True Self Chapter 14

Darkness.

Enveloping, suffocating, strangling darkness. Swirling, torturous, disgusting darkness. It's everywhere. Every shadow cast by the light is darkness. Every dark room and space is darkness. It takes up all. Controls all. Rules all.
It hurts.

Pain.

Suffering, spiraling, sickening pain. Pain is there as the shadow for every touch of pleasure. Pain is darkness. Pain takes up all. Controls all. Rules all.

I am darkness.

I am pain.

Rasiel was stuck in this dark, painful realm of his mind, quivering inside the dream. Where was Fran? Were they having seperate dreams regardless of the fact that they were sharing a vessel? Could that be so? All around him, some sort of hard, high pressure was suffocating him. He felt like he was being exorcised, strangled in a spiritual manner. His entire body seared with pain, and he writhed around in the black space, angry. Where was Fran? He should also be experiencing this torture!

Hush, little Rasiel-chan.

The prince paused, looking around. Who's voice was that? The darkness around him seemed to harden like cooling lava, and Rasiel was able to reach out, touching a black wall. The wall cracked, and from it came a sharp, painful ray of light, brighter than the sun, harsher than fire.

Light.

Destroying the enemy of all good. Destroying darkness as the light pierces it obnoxiously. Shining on and through material and space as it is produced by some sort of remarkable energy. Banishing shadows to other dimensions and slicing the black in half with white. The polar opposite of what Rasiel had been experiencing. It was just as cruel and harmful as the darkness, however, with it's unforgiving brightness.

And so, pain left the darkness, and became the light.

Meanwhile...

Fran stood in a place that seemed remarkably nice to him. Birds could be heard singing in the background, the ironic croak of frogs in some nearby water source, and in the center, the highlight, was a nice, old, oak tree that Fran childishly longed to climb. But something was weird. This place was... pure. It was nice. Shouldn't Rasiel be screwing it up? Fran quickly realized that of this moment, he was himself, free to do as he really wished. He wasn't the sickening hybrid of light and dark. He was just Fran.

"Fran," came a small voice that Fran immediately recognized. He blinked and found Mammon leaning against the oak tree, gesturing for him to come close. The young illusionist headed over obediently, and leaned against the tree, standing beside his second illusion master. "Rasiel is going to go away now," he said.

"Huh? But... how?" Fran asked.

"A man has come to revive Rasiel's true body. He's been watching you for ages, Fran," Mammon said. "And after witnessing the occurences between you and Rasiel, he has found that prince's potential. Rasiel's body lies in a grave miles from here. When he is awakened by this man, whose name is Byakuran, he will have no need for your body. So he's going to stay away from you and Bel. I think it will be a few years before you see him again."

Fran looked away. "Byakuran, huh? He can revive Jill?"

"Mm hm," Mammon said, deciding not to express his reluctance at hearing Fran use Rasiel's nickname. "You're going to be able to be with Bel now, Fran."

"Really...?" Fran breathed, thinking about the prince. At last, he and Bel would be together for real. He smiled. "And I thought it wouldn't get better."

... Two years before this Story began, a man named Byakuran saw a boy with unusual teal hair and eyes. Innocently curious, he followed the boy, and soon saw them meeting with a man with blonde hair and a cheshire cat grin. Byakuran frowned. He had hoped that this young man would join him, as he had sensed the power that clung to the illusionist like the hat he wore. But something was still off. Terribly off.

He searched files in his database, seeking out information on this kid, and soon enough, the message clicked. Belphegor and his dead brother, the brother whom had died mysteriously on the same day Fran began to experience 'excruciating headaches that eventually calmed, leaving him a hollow shell of what he had once been.' Before anyone else discovered it, Byakuran made the realization that Rasiel and Fran had merged minds. He was fascinated, and he continued to watch Fran. Even as his own men were being taken down, he observed Fran through cameras that monitered every move of the Varia. He got information from every possible source, and he eventually discovered that these two great powers together could possibly take him down as they were. He concluded that they needed to be separated.

