I am back! I have been looking forward to writing this chapter for probably over a year now. I had a lot of fun writing it, too. I hope you will at least have as much fun reading it.
As usual, thanks for the reviews. You guys keep me rolling. Without you, there wouldn't even be a story.
I would also like to thank Ataraku and gguueesstt for their kind reviews. I want to let you know that even though you reviewed anonymously, I still was very happy to have received them. Especially since they were filled with so much appreciation. I am so glad to have a silent reader come around and review, despite not being confident in his English skills. Do not worry about such trivial things. As long as I can more or less understand the point you want to bring across, it is definitely fine!
Well, I think that's more or less it. Bonus points for anyone who can guess the reference in the chapter title!
You're just so annoying! God, just so annoying!
Acting high mighty around me like you're the queen
Ready aim and fire, gong that never tires
Rioting tonight, it's a war but not a fist fight
You're just so annoying! God, just so annoying!
Acting high mighty around me like you're the king
I'll strike even harder, shoot you 'till you topple
Retribution, punishment - I'll make you feel all of it
(Childish War (English Cover) - rachie VS JubyPhonic)
28. No queens or kings. Only man.
A couple hours later, in the middle of the night, Shu and Inori found their sweet slumber to be interrupted by two, young visitors. They came running into the room hastily, without knocking first, and ran up to their sleeping leaders with panic in their voices.
"Inori, Shu, wake up! Quickly!" One of them said, it was a little girl of maybe 9 years with brown, shoulder length hair. She looked small and timid and from all the emotions you could currently see hiding behind the tears in her eyes, fear was evidently the most dominant one.
The boy next to her was not much older than her. He appeared calmer than her, which made him look somewhat braver, but in the end, you could clearly tell how frightened he truly was deep down from the slight shaking of his hands. It couldn't be helped, though, he was still a kid, after all.
The king was the first to wake, being the first one the kids came to, pressing their full weight repeatedly against his back as they tried to wake him up. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked at them confusedly as he turned around to face them, slightly wondering what they were even doing in here. A short glance over to the window to his left made it obvious that it was still night outside, so he couldn't help but wonder why these kids weren't asleep right now.
Next to him, his queen mumbled something tiredly as she tried to remain asleep for a while longer.
"What are you kids doing here at this late hour? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Shu asked them with a yawn and rubbed his eyes sleepily. That's when he noticed that he knew the boy. It was the small rascal who had made some trouble with his void a couple days ago. It had been a flash bang, he recalled. It still rested inside of his void arm ever since the kid had expressed the wish to let him have it. The king sure hoped the boy hadn't woken him this late just to get it back now.
"There is trouble! Some bad men with guns came and took all the grown-ups and children with them! They wanted to take us, too, but we ran!" The rascal told him. He stared at them in shook as he had registered these words and even Inori's eyes opened wide all of a sudden as she got up quickly, all her tiredness apparently having been blown away by them.
"What?" Shu then asked the kids, hoping he had just misheard.
"It's like Hiro says, Shu! Bad people came and started forcing everyone to come with them angrily. They said they would kill them if they wouldn't." The girl then said, starting to cry.
The two monarchs looked at each other worriedly, followed by Inori gently putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, making her look at her.
"Shh, it's okay. No one is going to die, alright? Can you tell me how the bad men looked like?"
"Were they dressed like soldiers? Or did they wear mostly white coats?" Shu voiced his suspicions as he grabbed his own coat to put it on. He also summoned his void, looking determined and ready for battle. If the base had somehow been found by either the SDF or Da'ath he and Inori would have to drive them out fast and secure it again before it was too late.
The kids, however, only looked at each other with very troubled expressions, causing Inori, who was now putting on her overcoat as well, to look at them in worry.
"What's wrong? Don't worry, you can tell us." She told them kindly and decided to stroke their hair calmly with a smile to reassure them of their safety. Shu was quite impressed with her ability to handle children in this situation. He was sure he wouldn't be able to smile at them if he knew they were under attack right now. But then again, she had had the experience, having looked after them for many years.
"They are…Undertakers, Inori…" The boy then said to her with a sad voice. "I think they have turned against you."
Shu and inori's eyes widened again and both of them froze, as if they had turned into ice statues. Inori's gaze went downwards to the ground, looking at it with a mixture of many different emotions, the most evident ones being confusion, disappointment and, of course, surprise. Shu, for his part, only looked at the kids disbelievingly, apparently not wanting to believe what he had just heard them say. He knelt down to their level, put his hands on the boy's shoulder and asked him seriously:
"Are you absolutely sure of this?"
The boy, whose name apparently was 'Hiro' only gave him a determined nod. He wasn't joking around here. The king got up and turned away, putting a hand over his face in frustration.
"So this is how it's gonna be?" Is what he mumbled to himself afterwards. He had known that there would be problems the next time he would wake up, but he hadn't thought the Undertakers would go this far. Not so fast at least. Inori didn't say anything, just shared his troubled expression while looking away from the kids, probably pondering a few things.
"What are you going to do?" The small girl eventually decided to ask them after a short moment of silence. Shu faced her once again with a defeated smile.
"I guess I will have to step down." He told them, surprising everyone.
"You can't! What about the Genesis! Everyone still believes in you and Inori!" Hiro then yelled at him in protest. Inori seemed to agree to that.
"You are my king, Shu. Even if the Undertakers disagree with us, or particularly me, that doesn't mean the Genesis are the same. I am sure they still want us to lead them. We can't abandon them…" She dropped her gaze in sadness just from the imagination of Shu giving up on them. He, however, merely walked up to her and put his hand on her check, causing her to look up on him again.
"Don't worry, I will never stop being your king. I will be stepping down as the Undertaker's leader, not as your king. It became obvious that we cannot ease the conflict between humans and Genesis, so it seems we have no other choice but to split the group up again. If the Undertakers don't want the Genesis, then we will just take them and go elsewhere. It should be fine since that's what they wanted in the first place."
Inori sighed in relief once she heard his explanation. For a short moment it had sounded as if Shu had given up on her and the Genesis. Of course, she knew he would have never really given up on her, but if he had decided to leave the Genesis behind, then she would have had to follow him reluctantly as well. She had promised to remain at his side forever, after all. Her promise to him was more important to her than anything else…plus, there still was Da'ath lurking around out there, possibly aiming for either him or her. It would have been too dangerous to let him leave on his own. She would have never allowed it. Wherever he went, she would go as well.
"I am glad." She told him truthfully as she took his hand into hers with a small smile. "I will support your decision."
Shu's reasoning was sound. The Undertakers had made it quite clear that they did not want the Genesis and their queen around any longer. She had had to make that harsh realization herself from the awful events that had occurred earlier today. The way things had escalated had probably been the last straw in this weeklong conflict. To be honest, after today, she would actually gladly leave the post with Shu and return to be just the queen of the Genesis with him as her king instead. Her Genesis at least had never treated her that badly and also listened to reason. Frankly speaking, she was tired of the Undertakers and their unreasonable behavior. If she could just leave them all behind, she would not hesitate to do so. For her sake as well as theirs. After all, if things were to continue the way they had today, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't just snap again. This new feeling of frustration they had taught her…they could keep it, really.
"Good, let's get this over with, then." Shu replied and returned his attention back towards the kids. "You two wait and hide here, just to make sure. We will come and pick you up once the matter is settled."
"Actually, why don't you just hide inside the crystals?" Inori then offered as she pointed towards the crystals that had grown next to the bed. It had been the same ones Shu had used to give Inori his energy back when she had still been comatose. "No one will ever suspect anyone to be in them and you can even sleep in there. It's still night time, so kids should sleep now." As she had said that, Shu noticed the tiredness that was still visible in her own eyes as well. She probably wished to go back to sleep most of all, having had a very tired day today herself. Alas, she couldn't, so she probably at least wanted the kids to have some rest in her stead.
"I refuse! I wanna see you guys putting those damn Undertakers in their place!" Hiro said bravely as he raised his fist in determination. The girl next to him, however, grabbed him by his sleeve, obviously not wanting him to leave her all alone. Shu couldn't help but grin at the boy's displeasure about that reaction.
