Part 2: Burning Memory
"Hey buddy, are you alright?!"
Those were the first words I heard. They didn't make sense at the time, but soon it all came back to me, the place where I was, what had happened. It was all one jumbled mess, something I wasn't used to in the slightest bit.
Every night I burn.
"What's your name? Jesus…how is he still alive? There's barely anything here, everything that's left is charred black! Hey buddy, just hang on…we will get you to the doc as soon as we can!"
"Keiji…Kage…" Those were my first words before I blacked out. The man speaking to me was the paramedic, the one who pulled me from the flames. I never saw him again.
When my eyes reopened, I was in a room. Various mechanical and technological devices furnished the room. The continuous beep, beep, beep of the machines was all I heard for the first few moments. Then it dulled away, I was able to concentrate then. I was lying on a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages. As I looked down nearly half of my body was…missing. It was then my attention was pulled to the voices in the room, two of them speaking to each other.
Every night I call your name.
"Nearly sixty percent of his body is missing. He has third degree burns covering the remaining forty percent. He's lucky to be alive; I don't really know what's keeping him stable. The shock alone should have been enough to kill him, it's amazing…how could one person take so much damage and still be alive?? I don't think he will last much longer, his life signs are fading rapidly" Spoke one voice.
"I'm not interested in what's happened to him, I'm only interested in results doctor. Now answer my question, can you keep him alive for the duration of the process? Can I use him or not? Mind you this is costing me a great deal of money, both for the process and keeping your mouth shut. Everything about him matches down to his DNA. He has no family, no one will miss him nor will anyone know he is gone." Came the other voice…it sounded Japanese, full of anger and rage.
"Well…yes we can keep him alive, but is this really the one? We will have to replace the missing parts…it's going to be difficult to find specimens with the correct blood and tissue type if we are going to do this in time to save him. It would take weeks of access to get anything like that here at the hospital. Even if we did get the parts, he would only be an empty shell…we can't do this in time to replace the internal organs he's lost…maybe you should just look for someone el…" The voice was cut off, the Japanese one louder now.
"If the correct specimens are too hard to get then take your pick from my corporate army here in Japan! And you are a specialist in genetic regeneration are you not? We will transport you and your team to the Mishima building and there you can use our best equipment. The deadline if approaching doctor, I wont be late for it. Get the parts. Put him back together. Keep him alive for the duration of the project. Be ready to leave for the Mishima building."
There were footsteps now, two pairs. One left while the other came closer. I could see a man, Japanese as I first thought…dressed in a purple suit. There was something in his eyes, something dark and angry as he looked at me…grinned at me before speaking.
"We finally found a match. You should thank me, without me you would have died by now. Just remember that, you owe your life to me. Of course soon you wont remember anything at all. Get some rest; this is the last day you'll remember yourself as you are now…who you are now." Laughing filled the room then, the sound causing my very mind to shudder and give out.
Every night I burn.
When next I awoke, I was surrounded by water…no…slime? Gel? Something of that content. I was upright, not standing…but suspended within the gel. I was in a room; it too filled with technological devices of all sorts. Everything was given a shade of green, but I could still make out the moving figures…doctors? No, not doctors…but dressed like them. And then that suit…the purple, I could still make it out amongst all that green. Then the voices set in.
"Well doctor, how is the progress with our patient? Everything is going according to plan, correct? I would hate to know that we were behind or something has gone wrong due to your…incompetence." Said the purple wearing Jap-man.
"Um…well…yes progress is good, Mr. Mishima. Eighty percent of the missing organs have been replaced. He shall be ready for memory alteration before the week is out. Didn't something go wrong with the first one?"
"Doctor, I'll worry about company affairs. You just worry about completing the project. Letting you use this equipment is costing me more than the estimates first showed so don't mess up. Your life is depending on this, think of it as your grand achievement. You complete the project, and then you can consider yourself the leader in the field of genetic regeneration. If you fail…well, I hope you have insurance for your wife and children." Then Jap-man left and the bottom of the tube opened, sucking me into darkness.
Every night I fall again.
Again I woke, finding myself looking into a wall-mirror. From what I could tell, I was strapped into a metal chair…or device; it didn't really look like a chair. It was too big; wires and lights all over it, leading into the walls. Then I heard Jap-Man's voice over a loud speaker.
"Finally awake I see, good. Now we can begin the process. We are about to turn your mind into a clean slate. You are going to feel some pain, but you should survive the process. Don't worry though; you wont remember a thing once we are done. Doctor, you may begin."
