[Novel] Nekros Manteia: Prologue 2, She who is the Final Signature.

Prologue 2: She who is the Final Signature

“Live on, for you shall be my successor. You shall continue my work and will be the one to finish it. Remember that, for you are my daughter, Mila.”

Those were my foster father’s words.
I couldn’t exactly understand them…
I didn’t know exactly what type of work he did…
I didn’t know what I had to finish…
I didn’t know how to succeed him…
There is only one thing I know…
He saved my life…

My real father left me for dead under a bridge.
No food, no water, no means of survival…
I was even deprived of clothes.
As I was told, I was found bare naked, crying, hungry, thirsty and dying.
I was a disaster.
I was an embodiment of the world’s evils.
I was the result of negligence, irresponsibility, foolishness, and cold-heartedness.
I was nothing more than a lump of meat…
Unwanted by its family…
Waiting to die…
And yet…
Even a being as pitiful and hopeless as that…
Became the greatest fortune that ever came to a couple.

You see, my foster father could not produce children…
He could not give his wife pleasure that would lead to a baby…
This inability took a toll on the couple…

At first, they were happy…
They acted the same way as they were when they were still suitor and lady.
They went to work…
Kissed each other goodbye…
Met at home and ate meals together…
Slumbered together…
Lived together…
But this happiness was short-term…

10 years passed…
Their relationship was in jeopardy…
Not once have they experienced bliss from each other…
Because of this, the woman was tempted to unfaithfulness countless times…
Men from her work knew of the fact that her husband was impotent…
They used this fact to beguile her…
They wanted her…
They thought her beauty was wasted on someone unable to have sex…
They were young, and they will surely be able to give the inexperienced virgin the pleasure she desired.

She couldn’t…
She loved my foster father…
She spent time with her husband for ten years.
She loved his company.
And more importantly, my foster father loved her…

But the allure of sex was strong…
She wanted to take them up on their offer…
She wanted to feel pleasure…
Her mind and heart says no…
But her body was craving for it…
She wanted pleasure…
No… she wanted someone to give her that pleasure…
She was tired of doing it herself…
She wanted to feel it from someone that she loved and who loved her.
She wanted to unite bodies with a man…

Aside from that, she wanted a child…
She wanted proof of her marriage to my foster father…
She wanted a product of her love with him…
She wanted to seal that deal…
Their contract of “‘till death do us part”…
A child would be the final signature…
She thought needed sex not because of the sensations, not because of the pleasure of the moment…
She thought she wanted a child more than she wanted sex…
She thought that the reason she wanted sex was because she wanted a baby…

My foster father offered to adopt a child…
This would be the best solution…
This would solve the problem they have been putting up with for ten years...
This would bring them together for good...

But for some reason…
His wife refused at first...
She did not want to adopt a child...
She wanted a child that was theirs…
She wanted a child that had their blood...
She wanted a child that came from her love with him...
But they couldn't...
My foster father's disability is their biggest curse...
She had no choice...
As much as she wanted a baby, her own baby...
She couldn't...
They couldn't and so they wound up adopting a child...

And that is where I came in...
They found me there...
Under that old bridge called “Basho o Nagareru” by the river.
Although it was a miracle how they did...
Nobody knows about this story.
Even if they had been told, they would not believe it…
So it was decided to keep it secret from those who didn’t need to know…
It was all serendipity...
A one in a million chance that was unlikely to happen to me…


My foster father cried on that same bridge one night…
Setting his hankerchief on his face…
A strong wind blew and took it away…
It was a gift from his wife, and the wind was about to take it away from him...
So he went after it...
It fell under the bridge... inches away from the water…
He went to pick it up…
At that moment he heard something….
He heard cries of hunger, thirst and near-death moaning...
The voice was young, fresh, but weak.
Hearing it would suck all forms of happiness away…
Hearing it would instill sadness and make one pity the sounds.
He, being human, felt this uneasy feeling…
So he followed those cries...
And just a few meters from where he found his hankerchief...

"Uwaaaaaah... Uwaaaaaaaah..."

…he found me, a lump of flesh lying on rock and broken asphalt…
He picked my little body up, and found out I was female…
He caressed its head and tried to make me stop crying.
It was then and there that he decided to adopt me...
He immediately brought me to the hospital…
He had me receive medication that would save my life…
He gave me food and milk to satisfy my hunger…
He gave me water to quench my thirst…
I survived, thanks to his love and care.

After that, he raised me.
He sent me to school…
He taught me arts, such as marksmanship, painting, poetry and singing.
He gave me shelter in his mansion with his wife…
He gave me clothing and warmth to pass each night…
He gave me a second shot, no, my first real shot at life.

And here I am...
Mila Crockett...
Not the best first name for an American family child, huh?
But still I am happy with that name...
Although I do admit I could have had something better...
I am very much proud to be Mila...
Because I am the signature that seals their contract...
I am the embodiment of their love...
I am the existence that saved their marriage...
And most importantly…

I am the living proof of that no matter how evil the world may get...
There will always be some good left in it...
There will always be people like my foster father…
There will always be kind people out there…
And for as long as there are good people, there is hope… no matter what the situation.

With that in mind, I make use of my life.
In return for saving my life, I shall make sure that the life that was saved would be a good one.
I shall make my foster father’s sacrifices worthwhile…
I shall live for that purpose, and exist as that final signature that bonds husband and wife together.

"Mila, someone is here for you at the backdoor!"

A servant calls out from downstairs.

"In a minute!”

