CHAPTER 21: FAMILY STICKS TOGETHER
I ran as fast as I could Kaede could have been in danger for all that I knew. She was there with that monster child. She needed help. Not to mention I still had a score to settle with Mariko. All these thoughts gave me new found strength. There was no time to waste I had to act quickly. The two would be going at each other's throats any moment now.
I ran for a good distance, in other similar situations my legs would have been pleading me to stop. Instead, I was moving faster than ever before. To a bystander, I might have appeared as a simple gust of wind.
There they were! I could see Mariko had just punched her opponent against a railing with one of her vectors. Now more of her vibrating limbs were headed for the other girl. I needed to get there in time. I dashed in front of the victim and roared as loudly as possible. Mariko's vector seemed to retreat in both fear and surprise. I guess I must have looked pretty scary.
"Y-you!" Mariko called.
"Get the fuck back!" I told her fiercely.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Said a voice behind me, both pissed and annoyed. "Can't you ever stay put?"
"Funny, I should be asking you that." I replied without turning around. "Besides, it didn't really look like you were winning from afar you now?"
"I told you to mind your own business and stay away!" She growled. "Do you want me to risk killing you as well? Just get away already!"
It was funny how I had just realized that she did not want to hurt me.
"Idiot!" I yelled, surprising her. "You are such an idiot. Honestly I thought at some point of your life you'd change, but you are still the same."
I could feel her scowling at me.
"What good was all this time to you? No matter how many times I tell you the same stuff you never listen. And you do know there's one thing I constantly repeated to you…"
My head spun around and showed that I was smiling and had watery eyes. She started looking surprised.
"…Family sticks together."
Hearing that, her eyes went wide and her mouth was agape. She stared at my face, trying to look for something. I knew it was similarities to the boy she remembered. From her face, I understood that she found quite a lot.
"Y-you… I-is it… Alex?" She stuttered.
"…Hi Kaede." I nodded
As I said that her stupor grew even more, her eyes watering as well. She slowly started to smile.
"Aw aren't you two cute?" Mariko mocked. "Pity you forgot about me. I hate being ignored!"
Her vectors were ready to attack again. My face turned serious once more as I stared at my opponent.
"There is so much I need to tell you. But right now we need to focus on her. Don't worry I'm just delaying the reunion." I said.
After a while I felt the cold killing intent that I was so used to back, and it wanted to end this fight.
"Then we have to end this quickly." Kaede said in a cold and emotionless tone.
I found Kaede, and now we were fighting together as equals against the only thing that stood between us and a happy ending. Mariko was going down, no discussion about that.
The two diclonii tackled each other's vectors. Kaede held off as many as she could, while headed for Mariko, hoping to land a hit. Sadly, she still had a couple of free vectors, which she used to along with her speed to block the attack. The little girl then tried to use those same limbs to grab a hold of me, but my sister blocked them quickly and gave time to put some space between me and the target.
Subsequently, we attempted a completely different approach. I jumped over her and tried to attack from above. The moment Mariko looked up, Kaede tried hitting her from the ground while she was distracted. The little girl however, easily blocked her vectors and grabbed before trying to smash me to the ground. Thank god my sister used one of her free 'arms' to cushion my fall.
A second later, the older diclonius was back into the fight and desperately trying to find a weak spot in Mariko's defense. As I raced through my mind, trying to find a solution, I thought of something.
"Kaede, move!" I shouted and she did so without question, giving me a clear shot for the little girl.
I channeled some of my energy into my palms, as I had unconsciously done previously. Two small spheres formed in the palms of both of my hands and I proceeded in firing them at the enemy. She raised a few arms in self-defense and, just like before, a cloud of dirt lifted up. However, as the smoke cleared, this time Mariko and all of her vectors were intact.
I growled and charged at her, claws at the ready. I watched the numerous vectors fly towards me and started evading them. I dodged one after the other until I was less than a meter away from Mariko. However, before I could scratch her, she landed a hit with her final vector and sent me flying. I hit the floor hard.
The fatigue from all the previous strains was starting to feel, as I struggled to get on my knees.
"Ha, is that really all? I told you mister, you're boring." She mocked.
That proved to be a final mistake, as Kaede used that distraction to send her flying off of her wheelchair. One of her arms appeared to fly off from the impact. She then walked towards the little girl menacingly.
"Don't worry, I don't plan to let you suffer much longer." Kaede said in her usual scary tone of voice.
