Dark, ominous clouds gathered near, engulfed in a foreboding atmosphere callously splaying itself for the subtle yet growing dread. Once proud, archaic oak trees now held withered trunks and leaves, their branches weakened by the weight of a devastation he hadn't even seen. And yet, despite that, verdant fields still surrounded those trees, with tiny, white dandelions swaying peacefully to the tension, bringing their own, overgrown weeds. He stared at the buds for a while, before looking up at the ruins.
Crumbling frames covered the edifice with a pathetic quiet he hadn't known before. Cracks decorated old rubble, and age-old moss planted itself upon the rubble's metal surface. Shattered remains of glass kept crunching beneath his feet, as he continued his trek, some from stained windows, others from the laboratories. Abandonment touched the ruins so eagerly, and a scent of neglect filled the air, concealing whomever once lived there, in that building. Not even the bodies that were supposedly hanging from the edges were nowhere to be found.
He peered around the lonely site for a bit more. He closed his eyes, then walked towards a familiar silhouette, just up ahead.
"Akiza," he called.
Akiza's back was turned to him. Those long, silky bangs swayed wildly within the delicate breeze, the ends lightly touching the folds of her long, black dress. A black ribbon was tied to the back of her head, trying to childishly hold her hair together, though some of the strands kept escaping. When he drew closer, he caught the faintest scent of ash coming away from her, and when he stopped, he saw healing burns wrapped around her shoulders, a testament to the crime they performed just last night.
He could remember the red that stained her fingertips, could remember her trembling body against his, as he carried her out of the fiery buildings. He could still see the empty remorse in her eyes, though darkness tried shielding her completely. And even after the entire ordeal was over, even after the extermination, he knew she was withdrawing from within, though nothing's changed. With that in mind, he came to her, a confused frown on his face. "Akiza." he repeated.
"There was nothing here," she murmured quietly.
He stared at her for a while, before quietly turning away. He fought the urge to scowl, as he recalled the horrifying experiments that once took place, in a facility that was no longer there. "The research facility should be here," he said. "Jaden and I were usually assigned to this branch. Did you order Alexis to-?"
"I didn't. And even if she acted alone, there's no way she could destroy it that quickly." Silently, she turned around. "From the looks of things, it's been like this for quite a while."
"How long?"
"Fifty or so years, I guess."
What?
Loneliness was carved into the atmosphere around the witch. An eternity had passed, with anxious silence suffocating him, until finally, she started moving.
Shaking.
Laughing.
His lips parted slightly at the strange scene.
Here she was, the Black Rose, laughing at someone, something, a concept he couldn't even begin to understand, an idea he hadn't thought of…the emptiness around her. She clutched both of her sides, the insanity of her voice piercing the atmosphere. She kept gasping for breath, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was still there, just behind her. And when she finally stopped, she stood there, chuckling gleefully.
Pitifully.
"Aki."
And she suddenly stopped.
The moments passed by them easily. There was a hollow dirge from far away, a nonexistent one he hadn't heard in a while. Slowly, he took another step towards her, with wariness plastered on his face. "What happened here?" he asked.
"Belletrix always loved fire. She probably just got bored of this branch, and decided to burn it down."
He shook his head. "Jaden was one of Fallen's most prominent researcher; he was the only one who's managed to create demons that would last. Even when he left, I doubt she would've just gotten rid of them."
"Then I guess she got tired of dealing with all the corpses."
He narrowed his eyes. "What're you-?"
"Jaden doesn't remember her."
The same pause repeated itself. It went on for a while, with his eyes boring her back. Before long, he turned away, and took in the ruined scene once again. He couldn't say anything, though only disbelief clouding his mind.
Impossible. Jaden wasn't one to just forgive and forget, what with all the restrictions Belletrix had placed on the two. And besides, whenever Jaden and sister dearest fought, it was always memorable; almost always he would end up half-dead by the time they were over. To simply forget those fights was a bit of an understatement. "Akiza," he started, before she turned back around, remorse brimming in the lines of her weary face.
