Disclaimer: I make no claim to the series, ideas, or characters of Full Metal Panic.
The Deathbringer
Chapter 6: The Twilight of the Fog
By Adam Lakewood Copyright 2004
Kaname released her grip on Kevin when it seemed that he was about to stop. All of the sudden, he sped back up, so she tightened her grip once again. It was raining so hard and they were going so fast that the rain against her face hurt badly, like fiery bits of ember against her bare skin. Was Kevin still concerned that they were not far enough away from that Ace woman? Maybe he was just being certain. Maybe he knew something that she didn't.
Finally, after about another hour of traveling at top speed, they arrived on what seemed to be a small town. The motorcycle slowed down as they entered into the parking lot of a coffee shop. The bright lights shining on the inside of the shop and the large neon 'Open 24 hours' sign was a welcome comfort from the darkness and the rain. Kevin somewhat parked the bike, got off, and ran inside without a word. She hadn't known him for very long, but she could tell that something was bothering him. She quickly slid from the bike and ran after him. The both of them entered into the shop with Kaname slightly behind Kevin.
The shop was surprisingly packed with people for it being before only a little after five in the morning. There were people at almost every booth and table, and there were a few waitresses walking around still half asleep. It was pretty loud when they opened the door, but everyone soon went quite and turned to stare at the two who came into their coffee shop. Obviously, it wasn't common around these parts to see a couple come into the parking lot on a motorcycle in the middle of the storm of the century in the early hours of the morning. The appearance of the two dripping wet did not help relieve their curiosity. The appearance of the young lady dressed in strange clothing not common to the small bumpkin town assist in settling their curiosity; nor the appearance of a tall man with a trench coat and gloves. One of the waitresses turned around and looked at the two oddly.
"Can I... get you something?"
Kevin replied quickly to the question.
"Yes, a phone."
The man behind the counter looked at him with a sneer.
"Sorry, the phone's not available to the public."
Kevin quickly pulled out his wallet and reached in for some money. He pulled out a wad of bills with a couple of fifty American dollar bills present among the numbers on the pieces of paper. He dropped the money onto the counter. The man smiled. He lifted the hinged counter top separating the dining room from the work area. He pointed through the swinging doors behind the counter.
"Back there and to the left."
Kaname sat down on one of the stools and folded her arms over her chest in order to put something in the way of some of the eyes of the old men who seemed to not be able to take their eyes off of her soaked shirt. What was Kevin in such a hurry to get to a phone for? He probably needed to phone in to Mithril or the church and let them know what happened. He seemed to be in real desperation to get to a phone in order to give up that much currency without a second thought.
The television suspended from the ceiling was showing the local weather, but was suddenly interrupted when it switched back on to the confused face of one of the news personal. The woman on the television looked to the right and mouthed what looked to be a few confused words. She looked back to the camera and quickly down at her papers that were just handed to her. She smiled before she read the papers and then her phony smile dropped into one of terror and disgust. She cleared her throat and let out a few oddly placed 'ums' and then looked up at the camera before she started speaking in a somewhat of a stunned voice.
"We are sorry to interrupt your forecast, but this has just ended. A local county motel in Richardson seems to have been attacked by some sort of angry mob. There has been a mass murder and the damage is severe."
Kaname stopped to think about the news report for a moment. She smiled slightly at the exaggeration made by the police. But, that did seem like a feasible conclusion since the power had been shorted out, the door had been broken off of its hinges, a motorcycle had been stolen, and a truck had been demolished.
"Police believe that this seemed to have been planned since the power to the entire area was knocked out with the use of some foreign tool found near the fuse-box."
She inwardly laughed at that statement. She did not enjoy these attacks on her life in the least bit, but she noticed that it was somewhat humorous as to how people outside of her and Mithril viewed these attacks.
"Police are looking for the person to last have signed in under the name of 'Kevin Jacobs.'"
That statement caught Kaname's attention; Kevin was now being sought after as a convict because of her. This did not really help improve her mood in the slightest.
"Authorities are baffled because they are not able to find any records at all on this man. They believe that the man must have had a fake I.D."
Once again she had to stifle a laugh. That figures, since he was with Mithril. He said that he had never lied before, so the I.D was probably real; there just wasn't any record of him outside of Mithril. She wondered if it was the same for Sousuke. Would anyone know him outside of Mithril? Would there be anyone outside of Mithril to attend his funeral?
