Raise the Dead [Private // Mission]

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Mission:

Raise the Dead [Private // Mission] 460art

Breathe me back inside
I've been in the water too long
I soaked in all the cries
Until I was gone

The young Uzumaki lay on her purple carpet, staring at the wooden ceiling of her room. Her red hear provided an intense contrast with the carpet, but not one that appeared ugly to the eye. It bonded rather beautifully, however weird that may have been. But the woman paid no attention to colours; she could barely even see the ceiling. She was too busy imagining things in her mental eye. She laid there, limbs spread out, looking defeated and emotionless; it was one of these days. Days during which she didn’t know what to do with herself, even though she had a lot of things to do. In her mind she was already developing a new strategy to kill off the last member of the council; she was so close to achieving her goal. And after that, it was the Kage’s turn. She couldn’t help but let a content smile creep over her lips.

She sighed as oxygen filled her lungs, causing her chest to rise. She filled her lungs with as much air as she could, and held it in. She stayed like that, bloated from the air, listening to her own blood pumping through her veins. Moments like these filled her with peace and made her feel relaxed. Hearing nothing but her own blood, heartbeat; and then that all too familiar screeching sound inside her head when it got too quiet. Almost out of air, she always pushed herself beyond her limits because she didn’t want to let her peace drift away too fast. She had started turning red in the face when she finally remembered that she actually had to breathe at some point if she wanted to keep on living. She exhaled a gust of air and her chest fell back to the floor abruptly. She pushed out every ounce of carbon dioxide that was left in her lungs, feeling completely crushed by the emptiness; she imagined that space must have a similar feel.

A sudden noise tore her out of her imagination and brought her back to reality. What was it now? The question and annoyance rushed almost naturally and unbothered through her mind as she got up and, sighing in exasperation. She hated it when her peace was disrupted. Unless it was Akihiko; then the disruption was more than welcomed. She gazed over to the window but couldn’t see anything. For a second she figured she was just imagining things, but still it bugged her that she had gotten up; might as well check. She dragged herself over to the window and looked into her backyard; nothing. Her eyes wandered down to the windowsill when she spotted the source of her annoyance; a messenger bird. A black eagle was lying o its back on the windowsill, its legs twitching weirdly. Ophelia sighed. Why did they always send her the stupid birds? She opened the window untied the message from the bird. She was about to close the window when she saw the helpless stare of the bird, looking her straight in the eye, begging for her help. She pondered for a minute to let the bird just there, what did she care anyway? Its own fault for flying against the freaking window. Seconds passed as she ringed with herself. “For fuck’s sake” she exclaimed annoyed, grabbed the bird and closed the window.

Performing the Shousen jutsu on it to heal it, she simultaneously opened the letter. Another mission, a B rank one this time.

Finally, something exciting.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

The prison which she had to visit was a four hour walk from Kirigakure; which meant that a Shinobi could make it in only two. Luckily, Ophelia wasn’t feeling like stopping for anything so she’d just run two hours non stop until she reached the prison. She didn’t really know what to make of this mission; was the council on to her? Of course they’d know that someone was killing their predecessors off one by one, but they wouldn’t necessarily know it was her. Then again, you could never know these days. As she stormed through the house, picking up various items she’d need for the mission, she kissed Akihiko goodbye. He smiled at her and caressed her hair for a second while they locked eyes. He let out a slight chuckle as he let go of her, his fingers stroking her back.

She exited the house while throwing her backpack over her shoulders, locking it in front of her stomach as she freed her red hair from the grasp of her bag and back. She turned right and walked towards the gates of the village. Her street was one with a bad name; a very bad name. Burglars, rapists, drug-addicts, fugitives, con-men and the general criminals could all be found here. If one was looking for ‘business under the table’ they’d come here. Ophelia was friends with that lot, mainly with the drug-addicts and dealers, for obvious reasons. She also fancied con men, mostly because they’d always try to get her and yet she’d always out smart them; which is also why they had taken a liking to her. She was feeling comfortable amongst these folks, without ever realizing that they were actually bad people; people that she, as a SHinobi and enforcer of laws, should hunt down and lead to justice. These people were Ophelia’s friends. Even more than that, they had grown to become her family. She didn’t have anyone else in the world, only them. So it was natural that she’d regularly cover for them whenever she caught wind of some mission taking place in her neighbourhood, or whenever the government wanted someone dead and captured she’d volunteer to do the dirty job to give her friend a heads up. She was a good friend, Ophelia; she just didn’t know who to be friends with. At least in the eyes of her fellow Shinobi.

