Leoth- Eriko holds up fans and does victory fan dance
Yumi-sama- Thanks…
Sordid- Dark decides to play a game of capture the chibi and glomps you
Sephykoi- lol! Yes, Daere is quite the character! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I thought it was choppy,
Kagekitsune16- Author falls off the edge of her seat Safety precautions should be taken when sitting on the edge of one's seat,
Katbell- ROTFLMAO! That was great! Seriously! Let's go to interview, Eriko, are you faster than Daere?
Eriko: No! TT.TT
Daere: evil sadistic grin
Kitsune- 0.o
Lenora- is keeled
Kikiro Tsuatashi- Dark pokes back and steals your plushie-room key TOHOHOHOHOHO! anime laugh
Miss Mel F. Loowus- Well yes, I tend not to mind my syntax as well as I should in fan fiction. I tend to over check my novels until I start to dislike them, if I were to analyze my fan fiction thusly, I'd begin to dislike them and never finish!
Miss Mel F. Loowus- I agree! Everyone seems to think Krad would simply roll on his back, I think differently!
Miss Mel F. Loowus- Yes, Passionate kisses are all good and well, but I find sweet kisses make the true romances.
Oliversgurl- …Oops?
Yunako- Lol! Thanks!
Yunako- bows
Yunako- Yeah, but the OC chapter was a bit necessary to explain things.
Yunako- Like gravy baby!
Yunako- Krad glares at authoress MEEP!
LuceScuro- Seriously! Where have you been?!?!?
Fozdemon- Don't worry! Continuation is inevitable!
Ari- LOL! Luvles your name by the way, I'll continue soon. hands you tissue
Yunako- I'm glad, I was worried that everyone would take CH7 as another OC chappy and throw my fiction in the trash!
Yunako- Dark is cocky everywhere! From the janitor's closet to Sunday school!
Blizzi-chan- grins! You've had the most enthusiastic review thus far! I didn't think many people liked this last chapter so I was a tad reluctant to put out the next one, but you've cheered me up so I will! glomps you By the way, I will most likely write more SatDai stories.
Taensuu- nods fluff fills our pillows at night.
Mutou Yasu- Somehow, I doubt anyone would kick Krad… runs off to see if she can bribe anyone to kick Krad for a dollar Eriko 3's you for your concern (Note, fan fiction dot net may have erased my left arrow before the three)
FallenTenshi128- Thankies! I hearted the soup scene as well, More to come! (along with streams of profanity from your homework plagued author)
Yunako- nods I thought there should be a reason as well. Stories without a reason have holes in them- like swiss cheese!
Yunako-Yeah, I loved them talking in their sleep. I'm a novelist, but the only thing I've had published is poetry and we all know that's easy peezy. I'm working on getting one of my books published before high schools. LOL! I love your narrative on the pic!
Golden-flame4 - Alrighty then!
Ziggy Sparks- More for you! .
CH14 -Broken, not yet shattered
Eriko ran, her lungs burning as her opponent remained but a few steps behind her at all times. She always barely dodged his attacks. But it was clear, he didn't plan to kill, he planned to make her suffer. And he knew just how.
Her feet beat desperately against the rain soaked pavement. It was too much like last time. She turned behind a building on to a back street to escape. He knew. She spun around, face determined as her rain soaked hair clung to her tiny frame. It was just like last time. But this time, she would fight. She turned on her grinning opponent and allowed an energy ball to take shape in her hands. "KIEUSERU!"
"ERIKO!" screamed Cadell shooting up with sweat running down her brow. "No! No no no!" she cried clutching her skull. "No, please no!"
Drem rushed into the room and locked eyes with Cadell. The moment he rushed to her side he fell to his knees next to the bed allowing her to fall into his arms as her body shook with sobs. "Eriko," he murmured. He knew as well as the little emotion deity that something was severely wrong.
XxXxX
From the way they all sat calmly in the living room they knew something was wrong Cadell sat with her hands in her lap while Drem supported her. Emiko was pale and Satoshi and Daisuke could only stare, horrified to find out what Cadell had found out.
It was when her eyes trailed to the door that a banging ensued causing Daisuke to jump as the door was flung open and Dark entered with Krad in his arms. "Open the fucking door!" he shouted for the third time as it caught on the door chain. Satoshi was up sooner than anyone else and undid the door chain so Dark could get in.
Dark rushed in and laid out an unconscious Krad on the kitchen table. "I need your help Emiko! He won't wake up!"
Not hesitating one second, Emiko ran up to her family's age old enemy and removed his tattered jacket to see the full extent of his wounds. The worst of it were red marks around his neck, while the rest of the wounds appeared to be healing. "What are these?" she asked pointing to the marks.
"Saliva."
Dark and Emiko turned to look at Cadell. "What do you mean?" asked Emiko.
"His saliva, it's toxic. It wears away at the victims beliefs or manifests their fears. Those marks will fade. But the saliva causes doubts and horrors to grow in the victims mind until they go insane." she said staring at her hands which were still neatly folded in her lap. "He…he has many ways to destroy the mind. He will feed off of you four until you die, and then he'll turn to other prey. Demo… for now…he will feed off his new victim, if he can make her suit his uses."
