Welcome back! Reviews! LET´S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!
ultima-owner: Well, that would be the best case scenario, now wouldn´t it? Come on, you know me by now. That will never happen. Someone needs to suffer for my inadequacies.
RedBurningDragon: Oh, well, they don´t know that Kokabiel´s a thing just yet, so I doubt they´ll properly train at all, after all, there is a certain event that is far more pressing than badly written waraddicts...
CrowSkull: No, who are you?
Just kidding, nice to see you again! Also, nice to hear you´ve begun writing yourself! And while I´m not really into/have never really interacted RWBY and Watch Dogs (plus all the other franchises you´ve included in your story, unfortunately), I do wish you all the best! A crossover is always an ambitious project, but what you´re doing is borderline insane. And that is perfect! Keep at it! Ißm sure your story will turn out great! Maybe I´ll have a change of heart sometime, and give it a read.
THEN, YOU SHALL FEEL THE POWER OF
THE REVIEW OF A TRUE GRAMMAR NAZI.
Also, not gonna kinkshame you. That is the job of tumblr, reddit, and 4chan. And the porn sites´ commenters. Seriously though, who leaves a comment on porn? Why is that a thing?
Goldenclaw: Well, the first parts of this will take that last sentence to the next level.
Everyone, before you start, I will make an announcement at the end of this chapter concerning the organization of the updates, so please, read it. Because I would hate having to make people think that the story is dead, when in actuality, the answer was in the closing statement the whole time.
ALSO, 20k. We broke it, guys. That bar is now so short because I tripled the usual word count minimum. 9000-12000 words. Weirdly enough, I hope we never break 30k. That would mean 12000-16000…oh, and fyi, 69 follows. Kek.
One last thing. There is a part in this chapter which is extremely violent, and openly describes torture, followed by what is borderline rape. If you´re offended by that, watch for the quote "Absolute violation". That´s where it begins. It ends at "Don´t worry, everything will be alright." So, if you decide to read that part, don´t come crying to me. Though, since you´ve come this far, you should know how fucked up my mind is, so this may be wholly unnecessary.
Prepare for feels.
It took him a while to process her words. As she snuggled closer to him, something in him snapped, and he let go. As his arms fell to the floor, she seized up, and started sniffling. "Tatsuo..:? Are you there…? Please, don´t let go…" she whispered, the sorrow returning in full force as she began to bawl, holding him as tightly to her as she could. He might´ve choked to death at that rate, but he was too numb to care.
She confessed her love to him? Pain.
After all he had done? Betrayed.
After all the suffering he had made her go through? Abandoned.
He had given her nothing, only taken her eyes, and she responded by giving him her heart? Guilt.
And even that trust he had betrayed earlier, with Akeno. Betrayed.
Instinct had been right all along. Pain.
How had he been so blind? Guilt.
He was a monster. Hurt. Himself.
The image of a teenage girl flew through his mind. DEATH.
"With you, our world withers and dies. You are the end." DEATH.
She had been right all this time. DEATH.
He had no place in this world, neither the Free World, nor this one.
HE WOULD BE OF BETTER USE TO THIS WORLD IF HE WERE DEAD.
He remembered something. In his final briefing in the Hive, he was told about it. The kill switch. It was located right in his heart, where the young devil was pressing her head onto him. If he were ever to be captured, he should press it. Better dead than detrimental to the Hive. A lot of good that did him as he couldn´t even use it when he was captured. The switch had to be activated by hand for some reason, so he couldn´t do it back then. But now? There was nothing stopping him. Better dead than detrimental to the world.
Slowly, he raised his hand, placing it on Koneko´s head, making her freeze. She began to sigh as she realized that he still cared, but that lasted nary a second, as he pulled her off of him, and she fell onto the ground. She cried out in surprise, asking him what was wrong. But he didn´t care. Every word she spoke in concern for him strengthened his emotions and hastened his movements. He placed his hand upon his chest, and, after a second, pushed down. The skin seemed to give way, turning into a liquid, as it seemed. His hand burrowed into his flesh, and slowly, he made his way toward his heart. His selfish, vile, worthless heart.
As Koneko began to panic, footsteps could be heard outside. He should get this over quickly. He would not let them stand in his way for redemption. His fingers then found it, the seemingly still heart. It served him well throughout his fights. In a peaceful situation, it beat less than ten times a minute. If in a battle, that number skyrocketed and pierced the damn heavens. But that would never happen again. The footsteps got louder. Right as they were outside the door, he found it. It was flat and cold, and felt like glass to the touch. Behind this surface was the kill switch. With no hesitation, he plunged his fingers through the glasslike surface, and that is when he felt it. It was a tiny, tiny switch. Like a lever of sorts. How that was built into his heart, he would never know. And to be honest, he didn´t want to. The door flew open, and with one final breath, Koneko screaming for him, he flipped it.
DARKNESS.
