Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Moon-Skinned Man ❯ - ( One-Shot )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"Why?"

....

"Why?!"

....

"Why is someone so detestable still alive?! ...Oh? You're not alive, are you?"

"...That's good."

A pale figure with hair shining crimson trod across the ground in the black of the night. "So I did manage to kill you. Odd. I've never been capable of anything like that before now, have I?"

The moon-skinned man bared two sharp fangs, and his eyes were filled with blackness. A corpse lay at his feet, blood scattered all around. Darkness surrounded as his laughter broke out.

-----

A young girl leaned against the stony wall of a building. She had black hair which was somewhat short but somewhat wildly arranged at the back of her head. On her legs she wore long pants, on her torso a white shirt and black vest, and on her face an eternally blank expression. More curiously, she wore fur on her ears with a tail behind her as if she were a monkey. Yet the people in the streets and in the shops were completely blind to those strange features.

Nearby, a young man was walking along the lightly crowded sidewalk. His skin was fairly dark, and short hair stretched across his face. A beanie covered his head, and long clothing adorned his body. He also wore odd pieces on himself, including two short horns on his forehead just underneath his hat and a pair of scaled wings folded on his back. These, too, were completely invisible to the average people around him.

The monkey woman and the dragon man met as the latter came to a stop. He spoke. "Hey, Lee!"

Lee turned only her eyes to the man. "I've been waiting forever...." The man froze. "Moses. Come on."

As they went away, Moses spoke again. "Seriously, should a monkey be so emotionless?"

"I'm a Wise Monkey. Don't compare a Page so much to an animal."

"Yeah, yeah." Moses thought to himself, "Foil characters always irritate each other. Why did I have to choose one for a girlfriend?"

Lee poked Moses's cheek. "You're whispering your thoughts out loud, you know."

Moses fidgeted. "Just shut up." Lee retaliated by poking Moses repeatedly this time.

Later, they arrived in a place which was filled with the smell of coffee. "Man, I love coffee!" Moses said loudly as they stepped inside.

"Don't shout to people who don't care." Lee's comment irritated Moses again.

A while after the two had sat down to drink, Moses placed his half-full cup on the table and began to speak with a smile on his face. "Hey, Lee! I wanna go find some other Pages to beat up after this."

Upon noticing some normal people glance curiously to them, Lee said, "Maybe you shouldn't talk so loudly about beating people up. I'm pretty sure it's a crime outside the Page world."

"Hah! Silly Lee. Clearly you know nothing of the normal world."

"I don't?"

"Of course not! Let me educate you." Moses closed his eyes as if to make his speech seem profound in the slightest. "You see..." Lee snatched up Moses's cup. "...if the police say you can't do something..." The girl quickly emptied the cup. "...and they try to drag you off in chains..." Lee set the cup back down. Moses opened his eyes and leaned forward with a grin. "...you have to beat the crap out of them!"

Lee spoke. "Really now?" She noticed more glances on the two of them.

"Heck yeah! It'll always work!" Moses grabbed his cup only to sip air. He set it down and rose from his seat, holding his head back in despair. "MY FREAKING COFFEE!!!" The attention of everyone nearby was immediately drawn to them.

Lee thought to herself as her stoic expression persisted, "That was even more entertaining than I thought it would be...."

Moses looked towards the Wise Monkey as he brought his hands down on the table's surface. "You did it, didn't you?!"

"...Nope...."

"You liar!" Lee offered her own cup to him. "Huh? Oh, thanks!" Moses took the cup and sat down as if nothing had happened. "So, yeah. As I was saying. The cops can't do anything to Pages, right? I'm a Nidhogg. Even if I was caught in a fight by the cops, dragons don't let anyone chain them down."

"I don't get it...."

Moses took a sip of coffee once more. "Whatever." Moses dropped his cup. "Ugh! You didn't leave anything for me."

"The same amount was in your cup...."

"Yeah, whatever. So let's go fight!"

"Hey, Moses. Are you sure we shouldn't be doing something more important?"

