A/N Hello again. So a few things to note this week, due to some schedule changes in real life I will be changing the chapter upload date to Thursday now. But it will still be updated weekly as usual. We are starting the Kaneshiro arc for the next few chapter.
Thank you all again for the kind reviews and hope you all continue to enjoy Until the Sun Sets.
Chapter 16
Present Day, 1885
"Welcome to the Velvet Room young man."
"Dr. Igor, I've been informed this wasn't a friendly visit. What do you want?" Ren asked the older man.
"Straight to the point I see. I just want to know how your rehabilitation was progressing."
"I'm doing just fine. Can I go now?"
"There's no need to rush. I'm sure the ride over here left your throat parched. Please have a drink on me." Dr. Igor said lifting a container with liquid inside.
"And have you experiment on me again, no thanks." The large nose man chuckled at his guest.
"I've heard no complains so far. But still, I would like to see the results for myself. Besides you'll get to spend more time with Lavenza." Ren contemplated his next move. He was worried for the little girl and only agreed to meet her Master just to check up on her. Though the results of how he got in this situation was less than pleasing.
1 Year Ago, 1884
Ren had been coming back from his own separate mission away from Morgana. Mishima connections only located small fry so far. Clearing out buildings and getting nowhere was starting to irritate the older brother. He was riding on Arsene when he sees two young girls run out of the woods. They were nearly identical, no older than 12 years old Ren observed. However one had a braid running down her back while the other had her's tied in a bun.
"Please Mister, were scared and lost and trying to get back home. Can you help us?" The braided one asked.
"Where are you two from?"
"We live up in the mountain. My sister and I were playing but then a storm came so we took cover. But once it passed we got lost and haven't found the trail since. Perhaps with your help Mister we can get back to a familiar area?"
Ren out of the goodness in his heart just couldn't leave them be. There were animals and people out here much more dangerous. He could afford a detour. "Here, hop on my horse you two and I'll guide you up the mountain towards home," The elder Amamiya sibling said getting off his horse to help them.
"What're names by the way?" The twin girl with the braided bun pointed to herself.
"I'm Caroline."
"And I'm Justine. I'm sure our caretaker must be worried about us."
"We really appreciate this Mister—"
"Call me Ren," he said to them. The three of them made the trek up the mountain. It was getting a bit harder to climb with Arsene and Ren towing him with two young girls on the back. "Hang in there boy."
"Ah this is the area. It's starting to look familiar right Caroline!"
"I see, I think your right Justine. Mister Ren, our home should be a little more Northwest of here. There should be a cottage nearby," she directed him.
"I'll keep a look out." It took about another hour before he found a cottage built into the side of the mountain. An old man had greeted them at the door. He had an abnormally large nose, bulging eyes, and a receding hair line.
"I see you two have return home safely, I was starting to get worried when you didn't return last night. Thank you young man."
"No problem Sir, I am glad to return them back home," Ren replied back to the older gentleman.
"It must've been quite the journey, please come inside and have something to drink." The four of them walked into the house after hitching Arsene outside. It was a modest home, nothing really fancy about it.
"So this is where you two live. What is this place exactly and who are you? I mean most people don't willingly live up all the way here." The young man said sitting down on a chair.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room, I am Igor. This place is for weary travelers who come and go. The twins Caroline and Justine have lived here for quite some time. I take care of them." The deformed man offered Ren a glass of juice that he happily gulped down. He was quite thirsty after walking up the mountain.
"I guess living up here has its perks, its nice and quiet from the city life but also seems lonely with no one nearby."
"We've gotten used to it young man," Igor said sitting across from him in his own chair.
"I see. Well I should be heading back. Thank you for the drink Sir. And you two, try not to get loooo….looourr." The elder brother words were slurring the more he spoke. He got up from the chair only to feel a wave of dizziness hit him.
"You should sit down if you feel unwell young man," the other man offered. Ren tried to look at Igor but his face was starting to blur as well. His feet felt like rocks were tied to them as we attempted to take steps only to result in falling down to his knee attempting to stay steady. He could feel numbness climbing down his shoulder to his arms and legs.
"What the hell…did you do…to me?"
"Relax, in the Velvet Room reality fades." Ren was trying his damnest to move from the floor. It was feeling like the walls were closing in on the cottage. The house owners faces continue to blur and morph in his mind, no longer was there an old man and two young girls, but monsters with with red eyes. He needed to get the hell out now. Using whatever will power left, Ren crawled to the door only to be meet by a wall of stacked bricks. Reaching for his gun he felt nothing on his belt. But it was just there a moment ago. Voices and faces were yelling at him.
Weapons gone and a door he just entered blocked by bricks, there had to be another escape. The shadowy figures with red eyes were getting closer to him. Reaching out strongly for the window, the elder Amamiya sibling blacks out before he could reach the latch. He couldn't remember what happened next. It felt like a blur of odd dreams. He dreamt of wearing funny masks and talking monsters, or a blue butterfly. So odd indeed.
The next time Ren woke up from the dream it was night time based off the lighting.
"I see you are up trickster," a soft voice said. It sounded different than the twins voices. Was he somewhere else?
"Ugh. Where am I. What time is it?"
"It's a little bit afternoon and your in the infirmary," She explained.
"Afternoon? Why is everything so dark as night. I can't see anything."
"We wrapped a clothed over your eyes. But don't worry, everything was successful."
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME. WHY CAN'T I SEE!"
"You will have to talk to my Master about that. For now, continue to rest." Panic starting streaking up his spine. How STUPID could he be. He gulped down the juice like it was water and was now strapped to a bed. The only way he could tell the time was by the visits of the soft spoken one. She came three times a day. The third time and the next first visit was always the longest breaks. And each visit he would eat and have his bandages changed. But he still couldn't open his eyes. She was a lot nicer than the other two that also came. They would poke at how much he squirmed under their administrations. They seem so different than the two who offered for help.
