Chapter 7:
Finally it was time. Dark's eyes opened sleepily as the watch he had set to wake him at exactly 11:59 p.m. had awoken him. He turned it off and sighed, not even five hours of sleep was still insufficient to perform his task at one hundred percent, but it would have to do.
Dark decided that he didn't want to be seen by anyone, because normally he'd fly around the target area a bit to make sure he was spotted as he dove downward and gracefully made a bunch of fools out of the police. Tonight though he'd only use a small amount of magic to keep anyone but a certain magical entity from entering and use one of Daisuke's sleeping grenades to take care of anyone who might be inside, which he doubted there would be, for the police had made a habit of waiting for Dark outside as he made his escape, and letting their young commander deal with Dark on the inside alone.
In the darkest of night he flapped his black wings and swiftly glided over to the roof of the museum, it was a very new building and the roof wouldn't have creaked to give him away so he took advantage of this time to cast the barrier spell around the entrances and exits. He brought forth a feather and chanted the spell carefully, satisfied that it was finished and would hold; he dropped in through a skylight window after gently opening it and disabling the security lasers.
The interior of the museum was nice, white marble floors and walls, pristine glass windows, and a high ceiling around the main room that Dark had just now entered. There was more light in this museum then in the other's with darker interiors, for what little moon light came through bounced off the walls creating a reflecting affect all around the area. And in the center of the room in a glass case sat the 'Seraph Pinion'. The statue was about the size of one of Daisuke's math textbooks, but its small size didn't hinder its absolute beauty. But that didn't seem to draw Dark's attention enough to admire it; he was busy looking around for the true Seraph that he had come to see. Krad.
Dark made sure to approach the glass case cautiously incase there were any alarm systems that he neglected to disable. Then suddenly he stopped and stared down at the floor. He could only vaguely make out his own winged shadow from another, one standing still behind him from up on one of the rafters he guessed as it was smaller then his own, but just as dark.
"So…you finally decided to show your face…Dark Mousy…" The deep voice echoed darkly throughout the room.
Dark stood still a moment and slowly turned to the winged figure. Long blonde hair flowed behind the creature as a pair of large white wings held slightly folded behind his back. If ever there was a true masterpiece of art worthy enough for him to steal, Dark thought, it was Krad. "You sound disappointed to see me…" Dark replied looking at the demonic angel with eyes of sadness and longing.
The other angel gracefully leapt from his high vantage point and landed silently on the ground with easy and stared at Dark harshly for some time, "I honestly didn't think you'd have the guts to show." He replied bitterly.
"Well, you know me…I make a promise…I have to keep it…" Dark said with a hint of guilt and worry in his voice as he slightly cocked a smile.
"Yeah…I know…" Krad replied with a low hiss and glared at the thief, "I know just how much promises mean to you…Dark Mousy…" He growled as his wings slightly fanned before folding completely behind him.
"Krad…" Dark began trying to find the right words, "Krad I would never betray your trust…what happened last night…it was a mistake…Daisuke was just worry about Satoshi and wanted to help…and I admit…" Dark said reaching other and holding his other arm looking down at the ground biting his lower lip, "I was too…"
Krad stood motionless and silent just glaring at the thief with evil and fierce eyes.
"Daisuke's really beating himself up over this, Krad. And I don't want us to be enemies again…please, you can understand can't you?" Dark asked almost like a plea, as he looked into the face of his other half who stood only a few feet away.
"…" Krad's hard face finally softened into a warm smile, "…Yes Dark…I understand…" He replied and Dark's heart leapt forward as he took a step towards the seraph, "I understand…that you broke your promise…" Krad suddenly spat and his glare returned and a ball of energy formed in his hand, "And now, I'm going to break you!" He yelled and released the huge amount of freezing cold energy at Dark.
Dark was shocked by the sudden attack and narrowly dodged to the side, as the floor he once stood upon became a frozen mass of debris. His worst fear had come true…he'd lost his seraph forever…Krad would rather kill him then forgive him. Dark's heart was slowly tearing itself to pieces as Krad prepared for another attack. He would have gladly accepted death at his hands…he would want to die no other way then with Krad…but he was still bound to Daisuke, and he promised Emiko he'd protect him…he promised Daisuke that he would protect him. But Krad…he couldn't hurt Krad, not anymore then he already had. Perhaps he should retreat, but that thought was quickly cut off as Krad had unleashed a spell that sealed the two in the room freezing all of the exits shut…there was now no way of escape!
