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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 19: Bloody Tears, Part 3

Sakura was far from amused as both Caren and Trish used her injured self as 'reason' to play nurses with her.

While that would suggest something scandalous, the truth was that the teasing was nothing more than infuriating at best. Trish seemed amused by treating Sakura as a child, while Caren used this chance to mirthfully 'tease' her wounds. It wasn't exactly something the silver-haired girl was completely conscious about, but she knew for a fact that the fellow girl was just a bit too 'taken' by inflicting pain to others. And the small jolts of displeasure were her way to satisfy this urge while also not harming Sakura in the process.

And while the act did something beyond patching her up, which was distracting her, the situation tied to this 'Arcueid Brunestud' was soon dealt with by Bruno and the others. There were many questions, many conversations and, ultimately, numerous differing opinions regarding what to do about her. Considering all circumstances, she was a foe- but to which extent.

Sakura was extensively grilled for answers in that regard, mostly because she had been the one speaking the most with the now unconscious blonde. The fight had been intense- it would be a lie to say that the plum-haired girl had it easy on her, and Sakura saw no reason to boast for anything. Each wound she got was proof that it hadn't been one-sided and she left that encounter slightly hurt by it. Even with her Stand's power unleashed, the girl had gotten through by straining her body once again.

Arcueid Brunestud, she decided, was different from Dio Brando in terms of power and personality. The need to fight? It was there, but the reasoning was different- The presumably older vampire had been far more crueler in his actions, while Arcueid… restrained. It felt odd to make a generalization of vampires when she met just one (and now two) in the past. Then again, it was difficult to be accepting of someone that, by nature, lacked humanity in their thinking. Yet the vampire girl had shown that there was something that wasn't cruelty fueling her interest in Sakura: and that was general playfulness.

She wanted to fight her for the sake of fighting her. Not for abating her hunger, or to satisfy any unknown motivation that would prove to be their undoing. It had been too exposed for it to be this way. And she found confirmation of what happened through Arlecchino, the man returning to them just as she defeated Arcueid and helping get everyone back to their temporary HQ.

Speaking of Arlecchino and his 'odd' disappearance during the fight, Bruno got fairly frustrated at Arlecchino due to this unexpected and suspicious behavior. That was the ground for some loud discussion between the gang leader and the mysterious agent as he brought in a new 'ally' to help them out.

Medea looked quite unusual in terms of appearance, mostly her unusual pointy ears which the masked man defined as 'congenital unique features'. Still, the truth that came out from that heated conversation was one and confirmed by Medea herself: the Magus hunting down Sakura was behind his brief minutes of going missing, and that the result was her being their allies now.

Back to Arcued, Arlecchino further elaborated on who she was and… Sakura was perplexed by what she was hearing, but the ones that spoke up the most during that narration were Mista and Prosciutto.

"So she is some sort of princess of… the moon?" The hat-wearing gunslinger inquired, drawing in on the confusion tied to that notion.

"That's a way to call her, yes. Albeit the title fits within the Association's standard, she is without fief or regal possessions," Arlecchino explained. "Her 'creator' was a being that gained the influence they still retain through sheer power alone."

"You're making it sound like this 'creator' was some sort of big shot in the past but… shouldn't that make this guy known?" Prosciutto argued. "I mean, I am not exactly sure if we would have known but… it sounds to me that not even you know much about them."

"That's because Brunestud of the Crimson Moon was not someone known to many but a handful of people and their existence is not exactly a matter many can proudly say to know even by an abysmal extent."

"And how do you know this much then, Signor Arlecchino?" Abbacchio asked tensely, eyes narrowing at the masked man. "Plus, there's something else you have to answer for?"

"The first is that I have the skills and the knowledge required for me to do a perfect job in protecting Sakura Kujo," The mysterious figure replied politely. "And what is your other question?"

"How come Medea calls you Master?"

That was actually a good question, and one that got a few people frowning at the bizarre guard. It was at this point that Sakura decided to answer the question herself since she knew what was up in that regard.

"That's because Medea is a Servant."

Heads turned and eyes stared at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"A 'Servant'?" Bruno repeated with a perplexed tone. "Is that a term tied to-"

"When I was younger there was a competition about Magi and… the competitors were able to summon heroic spirits from the past to serve as their driving force to win," The girl further explained while looking at Medea, the young woman looking back at her. "Due to some unusual developments, my father was one of the Masters that competed. He summoned a Caster-class Servant, just like Medea."

"A Caster...-class?" Fugo hummed, slowly digesting the words while Narancia looked incredibly excited.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you can summon Heroes from the past and fight with them?"

"Something like that," Medea answered curtly, looking a bit sheepish. "There are a few rules in the regards of the summoning, but yes."

That sprung a lengthier conversation about the Holy Grail War but also added a few elements not even Sakura knew about. Specifically on the notion that people could technically summon Heroes if they so wished with the right ritual, except this practice was forbidden beyond the grounds of the Holy Grail War due to how dangerous such a practice could become if every Magi learned how to use that kind of power to further expand their influence.

It was quite interesting, even more so when it became apparent that the one trying to kidnap her was going as far as to break away from the Association just to get her. And that meant his plans had to be so dangerously important that he was willing to risk it all. This Atrum had summoned a Servant, and was looking specifically for her. It wasn't difficult to imagine what was going to be his plans if he succeeded in capturing her.

Could it be that he is trying to get another Grail War started?

