To my friends: fuck off I was busy with my college essays. I'm always gonna be falling behind.
To everyone else who cares to read this sorry excuse of a contest between me and my friends: Welcome back I guess. I'm surprised I even made it pass the prologue.
Disclaimer: Don't own Code Vein. I can assure the main character would actually be voiced if I did.
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The metal halls.
The endless twist and turns.
The dripping pipes.
The thin layer of blood covering the ground.
The dense fog.
This was all he had ever known.
How long had been wandering this labyrinth? Days weeks? Months? Years? The concept of time held little meaning to him. The only indication of it's passage was the ever so slight rising of the blood level. At first it had barely been noticeable but at some point it had risen enough to reach his ankles.
Why was he here?
Where was here for that matter?
Who was he?
What was he?
It was strange. Despite his lack of memories he instinctively understood that something was very wrong. How could someone not recall their own name? These questions were enough to keep him moving forward. He needed answers and he wouldn't get them by standing around.
It seemed hopeless but then one day it happened.
"Ren."
A faint voice echoed within the deepest parts of his mind. He brushed it off as a trick of his ears.
"Your mind...it's broken."
He once again brushed it off. Perhaps this place was beginning to get to him.
"Please listen to me." Desperation filled the voice. "The world needs us. Our friends, they need us."
He clenched his head in pain. The voice. He should know who it belonged to and yet he didn't. Nothing but pain came from his attempts to put a face to the voice. Eventually the pain subsided but when he glanced up he saw something or rather someone.
A woman dressed in a hospital gown was staring directly at him. His legs immediately carried him after her. The second he got close she disappeared around the corner. The same thing happened everytime he got close to her. It wasn't long before she broke out into a sprint, speeding up their little game of cat and mouse. He struggled to keep pace with her, only catching glimpses of her flowing white hair as she turned corners. She was leading him somewhere but where?
He turned another corner, intent on finding out only to find himself plummeting out of the metal cage that had been his home and into a white void. All it took was a single blink and he was no longer falling. Instead he stood in a grassy field. There were no trees, flowers or any sort of foliage. Just a flat field of grass with no end in sight.
"Ren-" His gaze snapped behind him. Slowly making her way towards him was the white haired woman from before. Now that they were so close he could clearly make out her tanned skin, dark almond like eyes, and the scars of a large wound originating from her heart. "-you've been asleep for so long."
The woman stopped just in front of him. She reached up to his cheek, a sad smile making its way across her face.
"I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you, everything I've forced you to do." Tears threatened to escape her as she spoke. "No one should have to go through what you did."
"Who-" The man tilted his head at the woman. "-are you?" His words were like a bullet to her heart. Her tears began to flow freely while her body started shaking.
"Y-You don't even r-remember me? How ironic." She removed her shaky hand from his cheek, her smile becoming more bitter than anything else. "I lost myself and you're the one who ended up paying the price for it." He sat there in silence as she wallowed in her own self hatred. Slowly she began to compose herself, giving him a kind smile.
"Tell me Ren, do you even remember what you look like?" Seeing the shake of his head, she shook her head in dissatisfaction. At the same time a full body mirror appeared before him from thin air. "That won't do at all."
"I must say I'm a fan of your new look. It makes us look like siblings. I'm sure Kiyoki would be jealous."
Ren, as she kept calling him, wasn't sure what exactly she meant by all that but examined himself all the same. True to her words they shared many of the same key features. His hair while just a bit shorter than hers shared the same ethereal white color. His eyes were brown as well though they were several shades darker. A single scar traveled over the right one which looked glazed over. Was he blind in that eye? His clothing, if it could even be called that, was broken up armor and torn pants. There was a glaring hole over his heart, revealing an X shaped scar on his torso and back. Something must have completely shot through his heart at some point which begged a troubling question. Shouldn't he be dead?
"Who are you?" Ren questioned once the mirror vanished, meeting the woman's gaze. "And how do you know me?"
"My name is Cruz Silva, you may call me Cruz." She introduced herself. "It's only natural I'd know you. I suppose you could say we grew up together."
"Where are we?"
