Disclaimer: In no way do I claim any rights to the characters of the Suikoden series. I do not own them, nor did I have any hand in creating them. Please don't sue as I don't have any money and just want to write a fanfic.
Only in Dreams
By: Chibi Nataku
Author's Note: Speech that starts with ' instead of " means mental talking. If a conversation is going on between Yuber and the Rune, it is purely in his mind, and assume that no one else is aware of the conversation, but can see any emotion that is displayed openly by the Rune-bearer.
Chapter 12 - Dreams Clashing
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuber stood perched on the large bolder, gaze flicking across the endless battlefield, idly humming to himself a tune that he often sung when he merciless butchered hundreds of men on a battlefield. The bodies that littered the ground lay in the motionless slumber of death, their strings forever cut by his hand. He had little interest in the corpses, his fun already come and gone with the tides of battle, yet he remained to wait for nightfall as he often did. He found that killing innocent people for the purpose of creating more war was best done at night for the simple fact that he knew fire showed up best against a blackened sky as he burned down the nearby village. It was a ritualistic act that he enjoyed greatly, and he had refined his skills for it over the past seven years.
To him, time had pasted quickly and rather enjoyably. He and Natas had split more blood and been the cause of more wars than any other pair, yet he insisted that they remain to the mysterious shadows of history in order to keep people guessing where they may strike next. His skills with a blade were nearly unmatched, and he came to war for one purpose: to have lots of fun butchering mortals. Really, it was a life that he rather enjoyed leading, and he doubted that he would change it should the option present itself to him. He asserted his dominance over the pitiful race of men, making them cower with his very description.
He cared little for any thing that was weaker than himself, refusing to be controlled unless it suited his amusement for the day. He was no longer bias towards mortals, slaughtering men, women, and their children equally without hesitation. Now nothing pleased him more than standing in a burning village while the horrified cries of the mortals echoed in his ears. He supposed that he could be called ruthless and even psychotic in nature, but he no longer opposed, mostly because some of the games he and Natas would play easily counted as such. There was only so many times that he and Natas could compete for the most kills when blindfolded before being labeled as heartless killers.
The years had gone by him quickly and generally quietly, most of his time having spent with Natas with the odd encounter with Pesmerga who amused him with determination to put an end to him. Yet, he still snickered at the look on Pesmerga's face when Natas stepped out and stabbed the other Black Knight in the back for the first time. He had been forced to stop battle just to point and laugh at his rival, and he still told the tale often for a good laugh simply because Pesmerga had retreated so hastily. Certainly, the other Black Knight only appeared when Natas was off completing other errands, but Yuber knew that, in every fight he had with Pesmerga, Natas was always watching. It was obvious that Pesmerga knew this as well, mostly because of the constant glances behind Pesmerga's back as they fought. The only time Natas could not appear was if he resided in the World of Emptiness, but Yuber already knew his skills were above Pesmerga. He would soon make sure his brother knew that their battle would last for an eternity, or at least until he grew bored.
He had only one more task to complete, yet he found it to be the most difficult. Things always seemed to fall into certain categories for him now: mortals were puppets; Natas was his only equal; Pesmerga was his rival; other True Rune bearers were a lesser threat to him; monsters were to be controlled. In his mind, everything should fall in one of the categories, but Mia never seemed to feel right in any of them. He refused to give her a category of her own because he would not reduce himself to weakness by fawning over her like a newborn kitten. He had been teased relentlessly by Natas about his expression when Mia came up in conversation, and the silver-haired man often tried imitating him whenever it would most embarrass him. Still, he desperately attempted to think of Mia as little as possible because he knew no matter how far he traveled or how many people he murdered, his feelings for his lover would never change. He spoke little of said feelings, sometimes only muttering a few words to Natas, because he knew that he was going to have to return to her someday to finish the task that he both loved and loathed, his transcention of humanity.
Some days he tried to convince himself that by cutting away the strings that held Mia to the mortal plane would be best for her, that she too would no longer be tangled up by Fate. He somewhat wanted to believe that he could free her from being a puppet to Fate, yet she was somewhat his equal, and she stood behind his rival. He could never control her as he did monsters, which left a very empty spot in his logic. For him, Mia had once been life itself, constantly following at her heels for attention and never sticking up for himself. Now, he was everything he had dreamed of being, except Mia was elsewhere waiting to bless him with her attention. His thoughts of his lover often ran in circles, giving him a headache every time he tried to force himself to think of it from a heartless point of view.
Still, he found his musing on parts of his life that he wished to ignore for the time being very annoying. He shifted on his perch and sighed heavily, removing his helmet if only to allow the cool breeze of evening to blow through his blonde locks of hair. He somewhat wished that Natas was here to provide some entertainment or at least a cynical comment in his general direction. He found himself quickly growing bored, something that he often did not like as it left his mind distracted and his back open for attack. Still, he took a few moments to let his mind wander to the previous events of death and slaughter of pitiful mortals.
Yuber shifted his weight as a flash of movement caught his eyes, lifting his sword to parry any blow that a mortal would throw at him. He clenched his teeth as his sword arm burst into a fire of pain, a blade not his own smashing just above his elbow. He attempted to pull away from the attack, ripping himself off of the blade that had delved deep into his flesh, forcing him to drop his blade. He leapt back, clutching at the wound in more surprise than anger. His gaze shifted from the wound to the soldier standing nearby. "No mortal can inflict a wound on me. Who are you, boy, before I rip out your throat?"
"I've waited for this day since the first time you escaped me. It is rare to catch you so unguarded and... so alone as well, Yuber. However, I will not pass up this chance to finally put an end to you." The soldier shifted and started to advance towards the Black Knight more boldly than any mortal would dare. "I do believe you have something of mine, accursed Shield. I want it back."
"Pesmerga!" Yuber forced himself to his feet, a cold smirk forming on his elegant features. He was more than a little surprised to find his rival out of the normal Black Knight armour, yet he refused to show such emotions on his features. He would never show weakness to his brother, rather, he would make sure to make Pesmerga pay dearly for the wound that was inflicted on him. "You look so human, I almost didn't recognize you. However, now that I know who you are, I'll be sure to make your death extra painful."
