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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Aoha asks, crouching down with me as we stealthily pass down the guards, well, guarding the area where the beast is supposed to be.
The large torii gate has, as expected, many big claw marks, big enough to rival two of me with one standing on top of the other's head.
Seriously, what the actual fuck is this beast we will need to deal with?
"No, but hey. I've never been sure of anything in my life, so I wouldn't know if this is good or bad.
"But if anything happens, I got your back."
Aoha nods her head, and we delve deeper into the bushes and thick forest surrounding Sensoji's temple. It takes a little while to reach the area past the guards, and when we do so, the view doesn't disappoint.
There's the big tower we saw in the distance to our right, as well as the temple some meters away from us. The place is truly something to admire if you ignore the clear signs of murder all around.
Brutalized arms and pools of blood all around—nobody truly can be seen, but it's enough evidence to believe they should be in someone's hungry stomach.
A drop of water on the tip of my nose signals the worst situation possible: rain comes. I noticed the clouds at the distance getting darker but didn't expect them to arrive before night; in Yoshiwara, it is rare to rain midday.
One drop then turns to another, and then another. Soon, it feels like the sky is falling and constantly trying to take us down with it.
My clothes and Aoha's start to get soaked, but as I start thinking of running away from the rain in the temple, a figure at the edge of my eye makes me instinctively stop moving.
When I fix my eye on the figure, in a blink, it disappears, but I'm left with the sensation that I should go after it.
"Get to the temple; I need to check something."
Both Aoha and I take different paths; she escapes the rain as I swim deeper into the water to find its bottom.
The skies scream with lightning, the rain feels like small, dull daggers trying to rip me open, and the floor looks like a well-planned trap to make me trip and fall. Everything is the worst possible for this situation.
But even in perfect condition, things would already be shit, so no matter the rain, I keep going.
Reaching for the place where I last saw the figure, I start looking around, having to put a hand on my forehead to stop the rain from flowing into my only eye.
To the left, only the promise of more forest stares me back; to my right, wet, straight blond hair hides the facial features of the person standing across a red bridge of a small pound. The same person I saw before.
As I raise my hand to wave for them, they start running away again, this time towards the main building's back entrance. This feels like I'm being manipulated into the belly of the beast, but I would not be me If I didn't accept this clear challenge.
So, running as fast as I can and resting my quicker hand on my dagger's pommel, I go to the meeting with death.
Aoha's POV
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That idiot, I was not able to hear her in the rain, so I assumed she would be right behind me, but instead, I see her disappearing as the rain thickens.
What do I do now? My clothes are all wet, and the chances of me getting a cold rise, but more importantly, being alone makes me easy prey.
Taking a good look at my surroundings, I sit on the bench side of the sealed entrance of the temple and cross my legs, closing my eyes and concentrating.
Fire tricks are very hard to control; once you give fuel to them, their hunger becomes so intense that it can consume the body and mind, heating you up to near-combustion.
But if, for a second, you let the fire wander through your body and quickly put it on a leash, you are able to heat yourself without the need for a torch or fireplace.
That's something I learned myself—a trick very useful against foes that can instantly freeze you or the heavy winters.
Concentrating the fire in my core, the center of my chest warms slowly, and so I permit the fire to slowly build itself until it's ready.
The moment I let loose the hold, warmth crosses all of my members and reaches for the ends of my body, like my toes and head. As soon as the heat starts to get out of control, regaining my hold, I extinguish the fire from feeding off my core and let it stabilize.
Soon, the heat stops increasing, and I'm left with the feeling of taking a warm bath. Smoke rises from my clothes as the water evaporates. When all the cold water is gone and I'm dry, I expel the air from my lungs, feeling the fire escaping through my nostrils.
Now that this is done, a question still lingers: Where is Zero?
Zero's POV
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The cold wind rushes inside the temple, bringing some small droplets of rain that still haven't had the opportunity to wet the back of my kimono further.
The insides of the temple are dark; no light reaches anywhere inside, and, at first, there is no sign of life as well. The blond woman from earlier is nowhere to be seen, but the feeling of being watched tells me she's close, very close.
"That's the way we will play," I ask the air, taking more steps towards the center of the temple. "You hide; I seek?"
