Title: Angel's Fall
Part: pro/? (Yes, it's long for a prologue, but that's basically what it is)
Author: focsfyr
Pairing: TasukiChichiri
Warnings: yaoi, angst, bit of language
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Fushigi Yuugi and have no money. The idea for this story arose when I watched the movie 'Fallen.' I don't own that either and certainly don't claim to. No copyright infringements are intended.
Archive: my site and fanfiction.net, but if you want it, all you have to do is ask
C&C: please!
Thanks to Scheherazade, missa, Amida and Asidian for beta-ing
::thoughts::
emphasis and sound effects
"Though my soul may set in darkness
it will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night..."
--Sarah Williams "The Old Astronomer to his Pupil"
ANGEL'S FALL
Faint footprints wound their way up the rocky slope, each one brown and barren, stamped through the thin layer of pristine snow.
The light dusting of snow that had fallen since dawn had left the landscape sugar-coated. But like so many things, the beauty was only skin deep. The spring warmth that coaxed animals out of hibernation and flowers to bloom had ended abruptly with an unexpected frost that struck early that morning and left each tender shoot brown and brittle beneath a thin layer of ice. A biting chill drove the animals down from their mountain homes to the lower slopes of Mt. Leikaku to wait out the sudden freeze.
But if the earth was left lifeless, the heavens were alive with light. Each star gleamed with unusual intensity, the full moon painting the landscape in shades of black and silver.
Chichiri shivered and pulled his kesa tight around him in a vain attempt to ward off the chill, but the icy breeze cut through his clothes like they weren't even there.
It was a lovely night, with the sky so clear it seemed he could just reach out and hold the moon within his grasp and a silence so thick even the slightest sound would shatter it.
::Eerie.:: But nothing did. Instead, nature seemed to be holding its breath. ::Even the animals know something's wrong. There isn't a living creature within five miles of the peak. Except for me.:: And of course, the two bandits hurriedly following his footprints, one consumed with worry, the other with anticipation.
The high winds of the day had scoured the peak down to bare stone and thinly veiled patches of slippery black ice. The clatter of the metal rings sounded unnaturally loud in the night air as he planted the base of his shakujou on the ground in front of him.
Ignoring the rasp of dry air in his throat, he drew his consciousness inward, seeking the source of his power. Little by little he drew strength from his soul and twined it together with his inborn magic. But he was careful not to draw upon his Seishi power. No matter how carefully used, how delicately touched, Suzaku's power burned with a strength that couldn't be concealed. Blatant as a beacon on a mountaintop, it would draw unwanted attention to his every move.
The magic of nature had the same effect, though it was infinitely more subtle. A spark of magic was given off every second by all living things, each tiny drop running into streams of power that fed into each other. Together, they created an invisible net of natural magic that covered the earth like a nourishing blanket, keeping plants and animals alive and healthy.
The problem was that these tiny streams were all interconnected. If drawn on by a mage, it sent ripples through the world that even a novice could feel.
But the power of one's own soul was something that only the user could sense, and then only because it was directly tied into his being. To everyone else, it might as well not be there.
This was the magic he used now. He spun it out into strands fine as spider webs and strong as iron and wove a fragile net, feeling it settle soundlessly and securely into place.
A grim smile touched his lips as he inspected his work. When triggered, it would bind the target in a tangle so complex and so strong that it would be near impossible to escape, holding him captive as long as was necessary to figure out how to deal with him. The shield was all but invisible even to Chichiri; his quarry would never detect it until it was too late. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late for him as well.
Everything rested upon having the advantage of surprise.
The faint creak of the snow heralded approaching footsteps. Working quickly, he made a few last adjustments and turned to face the new arrivals.
They were breathing hard, like they had run all the way up the mountain. The high altitude thinned the air and made it difficult to breathe, especially in this cold. Chichiri's breath fogged the air, but he didn't feel the cold. His skin had gone numb somewhere between stopping and spell weaving.
A rush of warmth filled him as he caught sight of Tasuki and Kouji cresting the peak, struggling to keep their footing on ice and loose shale, but it was quickly followed by dread.
Beneath a crystal clear sky studded with stars, only two of the three knew why the meeting took place. One shrouded in darkness, two armored with light, but at least one of the three would not leave with his life.
----------
He stumbled slightly as the heady sensation of heart-wrenching fear washed over his soul. He could taste it, feel it, heavy in the air, potent enough to get drunk on a sip. And drink it he did, in greedy draughts before reigning in his hunger.
The fear of a priest was something to savor.
----------
Tasuki felt lightheaded as he gasped for breath. He'd done stupider things than run up a mountain in the middle of a freeze after spending several weeks in the lowlands, where the air was thicker. He couldn't think of any right now, but maybe that was just the lack of oxygen...
A few more deep breaths and the ache in his lungs subsided, allowing the bandit to focus on his reason for being there. Tasuki let wonder override worry as he finally caught sight of his love.
The monk was frosted by moonlight and the sparkle of the snow. It washed all color from his face, his clothes, his hair, leaving Chichiri's slender body a finely cut figure of smoky silver-gray.
For just a moment, a glimmer of light shone red in his good eye, sending a chill down Tasuki's spine.
The redhead took a few hesitant steps forward, but stopped at the flicker of pain that crossed Chichiri's face.
Something was wrong, that much was obvious. Why else would his long time lover take off in the middle of the night and be freezing his ass off on a snow covered peak?
His tongue played thoughtfully with his fangs as he submerged his consciousness until he could feel the tug of his soul bond to the reticent monk. Through the link of their hearts he could feel
::fear:: of the two men standing before him. Of him? His lover and best friend? Yes, but for them as well.
::hope:: when he saw him and sorrow, regret, resignation to ::death!? He thinks he's gonna die! Why? What would kill him?::
and a second pull so faint it almost slipped by without notice, but tainted with malice and the cloying smell of death.
He unconsciously lifted his nose to the air, a wolf scenting the wind for danger. He couldn't tell where it lead, this spot of evil, the line was so faint and he had to struggle to stay in trance...he'd never been one for meditation...it was so hard to follow the trail...
::Oh, shit...::
PAIN!
----------
Oh, this was too sweet! The fool couldn't tell which bore the aura of evil, and he had no spells prepared!
The blue-haired bitch had sensed him and his hand in the havoc that had plagued the bandit keep for so many days. The motivation behind the anger, lust, greed, murder -- rage was his dog, chaos his whore, both followed him faithfully and obeyed every whim while presumption and misunderstanding tagged along for the ride.
Human nature was amusing, so easy to twist and manipulate.
And only the monk had suspected.
But for all that the Seishi had sensed his presence and the malicious mischief he caused, Chichiri still couldn't pin down his location. An excusable failure in the keep where he'd skipped from person to person, mind to mind, the transition no more arduous than the brushing of a shoulder.
But here...here! Only two people before him and he still didn't know! He may have been a monk and a mage, but he was laughable in his incompetence!
Still, like a puppy yapping at a horse, he was a rather troublesome annoyance.
A bother. But one to be handled with some little care.
He looked forward to watching him die. Listen to his screams and the 'pop' of separating joints as he was slowly pulled limb from limb. Or perhaps claw open his stomach, watch the look on his face as his own steaming entrails piled at his feet.
Cut his throat? Too clean. Break his mind? Too quick. Crack open his ribs, spread the chest cavity wide just to watch the last flutters of a faltering heart? Now that had potential.
He caught himself just before he licked his lips. Ah, ah, ah! He mustn't do anything out of character, or he'd give himself away prematurely.
It would be much more fun to toy with him first, give him false hope and then wrench it away. The shattering of the heart would serve as appetizer with the breaking of the body as the dessert.
But the slow crushing of a soul, that would be the main course.
And the best part of all was that, unlike others that had come before him, he would be fully aware of his fate.
Suppressing a gleeful giggle, Azareal called Fire to his hand.
----------
Suzaku, but Tasuki looked lovely in the moonlight! He was all graceful power and wild spirit, each step forward soundless and sure. Chichiri had to fight to slow his heart and keep his feet from carrying him to the safety of his lover's embrace.
