Author's Note: This chapter is a bit dark XD I think it comes from seeing Kung Fu Panda 2 yesterday. XD far too much dramatic stuff. XD Though the next chapter will have a light hearted moment or two. I PROMISE! XD Annisina needs to torment Gwendal just once. The plot is finally coming together. ^^

Disclaimer: Own nothing but Sorina.

THANKYOU! for all the reviews ^_^

Sorina, The Great Demon Kingdom [Past]

Shallow breaths puffed out between trembling lips, obsidian eyes blinking slowly against the heaviness that seemed to overcome him. Head lifting just enough, his mouth opened as the first drops of rain splattered his face in cold needle sharp pricks, a few thankfully dripping into his parched mouth, his throat dry and his body too weak to move. How long had he lain there? Did it honestly matter? The beating had been brutal, the faces blurred in his vision. Yet, that was not what caused the sparks of agony to fill his heart, it was the young boy across the alley from him.

Rain began to pour down in thick waves, drowning his sorrow in its cold embrace as he was soaked to the bone and left shivering. However, as he watched, the pool of blood that encircled the small body began to enlarge, the circle of crimson beginning to expand towards him, the puddles forming streaked a sickly pink as the liquid diluted. Yet… no matter how dilute it became, more spread outwards from the cooling corpse of another of the street kids, there was just so much of it.

So much blood. And though the water would eventually wash away the dark scarlet smear that covered the paving stones, it was still there in Yuuri's mind. A dark mark of brutality of the sick horrors that could be inflicted on those that could not protect themselves.

His mouth opened to scream, but the sound choked somewhere in his throat, drowning away with the flow of cold water sliding down his throat. It chilled him from the inside out, yet, in that numbness in gave him an odd kind of clarity. The pain slowly seeping out of his body as the rain continued to wash over him, caressing his battered and bruised skin, washing away the dark stains of blood from his own body.

'Let me give you strength.'

Brows furrowed slightly, his floating mind not quite knowing whether or not someone had actually spoken to him.

'Let me be your strength. I am here.' The crack of thunder seemed dulled in the wake of that voice. There was a warm touch of something against his cheek, almost tender, blanketing him from the inside out, water continuing to slide down his throat as the sky continued to pour forth cooling rain. 'Feel me answer you… when you call my name…'

His hands shifted against his belly, confusion touching his features as he felt something around him, something in the rain… something like a thread, it vibrated against his fingers. It pulsed and thrummed beneath his fingertips and up the length of his arm, his obsidian eyes slowly drifted closed at the warm vibration that answered him as he called out its name. A heat slowly spread through his palms, a faint greenish glow beginning to rise up from underneath his palms…

Warmth spread outwards from his own touch, flooding through his body, yet it felt as if someone's hands were pressed over his own, guiding him in the motion. And for once since his arrival in this dark place, he felt blanketed in warmth, with the sweet promise that he would no longer be in pain when he awoke.

'Rest. I will be with you… my strength will be within you always now.' With that last whisper the rain lightened, the cold needles turning in a warm summer shower, bathing him with its sweetness as darkness slowly consumed his senses and sleep drew him under as his body thrummed for the first time with the fall of rain.

There was a figure there. A tall blonde with eyes so blue they seemed impossible to be real… He was leaning over Yuuri, expression filled with a tinge of deep regret. "Forgive me."

There was no understanding within the raven haired boy to go with those words.

"Forgive me Yuuri for drawing you here… I knew no way else to protect you from the growing darkness."

But it was dark all around him, there was no light in the dark pit of despair and raw agony that filled every day, the mindless death that he had witness no more than an hour before. "Who are you?" It was a dry croak from him, lids sliding downwards once more.

"I am running out of time, Yuuri, I need your help… I need you to prevent the shadows from spilling outwards and consuming all that stand in its way."

"Who… are you…? What… what are you talking about…?"

Yet, he gained no answer… as the world and Sorina slipped away into nothingness.

The Great Demon Kingdom

"Your Majesty!"

