literature

Black Blood Crusades - Island of Shadows (3/4)

Deviation Actions

XerizeroRe9010's avatar
Published:
589 Views

Literature Text

The trio ran into the stairs ahead only to come into a pitch-black room. As they took a step inside, candle stands inexplicably lit up all around the room with purple flames.

At the end of the room was a woman sitting with both legs crossed. She had pale skin, lavender hair that reached to her hips, wore a long light-blue dress, had a black hairband with purple flames sprouting out of the top, long red nails and black irises with blue pupils.

She gave off a small grin when the trio stared at her with fiery scowls.

"I see you've stumbled into my room." The pale woman asked, rolling a finger through her bangs.

"You must be Linoura's 'assistant.'" The soldier responded.

"You could say that. But I could also say that you're one of us." She said.

"No, I'm not! I'm not some heartless murderer. I'm a soldier for the royal army of Librata, and that's how it's always been!" Lirus shouted as he held out his sword.

"Hehe... I could play riddles with you all day, but if you've gotten this far, I may as well introduce myself. My name is Candelabra Tuleriit, and I will be the source of your misery for tonight." The woman stated with a grin.

Lirus held out his sword whereas Yumi noticed what was behind the candle woman - a red shaded glass barrier with a black gun and a white laser blade handle inside.

"M-my gun and sword! So that's where they've been!" Yumi yelled out.

"Oh, that peashooter and the butter knife are yours? I'm afraid you're gonna have to go through me to get them back, lady." Candelabra remarked with a spiteful tone.

"Why you little... Not the classy type, are you?" Yumi gasped as she reeled back her anger.

"Either way... You three better get ready because I'm going to go for your blood. It's nothing personal, so blame that woman instead." Candelabra remarked

She snapped her fingers and materialized an immense dual-edged axe out of thin air that she grabbed with both hands and swung around with ease. Candelabra looked at the trio with a wide, ravenous grin and charged ahead.

Lirus jumped forward to intercept her axe, only to have his blade knocked towards the wall beside them. The trio jumped out of the way of her attack as a pillar of flame spiraled out of the impact zone.

"She knocked away our only chance at winning without even trying. We are so screwed." Lirus muttered out in despair.

"There's got to be some way around this, I know it!" Yumi stated as she looked around.

A fiery shockwave shot out when Candelabra slammed the bottom of the axe against the ground, with the trio putting up their respective barriers to block it. Yumi directed her attention towards the weapons in the glass barrier and covered her hands with a thick lavender aura as she went over to it.

Candelabra went straight for Lirus and dove in to run him through. He slid out of the way and ran towards his sword, only for Candelabra to shoot out a fireball when his back was turned. Nocta blocked it with her shadows and threw out blades that impaled Candelabra in the stomach.

The blades slid off with no real damage as Candelabra gave off a mocking grin. She jumped up and kicked Nocta in the face with red high-heels, the impact of which threw the schoolgirl against the wall ahead.

As he grabbed his sword, he swerved out of the way of Candelabra's axe and stabbed her clear through the chest as purple blood coated his blade. She gagged out in pain as blood rushed out of her mouth, with Lirus sweating out of anxiety.

She coughed up more blood until she formed a vicious smile and turned her head all the way around in a rapid motion. Lirus gasped at her sudden grin and lost his grip on the sword.

"Like that would work on me? Please." She remarked as she pulled Crescent Excalibur out of her back and threw it on the ground.



"Sh-she got Nocta already?" Yumenshi remarked, still trembling.

"Now Yumi, calm down. I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before, but... Nocta's immortal." Lirus explained, trying to keep his cool.

"She's-- what?! But how?" She questioned frantically.

"She has something called the Immorta Stone that keeps bringing her back to life when she dies. Yeah, the first time I saw it, I freaked out too." Lirus responded.

"Oh, I see. So should we save her from getting eaten...?" Yumenshi muttered, unsure.

"Of course we should. She made a rookie mistake, jumping in front of the enemy like that, but we shouldn't hold that against her." The soldier responded.

"Okay, now you're just sounding like a jerk when you say it like that. But anyway, let's save her!" Yumenshi responded, with the two of them charging Candelabra at different angles.

Lirus approached her from behind and swung his sword while the candle woman kept feasting on the lower remains of the schoolgirl, landing a direct blow while she was distracted. The blade seared across her waxy skin, causing her to shriek out in pain and retaliate violently, summoning a sphere of purple fire to surround her body and throw the soldier away.

