Witness
Riku stretched out her arms. She was absolutely bored out of her mind. Just another lazy, boring, Sunday morning. She thought dully. Her twin sister, Risa, was on the phone. She was calling all sorts of fortunetellers, as usual. But she never stopped calling them till they gave her the fortune she wanted. Rikku found it to be an annoying habit of her sister, but Risa never changed her mind when it came to fortune telling. It was almost an obsession.
But the worst part was, they were all about Dark, her greatest obsession. What does she see in someone like that? Rikku thought with irritation. She sighed. Getting annoyed with her twin wouldn't get rid of her boredom.
She looked out the window of her room. The sky was so clear, and a light wind danced with the water below her window. The air was warm too, but not too hot. It was a very beautiful day. Why stay here all day long? Riku thought, and then smiled.
She ran out of her room, while putting on her jacket at the same time. Before taking off into the beautiful day, she made a quick stop to Risa's room. The younger twin was about to dial another number. "Hey!"
Risa jumped a bit. Her head whirled around to see her sister. "Hey, don't scare me like that!" She scolded.
Riku rolled her eyes a bit. "I'm going on a walk, I just wanted to let you know."
"Oh. Okay." Risa nodded, then turned back to her phone without a second thought.
Riku sighed a bit. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that her sister was glued to the phone. She turned away from Risa's room, and headed for the front door.
--
The Queen and 7
"There's no point in trying to run." The rose pink haired girl said. "I already told them you're here." She put down a brown, paper bag. Inside the bag, was a phone to contact the Facility once Lucy was found.
Lucy, who was sitting down on the stone steps, began to rise.
"Are you…going to kill me too?" Nana asked meekly.
The magenta haired girl didn't look at her. "To this day…" She began. "I haven't killed a single person." She said. Lucy didn't consider humans to be real people at all. What kind of person would touchier a girl till she cried? Lucy started to walk away. She had no intention of harming the other Diclonious.
"Ah, please wait!" Nana called from behind. She ran down a few steps. Lucy turned her head to look at the girl for the first time. She was wearing a plain dress in comparison to her own, colorful outfit. Then again, the only reason the younger girl was even wearing clothes was because she was going into the outside world. Once she returned home, they would strip her nude again. "Oh…it's no good if I can't bring you back…" She said, looking down a bit.
Lucy sighed with frustration. Apparently this girl wasn't going to give up easily. There was only one other way she could think of to get rid of her without harming her. That was to scare her straight. All four of Lucy's vectors escaped from her back. One of them grabbed Nana's head, another at her chest. The other two were grabbing her shoulders. Number 7's eyes went wide like dear in headlights.
"Don't move." Lucy said coldly. "I could rip out the blood vessels in your brain, killing you instantly…" She noticed the look in her eyes, her point was clearly made. The vectors released Nana. "Forget it, go home." She resumed walking down the stone steps, planning to forget about their encounter.
"But-" Nana's voice began.
Lucy turned back to her immediately. She had enough of this girl. A vector quickly snaked out of her back, and smacked Nana into the stone wall next to the stone steps. She fell onto the steps, and three small drops of blood splashed onto the steps from the girl's mouth.
"I was going to let you go, and think of you as just an annoying relative, but…" As Lucy spoke in a cold voice, Nana lowered her head to hide her tears. "…You're becoming a pain in the ass."
"This…" Nana said with a growl. She stood up, the blood ran down her chin, but she couldn't care less. "This doesn't hurt at all!" She shouted. All four of the young girl's vectors shot out of her back, and aimed for Lucy.
Lucy, without much difficulty, jumped back to avoid the vectors. She never had to battle on of her own kind before, because she never had to. There was to telling what kind of a reach the other Diclonious could have. Just as she was thinking this, a vector quickly punched her in her chest, sending her flying into a near by graveyard. Lucy crashed into a rather large tombstone. She gritted her teeth in pain. She lifted up her head as the sound of footsteps approached her.
Nana stood in front of Lucy with a serious look on her face. No more playing around. A vector extended from her back, and grabbed Lucy by her neck. The vector lifted her up in the air as high as the three-meter range would allow. It then slammed her to the ground, and pushed her back into the tombstone.
Lucy's vectors immediately shot out from her back, and reached for Nana. They stopped in front of her face, reaching for her in vain.
"Your reach is…longer than mine?" Lucy said, even though the vector was still gripped her neck tightly.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you." Nana said. "But, for Papa, I will punish you."
