Unchained Bonds: Expiration

Unchained Bonds Arc

Expiration

"What do you mean I have to go?!" Haru shouted, clearly offended. "Am I a hindrance to you?"

"Don't be foolish, Haru! You will never be a hindrance to anyone." Blakeley reassured, bandaging Maka's wounds. "You saw Maka's condition out there, Alejandro is really giving them whatfor. They need backup, you must go."

"They don't necessarily need me," Haru defended. "My guildmates are probably out in the field now kicking ass! If anything, I should stay here and protect the both of you."

"Haru." Blakeley whispered seriously, turning around to face him. To further capture his attention and because she couldn't help herself, she cupped his face. "Gia has to perfect this spell in time to defeat my brother. It won't take long now that she's onto the second step, but I can't be so sure. You've got to go back to Earth and hold down the fort until she gets back."

"Are you going to go with her?" Haru asked, hopeful that she would agree. If she went out to watch the battle and do damage control, there was a slight possibility he could convince her to stay on Earth with him. "Maybe when this is all over we can-"

"I'm sorry Haru, you're awfully cute and I really want to spend more time with you," Blakeley said, the marks on her cheeks glowing as she blushed. Haru's heart swelled at how adorable she looked at this moment. "But this is a life or death situation, all because of me. I should've never let my youngest brother corrupt Alejandro. I should've done more for the two of them."

"You did everything you could." Haru comforted. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he decided to do as told. "Alright, I'll go. But I don't know how long I can distract him. I'll need to gather my team to formulate a proper plan."

"Excellent! I think I have the answer to all your problems." she winked. She stepped away from Haru, who mentally cursed at the loss of her comforting embrace, she took out a book from her shelf and flipped it open.

"Let's see here...hmm...aha! Here it is, a teleportation spell." she said, handing him the book and pointing at the spell.

"Just say those words and the place you want to go, not so complicated at all!" Blakeley said nervously. "W-well you best be on your way!"

Haru stared at Blakeley's back and back to the book spell. "Thank you for everything, Blakeley. I don't know how to repay you."

"Oh there's no need for that! It's just to save your world." she said bashfully. She suddenly became aware of how he was looking at her and braced her hands against the table. "Um-is there something on your mind?"

"Yes," Haru said, taking two strides and appearing in front of her. "A way to repay you." And with that he captured her lips. It wasn't long before she relaxed against his gentle minstrations and kissed him back, closing her eyes.

He buried his hand in her beautiful teal hair and deepened the kiss slightly. She internally swooned at his displays of affection and how safe she felt in his arms. She found herself being slightly disappointed when he finally broke the embrace.

Opening his eyes, he took in her flustered appearance. Her marks on her cheeks were bright as before and her face had taken a rosy shade. Haru smirked, knowing he had truly dazzled her and she had seemed to know it.

"I'll come back for you." he promised, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. Blakeley smiled and nodded as he began the spell. "I know you will, dear."

As soon as he disappeared, Gia came into the cottage. "Did Haru already go back?" she asked and huffed when her teacher nodded.

"He didn't even say goodbye! Asshole!" she swore. Her anger was squashed when she took in Blakeley's appearance. "Do you have a fever or something, Master? You're incredibly red."

"Huh? Oh! I-uh," she stuttered. Thinking quickly, she came up with an excellent excuse. "It was just the steam from the tea leaves I boiled for Maka's potion! She's all better now, see for yourself."

"Maka, you're really okay?" Gia asked her feline companion as she approached the cot. She beamed when the small kitsune meowed happily and jumped onto her shoulder. "That's amazing! Thank you so much Blakeley!"

"Oh honey it was nothing," Blakeley said, putting her hands up. "I couldn't bear to see the adorable munchkin in pain any longer."

"There's gotta be someway I can repay you!" Gia wondered aloud, oblivious to what had happened before. Blakeley's face rivaled that of a tomato and she began sputtering.

"That's really not necessary!" she squealed. "L-let's just get back to training!"

"Excellent aim, Jaegan!" Alejandro congratulated, his smile disappearing faster than lightspeed. "But he's getting away you imbecile! Get your ass moving!"

Jaegan mumbled and shot off into the distance to look for Blanco. Turning to Regana, he decided he had other plans for him. "And you...make yourself useful and tell my brother he's a lazy ass for sending me to do his dirty work." he snarled.

"D-do you want me to say it exactly like that or the abridged version?" Regana murmured, not wanting to anger either of the demon brothers. If he told his boss that, it would be his soul. If he didn't obey Alejandro, it would be his soul!

"If I have to repeat myself, I'll send you back to that damn book myself and re-birth you as a frog." Alejandro threatened as Regana stepped back in fear. "Now leave us! I have some...negotiations to make."

