A/N So here it is, chapter 8, after several months of waiting. I did participate in a successful NaNoWriMo, which actually led to the completion of this fic. I'm trying to get all of the chapters edited and published, but that'll be a slow process as I'm transitioning to the move to a new house and state after my mom died on 2/1/16. The next seven or so chapters will be published as they're edited, with one possibly being published as a one shot. More on that later.
Monitors beeped loudly from somewhere close by, yet beyond Koujo Lin's reach. The Onmyouji was running frantically in the general direction of the noise, but he realized that he wasn't going to get there in time. Nazuke was dying- he felt it in the deepest pits of his heart that his brother's body was failing- the damage inflicted on him by the shiki was simply too much for his system to handle. Lin had to get to him before he died; there were still things that he needed to say to him, pieces of advice that Lin had meant to bestow on Nazuke, but had never gotten around to.
If only he'd been home more- maybe Nazuke would have known how much Lin cared about him. But once a year was the best that Lin had been able to do. He knew that during their time apart he and Nazuke had drifted apart slowly, but surely not enough where Nazuke would ever question whether or not Lin loved him?
Even so, Lin had to get to him. Continuing to run frantically, Lin ran until a room came into view. The area was familiar, and Lin recognized it as a hospital; the sterile scent and white walls giving it away. This was where he needed to be, there was no question about it. Nazuke was here, slowly dying.
The realization made Lin run even faster, desperation powering his movement. He followed his gut, trusting it to lead him in the right direction. Before long, he was approaching the only door at the end of a long hallway. He reached the door and turned the knob slowly, not hesitating in his step as he entered the room.
The first thing Lin laid his eyes on was a bed in the center of the room. Lying on the bed was none other than Nazuke. Heavy breathing could be heard alongside the sound of the beeping machines that had continuously been tormenting Lin.
Approaching the bed slowly, Lin mentally prepared himself for the worst. He was about to lose his little brother, and he had absolutely no control over the situation. Regrets filled his mind, though he paid them no heed.
Instead he stood beside the bed and stared at Nazuke's sleeping but still pain filled face. He took his brother's hand and moved his gaze to Naz's wrist, where a tattoo of a dragon took up much of his exposed skin.
However, after a moment of staring at the tattoo, it began to disappear from Lin's field of vision. Horror filled Lin's mind as he turned his gaze back to Nazuke's face, afraid that the rest of his brother was fading away as well.
Only it was no longer Nazuke laying in the bed the Onmyouji slowly realized. Instead, the person most distant from Lin's mind and heart laid in the bed. It was his father, Dajun.
As soon as the realization hit Lin, Dajun's slate gray eyes opened, and his hand clamped around Lin's wrist. Lin cringed and tried to step away, but became frozen in place when the monitor beside Dajun began beeping furiously, and Dajun's eyes rolled back into his head. The grip on Lin's wrist slackened.
Shocked and confused, Lin felt himself plummeting towards the floor, his legs suddenly devoid of strength.
Just before he hit the swirling darkness surrounding him, a voice jolted him out of his dark reverie.
"Lin, wake up,"
Koujo Lin shot up forcefully from the bed he was lying on, very nearly headbutting the woman whose head was hovering in front of him. Slowly opening his eyes, Lin was met with a concerned pink gaze.
Madoka stepped back to give him room to breathe when she realized that he was awake. Lin sat on the bed breathing hard before running a hand through his thick fringe. Madoka waited patiently for him to address her, although it soon became apparent that he wasn't willing to bring up whatever had caused his outburst.
Sighing despondently, Madoka placed a gentle hand under Lin's chin, forcing his head up. The dark haired man met her eyes grudgingly. For a brief moment, Madoka could see intense pain in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. Lin breathed deeply, resigning himself to the fact the pink haired lady already knew that something was wrong.
"I had a nightmare- nothing more, nothing less. It unnerved me a bit is all. It felt like it was going to play out one way, but ended up going down a different and unexpected path,"
Madoka shook her head in disagreement.
"It was more than a nightmare, and it unnerved you more than just a little bit," Madoka chastised Lin gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Lin lowered his head, not quite able to meet her gaze. He was well practiced in not showing his emotions, though he felt less practiced in hiding his emotions from her. Maybe it was a good thing- he could use an emotional outlet. He kept what he was feeling inside all the time, and never vented like most people would need to before long. Especially after experiencing shock after shock as he had.
