User blog:One-Eyed Serpent/Never Stand Alone (ARC 2) - Chapter 7 - Hell, How Are You?

''' Note: This particular chapter is in Third Person POV, instead of either Hiro’s or Ryuuka’s. I thought it was more appropriate for a chaotic situation such as this, and it’ll be easier to keep track of everyone this way. '''

''' And warning for anyone who is squeamish over the gory stuff and torn up anatomy. I suggest you avert you eyes, if you reach those parts. ^^ '''

 ~**~ 

'' “’|Midway upon the journey of our life| I found myself within a forest of dark| For the straightforward pathway had been lost.” A young boy, no older than 11, looked up from the tablet he was perusing, pink eyes flicking up to meet a pair so similar to his own. Alfons combed his immaculate hair out of his face, a smile on his lips. “You don’t seem like the type to read books like those, Ulrich.” ''

'' Ulrich, as the boy was named, shrugged thin shoulders, hunching down lower into the beanbag had was resting on. “I guess I’m bored out of my mind.” He muttered tonelessly, finger moving as he moved to the next page. “I don’t really understand this thing. Is this Dante guy really as cracked up as he was made to be? All I see are fancy words, twisted grammar and a lot of footnotes.” ''

'' “Well…” Alfons gracefully sat next to Ulrich’s legs, leaning back a bit to grant himself an easy view of the training hall outside, where Elfriede and Ilse are engaged in a vicious training session.”True. I barely understand it myself. Though I’m interested in learning Italian, if able. I heard Aunt Leona say that to truly appreciate Comedia is to read it in Italian.” Alfons mused. ''

'' “… You’re weird.” Ulrich decided, turning the tablet off and setting it aside. “… Though, I must say, Dante’s delusions of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso are waaay better than Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.” ''

'' The boys exchanged glances, and made gagging motions, before breaking out into mirthful laughter. ''

 -- 

'' “Okay, so when you stab someone, never, ever think ‘hey, that looks like a good spot’ and then stab like an idiot, okay?” Jannick instructed the younger girl, Ulrike, carefully, twirling said knife skillfully between his fingers. “Knife combat, despite what people say, is an art. There’s beauty in landing a perfectly clean, precise blow onto our target, and if said target dies between drawing your knife and sheathing it, then it’s worth marveling.” ''

'' The usually shy and girl was watching the older boy play with the knife, adding more complex motions as he went on. “It helps that knives are compact and easily hidden, since people under estimate those kind of things nowadays…” She inputted quietly, finger running over the sharp edge of the pen knife she had in her hands. ''

'' “Exactly!” Jannick agreed, tossing his knife up and catching by the blade. He turned to the third member of their little party, who was studiously ignoring them in favor of hastily penning more details into the charcoal portrait of Original. “Man, despite being Ul’s twin, Ullie here is my kindred spirit. Right Luca?” ''

'' “I pray to whatever deity out there that your potential love interests would be into knife play. Holy hell.” Was all the boy said, rubbing out the disproportionate eyes with more force than required. ''

'' Ulrike giggled behind her hand, as Jannick contemplated in letting Luca see the wonders of knives. ''

 -- 

 “…” 

 “…” 

 “…” 

'' Three children were closely regarding the cards in their hands, while one of them was smiling smugger than a cat that ate some sort of extravagant avian. ''

'' Hainne, Volkhardt and Beatrix all shared grimaces at their hands, while Stephan leaned back on his seat. He taunted them by fanning his cards, yawning in a bored fashion. His grin grew wider when Hainne shot him a glare. ''

'' “C’mon, you guys can’t lose five rounds straight. Oh, wait, ya just did.” Stephan laughed at his own joke, rearranging the pattern of his cards even as he threw his head back and laughed. The other three grumbled but moved their cards as well, futilely trying to guess the pattern Stephan had arranged his cards. So far, they have yet to win, as Stephan, for all his crude behavior and abrasive words was a master at outwitting people. Sometimes even himself. ''

'' “If I could,” Volkhardt bit out, sullenly rearranging his cards. “I would throw you into the nearest wall, you little piece of scheiße.” ''

'' “Language, Volkhardt.” Beatrix admonished crisply, though her authorative tone didn’t managed to hide her own frustration as well as she thought. She hissed in displeasure, and rearranged her cards once more before the time limit was over. Beatrix, being the ‘eldest’ female, was just as competitive as the first five of the eleven ‘siblings’. And being female, she pressures herself to win no matter what. ''

'' It wasn’t helping that at their age, every single one of them were sore losers. ''

'' Hainne could only sigh mournfully. “Ulrich would never let me down. ‘You’re the true eldest and yet you lost? For shame, Hainne’ uggghhh. I could hear him saying that.”  ''

'' “Huh. You got it spot on, Hainne.” ''

 “It… certainly is what Ulrich would say.” 

