A/N: Just so you guys know, Tristan may seem out of character, but he's really not. The guy has serious mood swings, and the only person he's ever nice to anyway is Nickoli. I know he comes off as sort of goofy in this chapter, but don't worry, I'll remedy that soon enough. And no, Yue is not going crazy, just having a very large amount of emotional stress right now. Anyway, thanks for your reviews, even though this is taking me so long!
DISCLAIMER: I won Tris and Nikki, and the mansion. Crazy moon angel, obsessive good magician, and bitchy lion are property of CLAMP.
Chapter 15: Caught
"You are absolutely *no* fun!" Tristan called out as the spell the guardian had created completed its task. "That energy was supposed to hamper his magical abilities, not heal his arm. But it was rather talented that you were able to convert my power from a harming force to a helpful one."
Nickoli simply sat as his master stared hard at him for the slight disobedience. "I can't let you hurt him," the angel said softly, eyes downcast.
Tristan sighed; exasperated that part of his carefully developed plan had been rearranged. It also made him aware to the fact that Nickoli was more of a variable in this equation than he'd originally thought. Still, his confidence in his victory never wavered, so he pushed these thoughts aside. "Hmph," he sat down next to the dark haired one once more, pulling him close and noticing the tired way Nickoli leaned against him. That made him realize that channeling magic was still tiring to Nickoli. But he wasn't concerned, as the guardian was still awake. In fact, he was greatly enjoying the way Nickoli was unconsciously cuddling up to him. "It's all right," he conceded, "It doesn't change much." Then, with a wicked look, he added in a husky whisper, "You can make it up to me later."
"Oh, shove it," Nickoli murmured, letting himself slide down so *his* head was in *Tristan's* lap. He made a nearly inaudible noise of pleasure and closed his eyes, not sleeping but resting.
Tristan couldn't tear his eyes away from the gorgeous angel's perfect features, the calm expression on his face. He never dreamed that such a strange mutual trust would evolve between them, especially so quickly. "I think we should sit like this more often..." Suddenly he exclaimed, "Ow!" more in surprise than pain. He looked down at Nickoli, who was sleepily grinning back. The angel had pinched the back of his thigh, making a slight sting running through his leg. Then Tristan mumbled, too low for even Nickoli to hear, "And you say you can't figure *me* out..."
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Yue stood with the help of his master, reluctantly looking into the dark haired man's eyes. He seemed almost fearful for some reason, like Clow would do something out of anger, regarding Yue's injury as ineptitude and failure. He was slightly shocked to find himself tightly held within the taller man's arms, Clow's chest shuddering with unsure breath.
The magician whispered, "Yue, oh, Yue, I'm so glad your safe... and so sorry you had to do that. Thank you so much, you saved both Keroberos and I... thank you." He pulled back a bit, looking deep into his guardian's eyes, even though it seemed like Yue wanted to look away. "I was so worried for you! I had no idea where'd you gone off to, or what was happening. I was scared that I might... that I might have lost you..."
His master's sudden outpouring of emotion confused Yue. There was that slightly disapproving look on his brother's face, not directed toward Yue but aimed for Clow. Gently, the angel disengaged himself. "Master, I appreciate your concern, but now is not a right time to explain it all. We are still within Tristan's house; he can probably see us even now. If there's one thing I have learned, it is that he knows all that happens in here. Come, we must keep moving, the wall is gone."
And so it was. The wall that had earlier blocked their passing was gone as if it had all been in their minds from the start. Kero began walking ahead into the dark, ominous feeling hall immediately, when Clow warned, "Wait, what if it's trapped?"
Yue stepped forward, "Then it's going to trigger. There is no other direction for us to take so we should keep going. What else could we do?"
Clow held up the Shot Card. "This. Shot moves fast, but can protect itself. I'll send it in ahead of us."
Yue sighed, "Master, as I said, Tristan is omniscient within this building. If he sees something that is not us enter an area designated for an ambush, than he will make sure it doesn't trip off. He'll save it for us."
Clow stopped and thought. He had a strange intuition that there was definitely something waiting for them beyond where the wall had once been, and all they needed to do was enter to set it off. But Yue's points were valid; there was no other way to go, and Tristan wouldn't let the trap spring if it wasn't them. So how could he fool the other mage? An idea hit him, and Clow smiled. Slowly he withdrew a card from his robes.
Clow, Keroberos, and Yue entered the room beyond the barricade. As soon as they did, three axes spun out of slots in the wall horizontally and cut straight through the trio, dropping them all to the ground. Dead.
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Tristan's eyes went wide at the image floating before him. Carefully, so as not to disturb the creature resting his head on his lap, the blonde leaned forward a bit and rubbed his eyes.
