"Here." Birgin spoke, handing Tetsuno a small bottle containing a strange red-black liquid. "Drink this."
"What is it?" Tetsuno asked, observing the bottle. It didn't exactly look safe.
"It's Phoenix blood. The most expensive thing I own, one of them anyway. It will heal your wounds within the day."
Tetsuno grimaced as he leaned up in his bed. He took the liquid from Birgin and shook it a bit, then glanced at Birgin. "Are certain I can have this?"
"Yes. And don't worry, it's not poison. What reason would I have to kill you?" Birgin said.
"True. Fine, how long will it take to heal me exactly?"
"Give or take about ten hours."
Tetsuno sighed, irritated. He wanted to go already. He felt anxious. He also had a strange desire to fight, to swing his blade, to have the taste of blood in his mouth. It was strange. Ever since he met that demon… Azazel… he felt a strange sense of wrath coiling around inside him. He felt the need to kill, to spill blood…
"Well, I'll let you rest. And the armor was harder to repair than Shayna first thought, so she is still working on it. She said it would be done before you are recovered though." The old man turned and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
As soon as Birgin was gone, Tetsuno placed his fingers about the lid of the small glass. He then squeezed and twisted, and with a soft *pop* the lid came loose and he placed on the nightstand as he wearily looked into the liquid and smelt it. It didn't really smell like blood, it had a smell like burning wood or ash. Slowly, he placed the bottle against his lid and began to tip it back. The liquid that touched his lips had a strange, thick texture, as if it had a powder mixed into it. It really had no taste that he could detect. It was like drinking water with ash or dirt mixed into it. As the liquid went down his throat, a warm feeling began to spread through his body and his wounds, though they were not healed, had a numb, fuzzy feeling to them. He then became light headed and he lay back against his pillow, placing the bottle back onto the nightstand before the soft fabric swallowed him and he drifted into sleep.
•
•
•
In his dreams, an empty abyss, with no sound other than that of his own breathing to accompany him. He felt as though he were drifting in an ocean of blackness, sinking, and drowning. Then came the soft sound of something off in the distance.. what could it be, Tetsuno wondered?
*plip*
Water?
*plip*
Yeah, it must've been water.
*plip plip*
The sound grew louder and faster.
*plip plip plip*
It reminded Tetsuno of the sound of slowly pouring out a bottle of gin, one drop at a time at first, then it came out in a thin stream.
*plip plip plip*
What was it?
*plip plip plip*
The smell of blood then invaded his senses.
*Splish*
It now was the sound of liquid pouring out rapidly. And then another sound was added to the mix.. a voice..?
*CRA-ACK*
Tetsuno's eyes flashed open, but he was not really awake. He was still in a dream, and in that dream he hung, bleeding out, from a cross while a mountain of corpses lay below him, an ocean of blood slowly risking up to meet him. The echoes of hallowed screams of agony and misery were the only sound to meet his ears.
"Blood…" came a voice, a cold hiss like metal on stone. "Blood, blood, paint this land crimson.."
Tetsuno urged his body to move, to scream, to do anything, but it refused to respond.
"All this crimson.. it is from your blade.. is it not?" The voice spoke.
The screaming intensified tenfold while the red liquid rose up past his waist.
"You… Abeza Tetsuno…" the blood kept rising until it reached his chest, where it stopped. Then, from beneath it, something began to emerge, distorting the water's surface.
"Are a sinner…" the words came out like venom, sinking deep into Tetsuno's veins.
Then a figure enshrouded in chaotic black smoke rose from the blood, crimson dripping and falling from his figure as the demon rose, pearl white eyes piercing into Tetsuno's soul.
"You are my sinner.."
The screaming then intensified even more until it was like that of a hundred banshees crying in agony at once, rupturing Tetsuno's eardrums as black talons gripped his throat.
•
•
•
Tetsuno shot upright in his bed, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. His throat was dry and felt sore and painful. He gulped, painfully swallowing. He slowly moved his hand to his neck and tenderly touched it. He winced as his neck stung with pain. He pulled his hand away and when he looked at his fingers his face went pale. Blood. Blood was on his fingers. His neck was bleeding. The talons of Azazel in his dream had somehow affected him physically.
He took a deep, shaky breath. That's when he realized his side no longer hurt. The Phoenix blood had actually worked. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood to his feet. He suddenly felt dizzy and a cold feeling rang through his skull, emitting from the center of his forehead. He placed his hand against his head and sat back down on the side of the bed. When the pain subsided after a few minutes, he rubbed his temples and stood again. He walked to the door and twisted the knob, swinging it open and exiting his room. He turned down the hall and took a left, entering the restroom, and walking up to an old, rustic mirror. He leaned up against the wall and lifted his hair to observe where Azazel had touched his forehead. There, marked into his skin was a strange symbol like that of a black star with an upside down cross inside of it. Growing pale and leaning back from the mirror, letting his hair drop over his eyes, he tried to think of what this could mean.
