Ira sat there shocked. His eyes wide open as he focused on Ekho's sick childlike smile before it slowly vanished away as she threw some more wood into the flames. "You…You…." Ira stumbled over his words as he tried to find a way to bring his question out, but failed miserably.
"It's not that big of a deal." She assured as she tossed another piece of wood into the flames.
"She had to die, simple as that." She finished as Ira continued to stare at her.
Ekho didn't even acknowledge Ira's "loss for words" look that he was giving her. Her breathing was steady as if the knowledge of her mother's death didn't bother her at all. "But…Why?" Ira managed to cough up as Ekho slowly turned her head towards him.
Their eyes locked for a moment before Ekho turned her attention to Faythe's unconscious form. "You're an Angel, right? So why? Why would you…." Ira was about to bombard her with questions.
"Angel?" Ekho cut him off. She let off a deep sigh as she stared at the fire as it danced in front of them, feeding off the wood that they tossed in. "Angel..." She snickers a bit. "That's funny," Ekho replied.
"But the blessings!" Ira interjected. "You received blessings, so how is that possible that you would become an angel after doing something like that?" Ira questioned her as Ekho kept her eyes plastered onto the flames.
She turned her head towards him again, her signature cold uncaring stare bored through his body. Her gold eyes locking on to his innocent light brown eyes as she began to speak once again. "How do you think I killed her?" She asked as she pointed her hand towards him. "With the very blessing, I was blessed with." She stated as her black and gold Hymn glove appeared around her hand. The overall glove was black, but in the palm of her hand was a large gold circle that she held out towards him.
Ira could only stare as Ekho moved her hand away, slowly standing up and walking towards Faythe. "We need to move." She pointed out. "There's no telling when we'll see the monster again, and we have to find a way to communicate with Cherubim." She stated as she hovered over Faythe's unconscious body.
"Huh? But…Wait?" Ira stood up as well, walking towards her in a hurry. " What about the blizzard outside, we won't last out there," Ira told her as Ekho glanced behind her to look at him.
"Do you see a blizzard out there?" She bluntly asked.
Ira stared at her for a second before turning his head to a few windows that managed to remain intact through the merciless onslaught by the demonic Blizzard itself. He blinked a few times as he saw nothing but the sun shining brightly as if nothing had ever happened. "Um? Where did the blizzard go?" He asked dumbfounded by the fact that the Blizzard did indeed stop.
0Giving him an irritated look she let another sigh escape her lips before bending down to examine Faythe before she turned her head back towards Ira. "We have to move while we have the chance, that demon might need to rest a bit before it starts up another blizzard," Ekho told him. She stood up, quickly activating her hymns as they appeared on her hands and looked towards Ira.
"You're going to have to carry Faythe, just in case there are other demons out there besides this one." She instructed him.
Ira's eye's blinked once again. "What? But what happens if we get attacked, I can't help you if I'm carrying her." He pointed down at her.
"Carry her or die your choice," Ekho replied, making sure she had everything situated.
"Besides, you would just get in the way." She added as she turned towards Ira. "Grab Faythe and let's go." She ordered as she turned her back towards him.
"Wait…" Ira lightly balled his fist.
"What?" Ekho slightly glanced behind her again. Her eyes uncaringly sized him up.
"If it wasn't for me, neither of you would be here right now," Ira stated as Ekho kept her mouth closed and continued to stare at him. "I'll admit it wasn't easy and I'm not an angel, but If I didn't step in when I did you both would be smashed into the pavement right now, so give me some credit. I'm just as helpful as you are." He argued with her previous statement as Ekho continued to remain silent.
A few moments passed as the two looked at each other. "I doubt that that big thing is the only demon here. I'm sure there are others, but you couldn't take it down by yourself, so if anything happens you're going to need me, whether you like or not." Ira stood his ground as Ekho continued to stare at him for a moment before she turned she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Whatever." She replied as she began making her way out the room before she stopped in her tracks to give Ira one final message. "I don't care what happens to you, but if Faythe gets killed." Ekho glanced behind her again. Her cold golden eyes not betraying her words, if anything; only made them seem like they were the least of Ira's problems. "I'll kill you."
Without giving Ira time to object, Ekho turned her back to face what was in front of her and walked out the door, leaving Ira alone picking up an unconscious Faythe.
"Grrr, what's with these girls?" He asked himself as he carefully lifted Faythe's motionless body up and maneuvered her on his back in a piggyback style. "It's like all they do is spit on me." He sighed in frustration as he began to follow Ekho outside of the room. His mind began to wonder as he walked. "I wonder what Iva is doing right now?" His mind raced mentally as the sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the hallway.