Meanwhile, Yumenshi went over to Nocta's torso. She was bleeding from her mouth and seemed to be in an excruciating amount of pain, glancing up to see the panda woman.

"Yumi... Don't worry about me. Just give me some time and I'll be fine..." The schoolgirl reassured, trying to make a smile.

"I know, Lirus told me, but you look so miserable like this. I just thought I'd come to help you. Now, does healing magic soothe the pain at all?" Yumenshi asked.

"Y-yeah, it does... To be honest, this hurts like a bastard. I'd take anything to get rid of this faster." Nocta said.

"Okay then, sweetie. Hold still..." Yumenshi said, her hands glowing with a lavender aura.

Lirus and Candelabra kept fighting, and despite the fact that he was outclassed and overpowered, the soldier stood his ground. The candle woman shot a concentrated burst of purple fire at him, only for Lirus to smack the flames back with a light-enhanced slash. However, she merely absorbed the brunt of the reflected attack, being no worse for the wear.

"How did you do that?" Lirus asked.

"Heh. It's simple... I'm built with the complete immunity to any sort of flame. However, I'd have to be stupid to tell you exactly how that works. But anyway... Lirus, I'm impressed. Even as a mortal, you're still as good a fighter as you were back in your prime." Candelabra remarked, licking the blood off of her face.

"Oh really? Well, when you put it that way, I'm flattered. But don't expect me to let up." The soldier boldly stated.

"I'd be disappointed in you if you did. I like it when my prey try their hardest-- it makes my victory all the more satisfying!" Candelabra excitedly yelled, attempting to cut Lirus again.

He jumped out of the way of her axe and shot off bolts of light magic at her in retaliation, only for them to get effortlessly slapped away and wind up causing holes in the walls.

Nocta, thanks to Yumenshi, had recovered faster than she would have by herself and got back up on her feet again. The two girls then saw Yumenshi's two weapons on the far side of the room, locked up in the red-shaded case.

"Ah! There they are. Let's go, Nocta!" Yumenshi said.

"Hey, wait! What if there's another trap waiting for us?" The schoolgirl nervously stated.

"Hmmm... Lirus has that candle woman occupied, and it seems she's working alone here. I think she was the only thing standing in our way." Yumenshi assumed.

"I hope you're right... Cause I definitely don't want any more surprises." Nocta shuddered.

"I know how you feel sweetie, but we should go while they're still fighting. Now come on!" The panda woman motioned, with both of them running straight for the jar.

"Hey, you stay away from that!" Candelabra noticed, vertically hacking at them with her axe only for Lirus to barge in and steer the blade away with Crescent Excalibur.

She then followed up with a barrage of flame attacks that Lirus reflected back with his sword. Meanwhile, the two girls went up to the case.

Up close, the gun was a black handgun with a long barrel and had the words "Mercy upon Lunacy" marked on the side and the sword was just a blue handle with an opening where the laser blade would go when activated. However, they quickly realized there was a force-field surrounding it, stinging Yumenshi's hand once she touched it.

"Yowch! There always has to be a gimmick to these stupid things, is there?" She muttered, snapping her hand back in pain.

"Hang on. I think I got something..." Nocta replied, creating drills from her shadows to pierce through the barrier.

To their surprise, it broke through-- a bit too easily, in fact. Without thinking much about it, Yumenshi went and grabbed her gun and the handle of her sword back, cocking it to make sure if it was loaded properly.

Lirus, on the other hand, had gotten backed up into a corner by the candle woman, ready for her to slice him into ribbons. He sweated heavily as she slowly approached him with a demonic grin on her face, dragging her large battleaxe against the floor.

She raised the weapon into the air, giggling maniacally all the while, with Lirus flinching in response. However, out of nowhere, Yumenshi's voice yelled this out to the soldier:

"Lirus, duck!"

He followed her instructions and slid his back down the wall. Several gunshots could be heard, only to reveal gaping waxy holes that had formed in Candelabra's chest area. She had a shocked expression on her face as she dropped her battleaxe with a loud clanging noise that rang out throughout the area, falling to her knees right afterward.

Lirus squirmed his way back to the two girls, expressing his gratitude in spades:

"Yumenshi, you just saved my ass back there. I'm serious, what would I do without you two?"

"You'd get skinned and eaten alive by a demented candle woman. But now what? I mean, there's no exit out of here." The panda woman remarked.

"I'd probably be able to get us out of here. I mean, my shadows can do practically anything, after all." Nocta proclaimed.