A laugh echoes through the once-silent walls, traveling all the way down from above. Looking for the source, a pair of yellow, glowing eyes stare me down before moving so fast I'm unable to keep up.
"You think this is a game? How cute of you."
The blond figure's footsteps strike down the creaking wooden slabs of what I assume, as I can't see, are the second-floor bridges crossing beneath the ceiling to keep it stable. "To present yourself so devotionally to me and still hold your smile, don't you fear death?"
"Come on, not you too. Does everyone nowadays have a thing for monologues?" Sighing, I draw my dagger out of its sheath and keep an open ear to the sounds indicating the beast's movements.
"If you wish for us to go straight to the part where you die, then I shall give you what you wish for."
The sound of something landing in front of me is enough to make me open my only eye, but even with little to no light, I'm able to see the facial features of this thing.
Delicate, dangerously sharp yellow eyes glowing with hunger, a simple set of feminine clothes paired with long, flowing hair reaching all the way to the middle of her spine.
Her lips part, revealing in her smile a set of fangs alike needles ready to pierce me down and tear my skin apart. On her hands, an old and rusty axe with hints of blood dripping from its sharp side stays proudly, ready to be used.
"I'm sure that is not your claws," I state with a grin, cracking my fingers and getting ready for this fun. "Kitty is afraid to go all out?"
The figure's smile matches mine as the words leave my mouth. Grabbing the axe with only one hand, she gives me a little demonstration of how light the weapon is on her hand—the same weapon that many would need to use two hands to wield.
"Let's see how dangerous you are first, and if you survive more than thirty seconds, I'll show you what I can do."
"Deal."
The dance starts. I try to cut the distance between us, but the beast is smart enough to not let me get too close. Raising her axe, the woman swings it towards cutting me in half—time for the athletics check.
Dropping down, her axe cuts through the air, and the loud sound ends all my doubts about her strength. One swing of that, and I'm done for.
Without losing my chance as her guard becomes open, I push myself to my feet and try stabbing her stomach, but as soon as the woman sees it, her elbow comes into direct contact with my face.
In the air, while falling, I land a messy kick on her side, not powerful enough to do much.
"Good reflexes; a shame this battle isn't about that." The beast says, and as if adapting, her movement becomes faster.
So when she comes rushing to get me while I'm down, the half-second I have to react is wasted on something else other than just dodging. The axe's blade doesn't hit my head by inches, but it gives me enough time to grab one of my arrows and nail her feet to the wood.
Once again, I create distance between us, watching as the girl grabs the arrow and breaks it off her feet. In the meantime, I use something I didn't think I would need to for some more time, but it makes sense; it's not every day you find a good fighter.
The old, worn boots I wear have a small change to them—one I made myself—two leather straps with the exact size to fit an arrow. Taking two arrows from my quiver, I put them on the straps, securing them in my boots and ready myself once again.
"You're the crafty type, I see now. Maybe you will earn the right to see all of me." She unlodges her axe from the slab and once again seems to adapt herself, no longer rushing like crazy and taking a more defensive stance.
Swing after swing, she fends off my attempts to get close with quick attacks to avoid ending up open for me again.
If there's no opening, then let's start relying on my luck. Forcing her to attack again, I take the small opening and enter her personal space with a dash, and doing so, one of the arrows stuck to my boot slides off and rests on the floor, while the other stays ready to use.
A stab directly to her left knee, strong enough to make the arrow break something important, I'm sure, with a headbutt I push her back, letting her knee stay with the gift I provided.
The girl looks nauseated; it's time to end this. Her personal space is invaded by me again, my dagger going straight to her chest until it stops. She uses her hand to hold the blade, losing her middle finger in the process.
With a grin, I get close to her face and whisper. "You know, if you want to live, I can make you an offer."
"Yeah, and what would that be?"
"Simple, become mine, and I'll make sure to help you out."
My request seems to make the girl finally stop, but only for a second before her strength becomes enough to rival mine.
"Sure, defeat me in my true form, and I'll become yours. This shall be fun to see." Losing no time, the girl, in a quick motion, approaches the missing inch separating our faces and bites my lower lip with her fangs, sucking all the blood from the wound and coating her lips with it.