Lucy's face was twisted with pain, and anger. Her hands were wrapped around the vector, trying to pry it off of her neck, but it was a wasted effort.
"If I was serious, you would have died three times by now." The bubble gun pink haired girl began. "All it would take is one strike.
Lucy's anger grew; she wasn't going to put up with this girl any longer. All four of her vectors extended from her back, but they weren't going after Nana this time. Instead, they lifted up the tombstones around her, and threw them at her.
Number 7 gasped, and lost her grip on Lucy's neck. She quickly jumped out of the way, and landed on the ground. But she wouldn't give up this easily; she looked back at Lucy, who was just getting to her feet. One of Nana's vectors hit her in the jaw with an uppercut.
--
Older Harada
Riku took in a deep breath, and stretched out her arms. The fresh air in her lungs filled her with a feeling of euphoria. A part of her wished her twin would join her, but Risa would only talk about Dark, or complain about being bored. She sighed. She often wished that her sister would join her on these outgoings, but Risa was more of an indoor girl.
Riku, on the other hand, loved the outdoors. She loved the feeling of the wind blowing her hair gently. The air was so crisp, and everyone was so much more alive outside.
She walked down the streets casually. She waved politely to the faces she knew, and said hello to any friends she happened to pass by. Once the clock noon, her stomach began to rumble.
I haven't eaten since seven this morning… Riku thought. Her brown eyes searched for a stand of some kind. She hadn't taken much money with her, but she had enough for something small.
Eventually, the red head found a small ice cream stand, with small prices too. She smiled happily, and walked up to the stand. "Excuse me?" She said to get the vender's attention.
"Oh, hello Miss. What can I get you today?" He asked in a polite voice. He was in his middle thirties, with a slight tan, and dark set eyes.
"I'd like an chocolate ice cream cone, please." She said with a smile.
"Of course." He said, and nodded. The man filled the order, and handed her the cone. "That will be 700 yen." He said. Riku gave him the money.
"Thank you." She said to him, and walked happily away with the cone. I'm broke now, but this ice cream looks like it's worth it. She thought with a smile. She knew that she'd better eat it quickly, or it would melt. But she wanted to go to a special place to eat the cone. She knew of a place where she could sit down, and relax with her ice cream.
The stone steps.
They gave a beautiful view of the ocean, and where lined up with cherry trees in full bloom. She wasted no time in walking there. It wasn't too far from her location, but she wanted to get there before her ice cream melted away into a chocolate puddle.
She sat down midway up the steps, and licked the drops of liquid chocolate off of the waffle cone.
As she ate the cone, her eyes fixed on a small island off in the distance. It wasn't too far from shore, but there was only one visible building on its small surface. Plus, nobody was ever, ever allowed to go there. When her brown eyes met up with this mysterious island, she would wonder what went on there. Why was it always shut off from the rest of the world? What could they possibly be hiding?
Maybe it's an alien. Riku had thought, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she scratched it out. That was way too bizarre. There was no possible way that they could be hiding an alien. But, if it's not an alien, what are they hiding?
The red head's thoughts where quickly interrupted. A hard, crashing sound filled the air around her. Several birds flew over Riku's head, and fled the scene.
"What was that?" She thought out loud, and rose up to her feet. She began to run down the steps. From where she was standing, she could see the dust cloud around the cemetery, clearing.
What the heck is going on over there? She wondered. Whatever it is, I'm going to find out.
--
The fight
"Why won't you just come home with me?" Nana asked Lucy, who now stood in front of her. She didn't want to fight this girl; she didn't like to hurt anyone. But she refused to go home without one. "You can't beat me with suck stubby arms!" She shouted.
A dark smirk grew on Lucy's lips. Her vectors sprung out of her back, and scooped up another set of tombstones, and threw them at number 7.
Nana quickly maneuvered her body to dodge the attack. Lucy's attack pattern became so predictable. All she ever did was throw things, heavy things, at her. Although her vectors were shorter, they were much stronger.
"She's stronger than me after all…" Her words echoed her thoughts as she noticed something dire. Lucy was gone.
"Where did she go?" She asked herself allowed. She looked around herself, but didn't see the Queen anywhere.
Lucy's vector arm held her high in the air, and held her behind Nana. Thus, giving her an advantage over the young girl. She lifted up another batch of tombstones above her, and threw them at the young girl.
They crashed to the floor at Nana's feet. A cloud of dust sounded her. Lucy grinned. There's no way that girl could have survived that… She thought smugly. But her dark grin was whipped of her face as the cloud cleared. The form of Nana's body became visible, and so did her vectors. They were stretched above her, forming a protective arc around her body.