There was a buzzing sound, followed by beeping. Then a device came down and settled on my head, two prongs very near my eyes. I couldn't tell what they were at first, but that first jolt of energy from them awakened my mind…they were something that delivered pain. It went on for hours I think, the continuous blasts of energy from that machine nearly throwing me out of my seat if it weren't for the restraints. Once it ended, I collapsed into sleep…my body and mind completely taxed.
Awake once more, this time the room was dark…silent. I couldn't remember anything…all I could do was sit staring forward into the darkness…my head throbbing with pain.
Don't talk of love, the shadows burn.
Then the lights came on and a man dressed in a purple suit came in. He was smiling, his hands clasped together as he came closer. He looked Japanese…
"Well now, don't remember anything do you? That will all change soon. You have done very well; you have made it this far. Soon you will go even farther. Just think about it, everything you know and loved is now gone from your memory…as if it never even existed in the first place."
Murmuring me away from you.
The man in purple left, a device coming down on my head…two prongs near my eyes. Then the burning white light filled my eyes, causing me to jerk in my seat. I learned everything there. I learned how to fight, how to survive, how to kill, how to handle weapons, how to serve. I learned who my master was; I learned to obey. For days this went on, a continuous ballet of waking and burning pain. Learning to speak only when spoken to, learning what to say and what not to say.
Don't talk of words that never were.
Once the weeks of searing pain had ended, my master had a name, my creator had a name, my employer had a name…Kazuya. It was then that I was allowed to leave that seat. I was given the suit I wear even today, and the sword I use. He was standing in front of me on that day, along with the doctor…looking his prize over.
"Doctor…is that normal?"
"What are you talking about, Mr. Mishima?"
"His eyes…they are completely white…why is that? This didn't happen with the first test subject…he just lost an eye…but this ones are gone…like they were burned away"
The end is all that's ever true.
"Well…I think it's just a side effect from the memory alteration. These things are still in the experimental stages, it's uncertain what will happen. As you have requested, he answers to you and only to you…and we have implanted the program for him to destroy Test Subject number one on sight."
"Excellent doctor, you may leave now. Take the team with you and take a break, you deserve it. Today, you become a legend." There was something behind Kazuya's grin as he looked at the doctor. Then the man left and I was alone with my master.
"Phantom…I have a task for you. The doctor…you see…he knows too much, as well as his team. I want you to get rid of them for me. You can do this cant you? I just can't have blood spilt all over my hands with the cameras around…with you doing it, we can write it off as a freak accident. You understand don't you? Now go." And so I left with my sword in hand, moving faster than the normal human could detect.
The doctor and his entire team were walking down the hallway…it was the perfect time for the kill. They had nowhere to run, the first two didn't even realize what happened to them…even as their blood splattered the walls and their colleagues. Then the others turned to find me, already moving for them. The next one tried to plead with me, screaming at me.
"No! No please don't! We helped you! It was all Kazuya's idea! You have to believe me! Please!! Plea…" He never did finish his sentence.
There's nothing you can ever say.
The others fell to my blade with ease; the blood so thick the last was sliding on it. He was the doctor that was always talking to Kazuya…the one who sold my life away. I didn't know why at the time, but I felt overcome with rage for this man. During my rage he had managed to pull a gun from some hidden place. It was too late though; my sword was already in flight. It caught his wrist just as the pistol leveled with me. The man screamed out in pain, cursing me…and then he did something unexpected. He charged at me, threw his life away at me. My sword was ready, coming back up the way it came…the man was now two.
Nothing you can ever do.
The force of my blow had thrown him into the air, it rained red in that hallway…I had been reborn. Then the sound of clapping, twisted laughter coming from behind. Kazuya was there, standing as if the mass of bodies before him were a normal thing.
"Yes! Well-done Phantom. Can you feel it? Can you feel the power inside you? Use it!! Use the rage I have given you! It makes you perform! It makes you kill! It's who you are now. I will have uses for someone like you…the military wont get you just yet. No, I have a few other things in mind for you."
Still every night I burn.
I was taught how to use my powers shortly after that; Kazuya's top mages supervised me. I knew how to kill, that was easy enough, but learning to harness my true potential was another thing. The constant magic casting was taxing to say the least. Sometimes I lost control, killing one of the trainers on accident.
