Insert disclaimer from Chapter 1 here.

After grappling with my writer's block, finals, a terrible word processor, and a bad cold, I managed to get Chapter 2 done. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be! This covers 2-kun's "training" and such... well, enjoy.

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Despite the pain it brought him, he was grateful for the ability to hear. He lay still, only half awake, listening to the soft noises traveling through the thin air. Sound came at different pitches, sometimes repeating, or tiptoeing up the scale. He glowed with happiness when he recognized the silver light that lay sewn into the lining of the beautiful noises, and looked up.

It was not his silver heaven, but a small, warm, somewhat stuffy room with the dullest colors of paint on the walls. Nevertheless, Two was fascinated, and looked around in awe, brilliant eyes wide. He had never grappled with the idea of a box before, and was astounded by the sharp corners and symmetry of the room. The solid softness of whatever he lay on was peculiar and new as well, and he summoned the strength to lift an arm and poke at a soft lump sitting beneath his head. It supported him, but withdrew sharply from this assault. He kept poking at it for a while, then shifted his attention to a bright stream of color coming out from one of the walls.

The ray was neither angular nor curved, and seemed too thick to be air, and too light to be water. It was its own material, passing through the lines of dust that drifted through the air, making its own strange patterns and performing its own dance. It attracted Two like a magnet, and he tumbled to the floor and awkwardly scrambled towards it. He fell into the square it made on the floor and felt a peculiar warmth on the back of his neck, and drew himself up to look through the tunnel of gentle heat towards the source of the beam. The source was far too bright to look at directly, but he turned his head slightly and observed it, mesmerized, feeling the sparks glancing off his wings.

This light was gold, not silver, but still magnificent.

Smiling was new to him, and it was pleasant to do. He opened his hands and let the sunlight flow into them, and spun around, his robes whirling, almost laughing with delight. He ignored the painful protests of his sore muscles, far too absorbed in admiring the glorious morning to spend time crying over his birth. He deeply inhaled, breezes of life flowing into him with the burning, thin air.

The sound of the door opening drew him out of his trance. He looked over his shoulder, partially annoyed, and then stared in surprise at the strange soul that had invaded the box. Tall to him, clad in shimmering, glinting metal, with a cascade of soft amber around a curious, naked face. The eyes were a soft brown and... dull. Had he a few more days' knowledge, he would have cringed in disgust, but instead he gazed curiously at the soldier, not knowing exactly what to make of her. A few others similar to, but not exactly like her floated in, and she turned to speak with them for a moment. They nodded, and she turned back to him. Her teeth were bared in a peculiar smile, and some instinct pressed deep into Two's mind told him to dread it.

"Come here, little one," she said, her voice flat and terrible on his ears, "Come on. Don't be afraid." That wicked smile deepened and she opened her arms.

Two backed away, his gaze of curiosity turning into one of anxious loathing. She stepped closer, and he pressed his wings up against the glass letting the sunlight in. Having him so cornered, she reached out to him, presenting an seemingly innocent, bare hand, without the heavy protective glove, whose intention was to seize him by the collar and drag him off to the dark destination Kuja had told them to take him.

It was so close to his face...

NO DON'T---

He was threatened and afraid, and reacted as any small, frightened, confused creature would. When the hand drew too close, he leapt forward and sank his teeth into it. The guard let out a piercing scream, and he hung on bitterly until she shook him off, glaring and hissing at him like an angry cat. He drew his feet under him, looking back at her with deep dislike. Minute drops of blood were tossed off her hand as she held it, trembling, snarling and cursing the little brute who met her furious eyes with a look of contempt.

The three that had followed her seemed almost amused by the show, and parted to let her stomp away, fuming. They looked at each other and peered at the little fighter, who sat back beneath the window, daring them to try the same with his gaze, while still shaking with a touch of fear. One of them who seemed a little braver beckoned, but he did not recognize the gesture and stayed where he was.

Then one stepped forward, smiling differently than the one who had come before her, and offered her (gloved) hand. He looked her over, not getting the antagonistic feeling he felt rolling off the first guard, and relaxed just a little. When she spoke, her voice was sweet and musical, and he instantly decided he liked it. "Don't you want to come with us? I'll carry you. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you..." She took his little hand, and drew him towards her, and he obediently followed. She then gently picked him up with a little grunt and held him to her. He blinked several times, surprised, and she giggled softly before setting off with the other two towards a dark passage leading into the bowels of the castle.

*~*

Two had not expected to be set down so suddenly, and plopped down in a little heap in the dust. By the time he had pulled himself up and shaken the filthy powder out of his sleeves, the gate on his side of the little square arena had been shut tight.

He was not really afraid of being left alone, as he had never seen why it was a threat, and so curiously took in his surroundings. The dusty box was bordered with a large, pale gray wall, on top of which were many rows of red velvet seats. Most of them held only ghosts, but in one there was a strangely familiar figure, leaning back, with his legs crossed, and his silky clothing laying only lightly on him. His hair was made up of feather ribbons of silver, and Two drew his breath in sharply with recognition of that shade. The soul's violet eyes were half closed, eyelids painted with a haunting red stripe, and he was smiling very slightly. He seemed to stir at the little mage's entrance, and sat up, folding his arms. His voice was very soft, but it echoed through the great room.

