A/N: Okay, so this was supposed to be up three days ago, but I literally had no energy to do anything for a little while. Anyway, this chapter turned out a lot darker than it was supposed to be, and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I hope you guys enjoy it all the same.
TRIGGER WARNING: There is reference to a suicide in this chapter, though I have tried to keep it vague.
They had all expected a trap when they had been given the offer. Personally, Renato had arrived to scout out the area a week in advance just to appease his paranoia, and it wouldn't have surprised him to learn that the others had done something similar. Even the Lackey had demonstrated at least the beginnings of tactical mind through some of the 'bonding activities' he had forced on the Cloud. The point was, they had checked everything that any of them could think of, frantically and with an intensity that had only doubled once they had brought their Sky into the situation. If there was anything harmful for them anywhere near the Villa, it would have been found, then promptly destroyed with extreme prejudice.
In their time here, they had found nothing, outside of the room they were currently gathered in, out of the ordinary, but this 'Curse of the Rainbow'… He didn't like it. What Renato didn't like often ended up dead, and right now, his aim was firmly fixed on this 'Kawahira'.
For a moment, the Mist blinked up at him in shock. From the lines around his mouth and the tenseness of his posture, it was clear that this conversation was taking its toll on the man, but he refused to feel pity for the one who had betrayed them all. Eventually, the last strand of restraint holding the man's tongue snapped and an explanation came pouring out.
"Dying Will Flames are not something that should have ever existed, they literally represent a hole in the fabric of reality and, if left alone, they will tear it apart. When my people, the Earthlings, realised this, we created a system that would help balance this and equalize the power levels into a stable form.
This system is made up of the magnetic leylines around the earth and is modulated by the Flames of our people, but when we began to die out, there wasn't enough of us left to keep this up, so some of our leading scientists created something called the Tri-Ni-Sette. 14 rings and 7 Pacifiers that stop all of reality from imploding.
Unfortunately, our numbers kept dropping due to some disease we knew nothing about, until Sapira and I were the only ones left to maintain the system. After that point, we had to start giving the Tri-Ni-Sette to humans in order to keep everything balanced. Eventually, we reached a point where the Pacifiers refused to bond with any Sky other than Sapira, and once the curse ran its course, I was the last one left."
His words choked off at that part, tears beginning to gather at the corner of his eyes that were now staring longingly at the projection in the centre of the room. The broken look on his face clearly broadcasting the pain of the broken bond he was remembering. Normally, Renato would have been more sympathetic about such a thing, but the Mist still hadn't answered the question, and as it concerned the Hitman's own Sky… that was not something he would ever let slide.
"And this 'Curse of the Rainbow'?"
Behind him, he could feel their baby Sky beginning to fidget in place, clearly feeling the desire to comfort his distraught Element. It wasn't a surprise; Harry had already shown a remarkable sense of empathy to them all, even by a Sky's standards. It wouldn't be the first time that a Sky was killed by a traitorous Element however, so there was no way that the Sun was going to let him past.
Thankfully, the second that the child looked like he was going to dash forward, Fon scooped him up, holding him close as Renato returned his attention to the man in front of him, twitching the gun in order to prompt the other back into speech.
"The curse is called the 'Curse of the Arcobaleno'… each part of the set has a part to play, and the pacifiers are the main power source. To do this however, they pull the energy of the Earth through their hosts via their Flames to purify it. This power overload means that the hosts have to be locked into the bodies of infants to stop the power from overwhelming them and to free up more of their Flames for the process."
It was, in a word, unbelievable.
Earthlings, leylines and the idea of a system that was keeping the entirety of reality in balance. Not to mention the Curse of the Arcobaleno and all that that implied. It sounded like something straight out of a b-list action movie. How on Earth did the Mist expect them to believe any of it.
Yet… hadn't there been a whole host of surprises since the first meeting?
The world's strongest Cloud being a civilian.
A second energy source that had almost killed their baby Sky.
A room that had consumed their Flames.
To be honest, Renato wanted to deny anything and everything that came out of the supposed 'Earthling's' mouth. If he didn't, it meant accepting the fact that he had been tricked, completely oblivious, into a situation that even he wouldn't be able to find a way out of. But Renato was an expert of cold reading. It was almost impossible for anyone to consciously lie to him and Kawahira… wasn't lying.
Not by his own knowledge anyway.
"So you gathered us here to subject us to a drawn out death for the 'sake of the greater good'. Your own Sky included?"
From the burning pricks in his eyes, the Sun knew that his eyes must be glowing with his fury at this point, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The very idea of harming the sweet, friendly child that had pulled them all into his orbit, it just didn't fit in his mind. He couldn't imagine any situation where he could ever condone the sacrifice of an Innocent, an innocent Sky no less, but here was Kawahira readily throwing the Sky he was harmonized with under the bus… and it wasn't hard to work out exactly what sort of fate was awaiting them at the end of this road. Flame burn out was a very slow, extremely painful way to die.
The Hitman hadn't thought that he could hate someone with every part of his being, but this was getting close.