"…Eriko," murmured Satoshi.
"Because of her parents?" asked Drem quietly.
Cadell smiled. "That was the beauty of Eriko, the strength that allowed me to take her body without killing her. Her strength lies in the fact that she can't feel anything for herself, if she did she'd go insane and die…But…if he can use her past to make her snap, she has enough trauma to give him power to kill us all." she murmured, her body shaking. "And as he grows stronger, Krad…He'll…Ah! Itai!" she whimpered as she clutched her ribs.
Dark turned away. He knew what she was going to say, she didn't have to finish it. "We have to speed up her spell." he murmured. "There's no other way."
"But…We still have over a day to go! It's dangerous!" protested Emiko.
"Emiko-sama, please," murmured Cadell who had her hand pressed to her heart. "I don't know what happened in Eriko's past, but she can't last much longer."
"…Okay…I'll do it." said Emiko. With that Drem picked Cadell up trying to jar her as little as possible and they walked to the back room.
Daisuke stared out the window with unreadable eyes.
XxXxX
Satoshi and Daisuke sat in Daisuke's old room. Daisuke stared out the window, and Satoshi gazed at the floor. "…Satoshi…What kind of thing could make a normal girl like Eriko? I've met children that have been beaten before. And none of them are like her. Not even the ones that have marks all over their bodies. I think that something else happened."
"…She was raped. Much in the same manner Krad was."
"Whether you believe it or not," he finally said, "You're not as broken as they would have you believe."
"And Krad knew it."
Daisuke tensed until Satoshi wrapped his arms around him and pulled him back into his lap.
"Daisuke," he murmured, breathing in the scent of his lover. "I don't deserve you."
Daisuke turned to him in shock. "How can you even say that! After how long it took us to be together!"
"You're so pure. How, after all Krad and I put you through, can you feel no hatred at all?"
Daisuke turned to him with a calm smile putting his hand to his cheek gently before lowering his lips to his and initiating a sweet kiss. Satoshi felt as if through the kiss Daisuke spoke a thousand words telling him of the purity within him, and perhaps the purity he saw in Satoshi himself, even if Satoshi would never allow himself to see it.
"I could never hate you. Krad was part of you. So, in the end, I knew, I should resent you for all that you put me through, but I saw what you were going through as well. And…sometimes…it hurt so badly…Because I knew you went through so much pain because of me."
Satoshi's eyes widened as he drew back to look at Daisuke who still smiled. How could so innocent a creature even look upon a sinner with those eyes?
He pulled Daisuke into his arms holding him to his chest tightly, Daisuke wrapped his arms around him, his body shaking with Satoshi's sobs. He removed Satoshi's glasses and let him cry. They embraced while there was still time. If Cadell was right about the character of this, Daere, they might not have another chance.
XxXxX
Her hair hung limply in her face as her arms remained bound to the crucifix of the graveyard, her body too abused to struggle. But she chuckled.
"Stop it!" hissed Daere through his teeth.
She smiled, but obeyed. "Do I unnerve you? Daere?"
'SLAP!'
Daere walked to the basin atop another grave marker and washed his hands. It was proving far harder to abuse the girl's mind than her body. And her mind remained impenetrable to him. "I can do far worse than kill you!" he said gripping her thigh.
"You could." she agreed, closing her eyes tightly. "But as much as I aggravate you, there are others you find far more threatening, those who don't know you,"
Red eyes and hair, beauty with no sin, flawless. A true angel, untouched by hate.
"Itai!" she hissed as he pulled at her hair violently.
"I shouldn't speak so freely were I in your position," he said, face blank as he nibbled at her neck. "You put others in danger. You know, you're strong enough to fight me, to wound me," he said as blood dripped down from a wound on his side. "But, Cadell is the one made to kill me. If I destroy her, I could play with you and your little friends for as long as you manage to survive."
"Don't touch her."
"Not so confident now are we?"
Her head drooped and he smiled at the deathly still form. "I see. You knew you couldn't win. Which means you're planning to give Cadell back her powers for a fair fight."
She stiffened as his lips pressed against hers, his tongue running across her lips in an attempt to gain access to her mouth. When she stubbornly resisted for too long, he slapped her across the face.
He turned and walked down the road, towards the Niwa residence. It was time to play. Eriko simply wept.
XxXxX
He stared at the pale face, willing the blue eyes to open and show him the innocence they'd had in their youth. Dark knew though, that those eyes would never bear that for him again. He gripped the slender hand tighter. "Why Krad? Why did you leave me?"
The angel gave no response. He simply lay on the table, hair spread about him reminding Dark ironically of his lover sleeping. Only there was something more sinister. This creature on the table was a desecration of something holy, Dark knew. Touched by human hands and made to believe himself impure.
Nonetheless for all his sin, Krad held another kind of purity, one that Daere had tried to remove by force. The strength that had kept Krad alive without his lover. The part that hadn't replied on the sadistic emotions that fueled Daere. But Krad had resisted. He was still resisting, and if could cost him his life.
He sat on the couch next to Krad and pulled him into his lap. "What hell are you suffering because of me?"
