A Mystery of Light and Dark
Disclaimer
I do not own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or any of it's characters, realities, or any of the other stuff within the game and/or anime.
Chapter 2 The Battle of Titans
It had been about three hours since Satoko and Rika had gotten the teen to their home after asking a passing Shion for help. Since she didn't work that day Shion figured she should stay because the teenager seemed very injured but didn't want to go to the hospital, as far as she knew.
"So he saved you?" asked Rika.
"Yeah. I was staring at the wierd mark on the wall when he just yelled out run. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from that mark on the wall so he grabbed me and we were thrown by an explosion." Satoko explained. The blond figured that it would probably be a bad idea if they took him to the hospital since it was obvious that he ran away from one. Suddenly the three heard a strange which was coming from the room where they let the teenager rest.
"I wonder what he was doing." said Shion.
"Hang on, I'll go check up on him." said Satoko.
"Are you sure it's safe to have him here?" Shion asked worried. "Maybe he escaped from the hospital because they were going to arrest him.
"I don't think so." Rika replied.
"Hey guys he's up." Satoko said to the others.
"Where is he?" asked Shion.
"He's kind of embarassed to come out because all he has on are his boxers and the hospital robe." Satoko replied. "He said he'd be out in a minute."
"Sorry to disrupt." he said showing up in some tattered pants which caused Shion to blush at how well toned his body was.
"E-excuse me but don't you have a shirt?" Shion asked before she let out a small gasp noticing the wicked scar on the left side of his chest.
"I have half of one left." he replied simply. "Where am I?" he asked.
"You're in our house in Hinamizawa." replied Rika with a smile.
"Hinamiwhata?" he asked confused.
"Hinamizawa." repeated Satoko.
"So why were you in a hospital robe?" asked Shion.
"I escaped from a hospital." he replied. "I got into a bit of a fight and passed out but when I woke up I saw I was in a hospital I got the hell out of there."
"So you don't like hospitals?" asked Satoko.
"It's not that. I just don't like being treated in hospitals." he replied.
"So what's your name?" asked Satoko.
"Oh right pardon my rudeness." he said standing up. "My name's Shawn Garrett." he said with a small bow before sitting down again.
"It's nice to meet you Garrett-kun. I'm Sonozaki Shion." she introduced herself.
"I'm Houjou Satoko."
"And I'm Furude Rika."
"By the way there's something I must ask." Shion said.
"You wanna ask about the scar on my chest right?" Shawn guessed.
"Scar?" Satoko asked before she and Rika noticed the same scar.
"Yes I wanted to know how you got it." Shion replied to him.
"All I can really tell you is that I needed to be stopped and my team did what they had to." Shawn replied with a small smile.
"O...kay." Satoko said. "You know it's pretty late. I should start dinner."
"Wait." Shawn told her. "If you don't mind why don't you let me cook for all of you as a thank you for allowing me entrance into your home." he offered.
"You can cook?" Satoko asked.
"It's one of specialties." he replied with a smile. "I also do magic, illusions, games, and just about anything having to do with machines." he said entering the kitchen. As they heard the sound of sizzling they started smelling something quite tasty.
"Wow I think he might have talent for it." Shion said. Within half an hour they could smell something that non of them had ever smelled before.
"What do you think he's making?" asked Satoko.
"I don't know but it smells really good." Rika replied.
"I think I should get going." Shion said.
"Hey how many people are gonna eat because I kinda messed up and now there's about enough for twelve people." he asked. This caused all of the girls to get the cliché sweatdrop.
"Well then perhaps I should stay." Shion said. "If it's alright with you two." The two younger girls nodded glad to have some company.
In the kitchen Shawn was shredding some cheese onto something that was currently being cooked.
'I probably should have tried thinking about how much I was actually gonna need.' he thought to himself.
'True but then it wouldn't be as fun to watch you.' a female's voice thought to him.
'Yeah I know.' he replied.
'By the way did you get rid of the remains of those things?' she asked.
'Didn't get the chance to remember? I lost conciousness.' he replied.
'Then why haven't you. You know as well as I do what will happen if you don't.'
'I know but I've already started the meal. I need to finish then I'll go check it out.'
