Alive alive alive alive alive.
Ba-thump ba-thump ba-thump ba-thump
I was alive!
Great gasps of breaths, lungs, lungs failing. I can’t breathe. I am breathing, I can’t breathe. Heart, heart in my chest, beating beating beating beating beating. My heart was beating. My heart is beating.
“You-”
Backpedaling away, I scrambled on all fours at the voice. I knew that voice, I knew it I knew I knew it. I knew it well. Too well.
Vanessa Vilconoff. Vampire. She paused in what she was saying, surprised, before chuckling at me.
“As I was saying, your survivability is amazing. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a miracle before today. I can also honestly say, I’m not sure what to do with you. This woman went through a lot of trouble to have you survive after all.”
Vanessa took a step forward, and my eyes widened. Beneath Vanessa’s foot, was Konahora’s head. She was unconscious and bleeding profusely from where her hand use to be. I looked back up at Vanessa.
“Oh, her hand. Yes, that was pretty smart of her.” Vanessa said, before to my utter horror, she raised the severed hand and bit into it. In moments, it mummified, all the blood leeched out of it. The small cut Tyler had managed to cause across her face healed up, making her look as if she had never been in a fight at all. Only the cuts across her clothes gave any indication that we had fought for our lives.
“Tell me, Derek the Demon,” Vanessa said, noticeably putting pressure on her foot. “What would you do if I crushed her head hmm? Killed her like a bug. I wonder, what sort of expression would you make? Would it make it worth keeping you around?”
I gulped, air not feeling like it was enough. I had felt like this before, I think I was having a panic attack. I had died, no, yes, no, maybe. Thoughts, my thoughts were spiraling. Focus, focus, focus. No time, no time to think. Konahora is going to die if I don’t move. Move. I need to move.
I stood, I don’t know how, but I stood.
“Oh? Not frozen in fear even after all that? Now now, maybe you are my type after all. Hmm, I suppose if your companions care so much about you, I might find enough entertainment with you alive.”
The air was hot, so hot. Naked, I was naked. My clothes had burnt up long ago. I had been fighting naked this whole time. My heart, my, my, my new heart, beat like a drum in terror and horror. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to-
Focus. Focus. Not just me. Not just I would die if I didn’t move.
I ran, and the world sharpened around me. Everything came rushing in, too much, it was all too much. The roaring of the inferno as blue fires destroyed the mansion, the sight of Tyler’s bleeding and broken form embedded in the wall even now, Konohora rapidly losing blood underneath a Vampire, Riary focusing all her attention and magic on what now looked like a divine arrow between her hands, and… and me.
Derek Springer. Demon, once human. My new heart flooded me with adrenaline and hormones and chemicals, my blood feeling like vipers underneath my skin, my mind drowned in horror and terror and fear. Tears streamed my face as I realized how close I’d gotten to dying again, as I remembered the feeling of seeing my own heart crushed underneath me, my body ruined without my knowledge. I was breaking down, I wanted to break down. There was no instinct, no passion of the moment, no unconscious reaction.
Every step was a decision, a challenge, a choice. I ran and ran and ran.
Directly at Vanessa fucking Vilconoff.
“Oh? You’re really approaching me?”
I nearly erupted into crazed, broken laughter. I had never seen that damn show, but a certain meme came rushing to my head. Even as I wanted to curl into a ball and cry, I couldn’t help myself.
“I can’t beat the shit out of you without getting closer!”
Vanessa smiled wide, her vampiric teeth showing. She took two steps forward, arms lightly held up. As I approached, she threw a jab.
It came faster than my eyes could see, aimed straight for my face. I felt it more than I saw it. The force of a Titan, the force of a God. Vanessa had been playing with us and that had never stopped. Not for one second. Not even now. But even her casual attacks could kill me. My body reacted faster than I could think, dodging it.
I slashed upwards, my claws coming out, feeling them slice across her chest, over her breasts, and continuing upwards.
Not a mark was left on her. It felt like my hand was nearly stuck in tar before I tore it away.
