lostmoonchild: Thanks for the reviews! Final chappie, everybody! Umm... I'm thinking that "Winter Sun" which will focus on Jeremiah will make its debut within the next month or two. I'll give you guys the summary at the end of the chapter so enjoy!
Disclaimer: Yay, final time I have to confess this for this story... I don't own KKM!
Chapter Forty Nine
Flames whipped through the swirling snow, melting the droplets back into the rain that Shori and Yuri called forth before a torrent of water struck the flames and filled the air with hissing steam. "Why do you want to kill anybody?" Yuri shouted at the two men. "Nobody's done anything to you! A parent should protect their kid!"
"If I had known that I was going to sire the creature that will bring upon the end of life as we know it, I would have left that human whore alone!" Aldo shouted back.
Nieve's eyes widened as the wind took on a shaper feel to it and nearly smirked when she heard Brandt gasp in pain. While she could simply lock them inside whatever hell she decided to throw their minds into, it was always more satisfying to watch them suffer. "Someday I will so don't worry." Nieve told Aldo with a lopsided grin. "Right now I just want to be Nieve Grace Shibuya."
Aldo clutched the hilt of his sword tightly as he glared hatefully at his daughter through the blinding snow. "I should have killed you when you were a baby." Aldo snarled at her.
"I've been watching and manipulating since before my intestines were in my abdomen. You would have been fucked."
Aldo's eyes narrowed in hate as he slowly drew his sword. "Maybe I should kill everybody you cherish." Aldo said, his voice low and warning.
Conrart gritted his teeth as he felt a sudden wave of stabbing pain, his brown eyes widening slightly when he realized that his fiancée's eyes were glowing brighter than he had ever seen them before. A single glance at his brothers revealed that they were each feeling the same pain and attempting to keep their discomfort hidden. "Nieve, stop." Yuri whispered loudly. "You're hurting them."
Shori looked at his siblings, an uneasy feeling growing within as he stared at his brother's worried face. The two had always been close with Yuri being the only one to have the control over their sister that their parents lacked. To see the worry on Yuri's face was enough to tell him that their sister was slipping into a place that they couldn't allow her to be in. "Nieve." Shori said softly. "Stop."
Wolfram grunted in pain when his chest gave a painful throb, feeling as if somebody were trying to take out his heart with a dull knife. Something within him twisted and turned, forcing his breaths to catch in his throat. This wasn't right. Something was going wrong and from how panicked his husband and brother-in-law were beginning to look, it wasn't anything good.
The wind around them began to pick up, the snow blinding them all and separating them from the world around them. "Nieve!" Jennifer shouted at her daughter.
There were no words that could accurately describe the feeling that she felt within her body. It was as if there was a storm raging in her mind, the sea pounding against cliffs and sand until nothing remained. She could hear the voices of those she had been crying for her to surrender to herself. It was pointless to hold on to what wasn't in her nature, to deny herself the thrill of killing those that stood around her. The voices demanded that she make everybody pay now for what had been done to them.
Sooner or later, the voices told her repeatedly, everybody around her would indeed betray her. Even her beloved Conrart would one day abandon her in favor of somebody else. He would take their son and leave her in the hellish darkness that clawed at everything just for a chance to consume it.
Yuri's grip on his sister's hand tightened as he felt the darkness practically pouring out of her and could almost taste the bloodlust that she felt within her entire body. "Stop it." Yuri repeated firmly. "This isn't funny! Stop it!"
"Kill them!"
It was as if the cliffs that had withstood the storm collapsed into the raging sea as Nieve suddenly tore away from Yuri and into the snow, crimson eyes burning with absolute hate. "I'll kill you!" Nieve screamed, her fingers bending as she began swiping angrily.
Aldo and Brandt swung their swords, eyes widening when they found two blades stopping them. There really was no way that they were going to be able to kill them without first destroying the creature that was trying to destroy them. "Horrid wretch!" Aldo shouted as he attempted to hit his daughter.
