A/N: I really would like to thank all the reviewers who've stuck with me… I've been in quite a slump. (*Sweats*) But hopefully things will improve… I seem to be getting out more updates, I think. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Any questions/comments/rants can be posted in a review, or in e-mail if you prefer. Thanks again!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Clow, Kero, and Yue, but I DO own Nickoli, Tristan, and the nameless animal. I also own the mansion ^_^ I really wish the mansion was real!
Chapter 14: Liquor of The Damned
Yue found that he was in front of the three corridors again after exiting through the door Lavia had made reference to. His arm was tucked beneath his coat, where he'd resolved to keep it. He knew that if he managed to save Clow, there was a good chance his master could restore his arm. Going to Clow now would be useless, because his magic was confined as long as he himself was trapped with those walls. So the guardian continued his quest, and tried as hard as he possibly could to not think about his arm.
The middle corridor was the only one he'd not yet explored, so he began walking. The Light Card remained strong and faithful because it drew off one of the ever-present powers in the universe. Something about the area just didn't seem right though. Unlike the rest of the house, there was no presence, no vibes, nothing. Spiritually and psychically, the place was apparently dead, which was technically impossible. Wherever there was a natural substance, whether it was the wood the walls were created from or the air around him, there had to be some inherit magical power. Maybe not a substantial amount, but at least trace amounts. Down this hallway, there wasn't a peep, physical or otherwise. It frightened Yue more than both the other areas had.
This corridor too, as the angel had expected, was a dead end, but there was a sort of chalice upon a pedestal in front of the terminating wall. A dark blue light encased it, and the moon guardian wasn't about to reach his only remaining hand into the magic. The area was dimmer than most, and the magic holding the cup was casting an eerie glow over everything. As Yue stood, contemplating what to do next, his newest challenge made itself known with the rise of a deep rumbling noise. Quickly, Yue realized that this noise was the growling of a large animal or beast.
In fact it was an animal, as Yue saw it stalk out of nowhere, seemingly. The thing was larger than a grizzly bear, but shaped more like a feline, walking on all fours. Ferocious, wicked looking claws protruded from its paws, and it growled with it's maw slightly open, revealing rows of long, sharp teeth, like those of a shark. Its fur was a dark, purple-black color, and it had a long tail swinging almost lazily behind it. The most disturbing thing about its tail was not the fact that it was never still, rather that there was a silver blade curving out from the very end, probably the length of a man's arm and shaped much like a scythe. The guardian stood stock still, not knowing exactly how to approach the creature.
Instead, it addressed him, "You are one of the intrudes who dares to defile the house of my master."
"What are you?" Yue asked fearlessly.
"What I am is no concern of yours," the beast replied, "and I in suit care not why you are here nor what you are trying to accomplish. I know only my master's orders, which is to wipe you from this plane of existence." The animal spoke calmly, with a deep and reverberating voice. With much force, it pounced with a huge roar of hatred.
The angel barely had time to use his wings to gain elevation above his attacker. The creature did not seem too pleased with the revelation that his prey had flying capabilities, and Yue felt a foolish moment of comfort, to spite his efforts to be more realistic and focused. Yue saw a strange light coalescing around the beast, and he rapidly launched his ice crystals at it. The feline dodged and launch energy back at Yue. The angel easily evaded the blast, but it suddenly swung around and struck him in the back of his left shoulder. He cried out, wings singed and nearly giving out. But he managed to stay aloft, and immediately began to try and think of a card that would be fit to help him. An idea snapped into his mind; Woody would be perfect to trap the beast while he took aim with his ice bow. Without even letting the idea fully form into coherent thought for fear of any telepathic assistance the beast might receive, he left his plot as a half-formed notion.
As he was preparing to put his plan into motion, a drawback hit him like a slap across the face. His arm. He would have to use his disfigured arm to shoot his arrow. He wasn't sure if he could do it. The pain was nothing; he could bare the pain and hold the bow. But the fact that his skeletal arm would be held out in front of him, a horrid and stunning reminder of his own frailty, a distracting and morbid vision attached to his body, would endanger his concentration on holding the bow together and aiming straight. He didn't know if he should take the risk, because he would only be able to pull this trick once. If it failed, the beast would know of his power to imprison it and be much more wary.
Another blast flew his way.
