Rokka no Yuusha: Child of the Goddess
Summary: She couldn't have lived a happier life. But today she would be committing suicide. She had no other choice; her duty to protect the secrets that her hidden temple held, and her duty to protect the young child chosen by the Goddess of Fate was more important than her own life. It was a sacrifice she had to make. For the child, and for the world.
Disclaimer: This is a fan-fiction story of the Anime/Manga/Light Japanese Novel; Rokka no Yuusha, and is in no way affiliated with the actual story in any of the aforementioned media. All characters and other materials related to the show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant. However, any characters that are not related to any copyrights are copyrighted to Elemental-Zer0, as are any adaptions/variations to the plot set out in the original author's story/plot.
Authors Note: Sorry this one is a little shorted than the last chapter. I couldn't really find anything else to add without moving on to a whole new chapter entirely. It's a s good a stopping point as I could reach. Next chapter will hopefully see more team interaction but no promises. Again I can't update regularly as real life is currently very tumultuous atm, so my apologies on that front again.
Anyways, let me know what you think, but no flames please. If you have any criticism to make, please do it politely otherwise I shall ignore your words. (It's happened before, I'm sorry to say, and I hadn't even posted any real chapters…)
Chapter Three: Memories of a Different Kind
"I think we need to talk about your power of telepathy."
Adlet's world slowed down as he tried to comprehend this strange comment. He studied the feline assassin carefully. The teen was sat in an imposing posture, relaxed but ready. He wasn't aggressive, nor did he appear uncomfortable. The teen's eyes were passive but determined, and there was no hint of deceit or amusement hidden in them. Adlet frowned inwardly; Hans was not being playful or deceitful. The assassin truly believed that Adlet had performed some kind of telepathy in his sleep.
Adlet's mind then turned over that possibility. Telepathy? Him? But how? Only females had the genetic requirements to use and master magic. Last he checked, he was definitely not female. For all intents and purposes, what Hans believed he'd experienced was impossible. And yet…
Adlet studied Hans' behaviour again, looking for any flaws or tells. It was unnerving, the young assassin was steadfast in his belief. Adlet's world tilted a little. He mentally shook his head. No. This wasn't possible. Hans had to be lying or misunderstood something.
All of the above happened in the blink of an eye in the real world and Adlet came back to reality with disturbed frown. He took a breath and tried not to think too heavily on the matter. Hans was just over tired and clearly hearing things.
"I don't know why you seem to think that, but I can assure you I have no power, least of all telepathy." He replied calmly as he sat himself down on the rock outcropping. He was still too warm from his recent dream that he couldn't recall. He felt Hans' body tense a little and heard the frown in the assassin's voice when he spoke.
"I'm not hearing things, nor did I imagine it, nyah." He said clearly and truthfully. "You definitely called out for help using telepathy. I have felt it before nyah, I recognised the power almost instantly." He added and continued to stare at Adlet. Adlet turned to him surprised and even more confused.
"You've felt a telepathic cry for help before?" The flame haired leader asked curiously. And Hans nodded while pulling out a small working knife that hadn't been used for the kind of work it had been created for, for a long time.
"I've met a lot of unique people in my line of work." He replied, looking away for the first time since they'd stepped outside the cave. "Some more-so than others, nyah." He added, insinuating a deeper message.
The two fell silent for a few minutes, the quiet enveloping each teen inside their own reverie until Hans broke it with a loud sigh. "I know we both have our secrets. I know you don't fully trust me and I'd have less respect for you if you had." The assassin began and Adlet knew this was going to be a truthful and honest conversation, due to the lack of any cat-like noises in the young man's words. He paid careful but guarded attention.
"I'm not a morally righteous person. I've got a past like all of us do and I'm not proud of most of it. But it's the only way of life I know." Hans preluded before getting to his point. He paused for a moment, gathering his breath and courage in the same action. "One job, the target was a young girl. She was a Saint candidate, but her power was too strong for her to control. She was a rich and spoilt brat and ironically had the power of empathy. A sort of similar power to telepathy." The young assassin explained. "In the end the whole village hired me to end the problem and I did. Managed to charge seven fees separately too." He gave an empty smile before it fell, and he looked back at Adlet with a serious look. "She felt me in her rooms before I had moved. She panicked. She screamed both with her voice, and without it. It was in my mind for years after the deed." He confessed, his eyes unwavering in his stare at the young leader.
"I felt it again this evening while you were dreaming about who knows what. It was your voice, your presence and your fear that ran through my mind." Hans finished with a frown. Adlet could only stare, incomprehension clear on his face before he could hide it. "And, it would seem that you had no idea you had even done it." The assassin added before shaking his head in disbelief. Adlet frowned, feeling a little defensive for some unknown reason and just a reasonable amount of fear too.
"What you're accusing me of is impossible. How can a man use magic? It's impossible." Adlet reasoned but Hans just grinned at him in that impish way that couldn't hide the truth if he'd tried.
"And yet here we are." He said with a shrug. Hans was acting nonchalantly about the ordeal but Adlet could see that the event that had panicked him was still lingering. And Adlet wasn't sure what to think about this new impossible. How could he have an ability such as telepathy? Everything he'd been taught to-date told him it was not achievable and yet Hans was not lying.
Then another thought came to the young leader. "What did I say in this telepathic thing I supposedly did?" He asked the young assassin. If he could get a clue, maybe it might trigger a memory of the dreams. That is if he could convince himself to believe the idea that he might have a magical gift. Hans seemed to catch on to the idea too if his grin was anything to judge by.
