Chapter 44
- Laito-kun? - Claire's thin voice, as soon as she woke up, broke the silence; she rubbed her eyes, turning her gaze to the vampire who had leaned against the rock where a crack allowed the entrance of the first rays of light of the aurora that dimly illuminated the place where they had withdrawn, to rest in peace, without Kou or Reiji bothering them, for one reason or another.
- Like the moon... - the vampire murmured deep in thought.
The half-demon tilted her head, still sleepy, and mumbled to repeat, confused.
His emerald-like green eyes turned to her, bright.
- Nfu~ Micchan is like the moon! She has the ability... no, the gift to reflect all those values unknown to damned creatures like me - he paused briefly, leaning back against the wall and raising his head upwards – The moon lights up the dark earth during the night, when the true source of that light is far away... because the moon loves the earth so much that it doesn't want it to succumb to the darkness~ just as Micchan loves us so much that she doesn't want us to become bad guys, nfufu~!
Claire was speechless for a while, amazed by that deep consideration, and then smiled, brushing her hair.
- Are you a poet or a philosopher, Laito-kun~? I like this side of yours, hehehe~.
- Aaaaah~, Claire-chan, I like it when you're so honest!
Before the vampire could launch himself on the girl, sharp and suffering cries had reached their ears, belonging to a familiar voice: Mark, a few floors below, was weeping and squirming, shaken by convulsions and abnormal sounds that echoed in his head, incapable to establish the usual telepathic communication with his beloved twin.
Mary moved away from the group, slipping a hand through her hair and messing it up in a tense gesture, thinking, and groaned due to a headache that kept on occuring at irregular intervals; the Glass Lady looked worried at her daughter's attitude.
- My lavender flower?
Why can't I talk to Aniki...?, she wondered, inadvertently ignoring her mother's calls, until she felt a hand resting on her shoulder; she turned to those ocean-like eyes, questioning, and then saw the vampires' restless ones: they were also perceiving something strange...?
- Mother... what's going on? Everything seems confused... - she murmured, turning alarmed to her mother who exchanged a look with Karlheinz, impassive.
- I'm afraid Chaos is getting the upper hand - the Vampire King sighed - apparently, we failed - his pale amber eyes paused on Mary - Izanami... only you can reset everything.
- Eh...?
The half-witch couldn't understand what he was talking about and Shuu mumbled something, annoyed; Ayato and Yui exchanged a confused look, while Ruki, lost in thought, looked away, clenching his fists on the hilt of sword he had chosen.
Karlheinz explained that his original plan was for Izanami to use her power to reset the situation if Adam and Eve's plan had ended with the worst possible scenario, as well as being a kind of support and another couple to generate a powerful offspring, possibly immune to Endzeit; a characteristic that Eve's descendants, and thus Yui's, would have surely inherited thanks to Cordelia's heart transplanted in her.
Mary stared at the man wide-eyed and mouth ajar: she wasn't so upset by his plans, which she had been already aware of enough to agree with her mother that he was an idiot; as much as for the fact that he didn't seem to repent at all, or at least show off an embittered or sorry expression, for what he had done.
- You really used all of us... - she whispered in a choked voice, looking at her mother first, then at Shuu and Ayato, Ruki and Yui; at last, she found herself looking at the tip of her boots, dirty with a strange dark green liquid...?
- The Dragon?! - she exclaimed in horror.
Only at that moment everyone realized that the Dragon was losing blood copiously, from the mysterious wounds that were spreading on his body one after the other, more quickly and deeper; the poor creature moaned weakly, and even the Glass Lady's embrace couldn't console it, her being still untouched by the wounds.
- This is serious, very serious - Karlheinz whispered, more to himself, considering that if the Dragon was in those conditions, then there was no longer any hope but to reset.
How did everything get out of his hand? Until recently, everything had been under control; he had also been happy to see sincere feelings had developed between his sons and the chosen girls, aware that this would have been a great advantage for everyone. Yet, the result of all his efforts, though conscious that he had made others suffer, was turning into tragedy; he could have gone back with time, as he had done on rare and very small occasions... but it had been very short periods: in this case he would have had to regress too much, and maybe he wouldn't have achieved important results any more...
How could he have induced Izanami to use her power? Perhaps by killing one of them and causing her an intense pain of loss, as it had happened in the past?
... No. He was tired. Really tired, to resort to those extreme solutions. After a long existence like his, lived between experiences and various events, perhaps he could identify himself with Eva and understand her values ...
- MARY-SAN!
Eve's scream stirred him from his thoughts and, in horror, he raised his head to see Izanami's face smeared with the Dragon blood's curse: skin, eyes and hair had become completely black, with thin, irregular white streaks crossing each other; the Glass Lady threw an exasperated exclamation, Shuu was stopped just in time by Ruki and Ayato from impulsively reach and touch his wife, risking to be contaminated.
