There will be magic, chapter 23, RukixKai, RukaxYomi
Title: There will be magic
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 23/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, KaixRuki for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-15 for now
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 23
Fortunate to have thought of bringing their weapons with them, the two inside the tavern were busy fending off their foes when they heard Yomi's chilling scream. They instantly dashed out, only to stop frozen in their movements. Ruki stood in a pool of blood, laughing madly, as if possessed by some evil entity. Yomi and the others were no where to be seen. As soon as he was by Ruki's side, Kai shook him, hoping to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.
“Ruki, what happened? Are you ok? Where are the others?” He said, but the panther continued laughing, a strange flame burning in his eyes.
“Why are we not being followed?” The king wondered, but received no reply. Kai was too busy figuring out what was wrong with his lover.
“This isn't your blood, is it, Ruki? Whose is it?” Kai asked, already panicking.
“I ripped them apart, you know.” Ruki said, without really replying to Kai's question.
“Someone attacked you?”
“Did you know ghosts here bleed, Kai?”
It was obvious that it was impossible to talk with the panther. Kai was lost as to what was wrong with him. He didn't seem in shock, but he did seem out of his mind.
“Ruki, come here.” Kai urged, and tried to hug him. Instead, he was scratched by the panther's sharp and curved claws, claws which Kai knew for a fact Ruki couldn't have. “Ru?”
“Don't touch me, Kai. No one touches me, not anymore!” Ruki screamed.
His face was also morphing, Kai noted. His ears were becoming pointed, his eye shape was elongating and his teeth seemed sharper. It occurred to Kai that somehow Ruki might be losing control like Reita, with the exception that Reita could go back to his human form once they were out of the middle lands, whereas there was a big possibility that Ruki couldn't.
“I'm sorry, Ru.” Kai mumbled and then forcefully grabbed his mate. Ruki's claws drew deeper for a moment, before Ruki fell limp in his arms.
“What did you do?” The king asked.
“Put him to sleep. It was the only way. I just hope it stops the change.”
The dragon nodded.
“We have to find the others. What surprises me is that the men inside aren't following us. They clearly outnumbered us, so...”
“Ruka and Reita were with them. I can't believe those two would just allow themselves to be dragged away. And besides, apart from the blood around and on Ruki, there's no evidence of a fight.”
“The horses aren't here either.”
“Come on, even if we have to turn this town upside down, we will find them.”
“Are you okay carrying him?” The dragon asked. Kai smiled gently when gazing at his love's sleeping face and nodded. After everything that had happened, it seemed almost miraculous that the roc could still easily show that kind of expression.
Right across the road from the tavern was the tallest building in the area, and that's where they headed. Whereas all the houses in town were constructed on a rectangular lot of land, their architectural plan being also rectangular or square, this building was a pentagonal construction. It didn't have two stories like the other houses either, but only one, and a really high, pointy roof, finished by a steeple. It had tall, massive windows, coloured so as to represent some sort of landscapes or pictures. The front and the doors were also unusually tall and wide and heavily sculpted.
Everywhere in town, pieces of glass or wood or iron were missing, as if a powerful wind had broken the windows and took pieces of the houses away with it. This structure was no exception, for here and there, one could see the missing pieces of glass, the holes in the wood, the empty places in the fence. This building might have been pretty when constructed, but now, it suffered from the decay that plagued every single other thing in this town, so it could only trigger pity and surprise in the hearts of anyone that would throw a glance its way. The decay of beautiful constructions always affects the looker more than the deterioration and even disappearance of a normal one.
“What do you think this is?” The roc asked when they were standing right in front of the doors.
“It must have some special purpose for it to be so different from the other houses. Let's go in.”
The dragon tried pushing the doors, but they didn't budge, no matter how much he shoved and considering the dragon's physical strength, the doors must have been locked.
“Let's find some other place. Some other kind of shop or something...”
Dred was a small town, stretching on the two sides of the main road. Behind the parallel rows of houses, there were barren gardens and then nothing but the emptiness of the plain. However, there was one solitary building about a few miles behind the town, at the end of a small dirt road, starting behind the building whose doors the dragon had in vain tried to open.
“What do you think that building is?”
“I just hope it's some public construction, because we should find more answers from such a place than a dwelling.”
“Dwelling?” Kai chuckled.
“What's wrong with that?”
“It just sounds so... weird. They are humans you know. Dwelling somehow agrees more with other species.”
“Mhm. Perhaps.”
