Hetalian Protectors

A Fight to the Death Begins

Prussia's POV: The girls weren't saying a thing, and after all these months with their wild behaviors, it was more than a little unnerving. My eyes kept darting toward Arwen, who was stalking along the side of the cave, keeping her gaze behind us for any sign of the League. It had been a few minutes, the explosions falling away the further we got from the place we'd been staying, yet nobody was at ease.

Had they found the basement? The tunnels? Were they closing in, ready to do whatever it was that had the girls so afraid? My hand twitched to the sword on my side, perfectly in place even though Kyoko had teleported it there in all haste. I was thankful, though, because she had managed to give us all our weapons before we'd started to run, and I knew better than anyone that with all of us armed, it was going to be quite a fight for the bastards trying to capture us.

I smirked.

*****

Arwen's POV: Hot, volatile magic. It had always been more of Kyoko's speciality, her talent. Sure, the rest of us had been trained with it, but we all preferred our own means of fighting, which left us at somewhat of a disadvantage while also keeping us a step ahead. Over the long years, we had perfected our fighting styles, my sword was more like another arm at this point, and when put together, it was nearly impossible to hit one of us.

Yet, that all changed just a few mere weeks ago.

As if in agreement, my head gave a resounding pound, and I let out a hiss from between clenched teeth. I didn't know how long I could keep this up, but I'd be damned if I was going to let anything happen to them again. A concussion wasn't going to stop me from stabbing every single lackey that the League sent our way.

Glancing toward Scarlett, I kept my grimace to myself, but I saw Kyoko looking at her as well. The red-head was limping, obviously enough to warrant concern, and her hand was glued to her bad side. While she was wearing all black, the shininess there hinted at the bleeding that had probably broken through the bandages again. Out of all of us, she was the worse off. I couldn't tell you how much blood she'd lost this past week, especially with all the extra training we'd all been doing.

She wouldn't listen when we told her to rest, though. I cursed her stubbornness. At this rate, she wouldn't even make it to the end of the tunnels.

However, we weren't ones to talk. We weren't much better. Kyoko, whose limping was much less pronounced, was using magic to keep herself standing, and if one were to look beneath her black pants they'd see a scene similar to the one waiting under Scarlett's bandages. Luna's breathing was much harsher than normal, and Adrian wouldn't even be alive right now if we hadn't managed to reverse some of the more... deadly effects of the poison swirling in our veins.

We were literally a bunch of walking corpses at this point. The thought brought a wry smile to my face as I let out a dry chuckle, scanning the darkness behind us for any signs of people. Memories bombarded me. The mansion. The countries. The Oni. Dying while the house burnt down around us. Everything that was happening was just so damn familiar, and I hated it. We'd worked so hard, come so far, kept our promise even when it threatened to overwhelm us. And this is what we got?

My vision jerked again and I mumbled more curses under my breath, pushing off the wall when I started to lean too heavily against it. Whatever that medicine was supposed to do, it wasn't doing it fast enough. I could barely stay on my feet now, the world swaying and shifting beneath my feet. The only thing keeping me rooted to this place and this time was the heat sparking between my fingers, building by the minute, just waiting for the Major's face so I could trust my sword between his eyes and put a stop to all of this.

I couldn't die again until that was done.

As if summoned by my thoughts, a gunshot echoed from a ways behind us, and I felt rather than saw the bullet graze my cheek, hitting the wall beside my head. I didn't flinch, calling out to the others who started to run, Gilbert crossing to my side, but even if I wanted to talk to him, I couldn't. Everything was blending together into a rush of colors and shapes, my stomach heaving, and I was sure that this was the end, long before we came to the dead end.

Staring up at the rocky wall, I frowned, but turned to face the throng of people coming closer, guns and knives at the ready. The other girls came to stand by my side, brandishing their weapons despite their wounds, never letting the countries come forth to take their spots. This was our fight, not theirs.

"It's about time you stopped running."