The Red Hand

"And you're sure this is going to work?" Kanato said in a whisper as he slowly made his way down a large hallway. He and the fairies were invisible as they hugged together under a bubble of magic, but he was worried that they'd get caught.

"Work!" One of the male fairies said in a quiet yell. “Guarantee!”

"Fairy magic strong! No detect!" The female fairy puffed out her chest in pride as she sat on top of his head.

{I hope so. The Cathedral is crawling with magical barriers and other alarms, and I'd imagine that getting near Hitomi's room is going to see protective measures increase.} (Kanato)

Kanato's worry had only been compounded after he'd been informed by the Fairies after Hitomi and Rafferty had left that the Fox-Girl was actually working for some other master and that she was likely using the Hero to do her dirty work. When pressed on who said master was, the fairies could only tell Kanato that he would have to wait and see for himself, something that caused him no small amount of stomach cramps.

"Would it kill you three to tell me where we're going and why?" Kanato sighed.

"Kill?" The male fairy asked.

"Soup?" The other male fairy tilted his head as he kicked his feat while sitting on Kanato's shoulder.

"Raf serves dangerous master, but not know name." The female fairy said, breaking through the silence and stupidity. "Know that Raf is dangerous and that master of Raf is dangerous. Elders said if Raf's power comes back, big danger and big doom." She couldn't find the words to elaborate further. Interestingly enough the fairies manner of speaking was not down to a lack of intelligence, and though they were quite childlike they were actually suffering from a lack of familiarity with the Common tongue more than an inability to speak. Kanato had initially tried to use his innate Hero ability to speak with them in their Fairy language, but for some reason it didn't work.

"Just what has Hitomi got herself involved with..." Kanato sighed again as they slowly made their way toward the base of the tower that housed Hitomi's room. Guards were posted everywhere and there were a few close calls, but Kanato and Co managed to safely slip by most of the Church's security with little difficulty.

"Go up." The female fairy pointed at the massive silver and gold doors that blocked the way to the staircase. There was nowhere else to go in the hallway, and it was either continue to the door or head back.

"Up!" (Male Fairies)

"Yeah, but there are guards." Kanato pointed to the heavily armored Paladins guarding the door. "Not to mention that opening that door will sound an alarm, and I'd rather not alert everyone to our presence."

"Beat up?" One of the male fairies proposed violence.

"Bonk?" The other male fairy agreed with the need for blood to be spilled.

“An unfortunate casualty.” The female fairy giggled.

"No inflicting violence on innocent people..." Kanato had never expected fairies to be as willing to inflict pain as these three were.

{How many times have I had to stop them from using attack magic on people because they got annoyed with them... I thought fairies were suppose to be cute little things that were all gumdrops and rainbows, but these three are basically murderhobos...} (Kanato)

"Bonk..." The male fairy got sad as his bonking was denied.

"I guess I'll have to scale the side of the tower." Kanato said as he leaped out of a nearby window and walked around to the side of the building, sticking one of his boots to the tower's exterior wall. "Good thing for Spider Feet." He chuckled as he started walking up the side of the tower toward the window in Hitomi's room, all the while humming a silly little song.

"Big city..." The female fairy said as she looked down at the Holy City. "Many Humans?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure how many live here, but I think it's bigger than Targul anyway, so maybe 500,000?" Kanato said as they continued the climb. "I think the only city bigger than this one is the Imperial Capital, and it's probably not by much."

{The Capital... I wonder how my family is doing... I know I'm probably in for an earful or two once... IF I get home...} (Kanato)

"Too many Humans..." One of the male fairies complained about the large number of people.

"Ah, it ain't so bad, and if you think that's too many, you should see Tokyo!" Kanato laughed. "I think like twenty million people live there or something."

"TOO MANY!" The three fairies yelled in sync.

Ignoring the comments from the three idiots floating around him, Kanato continued to climb the side of the tower until he reached the top and hopped onto the balcony.

"There we go, and the door is open too." Kanato had originally wanted to go in via a window, but none were open and he really didn't feel like breaking one. "I don't sense anyone up here, what about you three?"

"Nobody." The female fairy replied.

"Nopers." The two male fairies agreed that no one was there.

{Wait, didn't Hitomi say she was going back to her room? I swear that was where I saw them go.} (Kanato)

"So, what did you want me to see up here?" Kanato asked the fairies as he went inside Hitomi's room. He'd been in here before, but the lavishness always surprised him. It was as if the owner was an Imperial Princess, and Kanato thought that all this luxury was a bit unbecoming of a Church. “You were insistent on bringing me up here, so out with it.”

"Hmmmm." The three fairies zipped around the room for a bit, seemingly looking for something.