Cecilie Von Spitzweg's head lifted from where it had been resting against one hand, her thoughts already so tangled by the disappearance of her son and also the Double-Black who had swept into their lives for barely a few days and turned around so many things within in it.

"Darian?" Her lips pressed together as the messenger actually literally burst through the doorway, the young man was panting hard, his uniform spattered with mud up along his legs and boots, showing that he had come straight off his horse and had had the mount running at a full gallop. Worry creased her features, while she regarded the man before her with concern. "What is it?"

"Caloria!" A letter fluttered in one hand, waving back and forth slightly in the man's trembling grip, before it was offered out towards her, his face flushed with his exertions. "My Lady… Caloria was freed."

"What?" Brows furrowed further, green eyes showing her confusion, though her heart sparked with hope. "Slow down and explain Darian."

"The Double-Black." Panting softly, his expression was showing his awe at what he had been told. "He sank two Big Cimaron naval groups that had been battling within Caloria's main harbour on his own. Both forces were driven out and the rest of the soldiers stationed in the country have fled at the threat the Double-Black pledged on their lives if they continued menacing the Calorian Citizens."

"My God." Her back was rigid in her chair, entire body trembling slightly with the raw shock, she had seen the boy's power at work against Gwendal, but what was being described in detail by the messenger was almost too impossible to believe. Yet, it was the explanation that other man had been the reason the storm of the Double-Black's rage had calmed… that it had been that second man that had protected the first with powerful barriers that had warded off cannon fire. Her heart sank at that, it couldn't be her Conrart… her son had no magic what so ever.

"The letter." She questioned softly, glancing at the paper waving back and forth still with Darian's expressive recount of the battle between Big Cimaron and Yuuri Shibuya.

"Its from Lord Von Wincott… there is a seal on it."

However, when she took the envelope from his hand, she rubbed her thumb over the seal and knew it wasn't from Odell Von Wincott. This letter was from Yuuri and it had been addressed to her, something which actually surprised her. Slowly sliding the pages from the envelope, she smoothed them open and studied the neat handwriting. Something slipped out from between the pages, fluttering to the floor and settling face down against the stone. Leaning over, she lifted it between nimble fingers and stared at the image in wonder.

Two faces smiled out from the image at her, both dressed in odd clothing, in a scene she couldn't quite describe. Yuuri and Conrart stood before a bright sunlit bay, towering skyscrapers rising behind them along the waterline of the opposite shore. Conrart's expression was open, a wide almost silly grin covering his features as he cradled Yuuri against him, looking as if he could be no happier than in that moment.

Her eyes drifted back to the neat letter and swallowed hard.

Dear Cecilie,

I hope that this letter finds you, I fear I do not know if the messenger I sent this off with is able to get it through to you in the Great Demon Kingdom. I wished only to tell you how much your son cares for you and his brothers. This night is dark and so long, I fear for him. I fear...

Cecilie choked off a cry of alarm, her hands trembling at the way the letters seemed to swim around the page as her heart began to clench sharply in fear of what it said. No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't! It could not be why Conrart had not been with Yuuri, but another… It couldn't be.

I fear that this night will not end well. Dark shadows hunt us and I was unable to protect him as I promised, as I wished I could from the demons that hunger for my death. I hold hope that I will be able to undo whatever has been done. Just know that there has only ever been one man who has earned my love and that is your son. He is my world and am nothing without him in my life. We found happiness, my Lady, we found such happiness together.

Yuuri.

One the second page there were smears in the ink, the neat handwriting reduced to a shaky scrawl and it was clear that as the note had been written, Yuuri had been weeping.

"Mother?"

Her head lifted, green eyes wide and filled with tears as the pages and photograph dropped onto the table before her, the ink running again with her own tears as pain flared through her body. Conrart.

"Mother!" Wolfram ran forwards from where he had been hovering in the open doorway, his arms catching her as she dropped forwards, entire body shaking with the terrified sobs that escaped her lips. Everything within her body trembling with raw pain and anguish at the thought that bounded into her head. The knowledge only drawing her to one conclusion. "What is it?"

