Chapter 14
Music Suggestion: (Tree of Life) and Death is the Road to Awe from The Fountain by Clint Mansell
"Why did you hurt that girl?"
Kurapika tightened his lips as he closed the door behind him and sat in a chair across from where Akatsuki stood next to her bed. "Why didn't you heal her?"
"I told you earlier. I didn't feel like it."
He sighed heavily and stood. He was pure Tenno; he had to be, in order to do what he had to do next; so he removed himself from humanity and let cold monstrosity take over.
She narrowed her eyes as he took two steps forward. "It doesn't matter now." He lifted his left hand and let the black book fall into his open hand.
"What are you doing?" Suddenly her voice was harsh. "Tenno! What are you..."
Then she gave out a little cry. Something felt like it was being pulled out of her, from her navel. She arched her back and fell back onto the bed, clutching her stomach as she panted, staring at him with accusing eyes.
"What...the HELL...did you do?"
He examined the new skill in the book coolly, disregarding her. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to go find her and heal her. It was my mistake, but no matter..."
"How DARE you! How DARE you!" she shrieked, realizing what he had done as she stomped toward him and lifted up a hand to strike.
He caught her wrist without even looking at her, turning back a page or two disinterestedly, and then flung her back onto her bed.
She ground her teeth in anger. "What, you think you're some kind of hero? Do you even realize what kind of power that is?"
"One that can save, one that you didn't use to save."
"You aren't some sort of Buddha or...Jesus Christ...you can't just go around healing people; it's the way it works, can't you understand?"
"All I can understand is that you refuse to help unless you 'feel like it'. That sort of thing...how does it make you any different from a killer?"
"If I were to start healing everyone who came to ask, then everyone would ask. Having a power like this...doesn't make you God or something. What it does is drain you of energy and get loads of greedy people coming after you with smiles and promises."
"Nevertheless. It is too late now."
"You! First you steal my family katana, now you..."
"I didn't 'steal' it. You gave it to me."
"I lent it to you! You just assume that everyone's purpose revolves around you!"
He gave her a red-rimmed look, now. "You wouldn't understand."
"I wouldn't understand? I wouldn't understand?" She gave a bitter laugh. "It's you who don't understand! You let your own hatred poison you, and you blame it on others! Not like Demisse..."
His eyes turned fully red. "Shut up. Don't..."
"Demisse doesn't let this sort of thing..."
"Shut up!" Angrily, he pulled from the black book a cyan blue bubble and flung it at her. It hit her full in the chest, and she collapsed, unconscious, onto the bed.
"Don't tell me what to do," he said, bitterly, and left.
.
The group outside hushed into silence as they heard the footsteps of Tenno grown louder in the long hallway outside the mutilated main-room, and then the opening and shutting of his door.
"Friends?" Bergron couldn't believe his ears. "Tenno...has friends?"
"Had friends," Kalluto corrected. "My brother being one of them. But that was too long ago. I can guess that he hasn't contacted them since."
Valentyna, despite her disapproval of Kurapika's actions, could not help but object. "That man has had enough problems with 'friends'," she said. "Just leave them alone."
The others threw cold glances at her. "Don't tell me you're still standing up for him," Kanzo said. "You saw what happened. He betrayed us, he used his powers against us."
She scowled. "I don't know what was going through his mind," she said, "but I do know that he's been through more than you can guess. Enough to make him enraged beyond thinking sometimes." She cast a glance over at Demisse. "Where were you during the fight, anyway?"
He sighed heavily. "Akatsuki was defenseless," he explained quietly, "so I took her away from the fight."
"And?"
"And nothing. We found a place to stay out of the rain, we came back after the fight was over."
So you misunderstood, Kurapika, Valentyna thought, having already guessed what was on his mind. May you correct yourself before you cause more damage.
"Speaking of Akatsuki...where is she?"
Demisse's head shot up, looking around. Of course he already knew she wasn't in the room, but where was she? He stood suddenly and wordlessly walked out.
The others watched him leave. "Tenno...he's jealous of that man, isn't he?" asked Kalluto.
"Hm, it would seem so," said Illumi expressionlessly. Then he shrugged.
"After all, is it really our business?"
Kalluto was quiet, understanding the meaning behind his older brother's words. "No, that isn't our business."
.
Demisse opened the door as Akatsuki sat up on her bed, rubbing her temples. "What happened?" he asked worriedly.
"I...that...Oh!" Her eyes snapped open as she remembered, and a furious look crossed her face. "That man...I'm going to murder him...!"
He watched her scowling and wringing her hands. "What happened?" he asked again.
"My healing powers...he stole them!"
"What?" He stared at her blankly. "Does such an ability exist, to steal the nen powers of others?"
"Evidently." Her eyes snapped in anger.
He walked over and pulled her up, gently. "Come with me," he said quietly. "Let's go for a walk."
She hesitated for a moment, and then, expression softening as she looked at him, said, "Okay."
