The Transparent Rabbit

Arc 1: Evilus (Side Story II)

Side Story II: (Ryuu Lion)

"Ryuu... Please..." Astrea had attempted to convince her to not go down this path, however, there was no going back. She could see the hatred that overwhelmed her last Familia member, however, she felt like she couldn't interfere with what was coming next. "Goodbye... Ryuu."

Ryuu had heard her Goddesses plea but she couldn't stop now, she blamed everything on herself, she was the only one who survived and it caused her nightmares to simply worsen. She could tell no one of what she had seen, and yet it continued to haunt her. That monster that had appeared at that time, she could barely follow its' movements.

It had been a week since the incident, she had been holed up in her room unable to sleep constantly waking up in cold sweat, screaming, crying. It didn't help that she was all alone now.

Eventually, she worked up the courage to go out, and by doing so, she ignited that black flame in her heart. The smoldering flames of revenge burned away at her pure Elven heart and caused her to become something else, something far more terrifying. 

The cheers of Loki Familia didn't help, they had sent them to their deaths, of course, she wouldn't know that the only reason they were happy was that they had found one of their members who had been kidnapped. Of course, Ryuu would have congratulated them normally, however, she was no longer Ryuu, she was now Gale Wind, and tonight she would begin her raids. 

Snuffing out life after life she would send everyone connected to Evilus into a frenzy, committing one atrocity after the other, it was so bad that at a certain point she became blacklisted. She was no longer an Elf that could live in Orario.

Yet it mattered not to her, each time she came across someone whom she saw as evil, she would use any and all skills at her disposal. An Elf wouldn't be sneaky, yet she would hide in the shadows. An Elf wouldn't launch a sneak attack, yet she snapped necks while they hid amongst the citizens. 

An Elf wouldn't use poison, yet she would stab them and let them suffer until death. Her eyes slowly lost their shine, more and more she began to lose herself to revenge. She was sure that Astrea would never want to see her again and it caused more and more anguish to the poor girl, however, she would have to live through this, there was nothing she could do. 

It was her final raid it was time, she knew that tonight she would lose her reason to live, although she had long lost her connection to this world, how many times had she wished Evilus had actually killed her as she attacked them? An uncountable number of times. 

After the Raid, the Elf known as Ryuu Lion... Broke. 

'Is this... Is this what I was supposed to do?' Ryuu had committed so many sins that she began to believe that it was a mistake she was born as an Elf. 'Is there any sort of redemption for someone like me...' When she had finally gotten rid of everyone thought to have a connection to Evilus, she finally collapsed.

'C-Can I finally join you all?' It was a dark rainy night, as the wind howled and covered up for her tears she felt the strength disappear from her body. 'T-This is how it should be... Someone like me...' She began her daily beration of herself. As her tears flowed down towards the wet pavement the pitter-patter of feet grew closer. 

'Ah... I missed someone... Now...' She was accepting her death, her body was cold and she knew that if she didn't get out of the rain soon she would get her wish granted. 'Is it really... So bad to want to stay here?' Unknowing of what was coming, unknowing of the fear that would soon take over her body in fear of death. 

She didn't want to worry about that she wanted to move on peacefully. "Please... End... This quickly..." She wanted a swift death, she knew it was hypocritical after everything she had done, she wanted a fast and easy death. She deserved worse, she knew she did, and yet, when she thought about the pain, her small frame finally began to shake. She was still a girl, and now that she had nothing else to cling to, no name, no identity, no race. 

She had nothing but her gender left for herself. "I-I won't kill you..." Her breath halted at the young voice that answered. She slowly lifted her gaze up to the top of the figure that had just appeared in front of her. "I heard you saved me... Now I'll save you." The boy knelt down and held her hand. 

"!?" It was one of the first times she hadn't fought against someone's touch, first Alise, then Astrea, and now this boy with pure white hair and rubellite eyes. 'Saved... him...?' She hadn't directly saved him, while she had been wallowing in her sadness he had been found, however, when she killed one of Evilus's adventurers; She had saved him from being taken once more. 

She hadn't noticed in her hatred but he caught every movement of hers and began to view her as a hero, one not of the light, but of the dark, someone who doesn't take the credit but simply gets their hands dirty. "I-I'm not... Worth saving..." As he sat her up against a wall he listened to her before covering both of them with an umbrella. 

Lightning struck and illuminated the boy's face, it was serious, no smile, no hesitation. "Everyone is worth saving... Otherwise, this is a sad world we live in." Her mouth slightly opened wanting to retort, but his expression was seared into her mind, he wasn't pitying her. He gave her his opinion. "B-But they're all...!" She felt tears flowing down her face again, this time not from pain, nor fear, but from loss and grief. 

"Dead...?" She looked up at him, she could hear the sadness in his own voice. "I... Understand..." Red filled her vision as she used what little strength she had to grab the boy by his collar and look him in the eyes. "Y-You don't know what it's like to lose your family! To be the only one left!" Ryuu was still a child, so, of course, she acted on emotion. 

She spat at the one trying to save her, and yet he never retaliated. "I'm the only one left." When he said that her grip momentarily softened as she noticed that his gaze was no longer on her but up towards the sky. "Mom... Dad... Aunt... Uncle..." She felt a knife puncture her heart filling her with guilt as common sense finally kicked in. 

'H-He's just a kid!' She let go of him and fell back against the wall her eyes wide as she listened to the boy who spoke to her. "They all died... Left me behind... My Grandpa..." His eyes looked straight into hers, she felt like he could see all of her thoughts. "He threw me aside, abandoning me." 

She felt a drop of water fall onto her leg. For a moment she thought it was the rain, but they were under the umbrella. 'He's... Crying...' His breath hitched, yet, he never stopped speaking. "You... W-We can't give up... I want... I want to be a hero! Let me be yours!" He extended his hand out to her. 'A... Hero...?' She looked at his hand wide-eyed. 

She didn't know what to do, this boy came out of nowhere and told her everything her heart wanted to hear. As her heart began to pump faster she felt a pounding she hadn't felt in forever. Desire, the desire to live; her hand slowly lifted and although hesitant, she took his hand. 

This was how Bell and Ryuu began their acquaintances, The Transparent Rabbit, and Gale Wind, a combination that no one had expected to see together. 

Authors Note: This will Conclude the First Arc, I have already started the 2nd, but that one will take much longer as I have to do more research than I had to do for this one. I hope you enjoyed Arc I and I hope to see you all in Arc II