The Dwindling Flowers

[Sakura]

[DASH=green]

єммα ѕтєяℓιηg
​

Emma flinched every time Judith barked orders into the communications and the girls refused. She was beginning to sweat at the thought of what Judith would do to them once this mission was over. More over... Emma's eye flitted over to the doctor and back to Judith, it was bad publicity if he went spreading the idea that the girls didn't listen to their leader. For once, Emma wished the girls would just follow orders. Judith probably had a better plan than--

Woah, what was that? Emma felt slightly off balance at the sudden rush of energy. It was oddly familiar and yet, she could not place a name on it. She closed her eyes and put her palms together. When she opened her eyes, she slowly pulled her palms apart. Threads of light green magic swirled about, forming a thin disc sort of object. The center became transparent, slowly forming the images of a running Constantina, using her freeze frame and Ae assisting her to fight off demons.

Emma blinked. No, that wasn't it. It wasn't the demon hordes. Those were not abnormalities. Instead, she tried to focus her scrying onto Katyusha, who seemed to be surrounded by negative energy. The scrying pool flickered, showing a blurred image of a figure facing an angry Katyusha spitting blood and charging forward with a kick. As her kick impacted the shrouded figure, the scrying pool shattered into dust and Emma gasped. Katyusha, she.. That demon...

She whirled around quickly to look at Judith with a panicked sort of expression. She bit her lip and tried to formulate the correct words to describe her panic. She couldn't find many that would do the job, so she quickly blurted, "Katyusha is in trouble! That's not an normal demon!" Emma hated seeing the girls fight, but she didn't care whether it was the intimidating Katyusha or not, one of the Flowers was in danger, facing a strong demon, nonetheless. Emma wanted to be there. She wanted to booster spell Katyusha and see the demon with her own eyes.

"Something with this much negative energy..."​

[/DASH]

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]K A T Y U S H A [/BG]

[BG="black"]

"Katyusha?!?" Judith sounded shocked when she heard the girl's name being said. "Dammit. She didn't listen to me, again!"

Ae's firing upon the demon prevented any scolding from Judith from occurring. Katyusha once again withdrew her blade but instead of striking at her foe, she slammed the blade into the roof of the factory. A series of fissures began to spread around both herself and her foe. "Gunnie, don't fire upon this region again. Focus your attention on the people you are supposed to be helping. This is my fight."

"Why are these mortals firing upon me?" The demon seemed to be crying. Katyusha held no remorse.

The demon held her arm, which was starting to bleed from the high caliber magical bullet. "Sister. Why do you work for them?!?!" Several of Ae's shots did indeed hit their target. Katyusha stepped forward, her blade being dragged upon the ground, causing golden sparks to start flying.

"What do you take me for? A member of the Church?"

Blood fickled on the wet roof top. "Because if you are...Then you are a bigger fool than you let off being."

The demon remained relatively motionless on the ground. As Katyusha got closer, she noticed the helmet that the demon was wearing had been tossed aside. This revealed the demon's true face...

Except for the strange blue hair color, she looked exactly like a human being. Her bright eyes stood in contrast to Katyusha's emotionless purple ones.
"Stop with your disguises." Katyusha said. "You aren't fooling anyone."

The demon then chuckled. "You are the fool....I am no demon." She then stood up. "I AM A NEPHILIM. THE RULER OF THE NATIONS OF MANKIND."

To describe a Nephilim as being almost angelic in nature would seem to be blasphemous. However, there was no other word that fit the woman. She was seemingly made of the purest of marble and her skin uniformly white.

"Shield of the Archons!"She then shouted The woman was cornered; she still had the desire to fight and fight hard. A light then surrounded her body. The Shield was a projection of sheer mental force, telekinetic in nature, which protects the Nephilim on all sides.

Katyusha growled. She attempted to attack with a powerful strike from her blade. However upon impact, the attack was deflected and she was set flying back....

"Sister, sister. Since you are being unreasonable....I will have to teach you a lesson in behavior!" The woman then grinned slyly, "Blind Seraphim's Claws!"

