Archangels of War

"Forgive me for the constant cycle of hooligans, with great power, comes great responsibility, as they say." 

The man in the black suit who had his hands around my head, quipped as he smiled down below at me. 

He was covered in brutal slashes, all of which were bleeding profusely. Blood was beginning to stain the marble floor of the student council room, and it was leaking unto me by extension, who was right in front of him. 

His hands were slick with blood, and they pressed roughly against my head. Immediately, I noticed that I couldn't move. My body simply did not respond to any signals, as if all of the nerves had been cut off. It was the same thing as if I had been frozen. 

After using Perfect Counter, I hadn't expected my opponent to recover so quickly. It was damn near inhuman. Scratch that, it was inhuman. However, it was all my fault. It was clear that my opponent wasn't ordinary. It was absolutely foolish of me to assume that they'd be stopped by something as trivial as pain. 

"I'll be honest, that attack really caught me off-guard. In all my years of living I never seen an ability like that. And I've been around a lot of abilities!" 

"Oh really, thats.... nice!" 

I tried to distract him by participating in the conversation, while I looked for some way to break away from the bind I was in. 

"Hahah! It's no use, you can't escape it." 

And he was right. Nothing I did worked. Even the circulation of mana in my body was being forcefully stopped, and the same was happening to my movements. Struggling was impossible. Breaking free was a pipe dream. 

The man leaned in even closer, until our foreheads were nearly touching. "Don't worry, I won't kill you, at least not yet. We have things to do, you see!" 

He reared his head back in laughter momentarily. He seemed to be back in control, and he wasn't being consumed by his alternate personalities. However, he was still just as, if not even more eccentric as before. 

"Of course, It would be no good if we didn't follow the routine. Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to add you to my collection. Such a shame, but you are the one that SHE chooses." 

He stared deeply into my eyes with his own, unblinking. It was beyond unnerving. 

And just who was this "SHE" that he was referencing. None of this made any sense, damn!" 

"However, that doesn't mean we should break routine! This is my favorite part after all." 

His hands massaged my temple. I would have uncomfortably squirmed, however I couldn't move at all, so the most I could do was make an uncomfortable facial expression. 

His touch, foreign and against what I wanted, reminded me of that night. The night of warmth an-

Cut it out! now's not the time 

Mentally imagining myself gnashing my teeth together, I drew my focus back to the present moment, the utterly horrible situation I was currently in. 

"First things first, what's your name?" He asked, as if this was just some friendly meeting at a coffee shop. 

I wanted to resist; however, I had no options. That, and the fact that some sort of force in my mind compelled me to tell this man my name.

'"R-Raiden..." 

"Impressive mental fortitude! To be able to resist, that's the sign of someone truly strong. That fact, combined with your magical aura, as well as the brilliant ability; Are you a prodigy of some sorts, Chisaki?" 

My eyes widened. Despite the fact that I had not told him my full name, he had figured it out. He smiled down at me. 

"I'm sure you have questions, however it would behoove me to move on with this, so please save them for later." 

Not that I could ask them even if I wanted too. 

"Raiden, what is your biggest fear?" 

A question that I would have no idea how to answer had I been in control of my words. 

What did Raiden Chisaki fear? I didn't have a good answer. I couldn't just confidently say, nothing. that was a lie. However, what I did fear, I didn't now. It was probably too many for me to count. Too much for me to think about, so I ignored it all. 

Like a spectator, I waited with bated breath as the same forced compelled me to give my answer. I wasn't in control. Whatever this answer was, it came from my subconscious. Egged on by the power of this weirdo. 

"Myself." 

And of course, the answer was something cryptic. An answer that I couldn't even begin to decipher myself. 

Myself, what the hell did that mean? And that was my biggest fear? 

The man nodded, as if he had expected this answer. "Final question. What is it, that you value the most in this world?" 

This one, I did know the answer too. I could say it without thinking. I didn't even need to ponder, to wonder what kind of answer my own subconscious would pick out. Because the answer to that question was something that had been engraved so deeply into my brain I would never forget. 

