Chapter 22: A Look At The Past – Roman’s Side

Japan,

Unidentified Location,

Green everywhere the eye could see, a vast expanse of grass filled fields and a calm breeze running across the plains. The land was uneven, but smooth, small hills of nothing by soil rose in multiple places and trees were far and few in between.... Yet, for a scene that should have been by all means calm, peaceful and serene, an ominous feeling seemed to wash over the landscape. A sense of impending danger and dread.

"Hmm... Where am I?" Roman wondered with a hand on his chin, his gaze running across the landscape to the front. Last he remembered, he'd just gone to sleep on his comfortable bed after telling Waver to stop bitching about Tamamo kicking him out of his workshop.... So.... where the hell was this?

He walked around a bit, using his cane to walk and noticed that his attire wasn't the same as before, it had changed to his preferred grey suit somehow. Still, he could smell and feel the wind against his skin, this was far too vivid for a hallucination.. The possibility of being mentally attacked was meagre.... He had many countermeasures in place against such a thing... It HAD been one of his greatest worries.

And so, the Trambelio walked across the plains, not tired or hungry, which he again noted to be rather strange. He tried using his magic, to no avail, he tried using one of the mystic codes he'd made for such an occasion but they too failed to activate.... "Something is off here."

That is, until he saw a figure running across the grassy plains... Unfortunately, it seemed that talking to this person would be impossible... There was a far bigger problem after all.

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't do anything! Please, believe me! I'm.... I'm sorry!" The figure.. no, girl shouted as she ran though Roman couldn't see whom... The voice though, it was one he recognised instantly. it felt a bit younger and more desperate but there was no mistake.

That was Tamamo.

Seeing the nature of the sounds he heard, something extremely unusual happened.

A worried look formed across Roman's face as he tried to fasten his pace, curious abo- no, he wasn't curious. He just wanted to see who had the guts to do such a thing to the fox that had grown on him. Her antics and habits were strange, her bias was clear but she was a good woman. Roman knew that much.

Still.... His body wasn't one suited to something like running. Even as he tried to run to her, his pace was far slower than any normal man, "Motherfucker." Cursing his debilitation for the first time in a long time, the magician tried to hurry towards his servant.

"I couldn't... I wouldn't harm him! Please! Why are you doing this?!"

Her constant screaming didn't help much either. Her voice sounded anguished and in pain, sad and desperate, this only served to further agitate the Trambelio. Soon enough, he'd neared the girl a fair bit, the fact that she was running in his direction had aided quite a bit with that.

"What's wrong? Tell me." Roman spoke quickly, all the while trying to activate his ability, this useless fucking thing wasn't working in a time he actually needed it!

Yet, the fox-eared girl didn't answer. She ran straight at him and just when it seemed she'd crash into him, her body phased through his, Tamamo didn't seem to notice him.... Still, just at that moment, Roman had seen tear marks across her face, even as new ones slid down her pale and unhealthy cheeks.....

The magician clenched his fists, "This shit is too vivid." Roman complained aimlessly, realising that he was seeing one of Tamamo's memories... Servants and Masters did share memories after a certain point in time. It still dismayed him quite a lot though.

The scene was nowhere near done yet though, the sounds of something sharp tearing through the air spread across the plains. Tamamo no Mae froze up, her ears standing up as she turned around with a frightened gaze..."...Why?"

Afraid and alone.... Ah, she'd die here wouldn't she?

Roman looked up with a difficult gaze, the grey sky was covered by dots... Arrows, a veritable rain of arrows came down from the heavens above, swishing through the air before colliding with the ground, sharp and well made, the arrowheads seemed to lodge themselves into the ground.

Turning around quickly, the magician tried to reach for his servant, doing his utmost to activate his Magic so that she could be defended but as before, it didn't... He knew it wouldn't be he had to try... Roman wasn't someone who had much attachment to people he didn't know but Tamamo... Well Tamamo was a person he DID know, someone who'd barely reacted to his debilitations and tried to help since the start... He couldn't... permit something like this.

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Still, Tamamo no Mae wasn't exactly defenceless, the fox girl threw a number of tags in the air, forming a barrier to protect herself, all the while tears rolled down her pale cheeks and her eyes despaired, her body trembling, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please, what did I do?! I.... Why would Tamamo harm the Emperor?".... How could they even think she'd do such a thing? She'd..... She'd given her all to support the man just because he loved her... "Why..."

As arrows collided against her barrier, splintering and falling to pieces, bent and broken, Tamamo no Mae apologised and begged, afraid and despairing while Roman.... Roman could only stand near her, from time to time he'd speak knowing it was futile but not knowing what else to do... He wanted to help her. God knew he did but still..... "This..... This is just..." The one eyed magician had no words for the scene in front of him.

For who knows how long, this continued. The arrows never stopped coming but Tamamo's barrier eventually started breaking, letting through metal arrows that pierced her body, dying it scarlet with her own blood, even one of her ears got ripped.... Roman who'd been unable to keep track of the time could only grit his teeth and clench his fist....

He wanted to avert his gaze, truly he did but her screams and constant apologising made that impossible.

Day turned to night and then day again, then again and again. For what appeared to be three days, Roman stood there watching. Refusing to move or to 'leave' her alone in the face of this..... "This verse is fucked.." were the only words that left his mouth.

"I... Tamamo is sorry...." By now, her voice had died down, her body had become lethargic and the ground near her had blood flowing across it, her blood. Eventually she collapsed to her knees, her dress stained and her body riddled with arrows...

And then, it happened.

An arrow, one that Roman could notice out of the countless others raining down from above, came down, ripping through Tamamo's flesh as her golden eyes widened in shock and horror, "Ah....AH..." The pink haired girl screamed in pain, falling on her back and rolling around as she tried to reach for it to no avail.

Roman reached for her, kneeling down next to her pained figure with a strange expression on his face, "Why..." He muttered out, trying to grip at her, only for his hands to phase right through... Why did he have to see this? Not once had he stopped trying to activate his Magic or Mystic Codes... They didn't.... They didn't fucking work....

Eventually, Tamamo's screams died down..., "Tamamo is sorry...." She whispered weakly, reaching for the sky as fresh tears rolled down the side of her head.. Her golden eyes slowly lost their light and her lips quivered.... The woman cried, "I..... I wasn't trying to fool anyone..."

"I know.." Roman knew she couldn't really hear him but he spoke nonetheless, smiling with slight despair in his eyes, yes it was just a vision but still.... This... What kind of man could witness this with no emotion?... "You're too dumb for that...." He tried to grasp her hand but again, it only phased through.

"I-I'll leave now....." Tamamo no Mae spoke slowly, she was dying, "So... please, forget about me..." In what felt like an eternity to the magician kneeling by her, the fox eared woman died.

Roman covered his face with his hands, "Fucking hell...." That all felt too real.... Why... What was wrong with these people? Why would Tamamo do something like seduce an emperor? The woman only wanted to love someone.... "Some lover...." Roman spoke in a sharp tone, what lover sends an army to kill the woman he loved because someone told him she'd poisoned him?

With a fierce shift in atmosphere, the land cracked and flames erupted from within. The heavens turned darker and lightning rained down, ripping apart all below but soon enough, all crumbled away.

Leaving behind nothing.

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