A sudden fluctuation in chi shook the glamour from the monk's eye and, fumbling frantically for the trigger, he sprung the trap, unable to do anything but watch as the blast caught Tasuki full in the back. Tasuki's golden eyes widened, and for a split second that seemed to last forever, locked on Chichiri's before he collapsing bonelessly to the ground. ::No...:: he looked up just as the demon behind Kouji's eyes hit him square in the chest with a spell of paralysis.
"Well, well," Azarael drawled with a self-satisfied smirk, "what do we have here?" His hand struck as swift as a striking snake, catching Chichiri's jaw in his fingers and forcing him to look up and meet his eyes. He watched in amusement as Chichiri's eye flickered toward his lover's still body. "What's wrong? Couldn't protect your little toy?" The demon that was not Kouji released Chichiri's chin and stepped back a pace.
The punch to the stomach caught the monk by surprise, and he doubled over just in time to catch Kouji's booted foot as it connected with his chin.
Gasping for breath, Chichiri curled into a ball and coughed convulsively, blood running from the corner of his mouth to drip, steaming, on to the freezing stone. Chichiri feebly tried to lift himself to his knees, but his head was spinning too much to balance, and he couldn't so much as draw a breath without whimpering in pain.
All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and his own faint whimper...whimper? No, groan. Was that a groan he heard?
His eye cracked open enough to focus on the demon standing over him and the ever-so-faint wrinkling of Tasuki's brow as the bandit emitted a low groan. ::Alive!:: his mind whispered jubilantly, ::Tasuki is alive! I triggered my spell so quickly...I didn't have time to really focus...did the shields of the trap protect Tasuki from the blast when they mistakenly snared him?::
He didn't care -- couldn't care -- how it happened. The only thing that mattered was that his love was alive and safely cocooned within the strongest shield Chichiri could create, protected from the demon's threats on either the physical or spiritual plane.
Now, with Tasuki out of harms way, Chichiri could fight back! He could strike fast and hard and rid the world of this evil! He could...he could move...though still crippled by stabbing pain, the paralysis was gone.
Eye flying up to look at the demon, the battered monk caught the split second when the demon's attention wavered, eyes flickering over to see why the redhead was still alive.
----------
The eyelashes of Azareal's stolen body fluttered to half-mast as the coppery scent of blood flooded his senses. A vibrant tingle of pleasure surged through him and a delicious ache grew in his groin, pressing eagerly against Kouji's loose pants.
::Too long...:: Azareal gasped, a soft moan escaped his lips as he roughly raked his fingernails across his clothed erection. ::It's been so long since I've really played...:: since he had the time to savor the kill and the blood and the pain and oh, the pure LUST he couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want to control! Just indulge and savor, quench in his victim's pain and screams as he ripped through their body without mercy or thought for the damage, the blood, the agony it caused.
An image of the blue-haired monk lying crumpled at Kouji's feet flitted through Azareal's mind. ::Yessssss...:: Exerting his little-used self control, the demon removed his hand from his crotch. Now there was an idea! How delicious it would be to fuck the little slut, to tease and arouse him, to make him beg for mercy before taking him dry and feasting on his tears sweetened with pain and shame.
It would break him.
Perfect.
"Nnnnngggg..." Azareal's eyes flew open at the unexpected sound and he turned his head to look at the slut's redheaded lover.
Tasuki's fingers clenched experimentally as he began to regain control of his body.
::WHAT?? He's NOT DEAD!?:: The demon's eyes narrowed with anger. ::Looks like he was stronger than I expected.:: He called a shard of fire to his hand, prepared to stab it right through Tasuki's heart, but before he could take a single step, the fire dissipated into the dry air.
"What...?" A subtle burning sensation started in the small of Kouji's back, spreading like wildfire through his veins and leaving icy numbness in its wake. Staggering as he fought to remain standing, Azareal barely caught a glimpse of the very man -- the very monk -- whose rape he had been ready to revel in, staring up at him with one hand outstretched, the ghostly after image of magic hovering all about his battered body.
For the first time in his eons of existence, the fallen angel known as Azareal feared for his demonic spirit. His stolen vision was darkening at the edges, puffs of fog marking shallow, labored breaths.
This body was dying all around him and here he was, tangled and bound by the strings of one man's soul. The bandit's flesh seemed to cling to him, determined to drag him down to oblivion until, with one last desperate wrench, Azareal tore himself free and once more became a disembodied wraith.
