For the next three weeks, Emiko was living in internall agony. Ever since her brother had left that fateful afternoon to find the Devil's pupil and Peter Čapek, he still hadn't returned to the hotel. After two days, young Tenma started looking for him everywhere... at the train station, in the now demolished Turkish district, in the city center... she even went to the Jahreszeit hotel. However, she couldn't find anything about him anywhere, which made her more and more uneasy...
****
The night grew deeper; in the windows of many houses the lights had already gone out, and there was silence everywhere. Not far from the city, on a narrow road through the greenery, a breathless elderly man, dressed in a suit and a long coat, was walking in a light breeze. He was holding a gun in his right hand. The gun he'd used moments before at the man who was supposed to be protecting him and whom he hadn't trusted for a split of a second. That split of a second changed that man's life.
Walking so unsteadily, he looked around in all directions, and his face showed terror. He felt he was being chased... No, not by the police at all. He felt as if the Devil himself was chasing him. The devil he himself met many years ago...
Finally, after a several minutes, he reached his secret residence - no one else knew of its existence, except for four bodyguards he had assigned to protect his life. Lights were on in the windows; it was a sign that they were awaiting for his arrival. He went inside and looked around.
"It's me! Is anyone here?"
He opened the door to the next room and sat down in the armchair, sighing loudly. He put the gun down on the table, noticing a wine bottle standing there and a clean glass ready. Without hesitating too much, he poured it full and drank it all in one gulp, then set it back down.
At that moment he felt an icy cold. In an instant, terror returned with multiplied force. Fearfully, he lifted his face up, and then he saw the Demon who was standing on the other side of the table... He felt his body began to tremble as if in a fever.
"Jo... Johan!" He managed to choke out. There was silence for a brief moment.
"Many people drank this wine at the Red Rose Mansion..." The Monster spoke in a low voice, and Petr Čapek was filled with pure panic at the sound of it. He wanted at all costs to force himself to vomit his drink, because he felt as if he had just drunk a deadly poison.
The young man with a gentle smile on his lips raised his glass up and took a few small sips, calmly watching the terrified man in front of him.
"It is all right. You see? I'm drinking it too." After this, with a slow step, he approached the armchair and sat on it, setting the glass on the table.
"Where are the bodyguards who were supposed to be waiting here?" The older man breathed heavily, looking at the Demon who was still smiling at him. "Why? Why did you kill Baby?" Johan leaned back slightly in his seat. "They say we're on the same side. You were supposed to help us. We were supposed to look for your sister and bring her here..."
"Everything goes according to the plan." The young man replied softly.
"What about your sister? We know where she is now. If anything happens to me... your sister... Things won't go your way. Look, everything is going according to my plan-"
"What am I?" The young man interrupted him, making the man look at him confused. "I thought the Monster was inside me, but I was wrong. It is outside."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Is Franz Bonaparta..." As he said these words, he lowered his voice slightly and leaned towards the older man, causing him another wave of fear. "...still alive?"
****
Tenma couldn't remember the last time he'd been a patient himself. His previous work in the hospital, and his pursuit for the Monster later, had completely alienated him from this mundane matter. As an adult, he didn't get sick much, except that in recent years he may have fallen into workaholism while taking care of successive patients who wholeheartedly believed in his effectiveness. He didn't want to let them down after all.
After the screech of the car tires that day, he didn't remember much. The blow was so strong that he quickly lost consciousness. Fortunately, a bystander, Milan Kolach, helped him and took care of his recovery over the following days and weeks. Tenma was lucky; he ended his street adventure only with a stronger abrasion on his leg and a sprained ankle. Despite his condition, however, he wanted to get well as soon as possible, because he was aware that his sister must be worried about him. He had promised her that he would come back safe and sound. But he could neither send her a message nor return to the hotel in his current state. A limping Asian man with a wanted poster directed at him could quickly be caught and imprisoned by the police. He couldn't let that happen at all costs because...