"Conrart…" A hand covered her mouth, trying to stifle the sounds that escaped from between her lips, expression showing her pain. "…No… no… NO!"

"Mother? What about Conrart?" Emerald eyes were wide and his hands were attempting to steady his mother, desperate to calm the trembling woman. Wolfram's head twisted to gaze at the tear streaked pages that she had been reading, before turning back towards the beautiful weeping woman before him. "Tell me… Please…"

"He's dead." And she knew it somewhere in her soul, she couldn't shake the feeling… the lack of that reassuring though distant contact she had had with her half human offspring. The faint traces of him had vanished from the threads of magic woven around her, as if the strings had been sliced clean through. "I can't… I can't feel him…" An emptiness had settled in the place Conrart had once filled within her heart, a deep frigid cold that leached out of the place where the love she had held for Dan Hiri had been.

"No." Wolfram shook his head sharply, green eyes narrowing slightly as he swallowed hard around the jolt of grief that rose up within him at his mother's words. "He can't be. Conrart is too stubborn to just die."

"Wolfie… he…"

Wolfram's hands trembled as he tried to hold himself together as a soul deep pain burned through him, red hot and searing his insides with the despair of having lost his brother. His scream of anguished cut through the silent afternoon that had settled around Covenant Castle, shattering the world like so much fragile glass.

Calorian Trading Vessel, Seahorn

Blinking slightly, Yuuri's vision blurred for a moment, the warm sunlight spilling across his body from the round portholes that decorated the wall off to one side. A soft groan of protest escaped his lips and immediate the sound light was blocked, a large form hovering over him and a warm hand smoothed back his long hair and drew the blankets up a little more around his slender shoulders.

"I feel like… crap." Yuuri winced at the sound of his own voice, rough and hoarse from too long a sleep. "Why is it… every time I seem to wake up… we are somewhere else entirely?" With another groan, the pillow was tugged over his head by his own hands, cutting out the light of the world altogether, his body feeling achy and swore all over. The memories of what had happened before he had ended up swallowed by darkness were a foggy blur.

"How are you feeling, Kitten?" Fingers rubbed lightly over the exposed nape of Yuuri's neck, his hands flexing slightly to grip the pillow tighter when Conrart's mouth touched warmly against the skin that had just been caressed.

"Like I've been through a washing machine on spin cycle." Groaning, the slight swaying of the bed was not helping with his body's protests against what he had done. Then one thing came back to him, one image that had been seared into his mind, the one lone sensation that suddenly had him sitting up the pillow dropping onto the bed beside him. Wide obsidian eyes stared up at Conrart for one long heart-stopping moment. "You used magic."

Conrart dropped down onto the bed beside Yuuri, nodding slightly and running a hand back through his hair, looking as bad as Yuuri felt at that moment. "I did." And it had been a shock to his body as if a missing sense had suddenly been restored without warning. The thrum of energy still tingled through him with each deep breath he took, the alien sensations having made him twitchy for the long hours Yuuri had been out cold after the battle in Caloria's harbour. "I don't know why…" Cinnamon eyes gazed down into the beautiful face of his lover, one hand cupping the sleek jaw, rubbing his fingertips back and forth across the soft skin beneath his touch.

Yuuri's eyes widened, his hand closing over Conrart's tightly, keeping it against his bare skin and reaching out with his senses, feeling the sharp jolt of magic respond to his soft call. It vibrated within Conrart like it would any other member of the Demon Tribe. "How did it happen?"

"You."

Raven brows lifted sharply in response to that, surprise showing on his features. "Me?"

"Yes. When I touched you during the battle, I was… it felt like I was being struck with lightning and then…" Power. A power he had never had before had filled him up til bursting, spilling over from within Yuuri and into himself, charging him up and answering his commands.

"You created barriers." Though that didn't answer one interesting question he had. With what element did Conrart have a pact? The memory of his own was a shadowed one within the back of his mind, the woman's voice asking him if he would accept her strength, the trickle of water sliding down his throat and the first time he had ever created some magic of his own.

