Chasing You Through Time

Burdens of the Afterlife: Part 2

I furrowed my eyebrows at his words. Rayon caught on to my confusion.

"Surely you realize your visit was expected, and," he stroked a finger across my cheek, "Quite welcome." I flinched at his touch. "Now the question is," Rayon's finger trailed off my jaw, "Who and what exactly are you?" He expected an answer, but I never gave it. "Hmm..." stepping around me, he spoke words I never wanted to hear, "Maybe the boy knows."

I acted quick once his focus was off me. "Trace on." Once I spoke the words, my two blades materialized in the air, spinning towards Rayon's head. For a moment, I thought I had him, but he caught one of the swords as they approached him. The second, he deflected, sending in through Alexei's shoulder. My heart stopped as the boy let out a yell of pain. "Alexei!" I went to move but my feet were still frozen from Rayon. Alexei was shaking, eyes clenched tight, and all I could do was give him a look of concern.

"Not what you were expecting, was it?" Rayon chuckled, examining the black blade in his hand closely. When he moved over to Alexei, his eyes narrowed at the blade sticking out of the boy's shoulder. "Hmm, don't think I know of these blades." He ripped the white blood stained sword out in harsh fashion, careless of Alexei's second cry of pain. Growling in response, I clenched my fists so tight, small cuts were being made by my fingernails.

Rayon's eyes perked up from the blades at my response. "You don't like when the boy feels pain? Well then," grabbing Alexei's hair, he pressed one of my blades against the kid's cheek, "I suggest you cooperate." Alexei looked at me with pleading eyes; begging for instruction, for action, anything to get us out of this situation. Rayon caught me. Anything I could think of resulted in Alexei's death. I should act, focus on the world, not one boy... But I couldn't get past Alexei's desperate eyes. For this moment, I was defeated. In order to save Alexei and the world, I would have to be patient.

Letting my swords dissolve, I barely managed to get out one word. "Alright..." As Rayon left Alexei and moved back to me with a dark grin, I tried to swallow the dry lump in my throat.

"Good!" He hummed out. Once he was in front of me, he stood there silently, eyes tracing my figure. In his eyes, he was admiring his prize. His gaze made my stomach uneasy, and me very worried. Placing his hand on my chest, he began muttering something. I realized it was a spell just before it hit me. My entire body became heavy, gravity forcing me to the ground. It took a shaking effort to lift my limbs just a few inches, and my chest felt like a rock, making breathing hard. I watched his feet move, and two guards came, holding me to my knees. My head hung painfully down as I heaved heavy breaths. A hand grabbed my jaw, forcing my head up. The hand belonged to Rayon, and his face came undesirably close to mine. "Ready to answer my question?"

There was hesitation, but I still answered. "Emiya," I breathed out. "Counter Guardian Emiya." This took him by surprise, before he broke into laughter.

"I never would have guessed I would have caught a counter guardian! It's not every day you come across a slave to Alaya." He drew out the words, in an attempt to get to me, but I managed to keep my cool. So, Rayon took it a step further. "They've always been quite pathetic, in my mind. So incapable in their lifetime, they become desperate enough to sell their eternity away. And what for? So they can live their life as a parasite, leaching power from Alaya, too weak to do anything for themselves. A pointless existence, with incomprehensible consequence. Yes, pathetic indeed." He stroked my cheek with his thumb while he spoke his last sentence, as if they were met to be words of comfort.

My hands were incapable of strangling him at the moment, so I had to resort to what I could manage. With a sneer, I spat in Rayon's face. It helped ease my anger a little, and the look of annoyance on his face was a bonus. My head fell down when he let go of me, and a hard kick to the face followed close behind. The kick from Rayon was harder than expected, and left the taste of blood. "I thought I told you to behave!" Rayon crouched down in front of me, and I watched his calm face through a few strands of my hair that had fallen. "The good thing about your people is you're just walking pools of rich mana." He leered at me, touching his thumb to my lip. I closed my lips tight, but he cupped my cheek for support as he pried open my mouth. Once my lips were successfully parted, he slowly dragged his thumb along the inside of my bottom lip. I gagged as his thumb left my mouth. It was thickly coated in saliva and blood. His hand on my cheek kept my head in place, giving me a clear view as he licked the contents off his thumb. It was the moan of delight after that made me want to squirm.

He gave a satisfied hum as he looked at my discomfort, then his small smile fell. "I hate to cut things short, but I'm afraid I'm just not ready for you yet." He frowned as his free hand began petting my cheek, taking another moment to look over me. Then his hand stopped, and he leaned in close to my ear. "You'll have to wait a little while before we can begin the real fun, my Emiya." His whispered breath on my ear sent an unpleasant chill down my spine. Rayon began muttering again, and I was unsure what was coming next.

"Wait, what--" Cold darkness engulfed me, and my senses were overtaken by a sering pain that began eating at the inside of my entire body. I opened my mouth to yell in pain, and water poured in. I couldn't breath, I couldn't see, and the only thing I could feel besides pain was an icy coldness. The weight on my body was gone, and I was now suspended in water. So I did the only thing I could do; I chose a direction and swam in it, hoping that it was 'up'. Everything was slowing down. The pain had lessened, but the cold was numbing my body, the lack of oxygen clouding my mind. There was a sudden urge to sink, and drift away. Leave everything, and enter a calm empty void. For a moment, I almost chose to give up, but then my fingers brushed something. I could barely feel it, but it was enough. Grabbing onto what was there, I pulled myself up, gasping for air as my head broke water. My head spinning, I managed to realize it was ice I was clinging so desperately to. Then, with a crack, I was back in the water. It took a few tries, but I managed to finally pull myself out of the small lake, and onto snow covered ground.

It was an unforgivable cold that seeped into me, and the harsh wind was no help for getting warm. A blanket would at least help ease it a little. When I went to materialize a blanket, pain shocked me the second I activated my mana circuits, the same pain I felt before. With a deep breath, I decided to just walk on, rubbing my chest vigorously in an attempt to give it some warmth. I was shaking violently, and the water on my skin was beginning to crystalize into ice. My legs sagged with each step, and eventually gave out. Positioning my arms, I tried to push myself back up, but neither of them had the strength to do it. I collapsed face down into the snow, knowing that blackness would inevitably swallow me. And so it did.

I was in a dead sleep, my body shutting down. Reality seemed far from my reach, and I quite enjoyed my time in the peace. Then, a voice came to disturb it.

"Hey...hey..." I could hear dimly. With my mind grasping back at consciousness, I realized I knew that voice that was calling out. Yes, I knew it very well.

My eyes fluttered open, and I was pleased by the face I saw. Relief flowed through me at the sight of the face, giving me a soft warmth to fight the cold. I breathed out a word. "Cu."