Act 0: Scene 4
0 Days Remaining
The night is filled with such twinkling light
A sight to behold on a Sea bathed in Midnight
__________
Tiredly I entered the classroom, sliding the door open with no one to greet me as usual. For some reason, the headache that grew throughout yesterday was still there again today, clouding my mind slightly.
But even with that slight haze over my consciousness, it was clear that something was definitely out of the ordinary today.
“Wooow!” A girl squealed. “Okay, then how do you solve this problem, Leo?”
Indeed, today the usual clique of girls surrounding Shinji’s desk had migrated over to the new Transfer Student’s desk, leaving their old idol behind and alone. I looked around for my neighbouring friend, but for some reason or another I couldn’t find him there in the class, or outside in the courtyard today.
“In this case, you substitute this for this, then divide everything by X.” Leo’s calm voice replied the girl, as he fiddled with the paper he had on his desk as the girls watched attentively. “It’s the same equation we used earlier for the other question…”
Well, the reason why the change in locale for the girls was fairly obvious: Unlike Shinji, Leo helps out his classmates without an ounce of condescension or insult thrown at them.
“Whoa, you’re completely right!” The girl exclaimed in joy as she surveyed the paper. “Thanks, Leo!”
Not to mention that Leo actually gets the questions right.
Although, not everyone seemed to share the jovial mood Leo makes with his classmates.
“That bunch of brown-nosing idiots will suck up to anyone who’s got bigger brains than theirs.” Shinji muttered, slouched in his desk as he watched them from afar. “Well, whatever. It's no skin off my back. People who are ugly inside are ugly outside, too.”
I smiled wryly as I heard him, before moving over to my desk. For once, his irritation was understandable. Though, unlike him I never got a share in the attention, so his sentiments weren’t mutual.
“I'll give him this though: That brat is a real charity worker, laying on the charm for those sows.” He turned to me as he continued bad-mouthing Leo as I slouched onto the desk. Not too keen in participating, I guess I could at least lend him an ear to voice his frustrations at being dumped. “He's desperate to appear smarter than me, but I'm real smart one here: I see what he's doing, and he clearly doesn’t have a clue about it.”
Reacting to Shinji’s voice, Leo’s head glanced our way momentarily, before finishing what he was writing and standing up, turning to us directly. Though Leo’s face was inscrutable, it certainly was not hostile as he looked calmly at Shinji.
“Ah, er…” Shinji, who’s mouth kept on rattling on just a few moments ago, was already lost for words under his gaze. And after a few false starts, Shinji finally managed to squeeze out a few words from his lungs. “Wh-What? You need to go?”
Calmly, Leo flashed a smile his way. And although there was no clear sign of an attack coming, Shinji’s body clearly flinched under that soft smile. Unlike Shinji, Leo’s voice and gestures were filled with dignity as he spoke.
“If I have unknowingly given you cause to be spiteful, I offer you my deepest apologies: I had no intention of insulting you in any way.” Coupling this, he gave a graceful bow as an extra sign of his sincerity.
“Shinji Matou, was it?” He asked again as he straightened up, Shinji nodding wordlessly, his face still petrified.
“I’ll remember not to upset you in the future.” He continued after he noticed Shinji’s nod of affirmation. And with his message delivered, Leo then returns to his seat, with no signs of hostility or resentment in any of his actions throughout the exchange.
It was, surprisingly disconcerting, how Leo could respond so calmly to Shinji’s insults, as though he weren’t upset at all… Neither me, nor my friend, who had been putting up with Shinji for who knows how long, would be able to respond like that to him.
And he did it on his first meeting as well!
“Hah.” Shinji let out a small laugh that seemed a bit too much like a sigh of relief. “He knows when to bow down to true authority it seems; a few points for him… Yeah, and since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll just accept his apology. N-Not like he ever did piss me off or anything in the first place…”
I couldn’t help but smile wryly again to myself at Shinji’s reactions, as he double-checked that Leo was again occupied with whatever problem the girls had set him, before feigning calmness and leaning back on his seat.
Just a few moments afterwards, the door opened to admit my neighbour, who looked a bit more worn-out than he rightfully should be. Wordlessly, he crossed over and took his seat beside me, but before I could ask him what’s up, the bell for class to start rang, admitting Ms Fujimura.
“I made it!” She gasped as she turned to us energetically. “Good morning everybody!” Repeating her usual routine, she then took a few steps towards the lectern, before spectacularly falling face-first onto the floor with a crash.