Her hands then formed into giant raptor like claws. Moving as quickly as possible she then stabbed Katyusha in both the arms and the legs. The foe was still protected by her shield. Katyusha's body reeled in pain. In response, Katyusha's pupils grew big and the demon felt the roof begin to shake. Katyusha's spell had been cast. Soon the roof caved into the upper levels of the factory.



[/BG]

 

[Neko Archy]

"You know...you should really take the night off. Just this once."

The guard just grunted dismissively.

"Fine, be that way..."

He was standing over Katsumi, while she sat down on a chair and the two of them waited for his companions to finish dealing with Chiaki. Katsumi was not surprised in the slightest when his radio called him back towards the entrance and away from her; the comm chatter she was getting made it clear enough that things had gone south.

Damnit, what did that doctor keep from us...

She gave him a slight wave as he left, then stood up once it was clear he was out of sight. Once he figured out what was going on the guy wasn't likely to stick around. There's no way that he was paid enough to deal with demons.

Katsumi was going to head after him to help the rest of the girls, when she heard some massive explosion from the direction of the factory. It was only natural to go investigate, so she ran off in that direction instead, haphazardly slapping Emma's tags on the walls every now and then along the way.

What she found on the factory floor was unexpected, to say the least. Katyusha and some woman were facing off, while dozens of Shadows lurked in the...well, shadows.

For her to still be standing after falling through the roof, and facing off against Katyusha...It didn't bode well. Katsumi stepped back out of the room for a second while she pieced together her weapon from the pieces it was in her bag. The first piece screwed into the second, the second into the third, and she was ready to go.

Katyusha was going to need those Shadows kept off her back, so when Katsumi stepped back in, she went to work slicing through them right away.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

<table><tr><td valign="top">

</td><td><p>"Awful, just awful," said the foe. "What kind of Nephilim are you?" The woman donned off her metal mask. She coughed a little from the amount of dust floating around in the air. The cave-in did little damage to her. </p><p>On the other side of the factory room, Katyusha remained hidden in the shadows. Her blade kept the lower level demons at bay from the time being. Trails of blood still dripped from her arms and legs. Katyusha didn't like this level of pain and she gritted her teeth together, while she torn her long socks in half to form a crude bandage. <p>"Come now, you consider yourself a Nephilim?"the foe said in her silken voice, "If so, you really are quite pathetic."</p><p> Katyusha then chuckled. "So. All you are here for is to insult me? I've dealt with more powerful foes. You're little more than a quick little bastard.</p></p><p></td><td valign="top">

</td></tr><Tr><td colspan="3"></p></td></tr></table>
<p>The Nephilim's lips curled in disgust. "You didn't answer my question...Sister, I don't know what they did to you but are just as stubborn as I remember you being 4000 years ago."</p><p>This caught Katyusha's attention. If this demon was really that old, it means that she came from before the foundation of the Church or the Great Rebellion.

Before Katyusha had a chance to respond to the demon's comment, Katsumi charged in with her pole arm ready in hand. The "Other Kat," as dubbed by Constant, was a newer member of the Flowers. Though not as fresh as Ae was, this raid turned to full fledged battle was one of the girl's first baptisms of fire. "Shit and a pile of it." Katyusha thought to herself. The girl was obviously there to chase away the humanoid shadow demons; which was useful but with the Nephilim being here, that made things different. The Nephilim was quick to realize that Katsumi was in the room. "Cute. Your Church Masters have sent in a little girl to defend you. I should teach them a lesson in humility. How sad that they are so willing to send a child off to be slaughtered." </p><p>"Hey bitch!" Katyusha then shouted as she recklessly charged from her hiding space. "I told you once already! I don't work for the Church!"</p>

 

[Fel of the Eternal Forest]

[BG="black"]Constantina[/BG]

[BG="black"]
Her blades came to bear. The swathe of demons had given berth to her fury, apparently occupied with something else - something more sinister. Constantina took her advantage with relish. She let a mute growl escape her throat, near feral with battlelust.

Later on she would think, this feeling is why she hates fighting. She doesn't like the absence of consious control, never trusting the base instinct of fight-to-kill. It was unnatural. Even in situations in which she should have died, she'd fight.

