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, anime or manga or whatever real-life references featured in this story, but he owns the copyright to all his original ideas in this fiction. The author 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 is Heart of Melting Blood: Legend of the Moonlight's new arc, the Awe of She Arc, which takes approximately a week after events in FATE Arc, and takes place in a peaceful, seaside town away from all the chaos and disorder. This is the arc where another half of the story will be revealed, thus completing the story… hopefully.
Author's note: song featured in this chapter is Blurry by Puddle of Mudd.
Chapter 12
Blurry
"Is he going to be alright, doctor?"
"From my initial diagnosis, he's sustained major damages in his body, and it includes fractured ribcages, a broken arm and damaged abdomen. I've also found debris inside his pelvic while diagnosing his body and managed to take them out through immediate surgery. But…"
"But what, doctor? Please tell us."
"I need to perform thorough medical diagnosis on him to confirm his actual condition. For now, I can only say that he's going to take a long time to recover. Oh, look. He wakes up."
The people waited expectantly, as the man moaned in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. They watched, as he looked at each and everyone of them in bewilderment. "What… what happened to me?" he asked.
"You were found fainted at the riverbank," Venom told him. "We took you to this house and asked Doctor Faust to examine you."
"I'm Faust, and I can guarantee that you're going to recover soon under my expert doctorate skill," the nine-foot-something doctor said and offered a handshake. He was bedazzled and tried to look for the said doctor, while his hand aimlessly looking for Faust's handshake. It did not take long before the doctor noticed an unusual ailment in the man's eyes and put his palm on the eyelids. "This… this is…?"
"What is it, Faust-sensei?" Hibiki asked.
He lifted back his hand and shook his head. "I'm afraid his sight's been injured. It is unknown of what caused the injury, but he's losing his sight." Dizzy frowned at the answer, and stared at the man in black knight uniform in disbelief. "Unless you can give me some times to examine his sight, there's no clear hope to see him recovering from this injury," Faust said.
"What's wrong, Dizzy-chan?" Hotaru asked when she noticed the worried look upon Dizzy's face.
"He's… he's going to be alright, isn't he?" she asked, while she kept staring at him. "I thought he would still remember me when he looks at me, but…"
"Everybody, please allow me to perform thorough examination on this person's health and biological condition," Faust told them, "although I need to know his name first so that I can record it in his medical report."
"I… I can't remember my name." Everyone inside the room stared at him in bafflement, even as he held his head and shook in dismay. "I can't even remember who I am."
Millia nudged Venom's back. "Honey, do you think he still remember his name if you tell them who we are?" she suggested.
"I don't know, unless we give it a try." Venom, then, approached the still confused man. "Alexander Hahn, lone wolf of the Assassin's Guild. Do you still remember the name?" he asked.
The man looked around, trying to find Venom who just stood beside him. "Who's there? What do you want from me?" he demanded.
"My name is Venom, and in case you don't remember, I'm the former leader of the Assassin's Guild," he told him.
"Venom? Assassin's Guild? I… I think I've heard those names somewhere, but I can't remember when," he answered and held his head. "And I think I've also known the name Alexander Hahn. Do you know who the person is?"
"That name belongs to you," Venom insisted. "Don't you remember anything at all, Alexander?"
Just then, Faust gave him a signal to stop. "Mister Venom, it would be advisable not to burden the patient with complicated questions. Now, will you be pleased to leave me with him for further medical examination?" he suggested. Venom tried to protest before Millia asked him not to argue anymore. Discouraged, he left the room, while the rest of the people followed the suit.
Only Dizzy was not leaving, as she stared at the man named Alexander in concern. Slowly she stepped toward him and sat next to him on the bed. "Sir… do you still remember me?" she asked and took his hand.
"Who's there?" Alex asked, even as he tightened the grip.
"It's me, Dizzy. We had met before at the Devil's Living Place, and you were the one who taught me how to make the paper cranes," she answered.
"We… we had?" he asked, bewildered by the question she was asking. "I… I don't know who you are. Have we met before…?"
Dizzy frowned. He had lost his memories, she thought, and he did not remember her at all. Slowly she put back his hand on his lap and moved away from the bed. "Doctor, please think of something that can help him remembering everything back," she begged and quickly left the room before Faust answered 'yes'.
