My eternal gratitude to my fellow Seiji fanatic, Kage-chan! Without you,
this never would have been written. Now can I read more of Does Gender
Matter? Pleeease?
Darkness Bind Them
Ginzai
Prologue: In Which Events Are Set into Motion
______________________ Cut my life into pieces This is my last resort ______________________
The frenzied and panicked bleating of the machines had finally ceased, falling back to a more constant rhythm. They echoed about the still room, trying and failing to fill the gasp of silence. The feet of the men cowering in the back of the room shuffled across the metal floor, barely causing a sound but irksome all the same.
They'd reason to be frightened.
Ancient eyes shut slowly as withered fingers crept about a walking staff a full foot taller than the top of the old man's head. His face, usually calm and serene, twitched. The men seemed even more uneasy at this, pressing backwards against the far wall, each vainly trying to avoid that blind gaze.
On the platform, the scientist raised a hand and ran it over a sweat streaked brow. He peered close to the boy, eyes nervously examining their prisoner, fingers pressing to a pale throat to capture an erratic heartbeat.
"Well," he said, his voice high with nervous anxiety, if not the all out terror of the expendables below. "He will survive."
"Obviously," the old man said, eyes still shut.
"Eh," the scientist reached a hand into the boy's pale hair, staring at the strained face with pure and cool objectivity. "The specimen wouldn't die that easily, I suppose. The yoroi would prevent it, yes? Shikaisen?"
"It is our hope." Shikaisen frowned, then allowed himself to float closer to the pair. "I had not expected this resistance, however."
The scientist nodded. "In all experiments there is a measure of uncertainty. Humans will never be able to determine the full truth of nature, not by conventional means. We must grasp it with both hands and subdue it, drag it down to learn all its secrets."
Shikaisen ignored this. Though he liked to pretend otherwise, the pale skinned Amerikanjin was just as expendable as the men by the wall. His words meant nothing to one who had lived as long as Shikaisen had.
"Have you determined what the problem was?"
"Not yet," the scientist said, stepping back at last and moving back to his precious machinery. "I suspect it was an unexpected reaction to the Rohypnol, though it seems unlikely. I'll need a blood sample to fully determine the cause of the cardiac arrest."
Shikaisen lifted a hand from his staff and waved it lazily in the air.
"Fine. But quickly; we are behind schedule."
The scientist seemed annoyed at that, as he always did when Shikaisen spoke of things which he was not to have knowledge of. He saw this as a mere experiment, another way for mankind to rape the natural forces of the world.
Shikaisen knew better.
He turned away from the unconscious figure strapped to the star, instead moving across the room and behind the paper paneling, separating all but the boy from his sight, and even that one was a bare glimmer of gold over the bulk of the Seal of Solomon.
He ignored their frenzied bustle and floated towards the balcony which overlooked the well protected and completely bound yoroi. Kourin was still, seemingly immobile. Shikaisen opened his eyes, staring at it. Mortal eyes could not see the energy which pulsed about the armor, could not see how the light of the room, even this artificial nonsense that dared to call itself illumination, could not see how it bent towards the still metal. /This was power. / Far more so than anything made by the hands of Man, or that could be controlled by them.
It was power that he would possess. With or without the aid of the restless figure on the dais.
There was a flutter of movement behind him. He spun, hands tight on the staff once more and froze, his robes falling into place about him.
A man stood there, dark of skin, with ink black hair that fell in a straight cut just past his chin. He wore the traditional kimono and hakama of Shikaisen's home, pale even in the dim light of the underground chamber. He was also watching the Kourin yoroi.
Shikaisen managed to find his voice.
"Tanso-sama!"
Tanso took no notice of his subordinate's exclamation, but instead frowned at the armor.
"Does it go as planned?" he asked, voice low, as if threatening that if things were not going as expected, pain and torment would soon follow. "Will you be able to bear the yoroi as expected?"
"Ah," Shikaisen said, releasing the staff to wring his hands together. The staff vanished. "Not as such, my lord."
The dark man shot him a grim look.
"The bond between the yoroi and the original bearer, lord, is stronger than we expected. We cannot sever it. The bearer nearly died when we tried."
"And this bearer is where?"
Shikaisen nodded towards the star. Tanso flicked his eyes towards it, took in the Seal, and looked back towards the armor.
"Is there a possibility of recruiting him?"
"It is not likely, lord. He seems to have a ....rather strong aversion to our kind. I doubt highly that we could convince him to fight for us."
Tanso shrugged at this, seemingly unconcerned about the implications of it.
"Then find a way around the bond."
