Shakugan No Hybrids: Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Of Guidance And Memories, Part 2

“Still Malachite, what do you care for a flamehaze?”
“I would like to know that as well” Shana thinks.
“Because, Jures, she reminds me..
How she walks..the way her hair moves in the wind..her passion..
It is like reliving my memories when I am around her, and that hurts.
And it makes me unsure what to do now..
I mean, she is a flamehaze, a mortal enemy!
There is no way there can be anything civilized in that!”
Shana can’t help it as her heart skips a beat.
“He doesn’t hate me!” she thinks surprised.
“At least not me as a person…
He hates what I am, a flamehaze, but not me in person..
But if he doesn’t want to betray me..then what?
And who do I remind him of?”
Frustrated Shana clenches her firsts.

“Malachite, have you ever thought she might think the exact thing about you and denizens in general?”
The hybrid’s face shows confusion as Jures ripostes his statement.
“Alex, death gives you a strange new perspective on things” the ghost continues.
“Perhaps you should just give her a chance.
You assume she hates you, and wants to betray and kill you.. so you have not really given her any reason to like you or even remotely think otherwise right?
Perhaps she is not as bad as you think she is.
This is just as hard for her as it is for you.
Besides, she will think that you hate her and want to kill and betray her as well, so she will not give you any reason to think otherwise, even while the truth might be something else.”
“That is not fair Jures” Malachite reacts.
“She has made it pretty clear she hates me and what I am.
You should have seen the look on her face when I leeched life out of some torches, just enough to save myself.
She doesn’t understand me..I am not the monster she thinks I am.”
“Then show her that Alex..Malachite..
You will be surprised to see that she probably also isn’t the monster you think she is.
I cannot make this decision about betraying her for you.
But the mere fact that you took her here proofs that you still have some hope deep down inside.
Since this is the only place where the distortion of existence resembles that of the distortion the Karka or one of their servants can create.
You brought her here for a reason..you are training her, aren’t you?
Tell me something, when do you have to make your decision my friend? “Jures concludes his monologue.
“The day after tomorrow..one of their servants will meet me near an old temple just outside of Misaki city..and I am supposed to hand them a copy of her sword’s insignia..and her contractor’s cocytus.
Jures I…feel tempted..so badly..
I know that giving in will mean I betray everything I stand for and that they probably won’t keep their promise but..the chance..on the other hand I only have a very small chance for this world, and my wish unfulfilled.. am I not allowed to be selfish? Just one time?
Have I not bled enough?
I do not know if I can resist this..
The gem of my existence, the centre of my world…my heart..
Three centuries ago..my world died..and burned..
Of all involved, I was the only one that paid the full price for what happened..”
“What could be so disastrous that it haunts him even after centuries Alastor?” Shana asks.
She feels conflicted all of a sudden.
“I don’t know Shana.. but remember that his existence is unique..
His reasons may very well make no sense to us whatsoever.
He is a mixture of two species, but belongs to none.
The way he reasons might even be impossible for us to understand.”
“I don’t know Alastor..I feel they are speaking of something important!”
“Hmm…then let’s just wait for now…perhaps we will learn something that will make everything else make a bit more sense”
Shana nods, knowing that Alastor understands the gesture even without him actually seeing it.
She diverts her attention to the speaking duo in front of her again.
“That is exactly why they offered what they did my friend…”  she can hear Jures say.
“They know your deepest desire..
Something I bet the flamehaze doesn’t know.”
“She calls herself Shana..and no.. she doesn’t know anything.. I never told her.
My past is mine.
But she suspects something I think.
She overheard me when the offer was made.
I don’t think she understands the entirety of it but..she does suspect me to betray her..”
As he says that Malachite’s face is briefly visible in the moonlight.
“Are those..tears…?” Shana wonders.
Her mind races around in circles.
“He is supposed to be betray me, I knew it!
But why..his eyes..”

“And.. will you?” Jures voice briefly interrupts her thoughts.

“I cannot decide Jures..”