I swung again, claws going across her face, across her cheek as she smiled like even more of a demon than I was. As she held sadism in her eyes.
Another punch came forward, faster, like a bullet released. I was already moving. I hadn’t meant to, hadn’t planned to. My body just moved.
“Oh? You’re faster than before. Let’s see how much faster.”
Even as I whipped my tail out, a rain of blows came down upon me. I couldn’t see them, couldn’t react to them, they were too fast. My body still moved, it still dodged, and I felt like a leaf being pushed around by the wind.
I was finally hit, and my shoulder practically turned to dust, as the fist continued to move through it and out the other side. My entire right arm went numb.
“Ah, so only that much faster.”
My fear spiked, my terror increased, and I nearly ran away right then and there. But I would die. Everyone would die or be imprisoned and raped. That last thought sparked just enough unhappiness in me that my feet didn’t leave the floor, even as I continued to attack. They weren’t useless, my plan was working. I was buying time.
“Terrifying. I’d never fight you if you were only half as strong as me. You’re relentless!”
My tail swiped up, crossing across her face, aiming for her eyes. She reached up and grabbed it, stopping me completely. My eyes went wide as I started to feel her power start to try and control me again. I- I can’t move my tail. I can’t move, I can’t, I can’t-
“Tsk, I don’t feel like slowing things down just when they were getting good.” And just like that, she broke off a third of my tail. The intensity of it nearly caused me to stumble. Even without feeling pain, it was like a bomb had gone off to my senses. It added to the cacophony of emotions, fear, and adrenaline in my body.
I continued to attack, and be attacked, slowly being whittled away like a block of wood being under the carver's knife. But I was doing better than last time, lasting longer. Keeping aware of my body and surroundings. That was all that kept me going as I was destroyed, piece by piece. My other arm was bent the wrong way, my ribs cracked or broke, my jaw dislocated, my vision went black for a few seconds and that was the last straw.
I blinked my eyes open, feeling drunk. I was beaten to the edge of my life and as my vision returned, I felt the hand around my neck.
“We were in this same position only just a few minutes ago. How amusing. Do you think you could survive losing your heart twice? Oh, I’d love to see that. I even promise that-”
“Done.” Riary spoke in a tense voice.
I blinked, relief and surprise flooding through me. Fucking. Finally.
“Hmm?” Vanessa looked over, very intrigued. “You’re finally done playing around? Well, I have been waiting quite a while after all. All three of your companions are even still alive! Show me, show me how beautiful you are!”
That same horrible look of love and lust was back in Vanessa’s eyes. It was finally time to end this.
“No.” I spoke.
“Hmm?”
It all came down to this. I was the final part of the plan.
“You need to. Let me go. She can’t.” God, Vanessa was making it a bitch to breathe. “She can’t. Attack. She’ll… kill me… in the attack…”
“Oh ho! Well, let’s make it even more interesting than, shall we?”
Vanessa turned her body, bringing me along with her. Directly in front of Riary.
“Take your best shot. Are you willing to kill your friend to try and hurt me?” Vanessa was all smiles.
So was I.
“Mistake.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What are you-”
I was not strong. I didn’t have faith, or magic, or skill. I didn’t have years of experience or even any practice with fighting. I didn’t have anything at all besides my own brain. Being a demon? It had nearly gotten me killed more than anything. Power sense? It just told me how fucked I was, it hadn’t saved me. Every part of me, body, mind, and soul, were changed, altered, a little different. But they were all still me. And in this world, this crazy, insane, horrifying, terrifying, stressful world, my mind was the most important thing. It was all I could count on, when I was at the bottom. When I was naked and afraid and scared, it was the only thing between me and death. And it was how I was going to win.
I opened my mouth.
And an arrow came out.
Before Vanessa could react, the arrow flew from my mouth into hers. There was a moment, a single glorious moment of pure and utter panic on her face, before an explosion like nothing I had ever experienced erupted not two feet from me. My face burned and my eyes went blind. Engraved into my vision was a sight, a beautiful sight. A Golden ball of fire, burning like a miniature sun.
