Jade Tears

by angelicremains

Shadowrun-In a world of technology in the year 2040, megacorps rule, magic and cybertech mix, an elf named Aurora Adonai Runs the night to build her life into an alter to her horrifying past, her painful present, and her uncertain future.

4. Shadow Play

Jade Tears
Part 4: Shadow Play

The next day ran like most of my days had run for the past few months. I called Nat and faked like everything was okay and I would be fine by myself. I didn't need her to baby-sit Lucia for me so I could go on a night on the town. Her daughters, Mackenzie and Sasha, scared me and I didn't want Lucia anywhere near them. Lucia would stay home with me. She wasn't old enough by legal standards to put into a pre-school. She was only two months old, and she had the look and intelligence of a five-year-old. So I stayed with her and played simple games. One of her favorites, which scared the crap out of me, was a card game.

I'd hold up a card with a picture for her and she would tell me what the picture was on the other side. The picture was on the side facing away from her. She had no way of seeing it. I held up a card with a fork on it. She tilted her head at me, smiling with those adorable dimpled cheeks of hers.

"You eat with it mommy." She said happily. She shook her head and wrinkled her nose at me still smiling. She laughed at me as if she expected me to know what was on the other side, since it was facing me and I was looking right at it. It felt weird to be outsmarted by a kid.

My eyes went wide and I flipped to the next card nervously like I always did. This one was of a car.

Her dark emerald eyes scanned it for a second. "Auntie Nattie has one..a shee-den!" I put the card down..she even named the type of car it was. This went on for about an hour. She got ALL of them right. She didn't miss any of them. Next was to watch the trid with her. First morning cartoons, then she'd switch it to the afternoon Action flicks. She loved the Action Channel. I tried to get her to stop watching that and watch something more suited for children. I'd pick up the controller and change the signal to cartoons. But she always grabbed it and changed it back after I got distracted, or dozed off in the middle of it. Then when I'd get mad, she'd flash those puppy dog eyes at me. That was the surrendering point. She'd get to watch her movies.

A man doing some sort of karate flipped across the screen, shouting and yelling as he went. Lucia pointed and sang gleefully, "It's like daddy!!! Daddy better though..hehehehe" That made me afraid of just what Phantom had been teaching her before he… left. I got up to make lunch. I had to busy myself with something or risk breaking down then and there. I blessed Nat for all the energy she possessed to raise as many children as she had.

Later, after more card games, playing with toys, and several hours of watching the most corny karate movies I'd ever seen, I'd have to make more food for her. She ate like a trash compacter. She was hungry almost every thirty minutes. I accounted it to her high metabolism. After all, she'd grown so fast, all of her baby clothes didn't fit. She was reduced to wearing MY clothes. She slept a lot too. When she slept, she'd sleep for hours at a time. Nothing could wake her up. A pattern I had noticed in Phantom as well. I called Neo and asked him about the Awakened. I knew in my gut that Lucia was one of the Awakened, the magically active, even before I had her tested for it. I figured as an Awakened himself, Neo could give me a picture of what exactly was going to happen when she hit puberty, ..and of how I should handle it.

He told me that around age twelve, which would probably be within a few months for her, she would manifest powers. The key to raising her would be to teach her control, and to exert tolerance. He said the most important thing would be to love her just like always. That was simple, I loved her more than life itself, even when it hurt to look at her and see Phantom reflected in her features. As for the nature of her powers? He said I would just have to wait and see what happens.

Lucia was finally asleep. One of her many naps during the day. I took this time to go through all of Phantom's things. I had to know more about this Kazuya. We had failed at trying to kill him on a wetworks Run, and now this dream I had. The dream told me he was more than just a routine hit. He was something more to Phantom's life, and the mystery of his past. If I've learned anything from running the shadows, it was that there was more to this guy then there seemed. In a black bag, I found a small photo of the man. He was distinctly Japanese, just like I remember him from Phantom's inherited memories. He had dark eyes that hid the inner workings of his mind from the rest of the world. Just by looking at the photo, I could not see past them, only I could tell that there was something wicked about them. The déjà vu continued as I flipped the picture over and looked at the date. I couldn't believe it. It read 2042. That was twenty years ago! And yet, he looked the same…he carried that same cold visage.

