Anata ga Ita Kara
See disclaimer in 01
Theme: 50 – "What's meant to be will always find a way."
Rating: T
Summary: When you need me, I will be there. No matter what, I will save you. I love you. Compared to that, death is insignificant.
---
Most of the time, it was like being asleep.
For Kiri, consciousness was like the last embers of flame clinging to the final sodden inch of candlewick. Sometimes he was aware; others he faded further and further into nothingness. Only a supreme effort of will—and sheer stubbornness—held him there, in that place, even when he couldn't remember why. Through the haze of death and exhaustion and formlessness, the one constant was the absolute certainty that he couldn't "move on" just yet. There was still something he had to do.
But without so much as a body, with only the last dregs of his strength, it took all he had just to hold on. He spent days, weeks at a time semi-comatose, barely aware of anything that was going on around him. He had to conserve what little power he had. For what—he wasn't sure he knew, but he knew there'd come a day when he needed it.
So when the time came that he woke up, he would be ready.
---
Crux looped through the air wildly, not paying any attention to where she was going, only aware of the knowledge that she had to get away.
The problem was that her double was as capable as she was and more; barely three yards behind her came that stubborn streak of powder blue, with white steel glinting to either side of it. In a clear sky like this, what in the world was she supposed to do to foil her pursuer?
She hadn't been expecting this, and she should've. And that was annoying. Hadn't she been watching this world for long enough to know that those of Gaudium were far more organized this time around than she'd ever seen them when she'd been their slave? The problem was Soljashy, she was sure of it—with the previous Lords of Gaudium in control, he'd never been able to exert his influence, but now—
Besides, she should've expected that Oscha would've deployed someone or something to keep an eye on the Comodeen and the Black Wind, just as before. How had she not thought of this before?
"Dyuuuu…"
Crux gritted her teeth, half-closed her eyes, and folded her wings flat behind her, dropping sharply just in time to avoid her duplicate's swipe. She could see one of the floating islands at the edge of her vision; she'd aim for it, and try to lose her other self there. As long as she couldn't fight, that was her only hope of survival.
---
"Th-there are so many of them…!" Yu looked around desperately, edging back.
"What are we gonna do?! We have to make it in time to save all these people!" Ai yelled.
"You two, hurry and head for the head temple! I'll—" Lisa started, but Kumo held up an arm to cut her off.
"No. You haven't the time to waste. Protect your people; construct the Spirit Barrier as we planned. You know I can deal with these creatures, and you know you mustn't use your powers to fight them. You'll only be doing what Chaos wants."
"But…" Lisa looked at him pleadingly, but Kumo turned away, drawing his Maken.
"Go—quickly! The more time is wasted, the more lives will be lost! Now!"
"C'mon, Lisa, you know he's right—" Yu began quietly.
"Don't you go getting killed, Makenshi," Ai scolded. "If you do, I'm gonna get mad at you!"
"I'll be fine," he replied, but looked out at the vast waves of Soljashy's mutated robots and knew that without some kind of miracle, he would not be able to handle this alone.
---
Fabula rested her chin on the heel of her hand and looked consideringly into her scrying crystal, frowning slightly. With the Comodeen busy fending off attacks from the Chinese military, there was no way they could come to her travelers' aid; Kuroki Kaze was halfway across the Earth and wouldn't come no matter how much anyone prodded until he felt like it. Lisa and the children would have their hands full just trying to find Lisa's master.
Kumo would be on his own in this, then.
Unless…
Fabula squared her shoulders and stood up, sweeping her long hair back with a sigh. Well, it was about time for her to go give things a good poke anyway—and she knew just how she could make the one good shake she was allowed count.
---
Crux ducked around a building and hesitated just a moment to get her breath back. The next, she was slammed violently from behind, and pain ripped across her back and over her shoulder as steel whistled through the air right there.
"Dyuu…"
Crux whirled and slammed her passenger hard into the wall, barely peeling herself away to catch a glimpse of wicked, amused ruby eyes and bloody blades before she dipped and flew through a window into open space.
Damn… She was listing to one side; her double's attack must've damaged her wings. Numbness continued to flicker along her shoulder, and a twisting crackle told her that her joint there was on the edge of a short-circuit.
She had to get away. She had to get away—she'd done what she'd set out to do, and she had to report back to Kumo. She was a part of the fight she'd been watching now; she had something to live for—she would not just roll over and die.
There was another violent impact from behind her, and her vision hazed as she spiraled down and crashed hard into the soft clouds, then unyielding stone.
