Haunted

By Guardian795

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Now, while I was writing the last chapter, I came across a few things online. So, me being the thinker, I'm going to try to give my own rendition of these mysteries in later chapters. Also, so everyone knows, I'm trying to stick as close as I can with the storyline and the facts given. I've looked through so many sites for information and such, just to stay on top of the story. Great site for all of you Fatal Frame fans is probably: Beyond the Camera's Lens. Type that into Google, and you'll get something.

This site has a lot of information on the characters and the storyline. However, they don't really explain the rituals and such in detail. When I start the story with Mio and Mayu and begin to talk more about these rituals, I'll post the link to another great site I know.

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Yes, the last chapter was pretty sad. This chapter is a continuation of the Tachibana Twins' story, adding in some of the days after the ritual. Some of this stuff will be pretty depressing from here on in (then again, my friend tells me that the entire story is depressing x.x;; ) So, be warned: depressing content, yuri (love), and some stuff like that. I'm also looking for people to tell me, in a little survey, which ending they want me to do at the end.

The Easy/Normal Ending, Hard/Nightmare Ending, or the Xbox Ending? I actually think I'll write all three, and label them as "Ending 1" and "Ending 2". Just, in your reviews, write what you think I should do.

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Chapter 4: Tears

If we perform the Crimson Sacrifice, then Yae and Sae will not need to go through with the ritual. But if our ritual fails, they will be the only ones left for the next sacrifice. I have to get Yae and Sae out of this village. The horror has to stop. There has to be another way. I cannot let Yae and Sae suffer like this...
The old passageway under Kureha Shrine has been sealed ever since some twins tried to escape through there long ago. The Ceremony Master said they were killed by a cave-in during their escape. Concerned, the Ceremony Master sealed the Old Tree which enshrines the Remaining.

Although the path is sealed, a passageway still leads out. Opening the seal should make it possible to leave the village. The pinwheel keys that open the seal have been handed down through the families of four Veiled Priests. I was able to find the pinwheel for this family in the storehouse. After passing through a passageway, you only have to run through the forest and remember to never look back. But will those two have the willpower necessary?

Mutsuki is too weak to run away, and there is no way I can carry him. He said he'll forgive me no matter what happens. He does not want Sae and Yae to suffer either.
I promised him that I would help Sae and Yae escape after the ritual. Mutsuki will remain here as a butterfly. I plan to remain here in the village with him too...

Itsuki closed his notebook and leaned his head back against the back wall. Today was the day. He had until about two hours before midnight to be with Mutsuki…before he would never see him again. It wouldn't be all bad, he thought. Mutsuki would be a butterfly, and I'd see him in the village. He'd always be there. But…

But he wanted Mutsuki to be here with him. He wanted to grow old with Mutsuki. He wanted to share his memories and thoughts with him. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in a village with a lone butterfly. Itsuki looked down at his brother, who still slept. As he sighed, he got up and left the room hoping Mutsuki would not wake up before he returned.

As Itsuki began to wander the empty and forlorn hallways, his thoughts wandered to the twins who had once lived in this house – Akane and Azami Kiryu. After Azami was sacrificed, Akane went mad and killed her father. Her soul was taken by the doll of Azami, who in turn tried to kill others, but the doll was destroyed and left in the house, now uninhabited and in ruins. Though twins have spent their time there, none have been attacked by any doll. In fact, none of the dolls found their look like Azami's doll. The doll just…disappeared. But, several twins have said that they heard strange voices and things in that house. The twins were scared, though, of what happened to the unfortunate girls and their father.

Itsuki shook his head. Such a tragic thing to happen, especially to a Remaining. He thought that the Ceremony Masters would learn, then and there, to stop the ritual…but they didn't. They put more emphasis on it, and how the Remaining should have a better relationship with their new soul. How such horrible antics should even continue was beyond him. And soon, he would have to participate in it, by killing his brother, his twin, his other half.

