Notes:
Just finished Chapter 7 yesterday! Phiuh… currently working on Last Chapter… hope I'll get it done before I go on vacation! Thanks for reading… :)
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Sayaka felt herself floating in an unknown place. Am I dreaming again…? Her thoughts were distracted by the sound of footsteps echoing. She opened her eyes, and saw that she was the one who is walking along a dark, empty hallway.
What is this… I can't control my movements…
Where am I?
What am I doing…?
She felt as if her inner self was a separate entity, conscious, but unable to control her body's movements. She could feel a cold object in her hands, and she saw that she was holding a dagger. What am I doing!?
She sees herself enter into a room, and saw that her body was moving towards a crib inside the room. Inside it lies Aki, Tooya and Aya's baby daughter.
No…!
Sayaka felt her hand rise up, and it was ready to plunge the dagger right onto Aki, Sayaka screamed with all her might. Stop this! What's going on!?
Why fight it, Sayaka…? She suddenly heard Freya's voice. Then her figure emerged in the darkness. You are me, and I am you. We're the same person…
The same blood…
And suddenly blood sprouted up in the air…
…
Sayaka sprung up screaming as she woke up from her bad dream. Gasping for breath, she could still see the blood in front of her eyes.
"Sayaka…" she heard Yuuhi's voice call her as he sat up and pulled her into his arms. "It's all right… it's just a bad dream…" he said softly as he nuzzled his face on the curve of her shoulder and gently trailed soft kisses along her neckline.
Yuuhi… She breathed a little easier as she leaned back into his embrace. For a moment she suddenly forgotten about her horrid dream and was completely intoxicated as Yuuhi kissed her. The same intoxication she had felt when they made love that same night.
But… it isn't just a bad dream…
It's all true…
The sad, painful truth…
She pulled away from Yuuhi's arms. "Sayaka…" Yuuhi muttered softly as he touch her shoulder.
"I have to tell you the truth…" she replied softly.
"The truth? About what?" He was confused now.
"About me… about what I truly am…"
Yuuhi froze for a moment upon hearing her last remark. "What are you talking about, Sayaka…?" he finally said. "What you truly are…? You are who you are… you are Sayaka… aren't you…?"
* * *
Alec winced in pain as he opened his eyes. He didn't even remember what happened anymore. He just remembered being caught, and seeing Sayaka escape… and then… just pain. Unbearable pain. Pulling on his arm, the chain that was binding both his wrists tinkled softly. He had struggled so much that the skin around his wrists had been cut by the chain and blood was dripping bit by bit.
The door opened, and Kagami walked in with Freya, followed by the faithful Wei.
"So, I suppose the good doctor isn't such a good doctor after all." Freya smirked as she saw Alec.
"Go to hell…" Alec muttered in disgust.
Kagami smiled sinisterly. "I admire your courage and audacity, Alec. I didn't think you'd have the guts to pull that off." He hissed as he leaned closer to Alec's bruised face. "Now tell me. Where did Sayaka go?" he asked indignantly.
"I don't know!"
Kagami sighed. "You're just bringing this upon yourself, Alec." He beckoned to Wei, and the malicious looking man stepped up, tightening his grip on his chain whip, and walked around Alec. "It would be so easy if you had just cooperated silently. It would've been easier on you too."
The chain whip cracked, and there was an extreme stinging pain on his back.
"Good doctor, you don't have to go through this, you know…" Alec could still see Freya smile as she muttered those words, despite his blurring vision. Kami-sama… what now…? Alec prayed silently, letting out painful cries at each time he felt the whip land on the flesh on his back. I won't submit to them again… ever! Even if it costs me my life…
I won't… give up!
Kagami signaled for Wei to stop when he saw Alec's head droop down into unconsciousness.
"Determined little one, isn't he?" Freya slipped her arm into Kagami's as she leaned on his shoulder.
"She must have gone to Tooya…" Kagami said, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Freya smiled to Kagami. "Don't worry so much… my dear Kagami." She said as she touched Kagami's face. "They will come to us, and when they do, we will win because we have the best cards in the house." She said again with a victorious glimmer in her eyes. "Tooya will have no choice but to surrender Ceres' mana and Sayaka to us for the sake of his child."
Kagami remained silent at her words. His thoughts were still disturbed by the fact that Sayaka had escaped before she had finished her mana cloning.
"Don't be so tense, Kagami…" Freya muttered playfully. "Come… we have more things to do…" she said as she led Kagami towards the door.
"Kagami-san… what do you want me to do with him?" Wei asked as Kagami proceeded to the door.
Kagami stopped his steps and glanced back towards Alec for a moment. "Leave him to starve for now. We might still need him for something."
* * *
Yuuhi knelt silently in the freezing cold. He had been there for hours, just staring blankly into his eldest brother's grave. All he could hear was Sayaka's voice telling him the most shocking revelation he had ever heard of.
"The truth is, Yuuhi… I… I'm not human… I don't know what I am…"
"What do you mean you're not human? Stop talking like this!" Yuuhi exclaimed as he heard her words.