'You know it's strange how you procrastinate so much and still manage to get good grades in school.' she commented.
'I'm just that good.' he thought back with a smile. At that point he heard someone enter and assumed it was a friend or acquaintance of the people he was cooking for.
"So what's that smell and who's cooking?" he heard another girl's voice ask.
"A guy who we found hurt." Satoko said. "His name's Shawn."
He served four plates after hearing Hanyuu and took them in two seperate trays.
"Dinner is served." he said placing the trays on the table before placing a plate in front of each one of them. "Hope you like it."
"Wow this looks good." Satoko complimented.
"Thanks. If you want any more the rest is in the kitchen." Shawn said.
"Hey Shawn this is Hanyuu. Hanyuu this Shawn we found him hurt on the way back." Rika introduced the two.
"Nice to meet you." Shawn said with a smile he said extending his hand. Hanyuu shook his hand sensing something supernatural about him that was familiar to her but was uncertain of what it was. "Now then please sit." he said pulling out a chair for her. After Hanyuu sat down Shawn pushed her seat in. "Now then this is lasagnia with a side of white rice and, one of my personal favorites, a side of potato slices with a little sauce and some shredded cheese. Please enjoy." he said with a slight bow clutching his ribs. Luckily no one noticed, or so he thought. He started walking out the door when Hanyuu turned to him.
"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked.
"Not right now. I wanted to take a look outside this place. The surroundings seem very beautiful." he said stepping outside. As soon as he closed the door he started running before jumping from roof to roof to get back to where he had been found. Suddenly there was a small tremor which started getting the villagers frightened.
"Oh crap." Shawn said himself as he continued heading back to the forrest. 'I probably should have gone to check on those fragments after leaving the hospital.' he thought to himself.
"You think?" the female asked him angered. After a few minutes he was able to see his target. A large monster which was made of several shards of stained glass making it look like a freaky chandelier with skeletal arms and large claws.
"Oh to hell with this." he said as he was engulfed by fire. "Inferno Blaze on!" he called out as he waved his right arm causing the fire to disappear. Then he took off flying towards the large beast which, unfortunetly for him, all the villagers had gone outside to see. "Well they're outside already so I don't think this'll matter." he said to himself as some strange marks appeared in the space around his right arm. "Come out to play Ifrit!" he called out as some energy started converting into another creature which resembled an extremely large oni but with firey hair, long horns, a pair of spiked bracelets which had fire extending to his elbows, hooves for feet, short spikes on his shoulders, and a crest on his chest. Inferno (Shawn) then proceded to jump onto Ifrit's head. "Hey we need to fight in the mountains otherwise we could damage the forrest or the village. Try to lure that Sabbat." The only reply he recieved was a growl of acknowledgement as the large oni like creature flew by the Sabbat and threw it to the mountains.
"That was easy." Inferno said to himself.
'Hey doesn't this seem kinda familiar?'
"I don't think so." Inferno replied.
XX(I Came to Play by Downstait)XX
"Let's rock Ifrit." Inferno said with a wide smile as his body was engulfed in blue fire that turned all the red parts of his clothing into blue. "LET'S DO THIS!" Ifrit let out a roar as he flew to the Sabbat and knocked it down before he tried punching. This was fruitless because it moved and slashed at him with it's claw.
"You alright big guy?" Inferno asked. Ifrit merely roared in aknowledgement. "Then let's go!" he said as Ifrit took flight and started to punch the creature. Then Ifrit's own fire became blue as it launched several fireballs that collided with the glass goliath. Everyone in the village stood in awe as they watched the two titans fighting unsure of what was going on.
"What the heck is that thing?" Satoko asked.
"I don't know." Rika replied equally amazed. Even Hanyuu had her eyes stuck on the fight as the two massive creatures exchanged blows on the mountain.
"Hey can you use your fire?" Inferno asked. Ifrit then nodded, roared, and took flight in the night before it let out a stream of fire which hit the Sabbat causing it to roar in pain. He then proceded to fly down and punch it hard enough for it to fall. "Man this is exciting!" Inferno exclaimed. "Alright try using a fire punch." Ifrit then allowed his fist to be engulfed by the fire on his forearms. Then he charged and started punching the Sabbat but was causing their attacks to cancel each other out.