'' “You think Bea? Ul’s predictable, but his pace is….” ''

'' The four shuddered, and returned to their game. ''

 -- 

'' Elfriede, despite being the ‘elder’ of the two, is an idiot. ''

'' A complete idiot. ''

'' But that was only regarding things that applies to normal, boring things, but when it was for a fight – whether it be a spar or a real one – she was one of the five strongest. She may lack Ulrich’s speed or Jannick’s ability to ignore pain, or even Volkhardt’s strength, Hainne’s efficiency or Alfons’ mind games, but what she did was the lust for it. Every single one of them had been specifically made for Aragami combat later on in their pseudo-lives, but Elfriede was the one who thrived off of it the most. ''

'' Ilse was no slouch, but she found herself hard pressed to dodge the lunge kick Elfriede aimed for her midsection, which was followed by a lariat – ‘to whomever made their bodies flexible to the point of being infuriating, curse you’, Ilse though – en route to her neck, where she ducked. Ilse hopped to the side and delivered a forward snap kick in hopes of pushing the older girl back, even if just a little, which thankfully worked. ''

'' Not for long though. ''

'' Elfriede crouched down on her heels, curling into herself like a cat waiting to pounce. Ilse knew the position afforded Elfriede several moves due to their flexibility and combat-ready reflexes, and that meant Ilse was in a very bad position whether she defends or attacks. It wasn’t helping that she was better a offensive support – lending aid to inflict more damage upon target- than a front-line combatant, unlike her opponent. ''

'' ‘I’m in deep shit.’ Was her only thought before Elfriede burst into action, landing a knee deep into Ilse’s gut, followed by joined fists hammering her down and letting her meet the unforgiving steel floor in an intimate fashion. Gut Elfriede wasn’t done yet, and with a vicious punt, sent the younger flying and smack into the far wall. ''

'' Ilse groaned in pain, slumping down and curling up into a fetal position as her whole body ached. “This is why I dislike you…” She groaned, feeling more of her patience slip when Elfriede returned to her normal, bumbling self, apologizing over and over. ''

 ~**~ 

Despite being a New-Type, Lindow had never before experienced Resonance, if one were to count out the occurrence with Lenka and Ryo, and thus, he was unprepared for what he saw.

The simplest way to describe this… place was a fortress. Now, it didn’t necessarily resemble the brick and mortar constructs of old, but rather it was the oppressive, threatening feel of the place that screams ‘GO AWAY’ that made it seem like a fortress to Lindow.

Emerald eyes scanned the flawless, yet worn alabastrine walls, the spires towering overhead, and the Gothic gargoyles watching in eternal vigil. Not a single window in sight, just the lone door, right in front of Lindow, if he were to take the steps to cross the bridge. The fortress’ white color was a stark contrast to the lightless sky, and that served to make Lindow feel uneasy of approaching the fortress.

Real fortresses were dangerous, but this one – ruled by a broken child in the body of a blood soaked man – would be the most dangerous of them all.

Hefting his God Arc higher up his shoulder, Lindow set out. He’ll save the boy no matter what.

--

When they took Ryuuka in, Hiro retched on the spot at the sight.

Covered in copious amount of blood, various liquids and even bits of flesh, Ryuuka looked more like butchered carcass than a human.

His left eye was empty of an eyeball, subjecting the onlookers a literal firsthand look into his head, where the muscle and nerves connecting the eye to the skull was hanging limply. The whole left side of his face seemed like it was dipped in red paint, though said paint reeked strongly of iron and was beginning to crust, matting once silvery-gray hair against his head in coagulated lumps.

That wasn’t all.

Ryuuka was missing the entirety of his left arm, along with a sizeable chunk off of his shoulder. The stump bled profusely, leaving a morbid trail of red as Ryuuka was carried to the Laboratory for ICU. A portion of bone of his scapula was visible, ivory white despite pieces of torn muscle fibers and blood clinging to it adamantly, as if trying to complete itself, no matter how feeble the attempt is. The man himself was deathly pale – blood loss, no doubt – but what made everything much horrible than it was that he was screaming.