"Hmmm it wasn't much but you were crying out for a 'sister in white'. Think I saw a demon attacking you too but…" Hans continued to talk but Adlet's mind had latched on to the 'sister in white' comment. Something of a vague memory seemed to struggle to the surface of his mind. A familiar white dress, long dark hair and pale skin that almost glowed. It was so fuzzy and foggy that he almost didn't believe he was seeing it, but the feeling of warmth and safety at her presence was so strong that he knew it had to be real. The full memory was so tantalisingly close that he felt as if he could just reach out and…
"Oi! Adlet! Wake up!" It hadn't been a loud shout, just an urgent tone of voice but all the same, Adlet came back to his senses with a jolt. Hans was suddenly in his view, looking concerned again and it shocked Adlet a little. He'd spaced out again to the point where the outside world had been a mystery to him. His guard had been down yet again and had anything happened he'd probably not be sat here to worry about it.
"Hans." He uttered bewildered. 'What just happened?'
"You were drifting in your mind again. No matter what I said you just ignored me." Hans explained. And Adlet looked up at him again in shock. Had he asked the last question out loud? He hadn't meant to do that either. He screwed his eyes shut and bowed his head into his hands to try and block out the headache that was forming between his eyes, again. 'What the hell is happening to me?'
"I don't know, but we will need to figure this out soon, nyah. It's creeping me out a little." Hans said and Adlet suddenly jerked his head back up to stare at Hans. He knew he hadn't voiced that last question and yet Hans had answered as though he'd heard it. 'Is he reading my thoughts?'
"Nyah… I don't think its me doing the reading, but rather you doing the projecting…" Hans replied and he continued to stare at the flame-haired leader as though he'd grown another head. Which, in comparison to what was happening, seemed less crazy.
Adlet silently despaired. 'First the dreams, then the half memory and now I'm talking into other people's heads?!' What was going on? This was impossible!
"Oi, stop freaking out it's giving me a headache." Hans tried but the very fact that Hans had known he was silently freaking out had sent Adlet reeling again.
'Stop!' He thought at his own mind. 'Just stop it!' Adlet squeezed his eyes shut and with the biggest push of mental exertion he could muster, threw his will into the world and commanded the strangeness to just stop.
The stillness that followed was a welcome relief. The silence a reprieve of the tumultuous headache from only moments before.
'Hush young miracle, I am with you.' The words of a soft female voice whispered across his ears almost imperceptibly. He knew this voice. It was familiar, warm, and safe. A flash of dark hair, white iridescent skin and imploring green eyes seared itself on to his retinas and suddenly a vision of a Monastery to the Goddess of Fate appeared to him in a flash of agony. Adlet cried out in pain.
Hans was by his side instantly, his hands on the young leader's shoulders in a show of camaraderie support for there was little else he could do to aid the ailing teen. Adlet's shout had been brief and short but he still feared he'd woken someone up. Slowly he blinked away the tears of pain and let his head fall back against the rock wall behind him. Hans, sensing the moment had changed to something less urgent, sat himself down next to the man he'd agreed to follow into the heart of this demonic land.
"Adlet?" Hans asked, his question holding many at once but leaving it open for Adlet to answer as he saw fit. Hans had seen the images too, along with the voice of a female but after that, the connection had just fallen silent.
"I… I'm alright. I think." Adlet answered shakily. "Did you…?" He asked, wondering if Hans had seen and heard what he had but unwilling to really find out.
"Yeah, I saw it and heard it all." Hans replied, knowing what the young teen had been asking without the aid of any telepathic messages. "But I can't hear or see anything from you now. I think you managed to shut it off." Hans added in what he'd hoped was a reassuring manner, but he wasn't convinced he'd pulled it off. "Do you remember any of what you saw just now?" He asked, curious as to whether the same effect that happened when the young leader was dreaming would happen in this waking nightmare too.
"Yeah." Adlet replied and opened his eyes to stare at the starless sky above. "I don't understand what just happened or what I saw… but I remember it." He added and let himself relax a little more against the uncomfortable rock wall supporting him.
It had hurt like nothing he'd ever known before, but he finally had a memory back.
'But what does it all mean?' He thought to himself and half expected Hans to respond despite Hans telling him he felt the connection was gone. But the assassin remained silent. It was over. Adlet sighed a little in relief.
Tgurneu stirred from his musings. He stepped over to a small hole in the wall that served as a window to the forsaken landscape that was his home. Something familiar had stirred in the air this night. Human in origin. He was sure of it. And it was definitely something he had felt before, only it had been 300 years ago. Which seemed impossible to imagine, due to human's life spans being unable to survive much past a hundred years or so. The Maidens of magic were of course an exception, but this was not a Maiden he could feel. He was familiar with all the current Maidens of Magic and their individual auras and this very faint, whisper was different to all of them. Was it a new Maiden of Magic? He pondered. New but old. It confused him.
The only time he remembered feeling this curious and strange aura was when he'd been plundering a monastery just before the Maijin had been defeated the last time. It had been a very clear aura at the time, young too. Very young. In both magic and age. The Priestess had been extremely attentive to the young aura and had done an exceptional job at hiding the source from him before he could find out about the new oddity. But now the aura was back, faint but familiar and alone without its protective Priestess to hide behind.
The oddity piqued his interest and his curiosity became unable to focus on anything else. Tgurneu stood from his workspace and headed to the opening of his dwellings. He felt the irresistible need to find out what had just reawakened and why the Priestess had deemed it more important to protect than her own life.
A wicked grin spread across its unsightly features as the excitement built up inside.
This was going to be interesting.
A/N: Have you guessed what's going on yet? I'm curious as to how transparent I am with my plot. I'm trying to keep it secret, but I don't think I'm doing a good job on that.