Story: Melty Blood heARTs (all chapters)

Melty Blood heARTS

By Demon Eyes

Disclaimer: Arcueid and co belong to Type-Moon not me.

Act IV

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Ciel was now in the kitchen making tea when she snapped. She had been hearing Nanako plead over and over for her rescue and it was getting annoying. Add the cries of Nanako and Arcueid’s laugh together and you will know why. She stormed over to them and shouted to the top of her lungs, “Damn it Arcueid, stop it already. I told you to play not terrorise Nanako.” She turned to Nanako. “Go to the dining table and bring the cookies I put there, will you?” She set the tray of tea and cups she had brought with her. Arcueid came over and sat in the same two seat sofa that she had settled in all excited. Ciel was a little happy that at least Arcueid appreciated her tea making skills. Even though Tohno-kun visited her club room from time to time, he never showed the needed enthusiasm of it. It seemed like he only came over to keep her company and not for the tea.

Nanako came over with the cookies and placed them on the table. Ciel poured the tea into the three cups and went to start drinking hers. “Better make it quick. Tohno–kun will be here any minute now with a cab to take us to the airport. We have to be ready.” She sipped again at her tea and picked up a cookie to snack on. Speaking of being ready, Ciel looked Arcueid over and noticed that she was wearing her normal clothes-the long sleeve blouse and maroon skirt. Ciel was not going anywhere with her dressed like that. She set down her cup and went to the bedroom. She came back a moment not too long and found Arcueid swatting Nanako’s hand away from the last cookie. She shook her head not yet grasping Arcueid’s actions. She was carrying a dress in her hands and dropped it on Arcueid’s lap upon reaching her.

“Go and change into those clothes Arcueid, or you are going no where.” She sat down and continued to drink her tea. Arcueid started to complain but seeing that she wasn’t being paid attention to, caved in and went to change. After some time, Arcueid came back having changed. “You are really stingy, you know that Ciel?” She sat back down and folded her arms over her chest. She tried really hard to look a little angry but could not pull it off well. Arcueid really was so innocent. Ciel spied a glance her way and was satisfied that it still fit her well. It was a long and wide dress that Arcueid used to wear a long time ago. It was of two pieces but joined together. The top which started from her chest leaving her shoulders and breast bone bare was white with gold trails that came to join the long blue skirt and if Ciel was being honest to herself, Arcueid looked magnificent in it.

Her cheek grew warm when she realised what she was thinking. This didn’t go unnoticed by Arcueid however and being a busy body she is would never let it pass. “Ciel, do you like?” She moved her eyes down her body and made a snicker. Ciel got a little redder and tried to burry her face in her tea cup but all it did was make Arcueid laugh a little. Ciel would’ve died of embarrassment had her door bell not ring at that moment. She got up quickly to go answer it and luckily, her cheek had cooled down a bit by the time she opened it to find Shiki and Aoko Aozaki standing there. She was a little startles to see her there after so long. “Blue. It’s been a long time. How have you been?” She went over and gave Aoko a hug which surprised Shiki. He didn’t know that his sensei had met with his sempai before. “Hello Tohno-kun. Please come in.” She stepped aside to let them enter.

This day seemed to be about surprises to Shiki as he saw Arcueid there in Ciel’s apartment sitting comfy in the couch. He had never thought them to be close as Ciel to sit in the same room as Arcueid without shit going down and by the looks of things, nothing of the sort had happened, yet. Even more so was the fact that Aoko was also already acquainted with Arcueid. When Aoko explained that she had helped them on an assignment a few years back, 2000V wouldn’t have been enough to bring Shiki back to the present. He sat there while the girls caught up to old times and laughed girlishly. He went over and played a few games with Nanako all the while losing. She was good. He reminded them when it was almost time to leave.

“That’s why I am going back. I asked Arcueid to come along since she seemed really bored and you know it means action when I am called over.” Aoko had to agree. They wouldn’t call in the bow if there wasn’t big trouble that needed to be cleaned up. But she was also surprised by the closeness that these two almost polar opposites had. ‘Attract’ indeed. Even though she had come across them together before when they ere on the job, Ciel always looked ready to kill Arcueid and The True Princess seemed to welcome the challenge. This was proving to be really interesting. She almost had an inkling where this was going and wondered how the burial Agency would react at this. True they always wanted the two to get along better but if things were to be as she thought, then there would be some trouble. ‘Oh well, that is none of my business anyway.’ She agreed to herself.

“So, you will take care of Tohno-kun and the rest when we are gone, right? I don’t really know how this assignment will affect our time so it is good to know that you came back right now.” Ciel was a little relieved to know that Blue (as she referred Aoko to as) was staying in town for a long while. She could now leave without worrying about this Wallachia business. This of course also meant that the chances of her assignment being in this area were getting higher. She checked her watch at that and she saw that it was high time they left for the airport lest they be late. She let Nanako turn into her church gab and going to fetch her suitcase from the bedroom, they left for the airport and Ciel was looking forward to kick some major butt.

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(The Tohno mansion)

Hisui and Akiha were at the gate. Akiha was going out to meet her friends in town (She had started to go out after Shiki came back) and Hisui was there to see her off. The gates opened and Hisui bowed to show her respect to the mistress of the house. She went back to the house after closing the gate and went to look for her elder sister Kohaku. She had finished cleaning everything around the house and wanted to see if her sister could find her something to do. Hisui didn’t want to be idle. Strangely, Kohaku had been out of sight for a long while. The last time Hisui saw of her was around three or four hours ago. She entered the house and closed the main door behind her.

In a very dimly lit room, we a hooded figure working furiously with mechanical parts and making strange sounds of crazy laughter. Wires and cables of all kind and electrical sparks can be seen in the near darkness. Were it any other ordinary poor soul, they would’ve turned around and ran away screaming but of course the observer of this strange scene was no ordinary person. Hisui had searched all around the place for her sister and not finding her anywhere; decided to resort to her other...err...resources. The heat readings had shown a person in Kohaku’s room but she had already checked there and seen no one. Hisui had decided to check everything and had stumbled upon a secret entrance and it had led her to her sister. Now Hisui to those who knew her was not someone easily surprised but what she saw more than surprised her of course. “Ne…Nee-san!”