I look at the mirror and check myself...
Hair nice and fixed with a blue headband…
Eyes and face clear of gunk…
Teeth are pearly white, and breath is minty fresh…
Perfume sprayed adequately all over my body…
Overcoat all buttoned up…
Collar in proper place…
Ribbon centered just below my chin…
Skirt well placed just above the knees.
Panties and napkin secured...
Black socks, three inches from the knee and lined up nicely.
Black shoes all shiny…
Yep… this school girl is ready…

I walk briskly to the backdoor…
Kinda weird that a visitor knocks from the back door, isn’t it?
When someone knocks from the backdoor, I can pretty much already guess who it is…
In truth, there is only one person who does that…

That person is my neighbor, who lives just a few blocks away from my place.
He is a schoolmate of mine, a kouhai (junior).
He likes to visit me when he has free time, or when he wants to go to school with me.
He is just a friend of mine, like everyone else is…
But I swear there is something wrong with him…

We got to know each other as members of a certain otaku organization at school when he joined.
He was ok… at first…
Just like every other new member…
Soon enough, we began to socialize with each other…
He was a frank and expressive kid…
Always speaking his mind, but still knew control…
He was fun-loving and did not know the meaning of the word “embarrassment”.
Seriously, sometimes it’s awkward being around him…
He doesn’t care if something will put him to shame as long as he is having fun…
And since I am with him, I get a share of the shame…
It does get annoying being with him sometimes…
But he was ok…
He has a passionate side unlikely found on people of his type, that is, if there are people who are actually LIKE him.
He values friends so much, to the extent that he is willing to die for them…
More than enough to make up for his negatives…

So with this, I have always treated him like how I treat everyone else…
But as time passed, his treatment towards me became, well… excessive…
I mean, every time he visits there is always something in his hands that he would give me.
Last time, it was ice cream.
Sometimes it would be chocolate…
My foster father started getting suspicious of him, saying…

“You’re too good for him.”
(Approx Romaji: kare ha anata ni ataisuru shi te i mase n .)

… or somewhere along those lines.
Perish the thought! Good Lord.

He is also very dedicated to helping me with problems, even when I don’t ask help from him…
Always willing to sacrifice things just for me…
Like one time when I needed help on a certain research project…
So he helped me, and cut his classes without telling me…
Imagine the shock when I found out…

People started to grow suspicious of us…
Some have already deduced that we were a couple…

“Is that your boyfriend? Not to be rude, but there are better guys out there, not to mention more good-looking than that.”

Uggggh.
I can’t take those statements anymore.
But somehow, my “oh so helpful” friend just dismisses those statements with a smile.
I can’t possibly imagine that he could be impervious to that, especially since he was very irritable.
Could it be that he actually likes those statements?
That he wants to be my boyfriend?
Does that kid actually like me?

"He likes you! Isn't it obvious already?"

“He won’t be a kid forever, Mila-chan.”

“He’s so in love with you right now. Can’t you tell?”

“Mila, what did you see in Hirose? He’s physically weaker than you, he lacks fashion sense, he doesn’t even have a good face and he lacks social skill. Couldn’t you have picked a better guy? Your beauty is wasted on him!”

My friends have been telling me that countless times.
Those were just three out of the many things that people seemed to have noticed.
What if they were right?
What if, this guy is in love with me?

If so, then that would explain why he keeps doing those things for me.
That would explain the excessiveness of his special treatment towards me…
If so then there is a problem here...
Because I don't like him... at least not in "that" way...
He is likeable, I think... It's just that I don't...

“Mila-chan, are you home?”

“Yes, just a minute!”

That exchange of words ends the train of thought.
I could only come up with this in the end:
He is probably the only “friend” I have that does those things for me.
And I’m the only one he treats that way… or at least I think so…
That would mean that there is something in me that is not found in everyone else…
But I can’t assume…
From here on, I’m going to find out.
I don't want any misunderstandings...
I don't want to have to put up with people's comments...
If I'm going to act accordingly, then I have to find out...
I need to know the truth... once and for all...
As soon as possible...

“Good morning Mila-chaaaaaaaaan~”

“Good morning Hirose.”

That’s him… Akihisa Hirose…
This is the guy that is both a blessing and a curse of my school life…

"Ne, Mila-chan, I got these for you... You said you liked them..."

He hands me a flash disk...

"What's in it?"

"The complete series of "Ningyo Hime no Yuutsu". That anime you loved to talk about back at school."


See what I mean...
This is the kind of stuff he does to me...
Giving me things that I didn't ask for...
Things that I wanted, but didn't ask for... at least not from him...

"Did you say something Mila-chan?"

"Eh? Nothing, nothing."

"Really? You were mumbling..."

"No I wasn't. Anyway, you should take this back home."

I give him back the flash disk...

"Eeeeeeh? But why?"

"Because I can always view them on the internet..."

"But with this you won't have to wait for..."

"It's ok. That's fine with me. Thanks for being thoughtful but you're doing too many things for me. I'm not your only friend, am I?"

"But..."

"Just take this back. You've done too much now."

"O-okay..."

He gives away a sad look...
Almost... too sad...
As much as he hides it with a very, very forced smile...
It's too obvious...
He is disappointed…
This must have been his purpose for coming here…
I guess I would feel a bit bad if this happened to me…but not as bad as he is feeling right now…
I seemed to have hit his soft spot when I rejected his offer…
He stays silent…
It gives himself away even more…
He just sits down on a chair just near the door, his face still wearing that fake smile…

Is he going to stick around like that all day?
I can't have him do that...
I'm busy right now...
I’m almost late for school and I have to go…

He puts the flash disc into the pockets of his denim jeans.
Wait... Denim jeans?
Come to think of it, right now he is clad in a forest green shirt, blue denim jeans and his favourite white rubber shoes.
He doesn't even have his I.D.
And he is empty handed.
No bag, no pen. Just a flash disk and what seems to be a phone on his pockets.
Shouldn't he be preparing right now?
Class starts in like 15…

“Oi, shouldn’t you be headed to school by now? You’re going to be late.”

At that, his sadness disappears…
I see a hint of a smile…
A smile he is trying to hold in…

“Mmmmph---“

He covers his face with his mouth…
His eyes are closed…
As much as he holds it in he can’t…
I can clearly see that he is about to laugh…
No… he already IS laughing…

“What’s so funny? Is something on my face?”

