Khaos Wars

Chapter 17 -The monster within

Ryuuzaki sat peacefully on the coffee brown couch in the living room. He had just gotten out of bed and made himself a cup of green tea. He took a sip and glanced back at the newspaper he was reading. "Monster attacks decreasing" was written in big, bold letters. The article told about how during the past month monsters had been showing up less frequently. That was really good news; it looked like what the girls were doing helped and maybe this war would end soon.

Suddenly everything around him started to shake violently. Earthquake? No, that was not it. It was almost like someone was banging at the walls of the restaurant, trying to break it down. He put the newspaper down and slowly stood up from the couch, wondering if he should go down and check on the others. Hopefully they were okay. The shaking grew more violent, causing the paper to fall from the table; his tea cup followed, spilling the contents onto the page and blurring the headline. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a monster's scream.

Ryuuzaki didn't ponder anymore, he ran downstairs as fast as his legs could carry him. The staffroom was filled with panicking people, and more were coming in from the room entrance. They were gathered there to keep them away from the big windows in the dining areas. They were screaming and crying; a couple had fainted and others were yelling on the phone. Ryuuzaki's father argued with small group trying to run out from the emergency exit.

Ryuuzaki's heart pounded heavily. Where was Sachiko? What if she was still in the main dining area? He tried to force his way through the masses to get to her. More people running to safety pushed him out of their way. After a short while, he finally managed to exit the staffroom. He looked around and spotted Aika helping the last few guests who seemed to scared to move.

"Oh, Ryuuzaki-san, you're safe." Aika said relieved when he walked up to her. But the only thing that occupied his mind when he saw her was why she wasn't out there fighting. He frantically grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"What are you still doing here? There is a monster outside!" Ryuuzaki yelled. Aika stood there silently and looked at him as if he had gone completely mad. He immediately stopped shaking her and let go of her shoulders.

"Keep it down, you're frightening the guests even more. Emiko and Zakura are already out there, I'll get going once the guests are evacuated." Aika reassured him and headed to the staff room. He ran after her and grabbed her arm.

"Wait, it's trying to get inside, you have to stop it!" He desperately begged.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's too small to enter the building. Look, I understand that you're afraid," Aika grabbed his trembling arm, looked him concerned in the eyes, then carefully put it down. "But we need someone who can have our back. You're not helping anyone by acting all hysterical." Just as she finished her sentence Sachiko hastily approached them. Thank god, she was safe. He ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"There you are, I'm glad you two are okay." Sachiko said. The sounds from the battle outside intensified. A sudden loud crash startled all three of them. Aika stared restlessly at the exit.

"Yeah, we're okay. Stay with Ryuuzaki, I need to go." Aika said and ran away. Sachiko already knew about the whole magical girl thing, so Aika didn't have to hide anything. He let go of the hug and looked at her. She still wore those sunglasses and had refused to take them off for the past three months. He had stopped questioning her about it, but it really bothered him. Something was obviously wrong, but right now wasn't the time to discuss that.

Ryuuzaki walked to one of the big windows and looked outside. The girls were fighting and trying to keep the monster as far away from the restaurant as possible. The creature was pretty big, probably three times his size. It was rusty red, with long, green nails like knives sticking out from its fingertips. Its head was shaped similarly to an alligator with long sharp teeth matching the nails. Its body moved so unnaturally it sent shivers down his spine. The monster chased Zakura and attacked her so that its back was facing Ryuuzaki. In the middle was a giant eye, staring right at him. He couldn't help but to stare back for a second; something about it was so hypnotizing. Immediately, the beast charged towards him. Ryuuzaki quickly moved out of its sight and Sachiko did the same. A few seconds later the window shattered into a million pieces and the monsters claw came through the opening.

Ryuuzaki stared horrified at the huge arm and long claws close to him. At this distance the details of the dry, crusty skin were really apparent. It was even cracked open in multiple places. The hand felt around the room, presumably trying to find a victim. The nails destroyed everything they touched and made a couple scratches on the tile floor. Shortly after he heard Emiko attack, followed by the creature scream and the hand pulled back out.

Ryuuzaki had seen countless monsters on TV and up close, but something about this particular beast was different. It terrified him like no other had done before. He didn't understand why, but he felt like it was targeting him; like it was trying to tear down the restaurant so that it could kill him. But he knew that was impossible, monsters couldn't be that intelligent. And even if they were; why would it go after him?

Sachiko had been silent all this time. It was enough that she was there, she didn't need to say anything. Words would only make it worse; they were similar in that way of thinking. A loud, pained scream interrupted his thoughts. Ryuuzaki looked out the window again and saw Aika lying on the ground, blood running down her leg. Her staff was no-where to be seen. He jumped out the broken window without thinking. The cold air blew against him as if trying to stop him, but he had to get to Aika. He had to show that he could be of use to them. The beast was distracted by Emiko and Zakura while he caught up to her.

"Aika, are you in pain? Don't worry, I have your back." Ryuuzaki put her arm around his shoulder and lifted her up.

"Ryuuzaki, what are you doing!? Go back inside!"

"But you're hurt, you can't fight like-" He was interrupted by a horrifying monster cry. He looked up at the sinister sight unfolding in front of him. The creature's bloodthirsty gaze pierced his soul. It charged towards him, ignoring everything else around it. Emiko and Zakura tried to stop it, but it pushed them away. Ryuuzaki was paralyzed, he couldn't do anything. He knew he couldn't escape. The sound of everyone screaming for him to get away got mixed up in his mind.