That line however, caused the little girl to start laughing.
"Oh I see, you think you are gonna kill me right?" She asked amused. "You are definitely the queen and everything, but…"
At that moment I noticed that Mariko's missing limb was in fact prosthetic. She was faking.
"Kaede get away from her!" I warned.
"No one can kill me, nobody!" Mariko finished and sent her opponent flying against the railing was again.
This time I couldn't stop the group of 3 vectors that reached for her. I was far too weak to move.
"Kaede! Kaede! NO!" I shouted, but there was not much else to do.
I lied there as she was being beaten to death with those damn arms. At one point, the unthinkable happened. One of her horns fell off leaving a trail of blood flowing down her forehead. I panicked; I thought she was dead for a second. That was until I felt her presence; it was feeble and weak but definitely there.
I dragged myself to where Kaede was and checked on her.
"Kaede… Kaede can you hear me?"
My ears picked on footsteps behind me and I turned around to see Isobe grinning. I tried intimidating him with one of my glares, but in that state I probably wouldn't even scare a kitten.
"We did it! We finally captured Lucy! Not only that, but I got the only offspring of Project Cherubim as well. I can definitely write my own ticket from now on." He said.
"Stay back or I swear I'll disembowel you." I managed to scare him slightly, but it only lasted for a moment.
"So these are the two people everyone was so afraid of?" Mariko giggled to herself, fuelling my anger.
"Mariko!" A voice called.
I turned around to see the same man that I met in the cemetery.
"K-Kurama… is that you?" I asked, uncertain of whether his sudden appearance was good thing or not. The name did seem to attract Mariko's attention though.
What was more important to me though, was who was standing next to the man.
"Nana! You're alive!" I said, beaming with happiness.
"Zale, what are you doing here?" She yelled. The way she called me, made Kurama look at me for the briefest of moments.
"You two need to get out of here! It's dangerous!" I said as I mustered all of my strength to stand up.
"Y-you're my daddy?" Mariko asked in disbelief.
Wait, what now? Mariko is Kurama's daughter? That, I did not see coming.
"Daddy, I've been hoping to meet you." Mariko said as she also did her best to stand up and walk towards the older man.
She quickly fell on her face however, causing both me and Kurama to feel the need to help her up. Wait, why was I feeling the urge to help that little monster? She almost killed Nana and severely injured Kaede. The last thing I should feel for her is pity.
"Oh daddy…" The little thing said as she sat back up.
In response, the man's eyes watered as he pulled a gun out of his pocket. That made me do a double-take.
It also caused the surprised girl to start crying. "All this time that I was locked away in that dark room, I was looking forward to the day we meet. You'd say 'come home' and there you'd be with mommy so that we could be a real family. You and mommy would tell me 'Mariko we love you so much' and now we meet just like in my dreams. How could you do this to me? You were supposed to take care of me!"
After that she started crying. What was wrong with me? What the fuck was wrong with me? I had been so angry, so furious, so frustrated, that I forgot one of the things I always believed in. All diclonii are humans, they are nothing more and nothing less. I had had the guts to call Mariko a monster. How could I? How could I after all these years of preaching about equality? It left me truly disappointed in myself.
"It's my fault. I killed so many children, that I kept you alive just because you were my own. It was my sin from the beginning but you'll have to pay."
"This is dangerous." Nana interjected. "Papa, we should get out of here."
That visibly upset Mariko. "Papa? But why? Why is she allowed to call you 'Papa'? She isn't your daughter! How could you?" She then sent one of her vectors to knock the other girl against the iron railing.
"Nana!" Both me and Kurama shouted at the same moment.
Mariko proceeded in hitting Nana repeatedly with two more vectors. Her father had the most unthinkable of reactions. He dropped the gun and hugged his daughter. He then told her that he had been thinking about her every day since she was born. Kurama was a good man, I was positive now.
"From now on, we will always be together." He told her as he picked her up. "Go ahead, do it!" He then told Isobe.
"B-but chief… don't tell me you've been planning this all along?"
"I've worked with the director for many years now. I know the kind of measures he takes." He replied before walking away.
He stopped in his tracks to look at Nana.
"Nana, promise me you'll do whatever it takes to be happy." He told her.
"Papa…" Was the diclonius' weak reply.
Kurama then turned to me.
"So you've taken your father's identity have you?" He asked.
"Yes, it felt suitable to start over, to erase the mistakes I did as Alex." I said staring right into his eyes.