I check myself on the mirror again.
Everything is as it was…
I couldn’t see anything wrong…
I couldn’t smell anything wrong…
I didn’t feel anything wrong.
Yet, he laughs even more as I keep checking.

“Teeheeheeheeheeheehee…”

“Hey, tell me! What’s funny?”

“Looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, Mila-chan.”

“What do you mean? Do I look terrible?”

“It’s not that *chuckle* at all… You look really… ahihihihihi… great today… mmmph---“

“Then what IS the matter with you!”

“It’s just that… it is *chuckle* hahahahaha!~”

“Is there something I forgot then?”

“Yes, you cute little school girl you. It’s Sunday today. SUNDAY! NO CLASSES TODAY!”


At that, my brain freezes…
My mind couldn’t fathom what he had just said…
Here I am, in school uniform, confident eager to go to school.
I had really thought that I would be on a roll today…
I was going to have a good day…
I was supposed to have fun making the most of class…
With all this excitement, I fail to check the date…
It is Sunday…
There are no classes today…
Everything fell to nothing…
My eagerness, confidence, preparedness...
All down the drain…
My face turns red…
My head has finished buffering and analyzing the data…
I am now in full realization of the blunder I just made…

“Hahahahahaha!”

I blush even more…
Upon realizing that someone else has seen this blunder…
And of all people, it had to be the loud-mouthed Hirose…
I can’t think clearly...
My brain automatically puts my hands over my face.
For a moment, I lose my reasoning…
I panic…

"E-e-e-eeeeeeeeh? -i-is this ano-no-no-nother one of your p-p-practical jokes?"

"Since when have I ever pulled a practical joke on you?"

"But today is supposed to be..."

“Here you go, *chuckle* in case you don’t believe me.”

He shows me his cellphone’s calendar.

September 27, 2009: Sunday.

“It’s a good thing that I showed up, isn’t it Mila-chan. I can’t imagine the look on your face if you realize this when you’re already in school.”

"But weren't we supposed to-"

"-get our costumes after school? No, that is tomorrow... We are supposed to be working on your project right now. Remember? I offered to help you yesterday but you said you were busy..."

I messed up...
Big time...
Not only that, but I messed up and had Hirose of all people to notice...
I feel like I want to die...
This is embarassing...
This is embarassing...
This is embarassing...
What do i do?
What do I do?
What do I do?
What do I-

"You can get changed if you want, but you look very beautiful and womanly. If you will stay in that outfit then it's fine with me."

That line was cheezy, but somehow it soothed me...
It made me comfortable, despite this massive faux pas…
This is his plus side...
I can be myself in front of him and not have to worry about anything...
He may laugh at my mistakes, but then he helps me fix them.
And sometimes, like in this case...
He simply tolerates my mistakes...
And instead of making me feel bad about it, he makes me feel good...

"Somehow that coming from you isn't reassuring, so I'm going to get changed. You better not tell anyone about this..."

I try to act cool in front of him...
As much as I want to be fully myself in front of him...
I don't want him getting any ideas.
Especially if what they say is true...

"I won't, I won't. Don't worry about it... What are friends for?"

“You can wait for me in the living room… as usual.”

“Don’t take too long now…”

”Oh, Hirose.”

“Hm?”

"Thanks. I really need the company right now since my parents are away."

"No problem."


At that, I go back to my room...
It has green walls, with white ceilings and tiles.
My bed is located at a corner to the right of the door.
Beside the bed are my drawers, and a lampshade is placed on top of it.
On the corner opposite my bed stands a round table. I use this table when I study.
To the right of the table, at the corner opposite the door, are two closets. One of them is greatly larger than the other.
The first is for my clothes.
The second, the larger closet, is for my collection of historical firearms.

Not your everyday girl’s collection huh?
They say hobbies run in the family…
…even if they have adopted children.

My foster father loved firearms.
He used to own the collection I have now.
He had the guns in service during battles of world wars, civil wars, sieges like the one at Alamo, legendary defenses like the one at the Tirad Pass.
Name it, and he would be bound to have one.
Back when he was single, he had used one of his guns to save a woman from being raped.
That gun, being my favorite, is the Baker Rifle…
…and that woman being his wife today.
That woman would be the reason why he could no longer continue expanding that collection.
He got married after all.
He loved his wife more than his rifles.

But he still loved his rifles.
He hoped one day that this collection would expand.
He could no longer be the one to do it though… Someone else had to do it…
And this is where I come in…
I found his collection at an age of 8.
I was mesmerized by them, and soon, I was interested in them.
It was boyish, as they say, but guns are one of my favorite objects.
My father’s hopes were raised.
He now hopes that I would soon expand this collection.

“Seriously, does he really expect me to find such ancient weapons?”

I mumble as I peek into the closet.
Rifles are lined up with the barrel pointing at the ceiling.
Pistols are framed and are hanged all over the closet.

*Sigh* “It would be good if I could though.”

I take one last look at these treasures.
Then I open the other closet.
There are 2 doors to the closet.
At the back of the left door is a mirror.
I face it as I take off these confining clothes...

I take off my black leather shoes and place them under my bed…
I unbutton my navy blue coat and hang it behind my closed door…
I take off the ribbon and place it on my bed…
Then I grab a few hangers from my cabinet beside my bed…
I unbutton my white polo, and after making sure the windows are closed, I take it off.
I grab the hanger and fasten my polo on it…
I then take off my socks…
It has only been on my feet for thirty minutes so I guess it can be reused tomorrow.
I place it inside my black shoes…
I continue on taking my skirt off, and securing it with a hanger…
I then take off my bra…
I hang it beside my polo…

Pausing for a minute, I stare at the 2 objects.
I imagine myself wearing my bra and polo…
Then I look at my chest…
I wonder if they are big enough to attract…
I don’t get what guys see in breasts, but it would really help if mine would attract them.
My foster mother was the first to notice my consciousness regarding this…
She said…

“Men will truly love you for what you are, not for how you look.”