"What could you possibly want in here anyway?" Kanato said as he looked around. The room itself seemed ordinary, if overly luxurious, and he'd never noticed something off when he'd been here before. "Oh? Did that finally get done?" He said as he slowly walked over to the large painting of the four Heroes that was on the wall. "It took them long enough. I think it's been around four years since Hitomi commissioned this." The painting depicted the four of them smiling and happy after they'd won a great battle. It was meant to symbolize their friendship and the trials they'd gone through, but now Kanato could only look at it with sadness.

{Our happiness... It was all a lie, wasn't it?} (Kanato)

"Heroes?" The female fairy said as she floated next to him.

"Yeah, that's me, Hitomi, Shiroe, and Muichiro." Kanato smiled. "I... I really hope those they're okay..."

{Even you Muichiro... Even you...} (Kanato)

"Strange painting." The female fairy floated closer to the painting. "Magic inside."

"Really? Maybe the artist enchanted it with protection magic to stop it from deteriorating?" Kanato had seen something like that before, and some of the art within the Imperial Palace still looked new even though it was a thousand years old.

"No... Hmmmm." The female fairy charged up a bit of blue magic in her hand and chucked it at the painting.

"Oi! Don't destroy the-" Kanato stopped, his eyes going wide as the painting distorted and vanished as the magic contacted with it, revealing a small alcove with a teleportation circle at its center. "Okay, that's new..."

{And probably not good...} (Kanato)

"Bad energy..." The two male fairies said as they flew over.

"Death..." The female fairy gulped as she flew back to Kanato. "Blood sacrifice..."

"Wait, what?!?" Kanato squeaked.

{Hold up, I remember reading that the Church was collecting Spirits for some unknown purpose and the fairies said that Rafferty was working for some other master. Are those two things connected? No, they have to be, there's no other reason that the fairies would be sensing dark power like that otherwise.} (Kanato)

"Do you know where that goes?" Kanato asked the female fairy if she could sense where the circle conntected too.

"Bad place..." The female fairy was visibly disturbed by the dark power that she sensed. “Many dead...”

"And let me guess, that is where Rafferty and Hitomi went..." Kanato groaned.

{And well, that means I've got to go there too...} (Kanato)

"You three can wait here. I'm going to check out wherever it is that this teleportation circle goes." Kanato slowly walked toward the circle but was stopped by the fairies.

"No go alone!" The three fairies said together. "Danger!"

"I know, but I need to know what's going on here." Kanato shook his head. "If Hitomi really is being lied to and used, then it's my job as her friend to save her!"

{I won't abandon my friends! Not now and not ever!} (Kanato)

"Then come with!" The female fairy buzzed around him. "Join Kanato!"

"Eh?!?" The two male fairies squeaked. "No go! Spoopy!"

"Cowards!" The female fairy admonished the two of them. "Make Elders disappointed!" She huffed.

"Mean..." The two male fairies seemed to genuinely not want to go with, but the fear of being called cowards by their kin seemed to change their attitude.

"Hey now, they don't have to go if they don't want to." Kanato pat the female fairy on the head. "They can wait here until we get back."

"No! They come!" The female fairy put her foot down.

{Why is she suddenly so adamant about this? She's never been like this.} (Kanato)

"Go, but we leave if bad things happen..." The two male fairies nodded to each other.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you all safe." Kanato laughed as the three fairies hopped on him. "Alright, let's go!" He entered the teleportation circle and, after a momentary discomfort, found himself in a poorly lit underground hallway.

{I forgot how bad teleporting is...} (Kanato)

"Well, we weren't dropped in the ocean or a desert, so that's a good start." Kanato chuckled but stopped when he noticed that the three fairies were shaking heavily. "What's wrong?"

"Bad feeling... Got worse..." The female fairy said in a shaky voice. "Many dead. Much pain. Much... evil."

"Spoopy..." The two male fairies agreed that this was not a place of fun.

Kanato could sense something dark up ahead, but even a Heroes' senses seemed to be unable to fully comprehend whatever dark power lay in this place, though he was fully aware that he was likely about to see something horrific.

"Then let's be careful." Kanato drew his blade as they slowly moved down the hallway, still invisible. As they walked down the hall, they came across a number of empty prison cells. Most smelled horrible, and the majority of them had blood splattered on the walls or other areas.

{The fuck is going on here, Hitomi?!?} (Kanato)

"Rafferty, are you sure it won't be much longer?" Hitomi's voice sounded from deeper in the cave.

{I knew it. They're both down here. Dammit!} (Kanato)

"You three keep quiet, and I'll handle things." Kanato said, and the three fairies nodded.

