Ch 1: Grief Stricken
Somehow, even with the sun shining overhead, there was always a sense of depression in Kamakura City. A depression that people just couldn't get over especially the Diclonius whose hearts wept every day…of every month…of every year. But on one day…of one year they gather…humans and Diclonius to pay homage to a certain tomb that stands from the rest. Some rest their hands, both physical and unphysical and place it on the tomb, in the hope that she is in a better place. There is silence, nobody speaks and nobody is stupid enough to dare speak…during a time like this.
Standing at the very front, is a spectacle man, although he is currently holding his glasses as he wipes off the tears that plaster his face. His 16 year old daughter cries as well, looking at the tomb with everyone else. Everyone, the world has joined in this lamentation it would seem, everyone…crying in sorrow as they see that tomb…and feel their souls collapse with regret.
He reads the plaque, taking in every word and just lets his grief roll down his face. He is dimly aware of people going away…but he has to stay here and just look at that great tomb, doing his best to stop himself from breaking down into sobs on the ground. The birds began to call until he places the glasses back on his face and is greeted by 3 people.
"Are you going to stay here a little longer." Kouta asked.
"Yes." Frederick replied.
They left with their own daughter, and Frederick stood with his, just looking at where the person he cherished laid sleeping. If only she was sleeping, if only she could just wake up. If only she would just wake up, and make him happy again. "Father…don't cry."
His daughter kept him rooted to the Earth, she gave him a reason to continue. "Thank you honey…I won't." He pulled back his tears and turned around. Everyone had left except for Jericho who leaned casually against the massive arced tombstone that held thousands of names. He was on the cell phone, obviously working on something important. It had been 9 years since his wife's death, why hadn't he found her? What was he waiting for, why was he wasting his time here?
"Jerichio."
The 56 year old man raised his head. His face etched in lines, his moustache and beard grey as was his hair. One eye was blue with silver outlining while the other one was completely silver in color. He wore a large black coat, the likes of which had only one sleeve as the man only had one arm.
"What is it Frederick." He said, his voice gruff and accented due to his English heritage. "Have you found anything on Serelia yet?" Frederick asked. "No." Jericho's replied, turning back to his cell phone. "I am doing my best to work out her location but there are other important matters at hand that I have to catch up on." "I'm sorry, but finding my wife's murderer is more important than whatever else needs to be done." Frederick said, his voice dropping an octave.
"I understand your regret Frederick, but I cannot keep my occupied with finding one person. Especially when the Diclonius and human relationship is on the fringe."
"No." Frederick was angry now. His wife, his precious one was killed and for 9 years nothing had happened, nobody had found that murderess. "You will find her now." His tone was bitter, agonized, he wanted revenge. "Father…don't' be angry." Ashrina said, looking at Jericho as if hoping he would make things better. "Frederick. You're wife's loss is a tragedy, believe me. But there are just things that I have to take care of."
"You're just enjoying yourself because just like your own daughter, you enjoy seeing other people in misery just like you!"
Frederick knew at once he gone too far. Jericho whipped out his magnum, pointing it directly at Frederick's forehead. His once impassive face was now set in cold hard seriousness that lined his face so much he looked ancient, but his fury was burning through his finger that held the trigger finger. "Don't you dare bring Elena into your miserable excuse. Don't you dare try to say that Chiba Celia held more importance than my child you son of a bitch!"
Frederick knew at once he gone way out of hand, considering this was the first time he had ever heard Jericho curse. Hell, it was the first time he had actually ever seem him get angry, and calm as he always was, it was like seeing another man. He regretted his actions, Jericho was not an enemy, he was in fact a close friend. He truly had been trying to help out with finding Serelia, and Frederick knew that while he the head of Institution 'A' he had other businesses to attend.
"…I'm sorry Jericho. I spoke out of line."