He was standing on a wooden platform, amidst the dark. It was flowing around the small wooden structure, like a calm sea. He watched it as it splashed, listened to the waves, and it was then that he began to wonder just where he was. Was this heaven? Sure didn't look like it. Hell, perhaps? After all, that was the place he belonged. No, from what he was told by Asia, Hell was a fiery place. He looked around. There was nothing on this platform. Except a path leading over the ocean, further into the abyss. Nary a thought was on his mind, and he saw no other way out. So he began walking on it, deeper and deeper into the black mist. As he continued walking, he took notice of a headache that was starting to build up. It served him right. Any pain he might feel was justified. He made his way over the walkway, which seemed to lead nowhere, and yet he continued onward, through the dark. It was after a long time that he thought to make out something on the horizon. It was a hole. How there was a hole in an abyss, he could not figure out, yet there it was. As he got closer, something seemed to change in the air around him. Instead of being calm like the ocean, this was feeling like a storm, a hurricane fit to destroy entire countries.
He continued onward. Much later, after a long walk, he finally arrived at the salt in this soup of tar. The hole he had seen earlier, wind seemingly blowing from the other side was causing the hurricane. It was about as big as the school gate, around two meters in width, and twice as high as Tatsuo himself. He wanted to walk around it, explore the rest of the abyss, but there was a tiny issue with that. The hole was the only place to go. In front of him was a huge wall, too big to even see the top. And so, the path ended. He began examining the hole. It looked like it used to be smaller, but then was enlarged by something funnelling through it and expanding. From the other side.
But what was far more interesting, was what was at the end. Light. Heaven, he assumed. Why Heaven would try to bust down this wall, or why it existed at all, he did not know, but that was not really important. It might even be Hell, though why that gate would be here, he did not know either. Hell was actually far more probable in his case. Tentatively, he touched the edges of the hole, and felt a jolt run through his arm. He quickly pulled back, panting as he did so. The shock was far stronger than anything he´d ever felt. He felt himself trembling. Trembling at this massive surge of electricity. He gulped, and told himself that this must be some sort of test concocted by God to see if he was worthy of entering Heaven, or punishment for those that had to go to Hell, like him. When that occurred to him, he stopped shaking, and a dark grimace formed itself on his face. How dare anyone question his strength, his ability to atone? This was nothing.
Without fear, he stepped through. His first step was reciprocated with an immense discharge, causing his body to convulse heavily. But he refused to give in. In comparison to the pain he´d dealt onto others, this was but a breeze. He could take it. He would take it. His steps got surer the further he walked into the broken wall, closer and closer to the light, the salvation he so craved. But though he was getting surer in his steps, the resistance grew as well, burning his skin with white lightning that shot from the walls. This was nothing. He bore the pain with a grim expression, forging onward with only one goal in mind: reaching the light, and asking for punishment to repent for what he´d done. Finally, he could see the tunnel´s end. He would not admit it, but he was nearing his limit. And so, with one last, pain-stricken step, he stepped out of the tunnel, and into the light.
What he found was not what he had expected. It was another wooden platform, hovering over an ocean. The difference was the blue sky with the sun brilliantly shining on the landscape, or lack thereof, and the crystal-clear water, with fish swimming just beneath the surface, sometimes jumping into the air. He had read about those once. He forgot the name, but those kinds of fish did exist. Weirded out, he looked around. This was nothing like the other side. Just where was he? And if this was Heaven, where the hell was God? And if this was Hell, where were the fires that eternally burned the souls of the guilty to make them atone? He soon found the answer to his first question, as the walkway lead to what seemed to be a dock, and at it´s side was a ship. Not large, mind you, just large enough to hold a single cabin. Perhaps, this was where God resided. Though this was nothing like Asia told him it would look like. Shrugging, Tatsuo made his way over there, and as he did, he took note of the smell. Crisp, salty air made it´s way into his lungs. It was refreshing. So this was how the sea smelled like? He shook his head. He may be dead, but that didn´t mean that he had time for this nonsense. He hastened his step, and once he arrived at the dock, he took a minute to examine the ship.
It was made entirely of wood, with a large sail hissed over what seemed to be the one cabin that it could hold. The window was closed, only dark being visible. It looked like any old model of a sailing ship. He tried to look for a name. He found it, but for some reason, it was blurry and unreadable. The only letters he could make out were ´Agnès, …beloved…peace.´ Between were many undecipherable words, which piqued his curiosity, but not enough for him to care about it, especially not with the more pressing matter at hand. He walked onto the ship, and was immediately greeted by the door, right next to the dock. How convenient. He lifted his hand, and knocked. After but a few seconds, it was opened, and something weird stood in front of him. It was a weird, white silhouette of a person, with no features. Yet he could tell that he/she/God was in shock, from it´s posture. "But…how…why…you…!" Hang on just a minute. He recognized that voice.
"Well, shit…´sup, Tatsuo? Welcome to the other half of our mind. Do make yourself at home." Yep, it was Instinct. He walked into the cabin, and was shown a seat at a table, a small wooden one, like the rest of the ship. It had some notes on it, but they were taken off rather quickly. Once the both of them were seated, Instinct began to talk. "I would offer you something to drink, but, ya know. All in your head. Won´t exactly matter if I do. Mainly because I can´t. I´ll get straight to the point. What are you doing here? Wondering about the barricade?" Tatsuo explained the situation, how he had affirmed his love with Akeno, but was immediately confronted by his guilt in the blinding of Koneko, who then decided to confess to him, and how his guilt made him commit suicide. Instinct just sat back and listened, his non-existent expression never changing, though his grunts, snorts, and sighs were enough to communicate his opinions on the matter. Finally, once Tatsuo was done with the story, Instinct began to scratch his head as he sighed, seemingly in frustration, before standing up. "Alright. I want you to listen closely to me. Just listen, sit back, and think about what I´m about to say." He said, before violently kicking over the table and grabbing his other half by the neck, smashing him into the ground in an instant.