Conrart's blade met Aldo's, his hand grabbing Nieve and shoving her away from them. "Control yourself!" Conrart shouted, his eyes widening upon the realization that his words were lost to her.
A furious cry left Nieve's lips as she charged again, all of the anger and pain she felt over the years suddenly boiling over. Gwendal gritted his teeth as he stood prepared to defend everybody else from harm, resisting the urge to cover his eye. He doubted that they were in any real danger at the moment from Aldo and Brandt but he couldn't be certain that Nieve wouldn't provide all of the danger.
"Murderer! We did nothing to you and still you killed us!" Nieve screeched. "I'll murder you!"
Yuri felt a chill go through his entire body as he looked at his sister, shouting at her to stop. He could feel something within him twisting and burning, crying to be released back to her but even if he knew how, he didn't think he would have. Something was horribly wrong and he had the feeling that Aldo and Brandt were no longer their main worries.
From seemingly nowhere the woman pulled out a knife, vanishing in a flurry of snow. Suddenly there was a sharp cry and when the flurry vanished, Nieve stood with her knife embedded deeply into Brandt's neck and her hand coated in the warm crimson liquid. Without saying a word she jerked the knife up and stared in fascination as the man's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, her eyes focusing on the drops of blood that dripped from the stained blade.
Aldo cried out in fury before attempting to attack his daughter, thoughts of revenge clouding his mind. He suddenly jerked back when Yuri and Conrart stepped between him and his daughter, their eyes showing that they wouldn't allow any harm to befall the woman. "Leave. Her. Alone." Yuri said coolly, slitted eyes staring at the older man.
"She murdered my husband!" Aldo shouted.
"And you plan on murdering her." Conrart stated. "Not to mention that you seem to be determined to kill her for the sole reason that she exists."
His eye narrowed as he glared hatefully at the two men, seeing that his daughter was watching them with varying degrees of interest. He could almost see the temptation to murder both men as they stood with their backs to her but there was something else in her eyes that were crying out for help. She didn't want to hurt them, he realized, but she did want to hurt and kill him.
Aldo started laughing as he crouched slightly, preparing to attack. "Stupid half-breed bastards… Do you really think that I'm going to allow myself to fail after centuries of destroying these abominations?" Aldo demanded. "Now die!"
The air sang briefly as a solitary blade was swung and Aldo's eyes widened when he found himself face to face with Conrart. "I will not allow you to harm the mother of my son." Conrart said coldly. "Nor will I allow you to harm anybody within these walls."
"You just condemned us all." Aldo spat as blood began to dribble from his lips. "I knew from the beginning that you would betray Shin Makoku."
"No, you've condemned us all from the beginning." Conrart said softly. "Now you may die."
Life began to drain from Aldo's eyes as he sank to the ground, his darkening vision focusing on his daughter's face. Was it possible that he had simply feared for his only daughter and wanted to destroy her just to protect her? No, he couldn't have loved her from the moment he was told of her would-be existence. He hated everything that they stood for and the darkness that lived within her soul but yet he couldn't help but feel as if he had accomplished some greater act that not even the Great Sage himself could have known.
As his final breath escaped his body, he felt a sense of peace that he had never before known and welcomed it just as he was accepted into death's embrace.
Nobody spoke a word as they looked at the two lifeless corpses, the snow stopping and the air warming up again. "Nie-chan, it's okay now." Yuri told his sister. "It's okay."
Her grip tightened on the knife, turning her knuckles white from the force of her grip. She could still feel the storm within her raging furiously, refusing to be quelled by anything. "Nieve, it's okay." Conrart said soothingly. "Let go of the knife."
The woman made an attempt to attack them, screaming in fury when a dragon made from water suddenly wrapped around her tightly enough that she couldn't move. "Enough!" Shori shouted at his sister. "Knock it off right now!"
"I'll kill you!" Nieve screeched, her words slipping back into the once dead tongue as the wind began to howl around them.