Oh how he screamed. His voice, distinctive with his gravelly, but fluid voice, was hoarse from the time he had been screaming. It was easy to tell his vocal cords were to give at any moment now, but from the looks of it, he wasn’t stopping anytime soon.

Soma – drenched in Ryuuka’s blood – was struggling to hold the younger, who was writhing and screaming in his arms. It was like Ryuuka was being subjected to torture, and the younger wouldn’t wake up, no matter what Cradle did. The veteran’s face was set in its stoic, blank state, but his eyes betrayed the fear and panic. The others following Soma were the same, all stone faced, but the urgency and desperation in their movements were clear as day.

Lindow, too, was in an unconscious state, but unlike the younger God Eater, Lindow merely looked like he fell asleep, albeit a troubled one at that. Sakuya and Tsubaki were the ones holding the man up, the other three 2nd Generation God Eaters forbidden from making contact with Lindow lest they were pulled into Resonance themselves.

Blood merely stood there in horrified shock, mind vainly trying to process what they had seen. It proved futile, until Nana broke down in hysteric tears and Gilbert was all but tearing through the gathered crowd to reach his childhood friend, screaming Ryuuka’s name over and over in hopes of the other responding to him. Nothing happened, only for the screams to intensify.

Ciel had visibly compartmentalized, moving to Hiro to quietly ease him from the shock, murmuring calming words in her mother tongue. She knew not to delude any of them; saying ‘it would be okay’ would be like saying the Aragami were of no importance. She would lie if it were to help her duty, but at the moment, it would be detrimental.

Julius, too, was in shock. He could only brace himself against the wall, breathing shallow and muttering to himself almost incoherently. He was teetering on the edge, and the sight nearly pushed him off into the deep end. He can’t allow himself to fall; he had promised to be there for their Squad. He shouldn’t break, but that was a hard thing to do. He saw Romeo and Nana, the latter crying uncontrollably and the former also in tears, but doing a good job of reining it in. He and Romeo looked at each other in the eyes, and Julius sat down stiffly beside them, head buried in his hands and taking deep breaths.

Blood, in an ironic twist of fate, began hating blood and its associated color.

 ~**~ 

'' They were given pets to take care of. ''

'' They were surprised, and asking the Director – their ‘Uncle’ – why they were given animals, the man told them that it was a way to learn responsibility, and to learn how to take care of beings aside from themselves. ''

'' While not all of them were enthused, they did as ordered separating to ‘bond’ with their respective pets. ''

'' Ulrich and Ulrike were off to one side, Ulrike giggling quietly when her puppy tottered after her, yapping happily. Ulrich chose to carry his in his arms, the puppy contented being carried. Ulrich had received a Doberman Pinscher, and Ulrike a Siberian Husky. It was obvious that the ‘younger’ girl was absolutely smitten by her new pet, as she was happily playing with the pup on the floor, letting it nip playfully at her fingers. ''

'' “Brother, aren’t they cute?” She asked, using both of her hands to scratch the underside of the Husky’s jaw, making the tail wag a hundred times a minute. Ulrich looked down at his own dog, and grinned a bit, seeing the Pinscher pup yawn and show toothless jaws. ''

'' “I suppose so. Yours is far more adorable, though,” Ulrich said. “… You’re going to name him? Or her?” ''

 “Eh?” 

'' “Don’t people usually name their pets?” Ulrich asked, rifling through his brain if he had read about that on social etiquette. ''

'' “U-um….” Carefully, Ulrike lifted the husky, peering at its underside. “I-it’s a girl… Should I name it- I mean her?”  ''

'' Ulrich shrugged. “If you’d like.” He looked down at the Doberman Pinscher, now absently pawing at his fingers, and checked the gender quickly before deciding. “Zico.” ''

'' “’Zico’?” Ulrike asked, a bit befuddled at the strange name. ''

'' “I dunno, he looks like a Zico to me.” He lifted the pup up, peering into its clear black eyes. “Zico, that’ll be your name from now on, okay?” The pup barked once, tail wagging, and Ulrich smiled, not happy, but neither was he displeased. ''

'' “Then, I’ll name her… Nicki.” Ulrich gave the younger an amused look, before looking away deep in thought. ''

'' He won’t tell any of them that Uncle intended to have them develop bonds with the animals, only to kill them themselves when the time is right. Death would be an integral part in their pseudo-existence; better be numbed to it as soon as possible. ''

'' Original, after all, had already done so. ''

