CHAPTER UPDATED (actually all i changed was one word but... updeted neverthless)

Chapter 4

¿Did you opened the door?

Katarina was following Talon down the stairs of the place that dared to play with their minds, with their resolves settled on gutting whoever was behind this.

With each lower step the assassin got more and more anxious, but not in the way she was used to. Each time her foot touched another step, an image of her mother spitting blood or calling her murder appeared in her mind for a fraction of second, making her resolve flinch more and more. And when she tried to push those images away, they just returned with double force to the point she decide to ignore them and hope they'll eventually fade.

But it proved to be an impossible task and she found herself fighting tears and cursing her weakness.

Talon wasn't in a better situation; he was currently trying to dispel a particular "scene" of his own fantasies. He just couldn't get the image of the Grand general calling him a failure and then abandoning him out of his head. He never had even the slightest picture of him doing that and it was obviously not a memory. So he could only wonder why he saw those images, but the lower he got into the madhouse, the more logical seemed one possibility he would never have thought about.

Maybe there was true in them.

He didn't want to doubt of the general, hell he didn't even see a reason to do it, but something in his head keep telling him not to thrust him, that in the end he will betray him.

He hated that, and with those depressing images our duo got to the lower floor.

Katarina had enough of walking in the dark and located the light switch and was about to turn it on when Talon spoke to her.

"I don't think there is…"

She decided to ignore him and flicked the switch turning on the lights.

"…power…well that's disturbing" he said quietly

"Well I know that is strange that this part of the building still has energy but I think you are exaggerating" the assassin answered not looking in his direction.

"Not that, THAT" Katarina went to his side and then saw it.

"Oh, that" they were currently at the entrance of the cells of the serious case patients, but the creepy part now were the bodies soaking in a pool of dried blood across the whole hall.

They were nearly a dozen; they were dressed in some kind of light reddish armor and most of them had short swords in their hands.

"The crimsons. What in the world could do that to them?" Katarina asked shocked that their elite forces could be trashed this badly. Talon moved to the closest body to examine it while Katarina took the surroundings.

"This one has the neck sliced and his right limbs severed" he took a better look to where the arm was cut "actually it doesn't seem like a cut wound; the flesh is ripped not severed as well as the bones, they are crushed" he said wondering what could cause such wounds "he also has three stab wounds, two on each lung and one on the heart" he turned the body on its back and noticed three more stab wounds "this ones are aligned with the ones in the front which means the stab pierced from one side and went out from the other" he gave a quick look at the rest of the bodies "and I guess all of them have similar wounds, did you found anything else Kata?" the thief asked his partner but received only silence "Kata?"

Talon looked around and saw her at the bottom of the hall looking troubled at the wall near the roof

"Hey what are you looking…?" he had to swallow his words when he saw in the assassin's direction.

Because at no more than eight meters above the hallway there was an enormous message on the wall. As you can guess, it was written in blood.

"Fuck me sideways" Talon commented, and then Katarina read aloud.

"Blades of Noxus hear my warning: one of you has the power to release what was once sealed, reveal what was hidden and open was once was closed. Open the door and you'll earn an ally, open the door and I'll reward you forever, OPEN THE DOOR and I'll let you see another dawn. But fail and you'll beg me to let you die.

A plea, I will never grant, for the rest of days"

A tense silence fell on both of them. The blood on the message was still fresh and that only meant one thing.

It was written recently.

The message included also some arrows that pointed down the wall to a security camera with an intermittent red light right above the next hallway.

Without saying anything saying anything Talon moved to the camera and connected it with a small computer he pulled out of his coat surprising Katarina.

"Since when you use that kind of stuff?" she said earning a smirk from her companion.

"Kata many things can be said about me but not that I'm unadaptable" he said typing something on the computer.

"Whatever, and by the way next time you call me Kata I'll rip you a new one" the assassin warned him.

He sighed "Here we go…"

"What? Is not like we are friends or something"

"Is just I don't see the point of jumping at every chance of behaving like a bitch" after saying that the temperature dropped to subzero, but Talon felt more tired than intimidated. He had felt Katarina's killing intent so many times that it didn't affected him anymore.

"It seems that your blades are not the only thing you've been sharpening" Katarina stated coldly "you better watch yourself cause one of this days I may want to test that sharpness, while you sleep"

"Got it" Talon said unintimidated.