"He doesn't remember her," she repeated.
And with that, his doubts left him.
Akiza placed one hand to her forehead, as she started laughing again. Her bangs swayed away from her sorrowful face, her pained smile bubbling with misery, as her coarse giggles took hold of the air. They were sharp, so sharp that he couldn't help but flinch, even if they were softer than before. "After all those years, after all that time he spent with her, he really doesn't remember her."
She took a deep breath, and sighed then. "And it was never his fault," she finished softly.
He took another step towards her. "Akiza-"
"It's not very human, is it?"
That same, hollow wind brushed past them. He felt the cold, frost-stricken breeze wrap around his body, though he kept his eyes on her, his own, obsidian orbs clashing with her feral, golden ones. "Well, he wasn't very human to begin with."
"That's not true."
But he brushed aside her comment, continuing with his one, stray thought. "None of us were."
"But we were," she replied, as her hands fell limply to her sides. "And we still are. It doesn't seem like it, but we are."
"We aren't."
"How do you know?"
He returned to her her hollow smile. "We were born and raised in a little hole, right in the middle of hell. We've killed and deceived and destroyed; we've burned alive everyone we've ever disliked. We've obeyed every single order, whether it was from Fallen, or from our selfish wishes. Akiza, we aren't-"
"Aren't what?" she pressed, causing him to fall silent. "We were trapped, Yusei. And now here we are, still bound by the same purgatory we've tried escaping, for so…damn long." She spread her arms, as she swirled away from him, seemingly dancing to the mourning cries he heard before.
"And…and isn't that great?! We were so human that we refuse to condemn the crimes we've committed! No one could forget something so cruel, so gruesome! And yet here we are! Here we are, just talking about it, like we just saw some petty thief take swipe some money from under our noses! It's callous! Murderous! It's so STUPID AND WE CAN'T EVEN STOP IT!"
"Aki-!"
"Don't you understand?"
She instantly froze, her back turned to him once more. Her arms were still outstretched, her face turned to the skies. Slowly, her arms carefully lowered themselves, with lachrymose entwined within the dance she'd just performed for herself.
"Can't you understand?" she muttered, after a while.
"…No, I can't."
"And what's wrong with that?" Yusei found himself asking. He leaned forward, painfully gripping both hands. "What's wrong with not being human?"
She chuckled emptily. "It's just funny that way."
"How come?"
"It reminds me of a little promise I made to someone, before I joined the Arcadia Movement."
"And what was that?"
He stood there, quietly, unable to comprehend the unhappiness shrouding her. Though there were times he didn't know what Akiza was thinking, what uncertainty she was capable of, perhaps this was the first time he was so scared. He'd never seen her act like this before, especially in a place like this. She was standing there, shouting out her once unreadable insanity, and he'd no idea what to do about them. It was as if she was alone, talking with a shadow that could neither handle nor help her in her plight.
And yet, for some reason, he turned to her. He kept his confusion buried, though it still splayed itself in his voice. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why save any of us?"
She turned around, confusion brimming upon her face.
He stood there, fists clenched. The dirges have long since quieted, and even the melancholy of the once proud branch proved little to ease his frustrations. He gritted his teeth, as he came toward her, the hurt prominent in his eyes. "Are you really that stupid? You honestly think you can just stand there, feeling sorry for yourself? What about Jaden? And Alexis? Did you save them because you thought it'd make you feel more human?"
"I am human-"
"If that's the case, then you don't understand a single thing yourself," he scowled. "Just look around you. This was the world we came from, and in the end, this is where we'll end up. Stop dragging yourself down thinking about things like that; it won't get you anywhere."
Akiza narrowed her eyes. "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. If you understand that, then you should know where I'm coming from."
"So is that it then? Is that what's been dragging you down for the last couple of years?" When she didn't answer, he straightened, the frustration dissipating from him. "You've had more nightmares, haven't you?"
