Heart of the Melting Blood
Legend of the Moonlight
Written and conceived by: Lone Wolf NEO
Lone Wolf NEO does not own any of all the games or anime or manga featured in this story, but he owns the copyright to all his original ideas in this fiction. Lone Wolf would really appreciate it if readers do not plagiaries everything inside this story without his knowledge.
Chronological Note: Heart of the Melting Blood: Legend of the Moonlight takes place scarcely half a year after the event in Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED, and currently runs roughly in parallel with Guilty Gear: the World within and Without written and created by Sheo Darren. This story takes place in the TYPE MOON universe, and happens at Misaki Town where the events of Shingetsusan Tsukihime once took place.
Chapter 8
10th Man Down
Ten years ago, in the silent streets of Hamburg, Germany.
The sight of Holy Knights patrolling the town was visible to every eye that could see. It was the height of the Crusades, and knights were dispatched at the city, as well as around the world, to fend off the ever-advancing Gear armies that swept across the land. Aware of the danger the Gears might possess, the knights were more than ready to gamble their life for the sake of peace and justice.
Three knights could be seen walking down an empty road. One of them, a 20-year-old man was having fun talking with the two older knights while they were on regular patrol.
"But to think that our Hansen will be married this weekend," one of the old knights uttered and teasingly slapped the young knight's back, "that's got to be a surprise in time like this."
"And I heard from the headquarters that he'll marry the daughter of this city's mayor," the other old knight said and laughed hoarsely. "Hah, now that's what I call young luck. It's rare to see someone getting married in the time of war, and when the lucky girl happens to be from the colony. Say, what's gotten into your mind into marrying a Japanese?"
"Aw, please, senior," the young knight sheepishly replied and scratched the back of his head, "it's my family who arranged the marriage, and they didn't even ask me for opinion first."
"Come on, Hansen!" the earlier knight insisted and repeatedly patted his back. "Consider yourself fortunate for getting yourself a lifetime partner. We the old guys never had a chance of getting a girlfriend, even before we joined the Holy Orders. What a waste of life for us…"
He just grinned at the complain. "You two…"
The old knights halted. Something caught their eyes, and they immediately opened their stance. The young knight followed suit and withdrew their sword, waiting whether someone would appear from the darkest of corner. And they saw it: a young teen roughly in his fifteen, covered with black cloak.
"You are the knights of the Holy Orders, aren't you?" the stranger asked, as he slowly walked toward the wary knights.
"What business do you have with us, stranger?" the old knight demanded.
"I believe we have none, and I believe there is no confrontation between the two of us," he replied and halted. "But I do believe that your life is about to end tonight. Prepare yourself, holy knights."
"What did you say!" A dagger flew toward his face and pierced through his throat, instantly silencing him forever. The other old knight went mad at the fall of his comrade and pounced at the offensive stranger, before a blade cut through his midsection. The knight fell lifeless to the ground, and the stranger was left with the young knight, already terrified by what happened before his eyes.
"You… you're an assassin!" he screamed and opened a defensive stance. "What do you want from us! We know nothing of any grudge the Guild has against us!"
The stranger withdrew a kodachi from the cloak and lifted it horizontal to his face. "Surrender your life," he simply said.
"Never!" the knight replied. "I shall not surrender to the likes of you! Not here, not today, not now!"
He sighed and closed his eyes. "So be it." With that said he sprung toward the frightened knight and aimed a downward slash to his head. The knight jumped to his right and immediately counterattacked with a thrust from his sword. The assassin avoided the clumsy attack and delivered a hard kick onto the knight's face. He was knocked off and crashed on garbage container, and tried to get back on his feet when the assassin sprung toward him. Having forced to fight back, he gallantly charged toward the assassin and blocked his sword, pushing him down the street. The assassin made no attempt to fight back, and was pushed toward the concrete wall, even as the knight told him that he would never allow himself to be defeated.
"Why would you not allow yourself to lose?" he demanded and pushed the knight away from him.
The knight stepped several feet from the assassin and almost fell to the road. "There's someone waiting for me, and I'll make sure she won't shed a single tear for me! Not until I defeat you first!" he shouted and ran toward the assassin, aiming his sword at his chest.
