Envoy of the Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Elfen Lied or any of the characters associated with it.

"talking"

Thoughts

Synopsis: In order to reach a certain destination, there will undoubtedly exist boundaries that will serve to get in the way. Now the boundaries in themselves can exist in many forms be it time or circumstance.

But in the end everything comes with a price. Question is, what are you willing to pay?

Sacrifice

~ The facility ~

"Death match?! What is he talking about?!"

"What is going on?!"

"Let me out of here! Let me out of here!"

"Welcome to the late night death match as you are our esteemed participants" announced one of the guards. "This will be a simple gladiatorial event in which there will be only one winner. That will be the last person standing alive. As an added bonus this time we 'might' be able to give you something better to eat like the scraps off the cafeteria table" to which some of the other guards chuckled too.

For a moment it was silent till protest broke out.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Don't f**k with us you bastards!" as more colorful profanity was also shouted out. However that came to a quick halt as everyone of their bomb collars then lit up.

"Thank you for your attention. For as the warden had delicately put it, your lives has the same value as the dirt beneath my shoes. But if anything, you might as well entertain us before you kick the bucket. Though if you refuse to fight . . . . well" as the beeping grew louder, "I don't believe I need to explain what will happen next. The choice is yours of course. There have been many before you who had shown such resistance in not wanting to fight. But in the end, the will to live gets the better of everyone" as the speaker went off. Noticeably, the dicloniuses vector were working again. But it didn't change the fact that they were all trapped in a room with several live explosives about to go off. Even if they tore off the bombs and had managed to destroy it, contingency were put in place for just a case.

The walls were reinforced with titanium backed by several dense layers of steel and osmium. In addition there was also a vector canceling generator as it's function was radiating off the walls. So there was no way they could escape by cutting or punching there way out even with their combined powers working together.

Furthermore this was also a burn room. If by some off chance they managed to breach their confinement, flamethrowers would immediately activate spewing out plasma incinerating them in an instant as all that would be left were bone and ash.

Most of them didn't care how bad the odds were. They would not turn on their own. Right to the very last moment, they would try to find a way to break out.

Others closed their eyes wanting to hold onto their morality reserving themselves to fate.

"Honor to the light as we will meet her on the other side" as some began to pray.

"Try harder!" others screamed out giving their all to break the walls. "We can't die here like lamb!"

Amongst this cocktail of swirling emotions were two predominant things which were fear and the will to live. In a way, they were two very different things yet quite similar at the same time. But when put together, it could create a very dangerous concoction.

In that room was a girl as she dropped to her knees paralyzed from the intensity of the situation. Holding her face, she was sweating intensely as her eyes bulged out in anxiety. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die" she repeatedly chanted to herself. There were so many things happening at once and time was short. But that was the problem as time was short and growing lesser by the moment. With each second that passed away was a step closer to their grisly demise by explosive or being burned alive. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die". Breathing becoming heavier as her heart thrummed in her chest, she looked to the time that remained. Feeling a cold surge shoot through her spine as it coursed through her body, she began to shake uncontrollably. Unable to stop it now, "I don't want to die!" she screamed as her vectors wildly flew out killing her fellow kin all around her.

"Stop it!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"No! Ahhhh!"

Just like that a domino effect had started. Fear was such an infectious feeling. Even more so for a psychic with how palatable it was as they could feel it as if it were their own. But with that one moment of aggression and doubt, the diclonius looked to each other as they felt that pin prick of uncertainty and paranoia. From there it began to radically bleed out and grow like a cancer amongst them. That feeling you couldn't trust the people around you as hundreds of thoughts began to race between them.

"Don't you dare!"

"There has to be another way!"

"Please don't do this!"

With heightened emotions in conjunction with the situation at hand, instinct immediately kicked in as they couldn't trust the people they called family or friends. But then came that one thought that sealed all their fates, "if I don't kill them they'll kill me first".

Just like that it erupted into carnage as they all turned on each other. One kill turned to two, then four, then eight, then soon enough they were all fighting to kill. Fighting to survive as they would do whatever it took.