Growl catching pitch, she advanced on the distracted shadows. What the hell, she thought, is distracting them so badly? She became a whirlwind of agression as she cut them down.

...And not a single one looked at what was taking them down. Her tempo fell, slowly descending to a stop.

And then, she ran. Through the guards, who were still in transit towards where she had cut down a horde of demons. Up a flight of stairs, another, another. This round had gone to the dogs.

[/BG]

 

[Blind Hemingway]

<table><tr><td valign="top">

</td><td><p>"You are blind sister!"the Nephilim growled, "Why do you keep trying to attack me? Your beloved Esosael!"</p><p>Katyusha did not respond, she continued to charge at Esoael. Her mind was clear and focused this time. There was no little floating demons to distract her movements.
<p>She attacked swiftly. Katyusha was determined that she would get this demon or whatever it was, in a single blow. Esoael couldn't dodge the attack was quickly as before, since this space was cluttered with rubble from the roof.</P><P>The steel of the blade had hit its target but she only managed to kink off some of Esoael's hair. The demon had parried using her long sharp claws</p><p>"Tamar. Esoael said, "I am tried of this pointless show of force! For the last time, we have been searching for you for ages! Come back too us. The Church just wants to control your powers! Come back with your most beloved sister. It is cute that you are resisting the inevitable but seriously...COME NOW!"</p></p></p><p></td><td valign="top">

</td></tr><Tr><td colspan="3"></p></td></tr></table>

 

[CoffeeCake]

Ae followed Constantia, saying nothing in words.

Her shots and scowls conveyed all she cared to communicate.

For now at least. She could address the stupid mistakes everyone else was making--in detail--once they all got back from this.

But who was she kidding?

One of them was bound to end up dead, at this rate.

===

Planned with cards.
Built with care.
Now appropriately scattering.

Judith couldn't be happy with all the goings on.

The past three minutes or so had left Chiaki with a lot to process, but with the demon ranks thinning and the guards no longer a threat, she took the moment to recap:

Let's see, a lot of noise. Demons show up (big surprise there!);cavalry comes; more noise; Katsumi's apparently okay again; Constant's apparently gone crazy again(big surprise there!); demons are running away and not fighting back...

"The hell's goin' on here?" Chiaki whispered, helping a startled guard to his feet.

Even if they could fake fear, she doubted the guards would be willing to die for a rouse(that wouldn't work on any of her companions anyway, except maybe Emma... and maybe Other!Kat). These guards hadn't rejected their humanity. Patsies. Pawns. The Played. That meant she was fighting for them too.

"Am I?" the guard choked on his words. "Am I in hell?"

"Truth is," Chiaki forced a smile. Her forte. "Not yet. I'm here to keep it from coming to that... if it all goes right."

Poor guy. What kind of shitty reassurance was that?

The guard only stood in place. Too shocked to leave.

She knew the feeling. Following her first battles as a Flower, sleeping, relaxing--even breathing--felt hard. Someone could tell you "just go that way and you'll be safe; there are no monsters there," but you couldn't believe it. Monsters aren't supposed to be anywhere!

By what authority could any other human being tell you where things that shouldn't even exist could or couldn't be?! To make sense of it was to ask too much of anyone. Instead she said...

"Look, it's gonna get worse. If you stay here, you'll probably get killed. I would leave, myself... if I didn't have to stay. " Her grip tightened around the mop's handle, ignoring the new grooves that threatened her with splinters. If she was lucky, they'd be her biggest injury of the night. "You can go now. Your old bosses were no good. But at least you can pick a new job now."

He wasn't responding. He looked, to her, like a lost child. A lost child in a burly man's body being told to find his own way home alone and after dark.

"Hey, look at me!" she jerked him around, forcing eye contact with a telekinetic jolt. "It's a privilege to be able to walk away from this. Take a look around."

He complied. His tear-rimmed eyes jerked in fits. Peripheral vision was enough to make out corpses both human and otherwise smeared across the tiling in halves and quarters or smaller.

Chiaki let him go. She struggled not to push him.

"Now, run!"

And he did.

And she did.

One to flee the fight, and the other to re-join it.