"Krad…" Just as Dark began to try and plead with the angel again, he turned to find Krad's hand no less then and inch from his face.
"This may hurt a bit…" Krad said and a sudden blast of energy burst from his hand hitting Dark square in the face sending him flying into the ground in pain, "Told you so" The demon replied with a smile and slowly began to walk over to the motionless Dark. "You see Dark, what happens when you break your promises...do you know how badly you've betrayed me?" He asked and stopped in front of Dark and raised his hand again, "And now…you'll pay for it with your life…" He hissed. Then suddenly, he felt a sharp infliction of pain to his chest and was forced backwards as if a sharp stake had been driven through him.
Dark had his hand up to Krad as smoke slowly came off of it sending small sparks of magic into the air, "Fine then…" Dark panted and his eyes narrowed and warm blood ran down his face from a large cut over his right eye, "But I'm not going to take this sitting down…" He growled and slowly got to his feet and raised his hand again defensively.
"Hahaha," Krad slowly chuckled and grinned, "I'd expect it no other way…Dark Mousy…" Krad hissed and sent a bombardment of feathers into Dark, freezing all it touched as Dark took to the air.
Dark flew higher up to the ceiling before plummeting back down to the ground and sent a visage of his own magic at the white winged devil. Light and dark magic collided in mid air and sent an explosion through the room, Dark and Krad were matched dead even…but to Dark something was wrong, other then the knowledge that he was fighting Krad, but he didn't have time to ponder it as a wave of white feathers shot through the thick smoke in an attempt to spear him. He quickly took to evasive maneuvers and was able to dodge each one, but they seemed never ending as another, and another, and another wave was sent after him! 'Damn…he's going all out…' Dark thought as he tried to gain some speed to distance himself between him and the sea of feathers chasing after him.
What was Krad thinking? Sure kill Dark, but using up his energy and keeping up a pace like this would kill Satoshi. Was he not thinking about his host? No, Krad would never do this, he had changed enough now that killing Dark would be his goal…but he wouldn't dare to kill Satoshi in the process. And Dark was fading fast, without Daisuke to draw on and the fact that a lack of rest left his energy reserves pretty much empty, he couldn't last much longer. What would he do? He couldn't kill Krad, but it seemed that if he didn't, Daisuke and he would both perish! And now there was Satoshi to think about, Krad had completely lost it and was willing to drain Satoshi completely if he already hadn't.
After dodging the last of the feathers, a pair of large white wings cut through the smoke and a blast of ice was sent forth from Krad's hands as he came into view. Dark was shocked at Krad's sudden direct approach and barely reacted fast enough to prevent his wings from being frozen.
"Krad what are you doing?" Dark demanded, "Are you trying to kill Satoshi?"
"Hmph, I have no care for that child…he is nothing but a vessel to inhabit for me…" Krad replied with a venomous grin and flapped his wings slightly, dispelling the smoke that surrounded him.
What? Dark couldn't believe what he was hearing! Sure Krad had said something similar to this in the past…but now…no he would never say something like this. "Krad have you gone mad?" Dark yelled in rage and confusion.
Krad chuckled and glared up at the thief with a devilish intent in his eyes, "How kind of you to notice…" He replied and in one swift motion shot forward and grabbed Dark from behind in a tight embrace holding his wings in place, Dark was going to fall!
Dark shut his eyes tight expecting to hit the ground hard and that be the end of it…but it never came…Krad was still holding onto him. "Krad!" Dark exclaimed in surprise and fear.
Krad was smiling at the thief from above with a look of victory and power on his face as Dark meaninglessly struggled. "You know…I believe you did this to me once before…" Krad said in a sweetly tainted voice as Dark stopped struggling, to tired to fight back, "Yes, I remember…you held me just like this after we returned to this world…I gave in then…and let you have your way with me…but I wonder…would you have been so willing to give in…Dark?" Krad asked in almost a purr as he nuzzled the back of Dark's neck slightly.
