CHAPTER THIRTEEN: WATER OF ILLUSION
The night was beautiful, the weather was cold but not that cold to make someone shiver to death, judging from the ambiance of the surrounding, one could say that the night was perfect. There were no clouds in the sky that blocked the sight of the stars shining in heaven like diamonds, and since Emiya's residence was far from the city, the house was quiet. One could find serenity in that place. But no matter how serene a place may be, if there was something irritating that happened or was happening to a person, his mood would not be good at all.
Shin looked at his clock for the twentieth time; slowly he looked outside the house and hoped to see Shirou. He waited patiently for this red haired man to come, but no matter how long he waited Shirou was no where to be seen and he was slowly losing his cool, Shin was a kind of boy who was always cool no matter what his situation was, but that time he lost his patience.
"Emiya Shirou is late for one hour, thirty seven minutes and forty-eight seconds," Shin said as he looked at his wrist watch, he stood up as he took a glace at Ilya and Yuki who were watching a new movie because the first movie that they were watching was now over.
Rin looked at Shin, she completely understood the boy because waiting for someone was really irritating. When Shirou arrives she was planning of throwing something at him for that man to realize how long they have waited for him.
"Where could Shirou be?" it was Sakura who broke the silence in the house, she was done cooking the dishes for more than an hour ago.
Shin went to where Yuki was and whispered something to his ears, the tall model-like man simply nodded and then returned back to what he was doing. Shin approached Rin, his expression was serious but he still managed to smile.
"Right," Shin said as he patted Rin's shoulder, "I am going now."
"Can't you wait a little longer?" Rin inquired. Even if she was mad at Shirou she still thought of what his reaction would be after learning that Shin left because of his lateness, "Even if he was an idiot, I'm sure that he has his reason for this act of tardiness."
Shin smiled as he walked outside the house not intending to listen to what Rin was going to say. But before he completely left the house, he looked at Rin with his evil smile that send chill to her spine.
"I know he has his reason, and right now I am planning of knowing that by looking for him. But if I found out that he was just fooling around this town, then, I will make sure that he will suffer. And besides, Serene is not yet here, there is a great possibility that there is something bad that is happening between the two of them. Shirou is a toy of mine that I don't want to lose."
Rin watched Shin as he disappeared in the darkness. Even if they have became allies she still couldn't trust him. She hated the way he smiled and the way he talked like an adult. She also hated his demonic aura.
For some reason I don't think I can learn to trust this boy.
xxx
Shirou looked at the corpse who was running towards him; this dead creature was aiming to pierce his sword to the red haired man's heart. But Shirou was not scared of his enemy; he watched its movements and avoided its attack easily. For him, the corpse that he was fighting was weak and there was absolutely no way that it could beat him. His real enemy was the white haired man who was watching his battle; he knew that it was him who was controlling the corpse. So all he has to do was to defeat the master and everything would be over.
He concentrated of making swords that he would use in the battle; again he created his married swords Kanshou and Bakuya. He looked at the white haired man with anger in his eyes, then he threw the Kanshou to his enemy. He was planning that once his weapon hits his target, he would concentrate on putting enough mana to his sword to make it explode. He knew that it would not be easy but he still did it to measure the ability of his enemy.
"Eh? So you think that thing could hit me?" the white haired man asked sarcastically.
The Kanshou was flying so fast that naked human eyes could not see its movement; it flew straight to the white haired man's chest and pierced his heart. Just like Shirou had planned, moments later, he concentrated of making his weapon explode. The white haired man's body parts were scattered to the ground. His body was brutally burned that no one could recognize his original appearance before the explosion. With one look, someone would think that Shirou had won.
"How did he…?" Shirou wasn't able to finish his sentence when the white haired man attacked him.
The white haired man slashed his left arm with a high quality sword, but Shirou was not badly wounded, the man smiled at him as if he was enjoying what he was doing. Then he continued attacking Shirou with such speed that his speed could be compared to those servants of the Holy Grail War.
xxx
Ryuzaki opened his eyes and scanned the place where he was, he noticed that it was empty and it was circular. When he looked up, he saw a mirror that was blocking the mouth of the room, so he concluded that they were trapped. He touched his head as he tried to remember why and how he got there. He remembered that he and Serene attacked the white haired man earlier, when the ground instantly broke into two and they fell to that room. His head hurt a little and he felt dizzy, as he looked up he estimated that they fell thirty meters from above, he was lucky that he was strong or else he would be dead now.
When he stood up, he saw Serene lying on the ground unconscious. He patted Serene's back to wake her up, after few attempts of failing, he sighed.
