When Elves Sing Pt1

Elfen Lied-fanfic. Set after the end of the series. What became of Lucy and the others at Kaede House after the events in the series? For that matter, what will happen to the diclonius race?
Part one out of three, as the story is now finally finished.
(Lucy/Aiko, Nana/Mayu)

Read When Elves Sing Pt1

Disclaimer: I actually don’t know who all owns the rights to Elfen Lied, but if anyone thought it might be me... they haven’t been paying much attention. XP

I’ve never read the manga, only watched the anime, so this is based on the anime and a little something from the Wikipedia page I read when looking for the name of a certain character. Mostly though I am, as always, just making stuff up as I want.
This is set after the end of the anime, and among the f/f there is some mention of Kohta/Yuka as well.





When Elves Sing
-----------------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson






Nearly two years had passed since the painful and blood-ridden events that had restored Kohta’s memory, cost Nana a father, and ultimately lost the young family living at Kaede House one member. The peace that ensconced itself after all the blood washed away was hard to believe in for all of them at first, but it had held.

On special occasions they still set the table for one extra person, their own way to honour and remember the one that was lost to them, and a way to keep the hope that somewhere out there Nyu, or Lucy, was still alive.

Two years almost to the day since the horror a familiar figure stood at the door of Kaede House.

-----------------------------

Kohta stared at the woman in front of him for a good long while without speaking, not quite comprehending what he was seeing. She in turn remained still, unspeaking, merely patiently giving him the time he needed, knowing full well the change that had come over her since he had seen her last.

In the end it was not Kohta that spoke, but Yuka, prompted to check for herself what was going on when he did not return to dinner.

“NYU-CHAN!” The brunette cried with piercing loudness, instantly sparking reactions from inside the house as well, and she threw herself at the somewhat taller visitor. “Nyu-chan! Nyu-chan, it’s you! You’re home!”

The black-clad woman in the doorway was slow to return the exuberant hug, but when she did it was warmly, with a somewhat friendly and perhaps even slightly affectionate smile playing at her lips. Kohta’s eyes narrowed with a small touch of alarm.

“No Yuka, that’s not Nyu-chan.” He cautioned, reaching out as if he thought to pull the now crying woman away. The wry look directed his way stopped him, and then the two younger girls joined them.

“Nyu-san!” Mayu cried out and joined the hug briefly before she and Yuka stepped back, releasing their hostage. Nana was far more cautious in her approach.

“Lucy-san?”

Upon hearing the name the others grew still, taking a closer look at the tall and slender figure in the doorway. Clad all in black, in a very businesslike suit, overcoat and with a black hat now dangling from one hand, the person in front of them was indeed not very reminiscent of the child-like being they had called Nyu. The wistful smile on her lips, a smile clearly given by one for whom there had been precious little in life to smile about, supported Nana’s choice of names as well.

“Yes, Nana.” The one called Lucy stepped forward, not attempting to hug or even touch the younger pink-haired girl, but still close enough and relaxed enough that it suggested friendly intentions. “How has life treated you?” Dark pink eyes swept from face to face. “Nana. Mayu. Yuka.” A brief pause. “Kohta.”

It was a strange reunion, both tense and happy at the same time. Although they were all happy to see their friend alive and well, the women of the Kaede House were at something of a loss at what to do when Kohta was so obviously torn. Finally Yuka settled it by simply inviting Lucy in for dinner.

Sitting at her given spot, quietly eating from the familiar bowl with a small but undeniably happy smile on her face it was easier to look at Lucy and see their friend returned. Nana, supported by Mayu, chatted on cheerfully about their lives in the two years that Lucy had been absent, and the pink-haired woman listened attentively until the girls wound down.

“Congratulations.” This was directed at Yuka with a look towards her hands and the engagement ring resting on one finger. The brunette jumped slightly in response, unsure what to say and feeling strangely guilty for some reason. Lucy looked amused at this. “I’m glad Kohta knew what was good for him and finally proposed.”

Seeing the expressions of varying degrees of disbelief and surprise around her, Lucy took a last sip of tea before explaining herself.