Chatting in this way, they quickly found themselves in front of the building. The fact that, unlike every other house in town, this construction seemed to be unaffected by erosion, caught their attention immediately. However, instead of bringing joy to their hearts, they just shuddered in front of the block of stone that was the structure in front of them. It had only two small, barred windows, that even if they hadn't been covered with paper on the inside, couldn't have allowed much light inside anyway, absolutely no decoration on its stone walls, except for the green of the lichens and weeds that had grown with the passage of time. The door was made of dark, almost black wood and it seemed to repel the daring soul that might chance himself in front of it. In white letters that with time had become blacker and blacker, up to the point where it was difficult to even read the one word, was written: “Jail”.
“This might not be the best place to come to.” Kai said and gulped.
Immediately as he voiced his thoughts, with a deep screech, the heavy door slowly opened, inviting them inside.
“Stay here.” The dragon said. Kai was about to oppose that, but after hearing the king's argument, reluctantly nodded. “If I don't come out in half an hour, feel free to charge in. I don't think I'll be needing your help though.” The king said with a snicker.
Kai, with Ruki in his arms, was left outside waiting. As soon as the king had gone in, the door closed behind him. Kai started counting the seconds before he'd have to barge in.
It was pitch black inside, no light whatsoever. It was also extremely cold and wet and hard to breathe, as if the whole place had actually been built on the bottom of the ocean. The dragon dreaded fumbling around in the dark, touching whoever knows what, but he also knew it wasn't advisable to use magic. He settled with asking: “Is anyone here?”
There was no answer. He decided he'd face the humiliation and stumble around in the dark rather than use his magic. He stretched out his hands and proceeded advancing along the wall to the left. It was as cold as he thought it would be, and as humid as he would have rather it not had been. He hated touching the slippery rock and hated even more the anticipation of not knowing what he would touch next. Suddenly, his feet bumped into the wooden legs of something, a table or a chair, he figured. The dragon stretched his hands in that direction, hoping to find a table, and maybe on top of that, a lamp. Instead, his fingers found an oily lump of some sort of threads. And in the silence of the chamber, a thin voice spoke:
“That feels good, don't stop.”
If he weren't the king of the dragons, the most brave, wise, benevolent etc. etc. race upon the face of the earth, the dragon would have squealed and ran away. But since he indeed was the king of the dragons, his pride wouldn't let him do something like that.
“Who are you? And why didn't you answer me before?” He asked, not realizing his voice was a lot less threatening than he had intended it to be. No reply came. He was starting to get annoyed. He continued feeling his way through the dark and indeed found a small lamp on top of the table. No matter how much he searched, he didn't find anything he could light it with. Resigned, he snapped his fingers a bit and the wick ignited, the lamp spreading a soft glow around the room. With dread, the dragon turned his gaze towards the chair, only to find a skeleton in it. What he had felt earlier had been what was left of the long locks of hair that once belonged to the dead man.
“Ah, haven't seen a light in centuries, me thinks.” The same voice spoke again. This time, the dragon spotted the one to speak. He, probably better said it, was floating above the skeleton, the light shining through its transparent form and reaching to the far corners of the room, behind it.
“You're a ghost.” The king all but mumbled. His throat didn't seem to work properly.
“Gee, don't you say!” The ghost said, rolling its eyes. Okay, so maybe he had stated the obvious.
“Why didn't you answer me earlier?”
“I can't hear you.”
“But you're answering just fine now.”
“I'm reading your lips, you idiot.”
He really hated the ghost.
“Why are you here?”
“Do you have anymore bright questions? Probably because I DIED.” The ghost nearly screamed his lung out. He sure was snappy. “And I can't leave this place.”
“What happened to this town?”
“What's wrong with it?”
“It seems dead. There's no one in the streets, not a trace of a human being, not a sound of anything, the houses are falling apart, everything is falling apart. Except this place, at least. We went to the tavern, and even though we were attacked by the ones inside, they didn't follow us out...”
“What do you think is wrong with it?” The king could swear that the ghost's eyes were twinkling in the darkness. It must have been lonely.
“The town is dead, isn't it?”
“PinPon!”
“But someone told us that it wouldn't be.”
“I don't know how that is possible but... this town is cursed. By me, to be more precise. To make the long story short... You see, I died here for nothing. I didn't belong in jail. I just happened to fall in love with the town chief's daughter, and to my disgrace, she liked me back. That got me condemned to death by starvation. I don't think there's a more gruesome way to die. The only thing I could think about in those days before dying, except food and water, was how she was not worth it. They destroyed every bit of humanity I had. Once I did die, I found out I couldn't move on and so, I cursed them, each and every one of the townspeople, because none tried to help. A ghost's curse, I guess it's pretty powerful.”