"The man signed into the motel as 'Kevin Jacobs' was the only person not found among the thirty-two dead at the motel."
Kaname froze in horror at that statement. He and Kaname was the only two left alive throughout the entire motel complex. Thirty-one people had died at the hands of Ace and perhaps the other man that was there. They had died because they were at the same place that she was. Kaname quickly felt the tears form in her eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of anyone else dying because of her.
"Motel manager, Hagie Herotipei, who had just recently moved to America with his wife and three children, was found dead behind the desk. His family was killed in the room in which they slept. All of the victims were brutally murdered. There were confirmed to have been twelve men, ten women, and ten children in the motel last night. All were murdered inside their own rooms. It is uncertain as to what kind of... what kind of... what kind of sick, fuck would murder children in their sleep?! What is this world coming to?! This is so fuc..."
The news was taken off the air just like the oxygen to Kaname's lungs. She couldn't catch her breath. She felt very sick to her stomach. They had all died because they were at the same motel that she was. She buried her face in the palms of her hands. She began to shiver violently. Out of all of the terrible things that Gauron had done, they didn't even begin to stack up to what Ace had done to innocent people at the motel. They weren't even in the way; they were asleep in their rooms. They had been killed for sport. If Sousuke were here he would have known what to do; he may have even been able to prevent what happened. But, maybe he couldn't have; maybe she wasn't giving Kevin enough credit. Kevin seemed to know what he was doing. She needed to stop thinking of how Sousuke might have done better than Kevin; perhaps he couldn't have. Sousuke was gone; she needed to trust Kevin now.
The man behind the counter saw her shiver. It must have been the cold rain.
"Ma'am?"
Kaname didn't reply to the man for fear of drawing further suspicion to her and Kevin. But, the man seemed to know that he had her attention.
"There is a bathroom in the other building outside if you want to go dry off or something."
He pointed out the window at a building about one hundred feet away from the far side of the restaurant. Yes, drying off actually sounded like a good idea.
"Thank you."
Her gratitude was spoken softly, but it was heard by the man.
"Sure thing, ma'am."
Kaname made her way back outside and started her way towards the building containing the restrooms. The rain was still coming down just as hard as it was before. It showed no signs of stopping any time soon, or any day soon for that matter. Either it was raining like this all around the world, or it was following her wherever she went. She decided that the later sounded a bit more feasible to her.
She pushed open the door that had the symbol for the lady's restroom on it and went inside. She walked in front of one of the mirrors and looked at herself. The mirror was smudged, and thus, contorted her image slightly. She looked tired, depressed, broken. This was the person that Sousuke Sagara had died protecting: a person that needed protecting because of some worthless power. He had thrown his life away for nothing. And, now other people had died because of her. The thought was too much to bear. She leaned over the counter and started letting loose her sorrow in the form of streams of tears.
"You must have heard about what happened at the motel." said a voice from the stall behind her.
It was obviously female, and the tone sounded as if it were filled with sorrow. Kaname felt slightly embarrassed since she assumed that there was no one else in the restroom.
"It's alright; really. I feel the same way that you do. It was really horrible what happened. But..."
Kaname heard the door unlatch and looked around to see who her current counselor was.
"Examples have to be made."
Kaname watched in absolute horror, anger, and disbelief as Ace walked over to the mirror and began fixing her hair.
"The truth is that I hated every moment of killing those people, but sometimes I have to let my targets know what will happen if they resist me. If they make it hard on me, I will make it hard for them. You understand don't you?"
She turned around to look Kaname in the face. Kaname was no longer afraid of the woman, and was instead furious at her. She had gone too far and had killed a lot of people in order to just take her anger out on them. She felt like screaming in a fit of rage, so she did.
"You, bitch! I don't know who the hell you are or who you think you are, but I can't believe that someone would be as cold as to kill people while they were lying in their beds. You are such a..."
Kaname was cut short by a sudden sharp pressure against her stomach. Ace's fist connected like a sledgehammer. The wind was knocked out of her, she couldn't breathe, and she felt very dizzy. She fell down to her hands and knees trying to catch her breath to no avail.
"You keep silent! You have no right to talk to me that way. Especially since that wouldn't have happened if you and that shit headed bodyguard of yours hadn't decided to kill my partner and make a getaway! I was only doing my job, so you are the one to blame for all of this!"
