First off, I'm very sorry about the long wait for the update but I was swamped with crap last week and really couldn't get around to typing. When I did I had other stuff to work on like my application for colleges I'm trying to attend in the fall, trying to find a job somewhere, not to mention trying to finish up on my own original story that I want to have published by the end of the year. So the Fanfic definitely had to be put on the back burner, but I hope this chapter more than makes up for it.
Secondly, I read back over my earlier chapters and I would like to apologize for grammatical errors on my part. It's that when I type I go a little too fast and end up making mistakes here and there. I will try to lessen these errors and type more slowly so I can spot these mistakes. Anyhow, this chapter I'm going to bring one of Izar's lost friends back into the picture. (I might bring in both depending how the story goes.) So just expect a lot of stuff with this chapter, including a long length. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own Izar, Cyrus, Thoth and their stories. Everything else is Tite Kubo's.
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Chapter Eleven: Return
His eyes gazed down at the city underneath him as he hovered overhead. His wings glistened brilliantly in the early morning sunlight, bringing out the vibrant colors of his feathers.
"So you finally made it, huh Cellie?" he whispered to himself, scanning the streets that would have been impossible for someone else from that height to see, but he could see clearly. "Wonder if you bumped into my friend, Kisuke yet." He thought, then shrugged and with a big flap of his wings dived towards the city like a peregrine falcon.
"Here I come, girl." He shouted happily in his descent.
Izar's POV
It was a tearful reunion with Akiko and Kenji when Izar finally returned from her adventure with Chad and his cursed cockatiel. The moment Izar opened the door and kicked off her shoes she was tackled by the weeping Akiko and Kenji who came speeding around the corner to throw their arms around her.
"Oh Izar," Akiko sniffled, "Where did you go? I was so afraid something had happened to you."
"We thought you left us and wasn't going to come back ever again." Kenji sobbed having her in a death grip like he was determined to keep her from moving.
"What were you doing that you couldn't have at least checked in?" Akiko pulled away so her and Izar were facing each other.
"Chad and I got caught up in some serious stuff. He had gotten himself hurt and I wanted to stay with him until we had everything under control." inside Izar felt good knowing that Akiko and Kenji were so fond of her as to get so upset over her short absence. Chad was right, Akiko and Kenji did believe in her just like him.
"Serious stuff?" Akiko asked drying her eyes with the back of her hand, "What kind of serious stuff?"
"We had a run-in with a monster." She answered simply.
"A monster?! Cool! Did you kick its butt, huh?" Kenji said perking up in an instant and going into hyperactive action carton watching nine year old mode.
"Yeah, we handled it, along with some of his other friends that seem to have powers, too. So don't worry." Izar reassured.
"But what about you? Are you going to leave because this was what you were frightened was going to happen?" Akiko had asked her sadness apparent at the thought of Izar's departure.
"No, I'm not." Izar smiled reassuringly. "I learned that protecting the ones I care about doesn't mean running from the problem. It means standing by them and fighting whatever comes their way."
"So you're staying?" Kenji asked brightly.
"Yes, I'm staying." Izar smiled.
"Awesome!" he said leaping up into her arms.
Izar was lucky enough to catch him and burst into laughter.
"Okay that's enough, Kenji." Akiko said smacking her son as a way of saying get down, but she was laughing, too.
"Now you young lady, you look a mess. Your uniform's ripped and you're filthy. Go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up." Akiko ordered her turning into her maternal mode.
"Yes, ma'am." Izar said running up the stairs.
That evening the twosome known as Izar and Kenji were sitting in the living room doing what they do best; playing videogames. Kenji had just looked up some cheat codes and walkthroughs on the internet and the two of them were making short work of the parts in their games where they were once absolutely baffled. Izar was cruising through her RPG with Kenji assisting her by reading the printed out information he had.
"Okay, where to next?" she asked after sealing the keyhole to the world with her brunette keyblade wielder.
"Off to 'The World that Never Was'." Kenji instructed her.
"I'm almost at the end, huh?" Izar smiled finding a little green save point and picking the option of "World Map" on the screen.
"Yep," Kenji agreed staring at the screen now, "But you might want to go fill up on supplies first."
"Right." Izar agreed.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Could you get that, Izar? I'm kind of busy right now." Akiko called from her study.
"Okay," Izar called back. She handed Kenji the controller, "Hook me up in the supply department. I'll be right back."
She got up and jogged to the front door. Opening it she saw Chad standing there, an aura of nervousness on his face. Along with his usual attire Chad had a carrying case for a guitar slung over his shoulder.
"Hiya Chad," Izar greeted with a smile.
"Hi, may I come in?" he asked politely.
"Sure." Izar stepped aside to let him in.
Chad took off his shoes at the door and continued to walk in. Closing the door behind them Izar went to Chad's side.
"C'mon, we're in here." She said taking his arm and leading him into the living room.
Kenji was stocking up on supplies at the shop just as Izar had instructed him to. Izar sat next to him on the floor in front of the TV. She turned to Chad who was still standing up, scanning the living room. When he looked at her she smiled and patted the spot next to her. Chad nodded, putting his guitar on the floor he sat next to her.
"Give me back the joystick." She told Kenji giving his arm a tap. While he handed her the joystick she introduced the two of them, "Kenji, this is Yasutora, but you can call him Chad. He's a friend of mine's from school. Chad, this is Kenji, the boy I've told you about."
"Hey," Kenji greeted brightly.
Chad held up his hand in a wave.
"So Chad what brings you here?" Izar asked as she was equipping her characters with upgraded weapons and trinkets that would help them in battle.
"Nothing, just wanted to see how you were doing." Chad replied stoically watching her play the game.
"Me, well I'm fine." She assured, "What about you? How's your back and everything?" she gazed up at him. Even sitting down he was so much taller than her.
"It's fine. Better than it was."
He met her gaze with his. For the moment she found herself having a hard time tearing her eyes away from his soft mocha brown ones.
"Izar, watch out!" Kenji cried pointing at the screen.
Izar looked at the screen just in time to get ambushed by a figure in black.
"Oh, crap." She cried smashing the buttons on the joystick.
After a few minutes of her smashing away at buttons and Kenji shouting commands and strategies at her she was finally bested as the game over screen popped up with the hero floating in a dark secluded place.
"Fudge." She pouted, "Wanna give it a try?" she asked Chad handing him the controller.
"Oh no, I'm fine. I'm not really a videogame person." Chad waved off.
"Yeah, you're more of a musician, huh?" she eyed the guitar case behind him.
Chad nodded looking at the guitar too.
"Can I hear you play, Chad?" Kenji asked eagerly.
"Yeah, play a song for us, Chad." Izar mocked Kenji's eagerness, even clapping her hands playfully.
A tiny blush came across his face. Izar found that so cute.
"Okay, I'll play you something." He finally agreed.
Kenji cut off the game system while Izar watched Chad get his guitar out of its case. He took a seat on the couch with Izar next to him. Kenji sat on the floor in front of them just when Chad struck the first few chords on the guitar. Once his warm up with the chords were over he went right into playing. He made the instrument sound so beautifully and elegant. It was a haunting melody that sent the ears and mind on a journey, it started out slowly and sad but as it neared the end it became light and happier. Finally with a few more elongated strums of his strings he finished off his song.
"That was beautiful." Izar gasped looking up into his eyes.
He was staring back into hers, "Thanks."
"Hey, can you teach me to play?" Kenji asked excitedly, making the two of them break their locked gazes.
Chad seemed a little shocked at Kenji's interest, "Um…maybe some other time."
"Oh, okay." Kenji said a little disappointed but he smiled anyway.
"Kenji! It's getting late. Start getting ready for bed." Akiko called from the study.
"Alright mom." Kenji called back a little irately, getting to his feet, and scurrying out of the room.
As soon as he was gone Izar gave Chad an impish glare, "Now tell me why you really came over?" she asked with a smirk.
"I wanted to talk to you." Chad told her.
"About what?"
"Anything. I was just a little lonely is all." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh, I guess you would be lonely considering you live by yourself and you must be missing Yuuichi. I know I do." She admitted with a soft smile.
"He's better off and happier where he is now."
"Yeah, you're right." Izar admitted sadly. She had to admit she was growing used to Chad's talking feathered friend, "Wanna go for a walk?" she suggested to him.
At his slightly amused expression Izar went on to say, "I know it's kinda late but I like taking walks at night. If we stay here all we can do is surf the internet, which I heard on TV is ninety-seven percent pornographic material, or we can watch TV. Admittedly outside of a few shows here and there I'm not really a big TV person." Izar explained.
Chad's lips turned up at the corners in a small smile, "I agree. TV and the internet isn't my thing either."
Izar smiled too, "Great, I'll just fetch my jacket and tell Akiko we're going out."
Once doing just that was done the duo was soon out on the evening streets. Even as the sun was setting the city was still abuzz with civilians going to and fro. Chad and Izar were somewhat blended in with everyone else as they neared the park that they were heading for. As they neared it the crowd had sparse out to only the two of them again.