"Hey I've got an idea." Inferno said. "Can you handle a synchronization?" Ifrit roared which Inferno assumed meant yes. Then everyone in the village noticed that there was a blue flame on top of the creature's head which expanded. Ifrit's reddish eyes become blue as it let out an even louder roar than before. "I'm guessing staying on the DL was too much to ask." Inferno said to himself. "Now then let's do this. I came to play afterall." he said as Ifrit flew to the creature and started pummeling it. The creature however refused to fall and instead grabbed on to Ifrit almost causing him to fall as well. Then Ifrit grabbed the Sabbat and flew straight up before grabbing one of it's arms and throwing it down while he had fire in his hand. Causing an explosion. Then Ifrit started focusing his fire through out his body and fired two large waves of fire which caused the creature to stumble back. Then he let out a stream of fire from his mouth forcing the creature back further.
'Damn it. If we don't take this out quickly there's gonna be trouble.' Inferno thought to himself. "Ifrit we need to keep the damage to a minimum." he said as Ifrit flew straight to the creature before shooting a number of fireballs to force it back.
"What the hell?" Mion said as she watch the two goliaths.
"It must be Oyashiro-sama fighting to protect us." her grandmother said.
"Let us hope that Oyashiro-sama can destroyed that demon." one of the guards said.
"You should remember that we're always with you, man."
"I can't believe what I'm seeing." Keiichi said as the oni like creature knocked down the stained glass creature with his parents.
"Damn. We keep going but this thing has the will of too many fangire to just fall." Inferno said to himself.
"You should remember that we're always with you, man." a male's voice said to him.
"That's right. We fought together before and we can do it now." a different male's voice said to him.
"Remember that none of us are ever alone." a third male's voice said to him in an overly serious tone.
"That's right. We fought together to save the worlds. We may not be together but there's a piece of each one of us in you." another male's voice said.
"Remember. We fought together, not just to save the worlds but to also protect our dreams and the dreams of everyone." a gentle female's voice said to him.
"Don't forget that the fights are part of the adventure and that's what makes a journey a lot more fun." a fifth male's voice said to him.
"Always remember. Just as we stood together to fight before we will always stand together whether we are there or not. That is where our full strength lies." a sixth male's voice said to him.
"Besides that we have our crystal which will always remind us of the reason we fight. This will give us the strength to protect." a child's voice said to him.
"Going beyond is what shows whether we have the strength to fight and make our dreams come true." a seventh male's voice said to him.
"It is for this and other reasons that the light has and will shine upon us. To give hope to the worlds as we fight to protect them." an eighth male's voice said to him.
"I guess something's stay with you even after one adventure ends." he said as he pulled out his sword and watched it be swollowed by fire as a much larger version of the sword materialized in Ifrit's right hand. Then Ifrit began to roar as his body was engulfed by a blue fire which the moved to the blade of the sword turning the blade into blue fire. He followed up by charging at the Sabbat and slashing it at the waist before following up with two more slashes which made an X. The sword then disappeared and the creature started falling into six pieces which then shattered.
"Not this time." Inferno said as he cupped his hands together causing Ifrit to do so. This caused a large dark orb to form absorbing the fragments of the monster. Inferno and Ifrit then moved their hands near their elbows before quickly moving them apart causing the orb to dissipate revealing the creature no more.
"Dakishimete eien no moegara." Inferno said as he jumped off Ifrit's head and landed on the ground before Ifrit himself disappeared and a light returned to Inferno's right arm. The villagers still stood in awe at the scene which they had just witnessed. Though they had heard of the people of Hinamizawa having been discendants from demons they never thought they'd ever witness two fight. Especially two so massive.
"Now I have to figure out how the hell I'm gonna sneak back with everyone outside talking." Inferno said. 'Kara's right. I have got to start thinking ahead.' he thought to himself as he jumped from shadow to shadow without being seen. After a few minutes he jumped out of the shadow of the back of the house which belonged to Rika. Once he did he stepped out to where Rika, Satoko, Shion, and Hanyu were as they were talking in disbelief at what they had seen.