It was no secret that she lived in that criminal infested neighbourhood. And while she had never mentioned any of her shady friends to her ‘normal’ friends, it didn’t take much to realize that she was hanging out with ‘those people’ as well; and enjoying it maybe a little bit more than her other friends. Ophelia was just like them; and every day that passed, she was becoming more and more like them, whether she realized that or not. She had already killed four council members; but that was justified in her eyes.

‘Yoo, where you headin’, Witch?” the guard ripped her from her deep thoughts as he stopped her at the gates by standing in front of her, stretching out one of his arms to stop her. He looked at her with a critical and serious look as he eyed her from head to toes. He himself was a man in his late twenties, white skin, slightly tanned; he must have been on a mission to some sunny country, because there was no way in hell he’d gotten a tan in Kiri. His brown eyes were examining her. Ophelia’s red eyes looked at him; it was Hideaki. She knew him. She scoffed and threw her hand back so as to say that it was none of his business, but didn’t take a step forward.

“Don’t you have to work?” she asked, disdain in her voice while she raised her eyebrow. The man smiled a smug smile. “Whatcha think I’m doin’, sweetheart?” he said as he crossed his arms. Ophelia let out a self-satisfied chuckle, “I didn’t realize they were employing hookers now”.

Hideaki looked at her dead serious, any trace of playing along having faded in an instant. His eyes were cold and fixating on Ophelia’s, trying to break the wall that was her. She kept on that smug expression for a little bit longer before Hideaki broke out in laughter reaching for the girl’s back.

“Hahahaha, you bitch.” He said as he laughed and hugged Ophelia, while she hugged him back; Hideaki was one of her clients. And while he did sell his body for some extra cash, Ophelia always loved to make fun of him for that, just the way he liked to call her ‘witch’, referring to her medical abilities. And damn, lucky were the ladies who could afford him.

“Have a safe trip, sweetheart, and don’t let the werewolves bite”.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

The full moon hung high over her head as she ran through the forests outside Kirigakure; she’d need only two hours of running to get to that prison. One and a half if she’d use Isobu’s help. But she was in no hurry; not really. Of course she wanted to get done with that mission as soon as possible, but at the same time, the change of scenery was very welcomed. Her mind was so clouded she could barely tell one thought from another. The burden she was carrying weighed down on her like nothing she had ever felt in all the entirety of her short life. She had killed four. She needed only one. And then she’d face the most important person; the key to all this. Fear stung her heart like a thorn tearing through her thumb. It hurt, but she did not mind the pain. She welcomed it. She welcomed it, because it was a sign that she was still alive. That she was still human. Many were the times at which she feared that Isobu’s nature had completely taken over her mind and body, eradicating any trace of her kind self and her humanity. She realized that she wasn’t the same person anymore, and she welcomed the numbness that came with that, but there was always this fear of losing herself at the back of her mind. She had not let go; not completely at least. Not yet.

The trees flew by in an unchanging canvas of dark green paint as she moved from branch to branch, completely absorbed by her thoughts. How could she ever kill the Kage? The council members were easy targets; they were only civilians. Sometimes Ophelia felt bad that her targets were mere civilians; but then she remembered how they wanted her dead in the first place. Her actions were reactions to the council’s plans of ridding the world of her existence. Sometimes she thought she should have just let them. That, maybe, the world would be indeed a better and safer place without her and the Sanbi inside her. But then the fear of death awoke deep within her heart. She couldn’t just let herself die. Ophelia was a fighter. She was a survivor.

She stopped at a path and looked around. It was so dark, she thought she had heard leaves rattling and branches cracking. She pulled out a flashlight and searched the area around her when a bush started moving as if it had life of its own.

“Hello?” her thin voice broke the deafening silence.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

The bush continued shaking until a rather large turtle slowly crept out, making its way towards wherever it had its mind set to go. A stone broke off her heart as she sighed in relief.

Just a turtle.
Hahahah………what?

The all too well known voice of Isobu echoed through her mind. His recent silence had always let her forget he was even there.

You scared of turtles now?
She frowned as her eyebrows twitched.
Shut up.
Hahahah.