… something like that.
As much as inner beauty is important, appearances are what they see first…
I want to find a guy whom I can share life with someday…
I want to find someone I could call mine, and share what mine is with him…
I want to find that one guy whom I could be comfortable with…
I want to find a guy who, like my foster father, is passionate and good-natured…
If I could be with that guy, my life would be complete…

I want to have a boyfriend…
I’m a girl too, and as such I have these urges…
I’m not that desperate…
I’ve had one before, but it didn’t go to well…
I found it hard to tell my ex that I loved him…
I thought it was too early, so I didn’t assume…
I told him I really liked him, but apparently that didn’t cut the butter…
He wanted to be loved…
So we broke up…
The rest is history…

With a deep breath, I finish reminiscing…
Hirose must have waited for quite a long time now…
I grab my pajamas and wear them.
I put on a green tshirt, and wear my robes over it…
I grab my white slippers, and head downstairs to the living room.

I am greeted with a serious Hirose…
He stares, no, glares into empty space…
He seems angry; I wonder if it is because of what I did earlier…
I can understand if he is sad, but angry?
If it is true, then he’s gone bananas.
I better talk some sense into him…
He has not noticed me yet, so I call out…

“Oi, Hirose. I-“

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“Eeeeek.”

*phew* “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Huh? Whaddya mean by that? You’re the scary one, glaring at empty space.”

“U-uh, huh? No, I wasn’t glaring at anything. I’m fine, really. Aha, aha, ahahahahaha!”

He’s hiding something…
He uses his happy face mask to hide what he really feels…
He tries to laugh it off…
But I already am aware of what he might feel…

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“H-huh? Y-yeah, I’m sure, very, VERY s-sure.”

“You don’t sound sure. Really, are you ok?”

“Yes… I’m fine… Come now, let’s start on this thing. The sooner we finish, the better, right?”

“O-ok.”

We start working on the project…
I have to write about 24 kinds of medical drugs for tomorrow…
Apart from that, I have a document to encode…
Since he can just copy the answers from the drug handbook I have, we decided to have him write…
While he does, I type my document…
What worries me here is that Hirose has terrible penmanship.
I, on the other hand, can’t even touch type.
Our roles should be reversed…
Hirose is an Information Technology student…
He has a decent 50 words per minute max typing speed…
He should be typing…
However, he doesn’t know anything about my document, since he doesn’t take up my course…
As a nursing student, only I can type this document…
And Hirose writes the drug study to make the spent time more efficient…
So with this, we start to work…

It’s almost dark now…
We started at 7 in the morning…
It took us the whole day to finish the work…
Work that should not have been this hard…
Hirose finished the write up… But I swear I could have done WAY better…
I finished typing. Somehow my pace was enough to finish it.
Somehow, something was interfering with our work…
No, I already know what that thing is…
The whole time, I took notice of Hirose’s face.
It was serious, and scary.
He was looking at empty space as if mad at it.
As if… he is watching out for something…
I thought maybe it was just me, so I tried to concentrate on my typing…
But I couldn’t ignore it…
What he feels right now… this isn’t related to what I did earlier anymore…
Something else must have made him that way…
I don’t know if it’s anger, fear or sadness, but it’s negative…

I approach him one last time…
Hopefully he will tell me something important.

“Ne, Hirose. Thanks for your help.”

“Uh, yeah! Sure, no problem. I’m happy to help.”

“You don’t look to happy. Tell me, what’s wrong? You have worn this scary face since we began with the project.”

*shakes head* “Mmm, it’s nothing. Really. This has something to do with me. You did nothing wrong.”

“Well, I want to help. You’ve helped me so much, so now it is my turn. What’s bothering you.”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m fine.”

“Someone with that kind of face can’t be fine now, can they? Come on, just tell me. I’m your friend, remember? I’ll help!”

I try to emit a nice aura…
I need this guy to be comfortable with me so he would talk to me about his problems.
I have to make him see that I am trustworthy.
If it is a secret, then I will keep it.

“Look, it’s nothing. It’s just a simp-“

*rumble* *grumble*

A momentary silence.
Upon hearing that sound, I realize something that we should have done a long time ago.

“E-e-eeh?”

“U-u-uh.”

“Aha~ Ahahaha~ Ahahahahaha~”

*Glare* “Mmmmmmmmmph!”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! So that’s why you’ve had such a face. Why didn’t you tell me you were hungry? You could have just asked and I would have worked on it! AHAHAHAHAHA! *rumble* Woah, come to think of it, we went through the whole day working and we didn’t even have lunch. And now is early enough for dinner. Some concentration we had, but no wonder we were slow on our work. I’m sorry I was too dense to figure this out. Wait here while I make us something to eat.”

“Y-y-yeah! That would be great. Thanks.”

*Giggle* “You are going to love this.”

“I can’t wait.”

I check the fridge for ingredients that I may use for today’s meal…
I’ll be cooking a lot, since we skipped lunch…

“Hmm, Tapioca Starch, soy sauce, some ground pork, tofu, black beans, onions, Szechuan pepper… that’s it! This is enough for some Mapo Tofu! Just you wait, Hirose. I’m gonna blow you away with my skills.”

Nekros Manteia Trivia
Mapo Tofu, is a popular Chinese dish from the Szechuan province. It’s made of tofu set in a spicy chili- and bean-based sauce, topped with minced meat. The name Mapo (麻婆) is thought to refer to an old pockmarked-face lady by the name of Chen, who invented and sold the dish. It is thus sometimes translated as "Pockmarked Mother Chen's Tofu". It is sometimes called Numbing Tofu, since the Szechuan peppercorns used in the dish numb the diner's mouth.

