Previously on Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED…

"How dare you call him a criminal! You have no idea of why he would do things like that!"

"MissSion, why are you…?"

"You call him a traitor, but you don't know why he would betray you and everybody else! You call him a criminal, but you don't understand why he has to commit it! You blame him on everything, but that's the thing of the past! Why can't you forgive him and forget all of it? Why can't you?"

"MissSion, that…"

"Just like Alex said, you don't know anything!"

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 16
Remembrance: Walk In The Dusk
Part 1

"Alexander Hahn, whatever happens to you, remember your role as the Holy Knight. You exist to serve the Lord and protect justice and the people whom we are entrusted to watch over."

"But MasterKliff, what if… what if I have to turn my back away from them? I have this feeling that…"

"Never let yourself be shrouded by the darkness residing inside your heart, Alexander. Always have faith unto Him, He will watch over you with his Blessings."

"I… I understand, MasterKliff."

x-x

"Alex? Alex?" Alex was startled and looked around him, trying to look for those who called him. Sion grumbled and bent forward, staring his puzzled face. "What's wrong with you today? Are you having a daydream or something?"

Alex was lost of his idea to explain. "Uhh… well, that…"

"What's with you, Alex? Ever since that Kiske guy arrived here, you always look depressed," she spoke. "I don't know what issues you got with him, but why don't you get over it?"

Alex breathed out in concern and put down the ice cream he was having. "I tried to, but then…"

"Then what? Come on, you're not like what he always says," she insisted. "And besides, a criminal wouldn't even consider treating ice cream to people around him. Look at you; you're the first guy ever to treat me with ice cream. Nobody would even think of doing that."

"You see, Miss Sion," he uttered and resumed eating the ice cream, "it's not that I want to look for trouble with Ky; as a matter of fact, I have long forgotten our rivalry a long time ago."

"Then how come he calls you a traitor? He shouldn't say such things like that to you," Sion said. "I mean, look at you. You're not the type of guy who would easily betray other people for no reasons, right?"

Alex just sighed and stared up at the open sky. "It happened a long time ago, Miss Sion, when both him and I were still serving the Holy Orders. I don't want to have a glimpse on it on the first place, Miss Sion, but… very well, you'll be the first person to hear it."

Sion stared at the ex-knight. "Really? What are you going to tell me?"

Alex sighed. "The root of everything."

x-x

Ten years ago, in the land which was once Japan…

He was holding his injured arm and glowered at the troopers. "For God's sake! I'm your comrade, damn it! Why are you attacking me?" he demanded.

"Your existence in the Holy Orders has proved to be too dangerous for all of us," one of the knights answered. "You are a threat to us."

"I have done nothing wrong! What are you accusing me for?" he demanded again.

"Silence! You have disgraced the Sacred Order of the Holy Knight and purposely turned your back against us in the favour of the Gears. Do you think we have nothing to prove this?" the soldier spoke.

The young soldier was surprised to hear what the knight had said. "What are you talking about? I know nothing about turning my back for the Gears! I swear!"

"Enough talking," the knight insisted and lifted his sword. "Traitors will be prosecuted. Kill him."

The knights attacked the lone soldier in unison, who frantically avoided all the attackers while trying his best to convince them that he was not guilty. He, unfortunately, got slashed from the behind by an unsuspecting soldier. "Stop it! I beg of you, stop this at once!" he cried after fell on his knees. "Why are you doing this to me? Why? I'm your friend, don't you know?"

"Friends or not, we cannot accept a traitor in our orders. You shall be punished." The soldier from earlier approached him and lifted his sword to the open air. He deeply stared at the young soldier who was silent. "Say your last prayers, Alexander Hahn."

Slowly the young soldier reached the hilt of the kodachi slung on his back. "You ask for it… YOU ASK FOR IT!!!"

Silence. The whole Holy Orders regiment was standing erect, as if they were stunned by an invisible attack. The young soldier by the name of Alexander Hahn slowly rose from his kneeling position and lowered the kodachi, and stared behind him.

"Dust to dust. Amen."

In an instant, the attacking soldiers were suddenly slain into eighteen pieces for each person, and the cleanly cut flesh drop on the ground. Alex slowly put back the kodachi into its scabbard and fell onto the ground, lying on his back.