"How come it's hard to wake this girl up? What a pain in the ass," he softly said as he turned his back. He studied the place as he thought of how they could get out of the room. He couldn't find any windows, that was when he realized that the only way that they could escape was by destroying the mirror.
"Pain in the ass eh?" Serene finally woke up and stared at Ryuzaki.
"Is it raining?" Ryuzaki asked Serene because he felt some drops of water falling down to his skin.
"It isn't," she answered as she looked up. Serene noticed that there were little holes at the top of the room and the water was falling from those holes. The fall of water was little, but as time went by the amount of water that was falling to the room became larger.
"They are planning to drown us!" Ryuzaki screamed upon seeing how fast the fall of water was.
xxx
Shin looked at his oval-shaped jewel that on his right hand, he knew that Shirou was wearing the jewel he gave him for tracking magus. Those two jewels were connected to each other, and because of that the jewel he had could find the location of the other jewel.
"He is far from here."
In his estimation, it might take him more than one hour before he could go to the place where Shirou was.
xxx
The white haired man was smiling as he watched Ryuzaki and Serene struggling to get out of the room from his crystal ball. He wanted to see them suffer and he was certain that he could do that.
"Once that the room is filled with water, the game will start."
xxx
Ryuzaki looked up as pointed his sword to his target. He concentrated on putting mana into his sword to make it shaper and stronger so that he could destroy the mirror in just one blow. But the preparation was hard, he had to make sure that he put the right amount of mana before his plan could work, but since he had been using his sword for years, he was certain that he wouldn't have mistakes calculating the right amount of mana. After he was sure that he did his preparation without any mistake, he threw his sword upward and it hit the mirror. Ryuzaki couldn't believe what happened; his sword did not penetrate its target.
"This can't be, why?" Ryuzaki said as he looked at his sword that was falling down.
The sword made an explosion to the ground when it hit it.
"Right, it is now my turn to destroy that thing," Serene said as she jumped up.
She jumped from side to side of the room's circular wall until she reached the top. She closed her eyes and concentrated of destroying the mirror, even if it was her first time to use the sword that Shirou made, she was sure that it was strong because she was good in knowing a sword's capability just by touching it. She opened her eyes and looked at the mirror as she swung her sword to hit it.
"What the…" she softly mumbled.
She was sure that the mirror repealed her sword as it hit it. Serene managed to have a safe landing to the ground; she noticed that Ryuzaki was staring at her with a smile on his lips.
"What now?" Serene asked with irritation in her voice, for some reason she felt like Ryuzaki was thinking of something stupid.
"Are you sure you are a girl? Because what you did earlier was so manly," he said with serious tone in his voice as he tried to stop himself from laughing.
"You!" Serene pointed her sword to Ryuzaki's neck, she knew that she had strength like a man and she was proud of it but hearing Ryuzaki's comment really made her mad.
"Whoa! Easy tiger!" Ryuzaki said as he moved away from her.
"Don't call me tiger if you don't want your head to be cut off!" Serene said as she moved the sword closer to Ryuzaki.
xxx
The white haired man was moving so fast the Shirou couldn't see him, so he decided to close his eyes to feel the presence of the man.
"Trace on," he said as he analyzed the components of the place where he was.
After he scanned the place, he then realized that the white haired man was not there.
"Where is he?"
xxx
The little white haired man looked at his crystal ball, his planned was perfect. Now the room was filled with water, he could now play his little game that he made for the girl with blond hair and the boy with gray hair.
"Now, I will see your past and use it to torture you two."
xxx
I can't remember anything about me…
That's why…
I am like this…
"I see," the maid said as she brushed the lady's long and beautiful blond hair.
"Why don't you tell me what happened before the night of those guy's attack?" she protested as she glared at her maid through the mirror.
"Because…" the maid was not yet finish what she was saying when all of a sudden a woman with blond hair who was in her thirties opened the door of the young lady's room.
The girl smiled upon seeing the woman who entered the door.
"Aunt Isabella!" the girl shouted as she ran toward her aunty and hugged her.
The woman hugged her back as she caressed this girl's soft hair.
"How are you? Don't tell me that you are asking Sophie again about your past?" Isabella smiled as she patted her niece's back.
The girl frowned as she looked at her aunt, "Well, yeah… but I can't help it Aunt Isabella, who wouldn't be curious about her past?"
"Can you do me a favor?" Isabella asked as she sat on the girl's bed and asked her to sit with her.
"What is it?" the girl with blond hair inquired as she sat beside her aunt.
"Can you tell me everything that you remember when you wake up on that night of those bad guys' attack?"
