~Lila's POV~
I found myself standing before the gates of Cross Academy. Looking past the wired gate and bridge, the academy seemed...ominous somehow. The building looked as if it was trying to intimidate me, telling me to leave. It seemed to say that I have no right to return here after the lies I've made.
Maybe I don't, but I want to see my family one more time.
And Takuya, you must be so worried. You came to find me and all this demon and vampire stuff happened and then I'm gone again. Zero must be even more worried, especially if Yuki told him what she found out.
What must Yuki be thinking in all of this?
She finds out that her best friend is not herself, that she must be possessed or even be a person in disguise. Would Yuki even believe me if I told her that Sayori was just a creation from my demon powers?
I'm scared to go back. I can't imagine what everyone must be thinking. I should at least explain myself, right? I mean, I've already decided that this will be the last time I'll see them anyway. After all of this nonsense, I've lost my place among them. Both family and friends deserve better than what I can give them now.
The war has ended with Rido, and with that, my purpose as well.
I need to find my original body. I want to be...myself again.
It should be somewhere underneath the Night class dorms where Kaname can keep a close eye on it. I can't remember where exactly the vampires said it would be, but the vampires should have already sensed something wrong by the time I get my body back. If I find it before they catch me, I reminded myself. I hoped to find my body first before they sent someone down to check. Then when they see me and I will explain the situation to them and everyone will gather.
Everyone….
Zero.
"Damn it, why am I so scared?" I try to brush off the fear from my arms but it doesn't dispel the gloom. Gathering courage, a reason, I push open the wired gate. It creaked as I closed it behind me. There's only a gatekeeper at the dorm gates, but Zero and Yuki take turns to watch the entrance gate. I shouldn't be spotted yet.
It's not evening, in fact, it's the middle of the day. The vampires should be asleep and the Day class students occupied in class. Unless headmaster or a wandering staff member appears, I should be able to sneak into the vampire's underground dungeon without incident.
The walk on the entrance bridge was agonizingly long. I kept thinking someone would see me. But even as I made it to school ground nothing seemed to be disturbed. I can just take a route through the trees to the Night dorms, then.
Cutting right from the main building, I try to recall the route while looking around in almost a full three-hundred sixty degrees.
It was almost like I was breaking into my own home, but also not. Though it had only been a few days since I ran away from Yuki, it felt longer than that. It felt as if I'd been gone for years and I've just returned for a visit.
While walking through the route, it struck me that nothing here has changed. I never had much time to full process what was happening to me, so much so that I'd hardly realized how much I've changed. Somehow, the trees and gardens remained lively while I was slowing going crazy from my past memories. I've realized a while ago that the time when I heard Rido's voice here, it was only a past memory surfacing. The true moment when I heard him speak to me had taken place in a different reality and it clashed with this existence. Technically, he was never there in the first place.
Finding the wooden doors hidden by vines brought a small sense of relief, I yank on the ancient iron handle. It creaked opened. I'm surprised that this door hadn't been completely overtaken by the plants yet, considering that this entrance is rarely used. The door kept getting stuck from the vines and the rust, forcing me to jerk my body backward for momentum to aid in forcing open the door. Once I succeeded in opening the door to a suitable degree, I found darkness staring back. Wisps of a breeze wafted on my skin before dying out into the sun.
"There's no turning back now." I tell myself. Yanking the door closed behind me, darkness swallowed my sight.
My eyes adjusted slowly, but it was still difficult to see. It wasn't the kind of moonlit darkness like being in the dorms. It was nearly pitch black.
"I heard something." A voice echoed. It came from further down the hall.
"Wait. That weapon's scent, that girl was there at the mansion a few days ago, I remember that scent!" Another voice wailed.
"Crap." I muttered. It's too soon to be noticed. How can I keep them quiet?
…..Meanwhile…..
~3rd POV~
"Lord Kaname, were you able to discern the runaway to be Lila?" Ruka inquired. She stood by the door, waiting in curiosity. Kaname didn't turn to face her. He was still deep in thought. Ruka didn't mind the silence and stayed quiet. She didn't care whether or not if it was Lila. But if it wasn't her, then she would have to dispatch the intruder for sure.
"As it now stands, I find it most likely that it is her. Although I don't know how she obtained a new body that can function as a demon huntress, not mention that it was Yuki's friend. It wouldn't make sense if a mere stranger was able to disguise themselves' only to escape within several days." Kaname spoke with an indifferent tone, but even Ruka could detect slight annoyance laced in. She couldn't blame him and her heart ached at his discomfort. Then again, would she ever blame Kaname for anything?
The recent events were complicated to deal with. What made them even worse was that those events occurred no longer than weeks apart. Within the past month a powerful demon was awakened from within Lila's body. Then she was found dead along with a strange man in Rido's mansion. Now Yuki's friend, Sayori, had run away and was acting suspiciously before even escaping.
