There will be magic, chapter 25, RukixKai, RukaxYomi
Title: There will be magic
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 25/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, KaixRuki for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-17, for this chapter
Warnings: will be angst, yaoi, a bit of gore here and there
Genre: AU, Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: The age of magic and mystery is coming towards its end. But what if someone that has the gift to see the future can join forces with others who have the power to stop it? What will be born then? What will be found?
Chapter 25
The vampire tried to relate what had happened a few hours earlier without leaving anything out, but of course it wasn't such an easy task to accomplish.
“We were outside the tavern, waiting for you, when the doors of the church opened widely and we heard someone's scream coming from inside before silence descended again. Ruki and Yomi got really worried, thinking that someone was in trouble and we should be investigating it. I tried to convince them to stay put, but well, my lover never seems able to listen to me. We couldn't just leave everything then and there, now could we, I argued, especially the horses. What if some thief was after us? They were hasty to brush away all my arguments and just for safe measure, ordered the pegasus to take to the skies and wait for our signal before finding us again. Knowing how intelligent those animals truly are, I rested assured that at least our supplies would be safe. And then, with me in the front and Reita guarding the back, we entered the church.
It was an ambush. As if out of nowhere several men attacked me and while I was busy fending them off, with the corner of my eyes I saw Reita fiercely protecting Ruki, Yomi and Asagi. Especially Asagi seemed to be out of it. He was white as a sheet and his red eyes pierced the dimness within the church. However, nothing I did could kill them. Not even I can regenerate as fast as these bastards and so, I changed my strategy and focussed on getting all of us out of the church. They surely understood my intentions for the doors locked themselves with a big bang.
I can't explain why Reita got distracted but all I know is that he chased one of them down a trap door beneath one of those booths over there and just like that disappeared.”
While Ruka explained all this, Kai tended to the dragon king's wounds. His throat was in a horrible condition, so horrible in fact that just the salve he had used when healing everyone's wounds so far did not heal it entirely.
“I could use my magic to heal you but I think we both saw that using magic is not the best idea. Reita's warning back there, in the forest, certainly seems real now, doesn't it?”
The dragon tried to speak but his voice came out scratchy and using it in itself was painful. He had the permanent sensation that his throat was bleeding and he was drinking his own blood. Not being a vampire, he did not like that feeling, so he restrained from using his voice as much as possible, managing a simple but edifying 'What now?'
“I simply bandage you and allow the skin to heal itself. Of course we'll keep using this.” He said, showing the cream he had applied in abundance earlier. “It will help with the skin and tissue regeneration. I hope that in a couple of days, you'll be as good as new. And since I can see the question in your eyes, don't even dare ask me how I became so good at reading you... I can't say if it will scar or not. I certainly hope not.”
“We need to find Reita.” Yomi interrupted all these explanations. He found positively infuriating the fact that only he seemed extremely anxious to find the tiger again.
“I'm sorry, Yomi, but I couldn't just let his wounds exposed to the air like that. And we needed to at least begin to understand what had happened.”
Yomi had already dashed towards the confessional, caring less for Kai's explanation than he probably should have. While trying to find the mechanism to open the trap, he accused them.
“I just can't forgive you for just staying there, discussing” he drawled “while Reita might very well be...” His frustration was obvious in his movements, his expression and the moisture gathering at the corner of his eyes, seeing that he did not manage to open the door.
Until the, the one named Aoi had simply chose to not interfere with the others' proceedings and watched them with interest, while leaning on one of the church's walls.
“The sextant is the only one who knows how to open that.” he voiced.
His intervention seemed to make everyone realize that there was someone else in the room.
“Who are you?” Yomi gritted. “And I swear to... if you do know how to open this and you're buying time for yourself...”
“Yomi, he helped us before.” Kai interfered. “I am interested in the answer to that question though.” Kai addressed the black-haired stranger.
“Well, I just like sticking my tale in a lot of things.” Aoi voiced. “Especially the interesting ones, of course. I rarely bother to help.” He shrugged.
“So you're not one of them, a villager?”
“Me, of course not. Do I even look like one of those barbarians?” Aoi flashed his teeth in a sinister smile that, perhaps not surprisingly for Kai, was not reflected in his eyes. The roc was wondering why he found reading this man so easy.
“You call them barbarians and yet, you did not try to help them out.”
Aoi shrugged. He didn't seem to want to answer that and the roc instinctively felt that there was far more behind his mask than either of them could imagine. Tired of the interminable discussion, Yomi made for the blocked door behind which the sextant and the woman were trapped. Aoi was the one to stop him before it was too late.
“Is it really a good idea to let the little one in there?” Rolled off his tongue before even Ruka had had the chance to move. And just like that, Yomi was frozen, his hand on the door knob. Ruka dragged his lover away from the door, or more like carried the immovable statue that had become the kitsune.
