Don't own Mai-Hime, never want to own Mai-Hime, now onto the fic.
Through the flames I see them coming
Through the flames I see them longing
They have come to end the living
unforetold and unforgiving
They are here, the crave, they hunger
With the damned the nights grow longer
Twisted limbs and twisted faces
Demons from the darkest places
But have no fear, I've come to save you
Trust in me, that's all you can do
I lay to rest your fear and worry
Come to me! Come on, let's hurry!
Darkness Dawning by Elsa Persson
Tate awoke from his sleep and rose from his place on his desk. His notes still fresh in his mind from the previous night. Rising up Tate walked out the door of his room and headed out. Arriving at the bottom of the apartment complex, Tate headed out to the direction of the school. Moving along the usual morning rush arrived and soon Tate was among the group that was headed for the classrooms. Tate however soon felt odd as he noticed several of the people in the rushing group stopped moving. Tate noticed this and looked up from his notes and saw them turn around in his direction, their eyes focused only on him. "What're you all looking at?" Tate asked. Looking around, Tate watched as the group of people closed in around him and it was then that their faces took on a more sinister appearance as they all smiled at him.
"What's going on, hey get away from me" Tate said as some of them reached for him. "You know our secret, and because of that. You must die!" Natsuki said to Tate. "Oh shit!" Tate said as he backed off and shouldered his way through the crowd and took off. The group then gave chase and followed after him. "Dammit! This would happen. I knew they were evil I knew it!" Tate continued to run until he spied a forested area. Hoping to lose them in the trees, Tate continued to run. Reaching a clearing, Tate's hopes began to sink as he saw more people waiting for him. "What the? Oh shit!" Tate muttered as he found himself surrounded. "Now now Tate, don't you think its about time you gave up this pointless little race of yours? You are only delaying the inevitable you know?" Reito said with his usual calm look on his face.
"Maybe it is pointless Reito, hell you just might be right about all of this, like you always are." Tate said, his frustration getting to him. "However, if this is the end for me, there's one thing I have left to do. Something I know I'll never regret" Tate said with a fire in his eyes. "What's that Yuuichi?" Reito asked cooly.
"This!" Tate yelled as he sent his fist into Reito's face. Tate's fist stayed where it was, as did his defiant expresion on his face. Reito's appearance changed however, to that of an evil smirk. "Break him!" Reito uttered in a deep, gutteral growl. Tate felt the bones in one of his knees snap in half. Looking back he saw Mikoto had swung her sword right into his right leg, causing him to collapse and sink down to one knee in pain. Tate was then knocked down to the ground by Reito and watched as Mikoto slammed her sword into his other leg, shattering it above the knee, rendering it usless. All the while this was going on, the smiles on all of the girls remained.
Once enough of his bones were shatted, Tate was dragged towards a large, wooden tower. A rope was tied around his ankles and he was hoisted up to the top of the tower, hanging upside down, looking at the girls down below. Tate watched as some of the blood from his recently opened wounds rained down around him and onto the grassy floor below.
"Tate, you brought this upon yourself. You just couldn't stay quiet and you weren't able to just blend in could you. You had to find out about our plot and now, you must die. You must be purified by fire!" Reito yelled up at the hanging mob victim known as Yuuichi Tate. "Mai, if you would do the honors?" Reito asked as he placed his hands on the shoulders of the heroic redhead in front of him. "I'd be honored to" Mai said as the familiar, flaming rings appeared around her ankles and wrists. She then floated up to Tate's eye level. "Any last requsts, my "precious person" Mai said mockingly as she rubbed her hand across Yuuichi's bloodstained face. "Yeah, cut the bullshit" Tate said to the floating girl in front of him. "I was never precious to you and you know it" Tate said as more blood dripped down his face. "So true, and you know what Yuuichi? I never did get my kiss from you before you up and vanished" Mai said with mock cheerfulness. "poor, poor, pitiful you. You got half the goddamned campus' sympathy, wasn't that ever enough for you?" Tate spat back at Mai.
