1
The Darkest Night

A cold winter's day, sullen and dry. She stood there with displeasure, having been forced to attend the show. She stood tall with smooth, pale skin and solemn purple eyes, common of angels to have abnormal features. Her dark orange hair barely reached her shoulders and floated with the lonely breeze that attempted to brighten the situation. Her facial expression was much of one annoyed and impatient as she faced another with light wings that spread out in a comfortable position. He was like a statue, dirty and rigid. His determined eyes were the deepest blue seas and waves could be seen in his emotional stare. His short brown hair swayed lightly as he strengthened his stance, facing another with dark intentions. Though the others' features were pale, they had a gloomy gray to them. His hair was ebony black and his eyes were claret.

"Why do you want me here, Daniel, if I can't fight?" Her voice strengthened through the sentence. The man with the brown hair turned slightly to her, never taking his eyes off the dark one.

"To make it a fair fight. You know Taketo wouldn't mind bringing his own friends to fight me instead of doing it by himself. Ha ha," Daniel chuckled as he imagined pale-skinned angel imitators being thrown into the ground as Taketo watched, taking in every ounce of information of Daniel's fighting skills.

"Quite observant of you. I would have brought some along for the ride, but I don't trust any of them not to step in without my permission. As for you, my little peach, you wouldn't mind dancing with me after I kill your beloved, would you Lina?" Taketo bowed as if he was taking the hand of the beautiful angel, so anxious to fight him, inviting her to dance. She snarled at his invitation and turned with her arms crossed. She walked slowly before lifting her wings and floating slightly into the air.

"It's Evangelina to you, and I'll be watching in case I get the chance to kill you, Taketo of the Angel Hunters." She smiled and lifted higher into the air to land on a pillar that stood for the sole purpose of watching. She looked below and silently blew a kiss to Daniel as he smiled. To him, she was cute and could fend for herself when needed but she still needed help even though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. Always cold on the outside and icy on the inside, but the ice would melt when he confronted her. She always hated him because he could get to her. He was different to her. He was like a teddy bear, you could tell him everything and nothing would be told to anyone about it. He always kept her secrets, even though she always regretted telling him. Daniel was a true gentleman, which was more than anyone could say about Taketo, he was a true scoundrel. Taking everything away from a person then leaving them behind as if they were nothing. He only made gestures towards Lina because he liked to get under her cool skin.

Looking towards each other and wondering who would be the first to move, it was Daniel who started the advance towards Taketo. He hastened his pace with a push from his wings and met up with Taketo. They exchanged a few skillful punches before Taketo broke away and put his palms together. A small glow emitted from the lines his hands made pushed together. It looked like he was forcing them apart as a purplish red ball of energy formed between his hands. He yelled as he released the energy and it went towards Daniel, he was ready for it. He pushed his wings down to dodge the blast then continued towards Taketo while still in the air. Taketo was ready as well and prepared another blast, different from the first one. A green javelin-like energy formed in his fist and he aimed for the approaching angel. He threw the rod as hard as he could, missing the target, but still he concentrated.

"Don't tell me that's the best you can do! I thought you would be more of a challenge!" Daniel yelled from above, he had stopped and crossed his arms from the last attack that he didn't even have to dodge. Taketo looked at him with less worry than most that would meet their demise. He smiled as he stared at Daniel.

"I clearly overestimated you, Angel." Taketo's tone was spiteful and anxious as he smiled as evilly as anyone possibly could without permanently fixing his face that way. Daniel caught on to Taketo's words and turned too late to find a green javelin coming at top speed towards him. It struck his chest, as he had no time to move out of the way. His eyes widened as the javelin exited his back. He tried to stay afloat in the air but the energy from an Angel Hunter cripples the wings of an angel touched by it. He fell to the ground and landed on his face. Lina, stunned from what just happened, could only watch at the moment. She was frozen from the shock. A question raced her, would Daniel be able to melt her cold soul again? Tears began to burn her eyes as a change went over Daniel that she had never seen before. His wings turned as black as a raven, a dramatic change from the off-white color they had once been. His hair changed to match his wings and his deep eyes became a shallow red. Lina couldn't believe her eyes and silently floated to the ground. She walked towards her teddy bear, trying to keep her cold composure. The tears that she fought began to strengthen their attack as she stepped ever so closer to the angel. She now stood over him, watching him to see if he would get up. She didn't dare touch him; it wasn't like her to do so. She was afraid to touch him, to feel his pale skin. His blood stained his torn shirt, right between his wings. She could see him breathing, his back moving slowly up and down. Never had she been so comforted to see someone moving, even to the slightest degree. She knew he was still alive, then she could lash out on the one who did this to her Daniel. She had never seen it before, a Fallen Angel. He looked ever so pale by the contrast of his now dark features and then his light skin. She shivered as the thought of losing him crossed her mind. Lina turned to Taketo with hate in her now fury filled eyes.

