RaKoLa


Chapter 11: H.B.H; Trick, Treat, or Die!


Bats, cats, and spooky scary skeletons that send shivers down your spine.

With the "death" of summer comes the fall of autumn, the overture to winter's chill. And with that fall comes dry maple leaves, whisked away through the early invite of inky black nights; bright white stars blinking on high, neighbouring a full blood moon, bold in the sky.

Once every year, energetic folk venture out to the streets. A late time of fun and sociability where flocks of youths bundle together and embrace the spirit of night-time mischief. Bombing houses with eggs, papering them with wads of toilet paper, and playing all sorts of tricks while going door-to-door under the cover of diverse and expressive costumes that hide their true visage.

This was not a fun occasion for one person in particular, however.

To them, the advent of All Hallows' Eve was a frightful occasion. A very frightful occasion where the efficacy of superstitions reached a newfound peak.

Superstitions are the poison of the mind.

Superstitions are the death of thinking minds.

Superstitions are the religion of feeble minds and also breed back luck.

Superstitions... are what kept Ragna home at night every year on Halloween.

"To the market, and back – MARKET... and back," he said as he walked back and forth in his room trying to stave off his anxiety and work up some nerve.

A guy like him could take on a band of thugs, wave upon wave of troops, a clowder of Kaka clansmen, and even best a musclebound bloke that weighed nearly ten time his own body weight. But the premise of ghosts or anything spectral that annually resurfaced this time of year; a sea of souls wandering the streets guided by the light of Jack-O'-lanterns?

"Th-This'll be... no problem," THAT is where he drew the line. After all you can't hit what you can't see, nor can you hit what you can't touch. "Piece of cake..."

This was the year he wanted to change all that – to finally step outside during night. To feel the fear and do it anyway.

"Okay, okay..." he took a few deep breaths. "Let's go." And grabbed his coat off the bed and left his room, stepping out into the hallway.

… The hallway was dark...

Awfully so.

Feeling troubled he swallowed. Hard.

The corridor was like a gaping void. No floor, no roof, no walls, and no end. Just an abyss.

"Get it together man," he took a step. "You can do this," and another... and another, and another till he moved with a steady pace. "One step at a-a time... You can this do."

He attempted to drown out all worries, focusing on nothing but the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

"Slow and steady, Rags..." he intoned, "slow and steady." The simple mantra served to help him feel more brave; supplementary controlled breathing to assuage stress.

"Aaaaaahh!" He jumped, alarmed and falling flat on his arse.

"Wh-Wha... What the hell...!?" The mysterious brought him out in a cold sweat.

"Aaaaaaahh!" came the voice again.

Ragna scurried forward and spun around, bolting to his feet. The enigma's ghostly howl staking claim to his composure; culling nerves with a haunting resound.

"HaAAAAAAHH!"

"Aaaaaahh!"

"HAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"Ah-oooooo!"

He stammered and stumbled but never fell twice. As he flees in a backwards rush he fumbles with his coat, struggling to feed his arms all the way through the sleeves.

"Who's there!?" Ragna exclaimed, his voice risen and high in pitch. "Show yourself dammit!"

His soul is in riot – indignation a front.

"Hurry hurry hurry" it yelled, "pull yourself together and find the light!"

"Where are you!?"

Backed further and further, in fear of the unknown, he was shook to the core.

They've come – they're hear – they found their way in; evil spirits had arrived to enter his soul! To invade and conquer!

"Like hell!" He screeched and held his breath on the believe that doing so warded them off.

'Wait...? That only works in cemeteries!' He released his breath, "Shit!"

CrRREEEEeeeeaak!

Ragna stopped dead in his tracks. The floor creaking hadn't been his doing; he knew it in his gut...

Something else was close by.

…!

A light came up from behind him, it's feeble-like glow casting a shadow... But not his own.

The shadow looked homogeneous to something bipedal in nature. A strong silhouette with a cultivated outline dominated by hard, pointed edges varied with a slender and ruling frame.

Veeeery slowly, Ragna shakily exhaled through his nose, and cautiously turned; his brittle poise ideal for a weak and timid creature.

The shadow crept with a quickening pace. He heard a crunch, followed by more crunches – sounding crisp and wet.

His heart spiked and his temperature went into flux! Weakly he built up the whittled nerves of resolve and whirled around fast, arms raised at the ready!

KA-BOOM!

"AAAEEEEEEEEE!" Ragna shouted with a startled, shrilly scream at the resounding clap of thunder. The hallway flashed over and over – its harsh brilliance embellishing a figure dressed in deep purple and magenta garbs, cloaked in a matching threadbare mantle with torn ends that gave off the appearance of large claws, and vividly coloured hair that flared down from beneath a pointed witches hat that had a split in the rim.

Before ending entirely the shortened flashes of light managed reveal a pair of potent and penetrative eyes, and a petite mouth smeared with...

'Blood!?' Was his "logical" assumption.

"What's your problem?" The figure spoke.