===

Spoiler

I don't like using wirty-dords, but it seemed fitting, and the Hong Kong Book of Writers' Rules says...

 

[Fel of the Eternal Forest]

[BG="black"]Constantina[/BG]

[BG="black"]
"What the hell is this Church business?" Constantina spouted. She had reached where Katyusha was fighting the high-end demon. She took a second to huff a breath. And in that second the nephilim attacked Katyusha.

Skillfully she parried, but she was little more than fast enough to block a first strike. The swords-woman was grimly determined.

Click. The camera had long since recharged. "Katyu, NOW."

Katyusha leapt, and swung her sword down. At the same time Consti leapt forward, bringing her larger katana, Kagayaku oni kirā in a trajectory to stab. Stupid, stupid name for a weapon. Kirā wasn't even legitimately Japanese. Who cares about a 'shining demon killer'? As far as she knew it had no demon-triggered magic in it either. Why name a sword that wasn't special?

Even at a speed transcending that of a normal humans capacity, she knew ordinarily she would be no match for a high level demon. She had around three seconds to assault this monstrosity and inflict the most damage she possibly ever could.

Three. She took another step and leapt upwards and forward. Her nose caught the smell of raw demonic energy. Her ally slipped underneath the guard of the frozen Nephilim.

Two. Katyusha got one good hit, slicing into the monster's torso. Constantina was ever closer, and the stench was stronger. Stronger by far.

One. Consti slashed... And was blocked.

How? She wondered. Then, once again, she was deaf. Another shot from Ae, which unlike her first missed the Nephilim.

"I'm really getting sick of your friend shooting me, Tamar."
[/BG]

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]K A T Y U S H A [/BG]

[BG="black"]"Tamar, I am tired of your friends shooting at me." Esosael yelled.

Purple blood was now drenching her sky blue dress. For the first time in generations, humans had successfully wounded her.

"We have struck you demon." Katyusha said. "Do you really think it wise to continue fighting us?" Katyusha glared at Esosael.

Her and Constant's blades where now posed across Esosael's body like a steel X. While they were rivals, both were effective Sword Dancers as Judith sometimes called them.

Ae remained in the back. She hadn't yet encountered such a being before in her life. Her bullet had managed to strike Esosael in the thigh. If this had been a human, more than likely they would have been killed out right by that wound. The demon was bleeding. So maybe it wasn't such a disaster after all.

"IDIOT!" Esosael said. Her voice tinged with menace. "YOU ARE COMING HOME WITH ME. WHILE OUR DEAREST ELDER SISTER WANTED YOU IN ONE PIECE, IT IS NOT LIKE WE CAN'T MEND YOU BACK TOGETHER!" Her face was growing hot. Both Katyusha and Constant could see this.

She then began to laugh. Her tone was ascending into a murderous falsetto.

"NORMALLY, I WOULD ALLOW FOR YOU TO CHOOSE WHICH ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS TO DIE FIRST. HOWEVER, MY CIVILIZED MANNERS HAVE LONG EXPIRED!"

Esosael then threw her arms down, causing a massive surge of energy to fly out in all directions. All of the Flowers where then thrown to the ground. Ae dropped her rifle and upon attempting to reach for it, she was knocked down by a horde of shadow beings. Kat and Constant were then slapped around by Esosael's hair. It had turned to into a whip like weapon. Raising her hands again, they were then slammed into the ground.

Her blue eyes then glanced forward. There was still one standing. Though she was busy fighting some of the shadow beings that Esosael had summoned to this factory in the first place.

Katsumi was her next target. The 'other Kat' was focused on the shadow demons. They weren't too difficult to defeat; after all, they were just energies vaguely humanoid in shape. Most of the time they didn't even bother fighting back. For a brief moment she glanced over to where Katyusha and Constant were....

...Now they were both knocked on the ground. Wait. Where did their foe go?

Without warning the Katsumi saw the blue haired woman. Rage was traced in her eyes. Esoasel's hair then coiled around Katsumi's throat, arms, and legs.

"I shall enjoy ripping you to shreds." The Nephilim cackled, "You have no powers to defend yourself. Such a useless waste of warrior."