“What did you do? And whatever it is, release him right now!” He thundered and immediately, Yomi was collapsing in his arms.
“Let's just say I have this uncanny ability to turn things into stone. Or freeze them. Apart from a few other gifts.”
“You do know how to get to Reita, don't you?” Kai asked, sure that the answer would be affirmative. He was right when Aoi smiled, a true smile this time, and nodded.
“Well, yes.” Aoi chirped and having dealt with a mysterious character up till then, everyone was astonished to hear the bubbling sounds and the lively countenance and then simply pulverized when the mask was back on and everything seemed to have been a collective illusion. There was no other explanation for that kind of quick personality change. “But I want Reita.” Aoi announced and everyone held their breaths.
“What?” Yomi breathed.
“Oh, I won't hurt him or anything like that. I just get bored easily and he seems the most interesting and available one amongst you, so I want him.”
“For what?” Yomi was barely containing his rage.
“Whatever I feel like.” Aoi's cold answer came.
“Fuck you!” And Yomi ran back towards the door. “I'd rather face every single one of those again than hand over my friend like that.”
“Maybe I explained it wrong.” Aoi sighed. “I just want you to not intrude in whatever I have planned for him. Of course he will not be chained or anything like that. He would remain a free agent, as one would put it.”
The others seemed swayed by his arguments. Yomi was not. What were they so jittery about anyway? The two in there, against all of them, obviously didn't stand a chance. So without listening to what he considered was rubbish, and this time, without resistance, he cleared away the last obstacles blocking the door and opened it. The two attacked him immediately but he had been prepared for that. He could throw a punch or two if he wanted to, and he hadn't been wrong in assuming he wouldn't need to do much anyway since Ruka would be all over them the moment he was in any danger. His calculations had been strikingly accurate and the sextant and the woman were immobilised and dragged out of the sacristy and thrown in front of the confessional in question.
Ruka hadn't really thought Yomi could be that aggressive or determined, but he was caught unaware again by his lover's capacity to adapt to the situation. Even though Ruka and Kai had been the ones to render the two helpless, Yomi was the one towering over them, demanding the trap door be opened.
“Your tiger is dead.” The sextant maliciously replied. “There's no use in going down there now.”
“What is down there?” Kai asked.
“The catacombs and the 'persuasion' chamber.”
“He means the torture chamber.” Aoi supplied the translation.
“What happened to our friends? The tiger and those other two?” Yomi demanded, while pointing at his unconscious friends lying on two benches a bit to the side.
“I don't know what happened to those two.” He coughed, his words barely coming out because of the grip the kitsune had on his neck. “You know, seeing as I won't die even if you do that, there really is no need for me to answer your questions, is there? Unless, you give us something.”
“What do you want?” Why was he doing all this bargaining instead of saving his friends, Yomi wondered.
“Him. Or better said, his help.” The woman said and pointed at Aoi. Now they were confused.
“What are they talking about?” Kai demanded from Aoi.
“They think I'm able to break the curse.” he calmly replied.
“And are they right?” There was no reply.
“He said so!” The woman screamed. “He also knew you were coming.”
“And why are you in one piece?” Kai asked, the suspicion inside him growing and growing.
Aoi simply huffed. “As if they could get near me. Oh, and whether I can or not, I am not braking their curse.”
“Reita might be dead! If you want him so much, then why aren't you taking us to him?” Yomi screamed.
A brief shadow of sadness distorted the beautiful mask, before everything was back to normal again.
“I do not need to explain my reasons to you. I need your word that Reita will be mine and no one else's. And then, I can go after him.”
“You are not his destiny.” Asagi's faint voice bewildered them and the dragon was by his side in a flash, cradling him, and forcing his voice to come out and ask what was wrong, whether he was fine. Asagi simply hugged his dear friend briefly before facing Aoi once more. “You know that. And you are trying to bend it. It won't work.”
“Fate is not a fixed, unchangeable thing, that we just have to accept; no matter what you might thing, or want to think. And I am especially adverse at simply accepting this one. Now what do you think his death might do to this world? And on the other hand, what effect might I have on him?” He asked the last question with a pretence of modesty. “He is still free you know, to choose me or the other.”
“That other is your...”
“That's enough. You might think you know everything but you don't. I deserve my chance.”
“Why not the Shen? Why the white tiger?”
“Because he simply takes your breath away.”
And only at hearing that did the others firmly grasp what Aoi was saying. He was infatuated with Reita. How and why, they did not know, and finding out about his passion didn't help them in the least in figuring him out.
