Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fanfiction.

Interlude: The world under the Moon

"The moon looks beautiful tonight."

Arcueid thought for the first time in ages, as she stared out of the balcony into the tiny city of Misaki. She knew it was time to go. Yet, something within her kept refusing to leave.

The True Ancestor looked behind her, through the glass window and into the apartment where the young man who killed her slept peacefully on the double bed. She had to leave, but if she did, she'd be letting go of the one person who was truly dear to her heart. That was what stopped her from immediately running off to complete her task.

If she departed now, this could very well be the last time she sees him.

A smile slowly drew on her face. A bitter, sad smile.

"Goodbye."

.

.

Run.

Go faster..

Speed up you stupid body...!

Those were the thoughts of Shiki Tohno as he raced up the stairs of the Misaki Municipal High School like a maddened beast. His legs were numb, his breathing was wild and his expression was that of an enraged monster.

How could she...!

HOW COULD SHE!

THAT IDIOT!

The image of the blonde Vampire whom he loved flashed across his eyes multiple times, the thought of losing her too made him press on even harder, despite his body being extremely unresponsive. Slowly but surely, the stench of spilled blood and gore made its way to his nose, and every now and then he'd hear splashing as his feet would stomp into a pool of the red stuff.

Arcueid...!

Arcueid...!

Arcueid...!

Between the intense heat growing across his body, the nauseous feeling creeping inside his head and the brain-splitting headache continuously pummeling at his temples. Shiki Tohno was moving by sheer rage and despair. Placing one foot in front of the other just to spite the pains gnawing at him. Simply put, the glasses-wearing teen was fighting against his own self, refusing the doubts which haunted his barely existent thought process.

I'm almost...

Nearly...

Just one more!

Then, just like a miracle, he made it. He stood at the end of the stairs. He reached the top floor and was facing the windows to the wide night sky, which was illuminated by the big, round and white celestial body. The moon stared back at him like a watchful eye.

Shaking off his astonishment at the full moon, Shiki Tohno started examining his surroundings and...

"ARCUEID...!"

He let all of his converging feelings into his voice, but what he expected to be a thunderous shout, turned out to be merely a defeated call. His body opposed him yet again, even when he conquered his pains. Shiki Tohno was looking at a horrifying sight; the hallway, smeared with blood and body parts, the walls, cracked, almost breaking apart. But the two figures who stood opposing each other took over all of his senses.

The pale-skinned, red eyed True Ancestor was clutching her middle in pain, while the other person stood shrouded in darkness, eventually walking out when he noticed his arrival. The sound of his footsteps accompanied by slow clapping.

"Bravo... Bravo, Shiki! You've made it just in time to see your precious little princess get torn to pieces..."

Michael Roa Valdamjong walked out from the other side, his words echoing in the empty hallway. An unbuttoned white dress shirt hung from over his shoulders paired with a pair of unsightly black pants and brown tuxedo shoes. His red eyes gave off a terrifying glow, as if they were fine rubies.

No answered parted Shiki Tohno's lips, instead, the teen started to walk as fast as he could towards the wounded woman in front of him. No thoughts going through his mind but to make sure she was okay.

However, even that desire would be cut short. As halfway through, the blonde vampire locked her gaze to his, with eyes turning into a fierce golden color.

Huh?

I... can't move?

Shiki's body refused to advance another step, as Arcueid's Mystic Eyes of Enchantment pinned his will to move. It was like his legs were glued to the ground.

"Seriously Princess? After he got all the way here, you're going to waste your own energy to stop him from interfering?"

Roa made no attempts to hide his mockery. He watched amusedly as Shiki tried his hardest to break the binding but failing miserably, while Arcueid took in air like every breath was her last, then focusing her gaze to seize up her enemy.

Why...

Just why is this happening...

Can't I at least help her? Am I going to be forced to stand here and watch her suffer?

The True Ancestor stood upright, glaring at the other vampire in the hallway. Her claws extended while her body took on a stance. Arcueid prepared to move in, determined to end this as fast as possible.

"—I see… So you've finally prepared yourself... Princess!"

Michael Roa Valdamjong took two steps forward, slowly... "Impressive. It seems like the princess here is willing to die fighting me rather than let you fight alongside her, Shiki."