"Looks like you learned something during the time you spent as they're genuine pig." She said to her in a flat voice.
The bubble gum pink haired girl began to rise, and brushed the dust off the skirt of her dress. "You know, I finally get to dress up nice, and you get dirt all over me!" She said in a slightly irritated voice.
Once again, Lucy lifted in the air another set of tombstones with her vectors.
"What? This, again! Can't you think of anything new?" Nana shouted at her enemy as she threw the stones at her. One of her vectors quickly grabbed the branch of a tree, and pulled her out of harms way.
Nana hovered in the air for only a very short moment. Lucy quickly joined her. She looked over to the ruby-eyed Diclonious with shock. A vector punch hit her in the stomach with great force, knocking the wind out of her. Lucy smiled darkly at Nana as the pained expression spread across her face. Another vector came out of her back, and smacked the young girl back to the ground. Nana's body crashed into the ground, kicking up another cloud of dust.
Lucy's vectors lowered herself back down the ground with care. Nana began to stand up. She glared at her opponent hardly. It was just as she feared; Lucy wasn't going to come with her without drastic measures.
"I hate to do this…" Nana began. Lucy looked at her with a slightly confused expression, but it quickly changed to horror.
One of Nana's vectors gripped her leg tightly, and she was out of range.
"…But it looks like you won't be leaving." She said.
Before Nana could complete the gruesome task, a girl came running up the steps to the cemetery. She had short, dark red hair, with big brown eyes. "Hey!" She shouted to the Diclonii. "Don't fight!"
Nana's pink eyes widened. No…that girl…she'll get hurt! The natural goodness in her made her warn the girl. "No, don't come this way!" She shouted, and stepped out of the safety zone.
She was now in Lucy's vector range, a terrible mistake.
Lucy began to smirk as Nana's vector lost its grip on her leg. This was her chance to end this fight. Her own vector extended from her back, and reached out to her opponent.
Slash.
Nana's right leg was ripped off her body by Lucy's vector. The young girl's balance was gone, and she began to fall. Her arms extended forward to catch her self. Her eyes widened as she saw Lucy's vector come back.
This time, the razor sharp vector sliced of the digits on her left hand. She watched in horror as her fingers flew away from her body.
Riku's eyes widened in shock, and horror as she watched the girl's leg land in front of her. She glanced down at the leg, and the blood pooling around it. Her whole body began to shake with fear. This…this can't be real! She thought in disbelief. But there was no denying it, this was real. She let out a high-pitched scream.
At once, Lucy's attention was taken off of Nana, and on to Riku. The girl's scream was loud, and annoying. She had enough of girls like that for one day. A vector went to Riku to get rid of her. It lifted up by her stomach, and threw her into a near by tree. A branch hit her on the head, and knocked the young witness out.
Nana managed to turn her body, so that she was lying on her back. Pools of blood began to form around her severed leg, and her fingerless hand. An expression of pain was present on her face. It…hurts…it hurts! She thought. Papa…save me… She prayed mentally. Tears threatened to spill down her checks. Never before had she experienced pain like this before. Even at home when she would have to go through the experiments, she never went through something like this.
Then, she heard the footsteps of the one she was trying to capture. Lucy stood over Nana, and glared down at her.
Despite the horrible pain she felt in her bleeding hand, she pushed herself up in a sitting position with her hands.
"This…this doesn't hurt at all!" She shouted at Lucy, and masked her pain with a brave face.
Lucy immediately ripped off the arm belonging to Nana's bleeding hand. The sound of the bone snapping was only hidden by Nana's scream of pain. She gripped her bloody stump of an arm with her hand.
"Still doesn't hurt?" Lucy asked Nana in a dark, sadistic voice.
In desperation, Nana began at attempt to escape Lucy. She used her remaining arm and leg to crawl away from the Queen. But she only made it a few inches from her. The pain was too intense to try to escape. So, all she could do was beg. She looked back at Lucy with tears in her pink eyes. "Please don't…no more…don't." She begged, but her pleas were ignored. Lucy would show her no mercy.
The vector arm grabbed her leg, and ripped it off gingerly. Then, it grabbed her one last limb, the arm that held the rest of her up. It ripped the arm off what was remaining of her body. Nana fell backwards on the cold ground. She stared up at the sky in shock.
"Pa…pa…" She whispered in a soft, fading voice. Blood spilled from what was remaining of her limbs, and surrounded her body.
