(Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry about the delay. I honestly don't know what happened, considering this chapter isn't even that long. I read the reviews on the previous chapter and saw that I got a bit of a negative response because of the change in theme. I'm sorry to those who didn't like it, and I'm even more sorry that Not This Time will continue to follow this theme for a bit longer. Some things may seem a bit unrealistic, and I understand your criticism that this is the case, but this is a story I'm very passionate about and want to finish in the way I intended.
I always wanted to create a more action/fighting-based arc, and this is what came of it. If you didn't like the sudden left turn in lore the previous chapter, I'm also sorry to say that's present here, too(albeit not as absurd). As always, I thank you for your support to the series as a whole and promise that the story will get back to the more emotional and subdued theme once this arc is over.)
Chapter 13: The Kamines (Part 2)
{Alex POV}
The void. It was all I could see. An infinite darkness in all directions, with nothing but lightless space visible. The pain of losing my eye had long dulled in the countless amount of time I'd been there, as did my other senses. I couldn't smell, hear, or feel anything at all. Of course, I couldn't see anything either, but I couldn't tell whether that was from my loss of senses, or merely the effect of the void.
I was reckless. I ran into danger without stopping to think about what might've been waiting for me. I'd come to believe that, if I didn't act, people would get hurt. That's how it worked back home, and that's how it worked for the past two weeks. However, this time, my action was what caused the problem.
"I'm sorry, everyone." I said to nobody in particular. "I can only hope the rest of you are still okay."
Then, that's when it happened. I suddenly felt something. A splitting pain in my head unleashed itself and caused me to writhe around uncontrollably. I clutched my head, but no matter how hard I clenched it, the pain was unrelenting. It felt like my head was opening up and something was forced inside. A force pushed its way into my mind, then just as soon as it began, the pain faded.
I slowly took my hands off my head and looked at them with my one remaining eye. No blood or anything of the sort. I felt along the top of my head, but there was only hair and the skin underneath.
'What was tha- AH!' Halfway through that thought, a strong pressure pushed inward under my skull. It wasn't painful, only wildly uncomfortable.
But there was somehow still pain. No, not physical pain. As the pressure pushed on me, images flowed through my mind. A long line of descendants, from the middle ages to modern times. Towards the end, I saw Heishi, Majo, Okane, Iine, Kuro, Shiro, and... Monika?
Information was forced into my mind to the point where I felt like another person's whole life was a part of my memories. I learned the connection between the descendants and the Kamines, I learned the reason why they existed, and I learned what happened back at Mc's house while I was gone.
Over time, the pressure eventually lessened and finally faded into nothingness. The shock of learning all that information didn't fade with it, however, and left me unable to react in any way.
I suddenly found myself laying on my back with my eyes (or would it be eye?) closed. None of my senses were active, but that was short-lived as I began to hear a faint voice. I couldn't make out any words, but it sounded angry. Frantic, even. Then, as my hearing slowly returned, I recognized the owner of the voice.
"Natsuki...?" I weakly called out. "Is that you?" I heard a gasp in response.
"Alex! Are you okay?" She responded. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
"He's fine." Another female voice said, this one vaguely familiar. "Just give him a few seconds."
Their words appeared to hold weight, as I almost immediately felt my senses return completely. My eyes shot open to reveal everyone looking down at me with concerned expressions. Mc, Monika, Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, Tiffany, Okane, Keisatsu, and Ishi were all there.
While the majority of their concerned expressions transitioned to relief, Natsuki went an extra mile and began to cry tears of joy. She knelt down next to my head and ran her fingers through my hair.
"I thought you might've died..." Natsuki sobbed. "Don't ever do something that stupid again..."
Her forceful sentence was betrayed by her happy tears. I reached over and touched her cheek, wordlessly telling her I was okay. She grabbed my wrist and kept my hand there, despite me not having any plans to let go.
"I'm sorry to interrupt this reunion," the female voice said, "but we don't have very much time."
Surprised by the voice, I glared at its origin point, which was the woman I saw the previous two times I was in the void. She still wore the same attire and the same serious expression. It was strange to see her among all my friends, which suddenly made me notice something about her.
This woman had a strange, white glow lining her form. It was faint, and just barely visible with the naked eye. The glow seemed to be completely stagnant, like a part of her body. I hadn't noticed it before due to us being alone, but when comparing to my friends, it was quite obvious.
"You... who are you?" I asked as Natsuki helped me up.
"Who I am isn't important right now." She brushed the question off. "You all have very little time here, so we have to make it count."
I was thrown off by how quickly she was taking control of the situation. Throughout my time here, I'd spoken to this woman twice, not counting the current visit. Despite this, I knew practically nothing about her. Actually, scratch that. I knew nothing about her. Nonetheless, I decided to comply.
"What's going on?" I asked. No one else seemed to be surprised or even off-put by this woman.
The others looked among themselves for a few seconds before Mc responded.
"After being attacked, we all woke up here with her looking over us." Mc gestured to the woman. "She told us she wanted to speak with us, but we had to wait for you." The woman nodded after his explanation, affirming it.
"We were a bit shocked to find you missing your right eye." Monika said. "What happened?"
I was a bit unknowing of Monika at that point. During the influx of information, I learned she was actually a Shiroi. She'd long forgot about her affiliation with that name, but I still felt uneasy for some reason.
