Disclaimer: Malik (Solar Anagram or whatever the penname may be in the future) does not own Boktai. Konami, specifically Hideo Kojima, owns Boktai. And whatever Kojima wants Kojima gets. Arison is technically mine, as for Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Hunin, and Munin, but Ally is my "daughter" and the V's might be taken by Kojima later as immortals or something. And no matter what Sketch says, those designs of Hunin and Munin are mine.
Warnings: Angst, suicide attempts, Boktai 3 Spoilers. SPOILERS! IF YOU HAVE NOT BEATEN BOKTAI 3 OR DO NOT KNOW A POSSIBLE ENDING, PLEASE GO BACK AND EDUCATE YOURSELF IF YOU CARE.
Prior Notes from the author: This is the result of "bad" endings. Actually, I myself haven't finished the entire game, though some friends told me and had me translate some of the speech before the final battle. Also, Django is pretty much emo and crazy in this. I couldn't find any other way, but Django is pretty emo. Also, this is more of the canon line, so Necromancer didn't happen in this timeline. But read it anyway D:
Beta Notes: I had a lot of fun reading this. It pulls off insanity pretty well, as well as gore. looks around the evacuated room The original characters are done pretty well too. Yay angst? XD
Sanity Requiem
It had been a long, hard month for the young Solar Boy. Thrice he had saved the world, and thrice had he lost a family member. Django collapsed on the bed, exhausted from the day's work. That fateful battle with Vanargandr left the boy with no will to carry on… All he could do now was work until he was too fatigued to move. The cycle repeated for about a week when he finally gave a sigh and buried his face into his pillow.
The first few days were utterly painful. For those nights, he had to cry himself to sleep. The nightmares followed that even the legendary "Dream Knight" couldn't handle. Every life he took… His mother's… His father's… His brother's…
And everything turned into chaos when he found a gradius lying across his bed. Django's entire body froze at the sight of it; the death that it had caused and could cause churned his stomach. Future death it could cause… The sick idea ran through his head as he picked up the small blade. He held it up to his neck, feeling his own pulse quickening with fear and excitement. He would feel no more pain, yet something inside was keeping him from slicing his neck open. Strange sensations ran up his spine screaming at him to stop. Was it the fear of death? No, Django did not fear death. With a quivering hand, he pressed the sharp blade against his neck, but couldn't bring himself to go any further. He lost control of himself and transformed into his vampire state, letting out a scream of anguish for all to hear.
Lita burst into the room and nearly screamed when she saw Black Django holding up the short sword to his neck. She dashed to him and grabbed his arm.
"Stop! Stop! Don't do it!" She begged. Both sides struggled for dominance, one battling for the knife to come down and the other for it to come across. The knife did come across, but not through the intended target. Lita backed away, running into the wall. She failed to keep herself up and slid against the wall, clutching her stomach with tears in her eyes.
"Li… Lita…" Django stuttered as he realized what he had done. "I… I… I didn't mean to…"
"Django-sama…" Was all she could say before she fell into the abyss and allowed her blood to stain the floor.
"No… No… NO!" Django turned back into a human, gaping at the blood on his hands. Lita's blood. "I… I didn't mean for this to happen! This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"What's going on in there?"
Zazie.
The door swung open before Django could raise the gradius, but even if he could, Zazie would have still stood there, gawking at the horrific scene.
"Wha—"
"I DIDN'T MEAN FOR IT TO HAPPEN!"
He was fast to attempt to bring the knife on himself, but the Sunflower Daughter was faster to grab his hand. An unknown emotion painted her face; she was consumed by rage.
"What. Happened." She growled through her teeth. All Django could do was cry.
The night was horribly longer for the Solar Boy. He was relentlessly interrogated by the residents of San Miguel for hours. Some were in shock while others were enraged that he would dare hurt the timid owner of the fruit store. Smith couldn't even look him in the eye; Cheyenne had to step outside several times to gather himself; Lady was grim with disappointment. Django was locked up until a decision was made. All he could think about was the blood splattered across his hands as he stared out the window at the red moon. His inner vampire purred at the thought, but the sane part couldn't stop going.
'Oh Sol, I deserve every punishment, I didn't mean to do this, oh Sol!'
