Fatal Frame Parthenon Claim, 10/10

[estinose]

Title: Affected by Evil
Prompt: Ideas
Muse: Hinasaki Mafuyu
Fandom: Fatal Frame
Length: 994
Summary: Mafuyu suspects that his plans have a long way to go.
Disclaimer: Mafuyu, Kirie, Miku, and everyone else belong to Tecmo.
Notes: Part 10 of a Fatal Frame AU.


"My head," the revived priest muttered as he looked at the two of them in bewilderment, his head floating a few inches above his neck. "My head."

"I'm sorry," Mafuyu said, reaching out. There wasn't much he could do for the priest, who at least wasn't doing anything other than trying to push his head back to his neck. He couldn't imagine how much pain the man was in, and winced at the thought that it was his sister's idea to do this.

Miku looked at the priest with a mix of pity and satisfaction, and Kirie, had she not been going off to deal with some intruders, would have been cackling madly at the priest's pain.

Mafuyu had to admit that he didn't feel much pity for the man, but Kirie's choice was plain cruel. It turned out she enjoyed pain far more than having people around her, at least people who weren't him and Miku.

And how long would it be before he and Miku fell prey to that?

"Let's go out to the corridor," Mafuyu suggested. "Maybe you'll feel better."

The priest looked at him doubtfully, but didn't resist. Mafuyu led him up the hallway to the chamber where Kirie had been executed, deciding that it was the best place to talk.

"You're dead," the priest said, staring at him. "We killed you ourselves." He let go of his head and stopped trying to squish it down. "You made Kirie want to stay in this world."

"Actually, you killed a past me," Mafuyu said, figuring it would be easier to explain that way. "And then I was reborn to come back to her." He sighed. "We're trying to purify her so that the Malice disappears - will you help?"

Kirie had made sure he'd had the symbol without having to fight this man for it. Miku evidently hadn't been so lucky. He wondered if that was why Miku was corrupting far faster than he was.

And why he had to move as fast as he could to save his sister. The sooner they could fix Kirie, the sooner they could move on. All of them.

"Another sacrifice - one that isn't attached to this world." The priest's head was nodding in satisfaction. "One that isn't tainted by love."

Mafuyu was going to point out to him that there would be no more sacrifices, but then again, who would close the hellgate once all of them left. "That won't be our concern. We'll be gone to the afterlife."

"We should educate the next generation of priests." The man was off in his own world, and Mafuyu wondered if this was a wise idea.

"They can figure it out themselves." Maybe the hellgate would close and none of this would be a worry. "Our duty is to make sure Kirie gets purified and goes on so that she stops spreading the Malice."

"Very well," the priest said, looking at the platform where Kirie had died. "What do you need me and my fellow priests to do?"

"There's only one of you right now," Mafuyu pointed out, wondering how he was supposed to organize a rebellion under Kirie's nose with what he had. "And the only reason she brought you back was to torment you."

"Then you should get her to awaken others. There is another that would be sympathetic." The priest folded his hands. "It must be done, even if it causes pain…."

Words from someone who had helped tear an innocent maiden apart in this very room. Mafuyu wanted, for a moment, to tear him apart, but stopped himself. "Yes." He looked over at the man, hoping that he'd leave so that he didn't have to deal with him. "Go to your grave, until you're needed."

The priest bowed, and floated upwards.

Mafuyu returned to the room. "Big brother?" Miku asked, looking at him. "What did you do?"

"He was causing you pain," he said. Right at the moment, he wasn't sure if he could trust her. "I sent him back to haunt near his grave."

"You couldn't have had him haunt the Moon Shrine?" Miku asked.

He shrugged. "I didn't think about that…." He didn't want to deal with the priest more than he had to.

Kirie appeared back in the room, smiling in satisfaction. "There are no more intruders! I feel like celebrating. What should we do?"

Miku looked deep in thought, and then smiled. "We could wake up more priests!"

"As long as it makes you happy, Kirie," Mafuyu added. "Or one of the children…." He didn't want to tip his hand. He didn't want to give anybody else over to the horror that was Kirie.

"What do you want, Mafuyu?" Kirie asked, walking up to him and running her hands over his chest. She looked up at him, smiling. "What would make you the most happy? Who should I wake up for you?"

"I can't decide whether I want a family, one of the kids, or to torment someone for what they did to you," Mafuyu said. It covered things well. "When we were going through the passageway, that priest and I, he was talking and I thought of how much pain he'd caused us."

The Malice writhed, and Kirie laughed. "You're taking longer than Miku, but you're starting to see things as they should be. Come, Mafuyu. Let's pick out a priest to torment!"

"And this time, can we have him stay in the Moon Shrine?" Miku asked.

"If it causes him pain, yes," Kirie said cheerfully. "Come, Mafuyu, your choice."

"The one in the garden next to the Buddha room," Mafuyu said, finally. He hoped that he guessed right, that it was the one the other priest had in mind.

They had a long way to go before they could stop Kirie. She would be stopped, Mafuyu was sure of it. But in the meantime, there were things to be done.

It was only the beginning.