What did a demon like Azazel want with someone like him? What did it mean to be 'chosen'? What did this mark mean? What was with that dream? Why him out of all the people in the world? Why was he chosen? What was so special about him? It made no sense to him.
Then he heard something downstairs, like the sound of something falling over. He turned his eyes to the door and listened intently. He could hear a faint crackling and footsteps. A fire.
In a haste, Tetsuno jumped into motion, sprinting out of the bathroom and down the hall to his room where he grabbed his katana, then turned on his heel and sprinted back out and down the stairs. When he reached the bar, flames had now engulfed one whole side of the building and old man Birgin lay unconscious on the ground, as did Kedo. Tetsuno clipped his blade to his hip and knelt beside Birgin, lifting the old man over his shoulder and quickly carrying him outside, away from the smoke. He then returned inside and did the same with Kedo. As he set Kedo next to his father, he heard someone scream back inside the building.
Shayna.
He bolted back into the inn and behind the counter where there was a small entrance to a downstairs area. He quickly descended the set of stone stairs and down to a large underground chamber. On one side was a shelf of tools while the other had a forging table, fire, molders, etc. Shayna lay on the ground, inching back away from her assailant, a tall man cloaked in black and wrapped in chains. The man stood at almost nine feet tall and was unnaturally built, muscular and wide. He wore a tight mask with a warped metal plate in the front with holes pierced into it for him to see through. In one hand he carried a massive sword much like the blade of a guillotine.
The attacker raised the sword above their head, but before he could swing it down, Tetsuno exploded forward, drawing his sword with a smooth ringing sound of metal as is scraped the stone floor and burst a flames. He quickly swung his katana low, the searing hot blade cutting cleanly through both of the giant's calves, bringing him to the ground with a roar of pain. Then Tetsuno put his foot on the man's blade pushed down hard, crashing it to the ground before, applying more pressure, he snapped the massive blade in half. Tetsuno the swiftly brought the edge of his blade to the man's throat and in one quick motion he snapped his neck and slit his throat, spraying blood across the stone walls.
As the body dropped to the ground, Tetsuno's sword hissed, blood being burnt on the blade's blazing hot smooth surface.
"A-Abeza?" Shayna spoke, her voice shaky and weak. "How.. thank you.."
"What happened here?" Tetsuno asked, ignoring her thanks.
"I-I honestly don't know. I heard a scuffle upstairs and then this guy just came down and tried to kill me.. I think the Golden Sin is making their move.." she explained.
"Well that's apparent." Tetsuno said, turning to face the stairs. "Where is my armor?"
Shayna nodded at one of the tables in a corner of the room. "There. I finished the repairs a few hours ago, so it's good to go.."
"Good. Stay here. I'll be back."
•
•
•
"How did these guys get out here?" Asked one of the cloaked members of the Golden Sin. "Did someone carry them out?"
Getsuo was a higher up among the Golden Sin members. He was one of the four Keepers selected by the leader himself. He wore a light black robe and thick pants. His chest and shoulders were exposed and wrapped about one arm was chains that went round and round his lower arm till they came to an end in a sickle that he held in his hand while his other hand was placed on the hilt of a thin blade sheathed at his side. He wore a black mask with a demonic symbol emblazoned on its center, a coiled snake with four thin blades pierced through it, two each side.
"Just slit their throats." Getsuo ordered. "They aren't of any concern to me or the boss. We are here for the Aberrant."
He turned about, facing the six other men he had brought with him. "Find him! Burn everything! The boss wants him dead or alive!"
The sound of a blade slicing through skin sounded in Getsuo's ears. He figured it was the sound of his soldier killing the two townspeople, but then there was the sound of a body hitting the ground. He turned and saw a figure standing there, blood dripping from his katana as moonlight gleamed off of his crimson armor. The armor set was made from thin plates and gold rope while black cloth was used as padding. He also wore a mask much like that of an oni or a demon and a hood pulled over it. Spikes ran along the plates of the lower arms and the shin guards, as well as a knee pad with two sharp blades each poking out. His knuckles also had small spikes that could easily puncture skin or break bone.
"So." Getsuo spoke, looking down at his dead soldier now bleeding out. "You must be the Aberrant I've heard so much about from my boss. You've killed about eight of my men now, though we haven't been able to confirm the deaths of Zelden's group."
Tetsuno stood, silent, as he glared at his opponent while the six other Golden Sin members slowly approached, weapons drawn.
"Don't expect me to be impressed. Zelden was weak and the others were all just average jokes. I, on the other hand, am not." Getsuo said.
Again, Tetsuno gave no response, instead he flicked the blood from his blade's edge, splattering it across the dirt.
"Come now.. you didn't really think you were the only Aberrant around here, did you? And you've made enemies of the wrong people, thus dealing your death." Getsuo grinned.