Ch 24: The Spirit to Become Strong

Trapped in limbo as the others fight a hopeless battle, Bella is faced with Mai the Yugure Kitsune, a reaper who claims the souls of the deceased. Is her fate sealed, or can it yet be overturned?

            Staring up at Mai in surprise, Bella thought, “I’m dead?” Suddenly she remembered, and as Mai’s words dawned on her, she asked, “The others are still fighting? What’s going on?” Surprised by how she’d suddenly become so alert, Mai said, “You let your friends down big time and got hit with that nasty curse. They’ve been trying to beat the shade to break the curse, but they can’t harm something on that level. They won’t last long, not that there’s anything you can do about it now.” As Mai raised her flame scythe, Bella suddenly demanded, “Are you the kitsune? Lend me your power!” Pausing, after a moment Mai burst out laughing. In desperation, Bella struggled up onto her knees despite the weight of the chains and said, “Please?” 

As her laughter ceased, Mai said, “Sorry sunshine, but in case you didn’t get the memo, I’m here to do my job as a Yugure. I can’t lend my power to someone so much weaker than I am, and while you had the potential, it’s too late now…” Holding up her hand, Bella summoned all her strength, and just as Mai brought the flame scythe down Bella formed her spear and blocked. In surprise, Mai said, “Huh?! You can still summon that?!” As a golden aura of spirit energy erupted around her and destroyed the chains binding her, Bella pushed Mai back and got to her feet as she said, “So it’s because I’m weak?” Readying her spear in a challenging fashion, Bella said, “Then I’ll show you I’m strong!”

            Dropping into a battle stance with a slight laugh, Mai said, “So you think you can beat death itself huh? Bring it!” Swinging the flame scythe through the air, Mai fired a wave of blue flames out at Bella, but leaping over it and into the air, Bella shouted, “Spirit Falcon!” Her spirit aura briefly forming into the shape of a bird around her body, as Bella gained the power of flight she soared into the skies, higher and higher. Staring up at her, Mai shouted, “Running away?!” Swerving around in the air, Bella channeled spirit energy into her spear and dropped into a nose dive towards Mai, building more and more speed as she said, “Wrong!” Wings of blue flame erupting from her back, Mai leaped into the air and flew up to meet her. Reaching each other, Bella swung her spear and Mai swung her scythe. The blade of the spear met the blade of the scythe in a flash of spiritual power, their strength evenly matched. Flying past each other, they both swerved around in the air for a second strike. 

Clashing again and again in the air, at last Mai broke off and shouted, “Not bad, but it’s not over yet!” Letting her scythe vanish, Mai quickly performed a hand sign and said, “Yuurei Shuriken!” Extending her arms at her sides, in twin bursts of blue flames, a pair of large throwing stars made of blue fire appeared, and taking hold of them Mai hurled them up at Bella as she sped down towards her. Dodging the throwing stars, as they flew past her, Bella sped onward and thrust her spear out at Mai. Floating aside at the last second, Mai grabbed hold of Bella’s spear and hurled her away with so much strength that Bella lost grip of the spear. Righting herself in the air, she stared up at Mai as the Yugure looked over her spear, and Bella reached out with her hand unconsciously, knowing she had to get it back as she thought to herself, “My spear…” 

Laughing as she turned the spear in her hands, Mai called out, “I can tell just from a glance this isn’t your real Anima Weapon. You just had it bound to you. You won’t beat me with such cheap rubbish!” Bella’s eyes went wide as blue flames ran across the weapon from Mai’s hand and burned her spear to nothingness. Casting aside the ashes, Mai said, “There, you won’t be summoning that ever again!” As she watched in disbelief, the ashes scattered in the air and disappeared, and then Bella suddenly heard the whir of the spinning blades and looked up to see the flaming throwing stars coming back down on her. Dodging them just in time, Bella watched as they swerved around in a wide arc to come after her again, and in frustration she thought, “Now what…?”

