|
§*§*§*§*§ "This is way too easy," Nagi whispered an echo of Youji's earlier observation as his slim hands pulled open the glass door of the display case. The Mors staff was inches from his grasp and there had been no sign of neither security nor Yuki. He could see pale blue lines, visible only to his and his coven's eyes, where Omi had set wards between the slim wires snaking along the creases of the four glass panes and the main alarm. Nagi's hands passed easily through the crisscross of magic, taking a tentative grip on the shaft of the spear, and lifting it from the thin guide wires and molded frame. He kept his own wards, subtle variations of Omi's, which would alert him to any one who possessed even strong reiki trying to gain entrance to the office floor. Still, the lack of guard on the item in hand unsettled him. It seemed that the staff was either of little value to its owner or so heavily insured that theft would be welcome. Mental agreement drifted from the assassin waiting in the doorway of the lobby. Omi knelt low behind the wall, bow cocked against his black clad chest. Only the quicksilver glints of light on the heads of his arrow gave away his presence and he merely glanced back to watch Nagi take the long silver shaft of the Mors in his hand. The former Schwarz was surprised by how ordinary the staff felt, lighter than expected but not unusually so. The length was smooth and polished, of what seemed to be well cared for iron, tapering to a fine spear-like point. He could read the letters at the head, tracing the death word with curious fingers. You'd think that an object that had once contained unimaginable power would be more...extraordinary. "Let's not push our luck, kid," came Youji's gentle chide in his ear, breaking the eerie silence. Nagi blushed slightly as he realized that he had broadcasted his thoughts, then nodded and closed the case behind him. His partner stood as he heard the catches take on the glass, Nagi's signal that they would be moving out. Blue wards faded out as if they had never been and no one would even suspect the staff was gone until someone returned the next day. Omi crossed the carpet from the door to Nagi quickly, still untrusting of the ease of their theft. The young warlock didn't ask to see the staff and made no move to remove it from the dark haired boy's hands. They made their way back to the slim oval they had carefully cut into the huge pane of glass. Nagi didn't hesitate as he stepped out, nothing between him and seventeen stories of air except his incredible powers. Omi marveled at the feat before following with confidence, his awakened memories reassuring him that Nagi would never let him fall. §*§*§*§*§ Crawford ignored the pain growing in his neck as he gazed up the building, watching for the figures he knew would be emerging at any moment. He did not need to see into the building to be able to account for Nagi and Omi's movement almost breath for breath. His vision had been exceptionally clear of late, especially concerning the events that were beginning to shape the future. He enjoyed the pleasure/pain of the sight, since it was all but gone when in the presence of the dark witch seeking to bring the world to a darker fate than even Schwarz had planned at one time. Still, his interference now would hopefully put his mark on things to come. His near inhuman patience was rewarded as two black marks, darker than the sky around them, climbed out of the window into the air. Farfarello made a strangely amazed sound next to him, drawn blade glinting as its edge bit into his tongue. "Time?" "No quite yet," was the patient reply. §*§*§*§*§ "Aya..." Fleeting emotions warred across Ken's mind, held at bay by the warlock's sudden arousal in Aya's presence. A small voice seemed to whisper in the furthest corners of his consciousness, encouraging his mindless lust. An even smaller voice beat useless protest against the invading influence. He took Aya's hand, gasping with the jolt of pleasure that flashed through his body, every cell open as their auras crashed together and poured magic into needy souls. This is right...this is what I have been looking for... Aya took Ken's place on the bed, empty eyes never leaving the hazy blue gray of his prey. Had he been aware, he would have known that the voice in Ken's head was the same that pulled his own strings, a connection through the spell that kept his soul dormant. His only purpose now was to seduce the boy before him, and part of him wanted nothing more. Ken panted as he was drawn onto Aya's lap, lips aching from the strong sucking kisses of his absent