Why do my chapters take forever to write?
Maybe if I trimmed it down to, like, 4 pages in Google Docs. But that would cut out story development!
Oh well.
Besides, I love typing these long chapters!
Enjoy!
I crawled over to the door, and gripped the handle to help myself off the ground. Pain was still radiating through my body. It seemed that Axl was right. Those butterfly sword were extremely efficient in slicing my wing. Koen and Fiore carefully moved in front of me.
"What's going on with Yami?" I asked.
"Seeing you on the ground, and your wing sliced like that, his anger must've set off his power," Koen said.
"Shadow powers are extremely dangerous if they get out of hand. Yami would never forgive himself if he hurt you, so, we're going to protect you the best we can," Fiore said.
I saw Aeron backing away from Yami as well, and I saw pure fear covering his face. Axl looked over at him.
"What are you scared about?" he asked.
"Remember how I told you each vampire has a power along with manipulation. I forgot he had shadow powers. I'm sorry, but, you're on your own for this fight," Aeron said. Yami instantly turned to him, and Aeron visibly flinched.
"Oh, no. You can't leave yet. Not after you tried to kill him," he said. A shadow tendril wrapped around Aeron's ankle, and lifted him into the air. My eyes widened as he threw Aeron off of the balcony.
"Y-Yami! That's enough! Stop!" I cried out. I pushed past Koen and Fiore, and started making my way towards Yami, but the two immediately pulled me back.
"It's not safe, Atem! In this state, Yami can easily kill you himself," Koen said. Yami turned to Axl. For the first time, I saw the smirk drop off Axl's face.
"Now, for you, I have something special in mind," Yami said. But, this time, his voice was different. It had a whispery tone to it, which terrified me.
This….This was not my Yami.
My Yami….he was mad at Aeron and Axl, but he wouldn't do this.
My Yami was kind and gentle.
Axl tried to fly away, but Yami thrust his arm out, and two shadows wrapped around the base of Axl's wings.
"Yami! Stop!" I yelled. Yami turned towards me.
"Tell me, Atem. He was the one who made you fall. It was his fault that you couldn't stay up there. It was him who killed your brother. Your friends," Yami said.
"Yes, he did, but if I hadn't have fallen, then I wouldn't have met you!" I yelled. But, instead of answering me, Yami turned back to Axl. The look on Axl's face was fear. An emotion I had never seen on him before. If Axl was scared- no. Axl wasn't scared. He looked...he looked petrified. As if sensing my feelings, Koen pulled me into a tight hug, shielding my eyes, but being careful of my wing. Fiore covered my ears, but even then, I heard Axl scream loudly in pain after a distinct ripping sound. I heard the ripping again, and I heard Axl scream again, but it slowly died out, and I heard nothing. I pushed Keon away from me. Fiore took his hands off my ears.
Axl was laying on the ground. The very base of his wings were still embedded in his back, but his wings were gone. Axl wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing. I could see spots of blood on his back, but that was it.
It was possible to die if you lost your wings. The pain would be too great. Your body couldn't handle the pain.
Axl was dead.
Without thinking, I pushed past Fiore and Koen, and ran to Yami, wrapping my arms around him.
"Atem. Let go of me. I still have to go and find the other one who tried to kill you," Yami said in the whispery tone.
"Yami, please. It's fine. Axl's dead. Please, just...just stop this," I said.
"Atem. Let me go. I don't want to hurt you," Yami said coldly.
"Stop this, please," I begged softly. Yami rose his hand, and I froze, feeling the shadows wrap around my wings.
"Y-Yami…," I said softly. I suddenly screamed, feeling three shadows pierce through my left wing. I let go of Yami. The shadows exited my wings, and let go of them. I saw hands on Yami's shoulders, and then another pair of hands. I backed away slightly, tripping over my own feet, and falling to the ground. Koen and Fiore seemed to pry Yami away from something. All three of them fell back, and the pain from my wings was catching up to me, and my vision was getting blurry. I saw one of them stand up, and run over to me.
"Atem…? Atem! What...What did I do to you?"
"Yami…? Are you back to normal?" I asked, before my vision faded completely.
When I woke up, I was laying in the same bed in Liel's house. My wings were still out, so I took a look at them. Four small holes in my left wing, and two in my right wing. My right wing also had half of the slash from Axl's butterfly swords healed. Liel came into the room, and she was talking on the phone.
"I promise you, I'll-oh, would you look at the timing on that. Listen to me. Talk. Let him listen, okay. You only said what they were, right? You never described it to him. Describe it. Here he is," Liel said. She walked over to me.
"Hey. Is...Is that Yami on the phone?" I asked.
"Yes, it is. He needs to explain something to you, okay?" she said.
"Alright," I said. She handed me the phone, and I put it up to my ear. "Yami?" I said.
"..." After a few moments, I heard a sound. I looked at the phone, and the call had ended. Liel took the phone from me.
"And he hung up. Wonderful," she said.
"Why did he hang up on me?" I asked.
"If you didn't seem to notice, you have holes in your wings," Liel said.
"That was...I know it was him. I was conscious when it happened," I said.
