Chapter 3

The Hollowed Shrine

(Part 2)


I did not remember when I stopped crying, but one thing was for sure – I didn't sleep at all. I did not even have the capacity to even close my eyes, because if I did, it would be the same as going back to that 'scary' void place. Instead, I lay my head on the pillow and listened to the endless soft ticking sounds from the clock on the wall.

Seconds becomes minutes and minutes becomes hours, before I know it, the morning had come.

My day started with the nurse coming to my room. As usual, she greeted me with a happy voice, but I only replied to her with cold silence. She opened the window, letting the warm summer air and the loud chirping of birds in. My ears were filled with vibrant tunes, but despite all that, I didn't react to it.

All I have inside of me was a turmoil of despair and it was gnawing viciously, making me numb to my surroundings. The nurse had finished her routine with a short reminder before she left the room.

I didn't listen to her because what's the point of everything now?

Molly…Terra…I'm so sorry. Those words repeated like a broken tape inside of my mind and each loop continued to weigh down on my soul. I was guilty for Molly's death because she had to take up my mantle as a superhero. As for Terra…if only I hadn't been in a coma. Then she wouldn't have stayed here on Earth. I'm the reason why she had suffered a miscarriage.

If only I'd talked to them. If only I'd had asked for their help. I want to curse myself for being so weak, for not building up a courage to standup and face them.


My dark thoughts however were cut when my door made a loud knock. It opened and closed, a couple of footsteps then walked towards my bed, and then a voice of a female greeted me.

"Hi there and good morning, Markus!" the female said to me but I only replied in still silence.

Who's this person…wait, Abe told me that a psychiatrist will talk to me today. I recalled what Abe had said to me yesterday, but I completely forgotten her name.

"I'm your psychiatrist, my name is Touko Aozaki, and trust me this, I'll help you recover." The woman named Touko Aozaki, introduced herself. Well, that saves me a lot of thinking.

"Ms…Aozaki?"

"Please…do call me, Touko, because we'll be friends for a while." Touko cheerfully declared to me but I'm not having it.


It seemed that she would really dedicate herself to healing my mind. I could presume that she was really a dedicated psychiatrist, due to her very nice nature and determined attitude. However, she would be extremely disappointed in me.

"Touko…I don't want to be healed."

"Come again?" Touko questioned in a startled manner.

"Touko, I don't want to be healed." I said again as I sat slowly up from my bed. "I don't want my trauma to go away…because its what I've left of myself."

Silence had enveloped between me and Touko. I'm assuming that my statement had shocked the woman. What I said was the truth- I did not wish for me to be cured from this trauma that was strangling and slowly, but surely, crushing my soul. And the reason for that was because it contains the truth regarding myself. It was now a part of me, and if I let it go, I will feel incomplete.

"Well…" the silence was broken by Touko who was clearly stunned by my words. "I wasn't expecting that kind of request. But if that's what you want, I'll fulfill it."


That's it? She seems so…easy to deal with. Now its my turn to be stunned. I don't know much about psychologists or psychiatrists, but shouldn't they persuade unruly and troubled patients like me, in taking their treatment? This woman, Touko, seems to be the other way around.

"But do fill me in," Touko added as she pulled up a chair, "as to why you don't want me to. Also, on that note, I would love to know more about you."

"Didn't they provide you some files about me and regarding my mental health?"

"They did, and I read it already. I've encountered many patients before but this would be my first time handling a Viltrumite." Touko said, her voice ascending to a tone of amazement. "I thought Viltrumites were just fake news cooked up by some basement dwelling conspiracy maker, I never thought they are real and that I would end up meeting one."

Ah, of course you'll be amazed by me. I thought with understanding.

Ever since my grandfather, Nolan Grayson, became the Viltrumite emperor, he ordered the Viltrumites to live in peace and secrecy. The reason why for that was obvious.

If the humans found out about the Viltrumites and their former lives, that they were once a conquering and enslaving nation, with thirst for blood and war, humans would certainly panic. As for the Viltrumites, they might react against the ensuing mob, with violence and brutality.

And if that happened, the whole world would have ended a long time ago in bloodshed and destruction.

"I'm glad that I made you happy with my alien race, Ms. Touko." I weakly answered to her humor and it made her snort in glee.

"Now then Markus, I would like to know more about you…and of course, you can take your time in telling me."