"Nothing's going to happen anyway. Probably. We will resolve this matter peacefully somehow, so it will just be boring adult-talk. Besides, the young lady there appears to be in need of some protection." He told him amusedly. The kid just stared at him, then looked at the girl who was still holding his sleeve with those big, puppy eyes of hers. Hiro then had to admit defeat and agreed to Shu and Inori's suggestion with a sigh.
"Alright. I've got no choice, I guess." He said as he took the girl's hand and led her to the crystal formations present in the room. He helped his friend in, then vanished into it himself. He hadn't disappeared for even five seconds when his head emerged out of the structure again, eying the two monarchs again.
"Oh, we almost forgot. They are all at the big hall the Genesis sleep in. Or they at least were when we decided to run away."
"Got it. Thanks, now be a good kid and go to sleep." Shu told him which earned him an angry glare in return.
"Don't treat me like a kid, damnit!" He yelled, followed by Inori hastily getting next to him, putting her right index finger over her lips while putting her other hand on the youth's head, gently pushing him back into the crystal.
"You have to be quiet. What's the point of hiding if everyone is going to hear that you are here?" She whispered to him quietly into his ear, which caused him to blush. Oh, that's right, Shu remembered, that guy had had a hopeless crush on Inori. Maybe that's why he immediately shut up and did as he was told. With a short nod, he silently went back into the crystal and didn't come out again.
"Good boy." She had praised him. He had already been inside the crystal, but Shu was sure that he had probably been able to read her lips from inside, most likely being quite happy about that. Shu kind of hoped the girl that was with him would pinch him out of jealousy, but then again…he wouldn't really know if those two really were as close as they were right now under normal circumstances as well. Well, not like it really mattered. There were bigger problems to handle right now.
"Let's get this over with." The king said to his queen as he headed for the door. She followed right after him silently, though not without some serious determination in her eyes, apparently getting ready for the worst possible outcome. In which she might be forced to use force yet again. If the Undertakers were going to play dirty, she would too.
The hallway was eerily quiet as they hastily found their way to the old production hall. Back in the day, whatever it might have been this factory once had produced had probably been produced in one of these halls right there. Of course, you couldn't really tell anymore with all the big machinery missing, having long since been removed by the previous Undertakers under Gai's leadership to make room for other, more useful things. Such as sleeping places for Undertakers.
With the sheer amount of people living in this base, you naturally couldn't have everyone getting their own, private rooms. That sort of privilege would have to be reserved for people of somewhat higher ranks, such as, of course, Shu and Inori, as well as their friends and family. The rest, however, had to make do with sharing a big room with each other in which a lot of two-story beds had been placed. There had been two of these rooms. One for the Genesis and another one for the Undertakers.
But while the Undertakers actually had used the beds given to them, the Genesis had chosen to sleep inside crystals instead. That was because they had learned of a really interesting fact soon after they had escaped the void realm with the help of their king and queen. For years, they had never been required to sleep, so once they actually had the first tiredness in years befall them, they had discovered the pleasure of actually resting inside crystals instead of usual beds. Apparently, it was more comfortable by far as you would feel as if you were floating in outer space, being completely lightweight while getting surrounded by a gentle warmth that would embrace you as your mind would drift off into a faraway place. The people, who had told Shu and Inori about it, had also mentioned that they also felt very refreshed whenever they woke up on the next morning. According to them, they had never had any problem with waking and getting up.
Shu and Inori had never tried it, though, having enjoyed feeling each other's warmth far too much as to ever trade it in for anything in the world. And to be honest, Shu hadn't been all too keen on trying it out in the first place. He still couldn't really get behind this "fuse with crystal" business very much, even after having become a Genesis. He liked the fast-transporting kind since you never actually noticed getting inside them in the first place, but the kind in which you actually walk in? He figured that he would need a lot more time to get used to something bizarre like that.
It had its uses, though, he couldn't deny that. Aside from the simple fact that it apparently was far more comfortable, Genesis actually took up less space whenever they entered crystals. A man-high crystal could store around 5 to 6 grown Genesis, depending on their size. It didn't even come as much of a surprise to the king, too. He hadn't really noticed it back then, but now that he thought about it, that one time in the void realm when he had entered a crystal, namely the wall surrounding Inori's camp, the structure had, indeed, looked quite a bit larger from the inside than it had from outside. And even the army Yuu had teleported in during their last confrontation had exceeded the amount of people that would have normally fit into the crystals the twins had called in.
That had had the effect that all the Genesis had been able to fit into that one hall, simply by giving them some crystals to rest in. Inori had gladly created them for them. Unfortunately, that had also had the unforeseen disadvantage that every Genesis had been gathered up at one place, making them an easy target for the rebellious Undertakers.
The two monarchs eventually arrived at their destinations, entering the big hall through the main doors. In actuality, it would have been more accurate to say they barged in loudly, making sure that everyone noticed their presence. From the way every rebel immediately pointed their weapon at them, it was probably safe to assume that they had gotten their attention. They came to a halt at once and looked around them to asset the situation. It did look even worse than they had expected. The Genesis had been perched together into a corner with some of the Undertakers aiming their weapons at them. The rebels were positioned on the ground floor as well as the old industrial platforms above, which had probably once been used for maintaining the big machines in this hall, but had lost their purpose with their removal ever since. At least until now, that was. Shu and Inori were shocked to even see a few Genesis among the rebels, pointing their voids against their brethren. What the hell?
On these platforms, Shu also happened to spot the members of their council. Haruka, Keido, Hare, Ayase, Tsugumi, Yahiro and his brother were standing there with expressions ranging from angered to worried, also guarded by Undertakers, though not held at gunpoint like the Genesis were. Someone was missing, though. That's right, where was Argo?
As if following his thought, his queen answered his question.
"Shu." She merely whispered, catching his attention. He looked at her briefly and followed her line of sight to actually see him standing amongst the rebels in the middle of the room. Like his queen, his eyes narrowed immediately as well. He was one of them?
"What in the actual fuck is going on here?" Shu then demanded to know. He had a pretty good idea what was happening here, but he still wanted to hear it from them personally just to make sure that this wasn't just all a big misunderstanding.
"Ah, Shu. You came just in time. I was just about to get you." It was Argo who answered him. The king had already half expected him to.
"What is the meaning of this?" Inori asked coldly. Her expression had changed into a rather unpleasant one as soon as she had seen her Genesis being held at gunpoint. Especially once she had spotted the terrified faces of the children among them. Shu shared her anger. What were these people thinking? He was sure that this was somehow related to Inori's outburst earlier, but why the hell were these people targeting the Genesis instead of them? It didn't make sense.
"Shouldn't you of all be aware of the meaning behind this, Inori?" The ex-soldier and apparently rebel leader chose to reply calmly.
"Not a single reason comes to mind why you would possibly be able to justify aiming weapons at children." She said angrily to which he actually frowned.
"I am not liking this either, but according to our sources, that's the best way to ensure that you won't tear us to shreds the moment you see us turning against you."
"I had no intention of doing so in the first place." She told him truthfully.
"Didn't look like that to me earlier, you know." The cold look in Argo's eyes actually managed to make Inori avert her gaze in a mixture of shame and frustration. She knew she wouldn't have an argument that could possibly be acceptable to them, seeing as they were all unreasonable to begin with. Luckily for her, Shu decided to rejoin the conversation.
"Don't you go blaming her for that, Argo. You know better than no one that it were the Undertakers who had stepped out of line."
"So it was fine to downright murder one of them?" Argo asked him critically. The king only eyed him harshly.
"He had asked for it." Was all he said to that.
"Well, then so did Inori when she did what she did." Suddenly, all nearby Undertakers started aiming their guns on Inori specifically. They even activated their laser sights to ensure they wouldn't miss. Countless red dots appeared on the pink haired queen's head and chest to which she responded by getting in position to counter attack with crystals.
