Chapter 2
Lucy found herself in the familiar void of her sub-conscious, it was here were the root of her nightmares sported from. The diclonius was lying on the ground, her body was bare as the day she was born. A sharp pain pulsed in the right side of her skull as blood trickled down her face. The last thing Lucy could remember was the crack of gunfire before losing conciseness. Is it possible that she was dead and now entered the dark void of oblivion? Lifting herself from the ground the diclonius struggled to make sense of what was happing. Out in the dark void she heard a faint sound that filled her with dread. It was the same noise that appeared at the climax of her nightmares. The sound was the sweet tune of the Lilium, which normally brought her comfort. But now it terrified the young woman, because she knew what it brought. From the darkness two figures appeared, one was Lucy's younger self who still was dressed in the drab uniform of the orphanage. The second was a young boy with tan skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes. He was dressed in a light green shirt and blue short, but the music box in his hands is what Lucy's attention was focused on.
"Kouta." The young woman whispered under her breathe. Kouta had been one of the few people that had treated Lucy with compassion. Providing a small glimmer of joy in mostly bleak existence. A glimmer that she foolishly destroyed in an act of spiteful jealously, which was about to replay in front of her. Two more figures emerged from the shadows, one was a fully grown man that looked like Kouta. The other was a little girl who couldn't be older than six with violet eyes and dark brunette hair. The void quickly transformed into a train with Lucy standing between her younger self and Kouta's family.
"No, not again. Please anything but this." The diclonius whimpered as the memory began to play out. The young Lucy starred at Kouta with murderous intent marching forward towards her prey.
"Stop, Don't do it!" The older rushed to halt her younger self but simple phased through her. Every night in her dreams this same memory played over and over again. No matter what Lucy did, she couldn't stop it from happening.
"Hurry up Kouta we have to get out of here or she'll kill us" Little Kanae desperately tried to warn her brother of the impending horror. Only to be met with a slap across the face.
"How dare you say that Kanae! Apologize to my friend right now or I'll never forgive." Kouta yelled at his sibling, causing the poor girl to start crying.
"No Kouta please believe me." Kanae whimpered out before being sliced in half. Her empty eyes still leaking tears as a pool of blood formed around the corpse. Lucy broke down into tears when she saw Kouta's expression, one of utter shock and terror. Kouta let out a pitiful scream that shattered the young woman's heart. His father came over to see the commotion only to be decapitated in front of his son. Blood sprayed from the newly created stump as the body dropped to the floor. Finally a terrible realization swept over Kouta, turning to the horned girl he though was his friend.
"Did you do this? How could I thought we were friends?" Kouta screamed at the girl, which failed to arise a facial response.
"What are you saying? We were friends, that's why you're still alive. Now time to kill that stupid." The young girl said before turning her back at Kouta and walking away.
"What, Yuka?" The boy realized who the girl's next target. Adrenaline rush through Kouta's veins as he rush forward, tackling the girl to the ground. He starred into the red eyes of his family's killer, repeated the same words over and over again.
"No more please stop! Stop already! Just stop" The boy chanted to the horned girl. His tears dropping on to the young Lucy's face. Slowly her expression changed from surprise to utter shame. The memory faded away into the endless void, leaving the sound of Lucy's sobs alone.
"I sorry, I'm so sorry Kouta." The young woman said in between sobs. Ever since that night Lucy had been plagued be constant nightmares. All of which brought her back to this awful memory in order to remind Lucy of the ugly truth. That everything people said about her was true. She was a coldblooded killer, a freak, and a monster. Who's only purpose was cause nothing but misery and death. From the shadows all of her victims came forward. Each one a bloody and mangled spirit that sought vengeance on the diclonius.
"Murderer! Mutant! Freak! Monster!" They all shouted in unison, surrounding the young woman. Lucy crippled into a ball, still weeping heavily. The phantoms grew closer to her and all she did was repeat the same line.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!" Lucy desperately screamed at the dead, hoping they would leave her alone. The sharp pain in her heard grew more potent with each second until it became unbearable. Then silence, all the shouting disappeared leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Though Lucy dared not open her eyes in fear a second assault.
"Nyu." A soft voice echoed across the void and lifted the intense pain Lucy had. She opened her eyes to find a most peculiar sight. An exact copy of the diclonius sat in front of her with an inquisitive look.
"Nyu." The copy repeated, tiling her head slightly to the right. Lucy now knew she had gone insane, because there was a clone of her sitting across from her. She extended her arm to touch the copy, to confirm her insanity. But to her surprise this girl was not imaginary, instead she was flesh and blood.
"Who are you?" Lucy asked her doppelgänger
"Nyu." Her other replied, point directly at Lucy. The diclonius was confused as to what was going on. Was this girl her or just another part of Lucy's mind like the other voice? But those question would have to wait as she sensed herself waking from her coma.
"Don't worry miss will be at the beach soon, just hold on." An unfamiliar voice said. Lucy could once again feel the cold water surround her body. But also felt a strong arm keeping her pinned to another body. She cracked her eyes to see the face of a young man with pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. The man had a short beard that clung closely with his strong chin. His sight was firmly planted on the distant shore, maintaining a steady swimming pace. Only temporally braking it to check on Lucy.
That's when their eyes locked together in split of a second, though which felt like years for both of them. Lucy's blood red eyes staring into his ice blue gaze, each glance at a window to the others soul. Both could see faint glimpses of pain, misery, sadness, and loneliness. Finally the duel of gazes ended when Lucy slipped back into an unconscious and the stranger returned his sights back towards the shore.
Kouta exited the train carrying his suitcase to the side. The young man looked around to if his cousin Yuka had arrived. Though he doubted if he'd be able to recognize Yuka, it had been years since they last saw each other. That was before Kanae and his dad had passed away, now he could barely recall anything from that summer.
"Kouta over here." The young man turned towards the sidewalk, seeing a young woman with short brunette hair and a brown dress. Kouta didn't recognize her, but he suspected that was Yuka. She rushed over sitting her purse down and warped her arms around the young man.
"It's so good to see again." She joyfully proclaimed, while Kouta stood their dumbfounded. The young woman released the surprised boy from her grasp. Realizing that he didn't recognize her, the excited smile she had was replaced with a frown of disappointment.
"Don't you recognize me Kouta? I'm your cousin Yuka." She asked in a concerned manner
"Sorry it's been so long that could barely recognize you." Kouta reassuringly replied to Yuka, hoping to brush off the awkward silence. His words hurt a little, but Yuka shrugged it off. All that mattered now was that Kouta was here now with her. She then thought of a place that might remind Kouta of his time with her. Without saying a word Yuka grabbed her cousin by the arm and proceeded to lead him to the beach.
"Hey wait, where are you taking me?" Kouta asked exasperatedly, which was only answered with a mischievous grin from Yuka. After a few minutes they had arrived at a long grand staircase that extended all the way the beach. The two of them stood at the top, absorbing the mesmerizing view of the city. Kouta recalled how he always loved looking out from this spot, during his stay in Kamakura. It brought him a sense of peace, which he used to ground himself back into the present.
"I knew you would like it." Yuka announced triumphantly.
"Yea reminds me of when we were kids. Do you remember when we sit here at sunset and just talk?"
"Of course I do. You showed me some of your sketches you did of the mountains right here. Anyway we have some time to kill. Do you want go to the beach?" Yuka asked the young man.
"Sure I'd love that." Kouta answered. Both of them made their way to the beach. Neither one saying a word during the walk, just content with enjoying the silence. They soon reached the beach, Kouta was a bit disappointed by the current state of the shore. Trash was littered all across the once pristine white sand and poorly constructed shacks dotted the beach. It certainly didn't live up to his expectation he had from his memories.
"I know it isn't much, the town has let things slid since we were kids." Yuka said to reassure her cousin.
"Do you remember when we use to look for sea shells?" Kouta asked, a melancholic expression on his face.
"Sure I do. We would sit and talk, while little Kanae looked for shells." Yuka replied, reminded of her young cousin Kanae. This was right before her and Kouta's dad passed away. Yuka and parents went to their funereal, she'd hoped to see Kouta there. But from what she'd heard, Kouta was still in the hospital. When she asked her parents why, they said he was still in shock and refused to talk. The night after Yuka cried herself to sleep, for her uncle, Kanae, and Kouta. Out of the corner of her eye, Yuka noticed something very strange. She nudged her cousin in order to get his attention.
"What's wrong?" Kouta asked, which Yuka simple pointed at the focus of her gaze. A tall man blonde man emerged from the water carrying a naked woman. She had long pink hair with strange white horns sticking out of her head. The stranger shuffled towards them, panting heavily from exhaustion.
"Please can you help me? I need to check if she's still breathing." The man asked the pair, Kouta immediately jumped into action. Assisting the man with gently lowering the woman to ground. Luckily she was still breathing, but was still unconscious. That's when Yuka noticed a streak of blood along the girl's face.
"What happened, why is she hurt?" Yuka asked the stranger.
"I don't know I saw her floating in the water last night. So I swam out to help her." He replied, not talking his eyes off the girl's face. A small twitch of the movement came from the unconscious woman, followed by her slowly opening her eyes.
"Miss can you hear me?" Asked the stranger
"Nyu." She said in reply, jolting up to a sitting position. Starring at the young man with a curious look
"I guess that a yes. Can you tell me your name and what happened last night?" Kouta inquired, but failed to get an answer. She simple starred at him with childlike naiveté, her body started shivering from the onset of a cool breeze.