"You stupid, dense, selfless idiot! Why do you insist on taking responsibility for something you had no part in, much less could actually stop?! It was Koneko´s fault that that happened to her! She let down her guard, not you! You were busy fighting off a much larger threat, something that might have not blinded her, but outright killed her!" He screamed with all his might, pummelling Tatsuo over and over again, miraculously not breaking anything in the cabin. There was enough power behind each strike to cause large waves to begin on the water. With each strike, Tatsuo lost a little more of his breath, and soon the world began to turn dark.
"You assume that you are responsible for them, that you are the one that must protect them from every last thing before they become ´adults´! You know what?! If they never actually fight themselves and learn of the dangers in a fight, then they´ll never become those ´adults´ you want them to be! And that's what you want, too, isn´t it?! You just want to feel superior to them for their entire life!" With a grunt, Instinct began his last assault, the punches stronger than ever. Tatsuo could barely remain conscious, much less aware of the pain. But those words, he could hear loud and clear. Instinct calmed down significantly after the final assault, taking a moment to take a breath for the last part of his speech.
"Tatsuo. There is something I want you to learn. Selflessness is bad for you. Remember that one guy with the principle that an action is only morally valuable if you yourself actually do not only not benefit from it, but actually lose something because of it? Well, I want to tell you a little something. That right there is the path to self-destruction. You´ve experienced as much. So I want you to just be as selfish as you can for a while. Enjoy yourself, and don´t feel guilty about it. Those books are mostly written by idealistic fools. They never actually adhered to those rules they wrote down. So if you enjoy a fight, then trust that the others can take care of themselves." He continued, getting off of the man on the ground.
"You think too much for your own good. Once something like this happens, and you failed to account for it, you immediately try to end it all. It´s kind of pathetic." Instinct stated matter-of-factly, which caused Tatsuo to clench his fist. How dare he talk about him like that?! With one quick motion, he got up, ready to return the pain he was feeling. But Instinct caught his fist with such ease that his bravado dissipated immediately. He had forgotten that Instinct was still hiding power, power far surpassing his own. Why did he even think that he had a chance?
His arm slacked, and Instinct let out a tired sigh. "Well, there you go. Act exactly like that outside this place." He said, making Tatsuo seize up for a second. "Just don´t use your head too much out there, and listen to your heart. For instance, if your head tells you to flip the switch, don´t do it. What I´m trying to get at is very simple. When you get out there, and those two girls cry again because of your stupidity, tell them what you feel. Well, actually, scratch that. Show them what you feel." He finished, giving the man an encouraging clap on the shoulder. Though he seemed to be sceptical.
"Oh yeah, you still think that the switch killed ya. Well, it didn´t. Only knocks you out, mainly because of me. As long as that switch is flipped, it´ll try to destroy the consciousness inside our body, but since there are two of us, it can´t identify the target. So basically, it just divides it´s power between us, which is just enough to send us to this place. You know, our mind. You can technically access it whenever you want, but I guess you don´t really know how, huh? I´ll teach you one day, but first, go back to your side. I would prefer some privacy in here. After all, this is the most literal definition of personal space, is it not?" And with that conclusion, he threw his other half out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him. Tatsuo, to say the least, was bewildered, and a million thoughts went through his mind. Why did he feel like Instinct was right? Could he trust him? Or was this an attempt to manipulate him? Whatever it was, it was safer to not follow his advice and…
In that moment, the faces of the two girls entered his head, halting all thoughts and replacing them with one, simple feeling: the urge to protect them, to cherish them, to love them. Yes, he loved them, both to an equal extent, he knew that, he felt that, without a single doubt in his heart. He would not be able to live without them. Lifting his head, he nodded to himself, and marched forward, back to the great wall. On the other side, he saw how the darkness had begun to stir, forming larger waves that hit the walkway, but he continued on without fear. The tunnel was shock-free now, so his walk was unopposed, and once he reached the other side, he felt his heartbeat once again, reinvigorated. On the other side, Instinct watched through the window how his other half walked away, and sighed. "I should tell him. This is a matter that threatens both our very existences, and yet…perhaps I should study this more before I make any hasty conclusions." He muttered to himself, before bringing all the stuff back on the table, rearranging the cabin and sitting back down to review his notes. "You´d think that because this is my mind, I wouldn´t actually have to physically move these bloody things…"
Tatsuo took a deep breath of the air. It smelled like some sort of flower now. How weird. He could´ve sworn that it didn´t smell like this earlier. The darkness was wilder now, but he ignored it, as the waves that hit his feet were barely higher than his toes. Instead, he focused on the heart beating in his chest. It began beating slightly faster, making feeling return to his body, as the pain began to dissipate, together with his desire to die. He had a reason worth living for. He would not let his guilt weigh him down any longer than this. He will carry it with dignity and pride. And with that in mind, he closed his eyes, feeling the comforting sounds and the smell of the dark disappear.
