Previously in Heart of the Melting Blood…

"I don't know. Every kid I met said the same thing to me. I guess it's because I destined to become… their big brother." He laughed and stared at the evening sky. "I don't know. It's been like that for five years." He noticed that the girl was staring at him in confusion, her eyes blinking in curiosity. "Oh, don't mind about that, little girl. Big brother likes to talk nonsense."

"Eh? But that doesn't sound nonsense to me," she insisted.

He looked at her innocence eyes and could only sigh. "You're still too young to understand everything."

.

The girl in blue hair stared up at the full moon. Letting her black dress and the black ribbon flapping around with the blowing wind of the night, she admired the untainted beauty of the celestial object, as if she was waiting for a certain moon prince to come down to the earth and accompany her.

Idle as she was, she began to walk away from the park, heading toward the entrance gate. "I should be going too. Arc-chan might be waiting for me right now."

x-x-x-x-x

Guilty Gear
Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED
Conceived by: Lone Wolf NEO
Written by: Lone Wolf NEO

Lone Wolf NEO does not own Guilty Gear or any of the games, anime, movies, books and the like that are the property of other people. All original characters in this story are his creations and property, while all the insert characters are copyright or owned by their respective represented real-life entities.

Chapter 04
When The Wolf No Longer Howls and the Rain Falls Upon the Earth

"When the moon shines, Brahman shines
And when it goes, Brahman goes.
Its light goes to the regions of heaven
And its breath of life to the wind."

He stood alone. The man in sleeveless jacket and red cap was standing alone, facing the full moon in wonder. The scar of a battle was visible on his face, and it was still fresh. Yes, the man had endured a raging and violent duel, and it was among the many duels he had frequently encountered along his life as the lone wolf.

He grinned.

"Heh, I may not have beaten you, Geese," Terry spoke, correcting his cap, "but at least I've showed you the power of the wolf I've been hiding for a very long time." He breathed out and stared at the full moon. All his old memories began to emerge from the very deep, unknown territory of his mind, and appear in his vision as if there was a slideshow about it.

First, the memory of Jeff Bogard, the man he adored so much. It was this person who taught him what it took to become a true fighter. It was this person he regarded as his own father, considering how much he had been taken of by this warm-hearted person. It was tragic, he thought, to have him leaving the world. Otherwise Jeff would have been proud at himself after watching how far his wolf cub has achieved.

Then the bittersweet memory of Geese Howard. The Most Powerful Man in the World, as everyone called him, this man was persistent enough to face and challenge him in many battles not everybody can afford to forget. An eternal rival who defies the law of nature and cheats death, Geese will be and forever be regarded as a man with the force to reckon with. Yet he was not afraid of the man. After all, he did defeat The Most Powerful Man in the World twice.

Then, the nostalgic memory of Lilly and Sulia Gaudeamus knocked his mind. Both these women would be forever placed firmly in his heart. Not that he feared that his next girlfriend and sweetheart would be doomed after witnessing the death of these two women; no, he is still looking for one to accompany his wolf spirit. He felt that his time hasn't come yet, and it would be better to remain a lone wolf, while waiting for the right time.

After that, Rock's image appeared in his sight. His own wolf cub, the son of Geese often gets into trouble coping with his openheartedness and, for the most of time, gets involved in unwanted duels with him. He grinned at himself; knowing that Rock has grown into a rather formidable and independent man is the greatest gift he ever has. He wonders of whether the blonde warrior could take over his place as the lone wolf. "Not," he groaned and laughed.

Terry breathed out again and approached a nearby boulder and sat on it, admiring the beautiful scenery of the night sky as much as he could. A moment, he chuckled and took of the cap, putting it on his knees. "Guilty Gear universe… what kind of fighters I might encounter again, huh?" he pondered and thought of the people he had met and challenged. Personally, he didn't meet many. He could only remember Zappa and Zofeah in his challengers' list as well as Dark Dizzy, albeit the latter was no more than a duplicate of the original person. He had met Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske, and he had yet gotten the challenge to challenge the two protagonists of Guilty Gear. He had met Dizzy and he could feel an unknown force raging inside of her, yet he felt reluctant to even lay a finger upon the innocent Gear. He had encountered many challengers during the Battle Revolution tournament, yet none of them was as challenging as the true battlers he had mentioned. In fact, he was disappointed throughout the event.

Disappointed? Maybe not.

For the reason only he knew, Terry could feel his wolf spirit howling wildly inside of him, demanding to be unleashed upon the earth. "Whoa, calm down, little fellow," he uttered, calming the wolf spirit. He knew that his wolf spirit had been triggered by an event occurring in the near future, and he knew that it's the sign of an upcoming event. Maybe not as enthusiastic as Battle Revolution, he thought, but at least he finally got the chance to prove himself the worthy lone wolf.

