"Huh? Kyon, what's going on? What is he talking about?"
Guess he didn't tell all that much after all. Oh well, I guess I can let this much slip at least.
"Haruhi. I'm sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but, well, a lot was going on and I didn't want to distract you from the mystery or anything. For Battler, this murder mystery has happened over and over again. In short: He's stuck in a time loop."
"What? You didn't tell her? I thought something was weird talking to her earlier. Some boyfriend you are."
I'm not her… Oh never mind. That's not really the point now, is it?
"A time loop… is that really possible? Well, I mean, we're here in the first place but… that must have been so awful, I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine. "
"You're right. You can't."
Battler snapped at her with that same cold, angry tone he'd had when we first met. Guess his personality shift isn't as drastic as I thought. He seemed to be trying though, as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm sorry. This… this is pretty hard for me. It's like trying to be someone you used to be… do you think you could accurately imitate yourself as a 10 year old? But please, let's not dwell on the loops at all."
Yeah, I can understand that. Haruhi still looked pretty horrified at the idea, but she swallowed audibly and nodded. Maybe there's still a chance after all.
"Hmm. Maybe we should work together to solve the witch's riddle. That seems pretty important, you know?"
"What, that? I solved that early on, and a hundred times since then."
Wait, seriously? So you know the answer to that confusing mess, and where the gold is hidden?
"Yeah. I could take you to the gold right now if you really wanted. It's just gold though, and it won't do you any good. Every time I've bothered to solve the riddle it's only brought more grief to the island. Everyone starts fighting over the money and the inheritance. It's a huge pain."
Huh. So much for that idea. Seriously, are you sure about that? Is that really a red herring? What's the answer to the riddle anyways, at least tell me that. I'm curious now.
"The answer? It involves a lot of word play, intricate knowledge of the Taiwanese countryside, and a bunch of other stuff. It's pretty complicated; I guess I've forgotten some of those steps to solving it. But it leads to a hidden room on the island, and the password to getting inside. That part I still remember."
"Hold on a second. I know you said not to dwell on it, but I'm confused here. How is it possible that you've done this so many times but not figured out who the murderer is? There should be more than enough clues, right?"
Haruhi spoke up, her voice beginning to edge back into that confidence she has when in "Detective mode. She seemed to be accepting this time loop thing, at least. But I suppose she accepted "time travelling" here in the first place.
"Yeah, well. I gave up after awhile. But even before that, I kept trying. The details change with every repetition though. And well, it's all obscured by the illusion of the witch. It's hard to solve a mystery when you can't even trust what you're seeing."
Illusion of the witch? Huh? What; do you mean you can't trust what you see? As Battler spoke, he fidgeted a bit, and his hand twitched at his side, and if he was holding himself back from something. Probably wants to drink. First impressions tend to stick in the mind, but Battler was different practically every time I saw him. Well, I guess that matches the second impression I had of him; Insanity. But even someone who's been through all of this can pull it together for awhile, it seems.
"So… What happens? I mean, have you ever found a way to save everyone? Save anyone?"
"Nope. Everyone dies at the end, no exceptions. Well, usually about 4 people survive until the end, and for whatever reason I'm usually one of them. But we all die when everything starts over."
Haruhi's question was rebuked. The jovial attitude he had discussing this stuff seemed more reserved for someone planning their weekend. Hey, isn't there anything more you can tell us?
"If I had more useful information, I would've gotten out of here already. Sorry, but you're the hero here Kyon. Save your girl, get the shit beat out of you by my aunt, whatever. I just figured I can help a little bit, provide some support. Just on the chance you can get it right."
Damnit, why does everyone keep getting that wrong? Whatever. I'm supposed to be the hero, huh? Haruhi looked a little angry at that comment too. I wanted to ask him about what I had seen: Kinzo, and the demon girl. But I couldn't get a chance unless we could get rid of Haruhi somewhere.
"Mama, I'm hungry!"
Maria yelled loud enough to carry across the room as she tugged impatiently on her mother's skirt. As if on cue, I could hear my own, and Haruhi's stomachs growl loudly. Now that I think about it, neither of us has eaten. I don't think I could've kept anything down earlier, but I've calmed down since then. How long has it been, anyways? The storm was still raging outside, and I'm not sure what time we woke up. If there's a clock in the room, I can't see it from where I'm sitting.