"This is your mind, well the portion of your mind that I reside in. That horrible maze you were trapped in was your mind. I must say it is a very accurate representation of your current state. I know, I know, it's all very confusing." Cruz raised her hand to keep him from interrupting her. "Let's just say I'm now a very little part of what makes up you and leave it at that. I'm not even sure I fully understand what happened to us."
"We don't have much time before you finally awaken so there are some very important things I need to tell you."
"First and foremost you are a revenant. Revenants are humans reborn as immortal creatures via an injection of certain parasites to the heart. As a revenant your sturdiness and regenerative abilities far ellipses that of a human. It's the reason your still breathing. A direct attack to the heart is the only sure fire way to kill a revenant so be sure to avoid any injuries there." Cruz explained. Suddenly a wall of golden light appeared behind her, forming several pure white needles. "Due to our mutations we are capable of calling forth various abilities called gifts. These abilities vary from person to person as every revenant has a blood code unique only to them."
"Do you know what my abilities are?" Ren questioned calmly, not showing any sigh of disbelief. For some reason he felt he could trust this woman and right now he had nothing but his instincts to go off of.
"Due to...certain circumstances your Blood Code was left broken and lost. Instead of leaving you powerless you've become a clean slate if you will." Cruz dispelled her needles. "You'll be able to obtain and use any Blood Code you manage to get your hands on. Such a power will undoubtedly make you a force to be reckoned with."
"So revenants have abilities. I assume there's something powering them."
'Even without his memories he's as sharp as ever.' Concealing the pride she felt Cruz nodded. "Ichor, or our blood, powers the abilities. This supply can replenish overtime however revenants run the risk of becoming frenzied if they use too much without drinking the blood of a human."
Ren noted the pained look that crossed her face at the mention of frenzing. Whatever questions he had was forgotten when the fog that had infested his mind swarmed the field, heading straight towards them.
"It would seem I've shared too much information." Cruz looked annoyed before refocusing on her friend. "Remember Ren, it's up to you to save humanity. They're suff-"
The fog surged between them cutting off whatever she had to say. In a matter of seconds Ren found himself falling unconscious.
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Numbing pain.
That was the first thing to greet Ren as he awoke. The slightest shuffle would give way to a searing pain, fierce enough to keep him still. Slowly but surely the revenant managed to crack of his eyes, despite the pangs of pain. What greeted him was unexpected.
Hovering over him was a girl. Strangely enough the short neck length hair framing the sides of her face was the same shade of white as his own. Her amber, almost golden, eyes regarded him calmly and a strange spikey black hood concealed most of her head.
"Welcome back." She stated in soft yet empty voice. "How are you feeling?"
"Horrible." Ren answered. He tried to push himself up and would've failed had it not been this mysterious girl propping him up against her. He spared a quick glance around their surroundings. Various glowing thorns that were black in color seemed to be imbedded into the ground. Some even crossed into several ruined buildings. On top of all of that there was some strange red mist in the far distance.
'Where am I?' Ren wondered while glancing around.
"Don't worry, it's okay. I don't remember either." The girl said in some misguided attempt to comfort him.
"You too?" Ren muttered to himself, not particularly thrilled about traveling with someone who probably couldn't answer his questions. Said person steadied him and came to a stand.
"Over there." She pointed towards a shriveled up white tree in the distance. How exactly it managed to sprout out of concrete, he didn't know. Pushing himself up to a hunched over stand, Ren couldn't help but groan in pain. Every part of his body seemed to scream out at him, nearly overwhelming his senses. He wanted nothing more then to fall back and sleep but that didn't exactly seem like a good idea.
The girl silently observed him from a distance. Now that she wasn't up close in his face he could make out the rest of her clothing. His eyes weren't drawn towards her large assets, the short torn white dress, or the strange metal clipping on her fingers. Rather his gaze immediately zeroed in on the bandages wrapped around her left leg as well her right wrist.
"You're hurt." He pointed out.
"My injuries are not important. They will heal." She stated in the same blank tone from before. "We must slake your thirst." Now that she mentioned it he did feel thirsty or at least something akin to it. There was an odd feeling of hunger plaguing his stomach and his throat was dry. It was a wonder he could even speak.
"Blood..." He muttered recalling Cruz's words. Trailing after the hooded girl he contemplated what he was suppose to do. The most logical thing course of action was to find someone with enough information to give him an accurate run down of the world's state of affairs. Cruz seemed to think humanity was in danger. He didn't exactly like the thought of walking around blindly but there was no telling where he could get the information he was looking for.