"I see. But it's a futile effort." The assassin leapt toward the knight, lowering the position of the kodachi, and suddenly disappeared from sight. The knight was shocked, yet he was too fast to halt his sprint as he headed to the wall. He managed to halt and looked around, trying to find the assassin who went invisible. He became more frightened; sweats started to fall down his face, wetting his uniform.
A slipstream of wind appeared from nowhere, enveloping the knight who became even more terrified. Trying to overcome his fear, he saw a very faint shadow of the assassin passing through his body, and was frozen. "What… what just happened?"
"Are you…"
He slowly turned to his back, and saw the assassin in crouching position, kodachi fully brought backward.
"Awake in your sleep?"
Before an eye could blink, the slipstream struck through the knight's chest, right through his heart. He managed to see the assassin and noticed a mocking grin carved upon his face before collapsed to the road. The slipstream had shredded his heart, and he was instantly killed. The assassin looked at the lifeless body for a while before he put back the kodachi into the cloak and walked toward the end of the road.
Then he glanced back at the fallen knight. "Finding your happiness… is it?" he whispered and disappeared in the darkness.
x-x
He arrived home, and a pair of energetic arms immediately seized his neck, as a cheerful giggle welcomed him. "Hey! How is my little Lia doing now, hmm?" he asked and cuddled the young girl in his arms.
"You're late! Uncle Valentino just finished his aikido lesson, and he just asked about you a while ago," the girl mumbled and pinched his cheeks. "And you didn't even bother to buy me ice-cream. You forgot our promise already, brother Alex."
He just laughed and hugged the girl. "Aw, come on. I just finished my job, there's still plenty of times to buy you some," he told her.
She grumbled at the response and bit his ear, never letting it go. "Promise me you won't be coming home late again, or I'll pull your ear off your head," she growled.
"Ow! Okay, okay! Alright already," he insisted and let her off his ear. He put her down and rubbed the bitten scar on his ear. "You ruined my ear. Look at what you've done, Lia!" She stuck out her tongue at him in response and immediately ran toward the living room. He just grinned at her manners and chased her around the room, and managed to seize her petite body. "Got you! You think you can escape me, Lia?" he asked and went to tickle her waist.
"KYAA! Brother Alex, stop tickling me on the waist!" she squealed and tried to get off his possessive arms. "Stop it! Please, Brother Alex! It tickles! Uncle Valentino, help me!"
"What's with the commotion?" He stopped tickling the girl and looked at the front. The person he saw, a man in his late 20's wearing white-green hakama, was standing at the door and holding a bamboo sword in his hand. "Ah, if it isn't Alex. How was work?"
"Pretty much the same, I guess," he said and let the girl run toward the man. He tried not to laugh when he saw the pouting face of the girl as she clung onto the man. "Aw, Lia. Come on, I'm sorry for upsetting you."
"Brother Alex is so mean," she replied and hid behind the man. "Not only he forgot to buy ice-cream, he even tickled me. I don't like that; I should ask Uncle Valentino to teach you a lesson."
The man just laughed and lifted the little Lia in his arms. "Now, now. Your brother just came back from work, and you should give him a warm, welcoming hug, not complaining."
"But uncle, he forgot our promise!" she cried and scowled.
He sighed and patted her head before brought her to the kitchen. "I tell you what. We'll make homemade ice-creams, and we'll eat them ourselves. What do you say?"
"But what about Brother Alex?" she asked.
"Of course we'll let him have some," he told her and glanced at Alex. "That is, if he doesn't mind joining us."
Alex could not bear it and laughed. "Now that's what I call persuasion," he said and approached the two, teasing the girl as he did. The girl squealed at the taunt and stuck out her tongue at him again, even as the middle-aged man laughed.
x-x-x-x-x
"Everyday was the same to me. I woke up every morning, reported to the Guild, took a task, looked for the target, assassinated it, reported back to the Guild and went home to be greeted by Lia. It was the same thing I had done from the time I became an assassin."
"You… you were an assassin? But… but I thought you were…"
"A knight? Yes, I was a knight, and I was too an assassin. It was the only choice I have, considering the current situation both of us had to deal with."
"But why would you become an assassin? And why must you kill the knights? They had nothing to do with you, right?"
"It was the only way to support my- no, Lia's life. Before Hikaru and the Gears, she was the only family I had, and I took a great care of her just to see her smile. And when the doctor told me she had tumour in her brain, I thought I would lose everything until he appeared in my life."
"Valentino…?"