Mai smirked at leaned in. "Let's have a kiss for old times sake, before you die lover" Mai said with a cruel air about her. 'Yeah why not, as soon as your lips touch my mouth I'll bite them off you stupid bitch' Tate thought to himself as he readied his teeth. Mai leaned in and stopped short of Tate's lips, only a centimeter away from him. "Time to die Tate" Mai said as she flew back and away from Yuuichi. "Kagutsuchi!" Mai yelled and the familiar winged, flaming beast that fought alongside Mai appeared before her. Nuzzling affectionatley with the creature, Mai leaned in close so that it could hear.
"Burn him Kagutsuchi, burn him to ashes" Complying with his mistress' orders, Kagutsuchi opened its mouth and began to ignite.
Tate looked on as the ball of flame flew from the beasts mouth. The flames of Kagutsuchi burn on a near nuclear level, once flames of those magnitude make contact with human flesh, Nothing is left. This was the end result for Yuuichi Tate as the flames engulfed him. His death happened so fast, he wasn't around to hear the happy cheers from his fellow classmates beneath him.
Tate shot straight up in bed as the nightmare came to an end. "Oh, Shit, shit, shit. Just a dream, just a dream" Tate said to himself. 'Are you truly convinced of that?' the familiar voice asked Tate. "I don't know. I really don't anymore" Tate muttered. Looking over at the door, he breathed a silent sigh of relief as he noticed the locks on his door remained untouched. "So, once I turn that knob am I going to my doom, or am I going to another day like any other" Tate said to himself. Leaning back onto his bed, Tate closed his eyes again. "Beware. Peace will not be found on this island. Only when you leave it will you be free to dream peacefully" the voice warned. Exhausted from the lack of sleep and endless studying, Tate closed his eyes and tried to fall back to sleep.
Tate awoke the next day, unrested and exhausted, more bad dreams had followed that night, and in all the dreams the girls had killed him. This had only fueled his hatred of the females that he had encountered on this island. One such female was a clingy young woman that had been with him for many many years. Shiho Munakata. Clinging to his arm, Shiho began rattling off signs of affection. Her words however still weren't reaching Tate's ears. Shiho looked around as some of the people avoided looking at Tate and even if they did they shot him dirty looks. "Big brother, why is everyone avoiding us?" Shiho asked Tate leaning in close. "Its because they don't like me Shiho, they never did, they never have, and they never will" Tate muttered to Shiho. "Yuuichi Tate!" Tate stopped where he was at the sound of his name, he groaned as he heard it coming from the resident loudmouth student council vice president Haruka, with her ever present tag-along Yukino, the real brains behind her bullshit. "You're needed in the Student Council room now, and don't be late!" Haruka shouted in Yuuichi's direction. "Oh piss off Haruka" Yuuichi muttered as he walked away, Shiho still clinging to him, this time with a shocked look on her face.
"What did you say?" Haruka shouted, a vein beginning to throb in her head. This was one time that she didn't need Yukino to speak for her. "Would you care to repeat that Yuuichi?" Haruka said as her anger began to grow. "If I feel like it" Tate said to the angered young woman, not at all feeling threatened by the vice president. He knew how much swing she had in the student council. She was treated as a joke and regarded as nothing more than a pest to both Shizuru and Reito. If anything her prescence in the student council was a joke. "I don't know where you get off saying such prude statements, but I for one won't stand for it" "That's rude statements Haruka, and Tate, you really should apologize for what you said, it wasn't kind at all" Yukino stated. "No shit" Tate muttered as he walked away from the two pests. "Big brother what's gotten into you?" Shiho asked, worried about Yuuichi's behavior.
"I woke up" was all Tate said. Tate jumped backward a bit when he saw a motorcycle pull up in front of him, almost crushing his feet. The rider, none other than Natsuki Kuga stepped off the bike and removed her helmet. "Sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry, hope I didn't hurt you" Natsuki said without batting an eyelash. Tate could already hear the cheers from some of the girls in the background at Natsuki's cool demeanor. It pissed him off to no end. "No more than usual" Tate said as he rubbed the back of his head, thinking back to his encounter with her on the Ferry. "By the way, my head still hurts from when you pistol whipped me" Tate said as he walked away, making sure the resident ice queen heard his words. "Then get some aspirin, its not my fault you can't heal quickly" Natsuki fired back, not wanting to be put through some guilt trip from Tate before getting up and walking off towards her class. "Fucking Ice Bitch" Tate muttered to himself as he too walked to his own classes.
