Author's Note:

...I'm guessing you guys would probably be more interested in skipping through this section to get on to the story, so I'll keep this short and sweet! The idea of family plays a large part in T3BFG, evident from how Amato gets stronger by delving deeper into his history and inheriting his Legacy Arms. But could there be a reason why the Legacy Arms were never gathered in the generations before him?

Chapter 76: Change Of Heart.

Inner Feelings.

"Creak..."

The tiny stones breaks in the palm of my hands, as I finally pulled the two of us up the rather steep slope. If I recall, the mouth of the cave should be just up ahead. Looking over my shoulders, Lady Hayashi came into sight, plagued by erratic breathing and a blank look in her eyes. She seemed confused ever since I slashed apart my uniform to make bandages for both our wounds. With her chest against my back, the increased heartbeat was little more than distracting...

Throb.

"Ugh..." Just thinking of that gaping maw of a wound on my left shoulder sent a wave of fire to every part of my body.

Something is bothering Lady Hayashi, that much is true. She's been on edge ever since she moved into the mansion, and setting foot on this island only made it worse a hundredfold. I admit, my performance back there with that animal wasn't my brightest. It was embarrassing, but I lost my composure when my shield broke apart. Perhaps she's still upset over my yelling?

Strange. This was exactly why I got so upset the other time with Vito and Dante. Lady Hayashi is little more than an enigma at this point in time. We don't know the true extent of her capabilities, and that made it difficult for the Zanna Famiglia to use her. Beyond that, it made assigning the men for her protection difficult. Her blatant hostility and distrust towards anyone besides Amato only made things worse. She felt like an accident just waiting happen.

Yet now, when tragedy has struck, why I don't I care for anything other than the fact that she's all right?

"Lady Hayashi? Is everything all right? If anything's amiss, please do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. I would do anything in my power to assist...so..." I tossed out the question, breaking the cold silence, only to find myself trailing off when my eyes caught sight of Lady Hayashi's distant stare. It made it clear that no words were getting through to her in her current state of mind.

No matter, right now the prime objective is getting out of this hole and reuniting with the others. No doubt they must be worried sick.

With a heave, I secured Lady Hayashi over my back while making sure she's in a comfortable position(All thing's considered). Her bigger size do mean a tougher time for me with her on my back, but that leg was in no condition to move. Pushing forward one step at a time, I had only the walls as my guide while I constantly sought out light that would have seeped in from the entrance.

"No..."

The hope died quickly. My eyes widened as the word leaked out. The entrance was gone! No, a wall of rocks covered up the mouth of the cave, each stone creeping out from the earth as they sharpened and reached towards the ceiling of the cave.

"Knock. Knock. Crack!" What started off as a gentle tap to check the density of the rock ended with a loud punch and the cracking of bone.

What are we going to do now? This was our best way out, perhaps our only way out. In our condition, we didn't have the strength nor the energy to try anything else, lest we aggravate our injuries and seal our own fate!

As my teeth gritted down hard, the sight of my fist wrecked with fear and trembling hard made me realize how worked up I was. It was unsightly, especially when compared to Lady Hayashi's leg, all bloodied and bruised. Since I'm the one still capable of movement, I should be the one to get the two of us out of here. Driven by the thought, panic and worry rippled away from the flowing stream that was my mind. Before I knew it the next course of action has already been decided.

"The wall's solid, possibly backed up with several more rocks behind this one. We have little choice but to press our way further into the cave, and seek another way out of this place." I declared, making sure it was loud enough for the both of us. Just as I started moving again however, a hand tugged gently on my uniform from behind, capturing my attention. I turned, only to have my Lady presenting me with an unexpected question.

"Just...what are you planning to do with me?"

"What...exactly do you mean?" Pushing forward after a brief pause, I ended up giving her a reply befitting my own confusion.

"You're the one who told Vito and Dante to put me out of the picture, right? To silence me? Well you had the chance, so why didn't you take it?" Fear all but leaked forth from her words, her voice. Even with all her struggling, she couldn't accomplish much in pushing herself away from my hold due to weakness from her injury. In resignation, I felt something wet hitting at my back before Lady Hayashi started crying out.

"I..I don't understand! Why help me?! What the hell are you going to do with me?!"

…

For a brief moment I was all but petrified, robbed of my voice and reason. Only seconds later did everything returned.

"...You overheard us that day?" I quietly mentioned as thoughts flooded my mind. The lines were slowly being connected, the logic falling into place. Just like that, I understood why Lady Hayashi acted the way she's been.