“I will always love you. Always.” She faced Kohta’s torn expression with an almost stern one of her own. “But it was never like that. It never could be... that kind of love.” Her serious honesty had Yuka nodding slightly even before realisation dawned with a relieved glow in her eyes. “The bond between Kohta and I is... different.”

Lucy looked away, not quite able to hide the pained and haunted expression in her eyes. “And our bond was washed black with my unforgivable sins long ago.”

When it seemed the room would fall into pained silence after Lucy’s statement Mayu took it upon herself not to let it. “Lucy-san? If you don’t mind my asking, but why are your horns black now?”

“Ah, these?” Lucy touched her now considerably smaller and almost completely black horns absently. “I don’t know if you were told, but I lost both my old horns in battle two years ago. Or I should say that they were damaged, since I did not lose them entirely.” Although ostensibly responding to Mayu Lucy directed the rest to Nana. “I lost the use of my vectors when my last horn was damaged, but they began growing back in very quickly. As you can see my new horns are black and not yet to full size, but with them my vectors have both returned and grown in strength and number.”

“It appears as if for me it was necessary to shed the horns of my childhood in order to begin life as an adult. Likely they would have fallen off by themselves when the time was right, though now they have grown in a bit sooner than they probably would have.” Lucy leaned forward somewhat. “That is part of why I am here; I need to speak to you privately, Nana. There are things that must be done, for the future of our kind as well as for your own personal future.”

Seeing the cautious looks on the humans present Lucy actually looked sheepish for a moment. “No, I mean, for a future of peaceful coexistence, for the survival of my kind alongside humanity.” Lucy knew only too well what words like these sounded like coming from her, the diclonius queen that had walked through her life knee-deep in the blood of humans that crossed her path. “I want to prevent further bloodshed and madness, and I don’t want any diclonius child to have to grow up knowing such pain and suffering as we did.”

“I see.” Kohta said after a while, frowning slightly. “I won’t ask you what your plans entail, just that you do not involve Nana or anyone else from this family into anything dangerous or violent.”

Sighing, Lucy shook her head. “It is anything but, and besides that it has to do with Nana’s own health.” Mayu looked extremely worried at that, grasping one of Nana’s prosthetic arms into both of hers a touch protectively. “You don’t need to worry, it is just that I need to talk to Nana privately about it.”

“Very well.” Kohta managed a softer expression. “What have you been up to for two years, Ny- er, Lucy? Did they stop chasing you?”

“Have you been eating properly?” Yuka added with concern and a surprisingly maternal air. “You look so thin.”

Lucy smiled briefly in appreciation at Yuka, but as she spoke it was in response to Kohta and her expression grew very serious. “I will not tell you the details, as my survival and the following months were bloody and filled with death, and you should not have to listen to that.”

“As I made my way away from here I was injured and had lost both horns and my vectors. I knew I was easy prey for the people that were after me and that I had to lay low, however I hadn’t counted on that bastard Kurama finding a conscience just before he died. It turns out that he defected, and knowing apparently that he would not leave the battle alive, he left me things.”

“Information. Weapons. Resources. He had even secured a hiding place for me, everything I needed to start taking the organisation and its sick and twisted leader, Kakuzawa, out. I even ended up with an inside source.”

“I don’t think he intended for me to do it the way I did. I made my way onto the island and into the inner sanctum, and told the old man that I knew of his plans and agreed to them. Whether I was convincing or whether he was already going that delusional from the genetic degradation he was undergoing I could not say, but he was nevertheless convinced that I had accepted to play the part of Eve to his Adam for the creation and rule of a new race that would replace all of humanity.”

The horrified gasps of the women in the room made Lucy stop to reassure them. “No, it wasn’t... the twisted old fool was easily seventy years old and both impotent and sterile since long ago.” She scoffed in dark amusement. “What he wanted was essentially my genes for his breeding facility, not realizing that his own had become unusable decades ago, so it was not difficult to avoid being molested by him.”

“He didn’t know that we diclonius are an all-female species, I take it? That we can only... mate... with other females?” Nana asked quietly, causing Mayu to blush.

“He thought that because he, through some accidental mutation or throwback gene to a discarded path of evolution, had horn-like protrusions on his head it made him a diclonius, and that as the only known male in a species of all females he would be both father, king and god to all.” Lucy shook her head. “The diseases of his faltering mutated body was eating his mind long before I came along. That he was allowed to gain such power of destruction and torment over our kind for so long is the true crime.”