Kohaku who had been so absorbed in her experimentation that she failed to hear the door open whirled around and her eyes went almost comical wide. “Hisui-chan! This is not what it looks like.” She began to explain all the while sweating it out. “I can expl...Hisui-chaaaaaan!” She had started to take her hood down and start to explain but poor Hisui ran out of the room crying. Perhaps she was more ordinary than we thought her to be. Hisui knew that she was not the most sociable person in the house but this was really harsh. Her sister was probably tired of waiting for her to get over her angst and was now, was now creating something to play with instead of her. There in that room was another her. Her sister was creating a mechanical version of Hisui probably to replace her with.

If she was no longer in her sister’s life, where was she to be? She had reached the yard before she even knew it but before she went any farther, she felt someone grab her arm and stopped her in her tracks. “Hisui-chan, please stop and listen to me.” It was her sister Kohaku. “Why? So you can tell me how you no longer need me as to create a mock copy of me?” Hisui was very angry and her voice said it all. Kohaku flinched a little but she was getting angry too. How could Hisui think so lowly of her? Didn’t she know how irreplaceable she was to her?! “Please listen to me Hisui-chan. There in nothing that could replace you okay? You are the most important person to me. I know I haven’t told you that for a really long time but you must know it.”

True I’ve been finding myself missing the times that we played together when we were still kids but that is not why I created that.” Kohaku brings her little sister closer to her and strokes her hair. It has been a very long time since she saw her Hisui-chan show this amount of emotion. A very long time indeed. “Then why did you create in Nee-san?” Hisui wasn’t convinced. “I wanted to give us more allies to fight with our new enemies that we may have no choice but to fight. Last time you saw what Wallachia was capable of. I wanted us to be a little more prepared this time.” She kissed Hisui tenderly on her fore head and lowered her face to be eye to eye with her. “So you see Hisui-chan, not even my best creation can ever take your place, though I must admit that I will play with it a little, Ku ku ku.”

Hisui had started to complain but stopped herself when she saw her sister stifling a laugh calling her bluff. But knowing her as she did, it might not be a bluff at all but Hisui didn’t mind it, much, at least for now. “Now come on, let’s go back inside and maybe you can help me finish my project. I still have some areas I am having trouble with perfecting.” Here her eyes traveled to Hisui’s chest and Hisui grew red despite her effort not to.” They laughed at that a little as they made there way back to the house with Kohaku’s arm over Hisui’s shoulders. “What are you going to name it anyway Nee-san?” Kohaku made a motion of thinking but the fact was that she had already thought of a name for her masterpiece. “I will call her...Mecha-HISUI.”

To Be Continued...

Melty Blood heARTS

By Demon Eyes

Disclaimer: All belong to Type-Moon except the story.

Act V

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“Well Shiki, this does not look good at all. What are you going to do?” Aoko whispered to Shiki who was seated in the back of the taxi next to her. She didn’t want the taxi driver to listen to their conversation if she could help it but it was proving to be difficult given the distance between them and the driver. Well, she reasoned even if he were to hear their conversation, he would think them crazy at most. Shiki gave his teacher a quizzical look as he was lost as to what she was talking about. “I meant the departure of The Ancestor and that girl from the burial agency.” She clarified. If her informant had been right, and they have never told her false information, then this town was in for a great deal of trouble. Considering that Shiki and his friends have proof of something brewing, she couldn’t comprehend why he let them go.

Shiki found himself in a very hard position. Though he hadn’t counted on his sensei coming back anytime soon, now that she was here, he was counting on her to make the great decisions and maybe even teach him some more things he had yet to understand. What if he were to make the wrong decision and disappoint his teacher? He never wanted that to happen but at the same time, he felt the need to show how much he had grown up and learned in the period of his sensei’s absence. “W…Well, we can’t do anything about that now. The plane has already left and it wasn’t like I could stop them from going. Ciel-sempai told me once that she can never disobey her superiors no matter what. If she had decided to go, then she would go anyway even without my consent and Arcueid, well, I don’t think anyone can order her around. And besides, she and I...err...” He trailed off here.

Aoko didn’t want to go into it even though she was curious about it. She always took some kind of pleasure in embarrassing her students and Shiki would be even more fun but she decided to wait when the subject was not still sour. “True, but I think that if the bad guys were to come after us right now, we would need the True Ancestor’s powers. I don’t know about this Ciel much(,) but I’ve heard people talking about her. She has nicknames for crying out loud and someone nicknamed is not to be taken lightly. From what I heard too, we are in for a big fight. It seems we are not up against a dozen or so but rather nearly a full scale army. So it doesn’t matter how good she is. As long as she can fight we need her. Our numbers are small and there is strength in numbers. It doesn’t matter how strong one is when facing an army.” Well, she knew that some people defied that logic and the Princess was one of them. People with such great power that even an army was not enough to stop them. She just hoped that the guys they are to face don’t have persons with as great a power.

“I know what you mean sensei. I don’t know where we would be right now without Arcueid and Ciel-sempai’s help during the Wallachia nights. I doubt though that they would make their move right now. I don’t know but things seem to be a little raw for serious trouble. If they were ready, they would’ve attacked Sion and Yumizuka that night.” He thought so at least and he hoped that he was right. He relaxed and looked to his teacher. “Besides, if things go out of control, we can always call for their help. Sempai gave me her number so that I could call on her anywhere. I don’t how it works, but she said I could reach her anywhere in the world on it.” He looked a little uncertain though. He had never heard of a phone that worked everywhere. But after everything he has seen, he shouldn’t be surprised that something as useful as that could be invented.