Tate once again went about taking down notes as soon as he got into class, avoiding the stares of his fellow classmates, wanting nothing more than to get the day over with an retreat to his room. His usual routine was broken by an old pest however. "Hey Tate, still on the rag?" That voice belonged to Chie, the same gossipy bitch who wanted to prie her nose into his business before. Apparently the bitch needed to be set straight yet again. "Sure sounds like you're on yours" Tate said as he returned to his notes. "What the hell happened to you?" Chie muttered as she took her seat next to Tate.
"Don't let them fool with you, don't let them use you. You were a slave, a puppet, a toy for them to use and break and discard. No more. Never again"
The voice spoke "Never again" Tate whispered, repeating the words to himself. This caused Chie's eyebrow to raise in question. "Ok class, now its time for you to open your books to page 148. Now, begin reading and at the end of class I'll call upon you to interpret in your own words what the passage means. Begin now" the elderly Literature professor spoke. Tate sat about his work in reading the book's passage and completing the task that the teacher had laid out for him. A minute or two after the reading, Tate's eyes began to droop, and his eyelids became heavy. The nights of no sleeping had begun to catch up to him. "Have to stay awake, can't fall asleep, ever" Tate muttered to himself. The minutes went by and the Teacher then spoke. "Okay, time's up class, now let's see who should I call upon, ah how about Yuuichi?" The teacher said. Yuuichi looked over the words one last time and began to speak, but was soon met with trouble. "I...think that... the author was...trying to...say that..." Tate tried speaking as he became dizzy and his head slipped out of his hand and onto his desk.
"Mr. Yuuichi, are you alright?" the teacher said as he came approached Tate's desk. 'Have to get up, have to stay awake. Have to get moving' Tate said as he rose up from his desk, moving solely on adrenaline. "I believe the author was trying to say that...that the story was meant as an allegory to..to the ways of how the animals...represent politics..of the...real world.." Tate said as he struggled to read the words in front of him. "That's correct Mr.Yuuichi, next" The teacher said as he moved on to the next student. "Stay up all night thinking of new ways to be an asshole Tate?" Chie asked in a mocking voice. "At least it doesn't come naturally like it does with you and everyone else on this fucking island" Tate muttered back angrily to the gossip queen.
The class soon came to an end and Tate walked towards the Cafeteria as best he could with minimum sleep having drained his ability to move correctly. 'Just need some sugar, some caffeine in me. Need to get some, coffee in me...' Tate thought to himself. This caused a memory to surface in his mind from before. A memory of Mai Tokiha tossing him a can of warmed coffee just as he had given her a can the previous day.
"Don't let her poison you mind. You're so close. You must not let her or any of these sirens taunt you or torment you. They are the enemy, treat them as such"
The voice commanded Tate. "Enemy..." Tate muttered to himself as he walked along the hallway with his hand dragging along the wall for support due to the lack of sleep he had gotten. "Need...Food" Tate muttered to himself as he dragged himself towards the cafeteria in an attempt to at least quiet his stomach since his mind wasn't going to shut up anytime soon.
"I'm telling you Mai, he's becoming a real jerk, he talks like he hates everyone around him and that everyone's out to get him" Chie said to Mai as they sat down to their lunch. "Yeah, Chie just wanted to know about how he and you were doing and he just yelled at her, he was so mean to Chie" Aoi said in response. "I'm sure he's just under a lot of stress, I mean he got the highest ranking grade on the test the other day, he must have been studying for it all night and he's just grumpy because of it" Mai said breaking apart her chopsticks and preparing to eat her Ramen noodles.
"Mai, at one time he might have been a nice guy but now he's just a creep, he's become one of those guys you need to watch out for like I told you" Chie reminded Mai of what she had said before. "It can't be that bad and if it does get that bad I'll have a talk with Tate" Mai said, hoping to put her friends at ease. The subject of their discussion had just dragged himself into the cafeteria. "There's the paranoid asshole right now" Chie muttered before going back to her lunch.