Though most of the class were already desensitised to this morning routine of our homeroom teacher smashing her face onto the floor, I for one couldn’t help but cringe every time she does that. And even though we knew she would get up a few seconds later as good as new, we should probably worry about her more.
But regardless, today is evidently just another normal day once again…
__________
“…Alrighty, let’s pick up where we left off last time. According to Dr. Pieceman’s biography...”
Today, Ms Fujimura was taking the class. I glanced over to my neighbour to check how he was doing, since when he arrived he looked a bit worse for wear.
Just as I did, I notice him spasm, as though he had just been shocked awake, completely unaware of his surroundings.
“Hey; you alright?” I whispered to him, hopefully low enough not to catch Ms Fujimura’s attention.
“Huh?” He blinked several times as he rubbed his temples, before turning over to me and answering. “Ugh, sorry, feeling a little bit tired. Think I dozed off for a second…” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as I nodded in confirmation.
Although my worries did not dispel at his reasonable answer, I turned back to look at Fujimura and focus on the class a bit more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slowly reach down into his pocket and pull out his wallet, before his face visibly relaxed for some reason or another.
“Who here knows what amnesia is?” She asked, breaking my attention from my friend. ”It’s a terrifying condition where an individual loses all of their memories! It can be caused by brain damage, severe trauma, or even infections of one's mucus membranes. The section of the Doctor's biography we just covered touches on this condition…”
“But with that said,” she continued after writing the section on the blackboard. “Using amnesia as a reason to forget your homework isn’t going to work! When I was young, a fair number of my classmates were unscrupulous enough to try this. And before you start getting any ideas, I’m still young! In fact, I’m putting that fact on the test coming up!”
A collective sigh of exasperation echoed in the classroom from all the students still sat at their desks as Ms Fujimura’s lesson begins to go off on a tangent.
All of them, except one that is.
An audible shuffling of chairs drowned out my classmate’s complaints as a figure clad in red obscured my view, Leo’s voice silencing all else as he stood up without being acknowledged by Ms Fujimura.
“Ms Fujimura.” He began, his regal aura already gripping the class tightly as our eyes focused on him. Slowly, he surveyed the room with a mysterious, all-knowing smile as he took in everyone’s startled looks. As his eyes passed over my seat, the headache that had been knocking on my brain immediately burst open to engulf it entirely, a wildfire threatening to burn it to ash.
But I could do nothing to try and ease the pain as I gritted my teeth to try and bear it: Leo’s aura commanded that we do nothing else but look at him.
“And of course, my fellow classmates.” He began again after he had finished his observations. “I am afraid it is time for me to leave. We will probably never meet again, so I wish you all well. Oh, and before I forget…” He spoke out what sounded like a permanent goodbye, before turning back to our teacher. “Ms Fujimura, I think you are still young, even now. Just your presence is enough to remind me of the beauty of youth. Truly, you are a remarkable person.”
“Eh…” Ms Fujimura started, although unlike yesterday she seemed incapable of reprimanding him for doing anything. But before she could continue, Leonardo Bistario Harway took a small bow to her, and disappeared into thin air.
‘Just like Little Red Rooftop…’ I thought to myself through my crushing headache. ‘What’s going on!?’
“Uhm…” After a long period of thick, all-engulfing silence, Ms Fujimura broke the silence, as all the students in the room turned to her again almost mechanically. “Well, then, er… Let’s continue. Please turn to page 86…”
The sounds of flipping pages echoed in the class, as though what had just happened was all part of a bad story book, and we were just skipping it all…
“Heh, showing off like that in the middle of class.” Shinji snorted, one of a few people in the class that did not start flipping through their book. “If you wanted to use the toilet, be a little more discreet, along with that ‘I have to leave!’ junk.”
‘Strange…’ I couldn’t help but think as I gripped my head, trying to soothe the pain as I saw my friend struggling as well from the corner of my eye. ‘This is definitely strange… And impossible… A highly suspicious disappearance in front of an entire class, and nobody seems to care… What exactly is going on?!”
__________
Apart from Leo’s disappearance from class, the lesson continues unabated, as though it were following some kind of script.
Yet for me, everything seems to feel out of place. It’s as though, without me knowing it, the world had tilted ever so slightly, and everything I thought I knew about was slowly sliding off the edge into oblivion.