Rosa stood up and approached the three of us, gun in one hand and Maria in the other. You know, I'm no expert in gun safety, but everyone seems to be waving these things around way too casually.
"The three of you are hungry too, right? I was thinking we could go to the kitchen to prepare some food. We can make enough for everyone when they get back. We should all stick together, though."
Won't they be worried if they come back and we're not here?
"Don't worry about it Kyon, we can just leave a note. She's right though, I'm starving. Maria-chan, do you have any paper I can borrow?"
Haruhi set about writing a note for the others as we prepared to leave. I'm really not sure about this whole idea. Considering what's lurking in this mansion, I think I could live a little longer without food. Everyone else seemed set on it though, and it was either that or just wait here. I suppose nothing about this room makes it particularly safe compared to any other.
Rosa led the way through the mansion to the kitchen. It wasn't particularly far, and we saw no sign of demons, ghosts, or any of the other adults. Unsurprising, like everything else in this mansion, the kitchen was pretty large, extravagant, and well stocked. I probably can't even name most of the food in here. Haruhi's a pretty good cook, but we all agreed to work together on something simple that enough that everyone could do, even Maria.
So, I found myself in one corner of the kitchen next to Battler, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"Hey. I got attacked by some demon schoolgirl earlier that could turn into a stake. I managed to fight her off somehow, but you know. What the hell was up with that?"
The kitchen was big, but we weren't all that far apart from each other, so I kept the conversation to a hushed whisper. I'm pretty used to discussing things like this with Koizumi anyways, even when Haruhi's still in the room.
"Oh? You met one of the sisters and survived? I'm impressed. Yeah, they do that. It's pretty much like that here all the time. Which one was it, out of curiosity?"
"Belphegor of sloth, or something like that. So seriously, that's all this place is? A playground for demons?"
"You beat Belphegor? She's usually so serious, and never plays with her victims like some of the others. Either you're much more of a badass than you seem, or you got really lucky man. Anyway, I wouldn't go so far as to say that those sisters are the ones killing everyone every time. Sometimes it's the goats, sometimes the bunny girls. A bunch of weird monsters. The sisters usually leave me alone, now. Until the end, anyways."
It was weird, seeing him talk so casually about something like that. Even if he's trying to be nice, whatever part of him really cared about any of this is long gone.
"Alright, fine. I need to ask you a favor though. Don't let Haruhi know about any of this stuff, okay? I want her to keep thinking this is a regular (Time travel aside), mystery, as long as I can."
Battler gave me an odd look for awhile, while finishing up the sandwich he was making.
"You're hard to follow, you know that? Maybe people are just different 25 years from now. Fine, I'll keep up your deception. But know this. Lies won't uncover the illusion of the witch."
I'm hard to follow? You're a damned emotional rollercoaster! Whatever. I went back to my sandwich making in silence, and before too long, we had a considerably sized pile stacked up on a large serving tray.
Not exactly gourmet, but PB&J is delicious no matter who you are.
"Mama, I wanna eat them now!"
"Let's wait until we get back to the lounge, okay dear?"
*Thump*
Huh? What was that? Sounded like something smacking against the door. Not the door we came into, a different one leading out of the kitchen. So where does that lead?
"Hmm? I believe that leads outside. It's still storming out after all, so the sound was probably just-"
The door handle began shaking and jiggling slightly, as if someone was trying to open it but couldn't. I don't think the door was locked though. I immediately grabbed my trusty weapon as Rosa grabbed for her shotgun, spinning for the door and barking a quick-
"Who's there!"
…
"Please…"
A very soft voice came from the other side of the door, barely audible. I looked towards Rosa, who thought about it for a moment, then nodded as if telling me to open the door. She kept the gun raised and I approached cautiously, ready to leap backwards out of the line of fire. Here goes!
*CRACK*
There was a bright flash of lightning and deafening boom of thunder as I swung the door open, perfectly framing the silhouette of Shannon. Her clothes were torn up; she was soaked to the bone, and most strikingly, covered in blood. She must've been leaning on the door when I opened it, because she tottered and fell inside, hitting the kitchen floor with an unpleasant sound. (For the record, I was too surprised to catch her.)