"Talk about remembrance," Faust uttered and began his medical check-up on Alex. "This will only take a moment, Mister Hahn. I hope you don't mind me checking your health condition," the doctor spoke while examined Alex's left eye.
"No… I don't mind with it," Alex answered. "Doctor, do you know what happens to her? She seems to be sad."
"Maybe because you don't know her? Try to remember something; perhaps you will eventually know something about her," Faust spoke and examined Alex's other eye.
"No, I swear I don't remember anything at all," he answered and shook his head. "I don't even remember who I am, even though I was called with the name. Just… what happened to me?"
x-x
Dizzy leaned against the wall. She was sad at the fact that Alex did not remember her. Her heart ached painfully that she almost broke into tears, and she tried to fight the agonizing throb that thumped against her chest. It was agonizing to be reunited with the person she had been separated from, yet could not remember the memory they used to share.
"Dizzy-chan, what's the matter?" She turned around, and noticed that Hotaru was staring at her. "I saw you walking out of the room, and I thought you might need some help."
She wiped off the tears. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she denied and forced a smile.
Hotaru kept staring at her. "Are you sure? I'm here to listen to you," she suggested.
Dizzy just shook her head. "No, I… I just want to be alone," she said.
"Oh, okay then." Hotaru excused herself to go to the living room where Mr. & Mrs Rage and Hibiki were at. Dizzy just watched at the firefly girl before she tightly shut her eyes. Streams of hot tears were flowing down her cheeks, and were dampening her dress. She tried not to let them fall down, and it was futile. It was just too painful for her to even think of it.
She was startled by the sound of opened door. Quickly she approached Faust, who merely gave her an 'okay' signal. "My diagnosis on him is complete. You can now meet him," Faust told her.
"Oh, thank you doctor!" Dizzy thanked and immediately rushed into the room. She went to seat beside Alex, and took his hand again. "Are you alright now, sir?"
"Sort of," Alex replied. "That doctor told me the injury on my eyes isn't as serious as it was thought, but he gave me these eyeglasses to improve my eyesight. Just in case, he said." He, then, looked at his new image on the mirror, and cooed in fascination. "I never thought to see myself wearing this stuff, and it kinds of uncomfortable. But it fits me."
"I'm so glad," Dizzy spoke and tightened her grip on his hand. "I'm so glad to finally see you again. I thought… we'd never see each other again after that day, and I was so worried whenever I thought of you…"
"Ma'am, I truly don't remember the relationship both of us have," Alex insisted. "Not even the slightest of my memory can help me. I'm sorry, but I wish I could recall the days we used to share together."
She frowned for the second time, and tears were flowing down her cheeks again. "Don't you remember at all…?" she sobbed. "Don't you remember the day you taught me how to make paper cranes? I wanted to thank you for that, but you left before I could…"
Alex sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Man, I forgot to ask the doctor to tell you not to cry," he uttered and wiped off her tears. "I don't know what had made you sad, but don't make that crying face again. I find it unfitting to your beauty."
She stopped crying and frowned, trying to hide her blushing face. "I-I'm sorry; I didn't know you don't like to see me crying," she apologized.
"Oh, please, it's my weakness to see women in tears; I can't resist it," Alex told her. "Aha! I know. What if we become friends from the beginning?" Dizzy lifted her head and stared at him in surprise, noticing that he was laughing naively to himself. "I know it sounds silly, especially when you insist that we've met before, but it's better than trying to regain something we can't remember in the first place."
"No, it isn't!" she exclaimed and tightly held both his hands. "I don't mind if we have to restart our friendship all over again! It doesn't matter if you can't regain everything back, because… because I'm so happy to see you again!"
Alex was staring at her for a long time, not saying anything to please her. Then he smiled. "Then I think we better start with our introductory speeches. Now if only I can remember the name that doctor told me…"
"Alex. Your name is Alex," she told him. "And I'm Dizzy. Pleased to meet you."
"Yeah, yeah, that's the name I'm trying to remember," he said and nodded. "You have good memories, Miss Dizzy. I wish I could learn that from you."
She giggled. "Why, I'm more than glad to teach you everything."
x-x
"So he doesn't remember anything at all," Venom uttered. "He had a severe blow on his head and it greatly affected his brain. He must've been fallen from a high place or been hit on his head so hard."
"That's all I can say, Mr. Rage," Faust said after finishing his medical report. "So what can all of you do for now is to help him getting through his life, and not abandoning him whenever he needs helps."