Again, he threw his sight at the full moon. He sighed. There was a strange feeling inside of him, however. He realized that around him, the wolves no longer howled to the moon as they used to be. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt uncomfortable with it. He wanted to know the reason. "And when I've finally found it… I'll make sure the wolves will be howling at the moon again," he vowed.

x-x-x-x-x

Lone Wolf NEO halted, and threw his sight at the full moon. Something triggered his lone wolf instinct, and he did not feel comfortable with it. "Now what?" he thought, clenching a fist and grumbled.

"Lone Wolf-san? Doushita no?" Hibiki asked, noticing his uneasy face.

Lone Wolf took a deep breath and looked at the swordswoman. "Don't have any idea," he spoke and frowned. "Though…"

"Though what? Please let me know if there's something I can help," she said.

"Though I have this kind of strange feeling," he uttered, "that I can no longer hear the wolves howling at the moon. Maybe it's just me, but…"

"Mou, Lone Wolf-san," Hibiki mumbled and took his hand, "please stop dreaming, okay? Are you hallucinating again? You've been like this since we started our trip. Snap out of it, onegai."

"But Hibiki, I can't…" he answered. "I don't know whether I can snap myself out of it, but I can't…"

Hibiki lifted his face and stared straight into his eyes. "For me, Lone Wolf-san. You can, if it's for me," she said. "Ne?"

It took him a while of admiration at her untainted beauty before he shrugged and smiled. "Oh, well. I can't help it when it's Hibiki-chan," he commented.

Hibiki pouted. "Mou, stop calling me with the suffix, onegai," she begged.

"D-a-m-e," he insisted and playfully poked her cheeks. "Why shouldn't I, when I know you're really cute with the suffix, Hi-bi-ki-chan?"

"Onegai, yamete!" the woman demanded, trying to overcome the embarrassment she had.

x-x-x-x-x

Shiki looked up to the night sky. He, too, had a strange feeling happening inside of him. The very same feeling everybody else around the world was having. "Strange… I thought I heard the wolves howling at the moon… but how come there isn't one?" the man thought. He shrugged and corrected his eyeglasses. "Maybe it's just imagination, but I'm very sure I don't hear one…"

"Oniisan?" Shiki was startled by Akiha's question and lazily smiled at the woman.

"Don't worry about me, Akiha," he assured and breathed out. "Though I'm really concerned of one thing."

"Which is?" she asked again.

Shiki pointed at the twin maids of Kohaku and Hisui, both of them were carrying their luggage behind. "Are you sure it's okay to bring the two of them?"

"Well, it's their decision to follow us, after all," Akiha spoke.

"I don't really mind with that," Shiki insisted, "but… bleh, whatever. Let's just hope the Sheo Darren effect doesn't happen to us."

"Actually, Shiki-sama," Hisui called him. "It's already started."

Silence. For a while, Shiki was staring at the housemaid, who in return stared at him. Then a big drop of sweat popped above his head. "Oh, great. I forgot the Will and the Word. Damn it," he cursed after he remembered what been foretold in the not-too-distant world of within and without.

x-x-x-x-x

The man whose name had yet to reveal was taking a shelter in front of a cake shop. The rain was temporarily interfering with his journey, and he needed to take a rest after the endless travel he had been through. His uniform was heavily soaked, and he needed to have it dried before continuing his journey.

Letting out a silent sigh, he stared at the rainy sky. "Rain… how it brings memory to the people…" he pondered and leaned against the wall of the shop. He threw his sight at several couples who were running from the oncoming rain for safety. He silently laughed and breathed out in fascination. "Yet for most of them, it's the perfect time to confess all that's concealed deep inside of them. Yeah, if only I was among those people…"

Again, he sighed and threw his sight at the raining sky. "Now what am I going to do? It's raining right now, and I can't seem to keep on with this journey," he muttered. He shrugged not long after. "Whatever. I'll just go wherever my foot leads me."

The man walked out of the shop area and strolled down the road, ignoring the rain that was beginning to drain the earth heavily. As always, he disappeared from sights, leaving no tracks behind him. Nobody seemed to know where he headed or went ever since he arrived at Cairo.

Except…

x-x-x—x-x

"Aw, it's raining," Mriya moaned while she was sitting next to the window. "Now I can't go to the cake shop. What am I going to do?"

"You're moody today." The woman turned around and saw Hikki walking out of his room, drying his hair with a towel. "Something wrong, oneesama?"

"You're asking why? Of course I'm moody," she whined and pouted. "I can't go to the city and buy cakes for the two of us, and now I'm stuck inside this house. Mou! Why can't I do anything?"

"Then why don't you do something? You know, cooking, knitting, things like that," he suggested.

