Disclaimer: I own... Noooooothiiiiing...
Warnings: Same as usual. n-n
A/N:shifty eyes: Is that an actual PLOT? Homaigod... And wtf is up with all the dialogue? o-Oa
:n:
Rath's eyes narrowed, his hand biting tighter into the material of his shirt.
"What do you mean?"
The air seemed dulled, stifling, locked into place.
Bierrez remained silent, bright jade eyes glinting with an emotion Rath could not quite place.
Annoyance, perhaps. Or determination.
"'Lost in a memory'?" Rath questioned once more, taking a painfully slow step forward, noting the sharp echo of his foot on the tiled ground. A wavering feeling swept through him: a note of boots running lightly down marbled floors, sunlight sprawled across the ground.
"What do you mean, Bierrez?" he paused, struggling with himself, weighing the need for more information against the parting with words. "I... I remember you," Rath stated slowly, "I remember you, but I don't know why."
A tinge of bittersweet amusement flickered over the other's face, and Rath was suddenly certain that Bierrez too, knew what he was speaking of and was at that very moment letting their last meeting wash through his core.
But when he spoke, it was simple: concise.
"Yes."
Rath was caught slightly off guard by the blunt answer and found himself pushing back words: a rambling, raving, lunatic pleading that was trying to wretch itself from his mouth.
"...Yes?"
"I remember you," Bierrez stated calmly, leaning against the cool wall behind him. "I know you better than I think you realize."
Black mesh fluttered in the nonexistent breeze.
"What do you mean?"
It was all Rath could do to keep his voice from wavering with an inexplicable excitement.
"This has something to do with Cesia, doesn't it?" He was startled to find himself talking. He didn't talk openly like this, especially not in front of someone he had just met, no matter how eerily familiar. "It's about her... All this started when I met her a couple days ago."
"When you met her..." Bierrez raised a slender eyebrow in surprise. "Rath, don't tell me you haven't put it together yet."
The sun outside slipped behind an indigo cloud, its light suddenly dimmed, paled.
Lost crimson eyes met almost taunting green ones, and Bierrez spoke, his voice sounding distant, as if whispering from ink-shielded pages.
"Does this involve Cesia? Yes... Yes, I suppose you could say she has something to do with it. But is it about her? No. She's merely a pawn in this game, Rath."
He watched as vibrant emerald eyes narrowed slightly, autumn light gleaming at their corners.
"You know her, Rath. Don't tell me you've forgotten her. You haven't. I can read it in your face: in the rush of blood to your cheeks, the faltering glances you give, the way her name is always caught upon your lips. But," the hallway seemed dimmer than it should be, Rath noticed faintly, even if the sun had dipped behind a cloud. "She isn't the reason for this... Commotion."
The empty hall vibrated with the tension.
"The reason for this, Rath..."
The words echoed in the still like pebbles thrown into the endless depths of black water.
Revival Water...
"...Is you."
Rath caught sight of the golden-haired demon toss his head back, laughing. Laughing... Through the numbing confusion tumbled a nagging thought that something was off. Something wasn't quite right, even more so than how none of this was right. More than how the sky was suddenly impulsive and people he had known all his life were acting out of the ordinary and faint distant memories were walking back into his life.
"The stakes are high and the price is your own sanity."
More than how buildings were changing, morphing...
"Look around you, Rath..." Bierrez's voice seemed suddenly smoother, somehow less human, "Your life is more like a Faerie Tale than you might think."
A surge of hatred whipped through the tauntly-pulled air.
"Nadil..." Rath heard himself growl, the unknown word -name?- bringing up an acidic lurch of fear.
The laughter deepened, casting off its last shreds of humor and taking on a purely sadistic tone.
He was vaguely aware of a crash of shattered glass; of the sudden heat from open, swirling flames; of an icy cold hand reaching out to take hold of him.
Then he heard his name called once, twice, and the dark cleared into a wavering mist.
Rune and Thats were standing beside him and for a moment he saw them as different. Taller, perhaps, and a little older. Rath was unable to put his finger on the exact change that had caused the sudden power and confidence each of them seemed to give off.
Then he blinked and the mirage was gone.
"Rath," a perfectly ordinary Rune turned to him, clear eyes showing nothing of the tumult that had just played forth.
"Yeah, I know," Rath brushed him off, slipping between the two and calmly walking down the hallway.
"I'm late to class."
:n:
Alison Metallium: Hey, does that end bit of your name mean anything:curious: And thanks for the b-day note! non
Peophin-chan: XD What is it with the chorus concerts, ne? XD Thank you!
Hououza: Thanks for the b-day wishes. n-n Hah, I suppose that is one benefit of having illegible handwriting. XD And I think you made sense. n-n
Yume-chan: Was the 29 in there for any reason? If so, I'll be sure to add it in in these things, but if it was just there because you needed to add numbers, I'll leave it out... :coughs: And I REMEMBER YOU:excited:
Peridot-chan: Thanks. n-n It's fun for me when people put their favorite lines... n-n Thanks for the happy b-day stuff!
Lazy Kitty:shifty eyes: I swear, it wasn't! And of course Cesia has to glomp Bierrez around the torso:O
Kat: LAND OF CHEAP MEDS! YOU ARE IN THE LAND OF THE CHEAP MEDS:still thinks that name is cool: Everyone here says "hi"! ...And some people say more than that. :sweatdrop: I'm keeping it at PG-13, though, so I'm not going to retell it. :smacks Rath, Solo, and Kai-Stern: (And thanks for the happy b-day note, but if you didn't tell me at sometime, I would have been very upset... T-T Mind, you WOULD have and DID tell me, so... XD)
Charna: Yeah, I've got awful skills at updating regularly. ...Wait, I don't think that made sense. XD Spring! ...Well... It's summer now... XDDD
Anonymous: I hope this can still be counted as "soon". :shifty eyes: It was only two months this time... Not four... XD And I know what you mean. :shifty eyes: I get that a lot. And I tend to agree. :shifty eyes: ...Why the hell am I still doing this, then? XD;
:n:
:sweatdrop: Wow. Um. That was so not how I originally intended this chapter to turn out. :mega sweatdrop, glances at keyboard warily: Uh... Well, did you like it:shifty eyes: I feel like I should be reviewing as well. I don't know where that came from... :sweatdrop: