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 9
Broken Arrow

"I… I'm a Gear."

Alex was startled. This woman, who had saved him from despair, was a Gear? Was he facing another truth he had long tried to forget and run away from? Was he again put into a test by God to prove his devotion to His teachings? Or was he merely fooled into believing in a fact he should not face in the first place?

"Stay away from her!" Both of them were startled and turned around. Alex frowned at who he saw: a man in Gothic-styled fashion carrying an oversized scythe, who was standing beside a tree not far from the altar. He was staring at him in a vengeful sight, and the hand that was holding the hilt of the scythe was tightened.

"Testament?" Dizzy spoke, surprised by the presence of the man.

"You know him, Dizzy?" Alex asked, even as he reached for Black Sabbath that was put on the bench.

"Yes, he's my guardian," she calmly told him. "He's been away from this place for a couple of day, and he told me that he'd be coming back here tomorrow. But why is he here now?"

"Stay away from her, you damn dirty human!" the man named Testament screamed and dashed toward him. Alex immediately jumped away from him and opened a battle stance, while the Goth person backed Dizzy. "What are you trying to do to her! Speak quickly!"

"I did nothing to her," he answered and was promptly attacked. He had to block the oncoming scythe attack and backed off even further. "I have told you the truth! I did not do anything harmful to her!"

"Lie! Then why were you grapping her arms? You harmed her, didn't you?" Testament replied.

"I did not harm her!" he shouted.

"Then I shall exterminate you! Come forth, EXE Beast!" Subsequent to that, a pair of monsters arose from the ground and rushed their way toward Alex. The black knight jumped away from the beasts before found himself entangled by web suspended in the air. The Goth man screamed, "Grave Digger!" and knocked him to the ground with a swing from the scythe. Alex got back on his feet, only to be grabbed on his neck. "Die, human!" Testament screamed and tossed him far away. Alex crashed on a pile of woods near the altar, shaken and dizzied, and tried to regain his conscious.

Then something abnormal happened. He suddenly choked and gasped hoarsely for air. His vision blurred, and his head started to shake violently. His mind was still not affected, and he realized that he had been poisoned after an irritating aroma seeped into his nose. He looked forward and saw Testament walking toward him in a vengeful eye, and he was unable to do anything to stop the Goth man.

"Testament, stop it!" The Goth man stopped and turned around. An angry pair of eyes was glowering at him, and their owner was trampling toward him. "Why are you hurting him? He's already injured! Don't do anything worse to him!"

"But Dizzy, he was hurting you!" Testament insisted.

"He didn't! Why would you jump into conclusions so quickly?" Dizzy demanded, even as her eyes started to swell in tears. She quickly approached Alex and assisted him. "He's been poisoned! Testament, do something! I beg of you, please!" she pleaded and told him to calm down.

The Goth man knelt beside them and put a hand on Alex's chest, and removed the poison that was seeping through his body. He was healed, although his head was still dizzied. "I'd left you to meet your death here if it wasn't for Dizzy, human," Testament told him and walked back to the forest.

"The name is Alex, and I was a knight," Alex shouted. It was enough to make Testament stop and stare at him. "I don't know why you hate human or have grudge against them, but I'm not here to cause you or her any trouble. I just…"

"Then leave before things become worse," Testament warned and finally left.

He frowned at the answer. Leave? It would be the last option for him, as he had nowhere else to go. He was rejected by humanity, and his presence was a nuisance in their eyes. Where else he should go if he had to leave the forest?

"Please, sir, don't be upset," he heard Dizzy begging to him. "Testament isn't like what you had seen. I'm sure he'll let you stay here for a while."

"But my presence had angered him," Alex answered and held his head. "Am I not worthy to exist in the first place? I have nowhere else to go, and people hate me wherever I go. I…"

He was startled. She was holding his hand, and her eye gaze was warm and soothing. "But I don't. I know nothing of what happened between you and the people, but I don't hate you. In fact," she spoke, as a generous smile carved upon her face, "I'm so happy to see you coming here. It's so lonely over here, and Testament seldom talks to me. So I think it'd be convenient if we could become friends."

"Friends? You want to befriend me, a knight who betrayed his responsibility to mankind and chose to defend his most detested enemy of all?" he asked.