"Not so fast there, Inori. I wouldn't do any sudden moves if I were you." Argo merely said and pointed towards the Genesis which were still held at gunpoint. She somehow felt the hot, bubbling mass of anger rise up inside her again, but decided to lower her hands again anyway. Instead, she decided to widen the gap between her and Shu to ensure that no stray rounds would find their way near him by accident, should they really decide to shoot.
"Even though I came without the intention of hurting anyone…" She mumbled quietly to herself. Apparently she couldn't do it right, no matter what she tried. And now, she couldn't even hurt anyone even if she wanted to. Not as long as Argo held the Genesis as his bargaining chip. With some of the rebels being Genesis, she couldn't simply turn them all into crystals, since it would have no effect on them. Not to mention that it would also kill Haruka, Yahiro, Ayase and Tsugumi…
"I don't know how you Genesis see things, but where I come from, murder is still a crime, no matter who you are. And you will have to answer for that, Inori." Argo then continued to say, causing her to eye him defiantly. Shu quickly came to his queen's defense, though not without throwing a short, worried glance over to the people aiming their weapons at her.
"Just listen to yourself, Argo. How many people have you killed? Have you ever answered for that?"
"It was for a higher cause. I have never taken the life of an innocent man or woman."
"And who gave you the right to do that? Who are you to decide who lives and dies?" Hare suddenly yelled down at him in anger, obviously infuriated by this man's words. However, as the guards were throwing angry glares at her, she was forced to back down again.
"The government took our rights back then, so we naturally had to fight to get them back." Was all he had to say to her. "And besides, who gave Inori the right to kill whoever she pleases?"
Well, technically, the queen's crown did, but Shu was smart enough to not say that. With a sigh, he chose to answer instead:
"You are right. She didn't have the right to do so. We were wrong. That's why we have come to the decision to step down as your leaders. We thought it would be a reasonable measure to take to admit our fault in that matter. It should be what you wanted, right? To remove us from power? Well, there. It's done. You have won. There is no reason for bloodshed so let's lower our weapons and decide who else is going to take the reins from now on." He told them calmly as he looked them all into their eyes, hoping to make them listen to reason at last. To be honest, he had never wanted to be the leader in the first place. He would gladly give the burden up to someone else if he could.
However, strangely enough, even though he had been so sure that his offer would ease the tension, he was surprised once he saw everyone only looking at him coldly in disapproval instead. He frowned in return. What was this all about now? Was that not what they wanted? Last time he had people turn on him, they had asked for nothing but that. Did the Undertakers want even more? But what else could he possible give them?
"That's what you thought this was all about?" Argo merely said with disappointment clearly evident in his voice as he shook his head. "No, Shu. We didn't come this far to remove you…only her." The last bit was directed at Inori, of course. Said woman didn't seem all too fazed about that, not that anyone could blame her. With the way she had been treated today, she wouldn't want to be responsible for the Undertakers anymore anyway.
"What…?" The king, however, couldn't hide the obvious confusion in his face. He couldn't follow Argo at all. "What is there for you to remove? You made it quite obvious that you never even viewed her as your leader in the first place. Even if I stopped calling her my equal, nothing would really change now, would it?"
"Exactly, which is why we don't just want her to merely 'step down'. We want her out of the game. Completely." Is what Argo told him. Shu understood even less.
"And what is that supposed to mean? You want her sent away?" The king asked, trying to figure out Argo's vague wording. If that's what he wanted, there would be no way he would actually agree to that. He and Inori came as a team. Either they would do it together or they wouldn't do it at all. If Argo wanted him to send her away, he would go with her.
"You could say that. To the void realm, that is."
The room immediately fell into silence once everyone had heard Argo speak. That was soon followed by an outrage from the Genesis who started calling Argo a madman, traitor and various other things which were quite the opposite from being compliments. The Undertakers could only shut them up after firing warning shots at their feet. A few attempted to draw their voids in return, but were caught red handed and had the dangerous end of a rifle pointed at their heads.
Shu then narrowed his eyes on Argo angrily, shooting daggers at him.
"You better not be saying what I think you are saying here, Argo."
"We demand Inori's death, Shu. And we want you to do it."
The council member's winced at these words, while Shu only stood and stared at the rebel leader in utter bewilderment. That was the moment he finally snapped, yelling furiously.
"Have you lost your fucking mind? Why in the name of god would I even imagine doing something like that?"
Argo, however, remained calm. Sighing slightly, he answered with: "To reconfirm your loyalty towards us, the Undertakers. To show us that you still know what is more important here. The greater good. Recently, you have started giving off the impression that Inori was more important to you and that's simply unacceptable. We all have come here to fight for you. We have made sacrifices to make it happen. It's time for you to show us the same resolve. Make us want to follow you once again. Show us that putting our trust in you had not been a mistake."
"Sacrifices? I am sorry, did we accidently start a religious sect or something? I was under the impression we were terrorists, not fanatics." Came the voice of Yahiro, voicing his protest. His friends nodded in agreement.
"We all have left our previous lives and families to come and fight for Shu. The least he could do is leave his girlfriend behind as well." Argo merely replied.
"By killing her?" Shu yelled at him in complete bewilderment over the ex-soldier's mad demands. This was beyond unreasonable. It was downright crazy.
"She is Eve, right? Keido said she cannot die. She will revive in the void realm and thus far enough away to not cause any more harm to us. It is a fair demand. We left our loved ones alone at home until the time we would actually win this war, so we have decided that you should, too. It's the best for everyone."
"Don't screw with me!" Shu's shout echoed through the whole room while striking through the air angrily with his right hand. "If she was to be sent to the void realm, she would be in the hands of Da'ath. The enemy. We would play right into their hands!" He argued, obviously enraged.
"But Eve is useless without Adam, right? And surely Inori would not betray us no matter what? So what could Da'ath possibly do with her to harm us? I would say that situation would be far safer than our current one in which Inori could simply decide to kill us all in a moment's notice."
"I would never do such a thing…neither I nor Shu wish for an apocalypse to happen." Inori decided to remind him, though to no avail as the rebel leader just shook his head again.
"That's only what you say now. You could change your opinion any second. And once that happened, it would be too late to even stop it. Face it. Having you two live together is too much of a danger to every human being around."
"What kind of person do you think Inori is?" Jun then objected heavily. "She has lived years trying to always find the most peaceful solution! What makes you think she would simply choose annihilation now? This whole situation is an outrage! End this madness at once!" He demanded fiercely. However, he got calmed down by Yahiro placing a hand on his shoulder. A certain look into the direction of the guards who were now getting irritated at him for his choice of words told the younger man that he had to tread carefully from now on. This was far from a diplomatic discussion he was partaking in, after all.
"A pointless argument." Suddenly, a new voice was thrown into the room, making everyone look up into the direction it had come from. There, Juan floated on his void, overlooking the whole situation as if he were some kind of judge. No one had really noticed him until now, having been distracted by the obvious threat before them, but now all eyes were glued on him as he spoke.
"People can change, Jun. We are all aware of that. After all, wasn't Mana a kind queen once, too? We both wouldn't really know, since we came at a time in which she already had changed, but before us, before Inori even, there supposedly was a time in which she had ruled with kindness and justice. If you don't believe me, ask around. The Genesis who had been in the void realm for more than 5 years will surely tell you the same story." Shu and Inori looked up at him in anger. So he was in on it, too? No wonder the Undertakers seemed to be so prepared. He must have told them Inori's weakness, which was the Genesis. With them in the line of fire, she couldn't do anything. And with everyone pointing their guns at her, Shu could do little but watch as well.
Juan's words were true, though. Shu himself had witnessed many people attending Mana's funeral and they themselves had told him that Mana had once been kind, before her obsession with war had started to develop together with Inori's arrival in the void realm. However, let that be as it may, what did any of this have to do with this current situation?
"So what if Mana had been kind once? What does it matter? She is gone." Shu threw into the room , sounding irritated.
"Yes, and now Inori took her place. And the same madness that plagued Mana before has begun corrupting Inori as well." The islander explained to him. "We have all seen it happen today."