****
About three and a half weeks after the accident, Kenzo was standing on his own feet at one of the streets, hiding behind a pillar as several police cars had crossed the street moments earlier. He lowered his head, staring determinedly at the pistol in his right hand.
'Someone has to...' The hand holding the gun began to tremble gradually. '...I have to stop this.' He turned his head, secretly watching a white car, which a young man with blond hair approached, then got in and drove off. 'The young man I once saw in the company of Petr Čapek...' He came out from behind the pillar, looking at the road the stranger had left. 'He is the Devil's pupil.' Without hesitating, he hailed the first taxi that came along the street.
"Follow that car, please."
The ride didn't last long. A few minutes later, the car stopped and the young man entered one of the tenement houses, Tenma carefully following him. He didn't know exactly what to expect, but he was ready. It had to end finally.
****
Nothing at all had changed in the suburban mansion after the Demon's departure. A new day dawned, and the birds perched in the trees chirped happily. Three people entered the house - two men and a young woman. One of them opened the door to the adjoining room and gently made his way inside.
"Mr. Čapek? I brought Nina." He said looking around. Behind him followed with a serious expression on her face the girl, and the other of the bodyguards. "Mr. Čapek?" They both stopped when they noticed a man sitting in an armchair with his head bowed down. At the same moment, Nina began to feel the return of her memories...
"Petr..." Her hand, in which she held the gun, began to shake uncontrollably. "Čapek..." In just a fraction of a second, her mind took her to images from the past she shouldn't remember. Which were some of the worst... of all the darkest nightmares. She immediately ran to the older man, aiming straight at his head.
"Wait, stop!" There was a warning from the security guards behind her, but she ignored them. Right in front of her, in this place, in this moment, was sitting the man who had so many years ago sat one of the worst fears in her soul. Aiming so straight at him, her breathing quickened and her heart was beating erratically.
"Who's there?" He spoke in a tone devoid of emotion, not moving an inch. "Johan... or his sister? At this point... it doesn't matter." Nina, holding the weapon, trembled all over her body more and more, as did her short breaths. "Johan let me live... because the person who will kill me... will be his sister. Everything is going according to the plan... Whose plan? My plan? Johan's? Whose... Whose is this plan?" The girl took one step forward, feeling a wave of emotions rising in her. "Hurry up and shoot." He urged her. Nina, trembling all over, clenched her teeth and began to slowly pull her finger on the trigger... but after a moment she lowered the weapon.
"Johan was here, wasn't he?" The man was sitting in the armchair without saying a word. "Where did he go? Take me to him. Where is Johan now?"
****
Tenma approached the apartment door and then entered as quietly as he could. He had his weapon ready and then started walking towards the room where the noise was coming from.
"You cannot do things like that!" A man's voice was heard, mixed with heavy breathing. "You can't shoot to me! A politician's face is his life! You cannot! I will change the whole world. Right? With Johan's help, this world will be mine. Right? What are you gonna do with my ear now?! You can't mess up my plans! You cannot!!"
"Drop the gun!" Tenma instantly aimed at the Devil's pupil, noticing that he was aiming his own weapon at Eva Heinemann, crushing her with the weight of his body at the same time. They both immediately looked at him.
"Kenzo!" She exclaimed confused at the sight of him, and the blonde tried to aim at him. But it was no use. Tenma shot him twice before he could make any more moves.
****
On one of the side streets of the city, three people were sitting in a car parked in a parking lot. One of them had a makeshift bandage on his thigh and right ear.
"Such a great doctor." Said the blonde, sighing heavily with exhaustion.
"There is a hospital nearby." Kenzo spoke up. "If you tell me where Johan is, I'll take you there. At this rate, you'll bleed out quickly." The young man smiled sarcastically at him.
"I really do not know." Eva, losing the last of her patience, put the gun to his temple.
"Say it already." She said in an annoyed tone.