"..."

Shut up

"..."

"If you were the old princess, I would be in deep trouble. However, you are just a normal vampire compared to me now. You don't even possess the power of a True Ancestor anymore."

"..."

Be quiet

"..."

"It might've been a long shot, but it would have been far more interesting if you succumbed to your desires.. Princess—!"

"..."

"SHUT UP!"

Arcueid's voice echoed through the hallway connecting the two sections of the school building. With it, blue & red radiating beams of energy jumped across to reality. The colored streaks of sheer power danced between the walls and the ceiling, engulfing the entire hallway.

The world itself, reality shuddered around Arcueid.

Roa ceased talking, immediately jumping back in fear, then taking on a stance before starting to talk again, as if to tease Shiki and the princess.

"I must say... I did not expect you to have this much power left."

Close your mouth

"But you cannot defeat me…"

Stop talking

"You know it right?"

Save your voice

"Because I have something you don't."

Swallow your words

"The experience of Death."

Be silent

"I know Death, you don't. That is our difference…"

The wavering of the world around Arcueid became stronger, then she stopped breathing as if halting all movement to gather strength. Shiki, from the corner of his eye, spotted an irregularity; Arcueid and Roa's shadows, one was much, MUCH darker than the other.

"Sentient beings are instinctively afraid of the unknown.

This does not change, even for transcendent races like the True Ancestors.

No matter how much mystery you uncover, no matter how long your lifespan is.

You cannot experience Death. You run away from it, you gain power by resisting it.

Whereas I, Michael Roa Valdamjong… Accept it."

Cracking sounds alerted him to stop his speech. The glass and concrete from the windows and the walls began to shatter and break. Everything around Arceuid seemed about to collapse.

Shiki's brain was being boiled. His every part was drenching him with pain, his every thought was covered with a thick blanket of obscurity, but even he knew. Despite having no idea why, despite having no proof whatsoever. It was just that he, who had seen Death so many times before, could tell...

Arcueid or Roa, which one of them was closer to Death?

"—!"

The entire hallway had pulsed.

The glass windows, the floor, the walls, the hallway itself... all became roiling waves as if they were shaken within a shredder with a thousand blades.

"—!"

In a single instant, Roa's body disappeared. Shredded, torn apart and compressed, all at the same exact moment. There was no dodging that blow that came from the world itself.

All that remained were his ankles and feet. Everything else became a gory mess painted on the floor.

The violent shaking of the hallway stopped.

But the fight wasn't over, no.

The ankles began to move. They started running towards Arcueid.

As they did, with each step, a limb sprouted back to life, his legs, his hips, his torso, his arms. They all grew back like it was the most natural thing in the world. Arcueid knelt down as her legs gave out. In front of her, Roa's head and shoulder reformed themselves.

"Checkmate."

"..."

"—ARCUEID!"

Shiki's scream came out as a simple calling once again. It was completely useless as the healed Roa cut through his beloved in one clean slice.

"That was close...

I knew it was a good idea to choose tonight.

If the moon waned just a little, regenerating from just an ankle...

Would have been IMPOSSIBLE."

Roa announced triumphantly as he stared at the full moon outside the broken windows. Spreading his arms, he began laughing maniacally.

"—!"

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

YOU BE FUCKING QUIET

"And princess… You cannot heal from that wound.

I have the same ability as my brother over there.

As someone who embraces Death like me...

Perceiving its form didn't prove to be a difficult task."

Shiki suddenly could move again. As if the chains tying him in place were suddenly undone. It took him a moment to process what was going on through the sheer rage and terror he was feeling, but then the trail of thoughts came back running...

It was because the power behind her Mystic Eyes has vanished.

It meant that her powers are no longer working.

Sprinting towards the downed girl, he immediately held her close, only for a sense of complete dread to take over him. The realization completely shut him down, totally numbing his mind.

Her body was terribly cold.

He shook her gently and called out her name. No response came. Her expression was blank, but there was a hint of happiness in it. It was like she was happy dying to protect the one she loved.

And just like that... Her body was no longer there. Gone, reduced to spectral hems of golden energy.

