Chapter Three – My Paramour Retribution
Never had the road seemed so long in front of her. A great weight of gray hung on Usagi's face as if it were attached to her very skin, though gravity had little to do with the pull on her brow. She was brewing an assortment of doubts and troubles in her mind, giving them permission to defeat her countenance with great fury and efficiency, dimming the brilliance of the very stars in the sky. From the confines of the back seat of Haruka's car, she sat waiting for the place she had never been to arrive before her; a dark, dank residence that only allowed the least fortunate in. Somehow, the apartment would seem barren with only two.
"This has to be the place. Did they really live here?" Haruka asked no one in particular as she leaned onto her steering wheel, taking a long glance at the building which matched the address of the slip of paper given to her by Ami.
The building was decrepit. Although still somehow lingering on through the years through irreparable neglect and perpetual shadowing of the rest of the city, it stood only as a reminder that not all who lived in Tokyo lived in the wonderful homes which most of the girls had privilege to. With no aesthetics to speak of, it was a chilling reminder just how different they were; the senshi of the light and the former senshi of the dark. Even as the three girls walked in, the tenants, so to speak, were strangely aware of these intruders that stuck out like a white moth on soot-caked bark. The halls were worn but clean; the woodwork decaying but intact. It was the epitome of underlying truth beneath a molded exterior. Michiru found it ironic but said nothing.
As they stood before the solid, chipping wooden door, all three girls paused. Inside would be reunion and education, but only at the price of memory. They said nothing when Rei and Makoto both declined to come, the reasons so painfully obvious that dwelling on another thought seemed sadistic. The sounds of voices, both low and high, told the tale of lovers once again together through tragedy. This would be an occasion of smiles and sighs. Without a knock, Haruka pushed open the door with a long, desperate squeak.
Instantly, both Ami and the now conscious Kurai looked up from one another, obviously engrossed in talk until the entrance, and both offered the exact smile; a sort of saddened reunion smile tarnished by betrayal. Michiru and Haruka both returned the smile, but Usagi could not find the strength to join them. Her eyes were tired and fell instantly to Kurai, for she knew that he would be the vessel of all answers that her heart was demanding to hear. They entered and closed the door, only to be greeted once again with another of the fallen soldiers.
Suteki was on an entirely different page than the others. He was still brimming with an unstoppable smile that could not be denied by anyone, including Usagi in this case. "Usa! Can you believe it?! One minute I'm just drowning in black water and then...whoom!" he called and made wild gestures, elastic faces and tones that could only describe Suteki. Usagi couldn't not smile and even stifled a small laugh at him. It was good to see him again. When Minako emerged behind him, nothing could dim her smile either. Dreams fell into reality when her animate lover had returned to her, even dousing the sting of darker truths. Barely able to keep herself from crying again, she simply slipped her arm around his side and embraced him, forcing Suteki to throw his arms around and laugh excitedly for his new lease on life. Nothing defied time like a moment in the arms of the beloved.
Kurai and Ami had been watching the two also, but Kurai's attention soon moved back to Usagi and all celebrations fell from him. Even through the reflective lenses of his glasses, his eyes were melancholy. Like Suteki, he was now completely human and able to merge with this world as if born on the very day of his arrival; no longer feeling any pull of his guardian planet in his veins. It was both emancipating and chilling at the same time and though Suteki was flawlessly coping with the situation, Kurai could not hide the concern carved into him. "Please pardon the condition of this place. I assume you have come here for answers, Usagi. I'm afraid I have very few." It instantly set the tone for the place and Suteki and Minako were instant scenery. Ami slid next to Kurai but kept a small distance from him, maintaining her joy even though she wished to spend the entire lapse of a week in Kurai's arms as well.
Usagi sat in front of Kurai on a beaten mat which was the only covering for the entire room. She had noticed that the filling of their place was as dire as the building itself; a testament to the conditions in which the fallen soldiers had persisted. There were no utilities to speak of and only another room adjacent to their current location which had three mats on the floor. None of the meanings hit her as all she could think about was one thing. "Kurai...is Mamoru alive?"
