Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ A Father's Wishes ( Chapter 70 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: MellyN

XxXxXx

Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 70: A Father's Wishes

XxXxXx

"If you have a sacrifice to make, then I can fulfill your wish," Tsurugi told the white-haired man with a placid smile. "Hiro-kun is a little out of commission at the moment." With Hiroshima down on power and spirit, it would prove ineffective to ask him to perform the sacrifice.

Zangetsu looked towards the spiky-haired man, who exited the room without a comment more. Seeing the man leave, Vasca gently laid Baratone down and excused himself, walking after the angel.

"What are you going to ask him?" Mikunai asked. The concept of this particular sacrifice was out of nowhere to him. Apparently, Helix had something in mind but the only question was what? It was something large in proportion or extremely life-changing to everyone or he would not need a sacrifice in order to carry out with it.

"I want to become a priest in Baklava."

"What? What about me?" Mikunai put both of his hands on his chest and looked a little uncertain. He knew that going to Baklava any time soon would surely spell his destruction. An elegant hand was placed lightly on the vampire's cheek, quelling his worries as Helix smiled kindly. "Those guys hate us."

So why in the world would Helix want to go back to a place they had just come out of war with? It was like asking for a public execution. Him more so since he was a vampire, a creature that was vastly hated by the Catholic religion.

"If they begin to follow my teachings, I can change Baklava into our allies," the white-haired Catholic told his master. Now was a perfect time to travel to Baklava, when it was in it's restoration period. If they went now, then they could help them out and prove themselves as worthy allies.

"What are you willing to sacrifice? Remember, the sacrifice has to be equal to the desire you wish to fulfill." Tsurugi instructed.

Helix held out his cherished bazooka and the crescent shaped weapon. "These should do. This crescent-shaped object belongs back in Zameln. The divine beings can take my bazooka and Vespa may have this back." These were to be his sacrifices, something of great magical worth and something of great personal worth. If it would be to stop the ongoing problems that their countries faced and hopefully come to some peaceful resolution, then Helix would gladly make that sacrifice.

Zangetsu took the crescent object from the Catholic's hand and leveled him with a smile. "I'll keep it for her." The next time that they saw the Red Witch, he would be sure to give it to her.

"Alright, let's see if this works," Tsurugi took the bazooka and held it out, the object slowly levitated a few inches from his hands and he drew his arms back to either side and began the sacrificial process. "Divine powers, I make this sacrifice under our contract to make Helix become a spiritual leader in Baklava. If this is enough then please allow my wish to be fulfilled and allow this to be so." The angel said as streams of white smoke swirled around his being at a high speed and the weapon simply looked as if it phased out of existence.

Tsurugi closed his heavenly eyes and smiled. "The sacrifice has been made."

It had worked and due to this sacrifice, Helix would be easily accepted by the people in Baklava, which would hopefully make things easier on Mikunai as well. The worlds were on their way to becoming peaceful once more.

XxXxXx

Hiroshima sat on the balcony railing, overlooking all of his allies below. His head was pointed down and a crestfallen look was etched on his features as he slowly pulled off his tinted glasses and sighed lightly. Not a moment later did he feel a soft touch adorn his shoulder. Glancing back he saw King Vasca smiling at him kindly.

"King Vasca…" His voice was low and subdued.

"I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It's hard to lose someone that you truly care about," Vasca consoled, and in a way, he thought it to be his fault that they were now one ally short. Due to the war that he had asked them to be in, they had lost a comrade and life was nothing that could be sold or replaced easily.

"Until now, I have only ever regretted two instances where I have killed," Hiroshima stated lowly, and despite the fact that he was a murderer most of the time, Vasca could tell that he truly regretted not preventing the girl's death.

"You killed her?" Vasca asked, a little confused.

"I feel that I am the reason that she died." In many more ways than one and Hiroshima hardly felt as if she should be down there celebrating and laughing with his allies.

"Could it be your survivor's guilt is getting to you?" The king asked. "I know that you were forced into killing your own allies when you traveled with Teruna and you must feel guilty for that." Vasca had remembered the incident well, and it in itself was one of the reasons that Hiroshima had gone to Sumeria in the past. Vasca remembered how hard it was on the man and how it nearly drove him to the same fate that Azmy suffered.

