Wrath Reincarnated

JULES

The Nomad laid splayed out on his back in front of Her. Crimson blood turned to black from a mixture of the staining brown sand and congealment from the inescapable heat of both the desert and battle. His legs bent in directions they never should have, with one twisted backward around the knee cap. His right arm was cut longitudinally like a ribbon, from between his middle and ring fingers—which now laid a foot apart from each other—up to around his elbow. Every so often, the veil of his mask would suck in near his lips, then softly push back out. Good. He's not dead yet.

The Iron Maiden knelt over and studied him. She looks…disappointed somehow. She reached out a thin, frail hand, covered in scars and lacerations from her self-inflicted chains, for the veil.

"Leave him be, wench!" Greed marched toward her, and Jules and the others followed him. "I'll be your next opponent."

"Desert Mouse," She greeted him. Her hand hovered over The Nomad for a moment more, then retreated to Her side; the chains clinked softly when She moved. "Pat of the Dunes put too much faith in you. I shall personally see to his punishment, after yours." The Iron Maiden gazed past him and studied Jules and the others. She raised a lone, bony finger, and pointed at Jules, Katarina, Seraphina, and finally rested on Greed. "One, two, three…and four?"

Greed shrugged the massive odachi off his shoulder and let it slam into the sand, blade down, to his side. He ripped off his Vessel glove and brandished the Seal underneath with pride. "We've gotta stop meeting like this."

"It will be the last time. I had my doubts in Sylvan Hollow, and I thank you for the reminder to always trust in My Own faith. Children of the Damned—I welcome you to your final resting place. Fate smiles upon Me today with a majority of your kind."

Rukia. Kaizen. Get ready to Integrate at a moment's notice.

Sure thing!

Always.

"But you." Her attention now focused on Cyrus. "Where do I know you from before?"

"Marina Veridia." Jules could read the bloodlust on Cyrus' face. An Alter stands before him, and for the first time, Cy couldn't care less. Jules studied Katarina and Seraphina. We're all ready. A chance like this will never fall in our laps again.

"A traitor to your own kind, then," She said. "I will have your power. Now, let Us begin."

"Die!" Seraphina wrenched up a hand, and Raven landed in it. She cocked him back then launched him at Her.

«« Shadow Step »» [Sera]

Raven disappeared, and Seraphina charged first.

"No!" Jules yelled, but it was too late. The Maiden's chains launched like arrows through the air, a dozen of them at least, and constricted Seraphina, but she disappeared into the shadows, and Raven emerged above Her. His feathers…They're white now? Raven dive-bombed toward the Alter, and just before making contact, he shifted into Seraphina. How—

Two tanto daggers dug into The Iron Maiden's shoulders. Blood sprayed out from the wounds, and the chains redirected for Seraphina, whose skin had become almost black. When Seraphina disappeared again, Katarina rushed in—Dammit!—and Jules followed her. Along their way in, Jules saw the white Raven crouched on Katarina's shoulder, cawing in her ear.

"Kat, what are you—"

«« Quick Step »» [Kat]

She stopped just before The Maiden and ducked down low. Katarina launched her legs upward like a spring and grabbed Her by the throat, and Raven invoked the Script.

«« Shadow Step »» [Raven]

Jules spun upside down with the others and entered the Shadow Realm, and the battlefield around them transitioned along with it. Holy shit—her Familiar can do that!?

Seraphina fell—upward in this place—onto The Maiden's shoulders. Darkness enveloped Katarina's eye as she activated her Vessel.

"Do it now, Lust!" Katarina shouted. Seraphina crammed her hand onto Katarina's left eye and invoked a new Script.

«« Take Another Step Below »» [Sera]

Lines cracked all around the women, like Jules looked at them through shattered glass. Their figures turned to polygonal structures that reflected and refracted the dark light all around them. I don't know what's going on, but now's our chance—

Hold fast, Jules, Kaizen cautioned. See what Greed and Cyrus do before you enter that space.

Greed sprinted forward with his massive new weapon; he pulled it back to swing, and as he got in close enough to them, he too became polygonal in nature—and as the odachi collided with The Iron Maiden, both fractured, but neither collapsed into the other. While She was busy with three of the Sins, Cyrus launched the next attack, but was smart enough to not get too close.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

« Blizzard » [Cy]

Cyrus waved his hands in the air, then launched a narrow stream of ice shards and spikes directly at The Maiden, careful not to strike the others—at least, not too many times, as the collateral damage took its toll. Glints and shards of glass snapped off of the Alter, and over time, the pieces scraped off grew larger and larger.

Why doesn't She defend Herself? She has those chains that can—

"Watch out for the chains!" Where are they!? They're not even on Her body. "Look out for the counterattack—"

The first one struck Cyrus from behind and surely pierced through a lung. The next three stabbed Katarina, Seraphina, and Greed through their Seals, all at once; Jules and Cyrus were flung out to the real world, but the other three—and Raven—were still absent.

Jules rushed over to Cyrus and caught him—the chain had vanished from him as well.

« Heal » [Jules]

He flooded Ryoku into his best friend to mend organs and flesh and restore blood. What the fuck is going on—Where are they?

"Shadow Realm," Cyrus groaned. "They were one…level past us."

"Shit, Cy! I don't know the Script, but we have to go back. Do you know it? Cy? Cy!" Cyrus fell to the sand on his back and stared straight at the stars. Jules grabbed him by the cheeks. He lightly smacked his face, then tried again harder to keep his best friend from falling asleep. An involuntary wheeze raised his chest and air flushed back into his nearly healed lung. "Salvos Cy, I thought you were dying on me!"