"Such a great doctor..." The young man mocked. "You shot me, didn't treat my wounds properly, and now you're threatening me." After that, he took a deep breath and coughed.
"Where is Johan?!" Even Tenma was starting to lose his patience in this situation.
"Such a great doctor..." From a distance they heard the approaching sounds of a police car, which a moment later drove along the street and disappeared behind the tenement house there.
"Talk!" Eva was rushing him. "Hurry up!"
"I really do not know." Kenzo thought for a moment.
"Eva..." After a short while he turned to his ex-fiancée. "There's a phone booth over there. Call the hospital and say someone in the car is bleeding to death."
"W-what are you talking about?! He may know where Johan is-"
"If we don't do something, he'll die. Hurry up and call them." He asked her. The woman, having many doubts, got out of the car and headed for the telephone booth. After a short while, the passenger in the back suddenly started laughing.
"You saved me again. After all, you cannot change who you are. You can't kill." He turned to Tenma, then laughed again, then coughed. "He wants to see you." Kenzo turned his head towards the young man. "I'll tell you... where Johan is. Ah... And take your sister there too. He wants to meet her too..." When the full meaning of the words spoken a moment earlier reached Tenma, his eyes opened wide in shock.
****
Emiko couldn't find a calm place for herself. It had been almost a month and her brother had still not returned safely to the hotel, which worried her beyond belief. In her head, she began to imagine the worst possible scenarios, in which he was either caught by the police or killed by the people he was chasing. Even her appetite had deteriorated greatly over the weeks, making the bones on her arms and cheeks more noticeable. The girl was already slowly reaching her limits.
How surprised she was when one day she saw the door to the room opening, in which Kenzo stood. In an instant, she threw herself at him, completely oblivious to the seriousness painted in his eyes.
"Jesus! Onii-chan!!! I already thought... I thought..." The girl burst into tears from the excess of emotions. "You're alive... You're alive...! I thought that..." Tenma stroked her head and put his arm around her, realizing with horror that she had lost a lot of weight.
"Emiko, sweetheart... don't cry anymore. I'll tell you everything, just please, don't cry. Too many tears have already been shed." They both sat down on the sofa, hugging each other. It took a long time for the girl to calm down.
Then he told her everything. Everything that's happened in the last month, including his accident, his recovery, and his tracking of the Devil's pupil. The young woman, wide-eyed, listened to his story, especially the last part.
"So he... he told you where..."
"Yes." Kenzo wrapped his arm around her tighter. "He also said that Johan... want to meet with you." At these words, young Tenma broke free from his embrace and stood on her feet. "Emiko?!" In one firm motion, she wiped her tear-stained eyes, which suddenly flared with determination.
"Let's go, Onii-chan. That's the only way we'll know the truth." Kenzo didn't say a word, but nodded his head in agreement. He also knew it was the only way to end all of this.
****
The landscape was slowly changing; from the bustling city, the car with the two siblings headed towards wasteland and the ruins of old buildings, and finally turned towards an even more side road. Tenma was sitting deep in thought, and Emiko was looking silently at the landscape passing by through the car's window.
"...What?" Kenzo spoke half-consciously.
"I said it's a nice day today, right?" The taxi driver spoke to him, most likely for the second time.
"Y-yes." He replied slightly confused. "I have a question..."
"Yes?"
"Could you drive a little faster, please?" At the same moment, memories came back in the head of the elder Tenma. He was the one who saved the Demon, he was the one who... brought him back to life. It was because of his decision that many innocent people died...
He tightened his fingers on the pistol in his hands, and Emiko moved slightly closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel them getting closer to their destination with each passing second.
****
They found themselves in a wasteland, a few kilometers outside the city, and then headed towards the abandoned ruins of a building. Because of the empty space around it, the wind seemed to blow even more piercingly, strongly swaying the leafless branches of trees and clumps of winter-rusted grass. It also blew their hair in all directions, as if it was an invisible force trying to stop them.
