Hate This Place
By Stephanie

Chapter Seventeen

 

The entire castle began to tremble as Talpa's bodiless form began to
take shape.

"It's not possible without the armors, is it Anubis?" Mia asked. Anubis
clenched his fist.

"He's using the spirits. I guess the Ronins would not let him take their
armor just yet. Talpa's just improvising." He suddenly gasped. "Mia! Watch
out!" He shouted and dove at Mia. He knocked her to the ground just before
an energy blast hit her. Mia trembled slightly.

"Anubis....." She whispered, clinging to him for dear life. Talpa
laughed.

"You are too weak to defeat me!" He thundered. "Give in to me Anubis!
Give me your armor!" He shouted. Anubis stood up, pulling Mia with him.

"Don't be afraid Mia. You have a weapon now right? Just make sure you
don't get hurt." He looked at Mia. She looked back up at him, concern in
her eyes.

"I don't know if I can do it." She pulled away from him.

"I know you can Mia, just trust in yourself." Anubis comforted her. "You
have to. For the Ronins....for the mortal realm....for me." He pleaded with
her. Mia nodded in determination.

"I'll do my best." She took a deep breath before removing her swords
from their holsters. Anubis grinned.

"Let's show Talpa a thing or two, shall we?" Mia nodded. Anubis readied
his weapon, then turned to Talpa. "Face us demon!" He challenged. Mia
tensed, awaiting Talpa's move.

"You shall feel my wrath for refusing me of my armor!" Talpa shouted.
The entire castle began to rumble and the floor began to crack. There was a
huge explosion which sent both Mia and Anubis flying into the air. They
landed with a loud thud on the ground outside. Mia groaned slightly, then
looked back towards the castle.

"What the heck?" She asked. The castle had been blown to pieces and a
purple mist was covering the area. In a way, it seemed as if Talpa had
cleared the area so they could fight. The ground was now level, and Talpa
stood towering over it. His eyes burned red.

Without a warning, Talpa attacked with lightning speed. He took his
sword and slashed at Anubis, while he also reached out to grab Mia. To Mia's
surprise, she dodged his attack. Anubis barely dodged the razor sharp sword.
Mia gripped her swords tighter. There was no way they could beat Talpa.

Talpa used the Aradia spirits and shot a blast of energy at Mia. She
didn't have time to dodge it and she got hit. She fell to her knees and
yelled in pain.

"Mia!" Anubis shouted. He started towards her, but was cut off when
Talpa started sending blast after blast at him. He dodged them with little
effort.

"I'm ok Anubis." Mia reassured him and struggled to her feet.

"You two are persistent. I'll fix that!" Talpa charged at them. Mia
jumped to the side and Anubis jumped to the other side. Both of them had
bruises and scraps all over. Mia gritted her teeth. It was useless now.
Talpa had won. She wasn't a warrior. She couldn't fight him.

Anubis knew he had to do something fast. Mia was losing hope and it was
showing. He took a deep breath. ~What can I do? I can't let Mia die in this
battle. But there is no way we can win~ Anubis clenched his fist. There was
only one more thing he could do to try to win this battle. It would weaken
Talpa, and the rest was up to Mia. He jumped into the air, swinging his
weapon.

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!!!!!" He shouted. Mia's eyes lit up. What was he
doing? There was no way he would survive! Mia watched with horror as Anubis
brought his attack down on Talpa.

"You fool?! You think this will weaken me?!" Talpa laughed at Anubis'
attempt. "What?!" He shouted. Anubis was glowing a light yellow and his
symbol of Loyalty was flaring on his forehead.

"I will not let you destroy this world!" Anubis shouted. Then he was
engulfed by a bright yellow light.

~Huh?~ Mia thought. ~What on earth is he doing?!~ Her heart ached as she
watched. The glow around Anubis strengthened.

"No!" Talpa shouted. "What is this?!" He didn't know what Anubis was
trying to pull.

"Loyalty......" Anubis whispered.

"What?!" Talpa shouted. He couldn't move. Something was keeping him from
being able to move. Anubis rose his weapon once again and stuck out at
Talpa.