"Am I… is this what it feels like, Kitten?" Confused cinnamon eyes lingered on Yuuri's face, the uncertainty there making the boy's heart squeeze in response. "I feel as if… I've been missing something before… missing a part of myself until you stirred it within me."

"Yeah." Yuuri gave his lover a wry smile, leaning up to press a warm kiss against the man's lips, just remaining there for several long seconds before pulling away. "Its like someone switched something on inside you. Like a hand reached inside your mind and lit up something you didn't realise was there."

"Exactly." Conrart's head tipped slightly at the way Yuuri had spoken about his own experience. "You… you weren't born with your gifts?" Gwendal and Wolfram had both been, both powerful men displaying their talents with their respective elements early on.

"I knew they were inside of me. I knew something was inside of my body… but it wasn't until a night in Sorina that it was unlocked within me. A woman came to me… or at least I thought it was. She spoke to me and asked me to allow her to be my strength. It was raining that night. A bitterly cold rain… but when I accepted it… accepted what she had given me it became a warm summer shower…" A hand reached down to trail a touch over one of the scars on his slender chest, fingertip brushing back and forth against the faded mark branded on his skin. "It was in swallowing the raindrops that fell on my face… that I forged a pact with the water element."

"Nothing like that happened with me. I just… when I touched you." Shaking his head, even Conrart couldn't explain the feeling that had overcome him.

"We should work out what element that you made a pact with." Yuuri was actually managing to find his feet, feeling strong hands wrap around his waist and steady him for a moment before allowing him to move under his own steam as he gathered up several different items from around the room. Returning to Conrart's side, he tugged a small table over beside the bed and set the items down on top of it. He knew it was a little strange but it was important for them to know.

First a candle sitting in its heavy pewter stand was lit, the merry little flame dancing before Conrart, bright and almost cheerful. Drawing Conrart's hand forwards, he held it palm out near the flame, smiling softly at his lover and tipping his head towards the flame.

"Do you feel it?"

"Feel…?" Conrart shook his head slightly, gazing down into the softly flickering flame, all he could feel was the warmth of it against his palm. "What should it feel like?"

"Like someone is calling your name softly, whispering it warmly to you and willing to answer it whenever you need it. Sometimes I hear the ocean calling to me, drawing me in closer and warming me when I am near it. It vibrates through you, like someone playing with strings."

"The lake…" Comprehension dawned on Conrart's features, a sudden understanding for exactly why Yuuri always seemed to calm around water, why the feeling of it on his skin was so enticing. "I… I didn't realise."

"No worries, Beloved, try again." Yuuri encouraged, nodding towards the piece of coal he had plucked out of the hearth across the room from them, the thing was still of the earth and would hopefully be good enough for a substitute since they were no a ship going who knew where.

Again the same lack of response.

Soon the small potted plant followed, its woody stems remaining rigid and unresponsive to any 'direction' Conrart gave to it. The same lack of response left only two possibilities.

The glass of water sat before them both and Yuuri reined in the natural affinity he had for it, gazing at Conrart and just observing as the man stretched out for it, still not gaining any response. When he was about to draw his hand back, Yuuri's one came up and curled across the top of Conrart's their fingers lacing together over the open glass as Yuuri allowed himself to reach for it with the magic within himself. The vibration of the invisible strings thrummed through them both, the boy's head dropping down to rest against his lover's broad shoulder, letting out a contented little sound as droplets began to slide up from the inside, tiny serpents beginning to form, hissing softly in greeting. Their heads appearing above the lip of the glass, snaking around the rim of it, dark orbs observing them with an intelligent curiosity.

A low groan of bliss escaped Conrart's lips, the same natural response he had had earlier to the first use of Yuuri's magic on his body, the pulse of warmth skittering up along his limbs and leaving him shifting his hips restlessly against the edge of the bed. "Is it… meant to feel so intimate like that?"

Yuuri's lips pressed together and he shook his head slightly, dropping a kiss against Conrart's shoulder. "Not usually, but I guess because it was my magic that forged your own there might be some link…" He fell silent at that statement, both of them knowing that there was a natural bond between them, something that called them together no matter how far apart they were. Conrart had known Yuuri had needed him that last time and come without fear or hesitation to his side.