“Then why were there people in the tavern.”
“Did I mention I have a habit of failing at whatever I do?” The ghost replied, scratching his head, seeming shy all of a sudden.
“Yeah, I wanted them to suffer the same pain I did. I guess they turned out into some kind of living ghost-zombie things, maybe...”
“Maybe?”
“Hey, I'm not out there, you know.”
“Our friends disappeared. Only one of them was left behind, drenched in blood that was not his. Could you shed some light onto that?”
“I don't know about your friend, but you did mention they never followed you out. They must be trapped in the buildings, like I am. I did want them to suffer like me after all. But when I cursed them, they weren't dead, so they're probably living in some way, maybe immortal? I think that explains the blood.”
“That still doesn't tell me how my friends disappeared.”
“Well, maybe they went in somewhere. The inside of the house and the world outside may be completely different worlds. They might simply be trapped in the other one. Your friend might have been the lucky one to get out.”
“But two of them were really, really strong. I can't imagine anyone...”
“Listen, I'm just guessing here too, you know. Truth is, I didn't even know my curse worked until you told me.”
“Why are you helping me?” The king asked, a bit suspicious.
“I just miss talking with someone. Cooped up in here for who knows how long...”
“Do you have any idea how I might find my friends?”
“Not really, just that sometimes, the things you're desperate to find are right under your nose.”
The king got the saying, but didn't see exactly how it could help him find Yomi and the others. Since there was probably nothing left he could get out from the ghost, he sat up to leave, but he found himself addressing the ghost again:
“Is there anything I can do for you?” It wasn't like him to pity, and yet...
“Burn this place.”
“I can't burn stone.”
“No, not the building itself, what's inside it, my remains. I might be able to finally rest in peace if you do that.”
“What about the town? If I burn it, the people inside might also find their peace.”
“They don't deserve it.” The ghost answered and for the first time, the king witnessed its evil, written clearly on its face. “Besides, what could they be complaining about? I made them immortal after all.” The dragon didn't argue, but did as asked, took the lamp and spilled the oil on top of the skeleton and then set it on fire, before exiting the jail. He didn't stop to see whether the ghost was still there.
“Just on time. I was about to charge in!” Kai breathed relieved. “Did you learn anything useful?”
“Yeah, about what is going on here, but not about where our friends are. We better go back there.”
A/N: Phew, this was a long one.
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 23/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, KaixRuki for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-15 for now
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 23
Fortunate to have thought of bringing their weapons with them, the two inside the tavern were busy fending off their foes when they heard Yomi's chilling scream. They instantly dashed out, only to stop frozen in their movements. Ruki stood in a pool of blood, laughing madly, as if possessed by some evil entity. Yomi and the others were no where to be seen. As soon as he was by Ruki's side, Kai shook him, hoping to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.
“Ruki, what happened? Are you ok? Where are the others?” He said, but the panther continued laughing, a strange flame burning in his eyes.
“Why are we not being followed?” The king wondered, but received no reply. Kai was too busy figuring out what was wrong with his lover.
“This isn't your blood, is it, Ruki? Whose is it?” Kai asked, already panicking.
“I ripped them apart, you know.” Ruki said, without really replying to Kai's question.
“Someone attacked you?”
“Did you know ghosts here bleed, Kai?”
It was obvious that it was impossible to talk with the panther. Kai was lost as to what was wrong with him. He didn't seem in shock, but he did seem out of his mind.
“Ruki, come here.” Kai urged, and tried to hug him. Instead, he was scratched by the panther's sharp and curved claws, claws which Kai knew for a fact Ruki couldn't have. “Ru?”
“Don't touch me, Kai. No one touches me, not anymore!” Ruki screamed.
His face was also morphing, Kai noted. His ears were becoming pointed, his eye shape was elongating and his teeth seemed sharper. It occurred to Kai that somehow Ruki might be losing control like Reita, with the exception that Reita could go back to his human form once they were out of the middle lands, whereas there was a big possibility that Ruki couldn't.
“I'm sorry, Ru.” Kai mumbled and then forcefully grabbed his mate. Ruki's claws drew deeper for a moment, before Ruki fell limp in his arms.
“What did you do?” The king asked.
“Put him to sleep. It was the only way. I just hope it stops the change.”
The dragon nodded.
“We have to find the others. What surprises me is that the men inside aren't following us. They clearly outnumbered us, so...”
“Ruka and Reita were with them. I can't believe those two would just allow themselves to be dragged away. And besides, apart from the blood around and on Ruki, there's no evidence of a fight.”
“The horses aren't here either.”