Yuri envied his brother for not knowing the words that were leaving their sister's lips though he could tell from their faces that they understood the tone. "Hold her!" Gwendal shouted at Shori.
Screams continued to escape Nieve's face as her eyes flashed wildly in the night. The gray-haired demon quickly moved behind Nieve and struck her on the back of the neck, silencing the woman and sending her into a peaceful abyss.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Conrart listened for the furious screams as he stood outside a locked door, wondering for a moment if she was going to make another attempt at killing anybody or if she was sleeping. It had been six months and still the storm that raged within his fiancée's mind refused to die.
Taking a deep breath, he cautiously entered the room and stared at the woman that sat in the corner with her fingers tangled in her wild hair. "Nieve?" Conrart questioned softly.
Slowly she looked up at him, crimson eyes glittering with unshed tears. "Why am I here?" Nieve asked softly, her voice cracking with emotion.
While he wasn't entire positive that she had truly recovered her sanity or what bit she had since escaping her imprisonment, Conrart knew that she had regained some control over herself. He knew that nobody really understood why he was being patient with her after six months and nearly getting killed by her at least half a dozen times but it didn't matter to him. Yuri and the others were patiently waiting, each one praying that the new day would bring the woman back to them. "You snapped." Conrart said simply. "Whatever you used to lock away every ounce of pain you've ever felt in the past four thousand years finally broke and you snapped. It's been six months."
Nieve closed her eyes for a moment before whispering, "I don't remember. I just remember him saying that he was going to kill everybody and then nothing."
"Nobody's dead except for Aldo and Brandt."
"Okay. Is everybody okay?"
"Yes."
"How about Dan?"
Conrart smiled as he sat on the bed, knowing that his love had returned to him. "He's standing up by himself and wants his mother very much." Conrart responded. "Wolfram's pregnant. The baby's due in the fall. Gwendal and Gunter are on their honeymoon as we speak."
"November fifth. That's when the baby will be due. It'll be a girl."
Conrart smiled again as Nieve slowly moved so she was sitting next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. "Are we still engaged or did you find somebody else?" Nieve asked softly.
He made her look at him, forcing her to see the look in his eyes. "There is nobody else that I could possibly want when I have you right here." Conrart said softly. "I love you and only you."
"Nieve!"
Crimson eyes widened as Yuri tackled her, sending both siblings onto the floor. "Get the hell off of me, you psycho!" Nieve shouted at her brother as she shoved him off. "Gods damn it all! I can't have a psychotic moment without you having to tackle me, can I?"
Kissing his sister's forehead, Yuri laughed and hugged her tightly. "Just wait! We'll go back to Earth and you can show Mom and Dad that you're okay and you'll be able to meet Shori's girlfriend."
"Shori's what?"
"Shori found himself a girlfriend so when we go home, you're going to meet her. No freaking her out too."
"Whatever! Can I get the hell out of here and go outside? I want fucking fresh air instead of the smell of fucking musty air with undertones of blood." Nieve grumbled before pulling at her hair. "On second thought, I want a god damn bath with my fiancé."
Shoving Yuri off of her, Nieve grabbed Conrart and gave him a lopsided grin. Conrart's eyes were tender as he smiled gently, knowing that the demons that had haunted his one love's mind and soul had been temporarily laid to rest and that the wounds that were gained could now all heal once and for all.
lostmoonchild: Now I actually sat in front of the computer and imagined what Nieve would be feeling as she fell into temporary insanity (although I'm not entirely sure it's temporary if it lasts for six months) and a storm raging against a cliff is basically what I felt for Nieve. One of my favorite things to write, I think, is someone slipping into insanity since it's unpredictable. And now for the "Winter Sun" summary:
Winter Sun: He had no true obligation to serve or to be civil to any of them. Now if he could only keep that conviction with the Maoh's second son's presence.
So thank you, minna-san, for your reviews and alerts and favorites! I'm currently sugar high and I hope I'll see a lot of you in "Winter Sun" so until then! Ja ne!
