Hello there, it's me again.
Adrian: Oh please.
Me: (glare)
Adrian: You just HAD to make me all sad and depressed. Give me a break. What's so alluring about being angsty boy?
Me: (gestures grandly to the door, which rattles and shakes as rabid fan girls try to look in through the tiny window) You were saying?
Adrian: (cringe) That's enough to make a guy want to go gay...
Me: Don't even think about that! But then again, you were gay, now you're bi.
Notes...
Mew-magic5: Nope, Hideko is a completely different girl than Miyako. But it's ok. Thank you for the praise!
Jay Man: The sentiment is well received. I hope you have happy holidays as well.
SilverStar: (blushes) Thank you...
vincent: Alright, alright, I'll do my best.
Mandy: I really love your review. It was very thoughtful and thorough. Trust me, this is NOT quite your normal Romeo and Juliet story. And also, I know it's jumping around, but things will be explained.
Nothing belongs to me, you hear?! (laughs maniacally)
~*~
Hikari giggled, looking off into space. "Look at the pretty wings, Mother has wings and she's flying! Flying, flying away..."
Honda winced slightly, looking in on her. "How long as she been like that?"
"For the last two hours," Taichi said softly. He truly looked like hell, his hair limp and dull, his eyes red-rimmed and tired, his face haggard. It seemed that the man had aged thirty years over the last few days.
"Has she gone mad?"
"How should I know?" he snapped irritably. "And I think I am on the verge of insanity as well."
Two insane Yagamis were not very good; they were bad enough when mad at something. Honda rather wisely kept his mouth shut from then on.
~*~
Miyako growled out choice words aloud in her Spellcasting chamber. She had just snapped the connection of an inexperienced Summoner as easily as a twig over her knee, and the young man was hit by the backlash of magic. A good-sized headache and an inability to do magic would plague him for the next week, but he would be very much alive.
"The fool," she snarled to herself. "Not even warding himself. He could have brought a demon and gotten himself ripped to pieces in a millisecond."
"I didn't do that to you," purred Ken from behind her.
She looked at him before standing up. "Very amusing, Ken. I am not in the mood for that right now."
"Where are you going, Mistress?" A slim eyebrow rose in mild bemusement.
"Stay here, Ken. I have some business to take care of. Amuse yourself, but within limits."
"Yes Mistress."
~*~
"I don't sell my services to just anyone," Miyako said flatly. It wasn't like her to be this blunt in front of clients, but currently she was in a mood that was not to be messed with. Also it didn't help the fact that relations between her and Yamato were not of the most friendly of late, if they had ever been friendly in the first place.
"I understand that," Yamato Ishida told her. "But I have a proposition for you." He was looking particularly resplendent today, in black and indigo velvets that fitted close, making him a panther with deadly, poisoned claws under the soft pelt.
"I am a reasonable, but busy woman, Ishida," she said, a hint of an edge to her voice as her amber eyes glared at him. "So spit it out."
Sapphire blue eyes narrowed. "My younger brother has had very suspicious activity around him of late. I need someone to spy on him."
The sorceress stared at him for a moment, before smirking, and breaking out into a cackling fit, tossing back her head. "The famed Yamato Ishida, dabbler in dark arts and blood magic, needing the services of an ordinary mercenary Summoner like me to spy on his younger brother's activities. Is the sky about to turn bright orange with acid green stripes?"
"Shut the fuck up," he growled at her as her cackles died away. "You know well that even I cannot spy on my brother when he wishes to be alone. I cannot trust my own spies these days." The last statement was half snarled, crackling with the frustration that belonged more to a spoiled toddler.
She said acidly, "You know very well I take things that only interest me. I will consider your offer, Yamato Ishida, my answer will come in two days." With that, she stood up, wrapping her cloak around her, and disappearing without another word.
~*~
Eriol smiled softly, scrying in a crystal orb. Ruby Moon sat behind him as Spinel Sun curled up at his feet lazily.
"You know, master," the magenta haired entity remarked. "Do you believe that Takeru needs another push?"
"I leave that to Adrian, dear Ruby," he said. "I am not even supposed to know of his infatuation with Hikari."
"Are you not supposed to report this to Yamato?" Spinel yawned.
