"I knew you'd choose this way," the invisible voice said to no one in particular. "It was your only escape. It's your fate, my dears."
The formerly hostile attackers dissolved, absorbed into the strange world that had tortured the two eternal beings.
"You can't live without your hosts. You can't live without the other."
A snicker echoed in the vastness.
"I wonder if you will choose correctly. Till next time."
Dark stood in the middle of an empty field. There was no horizon. The
world seemed to just gray out, blur into nothingness.
"Dark?"
He turned and looked at the second figure in this strange but so familiar
world.
"Daisuke," he whispered. A smile spread over his features, warm and
open and so very relieved. "Dai…"
Daisuke had really grown, was his size, and the hair had turned from
the wild spiky look into the unruly style of his father.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fine," was the immediate reply and the two men looked at each other.
"You're back."
Dark nodded.
"I missed you. When you were gone… part of me was suddenly empty. I
was lonely."
Dark swallowed as he looked into the sincere eyes. "Dai…"
"We're one."
"It was never supposed to last."
"Maybe this time, it should be different. It is already." Daisuke smiled
a little. "You're back. Not because of the curse, but…" A shrug. "Maybe
because I needed you?"
The kaitou gazed at him, struck by the simple truth. Maybe Daisuke
had needed him, but Dark had needed him just the same. A symbiosis. Two
lives, two souls, one path.
"Maybe," he whispered.
He had woken to pain, to the fact that his sleep inside the Black Wings
had been interrupted. Someone had torn him out of the seal and tortured
him.
Why? -- He still had no idea.
How had they escaped? -- He didn't know.
Dark reached out and touched his host, feeling the reality of it all.
Daisuke was very real inside this place, inside their shared mind. None
of his other hosts had ever felt like this, so solid, so accepting, so
caring. He had never cared much about them either. He had woken in each
male child of the Niwa clan when the boy had turned fourteen, they had
stolen artwork together, and in the end he had helped him find his true
love. Then Dark had gone to sleep again, waiting to live once more.
But it had never been a real life, just an existence, until the day
Daisuke had become his host. The boy had been different.
"You're different," he said out loud.
Daisuke smiled. "I'm a Niwa. We all are different."
"You even more so, Dai. Something changed us." Dark cupped the young
man's neck, gazing into the brown eyes. "You came for me countless times…
and again today. We could have died."
Daisuke shrugged wordlessly. Dark did something he had never done before
– he drew his host into a hug. Daisuke gave a startled exclamation, but
his arms wrapped around the lean form of his symbiote and held on.
Happiness flowed through him. Joy and warmth, comfort and safety. Yes,
they were one. They belonged together.
"Thank you. For everything," the kaitou whispered fervently.
Krad was aware.
His body hurt. His head hurt. Everything was a mass of agonizing signals.
The pounding behind his eyes was bad enough to make his teeth ache in sympathy.
Every breath seemed to be a massive effort, burning his lungs. He had no
idea if he even had hands or feet, let alone arms of legs. He only knew
that he existed, even though it was in sheer agony.
"…"
It sounded like a moan. A pitiful sound. Weak, pathetic, and very much
him at the moment.
Golden eyes cracked open a slit and immediately closed again. The light
hurt and the pain behind his eyes increased. So he lay still, waiting for
the pain to ease, as time passed. He had no idea how much, he only knew
that it did.
The second time he attempted to open his eyes it was to a change in
the light. It was darker now, more like dusk, and easier on his mistreated
receptors. By now he was also aware that he indeed had hands, feet and
the assorted limbs, but they were leaden weights.
Why did he hurt so much? Why was he unable to move? Why did he still
feel this body…?
Hikari!
Ignoring the real world, he looked around his own mind, trying to find
a spark of his host's presence to see if he had survived. For a second
he was close to panic as there wasn't a sign of what he knew so intimately.
Even when he had taken over the boy, Satoshi had always been in the back,
watching, sometimes able to control even, to intervene.
And then he saw it. Weak, gray and flickering, curled up around itself…
hurting.
--Satoshi?--
The reaction was a violent shiver and he stopped. Yes, his host was
there, but he was in no state to communicate, let along defend himself.
Burned out. Krad had pulled whatever energy he could from that soul and
it had taken its toll. Strangely enough, he wanted to talk to Hikari.
'You're mine,' he had stated often enough -- possessive, cruel and…
true. In so many ways… in ways that became clearer now. Satoshi was his…
No one could take this body from him.
I can't live without him… Mine. Mine to have, mine to possess. The
thoughts swirled through his mind. Mine…
Krad reached out, ignoring the weak attempts of Satoshi to evade, and
curled around the flickering light, pouring some energy into the spark.
It was all he could do at the moment. Satoshi safely cradled in his hold,
he attempted another try for the real world.
