Chapter 7 - A completely different friend
Authors note: I really don't get it - my Hellboy short 'Thicker Than Blood' is only just behind this fic in reviews yet it's three chapters long and really rather short.
This is the last chapter, I've got a lot more to post but if people really aren't interested enough then there is no point in my going on.
There are two ways for people to find out what happens next - Leave a review, if I get three or more reviews for this part then I'll go on, or email me and I'll send you the next part (please note, reply won't be at once, posting it on here is more convienient.) I didn't ever want to have to resort to this, it makes me feel really lame, and pathetic (You can review just to tell me that - it won't count but ... meh).
To LottiRebel, whose the only reviewer for the last chapter - a dragon would be nice but for calling it quits now maybe I don't deserve one.
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"Go away Zidane,"
Despite the fact that the command was not shouted, it was coupled with a slammed door. The Genome took a deep breath, pushing open the door, half-expecting to feel the light weight of the mage weighed against him. Crystal like chunks of ice littered the floor by the door, showing Zidane that a blizzard type spell had been used to slam it.
Vivi sat on the bed, an all too familiar feeling of cold guilt constricting his chest as he looked to his friend. The spell had been his first since his return to the castle and whilst it had been strong enough to slam the door, Vivi felt incredibly weak upon casting it. Tot had warned him not to cast a spell for at least three months, explaining to a disinterested mage that it would take that long to replenish the spilt blood; the boy had tested this theory only to find that Tot was, as usual, right. "I brought you something to eat; Garnet's paranoid that you're starving yourself." Zidane placed the tray he had been carrying on a small table in the room; he knew Vivi was not starving himself but reassuring Garnet had been impossible. "She also asked me to check the room for anything sharp." He was not sure why he told the mage this, it had been a part of Vivi's day over the past three weeks.
"Steiner's checked twice already,"
Vivi's eyes drifted to the tray nearby, they had not even given him a knife and fork to eat with. "I think they're being stupid, you could hurt -" Zidane paused for a moment, before selecting another word. "- Kill yourself with ease." He bowed his head; a well-known lump rising in his throat as he thought about what the 13 year old had so nearly managed to do. He did not move to sit besides the mage, fearing that the limited progress he had made in the past two weeks would be erased by this invasion of his personal space. Tot had kept Vivi in the medical room for three days before he had decided to grant him the limited privacy of his own room; it was not Vivi's old room, which everyone knew held painful memories for the mage, but one of the guest rooms.
When Vivi had first been returned to the castle, he had spoken to only one person and then it had been limited; now, three weeks on, he would at least speak to people. "You don't need something sharp, and I know that you know that. You're clearly still with us for a reason." The King of Alexandria sat in a chair nearby, tail flicking from side to side anxiously; he looked towards Vivi, whose eyes were still on the tray. "I know you feel like your heart's been shredded and that what you've lost is irreplaceable." He paused for a long moment before choosing to go on. "So, what are you waiting for?"
The distance between the two was great; the incredible sorrow and depression that had gripped Vivi's thoughts after the deaths of his sons had not yet let him go. Despite their good intentions and best attempts, Zidane and the others had no idea how to react to him, or to help him. "Stop saying sharp, you know what I used, it's not going to hurt if you say it." Vivi said, his eyes going to Zidane's; somehow, these yellow ovals looked nothing like those of the boy hero of Gaia, the innocence had gone. "I'm only here because you're all making me."
"That's crap; you're a powerful mage, Vivi. You don't need a dagger to hurt yourself."
There was a long silence, the mage stared at his wrist, his mind reliving the image of the white part of the sleeve being covered in blood; his blood, duller and darker then human blood, almost as if it too was tired. Zidane sighed heavily, willing now to try something he had hoped not to have to try. "You think you're the only one to face stuff like that?" He suddenly snapped brutally, sealing away his heart as he did so. "Freya lost hundreds of her kind. Eiko never knew her extended family. There are kids out there, dying on the street, orphaned, beaten and alone."
"Zidane," The voice was perfectly calm, Zidane could not get to Vivi by using other peoples pain. "Everyone dies alone." The Genome shook his head but the truth was undeniable; in the end, everything died alone. "You could have everyone you ever knew there but the only one there is you. That is the truth of life, it leads only one way."
All thoughts of progress vanished from Zidane's mind; he had achieved nothing in the past weeks. He stood and moved to sit next to the mage, there did not seem to be any point in avoiding doing so any more, a slight scoff passed Vivi's lips. "That's the closest any of you have gotten to me, besides that white mage, are you all scared I'll suddenly turn homicidal?" The mage queried with an edge of bitterness to his tones as he did so. Without warning, Zidane grabbed him in a firm hug, his way of proving he knew no such fear. To an outsider, it would seem that the hug was one sided; however, Zidane felt the gentle pressure of Vivi's chin rested on his shoulder.
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AN: Well, this continue is really in your hands, if your reading it please leave a review - I can't quite find the words to tell you why I'm acting so childishly, maybe I'm tired (Shrug) I doubt you care.
A friend butting into thoughts that should be left alone, winter thoughts on a summers day; can the summer ever truely bite into an icy heart? Find out in Shattered Soul.
Maybe ...
