Amon, cast from the Graveyard, tumbled into an abyss. When she stopped, she squinted into the darkness, searching for the unmistakable beacon of light that signified one with the Harmonixing talent was ready for a fusion soul. The unrelenting darkness of the minds of the dumb and blind was not reassuring.
She sighed in frustration as she recollected how it used to be. Originally the Harmonixer talent ran like water through the humans, with many potential hosts to choose from. Over time, the talent faded until it reached a point that one of the parents had to be a full-blooded Harmonixer and the other had to have some of the blood in order to create another one. It seemed that the fusion souls actions of driving their hosts insane would lead to the death of their race, and all for the fleeting taste of power over a lesser being.
In the corner of her eye she noticed a blazing wildfire of talent. Curious, she drew closer; remaining poised to flee if necessary. She smiled slightly as she recognised the distinctive signature of Death Emperor, warped as it was by the human essence of his host. Of course that was to be expected. She knew of his feelings toward the boy, even if he did not.
"Amon, it was not supposed to be this way," Death Emperor pleaded. "The boy was supposed to be older, more stable. I had to take on the role of tormentor, to force him to become what he needs to be. I remain in that role, that's all." Amon shook her head.
"How can you be so blind?" she asked. Death Emperor frowned. "Is that what you delude yourself with, that you exist to form him into some image of yours? You're not that stupid."
"What do you know of it Amon?" he demanded, eyes blazing with passion.
"That you are as dependent on him as he is of you. That you are not merely shaping him into a tool." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That you harbour some affection toward him." Death Emperor stepped backward and his muscles visibly tensed.
"That is a lie, and a foul one!" he spat. Amon merely looked at him. "I have no affection toward him. He is a tool, and a flawed one at that. However, he is all we have. He is the last!"
"If you have no affection toward him, then why are you in a cage, imprisoned for your unnecessary protection of him? If he is the one that we need, he needs no such protection." Amon waited for Death Emperor to respond. When he did not, she stretched her hand through the bars.
"I only wish that you had the same passion toward me," she commented wistfully. Death Emperor looked up sharply and stared at her with hurt eyes. He reached out and held her hand firmly.
"I do love you Amon!" he protested. "And when he is ready, we can be together once more."
"Yes," she whispered, pulling her hand free and turning away. "At the twilight of the world, where all stands to fall." She walked away, forcing her shoulders back until she was out of Death Emperor's sight. Then she let the façade fall, and she openly wept.
She knew that the boy was not ready yet, the time was not right. She turned her back against the light and squinted into the darkness. Her eyes widened as she saw light blossom in the darkness, indicating that there was a new Harmonixer, contrary to what Death Emperor believed. She moved toward the light, slightly less cautious then before. That was her downfall.
"And who might you be?" an amused English voice asked. "No matter, I have a use for you." Amon screamed as a cage fell over her. Part of her was secretly amused. She had wondered what she would do until the Hyuga boy was ready. In the countless scenarios she envisaged, being imprisoned by a mere human was not one of them.
*
"Let me out bitch!" Death Emperor screamed, slamming his fists against the mental block between him and Yuri. He heard mocking laughter and redoubled his efforts.
"Now, now. With language like that, why should I do anything for you?" a slightly childish voice asked. "I don't like being called names."
"Yeah?" Death Emperor retorted. "Well, there's plenty more where that came from!"
"You know, for that I think I'll keep the barrier up for longer," the voice replied. "Oh, and before you respond to that, I should tell you that the longer you keep this up, the longer I can inflict pain on your host. He's screaming at the moment, if you're curious." Death Emperor closed his mouth with an audible snap.
"He's not, you know," Ben commented. "Don't worry, she can't hear me, she's gone. She's focussing on fusion souls and has no idea I'm here. It's safe for me to be out."
"How do you know? About him?" Death Emperor demanded. Ben shrugged.
"He has a name. And I can slip past her barriers because I'm not a fusion soul. She established them to keep you and Yuri separate. As an added bonus, she's kept it back too. So I can talk to him. Why do you care?"
"Because he's…"
"The last one left?" Ben interrupted, tone mocking. "You said that about me too, but never went to such extreme lengths to protect me. In fact, you went out of your way to get me killed."