"We were deprived, Miss Ciel. We could barely afford ourselves a home and had to take shelters under bridges. At that time, people were so worried of the Gears that they forgot about paupers like us, not even the Holy Orders. And when Valentino came to me and told me that he would help me getting enough fund to heal Lia's illness, I was so overwhelmed that I did not even hesitate to do everything."
"What did you do back there, Alex?"
"When he told me that I would have to work with the Assassin Guild, I was reluctant at first because the first thing that came to mind that I would have to do crimes. But after the leaders promised me of wealth and a better life for both of us, I had no other choice but to accept the job."
"Then what about the assassination on the knights?"
"I was later assigned to a special assassination team, whose task was to kill every Holy Knight we could find. It was a risky job, I know, and it was also stupid to mess with the knights, but then the leaders said to me it was the only way I could do if I were to save Lia."
"Alex… please continue where you stopped. I… no, we would like to know more about you and… Lia."
"I will, Miss Sion, and I will tell everything I could remember."
x-x-x-x-x
He was inside the meditation room, sitting in front of the altar with the kodachi put between his lap and the Oriental-designed icon. He was in the middle of his meditation, oblivious of the silent night that accompanied him.
"Still staying up, Alex?" He opened his eyes and saw Valentino walking into the room. Not bulging from his position, he just nodded and continued his meditation. "Alex, I need to have a word with you. Can you spare some time with me?"
He opened his eyes, albeit not looking at him. "Go ahead."
Valentino took a seat close to him, slightly behind him. "I know this may sound absurd, but have you thought of leaving? I've been thinking of this matter from the time you were admitted to the Guild, because you were still young and still have a future to think of."
"Why are you asking that?" he replied.
"I-I didn't mean to encourage you to leave us, because you were among the best assassin we have," he quickly said. "But haven't you thought of your own future for a minute? And Lia, have you been thinking of her need to live an ordinary life?"
Alex reached the sword and slightly withdrew it, watching at the reflection of his face on its blade. "Even if we were to find a better life outside there, the people would still not accept lowlifes like us. Lia wouldn't be able to cope with such harsh life, and she would suffer."
"Then you'd still be staying in the Guild?" Valentino asked.
"Even if it may be forever, I will remain an assassin," he said and put back the kodachi on the floor. "As long as I can see her smile everyday, I'd do anything to protect it."
"I see. Before I leave," he said and put an envelope next to Alex.
Alex stared at the black-coloured envelope. "Task for tonight… thanks." Valentino, then, stood up and slowly walked back toward the sliding door, leaving him with the envelope and in silence. After a long time of idleness, he took the envelope and slowly walked to the outside.
"Brother Alex?" He halted and turned to the end of the walkway. "Going out again?" sleepily Lia asked as she stood in front of her room.
He approached her. "I have to, there's a work I must finish tonight," he said and knelt before her. "Don't worry; I'll be home as soon as I can. Now have a rest, okay?" he told her and brushed his lips upon her scalp.
"Promise me, okay brother Alex?" she asked and yawned.
"I will, Lia. I will."
x-x
He stood silently on the road, tightly holding the blood-coated kodachi. Scars and tears were visible all over him, an indication of an intense battle he had encountered. Scattering around him was bodies of the knights he had fought with, slain into pieces and emitted a foul stench only the strongest sense of smell could withstand.
"Good job, Lone Wolf," an assassin spoke as he and his friend arrived at the scene. "You have again accomplished the task flawlessly. The Guild's highest leaders will be very proud to see this achievement."
He didn't say anything. Wiping the blood off the blade, he walked away from the square and headed to the darkness. The assassins watched at him and was wondering of his cold response before examined the bodies.
x-x
"Lone Wolf, our leaders would like to see you right away," a secretary spoke as he entered the headquarters at the outskirt of the city.
He glanced at the middle-aged woman. "What business do they have with me?"
She was startled and quickly corrected her eyeglasses. "They would like to have a couple of words with you. That's all I can tell you; the rest of it, you have to inquire them yourself," she said.
"I appreciate that," he replied and walked toward the main hall. "Oh, yes. Tell the financial department to charge fifty bucks from my allowance for this month."
"Are you going to borrow money from us again, Lone Wolf?" the secretary asked.
He nodded. "As usual, yes. It's for my little sister."
"Then I'll inform the manager about it," she replied and quickly walked to the opposite direction of the walkway.
