Chapter Fourteen - A New Ally
"Reborn," Tsuna called out. Even as he penned in a few lines of his essay, the brunet sat at his desk and stared at his work. "Can I ask you something?"
Reborn had been reading one of the books Verde had filched from the back area of the library, thumbing the pages delicately from his position sprawled out on the bed. Making a note of his page, he set the book to the side and replied, "Of course."
"Remember when I gave you Luce's diary? Did you ever read it?"
Reborn was startled, brow furrowing in thought and then slowly answered, "No. No, I didn't."
"How come?" Tsuna's tone was nonchalant as he wrote a few more bedraggled sentences about how the shape of the circle affected summoning viability.
"It seemed like an invasion of privacy," Reborn finally said as he sat up, hands clasped loosely together in his lap. "She was an outstanding person. I didn't want to ruin my perception of her."
Tsuna grimaced at that answer, capping his pen and twisting in his chair to face Reborn, scratching nervously under his jaw. Seeing Tsuna's nervousness, Reborn sat up straighter.
"What's wrong, Tsuna?"
"If I asked you to, would you read it for me?" Tsuna asked lowly, making eye contact briefly and then looking away.
Reborn felt the anger before he managed to catch himself, moving as if to stand up as he sharply replied, "What, so I can explain her actions to you?"
"Yes," Tsuna answered simply, shrinking back in his chair. "To put it in simple terms, Reborn, I…I would like to know her reasoning in choosing you to summon, what made you her choice to summon. I mean…an event like the Purge, yes, it was a drastic time, but…but what prompted her to begin her crusade? I'm one person in the grand scheme of everything and yet, somehow, I have four Arcobaleno quite happily contracted to me."
"And you think that's reason enough to desecrate what she left behind?"
"I think a young woman left her home in a time of great need and her only reason to continue was her ability to summon seven very powerful demons and hope for a better future, Reborn," Tsuna said softly. "She came to my family with nothing when the world was going to hell with a motivation to make things different. Forgive me for wanting to know. It was just a question."
Clearing his throat, Tsuna returned to his work and tried to push down the irrational fear that Reborn was going to hurt him. He could still feel the demon all but humming in repressed anger.
"How much did you want to know?" Reborn finally asked, voice low.
"It wouldn't have been the whole thing, Reborn. I'm not asking to see her perception of you and the others. I just…What drove her to do such great things? I could only glean about three sentences with my rudimentary Italian and even then that was more of a formal introduction of herself."
"Is this something you really need to know?" Reborn pressed, making a move to stand behind Tsuna and resting a hand on the back of his chair.
"I'd like to think it is," Tsuna admitted, rolling his pen between his fingers almost nervously.
"Only the first few pages then," Reborn finally acquiesced. "It gives me a chance to see what inspired her as well."
"Thank you." Tsuna twisted slightly so he could gently rest his fingers over Reborn's hand, curling them slightly for a gentle grip. "And sorry for putting you through this."
My name is Luce Giglio Nero. Today is the twelfth of April, 1656. For eight days I have held this book with the inclination to writing about my pain in the hopes that it would lessen.
As of tomorrow, my husband and young Aria will have been dead for fourteen days, amongst the bodies of what I can only assume is their killers. We had been safe of the Purge, and I had been ever so careful with my summoning to not be caught.
But it was all for naught. My family are still dead.
Whoever said that writing about your problems helps, has a skewed perception of what eases pain in the heart. I still wish beyond hope that this is nothing but a nightmare.
I have seen enough horror to know this isn't true.
As I look around me, I see other instances of where others are just as unlucky as myself. A young girl by herself in the street, corpse already bloated and avoided as avidly as if she were a demon still alive. Siblings, huddled together in doorways, faces pale, eyes gaunt, nothing but skeletons clinging grimly to hope. Low ranked demons swarm the streets like gnats, picking flesh from bone in seconds from the unlucky living caught in the open.
A sickness has swept the land, with no one to burn it out.
I have always ignored this problem, watched it fester over the years.
I feel now as if I have the motivation to do something about it.
Today is the fourteenth of April, 1656.
Yesterday, I was approached by a curious man. Despite the warm days, he was wearing a full cloak, dark in contrast to his hair.
