But Hold Me Fast [4/?]
anonymous
May 1 2009, 19:33:24 UTC
When his lips touch her cold skin, the chill rushes through his entire body.
“Arthur Kirkland, your name is mine,” she whispers.
He stiffens and screams as he feels himself tearing apart, disintegrating into nothing. His name - his name is the first thing to go; then goes the green hills and forests of his homeland, the memories of the friends that only he can see.
He see’s a smiling face, blue eyes, golden hair. Alfred, he thinks, and tries to hold onto that. Al -
He can’t remember the hair, the eyes, and the glasses on that nose. And then he can’t remember the man’s name. And then he wonders why he feels sad as that train of thought wisps away from him completely.
The last thing he sees are large oak trees with unripe acorns and brown-gray bark. It lingers on the back of his eyelids, fades as his mind goes down into the dark, as his mortal identity flickers and winks out. ___
When Feliciano wakes, he realizes he’s not in the forest anymore; his back is pressed to wood and he sees the soft glow of a candle in a red lantern.
“So that’s what happened.”
“Yeah. I just got lucky - a second more and she probably would have had him.”
Feliciano groans, and the two men turn to him. One he recognizes immediately as Kiku; the other is hooded and cloaked, and it’s very hard to see him in the darkness.
“I’m glad to see you’re all right, Vargas-san,” Kiku says, his voice calm and gentle as he tucks his hands into his yukata sleeves.
“Kiku…?” Feliciano groans, brings a hand to his head. “Where…where am I?”
“You’re at my temple, Vargas-san.”
Feliciano blinks and takes a closer look. Oh, so he is. There are the shoji doors, and if he looks beyond the two gentlemen he can see the red torii doors. Feliciano blinks. Wait, this isn’t right. I’m not visiting Kiku right now. I’m visiting Francis with Antonio and Lovino, and we were…
….Walking through the woods….
Light, dancing shapes and dark, dagger-like eyes splay across his vision and he remembers, he remembers them -
“NO!”
He ignores Kiku’s startled cry as he pushes past the men sitting on the shrine deck, runs down and out across Japan’s lawn. “Francis! Antonio!” He whirls around, wild and scared, his eyes growing wide. “Francis!”
“Vargas-san!” Japan stands, takes a few steps towards Kiku. “Vargas-san, that’s enough, you need to calm down!”
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Feliciano rounds on this Kiku, this person who he no longer trusts. “You took them from me!”
“Vargas-san, let me explain -”
“Give them back! Give them -”
“That’s enough.”
Both Feliciano and Kiku fall silent as the hooded figure stands. His dark cloak sways a bit in the breeze.
“They’re gone, Feliciano. They’ve been taken by the wilis and the Witch.” He crosses the few steps between them and reaches up with his own hands, taking Feliciano’s wrists. “And you are no more than spirit right now.”
Feliciano feels his eyes widen as he looks at his own hands. The man is right; if he concentrates hard enough, he can see through his skin, down to the dirt beneath their feet.
“I…I must be dreaming,” Feliciano murmurs, jerking his hands out of that cold grip. “I have to be.”
“You are.”
Feliciano whips around, and he meets Kiku’s brown gaze.
“You and I are the same, Vargas-san. We both possess the ability to travel through dreams at night - and to visit others through them. You are in my dream right now.”
Feliciano has to squint, but…there, it’s true, he can just see through Kiku to the trees behind him. He turns around to look at the other man. “And you were the one who brought me here…?”
He doesn’t speak, but beneath the hood Feliciano thinks he nods.
Feliciano gives him a shaky smile. “Ve~. That was nice of you, b-but I’d like to wake up now -”
The man speaks in a flat, bored tone. “You can’t.”
“Eh…?”
“If you go back, then you’ll only suffer the same fate as your Antonio and Francis,” the man says. “Is that what you want, Feliciano? Or do you want to take this chance and try to help save them?”
Feliciano blinks. “Save…?”
“The faeries will play with their pray until they tire of them,” the man explains. “When that happens, they will die. And if they die, their countries will perish, taking innocent lives with them.”
“Arthur Kirkland, your name is mine,” she whispers.
