Adapt to Live [Part 15]
Nov. 16th, 2015 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: It's been a long time since Tao had seen an angel, not since ze left Heaven and turned into a demon. Ze hadn't thought it was possible to pass through the barrier between Heaven and the physical realm without changing. M-21's task in the physical realm is to kill as many demons as they can. Except the pieces aren't fitting together.
Contains: Brief violence.
Notes: I didn't post anything yesterday because what I had written just wasn't flowing in how I liked, so I redid the outline I had.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 1,678
Total word count: 33,390
Status: Work in progress
"Fuck," Tao hissed. They jumped up, flapping their wings to keep themselves in the air and then dashed skywards.
M-21 flapped their wings, getting used to flapping harder to go where they wanted.
Frankenstein didn't moved to follow when they were in the air. "Frankenstein?"
"Go," Frankenstein insisted, even though they flapped their wings. "I need to be here as soon as the barrier is clear to close it!"
Right. If Frankenstein had to fly back first after helping them in the barrier, more angels could have entered again by then and they would have to fight all over again. M-21 wheeled around and flew upwards.
M-21 couldn't see Tao in the worsening rain. They climbed higher, flapping their wings harder, but they were gone.
They would have to find where the barrier was themself. ...Crombell had never told them how to find the barrier, how to go back to Heaven once their task was done. But they were never meant to complete it, were they?
The rain was falling faster, and M-21's eyes kept squeezing shut at it, making it impossible to see. So they kept them closed, not bothering to open them again when a large gust of wind blew past. They would have to trust their senses.
The weight of magic was everywhere in the sky, surrounding M-21, and they had no idea where to go. Had Tao just gone straight up until they reached it?
...No. That wasn't it. While M-21 could sense magic all around them, even with the wind and the rain there was a warmth on their right side and they turned towards it until the warmth was radiating on their front. It had to be that. That must have been what Tao had followed.
M-21 flapped their wings and flew in that direction. Flitting there would save time, but if they overshoot and it would waste too much time trying to reorientate themself to where the barrier was. If they had still been an angel, they wouldn't have known there was heat, let alone be able to follow it.
They kept going, the heat getting stronger even as the rain and wind worsened. It hurt their ears, feeling as if the wind was trying to both blow them off course and to push the rain right into their ears.
And then it was all gone, M-21 diving through a bright space. They must have reached the barrier. It was colder on the inside and they shook their head, trying to get the water out their ears, feeling their hair slap against their head with the movement.
They wiped their hand over their face to get rid of more water. They opened their eyes and jerked back. Two angels were flying towards them. Two more angels of the M-21 batch. M-21 had just enough time to see them before they disappeared.
What their clones were doing was almost the same as their charge - there was no thought behind it. It was just that was what they knew as the 'best' way to attack first, and they would keep doing that every time. It made them easy to predict.
M-21 flitted a short distance away, and leapt at the angel that appeared first, drawing power to their claws. M-21 didn't bother trying to use the slash attack, not when it was too likely they would fail. They would waste time trying to recover from that, and that was something they didn't have, not against two opponents.
It was enough to send the angel sprawling and before they landed (if the barrier even had a 'floor') M-21 slashed at their chest, keeping the power in their claws.
They felt resistance as their claws went through the angel's body, saw the trail of power their claws left behind. It was enough to hurt the angel, maybe kill them, but there was no time to check. It gave them enough time to attack the other angel and that was what mattered. M-21 flitted away to a safe distance, and as soon as they reappeared, they whirled around, trying to find the other angel.
The other angel was staring at the angel M-21 had attacked, their sword lowered. Frozen. From M-21's new angle, they could see the first angel hovering in the same position M-21 had left them, no blood in sight, but their chest wasn't piecing back together either. The angel was glowing at the edges and where M-21 had attacked them, and the glow was getting brighter.
So they'd been able to kill that angel with that blow.
Before the second angel could collect themself, M-21 flitted next to them and drove their claws through the angel's chest, flaring their aura out.
The angel tried to twist around, but M-21 had flitted to a safe distance away, just in case.