I rummaged around, even more determined to find the smallest bit of info on this …Kazuya. I threw aside old newspapers and ripped through old business magazines. Finally, after half an hour of digging through old papers and documents, I found a magazine with Kazuya on the cover. Business Men of the UCAS. Some dumb reporter, who was probably dead now, had gotten right up in his face and snapped a picture of him just as he was getting out of a limousine. I stared at the photo intently. This was the face of the man that had sculpted him. Why did I feel he was like David? Sculpting people like they were lifeless puppets.

I stared at the picture again, into the eyes. There was something strange about them, moreso than the other picture. And it wasn't just a trick of the lighting. They had a reddish glow to them. I remember the demonic vision in the dream. The violet glow of his skin and the red, evil eyes. The photo seemed to capture the anger which released that energy. In the center of his forehead in the photo, there was a faint red diamond. So faint it was probably considered just a blotch in the production. The third eye. I remembered it well from the dream. I looked at the date to the picture. March 6, 2060. It was a recent picture, and yet he still looked the same. He hadn't aged a bit. I stared at the picture for an eternity trying to decipher the mysteries of this man,…of this monster. The papers I'd ripped out were thrown all over the room, all over the table, all over the couch. I barely noticed when Lucia approached me from her room.

"Mommy.." She stared at all the loose papers and looked down at me sitting Indian style in the middle of them all, "You made a big mess." She cocked her head at me, trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

"Not right now, sweety…" My gaze remained locked with the picture of Kazuya Mishima. "…Mommy's going mentally insane."

At dinnertime, the table was spread with as much information I could find about the Mishima Corporation. The files the Johnson had given us on the main building here in Seattle, the orders for stocks in the business magazines, the records of decreases and increases in shares, corporate mergers, company allies, company enemies. Renraku was on that list. Everything, no matter how insignificant, was spread out in an orderly fashion. Kazuya's picture was nailed to the table with a kitchen knife. I scanned from one to another, hoping my eyes would pick up some clue to make a connection. Obviously they did more than just make mainstream appliances. They were a megacorp, they had their thumbs in every pie possible, from military contracting to weapons...the words human weapons echoed through my mind. I stared from one item to the next, trying to piece the grand scheme together. I finally banged my forehead against the table and let it rest there. Things seemed so hopeless.

Lucia sat across from me eating the salad I had made her for dinner. She watched me curiously with her round emerald eyes. "Mommy?" She asked suddenly. A few moments of silence later, I responded.

"Yes?"

"Are we rabbits? We have big ears and we eat lettuce all the time." She blinked at me, seriously concerned by the question of if we were rabbits or not. I sighed and answered her with the patience only a mother could have.

I'd seen a rabbit in a book before when I was small. I think I maybe ate one in a Japanese restaurant…but it was probably more soy than rabbit.
"No, sweety, we're not rabbits. Eh, we're… Elves."

"Oh! ..ok." She bobbed her head, happily relieved, and returned to eating.

Later, I snuck away from watching movies with her and dug through the memory in my pocket secretary. I had to have his name somewhere. I sighed in relief when I did find it. I still had an old chummer's number, Oberon. He introduced me and Nat to the biz a few years back. I didn't know whether to thank him or strangle him next time I saw him. I grabbed the comm and dialed his number hurriedly. He had to know something about Kazuya. From what I knew about him, he was the son of Tokishada Oshino, the leader of one of the prominent Yakuza families. The members of the family didn't like the fact that the role of Oyabun was going to pass to an elf. They were primarly ran by normal humans and having Oshino bring in an elf successor upset a lot of 'human' purists within the group. So, instead of making him his successor, Tokishada made Oberon his personal assassin, investing several million nuyen into his son's 'upgrade'. He used him as a hitman for opposing lords and to wipe out any competition that entered into their family's territory. We met him on one of his routine wipes. He almost killed me and Nat, but he saw the potential we had, as patsies or pawns… you pick one, and hooked us up with his father and to the world of the Shadows, the corporate in-betweens where we could make some real money in our stagnant lives. He was the one that got us cybered as well.

