Chapter 2: Hope (Illusions)
The clock tower rang for 12:46 two days later. Morning and afternoons didn't leave Sabata with much movement options, so he waited in the room Django was being kept in.
He had yet to wake up...
His wounds were not life threatening but they had the signs of expert torturing. The worse of the injuries had been inflected on his back; deep painful ones that ran wild over the flesh. Last night the bandages became soaked with sudden bleeding that wouldn't stop and Lita had to change them again. Did Novas count on the blood-loss as a means to make him suffer? Sabata wouldn't put it passed him. But still...why wouldn't Django wake up? He gripped his upper arms as he leaned against the door. It was the only place wasn't lit by sunlight and the place safest to be without burning to a crisp. However, his safety wasn't the biggest thing on his mind. Novas...why did he have to come now? Just when Sabata had found something to care about...
"No...of course Novas would show up. I 'found something to care about'. More than one thing actually." After awhile, everyone in San Miguel had become close to Sabata, and that put them in danger. Should he leave? It could solve a part of the problem.
Sabata was distracted slightly by Django's fingers moving, gripping the covers before letting go. He didn't regain consciousness though. Hopefully, falling unconscious like he had entitled to a dreamless sleep. "Wake up..." The movement, along with breathing, proved continuing life in Django. The sun had moved enough to leave the room so he sat down by the bed. Despite being buried in covers, the bandages were still visible, invoking anger. Sabata's brother...used as an example from that psychopathic Immortal! How dare he hurt his brother! "Calm down...anger isn't going to help either of us." He told himself quietly. "When night comes, I'll leave."
Silence passed while waiting for night. Most likely the longest one that Sabata had gone through in his life and when it was dark enough, he left.
The problem was where to go. Away from San Miguel, yes, but he didn't want to go back to Istrakan, that was for sure. Too many bad memories. Okay, to be fair, not all of them were bad...just most of them. And he'd better get out of memory lane or else he would run into a wall.
Where could he go? The Cathedral was too close to San Miguel...but the Aqueduct would be both farther away and might take Novas a longer time to find him. Novas could sense Dark Matter easily, for all the times Sabata had hid from him, despite the lack of places to hide, he had always found him. Sometimes, it seemed, he took a long time on purpose, 'just for fun' as he'd always say. If Novas picked out that energy at the Aqueduct or wherever else Sabata could think of, he would come there because mentally torturing someone wasn't his favourite thing to do, and hopefully leave San Miguel and the people in it alone. "That's what I'll do..."
In Zero Shift mode it didn't take too long. The entrance to the Aqueduct was deadly quiet and it put Sabata on his guard. Novas couldn't have instantly figured out where he was (extending senses took awhile) but there still was lingering Undead to be cautious about. The Gun Del Hel wasn't suited to fight against Darkness with Darkness, so it would take longer than it would if Django was here with the Solar Gun. Waiting by the entrance wasn't the best thing to pass time though. When (since there was no use denying it) Novas found him, he would delight in dragging Sabata back to San Miguel and killing everyone there before attacking the Dark Boy, whom would be not able to move somehow and forced to watch. Deeper into the Aqueduct was best, because if there was only one fault in Novas, it was that he could be lazy at times and preferred it when the 'prey' was closer to him. Sabata went back into Zero Shift to move quicker.
This was the place where Django had fought the Sea-Ruling Immortal...another memory, one where Sabata had worried that his brother had drowned when the tentacle pulled him underwater suddenly. It was a relief when he knew that hadn't happened and left him free to chase after Dainn. It seemed so long ago too. This memory dug up another, a short conversation he and Django had a week before this whole mess began...
Sabata spotted his brother by the Solar Tree. It was late at night, but he knew why Django was still awake. Maybe he should go and talk to him for awhile? His feet decided before Sabata actually did and soon found himself sitting beside the Solar opposite. "Hi Sabata!" Despite not getting the sleep that a human body usually needed, Django was still cheery. A cheer that sometimes felt self-imposed; the Solar Boy's habit of putting others before himself. "Hey." The conversation would usually end there, with an awkward mood left over. It was funny, how much they both had gone through and still found it hard to keep a decent conversation going. It could be because even though they were brothers, they had not known each other for most of their lives, close to one stranger meeting another. Most likely it would stay awkward for a long time.
"...it's a nice night out, don't you think?" Django asked. He was trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, it is." No clouds blocked the sky so the stars were visible and shining brightly against the black sky. It made for a pretty picture. A nice breeze was going too, running through their clothes and hair. But a comment about the weather wouldn't keep this shaky conversation alive and they both fell back into silence. In a way, silently, a conversation was going; the two watching each other as a way of trying to understand. One would say it would be easier to talk to get to know someone else.
Of course, things were never easy.