Tate wandered over to the lunches and purchased a bowl of ramen noodles and sat down. Breaking the chopsticks, he dug into his meal. It was the first one he had been able to eat in days. 'Haven't been this hungry, in God only knows how long. I need to eat' Tate continued to eat in silence until it was spoiled. "Oh, so here you are feeding your face as opposed to helping us out. We need you to move some chairs and tables for the usual meeting Tate, could you at least do that for us?" Reito asked coming over to where Tate was eating. "Tate?" Reito asked not getting a response. "Tate I've put up with your attitude for two weeks now, and I'm getting tired of it, now please will you help us out on this or not?" Reito asked again. Tate continued to ignore Reito, not even interested in answering his questions. To Tate, Reito was still the smug, arrogant bastard who never had any problems, why bother even acknowledging the sonuvabitch if he was just garbage anyways. "I'm Talking to you!" Reito screamed as he sent the back of his hand across Tate's face, spilling broth and the chopsticks which were in Tate's mouth at the moment. That was something Tate was unable to ignore.
Rising up from where he stood, Tate began to glare at Reito, angered at what he had done. The jerkoff wanted his attention? He had it now. "So, you really want me to move shit around for you? You really want me to go run around and be your little slave, your little fucking lackey? huh? Is that it Reito? What can't you do shit for yourself? Huh? Why don't you answer me now Reito, Answer me you son of a bitch!" Tate practically screamed. The surrounding students in the cafeteria backed away, knowing a fist fight would soon erupt.
Tate was prepared to throw his fist back into the face of that pompous asshole when he felt a tug. Looking back he saw it was Kazu, one of his fellow classmates. "Tate come on, just apologize and let it go, I'm starting to worry about you just, please let it go" Kazu said worriedly. "Kazu, I..." Tate was unable to finish his statement, when he saw Reito's fist come crashing into his face.This caused Tate to fly back into another table and out of Kazu's grip. "Reito why did you go and do that? He wasn't going to hit you" Kazu asked shocked at the student chairman's actions. "Kazu if you'd had let him go he would have attacked me, I wasn't going to take any chances" Reito said as he rubbed his knuckles.
Tate sat back against the table he had been thrown against. Feeling the blood ooze out of his nose and drip down onto his vest, his anger began to boil over.
"They've betrayed you, they're showing their true colors. Don't trust them. Let them feel your pain. Your PAIN!"
The voice shouted in Tate's ears, and he heard it. Mai ran from her chair to try and go to Tate's side, but once she reached him, she saw in blinding fury as Tate leapt from the floor and slammed into Reito, slamming him into a table as well. The anger from the past year, the festival, and this incident had finally given Tate the ammunition he needed to take out his frustration on the student chairman. Tate readied his fist to slam it into Reito's face, readied to erase the hate, the anger, everything when something occurred. "No Tate don't!" Tate soon came to his senses when he heared those words. Looking back, he saw that it was Mai who had yelled them out. "Mai..." Tate said softly.
"What are you doing you fool? Don't let her use you. They'll all use you, they'll use you and lead you to your downfall! Don't let them near you, don't even associate with them! Run, and return to the apartment!"
the voice ordered.
Rising up from where he was, Tate ran out of the cafeteria and back to his apartment. The voice had spoken to him twice in one day. It ordered him to hurt someone, to leave behind those whom he had regarded as friends.
"Close, too close. You almost had him, you could have crushed him, crushed someone who had mocked you and used you as a tool. You are a fool!"
The voice yelled. Tate with exhaustion, fatigue and even a bit of worry weighing down on his mind, Tate still found some strength to ask a question. "Who are you? What are you?" He asked, desperate to have a name and a description given to him.
"You wish to know what I am Yuuichi?" The voice asked with what Tate knew was a smirk on whatever passed for its face. "I am what came to you just as I have come to everyone else in the past. I came to those who were at their end, those who wanted an answer for their pain. You wish to know what I am? To you, I am this: The cry of the abandoned child. The whimper of the whipped beast. I am the face that stares back at you from the shadowed mirror. The hollowness at the heart of all your hopes, I am despair. Now get with the fucking program! The voice shot back in anger.