As white as freshly fallen snow, it was, his eyes a peculiar shade of lavender.
He greeted me well enough and, after promising I was in no danger from him, proposed we walk together.
I politely declined.
He proceeded to tell me he held my daughter's hand as she bled to death. I was compelled to listen to him then.
Byakuran. A curious name for a curious figure. At first, I thought him a summoner. However, this did not account for the fact that, by his count, he had known my sweet little Aria for four years.
I found myself casting my mind back, to the weeks, months, before the day I came back to her body, their bodies. I remembered she would always be eager to go to the orchard, whether to pick apples or to waste the daylight away between the trees.
Byakuran was polite as I came to terms with knowing my daughter, between the ages of eight, and twelve, had had a friend I'd known nothing of.
"It is not your fault," he told me. "I asked her to keep my existence a secret. A special little girl, she was."
Of course I asked him to elaborate.
It was chilling to learn my daughter was privy to the world of demons, could see them as easily as if they were a normal person in the streets.
It was chilling to learn Byakuran was not a summoner, but a demon of a kind I had never encountered before.
He was polite, congenial, and well mannered. He spoke clearly and didn't waste his words. Everything mattered to him.
I found his presence agreeable until he severed a man's head from his shoulders with a flick of his wrist for interrupting our conversation.
"I want to help you," he said.
I told him he did not know my purpose, or what I was aiming for.
"For Aria, I'm willing to do anything."
It made me wonder how deep he had sunk his claws into my daughter, if he had been grooming her, to steal her Aether, her life force, to keep her as some pet or was just playing with her.
At this point of my journey, I was not at the liberty to ignore any help that came my way. I had chosen to ignore summoning –to do so would draw attention to myself– but Byakuran, curiously, had a very human shape when considering other demons.
So I asked him what he would gain from helping me.
"Closure," he said to me. "A chance to stop others from suffering as we have."
As if he had felt what it was like to come home and known that your world was torn asunder, to see the bloodstains on the wood, to hear the buzz of flies and the stink of what was once your family rotting away on the floorboards.
But I digress.
While I felt his words were true, I could not shake the sense that something was wrong. The cooling body of the man he had killed without a thought was enough to make me think twice.
I was afraid that denying him would have led to my own demise and that my crusade would end before it began.
Instead, I asked him how he intended to help.
I left with my heart in my throat and a summoning rune I had no intention of using.
His disagreeable attitude to my approach of peace, to this horrible situation, was enough to have me decline his offer of help and that I would consider his assistance should I need it. He smiled as I left, and went as far to give me a jaunty wave.
Today, I found myself thinking. If he himself could hold human form, with no discrepancies I could see, were there others like him?
Every aspiring summoner, even those born in the time of war, heard of the legacy of the Arcobaleno. Demons rising beyond the hypothetical threshold we set upon them in order to bring new rule and control to the planes.
There were no instructions. No summoning rune for summoning that which had never been called across. Yet, if Byakuran could walk the world without an issue, perhaps these Arcobaleno walked among us too?
I don't have much hope. But, if there is a way, I will find it.
This is too important to simply bow down and give in to.
Today is the eighteenth of April, 1656.
Today was the first time I killed a man with my own hands and a knife.
He cornered me.
A summoner's knife should not be used to spill blood from malice. All is given freely. This is the lesson I was taught by my master.
That same knife was used to end a life. I find myself caring a little less every day.
A gentleman, Master Mansforth, approached me shortly after I had washed the blood from my hands and I had returned to the road.
He offered me a place to stay.
Even now, as I write in the suns setting light, I can hear him arguing with his brother.
It was a nice feeling to know there were some that hadn't fallen to depravity.
The death, caused by my hands, lingered over me, however.
The sins did not wash away as easy as the blood.
Today is the twenty fourth of April, 1656.
I managed a successful summoning of an Arcobaleno today.
The power is still buzzing in my veins.
Reborn. A legacy of what was to come, I felt. What the world would be like. Reborn, to better ways.
There was no finesse to my summons. He told me this himself.
There were plenty of texts, all on the theory of Arcobaleno, what people considered sightings, legends, occasions where they had interfered in human history.
