The Red Hand

Chapter 236 – Despair and Joy.

Superbia leaped across Osaka's rooftops on the way to her sister's grave site. Like Alice's family, Munechika was cremated and buried at a family plot, and Superbia frequented it to 'talk' to her deceased sister. It was something that was intended to bring her solace and closure, but every time she went, all Superbia could feel was a tightness in her chest and a sadness in her heart. Munechika's death struck the entire family hard, but Superbia, even more than he parents was devastated by the loss of her sister.

The two were close, far closer than most siblings their age, and they were rarely apart. The death of what Superbia considered her other half was devastating for the Oni and threw her into a cycle of depression and unbridled rage that came and went almost at random. In the nearly three years since her sister's death at the hands of Gim and Grim, Superbia had only sunk deeper and deeper into melancholy, and there were days when she considered ending it all just to join Munechika on the other side. Though she lacked the willpower to actually go through with it, it was nonetheless a tempting thought.

As she touched down at the cemetery, it was quiet and empty with little in the way of illumination to pierce through the darkness. This late at night, there weren't supposed to be any visitors, and security should've seen her off. However, as one poor man on watch discovered a few months ago, actually removing the angry Oni here to see her sister's grave was simultaneously impossible and the highest tier of folly.

"I'm back again, Moonie." Superbia said as she stood before her sister's grave. It wasn't anything special, though it did have a photo of her before FWO taped to it. "I'm sorry that it's been a few weeks since I was last here. Things got a little hectic lately with the whole needing to kill Serval again." She slowly reached out her hand and laid it upon the top of the headstone. "Your birthday is coming up soon. I can't believe you'll already be twenty-two. Time flies, huh?" She gave a bitter smile as her face went dark.

"Mom and Dad... They said I need to start smiling again... That I need to do it for you... but... I... I don't know if I can..." She paused for a moment, her voice starting to tremble. "You were... You were the reason I was able to smile... You made me laugh, You warmed my heart and... and I just couldn't help but be in a good mood whenever you were around, you know?” Superbia gave a bitter smile. “But... Now that you're gone... I just... My heart just won't let me be happy, no matter how much I try to be... You're gone... You'll never come back, and I'll never see you again... So how can I be happy?!?" She yelled, her voice echoing in the darkness. "My sister is gone! The one person that truly understood me is gone!" Tears slowly trailed down her cheeks as she desperately tried to stay on her feet.

"You were the only person who didn't think my pride was foolish. Hell, you were the one that gave me the name Superbia! Everyone always said that I was too prideful, that I was arrogant, and egotistical... But you..." Superbia fell to her knees as her crying intensified. "You always told me that my pride was an important part of who I was... That it was something that made me special, and that... that there was nothing wrong with me..." She punched the ground, putting a small crack in the pavement. "I'm the first daughter of the Yoshida clan. I was supposed to take over once Dad stepped down. I was groomed to lead and take charge... and I was good at it!" Superbia continued her rant. "Why shouldn't I take pride in my skill? Why shouldn't I be proud of who I am and what I can do?!? But everyone... they all said I was overconfident... cocky, and that my pride would be my downfall..." She looked up at the headstone. "Moonie... Why did it have to be you?" Superbia said with tears streaming down her face. "Why did you have to die while I lived?!? Why couldn't it have been me?!? I can't... I can't do it without you! You were more than just my sister, you were my best friend! And I... I... I miss you... Every day... Every moment... it's painful, and it hurts to know that you're gone..." Superbia, like Akagi, was fearful of being alone in a world of people that didn't understand her. The only difference is while Akagi found people who accepted her, Superbia lost the only person that did.

{If Moonie had been the one who lived... If she'd survived and I died... Then I know that things would've been better...} (Superbia)

"Maybe I really should just-" Superbia paused before saying something that she knew she shouldn't, as a purple glowing butterfly flew down from above and hovered in front of her face. It gave off quite a bit of magical energy, and for a moment the Oni thought she was hallucinating. "W-What?" She reached out to touch it, but it dodged her hand and flew into the air. "Wait!" She sat up and chased the fleeing butterfly which took off towards the local forest. "Come back!" She had no idea why but something inside her told Superbia that she needed to follow the mysterious butterfly.

