Azurius Tade; Legacy of the Seraph

The dawn began rising over the open fields between Era and the central mountain ranges of Fiore as the lone angel, Azurius Tade stood prepared. In one hand, a lever action shotgun rested. In the opposing hand, a black pistol with demon horn accents shook nervously. For this day... this was the day he would die. This was the last act that Azurius Tade would be known for in this life, and would be forgotten about in the next.

Shadows began to emerge eerily as the sun peaked over the mountains to the east, stretching further than they should, creeping their way to surround him. Rising, bubbling up, and bulging off the floor as though it was a child, or many children all standing up to play the role of a ghost while under a blanket of pitch. The shaking of Azurius's pistol grew harder, his fear of death itself overwhelming him so greatly that even the shotgun began shaking as though it were as light as the pistol. His breathing became jagged, his heart began pounding wildly, beating, slamming against his chest in an attempt to escape destiny. Moisture on his cheek... a single tear, a manifestation of his longing for life to be simple had presented itself. Flashbacks of all he'd be leaving behind flew through his mind as the tar began taking shape.

A flash of light, and the image of his beloved bride to be came across his eyes. Her gentle curves, the crimson colored orbs that seemed to light up upon watching him walking down an isle seated between hundreds of pews. Her white flowing dress was complimented by a bouquet of blue flowers held between her hands. Red cheeks became crimson as she gave a warm smile to him as he wore his tuxedo with little to no signs of discomfort. Another flash of light occurred as he saw himself holding a small object, wrapped inside a pink blanket. A pair of white hands stretched fourth, attempting to grab at Azurius's chin causing the man to lock eyes with the loving gaze of his baby girl. A new flash gave way to several images, his daughter holding onto him as she tried to walk. Another flash, and his daughter was running off to school with a tan, leather bag on her back and a bright hopeful smile. Then she had come home with a man, young, strong, and confident looking. Then she was grown, and he was watching his wedding in third person, except the groom was not him, it was the boy his baby girl had brought home what seemed like a few moments ago.

The scene before him faded to black as their lips touched, bringing Azurius back to the site of his demise. A smile crept its' way partially across Azurius's face, tears flowing as he knew that all he saw would never come to pass. "Alright then..." he said softly as the creatures surrounded him, leaving only fifteen feet at the most for him to run, and no gaps by which to exploit. His eyes closed as the final tear fell from his eyes, streaming down his now pale face and falling to the ground. The horde began running at Azurius, seemingly in slow motion due to the adrenaline blasting its way through his veins. He screamed in rage as he charged forwards, pointing his pistol and shotgun at the horde. A round of buckshot flew from the larger of the two, sending three of the shadow beings back to where they belong as Azurius flicked his wrist to work the lever on the weapon and chamber the next shell. Several rounds erupted from the pistol, sending some of the creatures to the shadow world, but compared to the countless enemies left they may as well have remained. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from his stomach as he saw the tip of a black sword sticking out. Another shot of pain from his chest as a blade entered from his front, and more from his sides. The blades were withdrawn quickly and the shadow soldiers stepped back, allowing Azurius to collapse to his knees while still holding the weapons in his hands.

A magic circle appeared on the ground next to him, pink in color with a white glow to it that caused the warriors to all make quick movements back. A burst of light shot out as the two guns disappeared from the fresh corpse's grasp. Azurius's body hunched over as the force from the being erupting from the circle was released.

A woman floated steadily above the horde of black armour wearing men, her short crimson hair flickering about. Aries looked about, watching the corpse on the ground as a tear formed in her eyes. 'I was too late...' she thought to herself as she grit her teeth, tightening her grip on the two weapons. Soft, blue eyes rapidly turned to crimson, homage to the family Azurius had left behind. A pair of wings erupted from her back, shimmering in various colors and causing the black creatures below to all raise their weapons and let out a battle cry.

Aries shot downwards, slamming on a group of them and creating an explosion of magic power. A score of black armour clad men flew into the air as the enraged spirit spun, pointing her weapon at a group that came running towards her. She fired a shot from the shotgun, missing one of the closer ones as the spread of the shot pinned him as the lucky bastard of the group. However, his luck ran dry when his head was blown by the metallic embrace of the pistol that was fired after. A quick flick to work the lever on the shotgun, and she fired another blast at the army. The pistol made a clicking sound as the trigger was pulled, moving a finger to the eject button caused a small, blue rock to pop out momentarily, and then it was sucked back in. Aries took no time to question it as she began unloading more rounds from the weapons.

