By Chustang Sundust
Chapter 4
"Petals of the Sakura Blossom; Part 1"
No magic. No magic. No magic…
Taking his cold fingers out of his green velvet blanket, the
lanky boy once again blinked brown eyes open to find the silent stars burning
over the balcony. He didn't move from his semi-fetal position, lying out
on his balcony with a green blanket curled around him, but only shivered,
arms wrapped tightly to find warmth in his own flesh. Breathing a curl
of smoky air, he turned amber-brown eyes to the gleaming presence beside
him. It shined cold moonlight along the sharp edge, taunting him as the
light caught in his eyes. Pausing, the boy looked around, then sat up,
allowing the velvet warmth fall from his frame.
Li reached for the hilt of the sword, and drew it up weakly
to traverse his lap. His eyes came to rest on the long weapon, his own
distraught face staring him back on its polished silver surface. Again,
words of casual cruelness clashed at his mind, tearing like ravenous wolves
at his innocence. Never again would he let them do that, to let them be
true in their mocks and taunts. He wouldn't see the subtle disappointment
becoming rising embers in his teacher's eyes. He would make sure of it,
even if it meant sinking to their level…
'Go find your teddy bear, poor Mangy Wolf. You know you don't
have magic any more Li, and you never will again. All the acting in the
world can't fix it, either…'
Damn you Audrey…
But despite all the curses and mental blockades he set up
in his mind, those cold, mocking gray eyes still haunted him to no end,
repeating smug words like a broken phonograph. Li couldn't escape what
he said, because it was true. Ever since he had become ill with pneumonia
and recovered, they had just been… gone. His magic, his lineage of such
fine honing, what had caused brilliant pride in his family, had just been
lost, forgotten to his body. The doctors said that his body was simply
too tired and burnt out to access his powers right then, and he would be
back to normal in a few weeks.
That's what they said three years ago.
Li staggered up, the heavy metal leaning against his side,
and sniffed sadly, still feeling the twinge of anger at Audrey's words
boil in his blood. Why was this happening to him? Couldn't he just keep
his magic and have a happy life? Thin and weary, the nine year old kept
the green velvet around him, holding the sword at his side, before wandering
back into his room.
Through matted bangs, his eyes fell once again to his sword,
the symbol of prestige that had haunted him viciously now for the three
years. Li settled himself at the edge of his bed, letting the blanket pool
around him, and clutched the blade gently in his fingers, finding his own
brown-eyed stare in it. He desperately wanted to know why he was being
tortured so, tossed time and again in the impish hands of fate, and yet,
he didn't. Li just wanted to sink back into his old existence, when his
only concern was living and continuing on.
Naiveness. That's what Audrey had mentioned once. That he
didn't know jack in the steel-faced cruelty of life, and that one day,
that if fate didn't deal him a justifiable hand, he would. He narrowed
his eyes, feeling a sting burning red at the edges of them, and angrily
clutched his hands.
Instantly he yelped, realizing he had cut himself on his own
sword. Then the presages of tears beckoned as he let the thing clatter
to the ground and protectively clench and press his hands to his chest,
wincing at the sting of his flesh wounds. The nine-year-old boy collapsed
back onto the bed, finding a warm, fetal position in his lavish green blanket.
He fell asleep to the echoes of taunts, still resounding in his mind.
He would do it… if only this would end…
After that day's training sessions, Li quickly adopted fresh clothes
and was sprinting down to the yard to tend to his chores. In a mystifying
flurry, the chickens found themselves drowning in bird feed and dazed as
to what had happened. He swept the yard, lit the outside lanterns for dirt
road as night began to fall, and tended to Meilin's brisk canary, which
promptly whistled hello to him, then quirked in curiosity as he changed
the water and food.