"Supposed to," Eriol chuckled. "But this is far too amusing to tell him." His voice darkened slightly. "And I will gain nothing by telling of these findings to him." He looked over at his left wrist, a sorcerer's sigil burned into the pale skin. "And the Fates do not ordain it."
~*~
"Please," Honda pleaded with the sorceress in front of him. "Can you not do anything?"
Miyako looked at him sharply. "I am a Summoner, not a Healer, for Christ's sake. I don't deal with mad people."
"Do you at least know of someone who does?" Honda was getting desperate, as his gray eyes showed. "Someone allied to C.R.O.S.S.?"
"Yue, and Kido Jyou," she said tersely, shaking out her skirts.
"Could you bring them?"
"Summon them? They won't be pleased, and you have to offer me something. I don't work for free."
Honda heaved a sigh and leaned over, whispering something into the sorceress's ear. She looked at him shrewdly, as he nodded once. "But just for three days, and you can't use my soul for anything."
She smirked. "You're a shrewd bargainer. Alright, but I will not deal with an angry sorcerer and other planar being." She pulled out a piece of chalk from her bag. "Close the door, I don't want to upset the nitwits they have for nurses here." Honda hurried to carry that out.
The lavender-haired woman drew a circle around her with the chalk. Three times she chanted something, closing her eyes as her long hair flew up around her. Honda shielded his eyes as she roared, "So mote it be!" There was a minor explosion and Honda found himself looking at two very irritable looking faces, their owners distinctly bedraggled from the summoning.
"Um, hello?" he offered tentatively.
~*~
Once both Yue and Jyou had gotten themselves cleaned up, much to the amusement of Miyako, they had rather patiently listened to Honda's pleas.
"Where is Taichi?" was Jyou's only question after the narrative.
"Sleeping in a side room, I nearly had to knock him out." Honda gestured to another door.
"Wake him, and get him under control," Yue ordered and the brown haired man walked off.
"How long do you think it will take us?" Jyou asked.
"I do not know. It all comes down to how long she has been in her condition." Yue was impassive, as usual.
Honda dragged in a sleepy looking Taichi. The latter looked around, immediately came awake, and asked, "What the hell is going on here?"
Miyako stood up, tossing back her lavender hair. "A little party to help the sanity of your sister. But I must take my leave as much as I would like to stay to see the show. Ciao." She blew them a kiss, winked at Honda, and disappeared.
"Stupid witch," Jyou muttered under his breath, pushing up his glasses up his nose. His blue hair was still somewhat ruffled, giving him a haphazard look.
"Come along," Yue said, sweeping into Hikari's hospital room.
Both Yue and Jyou seemed slightly shocked at the young Slayer's mental state. Jyou pressed a finger to her forehead and muttered one word. Her eyes closed as she fell back onto the bed.
Jyou looked at Taichi. "She isn't bad, but isn't good either. I can help her mind, but I need your help."
"What must I do?" Taichi looked solemn, and in control finally. Honda felt relieved at this return of the former, focused slayer.
"Talk to her, about anything, like memories, nothing painful mind. Things that are pleasurable and joyful." Jyou went to the left side of the bed while Yue stood at the foot, like a guardian angel.
"Hey, Hikari," Taichi started a bit hesitantly. "It's your birthday in a few months, remember? We can have a big party for you, with one of those giant gourmet cakes that you always wanted for your birthday. It'll be huge. Strawberry and angel food cake, your favorite, with mountains of vanilla frosting, and I promise I won't change it to chocolate at the last minute, like two years ago."
Jyou gently put his hands on Hikari's temples, murmuring. Yue gingerly spread his wings, closing his eyes. Taichi kept on talking, hope rising in his heart.
~*~
Hikari floated, in a void. There was nothing, no heat, no cold, no light, no darkness; it was just... there.
She felt oddly peaceful, empty inside but peaceful. It was just enough to float there, thinking of nothing for eternity...
Hikari, Kari... someone called to her, someone male. Brown mop of hair, sparkling brown eyes came to mind. T- something that started with a T. T-a-Taichi! Cheerful laughter, a young man crackling stupid jokes and laughing his head off at them... Yes, it was Taichi, her brother.