The girl nodded as she closed her eyes to remember what happened on that night as if she was reliving that moment.
xxx
"Aki! Watch out!" the girl who was about nineteen years old shouted to warn her small brother but it was too late because he already stepped on the banana filling.
The boy fell to the floor. His head hurt due to the impact caused by the fall. Yui ran toward her brother to help him stand up, she held on his right arm and pulled him up.
You are always there to save me nee-chan.
The boy smiled at his sister, "Why is this thing here? I mean who would throw a banana filling to the floor of our house?"
"Well it is Dad's fault," Yui reasoned out.
"By the way, Dad killed another vampire right?" Aki asked with a serious tone in his voice.
Aki's family was one of the most popular vampire hunter families in Japan, and because of that, many people admired them. Their reputation was so high and because of that all the members of their family were undergoing on harsh training so that they would become great hunters someday. So even if Aki was still young, he already suffered a lot because of the intensive training that he was doing. There was even a time when he collapsed because he didn't sleep and eat for five days. His training was to survive in the forest alone and that time there was a rumor that there was a vampire hiding in the forest. Their family didn't care if something bad would happen to the child who was under training. One of the customs of their family was to observe a baby after it was born and when they found that the baby was weak or if it had abnormality, they would throw the baby to the cliff and let him or her die. Survival of the fittest was the way of living and they believed that weak people doesn't deserve to live.
"Yes he did, I think he had killed the leader of a vampire group," she answered as she looked outside their house.
But even if the training was hard, Aki still had his reason to smile because his sister Yui. She was a girl with such warm heart, she had always cared of him and had always came whenever he needed her help.
When he was training, he saw the vampire that the villagers were talking about. Aki was only ten years old so he didn't have the strength to fight with the blood thirsty monster in front of him. He decided to run away, but the vampire followed him. As Aki ran, his left foot was caught by a big root, thus, he fell to the ground. That marked the end of the chase, the vampire gazed at him while licking his lips as he touched the boy's small face. That time Aki was sure that he was going to die.
"Take your hands off my little brother!" a familiar voice said.
The next thing he knew, this woman ran toward the vampire and used her high quality sword to cut the vampire's head that caused the rain of blood.
"Aki are you alright?" the girl asked as she held her little brother.
"Yui-nee," that was the only thing that the boy said before he lost consciousness.
"Yui-nee, do you think that those vampires will try to kill us?" Aki asked as he remembered that there were some vampire hunter families that were brutally killed by a group of vampires.
"I'm not sure Aki, but I do hope for them not to do that."
Die… Die… Die…
Aki heard a strange noise that send chill to his spine.
Kill them all…
He heard the strange noise again.
Let them suffer…
Drink all the blood in their bodies…
At last we have our revenge…
Aki looked at his sister as if he was asking if she was hearing the noise too, but Yui looked at him as if she was saying that she couldn't understand him.
"Yui-nee, where is father?" Aki finally managed to speak.
"He was in the garden, why did you ask?"
He did not answer his sister, after hearing his father's location Aki ran towards the garden.
Bloodshed…
Deaths…
Aki couldn't believe what he was seeing, he tried to move but his body was paralyzed.
Run away…
Save yourself…
He looked at the man lying on the grass whose body was covered by his own blood.
Slaughter…
Man slaughter…
They are drinking his blood…
And they…
Are killing his mother…
"Run Aki!" his mother screamed.
The moment the vampire saw that Aki's mother was still alive; he pierced the woman's heart using his bare hand. Slowly, he took the woman's heart as he played with it and smiled at the boy.
"This is what you get for killing our leader," the vampire said as he ran toward Aki who was still dumbstruck because he saw his mother killed in front of him.
Run…
Save yourself from these blood thirsty monsters…
"Mama…" tears ran down to his cheeks as he looked at his mother who was being eaten by those monsters.
Even if his father was cruel, his mother was gentle and sweet to him. She used to sing lullaby so that he could sleep in the night whenever he was scared. She was his light when he was in the dark, his music when everything seemed so silent.
I need her…
I love her…
I want to become strong so that I can protect her in the future…
But… she was gone…
"Aki!" a woman shouted from behind him.
He looked back to see her.
"Yui-nee."
The next thing he remembered was that Yui was running away from their house as she carried him.
But the vampires were still following them.
Kill them all…
Don't let them escape…
Aki closed his eyes; he was hoping that everything was just a dream and that he would wake up from that nightmare. But he was wrong, everything that he saw and everything that happened was real.
My mom is gone…
And so is my dad…
Will I lose my sister too?
Aki didn't realize that he was crying, all of a sudden, his sister stopped running and put him down.