"Good luck, struggler. I look forward to seeing you struggle to your own contempt."
The world spins, my body flies across the main door of the temple, and as my back hits it, the door breaks open. I bounce on the wood before meeting the stone floor of the main area outside it.
The sound my back makes as I try forcing myself to my feet doesn't serve to reassure me. Fuck, I think I've bit a little more than I can chew this time.
Rain still pours from the skies, thunder crosses the darkness, and it ends in the forest near the temple, setting a small fire to a tree in the distance.
"Hey," a voice starts to reach my ears, a hand stops on my shoulder, and another helps me stay on my two unsure feet. "You okay? Did you find it?"
"Yeah, I'm peachy." I give Aoha a painful smile before redirecting her attention to the temple. "But I believe I fucked up."
"You think?" Aoha asks with a frown.
"Get ready; things are about to get real shit in a second."
My words are enough to make Aoha forget her dissatisfaction and steel herself for the battle ahead, and so do I.
*THUMP THUMP*
From inside the temple, steps as loud as thunder shake the ground around us, making sure to let our minds question. How big has something got to be to mirror an earthquake just by walking?
The answer comes with the sight of a big snout sticking out of the temple's main entrance, the size of Aoha. The creature smells the air before retracting the snout back to the darkness inside the temple.
Not even letting the feeling set in, the creature claw makes a new hole through which it can come out of the 'small' space it found itself in.
It looks like a wolf; its teeth impossibly extending to its neck, making the mouth on this thing big enough to fit a whole fucking ship.
Chains extending from the beast's body, lots of chains pinned to their body, and scratching the floor where it walks, creating an almost maddening sound.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Its true height is revealed as it approaches slowly; it is almost as tall as the temple, which is roughly five meters tall.
Eyes glowing yellow still, but inhumanely stretchy and deformed, like its mouth.
Aoha looks speechless, trying to process the information given to her, probably asking herself, 'How do we fight something like this?' or 'Should I run?', but me? I was never one to run from anything.
Grabbing the arrows that spilled out of my quiver when I was thrown, I grab my bow and start looking around for anything that can turn to our advantage.
"Aoha," I call for her, but get no response, so I grab her face and turn her face to me. "Listen to me; freeze now, and you're dead.
"Actually, we will both be dead; the only thing I can count on is you, so don't abandon me, please.
"You're all I have right now."
The scared firespirit, hearing my plea, slowly nods her head and gets back to her right mind. Her eyes stop shaking, and her instincts call down.
"Okay, I..." Aoha looks away and sighs heavily before looking at me with her usual frown. "I did promise to help you, and I'm not one to break promises."
"Atta girl." With a big grin, we both direct our gaze to the beast, who moves erratically to free itself from the chains until its eyes stop on me. The movement ceases, their focus changes, and I can almost feel the gaze of death upon me.
With an arrow, I aim at the creature's snout and shoot. The arrow, upon hitting it, bounces off and flies away into the forest.
"You have a plan?" Aoha asks, making me first think of one.
"No, but I will with time. For now, help me find a way to stab this bitch."
As Aoha and I start moving together, the problem with fighting giant beasts seems to be their resistance. But one thing is universal when it comes to damage: fire.
"Let's get below it; then we burn and cut one of its paws."
The beast positions itself to stop our advances, moving its body to an angle so that it can react. The focus seems to be solely on me. Wait...
I stop moving, letting Aoha go alone to the beast, and the eyes on this thing keep staring me down; it's like there's only me and it on the battlefield.
Before I can think more, the beast moves forward, jumping from side to side before running in full motion in my direction. I catch a glimpse of Aoha dodging the paw as it almost crushes her.
I start running, and the beast, after my ass, starts to slip on the wet ground and use it to its advantage. The beast's teeth get too close for comfort to my leg before slipping past me as I roll to the side.
Changing directions, I resume my run and see Aoha try to shoot a fire spell and fail. Great, just great. One advantage for one disadvantage.
Okay, time to use my mind. Big creature, slippery floor, big temple... yeah, it can work.
Full speed ahead, I met back with Aoha as the creature growls and roars, finding its ground once again to attempt another mindless rush.
