29: Ozwara
It is quite angering when something that you have within your reach is lost to you completely. I knew that feeling very well when I found Sailor Kastalle murdered in her office, only to lose the person who murdered her within mere moments.
It should be well said, that Kastalle's last words were very prophetic indeed. Later, when I returned to Dyka on Mehsheh, she and I would ponder them, For, after all, it was of Kepe, and the idea that Kepe even knew anything, while not surprising that she would know something that we didn't, could prove advantageous if we could connect her to any wrongs she may have committed.
But those thoughts were not on my mind as I tore down the hallways, looking for another route to get down to the building lobby. I had to catch the murderer before they disappeared forever into the streets of Shoppei, rendering my search for them useless. I wanted revenge for being denied whatever Kastalle had to say to me!
Unfortunately, there were no stairs to get down. The only safe way to get up to Kastalle's floor was to use the key that had been given to me for the one box. Unfortunately, the murderer seemed to know this as well. So I was left with either waiting for the box to return, or to find another way to get down.
I look back on this choice and realize that when one is angry and wishes to kill, one does not care for realistic options. One will look for the one option that will get them to their prey as quickly as possible.
-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
I backed up to the wall, and gave myself a good start. As I neared the desk, I took the greatest leap I could, and, pushing off of the desk as leverage, threw all my strength at the window.
*BOOOOM*
It cracked, but I didn't got through. I staggered back, growled, and then repeated my attack.
*CRAAAAAAAAASH*
This time, I went through. The dim lights of the city lay spread out in front of me as I flew for that brief moment. It almost felt like I was floating, and upon my back were wings to keep me high above the ground.
But that feeling did not last, of course. I was soon falling down the side of the building. Fortunately, I am no fool. Themisians are built for climbing up and down walls with ease. So I simply grabbed onto the window was my longest tentacles, and used them to easily swing down each level on the side of the building without fear of falling. I had gotten very good at doing it over the years, and had done it on bigger buildings as well.
But I was going at it faster than I had ever gone before. I was willing my body to practically leap down several floors at a time as I climbed down the side, putting several of my appendages in front of me to keep my balance. I could feel my body's pain as it started to become tired from what I was forcing it to do. But I did not care. I made it go as fast as it could, like a spider on a wall.
I make the comparison to a spider because I can. I got to see a picture of a real spider after the Great Matter was resolved. Given that they look similar to a Themisian, I suppose I could compare some of my movements to that particular creature. Supposedly, there are many types of spiders on your world, but I only found on in the Seemarin records. The spider I saw was a tearentele*(?). It was big and furry, with long legs, and also had long sharp fangs. They are fast and come in different colors and patterns. I even read that they were poisonous and could kill. I'm not poisonous, so I guess the comparison isn't completely accurate. But I digress.
I went down, faster and faster, almost losing my grip at one point. I fell two stories. But I caught myself before I could go further, and swore that I would not lose balance again.
So I didn't. I managed to reach the windows of the main lobby just as the murderer burst out of the box and onto the floor.
-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
The lobby windows gave in easier than those that I had come out of on the top level. I leaped in, and sailed over the floor below. I saw the murderer give a shout as he - I realized it was a he from his silhouette - saw me, cut and bruised, flying towards him. He started to run.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
But I didn't give him the chance. I lashed one of my longer appendages out at him as I got in range, and pulled him into me as we both then flew to the floor. I slid on my back, and crashed into the wall with my prey in tow. His weapon - a dagger - flew out of his hands and skid to the other side of the lobby.
-AUUUGH!
-...Uuuuuu...
I was dazed for a moment, and the murderer took that time to free himself of me, going for his weapon. However, his victory was short-lived. I recovered quickly, and brought myself upon him again.
-No......you......DON'T!!!!!!