"I can't go back to the headquarters… my life should end here…" He, then, stared up and noticed a pair of golden eyes staring down at him in a caring sight. "Who… who is that…?" he asked, trying to reach for the eyes. The owner of the eyes merely smiled and left. "Wait… don't leave… me… I want to know…"

x-x

"You were… you were betrayed by your own comrades," Sion spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I had faced many enemies, and I had denied deaths many times," Alex spoke and cupped half of his face, "but to be betrayed by my own friends… it was the most painful experience I ever had. I couldn't believe they would do such thing to me, after all deeds I had done to the Holy Orders. What did I do wrong, that I deserved to receive this punishment? I just wanted to help the people out there…"

"Then why didn't you tell your leaders about the betrayal your comrades had done against you?" Sion insisted. "They could've done something about it."

"Even if I told them about that, they wouldn't even believe me. Not even Ky; he was the one who held the most grudge against me after Sol. Maybe… it was my fate as a lone wolf of the order."

He leaned against the wooden bench and let out a deep breath. "Back to the battlefield, after I 'killed' my comrades, I fainted and did not know what happened after that. Well, not before I saw someone with a pair of golden eyes staring at me in the warmest gaze I ever saw. I thought that I was going to die that time, until I woke up and found myself surrounded by the Gears. I knew that they would avenge their friends' death to the Holy Orders, so I told them to unleash everything they got on me." He stared back at Sion. "You know what, Miss Sion?"

"What is it?"

The lone wolf of Holy Orders gave out a silent chuckle and looked back at the sky. "It was the most misunderstood day I ever faced. The Gears told me that… they were ordered by their Queen to take care of me. I was like "what? They've got to be kidding me," and asked them, "why would you Gears want to take care of your enemy?" You know what they answered? They just said, "Queen told us that you would never be accepted by the humans if you were to return to them.""

"That sounds very weird," Sion spoke in a slight surprise. "The Kiske told me that Gears were enemy to the humankind, so why would they… want to take care of you?"

"I know. I thought God was playing over my fate that time and sent in Gears to take care of me." He sighed and stared at the pavement. "But they were right; I could not accept the betrayals my friends had done to me. I thought that I'd better stay away from them for the time being, so I decided to stay with the Gears."

x-x

"Why would you do this?" Alex insisted, as he was carried away from the battlefield by one of the Gears. "Why you didn't just kill me back there? I'm your enemy, don't you get it?"

The Gear stared at him. "We are ordered by our Queen to take you back to our home. We don't see you as an enemy. We just want to take care of you as long as we want."

"What?" Alex exclaimed in shock. "You've got to be kidding me! There's no way I would…" He suddenly coughed of blood and covered his mouth.

"Don't force yourself too much, Holy Knight," the Gear reminded him.

Alex coughed more blood and groaned under his breath. "Damn… God, are You playing against me?"

The Gears halted. All but the Gear holding Alex knelt down in respect, as if they were greeting someone's arrival at the place. The knight was confused and looked in front of him, when he saw a woman in priestess outfit walking toward them. "Who's that?"

"She is our leader."

He broke into his sarcastic laugh. "Don't bluff at me. She is your leader? Give me a break. I don't remember anyone else leading you people other than the command Gear." He, then, coughed of blood again and panted breathlessly. "God… what kind of punishment You're putting on me?"

The woman signalled the Gear to take Alex toward her. Alex was brought toward her and blinked in confusion, as she put her palm on his chest. A bluish aura appeared from her palm and slowly seeped into his body. The knight was having a strange sensation as the aura coursed through blood veins and nerves, when he felt miraculously healed.

The woman pulled back her palm from him and smiled. "You've been healed, Holy Knight."

Alex stared at his palms and probed his hands all over his body. "You're… you're right. There's no pain. I can no longer feel pain in my body."

The woman giggled. "I'm very happy to hear that."

Alex looked at her in intrigue. At that time, he remember something. The warm sights from the golden eyes he had seen back at the battlefield. "Those eyes… it can't be. Was it you back there?" The woman merely smiled and lifted her hand, signalling at the Gears to follow her. "Wait! Don't leave! You said that you want to take care of me, right? Then why do you leave me?"

"Mistress," one of the Gears called her, "we were going to take him back to our home, but this knight refuses to come with us. What is your suggestion?"

The woman turned around and walked toward Alex. "Tell me, Holy Knight. What do you think of the Gears?"

"They're nothing but the enemy to the mankind. Look, Miss. I did appreciate your help, but I don't think I'm going to stay with this created beings. I swear to myself, I'll slay them if they ever get close to me." In a sudden, the woman slapped his face. Alex was taken by the surprised action and rubbed his bruised cheek.

"You don't know anything about the Gears, Holy Knight," she spoke in a stern tone. "And don't ever call them 'created beings' anymore."

"I'm sorry for that. But… why would they want to take me back to their home? Why would they be so kind toward their enemy?"

