"Why won't you die!?"
Luna's hands kept on choking the girl covered in blood, till the point they turned white with rage. She slammed the girl onto the ground, still between her latched hands, and gripped harder, but no matter how much she tried, the suffering she wanted to inflict was for naught.
The one in her gripping grasp could only look on with a face of indifference, and her voice was dull like that of still water.
"This is who you truly are...A fiend who'll do anything to quench her thirst. I am your instincts to wet your parched throat with the lifeblood of others. I am your thoughts of justification for the many lives we took. I am the tears of blood that you cry out for warmth, you crave. I am the reminder that you'll never forget...I am you and you are me."
The body in her gripping hands started to drip a surging amount of blood till the point it started to cover her. A sudden aching pain pierced into her neck as the crimson-stained girl bit into her neck. Her body shifted into a putrid liquid of blood, burrowing into her neck like a parasite.
"This is our unforgivable sin."
The voice echoed into Luna's brain as blood started to drip from all of her orifices, with a pool of blood surrounding her feet.
Unlocking memories started to dig and surge into her eyes.
On that day of her birthday, when the candles lit and everyone gathered around. A searing heat engulfed her entire body, and she collapsed onto the floor convulsing. Until a thirst started to parch her throat and overtook her senses.
Her vision was a blur, but the only thing that accompanied her was the sudden hunger for blood and the dryness of hundreds of desserts engulfing her body. The taste of blood started to fill her throat as she attacked whatever had pulsing warmth.
Agonising cries filled her ears as she kept on drinking. The walls were painted with blood, the floor filled with the bodies of her loved ones, and the once cozy home was now but disgusting sight.
Luna screamed as the memory kept on flooding in, every touch of the fading warmth of the corpses, the scent of iron filling her nose, and the delicious taste of blood coating her tongue.
She wanted to end it all. She didn't want to hear the wailing scream of curses into her ears, she didn't want to see her home stained in rot because of her, she didn't want to taste the blood of her family, she didn't want to smell the scent of pus flooding her nose. She didn't want any of this.
A spear of blood started to form and condense in the air, aiming at her skull, but before she could proceed with it, a sudden warm face reminded her of the reason she could smile today.
Warm, lush memories started to reminisce within her mind, and soon the scene of a blood-stained home changed to that of a damp, moldy prison.
Luna was a spectator in all of this and saw her younger self trapped behind a cell with nothing but an old, dusty, crudely made bed.
Footsteps sounded in her ear, and Luna saw a hooded figure bringing a tray of blood toward the cell.
A sense of nostalgia engulfed Luna, seeing her...She remembered her lush white hair, a kind soul in an unfortunate situation of serving the Church that feasted on her lifeblood...Her name was Kallen, a name of a tragic Holy Maiden.
Even in this despairing place, her blue eyes and bright smile emitted a warmth that thawed even the coldest of hearts, but to the Luna in the cell, it brought a sense of disgust.
It was the same damn expression that the rose covered Shepherd made and the same one who destroy her home. Nevertheless, faced with a cranky child, Kallen brought up a tray to her.
"Blood pudding? It's a delicacy for growing girls...Would you like some?"
She wanted to reject, but the delicious scent and her hunger made it impossible to resist. Luna begrudgingly ate it, and as she dug into it, Kallen only watched with a fond smile.
"Why are you watching me eat! Think I am some sort of animal." Luna said to her.
"No, nothing of the sort...I am just thinking of how cute you are. You're like a little sister I never had, but it's a shame that we don't have the same eye color...Were you born with crimson eyes?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" She snapped back with begrudging eyes.
"Alright, I pry into it, but if you want to talk to someone...Just come to me, think of me as your Big Sis."
"Just bug off already...I hope you trip on some blood and break your neck!"
Kallen laughed at her words and left with giggles filling the prison.
The vision broke into cracks of fractured shards until they reformed into an entirely different scene.
The spectator Luna saw herself once more in a cell with numerous bandages covering her entire body and many puncture wounds hidden by them. She lay on the ground with patience as she waited for her dinner, and definitely not to see that annoying sunny girl.
Her ears twitched as the familiar footsteps appeared, and her eyes quickly darted to the white hair girl approaching.
"Lucia, I got your favorite!" The hooded white hair girl returned back with a blood cake and shoved it into the food compartment.
"Don't call me that!" Luna said back before digging in.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Little Sis?" Kallen smiled.
Luna grumbled while taking her first bite, but answered, "Thank you...Noisy white."
"You're welcome...Say, how come you don't like being called by your name? Do you like A-872 better? That's what the Church calls you." Kallen stared at the girl with a look of worry.
Her hand gripped the metal fork with tightening suffering, but she lamented and answered with a somber voice.
"It's a sin...An unforgivable sin that I want to forget and regret for the rest of my life. So stop asking."
"...Alright, I won't. I also had my share of wanting to forget and burn my past...To start a new life without being chained down by it. You got any dreams? Mine's to travel the world, see what it has to offer, taste the food, and live how I want. Who knows, maybe I can travel to the stars one day."