"W-What?" The word slipped out from behind my ears, followed by the hands gripping down on my shoulders loosening. The image of Lady Hayashi struck with utter confusion came to mind.

"...It's all my fault. Am I the reason why you were so fearful? Am I the reason why things got difficult for you in the mansion?" My eyes fell even before my words ended. "I was so engrossed..so caught up with trying to find a place for you within the Famiglia...that I didn't even realize my own actions were the reason why you acted so wary and fearful..." In an attempt to lose the shame welling up, my legs started moving, one step at a time.

Though I only ended up swaying out of balance, nearly smashing against the rock walls. Whether it was from being distraught by my thoughts or hounded by the pain throbbing from the wound on my shoulder I couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, before forcing my head up, eyes forward before pushing on. "I did request Dante and Vito to use this trip as opportunity to silence your doubts, and I meant every word, in the most literal sense." I explained, hoping for Lady Hayashi to understand that I meant her no harm. "They were to find a suitable time to properly explain why they needed to keep watch on you, so that you would no longer have to worry."

That's right...It was all for her own protection...for her own...Was it really? The word illusion comes to mind. Like the placebo effect, perhaps all I managed to do was deceived myself into thinking everything was going according to plan, that it was an effective plan for providing protection for Lady Hayashi while at the same time ascertaining her capabilities and place within the Famiglia.

"You see, we know about what happened eight years ago." My words brought with them a sense of weight unlike before.

"No..." From my back I heard Lady Hayashi's voice, whimpering as if she just lost something close. Obviously her past isn't something she wished others to know about.

"We fear you might still be marked, targeted even after having moved here to Italy. That is why I sent Dante and Vito to get you to show what you can do, as well as to act as reinforcements in case anything were to happen to you." Finally I laid everything out onto the table while contemplating the recent events.

"Everything...was for my own good? That can't be true..." Lady Hayashi questioned, the revelation hitting her hard. I could only wonder how she had felt all this while, something I took no account of up until this moment in time. Just as I started shuffling down the slope, deeper into the darkness, a sudden shift in weight nearly threw me forward in a tumble. "...then what about Duilio? Are you telling me him being here, coming after me, is nothing more than a coincidence?"

"Crack..."

The question caught me off-guard, mainly because it went against the reality of the situation.

"..I'm sorry, Lady Hayashi, but exactly who are you going on about?" The question was given after a brief moment of contemplation, and a mild sense of uncertainty and caution. The fact is that Lady Hayashi's words perked me right back up from whatever stupor I dropped into because of injury. I just had to get the confirmation. Lady Hayashi claimed that the killer that hunted her that very night eight years ago in the burning city is here, and he chased her into this cave.

"I'm saying Duilio's still out there, or he might have even came in here! I saw him, and he's hungry for blood!" Lady Hayashi cried out in terror just as I turned to my back.

That sentence itself however, was flawed. A contradiction to what I observed.

"I followed you into the forest, Lady Hayashi. Gave chase when you started running. Brought up my shield on reflex when the tinted flames swept across the forest floor, extinguishing the flames with an exertion of force to prevent a disaster from happening. Watched, as you fell to tears scrambling into this cave." The recount went on, conveyed in the most empathetic words I could muster. Still the intrigue beats itself into my mind again and again.

There's no avoiding it. She needs to know the truth!

"I saw many things within the lush forest, my Lady, but a man chasing your tail was not one of them. There was no other soul in the woods besides the two of us."

Even with little more than a glance over my shoulder I could see Lady Hayashi's eyes widening in shock. As confusion overwhelmed her, she slumped herself on my back without even a word in response. Perhaps they were all but stolen by the sheer chaos that is her thoughts right now. Finally, she broke out of the silence a few steps later.

"N-No, you're lying. I know what I saw..." She mumbled, almost as if uncertain of her own words. Driven by the new-found sense of mystery, somehow I found myself setting my sights into the darkness.

"Hm, let's just keep moving. Something tells me this is no ordinary cave. Perhaps it was no mere coincidence we ended up in here."

Beads of sweat fell from my forehead, more times than I could count. It wasn't long before my breath grew ragged, the painful sound seeping into the open and breaking the murky silence of the dark, meandering passage within the cave. Just as I was about to relent to the fire rushing through my veins and thoughts screaming out for rest, Lady Hayashi tapped on my right on shoulder.

"Um, Kiera? I think I'm fine now. The wound's numb enough for me to walk on my own at least." She said meekly before dropping off my back before I could say single word, rather hastily at that. If my assumptions are correct, it seemed as though she didn't want to trouble me with the burden of her injury anymore.

