Previously in Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED…
Mark 2 disconnected the intercom and wiped the Thunderseal off blood with a piece of cloth. He put the sword back into its scabbard and walked out of the city park. After a few paces, he halted. "THAT SPEED HE OWNS… AND THE BLACK FEATHER… IT'S LIKE HE'S A WARRIOR COMING FROM THE UNDERWORLD," he thought.
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That Girl looked beside her and saw a piece of black feather on the window frame. Curiously she took the feather and examined it. "Black feather… what prophecy it brings?" she pondered.
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Ciel looked up at the sky. It was an unusual sight to see a huge flock of raven flying and shielding the sun from shining its ray on the earth. "This is very unusual… I wonder what has caused this kind of thing to happen?" the Vatican agent whispered and corrected her eyeglasses.
x-x-x-x-x
Guilty Gear
Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED
Written and conceived by: Lone Wolf NEO
Lone Wolf NEO does not own any of all the games or anime or manga featured in this story, but he owns the copyright to all his original ideas in this fiction. Lone Wolf would really appreciate it if readers do not plagiaries everything inside this story without his knowledge.
Chronological Note: Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED takes place scarcely half a year after Guilty Gear versus SNK 2: Battle Revolution, and currently runs roughly in parallel with Guilty Gear: The World Within and Without written and owned by Sheo Darren.
Chapter 09
Dust To Dust, Amen…
Sion was silent. Never in her whole life she would thought that the man who had treated her with ice cream turned out to be a fallen soldier (a term used to describe soldiers or knight who betrays the righteous code of a warrior), and the term 'black feather' stuck firmly in her mind she could not get rid of it, along with the 'angel of death' she was referring the so-called Fallen Soldier to. But, then, she could not believe that the man she would regard as the shinigami would act so friendly toward her, when he was all but a heartless killer she witnessed at the city park.
On top of that, "why must I take him home and let him stay here? I don't want to be accused for hiding a criminal, but he insists on having quick medical treatment. Sheesh, what a strange man, he is," she mumbled, whilst holding the first-aid kit. She left the kitchen and walked toward the guest's bedroom where she asked the man to stay in. Carefully she entered the room, making sure that she would not be ambushed by her guest. "Excuse me, but I've brought the medic kit you asked." She heard no response from the inside. She entered the room and noticed that the windows were open. "Great. Now he runs away, what am I going to do?"
"Were you calling me, Miss Sion?" Sion looked at one of the windows and saw the man entering the room. "Ah, I was busy admiring the beauty of this blessed land that I didn't realize your arrival here."
"I thought you run away, Fallen Soldier," Sion said and put the kit on the bed. "After you've done fixing yourself, I want you to leave this house. I can't afford myself to let a criminal staying in this residence for any reasons."
The man chuckled and approached the kit and took out a bandage. "I must thank you for inviting me to your house, Miss Sion," he uttered while unwrapping the bandages. "And thanks for the medic kit."
"I don't need a fallen soldier to thank me," she replied, her voice was anguish and angered. Roughly she approached the door and slammed it shut, leaving the room altogether with the man. Wondering whether she was still angry at him for what had happened at the park, he ignored it and took off the uniform. Tossing it aside, he examined the scar he got from the last battle at the city park and traced a finger along it. He later breathed out and looked out of the window.
"Hikaru…"
x-x-x-x-x
"Elde-san, are you sure we have to go to Cairo?" asked Yuumura Kirika, as the three of them were leaving the train station and headed toward the city center. "I mean, Lone Wolf-san's already responsible for everything inside this world, so why would he ask us to do his favour?"
"Didn't Lone Wolf state in the letter he sent to us, Kirika?" Elde Talonn replied. "He asked us to investigate the existence of the man carrying the name Black Feather because he's currently busy handling several personal matters back at Kiev."
"Eh? I thought Lone Wolf would have free time to do all things," Kino said out of his sheer curiosity.
(back at Kiev, Lone Wolf NEO suddenly sneezed while having evening teas with Hibiki and the Tsukihime casts. "Somebody or someone mentions my name…" he mumbled and rubbed his itching nose.
"Probably her," Shiki commented, much to Hibiki's utter dismay. "What? Did I say anything wrong? Sheesh, you girl are so protective of your boyfriend.")
"He's not a boyfriend!" Hibiki cried, blushing furiously. "He's a boy and he's a friend, but he's not my boyfriend!"