"Does it hurt now?" Lucy asked. "Is it too hard for you? Relax, it will all be over soon." She said to the bleeding girl. She lifted up her arm, and prepared to deal the final blow. She was going to tear off her head.
A bullet flew past Lucy's head, and missed her by only a few inches. She forgot about finishing off Nana, and looked over to where she thought who shot her was hiding.
Footsteps approached Lucy from behind. A man was walking up the staircase to the cemetery. He had short, black hair, and blue eyes hidden away by his glasses. He was clad in a proper suit for work, but had no tie around his neck. He had removed it earlier, and gave it to his daughter. It was none other that Chief Kurama.
Lucy turned her head to look at him.
His eyes widened with shock as he looked down at number 7. "Nana…" He said in disbelief. The young girl who had been so lively was now lying in a pool of her own blood.
"Papa…" She whispered. Papa…you came…just like you said you would… She thought. I need…to help Papa! She looked at Lucy with a determined look in her eyes, and unleashed on last attack. Pain had thrown of her concentration to use her vectors, but with Kurama near, she had the strength inside to use them one more time. One arm extended from her back, and grabbed Lucy's head.
Lucy grabbed her head in pain. A pounding headache gripped her mind at once. But as quick as it came, in vanished. She glared at Nana with anger.
"Damn you!" She shouted at the bloody girl. It's time for me to finish her off anyway. She thought, but there was one problem.
Her vectors weren't coming out.
"What the?" My arms…they're not coming out! She thought with shock. Immediately, Lucy looked back at Nana. "What did you do?" She shouted at her.
There Papa…now she can't hurt you… Nana thought, and felt somewhat happy with that fact. Disabling the vectors of other Diclonii was a special power her vectors possessed. She won't do to you what she did to me…you're safe, Papa…safe…
"That's enough." Kurama said, and broke Nana's train of thought.
Now that Lucy's attention was taken off of Nana, she finally noticed the troop of men with their guns had the chance to surround her. Her eyes dropped slightly. For the first time, she felt defeated. Without her vectors, she had little chance of fighting off these men.
"I will never forgive you…" Kurama said. "Never."
A man walked up next to the Chief. He had thin rim glasses, a pristine white lab coat on his fluffy build, and very short black hair. "It's too late for number 7, there's no point in trying to retrieve her." He told Kurama, but he didn't listen to him.
Kurama walked away from the safety zone, and into Lucy's range. But he wasn't afraid; he knew that Lucy wouldn't kill him. No, she had other ways to make him suffer. He kneeled down next to Nana, and scooped her up into his arms. "Nana, I came here to save you." He told her with a gentle voice.
"Papa…I'm sorry, I got you neck ribbon all dirty…" She said to him in a weak voice. Her face was becoming paler as she continued to lose blood.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" He asked her.
"Because…I thought if I caught her on my own, that you would be proud of me. But…I messed up…I'm sorry papa…" She whispered.
"Papa is it?" Lucy said from behind them. "I thought your daughter was dead." She said to him coldly.
"Yes…" Kurama said to her, and gently placed Nana back onto the cold floor again. He turned backwards, and struck Lucy across the face. "I killed her myself!" He shouted at her.
Lucy fell to the ground as the eyes of the men widened with shock.
She began to push herself back up, and looked back over she shoulder to glare at Kurama. "That pain is nothing, compared to what you put Nana through." He said to her coldly. "But, if there's anything I can do to make up for it, I'll do it." He said.
Lucy looked around herself. The men were ready to fire at her as soon as the order was given. She had to get away from here, vectors or not. She leaped up from where she was, and landed on a shorter grave stone. She jumped from the stone to stone, and made her escape.
"After her!" The mad in the lab coat said to the soldiers. The men chased after Lucy at once. The man looked back over to Kurama, and remembered what he said.
"I killed her myself!"
The words echoed in his mind. "Chief…was she a?" His voice trailed off as he watched Kurama lift Nana up again.
"That girl…she got away…" Nana said, her voice was becoming weaker by the minuet.
"Don't talk." He told her. She would use up valuable energy that she would need to stay alive/
"Hey, Papa…" She continued anyways. "Have I become useless…?" She asked Kurama. "Will you ever need my help again? I'm so sorry…. I'm sorry…" Nana said, and a tear rolled down her pale check.
Kurama whipped the tear away with his thumb. "Please, don't talk anymore, just be still." He told her. All he could do was wait for the helicopter to come back, and hope that she would pull through.