He had been so deep in thought that he ended up tripping over the cracked streets. It was only thanks to the girl catching him and helping him regain his balance that he didn't end up smack down with a mouth full of cement.
"Do not worry, we can go slowly." She said while letting him go. "I am here with you."
"Thank you." Ren gave her a thankful nod. He resumed his limping, this time with her staying right beside him in case he had another accident. "Who are you?"
"My name is Io and I am your attendant."
"Attendant? What does that mean?" Ren raised an eyebrow at the girl. For the first time her calm expression shifted, showing off a combination of concern and confusion.
"I...am not sure." Io said slowly. "All I know is that I have been looking for you for so very long."
"Why?"
"You are special, different from other revenants." The duo slowed to a stop before the wilted tree. Io kneeled down to examine the roots. "It seems everyone everywhere is thirsty." Ren remained silent, trying to ignore the grumbling of his stomach.
"It's said that there is a spring that will cure that thirst. One that weeps tears of blood." She stood up and faced him. "That's what I've heard anyway." The white haired girl took a few steps back beckoning him towards her. "This way."
He only managed a single step towards her before it hit him. His stomach released a loud grumble and he hunched over, a animalistic growl escaping him. His eyes took on an ominous red glow and black veins began spreading across his face.
"It's alright." Io's voice was distant, suppressed by screams and yells that seemed to reverberate through his head.
"You're a nice person under that tough exterior aren't you." A woman with uncanny resemblance Io was smiling up at him.
"Good job rookie." Faces of men and women he didn't recognize plagued his mind.
"Mom always liked this sort of chocolate." A freckled girl with dark brown eyes, similar to his own.
"It's alright." Ren just barely made out Io's face, appearing next to his own as she took ahold of his arm.
"We don't need our masks here." A man dressed in a gray coat was staring at him expectantly. Then finally Cruz, staring down at him with soulless blue eyes. Just as he began to lose himself, a sharp pang pulled him out of his hallucinations. Io had bit into his wrist past the torn armor, leaking his blood onto the roots of the true. Said blood was sucked up as though it was water and the tree released a blinding blue light. Ren could only watched in exhausted fascination as the old thing seemed to regain its life; sprouting both pure white leaves and strange red beads. Had his blood just revived life?
Io grasped one of the fully grown beads, presenting it to him.
"This is for you." Without sparing a thought, he grasped the object and sunk his teeth into it. His instincts proved right as warm blood flowed down his throat quelling his primal hunger. It took an immense amount of his willpower to pull himself away from the bead before he completely drained it.
"Why did you stop?" Io questioned.
"You should have some too." Ren stated while holding the half filled bead out towards her. From the looks of it, they'd need to wait a little bit longer before another fully grown bead was produced. It wouldn't fill right to fill himself up when she was just standing there.
"That is not necessary. You are more important."
"You're hungry too aren't you?" Ren pushed the bead further towards her. "Consider it thanks for guiding me to this spring."
"There is no need to thank me. As your attendant it is my duty to watch over you." Io retorted her face still the picture perfect definition of emotionless.
"Is that right?" Ren glared at her slightly. "As my so called attendant you should also follow my orders right?"
"..." A conflicted expression overtook her face. "...that is correct."
"So drink it." Ren forced the bead into her hands and watched in satisfaction as she hesitantly drained the rest of it's contents. It was obvious that she just as hungry, if not hungrier, than he had with how quickly she took it in. "Feeling better?"
"..yes..." Io answered quietly, a confused look still present upon her face. "Hmmmm...what is this warm feeling?"
Ignoring the girl's mutterings, Ren allowed himself to fall against the trees and slide to the ground. Even after drinking that blood his little episode had drained his already weaken body more though there was a certain vigor now present. Io slide down beside him, staring up into the sky.
"Are you exhausted as well?" Ren asked. The girl didn't answer right away. Instead she grasped him, gently guiding his head into her lap.
"Is this more comfortable for you?" Io asked.
