Chapter thirty-seven.
Poor Tenten...actually, poor Deidara, and Neji and everyone else.
I do not own Umineko no Naku Koro Ni or Naruto!
Deidara held onto Tenten's body tightly, refusing to let go. However, Neji ran over to him and threw him back, away from her corpse. Tenten fell forwards onto the floor, her head hitting the carpet with a wet sounding 'thud'. Deidara stumbled and sat down next to the bed, his eyes still haunted as if he was finding it all too hard to take in.
"Leave her alone! We need to leave the scene as it is for when the ANBU get here!" Exclaimed Neji desperately, although his face was just as pale as Deidara's.
"So…these really are the fourth through to the sixth twilights." Deidara said, his face now hidden in the shadow of his blonde hair as his fell across his eyes.
"Which means the ninth twilight is next. Tell me, Hanabi, what was the ninth twilight supposed to be?" Asked Neji as he turned to his young cousin.
"On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive and none shall be left alive." Hanabi said quietly.
"So, does this mean that we are all going to die?" Deidara found himself asking no-one in particular.
The only noise in the main hallway was the ticking of the huge grandfather clock as the depleted and dispirited group headed back to the drawing room. No-one said anything whatsoever until they reached the door and Neji took out one of the keys he held.
"Thank you, Kakuzu." Neji said to the Akatsuki member, his face impassive before he unlocked the door and walked inside with Hanabi.
"I will be in the kitchen if anything happens." Kakuzu replied before turning around and leaving the hallway, heading down on of the side corridors to the kitchen.
Deidara slipped inside the drawing room after Neji and Hanabi, his face full of anger.
"What the hell? How can you just leave Kakuzu out there on his own? I mean, I don't exactly like the guy, but he could easily be killed!" Deidara asked loudly, his eyes narrowed.
The jounin didn't answer, but shut the door after they had passed through and locked it again.
"Neji!" Began Deidara, but gave it up. It was pointless arguing right now.
Neji crossed the room, turning on the lights and checking the immediate surroundings for any dangers. Once he reached the other side of the room, he looked out of the tall arched window at the rain and dark sky outside. The rain seemed lighter than before, but the clouds still covered the sky, blocking out any feeble light from the thin moon or the stars. He sighed as he closed the thick velvet curtains.
Deidara had made some way into the room when he noticed something on the coffee table beside him. It was an envelope, identical to the pale ones that had contained the letters from the witch so far. He picked it up, tore open the seal and tipped out the creamy paper inside. There were two sheets, one on which was written another of those strange symbols, and the other that contained a short note.
His eyes scanned the paper as he read silently: 'Are you making any progress on the epitaph? I should hurry, time is running out. The ninth twilight is coming.'
"Hey, Deidara! What is that?" Hanabi asked, leaning over and looked at the paper with interest.
"Hanabi! Come and stand here next to me!" Commanded Neji.
There was a click as Neji's grip tightened on the heavy gun as he pointed it straight at Deidara, his eyes cold and narrowed.
"What are you doing?" Asked Deidara incredulously as he took a step backward.
"Now I know that you are a wolf." Neji growled, Hanabi walking over ho him and siding close to his side, her eyes wide and full of apprehension.
"Wait, why are you suspecting me?"
"You are the only one who could have put that letter there. Unless you can prove to me that it was not you but someone else, then in my eyes you are a wolf!"
Deidara looked from Neji to the note in his hand, and then back to Neji.
"But then you too are suspicious! You could have slipped that letter onto the table silently as we came in, leaving it for me to find!" he declared pointing at Neji accusatorially.
"If I wanted to kill you I would have shot you with this gun long ago!" Countered Neji.
"What does that prove? Yeah, you've been suspicious from the start! So we trust you with the gun, and suddenly people start dying left right and centre? Plus, you seemed to know where the key to the chapel was all along!" Growled Deidara.
Neji clenched his teeth and the gun clicked ominously.
"Please stop it!" Cried a voice.
Hanabi had thrown herself between Deidara and Neji, her small hands balled into tight fists, shaking by her sides. Her face was desperate and tears had welled up in her wide pale eyes.
"Please don't fight!" She cried, "This isn't your fault! It isn't Deidara or Neji's fault! The witch did it all with her magic!"
Neji looked about to argue, but sighed, his arms relaxing. Deidara also looked at the floor in shame, walking backwards before collapsing into an arm chair.
"You…you're right, Hanabi. I'm sick of suspecting each other like this." Deidara said quietly.
He put a hand to his face, his shoulders shuddering.
"It was all the witch…the witch is the culprit," Deidara said before throwing his head back, his eyes wide and desperate, as he yelled, "SO PLEASE, JUST SHOW YOURSELF! I BEG YOU!"
Deidara stood up, his fists shaking. His face was drawn and his teeth clenched as a result of a mixture of fury and despair. He turned and walked towards the door, unlocking it, opening it, and slipping outside.
"Seeing as you no-longer trust me, I'll go. I'll be…in the dining room…if you need me." He said quietly once more, before he disappeared.
Meanwhile, a cracked voice penetrated the silence of the study, a room that lay at he end of the corridor on the first floor, of which the door was locked. The voice was distraught, begging, and almost hysterical.
"Beatrice! Why do you keep yourself from me? Why can't you show yourself to me again? Please, let me see you smile!"
There was a pause as the owner of the voice looked up at the portrait on the wall, a painting identical to the huge one of Beatrice in the hallway.
"I need you! I love you! BEATRICE!"
At that moment, Deidara was sitting in one of the many elaborate wooden chairs that surrounded the great table in the dining room of the mansion. He wasn't doing anything in particular, mostly just staring at the mouth in his hand, hardly believing it was there.
He longed for something to take his mind off of the whole business; he wanted to create his art again. However, without his chakra this was impossible. Even when he reached into his bags of clay that were attached to his belt and tried to form the usual shapes of the birds and spiders, he just couldn't do it.
Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. He sighed, not bothering to look up and see who it was.
"It's not locked." He said loud enough for them to hear.
The door swung open and a person walked in.
"Deidara, I think it's time you learnt what's going on." Said Kakuzu in his usual unreadable voice.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Asked Deidara, his head turning to look at Kakuzu in confusion.
"However, I think you ought to hear it from the master and…her." Kakuzu continued, before turning and motioning for Deidara to follow.
Deidara got to his feet and walked after Kakuzu's retreating form, totally perplexed. The masked Akatsuki member led him up the richly carpeted staircase and across the empty hallway on the first floor. Deidara averted his gaze from the bloody door that led into Konan's room in which the dead bodies of Shikamaru, Hidan and Tenten remained.
"Kakuzu, what's going on?" He asked, but Kakuzu would not reply.
They stopped outside a door that was more elaborate and decorated in its carving than the others. It stood at the end of the hallway, and Deidara wondered why neither he nor the others had ventured inside before. Without warning, the door swung open and Kakuzu walked inside, Deidara following.
"What the hell…?" Breathed Deidara in surprise.
The room was filled with shining golden light from dozens and dozens of fluttering golden butterflies that shimmered and danced around them. It was also filled with an eerie, whistling singing sound that set Deidara's teeth on edge.
"Ah, good of you to join us!" Purred a rich and yet cruel voice from a deep red armchair in the centre of the room.
Deidara's eyes widened in shock as he took in the sight of the majestic woman before him. However, they widened even further as he noticed who was sitting beside her in an identical armchair, their face tense and distracted. He opened his mouth, his words barely more than a whisper.
"Tobi?"