AN: I am now officially a jobseeker… and it's not fun. Due to my time being eaten up by all those nasty applications I will be trying to concentrate my writing on this one story. No idea how successful that will be as my muses are fickle beings… but I'll try. In light of that SotB updates will be much slower in coming, just to warn you. Hopefully this chappy won't need any revisions as a certain deadly blonde is looming on the horizon of this story, and it's about time he appears I think. The canon end-of-game is nearing, but it's only the beginning in this tale…
February 2013 – rewrite complete! (Very little needed changed here, though I tried to make Rush's meaning behind calling David mine clearer.)
Previously
Due to their posting rotation, the guards absence wasn't noticed until a week later. Their replacements found the inner doors wide open and weapons abandoned. Rather than fetching their superior, the new guards ventured into the tunnels beyond, hoping to find them…
oooooooooooooo
If David didn't know any better, he would swear gossipers were a worse threat than the Conqueror now. Despite his best efforts the rumours from that night had already spread via the castle staff.
The version making the rounds now was that Hermeien had managed to resurrect himself from the dead for a second time and that he was behind 'Sir' Rush's current condition. How he would manage such a thing when the Conqueror had reduced him to a bloody smear in Koenigsdorf, David didn't know. He was just glad the rumour mills were so far off the mark this time.
Sighing, David sat back and glared at his desk. He couldn't concentrate, his mind was just too full of unanswered questions. It really didn't help that the missive on his desk was a request for aid from Royotia, circulated to all the Lords.
Apparently the Conqueror had attacked the city some two weeks prior and taken the Emeth Tag. By all accounts he just walked in and took it, reminiscent of Athlum's own experience. As a result Mt Altona, the volcano Royotia was built around, was rumbling ominously and giving all the warnings of an imminent eruption.
Serious consideration had to be given to the fallout, depending on the scale of the eruption. The humanitarian cost of this event would likely be substantial, as many older people were apparently refusing to leave their homes despite the danger. As it was the neighbouring cities would have to accommodate Royotian citizens until the crisis was over.
Even then the cost of rebuilding must be taken into account, if Royotia was still liveable after the volcano had vented its wrath. There was a high likelihood that most of the city would end up buried under ash or lava before the volcano calmed again.
As if that wasn't bad enough it had been nearly two weeks since Mrs. Sykes unwelcome arrival, and still no sign of waking from Rush. Against his better judgement David had sent a letter to John Sykes, only saying that there had been an incident concerning his son, and that his presence was required immediately. He had sent it via messenger hawk to speed it's delivery, so the man should arrive next week bar no complications.
The military deadlock the Conqueror had imposed on all trade routes leading to and from Elysion had been lifted somewhat, restrictions only applying to soldiers and nobles now, so John Sykes should get past easily.
The thing that was really frustrating David was Marina Sykes' continued silence. He had visited her several times over the week and she refused to speak. The only time she had said anything to him was the first visit, and what she said was disturbing to say the least…
ooooooooooooooooo
Nodding to the guards standing watch, David unlocked the door before letting himself in. The room itself was a small storage room, bereft of any windows or other avenues of escape. The woman he had come to see was sitting on an upturned crate, eyes closed.
"Are you going to explain yourself Mrs. Sykes?"
David's abrupt words didn't even make the woman twitch, as though she didn't hear him, or just chose to ignore him completely.
"Marina Sykes, I asked you a question."
Still nothing.
"Am I therefore to assume that you had no reason for attacking your son last night, an act that had your daughter in tears afterwards?"
That got a response, but not exactly one he was looking for.
"Irina shouldn't have interfered, what I was doing was for everyone's good."
Now that got David's back up, though he didn't show it.
"So you call intentionally hurting your own son a beneficial act?"
At this the woman snorted dismissively, flicking a piece of hair from her forehead.
"That boy was never my son, all I did was try to stop him from becoming a danger."
"!"
Stopped cold by those callous words, David didn't get to voice his disbelief before the woman finally turned to look at him, eyes calculating.
"You know what he is, I can sense him all over you. You know that he was no fruit of my womb, yet you think I could ever see him as my own? When before I bound him the first time I could barely stand to be near him? What I did was to keep my daughter safe. I though you knew the dangers of Remnants, after all the Gae Bolg drained your father dry before it killed him, didn't it? You watched him waste away long before the end."