"Shannon!"
"She's not… Are you okay!"
Rosa and Haruhi dashed over to Shannon, inspecting her. She was still breathing at least. I stepped outside for a moment to look for anything suspicious, but all I saw was the outside of the house and the backyard.
"Shannon, are you alright? What happened?"
She looked very pale, and for awhile heavy breathing was her only reply. As the girls looked over her, I noticed that there didn't seem to be any gaping wounds hiding under her clothes, meaning all this blood probably wasn't hers. This must mean…
"Dead…"
A heavy feeling came over my heart, and I reached over to lock the door.
"Everyone is dead… Eva and Hideyoshi… Dr. Nanjo and Gohda… they were all… "
Tears welled up in her eyes and she began sobbing wildly. I guess that means we're the only ones left. Has this murder spree already run its course?
"No… that can't be… How? Did you see what happened? Who did it? What about Jessica, and Natsuhi, and Kanon? Did you see them?"
Haruhi desperately badgered the poor girl, who was only able to shake her head vigorously in between choking sobs.
"Mmmf. Hfey Schkammon. Howbs it going? *Gulp.* Damn Auntie, these are some good sandwiches."
My jaw nearly hit the floor as I turned to stare at Battler, casually leaning back, stuffing his face with food, and talking with his mouth full. Maybe all you need to get out of this time loop is a good ass kicking!
Haruhi and Rosa both did double takes towards that comment, but shrugged it off to keep taking care of Shannon.
"Hmm. She's only cut up a little, but she also looks pretty beat up and bruised…"
After a few minutes Shannon was finally able to calm down and tell us what happened.
"We set out looking for Kanon… we found ourselves searching the Master's study. It all happened so fast… it moved like a demon… it couldn't have been human. There was blood everywhere, and I… was kicked through the window. It's the only reason I'm still alive."
Out of three story window? Holy crap. You must be as lucky as me. Haruhi didn't seem to like her explanation very much though.
"Come on, didn't you see him at all? Please Shannon, it's important. Did you see the killer? What kind of weapon was he using? I need to know!"
Haruhi kept pestering Shannon, who kept tearfully repeating her earlier assertions of demons and inhuman power. Can't you see she's been through a lot?
…
Huh? That sound…
Like the tinkling of bells.
Oh crap.
It was only one, and it seemed to be coming from outside the hall, a distance away. I froze, but when nobody else seemed to react to the sound, I approached the door to the hall and peaked outside. I looked just in time to see a small skirt flutter around a corner.
Hmm. That looked like… Waitaminute, where is—
"MARIA!"
Damnit! She must've followed the stupid butterfly! I immediately dashed into the hall after her, shouting for her to come back.
"Huh, Kyon? Where are you going? Wait up!"
I heard her get up to follow me, but I didn't stop to wait. As I slid around the corner, the hallway continued onwards, and there were several branching paths. Maria wasn't in sight. Maybe I should've done what Haruhi did and memorized the layout of this place. I picked a direction at random and charged down it. I've been lucky so far, right?
Guess not. I didn't see Maria down this corridor, but a few twists and turns brought me back to the entry hall. I caught another glimpse of her, disappearing out of sight up on the second floor, and a faint golden glow from the direction she was going.
"Hey, wait up! Maria, please, come back here!"
No use, I couldn't even stop Haruhi from chasing one of those things after all. I ran up the stairs and to the left. When I reached the hallway I caught just another glimpse of her disappearing from sight. Damn, this kid is pretty fast. This hallway should take me right to…
Yeah. I couldn't exactly afford to stop, and unceremoniously leapt over Jessica's corpse as it blocked the hall, past the room where Natsuhi's body still lay sprawled on the bed.
…
Wait, what?
I skidded to a stop, and doubled back. Kanon's corpse was no longer in the room, but the bloodstain where he had lain was there. What the hell? Did somebody come and hide one body but not the others? Gyah, no time for this now, I have to go!
