This is soon to be rated M, so you all know, probably by the next chapter or two.
The cold wind blew through the air of Fortuna Castle, the scent of the dead was everywhere…but neither Kyrie nor the Red Assassin could smell it. I could, though. I could smell every dead body that had ever been on the cold, rotted floors of the castle, they smelled of anguish, hatred, and sorrow. They all do. Even my own.
The Red Assassin was leaning over the balcony, looking into the distance, Kyrie preferred to sit down and clutch the bars and look through them. After she had said my name, the Red Assassin let her take her time, he let her cry as much as she needed to, as loudly as she needed to, and as quietly as she needed to. Now he was waiting for her to calm down.
As he waited, as she cried, I repeated her words over in my head.
"His name was Nero. His name meant black, but his soul was pure…"
No…not quite…my soul was not pure…but it was white…
Why white? Because even that color wasn't completely perfect. And I was the farthest thing from it. I was a foul-mouthed, angry, reckless young man who hated his own religion. I fought in the name of Sparda, but cursed his name at every chance I had.
"He…was a little rash…" Kyrie whispered, at last. The Red Assassin turned his head and looked at her, somewhat shocked that she could talk again. He sat down across from her, she looked at him, a few tears had frozen to her rose red cheeks. She shivered, he bit his lip, they both looked to the sky.
He looked down, and grabbed the black handkerchief, Kyrie refrained from grabbing it. "This…belonged to him, didn't it?"
Kyrie nodded, "I could tell, because there's…a blue 'N' sewed onto it…just in the corner…I did it myself…for him."
"What? Was he your boyfriend or something?" The Red Assassin snickered. Kyrie turned bright red, and looked to the ground.
"No…" She said, trying to hide her embarrassment, "N-not really…sort of…I guess. I mean we…um…"
"Well…what happened to him?" the Red Assassin then asked, examining the blood stain in the handkerchief, he gave me a glance, then looked at Kyrie. She was troubled.
"…He went…missing. It was only nine or ten months ago. He left to…this very castle…and never came back. They all just assumed him dead. Just like all the other soldiers that left to the castle."
The Red Assassin scoffed, "Why the hell did he come here for? Or any of the other guys?"
Kyrie gulped. "At least a year ago, a few soldiers went missing in Fortuna Castle, we sent a rescue for them, they never came back. So they sent another group, Nero included; they thought that he'd guarantee success. They never came back either…"
"…And…just why did they think he would guarantee success? Was he a general or something?"
Kyrie shook her head, "He was far too young, they all thought Nero would make it through because…well…" Kyrie turned away; the Red Assassin rolled his eyes.
"Well?" He snapped.
Kyrie took in a deep breath, "Nero…when he was eight years old…his right arm was cut off…"
The Red Assassin raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"He used to have black hair. But not too long ago…he was at least fifteen years old…a strange accident happened to him. His hair suddenly turned white…his once brown eyes became blue…and…everyone knew…"
"What? That he was…" He did not finish his sentence.
"He could have dyed his hair black again, and put in contacts, but the thing was…his arm…it grew back…and you can't just hide a re-grown arm."
"So…are you telling me…that one day he just…magically re-grew his arm?"
Kyrie shook her head, "Not magic, per se, it was…a metamorphosis…from human…to demon."
"And…was there ever an explanation for this? Did anything happen?"
Kyrie nodded. "Nero, from then on, stayed in HQ. He never came out…this lasted for several months…then he tried to hide the arm in a sling…I mean…when it re-grew…it wasn't just a normal human arm…it was a devil's claw."
He looked at me, then back at Kyrie, "And what did you think of this?"
Kyrie shrugged, "At first I was terrified. I…I couldn't go near him for the longest time. The entire city was afraid of him. They were all worried that he'd go berserk on everyone at any minute. I thought that too…"
He stopped her there, "But now he went missing here."
She nodded, and looked around, "Nero…he was…a powerful demon…I mean, it could be possible that…he's still alive in here somewhere."
He looked over at me, then back at her, "Well…it's been ten months…are you sure his body's not rotting somewhere in here?"
"You idiot!" I snapped.
Kyrie broke, she sobbed uncontrollably. She knew he was right, she knew there really was no hope. Her heart was shattered.
"Oh…come on, kid. Don't go doing this crying thing again! I've had enough of this to last me a life time! Come on! Stop it! I…okay…I'm sorry, there, are you--"
At his apology, Kyrie leapt into his arms and cried into his shoulder.
The Red Assassin.
Was not happy.
"Get off!" He snapped, "Hey! Let go! I said 'sorry', not 'come over here and rub your snot all over me'! Hey! Damn it, stop! I'm a terrorist for God's sake! I killed your religious leader right in front of you! I'm not your damn teddy bear! Stop!"