“I think those people at the church could do it. They have a great deal of resources. They have a certain object in their possession that I want as well but I haven’t gotten a chance to pay them a visit yet.” Shiki saw her eyes gleam and he had a certain vision of how her visit would look though he didn’t know why. He left his sensei to her thoughts and returned to the matter of Arcueid and Ciel’s absence. Today at dusk he would be going with everyone on patrol as they had agreed the night before. He would have to make sure to pair them up with the best chances of survival were they to confront any one. He just hoped there would be no confrontations this earlier on in the absence of their big guns.

He had a great sense of battle tactics and awareness but compared to those two who had been fighting for over hundreds of years, he was nothing. Arcueid would greatly be needed now that he knew Wallachia was still alive. He had seen great power from her during that last war with Wallachia but he sensed that she hadn’t been using her all. In fact she was still weak from the injuries he gave her on their first meeting. Not to mention, seeing as Wallachia, the guy whom it took both of them to kill, had apparently survived and was following someone else’s orders. All of this did not settle very well with him. It could only mean one thing. There was someone worse, stronger and maybe crazier than Wallachia himself is. If they were lucky, he would be saner than Wallachia though that was very much doubtful.

Sempai was not to be taken lightly either. You had to fear a person who went up against Arcueid head to head every time. Well, she was immortal but there had to be a great deal of pain there. Shiki couldn’t know about it but he knew being on the blink of death and not dying had to be the greatest pain of all. If that pain caused normal people to give up on their last breaths, then she for one who cannot die to ease it was truly someone to be pitied. He was amazed by the fact that his sempai could still keep at it all the time. If he didn’t know better, he would think that the only one who did that would be one that took pleasure in pain. He saw that in one of his hentai magazines he used to read, now back to reading seeing as he didn’t have a girlfriend anymore. It just didn’t cross his mind that his sempai could be like that. He just knew it.

During that night that they defeated Wallachia, he saw true power of his sempai. In fact, she never even used that much when she went up against Arcueid. This disturbed him now that he thought about it. Surely, even if Ciel was immortal, Wallachia was too. She could kill him, at least he thought she killed him but he never regenerated like Ciel-sempai has done during their fights. Either it was him, or those two were not serious when they fought each other. Before, he was sure that Ciel-sempai was out to kill Arcueid and if she were to have a chance of killing her, she would take it. Arcueid too seemed ready to kill but they never killed. Whenever his sempai got killed she would begin) to regenerate and Arcueid would take off with an unreadable expression. He thought them to be equal in power but now he knew it wasn’t true on that night. That night he knew there were things out there that defied all the laws of the living.

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(The Night of Wallachia)

Screams filled the town of Misaki but do not be so presumptuous as to think them festivity screams. These were those of the terrified kind. The kinds of screams that you would hear in scary movies when a poor soul is about to be added to those that no longer have a body to reside in. This would be somewhat similar to that if not for the fact that this was taking palace in real life. Real people were being terrorised in this town that was known as the most peaceful in Japan only nights ago. To describe the state of the town now would be to use only one word: Doomsday. There was no power in sight and the only light that was available was from the full moon up in the sky which bizarrely looked like it was half the distance it is supposed to be from earth.

This of course was a fact to go unnoticed as no one was in the mood or could take the liberty of staring at that beautiful orb that ironically was spelling the doom of the residents. Now the first question would be as to what exactly was causing these earth and soul shattering screams. Well, the answer to that would be very difficult to explain but nothing is impossible to simplify. The simplest explanation of what was causing this would be mystical beasts. Hellish beasts. They looked like some wild dogs, no, dogs were not this cunning nor as big. They were of wolf class. Those wild big wolfs and other kinds of unseen wild animals but they all had things in common: sharp teeth, long strong claws and glowing red eyes. The curious and most frightening thing though was that they had no bodies. The mentioned parts would be clearly made out but they looked to be attached to some kind of living flowing shadows of absolute darkness.

Adults, children and everything alive were being destroyed by these monsters. They travelled in waves through streets and it seemed to someone who happened to witness it before he too was judged upon, they seemed to be sucking in everything they came into contact with. No house or place hidden was left un-intruded upon. All hope was not lost though as there were some who had the courage to face these beastly monsters. They stood quite a ways away in the same path that the beasts were coming through as they charged towards them. No fear was present in anyone’s eyes even though unknown things could be seen approaching them with the speed and power of a great wave. A girl stepped forward in front of the only male in the group who looked to have been in the front. She had long black hair that nearly reached her hip though a white ribbon held it back.

“Nii-san, you go on as you planned and we will stay here to take care of this.” The brother in question was Shiki Tohno, an adoptive in to the Tohno family and thus a step bro to Akiha Tohno, the girl who had just spoken. Along with these two, were seven others; Arcueid, Ciel, the twins Kohaku and Hisui, Sion Eltram Atlasia, Shiki’s classmate Satsuki Yumizuka and Arcueid’s familiar Ren. The plan that Akiha was referring to, had been decided upon before. The battle strategy was that Shiki Arcueid and Ciel would go after Wallachia personally. Everyone else would take care of the rest and maybe act as a distraction were there to be others in Wallachia’s circle. It was time now to put it into action and in Shiki’s absence it was up to Akiha to take up leadership. She would argue that this decision was not based on family relations were you to ask but in power and thinking which was partially true.

“Alright, but be careful Akiha, and all of you too.” He looked around to all that were present and would be left behind to fight the monsters. “I forgot to mention this but you have to put the highest priority in protecting Ren or else all this will be for nothing.” He looked to Arcueid and Ciel for confirmation then bid goodbye to the others and they ran off towards the oncoming onslaught. They were not doing what you might think they’d be doing though Arcueid took Shiki by the collar and jumped off the ground towards the roof of one of the two-story houses that populated the area. Shiki gave a start and a cry for his poor handling by his crazy girlfriend who only laughed on as they ascended. Ciel was not far behind them no more than a few seconds. Instead of her blue gown that she would dress in most of the time in battle, she was dressed in a very thin blue sleeveless dress that reached just a few centimetres down her thighs. Her glasses were gone and Shiki just now realized that she hadn’t made any out of place motions this evening.