She packed the flashlight back into her backpack and turned around to continue her path to the prison. She wondered if that was the prison they were going to put her once they found the Kage’s body. She doubted there would even be a trial. They’d just decapitate her and let her body rot somewhere. Or burn it. Her parents wouldn’t have any body to bury. She guessed they wouln’t even tell them that Ophelia was killed because she killed six people. They’d just say she’d gone missing in action.

Such are the ways in the world of Shinobi.
She scoffed.
What do you know about our world.
The Sanbi laughed an arrogant laugh. It made Ophelia shiver.
I’ve been much longer around than you, girl. I know things and seen things you cannot fathom.
Uuhh ‘fathom’ what a fancy word for a monster.
She mocked him.
Taken from a fancy brat.

She smiled. There were times she actually liked the Turtle. There were times he was funny. And these were the times he got into her mind much easier, because she let him. And because he wanted something.

They can’t put you in a prison, girl.
She didn’t say anything, even though she was intrigued to know how she would avoid captivity.
Simple; you just don’t get caught.
She laughed loudly and hysterically.
You’re funny. In two weeks time I’ll have killed six people, one of which will be the freaking Mizukage, and you’re telling me ‘don’t get caught’ ? Have you gone mad?
You can still die, brat. The Kage is no one to laugh at. He’s the real deal and he’ll tear you to shreds.
Thanks for your uplifting words.
She frowned and started walking again.
Unless-
Unless what?
She was growing tired of the Sanbi’s games.
Unless you bond with me.
Bond with you? What’s that supposed to mean.
She was confused. What did he mean? Was this one of his tricks?
It’s not a trick, girl. Bonding with a being is to bind their spiritual forces; to connect them, to merge them.
Ummm.
She didn’t understand.
In other words, your life force I connect to mine, and vice versa. You die, I really die. I die, you die too.
And why in hell would I want that?
Why would she want her life to be bound by the Sanbi’s? She didn’t need to protect another one. She could barely protect herself.
If you would let me finish you’d know why you’d want that, brat.
She pouted. She didn’t like it when he talked to her like that; she didn’t like it when a monster made of chakra was lecturing her.
By binding our life force, we also bind our chakras, which means you can call me forth whenever you so desire. That way you can defend yourself faster and more efficiently.
After a moment of silence she decided to respond.

And what would that cost me?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Nothing.
Nothing is for free, turtle.
Your appearance might change.
Change? How?
Your eyes would be of a green colour.
Seriously?
Yes.
Kami. So I get access to your powers whenever I want to?
Precisely.

She pondered the thought for a moment as the Sanbi patiently waited. He knew he had her.

What do I have to do?
Sign a contract.
A contract?
A contract.
Where do we get a contract?
You just sign with your blood on the chains that bind me.
What?
Is that a problem?
...I guess not.

Inside the Sanbi world now, she scratched her wrist against the rocks in the underwater cave. Blood came flowing out and she swam towards the chains and the Sanbi. She found the largest chain.

What do you get from that?
I told you. Nothing.

She knew he was lying. But oddly enough, at that time, she didn’t care. All she cared about was survival. Survival and revenge.

She dipped her finger into her veins and then wrote her name on the chain. Her blood lit up in white which blinded her, as she was thrown back against the wall; she opened her eyes and found herself in the forest again.

It is done……hahahhaha

At the time she didn’t realize it, but this exact moment was when her downfall had begun.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

The prison was a private establishment and as such, better than some apartments in Kirigakure. With its high stone walls and barred windows, it gave off an ominous feel that made Ophelia uncomfortable; she wanted to spend as less time as possible in there.

It’s just a prison, girl.
Shut up.

Ophelia walked up to the prison gates, a heaviness in her throat. The guards were standing on the wall, armed with bows and arrows. The prison looked more like a castle than a prison.

“HALT” a guard screamed while all the rest of them raised their bows and pointed at her. Her eerie green eyes that looked like they were radioactive shifted from one end to the other.

Five.
You can take them.

Her expression remained serious; one could not see what she was really thinking or planning to do. For a moment she intensely stared at the man who appeared to be in command, taking in his every feature. He was rather tall and muscular, his clothes stretching over his trained body. He wore a uniform, the same plain dark grey military uniform everyone else was wearing. The only difference was that he had some kind of medal pinned to his chest, which he evidently wore with much pride. Ophelia imagined he had won that medal with all muscles and no brain. She withheld a chuckle as she made a step forward and raised her right hand so as to wave at them.