Kurai's brow crinkled at the most obvious question, for the answer he knew would not bode well onto the face of this girl whom he believed in more than any other. "Please bear with me, for what I remember before waking in this place is both vague and distant. Consciousness came only in moments of mock clarity before feeling something I can only describe as electric shock hit me and I would drift away again. However, in those fleeting moments of consciousness, I was able to see Mamoru. He is alive." This news obviously lifted a great burden off of Usagi and she sighed in relief, though she didn't entirely trust the tone of voice Kurai was using. Before she could rejoice, Kurai continued in a rushed tone. "However, I'm afraid that what I saw was not comforting. His eyes were dulled, lacking any cognitive presence. He stood but showed no sway of consciousness. It is my guess that though his body is alive, Mamoru does not exist within it. I do not know why." This news was obviously more shattering than the initial news and Usagi felt heavy again. Somehow, news came in two shades for her; painful and ironic.
"But if he is still alive and somehow still trapped within Eve, there's a chance to save him, right?" Haruka chimed in, remembering what she had seen and heard in the battle with Anubis.
Michiru nodded in agreement. "Yes, all is not hopeless. I'm sure that we can somehow bring him back again."
Although the comforting didn't seem to hit Usagi on the surface, she felt a little better inside. With a small nod, she looked back to Kurai with the most lethal questions brimming her mind. "What do you know about Eve, Kurai?"
"I'm afraid not much at all. Kage had told me sparse facts about her before the waves of unconsciousness would take me. Unfortunately," he continued and he shifted his weight, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his chin against his hands, "Kage may not be the most reliable source of help any longer."
Though oblivious at first, Ami and Minako had broken the news to Kurai and Suteki with great reservation. It didn't come as a shock to them, but they were visibly shaken by it. A stale silence fit perfectly into the room until the most aggressive, and silently hit by the subject, felt sponsored to press along. "Why is he doing this?" Haruka demanded, not at all showing any remorse for feeling hurt and betrayed by him. Even though she had looked upon Kage as a friend and rival, she knew next to nothing about him. Not many did.
Kurai sighed, giving a glance to Suteki. Suteki was nearly catatonic now, staring into the ground with no intent on returning glances to either Minako or Kurai. Kurai understood perfectly and felt the burden of the storyteller. "To understand Kage, you must understand the past. As you well know, and as I'm sure Makoto-san has found out, Kage is a very callous person. Even though we were a team, Kage felt a great resentment towards us all, especially Yamito. In your world, he rarely stayed in this place and we sometimes went weeks before seeing him. Now he has joined this new enemy, the very bringer of his tragedy, and opposes all of us. Despite this, do not be too hard on Kage. Once, before the great wars started on our world, he was a very different person," Kurai said, a sort of sad smile coming to his face as he remembered times of a dead world.
"He was already considered a master of martial arts by the time he was fourteen, the same year in which I met him. He was a sort of prodigy, you see; a child who held this uncanny ability to predict how opponents moved and notice even the smallest details about someone. His parents had died when he was very young and he grew up in a monastery with the only other remaining member of his family; a younger sister named Mika. He studied at this monastery with the intent on becoming a monk one day, but only to repay the kindness offered to him and his sister. Being extremely versed in history, he idolized many old heroes such as Oda Nobunaga and Maeda Keiji. His sister was educated and cared for and they were together. For this, Kage grew up as a much disciplined fighter, as he was already not only a Scion, but the first Scion to unlock our Acrolyth level of power, but also had a great heart which was entirely possessed by his sister. He was the very essence of obedience and service to his order and any others who needed help. Until that incident, I had never known anyone as protective or loving as Kage, especially to his sister."
The story trailed a bit as Kurai smiled lightly, obviously caught up with his fonder memories of Kage. However, there was the great question burning on everyone's mind as they listened to this almost preposterous depiction of the same Kage which they all knew and regarded as abrasive at best. It was Haruka who asked it, although she could already guess. Never would have any of them guessed the viciousness of the facts accounted. "And what incident changed him into the Kage we all know?"
