A rush of adrenaline pulsed through her veins. A demon lurched, and then she dodged, elbowed him in the throat, and heard the crushing of his windpipe. His screech cut off abruptly. She pulled her arm back and plunged it through his chest as if it were tissue paper.
There was another demon swinging at her side. She turned, heeled high, and her kick knocked him flying, his bones cracking as he was lifted into the air, before she pounced, slamming her foot into his chest, which shattered like glass.
The final demon hesitated, but he roared in desperation and struck a fist into her face. Fiona did not flinch. She turned her bleeding head slowly and locked his shining eyes with her cold, green gaze.
"You done?" she asked.
Before he could back away, she grasped his face with her two hands and pulled him towards her. The demon screamed in pain as his skull tore apart in her hands, splattering blood everywhere.
Silence.
Fiona stood there, slightly panting, her skin partially smeared with blood. She gazed at her shaking hands and then at the mangled bodies around her.
And then, she laughed.
"That… it felt so good." Her lips twisted into a smile, her body shaking in a kind of euphoric trembling. She held herself tightly, almost shivering, her breath quickening, her smile widening.
The euphoria was burning hard in her chest. The sensation of weight, crunch, and sound was intoxicating to her.
Her smile faltered. Her breathing began to regulate. "…Oh. Right." She blinked into the sight of the dead. "I killed them. Just then. But… were they even people?"
She knelt, examining a demon's twitching arm. Her green eyes narrowed, fascinated but thoughtful. "Not human. Definitely not human. Uh, maybe."
Her grin came back. "…maybe it's fine."
"Why did I come here, anyway?" Fiona pondered aloud. The question echoed dimly down the deserted stone hall. Fiona brought her arms around herself. A flutter stirred within her.
"Perhaps I should go for a walk and see what is happening," she whispered, turning and walking away.
_____
"What? The second priestess isn't here?" The voice of the Empress boomed throughout the hall, making every servant and soldier kneel lower, shaking in fear of her anger.
Y-Your Majesty," Gaziel bowed, her voice steady and calm despite the tension in the air. "She has been called, but apparently there was an issue with the teleportation. The younger princess did not materialize in the palace. Instead, she has been misplaced in the country somewhere."
The Empress slammed her armrest with her palm, "Then search the lands at once! Find her immediately!"
"Yes, Empress!" The guards chorused, their trembling voices hastening to comply.
"Why is everyone freaking out?" The fair teenage girl inquired as she observed the furious look on the brow of the quickly moving figure in the form of the teenager known as Gaziel. The teenage girl had long black hair and wide black eyes. She could not have been more than 18.
"The other priestess, we're looking for her," said Gaziel, pausing and looking down at her.
"I'm. not the only one?" Akina blinked in surprise.
"I never said that you were," Gaziel stated calmly and then went on.
"Hmph, you're all just a bunch of meanies," Akina grumbled, puffing her cheeks and crossing her arms.
Then, suddenly, her expression changed. She smiled, her eyes glinting, as she clasped her hands together in excitement. "But wait … if I am a priestess, then, just like in those fantasy stories, does this mean I am destined to fall in love with a prince?" she mused to herself, her face glowing.
"Lady Akina, come with us so your training can begin," a group of robed women approached, bowing slightly as Gaziel turned the corner.
"Training? Why do I need to train?" Akina scowled.
"Were you not briefed on the condition of the world?" one of the women asked, her sharp gaze narrowing.
"Yes, I was," Akina answered defensively.
"And it was you who volunteered to help us, correct?" the woman pressed.
Akina's lower lip trembled and her eyes sparkled with tears. "Well… yes… because that's the right thing to do! But I'm only a teenager! I'm scared. I don't think I have any special powers at all…."
The robed women looked at each other. One of them maintained her smile, but her mental faculties seethed with annoyance. "How does she talk like this? She came here on her own free will, but now that we give her a chance to lead, she wants to pull away? They obviously didn't train her properly somewhere in her own world either; this will not be easy work."
"Do not worry. We will help you awaken your priestess powers. Please, come with us," the woman said softly.