Emiko, with a strange feeling inside her, looked around, feeling a disturbing cold spreading all over her body. Is it because of this wind? The wind that seemed to get colder every second? No... it wasn't that... The girl, while walking, placed one of her hands near her heart; it was beating at an irregular pace, constantly accelerating, and she could feel the emotions building up inside her. Just like...
Suddenly, she remembered the same situation from the moment when she was standing on Tsedok's bridge in Prague that evening... The feeling of sunlight burst into her soul, warming the cold it found there and penetrated her deepest emotions. The girl slowly began to understand what it could mean...
'Jo... han...'
The two siblings were taking their next steps with the utmost carefulness when suddenly they heard three gun shots. Kenzo immediately ran inside of the building, dragging his sister with him and looking for the source of the gunshots.
"Emiko, hide behind me!" He ordered her, holding the weapon at the ready and surveying the area with his eyes. After making sure that there was no one on the ground floor, they climbed the stairs and, as carefully as they could, walked further into the ruined corridor. Their hearts were beating faster; they both sensed that the Monster is very close...
As they passed by one of the destroyed entrances to the next rooms, they noticed something that made them both freeze for a few seconds.
In one of the dilapidated rooms, which no longer had a ceiling, gentle sunlight flowed from the hole in which the ceiling had been located before, flooding a certain part of the room. Rubble, shards of glass and wood lay were scattered on the floor, on which a blond woman was kneeling far away from them, with her back to them, holding a gun to her head. She was sitting motionless, and the rays of the sun pouring through the collapsed ceiling and the wind blowing outside seemed to play her last requiem...
Emiko's eyes widened in shock, recognizing in an instant a girl who wanted to commit suicide. How... Why... She couldn't think straight. She only felt that her legs refused to obey her more and more. Kenzo gently placed a hand on her shoulder, then moved toward the kneeling young woman.
"Nina... Can you hear me, Nina?" He spoke to the blonde in a gentle voice. She didn't react. "Calm down. Nina, it's me, Tenma." He knelt down beside her and looked at her face with concern. "Do you recognize me? It's me..." The girl still didn't move a millimeter. "Good... that's right. Just calm down..." Kenzo gently placed one hand on the hand in which she was holding a gun, and then with the other he tilted her arm up and freed the gun from her fingers. "Okay... good girl..."
After a short while, Nina began to show her emotions. First there was a moan... longer and longer... until it turned into a scream. The cry of agony and pain echoed throughout the ruins and the empty space beyond. Tenma wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay... Everything is okay."
"No!" She screamed, vehemently denying it with a shake of her head. "No! No!! NO!!! That wasn't me! I didn't say 'Welcome home'! Who said 'Welcome home'...? I... What did I say...?" Emiko limply started walking towards them, her heart pounding. "Johan is wrong... Johan heard my story. They took to the Red Rose Mansion... They took me to the Red Rose Mansion! They took me down the stairs, down the stairs of the Three Frogs house... I was the one who counted the number of meals in a dark room with no walls... I was the one who watched people die... That all... it was me!" There was silence for a moment, and Emiko also crouched beside Nina. "I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." It seemed as if her mind was replaying all the traumatic events from her past right before her eyes right now. Young Tenma, not thinking much, also put her arms around her, feeling that Nina was trembling all over her body. "I was telling him... about every day..."
"It's okay." Kenzo said, stroking her head.
"I told him what happened to me. Johan took over my memories and..."
"That's enough."
"Johan has taken over my memories and thinks they are his own... It's because of me that Johan...!"
"That's enough!" Both Tenmas put their arms around her on both sides, trying to give her warmth and comfort, coming straight from their hearts.
"I told Johan about everything. He was listening and he looked like he was smiling... But... he also looked like he was crying. I've never... I've never seen anyone look like this. I couldn't... shoot..." In Nina's voice there was sobbing. "...but he wanted to destroy himself... just like I..."
"Stop it!" Kenzo bent his head towards her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Just like I'm going to destroy myself!"
