The Empire's Descent (First Draft)

Chapter 23: The Japan Attack: the Two Years (III)

"I don't care who the fuck is with him! Take him out," a dark and gravelly voice hissed in Marabella's ear.

'He took everything from me and I'll do the same for him...' this thought was floated in her head by a Listener.

"Target locked. Are we a-go?" Her monotonous voice inquired.

"Wet him up!" Her harsh, Jamaican accent sounded.

🎶 Say nightie-night and kiss me
just hold me tight
and tell me you miss me.
When I'm alone
and blue as can be,
make me a promise--
promise to me:
you'll dream,
dream a little dream of me...🎶

Luca could hear the lyrics of the song they danced to in the rain at 17 and then got pneumonia that very weekend. He smiled, and he felt something run down his mouth. Is he drooling? Why?

His head turned sideways, and he saw rodent droppings on the floor. Was he lying on the ground? Why? That's very dirty, he doesn't like this!

"Boss! Boss, stay with me," a weeping voice pleaded in a whisper. Is that Mari? Why you crying, Mar-Mar? Sorry...

"Ma bella," Luca's weak voice sounded. He was trying to tell Mari something. Something he knew. He couldn't remember. Is he on the ground? Why? Dirty!

Marco shed a few more tears, but he had to keep it together. They were under fire and had to escape.

Shots rang out behind the oncoming enemy. Marabella was frozen. Only the ever-changing expression on her face, as if she were fighting herself, indicated any life. Until, she ran away at what seemed like sprinter-speed.

Marco couldn't think of that now, nor could he think of why she missed most of her shots, even though she's an elite marksman. He tensed, not knowing if it was a friend or foe approaching them.

He had placed a tourniquet on Luca's largest gushing wound, and his blood-soaked hands clasped his last M4 for what he hoped wouldn't be his last stand. If so, he would die shooting.

The shots were coming closer, and the first attackers were falling. He refrained from shooting to keep their positions hidden until they could no longer hold it. Sweat trickled in his eye, and he only spared a quick shoulder swipe at it, then he was back to being militant.

A groan briefly diverted his attention, "Stay there, Luc, don't move, buddy, I gotcha," he tried to reassure his wounded brother as Luca writhed in pain. He didn't even spare a look at Aoki with a hole in the centre of his forehead.

"Mari, I love you," Luca whispered terrifyingly lucid.

Marco's face nearly crumpled, "shut the fuck up," he spat, "we're getting out of this and you're gonna make me hot chocolate and help me propose to Gianni," he said in ire.

Luca smiled, his teeth stained with blood, "okay," his voice faded.

Marco couldn't risk looking back at him. He might lose it all.

"Fucking hell!," a familiar voice screamed in frustration.

Marco almost sagged in exhaustion because he knew the oncoming were friends.

"Here! In here..." his voice started strong, but trailed towards the end as a biting pain on his left side overwhelmed him. He looked down and saw a gaping hole.

He began laughing. Deliriously. He crawled to Luca's side and checked his breath... still breathing. So, he slumped and passed out seeing women's sized combat boots in his vision before it darkened.

Lia ran up to where Marco and Luca had hunkered down and before she could wave an alieving energy-covered hand at them, she was entangled by a filthy Vampyr.

"Fuck off, bitch, I have things to do!" She yelled at the female Vampyr before her.

The Vampyr harrumphed at her, "Eryedna, long time, no see...".

Lia was momentarily confused before she had spirit-waning energy balls lobbed at her, leaving her no time to think.

She transformed into her native skin and immediately her wingspan, bone density and eyesight improved exponentially.

"Oh, so, not her yet?" Marabella noted.

"Then, this should be easier...," she concluded.

She ran out of balls and began hand-to-hand combat. Neither was winning, merely deflecting or absorbing the damage each other dealt. They unanimously backed off and gave each other a brief nod, before Marabella ran out of the facility at superspeed. Lia let her go as she wasn't allowed to kill her and she couldn't beat her just then.

She regained her humanoid form and the fight left her clothes tattered and one foot was shoeless. She ran over to where Luca and Marco had passed out and waved her healing energy over them.

"Please, please, please, be alive," she pleaded in a whisper.

The next minute was extremely tense, but once she found a spark, she immediately put them in a comapod. Of course, it was an old damaged one from when she first crashed on Earth with Adam. She had no choice though, their wounds were too severe and she didn't have enough energy to heal them by herself at the moment. She had to figure out a way to get them back home and have it make sense to the humans.

She hung her head painfully for a moment because she knew all of this was her fault. They would have never contacted the Soparnetorel or even be on the radar of the Listeners if it wasn't for her acting ultra vires.

"Let me help," a cute, timid voice sounded from behind her and she quickly raised two energy beams to chuck in the direction of the sound.

"Woah! I come in peace," a juvenile Vampyr appeared holding his hands in a 'surrender' fashion.

"Who are you? Why do you want to help and how can you help?" Lia fired question after question.

"My name is Kaito. I love Luca and I have the energy you need to fix this mess," he flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Please, you're just a thousand years old. You still have your baby fangs-

"I'm gonna mature soon, shuddup!" Kaito yelled indignant.

"My b, but I don't feel right siphoning a child's energy like that," Lia frowned.

"You don't have a choice. Plus, it's my body and I'm an adult by human standards. I can make my own decision about my own body".

Lia wanted to protest more, but she was already feeling the sound barrier she raised waning as her energy bottomed out. That could not happen or the Listeners would be able to sense the weakness and eradicate them. For now, the Listeners were still blind and deaf.

"Fine!" She gritted her teeth and went against her principles.

Kaito flashed a triumphant smile and held her hand, beginning to transfer his energy to her. Lia was a higher level being than him, so he was depleting quickly. He held firm though. Luca was worth it.

Lia regained her vitality and quickly reinforced the barriers, then she was on to crafting spells to erase the memories she should, rewrite the story and fill in the empty spaces left.

When she finished, she looked at a feeble Kaito sat trying to absorb the natural energy in the air around him.

"You gonna be alright?" Lia worried.

"Of course, even now I feel the natural energy refilling me," Kaito lied smoothly.

"You don'-

"Go, go! Save my hubby and when he wakes, tell him, I'll see him again," he smiled.

Looking at his little baby fangs, Lia felt guilty again, but she couldn't stay here much longer. She took a little energy and spared it to him before he could refuse, then quickly teleported the comapod with herself to where the storyline she created would begin.