Even worse was the splitting headache that had been building up over the past few days, before exploding upon Leo’s disappearance: It made it hard to think things through properly; even my vision was covered with some weird static as the pain continued to burn… So much so, even my memories were…
‘Wait!’ I caught myself wide-eyed. ‘What memories…?’ I blinked several times as I tried to recall even the slightest bit of information about me. But nothing came forward.
Not my history, or my age, nor my parents or why I was attending this school, how my actual home looks like or how to get there, nothing.
Not even my name showed up on that blank slate which was my memory.
‘I can’t remember anything!’ I couldn’t help but panic as I gripped my head, doubling over in my seat in bewilderment. ‘My memories had been completely erased somehow… How, When, and Why did this happen!?!’
“No wait; solve the problem at hand first.” I muttered to myself to try and calm down. “Who would know my name… Or anything else about me-” I looked up in realisation.
“The Chief should know at least that… The Club Application form I should have filled out should have my name at least!”
Without wasting another second I got out of my seat, before bolting out the classroom doors and scanning for the Chief’s small figure.
I didn’t have to wait too long.
“Yo, Club Ace!” I saw her figure rush towards me through the, significantly smaller, crowd of students. For the first time, I didn’t feel exhausted as I was exposed to her usual overwhelming rush of energy.
“Did you find anything about yesterday?” She immediately asked as she got to my position.
“Chief, I’m sorry but can I ask you something first?” I cut off her chain of thought, before things got out of hand.
“Huh?” She seemed perplexed at my unusual refusal to tell her what she wants. “Um, yeah sure; what’s wrong?”
“Chief… What’s my name?” I asked her seriously.
“Huh? Your name?” She blinked several times. One would normally start laughing if they were asked directly like that. But instead-
“Just… Look it up in the registry at the Library.”
‘Good point: The registry.’ I thought to myself as I nodded and thanked her, before immediately turning down the corridor, ignoring anything and everything around me. ‘The registry has all of the student’s names from this year and all consecutive years back until the school’s foundation…If I can find my name there, it should jog my memories…’
The School Library was located on the second floor where I was, on the right wing of the U-shaped building. Supposedly it’s big enough to occupy the entire wing on its own, so I’m certain that it should be there.
It didn’t take me more than a few minutes to get myself to the library’s doors, and only a few seconds afterwards to locate the registry amongst its multitude of shelves.
“Tsukumihara Academy Registry.” It was written on its black covering in gold print. Once I find my name in here, I should be able to remember everything about myself…
Immediately I opened it and began turning the pages, scanning each white page for my class and name.
Immediately, I saw something was terribly wrong.
“White…” I blinked my eyes as I kept turning the pages. “Blank…?”
Carefully I placed the book on a nearby table and picked out the registry book for the year prior to mine.
Blank.
I ended up throwing down the book in frustration before I picked up another registry.
Blank, Blank.
And then another.
“Blank, blank, blank, blank! Every single page’s blank!”
Every page in every registry book I picked up was blank. With my final hope of getting an answer fading in a mere instant, I forgot about the books strewn around the area and wandered back out into the corridor, completely stunned by my lack of answers.
“Who am I?” I whispered to myself to the empty hallway. “What is happening here? And why am I here in the first place?”
__________
I didn’t realise it, but it seemed as though I had spent more time in the library than I had initially thought; the entire second floor was already empty.
I stumbled forward from the library door’s entrance to the windows, wrenching the latch open to let a cool breeze flow in, hoping that it will help me calm down and clear my head.
As I surveyed the ground below, I saw the garden from yesterday, occupying the U-shape cavity of the school building, just as I remembered it from yesterday. As my eyes wandered up past the fountain and towards the strange chapel outside of the school gates, I couldn’t help but shudder as I recalled what had happened yesterday, with Mr Kuzuki and those strange corpses on the ground.
I saw no corpses today, my eyes scanning carefully to see if there were any remnants of what had happened yesterday. But instead of corpses, or Mr Kuzuki in the garden, I saw someone else standing before the fountain in the garden; a female student I had never seen before.
“…Is she a student?” I asked. “…No, I can’t label anyone like that anymore with all that has happened… She isn’t even wearing the correct uniform anyway.”
From this distance, all I could make amidst the haze of the golden afternoon sun, was the woman’s long, flowing purple hair waving in the wind, and the white shirt that she wore.