But a single thought dawned on him at that moment.
'But if she cared… If she had let me kill myself, she wouldn't have been killed. She deserved it too…'
He knew it was insane, yet he did not dismiss it.
'And if they knew… They wouldn't care. They couldn't care. They shouldn't care. They don't care! They don't care about me at all!'
His shoulders rose and fell as a twisted giggle escaped him.
"So what would I care? I ought to kill them all to teach them a lesson… To teach the world a lesson!"
The door slowly opened and Zazie peered inside. Django sat on his bed, illuminated by the red light from the eerie moon. His own blond hair masked his eyes while it was tilted down, but as it slowly rose, thin golden orbs stared at the Sunflower Daughter, causing her to involuntarily shudder. A disturbing grin was plastered over his face as the door completely opened.
"Hi." He greeted with fake cheer.
"Solar Boy Django…" She managed to say without stuttering. "We have reached a decision."
"Oh, really?"
Zazie took a step back, quivering with fear, a rare thing for her to do.
"Yes, we have."
"What a shame." He vanished in a flash, grabbing Zazie from behind and pulling her close. She felt long nails on her neck. "But I've already decided my own fate!" Before she could react, Django's sharp claws tore her throat open, spilling her blood all over the floor. He lapped up the thick fluid, enjoying the metallic taste.
Downstairs in the bar, Smith, Lady, and Cheyenne sat at a round table, waiting for Zazie to get back with Django. The silence disturbed them in this predicament. It should have been quick. The boy was placed in a small room with only a bed and gated window, to prevent further suicide attempts or escape. He was in hysterics when they interrogated him, so they trusted that he wouldn't dare attack anyone else. He couldn't attack anyone else. He shouldn't attack anyone else. How wrong they were…
Footsteps alerted that someone was coming downstairs. Suddenly, Zazie tumbled down the stairs, her body limp and her limbs dislocated from the fall. Lady stood up in shock to look over her. Did Django push her down or did she simply slip? Upon inspection, Zazie's skin was a pale color; the blood had been drained from her body. Cloudy brown eyes signaled that she was already dead, though the gash in her neck was an obvious sign. Smith and Cheyenne stood behind her, too vexed or shocked that this could happen.
The footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Hello." Django said in a singsong voice. "Are you sad?"
"Dja… Django, di… Did you do this?" Smith demanded.
"Of course I did!" the boy replied rather sinister manner. "But don't worry, don't cry! You'll soon join her!"
All three trembled as Cheyenne drew his axes and Lady drew a tarot card. Smith tried to flee to warn the other residents of San Miguel, but a sword came down into the wood in front of him. The sword had a long, sharp blade with batwings as guards. Three more rained down, surrounding him.
"Don't run away! The fun is about to start!"
Lady screamed as she activated her tarot card, however, it was rendered useless when Django sliced it in half with a vampire sword. Behind him, Cheyenne prepared to hack down on the crazed boy, but Django was quick to react. He sidestepped, allowing the Wind Warrior to crash his tomahawks into the floor. Then, he made a swift slash and severed the grown man in half. Cheyenne screamed in terrible pain; he was still alive and had to endure the awful pain in his abdomen. Django growled at him and sent vampire swords through Cheyenne's vocal cords and skull. He was delighted to see the large amounts of blood pouring out of the disfigured body.
More citizens appeared in the doorway, disgusted at the show they received while Django was pleased to see more victims to destroy. The screams of innocent lives sounded out in the air, but the cruel laughter of a boy driven to insanity drowned everything out and filled the night sky.
San Luis Obispo was a quaint little settlement. It had once been a beacon of life until the undeadening occurred and a great majority of the population was killed. The once proud city hosted those who were still wandering and in need of a new home; some were family, some where vampire hunters passing through. For some of those vampire hunters, it would be the last city they would encounter, for they would challenge the cruelest vampire lord and lose. A female hunter stood in front of the bulletin board, scanning for a new bounty. The top of her navy hair was hidden in a large, witch-like hat. The ends of her hair were lavender, going well with sharp violet eyes. She adorned a brown cloak with a red ladder-like pattern near the bottom. Beneath, she wore a purple halter-top and black pants. Coiled at her waist was a rope, firmly attached to a blade that seemed too much like a butcher knife. She only seemed to be in her teenage years.