The blacked coated man's face calmed down, he put his gun away and nodded his head. "Don't worry about it." Frederick and Ashrina, feeling that it was time to leave, went back home. Jericho, alone walked to another tomb and looked at the engraving of his own name. He reached down into the dirty and picked up a small photograph of himself and his wife Miyana, holding their daughter Elena. Deep down in the dirt, he was dead…and here he was…above the dirt, alive.
And he just stood there…doing nothing but holding that photograph for 10 minutes until he placed it down, and returned back to the Institution.
"Are you having fun." Ierina said to the woman who couldn't talk, too scared to utter a single word. Serelia was watching her daughter with pride, nodding her head for Ierina to continue. Her victim was a young woman, in fact a college student who had the unfortunate luck of being at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
"Take your time." Serelia whispered.
"Yes, mother." She nodded, and with that acknowledgement she shattered the woman's elbow, letting her left arm limp to the side. When she opened her mouth to scream, a vector blocked her mouth. "Hurts…doesn't it?" The young girl said, breaking the other elbow in the process and of course keeping the young woman from so much as opening her mouth.
"Humans like you…the world doesn't need it. You're nothing but a parasite on the good pure Diclonius that live here." She said, allowing a slow caress of the woman's arm before it too was ripped off violently. She shook, she shuddered, she moaned and begged for this pain to end in her mind.
"Mama, what should I do next with her?" Her daughter asked it like it was the most common question in the world. It was something that everyone asked. "Hm?" The Dark Queen thought mockingly. "Snap her wrist."
She shook her head, she begged with moans. Ierina placed her vector inside of her hand, and then snapped. Breaking the bones as the woman screamed silently in her vector's palm. She cried…her eyes widening with each unbearable crack. What did she do to deserve this? Please just let it stop, already. Let her die in peace. Let her…"Guah!" Blood dripped from her mouth, her body contorting reflexively as her spine was ripped from her body. Eyes rolling to show the whites, the young human woman died slowly, painfully and pathetically.
"That was fun Mama!" And she meant it too. She had been raised to hate humans, to brutally murder them and then laugh. They were nothing, they were bugs…no. They were a disease that they had to be destroyed. But things were hardly easy for them either, they had to travel at night, stealing food and keeping themselves hidden. When they killed, it was when they're victim was alone.
"You've done very well Ierina, a real Diclonius."
"Thank you mama. Mama?"
Serelia raised her head. "What is it?"
"I hate that we have to work in the shadows. What are we going to do?"
"…You're right Ierina. This will change…and to do that. There is but one obstacle holding the relationship between Diclonius and humans intact. You will be the one who breaks this chain…you will kill Celia's daughter."
"Father…I miss mother." It was late at night and Ashrina could not bear to hold her thoughts to herself any more. Frederick had to take 3 deep breaths before he could even talk, and there was sadness in every part of his voice. "I know Ashrina…I miss her too. We all miss her." His daughter put her head in his shoulders, crying silently as Frederick closed his eyes.
"Celia. I'm so sorry. I won't let your death be in vain. Oh Celia…I'm so sorry." He took his daughter, and held her tightly, afraid that his only child would suddenly vanish from himself.
"Father…I can't stay here." Ashrina sobbed. "I can't stay in the same house where my own mother once lived. It hurts too much. I want to go back."
"Back?" Frederick asked, but at the same time, he knew what she was talking about.
"I don't' want to live here. It's too sad, and my girl who killed my mother is somewhere. I'm scared. I'm really scared."
Sighing deeply, Frederick placed soothing hand on Ashrina's head. "I know Ashrina. We'll move back to the United States." He wanted to find Serelia at all costs…but he valued the desires of his daughter even more. "T-thank you father…" she sobbed heavily again.
Differences Terminology and Characters
For anyone who has yet to read the Differences series (Shame on you) there some terminology and character profiles that I feel need to be done.
TERMINOLOGY
Institutions: You can fairly easy take a wild guess on what this is. These are the Diclonius Facilities that held the Diclonius for certain experimentations much like the original manga in anime. In the story, there are 26 different Institutes, each one for a letter of the Alphabet.