My head felt like a wax candle, as Vanessa Vilconoff, B-Rank Vampire, died.
Tears of joy fell out of me, even as I tried and failed to laugh like a maniac.
The plan! Had worked!
Earlier.
“I can’t do both.” Riary said, clearly referring to the blue flames she was using.
“Don’t worry! I have a plan!”
“What. Is. It.”
“All of your strength, all of your flames, into one attack. A small arrow. If we can get it down her throat, into her mouth, it should be enough. We’ll melt her brain from the inside out.”
Riary looked at me like I was an idiot, even as her focus never left her jet of flames.
“What.”
“She loves to talk, to monologue. Trust me! I’ll give you the opening you need, just take the shot when you can. Now do it!”
All he needed to do after Riary was done, was to get her to open her fucking mouth. Well, and block her line of sight for a moment. Still….
He couldn’t feel his body. In fact, everything from the neck down had gone totally, completely numb. He had figured she’d do it, would’ve told her to do it, but still… she really hadn’t hesitated.
From the back of his neck, he could feel air coming through. There was a hole there, a hole where his spine used to be. Any higher and, well, best not to think about that. In fact, he was perfectly fine… not thinking of anything at all.
As the Golden flames finally stopped burning, the grip on Derek loosened and he fell backwards. He didn’t feel it when his back hit the ground, but he stared up at the ceiling, watching the fires burn. He smiled, he wish he could laugh. They had won.
His vision began to go dark. He was tired, so, so tired. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this exhausted. Just a… few…. minutes….
*******
Riary stood, alone. She was tired, exhausted, utterly spent. She was the least damaged and the only one still standing. She looked around. Her eyes first fell on the enemy, the vampire. Dead.
Next it went to Tyler, crushed as if by a boulder, embedded into a wall. He looked in pain, he looked broken, but his chest still fell and rose, even if it did so lopsidedly. He was still alive.
Konahora. She was missing a hand and she felt, mutilated, to Riary’s magical senses. She couldn’t see it properly, so it was probably divine related. She was still alive.
And finally… Derek. The Demon. Jagged rents went through his body, bones clearly broken, with an unnatural colored skin over where his heart was. But the most damning injury she knew she had personally caused. Severed spine. But, he was still alive.
She walked towards him, slowly. She was not uninjured. She had literally burnt her own mana channels as the fuel, allowing her to reach a level of power she couldn’t replicate. Even with Konohara, her mana channels would take a long time to recover.
And yet, even so, she summoned a flame to her hand. Without mana channels, it burnt a line through her blood, through her hand. She couldn’t hold it for long, or she risked killing herself. It was the old way of magic. More physical, less spiritual. A brutal method of forcing your will out onto the world. Even with her temperament, she knew it didn’t suit her.
She could kill him. She could do it right now. He had never, been able to stand up to her. It had only been Tyler and Konohara that had convinced her not to. It was a team decision and she had lost. And she had to respect that. But now, she could simply turn him on his side, burn a little higher, and be done with it. She wouldn’t even have to lie. He had asked her to take the chance when it was available. And even if they were annoying about it, even if she told the full truth, so what? The team wouldn’t break up over this. They might even let it go if she brought up how angry she was because of that damn fucking vampire.
And she was still angry, still furious. Still full of Wrath.
With eyes ablaze, she reached towards Derek with her normal hand and flipped him over. She stared at his neck, at the surprisingly small hole where she had shot her magic through him. Riary looked at her hand, the one full of fire, and Derek’s neck. She reached forward, before pausing and gritting her teeth.
Was she sure? Was she absolutely sure she wanted to do this?
…yes.
Riary burned Derek…
Cauterizing his wounds.
First his neck, then the rest of his body. She then dragged herself to Konohara and Tyler, doing the same, before finally putting out her fire. Her…… teammates… wouldn’t bleed out at the very least. She was just dreading having to pull them all out of a burning building, when she caught sight of four very scared looking maids.
She sighed in relief.
Thank the Goddess for small mercies. She really didn’t want to have to touch Derek’s naked body again.
