Disclaimer: I make no claim to the series, ideas, or characters of Full Metal Panic.

Author's Notes: I want to once again thank all of you who have reviewed. Thank you, dave-d, for pointing out the mistake of my exceptionally long paragraphs. I promise that they were in perfect format before I submitted them. The server does something to format when it is submitted; I will try to fix this if at all possible. I know that this story is somewhat confusing, especially this chapter, but I am trying to explain as much of it in the story as I can without giving away a lot of the plot. If you are having a hard time following this story, please be patient, answers will be coming, and until then, I hope you can enjoy my story. As always, please leave a review if you find my story worthy of your time; it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The Deathbringer

Chapter 3: The Eventide of the Crimson Rain

By Adam Lakewood Copyright 2004

"Who am I? What is going on with me? Who are you? Answer me, damn it! Who the Hell are you? What do you want from me?!"
"What do you think I want with you? Who do you think I am?"
 "Karen? Are you Karen?"
"Do I sound like that sniveling little brat, you dip-shit?!"
 "Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking, would I?"
"So, you're a little smartass too, huh?"
 "Stop answering my questions with questions."
"What will you do if I don't?"
"What do you think I'll do?"
"... I get your point."
"Good. Who are you?"
"If you don't know, I shouldn't tell you. Next question."
"What do you want with me?"
"Funny how you haven't noticed me before now; you're getting soft on me soldier boy."
"I repeat my question: What do you..."
"The same thing you want from me."
 "Which is what?"
"If you don't know, I shouldn't tell you."
 "I see. Why does Karen want to harm me and Kaname?"
"Kaname, is that the name of that little bitch?"
 "I'm asking the questions. Why does Karen want to kill me and Kaname?"
"Because she doesn't like you; it was your fault after all."
"No, it wasn't! What do you mean by that?!"
"Shut up, it's my turn to ask some questions. What do you want with me?"
 "What do you mean?"
"I'm not here because I want to be; though, I must admit it has it advantages."
 "I don't know what you mean. I don't want anything from you. I don't even know who you are!"
"Of course you do. If you didn't, I wouldn't be here. You want something from me; I want to know what it is. What do you want from me?"
"I swear I don't know what you're talking about! I want you to leave me alone!"
"I wish I could, kid. Unfortunately, I can't go until you let me go. Also, you're breaking up inside. I am more capable of using you at this point than you are me. By, the way, ditch the bitch, she is only bringing you trouble."
 "What do you mean by all of that?! I wi..."
"Shut the fuck up! I know what you're thinking, so don't even mention it. Do not try to have a battle of logic with me when you have lost all sense of it. Come see me again when you find your weapon; then, and only then, may we have this battle. Stay alive, and for the time being, you had better get up before you lay there and drown; she'll be coming for you at midnight."

The lifeless body of Souske Sagara was lying down by the beachside about three miles from the house. The rain was pouring down even harder in the form of a thunderstorm. The tide had come in minutes ago; this was obvious since Souske was lying inches below the water.
"Wake up!"
Souske's eyes flew open in surprise, and then took on the form of panic once he realized that he was underwater. Confusion washed over his mind as he struggled to find out where he was and why he was under water. His mind struggled most to make him move. It was as if the muscles in his body were gone. Then, it was as if all of his muscles had recovered all at the same time and exerted themselves. Souske went flying up out of the water. Not flying in the literal sense, but close to it. He had gone from a lying position under the water, to a jumping position about six feet above the water. His "jump" took him about an additional ten feet out to sea where he went under with a heavy splash as he landed in the water again.
He came up with a loud gasp of breath and began swimming to the shore. When he reached the shore he crawled up onto the rocky beach and spit up a lot of salt water. Crawling was the only thing he could do now, for his muscles felt as if they were completely given out. He crawled a few more feet up onto the shoreline in order to make sure there was not a repeat of last time. It was night now, and sleep sounded like a very good idea to him despite his current location. His aching muscles could not agree with him more. He quickly toppled over onto his back and spread his arms out to his side. He started to catch his breath again before finally starting to be overtaken by the darkness of sleep. A few questions swarmed in his mind before he was taken into his slumber.
"Where am I? What is going on? How did I do that? Where's Kaname? Is Kaname alright? Why can't I move? What time is it?"
As a result of the restless night before, it did not take long for Kaname to cry herself to sleep where she sat on the hardwood floor. Her sleep was disturbed by a loud crash of thunder followed by a bright streak of lightning. She startled awake with a slight shriek of surprise. When she woke up she was cold, very cold. The sun had not come out that day, so it had not warmed the mansion up, and it had only gotten colder since then.

Kaname was still in her pajamas which did not help keep the cold chill from her. It was completely dark outside except for the brilliant glow of the moonlight. All of the lights in the mansion were out, probably due to a power outage. She could still see though thanks to the moonlight and the occasional cursed flash of lightning. She felt a cold breeze blow through the room that chilled her to the bone. She looked over to her right to see the front door standing open.