"Hey what's going on?" Shawn asked holding his forehead.
"Didn't you see that?" Shion asked in disbelief.
"I think I passed out after I tripped and hit my head on a tree back there." Shawn replied moving his hand letting some blood to drip from his forehead.
"Are you okay?" Shion asked concerned.
"I've had worse." he replied wiping the blood off his forehead. "So what's going on?"
"Two giant monsters fought." Shion told him still amazed.
"If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't believe." Hanyuu said.
'This is gonna be trouble.' Shawn thought to himself. "So did you all enjoy the food?" he asked with a smile.
"It was delicious." Shion said with a smile.
"Sure was." Satoko said.
"I had never tried anything like it before." Hanyuu said.
"It was great, Nipah." Rika agreed cutely.
"Good to hear it." Shawn said. "I think I should probably leave now. I don't want to be any trouble." he said. As he turned he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned he saw Shion holding his shoulder. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
"Well I promised Satoko's brother I'd take care of her but I have things to take care of so I was thinking may you might want to stay here so you can take care of them and have a place to stay." Shion said turning to Rika, Hanyuu, and Satoko. The three simply nodded with smiles on their faces.
"Are you sure?" Shawn said uncertain. "I don't want to be any trouble."
"It's no trouble." Rika said with a smile.
"Besides your cooking is great." Satoko said.
"Well then I accept but on the condition that you let me work here by doing chores or any odd jobs that need to be done." Shawn said.
"If you want." Rika said.
"It's a deal then." Shawn said with smile extending his his hand to Rika who shook it. "By the way isn't it kind of late?"
"That's true. You three should get to bed." Shion said with concern.
"That too but what I meant was that it might not be safe for you to head back." Shawn told Shion.
"He's right Shion." Rika said.
"Perhaps you should spend the night." Hanyuu suggested.
"I suppose you're right." Shion said.
"Well then let's pull out the extra futons." Satoko said with a smile as they went inside.
'Why do I sense darkness eminating from these two girls?' Shawn thought to himself.
Within a few hours everyone, with the exception of Rika and Hanyuu, were sleeping soundly. Or so they believed.
"Hey Hanyuu. Did you sense the same thing from him?" Rika asked in her adult voice.
"Yes. It's strange. His presence has light but at the same time has some darkness." Hanyuu replied.
"I have a strange feeling about him." Rika said.
"Hey is everyone sleeping?" asked Hanyuu.
"I think so. Why?" replied Rika.
"I have a strange feeling that there's something watching over the village." Hanyuu said. Rika wondered and looked up. Then she saw something that took her by surprise.
"I think I know what that feeling is." Rika said pointing to the roof. Hanyuu looked up to see Shawn standing on the roof of the house and seemed to be looking to the village with his arms crossed.
'This is a beautiful village. It's so peaceful." he thought to himself.
"Hey Shawn!" Rika called out in her child voice. Hearing this Shawn looked down to see Hanyuu and Rika standing in the front of the house looking at him. With a smile he jumped off and landed in front of them before turning to face them.
"Shouldn't you two be asleep?" Shawn asked.
"Shouldn't you?" Rika asked.
"Touché." Shawn replied with a smile. "However to be honest I don't need to sleep that much."
"What are you?" asked Hanyuu.
"So you noticed." Shawn said with a small chuckle. "I suppose I should've expected as much from a goddess."
"How did you...?" Hanyuu began.
"Not long ago I was chosen by a goddess along with ten other warriors to fight a group of evil warriors." Shawn explained. "It's strange you kind of remind me of her." he said with a small smile. "She gave us hope to keep fighting for peace." he explained extending his right hand causing crystal shaped like a flame which was red, yellow, and orange.
"You haven't answered the question." Rika said in her adult voice. "What are you?"
"I'm a Dhamphir." Shawn replied simply. Confused Rika turned to Hanyuu who shrugged, just as confused.
"What's that?" asked Hanyuu.
"A person born of a human and a vampire." Shawn explained. "My father was a vampire and my mother was a human." he explained. Upon hearing this their eyes widened.
"I see." Rika said.