"As you can probably already guess, it was an ambush." I answered. "Chad, Majo, and Heishi were all waiting for me there. There was also..." I trailed off, the memory still not quite processed.
The others looked at me, waiting for me to continue. Eventually, Natsuki put her hand on my shoulder.
"Alex, what is it?" She asked. Seeing her worried expression, I shook my head clear.
"After they overpowered me, a fourth person stepped in. They called him 'Master Kami'."
The others looked surprised and slightly excited. Knowing the identity of the Kamines' leader could prove helpful in our understanding of the cult. Immediately, Okane interjected.
"It's Kuro." He said simply. "Shiro's father is the leader."
Everyone else looked at him, shocked. With no other guidance, they trailed their eyes to me for confirmation. I slowly nodded my head, confirming the unexpected news.
Kuro was the man who appeared before me when I laid on the floor of his house. Chad, Heishi, and even Majo bowed before him like some sort of god. Which, to them, he probably was.
"S-so it's true..." Natsuki sulked. "T-the two of them were using us... my childhood friend..."
I rested my hand on Natsuki's shoulder to comfort her, which seemed to work to a degree. She looked back up at the woman with a more determined expression, although tears still stained her cheeks.
"What do we need to do in order to stop them?" Natsuki asked the woman. I was mildly surprised by her sudden determination, but I was more surprised by the expression of the woman.
Before then, I'd only seen the woman wear a neutral expression or friendly smile. When she looked at Natsuki, I was a look of admiration and pride in her eyes. Mysterious or not, people's expressions were never unreadable.
"You've grown so much." The woman responded surprisingly. "I truly hope you continue to live a long, happy life Suki."
Natsuki took a step back, suddenly shocked. She looked at the woman with confused realisation. I was also confused, mostly by how the woman called her 'Suki'. As far as I knew, no one had ever called her by that nickname. However, despite that, it seemed like it was familiar to Natsuki. The only reason I could think of was...
"Nat, are you okay?" I asked. "Do you know her?"
Natsuki remained shocked for a few moments. The woman looked at Natsuki with a strange, hopeful smile. Finally, Natsuki quietly spoke:
"M-mom?"
The woman nodded.
"It's been way too long, Suki." She smiled warmly.
'WHAT?!' I thought.
"Wait, 'mom'?!" I blurted out, turning to Natsuki's apparent mom. "S-so you're..."
"Kojin Josei, yes." She answered. "Now, I assume you have many questions?"
I did have questions. Lots of them. However, I couldn't seem to get them out. The others struggled to say anything as well. Then suddenly, Natsuki bolted forward and hugged her mother, crying into her shirt.
"M-mom... I-I thought you were... d-dead..." She stuttered. Kojin reached down and rubbed the back of her daughter's head, comforting her.
"There, there, my little Suki." She calmy said.
I couldn't believe my eyes. This woman, who I'd only met in this strange void, was claiming to be Kojin Josei? It was... well... it was absurd. However, I'd been dealing with absurd for quite a while by that point, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. With my thoughts finally straight, I stepped forward.
"To answer your first question, yes." She said as Natsuki finally pulled away. "I am in fact dead. Or, more accurately, half of me is dead. What you see before you is my life force, containing specks of who I was when I was alive."
"But... how did you get like this?" I asked. Kojin put on a thoughtful expression before responding.
"Ten years ago, when was murdered in that alleyway, the culprits attempted to use me as a sacrifice for the Kamine descendant ritual, the ritual involving the golden sword." She explained, shocking everyone.
"Wait, the Kamines are the ones who killed you?!" Monika exclaimed. "But that means..."
"My father has been working with the Kamines since the beginning..." Natsuki finished her sentence with a fearful look in her eyes.
If Hiran had been with the Kamines ever since ten years ago, that would give a reason why Kojin of all people was killed. She defended Natsuki when she was a child, whom Hiran despised. However, there was one piece of the puzzle that didn't fit into place.
"No, that's impossible." I stated. "If 'he' had been working with them for all this time, he would've already known them in the audio tapes Okane recorded." Tiffany gave an annoyed look but didn't elaborate.
"Correct, Alex." Kojin confirmed. "My husband doesn't know he's working alongside my killers."
"Hey, we should probably speed this up." Mc pointed out, turning to Kojin. "Could you explain why you're like this?" Kojin nodded.
"When they attempted to use me for the ritual, they made a critical error." Kojin continued. "When performing it, you are intended to use only the golden sword, which has the power to transfer life energy to one's future offspring. I resisted their attempts on my life, and the one wielding the silver sword accidentally attacked me, which has the power to transfer someone's life energy to another's living body. When life energy is transferred, the soul is usually destroyed. However, if you attempt to transfer life energy two separate ways, part of the soul can linger. Because of this, part of my soul was trapped within the silver sword."
"But how are we talking to you, then?" I asked. "And what is this place?" Kojin closed her eyes, as if preparing for a long-winded explanation.
"To answer your first question, remember that my soul is bound to the silver sword." Kojin answered. "When you held the sword, my soul became tethered to yours, and eventually to your friends. As for the second question, this is the silver sword's 'storage', I suppose you could call it. Whenever you fell unconscious, I was able to bring you here as your waking mind was not active."