“Please, friends, I have come on orders from Kirigakure to retrieve a Shinobi who was falsely incarcerated.” She spoke, as she looked at the guy with the medal, completely ignoring the agonized expressions on the faces of the others. With a single swing of his hand, they’d let go of the arrows which would find Ophelia’s torso, wounding her, perhaps even fatally.

The man was silent. His expression was one Ophelia struggled to understand. He looked at her for a long time; it looked like he was weighing his options, like he was contemplating something. The Uzumaki was confused, but she didn’t let on. What was the difficulty with releasing a prisoner who was imprisoned by mistake? Or maybe-

“OPEN THE GATES” his hoarse voice brayed, cutting her train of thought and all the possible outcomes in half. She looked at the gigantic gate opening in front of her with screeching, as dust was thrown up, concealing the man that had come out to greet her. Ophelia squinted to protect her eyes from the dust.

“Welcome, welcome!” an old voice came out, approaching Ophelia. She still couldn’t see the person behind the voice. “Welcome to our fine establishment!” he continued as he finally reached Ophelia, grabbed her hand and shook it frantically. She just smiled, feeling somewhat uneasy to be touched like that by strangers.

“It’s nice to be-“ her sentence was cut in half by the old man, who appeared to have a blind eye. And the other one wasn’t any good probably either. He put his arm around her back and shoved her inside the walls, through the gates, while saying “Oh what a beauty you are, and so young, yes, yes such a beauty, such a beauty…”. Ophelia couldn’t say anything, really, besides thinking how much she just wanted to leave this place. Like, right now. They walked up some stairs, and entered a room which appeared to be the man’s office. It seemed he was the owner of the prison.

He sat her down on the leather chair across his desk, in which Ophelia sank almost instantly. It was so soft, not like other leather chairs; it was fluffy and sinking under her weight, providing an exceeding amount of comfort and satisfaction. She hadn’t noticed that she was actually tired.

“Tea, dear?” he asked with his brittle voice, as he pointed to a kettle, his smile revealing his empty mouth. She held back from making a face that would reveal her partial disgust and shook her head instead. “I’d rather just get the prisoner and be out of here” in a second she regretted what she said. “Not anything against your prison, I just, we’re just needed in Kirigakure” she said and smiled uneasily, trying to make it sound like she had some important business to attend to.

Why, yes, killing the council, killing the Kage, important things indeed…
Shaddap.

“Ah, yes, dear, of course, of course” the old man said and smiled, looking at his tea. “I’m afraid you can’t leave.”

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Silence filled the room; neither of them moved a muscle. There was no noise whatsoever. No noise coming from outside either; not a bird, a rustling of the leaves, nothing. Just utter and complete silence that consumed her.

Her right eyebrow twitched lightly, an action happening involuntarily whenever she was confused or annoyed. This time, she experienced both emotions. She was confused because she didn’t know why she couldn’t leave, and annoyed that this apparently would take much longer than she had wanted it to. “What do you mean ‘I can’t leave’?” she asked, her voice suppressing a sense of annoyance and panic.

The old man took a sip from his tea, which had reached the desirable temperature, and let it slide down his throat. Suddenly, the door was broken open by the guy with the medal and someone else the girl didn’t recognize, and before she could even anticipate their moves, the old man had already pierced her pale skin with a needle, releasing a silky substance into her body.

“What the hell!” she exclaimed as she looked at the little drop of blood that had tainted her perfect white skin. The red drop blurred in front of her eyes, which made Ophelia squint so she could see better, but the problem wasn’t her eyes; it was her brain. She slowly fell numb, crashing against the old man’s desk with an abrupt move that took down the tea kettle with her, resulting in a high pitched breaking sound that hurt her ears to unimaginable extents. The hot tea poured over her torso and naked arms, leaving for sure first degree burns; funny, since the old man had drunk from it seconds ago without burning his mouth. “What…” she only managed to say when she realized that her motor functions had given up on her.