"That was before," Death Emperor protested.
"Surely you knew that the Sight runs in the Hyuga line. It could not have been a surprise when it turned out that I had an slight talent for it," Ben commented.
"Slight is a bit of an understatement," Death Emperor retorted.
"It was limited to family members only. That is a slight talent. Trust me, I've met some truly gifted Seers. In fact, one's maintaining this barrier," Ben replied, gesturing around them to the glittering barrier.
"What? That does not lie in the Seer talent!" Death Emperor spluttered.
"It has for many years. I have a pet theory on it, but this is not the time. Yuri's only just realised what has happened, and he's starting to lose it. I have to go." Ben walked up to the barrier and stepped through, repressing a shiver as magic danced over his skin. Death Emperor watched him go with jealous eyes.
*
"Death Emperor is fine, so stop panicking!" a slightly irritated baritone shouted in Yuri's head. Yuri winced and covered his ears with his hands, knowing as he did it that it served no purpose whatsoever. But hey, it made him feel better.
"Who the hell are you?" Yuri demanded. "And what are you doing in my head? And haven't I heard you before?"
"Asked enough questions yet? You haven't asked the all-important one,"
"And where's Death Emperor?"
"Bingo. Try past tense, I live here, yes, and trapped," the voice replied. Yuri moaned.
"Why do I get stuck with the voices that are physically incapable of structuring a sentence correctly,"
"Oh, I know how to. It's just more fun this way. It's my prerogative, to tease you,"
"And how do you justify that?"
"Oh! How did you get out? Get back!" a childish voice demanded petulantly. Yuri's eyes widened as he felt a barrier suddenly appear between himself and the male voice. He sighed heavily.
"Nice to see you're finally awake," Valentina commented, her back to him. "You've been asleep since before you came here."
"That sentence made absolutely no sense whatsoever," Yuri complained. "And I did wake up before. Some little kid with serious attitude problems spoke to me."
"No you haven't. My lady would have told me," Valentina pointed out reasonably.
"I did," Yuri insisted. "And your lady is some six year old?"
"I'm not that young," Celeste replied from the doorway. Yuri stared at her as she moved silently into the room. He was sure that he had heard that voice before. "I'm thirteen."
"Yeah, well, you're still a kid," Yuri answered lamely. Celeste raised an eyebrow.
"Spoken from the fount of maturity himself, I'm sure," she replied sarcastically. Yuri shrugged insolently.
"I'm older then you," he pointed out, smirking. Valentina rolled her eyes.
"Are you quite finished?" she asked Yuri. Yuri shook his head ingenuously.
"Oh no, not yet," he breathed. "It's so much fun."
"And what did I do to provoke such hostility?" Celeste asked innocently. Yuri shot her a glare.
"You threatened me earlier, seer," he replied. Valentina gasped audibly and Celeste's eyebrow reached her hairline.
"And how do you know that?" Valentina spluttered. "I never told you that!" Yuri shrugged.
"You didn't, she did," he explained, pointing at Celeste, whose face was a mixture of confusion and horror.
"I did nothing of the sort," she blurted. "Who told you?" Yuri shot her a puzzled look from under his hair.
"You did, remember?" he insisted. Valentina sighed.
"I'll be outside, my lady," she offered as she stood up. "Feel free to call me when you know who the traitor is." Celeste waited until the door was shut, then leaned over Yuri.
"I don't know what game you're playing at, Hyuga, but when I say something, you do not disagree. Understand?" she hissed. Yuri smirked.
"I'm hardly going to be scared of some girl," he pointed out. She whispered something under her breath. Yuri struggled to catch it, but it was just below his hearing threshold. His head felt strange, as if someone had been poking through it, rearranging it to his or her liking.
"Do you understand?" she hissed again. Yuri involuntarily nodded, puzzled expression on his face. While he knew that he had no intention of listening to her, somehow she had control of him. Yuri disliked feeling like a marionette and tried to fight her off.
"No, leave it alone," Death Emperor whispered at the edge of his hearing. "We can work around it if necessary. Take it down now and she'll put up a stronger one, and recapture me." Yuri fought to keep the surprise off his face, and let his head fall forward so that his hair would obscure his face. He heard Celeste stand up.