"So the internet and TV aren't your thing. Music's more your style. I think that is very suiting as you are very good at it." Izar said smiling up at Chad.
"Thanks, you really liked hearing me play?" Chad had asked her with a hopeful smile of his own.
"I loved it actually."
"That's good because I actually wrote that song for you."
Izar stopped walking and stared at Chad. His face had turned a little red in his cheeks and he lowered his head some so his hair covered up the top portion of his face and his eyes. Izar felt her heart flutter a little at what he had just said. That beautiful piece he had played earlier was for her?
"You wrote it for me?" she asked, feeling her mouth form a big, goofy smile revealing how flattered she was.
Chad only nodded going redder in the face.
"Don't be shy about it. That's really cool. Can you explain to me how it was about me?" she asked taking a seat on the on the curb of the pavement.
Chad slowly sat down next to her, after reaching in his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. Without looking her in the face he handed it to her. She took it with a small smile, "Can you play your song again while I read please?" she asked sweetly.
Chad sighed deeply. He reached up and took his guitar case off of his back. Once his guitar was situated in his lap and he had strummed his strings for a warm up. He started strumming just as beautifully and elegantly as before. While he played Izar read the paper with the lyrics on it, trying to sync up the words with the tempo and rhythm of Chad's guitar. With each verse she felt her heart melting away. Written on the paper was the story of her and Chad. From the first time he saw her to the second time when she first talked to the time he brought her home and shared, what he called an extraordinary night with her. She noticed that in the first part of the song it was sad and slow it was fitting the tone of how sad and lonely he had felt after he awoke that morning to find she had left him without word. Making as if he had dreamed her up that whole time. Towards the end as the melody became happier and light it was how happy he was when he finally found her again after all this time. How when they were reunited she had promised she would never ever leave him again. Chad finished playing and for the first time he looked at Izar who was staring back at him.
"Why'd you write this?" she asked stiffly, feeling welled up with emotions she couldn't really describe or muster to express right now.
Chad shrugged then said simply, "Was just thinking about you at the time. It sort of popped into my head." He set his guitar in its case placed on the ground in front of him.
"It was beautiful, thank you." Izar sighed with a smile.
"You're more than welcome." Chad said softly.
"What's more then welcome?" Izar asked with a smirk.
Chad didn't answer right away. Izar looked at him more closely, his stare was on her intently. It looked like he was having an inner conflict within himself. As if he was deciding whether to go through with something or not.
"Chad?" she asked a little more slowly and nervously.
"To answer your question of what more than welcome is…" he said softly, leaning in more towards her face.
He brushed her bangs out of her face to expose her mark that she didn't bother covering with concealer when she came out the house tonight. Izar felt herself get breathless feeling his warm touch against her face.
"I think this should say enough." He finally finished as he pressed his lips softly against her marked eye just as she closed it.
Her breathing became more labored and fast at his kiss. Hold on, she didn't want this to happen yet. She hadn't even sorted out how deeply she felt for him yet. Yeah, she knew she liked him, more than liked him. She cared about him so much. In a short time he became as valuable to her as a precious stone to a jewelry collector, but did she really want to have a romantic relationship right now? Of course not, she couldn't afford such a thing as this. She still had something very important for her to do and after everything that had elapsed in the last few hours she still couldn't help but feel that being with Chad would make everything much more difficult for him or give him grief. She couldn't let this happen, not at all.
He had pulled only a few inches away from her face and stayed away for awhile before he slowly started to go in again. This time aiming for her lips but she put her hand on his chest as a signal for him to stop.
"Hold on," she breathed heavily, him being so close right now made her whole face feel flushed and hot.
"I'm sorry." Chad said shakily and nervously, quickly pulling back from her.
He snapped his guitar case closed, put it on his back, and stood staring red-faced down at Izar who was still sitting on the curb. Izar quickly scrambled to her feet, too.
"Chad…" she started.
"I'm really sorry about that." Chad apologized again, "Please, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just…caught up in the moment." He said rapidly, it was the fastest Izar had ever heard him spoke since she met him.
"Chad, I'm not upset or anything." Izar tried to soothe.
"I have to go. See you in school tomorrow." With that he made a hasty retreat away from her.
"Chad! Chad! Come back, there's a reason I stopped you." She called after him. "Oh no." she went to chase after him but someone speaking had stopped her.
"Aw, boyfriend left you all high and dry." Said a soft and sly sounding voice that dragged and whistled and slithered on its words. It was the voice that would befit a snake if they could talk
"Don't feel too bad, statistically young love never last nowadays." Said another voice. This one was as stoic and lifeless as they came. It lacked all sorts of emotions, vigor, and life in general. It was a voice only a robot could be envious of.
"Shut up! Mind your own…" Izar had started to snap but stopped when she turned to look at the ones who had spoken.
Standing away from her was a tall, lean woman with long silvery white hair that cascaded down her back in a shiny curtain. Her skin was pale, almost white, and positively flawless with equally white skin tight clothing that matched her complexion making it appear as if she had no clothing on at all. She was bare foot and Izar saw that her feet were barely touching the ground, she walked on the very tips of her big toes without fault like this was something normal for her to do. Her eyes were the color of silver that faded into a blazing white near her dark gray pupils, and just like her voice her face held no sign of life or expression. It was completely blank.
Her companion was a peculiar creature with a humanoid build. Though his body was the same dark color of the night sky overhead but it was surrounded in a bright blue aura. It had a prominent hunch to its back, long, snake like arms, short, stout legs, and its head held no features outside of its diamond shaped head, and blazing white almond shaped eyes.
"Who are you?" she demanded breathlessly.
"Our orders do not state we are entitled to introduce ourselves." The lifeless white maiden said.
"We are however entitled to retrieve you and bring you back to our master at once. So you can either come quietly." Said the creature with the voice that matched his peculiar appearance.
"Or we shall take you there by force." The white maiden finished.
"Okay," Izar dragged out through clenched teeth allowing her powers to kick in, her marked eye glowing brightly, her hair billowing about her wildly, and her body becoming enshrouded in fiery white starlight aura that pulsated off of her like smoke, "You guys picked a really bad time to bother me."
To show them how pissed she was for them showing up when they did right then Izar let out a loud, angry war cry just as her wings burst from out of her back, ripping gaping holes into the shirt and jacket she was wearing. In response to her the white maiden unfurled wings of her own. Yet unlike Izar's four black white speckled wings she had simply two that were silvery white, but seemed much longer, thinner, and elegant than Izar's.
"We'd figured you want it the hard way." The maiden said lifelessly also producing a white, ivory carved long bow and arrow that simply materialized in her hands already in the firing position, aimed right for Izar.
"Remember, don't kill her or hurt her too badly." Warned the creature who also took a crouching position at her side, "Master wants her in good shape when we bring her back."
"Bring it!" Izar taunted.
The duo complied with her taunt, launching a simultaneous attack on her. The creature bolted towards her like a jet as the white maiden shot one of her ivory arrows right at her. Izar watched as the arrow swept by the creature. She caught the arrow in her hand just as it was within inches of going through her face. The creature leapt towards her with one of its long arms raised for a blow. She had turned the arrow around in her hand so the point was facing him but a figure appearing in front of her caused her to quickly retract the arrow. With a thunderous roar echoing from his mouth Chad had punched the creature on top of its head, sending it crashing into the ground in front of him, making a crater.
"Chad?" Izar cried in surprise.
"Izar, are you alright?" he asked turning his head to face her.
Izar didn't have time to answer him. She peeked around his hulking figure to see the white maiden fire off a whole round of ivory arrows at them. She quickly stepped around Chad to stand in front of him. When the arrow was within reaching distance of them Izar waved her hand out in front of them causing a fiery white wall to shield them and vaporize the arrows. Izar dropped the wall from in front of them.
"Your resistance is futile. Give up while you still can." The white maiden warned lifelessly preparing another arrow.
"Put down that bow and come over here and say it." Izar taunted the woman.
The white maiden lowered her bow slowly, her face still had its blank, stoic stare on it but underneath that façade was a look of consideration on it, "Very well then. I must warn you it is much easier for the opponent when I use my arrows rather than my fists."
"Come over here and show me then." Izar mocked.
The moment Izar had finished her sentence the maiden had crept up behind her and Chad. She sent Chad flying off into one direction with a powerful thrust kick to his back. Then she pounced on Izar, grabbing her face in her hands, lifting her off of the ground, then thrusting her body on top of Izar's, using her weight, which had suddenly increased dramatically, to send Izar crashing into the ground. She hopped off of Izar, leaving her to wallow in the pain she had just inflicted onto her. Izar felt as if her stomach had just burst open and flew out of her back. She turned on her side, dry heaving, feeling as if everything in her stomach was going to come up in a wave of vomit.
"Izar!" she heard Chad cry for her.