He arrived at the main hall, and walked toward a horseshoe-shaped table at the end of the road. "Alexander Hahn reporting in, elders," he said and bowed to the elders.
"Ah, yes. Lone Wolf, good timing we have," one of the elders spoke. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
"What business do you desire to have with me, elders?" he asked, not bulging from his standing spot.
"We believe you've been informed by Valentino prior to this meeting, Lone Wolf," another elder spoke and corrected his eyeglasses.
"I have no memory of such occasions, elders. Please clarify it for me," he spoke.
"It's regarding your little sister," the elder from earlier spoke and coughed. "We, the Assassin Guild, are very impressed by your performance and all deeds you have done to us as an assassin. However, we do believe that one man alone cannot do all works alone."
"That's why His Supremacy Zato-One had discussed with us hours earlier whether we could recruit your sister to become assassin," the elder from the rightmost position said. "And he even looked forward to have another female assassin who would be able to carry out tasks without hesitation. He foresees bright potency your sister has, as how he foresaw you."
He was startled. "You're talking about Lia? But elders, she's sick and I have to look after her everyday! Why would His Supremacy suggest her of all people? You must know that she needs immediate surgical operation to remove the tumour! She can't possibly do this task if she's to become an assassin."
"We understand the sentiment, Lone Wolf, and we do realize how caring you towards her are," the elder spoke, "but this is beyond our control. It is His Supremacy's decision; we wished we could convince him to choose somebody else, but he wouldn't change his choice. We're very sorry, Lone Wolf, but you have to meet His Supremacy to discuss this yourself."
He was angry. Without saying anything else, he left the elders and the hall, heading back to the front door without bothering the secretary who was calling him. He headed home and immediately went to his room when he arrived there, ignoring Lia who was waiting for him at the door.
x-x-x-x-x
"I was surprised," he continued his narration, "Of all people, Zato suggested my sister to be trained as assassin. I couldn't believe this, because the tumour was still in her head, and needed to be removed before it affected her body."
"She was in poor health… yet the Guild wanted to have her in their group. Why?" Saber asked.
"How should I know? I was very angry because nobody told me about this before, not even Valentino. And when I brought this matter to him, he told me he knew nothing of it. I asked him, 'then how did Zato knows that I have a sister? I've told you not to bring this matter outside this city, haven't I?' and Valentino insisted that it was beyond his control that the information was exposed to the highest administration." He took a deep breath before continued his story. "We quarrelled after that, and I left the house for a couple of days. When I returned home, Lia was sick and Valentino wasn't there to look after her. I was furious at how irresponsible he was that I had to take her to the hospital. Can you imagine how frustrated I was to be left alone with a girl who was suffering and was waiting for her end of life to arrive?"
"Alex, why… would you not let anyone to approach Lia? She was very close to Valentino, surely she had a limited relationship to the rest of the assassins," Ciel said.
"I wouldn't let anyone else lay a finger upon her, even when I have to stop them with my life. That's the promise I made to myself from the time I worked in this crime world." He closed his eyes, seemingly tried to recover the lost pieces of his memory. "Then one day, I received an order from the highest office; it was an order that would forever change myself and my future that was lying ahead."
x-x-x-x-x
He was hiding in cover, at the very same street where he had assassinated the young knight and his companions. He received a direct order from the highest administration of the Assassin's Guild: tonight, he would carry out an order to find and assassinate the highest commander of the Holy Orders. He had received information from spies that a band of knights would arrive at the area by midnight, and the commander was among the soldiers.
He frowned. The vivid image of his sister protesting his decision to accept the order was still fresh in his memory. He knew she was angry and did not to see him leaving, fearing that he would be in danger once he faced the knights. "If you're still going to fight the knights, I shall ask grandpa at the headquarters to stop you! I don't want to see you getting hurt! Please, don't go!" was the warning he would keep in his mind. He grinned at how caring the seven-year-old girl towards him was.
"There's no time for sentiment." He walked out of the cover and headed to the empty crossroads, and stood there idle. He waited, even as he reached for the katana he concealed beneath the cloak he was wearing. It was ten minutes past midnight, and full moon was shining through the pitch-black sky to the pavement made of rock and concrete. He squinted when the sight of knights walking down the road was visible in the dark. Slowly he walked toward the horde, withdrawing the concealed blade and halted as the knights too stopped in the middle of their march. The knights were in wonder at the unknown visitor and were asking of his purpose until he pointed the katana to the mass.