Moses's expression dropped low. "Could we even do anything at this point? It's become even tougher to handle now. That's why I want to fight. That way, we can become stronger. The people who are better than us are supposed to be out there. But no one's done anything about it. So we have to do this ourselves."

Lee nodded. "I see. Let's go, then."

After a trek of interest to no one, the monkey and the dragon crossed the path of two others of whom they called Pages. One was a nervous looking boy of their age, whose skin seemed almost transparent and had a bluish shade. The other was a woman who held her head higher than any of them. Feathered wings extended from her back. The area around them was spacious, with the walls of buildings nearby enclosing them.

The Angel woman spoke. "Sorry, guys. I'm not too interested in fighting right now. You see, my brother here only just became a Page. I doubt he's ready for this."

Moses spoke out in disappointment. "Aww.... There's no way we could gain anything from some guy who just started."

The Ghost boy spoke now, though his speech was filled with anxiety. "W-well, I-I would rather get s-some experience w-whenever I can...."

The sister immediately changed her attitude now. "Alright, then! I guess we'll fight!"

"Huh?" Moses and Lee said together.

The Angel stepped towards the two of them and raised her hand in front of herself. "Holy Lexicon: Seraph's Flame!" Lee propelled herself from the ground, and Moses took flight. From the Angel's hand flew a fire that filled the air before her. Lee stepped onto the side of a building and launched herself downwards to the other two Pages. The Ghost placed himself to become an obstacle to her path. Nearing the ground, Lee brought her leg inward and pushed her foot towards the Ghost.

"Phantom Lexicon: Will of the Wisp." As Lee landed her hit, she appeared in a different place. She turned around to see the Angel and the Ghost, completely unharmed.

The Angel flew in Lee's direction. Moses dropped down between them. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Dragon's Fist!" A visible energy surrounded Moses's fist as it went to collide with the Angel.

"Holy Lexicon: Throne's Guardian!" As Moses hit the Angel back, a fire surrounded his fist.

"Agh!" Moses's hand began to burn. The Angel crashed onto the ground.

The Ghost began running to Moses. Lee stepped out from behind Moses and looked to the Ghost. "Saru Lexicon: Mirror Trick." Lee appeared behind the Ghost and ran to him. He turned quickly as Lee approached him. "Saru Lexicon: Vajra." Three blades appearing from nowhere surrounded Lee's arm.

"The Will of the Wisp won't work if the opponent's using a spell!" the Ghost thought to himself. Lee's blades struck him and threw him back. "Ah!"

The Angel slowly rose to her feet and flew to Lee. Lee quickly turned to her and jumped back. The Angel continued after Lee and brought her hand up. Moses flew past Lee and to the Angel. "Holy Lexicon: Seraph's Flame!" Moses sped away as flame burst from the Angel's hand. Lee jumped away once the fire reached her.

Moses appeared behind the Angel. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Binding Roots!" Moses grabbed onto the Angel's shoulder as tree roots wrapped around her body.

"Holy Lexicon: Throne's Guardian!" Moses's hand began to burn, while the Angel was immobilized in the roots he had summoned.

"Agh!!!"

Lee looked up to the two. "What an idiot...." She ran towards them to help Moses.

"Yggdrasil Lexicon: Nidhogg's Maw!" The Angel's flame dispersed, and the energy forming around Moses's hand came to resemble a lance. The roots disappeared, and Moses's lance quickly struck the Angel. She slammed into the ground, while Moses lowered himself slowly.

Moses clutched his hand in pain. Lee stood next to him. "Are you alright?"

"What about those two? That Ghost didn't seem like he could take a hit."

The Ghost sat up. "I-I'm alright."

The Angel rose to her knees. "Hmm... I guess that's done, then."

"Yeah, whatever." Moses walked over to the Angel and showed her the wounded hand. "You're gonna heal this, right?"

"What a jerk," Lee taunted Moses.

-----

A boy with a hood over his head and a scarf encircling his neck was strolling through the city.

He began thinking to himself. "Where are they? When is this going to end?"

The young man looked up. Light began to shine inside his hood to reveal black eyes. "When am I going to be able to kill those two?"

The presence of others was lost to the black-eyed man, as everything around him seemed to fade to blackness. He began to recall....