When they reached the roof, he was placed down. He followed side by side with the two girls as they leapt from roof to roof trying to evade as many beasts as they could. Shiki spared a glance down below them and looked on as the monsters did their bidding. Even though he knew what was really going on, he could not help but get a little sick at how grotesque the beasts did their business. He had to make sure one more time. “Are you really sure that they are alright down there sempai?” Ciel sighed having answered that question three times already. The idea was that Ren would put up a very wide barrier that transferred everything in it to a different dimension. Everyone in town now was safe unaware of the things that were happening just beside them.

She set it up so that the present had her illusions of the real in it too. (Maybe) Ciel thought it too real but the scene didn’t do anything to her. She had already seen far worse in the time she had lived. Not to mention that which was caused by her own hands. Everyone was seeing the same things as the monsters by the fact that Ren had not held back for fear of their enemy catching whiff of their tricks. They had to make it as real as possible and if it meant for them to see it too, then that was a small price to pay. “Yes Tohno-kun, the people, the real people are in a different dimension which means, whatever is going on right now is out of their perception. We can fight as much as we need to now and defeat Wallachia for them to be safe.”

Shiki decided that that was enough for him so he just nodded and with a final glance, his resolve returned and his expression went back to normal. In the distance, they could hear Sion’s gun going off and its fire power could be seen all the way to where they were. It took out almost half the number of beast that was present. But that didn’t stop their approach it seemed as Akiha could be heard next yelling something then a huge explosion followed. Kohaku’s strange laugh was hard to hear as they had reached the end of the buildings and jumped off. This time Ciel helped Shiki down to save him from the pain that Arcueid would most likely cause were she to do it. They ran on but not for long as the entry into Misaki forest could be seen just a few meters ahead.

Within this forest, resided Wallachia’s castle that mysteriously just so happened to appear once the cycle of the full moon began. This was the very same place where they were going and believed their nemesis to be at this moment. They exchanged glances and proceeded with Arcueid taking the fore. When they had gone a little further inside, Shiki noticed that the fog was getting thicker with their advance. Not much longer after that the lone light was blocked off and they had to walk on in mere lighting of the glowing smoky atmosphere. Arcueid slipped a bit and almost fell down but Shiki, who was coming in right behind her, gave a steadying hand. “Are you alright Arcueid?” He was more concerned for his girlfriend as of late. She really tried very hard to constrain herself but she used up a great deal of will power to do it.

Arcueid was a vampire and even though she could survive without blood that did not mean that she didn’t have the urges to take it. Despite the fog covering the full glare of the moon that was still too close for Arcueid’s liking, it didn’t make any difference at all. If it was up, it was up. Put the fact that she had yet to completely heal from her friend’s ordeal in to the equation and the energy she put into resisting the urges that came to her from her vampirism, then she was pretty weak at the moment. She didn’t want to make void of Shiki’s plans of wanting to save everyone. He had practically gotten on his knees and begged her for her help. Were she to make truth of his fears then he would most likely send her back and she didn’t want I to come to that. She might as well get it over with now. Ren would need a great deal of rest after the power she has used tonight.

“Yeah. Do not worry Shiki, I just slipped that’s all. Why did I even bring these shoes with me tonight? Ciel’s looks more comfortable.” Her eyes stayed on Ciel’s feet and a smile came to her face. Shiki knew at once what she was meaning to do and sure enough, she started to lung for the poor blue and white shoes when Shiki caught her and held her back. “What? I just wanted to get a closer look that’s all.” She turned her head back forward and gave a pout crossing her arms over her chest in the process. Ciel gave a snicker and followed. Shiki brought up the rear and shook his head when Arcueid turned to Ciel and realized what that snicker was for. Thankfully they too knew of what grave situation they were in so they didn’t duke it out.

They walked on and soon enough, or more like suddenly, came in view with the castle. Mainly due to the thickness of the fog. Suddenly, a deafening sound of a very grand piano playing boomed into their eardrums. Very grand because the volume was so great that they were sure everyone in this part o the world could hear it. Thankfully though, they were in another dimension so their ears were spared. It was playing one of those pieces that you are sure crazy people would enjoy. This in particular was never heard of before even Arcueid who thought she’d heard all of them didn’t recognise it. It made all those well-known composers sound like armatures compared to it. The three of them knew that it was an invite by their host and it sounded like it came from the top most part of the castle.

The castle was built in a way that to go to the stairs to the next floor, you had to cross that floor to get to them. As many dark castles are said to be, this was no different. Having breathed a sign of relief when they found no one on the ground floor. Shiki and company thought that their enemy was perhaps so crazy that he had no guardians or close minions but when they got to the first floor, they found out that no one was as crazy as they had thought. To make matters worse, the first minion they encountered was someone that Shiki had prayed never to meet again. He had a thing with animals of the wild that not even he could not explain. And now he had to deal with him again. This world was not fair. He remembered passing out from pain caused to him by the guy standing in front of them but nothing more until he came to and was told that he had defeated him. Yet here he was. Standing before them - Chaos.

A few things were different about Chaos though. Where he was previously really annoying with his speeches, here he was really mute and still as if he were a living statue. Arcueid and Ciel went on guard though and Shiki followed suit. The piano changed a few keys and Chaos opened his eyes which were a glowing red now with no pupils and attacked. Shiki though not pleased with animals, had been training since the Roa incident and was now more or less stronger and better aware of some of his capabilities. He too charged forward to battle it out in a second round that he felt he deserved. Chaos released his famous beasts and Shiki thought that he might have been the one who released all those things in town. He unsheathed his knife and slashed through them with ease. He too had left his glasses at home and had been without them for almost five hours straight.

