Authors note: Hello again everyone! Nothing to really take note of here, except since I am again confined to a class room for a good part of the day expect updates to come slower. I am glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter, I didn't know if I was portraying Yu that well, not much is shown of him so I didn't have a lot to work with. Now then without further ado, let's get the show on the road!
Review responses:
Ford1114: Thank you so much for the praise! Like I said I wasn't sure how well I did Yu's character so that really eased my worries.
VexUmbraEcho: Here it is, the more you chanted for!
ObsidianMiner67: Thank you for the compliment, and sorry if I wasn't very clear last chapter, the dissenters just wanted Mana to be the one who brings about the Apocalypse, Shu is still the one infected and therefore the "chosen one". Since he was so unresponsive for so long some of Da'ath were thinking he couldn't be the one they were looking for. Once again sorry if that was a bit unclear!
NoImagination: I'm glad you enjoyed it, with Da'ath supposedly being the oldest society in human history, I couldn't imagine them without an inner power struggle, and of course Yu has always been shown as manipulating things from the background. As for the voice, that will be gone, and very soon too, in all honestly it was a bit of a deus ex machina on my part in order to make the gentile Shu we know give up his basic humanity. Imagine the voice as a sort of imaginary friend for a lonely child, they may need it when they are young, but as they age they rely on it less and eventually let it fade from their psyche. That's right, Mana still has all of her memories, and whatever feelings come with them.
FlawlessMirage: I hope it was a good thing that I went beyond your expectations, and here is the next chapter! Also there will be plots…and plots within those plots…and plots within those plots! And…I should stop now…
Da'ath HQ, Tel Aviv Israel, September 4 2032
Yu was pleased.
Anyone who had known the seemingly ageless head of Da'ath knew that while he may have a cheerful façade most of the time, it was rare to see him genuinely happy unless he was with Adam. As the young man was currently on a guarded tour of Paris, seeing if anyone in the city felt like his Eve, that was obviously not the case.
No, what caused Yu to feel this otherwise alien emotion, was the knowledge that Shuichiro was set to arrive soon, the head of the Antibodies being one of the few allowed to leave the land now called "The United Nations Occupied Area of Japan". Yu couldn't wait to torment the seemingly unrepentant man about his actions years ago, perhaps he should make the man explain to Adam who he is to the young orphaned boy? Giving a slight chuckle at such a thought, the blonde haired executive continued his stroll to the entrance of the facility, taking his time as he had given explicit instructions that their guest was not to enter without himself being there. As he did so his mind began to wonder to the reason why the young King was not there in the first place.
After seeing Adam slay that cur, Yu had decided to see if Mana truly had lost the title of Eve, things would have progressed so much quicker if she had not, unfortunately Mana's DNA did not form the Genomic resonance needed when put in contact with Adams. As such, any living woman on the face of the earth could be the new Eve, therefore Adam regularly went on trips to various cities in the healthy world, trying to sense his new partner. So far there had been nothing even close to a reaction from the young King, however Yu was hoping there would be one before they decided to use their last resort. Said resort being Japan, but while it was easy to sneak out before news spread of the explosion, or for Shuichiro as he was head of a governing body, it would be much harder for a simple, to them, boy to secure passage out. If they went back to Japan, they were betting everything they had that Eve was there, not even Yu's warps could get them far enough to return to the mainland.
Yu's thoughts were suddenly broken by an irritated cough, looking up to see Shuichiro giving him a small glare while he stood behind two guards with their rifles crossed in front of him. Giving a condescending laugh as he let a smirk crawl across his face he said with a heavy dose of sarcasm "Why Shuichiro! I was waiting for you in the conference room, but you seem to have decided to mill about in the lobby! The least you could have done was tell me!"
As the older man's lips tightened even further Yu felt his own grin spread farther, before waving off the two guards and turning on his heel back into the facility. Hearing footsteps falling into line behind him he gave a chuckle before walking in silence until they reached the conference room and took their seats. Shuichiro looked at the casually sitting man in front of him before asking "So, what did you bring me half way across the world to talk about? I've sent my reports regularly just as required, and there has been no reason to call me in before."