I choked back the knot of nervousness that caught in my throat when he answered with a gruff, "Hoi?"

"Hey, Obie, it's me." Only I could call him that without losing a limb. He told me I could because I was 'pretty' and 'pretty ladies could call him whatever they wanted'.

"Aurora Adonai???" There was a short pause. "HAHA…isn't it a pleasure to hear your voice again! You're not dead!! You ever going to take me up on that date? Bet you haven't found a real man yet." Which was funny to hear from him because he hardly had any flesh left in his body, he was so heavily Wired.

"This isn't a social call, Oberon-san, wakarimasu?" I switched to Japanese to make it easier for both of us to talk. Our first language was Japanese, even though I was a bit rusty of late. And he sounded like such a hick when he talked in English, it almost made me laugh. He spoke sharply and appropriately in Japanese, his deep-throated voice ringing in my ears. I asked him about Kazuya Mishima. There was an extended moment of silence that unnerved me before he finally answered.

"You do not want to mess with this man, Aurora. The last Runners who tried to hit him did not have so much luck." I twinged at that. We were those unfortunate idiots who tried to hit him last. He continued. "I worked for him on a couple of jobs to show the Mishima that the Oshino are ally to them. He's a major asshole despite being one of the more dangerous Yakuza lords in the area. The Oshino give him his space and their respect. He has been a part of the Yakuza for many years, even longer than my father. He disappeared for a period of years and then returned. I do not know much more about him than that."

"Hm…but I can tell you one thing. He certainly likes his hookers."

Leave it to Oberon to twist the conversation just when he was getting to the more important issues. I sighed and rolled my eyes. At least my information was confirmed.

"Thanks, Obie." I returned back to English. "You've been a big help." Not really, but I had to say something to him.

"Hey, why don't you stop by the Lysastrata anymore? I been there recently and they said you quit. Don't hide that sexy Elven bod of yours from the world. We need some publicity."

"I'm sorry, Obie, I don't have much time to talk about it. A lot's been going on. I can't explain it right now. Sayonara." I quickly said goodbye and hung up the comm.

I walked back over to the couch. Lucia was asleep. There was no waking her up for a good long while. I picked her up, took her to her room, and tucked her in. She didn't even move. I wished I could achieve that kind of deep sleep. With the couch now clear, I sprawled out over it and stared at the papers spread over the coffee table. Mishima. Mishima Inc. Mishima Corporation. Kazuya Mishima. The Yakuza. Instead of achieving the grand epiphany that I thought would strike while I was sitting there concentrating, I dozed off to sleep.

I was having so many dreams lately. I never used to dream. Before my mind had always been solemn, silent,… empty. But now memories and dreams intermingled in messages I knew my mind was trying to send to me.

We had failed the hit miserably. Worse than failing, we had lost a member of the team. We had lost Rav, the Orc who had tried to save me from David back at the NAN. He was almost a friend, and I knew the poor guy had a crush on me. It was so rare to find a Runner who was innocent like he seemed. I guess, in the end, that is what killed him.

Things had gone routinely. We snuck in the ventilation system. But somehow we got separated. Things collapsed from there. We barely managed to escape the security teams and infiltrate the top levels. Worse than that …I almost lost the baby. Earlier that same day, the doctor had finally confirmed it. I got stuck on the receiving end of a large drone's handblade. The mechanical monstrosity had slashed open my lower belly. It wasn't deep enough to kill me, but it was deep enough to cause a lot of blood loss. I thank god and Neo to this day for having his healing hands there. He stopped the bleeding long enough for me to live through the whole terrible experience. Every experience seemed to be terrible of late. We made it to the top floor with the luck of a retinal scan. That's when I first laid my eyes on the man that plagued my thoughts now. Kazuya Mishima.