 -- 

'' “N-no… N, no, no NO, No, NO!!” Ulrich watched with dispassionate eyes as Volkhardt took out his frustration on the wall, the construct cracking under the force of his undeveloped blows. The Prototype disliked the show of insubordination, and that Volkhardt assumed that his display would change the news Ulrich delivered. ''

 “-Ulrich, we knew you had a weird sense of humor-“ 

 “-Cease your stupidity, Ulrich- 

 “-psychological torture- 

 “-b-brother doesn’t mean that-“ 

'' “ENOUGH.” The voices of his ‘siblings’ stopped abruptly, the cacophony disappearing as soon as Ulrich barked the order. “It was the Director’s will. Who are we to disobey?” ''

'' “But he gave us Omar and Usher and Jessie and the other to take care of! And he wants us to kill them?!” Stephan was going into hysterics, and for all his violent nature, he was still an innocent. Ulrich pitied him. ''

'' “Yes.” Came the frigid reply from Ulrich. “We now know how to take care of a life, now we should know how to take a life. You’re lucky that gave us animals to kill instead of humans. I doubt your petty ‘morals’ would survive the encounter.” ''

'' “And you’re fine with taking a life, Ulrich?!?” Volkhardt roared, surging forward only to be stopped by Hainne, who had a blank look on his face. ''

'' “He’s right, Volk.” Hainne said softly, much to Vokhardt’s horror. ''

 “… What…?” 

'' “He’s right.” Hainne repeated, much more firmly. “Though I’m not as callous about these kind of things like Ul, I know he and Uncle are right. We need to get used to it, get used to death. Original would find us useless if we are to drag him down with our bleeding hearts. ‘Cruel to be kind’, as they say.” ''

'' Silence fell over the room, and Ulrich got up silently, right hand up with his fist closed. A Doberman Pinscher approached at the quiet command, the dog now reaching Ulrich’s upper thigh. Taking the dog’s collar, Ulrich pointed to the room to their left. Zico immediately trotted to the location, sitting patiently by the door for his master. ''

'' Ulrich walked over to one of the potted plants, pulling a wrapped package from the leafy growth. He tore open the wrappings, revealing a small hand gun with the silencer already attached. The sight of the weapon made the ones crying – Luca and Ulrich – to cry harder. ''

'' Ulrich sighed as he moved away, pulling his dog into the soundproof room. ''

'' He aimed the gun between the dog’s eyes. ‘Cruel to be kind’, he reminded himself. ''

'' He pulled the trigger. ''

 ~**~ 

The whole situation was screaming ‘danger’ to Lindow, but nothing happened, in the unknown time he had spent navigating the fortress.

The place was sparse of decoration, furniture or even light sources, but there were multitudes of rooms. Rooms that contained Ryuuka’s memories inside them, as he had discovered after opening one on a whim. He had immediately closed the door soon after, not wanting to intrude more than he already had.

The halls spiral, that was something Lindow was sure of as he turned another right and into another hall way.

His God Arc was held in front of him, just in case Aragami would appear. So far none had, and it was grinding at Lindow’s senses to the point of paranoia, and he didn’t like it one bit, not really.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Lindow whirled faster than he normally does, weapon out in an arc to strike anything.

The figure decked in white, fitting clothes flitted easily out of the way. Lindow drew in a sharp breath when light landed on the figure’s face, making him lower his weapon and point it away. The small figure, no higher than his mid-chest, stood still, the long dagger still out in a fighting stance.

Although years younger – Lindow pegged the figure to be around mid teens – there was no mistaking that face. It was Ryuuka Izanami, years younger and smaller, but still as dangerous. Hair only brushing past his ears, eyes not as sharp, face almost doll like in their youth, for a moment Lindow questioned the validity of the younger’s gender.

“Ryuuka.” Lindow breathed.

“… Why do you call me that?” Pink eyes narrowed, the dagger rising just a little bit higher. “I never told that name to anyone else aside Gilbert.”

“But you said your name is Ryuuka Izanami.” Lindow wasn’t sure how to take this in; is this how a person with split personality is? Resonance was tricky business, after all. “Though your left arm is scarred, but not your left eye, but I swear you’re Ryuuka Izanami.”

‘Ryuuka’s’ eyes blinked slowly, his stance slackening. “Oh…” His hand holding the weapon fell to the side, the threatening atmosphere gone in an instant. “Then you’re not here for me then. You’re here for him… Come along.”

“What?”

“Come along.” ‘Ryuuka’ repeated, the weapon in his hand suddenly gone as the young boy strode past him and ducking into a archway that Lindow was positive wasn’t there before. But nonetheless, Lindow followed quickly, resting his God Arc on his shoulder. The child move fast and with an predatory grace that it kind of resembled one of his squad mates (sometimes him, but he barely knows that) that it was unsettling.