"Let her…" I said.
He clenched his fist, but reluctantly patted Kyrie on the back, "Okay, okay. Calm down, kid, I didn't mean it…but…I'm sure this…Nero kid's been dead for a while…"
Kyrie nodded into his shoulder, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" She whined, "I'm such a fool."
He grumbled, "No…you're just…mourning. I guess…for…ten months…"
Yes…ten months…but there was a reason why:
No one really let her mourn properly. As Credo said, I was just another soldier dead from a battle. Nothing to really care about. Things like that happened all the time. People would light their candles for one night, and throw the soldier's memory over their shoulder by the next day.
Kyrie squeezed his neck tightly, the Red Assassin thought nothing of it, but soon pried her off his body. That was when they both took note of Kyrie's fatigue. Her eyes were red and decorated with dark circles as she rubbed them.
She had a rough day, running all over the place, being pushed into walls, bitten by hellish dogs, kidnapped, and the worst: being forced to explain her most painful memories.
The Red Assassin slapped his knees and stood, "Well, I guess it's about time we call it a day. Damn it's freezing out here. Come on, little girl, let's go inside."
Kyrie was staring at the ground, but she nodded and struggled to lift herself up, he bent down and lifted her to her feet, their hands clung for a good while, I was disgusted, and looked away as he wiped a tear from her cheek and held her to his chest.
Kyrie cried again, loudly, quietly, however she needed to. The Red Assassin sighed.
"Aren't you done yet? You'd think you'd dried your eyes out!" He grumbled, picking her up and bringing her inside. He set her down in a corner of the library and barricaded the opening again. "It's fucking cold out there…" he whispered to himself.
Kyrie was shivering as well. The tears stopped coming as she realized the extreme temperature drop. The Red Assassin walked over to his jacket, still hanging on the pedestal, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, he opened it and chugged at least half of it down. He offered it to Kyrie, who declined.
"Why not?"
"…I'm seventeen."
"Please. You're cold, it'll warm you up."
"I'd rather not."
"You know this is what those big dogs have in their little kegs in those old cartoons and what not. It's how they saved people from freezing to death."
"No, thank you…"
"You're picky as hell." he snapped, taking another swig. Kyrie shrugged, and stood up. She ripped a curtain off from one of the library's windows and shook the dust off. He shook his head. "Suit yourself."
Kyrie didn't reply, she simply lay down, covering herself with the small curtain, and tried to sleep. The Red Assassin sat next to her, she sighed, and closed her eyes, "It isn't easy." she whispered, "The wind is loud. It sounds like someone screaming. It scares me."
"…Nothing's gonna hurt you if I'm here, little girl. I guarantee it."
"What about you? You are the man who attacked us."
He scoffed, "That again? I'm not immoral…"
"You still tried to kill me."
"I wasn't in the mood for playing."
"And now?"
"Well…I'll let you be the judge of that."
"…You look a lot like him…Nero, I mean."
He chuckled, "I don't know…kid's kinda…scrawny."
"…You two still are somewhat similar, even if just a little bit. When I first saw you…when you landed on the pedestal, before you shot His Holiness, there was…a small spark of hope…that it was him…" She gave a small laugh, "I thought Nero had come back, and that he just wanted to announce it to the entirety of Fortuna.."
"Well…sorry to have disappointed you." He said, the strange thing was: he really did sound sorry. Maybe it was because he was the one who could see me, and the one who could communicate freely with me.
He stood, and began to make his way to the other side of the library, when Kyrie spoke up:
"Please?" She begged, he turned around, "Are you going to kill me?"
He shook his head, and walked back over to her, "I'm not the kind of guy who goes around killing innocent people." He said, kneeling down to her again, "I…I won't hurt you, unless you start something with me. Like what you did a few hours ago."
"I'm sorry." She whimpered.
"Don't be, you have every right to hate me." he grumbled, "Besides, you wouldn't be the first," He began to stand up again, when Kyrie grabbed his arm. "What?"
"I…I'm scared…" She said again. "I…really do think I hear screaming."
"It's just the wind." He said, rolling his eyes.
"…Please?"
He sighed in a frustrated manner, but lay down next to her. Gently, she inched near to him, took in his body heat, and curled up tightly against him. He caved over her, it was unsettling, but at the same time, comforting.
The Red Assassin sighed as Kyrie scooted closer to him, he patted her on the head, and waited patiently for her to fall asleep. He rested his elbow on the floor, and held his head up, "Screaming?" he whispered.
Only then did he hear it, the wind. But he could make the distinction: There really was someone screaming.
Another innocent life had his soul sucked out of his body.