Through over one hundred floors, we'd finally reached the top. Kazuya was there in the back-center of the vast stretch of office, staring out the window at the infernal city lights. He seemed content, like he owned the world. He had black hair that was slicked back and then feathered up the back of his head. In his reflection in the window, I could see he had piercing black eyes and high arched eyebrows. He was Japanese, of course. The lights were dimmed so it was too easy to sneak up around his flank using the shadows of his office. Neo stayed back as Rav prepped his smartlink and activated his laser-guided shot. The tiny red beam locked on with the back of Kazuya's head and I heard the faint click of the trigger as Rav fired. A blue field sparked to life around his form. My eyes went wide with shock. We were busted. The gun had triggered an automated defense system. Alarms rang all around us and I was certain that the door locked behind us as well. We were trapped. We were dead. We were meat. Kazuya whipped around and noticed me flanking him. He shot towards me with red anger glowing in his eyes. Before I could react, he had me up in the air over his head, my body supported by just one arm. Then he slammed me down and I tasted the bitter tile floor.

I couldn't see straight for a few seconds. My body wouldn't respond, it was embedded into the floor. I forced myself to drag my heavy limbs into a standing position. The others weren't fairing so well. Kazuya moved lightening fast as he dispatched us, one after the other. With a kick here, a twisting punch there. He seemed to enjoy the sport. I knew he had to be very well trained in martial arts. Two Samurai and one mage couldn't take him. Wizkid's voice sparked to life in my head. He was the decker-boy who had helped us hack through their security. His voice cracked up over the signal. He had run into some Black IC, a hacker countermeasure.

"I got… an elevator up there. …Pull out!" The kid sounded exhausted. The IC had done a number on him. I didn't waste the time arguing with him. I yanked on Neo, who was just recovering from his beating. I yelled at Rav to get the hell out. But he looked at me and shouted, "Get outta here!" I stared at him for a split second. He was stark raving mad to stay, but I didn't argue. I dragged Neo out and we fled to the safety of the elevator. It was some type of external business elevator that led all the way to the bottom. Soon as it hit bottom, the van, driven by a fatigued Wizkid, was waiting for us to make a quick escape. I helped Neo to the van as swiftly as I could. We helped each other, we were both beat up and about to pass out. We looked up just in time to see his body hit the ground a few feet away from us.

We stared in shock for what seemed like an endless moment. The body was barely recognizable. It had crushed when it hit the pavement, but I recognized the dragon tattooed on what was probably his torso. The bastard had tossed Rav out of the top floor window. I cursed to myself as the wound in my stomach ached, reminding me that we had to leave or die. We fled in the van. I sat there bleeding. The wound had reopened from the exertion. Nat had escaped through the front of the building.

I wasn't in the best of moods when I got home that night. The landlord would probably be pissed about the bloodstains in the rug. At that point in time, I didn't give a shit. I dragged myself back to our apartment and nearly broke down the door calling for Phantom. He caught me as I stumbled in the doorway and picked me off my feet. I know I probably scared him then. It would have scared him more if he had known I was pregnant when that happened. He put me to bed and did the laying on of hands that he used to heal. I breathed a sigh of relief and embraced him. He was too tense to take the news, so I decided to wait to tell him I was pregnant till the next day, there were better things to do so we could BOTH relax.

Why did the best sex always come after a healing? Oh well, no complaints here. I would face the world tomorrow, right then, all that mattered was that I was alive and I could be in his arms again. Shadowrunning was becoming less and less appealing as the jobs began to hack away at the years of my life. Tomorrow would be another day.

My mind was anxious. I knew what was coming next. My dreaming memories continued.

Things only went from bad to worse when tomorrow finally came. Our Johnson contacted us. He was not pleased. The failed hit was turning into something sour. He called us all to meet at a bar. Things were definitely not good.

What was worse was that Phantom had to leave on a mission. He wouldn't tell me what it was about. I sat across from him as he cooked breakfast for us. I could never cook. All I knew how to do was make a salad. He'd taken the news of the pregnancy well. I'd told him when we first woke up. He seemed happy, and yet worried all at the same time. It was as if he wasn't quite sure what the concept of a child meant, whether it was something to fear or to welcome. I watched him closely as he concentrated on making some eggs, his white eyes and his almost-elven face. I tilted my head at him. A ninja that could cook..hehe..funny. I put my hand on my chin and loosened the white bathrobe I wore just a little bit, showing some cleavage. He stayed concentrating on the eggs. I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs. He was soo clueless sometimes! I had to get his attention somehow and the last resort was always the hair. I reached out and started pulling on a spikey tendril of black hair above his left ear. He shifted his eyes from the eggs and then to me..to the eggs…and then back to me again. I put a fingertip on his chin.