Consumed by his sadness, Itsuki stumbled in the hall and knelt down, leaning against the wall. He held his head in his hands, resisting the urge to sob. His childhood had revolved around his brother, being with him and being happy. The years just before he became a teenager were spent tending to Chitose, their baby sister, at the time. Then they met Sae and Yae, doomed to the same fate as them. The Ceremony Master, Ryokan Kurosawa, Yae and Sae's father found that the coincidence that his twin daughters and the Tachibana twins being born in the same year was remarkable. But, it was taboo. Two sets of twins being born in one generation? It was unheard of, and had never happened. However, it seemed lucky. Two Remainings, if needed, would be in the village to protect it.

Itsuki sighed. He saw nothing lucky about having to kill his brother. He buried his face deeper into his hands. Why him? Why now?

"Itsuki?" He swiftly lifted his head to Mutsuki leaning over him. "Mutsuki…I…"

Mutsuki leaned over and hugged his brother. His older half blinked in surprise. "Mutsuki…I'm sorry I walked off…" he muttered uselessly.

"Itsuki, don't beat yourself up so!" his brother cried. "You needed to walk, so you walked. Don't be sorry for something so small…"

"…But so meaningful to you," Itsuki finished. The brothers looked at each other then hugged fiercely. It was almost over for them, they would soon be separate. All they could think of, at that moment, was themselves, and what was to come. A tear slid slowly down Itsuki's cheek as he heard a noise at the door, and saw the bottoms of a dark robe…

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Itsuki and Mutsuki held hands as they slowly walked down the rocky pathway to the ritual. Ryokan Kurosawa and the priests stood on all sides of the twins, in case of an escape. Mutsuki quickly grabbed hold of Itsuki's arm in desperation as they passed a caved-in wall. Itsuki sighed lowly. Ryokan had told them of two twins who had tried to escape…and who were caught in a cave-in. Itsuki shook his head in sorrow, patting his reflection's hand. Ryokan led the boys to the open space of the ritual, the thousands of candles burning in a never-ending blaze. Ryokan ushered the boys to the large, white symbol painted in the middle of the floor, around a semi-circle of candles. The priests took their places on the outskirts of the candles, and the Mourners stood underneath the Shinto Gate to the X.

"Face each other," Ryokan said nonchalantly, as though he were asking about the weather. The twin boys faced each other, looking like mirrors of each other. Ryokan moved to Itsuki's side, cutting the red cord. Itsuki flinched, as though the red cord was one of his veins. His eyes pleaded with Mutsuki's, pleading for an end to this immortal torment. And his hands weren't even on Mutsuki's neck.

Ryokan stepped aside, letting Itsuki and Mutsuki come together. Itsuki's hand trembled at his sides. The priests began to pound their staffs into the ground, again and again. Itsuki felt as though the pounding was his head about to burst. "Mutsuki…" he groaned.

"No," Mutsuki snapped. "You must. You must do it now, or we will forever be haunted by this." He took Itsuki's hands and put them around his own neck. "Mutsuki!" Itsuki cried. Mutsuki glanced at him. "It's alright! It won't hurt me, just do it."

Itsuki slowly nodded, before his fingers applied pressure to his brother's throat. As the pressure grew on his throat, Mutsuki's legs buckled under him, and he came down, Itsuki coming down with him. Itsuki's eyes overflowed with tears, looking like tiny stars in the candlelight. "Oh Mutsuki…" he moaned pitifully. He saw how much pain he was putting his brother through, but he knew that if he stopped, he would never be able to start again. He would not let his brother go through such pain. Mutsuki smiled through his pain, as Itsuki pushed harder, straining to end it now, to give his brother freedom. "Itsu-…I…love…love you…" he whispered painfully.

Itsuki pushed harder onto his brother's throat, feeling his twin's pulse beat under his fingers. The pulse began to slow to a low drumming beat, then a patter, and finally, it stopped. "I love you…Mutsuki…" he sobbed. He released his brother's throat and buried his face in his hands, screaming to the heavens to bring his Mutsuki back. As he took another gulp of air, he could feel the sympathetic strangulation mark he now wore on his throat. Tears rolled down his face and neck as the Mourners took Mutsuki's body away. Itsuki stumbled to his feet and hurried after them. He would not leave his brother now.