"I'm looking for a knight named Kliff Undersn," he spoke. "If he's here, I want him to step forward, for I have a matter to deal with him."
The knights were in ad lib. Then one of them stepped forward. "What business does a man like you have with us? Speak quickly!" he demanded.
Alex tossed the cloak and revealed a black ninja uniform, with a scarf tied around his neck swaying to the wind that blew through the road. "The Guild wants him dead, and I'm here to fulfil their demand."
Instantly the horde was in chaos. Realizing that they were facing an assassin from the Guild, the knights immediately withdrew their weapons and made a phalanx formation. "Protect Commander Undersn! Don't let the assassin get close!" they yelled out and directed all weapons at him. He wasn't intimidated by the human wall and waited at his place, his kodachi still in hand.
"What's with this chaos?" A hoarse voice was heard shouting from the back of the mass. The knights broke off the formation and gave way to an old knight, who was walking from the very back position of the group. Alex watched at the old knight and lowered the kodachi. "Who might you be, young man?"
"The name is Lone Wolf, an assassin from the Guild," he spoke and opened a stance. "Prepare yourself, Kliff Undersn, for your life will end tonight."
The knight named Kliff rubbed his beard and stared at him. "I do believe that respecting elders are a must for youngsters today, but you seem to be lacking it. Perhaps you should be aware of who you're dealing with," he said.
"The highest commander of the Holy Orders, also known as 'the man who slays a thousand dragons'," Alex replied. "I have enough information about you, but that isn't necessary after this."
"Very well." He coughed and signalled the knights to back off, even as he lifted his sword that looked like an oversized butcher knife and lowered his stance. "We're about to head to the battlefield at Black Forest; looks like this duel will be a warm-up exercise for my aging body and this Zanryuutou."
"Do not be confident of winning!" Immediately he sprung towards Kliff and aimed a flying kick at the old knight. Kliff counterattacked with a huge uppercut slash, and it collided with the kick. Alex was knocked away from Kliff, yet managed to regain control and pounced back at him; this time he avoided the same uppercut and swung the kodachi at Kliff's head. To his surprise, the knight bent over and avoided the attack, and he was hit by a punch that followed after.
"Your art of fighting is very impressive, young man," Kliff spoke, even as Alex crashed on the ground and groaned in pain. The punch on his midsection was hard, and he was trying to get over the pain. "But I would advice you to quit this… meaningless fight."
"No! I will not quit…" he insisted and got back on his feet, still gasping from the injury he had. "Not until I kill you…!" He emitted a battle cry and pounced at Kliff, delivering a series of high-speed swords attack, blindingly aimed at his head. Kliff effortlessly blocked all attack, even when he was forced to step backwards.
"You're exposing yourself to your enemy! REFLEX ROAR!" Kliff suddenly transformed into a fully-grown person and fired a Chi ball at Alex, who was so shocked at the transformation, and sent him flying towards a wall. He crashed, and fell to his knees as he got off the wall, whilst the 'awakened' knight waited with Zanryuutou holstered upon his shoulder. "Young man, forget winning and return to the one who's waiting for you. This is the best suggestion this old knight can say to you," he suggested.
Alex managed to stand back on his feet. Holding his severed midsection, burnt from the intense heat the projectile produced, he glowered at Kliff and tightly held the kodachi, even as his hand was shivering. "Never…! I had promised her to win this fight, and I won't let her smile to disappear!" He screamed a deafening cry and pounced at Kliff, bringing the kodachi in a backhand position.
"I see. You're fighting for someone you really care of, but what's the meaning of it when you've lost this fight in the first place?" Kliff screamed and plunged the Zanryuutou into the ground.
"This… this is!" Several gigantic blades gushed upward from where the sword was plunged into, and caught Alex by surprise. The assassin could not evade and was shredded by the vicious energy blades, yelled out in pain before fell to the road, defeated. He glanced to Kliff who reverted to his form and returned to the knights before stared at the full moon. "I… I've lost…?"
"Not only you were defeated from the outside, but you lost in the inside," Kliff told him. "You're still young, and yet you chose to involve in the crime world. What will become of your most precious one after this? What will happen to you after this? It's up to you to answer."