Lone Wolf could only scratch his chin and laughed silly. "Oh, boy…")
"Putting that aside," Kirika continued, "who and what is this Black Feather? Why would we investigate his existence? Is Lone Wolf-san so afraid of this man that he asked us to check it out?"
"If Lone Wolf were afraid of this man, he wouldn't even consider of asking us to go to Cairo at the first place," Elde insisted. "I believe there's another reason behind it. And I fear it's something the three of us… no, all of us don't want to face."
x-x-x-x-x
"Alright, we're almost there." The three of them watched in awe, as Robo-Ky pointed at a pottery house on top of a hill. "I think this is the place we can meet the swordsman-in-legend."
"Ne, Robo-Ky," Sumomo asked while clinging on the robot's head, "I know you want to polish your swordsmanship skill with him, but why should we take the ninja girls along?"
Robo-Ky looked at Chidori and Chihiro, whom both of them were frowning in embarrassment and dared not to look at him. "I changed my mind and decided to let them follow us around. As long as they don't bother us, it'll be alright."
"Eh, is that so?" Sumomo asked and stood up on his head. "That won't be a bother to Robo-Ky! He can handle just anything! AIIIIII! Robo-Ky can handle anything with ease! AIIIIIII!" she shrieked and enthusiastically danced around.
Robo-Ky just cackled and let the mini Persocon danced around, before he looked back at both the ninjas. "Well? What's your next plan?"
"I think… I think we should follow Robo-san wherever he goes," Chihiro spoke, still frowning.
"I… I'll just follow everything Robo-san says," Chidori spoke.
Robo-Ky grumbled and folded his arms. "Do I look like a slave master to you, shinobi girl? Look, I don't give those damned care of your relationship with Zofeah, but…"
"Don't insult our master!" Chidori cried and withdrew her twin kodachi. "Nobody has ever dared to look down at Zofeah-sama! Pull back everything you said about him! RIGHT NOW!"
Robo-Ky immediately responded with an iaijitsu stance, deeply glowering at the shinobi. "Oh? You want to challenge me, shinobi girl?" sarcastically he questioned. "Look at you. You may be a cunning ninja, but I can predict every movement you execute with my built-in sensors. Remember, shinobi girl. I'm still the technologically advanced Robo-Ky, and I will forever be a Robo-Ky."
Chidori hissed in annoyance and lowered her battle stance, ignoring Chihiro who helplessly tried to prevent them from engaging in a fight. "Omae…"
"What's going on here?" Both the would-be fighters looked at the source of the voice and saw a man walking from the downhill. "You're standing on the public road and already deciding to fight? You know, that kind of act is not very tolerable when I'm around here."
Robo-Ky immediately accessed his database when he saw the man: oversized white cape covering his well-built figure, a long ponytail flapping from his hair, almost touching the very edge of his waist, the shirasaya nihontou slung on his belt, and a bottle of sake held by his free hand. He recognized the man standing in front of them and stepped forward.
"The great master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu," Robo-Ky spoke, "Seijuro Hiko, right?"
The man frowned upon Robo-Ky and genuinely grinned. "Well, well. I didn't expect to see someone who already knows the name of this great swordsmanship genius," he uttered and scratched his chin. "State your name and your purpose of coming here, boy."
"The name is Robo-Ky, the so-called renegade unit of the PWAB army," Robo-Ky proudly pronounced his name, "and I came here to learn swordsmanship with you, Hiko-sensei." He immediately fell onto his knees and bowed before him. "I will do anything to be accepted as your apprentice, Hiko-sensei."
"Seijuro Hiko-sensei! Sumomo desu! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" Sumomo spoke and bowed before him as well.
Hiko was staring at Robo-Ky for a while before he broke into his low, if not arrogant, laughter. "You willingly meet me and offer yourself to become the apprentice of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. How impressive of you, but," he spoke and frowned, "I cannot teach Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu to anyone anymore. Well, since I had dealt everything with my stupid apprentice and his child."
Robo-Ky stood up and grinned. "Really? Then perhaps this will show you that I'm no ordinary swordsman," he uttered and opened his battle stance.
"An iaijitsu stance," Hiko commented and grinned. "It seems that you have learned the basic of the Japanese swordsmanship, but I highly doubt that you can-" Robo-Ky already leapt toward Hiko and tried to land a Beckoning Slash onto the swords guru. Hiko lazily evaded the attack, before he found himself being hit by a Moon Piercing Pounce. He grumbled in surprise and jumped not far from the range of Robo-Ky's attack. "Hmm… nobody has ever dared to touch my body with an attack before," he spoke and put his hand on his poked midsection, "but this technique is impressive. Now where did I…?"