The casual tone she spoke in caused Kurai to look on her with a slightly offended glance, for he was about to relay to them just why Yamamori Kage was as malicious and hardened as he was the day that they all met him.
Such things were always prone to send Kage into a waking bloom. Resting against a cold wall, his uniform pulling tightly around his throat and the jingle of chain his alarm, Kage could barely capture his breath. He had fallen asleep in the most unlikely place. Under the gaze of a frozen angel, he finally exhaled the foul taste in his mouth and realized he had vomited. Such were the pleasures of his sleep. His dreams were as comforting as a disemboweling at noon's leisure.
Dragging his tired form to his feet, the mighty and pathetic general wiped his lips, those dry and parched betrayers, and pressed his back against the cold stone. Slumber had long since betrayed him and falling under the countenance of his bitter foe was disturbing at best. Still clutching his sword in hand, his peat green eyes glowed in the stillness of the room as he looked upon the statue; a frozen and cold thing defying its very nature. Had it been lower, he would have spit at it, for he loathed and hated the beautiful face and frail body so much more than his own. Passing silent judgment, he muttered the first insanity which came to him.
"If you would only open those eyes for a second, that I could run my sword between them."
Standing full to the statue, an eerie light bathed both, but only truly illuminated one. Yamito's pallid face shone even in this darkness. A face so beautiful that it could turn the very moon in its heaven was held still, frigid to the very world around him. His body, the very essence of irony as a vessel of such power yet fallen to the simplest ailment, lay stretched outright and held by unknown means. To his fury, Kage stood and stared at him. The mortem child of Mars opened before him, baring no shame, and served as the twilight of his pathetic existence.
"For such power to be wasted on you is an insult to my very being. You, the illicit lover of our prince, buried your destiny under fear and cowardice." Kage would say, speaking such vicious words yet not able to show true inflection. Every moment he forced himself to hate Yamito, but truth could not hide behind blame.
Above this angel, Kage hated himself.
"This is not the place I would have expected you, my sweet general," a voice said. It interrupted his hue of hatred and Kage drained. Even so, Eve moved right behind him, her steps forever eluded to the silence of flesh. Placing her arms around him, her eyes moved lustfully to the frozen angel as well, absolutely delighted at the radiance of Kage's flared temperament. "A lie. Would not the royal court of Earth wish to know of their most desired prince?"
Time held no passing on anger's wake and Kage's eyes darkened with the semblance of nightfall, failing at first then overcome by a curtain of black finality. Once more his foe was held in higher rank, a sin which tore a piece of Kage's heart away each time he looked away. Harshly stepping from under the warm embrace of Eve, he stepped towards Yamito and glared up at him, finding it so convenient to hate him so. "A delayed truth. The moment his beautiful eyes open, Yamito will die." He turned and faced her, all of his rage coursing over him as whitened lightning. Even though his energy was great, each arc of energy fell benign on a sightless force around Yamito.
Nothing beyond cosmic kisses would remove the child from its womb.
Eve stayed longer on Yamito than her general, but soon smiled that sweet, dangerous smile as she stepped forward again and pressed herself into Kage, running godly hands across him and speaking in cherry tones. "Would not you rather to sleep in sheets of silk and skin, my love? My general deserves the most beautiful lavishes and the kiss of a goddess over his troubled brow."
Almost instantly, Eve was floating beyond his stroke, her face slightly stunned but her eyes flaring with interest. The sword that bore the power of Jupiter poised itself at the end of the strike, gleaming with a sad descent of a higher purpose. Kage's eyes were shaded but his lips were pressed. Nothing was as foul as her touch and the feel of even the softest soil still soaked the skin black. When Kage spoke, it was through a snarl which only found rest through the bars of the fiercest game.