A mocking laugh then happened to fill the room as Keido happened to find this whole conversation truly funny.
"Such nonsense. I pity you, Yuzuriha Inori, for if all your vassals are as worthless as this fellow levitating up there, you really are cursed to be the queen of nothing but morons." He said with an evil smirk as he looked up at the youngling in question provokingly. Said man came flying down to face him directly with an unpleasant expression present on his face.
"What was that, old man?"
"You heard me, you fool. Brats like you make me sick. You think you are so smart flying up there, creating chaos with your little rebellion you undoubtedly have caused. Let me ask you something, boy. How long have you served this queen you so willingly chose to betray today?"
Juan looked down on the older man in contempt as he answered: "Longer than you have, you filthy hobo. Unlike you, I have fought in the war on both sides. I know fairly well what I am talking about here."
"Indeed, you have." Keido merely chuckled at him amusedly. "But know you still do nothing. I may have not fought in the war, but I have still watched from the sidelines. I also happened to see you, Juan Diaz. I saw you slaughter people by the hundreds, saw you tearing innocents to shreds on that blasted aerial assault of yours. And still, even though you committed such horrible crimes of war in the name of Mana, who was the foolish queen who chose to pardon you instead of executing you like the scum you were?"
"Careful there, you old fool." The islander warned him, but the dark haired man simply continued his speech with those adamant eyes of his.
"I wonder, Juan Diaz, what made you choose to betray your former queen to join this one? Was it her kindness? Was it her beauty? Or did you do so on a whim? I used to believe that you might have seen something in her you had not been able to see in Mana, but now I am not sure anymore. Turns out that you are not much different from all the other foolish brats your age, always doing whatever is more convenient for you. When Inori offered you a fresh start, you were willing to take it. You fought so vigilantly for her for many years, believing in her without the smallest shred of doubt. Yet all it took was one little outburst from her and your whole beliefs get shaken as if they had been built on sand from the beginning. The youth from today surely is a pathetic one, won't you agree, Haruka? Back in our days, the things we believed in used to mean something at least."
He may have addressed his sister, but still had not taken his eyes off the man in front of him. In all actuality, he disliked the boy for a far more simple reason than you would actually at first expect. He reminded him of himself. The foolishness of youth that always seemed to know better even if they didn't. Keido, too, had once thought he and Kurorsu would be able to change the world with their research on the apocalypse virus. However, he had been so sure, so determined to succeed, that he had begun losing sight of his actual goal. Instead of remaining objective, upholding a clear mind as was required of a scientist, he had given in to paranoia and jealousy. He had thought his partner, Kurosu, had actually been trying to leave him behind in the dust when in actuality, it had become evident by the things he had said on his last breath as Keido had killed him in cold blood, that he had not had such intentions in the first place.
It had turned out that Keido had only seen phantoms all along, killing his friend because of signs of betrayal that hadn't even been there to begin with. It had cost him much. A dear friend and a loving sister. And what had made it all worse, instead of admitting his wrongdoing, he had chosen to run away, deciding to shroud himself in meaningless excuses instead. He had been a fool the same way Juan was now. He was betraying his queen on the same baseless phantom signs as he himself had with Kurosu. Juan was bound to regret it as well, just as Keido did now.
"Shut up!" The islander yelled and used his fist to hit the older man right in his face with so much force that it knocked him off balance. He didn't get to hit the floor, though, as both Haruka and Yahiro caught him in time to stabilize him.
"I am not betraying Inori. I am saving her and everyone from herself. I will let everyone remember her as the kind queen she is rather than letting her become another monster who everyone would hate instead."
But Keido could do little more but shake his head in disappointment. So this brat had chosen to hide behind excuses as well. A fool until the very end. So be it then. Instead of saying anything else, he simply chose to look at him in disapproval. Unsurprisingly, everyone else from the council and the rest of the Genesis did so, too, apart from the few rebel ones who apparently joined Juan's cause. The black haired islander received these glares and met them with an angry one of his own.
"You all may not understand now, but with time you will see that I am right. It's better to quit serving a queen while she is still a good one rather than waiting for her to turn bad and oppress us all. Because all queens eventually turn out the same."
"And you would certainly know, because there were so many already, right?" Ayase merely replied with eyes narrowed down from annoyance. Even she knew that there had only been two queen's so far. How absurd it really was to make a stupid statement such as "all queens are evil" when "all" only referred to "two". It was the same kind of generalization as "all men are rapists" just because some do rape. You might as well have said "everyone who eats bread is a killer" simply because all killers in history so far had eaten bread. What a worthless statement.
"There had been one who had turned mad, and there is another one who shows signs of becoming the same. That's all I need to know." Was Juan's only justification.
"I see…" Inori then said with a sad sigh. "So this is how you view me. I guess some things will never change…" Once Mana's vessel, always Mana's vessel, was that it? Apparently, even with Mana gone, she could not escape the fate of getting compared to her. You might think she had gotten used to it by now, but surprisingly she hadn't. And she thought she never would. In her opinion, she was far too different from Mana to ever be compared to her, which is why she couldn't understand the comparisons. But maybe it was only her who had that impression? If everyone thought she was like Mana, maybe they all had a point.
"What a load of bullshit." Shu eventually said, folding both his arms in front of him confidently. He eyed Juan coldly and continued.
"Everyone who thinks Mana and Inori share even the slightest bit of likeness with each other obviously is nothing more but a blind and delusional fool. I have known Mana like no other. She was my sister and yes, she had been nice once only to become a monster in the end. But even that monster had had reasons to become that way. That reason had been me. I have hurt her for many years by rejecting her feelings, making her sink into despair and eventually allowing her to become the person she eventually turned out to be. It had been me who had corrupted Mana and I am not proud of that. Yet it cannot be changed. What is done is done. That doesn't mean, however, that Inori has to walk down the same route. Unlike Mana, I actually love Inori with all my heart. I would never allow her to fall into despair the same way Mana did. To begin with, Inori and Mana never had much alike apart from their powers. Even the kind sister I once knew had never been as gentle as Inori is. The way you all are pointing guns at her…Mana would have surely killed you all without exception, hostages or not. Simply because Mana had been a person who hated losing control. She had been that way even before she became queen. The fact that you all are still standing, alive and healthy, despite threatening her is already more than enough proof that Inori is fundamentally different from Mana. She does not want to control. She only wants to protect. Even if the protected turn against their protector…" He said the last bit with quite a bit of sadness and disappointment, looking down on the ground thoughtfully before returning his gaze towards Juan and Argo determinedly.
"You guys don't deserve her protection, nor her kindness. If anyone was a danger to the people around them, it would be you two, not her."
"I am sad to hear you would think that, Shu." Argo simply replied with a disappointed shake of his head. "Especially since we are actually mankind's last hope of survival. All we really wanted was to make you remember your role in this war. You are the man who is supposed to save the world. Just like the way you had done it five years ago. You were a bloody hero, inspiring us all. We merely want that man back, no matter the cost."
"That man never existed in the first place. He was just a phony who pretended to be a hero because everyone around him had wanted him to be one. They had been in need of someone to put their faith in and I had merely assumed the role like my void was assuming many things that day. I never wanted to be a hero, nor did I view myself as one. It had all been you who had declared me one, never me." The king explained seriously.
"Then that's fine as well. It doesn't matter if you call yourself a hero as long as you act like one. We can't do this without you, and so you will have to rise as one again, whether you want to or not." The rebel leader looked over to two of his subordinates and gestured for them to come over by nudging his head into Shu's direction. One of them stepped forward with a pistol in his hand, handing it to Shu, who only looked down on it in disgust.
"What's this now, Argo?" He wanted to know.
"I told you. We want you to prove your loyalty by killing Inori. Show us that you are still on the side of humanity and not an enemy instead. Make us want to follow you again."
"I would sooner shoot every one of you and myself before even aiming that weapon anywhere close to Inori's general direction." He declared his absolute refusal with a glare cold as ice.
