Chapter II -
Light; Burning Into the Flesh of the Darkness
Cale awoke with a start. He glanced over at his nightstand digital clock. It blinked at him with more emotion
than he'd ever thought to convey to a machine. Its block red numbers indicated one in the morning. Cale shook the sweat
from his midnight-blue head, watching lazily as it landed on his deep blue bedsheet. Swinging his tanned legs over the
side of the bed, he somehow managed to scoot himself over to the balcony. He seperated the sheer black curtains with a
careful hand, the sweet summer breeze blowing his locks of hair away from his face.
'This isn't so bad. Lucky for me the sun's not up yet.....like I am...'
He smiled to himself.
'I wonder how the Ronins are doing...We haven't heard from them in a while now....'
Something in his mind snapped and told him to look down into the street below him. They lived in a quiet suburb,
with a green, flat field spread out in front of him like a dining cloth. He blinked, his keen eyes forcusing on small,
shriveled little creatures that scurried around, apparently looking for cover. Their sounds were well hidden by the
songs of crickets in the bushes around the house. He narrowed his eyes, leaning slightly on the wooden railing surrounding
the balcony on which he stood. The creatures looked like....shriveled babies or something. Lively carcasses of what they
could....or should...have been.
Cale blinked, rubbing his eyes forcefully. He opened them again, seeing nothing but colored haze for the first few
seconds. He kept blinking, the haze shifting out of his view. One of the creatures turned to look at him. It blinked its
oversized black eyes at him, a brilliant blood-red ring surrounding an abyss of darkness. Not his kind of darkness. N-ot
anymore.
The summer breeze picked up, strewning dust and trash out into the streets below him. The creatures squealed, a few
of them darting forward and down an alleyway, towards the more populated end of the city. The one that stared at Cale stayed
behind, blinking at him as if he were some kind of omen...or a god...
This time, this silent one screamed, revealing several rotting, brown teeth. And several that should have been in its
head were missing, perhaps, and most likely, rotted out from eating human flesh for so long.
'I smell so much blood in the air....Why?'
It scampered away, maybe frightened by the prospect of the coming sun. Cale didn't like the idea of being fried to
death like an egg on this deck either, so he retreated into the safety of his darkened, cool room. He lay himself back down
on the soft velvet sheets, his mind swirling and searching for a logical answer to explain what it is he just saw out there.
'I'll ask the others later....'
His mind, spent on searching for answers, drifted off to sleep.
'Two days....' thought a Spirit. 'I have two days left to prepare.....just two days....' It grinned mentally.
'That's more than enough time....'
Dais knocked his forehead against the wall as the telephone began ringing. He cursed softly to himself, rubbing the
sore spot on his face while his hand reached out, tracing the wall for the phone. He cursed again as the phone rang a fourth
time before he could find it. One blue eye snapped open, seeing the phone inches from his face. A third curse and he picked
it up, sounding groggy to the person on the other end.
"Hello....?"
"Dais!! Dais, is that you?!" a voice persisted from the other end.
"No, I'm Dolly Parton....who're you?"
Another voice could be heard from behind whoever it was he was speaking to. It sounded like Kento.
"Well, he does have the right hair...."
Dais growled softly. The first voice must've heard it, for swearing and scuffling soon sounded from the other end
of the phone, surprising Dais fully awake. He cleared his throat, gaining the first speaker's attention.
"Sorry....Kento's being an idiot," the voice emphasized the word 'idiot' just for Kento's sake. It trailed off a bit,
most likely in deep thought. Dais went about making breakfast while he waited.
"Oh! Sorry again....this is Rowen. I was wondering if I can speak to Anubis..."
"I dunno. Can you?" Dais grinned. He loved human speech errors.
Rowen was silent for a moment. He corrected himself after a while. "MAY I speak with Anubis, please?"
"Sorry, he's not up yet. You can speak to me, though. I'm the only one up at this hour..." Dais glanced over at a
wooden clock that hung on the kitchen wall, above the table which he was preparing with plates and utensils. It lively chimed
five in the morning. Dais shook his head. Sometimes he hated being the early bird of the quartet. He shifted his attention
back to Rowen, who was waiting on the other end of the phone.
"Well....I suppose maybe you could help. But since Anubis is kinda you guys' leader, he might be a bit more
helpful..."
Dais snorted. "Leader? He's just the one your shouts out orders and ideas. We decide whether or not to follow them.
Anyway, I could do just a good of a job as he could. What do you need with the others?"
Rowen paused. He knew Dais was good at reading people, he just didn't think he could do it that well through plastic,
cords and metal. He shook his head and continued.
"Could you tell the others that we want to hold a meeting at Mia's later today? It's really important..."
Dais nodded. "Must be, for you to call this early in the morning..."
Rowen sighed. "Sorry...I thought that maybe he would have been up this early....and I'm.."
"Really worried? Why?"
Rowen paused. He must be REALLY good through plastic.
"It's Sage...first, he disappears, then he comes back home acting all strange. Then he AND Yuli disappear. We haven't
seen Sage in at least a day, and we found Yuli at a church. He was all strange too, but then he fell asleep while he was
talking to us, so we have him here at home again..."
"This is strange...you want us to keep an eye out for Sage?"
"You know, I have to admit it. You're good."
Dais smiled. "I know I am."