"You really are clueless sometimes, you know that?" We still had a little time left over before he had to leave on his mission, and we both knew it. He just couldn't leave without giving me something to remember him by. He smiled at me, that cute uneven smile and held up an egg.

"Uh…scrambled or..." He cleared his throat. "...sunny-side up?"

I laughed softly at him and ran my hand slowly down his arm.

"Sunny side up…" I broke the egg for him with a tap of my finger.

"Okay…!" He dropped the egg, shell and all, into the pan and circled around the counter, finally getting the message. We made love right then and there on the white tiles of the kitchen counter.

I miss times like this…stupid times, the simple things. Where I could just be a stupid, silly girl who could make out with her boyfriend. We were normal, we could love without getting caught up in a drama of life and death.

I sat at the kitchen table watching him pull out all of his equipment. It was almost time for him to leave. He donned himself in the dark stealth armor that was becoming so familiar to me. His weapons were laid out on the table in front of me. His Government-Issue Katana, a wakasashi, a belt packed with various bombs and supplies, a row of shuriken. I tried not to doubt his ability, I know he doubted mine whenever I went off on a Run. But I knew he had his motives for whatever he did, so I let him go. I couldn't stop him, and I didn't want to. Every mission was his choice. They fulfilled whatever hidden fire of hatred I saw burning within his eyes.

Finally he was prepared and it was time to go. I sighed and walked beside him to the front door. I wished I could go with him,… hate what he hates. I wanted to be there to fight with him. But he wanted to do it alone, and I had my own business to attend to. He held both my hands in his as we stood not wanting to leave for a brief moment at the door. I sighed again. I hated to say goodbye, I was never any good at it.

"You kick some ass for me, okay?" I took my hands away from Phantom's and pulled down his mask. I gave him a kiss on the lips. Something to remember me by. He closed his eyes as he corrected his mask, his mission set before him. Then he turned and left. Now it was my time to take care of business.

The Johnson slammed a paper down in front of our faces when we went to meet him at the bar. The paper had our profiles on it, as well as a markup of the attempted assassination of Kazuya. We were fragged unless we completed the hit on him that same day. We had to hit him before he had a chance to authorize his public statement to release the article and screw us all over. The Johnson threw the information at us. It was our last chance, to save our own asses and get paid. Kazuya had moved from the city to a mansion out on the border of Seattle. It was private property. Less chance for mistakes, less chance for witnesses.

A new Runner joined us for the fun. His real name was Nathaniel, I can't remember his Running name. Richard recommended him to us. He was definitely a newbie. I didn't feel like breaking in a newbie, but we needed the people, and he was definitely Wired. He had some heavy artillery that would be most welcome.

We took two hours to drive out in freezing cold weather to find his mansion. By the time we neared the property's parameter it was nightfall. We stopped a couple miles out and prepared to walk on foot. Simply driving up in a big Sedan would have been a bit noticeable. We stood outside prepping our equipment and freezing our asses. All I had was a trench coat, what good that was. Nat was safe though, she had some nice new armor her behemoth had bought her for Christmas, or her birthday, or something. It kept her nice and warm. She loaned me some of her older thermal armor. Finally we were ready. We prepared to move out.

But something stopped us. They were all around, those bobbing lights. They moved between the trees and tightened around us. I held my submac at the ready, struggling to maintain steadiness against the adrenaline that made my hands twitch. My vision flashed red and green between thermographic and night vision. It had to be those figures from before, from the NAN. I could just barely make them out. I stepped back towards the Sedan, tightening the area of cover to jump behind.

"We meet again." His voice made me freeze. It made all the fear and anger within me boil up to the surface by the mere sound of it. David crouched on the roof of the Sedan as if he'd been sitting there all along, watching us. I spun around and leveled the gun at him, backing up a few steps.

"David!" I whispered the name to reassure myself he wasn't a figment of my imagination.