"Stop it!" He wrapped his arms around her again and laid his head in her hair, and Emiko caught Nina's hands clasped in her lap. "Stop it... If you die... If something happens to you, what will I do? If you die, where will I find a warm place for my heart? Please, live..." At these words of her brother, even young Tenma felt something choke in her throat and tears came to her eyes. "Please, whatever happens. Please!"
Moments later, they unexpectedly heard footsteps approaching them. The two siblings turned their heads and saw an older man in a long gray coat and glasses.
"Johan will try to kill Franz Bonaparta." The newcomer spoke up. "His son is in Prague. I told Johan about it." He then turned his back on them and started walking away. But after a few steps, he stopped. "I wonder... will it end there? Or will it be his fall there...?" Without saying goodbye to the two Tenmas and Nina, he left in an unknown direction. They didn't know then that it was also the last conversation in that man's life. When Petr Čapek emerged from the ruins of the building only moments later, he was shot in the empty space, the gunshot quickly muffled by the sound of a restless wind...
At the same time, both Tenmas descended the stairs and went outside, holding the weakened Nina under their arms.
"Please live... We have to survive..." Kenzo was saying, moving with Emiko and Nina slowly forward. "The place you should go to... The place we should go to... is as far away as possible from here."
The three of them walked away in silence, the grasses playing the tunes of the wind, pointing them a new direction where they should go.
****
The beautiful day lit up everything around; birds sang sitting on the branches of trees, and the sun warmed the nature awakening to life after the winter. In Prague, in a small house on the outskirts of the town, a man in a yellow sweater stood at the front door with his hands in his trouser's pockets. When he heard footsteps approaching on the path, he raised his head slightly and smiled at the newcomer.
"Hello. Thank you for coming." He spoke to him. "What an unexpected visit. Please come inside." He opened the door and gestured for the young man to come inside.
They both sat down in the living room, and the master of the house prepared the tea, pouring it into the cups on the table.
"I just brewed it. I'd like you to rate my famous tea." He spoke to the visitor in a joyful voice, handing him a saucer with a cup. The newcomer gently grabbed its ear and lifted it up, then took a few sips slowly. "And? Do you like it? This is my special tea." The mouth that tasted the drink showed no emotion at all. "It must be something quite important if you came here in person." The brown-haired man continued his monologue, smiling and looking in the direction of the newcomer. "Ask all you want. Everything for you. Who... are we gonna to kill now?"
The visitor slowly guided his hand, placing a pointing finger in the middle of his forehead.
"Huh?" The man looked uncertainly at him. "Stop kidding." He replied after a moment with seriousness, trying to calm his inner fear and loss of balance. Johan however, unmoved, took a pistol from his jacket and placed it on the table. "Oh, come on." He pleaded.
"I woke up... from my own dream." These words caused even more confusion in the man sitting on the other side of the table.
"Maybe it's just tiredness. What does your plan provide?"
"I woke up." The young man answered, with a slight smile written on his lips, causing an increase of frustration inside the master of the house.
"Hey, stop it. So what was the money I collected for?"
"I woke up from a dream."
"Why did I kill all these people?" Already irritated, he began to raise his voice.
"So many visions of The End... But now I see one more ending." In the perfectly clear blue, a final image was reflected, absorbing all living things; nothingness spilled inside of him, mingling with a cold grip that changed the whole being of the universe with just one breath. In an instant, dust, ashes and icy emptiness took control of the blue sea, devouring all life like a tsunami. "A true vision of The End..." The monster got up in a smooth motion, picking up the pistol with him and looking dreamily and thoughtfully at the window at the same time. "Memories I have... The place I should go to..."
The Demon's hand rose in a final gesture, putting the man sitting in the chair at the same time into consternation mixed with horror. But it only lasted a fraction of a second. The shot broke the silence, ending another breath, and the Monster crossed the threshold to a new world.
Now there was only one place left for him to go to...
___________________________
**BONUS**
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