It wasn't needed. The angel had started to disintegrate, dropping their sword and M-21 turned to fly deeper into the barrier.
Tao was fighting ahead of them, wreathed in their aura and surrounded by angels. Damn-!
It was hard to tell what was going on or how many angels there were in the confusion - everyone was flitting from one place to another as they tried to keep up with Tao's movements. Tao was able to keep ahead, but they weren't able to attack. Every time they moved, an angel attacked before they could swing their whip.
If some angels had already flown by while Tao was fighting like that, more could do the same.
M-21's heart thudded harder at the sight, like something was trying to burst out of their chest, but M-21 kept a tight hold of that feeling, making sure it didn't consume them. They couldn't let their body distract them, not in a time like this.
M-21 flitted to the backs of some angels and tore through one's wing and shoulder as the angel turned towards them. The damage done, M-21 leaped at the next closest angel, just missing being skewered by their sword.
"Kid!"
M-21's new ears swivelled towards the yell as they lashed their aura at the angel, flitting away again before someone else attacked them.
"Leave!"
"No!" they roared back, almost losing their hold on the thing trying to explode from their chest. Whatever it was, it wanted them to do do something, but M-21 clamped down on the feeling.
They would listen to Tao about the physical realm and what they were experience, but they wouldn't let them do this alone.
M-21 heard the crack of a whip and a cut-off scream and good, that meant Tao could attack now.
But this wasn't a hundred angels. Nowhere near it. It was only a handful at best, even if Tao had been able to kill a number of them already.
There had to be more coming. If someone didn't stop those ones when they first came into the barrier and were a smaller number, then all the angels combined could overwhelm them and some could slip past while the others were fighting.
M-21 ducked under a sword's swing and slashed up from the angel's stomach. M-21 backed off with a few powerful beats of their wings, panting from all the flitting and maintaining the power around their hands.
"Kid, dammit!
"There could be more!" M-21 called back, watching how Tao was fighting. Should they try and do this? They weren't the better fighter, not compared to Tao but-
"Far more!" one of the angels yelled just before Tao took them down with a crack of their whip.
Then they had to it. M-21 turned and flew in the direction the angels had come from.
"Don't die!" Tao yelled behind them, and M-21 nodded even though Tao couldn't see it. They didn't want to waste breath as they flew. It was a little easier to concentrate, now that they just had to fly instead of doing three things at once.
Their skin tingled as M-21 clenched a fist, and it still didn't feel right afterwards.
It didn't stop there, their whole body starting to tingle, like when Tao had first taken them out of the cold and into their warm house. M-21 glanced down at their hand and...it wasn't as solid as it had been a few seconds ago, their skin more translucent. The barrier was changing them back. If they went through the barrier completely, they could become an angel again.
They didn't want to.
Not after everything that had happened.
M-21 lowered their hand and focused on their surroundings instead, trying to see if there were any more angels there. They hadn't paid much attention to the barrier the first time they'd went through; they'd been focused on their task then and that was it, trying to through it faster so that they could get started and earn their name. They couldn't tell if it was any different from before.
It was taking them a while and had it really been this long? Was it longer because they were paying attention now? Or was it because there was more people, and the barrier had grown to accommodate them all?
M-21 jerked slightly when the expanse pulsated, the heat strengthening around them. That had to mean something. The light was swirling a little in the distance and M-21 bit their lip. Was that a sign the barrier was starting to collapse?
Something was forming ahead of them, a dark silhouette against the light of the barrier. Smaller silhouettes formed next to them, and M-21 prepared themself to fight.
They couldn't hesitate. Not after seeing Tao struggle against the other angels; if they could surprise these angels, that could give them a slight edge at the start before the angels realised what was happening.
Except... M-21 frowned at the one that was forming the fastest. They knew that shape, they were sure of it. An angel standing ahead above everyone else's, wide shoulders, and no hair.
No...
M-21's throat closed up as the angel stepped through into the barrier, but M-21 knew already who it was before they saw them.
M-24.
____________________________________
I've written some more today, but this was a perfect place to end. :)
I was kinda wondering how obvious that this was going to be the final confrontation seeing how M-24 hadn't shown up earlier, haha.