---
It wasn't the fight that pulled Kiri out of his dormant slumber into what awareness he could manage, but rather a feeling like someone'd just shaken his shoulder hard and berated him for sleeping in pitched tones, right into his ear. As his disorientation cleared, he watched with increasing lucidity as the little pink fairy-doll fled the blue one with its distinctly evil smile and the scythelike blades attached to its arms. He watched as their aerial dodge-and-weave pulled closer and closer, then as the blue one overtook the pink and sent it—her—slamming hard into the ground, sliding and rolling right up to the foot of Kiri's headstone, where his shattered sword still rested.
At about the same time Kiri started to remember he'd seen this little pink one before and sensed an impression of Kumo's aura still surrounding her, he started to get annoyed. The blue doll had some nerve, chasing someone over here where he was trying to sleep and so rudely waking him up to destroy her adversary. Besides, the pink one was his brother's ally. And the only one who'd ever been allowed to mess with Kumo in any way had been him.
So when the blue doll touched in and began to walk forward, the propeller on its back slowing to a dull whir and then stopping, Kiri narrowed down his focus and glared.
The doll blinked, and then its ruby eyes started to widen with confusion and suspicion.
The exertion hurt a little, but Kiri honed down on that irritation he felt and continued to glower in its direction. Slowly, the texture of the surrounding air began to change, and the immediate area began to fill with the bright crimson haze of his Mist.
—Leave.
Either the threat in his voice or the fact that the doll didn't know what to do about this sudden change of situation made it step back, looking around wildly, then take to the air, turning tail and fleeing as quickly as it could. Kiri glared after it, giving a little derisive sniff, then looked down at the pink doll dispassionately.
It was pretty badly damaged; its torn shoulder joint was sending off sparks and its wings with their transparent screen kept flickering on and off. But its eyes were still half open and focused in his general direction, and its chest was heaving. It was aware; it was alive.
Slowly—it was hard to remember how—Kiri uncurled and stepped down. He could only just feel the ground under his feet, and he could see through himself—he was nowhere near fully corporeal—but this would suffice for now.
—You know where he is, don't you?
"Kuuu…" Agreement, Kiri thought. He was pretty sure. It would take time for him to start to understand that form of speech, and that was time neither of them had.
—Then take me to him. I can sense… we don't have much time.
The doll pushed itself—herself up and gave a slow nod in his direction. Kiri closed the eyes of his half-manifested form and focused hard, pulling everything that he was inward.
The next moment he was aware, they were flying.
---
Kumo parried and lunged and slashed; the six Doldiers surrounding him all exploded, bursting into heaps of scrap metal, the business cards Soljashy used as ofuda to control them split. Although he jumped back, he felt pain bite across his back and twisted to evade the cord the seventh Doldier had slashed at him. He stumbled and recovered just in time to run back to duck the other cords being flung at him.
With hands and arms that shook, Kumo braced his Maken and glared out at the waves and waves of enemies that remained. Soljashy was probably enjoying this, wherever he was. Kumo was already at his limit, and he'd only been able to deal with about half of the main force that had been sent after those children. And Lisa wasn't back yet. There were probably more Doldiers inside, and her heart was faltering enough as it was—she was starting to crack under the strain, and Kumo feared what she would be capable of if she lost herself to grief or anger. Although it was his and Kaze's Unlimited potential that would eventually seal Chaos—or not—in this battle, the fight for the freedom of Earth and its people, it was Lisa, Ai, and Yu who held the key to ultimate victory or disaster.
And without his Mist, without the ability to summon, all Kumo could do for them was buy time.
Why weren't the Comodeen here yet? Or better, Kaze? The pull of Chaos should have summoned him by now—
Another line of Doldiers started to inch forward. Kumo glared, shook blood out of his eyes, and ran forward, wrenching his body from the waist to carve them to pieces straight down their line and only barely making it back to his hillock in time to avoid getting caught.
He was trembling and sweating and struggling to breathe, bleeding from a dozen wounds, his clothes ripped along the arms and at the knees, slices across his chest and belly revealing the ugly half-healed scar from his last major confrontation with Chaos. His hands were starting to slip along the hilt of his Maken, and blood loss was making him light-headed. His sight was hazing, and he wasn't sure he could stay conscious for much longer.
He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to last.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when there was a sudden scream of something plummeting fast and vicious through the air. Kumo looked up, bewildered, and was barely able to position himself to reach out and catch the falling streak of pink. As it was, he staggered back and forward and almost lost his balance.
"Crux…?"