Come back, Hikari, you aren't dead yet... the voice called to her. We all miss you, come on...
She groped with a hand, calling back. Tai... Help me, big brother...
A warm hand grasped her hand as two arms wrapped her in an embrace. Just follow us, two voices murmured softly to her. We will guide you.
She gladly did so, following them out of the void into reality, back to her loved ones and friends...
~*~
Jyou wrenched himself free. He looked worse for the wear as his hands trembled, wiping off his forehead.
Hikari opened her eyes blearily. She looked at Taichi and whispered, a faint smile on her face, "Tai..." Then she closed her eyes, sleeping peacefully.
Yue folded his wings, looking as serene and remote as ever. "She will be fine," he said quietly.
Jyou agreed. "I expect her to be up and about in a few days. But my- her mind was in total turmoil."
"She has a fragile psyche," Yue answered gravely.
"We must be going," Jyou said a little breathlessly, swaying on his feet as Yue caught him effortlessly.
Honda was gaping, Taichi looked relieved. The latter said earnestly, "If there is any way I can repay you two... Name it."
Yue gestured idly. "Just take care of your sister. There will be a time when you will be of service to the both of us." He closed his eyes as he and Jyou disappeared. There were not theatrics, no flashing effects, only a soft eddy of wind and a faint popping noise.
Honda sat hard in a chair. "Damn. I am never going to be the same after that."
Taichi smiled for the first time in days, a happy, cheerful expression. "You think that is impressive? You should see them in action. There was one time when Jyou..."
There was no response from Honda, as the other man had fainted.
~*~
Takeru watched curiously as Adrian shuffled a deck of cards. His sharp blue eyes caught glimpses of the some of the fronts. "Tarot cards?" he asked quietly. "I would think that an angel is barred from the occult."
"No, not barred, warned against," Adrian corrected him absently, the deck sufficiently shuffled to his liking. He pulled off the top three cards, putting them in order on the table in front of him.
He pointed at the farthest one on the left, tapping it. "That represents your past." He flipped it over. "Hmm..."
Takeru sat down beside him, gazing at the card. It was labeled "The Tower," and understandably, a tower was depicted upon it. Adrian tapped it again. "You had a disaster in your past, something that changed your life."
"I- don't know," Takeru whispered, but he was lying, and failing.
"It was the death of your mother, wasn't it?" Adrian asked gently.
Takeru started, staring at him. "How did you know?"
"I'm your tenshi, it's my duty to know. Ah yes, because of her untimely death, you had a reason to hate slayers and thus malleable under your father's hands."
Takeru licked his suddenly dry lips. Every word of it was true, though he would not have liked to admit it aloud. His mother had been a gentle creature, despite her origins and what she was. Unfortunately, she died when he was rather young, ripping a void in his life.
Adrian tapped the middle card. "This one is your current situation." He flipped it over. Takeru nearly blushed when he saw it. "The Lovers" lay in the center, innocently depicting a rather suggestive picture. Adrian nearly grinned wickedly at him.
"No," Takeru murmured. "It must be wrong."
Adrian raised a slim eyebrow. "Not at all. It is interesting to see what these cards show, for in some way, they are always right. The Lovers is not always of intercourse, it is also a depiction of a meeting of some sort, a union. You have a distant relation with someone, no?"
"No way," Takeru muttered, looking down, away from the tarot card.
He still was puzzled over why he let the slayer go, why he had such conflicting emotions within him. There had been many a time when he had watched over her while she slept, longing to be the prince who woke his Sleeping Beauty. He scowled. He wasn't a prince; he was the monster of the story.
He nearly missed Adrian's next words as the angel tapped the last card. "And this represents your future." The slim hand flipped over the card. Takeru frowned.
It read, "The Wheel of Fortune," but was inverted (upside down), showing a picture of an immense wheel. Adrian stared at the card for a long moment before saying, "Well, this is unexpected. The Wheel of Fortune is a depiction of life and its balances, and what culminates of those things. It also represents fate. Inverted, this card represents that your future is not yet decided, that higher forces will have a hand in your future, which is possibly not of pleasant conclusions."
"Wonderful thoughts," Takeru answered dryly. "Yes, I am in a giant chess game with someone controlling me."