Time passed without a word between the two. Ira continued to carry Faythe on his back while Ekho to point and walked ahead of them, just in case any demons should attack.
The large building they were in was empty, void of human life as they finally reached the first floor after going down several flights of stairs.
The main lobby room was in shambles. Windows and parts of the wall sported large holes, while the front door itself was forced open and clearly blown off its hinges. Snow and ice were everywhere as their footsteps made a wet sound as they stepped onto it.
"Be careful," Ekho spoke, walking slowly as she made sure to step lightly on the ice . "This is no ordinary ice…" Her eyes narrowed at it the dark ice blue colored as it practically covered the entire area. "I wouldn't be surprised if the demon can sense movement from this." She stated calmly as she slowly kneeled down and pressed her hand against the slippery surface.
Ira watched closely as she placed her hand flat, palm down on the ice. A golden light began to glow in the palm of her hand and it quickly disbursed into the ice below them. Instantly, nothing happened. Ira, with a confused expression on his face, looked around to see if
Ekho had actually done anything. Seeing nothing had changed, he quickly turned his head back towards Ekho.
"So, Um was something supposed to…AHHH!" Ira was caught quickly by surprised as the ice in their general area completely shattered. The shards floated upwards as Ekho sent another sound wave into the ground, this time extending her reach further, shattering the ice that was further away from them.
The light from the sun sparkled from the ice that floated upward after breaking. Ira's eyes were laced onto the beauty that surrounded them as Ekho stood back up as the ice shards finally fell to the ground. "Let's go." She said simply as she continued to walk.
"How did you?" Ira looked around and saw that they were finally walking on pavement. "How did…Hey!" Ira quickly stepped up his pace to catch up with Ekho. His face still wore a confused expression, but the curiosity found in his eyes only enhanced as he made his way beside Ekho. "Hey, what did you just do?" He asked her.
"Sound." She simply replied without looking at him.
"Sound?" Ira repeated as he blinked at Ekho in confusion. "So you shattered the ice with…."
"We need to keep moving, I do not have time to explain how my power works," Ekho replied harshly. "So either move or die, your choice." Ekho shrugged passed him as Ira didn't argue with her statement and continued to follow her.
A few hours passed as the three survivors didn't encounter a single soul. The entire city was frozen over completely. The ice had slowly begun to resurface on the concrete as the two tried to tread lightly, not trying to make any solid steps out of precaution.
The two continued to walk with Faythe still unconscious on Ira's back until they heard a loud roar echo throughout the large city. Ira's face quickly became alerted as he looked around with w orry, but Ekho remained calm and quickly pinpointed the direction in which the sound was coming from. Her eyes narrowed as her pupils slowly diverted to the right of her. "We need to get out of the open, come on," Ekho stated as she quickly ran forward.
"Hey! What? Wait!" Ira shouted from behind her as he took a step forward and nearly tripped with Faythe on his back as another loud roar was heard, this time drawing nearer than the first.
"Hurry!" Ekho shouted from behind her as she turned around to see Ira struggling to keep his balance as he tried his best to follow her, but something rush passed her. A humanoid demonic shadow shot towards a defenseless Ira as he held on to Faythe.
Ira's eyes shot wide open as he saw that the figure was only a few inches larger than he was, but the black corroded skin and the red demonic lining that decorated its body was in plain sight. The creature let out a loud shriek as it opened its mouth revealing its line of razor edge sharp teeth that appeared to be able to pierce through anything let alone human flesh.
Ira was at a loss for words as the demon drew closer. Its short black hair slicked back with the same red line design that traveled along its body. Its red eyes filled with anger and corruption as it lunged towards its prey.
"Dammit." Ekho cursed as she quickly opened her mouth and let loose a loud shriek of her own, blasting the lower grade demon into a concrete wall, killing it instantly. "Hurry up! If you don't pick it up we'll…" Ekho's sentence was cut short as a familiar shriek was heard causing her to look around her surrounding area only to find the same type of demons appearing all around them.
"Damn, too late." She gritted her teeth as Ira finally made his way toward her.
"Great, we're trapped," Ekho stated plainly as her eyes scanned her surroundings as she saw the demons closing in on them. She slowly closed her eyes for a moment and stood there as they continued to make their way towards them.
"Hey, um?" Ira spoke as he held on to Faythe.