"Enjoying your sleep inmate."
"Our Master has provided you with something very generous. He has a task for you once you have finished resting."
"Forget your dumb task and get me out!"
"We can't do that." He heard them speak at the same time. Footsteps echoing away before a door was slammed shut. Ren tried to fight through the restraints, but they just wouldn't budge. It felt like hours later when Ren heard the door open again.
"Hello Trickster," the soft spoken sounding girl said.
"It's you again."
"It's time for your meal. I will change your bandages as well."
"You have been visiting me the past few days. What is your name?"
"I go by many names." she replied.
"Then what is the one you prefer?" Ren offered back. He could hear her setting down a bowl pondering.
"My name is Lavenza. It's nice to meet you."
"Okay Lavenza. Can you get me out of here please. At least remove the restraints, they're cutting into my skin." Ren waits for what feels like forever before feeling his wrist and ankles loose. "Thank you." The elder brother grabs the wrapping around his head and blinks a few times. His vision felt….different. Much clearer and crisp.
"Why do my eyes feel funny?" Ren asked the newly named Lavenza.
"My Master worked on them. Would you like to see his other projects," she offered.
"Uh okay." Ren's eye were adjusting to the flame lit lighting. He was in some cave, further in. This was all probably hidden behind the cottage. The young girl walked him to another room where he was absolutely horrified. Even the worse enemies he took down shouldn't deserve this treatment. Bodies were displayed in cases, human body parts switched out or mixed with animal carcasses. Who was this man trying to play; God?
Ren definitively didn't want to turn into one of these people locked up. "I gotta get out of here. Where are my guns!?"
"I've stored them by with your horse."
"My horse IS still outside right" he wanted to confirmed.
"There's no need to be leaving so soon. We haven't even started your rehabilitation." The old man Igor appeared in the room.
"What the hell are these things!?" Ren pointed at one case that clearly showed the mans insides were not normal for a human. Locked behind glass, unmoving like a deer carcass in a dining room.
"There my creations of what humans can do if they were enhance with other creatures."
"You're MAD!"
"No I'm much more. But if you wish to leave, you're free to go." That seemed way easier than Ren thought. He wanted to respond but felt a needle stab into the back of his neck. Attempting to grab at the assailant, his vision fades as two twin girls look down on him.
The next time he regain conscientiousness, he was set in the middle of the woods by a river with Arsene hitch to a tree unfazed. Did he image the whole thing? It couldn't be, his eyes still felt different. Checking his reflection in the water, his eyes were the same but the skin round them were still a bit red. "Who the hell were those people?" Since then Ren had been very cautious not only about his drinks but running into them again.
He almost put a bullet in Igor when he did pop up, in wagon this time. Ren was camping outside some weeks later. But Lavenza being patience and kind to Ren had asked her Master's questions in his stead. Dr. Igor he was officially called. Some mad scientist hell bent on perfecting fusions between humans and animals. The Amamiya sibling hated getting random visits every now and then from them to see how his eyes were progress. Ren was afraid to ask if any other part of him was switched out with animal organs. Or if his eyes were indeed "human" eyes.
That was probably the only thing Ren took away from this incident. Being able to see better in a duel. Able to detect the slightest twitch of an eyebrow or hand, see farther in the dark. He could try to restore the eyes by visiting medicine people at those local tribes. But they had enough on their plate.
Present Day, 1885
Back to the task at hand, Igor was making another check up on him to make sure the effects were still working all this time later. Ren was able to shoot empty bottles clearly in the complete darkness.
"Well if you look at that, the former inmate still proving himself useful Justine."
"You're right, for once he is not slacking off," the twins critiquing him from the top of the wagon.
"I don't need banter from you two. I've kept my end, my eyes are fine."
"A deals is a deal it seems. Lavenza, see to him." Dr. Igor walked back inside and waited.
The younger girl in the dress broke her formation by the wagon and walked up to Ren, hesitating at first before giving him a hug.
"You know you can still come with me instead of Igor. There's no need to participate in his experiments or games."
"You are very kind trickster but I must stay with my Master," she replied back.
"You always call me that; trickster, but you never explained it?"
"It's the look in your eyes. You're unpredictable, but I'm confident you will do great things. Farewell." She hops back in the wagon as Justine and Caroline guided the horses to move.
"See you around inmate," Caroline said. And just like that they were gone as the wind.
The sun was rising about the time he got back into the town. He wanted nothing more to rest for half the day after being up all night and guarded.
"Where have you been all night. You left to take a piss and never came in. Thought we had to send a rescue squad." Morgana was the first person he saw walking up stairs.
"Long story Mona…..wake me up around noon."
Elsewhere…
The town was constantly living in fear of their oppressor. Most would leave if they had the money to leave but even that was drying up, with all of the "taxes" they were forced to pay or else they be buried six feet under. She hated it so much, and wanted to do something about it.
"Makoto you should leave before they spot you." The women turned around to find her albeit unusual friend Eiko hiding behind the wall.
"I can't, I need to get down to the bottom of this. One way or another…."
A/N Drugs are a hell of a thing Ren. So the Velvet Room and Igor do exist in this wild western AU.
My take on him was a mixture between both Igor. A little bit nice a little bit god complex.
I also was reading about this article about this weird cult in the 1800's where they were trying to make some form of "superhumans" or something. For example using limbs of dead animals on humans or surgery on the organs. Ren has all the rights to be scared of animal organs inside humans. But he probably puts up with it to see Lavenza. (The twins are fun but Lavenza is a lot nicer to joker.)
As always feel free to review. Till next week.
