you planning to tie me up and brainwash me into loving you? Paralyze me for the rest of my life until I am a husk of my former self? Chop off my head and place it on the shrine you made of me? Heck, I bet that's the tip of the iceberg of that crazy mind of yours." she shrugged in defeat. "Well, I am at the end of my rope so, do your worst."
Jake grinned. "Okay,"
And with one powerful blow from his katana, Emma's world went dark.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