With a start, Tatsuo awoke. It took him a while to adjust back to his senses, but even before he did, he felt for his heart. It was beating. He quickly flipped the switch, not wanting to have that bite him in the arse later. Once he had dealt with that, he took a second to examine his surroundings. He was in his room, from what he could tell, lying on his bed. As much as he wanted to curse his friends for not putting him on the couch, he ignored it for now, and lifted himself up. Looking around the room, he took note of how things seemed to be…different. It was no longer morning, or noon, it was dusk. In addition, his desk seemed to have been cleaned up, and the bookshelves were completely tidied up, with the exception of a single book.
Weirded out, he decided to leave his room, and once he opened the door, he found out why his room was so tidy. He could hear the sobbing in the living room, from not just one, but many people. He knew who they were, and already could tell that this would be awkward. They probably thought he was dead, and here he was, just standing up like it was nothing. With a deep breath, he closed the door behind him, and stepped into the living room. Issei and Asia were sitting together, Levia-tan was trying to comfort Akeno, same with Rias and Koneko, and generally, the sight was simply depressing. He couldn´t make a sound, he was so moved. He never knew how much they cared. Mustering up all of his courage, he knocked on the door frame. Everything went silent as the devils took notice of him. For a moment that felt like it lasted forever, all they did was stare at each other.
Just as he was about to make a move, he was tackled to the ground by two of them, and even without looking, he knew who they were. They both called him an idiot over and over as they held onto him, and he let them. He made a stupid mistake which upset his friends greatly; the least he could do is let them vent their anger at him. After a brief second, the others jumped in as well, and he felt air becoming rather sparse, though he still made no move that may ruin this moment. This lasted for about ten minutes, before some of them finally began letting go, and he managed to get a breath of air. How he held on so long, he would never know. After another five minutes, the only two that were still hanging on were the two that were closest to him. With a quick gesture, he signalled the others to remain here, as he lifted himself up and carried the Queen and the Rook to his room, without them ever breaking their hold on him. The others agreed, though their expressions varied. Some showed nothing but contempt, others were simply happy that he was back.
Once the trio was inside his room, he shut the door, and went over to his bed, where he took a seat, still holding the two girls. As he went to comfort them, he received two slaps on each of his cheeks. Looking at their faces, he saw the pain he had caused them. The agony. Deciding that there was only one way to atone, he motioned for them to hit him again. And they did. About three times each. His cheeks were sore after that, but he deserved it. Though he did wonder how Koneko hit it with such pinpoint accuracy, her being blind and all. So, now here he was, holding two teenage girls in his arms that were also his students, and needed something to break the ice. Because, believe it or not, the situation was a tiny bit awkward.
So he stood up, and put them down on the bed, and went over to the chair next to his desk. Koneko was having her hand held by her senior, just to make sure she never felt alone in the eternal dark that he´d trapped her in. His heart began to beat faster, probably a side effect of the huge guilt he bore now. But instead of crumbling before it, he embraced it instead, and sat down in said chair. Now was when the hard part began. He couldn´t talk, so he couldn´t exactly communicate his feelings the way it usually went. So instead, he thought of other ways. After a while, he figured it out. He opened a drawer in his desk, and searched for it. It had to be here somewhere…
Akeno watched in interest as he scavenged his drawers for something, though she had no idea what it could be. Just what was he doing? Right now, he should be in her place, comforting Koneko, not searching for some random object! Though she only harboured that thought because of the fact that she knew already of the feelings he had for her. They felt the same way about each other. At least, that was what she gleamed from that kiss. If it was some sort of comfort from wherever she came from – she should stop thinking about it. She knew that he had a plan, and trusted him to be able to love her and comfort Koneko at the same time.
Finally, he found it. He pulled it out, and picked up a pencil. When Akeno saw what it was, she gasped, drawing the younger devil´s attention. She asked what her senior was so excited about, but received no answer. Koneko could make out the sound of a pencil on paper, but it was light, so the pencil was being barely applied, kind of like the way she drew things in art class. Then, the sound got a lot rougher as Tatsuo appeared to push harder onto the paper that he held. After a good minute, the sound ceased, and another one entered her ears, one that vaguely sounded like scissors. He was cutting through whatever he had drawn. But why? She had already figured that he drew something to communicate with her somehow, but why destroy it in the very next second?
It was then that she was handed something. It felt like paper. So this was the art he created specifically for her and destroyed? Akeno gasped again, and, with a small delay, guided her junior´s hands around the paper in her hand. It had a straight outline, until a certain point, where it curved very strong, and then it repeated said curve, only mirrored on the other side, followed by another straight line, which connected with the other at the bottom end. What she held, was a heart. Her emotions began to overwhelm her as she began to tremble at the implications.
Her hand continued to be guided across the confession, onto the surface he had drawn something on, and then she realized why he had been so rough earlier. Now his drawings where carved into the paper, allowing her to actually feel them, and she felt two things that made her tremble even harder as she tried to supress the tears, of which she had shed far too many at this point. Some part of her still wanted to retain her dignity, which she had all but lost after having bawled nonstop for hours, but that faltered when she felt her portrait on the heart, the heart he had clearly labelled as MINE.