"This girl loved me. She put all of her faith in a monster like me."

"Is it me, or do you hate the winged boy legend?" As off-key as the question seemed, Hiroshima damned Vasca a little for being able to read into things so clearly.

"I do, it was wrongly given to me. I don't deserve sympathy for what I've done, however. I killed for my own revenge and I do not regret that," the angel replied lowly.

"You deserve a chance to try and repent," Vasca told him as he leaned on the railing and looked over to Hiroshima, seeing more of his face then before. "A heart that bleeds like yours needs someone to understand it; otherwise you'll grow more resentful."

"Fat chance with these kids," he knew deep down that they all disliked him in one way or another and the only reason that they had traveled together so far was because they were being forced by Vespa.

"They seem like they care very much," Vasca saw the situation a little differently.

"About everyone else, they don't care about a bastard like me," Hiroshima contradicted.

"I think you underestimate human kindness. Perhaps if you didn't keep secrets from them-" The king tried to advise, but his sentence was cut short.

"They'd hate me even more if I told them."

"It's so much easier to keep the pain inside and cling to it then it is to tell someone who you feel."

"My burdens are mine alone. Angels take burdens, not give them to others." As an angel, it would be a violation to give more burdens then he had taken from them and he would be punished by the divine beings for doing so. After the spirit within him had given him punishment, he hardly wanted more.

"Why should you care? You aren't their guardian angel," Vasca replied. Hiroshima wasn't taking their burdens, so he didn't see why it would matter whether or not the angel said anything of the sort.

Hiroshima kept his silence on the matter, which caused the king's expression to light up with surprise as he had figured out what exactly the situation was. Looking sympathetic, he turned his gaze towards Hiroshima and uttered his name softly.

The situation was much more complicated then he knew and he saw it now. A part of his mind wondered if his allies saw it too.

XxXxXx

"My mother will finally rest in peace…I'm glad that I finally got to see her," Fife's smile was nostalgic and real as he spoke those words.

"You look just like her, you know," Treble complimented on the boy's beauty and resemblance.

"I know."

"Is Azmy really gone?" Ko had been thinking about the topic ever since she was informed about her loss. Now that the war was over, it seemed that nothing else was one her mind.

"Well, she isn't here, is she?" Undine looked around to indicate the lack of the gunslinger's presence.

"Dude, I can't believe that she's really dead," Chichiri's voice trembled as he started to cry.

"She was my best friend," Ko sniffled as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I wonder what happened between she and Hiroshima," Zangetsu thought to himself about the entire situation. Hiroshima seemed very upset about the whole ordeal and if anyone could shine more light on it, then surely he'd be able to.

"She's gone now. We can't bring her back. Nothing can be done," Tsurugi told them. It had been days since the girl's death. He truly didn't know why everyone should start mourning now when they had plenty of time to mourn when they heard the news. Aside from that, no amount of crying would bring the girl back to life, so it was futile to do so.

"That doesn't mean that it's not sad," Ko told him with an emotional expression. She had not had the time to mourn during the war, so she was doing it now. She had a right to mourn her friend's death if she wanted to and no angel was going to tell her otherwise.

"She died a while ago. Why cry now?" Tsurugi asked.

"We haven't had time to mourn because we've all been fighting. Dude, I thought you were the nice one," the blonde's comment struck an angry chord in Tsurugi somewhere. The dark angel's emotions had been all over the chart that day and the tension drove him crazy just thinking about everything that had happened.

"What do you think Hiro-kun is?" The dark angel said callously.

"He's a jerk. He let her die," Ko's words only made matters worse. Tsurugi simply frowned. All of the things that they should have gotten over didn't really have any progress at all. No matter what happened to he or his lover, the results were the same to Ko and he was more then sick of neither one of them getting respect in her eyes.

"Wasn't he supposed to be drinking her blood and stuff?" Chichiri asked.

"A vampire won't kill his own donor," Fife tried to help the situation by adding in that simple fact. He really didn't think that now was a time of even be talking about things of the sort. Everyone's emotions were on high and it was like asking for a giant fight to erupt.