"That's all the way up in San Francisco, that one doesn't pay too much…"
She was being fickle of which job to take up and whether they were completed already. The newest parchment caught her eye.
"Hey, one in San Miguel! The reward… A million sol!"
"Girly, don't take up that job."
Behind her was a rough man, almost eagle-like in appearance. His large jacket was lined with what seemed to be rabbit fur, blending in with his brown shaggy hair and the stubble dotting his face. Riding on his shoulders was a little girl with short black hair and curious green eyes.
"Whatever ya do, don't go after THAT vampire." He repeated. He rummaged through his pockets and dug up a cigarette, which the girl promptly grabbed and threw to the floor.
"Viddy shouldn't smoke!" she exclaimed.
"Gimme a break, will ya?" He sighed. The teen blinked.
"What?"
"That vampire is the most merciless yet." The man said, irritated that he had to explain. "Destroyed an entire city for no reason, it seems. Girly, it's best you leave this job to the most skilled hunters."
"I am a skilled hunter!" the girl huffed. "And my name is Arison, not 'Girly'! I bet Django would have been able to defeat him, and he is just a year younger than me!"
"Age doesn't mean a thing." He slid his hands back into his pockets before saying, "The name's Vidofnir."
"And I'm Vedrfolnir!" The small girl smacked Vidofnir's hand again when he brought out another cigarette.
"Aww, come on Veddy! I haven't had a thing ta smoke in a long time!" He groaned.
"Smoking makes you stinky! Stinky, stinky Viddy!"
Arison blinked. "Are you two…"
"Nah, I found her in the ruins of that one city… What was it… San José! Been together ever since then!"
Vidofnir pulled Vedrfolnir off his shoulders and into a tight embrace before continuing.
"And why does the name 'Django' ring a bell?"
"Django is the current Solar Boy." Arison explained. "I grew up with him in San Miguel!"
"Huh… That's odd." Vidofnir mused. "Both are in San Miguel and share the name Django…"
"Huh? Who?"
"Your Solar Boy Django… And… The Vampire Lord Django."
"No…"
Before Vidofnir could blink, Arison was gone, running off in the distance towards San Miguel.
In a week, Arison reached the borders of San Miguel. She expected the entrance to be slightly destroyed, but not COMPLETELY dilapidated… She wheezed and coughed, leaning on a slab of concrete for support. She had been running for most of that week with little breaks for food, water, or rest. After taking a swig from her near-empty water canister, she heard the loud galloping of hooves and the whinnies of a horse. Vidofnir dismounted the horse, patting its cheek affectionately before turning to Arison.
"Girly, yer crazy!" He exclaimed.
"You didn't have to chase after me." She muttered and gazed at what was left of the city; there was rubble as far as she could see, although a thick fog was beginning to set in.
"Veddy kept buggin' me 'bout it!" the man said, throwing his arms in the air. Vedrolnir popped over his head, pushing it down.
"Nuh-uuuuuuh! You only chased after her because she reminded you of someone!"
Arison did not laugh at this, and only climbed over the pieces of collapsed buildings on her path to San Miguel.
"Where ya going, Girly?"
"I'm heading towards the Solar Tree in the distance. And my name's not Girly!"
"Solar Tree?"
Arison ignored him and pressed on. The debris was getting larger and larger as she got closer and closer to the giant tree. Finally, she reached the Mall from 6th Avenue, where the buildings looked recently wrecked and the air was most putrid. Some support beams still stood but threatened to fall at any moment. The brick road was still clear enough to see and walk on, but for how long? She looked downhill where the warehouse once stood close to the black smith's store. At the base of the stairs laid a lone, dented cooking pot. Slightly beyond it…
A small black cat meowed sadly and licked at something trapped beneath the wreckage of the warehouse. Arison moved to further to see what the cat was licking and gasped. The small hand of a child protruded from the rubble, the color long gone from the skin. The dirty, ruffled green sleeve and blonde hair stained in blood indicated that this little girl had been long dead. As it dawned on the teen, she proceeded to the closest shrubbery to empty her stomach.