She held his heart close to her chest as a bright smile took over her features, one that was born from the sheer bliss of being loved. It was the first time she had ever truly felt so good. And with that, she held up a hand, and without a single second of delay, she felt his warmth clasp it. Lifting her face, she pulled him in with a sudden rise in force, enveloping him in a heartfelt hug that was so very different from the one from earlier. Placing her head on his chest, she heard it. His heartbeat.
"I´m glad." She whispered, as her hidden appendages appeared on her head and lower back, respectively. "I guess you already know about this, huh?" She continued, and she felt him nod, as his heartbeat got slightly faster. She contemplated on whether or not to tell him, but any doubts were quickly banished. This was Tatsuo she was opening herself up to. There would be no issue. So, she opened her mouth, and began telling her tale, her ears, both the human/devilish ones as well as the animalistic ones, tightly pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, the steady pounding calming her as she told of the traumatic she had years ago.
She had no family, no one to keep her safe at her young age safe her sister, who was seven years older than her, and together, they lived on the streets of hell, picking up the garbage of the higher class and barely scraping by. Every so often, they would be spotted by some servant, and would have to run from the police. Back then, the sisters thought that they were only bad men that would attempt to kill them for sport, but today, Koneko knew that it was probably because they were trespassing, and might actually have gotten help from the authorities. Usually, they would get away safely, but one night, it was different.
After having stolen the leftovers of the aristocrats as usual, they got food poisoning from their meals within the hour. And lucky as they were, they were seen by a passing butler, and due to their sickness, they weren´t quick enough, and in order to get away, her sister picked her up, and using all her strength to carry Koneko, she unleashed her latent magic power, which made her speed rise up to Jetstream levels, and using the dark alleys between the houses, they their relief was short lived, as her sister collapsed, having exhausted herself to near death. Desperately, the young Koneko tried to shake her, call her name, anything that might wake her up. And yet, those eyes remained shut. It was then that he appeared.
A large, looming figure that easily dwarfed them both, dressed in a black leather coat and a cylinder, the collar and brim of the clothes obscuring his face, save for one golden-framed monocle that glistened in the dark. Her fingers tightened around Tatsuo as she thought about the sheer pain this man had inflicted on her over the years. A patented pat on the head by her newfound lover(without the sexual connotation, pervert) calmed her down, and with a deep breath, she resumed, her muscles tensing, though she made sure to not try and hurt Tatsuo as he stroked her head with a lovingly tender touch.
The man, whom she would later find out to be a noble, was looking them up and down, judging them. Back then, she was too frightened of him to notice, but over the course of time, she found out that he was not caring about their current situation, but rather their bodies and the race it adhered to. It was right about now that she noticed that Tatsuo´s heartbeat was quickening to scary levels, but after a quick question about it, it slowed down together with his breath, and with that worry gone, she continued her story, glad that he cared so much. He offered them a hand, telling her that he would help her sister, and would give the two a place to call home. At first, she was too scared to do anything. But her sister´s coughing rapidly brought her back to her senses. She would not lose the one thing that gave her life any meaning. She immediately begged for the man to save her big sister, and she swore that she could see a toothy grin in the dark between his hat and collar, before he opened his coat, and pulled out a red piece of wood. As it would turn out, that was an Evil Piece.
That night, her sister was saved, but to pay him back, the two had to serve him for eternity. Or rather, her sister did. He told Koneko that she was free to leave at any point, though he knew without a doubt that she´d stay. There was no way that she would leave without her sibling. And so, the two worked for him, day in, day out. The younger sibling was taught by the servants how to be a maid, and while some of them were nice, they all had a weird attitude when talking to her, probably because there were no people her age in the manor. Or possibly due to her ears and tail. Her sister, on the other hand, was trained in controlling the magic powers she´d been granted, and though she came back bruised and beaten each day, she always kept a warm smile on her face, telling her younger sister to not worry.
Of course, since she was a child back then, Koneko just took her by her word and did what kids did. Demand a bed time story, ask to play hide and seek, that sort of thing. Albeit the fact that they were not allowed to leave the room at any point restricted the play area quite a bit. So when she asked him the next day whether she could play outside in the gigantic garden with her sister, she incited his rage, receiving a resounding slap to the face. He denied her instantly, and told her supervisor to have a shackle binding the two of them together, before leaving to train her sister again.
She wanted to cry back then, but the maid shushed her, knowing full well that it would only cause her more pain. And so, she withheld her tears, until her day was over. Even then, she remained shackled to her bed, and when her sister saw her in the evening that day, she had a furious outburst. Though she calmed down when she realized that there was nothing to be done. So instead, the two took to telling each other stories they´d heard from their co-workers and made jokes about them to cheer themselves up. Like how the oldest butler´s face literally looked like a potato with a tomato nose. Or how one of the Knights acted like he was an actual knight, talking in such a silly dialect and making bold declarations all the time. Like how he would woo the newest recruit, i.e. the older sister. Of course, that always ended with him getting rejected. Hard. So their evening went by, and the next morning, they felt just as good as usual. Even if Koneko had a dark blue spot on her cheek, but she could deal with it, so even with her sister´s overbearing attitude, she managed to convince her that it wasn´t that bad.
