Convergence
Two people are actually reading my livejournal-ness.... So happy *tears*.
Right, so here we go with the first chapter, as promised...
Summary
Reputations are important; they get you work. But when your Master is a flakey, troublemaking man who regularly uses questionable, and often times outright immoral methods, how can you be expected to learn anything decent? So even if Haruo is a genius, you learn from your Master, and this Master… needs work. Thus are the trials of Itazura Haruo, the orphan apprentice whose main duty is to learn magic… and keep his Master in line. Private Life? Non-Existent. Hope for the future? … Probably not.
................
Author’s Note: I’m rating this Mature, considering the Master is supposed to be a pretty immoral guy. You’ll see what I mean in the first chapter. Also, there is a MalexMale pairing here, and while it hasn’t happened yet where I am currently in the story, there WILL BE smut later on. FYI. Don’t like, don’t read (so I say to my non-existent audience…).
So for anyone who knows me and the way I write, do not expect regular updates. I have seven chapters-ish, but that doesn’t mean I’ll update every week. I haven’t decided how often I’ll update it, so we’ll see.
However, just so you know, I have made a sort-of, not “official” New Years’ Resolution of writing something every day. Doesn’t matter what, whether it’s in my RTI (Random Thoughts and Ideas journal), on Hayate (my desktop) who holds most of my stories in his brain, or Subie-chan (my laptop, Subaru) who spends most of the time awake and ready for my attention, on any of my stories, TRG (my novel, which is in the process of a massive rewrite), on SA or Storms, or on this story, or on a random piece of paper, I will try to write something. A paragraph or a sentence, I will write every day. That’s the plan, anyways. We’ll see how that goes.
Anyways, I’m considering putting up others of my writing here, so we shall see what happens, and what I end up doing.
Now, let's see if I can remember how to do a cut...
Chapter One-
Rain was pelting the windows outside, and the dark night was occasionally lit up by the cracking thunder. Inside the small room the boy shivered. He was young, not more than ten years of age, curled up on the bed as he stared ahead at the tall cloaked figure before him. The older man did not move, only continued to stare with fixed, penetrating eyes at the boy on the bed.
The room sizzled with a goosebump-inciting energy as a woman entered the room. She held her arms close at her sides, her gaze shifting from the man to the boy on the bed. She trembled.
“Can you help him?” she murmured, her eyes resting on the boy. Thunder shook the room and the boy curled further into himself.
The man pulled back from his examination of the boy and looked at the woman. He pulled back the hood of his cloak and grinned widely.
“Of course,” he replied. His voice was loud and boisterous, full of confidence. It didn’t seem to fit in with the stifling atmosphere of the night.
The woman exhaled. “Thank you, Master Itazura. My son… I don’t know what else to do.”
The man nodded brusquely. “Don’t worry, you can count on me. Haruo!”
“Y-Yes Master,” a small voice replied. The woman frowned, the boy on the bed looked up from his trembling. A small figure came to stand beside the cloaked man. He too wore a dark cloak covering his features, but he pulled back the hood at his master’s summoning. His eyes were a clear crystal grey, his hair dark and straight, hanging to his shoulders.
“Be sure you watch carefully,” the man, Itazura, replied. The boy beside him nodded.
“Who- Who are you speaking to?” the woman muttered, her eyes questioning.
Itazura smiled widely. “My apprentice.” And he turned back to the boy on the bed. The woman was still grumbling, but the boy on the bed had eyes fixed on the young apprentice mage. Haruo smiled brightly at the still shivering boy, and the boy blushed.
Slowly the man approached the boy on the bed and reached out a hand, placing his palm flat against the boy’s forehead. “Hmm,” he mused.
“What’s wrong with him?” the boy’s mother inquired, giving up the fact the man had seemed to be talking to no one, that he was clearly out of his mind. But then, hadn’t she heard he was insane? It was really only out of desperation for her son that she had contacted him with the request.
After a moment more of quiet contemplation, the man stepped back and peered around the dimly lit room, examining every fixture, every article and possession lining the walls. His gaze settled on a tall, full-length mirror against the wall, currently reflecting the trembling figure of the boy, the window behind him, the streaming rain and the flash of lightning.
“A demon,” the man finally spoke.