--
Searching
The orange colors of the setting sun took over the sky, and bathed the town in its color. Emiko left to go looking for Nyuu twenty minuets ago. So far, she had little luck in finding the ruby eyed girl.
"Nyuu!" Emiko shouted. She had known the horned girl for only a short time, but she could tell that she acted more like a child than a young adult. If she were lost, she would be scared, and not thinking logically. So, calling her name out like a lost little girl seemed to fit.
Where could she be? Emiko thought with worry. Because Nyuu knew very little about the world, she could easily get hurt, or worse.
Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a helicopter overhead. She looked up at the flying machine. It was headed towards that island not too far away from the shoreline, but nobody knew what was over there. Only very few people went to the island, even fewer left it.
"Nyuu!" Shouted the voice of the young girl.
Emiko turned around, and she saw her. Nyuu stood a few feet away from her down the street. She began to run towards Emiko with tears in her eyes. She threw her arms around her.
"Nyuu Nyuu Nyuu!" She shouted. She was shaking.
Emiko lifted her arms, and hugged the poor girl. Poor girl, she must have been so scared.
"It's okay, Nyuu. I'm here to take you home." She said in a comforting voice. That's when Emiko noticed the cut on her arm. "Your hurt!"
Nyuu's arm dropped to her sides, and she lifted up her head to look up at Emiko.
"Here, lets take care of that." She said, and tore of some fabric off the sleeve of her shirt. She used the strip of fabric as a bandage, and wrapped it around the cut on Nyuu's arm. "There, that will do until we get home." She said, and smiled at Nyuu warmly.
Nyuu began to lift her arm to touch the wound.
"Oh, don't touch it." Emiko said, and Nyuu stopped. "Com'on let's get you home."
--
Papa and Nana
Kurama watched as Shirakawa filled the syringe with a pale liquid. He knew what it was for, but she explained it to him anyways.
"This will help her sleep." The burnet woman said. "It's the least we can do for her."
As she spoke, Kurama's mind floated back to his conversation with Chief Kakuzawa, and his cruel order.
"So, she got away? Hm, I suppose its better then coming back with a corpse. Anyway, destroy number 7. Useless Diclonii are only an expensive, and dangerous liability. You've dispatched several Diclonii in the past, Kurama. I don't expect you to show mercy to this one."
He had to bite his lip to keep himself from saying something he might have regretted. He owed the Chief quiet a lot. Kurama looked over to Shirakawa.
"I'll do it." He said to her. She nodded.
"I understand." Shirakawa handed him the needle. She watched him turn away from her, and walk into the room with number seven. She could see them both through the glass, but they couldn't see her. On their side, it looked like a mirror, but she could see them clearly. Just the sight of watching Kurama end his daughter's life was heartbreaking enough, but she could her their final conversation too.
Kurama placed his hand on Nana's forehead. Her face was still very pale. She lost so much blood. He thought sadly. The girl before him was not really related to him, she was not really his daughter, but he loved her as if she was. Now, she laid here before him in such a weak state on the cold table. Her body was ripped to shreds, the stump of her limbs were tightly wrapped up in gauze.
Her pink eyes opened slowly as she felt the warmth of his hand on her face. "Papa…" She said in a tired voice. Nana smiled, and began to nuzzle his hand.
Papa…do you still think I'm useful? She thought. His presence caused her to raise her hope. Maybe…maybe…he'll need me again…maybe…
"We need to run a few more tests." Kurama said, and interrupted her thoughts. As he spoke, he raised up the needle with the fluid to make her sleep. "Please, be strong." He said softly.
I am useless… Nana thought sorrowfully. You don't need me after all. Papa, I'm so sorry…I love you so much, Papa.
"I'll be brave…" She said, and did her best not to show her sorrow.
As she watched Kurama inject the fluid into Number 7's neck, Shirakawa began to weep. She could hear every word spoken by the two. Although the Chief and Number 7 were acting strong, she could her the sadness in both of their voices. She looked away, and cried silently.
It was only a matter of seconds before Nana began to feel the effects of the liquid. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and all the pain in her body just seemed to melt away.
"I feel sleepy…" She whispered.
Kurama's emotions began to show though his calm mask, but he refused to let them take over. I have to be strong…for Nana.
"Papa…"
His attention returned to his adopted daughter. There were tears forming in her pink eyes.
"Farewell…Papa…" She said as the tears spilled onto her pale cheeks. Her eyelids closed, her head tilted to the right as she slipped away.
"I'm so sorry…forgive me…" Kurama said as he felt hot tears build up in his eyes. "Please forgive me…"