A question then popped up in Sabata's head. It was an odd one to ask, since Django was on the 'lighter' side of things then the Dark Boy was. "What do you feel about death?" He got the look he expected from the Solar Boy at the sudden and strange question. "...death scares me..." They both knew that was an honest answer, death having come close to both of them a number of times. Django asked the next question. "Do you think there is something after death?" "There might be." He answered after some thought. "Or there might not be. We'll never know until we actually die." "I don't want to die..." It was a rare thing to hear Django talk about death despite the fact that he dealt with it almost every day. "But I don't like seeing others die either. You know what I mean, right Sabata?" He did, both what had been said and what had not. "There are things in life that I still have to do, and I don't plan on dying until they get done." Sabata's gaze was met with his brother's, who had gotten up off the ground and was standing in front of him, smiling. "Yup!" He looked happy with the answer but Sabata couldn't help give him a mock pitying look. "One of those things is saving you whenever you get into trouble." Django bowed his head. "Point taken." They both still felt happy and Sabata walked back to the inn with Django.
This memory seemed so long ago too. He stared into the water, reflecting back at himself. Even though he had always thought that it would become impossible to be attached to anyone after all the 'lovely' things that had happened to him over the years, once Jormungandr was sealed and peace was restored, everyone had accepted Sabata, not just because he was the brother of the person who saved the town, but as someone who could be a friend. The friendships that Sabata had gained meant everything to him now. "I won't let Novas take that away from me."
"Oh, that's good. Then you don't mind me opening up your body again, do you Sabata?"
Neither the delightfully creepy voice nor the Dark Matter surprised him really. "You found me then Novas." "Still a smart kid, I see. Even though there wasn't a place for you to hide, you still managed to do it." He turned to face the Immortal. Long black hair, pale skin, grey clothing...Novas hadn't changed at all. The sword was still blood red too and Sabata knew he had more the just the one. "So? Are you going to run and hide?" Novas stuck out his tongue out playfully and ran his fingers along the blade. "Come on, I wanna see your sad face." When he didn't get an answer, Novas added, "I could always go back to San Miguel and see if I can finish what I started with your dear brother." "Fine, fine!" Novas caught the desperation in Sabata's voice. "Such a nice kid. I'll give you a five minute head start. Better get going now!" Dashing passed the Immortal; Sabata caught a temporally parting remark. "Before I kill you."
Django's eyes slowly opened. It took a moment for his mind to register where he was because where he last had been was Dark City. With Novas carving wounds in his back. But there was something struggling in the back of his mind to be remembered. What was it? He lay back in the bed, trying to bring the memory back. This memory felt very, very important and that it was wrong to be forgetting it. "...think...what was it...?"
There was pain...a lot of pain. His skin felt like it was on fire, cooled only by the blood dripping down his body. Breathing, both him and Novas, who had finally run out of places to harm him. "This is good practices for when I find Sabata, since you won't tell me where he is." He was close, pressing nails into the wounds in his arms as he gripped them. "I had him up like this once. It was only four days but I left a good impression in his mind. You'll make the perfect message to show him what's going to happen." Sparks flashed in front of his eyes as the blades still pinning his shoulders were suddenly removed and he slipped in his own blood, falling to the ground. "And hey, even if you do die, Sabata will come looking for you...and I'll still get my message across." Django tried to reply, but the blood had started to lodge in his throat. The Immortal was planning to make his brother suffer by hurting him! He reached for the Gun Del Sol and would have gotten it if Novas hadn't stepped on his hand. "Don't be stupid. You can't kill me like that and if I get shot by thing one more time, I can't be sure I won't kill you." But he moved off and let Django take the Solar Gun anyways. His brain wasn't registering 'Aim, shoot' like it normally did due to the immense agony. Novas lifted him up with one hand and swung him over his shoulder, jarring his injuries and inducing a boot of bloody coughing. "I'll just take you outside the City a little bit and then drop you off. You can find your way back home can't you?"
That was it! Then he had wandered a bit, not quite paying attention to where he was going. Most likely it was just subconsciously that Django had ended near San Miguel and to where Sabata was. There it went fuzzy, or more so then it already had been. But that was less important...where was Sabata? Extending his senses showed he wasn't in San Miguel. Had he, because of the 'message' that Novas had sent, left to find the Immortal? Or..."Sabata left because he though...Novas would come after everyone else here...he left to make us safe." But Novas had only expressed interest in harming the Dark Boy and not much else, so he was just playing into the Immortal's hands! Django got out of bed, ignoring his body's protests, and tugged on his shirt and scarf that had been left on a chain and grabbing the Solar Gun before running outside. A quick scan picked up a high concentration of Dark Matter at the Aqueduct. He needed to hurry, since it seemed that Novas had already found Sabata. He still had enough energy to fight.
Django wasn't going to lose Sabata. Not now, not ever.