“What?” the woman practically shrieked.
The man turned back to the woman then strode past her, focusing on a pile of objects on the bookshelf beside the mirror. He fingered one, then picked up another, turning it this way and that, running a finger along the smooth porcelain surface.
“Wh-What do you mean, a demon? Are you saying my son is possessed by a demon?”
“Not quite,” the man replied. “Haruo, what have you learned about demons?”
The woman frowned again that he was talking to no one and had instead ignored her question.
Haruo replied, the boy on the bed focusing in on the younger mage apprentice, listening to the soft, melodic voice. “There are many different types of demons, and they all have different purposes, and thus differing life forces which identify what type they are. There are some that possess others, some who make deals for power, and others that-”
“That feed on those who are weak,” his master finished for him. Itazura glanced at Haruo, who remained standing at the foot of the bed where he had left him.
The woman looked confused again. “Are you saying someone is feeding off of my son?”
Itazura glanced at the woman then focused back on his apprentice. “There are different types of demons who feed off of humans- the kind who feed off of humans who hold innate weaknesses, who have allowed themselves to be weakened by others or their own faults, and those who feed off of humans who are cursed, or, in this boy’s case, are suffering from other types of magic.”
“What types of magic, Master?” the apprentice asked as he peered curiously at his master through the dark room.
“What do you mean?” the woman cried.
“This boy,” Itazura replied, still speaking more to Haruo than to the young victim’s mother, “is suffering from the closeness of a past life influencing his current. There are… dark memories of a past life lingering too close to the surface, and the demon is feeding off of those memories. If we want to dispel the demon, we first need to bring those dark memories out, and eliminate them first.”
“What… what are you talking about? What memories!” the woman was becoming more and more exasperated. The mage she had hired wasn’t speaking to her, but instead kept talking to nothing. She needed answers.
The master mage turned back to the items piled on the bookshelf. “Boy,” he spoke, referring to the trembling figure on the bed whom he could still see through the image on the mirror beside him. “You’ve been having bad dreams?”
The boy shivered more profusely. “Y-Yes. But… how did you know?”
“I could feel your life force is in knots, and the source of the trouble is in your mind. What are your dreams about? What can you remember most clearly?” The mage put down the object he was holding, then rearranged the items on the bookshelf. He still hadn’t turned to look at the boy.
“A-A man. Big. Tall. S-Scary. He’s… he stands close to me, looming over me… and…” The boy shut his mouth and bit his lip, tears pooling at his eyes.
“Hmm,” Itazura mused.
“What does this mean?” the woman cried again. She looked at her son with large eyes.
Itazura glanced again at the mirror, his eyes staring at the figure of the boy reflected in it for several long moments. The rain continued to fall, the lightning struck and thunder rumbled off in the distance.
“Master?” Haruo finally spoke into the heavy silence.
“Looks like I’m gonna have to force the memories up.” He sighed. Then a big smile came to his lips.
“Then… you can help my son?” the woman asked, her voice unsteady.
“’Course.”
The woman let out a heaving breath in relief. “What do you need to do? Is there any way I can assist you?”
“Heh, shouldn’ta asked that,” the mage replied as he finally turned to face the room’s occupants.
“Master?” Haruo inquired, brows furrowing.
“You can leave, lady. You’re not gonna wanna be here for this.”
She frowned. She didn’t like the sound of that, coupled with the man’s reputation… “What for? What are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna rape your son.”
Her eyes grew impossibly wide. “Wh-What?” she couldn’t have heard him correctly. He rushed at her, pushing her out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it, smiling at the resolute click resounding through the room.
Then the woman reacted, screaming and shouting, pounding at the door, fumbling with the now locked door handle.
But the master mage just shrugged and returned to the depths of the room.
Haruo sighed as he watched his master’s approach. “Master, you really shouldn’t word it like that. It’s reckless. That’s why you have such a shady reputation for doing questionable things to reach your goals.”
Itazura just patted Haruo’s head of silky brown hair as he passed, then climbed onto the bed beside the still shivering boy. His hand approached the boy’s head again, and he pushed the boy down so he was laying flat on the bed, positioning himself over the boy.
The boy’s trembling intensified.
“Haruo, make sure you watch carefully,” Itazura repeated.