Pesmerga chuckled coldly, lifting his blade to point at the blonde's chest. "Big words for a creature who is wounded and unarmed, especially since your True Rune has entered a state of dormancy on you." He smirked at Yuber's growl at the mentioning of the True Rune the blonde carried. Today, he would finally kill Yuber and set his sister free of a horrible fate. "We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way. The choice is really yours, but I know that your ally cannot hear your calls. Today, this battle is just you and me."
Yuber snorted and called his blade back to his hand, twirling it slowly to get used to the feeling of using his off hand. He had practiced little with his weapon in his off hand, mostly because he never felt that it would come in use for him during a battle, however, now he was beginning to regret it. He knew that Pesmerga was very skilled with a blade, their battles usually ending in a tie until Natas stepped in to urge the fight into a positive direction for him. Still, he knew that he was better than Pesmerga, and he only needed a bit more effort to win; he would never lose to his rival.
He clenched his right hand, grinding his teeth as more blood slipped from his wounded arm and pain raced up his shoulder and down his spine. He dug his heels into the ground as Pesmerga charged, slapping away most of the blow with his own blade, smirking as his rival's blade danced off of his armour. In response to the attack, he swung out his wounded arm, intent on breaking a few teeth from Pesmerga's face, eyes narrowing when his brother dodged the blow. He swung his blade out, forcing the other Black Knight a few steps away and guarded any attack that would surely fly his way.
Pesmerga could bearly believe how helpless Yuber was against his attacks, the power of the blonde's parries severely weakened in the off-hand. Even Yuber's stance seemed a bit off balance, something that he planned to use to his full advantage. "Face it, you cannot win. You are wounded, you have no True Rune, and you are alliless. Face your defeat with some honour, brother." He took a menacing step towards Yuber, a bit surprised when the blonde took a small step back from him.
"You think me powerless? That could lead to your downfall despite the advantages that you THINK that you have." Yuber clenched his hand, ignoring the pain this time to focus on the dull part of his mind that housed the still coccooned Eightfold Rune. It had yet to move in all the seven years that he had traveled, a fact that now really annoyed him.
Pesmerga chuckled softly, stopping a few feet away from the blonde, hand now on his hip as he regarded his brother. "In all my years, I have relied on my own strength, unlike you. You, dear brother, have been babied your entire life, always having a presence to guide you down the path set out for you despite your own soft whines against such. You are weak because you now need your little friends to actually defeat me rather than letting your own strengths guide you. This is why I will defeat you on this night. I am stronger than you, in every way possible except possibly in social skills, but right now, such things are petty." He smirked at Yuber's very sour expression, taking another menacing step towards the blonde, bringing his sword in striking distance.
"Hmpt, I would rather call what I do a full use of all my resources." Yuber forced down in anger at being called weak, instead wanted to turn the tables on the other Black Knight. "However, if you feel as you do, I will be sure to make sure that you too much use all of the resources of this pitiful planet by running from you every chance that I get, if only to annoy you more. Don't forget, I still have this." He raised his right hand at Pesmerga, allowing his rival to come eye-to-eye with the very possession that drove the other Black Knight to persue him so relentlessly.
"Bastard!" Pesmerga yelled as he leapt at Yuber, his blade swinging out to cleave the blonde in two, growling a rage as Yuber slipped back out of range of the attack. Unwilling to leave most of his power with the other Black Knight, Pesmerga continued his charge forward, his blade lashing out with lightning speed, performing a deadly dance that a normal mortal would be unable to avoid. However, Yuber was not a normal mortal and slipped in and out of each deadly accurate swing and thrust, causing Pesmerga to growl more and more in frustration. As his frustration build up, he finally grew much too angry to completely his final swings, instead he punched Yuber in the face, a move that he was not accustomed to doing and it showed as the blonde stumbled back and fell down holding wounded pride and a wounded face.
Yuber rubbed his wounded nose, grimacing as blood dripped over his lips, a clear sign that Pesmerga had managed to break his nose. He really had to start looking out for people throwing their fists at his face, mostly because he was much too concentrated on avoiding sword blades to be paying attention to someone's empty hand. Still, he had little time to revel in movements he would need to start practicing as Pesmerga's sword was once again lashing out in his direction, a blow that could probably severely cripple him. He twisted to the side, rolling away from the blow, which landed seconds after his movement away, forcing himself back to his feet to parry the next sword blow.
Yuber clinched his left hand around his blade, gaze shifted from Pesmerga to his hand as electricity crackled up his arm. 'Hello, I haven't used you in a very long time...Let us give Pesmerge a bit of a shock, shall we?' Grinning, as Pesmerga continued to put strength against him, he allowed himself to sink to one knee as he charged up his lightning rune. He saw the other Black Knight's eyes widen moments before lightning leapt from his hand and traveled between their blades, smirking at Pesmerga's grunt of pain as his brother flew back a few feet. He climbed to his own feet slowly, taking a bit of time to investigate his wounded arm closely; a large gash that easily exposed the bone met his gaze, making his wince in pain just looking at it.
Pesmerga wrapped arms around his body in hopes of stopping the small convulsions that were making his world spin, clinching his teeth together to keep them from chattering. Eventually, he managed to get a hold of his body and stood again, surprised that his rival did not attack him. He was even more shocked to find Yuber bandaging the wounds that he had inflicted with a strip from the blue cape that hung around the blonde. 'I didn't think that I got him that good. Obviously, he is more wounded than he lets on. Excellent, I will finish him.' He took a step towards the blonde, intent of finishing Yuber off while the blonde's attention was elsewhere. He was a bit unprepared when Yuber jumped up and kicked dirt into his face, turning away to try to escape the invading particles. His breath left his lungs as he felt metal sink into his flesh, dropping to one knee as Yuber pinned him to the ground with a sword through his lower leg. Yet, instead of evening thinking of stopping his intended kill, his blade shot out with lightning speed, and he smiled in triumph as Yuber let out a small, shocked cry and stumbled away from him.
