It was around the end of that case when the walls suddenly collapsed and he was almost flooded with the presence of the hell serpent. Part of him registered Hisoka's soft gasp as Touda's mind slipped so violent into the one of his master. Violent for the empath because he felt it so acutely. Tsuzuki didn't have a lot of trouble handling it.
:Touda:
Tsuzuki hugged the black serpent tightly, immediately checking on his condition. What he saw made him frown. Touda appeared injured, though the wounds were healing, and he was exhausted.
:We need you:
Tsuzuki rocked back under the information that accompanied the cry, shocked by what had happened to Byakko, and only Touda's harsh 'Tsuzuki, stop!' kept him from immediately going into GensouKai.
:Listen to me first: Touda growled. :We do need you here, but before you come storming in, understand what happened. First of all, none of this is your fault. The devil possessed the shikigami you called. It could have been anyone. Second, you couldn't have prevented it:
Tsuzuki sighed. He knew he was prone to guilt trips, but even he understood that this was something beyond his control. No one could have known, and even a shikigami like Touda could have become a victim.
:Rikugo needs you for some reason or other. I suspect it's because of what he Saw:
:I'm coming: he whispered again, even his mind voice a little shaky.
He kept the connection to his shikigami open, still keeping an eye on Touda, who didn't come across as strong as usual. No surprise there. Byakko was his lover and whatever it was that had hurt the tiger, it was also hurting Touda.
"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka's calm voice drew him out of his thoughts and he found his partner leaning against the wall of the corridor, arms crossed, a slight scowl on his features.
There were no signs of the earlier discomfort when he had had to endure Touda's violent invasion of his lover's mind. Tsuzuki wanted to over to him, hug him, apologize, but the urgency still radiating from Touda was overpowering.
"I need to leave," he only said.
"What happened?"
"A devil entered GensouKai. He possessed Byakko in our last fight and slipped in. He hurt Byakko..."
Hisoka's features showed surprise. "He was possessed? But shikigami can't be possessed by devils..."
"I know, Hisoka, I know." Tsuzuki worried his lower lip, glancing toward Tatsumi's office. He needed to tell him that he had to go. Tatsumi would understand, but he probably wouldn't like it.
"I'll tell him," Hisoka offered.
The older shinigami beamed at him. "Thank you!"
"You owe me lunch," Hisoka added without moving a muscle.
Tsuzuki gave him another bright smile, agreeing readily, then briefly leaned down and kissed his lover. "Thanks."
Hisoka pushed him away, though not unkindly, a small twinkle in his eyes. "Go. See to your shikigami."
Tsuzuki nodded and hurried off.
° ° °
He was expected by Touda and Tsuzuki winced when he took in the battered and bruised serpent. Touda looked like he had gone a round or two with something very, very angry.
"Touda..." he murmured and rested a careful palm against the black-clad chest.
The shikigami gave him a brief, tired smile. "It looks worse than it is, Tsuzuki."
And it was Byakko's work. Tsuzuki stroked over the firm chest, needing to reassure himself that his friend was fine, and Touda drew him into a hug. He felt the warmth of his shikigami, the life pulsing under the skin, and he knew Touda was okay, despite his looks. Still, it hurt to see him like this.
:I'm fine, Asato. Don't worry:
:I always do:
Touda smiled slightly. It was barely even visible. "Rikugo is waiting," he murmured.
And they went. Tsuzuki gazed at the pale-faced servants, listened to their whispers, their voices muted and full of horror. He understood their emotions because he felt the same.
How could this have happened?
GensouKai was supposed to be protected from a devil invasion. Why hadn't the Emperor been alerted? He should have detected the devil right away. He should have alerted Sohryu. Sohryu himself should have been able to sense the invader.
Tsuzuki hoped he would get answers to those questions.
Touda led him into Sohryu's massive palace and the dragon immediately approached his master. The narrow face looked worn, there was a disheveled aura around the blue dragon, and he appeared rather undone. Tsuzuki gazed at him, eyes filled with worry, and Sohryu smiled a little. His hand cupped his shinigami master's face.
"I wish you had a happier reason to come visit us," he greeted him.
"Me, too, Sohryu."
"Byakko is in one of the private chambers. I suppose Touda already told you what happened?"
Tsuzuki nodded. "Yes," he answered softly.