Adjusting to the world only he could see was one of the tasks he had to train in on his quest to become stronger. And so, he had no trouble even now when he faced a guy he had trouble with before and it took him no time at all to cut him up into tiny little pieces that would insure his death for real this time. This time however, he found that there was no source of the lines that filled his body. He feared for a second that he would regenerate and this would go on forever, when he saw that the being Chaos just dissolved into the floor and didn’t show again. The three took this opportunity and raced through the corridors to take the next stairs to the upper floor. Ciel was thinking to herself about what just happened though. Tohno-kun might have improved but even he wouldn’t have defeated Chaos that easily unless something was up. She decided to wait for the next fight to come to fully come to a conclusion on her thoughts.

Sure enough there was someone awaiting them on the next floor. This one however would prove to be more difficult to take on as was evident by the shocked looks on the trio’s faces. Judging by the windows they had seen from the outside, the next floor would be where their target was, so it was most accurate to conclude that this time it was not going to be easy for whoever decides to take their opponent on. Sitting there on one of many wooden crates in their view, a girl was sitting with one of her legs raised a little and it looked like she was bored waiting for someone, which in this case, meant them. This was proven by the fact that she raised her head that rested on her palms covering her raised knee to look at the people she had been waiting for when their feet touched the floor. So different was this one from Chaos’s state before that they really knew they were in deep trouble, at least Shiki thought so.

Arcueid looked like there was Santa giving out presents in front of them and she was next in line by the look of extreme excitement on her face. Ciel was very different from her state of mind though she looked like she had seen a ghost or a person very dear to her and with great reason too. What would shock Ciel so much so that it rivalled Arcueid’s excitement? Well, that would be because there was another Ciel in the room. This Ciel though was not the Ciel-sempai who was standing beside Shiki at the moment. He didn’t know if he would like it were his sempai to be a little like the one standing before them but his genes may have approved judging by the flame on his cheeks. Yes, Shiki Tohno was blushing. The Ciel just meters in front of them had nothing on covering her except a cloak of some sort and white panties which were showing and still were because she still had one leg raised on the crate she was sitting on.

Ciel paid no notice of this however as she was still shocked from the presence of her ghost from the past. The image in front of her was exactly as she was during those horrible years of her life when she was taken over by Roa. The red eyes and that smile she didn’t think she was able to make were all present. Arcueid stepped forward and place her hand on Ciel’s shoulder which snapped the blue haired girl back to her senses. “Don’t worry Ciel. I will take care of this. You and Shiki go on and I will catch up to you in no time.” Ciel was going to protest as she thought she should be the one to fight her own demons but Shiki held her back and shook his head. Ciel caved in and followed Shiki through a different room to get to the stairs. Dark Ciel started to go after them but chains blocked her way and she turned to Arcueid.

“And where do you think you are going? I have always wanted to have a serious fight with you...Ciel...err, whatever. You get what I mean.” She dismissed it with a wave of her hand and her smile widened. She cracked her knuckles while moving forward. She was surprised though when this Ciel smiled in return and answered to her challenge. “Oh, I understand perfectly, vampire. I have always wanted a rematch with you and a real fight too. This time there is no one at stake so we can go all out.” She let out a laugh that Arcueid couldn’t imagine the real Ciel making and with knives appearing in her hands, she charged Arcueid too. Ciel threw her blades towards Arcueid and jumped in the air to deliver yet even more. Arcueid was on to her though as she created a stream of blood and sent it to meet the first round of blades to stop them in their tracks then jumped to knock the second air-based wave of blades with her bare hands out of the air. After that, the weapons were out of the question and fists were exchanged.

Going up the stairs, Ciel and Shiki could hear the mixed laughs of Arcueid and that wannabe Ciel below them and sounds of things breaking. Shiki just prayed that they don’t bring them on the ground by levelling the floor. He heard that unsettling sound of Ciel’s laughter and chanced a glance towards his sempai’s way. He tried very hard to picture her laughing like that but it just couldn’t come to him. He decided to drop it and think of a strategy to use against their ultimate enemy that they should be seeing just a dozen of stairs away from them. To be honest, he was a little afraid of what they would be seeing and wished for those 12 remaining stairs to run on forever but just like so many other wishes he had before, this one was not to be answered either. As soon as they stepped onto the last step, the caught a full back view of their enemy. From the looks of things, he was just an ordinary person with blonde hair and wore a black cowl. He was busy playing the piano and paid no attention to them until he stopped playing. When he turned their way however, Shiki decided it would have been much better for him not to not face them.

To be continued...

Melty Blood heARTs

By Demon Eyes

Disclaimer: Type-Moon owns the awesome characters not me.

Act VI

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“I don’t know who you are but welcome to castle none the less. I was about to go out for dinner but you saved me the trip. So, who is first then?” Wallachia’s face turned into a very scary face that Shiki had only seen in those movies he always watched with his friend in the cinemas. His eyes were like holes into a world of nothing but wells of red mass. His teeth were so sharp and very much similar to an animal’s. “I can’t see them.” Shiki said to himself more than anybody else. Everything that was around him had death lines in them yet the man that was standing in front of them didn’t have a single line on him.

“What was that Tohno-kun?” Ciel had heard him whispering to himself. “That guy does not have the lines on him. Not a single line.” Ciel was taken aback a little by this revelation. How was that possible? What is this guy made of? ‘At any rate, now Tohno-kun is of no use now. If he goes in without doing any damage, he will be killed quickly.’ Ciel thought to herself. This had officially gotten from bad to worse. How were they supposed to defeat a guy that they couldn’t kill? Ciel had been counting on Tohno-kun’s ability to down the guy but what now? Maybe Arcueid knew of a way but she was still down stairs dealing with her impostor.