Adrian set down two cards, above the row of three. He flipped them both over. "These represent what you will do and what you make of the situation." One was of a man dangling upside down from a tree, the card labeled, "The Hanged Man." Takeru stared at it for a long moment.
"Interesting name for a card," he commented quietly.
"The Hanged Man shows that you will make sacrifices, great ones, to achieve what you desire. That is very much your nature in my opinion."
Takeru wanted nothing more than to slap that smile off of his angel's face, but restrained himself. "Right then. And the other?"
The other card was inverted, depicting a woman pouring water from one vessel to another, labeled, "Temperance." Adrian raised an eyebrow again at that one. "Curious."
"Why?" Takeru did not have a taste for divination, especially tarot cards. While Yamato freely delved into the magic and predictions like this, Takeru refused to learn more than he had to, soon abandoning the knowledge he had.
"Properly displayed, Temperance is meant to depict balance, the height of all virtue. Inverted, it means imbalance, disharmony in the soul and around. You are confused about the events of late, no?"
"Yes, I really am." Takeru stood up, starting to go out, not realizing Adrian had put down another card. "And enough of this."
Adrian flipped over the card, his slim fingers dancing over the surface of the paper. It was of a woman by a river, a bright star illuminating the heavens above her. He smiled, reading the inscription, "The Star." He murmured softly, "And this, Takeru, is the conclusion of your emotions."
~*~
Adrian: Very twisted mind you have here.
Me: Shut up.
Adrian: Make me.
Me: (reaches for my "box of toys")
Adrian: Okay! I get the message.
Me: Humph, muses.
Adrian: We live to torment you. (is currently wearing a black shirt that says in the front, "Disorder, mayhem, chaos..." on the back it reads, "My job here is done."))
Me: You're an angel and you're wearing THAT?!!
Adrian: (sniffs) Fallen angel according to you.
Me: (sigh)
Well, that is another chapter done. Oh yes, and the meaning of the tarot card "The Star" is of hope and faith, that someone would realize their true feelings and be happy of it. Hints something, ne?
Adrian: Please review. Please! (is dragged away by the author to go make some brownies)
Adrian: Oh please.
Me: (glare)
Adrian: You just HAD to make me all sad and depressed. Give me a break. What's so alluring about being angsty boy?
Me: (gestures grandly to the door, which rattles and shakes as rabid fan girls try to look in through the tiny window) You were saying?
Adrian: (cringe) That's enough to make a guy want to go gay...
Me: Don't even think about that! But then again, you were gay, now you're bi.
Notes...
Mew-magic5: Nope, Hideko is a completely different girl than Miyako. But it's ok. Thank you for the praise!
Jay Man: The sentiment is well received. I hope you have happy holidays as well.
SilverStar: (blushes) Thank you...
vincent: Alright, alright, I'll do my best.
Mandy: I really love your review. It was very thoughtful and thorough. Trust me, this is NOT quite your normal Romeo and Juliet story. And also, I know it's jumping around, but things will be explained.
Nothing belongs to me, you hear?! (laughs maniacally)
~*~
Hikari giggled, looking off into space. "Look at the pretty wings, Mother has wings and she's flying! Flying, flying away..."
Honda winced slightly, looking in on her. "How long as she been like that?"
"For the last two hours," Taichi said softly. He truly looked like hell, his hair limp and dull, his eyes red-rimmed and tired, his face haggard. It seemed that the man had aged thirty years over the last few days.
"Has she gone mad?"
"How should I know?" he snapped irritably. "And I think I am on the verge of insanity as well."
Two insane Yagamis were not very good; they were bad enough when mad at something. Honda rather wisely kept his mouth shut from then on.
~*~
Miyako growled out choice words aloud in her Spellcasting chamber. She had just snapped the connection of an inexperienced Summoner as easily as a twig over her knee, and the young man was hit by the backlash of magic. A good-sized headache and an inability to do magic would plague him for the next week, but he would be very much alive.
"The fool," she snarled to herself. "Not even warding himself. He could have brought a demon and gotten himself ripped to pieces in a millisecond."
"I didn't do that to you," purred Ken from behind her.
She looked at him before standing up. "Very amusing, Ken. I am not in the mood for that right now."