But they both knew that it was. The two started noticing all those tiny things that were off after that day, that they might have shrugged off a day before. The fact that there were guards posted on the inside of the castle, but when they looked out the windows, the entire surrounding area was wholly devoid of any protection. The high-pitched, distant echoes of screaming children that came from the cellar. Or the very big issue that lay in the fact that they were forced to wear "magic bracelets" that apparently were only meant to signify their servitude to the master of the house, yet they had never seen these in any other noble house they had "visited" during their life on the road. Also, the occasional beep, accompanied by the blink in the gemstone embedded in the silver metal did not exactly comfort them. At first, they did their best to ignore it, but one night, months after their rescue, it all changed. Koneko was in their room, waiting for her sister to return so they could have their nightly chat, but as time passed, it became increasingly clear that she would not return. That night, she had an extraordinary hard time sleeping, mainly due to the weird creaking that echoed through the halls. The ghost stories that she had heard on the street at times made it worse.
The next morning, she went about her business as usual, although when she asked the other servants where her sister was, all she got was a shrug. They didn´t know, they said. And so, after another day of work, she went back to her room, her sister still missing. It was the next day that the lord called all servants into the dining room after he´d eaten breakfast, to make an announcement. He was paranoid about being poisoned, being a powerful man and all, and so ordered the servants to permanently stay outside while he dined. Now though, he announced that a guest would arrive the next day, a cousin of his that was even more powerful than him, both in magic and political issues, and so demanded that they work even harder than usual. Of course, that night, too, her sister was gone. And again, the creaking noises returned, making her unable to sleep a single second. This, of course, resulted in her motor skills being reset to that of a toddler once she got up. The rest of the story writes itself: once the guest arrived, she was ordered to bring the lords a drink, and as she was placing the glasses on the table, her hand slipped, and the glass of wine she was holding fell to the floor, staining the black carpet in a red hue. For a minute, there was only silence. Then, before anyone else could say anything, the guest began chuckling to himself.
"You´re quite cute. What´s your name?" He asked, and she meekly replied:
"Sh – Shirone…"
"That´s a nice name. It is a pleasure to meet you, Shirone-chan."
As the red haired guest retracted his arm, he told her that everyone makes mistakes, and that she should not let herself be bothered by it. She had a mild blush on by then, both from the embarrassment of messing up and the fact that the guest was actually rather handsome. His robes also exuded an aura of power and majesty. Perhaps this was one of the Great Satans she had heard about. The Rulers of Hell…she had no time to ponder it, as her master immediately began apologizing, and saying that he would punish her later, even though the redhead made it clear that there was no need. She was then led out the room by the head butler, although not before giving an ashamed bow to the man, who just smiled at her gently. As the door closed behind her, she vaguely heard something about a dying race, whatever that was. To this day, she had no idea what the men were talking about. But that wasn´t that important. Because after a few hours, after being locked in her room again, the aristocrat came by to fetch her, saying that they´d be doing some "special training". As it turned out, "special training" might have been a misleading choice of words. "Absolute violation" would have been far more fitting.
"Well then, since you made me lose face through your incompetence, it seems that I must teach you proper manners." Those were the words he said to her, before locking her in his dungeon with himself, and mercilessly whipping her over and over again as punishment. She saw his true face now that he had taken off his coat and hat, which always struck her as excessive amounts of clothing. But as she saw his face, it became crystal clear why he hid it to such an extent. The left half of his face was scratched, eternally scarred by vicious claws, his left iris completely whitened, and his red hair only served to put those scars even more into focus. His mouth was curled up into a twisted grin, and his arms seemed to move by themselves, like wild, aggressive snakes, following no pattern, with the intent of getting as much mileage out of every swing as possible. He did not care that she was barely ten years old. All he cared about was that she had shamed him in front of a powerful member of the elite. But why? Obviously, the guest did not care about it, so why did he?
She did not deserve this. And yet, the torment lasted for an eternity. She knew that he would not stop until she was dead. She had seen the other cells on the way down. The others that were trapped down here, the agony they had suffered in this death trap, their stories was written in the stone in their blood. This would be it. But even still, she cried out for help between each swing. Her sister would come and save her, right? She always did. After all, it was her reliable, protective sister she was talking about here! She would never abandon her! With every cry for help came one of pain as the whip hit it´s mark, and with every cry of pain came a round of crazed laughter from her tormenter as he swung again. "Yes, you little bitch! Cry for help! Beg for your filthy, inbred sister to come and save you! Scream! Scream more! Suffer!" He screamed between his mad cackling, and she continued her futile struggle.
Eventually, though, her throat became coarse, and her will to resist began to fade. She had been abandoned. Her sister was probably long gone. She would not be saved. She was just waiting for the next crack at this point, the pain being the only proof that she was still alive. She thought about praying to God just to spite the man beside her, but her sister had been strictly against that when she asked whether she was allowed to do so long time ago. However, said sister had abandoned her. There was nothing stopping her now.
…suffice to say, praying to God did nothing. She received no answer, nothing. All she received was a harsh wakeup call in the form of the leather biting into her torn flesh once more. She had stopped screaming at this point. She had just accepted her death. But something was off. After that last one, the whiplashes had stopped. She looked up, and saw it. The fully erect member of the man trying to murder her. It was staring her right in the face, and innocent as she was at the time, she had no idea what it even was. "Suck it." He said, but she shook her head. Whatever it was, it stank and the thought of having that in her mouth physically repulsed her to the point where she pushed herself back with all the puny strength remaining in her tiny body.