It took me a moment to process everything she said. I wasn't prepared for such a complicated explanation. Just when I finally understood everything, I was startled by a loud 'woosh' sound emanating from behind me.
I turned around and nearly fell back in shock as I saw myself come face-to-face with a strange glowing portal of some sort, about the size of a doorway. It was purely white, almost blinding me immediately. I stepped back from the portal, which now had small threads coming out of the sides, appearing to be directly part of the portal.
"Well, I suppose that's all the time we have for now." Kojin sighed. "That portal will bring you back to your own bodies. Now go... and take down this horrible cult."
Surprisingly, almost everyone immediately complied. Mc, Monika, Sayori, Yuri, Tiffany, Okane, Keisatsu, and Ishi all left with a determined expression on their faces. However, Natsuki and I remained. Natsuki turned back towards her mother and gave her a sad smile.
"Mom... I love you." She said, making her mom smile back.
"I love you too, my dear Suki." Kojin responded. "I will always be there for you."
Natsuki gave her mom one last smile before turning and walking through the portal, leaving me the last one with Kojin. I took a step forward but was interrupted by something.
"Alex, wait." Kojin stopped me. "Could I have a quick word?"
I turned around to find Kojin with a softer expression than ever before. Less of a loving expression like the one she gave Natsuki, but one of fragility and happiness.
"Sure, what is it?" I asked. Kojin opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She took a few moments to find the words.
"When you meet my husband again... could you... try to bring him back?" Kojin requested, stealing any words from my mouth.
"I- what?" I stuttered. "You want me to try and reason with that psychopath? He's too far gone." Kojin wore a sad expression at my response.
"I understand that, but... perhaps if he knew... who killed his wife... maybe you could swing his faction?" Kojin desperately suggested. I opened my mouth to deny it but was stopped by the look of defeat in her eyes. Taking a deep breath and summoning all my courage, I spoke:
"Maybe." I turned back towards the portal, nearly through.
"Wait, one more thing." Kojin stopped me once more, making me turn around and give her a slightly annoyed look. This time, she had a thankful expression.
"Thank you for saving Suki." She said, catching me off-guard. "I can't imagine a nicer boy for her to fall in love with. So please... protect her until the end."
I felt myself blushing a bit. I turned back towards the portal but turned my head to the side and looked at her.
"You got it, ma'am." I smiled. "Your daughter is in safe hands. I promise."
Kojin's smile got all the wider as I took another step towards the portal. Then another. And another. Blinding white light filled my vision as I made contact, and the last thing I saw was Kojin, her smile reminding me of Natsuki herself...
.
.
.
I slowly opened my eyes, finding only faint outlines of a room. The room was moderately lit, but the previous shock of light had messed with my vision to the point where I had to take a moment to get used to it. Once my eyes finally adjusted, I took in my surroundings.
I was in a plain concrete room, about half the size of a classroom. There were no windows, decorations, or anything of the sort on the walls, save for a sturdy metal door directly in front of me. I was sitting in a plain, wooden chair, but found myself unable to stand up from it.
A quick look at said chair revealed that my legs and arms were bound to it, legs tied by some sort of rope with my arms attached by leather straps that made my skin burn if I struggled against it. After a few moments of struggling, I concluded that, even with the ability to enhance my strength, I couldn't escape the bonds.
"How the hell did they get leather this durable?" I wondered aloud. I heard a sudden gasp to my right.
"Alex, you're awake!" Monika's voice exclaimed. I turned my head to see Monika in the same predicament as me.
"Monika, where are we?" I asked. Monika frowned in response.
"I don't know." She responded dejectedly. "I just woke up here after-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence. I was confused about why she did, up until I listened closely.
Footsteps were coming from the door in front of us, and fast. Not running, but fast walking. Turning to Monika, I mouthed the words 'play dead'. Monika complied, slumping her head forward to make her look like she was asleep. I did the same.
A few seconds later, I heard about five small clicks before the sound of the door opening. The pair of loud footsteps entered the room, closing the door behind them. Staying completely limp, I focused all my attention on hearing.
The footsteps continued, this time slower and calmer. A casual yet determined gait. I listened as they transitioned to my right, towards Monika. They stopped for a few seconds, then what I heard next terrified me.
My heart froze as I heard metal scraping against metal; the distinct sound of a sword being removed from its scabbard. My mind raced as I struggled to maintain stillness.
'Fuckfuckfuck! What's happening?!' I wondered. Suddenly I had an idea.
Judging by how many steps they took from the door towards Monika, it was safe to say they were standing in front of her. In other words, facing halfway away from me. Taking advantage of this, I threw my body weight to the side, slightly moving my chair. More importantly, this created a loud sound of wood grinding against stone, leaving a silent stillness in the air afterwards.
"What the hell?" A male voice called out.
I nearly breathed a sigh of relief when I began to hear the footsteps leaving Monika and coming towards me. However, this also created a new problem.
'Oh, shit. What now?' I asked myself to no answer.
With each footstep, I thought up my options. I couldn't move my arms or legs. The only part of my body I COULD move with some freedom was my head. With this information, I came up with my next move.
I waited until the person reached me. He stopped directly in front of me, no sounds to be heard. Several tense seconds passed before he made the move I was hoping he'd make.