The blood had penetrated through a slit on the sole of the half-witch's boots, soaking the sock and as a result coming into direct contact with the skin of her feet: this would have implied the rapid weakening of Izanami's powers; it had really turned out for the worst.
Subaru watched the sky as it suddenly darken; he had agreed to accompany Isa, still weak and sad, into a room in the shelter from which she could see the sunrise: it had lasted only a few minutes, then a crack had suddenly appeared in the sky (he would have sworn he had heard a harrowing scream, as if the sky had been alive and had been torn in two), from which a strange dark fluid had begun to spread everywhere, also affecting the sea and the earth, hiding them under an impenetrable veil, similar to thick black fog.
Isa clung to the albino, looking with wide eyes at the disturbing phenomenon, her lip trembling with anguish; the vampire, despite the little witch's closeness had caused him a light pink tinge to his cheeks, wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
- Everything will be fine... I trust that ugly wit-... I mean, Mary.
The girl looked at him with her amber irises.
- Hopefully... Mark-senpai can't communicate with Mary-senpai anymore... poor thing, he's suffering so much... and Theo doesn't know what to do for him anymore.
A male voice called them: Reiji warned them to go back down with everyone else, as they intended to seal any openings or interstices communicating with the outside, to stop the advance of that foreign dark matter for as long as possible.
- Let's go, Isa - Subaru murmured, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
The girl nodded and saw behind the bespectacled vampire Lily and Martha, giving her a heartening smile... even if there were resignation and restlessness in their eyes; as they left, she heard Anna and Yuuma's yells in the distance, fighting amicably again, and went back into the great hall where everyone had gathered, those drowsy, those still wounded and waiting for further treatment, those who were afraid, those calm but internally desperate. She saw Kou and Azusa throwing worried looks, obviously thinking about their oldest brother; Laito and Claire had finally showed themselves, after being alone who knows where; Anna's older sisters were sitting and talking to each other in a low voice, caressing the hair of the two youngest ones who slept with their heads on their laps; she didn't see Kanato, probably in the dungeons with her zombie sister...
She glanced at Mr Ari and Mr Flyer, in a corner; the latter looked like he had suddenly aged: she had never seen that white curl of hair... And he had very deep dark circles.
Mary-senpai... come back soon, please...
Kalrheinz had let out a resigned sigh and declared his will to face his two sons in a duel, certain that they would have ended his long life: it would have been his only consolation, after the various recent failures; Ayato and Shuu had widened their eyes at his words and, seeing his father take a sword out of his cloak, their hands had automatically leaned on their own to draw them out. However, they had suddenly found themselves locked up in a transparent, solid and cold bubble, as if it had been made of ice, and the Glass Lady had moved in front of them, holding a long and serrated glass blade: she wouldn't have allowed to the Vampire King to commit such nonsense in that situation, not so much because he was tired of that ritual with which he himself had obtained the throne (being well aware that the sons weren't so contrary to that method), but because she interpreted it as a sign of surrender and a little of cowardice; in truth, perhaps it was also a small personal "showdown ...
They had therefore begun to fight each other in front of the two Sakamakis' eyes, who tried in every way not to be fascinated by the rapid and skilful movements of the two adversaries to focus on finding an escape from that glass sphere; Ruki watched with his heart in his throat, no longer knowing what to think, since one was his saviour, the other one of the few women he had ever trusted and had ever respected in his life; Mary had collapsed to the ground, suddenly weak and very tired, not caring about what was happening between her mother and the vampire.
Between the anxiety of the Dragon curse that was consuming her friend's body and the agitation due to the sudden fight (she even thought they were all out of their mind), Yui took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate: she had realized that she was the only one with a clear mind to think about what to do, even if she had no idea how to act; after all, it had been just a few months since she had become a vampire! Still, she strongly believed that there was a detail that had escaped her...
The dream!, she thought suddenly, widening her eyes and crouching beside the half-witch who raised a hand to keep her away.
- Yui, don't get close, I could infect you...
- Mary-senpai, my dream! - she exclaimed, summarizing it briefly, and, to her puzzled face, she added - The apple! I had pick it up! I never dreamt it was lost or destroyed...!
She pointed at the Dragon, the tree, the environment in general: everything was going to succumb; but there was no real trace of the apple she would have had to pick up from the plant, she hadn't see it hanging from any branch, nor she had seen it anywhere else.
- I'm sure we have to look for it! - Yui insisted, almost clasping her hands in her own but promptly stopped by Mary, who was invigorated by those words.
Although seeming a trivial hypothesis, it was still something to hold on...
They exchanged a knowing look and, after making sure that the others were busy (Karlheinz and Eva were fighting, the boys... in any case, they would have been an obstacle since they were boys), got up, moving away quickly; it wasn't difficult for the half-witch to dissolve a part of her mother's protective sphere, using most of the little power left to her due to the fatigue and the curse.