She looked over at him. He was racing towards her but he was cut off by the creature appearing from absolutely nowhere and tackling him to the ground. Impulsively Izar shot a blast towards them but the creature and Chad rolled out of the way to avoid getting hit. Chad went to drive his fist into the creature but it dodged his attack. It countered by swinging his arm backward, hitting Chad so hard that spittle flew from his mouth. Izar unsteadily got to her feet but staying on them became the challenge. Her legs kept wobbling and her stomach just wasn't staying put. Izar sensed her before it even happened. The white maiden materialized behind her and went in for a jab at the back of Izar's head. Quickly whipping around she knocked the maiden away by smacking her with both of her left wings. The maiden went sailing through the air yet slid to a stop, then furled out her delicate wings to bring her to a stop in mid-flight. Once she was stopped she came charging at Izar. Izar reciprocated with a charge of her own. When they collided it was in an explosion of fiery white light that Izar pulsated off of her strongly that sent the maiden skidding backwards. Izar turned her attention to Chad who was having a showdown himself with the diamond headed being. Chad was strong but the creature was fast and kept doing a trick where he seemed to be disappearing act. One minute he was there the next he would vanish leaving a bewildered Chad. Suddenly he would materialize and deliver a harsh blow to the unsuspecting gentle giant. Izar would have gone to help if the white maiden hadn't recovered so quickly and took advantage of her distracted state at the moment by crashing her body into Izar from behind. Izar went tumbling forward, only coming to a stop when she ran out of room from hitting a lamppost hard. The collision knocked the air out of her lungs. She started gaping mouthfuls of air to put back into her heaving chest.
This was getting bad, she had never been in a fight like this before. Every fight she was ever in it was always one sided on her part. She can't recall a fight where her opponent had managed to get a hit in on her. What was going on here was becoming too much to handle. The maiden appeared at her side, glaring down at her blankly as she reared back her foot and went in for a kick to Izar's side. However Izar caught her foot with her hand and twisted it hard and turned her body so the woman went falling towards the ground landing on her back. In a flash Izar got back onto her feet, making sure she got some payback on the woman by stomping her stomach in, before rushing over to the area where Chad and the creature did battle. From what she saw the creature was clearly winning this fight. It was overwhelming Chad with its constant popping up here and there, then striking him once his guard was dropped.
"Chad, behind you!" she called as she ran towards him.
Chad obeyed her, swinging around and catching the creature right in the face with his fist. He went skidding across the pavement away from him. Chad looked at Izar and she noticed how his eyes had gotten wide at something.
"Izar!" he shouted just as a pain ripped through Izar's upper right wing.
Izar cried out in pain reaching for her injured wing to see what happened. Her hand closed around a thin, tubular object. With gritted teeth she pulled the arrow quickly from her wing and cried out again in agony. The pain was so searing that her already weak knees gave out as she collapsed to the ground. She heard Chad call out her name again, this time he was running towards her. When he had neared her she noticed that he wasn't going to stop. Instead he stepped over her and took a protective stance above and in front of her. In minutes there was a small noise, like something cutting through the air fast, followed by Chad letting out a noticeable exhale of breath. Izar looked at Chad to see his body go entirely rigid. In the next second he started falling backwards towards her. She maneuvered herself so that he wouldn't fall on her but his head would fall into her lap. Her heart had jolted when she saw the arrow sticking out of Chad's chest.
"NO!" she cried cradling his head with her hands.
Chad's hair had fallen back from his face revealing all the features that his hair had hidden before, and the bruises that were forming from the creatures blows from earlier. Especially his brown eyes that were staring up at her face, trying to cover up the pain that he was obviously in right at the moment.
"Izar," he breathed softly.
She looked up to see the white maiden float heavenly over towards her with a simple thrust of her wings. The creature joined her at her side like a faithful hound. The maiden had her bow at her side but there was already an arrow balanced delicately between her fingers in case she had to fire off another round.
"I warned you that resistance would be futile. If you wish to continue then we will engage until you give in." the maiden had said with that annoying tone of hers.
"Your little boyfriend doesn't look so good. If you don't want him hurt any further you might as well just come quietly." Slithered the creature.
Izar looked down at Chad's face, feeling the back of her eyes stinging and her vision blurred. His breathing was a little faster and his eyes appeared tight and drawn at the corners. He was obviously trying to hold the pain in. Was this how his eyes looked that day she first saw him? From her position she saw his face was stoic and blank. Much like it appeared now, but this close to his face she could see that maybe his eyes told the story of the pain he actually did feel but he always hid it. Was that it? Either way she didn't see him any less of a warrior than she did that day. If anything he was more warrior and hero like now than ever.
"Chad…" she choked out.
"What is your decision Celestial Wing?" the maiden asked her.
'Celestial Wing? How do they know that?" she thought to herself, 'They said someone sent them, right? Could it have been…'
"Izar," Chad's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Chad, this is why I stopped you from kissing me." She said softly so only he could hear her, "I knew my life would only come back to haunt me and if we get any closer things like this will keep happening to you. I don't want you hurt."
"Please don't go with them. I'm fine, just in shock a little. I'll be fine, it's not even in that deep." Chad started pleading to Izar.
He had already sensed what Izar was leading up to. She knew she couldn't keep fighting them off. She stared up at the maiden and the creature over her. She swallowed hard over the lump that formed in her throat.
"We will ask you again," the maiden said a little more forcefully, "Are you giving up?"
Izar had fixed her mouth to answer them, "Not even close."
The catch was that the voice that answered didn't come out of her mouth. This was voice was masculine and belonged to the winged young man that was standing behind the maiden and the creature a few feet away. When they turned around to face the young man Izar got a glimpse for herself who it was. The minute she rested her eyes on him Izar felt a wave of emotion mow her down. She was a mixture of happy, relieved, sad, and unbelievably angry all at the same time. There was only one person that could make her feel such a range of emotions at once. It was definitely the young man standing before them. His spiky, fiery blonde hair was longer as it was scraping the tops of his shoulders, his tinted orange skin seemed a little darker, his sky blue eyes that were usually light with happiness were now focused with intensity on the two foes. What stood out the most about him was the fiery aura that was pulsating off of him just as Izar's was doing. Only his was brighter, more fierce and blinding, and left something of a trail behind him when he started walking towards them slowly. His other prominent features were his four, long, thickly feathered wings that spread like beckons of solidified sunlight from his back. They were sun gold streaked with tinges of intense orange and fiery crimson red. His most stand out feature amongst the many on his incredibly handsome face was the sun mark that resembled Izar's star mark closely in its design.
Izar stammered at the name that was on the tip of her tongue, that had been on her mind ever since they separated, "S…S…Sol…"
"Solar Wing," slithered that creature, beating Izar to the punch.
The fiery looking young man started to stalk towards them with a set, determined scowl on his face, "You leave her alone, right…" in a flash he went from walking into flying towards the duo in a fiery blur.
When he was finally visible again he had driven a knee hard into the abdomen of the maiden, "Now." He whispered in her ear as she doubled over in pain in front of him.
Just as quickly as he attacked the maiden he set his sights on the creature. The creature jumped up into the air and tried its disappearing act it kept pulling on Chad earlier. However he saw right through the charade by jumping into the air himself. Izar watched him closely, seeing him extend an arm and grab onto something that was invisible to her. He swung the thing around, then slammed it towards the ground hard. The moment it hit the gravel the creature materialized back into visibility, squirming and writhing in pain. Izar turned her attention back to Solar Wing just in time to see him speed down to stand between the duo that were now too busy in pain to notice him standing over them. He held out his hand and the aura around it had became brighter and more fierce, all of his aura disappeared from his body and flew right into his hand that now seemed to be holding the power of the sun in it.
"Now, its time for you to rest." He growled down at the two writhing beings. "Permanently."
The ball of fiery aura flew from his hand in a monstrous blast that was so bright Izar covered her eyes and had to turn away from it. When the light had receded she turned back around to see him standing over a big, black scorch mark on the ground where the white maiden and her diamond shaped headed comrade once were. He stood there for a minute and Izar could only stare at the back of him.
"He's really standing there.' She thought to herself, 'After all this time he's standing right there in front of me.'
The thought made her eyes sting from holding back tears. She quickly wiped the back of her hands across her eyes to keep them at bay. The last thing she was going to do is show him how soft she had gotten in his absence. Finally after a long moment of staring at the scorch mark on the ground he furled his wings back up. He turned around slowly and within seconds his gaze caught Izar's and stayed there.
"Izar" she heard Chad's voice say to her.
"Yeah," she breathed still holding the stare with him.
"He has a mark on his eye like you. Is that…?" Chad started to say.
"Hi Cellie." He beamed, his usual bright, charming smile crossing his face.
Izar wanted to return the smile so bad and run to him, throw her arms around him, and hold him tight so he could never get away from her again. Instead she shot him a very mean scowl.