"We can try on that," Millia assured. "Though it was surprising to see the infamous assassin wearing Holy Knight uniform, and losing his memories when we need to know him the most. Hibiki, did Lone Wolf tell you anything about Alex before you came here?"
"No, Lone Wolf-san never told me of anything about Alexander-san," Hibiki insisted. "Although he did remind me to tell Dizzy about a prophecy."
"A prophecy?" Venom asked.
"If I can remember correctly, it's something that has to do with her past," she said. "Oh my, I think I remember something."
"Did you remember anything, Hibiki-chan?" Hotaru asked.
"Elde-san told me that when Alex-san and Ky-san clashed in a duel back at Cairo, they mentioned something about an unfinished business," the Takane heir uttered. "Could it be related to what's happening now?"
Just then, Dizzy walked out of the room and headed to the living room. "Everybody, what are the commotions here?" she asked.
"Nothing much, just some talks about the assassin," Venom told before Millia signalled him not to use the word. "What? Alex's an assassin, wasn't he?"
"Right now, we shouldn't address him with such suffixes," Millia reminded. Venom tried to protest before she gave him her killing sight. "Who's in charge here, Mister Venom? You or me?"
"Why it's me who has to take the blame?" Venom demanded.
"Because I want to," Millia replied and prodded his neck with hair-made scalpel, mocking the same smile Kirishima Hijiri of AIR's fame was giving to the puppeteer Kunisaki Yukito on the way to send homemade meal to Kano. Venom could only gulp to see the murderous grin, even as the scalpel started moving down his neck.
"Then I'll take my leave now," Faust spoke and bowed to the group before took his leave. Dizzy and Hotaru waved to the doctor, who waved back at them and disappeared in the night sky, shouting "VIVA LA REVOLUTION!" as he did.
"He's kind of weird to me," Hotaru uttered while watching at the disappearing doctor.
"But he was helpful," Dizzy said and sighed in relief. "I was so happy to see him curing Mister Alex's ailment. I was worried that he wouldn't recover from the injuries, had Doctor Faust not been here."
"Have you met him before, Dizzy-chan?" Hotaru asked.
"Yes, I had, but he didn't seem to remember me," Dizzy uttered and looked at the midnight sky. "It doesn't matter, because we decided to become friends from the beginning, and he's so happy to be my friend again." She, then, clasped both her hands and closed her eyes as if she was longing on something. "I wish we could gather back all memories we used to make and share before."
Hotaru just smiled and gazed at the sky. "You will, Dizzy-chan. You will."
x-x-x-x-x
Alex was staying alone in the summer house. His injuries had yet to recover, and he was advised to stay behind. He was a little upset as he had been looking forward to visit the seaside town with the group, and he was wondering whether Dizzy was agreeing with the suggestion Venom gave.
He frowned. He could not recall what happened before he came to the place, or what had taken place before that. Moreover, what he had run into last night --especially the woman who called herself Dizzy-- not only made him intrigued. Somehow he felt as if he had missed something very important.
He decided to let the thought go away and fall back to the bed. "I need to take a rest. Maybe I'll take a walk in the evening after this," he thought and closed his eyes. As he was about to fall asleep, a frantic cry caught his ears, and it was coming from the outside. He looked outside the windows and saw a group of children standing around a tree. Curious of what they were doing, he shouted at them. "What are you kids doing there?"
"Ryuko's kite's stuck up there, sir," one of the children shouted. "We can't get up there. Can you help us?"
"Hang on there. I'll be with you in a moment." He slowly got off the bed but he almost fell on his knees. He managed to grab onto a chair and looked for something he could use to walk to the outside. He saw a walking stick next to the table and grabbed it. "This should do it," he uttered and walked to the outside with it.
"Can you help us?" the children asked again as he approached them.
"Does anyone of you know how to actually climb?" he asked.
"We can, but the tree's way too high for any of us to do it," they told him. "And it's so windy right now. We're afraid we might fall off the tree."
He looked around the tree, and closed his eyes when a strong gush of wind breezed on his face. "Yup, it surely is windy today," he said and looked up to the tree. "I think I can do this."
"Are you going to be alright, sir? You're using walking stick to come here," the children said.