Still hunched on the floor, the Mist didn't even blink. Dead eyes just remained fixed on the projection that was still hovering, completely forgotten in the middle of the chamber, a look of wretched pain across his face. Still, there was not nearly enough there.
The faintest twitch of his finger would have sent a bullet into the man's stomach, inducing a slow and painful death of his own, but his aim was jarred off course by a slim hand reaching out to grab his arm. An offence that would normally send him snarling at whoever decided to invade his personal space, but the sudden influx of Rain Flames kept him subdued. He was really beginning to dislike the other members of this Harmony.
"So, you're the last of your kind, meaning that the responsibility of upholding everything falls to you. What proof do you have of this?"
And there was Verde. If Renato hadn't seen him lose it the last time the time they had placed the seal on Harry, he would have thought that the Lightning had found a way to completely cut himself off from his emotions. He had certainly managed to eradicate them from his voice at that moment.
This was completely secondary to the death glare the Hitman was currently sending towards the two ex-soldiers who were still attempting to restrain him. Irritatingly enough, Colonnello even had a sympathetic look on his face, the traitor. Normally, he would have brought his Sun to bear and scorched the moron who was holding, but under a double dose of Rain, even he was struggling to do anything.
Not that he would forget this. The second they let go, he was going to have a nice long talk with them.
"What would you have me show you as proof?"
Unable to do much else, Renato was forced to listen instead and, unfortunately, that meant he automatically started considering he question. Just what sort of thing would convince him? It was such an unbelievable story that it would take a lot. And if this was how the Mist was going to try and explain his betrayal, then it better be pretty damn convincing.
"You said this was an archive, show us."
Of course, the one thing the Scientist was interested in was more information though… Reborn would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued. He had recently started a quest to infiltrating every Mafia library in Europe when he had been offered an invitation to the meeting.
To have access to a bank of information that no one had even known existed for the last few centuries… It was a tempting thought, but not one that he was willing to indulge right then. Before he could redirect the conversation however, he was brought up short by a soft, yet insistent, tugging at his Flames. A tugging that was coming directly from his Sky.
Trusting the other Elements to at least be competent enough to watch the traitor, he slowly turned to look at the boy, a placating explanation on the tip of his tongue, but he never got to voice it. Instead, he was frozen completely in place by the sight of those verdant eyes glowing a brilliant orange for the first time.
Over the last few months, there had been times when he had thought there to be a slight hint of the child's Flames flashing through his eyes, though it was never more than a spark. He had written it off as the fantasies of a hopeful mind, but this made it clear. Their Sky had always possessed the ability to enter Dying Will Mode, this incident had just been the one to push him over the edge.
Given time, their boy would be magnificent.
But they didn't have time did they?
That sobering thought was enough to snap him out of his reverie and sent a chill down his spine. Overcome by the sudden need to reassure himself that his Sky was still there, was still well, he leant forward and snatched the boy into his own hold. He was silently grateful that Fon didn't attempt to stop him, though he did cringe at the thought of just what sort of face he must be showing to elicit such mercy in the Storm.
Burying his nose in the soft locks of his Sky and inhaling the familiar scent of the apple and milk shampoo that the boy adored, Renato was finally able to calm himself enough that yellow irises bled back into black and he was able to speak without a growl.
"What is it little one?"
"No!"
The order would have held little weight in such a quiet, high-pitched voice were it not for the fact that Harry had backed it up with a veritable flood of his Flames which, when coupled with the Rain already saturating his system, made the world swim before his eyes. It was only through strength of Will alone that the Sun was able to remain on his feet and avoid dropping the boy.
"Harry… he's trying to hurt you. You can't expect me to just let that go!"
Renato was a highly regarded, well feared killer who's very name could send enemies fleeing at just the whispers of the Hitman Reborn. He was currently filled with enough ire to send the Don's of all the largest Famiglias into a cold sweat, and was very keep to vent said ire. He was not whining.
Unfortunately, his Sky was not impressed.
"You're 'urting him. Light's sad. Stop it!"
How the child managed to give the impression of folding his arms even as they were wrapped securely around the Sun's neck, he would never know. What he did know however, was that he was close to being Flame drunk from the sheer volume of them being thrown his way from four sides (Renato was well acquainted with the burn of Storm Flames targeting the adrenaline in his system and Fon was not as subtle as he like to think he was) and with his own Flames currently suppressed… never let it be said that the Hitman didn't know a losing situation when he saw one.
Slowly, he shifted the slight weight of his Sky over to one arm before smoothly re-holstering the gun that had still been pointed vaguely in the direction of the traitorous Mist.
He didn't let the boy down however, he might be willing to trust the judgement of the others for now, but he hadn't lived for as long as he had without a healthy dose of paranoia. Until he was 100% satisfied with the current situation, the boy would not be leaving his arms. That was a promise.
Skull… well, to be perfectly honest, Skull didn't know what to think, something that was becoming a worrying pattern since joining this group.
After the mad dash where they chased Harry back to the creepy room that had locked him out earlier, it had looked like they were finally going to get the answers to something, but no, now he had just been left with even more questions. If this continued, he would have to buy something to stop himself grinding his teeth into nubs.
