Fatal Frame II: The Crimson Sacrfice.
Introduction:
Two chosen Children, shall be carried to Heaven, on the Wings of a Butterfly. Crimson Butterfly’s normal ending, written on what I think Mio would be thinking and feeling.
CLICK.
FLASH.
WHIRL.
I drop to my knees as the Kusabi disappears, moaning and screaming as he goes. My hands are shaking around the Camera Obscura, it feels hot in my hands like it does after facing one of those poor, damned souls, and he was the biggest Iāve done, and the camera feels as if it is burning and blistering my hands. I feel sweat drip down my face, and my clothes are clinging to me and covered in dirt, I ache all over and my eyes are heavy. I just want to curl into a ball and sleep, Iām so tired, I havenāt had rest all night.
āI wish this night were over with.ā
An image of Mayu flashes through my mind. āI must save my sisterā¦ā The thought is exhausted; Iāve said it over and over throughout the night, a mantra I wish would leave me alone.
I get shakily to my feet, gripping the Camera as I walk slowly towards the steps leading lower into hell. I look back, seeing this simple room, nothing but candles with a space in the center, I see the Kiryu twins have returned in their eternal sacrifice. I hear their voices drift over.
āDonāt killā¦ā
āKill meā¦ā
I feel a tear roll down, but it stops after that, Iāve cried so much already, I donāt think I can anymore now. Another image flashes through, me leaving here without Mayu, going through the tunnel in the Shrine and just leaving and not looking back and I cringe from the thought.
āI must save herā¦ā
I turn and start going down the steps, and the end of the steps and down the tunnel a couple feet I see a crumpled piece of paper.
Yae,
You came for me after all.
Please hurry.
Iām right below you.
I know you might not make it in time, but Iāll wait for you until the very end.
-Sae
Just a few simple words of a sister believing she was going to be saved, well, at least her definition of saved. Sae wanted to die, to have her twin Yae perform the sacrifice with her.
The damned sacrifice, how cruel is it to make a set of twins go through this, to make the āolderā kill the āyoungerā. I can see why Yae wanted to leave with Sae, no matter what Sae said, that she wanted to, I can see why Yae tried to get them away, but in the end, Sae got caught and hung by the villagers and causing the Repentance, and then Sae and the failed Kusabi slaughtered the village.
āMayu also wants to go through with the ritual.ā I shake my head of the thought. āNo, she canāt, she doesnāt want to die.ā
I continue walking down the tunnel, trying to hurry but also dreading what I might find. I see an ending to the passageway and hurry towards it. I enter into a big, cavernous room. There isnāt much in it, a giant flat topped rock, big enough for a person to comfortably lie on. And behind it is a giant square shaped pit. That is the Abyss.
Overhead is a small circular opening which is streaming in a faint amount of moonlight, which is the only light other than the few torches lining the area.
In front of the Abyss is Mayu.
Sheās standing there solemnly. She looks better than I, not covered in dirt or sweat, her light brown thigh length dress looking like it did when she first followed that Butterfly into the village, her big brown eyes staring at me, seeming to actually go through me.
Sae has been leading her around by the nose since we broke the barrier into the All Godās Village. She canāt want to go through with the ritual can she? It has to be Saeās influenceā¦right?
I start to walk towards her. After a couple steps the scene suddenly changes. Priests surround us, and I can hear the Mourners behind me. The Priests shuffle slightly, they want this sacrifice to happen, want to be rid of the Malice and the Repentance. I can see the whites of their knuckles as the grip their staffs hard. I cannot see but an outline of their faces due to the cover, but I can imagine that their faces are full of hope and apprehension. They want me to kill Mayu, thatās why they have been trying to capture us all along, to bring us here.
āYae.ā Mayuās mouth moves but I hear Saeās voice, though faintly, I hear Mayu say āMio.ā I stop, and stare at my sister. She stares at me unblinkingly, and my legs start to tremble in fear. Fear for my sisterā¦and fear for myself.
āWe were born together. But we have to live, and die, separately.ā The shaking in my legs gets stronger and my mind starts to grow fuzzy. I can see little black and white dots dance before my eyes. Iām scared, more so than Iāve ever been. āWhy? Why am I here? I must run, leave this place, donāt look backā¦ āThen I recover slightly when I hear Mayuās voice.
āI knew this, I knew.ā She says softly, looking away from me for the first time since I came to rescue her. I hear sadness in her voice, the slight quiver in her lip as she looks away. This is really Mayu talking to me. I finally find my voice again, the dots receding, and I start walking towards her. I have a slight tremble in my voice as I say, āMayu, weāll be together, we will.ā
Mayu closes her eyes and breathes in slightly. I see her hands shaking, but, I donāt think itās with fear. āWe canāt be together forever.ā She says, her eyes moving back to mine as I step before her.
We are right beside the rock. This is where it happens, this is where they make the twins perform the Crimson Sacrifice.
I hear Mayuās voice, from earlier in the Doll Room, flicker in the back of my mind. āTwo chosen children, shall be carried to Heavenā¦on the wings of a Butterfly.ā
āIs this how itās meant to be?ā
Mayu grabs my wrist gently but with a firm grip and pulls me with her onto the rock. She lies under me, completely open and at my mercy, as she has me straddle her waist. āI donātā¦I donāt want toā¦ā
āBut with this, we can become one.ā She says, as if reading my mind. I want to be with her forever, we will never escapeā¦not unless Iā¦
āSo itās alright.ā She reassures me and pulls my hands down onto her neck, wrapping them around her throat. I can feel her pulse, sheās so relaxed, and itās not racing at all, just a normal steady rhythm.
