"The Keeper watches over all things with a fleeting smile on his lips…"
The man leans against the railing, a hood drawn up over his face to shield himself from the pouring rain. People came and went to and from the nearby train station, so he only looked slightly out of place, staring up at the grey sky as if mesmerized. Kaneki approaches this man cautiously. If he wasn't being lied to, then the man standing with his back towards the One Eye was what he had come to call "The Keeper", the mastermind…
"I love this kind of year… Late autumn, when the grey and overcast skies set in as the nights lengthen… Perfect for getting things done out of sight…" The Keeper turns to stare at Kaneki from the side, his features still obscured. "Ken Kaneki right? You know it actually took me a while to find your real identity. You've done a great job of cleaning up after yourself with fresh paint haven't you?" Kaneki runs his fingers through his white hair and leans on the railing next to the Keeper, facing away from him.
"What did you contact me for? I'm your enemy after all". The Keeper chuckles. A rich, melodious sound. His voice was like that of a seasoned politician. "I simply wanted to meet you of course. I've been looking for you for a very long time… You are the One Eyed King, and yes I don't care if you thought that was all over with Kaiko, but it's true. You are the King and have always been the King". Kaneki sneers, taking out a cigarette and lighting up, using his hands to stop the rain from extinguishing the flame. He offers one to the Keeper, who accepts and takes one with his smooth skinned fingers.
"I originally built the Garden as a facility to create One Eyed Ghouls. You've already become acquainted with my first generation no doubt. You see, I've been sitting at the top of the world for a long time now, more than 10,000 years to be more exact. I am not immortal as such, but I cannot age, and so I sought out things to try and lift this curse of eternity. But having all the time in the world can change a person's outlook on the existences around him. I started looking for ways to entertain myself, and I did. But I was once told that there would be someone who would one day stand in my way. Someone capable of surpassing all the barriers I erected around myself and bring about the end of my life".
He turns to Kaneki, and the One Eye stares into the only features visible within the hood, his bright blue eyes. "And so I created the first One Eyed Ghouls and continued to do so, many unsuccessfully, hoping to raise this "One Eyed King" myself, so I could manipulate them, use them, and then kill them". Kaneki's guard is instantly up as he feels the Keeper's sudden malice radiate from him like a fog. But the man simply chuckles again and stares up at the stars now beginning to gleam through the gaps in the grey clouds. "I gave Kaiko and the Washuu my Garden so they could carry out their Demi-Human experiments, hoping that maybe the King could be born through turning a Ghoul into a Human. It failed. I manipulated Eto Yoshimura into creating Aogiri Tree so I could get rid of V, the minions who had failed me. It took a long time but the organisation was eventually wiped out, thanks to you".
Kaneki nods slowly. "This all goes a lot deeper than anyone is capable of seeing… you knew you couldn't prevent the rise of the King, so you tried to make it your own". The Keeper shrugs. "As we now know that didn't work so well. I even hired Kanou as a spy and scientist as a part of the CCG to try and succeed where V failed, but he failed, and abandoned me. He did a fantastic job of staying out of sight, even I lost track of him. You can't imagine the surprise and irony I felt when I much later discovered that Kanou had gone on to commence his own experiments, the exact opposite to what V was trying to achieve, he succeeded in turning Humans into Ghouls, One Eyes no less. And so he created you… The One Eyed King".
"Kanou made me into a One Eyed Ghoul because he knew the truth of things in this world. Only One Eyes can make a difference, and that is the hopeless truth of Humans and Ghouls alike…" Kaneki stares at the side of the Keepers hood. "You know that you can't stop me here and now, so you decided to give me a history of the person I'm aiming to bring down?" The Keeper nods. "Indeed. But make no mistake, Ken Kaneki. This will be a war. A war that begins when I want it to begin, on my terms… You have no hope left… I will cast you into the deepest pits of black despair imaginable and more! Understand that I am ten thousand years ahead of you and that I sit atop human civilisation itself!"
Kaneki smiles, breathing in the cool night air. "Thanks for the advice, human". The Keeper raises an unseen eyebrow, then smiles in return. "Ahh… You got me there. Farewell Ken Kaneki. I don't expect to ever see you again…" Kaneki blinks as a bit of dust irritates his eye, and when he opens them again the Keeper was nowhere to be seen…
…...
Kuzo stood outside the entrance to the CCG's Prison level and takes a shaky breath. Erashi walks beside him, holding the case containing the Owl Quinque. Erashi would have been trying to comfort her friend and superior, but ever since he had announced in a briefing that he would be executing the One Eyed Owl today, he'd been completely silent.