"My brother and I… never existed until shortly before I met you…" she continued. "And he isn't exactly my brother either… he's just a puppet that Freya created for me…"
"Freya!" Yuuhi's heart stopped upon hearing Freya's name mentioned. "What does she have anything to do with you or your brother?"
"Freya and I are one. I was created by her mana… but we were once a united entity…" she spoke with a now trembling voice. "And when she dies…"
Yuuhi immediately knew what comes after those words. "It's not true… is it…!?" he exclaimed suddenly, grabbing her shoulders. "Sayaka!"
But she didn't give him the answer that he wanted to hear. Instead, she just looked at him with teary-eyes. And he knew that it was the truth.
He had been so shocked at that moment that he had been speechless. He hadn't said much to her since then. He didn't know what to say exactly. But he does love her. To the very last drop of his blood, and to the very last breath of his life, he loved her.
Fate… go on and laugh at me… laugh at me all you want… Yuuhi cursed silently.
But then he slowly sunk down, and buried his face in his palm in confusion and frustration. Why her…? Why everyone of them… Aya… then Chidori… and now…
"Kazuma-aniki…" he whispered softly. "What should I do…?"
He suddenly remembered the struggle Kazuma had to go through in order to marry Suzumi. Kazuma had been betrothed to a girl from a well-known family, a girl he did not love. An arranged political marriage, to be exact. But Kazuma fought for his love towards Suzumi against his father's wishes.
Yuuhi never understood why his brother was so determined in fighting for his freedom to love Suzumi. But he could see the happiness reflected in his eyes, the kind of happiness that Yuuhi sees only when he is with Suzumi.
Live for love, Yuuhi…
Yuuhi looked up. He could almost hear his brother's words whispering in the wind. The words once said from an elder brother to his younger brother.
…because if you truly loved one another…
"…nothing else will matter…" Yuuhi murmured softly, repeating the words.
He froze for a moment, staring into blankness. Then, as if he was just awakened from a bad dream, he roused, and turned away from where he had been for the past hours, and took his steps home to Sayaka as the sun sets over the horizon.
* * *
The room was dimly-litted only by the faint moonlight and the citylights from outside the window. No lights were on inside the room. Mikage was sitting alone, his eyes staring blankly onto the dark wall.
"Ce…res…" his voice mumbled softly, and then he paused for a moment.
As a strain of dark cloud shifted across the moon, a stretch of darkness descended upon the room. But Mikage seemed unaffected.
"Fre…ya…" he muttered again.
He had been like this ever since he saw Ceres. It was as if something within him was awakening. Now and then he would catch unfamiliar memory glimpses of him and Ceres. Of how happy they had been. Of how much he loved her. But then every single time, Freya would lie beside him and and with her intoxicating seduction washed the images away. And Ceres would seem so far away. Just an unfamiliar figure. And now, they are returning to him. But he was confused. He couldn't understand what they are.
Remember who you are…
Mikage jumped at the invisible soft voice he heard whispering behind him. Slamming his back flat against the wall, his violet eyes scanned the dark, empty room. There was no one in there with him, but he could feel an eerie presence right then and there, with him.
You loved her. Don't you remember?
The voice startled a confused Mikage into exasperation. He straightened his pose and lifted up his hand and gathered a violet orb of chi in his palm. "Show yourself." Mikage lowered his voice as his eyes swept from one end of the room to the other, finding hints of anyone present.
Then, in a distance, a soft white light emerged, forming a figure. Mikage's eyes widened as he slowly recognized the figure, and without further thinking, he released the violet orb in his hand towards the white figure.
But the violet blast dissolved as it merged into the white figure. He just smiled faintly as he continued to look at Mikage in silence.
"It can't be…" Mikage muttered. "You're… you're dead! No… you're not dead! You just don't exist! You can't exist! You are just a soulless body! You don't exist!" he fumbled for words.
Oh, but I do exist. The words softly purred as Akira's unmoving lips curve to a kind smile. His eyes reflected sadness as he looked at Mikage calmly. And yes, I was a soulless body. But love has given me a soul…
"This is just… another trick…" Mikage said as he grabbed on his head. "Another trick that my mind is playing on me!"
Remember… Ceres…
"Shut up!" Mikage yelled in frustration.
Remember… your love…
Something was pounding inside his head. Something that was trying to break free. His head flipped back as he unleashed a roar of pain. And his eyes saw a blinding white light.
Bright.
* * *
Suzumi felt a warm sensation sweep across her face. The last thing she remembered was going through her last test that had drained every single drop of her life force out of her limbs. She opened her heavyweighted eyelids and was surprised as she found herself surrounded in a white vacuum. And looking into her eyes with those kind eyes she had so longed to gaze into again was…
"Kazuma-san…?" Suzumi mouthed her late husband's name in disbelief.
Kazuma smiled faintly.
"Is… is this a dream?" she asked, sitting up. But then Kazuma's hands reach out and rested on hers and she could feel his warmth. Her tears welled in her eyes as she rushed into her husband's arms. Into the warmth she had so longed to feel again.