Souske had left it open when he went out into that condemning rain. The open door was a sign that he hadn't come back yet. She was glad that he wasn't there, especially after what happened earlier. But, a part of her still worried about him. He was not acting like himself at all. Something was wrong; she was scared.

Was she scared of Souske? No. Was she scared for Souske? Yes. She didn't know why, but she felt as if something bad were going to happen. Where was Souske? She looked over at the grandfather clock in the living area. It was 11:12. She didn't know why, but she wished Souske was there now more than ever.

She stayed curled up near the wall on the cold floor, jumping in surprise at every roar of thunder and crash of lightning.

The clock stopped ticking, and the sound of the rain went away. She looked over to the clock; the pendulum was still swinging, but there was no sound coming from it. She looked out the window; it was still raining and lightning, but she could not hear the raindrops on the roof or the thunder. She could feel her heart pounding fast. She could not hear her own rapid breathing. She closed her eyes and saw the most horrible image she had ever seen before.

Her own mutilated corpse was lying on the upstairs balcony. She was cut all over her body and her eyes were missing. They were instead replaced with bloody, shining holes of light. Her hair was horribly messed up and blood ran down her face where her eyes were once. It was like she was there standing above her own body. The body moved. The body looked up at her and began to move its mouth; the voice was that of a small girl much younger than herself. The voice was loud like a drum in her ear.

"I've found you."

Kaname screamed at the top of her lungs, but all was silent.

Souske was walking toward his mansion. He had been walking for the past hour, wondering how he had got so far away and didn't remember it. He had to find Kaname and apologize to her. He did not have much time left. There was a loud buzzing sound in Souske's head that was so loud that he felt as if it could split his brain. He fell down to his knees and clutched at his head in pain. He looked up to see that everything was in a reddish tint. The sight was not one that he enjoyed, especially since it made the rain look like blood. All of the sudden the buzzing stopped, and the red tint went away. Souske took his hands away from his head and looked around confused before standing.
Souske heard the giggle of a little girl. He did not bother looking around; he knew there was no point in it; he would not find her. She always had a way of getting his attention. This time it was a ball.
A blue and white beach ball bounced past him about ten feet away and began rolling back down the hill. Souske watched the ball as it rolled back down the hill. There was silence on the hill for a few seconds before his face took on a panicked expression. He quickly whirled around, clenched his fists and ran for the mansion.
"Kaname!"
Just a few seconds after he started running for the mansion, he heard a scream come from inside. It was Kaname's frightened scream. He did know what those last words a few seconds ago meant, but he knew that they could not be good. Those words pierced Souske like a sharp knife. He wasn't sure, but he had a good idea of what they meant.
"I've found her."
"Kaname!"
Souske had found renewed energy. He burst through the open door to see Kaname sitting curled up in the corner of the room screaming for her life. He quickly ran to her and grabbed her tightly.
"Oh, God! I'm so sorry Kaname! I never meant to get you involved in this!"
He pulled her trembling, screaming form close to him and began rocking back and forth. She almost immediately stopped screaming, buried her face into his chest, and started to cry very hard. It did not take long before this used up all of her energy, and she started to drift back into a slumber in which she still sobbed in her sleep.
Souske knew what had happened. He knew exactly what she saw. He had seen the exact same thing a few years ago, except he was the reanimated corpse. Kaname must have caught on to what it meant quicker than he had. Nothing is scarier than knowing when you are going to die, and Kaname knew that she would not live through the night. The rain was becoming a sign of great despair.
Kaname woke up again to a slight creaking sound and the motion of moving back and forth. She felt that she was leaned up against something warm and felt something wrapped around her. It was a quilt, and she was thankful for it because of the cold. She could see the dancing of shadows across the hardwood floor in a red and yellow light which could only mean that the fireplace in the living area was burning. She shifted her eyes to the right to see the white shirt of Souske. She looked up at his face to see him staring harshly into the corner. He looked down at her slowly when he felt her stir in his arms. He looked back at the corner quickly and then back down at her.
"Hi." he said in a somewhat depressed voice.
"Hi." she replied to him.
"I'm sorry I got you involved, Kaname. I never knew that I could get you involved. I..."
He paused and hugged her tighter to him. Kaname reached out and took his hand in hers. She squeezed it gently and he returned the pressure. She looked up to see a tear roll from Souske's eye. She was utterly confused even though she had a horrible bad feeling about what was to come.