Maybe talking to her would be a good thing? It certainly couldn't hurt at the very least. Resigning himself for a conversation that would unavoidably invoke some sort of emotion from both of them, Lin closed his eyes and took a breath.
"Fine. You're right- it wasn't like the other nightmares that I've been having; it felt completely real. It started with me running towards Nazuke's hospital room. I was frantic- someohow I had the most distinct feeling the he was about to die. I knew that I had to get there before it was too late. When I finally got there, Nazuke changed into my dad, and the heart monitor flatlined. He- my dad, died,"
Madoka's brow furrowed in concern, though she didn't say anything in response.
Lin noticed this and took it as his cue to plunder on through his account of what had occurred during the time he had been sleeping.
"I didn't notice that anything was peculiar while I was dreaming, though now that I think back to it, nothing was as it should be. When the dream first began, I was standing amidst nothing- it was like a blank white canvas, with nothing else painted there aside from myself. Then as I began feeling the sense of hysteria that I needed to get to Nazuke, rooms slowly began appearing as I ran by them. I'm certain that they weren't there at the start of the dream, though that didn't dawn on me until now. I should have realized that it was a dream at that moment, though I was fully under the illusion,"
"Illusion?" Madoka asked incredulously. "So you don't think that it was a simple dream?"
Lin paused for a moment, pondering the inquiry.
"I'm not sure. It felt so real. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but it feels like I shouldn't forget what happened," he admitted.
"So you think that your dad or Nazuke might be in danger?" Madoka asked carefully, as to not upset Lin.
Lin's fist clenched at his side. "I don't know. I don't know what to trust and what to discredit. I haven't known anything since this walk through hell started," Lin looked away from Madoka's eyes and lowered his head. "I hate not knowing. Not knowing leads to me worrying, and I detest being worried about something that I can't see an immediate solution for,"Lin was now clenching his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Noticing this, Madoka leaned over and took his hand in hers gently, to prevent him from hurting himself.
Lin met her gaze for a moment. All in the span of those few seconds, Madoka could see the entire storm that was brewing in his mind, made clear by the cold gray of his eyes.
He made no effort to hide his emotions, and Madoka refused to look away from his intense gaze. It felt like it penetrated deep into her heart. A silent cry for her to give him the answer to his problem before it drove him crazy.
Her heart broke for him; she wished she could help him, but she was just as powerless as he was. They had been dealt a bad hand, and they were forced to continue gambling, even when their odds of winning seemed painstakingly low.
There was nothing they could do until Lin knew more about what was causing everything to happen. Madoka sensed that Lin already knew more than he was telling her, however she didn't push him to talk to her. She knew that he would bring the subject up when he was ready- she just had to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Lin didn't appear like he'd be very willing to have that particular conversation at the moment. He was no longer looking at her, though there was adequate enough pressure on her hand that she knew that he was still there- and very angry. Madoka didn't know what to do to comfort him. There wasn't really a "right thing" to say to him, was there?
How did you tell someone that you were sorry for their brother being beaten so badly that he would need an organ transplant, or it would mean his death? Madoka sure as hell didn't know, and she wasn't willing to think about it. There was no reason to depress herself further over something she couldn't fix. Plus, Lin was slowly falling apart. That much was obvious to the pink haired researcher. She had never seen that much emotion from him, aside from the flashes she had glimpsed when she had broken up with him.
He needed her to be strong for him where he was unable to be. He always kept his emotions bottled up in an airtight part of his mind. It was as if he was afraid to show how he felt. Afraid of being weak, maybe? Whatever the reason, Lin had kept up a stoic mask in public from the time she had met him. It had came down a large bit, though not entirely, when they were alone together. That much seemed to have changed for the time being- though Lin had said that he wanted to date her again, it was obvious that they were not where they had been years before. That level of trust had been broken, and they would both have to work hard to earn their mutual trust in each other back entirely.
Madoka was willing to wait. She was ready to give Lin whatever type of emotional support she could give him at that moment in time. Even if that meant just being there for him- she would stay by his side until everything was back to normal. Whatever the outcome, she intended to be there for him.