"He knew he couldn't beat Taketo! But still he made me come, and watch, watch him�" She thought to herself as the tears fell from her eyes. She screamed with anger and remorse. Screamed at the Angel Hunter who did this to Daniel. She wouldn't let the tears overcome her, consume her. She wouldn't let them cloud her vision and her judgement. Lina clenched her fists and a yellow glow formed around her, an aura that floated in the air, sticking to her skin and brightening the air around her. Taketo watched in amusement. Glad he caused her so much pain. He seemed proud of himself and this only angered Lina more. How could he be so cruel? Easy, he is evil. He is the only reason why angels exist, to fight evil. Lina crouched into a deep stance. A strong form that gave her the steadiness and control she needed.

"I told you I would wait for my turn to kill you." Lina said lowly. She put a skilled right hand with the palm facing her left in front of her face, lining it up with her eyes and his. "Bring it on." Taketo smiled with delight. She was so focused even though her love was lying beside her feet, crumbling into despair with pain and anguish, bleeding to death and fallen. He stood in a stance now, not quite as low as Lina but balanced. He put fists up instead of palms, believing that a fist would have more damage than a palm face. She never smiled towards him as he did so carefully towards her.

This fight would start with him. Taketo ran towards her, yelling to throw her senses off. He met her with random punches and kicks that she blocked with her forearms. He punched with one hand while the other came up to hit her chin. She moved back to dodge and he rounded with a left foot. She blocked with both her arms and was thrown off balance. Taketo had found the right time. He brought the same claret ball of energy from before to his hands and threw it at her. She was caught off guard and covered herself with her arms crossed before her. The impact threw her back onto the ground and Taketo continued to advance at a run. She coughed from the dust she had riled from the slide, but didn't have time to connect with her senses once more before Taketo had hit her with a full blast of the purplish red energy. He landed and waited for the smoke to clear, to see the damage he had done, how long she would continue to lie down. She groaned and struggled to sit up. She managed to get to her knees but as soon as she tried to put a foot on the ground she fell to all fours. She coughed and sputtered blood from her mouth. Lina closed her eyes and concentrated, closing them tight to drown out the wind and the light and the breathing she heard from her loved one.

"I can't give up. I can't lose. I have to beat him." Lina whispered to herself for support as she shakily made her way to her feet. Her right arm was cruelly injured and her right ankle was twisted. She leaned to her right side from the lack of strength and her wings, limp from the energy's touch, faded out into her back. Lina stood up as straight as she could as she opened her eyes, fully aware of her target and his intentions. She put her left arm out and stretched her fingers apart bringing energy to her hand. The golden light shaped into a thick sword that she held with her only capable hand. The sword, to her, was incredibly light, as that was all it was, light. Lina was the Angel of Light and Daniel was the Angel of Hope. She hoped that her light would touch his cold soul and warm him to his true colors. The area around her seemed to fade, as her light was stronger. The sun was beginning to set and the orange color of the clouds matched Lina's hair, making it fluorescent. Lina had all her thoughts in motion as she lowered the sword to the ground and touched the tip of it to the soil. A momentary look of defeat crossed her face as she took a deep breath. The renewal from soft jasmine elixir cleared her thoughts as she powered up her sword. The energy sparking as Lina raised it to have the point at eye level, aiming for Taketo's head. He watched, trying to find out what she was up to. He had never seen her sword before, never seen her use it.

"Angelic Fury!" She called out her attack as the energy that sparked her sword magnified and erupted. A light orange beam shot for Taketo with light speed and hit him square on the chest. He stepped back from the impact but stayed standing. After the beam glittered into small sparkles of energy and the dust cleared, Taketo was seen with a whole in his shirt and a bloody gash on his chest. He looked surprised as Lina dropped her sword and before it hit the ground it disappeared into nothing. She breathed heavily, as did Taketo.

"How could she do this? I have an energy field around me! She shouldn�t be able to touch me!" He screamed out in his mind and straightened his composure.

"Had enough?" Lina knew he wouldn't be done and she would have to fight more but she couldn�t resist not saying anything.

