A bit of a twisted one-shot about Kohaku's suffering, and how He saved him.


SAVIOR
by MapleRose

Save me.

I tumble through an endless dark tunnel, haunted by the visions flashing through my mind.

A battlefield. People are falling around me. Everything is red. Blood flows freely, soaking into the soil. In the air a chain flies.

What's going on?

"Kohaku! What are you doing?"

Kohaku, who's Kohaku? I attack her.

"Stop it Kohaku!"

Why? Who are you?

I see myself plunging the weapon into her back. Blood flows from her wound. And it is her blood that wakes me.

Ane-ue? Ane-ue!

My eyes follow the trail of blood that flows from the bodies lying on the ground, it come closer and closer to me. I look at my hands, they are covered with red. I look at the weapon beside me, covered with the same blood.

What have I done! Is this a nightmare?

I look down. Blood pools at my feet. My blood. Am I dying? It's not supposed to be happening to me, I'm only eleven.

I scream, but no sound comes out. I squeeze my eyes shut, but the visions are still there. I inhale to clear my mind, but the scent of blood and death enters my nostrils and makes me dizzy. The scream of death and sharp clinking of a chain are echoing in my ears. I cover them to block out the sounds, but they are still there, echoing in my mind. I cover up my nose to block out the odours, but it still manages to seep through. My body convulses with the physical pain. I curl up into a ball and rock back and forth to try to comfort myself. I hold my head with my hands to try to ease the pain and dizziness, but I still feel like my head is spinning.

Tears blur my vision in desperation. Stop it! Please!

Help! I scream in my mind. Somebody help me!

I feel I'm losing consciousness and my strength is slipping. So this is death…I don't want to die…

Kohaku.

A deep voice comes out from the darkness. A distinct voice amongst those cries.

I slowly open my eyes, afraid of what might be there. In front of me, a man materializes out of the darkness.

You are too young to die. I can save you.

Who are you? He doesn't answer.

Do you wish to be saved?

Do I trust him?

I—

I grimace as those images played themselves again. Men screamed as they were cut down by a crescent-shaped weapon. It flew through the air effortlessly, guided by a long metal chain. At the other end of the chain was—

I whimper in fear as I try to stop this nightmare.

I can save you from them. The man's voice woke me from my trance.

I look up at the man.

Please, save me!

A hand comes towards me, holding a shard of something glowing with purple light.

What are you— I wince as the hand pushes the object into the wound in my back. I scream at the pain, but suddenly the pain vanishes. My body feels numb, and I stop shaking.

But those images are still there, I protest.

Without answering, the man waved his hand in front of my face. I feel those images disappear from my head, and my head stops pounding.

Thank you. What can I do for you in return?

Work for me.


Who is that woman? Why is she hugging me like this? And why is she protecting me? Do I know her?

I feel a sudden pain in my back, and a distant voice calls me from the darkness.

Kill her.

What? Why?

Do it Kohaku.

But I—

An invisible force moves my arms, lowering the weapon towards the scared girl at my feet.

Stop!

I fight to raise the weapon, fight against that invisible force moving my muscles. But I cannot win. I wince at the sickening sound of my blade cutting her flesh.

Why…


"Kohaku, you are a great help to us."

I blush slightly at the compliment. Something about this seems familiar. I think, perhaps in another life, a long time ago, I used to fight like this, with people around me helping me, backing each other up. When was that? Was it even me?

A sudden pain in my back take me away from reality. A face in the darkness appears. His face.

Kill them.

Why?

Kill everyone around you, Kohaku.

Why do I have to kill them? They were so kind to me.

I swing my weapon. Men fall, bleeding and screaming.

I-I don't want to.

I hear voices, but I can't tell what they are saying. To me, the voices are mixed together in an undistinguishable mixture of noise, like I'm trying to listen underwater.

I don't want to.

Tears flow down my face, blurring my vision and washing the blood from my face. The blood of others, the blood of innocent people.

Who am I? And why am I doing this?

Please, stop! I don't want to do this! I beg to the voice in my head, to that man.

Do you wish to remember?

Time seems to stop as I am plunged into the darkness once again. The darkness that is within my heart. My breath shortens and my pulse quickens as I see men fall, cut down by a crescent-shaped weapon. It flew through the air from one person to the next, killing its victim effortlessly. The crisp and clear sound of a chain clanking rings in my ear, getting louder and louder, until it makes my head spin. I see myself catching the weapon with ease, before sending it to another destination, another death. No, not this again!

Blood. Lots of blood. It stained the ground red. My hands are caked with it, with my father's and my comrades' blood. The smell of it invades my nostrils and makes me nauseous.

That woman. She runs towards me, her face confused and hurt. I aim my weapon at her. I cry for myself to stop as it embeds itself in her back. What am I doing?

Those images again. Those images that I want to forget. I clutch my head as I let out a whimper, tears running freely down my face. I tremble with fear and fall on my knees, trying desperately to block them out. Make them stop!

Do you wish to forget?

Please! Make them stop! I'll do anything. I don't want to remember.

Then forget.

I sigh with relief as they disappear, dissolving into the darkness.

I wake up, once again an empty shell. I kill without remorse or fear. For there is no fear or remorse as long as that nightmare remains forgotten.

Save me. Save me from myself, from my memories.

My saviour.

FIN


I kinda rearranged the canon events to suit me. The part about being great help comes from ep.153 Fate is a Cruel Reunion, but I put that with stuff from ep.50. What do you think?