Inai Ni Yami ((Within Darkness)) {{FINISHED}}

Inai Ni Yami ((An Original Story)) Part 3; All Chapter 23

Eve felt cold, legs shaking as she followed behind Takeyama, who's long strides made it hard for her to keep at pace with him. They were walking through empty streets, though from the look of the confetti and trash littering the ground, she assumed there'd been some big event some time ago. Why the streets would be this barren though, seemed like a mystery. She'd thought she'd see someone out here. But it was just her and Takeyama. 

"Eve, hurry up." 

"It's Evelyn," she growled, shivering as yet another breeze of cold air hit her. Eve looked up, expecting to see layer upon layer of atmospheres that all lead to a never-ending blackness that would be blocked out by infinite blue - and stared up at layers of rock, lights hovering above the ever-silent city. "This whole place is messed up," she muttered to no one in particular. "T.V.'s can hover above fifty feet in the air." What's a T.V.? "Car's are hovering over the ground and don't have wheels." What are 'cars'? Wheels? "And I have lunatic in front of me that can control air, an element that shouldn't be so strong so deep in the ground and claims he's a robot-thing. This must be a dream that's robbed me of my memories, right? Please let it be tha-" 

"Eve, shut it. I don't understand half the things you just right now, but I don't care, because the world you just described doesn't exist, and the world before you is reality, so," Takeyama turned to stare at her with cold blue eyes, the color like blue stained ice, "deal with it and forget what it is you think is real."  

Eve stared at him incredulously. Forget? How could she possible forget what was possible the one thing keeping her together in a world of mysteries? "Sorry, but that's not happening. You can't tell me what I can or can't remember, mister. No matter how powerful your robotic self may be, the mind is a fragile, unpredictable thing. No one can control it, and neither can you." With that, Eve stomped away from him, only to be pulled back roughly by the wrist and spun around to face him. The cool blue eyes were no longer pools of ice, but a violet fire. Unnatural, Eve's little voice whispered. Don't trust... 

"Listen here Eve, I didn't have to save you from Steve right now. I didn't have to come back for you. I didn't have to do any of those things, yet I did because I thought I'd be saving am old friend, someone I trust and trusted me back but... I don't see that anymore," he growled the last line, and again those eyes flashed violet. An image, fleeting but there just enough, passed through her mind. It was of a group of people, all lunging for her, going for the kill. All of them had those impossible violet eyes that Takeyama now had. Lagrimas del Cielo...  

"Who are you again?" Eve asked, slowly backing away from the dark haired man who'd been claiming to be Takeyama for the time they'd been together. His brows drew together as he scowled, walking forward in a sort of predatory prowl. Eve responded by speeding up her pace a little, turning every now and then to see if anyone was behind her. Battle Mode Nine... Lagrimas del Cielo 

"Eve, I already told you who I am. Takeyama, remember? The guy who saved you!" And the one who's lying to you now, whispered the voice in Eve's head. Eve frowned, still keeping away. Fury showed in the man's eyes and he no longer prowled slowly, but stalked forward with an air of menace about him. "Eve, stop. I kow what you're doing, and I'm telling you now, stop." 

"Then tell me, what am I doing? Because I don't know," she spoke between bared teeth, ready to run at any second to no where. She didn't know this place. She understood nothing here. Battle Mode Nine: Lagrimas del Cielo. "Battle Mode Nine: Lagrimas Del Cielo," the words left her lips on their own accord, as if the voice in her head had taken over. In Reaction to the words, the man lunged for her just as her right hand did the strangest thing ever. All the muscles, skin and tendons that were her hand flattened out to be almost as thin as paper, and then in a fast sort of metamorphosis, became a large silver sword that extended from where her hand used to be to the ground. Where a hilt should've been - if it hadn't come out of her hand - there was a gun attached to it, made out of the same silvery material as the sword. Eve blinked confused.  

"Monomorte," growled the man, and a moment later a green mist rose around his hands. Don't touch... Just kill. Shoot, then slash. Eve followed the voices directions without much thought, raising the sword/gun up and pointing it straight for the man's chest. There was a small explosion from within the gun and then the man was on the floor, black liquid seeping through his shirt. Eve blinked, wondering if it was blood. She had heard that in the dark blood looked black but... it was perfectly bright around her and the lights above showed no signs of having dimmed. What was that then? 

"What now?" Eve asked herself, looking around. First there'd been Steve, a freak who wanted to feed her to monster animal things that surrounded his house, and then this guy, pretending to be someone she doesn't even remember only to attack her... plus, there's the sword/gun thing that took the place of her right hand! This world made less and less sense to her as time passed. And what was worse was that the voice in her head was now gone, leaving her to go on alone. Then again, what help had that voice been in the first place? It helped me realize that man was not... a, well, man, she reminded herself with a sigh.  

Eve looked around once more at the buildings surrounding her, made out of sharp, eye catching colors, all with a metallic sheen but made in a variety of shapes and sizes. She blinked and instead of seeing the previous houses of the world before her she saw something else, something alive. Green, just cut lawns stretching out in front of houses, all painted white or a creamy color with roof-tops that consisted of different colors and... it looked so beautiful to her. And for some reason, she missed it. But how could you miss something you've never really seen?  

Eve reopened her eyes, looked at the empty world around her, and felt that, once again, she did not belong in this world.