‘That’s definitely not Sakura Matou though; her hair is still far, far too short in length for that…’ I couldn’t help but pulled a wry smile as I tried to sift through my limited memories for an identity to assign to this girl. ‘Shit, like everything else, nothing comes to mind…’
I couldn’t tell much from up here on the second floor, but it seemed as though the girl was meditating, her eyes closed and her hands clasped together before her chest as she stood motionless before the fountain, facing the school. I could hear the faint chatter of students busy at their clubs or heading home, clearly paying little to no attention at this strange girl in the garden.
I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of unease creep up my spine at this lack of attention her foreign presence garnered.
Just a few moments after it began, the girl’s eyes snapped open, as suddenly the world around me was awash with white light as the sound of howling winds surrounded me, pushing me back away from the window and smacking against the wall behind me.
“Gah!” I gasped as I made impact, the building around me shaking madly as shockwave after shockwave assaulted it, a thunderous roar filling its halls and drowning out the students from the floors above and below.
“The hell’s happening?!” I grunted as I tried in vain to shield myself from the shockwaves that poured through the windows; the others along the corridor having been blasted open by the same force.
Amidst all of the chaos and rumbling of the building, my headache and blurry vision threatened to overwhelm me as I took shelter in the doorway of a nearby, empty classroom. There, all I could do was crouch down and clamp my eyes shut, all the while praying that the building around me wouldn’t collapse.
Although such a fate might be simpler compared to my complete lack of knowledge of my surroundings, survival comes first!
The vibrations he felt rocking the building continued for an unknown amount of time, before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. I remained crouched beneath the doorframe for a few more moments afterwards, prepared for any aftershocks, if there were any incoming.
But clearly, none were as I soon opened my eyes to scan the surroundings, trying to take stock of the damage from what he thought was a strange earthquake.
To my great bewilderment, nothing was out of place in the corridor or classroom I had intruded in for safety: No glass shards, no broken desks, and no fallen plaster or concrete.
It was as if the chaos just mere moments ago was just a figment of my imagination, brought about by his headaches and blurred vision.
“This headache is far worse than I thought…” I gripped his head in annoyance. “These hallucinations are getting worse and-”
But before I could finish my sentence, I noticed a person step up slowly from the staircase.
It was the woman I saw out in the garden earlier, just before the shockwaves hit.
“Hmm…Intriguing.” I could barely heard her mutter as she scanned the corridors for signs of damage. “That blast was supposed to be strong enough to destroy everything in range. Yet, this school is clearly standing completely unaffected by it.” Her eyes fixated themselves on my crouching figure for a few moments, before she flashed me a small smile and turned back down the stairs.
‘Strong enough to destroy everything?!’ I could do nothing but blink as that single thought ran through my head. ‘What is this, Magic? Does she have some kind of superweapon she can hide in her bare hands?’
Looking up again at the staircases, I was struck with a thought: She could probably give me some answers I seek.
Without wasting any more time, I scrambled to my feet and immediately began running towards the stairs, first heading to the third floor to see if she was there, before backtracking again down to the first floor.
But by the time I reached my final destination, it was clear that she had disappeared completely.
“Shit; maybe I should just go home…” I muttered in disgust as I stood at the first floor’s staircase, rubbing my temples as I tried to clear away the static and the pain that built up during my chase.
But at that point, I saw something else that caught my eye.
At the very end of the corridor, just as he began turning into the left wing of the first floor, I spied an ever-recognisable red uniform.
“Leonardo Bistario Harway…” I whispered to myself as I recognised his figure. “What could he want with the first years, after disappearing like that so dramatically? There’s only a dead-end down that corridor, so why…?”
Before I knew it, my feet were already running down the hallway trying to catch up with his figure.
And just as he had reached the dead-end of the left wing, I managed to.
My heavy panting behind him, Leo calmly observed the wall at the dead end with an almost obsessive interest, before he spoke.
“The attention to detail is quite impressive…” He began, touching the wall with one finger. “Even the surrounding air is surprisingly substantial. If that is the case, this world is, in some ways more real than the real world it attempts to copy. Still, that’s only my opinion. How about the both of you? What are your thoughts on this?”
I tensed up as he turned around to face me: What does he mean by the ‘both of you?’
“Greetings; I believe this is the first time we’ve had an actual conversation together.” He began speaking again as he looked my face over with a gentle smile. My body began to relax slightly as I realised he was clearly talking to me now: Nobody else was here to listen in.