"Not yet. I'll pay you back for hitting me!" Taketo laughed an evil laugh and started to power up an attack. He put the balls of his hands together and his fingers curled to almost touch each other. "De-" A light formed in his hand, a gray light that dimmed with each pulse of energy he put into it. "Mon-" The light increased as he crept into a stance and his hands pushed towards Lina. "Ic-" He moved his hands behind him to his side as the light dimmed ever so darkly. Lina was surprised by the power he was putting into this attack. She couldn�t block this! It would destroy her and he knew it as much as she did. Lina fell to her right knee and held her arm as she prepared to meet her mentor, Mitra, who had died at the hands of Taketo a long time ago.

Mitra was Lina's teacher, the one that had taught her everything she knew. When Lina was small she thought that angels couldn't die and that Mitra was preparing her for battles to kill Angel Hunters. She soon learned differently. Mitra fought with many Hunters before Taketo killed her; she was old and getting slow. Taketo took advantage of that. He sliced her neck with his javelin and she slowly bled and suffocated. Lina was away when this happened and cried when she found her 'mother' lying dead in a soft pool of lovely red. She swore to avenge her death by killing Taketo but it seemed to her now that she would meet the same fate as Mitra.

Giving up hope, Lina gritted her teeth with anger, angry that it would end like this. Her heart raced as she was anticipating the blow but was soothed by a lovely melody.

"Sunshine is now asleep,
And you on an angel flies,
Into the ocean of child's night,
With loving hands by your side."
(By Mandy King)

Lina looked surprised from the song and questioned it. "Who are you?" She waited for an answer as Taketo laughed.

"Talking to yourself my dear? It won't help!" He laughed as he continued to power up his attack. Lina paid no attention to him but more on the voice that echoed in her mind. The song repeated once more before breaking off at Lina's voice.

"Mitra-Mama?" The voice seemed to smile and answered her. "Yes dear. I'm here. Don't give up. You have someone who loves you by your side." The voice was soothing, like the song. It calmed the air around Lina and she answered aloud.

"I don�t have the power to block it. His blast drained my energy. I-"

"Don't say that. You only have weakened because you think you have been; his blast only took your wings, you don't need them. What do you think those years of training were for? I thought I taught you better than that, Eva." The voice snickered playfully but Lina looked as if she could cry.

"Mitra-Mama, what can I do?" She tried to bring herself to stand on her right leg. "I only have my left arm, I need both to do the blast."

"You trained for this, right?" Lina nodded. "Well you don't need but one hand. You are strong enough to beat him with one hand behind your back." The voice strengthened at the end as Lina tightened her left fist and came up to a stance on both feet. She put her hand out, fingers extending towards Taketo, and the tips started to glow a light blue. Taketo sensed the power she was building and mocked her.

"Oh little angel. You are trying to put up a fight! So valiant of you!" He laughed and continued to build up his blast while Lina started hers. Her nails brightened with the glow and strengthened as she called out her words.

"An-" Her fingers looked to be straining to hold them open as she struggled to stay standing. She gritted her teeth and continued powering up. "Gel-" She started to bring her hand back to her hip and a small ball of light blue formed in her hand. "Ic-" She waited for the power to be right before she would say the last part. Taketo sensed the building power even more and kept powering up himself.

"If she has the power I think she has I will have to keep building." He thought to himself and the light he had in his hands darkened. Though the ball of energy was black it still radiated a light that made little sense from a dark being. Lina's energy was continuing to grow and she knew that if she was to match him she would have to give everything she had into rising to his level as fast as possible. He had a large gain on her and she must catch up. The power was rising at incredible speed, which scared Taketo. He knew she was strong but didn't think she had this much power until he looked behind her. A glittery form stood behind her, an angelic form. It was a beautiful woman with flowing clothes and long hair. Her wings were spread out and her aura was astoundingly golden. His eyes widened as he almost lost the power he had gathered. "M-Mitra?" He stuttered the name. He couldn�t believe that she was there, with her 'child.' Even though he had killed her long ago he still remembered her. "This is where her power is coming from. I must overcome her." He gritted his teeth, and his power roared and the air around him was pushed away creating a permanent gust of wind. Lina struggled at the sudden wind but regained her ground as she continued to up the ante. She, too, gritted her teeth and her power was forced into her hand, illuminating the area and creating its own wind. The dust that scattered from the winds pushed into each other at the midpoint between Taketo and Lina. The form behind Lina came into the full stance of the blast with both hands pulled back and charging.

Taketo laughed and a sudden darkness surrounded him. "This is your doom!" He yelled as he made a last ditch effort to charge his blast before letting it go with a word. "BLAST!" Finishing his sequence the power in his hands pushed out as he pushed his hands towards Lina. Her eyes widened at the sudden decision to attack and she was not ready. She drew in a short breath as she let her energy go. The form of Mitra followed Lina's movements.

