Disclaimer: Should I ever claim to own Shaman King, all readers of this story have the right to track me down and disembowel me. Slowly. With a rusty spork.
Author's note: Meep! (Hides behind computer) Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this little thing I like to call a story. To make a long, emotional, PMS-filled story short, I've been in a funk, and my crippling chocolate addiction has kept me rather busy. More story-related notes later!
Chapter 4: Destiny Intervenes
Anna picked up the sun-bleached skull and brushed a clump of dirt from its base. There, engraved in the bone, was a tiny, shallow carving. It read 'Freedom' in kanji. The reason Anna hadn't been able to summon Eliza's soul was that it was not in the spirit world. She had transcended beyond the realm of Heaven.
An itako could recall a spirit from anywhere on earth, and even from Heaven or Hell, but Eliza's soul was not bound to any of these places. True freedom could be attained only when a soul ceased to exist.
Faust took the skull from Anna. He ran his fingers over the inscription. It was no wonder he hadn't noticed it earlier. Even if it hadn't been covered in mud from the previous night's rain, it was barely bigger than a pinhead. The script was masterfully written in a practiced hand, but was not familiar. It was not Amodeus's.
Eliza's soul had been dispelled. Obliterated. Destroyed. Nothing he could do would bring her back. Faust dropped his knees to the floor in shock, still clutching the skull, staring at the finely carved inscription. His eyes glazed over, so that the once brilliant blue of his pupils was now a dull, dusty gray, and they filled with a cold, hard expression. He stood back up at length, and let Eliza's skull fall to the floor with a clatter before turning around and walking towards the door.
Yoh started to follow him, but he was stopped by Anna, who simply shook her head, the tails if her head scarf rustling gently. Yoh hesitantly stopped and exhaled slowly.
THISISABORDER.KINDAKILLSTHEMOODDON'TYOUTHINK?TH
Faust sat down on an empty bench in the park. Clouds rumbled overhead and darkened as he watched. A single drop of rain fell next to his eye, but he didn't even blink. Another and another fell, plastering his bangs to his forehead and chilling his flesh, until he was drenched. The doctor paid this no mind. He had undergone worse things this day than a little wetness.
He let the sky's tears mingle with his own. Although the doctor wept, a gentle numbness had filled his heart.
Thunder crashed around him and lightning flashed above him. In the distance, illuminated by the moments of light that there were in this, the pre-dawn, a hooded figure grew ever nearer.
Faust closed his eyes and lowered his head into his hands, letting himself cry openly. His breathing became erratic, and his pulse quickened as the long-stifled gasps came freely.
He remained that way for a minute, until he heard wet footsteps coming toward him. He wiped away the tears, although water filled the dry space almost instantly, and noticed the cloaked, hooded figure that was shockingly close, and drawing closer.
He stood, and the figure halted. He took a step forward, and the figure lowered its hood.
A woman's face emerged. She had dark red lips, a malicious smile, and cherry blossom-pink pigtails.
"Faust, I assume?" She had a deep, rich, evil-sounding voice and a red-hot aura, to match her pupils. She let the rest of the cloak fall from her bare shoulders, revealing a strapless black dress and a skeletal forearm and hand, clutched within her own.
Eliza! Faust mentally screamed. A sharp pang of longing and pain filled his heart.
"What have you done with her?" he snarled.
"Oh, nothing you'd understand," she said with a condescending air about her . "But I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Destiny."
"I don't care what your name is! Tell me what you've done with my Eliza!"
"Your Eliza? Ha ha ha ha! I thought you were smarter than that. She was never yours. Was she, darling?"
Another figure stepped forth. This one, Faust instantly recognized. Amodeus… A snarl crossed the doctor's normally calm face, and he assumed a feral stance. Pure loathing filled his being. So she had been taken by him. And this strange woman…What did she have to do with this?
"Ah, so you remember me after all these years," Amodeus sneered.
"Oh course he would. How could anyone not remember you?"
Yes, he remembered Amodeus. The man who had caused him so much pain, so much suffering, and who had changed his life forever.
"Eliza…" Faust would not be deterred. He knew that these two had taken his Eliza, and he would not leave until he'd caused them as much pain as they'd caused him.
"Yes, yes, Eliza," Amodeus smiled, "I thought you would have realized this sooner, Faust. Or did I overestimate you again? All of your medical knowledge, an itako at your disposal, and you still haven't figured it out? Tsk tsk, Faust."
"Ha ha ha!" Destiny cackled, "You'll never get her back, you know."
"Destiny is a seer, as well as an astrologist," these words meant nothing to Faust, although they obviously meant something to both Amodeus and Destiny, as they both looked at each other knowingly.
"She's an American shaman, with the unique power of soul destruction"
"Oh, don't flatter me. You know as well as I do that it only works when the stars are aligned perfectly."
Faust cast his gaze upon each of his opponents as they spoke, and tried to think of a way that he could overcome these two. He hadn't seen Amodeus since his childhood in Germany, and he'd never met this Destiny person. In addition to not knowing her personally, she was an American shaman, which meant that she would have new, unusual powers that he wouldn't know how to face.
This was going to be difficult.
Author's notes (part II): Hey! You probably noticed that I changed my spacing system. I didn't realize that it was confusing to read, but I got a complaint on my other (adopted) story, so I'm trying it this way. If you feel strongly about it one way or the other, review, and if enough people want it back to normal, I'll change it back. Okay, now that the boring stuff's over, I do believe I have an apology to make to you all! Okay, so there's another OC. Yes, I did a bad, bad thing, but I never planned for this to happen. I just sat down and typed, and this is what came out. So if you don't like it, then stop reading. I'm not chaining you down. Why is there no yaoi since chapter 2? Because…I don't know! I'll try to get some in next time, and update more often. Love ya! -SemeDesu
