Twisted Grove

Spike waited for Molly to calm down. When she didn’t, he reached forward to touch her. “Please don’t Onii-san.” Molly whimpered. Puzzled, Spike asked why not. Molly looked up. “I just can’t trust you anymore.” she replied. Spike was caught off-guard by this. Molly trusted him before. Why did she stop now? And what did he do to make her stop?

“Why?” Spike asked. At that moment, they heard a shuffle. Molly and Spike looked up in a heartbeat. Cherry stood in the doorway. She looked pale. The cupid-chan was biting her lip. “My lord,” Cherry began. “Is something wrong?” Spike thought about how to answer at first. Then he said: “Cherry, could you leave us right now? I’ll tell you later.” “Yes san.” the cupid-chan replied.

“Wait!” Molly yelled as Cherry began to do so. The cupid-chan froze in her tracks. She and Spike turned to Molly immediately. Her lip was trembling. Can she finally say the worst? She might as well. The girl said everything else. So why not this?

“Can Cherry work visuals?” Molly asked at last. Cherry stepped forward. “Yes, sama.” she answered. Molly stiffened her lips. “I have something for you to see Spike.” she spoke up. “Hang on.” Then Molly pulled up her black shoulder bag into her lap and opened it. She searched through the bag for a bit and pulled out two vid stick discs.  Spike watched closely. What were these for?

Molly handed a disc to Cherry. “Open this to show Spike the contents.” she ordered softly. “Yes sama.” the cupid-chan replied. The Cherry took the stick and uncapped it. The cupid-chan placed the stick on the table and held her hand over it. Cherry then shut her eyes and began chanting softly. Spike and Molly watched closely. A pale blue light flared. Soon, an image appeared.

*Visual starts*

The fields were of gold wheat. All was still. (This seemed familiar to Spike all ready.) Then in the distance, an army was walking onto the battlefield. They were angels on white horses. (Spike instantly recognized this image. This was from his reoccurring dream he had repeatedly. But why was Molly showing him this?)

Then, the demon army walked onto the battlefield. They looked bloodthirsty and wanted a brutal fight. One angel rode forward to the front line. (Spike had that same feeling of familiarity he had with the dream so many times before. But why?) The angel held out his sword. “CHARGE!!!” he yelled. And the battle began.

The battle went on. Then came the key part. There came that sly demon again. The angel soldier was too busy fighting to notice him. (Molly kept watching. Spike felt nervous. He knew what was coming. But it still startled him.)

The demon gave his blow gum one hard blow. The dart shot off like a cannon. It struck the soldier like a bullet. (Oh! The pain to watch!)

The battle dragged on. Then, the end came. It was all the same. It was the same thing all over again. The four angels came forward and dealt with the dead angel’s body.

*End of Visual*

Cherry’s light went out. Cherry panted lightly. That vid disc robbed her of her strength. She sat onto the floor. Spike eyed Molly hard.

“What does this have to do with me?” the cowboy asked at last. His friend swallowed hard. Here comes the difficult part.

“A few nights ago,” Molly began. “I couldn’t sleep. So I walked through the city to calm my nerves.” The child priestess was trembling. “As I walked by the hospital,” she went on. “A sadness crept into my soul and I walked to the glass. I saw you through it. You were clutching your left shoulder in pain. Right then, I… I…” Her voice trailed off. A lump formed in her throat. The pain grew worse. Confessions were hard in human nature. But it had to come out.

“You what?” Spike asked. Molly swallowed hard again. No crying now. She was strong so far. Just keep going. “I just knew right there you were Amadeus in your past life!” she blurted out.

This really blew Spike away. Him, Amadeus? It was dismissible when KuroSakura hissed to him that claim. But now, Molly was saying the same thing.

“What do you mean?” the cowboy asked at last. Molly stiffened up her in the back of the shot in the back of the left shoulder,” she said. “The reincarnation usually has some trace of themselves from their past lives.” “But how can you be sure it’s not a coincidence?” Spike asked. Molly said nothing but Spike could tell that neither one was convinced about that statement.