The coils then tightened around Katsumi. "I shall place a curse upon you. My your tears forever haunt your comrades. It was because of their failure that you shall die!"

Katsumi's breathing became labored. She was slowly suffocating to death.

A loud zooming sound then overcame the room. Esoasel then screamed. Katsumi was then dropped to the ground, where she was then sent rolling for several yards. Katyusha's blade, Althea, was now rammed into the Nephilim's leg.

"Tamar....Tamar...Why are you?" Esoasel cried.

Katyusha stood up. Her eyes were now covered by her red hair which was now messy.

"Enough with calling me Tamar." Katyusha's voice was cool, brisk, almost business-like. "If you weren't such a fool, you would know that I am not Tamar and these girls are not members of the Church." The voice was now as cold as death, itself.

"But, but...YOU ARE TAMAR!" Esoasel cried.

By this time both Ae and Constant got up. Katyusha parted her hair slightly. She revealed only one eye to the Nephilim but Esoasel could tell that Katyusha was giving her a keep-your-mouth-shut-look. The red head then raised her index finger. This was the sign to wait in the Flowers' military-like gesture.

"Hardly. You should realize from my aura. I am something entirely different from you, Nephilim bastard."

[/BG]

 

[Neko Archy]

Katsumi groaned as she came to a stop on the ground. Ugh, that hurt...

She slowly got up. Nothing felt broken, just really sore...She glanced around, rubbing her neck. Katyusha was doing her thing, and the demon was back to focusing on "Tamar", which made things that much easier for everyone who wasn't a crazy superpowered fighter. Her naginata was on the ground next to the Nephilim, making her less than eager to run over and grab it.

Besides, there was something else going on...


The Nephilim had some shapeshifting abilities, like her own. But all those partial transformations, so quickly and effortlessly...she had to be either extremely good, or had some different mechanism for her abilities. Probably both. Purple blood, too, so she wasn't human. And all that talking about Tamar deserved looking into later.

For now, though, she had to get her weapon back.

The Nephilim's attention was still on Katyusha, so she didn't notice Katsumi rise to her feet. Her first notice the girl was doing anything at all was the sound of a blade on cement, followed by a slash across her leg. Katsumi was already a good few feet away from her when the strike came, and moving farther away; such were the joys of a polearm.

 

[CoffeeCake]

"Tamar? Does anybody stick to one name around here?"

Ae's reload was cut short.

She pried herself from the ground, tasting the blood on her lips and feeling rather fragile against her ribs.. Her vision blurred mercifully as she groped for her trusty rifle. The ugly thing must have had some kind of magic.

If she made it back, she was double-tapping that "Doctor" but only after torturing him for ever last bit of information he was sure to be holding back from them.

Something gripped her hand. Didn't feel like any of the other girls. Besides, they knew she didn't like being touched, especially in tense moments like these. But she knew enough of human contact to recognize that the hands that gripped her no longer counted as human.

Her free hand wrapped itself around a pistol and emerged handle-first, battering the demon's head. The creature staggered, grip slackening. With a kick, Ae caused the rifle to tumble upright just long enough for her to drop her other weapon, catch the rifled and take aim.

After Katsumi struck, she'd deepen the wound with a well-placed shot.

****

Chiaki climbed the stairs, her face screwed into an unseen grimace of determination. She was beginning to feel the bruises from her earlier fight with the guards, but she couldn't afford to give in right now. At least not as far as she knew.

Could she?

"Commisar Ju--Gaudet, Emma?" she called over the commlink. "I'm hearing loud noises, but the demons around me are all weird--I mean--they're either standing still or just shuffling around. Got an explanation? Dyin' of suspense here."

She cast a worried glance further up the stairwell.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"] J U D I T H [/BG]

[BG="black"]Judith paced back and forth. There had been no communication for over ten minutes. Something was not right; she knew that much.

Tapping her foot impatiently on ground, Judith then said, "Zenovia, come."

"Yes, my mistress." Zenovia said.

She appeared before Judith in her full form, unlike the smaller form that the rest of the girls were used to seeing.

"Do you have any idea of what is going on out there?" Judith said, almost sighing.

