Uh... yes, an update for this. –scratches head- Don't ask me, I don't know, and I doubt I'll ever know. Painful, painful, painful... you get the picture.
I'm currently considering my update options, and, well, this stinks. No, I'm not talking about the chapter, but still... I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Well, hope you enjoy, or something.
Warning: strange way of writing, strange way of writing... (times that by 100000000000000000000000000000000000)... Weird, weird plot line and most likely OOC or close to that. Mainly Krad, anyway.We'll see about that.
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Chapter 4: Why was it...
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Dark... pain... suffering... loss and the need for someone to heed their call...
They needed help... who could they turn to?
A disruption among disruptions, a question forever left unanswered. Blood called for blood... and there was no way they could stop it. Nothing could stop them now...
What was it that they were searching for? What was it that they wanted? What was it... Why were they here in the first place? The whole idea seemed to be absurd...
How annoying...
What was the topic of discussion again? They lost track and thought after a while, so it took a long time before they could even half wok it out, and by then, they just wanted to sleep, or die, or retire from whatever day job they had. Whatever that was.
Most worlds were left to their own devices, so the topic of discussion was more... complicated than usual. Joy.
An opening between the worlds was a problem, a big, big problem. So big that they could put it in a tiny bottle. ...
Oh well.
---
The silence within the Niwa household was beyond suspenseful and tense, as well as deafening, and even Emiko seemed too shocked by the news this time to do anything – mainly yell that she was going to save her son. No, this time was just too much for the mother and it would take some time before she recovered. If she recovered at all.
Both Dark and Daisuke were gone. Where, no one knew for certain and that was the worse part. It seemed to be because of the portrait, but, as the Hikari boy had said, the magic should have been gone completely, and even then it didn't hold that type of power.
Satoshi watched the ashen-faced family silently, not making any move to comfort them or reassure them, since even he had no idea to the whereabouts of the Phantom Thief and his host. He was as shocked as the rest, but he had no power over it, so there was no point trying to act like someone was dead. That hadn't been confirmed yet.
Either way, Krad was being annoying – or as annoying a sadistic guy can be when he's living in someone else's head – since he still wanted to wring Dark's neck. Badly. But now said thief was gone so that couldn't happen until they got some facts to work on.
Silence wreathed the room, dread hanging in the air and that was the worst part: no one knew whether the pair was alive or dead.
---
Unable to take the tension, Akane had taken her solitude outside on the roof, knees drawn up to her chest as she took a look at the forbidding sky. Something was missing badly, something was lost to the worlds and that was the reason.
That was the cause of the balance wavering unexpectedly and sending a chain reaction to everything it touched, magical and otherwise. Something had been broken and this was the first time...
"... Where are they though..." she muttered, eyes half-closing, "What exactly happened?"
Someone had tampered with the balance, since there was no other way that such a situation could have happened, but the questions had no answers, and that was what annoyed her the most.
And all the while, the Niwa family and Satoshi were sitting inside the house, death plaguing their memories and thoughts. Most likely, anyway.
She got up.
One way or another, she would have to tell what she knew, and it wasn't much. Nor was it comforting. But it was a start.
---
Something was lost, something was missing... what was it?
The balance had been upset, and there was no real reason for such a thing to be happening. Someone had sabotaged the peace, and now the worlds could very well be in chaos. But there was no reason for anyone to do such a hideous thing...
What were their motives?
---
A small cough was enough to gain everyone's attention inside the stuffy room. They stared at Akane, who inclined her head slightly at their hostile auras/waves/feelings.
"Niwa-kun... he's okay," she finally said, "and so is Dark, if you're wondering."
A minute of silence was used to absorb the small piece of information, and then the bomb hit.
"WHAT?!"
Whatever else after that involved a lot of yelling and mixed emotions – Satoshi was standing in the background silently still – and once they had finally calmed down, Akane continued, as calmy as she could with Emiko coming close to threatening her with a katana.
"Like I said, he's not dead, or anything," she emphasised, "He's just... not in this world."
"You mean he's in another world, in an art piece," Daikii clarified, "Like the Second Hand of Time."
"Exactly. But..."
"This particular artwork doesn't pose the magic potential to allow it to send other people to its world," Satoshi finished, pushing his glasses up a bit more. "That's the one thing that has been bothering me since. Correct?"
Akane nodded, frowning, "The portrait might just have been a useful prop to allow, whoever did this, the plan to go into action."
"Who could sabotage an artwork like that though?" Emiko fretted. "Oh, Daisuke..."
"You mean there's no way to get him back then?" Kosuke asked, trying to comfort his wife at the same time. "If there is no real source, then how are we to..." He faltered and fell silent, not wanting to hear that his only son would never be able to return.