Could never forget. 

"The life of my sister." I, thankfully, wasn't shocked by the words that came out of my mouth.

"Interesting... Well then, it's time to begin." 

"Ahhh!"

With that, the man started to channel magic energy through his fingers, into my head. 

It burned, and it hurt, as the foreign magical energy was entering my head. It hurt so bad that I wanted to move, to flail, to let out the pain in a tantrum, however I couldn't move. My body was locked in pain, so all of the pain and discomfort welling deep inside me remained, trapped. 

It felt like I was going to explode. 

He was going to shatter my mind if he kept going. Pop it like a balloon.

"AAHHHHHH!" 

"This is my gift to you. Gracious of me, I know. Take a look at it and allow it to lead you to the correct answer. And then, return to HER embrace." 

With those final words, my mind finally broke, and I was knocked unconscious.

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An endless desert. A vast sea of sand that reached out farther than even the eye could see. A gust of wind blew through, slightly spreading and displacing the sand. The sun beat down on the ground relentlessly, keeping the sand at a burning temperature. 

It burned my feet, which trudged through them. With every step, I winced. Every step I took hurt. The sand burned. 

All around me, wind blew sand into my eyes, causing me to stumble, trip, and wipe my eyes. Just walking hurt. 

Standing or walking, it didn't help with the unreal heat that the sun was giving off. Constantly burning, it was relentless in the hell which unleashed upon the desert. 

It hurt. 

How long had I been walking. I wiped sweat off my brow and licked my sand-caked lips. 

I- I don't know. It could have been hours, days, weeks, who knows? And at this point, who cares? All I knew was that the sun would not leave. 

And it hurt.

Multiple times I stumbled, multiple times I tripped, multiple times I nearly fainted from fatigue. 

It hurt. 

However, each time, I got up. I got up and kept walking. Kept pushing. Towards what exactly? 

I had absolutely no sense of direction in this endless world of sand. However inside of me, I felt a pull. A pull to walk in this direction. So, I followed that pull and kept walking. 

Good god it hurt. It hurt like hell. 

I was walking on auto pilot, my legs ceaselessly dragging their way through the burning sand. Covered in blisters and cuts, I just moved them, one foot in front of the other. 

One foot in front of the other. 

It hurt. 

The sun never moved. It's position in the sky never changed. It was always there, beating down on me. 

Was it getting hotter?

It hurt.

My throat was beyond parched. My vision was blurry, my brain wasn't working properly. It was probably due to a lack of water. Water. Water. Water.

Imagining the glorious liquid now, I was brought to my knees. When would I find water! 

Bringing myself back up, I continued to walk. 

One foot in front of the other.

It hurt. 

One foot in front of the other, until-

Splash! Slosh!

The sound of water sloshing snapped me out of my trance. 

Unbelievable so, there was water. 

All around me. A vast, endless sea of water, that stretched out further than my eyes could see.

Happily, I dove into the water, gulped it down, bathed in it, basked in it. It felt amazing. It felt cool. It was more than I could ever hope for, ever want. I could never get enough of it. 

Until I did. 

The water around me rose. Its level rising higher and higher. I was hopeless in outswimming it. And quickly, I began to drown. Flailing and thrashing around in the water, I tried to swim, to desperately reach the surface and get a drink. However, nothing worked. My lungs burned, my vision darkened, my entire body burned. 

And suddenly I hit something. A solid rock. 

Desperately grabbing unto it, I hugged it tightly as I pulled myself up, not caring about how violently I cut myself. 

I pulled, and climbed, and pulled, and climbed until- 

"HAAHAH!" 

My head broke the surface of the water, and I gasped in a massive amount of air. My lungs still burned, and My head was all disorientated from the sudden shift in pressure, but I was alive. 

Using my hands to wipe my eyes and clear my water-logged ears. I opened my eyes to- 

A sea of red. A sea of blood. I looked around me, horrified. The once crystal clear and beautiful blue water that surrounded me was no more. It was now a menacing see of red. I looked down at my own body, submerged in the sea of red, and that was when I noticed it. 