Haruo huffed. “Of course, Master.”
Itazura leaned forward, a hand trailing down the boy’s front and going lower. The boy screamed.
Then all at once the rain picked up, the wind outside causing the window to creak. The objects beside the mirror began to rattle and a strange pale blue glow began to emit from the mirror. The screaming and pounding at the door had stopped.
“Master?” Haruo inquired. Itazura was staring at the mirror, the boy under him shivering. Then Itazura turned his attention back to the boy and whispered in his ear. The boy’s eyes slid closed and Itazura allowed his tongue to trace the shell of the boy’s ear. His small body shivered and he squeezed his eyes closer.
Itazura pressed closer, and a shattering resounded through the suddenly silent room. Itazura looked again at the mirror, and the prominent crack spreading along the formerly smooth surface. The image altered and what was reflected was suddenly the image of a large, dark man, his clothes, old fashioned and filthy, were disheveled, his pants undone. He stared with dark, menacing eyes out of the mirror at Itazura.
The mage leaned down and again spoke softly to the boy, “Don’t open your eyes, no matter what.”
The boy nodded and squeezed his eyes tighter still, his body trembling in convulsions.
Itazura climbed off the boy and casually approached the mirror. The man reflected in the surface growled, and the boy still lying on the bed whimpered at the sound, then clutched his legs closer together.
“Really now, taking advantage of the boy’s weakness, how naughty of you,” Itazura stated playfully to the mirror. He reached up a hand and waggled a finger at the image. In a smooth sweeping motion, he brought his hand forward, a strange soft light emitting from his palm, then he pushed toward the mirror, a long string of light flowing to enwrap the glass. The man in the reflection was suddenly caught, and he growled more threateningly still, the boy whimpering more as the man grew louder and more angry, till the man was growling and panting harshly and the boy was curled in on himself again. Still, he kept his eyes shut.
Then Itazura pulled, and the man broke free of the mirror, the objects on the bookshelf fell forward and clattered, breaking on the floor. As the image of the man came free from the silvery surface it dissolved, until his own shattered image remained and the light rope gradually flickered out of existence.
The boy stopped shivering and uncurled his body, and Itazura approached the bed. “Feel better?”
The boy swallowed and nodded. “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Ah, go ahead.”
Slowly, the boy’s eyes opened and he glanced around the room. The mirror was broken, and the floor was littered with items once resting on his bookshelf, but otherwise there was no disturbance in the room. The boy sat up and blinked.
“The dreams should go away now, and gradually you won’t remember anything from that past life. And the demon won’t be bothering you anymore,” Itazura explained.
The boy blinked. Then the smile began to grow on his face, and he laughed. “Thank you, Master Itazura.”
Itazura smiled. “You are most welcome.”
Then the banging at the door began again, more harshly. The woman could be heard screaming and crying at the same time, and other men’s voices could be heard shouting to be let in as they banged and crashed against the door.
“Master,” Haruo murmured, crystal eyes staring at the door to the room.
“Hmm, looks like she went and got the police. Haruo, looks like we better make a quick escape.”
“But, how are you gonna do that?” the boy replied as he edged off the bed. “They’re blocking the door.”
“Haruo, we’re gonna have to use the evaporation method to transport.”
“Eh?” Haruo exclaimed as he turned his eyes from the pounding on the door. “Oh, of course, Master.”
“Might as well take the time to teach you now.”
“Now, Master?” he asked as he approached and reached out a hand to his master. The man took the smaller hand in his and grinned. “No time like the present, and this is the best way to learn.” Haruo frowned.
“Pay close attention, and we better hurry. Sounds like the door’s about to come off its hinges.”
Haruo nodded and frowned in concentration as he stood beside his master. “Alright, Haruo, shut your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Imagine each breath coming in and out past your throat, into your lungs. Feel the blood pumping through your body… one blood vessel at a time passing along your veins. One, then the next, then another… Feel your body dissipate, one cell, then the next, then another… Float in the air, penetrating all barriers… and now… picture home.”
And the two dissipated into the air, and faded into the night just as the door burst open and the boy’s mother rushed in, followed by half a dozen police ready to arrest the errant mage.
To Be Continued...