"There may be a way," Akane sighed, "But I don't know it, to be exact. I'll have to speak with Celes, and she's been..." She struggled to find the right word, "A bit preoccupied."
"I see..." Kosuke accepted the facts as calmly as he could and then directed their attention elsewhere, "I think we should take these two back home." He was now referring to the two Harada twins, who was – as expected – still unconscious, although not hurt in any way. That was the good part, but there was still the matter of what was going to happen next...
---
"Are you certain that Niwa and Dark are okay?"
"Definitely," she nodded, ignoring Satoshi's piercing gaze as they walked home. "They can take care of themselves, but I'm more worried as to what is going to happen to everything else now..."
"The Balance," the blue-haired boy stated firmly, "is completely severed from its usual form."
"Eh?" she stared at him for a moment, and then her eyes narrowed slightly, "So you do know about it..."
"As the last member of the Hikari clan, I know quite a few things," he said calmly, "About the balance, the Revolution, the worlds other then ours, not meaning the worlds the artworks create..."
"That's where they are."
Satoshi stopped at that, "What?"
"I've... been considering the options referring to what happened to the two, but none of them seemed right." Akane was now looking at the sky in an almost... wistful way, "That artwork has been fading away for years, as you know, so I couldn't understand how it reacted so strongly when connected to more offensive magic.
It took awhile to understand that someone might have been the cause to it, but...
I don't understand why."
"Is that why you didn't tell us?" he was smirking slightly, although the entire situation was less than amusing, "Because you weren't sure about your facts? You might have just cost Niwa his life, and you know it."
"You've been talking to one of the Spirits, haven't you?" she didn't seem all that surprised, "I guess it was my fault, but there is no way to change the past. But if you're willing to help me, I'll gladly accept." And with that, she left in another direction.
::I think I should teach her a lesson...:: Krad began unexpectedly.
:Over my dead body,: snapped Satoshi, disgruntled, :You're not the cause of this, are you?:
::Satoshi-sama, how did you get to that conclusion?:: the blonde seemed rather indignant, ::I plan to kill Dark, not torture him in another world, although it has been awhile since I heard mention of the other worlds.::
:If you have any helpful information about it, then I'd like to know.:
Silence followed with that and the blue-haired boy was more or less at the breaking point of actually banging his head against something hard or breaking something within itself.
"My, you seem to be in a good mood on this cloudy night."
"What do you want?" Satoshi didn't even bother turning to face Shiro, who was accompanied by Undine this time.
"We were hoping that you would be able to get answers out of her, that's all," Shiro said, blinking innocently, "But if the balance has been completely severed."
"No, not exactly," cut in Undine. "There is still hope, but not much of it. I know that there's a way to get there, but it's so ancient and dangerous, no one has spoken of it for many years."
"And I'm assuming that you remember it?" finally deciding to turn, Satoshi raised an eyebrow in question. "Or are you just trying to waste my time?"
"Well, if you're like that," she sniffed slightly, "All I can say that it may involve opposing elements. I don't know how, but that may help you."
"Hmph," shrugging the two off dismissively, the blue-haired boy left off to where home was. Not that it was a very welcoming place, but there was nowhere else for him to go, and it wasn't like anyone was looking out for him.
What he was going to do would involve a lot of research and Krad's occasional taunting, but he thought he could handle it.
---
Something was wrong, something – aside from the magic and the painting and the missing of two souls – was about and no one was talking about it. No one seemed to know the cause of it, nor did they talk about it. It was a nothing. A nothing that would be the death of them.
Surely Celes knew about it, and she knew what was going on. But she wasn't about to tell anyone, and that was the worst part of the entire scenario. That was what caused the pain and the suffering in the first place.
It sucked.
Akane rolled over, eyes closed and trying to ignore the facts that wouldn't leave her. She had to get the answers soon, otherwise Daisuke might truly be in danger and Dark might not be able to help him. And the Priestess was talking.
Damn. Why was it that she always had to do things on her own?
Satoshi might be able to help and all, but someone else would also be necessary for the process.
But who...
---
The clouds were bunching up again the next morning and Satoshi was in no real position to even think of going to school. Staying up even later than one in the morning, the blue-haired boy was still sleeping somewhat peacefully with nothing in particular on his mind. Papers littered the floor and the laptop next to him was still on, but the opened documents and papers held no answers.
At least, not the answers he wanted.
Nor was it the answers that the blonde was looking for, who was the only one awake in the silent apartment room. He was used to be ignored and taunted, and doing the taunting, but this time it seemed vital that he help somehow. Why? Well, he had no real reason, unless it was just to hurt Dark and cause him some pain for running away from their fight AGAIN. It always happened at the worst times, and it was really starting to get on his nerves somewhat.
