Author Notes: As for Alba calling himself Sheele's brother, it's a similar case to what Lanza did to Bulat and the other Incursio users...except far more disturbing. Alba is a character who I had wanted to write since the beginning of this fanfic. And believe me, he's probably more integral to the corruption than Helianthus has proven as later chapters will show.
As for why Sheele never mentioned her brother, it has something to do with Helianthus. I've also written it so it's apparent that clumsiness and deadliness runs in Sheele's family who are all named after tools needed for paper. It also explains why Alba in the Kill The Carnage chapter is drastically different from his usual description.
As a warning, this chapter will contain very disturbing elements. Also I'm writing my English/Japanese preference for Alba's original body's voice when reading this fanfic.
Alba's Original Body: Rica Matsumoto (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English)
Chapter 52: Kill The Obligation Part 2
20 Years Ago
A young Sheele was playing hide and seek with her older sibling, a young teenage boy with thick purple hair with long bangs that covered his eyes along with a large pair of round glasses that obscured it further. Sheele, her brother and their parents lived in the lower districts of the Empire. The capital at the time had the hints of corruption, but it would not be nearly as bad as they would be years later.
Ironically in contrast to her present self, Sheele was very capable of doing things on the fly once she saw them once, but it seemed as though clumsiness was inherent in the family, so she could be a klutz at times. It was her brother, Bleistift, who was the one was hopelessly inept, to the point that he couldn't do a simple task without blundering it up.
"...Three, two, one. Ready or not here I come.," Sheele said in an air headed tone of voice as she looked for Bleistifit in the slums that both decided that the game should be played in. After falling flat on her face once, the little purple haired girl soon found her brother and titled her head in confusion. She knew it was her sibling due to his his lilac chang pao with black long pants and black shoes; the unusual part was that he had somehow gotten stuck in a large brown box.
"Brother, that's a nice hiding spot. Too bad it was too close- found you.," Sheele spoke in a cheerfully airy tone of voice as she tapped his leg.
"I meant to go somewhere else, but then I slid and fell into here. Would you mind getting me out please?," said the muffled voice of the boy inside the box. Sheele nodded and tugged on him until he was out of the box.
Bleistifit with his thick, purple hair and thick round glasses turned to Sheele and patted her head.
"I messed up our little game. Let's go home Sheele.," the boy said in a kind tone of voice as he turned in the direction of their home.
"Yeah.," Sheele replied happily with a nod. The two then walked back home, while stumbling at times- Bleistifit more so than Sheele. These stumbles would accidentally turn over food carts resulting in Bleistifit having to apologize for the damage and having to pay for the items from his own pocket.
Eventually around nighttime, the two siblings arrived at their house in the lower class district, it was worn and weathered- especially due to the family's infamously clumsy nature causing the establishment to wreck it unintentionally.
"I can't believe I wasted my allowance from Father. Sometimes, I wish we weren't born so clumsy.," Bleisifit said with a depressed tone of voice as he carried a large sack of fruit, meat and other eateries on his back.
"..., but you got enough food to make Mother and Father happy. Even if you're not good at most things, it always comes around.," Sheele replied as she attempted to cheer him up.
"That is true, but it's a bit more complicated than that. Our parents know that I have one talent...," Bleistifit said in a quieter tone of voice, with his glasses showing a rare glimpse of his eyes. They were cold and impassive. Sheele became afraid briefly due to how frigid he became at that moment. She noticed that at times that he wasn't his usual self and that he seemed like something very scary that she couldn't explain at her age.
"What sort of talent is that?," Sheele asked her brother meekly.
"Something you shouldn't ever do. Let's say its a bad thing done for good reasons.," Bleistifit said in an apologetic tone of voice as he opened the door, slipped and fell on his face.
He rose up to see that his father, mother and a middle aged man in a military uniform with a cold stare were sitting at the table.
"So he's been out shopping all day. At least it wasn't him getting cold feet.," said the middle aged man as he took the sack from Bleistifit, ignoring the parents who seemed miffed that they weren't allowed to carry it to the kitchen. He notably sweated as if he knew that in their hands it would lead to a disaster of some kind.
"Sheele, I think today is the day that my talent will be put to use.," Bleistifit told his sister, nonverbally hinting that she should head upstairs. She obeyed, but stopped at the top of the stairs when she overheard a very peculiar conversation that seemed to be dark and scary at the same time.
Bleistifit, his parents and the military man sat around the table, the situation becoming gravely serious.
"I recall an incident when a Danger Beast somehow managed to break into the capital and began to attack citizens. Your son was able to kill the creature in a clear minded precision without remorse, his talent is something to behold. The Emperor has requested for his services and that he would be a great asset to defending the Empire.," said the middle aged man in a military uniform.
"We're grateful, it seems our son doesn't have much talent aside from...killing.," said the father, a mild looking man with square glasses, long lilac hair tied in a ponytail that draped over his left shoulder and wore a chang pao of dark violet color.
