Here's chap 16. So we finally got somewhere...
-------------------
Daisuke: Why is it always me?
-------------------
Chapter 16: A Void – Unanswered Questions
-------------------
All around, Dark could see the world spinning rapidly. He winced slightly as unknown powers surged through him as they were forced into the unknown, and he cast the other boy a worried glance.
"Damn..." he muttered, holding Daisuke closer to him, "why does this have to happen now..."
"Mmmm..." the smaller boy reluctantly opened one eye, "Dark...?"
"What? You're awake already?!" the Thief nearly lost his grip at Daisuke's sudden recovery, "Well, I don't wanna break it to you, but we seem to be--"
"It's the same," whispered Daisuke weakly, not bothering to look around him, "it's happening again..."
"What are you talking about?!" Dark pulled the boy so that they were face-to-face, "You've seen this place before?"
"Yeah..." he blinked, "many times... ever since I've been sick, this one place... and... another room... with a... a large flame," he frowned slightly, "and... thirteen smaller flames, each... a different colour... it was..."
"Save your breath already," muttered the Thief, looking around, "what I wanna know is how we're supposed to get outta here, or whatever... there are so many different magical presence's..."
"Hm... we'll be there soon..." murmured Daisuke unexpectedly, coughing in the process.
"..." deciding better than to ask how he knew exactly, Dark checked his host's forehead, and nearly yelled at how hot Daisuke really was, "This is NOT good..."
"What isn't?" the smaller boy sounded confused, with a mix of weariness in his voice, "What's wrong, Dark?"
"Nothing," was the only reply he got, and then Dark sighed, "Why are we here?"
"..." Daisuke closed his eyes, "Time is already stopping...?"
The Thief's eyes widened at the suggestion, "ALREADY?!" But then again, I did feel Scarlet's magic... yeesh, I thought she was dead already...
As the two fell silent, the area around them began to flash many different colours, almost blinding the two, and then there was a searing pain which made Dark wince.
"This--" he gasped, recognizing the magic immediately, "Krad's here as well...?!"
"Krad, and... Hiwatari-kun?"
Before anymore could be said between the two, Dark felt gravity returning to them, and the world seemed to open up to them, which meant that they were falling, "WITH!"
To his relief, the small rabbit-like creature had been clutching to the front of Daisuke's clothes, and instantly transformed into a pair of black wings, allowing the two to land slowly to the ground without having to deal with any physical damage.
Dark looked around, expecting to see something he could recognize, but the world was black, all around them, and he couldn't help but frown, while With changed back.
"Great, now what..." he began to mutter, but an all too familiar voice cut across his thoughts.
"Who would expect Dark to be here?"
"Krad," the Thief stated blankly, as he turned in time to see the blond approach him, "why are you here?"
The sadistic blond smiled at the question, while forming a large amount of white energy in his palm, "It's so nice to hear something like that as your last words."
Before the spell could be finished, though, the energy was suddenly absorbed in the darkness, and another voice cut across them.
"Didn't I tell you before? That won't work," it seemed fairly amused as two more figures appeared, "or would like me to do something more drastic next time."
"Scarlet..." breathed Dark, when he saw her, "and Hiwatari, I should've known."
"So," Satoshi gave Scarlet a cold glare, "would you mind explaining what you just did?"
"In a minute," she said lightly, going over to Dark, and indicating that he should let go of Daisuke, "first, we have to take care of this, and then I'll explain everything," she snorted slightly, "since Celes didn't want to."
Daisuke gave her a blank stare, "Scarlet... san...?"
"Within the light, seeking rays," she began, both hands held out in front of her, "cleansing powers, seek my call, refreshing breeze, show yourself," pure, white energy began to form itself around the palms of her hands, "healing energy, seen again..."
Her voice dipped into muttering, but the energy continued to glow, and started to surround Daisuke.
"What--" started Dark, while Satoshi had to hold Krad back so he wouldn't disturb Scarlet.
"--energy of pure light," she whispered, "healing all."
The energy was absorbed into the smaller boy, and he blinked, "What just..."
She sat down, "It may take a while for him to fully recover," she said lightly, "so I'll be explaining everything here and now, or," a small smile played across her lips as she gave Krad a glance, "someone might end up trying to blow up the place."
The other three people exchanged perplexed looks before setting themselves on the floor; Satoshi edging away from Krad, while Dark kept an eye on Daisuke.
Scarlet held up a pendant, which was made out of bronze, with a jade middle, "First off..." she spoke into it, "Celes, are you there? Answer me if you can hear me."
The jade middle rippled like water, before a face materialized in it – Celes, 'What? Scarlet, I... this... you...'
"I know," she cut in softly, "how much time is left, then?"
Celes looked at the people seated, all who had shocked looks on their faces, "The Flame..." she sighed slightly, "already, two supporting flames have died... I don't know how much longer..."
"Hm..." Scarlet frowned slightly, "two now... in the area of... eleven left... okay..." she returned to reality, giving Celes a calm look, "did they--"
"Obviously," Celes replied sadly, "or I might have been able to hold it out for a few more days... I am so sorry..."