"How can you let this thing run loose here?!! He's killed six trainers already! Three of who were on your top magical defense council. We can't train him how to use magic if he keeps blasting holes in the trainer's chests with mana balls! Can't you keep him under control or something? He doesn't even say he's sorry, he just walks away like nothing happened!!" The man turned and looked to me then.
We were standing in Kazuya's office, the man was complaining to Kazuya and looking at me from time to time. Kazuya didn't seem to pay him much attention as he glanced over the various reports that were given to him.
"Mages can be replaced, just as you can if you yell again. Now, how is his progress?"
The man's body rose and fell as he sighed, turning to me once more before looking back to Kazuya, I had a feeling he didn't like me.
"He is a quick learner…quicker than I have ever seen. There is a lot of power within him, and he is able to do some things that I've never seen anyone able to do before. He…manipulates the magical powers and uses them for other purposes…I don't know how to explain it…He posseses a form of ESP…and combined with his martial arts training…he's the perfect assassin. It will be a shame once you hand him over to the military."
"I wont be handing him over to the military. It seems Phantom lacks the certain… strength they are looking for. Typical for the CAS and UCAS governments, they want the huge hulking soldier figure. We will have to start another project. Is there any sign of the first test subject?"
"Not yet, but I'm keeping my eye on it. He seems to have gone underground. It's strange really, I didn't think you gave him that much brains. But then again you didn't plan for the emotions did you? Lets hope this new process you did works for this one. We don't need an accident like last time. I lost too many good men because of that walking mass of flesh and metal."
"I am quite aware of what happened, I don't need you reminding me of it. Phantom won't turn on us, we have made sure of that. I have complete control of him. And now that the military doesn't want him, I can use him for my own purposes. Revive what's left from the old files on the creation of the first one; we will use that along with a few added steps we used for Phantom. The military will get their 'super soldier' and we will keep him."
The man nodded and began to head for the door, stopping only a few steps from his original position against Kazuya's desk. "I've been wondering…you don't plan on breeding him, do you? I mean just one is enough, just think of what could happen with another one of him."
Kazuya merely looked at the man, something hidden behind those eyes as usual. "You know we can't breed him till we find a woman with the correct DNA pattern. My choice to breed him is nothing for you to worry about, or did you forget that?"
Still every night I scream your name.
Correct DNA pattern? What was he talking about? I was able to provide children? But what did it mean exactly…this confused me greatly. I didn't give it much thought then. So I wouldn't just work with anyone, I had to find someone that I was made for?
The man left without another word, and Kazuya looked at me for what seemed like hours. There was no telling what was going on inside that twisted maze he called a mind. It wasn't until he turned to the great window overlooking the city did he finally speak to me.
"I can control the world by using you. Do you realize that? Don't you realize the power an army of your offspring would have? It's just a matter of finding the compatible mate for you. What do you say Phantom? Just who would you like as your play toy?"
I looked at him for the longest moments, contemplating, reasoning. Why did he ask this? I didn't even know what he was talking about in the first place.
"Play toy, master? What do you mean?"
"Who would you like to frag? With the jobs I'm going to send you on, you are going to need something to help you relax and take away all that stress."
"I don't think about such things, master." At least I didn't at the time, not till years later and when I first saw you…my Aurora…
"Hah, of course you don't!" Kazuya turned then, placing his hands lightly on the desk before him. "I know what you want, blood. I've got some of it for you. Tomorrow night, one of the heads of the Renraku Corporation will be arriving at the airport and then on to the corporation building. Your job is to make sure he never makes it. Be sure to take out any resistance, and use any means necessary…the heads of Shiawase Incorporated want this man…eliminated."
And so I left, retreating to the room that was given to me and to prepare for the next night. Meditation was my tool, used to clear my mind of all the thoughts I had earlier. To be prepared for the battle to come, and be one with my inner spirit.
Every night I burn.
I awoke the next night, ready and willing to kill. My things were gathered, my tools, my weapons of destruction. I left the building and started moving toward the ambush point. It was somewhere in the rundown part of town, it seemed like the best place for attack. A narrow strip of road, buildings all around and no one who would really care if a bunch of dead men were left lying on the street.
I waited for hours, crouched in the same spot on the rooftop of some crumbling and decayed building. The populous was sparse, there would be few witnesses…innocents…I wasn't told to kill them, they would live. Lights suddenly illuminated the street…my target had come. I waited till the single sedan came close to my position before springing the trap, jumping across to the other building and dropping my charges. Bright flashes, the bombs melting the very asphalt they landed on, suddenly lit the night sky. The hole now in the sedan's path was far too large to be crossed, and now the men began to appear from within the depths of the back seat. There were six in all, carrying automatic weapons of some sort. Then came my descent, the only sound that of my blade as it sung threw the cool night air.
