rias

He smiled. So I don't need to actually command them verbally. Nodding at them, they vanished again. This is so fucking cool. Mentally, he brought up the image of his power- his Sacred Gear. The image of that marked coin shone gently, still marked with Numerous. Whenever he summoned the Shadowkhan, it would pulse lightly, creating ripples in the liquid darkness. And yet, while he knew that the ninjas had been created by this phenomenon, he couldn't help but feel like there was more to it. It's almost like a template, he thought to himself, a core concept that a monster has to adhere to. So these ninjas are just ninjas because I imagined them that way, but the important thing is that they're 'numerous.' So theoretically, couldn't I make any other 'numerous' monster?

Before he could attempt to puzzle this out, however, a female voice suddenly called out to him. "Excuse me!" Roy turned and blinked as a tall, navy-haired woman waved him down. She wore a wide-colored maroon coat and mini-skirt, the former of which only had a couple of buttons, showing off a vast swatch of voluptuous cleavage. He quickly tore his eyes away to gaze up into her eyes, faintly realizing that this woman was quite tall. She gave him a small, patient smile, having clearly noticed his brief staring. "Could you tell me which way to get to the nearest hotel?"

"Hotel…?" he frowned, "Er, I'd say you're in the wrong part of town for the tourist area." He pointed behind him. "You're gonna want…" That was all he got before something hard and heavy struck the back of his neck with a *THWACK!* Seriously, what is today…? he thought dimly, shortly before he hit the ground and passed out.

Kalawarna let out the breath she'd been holding, watching the shadows. Having just seen the boy summon those ninjas, she had almost been afraid that they might come springing out the moment she struck. Fortunately, it seemed that he needed to consciously command them to come to his aid. "Tough luck, kid. Best keep your guard up," she commented aloud, scooping him up in her arms (and pressing his head to her sizable bust) before spreading her wings and taking off.

Let's see Mittelt and Dohnaseek pull off a grab that slick!

ASM

When Roy opened his eyes again, it was to find himself lying on a cold, hard floor. A quick shift told him that his hands and feet had been tied firmly, and his mouth had been gagged. He broke out in a cold sweat, even as his head throbbed.

Distant voices reached his ears, and he squirmed slowly, hoping not to draw any attention as he turned himself to take a sideways look at where he was. From the stone walls, gothic drapery and lack of windows, he wondered if he was in some sort of underground room. It certainly was spacious, from the view he had.

Craning his neck, Roy spotted some sort of silvery contraption mounted on a far wall. More pressing, however, was the crowd of black-hooded figures milling about, muttering to themselves. Have I actually been abducted by a cult? he wondered incredulously. He stifled a groan of pain as the back of his head throbbed.

Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice that he'd woken up.

"So, how's it goin', ladies?" called a harsh, mocking voice. Blearily, Roy turned his gaze about to see a white-haired young man, possibly about his own age, swaggering in from the distant doorway. Or at least he assumed that's what it was; his vision was quite blurry and it hurt to focus.

"It'll be another thirty minutes before the moon's right for the ritual, Sellzen," sighed one of the figures, another male, "You know this already."

"Sure, sure, but the boss bitch wanted me to play messenger and ask. You know how she gets."

"...Please don't talk about Lady Raynare like that."

"What, you worried about me blabbin' behind her back? Fuck no, I've said that shit to her face too." The man turned towards Roy, who quickly squeezed his eyes shut. "Best get that beauty sleep, sunshine," he said cheerfully, reaching over to pat him condescendingly on the head, "You'll make a lovely corpse once we yank that Sacred Gear out!"

Great, thought Roy gloomily, Kidnapped by a shady cult and thirty minutes for a ritual? Not good, no matter what it's for. How do I get out of here?

The Shadowkhan could cut me loose and pull me into the shadows.

It takes a few seconds to sink into the shadows and I'm not sure how long I can hold my breath in there. I need to distract them. I need more monsters.

I don't have anymore coins.

I have the Template. I'll make more from that.

They'll be weak.

As long as they keep this lot busy, that's fine. I remembered the Shadowkhan, I can think of other 'numerous' minions.

Breathing deeply through his mouth, he once more brought up the image of the emblazoned coin and the pool of darkness. He bit his cloth gag as he imagined the swirling darkness collapsing towards the glowing silver coin, vanishing as it touched the edges.

The image of the Shadowkhan appeared in his mind's eye, followed by the rapidly forming image of a new, similar figure. There came a peculiar tugging sensation from his gut, like something slowly draining out of him. However, even as the first new image sharpened in his mind, he continued, starting to form another one.

Something to strike with surety. Something to take up their attention and intimidate them.

Yes. These will do.

He cracked open an eye to see what everyone was doing. The cultists were busy drawing lines of chalk on the walls and floors while also assembling the altar.

Suddenly, a pair of red orbs obscured his vision, and a hand firmly grasped his jaw. "Well now, you have any pleasant dreams?" sneered the man from before, Sellzen. Then he frowned. "You did just get up, didn't you?"

Roy grunted, casting his gaze past him to the opposite wall, where the toiling figures' shadows were being cast by flickering candle-light. Shadows…

Strike.

Suddenly, there came screams of shock and agony as transparent black katana blades sprang from the shadows on the walls, impaling the men that had cast them, followed immediately by black-armored figures. Their helmets were very obviously samurai-inspired, but with a beetle-like look to them, especially as the sides swooped down to cover their shoulders and neck. They moved coldly and efficiently, their blades swinging about in quick, brutal arcs.

