Garuda arc

Horus: Tenjin's Republic Flagship

Ziera, Jayden and Julia were taking down the remaining garuda and giants. The cannons Ziera reconfigured shot stun bolts and the same color blinding grenades that Ziera used on Ryoka during their fight.

Julia had cut down 20 with her sword. Jayden shot down 10 and Ziera kept throwing the garuda off by randomizing the ammo of the cannons.

It was becoming increasingly bad for the garuda and even more so for the giants as Julia and Ryoka cut down 90% of their ranks and the cannons were forcing the remaining 10 to retreat.

"DAMMIT! We have no choice! We must retreat!" A giant soldier shouted.

"But what about Ziera! And Ragnarok!?" Another soldier asked.

"How can we capture either if we're all dead!? Now let's go!" The giant shouted as he used his magic to shrink down and run away back into the hole he came from. The other giants followed suit. One of them looked back at Jayden and co and scoffed.

"This ain't over. Just wait until King Ogun deals with all of you." He said as he went down the hole. Jayden was the first to take notice that the giants have all but retreated.

"Ziera! The giants have retreated!" Jayden said through the coms.

"Perfect! Now we can finish these garuda off. Don't let a single one escape!" Ziera ordered.

"GOT IT!" Jayden and Julia shouted at the same time.

***

Emilia vs Albatross

"Garuda Style: Piercing Storm!" Emilia launched dozens of lightning arrows at Albatross.

"Garuda-Yokai Style: Vortex of Death!"

Albatross swung his sword and released a huge red and black colored wind slash. It absorbed most of Emilia's arrows and went towards Emilia.

Emilia dodged it and the slash went over and cut a mountain in half. Emilia flicked her fingers and suddenly Albatross flet three lightning arrows strike his wound from behind.

Albatross didn't pay close enough attention to all of the arrows Emilia had fired earlier. She dissipated some of them and let the remaining ones get absorbed to trick Albatross.

Then she had them reappear and strike Albatross while his guard was down. He would have seen it coming but he was getting slower. He didn't have much time left.

"EMILIA!!!" Albatross roared and powered up his red and black mana.

"Garuda-Yokai Style: Vortex Hurricane!" Albatross swung his blade and released a ginormous black hurricane that flew towards Emilia. Emilia could feel her mana being drained away from her.

I have to get away! Emilia thought.

Emilia tried to fly away from the hurricane but it was picking up too much speed on her. She was still heavily injured and wasn't at her top speed.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?" Albatross roared as he swung his sword at her. Emilia countered just in the nick of time with her own blades.

There was a problem however, Albatross was pushing her down towards the hurricane. Emilia wanted to fight back but the tornado was pulling her back, absorbing her mana and affecting her fighting capabilities. If Emilia made the wrong move.....

She would die.

"PATHETIC! JUST GIVE IN!?" Albatross screamed in her face. HE looked like a crazed maniac. Emilia didn't know if it was the yokai affecting his mind or Tross himself but he wasn't sane anymore by any stretch.

I can't get away! And I can't overpower him like this. Then there's only one thing I can do. Do what I do worst! BEING RECKLESS! Emilia thought.

Emilia put away the dagger from her right hand in her pouch and grabbed Albatross by the throat. Emilia smirked.

"Let's go for a ride!" Emilia shouted.

Emilia used her wind magic to propel both Albatross and herself down the eye of the hurricane. Albatross did not expect Emilia to do something as crazy as that so he was caught off guard when Emilia headbutted him and pushed him off her.

The mana from both Emilia and Albatoss was being drained by the hurricane. When Albatross uses his wind magic to absorb magic attacks, it only makes his attacks stronger, not himself. And now he was in a bad position because now he was losing all his mana like Emilia was. Emilia pulled out her other dagger and flew towards Albatross.

"Let's see how you dance now!" Emilia shouted as she kicked him in the face. Albatross coughs up blood.

"JUST FUCKING DIE!" Albatross screamed.

Albatross flew at Emilia and they crossed swords once again while flying inside the hurricane. Emilia and Albatross were evenly matched in this fight. Albatross swung at Emilia's head but she did a backflip mid air and kicked Albatross from under his chin and stunned him.

Emilia then spun and slashed Albatross in his gaping wound with both her daggers.

"AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!" Albatross cried out.

Albatross swung his blade at Emilia. She clashed with her daggers but was sent flying down hard onto the ground with the hurricane still around both of them. Albatross came flying down readying to stab her but Emilia in the nick of time blocked with her blades.

They both struggled against the other but Albatross was winning in the contest of strength and his blade reached closer and closer toward her face. Albatross looked down at Emilia with a crazed vicious smile.

"DIE SCREAMING JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER DID!" Albatross screamed.

Emilia looked up at him with anger in her eyes.

"AND AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU! I'M GOING TO CUT DOWN THE REST OF YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS! STARTING WITH MY DEAR OLD FRIEND, TENJIN!" Albatross screamed.

Then all of a sudden. Emilia felt something inside her snap. It wasn't just anger anymore. It was something she felt earlier at the start of her fight with Albatross. No. Even before then. It was something building up inside her for a long time.

