Thanks to Dantheman7777, I have now become a hopeless DNAngel fan. It's all his fault. Oh yeah, and this is based just after the destruction of the Second Hand of Time (there were approximately 2 months between the time of its demise and the end of the series that are unaccounted for, so bear w/ me).
Chapter 1: Set in Motion
The darkness meant nothing to her.
There had been no obstacles so far to deter her from her goal, and she had never failed before. The corridor narrowed and ended abruptly, but rubbing the amulet on her wrist revealed hidden stairs invisible to the unaided eye. She dashed up the steps circling the inside of the tower, one hand grasping an ancient weapon only known as the andora.
It resembled a steel staff, but at the very top a twin pair of crescent blades angled up. Runes carved into the shaft of the weapon described a story that had never been told and would never be told thanks to the forgetfulness of mankind. There were secrets about this creation which had not been known since the time of its forging centuries ago. It was one of the last relics from a past beyond recollection.
A door loomed ahead, pale blue light issuing from its opening like cold starlight. The girl came up short and pressed her back against the wall. Silence and secrecy had been her goal this time rather than a brash frontal assault. Wizards were subtler in their crafts than barbarians and tended to have rather nasty traps laid out for meddlers. Luckily there didn't seem to be any so far. Of course he was a weather-wizard, so little would be here that did not have something to do with the Elements.
The black-haired girl edged closer, squinting to see into the softly lit interior of the room. It appeared to be empty. She never trusted appearances. Peering through, she could not see her target, nor its protector. This was his abode and he was missing. Something was wrong. Reaching forward, her hand came up against a solid barrier where there should have been empty space.
"Lady Imbri, I believe," came a sneering voice above her.
Cursing her foolishness to fall for an illusion, the intruder grasped her weapon and glared upward where her enemy had been watching her since she'd mounted the tower's winding stair. He was shrouded in a darkness that her enhanced sight could not penetrate.
"Keep your comments to yourself and hand over the jewel you stole from Lord Todur."
"I see no reason why I should. You'd have done better to ignore his summons. Keep to your monster-slaying, Knightess. Leave now and I will not kill you."
"Did you really think it would be that easy to get rid of me?" She grinned suddenly, sensing rather than seeing a shadow detach itself from the ceiling and descend toward her. She took on a defensive stance, andora held ready. "Shall we battle?"
He didn't bother to answer. The wizard stood on nothing in the center of the tower and golden sparks flared as he invoked his magic. At that same moment Imbri brought the andora up and twirled it, spinning faster and faster until it appeared to be a steel shield before her body. The fire arcing toward her glanced off harmlessly. The wizard in his deep gray cloak seemed astonished for a second and then with a wave of his hand a sheet of ice slammed into her.
Imbri tried to fend it off, but the frost numbed her hands and slowed the spinning staff. When it almost slipped from her fingers she abandoned that defense entirely and leaped wildly to avoid the remainder of the wizard's freezing attack. She flipped once in midair and landed with hardly a sound on the opposite side of the tower; an impossible feat for any but a knightess.
Now quite a bit lower than she'd been a moment before, she used her new position to get beneath the wizard's defenses before he could recover. A pair of small daggers hidden inside her sleeves flew out and struck him. One pierced his right arm and he jerked so quickly that the second impaled him in the throat.
His eyes bulged and his mouth gaped open in shock as dark blood dripped onto his chest. A shimmering light encompassed his body and he dropped, no longer supported by his magic. He landed on the stone floor far below with a sickening crunch.
Imbri gasped as she watched him fall. She'd been aiming for his other arm so that he could not use magic against her by waving his hands.
The death of a weather-wizard was on her head!
Retrieving the jewel was of no importance now. Lord Todur would raise her head on a spike if she didn't flee to her sovereign. Once she explained the situation—no. The word "accident" was not one associated with knightesses. Unless she performed some awe-inspiring feat, like defending the capital city from a raging beast in full view of the public, her life was forfeit.
A deafening roar split the ominous silence that had fallen with the death of the wizard. A window near the ceiling cracked and widened as something forced its way through. A scaled head became visible, and Imbri realized she was staring at the wizard's Familiar: a black wyvern.
At least now she had the raging beast.
The large, two-legged dragon bugled again and breathed a stream of licking flames straight down at the human that had stolen the life of its master. Imbri leaped once more to avoid the blazing heat, but she noticed that a warm glow had appeared inside the white crystal around her wrist. Strange things often happened after the death of a wizard; some favorable, some not so much, but all bizarre.
The amulet left her mind as the wyvern tore apart the tower wall. Its wings were too large to extend inside, and so they folded flat against its back as it slithered through the hole, gripping broken stone and steps with its talons. A third thunderous bellow shook the tower and made Imbri's ears ring as the horrifying cry echoed all around her.
She jumped five feet straight up at the exact moment that the wyvern buried its jaws in the spot she'd been standing. While it spat out stone instead of human bones, the knightess landed on its head just behind the horns. Furious, it shook and writhed and lashed trying to dislodge the unwanted passenger, but Imbri clung too tightly.