She was panting and dizzy and obviously in terrible shape, shaking and clutching something small and round to her chest with both hands, so tightly that Kumo couldn't make out what it was. He fell to one knee as he cradled her closely, anxiously searching her face. He heard the Doldiers shifting back and forth as if uncertain whether to attack or not, but ignored them.
"Crux—say something, please…"
"Ku…" She shivered, but smiled at him.
"It's alright. You're alright," he said softly, knowing his worry was showing in his voice. "Just be still. Don't strain yourself…"
"Kuu…" She tried to sit up in his arms, even so. "Ku… kuriyuu… kuuu…"
"Hush… please, you're in no condition…!" Kumo's eyes hurt. What was this feeling…? "You can tell me later. For now, just rest…"
"Ku…" She slumped against him, gave a shallow cough, and was still.
"Crux?"
Nothing.
"Crux?!"
Still nothing.
Kumo's throat closed tight, and he stared at her disbelievingly. "No—you can't—please! Don't—like this—don't you leave me, too—"
Crux's small hands uncurled, revealing that she'd been holding some kind of oval jewel in deep red-violet tones. As it fell, Kumo reached out compulsively to catch it, staring numbly.
As his fingers closed around it, familiarity rolled through his body, cresting a wave of sheer shock. Kumo's eyes went wide, the beginnings of tears forgotten, as a beloved voice echoed in his mind.
What an amazing sword…Kumo couldn't speak. He couldn't think. He could only listen, too overwhelmed by emotion to do anything else.
Now it makes sense. That sword was made to cut down the true enemy…
The voice held nothing but wonder, and pain. And love.
My little brother, I'm counting on you now to succeed… where I could not. I'm counting on you…Kumo started to shiver, not knowing what he was supposed to think or feel or say or do. The next moment, everything froze, and the world went black.
---
It wasn't a sound—it was a feeling. As though each soft step behind him spread ripples that ran over his body with each movement.
At first Kumo was afraid to turn around, afraid his dead certainty about what—who—he'd see was wrong. Because he couldn't do anything else, he slowly shifted as the rippling steps finally halted.
"Hey."
Kiri stood a little less than arm's length across from him. Kumo knew from the pitch blackness around them and the ethereal glow haloing his brother's nude body that this was nothing more than a spiritual manifestation, a bodiless soul that hadn't yet "moved on" to the life beyond death.
And yet, if only for this moment, if Kumo reached out, he'd still be able to touch Kiri. At least for now, this was real. This was his chance to say what he'd needed to say for so long…
"Niisama, I… I'm so…"
Kiri blinked and shifted, cocking his head to the side in puzzlement. Kumo bowed his head, starting to shake, feeling tears start at his eyes.
"I-I'm so sorry… I… I…!"
"…"
"I never realized, and I… I should've been able to… I'm so sorry… I… I couldn't…"
"Kumo, look at me."
Kumo flinched at the iron in Kiri's words and slowly began to peek up. Kiri had one hand on his hip, and the other flat open and winding back for a blow. Kumo let out a surprised squeak and jerked back, but Kiri swung his hand around hard and stopped it at Kumo's cheek, lightly brushing his skin and then settling on his shoulder.
"You little idiot," Kiri said softly, peering into his brother's face with a worried smile. "You aren't going to tell me you actually believed all that bullshit about me?"
"Niisama…"
"No soul taken in by Chaos can ever really rest. Those people woke me up, violated my spirit and my free will just so that they could hurt you. They took a few small and unpleasant truths and blew them all out of proportion, and there wasn't anything I could do about it—they had my mind and body all twisted around to where I couldn't've resisted even if I'd been able to try. And even after everything I'm sure you've seen, you believed it… dumb baby brother." Kiri lightly tapped Kumo's forehead with his knuckles. "You may be Unlimited and all, but you're still naïve. And you trip over that naïveté at the worst times. That's why you've always needed me here to protect you."
"…Niisama…"
"But I haven't been able to take care of you. I tripped over my pride, and it got me killed. So… more than anything else, I'm the one who owes you an apology. …I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you, Kumo."
Kiri lightly touched the side of his face; Kumo leaned into that warm and insubstantial hand, closing his eyes, his chest aching.
"You've been fighting so hard on your own… Chaos has really hurt you, hasn't it." It was a statement, not a question. "Spiritually, mentally, emotionally…" Kiri's fingers trailed down Kumo's cheek to rest lightly on his throat, right over his larynx where the hard curve of his unresponsive Mist gland lay. "Physically. This isn't a hurt that's going to heal, or at least not for years and years. Chaos knew what it was doing, and it ripped you apart, didn't it…"
Kumo covered his face with both hands. "Niisama, I'm sorry. I wasn't—I couldn't do anything; it was all I could think of, and… I've tried so hard, but I haven't been able to change things. I've failed you. I've let our people down."
