Reconciled hearts: a season9(Lloyrumi story)

Chapter 177: Archangel

Harumi continuously limped forward, as her dark side loved the effect she was having on Zephyr. He looked like a scared little child, unable to move or tear his eyes away from the human-turned-Oni before him.

His eyes widened even more as Harumi's original invisible body heat around her shifted and darkened into a black and purple aura floating inches from her skin. Its make was like an outline, defining the fact that he was in trouble now.

Slowly, she drew her dagger, looking more than ever like a fallen archangel as she approached her truly worst nightmare.

"Pick a fight with someone your own size, next time," she said coldly. "If you live through to see the next time."

Her voice drew the attention of the others, still in the haze of smoke, spread apart separately around them, unable to see.

"Was that...Harumi?" Cloud whispered to Nix, but the girl remained oblivious to the whispers of her friends, still suspended in the air as her powers sent small charges into the temple. All that mattered to her now was revenge.

Indeed, her voice had changed to fit her new self. It had a sort of echo to it, like a harmony, but cold and challenging, daring enemies to come closer and feel the pain they owed. It was as if her old self and her Oni form were speaking at the same time, and it knocked the last color in Zephyr's face clean out; he stood there, alone and afraid, just as he had made her feel many times over.

Jade was the only one not levitating with the others, for she had been the one to knock Harumi down. She listened carefully from behind the smoke, lying calmly on the ground, looking at her injuries. She was the only one who had known about Harumi's Oni power, and thus, she was unaffected and unsurprised when this outburst surfaced.

"You will regret the day you decided to harm us," Harumi screamed, and it echoed even beyond the temple, where the frightened civilians could still hear a disturbance.

She lunged forward at Zephyr, igniting a ball of flowy purple flames in her palm. She slowly held it till it grew bigger, and then she fired, sharp and fast, aiming for his neck.

Zephyr gave a strangled yell and threw himself pathetically away from her line of fire, gasping in fear. He ducked behind a pillar, and she looked carefully for him through the smoke.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," she whispered, feeling the chills run down his spine. It strengthened her.

She pointed her finger at the ground and let rip a powerful but thin beam, like a black laser. She slowly moved her finger from left to right, cutting through any solid place he could hide behind.

"There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide," she smirked. "You can't back out of this one, either..."

Then suddenly her body started to tremble. Harumi choked and shook in the smoke as her powers faded away.

Jade observed the silence, knowing that her Oni powers drained her energy. They were fading now.

"No, no, no!" she screamed in pain.

Zephyr swiftly came from behind his hiding place and gave her a well-aimed blast in the stomach. Harumi toppled over, close to lifeless on the cold stone in front of him, and he resumed his usual crazy cackling.

The smoke cleared, and the Resistance dropped out of the air. Lloyd and Jade immediately ran to Harumi, checking her pulse, hoisting her onto their shoulders.

"Come on, Rumi," he said gently. "We have to get you out of here!"

She was too tired to protest, and then she went unconscious. The Resistance quickly left the temple, weakened and yet again evaded by the spellcasters.

(A/N: This was quite a fun chapter to write. Jade did a really good job with the last one in my opinion! Hope you guys are safe and happy. - Ash)