Dark's eyes shot open, normally he would have enjoyed this…but something was screaming inside that this was all wrong and he had to get away. Why would Krad with the soul intent to kill him even be thinking about something like that right now? "Let…me go…Krad!" Dark begged with a touch of fear and panic in his voice as the demon held him tighter making it so much harder to breath.
"Oh I see…so you wouldn't have given in?" Krad asked with a low and taunting chuckle, "Well then…if you're not going to give in…I guess…" He replied and began to squeezed Dark so tight that the thief would have screamed had he enough air in his lungs, "I'll just have to end this little relationship…farewell, my sweet kaitou… Dark Mousy…" Krad hissed, and confident that there was no way Dark even had a chance to take a final breath before he crashed to the hard ground, he let him go and he fell like a rock.
Dark's mind went blank for a moment and he felt so tired…Kaitou? The word played over and over again in Dark's mind as he fell; Krad had never called him that before…kaitou…no, the only person that had ever called him that was…
'DARK! SNAP OUT OF IT! DAAAAAARK!'
Daisuke! Dark's lungs suddenly filled with air, and instead of snapping open his wings to try and soften an already deadly collision with the ground, he cried out a levitation spell and prayed it wasn't to late to stop his fatal decent.
The demonic angel smiled, unable to see the bloody carnage that was once his former embodiment's light half. The smoke filled air left the scene to his imagination, and he shivered with pleasure at the thought of the great Phantom Thief's blood covering the white floor with the perfect shade of crimson. Now that would have been a true artistic masterpiece, he thought to himself and slowly descended to the floor. He could feel the flow of demonic magic through his veins, making his already powerful Hikari magic invincible, and it felt good. Touching down lightly to the ground, the smoke surrounding him disappeared and he looked towards the ground waiting to see a stain of red blood on the floor…but saw nothing except an ocean of white!
"Looking for me?" Dark asked from behind the false angel and suddenly the demon felt a sharp and painfully powerful thrust of magic through his back and out his chest. He'd been run through with a fire tipped black feather, Dark's feather!
"Wha-What?" He stammered as he clutched his wound that was quickly gushing cold magic filled blood, "…But?"
"Kaitou…" Dark growled, "You called me Kaitou…demon…" Dark said venomously, "You knew I would never kill Krad…you used his identity to make me chose between my own life and his! You're lower then a demon, or any other monster…you don't even deserve to breath!" Dark screamed as the false Krad fell to his knees with one hand on his bleeding wound and the other supporting him on the ground.
"Hehe…Hahaha…" It was laughing, the thing was dying and yet it was laughing? This thing was sick…Dark thought to himself with another feather ready to strike the moment it tried to attack.
"And you think…that killing this form will matter to me?" The demon asked with a wicked smile on his face as it stood up with its back to Dark. Suddenly long blonde hair was replaced with long dark hair, the same color as Dark's own, and white clothes became black as a malice aura surround the creature's new identity.
Dark stood still in the silence as the smoke continued to disrupt his vision, as it had nowhere to vent thanks to the false Krad's spell of sealing them inside.
"Dark Mousy…"
That voice…Dark had heard it so many times before…the only voice he feared and hated with the same intensity as he did this demon. Dark, deep, malevolent…the voice of his shadow…the one Krad had destroyed and sealed away forever… "Verruckt…"
"You know…I only exist now for vengeance…" He said and turned to Dark, his blood red eyes glowing with the fires of hell and the same lust for blood that Dark remembered, "You destroyed my world…and my host…so I've come to return the favor…by destroying yours…" He said with a fanged smile.
"Not if I kill you first…" Dark growled dangerously.
"Oh really? You couldn't kill Krad…but…" He said grinning and slowly his height shrunk and short red hair and innocent large eyes appeared.
"D-Daisuke…" Dark said his eyes wide with horror.
"Could you kill me now?" The demon asked masked in Daisuke's voice and body.
"MONSTER!" Dark shrieked and sent another more powerful spell into the demon that only smiled and vanished into the smoke, as did Dark's attack. "Ah!"