"How are we going to get out of this?" He asked Ekho but received no response. Ekho continued to stand still as Ira frantically looked from his left and right. He slowly glanced back at the unmoving Faythe on his back, and then his eyes traveled down to his sword as he questioned his movements. He didn't want to put Faythe down, but if he didn't then they would be in some serious trouble. He gritted his teeth as the low-class demons moved closer to them, slowly walking around them, stalking their prey.
Some demons crouched on top of buildings, sealing off their chance of escape if they should try for higher ground. The others were either standing on the frozen concrete or on various structures that were set up around them.
Sweat began to drip down Ira's face as he looked back over Ekho, who still stood silently with her eyes closed. His breathing picked up as the predators began to close in on them. He slowly used one hand to inch towards the sword that he was carrying on his waist.
"Don't…" Ekho quietly spoke as Ira quickly looked at her in bewilderment. Before he had the chance to question her logic, the demons struck. A small group of them leaped towards them, their claws only inches away from their skins until a loud scream escaped Ekho's mouth and blasted the small group away in an instant.
Ekho quickly prepared herself to continue the onslaught, her eyes narrowing as she balled her fist up and lunged at the oncoming demon horde. "Howling Cry!" Ekho shouted as she opened up her mouth again and shot a rather large burst of gold colored sound waves out towards a large portion of her enemies, sending the screaming demonic demons crashing into anything that was available to catch their fall. Some crashed the building walls, some were impaled by metal rods sticking out of the buildings that were barely able to sustain itself.
"Woah…." Ira could only look on in amazement as another demon tried to catch Ekho off guard by attacking her from behind, but she quickly grabbed him by the neck and activated a sound wave out of the palm of her hand, quickly cracking the skull of the demon monster, killing it instantly as it dropped to its knees.
More demons approached and tried their best at close combat against Ekho, but she was agiler than her foes and quickly maneuvered her way around them. One demon tried to claw her face off, but Ekho dodged the incoming attack and quickly palmed the demon in the face, before pulling him into a knee to the stomach. Once the demon leaned forward, spitting out blood; another demon approached trying to succeed in where the first demon had failed.
Ekho upon realizing this quickly tossed the first demon to the side and dodged a few blows before delivering a right hook to its face, staggering it before she leaped in the air, kicking the stunned demon to the side before landing gracefully back on her feet.
Ira still stunned and amazed at Ekho's fighting abilities failed to see a set of demons coming up from behind him. He was too fixated on Ekho woman handling the demons in front of him he didn't realize was about to happen to him, until he heard them attack.
Ira was caught off guard as a demon closed in on him, its claws outstretched and itching for blood. Ira's eyes widen in fear as the claws were mere inches from his face, but a golden gauntlet forcefully pressed itself against the jaw of the monster that tried to attack Ira, causing him to glance back at the reawakened Faythe, who quickly glanced down at him in disgust. "Going to let another demon kill you?" She sarcastically asked.
Ira gave her an irritated look of his own. "You could have said thank you for not leaving you back there," Ira responded.
"Probably would have been better off." Faythe retaliated as she quickly used Ira's back as a spring as she flipped off of him and landed on another incoming demon, pushing its head face first into the ground before she turned around and hammered another demon into the ground. "If you want really want to live out here, now is the time to prove it." Faythe shouted towards Ira as another demon made its way towards her and tried to slash her into bits, but she dodges each blow that the demon-delivered and performed a handspring backflip kick, catching the demon in the jaw with the front part of her boot. This action caused the demon body to lift off of the ground , its chest area exposed as Faythe eyed it carefully before she lunged towards it.
Her right gauntlet glowing brighter with each passing second as she quickly appeared in front of it, pulling her arm back. "Paragon Cross!" She shouted as she quickly drove her fist into the chest of the monster that opposed her. The energy surrounding the gauntlet forced itself into the demon's body illuminating a cross shape before absolving the demon into specs of light before turning into dust. Ira couldn't help but stare at Faythe as she showed off her signature move in front of him.
With his attention diverted a few more demons charged in towards him. Faythe glancing behind her sees this. "Don't sit there staring at me, look out behind you!" She shouted at him as Ira quickly snapped out of his trance and turned around a tad too late.
He tried to draw his sword, but he was too slow as the demons were already within reach. "Crap, there too close." He muttered under his breath as he gritted his teeth in aggravation as the monsters were about to slash his face off. The sheer maniacal laughter could be heard as it erupted from his predator's mouths.