"…I met your father in my youth. He was always there for me and my family. Zale always fought for his idea of humanity, in that you two are very similar. He was my best friend, you should be proud of being his son." He told me with a light smile.
This revelation made my eyebrows rise slightly. "I am. I have always been proud."
That caused the man to smile.
"Zale wanted me to tell you something if I ever met you. He wanted you to know that he never left you, that he was and always will be by your side. Not even death can break the amount of love he felt for you. As he often told me… no matter what happens, no matter where you are, no matter what you do…"
"…Family sticks together." I concluded for him with teary eyes. "You are a good person Kurama, of that I am sure."
"Hey Mariko… be a good girl for me will you?" I told the little diclonius.
She seemed a little surprised at my approach at first, but quickly started smiling. "Thank you mister, I will!"
"Humph, you are so much like him." Her father muttered.
With that, they left the building walking away at a slow pace.
After a while, I could feel Mariko's presence reach a nearby bridge.
"If I disobey his orders, I am sure to be killed. Please, don't think badly of me." Isobe said as he pressed a button on a cellphone.
I knew the girl had bombs inside of her. There was no other way to keep control of such a powerful being. Well, all that there was left to do now was listen.
A loud boom filled the area and Mariko's presence disappeared. I closed my eyes in tribute of two poor souls and listened to Nana's sad whimpering. I tried my best not to cry, as I needed to be strong now. My sister still needed me.
I heard a gun being loaded and I turned around. Isobe had a handgun and was shifting its aim between me and Nana.
"You two are the only ones left; think of the reward when…"
Before he could finish his sentence, his head was cut clean off.
I turned around to look at Kaede walking towards us.
"Nana, head towards Maple House. I'll be right back." I told her.
She seemed uncertain for a moment.
"Go, I'll be fine." With that said, she walked away although with some uncertainty.
I looked at Kaede's sad face. "Only one thing left to do now…"
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I had been waiting at the bottom of that staircase for quite a while now. My sister was having her talk with Kouta. She needed to do this, ever since the beginning. It didn't worry me one bit, their hearts weren't hard to read. Their feelings would mend a seven year-old wound very easily. I had recuperated much of my strength and was now able to stand properly. I waited there with my arms and legs crossed for a while longer before I heard footsteps.
"How did it go?" I asked as I looked at her.
"He forgave me and I was able to say goodbye." She said with grief.
"Still the pessimist are you, I can promise you that by tomorrow morning you will be having breakfast with him." I said with a grin.
Kaede looked at my face; her eyes were shimmering in the moonlight.
"I… I thought you were dead…" She told me.
"I know… I know and I'm sorry I didn't come any sooner." I said as I kept my head low. "Had I been able to find you earlier, I could have been there for you. I-I could have made it better if only…"
She hugged me tightly before I could finish my sentence. I had a momentary flashback of that time in the woods, many years ago when she hugged me. We had just become siblings then.
"All I care about…" She said through sobs. "…Is that you are here now."
I hugged her back and enjoyed the moment.
"Alex… Nii-san… I missed you… I missed you so much…" She said as she buried her face in my shoulder.
"I missed you too Kaede… I missed you too…" Before I knew it I started crying myself.
Moments later, we were walking, talking about old times.
"I still think your face when you went to the zoo was the cutest ever." I said with my arms behind my head.
"I was a little girl… I was amused easily. I also remember your face when you put up with Tomo and the others. You looked so annoying it was funny." She said.
"Hey those guys were annoying, you can't deny that!" I said in defense.
"And at least I was a little energetic. I mean remember our game of tag? You were out of breath in five minutes? Remember?" She asked.
"Hahaha how could I forget? That was the first time we played together!"
We came to a bridge filled with soldiers; all of them were aiming at us. Isobe had called reinforcements, so it was our duty to clean up.
"You up for one last game then?" I asked with a sick grin.
"You have no idea…" She said donning her usual emotionless and cold expression.
We were about to test the ultimate combination against these poor souls. Blood was going to flow, lots of it.
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It had been around half an hour of bloody fighting, it had felt like forever. However, there we were, standing in the middle of a huge group of corpses. We had lived through it. Probably neither of us thought we would.
"W-what did I tell you… about positive thinking?" I said, too tired to walk properly once more.
"Do you want to… head back?" Kaede asked smiling at me, but just as tired as I was.