Some weak demons even fled Rido's mansion in a panic claiming to have come across a demon huntress. And as far as anyone knew, Lila was the only demon huntress in the area. When interrogated, even Takuya was surprised when he was told about the mysterious new demon huntress. What's even more curious was how the lower demons claimed that Rido died from that same huntress.
"What shall we do, Lord Kaname?" Ruka asked, a hand over her heart in salute.
Kaname sighed, "For now, continue to check up on Lila's corpse and keep security high on school grounds. Leave it to rounds during evenings. We don't know what this enemy's true intents are, but we can't afford to be actively searching for them. It would cause suspicion with the senate and not to mention the humans in this academy if they heard about us walking around in daylight so often." He placed a hand on the window, imagining to reach out and grasp the person behind all of the chaos, and crush them.
"Yes, Lord Kaname." Ruka left without hesitation, determined to do her best in guarding Lila's corpse, leaving Kaname alone to his thoughts once more.
He hated that he couldn't act as much as he wanted to. This demon mess was never in his plan. He wasn't aware that Lila was a host or had ties to Rido, either. It would be too dangerous to destroy the senate when there was another out there that could also decimate the peace he built for Yuki. There was a fork in his plan. He could either kill the person, which he still suspected to be Lila in a different body, or go after the senate first. He thought of going after the latter, though he still held conflicted thoughts of the first target. If it was Lila who was behind all of this nonsense, why would she do it? More importantly, why hadn't she told Zero or Yuki about it?
Lila was just a demon huntress with a purpose in his plan to protect Yuki along with Zero. An insurance for the insurance. There was no such thing as too much precaution when it came to protecting Yuki. Luckily, it seemed that Zero was following his duty as the knight. Lila seemed to be doing fine on her own as well, until her childhood friend came along. That was when strange events began to occur, events that were enough to jeopardize his plan in a short period of time.
But he won't let the enemy wander around to do as it pleased. Sooner or later, they would have to come back. If they didn't, he would hunt them down himself after dealing with the senate. There was only a small thought that brought shook this resolve in the mysterious enemy. Should it truly be Lila behind the masquerade, how would he deal with a pawn who had been so useful in his plans?
She still remained irreplaceable as a pawn as Zero. He wasn't sure if it would be a wise decision to dispatch her, for she had not violated her purpose of keeping Yuki safe. Safe and happy were different, but he'd prefer safety overall. He certainly didn't like that she kept information of her ties with Rido from him. He could work without her, but now he couldn't deny he did feel a small attachment to her. When she and Yuki were little, they looked so alike. They acted so alike. Kaname once had a thought of those two as blood sisters. And now he reminded himself that that was in the past.
….
"Be quiet. I promise I won't kill you. So please don't make so much noise." I did my best to calm the captive demons, but they did not relent from their cries of terror.
"Says a huntress born to cage our great ancestor and trained to hunt us!" Shouted one not too far away. They gripped the bars of their imprisonment, howling in madness.
"Look, like vampire hunters we only hunt the ones who are causing trouble to humans. You guys can't really cause any humans trouble in these cells, meaning I don't need to kill you." Try as I might, my reasoning did not soothe the demons.
"You lying wretch! I can smell the faint scent of our ancestor on you as well as that vampire. We will not listen to the one who killed our purpose for living!" On and on, they shouted. I gave up hope and decided it was better to run now before the Night class came down to check on them. Perhaps, this body really was made to work in secret. Surely by now, had a normal human come this far they'd be noticed in a heartbeat.
Ignoring their painfully loud, shrill screams, I felt along the cell bars and kept going until their cries were barely heard and the cell bars were replaced by brick. I just realized I could've threatened them to tell me where my body was, but then I remembered that they probably wouldn't believe me and they might not have seen it anyways.
A torch burning in the distance, giving a small speck of light. As the brightness grew, a split path was revealed.
'Great, just what I needed.' I couldn't decide which path to choose. I hadn't visited these dungeons often even working as a Disciplinary committee member and I usually went through the main entrance. I don't know where either path would lead or how long the passage would go. Then there was a noise what sounded suspiciously like a voice. It was speaking, and it sounds like it's coming from one of the two passages ahead; the left one.
"Why do they have to cause such a ruckus?" One voice said. I quickly went down the right hall, hoping they hadn't heard me. I didn't think there'd be someone at the end of this hall, but I certainly didn't want to be spotted by those people. To my very fortunate luck, the hall lead to a chamber with my body encased in an ice coffin. Oh, fate has finally smiled upon me!
Aido must have made it. It's quite pretty despite having jagged edges on the cover.
With much more effort than I anticipated, I shoved the ice cover off. A thud boomed throughout the chamber, but I didn't hesitate to return back to my body. Clasping my own cold hand, I felt more me, then very drowsy. My eyes closed and I didn't want to open them again. My whole body became sore and weak. I felt too tired, like the life was drained of me.