She soon replied with a degrading voice, "It's a hopeless dream...Do you really think you can get out of here?"
Kallen smiled and said, "Even if it's impossible and hopeless, it's still my dream...Even if I died tried achieving. Don't you want to dream about the life outside this place where you can freely live?"
...
Silence filled the prison until Luna spoke,
"A hero..."
"Huh?"
"I want to be a hero...I want to be the heroine who gallops on a glorious horse and slays the wicked, evil giants harming the world...Are you happy now?"
Kallen didn't laugh, but only smiled lightly, "Yeah...It's a beautiful dream. Who's the one that inspired you to have such a lush dream?"
Luna couldn't help but smile a little, "A delusional knight named Don Quixote and my...Pops."
The scene started to break again as one last window was shown.
Two girls were running through the woods, their lungs strained as they moved with all of the stamina they had.
Behind them was a bloodthirsty crowd of cultists, weapons in hand and torches blazing, as they sought to find their targets.
"Kallen, we can't outrun them...It's just dragging the inevitable. I'll hold them off, start running like your life depends on it." But she could continue as sudden chains started to wrap around her body and bound her to a walking cross with four legs
"Sorry, but shouldn't it be the oldest who should sacrifice themselves for their sibling?!" Kallen said while giving her a peace sign.
"Kallen! You f*cking liar!"
"Luna, that'll be your name! So live the greatest life you can. See how ugly and beautiful the world can be. Become a hero that the sun can't bring down. Gallop your horse until the end and prove your version of justice, my dear Hero! Watch your biggest fan defend you with all she's got."
Before Kallen could go even further a spear made of roses pierced into her heart and that was the last scene Luna saw as the fading figure of Kallen disappeared into a sea of butterflies and once again she was left alone in this cruel world.
This was the final window that the spectator Luna saw, and her mind was broken into thousands of pieces, but those same words brought her back to a peace of mind, the same words that her foolish blonde 'Grandpa' told her.
...If reincarnation existed, then Luna believed that even to this day, Kallen, her previous friend, and the Saintess from the tale of the Schicksal Overseer, were still protecting the beauty of the world even after they're deaths.
Doubt started to flood her mind. Would the cycle repeat itself, where she would run away from this upon being rejected, or accept the fact that she was a monster that committed an unforgivable sin?
"I want to see him!"
Her blood-stained fingers tore into the Space of this dream, creating a gaping hole back to where the blonde fool currently was.
She didn't care if Otto saw her as a disgusting, vile abomination; she didn't care if she was the reason why all of this happened. She wanted to see him no matter the cost.
...
As Otto moved through the air, he shifted his body and adjusted his angle for the perfect shot. His finger pulled the trigger from his right hand.
The barrel let out a silent hum as a line of dull grayness was shot toward the giant's head and pierced through it. The head of the flower, along with the alluring lady standing atop, was marked by a gaping hole in its head.
Crimson blood started to rain down onto the already stained land, and gray fog started to congregate on the giant roses' head.
Otto landed on the ground with a stiff landing, and his gaze was on the giant whose History was about to change, or specifically, the head of it.
This was his first time using History Defiler...A sense of curiosity was blooming within him, wondering what would happen. He empowered Star of Eden once before with Sefirah Castle, overloading it till gravity decided to give a middle finger and turned into a Black Hole.
"Will the head turn into a different flower or something else?" Otto questioned himself.
After a moment of struggling, the giant rose head had eyes of a reptile, scales of crimson, and a maw that could devour anything...It turned into a Dragon's Head.
"Oh...Fuck me!"
Driven by instincts its mouth started to spew out bursts of flames and scoarching the blood ground to a blacky melting ash.
Otto started to perform the Secret Apocalypse Technique, running away till your life depends on it. His feet started to look like a blur as he picked up his speed and moved away from the breath of flames.
His emerald eyes tried looking for the small vampire child, but to his dismay, she was gone.
"Damn, I'd be a horrible parent! Can't even take track of where my kid is!"
Looking back, Otto, with his left aimed the white pistol at the giant's right leg and took his shot. The bullet trailed at a humming speed and pierced into its leg. Moments later, the gray fog shifted its leg into that of a writhing tentacle.
"Jackpot!"
The giant started to fall face forward from the sudden change, and its giant limbs started to flail as it tried to pick itself up from falling.
Seizing the chance, Otto combined the two History Defliers into a broad blade. The pommel was that of a pupil less eye. Its shaft was grayish black with the symbols of eyes and worms covering it.
The once golden flames were now but a silent repose consisting of black spiritual lines that can burn and turn anything with a soul into a puppet.
Before he could turn the blade against the fallen giant, a crimson blur pierced through the giant's head and landed onto the ground.
"Luna?"
His eyes glanced at the changed girl and noted her sudden change of appearance. Her once white dress now had black staining on it and a crown of roses on her head. Roses of plenty fluttering on her body in a delicate pattern.
Luna's eyes had a certain sharpness to them, seeing life as a passing moment but filled with longing.