            Bobbing and weaving away from the blue flame throwing stars, just as Bella avoided for what seemed like the twentieth time, Mai appeared before her with a flurry of punches and kicks, and as Bella took blow after blow, Mai said, “C’mon! Don’t tell me you’re nothing without that crappy spear?!” Knocking Bella away with a thrust kick, as blue flames lit themselves around her in the air, Mai performed a hand sign and said, “Kakuu No Keimusho!” As the world around her began to sway and twist, becoming even more illusionary, Bella could no longer see Mai or the throwing stars. Mai’s voice called out to her, “Thought I’d give you a fair shot and not use this, but this fight is just getting boring. Quit wasting my time!” 

Hearing the whir of the throwing stars, Bella dodged by sound alone, but the stars grazed her and cut deep wounds into her right arm. Clutching at the wounds as a burning pain coursed through her arm, Bella began to despair as she looked around at the twisted illusions and thought, “Pointless… I’m a failure, just like before... just like always... I’m nothing like Amy or Instructor Patch...” Remembering her own words, they rang painfully through her mind, “I won’t back down… Then I’ll show you I’m strong…” Hanging her head, Bella thought, “I…” Performing a hand sign as her throwing stars shot towards Bella, the blue flames danced around Mai as she said, “Akuryouno Takigi!” Shooting out as a wheel of fire, the blue flames around Mai joined the throwing stars in the assault. Bella disappeared from view in an explosion of blue flames just as the throwing stars were upon her, and Mai sighed and said, “Sayonara sunshine…”

            Throwing Bella hard onto the training mat, Ghost said, “Too easy.” Standing with arms crossed from where she stood observing their training, Patch said, “Alright, that’s enough for today. I’ll be expecting you to work on your close combat skills Bella. That display was… less than satisfactory…” Sitting up with a downhearted look in her eyes, Bella said, “Sorry… I’ll try harder…” Smirking, Ghost said, “It’s pointless.” Glaring at her, Bella said, “Why?” Heaving a sigh, Patch said, “Enough!” Not listening, Ghost said, “No matter how many times we do this, you never improve. I wouldn’t be surprised if the master booted you out for being useless.” Walking up and grabbing Ghost by the collar, Patch said, “I believe I just said that was enough! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but just because you’re at the top of the class does not mean you are entitled to bully your fellow operatives in training!” 

Clearly not intimidated, Ghost met her gaze with a serious look and said, “This is Ala Morte, not daycare. The master may have had high hopes for her, but you can’t ignore the fact that she’s a weakling forever. Why are you so attached to her Fury? Or should I say ‘Instructor Patch’?” With a powerful punch, Patch knocked Ghost flat on her back. Glaring down at her, Patch said, “Do not forget you’re speaking to your superior Ghost! Belladonna is a member of Ala Morte, and as long as that’s so, you will show her respect! Is that clear?!” Getting up, Ghost turned to go as she waved a hand in the air and said, “As you wish, ‘Instructor Patch’…” As Ghost left the room, Patch turned to Bella, who stared at the ground in thought, and said, “Do not pay her words any heed Bella.” 

Looking up at her hesitantly, Bella asked, “Instructor, is this the right place for me?” Walking up to Bella and placing her hands on her shoulders, Patch said, “This is who you are Bella. Right now you may not see it, but you will become strong. Ghost is talented, she surpasses my other students without really trying, but you have something she doesn’t.” Staring back at her in confusion, Bella said, “Something?” With a smile, Patch replied, “Ghost herself never really puts any real effort into her training, but you on the other hand give it your all every time. You keep trying no matter how hard it is, and that is why you, Belladonna, have what it takes to become far stronger than she’ll ever be.”

            Suddenly, Mai’s own throwing stars shot out at her from the aftermath of her last attack, and dodging them narrowly, she exclaimed, “What the hell?!” Bursting out of the smoke, Bella flew at Mai with incredible speed and grabbed hold of her in an inescapable bear hug as she shouted, “I WON’T GIVE UP! I WILL BECOME STRONG!” Struggling in her grip as Bella flew them both into a nosedive towards the ground at breakneck speed, Mai exclaimed, “Just what do you think you’re doing?! How the heck did you find me through my illusions?!” Seeing the glow in Bella’s eyes, Mai thought in realization, “Ghostly Eye?!” 