Comments and Suggestions are welcome. Let me know what you think!
Right, so here we go with the first chapter, as promised...
Summary
Reputations are important; they get you work. But when your Master is a flakey, troublemaking man who regularly uses questionable, and often times outright immoral methods, how can you be expected to learn anything decent? So even if Haruo is a genius, you learn from your Master, and this Master… needs work. Thus are the trials of Itazura Haruo, the orphan apprentice whose main duty is to learn magic… and keep his Master in line. Private Life? Non-Existent. Hope for the future? … Probably not.
................
Author’s Note: I’m rating this Mature, considering the Master is supposed to be a pretty immoral guy. You’ll see what I mean in the first chapter. Also, there is a MalexMale pairing here, and while it hasn’t happened yet where I am currently in the story, there WILL BE smut later on. FYI. Don’t like, don’t read (so I say to my non-existent audience…).
So for anyone who knows me and the way I write, do not expect regular updates. I have seven chapters-ish, but that doesn’t mean I’ll update every week. I haven’t decided how often I’ll update it, so we’ll see.
However, just so you know, I have made a sort-of, not “official” New Years’ Resolution of writing something every day. Doesn’t matter what, whether it’s in my RTI (Random Thoughts and Ideas journal), on Hayate (my desktop) who holds most of my stories in his brain, or Subie-chan (my laptop, Subaru) who spends most of the time awake and ready for my attention, on any of my stories, TRG (my novel, which is in the process of a massive rewrite), on SA or Storms, or on this story, or on a random piece of paper, I will try to write something. A paragraph or a sentence, I will write every day. That’s the plan, anyways. We’ll see how that goes.
Anyways, I’m considering putting up others of my writing here, so we shall see what happens, and what I end up doing.
Now, let's see if I can remember how to do a cut...
Chapter One-
Rain was pelting the windows outside, and the dark night was occasionally lit up by the cracking thunder. Inside the small room the boy shivered. He was young, not more than ten years of age, curled up on the bed as he stared ahead at the tall cloaked figure before him. The older man did not move, only continued to stare with fixed, penetrating eyes at the boy on the bed.
The room sizzled with a goosebump-inciting energy as a woman entered the room. She held her arms close at her sides, her gaze shifting from the man to the boy on the bed. She trembled.
“Can you help him?” she murmured, her eyes resting on the boy. Thunder shook the room and the boy curled further into himself.
The man pulled back from his examination of the boy and looked at the woman. He pulled back the hood of his cloak and grinned widely.
“Of course,” he replied. His voice was loud and boisterous, full of confidence. It didn’t seem to fit in with the stifling atmosphere of the night.
The woman exhaled. “Thank you, Master Itazura. My son… I don’t know what else to do.”
The man nodded brusquely. “Don’t worry, you can count on me. Haruo!”
“Y-Yes Master,” a small voice replied. The woman frowned, the boy on the bed looked up from his trembling. A small figure came to stand beside the cloaked man. He too wore a dark cloak covering his features, but he pulled back the hood at his master’s summoning. His eyes were a clear crystal grey, his hair dark and straight, hanging to his shoulders.
“Be sure you watch carefully,” the man, Itazura, replied. The boy beside him nodded.
“Who- Who are you speaking to?” the woman muttered, her eyes questioning.
Itazura smiled widely. “My apprentice.” And he turned back to the boy on the bed. The woman was still grumbling, but the boy on the bed had eyes fixed on the young apprentice mage. Haruo smiled brightly at the still shivering boy, and the boy blushed.
Slowly the man approached the boy on the bed and reached out a hand, placing his palm flat against the boy’s forehead. “Hmm,” he mused.
“What’s wrong with him?” the boy’s mother inquired, giving up the fact the man had seemed to be talking to no one, that he was clearly out of his mind. But then, hadn’t she heard he was insane? It was really only out of desperation for her son that she had contacted him with the request.
After a moment more of quiet contemplation, the man stepped back and peered around the dimly lit room, examining every fixture, every article and possession lining the walls. His gaze settled on a tall, full-length mirror against the wall, currently reflecting the trembling figure of the boy, the window behind him, the streaming rain and the flash of lightning.
“A demon,” the man finally spoke.
“What?” the woman practically shrieked.