"In the flesh…" He casually tossed his head, the black side of his face gleaming with darkened metallic flesh and wire. The figures in the forests stopped in their positions. My eyes remained on him. He was a repeating nightmare. One that my mind was slowly beginning to recognize as real. He held up his hand and the mechanical creatures stopped. They stood around us hungrily, their glowing eyes piercing the darkness. I looked around for Nat. I couldn't find her. She had hidden somewhere. David looked around for her too. He knew she was there. "Come out, Natalie. Daddy's home…"

Stay hidden. Stay hidden,Nat!! It was all I could think. All I could do was stare dumbly at him and pray to god that Nat stayed hidden. I don't know what kept me from unloading the whole goddamned clip into him. All my prayers went unanswered. Nat crawled out from underneath the Sedan. Her face was a frozen mask of horror and surprise. She must have had to see his face for herself. We had both dismissed it as a nightmare, or at least tried to. But there he was and there we were. I leveled the gun at him, but I didn't fire. If he died, the drones, or whatever they were, would flood in. He was the only thing keeping them at bay. My finger twitched against the trigger. Sweat poured down my forehead. I couldn't take it!! It was too much!!! I ached to mow him down, to put an end to his smiling façade. My hatred made me burn so much that I couldn't feel the cold of the blizzard that sent delicate flakes of ice into my eyes. Natalie walked towards him and I stepped forward. David looked at me and made me freeze in my tracks with a flash of his eyes. One move and we would all die. Just one move. I ground my teeth together and glared back at him. I bared my fangs and horns and snarled at him like a beast. It was all I could do. He walked up to Natalie and stroked her face. She stared at him dumbfounded, as I had been when I first saw him again. I could see it in her eyes. She had reverted back to the way we used to be, privy to his every whim.

"Hi, daddy." Her robotic response followed. I clenched my eyes shut. Hot tears burned into my cheeks. I couldn't watch this. I couldn't stop it. There was the slam of a car door and I stood there frozen in place for what seemed like an eternity. When I opened them again, she was leaned against the car biting her lip and rocking like a small child. It was her mechanism when we used to live at the Home with him. She'd turn into a small, naïve child.

"You were always my favorite." He spoke to Natalie, as if I was the other preteen who should be jealous of his attention. David had a satisfied look on his face. He was satisfied that he still possessed power. Again it took all my nerves not to unload my submac into him, to strip him of that smile. He looked at me with his cold eyes, a glint of triumph in them.

My own harsh voice hissed through my clenched fangs, "I'll kill you again, I swear it." David looked almost hurt at that remark. He stopped smiling. No remarks, no gestures, until he finally asked a question.

"Why?"

I stared at him, shocked. I wasn't expecting that. I lowered my gun and watched him carefully.

"Why did you do it in the first place?"

I was silent for a few moments, my eyes blazing with furious turmoil. He had the gall to ask me that??? It was sickening. It was frustrating…It…it made me laugh. My laughter echoed high among the treetops. It was an evil laughter, insane, one that would have scared me had I been in the right state of mind. I laughed till my eyes watered and I was almost out of breath.

"You never asked…" My own voice cracked with the wrath infused into it, "You never asked…" You took, you took without asking. You stole without remorse. "You deserve every stab I gave you with that blade." Like a thief in the night.

David was silent. He stared back at me, his face unreadable, but still devoid of that sneer. He turned away from me and started to walk off. As he walked, he raised his black palm into the air.

"Kill them…"
I unloaded the whole clip at him, craving the noise that would come when his body hit the ground. But it never came. In a blink he was gone and the shadowy figures that were hiding just beyond the trees' edge swarmed in upon us. I dove past them and into the cover of the foliage. The group scattered chaotically. Gunfire erupted from the newbie. I saw the flash of mana spells in the night. Neo unleashed his magical arsenal into the area. I saw him hug back against the now overturned Sedan. Natalie had hid again, but I knew for sure that she was popping them from a distance with some type of weapon. I rushed into the fray, sword drawn. It was too chaotic to use the submachine gun. I risked hitting the others. This way I could get a clean hit and… I craved blood. A bullet wouldn't do. I wanted blood if the bastards could bleed; I wanted fear if they could feel it. It wasn't his, but it would do. I spotted one of them within reach. In a flash I was upon him. I was greeted with sparks and not blood where my blade scraped a gouge into his…its… back. I lunged again and tore at where I thought the spine would be. The creature fell to the ground twitching in robotic agony. I stabbed down again, aiming for the node on its face. It's light was finally extinguished.