"This can't be happening!" as Kohta was in shock. These were people who called each other family or friends. Now they were savagely attacking each other like wild animals without thought or reason. The youth even knew some of them as it was heartbreaking to see them fall into depravity. But he could feel it. They were all scared to die. Even now that desperation was creeping onto his consciousness. Every voice screaming to do whatever it took to live. It was overwhelming as he held his head trying to keep it out. "Stop! Stop it!" he telepathically screamed. But it was drowned out by the waves of emotions as they threatened to smoother him.

There were some who tried to resist, but were having difficulty repelling their baser instincts.

"Kill and live, kill and live, kill and live!"

"Ahhh!" as Kiri mentally groaned hitting his head trying to keep the voices out. It wasn't helping that he had to dodge incoming vectors from slicing him in half. "Uhh! Get out of my head! Get out of my head!" Spotting his friend, he saw as he was incapacitated trying as well to shut out the voices. But kneeling there, he left himself vulnerable to be killed at any moment. Then a thought crossed his mind.

"Kill him while he's vulnerable".

"No . . . ." as Kiri held his head tighter. "I won't hurt my friend".

"Kill him now or he will kill you!"

"Enough!" as he tried to stop it. However that dark feeling kept slamming against him chipping away the integrity that made up the core essence of his soul. The more he blocked it out, the stronger the urge to kill was numbing out his sense of morality. Within seconds it got so bad that he was about to commit an act he would never forgive himself for. With his mind almost blanking out, he did what he had to do.

~ the slums ~

". . . . Gam-Gam?" Karin whispered out.

"Rest now" as Yuki warmly smiled petting her head. "You need to preserve your strength so you can get better. So go back to sleep now, OK?"

". . . . OK" as she soon passed out again.

With a soft sigh, the elder diclonius gave a relieved smile. After a few days her granddaughter was responding well to the treatment. Recently, she was now getting strong enough to eat on her own.

Looking to Karin as she rested, her mind soon wandered to that of her grandson. She had no idea where he was or even where to start looking. Although she wanted to take some consolation that his corpse wasn't among the others in this ghetto. But then that wasn't a good thing either.

Among her battles over the years, she had freed many of her kind as they shared with her their stories.

Humans had always called them by many names. Monsters, demons, devils, whatever malevolent creature you could think of. But through those she had saved and from those she witnessed herself, humans have committed far more worse evils that would break anyone's heart.

Now diclonius weren't innocent themselves as they had shed their fair amount of blood. But what these filthy humans have done, it was just too much suffering to exist in one lifetime.

"Men . . . . Women . . . . Children . . . . Such cruelty . . . ." Yuki thought sadly.

She had seen her kind tortured and murdered. Most were out of irrational fear or hate. Some out of a twisted sense of sadistic amusement. Others out of religious fanaticism claiming it was god's will or some non-sense like that.

Women and children were drugged and viciously raped in unimaginable ways leaving behind broken souls.

Young and old were shackled and caged to be sold off like slaves and killed at the highest bidders leisure.

To this day, Yuki found herself crying at times when she learned of some of their stories. One of which of a young diclonius girl as old as Karin she rescued. Her family was bought by some hicks. On the first day, she watched as her father and mother beg for their lives only to be bludgeoned to death by crowbars and bats. She and her sister were then beaten and drugged so they couldn't defend themselves as their owner and all his friends each took their turn raping them. Then one day her sister wouldn't stop crying and screaming as she was then straggled to death right in front of her. For most of the time she was kept, she was usually heavily sedated. If there was even one moment she was lucid enough she would've committed suicide as this abuse went on for five long horrible years. A prisoner in her own body without escape. It was only by chance she was saved when Yuki felt her presence.

This was a tale amongst many others. Each as heart wrenching as the last.

Feeling herself redden, Yuki rubbed eyes as she got up to leave. She didn't want to wake Karin nor did she want her to see her cry.

So going outside she took a deep breath to calm herself down. But hearing rustling in the dirt, "someone's here. I don't feel a presence. So they must be humans. Better play this safe". Taking cover, the elder diclonius peered around the corner as she spotted two military police in the area. "Definitely not a platoon. Must be some sort of recon. Must of gotten their attention from all the burials. Let's see who they are" as she would observe for now.

Walking through the mass graveyard, the pair were highly disrespectful kicking over stone markers knowing full well what they were.

"How the hell did we get stuck with this job?"

"Because we lost the bet".

"But why exactly? This place is nothing but a cemetery at this point. Why the hell are we being told to investigate it?"