Not really caring whether or not he could take control over his host's body – since he had no one to kill (aka said thief or host/Wing master) – Krad found himself moodily poking at the back of his mind, hoping that something that could help would form itself in there. Being alive for one too many years led to short memories and that was what annoying him the most at the moment. The only other things that bugged him recently was Dark, Satoshi ignoring him – although he did that all the time – Daisuke trying to befriend them all, Dark running away, and Dark just being an annoying part of life in itself. And, of course, some of the other memories that involved his past life... or something. And then there was life itself.
He hated life, so to speak, or, to be more accurate, hated the fact that he was always being sealed with another Hikari male generation after generation after generation... the thought went on forever and the only thing that kept him sane – or as close to as sane as the blonde could be – was the mission to kill Dark and to rid of the Niwa clans.
But even that was starting to wear thin, and he had been around too long to know that it was close to impossible to kill said family.
And he was trailing off again.
Frowning, Krad went back to thinking.
---
There is always something missing... something missing in the being I once called home... In the one place I used to belong...
Pain and suffering and the Cultural Revolution... as the humans put it, was the cause of it all... and the reason to why it is now that something is going wrong.
There are still a few who treat us right, but they are drifting away... lost and drowned under the influence of others...
Someone has sabotaged the peace, and they will pay...
Somehow, they will be found...
---
"Ugh..."
It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
Wait, where was he?
"—re... better... –ow?"
What? Who was that? He couldn't identify the voice, but it was so... hm... peaceful? Serene? Calm? Way too calm...
"Ow..."
What now?
"—ark?"
Who hell was Ark?
"Dark?"
Oh, that's right. That was his name, even if it was a colour reference. Cool.
"—s he okay?"
Still, who was that other person? Definitely not Hiwatari so it couldn't be Krad either. Besides the fact that Krad would be trying to kill him if he was present, said blonde didn't have a female's voice either. So... one of the Harada twins?
"—think so... don't know –appened..."
God, he was going insane. Not that this was the first.
"—et me handle it!"
"What?"
What—
Something very heavy and hard descended on the Thief's head and – amazingly – he jerked up, swearing just a tad too loudly. His host 'tutted' in sympathy as he rubbed the area that had been hit and Dark glared at the person who had hurt him in the first place – no one was allowed to do that. NO ONE.
Then, as his senses and conscious came back to him, he noticed that, well, he wasn't exactly at home, or anything that could be referred to as home. Not to mention he was surrounded by brick walls, and mason, and eerie looking bars... jail? Wait... Daisuke was sitting right next to him as well, so that could only mean...
"Where am I?" Dark finally decided to ask, a bit groggily. The redhead fretted for a moment, hesitant.
"Well..."
---
"Akane..."
"You know something." Accusation filled the girl's voice. It was almost like she expected it from the start. Celes was shocked, besides the fact that Akane should have been at school.
"What are you..."
"So, you don't care if the balance is completely corrupted then? That the negative flow will completely overwhelm the land again? Is that your reason?"
"No, I..." the priestess shook her head in disbelief.
"I'll be taking this." A small scroll, small enough to fit in her palm, materialized and the redhead stowed it away. Celes' eyes widened.
"Wait, you cannot..."
"I know exactly what I'm doing, Celes. And if you won't help, I won't be asking for it."
"Why are you so..."
"Tomorrow, the Niwa residence. I'll have them ready by then..." Akane turned away.
"But Akane, you know that--"
"Of course I know."
"..."
"I'll be the sacrifice if things go wrong."
"..."
"Even if you don't come, I'll doing it anyway. So remember now."
She left, silence following in its wake. Celes bowed her head, punishing herself silently.
"Oh Akane... why do you have to be so stubborn..."
---
Oh, the life of an artwork. Nothing could be as boring, or tedious, or utterly pointless. But people appreciated them, so they continued to do what they did best.
But it didn't help, now that everything was distorted.
They were going to kill whoever caused the trouble in the first place.
---
And there you go, another chapter, as weird as any other. Wait, it's weirder. Sorry! Oh well, at least I got it done in, what, an hour? Whoopdedoo and all. –throws flowers around in joy and manages to blow up another building in the process- Oops. –looks at bombs- How did these get here?
Anyway, sorry about poor characterisations and all, but I have no power over them! Not my fault, blame the brain! The italics were referring to the artworks and their thoughts (strange. Every strange) but I couldn't help it. Uh... yeah. We all get to see Dark react to whatever news next chap, as well as what happened to Riku and Risa, and, well, what Akane was going on about. Again.
Celes is sooooo weird... she freaks me out a bit...
So yeah. Happy now? I'll try and update faster, but really can't make any promises, being me and all.
-- Talkback! ... of sorts.
- Blue-Angels-Wings: Well, we've found Dark now, but where they are... that is yet to be seen. Heheheh... oh wait, that's not funny. Anyway, here's my chapter, bad, good, whatever. In between. Hope you enjoyed.