“Tohno-kun, wait for Arcueid to get here. She might have a few ideas of how to take down this guy but for the moment what I can think of is buying time.” Ciel started to walk on forward but she stopped and turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Wait sempai, I know should go first. I may not be able to see the lines but I can still cut him up pretty good.” Ciel’s features turned hard and she pulled away from Shiki. “Tohno-kun, this guy is no ordinary vampire. His abilities are far greater and the ‘cuts’ that you may be able to put on him will not do more than what they would do on water. On the other hand, I have battle experience and thus have more chances to survive than you do. Besides, I don’t plan on losing to this guy. I swore that the only opponent I will ever lose to was that vampire.” She smiled and hoped that that will put Shiki to bay.

“I am going to hold him down until Arcueid gets here. I may injure him pretty good but I can’t kill him.” She turned and faced their enemy who had turned back to a normal person. “If you are quite done deciding whose life I crush first, let’s get it on.” Then he was back to his ugly self with that disturbing smile of his. Ciel dashed forward and in a blink of an eye, she was on Wallachia delivering powerful punches and kicks. Wallachia was laughing all the while and defending himself at the same time. He was so fast and Ciel had to give him credit. She was just warming up though as she increased the speed at which she threw her hits.

She brought a left hook first which was blocked and followed up with a right but that was also blocked. The next real left hook though went in and connected with Wallachia’s smug which made a few whiteys go flying. This was successful though probably due to the fact that all these three punches happened in less than a second and Wallachia wasn’t fast enough. Ciel was proud of her speed that was for sure. Even Arcueid wasn’t fast enough for her. Wallachia went flying backwards and crashed into his piano which went a few feet back as well and smashed into the rear wall. There was dust that skewed Ciel and Shiki’s view. Shiki was again amazed by his sempai’s skills. His eyes couldn’t catch up with those hits.

There was cry and the two pieces of the piano went flying threw the air towards Ciel. She kicked them to the side seeing as were she to avoid them, they would be heading for Tohno-kun. A shadow came forward at high speeds from where Wallachia had crashed and Ciel had to act on instinct and jump through the air to dodge what looked like a shadow of Tohno-kun but going to the air was a bad mistake. Wallachia came airborne rolling in the air and catching Ciel completely off guard. He cut her up pretty good with his moving long nails. The pain was great and the blow she received last had enough force to send her crashing into the ground. Wallachia wasn’t done with her yet though.

That piano was precious to him. It took him through the years. He teleported near Ciel and used his coat and a weapon to force her from the ground and into the air with a blow. Once off the ground, he created shadow claws and slashed at her which sent her towards Shiki. She was covered in blood and coughed to clear her throat which rarely missed being cut through. “Ciel-sempai, Are you alright?” Shiki shouted to his upperclassman. She forced herself on her knees but when she looked up, she saw that Wallachia was coming towards them. She pushed Shiki aside and the blow that seemed to be coming from Chaos’ shadow got her alone instead. There were slashes on her face now and her uniform got torn.

Shiki made to go attack Wallachia but Ciel held her open blood stained palm to stop him. She stood up determined not to let such wounds stop her. She called for Nanako in her mind. Her torn uniform was restored and her Seventh Scripture materialised in her hands. Her body started to get illuminated from her tattoos glowing and she moved forward at so much speed that it looked like she had teleported to Shiki. Wallachia made to jump thing it the easiest way to dodge but he found his threads being held back a gloved hand. He came crashing down back to earth only to meet what was awaiting his return – The sharpened end of a holy stick.

Ciel didn’t have the luxury of crying out her attack so she went right to business. She pounded a few steaks into Wallachia while still holding him on the ground level. That wasn’t enough for her though. He still had to pay a great deal back for the pain he had given her. She lifted the gun with him still on it in and pointed in the heavens. Some more sticks into him and a big one for good measure saw him flying into the air and came back down with only the power of gravity. Ciel still wasn’t finished with him yet though and Shiki felt some petty for him as he saw his sempai jump to meet Wallachia on his journey down to earth. She buried quite a couple of black keys into him and by the time he landed, he looked like a pig on so many sticks for barbeque.

Ciel landed near Shiki and pulled out of no where another black key. She threw it spinning through the air towards Wallachia’s exposed throat only to cut through it completely. His head went rolling in the floor and that was when Ciel gave into exhaustion and went on one knee. That should put Wallachia out for a few seconds but it was all she needed it seems seeing as Arcueid came up to join them right at that second. “Wow, I heard a party going on here even more live that I was having down there. I had to finish my fun too soon not wanting to miss on this one. I hope there is sill some left for me.”

When she heard no reaction, she opened her eyes and saw a worried Shiki helping an exhausted Ciel to her feet. “I see Ciel was the M.C here. Are you going to live?” Shiki just shook his head while Ciel grumbled. She got free of Shiki’s hold when she got to her feet thinking that it would look weird were she to enjoy his closeness in the presence of his girlfriend. “It looks like my suspicions were correct. I am not mortal yet. My wounds are still healing so yeah, I will live sorry to disappoint you.” She made a motion of dusting herself off. Shiki ignored their bickering and brought them back to serious matters. “If you are quite done, our friend seems to have put himself back together. Where is that strategy Ciel-sempai?”

Ciel looked to where she had crucified Wallachia and in fact the guy was stretching his neck as if to test it. He didn’t look at all pleased though and the glare he sent Ciel’s way made her shudder on reflex and even take a step back. “Arcueid, Tohno-kun can’t see those lines on this guy and as you see even my all didn’t faze him. Do you have any suggestions?” Arcueid thought about that. Shiki couldn’t see the lines because Wallachia was just an entity. He had gone from just a mere high scale vampire to something worse. She thought of what it was that changed him but it danced at her memory. “That’s it, now I remember. He changed into what he is now using the rays from the red moon.”

Ciel and Shiki just stared at her not wanting to know about the stupid moon but how to stop the guy who was now making his way to them with an intent to kill. Arcueid saw their faces and pouted. They just couldn’t take some fun could they? “If we summon that which changed him into what he is now, he might turn back into a normal high level vampire that he was. Then Shiki would be able to see the death lines and kill him.” She grinned to them as if expecting a sweet to be thrown into her hands as appreciation. Ciel decided to go up for another round with the guy to buy time. Shiki continued with the questions. “How are we supposed to get this red moon? I have never seen it before.”