"You can't kill me Dark…I can be anyone and anything…" The demon's voice seemed to come from everywhere, "I've obtained many identities thanks the young detective, your host, and your…angel…"
"Where are you?" Dark demanded turning to look everywhere, "Come out here and face me!"
"Very well…as who then?" The demon asked with a laugh, "Daisuke, you've already killed Krad, Satoshi, and Zanus… Adel perhaps? How about Emiko, or Satoshi's stepfather? No…perhaps I should take a different identity…" Suddenly the voice sounded closer and then something grabbed him from behind clasping their arms around his chest pinning his wings tightly to his body and immobilizing him, the demon was Verruckt again and laughing at Dark's helplessness as he once again struggled in vein from the demon that held him.
"LET GO OF ME!" Dark screamed, and then a sudden jolt of electricity shot through his body causing his muscles to lock up and he couldn't move!
"Not until I've finished…unlocking the great secrets of Dark Mousy…" He grinned venomously and lightly kissed the side of Dark's neck and prepared to enter his mind as he had done with the others.
'My secrets? No!' Dark screamed inside, 'He can't! No…this is what he did to Daisuke, Satoshi…and Krad…no, I don't want this! No, don't let him inside of me! Get him off of me!'
"DARK!"
Suddenly Dark felt his heart skip beat, that voice, he'd know it anywhere!
"K-Krad…" He managed to say even though he could barely move his lips.
"Damn…" The demon snapped and quickly let go of Dark and pushed away as it disappeared into the thick smoke that was now vanishing through the new opening that Krad had made after destroying the huge sheet of ice covering the main entrance to the room deep within the building.
Dark felt so tired…his eyelids felt heavy and his body was drained of any and all magic…he finally regained control of his muscles only to have his legs give way and he fell forward into a warm embrace.
"Dark, DARK!"
The voice was loud and full of terrifying worry, but Dark had desperately longed to hear it again.
"You…you're real right…I…I'm not…dreaming…?" Dark asked still unable to look up at the angel that held him tightly now with one hand behind his head pulling him closer and the other around his back adamantly holding.
"Yes…yes I'm real…" Krad said his voice almost breaking but slowly sounding more relieved, "I promise I'm real…" He repeated wrapping his wings around the figure he now held and sank to the ground still clutching him tightly.
"You're late…" Dark said with a short and faint chuckle.
"Yeah…I'm sorry…" Krad said with a bit of gladness in his voice that Dark still hadn't lost his sense of humor, "Had some trouble getting in…"
Dark wanted to say more, but he was so tired…he wanted nothing more then to fall asleep right now in Krad's arms, safe and warm.
"I…I didn't come too late…did I?" Krad asked as a lump of fear logged itself in his throat, afraid to hear that Dark had gone through the same terror that he had endured the night before.
Dark smiled a bit, "No…" He said with a slight laugh, "My head was too thick…Heh…guess that's a good…thing after…all…" Suddenly the exhausted Phantom Thief drifted off into sleep after burying his face into Krad's chest.
"Yeah…" Krad said and buried his own face into Dark's shoulder, "…I'm so sorry…" Krad was so relieved to be holding Dark again that he didn't even notice the silver stream of tears rolling down his face as they gently kissing Dark's lightly colored skin.
Krad had never cried before…he didn't even know what crying was…nor did he care. He'd made it just in time to save Dark…he made it just in time to tell him that he was sorry…nothing else mattered but that. He didn't even care about the demon that had escaped upon his entering, he didn't care that this was the second time he'd let it escape, he didn't even care that it could come back at any moment and kill him…no…All that mattered was that Dark was here…and he was with him.
"I'm so sorry…Dark…"
Notes from the Author:
Wow…sniffles A great fight scene and a tearjerker all in one chapter! My gosh this fic is so bipolar! Cries This is the second encounter with the demon and now its escaped again! Grrrrr! Don't worry…they'll get it next time! ….I hope…cries Thank you to all the readers and commenters once again! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Dances Wow…once again, 2 chapters in one day?! OMG! I need to chill with the typing for a while…my poor hands are killing me! Bows Thank you all once again and I do try to improve each chapter to keep the readers and myself happy! So enjoy and ta-ta for now!
General Kitty Girl