"Sir if it's not too much trouble can she borrow your shirt. Better that she covered up before anyone else saw her." The stranger asked Kouta.
"Oh sure, I'm Kouta by the way and that's my cousin Yuka. What's your name?" Kouta said the stranger while taking over his white over shirt.
"I'm Dan, nice to meet you both." Dan said in turn as he help the young lady get dressed. The two gentleman assisted her in standing up.
"Do you two know where we can bring her I'm new in town so I don't have any place to take her." Dan inquire to the pair.
"We could take her to Kouta's place, just until we know what to do with her. But maybe Dan find a shirt before we go" Yuka chimed in which raised a confused expression from Kouta and embarrassed one from Dan.
"Wait my place? Her cousin asked, completely lost about what she was referring to.
"It's the place my mom letting stay at for college. Don't worry your goanna love it." She remarked, shrugging off the question.
After Dan had retrieved a shirt from his hotel room, the group made their way across town. The young woman that Dan saved kept very close to the blonde. Tightly gripping his right arm, in way a child would grip their parent's hand. While Yuka lead the way with Kouta in toe, passing several statues and a cemetery along the way. By all right Dan should left the woman with the two cousins and gone on his merry way. But something about this girl intrigued him and demanded to know more about her. They walked for about an hour before they arrived at large Japanese styled house with a small wall surrounding the perimeter. Cherry blossom ran parallel with the wall as the lovely pink pedals gracefully floated along the breeze. Which drew child-like wonder from the pink-haired woman, which brought a smile to Dan's face. The group arrived at the outer gate, it took a minute for Yuka to get it unlocked. With a click the door opened revealing a modest path and a pleasant garden.
"So Yuka how much does your mom want for rent each month? I'm guessing she's not letting me stay here for free." Kouta asked.
"There's no rent, but you do need to keep the house clean. Also she wants the gardened maintained as well, meaning no weeds or dead flowers." Yuka responded.
"Okay how many rooms dose this place have?"
"Last I checked there are ten rooms."
"Ten! So basically I'm just a free caretaker for this place." Kouta said distressingly.
"Hey it could be a lot worse, you could be sleeping on the street. Besides anyone would kill to have a house like this. By the way is it alright if I use the restroom?" Dan said, politely interrupting their discussion
"Sure, let me just unlock the door" Yuka answered. She quickly unlocked the door and directed Dan to the restroom. Which he wasted no time in using, relieving himself of the liquids he drank yesterday. Dan promptly washed his hands and left to rejoin the group. The smell of urine flooded Dan's senses, though was unclear where it originated. But that mystery was swiftly solved when he saw the puddle of urine around the pink-haired woman. Apparently she couldn't properly convey that she needed to use the restroom. Yuka took in her to wash up, while leaving the boys to clean the mess. While not difficult to do, the smell irritated Dan to no end. For twenty minutes he and Kouta washed the floor in silence, both just wanting to finish the task as fast as possible. Once finished the two woman emerged from the bathroom, the mystery woman now dressed in a white undershirt and blue boxers.
"Sorry to leave you guys with mess." Yuka said to the pair.
"Its fine, did you give Nyu my clothes?" Kouta inquired.
"Yeah, just for today. I'll get her some clothes tomorrow." Yuka replied
"Excuse me but why did you call her Nyu." Dan asked
"Well since all she says is Nyu, we thought that be best to call her. By the way I've got rice ball if your hunger and I got plenty to share." Yuka said. With the rumble from the two men's stomachs giving a definitive answer. The group filed into the living room and proceeded to eat their makeshift lunch. Dan hadn't eaten since yesterday, so the promise of food was music to his ears. Taking measured bites of his food as to properly enjoy his meal while make sure not to scarf it down too fast. Nyu on the other hand simply shoveled as much rice into her mouth as she could. Leaving a good amount litter on both the table and her face. Kouta assisted the young woman with cleaning the excess rice. Once everyone finished their meal, Dan prepared to take his leave. He said his farewells, but before he could leave Yuka stopped him.
"Dan before you leave could you give us your phone number. In case we need help with Nyu." Yuka requsted.
The young man nodded and wrote his cell phone number down on a scrape piece of paper. Finally Dan left the house and began to make his way back to the hotel. He reflected on the past few hours, now that he had a chance to fully reflect on his actions. Dan hoped that saving Nyu didn't lead to any future trouble. Though it did give the young man a modest sense of pride to do something noble. So he decided that getting drunk would be a proper reward for such a selfless act.
A/N: So I had some really trouble writing this chapter. I kept starting over because I didn't how it read. Anywhy sorry for the wait and enjoy the chapter. Don't forget to leave a review to tell me what yoy though and how I can improve the quality of the story.