"Sadly, you won't be able to do that, as there is only one bullet loaded in that pistol. Needless to say, if you fail to kill Inori, we will do so instead. Though I would really prefer for you to do it so that everyone can start believing in you again. You could also avoid making her feel more pain than she needs to."
"Why don't you just shoot me instead and be done with it?" Shu retorted with gritted teeth. "I will never hurt Inori."
"No, Shu! You can't! "His queen objected heavily. "I won't let you die, even if it costs me my life!" Her determination was burning in her eyes like the fire of a thousand suns, making every rebel gulp as she looked at every one of them threateningly. It was as if she was saying "Touch him and you will meet your end." She absolutely couldn't afford losing Shu. Unlike her, he wasn't immortal. If he died, that's it. She would never get him back. She would rather die than live in a world without him. Except, she couldn't. If she were to lose Shu, she would be forced to live on without him forever. A fate worse than death.
"Listen to your girlfriend, Shu. Try seeing this from our point of view. What would we gain from killing you? A replacement for you wouldn't be able to command the Genesis…also, who could really step into the shoes of a hero? No one around here is as famous as you are. Everyone came here because they heard your name. It has to be you who leads." Argo explained to him with a shrug as if the things he said were obvious. The king growled.
"Oh, so now you want the Genesis? You people sounded eager enough to get rid of them as soon as possible." Shu retorted with Inori nodding at that.
"You think the Genesis would even continue fighting at your side? After you have killed me?" Agreeing yells came from the hostages, fully supporting the queen's claim. But Argo kept cool as always.
"They won't have a choice now, do they? To get you back, they must defeat Da'ath to get a hold of the gateway to the void realm. You will serve as Shu's and their motivation to attack the enemy just like last time. That way, we are assured that Shu will try his utmost to get you back and, through that, defeat the enemy." His words made Haruka clench the railing of the platforms she and the others were standing on.
"What an especially cruel kind of blackmail this all is. Forcing someone to kill their loved ones only to make them fix the mistake themselves after having been forced to commit it in the first place…" she mumbled, apparently loudly enough for Argo to still hear her.
"Do you have the right to complain about cruelty when it was you who schemed for your own son to have his arm cut off?" A smug grin appeared on his lips when he saw the brunette scientist look at him in surprise.
"What? Did you think I wouldn't know? I was there when Tsugumi went through the GHQ files she managed to get her hands on. We decided together which ones needed to be deleted and which ones were fine to leave." He explained to her to which Tsugumi could do little but offer the woman an apologetic look.
"I am sorry, Haruka-mama. I never thought Argo of all people would turn out to be so untrustworthy…" The last bit was directed at the rebel leader again, eyes suddenly ice cold as she looked down on him. It was true, though. They had both gone through the files together when Tsugumi had deleted them to erase any files that could even be remotely used to track down Undertakers. Argo had been there to reduce her workload, after all, she couldn't possibly have read and evaluated ALL the files GHQ had amassed. Ayase had helped as well, by the way.
"It's okay, Tsugumi. It's not like I had kept it a secret…I just had hoped I would be able to finally forget…" She responded with sad, downcast eyes. Argo made it sound like she had actually wanted that to happen to Shu where in actuality, she had just tried to make a bad situation slightly less bad. After all, if the option had been for Shu to either die or lose an arm, any mother would reluctantly go for the latter, right? And it's not like she hadn't tried to avoid such an option altogether…
"Don't bring up unrelated stuff from the past, Argo. This isn't about mother. This is about you and your obvious madness." Shu decided to get his mother out of the firing line. He had long known of this, she had confessed it to him herself. He was over it, especially since she had made clear to him how little choice she had actually had in that matter. This, however, was different. There were many ways to solve this problem…ways he had offered Argo himself. Yet the man in question kept denying all alternatives. He was deadest on this act of stupidity, not realizing that this would hurt not only Shu and Inori, but everyone else Argo was trying to "save" that way.
"This isn't madness at all, Shu. This is the way we will ensure our survival."
"How will you survive the apocalypse virus?" Inori then wanted to know. "Once I am gone, you will all suffer its effects and surely the military won't hand out vaccines to criminals, will they?"
"That's where you are wrong, Inori. Your services are no longer needed." Argo replied with a confident look plastered on his face, catching Shu and Inori off-guard who had been sure that her argument had been sound.
"You must be even crazier than I thought if you believe the SDF would actually give you vaccines unless you surrendered…" Shu claimed with irritation in his voice, but the man in front of him only shrugged at him.
"We don't need the SDF's vaccines. We have our own ones."
"What?" Both monarchs looked at him in utter disbelief. He must be lying. It was a bluff, a shameless bluff!
"It's true. I saw it myself." Juan chose to confirm Argo's claim with folded arms. "I saw a huge amount of crates filled with vaccines lying around in the storage room next to the garage.
"That's ridiculous, why would there be-" Shu started to call them out on what he thought was an obvious lie, when he suddenly remembered something. From the looks of it, Inori did too, seeing as to how she was frowning bitterly. The cargo those two newbies stole a while ago…it had been full of vaccines. But there was no way that stuff was still around, right? The king hesitatingly looked up to Yahiro, eyes clearly saying: "You disposed of them, right?" in a slightly desperate manner, only to get opened wide when he saw his friend bite down on his lower lip and look away in shame.
To be honest, Yahiro had forgotten all about it until now. But could you blame him for that? Up until yesterday, he and Jun had had all their hands full with being in charge of the terrorist group and, back when the newbies had brought in the vaccines, they had not even posed the slightest bit of a threat which had been the reason he had deemed it unnecessary to dispose of them in the first place. Naturally, under the current circumstances, he would have gotten rid of them immediately…if only he would have remembered that they had still existed, collecting dust in some corner of a storage room. He was just a human being, too. He made mistakes from time to time as well. Though it kind of bothered him that he had seriously overlooked this obvious flaw until now.
Shu for his part could only curse mentally as he clenched his fists. He and Inori slowly ran out of alternatives and excuses to avoid the fate Argo had in store for them. Would he really be forced to go through with it? Was there no other way?
"It appears you understand, Shu. Good. Then please proceed. Take the gun and show us your loyalty." Argo demanded of him. He had never felt the need to spit someone into their face as much as he did now. He managed to restrain himself, though.
"I will give you one more chance, Argo." The king told him threateningly, anger clearly burning in his eyes as he spoke. "Call this stupid rebellion off. We will all go back to sleep and when morning comes, we will all just pretend that this was all just a horrible and stupid joke. And we will never speak of it again."
To his disappointment, though not to his surprise, the rebel leader only shook his head slowly once he had heard the offer.
"I can't do that, Shu. I wouldn't have gone so far if I hadn't thought it was absolutely necessary. I am already convinced that this is the only way. Now, Shu. Will you prove your loyalty or will you force us to ensure our own survival? The choice is yours, but please do choose fast. We don't have all night." The ex-soldier gestured towards the Undertaker who was still holding the pistol for Shu to take. The king couldn't help but clench his fists in anger as he looked down, making it impossible for everyone to see his eyes due to his hair obscuring the view.
He couldn't believe this was actually happening. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have encountered such a barbaric scenario. He? Killing Inori? If, by chance, a god had granted him a vision today, telling him that something like that would be happening later tonight, he would have laughed at him, calling him a god of lies. That's how ridiculous he had thought it to be. Not even when she had become Eve and he hadn't been sure what that would have meant for them yet, had he been able to envision himself going through with it. And now, despite the odds, when it had turned out that nothing would change for them, that they actually could keep going just like before, it was this…this rebellious scum who would ruin it all? Outrageous! To even think he had thought of Argo as a friend before…and don't even get him started on Juan…
He walked over to the Undertaker holding the pistol for him to take and he looked down on the weapon with scorn and disgust. So they meant for him to use this to kill his queen with his own hands? To put her down like a mere rabid dog? The sheer nerve of them...he started to wonder how they would like getting that treatment for themselves. Heck, he would go along with it if he could. To ask a man to kill the woman he loved for such a foolish reason such as proving loyalty. Screw loyalty! Who would want to be loyal to scum who operated like this? He gritted his teeth as he reluctantly raised his hand to grab the gun. Never before had his arm felt this heavy and slow and never before had a weapon felt so cold and repulsive as his fingers wrapped themselves around it. It was as if every fiber of his body was rejecting that piece of metal, unwilling to have any part in the foolishness it was to be used for. This was all so wrong.