But Ophelia was numb, she could only feel something warm rubbing against her skin, and a light itchiness reaching until down her bones. “Now, now, dear. A girl as special as you; we can’t just let her leave, can we?” The old man came over her head as the others gathered, a complacent smile on their face, before they completely disappeared from her sight.

~~~

Her green eyes slowly opened as she felt her skin cold and moist pressing against an unkind surface; white tiles. Her red hair was all over the floor, covering most of her face and ground next to hear. It looked like blood dripping off her head. A slight moan escaped her lips as she tried to push herself up, her arms shaking. It seemed the effects of that serum hadn’t completely worn off.

Wake up….

She struggled with opening her eyes. The light and her surroundings were too bright to make anything out, and it hurt her eyes; so she just kept them leveled, trying to cover them with her hand.

…wake up…

She sat back up and bumped into another hard surface. She didn’t bother to look for she was afraid her eyes might hurt even more, so she just felt it with her free hand. Metallic. Cold. Bed.

Hey….wake up!

The sudden voice rang through to her while her head was buried in her hands, trying to comprehend what had happened. Her eyes shot up, immediately regretting that decision as the move caused her nausea and dizziness. She squinted and looked against a wall, which didn’t appear to be a wall; it was glass. Behind that glass was a pair of two eyes staring back at her. She couldn’t make out their colour.

“What…where am I?”

Age : 29 Posts : 488

She looked at the man standing on the other side of the glass, looking at her in a crouched position to be on eye level with her. He had dark skin, something Ophelia had only ever seen in Kumogakure before. Was he a prisoner from there? She didn’t recognize him. His hair was black, but his eyes; his eyes were of a silver colour, which looked like what the essence of all souls would be made of. It was marvelous.

“Can you get up? Are you alright?”

The man spoke, revealing a boyish voice. He couldn’t have been much older than Ophelia. Maybe seventeen, or eighteen. And yet, his face; it looked much older. Much wiser; more mature. It looked like the face of a man who had lived too long and had seen terrible things on this earth, but yet refused to let go of them, or his life for that matter, because he needed them to remind him he was human.

Only now was it that Ophelia realized his question and demand. She looked at the ground and at her bare feet; where were her clothes? For a moment she thought she was naked and lead her hands to her chest, only to find with much relief that she was wearing some sort of medical robe. She looked around and grabbed the edge of the bed, pushing herself up with its help. For a second everything disappeared in black dots and she felt like she was falling. She stood there, crouched and leaning against the bed, for a few seconds, taking deep breaths. This sedative was really something. It stirred up her medical curiosity.

“Yeah I’m, I’m fine.”

She tumbled over to the man and let herself bump kindly into the glass, which appeared to be extremely thick. Not thick enough to shut out any noise, though.

“What is this place? Where am I? Who are you?”

Questions came pouring out of her like a person who had too much to drink. Her voice was brittle and weak; she could feel her dry mouth.

“There’s some water on that table” the man said and pointed at a white bedside table some steps away from her. Her eyes shifted towards it and almost automatically, her feet followed.

“This is a private prison outside Kirigakure,” he started as Ophelia emptied the glass of water, “and we’re prisoners here.” Her breath stopped. She almost choked on the water that a few second ago provided her such joy. Now it just tasted bitter. “My name is Fukusaku Saitou. Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Fukusaku Saitou….

Her forehead would wrinkle if it could and thereby reveal her utter confusion. “You’re the man I was sent here for to retrieve.” The man’s eyes widened. It was obvious that he was confused as well. “Who sent you? Who are you? Did my clan send you? Did my wife send for you?!”

Wife? Wife?

The word stung ugly in Ophelia’s mind. He was married? Just how old was he anyway? She moved towards the bed and sat down, she wasn’t feeling well. She couldn’t understand why she was imprisoned as well; it made no sense.

“I am Uzumaki Ophelia, Special Jounin of Kirigakure” she said and continued before he could cut her off with any more questions, “and I don’t know if your wife or your clan or whoever the hell you think sent me, I only know that Kirigakure gave me this mission to bring you back to the village.” She said and paused for a moment to think about her situation. “Which will be harder than I anticipated, evidently.”

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Her shimmering green eyes glanced down at her body when she suddenly remembered the sensation of something warm against her skin. The tea. The hot tea had fallen on her when that old bastard drugged her. She touched her chest and torso before she noticed Saitou looking at her with an inquisitive look, so she turned around. She ripped open the white robe only to see her body covered up in bandages. From the smell, she could tell that ointment was applied to her wounds. She eyed her arms and torso; they were adequately treated; this must have been done by some doctor. A medic nin would have just healed the wounds in a matter of minutes, which meant that this prison either had no medic nins, or no ninjas at all.