lover. His mind was still partly fuzzy, swirling with the disbelief that Aya had returned to him. It did not occur to him to wonder how or why; nothing broke through the fiery desire that consumed his soul. Deft lips trailed across his neck and shoulders, nipping just hard enough to cause a jolt of pleasurable pain. His fingers tangled in the silk of his partner's hair and he arched forward to bring as much of his own body into contact with the pale skin of the boy holding him as was humanly possible. Aya growled as he moved, his own hands tugging on the chocolate tresses of his lover, forcing his head back. His tongue danced across the throbbing life a mere cell's breadth away from his teeth. He longed to claim this boy, to share in the blood that made his body sing with strength. His will was restrained by something beyond his own; it was nearly painful to fight against the compulsion to tease the other and nothing more. Wait ... His mind urged against his body's instinct. The voice was a constant mantra against the rage and lust, forcing him to obey. Another voice fought against his actions, but in a flash was gone, leaving nothing but a guilty echo. §*§*§*§*§ Moments come and go with clarity and a haze of unimportance. Most would not realize the importance of one moment, to the next, subsumed by the parade of time in which they moved. Brad Crawford was painfully aware of moments, tiny snatches of time flashing through his mind. A fine line lay between each, a fragile string that once touched, repercussed the entire stream, ripples that tore moments apart and rebuilt new too quickly for even his experience to follow. He could feel the tension along the moments, waiting for the energy to snap. Anything he did here could rebound horribly, setting events into motion that would allow Yuki her plans with no resistance. A knife's edge too soon, and one would die who should not, too late, and they all died. His divided his focus between the warlocks slowly descending the building and the visions he had nearly memorized, but he was always aware of the moments he now had a hand in. For the first time, Crawford would give those moments the strength to shatter and build anew, acutely aware of which moment to choose... Crawford didn't even have to speak as Farfarello caught the change in his body language, a slight shift from anticipation to the relaxed form of knowing that his future was about to unfold. Without a word, the pale Irishman was loping along the building, knives held back in preparation for a deep strike. No light could give a telltale glitter on the deadly blades. The American counted silently in his head, matching what he was now watching with what he had already seen played out in his mind. With an ever-present color of eerie déjà vu, the future melded itself to the present and Oracle gasped as the tension strained...and gave... §*§*§*§*§ "When will I know?" Schuldich asked impatiently, nerves frayed by the constant touch on Aya's mind. The mindless assassin was locked in a parody of lust, induced by the German. At one time, Schuldich would have enjoyed himself to no end to be so deep in control of one of the Weiß, but the spell reeked of Yuki's touch and it seemed to poison his connection, leaving some of her foul mark on his own mind. Ken's mind was fuzzy at best, natural shields non-existent after wandering the between for so long. A little influence there had been more than enough to push the warlock into Yuki's trap. He was sure that he could have led Ken out of the building by the nose and had no one the wiser, but to hold him...as the Key...the spell would take any thought of fighting back out of that boy's mind. Yuki's smile was chilling, her eyes glittering in the dark. "Oh, you'll know." §*§*§*§*§ So simple, Farfarello chuckled to himself, fingers dancing about the blade in his hand. The Weiß wasn't even cautious, attention focused on his two partners descending the sky above him. Three more lunging steps and he was upon his prey, Crawford's admonition ringing through the bloodlust in his mind. Don't kill the Weiß! It took a supreme effort of will, but the blade made a low arc, swinging away from the fatal strike to the heart intended to a less dangerous, though no less painful leg wound. Youji screamed as a lance of red-hot agony flared up his leg, Farfarello's knife buried to the hilt in his thigh. The Irishman danced away as quickly as he had come, loping back toward Crawford before the assassin had even hit the pavement. §*§*§*§*§ Omi and Nagi echoed Youji's cry, their agony twisted with terror as Nagi's concentration was broken