Mriya beamed. "Do something… eh? If you're asking me to do something, then it's got to be THIS!" In a sudden, she pounced toward Hikki and glomped him with a tremendous force that caused them to crash on the floor. "Nothing can beat the time I have with my ototou! Aw, how I like to do this to you!" she cried and tightly hugged his neck.

"Oneesama, stop it!" Hikki begged, choking for air.

"Yada!" she squealed and hugged him even tighter. "You smell so heavenly… did you use shampoo or something?" she asked and sniffed the fragrance of his body.

"Oneesama!" Hikki cried and pushed her off his body. "What on earth you were doing? That was… that was scary like hell!"

"Aw, why can't I do that to my own ototou?" she asked and gave out her Bambi eyes.

Hikki frowned, not letting the Bambi eyes to be caught by his sight. "That's because… that's because you aren't supposed to do that. We're… we're siblings, don't you know?"

Mriya giggled and approached him and softly pulled him into her arms. "Gomennasai… I shouldn't scare you," she apologized and kissed the lobe of his ears. "Yeah, I shouldn't do that. Lone Wolf wouldn't like it if he sees us like that, since we're siblings. But that doesn't mean I can't love my little brother… especially the one who would still accept me for whatever reason."

Hikki breathed out and reached her hand, clasping it firmly with his palm. "Oneesama, you know you shouldn't have repeated that again," he said and leaned close to her body. "You're so warm… I…" He didn't say anything after that, and Mriya looked down at him only to find that he had fell asleep.

"Sleeping already? Aw, how sweet of you," she sighed and placed a kiss on his scalp. She giggled and slowly cradled him in her arms, as if a mother cuddling her precious child. "You're so cute in that sleeping face. Heh, you remind me of Lone Wolf… I used to let him sleep in my arms at rainy day." She threw sight outside the window, where the rain was pouring down from the night sky.

"Speaking of wolf… why is the night so awfully silent? It might be raining, but it shouldn't as heavy as it is. The weather report said that it would be a light drizzle." She breathed out and softly caressed Hikki's scalp, smiling to herself upon seeing the innocent face of his. As low as she could, she hummed a song into his ear and gently rocked him, as if a mother cradled her beloved child in her warm embrace.

Louvem! madrugada
Alma bela, dança da terra
" sintam, o vendaval da coragem
Transbordem, leite da terra
Beijo do céu, chuva do rejubilo
Uma semente peguena, desejo
Grande, grande, grande…

Hikki stirred in response to the lullaby sung by the woman. Mriya smiled and placed a soft kiss upon his cheek. "Sweet dream, Chrono…"

x-x-x-x-x

The woman stared up at the night sky, admiring the full moon. The wind was blowing peacefully at the garden, flapping her hair off her shoulder, enhancing the beauty she had. Anyone who was present at the garden would agree that the woman was the most beautiful and the most gorgeous; even the celestial object's beauty cannot be compared to hers.

"So beautiful, the moon is…" she whispered, standing beside a lake. "Oh, how I wish he was here, but then… giggle he may be busy doing his duty out there."

She turned around, noticing something coming toward her. A warm smile carved upon her face when she found out what it was. "Hello, little wolf. What has brought you here?" she asked and knelt, letting the wolf to approach her. The wolf stared at her and growled, nudging its face against her palm. "Aw, how cute of you," she whispered and encircled her arms about its neck. The wolf cutely growled and nuzzled its nose upon her supple cheek, whilst allowing the woman to cuddle and snuggle it. "You're so warm, little wolf. Oh, I wish I could do this to you everyday…" she sighed and kissed the wolf's forehead.

The woman sat beside the lake, letting the wolf to accompany her. "You know, little wolf," she spoke and threw her sight at the full moon, "there's this person who often acts like a lone wolf, and he really suits the title. But…" The wolf stared at her, as if it was curious of the person she was talking of. She noticed the curiosity the creature showed and giggled. "What is it, little wolf? Do you want to know who the person I'm talking of is?" she asked. The wolf howled in response and nudged her palm, responding to the question. She giggled and looked back at the full moon, while the wolf sat closer to her and did the same thing as her. "It's a long story to start. As a matter of fact… I didn't even think of how both of us met in the first place." She breathed out and put a hand on her chest, keeping it close. "But I'm happy to be by his side, even when I know the two of us will never meet again." The wolf unhappily growled and lowered its head in disappointment. She glanced at the wolf and could only sigh. "Aw, don't be disappointed, little wolf. We'll get to meet him someday, I promise," she assured and embraced the wolf's neck.

x-x-x-x-x

"The moon pulled off her veil of light, that hides her face by day from sight (Mysterious veil, of brightness made,) that's both her lustre and her shade), and in the lantern of the night, with shining horns hung out her light."

Miscellaneous