"Last I saw, a demon wearing blue armor was lumbering towards Katyusha. Somehow the redhead was able to eject me from her mind. Which is quite impressive...Considering my powers...." Zenovia said.

"Stop rumbling! What do you mean by a demon wearing blue armor?" Judith then asked.

Zenovia's face remained void of expression, "I do not know. It is quite unlike anything you and I encountered on our journeys."

"I have to found out what's wrong!" Judith sounded concern. "Emma!" She then said, "We'll need an eight or ten wheeled spell to seal whatever the hell is in that building!"

Judith then quickly tossed her high heels off and bolted out of the command truck. The wet pavement annoyed her slender feet, but she ran as fast she could towards the entrance of the factory. She knew that she was acting on pure instinct.

Just then, Chiaki tuned in. "I'm hearing loud noises, but the demons around me are all weird--I mean--they're either standing still or just shuffling around. Got an explanation? Dyin' of suspense here."

The Commisar sighed with relief. It now just occurred to her that it was pouring out. "I am here Flower Chiaki. We have lost communication with the main group. It seems that there is something jamming the signals. I can only hypothesize that whatever Katyusha is fighting currently is the reason why the shadow beings are standing down."

A pain then shot up her back. The Doctor.

She ran back towards the command truck. If he was trying to give the girls a death, then Emma was not safe!
[/BG]

 

[Fel of the Eternal Forest]

Constantina



The battle had just begun moments ago. Ae was down, or at least she had been, Consti didn't know. She knew she was still on the floor. That was it. Well, that and her leg hurt. That pseudo-physical push had left her tumbling backwards, and she was surprised that her spinal column wasn't damaged either.



She gathered her wits about her, all but ignored by the demon. As she rose, she scrambled for her katana, drawing another out as well. Considering the situation, she didn't have time for flashy camera stunts any more, nor did she have time for fast paced attacks.


Constantina mentally assessed the pain in her leg, and figured it was a mild fracture, possibly as little as a simple sprain. Either way it could get worse. Yet, she had to fight, didn't she?

This second blade was straight, as if the master craftsman didn't curve it like he did her other blade on accident. Only, it didn't feel like an accident. It was a simpler blade, ornamentally, but it was also more effective for straight on attacks.


Man, I wish I had learned to use those throwing knives... Those wouldn't help the situation, of course, but at least she could have taken the demon's guard down.


This wasn't a time for remorse.


Gritting her teeth, she walked forward, trying not to show she had a slight limp. It probably didn't work, but she steeled herself anyway. Moral support.


She hoped beyond all measure this came out solid. "Hey, you bitch. Yeah, you – quit calling my sister somebody she isn't. You might be strong but all of us, we can fucking take you." Katyusha didn't swear, and neither did the other's, but she didn't care. She didn't care, God damn it! Even cold-blooded Ae was polite mouthed most days, but Consti, she was ever the sailor mouth.


Who was I before, she had often found herself thinking. Hold your horses, this isn't the time for that. It's ass kicking time.


With her words she favoured her strong leg, preparing a jumping strike. She didn't care if the demon had shifted her shitting focus. She didn't care if it was watching her. Or anybody for that matter. At this point, this pile of shit could be star gazing and she'd still take it down. Well, maybe help.


Constantina was completely blind to what everyone else was doing. She hyper-focused on the demon. If she was angry before, with the swarm, there was no logical explanation to whatever this was. So much, that was, that her mind had automatically switched her language to a more gutteral German.


"Hey, du Miststück. Ja, du - Beenden Sie ruft meine Schwester jemand ist sie nicht. Man könnte stark sein, aber alle von uns, können wir ficken dich mitnehmen. " Was what she had really said.


She leapt, holding both swords in a prone position, rather recklessly trying to get the demon to open up by accepting a strike. It seemed as though it was working, the remasked demon turning slightly, holding up one clawed hand as if to rend her as she fell. Consti quickly spun her swords so they were dangling from her hands in reverse, more of a scissor effect. As she brought them in in a tearing motion, the demon adeptly blocked both of them with two clawed hands, pushed one aside and rent her flesh as though neither action had happened.



"FIIIIIIIICKEN" Consti screeched, tumbling backward.