Argo, however, seemed to be relieved, sporting a satisfied smile on his lips as he saw the king take the firearm.
"A wise decision, Shu. You will not regret it." He told him. What kind of joke was that supposed to be? Shu couldn't even laugh. He regretted it already and it wasn't even done yet. His eyes met the men's ones who had given him the gun. His expression immediately warped into one of surprise. This face…he knew it. Wasn't this one of the two newbies who had brought in the vaccines in the first place? This one was the bulkier one with black hair so…what was his name again? Yuuta? Yufka? Wait, wasn't it actually Yuita? Hell, who even cared! He grabbed the man by his collar and glared at him angrily, causing the man to meet his eyes with nothing but confusion in return.
"You…!" The king hissed in utter hatred. On closer inspection, the other guy, Ryusei, was it? He was standing not far behind him as well. These punks…
"I was the one who gave you a second chance. Without me, you wouldn't even be standing here! You dare do this to us now?" He spat at the man furiously. He seriously couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. Bad enough to have Argo on the rebel side, but even people he himself had showed kindness to? Does no one in this world even remember gratitude? Yuita only offered him a big smile, effectively catching the king off-guard.
"That's true. It was you, who had believed in us when everyone else had thought we were hopeless. This is why we chose to believe in you now, too. We will repay your kindness by reminding you who you really are. You are a hero, Shu. A hero who would put the world before even himself."
Shu only looked at him, totally dumbfounded. Was this guy serious? Ah, so that's how it was. He was actually dealing with idiots here. There was no other explanation to this stupidity.
"The world…? Last time I saved the world, did you know how I felt?" He asked him as he tightened the grip on his collar, clearly hurting him. He only shook his head helplessly.
"Would you like to know…? Should I show you?" The darkness and despair he had felt back then. It slowly returned to him now that he tried to remember it. How he had been done with the world. Even going as far as to wishing it would all just go away. Since he had been stuck into a world of darkness, shouldn't everyone else be burdened with it as well? That had been his thoughts for the first few weeks after he had made the public announcement of the apocalypse virus' disappearance. When he had seen everyone else beside him so happy, he had felt negative emotions such as envy and anger rise up inside him. Back then, he had secretly formed wishes to make others suffer like he had. His friends and mother had helped him to recover, to stay away from the path that would have undoubtedly led to his ruin. The dark thought had vanished as soon as they had appeared with no one beside him ever knowing that they had been there in the first place. But now, he kind of felt these wishes resurface. Wasn't it alright, though? These guys who tried to make him do stuff he didn't even want to think about…wouldn't they deserve such a treatment?
After all…when willing to take a life, shouldn't one be ready to get killed as well?
"Shu!" A sudden exclamation from Haruka brought him out of his thoughts. He realized that he had dropped the gun and was now raising the index and middle finger of his free hand to point directly at his victim's eyes, threatening to ram them into them, thus blinding him. As the man was staring at him in fear, some of the Undertakers had shifted their focus from Inori over to him, aiming their rifles directly at his head now. His friends seemed shocked and his queen downright terrified at the mere prospect of seeing her king getting shot.
"Don't shoot him!" She yelled as loudly as she could, clearly in panic. Then she added in a slightly quieter, almost helpless tone: "Please…"
This effectively brought Shu back to his senses. He immediately lowered his hand as he shook his head. This was followed by pushing the fool in his grip away forcibly, before he could even think about doing anything to him again. This had been close, he realized. Had this desperate situation caused him to lose control of the darkness he had assumed together with the voids of the prisoners he had taken during the last battle? Or was he actually losing control over his own darkness? He couldn't even tell anymore. Fucked up situations such as this made it hard to keep your inner demons in check, after all. And heck, he had lots of them hiding inside his heart, be it his own or the ones of others. It didn't matter. They all wanted to come out, nonetheless.
The problem was that he started believing that sometimes, they should. He was tired of keeping them in check. And at times like these, he just felt like giving in to them. But no matter if it was right or wrong, he clearly couldn't and shouldn't. For if he acted up now, he and Inori could end up both getting killed. That, certainly, wouldn't be worth it. And thus he managed to seal his dark thoughts back to where they belonged. Back into the deepest parts of his heart.
"Have you seen it when you looked into my eyes?" He eventually asked the man he had just pushed away, who was still staring at him in utter disbelief.
"This was only but a fraction of the darkness I felt back then. As you can see, I have always regretted the outcome. Put the world over myself a second time? Don't make me laugh. Not even the king of masochists would go along with that." He told him coldly as he picked up the gun he had dropped. A weak smile appeared on his lips.
"Then again…maybe I have a tendency to be masochistic…after all…why else do I keep showing kindness to people who just don't deserve it?" His smile became somewhat ominous as he now looked down on the man on the floor with utter contempt.
"Turns out Yahiro was right all along. I should have listened. I would have been better off had I just shot you guys on the spot. I wonder when I will finally learn that there are times in which kindness is required and then there are times when it's not. This is the price I keep paying for my foolishness." He grumbled the last bit as he turned around.
History always repeated itself, yet it was him who just never learned. There were people who deserved kindness, and there were people who clearly didn't. Showing too little was bad, but showing too much was equally bad, if not worse. After all, it led to Arisa now working with Da'ath. Or these guys now shamelessly helping Agro with that stupid plan of his. He should have never bothered. As he realized that, he felt something inside him break apart and fly away. He had the feeling it was his faith in humanity.
The brunette king eventually decided to address Argo again, expression purely serious.
"I understand that nothing I will say will get through that thick skull of yours, Argo. But there is something you will need to understand as well. Which is that betrayal always comes with a price. If you wish for me to go along with your scheme, you better be prepared to pay your price."
"It's not betrayal, Shu. It's setting you back on the right path." Argo merely replied to which the king only shook his head disapprovingly.
"Call your lunacy however you want, it won't change its nature. And I won't go along with it until you understand that if you ask me to pay the highest of prices, I will ask the same of you in return. Are you ready for that, Argo?"
The rebel leader frowned. "I came here with the intention of doing anything I need to set you back on course. State your price."
"Before I do that, let me confirm your wish. You want me to remove Inori from the picture, is that right?" Shu asked with scorn. Argo nodded confidently, despite the cold look of the king.
"Then the price for that is as follows: Once it is done, as soon as the sun rises again, the next time we meet, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
The rebels started yelling in protest, calling this deal unnecessary and urged Argo to refuse it. Shu nearly started to laugh at this display of bias. So it was fine to ask for Inori's death, yet Argo's was too much to ask for? Don't make him laugh.
"If you refuse to take responsibility for your actions, I will simply claim the lives of every Undertaker instead. I won't even care if they say they weren't part of this folly. I will judge them all regardless. I will either have my compensation, or you will have to kill me as well. What will it be, Argo?" Shu added to the man's pressure. He wouldn't allow him to get an easy way out. If he wanted to mess with him, then he would have to go through this torment. Argo wanted him to put the world before him? Let's see if he was willing to do the same.
The rebels immediately shut their traps, having heard that Argo's refusal would possibly mean their death's as well. So much for their loyalty, eh? Their leader himself had closed his eyes and folded his arms in front of him, apparently deep in thought. Everyone waited patiently for his response. Eventually, he opened his eyes again, finding Shu's ones with utter determination.
"I understand. If this is what you want in return, I will accept your terms. If you want me gone, I will leave."
Tsugumi stared at him in utter disbelief. "Are you serious? Just call this idiotic rebellion off and be done with it. There is no need for you to go this far for such a stupid thing, Argo." To her understanding, this was the only reason Shu even proposed such a harsh deal.