Taking off at high speed, Superbia chased it through the woods and across Osaka. She was surprised by the speed at which it flew, and no matter how fast she went, it always seemed to be just a bit faster than her.

{Where is it going?!? And why do I care?!?} (Superbia)

After what felt like an eternity, the butterfly reached Minoh Park just north of Osaka. It was dark this late at night but the butterfly's purple glow made finding it easy. After heading inside, the butterfly moved to one of the platforms that overlooked the falls.

"Finally!" Superbia caught up to the butterfly. "Now, what the hell is going on?!?" She growled as she stood before the flying insect. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?" She yelled at the butterfly, who just floated silently.

{I swear if this is Akagi messing with me...} (Superbia)

As she stood within the park, she was suddenly reminded of a trip that she and her sister took to this place when they were kids. The falls here were quite the popular attraction, and Superbia recalled how mesmerized her sister was with them.

{This place was always one of her favorites...} (Superbia)

After approaching the railing and looking down at the rushing falls, her mind was flooded with so many memories of her time with her sister.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Superbia looked at the butterfly. "Moonie always loved this place, and we were actually planning to go here after graduation." She laughed. "I... I was really looking forward to that..." She stood in silence as she looked out over the darkened park, and as she did the butterfly grew closer.

"I'm not sure who sent you, but I guess I should thank them... I was in a pretty dark place there for a moment..." Superbia sighed. "So tha-" She stopped mid-word as the butterfly flew in front of her and plunged straight into her chest, disappearing. "WHAT THE HELL?!?" She swatted at her chest and shirt, but the butterfly was gone. "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!?" She panicked, not knowing what just happened. "Where did it-" She stopped again. This time because she could feel something strange within her body.

"Magic? No, it feels like something's buzzing." Superbia said as she tried to calm down. "But... Where is it?" She thought for a moment before the answer to her question flashed across her mind. "My inventory!" She opened a small dark portal and stuck her hand in, rifling through the countless objects she'd stored. "I can feel it! Something strange, it's like a kind of energy." As she pushed deeper and deeper into her storage, she eventually grabbed hold of the object giving off a strange sensation. "Now, what is making this-" The Oni paused as she pulled a large Nodachi out of her inventory. It was long, taller than her, and it was sheathed in a deep purple and gold covering. It was an item she knew quite well from her time in FWO since it was one that belonged to her sister.

"I... I forgot that I had this..." Superbia stared at the blade in disbelief and awe. "Moonie... She gave this to me so that I could have it repaired... But... I... I never got to give it back..." Upon death, the rest of her sister's items would've been destroyed, and thus this was all that remained of her sister's gear. "But... why is her blade..." Before she could inspect it any further, the sword leaped out of her hand and floated behind her, hovering a few feet in the air. "What?!?" She yelled as fog began to roll in and surrounded her. Superbia was paralyzed with confusion, fear, and all sorts of emotions, until in the back of her mind, she swore that someone told her to draw her sister's blade.

"Y-You want me to draw you?" Superbia asked the sword but got no response. "Is that why you called me here?" Again, she got no reply, but decided that she had nothing to lose by trusting her gut feeling, and slowly approached the blade, her hands trembling sightly.

"Oh hell... This is how really bad things happen in horror movies and old legends, but fuck it!" She took a deep breath as she grabbed the hilt of the blade with one hand and the sheath with the other before slowly drawing the blade. It was just as beautiful as she remembered it, the blade was made of a metal called Admesium, which gave it a golden color that was almost the same as her sister's eyes in the game.