"Get to the temple and find a way to get dry; we are burning the place down on it. I'll get you all the time I can."
Aoha's POV
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"Be careful," I say to Zero before doing as told, almost tripping on my way inside the temple. Letting myself fall to the floor, I take deep breaths and attempt to do the same thing.
Concentrate the fire, let it go, and hold it again. I never attempted to do this two times in a day, so it is both dangerous and irresponsible, but I believe there's no other way: I need to trust that girl.
The core in my chest, the thing that pumps both mana and blood to all my body, starts to be fed off to the small flame, and it grows, unlike any other time I tried.
It hurts, but at the same time, it's almost like home. It does make sense.
Maintaining all the control I can, I unleash it to roam free inside my body, feeling the not-so-pleasant warmth run and mark my skin with small burn marks.
My vision is filled with flames, pains, and memories. Screams of those who died because of this fire I hold, of those who found victory within a burning battlefield.
A tool, used and discarded as just that, not considering my feelings; not always one seeks a good family, but sometimes for just the comfort of having one, bad or good.
A voice of the past reaches my ear. "You're a very good pawn girl, but your time has come to an end. You've become too dangerous to keep at home.
"The emperor orders you to surrender yourself; your death shall be on point with what you deserve: nothing at all."
Fire needs fuel. I tried so much to give it my life in exchange for this power, but I need not fear any more; it's not like that girl will fear me for letting it all out.
The way she was smiling when that beast came after her, the victorious grin of a kid when she dodged the attack—nothing seems to frighten her; if she doesn't fear, then I should follow her example instead of pathetically waiting to be saved.
Filling my mind with painful memories and letting them flood my thoughts till there's little to nothing of me right now left, the fire stops devouring the precious core in my chest, and for once, the burns don't hurt.
They comfort me; they are the proof of my will and my power.
Without holding back, I guide this feeling to the center of my palm, and that's when I hear Zero entering the temple, rushing to me.
Zero's POV
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Oh god, how much will I have to run? I gave her plenty of time, no?
I don't care; it's now or never.
The beast runs after me again. I manage to make it slip at the offering part of the temple and collide with it, so I change directions to the temple.
Breathing heavily, with my thighs and feet hurting like hell—a burning pain that makes me just want to drop down and take a five-hour-long nap—I reach the hole in the temple and slide in.
"Aoha, I bought you all the time I could," Putting my hands on my knees, I take a breather. "So please tell me you got it-"
Looking at the fire spirit, for once in a long time I feel my words and breath catch on my throat. She looks... gorgeous.
On her head are a pair of fire horse-like ears cutely twitching at the sound of my voice, and on her back is a tail made of the same thing. Small spirits surround her flames; all the little orbs of various colors float around like fireflies.
Aoha's dark gold eyes look a lot more alive, warmly inviting, and filled with proud rage.
"Wow..." is the only word I can mutter before her focus falls on me.
"What?" Aoha takes a step forward, and her feet set fire to the plank below her.
"Nothing; it's just that you look gorgeous right now. Magically speaking."
Without answering and neither frowning upon my words, the burning spirit reaches my side and pulls me behind her. Her hands, which I feared would burn me, soothe the coldness provided by the drenching rainwater in my clothes.
"Stay back; you did more than you had to. Now it's time I do something to help you."
Heavy steps approach the temple, and a big, distorted eye spies us out the window as it surrounds the building. Soon enough, the creature approaches the entrance, blocking the little light provided by the outside, only reflecting some of it on its impossible amount of sharp teeth.
The lights from Aoha's fire intensify, like a second sun inhabiting this temple, its heat spreading fire on the floor and walls, reaching even the ceiling.
No words are exchanged; the staredown between two powerful beasts is the only thing that happens, with one waiting for the other to attack first.
Stealthily, I disappear from view and climb to the second floor by a stair out of view, only able to spot it because of the sudden light inside.
Reaching the top floor, I see a sea of wood bridges interlacing, keeping the ceiling in place—some burning and some yet to.
'Don't look down; just don't look down.' I mutter in repetition to myself as I climb one of the wooden ceiling joists and start balancing myself to reach the part where it connects with another.
Below me, as I do my work, Aoha moves first, conjuring a hurricane of fire on her hand and spreading the fire around the beast, locking it in the temple with us.