Down a few more hallways, up a few flights of stairs. Finally, I reached what must've been the end of the line. Through a large door that was hanging ajar, Maria had finally stopped inside. Lying around the room were the bodies of everyone else, just like Shannon said. Eva, Hideyoshi, Dr. Nanjo and Gohda. Stakes were piercing their bodies in various places – Stomach, leg, chest, and knee. Not all of those injuries looked fatal, but it also appeared they had been shot, possibly by the guns. The room was in disarray, with things knocked off of shelves, a few bullet holes in the walls.
Maria stood in the center of the room, transfixed by the single golden butterfly floating within. It floated around for a few moments, and then was joined by more of its kin which swirled around and took the form of Belphegor again. This time her temple was bandaged up and she had a sling around one arm. Hah.
"Uuuu… You're not Beatrice-sama…"
"That's right. I'm just furniture for her. But don't worry; you'll be able to meet her real soon! Just let me take care of this pest first."
Maria jumped and clapped for joy. The poor kid must be living in one hell of a fantasy world if she's really excited by something like that. Well, I guess this place could be considered a fantasy world, but that's beside the point.
"So you want to fight again. Didn't you get enough the first time around?"
I'm totally bluffing, by the way. Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. Although if she's hurt that bad, then maybe….
"Shut up. You've insulted my honor, human, and I want my revenge. All my sisters are laughing at me, and I'm going to be stuck doing the crap jobs forever!"
"It looks like your arm is broken; are you really planning to fight in that condition? I mean if I did that with just one blow, who knows what will happen. Even if you're a murderous bitch, I don't want to kill you."
"Aww, how chivalrous of you. Thanks for caring. But you're right. I won't' be fighting you like this. My honor is less important than getting the job done. So I'll let them do all the work for me. "
Me and my big mouth. She snapped her fingers and a bunch of figures swirled into existence around the room. They were big, humanoid, and wearing suits, but had the heads of black, horned goats. Like an odd, clothed Minotaur, I guess. Crap, there are a lot of them. Is this really something I can fight?
I took a few steps back, curtain rod at the ready, but my question was answered for me when one of them picked up the large table in the room and whipped it at me with inhuman strength. I was still standing in the door, and with a step back the table smashed into the frame harmlessly, unable to fit through. But holy crap; if any one of those things gets a hold of me, it'll break me into a hundred pieces!
These monsters were much more deserving of the title "Demon".
"You'd better start running. These guys could use a good work out. And don't worry. Maria will be safe with me."
The goat-men slowly began advancing towards the door. I took a quick glance at Maria, who was staring at me with the sort of evil, murderous glee you so rarely see on the face of a 9 year old. Guess there's no choice. I turned and ran.
I'm sorry.
Back down the hallway I came from. I had barely gotten 20 feet from the door when there was a resounding *CRASH*, and one of the goat men charged through, plowing through the table that had landed in the doorway and reducing it to splinters.
Go, go, GO!
I leapt down the stairs leading to the second floor, and nearly broke my legs in the process. I have to run, but I can't get too ahead of myself either. As I ran down the hall, I saw more goat men starting to materialize in some of the side rooms. If they can do that, can I really outrun them? I have to keep going. I have to find…
Haruhi.
As I rounded the corner she was there, on her knees in front of Jessica's body. She was crying softly, but since my entrance into the hall had no element of subtlety to it, she immediately looked up and saw me.
"Kyon! Why'd you have to run off…? Did you find Maria… but, Jessica is… *Sniff*
I'm sorry Haruhi. I knew, and saw it happen, but didn't tell you. But now's not the time, and we don't have time to grieve either! The sounds of stomping footsteps and large shadows cast by demons weren't far behind me.
"Haruhi. Come on, we have to run. Now."
I quickly closed the distance between us, pulled her to her feet, and took off running before she had a chance to react."
"Kyon, wait! We can't just leave her like that! And Natsuhi too! What are we running from? And where's Maria?"
"I think Maria is fine, but it's the killer. The culprit. We have to run. "
"You're being chased by the killer? You know who it is? But then…"
Haruhi planted her feet and we ground to a halt. I turned back to see an expression I had never seen on her face before. Uncontained rage.