"Just covering our bases as there have been some activity here. Last thing we need is for what happened here getting out".

"Who's going to believe these freaks? At this point who is going to sympathize with them?"

"It's a good thing you're so talkative. I have a few questions for you".

Turning around, the pair saw a woman with silvery hair and ragged cloths. But at spotting the two horns sticking out of her head they were quick to grab their guns. As they were trained when it concerned diclonius, it was shoot first ask questions later.

Not missing a beat, Yuki easily disarmed them shredding there guns to pieces followed by their radios. "I need answers" as she levitated them both off their feet. "And you are going to tell me what I need to know".

"Go to hell you freak!"

"We won't tell you anything!"

Narrowing her eyes, Yuki had little patience for them. These two were the first lead she had at finding Kohta. She didn't want to waste her time with them. Staring them both down, she was going to do something she found extremely distasteful. But for her grandson it was a small price to pay. Folding her arms in front as her expression became darker, "it's generally said that torture is an ineffective method of interrogation and information gathering . . . . Let's see if that's true". Being raised by two doctors, they instilled in her the values of protecting life and never to do harm. However the times were not so kind anymore. With her knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, it didn't just give her the skills to heal but to harm as well.

Projecting her vectors into their bodies, she wanted them to know just how serious she was as every breath they took was going to feel like they were living in hell.

It didn't take long for them to feel what their captor was doing to them as they felt like they were on fire as every one of their nerve endings were aflame. With the intensity of pain they felt, they threw up at how dreadful the experience was.

Letting up, Yuki continued to stare both of them down. "That was only a taste of what I can do to you. I don't want to waste anymore time with you either. So here's my question. The diclonius you captured from here, where did you take them all?"

~ the facility ~

Kohta had managed to focus himself to hold back the voices as he was on his feet defending himself against his own kin. Regretfully, it wasn't of his own abilities. As people began dying in the room, the weaker the voices became.

Logically speaking, he knew it was all foolish in the end. There were only two choices in front of him. Either he killed to live or die a pointless death. Neither of which sat well with him.

Thus he wasn't sure what to do as they were both difficult decisions.

Looking to the observation deck above, he was outraged. The guards were laughing, snacking, and betting as if this was some sort of sporting event holding little regards that they were human beings themselves.

Feeling the pit of his stomach turn, " . . . . humans" Kohta thought venomously. "These are the people the community wanted to co-exist with? These neanderthals!" Before he could sink further into his thoughts, his eyes went wide at who stood before him now. ". . . . Kiri . . . . What have you done?"

Standing their silently, his best friend had blood splashed all over him from head to toe.

Seeing the state he was in, different thoughts raced through Kohta's mind.

"Did Kiri kill someone?"

"Is he going to kill me?"

"What do I do?!"

But he needed to know what he was thinking. "Kiri my friend . . . . Please . . . . Don't make us fight. There has to be another way!" Trying to talk to him, the youth could sense the voices echoing through him with such strong malice.

"I'm going to kill you . . . . I'm not going to die like this . . . ." Kiri telepathically said.

"No . . . . Kiri . . . ." as Kohta's voice trembled. Without anything further to say, Kiri attacked sending his vectors out to rip him to pieces. Having no choice, Kohta sent his vectors out for defense. As the psychic hands wrestled, the youth continued to try to reason to him. "Please Kiri! Don't do this! I don't want to fight you!" But he did not respond.

Moving in aggressively, the poise boy dashed in sending a psychic fist at him.

Dodging, Kohta dive rolled out of the way as Kiri's attack slammed against the wall before dissipating. Countering back he attempted to push him away only for his friend to deflect it. " . . . . I guess we have to do this . . . ." as he stood up taking a fighting stance. In a fight between diclonius when their abilities were evenly matched it usually came down to hand to hand combat. Back in the community they fought all the time for exercise and amusement. In the end it would always end with a laugh with him and all their friends. But now, ". . . . Kiri" he thought out sadly.

Sending all their vectors out against each other, it was like tic tac toe as they canceled each other out as expected. Thus the two boys engaged each other. However the outcome was uncertain. Through the telepathic network they had learned many skills including that of martial arts. Thus they were equal in terms of knowledge. However mastery was different as it was human interest to gravitate towards certain preferences.