Her smile widened. "Of course, because you are a good person," she answered.

x-x-x-x-x

Alex woke up. Again, the dream disturbed his sleep, and he was becoming displeased. Yet it was an intriguing dream; it was as if it was telling him of a past he had forgotten. Lazily he lifted his hand and stared at it. It felt so real, he pondered, the warmth the woman in the dream gave him was felt so real that he thought he wasn't dreaming at all. "And she even said I was a good person. I… I felt so unworthy to become one."

Sleep came upon him again. Slowly he dozed off, and slumped in the warmth of the blanket. Unaware of him, Ren appeared and sat next to him, and contently stared at him. As slowly as she could, she put her hand on his forehead and began patting it.

She turned around. The door was opened, and Shiki was walking into the room. "You decide to accompany him tonight, Ren?" he asked as he approached the bed. She just nodded and turned back to Alex, still unaware that he was visited by the heir of the Tohno clan. "I have no ideas that he'd be forced to face his past. I'm sure it's a hard situation if someone were to take over his place," he spoke. Ren just nodded and kept patting Alex's forehead.

"Well, anyway, if you still want to stay here for a while, then I'll leave you with him. Oyasumi, Ren," Shiki told her and walked back to the door. Ren did not watch at him, as she was busy comforting Alex and his slumber.

x-x

Alex woke up. He was stirred after the long, deep, sleep. He was half-conscious, letting his brain to work up for itself first. He later moved in his laying position and found his head resting upon a supple lap. Bedazzled, he turned around and realized that he was resting -or was rested- upon the warm lap of Ren's. "You… you've been here along the night? I didn't know," he spoke and slowly reached for her face. The girl woke up and smiled to see him, and took his hand. "Good morning, Ren. I… I just hope I didn't make you accompany me last night," he lazily spoke. She shook head as to say 'no' and placed a warm kiss on his forehead. He was startled at the reaction and immediately moved from her. "Wow, I think this is the first time somebody ever gave me a morning kiss," he spoke and rubbed his kissed forehead. Ren giggled and jumped off from the bed, and bowed to him before taking her leave. "That makes my day, at least," he shrugged and jumped off the bed.

x-x-x-x-x

"You're going out, Alex-san?" Hisui asked as he stepped out of the mansion.

"Kind of. I wanted to take some fresh air at the park," he said as he corrected his tracksuit.

"Shiki-sama said he wanted to come along with you if you happened to go outside," Hisui told him. "Should I go and tell him now, Alex-san?"

"There's no need to, Hisui. I won't be out for long; I'll be home before lunchtime," he said and walked away from her. "I'll be leaving now."

"Itterasshai, Alex-san," Hisui spoke and bowed to him. Alex waved to her and jogged out of the mansion, running down the roadside pavement. It was weekend, and it was another one day before the hunting season took place. He had told the residents of the mansion that he alone would take care of the Dragoon Society, but Arcueid insisted him to consider asking their assistance. She was not the only one concerned of the judgment day; Saber too expressed her concern of the danger he might faced if he were to fight them alone. Even Sion begged him not to neglect them, and she was the worried of the residents.

He arrived at the park. He looked around and saw no one present at the area. Thinking it was still early in the morning, he went to the lake when he saw the sight of Sion leaning on a lamppost. Curiosity arising, he approached her and found that she was taking a break from jogging. "She doesn't notice me," he pondered and went behind her. He seized her waist and pulled her into his arms, causing her to jump off her feet in surprise. "Surprised to see me, Sion?" he asked and tightly embraced her.

"Don't do that again, Alex!" she cried in shock. "I'd have mistaken you for somebody else."

"What are you doing in the middle of the morning, hmm?" he asked. "I thought you'd still tuck yourself under the blanket at home."

"What? Didn't you see what I'm doing now?" she replied. "And don't ever think of mimicking what Arcueid always does to me, okay?"

He laughed and pulled her closer. "Why should I?"

"Because that's a disgrace," she spoke and leaned into the warmth of his arms. "I don't like being disgraced by people, and I don't like people disgracing me. Unless…"

"Unless?" He was waiting for an answer when she giggled and pulled herself away from his embrace, and turned around to stare at him. "Hey, come on! Where's the answer? I thought you wanted to give it right away."

"Did I?" she said and playfully stuck out her tongue at him. "You know what? I didn't expect to see you being comforted by Ren last night, and you didn't even bother to wake up back then. I'm so jealous to see that."

