18 Wrath and gifts I
- POV General -
"HESTIA, FIGHT WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT US, I BEG YOU !!!"
"I SAID SILENCE, YOU FUCKING USELESS PIECE OF SHIT !!!"
"Aaaarg !!!"
*BAM*
Under the shocked look of her companions, Kali had just taken a knife in the back, thrown by the Lieutenant from where he was. At this moment, she had been the only one to stand up and protest against the sacrifice of her friend, carried by her powerful and irreplaceable feelings. Her courage had unfortunately led her to get hit, thus changing the total course of events by herself.
"KALI !!!"
"NOOOO !!!"
Kali had collapsed on the floor of the deck after screaming and getting wounded in her right shoulder so suddenly. Luckily, the knife had not hit any vital points or nerves only wounding her superficially but that no one knew. The moment the young Quartermaster hit the ground, Lucas and Mysie reacted immediately and couldn't help but scream for their friend.
By hitting Kali, the Lieutenant of the expedition had made a serious mistake, awakening an anger that he would be unable to calm. Joe and Edward had not said anything in front of this scene but already their glance had changed sending shivers in the back of the officers. Lucas, him, began to feel the tears going up, finding it unbearable to hear the crying of Mysie who could not even join her friend.
"AAAAAHHH !!!"
The red-haired young woman was the only one to react so intensely, her voice carried by the wind echoing loudly in the minds of those around. At that moment, all the officers had almost all stopped in front of this scene. The sound of the waves pounding against the ship's hull was so far away that time seemed to stand still. With her voice alone, Mysie carried all the sadness and anger of everyone. With her voice alone, Mysie shouted what everyone felt, stirring the bruised hearts of her companions.
"You...
...you will pay."
Suddenly, Joe and Edward's voices, both quiet, were breaking through their friend's piercing voice. They still weren't moving, but it was possible to feel the animosity they were giving off from the upper deck. How could you not feel it ? The five Hysterics closest to Kali had witnessed the cowardly and swift attack of the Lieutenant who at that moment did not have a single glance for the boys.
Why ? Because on the other side of the deck, at the very end, for the first time, Hestia was beginning to give off a very different aura than she did at the beginning. Like the people around her, the young Captain had seen one of her dearest friends get hit while trying to talk her out of sacrificing herself. Had Hestia once again made the wrong decision that had led to this disastrous situation ?
Had she made a mistake ? Had she made an unreasonable and unconscious decision ? Maybe or maybe not, no one could really say or know. There had to be a beginning to everything, pirate life was not easy and this situation might have happened no matter when or which ship was attacked. One thing was for sure, it was that the Cerberus crew had finally become truly aware of what it meant to be a pirate.
She, who had made the choice earlier to fight to the bitter end to make amends with her life, to allow her friends to get away with it. However, that didn't matter at all now because at that moment, the young blonde woman had forgotten everything. Her heart rate had quickened, her muscles had tightened, and the blood in her left hand was flowing profusely as Hestia clenched her fists almost until her bones broke.
"What..."
As the officers looked on, the heavy-breathing blonde young woman began to tremble at first gently and then more and more. Seconds passed, her body growing hotter, her muscles harder and her heart faster. She herself did not know what was happening as she was overcome with a wrath she had never known before. At that moment, her mind was sinking little by little in an unstoppable madness.
Soon, despite the condition of the seven others trapped, all eyes turned to Hestia alerted by a sense of danger. Not five minutes had passed when all of a sudden her body began to produce a slight steam visible to the naked eye. Her blonde hair hiding her face flew in the wind as the Lieutenant recoiled in instinct before uttering words in shock.
"What the.."
In the world where the six friends lived, an inexplicable energy called natural energy flowed through absolutely all living beings, enabling them to live. However, some humans resonated with it more than others, altering their bodily abilities to some degree. These changes varied from person to person and the more the host learned to control this energy, the more powerful the gift became.
However, this was not magic, since no human being was capable of producing a supernatural phenomenon, the natural energy only acting as a physical boost. Two steps were necessary to trigger an ability before one could attempt to control it gradually. The first being a physical or mental shock and the second being an immense will to power allowing the host to tap into their natural energy.
"This is..."
Hestia had awakened her gift at the age of ten during a traumatic event that left her with many scars on her body, but in that moment, her will and wrath had triggered the second stage. Her body shook, her aura changed as just the roots of her hair turned white. For the first time, the young woman was using natural energy in spite of herself, caught up in a huge will to power to avenge her friend.
"A-Awakening ? T-This woman is a...a gift user ?"
The Lieutenant was familiar with this phenomenon and had immediately understood what was happening before his eyes. At his words, Hestia finally raised her head to reveal to everyone a face quite different from those she had worn all her life. Almost distorted by the anger she felt, her eyes, always piercing until now, seemed empty, extinguished and the most incredible thing was that she was smiling.