As Kohta focused more on counter-offensive styles, Kiri was more direct in terms of power and speed. But it didn't change the fact they could adjust their strategy as needed with different styles and skills.

Pushing off the ground, Kiri threw a straight punch as Kohta parried the strike spinning to his outside trying to get in his blind spot. As he tried to attack again, the youth would continuously roll moving back to back with him not giving him the chance to mount a proper assault shadowing behind him each time. But being such long time friends and rivals, Kiri was well aware of this tactic and how to counter it.

Moving his legs to block him off he threw elbow strikes getting him into position. Now where he wanted him, he bent his knees slightly as he reached back hooking his hand around Kohta's chin as he prepared to flip him.

Knowing he was going to be thrown Kohta jumped to reduce the strain on his neck. Just as he went over he grabbed Kiri's shoulders allowing his momentum to drag him down into a roll flip.

Countering back Kiri had managed to grab his wrist. Just as he was about to go flying he didn't go very far as both boys hit the ground with a thud.

Both reeling from the backlash, the two were quickly back on their feet again to fight some more.

As Kohta was trying to reason to his friend, he was now too preoccupied not dying. More so as the battle continued he was getting caught up in the heat of it as his mind was only filled with what his next move should be and reacting accordingly to the changing circumstance.

After a short time both boys were rather bruised and beat up as there was not much time left before they were all dead.

"Just die already!" Kiri exclaimed as he sent out all his vectors out.

"Enough Kiri!" Kohta exclaimed back as he had no choice but to do the same. There was only one way he knew in how to defeat him without killing him. But he needed one clear shot and it was going to be a gamble. Dashing at each other with their vectors going to collide once more he guided his psychic hands through Kiri's as his were coming right at him. "This is going to be close!"

In one quick pass, the battle was decided. With red drops hitting the floor, Kohta coughed out blood as his entire side was cut wide open. But soon enough Kiri dropped to the floor as Kohta had managed to phase his vector right through his brain stunning him temporarily.

Watching his best friend go down Kohta gave a deep breath exhausted in both body and mind. Mending his wounds just enough to stop the bleeding he made his way to Kiri. If a diclonius lost their horns they'd lose the bond that connected them severing their emotions and presence from each other. This was the only way he could think of to free Kiri from the voices. But losing your horns was like cutting off your own limb as it was going to hurt a lot. However he had no choice. "Forgive me" as he smashed both his horns off causing his friend to spasm as he screamed out.

Sitting up as he held his head, Kiri felt like somebody has just got done busting his brain in. But checking himself over, he was no longer possessed.

"Kiri?" Kohta asked telepathically. "Are you 'you' again?"

". . . . Yeah . . . . I think so" he answered. For a moment he just sat there silently. Recalling everything, he felt sick to his stomach at what he had done and what he was about to do.

However their talk was short lived as they both were under attack by the girl who started it all as she was muttering incoherently while in a disheveled state. As she sent out her vectors, the two boys were nearly defenseless to repel her.

Kohta had suffered too great of a blood loss.

Kiri with his horns gone was still in shock.

But they were still able to hold her vectors at bay. Though it didn't stop her from reaching out to strangle them with her bare hands.

As hopeless as things may have seemed, they had just a bit of luck still left on their side.

"Stop this immediately!" as all the bomb collars below ceased beeping with their psychic abilities sealed once again. For it was by chance that some technicians came back to finish some of their work only to notice their specimens were missing. Going to investigate, they found out what had happened as higher management was called in to deal with the matter. Before long, additional forces were sent in to separate them as they were all sent back to their cells.

Though they survived this time, they had no idea how much longer they were going to last.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: Hope this chapter was OK and now onto some commentary.

In every kind of dystopia portrayed in fiction, the worse of humanity always seems to rear it's ugly head. It's kind of sad in a way that given temptation without any sense of consequences how easily most people will fall. I just hope we never have to find out if this is really true.

For additional clarification, a diclonius powers will still work even if their horns are removed. But it will hurt a lot. Though as a side effect, those who lose their horns gets disconnected from those around them. It's a bit hard to describe. But to give an example, if anyone has played Starcraft it's like if a Protoss were to lose their tendrils. There would still exist their telepathic communication. However they would not be able to 'understand' each other.

So I thank you for reading and I further extend my gratitude if you can review as well.