“As it were he had killed off or sacrificed nearly all of the scientists in his employ, leaving a woman whose loyalty I bought for the price of regular showers, naps and a promise of not allowing him to kill her to be promoted to lead scientist. The organization as a whole was under my control in six months after I pretended to join Kakuzawa, as was his entire fortune.”

“I had him and a number of people genuinely dedicated to the extinction of the diclonius in the organization put down and assumed power myself about a year ago.” There was a touch of cruel darkness in her eyes as she told them, without even a glimmer of remorse. It made the others shiver to see, but at the same time there was a certain sense of inevitability to it all.

“Under the name of Lucy Blackhorn I have changed the purpose of the organization, for the survival and integration of diclonius children. After a while I was contacted by organizations and individuals outside of Japan that have interests in seeing the diclonius race prosper, and in joint efforts we have grown powerful.”

She smiled at them all, the darkness quickly evaporating. “The birth-rate has gone up tremendously just in this past year. As of now parents more often than not choose to abandon their diclonius children, which leads to them being left with us, but this will change as more and more are born. By the time these little ones will be old enough to go to school or interact with society there will be diclonius’ schools and neighbourhoods, and in a generation the sight of pink-haired children running around will be a common sight to everyone.”

“And in a number of generations...” Nana added slowly, thinking hard. “there will be no humans left, isn’t that true?”

The others gasped and stared at Lucy.

“It is evolution.” Lucy said gently, wincing at the outraged look on Kohta’s face. “If we manage to coexist in peace and stop trying to kill one another it will take longer, but yes, with the rate by which the diclonius gene appears to spread it is a matter of generations before there are no more so-called ‘humans’, simply because there are no more births that are not diclonius. It is not because of something I or any other diclonius have done, even if I can speed up the process a lot, but rather it is the way humanity is meant to evolve now.”

She allowed the silence to linger for a while before sighing and turning towards Yuka and Kohta.

“Yuka, you and Kohta will be married soon, right?” Yuka blushed slightly but nodded. “I’m sure the two of you will want to have children. If you were to have a baby that is born with pink hair and horns, what would you do? Would you not want her because she is not the same as you? Or would the fact that she comes from you be enough for you to love her anyway?”

“W-what are you saying, Nyu-chan?” Yuka’s eyes started filling up with tears as she was becoming increasingly upset. “How can you even ask that? Of course I would!”

Ignoring the tear that slid down her cheek Yuka reached out and took Kohta’s hand in a firm hold. “Of course we would love a child like that!”

“You are a good person, Yuka. And you will be a good mother.” Lucy’s warmly spoken praise was accompanied by enthusiastic nods and smiles from Mayu and Nana, but Kohta continued to look troubled.

“What are you really saying, Lucy?” He asked, ignoring the question that had in part also been directed at him. “Is there something you have to tell us before Yuka and I have children?”

The mood in the room grew more sombre again. Lucy hesitated but eventually had to reply.

“You are both carriers of the diclonius gene. I can’t say for certain how you came to have it, Yuka, but Kohta has been a carrier since our first meeting as children.”

“So that means... what?” Yuka felt like it had been one stressful thing after another this dinner, but having a diclonius child truly did not seem as such a serious thing as Kohta and Lucy was making it out to be. “That we might have a diclonius baby?”

“It means that whether together or with other people, you and Kohta both can only have diclonius children.” Lucy’s tone was apologetic, even though the woman she was speaking to seemed a lot less upset than earlier. “Neither of you can ever have a human child. I’m sorry.”

Facing Nana Yuka looked closer at slightly purple-tinted pink hair, dark pink eyes and pale horns, and then smiled affectionately at the friendly and pretty girl that was sheepishly smiling back. “I see no reason for you to be sorry for that. That just means that I will love and protect my children twice as much, to make up for the people out there that won’t understand how special they are.”

It took but a heartbeat or two, then Yuka found herself fiercely hugged by Mayu and Nana. She hugged them and patted them affectionately, and as she looked up again Lucy was standing there leaning towards her. She was a little surprised at the gentleness by which the tall pink-haired woman placed a kiss on her forehead.

