The Light in the Shadows:
Chapter 54: Dual of Fate
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Sapphire eyes slowly cracked open his head was splitting and his mouth felt like some kind of small furry thing had crawled in, kicked over on it's back and died… a week ago. The blue haired teen carefully sat up gagging as his stomach twisted unpleasantly. Only once the room had stopped swimming before his eyes was he able to take in the massive amount of destruction to his surroundings. For just a moment the young police commander was confused about what had happened before it all came rushing back.
He had been trying yet again to stop Phantom Dark from stealing another Hikari artwork only to have the psychotic magical spirit bound to his bloodline take control of his body. The two winged beings had engaged in their normally vicious battle when the artwork that the thief had been trying to steal woke lashing out at both angels. If he'd thought that the fight between the two halves had been violent it was nothing compared to what followed. At first thief and hunter had fought each other as well as the rogue artwork. Soon however it had become clear to both beings that they needed to work together rather than against each other if they wanted to win. The last Hikari closed his eyes seeing the battle once more in his mind.
Deep amethyst and luminescent gold magic twisted together flashing across the stone walls occasionally mingling with acidic green power. Three figures flickered in and out of sight moving faster than any human ever could. Physical blows were exchanged along with powerful magical attacks. Each of the three art spirits seeking the destruction of the other. The Kitsumi desired to consume the power of any artwork it came across and that it had found the already damaged and it its mind weakened Kokuyoku it believed that it would be successful. After all, in its 572 years of life it had assimilated nearly three dozen powerful Hikari works. The broken one before it had no chance of survival, the young artwork's fate was sealed, he might as well just give in. Unfortunately for the Kitsumi Hunter and Thief weren't going down without a fight.
Surprisingly or maybe not so, the two sworn enemies worked extremely well together. After four centuries of fighting each other they knew the other's fighting techniques almost better than their own. It was easy for the two to create a devastating tag team. While Kaito Dark used his speed and agility to make swift attacks and then dart away his counterpart was more stationary focusing on destructive magical attacks relying on his other self to keep his enemy occupied.
The battle seemed to drag on. Dark could feel exhaustion closing its jaws about him one quick glance at his counterpart revealed the strain on the feline eyed entity's face. They were both reaching their limits, on the Brightside it appeared that the Kitsumi was also nearing the end of it's strength. As if agreed upon all three art spirits gathered every last drop of power before hurling the energy at their opponents. Purple, gold and green magic collided in midair pushing against one another. For a second it looked as if the acidic green magic would overwhelm the other two but with one final pulse the purple and gold magics overcame it.
The kitsumi shrieked in enraged disbelief as the Kokuyoku's power blasted through it's attack engulfing the twisted artwork. The explosion was impressive cracking walls, shattering windows and creating a twenty foot round crater in the floor. When the light cleared there was nothing left of the warped spirit. As one the two halves sank silently to the floor where they both collapsed transforming back into their respective tamers.
The last Hikari carefully shook his head slowly climbing to his feet. Swaying slightly he stumbled over to where Daisuke Niwa was laying. Once the red haired thief in training was awake he helped the younger boy to his feet. The two teenagers somehow managed to stagger their way out of the museum and across the city to the Niwa Residence. The three adults had taken one look at the boys before shipping them both straight off to bed. It was a testament as to just how bad both young men were feeling that neither sounded any type of protest.
The Niwa adults looked at one another completely alarmed by the teens; behavior. What had happened tonight in the museum?
Both boys slept for the rest of the night and on into the late afternoon. As Emiko bustled around the kitchen making a quick but hearty lunch the two teens took turns explaining what had happened the night before. By the end of their tale all three adults were suitably shocked and horrified. It was Daiki who first inquired about the two magical spirits.
The first thing that either angel was aware of was pain… all consuming, soul deep pain. Not since they'd been created… literally torn in two had the Kokuyoku suffered like this. Neither were very aware of their surroundings nor were either able to muster enough energy to contact their hosts. Both creatures were magically drained and would need quite some time to gather strength.
Sapphire and ruby eyes looked at one another before both teenagers turned their attention inwards.
Satoshi carefully reached out mentally seeking his family's curse. The normally bright amber light that represented the hunter was dim shot through with threads of gray. The commander moved forwards cautiously until he could see the hunter's astral form. The blond entity was curled up into a ball wings tightly wrapped around his body shaking. The blue haired teen hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth, /"Krad?..."/ The only response from the white clad hunter was to try and curl up even tighter.
("Dark?...") the kaito merely moaned softly covering his head with one large black wings. The only thing visible was a single strand of purple hair peaking from beneath the ebony feathers. Daisuke could feel how low the phantom thief's energy was the vibrant purple magic flickering like a candle in the wind. He moved a bit closer offering some of his energy only to have the spirit flinch away. The red head stopped pulling back not wishing to harm his magical companion and uncertain of how to help him. He turned his attention back outwards focusing on his expectant family. "He hurting," he spread his hands, "I don't know how to help."
Daiki frowned in concern, "did you try to give him some of your energy to bolster him?"
"I did," nodded Daisuke, "he pulled away like it hurt him."
Kausuke tapped a finger lightly against the edge of the table thoughtfully, "it could be that the over use of his magic damaged something." He lifted his gaze to reguard his unhappy looking son. "Dark may have to heal on his own before you can help him."
Daisuke sighed unhappily but agreed. He would keep trying and hopefully soon Dark would be back to his normal cheerful, fun loving self.
Sapphire eyes narrowed thoughtfully he would be keeping a close eye on the icy hunter and perhaps see if they could strike some kind of agreement while the blond was weakened and unable to forcefully take over his body. This could be very… beneficial.
