Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

189.2 - Love, Lies & Betrayal (Part 2)

Seraphim Zephyr the Third - POV;

"RIAAAAASSSS!" a shrill shriek rang out as a lean man zoomed towards us and dropped to his knees beside the charred and burnt body.

"No! No, no, no! No!" he wept, hitting the ground next to her, barely capable of looking at her corpse and certainly unable to touch her marred skin. I looked down at the scene, unable to breathe with my heart caught in my throat.

"Aero..." I managed to say as I reached out to touch his shoulder, but before I could, a sharp pain rushed through my body as a fountain of blood spewed out in front of me. I was launched backwards, flipping through the air before crashing down some twenty feet away. I coughed and sputtered as I lifted my face off of the pool of crimson liquid around me. For a moment, I was left dazed, confused and unsure of what was occurring, but the moment I examined the deep, gaping slash across my torso, everything became clear. I'd seen these types of injuries and scars before... even since my teens in fact. They were always left on an object or enemy after Aero's signature wind slashes... Aero had cut me down himself.

The Paradigm of Ventus stood up slowly, all the while glaring daggers into my half-conscious self. There was no doubt in my mind that he had seen Rias' fatal blow but just how much he had borne witness to could have greatly shifted his perception of the scene which played out before him.

"Such a shame. To think that one of the Reguluses of the Elemental Clans would betray and sacrifice the life of their ally to save himself after he lost his temper and killed men of the World Heirarchy. A pitiful ruler indeed," Vardain voiced loudly, before ascending the staircase behind him in disappearing into the night.

Those words certainly fueled Aero's rage. He marched towards me, the heavy downpour soaking into his hair and rolling down his face seeming to accentuate his sadness and pain.

"You asshole," he growled, growing nearer, "We gave our whole lives to you. Rias gave every moment of her life to push you and Sophia higher."

Arriving within melee range of me, he drove his foot into my face, breaking my nose as he flipped me over onto my back.

"She put you on her shoulder and let herself be stepped upon if it meant raising you and Sophia to a new height!And how do you repay her?" he hissed as he dropped his knee onto my open wound.

"YOU! KILLED! HER!" he bellowed, delivering a solid punch to my head after each word.

"Aero! Wait!" I gagged, "You misunderstand!"

"I understand clearly!" he snapped, unleashing an endless, volley of strikes enhanced by his wind to reach insane speeds and cause lacerations on impact, as he blurted out, "I warned her time and time again! It's because of that damned advisor of yours! He never got over her and I could tell! She told me what you said about Dyer longing for her and she laughed it off like some joke but I knew it was far more. I know exactly what this is! Revenge! If he can't have her, no one can; isn't that right?! Then you as his loyal, fucking dog took the first chance you could to make your best friend's dream come through! If he wants a woman that badly, then why didn't you just give him Sophia! That damned double crossing whore knew about this didn't she?! Why would Rias suddenly decide to come here?! I'd bet that the 'sister' she put all her faith in is the one who convinced her! You should have let your bitch of a wife satisfy him! I'm sure she loves spreading wide open for every man on the damn plan-"

His tirade was terminated prematurely by the sudden force of my right boot sinking into the front of his head. He was flung helplessly and flailed about like a ragdoll before rolling to stop a great distance away. I pounded my fist some five inches into the concrete and, flexing every muscle in my upper body, I stabilized myself as I pushed myself shakily to my feet.