Deox Wars: Departure (Editing!)

Chapter Nine

Ash bolted upright, breathing heavily.

“What…?”

He glanced around at his surroundings, remembering that he was in the Negi’s world now, but he couldn’t see anything past the thick, dark fog that covered the area. The sky was a pallid gray, and the atmosphere of the area weighed heavily on his entire body. Ash shifted his hand, then recoiled immediately at the feeling of wetness between his fingers. Nervously examining the dark substance dripping from his hand, his breath stuck painfully in his throat. Blood.

Suddenly the smell of it was everywhere, and he felt sick. Without thinking, he moved to wipe the blood on his jacket, only come to the horrifying realization that he was already soaked in it.

“What the…!?”

Following the trail along the grass, Ash peered through the fog for the source of all the blood. A mane of black and white hair and furry black ears came into view, and tears welled in his eyes.

“No…Hyli…?” He reached out for her, and as he did, the fog cleared away to reveal Agnion lying beside her, his white fur darkened and matted with more blood.

Slowly the fog cleared up, and Ash realized that he was surrounded by his friends, lying dead around him. And he was covered in their blood.

This is all your fault, you know, A voice that he recognized as Diel’s echoed in his mind.

“Diel…?! Y-you did this! I’ll…”

You killed them. The voice came sharply. You’re the monster.

Ash shook his head, the tears in his eyes falling freely. “No, I …they’re my friends!”

Their blood is on your hands.

Ash pressed his hands against the sides of his head, willing Diel gone.

You are the only one to blame.

“No! I’m…I’m not…! I-I didn’t mean to!”

Ash’s eyes flew open once again, but instead of a field, he lay in a lab of some sort, strapped to a table by a pair of metal clasps. Summoning his claw, he broke the clasps easily and tore free, dislodging several wires in the process. He paused to catch his breath, arms and legs trembling.

“What’s going on now…?”

His vision blurred suddenly, and for a moment, he worried that it might be failing. When he removed his hand after clearing his eyes however, it was only wet with tears. Had he been crying?

He remembered his dream with a jolt, that awful dream…

Ash looked to his left, almost afraid of seeing Hyli lying dead beside him, but there was only a wall. A glance to the right showed the rest of the black room, with a single door standing ajar at the far end. Steadying himself, Ash ventured out of the room and into a long hallway, lit only by the flickering of a light coming from the only other door in the area. Pressing a hand against the door, he could feel vibrations and pulses of electricity coming from the other side. He placed his hand on the doorknob, but didn’t turn it. If his friends were on the other side, then he definitely wanted to go inside, but the images form his dream kept replaying in his mind. His hands shook so hard that keeping a grip on the door proved difficult.

It was just a dream, Ash…he tried to tell himself. It wasn’t real. Just the Negi messing with your head, your friends are fine!

Taking a deep breath, he shoved the door open in one swift motion.

Immediately, several pairs of red eyes locked on him. His friends all lay on beds similar to the one he had been on, surrounded by Negi. The Negi were drawing some sort of blue energy from them, and it took Ash a moment to realize he was watching the Negi drain their positive energy.