That nearly sent David over the precariously thin line of his control, fists clenching white knuckled behind his back. He was rapidly revising his opinion of Marina Sykes as a strict but kind woman. What he now thought was not fit for polite company, and though she was anything but, he would not give her the pleasure of seeing his composure break.
"Does your husband think the same as you? I know Irina does not."
The cold, stiff tone was all he could manage, anger burning brightly behind his façade.
"No, both my husband and daughter see only what they wish to see. John was smitten with the child from the word go… he never saw what I did… Having Irina see Rush as a brother was useful, it made him want to protect her, not something I'd interfere with willingly."
Capitalising on her strangely talkative mood, David tried to gain some more information.
"Why do you see Rush as dangerous? He's kind, he's friendly, he loves his family…"
"He's a Remnant that has broken his binding, he'll revert to what he was when I first found him if I don't reapply it."
Feeling he was close to some potentially valuable information, David asked the obvious question.
"What did you find…?"
"I know you're just fishing for information, but I'll indulge your curiosity, if only in the hope that you see sense and let me finish what I started. I found a doll, an empty thing lacking in everything that could be termed human. Yet even then it's power was staggering. It needed to be controlled, and it was too dangerous to lock back up where I found it. I know you're fond of it and consider it a friend, but all you've seen is the surface, the exterior shell."
Her face at that point took on an almost haunted cast, every word deadly serious.
"You don't know what's hiding inside. You don't even know why or how it looks like a Mitra…"
ooooooooooooooooo
After that she clammed up. He couldn't get anything more out of her, despite multiple attempts. Her words now reverberated inside his head like some dire warning, though he really didn't want to take heed of her words.
In truth, David was almost glad of the opportunity this occurrence afforded him, despite his worry. It was precious time to sort through his feelings and deal with the lingering mental trauma and stress recent events piled on him.
Though it tinged his thoughts with guilt, seeing Rush that vulnerable had actually helped him come to terms with some of his recent irrational impulses. The teen wasn't something to fear, he could easily be hurt and needed care and protection as much as any person. He was kind and helpful, gregarious to a fault and David would do his best to remember that in the future.
Massaging his temples, the Marquis set about calculating what aid Athlum could muster at the current time.
ooooooooooooooooo
That evening, David made time to visit Rush, like had done every night for the past week. As with every other visit, Irina was already there, dozing lightly. Aside from meal times she was always there, waiting for some sign that Rush would wake up.
Settling into the chair opposite the girl, David knew there had been no change by her expression, pinched even in sleep. She had refused the chance to speak to her mother, the betrayal hurting too much to face. Irina's visage had become pale and haggard with worry these past two weeks, David's own reflecting this, though to a lesser degree.
Everyone was growing more concerned about her health, David especially about her state of mind. While she might pretend otherwise she was still a child, one who had been kidnapped, seen the ugliness of battle and now been betrayed in the worst possible way.
David honestly wanted to throttle the woman who caused this, though protocol dictated otherwise. How could she do this to her family? Speaking of Marina, she hadn't made any attempts to escape yet, which the Marquis had honestly been expecting. It was worrying, not knowing what she was planning…
Pushing such thoughts away for the moment, David let himself be lulled by the soft crackling of the fire, gradually drifting off to sleep.
ooooooooooooooooo
That night, David dreamed. He was walking through a forest, one quite unlike any he could remember. Yet it also felt so familiar, almost like his mother's garden… Everything was green and golden, the lush growth radiant with heat and light that he could feel on his bare skin. There was no path to follow, but all the same he knew where he was going. Weaving between the trees with barely a care, he didn't notice that some of the trees were dead, trunks cracked and desiccated.
Coming to a break in the trees, he found himself in front of a shallow basin, an unnatural dip hewn from solid rock by some unknown force. The walls were largely bare save for some patches covered in verdant moss, but one side of the bowl was split by a jagged crack in the rock. As he descended into the basin, he saw that from its black interior seeped something viscous and inky. The mystery substance trickled down and collected into a deep pool that split the hollow in half with its size.
Stopping not far from the liquid's edge, where the land terminated in a sharp drop of several feet, David found he didn't want to get any closer. Something about the stillness of that dark body unnerved him. Looking up to the far side of the hollow he could see that it opened up back into the forest. Dead brown grass carpeted the ground in the immediate area around the pond, highlighting the absence of anything green, save for one thing.