He gave them an assuring thumb-up. "I've fallen down from seven-storey building many times, and that was higher than this tree. Don't worry, I'll be fine." He braced himself, lowered his stance and suddenly emitted a battle cry. In less than a blink of an eye, he was over the treetop and saw the kite. He threw himself to the kite, snatched it and dived back to the ground. He made a rough landing, however, and crashed on his knees. Quickly the children approached him and helped him to stand up. "Now that I got this, whose kite is it?" he asked and corrected his eyeglasses.
"Me," one of the children replied and stepped forward. Alex stared down at the young girl, grinned and returned the kite to her. "Arigatou, ojiisan," the girl spoke and bowed to him.
"Next time, try not to let the wind blow your kite away again, okay?" he reminded and patted the girl's head. She nodded, bowed to thank him again and ran back to the group. He walked back to the house when the group called him again. "What is it this time, kids?"
"Do you have free time right now?" they asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied. "Why?"
"Can you join us and play some games?" they requested.
He almost laughed at the request. "You already saw me crashing from the tree, didn't you? Why would you want to ask someone with injuries to come along?"
"Because you helped us, and we figured that you're alone at the house right now," the girl who owned the kite insisted. "We don't have to play hard games; just hide-and-seek will do."
"You know what? I have a better suggestion," Alex replied. "I think I saw a guitar in the house, so instead of playing games, why don't we sing songs along?"
"That's a good idea!" the girl replied. "We used to have singing time among ourselves whenever the day's sunny, and we can ask you to sing us with us. That would be fun!"
"I agree with Ryuko," a boy said. "Let me take the guitar. Where did you see it, sir?"
"At the cabinet in the living room, I think." The boy nodded and immediately went to the house, while Alex took a seat at the veranda's stair. The children sat on the ground, and were looking expectantly at him. "Alright. I can't guarantee to sing you kids folk songs, but I'll perform some that I can remember."
"Any song will do, ojiisan," the girl said. "As long as we can sing along with you."
The boy came out, and gave the guitar to Alex. He took it and plucked several tunes, as to adjust it. He nodded after that and corrected his seat. "So, what shall we sing?" he asked.
"Why don't you sing first? We'll follow you after that," Ryuko suggested.
"Alright, then." He tapped the guitar and played several introductory tunes. Several seconds, he was playing a song, and the children were waiting to listen to the song he was going to sing.
Everything's so blurry, and everyone's so fake
And everybody's empty, and everything is so messed up
Pre-occupied without you, I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you, I stumble then I crawl…
You could be my someone, you can be my scene
You know that I'll protect you, from all of the obscene
I wonder what you're doing, imagine where you are
'Cause oceans in between us, but that's not very far…
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face, this pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face…
He stopped singing and looked at the group. "How was it? If you don't like the song, I can sing another song instead," he said.
"Aw, why did you stop?" Ryuko mumbled. "We're about to sing the song with you."
"Yeah, yeah! Continue the song, sir! Please?" the rest of the group pleaded.
He laughed. "You kids could've told me not to stop earlier," he said and continued his guitar playing.
Everyone is changing, there's no one left that's real
So make up your own ending, and let me know just how you feel
'Cause I am lost without you, I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you, I stumble then I crawl…
You could be my someone, you can be my scene
You know that I will save you, from all of the unclean
I wonder what you're doing, I wonder where you are
There's oceans in between us, but that's not very far
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face, this pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face, this pain you gave to me…
Oh…
Nobody told me what you thought; nobody told me what to say
Everyone showed you where to turn, told you where to run away
Nobody told you where to hide; nobody told you what to say
Everyone showed you where to turn, showed you where to run away…
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face, this pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away, can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face, this pain you gave to me…
NOOOOOO!
This pain you gave to me!
Take it all away, take it all away…
Alex stopped the guitar playing, and received impromptu applauses from the children. "Thank you for singing with me, kids. I never thought singing together would be so fun," he said and put down the guitar.
"Of course it is!" Ryuko answered. "It's really fun to have people gathering like this to sing, and it's even more fun when we have campfire."
"Campfire? That sounds cool to me," Alex said and lifted back the guitar. "So, ready for another round?"
"YEAH!"
x-x
The group returned from their tour at the town. They were carrying foods they bought at the market, as they were planning to have barbeque party that night. It was Venom who had to carry all stuffs and he was not very satisfied with it, although he did ask Hotaru to carry some of them to ease his load. Millia was having a conversation with Hibiki and Dizzy, whilst repeatedly prodding Venom's head with her hair scalpel, much to his annoyance.