"Never mind," the other girl smiled, "I'll take care of the rest from here, okay?"
"Sure."
The reflection rippled again, and Celes' face faded from the pendant, and Scarlet tucked it away from sight, "Now, down to business, shall we?"
At once, questions were thrown at her:
"Why the HELL are we here, dammit!"
"What's with this Flame and what is it's purpose?"
"How is Takada involved with this?"
"The thirteen supporting Flames... fading?"
"WHERE THE HELL ARE WE?!"
Scarlet raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Interesting..." she took a look around, "well, first off, this area," she waved a hand, "is a void, where Celes and myself... well, live, I guess you could say."
"Boring..." mumbled Dark, and Daisuke gave his alter ego a weary look, "..."
"This void was just another way to keep away from..." she cringed slightly, "certain people..."
"You mean other people live here?" Satoshi cut in, and she nodded.
"Only five others, but that's not the point," Scarlet continued, "as I as saying, this void is the only other place to seek the Flames of Time without causing a disturbance, since only the Time Keeper can actually enter that room. All other forces will push away those who don't possess that power, unless the Time Keeper says otherwise. But, at the moment, it's fading, so everything is distorted to a turn, and that is where we come in."
"And what are we supposed to do?" Krad asked, as he raised an eyebrow, obvious in a mental battle on whether to blow the world apart or to continue to listen.
"You, as the other halves of the Niwa and Hikari family members," she said patiently, "are needed as well, or we'll be unable to retrieve the last eleven broaches," she held up one of the broaches, "remember these?"
"Right..."
"It's our only hope," she sighed, curling the small broach in the palm of her hand, "but, this is the first time the Flame has ever... neither one of us can understand how this happened..."
"But, about Celes-san..." cut in Daisuke slowly, "a scroll... it was dated back thousands of years ago... how could she still be..."
Scarlet gave him a small smile, "Time in this world, is much slower than in your world," she explained, "so, people here don't age, and besides, Celes is approximately 3200 years old, or something to that number range."
"WHAT?!" Dark nearly fell on top of Daisuke in surprise, "If you asked me, then she's only about twelve, in my opinion!"
"Indeed," Scarlet turned away, "but, there are reasons for her not aging, but we won't go into that at the moment."
"How about you then!" demanded Dark, not listening to her, "Are YOU over a thousand years old?!"
"Well, yes and no."
"... that doesn't make any sense."
"Not to you, it doesn't," she nodded, "but, I have been around for thousands of years, but..." she shook her head and shuddered, "something happened."
"But then," Satoshi started, before the Thief could open his mouth again, "how long do we have to... get these broaches?"
"From what's been happening," recovering slightly, she got up, "about 48 hours in total. We really don't have much time. Let's go."
"Wait! Go where?" having fully recovered with the help of Scarlet's spell, Daisuke got up.
"You saw it before, Niwa Daisuke," she whispered, holding out the broaches before her, "the room where the Flame itself is being kept. Now, let's go."
The two broaches let off an incredibly strong aura, which engulfed all five of them and, before they knew it, they had entered a room, where a large flame was flickering weakly. Walking towards it, Scarlet muttered a few things under her breath.
"This," she waved a hand at the huge flame, "is the Flame's heart. And the smaller ones are its supporting flames. The thirteen elements consist of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Wood, Nature, Poison, Gravity, Ice, Metal, Light, and Dark."
"So, very much the balance of nature," said Krad, taking a look at the flame.
"Quite so," Scarlet indicated the smaller flames, "now, we'll have to split up, to retrieve the Flames, so, wherever the feeling takes you, you go. Oh, and," she gave Krad a meaningful look, "if you try to attack anyone, the magic will deflect upon you, so I wouldn't do it if I had the choice."
Krad fell silent, and they slowly made their way towards the Flame: Satoshi and Krad going one way, and Daisuke and Krad the other. The Thief gave the blond a warning look before entering an open portal, which materialized as they went closer to it, and then all four disappeared.
"Good luck," whispered Scarlet, and gave the large Flame a long look, "I hope you're happy," she hissed, "forcing other people to do your bidding, without another care in the world."
With a flick of her hair, she disappeared into a separate flame, and time seemed to stand still.
###
Krad and Daisuke walked silently down a weaving corridor, keeping a fair distance from each other, lost in their own thoughts. The redhead stopped when the blond began to speak, and it wasn't about killing him for leading Satoshi astray.
"That girl, Scarlet," he said, "she is hiding something from us..."
"R-really?"
"Yes," he gave Daisuke a cold look, "and, if you ask my own personal opinion, she seems to possess quite a few Niwa traits. Like the hair. How many people have red hair in that particular shade?"
"Eh?" at this, the redhead blinked, "What do you mean?"
"What I mean," whispered Krad, "is that she must be connected to the Hikari and Niwa families... by blood. And that, Niwa, may be the reason to why there is only a Time Keeper every few thousand years...
... an unforgivable birth between families."
------------------
Around and around and around...