----------
Tasuki watched dazedly as Kouji's knees slowly buckled and the empty husk sprawled limply across the ground between the two former Seishi.
Tasuki wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he trusted Chichiri with all his heart and soul. The injuries dealt to him and his lover argued that the monk had a reason behind his attack. So no matter how much his heart ached at the death of his best friend and partner in crime, he would bite back his tears...and hope he was doing the right thing by not interfering.
Unshed tears shone in Chichiri's eye as he tried to focus upon the amorphous spirit instead of his friend's remains.
Azareal was free. Chichiri's last ditch spell hadn't been strong enough to hold him, but it had delayed him long enough that he had to find a new host now, lest he remain intangible for too long and his soul simply evaporate into the air.
...But there was no one to take. Not a single living creature intelligent enough to survive possession stirred for miles around, and Tasuki was sheltered by mage-craft.
Chichiri watched impassively as Azareal's attention lighted upon him. The demon's ghostly lips twisted into a malicious grin ::maybe I will get to play with him after all:: and dove down into the monk's weakened body -- no, into his new body.
A feral cry rose in the demon's insubstantial throat as he surged into Chichiri...and slammed headfirst into a spell of such power, such strength, that even the gods themselves would be hard pressed to break it.
----------
Hundreds of miles away, Taiitsukun frowned as something strong, evil -- a soul dark as pitch -- grated against the protection spells she had layered and ingrained into Chichiri's beads the day he had become her pupil. Designed to guard against assaults of the spiritual persuasion, they were worthless against physical or magical attacks. Demonic possession, however, was right up its alley.
She smiled grimly as she felt the spells falter, then hold fast. Whoever had dared try to invade the monk's soul was in for an unpleasant surprise.
----------
Oh, Suzaku, he couldn't breathe! Darkness drowned out the light of the stars, worming its way into his throat and nose. It stole his sight and silenced his voice -- he could feel himself screaming, but it took his hearing as well.
A tendril of nothingness wriggled into his veins, searching for that spark of self nestled deep in -- ah, there it was! -- An unearthly shriek split Chichiri's head as power streaked up the strands of flat blackness, leaving them charred and brittle.
The moment Azareal tried to touch his soul, a shining barrier sprung up between them, formed of magic and motherly love, bearing Taiitsukun's unmistakable signature. It cradled his being gently in its warmth and lent him its strength as the demon's shadowed soul crumbled to dust and drifted away.
The sickening darkness that had stolen his senses gradually melted away, subsiding in favor of the blessed peace that carried him into oblivion.
----------
The exhausted monk woke to the sound of his lover's voice and strong arms cradling him against the younger man's chest.
The bandit smiled sadly as Chichiri's eye eased open. He buried his face against Chichiri's neck and, for an endless moment, just held him and wept tears of relief.
"Tasuki."
The bandit lifted his head as Chichiri whispered his name. "Yeah, Chiri?"
"I'm sorry." The words seemed woefully inadequate. There were so many things he wanted to say, but all his eloquence, honed by years of listening and giving advice deserted him. No matter how clearly he could hear the words in his mind, somewhere betwixt thoughts and lips, they got twisted around into hopeless tangles. All he could say were those worthless words "I'm sorry" and hope Tasuki would understand that it was for the lies and the deception and Kouji and...
Everything.
A fresh wave of tears stung Tasuki's eyes. Yes, he understood. He sniffled loudly and climbed to his feet, lending his weakened love a shoulder to lean on as they stumbled their way down the slippery slope.
But despite the promise of a warm bed back at the stronghold and a night spent curled against his fiery lover, a sliver of dread still chilled him. The words the demon hissed with its last breath resounded hollowly in his mind.
"This isn't over you little bitch. You will PAY! If I don't find you in this life, I will hunt you in the next...and the next...and the next...I'll get so close to you that you can feel my breath on your neck and you'll think you're going crazy 'cause you see no one there. I will get so close to you...your family...to all those you hold dear...and then kill them...just to watch you suffer."
A shiver ran up Chichiri's spine.
Those words weren't a threat. No.
They were a promise.
TBC