Kuzo thought on many things with mixed emotions. Why had Ken Kaneki spared him not once but twice? Was this man, the One Eyed King, his father? If so, then why didn't he treat Kuzo like a son? He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. None of that was important right now. He would not play along to Kaneki's tune any longer… Approaching the cell, he looks in and Eto Yoshimura stares back at him with an oddly content expression on her face. Kuzo frowns. After Kaneki had whispered into her ear back in the 4th Ward, she had allowed herself to be captured, and while threatened with execution if she continued not to answer the CCG's questions, she'd be faced with extermination.
She had simply told them that her time was done anyway. That all she had to do now was die. Kuzo had pressed on the matter, asking what she mean. If she knew about the larger picture. She didn't. So now the Mother and her Son stare at each other, unmoving.
"Kuzo… Is it time?" Kuzo nods. "First Class. Please pass me the Owl Quinque". After a brief moment of hesitation, Erashi opens the case in her hands and passes the large weapon to the Special Class who tests its edge. "Miss Yoshimura… You will be executed by my hand for the offense of being a Ghoul and for withholding valuable information from your interrogators. Do you have anything to say?" Eto shakes her head and smiles. "If I may have my life ended in a more open space, I'd be grateful…" Kuzo sighs, unlocking the door and letting his mother out into the hallway as they ascend towards the Prison's Atrium. It was modelled after Cochlea after all.
"Special Class Alexander I don't think that's wise". Kuzo shakes his head. "She's been given the strongest Rc Suppressants we have and she's cuffed in Quinque Steel. She won't be going anywhere". Eto chuckles. "Is that the name you go by these days? Things have changed haven't they Kuzo?" Erashi frowns. The infamous SSS Rated One Eyed Owl was speaking with her friend as if they were family… As they enter the Atrium, Kuzo pushes Eto into a kneeling position over a steel block. A Headsman's block…
Kuzo says nothing as he raises his Quinque and steels is own heart… But as his blade rises to the crest of its swing, the two main doors open and a white haired man walks into the prison, one of the guards running in behind him, shaking his head and panting. "I'm sorry sir, but this guy had the credentials and wouldn't take no for an answer… He wanted to see you". The newcomer's hair was pure white, and both his complexion and facial structure pinned him as Chinese.
"Greetings, Special Class…Alexander. I'm here to take Eto home now". Erashi suddenly has her hand on the hilt of Ginkui, reaching over her back to grasp the new SSS rated Shinohara Quinque as well. "What the fuck are you talking about? Begone from this place. It's restricted to the Public…" Kuzo raises an eyebrow as the Chinese man runs his fingers through his hair. "What are you doing here…Tatara…" Tatara stares at the Investigator through narrowed eyes. "I can't let you take Eto away from us. The world still needs her…"
Eto smiles and Kuzo can see a tear running down her downturned face. "Stupid fool. My task is done… The Second Owl will be born, after I die". Tatara shakes his head and releases his Kagune, the organ slowly extending from his back. "I won't hold back this time, Kuzo". Kuzo sets his jaw and nods. "That's fine by me…" Suddenly, the two fighters clash, Tatara's Kagune withstanding Owl's cut and throwing both of them backwards with the force of the exchange. Erashi is about to unsheathe both of her Quinque when Kuzo shakes his head. This was something he had to do on his own…
Dodging Tatara's expertly thrusted Kagune, the Investigator lobs off the limb with Owl and rolls to the side, slashing at more of Tatara's Kagune. They continue, with Kuzo easily repelling the Chinese Ghoul every time as his opponent grew more desperate with each attack. Finally, Tatara stops pushing and stands there, panting. Kuzo straightens his tie and cracks his neck. "You cannot defeat me Tatara. Give up…" Tatara shakes his head fervently, suddenly tripping Kuzo up with a swift blow from his elongated Bikkaku Kagune. "You should know I cannot do that Kuzo. You grew up with me and Eto.. But we never told you anything about your father or the events to come. For that I am sorry".
A mask starts to form around his face and Rc Cells form a shell out of his pores, slowly cladding the Ghoul in a Samurai-like armour. Kuzo's eyes harden as he senses the dramatic increase in threat level emanating from the man he knew as his stepfather. "So you did have a Kakuja… This is a hassle…" Tatara breathes out coolly. "Given to me by Ken Kaneki… He gave me the amount of Rc Cells needed, and it evolved on its own… Now, let us battle once more, Kuzo".