"Oh, sure they can... But what do you suggest, Lirus?" Yumenshi muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Well, we could try breaking down the walls. I mean, they don't seem to be as sturdy as they look." Lirus stated.

"Hmm... That they don't. Well, let's--" Yumenshi was about to say, only to get cut off.

Candelabra, much to the trio's surprise, talked to them while she got up from the ground, her wounds closing up all the while:

"Just... where do you think you three are going? I never let my prey get away..."

She then bent her back to face them with her head upside down, complete with a devilish smile and deep, stuttered breathing. Both of her eyes were revealed, her wax-like hair drooped down to the floor and her arms were flung back into an unnatural spider-like formation.

"Because then all the fun would end. Now stand still and let me eviscerate all of you, okaaaaaay?~" Candelabra said in a sing-song tone.

With that, a hand spiked out of Candelabra's stomach and stretched out to grab her axe. She then crawled towards them at a frightening speed while still bent backwards, sporadically swinging her axe around and leaving the trio without much to react upon.

"Oh my god, what the fu--" Lirus shouted, watching the candle woman charge right at them.

"Get out of the way!" Yumenshi yelled, with the three of them rolling out of the way of her attack.

The axe caught on purple fire as Candelabra slammed it against the metal walls, only for an explosion to occur where she striked. The opening it made had a view consisting of the complex and several palm trees, none of which were tall enough to reach the building they were in, along with the large mountain that sat in the middle of the whole island.

As Candelabra turned around to face the trio, they had seen the exit she made for them and scrambled right for it. She threw her axe all around in an attempt to stop them, but thanks to Lirus sliding down and slicing her arm off, she lost balance and stumbled against the ground, leaving them with enough time to leave. They hesistated upon noticing their escape route, as there was no actual safe way to drop down.

"Now what?" Lirus asked.

"Hmm... On one hand, we fall to our deaths. On the other, we get brutally mutilated by a cannibalistic wax figure wielding a battleaxe twice her size." Yumenshi stated.

Candelabra reconstituted her arm and turned around to face them, barrelling towards them with the grin on her face now bigger than before.

"Falling sounds good! Let's go!" Nocta asked, pushing them both off while jumping off herself.

As they dropped, Lirus and Yumenshi started to yell at the top of their lungs but were saved by the schoolgirl as she opened a portal from her shadows to capture all of them inside. With that, they zigzagged their way out of the industrial area towards the mountain ahead. Just as the candle woman was about to jump off the edge to chase after them, a familiar voice called out:

"Stop. That's enough, Candelabra."

Upon hearing that, she got on her feet, everything about her returning to normal as Linoura walked out of the shadows to meet her eye to eye.

"Hmph. And to think, here I was having fun." The candle woman sneered.

"Every time you decide to have 'fun', you nearly put our plans into jeopardy! That, and... I don't scare you? Hah! Even if you are stronger than me, you'll regret it if you say that again. So, how did you think he did?" Linoura asked.

"Mother, you're so funny -- thinking you could even harm me. That's gold. But anyway, as for Lirus... Even as a mortal, he still retains the edge he had back then. I think he'll do just fine. Then again, I was holding back just for you..." Candelabra remarked.

"Hmmm... I think it'll do. Trying to turn Lirus back into a Zealite with how he is now just isn't worth the effort. I think sending him to deal with that outbreak will do the trick." Linoura stated.

"Considering how many of them he'll have to face, it'll be inevitable for him to return to his former state. So, should we keep making it a challenge for them or should we just hand them the keys and tell them where to go?" Candelabra remarked, sitting on the edge and stretching her legs.

"Personally, I'd want to keep him here longer, but with how much of a poor host I've been, I think he and his two little friends just want to leave. Why not just grant their wishes?" Linoura stated.

"Heh. You're so generous. So should we send Ciphro to show them where to go?" Candelabra said, making an insincere smile.

"Of course. They need a proper guide for where they're going next." The yellow haired woman stated.

-

Meanwhile, back at the trio...

-

They had just gotten off of a nearby cave in the mountain area with  with Lirus and Yumenshi panting heavily out of fear. The soldier then spoke his mind to the schoolgirl:

"Nocta, my heart nearly stopped. You could at least tell us when you're about to do that!" Lirus angrily stated.

"I-I didn't have enough time to think, guys. It was either jump or get gored." Nocta nervously said.

"Calm down, Lirus. She had to do what she did. But now, we just have to focus on what to do next." Yumenshi said, still panting.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... But still, that shaved off a few hours of my life. So what do you have in mind?" Lirus asked.