"It's Izar here," she spat at him, "Cyrus you bastard, how dare you sit up here and act like everything's okay after you abandoned me and blocked your imprint, leaving me only a few clues as to where you were? You're seriously going to stand there and smile at me like I'm suppose to be happy to see you? You are such an ass!" she barked at him, shaking her fist at him in anger that she was faking to the tee but he didn't know that.
This was the Cellie that he had known, always feisty, spunky, and quick to catch an attitude with him. She saw his smile broadened in a knowing fashion at her tirade. This smile made her so happy on the inside. For the longest she had dreamt of and remembered that smile. Now to finally see it after all this time it was just so much. However she didn't let on to how happy she was to see him.
"Now if you're finished making me look like a wimp by beating up the bad guys for me, can you get your behind over here and help me with my friend. As you can see from the arrow sticking out of his chest, he's hurt." She called to him crossly.
She turned her attention back to Chad lying in her lap for the moment as she felt Cyrus coming over to obey her heated demand. When he got to her side he knelt down to examine the arrow sticking out of Chad's chest.
"Although it may not look or feel like it, the arrow only did superficial damage." Cyrus explained calmly looking Chad in the face.
Izar couldn't help but notice how Cyrus's gaze focused on Chad a little longer than what she thought was normal, and it held a certain feel to it she found herself not really liking. It was almost like a scrutinizing glare you would give to a person that didn't come off quite pleasant to you. She shook off the look and the feeling it gave her when Cyrus turned his gaze attention back to the arrow.
"You must have incredible muscle density, high endurance, or something because this arrow should have pierced your heart." He said grabbing the arrow in his hand, gripping it tight. He shot Chad a somewhat reassuring smile, "This is going to sting. A lot."
Without another word Cyrus practically ripped the arrow from Chad's chest, drops of blood went flying and the small circle of blood that had surrounded the arrow lodged in his chest started to grow bigger. Izar felt Chad's body jolt slightly in her arms but besides that no trace of pain was his face nor did he cry out in pain.
'My warrior boy.' She thought a small smirk forming on her lips.
Cyrus seemed a tad taken aback at Chad's rather cool reaction to having an arrow pulled out of his chest. He gave Chad an interested look, looked at the arrow he was now holding in his hand, then back to Chad, "You took that a lot better than I had expected." He shrugged throwing the arrow off in some random direction.
Izar felt Chad shift in her arms as he readied himself to sit up.
"I don't think that would be…good…" She broke off as he successfully sat up on his own.
Chad inspected that wound for himself, feeling around it with his hand. He made a grunting noise then turned to Izar, "I told you I was fine."
"That was kind of hard to believe with an arrow sticking out of your chest. Sorry I wasn't buying it." She shot him a glare, her hand on her hips.
"You're so worried about my chest. What about your wing?" Chad looked at it.
Izar did notice that it hung a little more relaxed than the others. When she went to flex it there was an unpleasant stinging sensation that caused a hiss of pain to come out of her mouth. She furled up her wings, gritting her teeth from her wing aching in the movement and her aura had disappeared along with her wings. Both Chad and Cyrus cast worried looks in her direction.
"It's fine." She protested mildly annoyed at them for worrying so much, "Probably just a scratch. It'll be fine in no time."
You should still get some treatment for it. You don't want it to get infected." Cyrus said.
Chad agreed with a nod.
"I have a first aid kit back home. I'll treat it then. Speaking of which, you're coming too, Chad. Your wound can get infected as easily as mine can. So come on." She got to her feet and dusted herself off.
On her feet she started to feel the early stages of her injuries kick in. She wasn't exactly in excruciating pain but she knew by tomorrow she'd be feeling it really bad.
"Izar, I can carry you." Chad offered getting to his feet too.
There must have been something in her movements that indicated how hurt she was feeling.
"Thank you but I'm fine Chad." She waved him away with a smile.
Cyrus got to his feet too. Izar zeroed in right on him, "You're coming too Sol…I mean Cyrus. I'm not giving you another chance to get away from me. After I'm finished patching up myself and Chad up you are going to spill absolutely everything to me. Beginning, middle, end, no beating around the bush or anything annoyingly eluding like that." She told him forcefully.
Cyrus only gave her a raised eyebrow expression as a response. He reached out his hand and ruffled the top of Izar's hair like he always did with her, "So glad to see not much about you has changed." He said nostalgically.
Izar missed the way he ruffled her hair but she roughly pushed his hand away giving him a scowl. She turned on her heel and stalked away from him. With the two of them in tow, Chad picking up his guitar from the spot where he had put it on the ground to help Izar, she started walking the best her legs could back towards Akiko's house.
On the way there Chad had fallen in step beside Izar and Cyrus for some reason was keeping his distance by staying a good three to four paces behind them. Izar found herself constantly looking over her shoulder so as not to lose him anywhere. She was secretly scared that while her back was turned Cyrus was going to take off again and leave her like he had before. After awhile she started to get a nasty pain in her neck from keeping this up for the following blocks.
"You're just going to add a pain in your neck to your list of injuries you keep this up." Chad told her evenly.
Izar rubbed the spot where the pain in her neck was forming, "I know, I just want to keep an eye on him." She admitted.
"I felt the same way when I bumped back into you again after you left me." He said.
"Huh?" Izar said even though she heard perfectly clear what he had said.
"I have a pretty strong feeling that he's not planning on leaving any time soon. So don't worry yourself about it, okay?" he looked down at her through his bangs.
Izar let out a sigh and shot Cyrus one more glance over her shoulder. The other times she had looked back he had his head cast downward towards the ground but in this instant he caught her. He gave her his normal smile accompanied by a small wave towards her before returning his gaze back to the ground. He appeared to be in deep thought about something and it was bothering her. One thing she remembered about him was that Cyrus was hardly the deep and thoughtful type. He was the carefree, laid back, and cool one of the group. Thoth was the deep, thinker. The only time he ever got deep into thought was when he was deeply troubled or he was bothered by something greatly. Whenever one of her guys was bothered it bothered Izar too. She hated seeing one of them go through something on their own. She was the scrappy one out of the group, but she was also the friendly, empathetic, and slightly more naïve one too.
"How do you feel seeing him again after all this time?" Chad asked interrupting her thoughts.
"A mixture of everything. I'm pissed at him, I'm happy to see him, I'm sad because I missed him so much and I feel like I can't express it, and I'm relieved at being reunited with him. I'm just also scared that he's going to leave me again. I'm an emotional mess right now."
After listening to herself she realized that these words were familiar to her somehow. Words that she had seen or heard not too long before now. She then remembered it was some of the words describing how Chad had felt after he had been reunited with her in his song about her. She looked up at Chad and stared at him. The moment when he had tried to kiss her flashed through her mind.
"Chad," she said softly to him.
"Hmm?" he returned her stare.
"I…I wanted…to say…" she started off slowly, "I'm sorry about earlier. I…"
"Don't Izar." Chad cut her off, "You already explained yourself and I understand. Don't keep apologizing for things you shouldn't be sorry about. I should apologize if anything."
"Why? You didn't do anything wrong." Izar said a little outraged.
"I did Izar. In a short time I've come to care about you a lot but I should have considered how you felt about us before acting out anything. Like I said I got caught up in the moment back there. It's just..." he broke off.
"Just…" Izar urged him on.
"You looked so beautiful tonight. You always look beautiful, and I acted on a stupid impulse." A bright blush came across his face.
Izar felt her heart melt inside her chest. She would never get over how sweet of a guy Chad was. It was hard to believe that there was such a guy in the universe like him. She lucked up so much when she decided to let him into her now becoming hectic existence. It was because of that she wish she hadn't or at least wished that the circumstances were different. Making things serious with him now not only made her feel like maybe things were being rushed but she knew that like a few moments ago Chad would be often used as her weakness. They would exploit her feelings for him in order to bend her to their will. Even though Chad had promised to protect her no matter what she shared the same sense of protection for him too.
'I have to protect you, Chad. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you over me.'
"For what its worth Chad." Izar said brightly, "I docare a lot about you too. More than I could ever have expected. So how's about we don't rush this. Let's work on our friendship first and let things progress naturally, huh?"
Chad's blush faded as he turned to her. Finally the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. This made her smile even more, "However, I do enjoy you holding me." She blurted out.
She covered her mouth with her hand but the damage was already done. Now it was her turn to blush, bright red crossing her face. Chad chuckled a little at her expanse but she was happy to see him laughing that she wasn't but so embarrassed.
"That kind of slipped out." She muttered shyly.
The rest of the way they walked in a semi-silence until they came to the front door of Akiko's house. Before Izar could stick her key into the lock the door flung open to show Akiko standing there with a worried expression on her face. The moment she got a look at the battle weary duo she went straight into maternal mode.
"Oh my word, get in here now" she gasped pushing them both inside.
"Hold on Akiko, there's one more." Izar said turning around to see Cyrus standing at the end of the walkway, peering shyly into their direction.