“You truly are a good woman.” Lucy murmured, looking at Yuka with an expression that was at once warm, grateful and strangely sad. After a moment she nodded slightly and stepped back, catching Nana’s eyes as she did so.

“I won’t be staying much longer, so if you don’t mind I would like to speak to Nana for a moment.”

-----------------------------

Standing underneath a small cherry tree in the seldom used inner garden of Kaede House Lucy wondered idly if the two young women currently there with her were even remotely aware of how their actions regarding one another could be construed.

When Lucy had asked Nana to come with her to speak to her privately, Mayu had clung to Nana’s arm again and been so clearly unwilling to part that it had startled Lucy somewhat. When Nana had requested that Mayu could join them, not even questioning why the other girl would want to, Lucy had in mild curiosity begun to ask them if they were dating. A quick warning shake of the head from Yuka had stopped her in time, and she had just agreed to let the girl accompany them.

This changed things a bit though, as there were a few things Lucy was not willing to go into with Mayu present, no, with any human present, no matter who or how loved. She had not lied when she told Kohta and the others that the rapidly increasing births of diclonius babies was evolution’s work and not something she or anyone else was responsible for, but she had also neglected to tell them that she had and would continue to actively spread the diclonius genome to some degree still. It was a part of the agreement with the others, and also it helped keep the murderous instincts at bay.

“I am only going to ask this once, and then I will not mention it again. Nana, are you sure you would not rather we speak privately, just the two of us?”

“Of course!” Nana looked slightly offended at the question. “I have no secrets from Mayu. I trust her with anything.”

Lucy nodded, it was about what she had expected. She hoped Nana would not come to regret that trust in a human later, but ultimately that was Nana’s own choice. At least Mayu was one of the better humans Lucy had encountered.

“To start with I have to tell you that Kakuzawa’s scientists were wrong when they made the assumption that there was only one ‘Queen carrier’ at any one time. Although we are very few and, with one exception, geographically far between, there are a small group of us scattered across the world.” She let her eyes idly follow the white trail of a faraway aircraft as it crossed the blue expanse above. “As far as anyone knows I have been the queen of this part of the world since birth, but when I lost my horns and my vectors in battle it meant that for a short while I wasn’t, and another diclonius came to be a queen carrier as well.”

“You must have noticed it by now, Nana.” Lucy tried to be as gentle as she could, knowing it would be a shock to the younger girl. “You have grown stronger, gained abilities you did not have before, and the urge must have been awakening within you.”

“The murderous urge we all carry towards humanity would have become stronger, but there would also be a new urge that you can’t put a name to.” Nana’s squirming and the beginnings of a blush confirmed Lucy’s words. “You will have the increasing need to find a mate, but as strong as that is the urge to... spread our genetic heritage will be the hardest to resist.”

It was strangely endearing to see, the fierce blush on Nana’s face and how she made sure to look in just about any direction but Mayu’s, and how Mayu was blushing slightly while trying to catch Nana’s eye. Perhaps the part of finding a mate was already covered for Nana.

“You may not be consciously aware of it yet, but you have been using your vectors to spread the diclonius genome for a while now already. Likely it started with those that are close to you, and now any human that spend a moment in your vicinity is likely to be changed.”

The colour drained away from Nana’s face as if it had never been, replaced by a tightness and a dawning look of horror.

“D-do you m-mean...” Nana struggled to ask. “Yuka? Mayu?”

“I meant it when I said that I cannot tell how Yuka became a carrier.”

“But Mayu?” Nana choked out, eyes tearing up and threatening to overflow. “I’ve hurt Mayu. That was me.”

“No, you haven’t hurt me.” Seeing where this was heading Mayu hugged Nana, firmly, while briefly throwing a dark look at Lucy. “I’m not hurt, and you know I will never have children anyway.”

“Not that, um, I wouldn’t love a baby that looked like you, Nana.” Mayu elaborated with an increasing blush, not quite able to meet Nana’s eyes. “I just won’t... ever... with a man...”

