Prologue:
The body was at the back of the alley.
Wailing sirens and the chatter of police officers and radios drifted up into the neon-lit haze as exclaiming throngs of people and monsters swarmed and crowded and shoved behind yellow security tape to get a better look at the body. A tall dragon-like beast towered over the group of humans and their partners, pushing back anyone who got too far. Under the bright glare of the neon signs and the police photographer's lights, there was no avoiding the gruesome sight.
The corpse's glazed eyes stared vacantly up at the sky, its mouth sagging slightly in slack terror. There were no abrasions or open wounds to indicate the cause of death. It simply looked like a broken doll that had been carelessly cast away in the snow.
This mess had once been a boy.
A young tamer, to be more specific, for the distinctive gleam of a digivice hung from his waist, shattered and broken. A Lopmon—presumably belonging to the tamer— hovered over the body mournfully, its sobs lost in the chaotic din of sirens and indistinct voices.
The police department was utterly baffled.
There were no splashes of blood on the ground, no spray on the walls, no blood spilled from open wounds. The body was drained of blood.
The reason for that was immediately apparent, if not jaw-droppingly impossible.
The corpse lay in the center of a massive symbol, scrawled in what was presumably the boy's own blood. It had been done meticulously and precisely, with painstaking attention to detail. There was no spatter, no drips. The lines were neat and perfect. The symbol's perimeter extended outwards, and within the closed circle there were lines of ancient symbols, which nobody present at the scene could decipher. It was one large insignia of blood.
The sirens continued to wail, glowing red and blue. The photographer's lights were still flashing in blinding, jagged rhythms. Amongst the teeming, exclaiming crowds, one man stood out. His skin was deathly pale, gleaming pink and orange in the glare of the neon lights and the blue-red of the sirens. He wore a crisp black dress suit, with a black tie and black pants.
Nobody noticed that his irises were an intense, vivid shade of red.
The man calmly took in the scene, his face expressionless. He was eerily still and calm amid the turmoil. Nobody seemed to notice him at all.
A woman's voice rang out behind the man, and he turned. "How do you do, Daimon?"
Daimon nodded in pleasure. "If it isn't Lilith."
The woman had a lovely, lean body under a black dress that contrasted her pale skin. Her hair was black, flowing in silky rivulets across her bared shoulders and draping just over her black lace corset. At first glance, her eyes could have passed for deep brown, but as a flash of the photographer's light illuminated her slender face, they briefly blazed red; the same shade as Daimon's eyes. Her lips curved up in a gentle smile. "Of course it's me."
"I'm here on business. Coincidentally, it was to find you." He gestured at the corpse of the tamer in the alley. "But why would leave it in public? This is your work, is it not?"
Lilith shrugged, indifferent. "Well…yes, I killed him, if that's what you're asking."
"He's quite displeased with you, by the way. He sent me out to find you, and here I find this...thing. That was quite a job you did. You and your curses, Lilith. Must you be so cruel?"
Lilith rolled her eyes. "Ha! That silly kid tried to fight me. Me! With an absurd Lopmon. Honestly." She shook her head, smirking. "Well, it'll teach them a fine lesson." When she saw Daimon's glare, she lowered her head, mumbling under her breath "…What?"
"Lilith, what do you intend to gain from this meaningless malice?"
The woman brought her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "That Lopmon…I think he could be useful for a little while. We could use someone from their species…however stupid or foolish as they are, they can do astounding things sometimes."
"Don't tell me…" Daimon's eyes narrowed slightly.
Lilith grinned wickedly. "It'll help us recover what was stolen from us. That should make our master happy."
Daimon's face darkened. "You hold a deep bitterness against the humans. You foolishly consider yourself above them—"
"But we are above them, Dai! We…we should have been respected and feared. But no! They take our lands, they use us to fight for their own glory and gain. Without us, they're weak! And the tamers! Those stupid, hateful tamers. Strutting about in our wilderness as though the land belonged to them!"
Daimon held Lilith's gaze with cold eyes. "Lilith, listen to what you're saying. You just killed a young child, corrupted his partner's data…and then you're going to use it to your own advantage, use the poor monster like the humans use us. Although they can be foolish, they can also hold unimaginable kindness and wisdom. We need the humans, and they need us. Please... do not become like the worst of them, Lilith."
Lilith shook her head stubbornly, glaring at the man with a curious mixture of rage and anguish.
"I just want our mother back! I-is that so much to ask…Dai?"
He was silent.
Lilith's face suddenly crumpled, and she hastily wiped at one eye with the back of her hand. It was a strangely innocent, childlike gesture, and the man drew back slightly, uncertain. It was unnerving to see her suddenly so weak...
"Lilith…"
"You be quiet!" She hissed with a renewed rage, and quickly rearranged her face into a composed, flawless mask. The tremor and the tears had retreated, and the wall was up again.
She turned away as a particularly strong gust of wind whipped her hair about wildly. The hair blurred in motion, her skin writhing under her back…and wings sprouted out. Her feet thumped against the asphalt as the woman launched herself into the air in a series of graceful, arching leaps, and suddenly she was on the roof of the brick building overlooking the alley, ignored by all else.
The woman stood poised, trembling slightly. She stood there, glaring down at the crowd and the pale-faced man, then turned and fled into the night.
The man gazed upwards at where the woman had previously stood. He turned away.
A few feet away where the throngs of massed people spilled over and ended at the curbs and the ice-glazed streets began, a man slipped out the rear of the crowd and slowly stalked away into the dark asphalt road.
High above the skyscrapers, the slight curve of the moon slowly faded behind foreboding black fog.
A/N: Woo, another original tamers story.
and guess what there might be shoujo-ai or whatever you guys call it these days
Only because I was looking at two of the character's relationships and I figured that someone might see some deeper relationship implied and freak out and stuff so yeah. If you're the type to freak out about two girls getting together then maybe you just might wanna skip out on this one.
toodles