As they drew close to the ground, Bella released Mai and pulled up just in time, while the downward momentum carried Mai crashing painfully into the ground. Landing on the ground a short distance from the cloud of dust stirred up by Mai’s impact, Bella watched as Mai struggled up out of a crater in the ground and muttered, “You cheap a*s little b***h…” Raising one hand and performing a hand sign, Mai said, “Shibou no Kasai!” As she finished the hand sign, blue flames surrounded her hand, and with her index and middle fingers extended, Mai pointed at Bella and said, “Time to burn!” Raising her own hand and gathering spirit energy into it, Bella thought, “She’s serious! No holding back!” Bursting from the tips of Mai’s fingers, a beam of blue flames shot towards her, and in response Bella unleashed all her power from her hand as she shouted, “SOUL FLASH!” 

Shooting out of her palm, a massive beam of golden spirit energy met Mai’s beam of spirit flame. As the beams battled it out, Mai struggled to bolster her attack against Bella’s Soul Flash, muttering in disbelief, “I’ve never heard of someone with such absurd spiritual power!” Her beam starting to overtake Mai’s, Bella struggled against her pain and exhaustion, a fierce glow in her eyes as she thought, “I won’t give up! I won’t!” Seeing no chance of victory, Mai muttered, “You know, I really hate losing… but, oh well…” As Mai’s beam faltered, Bella’s attack washed over her and Mai disappeared in an explosion of golden light.

            Dropping to her hands and knees, Bella panted heavily. Then her eyes went wide as Mai’s voice came from right next to her, saying, “Jeez, look at you! Used all you could handle huh?” Turning her head to look over at her, Bella instead laid eyes on a blue fox with small blue wings whose long tail burned with blue fire at the end of it. With a smug laugh, Mai said, “I slipped into kitsune form to escape at the last second. Since it looks like you’re outta tricks, I guess I should get on with my job huh?” As Bella clenched her eyes shut and hung her head in defeat, Mai added, “But then, where’s the fun in that? Am I right?” As Bella looked up at her in surprise, Mai said, “What? Don’t get the wrong idea, I just owe you guys after the trouble I caused before. In any case, you still can’t go out there and fight without a proper weapon, so we’ll be taking care of that first.” 

The world around them faded, and suddenly they were within the Links. Feeling her strength returning to her, flowing into her from a sparkling point of light at the center of the platform they now stood upon, Bella got to her feet and said, “This is…?” Galloping over to stand beside the point of light at the center of the platform, Mai said, “The Links. More specifically, the Chamber of the Heart. It’d be hard to obtain an Anima Weapon now that you had one bound to you, but here we can do all that and more. Think of the deepest desire in your heart, and then try to form your Anima Weapon. Being in the Chamber of the Heart, it shouldn’t be difficult to master even a Grand Anima Weapon.” 

Not feeling all that confident, Bella raised her hand to summon her weapon and thought, “Deepest desire? All I ever wanted was the freedom to do what I pleased, to be me. What else do I want?” Closing her eyes and concentrating a moment, suddenly Bella opened her eyes with a smile and began to summon her weapon as she thought, “To be able to stand beside them! The friends whom I owe my freedom!” Watching as Bella summoned her Grand Anima Weapon, as it appeared in a flash of golden light, Mai thought in disbelief, “The hell…?! That’s Mors Aurata! Gilded Death, the legendary spirit weapon!”

            Forbidden magic churning in his hand as he aimed down at Gibolu, Loth’nex said, “Mors Scintilla!” A powerful beam of dark magic raced down from his hand at Gibolu, who held his card up in response and shouted, “Black Joker!” The circle of cards in the air around where he laid began crackling with forbidden magic, and as beams of magic power shot from each one into the card in his hand, Gibolu’s own beam of dark magic shot out to match Loth’nex’s beam, dark runes spiraling around it. Both beams were evenly matched, and trying to push back Gibolu’s beam, Loth’nex muttered in disbelief, “How could he match my Death Spark without even using an incantation?!” Pain wracking his body from the use of forbidden magic, Gibolu choked, “He is… too powerful…” 

As Loth’nex channeled even more power into his beam, Gibolu’s beam was pushed back. His vision beginning to blur, Gibolu’s arm finally dropped as he passed out, and as his beam disappeared, Loth’nex’s Death Spark was unopposed. Yet a streak of golden light suddenly sped across the battlefield from over by Mana and the others and pulled Gibolu out of harms way just before the beam struck and erupted in a decimating explosion. Following the golden streak with his eyes, as he saw what it was, Loth’nex exclaimed, “What is this?! You should be dead by now!” Looking back and forth from where she had lain to where she stood now, Mana said, “Bella?!” 