It was very dark out, being the time of the new moon, but Demisse knew that they would be safe from any prowling animals. He had been in these jungles long enough. They walked in silence for a few minutes before he heard her say quietly, "Demisse?"
"Yes?" he answered, in just the same tone of voice.
"What...who were you, before you came here and became a fighter?"
"Oh, that," he laughed. "Nothing, really; I was just a regular little boy growing up in Ethiopia, just like anyone else."
"Did you like to dance? Did you want to be a dancer?"
"No, not really. Dancing is just something you do, a physical manifestation of energy and happiness within you. No, before I was trained in nen to become a specialist fighter, I wanted to study animals. Mostly birds. But...well...life doesn't go the way you want, always, and..."
He was quiet for a little while, and then asked, "What about you?"
She gave a little laugh, natural again. Why was it that the natural laugh felt so unnatural to her? "I guess...when I was a little girl...before my family was killed by the Genei Ryodan eleven years ago...I actually did want to become a geisha, and wear beautiful dresses and dance beautiful dances. But that...it's all a little girl's dream land, and once you're forced into something, you start to resent it, even if you wanted it to begin with."
"True. Akatsuki?"
"Yes?"
"What do you want, now?"
She stood still and looked up at the sky. He paused a couple of steps ahead and looked back at her. "I guess...I don't really know but...I think, that I just...want to discover happiness, be with someone and be happy..."
"And you thought that would be with Tenno?"
"I have no idea," she murmured, thinking back to the first time she had met the man with the blond hair and black eyes. "Maybe...I thought that we could understand each other, since we both were troubled, but really...really...two people selfishly looking for that sort of thing from one another...it doesn't work, does it?"
He thought for a minute and then answered, "I think it can, depending on the people, but for you, it won't."
Why am I so attracted to you that I'm willing to betray Tenno? Akatsuki wondered. Why does it feel so natural to be here, talking with you?
Because you actually treat me like I'm human. Because you pull out my weakness, hang them out where I can see them, and then encourage me to overcome them.
Demisse took a step forward, closing the distance between them. "What do you want, now?" he asked again, this time more authoritively.
She gave him a little smile, "Are you asking me if I want you?"
"Yes."
"A little straight-forward, isn't it? You hardly know me." If you did, she thought, you might not want me.
He lifted her chin and smiled into her eyes. "Sometimes you just know. I knew from the night you healed me."
"Last night, you mean."
He laughed. "Yes."
She joined in his laughter. "I...don't know, Demisse..."
"Well, take your time," he said, releasing her chin and stepping backwards. Then he frowned back up at the house with dull lights. "In any case, I'm regretting being involved in the Spiders. Mostly because Tenno...that man isn't good for you."
She looked down regretfully. I'm sorry, Tenno, I thought we would understand each other, but...
"No, nor I for him," she said.
.
"Kurapika, stop blaming yourself."
Once again attempting to get some sleep and unable to get beyond this place, Kurapika was nonetheless a little relieved that Kuroro, rather than mocking him, was actually sympathetic.
"No, it is my fault," he said, determinedly. "But it doesn't matter; I'm going to go rectify my mistake. And then..." He sighed, thinking of what he had to do.
Kuroro was quiet for a minute and then said, "I'm going to regret telling you this but..."
"...but?"
"...I killed a Spider once."
Kurapika's mouth twitched in spite of himself. "With a shoe, or did you use bug spray?"
"That was unkind."
"Sorry." Kurapika looked away from where Kuroro on the solid yet unseen floor. "Tell me," he said quietly. He was human, now, letting regret and anxiety pass through him in waves. It hurt. He wanted desperately to block it off.
Kuroro sighed. "It was about, oh, seven years ago, I think? The previous number eight, the one before Shizuku. Anyway." He shrugged, less like he didn't care, and more like he was trying to rid himself of the feelings of regret. "He was a new member, not one of the original, young, about your age..."
Kurapika didn't like being called "young", but it was better than "girly" so he held his tongue.
"Come to think of it, at the time I wasn't much older." He gave a ironic laugh. "The long and short of it is, I lost my temper when he kept questioning my decisions and baiting me, and so..."
"...and so you killed him."
"Yup." Kuroro sighed, more heavily this time, and looked up at the invisible ceiling. He still hadn't found any ladders or trampolines in the room yet, so he hadn't been able to reach the top, despite the relative weightlessness in the room.
"Anyway, I received a lot of opposition at first. Machi, mostly, was vehemently angry about it and almost resigned from the group in protest. Looking back on it now, it was kind of a silly threat but...In the end, they forgave me and we moved on."
Kurapika still looked at him blankly. "And?"
"The end. If you want a moral, it's 'Having a group of spider friends can be fun, but watch out for the poisonous ones." He laughed, less ironically and more cynically this time. Then he cast a serious gaze at Kurapika.
"But here the real problem begins," he said to himself.
Kurapika met his gaze, black eyes meeting black eyes. Then, back in the real world, he heard a closing and shutting of a door, and two sets of footsteps, each of which he knew. His eyes turned such an alarming shade of red that Kuroro gasped.