"You still don't know anything about us, Holy Knight. That's why we want you to stay with us." The woman, then, turned around and walked toward the Gears before she halted. "However it's up to you. You can stay with us, or you can choose to return to your human counterparts and be treated unfairly. You don't want to be betrayed for the second time, do you?"

Alex frowned and clenched his fists. "I…"

The woman turned around again and stared at he. He noticed a radiant smile carved upon her face, along with the warm golden eyes watching at him. "I'm pretty sure you want to more learn about us from our point of view, and not just from what you had learnt from the Orders. Right?" At that time, the wind breezed peacefully at the area, swaying the woman's claret hair. The lone knight was staring at the woman, both in intrigue and awe at the beauty she possessed.

"Your… your name, please."

The woman giggled. "Oh. I'm sorry for not having an introduction a while ago," she apologized and bowed before him. "My name is Hikaru, and I'm the leader of these Gears. What's yours?"

"…Alexander Hahn. Well, that's the name before the people at the Orders call me…"

"Lone Wolf. Doesn't the name suit your persona very much?"

"How did you…? And who are you anyway?"

Hikaru giggled again. "Himitsu." It's a secret.

x-x

"That's how it goes." Alex spoke, ending his story. "A Holy Knight betrayed by his comrades for no reasons and is left with no choice but to befriend his worst enemy… isn't it ironic to have someone believing in justice to turn his back against humankind in favour of some artificially created living beings?"

"I… I think it's ironic," Sion spoke.

"You're right, Miss Sion. I could have sworn that it was the most ridiculous day I ever had in my whole life. But…"

Sion stared at him. "But?"

"But at that time, I didn't care of anything else. When I met Hikaru for the very first time, I knew that there would be something awaiting me."

"You said something about Hikaru," Sion said, "why would you mention her name so many times, Alex? Is she so important to you?"

"Miss Sion, human can be unpredictable sometimes. And they tend to do unexpected things when it comes to love. For example, a woman falls in love with a Gear man, or a man sacrificing his life for the sake of his beloved little sister even when he knows she isn't a human."

"I don't understand."

Alex laughed. "Of course you don't understand. You never face this kind of situation, have you?" Sion didn't answer the question and merely stared at him in intrigue. "But you're right. Hikaru is important to me. So important, that I could forget living with human and stay with the Gears forever."

x-x

The Gears, Hikaru and Lone Wolf arrived at a village located next to a lake. Alex was taken by surprise when he noticed that most of the villagers were Gears. He could see humanoid and dragon Gears scattering around the village, as if they were living in peace. "Hikaru, what are they doing in this place?" he asked, pointing at one of the dragon Gears which was playfully chased down by several children.

"These are the Gears who are unable to fight the human due to their lack of battle experiences. They are among the most hunted kind of Gears, and the people of the Holy Orders are always hunting us down," Hikaru spoke.

Alex stared at herm confused by the statement. "Us?"

"I am also a Gear, Lone Wolf," she told him. "Please forgive me for not telling you that earlier."

"No way… I've never heard all about Gears who cannot fight… or don't want to fight. Why haven't I been told by the generals before?"

The villagers saw their arrival and approached them. "Mistress Hikaru, welcome back. How is everything out there?"

Hikaru bowed at the villager. "The battle is still waging. Have no worry. The human soldiers still haven't found our village."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that, Mistress," another villager spoke and looked at Alex. "May us know who this person is?"

"Everyone, this is Alexander Hahn, one of the Holy Knights." An ad-lib occurred among the villagers, and before long all of them were facing the two of them. Hikaru noticed their anxiety and giggled. "Have no worry, my people. He can do no harm to us. I can assure you."

"What is he doing with you, Mistress? He's a threat to our existence!"

"We must expel him from our village! His presence is unacceptable!" another villager insisted. Soon, all the Gears roared and lifted their fists to the air, demanding Alex to leave their village. Hikaru helplessly tried to convince them that the newcomer would possess no threat to them. Alex grumbled and scratched the back of his head.

"This is getting way too much…!" He withdrew the kodachi and shouted, "listen, everyone! I don't care why you want to expel me from this village, but I no longer serve the Holy Orders! That I do!" The Gears were silenced by the statement and stared at him in surprise. "You heard me right! The Holy Orders have betrayed me and left me alone in the battlefield! They claimed that I had betrayed them for your sake, but I'm not! I have lost my beliefs on the Orders… and the humankind as well…" The knight deeply stared at the Gears. "If you want to avenge the loss of your kind to the human, then do it on me instead! Show me everything you've got! I will gratefully accept this punishment."