Her voice was sweet and upbeat, I could almost presume that she was a good person. However, I could feel that something was wrong. A nagging feeling had formed at the back of my mind, and it tells me that this woman, Touko Aozaki, was more than just a psychiatrist.

Somehow, despite her friendly nature, I think she was lying about her profession.

Hell, I even thought her entire happy personality, was also nothing but a lie.

Oh, why should I give a fuck. I don't care if she's fake. But I only mentally clicked my tongue. Why the fuck should I care whether I divulged personal information to her, regarding about myself and the Viltrumites?

And on that note, what could she even do about my information, anyways?

I was nothing already. I didn't even want to recover from this tormenting suffering. It was the only thing that I could feel anymore.

"Well, Ms. Touko, it would be a very long story." I said to her as she made a short exhale before she replied to me with excitement.

"I've all the time in the world- for this day only, that is. So, shoot."


Its been several hours after I started telling Touko about everything. From my unusual family, the revelation of my tainted birth and towards the reason on why I try to commit suicide. I didn't leave any stones unturned, I told everything to Touko.

As for the 'psychiatrist', at the start of the story she made several upbeat remarks, which told me that her attention was clearly on me. However, as I progressed, I noticed her remarks becoming casual until I could no longer hear her making any comments. I presumed that she was quite shock, or even horrified, as she finally learned about my wretched mother and her crime, the uncanny circumstances of my birth, and how I blamed myself for the death of Molly and the misfortune that had befallen on Terra.

I still couldn't see for I chose not to remove the bandages around my eyes, but I could tell that it was already late afternoon. The temperature was now low and the warm wind had turned into a cold one.

"And that was…my life in a nutshell." I finished my story and let out a heavy sigh as a I deepen my frown into a depressed one.


Silence shrouded my room again before it was broken by Touko who cleared her throat.

"Whoa…uh…I…wasn't expecting that." Touko began, her voice were half-astonished and half-disturbed.

"First thing, Markus, I do understand why you are compelled to commit suicide. I mean, I too would be so shocked and disturbed if I found out that I was born from rape." She said as I heard a small beep. It must be her recorder or something, and she must've recorded our conversation.

"Markus, I feel bad for you and I'm truly sorry for what happened to your sister Molly and Terra. They don't deserve it, just as you don't deserve to get hurt. Trust me on this," she paused before she took my right hand and held it tightly.

"Everything is going to be ok, Markus. I swear to you that I'll help you heal your wounds."

Her hand was warm and very comforting, I couldn't help but return it by softly squeezing my right hand.

*RED LINES*

Suddenly my vision, which was all black, lit up into myriad of red lines. I faintly saw the outline of a body, a woman's- Touko's to be precise, filled with it. And I saw how it began to fall apart.


I gasped and quickly pushed her hand away. My action seemed to startled Touko for I heard her chair scrapped back, loudly.

"M-Markus?"

"No! I can't do this, not now! I-I thought it would be ok if-"

"Markus?" Touko called me with concern and I want her to back away. I don't get it, my eyes were covered so how come I could see those damn fucking red lines, chopping her body away!?

"What's wrong, did I say something bad?…Did you see something bad?" she asked me, and I quickly answered her.

"M-Ms. Touko. Ever since I opened my eyes, I could see some kind of red lines. And those red lines were cutting everything and everyone apart. I don't want this! There must be something wrong with the eyes that was transplanted in me!"

There's no point in hiding it to Ms. Touko. Better tell her the truth so that she'll know how crazy I had become. Maybe this outburst of mine will deter her from treating me.

"Markus, you were seeing red lines?" she asked with puzzlement.

"Yes and together with it, were horrifying images of people being torn or cut apart. I don't like it, I'm scared."

The woman moved her feet, her shoes clacked softly, as she moved closer to me. "Markus, you must calm down. Don't worry, I'm not dead. I'm ok, I'm still alive. You didn't hurt me." She called me with a calm manner. Now its my turn to be shocked.


I already told her that Viltrumites are scary alien species with super strength that could end someone's life in an instant. Wasn't my outburst enough to scare her away? It seems she wasn't scared of me at all.

"Ms. Touko-"

"Markus, please. You can do it, just take deep breaths and hear your heart. Eventually this will calm you down." I couldn't think of anything except to follow her words that were soft and yet sweet. It was like a guiding light to me. And indeed, I eventually calmed myself down.

"Great! Now that ends our first session. I'll see you tomorrow."