Ironically, Abraham watched as his opponent scrambled like a rat and went off to God knows where. He had finally regained his breath and partial amounts of his magic energy to battle again. All he needed to do was wait for an opening.

"So Abraham," Alejandro began, walking in a circle around him. "It's come to my attention that you have a very, very special daughter. Oh that's incorrect of me to say, isn't it? Instead of daughter, I should've said charity case."

"You're talking about things you know absolutely nothing about." Abraham growled.

"Oh but I do know! I don't just talk, I do my homework." Alejandro taunted. "I say charity case because only someone who feels the most amount of guilt in the world would continue housing their own monster."

"Gia is not a monster, what gives you of all people the right to dictate what she is?!" Abraham boomed, his energy skyrocketing.

"You're right, she's not a monster. She's got demon blood, even if she is a damn half-breed." he refuted, smirking evilly. "It's time that she...comes home."

"Home? She was born here!" Abraham defended his child. "I doubt she'd willingly go with you, that'll be a cold day in hell!"

"Au contraire," Alejandro waved him off. "Once I drag her back down to hell, she can let you know how hot it really is."

Abraham let out a roar and charged at his aggressor, knocking him back a few feet. Immediately, he called out a spell, no longer interested in this banter.

"''Phantom HOWL!" ''he shouted, letting out a large ray of darkness that consumed Alejandro. He was aware it wouldn't be enough to take him down, but he could hold his own for a while until his daughter returned. He was slightly caught off-guard when he was kneed in the stomach and stumbled back a few feet.

"You humans should know your place! But you're not a normal human are you?" Alejandro accused. "Black Arts is forbidden on Earth, most demons don't even use it. Yet here you are flaunting it at me!"

He delivered another kick to Abraham's ribs and watched with a gaze filled with malice as he winced in pain. "Does your charity case know this kind of magic? Probably not. She probably thinks you're a monster for doing what you did."

"I think it's none of your business about what his daughter thinks of him."

Behind him stood the Master of Miracle Fish, Jordan Strife, who seemed to have a huge bone to pick with the demon heir. Sighing in annoyance, Alejandro turned around. "What the actual hell do you want?" he groaned.

"Just here to warn you about that level 8 earthquake, its something real serious." Jordan said casually.

"What earthqu-"

In an instant, Jordan slammed his palms against the roof and aimed his spell at Alejandro. was thrown off the roof and landed on the pavement below, creating a 3 feet deep crater. Jordan smirked in satisfaction and dusted his hands off.

"Master!" called Cara from below. "Me and the guys are going to take care of the rest of these water clones. Hopefully we'll find that blonde guy in the process!"

"Alright! Make sure Haru takes the lead, he knows more about this than any of us do." he ordered. Haru had just returned moments ago and gave them a quick run down of the events that were happening. They had already planned to head out if the city was under an early attack, but Haru's findings just increased their drives. The Miracle Fish guild set out with a goal in mind: clear out the liquid clones and track down the source.

When Cara left, Jordan immediately caught up to Abraham and helped him up. Smirking, Abraham saw the irony in all of this. "Heh, wasn't so long ago that I was breaking your ribs, huh Strife?" he teased.

"Shut the hell up before I decide to even the score." Jordan retorted. As soon as he was able to stand on his own, Abraham began his interrogation.

"If you're here, then that means Haru has returned," he realized. "Is Gia here with him?"

Jordan shook his head. "No." he said. Abraham's face instantly fell with disappointment. "If she was here it would've been her to save your ass, not me."

"Well is she coming back anytime soon?" Abraham asked impatiently. "How long does it take to convince someone to save another dimension from their brother's tyranny?!"

"Actually, Blakeley isn't coming to stop him." Abraham's face turned white with shock. "But, there's good news in all of this! Gia is learning the spell needed to conquer this guy and when she comes back the city will be back to normal."

"That's a relief." Abraham said sarcastically. Literally all of this could be avoided if Blakeley would step up to the plate! Then again, who was he to criticize? Something else could be the matter, but before he could ask and angry Alejandro reappeared before them.

"You humans just don't know when you're beat!" he snarled. Looking between the two, he growled. "Fine! If this is what it takes, I'll just take both of you down!"

Abraham and Jordan got into a fighting stance, prepared for anything he could throw at them. They watched as Alejandro's body outstretched and glowed as he seemed to be preparing his body with something.

Instantly, Jordan recognized the movements. "I know what he's doing, that's-!"

"Requip!" shouted Alejandro. Immediately, he stood before them encased in golden and silver armor. "Heavenly Sea Armor!"

When he finished his transformation, he opened his eyes and flashed a glare of malice paired with an evil smirk.

"Maybe you'll meet your daughter in hell after all, Abraham." taunted Alejandro as he charged at the two Mages with full force.