Yu dramatically placed his hand over his heart while he mimed being faint, before responding "Oh Shuichiro, you wound me! And I thought we were friends…although given your track record with friends I suppose I should be thankful." At the end he looked at the older man through his bangs as he gave a devilish grin. Ignoring the older man's question he instead asked "So, how is the progress going developing the Void Genome? I understand that you have been keeping tabs on it correct?"
Shuichiro looked quite put off at being ignored, however he reigned himself in before answering in a clipped tone "Yes, from what I understand they are still searching for the exact code, the disease seems to be filled with redundant data that it sheds if threatened. It's also why it took so long to develop a vaccine, along with the shortage of supplies that I am sure you had nothing to do with."
Yu just gave a devious grin as he poured himself a cup of water and took a long draw of it. He then leaned forward in his seat, steepling his fingers and resting his chin on them before saying "That is acceptable, perhaps the researchers need some more….motivation. But enough on that, how is your other project going Shuichiro?" At his words Shuichiro quickly adopted a confused expression, however Yu saw the flash of fear going across his face and pressed forward before Shuichiro could come up with an excuse. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Shuichiro, did you really think you could take some of the DNA we recovered from Mana without us knowing? I can only assume you are making an artificial Eve with Mana as a base."
Shuichiro could feel the sweat beading down his neck, his mind running through the consequences for what he had been doing. An armed guard could be waiting outside to do God knows what with him, or perhaps Yu would take his punishment personally, or even being brought before Shu who he had heard loathed humanity and specifically those who betrayed him. But his thoughts were brought to a halt with the next words from his unlikely employer "Oh calm down Shuichiro, you're not in trouble, not with me at least." Looking up Shuichiro saw that Yu had regained his usual smirk, one that made it seem as if he were looking down on you no matter how tall you were. Yu leaned back in his chair and explained "Oh, it doesn't matter what you had originally intended for your little puppet, if she can become close enough to becoming Eve because of her DNA then she will meet with Adam. So kind of you to take time out of your own day to try and please our King, of course he might not see it that way, will he?"
Shuichiro saw Yu suddenly pull his phone out, listening to the person on the other end, Yu's expression became more and more irritated as time went on. Finally he canceled the call without warning before turning back and saying "It seems there was a terror attack in Paris, Adam and his retinue will be stuck there for a few days. Looks like you have dodged a bullet there Shuichiro, but rest assured, the longer you wait, the worse his reaction will be."
Three hours later
After the meeting Shuichiro was walking to his quarters, cursing himself for slipping up and not covering his tracks. Now that his 'dirty little secret' was out, his plan would have to drastically change. Originally he was planning on using his clone of Mana Ouma, mixed with Shu's DNA in order to add the virus, and rally the dissidents of Da'ath, making either himself of one of the children he had tested on her Adam. But now his plans had changed, if his genes couldn't continue on as Adam, they would have to go with Eve. All he would have to do is add his genes in place of Shu's, while this certainly wouldn't be ideal Shuichiro had come too far, burned far too many bridges, and climbed far too high in the world to turn back now.
After taking a seat in his temporary quarters and pouring himself a finger of whisky, Shuichiro began to wonder what his life would be like had he denied Da'ath's offer, would he and Kurosu together come up with a cure to save his wife and spare his son this fate? Would he have taken in the orphaned brother and sister, keeping them safe in Japan? Or would Da'ath simply kill them, finding other researchers to fulfil their needs? Slamming his hand down on the table, Shuichiro allowed the slight pain to bring himself back in the here and now. Frowning at his introspection the middle-aged man knew that as of now he had two options available to him, he could either follow blindly after "Adam" like the majority of Da'ath, or he could stage a coup d'état and put whomever he wished in the young man's place.
Smirking as he took a deep draught of his liquor Shuichiro thought out loud to himself "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do both. After all it never hurts to have a backup plane," turning he raised his glass at a unsuspecting portrait on his wall before continuing "Does it…Yu?"