I start making the dish.
I mix the tapioca starch and soy sauce.
I marinade the pork on it for 20 minutes.
I set that aside and blanch the tofu, which have been cut into cubes.
I chop the onions, and then I preheat the wok and put some oil.
When the wok is ready, I then stir-fry my marinated pork, which has been marinated enough by then.
I salt the pork, and add black beans, chili paste, stock, tofu, and the onions.
I then turn down the heat and wait three minutes more.
Meanwhile, I mix cornstarch, water, and soy sauce. I add this to the wok, stirring gently.
I prepare the plates, place the Mapo Tofu on it, and top it with freshly ground Szechuan pepper.

“Yes, this is ready.”

I eagerly carry the two plates to the living room…
I am confident that he will like my mapo tofu.
The cooking went so well…
The meat was well prepared…
The sauces look nice…
The scents bolster the appetite…
I stick my chin up with pride, believing that no one would surpass this mapo tofu…
But when I get there…

“Hirose, food’s rea-… Hirose? Where are you?”

… he is gone.

“Hirose? Hirose? Where are you, Hirose?!”

I look around the living room.
There is no one in here.
I check for any possible hiding places…
Behind the sofa… nope.
Behind the door… still not here…
Just outside the main door… not there…
He is nowhere to be found…

“This better not be a joke, Hirose!”

I decide to search the other rooms…
I start with the dining room…
The dining table is well kept with the chairs…
It is clean; the maidservants must have done it while we worked on the project…
I walk around the room, hoping to find Hirose hiding behind the door to the kitchen…
And then…

“Aaaaah!”

*thud*

I trip…

“O-ow! Ow! Ow! O-AAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

…on a person’s face.
Someone is here…
But it is not him…
It is a woman, clad in a maid’s outfit…
She lies on the floor…

“Wha-… Annie! Annie! Are you ok?”

I call out the name of our maidservant…
There is no response…
I check her pulse… she is fine…
I check her breathing… normal…
What isn’t normal is her face…
She doesn’t blink…
Her eyes are wide open, as if surprised…
Her mouth is also wide open…
As if something was taken out from her mouth…
Her body is stiff, it seems to have undergone rigor mortis…
I can’t move any part of his body…
No, maybe they are just spasms…

She can’t be dead yet…
But her face is lifeless…
I try to close her eyes, it won’t…
Her body is locked in that position..

“What happened to you?”

I can’t help her…
She needs to go to the hospital right away…
I try to lift her, but she is heavy.
I need the help of Hirose.
He may not be that strong,
But a 2nd man as reliable as Hirose always helps.

“Hirose! Where are you? Stop your prank and help me. Our maidservant collapsed!!!”

No response.
He must not have heard me…

“Hirose, this is serious! Get you butt right here and help me!”

Something is wrong…
Something is wrong…
Something is wrong…

“Oi Hirose!!!! HIROSEEE!!!”

Still no response…
This has gone way too far from just trying to hide from me…
I have used so much air in my lungs to make a shout that loud…
This should have been audible even from upstairs…
There is no reason he wouldn’t be able to hear me…
And he should realize that I am no longer interested in his prank…

“That idiot! I am going to kill him when I see him. I better ask help from the other maidservants instead…”

I look for someone who can help me carry Annie.
I check the kitchen, the room nearest to the dining room, for someone who would help…
I find a maidservant…

“Shely! Oi, Shely! Wake up!”

…unconscious on the floor…
I check on her…
She is on a similar state as Annie…
She looks devoid of life, warmth, and happiness…
She has the same facial expression as Annie’s.
Her body is also stiff…

“What’s going on?”

This is weird.
They are alive, but they look dead.
They even feel dead.
They rigor like corpses and have faces that tell me they have died.
Their state is something that I have never encountered before in my days as a nursing student.

“Who is doing this.”

I begin to worry…
This can’t be natural…
Something must have made them like this…
Either a poison or a psychological attack…
Something else must have induced this condition…
If this is true, then someone must have done it…
Someone must have administered whatever substance was used to put them into this state…
If I don’t find that person, everyone here who is unaware of this will become victims of this kind of attack…
The other remaining servants and Hirose…

*gasp*“Hirose!”

Two thoughts run through my mind…
Hirose may have fallen victim to this…
He may currently be in the same state as my maidservants right now…
He might have that same lifeless expression of having something sucked out from one’s mouth…
And the other thought is that…

“Hirose, did you do this?”

A sudden realization enters me…
Come to think of it…
He disappeared from the living room when I came after cooking…
And then, I find these bodies...
Hirose had ample time to do that to my maidservants if he had the materials to do so…

So it is either Hirose became a victim, or Hirose HIMSELF did this…

At this deduction, I run back to the living room…
Right beside the TV, is a drawer…
I open it and find my Glock22 inside…
I load it with a full magazine…
I now ready it so it will fire when I need it to…
With a deep breath to suppress my emotions and the gun in hand to protect me, I begin searching the house…
A search for the culprit...
But more importantly…

“Please prove me wrong, Hirose.”

… it is a search for my friend.

I climb the stairs to the second floor.
Upon reaching the top, I flip on the lights’ switch…
The fluorescent lamps reveal 6 doors in the doorway…
4 of these are the rooms of the maidservants…1 of these are for my foster parents…
The last would be my own…
I check on them one by one…
I start with the door nearest my position…
The first room…
I bust the door open with a kick.
As soon as I enter, I immediately aim the gun in front of me…

“Haaaaaaaaa~!”

…and then behind me.
At that instant…
“Ley!”
…a maidservant is revealed standing behind the door…
She has the same facial expression…
She also emits the same feeling…
Lifelessness, full of despair…
Her body is so stiff, that she was locked standing up and leaning to the wall.
Only this time, her hands are positioned as if they were holding something in front of her neck.
As if trying to prevent something from touching it.
As if trying to remove something from it.
As if…

“She was strangled.”