Suddenly a deep blue mist surrounded her stemming from the amulet. There came a silence that drew in all sound so that even as she cried out there was nothing to hear, and then the tower turned into a night sky so brilliant that she could hardly stand to look at it, and yet she could not close her eyes.
Then all the stars were gone and only darkness remained.
(X)
Daisuke lay in bed, finally drifting off after hours of restless tossing and turning. All the events of the past year were beginning to pile up on him. The discovery of Dark on his fourteenth birthday had only been the beginning of a nightmare. A genetic curse attaching him to the legendary Phantom Thief was not the sort of present he'd been looking forward to. Occasionally the four hundred year-old spirit would take over and steal magical artifacts to seal away their power and keep them from harming people.
But at least his appearance changed so that Daisuke himself wasn't blamed for the thefts. Instead of a short kid with red, spiky hair, his body transformed into that of approximately a 17-year-old with violet hair. He was thankful there was such a difference in their heights and personalities too or else people might get suspici—
Hold it! How could he be glad that his other self was a lecher that every girl in town considered a hunk?! Well, all except Daisuke's girlfriend, but that was another story entirely. Riku had never been attracted to the thief and despised him with a passion that was almost frightening.
His thoughts began to slide into each other without meaning and he slipped into the beginnings of sleep. Abruptly out of nowhere came a jolt that made every muscle in his body tense. He snapped fully awake.
Dark had woken as well. Though he was rarely aware unless there was something to steal, (or when he wanted to eavesdrop on Daisuke's daily life...which usually wound up being embarrassing) whenever he felt magic at work the Thief became alert.
He pulled himself out of the bunk and opened the door to the balcony. There was a sense of wind and darkness mixed with death somewhere out there. Daisuke couldn't help cringing back as he felt deep hatred soaked with pain emanating from the south.
"Kyu?" came a sound at his feet. A white rabbit looked up at him, his pink eyes afraid and pleading.
"I don't like it either, Wiz, but I think we'll have to go. I'm sure Dark can handle it," he reassured his animal friend. Heat washed over him as the Phantom Thief took control of his body. Wiz sat up happily, ears flopping.
"Time to go flying," the man said, turning his eyes southward.
In response to the words, Wiz glowed momentarily before transforming into a pair of black wings that fused to Dark's back. Seconds later he was winging his way across the city following the source of magical turmoil. Something strange was at work.
The origin of the power came from a belltower at the southern edge of town. Scouting the area slowly from above, he observed nothing out of the ordinary. All was quiet. Even the aura of magic was fading, including the intense feelings of hatred.
Then abruptly the bell clanged wildly as something rammed into it! An enraged bugle split the night silence wide open along with the roof of the belltower. Emotions of loathing and confusion surged out, assaulting him so strongly that Dark had to fight to get closer.
A creature with scales like obsidian clawed its way out, flinging debris everywhere with its talons and tail. Perched atop the broken tower, it spread its leathery wings and pitched its snaky head side to side. A small humanoid figure was thrown off, and as it arced through the air he swooped down impulsively.
Catching a girl in his arms, he flared his wings to cease the dive, which wasn't easy because she was heavy! She appeared dizzy, but that was understandable.
Dark, out of curiosity why do you always seem to catch girls like that? Daisuke wondered. If she'd been a guy I'm pretty sure you'd be holding her differently.
You bet I would! Dark retorted silently. Now quit distracting me. Can't you see I'm a little occupied here?
A staff of some sort dropped from the rescued girl's hand and she reached futilely after it with a cry. "No! My andora! Go back for it!"
"Not now!" the Phantom Thief told her as he realized the flying reptile had noticed him.
With the loss of the staff he found his load a lot lighter and could maneuver much more easily. Gaining altitude, the man swerved side to side around buildings to confuse the creature on his tail. A short jet of flame licked his feathers, scorching some of the pinions and almost causing him to lose control. His enemy was obviously better prepared for aerial combat than himself.
Wind seared across his face like tiny claws as Dark was forced into a corkscrew dive. Managing to come out of it, he tried to draw out a feather to perform magic, but couldn't. At the speed he was going, if he used magic with one hand he might lose the girl. Of course that was liable to happen anyway since she was struggling so much.
"I have to get it! Let me go, you fool! I need it!" she shrieked. Heedless of the danger, she pushed at him and swung her legs, a kick connecting with his left wing. It nearly made him crash into a building he swerved close to in order to evade another burst of fire.
Dark's nerves were growing a little thin. "Unless you want me to drop you right here and let your neck get broken, I suggest you quit moving around. Got it?"
"I'm not going to die! Just let me go, you mindless idiot! I can take care of myse—"
He managed to get his hand on the feather and it glowed momentarily while she was still speaking. The noisy thrashing stopped. He let his mouth quirk up in a faint smile as he found it much simpler to fly carrying a limp body.
Read and review, peoples. Tell me what it needs (besides plot, that is; we'll get there eventually).