"Don't ever speak such filth to me again. My oath was given, but don't mistake yourself. I only serve you until you give them to me. I would never soil myself with you, the shell of my hated enemy. The only reason I don't split you down the middle is only you can give me what I want."
As Kage's eyes moved upon her, she was smitten by the fierce inferno within them. He hated with such innocence that a small part of her inside shivered with delight. It was the reason he had been chosen; this capacity for such unbridled odium. Though her true beloved lingered above them both like a mourning painting, she could not hide her attraction for him.
"Go now into the city. Bring me the trodden, wailing masses that I may gain the power I need to give you the gift you desire. Serve me, my dearest general."
Without another moment lingered, Kage slung his sword over his shoulder and disappeared into a burst of heretic lightning. He would do as she asked, for the only thing in his mind was those two great shadows pierced deep into his mind like spears. It was they who possessed him now, for nothing else could sway him like the prospect of the water of revenge on his lips. Where love and hate embraced, revenge consumed.
Eve, looking back upon her beloved, hugged herself lightly and quivered with thoughts of him. This human, tempered in flames and doused in stone, was the whole purpose in her mind. All things revolved around him, even the heavens and the earths. For this, she smiled and could barely contain herself.
"And soon, the most loved and feared nemesis, I will have you as well."
Never had the road seemed so long in front of her. A great weight of gray hung on Usagi's face as if it were attached to her very skin, though gravity had little to do with the pull on her brow. She was brewing an assortment of doubts and troubles in her mind, giving them permission to defeat her countenance with great fury and efficiency, dimming the brilliance of the very stars in the sky. From the confines of the back seat of Haruka's car, she sat waiting for the place she had never been to arrive before her; a dark, dank residence that only allowed the least fortunate in. Somehow, the apartment would seem barren with only two.
"This has to be the place. Did they really live here?" Haruka asked no one in particular as she leaned onto her steering wheel, taking a long glance at the building which matched the address of the slip of paper given to her by Ami.
The building was decrepit. Although still somehow lingering on through the years through irreparable neglect and perpetual shadowing of the rest of the city, it stood only as a reminder that not all who lived in Tokyo lived in the wonderful homes which most of the girls had privilege to. With no aesthetics to speak of, it was a chilling reminder just how different they were; the senshi of the light and the former senshi of the dark. Even as the three girls walked in, the tenants, so to speak, were strangely aware of these intruders that stuck out like a white moth on soot-caked bark. The halls were worn but clean; the woodwork decaying but intact. It was the epitome of underlying truth beneath a molded exterior. Michiru found it ironic but said nothing.
As they stood before the solid, chipping wooden door, all three girls paused. Inside would be reunion and education, but only at the price of memory. They said nothing when Rei and Makoto both declined to come, the reasons so painfully obvious that dwelling on another thought seemed sadistic. The sounds of voices, both low and high, told the tale of lovers once again together through tragedy. This would be an occasion of smiles and sighs. Without a knock, Haruka pushed open the door with a long, desperate squeak.
Instantly, both Ami and the now conscious Kurai looked up from one another, obviously engrossed in talk until the entrance, and both offered the exact smile; a sort of saddened reunion smile tarnished by betrayal. Michiru and Haruka both returned the smile, but Usagi could not find the strength to join them. Her eyes were tired and fell instantly to Kurai, for she knew that he would be the vessel of all answers that her heart was demanding to hear. They entered and closed the door, only to be greeted once again with another of the fallen soldiers.
Suteki was on an entirely different page than the others. He was still brimming with an unstoppable smile that could not be denied by anyone, including Usagi in this case. "Usa! Can you believe it?! One minute I'm just drowning in black water and then...whoom!" he called and made wild gestures, elastic faces and tones that could only describe Suteki. Usagi couldn't not smile and even stifled a small laugh at him. It was good to see him again. When Minako emerged behind him, nothing could dim her smile either. Dreams fell into reality when her animate lover had returned to her, even dousing the sting of darker truths. Barely able to keep herself from crying again, she simply slipped her arm around his side and embraced him, forcing Suteki to throw his arms around and laugh excitedly for his new lease on life. Nothing defied time like a moment in the arms of the beloved.