Beat. I donāt want to do this. Beat. I canāt do this. Beat. I donāt want to deal with this anymore. Beat. I have to. Beat. I have to do itā¦
Mayu pulls me down, placing her mouth near my ear. I can feel her warm breath tickle my neck. āKill me.ā She whispers.
My mind goes blank at her words, and I start pressing down onto her neck, cutting off any oxygen. The Priests start banging their staffs onto the rocky floor, making a cacophony of sounds. They get what they want., and I can sense their happiness.
āDamn them, damn all of them…andā¦ā
Iām looking down at Mayu and I see her smile slightly, but it barely registers. My mind doesnāt see it. I see when we were kids.
āMio! Wait up! Donāt leave me behind! Wait forā¦Ahhh!!ā Her sentence cuts off as she falls down, tumbling down the steep slop and hitting the bottom, forever damaging her leg. The guilt I felt for not listening. Itās my fault, I have to take care of my sisterā¦butā¦
āTwo chosen Children.ā
Iām so tired of it, Iām so tired of having to take care of her all the time, sheās the older sibling, not me, even though by this villageās standards Iām the older, but in modern times she is. She should take care of me, she shouldnāt be making me do this. I donāt want to live with the responsibility anymore. I have toā¦
Then words hit me, a combination of Saeās and Mayuās voices.
āWhy didnāt you kill me back then, to feel your hands wrapped around my neck, so warm and alive. Why, I wanted to become one with you so badly, to be one forever as a Butterfly. Why didnāt you make me into a Butterfly. Whyā¦whyā¦why?ā
āShall be carried to Heaven.ā
My head swims with images, how Sae got caught when her and her sister tried to escape, how she saw Itsuki hang himself, how the Priests and her own father take her down to the Abyss and hang her before throwing her in and then all the hell that erupted because it didnāt appease it.
Sae and the Kusabi killing all the villagers, hearing Sae laugh maniacally and her kimono becomes splattered with the blood of her victims. All the people who have accidentally wondered into this village, with the inhabitants hoping they would be the ones to stop the Repentance, they never had their prayers received. But nowā¦
āOn the Wings of a Butterfly.ā
My mind snaps back and I get a full view of Mayuās face. Sheās still, her face faintly puffy and red with purple circles under her eyes and her lips are a whitish blue, yet she seems so peaceful, she still has that small smile on her face. She isnāt breathing, I slowly take my hands away, revealing the glowing red mark on her neck in the form of a butterfly, as the Mourners come on either side and grab onto her wrists and ankles.
āWhat have I done?ā
I scramble off of Mayuās body and the Mourners haul her up and position themselves in front of the Abyss. With unseeing eyes, they throw her body into the Abyss.
I canāt focus on anything, nothing. Iām alone, all alone. I start shaking fiercely, my face twisting in pain as I grip my head, trying to force the thoughts out, thoughts of what Iāve just done.
āIāve killed herā¦ā
I run over to the Abyss, Itsukiās voice flashing through my mind telling me not to look in. I reach the edge, and just before I look down a little bright red light comes floating out. It gets closer. Itās a butterfly, a Crimson Butterfly.
āMayu?ā
The Butterfly stops slightly at eye level, and I hear Mayuās voice. āThank you.ā Then she starts flying up, more Butterflies come pouring out of the Abyss, the Butterflies of the Sacrificed twins, rising out through the opening at the top of the cave. I turn on my heel and run, up the passageway, and through the Kurosawa house, heading to Misono Hill.
I run after Mayu, chasing her Butterfly. I stumble and fall, scraping my knees and hands, but I barely notice the pain. Butterflies are surrounded me, I can see all the spirits gathering in the streets as I run, watching as the Butterflies lift the Repentance from their existence. I see Itsuki, Mutsuki and Chitose on the Heaven Bridge, finally together again. I run through All Godās, and finally getting to Misono Hill.
āIām sorry, Iām so sorry.ā I cry after her, even though I canāt which Butterfly she is anymore. āIām so sorry!ā
Iām heading in the direction of the barrier, it should be lifted now. I should be leaving with Mayu, why arenāt I. āSo sorry.ā
I stop, still calling for her, when a Butterfly turns and flies down to me. āMayu?ā I reach out my hand towards her, and her wings gently brush against my fingertips. Then she turns with the others and leaves. That is the good-bye I get. Iāll never see my sister again.
I fall to my knees and cry like a lost child as the sun comes and breaks through the eternal night of All Godās Village.
***
The water is perfect as I sit silently on the bench staring blankly at the sunset. Its sparkles off the water, looking beautiful as the rays gently dance on the surface. Birds are flying overhead, whistling their gentle tune. The air is warm, and there is a gentle breeze and it blows my hair lazily. People are walking by, jogging, walking their dogs and fishing. A perfect afternoon.
Iām not really seeing any of it though. Mayu, lying cold and still is all I see now, when I eat, when I sleep. Every night I dream of her, every night I see my sins, I see my sister dying by my own hands, what I didnāt realize then but I do now, is that I was smiling throughout the whole time I was killing her.
I lift my hand to my neck, its still sore. My mark can never be hidden, Uncle Kei speculates what it is, but does really know. He will never understand, no one will. I hope he never find out about All Godās through his research.
The mark of the Butterfly is placed on both twins, the sign of the Sacrificed, and the sign of the Remaining, a reminder to all of the Hell they put us throughā¦and the heartbreak.
āTogetherā¦Foreverā¦ā
*Thank you all for reading and I plan to write more of these on how I would view what the characters are thinking and all that, I think I will write the Nightmare ending for this next and work with the others. I hope you guys enjoyed, rate & comment please.*