The Guarded Princess

LIV

"Nooooooooo!!!" Lucy screamed.

The others had all seen what happened and were at a loss for words as their faces paled in horror. The demon had begun rampaging and having noticed Lucy, it intended to strike her with its tail but, Kouen who had rushed in was struck instead. Now, he laid on the ground in a bloody mess, a gaping hole at his abdomen. No one dared to move and the only sound was that of Lucy's agonizing cry.

The demon began to move and Sinbad immediately dodged its attack.

"Continue fighting! If we let our guards down, there's no telling what would happen!" he ordered.

Koumei gritted his teeth and continued fighting. "Understood..."

"To dare lay your filthy hand on En-nii," Kouha's voice shook with rage as tears streamed down his eyes. "I'll never forgive you!"

"Don't think you can get away after harming Kouen-niisama!" Kougyoku yelled.

"Hakuryuu," Hakuei said, gripping her spear.

"Understood," Hakuryuu narrowed his eyes. "I won't let it dare lay its hand on them. Especially Lucy-neesan."

As the Kou siblings went into a rageful stance, the others supported them but only with a painful and tormented expression wiped on their faces. They didn't think that the demon would be this powerful but it might've been expected considering its long slumber. Battling in the skies, they could only hope that they would have enough strength to last. But, they all knew the truth. They would end up going down sooner or later. They weren't omnipotent.

Lucy had crumbled down to her knees as her whole body trembled. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide with terror as she saw the pool of blood Kouen laid in. She had let go of her staff, her djinn equip slowly undoing itself. Crawling towards him, she picked him up ever-so-gently and held his head in her arms, the blood slowly trickling down onto her white hands.

"Kou...en?" she looked down at him.

He remained motionless and Lucy stared at him, the thought of him slowly dying in front of her not yet sinking in. He was immortal but the term "immortal" only referred to his physical being. He wasn't God and he was susceptible to physical attacks. Yet, he went and did something so reckless. Lucy looked down at her hand and seeing all the blood, she was reminded of that night. Her breathing became ragged as her eyes widened with fear.

"No...no...," she shook her head. "Noooooooooooo!!!"

She cried out mournfully as tears welled in her eyes, rolling down in endless streams. She continued crying with a desperation and her voice echoed throughout the entire island, entering the ears of all those that were nearby. Their hearts ached with grief as they felt her sorrow and woe. It was just like the time they first met her out at sea but worse. It tormented them and nothing but despair filled them.

She held Kouen in her arms and continued to cry and scream in pain. By now, she was wallowing in despair. To her, Kouen was everything to her. He was the one who always understood her, stood by her, cared for her, protected her...yet now, there was nothing she could do to save him. The months and days that they had spent together were the ones that she treasured the most and she had thought that she would continue to spend her days with him but now, within just a split second, everything disappeared from her grasp.

"Kouen!!! Kouen...don't leave me," she cried. "I still haven't given you my answer yet!"

But he didn't reply which only worsened Lucy's grief. Despair overwhelmed her and she couldn't think of anything anymore. She continued letting out screams of agony and by now, her voice had turned into a weapon itself. The clouds in the horizon darkened as they began to move in. Thunder rumbled in the skies as the waves along the shore crashed violently. The ground before her turned barren, every living thing withering away. Tears streamed down her face and landed like pearls on Kouen's face. As she continued to cry her in her sorrowful tune, the white rukh that had initially flowed around her were beginning to take on a change.