Touko said as she grabbed her coat and walked to the door, but before she opened it she spoke again.

"Markus, you may think that you don't deserve to live, because you were simply born from rape. However if you follow your own line of thought, you'll eventually arrive at a question regarding yourself."

"What…question?" I asked, confused. I didn't expect Touko to say something like this to me.

"Markus…are you really just a tainted boy or are you something even more than that?"

The question left me stunned and I didn't responded in time for before I could do so Touko had closed the door and left me alone.

Am I just a tainted boy or am I something even more? The question rang loudly inside of me. I know that I am a tainted boy because I was born from a crime. With that I had no right to live nor fulfill my dreams. I also didn't have the right to be happy because, if I did so, it would be the same as letting my bitch of a mother, the culprit, live in happiness.

As long as I'm alive, that bitch would also live. I was nothing but an extension. I could even be considered an accessory to her deed.

However, there was a part of me that was telling me otherwise, and it lay deep within my mind. It was probably my other self, who was still untainted, who held onto what was left of my innocence.

And this other self of mine was telling me…that I am not just a tainted a child…that I could be something even more than that.


-Third POV—

Touko stared at the name plate of the door for a moment. Her red eyes read the name 'Markus Murphy' three times, bearing each of the letter into her mind, before she proceeded and walk along the corridors of the hospital.

Her face etched her normal expression of a small and faint smile as she passed through some nurses who greeted her by making a small bow. Although her demeanor was calm, her mind however was running wild with many emotions. And the strongest emotion that was alerting her, was that of shock and mystify.

How is this possible? Touko thought in a startled way. How could he, Markus and a Viltrumite at that, activated the abilities of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception? She stood in front of elevator, waiting for the doors to open, and lowered her head.

I'd checked his soul and its origin. It was something before it turned into 'Emptiness'. Yes, the Viltrumite's soul origin had become 'Emptiness' and not only that. The boy was also in a coma for seventy years, he was in contact with the concept of death for too long. Those two are the biggest requirement for the Mystic Eyes of death perception to function. "But how is that possible…when a soul's origin can't change into something. A person's souls cannot change its origin because that's where he or she came from. It is the individual's 'original and true' form." Touko couldn't help but muttered her question to no one with hardened tone on her voice.

'But that's on human's I don't know about Viltrumites and how their 'souls' fucntion. They are aliens after all.'

The elevator door suddenly made a loud ding and just as the sound reached Touko, the woman's red eyes widened as she realizes something.

Seventy years ago, I planted the eyes of Shiki Ryougi on this hospital because those people from the Mage's Association wanted it for their selfish agenda. Finding a Viltrumite was a pure luck on my side. Hiding the most powerful Mystic Eyes in the entire world, on the most powerful alien race in the entire universe, was a good move…for me, that is.

"Could it be…that Shiki's eyes activated by itself…and rearrange the brain of Markus, alongside with the origin of his soul?" Touko's eyes deepen as she entered the elevator and pressed the button that would lead her to the basement parking lot.

"If that's so…then that would explain his seventy years coma. Shiki Ryougi's eyes had rearrange Markus's brain and rebuild the origin of his soul into 'emptiness'." The woman fixed her glasses, a serious frown formed on her face as she concluded her assumptions. "Then this would also mean one thing…in order for this to work, Shiki Ryougi must be 'alive' and she was the one who tinker Markus's body and directly connect him to 'The Root'."


-Basement Parking Lot—

After exiting the elevator, Touko now walked along the silent basement parking lot. The woman was still thinking hard, her head hung low and her eyes were still locked on a serious gaze.

However she paused and quickly shifted her gaze in front. Her senses had picked up a presence and the presence wasn't a good one.

"I'm a type of a woman who doesn't like peeping toms. You better come out now or you'll be sorry." She declared as she removed her glasses, her demeanor changed into a hardened one.

No one answered her statement for a moment, the soft buzzing of the fluorescent lightbulb above her, hummed gently into her ears, and then she begun to hear soft footsteps.

Touko watched as man walked out behind a black car, a couple of meters away. Her gaze hardened like a hawk as she observed the newcomer. He was clothed in a black leather jacket and pants. His hair was long and auburn. He was tall and bulky. As for his eyes, it was covered in black shades which was odd for normal humans since the place was poorly lit.

But the man wasn't ordinary human and the woman recognized him immediately.

