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Kotomine_Rin:
Indra

"I like you." The attack was intercepted admirably, and the counter was beautiful, in its own way. But the monster had already devoured such techniques. Techniques even more glorious than this. Brave heroes, the mightiest of them all, all fell to the beast.

Passion.

Technique.

Power.

They had it all. Wondrous warriors of all eras. So why did they die? Why did Indra come out on top?
The black beast let go of the lance and spun faster than you could blink. It was then, as its feet smacked against Entheo's jaw - that they'd learn of the true terror of this monster. It wasn't its overwhelming technique. It wasn't its unsurpassed speed. It wasn't even its ungodly brute force. This disaster couldn't be categorized as merely fast, skilled or strong.

Because Indra's power was genuine.

Blows to the jaw had the power to rattle a man's brain. The shaking from the impact was enough to seriously concuss a man even without their strength differences.

Kotomine_Rin:
Lawrence

Damn... this wasn't good. A glancing blow almost knocked the life out of him. The moment she started sinking, he made a run for it. You'd never think a man as frailas him would slam his feet on grimy muck so intensely, but he ran. Faster, faster than you'd ever believe. After all, he was a coward, hiding in the shadows and squirming in a place like this was second nature.

"But I hate to dissappoint... I suck at dying." For a second, the golden glow in his eyes shifted to a different color. And that's when he stopped.

Well shit.

A dead end. He ran as fast as he could, but it was no use. He hit a wall that he just couldn't overcome. End of the line.

Where the hell are you, damn fox.

Sweating bullets, he spread out and looked all over around him, taking a low stance. His fingers conjured a burning cross, floating just above his fingers. The moment the flame would shift, it would warn him of her strike.

"Haaah...haah...hahah... that's right, you were in my class weren't you... that damn know-it-all. Your type pissed me off then and it pisses me off now."

yinsukin:
Entheo

"The fact that innocent people had to face that trauma is unforgivable... I can promise nothing of an uncertain future. But I swear on my life, on every drop of blood in my marrow, that the ones responsible for this will not touch a hair of my pupils again."

I like that dream of yours.

The blades disappeared as Entheo reached for the swords, not even bothering to dodge the leg flying towards his face.  It struck like a hammer to the chin, causing a crack to echo through the narrow sewer corridors.  The young man's head reeled back, staying conscious not from biological function, but sheer instinct to live and willpower.  Even so, his body was flung into the air, slaming into yet another sewer wall. 

"You can't save everyone.  Everyone who is given the gift of life has to one day deal with the possibility of death.  The world gives and takes on its own time.  You can't save anyone from that reality, nor should you.  Because one day, everyone here will die."

A voice called out from the rubble.  "You know," Entheo said, his voice muffled by the rubble.  "Even after all you've done, I don't hate you either."

The ceiling of the sewer, the very road traveled by so many people on the surface began to crumble and fall, allowing the cruel sun to shine its illuminating light on the sewer.  The murky water was revealed to be brown against the sun's rays, yet the surface shimmered when struck by its light.  All of the grime and dirt was revealed by the sun as well. Graffiti, normally covered by layers of muck was now barely visible through the cracks. 

"Just because people will die should deter us from saving others? This logic is flawed. Should science not progress to heal the sick? Should people not strive to share their wealth to the needy? Boy... what you are talking about is nothing more than shallow-minded pessimism. You ignore the fact that humans can be better."

Just this once, why don't we play the hero.

Are you kidding me?  We play the hero all the time.  You just keep telling yourself that your a good grim reaper and can stay out of things like a "good boy."

I'm just not one to mettle in someone else's death.

You asked if he was a hero before.  Personally, I don't think it matters what he calls himself.  To take responsibility for someone's safety, their happiness.  Thats what makes someone a hero, a person beyond a mere good citizen.

Yeah.  Lawrance....  Let me take share your dream, just for a moment.  I owe you that much as your slacking student.  This monster....  We've overcome walls like this and we can do it again.  So...  Shall we exchange the same words from back then?

Entheo stood up, the rubble shooting in every direction.  Taking a low bent stance, the unified being of Entheo and Gezo held the guandao diagonally in front of him.  The light of the sun reflected off of the tip of the guandao, casting a spec of refracted light onto the beast.

"Whether it be the warrior in front of you," Gezo said.  Blood flowed from his mouth and trickled down his broken chin.  Despite having his jaw dislodged, he was still able to speak.  Thats because he wasn't merely speaking from his mouth, but his very soul.  "Or the very gods above...."

The young man took one step forward.  The concrete beneath him gave way to his steps.  It was as if the ground itself was being struck by his retribution.  Entheo reeled back his arm, prepared slash his opponent down the middle.  "Nothing decides your future other than the will of your soul!"

However, that stance was a lie.  When the slash came down, it was a cresant arc, designed to cleave off the creature's head from his neck and take several limbs with it, including the legs at the end.  "If fate deems you too weak..."  Hiding within the shadow of Entheo's arm was another, Gezo's arm.  As the slash came down, several thrusts hid within the echo of the slash, striking at the beast's torso.  "Then tear through that future with your own two hands....

