Requiem

Disclaimer: I do not own Elfen Lied! Only my own characters.

Chapter 3: Another Beginning

The thunder crashed loudly, but all Nana and Mayu could hear was the sound of their own hearts pounding in their chests. The lightning flash illuminated their object of focus' face, outlined its body, and gave off an eerie feeling of foreboding as the figure stood still staring back at the two girls as if waiting to see what they would do.

"That's…"

Mayu began to speak, trying to collect her thoughts enough to utter a coherent sentence, but she couldn't seem to think clearly enough to speak. The figure they were staring at began to move….its footsteps silent as the sand absorbed their weight….One after another it moved towards the two tenants of Maple Inn, expressionless, pale, beaten, and naked. None of this bothered the girls as much as the two white protuberances on either side of the girls head…horns…..but as far as Nana knew there were no more diclonii except for her….or at least that's what she thought.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Nana exclaimed, unable to hold herself back anymore…She had to know this, had to understand what exactly was going on…and why she got this feeling rather than any other.

"I Am…."

No more than a quiet whisper, barely audible over the raging storm came from the figure as it began to lift its head to look at the girls head on…

Mayu let out a scream.

Yuka paced back and forth as Kouta searched the house for any sign of the two girls. The two parent-like figures heard the commotion from Nana and Mayu's room and came upon the empty dwelling and dread filled their bodies.

"DAMMIT!" Kouta exclaimed as he kicked the wall to his left "WHERE COULD THEY HAVE GONE?! IN THIS STORM!?"

Yuka jumped at the sudden break of silence and put her hand on her cousin's shoulder comfortingly in attempt to calm his racing nerves.

"Lets go out and look for them…." She suggested with a calming air to her voice. Kouta silently walked to the foyer and grabbed his coat and a red umbrella with a wooden handle bearing the words 'MAPLE INN' and head out without so much as a word to Yuka who followed devotedly.

Mayu covered her mouth staring in shock at the girl standing before her and Nana, she was trembling, but it was not due to the storm…

Nana wobbled a bit, but caught herself…The shock being almost enough to take her down to her knees….

The figure they had been staring at looked back at them with piercing reddish pink eyes and matching hair that fell a half-inch below her shoulders…..

"L-Lucy-san?!" Nana exclaimed in a whisper…

The figure merely smiled….

TSHAK THSAK TSHAK TH-THSAK

Footsteps pounded heavily against the moistened sidewalks as Yuka and Kouta frantically searched for the missing members of their Maple Inn family and so far they had had no luck.

"Wait! Kouta!" Yuka shouted over the roar of the horrible storm "Where HAVEN'T We checked yet!" She brought up the fact that they had been searching without keeping track of where exactly they had searched and by the look on his face, Kouta had just realized this little detail.

"I don't know!" He yelled back, giving the thunder a chance to have its moment before he shouted over the continuous rain. He thought back to where they had previously searched in their panicked frenzy...The park...The graveyard...The Temples nearby...The boardwalk...The beach? No...No not the beach! They hadn't checked the beach yet!!

"KOUTA" "YUKA!"

The two seemed to realize it at the same time and shouted together at each other, but no more words had to be said as the cousin's made eye contact and ascertained their suspicion that the other had reached the same conclusion as they had...They ran towards the shoreline.

Mayu fell to her knees in shock...This was Nyuu-san, but it also wasn't...Nyuu-san was dead! She was sure of it! Besides this girl standing before her couldn't be older than six or seven...So...Who was this...and what was going on?! She turned to Nana for clarification, but realized by the look on Nana's face she would not be able to tell Mayu what was happening...Nana had no idea herself.

"Are you Lucy-san" Nana repeated her question in a different manner, hoping this time to get more than just a smile as a response. She stared down the younger diclonius and waited for the answer...bracing herself for anything she could imagine would be uttered from those cut, chapped lips.

This time all she recieved was a childlish giggle and a tilt of the head.

"KOUTA! THERE THEY ARE!" Yuka called out to the raven haired boy, pointing him in the right direction. She ran after him as he headed towards Mayu and Nana, but as they got closer she began to slow her steps until she was standing as still as Nana and Mayu had been...

The little girls pink eyes turned onto Yuka, but then passed over and fell on Kouta.

"..." Kouta stood, his knees trembling, his eyes wide, and his mouth agape. He felt his heart seize up, his stomach drop and his breath caught in his chest...

Thwumph...The umbrella fell against the sand and remained open as if it were still trying to protect its owner from the rain.

Thunder crashed...

"...Nyuu...?" Kouta breathed out.

(A/N: So the first review I got made me really happy! and inspired me to WRITE WRITE WRITE! I see that you like the suspense so I decided I'm gonna try and end each chapter with a cliffhanger Well how'd you like the latest installement!? I know it is a bit shorter than the others but C'mooon I'm suppossed to be on vacation here! LOL I promise to make the next chapter longer)