"Heh, so the Mage's Association is really that desperate to get those eyes…that they are willing to hire a Mage Mercenary."

"Well what do you expect, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception is, and most definitely, the strongest type of mystic eyes ever. Mages will kill many people to get it." The man spoke, his grave voice was deep and menacing, enough to make a normal person shiver to his bones, but Touko only stood firmly.

The woman then fished out a pack of cigarette from her brown overcoat and lit the tip with her lighter. "So how much they paid you, Kairi Shishigou? And who's paying you?"

"Can't answer that, Touko- client's priviledge…though you might have an idea already since he's the same person who asked you to bring those eyes to the Association."

So him, huh. Touko breathed out the smoke and flick her cigarette. "If he's the one then I'm sure he also hired you…to kill me, isn't?"

"Yeah. But I will spare you if you reveal to me where you hid those eyes."

The man, whose name is Kairi Shishigou, hardened his gaze beneath his shades at Touko who was staring at him, predatorily. However he was startled as the woman's expression changed suddenly.

A wide wild grin spread on her face.

"There's no point in lying to you so I'll tell you the truth. I put it on this hospital's body donor registry and the eyes were transplanted to a patient- a boy named Markus Murphy."

"And?"

"He's a half-human and half-Viltrumite."

Kairi staggered back as he learned the identity of the man.

"W—What-!? There's a Viltrumite here, in this earth? I thought they are nothing but rumors…and you put the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception in one of them!?"

"Well, what can you say Kairi. If I want to hide the world's deadliest Mystic Eyes, then the perfect place for it to be…was on the body of a Viltrumite, the universe's most dangerous alien race!"

Touko declared with a triumphant voice as the mercenary growled under his teeth.

"No…for all the place where you could have hidden it…!" Kairi cursed his luck for not finding the eyes sooner. Not only that, but he discovered that the Viltrumites were real and were living among with humans. Then there was also that one of their kind had possessed the item that he was looking for.

Now how on earth could he possibly get it?

"Why…why did you put it in him?"

"Because Shiki Ryougi had asked me to hide her eyes to a place where no one could ever find or reach them." Touko paused as she puffs her cigarette and continued. "The Mage's Association wanted to use her eyes for whatever is there current stupid project and since I don't want to desecrate my colleague's grave and not fulfill her last wish, I double-crossed them."

Touko flicked her cigarette to the ground and beamed her proud grin more. "The Viltrumite was just a lucky event, I wasn't expecting to find one in this place."

So she only found the Viltrumite by chance, how absurd! Kairi couldn't believe the woman's recklessness and shouted in horror at her. "Do you've any idea what could a Viltrumite, with Mystic eyes of Death Perception, could do in this world!?"

"Oh I do. And that would certainly flipped the Mage's Association, upside down. Their so called 'magecraft' is nothing to him." Touko snorted without care, provoking the mercenary more.

"I've heard you're mad one, but this one takes the cake! You're crazy Touko Aozaki!"

"Heh, now that you know how crazy I am…do you still think I am worthy of being killed?

Kairi growled in annoyance. He heard many unsavory rumors before, regarding the infamous Touko Aozaki, who was an expert mage, and most of it were all about her madness and skills on building puppets. And now that he had seen her in the flesh, all he could say that those rumors were nothing but flimsy gossips.

Whoever spread those gossips had no idea howmad the woman is.

"No. You're nothing but a waste of time to me. Viltrumite or not, I'll get those eyes, I'll make a plan to extract those eyes out of Markus."

"Oh not afraid, are you?" Touko taunted, expecting more horrified expression from the Mercenary. But she didn't get a reply for the man had vanished from the shadows of one of the basement's pillar.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kara no Kyoukai and Invincible. Names, Places and events are merely fictional if one exist in real life then its purely fictional.

Special thanks to Pure Red Crane for beta-reading!

Hello everyone and welcome to my new chapter! Woo-hoo! looks like things are getting heat up isn't! In this chapter we get some theories as to how the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception function on poor Markus Murphy.

Shiki Ryougi must be alive and she must've tinkered something on the boy so that his body would connect to the Root (The place where everything and eeryone came from and where will return to after they die or destroyed). But nevertheless if Shiki, in her soul form, possess Markus, a Viltrumite! It would be mayhem!

Well then if you ever enjoy this chapter please leave some reviews or comments. If not you can still do so! I'm pretty open to everyone!

Goodbye for now, stay safe everyone!