Anari
As the barrel of Gio's gun slowly began to spin, I ducked behind a half-wall, avoiding a volley of bullets from killing me... From the beginning, I found myself at a disadvantage, taking cover from someone with the high ground…
How do I get up those stairs..? One good slash should be enough to break that gun, but I need to get in close to do that… And there are only three staircases… Three ways for me to get up there…
"Come on, Anari! You don't plan to hide all day, do you?"
I peeked past the wall, trying to track Gio's movements, only for him to fire immediately. Instantly, I pulled myself back behind cover, careful to stay low.
With his skinny frame... that gun probably makes him sluggish. If I could make him drop it long enough, I could get up the stairs... It might take him too much time to get a shot in, especially if I rush him...
"Hey, Gio! Why don't you fight me with that sword instead!" I glanced over the wall- very briefly. "You're not fighting like a man!"
"A man chooses the way he fights! So stop hiding, unless that's how you fight!"
Maybe I should've stopped at the armory first…
My fingers were shaking as the realization of what I'd gotten myself into set in… Only then did I understand what it must've felt like for Kozuna… fighting to save the city… Only in my case, the city didn't know of what could potentially become an Ozukashi Civil War… In some sense, the pressure was probably more weighty… I was the only one who could do anything, meaning the whole of the Ozukashi had fallen on my shoulders…
Footsteps began clunking down the steps slowly…
Is Gio making a move..?
With short, shallow breaths, I practically dragged my feet backward… I stayed low, choosing to put some distance between Gio and myself… Taking him out wasn't the first objective: securing a seat at the command center was.
Something clicked inside, causing my head to instinctively swerve around. I caught a flash of silver flying my way- a blade aimed for my neck.
"Sh-Shit!" I shrieked, dropping to my feet and scampering away.
"What? I thought you wanted a straight-up fight!"
Gio pursued me; he didn't give me a chance to find a route up the stairs. And then, between a set of half-walls and little room to juke him around, I found myself fidgeting and almost forgetting to breathe.
All I could do… was grip my sword with both hands, attempting to keep calm…
Gio won't hesitate to kill… But he probably thinks I will… I need to concentrate…
"Show me, Anari… Show me what you can do…"
I lowered my head, keeping my vision locked on my target.
Wait a minute… Where's his gun?
"Still scanning me, huh? Well if you won't make a move, I WILL!"
The force of the still air in the room instantly swirled violently as Gio lunged at me. By then, I'd noticed the crazy spring he had in his initial step… When he brought down his sword on me, Gio carried the same level of tenacity that shifted the wind.
I parried, only to watch my blade begin to crack. After just a single collision…
My mouth was almost left fully agape at the short-lived glimpse, but my body got itself out of the way fast enough. I wasn't dumb enough to believe I had enough physical strength to push Gio's weapon back and go on the offensive so quickly.
But that was about all I could expect as I played simply to survive…
My back still kinda hurts from that man-beast… Even though I got discharged from the hospital… But I can't just fight inflexibly… If I do, it's only a matter of time… Gio will keep coming at me with strikes like these until I drop…
My eyes darted around the room as fast as they could, and my feet followed by hopping atop a half-wall. For a brief minute, I thought getting the high ground was a good move, but I quickly realized the mistake I'd made.
Gio laughed as he nearly sliced off my ankle…
I wobbled in place upon landing, and his quick reaction didn't help at all. Thankfully, I managed to get back to the floor before he could cut my foot right off, but by then, blood was already gushing out… And it was hard to walk, let alone perform fancy footwork… The only benefit I found from my stupid action was spying the location of Gio's gun: atop the stairs.
"Nnnghh…" I groaned, staring down the cocky councilor.
Again, Gio took the opportunity to try and decapitate me. It was obviously his favorite thing to do… Eyes enlarged, my reflexes guided me into leaning back and watching the blade glide right over the tip of my nose.
I slipped to the ground in a red splash, using all my muscles to painstakingly spring backward and to my feet, just as Gio redirected his blade for my torso. I did manage to evade- by the skin of my teeth- but his sword smashed into the floor, leaving behind a lengthy indentation.