Wrath.

"The sin of wrath calls to you child."

Emilia gasped. Red mana began to come out from Emilia's body. Catching Albatross' attention.

Red mana!? Circe!? No! This is something else but also similar to hers!? Albatross thought.

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"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Emilia roared at the top of her lungs. She slowly began to push back against Albatross' blade. Albatross used his full strength to try and push her back down but he couldn't.

The red mana kept increasing and increasing until it bursted inside Emilia and she finally pushed him off her and sent Tross flying to the ground hard.

Albatross was on the ground and looked up to see Emilia standing over him. Emilia's big green feathered wings turned red. Her face marking tattoos were also red and in fact that tattoos traveled up to her forehead and down her stomach to her heels. Her hair color was a mix between red and yellow and she looked down at him with contempt with glowing red eyes.

For the second time in a long time, Albatross felt true fear. Fear he hasn't felt since....

"King......Edwin!" Albatross quivered.

Albatross' vision made him see Edwin Sylphion instead of Emilia for a second. She was the spitting image of the power he displayed back then towards him. It was painfully obvious to Albatross now that despite all the gifts Circe granted him, Emilia right now was far above the likes of him.

Her mana, her demeanor, and the difference in power between them now. It was all intense.

"Stand up." Emilia commanded.

Albatross flinched in fear.

"You can still dance can't you? I've just gotten started. But if you prefer to bow your head I'll understand." Emilia said with a smirk as she pointed her blade at him.

His eyes widened in pure terror.

She's.....SHE'S A MONSTER! Albatross thought.

It felt humiliating to him. To quiver in fear of the little girl he took lightly. And now he's sitting on the ground at his mercy. Albatross grit his teeth in anger.

"I REFUSE TO BOW TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU!" Albatross screamed as he rose up from the ground with his blade.

Albatross swung his blade down but Emilia moved past behind him and slashed at his wound again. Albatross tried to slash at Emilia from behind but Emilia was on his right now and hit his wound again.

Before Albatross knew it, Emilia was outclassing him in speed with ease. In fact, it was more than that.

SHE'S.....SHE'S MOVING FASTER THAN EVEN TENJIN! Albatross thought with fear.

Emilia circled around him so fast she began to make her own whirlwind. She kept circling and circling around Albatross while cutting him at every part of his body. And then the impossible happened.

Emilia's red mana colored whirlwind got bigger and bigger that it eventually began to overpower Albatross' hurricane. It was too much mana for the hurricane to absorb.

The others were watching the display from outside.

"Emilia?" Henro asked.

"AHAHAHA! I can't believe it! I don't know how but her whirlwind is overpowering Tross'! Her mana is way stronger than his!" Ryoka shouted.

Tenjin watched the whole thing as well.

So Emilia, you've finally unlocked it. The power KIng Edwin warned me about. And yet....Tenjin thought.

Tenjin with his one eye could see Emilia circling around Tross inside the hurricane. And even though she moved so fast, he could just make out her dancing as she sliced Tross. Tenjin smiled.

"And yet, you dance so beautifully. I shouldn't have been worried. You are your father's daughter." Tenjin said.

Emilia kept swirling and swirling so fast around Albatross and inside the hurricane so fast that her red whirlwind completely absorbed Tross' hurricane and made it completely red. Red lightning began to form inside the gigantic red hurricane and onto Emilia's wings. She stopped swirling, covered herself with her wings and when enough lightning energy gathered she released them.

"GARUDA STYLE'S SACRED TECHNIQUE: BLOOD SKY!" Emilia released multiple gigantic red lighting strikes from her wings inside the red hurricane. Electrocuting Albatross with intense high voltage strikes.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Albatross screamed as the red lighting went through his mouth and eyes and into his body. Frying him from the inside and burning his internal organs to a crisp. His regeneration could no longer keep up.

From outside the hurricane the others had to cover their eyes for the red glow from the hurricane was bright. But when they unshielded their eyes the hurricane had dissipated. They could see Emilia in her new form carrying a burnt Albatross down towards all three of them.

Emilia gently placed Albatross on the ground. She looked angry. But soon enough she transformed back to normal and nearly fainted. Both Ryoka and Henro caught her in their arms.

"Whoa! Don't fall asleep on us now, fearless leader!" Ryoka said happily.

"Yeah. Please don't leave me alone Ryoka. I've had enough of her for one day as is." Henro said jokingly.

"Hey! You called me by my first name! So that means you do like me!" Ryoka said with a smirk.

"See what I mean?" Henro asked.

"You guys." Emilia tiredly laughed.

Well at least they are kind of getting along now. Emilia thought.

"Emilia." Tenjin said weakly. Emilia turned her attention back to Tenjin and immediately crawled over to him.

"TENJIN! Tenjin, are you okay!?" Emilia asked with worry.

"Heh. Don't worry about me kid. I don't go down easily, remember?" Tenjin said jokingly.

Emilia smiled but started to cry. She began wiping her tears.

