Chapter 16: Nana's Drive
The Huntress was unaffected by Nana's threats. She had smelled her out, knew about her from their previous encounter, and was built right now to effectively overpower Takabi. In addition to the Hunter by her side, she had everything she needed to beat Nana and be on her way with the boys.
Not that Nana was going to make it easy for them.
Light shined brightly around her body, brown eyes glowing faintly as she muttered to herself quietly.
"Enchant. Physical, Agility, Defense."
The Hunter ran at her, his feet stomping loudly in the silence of the trees. Nana leapt ahead, placing a swift kick to its cheek and tossing it away past the Huntress.
"Enchantment spells. Fairly old fashioned."
Her tone was different, and the psychotic mentality she had a moment ago had faded rather fast. She stood there, arms crossed as the Hunter got to its feet and began running again.
Nana looked back at the twins, bringing her fingers back to shield them in a heavy twister. If she lost sight of one of them, her hope would be that they couldn't break her shielding.
Her hands came back around, raising in the air, summoning a wave of wind from under the Hunter's feet, knocking it off balance. She then leapt, willing the wind to shape like a spear and pierced the creature's shoulder. Deeper and deeper she drove it, hoping to immobilize it.
To her shock, the Hunter merely opened its mouth, saliva coating its teeth as it began to groan in frustration at her. She pulled back, feeling something pop on her arm, the shoulder of her shirt ripping in a small explosion.
If not for her spells before, she might've been seriously injured.
Nana jumped back, landing in a crouch when her eyes fell on the Huntress, her fingers twirling with a small light around it.
"This is a two on one battle, you know. Why bother with this anyway?" She raised her open palm, another explosion ringing out in front of Nana. The girl shielded her eyes, rolling out of the way when the Hunter attempted to hit her with his shoulder. It spun around, large arm reaching back and grabbing her ankle, squeezing tight enough that she felt it crack.
She screamed in pain, then felt all the air leave her lungs when she was flung over and slammed into the ground on her back, the earth under her shattering as if it were butter. Her body slumped and she went limp for a moment, before picking her head up slowly, releasing the air in her lungs in a howl and forcing the Hunter off of her.
When she attempted to stand, she felt the bones of her ankle creak and roar in excruciating pain, but she grit her teeth and swallowed the hurt filled tears.
"Someone's looking a little worse for wear," The Huntress commented. Her palm was aimed at Nana, a needle in her left hand's grasp. "You can't possibly hope to win."
Nana took a deep breath, beginning to build up magic and air in her body. "I have to try. I refuse to let you take them."
Her tone was low, hair flowing wildly with the breeze. She took to the air, gliding quickly at the Hunter.
She had a plan, just needed some time.
Her good foot struck again, and she discharged a tiny bit of magic upon contact to deal more damage. Quickly, she flew back, regaining her magic power quickly and forcing more of it to build in her body.
The Huntress threw the needle, the tiny prick flying by and cutting Nana's cheek, before exploding massively behind her. The impact shook her brain, vision blurring and body dropping from the air a bit. Her senses came back to her just in time for her to dodge the Hunter's fist.
The demon bent and twisted its arm, reaching out and gripping her left limb. Squeezing down and jerking its wrist, her left forearm snapped under the sudden movement. Before she could scream, The Huntress willed another explosion against her throat, then her stomach and thigh, laughing madly.
The Hunter spun her around in the air, tossing her once again into the soil before kicking her away and sending her flying through the trees, her shoulder giving way to the branch that easily tore through her like it was nothing.
Pain soared through her body, to the point she couldn't even manage a scream from her sore throat. Her vision blurred, and for a moment she passed out.
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"You scared," Young Takabi's voice asked her.
Nana came to. A memory? An old one. One of the first few times she came over to play, and Takabi had coaxed her into climbing one of the trees with him and Kairas. His small hand reached down from the branch he was on, "Come on. I won't let you fall," He laughed.
She shook her head, hugging the tree tightly.
Too scared to go up, too scared to crawl down.
Kairas looked down at her, hands behind his head and face one of disappointment. "Don't be so weak, Nana. If Takabi can do it, surely you can too."
"Hey!" The boy pouted, but continued smiling at her. "Don't mind him. I've got your back, okay?"
"B-b-ut it's so high up!" She pleaded, but Takabi wouldn't take no for an answer. "How can you be so brave?"
"I dunno." He said when she finally reached up and took his hand in hers. "I guess I just don't care too much if I get hurt. Life is fun with a little scraps now and then, at least that's what dad says." He pulled her up, the girl taking deep breaths once she was sitting on the branch.
Takabi got to his feet, arms stretched at his sides in amazement. "See! It's fun!"
Fun. He had a funny way of describing things like this.
"You're wild." She said, not seeing the amusement of the danger they seemed to be in.
A fall from that height could actually kill them, at least that's what Nana thought.