I could not find anything that would let me summon them through normal means.
Instead, I drew the circle, in the husk of what was once a house, a tattered cradle crumpled in the corner.
I had a new knife, one as clean as I could guarantee, to replace my summoning knife. So the summons wouldn't be tainted.
And, instead of looking for another method, instead of devoting more time to research, I poured everything I had into this circle and let it burn in the Aether.
I pleaded and begged until my throat was raw, until my Aether fluctuated, until my vision blurred and I could not help but cry.
"And you promise?" a voice had asked. "To bring an end to this madness, if only you had the power?"
I did.
"Reborn?" Tsuna asked softly, moving to rest his hand over the demon's, where it was clasping the diary tightly in a white knuckled grip.
"It's a strange thing, remembering," Reborn murmured, reverently closing the diary and setting it to the side, carefully out of reach. "But the purge wasn't something to be taken lightly. I had no idea that she knew of Byakuran though. That Byakuran had known her daughter."
"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked quietly, letting Reborn slide their fingers together to squeeze his hand.
"It's humbling, seeing it from her angle. You forget how fragile humans are, how easily their wills are broken, how easy it is for them to just bleed and bleed, and how easy it is for bones to snap."
Tsuna stayed quiet at that, just letting Reborn hold his hand as he stared at his lap.
"I–I know it isn't something I should worry about, but why are you here with me, Reborn? Not just you, but the others and…I'm not on some great crusade. I'm not about to stop one of the greatest bloodbaths of mankind. I…I'm just me."
"I thought Skull sorted this out," Reborn murmured, twisting to press his cheek to the side of Tsuna's head. "To stop thoughts like this."
"Oh, no. This is just me. It's a genuine concern, Reborn. I'm a skinny, difficult little thing. Yet I have four –four– Arcobaleno contracted to me and, while it's exciting, it's humbling. I don't know how to react anymore."
"Summoners, nowadays, make up just under two percent of the general population in the world," Reborn said slowly. "Rounding the numbers, that's only one hundred and forty million people worldwide. Of that number, only zero-point-three have a Sky Flame Aether. That's less than five hundred thousand people on this planet that can boast that."
"And what does that mean?" Tsuna asked softly, blinking in surprise when Reborn cupped his jaw in a warm palm.
"It means that I feel very lucky to have found you," Reborn replied, voice dropped to a murmur.
Tsuna, not as tired as before when Reborn had leaned in for a kiss the first time, was aware enough to duck his head when the demon came closer, and felt Reborn's laugh move his fringe as he ended up kissing Tsuna's forehead instead.
"You're very affectionate lately." Tsuna accused, feeling perfectly vindicated as he shuffled away slightly, eyeing Reborn suspiciously.
"I've always been affectionate," Reborn retorted. "I just feel like showing it nowadays."
Tsuna laughed as he got to his feet to move back to his desk, asking, more of a joke, "You a little worried I don't know you care or something?"
Reborn's voice was serious as he replied. "Yes. I am,"
It was unexpected. Tsuna swallowed down the rush of affection that swelled in his chest. Busying himself at his desk, he fumbled to uncap his pen and simply asked, "Do we know how we're going to get Byakuran to take the bait?"
"I'm not the one to ask that. I'm still against the idea," Reborn replied glibly, grabbed the book he had been reading, and dropped onto his side, back facing Tsuna as he carried on reading.
"How childish can you act?" Tsuna laughed quietly. "For someone who is probably older than I can fathom..." He fell silent for a moment and then asked, "H-How old are you?"
"Tsuna. You don't ask someone their age. That's rude."
"It's just genuine curiosity!" Tsuna shot back, but turned to carry on with his essay, feeling his ears briefly burn in embarrassment at the reprimand.
"I've been around since before the planes," Reborn finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Power was an abstract concept then. We walked the earth as if we belonged there. We helped where we were wanted and then…"
Tsuna stayed quiet, letting Reborn speak as he stared at his work, letting the ink dry.
"We only became 'Arcobaleno' when the world was taken apart. Then after that, the planes were all we knew and Aether rushed in through the gaps. We could only escape when we were called. We weren't called very often."