And so, Byakuran made it his business to get word out to the only one he knew would do something about the matter. He hacked into countless computer systems to get a hold of Mammon, the Arcobaleno ghost who had been guarding the Varia for years. At last, Mammon approached him, angry at his countless attempts to infiltrate the system. At first, Mammon didn't know who he was, which Byakuran was greatly thankful for. But he got his point across, and Mammon swore he would separate those minds, not knowing that he was destroying an opportunity that would take down the most powerful man on the planet.

Byakuran watched as Fran and Rasiel separated, but he pouted to discover Rasiel's thirst for vengence as he stole that innocent body. Now, he needed to return Fran to his own body and get a hold of Rasiel. After all, it seemed that little Fran was helpless on his own, while the other maniacal prince character was bloodthirsty, and just the type of person Byakuran needed in his force. And so, with the help of his various abilities, things fell into place.

And it was time to claim his reward.

As he heard Rasiel's screeches in the darkness, he tapped the barrier that prevented him from accessing Rasiel's mind. What he found was a black hell, and the spirit that writhed helplessly within it. He smiled. "Hush, little Rasiel-chan," he cooed. A few more skillful taps around that spiritual barrier, and his bright, white room was flooded with Rasiel's darkness. Byakuran looked around, uncertain for a fraction of a second, then used his remarkable powers to purge his room of the darkness, leaving behind light that he was unaware was torturing the prince before him. He knelt down before the trembling, blonde aristocrat, and reached out his hand. "Now, Rasiel-chan. Your body lies over here."

"My body...?" the spirit coughed. "My body is useless. It's dead. The heart will never beat again. Hell, it's barely ten years old."

"Fufufu~," Byakuran giggled, smiling brightly. "Just come with me." Rasiel was led to the couch, in which a motionless body, the body of a young prince - no, the body of a young king - lied. Byakuran snapped his fingers, the heart began to beat inside the previously dead chest, and Rasiel was immediately drawn back into the vessel. For the first time in years, the bloody-red eyes flashed open, and the body quickly aged with Byakuran's power until it was the appropriate strength for Rasiel's mind. "I helped you, so you ought to help me back. Join me, Rasiel, and we'll take care of that silly little prince brother of yours," the white-haired man tempted. Happily suprised, Rasiel grinned almost ear to ear.

"Yes, my Lord," he replied.

The next morning...

Fran sat up, feeling a remarkable pleasantness in his mind. Lucidity and a clearness like water, he was no longer filled with mist. However, as he held out his hand and concentrated, a bright, crystalline form materialized in his hand, proving that he still had his illusions. But something was different about it. The realism of this illusion was much different from the almost insane things he used to think up. He was remarkably strong minded, and his illusions were just steps away from being what Mukuro referred to as 'real illusions.' He stood up on the bed, and walked over to a mirror. As he gazed into the glass, he found that his once bright and rather obvious markings were much less obvious, not passing his eyelids. He smiled. "There goes a touch of corruption, hm?"

Fran then left the room, and made his way towards Belphegor's room. But as he walked up to the door, he paused.
"What can I say to him?" he murmured.

"Fran?" Lussuria murmured, uncertainly stepping towards the illusionist. Fran turned to him, and sighed, holding out his arms. The feminine man paused, then, as soon as the offer clicked, he swept Fran into his arms. Before he'd separated from Rasiel, he would have groaned and shoved the other back. If it had only been Rasiel, his malice would have actually repelled the flamboyant Sun, and if it had been with their merged minds that knew each other, they would have had a little mental battle, before pushing the Sun away. But Fran, simple, pleasant Fran, with his kindness, found the older man's embrace to be warm, soothing, almost motherly. Almost immediately, Fran started hugging back, burying his face in the overly fluffy collar of the jacket Lussuria wore.

Realizing roughly what Fran was in need of, Lussuria led the young mind away to the kitchen.

-End Chapter

Ahh... Bummer. Feels like I'm going to have to end this with a relatively low amount of reviews. But hey, c'mon! I made it non-AU, and I think that's pretty darn impressive.

Going to AX this weekend. See you soon!

Please just try to review!