"Don't bother fighting it," Celeste suggested. "It will only hurt you and will serve no purpose." Yuri bristled at her condescension. "Do not tell Valentina of our conversation, or anything I have done to you."
Yuri waited until he heard the soft thud of the door hitting the frame before he raised his head.
"What did she do to me?" he demanded quietly.
"A compulsion. Strange, I thought that that particular talent was part of the telepath's gift," Death Emperor explained absently.
"Telepathy and the Sight were interbred into certain lines as an experiment," the baritone commented. "She must be the result."
"She's nuts!" Yuri exclaimed loudly.
"Shut up!" Death Emperor commanded. "Do you want to draw her attention?"
"Especially that seeker of hers. That's going to cause problems later on with our escape," the baritone continued.
"Escape?" Yuri asked stupidly.
"No, we're just going to stay here with some psycho who can mess with your head anytime she feels like it," Death Emperor replied.
"However, that is our problem, not yours. You have to rest up, so that we can escape without you falling flat on your nose," the baritone commanded. Yuri rolled his eyes.
"I'm fine," he pointed out. The baritone laughed. Yuri frowned. He had heard that laugh before.
"Try standing up then," it suggested. Yuri decided that he would. He was rather embarrassed when his knees gave out and he bounced onto the bed.
"Told you. Now go to sleep!" the baritone commanded.
"Who are you anyway? You didn't tell me before. I can't keep referring to you as 'hey you!' That's Death Emperor's special title," Yuri asked, smiling slightly.
"Not funny," Death Emperor commented. "Last time I ever tell you family history."
"Call me Tantalus. It's fitting, after all," Tantalus replied. Yuri's eyelids slipped closed and he fell asleep, slight smile on his face.
"Tantalus?" Death Emperor queried.
"Greek mythology," Ben replied enigmatically and wouldn't say any more, no matter how often Death Emperor asked.
*
Yuri sat down and drew his knees toward his chest. Resting his head onto his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs, he stared tiredly into the darkness, waiting for the inevitable arrival of Fox-Face.
"Let me go," Ben snarled at Death Emperor, who had a rather firm grip on his wrist. "Damn you, let me go!"
"No," Death Emperor replied calmly. "He needs this."
"What? This constant torment? How can you ask me to sit back and watch, now that I can act?" Ben yelled.
"I'm not asking, I'm telling. He needs to accept all of who he is, and the only way to do this is to accept this Fox-Face," Death Emperor continued.
"I'm not! I didn't kill him!" Yuri screamed at the implacable fox mask. "It was an accident!"
"You did. I was there, you miserable excuse of humanity. I saw what happened," Fox-Face whispered. Yuri spat into his face. He watched, mesmerised as the spittle slowly slid down the porcelain mask and disappeared.
"Now, was that nice?" Fox-Face crooned. "I think I have to teach you some manners."
Ben turned away and closed his eyes. He winced as Yuri's screams cut through his skull, but made no effort to break free. Once they stopped, and Yuri stopped dreaming for the time being, he turned on Death Emperor.
"Mind explaining?" he snarled.
"It's simple. He can't have this schism. So, he must accept himself," Death Emperor replied reasonably. As such, he was rather startled when Ben jumped him.
"You bastard! That's my son, and you think I can just sit back and watch, like a voyeur, like yourself?" While continuing in this line, Ben was proceeding to beat up Death Emperor, who was unimpressed but reasoned that Ben would get tired quickly. And if he didn't, Death Emperor could always throw him off.
"How can you live with yourself, watching, no, participating in the torture of a child?" Ben continued. "Do you get off on it?"
"Hardly," Death Emperor replied dryly. "Now, let me explain a few things to you. Your vision of your child was only a piece of a puzzle, nothing more. There have been others with the sight, and they have seen that he is integral to our salvation. However, he must live through the trials before he, and by extension everyone, can be judged. That is what I do." Ben scowled darkly.
"If you disapprove, no matter. I have been cast out, because of my active interest. After all, if he dies, the others merely slip away. I, on the other hand, remain bound to this plane and eventually will be driven insane and destroy the world. I don't want this! There are many things I enjoy in this plane, and they will not be taken away because my current host wasn't strong enough to survive!"