The cuts, and the bruises all over my body. They were everywhere. Caused by my climb up the rock I was currently hugging. I pushed away from it in horror. There were cuts everywhere, and they were bleeding profusely. And they were caused by me. 

I was swimming in a sea of my own blood. 

"Ahh..." Taking a Shakey breath and exhale, I turned myself away from the horrific situation I had caused and continued to move. I swam, forward strokes, towards the same direction I felt the pull.

It hurt. 

All of the wounds on my body hurt. They hurt horribly. 

And so, it began again. Instead of desert, it was water. Blood water. Instead of the endless sun, it was the endless tides threatening to pull me under. 

I swam. 

And it hurt. 

I continued to swim despite that pain, pushing forward. Pushing through. Just like I had done in the desert. 

It hurt.

It seemed endless just like the desert. There was no sign that anything had changed, that I was making any progress. But I kept swimming. 

Eventually I was on auto pilot, and the-

I escaped the sea of blood and broke out on shore. Dragging myself up the rocky shore, not caring for the cuts that I was creating and worsening. 

I dragged myself up the shore, breathing deeply. 

And there, I saw it. 

A beautiful flame, crackling and sizzling. unbridled. It stood out against the black rocks of the shore. It was amazing. It burned strongly, resolutely. It was the strongest thing in the world. Despite the wind blowing, the water only inches away, it was burning brightly and beautifully. 

A white butterfly flew around it. 

This was my goal. All I had to do was reach it. I reached out my hand, and just when I was about to grab it. 

I was in the desert once more. 

The sun beating down on my skin. I looked around in confusion.

"Wha..." I said silently, in disbelief. 

I could feel the same pull again. And so I stood up and walked.

Through the burning hot desert. Swimming through my own blood, making it to the flame, and just before I reached it. I was sent back. 

Again. 

Sent back. 

Again. 

Sent back. 

And all throughout, I was in pain. 

Again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

And all throughout it hurt. I was in pain. Burning sun. Cuts. Drowning. it hurt. 

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At some point I had realized it. That this was an infinite cycle. An endless cycle. One that I would never be able to escape. However, I kept going, holding on to the hope that I would break through. I couldn't break the cycle, and I couldn't escape it either. I Truly was foolish.

Forever Cycle. One I could never leave. 

I had gone through this journey over 100 million times. Failed over 100 million times. 

And returned, over 100 million times. 

Dragging myself up the shore once again, I began to approach the flame. I knew what was going to happen. However, I could not stop my hopes from rising as I crawled. 

That was when, I was stopped. There was someone in front of me. 

Looking up, her face blocked by the brightness of the sun, there was a girl standing in front of me. 

Tall, with a black dress and white hair that flowed in the wind. A butterfly pin that I recognized was in her hair. She had glowing vermillion eyes. She wore a smile

"No one should ever be put through what happened to you." She looked back at the flame, before turning her gaze to me. 

"Tell me, do you want to make it to the flame?" 

I nodded weakly. Her smile grew. "No matter the cost?" 

I nodded again. Anything to break the cycle. 

She then reached out her hand. "Then, let me help you."

Reaching out my bruised and weak hand, I grabbed her beautifully pale and slender fingers. 

As our hands touched, a dazzling light enveloped us. 

 ※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※  

"Raiden!" A voice shouted. I was slowly being pulled out of the muddiness of my own mind. 

I was being held tightly against someone's chest, and their arms were holding me. 

"Raiden, look at me!" There was a bundle of blonde in front of me. Slowly I reached out a hand, muttering. 

I was being held tightly against someone's chest, and their arms were holding me. 

"M-mom..." 

The hand grabbed mine, and it felt warm. "Thank goodness, your alive. Y-your going to be okay. Thank you for keeping your promise." 

The voice seemed on the verge of tears. 

When my vision finally cleared, I could see who was holding me. I was resting against Hikaru's chest, and she was holding me tightly. 

Allowing my eyes to travel around the room, I noticed a figure with a massive red spear facing the man in the black suit. 

It was The Prince. Shindo.