Black Moon Rising

Chapter Six: Amusement in Nothingness

Chapter Six: Amusement in Nothingness

The haunting echo of the flute sails across the night wind. It carries on for miles, its unnerving melody set to target a specific group of unwilling listeners. It slips through drafts and cracks, reaching the ears of children fast asleep in their beds. The sound compels them to move. They are awake, yet still asleep. They mindlessly wander out of their homes, gathering in a cluster and walking off into the forest. The children have no sense of reason or free will any longer. The melody of the flute has stolen it from them.

A red-haired pierrot sits perched on a tree branch like a little bird, the silver flute held close to his lips as he whistles out his tune. Though his song carries a disturbing beauty, his heart is filled with rage. The love of his life, the only woman he had ever cared for...he was too late to come to her rescue. She was mercilessly butchered, murdered by her own sibling. The stench of that feral woman was scattered all over her bloody corpse.

For months, he wallowed in despair, utterly hopeless, all alone in an alien world. He refused to even eat. But after a time...that sadness gave birth to anger. He knew Kaya and her knight were close. He just couldn't find where. Like bait to fish, he needed to draw her out. If nothing else, the threat of children being harmed would spur her into action. He could easily take advantage of her maternal nature.

Rayla wouldn't give up so easily. Not until the score was settled. To an Initializer, the death of his Tsukihime was like experiencing his own, and retribution would be served. He wraps his lips around the edge of the flute once more, and he plays out his entrancing song to all who may hear it.

OCTOBER 31ST, 1999

The blistering hot days of summer had given way to the cool, crisp weather of fall. The daytime heat significantly lessened, and the days became shorter, allowing me more time to venture outdoors and not have my skin burnt or my eyes blinded by the sun. Kotobuki City was becoming the new place I called my home. As time went on, I no longer felt like such a stranger here. Suguru and I had both adapted to Earth's heavier gravity and thicker air by now, which made our lives much easier.

At this point, we had both fallen into a daily routine we were comfortable with. Suguru still did most of the work when it came to ensuring we had a place to live, but I had taken up a greater responsibility in caring for the house, cleaning, cooking, and shopping. Such menial chores were performed by the servants when we still lived on Lunopolis, but doing them myself wasn't so bad.

In fact, it was somewhat enjoyable. It occupied my mind and kept me from falling into dark thoughts. At any rate, it was better than sleeping most of the day. It gave me hope that we could live like this. Living a normal life on Earth wasn't an impossible, fantastical dream. Suguru and I could remain here, and I could create a family of my own blood, the family that I was never given as a child.

Since the traumatic event at the mall a few months prior, things had been unusually quiet. There were no foreboding auras, no new Tsukihime, no Apostles. It was so peaceful that it was almost unsettling. I nearly forgot that Sariel still slept deep within the Moon, his hunger reaching the breaking point. But for the longest time, I couldn't sense anything amiss. One night changed all of that.

In the late evening, I was jolted awake by a strange sound, a low-pitched whistling. It sounded like some sort of instrument. Or rather...it sounded like a flute. The melodic call echoed in my head. I began poking at Suguru, shaking his shoulder. "Suguru, wake up. Something is wrong."

The long-haired Lunarian flopped over on his back, incoherently mumbling in half-sleep. "Mmm...five more minutes..."

I shook him harder. "I order you, get up!"