Abomination Contract Loving The Enemy

Excuse me? Did he just said what I think he said? That he knows about the boy's secrets and about the ghouls and I?

"Well, care to explain?!" I say, opening my arms wide and waiting for an answer.

He calmly looks at me, as if the information he is withholding is not as important or not even related to myself, which are totally not true!

"I did not get anyone to explain like the Emperor himself as I think you wanted me to, but he gave us enough information to discover some things, and also I receive updates from my team outside, with pictures and reports."

"So… it is not certain?" I don't know how to feel about that, exchanging the certain truth to an uncertain guess.

At that, as we finally walk far away from the hidden garden and its kneeling people to talk, so he stops to brush something off my shoulder while resting his hand there.

"Believe me Seiji when I say you don't want to own anything to this kind of people, you saw it yourself, the luxury he still clings to, while his people suffer on the outside. I rather not mix with the likes of him, and rather stay loyal to those who truly need me, not someone who wants to use us as a stepping stone to get back in power."

I don't know how to deal with humans that well, so might as well stop trying; and it seems that I had this before my… condition too, so I don't bother trying to change, only that I'm just surprised to still be alive regardless of the many people I seemly angered in the past.

Well, they were all probably dead by now, so who cares!

"But not here, let's go back home, I'll cook us something so we can discuss over dinner, ok?"

"Food sounds nice to me, especially with some special sauce." I say with a smirk.

"Don't say it like that." He dismisses my words and starts walking away, but I only chuckle before following him back home, forgetting my initial plan of stealing from the Golden Circle.

As promised he does not say a word until we are back home, taking his jacket and weapons off and going straight towards the kitchen, but this time I follow suit, wondering how things have changed this much and this quick since the first I came here, stuck in his basement and ready to tear things apart.

Now I just want to tear him apart, in a nice tasteful way that is.

So while he gets busy I lay by back against the wall and cross my arms.

And I don't have to prompt him to talk this time.

"I've been getting some updates from my team outside, and before they knew about the city situation they had already go back and forth from their mission. Now they are currently waiting for orders outside, behind enemy lines."

"However they found this." At that he takes that metal object out, which he taught me to be a cellphone, with some pictures in it, and in between messing with the food and spoons he would swipe to the side for me to see the images.

I frown at what I see, places that I recognized, and yet are foggy at the back of my mind, memories from my beast time, jumbled together, but those mere photos brought them to life in my mind, with smells and flavor.

The first one is easy, for it is the place that I first met a cold wounded captain, where we sealed our destinies together, a dilapidated Shinzaki temple, curved rooftops, paper sideways doors, much like the building we just left from.

Some sort of temple perhaps…?

But what shocks me is that they found the cave, the one I did not like to use, the one filled with coffins along the walls.

"Is Shinzaki costume to bury their dead standing, and outstanding individuals, such as lords and samurais, are buried over the earth, their coffins filled with soil inside. Do you know why?"

I look at those pictures for a while before answering, counting the seven stone structures standing, doors slammed open, the earth rolling out from long ago.

And the earth, the soil, filling everywhere, crushing, constraining, no more cozy, but suffocating.

"…Are you ok Seiji?" Asks Asher, resting his hand on my shoulder once more.

I blink the dizziness away.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Why do they- why do we bury our dead like this?"

"Because of that." He points with his shin, and it takes me some time to realize that he is pointing towards his gun.

"… Your weapon?" I don't see his point.

"No, the crystal."

The crystal? I stare at the glowing somewhat transparent orb. How so?

"Have you never questioned where such things came from? Nor how they are this powerful?"

Now now when you put it that way it makes me look silly for never questioning them.

"…No? Is human silly things, why should I bother?"

"Well, you are right about being silly human things…"

He keeps quiet for a while, only the chop chop chop of his knife filling the room, until I widen my eyes and stare at him.

"No way, these crystals are human remains?"

"Yes."

That's… oddly macabre. 

"That's one of the biggest reasons why the two nations have fought for this long. The Shinzaki bury their dead in sacred mountains, not allowing anyone in, and these crystals usually can only be passed down by family members as heritage, the stronger the individual in life, the stronger the crystal is, that's why even though the Citadel always had technology at its side, the Shinzaki have had this strange energy at their sides."

"And now, at times like this, it is the only thing that can kill a ghoul, beyond fire that is."

So, that place was a grave… why, in such a desolate place?

"… Then? What have you discovered?"

"It was only a guess until the Emperor gave me the remaining details. Don't you think is odd? Seven stone graves right where I found you, one of the seven samurais, at the state you are at, him claiming to know things… one thing is for certain, whatever happened has something to do with the late emperor, for the current Emperor to claim knowledge about it."

"Indeed, it makes sense… but how? Why would they have any connection to this?"

"Well, just before the ghouls appeared all the seven samurais vanished, all seven, at once."

"Seven coffins, seven samurais, the Emperor…" I say, trying to put things together but still feeling like something is missing.

"… Do you remember anything?"

"I… I remember the coffin, the soil around me, the stale smell, I… I have been buried there, yes."

"I see, so whatever they were doing they believed to have failed and buried you all. And not only that, but you resulted in something different from normal…"

"Wait, do you think the ghouls, I… we are the result of some sort of experiment?" He nods, adding:

"I've always had my doubts about it for a while, at the time the Shinzaki were losing ground, and machines can be made far quicker than these burial crystals. Unless…"

"Unless?"

"They found a way to fabricate them."

"…"

I don't know what to think of all of this, is a little bit too much information to handle, and the fact that I had died once… is strange, at least.

"And your situation may be unique because of the quality of the samurais crystals. Or perhaps the methods used… or even, the type of crystal experimented at."

"Type? There are types even?" I say, but before I can ask any further a small hiss comes from Asher and makes me shot my gaze towards him, only to see that he had cut a small wound along his finger, his crimson blood red and murky against his fair skin, tempting a rumble out of my throat, almost like a cat purr as I stare his wound down.

He coldly looks at me, but I can see the shadow of a smirk at that stone face as he turns towards me, finger stretched out, and says in a commanding tone that sends shivers down my spine.

"Lick it."

I growl, already intending to do so, showing off a full fang smile as I grab his wrist and approach the calling sweet scent, giving it a long lick without ceremony, only to be reminded just how out of this world his taste is, my other hand launching out and stabilizing his arm while I nibble at the skin and suck until the last drop that I can get from such small wound touches my tongue.

And yet, when I stop, I'm not the only one out of breath here.

He swallows before saying:

"And there is the matter of this, too, the types and-"

But before he can continue his line of thought we are interrupted when someone bangs at the front door.

And so far that has never being a good sign.