“We gotta get outta here.”

Steps came from the stair, approaching them as every second passed. Ophelia looked around her searching for something she could use as a weapon. Her stare found the glass of water. She grabbed it and smashed it against the table side, hiding it behind her back.

“What are you doing!?” Saitou asked, his voice a high pitch of panic. “Trimming my mustache, what d’ya think?!” she glared over at him with her eyes disapproving of his lack of understanding that she was getting them out of there. “Just shut up.”

Three bulky guys appeared from the staircase, with one, little, fragile old man in front leading the way.

That old bastard.

Ophelia’s grip against the glass tightened and her knuckles whitened up. She had to remind herself not to hold it too hard for she didn’t want to break it; she’d need it.

“I see you’re awake, dear,” the old man said in a disgustingly affectionate way as he approached them and looked over at Saitou, “I see you’ve already made each other’s acquaintance, well then” he looked over at Ophelia. “Take ‘em away”. The guards opened up the door, one of them grabbing Saitou, the other one standing next to the old guy and the other one entering Ophelia’s cell. He was a good two heads taller than she was, but her arm rammed the broken glass into his carotid artery in no time and without any difficulty. His blood splashed against the glass walls, the white sheets and Ophelia herself, painting her white dress and her face the same colour as her hair. Her green eyes shined even more now that more intense contrast was provided. The dying guard grabbed his neck which caused the broken off glass pieces to sink even deeper into his skin, resulting in the more splashing of blood. The guard next to the old man came rushing into the cell, but Ophelia had already grabbed the dying one and thrown him against him. They both fell to the ground and she jumped out the cell, running for Saitou and the guard holding him. She threw her arm back, forming her hand into a fist, ready to break the guard’s face, just when she felt a cold, sharp object piercing her right shoulder. She tumbled to the front but did not fall; instead she crouched and breathed heavily as her shoulders rose and fell in pain. She looked over at the source of her pain and saw a knife piercing through her skin. It had gone through her, showing up at the other end. What strength must have the person had to do this? She turned around to see her assaulter only to see the old geezer standing there with a smug smile on his face.

She groaned as she kneeled, the knife hurting her sharply. Her left arm reached the knife and tried to pull it out, but the slightest movement hurt her even more. She started sweating. The old man approached them, with the guard she hadn’t killed by his side. “Now, now, haven’t we been naughty.” A swift motion of his hand caused the guard to work towards her and pick her up, not as gently as she would have liked, holding her from her right arm, most certainly on purpose to cause the most amount of pain as possible. “Chop-chop dear, it’s time” he said and walked off, leading the way.

“Time for what?” she asked, anger and pain in her voice. The man smiled even though Ophelia couldn’t see it. “Why, for the sacrifice of course!” he joyfully exclaimed, festivity in his voice. “The, what?”

What the actual fuck.

Ophelia couldn’t wrap her mind around what the old man had just said. Why was it that she’d always get the crazy people missions? But of course, the council must have known! Kirigakure must have known! There was no other explanation for that much bad luck that had befallen almost every mission she had ever gone to. Of course it wasn’t bad luck, it was all calculated from the beginning! They wanted her dead, and they’d succeed any way possible! Her mind was so clouded by hatred and conspiracy theories against her life, that she couldn’t tell fiction from reality.

She struggled with the guard but every time she moved, it seemed the knife went even deeper into her shoulder. The good thing about this knife, was the fact that the handle wasn’t too big, so it wasn’t tearing her skin that much apart. It still stung like a bitch, though.

They reached what seemed the prison’s backyard. It was night already; how long had she been unconscious? The full moon hung high in the sky, illuminating their faces and all of Kami’s creation without any help from the stars. It was much brighter than on other nights. There was something different that night. They gathered round in a triangle made of her, Saitou and the old man, and a guard holding the two prisoners in place. They were alone, surrounding a fire.

“Now, the time has come my darlings” the old man said and looked at both of them, “tonight you will be part of something truly, truly great”. He raised both his wrinkly arms and three fiery circles enclosed each one of them, giving the old man an even scarier face than before.

Megalomaniac bastard, she thought as she narrowed her eyes in anger and disdain. She looked over at Saitou, who was looking rather unsure and afraid. It didn’t look like he was blaming her, though; it was like he knew that this would happen anyway. It was so strange.