If the woman were standing before a judge, she would have probably been let off due to insanity. Who knows: maybe it would be more than just a claim. At least this was the idea that Kaname was getting from the woman. Insanity; pure insanity. Ace's foot connected with Kaname's side, lifting her off of the ground and hurling against the wall. Kaname would have gasped in pain if she had a means of gasping. Instead, she squinted her eyes shut, rolled over onto her side, curled up on the floor, and held her ribs. She felt as if her insides were being crushed. She was starting to go lightheaded from the pain and the lack of oxygen. Ace pulled Kaname's head up by the hair. Kaname winced in pain and tried to let out a yell, but the oxygen was still absent from he lungs. Ace raised her other hand into the air to reveal a knife that she had slid out from her sleeve. She aimed it for the vital spot between the ear and neck.
"Miss Chidori, I'm truly sorry to have to be doing this, but if I don't do it, someone else will. My boss is a very resourceful man. So, goodbye, Miss Chidori."
Kaname squinted her eyes closed, preparing for he impending doom at the hands of this woman. She was really going to die here! First, Sousuke, now her. Everything had happened so fast that she felt that she was in an action movie. But, the excitement wasn't there since she was the one being held at gunpoint, or knifepoint in this case. Sousuke had pulled her through some pretty tight spots before, but he wasn't here now. It would take a miracle for her be able to live through this since Sousuke wasn't there.
Whoever said there was no such thing as a miracle must have never been blessed with one. Ace quickly let go of Kaname and she fell to the ground hard. Ace quickly turned around and slapped her hand through the air. The hand struck a knife that was aimed straight for her head, and was deflected perfectly. The knife spun around and landed on the ground just a few feet away from Kaname. She was now finally able to catch her breath, though each breath was very painful. Ace smirked and Kaname looked up to see who her savior was.
"Priest, I have one raw nerve left in my body and you are dancing all over it!"
"Kevin!"
"Stay down, Kaname!"
"Die, Priest!
Ace leapt through the air. Kevin had no time to react before she collided with him. He was slammed against the wall with great force, and she flew back into a graceful back flip and landed in a crouched position. She flew forward once again with her fist intending to connect with his skull. His eyes widened in horror as he was barely able to dodge the fist that cracked the wall where his head had once been. This woman was very deadly, and if he was going to take her down, or maybe only live through this, he would have to give it his all. His muscles began to tighten and pop in his arm. He pulled his fist back and let it swing with all of his force. The blow was so quick that it connected with Ace's face before she could react. Her head turned to the side with the incredible force of the blow, but she showed no sign of defeat. She instead turned around to him with a snarl on her face and a bit of blood coming from a gash in her cheek.
"I can't believe it; you actually hit me! No one or nothing has ever hit me before! What the hell are you?!"
"I am not of Hell; I am a man of God."
The smirk on his face was wiped away by a fist to his stomach and a knee to the face. The blows came so quickly that he wasn't able to see them. The only thing he knew before he hit the ground was pain and then pain again. He landed on his back dazed and confused. He couldn't breathe, and the entire room looked and felt as if it were spinning around. Ace reached down and lifted him to his feet with one hand.
"Piece of shit!" she exclaimed while readying her fist for another strike.
The strikes came just as quickly as the others before. A left hook to the side of the face resulted in a cracking sound. He felt as if all of the blood had rushed to his head very quickly and he was even dizzier than before. The excruciating pain of the blow was significantly dulled by his light headedness and impaired senses. He couldn't even feel his own feet below him, his vision was blurry, and everything that he heard seemed to be muffled and he could not make it out. The right hook that followed was enough to completely wipe out his senses and send him unconscious. It was apparent that he was unconscious. But, Ace was not satisfied. She let him go, but before he could fall she spun around and delivered a solid kick to his chest. The force was so great that the wall couldn't entirely stand up against it even after having Kevin as a buffer. A large indention appeared in the wall as Kevin was almost forced through it. He fell to the ground along with chunks of concrete from the wall.
"Kevin!"
Kaname quickly rushed to his side to check on his condition. She feared that he was dead. How could a person live after that? How could a person be as strong as to do that? She reached down to check for a pulse. He was still alive, but he showed no signs of moving any time soon.
Ace walked over to the mirror to look at the bleeding gash on the side of her face.
"He's still alive. I don't think that what I dished out to him would kill a monster like that. Any other person, sure, but not him. I'll keep him alive for a little while; I want to take glory in making him suffer for a little while."
She turned around and smiled a sadistic smile to Kaname.