Akiko whipped around, "Were you where they were too? Were you involved?" Akiko asked rather fiercely.
Cyrus's eyes went wide at Akiko's tone. He answered with a simple nod of his head.
"Then get in here." Akiko barked at him.
Cyrus quickly made his way up the path and into the house. Akiko escorted them all into the living room, "I'll go fetch the first aid kit. When I come back down be ready to feed me the condensed version of what happened, okay?"
She fluttered out of the room and up the stairs. Once she was out of the room Cyrus and Izar cast quick glances at each other. Cyrus turned away quickly so he could scan the house, "So, you used that charm of yours to get in cozy with one of the local families and found a place to stay, huh? I figured you would. That bright nature of yours is irresistible." Cyrus praised shooting her a quick smile.
"I'm still mad at you, Cyrus." she hissed at him, "You better be getting yourself together too. You're going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."
Akiko soon came back into the room with her medical supplies in hand, "Alright, who needs treatment ASAP?"
"Izar." Both Chad and Cyrus said in prefect unison before she could get anything out.
The two young men exchanged brief stoic stares with each other. Izar felt jumped at the moment. Why were they so insistent on getting her treated when Chad was the one who kept bleeding? Either way Akiko went to work on Izar first.
"Where are you hurt sweetie?" she asked soothingly.
"Everywhere." She admitted, "But I think my back and one of my wings is the main priority."
"Okay, lift up your shirt." Akiko instructed.
"Akiko." Izar said through clenched teeth, then nodded her head at Cyrus and Chad in the room.
"No time to be modest. Your health is at stake. Now up." Akiko ordered.
Izar grunted but started to roll up her shirt. She knew Chad must have been blushing like crazy where he was sitting. Cyrus on the other hand must be feeling awkward. Seeing her anything near naked must have been like watching his little sister undress. She tried to avoid eye contact with the two of them but Akiko had swiveled her around where she had to face Cyrus. Facing him Izar expected to see him making a face at seeing her bra just to mess with her but instead she saw a different reaction from him. To her surprise she saw something of a smoldering, longing look in his eyes that she found herself being creeped out by.
'If I didn't know any better I'd say that Cyrus is checking me out.'
When Cyrus met Izar's gaze he slightly shook his head and turned away from her, developing a fascination with the lamp situated next to the chair he was sitting in.
"Oh Izar," she heard Akiko gasp from behind her, "What were you hit by a pole or something?"
"Or something." Izar replied with a sly smile.
"Now what happened, huh? You go out for a walk and come back looking like something a monster gobbled up and spit out." Akiko said in a demanding tone.
Izar went to answer her but Cyrus had stepped in and beat her to the punch.
"Let's just say that an old friend of Izar and me decided to drop a word to Izar in a rather strange way." Cyrus answered mysteriously.
"An old friend?" Akiko scoffed as she applied a cooling gel pack to Izar's bruising back.
"The word friend is being used very loosely here." Cyrus replied smirking charmingly.
Izar knew in that moment that her worst fears were realized.
'Thoth did this.' She thought seriously, 'He came back for me. Is that why you came back Cyrus? You knew what was going on and was trying to warn me or something?' As she thought this she locked her dark gaze on Cyrus who again met her eyes. She was trying to ask him these questions with her eyes. He must have picked up the vibe because he mouthed the words, "Later, we'll talk."
She responded with a slight nod of her head at this. Akiko finished working on Izar's severely bruised back.
"You said your wing was hurt also right." Akiko stated.
"Get back a little." She warned Akiko.
It took everything in her not to scream when she unfurled her wings from her back for Akiko. She gritted her teeth hard as she lifted the injured one for Akiko to spot.
"It's the upper wing on my right." She told her.
Akiko went over with the gauze and peroxide and got to work. Izar hissed at the burn of the peroxide on her injury. Someone grabbed her hand just then, giving her a comforting squeeze. Since she was pinching her eyes closed against the pain she didn't see who it was. She thought that it was Chad at first because of the warmth in it. Yet she noticed that this hand had fingers that weren't long and thick like his. Instead even though they were big and strong they were rather soft and feminine feeling like hers. Opening her eyes she saw it Cyrus holding her hand. On his face was an apologetic expression telling her that he must have feeling some kind of guilt over what had happened to her. Blaming himself for the injuries she had sustained. To let him know that she didn't blame him she returned his firm grip with a squeeze of her own.
"That should be able to do it." Akiko nodded inspecting her job on Izar's wing by lifting it some. Touching ever so lightly and moving it as not to cause her any more pain.
Izar furled up her wings very slowly into her back again. She wasn't in much pin any more with her wing patched up and a gel pack strapped to her back across her huge bruise. She still wasn't looking forward to what tomorrow would bring though.
"Okay, big guy, get over here." Akiko ordered Chad spotting the blood stain on his shirt.
Izar moved from the couch where she was seated to switch places with Chad.
To preoccupy herself she took this time to study her friend Cyrus. No doubt he had changed from the last time she had seen him. Back then Cyrus was a little bit on the scrawny side with soft, feminine, and delicate features. His personality was as vibrant, bright, and fiery as the sun. Yet looking at him now he seemed to age and change gradually over the time he was away from her. Of course his hair was a little longer and wilder than ever before, but he seemed to fill out too. His shoulders were more broad and defined as was his entire body going from scrawny teenager to strong, well built young man. His muscles having formed and taken on great shape. His face had lost a lot of its feminine edge, becoming more rugged, his features more chiseled. Yet he also appeared to be more mature in a way. He seemed jaded and wiser to things now. Nothing to how he once was just as naïve and bright as she was when they were all still together. Thoth was the only one who seemed to know any better about life and the universe in general. That's why he must have assumed the role of leader. He knew how blind to things the two of them were.
'Maybe if we had been a little less stupid and closed minded we could have been ready somewhat for Thoth when he snapped.' She thought in anguish.
Just then something about Cyrus's mark caught her attention. He had been sitting in the direct light path of the lamp in the living room. It cast a spotlight like path right on his mark, piercing through his spiky bang to reveal his mark and the obvious change that it too had taken.
"Your mark changed colors." She blurted out, pointing at Cyrus's face.
Though she spoke to Cyrus, Akiko and Chad turned to look at her, too. Cyrus seemed a tad surprised at first, but he quickly recovered raising an amused fiery streaked eyebrow.
"Took you this long to notice?" he asked smugly, pulling his bang away from his mark so she could get a better look at it.
In deed his mark had changed colors. It had gone from black to a fiery array of colors. The thick outline of the mark was now a dark fiery crimson red, while the thinner lines that interlaced the smaller designs were an intense orange, and the smaller suns connected by the lines were a vibrant and bright gold.
"So you're like Izar?" Akiko asked pointing to her left eye for emphasis.
"Yes, there's another one, too." Cyrus explained to her simply.
"Three of you in all? Where's the other one? And where have you been all this time? Were you the one that Izar kept going through my files for?" Akiko popped off question after question at him.
"Akiko, stop." Izar said simply with a small smile, "He just got back into town and frankly I would like it if he explained himself to me first."
Akiko narrowed her eyes at Cyrus but said nothing else. She finished patching up Chad's wound.
"There," she placed a huge band aid over the arrow wound, "You should be good for now. It's getting late so you should be getting home, alright." Akiko looked up at Chad and gave him a smile.
Chad nodded in agreement with her. As he fetched his guitar case Izar got up from her spot, "I'll walk you to the door." She announced.
She shot Akiko a warning look not to pester Cyrus while she was with Chad. One that Akiko reacted to with an innocent wide eyed look that was fit for an old time ingénue. With that done Izar walked outside to stand on the porch with Chad who was waiting for her. Izar closed the door behind her as she went to stand by Chad. He was looking out into the night in front of him, his token stoic expression on his face. As attractive as she found him Izar thought this look was not very appealing.
'I know something that might put a smile on his face.' She thought mischievously.
She grabbed Chad's shoulder, pulled him down towards her, and kissed him softly on his cheekbone. By the time he straightened his face was already turning red again.
"That was my way of saying thank you for helping me out back there. Even after our little awkward moment." She gave him an uneasy smile.
Chad was still recovering from her earlier surprise. After the red faded from his face he looked down at Izar, "You know thanking me is a waste of time. I would have done it regardless of what happened. Remember, I promised to protect you no matter what. If I can't protect you fully, I'll at least fight by your side."
"You have no idea how much it touches me when you say things like that." Izar whispered softly, casting her gaze downward.
Chad took a step towards her with his arm extended to her. Without hesitation Izar walked into him, wrapping her arms around him as he embraced her. Izar sank into his warmth, relished in it even. Whether she had her feelings for him sorted out or not she loved being next to him like this. Chad tangled one of his hands in Izar's hair while the other held her tight around her waist. The two of them stood there holding each other like that for what felt like hours.
"You said you enjoy it when I hold you." Chad said softly, breaking their silence, "I love doing it."