Perhaps he had been too cocky, or perhaps he had never seen Pesmerga move that fast before, but in either case, he grabbed his right side. He looked down, convinced that his armour had failed him and given way under the force of Pesmerga's blow, but was shocked to find that the other Black Knight's blade had slipped into the small space left between his breastplate and leg armour. He felt blood slip between his fingers as he felt to his knees, desperate to get back to his feet, but his legs refused to obey his command, and he was forced to remain sitting as he felt liquid rise in his throat. He only stare in slight bewilderment as drops of ruby red liquid slipped from between his lips that landed on the flat of his sword as he coughed in discomfort. Again, he looked at the wound that had him on the ground. 'A...lucky shot? No...He can't defeat me, especially not from because of a lucky shot!' His pain quickly turned into anger as spots formed at the edges of his vision. 'No, I am better than he is! I will not be defeated by the likes of him! Fate! Damn you! Damn you! When I find you, I will make you feel more pain than you can even dream up! I will kill you, Fate!'
He was vaguely aware of Pesmerga behind him, and he was somewhat surprised by this. 'Was he attempting to give me a knight's death, an honourable death? How foolish of him.' Still, he stared at his reflection in his blade, behind him a mirror image of himself with black hair standing menacingly with a sword raised to strike a final blow. "Mia...I'm sorry..."
Pesmerga blinked as he heard Yuber speak his sister's name but refused to lower his sword. He was rid this world of a demon, and he would save his sister from the fate that had been so gruesomely handed down to her. He knew that he was doing the right thing, if only to get back the rest of his power, which was stolen from him. "Die, demon." He spoke softly, bringing his sword tip down.
'It can't end like this, boy! I won't let you die until you show me your real power, little maggot! Get up!' Yuber's eyes snapped open as the Eightfold Rune ripped forward in his mind, much larger and angry than he last remembered it. Still, he let out a small whimper as the Rune grabbed his mind roughly and forced him to teleport away without even telling him where they were going. He felt the tip of a sword brush against his flesh just as he was transported elsewhere, along with an angered shout from Pesmerga. The translocation left him in pain, and he was unable to lift his head to look around his surroundings, but he felt the Eightfold Rune in his mind, pacing. 'It's time to be a man, maggot. You will transend your humanity, if only to show up that brat who is chasing you.' Yuber closed as much of his mind off to the Rune's invading presence, but it brutally forced itself to all edges of his conscious and subconscious mind, stopping over one small memory that he carried, and he knew exactly what it was. 'Natas... alive? Impossible...'
'No, I saved him before he could die by taking him to the mortal world. He is my ally and guards the World of Emptiness when I cannot. You will never kill him so long as I am conscious enough to stop you.' Yuber stated stubbornly, feeling the True Rune seizing with anger at this new slight revelation.
The Eightfold Rune filtered through the blonde's memories that contained Natas, the only creature that had managed to turn it into a puppet as well as the rest of the world. Yet, it kept its own thoughts about the silver-haired brat to itself. It watched one memory float by, shoving it towards the blonde. 'Seems like more than allies to me.'
Yuber knew that if he wasn't so wounded and in pain, he probably would have blushed slightly at the kiss that Eightfold Rune managed to dig up. 'Such things don't concern you. Stay out of my memories, or I'll rip your legs off.'
'Oh, gotten arrogant in your old age, maggot? Well, just remember that I'm the reason that you are still alive right now.' It investigated the blonde's condition, finding it to be quickly deteriorating. 'However, you won't be alive for much longer at this rate. Let me see if I can draw someone to you...' It sent out mental tendrils, chuckling at finding a young child playing some dirt. He pulled at the boy's mind, attempting to draw it towards the wounded blonde.
Yuber quickly found that he could not return to his body and attempt to get to his feet. He was trapped in unconsciousness and forced to attempt to keep his mind awake enough to resist the pull of death. He quickly found himself being swallowed in a black sea of oily liquid, struggling desperately to keep his head above this liquid, knowing that if he faltered, he may never wake up again. Still, he knew he was growing tired and sunk after only a little struggling. Yet, as the darkness swallowed him, he heard a voice, a small voice but a voice all the same, and it reminded him of himself when he was very young.
"Mommy! Mommy! There's a dead man in our yard! Come quick! Look at the dead man!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yuber sat bolt upright, grabbing at his bandaged side as soon as he managed to register pain. He shook in pain, but he forced himself to be stronger than the pain that plagued him and climbed to his feet and wobble slightly. He caught himself on the bedpost and breathed as best as he could, forcing himself to admit a slight defeat and take some time to adjust to standing wounded.
Eventually, he managed to stand fully upright, looking down at himself to investigate his condition. He found bandages covering his right arm, his midsection, and even around his neck, but he found that wounds themselves were no longer as bad as they had been on the battlefield. He could sense the residual power of rune on his body, an obvious sign that he had been saved by a water rune, so he was most likely in a healer's house. Though he was weakened by his wounds, he knew that he could probably move well enough to leave this town and make it back to where Natas was to fully recover in the safety of the World of Emptiness. However, he found one problem with this plan and that was the fact that he could not see his armour in the room with him.
The fact that someone had managed to remove his armour impressed him, mostly because the metal would only release him if he wished it, however, he knew that probably the True Rune could also do the same affect. Now that he was without his armour though, he had two options in his mind. One was to leave this room and kill whoever remained in this establishment, or he could wait for someone to check on him and get the answers he wanted. Really, it all depended on his mood and at this point, he was not too sure that strangling the people who had saved him from death would be just payment, and he was not too sure if he could even muster the strength the choke the life out of a miserable being anyway. However, he muses were cut short by a feminine, commanding voice behind him.
"What are you doing out of bed?! Yuber, have you no mind for your own health?! Get back under those covers right now, or I will force you there myself!" The woman said, hands on her hips and looking all too commanding of any situation that she put herself in.
Yuber turned to face the healer slowly, not the type to take orders from anyone unless it suited his fancy. Yet, the moment his narrowed gaze fell upon his lover, he felt himself immediately throw in the towel and nodded almost dumbly as he climbed back under the warm covers of the bed that he had been put in.
'Coward' The Eightfold Rune muttered from the back of the blonde's mind, intent on watching the events that were to unfold.