"They used altars, at first," Tsuna mumbled. "They'd find someone that had Aether, strong Aether, and then sacrifice them. The blood would call, the blood would bind. That was how it went. I suppose no one strong enough to call you across was sacrificed."
"Good riddance," Reborn muttered vindictively. "A dark period of history that was."
"Yeah, we aren't that proud of it either," Tsuna admitted. "A bit barbaric. We discovered circles shortly afterward. History is always a bit more bloody than we want to look into. The number of summonings escalated then. There were only sixteen altars after all, though we only know of seven that were used."
Reborn sat up so quickly, that Tsuna, catching the movement from the corner of his eye, flinched and turned to look at the demon with a wary expression.
"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked carefully, watching as Reborn's face went through a myriad of several expressions then he felt alarmed as Reborn's face went curiously blank.
"Sixteen altars," Reborn muttered to himself, standing up and running his fingers through his hair. "Sixteen altars, for sixteen differences. Make enough cracks and the whole thing falls down."
"Reborn?" Tsuna asked, taking a step forward as he witnessed Reborn's form start to tremble, the pacifier starting to glow brighter and brighter as parts of his human form began to bulge and stretch, as if something underneath was trying to break out.
"Reborn!" Tsuna said firmer this time, reaching out to touch Reborn's arm.
It probably wasn't his first mistake in this situation, but for the moment, it was his last.
Reborn's arm had snapped out, fingers curling around Tsuna's throat as he lifted the small brunet from the floor, eyes glowing bright yellow and looking utterly alien.
Tsuna clawed at the hand around his throat, heart beating like a drum in his chest as he scrambled to get put down, finding it increasingly harder to breathe in as he kicked and flailed.
His vision started to darken just as soon as the door to his room was slammed open and there was a snarl from the doorway, one that was echoed by Reborn and rang in Tsuna's ears.
"Reborn!"
It was Verde, Tsuna thought distantly as the sound of blood rushing echoed in his ears
After that, he was sailing through the air, collided with something hard, pain reverberating up and down his spine, and then he didn't know anymore.
"What are you doing here-?"
"I thought it was obvious-"
"You shouldn't-"
"You kept an eye on us?!"
"As loud as ever, Skull."
"You think now is a good time to show your face-"
"I came because I was needed."
"Wake up."
Tsuna blearily opened his eyes, wincing in the preparation of pain and, upon realising there was none, took stock of his surroundings. There was a man standing beside where he was lying on the floor.
That was when Tsuna realised something was really wrong.
"Where am I?"
"You're dreaming. Get on your feet, we don't have much time."
"Who are you?" Tsuna retorted as he scrambled to his feet, trying to push down the nervousness that was building in him. "Where am I? Where's Reborn?"
"Reborn is fine. You will be too."
Tsuna turned to look this man in the eye and froze at the intensity of his stare, subconsciously moving to hold himself, as if somehow his arms were a barrier between him and what was obviously a huge danger to his wellbeing.
"My name is Bermuda. I am an Arcobaleno."
Tsuna took a half step back, but the man –demon– opposite to him reached out and grabbed his arm.
"No. You need to listen."
Swallowing briefly, and resisting the urge to shake his arm free, Tsuna replied, "And why should I?"
"It might just save your life."
Tsuna snapped his mouth shut and chose to be brave enough to make eye contact again.
"Good. You're a quick learner. You said something that triggered Reborn. You need to know what it is and never say it again. No, don't tell me. My reaction won't be as pretty." Bermuda's hand loosened but Tsuna didn't dare think he could take his arm back.
"You know what the trigger was?" Bermuda asked lowly and Tsuna nodded numbly, causing Bermuda to let go and murmur, "Good. Remember it. Don't say it."
"What is it you need to tell me? How did you get here if I'm dreaming? Skull stopped that."
"I persuaded him. Now, I need you to listen. Can you do that without interrupting, or do I need to shut you up myself?"
Tsuna grimaced, but fell silent and was rewarded by Bermuda's mouth twitching in something that might have been a smile. It was gone as quick as it came.
"There's something after you. Not any of the others, but you in particular. And no, it isn't Byakuran. He's simply a follower of what is going to happen." Bermuda paced back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. Tsuna briefly noted his pacifier was clear and wondered as to the significance of that.