Izar felt herself flush at what he said. Feeling a little overheated by the moment now she discreetly started to break away from his hold. She stepped a couple of feet away from him, catching her breath, and letting the cool breeze that was blowing by cool her off some.
'Geez, hormones can be really annoying sometimes.' She thought wishing she trusted herself more with Chad.
Chad seemed a little flustered himself.
"Sorry about that." Izar apologized breathlessly.
"There you go again. Apologizing for things you shouldn't." Chad turned to give her a knowing smile.
"You should get home now. Don't want that stain to set do you?" she nodded to his bloody shirt, "You know you're making a habit of bleeding in all your shirts. Keep it up and I just might have to get Akiko to take you shopping with her. You'll be doing me a favor considering I hate it."
Chad's smile broadened a little bit more before he started walking down the walkway. At the end he turned around and gave her a wave that she returned before he started walking off into the night.
Cyrus's POV
As soon as Izar had left the room to see her friend out the woman shot him a death glare out of this dimension. She crossed the room to get right within inches of his face.
"Listen you, I have come to love that girl very much. You know, the one that you abandoned wherever and forced her to be on her own. I figured if you are the only ones of your kind you would have stuck together but no here it is I find her alone in the park one night sleeping under a tree in the pouring rain. Now you want to show back up in the picture. For what?" she hissed at him through clenched teeth.
"Look, I'm happy that you've taken to my friend and have been helping her since she's been here. Just know I didn't abandon her anywhere. The reason I'm back is because she's in danger now. I was gone because I thought I could protect her by staying away but that's not working anymore." He explained, using his charismatically pleasant tone that he knew always won people over. "I don't know what all she's told you or revealed to you but just know I'm not the bad guy here. It may seem like that on the surface but I care about Izar a lot, and I only want to help her in the way I couldn't before. You'll know everything about me when the time arises, but right now as Izar said I think I should explain myself to her before I disclose anything to you." He explained in a gentlemen like fashion.
He had picked up this tone from watching Thoth all the time back before all this ugly nonsense went down. Unlike Thoth however Cyrus often used his charms on whoever he knew would fall right for it. While Izar and Thoth always seemed less open with the idea of interacting with people not like them. Izar had seemed very reluctant at first, therefore dealt with others in a rather, scrappy and overly defensive manner. Whereas Thoth just seemed annoyed by the whole thing. Yet because he was more open with people Cyrus was able to tune his charms so that they worked on anybody. The woman, Akiko, seemed to bend to his will, though it seemed very reluctantly. If he hadn't repeated what Izar had said earlier Cyrus believed the woman would have paid him no heed to what he was saying.
'Seems Izar's charms are still stronger than mine's.' he thought nostalgically.
"Fine, I won't ask you anything else." She surrendered, "Except this, do you have a place to stay tonight? If you don't you're more than welcome to sleep here on the couch until morning." She offered.
Honestly, he had already had a place in mind where he could stay with no problems but at that moment, upon seeing Izar after so long he knew he couldn't just depart again from her. Right now all he wanted was to be right there at her side.
"No, I don't right at the moment. Thank you very much." He smiled his best at her.
"Your welcome." She said somewhat indifferently. "I'll be back with a pillow and some sheets.
When she was gone Cyrus noticed that Izar was taking her good old time for just seeing someone to the door. Natural always a curious person he got up and went to the door. Just his luck the door was slightly ajar. Quietly and quickly he crept up to peek out of the small crack. He felt a slight icy feel come over his heart from what he had seen before him. Izar and that gigantic "friend" of hers were embracing passionately on the porch.
Izar may have been clueless to it but he was well aware of how he had loved her forever. Ever since he first laid eyes on her when she was a pudgy, black winged baby in the lab's nursery. Even back then her eyes were wide, beautiful, and always shimmered like stars were hidden somewhere in their depths. He would have gladly had died for her and this was often the reason why he and Thoth had fought constantly when they were on the run after they had escaped from the labs. They knew what kind of means the scientist would have used to capture or destroy them. Whereas he wanted to face their pursuers head on and stop them at the beginning Thoth always wanted to hide or outmaneuver them to avoid having Izar see any bloodshed being she was so young at the time. However he had wanted to kill their enemies at the door. He was convinced he was so powerful he could do away with them so they won't come back. Izar wouldn't have saw any killing then because Cyrus would have rather died than let her fight with him and Thoth when they did. Any fight she did participate in were minor squabble where he was certain she wouldn't have gotten hurt, but anything more serious and he would argue her down from the fight.
It was his love for her, along with someone else who shared just as strong feelings for her, that was the reason things were elapsing the way they were now. The way he stayed away all this time so he couldn't use him as a trace back to her. How he was here now because he wanted to protect her because his stalling and diversion tactics aren't working any longer. Yet seeing the way that guy, Chad, was holding her. The way he towered over her, holding her strongly against him, in a protective kind of hold. As if he was trying to use that massive body of his as a shield of sorts. He was embracing her the way you would hold something in order to keep others at bay and keep what you were protecting closer to you.
'Looks like she already found somebody to protect her.' He thought sadly.
The thought just made the icy chill that settled over his heart melt away as it became replaced by a roaring fire within. The feeling expanded from his heart to engulf his whole body. Just then the feeling became very prominent in his marked eye.
"Calm down." He gritted to himself.
At his command the fire extinguished itself as suddenly as it started.
"Get a grip you." He scolded himself, "A beautiful, amazing girl like her and you really thought she wouldn't find somebody else. I'd be lucky if this is the only guy right now. There's probably a line somewhere waiting for this one to screw up so they can have a shot."
Although this did make him see the situation more realistically it didn't do nothing to erase the fact that he was hurting. He felt that right now he had came just a little too late. He couldn't bring himself to spy on them anymore so he quietly closed the door all the way and made his way back into the living room. Akiko was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, eyeing him with a smug and knowing glare.
"Finished spying pretty boy?" she raised an eyebrow.
Cyrus exhaled deeply and walked past her to lounge on the couch where a fresh pile of sheets and a pillow awaited him.
"If you had shown up a little bit earlier, say somewhere around a week earlier you might have had a shot, but really." She continued giving him a look, "A very beautiful girl like her who's smart, bright, friendly, and charming. She could only hold them off for so long and it surely wouldn't have been long before one of them gained her interest back." She lectured in a mothering tone.
Cyrus mentally wished the woman would be quiet. It's not like he hadn't already told himself everything she was saying to him. He didn't need it drilled in.
"I will say this. I was a little, shall we say, surprised when I first saw him but after awhile I noticed a change in Izar after the night she brought him here. He was hurt then too. He must be a jinx or something. Anywho, she seems to be so happy with him around and I frankly have a good feeling about him. So at least have the satisfaction that she found someone that makes her happy."
Without uttering another word she left the room, leaving Cyrus alone with his thoughts. Shortly after Izar finally came back into the house. Cyrus noticed she seemed a little flustered and anxious, and her face was still rather red in the cheeks. He couldn't help but find that so adorable. He had to resist the urge to go over and wrap his arms around her himself. She came and sat in the chair he had sat in not too long ago.
"So," she sighed, "Where do you want to start?" she asked sort of dryly.
"Where do you want to start?" he replied giving her a teasing look, trying to distract himself from how pretty she looked with the lamp light casting her skin in a more golden hue.
"For starters where have you been all this time?" she asked staring him right in the eye.
"Keeping our deer friend Thoth distracted from carrying through with some evil things he had in mind." He answered indifferently.
"So he's really gone off the deep end? He's gotten worse?" Izar questioned sadly, her dark eyes becoming glassy with tears.
"It's not him, Izar. There's something that has gotten a hold of him and its grip on him is strong." Cyrus told her strongly.
Despite their many spats, fights, and clashing personalities Cyrus did really think of Thoth as a dear friend, his best friend, and after a year of battling with him over and over again he's seen things that's pretty much convinced him that this isn't Thoth that was doing these things.
"What do you mean? You're saying Thoth is possessed by something?" Izar asked with her face scrunched up in confusion.
"Let's just say that from what I have seen in the time I've been using myself as a diversion for him I've seen more than enough to know that Thoth is definitely not himself. The only remnants he has of himself is…" he broke off, debating on whether he should have continued with what he started to say.
"Is what?" Izar sat up in her chair.
"He still wants you, Izar. That's why those two bastards were here. Thoth probably made them himself, then sent them after you." He explained.
"He made them?"
"Izar, Thoth has changed along with his powers and strength. So in order to be able to combat that I had to get stronger myself. That's why my mark changed colors. To show that my powers increased."
"You increased your powers? How?" Izar gasped.
"When I came crashing down I had ended up here. While we were falling from the sky I managed to get away from Thoth. So while I landed here he landed somewhere else. I guess like you I lived out on the streets at first. Then, during a rainy night like you, I eventually worked my charm on one of the locals and got myself a place to stay, but this wasn't just any regular local. This guy would end up being how I got the way I am now." Cyrus said almost dreamily.