Mia stalked over to Yuber's side and forced his shoulders back to the bed, glaring at his boldness. Obviously, she had been too much of a practicing healer now to accept any sort of bad behaviour even from her own lover. Still, much of her intolerance towards him was mostly at his actions the last time that she had seen him. "Don't look so shocked to see me. I'm the healer for the Kalekka village so all wounded come to me first." Her gaze shifted from fussing over his bandages to his face which seemed much too relaxed for someone that had been on the brink of death only days before. "You are lucky to be alive. I barely managed to save you. The only reason you survived was because you managed to collapse in my front yard."
"I had faith in your abilities." Yuber stated, a fond smile pulling at his lips.
"Well, I'm glad that you did. I had lots of time to practice them since I was left alone for seven years while you were out doing whatever you were doing. Because of the wars breaking out, I was beginning to believe that you had been killed. I was forced to move on with my life without you." Mia was surprised how neutral she kept her voice because she had always managed to speak her mind in forceful tones when she was angry. Now that Yuber was awake, she found herself furious with him for picking up and running off without a single word to her. "You really hurt me by running off, Yuber. I had always thought better of you."
Yuber did his best to shrug his shoulders, his gaze moving to the blanket rather than his lover. "I seemed to have hurt a lot of people, mostly the ones that I love. I don't much care for the other people that I hurt because I don't know them."
Mia sat down beside the blonde, brushing bangs from his face and forcing their gazes to meet. She looked away from the battle-hardened, cold blue eyes that stared back at her. "You've changed over these years. I think you've lost your gentle side in all the blood that you've split in the battles."
Yuber cocked his head to the side, contemplating before he finally just shrugged his shoulders again. "War does that to people. I've split a lot of blood, even painted the fields red with my very presence. I am a soldier who delivers death to those foolish enough to oppose me." He spoke clearly and plainly, not in the mood to butter-up any of his words for Mia. He already knew that she suspected the truth that he was not in the wars to be on any one side, rather, he was there to spill a little blood.
"Yes, I've heard the stories about the mysterious Black Knight who appears at almost any battle where he has the chance to cut down innocent peasants defending their lands." She spoke almost sadly, finally letting all her denials fall away from her mind. She had prayed that those stories were untrue about the fierce blonde wrapped in black armour who walked with an equally dangerous silver-haired friend. "I had hoped that those stories were untrue."
Yuber forced himself into sitting position, leaning back against the wall as if he was not wounded at all. He felt a smirk pull at his lips and held out his hands towards Mia, allowing her a good look at his palms. "The stories you hear are mostly untrue. People over-exaggerate to make themselves seem much more important and brave." He met Mia's gaze evenly. "I am mysterious, and I am a Black Knight. I do walk into to battles to cut down ignorant fools. However, peasants defending their land means nothing to me so I do not specifically go out to kill them. I will kill anyone who steps in my path." He watched Mia's gaze fill with tears, but continued to speak. "I will kill any man, woman, or child whom I please. They are all just puppets to me, creatures set upon this miserable planet to live in fear of death because they are cowards. Weakness has no hold on me, and I revel in the blood of the weak so prove that only the strong survive."
Perhaps he should have avoided the very obvious slap coming his way, but he did not, rather, he accepted it as the reprimand of a mother to her child. His gaze switched from the wall that he was now looking at back to Mia who was on her feet. He watched her glare down at him and smiled warmly. "You wanted the truth, did you not?"
"Stop it, Yuber! Just stop!" Mia took a step away from her lover and shook her head, wiping away the tears that slipped down her cheeks. After a few minutes, she managed to force herself to look at the blonde again, a bit surprised to find him on his feet again. "You aren't supposed to tell me such things! You are supposed to tell me that you are sorry for running off and leaving me all alone, and you are supposed to tell me that you will stay with me from now on. I don't care about what you did back then! Just tell me that you love me and that you will stay for at least a little while!"
Yuber cocked his head to the side, a bit confused. Perhaps he had read the situation wrong because he certainly wasn't expecting this response from Mia. Still, he could not deny her and wrapped her in a warm, protective embrace. "I do love you, and I will stay with you, if only for a few days."
"Mommy, are you okay? I hear you yelling at the dead man."
Yuber let his gaze drift to the open door, a blonde eyebrow rising as he was faced with a small child holding a small brown teddy bear. The boy couldn't have been older than seven, with a slight build, mused locks of black hair that were in desperate need of a cutting, and intense blue eyes that held more innocence that was generally found in children. The boy shuffled more into the room, eyeing Yuber as much as Yuber was eyeing him. Though he could already guarantee that the child was his, he still held his tongue about how scrawny the whelp was. He waited for Mia to introduce them.
Mia looked between Yuber and her son, sighing when the two continued to stare at one another. They were much too similar in personality than was good for a child. She smiled and went over to the little boy, bending to smooth down the wild locks of black hair and wipe some dirt from his face, receiving a pout. "Yuber, this is your son." She spoke plainly, making sure to keep her back to the blonde, unsure of his reaction to the boy. "He is a good boy, much to stubborn for his own good, but he is healthy and protective, much like his father."
Yuber couldn't help but assess the boy for his fighting potential, finding it quite promising with a bit of rough, hard training. Though the boy was slight in build, it was obvious that the child would grow and fill out into a strong, sturdy frame. Finally, he sighed to himself. "Does he have a name or do you want me to call him 'boy'?" Yuber shuttered as the True Rune chuckled and cracked a comment, shoving it back more in his mind.
Mia finally stood and turned to regard Yuber, her hands on her son's shoulders. "I called him 'Joshua'." She looked down at her little boy, smiling at him when their gazes met. "Joshua, go to your father. I know you wanted to see him for a long time."
Yuber watched the boy walk over to him slowly and their gazes met equally. He was surprised that the child dare to met his gaze, a sign that the boy would be strong when he received some training. He bent slowly to look at the child at eye-level, seeing much too many characteristics of himself than he would really like to admit. He slowly reached out to brush wild bangs from the boy's face, smirking when the boy stepped away from his touch. "You got a problem, boy?"
"I hate you." Joshua said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bleh, I was so unhappy with the length of this chapter. Though I don't want this story to end, I kind of wanted this to be the last chapter. Still, I suppose I'm up to writing another chapter and this time, I promise that it will be the last one, well, except for the epilogue. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.