- According to Murphy's law, the apple should be in the most unreachable place - Mary suggested, recovering a bit of her sarcasm and black humour.
With a glance at Yui, they both raised their heads upward, towards the circular structure above them; it wouldn't have been a problem to reach it: the vampire would have been able to teleport, the half-witch would have used her powers as a demon and so they did.
The battle lasted what seemed like an eternity due to Shuu's limited patience, who had left to Ayato the honour of destroying that surprisingly resistant barrier (it almost seemed made of diamond!), in order to avoid wasting energy, as usual; his brother was cursing, angry at his aunt for not having left him the opportunity to fight his father and irritated by the slowness with which he was scratching that glass wall.
Ruki stood still on the spot, occasionally watching the poor Dragon paling with the passing of the seconds, suffering; he felt the tension rise as the Glass Lady's glass blade shattered into a thousand pieces and she fell to the ground, disadvantaged by the unexpected magical attack that the opponent had directed against her.
Karlheinz sighed, pointed the tip of his sword to the demon's face, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out: his eyes widened, moaning more out of surprise than the unmistakable feeling of being pierced by two blades, a burning feeling radiating from his heart throughout his body; Eva lifted herself with her hands on the ground, and raised her head to the Vampire King and the two young men behind him.
The man was still apparently stupefied, then a smile appeared on his lips which a trickle of blood ran from.
- I didn't think Ari had found the right substance to impregnate these blades... did you know, Ayato?
The son behind him blinked in confusion: after being able to free himself, he had intervened with Shuu, caught by some inner instinct at suddenly seeing his aunt in disadvantage; though willing to confront his father, he believed that the swords supplied by Ari would have been harmless, since it took much more to kill the Vampire King...
Shuu was silent; he had barely recognized the smell of Acqua d'Argento, but he hadn't paid much attention to it: he had never thought it to be possible, that such liquid poured from a source lost in some otherworldly dimension could be truly fatal...
Ruki watched the scene, his hand grasping painfully around the hilt of his own sword, having decided to not his and his brothers' saviour, and understood everything: had Ari foreseen and planned everything? Had the Glass Lady been aware of this...?
The last doubt was denied by said woman's bitter comment.
- Ah... my husband... what a fool...
Silence fell on them, barely touched by the structure's creaks above their heads, which the girls were scouring, desperately looking for that apple, still unbeknownst to them (or at least the three young men).
- Boys... let him go... - the woman murmured with a faint voice.
Shuu and Ayato hesitated a moment, before pulling the blades out of their father's body, which seemed to have suddenly become fluid because of how easily they withdrew them; the man fell forward, promptly caught by the Glass Lady's arms, who placed his head lightly on her lap, delicately moving a few strands of his long white hair from his face.
In the meantime Ruki approached them and stared in disbelief at the dying vampire, even more than the two biological sons: was he really going to die that way...?
- Ah... Eva... - Karlheinz sighed, turning his lost eyes to the woman's face, who looked back with a melancholy expression - I made several miscalculations... what a shame, for two baggage of experience and wisdom like us...
The Glass Lady shook her head.
- Karl... we were both wrong and at the same time... we aren't completely responsible... I misunderstood that time. If only I had tried to understand you...
- No, Eva - he interrupted her, smiling and closing his eyes - Izanami and Izanagi would never been born.
Both were silent.
- In the end... despite having finally got the opportunity to end my long life... I still feel this emptiness, unknown to me... - Karl whispered, his body and clothes paler and paler.
The Glass Lady squeezed his hand between hers.
- Karl... you've never been alone...
The man let out a slight, strangled, sarcastic laugh.
- Those four brothers love you so much, they're grateful to you... - the woman added, turning her eyes to Ruki, who knelt down, leaning towards the evanescent figure and grabbed his other hand.
They had a déjà vu; but it was Karlheinz the one being saved.
- Sir... I may not have always agreed with you... but if I could go back in time, I would take your hand again. We respect you, we owe you... and yes, we love you - the young vampire managed to hold his voice from cracking.
Karlheinz half-opened his eyes, looking at his adoptive son; Ruki felt a slight pressure from the man's hand on his own and lowered his head to conceal his pained expression when he saw his eyes wet.
- Ruki... this, from you... - he smiled, unable to finish; his appearance now resembled that of a statue abandoned in a desolate and grey place.
Shuu and Ayato didn'tknow what to say; strangely, the death of their old man didn't give them any relief or satisfaction: on the contrary, the lonely and unshed tear they had glimpsed before their father had closed his eyes had slightly shaken them, causing them some discomfort.
Eva sighed and stroked Karlheinz's face.