She must have put up a fight…
She must have tried to prevent the culprit from doing whatever he tried to do…
The culprit wound up strangling her before administering his poison…
With this, the situation just escalated to a whole new level…

“I must hurry.”

I immediately exit the room and head for the second door.
This is the room of Annie.
No one should be here…
But I can’t take any chances…
What if the culprit is here?
What if he has taken that kind of thinking into account, and decided this was the best hiding place…
I have to make sure…

“Haaaaaaaaaa~!”

I kick the door open and secure the area.
Nobody is in this room.
There are no traces of entry by someone else…
It makes sense since Annie collapsed downstairs.

“Damn it. Where are you, Hirose?”

I only stay in the room to get a look inside it.
I skip thorough checking and proceed to the next room.

I proceed to Shelly’s room…
I stand in front of the door and…

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!”

…tackle it with my body.
The door gives way…
But nobody is in here…

*pant* *pant* “Not here.”

I lose my cool…
The more I find empty doors, the more I doubt Hirose.

The timing is too perfect…
I look away from him when I cooked…
When I came back, he was gone.
The next thing I know, my maidservants are like this…
Anyone would suspect Hirose…
But I know Hirose isn’t like that…
He was kind and caring…
He never resorted to violence of any form…
He would protect others from bullies by becoming a meat shield…
He wouldn’t fight back…
He doesn’t want to hurt others…
And besides, what motive does he have for doing such a thing?

Two opposite ideas battle in my head…
In the midst of all of this, I summon the courage to open the fourth door…
I stand up in front of the door…
I take a deep breath…
I take a stance…
I prepare my leg for a kick that would knock the door off its hinges.

“Here we g-huh?”

I hear a loud explosion…
It is familiar…
It’s a sound that I have lived with…
It’s a sound with a story behind it…
It’s a sound coming from my room.
I shouldn't even hear it, but it was too clear for me to be mistaken...

“That’s my… Baker Rifle…”

It was a shot from my favorite rifle…
I could never forget this sound…
When I learned about the story behind it, I wanted to hear this particular sound…
I loved it so much, and I would sometimes dream of this sound… and of that story.

But right now, I shouldn’t be hearing that sound…
That sound only exists in my best dreams, not on my living nightmares…
It is supposed to embody the story of my foster father and his wife, not the intentions of a criminal who may be the one I call my “friend”.
The sound is a symbol of the good things in my life…
But now, it rears its head in the hell that could now be the end of me…

And in the first place…
I do not have the very rare ammunition for the guns on my collection…
The guns are too old, especially the Baker Rifle, which was used in the Napoleonic Wars in the 1800’s.
The .625 calibre carbine bullet that it needs has ended its production long ago…
The last of the bullets were used by my foster father when he made me hear the gunshot as I wished…
There is little hope of attaining them now…
Does the culprit actually have those bullets?

A modern killer wouldn’t normally use a rifle…
He would normally bring .45’s and 9mm’s…
Wouldn’t he bring bullets for those guns?
Why would he have bullets of ancient guns like my Baker Rifle?

A second shot from the rifle ends that train of thought.
And by then, I have already summoned the courage to enter my room.
I am now ready of what may lie ahead.
I am now ready to face the dangers that may lie ahead…
I am now ready to fathom the possibility of Hirose becoming the culprit.
I am now ready to fight.

I grip the gun in hand tightly.
I position myself in front of the door.
I take a deep breath…

“Hirose, please don’t let it be you.”

…and allow my resolve to weaken for one last time…
As much as it is possible for Hirose to have done it…
I cannot believe it to be so…
He is my friend, and I know him.
This is something that he wouldn’t do.

But…
In this living hell I am in…
Only he could have the chances to do it…
The maidservants were the targets…
They were close to each other and have had no known quarrels…
They could not have had the reason to do this to each other…

I do not know Hirose’s motive…
But his behavior earlier on was too suspicious…
He was serious, anxious, and angry.
I didn’t get it… I thought he was just hungry…
Did he take that opportunity? Did he want me to leave so he could do this to the maidservants?
Was his goal really to do this to the servants?
Did he have a conflict with them?
Or is there something else I have not thought of...

I stop questioning myself…
Everything will be understood when I open the door…
The truth will then be revealed.
There will be no more questions when I do that…
My desire for truth fuels my courage even more…

I ready my leg and conjure up power on them…
My heart is racing…
I breathe heavily…
My mixed emotions are about to burst out of me…
I glare at the door, and…

“HIROSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

…kick it with all my might.
The hinges quickly give way…
The door flies and crashes on the round table…
The sound of snapping wood echoes in the room…
I get back on my two feet after kicking…
I quickly enter the room with my Glock aimed in front of me…
And as expected I would find my friend…

“Hi-rose.”

Situated in front of the 2 cabinets, he kneels on the floor…
Lifeless…
Motionless…
Powerless…
Defenseless…
His eyes stare at blank space…
His hands are relaxed…
His shoulders slump…
His head slightly bent to his right…
His eyes are devoid of consciousness…
Yet somehow… he cries…

Unlike the maidservants, he isn’t stiff…
But his posture is devoid of strength…
He is unable to move…
Unlike the maidservants, he is not just devoid of happiness…
Fear seems to have dominion over Hirose’s mind…

He is unable to do anything…
Incapacitated physically and psychologically, he kneels and stays still as numerous floating guns aim at him…

Floating guns?
Something is wrong…
Something is wrong…
Something is wrong…
These objects now defy the laws of physics…
They eliminate the principle of gravity as they surround Hirose and threaten to kill him…
These guns, though very old, are still capable of taking someone’s life…


A chill runs through my spine…
My hands do not stay still…
They shiver, along with my entire body…
They are unable to use the gun that I have prepared.
My jaws rattle despite the absence of a cold temperature… and yet I feel cold.
My body perspires despite the absence of intense heat… and yet I feel hot.
My body no longer responds to my mind’s commands…
I need to go forward to save him…
But my legs move me back…
My mind has lost dominion over the body as something else takes over…
I cannot think straight…
My mind cannot fathom the existence of such a phenomenon…
It rejects the stimulus, but it knows it is there…
That contradiction consumes my mind
and my consciousness…

Comprehension levels, dropping…
Access to data from past experiences, lost…
Decision making, disabled…
Stimulus perception, corrupted…
Danger! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!