"Suzumi…" Kazuma's voice whispered gently as his arms enclose around her and embraced her lovingly.
She couldn't control her emotions, nor could she control her flowing tears. The man that she loved the most, the man whom she had married for that love, and the man who had been taken away from her by tragic death, leaving her almost at the verge of insanity. She closed her eyes and nestled herself close in the warmth of his arms.
She felt Kazuma's palm lift her chin up, then he kissed her gently. "My beautiful Suzumi…" he said softly. "I'm sorry I have caused you so much pain…"
"If this is a dream… I don't ever want to wake up…" Suzumi replied. "Ever…"
But then Kazuma released her, and he put his hands on her shoulders. "Suzumi…" he started to speak. "Do you hear that? Can you hear them?"
"Hear… them?" Suzumi repeated Kazuma's question. She listened in the silence. And far away, she could hear faint voices calling her name. Familiar voices.
"Suzumi…" Kazuma continued, his voice still the calm, soft voice that had always soothed her soul. "It's not your time yet…"
"No!" Suzumi screamed. "I don't want to be apart from you again! Kazuma-san! Onegai…"
"When the time comes… Suzumi… we will be together again…" Kazuma smiled as he took her hand. "Right now, there are people who need you… Yuuhi needs you…"
"Yuuhi…" Suzumi's eyes widened as she muttered Yuuhi's name.
Yuuhi. The brother whom Kazuma had entrusted into her care. The boy who, in those years, became more than just a brother-in-law to Suzumi, but had became her life and soul. She remembered the once quiet and timid young Yuuhi when he was first brought into Kazuma and Suzumi's home from the Aogiri house. The minute she saw him, she felt an overwhelming compassion for the rejected and abandoned boy. And over time, Suzumi had patiently penetrated through the barrier that the young boy had set up around him, protecting him from others who may hurt him.
Yuuhi. The boy who, in Suzumi's darkest moments, had pulled her out of her sorrow and showered her with hope and gave her newfound strength to face life.
Yuuhi. Because of him, she was alive until this very day.
Yuuhi. The brother she never had.
Suzumi smiled faintly. "Yuuhi needs me…" she whispered softly.
Kazuma nodded as he smiled. "When the time comes, Suzumi…"
"… We will be together again…" she continued his words.
And then he disappeared, and a bright light descended upon Suzumi. Then she could feel her body being cradled in someone's arms. When she opened her eyes, she saw a violet hued glow sweeping across her face, and warmth seeping inside her limbs. And gold-colored pupils looking into her eyes.
"Ceres…?"
* * *
Yuuhi…
Sayaka shivered as she slumped on the floor in the cold, empty room. She felt as if her whole body was wrenched in pain. She wanted to see Yuuhi, but she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes.
I have brought you more pain…
… but I love you…
I loved you so much… that it hurts to not be with you…
"Sayaka…" Suddenly the voice that she had longed to hear all day was heard by the door. She paused for a moment in shock, and turned towards the door. And there stood Yuuhi, his chest heaving from his heavy breathing, steaming mist forming at each exhaled breath he made. And before she could even react to his presence, he came rushing towards her and pulled her close in his arms.
There were so many words she wanted to say, but the words can't find their way out of her lips. She rested her head silently on his chest, and she could hear his heartbeat faintly. Slowly, she put a hand on her own chest, and now she could hear two heartbeats beating together at the same exact pace. And it calmed her senses and soothed her soul.
Yuuhi closed and buried his face in the softness of her raven hair. "I don't care what you are…" he finally spoke. "And I don't care what fate has decided for you… we will defy it together, just as Aya had defied her fate…"
She closed her eyes as she felt Yuuhi's soft kiss land on her forehead and his arms enclose around her tighter.
Kami-sama… I don't know what the future has in hold for us…
Death…
Tragedy…
Painful sorrow…
But please… let us have this moment just a little bit longer…
* * *
Tooya stood alone in the darkness. He glanced at his watch. Almost time… He thought. Then as he was about to turn around, suddenly a drop of cold sensation landed on the tip of his nose. He looked up, and saw snowflakes fluttering about above him in the sky, dancing gracefully in the cold, wintry night, before disappearing under the ground.
Tooya…
Tooya's eyes then caught the familiar white figure standing in the gardens.
"Akira…"
He smiled at Tooya, but then he faded away within the falling snowflakes.
"Akira!" Tooya called out, running towards where he had seen him. But he found himself standing in an empty darkness, showered by the falling snowflakes.
"Tooya… what's wrong?" Tomonori's voice called out from the parlor.
Tooya turned around and saw Tomonori, Yuuhi and Sayaka standing there, waiting for him. "Iie… nandemonai…" he replied.
"Are you ready?" Yuuhi asked.
Tooya nodded, and took his steps towards them. As they made their way towards the door, Tooya turned back to look towards the gardens one last time.
Dark.
And so he turned around, and made his way to where his battle awaits.
Mikage International.
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to be continued…