He stiffens and screams as he feels himself tearing apart, disintegrating into nothing. His name - his name is the first thing to go; then goes the green hills and forests of his homeland, the memories of the friends that only he can see.
He see’s a smiling face, blue eyes, golden hair. Alfred, he thinks, and tries to hold onto that. Al -
He can’t remember the hair, the eyes, and the glasses on that nose. And then he can’t remember the man’s name. And then he wonders why he feels sad as that train of thought wisps away from him completely.
The last thing he sees are large oak trees with unripe acorns and brown-gray bark. It lingers on the back of his eyelids, fades as his mind goes down into the dark, as his mortal identity flickers and winks out.
___
When Feliciano wakes, he realizes he’s not in the forest anymore; his back is pressed to wood and he sees the soft glow of a candle in a red lantern.
“So that’s what happened.”
“Yeah. I just got lucky - a second more and she probably would have had him.”
Feliciano groans, and the two men turn to him. One he recognizes immediately as Kiku; the other is hooded and cloaked, and it’s very hard to see him in the darkness.
“I’m glad to see you’re all right, Vargas-san,” Kiku says, his voice calm and gentle as he tucks his hands into his yukata sleeves.
“Kiku…?” Feliciano groans, brings a hand to his head. “Where…where am I?”
“You’re at my temple, Vargas-san.”
Feliciano blinks and takes a closer look. Oh, so he is. There are the shoji doors, and if he looks beyond the two gentlemen he can see the red torii doors. Feliciano blinks. Wait, this isn’t right. I’m not visiting Kiku right now. I’m visiting Francis with Antonio and Lovino, and we were…
….Walking through the woods….
Light, dancing shapes and dark, dagger-like eyes splay across his vision and he remembers, he remembers them -
“NO!”
He ignores Kiku’s startled cry as he pushes past the men sitting on the shrine deck, runs down and out across Japan’s lawn. “Francis! Antonio!” He whirls around, wild and scared, his eyes growing wide. “Francis!”
“Vargas-san!” Japan stands, takes a few steps towards Kiku. “Vargas-san, that’s enough, you need to calm down!”
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Feliciano rounds on this Kiku, this person who he no longer trusts. “You took them from me!”
“Vargas-san, let me explain -”
“Give them back! Give them -”
“That’s enough.”
Both Feliciano and Kiku fall silent as the hooded figure stands. His dark cloak sways a bit in the breeze.
“They’re gone, Feliciano. They’ve been taken by the wilis and the Witch.” He crosses the few steps between them and reaches up with his own hands, taking Feliciano’s wrists. “And you are no more than spirit right now.”
Feliciano feels his eyes widen as he looks at his own hands. The man is right; if he concentrates hard enough, he can see through his skin, down to the dirt beneath their feet.
“I…I must be dreaming,” Feliciano murmurs, jerking his hands out of that cold grip. “I have to be.”
“You are.”
Feliciano whips around, and he meets Kiku’s brown gaze.
“You and I are the same, Vargas-san. We both possess the ability to travel through dreams at night - and to visit others through them. You are in my dream right now.”
Feliciano has to squint, but…there, it’s true, he can just see through Kiku to the trees behind him. He turns around to look at the other man. “And you were the one who brought me here…?”
He doesn’t speak, but beneath the hood Feliciano thinks he nods.
Feliciano gives him a shaky smile. “Ve~. That was nice of you, b-but I’d like to wake up now -”
The man speaks in a flat, bored tone. “You can’t.”
“Eh…?”
“If you go back, then you’ll only suffer the same fate as your Antonio and Francis,” the man says. “Is that what you want, Feliciano? Or do you want to take this chance and try to help save them?”
Feliciano blinks. “Save…?”
“The faeries will play with their pray until they tire of them,” the man explains. “When that happens, they will die. And if they die, their countries will perish, taking innocent lives with them.”
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I thought it would make sense, since Italy and Japan once met in their dreams.
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It actually made a lot of sense to me (ahahaha. Dreamwalkers, YES! I kinda thought Italy and Japan had something of that sort even before this). XD
Also, Arthur losing his name is JUST. No. *weeps* Names are important, after all.
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