Ze Apostle Of Ze What Now?

"You sure have awakened a troublesome power," Hendrickson continued, sighing as he looked in the direction of Ellie. It was strange- she looked a lot different than before, even though it was only her eye that had been uncovered. Her bangs blew away from her face and her aura was overwhelmingly confident- almost intimidating- even though tears fell freely from her eyes. I would say down her cheeks- but the energy beams of pure power that came off of her radiated such force that the droplets few from her face the instant they left her eyes. She had one blue and one amber eye, the insignia of the goddesses imbued in the amber one. She stood just behind Hawk's corpse, next to Meli, who was wounded beyond all belief, just as Diane and King were. Jackass (much to my dismay) and I had sustained no visible damage. Gowther was missing his head.

"I'm so sad, Hendrickson," Somehow even her voice was angelic- radiating godlike confidence, even through its evident sadness. Unadulterated power came off of her in waves- never ceasing or declining in strength. I hadn't felt a power such as this since the Holy War. "My father held such strong faith in you..! He trusted you to take the mantle of Holy Knight Grandmaster after the untimely death of Holy Knight Zaratras. You were one of the most kind, gentle people I, and all of the people of the kingdom, had ever met. Everyone trusted you..! We all trusted you! So what happened? When did you lose your way..? You have hurt countless people... you have betrayed the kingdom... you have killed so many..! You took Hawk's life! What lead you down this path? What is it that you long for that made you stray this far?"

Without missing a beat, Hendrickson spoke with horrifying dedication and devotion.

"The resurrection of the Demon race and the destruction of the four clans who sealed us away," he said, "In order to break the seal, your blood- the blood of the Apostle of the Goddesses- is required." After his simple, yet terrifying, explanation, he raised his hands above his head, crossing his wrists, then swiping them downward to his sides. He spoke the words of his attack clearly- deafeningly. "Dark Nebula."

A purple-back orb began forming around his figure, expanding outward frighteningly quickly. However, before it got much farther, Ellie screamed, "Please don't hurt anyone anymore!"

Her voice echoed out strongly, a confident, good opposition to the frightening, demonic tone of Hendrickson. I stumbled backward at the sheer force of the blinding white light that exploded form her body, falling down. I growled to myself, cursing my uselessness.

"Come on, stupid demon powers, heal me!" I snarled, my body shaking violently. I could feel the exhaustion of every cell in my body. I had healed to much. Maybe just sued my powers too much in general. Man, that's annoying... "I'll sleep later! Let me take down this asshole- and maybe not have a reputation of being taken down by a fucking Incantation O-"

I cut myself off, eyes widening as the bright white shell of Ellie's power came crashing toward me. Instinctively, I curled into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest as I covered my head with my arms. I hated that, even after all these years, the fears of a demon still lingered within me.

However, when the power washed over me, clashing with Hendrickson's attack and easily overpowering it, I felt no burning. No stinging or horrifying pain ripping into my body. I felt warmth and rejuvenation. The struggle to move instantaneously disappeared, just as the exhaustion of my every fiber did. My entire body seemed to flourish, healing and reanimating almost instantly after her ability reached me.

Flowers bloomed on the rocky cobblestone surface, overtaking it in a split second and covering every inch of where her power touched with life. Where flowers didn't grow, grass did, greens and pinks and blues and every other color covering the area where the battle had occurred. Every Holy Knight's wounds began to heal- including Diane's, King's and Meli's. Everyone started standing up, staring at where their wounds had previously been with wide eyes and obvious shock. A marvelous light has enveloped the castle and the courtyard around it.

I snapped out of my trance of awe, noticing the Ellie seemed very confused with the power emanating around her. I scrambled upward, satisfied with the fact that I could move freely again. I ran over to her, meeting up with the rest of the Sins that were present. She stared at all of us in confusion.

"Everyone... weren't you terribly hurt?" She asked, looking at us as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Please tell me you're kidding," I deadpanned, sweatdropping as I stared at her.

"You seriously don't know what going on?" Diane asked, bending down so she could see Ellie better. She looked around her, seeing all of the people being somehow revived and healing. Her face lit up.

"Maybe Hawk's..!" She spoke hurriedly, looking toward where the corpse had been. But he was still there, laying with flowers sprouting around and framing his body. Still blackened and emotionless. Still dead.