"He's only depressed because he's a vampire. He doesn't care about us," the white-haired girl's words were bitter as she tried to keep a strong look, but her tears managed to only make her look like a hurt puppy in the process.

"How can you say that?" Keiji saw things entirely different. He thought Ko was being very ungrateful and very judgmental.

"How could he let her die? Why do you defend him?" Ko outburst in a fit of emotions. Today was not the day to be jumped on by him either.

"Why don't you ask her how she can just go and kill herself if you really want to go blaming people?" It was Azmy's fault for taking her own life. Hiroshima had nothing to do with that. In fact, he was trying to prevent her from dying and here Ko was, pegging him as a killer who was no better than the dirt on her shoe and Keiji couldn't stand it.

Hiroshima may have been a killer, but Keiji could see that he had honor and a sense of justice. Just because it wasn't picture-perfect hero justice didn't mean that it meant nothing.

"Why are you defending him?" Ko continued to ask. "You hated him more than anyone else when we were first thrown together. Why so holy now?"

As Hiroshima took a step, his movement ended at the base of the door. He had heard their argument and King Vasca did as well. The angel's frown deepened as he glanced to the king and spoke. "You wonder why I don't tell them anything," he had done more than proven his point.

Vasca seemed a little sad, "I'm sorry. They really don't seem to care, do they?"

"I think he deserves a chance," Keiji stated. "You can't blame him for someone else's decision to take their own life. That's just screwed up. Besides, if you're going to hate him, then don't act so grateful when he saves you."

"I think Fife bit you too hard and it cut off circulation to your brain. You're being a jerk," Ko defended herself.

"Quit being judgmental, Ko, especially when you don't have a right to judge. I didn't see you staying back to fight. It's screwed up for you to hide your powers when you could have helped us. You're just selfish and then you act holier than thou when someone else screws up. This isn't even Hiroshima's fault, so get off of him," Keiji glared at the girl. She was really beginning to get on his nerves. He could see this fault ever since they were at the House of the Dark Bride. Ko was always so quick to point out other's flaws but she never once gave a second look at herself.

It was about time that she started.

"He probably doesn't even miss her," Ko commented as Fife turned around to see Hiroshima and his father standing in the door way. He smiled nervously and continued to stay quiet.

"See, this is what your shitty comments get you, Ko," Keiji responded and pointed towards the doorway over her shoulder, where Hiroshima was.

The girl froze up with fear and looked like a child with its hand caught in a cookie jar. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Hiroshima slowly made his way down the stairs and looked to Ko with an expression that didn't signify hate or like towards her. "You wonder why no one wants to tell you anything," he spoke calmly, for he was too depressed to have the fire that he used to possess. "I've been depressed this entire time and you chose to put me down and accuse me of killing her? What? Because I'm an axe murderer? You think I'd betray your trust like this because I'm that low? I'm sick of being treated like trash by you just because I've done deplorable things in the past. Yes, I've killed and no, I don't regret it but let's get one thing straight. I wouldn't kill any of you unless there was a good reason."

Ko placed her hands on her hips and frowned, feeling caged in, she decided to confront him as well. "Like what? If we get on your nerves too much?" The girl snapped.

"You think I'm that superficial?" Even though the girl snapped at him, Hiroshima had no intentions of putting up a resistance against her.

"Who knows? You never tell anyone anything, you high-tailed jackass. You act like you have so much authority and like your morals are the only ones that matter. It's so much greater when you do a good deed but you criticize us for it."

"You do the same to him so why open your mouth?" Tsurugi interjected.

"Shut up Tsurugi. You defend him no matter what." This conversation was between Ko and Hiroshima. He had no right to pipe up whenever he felt like it and defend him now.

"I love him and I know him a hell of a lot better than you do. This is your first time even doing anything like this, so you could never know what it's like to be forced to make decisions like these." The angel told her with a stern look on his face.

Hiroshima grew quiet as the conversation shifted from person to person. He didn't feel like being involved any more then he had to. To be honest, he thought a part of him deserved the insult but as far as not caring that Azmy was dead, Ko couldn't be more wrong on the matter.