“Uh, hey,” Spike spoke up. “What is on the other disc?” Molly looked up. “Oh, right.” she said quickly. Then, the child priestess handed the vid disc to the cowboy. Spike took it and turned to Cherry. “You feel better?” he asked the cupid-chan. “Yep, my lord!” she exclaimed. Then Cherry leapt to her feet. *Sweat drop on Spike’s head* “Did I need to ask?” he thought.

Spike opened the disc and set it on the table. Cherry began to do the unlocking procedure. “Wait!” Molly cut in. Cherry froze and looked up. Spike looked with the cupid-chan. “There’s something you should know before you unlock it.” Molly went on. “There are two visuals on this disc. It might drain her strength.” Cherry smiled. “Don’t worry, Molly-chan,” she chirped. “I can handle it!” Molly sat quiet. Then Cherry began the unlocking process again.

*First Visual Starts*

A white temple stood strong. Reporters were waiting patiently. Something big was coming. Something really big.

Then, the red gold temple doors opened. The reports and cameras perked up. A wedding couple walked out to the white stairs. They looked so happy to be married. The bride had ruby long hair were braided and sprinkled with baby’s breath under her white veil. Her wedding dress was white and flowing. The bride had a bouquet of yellow roses. She was a lovely sight. Her groom was perfect beside her. His red hair was neatly combed. His tux was nice and neat. He held his bride with pride. (Spike instantly recognized the groom. It was Himura Shoji! This was Shoji’s wedding day!)

The reporters circled Shoji and his bride. “Tell me, Himura-san,” one reporter called out. “How does it feel to be married to a tenshi-chi?” “Are you aware there are going to be rumors about you and your wife?” another asked. “You are the first on Mars to marry a tenshi-chi. Who decided this, you or your family?” a third one asked. “Are you two planning to raise any kids together?” a fourth reported asked.

Shoji just held his new wife and only said this with glowering pride on his face: “I love my wife, no matter who or what she is. As for our future together, we will just have to wait and see what it holds for us.” Then, he kissed his bride on the lips as the reporters all applauded. The gong rang aloud to symbolize the new marriage.

*End of First Visual*

“Next visual.” Cherry announced.

*Second Visual Begins*

A graveyard stood cold n the rain. Shoji was standing in front of a grave. The headstone was as white as snow. It was the grave of Shoji’s wife. The doctor placed a red rose upon her grave. He was in deep sorrow.

When Shoji made it to the cemetery gates, reporters were waiting for him like vicious wolves to a rabbit. “Himura-san,” one reporter spoke up. “Were you scared for your wife when she lost her life trying to save you?” “Does this mean you owe your life to a tenshi-chi?” another one asked. “Will you marry another tenshi-chi?” a third one questioned. “Are you going to declare that it was your dependent for insurance?” a fourth reporter asked.

Fighting back tears, Shoji replied: “Please, all of you. My wife was not a thing. She has a name, so please use it. Her name is… Molly.”

*End of Visual*

Cherry’s light went out again. She collapsed onto the floor panting. That disc robbed Cherry of all of her remaining strength.

Spike looked up at Molly once again. She was about to cry again. “No!” the girl thought. “I have to stay strong for this last thing!” Molly drew in a breath and spoke again:

“I found the clip of the Purgatory War while searching for a prophecy’s meaning I kept dreaming about from the beginning of this summer. I didn’t bother to connect Amadeus with you until I saw you in pain at the same place he was mortally injured.”

Molly paused and took another breath while fighting back tears. Then, she spoke again:

“I was in love with Shoji.” Spike was in silent shock. Molly didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go after an older man. But he listened anyway to help her.

“I loved Shoji-kun so much that I decided to look up about his life.” his friend went on. “That’s when I found those visuals. In doubt, I went to Shoji for the truth. He told me it was all true. Now, now…. I don’t know who to trust anymore!” She finally broke down into tears all over again. Spike just reached out and lightly touched Molly on the shoulder out of sympathy.