"He was isolated from others as a child due to his clumsiness deeming him unable to do most things...at least more than the rest of the current Katzenbär family. It seems he's inherited his ancestor's mechanical mindset when it comes to...you know what I mean.," the mother spoke with a saddened tone of voice. She bore a strong resemblance to both Sheele in terms of facial features and sharing Bleistifit's wild thick purple hair. She wore a wisteria cheongsam and oval shaped glasses.
The military man, a large muscular individual with short, spiky black hair with four braids on the back of his head wrapped in white cloth. His eyes had red pupils with a black sclera. His teeth were shown to be quite sharp when he spoke.
"It's a shame that you retired, Stift...Papier...you were both skilled fighters under the previous Emperor's reign and your ruthlessness far surpassed what your son has done. When he died in that unfortunate accident, the Empire lost a majority of its influence and we're now forced to do whatever's necessary to pull ahead, even if it does damn our souls.," He spoke in a regretful tone of voice while still retaining his cold stare.
"It's because of how things began to change with the current Emperor...Ogre-You're dealing with rather shady people...the previous Emperor was a very flawed person to say the least, but he wouldn't tolerate what you're doing in the shadows.," said the man known as Stifit with a dispassionate glare and tone that suggest disgust towards the man.
"You wouldn't understand...in order to maintain peace for the people, we need to use those in the dark to support us.," Ogre replied as he looked to the side showing remorse towards his actions, which contrasted with the Social Darwinist behavior that make him do truly heinous acts to the citizens of the country.
"I would be careful, be in the darkness for too long and you'll lose your light. And the man you once were will be replaced by a monster instead.," Papier said in a grim tone of voice that Sheele had never heard from her before.
"I'll keep that in mind. Come on, you have your first assignment tonight...it's a similar case to the Danger Beast you fought earlier. It's a few blocks away from your home.," Ogre replied as he rose from his chair and
"Alright, as long as the money provides my family, I'll do it.," Bleistifit said with a forced smile to his parents as he left with Ogre.
The parents looked on with regret while Sheele's emotions were confused. It was a mix of worry, fear and sadness- like she would never see him again.
A hour later
After both of her parents went to bed, Sheele snuck out of the house and decided to follow her sibling out of concern, relying on her instinctive feeling that something bad was going to happen.
She saw Ogre and her brother walking towards what appeared to be a white colored winged humanoid that was surrounded by a pile of human corpses as it shimmered eerily in the light. It had exaggerated shoulder guards, gnarled taloned hands of large size, an elongated beak, a head crest placed on the back, a large upper torso with a thinner lower torso, jagged wings and large, circular blue eyes with a ripple like pattern. In one of its claws was the shredded remains of a peddler woman.
"What I didn't tell your parents about your earlier Danger Beast killing was that it seemed to be able to speak and was humanoid...like this one. Regardless make it as quick as possible.," Ogre said in a cold, professional tone as he prepared to draw his sword.
"Roger.," Bleistift replied in a flat monotone voice only to see that the white avian immediately shove its right claw into Ogre's right and pulled it out in a way that it left a bloodied cross shaped scar. He then kicked Ogre into the side of a building while forcing the man to drop his sword.
"Impossible, to be this strong...," the black haired Captain said as he faded in unconsciousness. Bleistifit then turned to face the avian in front of him.
"SO FUCKING WEAK! AS I THOUGHT NO BARE SKINNED PRIMATE IS A MATCH FOR THE CHAMPION OF INJUSTICE! LORD ALBA THE WHITE WING!," shouted the creature in a loud and unsavory tone of voice that immediately gave the impression that it was a monstrous being both inside and outside.
"So you're a type of Danger Beast capable of talking. I thought I was hallucinating when I heard the one I killed earlier was screaming words...maybe this is another case...maybe I need to get my head examined.," Bleistifit said the creature before going off on an odd tangent.
"YOU SHOULD! IT'S INSANITY TO EVEN CONSIDER A FIGHT WITH-," screeched Alba until he noticed that the boy was now standing on his elongated head with Ogre's sword in hand.
When did he-?!, thought Alba until he was stabbed in the right eye by the subtle blade wielded by the purple haired boy.
"You see...I have a screw loose in my brain, makes me a little odd...would you mind being quiet, you might wake up people., Bleistifit explained in a frigid monotone voice as he ignored Alba's loud screams of pain. He reacted by kicking the avian's head to the ground to shut his beak.
As Bleistifit stepped away from his head, Alba rose up with his remaining eye narrowed- showing that he was taking the situation more seriously.
There are some people who are able to both injure and fight on par with me. So this is the one killed Rostra Terra, one of my flunkies. Fine then, I'll make sure to damn well make sure he's dead before he becomes-, Alba thought as he rose his left leg, which generated a white and ominous energy from it.
Then he looked in horror as Bleistifit closed the distance instantly and sliced off the leg emitting energy. This made Alba bite his beak in order to muffle his screams as his single eye pour tears of pain.