Every night the dream's the same.
The first man's head fell from his body, completely severed at the shoulders. The sickening sound it made once it hit the ground must have alerted the others as they turned to me and opened fire. I hesitated then, still admiring my work…a mistake on my part. The repetitive sound of machinegun fire surrounded me, pinging off the broken streetlights, breaking any unbroken windows. I didn't notice when the bullets finally met their mark, not till they struck a blue field before me. Was this part of my power? I wasn't about to make the same mistake again; they wouldn't get the drop on me.
The next volley of hellfire missed completely as I leapt high into the air, coming down on the nearest of the remaining five men. I could almost hear the slice of the blade, the splintering of bone and flesh as they gave way to the force of my blow. Another mistake. Once the next blast hit, the blue shield shattered around me. The force of the psychic feedback caused me to stagger, my vision blurring for an instant…just enough time to allow one of the men to score a hit. The first bullet struck me in the shoulder, the second and third making their mark into my left bicep. This caused my vision to return; only the men were now demons. The fabled oni my mother used to tell me about. My mother? When did I have a mother…how did I know about the oni? The next burst caught me in the abdomen, causing me to double over in shock. I myself didn't feel the pain, but I knew it was there.
I was surrounded, the demons coming for me…one stepping from the car. Arrogance was always a being's worst enemy, and they had fallen into it. Once they neared close enough I sprang to my feet, my eyes enclosed in a red haze, charging forward with inhuman speed, my sword cutting a bloody swath into my enemy…my demons. When my vision returned to normal, I stood at the end of the battlefield…my sword dripping with the red ichors of the fallen. The scavengers had already darted from their hiding places among the alleyways and shadows, picking at the goods and taking what they could. I began my journey back to the place of my origin with someone named 'mother' on my mind.
Every night I burn…waiting for my only friend.
"So just how did you get damaged in the first place?" Rang Kazuya's voice in my spinning head. "A multimillion Nuyen creation and you get this damaged by a bunch of hired thugs??"
"I was caught off guard…the street was full of rubble…I slipped on a rock. It won't happen again." I couldn't tell him that I thought about my mother could I? He would just throw me into that machine again…a place I didn't want to visit once more.
"You slipped on a rock…you are a highly trained genetically created assassin and you trip on a rock?? Do you realize how much money its going to take to repair the damage to you because you slipped on a rock?! You fool!! Don't you realize that your body isn't don't yet!? Doctor, don't use any painkillers; I want you to remove the bullets and repair the damage so he can feel it. Maybe then he will learn to watch his step." Kazuya left the room and I was strapped down to the table before I had a chance to react. The pain was too much to bear, but it was worth it to retain the thought that was so important to me for some unknown reason…mother.
Every night I burn…waiting for the world to end.
I wasn't able to use my left arm for a month. The doctor did his job well, causing more damage removing the bullets than the damage I had received when the bullets hit. He ended up having to repair the original damage and the damage he dealt to me, purposely fraggin up the operation on several tries. I swore he would pay for that humiliation once I had a chance to pay the debt of pain back. That entire month I sat in my quarters, in silent meditation… just trying to piece together what the word 'mother' had to do with me. I found no answers, so instead I set to repairing my broken soul from the pain that had been inflicted on it. Once again, Kazuya called for me and I went like a loyal lapdog.
"You called for me, master?
"Yes Phantom. How is the arm? I trust everything is in place? You haven't slipped on any rocks yet, have you?" There was the same look I saw in his eyes the first time…something dark…something hidden.
"I am fully healed and at your command, master."
"Ah yes, good. Now, we are moving to Seattle. The new branch of Mishima Corporations is moving there, and it seems the competition is high. A person with your skills will be most useful there. Seeing as how you don't have anyone to say goodbye to, we will be leaving tonight."
And that was that. We left for Seattle…in what used to be called America. Once there we were driven to the new corporate building. Everything was in place and ready for the new opening. Whilst Kazuya entertained the numerous guests that attended the opening party, I was ordered to stay in one of the many storage rooms. And so there I waited, hours upon hours till the party ended and I was allowed to leave my place of storage. Then my life began once again. For months the missions were routine, kill someone, get something, and destroy something important. It was all the same till one day when he called me to his office.