"Where are you going, Mistress?" A slim eyebrow rose in mild bemusement.
"Stay here, Ken. I have some business to take care of. Amuse yourself, but within limits."
"Yes Mistress."
~*~
"I don't sell my services to just anyone," Miyako said flatly. It wasn't like her to be this blunt in front of clients, but currently she was in a mood that was not to be messed with. Also it didn't help the fact that relations between her and Yamato were not of the most friendly of late, if they had ever been friendly in the first place.
"I understand that," Yamato Ishida told her. "But I have a proposition for you." He was looking particularly resplendent today, in black and indigo velvets that fitted close, making him a panther with deadly, poisoned claws under the soft pelt.
"I am a reasonable, but busy woman, Ishida," she said, a hint of an edge to her voice as her amber eyes glared at him. "So spit it out."
Sapphire blue eyes narrowed. "My younger brother has had very suspicious activity around him of late. I need someone to spy on him."
The sorceress stared at him for a moment, before smirking, and breaking out into a cackling fit, tossing back her head. "The famed Yamato Ishida, dabbler in dark arts and blood magic, needing the services of an ordinary mercenary Summoner like me to spy on his younger brother's activities. Is the sky about to turn bright orange with acid green stripes?"
"Shut the fuck up," he growled at her as her cackles died away. "You know well that even I cannot spy on my brother when he wishes to be alone. I cannot trust my own spies these days." The last statement was half snarled, crackling with the frustration that belonged more to a spoiled toddler.
She said acidly, "You know very well I take things that only interest me. I will consider your offer, Yamato Ishida, my answer will come in two days." With that, she stood up, wrapping her cloak around her, and disappearing without another word.
~*~
Eriol smiled softly, scrying in a crystal orb. Ruby Moon sat behind him as Spinel Sun curled up at his feet lazily.
"You know, master," the magenta haired entity remarked. "Do you believe that Takeru needs another push?"
"I leave that to Adrian, dear Ruby," he said. "I am not even supposed to know of his infatuation with Hikari."
"Are you not supposed to report this to Yamato?" Spinel yawned.
"Supposed to," Eriol chuckled. "But this is far too amusing to tell him." His voice darkened slightly. "And I will gain nothing by telling of these findings to him." He looked over at his left wrist, a sorcerer's sigil burned into the pale skin. "And the Fates do not ordain it."
~*~
"Please," Honda pleaded with the sorceress in front of him. "Can you not do anything?"
Miyako looked at him sharply. "I am a Summoner, not a Healer, for Christ's sake. I don't deal with mad people."
"Do you at least know of someone who does?" Honda was getting desperate, as his gray eyes showed. "Someone allied to C.R.O.S.S.?"
"Yue, and Kido Jyou," she said tersely, shaking out her skirts.
"Could you bring them?"
"Summon them? They won't be pleased, and you have to offer me something. I don't work for free."
Honda heaved a sigh and leaned over, whispering something into the sorceress's ear. She looked at him shrewdly, as he nodded once. "But just for three days, and you can't use my soul for anything."
She smirked. "You're a shrewd bargainer. Alright, but I will not deal with an angry sorcerer and other planar being." She pulled out a piece of chalk from her bag. "Close the door, I don't want to upset the nitwits they have for nurses here." Honda hurried to carry that out.
The lavender-haired woman drew a circle around her with the chalk. Three times she chanted something, closing her eyes as her long hair flew up around her. Honda shielded his eyes as she roared, "So mote it be!" There was a minor explosion and Honda found himself looking at two very irritable looking faces, their owners distinctly bedraggled from the summoning.
"Um, hello?" he offered tentatively.
~*~
Once both Yue and Jyou had gotten themselves cleaned up, much to the amusement of Miyako, they had rather patiently listened to Honda's pleas.
"Where is Taichi?" was Jyou's only question after the narrative.
"Sleeping in a side room, I nearly had to knock him out." Honda gestured to another door.
"Wake him, and get him under control," Yue ordered and the brown haired man walked off.
"How long do you think it will take us?" Jyou asked.
"I do not know. It all comes down to how long she has been in her condition." Yue was impassive, as usual.