Yue dodged and dodged again, until the energy flying through the air was no more. The beast obviously did not have magic powers as great as his own, for he had to stop frequently to replenish his ability to attack with pure energy. What the creature did have was immense physical strength. That the angel could sense, even from his position in the air. One of the cards could be waiting in secret in case his attack failed. But which card could Yue possibly station there? Slowly, a few adjustments added themselves to Yue's plan.
After such a time as he was done contemplating, Yue stationed everything as covertly as possible. The beast below him was not tiring, but only becoming impatient with the angel's seeming cowardice. Finally, Yue cast out Woody, and the card kept the beast in a tight hold. The creature still struggled though, and slowly began to gain more leeway in its restraints as it growled.
Yue made his bow appear, and slowly, carefully took aim. He was looking beyond himself, beyond his arm, right at the creature's head. He was almost sure he would hit it, but then something happened. His arm started to burn, as if it were in the fire again, and his mind flashed back to those few moments of excruciating pain that had seemed to last an eternity. He couldn't help it; right as his limb was loosing its strength to hold the arrow, his eyes flickered away from the beast and settle on his arm.
He looked.
The arrow flew into the air.
Yue missed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nickoli could see Yue standing there, illuminated by the light of his master's magic keeping the chalice in its hold. The blue light reflected off his silver hair, his clothing, even his white-as-porcelain skin. The dark angel sighed just from the beauty of him. He felt sad as the beast pounced as well, but there was really nothing he could do about, especially since he was in a different area of the house and his master was directly behind him. Tristan had cast a spell so that Nickoli could have a visual of what was happening to Yue, because the black haired being had begun to feel great anxiety for the other. He didn't trust that Tristan would not kill him.
As the images continued, Nickoli noticed the thin lines of light and magic that he knew were really cards being sent out to help their guardian. He smiled at his love's cleverness, but then all humor dropped from his face all at once. His eyes went from soft and sad to hard and enraged; his lips pursed, and his fists and jaw clenched. He bit down on his own tongue hard enough to draw blood, and it felt as like red colored his world in his anger.
Rapidly he turned to Tristan and shouted, "What the hell did you do to him?!" Tristan blinked, honestly not knowing what it was that his creation spoke of. Nickoli grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of the image portal, yelling, "Look, you bastard!"
Tristan looked. He cocked his head to one side, and his eyes narrowed. "Hmm. I wonder who did that to his arm."
"Yes," Nickoli replied in a dangerously low voice, "I wonder who."
The blonde stared at his angel. "You know it wasn't me." Nickoli's expression said otherwise. Tristan sighed and rationalized, "I've been here, with you, the whole time. You would have felt any flux of magic if I had done it. Plus, I'm not one to mutilate beauty." Now it was Nickoli's turn to blink in confusion. He looked like he was going to say something when Tristan continued, "I don't like Clow Reed's moon guardian. I know that for sure. But I also can judge what is beautiful, and what isn't, and it's pointless to deny that being's good looks. I'd just like him better dead, but if I were to do it I wouldn't have the heart to mutilate him. It was someone else."
"Why should I believe you?"
Nickoli then found himself pinned very firmly against the couch they had been seated on. Tristan was turned facing him, using one surprisingly strong arm to hold him down, and the other to brace his own weight up on the couch. The angel didn't realize he was holding his breath. Soft lips moved close to Nickoli's ear as Tristan said, "Why shouldn't you? Have I ever lied to you?" As he shook his head slowly, the blonde kissed him delicately where the bone of Nickoli's jaw met with his neck, below his ear. He kissed a bit further down onto his neck, but only once, and then pulled back.
Nickoli stared at him, feeling very ineffectual, inexperienced, and vulnerable, three things he had never before considered himself to be. As he regained his breath, the dark eyed one asked softly, "Who do you think did that to him?"
Tristan mused over the question, remembering one of his old sources of power that he no longer required, but would always haunt around him. "Possibly Medusthilaed..."
"Who?" The younger man questioned. The name struck a chord deep within him, a certain connection, but one that also summoned dread.
"More commonly known as Lavia, she's a spirit from which necromancers and black magicians such as myself can draw power. I used to require assistance from her to perform certain spells and rites, but now I've gained more than enough personal magic to do it myself. I could even destroy her if I wished, but I owe her some respect for the help she gave me before I'd developed my magic. She has a liking for reptiles, and shies away from cold things as a reptile would. She much prefers fire and heat, and her flames can remove the skin and muscle right off bone. I think she was the energy guarding the Orb, and Mr. Reed's creation had to reach in to retrieve it. Yes, that makes sense."