"It's great..." Ren muttered absent mindedly. He couldn't shake the exhaustion nor the strange sense of deja vu this brought on. Both of which only intensified when she began softly running her hand through his long hair. It definitely had something to do with his lost memories but he was just too tired to try and figure it out. He closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him or at least that was the plan.
"Alright! A new spring and a fresh source of labor."
Ren eyes instantly shot up to his feet. Walking towards them were two men. Both wore some sort of gas mask and same type of armor. The one on the right held a bayonet and the other a sword.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot. You two, hands up!"
Ren felt a growl escape his throat as soon as they pointed their weapons towards Io. He had no idea why these people were threatening them but he did know that engaging these two in combat would be unwise. He was tired, weaponless and didn't know his limits. But he was curious.
He wanted to try out the limits of his body even if it meant risking death. It was a foolish desire but he simply couldn't deny it. Throwing caution to the wind he rushed forward.
The one with the bayonet tried to aim a shot at him but Ren ducked beneath it with ease, slipping beneath that man's weapon. With a single punch he sent the revenant skidding back.
"You're a rowdy one aren't ya?" The one with the sword rushed towards him, trying deliver a number of quick slices. Ren found himself side stepping and dodging the attacks without much effort. In his eyes they were moving far too slow to pose any real threat, even in his injured state.
'This is my chance to get answers, I'll kill one of them and keep the other alive.' Ren hadn't noticed but his mind had already slipped into the calculating mindset of a hardened warrior.
Hearing the sound of a gunshot, the white haired revenant ducked beneath a slash and pushed the man in the path of the projectile.
"Fuck!" The sword wielding revenant yelled out as his the ichor infused bullet pierced his shoulder. "Watch where the fuck your aiming!"
"Don't blame that on me! You're the one who let yourself get put in that position!"
Taking this small chance Ren glanced towards Io who had taken cover behind the tree. Her hand was hovering over her heart, as though she was preparing to do something. That was good, he wouldn't have to worry about her.
"Fuck it, get back. I'll use my gift." The one with the bayonet yelled getting Ren's attention. Like Io the man reached towards his heart which glowed a whitish red color. He thrusted his hand forward and ball of condensed air appeared above him, rushing straight towards Ren. Bursting into action, he took off in sprint but to his shock the ball chased after him.
"Ha, dumbass. It tracks the heat signature of any living thing and it won't stop until it runs out of force or hits you." The man gloated. "You won't be getting out of this one easily pretty boy!"
'What a loud mouth.' Ren thought turning to run towards them. 'What kind of idiot explains how their power works in the middle of a fight?'
"Oh shit! Move!" The sword wielder was clearly the smarter of the two, catching on to what Ren was planning. Unfortunately his warning proved fruitless. Before the one who shot the ball could react Ren grabbed him by his wrist, pulling him into a full nelson. Ren wouldn't leave it up to chance, he'd make sure that this revenant got a taste of his own medicine.
"A-Are you psycho? That thing is strong enough to pierce through both of us!" The masked man screamed out in distress. Ren paid it no mind. The ball of air broke right through the center of the man's chest, doing the same to his own with little issue.
'Crap baskets, guess he wasn't kidding.' Ren thought, releasing his grip. The man fell forward coughing out tons of blood while Ren stumbled backwards to his knees, somehow still finding the will power to remain upright.
"Jesus christ, that was really something." The sword wielder whistled as he approached Ren. "You're a little too dangerous for my liking and I doubt that boss will want me bringing some like you back so this is a goodbye." Neither noticed the ball of whitish red energy flying straight towards Ren during the man's little speech. "We threatened you first so we shouldn't really complain. I'm sure you're pretty angry right but it's nothing personal." He pulled back his sword, ready to thrust it directly into the kneeling revenant's heart.
Just as he was going to finish the job the light entered Ren. Faster than one could blink the hole in his chest knitted itself back together and a burst of energy filled him. Not questioning it, Ren shot forward, snapping the man's elbow in one clean motion and taking the sword for himself. Without a shred of mercy Ren kicked the screaming man to the ground and stabbed the right side of the man's chest, pinning him to the ground with his own sword.
"Guess I should kill one of you." Ren muttered too quietly for them to hear. He made his way towards the bayonet wielder who was desperately reaching towards the weapon. Picking up the thing for himself, Ren examined it. It was pretty simple in design. It wasn't bad nor good, just an average weapon. He used the blade of the rifle to stab the revenant's heart. There were no signs of regret even as the body turned to dust, never to reform again. To him this felt as natural as breathing.