He was inside a room, he saw. Not the strange world he had been in
before, but an apartment. Solid walls, a floor, a bed that was currently
where he rested on, and the blinds drawn before the window… Rolling onto
his side, Krad suppressed a moan as his body protested each move. He had
never hurt so much before.
-- wrong.
He had hurt. When that thing had played with them, with him and Dark.
Slashing and tearing at Dark while he had been forced to watch his counterpart
getting mutilated, hearing his screams, watching him bleed. And he had
been spread-eagled, feeling the same pain as Dark, only without receiving
the wounds. Mirror image… the same but different. Light and dark. His wings
had creaked under the strain of the invisible bonds, radiating agony through
his abused body, and all he had been able to do was watch.
Watch and suffer.
Yes, he had hurt before.
Sitting up, feeling his body tremble, Krad surveyed the room. His eyes
came to rest on the second occupant on a separate bed. Black hair fell
over the pale face that was so much like his own. The violet eyes were
closed, the features relaxed, though the lines of pain spoke of suffering
even in his sleep. Dark's body showed multiple bandages and someone had
removed the spoiled and torn clothing, replacing it with fresh ones.
Come to think of it, he had been reclothed, too. Dark gray and blue
sweat pants and a sweatshirt. So unlike his usual style and colors. Pushing
a strand of blond hair out of his face, Krad attempted to rise, but his
knees wouldn't support the weight. He fell back with a gasp, shivering.
Something moved on Dark's bed and he discovered a fluffy white, long-eared
demon, large red eyes gazing at him.
Whizz, Dark's familiar.
Where was he? Why was he here with Dark? Why hadn't he changed back
into Satoshi?
He turned to the shivering presence inside him, hearing a whimper as
he touched it questioningly.
--No, please don't!--
The cry made him flinch. --Satoshi?--
--No!-- was the terrified cry.
And then he felt it. Memories of past pain, never forgotten, always
a dark presence hovering over the agile, intelligent mind. Pain of the
transformations, the fierce cramps of Krad trying to take over. Soul-deep,
tearing him apart. Pain, so much pain… agony… all because of the demon
that had taken him over against his will.
Krad gasped.
He knew that pain now – intimately. He had gone through it after the
seal had been broken. He had experienced what Satoshi had lived with for
all his young life. And the creature that had unsealed him and Dark had
known. It had dug into their minds and played with them.
He shivered, feeling slightly sick at the memories. So this was what
Satoshi had felt, he thought. What he had made the boy go through. It was
why the young man he now shared a body with was so scared of him once more.
With a strange feeling of disappointment, Krad turned away, still shielding
the spark but not trying to touch it again. Satoshi was too weak to understand
what was going on and that was probably why he hadn't changed back.
Right?
Why did he care anyway? an old part of himself begged to differ. He
had never felt compassion for his host before, just tolerance and that
single-minded possessiveness that had permeated his very soul. What had
changed in him to be aware of the pain and feel regret? What made him feel
at all?
Krad closed his eyes. Something was wrong with him, something made
him different from before.
So the same was true about Dark? Daisuke would be nothing but a weak
presence safely ensconced in the hold of his partner.
Jealousy rose inside the demon. He had felt it countless times before.
Jealousy of the friendship between Daisuke and Satoshi, the way Daisuke
had accepted the other boy so easily despite the fact they should be enemies.
Jealousy of Dark's symbiosis with his host, the way they had found a rhythm
and worked together. Jealousy of everything that had been denied to him.
'I never wanted to grow so close to you'.
He recalled the words spoken to a sleeping Daisuke. He had fought the
acceptance of the other boy, the one he had sworn to kill. And it would
have been so easy to do it while he had slept, but instead he had left.
Why?
Even today he had no answer for it.
A soft moan told him of Dark waking and after a few twitching attempts,
Dark opened his eyes, blinking, obviously confused. Krad just watched him,
sitting without moving, simply glad he wasn't close to a collapse. Attempting
to stand would come later.
Dark's eyes narrowed as he discovered his other half just a few feet
away from him, watching.
"We made it?" the kaitou asked, voice raw and dry.
"Looks like it."
Violet eyes roamed the room as the other clawed himself up into a sitting
position. From the tremors racing through the slender body he wasn't much
better off than Krad. He looked as bad as the demon felt himself. He didn't
want to know what he himself looked like.
"The Niwa home," he murmured.
Krad raised an eyebrow and regretted it immediately. Pain shot through
his head. Damn, even that simple gesture hurt.
Dark smiled slightly, apparently careful of his movements as well.
"Hikari?"
Krad shot a look at the weak spark inside his mind. "Alive. That's
all I can say. I… drained him."
Dark's eyes held his and the two so different beings looked at each
other. Finally Dark broke the contact and looked at the partially open
blinds that gave them a slight impression of the world outside.