Cale winced painfully as his eyes slowly opened. He blinked, vaguely realizing where he was. In his room. He remembered
now. But he had the strangest dream. His family...his parents were killed by his brother, brutally. He couldn't place the parents,
for he remembered distictly that he was abandoned as a child. He had no parents, as far as he can remember. So, why a dream about
someone else's parents? And why were these people killed?
Why was he having these dreams? And why now?
The fact that it was a strange dream that involved nothing he recognized was interesting enough. But something else
tugged at the back of his mind. Somewhere, sometime, maybe, he did recognize the shifting figures his mind showed him. In the
darkness, he may be able to remember. These parents...maybe from a past life...Dais told him once that a person could have dreams
of a past life, and that he himself had had those kinds of dreams before. Cale paid no mind to them until now. First, the
creatures running around outside, now these strange dreams....
And Cale knew he had no brother.
None of this was making any sense.
Cale sat up in bed, covering his tanned face with strong hands against the rays of sunlight that had insisted on peeking
through the curtains at this hour. He yawned, stretching. His nose picked up the scent of omelettes cooking from downstairs,
and he knew the others could smell it too. He had better get there before the food was all gone.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, feet landing softly on the pale carpet. He walked slowly to his dresser,
pulling a shirt from its recesses. He pulled it over his head, still imagining himself eating two or three of those omelettes
he knew Dais could make so well. But before he could take another step towards the door leading out into the hall, his nose picked
up a different scent.
He smelled blood. Again.
Cale turned to the balcony, where the curtains swayed lazily in the soft breeze. He walked curiously out into the
morning sunrise, somewhat aware that he was still sensitive to the light. The rays pelted him all the could, but nothing happened.
Cale blinked, looking at his arm curiously. He touched it, feeling no pain course through his nerves like he knew it should have.
At five in the morning or so, he remembered distictly that the sun was strong enough to hurt him, but this time it did not. He
knew he should have had burns, or at least discomfort. Maybe he was beginning to get used to the light...
"No. I am protecting you..." a voice said from behind him.
Cale's ears perked and he whirled around, seeing a shadowed figure on his bed. It swung its leg, one over the other.
The figure gazed at him with glassy eyes, pale legs peeking out at him through the darkness. It tilted its head, its face
still well hidden behind a curtain Cale could not see through.
"Who....are you?! How did you get in here?" Cale growled.
It laughed. The figure was laughing at him! Not an evil laugh of mockery, but one of pure humor. It raised its elegant
hand, palm facing Cale, to cover its mouth. It stopped, that hand now covering its chest, palm to it. It blinked, deep pale
eyes glowing slightly.
Cale blinked in confusion. "Sage? Is that you...?"
It laughed again. That elegant, smooth laugh of his. Cale knew it had to be a man, he could tell. His nose smelled
blood on this figure. The same blood he smelled earlier. He persisted again.
"Sage? Is that you?"
"I ask you this, Warrior of Darkness. What smells of blood, but has none on him? What needs the darkness, but shares
the light? What one person has a murderer in his midst?"
Cale tilted his head. "I don't know, and I don't care. Go ask Dais riddles, and leave me alone!"
He turned away from the figure, walking back out into the sunlight that bathed the balcony. He took several deep breaths,
trying to clear his mind. He realized it might not have been such a good thing to leave that person unattended to roam the house.
Cale whirled back around, to almost run right into the figure. He could see him clearly now, without the protection and cover
of the darkness that covered his room. This person was not Sage, that was for sure.
With dark hair like his and pale, ice blue eyes, the figure stood about Cale's height, easily eye-to-eye with the ex-Warlord.
Cale blinked and backed up, preparing an attack in case the figure got violent.
The figure tilted his head again, a slight smile playing across his elegant features. Barely dressed in nothing but
white pajama pants, the figure walked up to Cale, placing his hand on Cale's shoulder.
"Do not be afraid. Why would I hurt you? I need you."
Cale cursed and tried to grab the figure's arm, but his hand passed right through it, a deep burning sensation filling
his hand. Cale droppped to his knees, clutching his hand protectively to his body. He gasped, feeling the sensation of burning
flesh cover his body. He refused to scream as a sizzling sound reached his ears. He scrambled from the opening to his room on
his hands and knees, the burning becoming unbearable. The figure remained in his way. Cale cursed at him.
"Why would I get out of the way for you? I told you. I need you. I will have you now."
Cale's eyes went wide as the figure grabbed his hair, pulling him up to a standing postition in front of him. The figure
pulled his head to the side, whispering delicately in Cale's ear.
"I am Shanti. Embrace the light. Embrace me..."
Sekhmet snorted for the third time in ten minutes. Anubis pushed a piece of omelette around his plate with his metal
fork, his chin resting on his other hand. Dais twirled his silvery, curled hair around one pale finger. Sekhmet looked at the
clock above them. It chimed seven in the morning.
"Where is he? Maybe he's still asleep..."
"No, he should've smelled my omelettes. He's never late for those."
"Maybe he's taking a shower."
Two voices answered. "We'd hear it."
"Oh yeah..."
Sekhmet stared at the wooden kitchen table. He counted all the weird lines in it. One, two, three...what comes after
three? Oh yeah....four, seven....twelve...
"Sekhmet!"
He looked up. "What?"
"Go upstairs and check on him." Anubis all but ordered.
Sekhmet pouted. "Why me?"
"Because you're the stupid one! I don't know! Just go and quit complaining..." Anubis rubbed his temples in emphasis.
Sekhmet huffed, getting up from his comfortable seat and trudged up the carpeted stairwell to his friend's bedroom.