- Karlheinz, rest in peace... flee from this world, from that environment that didn't welcome us, that hasn't truly recognized you... may God have mercy on you.
And Karlheinz finally expired, reducing himself to millions of bits of dust on the woman's clothes and into her and Ruki's hands.
Yui and Mary scoured the structure from top to bottom, risking several times having part of the ceiling collapse on their heads or falling down because of the floor collapsing; yet there seemed to be no trace of the apple, and this threw them into despair as time passed, so much so that they also examined the narrowest spaces where it was very unlikely for the fruit to be found.
The vampire's eyes were wet with frustration and disappointment, since she herself had suggested the idea, led by a dream that could have turned out to be true only partly and not totally as she had hoped; the half-witch had slumped against the wall, slipping on the ground and looking at her hands after removing the usual gloves she wore: Izanami's transparency had left room to the curse's black with white lines, perhaps corresponding the underlying veins.
She sighed, as her friend sat next to her, not too close.
- Mary-senpai, I'm sorry... I was sure we would find it...
- Maybe it was just something allegorical, Yui-chan - Mary interrupted her, trying to stay clear headed and think - The question is: what does it represent?
- I had dreamed of picking it up... - the other murmured, closing her eyes exhausted.
The young woman reflected on those words, her eyes fixed on the painting hanging on the cracked wall in front of her, then widened her eyes and raised a finger towards the object itself, incredulous.
- Yu-Yu-Yu-Yui-chan...
The blonde gave her a perplexed look at first and, following her finger, focused her eyes on the picture, analysing it: she gasped, because there was portrayed a tree full of leaves with a protruding branch from which an apple hanged; besides, near the tree, there was a tiny light-haired girl, standing on tiptoes with her arms raised to grab the apple.
- Okay - Mary said – we've confirmed the apple, and it seems you're involved, too; but where and how?!
Suddenly they both became quiet, seized by a cold sensation.
- Karlheinz-san... - Yui whispered, mentally reciting a prayer.
- Sooner or later, we all die... - the other girl sighed, rubbing her neck, and jumped as soon as she saw her mother appear in front of them.
- Dear girls, come... I know what you were looking for, and unfortunately you have mistaken where and how – she smiled, giving them a slight scolding look - If you hadn't been so rushed and had waited patiently, I would have given you directions.
The two girls exchanged a nervous look and were teleported down with the woman; Ayato flipped on her girlfriend, complaining about her disappearing on him, as Shuu shrugged and snorted in front of his wife, commenting that it was really difficult to keep an eye on her and that he would have never left her alone.
Mary blew a raspberry, while Ruki stared at the curse with a certain discomfort.
The Glass Lady invited Yui and Ayato to approach the tree and lean both hands on it.
- Since Shuu-kun and Ayato-kun have... - Eva sighed and left the sentence incomplete - Karlheinz's powers were poured into both of them; I don't know how and how much, but I'm sure it will be enough for... well, you can already see it yourselves - the woman smiled as she saw the tree miraculously invigorate and fill with leaves and buds.
Yui witnessed the phenomenon with eyes that shone with wonder, Ayato narrowed his eyes and frowned a little puzzled, Shuu remained impassive, Mary thanked God that at least one thing was turning out for the best and Ruki wondered how the two Sakamakis would have solved the following question: who would have become the new and future Vampire King? It was probable that they would have faced each other for the throne...
On one of the lower and nearer branches, a beautiful flower blossomed, the aroma of which spread rapidly in the air, inebriating it; as in a speedy sequence of a naturalistic documentary, they saw the transition from flower to fruit, a big blood-red apple, with an appealing and polished appearance: at this point Yui, moved by an instinct coming from the soul, raised her arms and wrapped the fruit in her fingers, after caressing its fresh, perfumed skin with tenderness.
Just as she was about to detach it from the branch, a roar distracted them: they looked around, noticing that the darkness had fallen down around them, which was gradually shrinking, gradually engulfing the whole dimension, including the poor Dragon who issued a last cry of agony; however, they didn't noticed the cracks upwards and large shards as sharp as pieces of glass fell to the ground, making the girls jump.
The Glass Lady created another protective barrier, but she didn't make in time to avoid a large slab from falling on Yui, piercing her chest.
- YUI! - the desperate cry of Ayato, who took the girl in his arms, her being shocked and on the verge of losing consciousness, didn't reach Mary's ears.
With eyes wide open, lips trembling, she stepped back, peered by an anxious Shuu and a worried Ruki, while her mother felt the tension becoming very thin: around her daughter appeared white writing, in different languages, in circles; at the same time, a gust of wind from the unknown origin rushed against them and the writing became increasingly thick lines, to form a sphere around the half-witch.
Shuu yelled something, Ruki's eyes widened; Mary opened her mouth to let out a heart-breaking but voiceless scream.
Everything became black.
And then it was white.
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