Chapter 2: At First

Date 06.11.06

Losing Daisuke had hurt beyond all words, especially since this time there was no going back. Dark, who was usually composed even in the face of deepest trouble, felt like crying for a change. He floated in the gray nothingness, so different than the warm place he lived in between hosts, and wondered if his future was already over. In this place, where time seemed to have no meaning, Dark didn't even know if he was alone or not.

He tried to move but found that he couldn't stir a single muscle, and he didn't need to either. Unable to tell up from down in this confusing world, the thief closed his eyes and relaxed, noting that he was no longer breathing. Guess you have to be human to breathe, he thought. Forever suddenly meant something to the dark-haired thief; it was here and there was no escaping it.

Suddenly a voice cut through Dark's lazy thoughts. "Do you want to go back, Phantom Thief Dark Mousy?"

Confused, Dark tried to look around, but there was no one there. He struggled to move in the direction he thought the voice was coming from, but to no avail. Strangely, his expression did not change, and he looked just as peaceful now as he did during a robbery, perfectly composed and unafraid. After all, he wasn't human and for all the kindness of the Niwa, his emotions were not human either.

"Yeah, I do," he said with a smirk. "What's it to you?"

The voice replied, "It's a gift from the one who cares about you, thief. Use it wisely because there are no second chances."

"What do you mean?" Dark asked.

His question went unanswered, not for the first or last time in his life. Sudden pain rushed up his spine and exploded in bright waves in his head. The thief screamed, feeling as if his head would just explode. For a few seconds longer he clung to consciousness, but he couldn't last forever against the hurt and slipped into the darkness. Sleep claimed him for a time, and somewhere the voice giggled.

The voice then spoke again, but this time to a totally different entity floating elsewhere in the same void. "I guess you win."

"How could I lose when all Dark wants is to be with that brat?" asked the pale angel.

The voice replied, "Don't you have any attachments, Sir Krad?"

Krad was about to casually reply that he didn't, but in the end that wasn't true. His first host had been one of those precious people who cared about Krad deeply, and if the angel had attachments at all, it was to him. Sadly, human lives were short and happened only once, so his creator was long gone and only sad memories remained.

"I haven't in a very long time," Krad said finally. "And even if I had, what are their life times to me? They vanish like dust."

"That last part comes with being a being like yourself, Krad. You don't quite live by the same clock." The voice sighed. "Well, I wish that you both find what you're looking for out of the human world. From ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."

Krad groaned as the pain took him, but unlike his very other, he didn't bother to struggle and let the soothing blackness carry him away. The owner of the quiet voice watched the scene without batting an eye. As expected, it was all going according to her plans, and she rarely ever made mistakes.

"Good bye to both of you. May Daisuke live a life he well deserves, as well as Satoshi. You two have meddled enough in those lives."

Daisuke was not one to argue with fate, especially when his took him to the best art school in town, but somehow he still felt empty inside. After losing Dark to whatever the hell Black Wings had been, definitely not just artwork anymore, Daisuke had done his best to cope, to live again.

He was drawing again while sitting beside his bedroom window, and as in the last six paintings, Dark was a part of his art. For some reason, those pictures sold much better than the landscapes he used to work with, and somehow Daisuke wanted everyone to get to know Dark. Sighing, he leaned up against a wall and relaxed.

"You shouldn't dwell on it," said Satoshi as he walked into Daisuke's bedroom.

Daisuke sighed and replied, "I can almost hear him. I don't know why or how, but it's as if he is calling to me."

Satoshi sat down beside his not-quite-enemy and took Daisuke's hand. "We can't keep living in the past, Daisuke. Either of us."

"Am I going crazy, Sato? I've got the most wonderful girlfriend, best friends, and good grades, and I'm still not happy somehow." The red-head cringed.

"You've lost a good friend, Dai. You're definitely not going crazy." He got up. "Now come on, the twins are waiting."

Daisuke stood up and waved to the girls standing outside his window. He smiled at Sato and the two nearly ran downstairs for a promised day at the amusement park. Daisuke pushed his feelings aside and only the vague echo remained. Why were Dark's screams echoing in his head after all this time?

Dark awoke on cold, marble floor and groaned softly. He looked up at the ceiling and guessed that he must be at the museum, although not which one or what he was doing there. The thief tried to sit up but found that it wasn't an option. Every part of his body ached, and even the slightest twitch was too much.

Just great, Dark thought. And the first cop that sees me is going to have a field day explaining this.

He heard footsteps and then saw a familiar face hovering above him. "Awake? Finally."

Dark wanted to beat some fate senseless. "What's it to you?"

"Oh nothing. I think I'll just take advantage of the situation." Krad picked up the other side of his very soul and walked ever so slowly back home.