Disclaimer: I don't own any ccs characters. :( They all belong to CLAMP.
The Great one - I'm using your idea of Eriol being good with guns..I already had Tomoyo being good with knives....thanx
Tomoyo sighed. She wanted to see what Eli was capable of by himself, so she decided not to return to the Underground for a while. Elite social life was suffocating her; there were so many rules, and all day, everyday was preparation for a party. Tomoyo had trouble believing that she had once enjoyed this life. Blasphemy. The shear fakeness of it all made Tomoyo want to jump up and scream, but she couldn't because a good, young, unattached Elite woman needed to be demure. Her Elite friends often invited her over and as usual, she went to some and declined others. They could see that Tomoyo was different from them, more detached, more idealistic. Sometimes, she could almost feel the resentment coming from them.
After two weeks of living like this, Tomoyo was about ready to snap. She needed a dose of reality, real reality. It was time to go to the Underground.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Phoenix had not given him any instructions, but he had a hunch that she wanted him to try and do something anyways. Eriol decided to try to find out who the men were employed by. Listening to the conversations between the two men, Eriol decided that the large one was the stupid one. In the Underground, where survival of the fittest was completely true, Eriol wondered why the large one hadn't been ditched by his over-active sidekick.
One night, Eriol stayed until the Jester was almost ready to close. He hid behind a pile of boxes, waiting for the last customer to leave. The lights went out completely. A flickering of light from one window caught Eriol's eye. He cautiously looked into the window. Sure enough, there were the two men. The light was flickering because they were using an oil lamp. A device so rarely used that Eriol had only seen pictures of them.
The men looked like they were waiting for someone. The little one moved around, talking to his partner. Eriol wished he could read lips, so he could tell what they were saying. Someone walked up. It was a man. He stood there for a moment, his face was not visible. Then he sat down. The light of the lamp made it difficult to see the face, but Eriol recognized him. Spiral.
What would a bartender be doing, hiring spies too look after Phoenix? he wondered. Now he really wished he could read lips. He quickly walked away. There was probably nothing more he could find out and staying any longer would probably put him in danger. Now that he was pretty sure who was behind the spies, what could he do? What would the bartender possible want with Phoenix? Eriol chewed on these thoughts until he got home, where his mother immediately besieged him with questions. He answered them vaguely, then pleading fatigue, he went to bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Spiral had thought long and hard about his next move. He had no way of knowing the next time Phoenix would show up, so he had to think quick. He told the Shrimp and Guy that the next time Eli got close with Phoenix. Wait and see what Phoenix's reaction was and then come tell him. That was the only thing he could think of to do.
His headaches were turning worse. He couldn't concentrate as easily. If his health problems continued, he would be in trouble; in his years in the Underground, Spiral had made many enemies who would jump at the chance to kill him. He didn't even think that maybe someone had already gotten to him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonomi wanted to make sure Tomoyo had no clue what she was really up to...so she "accidentally" told her daughter that she was planning her 19th birthday party. Sonomi congratulated herself for thinking up such a brilliant white lie.
She was planning Tomoyo's birthday, but she had started months ago and was finished with that. Now she was planning her wedding. Sonomi had learned that Tomoyo was very sensitive to the issue and upon discussion with Edith Hiragizawa, she discovered that Eriol too, was not particularly receptive.
The two women decided that the best way to handle the situation was to not let either of them know. They had already settled on a date. One week after Tomoyo's birthday, little more than five months away. The details were still in the works.
Betrothals were still common among the Elite. When she was young, almost everyone was betrothed. Her case, choosing her own husband, was unusual at the time and when they had separated, her parents said it was because she had poor judgment. They had almost disowned her. That was five years ago.
Tomoyo had grown so reclusive since then. Sonomi didn't know her daughter's schedule, but she did know that Tomoyo went out during the day a lot. She often wondered what Tomoyo did in the mornings, but never asked. She did know that Tomoyo had taken hand-to-hand combat classes for a while, what for though, Sonomi would never be able to guess.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Guy and Shrimp left the Jester. Guy could see visible effects of fatigue on Spiral's face. He knew exactly what was going on with Spiral. Shrimp had no clue. Guy didn't think Shrimp even noticed Spiral's appearance.
Years ago, Spiral had been responsible for the death of Shrimp's parents and his older brother, Cari. Guy and Cari were friends and Cari had made Guy promise that he would take care of Shrimp for him. Guy swore to avenge Cari's death.
No doubt, Spiral remembered the killing, but he did not know that Guy had been there too, hidden away in a dumpster, watching, horrified at the murder of his best friends. Since then, Guy had waited patiently for a chance to get him. He secretly delighted when Spiral walked up to him and hired him. Guy dared not tell Shrimp what was going on. If Shrimp knew, he would tell accidentally. Shrimp wasn't too bright.
Guy bought a poison. He was looking for one that would cause a slow painful death for Spiral. Guy was enjoying watching Spiral die. Sometimes, he just wanted to jump up and kill him right off, but his more sensible side took over and he always decided that watching Spiral die would be much more fun if it were spread over a long period of time.
Spiral had given them instructions to kill Phoenix and Eli if necessary. Guy didn't like that. He was always a sucker for love and he could see that Eli simply worshiped the ground Phoenix walked on. Come to think of it, Spiral did too, but Spiral was taking his worship to the point of fanatical obsession.
At least he would be dying soon.
a/n: I know, i know, Cari was a dumb name, but since I'm most likely not using him again....
...any ideas on how the story should go?