I eventually felt breath on the back of my head, which was faced directly down. At the same time, I felt metal graze the side of my left arm. Knowing all of this, I made my move.
With what little bit of movement I could do with my hands, I reached around and grabbed his forearm that held the sword.
"What the-"
After that, I tensed every muscle in my body and threw my head back, bashing his face with my skull. All that came from his mouth was a grunt of pain, signifying he was mostly okay. While anyone else would think that was a bad thing, it was in fact a very big advantage for me. It meant there was a smaller chance of someone outside hearing him, meaning less or no reinforcements.
Loosening my grip on his arm just a bit, I let it slide back until I felt the silver sword's hilt in my palm, of which I re-tightened my grip on. My head now facing the attacker, I could see they were about my age, maybe a bit older. They wore a black coat and brown jeans.
They hadn't flinched much from the blow, so they were still quite close to me. With them coming back from the hit, there was about 40 centimeters between the two of us. I twisted my left hand and swung the sword against the back of his neck. It wasn't nearly enough to cut or even hurt him, but it pinned his body to mine as I grabbed the side of their coat and held the sword to the back of their neck.
"If you scream for help, you die." I threatened quietly. "Untie my wrists and I'll let you live." A few tense seconds passed in silence before he responded.
"Why should I trust you when you say that?" He asked, trying to sound intimidating, which was impressive considering he had a sword blade pressed up against the back of his neck.
"Because it's your only outlet." I said, keeping my voice steady. "All other options lead to the guarantee of death. You know what I'm capable of. I could cut through your esophagus in as much time as it would take me to blink. I don't need to hit any important blood vessels to stop you from screaming for help. Now, what'll it be?"
Several tense seconds passed with a torturous silence. I was starting to worry they had some sort of ace up their sleeve that could help them escape. Then, finally, they made a move.
With surprisingly shaky hands, they went over to my right hand and reached under the chair arm, grabbing a buckle that was keeping it in place. After a bit of fumbling around, they pulled the buckle loose and the leather shackle slid off my arm. It landed on the floor with a small 'clang' sound as the metal buckle made contact with the concrete floor.
A few moments later, the same was done to my left arm. With both arms now free, I reached down with my right arm and grabbed the ropes restricting my right leg. They were much weaker than the leather restraints for some reason, so I was able to just rip them off quite easily. Still, it was only possible to do that because of the ability to enhance my strength.
"Now tell me," I started as I stood up, "why did you come in here? What were your orders?" They gulped, filled with tension.
"I was instructed to kill the girl with the silver sword." He answered. "I don't know anything more than that."
I normally would've pressed him for more answers, but at that moment, I didn't have enough time for that.
"Alright. As per our agreement, I won't kill you." I told him, earning me a sigh of relief. "However, I also can't have you telling your superiors about our escape, so..."
Quick as a flash, I reared my free arm back and struck him directly in the nose, sending reverberations throughout his body. I brought the sword from his neck as he fell back limp, not dead but unconscious.
"That was... incredible." Monika commented. I turned to her, surprised. I nearly forgot she was there.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I walked over to free her from her bonds.
"It's just... you came up with a plan so quickly." She responded, slightly cringing as I cut the leather binding her wrists.
I initially disregarded her statement, but as I thought about it more, I realised she was right. Before, I never would've come up with a plan like that so quickly, much less execute it perfectly. It felt refreshing, if I'm being completely honest.
"A good old 'Joseph Joestar' over here, huh?" I joked as I moved on to freeing her legs. Monika gave me a strange look.
"'Joseph Joestar'? Who's that?" She inquired. I mirrored her strange look, but quickly came to the conclusion that she just hadn't watched all that much anime to get the joke. I chuckled and focused back on the task at hand.
"Don't worry about it. Just an inside joke." I laughed it off.
As I finished cutting the ropes tying her legs to the chair, I stood and backed up a bit to give Monika some room to stand up. Once she was on her feet, she began to rub her wrists, seeming to find them a bit sore from the leather.
"Hey, you alright?" I asked her, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. The bonds were just a bit tight." She explained, dropping her arms to her sides. "So, what's the plan?"
I looked around the room, thinking. I didn't need to think for very long, though, as there was only one thing on my mind at the time.
"We need to try to find the others. They should be somewhere in this place with us." I explained. "There are no security cameras in this room from the looks of it, so I'd assume they don't know about our escape quite yet." I turned to the unconscious body in front of the chair I was tied to. "But there's only so much time before they become suspicious about that guy not coming back. For the time being, stealth is the best option."
Monika nodded in agreement.
"I'll follow your lead." She told me. I nodded to her with a confident smile as I turned to the door.
I made my way over to the door and studied it. There were five locks on it, all built directly into the door. It was clearly designed to be secure to people trying to break in from the outside, but... that didn't make any sense. If it was designed to keep people out so forcefully, then why was the room used to keep us in?
"That's strange..." I thought aloud.
I shook the thoughts from my head, reminding myself that we had a job to do. I crouched next to the door and undid the locks one by one. I turned to Monika once I was done.
"You ready?" I asked, quieter than normal. Monika nodded in confirmation, coming over and kneeling behind me.