The knights left. Alex was still lying on his back, not doing anything for a very long time. Badly beaten by the Soul Survivor, and emotionally defeated, he had lost his pride as an assassin and lost his reasons of fighting. Even Kliff's final words before he departed left a great impact on his belief, and he was in delusion.
"Everything… that I've been doing… was useless…?"
Gathering his final strength, he stood on his feet and walked home, bringing along him a humiliation he would never forget. The kodachi was held weakly, almost falling off his hand, yet he kept holding it. He arrived home after a journey he felt had lasted for hours, and Lia was shocked to see him. "Brother Alex! What happened to you?" she asked, even as she approached him. "Brother Alex?"
He stared at the girl so dear to him. Unable to bear his emotion any longer, he fell to his knees and pulled her into his embrace. "Forgive me, Lia… forgive me…" he sobbed. Lia was lost of words and did not know what happen, when she cried in fear. He let her off his arms and turned around, as a group of assassins arrived at their home.
"Lone Wolf, we've received reports of your failure in assassinating the highest commander of the Holy Orders," one of the assassins spoke. "The fundamental principle of the Assassin Guild is 'kill, or be killed' and you chose the second option. Prepare yourself."
"What's the meaning of all this!" he demanded and stood up before he fell back to the ground. The injury had yet to recover, and he was writhing in pain. "Damn it! I've been hurt, and now you want to kill me! Who gave you this damn order!"
"We cannot say who, but as the rule has said, you must die," the assassin spoke, and signalled his comrades to withdraw weapons. "And we'll bring Lia to His Supremacy Zato-One as he ordered, and she will take over your place as an assassin."
"Never…! I will never surrender her to you people…!" he gasped.
The assassin sighed. "Resistance is futile. Kill him." The rest of them complied to the order and pounced at him. He held the kodachi and was ready to fight back when he suddenly shivered. His eyes were shining brightly, and a sight of a blood-crazed killer started to appear from them. The assassins were backed off when a murderous glare was looking at them.
Then, without warning, Alex pounced at the assassins, slaying them in one go as he screamed in bloodlust. He was not satisfied and took one of the slain body, before he proceeded to stab it repeatedly with the kodachi while screaming crazily, craving for massacre. The assassin from earlier were backed off in fear, never expecting himself to face a blood-driven murderer went amok. He ran away, yet he was outrun by Alex and was beheaded. Alex screamed again and slashed the body into pieces, bathing in blood as he did.
The massacre halted. Alex was soaked in blood, and his eyes were still burning in lust, craving for more blood. Lia was too terrified at what had happened before her eyes, yet she braved herself to approach him. Alex turned to her, dropped the kodachi, and knelt before her, allowing her to walk close to him. He stared at the young girl for a while before reached for her cheek and cupped it with his bloodstained hand. "Brother Alex… what have you done… to this people…?" she asked, even as she tried to overcome her fear of blood.
Silent as he was, he placed a kiss upon her forehead and stood back. "I… can no longer stay here…" He took back the kodachi, turned around, and walked away from the scene. Later he halted and gave Lia his final gaze. "Farewell, Lia… and I'm sorry…"
x-x-x-x-x
"I left Lia, never to return to her again. What I had faced, and what I had felt, was enough for me alone to carry on, and I dared not to share them with her, fearing that she would be saddened to see her brother like this. Then I received the news of her death from the tumour. I was devastated, because at that time I knew that the tumour was at its chronic state, and yet no one wanted to do something about it. The Guild was to blame, so I decided to avenge her death by killing everyone at the city's headquarters. Valentino wasn't there, and I was disappointed for not able to kill him, yet it was enough for me to tell the Guild not to mess with us. I had decided to leave the Guild, vowing never to trust anyone after that. Yet life was an irony."
"How so?"
"Months after I lived an fugitive life, I found myself facing Kliff again. But instead of exacting his revenge against me, he offered me a place in the Holy Orders as a knight. I rejected the offer and told him of what happened months earlier. But he just said, 'you're young, and you're bound to make mistakes. But it's young people like you who are easily taught and guided, and I'm sure God will forgive you for all your sins'. I cried after hearing that and told him that all I received from people was only rejection, not sympathy, and not deserved to have mercy from anyone. Yet he just smiled and assured me that everything would be alright if I accepted the offer and served the God as a Holy Knight."
"And then you served the Holy Orders as their knight, right?"