And since she intended to be there for him, she needed to do something to lift his spirits even a little. She wanted nothing more than to give a little bit of her strength to Lin. Feeling as though she was walking on thin ice, Madoka ran her hand through Lin's black hair, getting his attention.
For just a second, once he turned to look at her, his eyes were more... gentle than they had been moments before. Madoka stopped the goofy grin that wanted to play across her features. There would be a time and place for her excitement, but it wasn't now. Right now Lin needed her to be serious.
He needed to know that he had someone there for him. It was unclear of how much a relief that it would be for Lin to realize that he had someone in his corner- someone who believed that he could come out of this the winner. But all the same, Madoka wanted him to know so he never felt like he was in this alone.
Lin, once again appearing stormy eyed, wrapped his arms around Madoka's waist, holding her close to him. Madoka laid her head on top of his, reveling in and taking her own sense of comfort in the softness of his hair. She felt safe being around him. His closeness felt like her permission to relax. This sense of relaxation gave her the presence of mind to coherently decide how she was going to bring up the subject on her mind.
"Lin?" She began, her voice sweet and soft, as to not alarm Lin with any sort of urgency in her tone.
"Mhm?" came the muffled reply beside her ear. Lin's head was laid on her shoulder so that she was unable to see his face, but could hear his voice in her ear. With his proximity to her, Madoka couldn't help but feel giddy and light. When they held each other like this, it almost felt like nothing had changed between them. "Madoka- you wanted to say something?" The pressure was lifted from Madoka's shoulder, and she realized that Lin was slowly moving his head out from under her chin.
Blushing madly as she remembered that she had meant to tell the Onmyouji something, Madoka cleared her throat.
"Sorry, I got distracted," She apologized, blushing more until she became a pretty scarlet hue.
Lin chuckled softly- the first time that he had shown any sort of positive emotion since he had woken up from his nightmare. "I can tell, believe me. Its in your voice- you sound like you just woke up from a good dream," At the mention of dreaming, Lin's voice once again took on a dark tone.
Hearing the change, Madoka was forcefully reminded of what she had meant to say to him. Deciding that urgency was better than being distracted by his presence, Madoka moved her head off the top of Lin's so he could look at her. He did, a dark black eyebrow curiously raised.
"I want you to know that you're not alone. I hope you knew that anyway, but I just needed to tell you that you have me here now. I'm going to be by your side until the end, whatever happens. We'll get through this. I see a light at the end of a dark tunnel. It seems far away, but it might be much closer than you think. Just keep driving towards it, Lin. Please. For me,"
Madoka's eyes were beginning to well with tears. Damn, so much for her giving him strength. Lin's face changed from a mask of anger to one of sadness. He had never been able to stand seeing Madoka cry. Something had always seemed entirely wrong with such an upbeat and caring person being saddened to the point of tears. That was part of the reason why he had ran to her so frantically after she had poured her heart out to him.
It was the main reason why he pulled her into his lap now. He carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled her against him. She allowed him to pull her easily, and nuzzled against his shoulder after she was comfortable in his embrace. Lin could feel the tears streaming from her eyes as they ran down the exposed part of his neck. He didn't wipe them away, instead he worked his hands through Madoka's hair as comfortingly as possible, as she had done to him a few minutes before.
"I know that I'm not alone, Madoka. I never felt like I was. I have you, Naru and the rest of the investigators. I have people in my corner- that was never what I felt like I was lacking. What I know for a fact that I don't have enough of is people who know how to fight an escaped shiki with the particular characteristics that our foe possesses," Lin replied after a moment. It only took him a second to realize that he had included the tell-all sentence 'fight an escaped shiki'.
Madoka sucked in a shocked breath as Lin closed his eyes. He had told her the truth. He hadn't exactly known why he was hiding it from her in the first place, though he assumed that it had something to do with him subconsciously not wanting to make her worry more than she already was. It had slipped out, anyway.
Even with the mindset of not worrying her, he had just as mindlessly told her. And from the intake of breath he had heard, she was terrified of the news. He didn't understand the reason why she already seemed so upset. Did she perhaps know something about how shiki's broke away from their master's control?
"Madoka... you know something about this, don't you?" Lin asked, shifting warily on the bed.
Madoka was shaking against him. "I don't know much, but what I do know is bad, Lin. I wish I had known what was targeting you before I tried to bolster your confidence so much," Lin felt like the ground was tumbling out from under him. Him admitting the truth had in fact made Madoka worry even more than he though it would have.