Alive alive alive alive alive.
Ba-thump ba-thump ba-thump ba-thump
I was alive!
Great gasps of breaths, lungs, lungs failing. I can’t breathe. I am breathing, I can’t breathe. Heart, heart in my chest, beating beating beating beating beating. My heart was beating. My heart is beating.
“You-”
Backpedaling away, I scrambled on all fours at the voice. I knew that voice, I knew it I knew I knew it. I knew it well. Too well.
Vanessa Vilconoff. Vampire. She paused in what she was saying, surprised, before chuckling at me.
“As I was saying, your survivability is amazing. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a miracle before today. I can also honestly say, I’m not sure what to do with you. This woman went through a lot of trouble to have you survive after all.”
Vanessa took a step forward, and my eyes widened. Beneath Vanessa’s foot, was Konahora’s head. She was unconscious and bleeding profusely from where her hand use to be. I looked back up at Vanessa.
“Oh, her hand. Yes, that was pretty smart of her.” Vanessa said, before to my utter horror, she raised the severed hand and bit into it. In moments, it mummified, all the blood leeched out of it. The small cut Tyler had managed to cause across her face healed up, making her look as if she had never been in a fight at all. Only the cuts across her clothes gave any indication that we had fought for our lives.
“Tell me, Derek the Demon,” Vanessa said, noticeably putting pressure on her foot. “What would you do if I crushed her head hmm? Killed her like a bug. I wonder, what sort of expression would you make? Would it make it worth keeping you around?”
I gulped, air not feeling like it was enough. I had felt like this before, I think I was having a panic attack. I had died, no, yes, no, maybe. Thoughts, my thoughts were spiraling. Focus, focus, focus. No time, no time to think. Konahora is going to die if I don’t move. Move. I need to move.
I stood, I don’t know how, but I stood.
“Oh? Not frozen in fear even after all that? Now now, maybe you are my type after all. Hmm, I suppose if your companions care so much about you, I might find enough entertainment with you alive.”
The air was hot, so hot. Naked, I was naked. My clothes had burnt up long ago. I had been fighting naked this whole time. My heart, my, my, my new heart, beat like a drum in terror and horror. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to-
Focus. Focus. Not just me. Not just I would die if I didn’t move.
I ran, and the world sharpened around me. Everything came rushing in, too much, it was all too much. The roaring of the inferno as blue fires destroyed the mansion, the sight of Tyler’s bleeding and broken form embedded in the wall even now, Konohora rapidly losing blood underneath a Vampire, Riary focusing all her attention and magic on what now looked like a divine arrow between her hands, and… and me.
Derek Springer. Demon, once human. My new heart flooded me with adrenaline and hormones and chemicals, my blood feeling like vipers underneath my skin, my mind drowned in horror and terror and fear. Tears streamed my face as I realized how close I’d gotten to dying again, as I remembered the feeling of seeing my own heart crushed underneath me, my body ruined without my knowledge. I was breaking down, I wanted to break down. There was no instinct, no passion of the moment, no unconscious reaction.
Every step was a decision, a challenge, a choice. I ran and ran and ran.
Directly at Vanessa fucking Vilconoff.
“Oh? You’re really approaching me?”
I nearly erupted into crazed, broken laughter. I had never seen that damn show, but a certain meme came rushing to my head. Even as I wanted to curl into a ball and cry, I couldn’t help myself.
“I can’t beat the shit out of you without getting closer!”
Vanessa smiled wide, her vampiric teeth showing. She took two steps forward, arms lightly held up. As I approached, she threw a jab.
It came faster than my eyes could see, aimed straight for my face. I felt it more than I saw it. The force of a Titan, the force of a God. Vanessa had been playing with us and that had never stopped. Not for one second. Not even now. But even her casual attacks could kill me. My body reacted faster than I could think, dodging it.
I slashed upwards, my claws coming out, feeling them slice across her chest, over her breasts, and continuing upwards.
Not a mark was left on her. It felt like my hand was nearly stuck in tar before I tore it away.