A/N: A bit shorter this time, but I just had to cut it there. And yes, we have a new pairing! hehe
Thanks you and hugs to all my lovely readers AND commenters. You made my day the last time. Squishes
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 25/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, KaixRuki for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-17, for this chapter
Warnings: will be angst, yaoi, a bit of gore here and there
Genre: AU, Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: The age of magic and mystery is coming towards its end. But what if someone that has the gift to see the future can join forces with others who have the power to stop it? What will be born then? What will be found?
Chapter 25
The vampire tried to relate what had happened a few hours earlier without leaving anything out, but of course it wasn't such an easy task to accomplish.
“We were outside the tavern, waiting for you, when the doors of the church opened widely and we heard someone's scream coming from inside before silence descended again. Ruki and Yomi got really worried, thinking that someone was in trouble and we should be investigating it. I tried to convince them to stay put, but well, my lover never seems able to listen to me. We couldn't just leave everything then and there, now could we, I argued, especially the horses. What if some thief was after us? They were hasty to brush away all my arguments and just for safe measure, ordered the pegasus to take to the skies and wait for our signal before finding us again. Knowing how intelligent those animals truly are, I rested assured that at least our supplies would be safe. And then, with me in the front and Reita guarding the back, we entered the church.
It was an ambush. As if out of nowhere several men attacked me and while I was busy fending them off, with the corner of my eyes I saw Reita fiercely protecting Ruki, Yomi and Asagi. Especially Asagi seemed to be out of it. He was white as a sheet and his red eyes pierced the dimness within the church. However, nothing I did could kill them. Not even I can regenerate as fast as these bastards and so, I changed my strategy and focussed on getting all of us out of the church. They surely understood my intentions for the doors locked themselves with a big bang.
I can't explain why Reita got distracted but all I know is that he chased one of them down a trap door beneath one of those booths over there and just like that disappeared.”
While Ruka explained all this, Kai tended to the dragon king's wounds. His throat was in a horrible condition, so horrible in fact that just the salve he had used when healing everyone's wounds so far did not heal it entirely.
“I could use my magic to heal you but I think we both saw that using magic is not the best idea. Reita's warning back there, in the forest, certainly seems real now, doesn't it?”
The dragon tried to speak but his voice came out scratchy and using it in itself was painful. He had the permanent sensation that his throat was bleeding and he was drinking his own blood. Not being a vampire, he did not like that feeling, so he restrained from using his voice as much as possible, managing a simple but edifying 'What now?'
“I simply bandage you and allow the skin to heal itself. Of course we'll keep using this.” He said, showing the cream he had applied in abundance earlier. “It will help with the skin and tissue regeneration. I hope that in a couple of days, you'll be as good as new. And since I can see the question in your eyes, don't even dare ask me how I became so good at reading you... I can't say if it will scar or not. I certainly hope not.”
“We need to find Reita.” Yomi interrupted all these explanations. He found positively infuriating the fact that only he seemed extremely anxious to find the tiger again.
“I'm sorry, Yomi, but I couldn't just let his wounds exposed to the air like that. And we needed to at least begin to understand what had happened.”
Yomi had already dashed towards the confessional, caring less for Kai's explanation than he probably should have. While trying to find the mechanism to open the trap, he accused them.
“I just can't forgive you for just staying there, discussing” he drawled “while Reita might very well be...” His frustration was obvious in his movements, his expression and the moisture gathering at the corner of his eyes, seeing that he did not manage to open the door.
Until the, the one named Aoi had simply chose to not interfere with the others' proceedings and watched them with interest, while leaning on one of the church's walls.
“The sextant is the only one who knows how to open that.” he voiced.
His intervention seemed to make everyone realize that there was someone else in the room.
“Who are you?” Yomi gritted. “And I swear to... if you do know how to open this and you're buying time for yourself...”
“Yomi, he helped us before.” Kai interfered. “I am interested in the answer to that question though.” Kai addressed the black-haired stranger.
“Well, I just like sticking my tale in a lot of things.” Aoi voiced. “Especially the interesting ones, of course. I rarely bother to help.” He shrugged.
“So you're not one of them, a villager?”
“Me, of course not. Do I even look like one of those barbarians?” Aoi flashed his teeth in a sinister smile that, perhaps not surprisingly for Kai, was not reflected in his eyes. The roc was wondering why he found reading this man so easy.
“You call them barbarians and yet, you did not try to help them out.”
Aoi shrugged. He didn't seem to want to answer that and the roc instinctively felt that there was far more behind his mask than either of them could imagine. Tired of the interminable discussion, Yomi made for the blocked door behind which the sextant and the woman were trapped. Aoi was the one to stop him before it was too late.
“Is it really a good idea to let the little one in there?” Rolled off his tongue before even Ruka had had the chance to move. And just like that, Yomi was frozen, his hand on the door knob. Ruka dragged his lover away from the door, or more like carried the immovable statue that had become the kitsune.