His Kagune splits into 8 limbs, each darting towards Kuzo with impossible speed. He barely dodges the first, slices the second in half but the third Kagune carves the tip off the Owl Quinque, leaving him open to being slammed into by the fourth Kagune, sending him into a wall. Wiping blood from huis mouth, Kuzo staggers to his feet only for Owl to be sliced cleanly into three pieces in his hand, falling victim to Tatara's razor sharp Bikkaku. "Well shit… To think you'd be this powerful… I could have never imagined…" Tatara smiles behind his armoured mask. "I learnt a great many things from Ken Kaneki… Even though I hated him to begin with…"
Kuzo suddenly cracks his finger, making Tatara glance back at him in alarm. He raises his Kagune to strike, but he's too late to avoid the lightning fast limb that cleaves all 8 of his Kagune limbs off at once, and shattering the right shoulder of his Kakuja Armour. Erashi who is crouching behind a stack of Rc Suppressant crates can't see what's going on due to the smoke caused by a water boiler exploding, so she keeps her head down and simply listens to the noises of the battle before her. Tatara tuts while looking in alarm at Kuzo who is approaching him through the steam. "Tatara Tatara Tatara… You destroyed my best Quinque… I guess Quinque are useless when it comes to Ghouls like you anyway… Ghouls like you can only be put down by their own kind!"
His Pulsing white Rinkaku coils around his feet, but splits off into over 15 limbs as they all converge on Tatara, barely able to defend himself as Kuzo's Kagune continues to shear plates off his Kakuja. Suddenly, he rolls under one of Kuzo's Kagune and faces him not three feet way, his own Kagune already arcing down to cleave him from shoulder to hip when the White Kagune are all coiling together in front of the Investigators chest. As one they drill into Tatara's Kakuja, piercing his body straight through the ribcage, shattering bones and scraping the heart…
Tatara drops to his knees in a spreading pool of his own crimson blood. Looking up at Kuzo whose dual set of Kakugan are partially obscured by the mist. "Hehehe… It really was worth a try… I'm not worthy of saving Eto…. Go on… Finish me off right now". Kuzo shakes his head. "I've got far too many questions I want to ask you first. What's the whole story behind my father? What's going on behind the scenes? Has Ken Kaneki ascended to the select few who actually know what's really going on in this fucked up world?!" Tatara laughs as blood continues to dribble from his lips. "Those are questions that I cannot answer… You need to experience more before answering those questions yourself…" He looks around, clutching at something hidden in the steam. "If you really don't intend to finish what you started… I suppose I'll have to do it myself…" Suddenly Tatara raises the object he had picked up, a broken shard of the Owl Quinque and promptly slashes himself across the neck with the razor sharp edge, blood erupting from the fatal wound in his jugular vein.
Kuzo cries out and takes Tatara in his arms. "God damn it Tatara why? I didn't want to kill you. I need you guys… Everyone I know and care about is dying… Please don't go…" Tatara smiles as his life and vision slowly drains away. "Kuzo… You must do what I say here… Your mother needs to die… I understand it now… Kaneki… He can never love you… I'm sorry… Do I have regrets? Perhaps… My… Eto…. No! Brother…" His voice tapers off as the SS~ rated Ghoul Tatara takes his last gasping breath before laying still. Kuzo rises to his feet and approaches Eto who is still kneeling before the headsman's block, bound to it by Quinque Steel cuffs.
Kuzo sighs as he stares down at her tear streaked face. "You were never much of a mother… Were you?" He smiles, sniffing back his own tears. "Kuzo… Tatara was telling the truth… You need to kill me if you want answers… If you want to continue…" The Investigator shakes his head. "I still don't know what you mean…" He raises his Kagune over his mother's kneeling form. "Goodbye, Kuzo Kaneki… I'll miss you". He closes his eyes as his Kagune descends in a wide arc towards his mother's neck.
"It was I who was the bad son… dearest mother…"
Eto also closes her eyes and whispers her last words "To live is to devour others… Kuzo…. Eat, and continue on where my task ended… Farewell".
