Fragmentary Record - Nanaya Shiki
The tale of Nanaya Shiki begins with the Nanaya Clan of demon hunters, or rather with their extermination. Their clan had a long-standing relationship with the Tohno, wherein those of the Tohno who fell to their [Inversion Impulse] and became Oni would be reported to and eliminated by the Nanaya.
But, the truth is, even though it was necessary for their preservation in the modern world, the Tohno inevitably began to hate and fear the Nanaya. It was for such a reason that Kishima Kouma, a natural-born Oni, was sent upon the Nanaya and slaughtered them all to the last man, sparing only Nanaya Shiki. The reason for this… was not due to kindness on the part of the Tohno patriarch. In short, Tohno Makihisa spared Nanaya Shiki for only one reason - that the boy had the same name as his son, and thus the idea of keeping the boy amused him.
***
"Ah, to be clear, the Oni of Earth are pretty different from the Oni in Lugunica, right?" Natsuki Subaru asks.
"That's correct. From what I have observed of them through your records, the Demi-humans of that other world are far more 'human' in general than their equivalents on Earth. They may have biological differences, but their souls are of the same quality and category," I answer, shrugging and shaking my head. "While the exposure of Rem's horn may corrode her reason, it does not alter her soul the way a similar exertion by the mixed-bloods of Earth might."
"Hmmm…" Rem hums. "So there are Oni here… I guess it makes sense why Subaru knew sayings about us, then."
"...Well, I'm one of them, apparently," Arima Miyako mumbles, and Rem glances towards her, and then at Natsuki Subaru, a look of defeat crossing her face for a moment. "But, anyway! Onii-chan! You're saying Panda-sensei is Onii-chan's adopted brother, or something like that?"
***
The scenario is far more complicated than Arima Miyako has supposed. After all, the next chapter of our story… is that, at a young age, around ten years old, Tohno SHIKI fell prey to his [Inversion Impulse]. He attacked Tohno Akiha, his sister, and when Nanaya Shiki intervened to defend her, he was killed. With the bloodline power of [Plunder], Nanaya Shiki's life was stolen directly from his body, and absorbed by Tohno SHIKI.
In response to this, Tohno Makihisa would do his duty, as the head of the Tohno family, and kill his own son - but, using Shiki's life, SHIKI was able to revive himself, and after that revival he regained some degree of sanity. Faced by this, a figment of hope, Tohno Makihisa was unable to finish his son off - and so, instead, he would seal him away for eight years.
-But, I can see you making assumptions! Listen to my words, Arima Miyako! I said that he was 'sealed' away, not 'sent' away! Tohno SHIKI's tale ends here - this is the story of Nanaya Shiki!
In response to the sacrifice of her childhood friend, her beloved 'brother' - Tohno Akiha acted! As her blood brother had stolen Nanaya Shiki's life - by the same type of power, Tohno Akiha shared half of her own life with Nanaya Shiki, reviving him!
Nanaya Shiki would awaken in a hospital, changed forever. He could see things now, the lines that would 'kill' anything if he but simply traced them. His proximity to death, his state of being half-dead, had awakened the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception]. But, Nanaya Shiki would not hold them for long. Tohno Makihisa had made a plan, to save face, and hide his son's madness from the world.
Tohno Makihisa 'killed' Nanaya Shiki that day, altering all his memories with hypnosis and making him to be Tohno Shiki. Nanaya Shiki receded into nothingness, becoming little more than a dormant personality, only awakened once in a blue moon when there was something that needed to be done that Tohno Shiki could not handle.
-For example, upon seeing his other self's inability to bond with his new sister, Nanaya donned a panda costume, and met the girl in a park, teaching her the basics of the Nanaya assassination techniques, while calling it Bajiquan.
In other words, and to make things clear: Nanaya Shiki is a split personality, the suppressed memories of the same Tohno Shiki who Arima Miyako knew as her brother!
***
Silence follows my declaration for a moment, all eyes shifting towards Arima Miyako, whose eyes are downcast, her fists clenched tightly. I brace myself for her inevitable outburst, and I don't have to wait long.
"Th-that's not true! Onii-chan isn't like that! He's not!" She shouts, shaking her head. "He's not some… weird pervert!"
"Micchan…" Natsuki Subaru starts to offer her comfort, but I won't wait for him. There's no point in hiding the truth, just as there's no point to any of their color commentary thus far.