Only in Dreams
By: Chibi Nataku
Author's Note: Speech that starts with ' instead of " means mental talking. If a conversation is going on between Yuber and the Rune, it is purely in his mind, and assume that no one else is aware of the conversation, but can see any emotion that is displayed openly by the Rune-bearer.
Chapter 12 - Dreams Clashing
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuber stood perched on the large bolder, gaze flicking across the endless battlefield, idly humming to himself a tune that he often sung when he merciless butchered hundreds of men on a battlefield. The bodies that littered the ground lay in the motionless slumber of death, their strings forever cut by his hand. He had little interest in the corpses, his fun already come and gone with the tides of battle, yet he remained to wait for nightfall as he often did. He found that killing innocent people for the purpose of creating more war was best done at night for the simple fact that he knew fire showed up best against a blackened sky as he burned down the nearby village. It was a ritualistic act that he enjoyed greatly, and he had refined his skills for it over the past seven years.
To him, time had pasted quickly and rather enjoyably. He and Natas had split more blood and been the cause of more wars than any other pair, yet he insisted that they remain to the mysterious shadows of history in order to keep people guessing where they may strike next. His skills with a blade were nearly unmatched, and he came to war for one purpose: to have lots of fun butchering mortals. Really, it was a life that he rather enjoyed leading, and he doubted that he would change it should the option present itself to him. He asserted his dominance over the pitiful race of men, making them cower with his very description.
He cared little for any thing that was weaker than himself, refusing to be controlled unless it suited his amusement for the day. He was no longer bias towards mortals, slaughtering men, women, and their children equally without hesitation. Now nothing pleased him more than standing in a burning village while the horrified cries of the mortals echoed in his ears. He supposed that he could be called ruthless and even psychotic in nature, but he no longer opposed, mostly because some of the games he and Natas would play easily counted as such. There was only so many times that he and Natas could compete for the most kills when blindfolded before being labeled as heartless killers.
The years had gone by him quickly and generally quietly, most of his time having spent with Natas with the odd encounter with Pesmerga who amused him with determination to put an end to him. Yet, he still snickered at the look on Pesmerga's face when Natas stepped out and stabbed the other Black Knight in the back for the first time. He had been forced to stop battle just to point and laugh at his rival, and he still told the tale often for a good laugh simply because Pesmerga had retreated so hastily. Certainly, the other Black Knight only appeared when Natas was off completing other errands, but Yuber knew that, in every fight he had with Pesmerga, Natas was always watching. It was obvious that Pesmerga knew this as well, mostly because of the constant glances behind Pesmerga's back as they fought. The only time Natas could not appear was if he resided in the World of Emptiness, but Yuber already knew his skills were above Pesmerga. He would soon make sure his brother knew that their battle would last for an eternity, or at least until he grew bored.
He had only one more task to complete, yet he found it to be the most difficult. Things always seemed to fall into certain categories for him now: mortals were puppets; Natas was his only equal; Pesmerga was his rival; other True Rune bearers were a lesser threat to him; monsters were to be controlled. In his mind, everything should fall in one of the categories, but Mia never seemed to feel right in any of them. He refused to give her a category of her own because he would not reduce himself to weakness by fawning over her like a newborn kitten. He had been teased relentlessly by Natas about his expression when Mia came up in conversation, and the silver-haired man often tried imitating him whenever it would most embarrass him. Still, he desperately attempted to think of Mia as little as possible because he knew no matter how far he traveled or how many people he murdered, his feelings for his lover would never change. He spoke little of said feelings, sometimes only muttering a few words to Natas, because he knew that he was going to have to return to her someday to finish the task that he both loved and loathed, his transcention of humanity.
Some days he tried to convince himself that by cutting away the strings that held Mia to the mortal plane would be best for her, that she too would no longer be tangled up by Fate. He somewhat wanted to believe that he could free her from being a puppet to Fate, yet she was somewhat his equal, and she stood behind his rival. He could never control her as he did monsters, which left a very empty spot in his logic. For him, Mia had once been life itself, constantly following at her heels for attention and never sticking up for himself. Now, he was everything he had dreamed of being, except Mia was elsewhere waiting to bless him with her attention. His thoughts of his lover often ran in circles, giving him a headache every time he tried to force himself to think of it from a heartless point of view.
Still, he found his musing on parts of his life that he wished to ignore for the time being very annoying. He shifted on his perch and sighed heavily, removing his helmet if only to allow the cool breeze of evening to blow through his blonde locks of hair. He somewhat wished that Natas was here to provide some entertainment or at least a cynical comment in his general direction. He found himself quickly growing bored, something that he often did not like as it left his mind distracted and his back open for attack. Still, he took a few moments to let his mind wander to the previous events of death and slaughter of pitiful mortals.
Yuber shifted his weight as a flash of movement caught his eyes, lifting his sword to parry any blow that a mortal would throw at him. He clenched his teeth as his sword arm burst into a fire of pain, a blade not his own smashing just above his elbow. He attempted to pull away from the attack, ripping himself off of the blade that had delved deep into his flesh, forcing him to drop his blade. He leapt back, clutching at the wound in more surprise than anger. His gaze shifted from the wound to the soldier standing nearby. "No mortal can inflict a wound on me. Who are you, boy, before I rip out your throat?"
"I've waited for this day since the first time you escaped me. It is rare to catch you so unguarded and... so alone as well, Yuber. However, I will not pass up this chance to finally put an end to you." The soldier shifted and started to advance towards the Black Knight more boldly than any mortal would dare. "I do believe you have something of mine, accursed Shield. I want it back."
"Pesmerga!" Yuber forced himself to his feet, a cold smirk forming on his elegant features. He was more than a little surprised to find his rival out of the normal Black Knight armour, yet he refused to show such emotions on his features. He would never show weakness to his brother, rather, he would make sure to make Pesmerga pay dearly for the wound that was inflicted on him. "You look so human, I almost didn't recognize you. However, now that I know who you are, I'll be sure to make your death extra painful."