"You know… I'm not surprised over what element you have made a pact with." One that very few had ever possessed and that most dismissed in traditional pacts. "Its unique, just like you."

A single white feather pulled from the stuffing of a nearby pillow sat on the table.

"Do you want me to guide you? I know you used it quite well enough against the enemy, but…"

"Show me." Conrart's lips turned upwards into a sweet little smile. "I want you to teach me Kitten."

Nodding slightly, Yuuri was releasing his hold on the water, though reluctant to do so the water serpents soon dropped back into the glass as nothing more than droplets. "Do you feel the air moving across your palm?" Tugging hard on the strings of magic that surrounded him, he set them into a mad vibration, Conrart jolting in response to the flare of power, but inclined his head when he could get a feel of the air sliding across his palm, cool and slow. "Now call to it."

"How?"

"Tell it what you desire, let it be your strength, let it be what you need it to be." Pausing a few moments, he was quietly watching the still feather that remained before both their hands. "Now push."

The feather suddenly was swept off the table, lifted high into the air and drifted aloft before their very eyes. A breeze swept through the room, warm and ruffling the sheets on the bed and danced playfully through their hair as if greeting them.

"Let it take form. Magic tends to like to create a form in which it will answer your commands. You saw Gwendal's earthen wolf, from what I heard Wolfram has a lion of flames, mine usually takes the form of water serpents." Allowing his own power to feed into Conrart, Yuuri was making sure to keep a grip on it, being grateful that he was developing his ability to control another's powers if need be as he had Gwendal's. "Allow the power to flow out of you… through you… it is still a part of you."

Swallowing hard, Conrart was watching as the wind began to spin and twist, the soft shimmering outline beginning to form, its wings spread wide as it twisted around the room like a windstorm. Feathers crystallised out of the magic, a soft translucent gold, and there soon perched on the back of a chair was a hawk, its wings flared once, flapping and settling slowly. It gave a low crooning cry, as if greeting Conrart for the first time.

"Dear… gods above…" Wide cinnamon eyes stared at the bird, which gazed back with equal interest. "He's… mine?"

"Yes. Though I think it is best that we stop now before someone feels the pulse of magic." Yuuri closed his hand around the back of Conrart's much larger one, squeezing softly. "Release him."

Reluctant to do so, Conrart finally released the magic that he had been gathering up, amazed at what he had just been able to accomplish. He was… Demon Tribe. It struck him like a powerful blow to the heart, almost making him reel from the realisation. "I…"

"Yes, my Lion. You do have the natural talent for magic that any Demon Tribe has, you just didn't apparently have the ability to turn it 'on'." When the magic didn't seem to want to fade away like it should, Yuuri reached out and wrapped his mind around Conrart's, smoothing out the tangled strings around him and the bird vanished with a shriek of protest, dissipating into nothing more than a swirl of wild wind. However the action made Yuuri slump back down onto his rear on the edge of the bed, a bit winded himself.

"What did you just do?" Arms swept around Yuuri's slender body, cradling him close and Conrart just gazed down into obsidian eyes.

"I can turn some magical powers… 'off'… or at least dampen them down. Its what I did to Gwendal, I took his control of his beast. Though I sometimes forget just how winded it leaves me to do it." Sweeping his eyes along the elegant lines of the cabin, he lifted both brows at Conrart as the gentle swaying began again. "Where are we?"

"We are on a trader ship the Seahorn. Norman and Flynn are also onboard, I thought it would be a good idea for them to accompany us to Illyria. Right now Baker is fortifying Caloria and also making sure that the borders remain closed to Small Cimaron forces…" Conrart winced slightly at the thought, his fingers rubbing slowly through his hair and knowing that the situation had ended up far worse and more confusing then any of them thought could be possible. "Small Cimaron is already officially protesting against Big Cimaron's interference with its perceived territories. Right now… Caloria is jammed in the middle of all the chaos."