"I promise you that it won't be much longer, my love." Rafferty said before a blood curdling scream echoed throughout the underground cave, causing Kanato to speed up his pace as he moved toward what looked like an exit.

"I know, it's just... I feel so bad for them..." Hitomi said as Kanato reached the end of the hallway, just in time to see one of the most horrific sights in his entire life.

"W-What?!?" Kanato barely stifled a scream as he watched a massive spike impale a three-eyed ape-man's chest slowly draining him dry of his life force until he withered into dust and vanished.

At the center of the room was a massive cloud of swirling black and red power that crackled with lightning, surrounding which was an equally large magical circle that Kanato could tell was Divine in nature.

{What the hell is all this?!? That cloud, its power is insane! And why is there a Divine Sealing barrier here?!?} (Kanato)

"I just hope the Gods' plans work." Hitomi said with a sad look on her face. "I must admit that I was kind of hoping that we could handle things so that no more people or Spirits had to be sacrificed..."

{SACRIFICED?!? WHAT?!?} (Kanato)

"Oh, Hitomi." Rafferty chuckled. "You always did have far too big of a heart for your own good. Remember, the Spirits are the ones who started this whole war in the first place. Thus, it's only right that their blood be spilled to fix the damage that they caused. And as for the rest, well, they're just common criminals. So just think of this as Divine Punishment for their actions."

"R-Right..." Hitomi didn't seem entirely convinced as she gripped her staff. "But do we... Do we really have to sacrifice Alm too?"

"A-Alm?" Kanato's breath escaped him as he heard the name of Amakusa's missing friend.

{This is getting fucking worse every passing moment!} (Kanato)

"She was a good girl, and we can just wait to get more Spirits in the meantime." Hitomi pleaded. “So please don't do this...”

"I'm sorry, but we're running out of time, Hitomi." Rafferty gave a crying look that Kanato could instantly tell was fake. "If we don't complete the Gods' plan soon, the damage to the world will be irreversible, and all will be lost." She pretended to be sad about having to kill the Oni girl.

"Is... Is there really no way we can save the world without sacrificing Alm to the spell?" Hitomi hesitantly asked. “Do we really have to... Betray Shiroe like this?”

"I'm sorry, Hitomi." Rafferty put her hand on the Heroes' shoulder. "That girl is the key. She has an incredible amount of magical energy, and it's of just the right kind to finish the ritual. Please don't hate me for having to do this. I know that I promised you that we would spare her, but if we don't sacrifice her, then everyone will be doomed, and all the lives lost leading up to this moment will have been for nothing."

"I..." Hitomi hugged Rafferty. "I'm so sorry, Shiroe..." She started to cry, tears falling onto Rafferty's shoulders.

"Now, I need a bit to prepare the final part of the ritual, but once it's over I promise you that the world will be saved and you can hold your head high." Rafferty smiled. “So just wait a bit longer, my Love.”

{I..} (Kanato)

"We... I..." Kanato's legs moved on their own, and he turned around and ran as fast as he could down the hallway, his entire body pale and drenched in sweat. "I need to do something. I need to do something. I can't let them do whatever this fucking evil fucked up fucking thing this fucking is!" He had no idea what Rafferty's plan was, but Kanato could tell that it was probably not going to save the world.

{Plan of the Gods?!? What the hell is going on here?!? We were never told about this, nor did Hitomi tell anyone about this. Hitomi, whatever the hell that girl is making you do, it's definitely not going to save anyone!} (Kanato)

Running as fast as he could, Kanato teleported back to Hitomi's room before jumping off the balcony and into the city. He truly had no idea what he was going to do, but knowing that he had to get as far away from that horrid place as fast as possible.

{I need to tell someone, anyone!} (Kanato)

"But who?!?" Kanato yelled as he landed in the middle of the street before taking off at full speed toward the main exit. "Who can I trust?!? Everyone... Dammit! First, the Gods lie to me, then my friends disappear and now THIS?!? What happened to his world?!? What the hell am I supposed to even do now?!?"

*THUD*

As he ran out the main gate he slammed into someone, flying backwards and onto the ground.

"Ah!" Kanato quickly recovered. "I'm so sorry. I should've-" He froze as he looked at the black-haired woman who stood in front of him. He'd never seen her before in his life, but it was clear from her facial features that she was Japanese. However, even more than her exotic appearance was the fact that looking into her eyes gave the Hero a sense of great dread that he couldn't understand.

"You... I..." Kanato watched as she waived her hand, and a moment later, his head pounded as he was assaulted by a splitting headache followed by a torrent of memories pouring into his mind. “Who...”

"I suppose this saves me the trouble of finding you, Hero." (???)