and they began to plummet to the concrete below. §*§*§*§*§ Pure agony ripped through Ken's frame and his scream echoed those ringing in his head. ::Now!:: Schuldich shouted into Aya's shocked mind, his connection with the coven still strong enough for the surprising pain to reach through the spell. Aya bit down hard, teeth scoring his own tongue, He grabbed Ken's shoulder, covering the screaming mouth with bloody lips. Ken choked as Aya's blood tainted his mouth and he couldn't help but swallow the copper fluid. Another voice joined Ken's in agony as dark energy swept through his very soul, binding the assassin's consciousness, and trapping the Key within the body's mindscape. Youji's pain disappeared in a spiral of darkness as Ken and Key fell into Aya's arms, mind surrounded by the net of Yuki's spell. Aya rose silently, cradling the form in his arms. His blank violet eyes did not see the lines of etched suffering on his lover's face, nor hear the small whimpers of pain that escaped the pale lips. His steps carried them both to the street, coming to a stop just in front of Yuki and Schuldich, the German massaging his temple with one hand. Ken was set on his feet, eyes opening hazily. Yuki took his hand like a child, hand caressing his slack cheek. Aya made no move from where he had stopped, still tangled in the spell. "What do you want me to do with him?" Schuldich asked curtly, gesturing at the still spellbound Aya. Please...don't ask me to kill him. A wrench in the works is not what we need right now... If Yuki sensed Schuldich's guilty plea, she made no indication. Ken's hand firmly held in her own, she turned away, her voice a ghostly whisper as they disappeared into the darkness. "Leave him. Let him live with the guilt." Schuldich shrugged and leaned close to the frozen assassin, lips brushing the cool cheek. ::Do be a white knight and save the world, ne?:: The red head crumpled to the ground, falling as a stringless puppet. The nude form shuddered slightly in the cold and with more care than he would ever have witnessed by his team, Schuldich covered him with his favorite green jacket, tucking it around the tapered torso. He regarded his fallen enemy for a moment before flickering away to join the darkness. ::...remember...:: §*§*§*§*§ Awareness came in gradual steps, from a darkness not unlike that from which everything had been born more years than ago than man had record of. This darkness was primal and personal, the inner sanctum of a human soul forced to bear another's will. The Key blinked hazily, trying to clear away the fog of the spell currently ensorceling Ken's mind. It allowed the Key to step away from the shared consciousness, and sift through mutual memories of what had brought it here. Here was the darkness of Ken's mind, the deepest corners where fears tended to lay hidden in wait. It glanced about for a desperate moment before Ken's form faded into view above, as if it were looking from the bottom of a pool. The assassin lay just out of reach, still but breathing. It stared in confused silence at the figure before it, a sharp pang of sympathy ripping through its heart. Our heart, it corrected, reaching a tentative hand up towards the boy whose visage had become his own. Pale digits stopped just short of the mirrored surface of the spell, somehow lacking the courage needed to take the last steps into his other's world. ::Ken...:: it whispered, willing the gray eyes to open. The assassin was bound in black steel chains, a mental image of the spell passed from Aya to Ken. His arms were spread to either side, skin pale beneath the obsidian coils that were tight about his muscles. The links passed through his skin to join bone and again exiting to a source somewhere in the dark. He was on his knees, nude in what seemed to be a lake of water black enough to be oil. His head hung low between his bound shoulders, facing down to his reflection, a reflection that stared back in worry. Blood seemed everywhere at once, flowing sluggishly from the marks of the chains winding their way through his inner body. It dripped into the pool, ripples obscuring Ken's pained face from his frantic twin. The Key watched up through the surface, the nimbus of dream and reality that had separated their two beings enough to retain the identity of Ken and Key, for the first time since its calling from the Void. It was shocking to be thrust back into itself...and yet still very much a part of the boy above. ::We are one...:: Curiosity was a new emotion. Innumerable eons before, witches and warlocks had woken it, forced it to become separate from the magic of