"Shit." Faythe bit her lower lip as she was about to make her way towards Ira, but Ekho quickly appeared in-between Ira and the pursuing demons. Her eyes remained cold as she gave them a deadly glare. Everything slowed down as the demon's bodies moved on their own, unable to stop as Ekho continued to stare at them with the intent to kill. Her voice was low and the sheer coldness of her tone was enough to send shivers down Ira's spine. "Howling…Cry." Her mouth opened and the same sound wave mixed with a gold energy shot out of her mouth, completely obliterating the demons that were in close range of her.
The sheer sound of her scream caused both Ira and Faythe to cover their ears in pain as Ekho, slowly did a 360 spin, taking out every demon that surrounded them, including buildings, trees, and discarded vehicles as well. The attack lasted for a few moments' as the concrete came up along with anything else she aimed at, creating a large trail of gravel and rocks as she finally closed her mouth, leaving nothing but smoke and desolation in her wake.
Ira slowly opened his eyes, releasing his ringing ears as he blinked at the destruction that Ekho caused as she stood in front of him. "Un…Believable." Ira's words were drawn out as Faythe walked next to him with one hand on her waist as she looked at Ekho as well.
"Yea, she's something alright." She stated with a hint of tension in her voice. Ekho slightly glanced behind her to see Faythe standing beside Ira with an aggravated expression on her face.
"Enjoy your nap?" She stated coldly.
"A bit more than I wanted to." Faythe replied with the same demeanor.
"Well then, maybe next time be a bit more aware of your surroundings," Ekho replied as Ira's face danced back and forth between the two angels in front of him. She kept her eyes locked with Faythe has Ekho's calm and silent demeanor continued to slowly change. "Who's to say the next time, you might not wake up." She added as Faythe continued to stand her ground against her.
"I'll take my chances." She lightly gritted her teeth as Ekho began to walk towards them, her eyes never leaving Faythe's. She stopped in front of her for a brief moment, the tension between the two increased with every passing second before, Ekho simply walked passed her.
"Ekho…." Faythe called out to her, without turning her head towards her. Ekho stopped in mid-step just to hear what the purple-haired angel had to say. "Tone them out Ekho, remember who you really are." Faythe firmly stated as Ekho remained still for a moment, but continued to walk off without them.
Faythe let out a deep sigh as Ira continued to wear a confused expression on his face. Faythe's eyes quickly moved towards Ira. "What happened when I was out? What happened to that large demon we were fighting?" She threw questions at him. "And don't skip out on any of the details." She added sternly, crossing her arms as she eyed him.
"You know a thank you for saving your life would be nice," Ira replied.
"Look, I don't have time for games." Faythe's eyes narrowed a bit. "I need to know what happened."
It was Ira's turn to let out a sigh of his own. "Fine…" He gave in. "When you were knocked out, the demon and Ekho were fighting, with Ekho taking a beating." He explained to her as Faythe listened intently. "Long story short, I stepped in and manage to grab you and Ekho before it had to chance to finish you off, but as soon as I got to Ekho she passed out," Ira started recalling the events that happened the previous night.
-Flashback-
Ekho could only watch as she couldn't even open her mouth or use her hands to produce another sound attack. Life would be over for her once the attack landed. Her eyes opened in terror as the creature was about to slam it's hands down upon her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to the see the unthinkable approach her. An icy shiver went down her spine. Her heart rate accelerated as the end drew closer.
Darkness surrounded Ekho as her eyes were closed tightly as a loud crash was heard. The large creature roared in pain as Ekho quickly opened up her eyes, bewildered at the outcome. She looked up at the creature as it reared its arms back in pain as she could a large slit on the creature's wrist and blood spilling out. Ekho quickly lowered her eyes just in time to see Ira quickly make his way towards her, scooping her up and running towards the unconscious Faythe.
Drained of energy, Ekho couldn't keep her eyes open. She just felt her body move on its own as she was carried on Ira's shoulder. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words that suited the situation. Her eyes slowly began to close once again, exhausted from the previous fight as the last thing she saw was the side of Ira's face before she blacked out completely.
-Flashback Ended-
"I managed to get us away from the demon and hide somewhere for awhile, but then the next thing I knew Ekho was screaming and her body was shaking…Shaking pretty bad, like she was having a real bad nightmare or something." Ira continued to explain to her. "So I woke her up and well, she seemed normal. A bit more talkative, but as far as I know her, she seemed herself; until…." Ira paused as the image of Ekho talking about her past entered his head. The once bland, uncaring expression was replaced by a sick, psychotic, bloodthirsty smile. Her eyes seemed to have no room for morals or mercy as she told him what appeared to him, to be her biggest sin.
