Sword
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.