Once finished with his chores and presented with an hour of relaxation
before bed, the winded boy patiently waited in his room, reading, with
darting brown eyes flashing up to his teacher, waiting for him to enter
his room. He slowly traced his movements, and finally, when he heard the
door slide solidly shut, placed the thin, paperback book down, and skulked
out of the house, as dusk claimed the horizon. He tightened his jacket
around his body, clutching the warmth of a lantern to his chest, and silently
walked out of the yard. He trekked bravely into blackness. He would find
Audrey… he would do it.
"Don't turn back, Li," he said to himself, his breath clouding on
his skin. "Don't even look."
His fist, numbed by the nip of night, found the door of Audrey's
family. Shivering as he ventured his arms from the warmth of the lantern
he held, Li knocked three times. He bit his lip, taking a sharp breath,
and closed his eyes once, summing up the courage to ask for help he'd once
vowed to never resort to. With mortified brown eyes turned toward the dirt,
he heard the large wooden doors creak open, letting the light of the courtyard
spill out upon his face. A thin gray eye, partially hidden by black bangs,
peeked conceitedly down at him.
"Sorry, no beggars past 6," the ebony-haired rival purred
at him. Audrey narrowed his eyes at him, apparent of the grin on his face,
and began to shut the door. "Come back tomorrow and try again."
"Wait!" Li piped up, in his cute, but slightly raspy voice.
He pressed himself against the door, shoving it open. "I… I…--"
Audrey frowned down at him, letting the massive oak doors
swing fully open. He stood before the thin little frame topped with wind-disheveled
brown hair, and ignominy-filled brown eyes, in his black and blue robes,
and smiled. Slinging his arm around the nine-year-old's shoulder, he stared
him deep in too his eyes, making a sympathetic face. "Does little Li want
something?"
Li gulped, casting his eyes away. "Well, I--"
Audrey socked his shoulder, frustrated. "Spit it out runt,"
he growled. "I've got stuff to do, which unlike you, requires magical strength."
He bit his lip, still choking on such discreditable words.
The thin bundle of skin and bones was lost in his thick jacket, arms locked
around the convulsing shoulders, and with misty puppy eyes that haunted
behind concealing bangs, was perceptively wallowing in his own shame. Not
to mention the growing disappointment radiating in his entire family. Audrey
knew that even his preplanned fiancé hardly had the heart to watch
him fumble with the forgotten magic. After all, as a member of the rival
family of Li's, he had spied more than once.
Li forced himself to stare down, tears begging to stream,
with the words a burn at his throat.
"I…want magic Audrey!"
Through malicious black bangs, a sinister smile formed slowly.
His fingers came up in a snap. "It is done," he purred. "You want magic,
Li Showron, you've got it."
Li stepped back in apprehension. All of a sudden, he realized…
Audrey had…
…Black hair, gray eyes, dark robes that hung around his body
like sinister black bat wings, and that unfathomable black glint to his
eyes that, though hidden behind a façade of arrogance and acting,
was still there, dangerous in its silence…
"Black magic…"
"No!"
"Audrey… no!" The nine-year-old pleaded, brown eyes like total
fear blurred with tears, still beneath disheveled bangs. His hand went
up, shielding him weakly as the older rival snatched it like a twig and
forced an angry hold to keep him there. Malicious, Audrey met the frightened
brown eyes with a grin, and twisted his arm behind his back.
In a purring voice, he blew away a black bang with a puff
of breath and said, "But you said you wanted this… You want magic, don't
you Li?"
Tears ran freely down his face. He could feel Audrey's hand
dig like death's hand itself, trying to tear away his soul, if only it
would cause him pain for Audrey to enjoy. "No," he screamed. "I take it
back! I take it back Audrey!"
"Oh, it's too late now."
Again, amongst the white-hot pains, he screamed in dream.
Tears.
Pain.
And that damn light.
Audrey brought it out from his pocket, and in the moonlight
it seemed harmless enough. A little round thing that could have been an
ornament that had nothing inside of it except for a few ashes. He brought
it to his lips, whispered something, and drew back his arm.