"Souske, what are you talking about? Why are you... What is going on, Souske?"
"I'm sorry, Kaname. I should have told you sooner, and I would love nothing more than to be able to tell you. But, we do not have the time. It is 11:57; it is almost midnight. But, I want you to listen to me."
Souske looked back up at the little girl sitting in the corner of the room under the grandfather clock playing with a doll. Kaname looked toward the empty corner in which Souske was looking.
"What is it, Souske?"
His response was immediate. He had less than three minutes to explain what he could. There was no time, but he had to cover the main points of what was happening.
"Do not lie to her." said the little girl.
"I will not lie to you."
"One of you are going to die tonight, I just haven't chosen who. 11:58.
 "One of us is going to die tonight."
Kaname's eyes widened in surprise at Souske's statement. That was a very brash statement for Souske to make.
"You already know that neither of you will be able to escape me, so there is no use in running. I never had the chance, so why should you?"
 "We cannot escape her; she will get to us at midnight no matter where we are."
"Souske, please stop, you're scaring me!"
"Good. I meant to. I am scared, and you should be also. She will take one of us tonight. You are a good friend of mine, so you are a grand enemy of hers."
"Souske, I..."
"No, please listen, Kaname. I will do all I can to protect you. It will probably be in vain, but I must try. I am sorry for all the times that I made you mad or made you cry. I hope you will be able to forgive me. But, there is no time for it right now. I want to tell you..."
"11:59." said the little girl as she looked up at the clock.
Souske nodded his head at her in acknowledgement.

Kaname looked over into the corner that Souske was gesturing at. She saw nothing, but she felt something. It was pain, hurt, anger, sadness, betrayal, confusion, every emotion put into one. It was something truly horrible. She was snapped out of her confusion by Souske. Souske hastened his speech.
"I'm glad that I met you, Kaname. You have never brought a dull moment to me for the time that I have known you. You have been that single beam of sunshine in my cloudy day, everyday. I woke up every morning with a smile because I knew that I would see you. I cannot bear the thought of waking up one morning and not being able to see you. I... I feel like I can do anything when I'm with you, Kaname. Whether it's catching a big fish, or... escaping from some... some terrible danger."
She did not like the way that he was referring to the two of them in the past tense. Souske looked as if he had a sudden mood change. His look was now more determined than frightened or apologetic. He was once again a man with a mission.
"I... We can escape terrible danger. I will not let anything happen to you, Kaname, no matter the cost. It is my mission, and it is now my personal agenda to protect you from harm. I will not let her take you from me! I will never let her! I will never..."
"Don't be so sure of that."

The little girl's words were venom; that of which could bring a man to his knees with a simple usage. The words meant a lot more than one would at first think. But, now was not the time to ponder.

Kaname believed Souske. As unbelievable as what he was saying, she still believed him. She knew that Souske would never lie to her, and she had the idea that he was not at all crazy. She would have never believed her best friend about something like this, but for some reason, this was different. She believed Souske.

"Kaname, I..."

"Time."

The little girl's word rang as true as the sound of the grandfather clock striking midnight.

"Run! Upstairs!"

Kaname was confused as to why Souske was having her run up the stairs and not through the front door. She did not hesitate to ask why, for she knew that would prove truly costly. She did not know why she was running, or what she was running from, but she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Finally, she reached the top of the stairs with Souske right beside of her. He was fast. Souske glanced quickly back at the stairs.

"Shit!"

Though she did not know the reason, Kaname was on an adrenaline rush. She was ready to go once Souske gave her the word. As if on cue, he did. He pointed to the metal door of the upstairs storage room.

"There, we can hide in there!" he shouted as he pushed her toward the storage room.

Kaname was not sure as to what his logic was, but she did as he said anyway. If he was sure that they could not hide from her, or whatever it was they were running from, why was he hiding them in a storage room? Now was not the time to ask questions. Kaname quickly ran into the storage room and turned around just in time to see Souske slam the door closed and lock it from the outside.

She quickly ran up to the door and peered through the small glass window of the metal door. The room was very small, full of junk, and did not have a window or exit except for the door that Souske had locked.

"Souske! What the Hell are you doing? Get in..."

Kaname was interrupted when she heard the laughter of a little girl. This scared her back a few steps from the door. That was definitely the laugh of a little girl; there was no mistaking it. The sound was not in her head; it was coming from outside the door. This had her frightened even more now that she knew that they were not alone in the house. Souske broke her train of thought from outside the door. She could still hear him plainly through the door.

"No! I will not let you take her! She has done nothing to you! If you want to get to her, you'll have to get through m..."

The lightning struck outside just in time to provide enough light so Kaname could see the quick, multiple splatters of blood on the small window of the steel door. She was horrified when she heard what sounded like a gurgling sound, something hitting the door, and then a thud on the ground outside.

"Souske! Souske!!" But, there was no answer from outside the door. No sound at all except for the sound of the rain beating against the mansion from the outside.

"He must really love you, Kaname. He was willing to sacrifice himself in order to try to stop me from getting to you. He never had a chance. But, because he loved you so to sacrifice himself for you, I will let you live. Remember what he did for you."

The words of a little girl ended as she felt a warm liquid form around her bare feet as it seeped from under the door. Kaname screamed before falling down to the floor kneeled over. She pounded the floor with her fist until she could no longer feel her hand. Crying was the only thing she could do for him now. Even in the end, he had ensured her safety. The rain continued to pour harder throughout the night as her tears did the same. She would never see Souske again; his time was up.

The malicious rain was here to stay.

TO BE CONTINUED