Nickoli, sensing his master's odd emotions, asked, "What happened?" His voice was groggy, and his eyes remained closed.
Tristan blinked, looking down at Nickoli, back to the image, over to the nearby door, and back at the image again. Finally, he replied, "They all got sliced up into piece like cold-cuts."
Without even opening his eyes, Nickoli snorted and laughed a bit. "Yeah, right." He pushed his face further against his aghast master's leg, trying to block out the light in the room from his eyes.
The tall blonde slowly looked down at the angel, thinking how he was extremely glad Nickoli did not open his eyes. If he had he probably would have jumped up and attacked, and Tristan really didn't want to have to harm him. But, as luck would have it, the guard didn't even believe him. Tristan shut his eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong with this picture. Oh yes, the good guys were supposed to make it through his traps, get he more or less safe and sound, have a big stand off with him so they could settle things once and for all in classic fashion. So why hadn't the impudent little goody-two-shoes made it? Huh? Really, he'd overestimated Clow Reed quite a bit then, he'd been expecting so much more from the legendary magician! These traps had been quite elementary; he thought the other would easily be able to recognize them-
He looked up.
In the floating window of magic before him, the bodies of the two guardians and their master were gone. In their places, the two guardians and their master were floating in a two-layered bubble. The layer on the outside was the Float Card, and then erected around them inside was the Shield. Since Shield was put up inside the Float, it technically hadn't moved from its original position, otherwise they would have left it behind. This way, they floated safely down the hall, blades bouncing off the outer wall of a *bubble*.
Tristan was almost ashamed that his magic was being defeated by a floating *bubble*. Then he reminded himself it was *Clow Reed's* floating bubble, and he felt better. He began to laugh.
"Damn it, Tris, can't you just shut up for a little while? Enough with the laugh! I get it, your evil. Can I get some rest now?" Nickoli was whining, which just made him laugh harder.
Then something struck Tristan. "Nickoli, what did you call me?"
"Huh?" The angel finally opened his tired, midnight-colored eyes.
Tristan smiled brilliantly. "You called me Tris!" He flung his arms around a very confused elemental guardian. The young man elaborated happily, "You used to call me that when we were little! That means you still care about me!"
Nickoli made a choking noise and tried to push the suddenly affectionate psychopath off him. "You need psychiatric help! Get off me, what's wrong with you?!" Tristan continued to cuddle up to his creation, until finally they both broke down into laughter, resting together on the couch.
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When they reached the doorway at the end of the hallway, there was a light. Float and Shield both returned to their confines, and the three resumed their search. Yue was still amazed with his whole arm, feeling it tingle with the leftovers of the magic that had healed it. Clow didn't know what to say to Yue, and Kero was a bit miffed about Clow's emotional weakening. It had been slow at first that the lion noticed Clow's growing feelings for his brother, but now it was obvious. Kero had known of his master's feelings for Yue, how they had gone beyond the bounds of friendship. But he'd always assured himself that Yue didn't feel things like that, or that Clow was strong and wise enough to keep these urges hidden. After Nickoli though, he knew, in his subconscious, that Yue could feel and reciprocate more passionate emotions. He knew for certain also, on every level, that Clow wasn't going to be able to simply be Yue master and friend for much longer. He wanted more, and that desire was manifesting itself in more emotional public displays and unconscious favoritism.
Though Keroberos never truly admitted it to even himself, he knew Nickoli and Yue were more than close friends, he knew they were in love. But... for some reason, he did not want to face that fact, at least not yet. He'd grown used to being the only one to get any love from Yue, and in a selfish way he wanted to keep it like that, so that the only beings they truly needed were each other, and neither guardian had to depend on someone else. Yue loved Clow, of course, so did the sun guardian, but they weren't as closely linked to their master as they were to each other. There was something liberating about that to Kero, knowing that for emotional existence he only needed his brother, and they could never be hurt by anyone else. But now, because of Nickoli, Yue's heart had been opened to someone else, leaving him vulnerable, dependent, hurting. The lion wanted to kill Nickoli right now, along with Tristan, and then smack Clow. He couldn't believe how human emotions could screw things up so badly in such a short time!
But still, Kero kept his silence. He watched the way Clow stared at Yue, the way Yue was focused on nothing but finding his beloved. He watched the way neither of them even noticed anymore. Already, Kero was tired of being in the background. He promised himself, then and there, that the next person brought into this wouldn't be able to disregard him so easily. He would demand attention! It's what any self-respecting sun guardian would do.