Kiri sighed; the sound was aggravated but resigned. "Kumo, knock off the stupid thing. It's cute, but it's not helping. You haven't done anything wrong. And you have too been able to change things. How far d'you think these people would've gotten without you running around half-killing yourself to keep them alive? The only mistake you've made is that while you're taking care of everyone around you, you're not letting them return the favor. You're strong, but you can't always be. There are times you need to be taken care of, too.
"And, let's be honest. If you keep trying to fight all alone, you're going to get killed, and then where's everyone going to be? That tagalong Windarian of yours isn't going to be able to handle Chaos all by himself, after all. Besides… when I see you hurt, it hurts me. So… please, Kumo. Let me do what I can for you. Let me save you, this once. And… we'll never fight alone again."
"Niisama, what do you mean…?" Kumo rubbed at tears, blinked, and stared at Kiri.
Kiri put a hand over his heart and closed his eyes. "Everything I was… everything I would've been… my heart, my soul, my strength… I give it all to you. My power is at your disposal. Call it an inheritance… or a legacy. Whichever you prefer. All that I had within me when I died, I bequeath to you, as is your right. Wherever you're broken, wherever you lack, let me make you whole. Wherever you go, you'll carry me with you… so that you'll never have to doubt my love again."
"…" Kumo wanted to protest, to refuse, but he couldn't speak. Kiri stepped in close and put warm arms around his body, pressing them together.
"Our future would've been so bright," Kiri said softly. "We would've had everything. Chaos tried to take that away, tried to destroy us, but I won't let it win. We were destined to be together, always."
"Always," Kumo repeated, and he said it like a pledge, resting his cheek against his brother's.
"Everything we were capable of together, you can now do alone," Kiri went on. "Remember how to use our power, and you'll be able to use mine. We'll show them. We'll show them all."
"I can't even begin to—" Kumo cut himself off, held Kiri tightly, and whispered the words that ripped sweet little slices of agony across his heart. "I love you. I love you so much. I'm so sorry."
"You idiot," Kiri said lightly, and kissed him.
In that moment, Kumo forgot all the misery he'd suffered since his beloved brother's death. He forgot that Chaos still loomed over the future; he forgot that there was an impossible battle waiting for the end of this brief reprieve. He closed his eyes and relaxed into Kiri's arms, yielding up his body and soul, allowing himself to be held protectively for the first time in far too long.
Kiri shifted his lips against Kumo's, lazily traced them up his cheek towards his ear, then nibbled. "Dream of me," he said in a soft, hazy moan. "Dream of me. I'll be there. I'll be there for you until the day you die."
Kumo shivered and made a soft sound of protest, pushing his hips against Kiri's in brief longing before his brother bent him back, meandering kisses across his throat. Kumo felt a brief strange warmth there, and then his breath caught and he realized what Kiri was doing.
"Niisama… you're…?"
"Now and always," Kiri said, pulling back and giving his lover that self-satisfied look. "Nothing can change the way I've always felt about you. Nothing. Now you go, and you teach those interfering bastards that we're not to be trifled with any longer." He smirked. "I have every confidence in you. Go make me proud."
"Niisama…"
"I love you. And I'm counting on you," Kiri said again. And with that, he stepped away, and the darkness and his vague image flickered out.
---
"…" Kumo blinked, his face wet with tears, and breathed, staring down at the jewel of his brother's soul in his loose grip. It rolled from his hand and fell against Crux's unresponsive body, then pulsed and sank half into her chest.
Kiri's jewel pulsed again, and then a bright glow enfolded them both.
Unevenly, Kumo stood and slipped his Maken back to his belt. His heart pounding hard, he resolved himself and took hold of the brightly shining blade that had taken Crux's place in his hands: A near duplicate of Kiri's Maken, striped with pink and white along the edges. He lifted it high, then as an afterthought reached down to his belt as he breathed out, hazing the air around him with white.
He pulled two bottles, slow and sure, and flipped one, watching absently as the Mist within turned a deep rose red. He closed his eyes for a moment, and in the echo of Kiri's presence, the words came.
"Now again, it's time for your tone of madou to re awaken… Mist… Play the soul's melody!
"The Phoenix Duet!"
Owari.