Pausing only long enough to be sure that she's done yelling, I jump straight to the conclusion of his records.
***
Indeed, this Nanaya Shiki is very little like the authentic one. That one is, ultimately, the remnant of a young boy who has no particular wish other than for his other self's happiness. Although he has the murderous instincts of a demon hunter, they are nothing like those of, for example, the Ryougi. Even if Nanaya Shiki were to emerge from Tohno Shiki's subconscious in his day-to-day life, he would not do much different; he would spend time with the people Tohno Shiki loves in quiet contentment, and when his time was done he would pass the reigns back to his other self.
Who, then, is this Figment who has appeared within the confines of TATARI? I will answer directly: the Nanaya Shiki we have encountered is none other than Tohno Shiki's own fear of himself!
During certain events which took place in Souya six years ago, which we have no time to cover here - Tohno Shiki became aware of his demon hunter heritage, became aware of his impulse to kill - and feared it! It is from this fear, that the Figment we have met was born! But, Arima Miyako, do not look so excited - it is not that Tohno Shiki is present in the TATARI now. Rather, this Nanaya was inherited, a leftover rumor that Wallachia called forth from the dregs of the simulated TATARI within [Quasar]. In that simulated world, Tohno Shiki was instrumental in his defeat, and said defeat took place not long after the mess of six years ago.
But, this raises further worries! If the dregs of the simulated TATARI are at his disposal, we may have foes yet unseen. At the very least, I would not discount [Chaos] or the [Serpent of Akasha] from among the trials we will face in the Watchtower - [Depletion Garden], on the other hand, is probably too troublesome for him to call up. As for the oni version of Tohno Akiha and the vampiric version of Sion Eltnam Atlasia, my understanding is that Xiang Yu has already 'spawn-killed' them, so to speak.
***
"Wait, so are the trials just gonna be one big boss rush this time?" Natsuki Subaru asks. "I was kind of looking forward to forcing someone else to try to answer the first one."
"Um, I'm sort of lost, but if Onii-chan was afraid about Panda-sensei, does that mean… some part of that was true?" Arima Miyako asks, grimacing. "But… that can't be right, so-!"
"Miyako-chan, don't worry," says Rem. "If your brother was scared of his bad instincts, that means he's a good person."
"Mhm, mhm! Master's always resisting his instincts to push me down, and that's part of why he's a good person!" Shaula says, and the smile on the maid's face quickly grows strained. "Not that I would really mind if he did…"
"If Subaru-kun has to push anyone down, it should be me…" Rem whispers.
"Who's resisting what, now!?" Natsuki Subaru shouts as he shoves Shaula out of her chair and onto the floor.
"Kyaaaa, Master, not in front of everyone~!" The idiotic woman gives a cry of obviously feigned distress.
"What's with this gross lovey-dovey atmosphere…" Yu Mei-ren asks, from her position on Xiang Yu's lap. Her husband, of course, stays wisely silent.
Shaula pulls Natsuki Subaru out of his seat, and the two begin wrestling on the floor. Rem watches on with eyes that get more hollow by the second. Arima Miyako and Vincent Van Gogh retreat into their respective selves, and Mysterious Heroine X returns from the kitchen with a fresh plate of entirely too much food. Scandinavia Peperoncino simply watches it all with detached amusement.
…
The pleading eyes of Romani Archman begin to tear up, and I re-center myself. Holding back my irritation as much as possible, I begin to reassess the third -and for the moment, final, record.
***
Fragmentary Record - Tezcatlipoca
Different from the first two, I do not launch directly into my explanation. After all, more than the others, this analysis is almost solely made of speculation. In some sense it might be better to address the two records I plan to withhold for now instead - but I have just reason not to speak of those.
Speaking overmuch about the Dying Dust of Osiris will provoke Satella. Speaking overmuch about Fujimaru Ritsuka will provoke the Crawling Chaos. And so, as I gaze upon the different sort of chaos unfolding in front of me, I ask one last time.
{"Master. Is there nothing else that you can give me?"} I ask.
{"Like I said, I'm working on it. Since the Earth's incinerated right now, I can probably at least sneak into his underworld, but the Black Smoke Mirror is pretty good at covering his tracks,"} He responds. {"For some reason, my clairvoyance can see what's going on in there, but not where it is. Still, give me a break here, I'm already doing a lot! If Cath Palug wakes up right now, you're all toast, you know?"}
"Fine, then," I huff. "Let us begin."