Just when walking with no sign of relief was becoming too much to bare, they turned a corner and came to a huge set of black double doors. Carved upon the huge stone doors were bodies writhing in agony as fires licked upon their naked skin, people impaled upon huge spears that lifted their bodies towards a sky of sulfuric clouds and falling stars. Demons and shadows danced among the dead and dying, laughing at the pleas for help and cries of agony. Bon fires lit the faces of disfigured monsters flaying and eating the skin off some poor, damned soul, while demon birds circled people chained to the ground, every so often swooping and ripping off a piece of flesh for their dinners. The mural was obviously one of hell.
Clow made a noise of disgust, Keroberos made a comment about Tristan's taste not being as nice as they'd formerly thought, and Yue stared. The half of his mind that was an artist was analyzing that this was an amazing work, some much detail, and how it looked so real... No, not only did it look real to Yue, it also felt real. There was an atmosphere around the carved bodies that twisted in pain and the grotesque monsters that grinned widely with dripping fangs. It was a feeling that emanated outward from the doors, stabbing through the heart of anyone open enough to feel it. Suddenly Yue could swear he heard actual voices crying out, sobs and screams and maniacal laughter flooding the outer hall they stood in. He couldn't help it; he brought his hands to his ears. Yet the voices grew in volume, invading his thoughts and blocking all other sounds from his hearing. They were torturous, full of agony and despair. The laughter was infuriating, making him want to quake in fear and destroy something. It was as repulsive as fingernails down a chalkboard, yet summoning like a siren's song. He couldn't stop it, couldn't quiet it, and he fell to his knees.
Before Yue fell, Clow had been examining not the door but an old map of some sort on the wall next to it. It was a full layout of the first floor of the very house they were in. As it turned out, there was a distinct pattern to the twists and turns of the hallways they'd passed through. It went spiraling steadily inward, every path irrevocably leading toward the center room that was just beyond this door. All in all, there were six layers to this spiral. The room inside was the seventh. The Seventh Circle of Hell. They had made it. Then, breaking into Clow's satisfaction, Yue fell to the floor with his hands tightly over his ears.
Clow was at his side with movements so fast they were barely noticeable. As soon as his master's skin made contact with his own, the voices faded. Yue looked up in surprise, not knowing how the horrible sounds had disappeared. He looked at Clow, who was saying something to him, and took a step back. Clow was asking if he were all right, asking what was wrong. Yue didn't reply. All he did was back up, and once he was a couple feet from Clow he could hear the people again. Immediately, he sprang back into Clow's arms, burying his face against the mage's robes.
"Didn't you hear that?" he asked, practically sobbing but without shedding a tear. "All those people... I think he killed them!"
"Yue, what the hell are you talking about?" Clow questioned worriedly.
Yue explained, "When I'm away from you, I hear voices coming from those doors. Actual souls, trapped in there in agony... calling out to whoever could hear them in this horrible, empty house... a fate worse than a true death." He looked up at his master, into the man's eyes. "Don't you understand? He killed them! Then he trapped their souls in that hellish door, and he taunts them, feeding off them!" He shook his head as Clow's eyes widened. "But he doesn't even need their power anymore. I think I've started to figure him out..." the angel took a step back, just so he wasn't quite so close to his bewildered master. "We need to go through there!"
"Let me get this straight," Kero asked, "You hear voices coming from this door, supposedly of souls trapped within, that Tristan used to use for power. Are you suggesting that he used black magic and necromancy to further his powers so much?"
"Exactly!" Yue exclaimed. "He's in there, I feel it. We need to get to him, to get Nickoli and stop him from doing this to people!" he looked up at Clow.
After a long pause, the magician nodded. "Let's go. I'll open it."
The trio stepped forward.
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Tristan and Nickoli's laughter had died down, but they were still smiling. The angel found his eyes locked with the lighter ones of his master, and all thought stopped. No one else matter, nothing mattered but this... Tristan was lying on top of him, and his grasped Nickoli's chin tilting it up to face him. They stared at each other hungrily.
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Clow's hands were upon the doorknobs.
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Tristan smiled gently as he leaned down.
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The doors creaked as they were pulled open.
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The tall blonde's lips moved slowly, slowly down to the other's, waiting mouth...
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Slowly... slowly... slowly... the doors parted. Clow and Kero entered with Yue...
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Lips pushed together in the most passionate kiss yet...
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Clow stopped. Kero's mouth hung open. Yue stepped in, looking at the strange reactions of his two companions. He looked around at the richly lighted room with fine cream-colored appointments, white candles burning as well as glittering crystal chandeliers.
His gaze fell to a large, plush white couched with two bodies lying on it. They were passionately entangled, writhing slightly gasping with passion but never fully parting.
Yue couldn't move. Couldn't breath.
Neither of those on the couch even looked up.