About to speak himself a pair of slim extremities waved out from behind the individual.

"Wha...?" Eyes went back and forth between squinting and blinking wide till he got a good look at the figure's face with the aid of stable lighting. "K-Kokonoe! What the hell!?" He indignantly yelled.

A scowl crossed the woman's features, "What do you mean what the hell? You're the one screaming like a little girl."

Ragna sputtered, taking offence, "I- I did not!"

"Fu fu fu," The half-beast smiled a cat-like smirk. "Riiiiiiight." She drawled, waving a candy apple on a stick; the apple coated in red syrup.

Ragna sighed, 'That's a relief... at least.' He conjectured, nonetheless still uncertain about the mysterious voices.

"You suddenly forget how to put on clothes the proper way?"

Baffled, Ragna looked himself over and noticed his coat had somehow been put on inside-out.

"Ara, does someone need 'Mummy' to lend him a hand?" The woman patronized.

"Get bent." Ragna replied, removing his coat.

Kokonoe turned smoothly and sashayed away, "You'd like that wouldn't ya?" She enquired, the implication not lost on the male.

"Perv," he tutted and re-wore his coat the correct way.

As he continued to head for the front door he found the cat-girl in the kitchen occupying herself with a bushel of apples and several cauldrons that each let out a steam in three primary colours.

'Well... she can certainly play the part.' He thought, not wanting to intrude on the woman's "witchcraft".

"Hoo!" Ragna paused in his step to a new sound that came from the kitchen.

"Hoo, hooo!" The clear sounding hoot repeated several times before it went quiet.

'I'm not even gonna ask,' he reached the front entrance and equipped his shoes.

He took a deep breath.

"Market and back," he reminded himself of his there-and-back travel. He was still anxious to go outside, but after having dealt with those mysterious voices and his scare from Kokonoe that made him look weak and pathetic –

"Tch," Ragna was sure the worst was over with. "Here I-" He flinched once feeling something poke him in the back.

He looked back, assuming the cat-girl, "What is-" only to find something white. "Ghooooost!" He shrieked in surprise and slammed himself against the door, cowering in fear.

"Trick or Tre~at!" said the ghost in singsong.

Ragna hesitantly turned his head, warily uncovering his face to look at the ghost suspiciously, "H-Huh...!?"

The ghost held out a Jack-O'-lantern shaped bucket, "Trick or Tre~at!" it said again; voice cheerful, young and feminine.

Despite the difference in tone Ragna recognized the voice. "Lambda!?"

The spooky girl bounced up and down, pushing the bucket towards him, "Give me candy~!"

'This is what I get for facing my fears on this damn night,' the universe was really testing his nerves. 'Gimme a damn break will ya.'

"Ragnaaaa. Give me candyyy." Lambda persisted.

He rose up and studied the girl. All she wore was a white sheet over herself with eye holes he couldn't see through in the dark setting.

He laughed – amused that Lambda was making demands wearing such a simple (and effective) getup, "What are you gonna do if I don't?" He asked, playfully flicking her forehead.

… Lambda stopped moving, and the bucket fell from her grasp.

"Hmm?" She does nothing but stared at him. Concealed face making her illegible to understanding, but the black eyes holes gave off an eerie sensation.

"Uh... Lamb-" abruptly the white sheet flew up fiercely and Ragna felt himself pulled into the darkness. "Whoa!"

He was on the ground.

"Dammit...!" he pushed himself up to confront the girl who dragged him down. "What's the big i-..." right in front of Ragna was a face. Lambda's face, yet, not Lambda's face. "… dea...?"

Within a brief moment his heart skipped a beat. Blood runs cold as its drained from his face.

The young lass's face was pale. Stone white. And her vibrant red eyes had been dulled – sombre yet conveying a skittish twinkle. Only the white of her right eye had turned black, and pale blue veins branched and webbed all over the one side of her face and down her neck.

And her sunny blonde hair was now a silvery white...

Ragna was speechless, and he could feel himself growing more and more agitated the longer the girl stared at him; heat sweated out through his palms.

"Hahahahaha!" She giggled, regarding him longingly with lulled eyes and a rosy blush on her cheeks, lips plump and parted.

'Ooh-h-h-h no-o-o-o.' This was the face of nightmares, more terrifying than any ghost the world could summon up.

"Ragna~" She sang his name and closed the distance between them, lightly touching her nose to his own. "If you don't give me candy," her tongue slid across his lips, and he felt something cold and sharp pressed against his throat. "I'll dismember you~."

A clarification so disturbingly sweet that Ragna, in a split second, saw multiple lifetimes flash before his eyes...

"... F-Fair enough." The girl happily giggled some more.

His fate had just been sealed.


Mugen7: A day late, but better late than never I suppose. Not the chapter I had planned next but since I found inspiration from an F/GO comic done by Yamato Nadeshiko called Trick or Die! Figured I'd try to get this done as soon as.

If there are any Fate fans interested, a translated voice-over dub of the same name can be found on YouTube at the Sippy VA channel.