Shiki sat there, frantically attempting to grasp the particles the air. Then, just like a line that was cut, his mind turned off.

.

.

Tap, Tap, Tap…

He heard the footsteps of the man who was watching until that moment.

"Finished, Shiki?"

No answer parted the teen's lips. Instead, he stood up, took off his glasses and unsheathed his knife. Shiki walked towards Roa, his eyes leaving behind a blue trail of Magical energy.

"I didn't think you were still alive."

Roa spoke casually. As if he really expected Shiki to answer or have a discussion with him.

"It seems those who can see death—"

"Shut up."

Shiki vanished from Roa's sight and reappeared behind him, the sound of flesh being cut was heard loud and clear. It was only an instant, Shiki took on a position he could never tell where it came from, but somehow felt... familiar, like his body was accustomed to it.

Roa could only stare blankly as he looked where his arm once was, then a scream of pain left his mouth.

"I told you, again and again. Every time you opened that cursed mouth. Every time a word left those despicable lips. EVERY SINGLE TIME. But you just wouldn't listen. You would rant on and on..."

Shiki spoke with a voice shrouded in rage, raising his empty hand to his face like a lunatic. The moonlight entering through the window fading in comparison to the blue glow emitted by his eyes.

"Talking about death like you saw it... Like you experienced it. But all you do is avoid it every time!"

What... was happening? Even Shiki himself couldn't tell. It wasn't him speaking, it wasn't him moving his body... Yet, it felt GOOD.

"So... Tell you what... How about I send you to see True Death myself? Maybe then I won't have to hear your ear-violating voice ever again..."

Roa, the twenty-seventh Dead Apostle Ancestor, the Serpent of Akasha, was in a state of terror like never before. The black haired teen smiled viciously as he swiped his knife clean of the blood it drew.

"N-No no no... Wait... Please...!"

"—!"

Roa's eyes couldn't follow. When he looked again, his other arm was lacking too. The feeling of pain only confirmed it, causing him to scream again. The teen standing on the other side of the room holding the amputated arm in his free hand, tossing it aside as soon as he was sure Roa saw. The arm disappeared into dust when it was discarded, reminding Roa of something...

"Same ability? Don't fuck with me! You know nothing about Death. You and I see completely different things!"

"WAI—!"

Stab, cut, slash, reverse grip and then start over again...

One piece at a time, the body of Roa was being reduced in size, one limb at a time, one chunk of meat, one bite of flesh... First were the arms, then the legs so that he couldn't escape, the chest from two different sides, the guts were dissected too, the neck, the back of the head... Contrasting the sound of flesh being sliced, the voice of a crazed laughter echoed between the walls.

"Do you feel it, you insect? The impending doom waiting for you on the other side?"

Shiki(?) addressed the chunks of meat scattered across the hallway, fully aware that Roa wasn't completely dead yet.

That wasn't a fight. Clearly... That was a massacre. A butchering. A vivisection. Then, suddenly...!

"Clear the way... Tohno-kun!"

A blue haired girl in a nun outfit rammed through the ceiling unto Roa's remains, black keys pinning down the flesh which remained. Ciel wasted no time, taking out a book with the image of the cross on it.

A light emerged at that moment surrounding the two, then she starts chanting.

"Let it be known."

"I kill. I let live. I harm and I heal."

"None shall escape my grasp."

"None shall escape my sight."

"Be crushed."

"I welcome those who have grown old and those who were defeated."

"Devote yourself to me, fear me, and obey."

"Take a rest."

"Never forget song, never forget prayer, and never forget me."

"I am light and I relieve you of all your burdens."

"Do not rebel."

"Retribution for forgiveness."

"Betrayal for trust."

"Despair for hope."

"Darkness for light"

"Death for the life."

"Relief is in my hands."

"I shall add oil to your sins and leave a mark. For only through Death, can eternal life be granted."

"Bid for forgiveness, hither."

"I, the incarnation, shall swear. "

"— Kyrie Eleison! "

Author's Note:

The first interlude lads, a more appropriate backstory for this Shiki. Events are similar to the True ending of Arcuied's route but different obviously.

Enjoy and I'll see you soon.