"They're back," he muttered, and got up. Kuroro caught him by the sleeve as he headed back to the black door.
"Kurapika. I think you should try to get to sleep."
He shook off the grasp. "What do you mean."
"You know what I mean. You're unstable right now. The way the nen is flowing right now..."
Kurapika shook his head. Tenno was in charge. Jekyll was Hyde again.
"But I'm being betrayed," he answered defiantly, and exited.
.
Akatsuki looked up as the door of her room swung open for the second time and Tenno entered, closing the door solidly behind him.
She disregarded his angry glare coolly. "Do you need something, Tenno?" she asked sarcastically. At the moment she was still too angry at him to allow for any other feeling for him.
"Why you. Why Demisse." He stepped closer to her, and though a flicker of fear ran through her at the wild look in his eyes, she stood her ground.
"I don't think it's any of your concern. Why do you care?"
"I don't like other people, other men, touching what is rightfully mine." He came so close to her that she was forced to take a step backwards to avoid him knocking her over.
"A goddess belongs to no one." Still prideful, still mocking.
"But I could make you mine." Real fear seized her at last as he abruptly pulled her body against his and pressed his mouth to hers possessively.
With a cry, she wrenched free, left hand grabbing the hilt of the katana at his waist and twisting it as she pulled it suddenly so that the blade drew a long shallow line from his lower left side to his right shoulder. She gasped as she stepped back, brandishing the sword in front of her face.
His eyes suddenly took on their unnatural gleam as he materialized his Dowsing chain and threw it to wrap around the blade, tearing it from her grasp. He flung it to the side; it fell clear across the room with a metallic clatter.
Then he had her lifted forearms tightly in his hands and pushed her backwards. The backs of her knees buckled when they hit the bed behind and the two of them folded as one from the waist onto the mattress, him pinning her by her forearms above her head. Her chest arched with the pressure of her stretched shoulders and desperate breathing.
She struggled terrifiedly, trying to kick, although his hips were pressed up against hers, twisting her torso and shoulders under him.
He only observed her movements under him for a moment, dispassionately, and then abruptly pushed off, pacing backwards while she sat up, panting. It was merely a threat; he'd never intended to do anything from the beginning.
"You will love only me," he told her, although of course the words contradicted themselves. She shot a fiery glare at him as she stood up, fury marring her perfect features.
"I never loved you from the first," she spat out.
Justice. I am Tenno. Punishment.
Without warning, the deadly dagger chain zipped out of his hand from his little finger.
It flew! It struck its target!
It entered...
Kurapika gasped, coming to his senses at last as the chain pierced her. Panicked, he foolishly yanked it back, realizing that the condition Tenno had intended would kill her instantly, but too late! The dagger tore through her chest as it exited, leaving a gaping wound. Blood started to gush, spraying the floor, dying her kimono the color of her name where it was not already mirrored red from the oblique gash across his torso that had pressed against her seconds before.
He rushed forward as she started to fall, and caught her, the dampness of her soaked kimono smearing warmly across his face and bare arms.
God...no...what have I done?
Akatsuki.
"Hold on!" he cried out, heart pounding like it would burst. He took out the black book, turning to the last page. A red glow erupted from his fingertips and he pressed them to the wound.
The redness, like flames from water, leapt away from the wound and dissipated into air.
The only person I can't heal is myself...Even now, even when it was no longer hers, it betrayed her!
He called forth his Holy Chain, even though he knew its impotency on another person, willing it, pleading with it...
The cross-shaped healing chain hesitated before it reluctantly wrapped around her body.
"Come on," he gritted, pouring out more nen.
The blood continued in its scarlet fountain; she looked up at him with gasping, bloodless white lips.
"Come on...God...Come on..."
The chains were useless, he was useless...but! But! Please!
Tenno...I forgive you...but...this is the end...
"God!" The chains dropped to the ground at last as he collapsed to his knees, still cradling her bleeding body, limp, stiff arms hanging at her sides, head dropped back, exposing her throat.
"God! GOD! God, no, God..."
Tenno...please let go...don't let this anger carry you always...
The light was leaving her eyes.
He gave at last and pulled her head into his chest, dry sobs dying in his throat. "You were supposed to be immortal..." brokenly.
One last glimpse of haughty pride as she considered a retort, deciding against it, and then the cherry wood eyes closed as she haggardly rasped out, "You...real...name...never..." Tears streaked along her face.
"Kurapika," he whispered into her hair, rocking her where he knelt.
Because there must be an untwisted soul out there who can heal you.
But it was never me.
I'm sorry...
The last ghost of a smile on her face. "Sayo...nara...Kurapi..."
...
Silence.
Deadly silence.
He struggled to cry, but no tears would moisten his red parched eyes. He was dried up, like the creased palms of an old man.
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil/Must give us pause.
Then the door opened, and Demisse took a step into the room.
You know how a second can feel like a lifetime?