"Jealousy is the sign of love," he reminded, and received a protesting glower from the scion of the Atlasian family "Aw, that's a fact, Sion. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Ohayou, oniichan!" He turned around, ignoring the ever-disgraced Sion, and saw Ayu and Akiko waving at him.

"Ohayou, Ayu-chan, Akiko-chan!" he replied. "What are both of you doing here?"

"We're jogging, since it's good for health," Akiko said. "And what are you doing here, oniichan?"

"The same thing you girls are doing," he told them. "I thought it would be boring to sit at home in this hour, so I decided to walk around."

Ayu glanced over and grinned to see Sion, who uneasily waved at her. "Oh-ho. Then are you dating with that oneechan at the same time?" she asked.

The question caused Sion to blush. "I'm not dating with him!" she squealed and suppressed her blushing face. "And I have a name, and that's Sion!"

"I'm Ayu," Ayu introduced herself, "and this is Akiko. We're oniichan's students at the kindergarten, and we're also his friends."

"Hajimemashite, Sion-oneechan," Akiko spoke and bowed to her.

"Ne, oniichan, can you play with us now?" Ayu asked. "We've wanted to play some games with you since you came to the kindergarten, and we think this is the best time to do so. Can you, oniichan?"

"At this wee time?" Alex replied.

"Mou, oniichan doesn't want to play with us. He just wants to be alone with his lovey-dovey Sion-neechan," Sion blushed furiously at the comment and almost yelled at the girls in anger when Alex told her not to be upset. Ayu smiled afterwards and seized his arm. "But it can't be helped, since you're always busy. We can ask you to play games with us next time," she said and tightly wrapped her arms around it.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I'll try to," he told the girls and embraced Ayu in return. Sion started to get jealous, and pulled him toward her. "Aw, Sion, are you jealous or something?"

"Of course I am, you jerk," she mumbled and hid her embarrassed face.

"Okay. Then we'll leave now. See you tomorrow, oniichan!" the girl uttered and ran down the road with Akiko.

"Be careful on the way home!" he shouted and waved to them. He laughed uneasily at the possessive response Sion was showing. "They're just a kid, Sion. You don't have to be overreacted."

"Like I want to," Sion replied and fell onto his body. "Like I want to let you getting hurt tomorrow," she spoke, while clinging onto him very tightly. He said nothing but to pull her into an embrace, cradling her like a mother cradling her precious child. She let herself be held and rested her head on the firmly build body. "Say, Alex…"

"Yes, Sion?" he replied.

"If I can ask, who's the most important person in your life? I… I just want to know," she spoke.

He softly brushed his lips on her scalp. "If I tell you there are four, would you be angry?" he whispered.

"No, of course not," she replied. "How can I ever be angry?"

He cuddled her very closely. "Because I don't want to see you jealous, especially when you're the most important person to me right now."

She smiled at the answer. "Then who are the next three people? I bet that the second and third women are your sister and Hikaru. Right?"

"Yes," he answered, "Lia and Hikaru are also important to me, but I don't know the fourth person."

She lifted her head and stared at him. "Why not?"

"I don't know, Sion," he told her. "It's either I forgot who she was, or…"

Suddenly he pulled her away from his arms. Wary of something, he walked to the middle of the park and looked around him. "I know you're there, whoever you are. Come out now, I don't want to waste any time." It took a few minutes of silence before he heard a rustling noise from nearby bushes. Cautiously he looked to the direction, and saw an archer-hunter walking from the woods, carrying an oversized war crossbow on his shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here," he spoke, sternly looking at him.

"Why, my presence is merely as a reminder of the upcoming hunting season," the archer-hunter uttered, even as a group of longbow-armed archers appeared from surrounding bushes and approached Alex. "Although I must admit I don't look for trouble for the would-be prey, or asking for one, especially when the said prey happens to be in the middle of a date with a girl."

Sion snapped in embarrassment at the harassing comment and withdrew her lasso. "Don't try me, mister! What do you want from Alex?"

"A quick introductory speech, I believe," the archer-hunter spoke and put down the crossbow. "My name is Joseph Santiago, but everybody in the society calls me Longbow. I bet that you never met me before, but I think you'd heard of Henry."

His eyebrow arched. "Henry? You know him?"

"Henry Santiago is my brother, and he once worked with you in the Holy Orders as a knight," Longbow spoke. "He was the best archer in the orders, and he was the only person my family could be proud of. It was tragic, though, that he had to die for your sake."