"Oh?" Ben raised an eyebrow. "And tormenting him until he's too scared to sleep is how you do that? Personally, I think that's a sure-fire way to shatter his sanity, but by all means, ignore me."
"It's the best I can do until someone else can take over," Death Emperor answered heavily. "Now, leave me alone." Ben opened his mouth, reconsidered and closed it with a snap.
*
The aristocratic man smirked as his magic returned to him in a rush. Channelling it, he forced the rocks away from him and he stood up, smirking. Moving his hand fluidly, he sketched a sigil, with glowed in the air.
"Mr Bacon? It is as you say my lord. There is another Harmonixer. Hyuga bred before you killed him." His message complete, he waved his hand dismissively and the sigil disappeared.
"That man has no right to that title," he spat to the empty air. "One day, he will regret making one of the descendants of Albert Simon bow down and grovel at his feet. One day, I will show him!" With this, he stormed off back to his manor.
Authors Note: I know, early. Too bad. I hate programming in C, maths is boring, physics can go and get stuffed, as can electrical theory and avionics. So I thought I'd write this instead. I'll probably fail my finals, but who cares! I don't have to pay until after I finish anyway!
Tantalus was a man that went to hell and was tormented by food and drink that he could see but it kept moving just out of reach. As he was eternally hungry and thirsty, this was a rather nasty punishment. I thought that this name would be fitting for Ben, considering his position.
I also did a quiz the other day, "What element would you rule over?" Supposedly I'd be the goddess of the night. Fitting really.
And I've started a YahooGroup for Shadow Hearts. At the moment, it's incredibly crude, but feel free to join and offer your expertise!
Greyfriars: Yes, Dunsinane is in Macbeth. I liked that play, mainly because of the descriptions. My English teacher thought I was morbid. Oh well, it was fun. Tayside forest is in Richard II. Don't ask me where the 'pound of flesh' came from. Probably some dead writer. They always seem to write the lines that stick in your head.
Actually, I've always thought of the fusion souls as being either asexual or hermaphrodites. The host mentally assigns a gender to them according to which soul gets there first, and what gender the host is. So, if say, a female Harmonixer got Death Emperor, she would think of Death Emperor as female. The relationship between Death Emperor and Amon can also be thought of in these terms. Amon is either male or female, depending on the sexual preference of the host. So, if Zhuzhen (of Shadows of Silence fame) was a Harmonixer, he would think of both Death Emperor and Amon as male. How we perceive ourselves, gender wise, makes up a lot of our identity, so I reasoned that the fusion souls would be part of this.
Gutterfiend: Tragically, adjudicators believe that ranting in a debate is incorrect form and penalise accordingly. As you can imagine, that does cause a problem for me. Oh well.
Nat: It's very tempting to write a side story about Death Emperor and Amon, explaining what history they share. Maybe after the finals, and I finish some of my projects (I have about six sitting in my 'Get yourself organised and write these stories, damn you' list.)
Kimgrasshopper: Zhuzhen does annoy me. Why else would I write a fic where he is tormented, and it's by his own doing? (Apart from the obvious - that I'm a twisted individual)
I'm struggling with Death Emperor. He's being cantankerous, and in revenge, I might draw a chibi-DE. Considering that I can't draw, that will be scary.
While you're shooting your dentist, could you shoot my orthodontist? He insists that I wear this retainer of doom, which causes my teeth to ache for hours. Which could explain a lot really.
Nina: Valentina is here to stay. Very important to both Celeste and oddly enough Ben. Long story. Don't worry, there will be Valentina angst, where you can laugh at her suffering.
Rex: I'm up to chapter 21. Where were you for chapter 20? (sob)
Noodles: Thank you. Also, damn you, you reviewed Aegis' new story before me. I hate being in a different time zone sometimes…
Thanks also go to my beta reader Aenea (even though she hasn't read all of this chapter yet), who has still not finished Shadow Hearts, mainly because I'm currently using my room to cram for exams and wild parties with my imaginary friends. And no, the PS2 remains in my room; I paid for it, so there. Also, Evanescence and Queensryche have a lot to answer for.