This was it. He knew he didn't stand a chance against that thing. This was all his fault, if he hadn't forbidden Zakura to bring Nikka here, this wouldn't have happened. If he had just listened and stayed inside... He closed his eyes and prepared for the end. At least he had spared Tsubasa this fate.

Suddenly everything became dead silent. Aika stopped screaming, the monster's footsteps were gone. Ryuuzaki slightly opened his eyes and looked down at his shaking hand and then at Aika to his right. She gaped in pure shock straight ahead and he slowly turned towards where she was looking. There, a few meters in front of him, laid the monsters severed head, it's empty gaze staring into nothingness. A little behind it rested the body, both of which slowly evaporated. And in the middle, facing the other way, stood Sachiko wielding a bloody scythe. Her sunglasses had fallen on the ground. She turned around and he met her blood-red eyes.


Emiko was speechless. Sachiko had shown up out of nowhere and so swiftly and effortlessly beheaded the monster. She slowly turned around, inspecting everyone with those demonic eyes.

"You... you morons!" Sachiko broke the silence "If you had a drop of cooperativeness in you, you would have easily taken it down!"

"You have no right to speak to us like that, we've been protecting the world for a long time now. We just did what we've always done." Emiko defended them.

"That's the problem, Einstein. I've seen you fight before and it's always the same pathetic stuff. I know you like pretending that you can do no wrong, but you've been blinded by living in your own wish-fulfilling, perfect little world." Sachiko stared angrily at her. How dared she accuse her like that in front of everyone, how humiliating. Emiko had always done everything in her power to do the right thing. It wasn't her fault that the others couldn't see that. "Anyway, that not the main issue." Emiko was about to argue further, but that reminded her of why they were in this mess to begin with.

"You're right. Zakura, why didn't you bring Nikka? What were you thinking!?" Emiko yelled.

"I'm sorry." Zakura said shamefully while looking at the ground.

"Sorry isn't good enough!"

"Emiko, please stop. I... I forbid her to bring Nikka here... This was my fault." Ryuuzaki stepped forward. Emiko got quiet and looked at him in disbelief.

"Ryuuzaki? What? This is a joke, right?" Emiko was taken aback and her tone changed from angry to a mix between shocked and upset.

"It's not a joke. I'm sorry." He confirmed. Emiko did her best to hold back both tears and anger. Her world was on the verge of crumbling, she had failed as a leader. Everyone acted behind her back and kept secrets from her. They probably didn't know how much it affected her.

"A lot of people could have died today because of your unreasonable hatred for Nikka. She is our only way of knowing when our enemies will strike. I know you've had a hard time ever since she came to you, but it is time for you to move on." Emiko did her best to keep calm, the last thing they needed was more pointless arguing.

"Guys!" Aika suddenly yelled. She squinted her eyes, looking in the direction of where the monsters body laid. It was probably almost evaporated by now; the whole area was covered in smoke around it. "I think I see something there!"

Emiko walked into the smoke to take a closer look. Admittedly, there was something resembling the contours of a human lying in the center. She bowed down and started to recognize the person. It was... Tsubasa. He laid there unconscious, partially wrapped in the monster's body. No, not wrapped... it was a part of him. Emiko's stomach turned from the sight of the flesh connecting to Tsubasa's skin. It slowly turned into smoke, constantly freeing tiny parts of her friend's body. Emiko couldn't look anymore and took a few steps back. How could they not have checked what happened after the monsters were defeated before? She had always assumed they just disappeared completely. She was the type of person who always had her sight set forward, never looking back. She had also pushed the others with her and she had gotten mad if they questioned her. Sachiko was right, they were pathetic, no, she was pathetic.

Emiko walked past the others and approached Sachiko, ignoring the questions everyone was asking as she went by.

"You are right, I need to change. But I need to ask you something: what's the deal with your eyes and powers?" This was too much for her and she needed some answers.

"I don't really know. Honestly, I just woke up one day and my whole body was in sharp pain, it wore off after a while and I suddenly had these powers and my eyes had changed color. I can't explain it really well; once I had them it was almost as if I had been born with them, or like my brain was programmed to know how to use them... I know that doesn't make any sense, but..." Sachiko didn't say anything else. It did make sense to her though, explaining the feeling of having powers was... challenging.

"How weird, you have the agility of a magical girl but the powers of a cronian... is there anything else you can do?" Emiko asked. Sachiko looked confused when she said cronian, but shook it off. Emiko took that as a sign that she didn't know about Khaos and all that.

"I can see clearly in the dark and slightly into the future of what a person will do. But using that power, even for a few seconds, gives me a severe headache. Also," She turned around and moved her hair away from her neck "would you happen to know anything about this?" On her neck was a strange symbol. It was a darker color than the rest of her skin and looked like two of the same rune on top of each other. Emiko had seen it before, though. It was the same symbol that was engraved in the transparent crystal on her bracelet.

"I noticed it one time I was tying my hair up after I got my powers. It feels just like a scar or something." Sachiko explained. Emiko had checked Nikka once she discovered it and saw the same symbol under her fur. Until now it had been an obvious connection between the two; Nikka and the bracelets she made. Then why did Sachiko have it marked on her skin? She also didn't need to transform in order to use her powers... it was almost like she was a living weapon. Or a magical girl who was trapped in her transform and couldn't change back. The thought terrified Emiko.

"Sorry, I've never seen it before." Emiko lied. There was no reason to worry her with all that, there was nothing they could do about it anyway.

"Well, it can't be helped... Let's go back to the others." Sachiko said disappointed and left. The same symbol as Nikka, Nikka calling Daisuke master... could he have something to do with this?