"Yes, Miss Ciel. But again, I found myself mistreated by the knights. They rejected me, they despised me, they avoided me, and they feared me. Just because I was an assassin who had killed many of their friends doesn't mean I have to be unfairly treated; even Ky was among those who disbelieved in me, and don't get me started about Sol. Only a handful of knights trusted and believed me, and Logan was among them."
"That reminds me. Valentino said something about hunting season while I was still working with him, but I had no idea of what that was."
" Logan is right. I met him as well, and he forewarned me of the hunting season in the next ten days. I don't know who will be involved other than me alone since the hunters were eager to hunt me down, but I fear that the rest of us is going to be…"
"Alex-kun, you mean…"
Silent. The people were staring at Alex who just became silent. Three hours had passed since he started narrating his past life, and they had not noticed it even slightly.
"I-I think I'll make some cakes for all of you," Hisui spoke and excused herself.
"Let me help you, oneechan," Illiya offered and followed her to the kitchen. "Saber-chan, oniichan, will you help us?"
"Alright, alright," Shirou replied and excused himself to follow Illiya and Hisui to the kitchen, with Saber walking beside him.
The rest of them excused themselves to settle with their matters, leaving Alex and Sion at the living room alone. Neither of them was saying anything, and just remained silent. Then Sion broke off the unwanted quiet. "I'm sorry to hear that, Alex," she apologized and slowly took his hand. "I never thought to hear such things from you. I'm so sorry."
"Miss Sion…" he called out the name and held her hand in return. "It was nothing… it was nothing compared to all pains I had to endure for the passing ten years… the double-crossing act the Assassins' Guild had done against me, the betrayal I had faced in the Holy Orders, the loss of the only family I had in the whole world… everything was too painful to me…" He broke into tears and cried. "Am I… not worthy of living as a human at all? Am I too sinful that I have to endure this solitude?"
Sympathy came upon her. Sion rested his head upon her chest and softly patted his scalp. "Alex, please… you aren't what you're thinking," she whispered, even as she hushed his broken heart with a soft pat on his back. "Nobody's going to say this and that about you, and nobody's going to hurt or make you cry anymore. So please, don't be like this. Okay?"
"Miss Sion…" That was all he said as he let the young Atlasian scion comfort him, not aware of the residents who were watching at them.
"So what do you think?" Arcueid asked, as she and Ciel were watching at the couple from the staircase.
"I think it'd be the best if we leave them for a while," Ciel answered. "And I'm thinking of asking Lone Wolf-kun what he knows about this affair. And if I'm lucky, I may get the chance to have a talk with Mr. and Mrs. Rage; they must know at least a thing or two about Alex-kun and his affair with the Assassin Guild."
"Sounds like a plan," Arcueid replied before scratched her chin. "Hunting season in ten days… if what Alex said is true, then…"
Ciel just corrected her eyeglasses. "We're in deep trouble, Arcueid."
x-x-x-x-x
Valentino was inside the room, examining his collection of swords from various eras, while cleaning one of the swords with cleaning agent. He was busy with preparations for the hunting day, and had issued orders to the society's elite squadrons to prepare for the upcoming event.
The door was knocked. He stopped his works and let the knocker to come in. "Please excuse the interruption, but I'd like to have a couple of words with you," Longbow said as he stepped into the room.
"Ah, Longbow, how surprising," Valentino spoke and hung the cleaned sword on the wall. "What matters you want to speak of?"
"It's about Lone Wolf." The archer gave out a cough and corrected his battle armour. "We don't mind if we have to wait, but why ten days?" Longbow asked while reloading his crossbow. "Isn't it considered to be too long for both us and our opponent to prepare everything needed?"
Valentino approached his chair and sat on it. "Sun Tzu had said over thousands of years ago to know your enemy," he spoke as he put away the cloth. "And I want the hunters to know their prey first, or success will be far from reach."
The archer just nodded and holstered the crossbow upon his shoulder. "If that's the case, I too want to know my enemy."
"Where do you think you're going, Longbow?" Valentino asked.
"Of course, to meet the one we're going to hunt. Just a little bit of introduction, and then I leave." He gave Valentino a salute and left the room, waving as he did.
Valentine watched in intrigue at the archer before shrugged and leaned against the chair. He deeply stared a the empty ceiling, before stood back and approached the window. He stared at the moonlit sky before shrugged and closed the curtains. "In ten days…" he pondered and walked out of the room.