Nickoli huffed, "Maybe to you..."
"You need not be concerned with it anyway!" Tristan said loudly, with exasperation. "If he manages to defeat my animal, he'll make his way back to his master, figure out what he has to do to release them and unbar the way, and then Mr. Reed will heal him. Simple." He paused, and looked at the image portal floating in the air. He studied the outcome of the battle with some surprise. "Well, there's a conclusion. And quite unexpected. I really thought he would-"
Nickoli shook his head. "This is all such a game for you, isn't it? It's as if you actually want them to get here-"
"What if I do?" Tristan said, smirking.
The dark angel stared at him. "What?" He asked softly. "Why? If you want them here, then why all of this?"
"Because, my beauty," He whispered, lying down again to place his head once more in Nickoli's lap. He played with a lock of blood-red hair as he reclined and spoke softly, gazing up at the other, "It's so very interesting to see how they might make it through, how you'll react. And just a few minutes ago, I received the most extreme and surprising pleasure."
"Which was?" the midnight eyed youth asked with some curiosity.
Abruptly Tristan was sitting up again, their lips only centimeters apart as the handsome blonde stared into Nickoli's dark eyes, grinned smugly and said, "I realized that no matter what they do, or how far they make it, you're not going to betray me." His smirk turned into an almost serene smile, and he concluded with quiet, joyful certainty, "You're going to stay with me."
Nickoli felt an inner panic rise. He knew what his creator was saying was completely and wholly true, and he just did not want to admit it to himself. But as well as this instinctual panic, he also felt a strange pleasure. Something made him want to embrace Tristan, pull him close and just lay in his arms. Instead of giving in to any of these odd emotions, he said aloud, "What gave you that idea?"
He could feel Tristan's breath on his mouth as the larger man laughed huskily. "I just know." He leaned forward a bit further, burying one of his hands in Nickoli's thick, straight hair. Almost reflexively, Nickoli moved back. Tristan laughed again, and pulling his creation's body into contact with his own he stated, "Trust me. Have I ever, ever, lied to you?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As Yue released the string of the bow and let the arrow fly, he realized that it would miss. His trajectory was off because he'd looked downward at his hand, and it had thrown his concentration to the winds. The animal was hit in its shoulder, roaring in pain and anger as it began to break free of its bonds, intending to launch itself at Yue and tear him to shreds.
As the beast got one leg free, the Arrow card sprang into action. Yue's adversary was assaulted with a huge volley of arrows, and the Woody return to her card form. For a moment the beast was disoriented, but that moment was all the free time needed. The Shadow card formed swirling bonds around the animal's limbs and torso in the dim area of the hallway Yue had purposefully backed into. Immediately, the Sword card glowed into life and pierced through Shadow without harming it, but it went straight through the chest of the animal. Yue called back the cards, satisfied with his victory, and fully expecting the creature to disappear as most other simple creations would, but it didn't. Seeing the animal's dead body lying there and not disappearing struck a deep chord of guilt and regret in the moon angel. And then he realized something that hadn't fully expanded itself in his mind; he had killed a sentient creature. That was as good as murder.
Pain raced through Yue's ruined arm, and slowly he sank to the floor. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to regain control of himself and keep himself from crying. He was afraid for long moments that he was going to pass out. Slowly he stood, and noticed that the blue light of magic was gone. The chalice sat there, and the moon guardian picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy, made of thick silver. On the ground near the beast lay a claw that had apparently fallen off, and by some strong urge Yue picked it up. As soon as he did, it glowed briefly and the guardian felt as though his palm was frozen, though it wasn't. He tucked the claw away into his robes with the stone, determined not to overlook one single detail. The angel gazed around the hall, asked the Light card to begin working again, and started on his way back to Clow and Keroberos.
It still felt as though he was being watched and monitored carefully, and a most disturbing thought occurred to him: What if his progress so far had in fact only been allowed by Tristan? Was he so sure he was winning? Of course, Yue had no answers to these questions, and knew that no matter what was really going on he was doing the only thing he could, which was to release his brother and master. He had no idea as to what he was meant to do with the two objects he collected, but knew he'd figure it out when he got back to Clow. Once the others were free, they could find Nikki.