The army had closed in on her soon seeing as the weapons Azurius used could only hold so many off at once. She then released her hands and grabbed the air, spinning around as a pair of small weapons materialized and unleashed magic energy at a rapid speed. The weapons however were incapable of firing indefinitely, and upon running out of power Aries dropped them and allowed their form to disperse as a new pair was formed. She jumped up as a blade came to her back, pulling the trigger on the weapon she'd modeled after the man she'd failed to save and it spewed forth several blasts of pink energy. Her wings caught wind, and allowed her to move over the army as they began throwing their swords at her.

"Azurius..." A voice called through the haze inside the corpse's mind. A certain familiarity as it was soft, feminine, warm and inviting."Azurius..." it called again, beckoning him to answer. A bright light had pierced the darkness, which soon transitioned to Azurius standing in a field as chaos ensued around him. He was back in the battle, and held up is arm to fire his weapon only to find he had nothing to fire. He took a step back while looking around, noticing something black below him and looking down he saw he was standing inside his own body. His ghostly form sticking out from the corpse, Azurius looked around and saw a woman flying overhead firing two fully automatic weapons as swords and spears were thrown at her. The man looked around for something, anything at all that he could use. Noting a black weapon, he grabbed at it, looking in awe as his hand phased right through.

Flying overhead, the sensation of something impacting her back caused Aries to hit the floor, landing in front the corpse she was trying to avenge. Initially thinking the battle below was all, she had been completely taken by surprise from the aerial strike. Pressing palms firmly against the ground, the spirit tried forcing her way up only to feel something thin, long and rigid blasting through her abdomen. A spat of blood flew from her mouth as she remained still, arms shaking from the pain with tears flowing from her eyes.

"NOOOO!" Azurius shouted in vain while reaching an arm out at the scene before him. A light erupted from his corpse, as well as from his ethereal form that engulfed the area. Aries, feeling a warm glow just before being absorbed in a blast of light felt something rush past her upon seeing nothing but white. When the intense light faded, the once dead man stood next to her as the shadow soldier that impaled her had flown back with a large gash across its chest. Azurius stood tall, looking down at a pair of shining swords in each of his hands. A pair of pure white, feathered wings protruded from his back glowing so intensely that the shadow warriors all began backing away, raising an arm to cover the eye holes on their helmets. Azurius reached a hand out hesitantly to help the woman, not knowing how he had cheated death.

Aries slowly reached her hand, arm shaking at the site of the un-dead man. Her hand touched his and jerked slightly as she realized it was warm, though the jerking was halted when his hand wrapped around her own. 'He... he came back to life... to save me?' she thought while remaining wide eyed at the man with glowing wings. Azurius gave a tug on the arm, helping the woman he didn't know get up while making sure not to touch the spear in her stomach. She grabbed the weapon, pulling it out while wincing from the pain. Instinctively, her hand tightened in Azurius's like a woman during child birth would do while delivering the baby. Aries watched in shock as the wound closed upon the shaft of the spear exiting her being. The hole in her stomach being engulfed by light and forming new skin where the old was torn. She looked at Azurius with her jaw partly dropped from the strange phenomenon. 'It- it must be him doing it... who... what is he?' she thought while slowly pulling her hand from his. Azurius gently released the hand, turning around to watch as the shadows had all began sinking back into the ground.

The sun had illuminated the battle field well, allowing for no natural shadows to exist now. However, as the old enemies had retreated, their shadows didn't disperse. Rather, their shadows all converged on one another, banding together into a massive black amorphous figure on the ground. Aries walked to Azurius's side, materializing two weapons as she did so. "I- I'm Aries..." she said in a soft, gentle voice. "I'm... I'm..." the man said, not knowing his own name. "I... guess you can just call me..." he tried thinking of words, something, any name to present before their enemy would show itself. "Angel." Aries said softly. Azurius looked at her with an inquisitive look about him, noting she had similar wings to his own. "You look... like an angel." she said with a slight smile, figuring that he must have lost some if not all of his memories. The kind of angel she referred to wasn't the sort that helped people, showed the light of the gods, and was characterized as a type of saint. No, Azurius was the true angel, the one that could slaughter 10,000 men with ease and bring fear to the heart of mortal men. Azurius had accepted the name, for it would be the only name he knew of for now."Very well then... I'm Angel." he said with a confident expression.

The shadow on the ground began bulging up, a single child acting as a ghost instead of an entire horde. The combined power of the entire army was now going to be set upon them as the two readied their weapons. A massive fist shot out from the black goop, slamming into the ground where the two winged beings once stood. It missed its mark when the two had shot themselves out of the way at the last moment. 'I- I'm sorry to do this, but we can coordinate better i-if we communicate.' Aries said in Azurius's head, utilizing a strange telepathic connection that would normally make Azurius be afraid. However, Azurius had died moments ago, watched his own corpse, came back to life with a pair of wings, and then watched as a woman's wound healed immediately... voices in his head no longer bothered him.