“Tonight, we will raise the dead!”

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Hmm, yeahhh, no.

The ground started shaking, as if that exact moment an earthquake decided to pass by. The old man stayed calm; it seemed he knew what was happening. Ophelia couldn’t just do nothing, she had to find something to distract him with long enough she could find some other plan how to escape and kill this freak.

“Raise the dead? That’s impossible!” she pretentiously said, mocking the old man. He was a proud man and it seemed that he didn’t like being told what he could or could not do. Mocking him was her way of buying time. He looked at her, again with that smug smile on his face. “Hah, the things I’ve seen and done, dear, nothing is impossible!” and continued saying words in a weird language Ophelia couldn’t understand.

She didn’t give up. “I doubt that. You can’t raise the dead. It’s against nature!” she exclaimed, a self-confident smile on her face now. She was playing him to stall him, while she reached behind her back, pushing the knife through her shoulder inch by inch. It hurt a lot, but she could take it. It wouldn’t take long until the knife would come out her shoulder on the front. The man stopped praying and looked at her. The flames obscured most of her body.

“I can, and I will!” he was growing angry and impatient with the girl; but he couldn’t kill her, not just yet. He needed her for the ritual. “And how exactly would you do that? If it were that easy, by just killing two people, everyone would do it!” she continued, pressuring him with questions while slowly removing the knife. The man scoffed and let his arms drop to his sides. He was frustrated.

“I’m not killing just anyone, dear” he said and smiled like the devil. He pointed over at Saitou, “see, your friend here, is a very special person”. He paused for a second. “His clan, while not Ninjas, possess a rare ability passed down in secrecy for generations”.

She narrowed her eyes. “If it’s a secret how do you know of it?” He laughed. “Oh, child, you’d be amazed at what I know.” She scoffed but her heart skipped a beat. She feared he knew about her Bijuu. Maybe that was the reason she was sent on that mission? Maybe that was why Kirigakure sent here there; once again, to die. A rage so profound spread inside her, which caused her to push the knife harder.

“His clan possesses the gift of eternal life” he said, almost drooling all over the place by just saying that. Her eyes widened in shock as they darted over at Saitou. He looked down as if he was ashamed of something he hadn’t done, but still felt like it was his fault. “Well, not exactly eternal life, haha”.

“How do you mean?!”

“Well,” he said, “there’s this life essence that keeps being passed down from generation to generation to one descendant each generation. One chosen one.” He said the last words with a mocking tone. “This, chosen one, gets the life essence. It is considered a very big honour in their circles. The essence gives you incredible healing abilities, but it wears you out. It burns out and burns you out with it. So most of their clan with the essence live to be only thirty. That’s why they age so fast, why they marry so young. To get the most out of life before they die.” Everyone was silent. Saitou’s cheeks were wet from the tears strolling down. It was true. It was all true. He was right; and Ophelia could see that.

Satisfied that Ophelia finally believed him, the old man took up praying again. “How are you going to raise the dead!? Who are you going to bring back?!” she pressed on. Just a little bit further and the knife would be out.

He stopped and looked at the girl, amused by her curiosity. She was going to die anyway. “I will draw out his essence and combine it with your immense chakra, fusing it into a corpse. And I will get my son back.” He smiled at that thought. It had been so long since he had lost him; his poor, poor son.

“Killed by the essence, resurrected by it. Has a rather poetic feel to it, don’t you think Saitou?” the old man said and looked at the man crying amongst the flames. They both knew something Ophelia was oblivious about. “What, what are you saying? You’re going to kill two innocent people-”

“Innocent? Innocent?” he laughed up manically, he appeared angry and amused at the same time. “My son was innocent! He” he said and pointed at Saitou, his eyes filled with hate, “he killed my son! He killed him to get the essence! He killed him!” his rage was terrifying, but that didn’t stop Ophelia from pulling the knife out. Suddenly, she felt a little safer inside the fire circle.
“And you” he said, pointing at her, “you are innocent? Seriously? You, who has killed so many and will surely do so in the future?” he paused, a condemning look on his face. “No, girl. You’re not innocent. You don’t deserve to live. Neither one of you do.” And with that, he continued his prayers.

Yeah right, asshole.

Ophelia looked over at Saitou, mouthing the words ‘run when I say’. He just looked at her confused, not because he didn’t understand what she was saying, but because he found their situation hopeless, and had already made peace with the idea of his death. Too long had he been held captive, the scars and fatigue had started to show.