Li staggered back, feet slipping on the slightly damp earth
and sending dirt flying at his heels, and he tripped on his feet, crawling
madly back up. Adrenaline burned his veins and he only heard sodden earth
slipping beneath him. Then the orb came slashing down, just as he was recovering
himself, and seemed to pass straight into Li's back and burn into the sinew
of his chest.
"Audrey! Stop!"
Li came up, coughing violently. His shoulders racked, and as
the pain died down, he reached up to his face, which was warm with blood.
The eight-year-old's fingers came away from his lips stained red, and his
face screwed up in pain and fear. His amber-brown eyes instantly flashed
to his rival, who held up his hand ominously, with a dark glow growing
in his palm.
"Fight." Audrey's voice was deep and lacking all mischievous
tone.
"But… you know I don't have any magic," Li said, narrowing
his eyes through tears. The shivering frame began to scoot back through
the mud and grass. He bit his lip sharply, tasting blood again, and staggered
up.
Audrey's face lit up as a spark of fire materialized and grew,
glittering with magic, until it was a blaze contained in the reaches of
his fingers.
"You do too. I gave it to you," he purred, gray eyes narrowing
under black bangs.
Li sucked in the pain, as he felt the burn from that orb flicker
and inflame a dark feeling along his veins. Audrey's black magic. "It's
not my magic… It's black. All of it! It's evil, isn't it Audrey?" Li asked
defiantly, fire burning in his eyes as well as Audrey's palm.
"No! Really? I thought it was just fine," Audrey played with
him, but with less of a mocking voice and a deadly tone wrapped around
it. The boy lifted his hand, the flame casting heat out far enough for
Li to feel the tips of his fingers start to burn. He lifted his smile up
in a smirk one last time. "Goodnight."
Suddenly the flame pounced from Audrey's palm like a tiger
from brush and instinctively the eight-year old lifted his hands up to
shield himself. Cringing back with fear and courage conflicting in his
mind, he braced his foot into the mud, closing his eyes. Li just felt anger
at Audrey, seeing that smirk on his face as he shot the flame at him.
He squirmed in his sleep, desperately trying to break free of
the dream. He knew what came next.
Li opened his eyes, feeling the hot roar suddenly leave, to
see the arch of flame race over Audrey's head, barely missing it. It continued
on its path over the high stone fence and landed with an eruption of spewing
flames in the roof of Audrey's home. Audrey swore heavily, screaming out
into the night. His dangerous gray eyes locked on Li, like a death glare
shot straight through his heart. It promised sweet revenge in that fleeting
second that the black magician paused before racing through the doors and
up the stone path up to his flaming house.
The shivering boy stood in simultaneously scorched and wet
clothes. His shocked eyes slowly drifted down to his hands, still in muteness
over how the fire had been redirected. As his innocent brown eyes adjusted
to the night, he noticed a glow, faint but still there, around his fingers.
He did have magic…
But it was all Audrey's…
Li turned, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes, and
sprinted madly through bushes and dirt. He continually was tripping and
scraping his knees on stones and twigs but keep running nevertheless. The
eight-year-old felt night come down on his back, as cold as death itself.
His teeth chattered as he ran back toward his house.
Then, he stopped cold in his tracks. His legs wanted to buckle
out at that sound, but his eyes wandered back against his will.
The entire roof of Audrey's house collapsed in a dizzying
spray of sparks, flames and ashes.
"Li?"
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Author's Notes
Man… I really did take a while on that one. And I lied! I feel
so bad… Hmm, I guess some GW mp3s and pocky will cheer me up. Homemade,
crappy-American/Chustang version pocky I mean… You know how hard it is
to get pocky? The lunch ladies look at you funny when you ask for food
that sounds like hockey to them… -_-; Anyway, I know I said it would be
one last chapter, but my mum is going kick me off soon so I thought post
it quick.