Blinking, it took him a moment to realise that there was more than vegetation on the other side. There was a person standing on the opposite bank, staring back at him. The figure looked relaxed, but there was a stillness about him that bordered on unnatural. He didn't even blink, just watched David with veiled interest.
"…Rush…?"
It was Rush… or at least he looked like Rush, but something about him was subtly different, older and with an air of calmness that David didn't usually associate with the energetic teen…
He wore an outfit that sparked remembrance in David, even though he'd only seen part of it before. The top was similar to a formal tunic, fitted around the body with a high stiff collar. The cloth was a deep green, dull like brushed velvet on the body but with the sheen of satin or silk on the arms.
Bright silver thread trimmed the collar and outlined a flowing design that extended over the shoulders and down each arm. The sleeves themselves were long and billowy and exactly like he remembered. The lower half was clad in loose dark grey trousers, covered by a strange half-coat (similar to what Emma used to wear) the same malachite hue as the tunic, which draped about the hips and ended mid-calf.
Seeing the half remembered figure in it's entirety, David was struck by the thought that he must be dreaming, despite feeling perfectly awake.
"Hey Dave, did you want to see me?"
The other's voice was most peculiar, two-toned, like more than one person was speaking at once.
"So it is you… Are you real? I fear I must be dreaming, for how could this be happening otherwise? The last I saw you were sleeping so deeply no one could wake you."
Shifting his weight back on one leg, Rush propped one hand on his hip, striking a very familiar pose.
"Yeah, I'm real… or at least I think I am. Then again, I'd probably say that even if I wasn't real… err… Okay, now I'm confusing myself. Anyway you don't need to worry; I'm not hurt anymore, just… resting. I think you managed to call out to me, otherwise I wouldn't be here. To be honest, I didn't think you would want to see me… like this… so soon after you freed me."
Ignoring the puzzling little gesture Rush made to the rest of his body, David studied the thick tarry fluid of the pool, looking for a way around it.
"Rush, do you know what this is, or see a way around it?"
David was set on finding a way across, wanting to ascertain for himself that his friend was as hale and healthy as he appeared, even if it was only a dream.
"I really don't want to swim across, something about it seems… unnatural, sinister even…"
As soon as the words left David's mouth he knew them to be true. The pool separating the two repulsed him, wrongness seething from its ebon depths. He was wary of it, and knew it shouldn't be there.
The other said nothing, inspecting the ooze with a frown of concentration on his face, before crouching at the shore and stretching out a hand to sample the stuff. Seeing this, the David started forward only to freeze at the pool's edge, nearly slipping in due to his momentum.
"Wait! Don't touch it!"
Pausing, the other shook his head, quite serious.
"You're right, I think… I think this is the hole Kellendros left when I removed her… It shouldn't be like this though, it should be healing… Whatever this gunk is it's stopping the hole from closing up. It's probably dangerous, you'd best leave it alone and see if it disappears on it's own."
Studying the rim of the pool, David saw there truly was no way around, the thick liquid stretching unbroken the whole length of the basin.
"Can't you help me get rid of it, rather than leave it?"
David didn't know why he said it, and the startled look that crossed Rush's face wasn't the outright no he'd been expecting. Face twisting into an uneasy expression, Rush leaned back on his haunches, hands fisting in his clothes.
"I… don't think you've realised what you just asked me to do. It's not that I can't help, I'd love to… but d'you really want me messing around with you again? I mean, it's your soul we're talking about here…"
Before David could fully appreciate the impact those words had, the ground beneath his feet crumbled, sending him plunging into semi-gelatinous cold. It happened so quickly, yet he felt each second as an eternity.
Even through his clothes he felt it, breath leaving him as the black liquid soaked to his skin, stealing the heat from his veins and vitality from his body. It seemed to suck him in eagerly, and left him feeling so, so empty… Unable to gain purchase on the sheer rocky wall he was pulled deeper, sinking up to his neck in the oily fluid's chilling embrace before he felt what seemed to be the bottom.
"Dave!"
He didn't see the look of shock and alarm cross Rush's face.
Shuddering from the unbelievable cold creeping through him like poison, he felt his strength deserting him, a dreadful sense of apathy weighing him down. Hands sinking into what might have been mud below he felt it give way, plunging his head under as any semblance of terra firma vanished. Inhaling in shock he felt the stuff invade his mouth and throat, sticky like congealed monster blood. Yet he didn't fight it, unable to sum up the needed energy to even care.