Irritation at that. As though it was a simple matter, subduing the one without killing him and subverting the other without loosing it! One of the Nine did not allow itself to be held for long, as past, painful experience had shown. Of course, Tanso-sama did not care for this fact. In the manner of employers for generations past, he gave an impossible task and expected no contention to be found with it. Shikaisen inwardly twitched at the thought, though no expression emerged. One did not live long in the Youjaikai and wear one's emotions plainly.
A quick flash of beetle black eyes convinced him that no matter how carefully his thoughts had been hidden, his lord had managed to get the gist of them. Fortunately for Shikaisen, the other seemed to be too impatient to deal with him at the moment. When he spoke, however, his tone if not his words were sharp.
"Quickly, Shikaisen. The war has already begun."
He turned, vanishing back into the shadows as he did, leaving Shikaisen alone on the balcony. The old man wheezed, fingering the air as his staff reappeared. Tanso would get what was his, he thought darkly, turning back once more to gaze at the green yoroi. There was a way around the bond, that much he was certain of, but he wouldn't share that secret with his dark lord. To give the power of one of the Nine to that fool? He'd sooner spill the secrets of the yokai to the knowledge hungry moral who was tending the bearer.
No, that would not happen. There was a way around the cemented connection between the mortal boy and the immortal armor, and once he had found it, the world would know and fear Shikaisen. Not Tanso. Not Arago.
/Shikaisen./
*to be continued*
Author's Notes:
And thus begins another multipart fic. Fortunately, this one is different than most of those which I start because I have a glorious and wonderful person who will kill me if I don't complete the fic.
If you couldn't tell, this is a Gaiden story. In fact, it's a continuation of an oneshot fic that I posted almost a year ago, and even bears the same name. I wrote this intending the two to latch together, but soon determined that they wouldn't fit as such. Unfortunately, by that time, the name "Darkness Bind Them" had already stuck with this story, not with the original one. Alas.
In any event, consider the prologue as taking place roughly in early to mid June, with the first chapter starting on Ryo's birthday. There is a wee bit of time between the two parts, and if you are desperate to know what happens in those weeks, check out my oneshot "Dying of the Light" which should hopefully grant a few details regarding what happened in the interim.
Next chapter, meet the boys, the Ma Sho make a less than triumphant return, and both Anubisu and Shikaisen receive an unpleasant shock. Oddly enough, they both relate to the same thing. Go figure.
January 21, 2003
Darkness Bind Them
Ginzai
Prologue: In Which Events Are Set into Motion
______________________ Cut my life into pieces This is my last resort ______________________
The frenzied and panicked bleating of the machines had finally ceased, falling back to a more constant rhythm. They echoed about the still room, trying and failing to fill the gasp of silence. The feet of the men cowering in the back of the room shuffled across the metal floor, barely causing a sound but irksome all the same.
They'd reason to be frightened.
Ancient eyes shut slowly as withered fingers crept about a walking staff a full foot taller than the top of the old man's head. His face, usually calm and serene, twitched. The men seemed even more uneasy at this, pressing backwards against the far wall, each vainly trying to avoid that blind gaze.
On the platform, the scientist raised a hand and ran it over a sweat streaked brow. He peered close to the boy, eyes nervously examining their prisoner, fingers pressing to a pale throat to capture an erratic heartbeat.
"Well," he said, his voice high with nervous anxiety, if not the all out terror of the expendables below. "He will survive."
"Obviously," the old man said, eyes still shut.
"Eh," the scientist reached a hand into the boy's pale hair, staring at the strained face with pure and cool objectivity. "The specimen wouldn't die that easily, I suppose. The yoroi would prevent it, yes? Shikaisen?"
"It is our hope." Shikaisen frowned, then allowed himself to float closer to the pair. "I had not expected this resistance, however."
The scientist nodded. "In all experiments there is a measure of uncertainty. Humans will never be able to determine the full truth of nature, not by conventional means. We must grasp it with both hands and subdue it, drag it down to learn all its secrets."
Shikaisen ignored this. Though he liked to pretend otherwise, the pale skinned Amerikanjin was just as expendable as the men by the wall. His words meant nothing to one who had lived as long as Shikaisen had.
"Have you determined what the problem was?"
"Not yet," the scientist said, stepping back at last and moving back to his precious machinery. "I suspect it was an unexpected reaction to the Rohypnol, though it seems unlikely. I'll need a blood sample to fully determine the cause of the cardiac arrest."
Shikaisen lifted a hand from his staff and waved it lazily in the air.
"Fine. But quickly; we are behind schedule."