"I don't want to! I haven't had enough time to rest, let alone enjoy myself," Akina wailed, stamping her foot and weeping. "I miss my family, too!"
"Misses her family? It's just been hours. She carries on as if it was us who brought her here forcibly," the woman was bitter in her thoughts but her face was peaceful.
"Quite understandable, I'm sure. For now, you will be led away to your chambers," she said smoothly, and Akina was led away by the maidens as she sniffled.
"Whoa. it's so shiny!" Akina breathed as she entered her room in awe. The curtains sported gold embroidery, while the lighting came from crystal lamps that emanated soft light. "These people are very rich. I can't even tell the period in which they belong. Or maybe it's a different era in a different world?" she muttered as she bounced on the humongous bed.
"Priestess Akina." There was a knock against the thick door, then a deep, pulsating voice.
"Yes, come in," Akina responded, smoothing her hair quickly.
A young man in armor came in. Akina's heart skipped a beat as her admiring gaze roamed brazenly. His long dark blue hair was pulled neatly back into a ponytail, his pale blue eyes cold. He had a muscular build and full lips painted with a subtle hint of purple.
Her face turned red in an instant. "
'Oh, he's so handsome.'
"If you need anything, there are maid servants outside. The provision of food, bathing, and cleaning have been provided for you," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Th-thank you," Akina stammered, her voice
"By imperial decree, you are to be prepared in two months' time… to encounter the demons and Montocons." He spoke without the slightest trace of hesitation.
Akina's blood turned cold. "Two months? But. I'm no fighter. I'm just an ordinary high school girl! Why…why must I be burdened with all this?!" She was overcome by emotion, her voice shaking as she was on the verge of crying.
The young man snorted in annoyance. "I see… the reports are true."
"Reports? What reports?" asked Akina, panicked.
"Do not trouble yourself. But tell me…was it not your parents who urged you to come here?" His eyes hardened.
"Yes…. they said I was the chosen maiden, destined to help save the world," Akina whispered, wiping away her tears.
"And did they tell you that would require fighting?"
"Chosen maidens must fight too?" she asked in shock.
'She has no combat skills at all… Two months will never be enough. I only hope the other priestess is not the same…' the man thought grimly.
"I shall take my leave," he said, turning.
"No, wait!" cried Akina, grabbing him desperately by the sleeve.
He looked at her hand in question. "What?"
"I… I'd like to get to know you better," she whispered, her face aflame with color.
"No need," he said frostily, pushing her hand aside.
"Please, at least tell me your name," she begged.
"…Phantom," he replied simply.
"Ah-ha! Cool name! And since I'm a priestess, do I get to have a bunch of handpicked warriors to fight alongside me?" she asked mischievously, her eyes glinting once again.
"There is no such thing. The priestess fights with the army. The strength of a priestess makes her a perfect monster slayer. Even if it takes twenty men to kill a beast, a priestess can kill twenty or even more by herself," he explained.
"I'd. I'd have to kill monsters?" Akina trembled.
"And the demons, too," Phantom added quickly.
Akina's face went white. "No! I'm terrified!" Then she flung herself at him.
'Why in hell is she jumping onto me?' Phantom thought, repulsed by the idea, though he managed to control his face once more.
"I am young… brought into this strange world…forced to fight with no way home. I had to leave all behind, my family and my friends… I am terrified," Akina cried on his chest.
'Any normal girl would be afraid, yes… but why does she behave like she had no other option? She chose her own road. Tch… Annoying.'
He exhaled a long breath. "It's fine. Do not stress yourself. We can take your training slowly."
"But… Do I have to fight?" Akina asked, looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Yes," Phantom said firmly. "That is a must."
Akina slumped her shoulders and her voice broke into a yell. "No way! I'll just use my powers while others do the fighting for me!"
"It doesn't work like that," Phantom continued, his voice as frigid as ice. "If that's what you want, yes, all of the people around you will be wiped out. Especially if you stick strictly to long-distance combat. No matter how great your sacred power is, you'll never be able to prevail if you don't know how to fight."
Akina puffed her cheeks, her face contorted into a child-like pout, as if rebuked by a teacher.
Phantom narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"So at least, I get personal warriors, right?" Akina suddenly perked up.