Kurai and Ami had been watching the two also, but Kurai's attention soon moved back to Usagi and all celebrations fell from him. Even through the reflective lenses of his glasses, his eyes were melancholy. Like Suteki, he was now completely human and able to merge with this world as if born on the very day of his arrival; no longer feeling any pull of his guardian planet in his veins. It was both emancipating and chilling at the same time and though Suteki was flawlessly coping with the situation, Kurai could not hide the concern carved into him. "Please pardon the condition of this place. I assume you have come here for answers, Usagi. I'm afraid I have very few." It instantly set the tone for the place and Suteki and Minako were instant scenery. Ami slid next to Kurai but kept a small distance from him, maintaining her joy even though she wished to spend the entire lapse of a week in Kurai's arms as well.
Usagi sat in front of Kurai on a beaten mat which was the only covering for the entire room. She had noticed that the filling of their place was as dire as the building itself; a testament to the conditions in which the fallen soldiers had persisted. There were no utilities to speak of and only another room adjacent to their current location which had three mats on the floor. None of the meanings hit her as all she could think about was one thing. "Kurai...is Mamoru alive?"
Kurai's brow crinkled at the most obvious question, for the answer he knew would not bode well onto the face of this girl whom he believed in more than any other. "Please bear with me, for what I remember before waking in this place is both vague and distant. Consciousness came only in moments of mock clarity before feeling something I can only describe as electric shock hit me and I would drift away again. However, in those fleeting moments of consciousness, I was able to see Mamoru. He is alive." This news obviously lifted a great burden off of Usagi and she sighed in relief, though she didn't entirely trust the tone of voice Kurai was using. Before she could rejoice, Kurai continued in a rushed tone. "However, I'm afraid that what I saw was not comforting. His eyes were dulled, lacking any cognitive presence. He stood but showed no sway of consciousness. It is my guess that though his body is alive, Mamoru does not exist within it. I do not know why." This news was obviously more shattering than the initial news and Usagi felt heavy again. Somehow, news came in two shades for her; painful and ironic.
"But if he is still alive and somehow still trapped within Eve, there's a chance to save him, right?" Haruka chimed in, remembering what she had seen and heard in the battle with Anubis.
Michiru nodded in agreement. "Yes, all is not hopeless. I'm sure that we can somehow bring him back again."
Although the comforting didn't seem to hit Usagi on the surface, she felt a little better inside. With a small nod, she looked back to Kurai with the most lethal questions brimming her mind. "What do you know about Eve, Kurai?"
"I'm afraid not much at all. Kage had told me sparse facts about her before the waves of unconsciousness would take me. Unfortunately," he continued and he shifted his weight, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his chin against his hands, "Kage may not be the most reliable source of help any longer."
Though oblivious at first, Ami and Minako had broken the news to Kurai and Suteki with great reservation. It didn't come as a shock to them, but they were visibly shaken by it. A stale silence fit perfectly into the room until the most aggressive, and silently hit by the subject, felt sponsored to press along. "Why is he doing this?" Haruka demanded, not at all showing any remorse for feeling hurt and betrayed by him. Even though she had looked upon Kage as a friend and rival, she knew next to nothing about him. Not many did.
Kurai sighed, giving a glance to Suteki. Suteki was nearly catatonic now, staring into the ground with no intent on returning glances to either Minako or Kurai. Kurai understood perfectly and felt the burden of the storyteller. "To understand Kage, you must understand the past. As you well know, and as I'm sure Makoto-san has found out, Kage is a very callous person. Even though we were a team, Kage felt a great resentment towards us all, especially Yamito. In your world, he rarely stayed in this place and we sometimes went weeks before seeing him. Now he has joined this new enemy, the very bringer of his tragedy, and opposes all of us. Despite this, do not be too hard on Kage. Once, before the great wars started on our world, he was a very different person," Kurai said, a sort of sad smile coming to his face as he remembered times of a dead world.