The young blonde woman was smiling with all her teeth, showing a terrifying face to her friends and the men of the merchant ship. The crew of the Cerberus itself did not recognize their Captain, its members fearing for their lives for a split second. She seemed to have lost all reason, and what she gave off was nothing but a ball of hatred against the one who had hurt Kali, raised in a mad rage.
"KILL HER, NOW !!!"
The paralyzed officers all had hearts that could stop at any moment, unable to move, suffocating and terrified by this sudden change. However, an archer a little further to the right, still able to move, raised his bow before firing straight at Hestia. Within seconds, the arrow pierced the air with speed and lodged itself directly in the left bicep of the young Captain, who, against all odds, remained motionless.
The arrow had pierced deep into the flesh, but at no time had Hestia really moved or let a single sound come out of her mouth. On the contrary, she seemed turned off, her body still trembling as her wrath rose and she unknowingly stirred her natural energy. Then, suddenly, there it was, the young Captain began to move, waking up the trance-like and terrified officers before her.
"YAAAAAAAAH !!!"
Hestia had simply moved one foot forward before lowering herself causing a very quick reaction from her enemies who were now brandishing their weapons. As one man, the fifteen officers threw themselves on her to execute the orders of their Lieutenant but it was already too late. Everything was happening very fast and the first three officers to arrive near her, in an instant, fell to the ground, dead, without having been able to touch her.
"Aaaaaarg !!!"
"Uuuurg !!!"
"I...aaaaah !!!"
*SPLASH*
Hestia had moved as if she wasn't really in control of her body anymore, moving like a puppet before scattering the blood of the three unfortunates on the ground. With her black blade in her right hand, in one motion, the young woman had slit the officers' throats cutting their heads. Her left arm was turning more and more red from the blood that was flowing, she didn't move but it was useless, the butchery had begun.
The blow had been very fast, separating the head from the body of her victims who had fallen to the ground in a geyser of red and thick liquid. Splashing partially on Hestia's face, at that moment, something besides her anger was triggered inside her. The blood and the screams made her heart pound and despite her inability to think, the young female Captain wanted more, it still wasn't enough to satisfy her.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ?? GO !!!"
The impatient Lieutenant spat out his orders, but the beast he had awakened by shooting Kali was already unleashed and ready for revenge. As the remaining twelve men obeyed, Hestia's empty eyes fell back on her friend who lay on the ground unconscious...it was the click. Before even one more weapon could reach her, the young blonde woman raised her head to the sky before screaming with all her might as if to calm her pain and wrath.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~"
Yet, this scream that was as powerful as it was terrifying turned into laughter as the weapons, little by little, came dangerously close to her position. The body still trembling, the eyes revolted, suddenly, a new fury gripped her soul. Dropping her sword, Hestia threw herself at the men with a surprisingly frenzied rage. She was fast, very fast, and within seconds, her arm was sinking into a rib cage.
*CRACK*
The sound of breaking bones had been dry, as Hestia's bare hand went through the first man's body with consummate ease. With her left arm, while the arrow was still stuck in her flesh, she grabbed the throat of the second man before crushing it with a simple pressure of her fingers. Everything had happened very quickly and already two new bodies were thrown to the ground in a terrible and unrecognizable state.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !!!!"
"This is..."
"She's crazy !!!"
As if she didn't know what she was doing anymore, as blood covered more and more of her face, Hestia screamed with all her might. As if she had lost all human capacity, seeing Kali lying on the ground had finished plunging her into a bloody rage. Thus, in front of the officers who had orders to kill her, she was raging without even seeming to understand what she was doing or why.
The shock of the attack on Kali had awakened the second phase of her gift that she had possessed since the age of 10. Indeed, using natural energy, Hestia was able to increase her physical power and speed tenfold, making her stronger and faster than the average human. Of course, she was still in the early stages of her abilities, but for the first time, she had unknowingly used her body's natural energy.
"Aaaarg !!!"
"NO !!!"
*CRACK*
Carried by a blindingly predatory trance, the demon David Groks had spoken of a few days ago had finally appeared. Unable to control and caught in a destructive rage, the young Captain was tearing flesh, breaking bones, spilling more and more blood. With her bare hands, she twisted the necks of the officers, exploded their skulls and all this with a terrifying face that her friends did not know at all.
Hestia had gone completely insane and with tenfold strength and speed she was a real killing machine. Her only hands were her weapons and the more she killed, the more alive she felt, taking her sadistic side to a whole new level. The men screamed, begged but nothing could stop her, the young woman spilled blood, broke the bones, tore the flesh like a real bloodthirsty demon.
"KILL HER !!!"
No matter how much the Lieutenant shouted his orders, no matter how much his men complied by dropping their weapons on her, but nothing seemed to stop her. Some of the sword blows hit her in the arm, the shoulder and even sometimes in the stomach but nothing could stop her. Hestia's hands were her weapons and despite the pain she didn't feel at that moment, like a wild beast, with a demonic frenzy she didn't weaken.
