Finding You in My Field of Paper Flowers
Chapter 9: One Fluffy Night…
Genre: Angst/Horror
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Warnings: FLUFF. (Yes, sometimes I even disgust myself.)
Notes relevant to text: Yes, chapters are getting a bit shorter, but that's mainly because I'm finding damnably convenient places to cut them off. Thoughts in Raenef's dream are in backslashes, unless FF.Net has decided to eat those as well. (grumble) I must really love you guys, considering I'm polishing this off with two hours' sleep, a cold, the beginnings of a stomach ulcer and using a broken finger to type it with. xx; I'm such a drama queen.
Notes not as relevant but still important in my opinion: (blinkblink) That's an awful lot of reviews for a fairly substandard chapter, but thank you nonetheless! Kyia, I'm always planning something evil. :) More Erutis lies within for Nancy, and greetings to God of Insanity, Rose, Hikari of Darkness and fireash. Thanks, Scarbie. Yami Seraphim: Hm…Beauty and the Beast… if I didn't have the whole Disney-avoidance thing going on, that'd be an idea worth pilfering. :oP I'm still waiting for naked Raenef IV, Kalli… (hugs as always for Silverlie) You read the Angel Sanctuary thing too? Sankyuu! (blushes) I probably owe you a gift fic or summat for paying attention to me for so long and even outside the fandom you found this in…
Erutis' bare feet padded softly along one empty corridor after another. Her cursing, however, was becoming increasingly louder at the sameness of it all and the unwilling self-realisation that she was hopelessly, irredeemably lost. She chose a wall that was relatively free of tapestry and adornment and slumped against it with a dull thud.
I could walk around this place and die of old age before I find a way out…why did I leave that room? Erutis coughed lightly. Oh yeah. I've got to learn to sleep with my mouth closed.
Glancing at the endless corridor to her left, she came to the conclusion that perhaps she just wasn't looking right. If I were a demon lord with a penchant for interior decorating, I'd hide a messy place like a kitchen behind a door. A big one.
As if fate had poked her in the shoulder with the pointy tip of a convenient plot device, Erutis blinked at the set of stairs she'd almost sat on and let her gaze wander up the elaborately gilded columns standing each side of a larger-than-usual set of doors. Bingo!
Carefully, she eased herself off the floor and twisted the heavily engraved handle, praying silently that the hinges wouldn't squeak in protest. For once fate appeared to be on her side and she slipped silently into the room beyond.
What greeted her was certainly not the kitchen.
If Raenef's body had been acting under his orders, he would have released a plaintive wail to rival a banshee at his own inability to stay awake for any extended period of time. Once again he had fallen into Krayon's conjuration, and as usual he could not determine where, when or who he was. Mentally, he huffed. /angelEclipsebrokenwingsoldierrainofbloodEclipseChrisohdeargods…/ He quickly revised the huffing and resorted to praying to whatever gods listened to demons that whatever was in store for him this time, Eclipse would keep the body count small and the mess minimal.
He flipped a ponytail's worth of sun-golden hair over one shoulder and pouted as he surveyed the apparent disarray of what appeared to be a study room. /Eh…? No way, it couldn't be…/
"Raenef! Get out here now!"
/But I didn't -- Raenef?!/
A quiet giggle echoed around the room, but the source itself was indeterminate. The other Raenef, whomever it was, had let his voice carry on the breeze coming in from the window. Raenef's host was virtually bubbling with fury and half-activated mezraez. /Uh-oh./
"Get out here or I'll blow up everything in this room including your precious books, brat!"
"You will not do anything of the sort, Lord Krayon. Calm yourself." The all-too familiar voice from behind him almost had Raenef weeping in relief. Eclipse would stop him from hurting people on principle, and if there was another Raenef in the room, that person was safe too.
/Wait a minute…Lord Krayon?! I'm in Krayon's memory?!/ Momentary panic gripped the boy as he recalled his less-than-pleasant trip into the dreams of Meruhesae and the subsequent threat of being absorbed. /Is this what he was planning all along? Get me away from Eclipse and destroy me? Ohhh, how could I be so thick?!/
Krayon/Raenef batted his/their eyes at Eclipse and adopted a stance that was almost apologetic but certainly not deferent. "It's my home, Eclipse. I can blow him up if I want."
Eclipse's hand rose to massage his right temple as he fought for patience. "That may be so, Lord Krayon, but I would advise against it. Article Seventy-Three of the Charter states that 'although a Demon Lord may rule his realm however he pleases; petty revenge is preferable to homicide in cases of disputes between juvenile Lords'."
Krayon/Raenef huffed in annoyance and Raenef caught the fleeting thought that his/their companion was in for some highly unpleasant dreams the next time he took to bed, possibly involving a potato peeler and pieces of the other's anatomy.