***
Tezcatlipoca, the nigh-omnipotent god of the Aztecs. What is his desire? For what reason has he stepped onto this stage? But then, 'he' is using a young girl as 'his' vessel at the moment - shall I call her accordingly?
Louis Arneb, the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony - the one whose fate is most closely bound to that of Natsuki Subaru. She ate his memories, at one point, after all - she understands Natsuki Subaru as well as he understands himself. As for whether the figment present here, and by extension Tezcatlipoca, has those memories - the answer is undoubtedly yes. Louis Arneb was formed based on Natsuki Subaru's ideas of her, and thus she will know all of the things he expects her to know. She would, of course, also be deathly terrified of him - if not for the god that has possessed her body.
…Do not be mistaken. Tezcatlipoca is no figment. 'She' is a full-born Divine Spirit, who infiltrated the TATARI in order to achieve some manner of goal. It may be she simply wishes to expand the violence and chaos, but I doubt it is so simple.
You may notice that I am less certain about her than about the others I have described - simply put, her actions thus far are outside the compass of my records. What observations I can provide are merely the result of a certain circumvention method I have been employing.
Even so, I will describe what I know! Firstly - Tezcatlipoca is not a native of this timeline. Much the same as Oda Nobunaga and apparently now Mysterious Heroine X, he hails from a world where the last master of Chaldea is Fujimaru Ritsuka, someone who 'does not exist in this world'.
***
"Oh, actually- mph," Mysterious Heroine X says without slowing her speed of eating in the slightest. "I'm not from Ritsuka's timeline. The Servantverse is different."
I should not have brought it up, because I do not wish to comprehend how her insane world works.
"Wait, but Ritsu-kun-!" Arima Miyaako begins to protest.
"Yes. There is something more complicated at play regarding him - but I have no intention of agitating that presently, so I will not share the details until the time is right," I reply, my eyes firmly trained upon the black shadow in the corner of the room until the moment it abruptly vanishes.
"...Recorder's been pretty trustworthy on this stuff so far, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now," Natsuki Subaru says.
***
Tezcatlipoca's extra-temporal nature is a key factor in this case, as is the fact that as far as the disembodied spirit goes, he has been present in the world for some time. His first intervention was not at the present moment, but rather at the very beginning of everything, the Incineration of Humanity. At that time, when billions of human lives were snuffed out at once, he looked over them, and snatched up the soul that was most likely to hand him something of interest.
Tohno Shiki, after all, possessed the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception], a weapon beyond compare. And so, the Black Smoke Mirror gave an offer - anything that Tohno Shiki wished, in exchange for his eyes.
…But, Tohno Shiki had no desires left. Just moments before his demise, he had finally corrected the wrong of six years ago, and he was largely content to die of thirst in the desert of Kazakhstan before the Incineration killed him a little bit early. But, as a sort of idle whim, he offered - if Tezcatlipoca would care for his familiar, the Dream Demon named Len, he would give up his eyes.
Tezcatlipoca, of course, accepted - but much to his surprise, he learned that there was another with a claim on those eyes. If he wanted to have them, he would have to buy from Nanaya Shiki as well - and, seeing that the god was already in the hole, the clever boy drove a much harder bargain.
'If you're a god, you can probably save a single human, right? I won't ask you to save Shiki, since he's happy with how things ended, but… well, that girl's my only living connection with humanity left anyway. My student, Arima Miyako. If you save her life, you can have these eyes.'
***
"Onii-chan… Panda-sensei… so they're both-!" Arima Miyako stammers.
"Ah, wait, Micchan, this incineration thing is way less bad than it sounds! If Chaldea finishes its current job, everyone who died that way will come back to life - wait, doesn't that just mean that Nanaya got conned!?" Natsuki Subaru says.
"That girl was one of the shadiest merchants I've ever met, and I've lived for thousands of years…" Yu Mei-ren mumbles.
***
From there, it seems that Tezcatlipoca sold those Mystic Eyes to Wallachia in exchange for access to the TATARI. Wallachia used them to dispose of Francois Prelati, who otherwise might have been able to hijack the entire stage from under him. Then, he attempted to dispose of the now dangerous Figment of Nanaya Shiki by killing him, but Nanaya Shiki was able to sell the eyes back to Tezcatlipoca, who as far as we know still possesses them.
