The mood was somewhat dampened when after dinner Niwa Daikii brought out the large tomb that seemed to contain all the knowledge in the world about art.
"I think I finally found the entity responsible for Dark and Krad's comeback and your abduction later on," the older man said slowly, voice serious. "It took me a while, but I'm certain it's this."
He opened the book and turned it around so Satoshi and Daisuke could read it. The pages were yellow with age, the script ancient and sometimes hard to read, but the hand-drawn pictures usually brought across what they were dealing with.
"The Mugen Light?" Daisuke read, frowning. "Never heard of it."
"It's not a single piece of artwork," Daikii explained. "The Mugen Light was created by a mad man, taking different pieces of art and making them one."
Satoshi frowned. "How?"
"The first was the Light of Helheim. Legend has it that in its time, it was the purest of all precious stones in the possession of a Ikawi, Lord of the Western Skies. He sent out for an artist to forge a wedding gift for his wife. The artist made the diadem crown. It was made of love and dedication, admiration for the beauty of the future bride, and filled with life. He integrated the Light of Helheim. But the bride died before the wedding and the artist's work was never worn. It was lost in the vaults of the lord, filled with grief and anger, and found later by another artist, who had a vision of beauty and perfection all of his own. He took the Light of Helheim and merged it with his own work. But nothing fit. The man was mad, unable to see the beauty of his own work, always envying other artists. So he stole from them. In the end he had created a monster, filled with both love and hate, with adoration and disgust. Everything clashed in it, making it ugly and beautiful in one."
Daisuke looked at the picture that was on the next page that showed a beautiful young woman that had the shadow of something incredibly horribly and twisted. Her eyes were empty, her smile sweet.
"It devoured souls," Daikii continued. "Unlike other art, this one didn't live off the adoration alone, it took what it needed. It killed if necessary. The artist was killed by his own creation and not much later the thing was destroyed."
"It doesn't have its own portal any more," Kosuke told them. "It has been raiding souls and emotions through other artwork, but since its just a parasite, its not strong enough to do a lot of damage."
"Then why take Dark and Krad?"
Because we were tasty? Dark joked, though the words held a serious tone to it.
"They are powerful magical entities, born out of a powerful artwork," Daikii explained. "I believe it targeted them because of their power, their individualism. They were one once, but they got separated, they grew strong on their own."
"So they're still a target," Satoshi mused.
"Probably, though I doubt it will come back."
I'm not so sure, Dark muttered uneasily.
Daisuke hugged him a little. They won't get you two that easily
A soft smile was the answer, but the unease stayed.
"Is there any way for us to seal it first? Before it becomes a danger again?" Daisuke wanted to know.
His grandfather frowned a little. "It moves in the world all art exists in. It has no real form any more since it was destroyed."
"So it's difficult," Satoshi concluded.
"Yes, definitely."
"But not impossible."
Kosuke smiled his calm smile. "Of course not. We will find a way."
They had returned late that night, almost in the early hours of morning,
and both had crashed immediately. Satoshi had been the first to wake, as
usual, needing less sleep than his lover. He had made himself coffee and
settled down with the morning paper. Krad hadn't emerged from where he
was in his mind, silent and distant in a way he hadn't been for a while.
In the last twenty-four hours his world had changed abruptly as he had
given in to his desires, had taken that last step.
Satoshi finally let the paper sink. He knew Krad wouldn't react to
any calls, except if there was mortal danger, which there wasn't at the
moment – thankfully. So he lay back on the couch, making himself comfortable.
He closed his eyes and let himself drift off into the part of his mind
that was his demon's resting place and looked around in surprise. It sure
had changed.
Gone was the almost sterile white-gray nothing before, now it was formed
into a landscape. Well, more or less. Soft curved dunes were stretching
out into the distance, where actually a horizon could be seen, the sky
held a slightly faint shade of blue, flecked with occasionally fluffy white
spots, and a warm breeze played with his hair. It wasn't actually a desert,
but it very much looked like it, despite the colors. It seemed as if the
changes in Krad were reflecting on his surroundings, too. Or maybe it was
actively his demon's doing.
Looking around for the blond Satoshi finally spotted him curled into
his usual stance, knees up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, staring
into space. Hikari sighed silently and slowly approached the being he had
finally come to see as a real friend. A friend who appeared to be overwhelmed
by his own actions.
Krad didn't give any indication whether or not he had noticed his arrival,
so Satoshi simply sat down at his side.
"I remember my first time with Daisuke," he said softly. "It was… unsettling."
Krad didn't move but he knew he had the other man's attention now.
"It wasn't because of emotions. I knew emotions by then. I could feel
them without being overwhelmed. I had loved before Daisuke. Well, lusted
was more like it. I had had bedpartners, male and female. I had relationships.
But with Daisuke it was special. Dai was someone who, if it went wrong,
I couldn't just push away and forget about. He was my best friend, someone
who knew everything about me, who had helped me become who I am today."
He smiled a little reminiscently.
"We were together for a while by the time it happened. We had touched
each other, knew the other's body, but I had never slept with a man before.
I was gay, sure, but I had never given myself to anyone in that way. And
Daisuke… well, he had only been with girls. My first time with Dai…"
Krad watched his host from the corner of his eyes, having noticed the smile
in Satoshi's voice. "Yes, it was special. It was on our anniversary. We
had a fabulous dinner on the balcony– that man can cook, if he only wants
to – and an equally magnificent wine to go with it, candles, soft music,
the whole menu. Dai has always been a romantic at heart and he really
surprised me with it. It was an almost perfect evening – until a storm
rolled in. We did our best to save the dinner, but we ended up soaked to
the skin. Power went down on top of it when lightning struck, so we had
to relight the candles."