"When he brought you to me, at first, I'll be honest. I laughed. Made a joke about you two turning into Sabian and Soren. But, Yami wouldn't look at me, or even laugh. He didn't even say anything. He laid you down on this bed, and just kept staring at you. He would occasionally smooth your hair, or gently stroke your cheek. The first time you showed signs that you were waking up, he got up and started to leave. He told me he can't face you. He promised to protect you, and he hurt you," Liel said, sitting on the bed.
"It was my fault. He told me to stay away from him when he used his power, but, I didn't. It was my fault," I said.
"Atem. The point still stands. Both of you went back on your words, and this is what happened. But, because I can see on your face that you want to talk to him, I can tell you that there's only one problem," Liel said.
"What?" I asked.
"Your wings are still wounded. I don't think you can fly when you have holes in your wings, along with a slash in your wing. If you can fly like that, be my guest," Liel said. Before she said anything else, her phone rang. She answered it, without looking at the screen. "Why did you hang up on him? You're the one who wanted to talk to hi-Oh, wait. Hey, Rasui. What do you mean emergency? Soren's what?! Sabian, I sw-Sabian didn't do it? Then who? I'm on my way," Liel said. She hung up.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I need you to stay here, and not move an inch. I have to leave," Liel said.
"What happened to Soren?" I asked.
"Soren's dying. Someone drank from him, and left their venom in him. Normally, for a human, leaving venom in their body would change them. But, that's just a bite. If venom is left in their bodies after a feeling, the venom starts to infect their bloodstream, and starts to kill them, much like what happened to you. And, Sabian may have anger issues, but he wouldn't do this," Liel said.
"Aeron did it. Axl may be dead, but Aeron's still alive," I said.
"I'll pass his description to Sabian, then. Thank you for letting me know. But, as I said, I need you to stay here," Liel said.
"Alright. Please let me know if Soren lived or…," I stopped talking, not wanting to say it. Even though I had only seen him twice, and hadn't spoken a word to him, Soren seemed really nice. Liel nodded.
"I will. Although, if that happens...we might be losing a vampire, too. Even though he won't say anything, Sabian's deeply in love with Soren. He told me this one time, when I was healing Soren. He's just...not good with word choice. He gets flustered easily, and doesn't think he can tell Soren. I've got to go. I'll send someone here, so you aren't alone," Liel said. I nodded, and Liel left quickly.
I woke up from my nap, and Yami was leaning down, right in front of my face.
"Hey," I said calmly.
"Hey," Yami said, moving away. He sat on the edge of my bed. We were both quiet. I finally decided to break it.
"Why did you hand up on me?"
"Why didn't you stay away from me?"
We both blinked.
"Why didn't you stay away from me? I told you I was dangerous in that state!" Yami suddenly snapped.
"I got near you, because you were scaring the shit out of me!" I snapped back. I turned my head away. "You...You weren't you. You were a different person, and it scared the shit out of me," I said softly.
"Look at me. Please?" Yami said softly. I didn't turn my head. Yami moved closer to me, and gently turned my head. "I love you. So very much, Atem Amun. What you saw, when I was using my powers….I guess I didn't explain. The shadows take control over my body. And, you're right. When I use them, I'm not me. I'm someone different. I'm someone who wants nothing more than to hurt and kill others. Hell, look at what happened to Axl. I ripped his wings off. I was going to kill you, to go kill someone who wanted to kill you. That's why I have to physically be separated from my powers," Yami explained. He pulled me into a hug, and I retracted my wings., hugging him back.
"I love you, Yami," I said softly.
"And I, you, Atem," Yami said softly, "Next time...if there even is a next time, please stay away from me. I don't want to hurt you again. That's why I hung up on you. At the time, I...I didn't want to face you. I felt like I couldn't, after what I had done." Yami said.
"If that's how you felt, then why didn't you send Fiore or Koen?" I asked.
"Because. When Liel told me she left you alone, I just...I wanted to get to you as fast as I could. I couldn't believe she had left you alone, especially with Aeron still out there. I was already on my way when I hung up with her," Yami said.
"I just hope Soren's going to be okay. Liel told me what happened. I thought that venom, no matter what, if it got into a human, it would just change them," I said.
"It does, unless someone fed from them, like what happened with Soren. When we're feeding, we make sure our venom is kept at bay. For about an hour after a feeding, our venom is lethal, so we try not to bite anything else in that hour. With Soren, it seems someone wanted to do this," Yami explained.
"It was most likely Aeron. After Axl died, I'm sure he's none too happy about that," I said.
"You're absolutely right. And I thought you'd be alone, but I guess you did want to be near him, even after that little stunt you pulled," Aeron's voice said. Yami immediately pulled me close, and we both looked at Aeron. He had a ball of fire in his hand, and was garing at Yami and I.
"Get out of here," Yami growled.
"Or what? You'll pull your shadows out? Especially with the little FA so close to you?" Aeron said.
"Don't call me an FA," I growled. I summoned my bow and quiver. Yami let go of me, I pulled out an arrow, and readied my bow.
"So. Shall you and I have a proper fight now?"
If it wasn't that clear, that last line was said by Aeron.
So, the reason why I don't put much vampire/angel/demon explanations in the authors notes is because I want Atem to learn about it when you guys do. If I explained something in an author's note, it'd just feel redundant to me if I explained it in another chapter, you feel me?
I see you in the next eternity when chapter 8 comes out!