The floor was literally metal, and he had enough strength to leave a noticeable depression.
That hole in the ground… It could've been a hole in my chest… I can't take my eyes off Gio like I did last time… But… I need to find his gun if I wanna have a fighting chance…
I stumbled backward, grunting in the process and gritting my teeth… Finally, some adrenaline was beginning to kick in, and the pain in my leg began to vanish, though the effects didn't… Blood loss was actively taking a growing toll…
Gio bolted at me with a sword swing once again, which I'd prepared to evade, only to watch him let go of his weapon, allowing it to fly off into the half-wall. My eyes naturally followed the weapon, confused, only to feel the kick of a steel-toe boot slam into the side of my stomach.
My chest puffed out briefly before the force of his kick actually caught up and sent me crashing into the wall, just inches away from Gio's sword. I almost couldn't bring myself to move after that, holding my ribcage, as Gio took hold of his sword just as quick as he'd released it…
I need to fight to win… The longer this fight… drags on… The closer… I am to… death…
My life flashed before my eyes.
Gio removed his sword from the wall with ease and such finesse that he'd spun in place before attempting to cut my head off yet again. He gave me no time to think, not that it would've helped much…
Letting out a quick breath, I ducked out of the way, landing a small cut on Gio's side as I avoided death once again. And only after making that one small step toward victory did I choose to make a break for the consoles…
Not that Gio planned on making it easy…
I may have run up the stairs as fast as possible, but Gio followed faster. By the time I was able to lay a single finger on the gun, he had slammed his foot into my face. I rolled away, groaning loudly… At that point, standing was beginning to become damn-near impossible…
"Hurghhh..." I groaned, stabbing my sword into the floor while pulling myself to my feet.
Gio licked the lips of his sinister smirk…
"You're really this set on surviving, huh? And to think I've been being merciful…"
"Why don't you listen? I already told you, I'll be the one... to kill you!"
"I see. It's not that you're set on surviving, but that you're set on dying a slow, agonizing death…"
As I took a deep breath, with Gio awaiting my next move patiently, I shot forward and slashed the barrels of his machine gun right off. Finally, a proud little smirk grew on my face. But it was followed by Gio cutting into my defenseless left arm, and my vision subsequently getting more blurry.
I shook my head and hastily took several steps back… As I glanced about, everything was beginning to motion-blur…
Not good… I can barely get a visual on this chump…
"I think it's about time I wrap this up. This is starting to become a bother, Anari. I still have to go track down that traitor… Maybe kill him too, or worse…"
"What?"
Gio glared at me, making a slow approach.
"I'm gonna kill Shin, just like I'm gonna kill you, Anari. Is that so surprising?"
"Don't speak a word of his name… Shin isn't your pawn, and you don't get to decide who lives and dies on a whim… Who the hell do you councilors think you are?"
"We're the people that run the show," Gio laughed, resting the sharp end of his sword at my neck.
My body was trembling, but it wouldn't move any further. Still, I stared down Gio without flinching. I knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of watching me grovel at his feet and beg for my life…
The whole time, I'd been holding my sword in both hands, but as Gio pulled his weapon away to take my head off, at last, I left the handle in only my left hand. And my left arm was the one with blood running down it, I couldn't even feel it, but my body just… moved on its own. Faster than even Gio could react.
His sword fell straight to the ground, with the hand attached to it, though no longer attached to his actual arm. All that was left on Gio's wrist was the stub… Eyebrows raised and eyes wide, Gio almost froze in total shock.
Gio screamed out loud and stepped back, grasping his forearm so intensely that the blood nearly ceased to keep flowing. But despite my sudden response, it wasn't like I was in shape to do much more… My breathing was growing heavy; the light was dimming…
Now… It's my turn to do some damage… He needs… two arms to effectively use that weapon…
With Gio still reeling, I slashed his chest wide open with a single movement, and from there, I continued the assault, leaving marks in his body that began to resemble the paths that made up the council facility labyrinth… My mind was going blank. At some point, thoughts weren't even existent anymore…
I said I'd save them… and… that wasn't a lie…
"Anari, you..!"