With a last and most painful push, the knife came popping out of her shoulder on the front, red of colour stained by her blood. She needed to tend to her wound as quickly as possible, or she’d bleed to death in a matter of hours. As the knife fell, she grabbed it with her hand and threw it instantly towards the old man, piercing his stomach while hitting vital organs. The fire circles died down as he was falling to the ground. “RUN” she screamed and Saitou twitched in shock as he hesitated but then ran off to the forest.

The guard ran to the old man’s rescue. Ophelia picked up a thick stick and ran after him, holding with her left hand her wound, and with the right the stick. She reached the guard and just as he turned around to face her, she rammed the stick through his throat and just passed him by, running for the old man. The guard fell down to his knees, coughing and trying to breathe, but only the feeling of drowning in his own blood prevailed in his mind. With a last cough, his soul escaped his body, leaving the body to fall over in a bending position, being held up by the stick in his throat.

The old man was panting and breathing heavily while holding the knife with one hand, and the area around it with his other hand. Ophelia approached him and pulled out the knife, looking at his face. “I just…wan..ted to see my…son again…”

“How pathetic” she only said and rammed the blade through his forehead.

“What’s dead stays dead.”

Age : 29 Posts : 488

While applying the Shousen onto her shoulder, Ophelia stumbled into the woods looking for Saitou. She tried to make no noise for she didn’t know whether there would be guards coming after them or not. In the darkness she could barely see anything, the thick leaves blocking the moonlight. She breathed heavily while stumbling from tree to tree, leaning against them to hold her up. She was in bad shape, but thanks to her endurance training she could go on. She stepped on a twig which cracked; it was the loudest thing Ophelia had ever heard in her entire life. Her heart stopped beating for a couple seconds which caused an unprecedented heaviness in her chest; she imagined that’s what her dead body would feel like once she died. Her body was still and did not move, and she could hear her own heart stopping and stumbling back into its beating rate, albeit a quick and terrified one. Her ears twitched at every sound that came her way as she observed the area around her; her anxiety was so great that she didn’t even notice that she was holding her breath.

“Haaaaaaaaa!” a sudden male scream came behind her and instinctively the young Jounin ducked, missing the stick for a few centimeters. With the same movement and while ducked, she turned around in a circular motion while having her one leg stretched out, striking her assaulter’s legs. That very moment she felt nothing; there was no fear, there was no pain. The only thing that she could feel was her sense of survival. In that brief moment, she was the trained killer who would do anything in order to stay alive.

The man crashed down backwards on his back, the stick flying out of his hand. Ophelia immediately jumped up and landed on top of him, holding him down with one hand, and a stone in the other, ready to ram it into his forehead.

“Saitou?” her eyes widened in shock and relief at the same time, as she dropped the stone and brushed away the dark figure’s hair to see his face more clearly. It really was him. “For Kami’s sake, are you all right?!”

And in that brief moment, in those fragments of seconds, Ophelia experienced feelings of worry and relief. In that one moment, she truly cared for another individual other than Akihiko. But moments pass and reality sets in, pulling you back rather violently, demanding your attention.

“Yeah, I’m fine” he said and coughed as he scratched the back of his head. He had fallen on soft soil, so there’d be nothing more than a bruise there. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she exclaimed, keeping her voice down as she stood up from him and sat next to him, continuing her healing process. It shouldn’t take long to heal, she’d be new in a day.

“So…you killed him?” he slowly asked, intimidated by the sudden mood swings of the female. She pulled her knees close to her torso and wrapped her arms around it. “Yeah,” she whispered. There was melancholy in her voice, something that made Saitou want to comfort her but he wouldn’t, and Ophelia was endlessly sad how she treated people and how she would never trust anyone again. It pained her deeply, it tore apart her soul, but she was too afraid to change anything about it, too weak to fight against her fear and insecurities in order to let a person in, to show them her soul, to expose herself to someone. No, Ophelia was sick and tired of the world and giving herself over to anything and everything while getting nothing back, she was tired of questioning herself, of thinking that maybe all this was her fault when all she wanted was to just be able to feel again. To feel the touch of another human, to really feel it, not just on her skin, but in her soul too.

“Are you good to go?” her voice broke the insufferable silence, causing Saitou to twitch. “Y-yeah, but you-”

“Then let’s go” she cut him mid-sentence and stood up, not looking back at him as she walked steadily towards the road. Soon the sun would rise, a new day would begin and Ophelia would let a part of herself drift away again.

[end]

Jutsu/SC's used throughout topic:

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