I swung again, claws going across her face, across her cheek as she smiled like even more of a demon than I was. As she held sadism in her eyes.
Another punch came forward, faster, like a bullet released. I was already moving. I hadn’t meant to, hadn’t planned to. My body just moved.
“Oh? You’re faster than before. Let’s see how much faster.”
Even as I whipped my tail out, a rain of blows came down upon me. I couldn’t see them, couldn’t react to them, they were too fast. My body still moved, it still dodged, and I felt like a leaf being pushed around by the wind.
I was finally hit, and my shoulder practically turned to dust, as the fist continued to move through it and out the other side. My entire right arm went numb.
“Ah, so only that much faster.”
My fear spiked, my terror increased, and I nearly ran away right then and there. But I would die. Everyone would die or be imprisoned and raped. That last thought sparked just enough unhappiness in me that my feet didn’t leave the floor, even as I continued to attack. They weren’t useless, my plan was working. I was buying time.
“Terrifying. I’d never fight you if you were only half as strong as me. You’re relentless!”
My tail swiped up, crossing across her face, aiming for her eyes. She reached up and grabbed it, stopping me completely. My eyes went wide as I started to feel her power start to try and control me again. I- I can’t move my tail. I can’t move, I can’t, I can’t-
“Tsk, I don’t feel like slowing things down just when they were getting good.” And just like that, she broke off a third of my tail. The intensity of it nearly caused me to stumble. Even without feeling pain, it was like a bomb had gone off to my senses. It added to the cacophony of emotions, fear, and adrenaline in my body.
I continued to attack, and be attacked, slowly being whittled away like a block of wood being under the carver's knife. But I was doing better than last time, lasting longer. Keeping aware of my body and surroundings. That was all that kept me going as I was destroyed, piece by piece. My other arm was bent the wrong way, my ribs cracked or broke, my jaw dislocated, my vision went black for a few seconds and that was the last straw.
I blinked my eyes open, feeling drunk. I was beaten to the edge of my life and as my vision returned, I felt the hand around my neck.
“We were in this same position only just a few minutes ago. How amusing. Do you think you could survive losing your heart twice? Oh, I’d love to see that. I even promise that-”
“Done.” Riary spoke in a tense voice.
I blinked, relief and surprise flooding through me. Fucking. Finally.
“Hmm?” Vanessa looked over, very intrigued. “You’re finally done playing around? Well, I have been waiting quite a while after all. All three of your companions are even still alive! Show me, show me how beautiful you are!”
That same horrible look of love and lust was back in Vanessa’s eyes. It was finally time to end this.
“No.” I spoke.
“Hmm?”
It all came down to this. I was the final part of the plan.
“You need to. Let me go. She can’t.” God, Vanessa was making it a bitch to breathe. “She can’t. Attack. She’ll… kill me… in the attack…”
“Oh ho! Well, let’s make it even more interesting than, shall we?”
Vanessa turned her body, bringing me along with her. Directly in front of Riary.
“Take your best shot. Are you willing to kill your friend to try and hurt me?” Vanessa was all smiles.
So was I.
“Mistake.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What are you-”
I was not strong. I didn’t have faith, or magic, or skill. I didn’t have years of experience or even any practice with fighting. I didn’t have anything at all besides my own brain. Being a demon? It had nearly gotten me killed more than anything. Power sense? It just told me how fucked I was, it hadn’t saved me. Every part of me, body, mind, and soul, were changed, altered, a little different. But they were all still me. And in this world, this crazy, insane, horrifying, terrifying, stressful world, my mind was the most important thing. It was all I could count on, when I was at the bottom. When I was naked and afraid and scared, it was the only thing between me and death. And it was how I was going to win.
I opened my mouth.
And an arrow came out.
Before Vanessa could react, the arrow flew from my mouth into hers. There was a moment, a single glorious moment of pure and utter panic on her face, before an explosion like nothing I had ever experienced erupted not two feet from me. My face burned and my eyes went blind. Engraved into my vision was a sight, a beautiful sight. A Golden ball of fire, burning like a miniature sun.