"Well, how about we try to save the people trapped in those cages? I mean, we can't just leave them here!" Nocta stated.

"Too risky. It's already hard enough to get around by ourselves, and the place is crawling with Linoura's lackeys. Plus, there's that psychotic candle lady now. Sorry Nocta, but I don't think we'd be able to help them without getting ourselves killed." Lirus stated.

"When you put it like that... It doesn't make it any less sad." The schoolgirl sighed disappointedly, sitting against a rock by the wall.

"I know Nocta, but we're heavily outnumbered and in the middle of enemy headquarters. I'm surprised we made it this far, actually." Yumenshi stated.

"Seriously? What, you didn't have enough faith that we'd make it past your cell?" Lirus sarcastically remarked.

"To be perfectly honest-- not at all. I don't know... when you told me you guys came here by yourselves, I was a bit skeptical that we could handle this." Yumenshi stated.

"Hey, can't take it back now. We may as well go all the way." Lirus remarked.

"Well... If you get us killed, I'll be the one to say 'I told you so' when we meet up in Heaven." The panda woman said, to which Lirus chuckled in response.

"Uh guys... What do you think is in this cave?" Nocta asked, peering into the pitch-black entrance in front of them.

"Well, considering where we are, I have a guess that it's nothing good at all. This entire island is probably a stronghold, so even caves like this could be a trap." Lirus stated.

"Which means we should proceed with-- WHOA!" Yumenshi yelled out.

A lightning-fast entity ran past all three of them, leaving behind a gust of wind in its wake. The trio were dumbfounded at what it was, but saw various torches light up as it flew down the darkness of the cave, illuminating their way forward.

"What sort of gremlin was that?" Lirus asked.

"I don't know, but at least now we can check what's down there." Nocta said.

"I think we should be asking ourselves if we should check what's down there. Like Lirus said, it could be a trap." The panda woman recalled.

"Hmm... I know I said that, but what exactly are we supposed to do? I mean, sitting here won't do anything and they're looking for us everywhere. Besides, haven't we proven that with our weapons we can handle anything they throw at us?" Lirus realized, getting a smile on his face.

"Probably because they let us. Sweetie, I don't know what's going to happen, but we should at least be careful about it." Yumenshi said.

"Alright. But I'm going first." Lirus stated, running on ahead while the other two followed along.

As they ran down the path of torches, they came into a large dimly-lit spiraling room full of dead bodies, purple walls with stains of crimon smeared on them and multiple baskets where corpses would be dumped into. There were also machines nearby where the baskets went into, with ear-piercing mechanoid whirring sounds ringing out.

Out of the machines came out walking corpses with pieces of metal on their bodies that crawled their way into a strange white light that teleported them to another area.

"Oh good lord, what is all this?" Lirus stated, disgusted beyond description.

"So this is what they do with the bodies once they get rid of the Life Cores..." Yumenshi said, not looking much better.

Nocta, on the other hand, turned pale white and took a few steps back, whimpering under her breath.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Yumenshi asked, concerned for the schoolgirl.

Nocta said nothing in response but kept whimpering, holding her hands to her face.

"She's... she has a fear of the dead." The soldier explained.

"Ah, no wonder. Just look at this madness." Yumenshi said, holding onto the schoolgirl as she cowered.

"This is just wrong. And worst thing is, we can't do anything to stop it as we are..." Nocta muttered.

"Hmm... I wouldn't say that just yet. I'll think of something." Lirus said confidently.

"Lirus, why can't you just accept the fact that we should just leave quietly? I mean, we've already done enough damage and we have our weapons back, what more are we going to gain by roughing these guys up three to a thousand?" Yumenshi said.

".... Yumi, I know for a fact that you're right. But damn it, I have to do something about this, even if it's just to calm my nerves." He replied, jumping down the edge of the wall down to lower ground.

"Where are you going? Get back here! For god's sake, Lirus!" Yumenshi angrily yelled at him.

"I'll be back, I swear!" He shouted back at her as he descended down the darkness of the area.

"Impatient little... Oh, what am I going to do with him? Come on, Nocta. We should go get him before he gets himself hurt." The panda woman said, with Nocta nodding her head in response.

The two of them slid their way through the thin walls of the dimly-lit lavender room, being wary of many obstacles that stood in front of them. The soldier, on the other hand, had dropped his way down to the bottom. There was nothing there but a rusted metal door with chains sealing it.

