Bacard runs under a second level
bridge and into an open courtyard. Daisuke is still holding onto his back and Ilsa is not too far behind. Standing in the courtyard is the doll holding the
young Bacice. Bacard orders, "Give her back!"
The doll just grins at him and then
forms its hand into claws at the throat of the slumbering baby. In a very
arrogant tone asks, "Or what? What do you think you'll do?"
Bacard grimaces. Right now he'd like
nothing more to cut that doll into a million pieces. However the fact of the
matter is right now he's powerless. As long as the doll has Bacice so
vulnerable, he can't act without risking hurting her. "All right then, what do
you want?"
The doll grins menacingly and
responds, "What do I want? I want to peel the flesh off this child and have you
watch helplessly. I want to know everything you love so that I may slowly strip
it away from you. I want to see that pain and anguish on your face right now
last an eternity knowing that I'm the cause of it."
Ilsa takes a step forward to place a
hand on the shoulder of Bacard. He quickly tells her, "Don't move. Not another
inch." Then in a much lower tone for just her to hear he adds, "Just stay
ready."
She does as she's told without
question. In her heart she knows that Bacard would never do anything to hurt
Bacice. If he wants her to just stay ready, then that is what she'll do. Bacard
will figure out something, she believes in him from the bottom of her heart.
Bacard looks at the doll and then
smirks. In his usual cocky attitude he tells it, "So you want to destroy
everything I love, huh? Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"
"Oh very cute human, maybe I should
kill her for your insolent tongue."
Bacard grins in response. "What's the
matter? Can't handle a comment or two? And here I thought you were supposed to
be some big, bad master mind manipulating Clos the way you did back there. I
would've figured someone like that could hold their own in a battle of wits."
Gloatingly the doll tells him, "You
don't even know the half of what I did that fool Clos."
Bacard replies, "Then why don't you
enlighten this human? Or is it that all you can do, boast?"
"Oh no human, I can do much more. But
do not think I'm going to allow you to manipulate me so easily. You're trying to
stall for something."
Behind the doll Daisuke starts to
flicker in and out of visibility. He may have not fully perfected his
shadow-walking skill yet, but it can still help in short usage. Bacard smiles,
"Well, then, if you're so smart then why don't you tell me what I'm stalling
for?"
The doll looks at him confused. It
doesn't have the answer. In that moment Daisuke leaps over the doll's shoulder
grabbing Bacice. Quickly the doll strikes, but it misses Bacice and cuts into
the back of Daisuke instead. Daisuke gives a click of pain.
As Bacard sprints forward he calls
out in concern, "Daisuke!"
The doll goes for a second strike. It
doesn't look like Bacard is going to get there in time. He's fast, but not
nearly fast enough. Suddenly, Bacice starts crying. She lets out a loud wail
that sounds throughout the courtyard. The doll suddenly grabs its ears as if in
horrible pain. Bacard stops as he stands by the kids. The back of Daisuke is cut
open and he's bleeding badly. However, he still looks alive, at least for the
moment. Then he looks at the doll trying to figure out exactly what's going on.
It's starting to look distorted. As the doll clutches its ears its whole body
starts to twist and bend. Suddenly it transforms into a 7 foot demon with black
skin, claw-like nails, and a feline head like a lion.
Ilsa looks on shocked as she says, "A
raksasha." Due to her shock she doesn't even realize she said the words aloud.
The cries of Bacice are starting to
die down and it looks now as if the demon is starting to regain control.
Bacard calls out, "Ilsa, get the kids
out of here!"
Ilsa asks, "But what about you?"
"I'll hold it off! Now get them out
of here!"
Ilsa picks up the kids the best she
can and starts to leave the area, abandoning Bacard against her better judgment.
As she tries to leave the raksasha turns its attention to her. Before it can act
though, Bacard leaps in with an attack. On instinct alone it quickly moves back
and out of the way. Not letting up Bacard attacks again. This time the demon is
ready though and simply parries with its forearm. Then it retaliates with a
backhand attack to Bacard. Bacard is sent flying back and slams into the wall of
a building. The demon then turns its attention back to Ilsa and the kids.