Pesmerga chuckled coldly, lifting his blade to point at the blonde's chest. "Big words for a creature who is wounded and unarmed, especially since your True Rune has entered a state of dormancy on you." He smirked at Yuber's growl at the mentioning of the True Rune the blonde carried. Today, he would finally kill Yuber and set his sister free of a horrible fate. "We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way. The choice is really yours, but I know that your ally cannot hear your calls. Today, this battle is just you and me."
Yuber snorted and called his blade back to his hand, twirling it slowly to get used to the feeling of using his off hand. He had practiced little with his weapon in his off hand, mostly because he never felt that it would come in use for him during a battle, however, now he was beginning to regret it. He knew that Pesmerga was very skilled with a blade, their battles usually ending in a tie until Natas stepped in to urge the fight into a positive direction for him. Still, he knew that he was better than Pesmerga, and he only needed a bit more effort to win; he would never lose to his rival.
He clenched his right hand, grinding his teeth as more blood slipped from his wounded arm and pain raced up his shoulder and down his spine. He dug his heels into the ground as Pesmerga charged, slapping away most of the blow with his own blade, smirking as his rival's blade danced off of his armour. In response to the attack, he swung out his wounded arm, intent on breaking a few teeth from Pesmerga's face, eyes narrowing when his brother dodged the blow. He swung his blade out, forcing the other Black Knight a few steps away and guarded any attack that would surely fly his way.
Pesmerga could bearly believe how helpless Yuber was against his attacks, the power of the blonde's parries severely weakened in the off-hand. Even Yuber's stance seemed a bit off balance, something that he planned to use to his full advantage. "Face it, you cannot win. You are wounded, you have no True Rune, and you are alliless. Face your defeat with some honour, brother." He took a menacing step towards Yuber, a bit surprised when the blonde took a small step back from him.
"You think me powerless? That could lead to your downfall despite the advantages that you THINK that you have." Yuber clenched his hand, ignoring the pain this time to focus on the dull part of his mind that housed the still coccooned Eightfold Rune. It had yet to move in all the seven years that he had traveled, a fact that now really annoyed him.
Pesmerga chuckled softly, stopping a few feet away from the blonde, hand now on his hip as he regarded his brother. "In all my years, I have relied on my own strength, unlike you. You, dear brother, have been babied your entire life, always having a presence to guide you down the path set out for you despite your own soft whines against such. You are weak because you now need your little friends to actually defeat me rather than letting your own strengths guide you. This is why I will defeat you on this night. I am stronger than you, in every way possible except possibly in social skills, but right now, such things are petty." He smirked at Yuber's very sour expression, taking another menacing step towards the blonde, bringing his sword in striking distance.
"Hmpt, I would rather call what I do a full use of all my resources." Yuber forced down in anger at being called weak, instead wanted to turn the tables on the other Black Knight. "However, if you feel as you do, I will be sure to make sure that you too much use all of the resources of this pitiful planet by running from you every chance that I get, if only to annoy you more. Don't forget, I still have this." He raised his right hand at Pesmerga, allowing his rival to come eye-to-eye with the very possession that drove the other Black Knight to persue him so relentlessly.
"Bastard!" Pesmerga yelled as he leapt at Yuber, his blade swinging out to cleave the blonde in two, growling a rage as Yuber slipped back out of range of the attack. Unwilling to leave most of his power with the other Black Knight, Pesmerga continued his charge forward, his blade lashing out with lightning speed, performing a deadly dance that a normal mortal would be unable to avoid. However, Yuber was not a normal mortal and slipped in and out of each deadly accurate swing and thrust, causing Pesmerga to growl more and more in frustration. As his frustration build up, he finally grew much too angry to completely his final swings, instead he punched Yuber in the face, a move that he was not accustomed to doing and it showed as the blonde stumbled back and fell down holding wounded pride and a wounded face.
Yuber rubbed his wounded nose, grimacing as blood dripped over his lips, a clear sign that Pesmerga had managed to break his nose. He really had to start looking out for people throwing their fists at his face, mostly because he was much too concentrated on avoiding sword blades to be paying attention to someone's empty hand. Still, he had little time to revel in movements he would need to start practicing as Pesmerga's sword was once again lashing out in his direction, a blow that could probably severely cripple him. He twisted to the side, rolling away from the blow, which landed seconds after his movement away, forcing himself back to his feet to parry the next sword blow.
Yuber clinched his left hand around his blade, gaze shifted from Pesmerga to his hand as electricity crackled up his arm. 'Hello, I haven't used you in a very long time...Let us give Pesmerge a bit of a shock, shall we?' Grinning, as Pesmerga continued to put strength against him, he allowed himself to sink to one knee as he charged up his lightning rune. He saw the other Black Knight's eyes widen moments before lightning leapt from his hand and traveled between their blades, smirking at Pesmerga's grunt of pain as his brother flew back a few feet. He climbed to his own feet slowly, taking a bit of time to investigate his wounded arm closely; a large gash that easily exposed the bone met his gaze, making his wince in pain just looking at it.
Pesmerga wrapped arms around his body in hopes of stopping the small convulsions that were making his world spin, clinching his teeth together to keep them from chattering. Eventually, he managed to get a hold of his body and stood again, surprised that his rival did not attack him. He was even more shocked to find Yuber bandaging the wounds that he had inflicted with a strip from the blue cape that hung around the blonde. 'I didn't think that I got him that good. Obviously, he is more wounded than he lets on. Excellent, I will finish him.' He took a step towards the blonde, intent of finishing Yuber off while the blonde's attention was elsewhere. He was a bit unprepared when Yuber jumped up and kicked dirt into his face, turning away to try to escape the invading particles. His breath left his lungs as he felt metal sink into his flesh, dropping to one knee as Yuber pinned him to the ground with a sword through his lower leg. Yet, instead of evening thinking of stopping his intended kill, his blade shot out with lightning speed, and he smiled in triumph as Yuber let out a small, shocked cry and stumbled away from him.