I rushed in once more, gunfire roared in my ears. I didn't even feel it when a bullet went clean through my ear and nailed one of the figures in the face. I kept charging in, the rush of battle overwhelming me. My anger fueled me. I screamed with it, flowed with it and let it fly with the katana that became a part of my flesh. My body whirled in a dance of chaotic sweeps. There was no skill to it, only a deadly rage, and the urge to kill. Anything dark that had a node I tore into without thought. I only came back to my senses when I saw the newbie's body fly across my peripheral vision and slam into the bottom of the Sedan. Nathaniel lay limp. He was a sitting duck. He was just a kid. I moved to go pick him up and drag him out of the fray. A blow to my face stopped me before I could get to him.

They had appeared just out of thin air, like spirits. Their dark bodies were different than the others. One was purple and the other four were dark crimson. I spun around with the sword in an effort to keep them away. They had pinned me in a tight circle. I growled in frustration and looked from one to the other. I kick to the ribs doubled me over immediately. It was like getting hit by a bullet train. I could hardly manage the curse word that sputtered out when I hacked red blood onto the perfectly white snow. I got back up, standing uneasily. Several blows hammered into me from the back, the front and both sides. All sides. My ribs cracked on the left, my arm broke on the right. I didn't have time to scream, only to recoil as my body was beaten. The bitter taste in my mouth told me I probably had a crushed liver. My mind hadn't registered the pain yet, it was all happening too fast. It just hadn't caught up yet. Even as I tried to fall, my body was delayed from its rest on the ground by ever more blows. I could hear the bones cracking but I didn't know they were mine. One of them caught me by the neck and the beating finally ceased. I opened my eyes just in time to see the burning blue blade pierce my chest. Everything stopped in that instant. The empty, soulless light of the node burned bright in my fading vision. There was no emotion in it. It wasn't the face I wanted to see when I died. Another grain of time fell and the energy blade slowly withdrew, my body finally allowed to fall and meet the snow-covered earth. I remember the pure white of it. The cold. Snowflakes fluttered around my eyes and landed in the growing pools of crimson that stained the ground. It wasn't over yet. I couldn't believe it even as my vision reddened with blood. I had so much to do. I wasn't done yet. I couldn't smile at death this time like I could have just a few months ago. What little I had was so much. I gripped on the last strings of ebbing life like a predator; I hungered for it as it left me.

Phantom would be so furious. I couldn't take care of my own business.

Those were my last thoughts when my breath left me without permission. The white of the snow flooded my vision and I fell into the earth, into a great darkness.

There was nothing for a few long vague moments. Until a light zig-zagged back and forth across my vision. It was a paramedic's flashlight.

"Hey buddy, are you alright?!"

The light faded and the vision was gone. My mind couldn't hold onto it. I slipped again into the void.

"Mommy? Mommy??" It was a child's voice. Then I didn't know it was Lucia's because she hadn't been born yet, I just had the feeling that it was my child's voice. "Wake up! Wake up!"

I fell again, my mind plummeting. It stopped when I heard another voice.

"Aurora???"

"Keiji…Kage…"

"Aurora..you can't die…" It was Phantom's voice. I tried to find him, but I couldn't move, only stare up into the blackness. He suddenly appeared before me, his hand outstretched. His fingertips grazed my face. It was a soft touch that felt like teardrops on my cheek. No sooner had he appeared than he was gone again. I screamed out for him to come back.
"Aurora, wake up! You can't die!! Wake up! Take what you need from me…"

"Live!"

I saw that morning, when I kissed him goodbye. Flashes of images barraged me. Phantom standing in a white hallway splattered in blood. The pink walls of the Home for Goblinized Children. There was a woman staring down at me, her hair was blood red like mine. She looked to me and then back to a dark-haired man. He kept his back turned, I couldn't see his face. She looked to me again; her green eyes welled up with tears. All I could see were her bright green eyes. Mother…

"She'll ruin both our lives…I won't allow you to keep her. It's too much of a risk for us." My father's deep voice commanded while my mother's green eyes poured shining tears. She petted my hair and spoke. Her voice was soft, akin to my own.