"Why are we running! It's the killer right! Then we need to confront them! Make them pay for what they've done. I'm the commander of the SOS Brigade, and I can't let anyone get away with these atrocities!"
Damnit, now's not the time for bravado! A fierce blue light burned in her eyes, and to see Haruhi like this was honestly pretty terrifying. The shadows and sounds of the goats were getting even closer, and I could feel more being summoned just out of sight nearby. Haruhi began to advance in the opposite direction, so I grabbed her pretty roughly and pushed her against the wall. Haruhi, I beg you. Please, listen to me just one more time.
"Haruhi. Believe me. If we try to confront the killer, we will both die. It's over. We didn't solve the mystery and couldn't save anyone. I'm sorry for getting your hopes up earlier, but we still have a chance to survive right now, and maybe even solve the mystery later. And I don't know about you, but I don't plan to die without ever tasting another cup of Asahina-san's tea! The others are waiting for us back home, you know."
Haruhi stared at me with her mouth open for a moment, before the anger on her face vanished and she nodded silently, tears returning to her eyes. We both took off running again, as I heard the crash of one of the hallway doors opening and goat men beginning to poor out.
We made it to the stairs, down to the gruesomely painted portrait of Beatrice the golden. Her portrait had taken on a much more sinister expression, and seemed to be laughing wildly. We made it to the grand main entrance doors, and threw them open. The gray skies and relentless storm greeted us; the typhoon that sealed off the island from the rest of the world seemed like it would never end.
I took a second to confirm the location of our pursuers. The goats had made it to the top of the stairs now and were beginning to make their way down. Worse, I could see shadows of movement in the rooms to the side of the entry hall. Almost surrounded. Only escape is outside. But is there really anywhere to go on this island? Could we outrun them? Unless I… I suppose that might be the only chance. Damnit.
"Huh? Kyon, what are you talking about? I don't see anyth-Aaaah!"
Haruhi was off balance, and I took the chance to roughly push her out the door. She stumbled forward a few steps, tripped, and rolled onto the cobblestone outside.
"Ow! Kyon, what the hell are you doing!"
"Haruhi. Go. Just run. Go into the forest, run as far and as long as you can. Keep running for as long as you can. If you can survive long enough, I promise that Koizumi or Nagato will come to wake you up from this nightmare."
"W-what? Kyon… Don't you dare! I thought I told you! The commander of the SOS Brigade will never leave her subordinates behind!"
"In that case, consider this my official resignation from the SOS Brigade."
The look on her face hurt more than any knife wound I'd ever taken. To think that would be my final glimpse of her as I closed the doors and quickly jammed my curtain rod in between the handles, barring them.
"Kyon you bastard! You idiot! You can't quit! Not in a million years! Membership is for life! I thought you wanted Mikuru's tea! What's the point if we don't' get out of this together? I'm supposed to be the selfish one here… Kyon, please…"
Haruhi was banging on the door, trying to get it open while screaming at me, even if it was half broken up by sobbing. Damnit. Please, just run. I tried to tune her out, and turned to meet my fate.
The goats completely filled the room now, and had formed a semicircle around me. It was truly a demonic army, cutting off all avenues of escape with no chance of surrender or victory. Belphegor was floating above the portrait of Beatrice, watching with a silent delight. Oh well. I've made my bed, now I have to sleep in it.
The goat men stood still, just watching. They seemed to be waiting for me to make the first move. It's hard to read the expression on a goat, but if I had to take a guess, it would be one of hunger. So what's holding them back?
*BANG*
A deafening sound, a flash of a blue light, and a spray of red. The head of one of the goats on the far right of the circle, blocking the entrance to a side hallway, simply exploded. The corpse fell down to reveal Battler standing behind it with a shotgun. Guess even demon's can be killed by something like that. The rest of the goats seemed too shocked to stop him as he casually made his way into the room and over towards me.
"Useless. You're totally useless, Kyon. Seriously, I guess I didn't expect much, but we didn't even make it through the second day. Oh well. This was a nice diversion in its own way."
Yeah, thanks for the save, but you don't have to be a jerk about it. Say uh, how many bullets do you have for that thing?
"Not enough, that's for sure. When you're going to die either way, going out like this can be fun, right?"