Yuuri winced at that, his body coiling around Conrart's, wrapping both arms around the strong shoulders, his face pressing into his lover's neck and knowing that because of Yuuri's actions they had probably made the entire situation ten times worse then it had already been.

"There is also something else."

What could be worse then Yuuri's mess? Had he really sank all of those ships? What had happened to all of the people? A shiver rippled through him, uncertainty touching his features for a moment.

"There is another reason why Big Cimaron wanted control of Caloria." Fingertips rubbed against Yuuri's scalp softly, caressing it slowly and hoping to ease a little of the pressure. "Nornan's family had a box."

"Box? What's so dangerous about… oh…" All the colour drained from Yuuri's face at that. "One of the four Boxes?"

"Yes."

And suddenly something from that night long ago struck hard within him, a chord of raw terror striking through him as his body jerked backwards away from his lover and the arm that had been wrapped around his shoulders holding him close. The face of the man who had come to him moments before darkness had consumed him, the strikingly handsome blonde with the vivid blue eyes. He had seen a picture of that man, he had thought it familiar, but hadn't been able to place it until then. No. Could that be it?

"Oh… God… Conrart."

"What? Kitten?" Hands were reaching for him, Conrart's face suddenly etched with concern. "Kitten…? I'll get the physician. You're so pale, Love."

"I know why." Swallowing hard against the burn of bile that was attempting to rise up in the back of his throat. "Shinou."

"You aren't making any sense."

"Shinou was there the day my magic was first awakened in Sorina. He appeared to me. He apologised for having had to call me earlier then he had expected, that he was slowly running out of time. Its why we ended up in Caloria." Shaking his head furiously, he was trembling slightly. "The Originators."

"Kitten! Slow down."

"Shinou brought me here earlier so that I could do something for him… stop the darkness he said. He wasn't the one who sent me back to Earth, it was the darkness… they wanted me away from Shinou's reach on Earth so that they could attack me openly. When they failed on Earth, they tried with the Dragon Wraith when Shinou and Bob helped bring us back through the barrier back to this world. We ended up in Caloria because the closest box was here. Shinou is telling us to hurry in his own way. Why else would we end up here? Everything seems to happen for a reason."

"Why now?" Conrart's brows came together sharply, his fingers reached up to lightly stroke across his left arm, rubbing at it softly and grimacing slightly. "Why not a year ago? You have been here for seven years. Why would this only start now?"

"Because something changed. Something changed to trigger it all into motion again." And Yuuri's gaze settled on Conrart, staring into the handsome face before him, his hand stretching out to touch the handsome features before him. "Have you ever been to Sorina, Conrart?"

"Yes." He responded softly, awareness striking him. "With my father many times when we crossed between Human Territories and back into the Great Demon Kingdom."

"When was the last time you were there, Conrart?"

"Its been a long time since…" Disbelief filled his expression, his jaw almost dropping. "Nearly seven and a half years. No. Yuuri… Oh…"

Sorina had not been some random city. It was one of the gateways between the human realm and the Demon Tribe one, it was one frequented by those of half blood status. Conrart had been there. Somewhere on the fateful day Yuuri had been plucked from Earth and dropped into an unfamiliar world… Conrart had been in that very city. Shinou had wanted them together.

"NO!" It was a roar of despair and rage, the half-breed sweeping forwards, his grip almost bruising as he pulled Yuuri into a tight protective embrace, his hand pressing against the back of the boy's dark head tucking it in against his shoulder. "You bastard, Shinou!" A vicious curse escaped the man's mouth, Yuuri being drawn into his lap, a shield actually shimmering into existence around the bed, the air stirring in the room, responding to Conrart's emotions.

Conrart had been the reason Yuuri had been in Sorina. And it was the failure of the two men meeting that had left Yuuri to the dark fate he had suffered at the hands of so many for the five months where despair had been all the boy knew.

I'm tempted to send them to Cabalcade XD I wouldn't mind seeing a younger 'Mr baldy!' HEHEHEHE See even Shinou knew they were meant to be together!