He wasn't that inhuman. In fact, he was closer to these humans then he ever thought he would be.

"I think we've fought enough," Fife cut in with a gentle smile. "Everyone is just emotional and we all need to rest."

"I agree," Zangetsu commented. He was tired of hearing everyone fight and he was exhausted from the war. It was time for everyone to truly take a break.

"I hope you're happy, Hotohori," Keiji seethed and walked off down the hall. At this moment in time, all he really wanted to do was get away from the situation, before he ended up punching someone out.

"What did he call me?" Ko looked as if she were about to cry again.

"He's never called you by your real name. He must be pissed," Chichiri commented on the displeasing statement. He knew that if Keiji ever called Ko by her real name, then it was definitely a degrading thing.

Keiji stopped beside of Hiroshima and looked up at the sad angel with a serious expression. "I know it's not your fault. Don't be hard on yourself," he told the angel some needed advice after receiving such heartless statements from Ko.

"Kid…" Hiroshima trailed, feeling a little better that someone wanted to comfort him.

"You just do what you have to do."

Hiroshima nodded. "Thanks…"

"I'm going to take a walk."

"I'm going with you," Fife commented was he walked up to the green-haired boy.

"No."

"Hm?" Fife looked bewildered as he blinked a couple of times, trying to make sure that he heard the answer right. Did he just say no to him?

"Go ahead and spend time with King Vasca. You should cherish your parents while you still have them," Keiji told his master. Being orphaned at a young age, the boy would not like to see Fife never knowing the joys of being surrounded by people who loved him and who knew when they would come back to Sumeria.

Ko looked down as she thought over everything that had just happened. A part of her seemed to regret what she said to Hiroshima, but she didn't have enough pride to come out and apologize to him now.

"I'm going to sleep," Hiroshima dismissed himself.

"I'll go with you," Tsurugi hooked his arms around the other man's as the two walked off.

"It would be better not to talk sometimes, you know?" Chichiri watched the two angels walk off down one of the halls.

"Why would she just kill herself?" Ko shook her head in disbelief. Dealing with death was not one of her strong points.

"She told me that she was going to if she couldn't stop loving Hiroshima," Undine finally spoke up about the whole ordeal.

"What?" The white-haired girl's gaze snapped in her direction.

"She told me but she wanted to keep it a secret," the long-haired girl explained. "She felt guilty about loving him when he had Tsurugi. There was really no way you could have stopped her, even if I told you."

"Well, not everything Hiroshima does is justifiable," Ko felt more like a fool to know that Hiroshima was right in everything he had just said. The female wanted to hang on to what little shred of dignity she had left.

"Let's drop the subject," Undine saw what Ko was trying to do and decided to cut it short where it stood.

"I don't get why Keiji defends him. It's like Keiji, Prince Fife, Tsurugi and Hiroshima have all formed this little side against me," the girl explained.

"I think you just feel that way because you're emotional," Zangetsu explained, trying to help the situation and calm Ko down a little.

"You know, you always try to stay out of things, so why talk now?" Chichiri looked a little irritated that he didn't get in a comforting word first.

"At least my soul purpose in this group is to do more then take up space," Zangetsu narrowed his dark blue eyes at the blonde, warning him to keep his tongue because he had the least active involvement in the group.

"Er?! I do a lot around here, thank you!" Chichiri informed, not only that but he was in this group long before Zangetsu ever thought about it. Who was he to judge his involvement in the group anyway?

"Morons…" Undine shot as she walked away.

"Yeah, did you hear that? She called you a moron," Chichiri looked smug for a moment before the truth was pointed out.

"It had an 's' on it. Although she's right. We shouldn't fight. Let's spend some time alone," the black-haired ninja suggested.

"Why?" Chichiri didn't want to be alone. He wanted to be with Ko.

"I think we've been around each other far too long. We're starting to annoy each other and it's been nothing but stressful and depressing. One of our team mates just died and we just got finished fighting in a war. We need to clear our heads," the black-haired man advised.

"I'm going to ask Shizume where there is any hot springs," Ko told everyone her plans.