Summary: It's been a long time since Tao had seen an angel, not since ze left Heaven and turned into a demon. Ze hadn't thought it was possible to pass through the barrier between Heaven and the physical realm without changing. M-21's task in the physical realm is to kill as many demons as they can. Except the pieces aren't fitting together.
Contains: Brief violence.
Notes: I didn't post anything yesterday because what I had written just wasn't flowing in how I liked, so I redid the outline I had.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 1,678
Total word count: 33,390
Status: Work in progress
"Fuck," Tao hissed. They jumped up, flapping their wings to keep themselves in the air and then dashed skywards.
M-21 flapped their wings, getting used to flapping harder to go where they wanted.
Frankenstein didn't moved to follow when they were in the air. "Frankenstein?"
"Go," Frankenstein insisted, even though they flapped their wings. "I need to be here as soon as the barrier is clear to close it!"
Right. If Frankenstein had to fly back first after helping them in the barrier, more angels could have entered again by then and they would have to fight all over again. M-21 wheeled around and flew upwards.
M-21 couldn't see Tao in the worsening rain. They climbed higher, flapping their wings harder, but they were gone.
They would have to find where the barrier was themself. ...Crombell had never told them how to find the barrier, how to go back to Heaven once their task was done. But they were never meant to complete it, were they?
The rain was falling faster, and M-21's eyes kept squeezing shut at it, making it impossible to see. So they kept them closed, not bothering to open them again when a large gust of wind blew past. They would have to trust their senses.
The weight of magic was everywhere in the sky, surrounding M-21, and they had no idea where to go. Had Tao just gone straight up until they reached it?
...No. That wasn't it. While M-21 could sense magic all around them, even with the wind and the rain there was a warmth on their right side and they turned towards it until the warmth was radiating on their front. It had to be that. That must have been what Tao had followed.
M-21 flapped their wings and flew in that direction. Flitting there would save time, but if they overshoot and it would waste too much time trying to reorientate themself to where the barrier was. If they had still been an angel, they wouldn't have known there was heat, let alone be able to follow it.
They kept going, the heat getting stronger even as the rain and wind worsened. It hurt their ears, feeling as if the wind was trying to both blow them off course and to push the rain right into their ears.
And then it was all gone, M-21 diving through a bright space. They must have reached the barrier. It was colder on the inside and they shook their head, trying to get the water out their ears, feeling their hair slap against their head with the movement.
They wiped their hand over their face to get rid of more water. They opened their eyes and jerked back. Two angels were flying towards them. Two more angels of the M-21 batch. M-21 had just enough time to see them before they disappeared.
What their clones were doing was almost the same as their charge - there was no thought behind it. It was just that was what they knew as the 'best' way to attack first, and they would keep doing that every time. It made them easy to predict.
M-21 flitted a short distance away, and leapt at the angel that appeared first, drawing power to their claws. M-21 didn't bother trying to use the slash attack, not when it was too likely they would fail. They would waste time trying to recover from that, and that was something they didn't have, not against two opponents.
It was enough to send the angel sprawling and before they landed (if the barrier even had a 'floor') M-21 slashed at their chest, keeping the power in their claws.
They felt resistance as their claws went through the angel's body, saw the trail of power their claws left behind. It was enough to hurt the angel, maybe kill them, but there was no time to check. It gave them enough time to attack the other angel and that was what mattered. M-21 flitted away to a safe distance, and as soon as they reappeared, they whirled around, trying to find the other angel.
The other angel was staring at the angel M-21 had attacked, their sword lowered. Frozen. From M-21's new angle, they could see the first angel hovering in the same position M-21 had left them, no blood in sight, but their chest wasn't piecing back together either. The angel was glowing at the edges and where M-21 had attacked them, and the glow was getting brighter.
So they'd been able to kill that angel with that blow.
Before the second angel could collect themself, M-21 flitted next to them and drove their claws through the angel's chest, flaring their aura out.
The angel tried to twist around, but M-21 had flitted to a safe distance away, just in case.