Reaching over and gripping the doorknob, I slowly turned it and pulled lightly. The door opened with a small creak. I peeked around the door, glaring into the area behind it. There was a long hallway with concrete making up the walls, floor, and ceiling. It was completely plain save for a few doors or windows on the walls.
"The coast is clear." I whispered. "Let's go."
Maintaining my crouch, I opened the door a bit more until I could fit through. Sticking to the door, I crept along it and exited the room with Monika following behind. The air immediately changed, feeling cooler and slightly less dead.
We stealthily made our way down the hall, peeking through windows to find the others and checking around corners to make sure we wouldn't be seen. As we travelled down corridor after corridor, the true scale of the place we were in boggled my mind. Hallways connected to other hallways and those hallways connected to more. Whoever made that place must've been really damn rich.
In addition, as it might've just been my lost depth perception, it felt like every corridor was so much longer than they initially appeared. My sense of direction was all out of whack, since the walls all looked the exact same. It felt like we were going around in circles.
"Hey." I heard Monika whisper. "Over here."
I turned around to find Monika pointing up at a window that I failed to check. Making my way over to her, I stood up a bit more and peeked inside, almost gasping as I saw what was in there.
It was a room almost exactly like the one Monika and I woke up in. It was literally just a box surrounded by concrete, with the exception of the door and window to the hallway. In the middle of the room were two chairs.
Mc and Sayori were sitting on the chairs, restrained in a similar manner to how Monika and I were. However, for some reason, they were blindfolded as well.
I ducked back down, looking at Monika.
"Come on." I turned towards the door into the room, on my left.
I crept over to the door and grabbed the knob, feeling my heart drop when it refused to turn. I tried again, but it had the same outcome. The door was locked, this time from the outside. I felt my heart drop, but then lift when I had an idea. I turned back to Monika.
"Hey, do you know how to pick locks?" I whispered. Monika shook her head.
"I might've known back when I worked with these guys, but I don't know now." She whispered back. "Even if I knew, we don't have anything to pick the lock with."
I turned back to the door and cursed under my breath. There had to be a way inside. We didn't have the key to the door, we couldn't pick the lock, and breaking the window would make too much noise. I thought of whatever options we had, then I had an idea.
"Monika, watch my back." I ordered. "I'm going to break the lock."
I clutched the silver sword tightly in my hands and stepped back to get a better angle. Bringing it forward, I carefully slipped the end of it into the keyhole. Now, I'll admit, I didn't exactly know what I was doing. The only time I'd ever broken a lock was in Splintercell, and even then, they used a knife. A sword wasn't as precise of a tool.
Acting by instinct, I began moving the sword around inside the lock. Wiggling it around, doing some light thrusts, but nothing seemed to work. I began to lose hope, up until I heard a small crack.
"Wait, what was that?" Monika asked quietly. "What did you do?"
"I don't know." I responded. "Hang on..."
Moving around a bit more, I found some resistance inside the lock. Pushing forward, a slightly louder crack sounded out. My heart froze, worried that someone might've heard that. Staying completely still for a minute, I breathed a sigh of relief as I came to the conclusion that we were the only ones who heard it.
"Okay, I'm going to do one big thrust into the lock." I told Monika. "Be prepared."
Without waiting for a response, I put all my weight into the sword's handle, pushing it as deep as I could into the lock. A loud crack emanated from inside, followed by a series of clangs. They weren't extremely loud, but they probably travelled down a good chunk of the hallway.
"What was that?!" A voice exclaimed from a way's down the corridor.
Thinking fast, I turned to Monika and mouthed the word 'run'. Nodding, Monika took off in the opposite direction of the voices, hiding behind a corner. I yanked the sword out of the lock and followed her lead, hiding alongside her just as I heard footsteps rushing into the hallway.
"It came from over there!" A second voice said.
I looked at Monika with an 'oh, shit' expression just as the first voice confirmed my fear:
"The lock's broken!" It pointed out, surprised.
I heard the door opening, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps inside. Not wasting any time, I rushed back around the corner and towards the room as quietly as I could.
Peeking around the corner of the doorway, I saw two people looking at Mc and Sayori suspiciously. I tried to think of a plan to... 'silence' the two of them, then I saw a pistol on each of their waists. But not just any pistols. These pistols had long barrels attached to the ends of each of them: silencers.
Monika came up beside me, glaring at the two people inside. I tapped her shoulder to get her attention, then pointed at the silenced pistols on the members' waists. She seemed to understand, then immediately began to creep up on the two of them. I followed suit.
Taking long, slow steps, we made our way up behind them. It was so stressful, trying to be quiet so they wouldn't hear us. Sneaking around people isn't as easy as you'd think. You ever just take a moment to listen and discover just how much you can hear? That's how much most others can hear, so you have a good idea of how careful you need to be while sneaking around someone.
As we got closer and closer, I reached for the silenced pistol on the waist of the person on the right. I didn't want to use the silver sword due to what Kojin told us about its abilities. In addition, swords could be difficult to use in close quarters and useless at long-range, so I wanted to try to knock off one of those restrictions. Monika followed my movements, reaching for the pistol on the person to the left.
We eventually found ourselves grabbing the pistols with two fingers, avoiding an awkward grip. I looked at Monika and nodded slowly, pulling up even slower. As we carefully removed the pistols, the two began to speak.