"I'll take a shower in my room," Zangetsu replied, wanting nothing more than to rid himself of the dirt, blood and other debris that clung heavily to his soiled body.

"Man, I'm alone again," Chichiri pouted. So far nothing was going the way he thought it would go.

XxXxXx

Vasca and Fife stood together in the throne room. Fife handed his father the urn that contained his mother's precious ashes and smiled a bitter sweet smile. The prince had once felt strange being back in Sumeria but now that everything had passed, none of the hard feelings and lies clung to him. He had managed to find out so much about his homeland, his past and himself during the war and he didn't regret all of the sacrifices that he had to make in order to get where he was today.

There was a great peace in his life now.

"Here, you deserve to have her back in your possession, father." After all, it was the man that Amante had loved most.

Vasca gently took it and looked into the intricate decorations with a saddened smile. He then thanked the boy and embraced him tightly. "I'm so glad that you're back. I've missed you so much."

"Father…" Fife wrapped his arms around him.

"It's been seven years," Vasca said nostalgically.

"I'm so glad that I finally got to see you and I'm happier that you don't hate me," the boy's hands clenched his father's blue and white robes as tears began to roll down his face. Thinking back on Keiji's words, he was very blessed to have a father who loved him so much.

"I could never hate you,” Vasca gently ran his hands through the boy's long, navy blue hair and smiled. "I love you very much, Fife. Don't ever doubt it. Your home is always here in Sumeria." The two parted from the hug as Vasca leveled him with an understanding smile. "There is something I want to ask you."

"What's that?" Fife wiped away the remaining tears that clung to his face.

"I'm getting old and I know that I can't protect Sumeria forever. I wanted to ask you if you would accept the crown before you left. You'll be the rightful king of Sumeria and I will rule in your place while you're gone," Vasca informed.

"King Vasca…" Fife's eyes widened in amazement. Never in a thousand years did he think that he'd be asked to take the crown.

"You'll make a wonderful king. Please accept my crown. I'd be very happy if you did," his father told him gently, proud to finally see his son rise to be king.

XxXxXx

The cold winds blew through Keiji's mid-back length ponytail, causing it to dance in the wind as he closed his eyes. When the green eyes opened, they laid their sights across the battlefield. 'She's really gone…' He thought to himself as many quotes she'd told him in the past raced through his senses.

'Keiji-kun!'

'Thank you for saving me!'

'Sorry, I'm so shy…'

'All I am…is a burden…'

'The look on Hiroshima's face when they were talking about him. That's not a look of anyone who has no feelings. Ever since he saved me from Elf Kaizer, I can't believe that he's as cruel as he pretends to be. Maybe I'm just being incredibly stupid but I think that Ko is really coming down on him. I don't know but I feel a connection to Hiroshima. Maybe it has something to do with that creature I met when I was little. The aura that they both possessed was very similar. The creature I saw when I was little was more frenzied and psychotic, kind of like being so angry that that you black out, or being so emotional that you get sick. Hiroshima is calm and dark though.'

"Keiji-kun!" The prince's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as arms wrapped around his neck from behind and Keiji could smell the faint scent of morning glories and feel the tickle of his master's hair on his cheek.

"Hey Prince Fife," the servant greeted.

Fife waved his finger in a 'no' kind of way. "Uh-uh!" He sing-songed playfully.

"Fife-kun?" The green-haired boy questioned.

"Nope," Fife smiled.

"Um…" Keiji blushed. "Fife…"

"Not unless you mean it."

"What then?"

The navy-haired boy placed a crown composed of dark black crystals on top of his head. "King Fife!" He winked playfully and smiled brightly.

"What?" Keiji was a little confused. He didn't know whether or not Fife was joking around with him or not.

"I'm going to be king of Sumeria," the vampire informed.

"That's great," the other male smiled.

"Keiji-kun, you're smiling," the prince was shocked that his love interest was smiling. It was something that he had not seen the boy do.

"I'm happy for you."

"Keiji-kun…" Fife trailed off before going into deep thought as he gazed at the other's smile. 'At times like these, I really do feel like there's a chemistry between us, something that only we share…Maybe that's why I picked you to be my donor…'

…To Be Continued….