This shouldn’t be happening.
There is the existence of gravity…
So, why?
Why? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?
Why do they float?
They are not supposed to.
There is nothing holding them up, so why?
Why do they move on their own?
Nothing is applying force to it...so why?
They move?
They can’t be moving!
Why are they moving towards me?
Why? I am not pulling them to me.
Towards me?
They move towards me?
No, don’t come near me.
No. No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
Don’t come closer! DON’T COME CLOSER! DON’T COME CLOSER! DON’T COME CLOSER! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!

*wheeze* *wheeze* “Ah-“

I said, don’t come near me. Stay away! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY!

“Ahhhh, aaaaah, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

A flash of light…
Followed by a terrifying sound…
It is now set to eliminate the rat that has fallen into its trap…
It will definitely take the life of the one it has lured to him…
It will kill…
I feel something painful on my right arm…
I ignore it and instantly turn my body around…
My limbs react as I give in to what is taking over me…
I quickly take three steps out to the door…

More flashes of light…
More explosions…
I speed up in response to it…

“Ggggh-“

Something hits my left shoulder…
My nerves writhe in pain as response…
Electricity runs through my back…
But somehow I feel nothing…
It makes me run all the more…
It deters me for a minute, but I quickly speed back up…
I continue to run…

“Haaah, haaaah, haaaaah.”

I jump to the stairs…
And then… more shots follow…
The sounds give me more reasons to run…
I speed on the stairs as if it were flat ground…

“Aaah!”

I missed one of the steps…
My right leg winds up pivoting sideways…
I lose my footing…
I brace for impact as the steps draw close to my face…

*thud* “Gg—ggggh! Aaaah! Uuungh!”

I land on my forearms…
Gravity then pushes my body sideways as I roll down the stairs…
The steps’ edges slap on my face like hammers, and batter my chest like rods…
I fall with the side of my head first on the ground…
My entire body bounces after it…
And after one last roll, my body is on its back on the floor…

“Ggg—aaaaah!”

I forcefully shut my eyes in response…
My entire body aches and curls up on the floor…
My pain receptors scream for more reactions, making tears run from my eyes and making my teeth grit...
I try to move, but my body does not respond…
The pain receptors prohibit movements of the body, disabling the muscles with its screams…
I can only writhe on the floor…

“Aaa-aaaaah! Uuuuugh!” *breath* *wheeze*

I start to make agonizing sounds…
Small sounds that the mind forces my lungs to make, in hope of relieving the pain…
It doesn’t help, as the sounds I make only trigger my other reactions to the pain…
And as I experience this form of hell…

…the sounds of gunshots bring me back to reality.
I forcefully push myself to stand…
I ignore the pain…
I ignore my screaming nerves…
I defy the commands of the mind…
I defy the prohibition on my body…
I push myself up with my forearms and knees…
Then I lift myself with my left leg…
As I do so, I raise my hands up and grab on to the rails of the stairs…
I use that to push myself up further…
And now I support myself with my right leg…

“A-aaaaah!”

I let out an agonizing cry…
Pain radiates through my right leg as I try to stand with it…

“Aaaaahhhh, haaaaa, haaaaaa, uuuuuuugh! AAAAAAAH!”

I do everything to withstand it…
Ignoring limitations, I desperately try to stand...
I keep my weight on the stair rails…
I use it as a support to stay on my feet…
For as long as I can stand, there will be ways to stay alive…
…or so I thought…

“Ahahahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

A laughter echoes throughout the house…
A sinister voice takes pleasure in my unsightly attempt at survival…
He takes pleasure into seeing me in pain…
He takes pleasure into watching me struggle…
He takes pleasure into hearing my cries, seeing me curl up in pain, seeing me bleed…
He is amused by such a sight…

“As expected of the descendant of a Crockett, you sure have that look in your eyes…”

“W-w-w-where are you? Sh-sh-show yourself!”

I look around…
I try to locate the one who owns the voice I heard…
The stairs give me a good look at the living room, and there is no one to be found…
What I see instead…

“No more running away now, girl!”

… are the guns, once surrounding Hirose, that are now aimed at me…
I freeze…
If I move in this situation, I will die…
These guns… they are meant to eradicate me…
They produce sounds that emanate a killing intent, and light that can tear off flesh in seconds…
They are now all around me, and with a single command from that voice, they will shoot at me…
When that happens, the one called Mila Crockett will cease to exist.
I… don’t want to die yet…
I… can’t die yet…
I… I… I… I…

“Hmph, you aren’t a Crockett after all.”

Why, why, why, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY!
Why are these guns floating around me?
There is nobody there?
So, why?
Why don’t I have a chance to escape anymore?
Why are these guns able to shoot on their own?
WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY!

“I don’t know how you got his name, but you are spitting on it. He never knew fear, and he always stayed with his comrades until the end. You on the other hand have the face of a coward right now. You are a coward who left behind her friend when he needed you the most.”

One of the guns tilt, with its barrel pointing to the figure still kneeling upstairs…

*gasp* “Hi-hirose.”