"Well Phantom, it seems we have a leak. Somehow the information we saved on your creation was leaked and now Renraku is using it for their own profit. They have a secret lab located in the UCAS…you will be sent there for a number of months…I want the lab taken off the map and all information destroyed. We don't need more of you running around. A rotorcraft will be waiting for you, you are to leave tonight."
I left without a word; it wasn't my place to ask such things. The flight took several hours till we came to our destination. Just on the border where the UCAS meets the Sioux Nation. I wasn't told where the laboratory was. I supposed no one knew. So it was up to me to find where exactly it was located. First I had to make my way through the forest area and get to the nearest city where I could stay. I was going to be here for months after all. It took days to reach the nearest city, during that time I sat and thought while watching the fire. I remember sitting there one time, and remembering the secret biochemical lab I burned to the ground. How the stupid frags that sold the stuff to children burned in the windows. To this day, the fire always reminds me of that event…
Once in the city, I removed the mask and stealth gear. It might seem strange for a ninja just walking around and I risked the chance of being spotted or reported by my target. Lucky Kazuya provided me with a credstick with unlimited usage range. Though I only needed my basic weapons, a few extra grenades and an apartment wouldn't hurt. I remained in the city for three months to gather information through espionage and various other forms of footwork. Then the time came, I was ready for my attack. I can remember standing in that small, partially decorated bathroom…staring into the cracked mirror…no regrets. Then my face was covered with the mask I knew so well, it was time.
"Just paint your face", the shadows smile,
The laboratory wasn't far from the city, set into the side of a cliff. Several teams of Red Samurai guarded the installation. From the many tales I heard in the local bars of the city, most runners didn't want to cross one of these things. I had no choice; I would succeed or die trying…thus the purpose of my life.
Getting in was the easy part, the first part always is. I hid myself under one of the armoured vehicles that traveled back and forth form the lab to the city. Once past the front gate, the vehicle came to a stop inside a hanger-type building. A few moments of waiting and I was able to move, get into the ventilation system, and begin down into the main lab. The ventilation system was a labyrinth of tight metal walls and turns. During all my footwork, I had managed to acquire a map of the entire system…so I knew where I was going, basically. I didn't go for the lab at first; I used the ventilation system to key points where I placed my bombs. I'd need a distraction when the time came to leave, and something strong enough to put the place out of commission. After the charges were set, I moved to the point I had marked on the map…the point where I would leave the ventilation shaft. Deeper and deeper I went till I came to that point.
Slipping me away from you
I descended into a four-way intersection, empty of course. The stark white walls deeply contrasted against my black stealth suit…as well as the crimson armour of the Red Samurai that had just turned the corner. I was trying to be silent, so I removed my sword from its sheath. The Samurai mimicked my moves, beginning to advance slowly as I did so. And there we were, standing apart from each other…the Ninja and the Samurai. The white walls melted away, revealing old peasant houses with their thatched roofs. We were standing on a dirt road, an empty dirt road. The moon was at my back, stretching my shadow and blending it with that of the Samurai's. It wasn't until the wind blew wayward strands of grass passing by my face did we charge forward and lock blades…a bad idea. The Samurai had the strength of ten men and he quickly overwhelmed me in that one moment. I leapt backward, breaking the lock and stanching any attack he may have used. The Samurai may have proved his dominance in the field of strength, but I had one advantage over him…I knew his technique. I let him get in close then, let his blade fall, and struck as his blow deflected off the shimmering blue field around me. There was my chance, my blade cut upward into the middle of the Samurai, splintering his ceremonial battle armour and exposing the flesh beneath. The Samurai fell, the clunking of his armour the only sound that broke the silence after my killing blow. Once the blood began to run, the town around me faded away back into the white walls of the hallway. I glanced down, and the dead body at my feet sparked where my blade had met it, a mix of blood and wiring protruding from the gaping wound in his chest.
It was then I noticed the feeling of something against my back. My better judgment told me it was the end of a gun. Had I been caught off guard again? Why did the visions plague me? Those thoughts floated around in my mind even as I backed into the gun, one foot sent back and kicking at the elbow of the arm that held the gun. The weapon was sent flying into the air, the now exposed arm taken in one hand and used to flip the body behind me. I used my foot to snap his neck. I turned and noticed yet another Red Samurai dead at my feet. These guys weren't as bad as the stories told. Then the footsteps from down the hall came to my attention and I ducked into one of the unexplored halls, I was in no mood for another confrontation.