"What do you think happened?" One asked.
"I have no idea." The other responded. "They're restrained completely, there's no signs of the bonds breaking, and we haven't heard anything other than the lock break."
The pistols were a third of the way out.
"Hmmm..." They put their hand to their chin. "There's no way they broke the lock from the inside, either. There's no keyhole."
"Wait, what if they weren't the ones who broke the lock?"
The pistols were almost out. So close...
"Wait, you don't mean-?!"
The sudden movement that followed caused me to drop the gun, settling back into the holster. The two of them turned around suddenly, surprising all four of us in the room. A split second of silent shock passed before both of them reached for their guns.
'FUCK!' Was my only thought as I prepared to lunge forward.
Suddenly, before I could process what had happened, both of them fell over. The one in front of Monika fell backward, while the one in front of me fell to my right. Blinded by confusion, I looked over at Monika to find her holding a silenced pistol, pointing it at where the second person had been standing.
"I... wha... how..." I could barely speak. "Monika, how did you do that?"
Monika stayed silent. She looked shocked herself, like not even she knew how she did that.
"I... don't know..." She answered, confirming my suspicions. Monika, as far as I knew, had no real fighting experience outside of the fights with Yuri and Hiran. To move so quickly against two people who both had guns... it didn't make any sense. That is, until I considered one possibility.
"Monika... what if that was muscle memory?" I asked. "Even if you don't remember being a member of the Kamines, that doesn't especially mean that you've lost skills from back then."
Monika seemed to calm down a bit after hearing this possibility. However, she also looked a bit shameful at the mention of her previous affiliation. I would've comforted her, but we had more important things to worry about as I turned to Mc and Sayori, still tied to the chairs.
I walked over to them, reaching down and grabbing the silenced pistol on the corpse's belt. I made sure to point it down as I approached Mc first. They appeared to still be asleep at first glance, but I very quickly realised they were faking it. How, you ask? Well, let's just say that Sayori's fake snoring wasn't exactly the most convincing.
"Hey, Mc. You awake?" I whispered, taking off his blindfold.
His head snapped up and he stared at me in shock. Sayori's still-blindfolded face also looked up to my right, so Monika walked over to remove her blindfold.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys." Mc said.
"Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual." I joked as I undid his bonds. "There are two corpses and one unconscious guy in our wake. There's only so much time until that raises some alarms."
"Right to the point, huh?" Mc commented, taking a look at my silenced pistol. "Hey, how many bullets do you have in those?"
I opened my mouth to say I didn't know, but Monika answered before I could say anything.
"Alex has seventeen bullets, I have fifteen." Monika explained.
I looked over to her, seeing that she'd already freed Sayori, who was now standing next to her.
"How'd you know that?" I inquired. Monika sighed.
"Going through this place has... jogged my memory a bit." She admitted. "I'm starting to remember small details of the Kamines."
I was a bit surprised by this. If the theory behind Monika losing her memory was true, then there should've been no way to restore her lost memories. If they were gone, there shouldn't have been any way to remember them. This wasn't amnesia, it was a lack of storage. Could it be a glitch of some sort?
'No, it can't be a glitch.' I thought. 'Glitches are always instantaneous and have a full effect. She's only remembering small parts of this place, which doesn't match up with a glitch.'
As I finished untying Mc, I stood straight up and faced Monika. If she truly knew things about the Kamines, that could be a huge advantage for us.
"Do you remember anything else?" I asked. "Maybe a layout of the place? Where every room is? Directions to the exit?"
Monika put her hand to her chin, deep in thought. I expected her to speak soon, but she held this silent pose for what felt like a minute. Finally, just when I was about to prompt her again, she opened her mouth.
"I don't remember the whole layout of the facility, but I might be able to get us in the general direction of certain rooms." Monika explained. "As for the rooms, there are a lot of communication devices and cells like this one. The Kamines have at least one armory somewhere in here where a multitude of imported or stolen weapons are kept. The standard weapon that guards use is a silenced 9mm pistol with seventeen bullets." The three of us stared at her, wide-eyed.
"I didn't expect that much information, to be honest." I spoke. "Anything else?" Monika gave me an apologetic look.
"Anything past that point is too hazy." Monika answered. "Sorry."
"No, that's plenty." I reassured her. "Would you be able to guess where the others are being held?" Monika shook her head.
"There are way too many cells to make a guess at where they'd be." She responded.
"So, the plan is to-"
Suddenly, a loud, blaring sound began to echo throughout the hallways and all the rooms. An alarm was sounded, sending panic through us. Going on autopilot, we all rushed out of the room as fast as we could. Red lights flashed all around, giving everything a frantic feel. It wasn't long before we heard a voice calling through a series of loudspeakers:
"Code red! Code red!" It called. "Six prisoners have escaped! Repeat: Six prisoners have escaped! All security personnel report to the armory wing immediately!"
I didn't have any time to process the fact that they said 'six prisoners' instead of four. All I knew was that we had to get the fuck out of there.
"This way!" Monika yelled, running down the halls. The three of us chased after her, the red lights dancing across the walls accompanied by the screaming siren empowering our need to rush.
.
.
.