"We're back. The seal is broken."
Yes. They were. It was.
Now what? shot through Krad's head. He felt adrift, unable to grasp
reality. He was back in the human world, inside a Hikari body, but what
now? Six years had passed, a long time for humans. He had been accepted
by a twenty-two year old Satoshi who had expected to either die or forever
suffer the nightmare that was Krad to him again.
Fatalistic. And brave.
He was facing his old enemy, his counterpart and mirror image once
more, and for the first time Krad felt nothing toward Dark. No hatred,
no jealousy – except for a slight twinge – and no rage.
The cycle of the curse had been broken when they had been sealed and
it hadn't started anew with their return to their former host bodies.
'This is all wrong.'
"But it happened," Dark told him.
Krad realized he must have spoken out loud.
His other half gazed thoughtfully at him, head slightly tilted as if
studying a particularly fascinating thing.
"We're back, we're with them again… what will you do now?"
Krad smiled wryly. "Me? What about you, master thief?"
Dark chuckled and leaned against the head rest of the bed. "Well, for
one, I still hate that face of yours. But there's also art to be stolen,
I guess. There always is." He grew serious. "I'm not sure, actually. This
has never happened before. This is so far from the norm… I'm confused."
Both fell silent, Krad constantly glancing at Satoshi, who had at least
stopped shivering now. Actually, he seemed more alert. Krad kept his distance
but he didn't try to block anything from his host. Should Satoshi choose
to do so, he could even see what the demon was seeing. Right now he only
heard it.
"Who brought us here?" Krad asked.
"I don't know." A soft laugh. "Some kind soul, maybe?"
Krad forgot about not raising an eyebrow and did so. His reward was
another sharp twinge.
"Looks like a lot changed," Dark went on, intrigued, looking around.
He tried to get up and actually managed to stand, though swaying badly.
His face lost some color and swallowed convulsively. "Shit…"
After a minute, he finally opened his eyes, daring to let go of the
wall. Krad got to his own feet, his balance completely off and he was glad
for the support of the table close by.
"Not good," he breathed.
No, indeed not. Not only was he weak as a newborn kitten, he was also
actually on enemy territory, his host was curled up in a defensive ball,
and Dark was about to fade.
Krad closed his eyes and gazed at the soft blue light that represented
Satoshi. He studied it carefully, noticed the skittish behavior, the fear
that resided within its depths. It was so easy to reach out and hurt that
presence. He had done it so many times before. He had no intention to do
so today… or ever again.
Balance.
Unity.
It was what he had never been able to grasp before he had been sealed.
For him, the Hikari had been tools. Use them, abuse them, toss them aside.
Then he had been flung out of his Tamer, into the world of the Black Wings,
he had felt the loneliness, the pain of separation, and much worse. The
real horror had begun when he had been woken and found himself at the mercy
of whatever it was that had nearly killed him and Dark.
Balance.
They belonged together, Dark and him. He was also bound to the Hikari
blood, he was their other part. Satoshi was part of him. Just like Dark
was forever bound to the Niwa bloodline. It was how it had all begun such
a long time ago, with the meddling of humans in the affairs of magic brought
forth by the Hikari. Magic that had devoured souls, had given art life.
Krad settled back and waited for Satoshi to grow braver, to acknowledge
him. Currently, he was in control of the body they shared. It wasn't his
to keep, neither was it Satoshi's alone any more.
Symbiosis. That was the operating word. Give and take. He had only
taken and it had felt right. He had never thought otherwise. It had been
his way of life.
On the outside, he was aware of Dark and for a moment the magic flared.
Startled, he opened his eyes and found himself looking not at his other
half but at Daisuke. The young man blinked, then their eyes met.
"How is he?" Daisuke wanted to know, voice calm and even.
"Weak," he answered coolly.
"Can he go through a change?"
Will you let him take over? was the underlying question.
Krad lowered his eyes, looking inward as well. Would he give up control
for now? He knew he could take it back. His host was in no shape to fight
him for more than a minute at the moment.
--Satoshi-- he murmured, voice soft.
He had used that voice so often before coaxing, gentle, trying to woo
his host, trying to become closer.
Now he stepped back, making room.
There was hesitation. Fear. Suspicion. And loathing.
Strangely, all those emotions hurt. Why? He had never cared before.
--Your body--
Satoshi moved. Carefully, like a frightened creature, unsure whether
this was a trap or not.
--Together-- Krad promised. --Balance--
There was a moment of startlement, of stillness, then Satoshi seemed
to look at him. He said nothing, they just gazed at each other, and finally
he slipped back into his own consciousness.
Krad took his place in the back of his Tamer's mind, wondering why
he was so unsettled by the man's negative emotions. They hurt. The distrust
hurt.
It was new for him. He would have to give this a lot more thought.