Why bother? Everything would stop if he just let go, no more worries or troubles to care about, no sleepless nights… He could just leave it all behind…
…
…
…
Something bothered him about that last thought, in a way he couldn't quite pinpoint. There were things he had to do, important things and people that needed him, weren't there? Twisting weakly, he tried to find the surface, hands clawing ineffectually at the suffocating sludge pressing in around him.
Which way was up? He didn't know, because everything was black, not a speck of light to be seen. Unexpectedly he felt a tug at his collar, and before he could react he was hauled out of the depths by the scruff, the venomous slime releasing him with a reluctant slurp. Dropped on the bank he flopped onto his side, choked up oily fluid and shuddered, feeling as weak as a half drowned kitten.
Limbs splayed haphazardly on the grass, he coughed out another mouthful of liquid, nearly sick at the sensation. Dimly, he was aware of Rush cursing quietly in the background, seemingly the one who had pulled him out. He only caught a few words, such as "…should've seen something like that would happen…" and "…wouldn't have been that close if it wasn't for me…"
Cheek pressed against the earth, he focused on evening out his breathing, still short and staccato from his dip. Hearing movement beside him, he was unsurprised when a hand appeared on his forehead. The glorious warmth it exuded almost had him groaning out loud, and he shamelessly leaned into it, earning an amused (and exasperated) cough from Rush.
Lifting one fumbling hand to scrape the foul stuff off his face, he found it gently caught and pulled aside, the teen's fingers catching his chin while a soft cloth wiped his face clean. Just like his mother (and then Emma) used to do for him as a child.
Unable to give much more than a token protest, which was summarily ignored, he realised something odd was going on. He could feel something pricking lightly against the skin on the underside of his jaw, sharp but gentle. It corresponded to the position of the fingers holding his chin.
He focused on the greater oddity however. The hand on his forehead was now busily occupied cleaning his face, while the other hand was holding his chin… so why could he still feel something circling his wrist?
Rather than open his eyes straight away, he twisted the held appendage and got a grip on whatever was round his wrist. His first impression was that it was very warm, but didn't have the same softness of skin. The second was how smooth it seemed, flawlessly so, like polished metal despite the slight give beneath his fingers.
Feeling the cloth finish its job he opened his eyes, then almost wished he hadn't. His vision at first seemed horribly blurred, nearly enough to give him a headache. Once it cleared however, it was a different story.
Squinting at the confusing image, it was like David's eyes were seeing two things at once, both occupying the same space. On one hand he saw the (almost normal) figure of Rush, mitra form and green toned robes. On the other he saw something… much different. It was on this he focused until the strange double vision steadied, the first image seeming to fade into the second.
Decidedly inhuman, the new figure crouched at his side on fearsome draconian feet, lethal bronze claws razor sharp in the brown grass. Gleaming golden skin lacked any sign of scales in favour of tiny, softly glowing accents that trailed the contours of the limbs. Following it up, his view was briefly disrupted by green fabric, and David realised that the figure still wore a loose outer robe in the same style as Rush.
It didn't perturb David as he knew, somehow, that the two were one and the same.
Looking to his arm, David saw the mystery appendage was actually a tail. Long and sinuous, crystal bright colours glinted at intervals along its length, vaguely reminiscent of the Fallen's in form. The rest of his body was quite similar to a Mitra aside from the sharp nails adorning his fingers, and the long Sovani-esque ears. The face was just Rush, no difference aside from the luminous viridian eyes that expressed both worry and relief.
Reassured by the familiar face, David found the new look didn't really bother him, not that he felt up to screaming and pelting in the other direction anyway. Finding the situation quite surreal, David decided this was the strangest dream he'd ever had.
"So that's what you meant before… you have a tail."
Not seeming in any hurry to retrieve that tail, Rush just cocked his head, the question making his ears swivel to attention. It was such a Sovani movement that David found himself half expecting the other to sprout fur.
"Huh, so that's why you didn't seem freaked out. I'm guessing you saw what you expected, a Mitra. But you can see me now, like this? From the weird look on your face I guess you're seeing the whole package and not just the new limb… I didn't change, if that's what you're thinking… it feels like I've always been this, inside. I think that's partly what M… Marina was so scared of…"
At this his ears canted down, almost seeming to droop as Rush glanced away, gaze redirected onto the grass and heavy with sadness. Barely considering the implications of that sentence, which he would ponder long and hard over when awake, David tried to draw him out of those memories.
