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...