Code Vein: Lost In The Shadows

Dried Up Trenches

"He's always like this, doing everything on his own, not letting anyone help him." Yakumo clenched his fists.

He knew that getting angry wouldn't help with the current situation, but not being able to do anything for his close friend was frustrating, and the worst of all is that he is a especial revenant, leaving them with no choice but to stand back; seeing him risk his life.

"You guys are fighting again," the lifeless voice of a man attracted the attention of the two revenants: "Don't fight, I made this decision by myself so, don't blame Louis."

"That was never my intention." Yakumo confessed, feeling the tension in the air.

"I'm grateful for everything you two done for me, but it's time to part ways, before it becomes more painful for you two." He forced himself to smile, he didn't want to show his sadness, or how bad his condition was.

Bringing his friends more sorrow was something he didn't want to, he wouldn't be able to bear seeing them cry, that's why he wants to leave the base and die in a far away place.

"I won't let you leave, we are together in this to the end." Louis was firm with his words, not letting his comrade refute him.

"What am I going to do with you? it seems I can't never bring myself to refuse you." Sadness painted his face like a monotone canvas, the colors of life were not longer visible in his life, everything was black and white.

Louis could notice that his comrade lost the will of living, his beautiful blue eyes were much less vibrant than they should have been, they were lifeless like those of a doll. Seeing him in such a poor state broke his heart, with each day that goes by, Louis guilt grew bigger. This guilt was etched deep inside his heart, and he blamed himself every time he saw Rathion suffer.

Yakumo told Louis a million times, 'it's not your fault', however, his comrade refused to listen to him. He blamed himself over and over again, like he was trying to bury his guilt more deeply.

This was the guilt the current Louis forgot; the painful feeling that Rathion didn't want him to remember, because his suffering was not caused by him. Rathion's condition was a mystery, but maybe when he awakened as a Revenant something went wrong, leading him to suffer after effects.

The blood beads could quench his thirst, however, it was not enough. Rathion was turning into one of the lost, slowly but surely. The blue marks on his left eye were the proof, those marks that never disappeared no matter how many blood Rathion consumed.

The worst of all was that his condition worsened every time he used his blood to bring back to life the dried Bloodsprings, and seeing the vestiges memories. There was no one else to take his place so, he continued risking his life in order to find out the truth.

...

After seeing his own memories, Louis remembered a few things about the man named Rathion. Not everything was back, there was still a lot of things that Louis couldn't remember, specially the day of Rathion's death.

He was changing into one of the lost, but did he really became a lost? Maybe Yakumo or Louis killed him before that happened, and if someone turned back the time, Rathion is somewhere out there.

"Nobody would want to relive that," Louis turned his back on them: "At that time I was desperate, I researched without resting any single day, just to gain nothing."

Louis did everything in his hands to find something that could have helped Rathion, but no matter how much he researched, he never found anything useful. Forgetting those memories was a way to escape his frailty, and the guilt that was drowning him everyday.