"What? I thought he…"

"Have you forgotten the day you were forced to leave the orders?" Longbow demanded. "He was devastated to hear the news of your betrayal that he fell ill. He was permitted to return to our village, but his illness didn't pull through and he passed away shortly afterwards before he could pay you back. He was depressed, Lone Wolf, because you were his closest companion and he put all his trusts on you."

"Then what it has to do with me?" Alex asked.

"It has to do with you," Longbow spoke and aimed the crossbow at him, "because I'm entrusted to pay back everything you had done to him. Everything, including the treachery."

"For God's sake, I didn't betray the Holy Orders!" Alex shouted. "It was them who didn't want to understand me! Why must you blame me on what happened in the past?"

"It's because you were once an assassin and an assassin didn't deserve a place in the orders," Longbow continued. "My brother often told me of how disappointed he was when he was given order by the highest council of the order to befriend you, but he didn't show it to you because of his trust toward you. You should be grateful to have a friend who understood you all the time, but you didn't. You pretended that he was, but you turned your back against him in the end. How shameful of that."

Alex was disoriented by the words. He tried to tell himself that he was hearing lies, yet it was too true to be denied. He started to lose control of himself when Sion begged him to get over it. "Don't say anything…! Don't say anything!" he begged, whilst she told him to calm down.

"And you would think I'd just sit and do nothing, Lone Wolf?" Longbow demanded. "No; not until I finished up what my brother left. Not until you repent all mistakes you have committed."

Alex said nothing. He just stared at the archer-hunter, whilst his hand reached for Black Sabbath despite the disorientation he was suffering. The rest of the archers aimed their weapons at the black knight, ready to release their arrows under their commander's order. "Then what will you do once I repent all the sins I had made?" he finally asked.

"Then I'll spare your life," Longbow spoke and lowered the crossbow. "However that doesn't mean the rest of us will, not even Mistress Lia and Echo. Remember, Lone Wolf, that your judgment day has yet to come." He later turned his sight to Sion. "By the way, it'd be rude if I didn't ask your name before I take my leave, Miss…"

"Sion," she answered. "Sion Eltnam Atlasia."

"Miss Sion, that's a beautiful name," Longbow spoke and bowed to her. "We shall meet again, Miss Sion. Farewell."

The archer-hunter left. Alex just watched, as the group disappeared in the midst of the night. He let go off Black Sabbath and fell on his knees, cursing himself for the encounter he did not want to face. It was yet another past he tried to forget, and consequently failed to do so. It was too much for him, and he broke into tears.

"I wish I knew what sins I had done to them," he whimpered, even as Sion embraced him and gave him a soothing rub on his back. "I wish I could go back to the past and rewind everything… this is too much for me to face…"

"Please, Alex, I'm still with you," she whispered. "Don't believe in what he's told you, he's trying to weaken you. Fight it, Alex; I know you can." He said nothing and clung onto her very tightly, as he kept whimpering and sobbing. Sion could do nothing but to keep soothing him, while wondering of the kind of judgment he would take tomorrow.

x-x-x-x-x

"How was the meeting?" Spike asked as Longbow entered the room.

"It was easy, I must say. And I believe I have found the key of ensuring the success of the judgment day," Longbow said and sat next to Echo.

"Oh, that sounds interesting," Spike uttered as he polished his rapier. "What is the key? Care to tell us about it?"

"The lone wolf has a weakness," Longbow spoke and leaned against the chair. "It's a woman named Sion, and I believe she is his girlfriend. She seems to be a good woman in my eyes, but other than her relationship with him, I know very little about her."

There was an abrupt noise across the room. The three judges looked at the source of the noise and saw Lia standing up from the rug. "I am sorry, but I must leave for training," the woman in miko uniform apologized and walked out of the room.

"Now look at that," Spike snorted. "I think she's jealous to hear that. Does she have a complex toward her brother?"

"You'd be dead if Mistress hears you, Spike," Longbow reminded.

"Hah, like I want to care," he insisted.

x-x

Lia was angry. The word Sion was irking, and the word 'girlfriend' further added in her jealousy. The spear she was holding was rattling, and she immediately slammed it onto the wall. Several staffs that were walking nearby were freaked out and distanced themselves away from the young woman. She pulled back the spear and calmed down, although her heart was still throbbing in jealousy at the Sion person.

"Nobody can take him away from me," she whispered, "not even her…!"