Well, I'm gonna try to get back onto all my stories! I've been soooooo busy, what with school, marching band and yesterday was homecoming!
If any of my friends are reading this, that was the most fun I've ever had while wearing a dress!
Disclaimer: Baka, Carotems, and Natsu, even though she's a bit on the dead side…she'll still be brought up.
Chapter 10: Sadness and Sorrow…With a little Bit of Rage
For about a minute, Dark just kneeled beside Natsu, silently crying while Baka cried to the sky and Riku tried to comfort the sobbing Towa.
"Baka…stop." Dark said at last, patting the small dog on the head. "You heard her. Her final wish…was for us not to be depressed…"
"Dark…it's a little late for that…" Riku said quietly.
"I…I know." He said as he stood up, but didn't turn around.
"Dark…" Towa blubbered. "What are we going to now…?"
Dark didn't answer. Baka stared up at his owner as he balled his hands into fists. Baka suddenly looked in fear at his master as he backed up into Natsu's body. Suddenly Dark turned, ran towards Krad, and punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.
"YOU BASTARD!" he shouted. Krad kept his head lowered. Whatever was holding his hair back had now come out and his angel blonde hair was covering his face. The small cross Natsu had given him, thrown into the nearby grass. Dark gritted his teeth and grabbed Krad by the collar, lifting him up to be a few inches from himself. Krad's face was gray and looked like his soul was taken from him, but Dark didn't care. He was the one who struck the deal with Minazuki that got Natsu killed. It didn't matter that it was Minazuki's gun. In Dark's eyes, Krad was the real killer here. In a quiet voice, he said, "She trusted you…and this is how you repay her? Saying you've always hated her? Getting her worked up into a rage that you knew she would blindly fight? Killing her?"
Krad looked down, "I didn't kill her…"
"Yea…you did, Krad." Dark said, "You handed her over on a silver platter!"
"I was hoping that wouldn't happen!" Krad shouted, pushing Dark away, stepping back a few steps, then raising his head to show a tear-stained face. "I thought she would agree to be his slave or something!"
"Even if you thought se would just become a slave…" Dark said, "Then why did you tell her you never cared about her?"
"I did that because maybe if she hated me too, then it wouldn't be as painful when she got killed!" Krad shrieked, shaking his head.
"So you knew he was gonna murder her?" Dark shouted angrily.
"I didn't think he would actually kill her!"
"Hmmm…if you didn't know that…" Minazuki said. Dark turned to see Baka growling at him as he crouched over Natsu's body, placing his hand gently on her face and pushing the hair out of her eyes. "You are a horrible businessman."
"Get away from her!" Dark shouted, throwing himself at Minazuki and wrestling him to the ground.
"Dark, stop!" Krad said, running forward and kicking Dark in the side, making him fall onto his back, clutching his side where blood was starting to rushing out.
"Dark! Krad!" Towa shouted, standing near Natsu's body and looking at both boys, "Please! Stop!"
"Towa, how…can…you expect me to forgive him?" Dark gasped. Riku and Towa figured out that Krad had broken a few ribs.
"Please…you two…you're brothers…for Christ's sake…" Towa collapsed over Natsu's body, and crying onto her. Baka started to lick Towa's hand.
Minazuki had now stood up and faced Krad, "Well, the choice is yours, Krad. You've murdered your friend and now you 'family' has turned on you…"
Krad looked from Towa, to Dark, then Minazuki. Suddenly, he looked at Riku, making her jump. He looked so sad and confused.
Krad closed his eyes, "Miss Riku…I know you want me to not go with him, but unless you can give me my mother back…"
"You idiot!" Dark screamed, on his feet now. "You heard Natsu! She said human transmutation was forbidden and could destroy thousands of lives!"
"I don't care!" Krad cried. "No one on this damn planet is more valuable than my mother! She was the only one who was ever there for me!"
Dark pulled a sharp knife out of his pocket and pointed it at Krad, his arm as strong as if he just walked into battle. "What about Towa?""
Krad froze and his face softened. He looked over towards where Towa still cried. Dark was right. Towa had always looked after him. He shook his head, "No…stop trying to trick me. I want my mother back and I always have!"
"Come child…" Minazuki said, holding out his hand. "We must hurry…your mother will be waiting…"
Riku and Dark looked at each other then back just in time to see Minazuki flick his wrist and sent some sort of black powder towards Krad. It dissolved into his face and chest and they saw his eyes flash a hint of black before Krad quietly said, "Right…sure…"
In a flash of black light, they both disappeared.
Riku looked towards Dark, then down at Towa, who still hadn't raised her head from Natsu's body. "Dark…what do we do now…?"