Nonchalantly the demon raises its claws towards her. Its claws extend out
towards her. They reach out a few feet and are about to hit when Bacard moves in
the way. He manages to parry a few of them out of the way, but one of them
pierces his left shoulder.
As much as it hurts, he's thankful.
If his body has to be sacrificed to save the others, then his body has served
its purpose. The raksasha holds out its other hand. It seems as if it's going to
repeat the process. With the other claw still in his shoulder, Bacard won't be
able to move out of the way and his defensive options are limited. He's in
serious trouble. Bacard glares at the demon with a strong determination in his
eyes. He's going to get out of this; even if he doesn't know how yet. But he
swears he'll make it pay for trying to hurt Bacice.
The raksasha grins at Bacard,
"Good-bye you pest."
Neither of them can see what happens
at first, but suddenly something pierces the back of the demon. In a moment of
pain the claws retract from Bacard. The something that happened is the
lion-headed sword of Valice plunged into the demon's back. He may have been late
to the show, but he wasn't just going to sit back while his sword brother was
killed by something like this.
The force in which the sword hit the
demon was tremendous as the moment from the jump off the second level only added
more power to the strike. Granted it took a bit out of him as well, but his own
health isn't as important. This beast has threatened Bacice, and he won't just
stand back and let that go unanswered. With amazing speed the raksasha turns and
hits Valice. Even though he's able to get his sword up for the parry, the sheer
force along knocks Valice back who tumbles for a moment but rolls to his feet
and looks ready to still go. It moves towards Valice, but then Bacard suddenly
moves in its path and slashes upward from the stomach all the way up to the
head. However he only gets little more than a scratch as it quickly moves back.
Higher up on the second level Elegon
and Clos reach the edge and see the events taking place lower down. Elegon
begins to get overtaken by his rage. He screams out to those below, "If Bacice
is here then ... what did you do to my sister?!"
The demon smiles, "Sister ... sister
... ah, yes, you mean the human fire wood. Such an interesting little thing, it
actually thought it could defeat me. To thank her for my amusement I left her
lying in a pool of her own blood. I bet the little thing has probably bled all
out by now."
Bacard shouts from below, "Elegon! Go
find your sister! We'll handle things here."
Elegon moves to attack the demon, but
Clos stops him. Elegon looks at him with great anger, "What are you doing?!"
Clos calmly tells him, "Which is more
important: seeking revenge for your sister's death or trying to save her life?"
Elegon looks at Clos, then down at
the demon, and then at Clos again. He knows Clos is right and heads off towards
the mansion. As Clos watches Elegon leave the area, he looks down into the
courtyard. Then he leaps off the edge and lands on the ground as if it were done
with ease. His gaze looking into the eyes of the raksasha as he says, "Now that
I know your true form, I can destroy you."
"I don't think so Clos," interrupts
Bacard. "This one's mine."
Clos doesn't look back at Bacard when
he starts to speak, "No, this one is all mine. It's personal."
Bacard replies, "Yeah, I know. That's
why you shouldn't be here. We need tactics, not revenge. I have a plan, Val and
I can handle this on our own. Besides, someone has to protect Ilsa and the kids.
I'm entrusting you with that."
Clos stays staring at the demon. Then
he responds, "Very well. I'll entrust you to this." He runs off to go catch up
to Ilsa who is trying desperately to protect Daisuke and Bacice.
Valice moves up to the side of
Bacard. Bacard tells him, "This thing is too strong to take in a straight up
fight, so we're going to have to flank it. You move around to the back and then
we'll attack it from both sides at the same time. It can only defend against one
of us."
Valice nods to him, "Right."
Valice starts to circle around the
raksasha. It just laughs at Bacard and asks, "Do you really think that's going
to work?"
Bacard follows the path of Valice
with his eyes. The wide circle he's making is keeping him well out of striking
range. He's about half way around, that's just perfect for what Bacard wants. He
then looks at the demon with a sinister grin as he answers, "Actually, I don't!"
Bacard charges straight forward,
right at the demon. It looks shocked for a moment at the blatant audacity of it.