He was displeased, and punched her in the gut, and repeated the order. "Suck it, you little rodent!" He was pushing it into her cheek, trying to get her to open her mouth. However, she kept up her semblance of a resistance, and as he began to realize that his efforts were in vain, his rage reached a new height, and at that peak, he thought calmly about the situation. His sadistic grin returned. "Fine. If you don´t want to, then don´t." He declared, before lowering his head to the level of hers, and whispered into her ear. "I´ll just use your other." And with that, he tore off the last of her clothes, which were but pitiful red scraps at this point. Koneko herself did not do a thing to resist. She simply lacked the strength to. Then, with a predatory look in his eyes, the aristocrat walked around her in circles, looking her up and down. Then, after a few rounds, whilst standing behind her, he spanked her, and though she was surprised and confused about his actions, mainly due to her lack of knowledge about anything sexual at the time, she did not make a sound, as her dry throat and near death state made her unable to speak.
His cackles slowly died down as he began feeling her up, his bloodied hands gleefully massaging her wounded body, taking pleasure in making her feel even more pain. Slowly but surely, his movements became more erratic, and focused on her sensitive areas, which became more and more red as he became more and more excited. She shuddered as it began feeling weird, and then, once he took notice of her shaking, he stopped. "Wouldn't want you to feel too good without servicing me, now would we?" He said, poking her butt with his…his thing.
Today, just thinking about it made her angry beyond recognition. Her expression was twisted into a grimace that made her usually adorable doll-like features resemble those of a doll out of a horror movie. And not a low budget one. In addition, her limbs cramped up, digging into Tatsuo´s skin, who took the pain without flinching as he let her vent all those pent up emotions. He himself wanted to personally gut that disgusting piece of shit as well, but held his anger back. Him getting riled up would not solve anything. He needed to remain the anchor that kept his love from slipping off into the abyss. If you spilled your heart out, you needed someone to lend an ear and just listen, at least, according to those psychology books on the shelf. And since he had nothing else for reference besides his similar exchange with Akeno earlier, which he used the same book as reference for, he was inclined to put her sanity in his hands, guided by the professional´s advice.
She resumed her story, and told him that after the point where he laid his dirty member on her body, everything was murky and unclear, her tiny body permanently tense. After being stimulated in all those ways against her will, her eyes were unfocused, directed at the floor due to her neck not being able to hold her head up any longer. Her blood, which had turned the once white maid uniform completely red, had formed a large puddle on the floor. The cell was very dimly lit, but she could make out her reflection. And his. His sadistic, toothy grin gleamed like a bright light in the twilight, and he leaned over her, placing his head on her shoulder, bringing his hated face even more into her weak focus. "Do you feel it? The repulsing pleasure of being touched by someone who has tortured you for what feels like an eternity? Tell me, do you enjoy it, Shirone-chan?" He drew that last part out for a good five seconds, as he made his hand trail down her back, making her shiver in that feeling he talked about – albeit less repulsive due to her emotional trauma and more because of the physical one.
"Shirone-chan, I quite like you, you know. So I will make you feel really good before I kill you." He spoke huskily, before slowly beginning to chuckle to himself as he lifted himself up, and, using his thumbs, pressed up her buttcheeks, exposing her most private of parts. His chuckling became more and more maddened as seconds passed, and soon, it devolved into mad cackling that echoed off of the walls. "Oh, I can hardly await this! Here I come, Shi –"
The man never finished his sentence as Koneko saw the reflection of a shadowy hand grabbing hold of his face, and the noises his voice made devolved even further, replacing any semblance of emotion with pure, all-consuming pain, which he let out in one loud, heart-wrenching scream. At least, it would´ve been heart-wrenching if he deserved any semblance of pity. But both the shadow and Koneko knew that he didn´t, and besides, the latter was too far gone to muster any coherent thought or feeling. She could vaguely hear the shadow cry out to her as she was unbound and fell into the pool of her own blood, completely blinding her, and as she was turned around, she began losing consciousness, finally. The final words she heard that night were "Don´t worry, everything will be alright. I´m here…"
"And after that, I awoke in a prison cell. As it turned out, my sister had gone mad with power and killed her master, burning down his mansion after that, including all the innocent servants inside. She became a stray devil after that, one of the most wanted, with the highest bounty to date. She has still not been apprehended…but of course, my torment does not end there. Why would it?!" Koneko spoke, becoming louder and louder with every sentence, Akeno quickly casting a silencing spell to prevent anything from leaking out of this room, and Tatsuo silently acknowledged it by giving a subtle, quick thumbs-up before focusing on the girl in his arms.
"The high society then decides that because my sister lost her sanity, that I should be killed to prevent this sort of thing from happening again! Even when I told them all about what that man did, they shrugged it off as a fever dream that I subconsciously interpreted as real because of the murderer being my sister! Even with my scars as proof, they…they…!" She continued, and as she became understandably angrier, she let go of Tatsuo, and began venting her frustration with the absurdity of it all by vigorously beating the nearest object/person. In this case, Tatsuo, who choked with every hit, as she put all her magically enhanced strength into every last punch, and she seemed to surpass her limits with each one of them, making it harder and harder for our hero to breathe.