"In theory, much better." Eclipse inclined his head at Krayon/Raenef and turned his attention to the bookcase. "Lord Raenef, it is time for your revision. Please accompany me to the library."
A small boy stepped out of thin air holding a book under one arm. His sharply cut hair, enviable eyelashes and the curious markings beneath his dark eyes identified him unmistakably as Raenef the Fourth. /But why would Raenef the Fourth trash a room just to annoy Krayon? It doesn't make sense when he could do so much worse…/
"Of course, Eclipse." Raenef the Fourth nodded politely to Krayon/Raenef even as mockery flickered across his pale face.
His expression served its purpose – clearly, the adult Krayon Raenef knew was infinitely more patient than his child counterpart, and the boy/Raenef waited just long enough for his/their visitor to pass before shaping a blast and firing it at the other boy's undefended back.
Raenef, hidden in Krayon's juvenile body, would have been impressed by the Lord of Egae's cunning even at his stunted age if he hadn't been watching in silent horror as his predecessor turned around as if in slow motion to meet the blast of dark energy, awareness that he lacked the raw power to block it written clearly on his young face. He made no sound, but squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the imminent pain.
Krayon/Raenef laughed gleefully, proud of his/their petty revenge.
"Magic Circle, shield three!" Eclipse's deep voice rang out before Krayon/Raenef's body was flung backwards into the wall, at the mercy of his/their own blast. Blinding, burning pain engulfed his/their senses, and Raenef screamed in agony with the Dream Lord as blood made its way freely from his/their face to soak his/their clothing below.
Krayon/Raenef slumped bonelessly to the floor, and as Krayon's eyes were clamped tightly and involuntarily shut, Raenef heard his predecessor's child-voice and that of his tutor.
"Eclipse? Is he okay? I was just rigging the bookcase to fall on him…"
"Go to the library. I'll send for one of his servants to attend him and meet you there, little master."
A pause.
"Eclipse?"
"Yes, sir?"
"You will stay with me forever, won't you? I don't want Krayon to have you."
"For as long as you want me, my lord. I serve you, not Lord Krayon."
"Good." Light footsteps retreated from the room, and Krayon's/Raenef's ego lurched in pain as Eclipse teleported out without so much as checking to see if he/they were breathing. Raenef could have sworn that Krayon was holding back tears, and when they eventually broke through he/they cut them off quickly as they stung damaged flesh.
A strange rocking sound pricked his/their ears, and the bookcase landed on top of him/them with a heavy thump.
/Owie…/
---
Curled up in his bed, Raenef didn't even wake. It had obviously worked out in the end, Eclipse hadn't hurt someone deliberately (to the best of his knowledge), had affirmed his loyalty to the name of Raenef (even if hearing him swear it to his predecessor caused a slight twinge of jealousy) and no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the seriousness of it, the idea of Krayon squashed under a bookcase was kind of funny.
"Rased, once again you have saved your humble servant!"
A cry of joy on his lips, Chris fled towards the twin doors which could only be the library of the castle with no name. It would take some heavy thinking to find his way back to his actual room, but he'd been wandering around lost for the better part of five hours and even the antique-y couches in that room seemed softer than any bed at the moment.
"Thank the—Eclipse?! You scared me!" He pulled himself up short as the far more dangerous demonic resident of the castle cast him a death glare over the cover of the book he held between his long, pale fingers.
"Apparently," the demon quipped, "the onus is once again on me to point out that you are the one at fault. I suggest you go to bed, cleric."
Chris' shoulders slumped. "I would if I could but I can't so I won't." He perched himself on the edge of the expansive mahogany desk, ignoring the foul glance it earned him. "What're you doing here at this hour, anyway?"
Eclipse carefully marked his place and slid the book back onto the table. Chris blanched. The demon may have looked paler than usual, more drawn and tired than was normal, but his expression had morphed from his standard 'annoyed but otherwise indifferent of your ongoing state of life' to downright vicious.
"Okay, okay, forget I asked," Chris offered in penance. No Raenef equaled no leeway where a demon of Eclipse's ranking and disposition towards humans was concerned, and Chris' inherent supergenius sense of preservation insisted he not say or do anything further to warrant being incinerated.
Ever so quietly, the cleric edged away from the table and its cranky occupant, making his way with short, jerky steps towards the couch. It was only when the drooling and snoring became too much for Eclipse's delicate aesthetic sense that the demon teleported away from the safety of the library and onto the balcony of Raenef's room, just to check the boy was alright.
Inside, the boy's form was caught in a convenient beam of moonlight. Thumb firmly between his lips and blankets in tangled disarray, there was no denying the tiny smile on Raenef's face. Eclipse answered it with one of his own that he would utterly deny was hopeful, and vanished to his own quarters where he fell heavily, deeply asleep.
Endnotes: …I blame it on the sick thing. I left them alone for once...stroke my ego?