Takabi shrugged it off, rubbing his nose. "It's okay, as long as you're tough." A squirrel poked its head down in front of him. Startled, he lost his footing and fell from the branch, hitting the soil in a quick smash. Nana almost called out to him, but was shocked when he sat up and rubbed his head. Dirty, but he was smiling. "See! I'm alright!"
"This is such a dumb memory," She said, her voice returning to her in her present age. "... Thank you, though.. I have to give this my all. Besides, if I give out, I'll lose you.."
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Her eyes shot up. Weakly, she pulled herself free of the branch, blood oozing from her wound and lips. Slowly she rose, the two creatures watching her with an unsurprised glare. Clutching her fist, she exhaled, pushing the pain from her mind and continuing to build up magic in her body, focusing it in her good arm.
Too weak to stand straight. Mind shot from the pain, and the lingering voice in her head telling her to give up.
She refused to quit. He wouldn't and neither would she. That memory was one of many that flooded her mind, reminded her of why she fell for him, and looked up to him as more than just a friend. More than just a boyfriend.
He showed her how to put away doubts and worry, say fuck it and try anyway. She��s not bred for battle like him. In her eyes, she wanted to be as strong as him, no, stronger than, so that when situations like this happen, she can keep him safe. She owed him for who she became, and wanted to become.
"I'm.. Not dead yet… You hairy bitch," Her words came out with a strong, but false venom. She could barely stand, and figured the Huntress could pick out the lack of strength in her voice.
"Angels. All so stubborn. I'll never understand the false sense of pride you have in your ideals. In the end, the Goddess' will erase that." The Huntress snapped her fingers. "Kill her. Make sure you break her soul before her body too."
The Hunter picked up a foot, which broke into a slow jog before a full blown run.
She took a deep breath, feeling her arm heat up. Her eyes flashed, magic beginning to leak from her pores, surging around her quickly. Raising her palm, she sucked in a lungful of air.
The Huntress raised an eyebrow, but soon, her expression to one of shock and she threw her own arm forward as Nana spoke. "I won't let you have him!"
The air pressure heated up, swirling like a vortex that swallowed the Hunter. It rushed past, sweeping up the Huntress, the hot air smashed down trees, forming a massive twister.
"VENTAS!!" Nana cried the name of her spell, just as it exploded in a heavy wave of air pressure.
Trees ripped from the soil, swirling in the air into the sky. Soil and earth caved in from her mana, ground quaking under its weight.
Nana felt her body go limp as it calmed, her right arm now as useless as the left. She dropped to her knees, breathing in heavy, forehead sticky with sweat and hair. Her eyes fell on a massive crater a mile ahead of her.
"I… I did it… I won…" She muttered with hoarse words and a dry throat.
All of her mana was drained, and if she didn't get help, she might've died from magic exhaustion. Her eyes left the trail, only for a moment to look at the boys.
The shield was gone, but their bodies lay undisturbed. Takabi's wounds were healing, his intestines pulling themselves back into his stomach as it sealed up. The markings of their Gems were still prominent.
"I gotta… Carry them back… Too…" Pain ripped through her arm. She looked, slowly, at the thick needle sticking out from her bicep. Eyes wide, she looked ahead of her again, color draining from her face when the Huntress stood up, breathing heavy with a hole in her side. The Hunter wasn't moving at first, but soon it slowly rose to its feet, looking at her and laughing.
"All of that…." She muttered, the two walking along the path of the spell. Despite being swept up, they managed to avoid the actual explosion a mile away. "All of that… And I missed?"
The Huntress was breathing hard from her wound, clicking her tongue. "You got too ambitious… Should've made sure we were both in a position where we couldn't escape." A small explosion erupted in her palm. "If I had noticed a moment too late, we would���ve been dead for sure. Though the explosion didn't do much from a distance, I commend you for pushing us this far on your own."
Nana grit her teeth, trying to move forward to continue fighting, but her legs gave out. One from exhaustion, the other from pure pain. Her face hit the soil, the pain she pushed down now rising to the surface in the form of angry tears.
Her best spell. Her strongest, and it did nothing, but break the bones in her arm and made her defensely. The Hunter walked towards her, raising its fist into the air. Quickly, it came back down, and Nana shut her eyes.
I'm sorry.. I'm so damn sorry, Takabi… I tried my best…
She waited. And waited. And waited. Yet her death never came. Slowly, through the tears, her eyes raised up, a black figure standing between her and the Hunter, holding its fist back from hitting her. Along the left side of its back, violet tattoos glowed brightly. Despite the pain clouding her mind, it didn't take much to put two and two together.
"Takabi," She uttered.
"The FUCK are you doing to my WOMAN!" The boy yelled, his black back shooting out wings that stretched out wide, violet eyes glowing brightly. His body was in overdrive. Anger fueled the blood in his veins, and the darkness inside was ready to cause havoc.