The Order of The Chosen

-Akio walks out with his things and Vita followed shortly after, but they didn’t see Kasumi anywhere in sight. Akio thought that maybe Akta borrowed her and looked at Vita then shook his head. Where the hell did she go? She knows it’s dangerous for her to be out now with the church looking for her. Where did you go? Vita closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them,-

“We can go without her.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Yes, we can. I asked a friend to watch over her. She is in good care.”

“One of your friends? Your friends are the reason she is in this situation. If…. If you guys had answered her call for help, she wouldn’t be… she would be herself.”

“She is a demon? The gods had their suspicions, but I knew. I can help her return to her natural self, but I need you to keep a calm mind and think about where she wants to rendezvous with you.”

“She left because of you and your friends. I don’t need your help.”

“Indeed, you will, I can sense holy magic and I can pinpoint what direction it is coming from. If you don’t have me, you might as well walk into their arms unarmed. They will then have fun getting every ounce of information about Kasumi from you, then use you to get to her.”

“The gods allow this?!”

“They allowed it because they believed she was corrupted by a demon and was too far gone. So, their last resort was to contain and eliminate.”

“Well, I’m not going to let them find her. You, on the other hand, can either follow or go back. I don’t care which you choose, just as long as I can fulfill my duty.”

“I won’t stop you.”

-Akio picks up his things and heads out of the town, looks for his map and sighs in frustration. Dammit, Kasumi, which way would you go? To the mountains? There is a town there but why would you head there? What about the tundra? No, you would have to make a detour someplace to pack up warm things first. He turns to Vita who points towards the mountains. He looks in that direction and makes his way towards the mountains.-

-A couple of hours later-

-The two decide to stop at the side of the road and rest for a while. They didn’t bother setting up a camp as it wouldn’t be necessary yet and Akio needed to find Kasumi as soon as possible. Just as he was finishing up his thought, Vita called out a couple of figures approaching them. Akio stood up and readied his weapon but Vita stopped him,-

“They might be friendly.”

“What if they are those people hunting Kasumi? What do you suppose we do then?”

“Negotiate.”

“What if that fails?”

“Then we disappear. If that happens, I’ll need you to distract them for a minute.”

“Fine. This better work or Akta will have my head for this.”

“Fear or fear not, it doesn’t matter. We are the Order of the Chosen and we know you are working with a demon. Turn yourselves in and you will be forgiven.”

“What have you done with her?”

“We have done nothing to her, as of yet. We are here to protect you from her influence. We know you Akio, son of Vulmar. This path is not for you.”

-Akio unsheathes his sword,-

“There is no need for ****. Please put the sword away.”

-Vita slowly backs away and silently chants a spell while keeping eye contact on the group, she then looks at Akio who readies himself for a fight that might as well be one-sided. The brave fool, if he gets himself killed, Kasumi won’t forgive herself. He just needs to give me a minute.-

“If you care about your… friend, you will tell us where she is,” one of the male Chosen’s lifted his hand toward Akio and started manipulating his mind.

“What are you doing? Stop that! You’ll kill him!”

“If he cares about her, he will talk or he will die.”

Vita looked back at Akio who is struggling to stay on his feet as the male continues to toy with his mind. _It's not a minute yet and Akio is dying. Just hold out for a few more seconds, Kasumi is counting on you. _Akio tries to lift his sword, but the female order member restricted whatever little movement he could to the point where he can barely turn his head to one of the members.

“Y-You… will have to… kill me… if you… want her.”

“Dead or alive. We will find out where she is and you Fallen, will know the justice of the gods.”

“That’s if they or any of you can get us,” As she said this a magical circle forms around Akio and Vita and in a blinding light, they disappeared.

“She took him away.”

“No matter. We will fulfill the order of the gods and destroy the demons,” the Order members left the area and traveled back the direction they arrived from.

-A bright light forms near a giant town, Akio and Vita appear after the light disappears and Akio collapses on his face. Vita tries to carry him to the town, but due to his armor, she stopped, placed him down gently on the ground and checked up on his condition. She lets out a sigh and spoke to his **** body,-

“You are very lucky. A minute longer, and you might be an empty husk. They still did considerable damage but… it’ll take longer for you to properly heal. I hope your friend is having better luck than us.”

-Vita looks around and sees the town, she covers up Akio with her cloak and walks over to the town hoping to find someone willing to help them.-