"Running is not enough to save us," Yui said as she smiled at her little brother, "So I suggest for you to run as fast as you can while I will fight those monster."
Aki protested, "No! I don't want to leave you."
"Listen Aki, you need to survive…"
"But yui-nee!"
"Don't act like a child! You know that this is the only way…"
"Yui-nee…"
"Live Aki… live and protect other people…"
Aki continued crying, he knew that he would lose the only family that he had left.
"Yui-nee, I… I love you …"
Yui started crying as she held her brother for the last time, they were near the high way so Yui was quite sure that Aki could escape and and she strongly believed that there was someone who would save her brother
"Aki, do you remember when we used to play in the grass field when you were still young?" Yui smiled as she asked her little brother, she closed her eyes as if she was reliving that moment.
Back then her mother was chasing both of them in the grass field. The wind blew hard, and the sun was setting. That was their paradise. Where they laughed and sang sweet songs together as a family.
"Yes, nee-san, I remember…"
"Can you promise me one thing?" Yui asked as she turned around.
"Yes, what is it that you want me to promise?"
"I know that you will survive Aki, so please promise me that you will smile and live to save other people…"
"I…" Aki hugged his sister, "I promise…"
Yui looked at her brother for the last time and kissed his right cheek, "I love you Aki."
Then she ran toward the vampires and fought them all, Yui was a strong woman and she was able to kill two vampires. However her strength was not enough to beat them all.
A vampire was able to pierce Yui's back using his bare hand.
Aki….
Live for me…
Yui started to cough her own blood, but still she continued to fight, then again another vampire attacked her and struck her left chest. He was able to get her heart as he started laughing.
Aki…
Before Yui died, she imagined that she was in the grass field with her mother, father and Aki.
"Mama, do you think Aki will become a strong man?" Yui asked as she bit the sandwich.
"Yes, of course he will be strong; I think that he will be stronger than his father."
The father smirked at them but in the end he smiled at his wife.
"He needs to eat more rice before he can beat me in a battle," the father said as he laugh and carried Aki.
"Papa put me down!" Aki protested as he moved to free himself from the strong arms of his father.
"Ne ne, Otousan put Aki down!" Yui said as she stood up to get her brother away from his father.
They all laughed together… but only in her imagination. Yui smiled as if she was in paradise. Her death was cruel, but in spite of that, she still managed to think of her family eating together in the grass field, to the place that they call their paradise. Her life was simple; she was a good sister and a good daughter who always thinks of her family's safety.
She deserved to be happy, and to have a life where she could be happy with her family. She wanted to watch her brother as he grows up and to teach him her ideals and beliefs.
But not everyone would have a happy ending. Even if she was the kindest sister in that world, it was her destiny to die.
Some people think that dying would only bring despair, but her case was different, her death brought her the peace that she longed to see.
Even if she died, her memories and the things she did in this world would stay for eternity.
xxx
Aki was running away, he was now in the high way and he was looking for a car that he could ride on.
A car!
He waved his hand at the car that was about fifty meters away from him.
"So you think you can escape?"
As Aki looked at his back, he saw the group of vampires that attacked them earlier. He noticed that one vampire was holding a heart.
Yui-nee…
You… you... you…!
He ran toward the vampires, he knew he couldn't beat them but he did not back off. He had no reason to live anymore. Even if Yui told him to live to save other people, he couldn't help himself from thinking that his life was worthless.
My Dad…
My Mom…
And even my sister…
They killed my family…
And for that I shall have my revenge! I know that I am still weak but…
But…
I will fight them all with all my might…
Bam… bam… bam…
Aki was not sure of what he heard; it was like sounds of firing guns.
Bam… bam… bam…
He saw that that the vampires in front of him were all dead now.
"What happened?" Aki asked himself as he looked at his back.
Then a woman with short hair walked towards him, she was petite and for some reason he felt that she has a strong sense of justice.
"Are you alright little boy?" the woman with indigo hair asked with concerned tone in her voice.
The boy just stared at the woman in front of him.
"You saved me," the boy said.
"My name is Bazett Fraga McRemitz, you can call me Bazett," she said as she offered her right hand to him.
"My name is Ryuzaki Ichimaru, my sister and mom used to call me Aki," Ryuzaki shook Bazett's hand, and then he started to cry.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Vampires do exist in the world of Fate. You can go to baka-tsuki(dot)org and read the interlude of Fate Zero volume four; Orobuchi Gen mentioned something about vampires in there. But since I didn't have enough information about vampires, I am not certain if they are properly portrayed in this chapter. And for that I would like to apologize.