Her resolve had been broken with a simple statement.
"Madoka, what do you know about warding off or rebinding a shiki that breaks away from its master?" Lin inquired, his voice still trying to hold onto some note of hope that Madoka would know something that could help them.
Madoka began trembling more violently against Lin. The Onmyouji instantly felt the last of his hope drain away. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to hear the truth anymore.
"I don't know exactly how the rebinding process would work, but I do know that it would take a near immesurable amount of energy from the caster trying to bind the shiki. Even more than it would to bind the shiki the first time, as the shiki is no longer a mindless being, but something resembling a human complete with its own thoughts. It could choose to resist being bound to you. It trying to fight back while you're binding it could drain all of your energy if it had that power. Regardless, if it doesn't fight back, binding it to you when you already have more than three shiki bound to you could cause you to lose all of your energy too. You could die, Lin." Madoka was bawling now. Lin could hear her shuddering sobs. Despite her tears, Madoka took a deep breath. "The other method I remember reading about was if the master had some sort of personal connection to the shiki while they were alive. If the caster is able to remind the shiki of the bonds that they shared in life, they can be allowed to move on without an exchange of energy between them and their former master. If this is somehow the case, you'd have no choice but to discover the identity of the shiki, and fast."
The ground was definitely disappearing out from under Lin. He was beginning to feel light-headed- either because of the news he had just heard, or because he hadn't eaten anything in awhile. Whatever the reason, his head was spinning. He could die if he fought the shiki? Was he willing to die to stop the beast? And also, did he have a personal connection to his antagonist? Who in life had he lost that would want to haunt him from beyond the grave? Worse yet, what if it really was just some freak accident that got him into this situation, and he'd never even come into contact with the shiki who wanted to ruin his life? And even then, what would happen if he did successfully bind the shiki, but the transfer of energh proved to be too much for his body to handle, and it killed him? What would happen after he died? Would the shiki remain in a bound state, or would it once again begin an unstoppable rampage after its master's death?
Too many questions, and too little concrete answers. Lin's mind was completely full of them. It was all too overwhelming. Being completely powerless like this. It scared Lin, more than he was willing to admit. He liked being in control of the situation. He needed to be in control to feel safe.
But him being 'in control' of his shiki was what had caused everything, wasn't it? The irony made Lin laugh out loud. It was far from a pleasant sound. In fact, it sounded almost guttural. Madoka stiffened when she heard the sound. It terrified her. She recognized it as someone who was close to crossing the boundary of sanity into insanity.
"Lin, you're scaring me. Please calm down," Madoka muttered, her voice sounding sad and broken. _She was blaming herself for being honest with him. If she hadn't told him everything in such quick succession, perhaps he would have had more time to cope with the news.
Lin was no longer laughing. Instead he was brutally silent, which truth be told, scared Madoka more than his crazed laughter had. Braving a look at the man holding her, Madoka lifted her head off of Lin's shoulder and peered up into his face. Lin's expression was blank.
It was scary seeing him like that. It was obvious that he was retaining the expression with great effort. His face was slowly draining of color and becoming a ghostly white that contrasted starkly to the dark black of his hair. Madoka was terrified to ask, but she needed to know what had suddenly come over Lin.
"Lin, you look sick. Are you alright?" She said gently, carefully reaching her hand out to touch Lin's forehead. The Onmyouji winced and hissed in pain as her hand made contact with his head. Madoka drew her hand back like she had been stung. What had she done to him?
Lin placed a hand to his head and sat there stiff as a log, waiting for the sudden and sharp migraine to pass. It didn't. Instead, it steadily became more intense to the point that the only thing that Lin could see was black dots dancing across his field of vision. Seeing the obvious pain Lin was in, Madoka jumped out of his lap and hightailed it to the door. She had the intent to run to a nurse to get the suffering Onmyouji medication for the headache.
The only problem was that she never made it to the nurse. As soon as the pink haired researcher opened the door, she came face to face with a tall, dark haired man with ice blue eyes. She froze in her tracks as she saw him. Tears began to well in her eyes as she sensed pure evil exuding from the obstacle standing in her path.