Perhaps he had been too cocky, or perhaps he had never seen Pesmerga move that fast before, but in either case, he grabbed his right side. He looked down, convinced that his armour had failed him and given way under the force of Pesmerga's blow, but was shocked to find that the other Black Knight's blade had slipped into the small space left between his breastplate and leg armour. He felt blood slip between his fingers as he felt to his knees, desperate to get back to his feet, but his legs refused to obey his command, and he was forced to remain sitting as he felt liquid rise in his throat. He only stare in slight bewilderment as drops of ruby red liquid slipped from between his lips that landed on the flat of his sword as he coughed in discomfort. Again, he looked at the wound that had him on the ground. 'A...lucky shot? No...He can't defeat me, especially not from because of a lucky shot!' His pain quickly turned into anger as spots formed at the edges of his vision. 'No, I am better than he is! I will not be defeated by the likes of him! Fate! Damn you! Damn you! When I find you, I will make you feel more pain than you can even dream up! I will kill you, Fate!'
He was vaguely aware of Pesmerga behind him, and he was somewhat surprised by this. 'Was he attempting to give me a knight's death, an honourable death? How foolish of him.' Still, he stared at his reflection in his blade, behind him a mirror image of himself with black hair standing menacingly with a sword raised to strike a final blow. "Mia...I'm sorry..."
Pesmerga blinked as he heard Yuber speak his sister's name but refused to lower his sword. He was rid this world of a demon, and he would save his sister from the fate that had been so gruesomely handed down to her. He knew that he was doing the right thing, if only to get back the rest of his power, which was stolen from him. "Die, demon." He spoke softly, bringing his sword tip down.
'It can't end like this, boy! I won't let you die until you show me your real power, little maggot! Get up!' Yuber's eyes snapped open as the Eightfold Rune ripped forward in his mind, much larger and angry than he last remembered it. Still, he let out a small whimper as the Rune grabbed his mind roughly and forced him to teleport away without even telling him where they were going. He felt the tip of a sword brush against his flesh just as he was transported elsewhere, along with an angered shout from Pesmerga. The translocation left him in pain, and he was unable to lift his head to look around his surroundings, but he felt the Eightfold Rune in his mind, pacing. 'It's time to be a man, maggot. You will transend your humanity, if only to show up that brat who is chasing you.' Yuber closed as much of his mind off to the Rune's invading presence, but it brutally forced itself to all edges of his conscious and subconscious mind, stopping over one small memory that he carried, and he knew exactly what it was. 'Natas... alive? Impossible...'
'No, I saved him before he could die by taking him to the mortal world. He is my ally and guards the World of Emptiness when I cannot. You will never kill him so long as I am conscious enough to stop you.' Yuber stated stubbornly, feeling the True Rune seizing with anger at this new slight revelation.
The Eightfold Rune filtered through the blonde's memories that contained Natas, the only creature that had managed to turn it into a puppet as well as the rest of the world. Yet, it kept its own thoughts about the silver-haired brat to itself. It watched one memory float by, shoving it towards the blonde. 'Seems like more than allies to me.'
Yuber knew that if he wasn't so wounded and in pain, he probably would have blushed slightly at the kiss that Eightfold Rune managed to dig up. 'Such things don't concern you. Stay out of my memories, or I'll rip your legs off.'
'Oh, gotten arrogant in your old age, maggot? Well, just remember that I'm the reason that you are still alive right now.' It investigated the blonde's condition, finding it to be quickly deteriorating. 'However, you won't be alive for much longer at this rate. Let me see if I can draw someone to you...' It sent out mental tendrils, chuckling at finding a young child playing some dirt. He pulled at the boy's mind, attempting to draw it towards the wounded blonde.
Yuber quickly found that he could not return to his body and attempt to get to his feet. He was trapped in unconsciousness and forced to attempt to keep his mind awake enough to resist the pull of death. He quickly found himself being swallowed in a black sea of oily liquid, struggling desperately to keep his head above this liquid, knowing that if he faltered, he may never wake up again. Still, he knew he was growing tired and sunk after only a little struggling. Yet, as the darkness swallowed him, he heard a voice, a small voice but a voice all the same, and it reminded him of himself when he was very young.
"Mommy! Mommy! There's a dead man in our yard! Come quick! Look at the dead man!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yuber sat bolt upright, grabbing at his bandaged side as soon as he managed to register pain. He shook in pain, but he forced himself to be stronger than the pain that plagued him and climbed to his feet and wobble slightly. He caught himself on the bedpost and breathed as best as he could, forcing himself to admit a slight defeat and take some time to adjust to standing wounded.
Eventually, he managed to stand fully upright, looking down at himself to investigate his condition. He found bandages covering his right arm, his midsection, and even around his neck, but he found that wounds themselves were no longer as bad as they had been on the battlefield. He could sense the residual power of rune on his body, an obvious sign that he had been saved by a water rune, so he was most likely in a healer's house. Though he was weakened by his wounds, he knew that he could probably move well enough to leave this town and make it back to where Natas was to fully recover in the safety of the World of Emptiness. However, he found one problem with this plan and that was the fact that he could not see his armour in the room with him.
The fact that someone had managed to remove his armour impressed him, mostly because the metal would only release him if he wished it, however, he knew that probably the True Rune could also do the same affect. Now that he was without his armour though, he had two options in his mind. One was to leave this room and kill whoever remained in this establishment, or he could wait for someone to check on him and get the answers he wanted. Really, it all depended on his mood and at this point, he was not too sure that strangling the people who had saved him from death would be just payment, and he was not too sure if he could even muster the strength the choke the life out of a miserable being anyway. However, he muses were cut short by a feminine, commanding voice behind him.
"What are you doing out of bed?! Yuber, have you no mind for your own health?! Get back under those covers right now, or I will force you there myself!" The woman said, hands on her hips and looking all too commanding of any situation that she put herself in.
Yuber turned to face the healer slowly, not the type to take orders from anyone unless it suited his fancy. Yet, the moment his narrowed gaze fell upon his lover, he felt himself immediately throw in the towel and nodded almost dumbly as he climbed back under the warm covers of the bed that he had been put in.
'Coward' The Eightfold Rune muttered from the back of the blonde's mind, intent on watching the events that were to unfold.