"Oh no, I'm not done yet!"

"I meant the recordings of the camera" he showed her the computer. She decided to leave the matter for now and moved next to Talon to watch the video.

At first they could only see static, but the video slowly regained its image.

For the first few seconds it showed the crimson squad searching clues on the cells, then the one in charge gestured them to move to the next room.

A second later their bodies started convulsing, and a second after that they fell to the ground.

Then the video ended in more static, leaving the two shocked assassins trying to process what they just witnessed.

The first one in regaining his senses was Talon who began typing madly trying to find out wat happened after that but it was futile.

"Can you play it again? I want to check something" Katarina asked, so Talon played the video again up to the point when they were about to fall and die.

"Stop. Now zoom to the closest one" Talon obeyed and saw something he ignored, it was a slim object similar to a snake that was wrapping around the leg and the arm of one of the men.

"Is that a chain, or some kind of wire?" the thief asked

"I don't like where this is going. Ok play it again but as slow as you can"

He did as she told and played it in slow motion.

In one second the wires stabbed the men's chest five times, the next second they squeezed their arms and legs to the point they severed them, then the bodies fell to the ground and the wires retread. The thief sighed.

"Well judging by the place where the wires appeared I say they came from the secret labs ahead"

"That means that the patient zero IS the one behind all of this?" Katarina asked and Talon furrowed his eyebrows.

"A better question would be 'how are we gonna deal with him if he was able to kill our elite before they noticed'?" he asked with conflict.

"Don't worry; if you are afraid then I'll just face him al-"

"Don't start again!" Talon screamed with rage. Katarina was about to nag him but he silence her with a glare.

She knew that if he was able to do that it meant that he was deadly serious.

"Now listen, whatever that thing is it something way out of our league" she was about to give him a sharp response but he silence her again "and I'm not talking about the fact that he killed ten crimsons before they even notice, which by the way it could perfectly happen to us to and don't try to deny it, but the fact that he can mess up with our minds in ways that we never been prepared!" he yelled "to me it's making me doubt of the man I respected the most in my entire life and its growing worst each passing second" he tried to shove the feeling away with no avail "and it almost made you kill yourself!"

His words made the assassin's expression change from rage to understanding.

But still…

"Talon…" she said in pleading tone but the thief interrupted her.

"Just tell me what possible reason would you have to throw away your life just like that?" the assassin sighed.

"I told you I don't want to leave alive the guy who got into my mind"

"No, there is more to it" Talon face almost lit in realization "it's personal isn't it?" she tried to look indifferent but he saw beyond it "what did you saw earlier?" Katarina furrowed her eyebrows.

"You don't want to go there" she threatened.

"If what I saw was any indication, I know it must have been hard but you said you wouldn't let your passion for killing get in your duty's way again" he rubbed her scar with his finger. In other circumstances she would have severed his hand but she was shocked by the care on his touch "and I won't let it make you end your life" he said with all the determination he could but nevertheless she shove his hand away.

"It's not that is just…" she didn't want those words leave her mouth.

"Tell me" he said in a tone so soft that creeped Katarina for some reason.

"I'm scared ok" she admitted shocking Talon.

"What?" he asked not believing what he'd just heard.

"Are you deaf? I said I'm scared" the confession was tearing her pride apart "I haven't felt scared for a long time, hell, I even forgot how it felt like" she clenched her fists "and I don't like it, so I don't care what's down there, cause whatever happens I won't feel fear anymore" her face turned determined "and if that means I have to go there alone then so be it"

Talon didn't even know what to say. His mind went into slight shock when he saw her decided expression. He had already forgot this side of Katarina; the one of a woman with a will that could rival gods.

Then he remembered that when she decided something nothing could make her change her mind.

"I guess there's nothing else to say" he sighed "there should be an elevator at the end of the hallway, although I don't know if it still works but is the only way to the labs" he step aside and she head to the hallway.

"I'll be back before you notice" the assassin stated.

"That's not what worries me. Just try to rip him/her of too badly" Katarina snorted and walked away, oblivious that Talon was praying for her safety.

The hallway the assassin was currently walking through was long and the light was very dim not to mention the lamps were old so they were intermittent giving an even more creepy atmosphere.

The feeling Katarina had before had turned into a quiet voice that became louder with each step.

It said "don't open the door".