Grinning and chuckling to himself Yu mentally applauded Shuichiro's instinct as he had managed to deduce where his hidden camera was minutes after he entered the room. Yu knew the man was all but admitting his intent to rebel, and were it any other member he would have executed them with no hesitation. But with this man he stayed his hand, the man still had use to Da'ath, and the odds that they would be able to get another as talented as Shuichiro were slim, even slimmer that they would be able to put them as the head to one of the GHQ branches. Besides, it had been awhile since Yu had received a proper challenge in the game of cat and mouse he played, not even the old head of research Jean Befort had been enough to even begin to pique his interest. But Shuichiro had been able to keep a project under his nose even when he knew he wasn't being watched, Yu practically trembled when he thought of what could be done when Shuichiro got serious.
Raising his own glass of water Yu stared at the man's eyes through the monitor, before muttering to himself "Very well then Shuichiro, challenge accepted."
Da'ath HQ, Tel Aviv Israel, October 22 2033
Shu Ouma was bored.
Although he hadn't been referred to by that name in many years, he would likely still react if someone yelled out that name, at least he thought he would. The more time he spent with this so called organization, the more he began to acknowledge the name they called him by, Adam. Shu knew the meaning behind that name, the Christian bible said that Adam and Eve were the creators of a new race, rulers of a new world. From what he had gathered from Yu's rants, he was destined to end all life as the world knew it, to rule over what was left with his chosen. Before Triton and Mana's betrayal, he would have ranted and raved about how he refused such a thing, that he would die before going along with it. But now….he wasn't so sure how he felt about it, thanks to Yu he had seen the failings of man, their willingness to stab one another in the back.
And yet at the same time, the year on Oshima was one of the best he had, the fun before Triton and Mana turned on him, if only he could go back to that time of innocence. So, since Shu had yet to decide which outcome was more advantageous to himself, humanities extinction or its continuation, he decided to take a non-interference policy.
Shu was brought out of his daydreams by a soft voice calling out "Adam? Master Yu has requested your presence my Lord." Cracking an eye open Shu searched through the blur of sleep for the source of the voice. As the world came into focus , he saw a young woman a few years older than himself standing with a clipboard, she was dressed in the regular outfit of Da'ath members with one twist, a purple band on her forearm. After the attempt on his life Yu had all but demanded that he take personal "vassals", members of Da'ath who had no other purpose than to serve him.
The young woman in front of him was one of his newer additions, having been given to him by one of the various local leaders in order to try and join his good books. Her name was Samya, and like most women who visited the young King she was lead to believe she was going to be chosen as Eve. However, unlike the others after he denied her, she had asked to stay near him, he suspected she thought he would eventually change his mind, and was now something more akin to his secretary.
Groaning in discontent as he sat up, Shu rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he nodded his acceptance. Grumbling under his breath at Yu for disturbing his nap, he began to change into some loose fitting workout clothes, talking over his shoulder he asked "I suppose it's time for another practice session isn't it?" For the last year Yu had been trying to get Shu to have actual control over the crystalline form of the virus, with no gains at all.
Glancing over his shoulder at the young woman he barely suppressed a chuckle when he saw color creeping up her cheeks and her eyes averted at his changing in front of her. Stuttering a reply she said "Y-yes my Lord. He said after the failure to find Eve in Vienna yesterday that some progress could hopefully be made in your training. He also wanted me to ask if that…voice….has made a return? He seemed to believe it would be able to help with the training."
Giving an annoyed grunt Shu shook his head, if only the voice was still around, he thought. If it truly was a manifestation of the disease then it would surely know how Shu could control it, unfortunately as Shu's new, less compassionate, psyche took hold, the voice began to fade more and more until it vanished altogether.
Walking into the hallway, giving small, amicable smiles to the various guards he passed, Shu's thoughts turned to the enigmatic leader of Da'ath. Despite his complaints Shu was quite happy with the older man, although it wasn't as though he hadn't had the opportunity to replace him. After Yu had allowed him greater freedom of movement inside the headquarters he had been approached by all sorts of people, all not so subtly hinting that they would be glad to replace their blonde haired leader, if he would only give them his blessing.