"What are you waiting for? Let it in."

The opposite gates creaked open slowly, and Two looked at them, puzzled. Behind them was a cage that contained a mess of screaming feathers that two guards were reluctantly manning. Wings beat furiously at the bars, and the door suddenly flew open, letting its quarry escape, shrieking its vengeance to the sky it could not find. Enraged, it whirled around, looking for a target, its gaze missing passive Kuja altogether, and focusing on the small mage. Its cries rose, and it dove.

A Trick Sparrow is not a very frightening thing for a seasoned warrior, who would stave it off with a simple flick of a sword, but to Two it was the most horrifying, terrible creature he could possibly meet. He did not know what to make of this attack, but a subtle command laid gently into his mind spurred him to get out of the way. He ran, hearing the Sparrow scream with anguish as its claws met nothing but the dust of the pit. He would have liked to keep running, but there was nowhere to flee too, and he turned back to his antagonist, his expression becoming a slight grimace. When it charged him this time, he brought his arm up in defense, and gasped with surprise as the sharp weapons of the monster cut through his sleeve and skin. Hissing furiously, he stepped back, grabbing the wound and glaring at the Sparrow, his rage rising in him.

He dodged the next attack, his anger building. He was filled with a deep desire to pay the foolish monster back for its actions, but had no idea how he was to go about doing that; he could not simply bite it, and he had no talons and beak. He was a creature born without a way to defend himself...

"Come come," Kuja whispered from his perch above the two adversaries. "No games. Let me see your strength..."

As the Sparrow dove for him again, something clicked, and his eyes narrowed with renewed determination.

Strength...

He ducked its attack, then whirled on it and lashed out at it. He did not strike it hard, but it was knocked off balance and surprised. He then leapt at it, his fury blazing uncontrollably, and beat at it, driving a fist into its truly fragile frame and then raking his other hand against it, catching it and hurling it against a wall. He found his balance again and felt a little touch of pleasure as it crumpled at the base of the wall, keeping his fingers curved, to serve as his own claws, wings tense and trembling slightly. It drew up and charged him again, but he did not feel its attacks, only the burning desire to return the pain.

He felt Kuja smiling behind him. "Let it die... show it your power, and kill it as brutally as you can..."

Two did not react with fear as his hands began to throb with pain again, for he knew the source of that agony. He remembered the pain of ancient times, and that mad smile returned to his lips as pure fire spilled from his hands. He looked at the Sparrow, relishing in its look of surprise and terror, and faced his palms to it.

Ultimate vengeance for the pain it inflicted on him...

...Kill!

White-hot flame exploded towards it, catching it in a mighty blast of power. Its dying shriek reached beyond the walls of the arena, and Two grinned insanely, satisfied it had at least suffered as much as he had. Kuja's soft laughter showed he was just as pleased with the lump of burning feathers and flesh that had collapsed on the ground and begun to stink horribly. "Good, very good," that silvery voice echoed, and the little winged mage glowed. He had expended so much energy he was ready to fall over backwards in a dead faint, but was satisfied that he could be so strong. He preferred to be strong.

*~*

Two was so startled to find a wall of silver in his little box-room that he ignored the biting pain in all his wounds and scrambled to stand before it. It was extremely colorful while still having a constant silver laying behind it, the shapes moving as he looked to find a better angle to observe it.

He thought at first it must have been a window to another world. He could not reach through to the other world, though, a cool barrier stopping him and leaving an icky imprint where he had touched it. He contented himself with gazing at it curiously, and danced before it, watching the colors shift in reaction to his movements.

He stopped frolicking so carelessly after a while, and paused to check it seriously. He found a shape in the other world mimicked his movements, and was amazed to see it knew exactly when and how he moved his hand, or changed his gaze. The image he saw puzzled him. The other world was just like his box-room, but there was a small creature, upright, like the guards and the mysterious Kuja, dressed in a long teal robe that trailed on the floor. Pale purple gloves covered its small hands. Its face was not cold and exposed like those of the other souls, but shielded by unnaturally dark shadows cast by the oversized hat it wore. The hat itself was straw, made perfectly with a wide brim and two almost demon-like prongs. All that was visible beneath its protective darkness were two large, brilliant yellow eyes, glittering with curiosity and a touch of confusion.

Two marveled at this for a moment, then brought his arm at an angle with the silver wall to look up the creature's sleeve. He turned before it, and noticed the creature's wings, bursting from the shoulders, darker than those of the Trick Sparrow and far more beautiful. He smiled a little, and struggled to spread them wider, so he could scrutinize every feather.

How handsome and wonderful this creature of darkness was! Two laughed, admiring the brave mage's battle scars, making himself stand straighter and watching the figure's eyes glow brighter with pride. He drew up close to the mirror, delighted... and grasped the brim of his hat, to pull it off and gaze upon what lay below with love.

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Will ya review it and make my day better, brighter, and blissful? C'mon, people, pleeeeeease? *pleading puppy eyes* Or Two-kunn wiww be sad!