The man turned back to the woman then strode past her, focusing on a pile of objects on the bookshelf beside the mirror. He fingered one, then picked up another, turning it this way and that, running a finger along the smooth porcelain surface.
“Wh-What do you mean, a demon? Are you saying my son is possessed by a demon?”
“Not quite,” the man replied. “Haruo, what have you learned about demons?”
The woman frowned again that he was talking to no one and had instead ignored her question.
Haruo replied, the boy on the bed focusing in on the younger mage apprentice, listening to the soft, melodic voice. “There are many different types of demons, and they all have different purposes, and thus differing life forces which identify what type they are. There are some that possess others, some who make deals for power, and others that-”
“That feed on those who are weak,” his master finished for him. Itazura glanced at Haruo, who remained standing at the foot of the bed where he had left him.
The woman looked confused again. “Are you saying someone is feeding off of my son?”
Itazura glanced at the woman then focused back on his apprentice. “There are different types of demons who feed off of humans- the kind who feed off of humans who hold innate weaknesses, who have allowed themselves to be weakened by others or their own faults, and those who feed off of humans who are cursed, or, in this boy’s case, are suffering from other types of magic.”
“What types of magic, Master?” the apprentice asked as he peered curiously at his master through the dark room.
“What do you mean?” the woman cried.
“This boy,” Itazura replied, still speaking more to Haruo than to the young victim’s mother, “is suffering from the closeness of a past life influencing his current. There are… dark memories of a past life lingering too close to the surface, and the demon is feeding off of those memories. If we want to dispel the demon, we first need to bring those dark memories out, and eliminate them first.”
“What… what are you talking about? What memories!” the woman was becoming more and more exasperated. The mage she had hired wasn’t speaking to her, but instead kept talking to nothing. She needed answers.
The master mage turned back to the items piled on the bookshelf. “Boy,” he spoke, referring to the trembling figure on the bed whom he could still see through the image on the mirror beside him. “You’ve been having bad dreams?”
The boy shivered more profusely. “Y-Yes. But… how did you know?”
“I could feel your life force is in knots, and the source of the trouble is in your mind. What are your dreams about? What can you remember most clearly?” The mage put down the object he was holding, then rearranged the items on the bookshelf. He still hadn’t turned to look at the boy.
“A-A man. Big. Tall. S-Scary. He’s… he stands close to me, looming over me… and…” The boy shut his mouth and bit his lip, tears pooling at his eyes.
“Hmm,” Itazura mused.
“What does this mean?” the woman cried again. She looked at her son with large eyes.
Itazura glanced again at the mirror, his eyes staring at the figure of the boy reflected in it for several long moments. The rain continued to fall, the lightning struck and thunder rumbled off in the distance.
“Master?” Haruo finally spoke into the heavy silence.
“Looks like I’m gonna have to force the memories up.” He sighed. Then a big smile came to his lips.
“Then… you can help my son?” the woman asked, her voice unsteady.
“’Course.”
The woman let out a heaving breath in relief. “What do you need to do? Is there any way I can assist you?”
“Heh, shouldn’ta asked that,” the mage replied as he finally turned to face the room’s occupants.
“Master?” Haruo inquired, brows furrowing.
“You can leave, lady. You’re not gonna wanna be here for this.”
She frowned. She didn’t like the sound of that, coupled with the man’s reputation… “What for? What are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna rape your son.”
Her eyes grew impossibly wide. “Wh-What?” she couldn’t have heard him correctly. He rushed at her, pushing her out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it, smiling at the resolute click resounding through the room.
Then the woman reacted, screaming and shouting, pounding at the door, fumbling with the now locked door handle.
But the master mage just shrugged and returned to the depths of the room.
Haruo sighed as he watched his master’s approach. “Master, you really shouldn’t word it like that. It’s reckless. That’s why you have such a shady reputation for doing questionable things to reach your goals.”
Itazura just patted Haruo’s head of silky brown hair as he passed, then climbed onto the bed beside the still shivering boy. His hand approached the boy’s head again, and he pushed the boy down so he was laying flat on the bed, positioning himself over the boy.
The boy’s trembling intensified.
“Haruo, make sure you watch carefully,” Itazura repeated.