*One hour earlier*
{Okane POV}
"You really fucked up this time. You know that, right Okane?" Chad berated me. "First, you save the foreigner's life by giving them an antidote. Then, you kill our spy to save him again. And to top it all off, you exposed our organization to them and gave them information on us."
I slumped down in the chair I was restrained to, not ashamed, but disheartened. I went through all this trouble to save everyone, but still ended up getting them captured in the end. Now I was trapped the same way they were, in the same room as Tiffany.
"Chad... why?" I asked him with a loose jaw. "Why are you part of this cult? Why do you support the killing of so many innocent people?" Chad sneered in response, giving me an arrogant chuckle.
"That's none of your fucking business, 'buddy'." He spat. "Now, as for you..." He turned to Tiffany, who glared at him with hate-filled eyes. "I'm going to have some fun with you later."
"Fuck you." Tiffany responded simply. "What have you done with the others?" Chad smiled evilly in response.
"I'm not stupid, bitch." He answered smugly. "Do you really think that I'd reveal anything about that? I wouldn't want you to take advantage if you somehow escaped, now would I?" He suddenly stood up straight, trying to look tough. "You take me for some kind of ignorant grunt, don't you?! Well, I've got news for you, BITCH!"
As he yelled that final word, he brought his hand down and punched Tiffany directly in the nose, knocked her chair back. It tipped back and fell onto the concrete floor, letting out a loud 'BANG' as it did so. Tiffany cried out in pain from both the impact of Chad's fist and her head hitting the floor.
"You bastard!" I yelled. Chad ignored me, grabbing Tiffany's wrists and pulling her chair back upright.
"Oh, sorry about that." Chad mocked. "I guess I lost my temper right there. I'm not supposed to bang up the prisoners TOO bad before the show, but I'm sure they'll understand."
"Wait, 'the show'?" My anger disappeared, replaced with shock and fear. "Chad... you can't be serious!" Chad turned to me, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm serious all right." He uttered. "So, they never told you the plan from the start? Heh. Shows just how little we trusted you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go prepare the sacrifice." Chad laughed evilly as he left the room, locking all five locks on the door as he did. Tiffany and I were left in pure silence, while I was left in pure defeat.
"Iine..." I whispered. "I'm sorry..." I began to sob. "I failed you..."
I thought that I could stop them from killing her. I thought that I could end the Kamines once and for all. Well, as it turned out, I failed. We were captured by them, and Kami would be-
"HEY! WAKE UP!" Tiffany suddenly yelled at me. My head snapped up, turning to her.
"What is it?" I asked, dejectedly. She looked at me with an annoyed expression.
"Are you REALLY just going to sulk like that?" She spat. "Are you just going to give up because we're tied up in a couple of chairs?" It took me a moment to process her words.
"Tiffany... don't you realise the situation we're in?" I inquired. "We've been captured by the Kamines. The leather binding our wrists has been strengthened in at least 30 different substances and can't be ripped in any way. The ropes binding our legs are strong enough to restrain an elephant. How can you have hope in this situation?" Tiffany looked at me with a determined expression.
"Alex didn't risk his life for us to just give up here." Tiffany pointed out. "Monika didn't reset the universe for that to happen, either. I don't care what it takes, I'm not going to let the Kamines beat us now. If you're just going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself while they kill your sister, you may as well still be on their side! The fight isn't over!"
Tiffany's harsh words got me thinking. Looking back straight ahead, I began to ponder her advice. As I thought more and more, I realised something. I didn't WANT to give up. I wanted to escape. I wanted to finish what I started. I WOULD finish what I started. With a renewed vigour, I began to fidget my right arm in a specific way.
"You know, Tiffany, you can be really damn charismatic when you try." I told her. "I'm sorry for anything I said to you before any of this happened. I know you probably won't forgive me, but I'll do my best to make it up to you." Tiffany sighed deeply.
"I really goddamn hate you; you know that?" She joked. "But even though that's the case, I can't help but admire your will to do the right thing now."
"It's what Alex would do." I said. "I'm sick of being the coward."
"Is that why you betrayed them?" Tiffany asked. "To prove yourself?"
"No, it's not just that." I shook my head as I continued to fidget my arm. "I'm doing this because I don't want anyone to suffer anymore. I'm doing this to reject my lineage of those who did harm to innocent people. I'm doing this..." I suddenly choked on my words. "Because I don't want Iine killed..."
For the next few seconds, the only thing to hear in the room was the sound of my arm rubbing up against the leather and wood of the chair. I held back my tears as best I could, but a few managed to fall out and land on my pants. Driven by a stronger worry, I doubled up on my attempts against the bonds.
"You really do care about your sister, huh?" Tiffany suddenly inquired. "She must be happy to have a brother like you."
I was suddenly taken aback by that sentence. What she said... I'll admit, it warmed my heart, but it also made me feel a bit guilty. I treated Iine like shit before, back when I was still planning for my betrayal. I wanted to make it seem like I was still faithful to the Kamines, but I now worried I may have gone too far. My parents berated Iine, so I did the same to cover up my tracks. I loved my sister, but I clearly didn't allow that fact to show.
'Should I tell her?' I wondered, referring to Tiffany. 'No one else knows about this besides my parents...' What I was thinking of was a fact about Iine that not even she knew. 'Oh, whatever... I have to tell everyone eventually.'