"Lady Hayashi? Is something bothering you?" Without a second thought I gave out the question, halting my steps before turning towards her. She looked troubled, but nonetheless shook her head in disagreement. I almost believed her before a series of twitches caught my eye, and I moved even before she reacted!

"Ah!" The very next moment has Lady Hayashi falling, only to be caught by my hands over her shoulders.

"No, you're not fine, not in the slightest. You and I both know how weak you are right now because of that injury." I gave out bluntly, in an attempt to curb her foolishness.

"I'm not...weakened!" Lady Hayashi, as expected, denied the notion defiantly, pulling away from my hands with sheer tenacity. "Ugh..." Still, for all the strength she mustered, she couldn't hide the presence of her own pain, each cry and moan growing louder and more erratic by the seconds.

Throb.

However, just as my hands reached out for her, my own wound pulsed to life, setting off another wave of fire that seemed to chew right into my bones. In the sudden pain I couldn't help but lose my balance, bending over to the side. The only reason I didn't fell face first to the ground was because I had my legs spread wide apart, my hands clutching down on both knees.

Not good. Perhaps it was too reckless of me to even move...

"I...I could feel it, you know?" All of a sudden Lady Hayashi started mumbling. My eyes gazed back up only to catch sight of her gritting down on her teeth, her eyes falling down. "Every throb from your wound, every tremble from your steps. I could feel it all when resting against your back..." She continued, her voice starting to shake. "It was my own paranoia that led me here, into the bear's den. You could have just left me to my fate...

"Why did you help me?! Why save me?!" Her words grew to a yell.

She was feeling guilty, so much that she disregarded the fact that without my intervention she would have most probably died. Or maybe she did put it all into regard. Caught between her frustration and her fear, tears started falling down the side of her cheeks.

"If you had just kept your nose out of my business you wouldn't have been hurt! Your shoulder wouldn't have been mauled! You wouldn't need..to be...scarred for life..."

Amato was right. She is a kind soul. Pry open her shell and she's just as noble as the beloved Boss himself. Her past experiences had all but mired and influenced her actions. They present themselves as facets of her personality; to stand strong by her own strength, to see the shadow to everyone's light, and to put everything out into the open without doubt. Yet beyond all of that, she still ended up more saddened by my injury than even her own predicament.

Without thinking, I started making my way towards the Lady. The next thing I knew I was taking her into my arms, comforting her with assurances.

"Look, if I had done that, we would have lost you, and that's worse than any scar." I declared with a slight smile, my words surprising even myself. Of course, they were nothing but the truth. One of the rare occurrences when I found myself speaking from my heart. "Now chin up." I gently whispered, pulling her eyes off the ground and wiping away the tears with a handkerchief from my pockets.

"Such tears are unbecoming of a Lady."

"...Can you do it?"

"...Y-Yeah, I think so."

"...Now!"

"Phiew, zing."

After a sharp tone akin to a ringing bell, the cavern flooded with the light from Kujaku! As the very ground shook from the buildup, the pressure finally reached its peak!

"Kaboom!"

In a grand explosion away from us, the stones shot to the sides revealing a path where the end of the cave stood before. As the dust cleared and the tremors stilled, metal and concrete came into sights, replacing the walls of rock and stone. A hidden bunker underneath the island, I could scarcely believe it. The metal walls were all but eaten away, rusted beneath a thick layer of vegetation. And where there's vegetation, there's also light. Sure enough, moonlight flooded in from the many openings of the ceiling high above...

"What is that?!" Lady Hayashi exclaimed as our steps pushed passed the leaves and the various documents strewn across the floor. The bunker was cozy, but it was far from empty. Ancient firearms from generations past lined up at every corner, it felt more like an armory than anything else. In the center was a grand table, and in its center was the object that caught the good Lady's attention.

I followed suite, and when I laid eyes on the object, the knowledge of it came to me in an instant. It rendered me speechless, trapped in a cacophony of joy, excitement, shock and awe. Forcing out words in an attempt to give clarity to the situation, I only ended up mumbling it all out...

"The fabled blade of the Zanna Settimo...the seventh Legacy Arm..." It was an oddity, even amidst the other armaments, for it was as much cursed as it was celebrated. A literal double-edged sword. And it's name was...

"...Theravada."

Well, it seems the understanding between both girls led them to the discovery of a new Legacy Arm! But what the heck is a treasure of the Zanna Famiglia doing in a cave in an unnamed, uninhabited island?! This particular chappy took a while, what with going back to school and all. As usual, give me your thoughts in your reviews I would love to hear them(especially if this was the outcome you expected or not!) Keep your eyes out for the next chapter as I try to bring this arc to a close!