The beast responds with a rush towards Aoha, who dodges as the creature bites one of the walls and brings it almost entirely down, destabilizing the whole building.
With various strikes of my dagger, I start cutting the right wood to collapse part of the ceiling on the beast. The heavy, weakened wood snaps in half and stays ready to collapse. Time to climb down before I fall.
Walking back to near the stairs, I prepare myself to jump to them, but before I can, my footing disappears. The part where I was standing breaks at one end and starts to fall down, leaving me to go with it.
'Yeah... I'm dead.'
The fall doesn't last long, and my back hits a soft, fur-like surface that, taking a better look, reveals itself to be the beast.
The whole temple is now ready to go down; the fire has spread enough to make sure of that, as have the beast's attacks too.
"GET OUT OF HERE, I HAVE A PLAN."
My scream is met with a halt in Aoha's attacks; the beast I'm on top of tilts its head and faces me—not creepy at all.
Its tail hits Aoha, and she's thrown out of the temple. Well, time for the main dish.
"Let's go, girl, just you and me."
Grabbing one of the smaller chains, I pull on it and drag it out of the beast with a painful howl. This might just work.
The beast starts to run around to throw me off, but my plan already worked: grabbing my dagger, I stab its neck and start to make it so focused on me that it loses its sense of direction.
*Bang*
Its back hits the almost entirely collapsed wall, and it finally gives up. The building quickly comes apart and starts falling down.
The beast, seeing this, tries to escape, but grabbing another chain, I let myself hang near its paw and stab it repeatedly, making it fall down.
"What a shame." With a big smirk, I let myself fall to the floor as well, making the beast look at me one last time before we both die. "I was looking forward to having fun with you."
Aoha's POV
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Using the flames at the last second, I manage to avoid getting injured by rolling on the ground by sheer luck. The fire ever spreading in me subsides as the rain washes these feelings away to just one more puddle on the ground.
In the temple where the fight was happening, I can see Zero, that idiot, using a chain to lower herself enough to do something to the beast and bring it down.
She really did have a plan, huh? I have to give her credit this time; if it weren't for her, we would be-
*THUMP*
The entire temple comes crashing down, and all of what I can see of the beast and Zero disappears within the amount of broken wood and stones.
"Oh no, no, no, no, NO." Without thinking twice, I run with all I have to the rubble, stopping atop the havoc of materials that once made an entire building. "ZERO."
Kneeling down, I start rapidly digging up the proof of all the destruction, trying my best to find that girl. She can't be dead, right?
.
..
...
..
.
I don't know how much time goes by, but as the rain stops and the night starts to take over the sky, my hopes start to drop. My nails hurt from digging so much.
When the last straw is drawn for me to give up, the trembling of the rubble pushes me off the top and makes me roll down to the side.
The beast still stands, and it escapes the havoc with a collection of wounds.
"You are still alive, huh?" All the fire I had in me is gone. I can't conjure any flames, but I still have one thing: the gift. "Let's end this."
Unsheathing the katana, I ready myself to strike the beast down—that is until I see Zero curl up, unconscious, uninjured by the collapse of the temple, and protected by the big wolf.
*clank*
Dropping down the blade, I kneel down and grab Zero in my arms, cleaning the dust of the debris out of her face.
To my right, the beast transforms itself into a woman with long blond hair, falling to her knees and coughing blood.
"She's fine; you don't need to worry. I took all the damage." The woman comments with a dry laugh. "To think she would really defeat me, and to not even wield magic against me. She's worth the reward I promised."
Getting back to her feet, the woman takes a step towards Zero's body, and so I instinctively grab the katana from the ground and point to her.
"Stay there if you wish to live."
"She got you good too, I see." The woman ignores the blade pointed at her and keeps advancing. "Grab her; let's get out of here before the guards come."
"Why should I hear your words?"
"Because you can't defeat me, and you know that." The woman's eyes glimmer with the remains of her power. "So your only option is to shut up and do as I say.
"Now, let's take her to a place where she can rest." She grabs the pouch of coins from Zero and starts walking towards returning to the city, and without better options, I do the same.
Carrying the tired Zero on my back all the way.
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