"Need you ask? Let's go live as a family… after such a long time."
She turned around and started walking slowly and I was about to follow her. Before I could however, I saw something shine in the distance. It was a wounded soldier on the ground, pointing his gun at my sister. He was alive and about to shoot! I won't reach him, what can I…
"Kaede!" I shouted and before I could come up with a proper solution I ran and pushed her away from the trajectory.
Pain.
All too familiar pain.
Just like when Yu Kakuzawa shot me two years prior.
I fell to the ground, bleeding. Kaede quickly proceeded in beheading the soldier before coming to my assistance.
"Alex! Alex, are you alright?"
I tried to speak, but found it impossible. Kaede was growing frantic.
"Say something! Nii-san, please!" She shouted.
"Hahaha" I laughed weakly. "Looks like I was right… You will be going back to Kouta… At least I kept one of my promises…"
"We are both going back! We are both going back and we are gonna live a happy life together with everyone!"
"Sure, with a gaping hole in my chest… you are having quite the overdose of positive thinking aren't you?" How could sarcasm dig its way through a moment like this?
Well this is pretty much when you guys came in and I started telling you my story like some cheesy idiot. But you do have to agree… it was pretty crazy right? But Kaede was alright… that was all that mattered. My life centered on her being fine and I had no regrets, well maybe I would have preferred killing Kakuzawa but whatever.
I really liked relieving my memories with you people… it made this moment much more meaningful to me.
Now though, I would like to ask you for a moment of privacy… I wanna spend my last breaths with my sister… so yeah I guess you'll just have to see what happens.
Alex looked at his sister to see that she was crying.
"Hey… it's okay, I'm happy. I was able to keep you safe. I wasn't a total failure as a brother…"
"You…you are not a-a failure… you are the best brother ever…Y-you were the first person to talk to me… so…" She then broke down into tears.
"Shhh… Kaede listen to me…" He told her getting her attention back.
"S-stay close to Kouta… He's a nice guy… one of my best friends ever. Tell Yuka… that I would have loved to taste her cooking again. Take care… of Mayu and Nana… they are just little girls… they need someone to look over them. Oh and don't forget about Wanta… the little guy really is something… keep him company. Can you do those things for me?"
She nodded her consensus. "Y-you can do it yourself when we get back…"
Kaede failed to smile and only succeeded in sobbing even more.
Alex looked to his side to his two figures shine in a faint light. One he recognized, she had visited him once before in similar situation. It was Asuka, his mother and she was smiling at him. The other one was male, in his mid-twenties. He had jet-black hair and sapphire blue eyes. He gave the younger boy a wink and a proud smirk.
Alex laughed at the sight of the young man. Now he knew… he knew what the real Zale looked like. He had to admit they were pretty much identical besides the hair color.
"Kaede… one last thing…"
"Yes Alex...?"
"Family…"
That word made her smile tragically.
"Sticks together…"
He smiled at her response and looked up at the sky. Just then, a train of memories passed in front of his eyes. Alex's life was playing, just like a movie, in his mind.
He saw everything.
Arriving at the orphanage.
Meeting and defending Kaede from Tomo and the other bullies.
Them hugging and pronouncing each other brother and sister.
Running away and finding Kouta in the woods after Kaede found out about her vectors.
The incident at the festival.
The death of Aiko and the loss of Kaede.
Meeting his mother.
Mastering his powers.
Coming back to Kamakura and encountering Nana, along with the day they spent at the beach.
Unconsciously meeting his sister at the cemetery and the rest of the Maple House gang.
His constant search for Kaede.
Seeing Nana become part of the family.
Fighting with Mariko and reuniting with his sister.
Kurama's death along with his father's parting words.
And his final hug with Kaede.
After he saw all of those things, his eyes closed. As soon as his sister noticed she screamed in pain and grief. To her, he had just come back from the land of the dead, only to die in her arms. It was cruel to the young diclonius. She looked at her brother's face, seemingly peaceful and at rest after so much fatigue and pain. Kaede held him in her arms and spent the rest of the night crying.
So dies Alex, Son of Zale.
The offspring of an experiment gone wrong.
A killer to the eyes of many individuals.
A devil born with the burden to overthrow a self-proclaimed god.
But most of all, a boy who gave his life to save his sister.
And that is the end of it! It's been a wonderful two years writing this story and I gotta say that I would have definitely stopped if it wasn't for you guys! Thank you from both me and Alex!
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