THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AGAIN!!! I love you guys!!
Okay, sorry for the long wait...--'' exams really suck. I still have not update my other stories yet...
For those who read 14 years 7 days, I'm currently rather stuck in it...so it won't be out so soon...I'll try though...
Warning: Mild slash at the first few chapters, but the REAL slash is coming up. Mainly focus on Count/Makenshi pairing now...but will eventually become Makenshi/Kaze, I promise.
NO FLAMERS ALLOWED, okay? If you don't like this story, don't ever read it again.
Summary: FF: U fic. Makenshi, who had been held captive by the Count, took a stroll down the memory lane with his brother to clear some misunderstandings...however, when the Count interfere again, Makenshi felt that he might have lost his last hope to salvation.
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Dilemma for the Cloud
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By: XiaoBai
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Drip. Drip.
He opened his eyes faintly and stared into the darkness. His arms were chained up above him, preventing him from escaping, although right now Makenshi felt that he did not have the energy to even move a finger. For a moment, Makenshi wondered what that Oscar had done to him to make him so weak. But that wasn't the main point now, so the white haired swordsman decided to take a look at his surroundings.
'I must be in the dungeons...' Makenshi thought as he stared at the wet stone floor and listened to the rhythmical dripping of water. The dungeons were the wettest place in the air base after Pisto's room. The water from above would always flow downwards due to the gravity and end up in the dungeons, which were the only rooms closest to the ground.
He sighed slightly and relaxed. There was no use trying to escape now, he reasoned. He had not even the energy to summon mist power from the spirit crystals upon his head, so there was nothing he could really do except restoring his physical energy.
Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the damp wall and commanded himself to sleep.
-- --
"Shiroi-kun--"
A voice...
"Shiroi-kun! Get away from there now!"
His eyes snapped opened when he heard the familiar voice. It was his mother.
"O-Okaasan?" He muttered in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"Shiroi-kun!" His mother called again, but this time, Makenshi noticed that she wasn't looking at him.
He turned his head and followed her as she run towards another direction. Then, quite suddenly, Makenshi saw a white figure desperately trying to block a meteor. It was a younger version of him, looking very worn out. His left arm was injured badly but he continued to grab on to his sword.
Then, Makenshi understood. This was his home world, and this was his own memory.
His mother ran passed Makenshi towards his younger self and pushed him away from the meteor. Makenshi frowned sadly as he saw his mother grabbing his younger self's hand and running towards another direction. He had remembered this day very well; it was the day where his home world was destroyed.
He ran after them, knowing what was coming next. Chaos will come anytime now...he remembered that very clearly. He looked up and saw the white glowing ship in which the Count was sitting upon. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed for his sword, but his hand met the empty air instead.
'My sword had been taken away from me...' Makenshi remembered. He snapped his eyes shut in reluctant defeat and clenched his fists. His home world was disappearing around him and yet, he could do nothing about it.
Makenshi opened his eyes in surprise and whirled around.
His brother was standing in front of him, his cloak swirling in an uncanny fashion. The surroundings froze suddenly before dissolving away into darkness.
Makenshi frowned, "Aniki? What are you doing here?" He stopped suddenly and looked around, "If you're here...Is Sumire here? Aniki, did you see Sumire?"
Madoushi's eyes softened and shook his head sadly, "Sumire is gone, Shiroi. He died trying to protect you fourteen years ago in Windaria. I did see him through his last minutes..."
The red sorcerer looked soberly at the painful expression Makenshi had and said softly, "I shouldn't have left you alone in our home world at that time with only Sumire to protect you... I thought that Sumire, being your alter ego, would be sufficient to save you from anything...such a fatal mistake I had made...Look at what happened to you now..." He stepped closer and looked into Makenshi's eyes.
"You are injured, my brother. You emotions are scarred." He said plainly.
Makenshi averted his eyes, "It was nothing, aniki... I am not injured...besides..." He closed his eyes, "I am about to die soon..."
"Shiroi, I know what is happening to you right now..." Madoushi said, " Remember the spirit crystal I gave you?"