"And go beyond reality!"

yinsukin:
Ana

Strange.  The red headed girl couldn't help but think back to that classroom debate.  Since joining salvation, she tried to be the perfect soldier, working day in and out to curve her loyalty, her desires.  Discipline, following the rules, order: by emboding this herself, she could spread this salvation to the world.  A soldier should suit their role.  Why the hell did that stupid teacher feel the need to argue with some bum he picked up off the street?  He wasn't in that class!  Everyone knew he wasn't in that class!  That was the loiterer that was crashing with a guy who lives on campus!

Up, down, the walls: where would the fox girl spawn from.  Despite her wandering mind, her senses were completely trained on Lawrance.  Her own emotional strength was such that she could sort out these complicated feelings without distraction, because that was the weight given to the soldier.  The ceiling dissolved and Ana already tilted downwards, ready to strike.  "Because you are a soft fool with no discipline, no will?" she asked, proudly revealing her location to him.  "A teacher who fights with their students..."

As she came down, she reached for the hilt of her blade.  A circle was carved in the air from her blade, cocked back so that it was in a ready position at her hip for a thrust.  The second she came in range, it came forward, threatening to pierce Lawrance's heart.  "Is no match for me!"

Indeed, the world of salvation had no room for a man like this.

Kotomine_Rin:
Lawrence

"Yeah... I knew you'd be here. That's why I thought dragging him along would be better."

You can't save everyone.  Everyone who is given the gift of life has to one day deal with the possibility of death.  The world gives and takes on its own time.  You can't save anyone from that reality, nor should you.  Because one day, everyone here will die.

"You damn... heheh.... no way... am I going... to die? Argh...!" A sudden ache pierced the man's head. But it was already too late.



Earlier

As the flames shifted, he moved. Moved as fast as he could, as desperately as he could... and summoned an inferno to deflect her strike.

It isn't enough.

What the-! She's coming! Damn it! It wasn't enough!

Fires danced and lashed out. The two moved incredibly fast, blurring across the tight space. And yet, the beast reached for him. Was it because his mind was strained? Or perhaps a difference in ability? The slight delay caused by his weakness gave Ana the opening to strike. The sword came for him. End of the line.

I will protect you.

But -

No. Don't come out! I don't need anyone else! I can do this... on my own!

Alone, we will not reach it. Our salvation must be grabbed and ripped from their hands. Even if that brings out the part of you that you detest the most. Let's attain victory. Together.

"Toge..ther?"

Together.

The sword had already pierced the man's heart. The rest was darkness.


A strange black ooze dripped from his body as if it were ink. But Lawrence didn't move at all, pinned to the wall by Ana's blade. He was dead. No, he had already died, years ago. In another world. By all rights, he shouldn't even be here. That is why this was so absurd.

"Do you despise me, Ana?"

The whole area instantly turned chill, as the black ink fell from his hair, revealing a pure snow white. Two eyes as black as the void stared right at Ana. Eyes belonging to that man, eyes she had seen before she had turned into... this. The man who shouldn't be here, who shouldn't be alive, who should have fallen by her sword. It was familiar, but it was wrong. Every bad feeling she ever had about him was nothing compared to the feeling of being this close to that thing. The man smiled.

"Hatred... is perfectly fine. It is a highly efficient fuel when traversing certain goals. It's certainly more reliable than love, at the very least. I can relate to you very well. I have been a slave to hatred for many, many long years. You see, I simply could not stomach myself at the time."

A brash, hopeful, cavalier heart. A pitiful, broken, blackened heart. And an unstoppable, immutable, ravenous heart. A father, a son, and a holy spirit. Three sides of the same coin, yet they never faced the same direction. It was only that one thing that linked them together. A prayer from long ago, whose origin was forgotten even by them.


Let us attain victory.

She couldn't move, let alone yank the sword out of his chest. And that's when she saw it. The black beast coiled around her body, like a mass of chains wrapped around her and swirling until they covered her like armor. It came from his shadow... but the shadow was over her skin. It was only under her because his flames moved it there, even if it meant having to take a sword to the chest. To attain certain victory, he'd go as far as sacrificing his own self. Because this entire time, there was only one man - one soul.

"I need no salvation. May happiness never reach me as I walk this path all by my lonesome. I will gladly deny such a thing if it meant reaching my dream." The man in front of Ana didn't even look human anymore. It was a monster. A genuinely terrifying thing that shouldn't be there, from some unknowable world where everything was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! The teacher trapped the student in a black box. Slowly compressing it. Gradually. Until the spikes started to sink into her flesh.

And that's when she realized why it was so wrong. It was the same voice she heard when she was turned. Hearing it again made it all start to come back. The memories. The fear. All of it.

"No. I will not say it is a dream. Because it has already become reality. So please do your best."

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