A/N: Thank you so very much for the wonderful feedback! I have to confess I was more than apprehensive when I started posting because of this pairing. You all took it quite well ;) More than well, actually. I'm also relieved with your response to the Count's background we made up. It was a long and hard thinking process, interrupted by reading Count scenes in the manga over and over again. There's a lot of 'reading between the lines', as well as really reading what he says here or there. It's amazing what you discover after reading the volumes for the tenth time ;)
Thank you again! You're really making my days with the feedbacks.
No alarms had gone off in Meifu when the devil had slipped in through a crack in the barrier. It wasn't by accident that the intruder alert remained silent as ancient eyes watched the battle, a slow smile creasing the man's lips. He felt the powers collide, felt two demonic auras crash into each other, and he felt the rising level of his chosen warrior.
Enma-Daiou stood motionlessly, seeing something only he could, witnessing for the first time the true power of the master of the Palace of Candles. The Count was his creation, his tool, his puppet, and Ryu knew it. He had tested the boundaries of his eternal prison a few times, but he had never succeeded in freeing himself from his punishment. Enma had taken care of the matter of the demonic powers this hybrid commanded, and he could only use them in defense of the Candles.
Right now, the destruction was as immense as he had thought it might be.
Yes, you are powerful, my friend, he thought, smiling.
The Lord of Hades turned away from the spectacle, still aware of every move, every blow, and looked toward another place in his realm. There was nothing going on in Meifu he didn't know, wasn't aware of, and he knew that to continue this game another player was needed.
° ° °
It was a fight among equals. The devil was strong, but he was also rather big. He had maneuverability problems in the smaller corridors and the Count used whatever edge he got. The creature was so convinced that his opponent was inferior, he made mistakes.
Ryu smiled darkly as he shielded himself against another attack. Chunks of stone blew out of the wall and the floor around him. The moment the devil let up, he dropped the shield and flung his own attack at him, managing to tear a deep wound into the glistening scales. The devil roared and its tail whipped at him, catching him in the shoulder.
Just one wound among many, dripping blood.
Not that he could die of it.
Not that he ever would.
Calling unto his powers, Ryu attacked once more.
° ° °
The Palace of Candles looked like someone had taken an oversized battering ram to the ancient building, splitting it open, tearing even the doors off their hinges. They lay in a heap just inside the entrance hall. The ornamented walls were burned, chunks torn out, the tapestries reduced to ashes. The stairs had been destroyed, part of the hall's roof had collapsed, and there was the faint smell of fire and smoke.
And there was blood.
A wide trail of blood leading from the hall to the main ball room and further. It ran along the line of destruction as the invader had tried to get deeper into the Palace to the soul candles. It had met opposition, a powerful opposition, and the opposition had fought back.
The very building had fought back.
The Count sat propped up against the heavy door that led to the basement of the palace where the millions of candles burned. Blood pooled around him, a puddle so large it showed the severity of his injuries.
But he was immortal.
His clothes had been shredded where devil claws had ripped into soft human flesh, had severed muscles, sinews and had broken bones.
He could not die.
One hand covered the largest of the open wounds, blood trickling through. The mask was off, inhuman eyes half-lidded, gazing emptily at the destruction around him. There was a faint smile on the pale lips.
He was immortal. Nothing could kill him. He would not die.
The injuries were fatal, but death would not claim him. Pain did, though. He was in agony and there was nothing that could ease it.
The smile increased. In all his centuries of existence he had never felt like this, had never been taken apart like this. He had never fought a demonic opponent either. No one attacked the Palace of Candles, let alone Meifu. It had been unheard of.
Time passed.
Wounds healed slowly.
Blood stopped trickling, but the blood loss was immense.
A rattle of breath left the damaged, blood-filled lungs. His eyes blinked once, but his vision was still blurry.
Where was Watson?
Had the creature done the same as it had to him?
His servant was no fighter, just his sole companion in this cursed place. He was immortal, but would need to recover as well.
Sinking deeper into the darkness that beckoned, he let his eyes slide shut.
° ° °
Rikugo strode into the entrance hall, aghast and shocked by the destruction all around him. He had come to Meifu intent on both visiting his master and be with his lover, but the moment he had arrived something had set off an inner alarm. Tsuzuki had barely had time to ask what was going on before the earth shikigami had taken on his dragon form and had gone off to the Palace, Tsuzuki on his back.
Even from far above in the sky, the destruction had been visible and shock had settled in.