They arrived at the summer house. "Well, well, well. Look at that," Millia uttered and pointed to the house. They looked at the house and saw Alex and the children group sitting in front of the house, singing songs as they did. "I thought he would sit quiet and do nothing while we're away. What's with him?"
"What should we do?" Hotaru asked.
"We just have to wait for them to finish it up," Hibiki suggested.
They stood there, and watched as the group sang more songs, while dancing to the acoustic rhythm Alex was playing. They were having fun, they thought, and they decided not to interfere.
"That was so fun!" Ryuko uttered after they finished dancing to the Latin song he was playing. "Thanks for spending time with us, ojiisan. We just hope you don't mind with it."
"Actually, I'm more than happy to be with you kids," he said. "So, what are you going to do after this?"
"We're going home to help our parents with the summer festival," Ryuko said. "It's going to be held this weekend, and we expect to see lots of people there. Of course, we want you to come too. It's going to be exciting if you could come and join us."
"I'll think of that, Ryuko."
"Well, then." The girl and the rest of the group bowed to him and ran down the road, waving goodbye to him at the same time. Alex waved back to them and grinned at them. Summer festival, is it, he thought and played a song with the guitar.
"Having fun, eh Alex?"
He stopped playing the guitar and looked in front of him. "I am. Those kids really like my singing, though I tend to suck in that," he uttered and put back the guitar. "Oh, welcome back. What did you guys bring home?"
"Some stuffs for our BBQ party tonight, and food supplies in emergency cases," Millia said and told Venom to carry the parcels inside. "I thought you'd stay inside, Alex. You know you still haven't recovered from the injuries, don't you?"
"I did, but then it can't be helped when one's in boredom," he replied.
The female assassin shrugged. "Whatever. Come on, guys. We're taking break first, and then we'll plan on what to do for the BBQ."
The group walked into the house, leaving Alex outside with the guitar. He did not say anything and just sat at the veranda, staring at the afternoon sky. He closed his eyes, and started listening to the summer's voice, even as the wind breezed upon his face.
"Can I sit here?"
He opened his eyes, and noticed that it was Dizzy. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
The Gear woman took a seat beside him and stared at the summer sky. "What were you doing with the children a while ago?" she asked.
"Just singing some songs and sharing some stories among us," he said. "I never thought the people at this place are so friendly, especially children. They don't hesitate to approach me, even though I'm a stranger. Do you think it's weird?"
"I don't know, since I never have that kind of experience," she answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Just want to know." He said nothing after that and resumed playing the guitar, whilst Dizzy stared at him in interest. "Say, Dizzy."
"Yes?" she replied.
"That doctor told me," he uttered and put down the guitar, "that I need someone to help me recovering my lost memory. I've been thinking of that for the whole night, but I couldn't understand what he meant by that."
He was startled. Dizzy was taking his hand, and was holding it tightly. So tight, he could feel the radiant affection coming from it. "If that's the case, let me help you. I may not be the best counsellor, but I'll try my best," she said, even as a gentle smile carved upon her face.
"Are you sure you can help me?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm very sure I can help you," she uttered, "because I remember everything we had shared while we were at the Devil's Living Place. I know it's hard to help you on everything, but I'll promise you, you will get your memory back."
He could only chuckle at the sincere offer and held her hand in return. "Thank you, Dizzy. You're so kind to me."
The smile widened. "You're welcome, Alex. After all, we're friends. Right?"
Little did they know, that they were being watched. The group peeked at them through the window, and cooed in amazement. They were wondering whether it would be alright to let both Alex and Dizzy alone, and they were wondering whether the newfound relationship would be approved by the rest of the people.
"Are you sure he won't get angry, Hibiki-chan?"
"That's what I'm afraid of, Hotaru-chan. I don't want what Elde-san had seen in Cairo to happen again."
"Considering his status as a former assassin, we should be careful whenever we're with him. Ouch! Hey, what's the problem, Millia?"
"Honey, I've told you not to use that word again, haven't I?"
"But… but…"
"But whatever it is, Alex-san and Dizzy-chan are so close to each other. Like, they had met before. Do you think they had, Hibiki-chan?"
"Only time will tell, Hotaru-chan. Sooner or later, it will tell us."