"I have come too far to back off now. If my banishment from the Undertakers is required for everyone else to get saved, then it is a small price to pay." He told her. After all, Shu stated that he had time until sunrise to leave, it was a merciful deal if you considered what Argo asked off him in return. He would accept it.
"Though the only reason I even gave you the chance to run is because we had been friends once. I would have asked for your head on the spot otherwise…" The king explained with a growl, realizing that Argo was serious when he said he would go along with it. It had been his last chance to pull back and he had thrown it away. Now there was no turning back anymore. He walked forward until he stood directly in front of Argo.
"So this is it, then? Inori's removal for your life? Are you sure?"
"Yes." He saw the king offer him his hand, though not in the slightest bit friendly as his facial expression was the embodiment of hostility. To seal the deal, Argo took it anyway and despite the fact that Shu's grip on him was a tad bit too strong, he avoided crying out in pain. Eventually, the king let go of him.
"Then it is done. The next time we meet, you will be a dead man, Argo. Don't forget that."
"It's sad that it came down to this, Shu." The man said, but Shu had already turned around and walked away, showing him how little he cared about him anymore. Their friendship was over.
"You have no one but yourself to blame for that." Was all he said in response.
When he finally found his way over to Inori, all his anger and bitterness got replaced by sadness. Not a single word had to be uttered between them, for the look they were giving each other at this moment said it all. Their regret, their unwillingness…it was all too obvious that neither of them truly wanted this.
He wanted her to be angry with him, to resent him for his readiness to go through with this, yet all he saw was a kind and understanding, though also sad smile. It was as if she told him: "If this is your wish, then I will embrace death for you." It made him look away, pained to even look at her. How could she be so willing to die for him? This was not at all what he wanted. But perhaps she knew that, since his feelings were constantly reaching her. Maybe it was because of that, that she chose to accept her fate so readily…
"I never thought it would come down to this…" He told her with a pained sounding voice, looking down on the pistol in his left hand.
"Me neither…" She looked down in sadness as well.
"Are you afraid?" He saw her shaking her head. Brave girl.
"Then you are stronger than me." He responded to that with a weak smile, looking down on his slightly shaking hand. "I don't want to do this, Inori…" His voice was now a whisper, barely even audible. He was scared of what was to become of them now. Their future sure would look bleak from now on. That was the moment he felt her putting her arms around him, pulling him closer while gently stroking his hair.
"Don't be afraid, Shu. Everything will be fine. Whatever is to happen to me, I will always be at your side. I promised as such, did I not?" She said to him kindly.
"You did." Another smile appeared on his lips. This time a slightly relieved one. It was as if her voice was able to give him new strength. With new resolve, he answered her: "And I have not the slightest intention of handing you over to anyone. Not even death." He took her into his arms as well, holding her close.
"Then death shall not have me." He heard her whisper into his ear. He nodded at that. Their little moment was, however, rudely interrupted by Argo clearing his throat. The king turned around to him with a scowl, but eventually separated from his queen, offering her a sad look again.
"Close your eyes, Inori." He forced those words out of him as he slowly lifted the pistol to direct the harmful end at her. She complied with no hesitation. Not the slightest bit of fear was present on her eyes before they vanished behind her eyelids.
The Genesis apparently couldn't take it anymore. An uproar started in which they all yelled for him to stop.
"Don't do it, my king!"
"There must be another way!"
"Just give us the word and we will kill this rebel scum in your and the queen's name!"
Their oppressors immediately tried to shut them up, but to no avail. The Genesis would not calm down like this. Meanwhile, the Undertakers who were still pointing their rifles at Inori and Shu were roaring as well, though the contents of their roars differed greatly form the words the Genesis uttered.
"What are you waiting for?"
"This is for the best of everyone!"
The last word had Juan: "Do it!"
Then the king pulled the trigger…
As if that would have ever happened.
Instead, in his void hand a small, baseball-like void appeared. He pressed the button on its surface and threw it up high into the air, followed by looking away. The small orb made a small mechanical noise as the hull opened up and revealed a gleaming light to its surroundings, blinding everyone but him who was looking away and his queen, who had her eyes closed. While everyone was exclaiming their surprise and covered their eyes in pain, Shu summoned Ayase's void to him next, allowing it to wrap itself around his legs. He immediately started levitating above the ground, followed by him grabbing his queen hastily and pulling her over his shoulder, catching her by surprise.
"Shu?"
"Hold on tight, Inori. We are making a run for it." That's right, as if he would ever kill his beloved queen. Screw these Undertakers! They could all go to hell for all he cared. He would come back for the Genesis, his friends and family later, but first, he needed to get Inori into safety, away from these lunatics. He lifted off, heading straight for one of the skylights present on the roof.
"As if I would let you!" Juan appeared to recover the fastest and attempted to get in their way by blocking their path. Little did he expect the king to not care either way. Instead of trying to slow down or avoid him, he flew right at him, knowing fully well that the islander would not launch his explosives at him in close quarter combat as he would also stand risk of damaging himself.
"Wha-?" He didn't manage to utter more than that, getting frontally tackled and knocked off his void. Instead of falling down towards the ground, however, he got dragged around by the king, who pushed him forward, using him like a human shield as he attempted to break through the thick glass of the window.
"Wait!" Juan tried to say but got ignored. The king mercilessly rammed him against the window, causing it to break as they slammed against it. The younger man cried out in pain and blood ran down his face, signaling that he must have gotten cut during the event. The people below ran away from the shards of glass that now rained down on them.
"Don't let them escape!" The few rebel Genesis that had joined Juan's cause now regained their vision as well. They yelled after them and one of them aimed his void at the fleeing monarchs which was a grappling hook launcher. Once shot, the projectile flew straight at the king. Inori who saw that, tried to warn Shu, but there was too little time. The brunette man could only see the pointy gadget fly straight at his leg and managed to dispel Ayase's void just in time to avoid letting it get harmed. Unfortunately, his leg was not that lucky. It pierced right through his left lower leg and once it came out on the other side, it extended the mechanical actual grappling hook claws, which took a firm hold of the limp, clasping it tightly with its mechanical strength.
"Guargh!" Shu could not withhold a painful scream once the object made contact with him. He was sure he had felt his bones break once when the accused void had went through his leg and once more after the claws had grabbed him. Furthermore, since Ayase's void got dispelled, they all fell on top of the roof, though luckily, the fall wasn't very high. Juan and Inori managed to land safely by rolling off, where Shu only managed to crash onto the building clumsily, getting obstructed by the pain in his leg and the grappling hook that now pulled on him.
"I got him!" They heard the void user exclaim happily, followed by other ones telling him to reel him back in quickly. He must have used an automatic retrieve-function, since the hook started pulling him back rather quickly and brutally. It hurt like hell. He summoned Yahiro's shears in an attempt to cut loose, but the speed in which he got pulled back combined with his tears that obstructed his view, he only managed to flail around in vain, missing the string that the hook was attached to constantly. This was bad, if nothing was done, he would eventually get pulled back into the window and fall several meters deep into his doom, unless they managed to catch him, which he didn't expect them to do.
"Shu!" Luckily, his queen came to his help in time. Running up to him, she formed a crystal blade in her right hand and mercilessly cut the line that dragged her king back into the lion's den without a second thought. The void broke apart soon after, with the corresponding void user's cries reaching their ears from the room below. Sadly, with the void gone, the gaping hole in Shu's leg allowed his blood to spill out, making Inori's eyes open wide. She quickly removed her overcoat and started wrapping it around his wound tightly to slow down the blood loss, hoping it would do for now. At least until they were safe enough to give him some proper treatment for it.
"Can you stand, Shu? We have to hurry!" She asked him worriedly, to which he only winced in pain.