"Who was it?"
"The guy I wanted you to find after I left and lead you here. I wanted him to help you the same way he had helped me. Kisuke Urahara."
Flashback
"So, where did you say you were from?" Kisuke asked, pouring more steamy, hot liquid into the cup he was holding in his freezing fingers.
Cyrus was out in the streets during a stormy afternoon, getting soaked to the bone in the downpour. He was standing in front of some kind of store, using its canopy outside as a form of shelter but it did nothing to ease the chill that was settling into his bones. Unless he wanted to die from getting sick he needed to find a warm place and quick. That's when he started skimming the passersby for somebody who would easily give in to his charms. He don't know what exactly it was that drew his attention to the man with the striped bucket hat and sandals that walked by at the moment with an umbrella but Cyrus went right for him. He walked ahead the man, then took a firm stand right in front of him. The young man seemed surprised, his eyes going wide in the shadow that his hat cast over them, at Cyrus suddenly appearing in front of him.
"Oh, excuse me." The man said politely, smiling coolly, "I had no idea you were right here."
"I need a place to stay for the night." Cyrus blurted out through chattering teeth. "I have no idea where I am, no place to go, and I haven't eaten in days. Any longer in this weather and I'll get pneumonia. Please, if you can at least just spare a bed or tell me a place where I can dry off." Cyrus said trying to sound as pathetic and desperate as he could. Not that he was lying about starving, being cold, and wanting a place to rest that wasn't on concrete in an alleyway or a park bench. It just wasn't in Cyrus's rather proud nature to grovel and work a performance for a pity party.
Opening his mouth to continue his heart wrenching tirade Cyrus was silenced by the man holding up his hand, "Say no more young man." He told him seriously, his face full of sympathy, "I have more than enough at my shop to accommodate you if you wish to have a place to stay. I was actually on my way home now. So just follow me okay." He smiled at Cyrus.
At seeing that he had gotten the man hook, line, and sinker Cyrus returned the smile fervently.
Now at the moment the twosome were in the man's shop, sitting down at a table, having cups of steaming tea and food for Cyrus. He was wrapped in a blanket, his wet clothes were being handled by the muscular man with a mustache and wearing an apron that they had bumped into upon their arrival.
"I didn't say I was from anywhere." Cyrus answered through a mouthful of food.
"Well, could you?" the man persisted.
"I couldn't tell you where I'm from really." Cyrus admitted, "Not because I don't want to but it's kind of hard to define how I'm exactly here and how I ended up in this place."
The man nodded slowly, "Hmm, well, I won't pester you with questions about your background if you really can't tell me. However I am quite curious about that tattoo on your left eye. I noticed how your hair seems to want to cover it. Are you trying to cover it?"
Cyrus's hand quickly went to cover his eye. He couldn't see why, the man had already seen it.
"Yes, I was. This damn thing's been something of a curse for me ever since I could remember."
"I see." The man took a sip from his cup. "By the way I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kisuke Urahara and this is my shop."
"My name is Cyrus Jovani." Cyrus said extending a hand across the table.
Kisuke shook it briskly, "Nice to have you aboard Cyrus. Are you planning on staying?"
"For the time being, yes." Cyrus said before digging back into his plate.
"Well, you know you'll have to earn your keep around here then." Kisuke said brightly.
"You mean I have to work here if I want to stay?" Cyrus asked with narrowed eyes.
"Of course, unless you want everyone here to refer to you as 'Moocher'." Kisuke smiled so broadly that his eyes closed up.
"No, I wouldn't want that." Cyrus couldn't help but smile back at him. "Besides, it's not like I'm not use to doing a deal of chores. I use to have to do a lot back when I stayed with my friends." His voice dropped a little as he started reminiscing on his days with his two friends that seemed so far away and dream like ever since this nightmare started unfolding.
"What happened to your friends?" Kisuke asked.
"I…I don't really know. I lost them." Cyrus said sadly, his heart suddenly feeling like it was being weighed down by a ton of cinder blocks.
He was actually still in shock of what had happened only the day before yesterday. One of his best friends had just tried to murder him, after he murdered everyone in the area they were living in. He tried to kill him, and tried kidnap his other best friend. The whole horrific scene replayed in his mind almost every minute he had to himself. He shook his head vigorously to get the image out of his head. The one where he was lying in Cellie's arms after he came crashing back down to the ground from a horrendous blow given to him by Lunar Wing. She had caught him somewhat and was now cradling his upper body against her. If he remembered correctly, he could have sworn Cellie was crying. He could never recall a time where Cellie had ever cried. She was always so strong and tomboyish. Now she was reduced to a sobbing pile in front of him. He remembered drifting in and out of consciousness with her face being the only thing in his blurring vision. Cyrus remembered thinking that he was going to die in that moment. He remembered thinking, 'At least I get to die in her arms.'
He had reached up and cupped Cellie's wet and reddened cheek in his hand. Cellie looked down at him, tears streaming down her face. A shadow then passed over her face and Cyrus knew that he was standing over them. He shifted his head so he could look at the face of his friend, his comrade, his somewhat closest thing to a brother he could get, and the man who had just tried to kill him not only seconds ago.
Lunar Wing stood over the two of them staring intently at Cellie. His mark glowed wickedly, his midnight blue aura pulsated off of him like never before, as if his sudden cruelty, relentlessness, and hatred was making him stronger. His white, black tipped wings unfurling to their full extent, casting the huge, frightening shadow over him and Cellie. She was too busy crying over him to notice him standing over her, glowering. Cyrus had tried to sit up to protect her from this animal that their friend had become but he couldn't do it. Cellie finally looked up at Lunar Wing, at that his face softened. He crouched down in front of Cellie, smiling the biggest, brightest smile that either of them had probably seen. This was very unlike him being that he was the quiet, stoic one who never showed over exaggerated expressions such as the smile he was showing now. He extended a hand towards Cellie's face to touch her.
"Don't you touch her, you animal!!" he roared at the young man.
"Be quiet," Lunar Wing growled back just as viciously, if not more and delivered another excruciating blow to his already tender and aching abdomen.
"Stop!" Cellie cried sparking up her fiery white aura and blasting Lunar Wing.
To their surprise Lunar Wing had not gone flying away like many of their enemies that Cellie had blown away with this move. Instead he had put up his hand, completely canceling out the blast with his own powers. His face was nonchalant as he lowered his hand and went to touch Cellie's face again.
"Don't! Leave me alone!" Cellie hollered at him.
"Cellie, stop." He told her calmly, "I know you're upset but I can explain everything if you come with me." He told her soothingly, like a father talking to his daughter. Or more appropriately a young man speaking to his lover, "I'm going to spare you Cellie. Now come with me."
Cellie's eyes became wide with shock and awe. Then her shocked expression turned to uncontrollable rage. She grabbed Lunar Wing's wrist, brought his hand to her mouth, and bit down hard on it. Blood gushed from her bite and he quickly snatched it from her teeth, his face not showing any sign of pain on it.
"I'd rather stay here and die beside Solar Wing than go anywhere with you." She gritted at him through clenched teeth.
Lunar Wing looked from his bleeding hand to Cyrus being cradled against Cellie protectively. His glare was a hateful and evil one that would have killed him then and there if the possibility was. He turned his eyes on Cellie, which softened instantly, "I'll spare him if you wish." He offered her. He had referred to Cyrus as if he was the vilest thing ever and the mere mention of him made his skin crawl and left a bad taste on his tongue.
"What?" Cellie asked exasperatedly.
"I'll spare him if you come with me. No further harm will come to him." He said sounding as sincere as they came but Cyrus knew he was lying. There was no way Lunar Wing was going let him live, not after the beating he had unleashed upon him. He had every intention on killing him if he could. He was just telling Cellie what would sound good to her to get her to go with him. Cyrus knew why he was going to spare Cellie, why he wanted Cellie to go with him. He knew his intentions and feelings for her, and it made his insides cringe. He wouldn't let him have her though, not the one he loved. Especially not in this way. He studied Cellie's face that had become covered with a thoughtful expression right then. She was staring at Lunar Wing's extended hand considerably. To his surprise, slowly, she lifted her hand and started going to grab his. Seeing this gave Cyrus a sudden adrenaline rush that made him sit up quickly, grabbing her wrist roughly trying to stop her.
"NO!!" he shouted.
With one final forceful lunge Cellie reached her hand forward despite his attempts to stop her. He watched as her hand bypassed the extended hand of Lunar Wing and instead went for his other hand that was balled up, obviously holding something. It took a moment for it to sink in what she was trying to grab from him. Lunar Wing struggled to get Cellie off of his hand but she was not letting go. Soon Cyrus himself joined in the struggle, trying to pry his former best friend's fingers from around the object. Lunar Wing shot his odious glare at him before driving his fist hard into his face, knocking him onto his back. This move made Cellie's struggle with him more fervent. Finally she fell onto her back too. For a moment Cyrus thought the Lunar Wing had finally snapped and hit her but when he saw how her hands were cupped to her chest, holding the small fist sized stone in her hand he knew she had fell from having yanked the stone away from him. She then sat up and wrapped one arm around him.