However, I couldn't stand not knowing for sure if I've returned to my body. Grasping an ember of energy, I force my eyes to blink open. I was thankful that it wasn't bright, but it was still too difficult to see past a few feet. My body still felt too weak to move, but even lying down, the dim light that illuminated off of the ice showed the body of Sayori slumped against the coffin, still holding my hand.
My fingers twitch instinctively, feeling the warmth of her hand dissipating and moving over my hand, up my arm, and spreading throughout my stiff body. I shivered, the cold from the ice was starting to bite into my skin. I tried to sit up, but my back ached. Through my tattered uniform, I felt the skin on my stomach. There was no indication of it ever being slit open.
Lying still, I let my thoughts wander. Why didn't I remember everything until I was slain in this body?
When Takuya found me, I was beginning to remember so many events of my past life. There was something that bothered me though, despite remembering so much of the past, my memories showed no further than the point when Rido snuck into the academy. Even knowing so little I didn't want wait for that to happen.
I know I wanted to keep my family safe: Zero, Yuki, and Cross. They were the most important people in my life aside from Takuya.
I thought I could beat Rido. Even though my memories showed me that I failed before, I didn't have the same experiences as I did back then, and I didn't feel afraid. And Rido acted much faster than the previous time. And I failed again.
Some strength returned, aiding my ascent out of the coffin. Collapsing onto my knees, I closed my eyes to ease the dizziness. I'm still too weak. Despite being unable to stand, I finally feel a sense of normalcy with myself. I can stop pretending to be Sayori. I can just stop pretending for everything.
"It can't be,"
His voice held so much disbelief and resentment; I almost felt glad that he was the one who found me. I deserve to be hated.
"How are you alive?"
Opening my eyes, straightening up to face him, Zero's face held a storm of emotions; it did not hide his burning eyes. His eyes shifted to Sayori before returning to me.
"What is Sayori doing here?" He demanded.
"I'll explain, but...could you help me get up?" I offered an apologetic smile. He came over to me, staring intensely. He brought out an arm and drew it slightly back, hesitant. I held out my hand to him and he responded in return, swiftly yanking my hand up. The sudden rush was still too much for me to withstand, forcing me to lean on him. The heat from his body was very nice compared to the coffin's prickly cold. He tensed but did not move away.
"I know you must hate me for keeping so much from you. I came back here to explain why I did what I did. After that, you won't have to see me ever again." I was encased in his arms before my mind registered it.
"I won't deny that I'm angry with you for leaving like that, but I'd never forgive myself if I lost you again." Zero spoke with such tenderness to my ear I thought I would melt into his arms. "This whole time while you were gone, I was going crazy. I kept thinking—hoping—you were still alive. I hated myself for failing to protect you that I couldn't even help Yuki." He tightened his hold; as if he was afraid to let me go. I can't blame him. I made myself disappear from his life and just walked right back into it. As much as I wanted to stop my tears, they fell and marked Zero's shirt without my permission.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I've always known that Zero and I were close, but I was always scared to define our relationship beyond brother and sister.
But there may have been a time when I imagined living with Zero. In our own house, we'd always be content with each other, a child or two running around. Then I began to feel disgusted with myself for imagining such things. I worried that Zero would feel too uncomfortable being that close to me, and so I buried that dream as soon as it was born. Now that I hear him say he cared for me so dearly, I can't help a small part of me wanting that wish to come true. A hopeless dream for a hopeless person.
"I'm going to ask a selfish question, Zero. Do you think you can answer it?"
"What is it?" There no hesitance. His harsh, angry tone is gone and his warm, velvety voice returned. Hearing his confidence made me feel so weak and relieved at the same time. Even knowing I had Ren an ally, I just felt so unsure of myself ever since this past life memory surfaced. Knowing that a person I trust is here with me, holding me steady when I've been feeling lost for months has brought so much stress off my shoulders my heart nearly breaks.
"Would you come with me? After I explain myself to everyone, would you come with me away from the academy and just…live?" He seemed to be contemplating but didn't release me. Something was resting on my forehead, I looked up to see Zero resting his forehead on my own. "If you'd let me, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth, Lila." His voice was confident and soothing. To hear my name from his lips again brought joy to me that I never expected.
"I think we should go to the surface now. And just out of curiosity…did you visit me?" I leaned on him for support as he walks us out. I wiped my tears with my free hand.
"I didn't know any other way to cope. Sometimes, I wanted to keep the only remnant of a person I loved safe. And other times I was angry, and I just wanted to ask you why you'd left." My guilty conscience returned, making my heart feel heavy. "I'm sorry, Zero. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I promise I will make it up to you."
"I'm still trying to process this, but you have a lifetime to make it up to me anyways." A weak laugh escaped me. "That's true."