"You okay Girly?" Vidofnir asked, coming up to her. He turned to peer at the girl's previous site and his face paled. He covered Vedrfolnir's eyes, holding her up to his chest.
"Who could do such a thing?" Arison pondered aloud, rubbing her stomach for comfort. Again, she vomited at her own thoughts.
"The Vampire Lord Django." Vidofnir replied grimly. "Did yer Solar Boy Django turn—"
"No!" She shouted, cutting the man off. "He wouldn't be able to do this… He couldn't be able to do this… He shouldn't be able to do this…"
"The vampire lord took up residence in the Spiral Tower over there. Ye can see for yerself if it's true."
"Right… How about you two?"
"Veddy and I'll be at the Solar Tree waiting for yer confirmation."
Arison sighed and headed north to the looming tower. She walked up to the Solar Tree and touched its bark before breaking off a twig for safe traveling. She suspected that the area ahead would be full of undead so she needed all the protection she could get.
"Hunin! Munin!"
At the top of Spiral Tower, Django set up a small room for him to rest in. It was eerily peaceful up there. He abandoned his normal style of clothing; he was no longer a hunter. A long black cloak would cover him if he ever desired to go outside. Holding the heavy piece of fabric on his shoulders was the crimson scarf he couldn't bring himself to discard. Tucked beneath his cape were a pair of blood red bat wings, leathery in both appearance and feeling. He wore a suit similar to the one the Count would wear solely for its sophisticated complexion. His eyes were golden, much like those of a cat's. His skin was much paler than before, but not the obvious blue or green of other vampires. Though he was fully merged with his inner vampire, he was still unlike the others. For the most part, Django kept his nails clean cut and neat; he rarely used them as claws in battle and if he did, he would complain to his dying assailant how his nails were ruined due to their fight.
"Hunin! Munin!"
Two ravens flew in and morphed into a boy and girl wearing similar outfits. Both had similar hairstyles and wore the same things in solid black. Their dresses were tattered at the ends, with stockings and ankle-high boots. The pair had a dark hue of hair, but whether the color was black or a very dark shade of blue was uncertain. At the same time, they kneeled on their knees into a low bow in front of Django.
"Yes, Django-sama?" Both asked in unity.
"What news comes from outside?"
"More hunters come to try to destroy you." Munin, the girl said. "However, one has prior memory of you."
"Oh?"
"Yes." Hunin, the boy replied. "She isn't really here to claim your head, but rather to see if a rumor is true."
Django seemed to hesitate before asking, "What does she look like?"
"The girl who wants to find you is about your age."
"Maybe older."
"She has a white mark on her nose."
"Her hair is blue, but the ends are purple."
"She wears a brown cloak with a red design parallel to the bottom."
"And her weapon of choice seems to be a bladed whip."
A strange emotion flickered in the vampire's eyes as if an old memory was reawakened, though neither ravens dared to investigate.
"Ally…" He whispered to himself. "Have you finally come to see me?"
"Your orders Django-sama?"
"Right." He said louder. "Let her in."
"What?"
"You heard me. Let her in."
"But Django-sama…!"
"Don't make me repeat myself. Allow this girl safe passage to me! I must speak with her!"
Hunin and Munin looked at each other for a moment then lowered their heads.
"As you wish, Django-sama."
Arison reached the foundation of Spiral Tower to see a strange sunflower floating in front of it, lost in thought.
"Excuse me…" She said shyly. "Are you…" The flower turned around, revealing a peculiar long nose and beady white eyes.
"I am Otenko-sama, the Messenger of the Sun." It replied. "Or at least the physical manifestation of it."
"The woman who raised me told me about you. You were good friends with Ringo."
"Yes, I was. I became friends with his sons, Sabata and Django. Sadly… In the battle with Vanargandr, Sabata used his own body as a weak point for Django to defeat the creature. As result, he died. A month later… Well, you can see what has happened."
"I grew up with Django… I really don't see how this could have happened."
Before Otenko could elaborate any further, a pair of immortals descended, bowing in front of the sunflower.
"I am Hunin." The male immortal introduced
"And I am Munin."