“Then train her for the remainder of these days Malachite.
Try to let go of your instinctual hatred for flame hazes and try to see the girl behind that fancy title.
Give her a chance.
If you do that, you will see how she really is and feels..and you will know what to do.
You will be surprised how much a little bit of kindness can achieve.”
“I hope so Jures..this might be the only chance I will ever have.. and I will never forgive myself for betting wrong…”
“He is desperate!”
Slowly Shana feels how things fall into place piece by piece.
“He wants something that he lost three hundred years ago...and in exchange he needs Alastor and..a copy...my sword?! Oh that thing better be something good!”
She can’t help but feel anger..getting traded for some..object!
And just like that it strikes her.
Something Chigusa used to tell her..
About relationships between people..
And what Yuji said about friendships and relationships with others..like Kazumi..and her..”
“Alastor!” she whispers, feeling she is on to something.
“I think we were wrong!
“He lost someone...not something... And he wants to get him or her back...right?”
“But is he trying to strike a bargain with..” Alastor starts a thought.
“Is he trying to get someone back from them...?” Shana finishes it.
“ What a foolish thing! They would never do that! Denizens like them never keep their word!”
Shana however can’t help but feel deep sympathy despite her words.
“He is struggling between two decisions then...?
And that person he lost...does it have to do with the one I resemble to him...?”
Whoever that person is, it is clear to her that he or she means a lot to the hybrid.
She remembers his face just a few seconds ago…and that dream he had..the pure agony on his sleeping face.. how he said it was not a dream but reliving memories…the pain in his eyes from time to time..and what he said to The Disciple.. the empress sends her regards..
“Could it be…”
Suddenly she notices how the sparks in the necklace that houses Alastor swirl more wildly, as in an unspoken reprimande for no paying attention to the things that are being said.
Slightly blushing from embarrassment Shana tries to keep her thoughts with the conversation again.
“In any case, I will give these back to you.
When you left all those years ago, you told me I would know what to do with them when the time was right.
I think that time is now.”
Jures grabs two things out of his ghostly fur, and as he does they become solid! Hougu’s!
Malachite accepts them in silence and puts them away in his coat.
Shana  cannot really see what they are, even when she stretches her neck as far as she can without being detected.
“Two choices, two items my friend.” The Minotaurheaded ghost continues.
“Pick wisely.
Do not decide what to do until the day after tomorrow..by then you will know.”

“Thank you Jures..
This means more to me then you know.
These hougu’s carry some bittersweet memories.
Sometimes I even think that if I had them with me at the time, and not left them back in Italy, I could have changed the outcome of what happened..
So much pain and sorrow prevented..
And the Weaver of Shadows..would have never existed.”
“Italy?” Shana wonders.
“So he lived there..at least long enough to have a home..
Who is he Alastor…
He seems to have wandered all across the earth…
And again that name…Weaver Of Shadows…”
But Alastor does not react.
“Will you be here..if I need to speak to you again?” Shana hears Malachite ask.
“I am afraid not Malachite.
The distortions are getting bigger, and the growing presence of the Karka does not do it any good either.
You were already forced to kill one of us because of it.”
“Yes, one of them attacked the girl, wanting to kill her” Malachite responds, and Shana knows he means her.
“I could not allow that to happen Jures.”
“You had no choice Malachite, even the strongest among us are losing their last shreds of sanity.
Every night it is harder to materialize, let alone be conscious of it.
When I fade, it will be forever..this will be the last time we will ever speak.”
“Then pass on, my friend.
You have earned the right to rest..”
“Farewell, Malachite the Cros..Alex.. * Jures says while fading*,
Believe in yourself and the choice you will make.
There is more goodness in yourself then you think.”
Having said that, Jures becomes more and more spectral, until finally there is nothing left and Malachite is standing out in the open..alone.
Jures, walker of the starless skies, has passed on.
The hybrid seems eager to take the path that leads beyond the waterfall, probably to the magenta garden he mentioned earlier.
But something keeps him on his guard and he narrows his eyes, looking towards the trees…
Right at her!
She feels her heart race inside her chest, and she can’t help but sigh a bit as the hybrid diverts his gaze, feeling relieved she was not spotted.
But with Jures gone, the distortions appear to be lessening, and she notices how she can feel her environment better and better.
“Shana…” Alastor speaks, with an urging tone.
Without answering she understands that it is time to go, or the half denizen might feel her presence.
Slowly Shana crawls into the opposite direction, away from Ghosts and Half denizens with their secrets.
As soon as Shana is convinced that Malachite cannot hear her she starts running, and keeps at it all the way back to the cave that serves as their camp.
Her mind is torn as Shana tries to piece everything together she has heard.
“Even while I know a lot more,  I still have even more questions then before…What is happening..”
Confused Shana lies down, making sure to be in the exact same place she was when Malachite left.
As her mind continues to run in circles her eyes slowly close…and the red-hot-eyed-hunter slowly sinks away into a light and troubled sleep.