Volume I. Chapter V. - Desperation

[March 29th, 1215]
It’s quiet, almost too quiet. The area has just been bombarded, but after that, it's complete silence as we are shut out from the outside world. Being the closest to the gateway, I take the liberty of opening it up just enough to sneak a peak, fearing to witness the worst outcome.

The demon is still standing in the same position. To my surprise, my friends are nowhere to be seen. It’s still slightly hard to see, but the dust remains only in a small portion of what it used to be. They must have escaped. Taking aim with its unholy gaze, the beast remains to look at me with the same old expression before launching itself above the streets to a different location.

I don’t know what it is about this demon. Am I imagining it glaring at me all the time? It’s almost as if the being straight from hell is observing me as if it wanted me to watch. But for what purpose? I’m thinking too hard about this, I need to calm down. The metal doorway is forced open by another person and the last beams of the setting sun strike my sight.

“Where did they go? We need to go after them!”

Hidiku’s anxiety is rising and it feels like it's slowly influencing the emotions of the rest of us in the process. He jolts out of the bunker, but not before Charlotte manages to grab the back of his top and stop him for just a moment.

“Where do you think you are going? Come back down! This is beyond our power, leave it to the adults!”

Without a single word, Hidiku looks at my sister with anger in his eyes, slaps her hand to break loose, and takes off into the street. In hopes of stopping the boy, Lena rushes after him, and without thinking I follow her lead.

“Are you serious?! Fine! But just so you know, if anything happens, I’m leaving you behind!”

Charlotte is irritated beyond belief, yet she decides to step out of the shelter’s safety and follows us. I can’t believe we are doing this, I still fear what could happen. Hidiku isn’t showing any signs of stopping, I don’t think he knows where he’s going either. What’s more, the monster could be lurking anywhere. Who’s to say there’s only one of those monsters roaming the town? I’m scared, I don’t want to be here.

Along the way can be seen bodies of fallen soldiers as well as some innocent families caught up in this tragic event. All of a sudden, Hidiku starts climbing one of the taller houses in the street and Lena is right behind him.

Are they crazy? I know those two are agile, but come on, I’m not climbing that! The race continues on the rooftops, though it’s halted for a moment when an earthquake violently shakes the ground; it lasts only for a few seconds.

Was that the Demon? What’s going on? I notice the two house-climbers staring into the distance, surely they must have spotted something from there. I follow the direction of their gaze and find a black cloud of smoke rising beyond the buildings. That must be it.

“What was that? Did you find them?”

Charlotte catches up to us when Hidiku gets back to moving, leaving us behind again. I’m not confident enough to join them up there so I’ll have to take the first turn along the path.

“Let’s go before we lose them.”

I instruct my older sister before she gets to catch her breath. Fortunately enough there is a turn close enough to keep an eye on my friends before me and behind that turn the cloud of black becomes much more visible. We might be on the right path, but the fear within only grows stronger with each step. What are we supposed to do once we reach them? It’s only now that I ask this important question.

My head is struck by a shocking pain, forcing me to stop in my tracks. It feels like it’s about to split. It’s happening again. White flowers in an open sunny field, A black crown swimming in a puddle of blood, and something that seems to be a town square full of corpses. Yet again I’ve been drowning in a sea of illusions. It’s still hard to tell what I’m seeing, and what is this numbing pain? Why is this happening to me?

“Why now…”

“Yuuna? What’s the matter?”

Charlotte runs up to my aid, but I decide to keep it to myself. It would only make it worse for her.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

I reassure her before catching Hidiku’s voice in the near distance.

“Big sister!”

They have located them! Please, don’t be too late! We are almost there. It’s just one more turn when another aggressive bang rocks us to our cores. Moments later we are about to cut the final corner when we witness someone get launched out of it, straight into the house.

Whoever that was is going to be in a fatal condition after a crash as such. We rush over to the damaged structure; the impacted wall has collapsed. Its contents make it difficult to get through. The person is partially buried beneath it, covered in blood and unconscious. Yet despite all that, it’s not hard to identify the person lying before me.

My breathing gets out of control, and I’m nearly passing out again, but I won’t let that stop me! With my sweating palms, I get to work instantly, clearing rock after rock from the motionless body, only praying my older sister will pull through.

“Charlotte, help me, please! It’s Lena, she’s hurt badly!”

I cry out to my second sister as tears begin to emerge from beneath my watery eyes. Charlotte hurries over and joins the rescue mission. Looking I can’t tell who’s more worried.