"Oh Gods," Tsuzuki whispered at his side, face pale, eyes wide.
Rikugo followed the faint emissions from the only source of non-human life he knew existed, terrified of what he might find, his master in tow. Stepping over rubble, through ashes and smoldering remains, he finally arrived in the hallway leading to the door that guarded the section where the candles glowed.
Four eyes widened as he took in the crumbled figure, lying in a drying pool of blood.
"Ryu?"
Blood red eyes in a chalky face, surrounded by dried specks of blood, cracked open a little and a faint smile touched the thin lips. There was a rattle, a wet cough, and the figure spasmed.
Rikugo knelt down next to the fatally injured man, running a scan, horrified by the damage. He touched the torn clothes, felt the slick blood covering the shredded pieces, and he swallowed a little.
"Hang on," he murmured.
The expression in the eyes was sarcastic. It wasn't as if the man could die. It was just incredibly painful. The agony of the wounds was the worst.
Rikugo felt the demonic aura of his lover, unchecked and untamed, still defensive, still ready to tear into a possible attacker even if the man using it was almost down for the count. He touched the bloodied face, the red fluid oozing from a deep scalp injury, and he felt the pulse flutter against his fingers. The aura crackled and snapped, roaring around them with the darkness of the devil Ryu had absorbed so long ago.
And then there was another kind of darkness, softer, very cool, responding to the upset and aggressive presence, entwining with it, caressing over it without consciously being aware of it.
Rikugo turned his head and met a pair of amethyst eyes that spoke of the nature of the second aura. Ryu was no longer invisible; the mask was off and somewhere in this chaos, and Tsuzuki saw him. He saw the broken form, the real man behind the voice.
Ryu's frazzled aura calmed down and the slender form shuddered. The astrologer gathered the tortured body in his arms, not caring about the blood and whatnot. The simple move drew a breathy whimper and as Rikugo straightened, the man in his arms lost his battle against unconsciousness.
"We need to find an undamaged room," Tsuzuki said, voice firm, though he still looked horrified.
Rikugo nodded.
°
Enma-Daiou smiled to himself, coldly and calculating, with a touch of pride in it. He felt Tsuzuki's presence in the Palace of Candles, his emissions of darkness close to the level that it might warrant the balancing presence of his serpent shikigami, but he still held himself under control.
"Well done," he murmured, intrigued.
His shinigami was learning fast.
°
They found the main bedroom of the Count almost completely undamaged and Rikugo placed the unconscious man on the white linen, which immediately began to color blood red. He didn't care. For now he had to treat the injuries.
Tsuzuki wordlessly joined him, their eyes meeting. Determination shone in those familiar depths and Rikugo nodded. Tsuzuki smiled wryly, then they began to remove the torn clothes. With each piece of fabric a new terrible wound was uncovered and Tsuzuki soon began to tear apart the cover, creating bandages for their use. Rikugo had no idea where he had it from, but his master disappeared only to come back with a bowl of water and they continued their work.
He knew the body would heal; Ryu was immortal. It might take a while, it would be painful, but death would never claim this man. Still, the fear was there. The empathy for the pain he would have to go through. And the horror at the events.
A devil had entered Meifu in the form of a human host... How? Why had Enma-Daiou let him enter? Hadn't the Lord of Hades been aware of the opening the creature of darkness had used?
Questions tumbled through his mind as he worked, but Rikugo found no answers.
Now and then he sent a little healing power into the slender body he had seen so often before, but never torn up like this.
In the end Tsuzuki changed the sheets again, haphazardly draping fresh ones onto the big bed, and Rikugo gently placed his lover onto them. He felt tired, emotionally exhausted, and when he looked up his master met his gaze with a resolute one of his own.
"Get some rest, Rikugo."
"Tsuzuki..."
"For now there's nothing we can do. He'll need you again later and for that you have to be awake."
"Tsuzuki..." he tried again.
The familiar features softened and Tsuzuki smiled, reaching up to caress the astrologer's face.
"Don't worry. I'll protect him."
Rikugo almost laughed; it came out as a harsh sob of exhaustion. He inclined his head and walked over to the overstuffed, wide couch that had been placed in front of the high windows. It easily fit two people, already had in their shared past in here, and he knew it was very comfortable. Watching Tsuzuki settle down next to Ryu, Rikugo finally allowed his body to relax.
Sleep claimed him not much later.
tbc...