My head felt like a wax candle, as Vanessa Vilconoff, B-Rank Vampire, died.
Tears of joy fell out of me, even as I tried and failed to laugh like a maniac.
The plan! Had worked!
Earlier.
“I can’t do both.” Riary said, clearly referring to the blue flames she was using.
“Don’t worry! I have a plan!”
“What. Is. It.”
“All of your strength, all of your flames, into one attack. A small arrow. If we can get it down her throat, into her mouth, it should be enough. We’ll melt her brain from the inside out.”
Riary looked at me like I was an idiot, even as her focus never left her jet of flames.
“What.”
“She loves to talk, to monologue. Trust me! I’ll give you the opening you need, just take the shot when you can. Now do it!”
All he needed to do after Riary was done, was to get her to open her fucking mouth. Well, and block her line of sight for a moment. Still….
He couldn’t feel his body. In fact, everything from the neck down had gone totally, completely numb. He had figured she’d do it, would’ve told her to do it, but still… she really hadn’t hesitated.
From the back of his neck, he could feel air coming through. There was a hole there, a hole where his spine used to be. Any higher and, well, best not to think about that. In fact, he was perfectly fine… not thinking of anything at all.
As the Golden flames finally stopped burning, the grip on Derek loosened and he fell backwards. He didn’t feel it when his back hit the ground, but he stared up at the ceiling, watching the fires burn. He smiled, he wish he could laugh. They had won.
His vision began to go dark. He was tired, so, so tired. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this exhausted. Just a… few…. minutes….
*******
Riary stood, alone. She was tired, exhausted, utterly spent. She was the least damaged and the only one still standing. She looked around. Her eyes first fell on the enemy, the vampire. Dead.
Next it went to Tyler, crushed as if by a boulder, embedded into a wall. He looked in pain, he looked broken, but his chest still fell and rose, even if it did so lopsidedly. He was still alive.
Konahora. She was missing a hand and she felt, mutilated, to Riary’s magical senses. She couldn’t see it properly, so it was probably divine related. She was still alive.
And finally… Derek. The Demon. Jagged rents went through his body, bones clearly broken, with an unnatural colored skin over where his heart was. But the most damning injury she knew she had personally caused. Severed spine. But, he was still alive.
She walked towards him, slowly. She was not uninjured. She had literally burnt her own mana channels as the fuel, allowing her to reach a level of power she couldn’t replicate. Even with Konohara, her mana channels would take a long time to recover.
And yet, even so, she summoned a flame to her hand. Without mana channels, it burnt a line through her blood, through her hand. She couldn’t hold it for long, or she risked killing herself. It was the old way of magic. More physical, less spiritual. A brutal method of forcing your will out onto the world. Even with her temperament, she knew it didn’t suit her.
She could kill him. She could do it right now. He had never, been able to stand up to her. It had only been Tyler and Konohara that had convinced her not to. It was a team decision and she had lost. And she had to respect that. But now, she could simply turn him on his side, burn a little higher, and be done with it. She wouldn’t even have to lie. He had asked her to take the chance when it was available. And even if they were annoying about it, even if she told the full truth, so what? The team wouldn’t break up over this. They might even let it go if she brought up how angry she was because of that damn fucking vampire.
And she was still angry, still furious. Still full of Wrath.
With eyes ablaze, she reached towards Derek with her normal hand and flipped him over. She stared at his neck, at the surprisingly small hole where she had shot her magic through him. Riary looked at her hand, the one full of fire, and Derek’s neck. She reached forward, before pausing and gritting her teeth.
Was she sure? Was she absolutely sure she wanted to do this?
…yes.
Riary burned Derek…
Cauterizing his wounds.
First his neck, then the rest of his body. She then dragged herself to Konohara and Tyler, doing the same, before finally putting out her fire. Her…… teammates… wouldn’t bleed out at the very least. She was just dreading having to pull them all out of a burning building, when she caught sight of four very scared looking maids.
She sighed in relief.
Thank the Goddess for small mercies. She really didn’t want to have to touch Derek’s naked body again.