“Come on, even if we have to turn this town upside down, we will find them.”
“Are you okay carrying him?” The dragon asked. Kai smiled gently when gazing at his love's sleeping face and nodded. After everything that had happened, it seemed almost miraculous that the roc could still easily show that kind of expression.
Right across the road from the tavern was the tallest building in the area, and that's where they headed. Whereas all the houses in town were constructed on a rectangular lot of land, their architectural plan being also rectangular or square, this building was a pentagonal construction. It didn't have two stories like the other houses either, but only one, and a really high, pointy roof, finished by a steeple. It had tall, massive windows, coloured so as to represent some sort of landscapes or pictures. The front and the doors were also unusually tall and wide and heavily sculpted.
Everywhere in town, pieces of glass or wood or iron were missing, as if a powerful wind had broken the windows and took pieces of the houses away with it. This structure was no exception, for here and there, one could see the missing pieces of glass, the holes in the wood, the empty places in the fence. This building might have been pretty when constructed, but now, it suffered from the decay that plagued every single other thing in this town, so it could only trigger pity and surprise in the hearts of anyone that would throw a glance its way. The decay of beautiful constructions always affects the looker more than the deterioration and even disappearance of a normal one.
“What do you think this is?” The roc asked when they were standing right in front of the doors.
“It must have some special purpose for it to be so different from the other houses. Let's go in.”
The dragon tried pushing the doors, but they didn't budge, no matter how much he shoved and considering the dragon's physical strength, the doors must have been locked.
“Let's find some other place. Some other kind of shop or something...”
Dred was a small town, stretching on the two sides of the main road. Behind the parallel rows of houses, there were barren gardens and then nothing but the emptiness of the plain. However, there was one solitary building about a few miles behind the town, at the end of a small dirt road, starting behind the building whose doors the dragon had in vain tried to open.
“What do you think that building is?”
“I just hope it's some public construction, because we should find more answers from such a place than a dwelling.”
“Dwelling?” Kai chuckled.
“What's wrong with that?”
“It just sounds so... weird. They are humans you know. Dwelling somehow agrees more with other species.”
“Mhm. Perhaps.”
Chatting in this way, they quickly found themselves in front of the building. The fact that, unlike every other house in town, this construction seemed to be unaffected by erosion, caught their attention immediately. However, instead of bringing joy to their hearts, they just shuddered in front of the block of stone that was the structure in front of them. It had only two small, barred windows, that even if they hadn't been covered with paper on the inside, couldn't have allowed much light inside anyway, absolutely no decoration on its stone walls, except for the green of the lichens and weeds that had grown with the passage of time. The door was made of dark, almost black wood and it seemed to repel the daring soul that might chance himself in front of it. In white letters that with time had become blacker and blacker, up to the point where it was difficult to even read the one word, was written: “Jail”.
“This might not be the best place to come to.” Kai said and gulped.
Immediately as he voiced his thoughts, with a deep screech, the heavy door slowly opened, inviting them inside.
“Stay here.” The dragon said. Kai was about to oppose that, but after hearing the king's argument, reluctantly nodded. “If I don't come out in half an hour, feel free to charge in. I don't think I'll be needing your help though.” The king said with a snicker.
Kai, with Ruki in his arms, was left outside waiting. As soon as the king had gone in, the door closed behind him. Kai started counting the seconds before he'd have to barge in.
It was pitch black inside, no light whatsoever. It was also extremely cold and wet and hard to breathe, as if the whole place had actually been built on the bottom of the ocean. The dragon dreaded fumbling around in the dark, touching whoever knows what, but he also knew it wasn't advisable to use magic. He settled with asking: “Is anyone here?”
There was no answer. He decided he'd face the humiliation and stumble around in the dark rather than use his magic. He stretched out his hands and proceeded advancing along the wall to the left. It was as cold as he thought it would be, and as humid as he would have rather it not had been. He hated touching the slippery rock and hated even more the anticipation of not knowing what he would touch next. Suddenly, his feet bumped into the wooden legs of something, a table or a chair, he figured. The dragon stretched his hands in that direction, hoping to find a table, and maybe on top of that, a lamp. Instead, his fingers found an oily lump of some sort of threads. And in the silence of the chamber, a thin voice spoke:
“That feels good, don't stop.”
If he weren't the king of the dragons, the most brave, wise, benevolent etc. etc. race upon the face of the earth, the dragon would have squealed and ran away. But since he indeed was the king of the dragons, his pride wouldn't let him do something like that.