"Where are you looking at?" Hiko looked forward and saw Robo-Ky dashing toward him. He immediately pulled out his katana and repelled the head-on Distance Slash. Robo-Ky jumped to the air and retracted the Thunderseal nihontou and entered a stance.
"ERROR! ORE WA ROBO-KY!"
Hiko slightly bent backward as to evade the airborne overdrive and pounced toward Robo-Ky in counterattack movement. Then…
"HITEN MITSURUGI RYUU! RYUSHOUSEN!"
Robo-Ky immediately pulled back Thunderseal and counterattacked the uppercut attack with an instant block from the blade. A deafening metal-clashing sound echoed throughout the hill, followed by an intense shockwave coming from the collision. Both swordsmen stared at each other while enduring the attack before broke off and landed on the ground. Warily Sumomo, Chidori and Chihiro watched at the two swordsmen who stood idle at the center of the road.
Hiko laughed and put back the nihontou into his scabbard. "That style of yours… isn't it the famed Musou Maden Ryuu iaijitsu taught and kept by the Takane Clan? I should've known about earlier the moment you used the Suigetsu o Tsuku Nari on me." He made another of his arrogant machismo poses and grinned. "I must say, for a robot or whatever you're called, you've mastered the fighting style very well."
"I'm highly touched by the compliment, Hiko-sensei," Robo-Ky spoke and broke into his robotic grin as well. "But I still cannot compare myself to my mentor Takane Hibiki. She's still the true master of the Musou Maden Ryuu, I must reckon."
"Aha, Takane Hibiki, one of my swordsmanship fellows," Hiko uttered and grinned.
"You know Hibiki-san, Hiko-sensei?" curiously Sumomo asked.
"Well, of course I am," Hiko replied, "for I am the greatest genius the swordsmanship universe has seen. And everyone who is master of their own swordsmanship is my friend, though I'm far greater them all of their skills and powers combined." The statement was full of arrogance, yet everybody who had been with Seijuro Hiko before knew that he acted like an arrogant badass for one obvious reason: he is one freaking Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu god. Even the ex-hitokiri Battousai Himura Kenshin will acknowledge that.
"I resent that statement though I dislike shishou's attitude, that I do," commented Kenshin.
Hiko laughed again and corrected his hair. "You win, Robo-Ky. I guess I can now accept you as my apprentice," he uttered, "hopefully you will not act as stupid as my stupid apprentice."
(At the Kamiya Dojo, Kenshin suddenly sneezed, much to the resident's surprise. "Oro?")
Robo-Ky laughed. "That I must not reckon, Hiko-sensei."
"Well, then," the master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu spoke and looked at the spectators, "and what are you going to do with them?"
Fetching Sumomo and putting her on his shoulder, Robo-Ky looked at both Chihiro and Chidori. "Ask the girls. I just let them to follow me, but whatever they want to do is not my concern."
Hiko carefully watched at the shinobi girls, nodding at each of them whilst his hand scratched his chin. "Alright, I guess I can use your helps. Do you know anything about pottery, girls?"
Chihiro reluctantly nodded. "I know some of basics, Seijuro-sama."
"That should be enough," Hiko answered and stared at Chidori, "and what about you?"
"Me? I…" Chidori spoke, "I can do pottery, but I'm not very good as oneesan is."
"It doesn't matter, I can teach you how to perfect your skill," the swordsman spoke.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Seijuro-sama. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," both the girls spoke and bowed at Hiko.
Hiko grinned and walked toward the pottery house before he halted. "Robo-Ky, I must ask you this fundamental question," he uttered. "Can you handle sake?"
"A must-to-drink beverage for every Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu swordsman, that is," Robo-Ky spoke. "I never try consuming alcohol before, but since I have renovated myself, I think I can tolerate with sake."
"Good, as I expected from the next Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu warrior."
x-x-x-x-x
"There, all done." The man uttered and examined the bandaged he self-wrapped around his body. He nodded and swung his left arm. "Nothing seems to be broken. Everything else is okay." He grabbed the badly-torn uniform and wore it, occasionally sweeping it off dusts and debris. Hesitant for a while, he later took the kodachi and slung it behind his waist and stepped toward the door. He halted by the door when he saw a picture frame put on a nearby door. Driven by curiosity, he took the casing and examined it. "It's Miss Sion…" he whispered and traced a finger down the picture. "How lucky of you, Miss Sion. I really envy those people who still have their beloved one living with you," he whispered and put back the picture frame on the table.