“What did you do? And whatever it is, release him right now!” He thundered and immediately, Yomi was collapsing in his arms.
“Let's just say I have this uncanny ability to turn things into stone. Or freeze them. Apart from a few other gifts.”
“You do know how to get to Reita, don't you?” Kai asked, sure that the answer would be affirmative. He was right when Aoi smiled, a true smile this time, and nodded.
“Well, yes.” Aoi chirped and having dealt with a mysterious character up till then, everyone was astonished to hear the bubbling sounds and the lively countenance and then simply pulverized when the mask was back on and everything seemed to have been a collective illusion. There was no other explanation for that kind of quick personality change. “But I want Reita.” Aoi announced and everyone held their breaths.
“What?” Yomi breathed.
“Oh, I won't hurt him or anything like that. I just get bored easily and he seems the most interesting and available one amongst you, so I want him.”
“For what?” Yomi was barely containing his rage.
“Whatever I feel like.” Aoi's cold answer came.
“Fuck you!” And Yomi ran back towards the door. “I'd rather face every single one of those again than hand over my friend like that.”
“Maybe I explained it wrong.” Aoi sighed. “I just want you to not intrude in whatever I have planned for him. Of course he will not be chained or anything like that. He would remain a free agent, as one would put it.”
The others seemed swayed by his arguments. Yomi was not. What were they so jittery about anyway? The two in there, against all of them, obviously didn't stand a chance. So without listening to what he considered was rubbish, and this time, without resistance, he cleared away the last obstacles blocking the door and opened it. The two attacked him immediately but he had been prepared for that. He could throw a punch or two if he wanted to, and he hadn't been wrong in assuming he wouldn't need to do much anyway since Ruka would be all over them the moment he was in any danger. His calculations had been strikingly accurate and the sextant and the woman were immobilised and dragged out of the sacristy and thrown in front of the confessional in question.
Ruka hadn't really thought Yomi could be that aggressive or determined, but he was caught unaware again by his lover's capacity to adapt to the situation. Even though Ruka and Kai had been the ones to render the two helpless, Yomi was the one towering over them, demanding the trap door be opened.
“Your tiger is dead.” The sextant maliciously replied. “There's no use in going down there now.”
“What is down there?” Kai asked.
“The catacombs and the 'persuasion' chamber.”
“He means the torture chamber.” Aoi supplied the translation.
“What happened to our friends? The tiger and those other two?” Yomi demanded, while pointing at his unconscious friends lying on two benches a bit to the side.
“I don't know what happened to those two.” He coughed, his words barely coming out because of the grip the kitsune had on his neck. “You know, seeing as I won't die even if you do that, there really is no need for me to answer your questions, is there? Unless, you give us something.”
“What do you want?” Why was he doing all this bargaining instead of saving his friends, Yomi wondered.
“Him. Or better said, his help.” The woman said and pointed at Aoi. Now they were confused.
“What are they talking about?” Kai demanded from Aoi.
“They think I'm able to break the curse.” he calmly replied.
“And are they right?” There was no reply.
“He said so!” The woman screamed. “He also knew you were coming.”
“And why are you in one piece?” Kai asked, the suspicion inside him growing and growing.
Aoi simply huffed. “As if they could get near me. Oh, and whether I can or not, I am not braking their curse.”
“Reita might be dead! If you want him so much, then why aren't you taking us to him?” Yomi screamed.
A brief shadow of sadness distorted the beautiful mask, before everything was back to normal again.
“I do not need to explain my reasons to you. I need your word that Reita will be mine and no one else's. And then, I can go after him.”
“You are not his destiny.” Asagi's faint voice bewildered them and the dragon was by his side in a flash, cradling him, and forcing his voice to come out and ask what was wrong, whether he was fine. Asagi simply hugged his dear friend briefly before facing Aoi once more. “You know that. And you are trying to bend it. It won't work.”
“Fate is not a fixed, unchangeable thing, that we just have to accept; no matter what you might thing, or want to think. And I am especially adverse at simply accepting this one. Now what do you think his death might do to this world? And on the other hand, what effect might I have on him?” He asked the last question with a pretence of modesty. “He is still free you know, to choose me or the other.”
“That other is your...”
“That's enough. You might think you know everything but you don't. I deserve my chance.”
“Why not the Shen? Why the white tiger?”
“Because he simply takes your breath away.”
And only at hearing that did the others firmly grasp what Aoi was saying. He was infatuated with Reita. How and why, they did not know, and finding out about his passion didn't help them in the least in figuring him out.
A/N: A bit shorter this time, but I just had to cut it there. And yes, we have a new pairing! hehe
Thanks you and hugs to all my lovely readers AND commenters. You made my day the last time. Squishes