S E R A P H
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Prayer In Time Of Illness
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How long, lord?
Will you utterly forget me?
How long will you hide your face
From me?
How long must I carry
Sorrow in my soul
Grief in my heart
Day after day?
How long will my enemy
Triumph over me?
Look upon me
Answer me
Lord, my God!
Give light to my eyes
Lest I sleep in death
Lest my enemy say
'I have prevailed'
Lest my foes rejoice at my downfall
I trust in your faithfulness
Grant my heart joy in your help
That I may sing of the lord
'How good our God has been to me?'
---Psalm Thirteen
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My wounds were throbbing, aching, prickling: BURNING.
Every conceiveable description of pain flashed in paraxysms of sheer violence. The spasms and convulsions were overwhelming me, even as I attempted to reach the drugs I kept handily at my bedside.
I brought a shaken hand to my temple, staggering to my knees: coughing dark, dark blood.
She was near.
The scars, my last immortal senses knew it. She was going to find me. HE was going to find me.
'Damn you, Solo. I need you.'
My mind was threatening to burst.
Images.
Images of her.
Of him.
'SOLO!'
My vision was darkening. I could no longer make out the room, the lights outside my curtained window becoming dim reminders that no one would come to my aid.
Perhaps I was nothing to fight this illness.
My cheek felt the uninviting cold of the floor just searing hot hands lifted me up, carrying me and at the same time, relieving me of all pain, all emotions except for one:
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"If you feel weak, just call for me."
I sneered at him, running my hands along the hem of my jacket. "Why would I wish to do that?"
"Because if you are in pain, if you are dying, either I, Envy or Lust will be able to save you. We can act as receptables for the pain. Eliminate it for a time."
"Idon't wish for your help." He leaned over me as I lay coughing horribly on the bed, ruining my last bit of adamacy.
"Don't be a fool. I would take your pain into myself a thousand millenias over. Do not be so proud. Yyou'll force Lust to appear and then you'll truly feel awful."
I felt myself smiling between coughs, but he was not trying to illicit humor from me. I looked upon his worried face and wondered briefly what would occur if Lust reappeared. especially now that I was so weak. As my thoughts trailed, Solo touched my forehead before I could stop him and the pain receeded from my body, leaving me alone with a Venial that was intent on corrupting me.
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Vanity.
I was laid on the bed, not able to feel my limbs and with the copper taste of rotting blood in my mouth.
"This affliction always strikes you during the times when no one is near enough to help you." He sat atop the night-table, staring at me steadily with his unflinching black eyes.
I tried speaking, but my mouth wouldn't work. I was neither angry nor upset. I felt nothing but two singular and very much peristent emotions.
Vanity. Greed.
He frowned, an almost negligible furrowing of his brow. "Don't attempt to speak with your voice. Your throat has been damaged. Telepathy seemed to have aided you quite well before when you were so desperately calling out to Solo." His voice shifted into a much more demanding tone. "Use it now."
'Why are you here?'
Even telepathically, his voice was rich in sarcasm. 'Would you have preferred Solo? Trust me when I tell you that his various "charms" would have been of no use to you in the state you're in. Besides, Lust wouldn't have been very happy if you indulged in his brother. He's very possessive of you.'
'The reason I called to him is because he doesn't reek of ulterior motives like the rest of you. I can trust that if I tell him "no" he will obey.'
He switched out of telepathic mode.
"You know, I could have left you here to lay unconscious and alone. If you truly want to know, it was I that blocked all three of them from knowing of your plight."
He slid off the table, sticking his hands in the pockets of his white pants. "Wrath wished to know of my intents. Will I join Lust and Envy or will I join with him. I am unsure. My instincts as both Greed and Vanity lead me to follow my younger brother. But my mind insists that it would be stupid not to go along with Wrath's plans." He gazed at me as I continued immobile and passive on my bed.
"What do you think, hmm, Master?"
'Do as you please. I have no wish to join either.'
"I believe that you are in the right. But I can understand why you wish for the company of my two brothers. Lust is quite committed to his job, isn't he?" Another smirk.
"But you like Immorality, I forget. Yes, we cannot forget that little rebel. Almost got himself killed trying to oppose me. Seems that he wanted to save you. Pathetic boy. Really, was is it that you do to them that makes them so willing to die for you? Even Lust would kill me if he knew about the shield I momentarily placed around you."
My voice. My throat felt like it had been scrapped open. My trachea felt removed, but I would risk any pain to speak my peace. "Wufei." I rasped.
"Yes?"
"Remove yourself from my presence. Now."
He gave me a mock bow and a perfect academy salute. "Yes, Master."
As soon as he was gone, the pain returned, threatening once again to claim my sanity.
"Master!" Solo's bloodied and marred face hovered over me.
The pain receeded immediately, yielding to his touch just as it had with Wufei.
I looked at his face. Bruised, cut, missing skin and his hair, all of that wonderful shimmering mass; wilted and dirty. 'You should not have done it. I would have been fine.'
"But I didn't want him to touch you. You will suffer the more for it. Please don't speak. You might force Him to reappear again and I will have another Sin's wrath to face. We will have to move you from here. You're too weak to change cities, but a change of living quarters will have to take place. I hope you haven't gotten attached to the view."
I looked upon his worried face and wondered briefly what would happen if Vanity rediscovered me.
There was silence as he tended to his own wounds and to mine.
Then after what seemed to be several minutes he turned away from me. "Noin is here. That is why neither Lust or Envy reacted quickly enough to come to your aid. They are keeping her preoccupied enough for me to take you somewhere else."
'How are they going about this?'
He stared out into the cloud-covered world outside. "They are pursuing her with Insanity."
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God, I love Vanity. I love Immorality.
Two more chapters to go. The next being my absolute favorite up until this point. I hope you enjoy it as I am very keen on it and much happens.
Ansible: I really didn't think anyone had kept up with this story. Thank you for your compliment. I will do my best, as always to complete a story, especially this one. So, perhaps there is hope for it.