She identified that voice as the one that usually tells her to not kill someone so decided to ignore it.

What she couldn't ignore was the cold sweat on her face and her accelerant pulse.

'What is happening to me?' she thought wiping the sweat of her forehead, which proved to be a pointless task since she was sweating like a pig.

With a groan of frustration she finally reached the elevator and called for it, luckily it was undamaged so it worked perfectly.

When it arrived Katarina got in and noticed it had just two levels; the one she was currently in and the one to the secret labs, which was locked and could only be reached to it with a key.

Her eyes lit in realization and pulled out the key she founded in the woman's ear and tried it, it worked.

She smirked and then just waited till the elevator reached its destiny; since the labs were way far down it was the only thing she could do for a while.

"Sweetie" the assassin heard, but she wasn't going to let whoever was down there mess with her again so she just ignored it.

"You know it is impolite not to answer?" the voice sounded from behind her making her jump slightly; she was very aware that the image of her mother appeared behind but she didn't cared.

"You aren't afraid of me are you?" she chuckled, the answer appeared in her head for a moment.

Of course she was, but that didn't matter to her, it never did.

"I miss you" Katarina's eyes widened at this "don't you miss me too?" she opened her mouth but the answer never came

"If you miss me we can be together again" her mother stated surprising her "just stop fighting all the time, and let IT take you".

The pain in her heart returned, but it was different this time. It wasn't pain for her words but for not taking her offer.

'What am I thinking!?' she nagged herself 'since when did I ever want to give up just like that!?'

The elevator arrived and almost scared, she ran out of it tripping and falling to the floor, and then listened to a last word from her mother.

"Murder" the assassin snapped her head in her direction but the image had already gone.

Katarina sighed "I can't wait to get my hands on this son a bitch" she got up and walked forward.

The secret labs were a group of dozens research facilities that covered around 100m2 which consisted of labs of 10m2 divided by hermetic glass walls that could isolate the room in case of emergency.

But those weren't what interested the assassin, but the tests room on the center of those facilities.

According to the firefighter maps on the wall that was probably the place where the one that got into her mind was.

It was exactly at the center so she just had to walk in straight line and she will get there, it couldn't be simpler.

"…don't…" she started to hear whispers.

"Please…"

"…suicide"

There were about ten different voices speaking low, fast and at the same time so it was hard to get what they were saying, but with each step, they became louder and louder till she could understand two of them.

"It has been too much time"

"Run while you can!"

"What possible reason would I have to hurt her?"

"It's a trick!"

"I wasn't dishonest in the message"

"Don't open the door"

"Open the door"

Katarina was done with whoever's mind tricks so she used all she learned in her days in the league to mute them. She succeeded, partially.

The whispers continued to the point they passed from irritating to worrying, despite she would never admit it.

In fact she was so distracted by them that she didn't noticed when she arrived to the center.

It was a huge circular room with a single white wall that reached the ceiling, and a double door at the bottom.

Katarina sighed 'it's now or never' she thought.

She opened the door… all turned black

When she regained the sight the first thing she noticed was that she was in front of a panel with almost a hundred buttons and switches.

Next was that she was being assaulted with uncountable more whispers and now cries of pain.

Now it was almost impossible to mute them so she could only try to ignore them, which only seemed to make them louder.

"Sweetie…"

'Oh no, not again! Please!' the assassin actually pleaded, and it worked like charm because all the voices stopped.

She instinctively looked around trying to find out what could possibly do that.

'Oh yes, the thing I'm about to kill'

She examined the room closer. There were several screens placed all along the outer circular wall along with keyboards and other devices, the inner wall was a circular glass panel that showed another room placed ten meters lower the one she was currently in.

She leaned closer to look what was there and saw several wires of all sizes hanging from the ceiling to floor and connected to some kind of circular machine. And on the center she could see the body of her mother.

Katarina blinked and rubbed her eyes. When she looked again the light was still so dim that she couldn't see who was in the machine.

'I'm getting sick of this' the assassin thought 'I'll enjoy ripping this thing apart'.

That's what she thought, but then realized she had no idea of how to get down there.

Thinking, she turned again to the panel looking for something that could help her.

"Let's see: fire alarm, no; power levels, no; security cameras, maybe; and… what do we have here?" she said looking at a red lever covered by a broken plastic protection above a lock with a key inserted.