Otto dematerialized the sword and asked her with a toothy smile,
"Did you win?"
Luna's eyes twitched, hearing this, and soon replied with a depressing voice, "Yeah, but I feel like nothing matters at this point...The ones I loved were ripped away from this life because of me, and the only thing on my mind is revenge...I feel lost."
Her eyes soon shifted towards his golden sun-kissed hair and the warmth that bubbled within her as she saw it.
"But whenever I look at you...I seemingly know where my Path goes...If Earth exists for another 500 years, what I'll have left is you. Thank you, 'Grandpa,' for being by my side for a total of three days...I'll cherish them forever."
"Are you insinuating that you want to leave on your own journey?"
"Yeah...My past is one wretched with regret and unforgivable sins. I want to take the time to figure out who I am and what I want. Hopefully, at the end of my journey, I can be someone who doesn't bring calamities to ones I love, but instead one who can protect you, 'Gramps'..."
Otto pulled out his hand, intending for her to stop.
"Shouldn't you think about preparing before going on a journey of self-discovery...How are you gonna pay for your expenses? How are you gonna feed yourself when you can only consume blood? Are you just gonna learn every language you come across...How are you going to protect yourself from the rest of the remnants of the Church of Monsters or even lingering threats?"
Luna's mind turned blank hearing this...She didn't think this through, did she? She smiled warmly at how he cared about her.
"I'll figure it out! Just like how a Hero always fights through the impossible."
Otto couldn't help but face palm...Her words reminded him of the bloodline with white hair who'd do anything to defend the innocent. He let out a sigh before saying to her,
"One week...At least stay at HQ for one week so I can prepare all the necessary equipment, supplies, and train you so you can defend yourself...Maybe teach you how to survive out in the wild."
Her heart warmed up hearing this, and she couldn't help but smile at him.
"Alright...I'll stay for one week, but any more than that I might get too attached and stay forever."
"I don't mind since I get to spend more time with you...Say, since this is your dream, why don't we do some friendly family bonding!"
Luna's interest was piqued hearing this...Grandpa did know how to have fun after all. He somehow planted fireworks in the middle of the forest, and they exploded like a bomb going off.
She felt something was off and that Gramps was planning something devious, but her curiosity soon took over, and she listened intently.
"Let's have a duel with our imagination...Just give me some control over the dream, and we can get started."
"How exactly do I do that? This isn't like one of those games...Where can I do something like /give Blonde_Grandpa creativemode?"
"Hmm, maybe think with your mind about giving me access to the dream, or do a chant where you grant me the privilege." Otto quickly thought up.
Luna nodded and pointed her hand toward the man. She soon shouted with a dignified voice, "By my Authority, I grant the Schicksal Overseer, partial dominion over this vast and beautiful dream."
Otto clinched his fist and closed his eyes, feeling something happening within himself. Opening his eyes, he pointed at the crimson boiling moon and proclaimed solemnly:
"Let there be light!"
A burning sun suddenly appeared in the sky and engulfed the entire previous cold with a dazzling warmth that seeped through it all.
"That's neat."
"Did you just recreate the entire sun?" Luna shouted.
"I did! Praise the Sun!" Otto let out his arms high in the sky to bask in the glorious warmth of the sun, but before he could stay any longer, a wave of crimson spears started to flood towards him
"Oh, are we already starting!... Let this old clown teach you a lesson for interrupting my prayers and courting death! You shall kowtow hundreds of times for your regression. You hear me, Empress of the Crimson Moon."
Luna tried her best not to crack a smile hearing his words, but instead imagined a future where she had no limits.
A crimson bloody aura started to converge under her until it took the form of a headless horse. Its legs bursting with ashing, boiling flames, and a blood red mane covering its side, flowing through the air with a crackling force.
The grounded blood started to diverge and flow endlessly until the ground regained its familiar painted stain. Hundreds of glowing crimson skeletons started to emerge from the expanding puddle.
An entire army faced Otto Apocalypse as Luna conjured a crimson spear, pointing at him and ready for battle.
"O'Dullahan, let us hunt this man until the very end!" Luna screamed.
Her heart beating faster than before...This man was washing away all the worries, suffering, sins, and her past!
Otto could only smile and laugh at her words. He soon imagined himself as a Fool saying a chant that he would only know in this entire Universe.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era."
Luna's spine turned frigid cold as a gray fog started to envelop the entire dream. As if a God was descending into this dream. It covered her sight and army so that none could see where the blonde man was.
"The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog."
The surrounding fog started to converge onto the man's body as his voice kept on echoing through the space. A vortex of fog started to whirl for seconds until it exploded into one condensed figure.
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
His chant ended as the gray fog cleared up, and what came out was black hooded figure carrying a small ancient mirror in his hands. Transparent white tendrils sprouted from beneath the cloak, and his once recognizable face was shrouded in a mystery.
Of the date, March 8th, 2013...Otto Apocalypse has become "The Fool."
A/N: Don't worry, guys...It's all just a dream!