Makenshi nodded, fingering one of the spikes upon his head, "I have it here, aniki."
"I insert some of my soul energy into it so that I can watch over you, Shiroi..." Madoushi said, "We are now within the space in the crystal...therefore I can control the memories here..."
When Makenshi kept silent, Madoushi continued softly, "You have gone through a lot, my brother...I have seen what you have gone through ever since the Count took you in. I have seen you entering Windaria. I have seen you meeting Kaze and--"
"Enough!" Makenshi shouted. His fists were clenched and his shoulders were shaking, "Do not dig up my past, aniki. I wish to forget them..."
Madoushi looked appraisingly at his brother and shook his head slightly, " You still feel that he hate you, Shiroi..."
"Of course he would hate me!" Makenshi snarled, "I killed the woman he loved!"
"What happened to Aura wasn't your fault, Shiroi...Kaze did not blame you." Madoushi continued. He raised his left arm and closed his eyes. The surroundings began to change.
"I will show you."
-- --
There was the familiar sound of the market place. There was the familiar smell of the air around him.
Makenshi closed his eyes tightly. He didn't want to see this; he didn't want to think about that incident again.
"Open them, Shiroi. You must learn the truth." His brother said. Makenshi was sure that the red magician was standing beside him.
Sighing quietly, Makenshi opened his eyes and at once, he was almost feeling happy. This was the same town in Windaria; this was the place he had first—
"No!" Makenshi snapped, holding his head in his hands, "Aniki! Stop this!"
"I won't, Shiroi!" Madoushi snapped. He held Makenshi's shoulders and shook them roughly, "Open your eyes, Shiroi! You will never learn the truth if you keep on pushing it away!"
"The truth is that I KILLED HER!" Makenshi shouted. Suddenly, there was a loud slap and Makenshi felt a sharp stinging pain on his left cheek. He looked up and saw his brother's angry expression.
"Stop this idiocy, Shiroi! Open you eyes and learn the truth before you regret it!" Madoushi snapped, "I will FORCE you to if you continue this stupid act!"
Makenshi swallowed slightly before nodding. He had forgotten how terrifying his brother was when he got angry.
"Fine, I will listen to you." Makenshi muttered, "But I believed it wouldn't make any difference...I killed her...I did..."
Madoushi ignored him, pulling him towards the crowds of people instead.
"Where are we going?" Makenshi asked curiously.
"You should know, my brother." Came the quiet reply.
Makenshi gasped.
"Not--"
"Yes, Shiroi." Madoushi said firmly.
Makenshi shut his eyes tightly as he felt a dull pain in his chest.
-- --
"Can we stop now? I think we had run enough!" Ai panted. Lisa nodded and the group stopped by a stream.
Yuu looked around curiously, "Where are we now?"
Ai shrugged, "We must have ran onto another unknown path."
Lisa held out her hands and closed her eyes, feeling the auras of the creatures around them. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes again and sighed in relief.
"We are safe. This is place is friendly." She said and sat down beside the tired Chobi.
Kaze was leaning by a tree and staring into the water of the stream. Lisa signaled to the two children and told them quietly to not disturb the man.
"Why?" Ai asked curiously.
Lisa smiled apologetically, "Don't ask, Ai-chan."
Yuu nodded, "Is it about Makenshi?"
Lisa sighed. That boy was getting much sharper recently, "Perhaps, Yuu- kun."
Yuu looked at Lisa thoughtfully and Lisa knew that the boy did not believe her. However, Yuu did not ask any more questions and began to preen Chobi instead. Ai, on the other hand looked at Lisa suspiciously.
"You are not telling me something." The little girl said, crossing her arms indignantly. Lisa sighed inwardly but smiled at Ai.
"I don't remember not telling you something important."
Ai began to frown, "What about Makenshi?"
This time, Lisa did not bother to hid her sigh, "What about him, Ai-chan?"
"Why did he help us?" She asked determinedly.
Lisa shook her head, "I don't know."
Ai's frown deepened, "You must have a hunch or something."
Lisa sighed again. Ai was also getting more observant recently.
