Chapter 10

"I think I got it back to how it was." 

Cassandra said with a slight grin. She checked over the sword again looking for anything that was out of place. She was good at forming materials from her mind but normally they were only things like smaller objects. If she really concentrated then she could form a bat or another small melee weapon. But normally it would shatter like glass on impact. The damage was decent though since it was manifested and condensed energy exploding. But with the fragment Yuki had given Cassandra an exact replica could be made. The fragment itself radiated enough energy to form the sword without Cassandra having to give much herself. 

"The sword and energy from it are stable. Now it'll be like Yu never lost it in the first place." 

She held it in the air checking for any flaws once more. Nothing. Nothing wrong and in record time. Cassandra turned her head and saw people waking around, clearly going house to house to check on someone. Asking around. They didn't look like any villagers either.  

Sid approached after seeing that Cassandra was one of the few people left to gather to the center of the village. Before he could approach Amy jumped in front of him, holding a handgun, clumsily. She held the gun closely in front of her with both hands, making it obvious that she probably never held a firearm in her life.

"Freeze, and put your hands up!" Amy said and released a giggle at the end. Cassandra quickly raised her hands. The girl acted like she was joking but the gun looked very real.

Sid scoffed and slapped the gun from Amy's hand and it slid across the floor. With a moan Amy quickly went to retrieve the weapon. Sid then focused his attention back to Cassandra who still had her hands in the air. 

"You can put your hands down. I'm sorry for her. She's obviously still a child at heart and the gun isn't loaded I assure you. Our reason for coming here was to escort you to where everyone else is. The village is currently locked down and is holding a very dangerous criminal. It is our job to get you all to a safe place and away from any potential harm." Amy came back examining her gun for any damage.

"What was that for? You could have broken it." Sid grabbed the gun.

"One: this thing is not a toy. Two: you don't walk around shoving a weapon in anyone's face for play. You are definitely not a child but sometimes I think your brain is much less progressed than you physical being." Amy grinned a mischievous grin.

"Like i care what you think, Sid. Just hurry and bring the person. We're in a rush!" Amy turned and walked off and Sid smiled shaking his head.

"The gall of that girl. Thinking she can give me orders." Sid turned to Cassandra again and did a brief bow. "I'm terribly sorry. If I had a choice i would have saved you from having to bear that quarrel. Now if you will follow me we can hurry and complete what we came here for and you can get back to your daily business."

“Okay, can we back up? Dangerous criminal? Potential harm? Who are you talking about?” Cassandra asked, though she already had an idea.

“Yamase, Yu. He participated in the battle between Ergon and the humans four years ago and was responsible for killing many of the latter. If you remain here I cannot guarantee your safety. Please come with us.” Sid extended a hand, but Cassandra took a step back. Trent had told her the truth behind Yu’s involvement.

If Yu was really a good guy then would that make these guys the bad guys or just average bounty hunters?

“I don’t know who you guys are, why should I do as you say? Also, how do you really know he’s a villain? Maybe he isn’t one.” Cassandra said, testing the waters.

At this, Sid’s eyes gleamed.

“Judging from what you said…you seem to know him, too. Tell me his whereabouts.”

Whoops. Cassandra mentally kicked herself for making something so obvious. 

 Sid stepped closer as Cassandra and she snatched up a Blacksmith’s hammer.

“Nope, and I’m not leaving until I’m done with Yu’s new sw-“ Cassandra tried to stop herself but it was too late. The secret was out. She never was good with talking and she was definitely seeing why.

“Ah, so that’s your true motives. Making a weapon for a convict!” Sid clenched his hands, his gaze boring into Cassandra's. 

Without taking her eyes off Sid, Cassandra dropped the hammer and grabbed a red hot poker with her free hand and threw it like a spear towards him. Sid calmly broke it apart with one punch. The pieces fell to the ground and Abby noticed that they melted as well.

Sid, now within an arm’s length of Cassandra, made to grab the newly completed sword but Abby swiped her former weapon and smashed the hammer against his arm quickly, knocking it aside. Angered, Sid lashed out by kicking her side with his leg. Cassandra crumpled to the floor with a moan.

With no one to stop him now, Sid winded up another fist, and just before it made contact with the sword, he sensed movement and instinctively spun his body away. A cut opened up on his right cheek, as Yuki stepped in, her clothes slightly singed. 

“Fancy fire tricks there from your partner. I won’t let you ruin Cassandra's work.”

Sid, getting to his feet, made a mental note to punish Amy for her incompetence later. Dashing towards Yuki, he jabbed for her lower left, but she dodged and returned with a kick to the chest. Grunting, he lashed out towards her face. Yuki brought up her katana, but as Sid’s palm made glancing contact, she was shocked to discover that part of the tsuba (cross-guard) shattered into pieces. 

She retreated further into the forge as Sid gloated at her.

Yuki glanced at her sword briefly. That punch didn’t seem to be thrown with much effort, yet it wielded destructive force. Deducing that he wasn’t a normal person, she sheathed her blade, not wanting her katana to be destroyed.