The Mourners, followed by Itsuki, Ryokan and the priests (in that order), proceeded to the X, where they threw Mutsuki's limp and fragile body into the dark depths below. Itsuki stared at the X from afar. He knew what would happen now. He would see his beautiful Mutsuki come out from the X as a crimson butterfly.

But it never came. No butterfly left the X.

For several minutes, Itsuki stared at the X, and when nothing came out, he turned frantically to Ryokan Kurosawa, who was also staring at the X. He hissed in anger, and turned his back on the scene. "Failure!" he muttered in anger, walking up the steps and away from the ritual grounds. Itsuki turned back to the pit in disbelief. Failure? How?

The boy collapsed on his knees in anguish, then onto his side. All the pain he had put his brother through, all of the horrible days of eternal torment by gazing at the boy who now lay dead in the pit – it had all been for nothing. The ritual was a failure; Tachibana had failed. He continued to sob until he fell into oblivion, his mind reeling from shock.

§ § §

Itsuki woke up on his side in his house, on his mat. Correction – Mutsuki's mat. Itsuki sat up, his eyes threatening to spill over tears. He slowly stood and walked to the mirror at the other end of the room, to inspect the hurtful mark on his throat. However, as he gazed into the mirror, he was met with Mutsuki's face in his. He gasped as the reflection seemed to cry out, why did you let me die?

With a cry, he flung himself away from the mirror, but in his frenzy, he knocked it over. It landed with a loud thud beside him, on its side. Itsuki covered his head with his hands, then slowly looked at the mirror again. He saw himself this time, but something was wrong, different. His gaze floated up to his hair. It was white!

He gasped as he peered at his new hair color. He had been told that sometimes, when a twin suffers from shock, their hair can turn white, but it had not happened for several years. Until now, that is. Itsuki's hair had become pure white overnight. He sobbed angrily. Even now, he could feel Mutsuki's angered soul, crying out for why he had been killed.

"Itsuki?" a small voice called. He raised his head and came face-to-face with little Chitose. She stood there in a silky blue kimono, small tears running down her cheeks. "Chitose? What's wrong?" he asked quietly, motioning for her to come to him. She hurried over to him and grasped hold of his waist with all of her young strength. He scooped her up into his arms and held her. "What happened, Chitose?"

"I heard something…and I was frightened…and-and-and…" she stuttered, then started to sob in earnest. Itsuki held her while she cried, and his guilt came back to hit him full-force. How could he let her down, leaving her to participate in that sacrilegious ritual? And once there, how could he kill his brother? How could he fail?!

Chitose sniffled and looked up at her unmoving brother. "Itsuki…where is Mutsuki? Is he with father? Is he in the bathroom?" she asked. Itsuki stared at her, not able to grasp her question fully. He took a deep breath and finally thought about it. What could he tell her? He swallowed hard, the butterfly mark paining him. "Mutsuki…is gone…" he choked out, his eyes beginning to water. "And he's not…coming back…" he whispered, a large lump in his throat. The little girl in his arms buried her face in his kimono and sobbed uncontrollably.

"He didn't even say goodbye!" she cried, the tears running down in torrents on her cheeks. Her white haired brother only grimaced. He didn't think she'd be so upset…he didn't want to cause her so much pain. He puts his arms around her and hugged her. Chitose began to sob. "Now that he's gone…Yae and Sae will have to do the ritual for you…" she whispered, and Itsuki started. The promise! He may not be able to help Mutsuki now, but he would most certainly make sure that the Kurosawa girls would not suffer the same fate.

He looked out into the darkness and saw the first tendrils of dawn. He wouldn't have much time…if the X was to be appeased, the Kurosawa twins could be sacrificed very soon. He needed to work quickly, starting at dawn. He had so much to do…and he didn't know how much time was left.

Mutsuki…I'll keep our promise…I will protect Yae and Sae at all costs. I will get them out of the village if I must die trying.