"Ah… thank you, Rush, for pulling me out of that muck. I shouldn't have been standing at the edge like that…"
Tail twining more tightly around his wrist, the other looked up, a grudgingly acceptant expression crossing his face.
"Yeah, but it was kinda my fault too. I didn't realise I could get across that easily, and I should've. Anyway, I didn't remove that soul leeching Harpy just for you to drown in whatever she left behind. Try not to do it again, or at least give me some warning before you decide to jump in feet first. I don't want to see you hurt again…you're… precious… for more than one reason."
Struck by the sincerity in the other's tone, David stilled his attempts to sit up.
"Precious… that's an odd word to use… isn't it…?"
One hand creeping up to rub his chin, Rush struck a meditative pose, considering how best to answer.
"Oh boy… you had to ask that, didn't you…"
Getting a rather curious, almost cautious expression on his face, Rush's gaze drifter over to where Mitra hand and Remnant tail entwined.
"I don't really know how to answer that in a way that won't make you freak out... …Okay, bear with me here… I said precious because it fits what I mean better than special. Special makes it sound like you're the only one I mean when I say that, and you're not…"
Then next sentence was mumbled so softly that David almost didn't make it out, but it certainly caught his attention.
"Any word's better than 'mine' which makes me sound creepily possessive, even though it fits best…"
The transformed teen continued before David could finish processing that sentence, which was probably a good thing.
"Precious, cherished, beloved, they all kinda describe what I mean. You're 'precious' because of many things, just like Irina, Dad, Emmy and quite a few others. Firstly you're my friend, you've helped me a lot in the past. You've been patient and kind even when I must've driven you halfway up the wall with frustration, and are doing your best to accept me now you know the truth… That would be the human reason behind it. The other is probably hard for you to understand, and the one I'm pretty sure you won't like. You're Marked as mine, possibly only less so than Irina, or Dad."
"Marked…? Explain."
Here Rush's ears folded flat at the ominously dark tone of voice David exhibited, and the Marquis in question felt the tail shiver slightly in his grasp.
"Even… even before all this happened, the Mark was still there. The Mark is… it's accumulated energy, almost like a stain that people get from close prolonged contact with a single unbound (or partially bound in my case) Remnant. Before I got rid of Kellendros it was almost unnoticeable, but now with all this happening it's gotten much more vivid."
Seeing the almost stony expression on David's face, Rush hastened to reassure him, waving both hands in emphasis.
"Ack, Dave it's not anything like a Binding, I swear it's not harmful… I wouldn't do that to you, not after Her. It just means that… that even if I was enthralled by a monster, I wouldn't hurt you. I couldn't, not now I'm closer to how I should be. It's… a bit like the concept of family, but it's so much more than that in ways I have no idea how to describe… You're mine, I need… have to keep you safe… It's like... like you're brother, best friend and child all wrapped up in one and even that still doesn't explain it well enough but it's the best I can do…"
Turning over this new information in his head, David really wasn't sure what to think. The connotations behind Rush's words were staggering. The level of implied emotion in those words was enough to make him balk.
He could also practically hear the weighty layers placed behind the word 'mine' and the depths of meaning hidden within were enough to make anyone shy away from pressing too hard. He never was very good at addressing his own feelings, and he really didn't want to misinterpret the many layers present in this case.
Shuddering abruptly, the moment was broken, David's cold wet clothes reminding them both of the current situation. Tail pulled swiftly out of his grasp, David was startled when Rush stood, stepping over the supine Mitra before kneeling at his back. One hand pressed between his shoulder blades while the other settled in his hair, keeping him from turning.
"If you want me to get rid of the sludge you dragged with you, then you'd better stay still. I don't like the thought of leaving it on you, just in case."
Awkward enough after that last conversation, David just nodded quickly.
"Alright, this might tingle slightly…"
The hand on his spine curled, claw tips sharp pinpricks through cloth before they dragged down, and in their wake it felt like hot water was pouring over him, warm and bright and clean.
Immediately, the cloying cold was stripped away, leaving David wide eyed at the feeling, skin tingling.
"There, now I think it's time to wake up before this gets any more awkward."
With barely enough time to register what was said, the hand on his back pushed, and David woke up.
oooooooooooooo
Aand cut! That's a wrap! Please be careful of the plotting muses on your way out, and leave a review in the receptacle below.