"My leg's broken." He told her, trying to bear with the pain. She helped him up by lending him her shoulder. "God, this hurts so bad…"
She saw how Ayase's void reappeared on him, however, only on his good leg. She wasn't sure if Shu deliberately only summoned half of it, or if the void itself would not allow him to equip the other half on his bad leg. It seemed to work, though, but the output was weak. He wouldn't be able to fly very fast with it and extravagant maneuvers would probably be impossible as well. He quickly picked her up again with both his arms this time and attempted to fly off, when all of a sudden Juan decided to interfere again.
"You are going nowhere!" He said as he clung to Shu's good leg, throwing him off balance and preventing him from flying properly.
"The queen must die while she is still pure! She cannot be allowed to become another Mana!" He yelled while Shu tried to shake him off.
"Let go of me, you damn traitor!" Shu growled angrily. He would kick him off if only he could move his bad leg. That was when Inori finally managed to get a hold of him, grabbing him by the hood of his coat. He immediately responded by grabbing her hand as soon as he saw that Shu had put some distance between the ground and himself. If he were to fall now, things would end up ugly.
"You have caused this, haven't you?" He then heard her say with narrowed eyes and gulped once he realized that he was now in the grasp of the person he had just tried to kill.
"I…I have. But, my queen! I did it for you!" He told her truthfully.
"For me?" She asked with suspicion in her voice.
"Yes! I just couldn't stand seeing you become another Mana! I had to protect my queen from herself!" He explained to her desperately. But the queen's expression only darkened.
"You made people point weapons at children…"
"Ah but we never intended to…" He tried to dish out excused, but Inori wouldn't let him finish.
"You got Shu hurt…" His eyes widened once he heard the hostility in her voice.
"It…it wasn't me, your grace!"
"All for such a stupid reason…Mana here, Mana there. I am not Mana. Mana is gone. I am Inori, no one else!"
"I…I know! I was wrong. Forgive me!" He pleaded, now with tears in his eyes. Looking down, he could see the streets of Yokohama from quite a few meters above ground level. It clearly unnerved him. Especially since gravity continued to pull him down, causing him to lose his grip on her.
"Don't listen to him, Inori." Shu butted in with a grunt, still in quite some pain. "He is an ass who betrayed us out of stupid paranoia. Someone who does not understand that you are you and only you, does not deserve forgiveness. Besides, he is quite heavy…"
"Shu…" She looked at him with sympathy, especially once she saw his badly hurt leg. Then she closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh, followed by looking at Juan again.
"I forgive you, Juan. For falsely believing I would become Mana. It seems I will never get rid of that burden…" She said sadly. Shu could only bite his lower lip in disdain. He wished he could say something to prove her wrong about that, but sadly, people like Juan were living proof to her worries. Apparently, people would continue to compare her to his late sister even if she was already gone. He hated it, especially since it showed how little people understood of her, but he couldn't change it. At least not now. Eventually he would, though. Some day for sure. He would show it to them all.
"Thank you! Thank you very much!" Juan suddenly exclaimed happily. Of course he would, Shu thought. Inori's kindness had saved him yet again. Even though he didn't deserve it. Shu disagreed with her decision, but would accept it if it was her wish.
Both men had thought that this was the end of that, only to get surprised by Inori's sudden change in tone. The sadness and disappointment from before vanished and got replaced by seriousness, combined with a harsh, judging look in her eyes.
"However, for endangering the Genesis and hurting Shu…I won't."
The islander's eyes got suddenly filled with despair and his mouth slowly opened up from shock as he realized what her words meant. He saw her look down on her hand that still held him and panic befell him.
"No, wait…!"
"You have served me well for many years, Juan. For that, I thank you." She told him with a monotonous voice.
"I was deceived! Mercy!" He begged loudly, looking down every once in a while in absolute horror.
"However, your services are no longer needed, therefore I release you of your duties." She continued.
"No…" Shu saw him shedding tears of regret. It was too late now. No mercy for traitors. They did not deserve any kindness. Not from him, nor Inori.
The trio then suddenly saw a whirling mass of silver thread flying over their way. Juan visibly rejoiced once he realized that it was his void returning to him. If he used it…
"I will be taking this…" The islander's eyes widened as he saw the king's void glow, followed by it absorbing the silver threads that made up his void before they could return to its original possessor.
"Wait, I promise to take it and never return. You will never see me again! Just give it back to me, please! I beg you!"
However, the king's expression remained mostly stoic, though he couldn't quite hide the troubles he had with his leg.
"If you aim for someone's life, always be ready to lose yours in return. You attempted to kill Inori, so this is the price you will have to pay for that crime."
"You can't do that! You have no right!" Juan objected heavily, only to get silenced by Inori.
"He can. For he is Adam, and I am Eve. Those who hurt us will not be forgiven. This is farewell, Juan Diaz. May you find peace in death."
"Please, my queen…don't do this!"
Said woman looked down on him coldly. "I am your queen no longer."
She let go.
"No, no, no, noooo!"
The cries of the falling man echoed through the dark night and grew fainter the more he distanced himself from them through the help of gravity. Soon his voice subsided, leaving the two monarchs to the silence of the night. That was until Shu decided to break it.
"It is done." He informed his queen of the man's demise as he felt the void he had taken slowly crumble away in his void arm. The pink haired woman who rested in his arms did not look pleased, nor sad. Just tired, as if the action had somewhat drained her.
"Strangely enough, it wasn't the slightest bit pleasant." She told him in return.
"I don't think it is meant to be. That didn't make it wrong, though."
"You think so, too?" She saw him nod.
"Being a good queen does not mean you never get to do stuff like this. Neither does being a good king." He suddenly winced and held Inori tighter, out of fear he would accidentally drop her.
"Are you okay, Shu?" She asked him worriedly. "Is it your injury?"
"Yes, the pain is…quite bothersome." He said with a hiss as he looked down on his broken leg. Blood slowly dripped from the cloth Inori had wrapped around it. The burning sensation slowly drove him mad. He tried to not move it that much, knowing it was better that way, but being in midair, it was somewhat impossible.
"We need to find a place for you to rest…" His queen said determinedly. "Your wound needs treatment as soon as possible…"
"But there is…nowhere to go…" Shu had to admit tiredly. His home was most likely still under watch, same with the homes of his friends. The hospital was a clear no-go, too. But wait, hospital? It wasn't quite the same thing, but there was a promising alternative. It may not really offer much in terms of treatment, but at least it would serve as a good temporary hideout.
"I know of a place we might be able to stay at…let's go." He saw Inori giving him an agreeing nod, thus he set himself into motion, hoping he would get to lie down soon before his pain would kill him.
And just like that, the silhouettes of the two runaway monarchs vanished into the darkness of the cold winter night, with no one but themselves knowing where their destination lied.
For the first time in forever, they were completely alone again, with no followers to stand behind them.
They were not exactly sure yet if that was a good or a bad thing….but one thing was for sure.
Even if they had been betrayed…even if they were alone…they still had each other
And as long as that was the case, nothing could bring them down. Absolutely nothing. It was what they thought, at least.
Hopefully, they were right.
You would not BELIEVE how often I had actually thought about adding "For the night is dark and full of terrors" there at the end. Bloody hell.
Well, that's that. The Undertakers rebelled with the help of Juan who now got what he deserved. My original plans had actually foreseen for him to survive until the next chapter where he would have gotten a slightly less...fatal punishment, but I came up with this scenario, which I ended up liking even more. So he bit the dust earlier. No mercy for traitors!
Let's hope Argo at least is smart enough to actually never cross Shu's way again.
Speaking of Shu, the poor guy is in quite some trouble. A bothersome injury ails him and finding treatment won't be exactly easy in a world in which he cannot simply seek out a doc. If only he had Hare's void with him, huh. Sadly, he doesn't.
This will lead to an interesting situation in which he and Inori will have to fend for themselves for a while. Curious how they would handle the situation? Tune in again next time to find out. It's definitely not going to become boring in the near future.
That said, the second arc is almost over. It will conclude either next chapter or the one after that, depending on whether I will have to split things up again or not. The finale will be also something I have been looking forward to write for a very long time, so look forward to it.
As always, I hope you enjoyed! Leave me your reviews telling me what you thought. Always happy to receive them!