"The rebellious son, born with the instinct that he had a purpose… A purpose that he did not understand…"
In the course of three seconds, Eto's head had been severed from her shoulders and rolled to the floor. Kuzo kneels down beside the still warm body and lowers his head…
"His mother asked that he eat, and so he ate… He ate until he could eat no more, feeling the blood of the Owl wash through his body…"
Kuzo felt the Rc Cells increasing as he ripped into the body of his mother, gulping down the warm flesh and blood dribbling from his mouth. The flesh was oddly sweet and refreshing, and Kuzo could feel his ghoulish nature flaring inside his body. He was enjoying this in a primal sort of way. As he stands, wiping the blood from his mouth, he finds Erashi behind the crates. He wipes the blood from one of his hands and offers it to help her up. As the two of them walk towards the exit, Erashi glances at the bodies of Tatara and Eto Yoshimura. Her eyes widen a fraction. The One Eyed Owl's body looked as if it had been eaten…
…
Kuzo stood at the forefront of a huge gathering of Investigators, Urie standing next to him proudly, having warded him with the White Dragon Wing Medal for effectively eliminating both the SS~ rated Tatara and the SSS rated One Eyed Owl. The Director now stands to address the crowd once more. "Special Class Alexander has achieved feats unheard of even from Kishou Arima when he was alive, and taking on and eliminating multiple extremely high rated targets. This young man truly marks the return of the golden days within the CCG".
"We senior staff have had a top secret project in the works for a while now and now that it's finally off the drawing board I would like to give you, Special Class Alexander, the opportunity to be selected for the Alpha Quinx Program, the third generation of the Quinx Project! You would be given a powerful Kakahou and be deployed as the CCG's most powerful asset in any future operations! So what do you say?"
Kuzo had frozen where he stood. He could never have expected something like this to happen. How could he refuse such an offer without looking suspicious? He suddenly had an idea. Bowing respectfully to Urie, he faces the crowd again. "There are a few things I'd like to say before we go any further…" Urie nods his approval, so Kuzo continues. "I know a great deal of information that could have helped the CCG, but have had yet to tell anyone… Such as the fact that I know that Kishou Arima is now once again among the living thanks to Akhira Kanou…" The audience gasps, and Urie is about to storm up to Kuzo when he launches in further.
"I know that the Clown Troupe are in fact the first ever One Eyed Ghouls, created in the Garden by an individual who wished to create the One Eyed King for his own agenda. I know that the One Eyed King himself is right now forming his own exclusive group in order to battle this individual who seems to have orchestrated every major event regarding humans and ghouls fighting since the dawn of human civilisation…. I can tell you that Eto Yoshimura, the One Eyed Owl, and Ken Kaneki, the One Eyed King, are my parents, and…"
He shakes his black hair out of his eyes and removes his glasses. He activates his Kakugan eyes and the entirety of the CCG holds their breath. "I'm a Ghoul myself…" Not five seconds later, 3 Special Class Investigators including Hiyori and 5 Associates are poised in a semicircle around the stage with their Quinque ready to blast him into oblivion. Urie raises his hands for silence and he faces Kuzo from the other side of the stage. "I've had my suspicions for a long time, Kuzo Kaneki… But I took no further action. You want to know why?"
He pauses, making sure the crowd was paying attention. "Because this young man is the most loyal Investigator the CCG has in it's wide embrace. Ghoul or Human, this is a new age and I believe that the Special Class has more than proved his allegiance to the Commission of Counter Ghoul… He shall stay". After a lot of shouted conversations and heated arguments, the assembly ends, Urie shaking his head. "Honestly Kuzo. To think that we had a Ghoul fighting for us this entire time… I myself am half ghoul, and so are at least 25 currently employed investgators, but you aren't One Eyed… The child of two One Eyed Ghouls turns out to be a Full bred hmm".
Erashi had stayed behind and now she leaps up onto the stage and tackles Kuzo in an intimate embrace, sobbing uncontrollably. "I don't care if you're a Ghoul... You're more humane than most humans anyway… I love you either way…" Kuzo's eyes widen and Urie who is standing behind Erashi grins while making a heart symbol with his hands. Kuzo scowls, and then Hiyori, Ito, Suzuya and a whole group of senior investigators approach him. "We have been talking and have decided to take no independent action against you Kuzo. I'm sure it must have been hard to hide and suppress your nature all these years… I'm sorry".
Kuzo waves his hands as they all bow. "No no don't do that. I've never been inclined to eat humans or ghouls anyway… I mean, I can, but I've never actually needed to. I guess it's just a quirk of my biology after all…" He faces the senior staff and replaces his glasses on his head. "But we do have serious business to attend to…"
At the same moment, Kaneki was entering the room where the Clowns, Arima and Kanou awaited him. Almost at the exact same time, The One Eyed King and his son, the new Owl, spoke
"We need to bring down the Keeper…"
"We need to bring down the King…"
"All the pieces are falling into place… The time where everything comes to an end draws closer!"
End Tokyo Ghoul: Crimson 09
Next Time: War of the One Eyes