Ch.2: Kurayami Manor and the Story Behind the Prophecy
The five boys dressed in black exited the school and immediately turned left, heading in the direction of Kurayami Manor, the place they'd listed as their address. It wasn't really their home, but they planned to move in that very day.
"Duo, do you think anyone is in there?" Trowa asked, slipping into his role of one of Duo's friends easily.
"Nope. I could feel Bloom-san's preordained reaction to the address. Right about now she should be trembling in fright because of ghost stories told at the height of midnight by friends and family," Duo answered in his cheery voice. "The Manor's got quite a history, Trowa."
"I expected it to," Wufei said quietly. All the boys stopped and turned to the usually silent oriental boy. The soothsayer was speaking. "Kurayami means 'absence of light' in the terms of darkness. Here in Kyoto, everyone will have known that, simply because legends are their only entertainment. Aside from that, I Saw something..."
Duo gasped. "You Saw already?! We've only been here a day!"
"Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, Duo," Trowa said. "Tell me what you saw, Yogensha."
Wufei bowed low. "The sky was dark and the air restless. People hid in their houses, the lights off. The only light in the entire city was the lights in the Manor. The Manor shined like a beacon in the dark night, the front door open. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway, the light so bright no distinguishing features could be discerned. Even when the figure spoke, the gender was unknown. It said, 'Prophecy can flow throughout the years, centuries, over lands, dimensions, and especially through minds. The absence of light will bring the Harbingers of Darkness. The Worshippers of Shi can save us or damn us all. Tread lightly, people, or doom awaits both ways.' After that, the figure, then the manor, then the city disappeared in a swirl of the deepest darkness." Wufei bowed again then looked into his Prince's eyes.
"Translation: the sky was dark, the lights were out, and some creepy dude spouted preordination. Simple enough, ne?" said Duo, a grin on his face. Quatre let out a startled laugh, the somber mood broken. The grim looks on everyone's faces lifted, even Wufei's. "So we still gonna live there?"
"Yes. Now even more than before. There is something going on with this city, something I'm sure everyone knows. We must gather information on this. With that in mind, here we will split up. You know how my personal aura feels. Find me in one hour," Trowa said. "Dismissed."
The other four bowed low and then disappeared down different roads and alleyways, their search to please their prince begun.
***
Slipping into a dingy building he'd found in an alley, Duo scanned the room he had just entered. It was dirty, smelled bad, and was filled with unwashed bodies. A perfect place to gather information and someplace he could relate to.
Back in Eurasia, before Duo had become the esteemed Houshi of His Highness Prince Triton Bartonii, he'd been a theif in a gang called the Nanashi, orphans from the Ten Year War who couldn't remember their own names. One night, while snatching the fat purse of a robust old man, he was caught. The old man had a string attached to his purse, something only the people of West Eurasia did. Duo should have recognized that from the look of the man, but he had missed it. His mistake resulted in his being thrown to about ten of the merchant's servants in a dark alley, his pants half down his legs and his arms tied over head.
He'd been saved by Prince Triton's Bakuretsu and Yogensha, two boys around his age. Diwu had known where he was by the flash of fear that had somehow reached the palace, and Odin had arrived on the scene, Immobilization fuda[1] flying left and right. Soon all the men where frozen and Duo was unconscious in Odin's arms. Since then Duo had been stuck to Odin's side, a light of gratefulness in his eyes whenever around the blue-eyed sorcerer. Odin was his Savior. He owed him his life...and his love.
A crash dragged Duo from his thoughts. A bar fight had started while he was lost in his memories. As he looked around he noticed a girl no more than sixteen, his own age, crouching under the table in the center of the fight. He decided right then that that was his source of info. But no source was worth much dead, so Duo decided to perform a few magic tricks. Raisng one hand, palm out, he began to chant softly. Near the end of the lilting foreign words, he moved his hand in an intricate symbol. As the last word was cried, a sound like thunder filled the bar. Every person froze. In the confusion Duo slipped under the table and pulled the girl out and through the back door.
Once they were alone, Duo turned to the girl. She had extremely short blue hair and shimmering blue eyes. The look of fright in them slowly faded to one of confusion. She opened her mouth and Duo braced himself for any and all questions. "Where you get mini jacket?" she asked. Duo facevaulted. Anything but that.
"W-what?" he asked, suddenly realising she was speaking somewhat broken English.
"Mi-ni jack-et. Mini jacket. Where you get?" she asked, enunciating the words carefully.
"This old thing? I got it at this store in this world called Gothic Legend. Pretty cool, huh?" Duo said with a laugh. Suddenly he remembered his mission and sobered. "Look, lady, we can talk about my jacket some other time. Right now I need to ask you some questions..."