"We are here to escort you to the top of Spiral Tower to speak to our master."
Arison eyed them, quite uneasy by their apathy. However, immortals lack emotions…
"Am I to come alone?" She asked. The two looked at each other, doubtful of their task.
"Our master said to give you safe passage."
"He said nothing about anyone else."
"I see… Then… I'll follow you if you 'overlook' that I have Otenko-sama."
Again the twin immortals glanced at each other and nodded.
"The Messenger of the Sun is not a person. It is a… thing."
Otenko huffed indignantly, but was quickly snatched by the stem and held like a stuffed animal. Arison held him close and placed a finger on her lips to tell him to be silent for this short trip. The two immortals led the girl and the sunflower to a warp.
"Take this warp. It is the fastest route to the top, but there may still be traps on the way."
"Please wait for us to follow you and guide you further."
Arison squeezed the poor flower tighter as she stepped on the strangely familiar glowing symbol on the floor. She felt herself being torn apart and reassembled, as a side effect of being teleported to another location. A wave of nausea passed over as she stumbled off and fell to the floor. Hunin and Munin reappeared and waited for the girl to recover before going on. The "top" of the tower still had another building with a long, narrow bridge leading to it. The immortal pair stood at either side of the bridge.
"Please enter."
"Please talk to our master."
Arison clutched Otenko tighter and proceeded down the strip. The gate slammed shut behind her, locking her in the refurbished room. All pits in the ground were filled in and covered in a soft carpet. In one corner was a large bed and the other stood a tall book case full of dusty books that had only been thumbed through once or twice. Close to the bed was a desk with more used books lying open on the top and old notes scattered across, threatening to spill on the floor. The walls seemed to have been painted over, though they glowed dimly from the previous design. The silk drapes covering the carved window billowed softly in the wind as a young vampire gazed at the setting sun. Django had obviously made himself at home.
"Ally!" He greeted cheerfully before his eyes gazed upon his former master. "…Otenko…"
"Django. We need to talk."
The boy seemed nervous at the word "talk," but he soon smiled again.
"Of course we do!" the vampire exclaimed. "How have you been? You've changed a lot since you left San Miguel!"
"As have you…" Arison said. "Wait, is that eyeliner?"
Django chuckled and held up his carefully painted nails.
"I was bored."
"I see…"
"Yeah…"
For a moment, there was an unbearable silence before Arison began again.
"I've heard some rumors… Are they true?"
"What rumors?"
"That you destroyed San Miguel."
Django twiddled his thumbs.
"Well, I did… But it's not like there was anyone living there!"
"Django."
The tone of her voice startled him.
"The air smelled of corpses. Week-dead corpses."
"Ma… Maybe you just smelled boks!"
"I saw a hand under some rubble. It was of a little girl wearing lime green and had long blonde hair. A black cat lamented for her death."
Django trembled, as if he didn't want to believe a word that came from his old friend's mouth.
"Y…You must have saw—"
"Django, I know what I saw! Did you do all this?"
"I never intended any of this to happen!" Django blurted. His voice was shaky and tears leaked from his eyes. "But… But it just… It just… fell into place."
"Django…"
"But they deserved it!"
"How so?" Otenko finally said, surprising the hunter and the vampire. "Lita only wanted to stop you from killing yourself. Even if you are Solar Boy, you are still expected to work with everyone and be punished the same for any crime. Zazie only went to get you. Smith, Cheyenne, and Lady only wanted to keep the law. Marcello and Luis only wanted to see what was wrong. Everyone else were just in their homes when you destroyed the town."
"But if they cared about me, they would have let me die!"
CRACK! Time seemed to freeze as it dawned on Django what Arison had done; When he felt the stinging sensation on his cheek, she had lowered her hand.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" She demanded. "Would I have let you die!"
"A… Ally!"
"Don't 'Ally' me, mister! Answer me, damnit!"
"I had no one left! I had killed all of my family! I wanted to kill myself to… I wanted to end my pain… I didn't want to kill anyone else precious to me… If they had let me die, I wouldn't have killed them!"
"So if I stopped you, you would have killed me?"
"Ally, no!"
"Then what difference did it make! Why did you kill them!"