"The Hayato thing," Tsuna mumbled to himself, despite his self-imposed silence.
"Quite," Bermuda replied quietly, "And it's as dangerous as it appears to be. I've been searching into what it could be, but I have no concrete leads except, curiously enough, you."
"Because of the Arcobaleno," Tsuna muttered in response.
"Because of you," Bermuda answered. "In fact, that was why your parents were killed, by the behest of this thing. Byakuran wasn't acting alone. Whatever is happening, is happening because of you. You need to realise this."
"We were going to talk to Byakuran-!"
"You're not yet ready to talk to Byakuran." Bermuda's voice was sharp. "If he can do what yours cannot, what makes you think you have a hope?"
Tsuna winced at his words. Bermuda watched him silently for a long moment.
"We have very little time left. You'll awaken soon."
"You came here to what, warn me?"
"I came here to offer my help. This is bigger than you could possibly fathom. If my kin are to be a part of it, then it stands to be that I should too. It is no coincidence the Arcobaleno have chosen you, Tsunayoshi. Your Aether is like Luce's, but more. And that cannot be ignored, for where she was destined for great things, you are destined for much greater."
"And how were you hoping to help?" Tsuna asked warily, watching Bermuda with a near haunted expression at what the demon had explained.
A knife appeared in the Arcobaleno's hand.
"In that way, then," Tsuna replied quietly, and Bermuda simply inclined his head in silent acceptance.
"Tsuna…Tsuna, are you okay?"
Tsuna woke to the soft tones of Verde's voice, fingers gently probing at his throat. Tsuna winced in preparation for pain –he had been strangled, after all– but was pleasantly surprised when there was no more sensation than the prod of fingertips.
"I'm okay," he said, wincing as his voice cracked briefly on the words, his throat still sore despite the apparent lack of injury. "Where's Reborn?"
"Reborn…has decided to take leave."
Tsuna fumbled to sit up, finding himself tangled in bed covers.
"Is he okay? What happened?"
"A friend of ours took him aside. Reborn…Reborn will come back once his senses have returned. Do you know what could have triggered him?" Verde asked, resting a hand on the centre of Tsuna's back to keep him upright.
Tsuna took note of Colonello lingering in the corner and Skull nervously wringing his hands by the desk.
"I'm not to say," he finally replied. "And…" before he finished his sentence, he was compelled to drag his sleeve away from his arm, rolling it up until his upper arm was exposed.
Verde pulled in breath so sharply between his teeth it sounded like a hiss. Colonello made a wounded noise.
"Bermuda?" Skull questioned, voice high, "When did you contract with Bermuda?"
Tsuna found himself agreeing, because how could a dream equate to reality? But the proof was against his arm, black and dark against pale skin. He dragged his fingertips over the shape of the sealing contract.
"He was the one who took Reborn away." It was a statement, not a question, and Tsuna looked up to Verde.
"He couldn't be calmed. Bermuda was the most qualified of us to deal with the mess he could cause. Tsuna, when did you–?" And Verde, impeccable Verde, gestured uselessly and looked so lost Tsuna felt on the verge of tears.
"Skull was the one who let him in my head. I thought you lot knew how these things worked," Tsuna despaired. "He told me not to mention what had set Reborn off in case it set you guys off, and then decided he was part of what I was 'destined for' and wanted to help. It seemed simpler to agree than to disagree."
"Bermuda never gets involved," Skull whispered. "Never."
"You can't see Byakuran now, kora," Colonello said desperately, crossing the room to get closer. "You can't. If Bermuda's involved, it's bigger than we thought. Huge."
"But we can't leave it alone," Tsuna pointed out relentlessly. "We can't just brush it under the rug and forget it happened because that thing is out there and it's after me. So we still have to go ahead with this!"
"In fact," Tsuna continued, trying to ignore the hysterical note in his voice, "He got involved because of all of this, so in my opinion, that's good enough for a go ahead! Enough to just–just find the problem where it is and nip it in the bud."
"Tsuna-" Verde interrupted.
"This thing is the reason my parents are dead. I can't just back out and hope for the best, knowing that for the rest of my life I have to look over my shoulder to see if I catch the face of the guy who had my parents killed because they threw a wrench in his plans!"