Nothing.
"Akiza."
She gave him a simple smirk. "And every time I wake up, I'm always in tears." She placed her hand over her chest, all the while looking away, her eyes fixed to the ground. "I keep thinking to myself that if I'd been there sooner, I might've been able to save them. That I-"
He scoffed. "Then that makes you an arrogant fool who doesn't know right from wrong. Akiza, the moment Fallen captured them, there was no "saving" them. You shouldn't be so prideful as to think you can save the people who are already lost." His gaze softened, as he drew closer to the witch. "It's why you've asked us to burn down all the branches we've been to."
"That's not it."
"Then what is?"
"You really don't feel it?" she asked quietly, pressing her palm against her chest. "You don't feel anything at all?"
"And what am I supposed to feel? Pity? Remorse?"
"No."
He stared at her for a while, before sighing. "You chose the lesser of evils Akiza. Even if they survived, there's nothing they could do. What? Did you want to torture them some more?"
"I didn't-"
"Did you want to watch them starve to death?"
"No, I-"
"Did you want to see them living on the streets, like a bunch of scared sewer rats?"
"That's not it-"
"Then what did you want?"
"Isn't it obvious?" she hissed sharply, causing him to fall silent. She looked like she was going to say more, but she caught herself. Slowly, she straightened. She closed her eyes, a slow, painful smile plastered on her face. And finally, she looked to him again.
"I remember them," she said softly. "Every child, every experiment, every face that'd died in Fallen's shadow. I remember their names, their prayers, how desperate they looked, when they realized the massacres they were destined to cause.
"I remember every order that was given to them, and every alarm that rang, whenever someone was going to die. I remember every small footstep that walked by me, every cage that I've ever seen, every fire that I've caused, every scream that kept me awake at night. I remember each day I was trapped there, every shadow that'd ever crossed my path, every smile that shouted to me that I should run."
"…There was nothing you could've done," he said, after the longest time. "There was nothing anyone could've done."
"I murdered them," she stated.
"And if it wasn't for those murders, you never would've gotten this far."
Before she could say anymore, he cupped her chin, and forced her to look at him. "If it wasn't for those murders, you wouldn't have been able to make an example of them. You wouldn't have been able to escape. If you hadn't, I'm pretty sure we'd end up like all the other failures. Don't you get it? That's why I turned away, when you killed Meredith, why I've followed you, after all this time. Besides, if you were anything else, you wouldn't have spared Alexis or Jaden; you would've killed them, the moment you saw them."
"They were pitiful children," she said stubbornly, "who are now loyal friends, as well as prized nobles." She clutched his wrist, not even bothering to hide her pride. "They're family."
His grip tightened, only for his hand to drop to his side, resignation permeating from his frame. "You're too nice; you really will be the death of me someday."
She raised a sorrowful, yet cocky eyebrow. "You really depend on me that much?"
"If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead."
She scrutinized him, allowing his answer to soak in. She held both hands on his wrist now, her own shadow contrasting along the edges of the evening horizon. Silence came between the two, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see the growing darkness reaching for them.
"Then I'll promise you something," she said, her breath washing over him carefully.
"And what would that be?"
"That no matter what happens, I wouldn't lose myself," she said quietly. "I'd know who I was, through the lies I've told, and the people I've hurt, and the guilt I felt. That in the end, I was still me. That I'm…human. Not a monster, or a witch, or a freak…but that I'm human."
"That we are, in fact, still human, no matter how much the other covens despise us, or how many sins we've decided to hide. That we're still us, by the end of the day, attached to a burden called humanity." She closed her eyes, and smiled. "That I won't lose myself, in the end, through the nightmares and the morals."
He clenched his fists. "You really are crazy, aren't you?"
Without warning, she pressed her lips against Yusei's, promptly cutting him off. Then, in that same moment, she stepped back, gripping both his cheeks with her hands.
"I promised, didn't I?"