Gio stopped his shrieking and collected himself; somehow, he was still standing, despite arguably taking more direct hits than me… He took hold of his sword, breathing slowly and harshly… But as he took more steps toward me, Gio just… stopped moving. Out of nowhere too.
Once again, his weapon fell…
Did… Did I… win..?
The councilor fell face-first into the floor, allowing me to let my guard down at long last…
But that was when I noticed blood draining from his head- a place I never once struck.
Wait… Is that… a gunshot wound..?
My gaze shifted to the left, where Shin was standing, at the base of the stairs. He'd fully geared himself up, complete with plenty of weapons and accessories to boot. Shin hurried up the stairs just as I collapsed. All that pain was really kicking in…
"Sorry it took me so long to get here, Anari… You must've had a… hard time." Shin stared at what became the corpse of Gio and shuddered, pulling a first-aid kit from his bag. "I'll patch you up, then we'll make these curse fields work to our advantage, okay?"
"Shin… thanks."
"What for? Treating your wounds is the very least I can do… I… captured you, and Kozuna, and Nikai… And I never wanted to. I was… more scared of what would happen to me, then what would happen to the people that… cared about me… I'm worthless."
I sat up and smiled, shaking my head.
"Yeah, I know you did all that, and why… Stupid. I'm thanking you for… finding the courage to stand on your own feet, and join me. Starting today, you're part of my new team."
"New team?"
"Yeah. When all this shit blows over, you and me… Kozuna… Nikai… Yvira… We'll be a five-man squad. And we'll go on missions together, and protect each other. More hands, plus three people with the powers of curses… We won't be able to lose." I glanced around briefly. "Tyuyo, you can come out now! Everything is okay!"
Shin, for once, closed his eyes and shined a tiny smile. He finished dressing my wounds and helped me to my feet, looking away.
"I- Th-thanks… Anari…"
"Now, let's get Kozuna and Nikai outta their cages!"
As Tyuyo left his hiding place to join us atop the center platform, Shin approached the consoles and began working them like nobody's business. Two large red buttons made it easy to turn the curse activation and deactivation fields on and off.
Shin made sure to unpack his gear bag to equip me and even Tyuyo with weapons. He was carrying an assortment of rifles, pistols, grenades, medical packs, a damn rocket launcher, and more…
How the hell did he lug all of this stuff up here..?
"Listen, when I deactivate the anti-curse fields, an alarm is going to go off. The councilors are the only ones who know the password to shut it off, but it's not like Gio would've cooperated anyway… So, when I press the button, soldiers are gonna start flooding in here- hence the gear bag… We need to hold this position until Nikai and Kozuna arrive. Assuming they do, that is…"
"Oh, they will. Nikai won't abandon his brother, he'll tear through this whole facility to find Tyuyo. And Kozuna wouldn't abandon his friends. It's just a matter of how long it'll take them to get here."
"I… guess you're right…" Shin took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"
I glanced at Tyuyo, handing him a pistol.
Hopefully this plan doesn't go up in flames…
"Do it, Shin. I'm ready."
Shin nodded and pressed the buttons in sequence, shutting off the deactivation fields and turning on the activation ones… He stared at his curse seal, narrowing his eyes like he was zoning out.
"You good?"
"Yeah, y-yeah… I'm good…" Shin mumbled, shaking himself out of the short-lived trance.
Alarms blared throughout the room and the entire council facility; soon enough, the halls just outside echoed with the constant rumbling of aggressive footsteps. It wasn't just a handful of soldiers. They were gonna come in waves, and a lot of them…
Holding a rifle in hand, I crouched behind one of the consoles directly next to the center staircase, watching the door. I might've still been in pain, but at least I wasn't dead like a certain councilor, who Shin tossed down a flight of stairs…
Nikai had better be able to control himself by now… We really don't need to be dealing with his transformation running amok at the moment… Keep him in check and get here fast, Kozuna…