Haruo huffed. “Of course, Master.”
Itazura leaned forward, a hand trailing down the boy’s front and going lower. The boy screamed.
Then all at once the rain picked up, the wind outside causing the window to creak. The objects beside the mirror began to rattle and a strange pale blue glow began to emit from the mirror. The screaming and pounding at the door had stopped.
“Master?” Haruo inquired. Itazura was staring at the mirror, the boy under him shivering. Then Itazura turned his attention back to the boy and whispered in his ear. The boy’s eyes slid closed and Itazura allowed his tongue to trace the shell of the boy’s ear. His small body shivered and he squeezed his eyes closer.
Itazura pressed closer, and a shattering resounded through the suddenly silent room. Itazura looked again at the mirror, and the prominent crack spreading along the formerly smooth surface. The image altered and what was reflected was suddenly the image of a large, dark man, his clothes, old fashioned and filthy, were disheveled, his pants undone. He stared with dark, menacing eyes out of the mirror at Itazura.
The mage leaned down and again spoke softly to the boy, “Don’t open your eyes, no matter what.”
The boy nodded and squeezed his eyes tighter still, his body trembling in convulsions.
Itazura climbed off the boy and casually approached the mirror. The man reflected in the surface growled, and the boy still lying on the bed whimpered at the sound, then clutched his legs closer together.
“Really now, taking advantage of the boy’s weakness, how naughty of you,” Itazura stated playfully to the mirror. He reached up a hand and waggled a finger at the image. In a smooth sweeping motion, he brought his hand forward, a strange soft light emitting from his palm, then he pushed toward the mirror, a long string of light flowing to enwrap the glass. The man in the reflection was suddenly caught, and he growled more threateningly still, the boy whimpering more as the man grew louder and more angry, till the man was growling and panting harshly and the boy was curled in on himself again. Still, he kept his eyes shut.
Then Itazura pulled, and the man broke free of the mirror, the objects on the bookshelf fell forward and clattered, breaking on the floor. As the image of the man came free from the silvery surface it dissolved, until his own shattered image remained and the light rope gradually flickered out of existence.
The boy stopped shivering and uncurled his body, and Itazura approached the bed. “Feel better?”
The boy swallowed and nodded. “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Ah, go ahead.”
Slowly, the boy’s eyes opened and he glanced around the room. The mirror was broken, and the floor was littered with items once resting on his bookshelf, but otherwise there was no disturbance in the room. The boy sat up and blinked.
“The dreams should go away now, and gradually you won’t remember anything from that past life. And the demon won’t be bothering you anymore,” Itazura explained.
The boy blinked. Then the smile began to grow on his face, and he laughed. “Thank you, Master Itazura.”
Itazura smiled. “You are most welcome.”
Then the banging at the door began again, more harshly. The woman could be heard screaming and crying at the same time, and other men’s voices could be heard shouting to be let in as they banged and crashed against the door.
“Master,” Haruo murmured, crystal eyes staring at the door to the room.
“Hmm, looks like she went and got the police. Haruo, looks like we better make a quick escape.”
“But, how are you gonna do that?” the boy replied as he edged off the bed. “They’re blocking the door.”
“Haruo, we’re gonna have to use the evaporation method to transport.”
“Eh?” Haruo exclaimed as he turned his eyes from the pounding on the door. “Oh, of course, Master.”
“Might as well take the time to teach you now.”
“Now, Master?” he asked as he approached and reached out a hand to his master. The man took the smaller hand in his and grinned. “No time like the present, and this is the best way to learn.” Haruo frowned.
“Pay close attention, and we better hurry. Sounds like the door’s about to come off its hinges.”
Haruo nodded and frowned in concentration as he stood beside his master. “Alright, Haruo, shut your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Imagine each breath coming in and out past your throat, into your lungs. Feel the blood pumping through your body… one blood vessel at a time passing along your veins. One, then the next, then another… Feel your body dissipate, one cell, then the next, then another… Float in the air, penetrating all barriers… and now… picture home.”
And the two dissipated into the air, and faded into the night just as the door burst open and the boy’s mother rushed in, followed by half a dozen police ready to arrest the errant mage.
To Be Continued...
Comments and Suggestions are welcome. Let me know what you think!