He felt no loyalty to the man who brought him here, and he would gladly have someone in his debt in charge of the organization, however the reason he refused them all, and even reported a few to Yu himself, was because of what he saw in their eyes. After his near death experience Shu began to learn more about humans body postures and especially how to see someone's intentions through their eyes. In the traitors eyes Shu could see greed, plain and simple, and also a desire for power, and he knew they would gladly throw him under the bus the second he was a liability. But when Shu looked into Yu's eyes, he saw devotion, not only to himself and the organization, but to the cause of their movement as a whole. After all, it would be much easier to predict a man who would do anything to bring the apocalypse rather than one only seeking to raise his own stature.
Opening the door to the practice room he saw Yu waiting for him with a smirk on his face, his typical lab coat still on and a couple of scientists running around in preparation. After letting the scientists place sensors on his body he looked to Yu for instruction, Yu just turned and began to walk away and said over his shoulder "Just do what comes natural Adam, the power within you is innate, all you need to do is learn how to harness it. Begin when you are ready."
Shu sighed in exasperation and closed his eyes, for a few minutes he tried to call upon the deposits of the apocalypse virus' crystal form on either side of the room. After a bit his mind began to wander, he remembered the day before, his trip through Vienna, all culminating in a visit to the Musikverein and listening to the symphony play. He remembered the music flowing through him, the images of soldiers fighting for their lords, preforming a dance of death and life, the conductors arms moving, guiding the music along its path.
Hearing a gasp Shu's eyes snapped open, seeing the spectacle in front of him caused him to repeat the action. Lined up in front of him in two lines were giant beasts made of the exact same dark blue crystal, in perfect uniformity they held large shields and short swords, some frozen in mid-swing, others appearing to still be charging before they stopped. Taking notice of his arms he saw them hanging in the air, in the same positions as the conductors were in his mind.
Feeling an arm being placed over his shoulders he glanced up and saw Yu standing next to him, a crazed look in his eyes as he grinned down at the King. The man slowly said "Adam, I think it's time we…intensified your training."
Ouma Residence, Tokyo Japan November 16 2034
Mana sighed as she toiled over the work in front of her, text books laid open on the table as she diligently worked on her university assignments. She pressed her forehead against the cool wood of the table to try and abate the headache that was only building as she went on. She cursed her teachers and their senseless need to pile homework on the already overworked students, never mind the fact that it was their first year of the doctorate program, no they just had to make it seem like it was the last year of the grading period.
Deciding to take a break Mana walked into the kitchen and began to fill up a glass of water. As she waited for the glass to fill her thoughts turned back to the past few years, although she knew it was difficult she had decided to go into medical school, specifically one who worked on new diseases. Many thought she was merely following in her father's footsteps, however that was merely part of it, the main reason was so she could prevent others from falling into a similar fate as her brother. Despite reassurances from those who knew the true events of Lost Christmas saying that there was nothing she could have done, she still could not get the last look her brother gave her before that…thing took over. The look of pure fear and betrayal that he had still broke her heart, but not as much as her own eyes reflected in his, eyes that showed her distraught brother fear, fear at what he had become.
She was sure now that whatever took over her brothers body was also the "mother" strain for the Apocalypse virus, but also a parasite in its own right. Obviously taking advantage of her brothers shaken mental state to spread itself as far as it could, and it would spread farther still until it ran out of new hosts and died out. Once she had reached that conclusion she knew that was the GHQ's true purpose, not to attempt and cure the disease, but instead to keep Japan quarantined until all of the inhabitants had died. After all life was gone from the island nation they would keep it lifeless until any surviving trace was gone, and then the vultures would descend on the technologically rich country.
However, Mana had no intention of making it easy for them, she would fight tooth and nail, until she created a cure that would get rid of the disease entirely. Then the GHQ would have no power, and be forced to leave, allowing Mana the chance to find out the truth about her brother. She knew that GHQ knew more than they were letting on, her little brother, the cause of the disease disappears without a trace, her father killed not by the explosion, but a hand gun in his own office. The police wouldn't even reopen the case of the murder of Kurosu Ouma, simply brushing her off anytime she brought up a complaint.