Roy shuddered, a nauseous feeling churning like a ball in his gut as bodies fell. Ah…I did order them to attack, he thought guiltily, They really do follow through on what I tell them without hesitation…

However, recovering remarkably quickly, the rest of the men quickly withdrew hilts from their robes, and his eyes bulged as blades of light sprang forth to clash with those razor sharp shadow-swords. LIGHTSABERS?! The golden, glowing blades easily sheared through his new Ashigaru Shadowkhan, revealing their armor to be a paper-thin bluff. Each cut instantly reduced an unfortunate warrior to a rapidly-dispersing wisp of shadows.

…I want one too.

The man holding him looked around in astonishment. "Wha-? Oh! Clever dick!" he laughed, reaching into his pocket, "But I can't have you killin' my dudes like that!" He drew out a lightsaber hilt and held it to Roy's elbow, "Juuust gonna take a little off the sides for ya, champ, before the extraction. It'll just be a fleshwound!"

Roy couldn't help but let out a yelp of terror behind his gag, and called for his other new creation.

A massive, meaty hand suddenly grabbed Sellzen by the skull. The man's leering expression sharpened and with astonishing speed he lashed out behind him, igniting his saber. However, even as the blade of light slashed through the massively muscular man-thing that had grabbed him, the new Shadowkhan held on just long enough to hurl the man away bodily, sending him tumbling through the air with a yowl of surprise. As it burst into shadows, however, Roy pushed, and several more came boiling out of the ground to charge into the fray.

Simultaneously, one of the regular ninjas slid out from behind the boy and immediately severed the ropes binding him, untying his gag.

"Get me the fuck outta here!" hissed Roy, keeping an eye on the melee. Apart from the white-haired man, who had landed in a heap near the fight and was now desperately rolling away from the Ashigaru and slashing back at them.

The shinobi grasped his shoulders and they began to sink into the ground, Roy drawing in a deep breath of air before the ground closed over his head.

Darkness swirled around him. A pitch-black abyss that felt like warm water, but warm, and somehow not all that wet. He held his breath, having learned already that this shadow-stuff was not breathable, eyes watering as his head throbbed with pain. The only other thing he could feel was an indistinct sense of motion, and the hands carefully keeping hold of his upper arms.

Finally, his lungs began burning for new oxygen, and he willed the Shadowkhan to let him surface. A moment later, he breached the surface, rising out of the ground with a gasp.

He looked around wildly, trying to figure out where the hell he was, and saw a dilapidated church behind him, highlighted by the setting sun. A church…was I underneath there? Fuck, this shadow travel is slow as shit!

"A-again!" he ordered, crawling to his feet. However, before the shadowkhan could grasp hold of him again, a pair of glowing javelins lanced down from the sky, forcing them to leap away. Roy yelped, ducking down and covering his head as more spears rained down, herding his escorts away from him. He attempted to summon two more at his sides, but they were instantly impaled and popped like dark soap bubbles.

"That's far enough, boy!" called a female voice in the distance. He turned, stumbling and feeling lightheaded, to gaze up at the sky, where he could see four winged silhouettes hanging in the air, carrying aloft multi-colored spears of light. "Just stop resisting and it will all be over quickly!"

"I'd, nngh, r-rather it not be over at all!" he called back, "Lemme guess, you want my power? You could've just asked!"

"Not likely," came the cold reply from the lead Fallen, "Those Devils got to you first, even if they didn't fully claim you. We can't risk you having mixed loyalties if you were to join us."

He groaned. "With a hard-line stance like that, yeah, no shit, lady!"

She gave a humorless laugh. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame God for giving you such a dangerous power to toy with!"

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll use it so much better!" snapped Roy, "Get down off your high horse and look me in the eye before you spout self-serving bullshit like that!"

"Self-serving…?" She lifted the red spear in her hand, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

Suddenly, there came a whistling sound, and one of the other figures quickly reached out, snagging something out of the air. "...An arrow," they murmured in a male voice. "Someone else is out here.

"...Huh? What's that paper attached to it?"

"Shit! Talisman!"

Roy let out a grunt of pain as suddenly the evening lit up with a blinding light and a blast of sound, shutting his eyes as the Fallen Angels cried out in shock.

"Roy!"

He heard that familiar voice, before a pair of slender, but surprisingly toned arms suddenly lifted him up, and then he was being carried away.

"Damnit, after them!" he heard in the distance, the Fallen woman's voice filled with raw frustration and desperation.

However, there was little he could do now. Now that he was being carried, the adrenaline was draining from his body, leaving him weak and limp. "W-where are we going…?" he asked the woman carrying him.

"The shrine," came the terse answer.

"The shrine…" He blearily opened an eye to see that they were running through trees. "The shrine…that's a little bit south, right?"

"Y-yeah. Just hold on, Roy, I've got you! You're safe now."

He grunted. "No. Not yet. Stop for a second."

"I'm not gonna just let you go-"

"Not that. Just stop for a moment, onee-chan."

The woman stopped. "...Aha. I wondered if you knew it was me…"

Roy sighed. "Nee-san, I'm gonna remember that voice of yours." He snapped his fingers, and four Shadowkhan materialized. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel them, even as Chiaki gasped. "Take a deep breath."

"Eh?"

"Breathe deep and hold it! Quick."

He felt her inhale, and did the same. A moment later, darkness closed over him.

When they finally surfaced, his older sister letting out her breath in shock and amazement, they were just feet from the path up the steps towards the old Shinto shrine. "Th-they won't be able to come here uninvited," she muttered, carrying him up the steps, "Sorry, but you might need to stay the night."

"Uh huh…"

"Ahh…I didn't want you to find out about this world like this…"

Roy grunted, even as his eyelids grew heavy. So, even my big sis knows about the supernatural.

Hah. She came to save me. What a cool sister.