Chapter Ten – Damien's Darkness

Kyoko couldn't sleep. One would have thought that she would have become used to parents not wanting her to be their child but the sting of Kuu's rejection still hurt her. Maybe there was some way to get back on his good side, have him want her to be his child again. She could only hope. She took a deep breath in as she tried to relax, tried to think about how good it would be in the light.

As she tried to sleep though, she smelled something. Burning. Something was burning. She sat up quickly. There couldn't be someone with fire magic with a vendetta against Kuo-Icarus, could there? She didn't feel hot but that might be because the smoke had spread farther than the fire. She pulled herself out of bed and grabbed a robe before walking out of the bedroom.

She went to the small outdoor shrine area and it terrified her. There was a black horse there but around her it was darker than it had been previous nights and there were small flashes of color but only for a moment as if she were in some kind of enchanted land. She looked at the horse. She had read about the four horsemen of the apocalypse and this horse made her think of what they would be riding. She felt nervous but there was also a thrill of excitement in her body.

She didn't know what was going on but before she could figure it out, the horse had turned into an attractive man who looked similar to Cain Heel but as if you stripped away all the parts of Kuon that were included there. She took a nervous breath as she felt something draw her towards this man.

"You're Kyoko, aren't you?" he grinned as he approached her. "Might I introduce myself," he said as he held his hand out, "Damien Lexington," he said with a foreign touch to the Japanese accent he had. He raised an eyebrow as he stared at her. "You know," he licked his lip, "You are absolutely gorgeous," he winked and touched her. There was a sort of magic in his touch as if he were charging her and Kyoko felt her mind getting fuzzy.

What was she doing out here? Had she woken up? Was this a dream?

She heard a voice from behind her that brought her back to the present moment. She turned back to see Icarus there wearing what might be considered a traditional martial arts outfit. She looked at him and saw that he was holding a sword with a knife in his belt. "Ku—Icarus?" she asked as she turned to him and saw Damien approach her again. Before he could touch her, Icarus had him a few feet back and Kyoko could feel a refreshing white wind surround her.

"You are not to touch her!" Icarus yelled as he took his sword out and landed a few blows but Damien had summoned a dragon out of thin air and Icarus had to pay his attention to that. It didn't seem possible but Kyoko could have sworn that it appeared out of thin air as if he had sculpted it from the darkness around him.

She looked between the two of them but her eyes focused on the white aura around Kuon and the dark aura around Damien. Damien seemed to be using the shadows to fight, pulling each with his hand and forming it into something else whilst Kuon had his eyes closed, managing to use the white wind to beat back the shadows. Before Kyoko had a grasp on what was happening, the two were using their fists to fight one another and she saw sparks as if something had touched an electrical outlet.

Another few moments happened and then the fight ended and Icarus had the sword on Damien's throat. Damien started laughing and Kuon closed his eyes trying to force the demon away. Kyoko could see that Damien was putting some kind of poison into the sword and he started to disappear, fading slowly with the black aura coating Kuon who was pulled down to his knees and was starting to choke.

Kyoko ran over to him, seeing him with his hands flat on the stone tiles. Something was wrong! She could see blood from his face and a heavy cut. She needed medicine or something, she needed to help him heal. She wasn't sure of what she had seen but this wasn't what she had thought would happen when seeing a battle. She saw Kuon finally get control of himself and she saw him choke up what looked like a gremlin and then strike it down with his sword.

She made her way over to him quickly, "Icarus?" she asked nervously and saw him nod. "Are you okay? What can I do? What can I ge-"

"Rest," he said staring down at the ground before closing his eyes and his body slumped onto the stones. He smiled up at her and Kyoko wondered whether she should get a stretcher and try to move his body. She wasn't sure what had happened. It had happened so quickly as well.

"Water?" Kyoko asked nervously and Icarus nodded. Kyoko had to bit her tongue to stop herself from calling him Corn or Kuon. She wanted him to know that she loved him but he might push her away again and that was something that she feared.

Kyoko quickly made her way away from him though she hated having to do so. He needed water and at least she could do that for him. She kept glancing back to him as he struggled to maintain composure. She grabbed a bucket and filled it with water before grabbing a cup as well. She walked over and handed it to him. "Thank you," she whispered and he nodded, "I know that you saved me. I don't know much about magic but I know that you saved me."

"Was he attractive to you?" Icarus asked as he looked at her before drinking the water and Kyoko felt herself taken aback a little. She didn't know what to say. Was Kuon going to get jealous if she told him honestly that there was a part of her that was attracted to him…well before the fight had started and she had been drawn to Icarus.