"He was already considered a master of martial arts by the time he was fourteen, the same year in which I met him. He was a sort of prodigy, you see; a child who held this uncanny ability to predict how opponents moved and notice even the smallest details about someone. His parents had died when he was very young and he grew up in a monastery with the only other remaining member of his family; a younger sister named Mika. He studied at this monastery with the intent on becoming a monk one day, but only to repay the kindness offered to him and his sister. Being extremely versed in history, he idolized many old heroes such as Oda Nobunaga and Maeda Keiji. His sister was educated and cared for and they were together. For this, Kage grew up as a much disciplined fighter, as he was already not only a Scion, but the first Scion to unlock our Acrolyth level of power, but also had a great heart which was entirely possessed by his sister. He was the very essence of obedience and service to his order and any others who needed help. Until that incident, I had never known anyone as protective or loving as Kage, especially to his sister."
The story trailed a bit as Kurai smiled lightly, obviously caught up with his fonder memories of Kage. However, there was the great question burning on everyone's mind as they listened to this almost preposterous depiction of the same Kage which they all knew and regarded as abrasive at best. It was Haruka who asked it, although she could already guess. Never would have any of them guessed the viciousness of the facts accounted. "And what incident changed him into the Kage we all know?"
The casual tone she spoke in caused Kurai to look on her with a slightly offended glance, for he was about to relay to them just why Yamamori Kage was as malicious and hardened as he was the day that they all met him.
Flashes of images were streaming, as if in a tunnel and speeding towards the other end. Some images lingered longer than others, bathed in a vague blur of repressed light and sometimes unfocused as a jumble of movement and sound. This place that possessed his sleep was of no remorse or pity. Even in his dreams, Kage was tormented.
Always it began the same way. The soothing memories of younger days; of soft sunlit gardens with cherry blossoms falling like pink snow and of that painfully beautiful face which smiled to him. Vividness had no power over the depth of this part of his dream. Kage found himself smaller, less able than he remembered as he stood in gardens of swaying greens and whites. Reality escaped him as he felt the weight of her on his shoulders and of her hands holding to the bottom of his chin for stability and safety. The abundant laughter burned in his ears for some reason. Its sweetness felt almost bitter, even though his smile was nearly as big as hers. Mika had always squealed in delight when able to ride on her brother's shoulders, hugging his head lightly when he would run with her or wriggle when he would tickle her sides. She never let go of him. Kage found no greater joy than when he was with her; the only person in existence that was truly bound to him by more than title or utility.
Mika was his beloved.
His dreams would soon move on to more warm tones. During those times when Kage would stand before three of his elder monks, practicing his form and technique even into the forbidden forms of ancient times, Mika would sit and watch. The pride which she felt for her brother was beyond measure and her heart would race whenever he would move through a form. Nothing could make her more proud than being the sister of such an able martial artist and devout champion of his trade. She would beam at any mention of his name and his deeds to his fellow man. His restraint and calm patience when he was taunted defeated any shame at being insulted. She knew that some day he would grow up to be the finest monk ever to come from the monastery.
Just as his memory allowed him a moment of peace, that fated night would come next. Kage could still remember the frigid rain on his face as he ran towards the monastery. Even in his Acrolyth form, it was a cold rain that was chilling him right to the bone. The last words of his opposite, Senso, had tore at him and he was desperately trying to prove his fears were wrong.
As he broke into the courtyard, his heart had stopped. All of the monks who had been so kind to him lay dead across the ground, dyeing the clear ponds red and smashing the flowers into dust. They hadn't even been turned into Gangers, but brutally slain as a message. Never had a Scion felt such remorse but only long enough to realize the fear. He soon ran blatantly over the dead monks, his eyes burning and his breath seeming to simply fall away from his lips. Before he could even reach the dormitories, he saw her lying on the ground.