"But, before I can have my fun, I have to do my chores."
Fear. Fear was the only thing that Kaname knew at that moment. Sousuke seemed to be able to do things that no other man could do. Kevin seemed to be able to do a lot of things that Sousuke could never wish to do, and this Ace was capable of taking down Kevin quite easily. She had never felt so helpless in her entire life. All around, people had died because of her and some in order to protect her. Now, it seemed as if Kevin was going to do slowly because of her. At least she would not be around to see it; Ace was going to kill her first. This was apparent by the determination in the woman's stride as she walked towards Kaname and Kevin. Kaname positioned herself over the fallen Kevin in hopes of shielding him in case Ace was to change her mind about her current target. Kevin, like Sousuke, was going to die because he tried to protect her. The least she could do was try to protect him, despite how much in vain her attempts were.
Ace chuckled as she continued to approach the two.
"Isn't that precious? The protected trying to protect the protector. It makes me wonder exactly goes on in your head when you people see your early, personal Armageddon approaching. Actually, it makes me want to laugh."
Kaname had not heard a word that the woman had said. The only thing that she could hear was a slight ringing in her ears with a lot of soft whispers that she could not make out. No matter how many times her powers as a Whispered were invoked, she never got entirely used to it. Now, she was more confused as to the reason why her power was making itself known at this point since there was obviously no apparent reason for it to be making its presence known. Time seemed to abruptly stop. Ace was not moving, nor was anything else. Everything seemed to be frozen in time, she could not hear, feel, smell, or feel anything. It was like she wasn't even there.
Suddenly, the unknown words and numbers began flowing through her mind at an impossible speed. This was different from all the other time; she did not have any idea what was going on. And, time seemed to be frozen indefinitely in order for her to figure it out. Kaname placed her hands on her head as if to keep everything that was inside from coming out. She began shaking her head around violently.
"No! Stop it!"
Ace stared at the girl on the ground in front of her. She stopped her forward march in order to take in what was happening. She watched as the girl grabbed her head and shook it while screaming. She smiled when she came upon a logical explanation.
"Ha! It seems as if I have driven the poor girl insane with fear. Poor thing; I really didn't mean to do that."
Her voice was hinted with pleasure and sarcasm.
"I guess I'll just have to put her out of her misery and end her suffering."
With that, she took a few more steps until she was standing over the shaking girl. Kaname had wrapped her hands around herself and was shivering violently.
Kaname was now once again standing outside of the motel in the pouring rain. She looked around as if looking for something and it didn't seem to take long for her to find what she was looking for. From the sky fell a mass of people; actually it was more like they floated down to the ground. They were men, women, and children alike and they were all horribly mangled. Some had cuts all over their faces, some were missing limbs, and some looked as if they were burned. Out of the faces she recognized a few. They were the people who had died at the motel. Though the mangled corpses of the people did not speak, it was apparent as to their mood of hostility. They began running towards her at incredible speeds with their arms outstretched.
Kaname turned away from the people and fell to her knees. She pulled her head towards the ground and then brought it back up quickly.
Ace watched in astonishment as she felt and saw the wind swirling around Kaname's body. Her hair and clothing fluttered in the wind inside the building. She had no idea as to what to make of this. Is this what her boss was talking about when he mentioned her advancing Whispered powers? She knew that she needed to end this girl's life, but she was unable to bring herself to action. She had never seen anything like this. The intention in the wall where she had knocked the priest was starting to grow and crumble; as were their cracks forming in the walls around her. She watched as Kaname quickly shot her head back up to look at nothing in particular. This actually took her by surprise. The girls face showed no emotion and her eyes were distant, uncaring, unknowing... innocent. Suddenly, her eyes quickly changed to a look of fear. Then, she screamed out a single exclamation.
"NO!"
Ace felt the unnatural wind in the building pick up greatly. Before she could do anything she was hurled backwards with tremendous force. This time, the opposite wall was not able to take the force and she went flying through it. She would have gone further if there was not a car to stop her. The car stopped her in her flight path, but the force of her body being hurled by the unknown force was enough to flip the car over.
The people inside the restaurant did not know what to make of this. They had heard a lot of crashes over the past minute. They were all gathered around the window that provided the best view of the building when a blonde haired lady clad in tight leather clothing went flying through the wall of the bathroom followed by pieces of rubble. They also witnessed the car being flipped over from the force of her impact. They also witnessed the miracle of her getting back up. They were also watching when the building collapsed. They had been watching ever since the young man in the trenchcoat headed towards the women's bathroom. This is what they could make out from their positions. The tremendous downpour was obscuring their vision.