The hallway – if it could be called that – looked ready to eat him at a moment’s notice; the pulsing veins and roots and the occasional glowing thread that would glow quickly before dimming was a radical change to the structure of stone.

The tunnel was winding and long, but when it opened into what seems to be an antechamber, Lindow had to stop and stare.

A taller figure stood at the center of the antechamber, the living tendrils wrapping around the lower legs of the person and creeping up the body, some of the roots slipping beneath the skin to spread into the flesh underneath. Ryuuka’s body was bare of scars, pale skin far more marble-like under the pulsing light from the strange orb like object over their heads.

“That’s ‘Ryuuka’.” Lindow looked at the boy beside him, the younger having an impassive look to his face. “The one you came for.”

Said man raised his bowed head, and Lindow couldn’t suppress the shudder that wracked his frame when Ryuuka’s eyes – glowing far too brightly, as if holding some separate light source from within – focused on him. He smiled sadly. “Hello, Amamiya-san. Apologies for a disastrous meeting.”

--

Rachel’s lips thinned, quietly watching the young man her sister had become fond of writhe helplessly on the metal bed, strapped down by reinforced belts to stop him from rolling off.

“He’ll be fine, sister.” She said quietly to Leah, who hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. “He’ll live; and if an event were to take Ryuuka’s life, it’ll be from him, or from the Aragami. The little ‘dragon’ won’t so easily submit to death.”

“I know,” Leah murmured quietly, voice thick from her earlier crying. “I know, but I can’t help it. We took him in, knowing he’s the one we’ve been entrusted with. I never meant to grow fond of the boy, and now I’m scared by these emotions. It goes against my nature as a scientist.”

Rachel sighed, standing up from her chair to place a hand on her sister’s face. Leah looked at her through her tears, and Rachel carefully wiped them clean. “But nonetheless, you are human.” Rachel looked back at the pitiful state Ryuuka is in, lips turned down at the corners in sadness. “We are only human.”

--

--

Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuuuuuun. I’m scared I unloaded too much info/story content on you guys, but I know you’ll live.

So! No one really seems to be who they are! Masks are disturbed, and truths are slowly unraveling! I feel like an idiot for summarizing the chapter like that xD But anyways, woot, I’m done with THIS.


 * Ryuujou flips keyboard and jumps on table, arms raised in exultation*

PS: I know that Resonance basically transports you to a person’s memories buuut… Ryuuka’s weird :V that’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes a sliver of sense. Eh.

PPS: If you’re wondering, I chose names of singers for the Clones’ pets. If you’re interested, this is the list:

Ulrich: Zico (Doberman Pinscher) – A KPop rapper; member of the boy group Block B as their Leader.

Hainne: Fukuwa (Hill Mynah) – Another Nico Nico Utaite. Known for ridiculously large vocal range. That guy is crazy.

Volkhardt: Usher (Shiba Inu) – Ohhhhhhh she got it all~ Sexy from her head to toe~ And I want it all, it all, it all~ :V

Beatrix: Reol (Foxhound) – a Nico Nico Utaite. Check out her cover of Sweet Devil ft. kradness or Ishifuuran with ill_bell and nqrse. This bae is hella!

Elfriede: Jiyong (Jerboa) – AKA G-Dragon, Leader of the famous KPop boy group Big Bang. Wow, PUNtastic baby!

Alfons: Justin (Beaver) - :V I think I don’t need to explain this one.

Jannick: Celine (Budgerigar) – Celine Dion because ‘Je Ne Vous Oublie Pas’ xD

Luca: Piko (Northern Sparrowhawk) – A famous Trap singer from Japan. He can sing a very convincing female. Sounds more feminine than me, actually. LOL

Ilse: Jessie (Common Housecat) – Jessie J/McCartney. Another naming pun.

Stephan: Omar (Rottweiler) – Don OMARion. Lol, couldn’t resist. It’s Don Omar and Omarion combined. ‘Danza Kuduro’ is a favorite of mine.

Ulrike: Nicki (Siberian Husky) – Nicki Minaj :V I was tempted to make Ulrike’s pet a large snake, so I have a reason to sing ‘MY ANACONDA DON’T WANT NONE UNLESS IT’S RYUUKA’S BUNS HUN’. Sorry not sorry :V

And if you’re wondering why such exotic pets… Their ‘Uncle’ is an influential man :V