"Yes," Phantom answered clippedly. "But trusting solely in them would be a recipe for your death. and theirs."
"Awesome!" Akina suddenly exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
Phantom blinked in annoyance.
'Hehe, I bet they'll all turn out to be handsome warriors…' Akina thought with a giddy sparkle in her eyes.
"So, who are they?" she asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"One of the finest units in the empire," said Phantom, folding his arms across his chest. "You will be granted five. Each of them has in excess of forty years of experience in killing demons and monsters. They could be considered some of the finest veterans of this nation."
Akina's jaw dropped in shock. "F-Forty years?! Does that mean... they're all old men
"Yes. But they are also the most experienced," Phantom replied.
Akina's face scrunched up in dismay. "I don't want old men! I want young guys for my team, around my age!"
"No." Phantom's answer was monotone, like a door slammed shut.
"If I don't get young guys, I won't fight!" Akina shouted, stomping her foot in defiance, tears prickling her eyes as if that would make any difference.
Phantom exhaled slowly, obviously coming to the end of his patience. "Very well. I will make the proper arrangements."
Her expression altered immediately, a pout softening into a blushing smile. "Th-then. could you also be on my team?"
His cold, pale blue stare bored into her, unflinching. "No."
With this one word, he turned and walked out of her chambers, the large door closing decisively behind him.
Akina plopped down onto the bed, hugging a pillow tightly as her face flared with blushes. "So cold, but so handsome nonetheless." She buried her face into the pillow, letting out a strangled, high-pitched squeal.
Meanwhile, Phantom walked down the hallway. "This girl is naive. She is far too dangerous to depend on a girl like her. Otherwise, she will end up like the others..dead."
___
"Oh wow. a town." Fiona paused in her steps, taking in the empty streets with a sweeping gaze. Windows were shattered like empty sockets, doors hung crookedly on their hinges, and the cobblestones were painted with bright streaks of crimson. "But….It's like, totally abandoned. What the.?"
Her foot nudged a trail of a faint crimson pathway leading down the road. She dropped to her knees and touched her fingers near the spots. The blood was sticky. It was fresh.
"Uh-huh… My instincts tell me this is bad. Like, really bad." She gnawed her lip, then smiled as her heart rate accelerated. "And yet… I just plain have to admit: I'm excited."
She stiffened, her smile broadening as she clenched her fists. "That's it. I've made up my mind. I'll simply follow the blood trail!"
She moved forward, her steps hastening with every beat of her heart, until the streets opened into the dark entrance of a forest. The air changes. Thick. Metallic. The smell of blood and death is forced into her awareness, until she is choking on it. Bodies, half-eaten and contorted, are around her, and dead eyes glaze back at her.
Fiona paused and hugged her arms around herself for a moment. "Maybe… I should have picked up a weapon." She chuckled clumsily but struggled to keep her voice steady. "This might prove more troublesome than I'd thought." She surveyed her surroundings for something, a stick, a rock, and the forest was bare.
But she didn't give up, but as she was searching the silence was broken by a scream, a high and desperate cry. Fiona's head jerked in the direction of the scream, and she was climbing a tree before she even had a chance to think. After leaping from one tree to another, she was able to reach a certain point, where what she saw before her made her stomach turn.
A woman writhed on the grassy earth, her body torn apart and being eaten, jaws locked in a soundless scream as a creature loomed over her. It was six feet tall, its body stretched long and sinewy with six spindly legs that stabbed into the earth. Its head was almost… ordinary. Like some animal she couldn't place, but weird and wrong. Its maw opened unnaturally wide, jagged teeth gnashing.
Fiona almost gagged as the beast bit into the woman again, tearing her apart. Then, like some nightmare, antennae unfurled from its face and pierced into what remained. The woman's body shriveled, her life force sucked out until all that was left was dust carried away by the wind.
For a moment, Fiona froze. Fear clawed at her throat, demanding she run. Her hands trembled.
Then, slowly, a grin spread across her lips. Her eyes gleamed with wild determination.
"I see now… maybe I was too hasty." She cracked her knuckles, excitement rolling through her veins like fire. "But I want to fight it."