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!!!!" He shouted. His weapon hit Talpa straight on.
This time, something was different about the attack. It was stronger, more
powerful, and a lot more fiercesome. Talpa shouted in rage. Anubis felt his
energy leaving him. His body was exausted and his mind was slowly drifting.
He closed his eyes. He had suceeded in draining enough of the Aradia spirits
from Talpa, along with delivering a powerul blow with his attack. Mia
watched as a few purple spirits left Talpa's body. Talpa was still blinded
by the light. Anubis floated to the ground in a yellow bubble. Mia ran to
him.

"Anubis!" She shouted and knelt beside him. Anubis' eyes struggled
open.

"I've done all I can do...." He whispered. "You must finish him
Mia....." Anubis struggled to breath. Tears swelled up in Mia's eyes.

"Hang on Anubis, don't die on me!" Mia pleaded with him. Anubis smiled
up at her.

"I will be with you Mia...always..." Anubis sighed softly and then he
fell limp into Mia's arms.

"No! ANUBIS!!" She shouted. His body sparkled a golden light, then his
body faded and disappeared. "No....." Tears fell down Mia's cheeks. Talpa
blinked, and the light was finally gone. There was a dull pain in his chest.
He chuckled at the sight before him.

"That fool Anubis sacraficed himself for nothing! I will still destroy
you and the Ronins! I will conquer the mortal realm!" Talpa laughed in
victory. Mia didn't move. She stared at the place Anubis had once lain. He
was gone. But how could he be gone? She grabbed her swords and gripped them
tight. Talpa watched as the girl sent a cold glare at him. Silver tears
sparkled in her eyes.

"You will pay for that!!!" Mia shouted. Anger filled her as she stood
up. Her hair blew wildly around her.

"What is this? Where is this wind coming from?" Talpa asked aloud. If
Talpa had been looking close enough, he would have seen silver dragons
spiralling in Mia's eyes.

~I will always be there for you......~ Anubis' voice seemed to be
carried on the wind as Mia glared at Talpa. She was suddenly overcome by
some strange force she had never felt before. Talpa gasped.

"What!?" He saw a kanji glowing brightly on Mia's forehead. It was the
kanji of 'Love'. Talpa snarled. Mia's glare deepened.

"Prepare to face the wrath of a woman Talpa!!!!" Mia shouted. Rays of
silver light shot around her and took the forms of dragons. They circled
her, then covered her body. Mia's armor disappeared (yes, the dragons were
preventing anything from being seen) and the silver dragons began to shit
form. The silver masses exploded in a bright flash of silver light, mixed
with cherry blossoms and the mass swirled around her. When the light dimmed,
Talpa couldn't believe what he saw.

Mia was standing in silver armor. She had no head piece, but her hair
was done up in a ponytail. Her armor was like the Ronin's subarmor, only it
was silver with gold edges and symbols. The symbol on her chest plate was
that of a dragon. She held two swords in her hand. Each were long silver
blades which came into gold handles. Mia's eyes were flaring and her kanji
of 'love' was shining brightly. She lifted her swords.

"Anubis sacraficed himself so that I would defeat you Talpa!" She
shouted. "And I will not let his death be in vain!" She brought her swords
down and each left a trail of silver and gold sparkles. She didn't even let
out a cry to summon her power. She jumped into the air and began bringing
her swords down on Talpa. ~This is for you Anubis~ She thought as she felt
her swords meet metal.

"No!!!!" Talpa screamed in pain and anger. He was engulfed by rays of
light coming from Mia's swords. Mia forced her swords farther, and by the
time she landed on the ground, her swords had cut through the demon. "How
could this happen?" Talpa yelled in anger. Then he stammered and fell. His
armor was now lifeless and the Aradia spirits left his body. A heap of black
smoke seeped from his armor. Talpa's spirit was gone. Mia felt drained. She
fell onto her knees as shock once again set in.

"Anubis...." Tears filled her eyes again. She let go of her swords and
fell onto the dirt. Her body was too weak to stay awake.