the universe, made it different, weaker, and yet more powerful. It was aware, as most magic was not. Still, it was inhuman to the affairs of humans, an emotionless tool to be used, for either good or evil. Now it was trapped. No, he was trapped. Caught within a human shell, assaulted with memories, emotions... He found himself twisting and molding to the soul sharing the body. He wanted to know, to experience... ::I want to understand...:: Ken's head lifted with a pained groan, eyes shut tight against the burning in his shoulders and back. The physical pain seemed just as real, even trapped in his head. Here in his mind he was merely human; the coven may as well be in America for all he could sense. His stomach turned as he realized that the chains were not merely binding his arms, but passing through the skin. The spell had been cast with blood, shared willingly or no, and held him fast. He suddenly noticed that he was looking down at himself, but a self without chains or the marks of Yuki's magic. His reflections face wore a saddening frown, brows drawn in confused furrows. ::I don't understand.:: Ken smiled ruefully. The Key's plain question echoed many in his own head, mostly unanswerable. "What don't you understand?" It was only after he asked it, that he realized that the question was not really a simple one. The Key had been nothing more than an amalgamation of power with no will of its own. It had no need to breathe, eat, or sleep. It had never had a face to look back in a mirror. It had had no words with which to express itself. The Key frowned again, looking like a petulant child told to do something he had no intention of doing. ::I have endangered you. The others...Aya:: Another puzzle to twist itself though its mind. It had never known care for the human who used it, no matter what end. ::Am I sorry?:: The Key paused at the question, frown deepening. ::I don't...I don't want to end....:: Blue gray eyes met their twin's searchingly. ::To die. I don't want to die....:: Ken laughed mirthlessly, closing his eyes to block out the fear in the other's face. The laugh died into a serene smile. "Me either, friend, me either." §*§*§*§*§ It was a dangerously quick return to the Koneko, Omi nursing a surly Youji in the back seat. Nagi drove confidently though, pausing only to smirk that he now had Youji's infamous driving skills. Neither passenger was sure that was a reassurance or a threat. It had been a messy scene with Farfarello, Youji helplessly bleeding on the pavement even as Omi and Nagi fell from the sky. A last minute save by Nagi had kept them from becoming mere smears on the concrete, but not enough to save the dark haired 'kinetic a sprained wrist and Omi a couple of abraded knees. Focused on their companion's agony spreading through the web, Nagi could barely fight back as his former teammate delivered a viscous kick to his ribs and tore the Mors staff from his suddenly numb fingers. They hadn't wasted a moment chasing the Irishman. His presence meant that Yuki had what she needed, with one catalyst sitting alone in the Koneko. The Seven came to a screeching halt, throwing Youji's leg into the back of the seat. He bit back a cry, not willing to waste the moment it would take to at least stop the bleeding. They pulled each other from the car as hastily as they could, each younger boy a crutch beneath the lanky assassin's arms. Three steps later brought them to a shocked stop. Omi's arm tightened momentarily before loosening, the boy dashing to Aya's side. Crimson hair spilled across the lamp shined pavement, Aya's body stark against the darkness. A single rivulet of blood had dried at one corner of his lips, the only mark on his skin. "Holy shit! Aya..." Omi's fingers moved quickly, pulling back the suspicious green coat to check the fallen assassin's pulse. It beat slowly, as if Aya were sleeping. A gently slap on either cheek caused the tall boy to groan, violet eyes opening with shock. He was on his feet before Omi could protest, not even aware that he was now completely naked before his team. "Ken?" Youji shook his head, using his unoccupied arm to dig out a cigarette from the inner pocket of his trench coat. Nagi even provided a small flame from one fingertip. "We lost the Mors." He winced, as if remembering exactly how they had lost the staff. His own guilt mingled with Aya's at losing Ken...no, at having betrayed the one true thing in his life. Aya's eyes become cold amethyst. Only one chance now. "I know where they are."
::title from bring me to life by evanescence:: ::to madiha, tschubi-chan, and portia - an even dozen ^_^:: |