But then, when Arima Miyako and Natsuki Subaru last met Nanaya Shiki, he said he was doing a job - what payment did Tezcatlipoca offer him? Likely, it was those same eyes, which begs the question, what task could equal those eyes in value?
Apart from that, we know of three bargains that Tezcatlipoca has made. The first, to obtain the Wooden Halo from Daybit Sem Void. The second, to obtain Akuta Hinako's Sirius Light. The third, to create a rumor of Fujimaru Ritsuka. But to what end!? There seems to be no common thread to her desires! There is not even a single purchase in common!
***
"That's incorrect, Recorder. There is one item she has actively tried to buy multiple of." Xiang Yu says. He has a perfect computer for a brain, and so it's no surprise that he has caught it.
"...The Sirius Light, right? She was cajoling Peperoncino for his," Yu Mei-ren adds to her Husband's point.
"...She has a buyer lined up for it," Natsuki Subaru mutters, and a few people stare at him. I would appreciate it if he didn't tip his hand, even if this information is useful. "But then why didn't she take Daybit's? She doesn't even know how that halo thing works, right?"
"It's not the type of thing that anyone who hasn't experienced it can weaponize," Scandinavia Peperoncino says with a frown.
"...Unless Daybit Sem Void is the buyer," I say. "But he already has one Sirius Light. What possible purpose could two serve?"
Of course, I already know. Natsuki Subaru's mumblings have put the last piece into place for me. I have read the records of Daybit Sem Void from the 'Scandinavia Peperoncino' who stands before me. But, rather than say it outright, I withhold the purpose. Because I need to confirm whether this strange fusion of the two holds the same goal.
"Well, if it's Daybit, he'll probably have some kind of plan, right?" Scandinavia Peperoncino laughs, and I understand that he is my enemy.
***
Class: Assassin
True Name: Nanaya Shiki
Armaments: Knife
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Manifestation Cost: Medium-Low
Bio: A Figment conjured from the fears of Tohno Shiki, within the prior iteration of TATARI.
"Am I the killer? Why do I desire bloodshed to such a degree? Why do I want to violate my own sister and cut her to pieces, and why do I not care that much about the order?" These fears were instilled in him thanks to a combination of his demon hunter instincts and the influence of Michael Roa Valdamjong. Combined with the dream version of Shiki encountered within Len's simulation, this delusion of what his split personality was capable of was born into the TATARI.
His personality, putting aside a surface level of perversion, can be best described as a thoughtless impulse towards murder. He kills all in front of him, but especially focuses on killing the one who brought him into the world.
Parameters
Strength: D
Endurance: E
Agility: A++
Mana: D
Luck: C
NP: EX
Personal Skills:
Sphere Boundary: A
Nanaya, naturally close to the boundary of death. excels in the use of this skill.
Nanaya Assassination Technique: A
The martial arts of the Nanaya family. Although an authentic Nanaya Shiki ought to only have dimly-recalled skills, the Figment conjured by Tohno Shiki is a 'what-if' who was fully trained in his family's way of killing.
Annihilation Wish: C
Mystic Eyes of Death Perception: A-
Not innately a part of Nanaya's spirit origin, he received these eyes from Tezcatlipoca, which originally belonged to Tohno Shiki.
They are originally several ranks below those of Ryougi Shiki due to their inability to see concepts, but their ability to see 'points of death' brings them up to a similar, if more specialized, level.
Noble Phantasms:
Vijñaptimātratā: Mystic Eyes of Death Perception
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1
Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Person
As the Noble Phantasm of Ryougi Shiki.
Flash Blade: Monk Imprisoned by Doubts
Rank: -
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1
Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Person
Technically not a Noble Phantasm, but rather a Martial Arts technique.
Escape the target's awareness, then rapidly attack their weak points. The addition of the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] makes this attack a near sure-kill.
Extreme Death: Seven Nights(Nanaya)
Rank: -
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1
Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Person
Another application of the Nanaya Martial arts, Nanaya Shiki's preferred method of counterattack.
Nanaya, as a 'distraction', throws his knife at the attacking opponent's heart - then, while their awareness is not directed towards him, he utilizes a combination of acrobatics and judo to snap the enemy's neck using their own body's momentum.