Engel an der Leine
What if I told you that I'm not who I seem I am?
What if...I told you I was something else?
Something not of this world...
Would you hate me?
Would you pity me?
Would it make me important to you?
Would you throw me away if you found out?
For you...I'd live a lie.
I'd live in the darkness for you...
Since my heart is already...dark...
Chapter IV:
"Michael-sama!"
"Yes?"
"Bad news sir!"
"What is it?"
"Lucifer's minions have stopped the troops from advancing!"
"What!?"
"They've declared war with us! Now we're trying to fight them off!"
"That Lucifer..."
"What do we do?"
"We don't have a choice; we must fight, but send out a smaller group to search for him."
"Good plan sir."
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Dark woke up to the smell of something...good coming from the kitchen. He got up and ventured into the room, there he saw Krad cooking, the blonde turned his head away from the stove and greeted the boy.
"Mornin' breakfast is almost done."
The slave just nodded, he took a seat and watched his master, "The power's back on?"
"Apparently, we might be able to go to the Emiko's house today."
Dark licked his lips as Krad put a stack of pancakes in front of him, "Help yourself."
The slave couldn't help himself; he dug in knowing that he was allowed to without having his master punish him for doing so. Soon Krad sat himself down and joined the boy; the two ate their breakfast in silence not knowing what to say. They cleared the table and Krad walked off somewhere. Dark sighed and decided to go back onto the roof, he lowered the set of stairs and climbed up, he could see boxes and boxes of things covered in dust, he saw a painting of a blonde boy being lifted up by two other older, bigger people they were smiling like that redhead had when he saw his mother. He headed up the next set of stairs and pushed where Krad had the other day, the sight never failed to take his breath away. It was a perfect little winter scene, it was almost like the town was in a snow globe, snow falling soundlessly, rooftops covered in snow, chimneys blowing smoke, kids playing on the streets, it was as though they were never snowed in at all, but he would never forget that scene either, even though it was morning the sky was gray and lights were needed.
Dark turned around and faced the ocean, the waves crashed against the cliffs, he couldn't see the end of the sea the fog didn't let him. He had a sudden urge to spread his wings and fly but fear stopped him from doing so. The boy tilted his head downwards to look at the garden, the grass was covered in unspoiled snow, there were no flowers except for a single bush of snow white flowers. Dark turned his gaze back to the town, a couple of houses were decorated in colorful lights, the slave silently wondered why people hung lights up, there were couples walking with their hands enlaced or wrapped around the other's waist and other loving gestures. For some odd reason it made Dark feel at peace, not the peace that he felt when he was flying free, this stillness soothed him, it made him feel better, almost sleepy.
"I thought I'd find you up here."
The boy turned around, "Krad..."
"Yea, it's really different from the other time isn't it?"
"Aa...which house is Emiko-san's?"
The blonde took a look around then pointed at a cheery little house with smoke coming out of their chimney, decorated with colorful lights, all the lights inside were opened.
"To be truthful, I kind of envy them..." Krad's golden eyes clouded with regret, sorrow and pain, the boy nearly missed the last bit, "This might be the last..."
The boy didn't understand the last bit but he was more curious about the first part, he couldn't help it, he wanted to help the blonde as much as Krad had helped him, "...why do you envy them?"
Krad just smiled a bit at the slave's concern and looked up, "I guess it's because they're so happy and...they have each other..."
The boy could sense immense loneness from the blonde, he wished he knew what to do, Dark couldn't think of anything to do, he just wanted to hug his master and let him cry on his shoulder if he needed to.
Krad looked at the town in front of him, drowning in his memories not noticing anything around him, suddenly, he felt strong warm arms wrap around him, he turned around to see the boy hugging him. The warm gesture made the blonde want to cry but it seemed that he had forgotten how to but Dark kept on embracing him, soon he found himself hugging the slave back. How long has it been since I hugged someone...I think I've forgotten already...most likely my last Christmas...He let go of Dark and smiled gently.
"Thank you..."
Dark just smiled and shook his head before looking back at the town, "Hey Krad...why do those people hang lights up?"
"Because Christmas is coming."
"Christmas?"
"Yea...it's this time of year when people give gifts to each other and...family and friends spend time together..."
"What's so special about this time of year?"
"...I don't know, but it makes you feel warm inside for some reason, honestly, I don't know what Christmas is."
"It does...everyone looks so happy..."
"Aa...I'm going to back down and call Emiko to see if we can go to their house or something today."
"Okay, I'm going to stay up here for awhile longer."
"Suit yourself."
Krad went back into the attic finally noticing the family painting leaning against the wall, he walked over to it, memories flooded him for a second before he slammed it facedown against the wooden floor. The blonde headed back down and picked up the phone.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Emiko?"
"Oh! Krad! It's you, yes? Do you need something?"
"No, not really, Dark wanted to go visit you, that's all."