****Tsuzuku****
[1] fuda - paper talisman
The five boys dressed in black exited the school and immediately turned left, heading in the direction of Kurayami Manor, the place they'd listed as their address. It wasn't really their home, but they planned to move in that very day.
"Duo, do you think anyone is in there?" Trowa asked, slipping into his role of one of Duo's friends easily.
"Nope. I could feel Bloom-san's preordained reaction to the address. Right about now she should be trembling in fright because of ghost stories told at the height of midnight by friends and family," Duo answered in his cheery voice. "The Manor's got quite a history, Trowa."
"I expected it to," Wufei said quietly. All the boys stopped and turned to the usually silent oriental boy. The soothsayer was speaking. "Kurayami means 'absence of light' in the terms of darkness. Here in Kyoto, everyone will have known that, simply because legends are their only entertainment. Aside from that, I Saw something..."
Duo gasped. "You Saw already?! We've only been here a day!"
"Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, Duo," Trowa said. "Tell me what you saw, Yogensha."
Wufei bowed low. "The sky was dark and the air restless. People hid in their houses, the lights off. The only light in the entire city was the lights in the Manor. The Manor shined like a beacon in the dark night, the front door open. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway, the light so bright no distinguishing features could be discerned. Even when the figure spoke, the gender was unknown. It said, 'Prophecy can flow throughout the years, centuries, over lands, dimensions, and especially through minds. The absence of light will bring the Harbingers of Darkness. The Worshippers of Shi can save us or damn us all. Tread lightly, people, or doom awaits both ways.' After that, the figure, then the manor, then the city disappeared in a swirl of the deepest darkness." Wufei bowed again then looked into his Prince's eyes.
"Translation: the sky was dark, the lights were out, and some creepy dude spouted preordination. Simple enough, ne?" said Duo, a grin on his face. Quatre let out a startled laugh, the somber mood broken. The grim looks on everyone's faces lifted, even Wufei's. "So we still gonna live there?"
"Yes. Now even more than before. There is something going on with this city, something I'm sure everyone knows. We must gather information on this. With that in mind, here we will split up. You know how my personal aura feels. Find me in one hour," Trowa said. "Dismissed."
The other four bowed low and then disappeared down different roads and alleyways, their search to please their prince begun.
***
Slipping into a dingy building he'd found in an alley, Duo scanned the room he had just entered. It was dirty, smelled bad, and was filled with unwashed bodies. A perfect place to gather information and someplace he could relate to.
Back in Eurasia, before Duo had become the esteemed Houshi of His Highness Prince Triton Bartonii, he'd been a theif in a gang called the Nanashi, orphans from the Ten Year War who couldn't remember their own names. One night, while snatching the fat purse of a robust old man, he was caught. The old man had a string attached to his purse, something only the people of West Eurasia did. Duo should have recognized that from the look of the man, but he had missed it. His mistake resulted in his being thrown to about ten of the merchant's servants in a dark alley, his pants half down his legs and his arms tied over head.
He'd been saved by Prince Triton's Bakuretsu and Yogensha, two boys around his age. Diwu had known where he was by the flash of fear that had somehow reached the palace, and Odin had arrived on the scene, Immobilization fuda[1] flying left and right. Soon all the men where frozen and Duo was unconscious in Odin's arms. Since then Duo had been stuck to Odin's side, a light of gratefulness in his eyes whenever around the blue-eyed sorcerer. Odin was his Savior. He owed him his life...and his love.
A crash dragged Duo from his thoughts. A bar fight had started while he was lost in his memories. As he looked around he noticed a girl no more than sixteen, his own age, crouching under the table in the center of the fight. He decided right then that that was his source of info. But no source was worth much dead, so Duo decided to perform a few magic tricks. Raisng one hand, palm out, he began to chant softly. Near the end of the lilting foreign words, he moved his hand in an intricate symbol. As the last word was cried, a sound like thunder filled the bar. Every person froze. In the confusion Duo slipped under the table and pulled the girl out and through the back door.
Once they were alone, Duo turned to the girl. She had extremely short blue hair and shimmering blue eyes. The look of fright in them slowly faded to one of confusion. She opened her mouth and Duo braced himself for any and all questions. "Where you get mini jacket?" she asked. Duo facevaulted. Anything but that.
"W-what?" he asked, suddenly realising she was speaking somewhat broken English.
"Mi-ni jack-et. Mini jacket. Where you get?" she asked, enunciating the words carefully.
"This old thing? I got it at this store in this world called Gothic Legend. Pretty cool, huh?" Duo said with a laugh. Suddenly he remembered his mission and sobered. "Look, lady, we can talk about my jacket some other time. Right now I need to ask you some questions..."
****Tsuzuku****
[1] fuda - paper talisman