Dark sighed and turned towards her. He suddenly looked very tired, "What else? Take Natsu and burry her…"
Riku gulped as Dark walked over to Towa and put his hand on her shoulder. Riku closed her eyes and looked down, "Do you think she'll be okay?"
Baka rubbed his head against Dark's free hand as Dark tried to get Towa up. "Towa…come on…we have to go…bury Natsu…"
Towa sat up hesitantly and wiped her eyes. "Right…right. We have to do that."
"We should put her in her favorite place…" Dark said as he picked up Natsu and they headed back towards the clearing.
"In the countryside then." Towa said, looking at Dark and they both smiled a little.
"Eh?" Riku said, remembering the stone she, Risa, and Natsu found at the castle. "But…"
"We'll put a memorial stone at the castle." Towa said. "Natsu wouldn't want anything seriously fancy, so we'll just put a small something to mark where it was, alright?"
"Right." Dark said as he looked up at the orange and red sky. The three got to the gate to see the little girl sitting on the front porch. "Huh…? Who the hell is she?"
"A young orphan coming from the city," Towa said as the young girl looked up and smiled. "Her baby brother is probably inside."
The little girl came running to the gate and smiled wider at the three, and in the same small British accent said, "Lady Towa! Welcome back!"
"Heh…" Dark smiled weakly. "This may be weird to say…but she looks…and acts like Natsu…when she smiles…"
"Yea, just a little…" Towa said. "Now, deary…go back inside and watch your brother."
"Yes ma'am!" she cried, saluting and running back in. Towa went to the shed and grabbed two shovels. She turned to see Dark already walking towards the nearby hill where she, Dark, Krad and Natsu always sat. The four of them, and watching the sunset or sunrise. Or when they would just sit there and talk. But what Dark remembered most was when they were little, Natsu would always sit up there with a kunai in her hand and a transmutation circle drawn near her. The day he first spoke to her and she got so attached to him was that very spot.
"We have to put her right here." Dark said, sitting right beside the spot. Towa handed a shovel to Riku, knowing Dark wouldn't let go of Natsu until the put her in the ground. The two girls worked as Dark watched the sun dip below the broken city. They didn't finish until well after dusk and even then, had sat there for a while, just talking about Natsu…or maybe partially to her…and other random things, until Dark suddenly stood. "Come on, we should go into town."
"But it was destroyed…" Riku said.
"Don't mean Bastard and Bastard Jr. won't be there." He said as he scowled at the thought of the two who murdered the one closest to him.
"Now, Dark…" Towa started as Dark stuck a small cross made out of two kunai knives into the ground and started down the hill.
"No, Towa." Dark commanded. "He's not a baby anymore. The choice he made was his own. So now the consequences are his own. No one can stick up for him anymore."
Suddenly a gunshot was heard from the city.
"That must've been Niwa," Towa said as they set off at a faster pace. "Or Hikari. It's gotta be a warning shot…someone is down there."
They got to the city gates and saw bodies of Carotems everywhere. Riku cringed and grabbed Dark's shirt, hiding behind him. They slowly walked through. Towa heard someone shout out and ran towards it, leaving the other two on their own.
"Watch your step," Dark warned as they got into the central square, where double the bodies were. As soon as she was warned, Riku tripped and fell, landing on top of two bodies, one missing an arm, the other missing his lower half completely. By the time Dark noticed she fell, he was 20 feet ahead. "Jeez, what did I tell you?"
"Don't yell at her," someone spat. Riku looked from where they had just came to see Krad on top of a house that was literally cut in half. He jumped to the ground and Riku saw his hand was glowing deep yellow.
"Don't touch her!" Dark screamed.
"Who said I was gonna do anything to her?" Krad sneered. Riku noticed the change in his voice and how he sounded much more mature…much more sinister. "That's not my job."
"Wha…?" Dark said, making his own hand glow deep purple. He heard a "pop!" and looked up towards the castle to see Minazuki examaning a sharpened blade and had a pistol on his hip. "No…no!"
"Yes!" Minazuki shouted and jumped down from his perch, going directly at Riku.
"No! Riku! Go home, right now!" Dark shouted. Riku flipped her head towards him and saw the look of terror in his eyes. She suddenly realized he didn't want her to end up like Natsu. "Transport yourself home right now!"
Riku clasped her hand around the necklace, and closed her eyes, thinking frantically of her room. For once, she felt herself disappearing from that world. Right before she lost all contact of sitting on bloody, gooey flesh, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see herself in her room.
And she realized, horrified, that it wasn't Dark's hand on her shoulder…
Someone had come back with her…
Yea, okay, not the best. (bows) gomen! I'm a horrible writer!
Please review anyway!
BlackAngel