There was no doubt of who stood in front of her. It was the shiki. This realization was seconded by a sharp blast of air that flung Madoka away from the door and into a wall. Lin heard the crash and gasp of pain it elicited from Madoka. His eyes popped open, but the light of the room was too much for his head to bear. He closed his eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to clear them as they began to glaze over.
As soon as they were clear, he realized that someone was standing in front of him. Terror filled him as he used the electromagnetic vision in his right eye to look at the person. He could see them. That meant only one thing; whatever standing in front of him was not human. It was distinctly related to the paranormal.
It was a male with dark hair and penetrating eyes. Lin recognized him instantly. It was the first shiki he had ever bound, and by far his most powerful. A force to be reckoned with and definitely not someone that you'd willingly want to pick a fight with.
As soon as Lin realized exactly who was standing in front of him, Kanon grinned widely
"Hello, Koujo. Its great to see you...its been far too long. How have you been? Are your brothers in good health?" Kanon asked sarcastically, his expression changing into a cold smirk. "Oh, who am I kidding? Why would you care about your brothers when you have that precious baby sister to worry about? Unless of course, you don't know where she is. What a shame it would be, if something... unsightly were to happen to her pretty face. Unless of course, it already has? Hm.. we may never know," Kanon winked for added dramatic effect.
The masterless shiki watched with a smirk as his former master tensed under his overpowering gaze. Lin refused to look him in the eyes, but Kanon could see the strain in took for the Onmyouji to keep the mask of stoicism from sliding from his face. it brought him pleasure to see Lin squirm. Until now he had watched from afar while the former holder of his leash dealt with each and every successive blow.
Now he was face to face with him for the first time in a long while. He had waited for this, watching silently in the background as Lin lived his daily life, free of the concerns that would plague him later on. Don't get Kanon wrong; it was invigorating finally making a move in his plan to tear Lin's life apart. Lifen had been worthy prey when he kidnapped her- she had fought tooth and nail, but with a simple spell, Kanon had rendered her unconscious.
And now, he was in such a close proximity to his main prey. The one who's own inability to maintain control over creatures that he used as his personal slaves had caused Kanon to develop his own consciousness. Kanon had not wanted to be made aware of his surroundings.. not again.
When he was aware of his environment, it brought back thoughts and memories from a different time. Many years before when- no. No. He refused to think about that. Couldn't think about it. It made his new found emotions go haywire. Even more so than they already had been recently.
He hadn't been in control of himself lately- at least not entirely. Almost as if he were a a semi coherent puppet on a string, with seeming control over his body, but still there was a puppeteer somewhere, influencing his motions. It drove him crazy.
Seeing the man who was the cause of all of his suffering sitting right in front of him was almost enough to make Kanon lose his mind entirely. He wanted to make Lin pay. Pay for making him aware again, but most of all, pay for forgetting him completely. Could time really wipe someone's memory completely?
Kanon shook his head in an almost maniacal movement. No- time hadn't caused Lin to forget. Lin had chosen to forget that fateful day intentionally, in order to save himself the burden of remembering. Or worse yet.. what if he hadn't in the slightest forgotten, but simply refused to acknowledge that Kanon had ever existed at all?
Kanon could feel himself slipping slowly into the depths of complete insanity. It was a strange and unexpected sensation. He had felt completely in control of himself before coming into the room. But now, seeing Lin up close and undisguised, it amplified the anger coursing through Kanon's mind. Almost as if he was unintentionally feeding off of Lin's own rage.
Kanon didn't care to know whether or not that was the case. It didn't matter. Feeding off of Lin's emotions would only fuel his desire to end Lin's life, so there was no loss there.
In reality, he had no idea why he hadn't went straight for Lin's throat as soon as he had gotten the woman out of the way. But now, looking at Lin more closely, Kanon could see the pain etched into his adversary's face. It looked like something was already hurting Lin, weakening him to the point where he was nearly defenseless in Kanon's presence.
There would be no fun in finishing him off. If he was going to kill Lin, it would be with him fully healed from all injuries and illnesses. If either of them were in any way influenced by an outside force, then it would not be a true test of strength, and Kanon would be unable to take full pride in his hard fought victory.
Even though he could not harm him physically, there were no rules against causing Lin to suffer mentally. He had done that in the form of influencing his dreams for long enough. Being so close to him, there was so much more that Kanon could do, and he could see the satisfying reactions that Lin showed firsthand.