"That looked dangerous so I decided to cut it off...the one from before had a core that made him turned into a mummy and burst into flames or something. He also crumbled to dust, but more importantly...I'll need to find your core now.," Bleistifit said in a dark monotone voice with his dispassionate eyes staring directly at Alba's single eye.
Panicked, Alba flew into the sky with with a frantic expression on his beaked face.
He isn't just a threat- he's an Ultimate Slayer level enemy like those Teigu users from nearly a millennium ago, that lunatic of a previous Emperor and a few people from other continents. Even without a Teigu, he somehow knows how to kill us! He'll kill me! Then find His Majesty or His Grace and kill them too! Too Dangerous! TOO DANGEROUS! TOO TOO TOO DANGEROUS!, Alba thought deliriously as he rose higher into the sky. He then caught a glimpse of something that horrified him, Bleistifit had somehow appeared in front of him and cut off his escape route.
"I leapt onto a building then jumped again to get you. I realize where your core is-your big loud mouth.," Bleistifit said in an icy tone of voice as he forced Ogre's blade down his throat. The two plummeted downwards and crashed to the ground with a loud boom. The thick purple haired youth then leaped away as he walked away as Alba's body began to contort and rapidly age into a skeletal state.
"YOU'RE...YOU'RE...ONLY A HUMAN! I AM ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN EVOLUTION! THE PRIME LIFE FORMS! I CAN'T BE LOSING TO AN INFERIOR CREATURE!,"Alba screamed as his form distorted into a warped demonic shadow.
"He's even louder than before...," Bleistifit complained in a low voice until he noticed someone hiding in an alleyway near him. His eyes widened to see that it was Sheele who had decided to follow him out of worry.
Before he could say something, what Alba did next was completely unexpected.
"YOU'VE PUSHED ME INTO DOING THIS! DAMN YOU!," Alba declared as the demonic shadow then rose into the air and plummeted downwards into Bleistifit's mouth. Unusually, its pupils divided into four as it did so, somehow freezing Bleistiifit in place. Sheele watched in horror as she helplessly watched as the black substance entered her brother's body through. Once it had fully engulfed itself into his body, Bleistifit was still for a moment and Sheele was frozen stiff in her current location.
"B-brother.," Sheele said in a silent whisper towards her motionless brother. He then became engulfed in a white light that dissipated a few seconds later to a completely different figure- the one known as Alba. Except he was completely different from before
Instead of the grotesque bird-like demon he was before, Alba was now had sleek, streamlined armor, whit wings made of pure energy with four solid feathers on his back, a small featureless helmet that had two eyeholes that revealed his now purple iris eyes a long purple ponytail emerging from the back of his helmet, three taloned feet and platinum colored fingerless gloved hands with mechanical like fingers.
"...I didn't want to do this at first, but he was too strong for me to deal with- the "corruption" of this country isn't high enough to be at my full strength so that's why I lost...Come to think of it, this is an improvement over my old body.," said Alba except it was Bleistifit's calm voice that was coming from behind its helmet. The tone however, was not the kind and modest one that her brother was known for, this was far more suave and slick.
Sheele trembled in horror at what she was seeing, her brother had taken over by this creature and was now using him as his body. She blinked for a moment and saw that he was gone. She then slowly turned to see her brother except that he was wearing a white segmented overcoat over a gray waistcoat and white undershirt, complimented by white dress shoes and a white bowtie.
"It would be a bother to live with his inherent ineptness...so why don't you do a favor for your brother and give him your talented neural system.," Alba said in a sinister tone as his face contorted into an oval shaped pupil expression with sharpened teeth as his left hand transformed into a jagged surgeon knife. He closed in onto the frightened Sheele who began tearing out of remorse for her brother's fate and out of horror for the situation that now faced her.
"I could have acted as your brother, but your parents would've found something was off. So now I'm going to ask a colleague of mine make sure the reason that you'll be a hopeless oaf is that you were born with your clumsy nature causes everyone consider you useless, isolating you from even your own parents who will see as an unneeded thing. Oh and I'm going to turn that officer I gouged the eye out of becomes a corrupt man who abuses the weak. Well, I'm off kill a family that will be a problem to the future Prime Minister.," said Alba's voice during the horrific procedure. It was too graphic for Sheele to recall due to how painful and traumatizing it was.
"If you're obligated to avenge your brother, just know I'm invincible., said Alba's voice as it slowly drifted away.
I did remember doing something like that years ago., Alba thought as he reminisced about his horrific deed.
Sheele then lunged at the young looking man with thick, purple hair with thick glasses who smirked with subtle insidiousness in return. Chelsea on the other hand, became frozen in fear as if she recognized Alba from somewhere.
Negrot turned his gaze downwards, as if troubled by his brother's wickedness. Oedipus then said something in a flamboyant to break the tension-
"Ok, it's time for the Bird Regiment to speak about their daily reports as part of the Hall Monitor unit."
Next Chapter: Kill The Obligation Part 3