Institution A: This was the Institution whose primary attribute was the study of Diclonius brain waves. It was originally run by Kakuzawa Torino and was the hell that Celia had to live in before. It has now become a place for the correction of Diclonius felons now run by Jericho.
Institution Z: The name given to the Institution where Lucy once resided. In the manga, this facility is destroyed along with the entire island. However in the story the island survives but the facility itself is left in ruin. It is here that Celia fought both Torino and Jericho and the Island is once again left in a state of disarray. It is unoccupied.
Pure Form: The transformed state that Royal Diclonius are able to achieve. This is based on the part of the magna where when Kouta is shot by the man in their house, she gets angry and horns elongate as do her vectors. It is considered the most powerful form of a Diclonius where only a few are capable of fighting them.
CHARACTER PROFILES
Ridini Frederick: Frederick is a Super human, capable of long bursts of speed to the point where he seems to teleport. He was the husband of the late Ridini Celia and since the death of his wife, is in a deep depression. He seeks revenge against Serelia but also knows that he has to raise and protect his own daughter Ashrina.
Ridini Celia: The Primary heroine of Differences and Differences: Cherished. She was a young Diclonius Queen who managed to find salvation with humans. She fell in love with Frederick, whom they had a child. However, she was killed by her dark self Serelia and died in the grieving arms of her husband. Her name has been written down in Diclonius and human history. Her death has caused a rip between the Diclonius and human relationship.
Ridini Ashrina: She is the daughter of Ridini Frederick and Ridini Celia. She is almost a spitting image of her mother and due to her royal nature, she is now considered the New Queen of the Diclonius. Having been raised by her father, she holds no anger towards human nature. In fact Ashrina is very calm and almost timid.
Chiba Serelia: Serelia is Celia's on Voice manifested in physical form. She is the complete opposite of Celia, a dark complexion who desires nothing more than the death of every human in the world and the birth of pure Diclonius. She raises her own daughter to hate humans…and fills her head with lies and deceit.
Brutus: Brutus was the second known King Diclonius since Kakuzawa Franco. (Refer to the other fics) He, much like his namesake is a brutal Diclonius who not only kills humans but takes a sadistic enjoyment out of it also. He sought Celia out to have sex with her but was easily acceptable with Serelia. In the end he fights Kakuzawa Torino and is killed after a mighty struggle. Blow to pieces by gunship turrets controlled mentally by Torino.
Chiba Ierina: The daughter of Serelia and Brutus. Ierina has been raised by her mother to hate humans with a passion and to enjoy murdering them. However she and her mother have to be on the run, and can only do things at night, hidden. She hates this, and her mother tells her that to fix this, she has to break the ties between humans and Diclonius. She had to kill Ashrina.
Isaac "Jericho" Grandes: The once stoic bodyguard of Kakuzawa Torino. Jericho, now an aged man is the head of Institution 'A'. He is doing his best to keep humans and Diclonius together but the ordeal has proven to be quite taxing. The stress of his job as well as his own personal loss has perhaps aged his body much more. He has the unique ability to see vectors which accompanied with his excellent gun handling skills, is able to fight Diclonius directly. He is also a clone, created from the original Jericho who died against Celia many years ago.
Kakuzawa Torino: The first born son of Director Kakuzawa. Torino made his name as someone who all Diclonius feared and hated. He despised everything in life because he was never happy and hated seeing those who were happy. In an attempt to break himself away from what he referred to as "The Egoistical War" he transformed his body in a living monster and attempted to kill Celia. He failed but his body regenerated.
He then ends up helping Celia, and through everything he does, he states that he only helps her for his own causes, but his motivations are often in question.
He fights Brutus in an epic battle onboard the S.S. Diclo. On the fringe of being defeated, he kills Brutus by having a turret fire straight through his back, destroying Brutus and blowing his own body and head apart into pieces, destroying the entire ship where he sinks along down with it.