Mana was brought out of her musings by the feeling of something wet flowing over her hand, realizing she had let her cup over flow she frantically shut off the faucet and began to dry off her hand, cursing her inattentiveness. Sitting back down at the table, glaring at her glass as if angry that it didn't tell her it was full, she glanced at her phone and was surprised to see a new message on it. Opening her messages she saw it was from Haruka, she had barely read through the first line before closing it and placing her phone down. She was already used to Haruka being out late at work, although most of the time she would tell Mana earlier so she could pick something up on the way home. Deciding to pick something up from the minimart down the road, Mana pulled a coat over herself and walked out the door.
Locking the door she began to walk down the street, after making sure no one else was on the streets, she began to add a bit of more hop into her step, a bit more flowing to her movements, until she was practically dancing down the street. Catching herself before walking into the light of the minimart she looked around with colored cheeks, making sure no one was watching. However, unseen to the young woman was a young twelve year old spiky haired youth hiding behind a light pole, his mouth parted in amazement as he studiously followed every movement of the young woman. Remembering the bag of groceries in his hand the young man gave one last glance at the minimart before taking off down the road, promising to never forget the graceful movements of that mysterious woman.
S.S. Hofuku, Sea of Japan off the coast of Honshu, December 31 2035
The small speed boat was currently idling, allowing the current to bring it to shore and avoid detection from GHQ patrols. At the helm of the ship, looking out at the dark waters barely illuminated by the waning moon, was a man seemingly in his early twenties. After spending many years as a child soldier and then a soldier of fortune in Africa, he was finally returning to the country he called home. Although, at first glance many would be suspicious if told this, with his bright blue eyes and long blonde hair the man looked every bit like someone who had never set foot on the former island nation.
However the man could vividly remember his time on the small island of Oshima, with a young boy who he saw as brother, and a young lady he still held feelings for. However, his homecoming would, hopefully, not involve either of them, one due to his own hesitance and the other due to his mysterious absence after Lost Christmas. Instead he would be acting against an evil organization, one that had held him for the first few years of his life, experimenting on him and others against their wills. He had recently gotten information that this organization was using the GHQ as a front for their operations in Japan, if he could remove the GHQ from Japan then he could start to lessen their influence worldwide.
Hearing footsteps coming from behind himself the man turned to see his lone companion coming closer after ensuring their supplies were intact. The man also had long blonde hair, however his eyes were brown rather than blue, and he had glasses the would constantly fall down his nose. This was the only one of his comrades from Africa to join him on his mission, Shibungi, a man who had saved his life countless times, and he hoped to have returned the favor in kind.
"All the pieces are in place. We should make landfall in about an hour, just in time to usher in the New Year." After getting no response from his new leader, Shibungi sighed and took his place next to him and asked "Are you sure you want to go through with this? We could turn around now and no one would be any the wiser, you should have enough saved up from our jobs to live comfortably, at least for a while."
The man silently contemplated his now subordinates words, gazing at the waning moon with something close to a longing expression. Before finally barking out a short laugh and saying "No…we have come too close now, besides I have this odd feeling that something…terrible will happen if we don't at least try."
Shibungi gave a slow shake of his head at his leader once again going with his gut, but accepted it anyway. "Well, I guess that is expected of you huh? By the way, what name will you use while we are here? You've only used a code name thus far."
The man hummed in thought, before replying in a voice that seemed to be distracted by something "You can call me Gai, Gai…Iscariot." Without another word the man returned to his thoughts, completely dead to the world as he reminisced of better times…times when his family was truly whole.
Authors note: Well here it is! Sorry for taking so long everyone, but when you add classes, a writing contest that could end with me actually being published, and marathoning Future Diary, that, unfortunately, does not leave a lot of time for writing this. But I wanted to give you guys something to have after so long. So, feel free to tell me what you think, I tried to get more perspectives in this one, Mana's was probably the most difficult guess I just can't write a college woman.
So, as always, stay classy internet.