Several ideas ran through Kanon's mind in rapid succession, and he chose one at random. He knew that anything he could say would to some degree unnerve Lin, and that was enough to make him dance with pleasure.
"Oh Lin. I'm so sorry for my insensitive comment earlier. I'm sure that you know exactly where your sister is, don't you? Of course her big brother would never let a mean old monster snag her from outside her home, would he? That would be a major failure on his part, and Koujo Lin despises failure, doesn't he?" Kanon said in the most menacing voice he could manage. Lin flinched before he could stop himself.
Kanon grinned at the brief reaction. He could almost see the invisible wounds that his words marked on Lin as they cut into his psyche.
It made him feel.. bolder. But also angrier. Kanon once again felt like someone else's emotions were feeding his own, but he ignored the sensation as he took a step closer to Lin and bent down to eye level with the sitting Onmyouji.
"You know that you could have prevented me from kidnapping her, don't you? If only you hadn't left China like the coward you are. Was your father really that scary to you?" Another smirk, this time one showing Kanon's crystal white fangs as they protruded from his lips.
Lin's hands clenched at his side as he tried to prevent himself from punching his former shiki in the face.
"I didn't leave China out of fear. I received a job opportunity and was accepted into a good college in the same country. It was the best decision I could have made at that time in my life," Lin defended himself, coughing as he felt thickness in his throat.
Kanon nodded in false agreement. "Hm. Maybe the job opportunity was worth it, but was leaving your family halfway across the world also worth it? I was under the impression that you loved the majority of your family greatly... except for your father,"
Lin looked at the ground. "I love my father," he muttered.
Kanon laughed sarcastically. "Do you really love him, or do you just love him as far as standards go? I doubt you'd even notice it if he died unless somebody forced you to watch as he was killed," he paused as another thought crossed his mind. "I just might have to demonstrate what I mean,"
Lin's heart stopped as the implication of the shiki's words fully dawned on him.
"Leave my parents out of this. This entire charade is between you and me. You've already involved too many people who didn't deserve to be caught in the chaos,"
Kanon laughed. "That's where you're wrong, Lin. This 'charade' is between you, me, and whover else I decide I want to put through complete hell. I'm genuinely surprised, and to be perfectly honest, just a tad offended that you feel like you have any sort of say in the game that I initiated," Kanon's laughter ceased, and the noise was replaced by an eery silence as the demonic spirit's face became deadly calm. "Perhaps I need to teach you more of a one-on-one lesson to rectify your foolish assumption that you have any power over your life now. You belong to me, as I once belonged to you. Only I was, as they say, the one that got away. You won't be so fortunate. That's the only difference between us now, slaver," the malice in the word slaver caused Kanon's voice to turn into a low hiss.
Lin sighed in irritation. "I'm a slaver for exercising my craft over a formerly mindless subordinate who had no idea that it was serving me? I fail to see how that's a relavant accusation,"
Kanon's eyes blazed in fury as he shot forward. He was directly in front of Lin in an instant.
"What if there was a point in time where I was not mindless, but had my own life?" he demanded venomously.
Lin smiled coldly. "Ah, I see. So you make a habit of breaking away from a master's control then childishly attempting to destroy them? You do seem like you have experience with the act,"
Kanon slowly raised his right hand up, as if intending to slap Lin. Only the blow never came.
Instead Lin felt intense heat originating from in front of him. He slowly moved his gaze back to Kanon. His eyes fell upon a small flame illuminating from the shiki's hand.
Kanon chuckled lightly. The sound was thick with insanity. "I should burn you alive and listen as you scream vainly for mercy that won't come. But I won't. No, i'll instead move onto the next objective of my plan, gleaming satisfaction knowing that you'll be tossing and turning at night wondering who will be next,"
And with that, Kanon turned on his heel and began walking towards the door. He almost made it, but suddenly Lin shot up from the bed and charged towards him, ignoring the pounding in his head.
Lin never reached Kanon. As soon as he got within range of the retreating shiki, Kanon spun around and hit the Onmyouji in the temple.
Lin's entire world began fading into blackness. He heard one chilling sentence before he lost consciousness.
"You're a fool, Koujo Lin. I was going to let you go, but now you're going to watch."