It wasn't needed. The angel had started to disintegrate, dropping their sword and M-21 turned to fly deeper into the barrier.
Tao was fighting ahead of them, wreathed in their aura and surrounded by angels. Damn-!
It was hard to tell what was going on or how many angels there were in the confusion - everyone was flitting from one place to another as they tried to keep up with Tao's movements. Tao was able to keep ahead, but they weren't able to attack. Every time they moved, an angel attacked before they could swing their whip.
If some angels had already flown by while Tao was fighting like that, more could do the same.
M-21's heart thudded harder at the sight, like something was trying to burst out of their chest, but M-21 kept a tight hold of that feeling, making sure it didn't consume them. They couldn't let their body distract them, not in a time like this.
M-21 flitted to the backs of some angels and tore through one's wing and shoulder as the angel turned towards them. The damage done, M-21 leaped at the next closest angel, just missing being skewered by their sword.
"Kid!"
M-21's new ears swivelled towards the yell as they lashed their aura at the angel, flitting away again before someone else attacked them.
"Leave!"
"No!" they roared back, almost losing their hold on the thing trying to explode from their chest. Whatever it was, it wanted them to do do something, but M-21 clamped down on the feeling.
They would listen to Tao about the physical realm and what they were experience, but they wouldn't let them do this alone.
M-21 heard the crack of a whip and a cut-off scream and good, that meant Tao could attack now.
But this wasn't a hundred angels. Nowhere near it. It was only a handful at best, even if Tao had been able to kill a number of them already.
There had to be more coming. If someone didn't stop those ones when they first came into the barrier and were a smaller number, then all the angels combined could overwhelm them and some could slip past while the others were fighting.
M-21 ducked under a sword's swing and slashed up from the angel's stomach. M-21 backed off with a few powerful beats of their wings, panting from all the flitting and maintaining the power around their hands.
"Kid, dammit!
"There could be more!" M-21 called back, watching how Tao was fighting. Should they try and do this? They weren't the better fighter, not compared to Tao but-
"Far more!" one of the angels yelled just before Tao took them down with a crack of their whip.
Then they had to it. M-21 turned and flew in the direction the angels had come from.
"Don't die!" Tao yelled behind them, and M-21 nodded even though Tao couldn't see it. They didn't want to waste breath as they flew. It was a little easier to concentrate, now that they just had to fly instead of doing three things at once.
Their skin tingled as M-21 clenched a fist, and it still didn't feel right afterwards.
It didn't stop there, their whole body starting to tingle, like when Tao had first taken them out of the cold and into their warm house. M-21 glanced down at their hand and...it wasn't as solid as it had been a few seconds ago, their skin more translucent. The barrier was changing them back. If they went through the barrier completely, they could become an angel again.
They didn't want to.
Not after everything that had happened.
M-21 lowered their hand and focused on their surroundings instead, trying to see if there were any more angels there. They hadn't paid much attention to the barrier the first time they'd went through; they'd been focused on their task then and that was it, trying to through it faster so that they could get started and earn their name. They couldn't tell if it was any different from before.
It was taking them a while and had it really been this long? Was it longer because they were paying attention now? Or was it because there was more people, and the barrier had grown to accommodate them all?
M-21 jerked slightly when the expanse pulsated, the heat strengthening around them. That had to mean something. The light was swirling a little in the distance and M-21 bit their lip. Was that a sign the barrier was starting to collapse?
Something was forming ahead of them, a dark silhouette against the light of the barrier. Smaller silhouettes formed next to them, and M-21 prepared themself to fight.
They couldn't hesitate. Not after seeing Tao struggle against the other angels; if they could surprise these angels, that could give them a slight edge at the start before the angels realised what was happening.
Except... M-21 frowned at the one that was forming the fastest. They knew that shape, they were sure of it. An angel standing ahead above everyone else's, wide shoulders, and no hair.
No...
M-21's throat closed up as the angel stepped through into the barrier, but M-21 knew already who it was before they saw them.
M-24.
I've written some more today, but this was a perfect place to end. :)
I was kinda wondering how obvious that this was going to be the final confrontation seeing how M-24 hadn't shown up earlier, haha.