The moment she fully unsheathed the blade, Superbia heard a giggle behind her, causing her to spin around. "Whose-" She froze, as behind her, leaning on the railing, was an all too familiar purple-haired Oni. "N-No..." She stared at the woman standing before her, who merely smiled and waved at her. The new Oni gave off a warmth that Superbia knew could only come from one person, but she didn't want to believe it was possible.

"M-Moonie..." Superbia said her sister's nickname quietly, which caused the woman to give an even bigger smile. "MOONIE!" Superbia rushed forward and pulled her sister into a hug. "MOOOONIE!!!" Superbia balled her eyes out as her sister smiled and patted her on the back. "Y-You're really back! You're really here!" She continued to cry as Munechika pushed her back a bit and looked her in the eyes. "You're really Moonie?" Superbia asked weakly, and her sister nodded. "You're really her? You're really really her." Her question was answered with a pat on the head.

{IT IS!} (Superbia)

"H-How?!? You died! And Akagi said she didn't save you!" Superbia demanded to know what was going on. "I-I can touch you, but I can tell that something about you is different! Please tell me what happened!"

To her question, Munechika responded by pointing to the Nodachi that Superbia was holding.

"K-Kogitsunemaru?" Superbia looked down at the golden blade. "What do you mean?" She asked, and her sister merely tapped the side of the head.

"Think? About what?" Superbia was puzzled.

{Kogitsunemaru was a sword crafted by some kind of Demi-God. In the flavor text within FWO, it said that its wielder bonded to it by placing-} Superbia's eyes went wide as she realized what happened.

"Y-You... you're the part of Moonie's..." Superbia fell to her knees, and her sister bent down and hugged her. "You're the part of her that she... that she put in the blade..." As was increasingly being found out, the flavor text within FWO was not purely cosmetic. In Hishya's example, her draconic power was largely described within the flavor text about her race, and some other items were found to comport with properties described within the game lore about them. In this case, Kogitsunemaru was a blade that required a user to attune to in order to use it, and a player was limited by how many items they could attune to at one time. Thus, being as FWO was not just a game, it stands to reason that when an item's flavor text stated that attunement required imparting part of one's soul into the item, it meant it.

However, the exact reason why her sister was here was not important to Superbia, as the only thing that she cared about was that she had, at least part of her sister back.

"So... you're within the sword?" Superbia asked her sister, who giggled in response.

"Why won't you talk?" She asked, looking at Munechika who simply shook her head. "You can't?" Munechika nodded, which saddened Superbia.

"That's fine." Superbia said as she stood up. "You're here, and that's all that matters."

Munechika smiled as she pointed to the sword.

"What about it?" Superbia looked down at the blade in her hand before looking back at her sister, who was making a swinging motion. "You want me to use it?"

Munechika nodded.

"You want me to attune to it?" Superbia asked and her sister nodded again. "But won't that destroy you?!?" She yelled. "I won't do that! I'm not losing you again!"

{I won't lose you! Not again!} (Superbia)

Munechika shook her head before pressing her hands together slowly.

"It won't hurt you?" Superbia asked cautiously. "Then what will happen?"

Munechika pointed to herself and Superbia before mashing her hands together.

"We'll fuse?" Superbia deadpanned. "I don't know how I feel about that..." She liked her sister, but not like that.

{I'm a sis-con, but I'm not THAT far gone...} (Superbia)

Munechika sighed. Clearly Superbia was misinterpreting her meaning.

"Well, sorry that my mind immediately went there." Superbia rolled her eyes. "You not speaking is really making this h-" She stopped. "Wait hold on, we're idiots." She pulled out her phone and opened a text document. "Here, type." Superbia held the phone up to her sister, who facepalmed.

"Looks like we both forgot about writing." Superbia laughed as her sister typed out a message on her phone, and when she read it, everything made sense.

"Let's do it!" Superbia cheered, and her sister giggled. "This way... This way, we'll never be apart again, Moonie." She smirked.

{I can't wait to show that stupid cat what the two of us can do together!} (Superbia)