I slammed him into the wall, making sure that it was his head that felt the wall first. I did this several times, for my rage was so great that I could not contain myself. It was as I had been the night I attacked Tsukino Usagi, but this time, there was little at the moment that could stop me from having my way with the murderer until he was dead. I was, I admit with some disgust, actually enjoying it very much.
-HOW.... I threw him against the wall again and again. -DO.....YOU.....LIKE....THIS?!?!?!?
His blood splashed everywhere as I threw him against the wall, again and again. He cried, he cried for me to stop. Soon, his cries became weak, and struggled, and I laughed at him.
-Now what?! NOW WHAT?!?!? I threw him around so he faced me. -Look at me. LOOK AT ME, YOU SCUM!!!
He coughed blood upon me, and stared at me with shock. I was heaving, but I, too, was shocked. For as out eyes met, I knew who he was.
-YOU!!!!
-
Lei Ozwara - Leio, as his name was on the streets - was a copy editor for Kastalle for three years. He was one of her most loyal workers during the Great Matter, for he was very much against Tsukino Usagi. He was also a member of BatBi.
The day that Kastalle announced her change on positions, Ozara became enraged with anger. He had given his all for the sailor soldier, only to be betrayed, in his mind. He raged in his office, quit his job, and then that same day went off planet and bought himself a dagger to which he could kill his new enemy.
And he the person who was sitting next to me on the transit passage to Kastalle, having gotten his weapon.
-
We stared at each other, each recognizing whom our opponent was. Certainly, we did not expect to ever see each other again, for it was not even a real acquaintance we had, or if it was, it was mostly him talking to me. Also, never did I think I would be in the middle of catching a murderer just as they had finished committing their crime.
-.....HUAAAAA!!!!
He caught me off-guard. He threw himself on the floor, out of my grip, and began to run off, though his escape was weak, for I had hurt him rather badly.
-UUH! I fell to the floor. -Come....COME BACK!!!!
He did not come back. He kept running, running until he got to the door to the main lobby. He was close, very close to running away and escaping. He flung the doors open to the outside.
And immediately turned to ash.
It was really so quick I was almost positive, at first, that it had not truly happened. Such a thing was impossible, after all. Spontaneous combustion, like on your world, is considered an unlikely feat in our civilization.
Or at least I had considered it a foolish thing until then.
I can still see his face for that brief second. His eyes widened as he saw wat was in front of him, and he opened his mouth to scream. For what was in front of him was so horrifying, so terrible to behold, that it could destroy the resolve of the most iron-willed sailor soldier.
But it was not to be. He would never be able to scream, for he was then gone, nothing more than a pile of dust.
I gave a gasp, and forced myself up to the floor. The murderer was dead. He was dead. Again, justice was destroyed! I started towards where he had been, in front of the doors. But I myself never got there. I was stopped.
I was stopped by fire. It appeared out of nowhere, coming from nothing, so it seemed. It was a spark that suddenly exploded in the middle of the lobby, near where the murderer had fallen. It grew, and grew, until the flame reached the ceiling, burning black all it touched. It was a giant, yet somehow contained, inferno in front of me, one with such intense heat that, surely, I thought I would be engulfed in the bright flame.
But then, as I threw my tentacles up to defend myself, I saw an even more terrible sight in front of me. Inside the flames, I thought I saw a strange figure appear from within the fire as if cloaked, protected by its very essence. It had to be an illusion.
No. A second later, I was sure. There was someone in the flames. Controlling them, mastering them. They were the flames, and they were staring down at the pile of remains.
-Foolish brat......The dust disappeared, blown away and scattered around the room by the powerful wind that the flames generated. -One should not mess with a god's designs. But all shall be remedied soon.
If I had not been scared before, I was certainly terrified by now. For the figure was now staring and smiling right in my direction.
-Hello, Floritiuse. Two pupiless eyes opened. They bore into me so terribly that I knew I would soon be dead as well. -How wonderful it is to meet you once more!....
FLORITIUSE FOOTNOTES
*Tarantula.