"I assume you know what a vampire is." Shawn said. The two girls nodded. "Well don't worry I'm not a normal Dhamphir." Shawn said. "My father was a kind of vampire known as a Daywalker." he explained. As the two looked at him they listened. "Daywalkers are evolved vampires who became much more human. As such we don't have the need to drink blood. It's actually more of an ability. We can drink blood in order to gain any and all information and abilities the person has." he explained. "I'm also from another world." Shawn expected the two girls to not believe him but they seemed to be listening attentively. "I've traveled through a number of worlds and met many people so I have knowledge and experience from different worlds."
"What about the two monsters that fought earlier?" asked Rika seriously.
"Right I'm really sorry about that." Shawn began. "When I arrived in this world I was ambushed by a large group of Fangires."
"Fangires?" the two asked curiously.
"They're kaijin like Vampires. The difference is that they feed on the life energy of humans. They look like stained glass but can be tough to beat." Shawn explained. "Anyway a group of them ambushed me and I was able to take them out. Unfortunetly I was already injured so after the fight I collapsed and passed out. After that I woke up in a hospital or a clinic, I'm not exactly sure about that. A soon as I noticed where I was I got the hell out of there. After that I realized I hadn't gotten rid of the fragments that remained of those Fangires. This allowed those fragments to unite in order to form a Sabbat which is the huge creature you saw that looked like a demon chandelier thing." he explained.
"What about the other one?" asked Hanyuu.
"Oh that was just Ifrit. Since I lost my powers to henshin I called him out because in my guardian form it's impossible for me to take out something that size. Ifrit was given to me by a friend of mine who wielded a very large sword." Shawn explained. (Guess who)
"Guardian?" Rika asked.
"It's something that comes from the human side of me." Shawn began. "As a guardian my powers focus entirely on fire and can range from making a flame on my hand to becoming entangible which causes my body to become pure fire."
"This is kind of odd though." Rika said.
"What is?" Shawn asked.
"That you'd give that information so willingly to someone so young." Rika replied.
"Well you're letting me stay so I figured telling you about myself was the least I could do." Shawn said simply.
"We've been out here a long time." Hanyuu said yawning.
"We should go to sleep." Rika said in her child voice.
"Good night then." Shawn said.
"Aren't you coming?" asked Rika.
"No." Shawn replied. "One of the good things about being half Daywalker is that I don't need to sleep as much as average people. I really only need to sleep four hours every six or seven years."
"Nani?" the two said surprised.
"We think of ourselves as protectors of the humans so we love among them in the day and protect them at night." Shawn explained simply. "I'll be making sure there's nothing trying to break in." he said. "By the way I wanted to ask how do you change your voice like that?"
"Because I have lived through many dark experiences in which I watched my friends die time and time again. This forced me to mature." Rika replied in her adult voice.
"Nice." Shawn said. "You know I can mimic the voice of anyone whom I've heard." he said with a smile as he said it in Rika's adult voice. Rika's first reaction was to be shocked before she smiled.
"I'm supposing you are one of many talents." Rika said.
"Quite true that fact is, however I myself find it like an abyss." Shawn replied. The two girls looked at him confused. "Sorry it just happens sometimes."
"You know you should probably come in to sleep. You're body needs to rest to replenish the energy its lost." Hanyuu said.
"Alright." Shawn said as he entered the house with them.
"By the way is that juice?" Shawn asked just noticing the glass Rika was holding.
"No." Rika replied before Shawn grabbed the glass to examine it. "Hey wait." she said a little angered. Curiously Shawn took a sip. Afterwards he just stiffened.
"Shawn?" Hanyuu asked. Shawn simply handed the glass back to Rika. Then he tried taking a step forward before falling back and losing conciousness. The two girls just stared at him dumbfounded.
"Is he okay?" asked Hanyuu worried.
"I don't know." Rika replied approaching Shawn. She then knelt down before poking him with her finger which caused him to twitch. "I have the feeling this is gonna be an interesting time with him around." Rika said with a small smile.
I hope you enjoyed this. Quick quiz can you tell who those ten warriors are, where they appeared together and which Ifrit is the one Shawn was given?