"No, I do not, Ai-chan. Now, I really need a rest...why don't you go and play in the stream?" Lisa suggested, hoping that it might stop Ai's interrogation.
Ai puffed her cheeks in annoyance and walked away in a huff, swearing that she would dig the secret out of Lisa one day.
'Let's hope that day would not come soon...' Lisa thought tiredly. She glanced at Kaze again and sighed quietly. Then she looked up into the sky, and began to wonder what sort of relationship did the white swordsman had with Kaze.
-- --
The Count frowned in displeasure as he stepped into the damp dungeon. He knew at once that the white swordsman was currently somewhere in his own head and there seemed to be someone else present in Makenshi's mind.
Reaching out a hand, the Count took off one of the crystals upon Makenshi's head and heard the other man gasped and return to conscious suddenly. Turning to the crystal in his hand, the Count probed it with his own senses and recoiled back quickly when he felt a piercing presence.
Makenshi was breathing deeply, his eyes staring off at the stone floor. The Count turned back to the white swordsman and lifted his chin. The emerald eyes stared hazily at him and the Count felt a jolt of anger when he realized that the other man was not seeing him. A loud slap echoed around the dark room and Makenshi's head turned sharply to the right, blood trickling out from his mouth.
"C-Count-sama..." The swordsman whispered. The Count smiled in satisfaction as Makenshi looked tiredly at him.
"What is this crystal, Kumo?" The Count asked, holding up the black crystal. The swordsman stared at it for a long time before lowering his head.
"My...spirit crystal...it holds my mist power..." He said quietly.
"Really?" The Count said slowly, "So what will happen if I take all of them away?"
Makenshi's eyes widened slightly before closing, "You can't do that, Count- sama."
"And why is that?" The Count asked.
Makenshi hesitated, "I...I will lose the ability to fight."
The Count's eyes narrowed, "Are you certain about that? Kumo, you know exactly what really happens if I take them all away..."
Makenshi squeezed his eyes shut and pulled against the chains, wishing fervently he had the strength to conjure just one mist spell, "No...don't..."
But the Count smiled darkly, "Oh yes...Kumo...I'll take them away...because they are the reason why you are not mine..."
-- --
There was a suddenly loud bang in the sky and everyone turned his or her heads up. Lisa's eyes widened when she saw something, or someone, descending from the sky.
"Makenshi!" Ai shouted. She sounded happy and Lisa felt it too, thinking that perhaps the white swordsman had escaped from the Count.
Yet, she did not lower her guard, for she remembered Makenshi's previous words.
"Be sure to kill me the next time...before he made me come after you again..."
As the white swordsman came closer to the group, Lisa noticed that the black crystals were missing from Makenshi's head. Also, the swordsman was wearing black instead. The sword held in his hand was streaked with lines of black and the amethyst orb at the hilt was dim and dark in colour.
There was a small smirk upon Makenshi's mouth as his hand moved towards the bottles of mist. Lisa noticed that the bright emerald eyes were now blank and the mist in the bottles were now of dark grey.
Lisa glanced immediately at Kaze and saw his right arm jerked underneath the black cloak. Her senses told her that there was an unknown presence coming from Kaze and she knew that the demon gun was going to be activated.
Makenshi's fingers closed around two mist bottles and the smirk on his lips turned almost insane.
Lisa grabbed Yuu and Ai's hands quickly and retreated away from the two men, knowing that this battle was out of her league.
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Tsuzaka
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Okay...it's another freaking short chapter AGAIN...but at least I got it out FINALLY!!
I know many people would be confused during the part when Makenshi talks with Madoushi. But that will be explained in another side story 'The Zephyr of Windaria', which I am currently working on. ;) Kaze-san would be an active character in there.
The real slash will come up from next chapter onwards...though I'm thinking of having two versions, one on and the other on However, the next chapter slash will focus on the Count and Makenshi... it will be like writing Kamui and Fuuma slash...
I am approaching exams now...sooo...the next updates might not come very soon... I hope you guys will understand...;;
Last but not least, REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!