"You don't say, when do you want to come?"
"No idea, when can we come?"
"How about in around 10 minutes?"
"...sure, see you."
"Wait, you're staying for dinner right?"
"...uhhh....sure..."
"Great! You're cooking!"
"...bye..."
"Bye bye, see you soon!"
The blonde hung up the phone, he headed back upstairs meeting Dark in the hallway, "Emiko's really excited so we'll be leaving soon.
Dark nodded, "Go cut the leash off of your collar and we'll buy you another one some other time."
The boy nodded again and went downstairs, Krad went into his bedroom, he coughed a bit then he started to change. By the time they both got ready they were right on time, they walked through the snow towards the cheery house a couple of blocks away.
Before Krad could ring the doorbell, a girl, shorter than Dark with gray hair opened the door, "Hello Krad-san! This must be Dark! Welcome! Emiko was expecting you! Well why are you still outside? Come on in!"
"Thanks Towa..."
So she's Towa...are slaves suppose to be like this? Dark stared in awe as the maid-like slave called into the other rooms making their presence known. The two stepped into the warmth and took off their coats and shoes, while Towa hung them up, she led them into a kitchen where an old man was sitting on the couch with a black haired man. Emiko was making her way over from the kitchen and the redhead came down the stairs.
Emiko squealed, "Is this Dark!? He's so handsome! And he looks so cute in Krad's clothes! I should make you an outfit! Maybe a coat with ..."
Krad sighed he nodded his greetings to the other three while the girls were squealing over Dark.
"Hey Krad-kun." The redhead greeted, he looked at the slave, "Is he going to be alright?"
The blonde sighed again, "They don't bite...they didn't the last time I checked."
Krad coughed and Emiko stopped dead in her tracks, "Krad, are you alright?"
He nodded, Dark looked at his master wondering why Emiko turned so serious all of a sudden, "Dai-chan, why don't you show Dark around?"
The redhead nodded, "This way..."
The slave followed the redhead up the stairs while Emiko sat Krad down on the couch.
"What's wrong with Krad?" Dark asked.
Daisuke gestured for him to go into a room on the left which revealed a bunk bed, a window which led to a balcony, and paintings. The redhead sat down on a couch by another window and looked at his feet.
"A couple of years ago...Krad-kun got really sick and he almost died so now Kaa-san is all worried about him..."
"He almost died?"
"Yea...it was really scary for us since he barely came back alive."
"What happened?"
"His parents died that time, I wasn't that old so I don't remember much, but something happened after his parents' deaths, he suddenly became really sick and it never really got completely cured...I remember the doctor telling us that he might not make it and Kaa-san was crying."
Dark didn't know what to say, there wasn't anything to say, he just stared at Daisuke.
"It seems like you're pretty close to Krad-kun already, he's nice isn't he?"
"Yea, he can cook really well too."
The redhead laughed while Dark grinned, "That's true, every time he stays for dinner, Kaa-san makes him cook."
Dark laughed, "Is Towa really a slave?"
"You can't believe it either?"
The slave shook his head, "She's so...active..."
The redhead grinned, "That'd be thanks to my Okaa-san, she brought Towa everywhere, from shopping to chores, now...well you can see what that resulted in."
Dark tried to imagine himself being stuck with Emiko instead of Krad, he could see himself squealing at anything moving and laughed nervously.
"Dai-chan, Dark, dinner!"
"Hai! Come on Dark-kun."
"Okay..."
Dinner was delicious; there was everything from spaghetti to mash potatoes. Dark ate till his stomach's content. Krad on the other hand only ate what Emiko piled up on his plate, only then did the slave notice how little Krad ate. After awhile more of sitting around, the two left, Dark tailed Krad back into the house.
"You don't eat much do you Krad?"
Krad shrugged, "I guess I just don't..."
"...Emiko-san seemed nice...a little...active...but nice."
Krad chuckled a little, "Yea, we'll go shopping tomorrow."
"Okay..."
Dark plopped onto the couch, thinking about what Daisuke told him, Krad had almost died and he's still sick. "This might be the last..." What did he mean by that? Dark tried to put the pieces together to no avail, but something told him that horrible things were going to happen; he had never felt so small without his wings before. He could hear Krad coughing from his room; the blonde had actually seemed quite pale today. The slave was worried, but another part of his mind told him, if Krad really does die, you can just fly back to heaven, you'll be free! As much as he wanted to be free, Dark wished that Krad would be alright.
Krad laid on his bed, his throat felt sore, and he couldn't stop himself from coughing. It was just like last time, only the chances were lower than ever. But he had to keep his promise to Dark and himself, he'd help the slave as much as he could until the boy could smile and talk without hesitating to anyone who'd talk to him, until he had the courage to take the collar off his neck outside, something Towa couldn't do, but Krad somehow knew that Dark could, until then, there was always tomorrow left, but that wouldn't last long...
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Nya Please R&R