Ace was in incredible pain. This was pain that she had never felt before. She looked down to where she was grasping her ribs. She turned her hand over to see if that was blood or just the rain that she felt. Her hand quickly filled with water, but there was still some red tint to it that she could tell. She understood what her boss meant when he said that the girl needed to be exterminated before her powers grew too much. It seemed as if he meant that her powers could grow even more than this. She was not supposed to have allowed her to have lived long enough for her powers to grow to this magnitude. She was now starting to doubt her chance of being able to complete her mission.
Then, she saw the building crumble. It seemed that the power was not directed at her and was instead lashed out wildly. The walls of the building had sustained as much force as she had and now collapsed with the two inside. Normally, she would have considered anyone in there to be dead, but she highly doubted that they were dead considering the growing power of that girl and the physical abilities of the priest. She approached cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to be smacked with another one of those "psychic" attacks. She was startled when a large slab of concrete rose from the rubble. She took a quick step back to only realize that the slab was being lifted by the hand of the priest. Underneath the slab were the priest and the girl. The priest seemed to be injured; as was apparent by the amount of blood flowing down his face. He had the girl in his other arm. There was no apparent injury on her, but her clothing was torn and ripped to the point as to where it was almost non- existent. And, she was apparently unconscious. She was able to conclude that the blast was purposefully not directed at the priest and the tears in her clothes meant that the blast came directly from her. It seemed as if the mildly controlled blast had exhausted her. And, since the blast was mildly controlled, it meant that the girl had minor control over the power. This made her even more detrimental. She and the priest needed to be put down before she regained consciousness.
I rocked slipped underneath Kevin almost causing him to fall. Normally, there would be no way that Kevin would ever fall down, but his exhaustion was getting to him, and now he had to fight her again. He looked down at the unconscious for of Kaname. She was innocent. She had done nothing to do this. She was one of God's Gifted. How could someone be as evil as to want to kill her? For her, he would continue fighting. His Lord would never forgive him if he were to let her die without doing everything he could to protect her. He would find redemption through this. He would finally be able to earn a seat in Heaven beside his Lord. He could hear the tune 'When the Saints Go Marching In' playing. It came through so loud that it could even be heard over the pounding rain and the howling wind. It was not heavenly; it was horrible. It sounded electronic. It was coming from Ace.
Ace reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone that turned out to be the source of the annoying music since it got louder when took it out of her pocket. She smiled as she silenced the ringer and put the phone back in her pocket.
"Wow! Talk about being saved by the bell, Priest. You must truly have the luck of your god on your side. I now have orders to let you live for a little while longer. But, mind you, Priest, this is only delaying the inevitable. You, Miss Chidori, and Sister Meredith will all die, and I will be there to personally make sure of it."
Now, she looked to be disgusted that she could not end their lives right there on the spot. She spat in disgust, which was actually a bit more blood than spit. Truth being, she was slightly afraid. She had never been injured like that before. Systems and armies were not able to scratch her, but the priest had landed a powerful punch on her, and the girl almost blasted into another state with some unknown power. This was starting to be a little much, and she would need to come next time with backup. She leapt into the air and didn't come back down. It was now apparent that she was gone.
Kevin found this to be strange since she could have killed them then and there. But, he took this as a sign of mercy from God and did not question it. His phone call revealed that the church and Sister Meredith were in no immediate danger. He and Kaname were recently attacked, so they were the ones in the most immediate danger. Still, he needed to get back to the church. Everyone would be safer at the church.
He bent took off his trenchcoat and took out all of his weapons from the inside of the coat. He had four kamas left. He also had a katana, a bo- staff, a pair of tonfas, a pair of butterfly swords, a dozen throwing knives with tassels, and several throwing stars. Father Kevin Jacobs believed in the old ways, and refused the use of guns. He was still more potent than any soldier out there, though. He strapped his weapons to his belt and over his back. One could see that he was of a rather muscular build when all he had on his upper half was a white tank-top. It took only a few seconds for the shirt to become soaking wet from the rain. He bent down and wrapped the trenchcoat around the unconscious Kaname. He lifted her into his arms and jogged back to the restaurant.