-2nd Flashback-
"Don't feel bad." She said, her grin growing wider by the second. "Because I killed her." She said coldly as Ira's eyes shot up in shock as Ekho continued to stare at him with her sick smirk growing by every second.
-2nd Flashback ended-
"Until?" Faythe right eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Until…She said she killed her mother." Ira's expression sulked a bit as he finished his explanation. "That's it, ever since then she's been more talkative, but a bit more aggressive." He ended as Faythe lightly cursed as she placed her hand on her chin to think on the situation for a bit.
"I knew this would happen." Faythe lightly growled to herself.
"What?" Ira asked her. "What's going on?"
Faythe disregarded Ira's question and quickly turned towards the direction Ekho walked away in. "Come on, we can't let her get out of our sight." She said as turned her back towards Ira and followed the path that Ekho had walked.
"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Ira caught up behind her. "I mean, you're kind of leaving me in the dark here." He added as he trailed a few steps behind her.
"You don't need to worry about it; it's not your problem." Faythe shot back. "The only thing you need to worry about doing is surviving." She glanced back at him with her last statement. "Not that you've been doing good in that department." She remarked as Ira's eyes narrowed at her comment.
"Well if it wasn't for me, you'd be dead." Ira retaliated, causing Faythe to send a slight glare at him for his remark. Ira crossed his arms and returned the glare. "You guys have done nothing but tell me how useless I am since we started this mission and so far I think I've done my part and helped you guys more than you realize." He stood his ground as Faythe continued to eye him.
"Fine, you helped save our lives; if you're looking for a pat on the back, then go find a helpless child that needs rescuing, because you're damn sure not going to get it from me." Faythe stated calmly as she continued to make her way forward.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ira yelled from behind her as he quickly jumped in front of her, grabbing her by her arms as she just stared at him. "Why the hell are you so against me helping you on this?" He questioned her, but Faythe quickly removed his hands from her and glared daggers into his eyes.
"Because I don't need help from some demon loving kid who thinks he can save his precious sister just by reasoning with her." Faythe argued. "The last thing I need is you stepping in to stop me from doing what needs to be done, just because you can't control your emotions." Faythe spat. "Now move out of my way, I got to get to Ekho." She pushed him aside, forcing her way passed him.
"So you're mad at me because I wanted to save my sister?" Ira spoke lowly as Faythe continued to walk as if she didn't hear him. "Well, sorry for wanting to save someone that was close to me. You mean to tell me that you haven't felt that way, regardless of the truth that basically staring you in the face." Faythe stopped walking instantly as she bit her lip as she appeared to be thinking hard about something. "You haven't felt like that towards anybody?" Ira asked as he turned around to face her.
Faythe didn't reply as quickly as Ira thought she would. In fact, her response wasn't even one that pertained to the question that he had asked her. "I don't have time for this." She uttered. "Our mission is simple, kill the demon and come back alive." She closed her eyes for a moment. "If you want to help then fine, but if you get yourself killed, that's on you. My only priority is to make sure this thing is dead and to bring Ekho back." She ended as she walked off once again.
'Sounds like you really care about her." Ira spoke again, causing her to stop her stride once again.
"No, it's chairwoman's orders." She replied as she continued her movement.
Ira sighed for a bit as he caught up with her and the two walked in silence. It didn't take long for the two find Ekho standing there in plain sight. The destroyed buildings towering over her, the ground has frozen solid with Ice and snow coating the area. Ekho didn't make a move as she was staring down at something, unknown to Faythe and Ira.
"There she is…" Faythe acknowledged her as they quickly made their way towards her. The two finally stopped beside her, their eyes quickly widening in horror as they saw the very thing that Ekho was staring at.
"Oh…No." Ira mouthed. "What…What is this?" He stuttered in his statement.
Faythe eyes quickly narrowed in anger as she quickly whipped her head towards Ekho who continued to look down at the very thing that surprised her teammates. "Ekho, did you do this?" She asked, her tone not betraying her eyes.
Ekho's eyes remained plastered on the object of their attention as she slowly tilted her head to the side as she brought her eyes up to face Faythe's. "And what if I did?" She responded as the object was a dismembered body of what appeared to be a human being, lying there beyond recognition, body unfrozen and the blood fresh from the body. Ira joined Faythe in bringing his eyes to Ekho, who still stood unnerved by the sight, but the same sick smile that Ira had seen once before, returned to her face as more bodies could be seen all over the area, which appeared to be nothing but a gruesome slaughter.