"Oh it doesn't matter how you hide
I thought I was safe, but that thought suddenly disappeared as three Red Samurai rounded the corner and faced me…as if they had known where I was the entire time.
We'll find you if we're wanting to.
There was no time to waste, no room for error. I flung my sword into the first Samurai, the weapon catching him in the gut even as I produced a mana bolt and launched it toward the next; the force of the blast ripping through his chest and sending the body back into the hall he had come from. I then jumped at the nearest wall, using it to magnify my own force as I ricocheted off of it and into the last standing Samurai foot first. The walking red toy fell to the floor with that one blow. I took his katana; my own sword was sparking with the life of the one it had been used to kill. Back into the hallway I went, the dead body of the Red Samurai hit with the mana bolt sliding down the now bloodied wall, his light green cybereyes fading completely.
So slide back down and close your eyes
There was an elevator waiting, it must have brought all those Samurai here. So I did the only thing I could do, I took the elevator down. It took me where I needed to go, opening up into a large room. The walls were lined with vat tubes, and there standing at a consol was a man in a lab coat. He didn't last long, it was easy enough to sneak up on the man and knock him out with the butt of my blade.
And sleep awhile-you must be tired."
I began to set my charges, making sure that the blast would destroy every tube and all of the equipment. I only took one glance into the tubes, the figure inside reminded me of myself when I had been like this. The feeling sent a chill down my back, causing me to back away…just in time to see someone out of the corner of my eye. In reaction to that, a grenade was sent in the direction of the person, the flames engulfing them just as they tried to speak.
"Wait, I just want to tal…"
I moved to examine the body, the only thing that remained was a charred and torn torso, the legs were missing as was an arm and nearly half the body. Still…the thing talked to me.
"W-wait…ack…I just…wanted to…to talk…with you…" The skin cracked around his lips as it spoke, one empty white eye staring up at me.
"Are you the soldier created with my data?" I had to know if I attacked the right thing.
"C-c-created…yes…just…like you…but…you…are just a puppet…we…we are free…" I could tell it was dying.
"A puppet?? What are you talking about?"
"Memories…all memories…let me…show you…" The charred mass seemed a bit calmer now, its only hand coming to rest against my forehead…my first mind meld. He showed me so many things in that short time, everything seemed like a lie. All the missions I had been sent on, all tricks. The fire at that biochemical laboratory…it was all a lie, what I had really burnt down was an orphanage…the people I remember seeing burning in the windows…they were children…workers…helpers…everything I had done, was used to further Kazuya's empire…not humanity.
Once the meld was broken I reeled back from the charred mass, holding my head, silently screaming. Lies??! All lies??!!! I had been tricked into killing those people! Their blood was on my hands! It was all Kazuya's fault! He had done this to me! He had tricked me! I wouldn't blow this place up…I would hunt him down…hunt him down and kill him! I ran from the room, back up the elevator shaft and into the ventilation systems. I was driven by bloodthirsty rage; it took no time to leave the compound. Just as I headed into the tree line, the entire cliff exploded, sending a shockwave far enough to meet me and throw me off my feet.
Every night I burn
When I awoke, days must have passed, but there was only one thought on my mind…kill Kazuya. I walked my battered and bleeding body all the way back to Seattle…it took days to travel the distance. Then I stood at the doors to the Mishima Corporation. Once inside, the receptionist tried to stop me…but my blade thought otherwise. I fought my way to the top, to Kazuya's office…cutting through security team after security team, the halls ran red with blood. I barged into that room, pouncing on Kazuya even as he was with his hookers. They all left as I screamed in his face, holding onto his exposed neck.
"Why!!! Why did you trick me! I trusted you!! I believed in you!" That didn't last long, the next thing I knew I was flying across the room and back into the hall I came from. My body wouldn't move, all I could do was watch as Kazuya came closer to me…his body outlined in a twisting purple haze.
"You are going to wish…" there was that same darkness I saw behind his eyes, even as he sprouted wings and his skin phased into a purplish pigment. A single vertical, slanted eye opened on his forehead, a third eye. It glared at me with soulless malice. "….That you had never done that."
I somehow survived the fight. Everything blacked out as he came closer, and I found myself lying broken in an alley. It took several months to recover from the damage done…after that, I set out to find the one that was meant for me.
I set out to find you, Aurora.
I set out to find you.
* * *
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