She noticed that in Sid’s stance, his lower right hand was a little low. This could be a trap, but she had to take a gamble. Feigning an attack to Sid’s ribs, Sid moved to defend himself, and Yuki went for his exposed side. But Sid was ready and shot his right fist across, the knuckles hitting the back of Yuki’s wrist. They struck a nerve point, causing her to lose strength.

Before Yuki could retreat, Sid struck back with disconcerting speed. His left fist his her ribs, and his right hook caught her eye. Then finally, an uppercut to her jaw floored her. Head ringing with pain, she writhed on the ground as Cassandra watched helplessly. But Sid made no attempt to finish her off.

“Get up!” Sid snarled.

Yuki realized that Sid actually wanted to enjoy and extend the fight. Not wanting to give her opponent such pleasure, she wiped blood from her lower lip and rose to her feet again.

As soon as she did so, Sid front kicked her in the chest, hitting her solar plexus. Feeling as if her own lungs had imploded, Yuki struggled to breathe, as Sid slowly approached her. Despite being half-cripped by Sid’s precision blows, she stood up once more. All those taijutsu lessons had paid off, allowing her to build a resilience to pain. She knew her opponent, seeing the telltale signs of each attacks and learning to counter them.

Half-bent over, she gave Sid the target of her head. As he went to kick her there, she leapt into action. Avoiding his foot and stepping inside the arc, she trapped his leg with her left arm, and drove a knuckle strike at the midpoint of the thigh. Sid grunted with pain as the unexpected attack hit a pressure point, struck with such force that it paralyzed his entire leg.

Sid staggered backwards, and then fell victim to a headbutt underneath his jaw. Yuki then easily swept him off his feet. Sid tried to correct himself, but his immobilized leg gave way. He crashed to the ground, face contorted in shock and anger at being beaten. Before anything else could happen, Cassandra leapt forward and struck him in the head with the blunt end of her hammer. Sid slumped unconscious.

“You’re not the only one that knows such techniques.” Yuki said, panting. She turned to Cassandra.

“The sounds of the battle will have attracted the rest of them here. Take the sword with you and get out of here. I’ll divert their attention.” She said.

“You must be joking! You need help defending this village if there are others like this guy and the girl.” Cassandra replied.

“But we can’t just leave it here-"

A shout from the square brought the two outside, to witness Astrid’s chainsaw cut deep into Trent's right shoulder. As he fell to the ground, she turned her head in their direction and narrowed her eyes.

“Cassandra, you have to move now!” Yuki shouted.

“No one is going anywhere.” Rebecca’s voice rang out as she materialized in front of Yuki. A few villagers were close by, and they formed a circle, cutting off any route of escape.

“Yeah, that’s right! Thanks to you, my whole body is hurting like hell!” Amy pushed her way into the circle, then took the chance to spit at Yuki.

“There is now irrefutable proof that you are cooperating with the fugitive. Yamase Yuki and her accomplice, you are both under arrest.” Rebecca said, and with a wave of her hand, cuffs materialized on their wrists, holding them tight together. They tried to struggle against their bonds to no avail.

“Take them away.” Encouraged by the burning sensation of the cuffs, Yuki and Cassandra had no choice but to comply. The villagers promptly stripped them of their weapons, and watched as they were marched back to the village square.

“I’m sorry. I gave away everything about the sword and me working with you.” Cassandra whispered.

“Its okay…” Yuki said, though she knew otherwise.

As the group reached the square, Sid now came along, clutching his head. He took a moment to glare at Cassandra before rejoining Astrid and the others. From underneath his robe, he took out Yu’s sword, much to Yuki’s disappointment.

“They were making a new weapon for Yu, it seems. But it is not complete. Whatever energy i sense from the sword hasn't been sealed yet. It'll soon disperse. I’ll leave it in your hands, Astrid.” He said, tossing the katana into Astrid’s hands. 

Examining the craftsmanship, she looked at Cassandra.

“You’ve certainly got some interesting skills. We could use you…but too bad. I swore that I would destroy everything Yu has…and this is just but a foundation stone…” 

Summoning energy in her hands, she tightened her grip on the sword. Yuki screamed and tried to rush forward, but Sid struck her in the stomach and she keeled over.

The aura around Astrid’s hand intensified, as the sword started to glow as well. Cracks started to appear along its surface, as Cassandra looked on in despair. All her hard work was going to waste.

Astrid opened her fist, and was about to close it to deal the finishing blow, when a blur swept across from above her and snatched the sword from her grasp. The figure landed behind her and turned to look at everyone.

“You don’t need to do this...Astrid.” Yu said, as the villagers gasped at his reappearance. They shrunk back, leaving him to face the unknowns alone.

“I have been waiting, you traitor. My partner would also like to reintroduce herself.” Astrid seethed, as Rebecca stepped forward. Yu’s eyes widened at seeing a person long thought dead. She stared at Yu emotionlessly.

“You took out my right eye and stabbed my heart back then, didn’t you? When you were fighting to save that school. I’ll most definitely want to return the favor…” she said, as Amy and Sid spread out beside her.

Horrendous time to have a “reunion...” Yu thought.

“Your target is me. Leave this village alone.”

“I’ll gladly oblige…” Astrid started to rev up her chainsaw again when Rebecca placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t forget Lilith’s instructions. We are to take him back, not kill him…yet.” She said the last word through clenched teeth.