Well, my relaxed state wasn’t only because of that: Leo’s presence, alongside his smile seemed genuinely friendly and warm; like the rising sun in the mornings, with no sense of hostility whatsoever.
“Attending school wasn't half bad at all. ”He continued. “I've never had the opportunity to go to one before now. And in that respect, this has been quite an interesting experience. But sadly, the time for fun has come to an end, and I did not come here to play at being a student. For no matter how enjoyable the detour, eventually one must return to their appointed path. And for me, the time to do so has arrived. Farewell then.”
With his final words, he turned back to the wall he was so intently staring at earlier, before stopping again.
“Actually, no… That isn’t quite right.” Unexpectedly he began speaking again. “I don’t think ‘farewell’ would be accurate in this situation. For some unexplainable reason, I have a distinct feeling that we will see each other again.”
He glanced over his shoulder towards me as he retracted his previous goodbyes, before issuing another.
“So I guess I should use the more congenial, ‘See you later.’ But in any case, it is time for me to move on, and I wish you the best of luck in the near future.”
Finished with what he had to say, Leo then gently placed a hand on the solid wall before him. For a few brief moments, nothing happened to the figure in front of me.
Then, in the next, before I could even blink, his figure disappeared from view entirely.
It was as though, he had been forcibly removed from this existence.
Or perhaps, the other way around was more correct when concerning Leo: He refused to stay in this existence for a moment longer, and forcibly ejected himself from it.
I blinked in astonishment at what I witnessed, my mind working to process what had just happened, and the events that lead up to it.
“Leo said ‘No matter how enjoyable the detour, eventually one must return to their appointed path.’, right?” I repeated his sentence to myself again. “Beyond this wall is that ‘Appointed Path’ then, huh…?”
‘My name… My identity.’ Those two things that I was worried about before as I found the blank school registry resurfaced once again in my mind. ‘If I follow him, I will almost certainly find the answer to those questions. Even if they are painful, but… Do I have the will to face it, now?’
I rubbed my temples for a few brief moments as the headache that had weighed on me seemed to lift, the static covering my vision also dispelling as I reached the only logical conclusion.
“I want to know.” I spoke those words confidently as I stepped up to the wall, placing my hand on it as I closed my eyes.
For a few brief moments, nothing happened. Just as I thought I was making a fool of myself, I opened my eyes-
And the wall before me shimmered for a few brief moments, before dissociating as though it was made of sand, the little particles that made it up dropping to the floor in an instant.
What stood in its place was another, hidden doorway.
An entrance?
Or perhaps more correctly, an exit to an outside world, completely different to the one I had just been inhabiting.
And a world, that held the answers that I seek.
Ultimately, I’m already committed to seeing this through the end, regardless of whatever happens.
With that knowledge, I bid farewell to the false world that I had been living in for who knows how long, and pushed open the doors.
The room behind the doors resembled some sort of scrapyard; dishevelled boxes and shelves strewn about the room, with a single window letting in a beam of light flood the room. On the opposite end of the room I entered there seemed to have been a ‘hole’ in the wall… I couldn’t be certain it really was a hole, as its edges kept flickering back and forth through a variety of combinations, as though it didn’t actually exist.
And between me and said hole, stood a wooden effigy.
As though it had been waiting for me, the effigy took a shambling bow in my general direction as I took a few cautious steps towards it, before standing up straight so that I may inspect it further.
It stood almost a head taller than me, with stick-thin arms and legs that I’m surprised it could walk on. Covering the entirety of its body were strange markings that seemed to glow softly between red and yellow. On what one would call its head, a single circle was drawn, it too pulsing red and yellow alongside the other markings on its body.
Just as I was wondering what to do here, with this effigy, a disembodied voice rang out in the small room.
“Welcome, potential Master.”
I took a step backwards, looking around for the source of the voice carefully. But seeing none, all I could do was wait and listen for its further instructions.
“That effigy with you is your sword and shield for what lies ahead. It will move in response to your commands.” As it finished, the effigy took a few slow, shambling steps to my side as I stood, watching it move around cautiously.
“Now then, please proceed.” The voice spoke again once the effigy stood by my side, clearly meaning the strange, flickering hole in the wall before me. “The truth that you seek lies ahead.”
Though the reasons for why this voice was instructing me like so worries me, it was also obvious that I would learn nothing by standing here with this effigy by my side. And anyway; I had already committed myself to this path, and I refuse to turn back after coming this far.