Battler was already loading another shell into the gun. I wouldn't go so far to say this was fun, but he has somewhat of a point. If there's a chance at least Haruhi can get out of here if I stall them here, than something this suicidal has its worth. I noticed she had stopped banging on the door and shouting for awhile now, so hopefully she did the smart thing and decided to run. I slipped my curtain rod out of its job as a door jam, and readied my final defense.
"Aww look. The two humans are ready for the final sacrifice. Well go on then. Show us the true power that humans can possess!"
Belphegor taunted us from above. Guess this is it. I'm sorry everyone. I can't really say I did a good job in getting here. But wasn't this unsolvable from the beginning? There's no point in a murder mystery where the killers are a bunch of demons. To throw us into a tale like this – You might as well just say instead of finding that decrepit mansion, we fell down a pitfall and died. The end result will probably be the same. Well, maybe I broke Haruhi's fall. Ah, what a stupid metaphor.
Good grief.
"You ready for this?
"Yeah. Let's do this."
With a nod to Battler, I let out a primal scream of fury and we both charged into the pits of hell.
Enjoy your eternal rest, Kyon.
Nobody can say you did not deserve your fate.
You have failed to solve even the most basic of mysteries.
Your arrogance and pride has led your sacrifice to be in vain.
The eyes of a liar cannot pierce the lies of the witch.
Everyone on the island is dead.
When the Seagulls cry, there are no survivors.
Results of the first game:
Ushiromiya Krauss
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. Is the symbolism important, or just a cheap trick?
Ushiromiya Rudolf
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. Is the symbolism important, or just a cheap trick?
Ushiromiya Kyrie
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. Is the symbolism important, or just a cheap trick?
Servant Kumasawa
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. Her only appearance in this story was that of a corpse. Can such a minor character even be acknowledged?
Servant Genji
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. Is the symbolism important, or just a cheap trick?
Ushiromiya George
Died at the first twilight.
Crucified on the crux of Beatrice's resurrection. The death of the son drives the mother to a rage. The truth beyond human understanding stops her, and nobody can see why.
Ushiromiya Natsuhi
Died at the second twilight.
Pierced through the head by the "Stake of Asmodeous" Redemption equals death; her end comes after she confesses her sins to her daughter.
Ushiromiya Jessica
Died at the second twilight.
Pierced through the forehead by the "Stake of Beelzebub". A murder witnessed scars more deeply than discovering a corpse.
Servant Kanon
Died at the fourth twilight. Chest gouged by the "Stake of Mammon". He took a stake meant for Jessica's heart, but his corpse vanished, as if to spite his sacrifice.
Ushiromiya Eva
Died at the fifth twilight.
Forehead gouged by the "Stake of Satan".
Ushiromiya Hideyoshi
Died at the sixth twilight.
Belly gouged by the "Stake of Lucifer".
Doctor Nanjo
Died at the seventh twilight.
Knee gouged by the "Stake of Belphegor".
Servant Gohda
Died at the eighth twilight.
Leg gouged by the "Stake of Leviathan".
Ushiromiya Rosa.
Missing at the ninth twilight.
She went in search of her daughter, but could not keep up with the two outsiders. She was not to be seen again; but Battler had her gun?
Servant Shannon
Dead on the tenth twilight.
She died from her injuries. Falling from a third story window is the sort of thing that can kill you slowly without a doctor's attention.
Ushiromiya Maria
Missing on the tenth twilight.
Welcomed into the golden land by Beatrice. Not a single trace of her corpse could be found.
Ushiromiya Battler
Dead on the tenth twilight.
Torn apart and devoured by demons. A fate suffered ten thousand times loses meaning after awhile. But as predicted, that spark of hope only brought him more pain.
"Kyon"
Dead on the tenth twilight.
Torn apart and devoured by demons. He thought he had what it took to be a detective. He was wrong. He thought he had what it took to be a hero. He was wrong. He does however, make an excellent hamburger.
Suzumiya Haruhi
Missing on the tenth twilight.
Vanished into the mists of the Rokkenjima, never to be seen again. No body was found; no evidence she was ever once on the island. Can it really be said that she was there at all?