"Blast!" She pushed her arm forward and the energy flew towards Taketo's and they met closer to Lina than she wanted. She held her arm out as Taketo held his and they cancelled each other's blast. Lina pushed more of her energy into her blast to push his away to be evenly between them.

Taketo smiled, "Is this your best, Angel?" He laughed as he put more of his energy into his side and pushed the meeting place closer to her. She gritted her teeth and again put more into it, evening the space between her and the blast again.

"If you are holding back because of this planet, fear not of any loss from this battle that must be won. You are the last one who can save it so you must win. I can assure you we will restore it once this is over." The soothing voice reassured Lina and she nodded, once more determined in anger. She gathered her energy to put into the blast while Taketo added more.

The meeting of the blasts was about a human length away from her when she yelled, "This is for Daniel!" She pushed part of the stored energy into the blast, sending it to the middle again, "This is for Mitra!" She pushed more into it and now the blast was a human length away from Taketo, who struggled to stand in his place. She finished her blast after saying, "This is for me!" The blast overwhelmed Taketo and he screamed in anguish and despair and crumbled into specks of dust as the light consumed him. As the dust from the winds and the energy diminished Taketo was gone, Mitra was gone, and Lina lay on the ground, gasping for air. "I have so little energy left. Mitra-Mama? Are you still there?" No answer was said to her. Lina began to shed her tears as she stared into the turning sky. It was a dark purple, like that of her eyes that glittered with the tears. The thin layer of clouds that had moved left streaks of white across the darkening sky, like her tears leaving her eyes. Soon her tears gathered into one drop at the corner of her eye and created a light. The light formed into a crystal, an amethyst crystal. She felt the warmth from it and seemed to regain her energy from the light. She leaned up slowly and painfully to see the crystal floating between her and Daniel. She cupped her hands; even her right arm that pained her so much would be used to heal her love. The crystal floated into her hands and seemed to land on a pillow she held so softly. Leaning over to Daniel who lay beside her she let the crystal drop into his wound. The light from the crystal sparkled as it glittered into his back and his shirt fluttered from some energy the amethyst crystal gave off. His breathing became normal from his shallow breaths and his features lightened to their original color. Lina smiled and waited for him to open his eyes but they remained closed tight. Her 'mama' spoke with an urgent voice, appearing before Lina in a kneeling position.

"You must revive him. The crystal did nothing but cure him from the fallen effects. You must do something, I cannot." Lina bit her lip as she tried to think of something. She didn't have enough energy to give to him on her own, how could she revive him any other way? Something crossed her mind and the urgency in Mitra's voice pushed her to do it. She dispelled some of her gained energy from her fingers and he slightly floated. She controlled the way he turned and that was to his back. She lightly moved him to her and let him land softly in her arms. Holding him tightly she held his hand.

"Don't leave me. I fought for you." With this she leaned closer to him and gently kissed him. So delicately she kissed him with love and hope. She drew back with the hope that he would open his eyes, the hope that would let him see how much she loved him. It was the hope that granted his eyes to open. The hope that let him see into the light of her soul and he reached out and touched her worn face.

"You shouldn't cry. It doesn't suit such a beautiful angel to do so." He smiled lightly as Lina stared at him with tears in her eyes and she let it out as she desperately hugged him as he held her with gentle arms.

"Farewell, daughter." Lina looked up to see Mitra's form fading and a warm smile on her face during the disappearance. Daniel sat up as Lina sat backwards and rested her arm. He smiled as he looked at his dirtied angel and started to laugh lightly.

"What's so funny?" Lina looked at him angrily as she wiped the drying tears from her cheeks.

"You're so beautiful after you fight. It's funny."

"Why is that?" She looked at him now half-angry because the complement calmed her.

"An angel as yourself dirty from a battle is rare to find and is normally quite nasty looking with crusted wings and bloodied clothes but you never seem to look that way after a battle. You always have dirty clothes with dusty wings but your skin always drowns out the filth." He smiled, sure that this was the right thing to say, but was horribly disappointed.

"Are you saying I'm filthy?" She yelled at him as she attempted to stand but her leg lost that strength quickly and she fell on her butt. She gritted her teeth together and steadily came to laugh. Daniel had put his arms up to cover his head and his wings had come forward to cover his body. "You look like a turtle!" She laughed hysterically as he peeked over his arms cutely. He started to laugh and they shared laughter until dust started to form where Taketo had been destroyed. It formed into a humanoid shape and the wind increase alerted them. They looked at the formation as the wind blew away the dust to show a being. Lina looked wide-eyed at it and opened her mouth to say something, but the now standing Daniel beat her to it.

"Sumi? Is that you?"