It sounded preposterous, but the more she thought about it, the more Sakura knew it was possible. It was so dreadful to imagine and she knew that the power wielded by the Holy Grail was so immense that it couldn't be left in the hand of someone that horrible. And as she finished thinking that, her attention was suddenly stolen away as the plum-haired girl felt pressure exerted from behind her, right where Arcueid had been left to rest. Arcueid blinked back at her once she looked behind and right at the blonde, Sakura staring straight at her bright red eyes and amused grin. The Princess of the Crimson Moon was awake.

"Hmm~?"

Of all possible developments he could have predicted, Melone didn't expect an alliance with Bucciarati's group would have been one.

Then again, fate was a fickle thing that couldn't be outright predicted in some clashes of ideals. Also, it played right into Risotto's plans to guarantee himself a foundation where his legitimacy can be expanded on. If they really wanted to subvert Diavolo's powerbase, they needed to build one of their own. And while things 'normalized' between the growing alliance between the two groups, Melone was given a new task: Go to Venice, track down where the Boss could be and not lose sight of him.

That sounded like a particularly easy job despite the troublesome target. He was told to not engage him at all, which meant it was going to be a long-range operation. All in all, nothing that Melone was unfamiliar with. Things were meant to be particularly simple since he had a few ideas he knew about the boss. Specifically his hair-color due to his daughter's.

What Trish Una didn't know, and Melone was sure that extended to pretty much the rest of both groups, was that there were details in her biology, appearance-wise of course, which gave hints on dominant traits she inherited from her father since those weren't known to be present in anyone known within the Una family.

The man he had to look for had pink hair. It was an interesting detail that he never expected to rely on, but he knew this was actually a good hint. Mostly because not many men in Italy had pink hair and it was easier to track down this kind of individual through the detail within Venice. A quick search provided him a possible lead, one that went under the name of Donato Capaci (surely a fake name) and was currently staying at one of the local luxury hotels in the Serenissima. So, Melone took it upon himself to find the best spot to spy on the boss.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

The room beside the one taken by Donato was free and easy to take after charming the receptionist at the hotel's entrance to give him that room specifically. And soon he was sitting by the bed, checking on his Stand as he started to write down all points he had to be wary about. After all, he wasn't dealing with the normal 'secretive man'.

The boss was known to be able to track down spies whenever those got too confident with their job. It wasn't something the Stand User planned to ignore, even so why he decided to pick this room in particular. It gave him ample opportunity to make a run for it through the window as he had a special rope set up to get out.

He wasn't sparing any restraint in being prepared to bail from his hot spot, but he was at least going to try and milk as much as he could out of it. He knew his target tended to spend meals in the hotel's restaurant, so it was going to be easy to just disguise himself and sit on a distant table while watching over him. That was his first step… and yet it wasn't enough to prevent the nightmare that soon ensued. Just as he finished writing some of his notes, his ears caught on some noise coming from-

...Was someone in his bathroom?

A frown adorned Melone's face as he slowly made his way to the tiny bathroom, the door still closed. It felt absurd to imagine someone had somehow entered the room without him noticing, even more than this had happened before he had taken this room. This place was clean from any criminal issue, so… what's going on?!

Pulling on the door's handle, the mechanism clicked and allowed Melone inside. His gaze instantly studied the scene. The light-bulb by the ceiling had been turned on and someone was using his shower?

The sight left him perplexed as he could see someone through the thin tent that hid away the identity of the individual that was using the shower. Eyes narrowing, Melone retrieved his handgun as he could tell that whatever was going on was very human and very easy to deal with through lead. That was his expectation.

Until someone reached out from behind him and pulled him in a choke-hold. Panic surged as he managed to get just enough leverage to push forward, reach for the small tent by the shower and pull it aside as he tried to kill off the user. But what he found on the other side wasn't the user.

It was the receptionist- the pretty woman he seduced just an hour or so ago and… and she was very dead and very naked. The last detail was what confused him for a moment, and then he realized what was going by quickly thinking why this woman had to die.

It's a set up to create the perfect murder. Him, a pervert, killed the poor woman after luring her in this room. Then after being a sick bastard, he decided to kill himself because he reached the peak perversion in his mind. How did he kill himself? Hanging himself. That's why the hands choking him were doing it so that he was slowly getting his windpipe crushed. As if his neck was snapped by a noose.

"Have you realized now?" A voice called from the bedroom, and he could see from how he could look behind, a figure sitting by the mattress. "Your existence was forfeited when you tried to get too close to the sun, Melone. You challenged a King, and lost like a worm you really are."

That's where Melone knew it was his death, and that his struggling wasn't giving him a chance to survive. The hands didn't relent from the hold, his neck getting slowly crushed from behind and his Stand could do nothing but stare in horror as its user got its neck snapped before the spirit was cast away. The only alive occupant sighed, shaking his head and giving a tired look at the two corpses.

"I suppose Risotto is really doing his best to hunt me down. I will be more careful then."

As soon as he was done confirming this thought, the figure wandered out of the hotel by the window through the rope Melone had with him, deciding to 'borrow' it from his dead corpse so he could make it out without casting any suspicions on himself.

A few minutes later, a very happy Doppio would be seen checking into a new hotel as his boss had demanded him to, knowing that the previous one had some bug infestations he was going to send someone to deal with.

What a thoughtful boss the man was.

AN

Arcueid is awake, people are worried, and Melone is dead! Dammit Diavolo!

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