"D.O.O.R" she smirked evilly "well you only live once" she turned the key and the lever started glowing in a red light.

Without thinking it even once, she pulled it.

And as before everything turned black.

But when she regained the sight she wasn't assaulted by voices, but by something far worst.

It was fear.

Thick, palpable and suffocating fear that made her hard to process what was going on.

She couldn't move and could barely breathe. She had to use all her now weakened willpower to analyze the situation.

She somehow had gotten to the bottom of the room she saw before and was currently standing in front of the circular machine. But what caught her attention was the figure that was standing in front of it and backwards to her.

It had long black hair that covered its back but judging for its bulky build it was a man, he was dressed only in ragged black pants.

Katarina's first impression was that she was watching the reaper's back.

'This is just another trick' she tried to recompose herself 'He is right there just do it!' she tried to reach her daggers but the only thing she achieved was to open stiffly her hands 'FUCK! What's happening to me?!'

But that was the least of her problems, because now the figure was slowly turning its head to her.

This action made Katarina choke, unable to breathe properly for a few seconds.

The killer point was when he stood face to face with her.

Her heartbeat was erratic before but now it had severe problems avoiding a heart attack.

She blinked.

Now he was standing half step from her.

The assassin was almost sweating bullets (freezing cold bullets) and was now reduced to pray in her mind that this… being would have mercy on her.

"¿Did you opened the door?" he suddenly asked, almost giving her another heart attack.

Yet the neutral tone he used made her fear dim a little for some reason, and while it wasn't enough to form words she could use the chance to analyze his face.

The first thing she noticed was his eyes, because they were too similar to the ones from the scientists; they had black stains threatening to cover the entire surface on the left one and only the half of the right one.

But what really got her attention were his irises. They were sapphire blue with changing patterns like a kaleidoscope, and they were shining with a cold light. Also they were the brightest source of light in that room.

That's why she couldn't see well the rest of his face, but she could distinguish a nasty scar on his right cheek.

"¿Did you opened the door?" he repeated a bit more sternly.

'¿S-so what if-f I d-did?' that's what she would have said if it wasn't for the fear that obscured her thoughts.

"¿Are you afraid?" he asked in a softer tone, but as before the only answer he got was trebling eyes and a mental curse.

The man sighed and slowly started reaching for her.

Katarina closed her eyes ready for whatever he had in mind, being death or a painful interrogation, or both.

'No, I'll take it with dignity' she started to begrudgingly open her eyes...

Only to find out that he was hugging her.

Her confusion grew only more when he started patting her hair like he was trying to comfort her.

This only served to make her dizzy; the contrast between the house of nightmares and this... it was getting difficult for her to think.

And if it was not enough, her thoughts abandoned her completely when he started humming, the melody ingniting a spark in her mind.

And then he sang.

Natsuhiboshi why are you so red?

Because I had a sad dream last night.

My eyes are red from the tears I shed.

Swolling as I cried.

The assassin's eyes widened unwittingly, but she didn't noticed; her mind was somewhere else.

She was on one of the rooms in her old mansion, in her first room actually.

The moon was like a nail and there weren't many stars in the sky. Yet the room wasn't dark, for it was lighted with many candles despite the lamps on the ceiling.

She was currently watching the smiling face of probably the most beatiful woman she ever saw. A couple of tiny chubby arms were trying to catch her snow-like locks as the the world behind her swayed back and forth.

Nothing else mattered as she heard her singing.

Natsuhiboshi why've you lost your way?

I'm searching for a child who's gone afar.

She can't be found though I search all day.

My sad dream comes once more.

Back in the present Katarina could feel the tears running down her face, but she didn't care.

There was no place in her head to care since happiness was now occupying every fiber of her being.

The man let her go "do you feel better?" he asked.

Katarina was more concious this time but nodded neverthless.

The man's eyes widened and the blackness in his eyes retracted a bit.

"...Thank you; I'm in your debt" he walked past her a few meters but stopped and said "my name is Aaron, my lady".

The assassin couldnt' see him but she knew he was out, leaving her alone to think in al what happened in one night.

She suddenly felt very tired.

Her knees bent a little before colapsing on the floor, trying to hold to the only good thing she got today before falling asleep.

For those who recognize the song no; I won't make a Naruto fanfic but I will put the song in my Fairy tail story though.

But you will never know to which character is dedicated MWAHAHAHAHAH!