Honda dragged in a sleepy looking Taichi. The latter looked around, immediately came awake, and asked, "What the hell is going on here?"
Miyako stood up, tossing back her lavender hair. "A little party to help the sanity of your sister. But I must take my leave as much as I would like to stay to see the show. Ciao." She blew them a kiss, winked at Honda, and disappeared.
"Stupid witch," Jyou muttered under his breath, pushing up his glasses up his nose. His blue hair was still somewhat ruffled, giving him a haphazard look.
"Come along," Yue said, sweeping into Hikari's hospital room.
Both Yue and Jyou seemed slightly shocked at the young Slayer's mental state. Jyou pressed a finger to her forehead and muttered one word. Her eyes closed as she fell back onto the bed.
Jyou looked at Taichi. "She isn't bad, but isn't good either. I can help her mind, but I need your help."
"What must I do?" Taichi looked solemn, and in control finally. Honda felt relieved at this return of the former, focused slayer.
"Talk to her, about anything, like memories, nothing painful mind. Things that are pleasurable and joyful." Jyou went to the left side of the bed while Yue stood at the foot, like a guardian angel.
"Hey, Hikari," Taichi started a bit hesitantly. "It's your birthday in a few months, remember? We can have a big party for you, with one of those giant gourmet cakes that you always wanted for your birthday. It'll be huge. Strawberry and angel food cake, your favorite, with mountains of vanilla frosting, and I promise I won't change it to chocolate at the last minute, like two years ago."
Jyou gently put his hands on Hikari's temples, murmuring. Yue gingerly spread his wings, closing his eyes. Taichi kept on talking, hope rising in his heart.
~*~
Hikari floated, in a void. There was nothing, no heat, no cold, no light, no darkness; it was just... there.
She felt oddly peaceful, empty inside but peaceful. It was just enough to float there, thinking of nothing for eternity...
Hikari, Kari... someone called to her, someone male. Brown mop of hair, sparkling brown eyes came to mind. T- something that started with a T. T-a-Taichi! Cheerful laughter, a young man crackling stupid jokes and laughing his head off at them... Yes, it was Taichi, her brother.
Come back, Hikari, you aren't dead yet... the voice called to her. We all miss you, come on...
She groped with a hand, calling back. Tai... Help me, big brother...
A warm hand grasped her hand as two arms wrapped her in an embrace. Just follow us, two voices murmured softly to her. We will guide you.
She gladly did so, following them out of the void into reality, back to her loved ones and friends...
~*~
Jyou wrenched himself free. He looked worse for the wear as his hands trembled, wiping off his forehead.
Hikari opened her eyes blearily. She looked at Taichi and whispered, a faint smile on her face, "Tai..." Then she closed her eyes, sleeping peacefully.
Yue folded his wings, looking as serene and remote as ever. "She will be fine," he said quietly.
Jyou agreed. "I expect her to be up and about in a few days. But my- her mind was in total turmoil."
"She has a fragile psyche," Yue answered gravely.
"We must be going," Jyou said a little breathlessly, swaying on his feet as Yue caught him effortlessly.
Honda was gaping, Taichi looked relieved. The latter said earnestly, "If there is any way I can repay you two... Name it."
Yue gestured idly. "Just take care of your sister. There will be a time when you will be of service to the both of us." He closed his eyes as he and Jyou disappeared. There were not theatrics, no flashing effects, only a soft eddy of wind and a faint popping noise.
Honda sat hard in a chair. "Damn. I am never going to be the same after that."
Taichi smiled for the first time in days, a happy, cheerful expression. "You think that is impressive? You should see them in action. There was one time when Jyou..."
There was no response from Honda, as the other man had fainted.
~*~
Takeru watched curiously as Adrian shuffled a deck of cards. His sharp blue eyes caught glimpses of the some of the fronts. "Tarot cards?" he asked quietly. "I would think that an angel is barred from the occult."
"No, not barred, warned against," Adrian corrected him absently, the deck sufficiently shuffled to his liking. He pulled off the top three cards, putting them in order on the table in front of him.
He pointed at the farthest one on the left, tapping it. "That represents your past." He flipped it over. "Hmm..."
Takeru sat down beside him, gazing at the card. It was labeled "The Tower," and understandably, a tower was depicted upon it. Adrian tapped it again. "You had a disaster in your past, something that changed your life."