Arcueid just laughed at him and before he could shoot back about that Arcueid decided to explain. “I can use my Reality Marble and summon the red moon. I am the only one who can summon it and I believe he used it the last time I summoned it a few centuries back when I fell.” Her smile faded but after sometime she was back to normal. “It takes a little time to complete and after I will be very weak so I have to have a lot of concentration. You will have to guard me.” While all this was going on, Ciel was fighting desperately to hold her own against Wallachia but the guy had gotten way stronger now. They were busy exchanging blows but Arcueid’s hyper voice could be heard clearly by them.

What they heard made one glad but the other however got really angry. Wallachia would not let the vampire to summon the red moon once again. He created shadow clones of Shiki, Arcueid, Akiha, Sion, and left them to attend to Ciel while he dashed off to stop Arcueid who had closed her eyes and started the ritual. Her right arm was aimed into the sky and Shiki was standing on guard in front of her. Ciel didn’t want Shiki to face Wallachia yet so she jumped to the nearest wall and pushed with all her might to land near Shiki before Wallachia got to him. “Tohno-kun, go and take care of those guys that can be killed. I will hold Wallachia off for the needed time.” She said that while guarding Wallachia’s axe that he had formed to cut through Shiki with.

Ciel pushed forward and continued to use her most powerful attacks to hold Wallachia off. After some really tiring minutes, the sky outside started turning pure back and nothing could be seen at that second. Everyone on the room paused and then it happened. As if Ciel was wearing crimson glasses, the world started to get a little light but it was a crimson light. Ciel felt weird too and even more as the big red orb lifted into the sky that was at least two times bigger that the biggest normal moon Shiki had ever seen. Ciel knew now that she was getting weaker and the wounds she had just received lost that feeling of healing and the pain increased. ‘What is happening to me?” She wondered to herself in panic.

The shadows that were fighting Shiki varnished and Arcueid opened her eyes after the ritual was successful. Shiki took that as a sign and attacked Wallachia. The man in red was just fazed a little by the drop in his power but he was still mean enough and gave Shiki a hard time. Arcueid wasn’t affected as much as she had thought. She looked around and saw Shiki and Wallachia going at it. She searched for Ciel and found the girl lying on the floor struggling in pain. She ran over to her on instinct and helped her sit up. “What’s wrong Ciel? I thought you said you were still immortal!” Ciel opened her eyes and looked to her stomach. The Princess followed her gaze and saw a very bad site when Ciel removed her bloodied hand.

The big gush was not healing and blood was coming out of it fast. Arcueid was a little puzzled but then something clicked in her mind. Could the red moon be affecting everything that wasn’t immortal in the beginning? Was Ciel now at this moment a normal human? “What is going on with me Arcueid? I feel weak and very tired. I still remember this feeling very vaguely on that night that I last was a normal human being.” Arcueid opened her mouth to spill her findings but Ciel seemed to have found it on her own. “I am normal again?” Arcueid nodded to show that she thought the same. Ciel then started feeling sleepy all of a sudden. She was losing blood so fast and her brain was going into safe mode.

Arcueid though thought that she might be dying so she shook her with a little force to keep her awake. “Don’t close your eyes Ciel. I will heal you for the moment so please, don’t let go.” She didn’t know why but Arcueid didn’t want the girl in her arms to die. She quickly did what needed to be done and Ciel’s wound closed up but she was still weak. She needed to get rid of the red moon fast for Ciel to go back to her usual self. Wallachia had to be taken care of right now. She looked up at the mentioned man and saw the guys still going at it. Shiki was having a hard time with Wallachia despite now being a normal vampire. Well, he was one of the strongest kind even before.

Ciel saw the hesitation in Arcueid’s eyes and was surprised to know that this young woman cared for her even by this much. “Go on and help Tohno-kun. He is still new to this.” Arcueid looked down at Ciel again and nodded. The question was in her eyes though and Ciel knew what it was. “Go on, I will be alright. I just need some rest.” Arcueid carried her in her arms bridal style and Ciel couldn’t help but give a little squeal. Arcueid just laughed and carried the younger girl on the far side of the big room. She braced Ciel on the wall and turned to leave but a hand stopped her. Arcueid looked at her arm where Ciel’s now gloveless hand was holding her and then followed the arm to her face.

Ciel felt a little unsettled by what she was about to say but she felt it right to be said. “Th…Thank you Arcueid.” She closed her eyes in part to loosen her embarrassment and in part because she was sleepy. If she had her eyes open, she would’ve seen the expression on Arcueid’s normally childish but now a very gentle beautiful face. Ciel brought out feelings in her that no one did. Sometimes during their fights and sometimes when they were just relaxing. She felt like herself, her real self when she was around the religious girl. She wanted to be friends with Ciel and tried but always came off with the opposite effect. Being showed gratitude by this always serious Ciel gave her yet a completely different emotion that she had never felt before. She wondered what it was!

“Arcueid, some help here please?” Shiki was getting his ass kicked by Wallachia. He had tried to get an opening but the guy couldn’t give him the free precious half seconds he needed. He breathed a sigh of relief when his opponent was kicked away from him by Arcueid. She was on him and it looked so easy when she did it that Shiki had to feel for himself. Why were all the girls around him insanely strong? He knew why though but that didn’t stop him from wanting to them to share what they were eating with him. Wallachia was not having a pleasant night so far with is reversal of fortune. Arcueid chained him up in her unbreakable chains and signalled for Shiki to finish him off.