Mia stalked over to Yuber's side and forced his shoulders back to the bed, glaring at his boldness. Obviously, she had been too much of a practicing healer now to accept any sort of bad behaviour even from her own lover. Still, much of her intolerance towards him was mostly at his actions the last time that she had seen him. "Don't look so shocked to see me. I'm the healer for the Kalekka village so all wounded come to me first." Her gaze shifted from fussing over his bandages to his face which seemed much too relaxed for someone that had been on the brink of death only days before. "You are lucky to be alive. I barely managed to save you. The only reason you survived was because you managed to collapse in my front yard."
"I had faith in your abilities." Yuber stated, a fond smile pulling at his lips.
"Well, I'm glad that you did. I had lots of time to practice them since I was left alone for seven years while you were out doing whatever you were doing. Because of the wars breaking out, I was beginning to believe that you had been killed. I was forced to move on with my life without you." Mia was surprised how neutral she kept her voice because she had always managed to speak her mind in forceful tones when she was angry. Now that Yuber was awake, she found herself furious with him for picking up and running off without a single word to her. "You really hurt me by running off, Yuber. I had always thought better of you."
Yuber did his best to shrug his shoulders, his gaze moving to the blanket rather than his lover. "I seemed to have hurt a lot of people, mostly the ones that I love. I don't much care for the other people that I hurt because I don't know them."
Mia sat down beside the blonde, brushing bangs from his face and forcing their gazes to meet. She looked away from the battle-hardened, cold blue eyes that stared back at her. "You've changed over these years. I think you've lost your gentle side in all the blood that you've split in the battles."
Yuber cocked his head to the side, contemplating before he finally just shrugged his shoulders again. "War does that to people. I've split a lot of blood, even painted the fields red with my very presence. I am a soldier who delivers death to those foolish enough to oppose me." He spoke clearly and plainly, not in the mood to butter-up any of his words for Mia. He already knew that she suspected the truth that he was not in the wars to be on any one side, rather, he was there to spill a little blood.
"Yes, I've heard the stories about the mysterious Black Knight who appears at almost any battle where he has the chance to cut down innocent peasants defending their lands." She spoke almost sadly, finally letting all her denials fall away from her mind. She had prayed that those stories were untrue about the fierce blonde wrapped in black armour who walked with an equally dangerous silver-haired friend. "I had hoped that those stories were untrue."
Yuber forced himself into sitting position, leaning back against the wall as if he was not wounded at all. He felt a smirk pull at his lips and held out his hands towards Mia, allowing her a good look at his palms. "The stories you hear are mostly untrue. People over-exaggerate to make themselves seem much more important and brave." He met Mia's gaze evenly. "I am mysterious, and I am a Black Knight. I do walk into to battles to cut down ignorant fools. However, peasants defending their land means nothing to me so I do not specifically go out to kill them. I will kill anyone who steps in my path." He watched Mia's gaze fill with tears, but continued to speak. "I will kill any man, woman, or child whom I please. They are all just puppets to me, creatures set upon this miserable planet to live in fear of death because they are cowards. Weakness has no hold on me, and I revel in the blood of the weak so prove that only the strong survive."
Perhaps he should have avoided the very obvious slap coming his way, but he did not, rather, he accepted it as the reprimand of a mother to her child. His gaze switched from the wall that he was now looking at back to Mia who was on her feet. He watched her glare down at him and smiled warmly. "You wanted the truth, did you not?"
"Stop it, Yuber! Just stop!" Mia took a step away from her lover and shook her head, wiping away the tears that slipped down her cheeks. After a few minutes, she managed to force herself to look at the blonde again, a bit surprised to find him on his feet again. "You aren't supposed to tell me such things! You are supposed to tell me that you are sorry for running off and leaving me all alone, and you are supposed to tell me that you will stay with me from now on. I don't care about what you did back then! Just tell me that you love me and that you will stay for at least a little while!"
Yuber cocked his head to the side, a bit confused. Perhaps he had read the situation wrong because he certainly wasn't expecting this response from Mia. Still, he could not deny her and wrapped her in a warm, protective embrace. "I do love you, and I will stay with you, if only for a few days."
"Mommy, are you okay? I hear you yelling at the dead man."
Yuber let his gaze drift to the open door, a blonde eyebrow rising as he was faced with a small child holding a small brown teddy bear. The boy couldn't have been older than seven, with a slight build, mused locks of black hair that were in desperate need of a cutting, and intense blue eyes that held more innocence that was generally found in children. The boy shuffled more into the room, eyeing Yuber as much as Yuber was eyeing him. Though he could already guarantee that the child was his, he still held his tongue about how scrawny the whelp was. He waited for Mia to introduce them.
Mia looked between Yuber and her son, sighing when the two continued to stare at one another. They were much too similar in personality than was good for a child. She smiled and went over to the little boy, bending to smooth down the wild locks of black hair and wipe some dirt from his face, receiving a pout. "Yuber, this is your son." She spoke plainly, making sure to keep her back to the blonde, unsure of his reaction to the boy. "He is a good boy, much to stubborn for his own good, but he is healthy and protective, much like his father."
Yuber couldn't help but assess the boy for his fighting potential, finding it quite promising with a bit of rough, hard training. Though the boy was slight in build, it was obvious that the child would grow and fill out into a strong, sturdy frame. Finally, he sighed to himself. "Does he have a name or do you want me to call him 'boy'?" Yuber shuttered as the True Rune chuckled and cracked a comment, shoving it back more in his mind.
Mia finally stood and turned to regard Yuber, her hands on her son's shoulders. "I called him 'Joshua'." She looked down at her little boy, smiling at him when their gazes met. "Joshua, go to your father. I know you wanted to see him for a long time."
Yuber watched the boy walk over to him slowly and their gazes met equally. He was surprised that the child dare to met his gaze, a sign that the boy would be strong when he received some training. He bent slowly to look at the child at eye-level, seeing much too many characteristics of himself than he would really like to admit. He slowly reached out to brush wild bangs from the boy's face, smirking when the boy stepped away from his touch. "You got a problem, boy?"
"I hate you." Joshua said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bleh, I was so unhappy with the length of this chapter. Though I don't want this story to end, I kind of wanted this to be the last chapter. Still, I suppose I'm up to writing another chapter and this time, I promise that it will be the last one, well, except for the epilogue. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.