Emphatic

Chapter 3 - Pure White

The calm tone the twin's voice held was contrasting sharply with the anger I knew was boiling up deep inside him. At a guess I would think that this was the man I had kicked to vent my frustration out on the balcony earlier in the afternoon. It was obvious that he was here for some sort of revenge, also mixed in with rage and the fact that he had to stop us from invading his master's household. His brother stood protectively behind him, ready to leap on us if we gave up any kind of struggle. I physically winced at the thought that they would not give up until cold revenge was had.

I saw Morpheus and Seraph look at each other knowingly, and they simultaneously turned to me with a glare that told me not to get involved. I hadn't the energy to disobey either of them, and definitely didn't have the energy to help in the fight, much to my dismay and annoyance at my weakness. As they looked back swiftly at the pair standing before them, I stumbled backwards to the wall and pressed my back up its soothing yet somehow melancholy coldness. No one visited this room, I could tell. I landed quite ungracefully on the floor, my body pulsing in agony at the fall mixed with my other aches.

"What did you do to her?" Morpheus hissed, half angry, half cautious not to wake upthe program that was this house. It had been years since I heard him sounding so harsh, a long time. He rarely let his fury glare through to his crewmembers, perhaps it was to leave us unprepared if we ever did something wrong, or perhaps he was just that way by nature. He had an extremely calm exterior, and usually it seemed like he had a calm interior also. But not tonight.

"What do you mean, do to her?" the protective twin said from behind his brother, an evil, menacing smirk playing at the corner of his lopsided lips. A look of pure amusement and enjoyment spread across his powdery silver-white face.

"We merely had a little fun with her," the other twin said with an identical grin.

Without wasting even another second, I saw something click in Morpheus and his fury slowly turned into strategy. Seraph noticed too, and they both flew at the twins, taking an opponent each. They fought in a silent yet deadly fashion, even their usually heavy footsteps were careful and gentle. My dreary eyes were fixed on Morpheus, watching in amazement as he sweep kicked one twin with such an intense silence it almost deafened me. As he landed the kick perfectly on the twin's body and stunned him, he threw a hefty punch to his opponent's head. I watched carefully as his anger subsided, dampened by the concentration in trying to protect me and himself. My mentor's opponent was swift, and he ghosted in and out of the attacks, throwing a good few moves himself, sometimes causing Morpheus to stumble backwards quietly. It was almost like a beautiful dance, watching the silver man turn into a silver mist, then returning and finding Morpheus' foot thrust deep into his stomach, then seeing the twin push a harsh fist into Morpheus' shoulder, causing him to take a step back to steady himself, the only sound being the harsh and strained breathing of both. The fight was so astounding that I wished it were me fighting the twin, but I knew it was impossible with my current condition.

My eyes darted across the shadow-cast room to Seraph, the wingless angel, almost a ghost in his own right. He was a calm and relaxed man to look at, but he held much conflict and was more deadly than any program I had ever seen. He was more skilled than anyone I had ever seen. He was well written. As I watched him fighting the other twin, it was just like watching two spectres racing across the floor, dancing majestically. Neither of them made a sign of pain. They were moving at such a speed that Seraph's long white coat was whipping out behind him, and the twin's long dreadlocks were flicking around his pale face. All of the fighters had weapons, deadly weapons, sharp blades or fatal firearms. No one produced a weapon, the twin's didn't even bring out their switchblade. It was almost more frightening to know they could whip a weapon out at any moment.

Watching the twins darting in and out of ghost-form killed me with anticipation. Much to my annoyance, it made my defenders and rescuers quite inaccurate in their fighting, but for the life of them they wouldn't give up. Fists were flying angrily through the air after a short while, and I found myself feeling a strange sense of guilt that I was watching them fighting a dangerous battle, when I should be out their helping. But what could I do? I would end up getting the way, just one blow to any area of my body would make me collapse onto the floor. Also, at the feeling I held right now, even standing up would prove to be a losing battle.

The fight suddenly changed before my eyes, and I noticed Morpheus hissing at Seraph to go to me. Seraph obeyed almost immediately, putting in one last blow as he spun on one heel and kicked his opponent harshly against the door, making him grunt. I flinched when I heard the sound, so loud it would surely awaken everyone. Seraph went to me, he put one arm around my back, and hauled my arm around his shoulders. I was by now too weak to even open my eyes for longer than a few seconds. I felt close to vomiting at the sudden movement as he lifted me to my feet, and I started to feel light headed. In a short while I would be gone. It felt again distinctly like dying, and I knew I was about to faint. I grunted from the pain of him holding me in his arms, and my mind was fighting to keep my eyes open. Eventually I let my eyelids drop completely, and I heard the sound of Morpheus cocking his twin pistols behind us, and opened my eyes barely in time to see him backing towards the twin glass doors we were currently hurrying through.

"Trinity, you have to hold on. I have to jump," Seraph told me in a calm and somehow soothing voice.

"But…why?" I rasped, choking slightly. I feared the worst, that we were leaping from the top floor balcony into the courtyard below. I had no energy to panic, though, so I awaited an answer.

"We have to get to the next balcony. It is the only way to an exit," he explained simply. I felt a sharp jolt as he lifted from the ground, and everything seemed to go in slow motion from then. He leapt between the two balconies, which I assumed wasn't a huge distance. I liked to hide my fear if I ever felt it, and that moment was a moment when I felt a lot of fear, but I had to trust this man. From what I knew of him and believed of him he was more likely to hurtle to the ground than let go of me.

Up until then I could hear Morpheus firing his pistols, and no doubt hitting nothing but two misty clouds and the walls behind them. No matter how accurate a shooter he was, it was impossible to shoot a ghost. He stopped and I heard him telling Link we needed an exit immediately. I could hear and feel his voice getting closer, he was no doubt running for his life. The last thing I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing, completely shattering the silence as though it were a pain of crystal clear glass. My head began to throb.

So my city is still alive.

After that thought I blacked out with a faint, weak smile on my face.

--

When I finally reopened my eyes after a deep and dreamless sleep, my eyelids still heavy from weakness, I was faced with the horrid sight of an old stone ceiling.

"No!" I cried.

A/N: Oh, I'm so cruel to you, my lovelies! Anyway, in reply to DM, yes this story will be familiar to you. You were one of my most faithful readers when I wrote this story the first time, under the name Trin303. I deleted it from that account, and am currently rewriting it, as is obvious. Looks like you found me!

-- PsycheSoul