The door was opened for him when he got a few feet in front of the door. The waitress looked at him, expecting an answer to an unspoken question when she opened the door for him. Everyone else in the restaurant was deathly quite as they stared at him, the girl in his arms, and his weapons. He looked around at all of the astonished people. He suddenly got a very stern and dedicated look in his eyes. He could look very intimidating when he wanted to be.
"Listen to me. I would advise all of you to forget what you just saw and never speak of it again. With this storm that we're having, it very well could have been a stationary, sanctioned hurricane that fell the building outside. Now, I need a lift from someone that is heading in the direction of Creedence. Is anyone heading that way?"
One could assume by the silence in the restaurant that either everyone was going to head back the direction that they came after they ate, or no one wanted to give them a ride. One middle aged man seated at a table with his wife, daughter, and son looked around the room at everyone. He got up and reached into his pocket.
"Sir, you and the lady may have our van. You seem to need it a lot more than we do. I do not know what just happened back there, but judging by that cross around your neck I can assume that it would be in my best interests to help you in any way I can. It's the red one parked over there." he said pointing out the window and towards the van.
"Thank you, Brother. I can assure that you will be awarded for your deeds in this world and the next. God bless you."
Kevin took the keys from the man and left out the door which the waitress held open for him once again. He slid open the back door and gently laid Kaname down in the back seat. The family was obviously going camping since there was a tent, many sleeping bags, and numerous blankets in the back. He took note that Kaname had regained partial consciousness and was shivering from the cold. He took one blanket and wrapped it around her, and he took the other and placed it over her. He closed the door, walked around to the driver's side, opened the door, and got inside. He rested his head against the headrest a moment before starting the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot. It would still be about three hours before they reached the church, and Kaname would be unconscious for at least another two. This was plenty of time for him to ponder on a few questions. How was that Ace woman capable of doing the things she was? Why was she targeting Kaname and Sister Meredith specifically? What would he do once he got back to the church? Was Meredith alright? What exactly did Kaname do to that building and how? Was it the power of the Whispered? Had God given her more of a gift than the others? And most importantly: How and what would he do to prepare for Ace's next promised attack? Would anyone be able to stop her? What was she? These were questions that would occupy him for the next couple hours.
Kaname had woken up about an hour and a half before they arrived to the church, and had taken off her torn clothing, and replaced them with some women's clothes that were in one of the bags. The clothing was a little bit too big, but it would suffice. More importantly, she herself was wondering what had happened at the restaurant. How did she manage to blast Ace through a wall, and take down the entire building in the process? She was pretty sure it had something to do with her power as a Whispered, but she never knew that she could do that.
They were now pulled into the gates of the church. Kaname marveled at the enormous structure before her. It was the most beautiful structure that she had ever seen. It was more beautiful than her textbooks showed them to be. The outside looked as if it was made of marble, and all of the windows were beautifully painted. The grass was the greenest that she had ever seen before, and the sidewalks were perfectly clean. The bushes seemed to be perfectly trimmed, and the small pond behind the church looked to be crystal clear. There were a few people walking around outside. They were all dressed very prim. Most of the gentlemen wore tuxedos and suits, and most of the women were wearing what looked like black robes with black hoods. They must have been the nuns that Kevin had been talking about. She felt kind of nervous being here since she looked and felt out of place. She would be meeting a lot of new people that she knew close to nothing about, and she would also be meeting Sister Meredith. She then saw the beautiful, almost radiant, graveyard on the hill overlooking the church. She never would have thought anything involving death or the dead could be so beautiful. This also reminded her that they would be burying Sousuke. But, she had better not think about that right now.
"Kaname?"
Kevin looked down with an expectant look in his eye. She stared at him perplexed for a moment. He finally held his hand to the side as if motioning to the church.
"Oh! Yes, of course. Sorry about that; I was just taking in the place." she said while looking around again.
Kevin smiled and looked around for a moment himself.
"That's understandable. This place is very beautiful isn't it?"
"It sure is."
Her smiled faded slightly when she looked back up at the graveyard. She pointed her finger towards it and Kevin turned his head in that general direction.
"Is that where they are going to bury Sousuke?"
He could hear the solemn tone in her voice. He sighed slightly before replying.
"Yes. That is where he will be buried."
He felt as if he needed to at least attempt to make her feel a little bit better. He walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He bent his head down to where his head almost rested on her shoulder so he could see from her eyelevel. He pointed up towards the graveyard again.