"Hey come on. Don't cry. You're gonna make me cry too." Tenjin said with a weak smile.

"I'm sorry. I'm just.......I'm just so glad that you are alive Tenjin! Please don't scare me like that again!" Emilia begged.

"It's a promise." Tenjin said. Emilia's forehead popped a vein.

"BUT YOU SAID THAT THE LAST TIME YOU NEARLY DIED!" Emilia shouted in anger.

"HUH!? Well okay how about I pinky promise this time? Is that okay?" Tenjin asked as he sweat dropped.

"Absolutely! Raise your pinky! Right now!" Emilia demanded.

"Okay! Okay!" Tenjin gave in.

"You know, I really do like Emilia's assertive side." Ryoka grinned.

"Trust me you still haven't seen the half of it." Henro sweat dropped.

Albatross suddenly coughed. Which caught everyone's attention. He was so burned to a crisp that his eyes were gone and his skin was beyond repair. Emilia looked saddened and rose up and walked over to him. She got on her knees and sat in front of his body.

"Is.....that...you....princess?" Albatross asked.

"Yes." Emilia said.

"So....this is it huh? Dying at the hands...of the princess I hated....just because she..was her father's daughter. Haha. Circe.....was....right. What....a pathetic...life to live." Albatross coughed.

"What is your connection to Circe? Did she....did she help you kill my father? And why? What did she have against him? And why is she helping you now" Emilia asked.

"That....was a lie. I didn't.....kill your father." Albatross said weakly.

Just at that moment, everyone was in complete shock. Especially Tenjin.

"What!? What are you talking about!?" Emilia questioned.

"I made....it up. Yes, I stabbed your father through the chest. But after Tenjin left, Edwin took out my blade and smacked me silly. I was down after one punch. I didn't stand a chance. He looked down at me with pity and told me it saddened him to see me like that."

"Then I blacked out and next thing I knew, I was being carried out of the city by my men. I told them I killed your father to make myself look strong. But the truth is I never hurt him once." Albatross explained.

Emilia listened to him closely to see if he was lying but she could tell he wasn't. Especially since he was dying anyway.

If that's the case, then is Circe responsible? Emilia asked.

Tenjin tensed up.

Was it actually her the whole time? And was it because... Tenjin thought.

"If you want.....to know the answers to those questions....you'll have to ask

Emilia looked at him with pity. She wanted to hate him and not feel sorry for him. Everything in her mind was telling her to not forgive him and condemn him for his actions. That he deserved to die for what he had done.

But in her heart, Emilia didn't feel that way at all. All she felt was sadness.

"Albatross. You betrayed everything our people stood for. You didn't kill my father but you played a part in his death. You destroyed our kingdom. Tried to kill me, Tenjin and my friends. And even now I don't know if you even regret any of it. But.....even so.......".

Emilia began to tear up. She thought of her father at that moment. She took a deep breath and looked back down at Albatross with a sad look. Emilia gently placed a hand on his cheek.

"I forgive you." Emilia said in a gentle voice.

Albatross lightly gasped. He couldn't movie his head or even look at her but that was enough to indicate that he was shocked.

Henro, Ryoka and Tenjin smiled at Emilia with approval. Albatross soon lightly laughed and coughed.

"You forgive me? That....is....funny. Cause....I can't....even forgive myself. I hated your father for turning his back on me and our people. I hated my father for hating me just because I was a garuda. And I hated you......for being the king's daughter and for being an ignorant child. And in the end....I accomplished nothing. And I'm going to die...with nothing. So....please....tell me. What's the point....of forgiving a heartless, honorless, worthless fraud like me!?" Albatross cried.

"You're wrong." Tenjin spoke up. "Ryoka. Can you help me up please?" Tenjin asked. Ryoka nodded and helped him to his feet. She walked him over to Albatross.

"You have me. I'm here with you until you pass on, Tross." Tenjin said sincerely.

"Why? After everything I've done. Why Tenjin?" Albatross asked.

Tenjin looked at Emilia and then back at Tross.

"Because an innocent student of mine reminded me of who I was just now. I'm not just Tenjin Nakamura of the republic. I'm Tenjin Nakamura of Ventus. And I'm Tenjin Nakamura, the brother of Albatross." Tenjin said with a smile.

Albatross lightly gasped.

"So don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Like I said. Wherever you go, I go brother." Tenjin said with a big toothy smile.

Albatross while in his weakened state managed to cry. Tears rolled down his cheeks after hearing Tenjin's words.

To think this was how I died. Being comforted and forgiven by the people I wronged. I don't care what Circe thinks of me anymore. This is a funny way to go out. Albatross thought as he smiled.

"Princess Emilia." Albatross said weakly.

Emilia lightly gasped. Surprised that Tross acknowledged her like that.

"Take...care.....of....him. He...never..wakes up...on time." Albatross said as he took his last breath. The light finally fading from his eyes.

Tenjin looked down at the ground. He closed his fist so hard his wrist began bleeding.

Emilia looked at Albatross and gave him a gentle smile.

"I will. Where he goes, I go."

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