The scientist seemed annoyed at that, as he always did when Shikaisen spoke of things which he was not to have knowledge of. He saw this as a mere experiment, another way for mankind to rape the natural forces of the world.
Shikaisen knew better.
He turned away from the unconscious figure strapped to the star, instead moving across the room and behind the paper paneling, separating all but the boy from his sight, and even that one was a bare glimmer of gold over the bulk of the Seal of Solomon.
He ignored their frenzied bustle and floated towards the balcony which overlooked the well protected and completely bound yoroi. Kourin was still, seemingly immobile. Shikaisen opened his eyes, staring at it. Mortal eyes could not see the energy which pulsed about the armor, could not see how the light of the room, even this artificial nonsense that dared to call itself illumination, could not see how it bent towards the still metal. /This was power. / Far more so than anything made by the hands of Man, or that could be controlled by them.
It was power that he would possess. With or without the aid of the restless figure on the dais.
There was a flutter of movement behind him. He spun, hands tight on the staff once more and froze, his robes falling into place about him.
A man stood there, dark of skin, with ink black hair that fell in a straight cut just past his chin. He wore the traditional kimono and hakama of Shikaisen's home, pale even in the dim light of the underground chamber. He was also watching the Kourin yoroi.
Shikaisen managed to find his voice.
"Tanso-sama!"
Tanso took no notice of his subordinate's exclamation, but instead frowned at the armor.
"Does it go as planned?" he asked, voice low, as if threatening that if things were not going as expected, pain and torment would soon follow. "Will you be able to bear the yoroi as expected?"
"Ah," Shikaisen said, releasing the staff to wring his hands together. The staff vanished. "Not as such, my lord."
The dark man shot him a grim look.
"The bond between the yoroi and the original bearer, lord, is stronger than we expected. We cannot sever it. The bearer nearly died when we tried."
"And this bearer is where?"
Shikaisen nodded towards the star. Tanso flicked his eyes towards it, took in the Seal, and looked back towards the armor.
"Is there a possibility of recruiting him?"
"It is not likely, lord. He seems to have a ....rather strong aversion to our kind. I doubt highly that we could convince him to fight for us."
Tanso shrugged at this, seemingly unconcerned about the implications of it.
"Then find a way around the bond."
Irritation at that. As though it was a simple matter, subduing the one without killing him and subverting the other without loosing it! One of the Nine did not allow itself to be held for long, as past, painful experience had shown. Of course, Tanso-sama did not care for this fact. In the manner of employers for generations past, he gave an impossible task and expected no contention to be found with it. Shikaisen inwardly twitched at the thought, though no expression emerged. One did not live long in the Youjaikai and wear one's emotions plainly.
A quick flash of beetle black eyes convinced him that no matter how carefully his thoughts had been hidden, his lord had managed to get the gist of them. Fortunately for Shikaisen, the other seemed to be too impatient to deal with him at the moment. When he spoke, however, his tone if not his words were sharp.
"Quickly, Shikaisen. The war has already begun."
He turned, vanishing back into the shadows as he did, leaving Shikaisen alone on the balcony. The old man wheezed, fingering the air as his staff reappeared. Tanso would get what was his, he thought darkly, turning back once more to gaze at the green yoroi. There was a way around the bond, that much he was certain of, but he wouldn't share that secret with his dark lord. To give the power of one of the Nine to that fool? He'd sooner spill the secrets of the yokai to the knowledge hungry moral who was tending the bearer.
No, that would not happen. There was a way around the cemented connection between the mortal boy and the immortal armor, and once he had found it, the world would know and fear Shikaisen. Not Tanso. Not Arago.
/Shikaisen./
*to be continued*
Author's Notes:
And thus begins another multipart fic. Fortunately, this one is different than most of those which I start because I have a glorious and wonderful person who will kill me if I don't complete the fic.
If you couldn't tell, this is a Gaiden story. In fact, it's a continuation of an oneshot fic that I posted almost a year ago, and even bears the same name. I wrote this intending the two to latch together, but soon determined that they wouldn't fit as such. Unfortunately, by that time, the name "Darkness Bind Them" had already stuck with this story, not with the original one. Alas.
In any event, consider the prologue as taking place roughly in early to mid June, with the first chapter starting on Ryo's birthday. There is a wee bit of time between the two parts, and if you are desperate to know what happens in those weeks, check out my oneshot "Dying of the Light" which should hopefully grant a few details regarding what happened in the interim.
Next chapter, meet the boys, the Ma Sho make a less than triumphant return, and both Anubisu and Shikaisen receive an unpleasant shock. Oddly enough, they both relate to the same thing. Go figure.
January 21, 2003