Krad listened almost breathlessly. There was a softness in his host's
voice that he had come to recognize – Satoshi usually used it when talking
of or talking to Daisuke.
And him …
"He looked at me with this large brown eyes of his, dripping wet, shirt
sticking to his body," Satoshi continued, "and then he stood in front of
me. I'll never forget his kisses that night. It was the first time he said
it out loud."
Krad didn't dare to move or needed to ask what Daisuke might have had
said. He knew it too well. He had wanted to say it, too, and it scared
him.
"I was… totally nervous afterwards. You know, this awkward morning-after
feeling. We were together for one year, and I felt uncomfortable. But one
thing I never regretted – having waited for him."
Satoshi hadn't had partners before Daisuke? Krad blinked in disbelief.
He remembered only too well, how the girls had used to swarm around his
host, even when he had only been fourteen. Well. Maybe it was this – girls.
Satoshi hadn't been interested in them, even back then he had only wanted
Daisuke.
"Dai saw it, and he even understood. He had been with a girl before
– not that he saw a girl in me, I took care of that – but somehow he understood.
He always had. And we talked about it. Speaking of which," Satoshi rose,
"looks as if someone's knocking on your door. If I were you," he
smiled at Krad, "I'd let him in."
Krad peeked around the form of his host to see a dark figure waiting
in the distance.
Dark.
Oh shit …
Almost timidly Krad looked up at his host, begging silently for moral
support, but Satoshi shook his head.
"Sorry, this you have to do on your own. I can't possibly know about
your feelings. We share one body and mind, but emotions are a different
matter." He smiled a little. "Hey, but one thing I know for sure – I'm
glad you finally took that last step. I was tired of getting a hard-on
by looking at Dark."
What?
Satoshi smirked. "You let your guards down lately."
And with that he simply turned, nodded at Dark and disappeared.
Krad turned and watched the thief walk closer slowly, almost hesitantly,
as if he wasn't sure what to expect. Krad was simply mesmerized by
the graceful movements of those long legs – legs that had closed around
his waist, pulling him deep into the other's body…
He swallowed hard at the memories.
"Krad."
A voice, deep and rich, moaning his name…
"Krad?"
He looked into the deep pools of violet that were his lover's eyes
– eyes that darkened even more, clouded with passion…
"Did I do something wrong?" Dark asked slowly, sitting down at his
side, clearly hesitant to touch him.
Krad shook his head. "No. I just needed some time."
You never did anything wrong. I think it was me who made all the mistakes,
starting from wanting to kill you to pushing you away when we grew closer…
"To think?" Dark hazarded a guess.
Krad didn't meet his other half's eyes.
A hand brushed over his arm, briefly and lightly, but it left a little
tingle. "Krad, to finally be with you, to share this with you, feel you
like I haven't felt anyone ever before… it was amazing. All I can say is
we should have done it much, much earlier… and, koibito, I love you."
"How do you know what love is?"
"Because I felt its beginnings before."
Krad glanced at him. "With Harada Rika?"
"In a way, yes. It was a fledgling feeling, one that I didn't understand
at all. It made me sad, it broke my heart and I was confused about it all.
I didn't dare let her touch me, kiss me… love me. I ran. I knew there would
be no future."
"You see a future for us?"
Dark smiled softly. "Yes, I do. What do I have to do to make you believe
that? To believe me and in me? Trust me?"
"I do trust you… it's me I don't trust," Krad whispered.
"Krad?"
"I'm not an impulsive person by nature." At Dark's twitching lips and
raised eyebrows, he gave a little snort. "Most of the time. I rarely lost
control over myself. I never did anything without a back-up plan, without
making sure to have everything covered. But I jumped into this head first,
Dark Mousy, and I don't even know what 'this' is. I can't tell you I love
you because I don't know how it feels. But I… I want to learn. Help me?"
he pleaded.
Dark's hand was back, this time touching his hand, fingers entwining.
"Always. I'll learn it with you. It's not like I know all the answers either."
The kiss was sweet and soft, and Krad felt arms wrap around him, holding
him, pulling him close.
"I'll never let you go, Krad. You're mine."
Mine. Somehow it sounded good to him.
And for a brief second Krad thought he heard his host chuckle.
"Sato?"
Sleepy dark eyes looked at him as he blinked, Daisuke standing over
him with a mug of fresh coffee.
"You talked to Krad?"
He nodded. "Looks he finally got it."
"Took him long enough."
Daisuke pushed him away a little, snuggling into the warm cavern between
his lover's body and the cushions, sighing in contentment.
"You have to know it."
"Sure do. Can you ever forgive me for being so dense?"
Lips met in a tender kiss. "I send a bouquet of flowers to Emmett
every year."
"You what?!"
"Kidding."
Satoshi grinned, carding his hands through the thick strands of his
lover's hair as he pulled him closer into a much more heated kiss. But
before he could run a hand under the pajama top, Daisuke pulled away.
"No time, sorry. There's a paper that needs to be written, my professor
needs to see me about something or other, and I'm sure you have neglected
you work abysmally."
"I never neglect my work." Satoshi pointed toward the newspaper. "See?"
"Hn."
They parted after another chaste kiss, and Satoshi watched the retreating
form of his lover, before he returned to his reading. A picture caught
his attention and he studied the article that went with it.
"The Staff of Herodes," he murmured thoughtfully.
Life was back to normal.