I gasp at the sight in front of me…
Because of fear, I was unable to see what really mattered...
Why couldn’t I think that Hirose might have been even more afraid than me…?
Why couldn’t I think of how Hirose was there for me, and that he wouldn’t abandon me?
Why did I, his friend, forsake him when he needed me?
No matter how hopeless it was, why didn’t I even try?
And what is worse, is that I doubted him.
I thought that he was the one responsible for what happened to my maidservants.
Why couldn’t I trust him?
Why didn’t I believe in him?
How could I have suspected Hirose, when I knew all along that he wasn’t like that?

“Are you regretting it, girl? Ahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! So much for his name now huh? Don’t worry my dear; you will have a lot of time to regret in hell.”

Hirose, who still looks lifeless, floats towards me.
He is like a puppet, pulled by strings.
His feet are brushing against the steps of the stairs, and his head is bent down awkwardly to the right.
Devoid of consciousness, he is being moved like a toy. His body is under someone else’s will.
In Hirose’s hand…

“AHAHAHAHA! I might as well enjoy this. A little betrayal never hurt. Since you left him behind, I thought I might have him finish you instead. I want to see your pain, girl. For the only thing you have that he did is that pained face of yours.”

… is my Baker Rifle, ready to fire.
He stops in front of me…
His hand slowly raises itself to point the rifle right at my head…
I can’t move…
If I move, I will die…
If I don’t move, I will also die…
What do I do…?
What do I do…?
What do I do…?

“R-r-run.”

“E-eh?”

“R-r-run, M-m-m-mil-l-l-la-ch-ch-chan.”

“H-hirose?”

“P-p-p-please, I d-d-d-don’t want t-t-t-to kill y-y-you.”

Tears fall down from his consciousness-devoid eyes…
It doesn’t take long before my tears fall down again…
Even under the control of that voice, Hirose is still able to do something….
It was small, but it made all the difference in the world…
Despite his restraints, despite fear, he was still able to do something. He was still able to fight back.
But more than that…
He still tries to help me, even as I have betrayed him…
He still wants to save me, the girl who left him for dead upstairs.
He overcame the obstacle of fear and battled the voice’s manipulation just to save the one who left him behind…
The realization of this makes me cry even more…

“Awww… that is so sweet. Isn’t this great, little girl? This boy is in love with you! Despite your betrayal, he still wants to save you! Ahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAH!!! THIS IS SO GOOD! I LOVE IT! AHAHAHAHAH!
THIS IS GOOD! THE BOY WHO LOVES YOU IS NOW THE ONE WHO WILL KILL YOU! SUCH SWEET IRONY! NOW, GO BOY! PULL THE TRIGGER! BUT DON’T HIT THE HEART, HIT HER LIMBS FIRST SO I CAN HEAR HER SCREAM IN AGONY LIKE HOW HE SCREAMED AT THE ALAMO!”

A realization…
He… loved me.
No, he loves me.
Maybe they were right all along.
Maybe everything they said was true.
No, from what I have seen, I can tell that it is true.
Somebody loved me… and he was right by my side all along…
He would overcome any obstacle…
He would sacrifice anything…
He would dedicate his life…
If it meant making me smile…
I had always wondered why his treatment was so excessive…
The answer was there all along…
The feelings may not have been mutual…
But it gives me a momentary piece of mind, even in the midst of this living hell…

“Hirose…”

I have to tell him before I die…
I have to thank him for everything…
For his sacrifices…
For his time with me…
For his friendship…
And ultimately, for his love…
I can’t tell him that I loved him too…
But I can always

“Thank you Hirose, for everything…”

do that.

“Hmph. So those are your last words, eh? Well, girl. Time to die! You were the final signature needed to defy the Manteia, girl. But it seems that I got to you first. I hope you have said everything, because you will only be screaming after this. That’s it boy, now, pull the trigger.”

The rifle shakes…
No, the arm holding the rifle shakes…

“Boy, pull the trigger.”

The more the voice commands the body to do its bidding, the more the rifle shakes…

“I said, pull the trigger!”

“**************”

What did he just say?
Hirose must have said something, as he is able to move his face now…
Is he breaking from the one who controls him?

“I SAID SHOOT DAMN IT! SHOOT NOOOOOOOOW!”

A white light…
That is all I can see…
It illuminates everything…
But somehow… I feel no pain…
If he shot me, shouldn’t I have felt something?
It must have been a swift kill…
I guess he made it easier for me…
So it would be less painful, he decided to kill me quickly…
I lose my consciousness…
I can feel my body now resting itself…
It must be my end…
I must be dead right now…
I didn’t want my life to end like this…
But I guess that is that…
And at least I got to see what Hirose felt for me…

I depart…
But with one unanswered question…
What is the Manteia?

‘“You were the final signature needed to defy the Manteia, girl. But it seems that I got to you first.”’

Is it something I didn’t know about?
Was I needed in it?
Did I interfere with it?
Why was I the “final signature”?
Do I have anything to do with it?

White fades to black, as these questions are raised…
She is now merely a lump of motionless flesh, and soon she will become just a memory…
As of this moment, Mila Crockett is no longer existent.

(Next is Chapter 1: He who is Weak)

Thanks to the following:
Enya "Amaya" Leop: Translation tools
Christine Dorothy Guya: Encouragement and moral support
Jimeny "Nanai" Miranda: Letting me borrow her laptop-chan…
Jhey_Rhyn of the AA forums: First Constructive Criticism

List of already existing characters: (Order of appearance)
Brown Hunter - Prologue 1
Legendary Retainer - Prologue 1
Mila Crockett (Hero) - Prologue 1
Mila's Father - Prologue 2
(Formerly the Unknown Boy) Hirose (Main Character) - Prologue 2
Unknown Soul - Prologue 2

Tools used:
This forum
AA Forums (Used as of the beginning of prologue 2)
IPOD - backup storage (Used as of the beginning of prologue 2)
Microsoft Word
My own brain!

Final Edit: Removed Translations, Poll added...

Same reason as the one in Prologue 1, I have to meet a deadline... I want to stop worrying about translations...