I a minute Wallachia was no more having faced the wrath of the possessed 15cm knife of one Shiki Tohno. Arcueid got rid of the red moon far more easily that getting it up and they went over to the soundly sleeping Ciel. Shiki went to wake her up but was stopped by Arcueid. She got down and put Ciel’s limp arms around her shoulders and then pulled her towards herself to give an unconscious Ciel a piggy back ride. Needless to say Shiki was surprised by this show of caring from the vampire to his sempai. “Don’t tell her when she wakes up about this, do you hear?” Shiki though that Arcueid was probably just embarrassed. He put his hands up to show that he got it loud and clear.

When they got back outside, just at that moment, the castle disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. Arcueid was thanked by Shiki for her help and they split up with Arcueid heading for Ciel’s place and Shiki going back to his sister and the others. The fog in the forest had cleared and the starts were full in the heavens. The moon stood proudly as if happy to be seen by those it was obscured from. Shiki would not forget however what sides he had seen of the two most mysterious girls in his life.

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(The Present)

“Oi Arcueid, wake up, we are almost there.” Arcueid had fallen asleep on the plane a while back but Ciel was wide awake. She had caught a good show on the network and she was watching that. The captain had just announced that they will soon be setting for landing in Rome in quarter of an hour. “Arcueid however wasn’t in the mood to be disturbed so she just turned away from Ciel. A vein grew on Ciel’s head and wanted to ignore her but something kept her from stopping. She shook Arcueid some more with a little more force this time. Arcueid ignored her for a while but the shaking got to her. She mumbled something that Ciel didn’t catch so she asked what she said.

“How rude, I am a princess you know...A sleeping princess. Don’t you ever read fairy tales?” She turned towards Ciel but she didn’t open her eyes. Ciel stopped and wondered what the blonde girl was talking about at this time. “If you want a princess to wake up, only a kiss can do it. *Sigh* how sad that you don’t even know such a common story?” What Arcueid had said dank into Ciel’s skull and she nearly face faulted. She murmured a few unintelligible words with her face going completely red. She didn’t think that Arcueid was joking though and the puckered mouth she was displaying as if waiting for that kiss didn’t help matters any. Arcueid was forced up from her seat however by a very stingy cheek that had suffered the wrath of Ciel’s palm.

“What was that for? I was joking you know!” The princess rubbed her red cheek but she didn’t retaliate. She knew that she might have gone over with that. The sight of a red faced Ciel though was a price to pay. “What’s the big deal anyway? It’s just a kiss. It’s not like you’ve never kissed anyone before.” Ciel just wanted her seat to open up and swallow her at the moment because she couldn’t possibly get more embarrassed than right now. Arcueid saw Ciel’s face going even redder and almost laughed out loud at that. It couldn’t be that Ciel was still that raw, could it? “I don’t believe it. You’re still a...” She couldn’t finish the sentence but they both knew what she was referring to.

The version of Ciel she had seen those three centuries back was the complete example of a slut. Well, she was not herself but Roa must have done countless crazy things with her body in those years. If Ciel was no longer a virgin though, it was her body and she must have found out but if she is saying that...This was so very shocking and funny at the same time. The hostess announced for the seatbelts to be applied and that saved Ciel some clear time. After clicking in her belt though, Arcueid was back on teasing Ciel about that. This kept going on until the plane touched the concrete and they were on solid land of Rome. There was a driver waiting to take them to the Vatican. When they got there, it was almost morning so they were to sleep and the head would be seeing them the next day.

“We will use the same room this time.” Arcueid told the nun who was showing them to their resting quarters. She knew of them seeing as these two were legends here but them sharing a room was against all the stories they were told about them. The nun just agreed and showed them to the double rooms that were available. Ciel was of course trying to protest but Arcueid’s trick on her nerves in the neck rendered her speechless and nothing came out from her throat. This was the explanation of the loud voices in the room later when Arcueid released her from her skill. The nun came back and asked them to be quite. That settled Ciel down. She wondered after some time why she was against the idea that much anyway. It wasn’t like the blonde was going to bite her or anything...was she?

“You better keep your fangs to yourself vampire or you will win yourself a free ticket to Cremation City.” She was changing into her light clothes and Nanako was on one of the beds, (Ciel’s) reading a few books she brought with her. Ciel went to sleep in her covers and Nanako scooted over to allow her master to relax. Arcueid was already in her bed and turned to face her roommate. “You hurt my feelings Ciel. How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like drinking blood? Even if I did, yours would be the last on ‘To Try’ list.” This of course started another war but a verbal one this time. Nanako was very right to ignore them as they were soon out of gas and comebacks.

After sometime when Nanako had started snoring, Arcueid was still awake and Ciel wasn’t very sleepy too. Though she felt perfectly well Ciel’s consciousness, Arcueid asked anyway if she was awake. “Yes I am, what is it?” There was a simple silence and a soft voice that Ciel had never heard Arcueid use before ghosted the dark room. “Can I sleep with you?” If it wasn’t for the way the request was put forward, Ciel might have given a fit but all she did was blush a little. Even if Arcueid didn’t mean it like that, she still felt it a little odd. It was probably about the recent events in Tohno-kun and Arcueid’s relationship so Ciel thought no problem of it. The room had two beds that were both big enough to hold two people hence why Nanako was sleeping in Ciel’s bed.

Though they were big, it would not do for three people so Ciel careful not to wake her partner, got from her bed and walked over to Arcueid’s. Arcueid had thought for a moment that Ciel might not approve and she had given up hope but then she heard the ruffling of covers and Ciel’s warmth and heart beat getting closer until they stood by her bed. She felt really glad having not slept well the past days alone. Recently Arcueid had been having a hard time sleeping and whenever she did, she was plagued with weird dreams that weren’t so much as nightmares or memories or visions. She pulled back the covers and Ciel must have got it as she made herself comfortable in the space provided. Arcueid pulled up the covers over them and silently thanked Ciel who just nodded but was not settle at all. Her heart started beating a little faster than normal when she felt another warm body with her. She hadn’t slept with any other person in the same bed for centuries but Nanako and that was a different case.

“To be continued…