Humans could truly be such a hateful breed, Lucy considered. The few good and innocent children born to their kind were always preyed upon it seemed... perhaps there was something they could do for the protection of children like Mayu as well? It would not be now, what resources they had must go to diclonius children and to carving a place for them all in society without death and bloodshed, but perhaps someday that could be an extension of their work. Shaking off that thought Lucy added a bit of information that perhaps the young dark-haired girl would find of use.

“As a queen carrier Nana can make you pregnant without the involvement of a male, if that is your wish. Ordinary diclonius’ require medical assistance to reproduce directly with someone that is not diclonius herself, but for a queen it is only a matter of concentration and will.”

“Ah, oh, er, I... um...” Mayu stammered weakly in response, awkwardly letting go of Nana as she fidgeted, none of them realizing that they were both blushing furiously and looking away from the other. “I-I see.”

“How?” Nana asked quietly, hanging her head so her bangs hid her eyes. “How do I do things like that? How do I stop myself from changing people by accident?”

“I will teach you.” Lucy could not help but think that this blushing girl was far more the future of their kind than she herself was, and she found comfort in that thought. “You will come with me to our base of operations, and I will teach you all you need to know. I had hoped that you might also be interested in how the organization works right now, and what plans I have for our kind for the future, perhaps even enough so that you might wish to participate.”

“Me? How?”

“The little ones that are in our care now, and all those children that will be born from now on... they will need people to care for them, teachers, guides... I can teach them how to control their abilities and how to battle their anger, but I cannot teach them gentleness. I cannot teach them to care for mankind.” For once Lucy’s face was as easy to read as it had been when she was Nyu, and it spoke of utter honesty. “You can.”

“You are the only diclonius I know in this country that successfully integrated in human society to whatever extent, and that has managed to live with humans for any longer period of time yet continues to love and care for them. That is what the little ones need to learn; you are the role model they need to look up to.” The sadness in Lucy was palpable. “Not a killer like myself.”

She stepped closer to Nana and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“That is the second reason why I hope you will come back with me, to learn of my plans and decide for yourself if you wish to have a part in them. The third reason is purely selfish on my part, although I hope you will agree that it is to your advantage.” If Nana was uncomfortable having Lucy that close at least she managed to hide it well, Lucy thought idly before trying her best to convey the seriousness of what she was going to say.

“Come with me back to the base, Nana... there is a treatment now, a procedure which can give you back the limbs I took from you.” Understandably the only reaction to Lucy’s words was stunned silence. “Our scientists can explain it in detail for you, for now I can only tell you that it is a lengthy process, that surgery and enhanced cellular growth is involved, but the end result would be arms and legs that are flesh and blood. Your flesh and blood, Nana.”

“It would take six to eight months at the very least, but if all goes as planned you will be able to return here on your own two feet in less than a year.”

There was more she had to tell her, but all things considered this would do for now. Lucy plucked a hot-pink cellphone out of the inside pocket of her jacket and handed it to Nana. “Here. Give it all the thought you need, then contact me whatever your choice might be.”

She spared a kind look upon both girls, then turned and walked away.

-----------------------------

Lucy calmly walked through the house towards the front door without stopping, and it was pure chance that Kohta caught sight of her as she was preparing to step out. Although as ever the interactions between them were awkward at best, he still wanted to exchange a few words before she left.

She nodded slightly at him as he stepped up beside her. “Give Yuka my thanks for the meal, and my gratitude for her acceptance. If either of you need to contact me Nana has my number. Don’t hesitate to call if you should need me.”

He nodded. “Will you be returning to... was it an island you mentioned?”

“Yes it is, but no.” There was a smile playing on her lips as she stopped for a moment and turned towards him. “Kohta, he lied to me.”

“All those years ago, the bastard lied to me.” In contrast to her words, her voice and the expression on her face was uncharacteristically happy rather than upset. “She didn’t die back then. He lied.”

“She is alive, and she is out there.”

Stepping out through the outer gates she turned around to face him for just a moment, the sunlight filtering down through the trees directly on her face, lighting up the wide smile she wore. For a moment Kohta with a painful pang to his chest saw not the woman in front of him but the girl, the child that in innocent joy had loved the sight of elephants and giraffes. But this was no child, and the warm and solid conviction in her voice as she spoke one last time over her shoulder as she left made this quite clear.

“And I will find her.”