The journal had been an interesting read, even if he hadn't been able to understand some of the more outdated words that Bermuda had used. Skull may have travelled through most of Europe during his youth, and had insisted on at least attempting to learn the language of where ever they had stopped, but he was in no way a scholar.
That being said, he was not an idiot, and some of the things that were being revealed in this conversation almost drove him to violence. As he watched the others react to the explanation of the curse, seeing Reborn's normally stoic face go ghost white, hearing Lal drop the gun she had never so much had fumbled before, Viper's bitten off hiss… he could only assume that there was something that he wasn't understanding there, and whatever it was, was bad news for them. That thought sent a burst of fury through him that jolted the beast that was his Flames awake, sending it prowling in his chest as it searched for an enemy to destroy.
Skull had been all set to turn that pent up rage on the one who had just admitted to being behind everything, but the second he actually looked at Kawahira… the rage died.
There was no one else alive who knew it, but once, long before he had ended up on the streets, Skull had had a brother. Not a blood relation, but a little boy he had met when the two of them had been place in the same foster home. Mihai was a good two years younger than Skull and, when their 'father' had turned violent, it had only been second nature to step in front of the younger boy.
It was in this home that Skull, Gabriel as he had been, had learned the value of a showman's persona. If he drew all the attention to himself by being loud and irritating, he was able to keep Mihai out of the line of fire. If Gabriel was mouthing off, then 'father' wouldn't notice the painting that had been torn by little hands…
Either way, Mihai had arrived at the home with a little , hand knitted robin that he had loved more than anything, the last present that his Mama had ever made him. In a fit of inspired cruelty, after the boy had attempted to tell a teacher about their situation at the home, 'father' had handed Mihai a knife and forced him to destroy it.
The look in the boy's eyes during and in the week after that event (until that glassy, broken stare was gone, along with everything else) was a memory that Skull had long attempted to suppress. He had left after that, only staying just long enough for the wake before going to take his chances on the streets. He had sworn that he would never have to see that look in another person's face…
Yet here it was.
From the grim set to Colonnello's normally smiling mouth and the resigned tilt of Fon's head… he wasn't the only one to recognise it either, and that alone made him nauseous.
This whole situation was screwed. Just when Skull had finally begun to settle into this eclectic group, just started to view the others as more than simple colleagues, the cat had to tear its way, screaming, out of the bag.
If they really were cursed, and that was something he was unfortunately willing to believe given all he had seen in his time here, then they were in a sucky position. If he had been reading the reactions of the others right, then that meant that they were probably going to die from this as well. So that was shit.
And Kawahira… from what he had said, he hadn't really had a choice either. This curse sounded really important, and they were just the poor smucks who had been chosen to bear it this time around. But how many times had the 'Earthling' been forced to enact it? To choose who exactly he was going to condemn to death, and then execute them?
No, Skull didn't particularly want to die. But if his choices were to die himself, or spend eternity having to choose sacrifices who he would then kill himself, having to watch them die in the name of the 'greater good' as Reborn put it… He knew which one he preferred.
The Stuntman wasn't even aware that he was shaking until a steadying hand landed heavily on his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed that Fon had moved closer to him though, in his defence, the edges of his vision had taken on a dark, hazy look.
"Breathe Skull. Deep breaths now."
Huh. Looks like he had been hyperventilating too. He hadn't had a flashback in years damnit. He thought he had been past this.
It was harder than it should have been to match his breathing to the exaggerated ones of the man in front of him, but eventually he managed, and his chest thanked him for it. After finally mastering his own reactions, he flashed a tired smile at the Martial artist.
"Thanks. That kind of… came out of nowhere."
"Think nothing of it, I think we are all struggling with this revelation."
He wasn't lying either. The others had all moved forward to gather around the glowing girl in the room, but even from the back he could tell that they were all moving far more stiffly than he had grown accustomed to. Seemed like they were all a little shaken, but then, who wouldn't be after being told about magic beings, magical systems that held reality in check and the magical blade hanging above their heads?
Looking around again in an effort to buy more time, he caught sight of Chibi-chan who was staring at him over Reborn's shoulder, eyes wide and glowing bright orange.
Sure. Things obviously weren't crazy enough today. Let's add in a toddler with glowing eyes and a baby flame flickering through his hair. Why not?
It took some doing, but Skull was finally able to tear his eyes away and was greeted by the sight of the rest of the group, Fon included, standing around the woman, looking at her expectantly, though none of them were speaking. From the gap left between Fon and Viper, it was clear that they were waiting on him, so Skull sucked in a deep breath, mentally prepared himself for an onslaught of even more weird to come, and stepped forward.
The second he took his place, he could practically feel the tension climb rapidly until Kawahira sighed, and cracked a weak smile at the still placidly smiling projection.
"Sepira. Could you show us the earliest memory in your archives, my dear?"
For a split second, Skull would have sworn that the woman's smile had turned just as pained as the man's, but in the blink of an eye it was gone, and the room around them faded into black.