A pulse went through the room.
Dark's eyes shot to the corner of the room as a low growl emitted from the red dog that had its black eyes fixated on him and Krad. His lips pursed. "I won't let you have him!" he hissed standing up putting Krad down behind him. "KIEUSERU!"
XxXxX
Daisuke gritted his teeth as Satoshi gripped his bleeding side. He'd never felt more powerless in his life. None of his training mattered now. Not against a demon like this. Not without Dark. And Satoshi was fighting as hard as he could, for him. He couldn't bear to watch, but he knew to look away was almost as bad as betrayal. The dog seemed tireless and focused on killing him and Satoshi.
"Mmmm, does it bother you, that for you, everyone gets hurt?"
Daisuke shot away from the figure behind him. They were around the same size and he looked like a normal boy, but Daisuke knew the truth, this was Daere.
"Kisama…This is all your fault!" hissed Daisuke backing away. He was furious, but he knew rushing into battle with no powers was foolish and nothing else.
"Oh? I was not the one who invited an enemy into your home, even now, two more people lay lifelessly still in this house, while she walks about as if her sins were purified by your acceptance,"
Daisuke's eyes widened.
He ran to the back room. On her knees, half on the bed, half off, was his mother laying motionless, as was Drem who sat in a chair, head hanging down. Cadell was gone.
"No…" murmured Daisuke. "No it can't be."
XxXxX
Dark barely dodged having his arm ripped off by the giant dog. It seemed no matter what he hit it with, no matter how much the room filled with the scent of charred flesh, the dog refused to be beaten, and he was tiring quickly. Further more, he could tell that Krad's life force was weakening.
His eyes shot over to Krad's form knowing this wasn't the easiest area to fight in. It was his mistake. "AHHH!"
He screamed as claws raked across his back sending him flying to land at the foot of the couch Krad was on. He whimpered in pain that shot through his body unnaturally, even for injuries like this. It was then that he opened his eyes to see A familiar pair of white shoes. "Krad…Krad please…Run," he murmured.
Krad looked down at him with blank eyes and he knew that he didn't plan on listening.
Krad looked to the dog standing above Dark, his wings unfurled looking like a guardian angel. The energy radiated off of him like heat and Dark could only stare in awe as the seraphim unleashed a power he'd never known existed.
"Kyohi."
The dog pulled back at the mention of its real name. Its ears flattened against its skull as its lips curled back bearing saliva coated fangs. Denial. It let out a loud bark that actually hurt Dark's ears and caused him to yelp. It was then that he snapped back to himself.
"Krad! You have to run! You haven't got your powers right now!"
He looked down at Dark blankly. "I blamed you. I don't see how I did now. I knew you'd never let me get hurt if you could ever help it."
Dark's jaw dropped. "Krad-"
"Chotto!" snapped Krad. "It wasn't your fault. It was my fault. I had so much faith in you."
"…Krad. Please…" said Dark as unbeknownst to him, tears streamed down his face.
"So much faith," repeated Krad. "That I forgot to have faith in myself. And I didn't fight as hard as I should have. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe it wouldn't have. But I didn't and because of it I became a different person than I should have been."
Dark barely understood what was going on as Krad stepped between him and the demon dog. All he knew was that Krad's aura was growing more powerful, and the dog was barely holding it's ground. It's muscles were twitching with the effort to refrain from running.
"Krad. I don't understand…"
"It's time I proved something. To you, and myself. Even if you can't understand, I can, and at the moment, that, and your life, are what's important to me."
He stepped forward and the demon tensed some more. Dark forced his injured body to it's knees, letting out a yelp as pain shot through him. Krad looked back to him and upon one look at his frightened face allowed a small smile to curve his lips. Confusion crossed Dark's facade.
"What's so funny?" asked Dark irritably.
"You have no idea, what I would have paid to see that look of fear on your face in the past. But now…Now it's worth more, because your fear is for my sake, rather than for me alone." he turned his back to Dark again. "I thank you for that. Dark Mousy."
He shot forward at the same time as the dog and they engaged in battle. Dark could only watch with terrified eyes as the poison of Kyohi still ran through his system. But even then, he knew exactly what Krad had meant.
Don't be afraid, Dark Mousy, I am eternally your hunter, and to obtain you, I will protect you.
XxXxX
It seemed that it may have been hours, even days. Even so, with the quality of terrifying dreams that ran through her mind with her eyes closed, Eriko didn't want to see what work the poison could do to her mind while her eyes were open.
She'd known the danger when she'd absorbed the power from Cadell. She'd known all too well. But she also knew the pain that Cadell suffered, all because of that disgusting creature. If he got a hold of Cadell…She couldn't bear to think of the damage that could be done to her and the otherwise innocent creatures that he targeted.
Even now she tried to ignore the multiple violent dreams and recollections that plagued her mind. One thought refused to go away however. She'd been unconscious for at least an hour. It was long enough for her to wonder if the sensation of blood running down her inner thighs was real.
Instead of thinking further on it she almost thanked Daere for tying her up so tightly. The pain was making her thoughts vague. Soon she'd pass out, and hope unconsciousness came without dreams.
XxXxX