I turned to Tiffany, still fidgeting my arm and spoke to her.
"You're wrong." I denied. "I treated her like shit alongside my parents to cover up my plans of betrayal. I needed to make sure I wasn't suspected, so I did what the Kamines did. I'm not proud of it, nor am I happy about it." Tiffany gave me a sad look.
"Okane..." She was unable to say anything else. Unable to give me any advice or help. Honestly, I was fine with that, as I wasn't done.
"There's one last thing..." I took a deep breath, preparing to say it. "Iine isn't actually my biological sister."
"What?" Tiffany sounded mildly surprised.
"Iine is my step-sister." I stated again. "You see, Heishi isn't my birth father, either. My true dad was used as a sacrifice in a ritual because he betrayed the Kamines. My mother remarried with Heishi when Iine was just eleven years old. Heishi didn't know about the Kamines, but once he was sucked in, he couldn't escape. Despite his strong appearance, he feared the power of the Kamines if he were to betray them. He's a coward, going along with the beliefs and orders of this murderous cult."
I felt a rage beginning to build inside me, turning my words and actions more aggressive.
"He's a fucking coward to let this continue when people are dying by the Kamines' hand." I spat. "What's more, my mother forced ME to be the one to kill my actual father! When I was only thirteen, I was forced to slit the throat of the one man who had any sense in my family!" I burst out in tears, sobbing heavily.
"O-Okane, there's still time to-"
"Tiffany." I interrupted her, suddenly calm. "Do you remember the story of the Burondo's and the Shiroi's? Do you remember what I told you about the bloodline?"
"U-uh... every generation, there was one child who rejected the rituals. They were always... a Burondo, right?" Tiffany answered, a bit confused. "But in the most recent generation, the one good Burondo child had less good in them, right?" I nodded, tears still streaming from my eyes.
"But... in addition to that... there was something I haven't told you about that child. It's something you've probably already figured out, but... I just want to make sure." I explained. "That Burondo child... is me. I wasn't always good."
"Back when I killed my birth father, I still believed in the Kamines' beliefs." I told Tiffany, clenching my fists. "When I killed him, I believed I was doing the right thing. You want to know how I felt as I killed him? I enjoyed it! I killed an innocent man and had fun doing it. I was a goddamn monster. Killing innocent people, hurting families, attacking anyone in sight just because my mother told me to!"
I shed tear after tear, crying at my own evil actions.
"The things I've done... the things I've destroyed..." I sobbed. "I can't ever hope for forgiveness..."
My right arm was now jerking around, creating a creaking noise in the chair. I threw the weight of my arm around, causing the creaks to continue. Just a little more... come on...
Finally, with one big yank, a loud 'SNAP' sounded out and my arm flew free, but still retrained to the chair arm. The arm had disconnected from the rest of the chair, leaving splintered wood on the end. Tiffany looked at me in shock. I looked at her, cutting off the tears as best I could.
"But even if I can't undo my past actions..." I uttered with a smile. "I can still fix everyone's futures by destroying the Kamines."
"I- wha-" Tiffany stuttered.
"Back when I was still recording the cassette tapes, I sabotaged the chairs in each room I was sure you guys would be held in." I explained as I undid the rest of my bonds. "Weakening the right arm just enough so it wasn't noticeable was just a backup plan that I wasn't sure would come into effect, but I'm glad I did it." Once I quickly got all my bonds undone, I stood up and walked over to Tiffany.
As I undid her wrists, I caught her looking at me strangely. This time, it wasn't a suspicious or angry look. It was more so one of interest or admiration. Once I was done releasing her arms, I stood back to let her undo her legs.
"What do you say we get out and find the others?" I asked. "Alex stayed behind for a bit in the void, so we can assume he either woke up just a bit after us or hasn't woken up at all yet."
"Yeah, good idea." Tiffany agreed, standing up. I turned around and started towards the door, but Tiffany grabbed my shoulder.
"What is it?" I inquired, turning around. Tiffany had a sad look on her face, plastering a smile on as best she could.
"If your real dad could see you now, I'm sure he'd be proud." She told me. "It... takes a lot to change like this."
I felt more tears welling up, extremely near to bursting. However, I choked the majority of them back, wiping away the ones that got through.
"Thanks, Tiffany." I thanked her, turning back towards the door. "I really needed that."
Not waiting for a response, I crept over to the door, crouching down in front of it. Tiffany followed close behind me, also crouching. Stopping in front of the metal door, I reached my hand towards the knob, freezing right before I touched it.
'Something isn't right...' I thought.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, the doorknob began to turn on its own. Panicking I bolted to the side, waiting where the door would open to. Seeing my panic, Tiffany followed and hid right next to me. Turning around, I mouthed to Tiffany:
"When the door opens, be ready to run." I mouthed. Tiffany nodded frantically, looking back at the door, which was now beginning to open.
I waited as it creaked inward to the room, moving as slowly as it could. Tensing my legs, I watched with extreme focus. Suddenly, a shadow passed into the room, and I pounced. However, the person waiting for me wasn't who I was expecting. Rather, it was...
"Keisatsu?" I asked, incredulous as said person stared at me with confused eyes.
End of Chapter 13 (Part 2)