Carefully he walked down of the stairs and found no one staying at the living room. "Miss Sion must have left a while ago," he uttered and headed toward the main door. Not looking back, he stepped out and left the Atlasia Mansion and headed toward the road. "We'll meet again when our road crosses, Miss Sion," he spoke as he watched at the mansion for the last time before he walked away. Little did he know that Sion was watching at him from inside her room. She could only watch with a sad gaze, as the man who had treated her ice cream began to disappear from her sight.
"Fallen Soldier…"
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The man arrived at the church and again entered the century-old building. Noticing that a group of chorus singers was singing a verse at the front end of the hall, he decided to ignore the group and approached the altar. He knelt in front of the icon and took out the silver cross, clinging on it very tightly. "My Lord… today, I have met a woman who generously helped me in treating injuries I had from the battle. I felt very grateful, but…" he whispered and frowned, "it's not that easy to have someone accompanying me, especially after these passing years I stained my hands and souls of these people…"
Silent as he was, he stood up and walked out of the church, heading toward the market. Again, the call of prayers echoed in the sky of Cairo city, and the man watched at the evening sky. "Call of prayers… it's so soothing to hear one of them filling the sky…" he whispered and left the complex.
"Hey, it's Big Wolf!" The man turned around and saw the little girl accompanied by her mother waving at him. "Big Wolf! It's me, Laila! Did you remember me?" she asked.
"Little girl!" he exclaimed and approached her. "How good to see you again. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Mommy and I are going to the mosque," the girl told him after the mother-and-daughter couple approached him. "Do you want to join us?"
He merely smiled and patted the girl's head. "Sorry, little girl, but big brother cannot go with you. Big brother has something to do after this."
"Aw, I thought you'd join us and pray for the God," the girl whined.
The woman standing beside the girl stepped forward and bowed at the man. "I must thank you for looking after my daughter, sir. I couldn't imagine what would happen to her if you weren't around," she spoke.
"No big deal, ma'am," he replied, shyly scratching the back of his head. "I was just trying to cheer her up. Right, Laila?"
The girl gave him a huge grin. "Big Wolf even treated me ice cream, mommy! Big Wolf is a nice guy!"
"Come, Laila, it's almost time for the prayers," the woman told her.
"I'll see you again, Big Wolf!" the girl said and bowed at him before followed her mother to the mosque. He watched at the couple for a while before turned around and walked away from the complex. It was not long before an explosion shook the entire area, bringing all the citizens to a complete havoc. He quickly turned back and saw infernos coming from the complex, followed by screams and cries of distress coming from the panicked townspeople.
Then something knocked his head.
"Little girl!"
Immediately the man rushed toward the inferno and called out the girl's name, ignoring the fire that was razing the whole area. Another explosion occurred at the area, yet it did not stop him from scavenging the area; not even a piece of burnt wood flying toward him and hitting his head. His safety wasn't important; he's concerned of the little girl and her mother.
He halted. He found the girl, lying in front of the burnt mosque. Frantically he approached her and knelt beside her, shaking her body in efforts to wake her up. He was too late; she no longer lived. "It can't be… it cannot be… LAILAAA!!!!!"
x-x-x-x-x
Aurora was startled. For a moment, she thought that someone had mentioned her name. "I wonder who calls my name at time like this?" she whispered, whilst softly patting the wolf's head. She silently giggled. "Is it him? Maybe…"
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Kyo watched at the open sky. He could have sworn that he had heard a scream echoing from the blue heaven. "That cry…" A moment later, the noble fireman of the Kusanagi Clan saw a flock of raven flying at the edge of the sky, momentarily blocking sunlight from reaching the earth. Curiosity arose inside of him the moment he saw the flying creatures. "What on earth is going on?"
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"Yagami-niisan?"
Iori didn't respond to May's call when he, too, saw the ravens blocking the sunlight. Somehow, without his knowing, the Orochi Riot Blood inside of him was awakened and almost erupted inside of him. "Damn… what in the world…?" he hissed and suppressed the blood with his power. Again, he looked up at the sky and growled in dismay, ignoring May who was repeatedly calling his name.
"Yagami-niisan!"
"What!?" Iori turned around and saw a gigantic whale named Yamada jumping out of nowhere and hurling toward him. Reacting too late to respond, Iori got hit by the whale and was launched to the air. "That's why I don't want to have an adopted little sister!!!!" cried the Yagami fighter cried from faraway.