With careful, but determined steps, I stepped forward into the darkness of the ‘hole’, hoping to find the answers I seek.
__________
“I made it.” I whispered to myself as I entered the room.
It stood well within the deepest depths of the world beyond that door at that school, past a labyrinth of enemies that I was forced to fight using my effigy.
The room was circular, at least twenty metres in diameter, with the floor an intricate sea-blue glass mosaic. On the opposite side of my entry stood three tall stained glass windows, the emerald-green leaves that patterned each identical window shining as though they were made out of parts of the sun. A strange silence held the room in its grasp; a silence that was reminiscent of a chapel, where the spirits of the dead still linger, observing all who manage to make it this far. And on top of that, a strange layer of purity, as if to ward off corrupted souls that may try to enter and take something.
This place must be my goal.
At least, that was what I thought, until I saw a young man wearing an ever-familiar uniform, flat on the other side of the room with an effigy collapsed by his side.
I took a few tentative steps forward until I reached his fallen position, calling out to him as I did so. When I received no reply, I crouched down to shake him, trying to wake him up. But as my fingers touched his stone-cold skin, I realised that this man was a corpse; no longer alive.
I jumped back in bewilderment and surprise, wondering what the hell could have happened, just as the effigy by the man’s side stood up with a creak.
I turned around again to my own effigy who, with a few strides had already put itself between me and this new effigy.
“An enemy then…?” I whispered as the two dolls stared at each other. “Was it the one who killed this man?” But before I could say anything more, the new effigy had already charged forward, directly towards my own!
I jumped back in surprise, putting distance between myself and the battle unfolding, trying to catch a glimpse of any advantage I could give my effigy during the fight.
The enemy’s charge was reckless, fast and violent. Within a few moments it had already crossed the gap, and was lashing out with a straight hit directly at my effigy’s wooden chest.
Just in time the attack was deflected, grazing my effigy’s wooden shoulder as it counterattacked, spinning on its left foot and lashing out at the enemy’s unprotected head.
But just before contact was made, the enemy demonstrated a superior speed against my effigy; ducking at the last moment and swiping my effigy’s feet out from under it!
Collapsing with a dull crack on the floor, it had just mere moments to roll out of the way before the enemy was attempting to skewer it. With a clatter it just barely managed to roll out of the way and onto its feet, just as the enemy smashed the ground with enough force to send several chips of the ground erupting out.
The enemy then took a few moments to look up at where my effigy had managed rolled away to, and saw it begin its own charge, its feet tapping surprisingly lightly on the floor, before lashing out with a flying kick at the enemy’s still-crouching figure.
But again, the attack proved to be futile, as the enemy quickly dodged to the side mere moments before the moment of impact, before pivoting on its free arm, sending its legs crashing straight into my effigy’s side!
It had no chance to dodge the attack, flying in mid-air as it were. With a resounding crack throughout the room, the attack made contact, sending my effigy clattering across the room alongside several splinters of wood, the result of the wound inflicted upon it.
From here, it was already evident even to me, where the scales of this battle were tipping.
Within mere moments the enemy had already pressed its advantage, racing forward towards my effigy which was just starting to get up onto its knees. But before it did have a chance, the enemy was already there, sending another frighteningly powerful kick straight into my effigy’s head!
Again a resounding crack. Again splinters of wood flew, along with my effigy that was now unable to defend itself, flying backwards in the air as the enemy flew in again for the final, killing blow.
Still in mid-air, my effigy could do nothing as the enemy jumped upwards to its position, before smashing down with its arm into my effigy’s chest. The force was enough to send it crashing down straight into the ground as its chest was pierced through, wooden splinters flying everywhere like a spurt of blood.
A moment passed.
Then two, the enemy still crouching above my prone effigy, its arm firmly embedded into its unmoving chest.
Then, with slow, almost menacing movements, the enemy effigy stood up, its head turning towards me with a creak. I couldn’t help but take a step back as my body was instantly drenched in cold sweat, my mind already knowing what was going to happen.
Almost before I could blink, the effigy was already at my position; its single, glowing red eye staring at me at point-blank range as I stood petrified, unmoving and unable to respond.
And in that instant, I felt its arm pierce my stomach.
I couldn’t help but look down, as my hands instinctively reached to grab the stake that had impaled me, as my crimson-red blood flew out, staining its unblemished wood with my life.
Just as I had grasped the situation, the effigy pulled itself out of my innards with a sickening squelch, as I collapsed face-first onto the cold ground, my legs incapable of keeping me standing.