"Hawk... no... why...?" Ellie cried, her tears revived and falling once again, seemingly without end. I stared down at him, lips pursed in a straight line and eyes hardening. I clenched my fists involuntarily at my side as Ellie collapsed, Meli catching her as Princess Margaret ran over, trying to help her and taking her body from the captain.

I turned toward Hendrickson, who was walking ominously toward us, his head cocked to the side. "Impudent girl..."

"You're going to pay for this," I snarled, baring my teeth at the demon. He smirked, then darted to the side, where Gilthunder, the only Knight still baring a sword and willing to fight, was.

Oh, no, you fucking don't.

Instantly, I followed him, not willing to waste another second contemplating relationships or feelings or chances or any other bullshit. Fuck the odds- we'll win. No matter what. I charged forward just as he was about to attack the Holy Knight, extending my leg and kicking him directly in his slimy, two-faced, evil skull. I found quite quickly that my foot made contact with the demon's face at the same time as another foot did, the impact of both our blows sending him flying back. I glanced to the side, finding an extremely pissed off Meli. He was glaring at Hendrickson like he had murdered countless people. Oh. Wait.... he had. Huh, what a coincidence.

"Blue or red?" I asked.

"Blue." He replied simply.

I grinned devilishly. "Fun."

He charged forward first, and I followed just after. I kneed Hendrickson in the stomach just as I landed behind the demon. I punched in him the back, and Meli kicked him back to me. We continued going back and forth, kicking the mother-loving shit out of Hendrickson so fast he couldn't even think about retaliating. Eventually, I kicked him toward Meli, using the force to flip myself over him. Meli punched him one last time, sending him dragging across the floor, only to stop a few feet away from us.

The Demon sat there for a moment, and Meli took that opportunity to turn to the Holy Knights. "Don't give up! You have no reason to, because you have the Eight Deadly Sins on your side!"

Hendrickson jumped up, darting behind Meli. I grinned, stepping between the two demons. "Not so fast, Mr. I'm-Too-Good-To-Be-Human."

I flicked him in the jaw, sending him flying upward. Immediately, Diane smashed her hammer into his body, making him suddenly stop his track upward and crash into the walls of containment around the large crater the battle had created. Hendrickson jumped out, but King's Chastiefol slammed into him, making him crash into the ground. Jackass leaned forward and yanked his arm, flipping him over his head and making the demon collide with the ground with terrifying force.

They all returned to where we were standing- a very hero-y picturesque moment. Sadly, Hendrickson stood up as well- that same, stupidly annoying monotonous look on his face. I mean fuck, is he taking lessons from Gowther or something?

"He didn't take any damage?" Diane asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Jackass. "I tried to rip his arm off when I attacked him, but it only dislocated his shoulder. Maaannnn that demon-skin armor his annoyyyingggg."

"There's still hope," Meli spoke, then turned around, "Gowther! Let's do it!"

"Captain, Gowther's...." King started, then cut himself off, pursing his lips with a pained expression. However, once heard the repeated murmur of 'glasses, glasses," he whirled around, gawking at the headless Gowther, who had now found his glasses and replaced his head on his body. "Alive?!"

"Aha! Yes! Understood, Captain!" Gowther exclaimed, putting a peace-sign in front of his eye. He then tapped the side of his head, pointing his other hand outward, a beam of pink light shooting toward each of our heads as he said, "Broadcast."

I tried to dive out of the way of the beam once it came rushing toward me, since we all know what happened the last time I let one of Gowther's weird ass lightshow-wannabe powers go into my head. Still, it just diverted its course and implanted an entire plan into my head. My eyes widened, the layout and every detail of the plan etching itself into my brain with impressive haste. I glanced toward Meli unsurely.

"What...?" King mumbled.

"That's the plan?" Jackass. I wish he would just keep his trap shut for, like, the rest of his fucking life.

"Are... you sure..?" Diane asked, seeming almost scared. However, seeing the drive in Meli's eyes, I knew I wouldn't be able to convince him to do anything else.

"I hope you know this is a terrible idea," I grinned, "I'm excited!"

"Alright! Let's do this!" Meli shouted, signaling the beginning of the plan. The code phrase implanted in my head that we were to begin.

Time to attack.

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