Standing a short distance from the churning smoke from the explosion, alive and well, Bella set Gibolu down gently and called out, “Andy, take him.” Taken aback, Andy nervously said, “R-right away milady!” In addition to her normal clothes, Bella was now also wearing a trailing black coat with no sleeves as well as a golden mask similar to the visor of a traditional knight’s helmet, and she held in her hand a large and deadly looking scythe with a golden blade and a handle carved from golden bones. Also, now affixed on the front of her vest was a round, glowing blue gem set in a silver brooch. Staring at her from where she lay chained to the ground, Mythra exclaimed, “A Grand Anima Weapon?!” As Andy carried Gibolu back to their cover behind the rock, Bella looked up at Loth’nex and called out, “Hey you. You’re through.”

            Staring down at Bella, there was a hint of anger in Loth’nex’s voice as he said, “Surely you jest…” Raising a hand in the air, Loth’nex said, “Septem Mortis Simulacra!” Seven black rune circles forming around him, seven skulls engulfed in black fire emerged from them as they glowed, cackling with eerie laughter. As the skulls hovered there waiting for his command, Loth’nex said, “All it will take is a single touch and these phantoms will put you back under the Death Sentence curse.” Speaking from the blue gem in Bella’s brooch, Mai’s voice said, “Just seven? Please…” Motioning at Bella with his hand, Loth’nex sent his phantoms on the attack, and leaping into the air, Bella soared high into the skies. 

Chasing after her as they giggled madly, the phantoms swerved through the air in pursuit as Bella performed various evasive maneuvers. Turning and zipping through a gap in the group of phantoms, Bella turned about as they started to follow, and raising a hand before her, she performed a hand sign and said, “Shifuto No Kage!” Bella seemed to disappear for a split second, and then reappearing all around where she had been, seven Bella clones appeared. Confused now that they had seven targets to choose from, as the phantoms hovered there hesitating, Loth’nex raised a hand to command them and said, “You cannot hide!” As he commanded each phantom to attack a different target, the Bella clones disappeared in dark flames. With a laugh, Loth’nex said, “So much for you.” 

Then Bella’s voice said from behind him, “Missed.” Turning, Loth’nex saw Bella hovering there behind him, and in disbelief he thought, “None of them were real?!” Speaking from the gem on Bella’s chest once more, Mai said, “We know your secret, you final boss wannabe! Our Ghostly Eye ability shows us the souls of those around us, allowing us to find their weakness. We can see right through those spiritually reinforced high level forbidden magic barriers. I hope you enjoyed being invincible, because we’re about to send those barriers of yours crashing down around you!” Lunging forth and swinging her scythe in a horizontal strike, Bella shouted, “Sunder!” As the scythe’s blade struck Loth’nex, power crackled in the air, and in a flash of golden light Loth’nex went sailing, his barriers shattering instantly. Crashing hard on the ground, as residual spirit energy crackled around him, Loth’nex gasped, “How… can this be?!”

Reviews

[Arrinae]

Very awesome. I don't really have anything I can say besides that. I was surprised to learn about Mana supposedly being a chosen hero foretold in legend. It's pretty cool. I love how Bella awakened her anima weapon.

[KeithKVH]

Thanks, Bella really does deserve some credit for that one, I really liked how it went too. The upcoming fight has had me doing a lot of editing, both recently and before. I did my best, I still feel it might be missing something. Loth'nex's abilities seem like they might be over the top too, I don't really know whether it turned out well. So when you take a look, I'd love to hear your thoughts.