Turning the final corner, Yue found Clow sitting in the enclosure, Keroberos resting against him. It seemed as though they were thinking, and it was apparent that Clow had been trying to use the cards against the barrier. Obviously nothing had worked, and the mage didn't want to waste all his magic before even facing his opponent. Kero looked back and spotted the moon guardian as he approached. "Yue!" Came the muffled call. Clow stood and pressed a hand against the barrier, gazing at his other guardian. His dark eyes fell to Yue's covered arm with suspicion, and the angel pretended not to notice.
Yue lifted the chalice and placed it by the pedestal at the end of the hall. He removed the circular stone he retrieved from the fire and the claw at the same time, and he noticed that as he held the claw close to the chalice, it glowed brightly. Carefully he put the stone down in the bowl-shaped top of the pedestal and lifted the silver cup with his good hand. As he did so, an invisible force suddenly seemed to blow into the room on the chilly draft that abruptly flew in. It circled the room, blowing Clow and Yue's hair and clothes, making Yue squint. It converged toward the moon guardian, and Clow cried out his name. Yue looked up at his master, and gasped in pain. All three looked down at Yue's wrist, which was now slit horizontally. Clow slammed against the barrier upon seeing his creation injured, and then stopped as the wind blew Yue's loosened outer coat away from his mangled arm.
From the way Yue was holding the chalice, by the rim of the actual cup and further up than the stem, the blood from his slashed wrist dribbled down his fingers and in. The wound was not serious at all, in fact just a scratch, scarcely deep enough to draw blood, but a surprising amount of the red fluid seemed to fill the cup, spawning from the little bit that Yue had contributed rather unwillingly. His cut was already healing over, but in an act of what he initially thought was clumsiness, the silver haired young man dropped the claw into the blood. As soon as he did it he realized he was meant to, as the whole chalice turned to gold, and the blood inside went from red to black. The words of the riddle glowed, "The only way to open the Gate is to drink the Liquor of the Damned." That made Yue understand pretty clearly what he was supposed to do.
To Clow and Keroberos' horror, he raised the chalice to his lips, and drank his own blood, tainted by whatever powers were at work, triggered by the claw.
"Yue!" Clow cried as the barrier around them weakened.
"Stop, Yue, don't!" Kero roared, wanting to protect his brother more than anything. But still the invisible wall of magic held them in, making them spectators to a most sickening and gruesome fact.
"The Liquor of the Damned."
Blood.
As the chalice emptied, Yue nearly gagged and swooned on his feet from dizziness and a light-headed feeling that permeated his body. Crumbling to his knees, he dropped the chalice, which had turned silver once more and was spotlessly clean, as though there had never been anything within it. The cup clattered as it hit the stone floor, turning and rolling a bit as the noise of its landing echoed down the passageways. The stone, which Yue had placed on the bowl-like top of the stand nearby, began spinning slowly around the inside perimeter of the curved basin. It swung faster and faster around the bowl, until it became on constant blurry line, making a slight singing noise as it flew in its manic orbit. Without warning it was flung out as if by some invisible hand, straight into the barrier holding the sun guardian and the mage within. The barrier was shattered on impact, the stone gone like it never existed.
Both rushed to Yue, who was holding his head with his good arm, glowing faintly from the magic introduced into his system. Clow shook him gently, trying to snap him out of the silent, narrow eyed stare he'd entered into. "Yue! Come on, Yue, look at me! Focus on me! Please, you have to-"
Yue's eyes slowly focused, leaving him still disgruntled and feeling strange, but he was aware of himself. The glow around him coalesced at his deformed arm, illuminating it for both Clow and Kero to see.
The lion was almost speechless. Almost. "Yue, what the hell happened to your arm?! Did that bastard do this to you? I swear, I'll kill that useless, stupid piece of-"
"Keroberos," Clow commanded quietly, "Look." Before their eyes, the light that had seemed to be harming Yue healed his arm and returned it to its former perfection, before fading away.
Kero looked very confused. "He... Tristan *healed* you? But *why*?"
Clow looked at Yue as the guardian stared off. "That wasn't Tristan." The black haired man said.
"Than who?" Keroberos asked with growing anxiety.
"Nickoli," Yue answered softly.