“Everything will be alright. We will get her out of here and find help. It will work out just fine.”

She murmurs to herself. I’d like to be optimistic, but the only people around, except for us, are dead. Are we really going to die here? Like this?

“Yuuna, help me out.”

Charlotte brings my attention back from the land of thoughts; she’s trying to move Lena out of the house. We move her a bit further from the construction, in case it were to collapse. And just as we place my sister on the cold ground, one more blast echoes throughout the area.

“Hidiku!”

“Yuuna, wait!”

I yell out before jetting off without a second thought, leaving my sisters behind. The rest are still fighting. Himari! Enmei! Please be alive! I’m heading down the final street leading to my destination and at its end I spy the back of a familiar, tall, dark figure. However, I’m unable to reach before entering an unnaturally expansive landscape. I stop to take a moment and assess the situation.

A large area littered with the remains of formerly standing structures, crumbled stone bricks, and splintered wooden boards all over the place. Even though some of those buildings are severely damaged, they nevertheless remain around the area’s perimeter, giving the place the appearance of an arena. And almost as if showcasing its work, in the center of it all stands tall the rotting cause of this destruction.

“Yuu…na..”

The voice is faint and thin, barely spoken or heard. It’s Hidiku’s, I can tell. Throwing my gaze from left to right, I desperately search for my friend. With nothing but an unclear lead of his whereabouts, I ask for his attention one more time.

“Where are you Hidiky? Call out to me!”

“Save her… please…”

This time concentrating on the direction of Hidiku’s voice. It became much clearer to me. The only problem is… it leads straight to the Demon. I swallow my saliva fearing the outcome of their encounter, yet my fear becomes true as I catch a glimpse of something moving beneath the beast’s foot. The Sun has already set; it’s hard to see anything. Desperate to get a proper visual in, I squint my eyes until I can make out what exactly I’m focusing on. All of that ruble doesn’t make it any easier, but what I’m looking at is undeniably a pair of legs. That’s him!

A bone snaps, then another, and another. The continuous cracks of its spine send a stunning chill down my spine as the beast slowly rotates its bony head toward me. It feels as if I’m watching some kind of a force controlling its vessel - a puppet. My skin is overrun with goosebumps. I need to get him out of there, but in order to do that, I have to force the demon to move its leg.

It’s now or never; I will have to use my gift if I hope to achieve anything. Suddenly, my mind finds itself full of distressing thoughts. What if I fail to move it? What If it catches me instead? I’m beginning to doubt myself. The clock is ticking, I don’t have time for this. In a hurry, I brace my cheek muscles and give them a slap resonating throughout my entire body.

I grab the nearest piece of wood that looks stable enough for at least one strike and get into focus. Stay calm, Yuuna, you won’t get any more chances if you fail. Once I feel I’m prepared to give it my all, I take in a deep breath and dash off against the gawking monstrosity.

Pressure builds up within my chest and warmth covers my body whole as I let my core’s energy flow through my veins and channel it into my bottom limbs, but also my arm equipped with a weapon. Faint sparks of electricity flashing violently surround me and my hair rises steadily as I become the beam of light in this darkness. I’ve successfully accumulated enough force, a portion of which I then transfer to the stick and toss it like a thunderbolt at my target.

The impact is just enough to move the beast by a step - it’s exactly what I need. I move on to phase two of my operation and unleash the built-up energy within my legs all at once. Only a bright blinding flash can be seen as I traverse from my position across the landscape with lightening speed, grabbing my injured friend along the way.

Unfortunately enough I’m still incapable of properly controlling my power and an obstruction in our path forces us to a full stop. Though, I’ve managed to slow down sufficiently and avoided any major injuries. My legs are steadily going numb; I can barely move them, the stress generated by my gift is far too great. My body is too weak to manage that kind of power and my ability to control it isn’t there just yet either.

To my surprise, even with my in-humane speed, the enemy was fast enough to react. It attempted to strike me with something and whatever it was covered me in wet marks. Wait, is this blood? Is it Hidiku’s? I check up on my friend lying cushioned by my own body; his body bears some slight wounds, yet they don’t seem to correspond with the amount of fluids drenching my clothes. I swiftly redirect my sight back to the threat - my eyes widen with disbelief.

Hanging by her short white hair, within the Demon’s grasp lays the rescued boy’s older sister. Covered in wounds and dirt, Himari’s abdomen is slit open, leaving its contents hanging outside. The girl displays no emotions making it apparent she’s already been through her hell and any strength she had left has been squeezed out with force.