As he lay on the ground, a man stood turned away from him. "Just leave me alone. I never asked for this fight."

"I'm not finished yet!"

"Clearly. Don't you have something better to do? At least, if you're going to be so obsessed with fighting, try annoying other people with it for once."

The man began to walk away. The man on the ground began to laugh. His eyes filled with blackness, and he brought himself up. "Hey, Leo. I said I wasn't done." Leo stopped. "I still have to kill you first!"

....

The black-eyed man was once again aware of his surroundings. A crowd moved all around him. He began to walk once more.

Eventually, the man found himself on an empty road. "Where am I going? Wait.... Who am I, again?"

Abruptly, the man fell forward after feeling a painful stab at his head. He heard a loud step behind him. As he rose, he noticed a powerful punch twisting in his torso. He was launched backwards, where he felt a strong kick force him to the wall of a nearby building. He stood again to see two people in front of him preparing an attack. "Sanguine Lexicon: Crimson Claws."

The Vampire appeared behind the two, who were suddenly bleeding from gashes on their sides. He removed his hood to reveal red hair. The Vampire rose his blood-stained hand and sucked the blood from it. "You two are... Lee and Moses? I've been thinking so much about killing people that I can't even remember much else. Do you know what my name might be?"

Moses stood straight. "You were Rowan Payn... at some point...."

"Moses. We have to finish this before he becomes an Abyssal." Lee turned and ran after Rowan. She met him with a punch, which he easily knocked aside. Lee pivoted with Rowan's block. She aimed a kick towards his head. Rowan ducked, moving to Lee's back. Lee spun to face him with her fist speeding towards him. Rowan deflected the attack away from himself and went in to punch Lee. Lee brought her other arm to the Vampire before he could reach her. "Saru Lexicon: Vajra." Blades immediately formed around Lee's arm, connecting with Rowan and sending him flying back.

As Rowan fell towards the ground, he was suddenly brought up again. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Dragon's Fist!" Moses's punch threw Rowan back into the wall. Moses ran to Rowan and stomped on him. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Binding Roots!" Roots spread over Rowan and paralyzed him.

Lee ran to them. She raised her Vajra and jumped to Rowan. "That's interesting.... Sanguine Lexicon: Night Shade!" A dark sphere expanded to envelop Rowan. As Lee passed through it, the Vajra disappeared. She continued through, landing a punch on the Vampire. The sphere vanished. Lee jumped back a short distance.

"Yggdrasil Lexicon: Nidhogg's Maw!" A lance appeared around Moses's arm.

"Sanguine Lexicon: Night Shade." As Moses attacked, another sphere appeared around Rowan. The lance collided with it, and both struggled to pass by each other.

Lee jumped forward. Moses and Rowan's techniques disappeared suddenly. "Saru Lexicon: Vajra." The Vajra reappeared, and Lee landed on Rowan with the blades. Rowan was smashed into the ground, and Moses jumped away. Upon landing, he saw a cloud of dust surrounding the two. Lee appeared from the dust, falling hard into the street.

The cloud cleared, and Rowan appeared from it. "You know, I've actually been hoping to run into you two. You've been the ones I've wanted to kill the most."

Moses's head dropped. Lee stood to her feet and glanced to him. She turned her eyes to Rowan. "Do you really expect to be able to stay alive when a Librarian is sent after you?"

Rowan brought a necklace up from underneath his scarf. "You see, I came across a really good Relic. It completely hides my aura from anyone who could sense it."

"So unfair.... What cheat code did you use to get that?" Rowan gave a chuckle.

Moses looked up towards the Vampire. He breathed deeply. Moses brought himself closer to Rowan. Rowan only stared. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Dragon's Fist!" Energy swarmed around Moses's fist as he brought it forward. Rowan jumped high above him.

"Sanguine Lexicon: Crimson Claws!" Before Rowan could reach Moses, Lee appeared and kicked him back.

Moses flew up to Rowan and brought his fist forward. "Yggdrasil Lexicon: Dragon's Fist!" Moses plunged his fist into Rowan, and the Vampire plummeted into the building. Moses and Lee landed safely on their feet as Rowan picked himself up.

