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Rushing Water – Part 02

The room where the guests were gathered gradually grew abuzz. Some whispered to each other, some frowned, some tried to leave with their luggage.

Kazuya got up from the suitcase to ask the nearest guest what was going on.

“It’s almost time for the train to arrive,” the guest said.

“Oh, I see.” Kazuya nodded. “But can we really just go? You know, with the deaths and all. There are no phones here, so they’ll have to take the train first to call the cops, and then come back and start an investigation.”

“And no one wants that so everyone’s freaking out. We came here for a weekend getaway. We don’t want to be stuck here too long. We have jobs and school on Monday.”

“Right…”

As soon as they were done talking, the guest rushed out into the corridor. Kazuya glanced back at Victorique, who was still sitting limply on the suitcase.

“Wait here a bit, Victorique. I’ll go check the situation outside.”

Victorique gave a weary nod, a small ceramic pipe in her glossy lips. Kazuya shuffled out into the corridor.

Guests streamed out of the rooms. Black-robed nuns struggled to hold them back.

Suddenly Kazuya’s ears caught an unfamiliar sound. Weaving against the throng of people, he slowly made his way up the spiraling corridor. The higher he went, the fewer the people, until only the occasional black-robed nun crossed the corridor, stepping out of one door and disappearing into another.

Kazuya stopped in front of a door.

A weird noise was coming from inside the room. Mixed in with that sound was a crackling, mechanical voice.

“Where’s the memento box?”

“I don’t know,” a man replied. His voice was familiar. “The she-wolf has not come. Where is Cordelia? I was certain she would come once she learned her daughter was here.”

“Is it still there?”

“I think so. Ah, why hasn’t my wife come? She’s not dead, is she?”

“No one has indeed seen your wife, Marquis de Blois.”

Kazuya’s breath seized. He grabbed the door knob and flung the door open.

Standing there was the old man he was with on the Old Masquerade.

---

A large, black communication device was sitting in the room. Perched in front of it was the green-eyed old man who said he was here to see his daughter.

But he was no longer an old man. His make-up had been wiped away, and there was only a middle-aged man, good-looking but with somewhat stern, forbidding features. He was wearing the same clothes, but there was no longer a stoop to his back; he stood taller. It was a peculiar transformation, almost as if he grew younger, going against the flow of time.

On either side of the man, real old women—the Fell sisters Carmilla and Morella—were standing on guard. Blue and black eyes stared warily at Kazuya.

“Huh, so there is a communications device here,” Kazuya said. “So we can call—”

“Call the cops, yes.” The man grinned. “But we can’t let others know about this machine. Having something so grand in a mere monastery will draw suspicion, Kazuya Kujou.”

Slowly the man stood up.

The chilling aura he emanated almost pushed Kazuya back, but he managed to stand his ground, barely. Fear gripped him. Not the kind of primordial fear he felt when he met the Gray Wolves Brian Roscoe and Cordellia Gallo, as if he were face to face with a huge predator. No. This fear was strangely quiet. There was hopelessness and cold resignation, like he was witnessing the end of the world.

Marquis de Blois, the man who called Cordelia his wife.

Kazuya’s knees trembled. He couldn’t believe it was the same old man who was casually conversing with him just a few hours ago.

Marquis Albert de Blois… The legendary, mad leader of the Ministry of the Occult. Worked behind the scenes during the Great War, and captured a Gray Wolf wandering in the city.

His face turned paler.

And Victorique’s father!

Marquis de Blois had already removed his gray wig. His long, blond hair had begun turning white in places. His stylish monocle made it so only one of his green eyes was magnified. He was staring fixedly at Kazuya.

The Fell sisters chuckled, distorting their wrinkly faces.

“I believe this is the first time we meet, Kazuya Kujou,” the Marquis said.

“Yeah.”

“I honestly did not expect you to come this far for her. I assumed that her mother, Cordelia, would be coming on that train. So I disguised myself as an ordinary passenger. But the wolf never came. Instead you appeared, an odd oriental boy.”

“You transferred Victorique for your own selfish reasons and hurt her.”

“To achieve our goal,” the Marquis said coldly. “We need to find the memento box before Jupiter Roget does, and only those two wolves know where it’s hidden. It’s the key to bringing down the Academy of Science. And in the not-too-distant future, it will become a terrifying Pandora’s Box that will dictate the fate of the modernizing world. A forbidden box that must never be opened. I used the girl to try to lure the wolf.”

Kazuya bit his lip. “You hurt Victorique for your politics?”

“She’s my daughter. As her father, I can do whatever I want with her, no? Blood ties are of no importance to me. I only care about what’s good for the kingdom.”

Anger flared within Kazuya. The letter he received from his brother, the magazine articles, crossed his mind. Both contained the same message of putting the country before oneself, of striving to contribute for the betterment of his nation.

He reflected on himself and his actions. He came all the way here simply because he was worried about Victorique. He traveled far away not for the sake of his own country or some grand cause, but solely for a girl. As a man, as a soon-to-be adult, was what he did wrong?

Was it really important to live for some greater cause?

Or…

“She was born so I could use her as my tool,” Marquis de Blois murmured, his murky green eyes widening.

“But as Victorique’s father, you have a duty to love and protect her,” Kazuya replied in a low voice. “You are obliged to love her and protect her with your life.”

For a brief moment, Marquis de Blois looked stunned.

“What a surprise,” the Marquis remarked with a grin. “Is that an oriental ideology?”

“Being an oriental has nothing to do with it. You’re the monster, not Victorique. I’m… I’m bringing her back, and I’ll keep her safe.”

“Ah, to be young. Truly fascinating. But keep in mind, boy. The academy is under my control too.”

Marquis de Blois smiled bitterly. He stood up and headed to the door. The Fell sisters followed close.

“We’re leaving before the police arrive,” he said. “This place is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Occult, and the nuns are all under my command. But I can’t show myself to this country’s authorities. If it’s only the abbot and the nuns, they’ll assume it’s just an ordinary monastery.”

“What about those deaths? Simon Hunt and Friar Iago,” Kazuya murmured.

The Fell sisters turned at the same time. Their wrinkled, pale faces contorted into smiles.

“We…”

“…killed…

“…those…”

“…two…”

“…together.”

“They were in the Marquis’ way.”

“But…”

“…no one will ever know about it.”

They closed their mouth simulatenously, then whirled back around and followed the Marquis down the corridor.

“What…?” Kazuya was left speechless. He dashed out into the corridor.

He heard a door close in the distance.

The corridor was empty, cold and quiet.

A different door opened, and a nun in black came out. Another one appeared and disappeared into a different door. Over and over, doors opened and closed.

Kazuya was left baffled. Then he hurried down the corridor, back to Victorique.