"You could get hurt though," Skull intervened, his voice taking on the same desperation Colonello's voice had. "I-If it was just Byakuran, maybe we could have done it, but now that Bermuda's involved, he always knows something we don't and that means it's so, so much worse!"
"You're not ready to talk to Byakuran yet."
Unbidden, Bermuda's words made their way to Tsuna's mind and he felt himself sagging against the pillows.
Skull stepped forward nervously, hands still wringing together as he mumbled, "D-Do you get it now? That we can't just g-go ahead and bulldoze through this?"
"I understand that much," Tsuna muttered, scraping a hand through his hair. "Bermuda said himself we weren't ready, that…that Byakuran is more than you could handle."
"So we can leave it alone, kora?" Colonello asked, the hope in his voice was so much that Tsuna felt something in his chest tighten with worry.
"For now. U-Until we sort out what we need to do. Then–Then we can't leave it alone. We have to go after it. Because I don't want to get hunted down like an animal, you know? I'd rather face Byakuran on my own playing field, and that means being ready for him."
"Ready how, Tsuna?" Verde asked, sounding tired and withdrawn as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"In whatever way we can, Verde," Tsuna replied, trying not to sound as grim as he felt.
"Your first course of action," Bermuda said amiably as he cut his palm open, "Is to gather the rest. You have Skull, Reborn, Verde and Colonello. You have yet to contract with Fon and Mammon. Whatever has been done to Byakuran sets him a step above you and yours, so you need to be ready to face him on every front."
Tsuna accepted the knife as it was handed to him, cutting his own hand and wondering briefly why he could feel pain in a dream.
"How am I supposed to convince them to do that?"
"I'll have a word. You'll ultimately have to convince them yourself, but I have no doubt of your ability to appeal to someone's better nature."
Tsuna followed through with the contracting process quietly, murmuring the words when they were prompted from him, and feeling the seal get branded into his skin. Contracting in a dream felt similar to real life, and he wondered if the seal would hold when he awoke.
"And now you hold my contract," Bermuda said solemnly. "Perhaps the others will now see reason."
"I suppose having you talk to me is warning enough, hmm?"
"To a particularly careful demon, their summoner would be their first concern. Immediate health and comfort. They aren't looking at the bigger picture because they are blind and that is what we need to fix. Byakuran is dangerous, yes. They will want to deal with him, yes. But, if put in a corner and faced with keeping you from immediate danger, or removing the long term problem, you will be their first choice. We have to dissuade them from that notion."
Tsuna grimaced, rubbing at the seal and watching as Bermuda's face twisted briefly at the contract settling.
"I will be available whenever you call, but I will not hover as the others do. We can assume they'll keep you apart from this bigger danger while I learn what it is."
"Verde's looking into it, too," Tsuna mumbled. "Books, research."
"If he finds anything noteworthy, you will tell me," Bermuda said, voice commanding as he flicked blood away from his fingertips, palm already healed.
Tsuna stayed silent for a moment and then said quietly, "Is this all a coincidence?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps it's part of something bigger."
"My family knew Luce. You helped carry out her final wish, to make sure they were settled, settled and happy."
"You are the spitting image of the young man that helped Luce off of the streets, Tsuna. Make no mistake, I know who you are. It just makes the situation far direr." Bermuda reached out to tap a fingertip on Tsuna's bleeding palm, sealing the wound with barely a whisper of power.
"Call me when you need me. You need to awaken and reason with the others. Should I find something, I will let you know. But, remember, your first priority is Fon and Mammon. If not them, strong Storm and Mist demons. You cannot afford to be weak in any aspect. Byakuran will smell the blood and hunt you down if you relax."
Tsuna shuddered at that, and stared up at Bermuda's impassive face.
"Thank you for coming here to do this for me."
"I care for my own," Bermuda replied flatly. "They may no longer trust me, but they are my own."
Tsuna was left at that, wondering what Bermuda could have possibly meant.
But then he was waking up and he had to push it to the back of his mind.
And here's Chapter 14! The plot thickens...slightly.
Thanks again to Pure Red Crane for betaing this!