He brought out his sword and cut through the door, walking through it as it fell down into two halves. Through the door was a pitch-black room, but thanks to Lirus's shambling, he discovered the light switch and in a bright flash, the room lit up.

In middle of the room, there was a small, sleek, gray boat-like vehicle that looked big enough to encompass four people with jet engines and wings attached to it. There was no other way to get out other than the exit made for the vehicle itself.

"Oh hell yeah! It's about time something went my way today!" The soldier stated.

He was about to walk over to it, but was stopped by a mysterious figure clad in black that appeared out of nowhere. He was a tall, old man with a white beard, long white hair, purple eyes, wore a black suit with a cravat, white gloves and wore a top-hat on his head.

"Hello master Lirus, but I'm afraid that you are not qualified to use this vehicle yet." He greeted, bowing to the soldier.

"Let me guess... You're one of Linoura's servants, aren't you?" Lirus said.

"Correct. My name is Ciphro, and I will be your guide for this evening. But wait a second... It seems you're going alone. Where are those other two?" The old man replied.

"Oh, them? They'll catch up with me sooner or later. But that's not what I care about right now. If you get in my way, I'll just have to get rid of you." Lirus menacingly sneered, bringing out Crescent Excalibur.

"My, you're a feisty one. Well, shall we begin, then?" Ciphro stated, tipping his hat.

I should get to work on these more often. But yeah.

The trio's complete, and I think I've got a good read on their personalities now.
As long as I finish Island of Shadows, I'll be able to get to the part that I really care about.

But anyway-

Starlit Heroics and all content related to it @ :iconxerizerore9010:

Picture by Gen-Atto who volunteered to help me

Comments13
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

I've been patient with Mr. Jewstein Nina. I've even avoided being drawn in by his provocative rhetoric. But I've finally had enough. Let's start with my claim that when I say that Jewstein's mottos are malign, I mean it. I don't mean that they remind me of something malign or that they have one or two malign characteristics. I mean that they are malign. In fact, the most malign thing about them is the way that they prevent people from seeing that I am deliberately using colorful language in this letter. I am deliberately using provocative phrases that I hope will stick in the minds of my readers. I do ensure, however, that my words are always appropriate and accurate and clearly explain how you may make the comment, “What does this have to do with mutinous sophisters?” Well, once you begin to see the light you'll realize that by comparing today to even ten years ago and projecting the course we're on, I'd say we're in for an even more wrongheaded, uncompanionable, and iniquitous society, all thanks to Jewstein's accusations.

Now, more than ever, we must see through the haze of tuchungism. If you understand that I can say with absolute certitude that it is received wisdom for most of Jewstein's epigones that Jewstein can achieve his goals by friendly and moral conduct, then you can comprehend that Jewstein's plan is to desecrate personal religious objects. Jewstein's plenipotentiaries are moving at a frightening pace toward the total implementation of that agenda, which includes putting the prisoners in charge of running the prison. I've heard more than one member of his cocky flock state, “You and I are objects for Jewstein to use then casually throw away and forget like old newsprint that's performed its duty catching bird droppings, and therefore, Jewstein is a spokesman for God”. In other words (to translate this linguistic mess), Jewstein doesn't care about freedom as he can neither eat it nor put it in the bank. It's just a word to him.

Jewstein has an uncanny knack for making evil appear good and good appear evil. (The merits of Jewstein's analects won't be discussed here because they lack merit.) Listen closely and in the distance you can hear the ring of Liberty's bell calling gallant sons and noble daughters to invite all the people who have been harmed by Jewstein to continue to express and assert their concerns in a constructive and productive fashion. He has recently started spreading hatred, animosity, and divisiveness. For some this development is a sign that a brave new world has arrived. For others it marks the beginning of the end of civilization. I lie in the second camp, primarily on the grounds that Jewstein used to maintain that everyone who doesn't share his beliefs is a wily, infernal shirker deserving of death and damnation. When he realized that no one was falling for that claptrap, he changed his tune to say that he has the linguistic prowess to produce a masterwork of meritorious literature. Jewstein is decidedly a muddleheaded liar, and shame on anyone who believes him. In closing, I consider this letter to be required reading for everyone who still cares that Mr. Jewstein Nina is hardly the first proponent of querulous, irrational isolationism and he is unlikely to be the last. Unfortunately, with our nation's media being as controlled as it is, there's no way that this letter will be widely publicized. Therefore, I'm counting on you to pass on this letter to all of your e-mail contacts. Thank you