"Lone Wolf…"

A girl hesitantly walked out of the mass and approached Alex. The ex-Holy Knight stared down at the child, who looked nothing more than a normal human child except for a marking on her forehead. "Oniichan doesn't look scary to me," she spoke.

Alex blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Oniichan," the girl called him, "will you protect us from the human soldiers? We've been hunted down by them for too long, and we've tried to fight them. But…" She slowly broke into tears and wept. "I've lost my family and friends to the humans… I've got no one else to rely on this world… I…"

Alex drops the kodachi and knelt in front of the girl, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry to hear that, little girl. I'm so sorry…" he apologized and embraced the girl as close as he could. The villagers were staring at him in sympathy and frowned in sadness. After a long time of hugging her, he pulled the girl away from his body and cupped her tears-moistened face. "Little girl, oniichan will promise you something." He took her hand and held it tightly. "Oniichan may not be the best warrior, but oniichan will try his best to protect this village."

"Lone Wolf?" Hikaru spoke.

He picked up the kodachi and stood up, watching at the villagers. "I swear to this Black Sabbath and myself to protect all of you from all threats, even if that means I have to betray my own kind. That, I do."

Hikaru gasped in surprise. "Lone Wolf, you don't have to do this. You're still a human, how can you…?"

Alex breathed out in despair. "Hikaru… it's true that I'm still a human. But I cannot stand it when my people are hunting down and killing those who are unable to defend themselves. I don't care whether they're Gears or not, and I don't give a damned care about everything else. And one more thing, Hikaru."

"Yes?"

He stared at the woman and smiled. "Please, drop that name "Lone Wolf". Only the Holy Knights will call me that. Just call me Alex, okay?"

x-x

"Since that day, I dedicated my life teaching the villagers how to defend themselves from outside. And… and before I realized it, we became family." Alex laughed at himself and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I must be the luckiest guy to be staying with the most unusual group of people in the world."

"That's impossible. How could a human stay with the Gears?" Sion insisted. "After all, you're a knight, and they're…"

"Do I have to repeat myself again, Miss Sion? These Gears couldn't fight the human. Don't ask me why, but I remembered one term of a "neutral" side: people who don't involve themselves in any conflicts. I guess these Gears were of the "neutral" kinds."

"Alex…" she called him, "now I'm getting curious about your past. Please tell me more about it… and the Gears who lived with you, I want to know more about them, too."

"I'll be glad to share everything with you, Miss Sion."

x-x

A ceremony was taking place in front of the hall. The villagers were gathering around the grave, where a group of children were put on it. An old humanoid Gear was seen chanting in unknown language, walking around the grave while stomping the staff he was holding on the ground. All of the villagers were frowning in grief, while some of them cried and wept over the children's death.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't there when the soldiers attacked the children," Alex apologized and frowned. "Truly I am…"

"Those poor children…" Hikaru uttered. "They were just playing at the field and didn't know anything about the world outside. Why would the human attack them, when they know they cannot do anything?"

"I don't know…"

"We share this Earth, we breathe the same air, and we step on the same soil. So why should we fight against each other just for this piece of land? Why can't we live together in peace?" Alex stared at Hikaru and noticed tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why can't we live together? Why?" Alex was silent, choosing not to answer the question. "Alex, why would your people attack us? We haven't done anything wrong to them. We just want to…"

"Hikaru… there was time where I was taught that all Gears are evil and possess threat to justice and mankind. I was a young and inexperienced soldier that time, so I believed in everything they told me."

"They're wrong!" and she broke into the most anguish cry. "They're totally wrong… we don't want to become their threat. We don't want to hurt anyone… we just want to live the way we are…"

Alex pulled the woman toward his body and softly rubbed her back. "Don't cry, Hikaru. I can't stand it when a woman crying in front of me. Please…" Hikaru cried in anguish and buried herself in the man's arms, ignoring a Gear who was asking her to lead the last respect.

"And it was on that time that I realized something about Hikaru."

"What is it, Alex?"

"She's alone… Hikaru was alone. She might have the Gears as her followers, I mean, her family. But she needed someone to fill the emptiness inside of her heart."

"How did you know?"

"I believe it's what people call feeling. Anyway, I thought that Hikaru was similar to me because when I first joined the Holy Orders, I was alone and had no one to accompany me, yet alone taking care of me. Luckily there was Commander Kliff to take care of me. I was sure that Hikaru needed someone to take care of her."

"What's your thought on the woman you called Hikaru? You sound like you have a weird admiration toward her."

"I can't really say it, Miss Sion, since I'm rather bad at describing people. But there's only one word I can say about her: I loved her."

To be continued…