"Rikugo needs your help to get to Byakko. He believes you can reach him better than any one of us. He is your first shikigami and you share a strong bond of trust and friendship."
But don't you share the same? Tsuzuki asked silently, not voicing it.
From the fine lines in everyone's face, that was not an option. And the moment he saw Rikugo, he knew it was really bad. The astrologer looked almost as horrible as back when Touda had nearly died, and that had only been a few weeks ago. Rikugo had just about recovered and again he had been asked to heal, to go deep, to use his powers. Tsuzuki's heart went out to the powerful dragon.
"Oh, Rikugo," he whispered.
Blond hair had escaped the long, braided tail, and hung into his face. The black eyes were filled with barely suppressed fear, and Rikugo's second set of eyes was open. He didn't even close them when Tsuzuki approached, which was tell-tale enough. Only hesitantly the dragon eyes slid shut.
On the bed lay a very pale and rather small looking Byakko. Tsuzuki swallowed hard. His friend appeared thin, the silvery-white hair undone and stringy, no longer so vibrant and soft and a mass of untamed power. He had been stripped of his clothes and was only clad in a simple shirt and pants. There were no visible injuries, but even without knowing about the fight it was quite obvious that Byakko wasn't just sleeping.
"Tsuzuki," the blond greeted him, the voice hoarse and a bit tremulous. "Thank you for coming."
"Of course I would come!" He hurried over to his shikigami. "What can I do to help?"
Rikugo drew a shuddering breath, swaying a little.
"Rikugo?" Tsuzuki asked, wrapping his arms around the slim body. Worry doubled inside him as he felt the weak hug in return.
"We have no time to lose, Tsuzuki."
"What's wrong?"
"Byakko is about to get lost in his own mind, and I... I can't pull him out, can't reach him. He'll need someone he trusts instinctively, someone whose call he'll answer any time."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to guide him back."
Tsuzuki gazed at the unconscious tiger. "How?"
"I'll take you with me when I go into his mind again, but instead of me, you have to be the one to approach him, touch him, talk to him."
"Okay. I think I can do that."
It got him a wan smile. "Thank you."
Tsuzuki gazed at Byakko's too pale form on the bed and decided to ask the million questions on his mind later. He waited for the astrologer to make his move.
Rikugo closed his onyx eyes to concentrate, opening his other two pairs. If Tsuzuki hadn't seen this before, it probably would have freaked him out. It was a creepy sight to witness his shikigami work his magic. One red eye rolled around fixating him, and Tsuzuki braced himself --
-- leaning against the heavy brick wall of a dark and spine-chilling place.
He gasped at the sudden change of environment. Blinking, feeling the oppressive force of this dungeons almost smother him, Tsuzuki fought against a sense of vertigo.
Where... where was he?
A warm hand landed on his shoulder and he turned, relieved to find Rikugo at his side.
"What is this place?" he asked quietly.
"Byakko's mind, at the moment. Yes, I know what it looks like, but unfortunately we don't have the time to discuss that right now. If we don't hurry up, we might lose him."
Tsuzuki swallowed looking around, This was a dark, dark place. Like the dungeons right out of a horror movie. It was damp and dark and oppressive. There was mold on the wet brick, and here and there he thought he saw something slither and skitter over the stones.
He shivered a little, glad to feel Rikugo's balancing presence with him.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Yes, I found the place he is hiding right now. Follow me."
Tsuzuki fell in step behind Rikugo. What had happened to the wind god, his first shikigami, to make him want to hide himself from the world? He already knew about the devil attack, Touda had kept him informed, but he hadn't, in his wildest dreams, imagined something like this.
This was like... Tsuzuki swallowed. It felt like the lower levels of Tenkuu, the prison of Touda, those damp and lonely cells where no one ever came. Those were levels where only despair reigned. Touda had been locked away in a place without sun, without happiness, completely cut off from the world, and now Byakko's mind looked like a worst case mirror image...
"Here," Rikugo's soft tenor pulled him out of his thoughts, as the astrologer pointed toward a heavy wooden door.
Like everything else, it looked a lot like the ones Tenkuu had in her deepest dungeons.
"He's in here."
Tsuzuki exchanged worried glances with the taller man, then inhaled deeply and carefully pushed open the heavy door.
tbc...