“Who are you? And why didn't you answer me before?” He asked, not realizing his voice was a lot less threatening than he had intended it to be. No reply came. He was starting to get annoyed. He continued feeling his way through the dark and indeed found a small lamp on top of the table. No matter how much he searched, he didn't find anything he could light it with. Resigned, he snapped his fingers a bit and the wick ignited, the lamp spreading a soft glow around the room. With dread, the dragon turned his gaze towards the chair, only to find a skeleton in it. What he had felt earlier had been what was left of the long locks of hair that once belonged to the dead man.
“Ah, haven't seen a light in centuries, me thinks.” The same voice spoke again. This time, the dragon spotted the one to speak. He, probably better said it, was floating above the skeleton, the light shining through its transparent form and reaching to the far corners of the room, behind it.
“You're a ghost.” The king all but mumbled. His throat didn't seem to work properly.
“Gee, don't you say!” The ghost said, rolling its eyes. Okay, so maybe he had stated the obvious.
“Why didn't you answer me earlier?”
“I can't hear you.”
“But you're answering just fine now.”
“I'm reading your lips, you idiot.”
He really hated the ghost.
“Why are you here?”
“Do you have anymore bright questions? Probably because I DIED.” The ghost nearly screamed his lung out. He sure was snappy. “And I can't leave this place.”
“What happened to this town?”
“What's wrong with it?”
“It seems dead. There's no one in the streets, not a trace of a human being, not a sound of anything, the houses are falling apart, everything is falling apart. Except this place, at least. We went to the tavern, and even though we were attacked by the ones inside, they didn't follow us out...”
“What do you think is wrong with it?” The king could swear that the ghost's eyes were twinkling in the darkness. It must have been lonely.
“The town is dead, isn't it?”
“PinPon!”
“But someone told us that it wouldn't be.”
“I don't know how that is possible but... this town is cursed. By me, to be more precise. To make the long story short... You see, I died here for nothing. I didn't belong in jail. I just happened to fall in love with the town chief's daughter, and to my disgrace, she liked me back. That got me condemned to death by starvation. I don't think there's a more gruesome way to die. The only thing I could think about in those days before dying, except food and water, was how she was not worth it. They destroyed every bit of humanity I had. Once I did die, I found out I couldn't move on and so, I cursed them, each and every one of the townspeople, because none tried to help. A ghost's curse, I guess it's pretty powerful.”
“Then why were there people in the tavern.”
“Did I mention I have a habit of failing at whatever I do?” The ghost replied, scratching his head, seeming shy all of a sudden.
“Yeah, I wanted them to suffer the same pain I did. I guess they turned out into some kind of living ghost-zombie things, maybe...”
“Maybe?”
“Hey, I'm not out there, you know.”
“Our friends disappeared. Only one of them was left behind, drenched in blood that was not his. Could you shed some light onto that?”
“I don't know about your friend, but you did mention they never followed you out. They must be trapped in the buildings, like I am. I did want them to suffer like me after all. But when I cursed them, they weren't dead, so they're probably living in some way, maybe immortal? I think that explains the blood.”
“That still doesn't tell me how my friends disappeared.”
“Well, maybe they went in somewhere. The inside of the house and the world outside may be completely different worlds. They might simply be trapped in the other one. Your friend might have been the lucky one to get out.”
“But two of them were really, really strong. I can't imagine anyone...”
“Listen, I'm just guessing here too, you know. Truth is, I didn't even know my curse worked until you told me.”
“Why are you helping me?” The king asked, a bit suspicious.
“I just miss talking with someone. Cooped up in here for who knows how long...”
“Do you have any idea how I might find my friends?”
“Not really, just that sometimes, the things you're desperate to find are right under your nose.”
The king got the saying, but didn't see exactly how it could help him find Yomi and the others. Since there was probably nothing left he could get out from the ghost, he sat up to leave, but he found himself addressing the ghost again:
“Is there anything I can do for you?” It wasn't like him to pity, and yet...
“Burn this place.”
“I can't burn stone.”
“No, not the building itself, what's inside it, my remains. I might be able to finally rest in peace if you do that.”
“What about the town? If I burn it, the people inside might also find their peace.”
“They don't deserve it.” The ghost answered and for the first time, the king witnessed its evil, written clearly on its face. “Besides, what could they be complaining about? I made them immortal after all.” The dragon didn't argue, but did as asked, took the lamp and spilled the oil on top of the skeleton and then set it on fire, before exiting the jail. He didn't stop to see whether the ghost was still there.
“Just on time. I was about to charge in!” Kai breathed relieved. “Did you learn anything useful?”
“Yeah, about what is going on here, but not about where our friends are. We better go back there.”
A/N: Phew, this was a long one.