"What did you say to me you bastard?" Tate shot back, only to cringe in terror at what he saw. He saw standing before him was himself. His flesh a gray, smoldering ash where smoke was billowing out of. His eyes a clear white, his hair a darkened black color. What terrified Yuuichi the most, was the smile the being standing before him wore. It's teeth, white as chalk and sharpened to needle like points. Smoke billowed from its mouth, while bits and pieces of its flesh chipped away and falling to the ground, yet vanishing before they hit the ground.
"Now you see what stands before you, what has been lying dormant in your mind, what has been feeding off of all of your repressed anger, spite, and hatred of those vile harpies, those worthless whores who continuously condemned you for all of your good deeds. Look not at anyone other than yourself for giving birth to me, you are as responsible for bringing me into this world just as all the whores are responsible for bringing more bastard children into it. Like it or not Yuuichi Tate, I am the only one you can trust on this detestable rock, until you are able to walk off of it. Never let your guard down, never talk to anyone else, never associate with anyone else. You are a pawn to them, just as they are an enemy to you. Never trust them, trust only me, they don't give a fuck about you like I do" The being said to Yuuichi as he slumped down in slight fear at the sight of the being. "What do I call you? Do you have a name? Yuuichi asked.
"Oh I have so many names" The Being replied. "Satan?" Yuuichi asked. "Call me..." The being was poised to reveal his name and identity to Yuuichi but a knock at the door interrupted it. "Yuuichi, Yuuichi open up, Yuuichi we need to talk. Yuuichi?" Tate knew the voice. It was Mai's. "You can only trust in me, not them. Send them away, there is work to be done" The voice replied. Seeing no way out, Tate obeyed.
Undoing some of the locks, Tate opened it partway and saw Mai standing outside the door, with Shiho, Chie, and Natsuki flanking her. "I didn't know you were bringing company Mai, otherwise I would have put on some tea" Yuuichi replied. "You probably would have pissed in it anyways" Chie replied angrily. "Only in yours" Tate fired back, narrowing his eyes. "Bastard!" Chie said angrily. "Is there a reason for any of your crowding around my door like this? Because I have to get back to my studies" Tate replied, losing his pantience. "Tate I just want to talk, I saw what happened to you at the lunchroom, if you like I could go with you and help you sort things out with Reito to make it easier" Mai asked. Leaning in to her face as best he could through the remaining locks, Tate replied. "I don't want to see that piece of shit at all, now leave" Tate replied in a cold hearted voice. "What's gotten into you as of late, you're not the same as you were before" Mai said in fear. "I woke up, that's all" Tate said as he closed the door on the three women. "Just when I thought he couldn't become an even bigger jerk, he goes and surprises me. "I didn't think he'd be the type to hold a grudge after I hit him upside the head like that" Natsuki said thinking back to the Ferry.
"Something's wrong with him, he's different, he's changed" Mai said, rubbing her arm, worriedly.
Tate slumped down the door after he had heard the girls all leave his room and once they had gone, he had laid his head on his arms, feeling a bit of guilt over what he had done. "Don't you dare shed a tear over them. They aren't worth the pity, not a single damned one of them" The voice replied angrily. "Just shut up" Tate replied. "You fool" The voice replied angrily. Tate soon found himself getting slammed up against the wall headfirst. "Do not think that I will let you go without punishment. You are to thank me for what I have provided you with. I will help you achieve a much higher goal than what these accursed shrews will ever achieve. But to reach it, you must block them and everyone from your mind at all costs, and unless you wish to receive a far greater pain than what you had just received. Do you understand?" The voice asked of Tate.
"Yes, I understand" Tate replied. "Good, now rise and approach your desk, and begin reading the notes, its time to go to work" The voice replied as Tate followed his orders.
Some of the speeches and lines made by the Being/Voice in this fic were borrowed from some fairly well known horror films. When first speaking to Tate I used the speech of the Djinn from the first Wishmaster film, and when Tate asked what he is, I used some of the exchange between Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in the film Devil's Advocate. Hope it doesn;t bother anyone that I borrowed them. Now Read and review.