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Ky threw his sight to the open sky, by now was silhouetted by the flying ravens. "By the name of God, what has happened?" he uttered under his own breath. "And what's the meaning of all this?"
"Ky," Dizzy called, "I've just received a letter from Lone Wolf. He wants us to return to Kiev immediately." She handed over the letter to Ky and asked him to read it. For a while, he was reading it before he stared at the Gear.
"Something terrible is bound to happen, I fear," he spoke. "Dizzy, get everything ready. We're returning to Kiev."
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Hiko stared up at the sky. His genius-driven curiosity arose when he saw the ravens flying in the sky en masse. "Hmm… this is a fairly new phenomenon… I wonder what has caused this to occur…" he whispered and continued walking, following his soon-to-be disciple to the pottery house/dojo.
x-x-x-x-x
"We, the Sacred Knights are the representation of the Holy Orders founded to protect justice and people who needs our protection the most. This is your responsibility to uphold justice on this planet from the very first moment you join the Orders. Remember, soldiers, whatever happens in our duty, never turn your back away from the Holy Orders for the sake of personal cause. May God be with us. Amen."
x-x-x-x-x
He frowned. Clenching the silver cross tightly, he went into a low cry and sobbed. "But I couldn't… protect the people… and… I've also violated the very basic law of the Holy Orders… why all this things have to happen to only me…?"
Silent as he was, he later put the lifeless body of Laila on the floor and stood up. He lifted his face and looked in front of him, noticing a group of armed mercenaries who was rampaging the entire area. He growled in furious and reached the kodachi. "My Lord, please forgive me… I have to do this again…"
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"It's the ravens again…" Sion whispered when she saw the raven flocks flying over the city. "But it's none of my concern anyway. Why should I bother to know?" she insisted and walked back to her room. It was not long before something knocked her mind. Somehow, her Atlasian Alchemist ability self-triggered and brought in a vision of an inferno occurring at the marketplace. "Oh, no! The market's in fire!" Immediately she ran outside the house and rushed toward the market, ignoring black feathers filling the road before her. "Damn! Why didn't I realize this?"
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It ended too fast before the people realized it. The man was standing behind the mercenaries, the kodachi was withdrawn in a slaying position. He slowly stood up and retreated the weapon into its sheath, and looked back at the mercenaries.
"Dust to dust. Amen."
In an instant, the mercenaries were slain into eighteen pieces, all were cleanly cut with no blood spilling out of them. No cry of pain; no frightened or terrified screams; only a dead silence that followed after. The man reached the iron cross and clenched it tightly and frowned.
"In the name of God, all impure souls who deny their Creator shall be purified and banished into eternal damnation. Amen."
"Fallen Soldier?"
He turned around and saw Sion standing erect, her body silhouetted by the inferno engulfing the building. He smiled weakly at her and walked away from her. "Wait! Fallen Soldier, wait!" He halted and turned around, noticing that Sion was running toward her. "Please, don't run away. I won't accuse you for this catastrophe, I swear. But…"
"There's no need for explanation, Miss Sion," he spoke. "You've already seen it, haven't you? The black feather, ravens blocking the sunlight, and this massive killing I committed… by now, you would've recognized me as a criminal… isn't that right?"
"I… I don't understand what you're talking about, Fallen Soldier," Sion insisted. "What… what's your reason of committing all these…?"
He breathed out and stared at her, by now his eyes was filled with tears or regret. "Reason… huh? There are many reasons for this, Miss Sion, but… perhaps I should state out my name first." He, again, breathed out and grimly smiled. "The name is Alexander Hahn, once serving the Holy Orders as a Sacred Knight. I went by many names during my service with the Orders: Dark Paladin, The Lone Wolf of Holy Order, Black Feather… and the Fallen Soldier, as you called me once. But, Miss Sion, the Alexander I had said earlier died ten years ago due to treachery committed by his comrades."
"Then why are you…"
"Here?" He breathed out for the third time and stared at the sky, by now silhouetted by the ravens coming down to feast on the carcasses. "Who knows? Ten years of journey, trying to repent all the sins I had committed, but end up adding up more and more wrongdoings… heh, maybe I'm not worthy of becoming a Holy Knight in the first place…"
Later he frowned and clenched his fists tightly. "I've failed to protect them… the people I was entrusted to take care of and protect… I couldn't even protect her when she needs my protection the most…" He reached the cross and held it in his fist, and broke into a low-sounding sob. "My Lord… please, forgive me for everything… but I have no other choice…"
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To Be Continued…