Instantly, he was frozen. No amount of training or strength could have moved him or even his eyes beyond to Senso, who stood a few feet past with no expression to offer. A brother so broken by the sight stumbled forward, feeling so wrenched by fear that his lips mouthed a name that his throat would not speak. His remarkable sword fell to the ground like a toy and drowned in a small puddle. Staggering to the small body, he fell to his knees and stared, his eyes so wide that red tears formed at the corners. Tears soon diluted them as her fragile little body was lifted and he was able to see what they had done to his beloved sister.
She was breathing, her eyes barely open but only as far as the bruises and cuts would allow. He had never seen any beaten so savagely as they girl he held in his arms; so much so that the recognition of his relation almost escaped. No one could have done this to his Mika. Yet, she laid there, the same soft hands clutching his shirt as blood fell to the ground more readily than the rain. It wasn't just his eyes forced to endure, but his other senses as well. The smell of blood, such sweet blood that burned in his nose, was something he carried with him to the day. Breath poisoned with blood boiled at his ears as he listened to each grow shorter and shallower. The rain, though chilled to the point of crystal, felt hot to her skin. No smile would ever grace her face again. Never would he hear her voice call to him.
Before anything could matter, Mika died while laying her green eyes on her most beloved possession in the world; her splintered brother.
All that had defined Kage until that moment died with the small girl. The entire world could never atone for the passing of that girl and the lord of all planets fell into the eclipse of the sun that very day. The cosmos itself conspired to rob him of his humanity and it was exactly the thing which it took. On his knees, holding a lifeless body to him as if to somehow attain resurrection, the mighty and pathetic Kage fell.
Senso had not moved. He had stared the entire time with a very lewd expression on his face; like a child wishing to go back into the womb. Like his other, not a muscle stirred as two others appeared out of the rain, their hands unable to wash clean of the blood on them; the blood of monks and princesses. They both stood behind the Scion, staring down at him with lamenting eyes. Hearing his sobs and disgusted with his posture, one reached down and picked the celestial sword from the ground. In it reflected the faces which would possess Kage from that moment on.
"This is our great opponent? This retch is who the master has spoken of his great plan for?" the first figure asked.
"Pathetic. Even after we have killed his love and taken all that is his, he does nothing. Look, even his shadow feels this remorse. It's disgusting."
"Killing him now would be no fun. Instead, I want to give him something to remember us by," the first figure replied, stepping forward and grabbing the weeping boy by his hair. Wrenching his head back, he looked down at the face of the soldier that held no more substance. Kage knelt there like a doll, neither reacting nor fighting the grip of the dark figure. With an ominous smile, the figure leaned his head down and spoke with a perverse pleasure at seeing him like this. "Your sister cried out for you, even when I ground her face into the ground with my heel. How easily her small body broke. She cried like a whore as we tasted her. Even now I can't get the stink off me." Even though the words were malicious and magnificent, the boy felt nothing. He stared up at the face with no life; as dead as the girl in his arms.
For this, the figure spit in his face and thrust the sword forward, sending a spray of blood into the air and finally watching those sullen eyes widen in sheer and utter agony.
Such things were always prone to send Kage into a waking bloom. Resting against a cold wall, his uniform pulling tightly around his throat and the jingle of chain his alarm, Kage could barely capture his breath. He had fallen asleep in the most unlikely place. Under the gaze of a frozen angel, he finally exhaled the foul taste in his mouth and realized he had vomited. Such were the pleasures of his sleep. His dreams were as comforting as a disemboweling at noon's leisure.
Dragging his tired form to his feet, the mighty and pathetic general wiped his lips, those dry and parched betrayers, and pressed his back against the cold stone. Slumber had long since betrayed him and falling under the countenance of his bitter foe was disturbing at best. Still clutching his sword in hand, his peat green eyes glowed in the stillness of the room as he looked upon the statue; a frozen and cold thing defying its very nature. Had it been lower, he would have spit at it, for he loathed and hated the beautiful face and frail body so much more than his own. Passing silent judgment, he muttered the first insanity which came to him.