"I… They… You…"
"Django… What happened to you? Where was the boy I played with as a friend?"
"…"
"You're on a path I shouldn't follow, a path I couldn't follow; you're on a path I wouldn't follow!"
"So… Is this where we part?"
"I'm afraid it is."
"…"
"…Otenko-sama, let's go."
Arison turned away, holding Otenko tightly against her chest as the gate opened and she exited on the long bridge. As she stepped out of Spiral Tower, she heard the anguished scream of a lonely boy. She lowered her head, knowing she had destroyed the remainder of his compassion. She let go of Otenko and thanked him for accompanying her up there.
"I just want to know what happened." She sighed, following the sunflower down to the steps outside of the unsealed gate.
"How far don't you know?" Otenko asked as the girl took a seat on the top of the stone steps.
"He managed to write me a letter after defeating Jormungandr. He told me about finding Sabata, defeating Hel, losing both his parents, and the joys of spending what time he could spare with his brother. The last letter I received said that Sabata left some time ago and hadn't come back."
Arison pulled a slip of paper from her pocket, unfolded it, and showed it to the Messenger of the Sun.
"This is dated before we were buried alive!" The sunflower exclaimed.
"What?"
Otenko proceeded to inform to the girl the rest of the story. He told her of how Sabata had sealed them underground, leaving his brother to die. He explained the Count's return and the new immortals that appeared. He introduced her to the late Trinity. Most importantly, he explained why Sabata had done what he done and his death. When he was finished, Arison was silent.
"…I see…" She finally said a few minutes after he was done. She stood up and walked to the Solar Tree. "Come Otenko, I have to introduce you to Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir." She took the sunflower by a leaf and led him down the path to the lone figure in the distance.
"Girly! You're alive!" Vidofnir exclaimed.
"Yeah… All he wanted to do was talk…"
"Girly? You okay?"
"Yeah… I'll be okay… But Squirt won't."
"Squirt? He—HEY! Girly, where you going?"
Arison paused, her head bowed. Her cloak billowed in the wind, absorbing the tears that fell from her eyes.
"I was going in there hoping that I would make him sane again, but… But I ended up destroying the rest of his humanity! I feel like shit, alright?"
"Ya shouldn't beat yourself up. It's best he knows that his friend still cared for him before he went completely insane. Not that I think he already did…"
"…Otenko, please stay with these two." She said, not bothering to look back. "They are Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir. I… I have to go now."
She left in a hurry, attempting to escape the guilty thoughts she had, though they would haunt her for the rest of her life. Otenko turned to Vidofnir.
"I am Otenko, the Messenger of the Sun." He introduced. "What do you plan on doing?"
"Well Otenko, I just don't know." Vidofnir confessed. "Veddy and I'll probably build a shrine here, so we can provide second thoughts to hunters who think they can take on Django. You should probably find Girly and travel with her until a new apprentice shows up or something."
"I will look for a new apprentice one day, but I cannot follow Arison. She chose to walk down her road alone and I must respect her wishes. Maybe it's best she does. She needs the time to think over what she has done."
From the highest window in Spiral Tower, the vampire lord gazed at the disappearing figure in the distance. The brown spot eventually stopped to set up camp as the sun set.
"Although our paths are far apart from each other, they will cross once again." He proclaimed aloud. "Our next meeting may be a struggle between life and death, but I look foreword to seeing you again and maybe… I want to see you smile just once more."
Little did he know, the female hunter had declared the same thing as she waited for the next generation to trek on the newly paved road.
I am finished here. This was sort of meant as a possible prequal to Lunar Knights, if Lunar Knights was a sequel. However, Lunar Knights is the prequel, so whatever XD
This was mostly inspired by Lavi's "Dust Ropes." She gave me a fake bad ending, which made me sad and angsty. Another part was seeing an oekaki of Uten from Needless. I had no idea who it was and since he looked so much like a malicious Django, I felt like he would be a vampire lord or something. However, he's just a boy, but a boy with a bow-tie and a TOPHAT! Actually, most of Django's vampire lord design was inspired from that too.
On lighter notes, I may be writing a set of drabbles which basically portrays Django's last fragments of humanity even after this.