"My Small Light, my Aurora…" She sobbed again while Father kept his back turned. His voice took on a softer, but still strict tone as he spoke. "They'll kill us both if they find her, Maria." Mother turned away, tears still in her eyes. They walked off into the emptiness and out of my life. I sat there and cried while I still had tears to shed. I didn't need them. They don't mean anything to me now. They left me so I don't need them anymore, I thought. But still I cried.

There was a little girl sitting in a yellow-tile shower sniffling. Locks of red hair were scattered around her feet. I had cut my hair because I knew he liked it long. I tightened my knees up against my chest and rubbed the purple swell that was a busted lip. Little ropes of blood spun down the drain. That's when I'd first learned not to cry because he didn't like. I clenched the loose strands of hair tighter in my hands. It was all the defiance I could manage against someone so much more powerful than me, against someone who controlled my life and death. David… I spit out and watched the bloody swathe wash down the drain with what innocence I had left. I wouldn't cry ever again for years.

This place seemed so unfamiliar. It was a field full of yellow flowers. They crowded around my outstretched body. The flowers faded again and I felt someone cradling my head softly. There was only one person who cared enough to be so tender.

"Phantom?" I whispered the words so softly I hardly heard them leave my lips. There was no answer.

My eyes trembled open and caught the last snowflakes dancing around my face. I was alive! My body felt better than it had before. The pain from my injuries was non-existent. I felt invigorated! Uplifted! Complete!

Until I looked down and saw Phantom's body sprawled over mine. He wasn't moving, wasn't breathing, wasn't smiling. I choked on the moment, unable to move. My mind went in so many frantic directions that it stopped processing all together. I put my hands on him to feel for life. He wasn't moving! Every moment I'd been with him he was always moving, walking, exercising, smiling shyly. The tears flowed from me like a fountain from my heart. I didn't even feel them. They froze on my face with the growing cold.

Finally, there was a spark of life when he inhaled sharply. His breathing was light, barely there. My heart beat again and I stroked his face in every effort to keep him warm and alive. Ghost towered over us, no doubt making a mockery of my sorrow. I sat back helpless as he lifted Phantom's unconscious body into the air easily. I stared at him, panic-stricken for a few moments. I knew they had some kind of hate for one another. Was he going to kill him?? I begged him with shaky pleas. I knew he could've killed him then.

The Behemoth turned towards the Sedan and gently laid Phantom on the inside. Somewhere underneath that mask, I knew Ghost must have been smiling to see me beg him for something. I looked around frantically. The drones were gone. We quickly gathered our things and piled into the sedan. I cradled Phantom's head in my lap and listened for every next breath. His mask was off so I could better monitor his respiration. His face was so pale, devoid of life. Steadily we crept towards our destination. No matter what, we had to finish this tonight. Our lives depended on it. And now Phantom's life depended on me. Every breath he took was softer and softer. It was as if he were deeply asleep. I was afraid every bump we took on the path to the mansion would break his fragile link to life. So, I talked to him, reassured him that I was there. I would be his link. I knew he was this way because he gave everything he had to heal me, to bring me back from the brink.

The car stopped and everyone got out. I stroked Phantom's hair tenderly. It was so hard to let go, but I had to. I had to. There was no more time to cry. I tightened my grip on my sword. It was time to fight. I walked out with the others. He was safer here than anywhere I could think of at that moment.

Ghost pressed a button on his forearm and the car blinked and cloaked out of existence. The click-click of guns being loaded and prepped stabbed through the crisp white air. My katana, Government-Issue, sister sword to Phantom's, sang with the flint I ran along its edge. The fading sunlight crept away as the shadows fell. The artificial lights of Kazuya's mansion signaled us from afar.

We were finally ready to run those shadows.

Tonight we'd end it. Tonight would be my last Run because I couldn't do this job anymore. I couldn't take him being hurt because of me anymore. I finally had something to live for, someone to be next to, and a child to bring into the world.

This was it!

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