"Ugh.... I've become strong enough to kill Leo, but I can't beat you two?"

Moses gave a piercing glare to Rowan. "I never really liked that guy, but I hadn't thought that you would go that far."

"I'm going much further than that. You two will be the next to die!"

A pitch black sphere enveloped Rowan. Lee's eyes began to fill with fear. Moses stared in disbelief. Clouds of dust began to gather around the sphere. The sphere vanished to reveal a strange creature.

The beast had no face, aside from two black eyes. Its head was rounded, with the back protruding outward in spikes. It had a body like that of a bat, with wings stretching from its arms. From its lower body extended a long, thick tail. The monster's entire body seemed to be metallic. Its eyes were aimed emotionlessly at the two before it. Rowan had become what was called an Abyssal.

The bat creature suddenly appeared in front of Moses. Lee's eyes followed after it. "Sanguine Lexicon: Blood Theft." A spike shot forward out of the abomination's neck. Moses was run through, and a visible energy began to appear around the Abyssal.

"Moses!" Lee quickly ran towards the monster. "Saru Lexicon: Vajra!" Moses fell over as the spike disappeared into the bat's neck. The monster disappeared as Lee threw her arm forward. Lee turned to see the Abyssal behind her. She swung her Vajra towards it.

"Sanguine Lexicon: Crimson Claws." The bat's claws lengthened, and it brought them down to strike Lee. Lee was cut deeply, and she fell back.

The energy around the Abyssal began to gather. It formed in front of the beast in a sphere. "Sanguine Lexicon: Blood Bomb." The energy shot forward, covering the entire area.

....

Suddenly, the energy appeared as if it fell to the ground like water. Both Lee and Moses lay on the ground as they were.

The Abyssal looked forward to see a sword pointed towards it. Holding the sword was a young man with cold eyes.

The young man had spiked black hair that was brought together at the back of his head in a small ponytail. A hat that exposed his hair shaded his eyes. He wore black clothing, with a large-collared shirt. A scar marked his face, and two circular tiles floated about him. He dropped his broadsword to his side and grabbed one of the tiles with his free hand.

The Abyssal instantly closed half the distance between itself and the young man. The tile in the man's hand suddenly became a saber. The Abyssal was right in front of him now. "Sanguine Lexicon: Crimson Claws." The creature brought its long claws forward, where they were halted by the man's broadsword. He pushed the broadsword forward and stabbed the beast with his saber. A hole was left in the Abyssal's side, and the young man stepped forward to strike again with his saber. The bat disappeared from view before the sword made contact.

The creature appeared behind the man, and the man turned, his broadsword out in front of him. "Sanguine Lexicon...." The Abyssal hesitated.

Rowan began to think. "I wonder...."

The swordsman paused briefly, lost in thought for a mere moment. "It's not attacking.... Could the Page themself be doing this?" The young man brought his saber to the Abyssal's throat. The creature's neck was pierced, leaving a large hole. "No.... That would be impossible, right?"

The Abyssal fell to the ground. Its monstrous form suddenly was replaced by a bleeding Rowan. "...Maybe giving in to insanity just makes me weaker...." Rowan's body lay cold and unmoving.

-----

Lee awoke to find herself in a white bed. She turned her head to the side to see Moses awake in a bed nearby. "What's going on?"

Moses turned his head to her in surprise. "Oh! You're awake!" Moses's face revealed sadness. "We were brought to a Page hospital. They told me some Librarian-in-training saved us from the Abyssal. Apparently, the guy was just passing through when he found us."

"Oh. How come you're awake before me? A spike went right through you."

"Well, a Nidhogg should be more durable than a Wise Monkey, right?"

"Right."

"Although, the doctor still said I shouldn't have been up so early. I guess I'm a bit too depressed to sleep...."

"Moses.... Rowan's been marked for death ever since since his Descent started. And we're still alive. I honestly feel really grateful just for that." Lee sat up. "You should cheer up." Moses turned his eyes to Lee. His eyes widened. Lee, the stoic girl, was smiling brightly to him. Moses returned the smile.
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