The battle became complicated as several smaller creatures spawned from the shadowy blob. 'I'll take them if you can take the big one.' Azurius said, hoping this voice in head thing was a two way street. He got his reply when Aries shot off to where she hoped the blob's face was, and began opening fire on it. Azurius shot towards the larger seeming soldiers that were spawned, blasting past one and cutting it in half by the waist. He spun to a stop, placing one sword behind his back and blocking a mace, while his other blade was in the front blocking a sword. He spun around rapidly, smacking the two soldiers with his glowing wings just before they were reduced to separated torso and leg pieces.

In the air, Aries had successfully managed to gain the attention of their much larger opponent as the blob grow another arm and tried swiping at her. The air moving around the arm was enough to catch her, and send her flying around it much like what happens most the time when a person tries to bare-hand swat a fly. A mouth appeared on the being as it let out a horrendous howl and sent more shadow warriors out of its body. The warriors were easily five times as big as the original ones, causing the blob to get smaller with every one it produced. Having only sent out five caused the blob to be reduced noticeably, though not by a great deal.  The size of the creature reduced slightly more as three large, bird like creatures spewed forth from its amorphous body towards Aries. She was able to dodge the first two as they charged, but was unfortunate and was impacted by the large beak of the third. Pressing the gun to its head, she pulled the trigger and began riddling it with bullets that seemed to do little, if anything at all to stop her attacker.

The five soldiers created charged at the only thing on or near the ground which just so happened to be Azurius. In turn, the bladed Angel flew at his new enemies while shouting a firm battle cry, seemingly the screaming made him stronger though it may have been a vicarious feeling. The first soldier had lost a leg as Azurius passed and began falling to the ground. The second and third slammed their swords in the ground trying to squash the little bug, but neither succeeded. The angelic man flew up behind one of the two, running the blade of his glowing sword along the back of its armour creating a massive gash. Magic leaked from the hole so fast that the shadow super soldier erupted into nothingness. A sword came from nowhere, slamming into Azurius and sending him to the floor where he got up almost instantly for fear of another blade coming down on him. As he got up, his expectations were not disappointed when the blade came down at an angle that would have bifurcated him.

Overhead, a golden magic circle began forming in the sky. Aries and Azurius were far too busy dealing with their enemy to notice it. The magic circle began spinning slowly while getting smaller, soon forming a second magic circle that was the same size as the first when it appeared. This second one spun and got smaller as well, but when it stopped shrinking it was slightly smaller than the first. The process was repeating itself as the winged creatures fought below.

After emptying the entire clip into the one bird, it finally dispersed into shadows and Aries began flying away from the other two. She dropped the empty gun and materialized a pair of slightly larger ones. Flying backwards while looking down, or at least down from her point of view, she pulled the triggers and began spraying the birds. The magic rounds from these did considerably more damage, but due to them not being in her face enough not all the bullets hit them. Azurius had shot straight up to avoid getting buried under swords, shouting "Trade ya!" as he flew past her. Aries dropped the weapons and pulled something from her memory that she'd only seen once. It was a nine foot long weapon that fired a 14.5mm round, normally used to take out targets at ridiculous ranges. While Azurius shot towards the first bird, Aries shot at one of the soldiers and saw it explode into shadows. She pulled the bolt on the weapon to load the next round. Azurius had charged straight towards the bird he'd targeted, noting the second one wasn't far behind. He angled his large wings, causing them to catch the air and due to them being angled in opposing directions, he began spinning. He spread both arms out, extending his blades and turning him into a moving bladed auger that tore through the two bird's wings in a single movement. Aries fired the second shot, hitting one of the soldiers square on the head and leaving two soldiers standing and one with a stump for a leg. The remaining soldiers began dispersing on their own, leaving a shadowy trail that lead back to the blob that formed them. A white blast erupted from the sky, slamming down on the blob and causing Azurius to instinctively fly back to Aries to wrap his arms around her. He forced her head into his chest, using his own body as a shield from the foreign attack only to find that neither had been injured. They both looked down at the smoldering earth, noting the blob was completely gone.

Aries had turned bright red from the positions the two were suspended in air in. While she knew the man was just protecting her, which didn't help her not-blush either, it didn't change the fact that they were engaged in a full on hug. Azurius slowly let go, using his newly earned wings to keep himself up by slowly beating them. Aries looked at the ground, trying to keep from making eye contact with her would-be savior. For the longest, she had been looking for someone she could spend time with that would look out for her. She had made some friends, but in the end, none of them had just out right taken a hit for her or at least tried. It took great deals of time for them to get to the point where self-sacrifice was an option, but with this one... he did it without thinking twice and without knowing Aries in the least. "H-hey... ummm Ang-el... would... would you like to... m-make a contract with me?" she said in a soft, hesitant, and partly embarrassed tone.

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