"They wanted to execute me immediately, but in the end, the Gremorys intervened…they were the only ones who believed me, as they were the bastard´s relatives and were always suspicious of him…that was how I met the President…her brother, Lord Sirzechs, was the one who saved me…heehee, we had already met after all, in the manor when I made that mistake…he vouched for me and introduced me to the President, and forced me onto her. All these years, she cared for me like I was family, and still…I never even thanked her…not even once…" The waterworks were overflowing, and the punches were replaced by her tail wrapping around her lover and pulling him even closer as she showed her most vulnerable side. "Sis, however…she needs to die…for the servants. They might not have been exceptionally nice to me, but they were innocent. Also, as part of the peerage of a Gremory, it is my duty to hunt down the murderer of one of the family´s members…as much as it hurts…she lost sanity, and needs to be brought to justice…" She sniffled as she finally spoke out her innermost desire, her one goal in life.
"I want to see sis again…I want to thank her for saving me…and help her…"
All the while, Tatsuo was keeping up his loving touch, holding her close as he stroked her head, and as she ended her story, he tightened his hold, making sure to dry up her tears. She would never cry out of sadness again after this, he would make sure of that. From this day forward, he would ensure that her face be always brightened by a smile. He would work all day and all night for the rest of his life for that goal. No matter what. They stayed in this embrace for a good while. At some point, the sun set, and the room slowly turned dark. After having poured out her soul to her lover, Koneko fell asleep, peacefully dozing on the bed, having been lain down by Tatsuo and covered by the Queen, and the man held her hand, ensuring that no nightmares haunted her that night. "So, when will you let her feel the rest of your heart, Mister Samurai?" Akeno asked seriously for once, referring to the fact that her portrait had also been drawn on it, however, without any pressure, so Koneko had no chance to find out about his love for the Queen. Tatsuo just pointed at the desk, where a second piece of paper lay, which the Queen picked up with interest. He had drawn a face that was holding a finger in front of it´s mouth, the classic shush emoji.
As she looked at it, she began feeling…thrilled. "Oh my. Are you proposing what I think you´re proposing? You think we should have an secret affair? Cheating from day one? Heeheehee…" She giggled to herself, before, surprisingly, not being hit by a magazine. She waited, eyes closed, but the sensation never came. She opened her eyes, and saw the look in his. "…you´re serious about this." She stated, matter-of-factly, eliciting a small nod from Tatsuo. She sighed. On one hand, she felt ecstatic at the prospect of a relationship with her love, especially that darker side of hers that she´d accepted by now, but on the other…"I won´t complain about it. But at least tell me your plans for telling her about this." She asked, motioning toward the Rook, who was lightly snoring. Tatsuo looked at the sleeping girl, petting her head, making her purr quietly as her smile widened a bit. He was handed a notebook and pen, and again, he drew a single picture.
It was a cat that was sitting on the edge of a cliff, with an arrow pointing to a beachhouse where the cat now sat on solid ground.
Akeno quickly understood what it meant, admiring the fact that he could draw this quickly before dropping it and hugging him from behind, huskily whispering into his ear. "Well, then, how about we get a bit more intimate?" Tatsuo did a double take at that. That was such a radical change from before. But he sighed. That was one of the things he loved about her. He grabbed the notebook and slapped her on the head, forcing her off of him. Then, with one smooth motion, he opened the book and placed it on the bed, scribbling another picture into it.
It was an arrow pointing at a pair of pants.
"You know, if we ever play charade, I want you on my team." Akeno said as she quickly guessed what he was telling her. He simply ignored what he said as he had no idea what charade was, and instead took to observing the sleeping Koneko. The Queen, knowing that she would not get any other answer out of him, decided to not just leave the two alone. If this threesome – ahem, love triangle were to be resolved in a way that satisfied everyone, then she and the Rook needed to warm up to each other more. So she stood up, and crawled over to the other side of the bed, ignoring Tatsuo´s protests/attacks with the notebook, though they did hurt a bit, and once she had crawled over the sleeping girl, she pulled the covers over herself, and hugged her from behind, not dissimilar to the way she had hugged the other younger member of the peerage earlier that day.
Though the fact that said girl muttered "damn cow" in her sleep gave her the vibe that this would be problematic. And Tatsuo, understanding what she was trying to do, appreciated the effort, but had trouble containing his chuckles when he heard the young devil say that. And while Akeno was rather miffed, neither she nor the man would have it any other way. After all, this would be the moment when their romance would finally begin.
Good fucking lord this took ages to write. So, this would be the point where I write something witty, but, you know…that would ruin this whole moment. Review if you feel inclined, but I doubt that I´ll answer them anytime soon.
You see, I will now introduce a new system to manage my crossovers: a set point in the story will be selected, and until I reach that point, I will only be writing for that specific story. This point was the one I chose for this one, as I believe that this is usually where a season of a series would usually end.
Giving you some closure whilst making you tear out your hair as you wait for more. Yeah, I think I nailed the feeling that the season finales give you not only in that sentence, but also in the story.
So, I hope you´ve enjoyed The path of the Unbound Stranger so far, and I hope to write for it again soon! …still need to come up with a better title.