I couldn’t feel anything anymore. It was as though, with that last attack, all my senses had already shut down in defeat. As my eyes began to dim, a single, disembodied voice was all there was to witness my passing.
“Hmph. You seem to be lacking as well.” Was all it said, its voice containing neither disdain nor crushed hopes, but rather a snide mockery of my futile efforts.
It seems as though I wasn’t qualified to be here. Then again, I would’ve been a genius to qualify without even knowing my own name… And… I’m certainly no genius…
Wait, that’s right isn’t it…
My name… My memories…
I was supposed to remember it all if I came here… The truth that I seek…
It’s here, isn’t it?
I grunted as I tried to get up again, but was only met with a scorching pain emanating from my still-bleeding wound, my red blood staining the beautiful blue floor.
“Damnit.” I could only mutter as I collapsed back onto the floor.
I had no more strength… And… Everything was going…. Dark…
Looks like I won’t be able to get my answers after all, before death claims me…
“Damnit.” I muttered again.
I wasn’t exactly afraid of death…
Now that I stood so close to it, I found myself relatively calm, with the only thing remaining in my mind being regret…
Regret that, even after suffering through those strange headaches and craziness during the past four days, I found only my death at the end of my ‘appointed path’.
Regret that, even after braving through those catacombs, the answers I was promised failed to materialise.
Regret that, even at the very end, I couldn’t figure out anything.
Not even my name resurfaced in my memories.
“Someone…” I couldn’t help but reflexively whisper a prayer with the last of my strength, knowing that the darkness was only mere moments away. “… Anyone… Please… If you make beyond here… Please, don’t… Don’t forget…”
“…My name…”
And as my vision dimmed and my heart slowed to a stop, the last things I could hear, was the echo of two sets of footsteps coming closer.
Presumably, whoever it was approaching had come here to test what fate had in store for them, just as I did…
But, as the cold embrace of death came to claim me, I knew my time was up as the darkness flooded my vision.
__________
“As the night of death claims one short tale,”
“Curtains arise on another man’s story.”
“For no matter how long it must endure,”
“Man will live on through adversity.”
“And no matter how much it must bear,”
“Man will evolve through difficulty.”
“And as how persistently Man lives, so too”
“Shall the Holy Grail War Commence once more.”
“…”
He stood silently atop a pile of discarded stone.
Like a pile of discarded corpses.
Around him stood a forest of pillars, stretching out to the distance for as far as the eye can see.
Like an endless forest of gravestones.
Before him was a metallic screen that floated in mid-air, words and videos playing across it with a green tint.
Patiently, he watched the events unfold, waiting for what he knew was coming.
And on cue, a string of sentences appeared on his screen, causing a smile to cross his face.
[SERAPH Exception Handling subsystems online…]
[An anomalous candidate with two (2) distinct Identification Numbers has been detected.]
[Breach of ‘Base System’ Rules detected…]
[Commencing preparations for deletion of anomaly…]
[Running checks on recently established ‘Exemption’ Rules before deletion is authorized…]
“It seems the time is nigh.”
“Haha, I have high hopes for you, my young protégé…”
[…]
[Checks completed.]
[’Exemption’ Rules are found to be applicable to Candidate.]
[’Base System’ Rules acknowledges application of ‘Exemption’ Rules.]
[Previous commands rescinded…]
[’Exemption’ Rules are now to be applied to Candidate.]
[Preparations for Deletion are to be halted…]
[And…]
[Two (2) cards will be drawn for the particular Candidate, one per Identification Number.]
[Two (2) Servants will be summoned upon successful completion of the Preliminaries.]
[Error detected.]
[New Parameters are incompatible with current ‘War Structure’.]
[’War structure’ requires One versus One Tournament battles.]
[Valid alternative Parameters provided within ‘Exemption’ Rules detected.]
[Running checks on alternative Parameters…]
[…]
[Checks complete.]
[New Parameters deemed valid and applicable.]
[’War Structure’ acknowledges application of Parameters found within ‘Exemption’ Rules.]
[Restructuring previous matchup battles in accordance to new Parameters.]
[…]
"And with that done, it is time for the War to begin."
"And with that done, the mire of the everyday sloughs off,"
"As a war between magi begins,"
"While the wheel of fate turns."
"Weak one, temper your sword,"
"And defend the value of your life."
...
Silently, he continues to watch.
__________