"Hang on to me." She instructed him, her voice shaky and anxious. Her face then disappeared in an array of twisting, kaleidoscope images appearing around them as she opened a door to another dimension and was taking them through it.
Everything went by in flashes and blurs after that. During his remembrance Cyrus had recalled that he was supposed to be in a conversation with somebody. He snapped out of his reminiscent daydream to see Kisuke across the table staring at him curiously.
"Is everything alright? You sort of clocked out on me there for a moment." Kisuke asked him.
"Sorry, I was just remembering something." Cyrus said nonchalantly.
"From the expressions crossing your face I take it that this business with your missing friends was quite ugly." Kisuke said speculatively.
"Ugly is quite the understatement." Cyrus muttered to himself, "Quite the understatement."
Present
"So what happened after you started staying with Kisuke?" Izar asked him.
At this point Izar had came over to sit next to him and rest her head on his shoulder, him resting his head on top of hers, while she listened to everything he was saying.
"I started working for him. At first I was doing little menial task like running errands, fetching things for him around the shop, and the like. Then one day he put me on more laborious duty with the two little kids that also work there. Let's just say this work was definitely working my nerves at the time. The back breaking work was horrible considering I was still healing up from my fight with Thoth, so I was more than getting a little cranky. Not to mention the little mouthy red head boy that always shucks his share of the work and puts it off on the little girl who he harasses day in and day out." He was explaining.
"Hold on, let me guess," Izar said smiling, "You were getting all worked up and your temper got the best of you. Therefore your powers started acting up again. Oh man, that is so you." She started laughing.
'She's so beautiful when she laughs.' He thought as he smiled too.
"Yeah, well." He sighed, "Anyway after I almost burned down the shop with my temper Kisuke pulled me aside and basically pulled the truth out of me. He admitted that he actually has an ability to notice certain powers in other people. He said he noticed mine right away. He said when walked past me in town that day I told him I needed a place to stay he felt it. That's why he was so quick to accept my request to stay with him. He wanted to feel me out, get a better vantage point of my abilities he sensed in me. So when my temper activated my powers in front of everyone he felt it was time to address this thing with me. So I told him everything there was to know about me."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"So how did he respond to it?"
"He was actually laid back about it. He said that he found himself being absolutely fascinated by what had happened to us. I remembered him asking what I was planning on doing now. I told him that once I healed up I was going to go find my friends. I was going to protect you and try to defeat Thoth, beat some sense into him if I could. He replied by saying that my plan had flaws in it. For one, if Thoth had beat me up before what made me think I could possibly beat him in round two. Two, how was I so certain that he hadn't already found you himself. Three, if didn't find you how was I so certain that I would find you before him, and if I did who's to say he might not have tracked me to lead him to you." He listed off the numbers on his fingers as he said this.
"So that's why you blocked your imprint and only left me clues here and there." Izar said, her voice getting lower as her wide dark eyes turned to slits as they drooped.
"I was taking what he said seriously. I could only protect you by staying away. I came to that conclusion after I used my imprint to see you were alright. So after I fed you the clues I kind of shut off my imprint for awhile so you wouldn't find me."
"How did you get stronger? Did Kisuke do that?" she asked now wrapping her arms around him.
Cyrus felt nothing but nostalgia at her doing that. It reminded him of those times when she would fall asleep cuddled up to him during those nights they were on the run. Thoth would stay up and watch all night while he and Izar went to sleep. He loved the way she always seemed to feel cooler than anybody else. He wondered why that was but he never bothered asking.
"Yeah, Kisuke offered to train me so I could be stronger when I decided to go up against Thoth again. Turns out he was a fighter himself once upon a time. So he told me that he would take on the task of training me if I really was serious about going up against Thoth again. He taught me a lot in that short period of time. When I reached the new level of my powers that he had awakened during his training was when my mark changed its color."
"Is Thoth's mark different too now?" Izar asked innocently enough.
"Yeah, it changed when he came back and destroyed everything." He told her.
"So Kisuke trained you and you become stronger. What all did he teach you?"
"A lot. I wanted you to learn things from him, too. That's why I wanted to lead you there to him, so he could teach you like he taught me, but I see you found shelter and safety elsewhere. However I would think the offer to train you will stand with Kisuke."
"Hmm." Izar replied tiredly, her eyes completely closed now. "So when did you leave to go fight Thoth?"
"I would like to think it was before you had arrived here. Kisuke's a great teacher so my training didn't take but so long. After I left I hunted down Thoth to some remote dimension traveling island that he has made with his powers."
"So he doesn't need the stone to travel through dimensions anymore?" Izar asked surprised.
"He's very powerful, Izar. You'd be surprised at half the tings he can do now. All by just thinking about it. He's unstoppable almost." Cyrus said stiffly.
"So you found him, but you said your imprint didn't work good because you sort of shut it off. Not to mention I couldn't even get through to Thoth in any way shape or form."
"He completely severed his imprint with us, but I'm still able to track him due to a new ability I taught myself. Or more like an ability we all had but just never got used to like that."
"So after you tracked him down, what happened? Were you really fighting against him for a year, all by yourself?"
Cyrus became quiet for a minute. The answer was that he had been fighting Thoth for a whole entire year acting as a diversion to keep Thoth's mind off of other things that was he wanted to do. He made a mission out of keeping it up until recently. Now Thoth had turned the tables and was now distracting him from things. While he was preoccupied with fighting off Thoth's latest fleet of goons he had found out later, after he had tortured one, that Thoth had sent two of his personal favorites to go retrieve Izar after all this time. That was why he was here now. Protecting her from afar wasn't cutting it anymore. Thoth, the crafty bastard, had found a way around him finally.
"Honestly, I don't think I'm really ready to talk about the things that happened during my time being a one man army against the army that Thoth made from his powers." He told Izar.
Izar's head popped up then, her face looking confused, "Why?"
"I'm still getting used to the fact that it really happened." He took her face in his hands then, staring her right in the eyes, "There's has been a lot going on between the year Thoth and I have been going at it. I've seen him do some horrible things, I've seen things about him I can't explain, and I've changed a lot myself. I've done things I'm not proud of and I just really don't want to talk about any of it right now. You understand, right? The things that happened during our feuding, the stories alone is enough to give anybody nightmares. So I want to spare you those details. Just know that I can't distract Thoth no more, and he's ready to come after you anyway he can. So I'm here now to prevent that. Okay?" he tried to smile to reassure her.
Izar nodded, "I understand. At least you let in on what's been happening to you. You have no idea how worried I've been about both of you. This makes it somewhat easier for me to get to sleep tonight." She said, her eyes turning to slits again.
"Speaking of which, you look really tired. We've talked enough for tonight. You should go to bed." He said.
"Between you and me, I don't think I can make it up the stairs." She said softly, her eyes closing and her body falling forward, against him.
Cyrus chuckled as Izar instantly went into rhythmic breathing as she fell instantly to sleep. He stood up, scooping her in his arms, and started making his way upstairs. He went into the room where the door was still opened, assuming it was the room she slept in, and set her gently in the bed. He took off her shoes for her, then covered her with a blanket. Cyrus sat on the side of the bed gazing at his sleeping friend. She always looked so adorable when she was sleep to him. So peaceful like the angel she was. He reached out his hand and started running it through her long hair the spilled across the pillow and down the covers.
"Night, Cellie." He whispered, calling her the name he knew her by so well.
Then he placed a small kiss on her cheekbone. This was just how they were back when they had finally found a home and he would carry her to bed at night after finding her slumped over on the couch or while she was finishing her chores. He was leaving the room, about to close the door behind him when he heard Izar call for him.
"Cyrus," she called sleepily.
He turned around to see her looking sleepily at him, "Yes?"
"I really, really missed you and I so happy you're back now." She said before going right back to sleep.
"I missed you, too." He whispered, closing the door behind him.
'I thought she was never going to say it.'
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Yes, Cyrus is back in the picture…for now. I'm really sorry about the long length but there was a lot I wanted to cover in this chapter. Especially the story of Cyrus when he first came to Karakura Town, what his connection to Kisuke was, and what both the guys were up to during the time Izar was kicking hollow butt and getting more than a little snuggly with Chad. I'll try to keep the rest of the chapters shorter from now on.
Keep reading, and I would really like some reviews because I know people have been putting alert on my story but feedback is always appreciated on my part.
Fun Fact: Remember earlier in the chapter when I had Izar playing the game with Kenji? If you didn't get all the references she was playing "Kingdom Hearts 2". I put that in there because I'm currently brainstorming on making a Kingdom Hearts fanfic with another OC of mine's. So keep a lookout for that, but stay tuned on this one too.