"I- don't know," Takeru whispered, but he was lying, and failing.
"It was the death of your mother, wasn't it?" Adrian asked gently.
Takeru started, staring at him. "How did you know?"
"I'm your tenshi, it's my duty to know. Ah yes, because of her untimely death, you had a reason to hate slayers and thus malleable under your father's hands."
Takeru licked his suddenly dry lips. Every word of it was true, though he would not have liked to admit it aloud. His mother had been a gentle creature, despite her origins and what she was. Unfortunately, she died when he was rather young, ripping a void in his life.
Adrian tapped the middle card. "This one is your current situation." He flipped it over. Takeru nearly blushed when he saw it. "The Lovers" lay in the center, innocently depicting a rather suggestive picture. Adrian nearly grinned wickedly at him.
"No," Takeru murmured. "It must be wrong."
Adrian raised a slim eyebrow. "Not at all. It is interesting to see what these cards show, for in some way, they are always right. The Lovers is not always of intercourse, it is also a depiction of a meeting of some sort, a union. You have a distant relation with someone, no?"
"No way," Takeru muttered, looking down, away from the tarot card.
He still was puzzled over why he let the slayer go, why he had such conflicting emotions within him. There had been many a time when he had watched over her while she slept, longing to be the prince who woke his Sleeping Beauty. He scowled. He wasn't a prince; he was the monster of the story.
He nearly missed Adrian's next words as the angel tapped the last card. "And this represents your future." The slim hand flipped over the card. Takeru frowned.
It read, "The Wheel of Fortune," but was inverted (upside down), showing a picture of an immense wheel. Adrian stared at the card for a long moment before saying, "Well, this is unexpected. The Wheel of Fortune is a depiction of life and its balances, and what culminates of those things. It also represents fate. Inverted, this card represents that your future is not yet decided, that higher forces will have a hand in your future, which is possibly not of pleasant conclusions."
"Wonderful thoughts," Takeru answered dryly. "Yes, I am in a giant chess game with someone controlling me."
Adrian set down two cards, above the row of three. He flipped them both over. "These represent what you will do and what you make of the situation." One was of a man dangling upside down from a tree, the card labeled, "The Hanged Man." Takeru stared at it for a long moment.
"Interesting name for a card," he commented quietly.
"The Hanged Man shows that you will make sacrifices, great ones, to achieve what you desire. That is very much your nature in my opinion."
Takeru wanted nothing more than to slap that smile off of his angel's face, but restrained himself. "Right then. And the other?"
The other card was inverted, depicting a woman pouring water from one vessel to another, labeled, "Temperance." Adrian raised an eyebrow again at that one. "Curious."
"Why?" Takeru did not have a taste for divination, especially tarot cards. While Yamato freely delved into the magic and predictions like this, Takeru refused to learn more than he had to, soon abandoning the knowledge he had.
"Properly displayed, Temperance is meant to depict balance, the height of all virtue. Inverted, it means imbalance, disharmony in the soul and around. You are confused about the events of late, no?"
"Yes, I really am." Takeru stood up, starting to go out, not realizing Adrian had put down another card. "And enough of this."
Adrian flipped over the card, his slim fingers dancing over the surface of the paper. It was of a woman by a river, a bright star illuminating the heavens above her. He smiled, reading the inscription, "The Star." He murmured softly, "And this, Takeru, is the conclusion of your emotions."
~*~
Adrian: Very twisted mind you have here.
Me: Shut up.
Adrian: Make me.
Me: (reaches for my "box of toys")
Adrian: Okay! I get the message.
Me: Humph, muses.
Adrian: We live to torment you. (is currently wearing a black shirt that says in the front, "Disorder, mayhem, chaos..." on the back it reads, "My job here is done."))
Me: You're an angel and you're wearing THAT?!!
Adrian: (sniffs) Fallen angel according to you.
Me: (sigh)
Well, that is another chapter done. Oh yes, and the meaning of the tarot card "The Star" is of hope and faith, that someone would realize their true feelings and be happy of it. Hints something, ne?
Adrian: Please review. Please! (is dragged away by the author to go make some brownies)