"Are you alright?" Io walked up towards him, a concerned look on her face.
"That healing, was that you Io?"
"It was. I'm not very good in a fight but my blood code possesses a number of support orientated gifts." She explained with a nod.
"You did good then." Ren gave the girl a smile and patted her on the shoulder. "If not for you I'd probably be dead so I owe you one."
"You do not..."owe me one". I was performing my duty as your attendant."
"Right, Right. Still you did a good job." He waved off the girl and focused his attention back on the one he had impaled to the ground. The man had been kicking and screaming the entire time, making very little headway on actually getting the blade free from the ground.
"I have a few questions that need answers." Ren stated loudly enough for the man to hear. "Cooperate and you won't end up like your friend."
"W-W-Whatever you w-want just let me go! Please!"
"That gas mask, why are you wearing it?" Ren questioned. Best to start off simple but not too vague like where they were. The man was probably too panicked to give a decent answer to a question like that.
"It's to protect against the m-miasma. The Lost release a lot of it and it makes revenants go crazy."
"The Lost, what is that?"
"He's referring to the monsters. They were once revenants who have succumbed to their bloodlust and lost their humanity." Io explained.
'Succumbed to their bloodlust huh?' Ren narrowed his eyes. Is that what had been going on with him during those visions? It was a little troubling to think all revenants had the potential to turn into beasts. He had to think about that more later.
"Hmmmm, what about that red mist then?"
"T-That? Shit man, it's been around since I was brought back to life. I don't know anything except that anyone who tried to cross it dies." Ren sighed. That was a bit of a useless answer but at least he now knew of the dangers involving it.
"Final question, why'd the two of you attack us?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" The man yelled out, the pain from being impaled making him irrational. "It's that bastard Silva and his government. He's levying blood beads from everyone even though there isn't enough to go around. We have to do what's necessary to survive. So we use other revenants to look for springs and bring back the beads they find."
Silva. Ren immediately thought back to the girl from his mind. That couldn't be a coincidence.
"So you enslave other revenants?" Ren questioned. The man remained silent, scared to answer the question. Unfortunately that was all the confirmation the white haired man needed. "It sounds like you come from a rather pathetic group of revenants. Blaming someone else to justify your actions, it's disgusting." Ren shook his and pointed his newly obtained rifle at the man's heart.
"W-Wait! You'd said you'd let me go what are you doing!?"
"Too dangerous. I can't risk you coming after me or leading a bigger group to this spring." Ren shrugged, repeating the revenant's words back to him. "It's nothing personal right?" With said, he fired a single ichor infused shot into the man's heart. His faced distorted into a pained expression but he died before he could even make a sound.
'I had a close call but that went smoother than expected.' Ren thought. He approached the dust pile picking up the gas mask that had been left behind. 'People might come looking for them so we should clear out.'
"They were trying to survive." Io stated in an emotionless tone.
"They were." Ren agreed. That was a fact, no matter his opinion on their methods.
"Was killing them necessary?" Io questioned with a tilt of her head. There was no sign of any judgement just honest curiosity.
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Ren answered with a shrug. "All that matters is that we survived. There's no time to make mistakes or have regrets. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"No regrets..." Io closed her eyes in quiet contemplation. Ren continued rummaging through the duo's remains, gathering anything he deemed useful. It wasn't long before he was done.
"Catch." Ren tossed Io the bayonet and one of the gas masks. The sword was a little heavier than he'd like but beggars couldn't be choosers. Both of them needed to be able to defend themselves if they were ever swarmed though hopefully that wouldn't happen. "Let's collect some blood beads and move out, we need to get some more information."
"Understood."
This would be the start of a long journey. One filled with strife, laughs, and many forgotten truths.
The End
If you read this hope you enjoyed I guess. To both my friends and random viewers, don't expect an update for awhile. College classes are a bitch. So don't bother texting me about falling behind.
Jan 21: Minor edits. colleges classes still a bitch but who knows. Update might come out soon, got a lot of rough drafts written for the next chapter, none of which im completely satisfied with.