"Are you asking because you're jealous?" she asked and Icarus looked at her.

"Partly," he admitted before looking down. "Were you more attracted to him than you are to me?" he said as he got some more water to drink and Kyoko stared at him. He seemed to be keeping his distance from her one moment and then the next he was asking her questions like this.

"No, I wasn't. You're the person that I want to be with," Kyoko said quickly. "It wasn't attraction like in a normal sense it was…"

'Then your heart still contains some negative energy inside but you are fighting to be with the light. I need you to think about that. Think about where the allegiance is," Icarus told her and Kyoko nodded.

"I want to join you in the light," she admitted honestly and Icarus smiled to her.

"Then we keep working at it," he said as Kyoko really wished that she could stop his pain. She wanted to grow into the light. She wanted to be with Corn.

….

…..

Julie woke up startled as she saw Kuu panting, sweat on his forehead and his eyes wide. "Kuu," she asked as she reached for his hand and found that his body had turned to ice. She pushed herself into a seated position and tried to calm him by placing her hand on his shoulder and back. "Darling, what is it? What happened?"

"I feel it," Kuu whispered as he turned to the window in a panic. "He's been hurt. He's alive but he's been hurt, so much dark magic," he whispered and Julie wrapped her arms around her husband. She kissed his cheek. If this was anyone else but Kuon making him feel this way, she would be a little angry at him for agreeing to share pain with another person but this had brought their son back.

"Do you want to go and check on him?" Julie asked and Kuu looked at her with his eyes still wide as if he had woken up and had a heart attack. He nodded slowly and Julie got out of bed before putting some of Kuu's clothes on the bed. She grabbed a comb and ran it through her own hair before tying it back in a messy ponytail.

"Jules?" Kuu asked as he watched her, "What are you doing? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that we should go and see our son," she told him and Kuu shook his head. "I demand to go with you," Julie said quickly knowing what he was thinking. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. "My little boy has been hurt. I'm not a good mother if I don't go with you to check on him."

Kuu opened his mouth to argue but he couldn't, he nodded as he got out of bed.

"If there's any sign of danger though, you'll listen to me or we'll listen to Kuon if he's able to talk to us. Kuon wouldn't let anything dangerous happen to us so I want for you to listen to what he needs," Kuu stressed to her and Julie nodded.

Julie bowed her head and took a slow but deep inhale, "What about Kyoko?" she asked and Kuu looked away.

"Let's keep our focus on Kuon," Kuu told her and Julie nodded slowly. She felt bad for Kyoko, she hadn't meant for any of this to happen and if this had been Kuu she would be scared to be with him again but she would be fighting through that fear. Julie placed her hand on Kuu's shoulder and squeezed it to show her support. Maybe Julie would have to speak to Kyoko privately.

…..

…..

Once they arrived at the location, Kuu rushed in, his body telling him where Kuon was due to the pull that kept him alive but Julie didn't follow him. She trusted that Kuon would be okay with Kuu at his side and she was more curious about the companion that Kuon was trusting. She walked over to her and saw Kyoko tense before seeming to withdraw. Julie looked around and saw the girl sitting on the ground next to a fountain with tears streaming down her face.

Julie walked over to her, she knew that she looked less glamorous than usual but she was a worried mother, she was allowed to look in her forties sometimes. "Hello," she said with a smile as Kyoko looked up at her and shivered, "May I join you?" she asked and before Kyoko could say anything, Julie was sitting on the ground.

"How are you? I assume there must have been some frightening things and you really are only a young woman," she said and Kyoko looked to her before staring down. She wrapped her arms around herself even more.

"I never wanted for Kuon to get hurt," she told Julie who smiled at her in her beautiful way.

"I know that you didn't. Please don't let my husband's love for our son mislead you into thinking that we hate you or anything of that nature. It's just that the two of us really do care about Kuon," she told her and Kyoko sniffed not wanting to show her weakness.

"I would never have hurt him if I knew I could do that. I love him. I know that he's scared of me but…"

"I don't think he's scared of you," Julie told her, "but scared for you. He's trying to bring you back into the light so you can live a happy and beautiful life even if it isn't with him. He's putting himself at risk because he thinks you're worth it."

Kyoko looked at her and nodded, "You mean…"

"He's putting himself in danger because he feels the love he has for you is worth it. As much distance as both he and my husband are putting between you and them, please rely on the truth that Kuon loves you," Julie told her and Kyoko smiled hearing that. Those were the words that she had really needed to hear.

End of Chapter Ten

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H-Nala, Kaname671, PaulaGaTo