Killing, destroying, exploding, decimating, killing more and more, more blood, more screams, more bones breaking but it was not enough, nothing could quench her thirst for revenge. Always more life and soul to avenge Kali who had been the first to suffer the blow of her mistake as Captain. Hestia howled, roared, her eyes were no longer those of a human being and her speed, her strength was similar to that of a cornered tiger.
The first men had their heads cut off, one had his neck scrambled and another had his rib cage punctured. The beautiful blonde covered in blood didn't stop any more than she continued crushing skulls under her fingers, gouging out eyes and even tearing off limbs. Hestia was almost smiling and despite her loss of human reasoning, only death left a wild glint in her empty gray-green eyes.
"P-Please ! M-Mercy !!"
The last of the fifteen men who had stood against her was on the ground in the midst of his former comrades, hands out in front, pleading. However, the young woman was not listening, or rather did not seem to hear, still immersed in her predatory trance. Without even giving her time to say anything else, under the horrified gaze of the others, Hestia threw herself on him to tear his throat out with her teeth.
On the deck, in a few minutes, ripped out eyes, still warm entrails, dislocated limbs littered the ground and stained it a brilliant red under the sun's rays. It was a real hecatomb, so much so that in a few minutes, there was not a single officer left in front of the young blonde woman. She was wounded, covered in blood, but the fifteen men were nothing but an unrecognizable pile of flesh.
"DIE !!!"
*BANG*
Suddenly, a shot rang out from the poop deck as the smell of gunpowder was carried by the ocean wind. The Lieutenant, after witnessing this scene that made him tremble, had decided to act himself. The bullet, much faster than Hestia, was going to lodge itself in her left shoulder making her instantly recoil. Yet she didn't fall and as she spat out the flesh she had in her mouth, she began to laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~
Her laughter was crazy, powerful, hysterical and even worthy of a nightmare that unfortunately no man could wake up from. However, this shot had awakened Hestia who at that moment seemed to regain little by little her senses as she laughed. Was she really herself to laugh after all that ? Even she didn't know, but her desire for blood, screaming and despair still hadn't dried up.
"A-Approach...YOU INSANE DEVIL !"
At the very end, the chief in charge of security, shaking like a leaf in turn, was still pointing his pistol at the young woman in the distance. He wanted to finish off this crazy Captain who finally had never made him feel such fear in his entire career. He stared at her and she challenged him with her eyes as she licked her bloody lips. Hestia was ready and waiting for him to shoot when suddenly, something unexpected happened.
*wooosh*
*THUNK - BAM*
An arrow out of nowhere had struck his weapon, knocking it out of his hand before it crashed with a thud onto the deck. Since Hestia had gone into her frenzied, murderous rage, the Lieutenant hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. However, that arrow had awakened him from his state of hypnosis, so to speak, for the young Captain before him.
"What..."
Turning his head to his left, the bearded man could see where this surprise attack came from before falling from even higher. In front of him, Mysie who was still near Kali, her eyes full of tears but filled with anger, had taken advantage of her friend's condition to fire her bow. The young woman with red hair had observed everything and past the shock, had not been able to bear to see Hestia getting hurt again.
"What ?!!"
The most incredible thing was that in turn, after witnessing such tragic, violent and bloody scenes, the root of her hair changed color. Turning dark brown, this change proved that she too had awakened her gift completely, entering the second stage. Mysie had fired with precision and despite her trembling hands and watery eyes, had fired without hesitation taking advantage of the confusion.
"L-Lieutenant !!!"
"Them too !!!!"
Yet, the chief had no time to deal with this as he was already being challenged by the shouts of two of his officers to starboard and port. Before his eyes, it was Lucas, Edward, and Joe's turn to have the roots of their hair change, just like Hestia and Mysie before them. Their auras had changed and the three men who had been cornered had risen to their feet, carried by their Captain's rage, a wrath and a desire to destroy in their eyes.
"I-Impossible !"
The Lieutenant couldn't believe it, the four who had seemed so helpless, so weak and so overwhelmed until now, had changed. Natural energy was now flowing through their bodies and it was only a matter of time before he discovered their gifts. Five gift users were on that merchant ship, one of whom was totally insane and had killed fifteen of his men.
Only half of them were left, all of them trembling after the disgusting show the young blonde woman had given them and unable to move. Were they cursed ? Of all the times possible, why awaken their gifts now ? No officer had the answer, but all of them without exception were regretting to be facing them, almost without a doubt knowing the bloodbath that would follow.
"KILL THEM ALL !!! NOW OR WE ARE ALL DEAD !!!!"
The Lieutenant had shouted his order with a shudder, also knowing what would happen to them if they didn't act now to kill them. Yet it was already too late, for an anger almost as great as Hestia's had gripped their hearts and souls. It had all started with a mistake, a hasty decision made by Hestia Hellfire who had seen her friend fall before it was made, but it would soon end.
It was now the turn of Joe, Mysie, Edward, Lucas and even Kali to offer a scene worthy of the Cerberus crew to their Captain who had fought like a beast. The game was just beginning and despite a tragic and painful start, the wrath of the Hysterics was about to fall on this ship that had underestimated them.