Valice looks back at Bacard and notices. Due to his current momentum and the
distance involved, he can't just stop and adjust his course move in to help out
in time. Bacard is going to have to hold it off on its own for a while. His mind
races with thought, 'Why? Why would he do that? Why would he tell me a plan and
then not follow it? That's not like him. So what's he planning then?'
The demon looks at the foolish human
charging right into death. If he wishes to die so quickly then so be it. It
raises its claws as it says to him, "Then come and greet death head on."
Valice watches in disbelief at the
events as they unfold. He wishes he could call out or say something, but he
can't. His voice goes silent. All he can do is watch helplessly as a bystander.
In that moment it seems as if it all unfolds in slow motion. The demon plunges
its claws right into the chest of Bacard. Bacard doesn't even try to avoid it.
As the raksasha starts to smile in victory, Bacard splits his long sword in two
and slashes across the eyes of the demon. It pulls back screaming in pain.
Everyone in the area stops what they are doing to look at the commotion. The
raksasha is stumbling back holding its eyes, screaming in pain as it has just
been blinded. However, its claws are still covered in blood, the blood of
Bacard. Bacard falls to his knees, but his body is still upright. Blood is
flowing freely from his chest as he finally falls backwards. The demon suddenly
just vanishes, teleporting away to safety.
Clos and Ilsa watch from the distance
in dismay. The eyes of Ilsa start to water. Sure Bacard was a jerk, often giving
orders and just acting all in all conceited and full of himself. And it may be
true her initial attraction to him was more physical than anything else. In
their time together though, she saw a different side of him. In addition to all
that other stuff, he was always trying to look out for other people and help out
in his own odd little way. The love he always showed towards Bacice and Daisuke
couldn't be questioned. Maybe what she felt towards him wasn't love, maybe this
is just childish infatuation. This is the first time she's ever really felt
either. At the Academy she just kept her nose in a book. She has no experience
to base her feelings off of, but she can still feel her heart is breaking at
this moment. Clos takes the kids from her arms and tells her, "Go to him." She
looks at him; then starts to run over to where Bacard fell.
Valice has already moved by the side
of his fallen sword brother. Bacard is wincing in pain, but manages to muster
out, "Hey Val, you got it now, right? If it comes back you can handle it like
that, right?" He growls in pain from the wounds. He's starting to cry. "Damn
it's cold. Sorry about that Val, but you still have to be a father to Bacice.
You have something you still need to live for."
Valice holds the sword hand of
Bacard, "Don't talk like that. You have to live too. How is she supposed to go
on without her uncle?"
Bacard coughs in pain, "Yeah, she'll
miss me, but she has lots of uncles. My life hasn't meant much; maybe my death
could at least be good for something."
Ilsa kneels next to him and starts to
cry, "Don't say that! I can still heal you."
Bacard smiles weakly, "I wish you
could. But you said you were drained, remember?"
Ilsa places her hands on his chest
and tries anyways. However her magic just isn't responding. She barely has the
energy to stay standing; she doesn't have any extra to cast any magic. "No, you
can't die," she cries. "I came all this way because of you. You can't die now."
With the last of his strength he
lifts his hand up and touches her check. She places her hands over it holding it
there. Bacard struggles to speak as he mumbles out, "Well, guess if it's the
last chance I have to say it. Then Ilsa I ... lo--" The word drifts off before
he can finish.
To her it sounds like he was about to
say the word 'love.' There is no strength left in his hand and the fact she's
still holding it is the only thing keeping it in the air. "No, no, you can't say
something like that and die." She gently lowers his hand to the ground and
places her hands back over the wound. "You just can't die. I won't let you." Her
tears drip off her face and onto the wound.
Valice looks at her sympathetically.
"He means a lot to me too, but he made this decision. We should respect that
fact. He did what he thought was best for all of us."
Ilsa shakes her head, "No, I won't
accept it. I don't accept that someone should have to die so someone else can
live. I don't accept any of that." Her hands start to glow a bright golden color
the way they do when she casts the Healing Wounds on someone. Part of the wound
on the chest of Bacard starts to heal up reducing the blood loss. Then she
suddenly just collapses over on top of him. Where she managed to summon that
extra energy she's not sure, but using it like she did drained the last of her
strength as well.