"If you would only open those eyes for a second, that I could run my sword between them."
Standing full to the statue, an eerie light bathed both, but only truly illuminated one. Yamito's pallid face shone even in this darkness. A face so beautiful that it could turn the very moon in its heaven was held still, frigid to the very world around him. His body, the very essence of irony as a vessel of such power yet fallen to the simplest ailment, lay stretched outright and held by unknown means. To his fury, Kage stood and stared at him. The mortem child of Mars opened before him, baring no shame, and served as the twilight of his pathetic existence.
"For such power to be wasted on you is an insult to my very being. You, the illicit lover of our prince, buried your destiny under fear and cowardice." Kage would say, speaking such vicious words yet not able to show true inflection. Every moment he forced himself to hate Yamito, but truth could not hide behind blame.
Above this angel, Kage hated himself.
"This is not the place I would have expected you, my sweet general," a voice said. It interrupted his hue of hatred and Kage drained. Even so, Eve moved right behind him, her steps forever eluded to the silence of flesh. Placing her arms around him, her eyes moved lustfully to the frozen angel as well, absolutely delighted at the radiance of Kage's flared temperament. "A lie. Would not the royal court of Earth wish to know of their most desired prince?"
Time held no passing on anger's wake and Kage's eyes darkened with the semblance of nightfall, failing at first then overcome by a curtain of black finality. Once more his foe was held in higher rank, a sin which tore a piece of Kage's heart away each time he looked away. Harshly stepping from under the warm embrace of Eve, he stepped towards Yamito and glared up at him, finding it so convenient to hate him so. "A delayed truth. The moment his beautiful eyes open, Yamito will die." He turned and faced her, all of his rage coursing over him as whitened lightning. Even though his energy was great, each arc of energy fell benign on a sightless force around Yamito.
Nothing beyond cosmic kisses would remove the child from its womb.
Eve stayed longer on Yamito than her general, but soon smiled that sweet, dangerous smile as she stepped forward again and pressed herself into Kage, running godly hands across him and speaking in cherry tones. "Would not you rather to sleep in sheets of silk and skin, my love? My general deserves the most beautiful lavishes and the kiss of a goddess over his troubled brow."
Almost instantly, Eve was floating beyond his stroke, her face slightly stunned but her eyes flaring with interest. The sword that bore the power of Jupiter poised itself at the end of the strike, gleaming with a sad descent of a higher purpose. Kage's eyes were shaded but his lips were pressed. Nothing was as foul as her touch and the feel of even the softest soil still soaked the skin black. When Kage spoke, it was through a snarl which only found rest through the bars of the fiercest game.
"Don't ever speak such filth to me again. My oath was given, but don't mistake yourself. I only serve you until you give them to me. I would never soil myself with you, the shell of my hated enemy. The only reason I don't split you down the middle is only you can give me what I want."
As Kage's eyes moved upon her, she was smitten by the fierce inferno within them. He hated with such innocence that a small part of her inside shivered with delight. It was the reason he had been chosen; this capacity for such unbridled odium. Though her true beloved lingered above them both like a mourning painting, she could not hide her attraction for him.
"Go now into the city. Bring me the trodden, wailing masses that I may gain the power I need to give you the gift you desire. Serve me, my dearest general."
Without another moment lingered, Kage slung his sword over his shoulder and disappeared into a burst of heretic lightning. He would do as she asked, for the only thing in his mind was those two great shadows pierced deep into his mind like spears. It was they who possessed him now, for nothing else could sway him like the prospect of the water of revenge on his lips. Where love and hate embraced, revenge consumed.
Eve, looking back upon her beloved, hugged herself lightly and quivered with thoughts of him. This human, tempered in flames and doused in stone, was the whole purpose in her mind. All things revolved around him, even the heavens and the earths. For this, she smiled and could barely contain herself.
"And soon, the most loved and feared nemesis, I will have you as well."