"Do you see that coffin up there?"
Kaname looked closely to where Kevin was pointing his finger. She had taken note of it before, but she never thought it was a coffin; she thought that it was a part of the beautiful decoration in the beautiful graveyard.
"Yeah, I see it. I didn't think that was coffin."
"Well, it's not a normal coffin. Most coffins are buried under ground. Those are made to be placed in specific buildings made to hold them. A building like that one over there."
He shifted his finger slightly to the right to where it was pointing at a large, yellowish, brick building. The building itself was beautiful and seemed to look like it belonged in the graveyard.
"That is where Sousuke is going to be buried. That is the most beautiful coffin that I have ever seen, and that's what Sousuke is going to be put in, and then he will be put into that building. He will not be getting the traditional burial. He specifically requested in his will to be buried in this fashion. And, since he is a good friend of Sister Meredith's, we, the church, gladly obliged."
He sat up straight and patted her on the shoulder.
"We better get going. Sister Meredith is dying to meet with you."
Oddly enough, they did not go inside the church, but instead got back in a new car that was pulled around to them. Kaname supposed that the people of the church couldn't have that kind of piece of junk vehicle here among their cars with reflective mirror gloss shines. They instead brought out a limo for them to ride in. A driver got out of the driver's seat and opened the door for Kaname. She nodded her head in thanks to the driver who smiled in return. Kaname looked around the inside of the car and watched the scenery in awe as they drove on. Kevin smiled to himself. She was like a child in a candy store. It was understandable, though, since they didn't have these kinds of churches in Japan.
Kaname was amazed that the entire church estate was like a small town: complete with paved roads, shops, and neighborhoods. They turned down one of the roads which were lined on either side by houses spread no further than fifty feet away from each other. She had never seen a place quite like this while she was in America before. These houses looked like the ones that she once saw from an old television show that she saw while she was here. This was very stereotypical: most of the houses had white picket fences and grills in their front yards.
Finally, the limo pulled in front of the driveway of one of the houses.
"We're here." Kevin said pulling her out of her trance.
Kaname immediately opened her door and got out to have a look around at the outside. Things never looked the same through a glass window. She looked over in time to see the driver give her a confused look. It seemed as if he couldn't believe that she got out of the car before he could open the door. He didn't know quite what to do about this dilemma, so he opened Kevin's door. Kevin stepped out with a slight chuckle.
Kevin held open the gate for Kaname. She was somewhat nervous since she had never met this person before. She had never been nervous when meeting new people, but this was different. Kevin noticed this and decided to take the lead. They walked down the concrete sidewalk to the front door. The houses here were obviously taken care of as much as the church. The porch was completely spotless as if it had been swept off ten times since the morning, and the grass was perfectly cut to where none of it hung over the sidewalk. One would have thought that Kaname was a perfectionist by the way she noticed these things, but she never would have noticed them if it was something that she saw everyday. Before Kevin could even knock on the door, it was answered.
In the doorway stood the beautiful woman from Sousuke's picture. She had piercing green eyes and long, red hair. From what she could see of her body, she seemed to be very lean, but fit. She was somewhat shorter than Kaname, but Kaname was considered to be kind of tall. This is the kind of woman that no man would care to be in their presence. The first person that she saw was Kevin, and she immediately gave him a welcoming hug.
"Kevin, I'm so glad that you're alright! Someone called me and said that you called and said that you were in danger. I've been worried about you! You could have at least called!"
She folded her arms and gave him a stern look. She looked like a mother scolding her child. She quickly put on another smile, let out a little bit of laughter and gave him another hug. She let go of him and turned around to face Kaname. She smiled at her also.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I would have called you, but I seriously didn't have the time. We just got here a few minutes ago. Oh! Sister Meredith, this is..."
"Kaname Chidori!" said Sister Meredith, finishing his sentence for him.
"Kaname Chidori, this is..."
"Sister Meredith Rily. I'm pleased to finally meet you. I have been expecting you for a long time, and I have heard a lot about you."
"I'm glad to meet you too. If you don't mind my asking, who have you heard about me from?"
"Well, besides almost everyone at Mithril, mostly from Sousuke."
Kaname smiled at that statement.
"Well, he better had said some good things about me."
All three chuckled a bit and were silent for a moment before Sister Meredith broke the silence.
"You don't have to worry about that. Everything he said about you was only of good intent. He told me everything about you early this morning."
TO BE CONTINUED