"No—I mean no, I don't know the Script, Jules… They're on their own—"

BAM!!

Jules' hair whipped past his face from the explosion that brought them all back to the real world. Greed slid to a stop near him, still facing their enemy. He looks relatively unharmed. Then again, his Regeneration is practically instant—Oh Salvos no.

Katarina had fallen near The Iron Maiden's feet, but she tried to rise at least—and the Alter held Seraphina up high, lifting her in the air with both hands. A chain came and swiped through the Sin and separated her horizontally at the navel. The First Magus tossed both pieces to opposite sides of Her. More blood streamed down Her face and arms, and Jules was no longer sure whose it was.

"One Child down." Like a scorpion's tail, another chain punctured Katarina and raised her limp body up before Her eyes. NO!

Jules rushed in blindly. With each step, a second chain drew closer and closer to Katarina, until it stabbed her in the eye and removed her Vessel.

« Hellfire » [Jules]

Jules swept the metal Sound of Fury across the chain that suspended her, and The Iron Maiden allowed him to retreat back to Cyrus while She inspected her newest prize. "Two Children down. I thank you for allowing me to borrow this, Envy."

"Wake up, Kat, wake up!"

"She's dead, Wrath." Greed stepped between them and The Iron Maiden. "Ripped her chest to shreds in the Shadows after you split. But she'll come back. We always do."

THUMP-TH—

Jules' heart stopped, and so did any ounce of his hesitation. She had killed Katarina—would maybe kill her for good somehow, and Cyrus still recovered on the ground beside him. If she welcomes Death so much… Then so will I. Jules laid a one-eyed Katarina at Cyrus' feet.

"Stay back and heal her with Tensa," he ordered.

"Right, then I'll join you—"

"No, Cy." Jules' back was already turned to them. "I don't need you tonight."

"You mean we don't need him." Greed brandished his massive odachi in front of him in both hands. "Wrath's right, kid. Stay behind or die."

"Greed," The Iron Maiden said. "Would you like to go third—" In a flash, Jules was upon Her first, sword drawn back. She halted it mid-swing between two fingers. "It appears Wrath got too Greedy." Her chains all whipped back like so many spider legs around them, then pummeled together like one giant spear toward him.

Pain and new holes erupted all over his body as the chains pierced through. Unmercifully, She spared his eyes so he could watch Her kill him. She placed two fingers on Jules' forehead and began to recite a prayer.

"Consider yourself lucky, Wrath. You will get to see what Lust saw."

«« Black — »» [The Iron Maiden]

The blade slid between Jules ribs, straight through his Seal, and stopped just short of Her mouth.

«« Render, Tensa »» [Cy]

The Iron Maiden retreated Her chains, but she was too slow as they snapped inside Jules' body when Tensa's effect took hold. Stray broken chain links spun around in the air and dug into the sand where they landed. Cyrus lacked a similar strength to The Maiden, so Jules crashed down as well, blade still in chest.

The Iron Maiden's face distorted. Her teeth grinded against each other through one curled up corner of his lips. "Death for you, then."

"Cy, blast Her!" Jules shouted. Cyrus hesitated, and Greed stepped in, all aglow. He lunged forward at the Alter and stabbed her through the gut with The Nomad's odachi, his arm and blade fully extended out before him. The Maiden gripped the blade with both hands and cut Herself upon its edge, and then She pulled it in even deeper. Blood dripped from Her eyes, and black sparks crackled about them.

"Her blood is Her strength, Jules," Cyrus said. "Find a way to use that against Her."

"Cy—Do it now!"

"No, Jules. We need you back in this fight." A wild bolt of lightning struck out from Her and lit Her galley aflame.

"No, Cy—"

"Trust in Rukia and Kaizen."

"You're going to die!"

«« Render, Tensa »» [Cy]

The Ryoku Cyrus stole from The Iron Maiden fueled Jules and accelerated his Regeneration. Before the first bolt struck them, he was fully reinvigorated. When they flew through the air, it cycled through him again. And when they landed beside Seraphina's top half, and the third or fourth bolt struck them all, Jules shot up on two feet, as if nothing happened, as he were Greed.

Cyrus' face was hollowed and burnt to a crisp. Seraphina army crawled to them, and her guts unfolded out and dragged through the sand. "Cy!!" Jules grabbed his friend's shoulders and shook him.

"Kill… Her." Jules heard the death rattle in his voice. His heart raced. He reached for Cyrus' arm, but he'd already dropped Tensa. "For us. For…me—"

Seraphina plunged the blade into Cyrus' throat from the side, just above the leveled sand. "Sera! You did it!" She laughed, then let her face fall into the sand.

"At least I was good for something…" Her eyes closed.

"Rest now, Cy, Sera. This shouldn't take long." I need Greed for the rest of this fight, so I can't let him fall to Her. Jules turned around to face them. "Oh, shit."

The odachi had fallen down, along with Greed's scimitar and dagger. Apparently, he hadn't been enough to face Her alone after all. She suspended him midair with just one hand clenched around his throat, and She pressed two fingers against his forehead.

"Come on, You Bitch!" he shouted. "You know I'll just come right back—again and again and again! And it's all thanks to You, all that torture You put me through made me stronger than You—"

"I am counting on it, Greed."

«« Black Sacrament »» [The Iron Maiden]