Black Widow: ~snickersnicker~ I was already planning on putting up this chapter without letting Sayori edit it before I read her note. I think it's a little contest between us, I convert the writing into readable chapters and she tries to get them to edit before I toss them out for you to read. I win 95% of the time though ^~. But between you and me…maybe I'll just not spell check the next chapter so you can see just how horrible her spelling really is. Well, before she finds me and strangles me I want 6-7 reviews before Friday or I will torture you with bad singing. Baibai and enjoy! ~scuttles off~
The small plane Shido had hired to take him to Cairo and back was waiting at the airport for him when he showed up at dusk the next day. He had paid the pilot of the little aircraft an exorbitant amount to be ready for him, and was most grateful that he had done so now. No complications at all, just a straight forward business deal. Payment was equal to number of miles.
The old man, wrinkled as a prune and twice as jovial as an orangutan, was ecstatic to see him, and hugged him upon his return. He had embraced Shido the first time they had met, taking the lilac-haired vampire back abit. The vampire smiled, having to fight to ignore the pulse so temptingly near. The man spoke quickly, and Shido's attention had to be focussed to hear everything he said, half of his words tending to run together till they were one long breathless exclamation.
After he had secured his one bag, Shido searched for Aello and any of Cain's others with somber blue-green eyes. Aello he wanted to thank, the children avoid.
Aello was not there, though her scent lingered around the plane. She had obviously been there and made sure things were okay before heading out to hunt down the Vampyres in her hunting grounds, if they were still there. These were her grounds and she guarded them zealously.
He would have to ask Cyric to thank Aello for him, since his master already knew he was here, obviously. Next to the hope of beating an unchallenged retreat, the hope that Cyric didn't know exactly what it was he had left to find was strongest in him. The entire point of this excursion was to recover the shifting Chrysoberyl without Cyric's knowledge. It was to be a surprise for him. If he knew it ruined everything. Many thought the stone a myth, such as the Bezoar, whose home was supposedly in the heart of an Arabian deer, but Shido had found fact buried in fanciful speech, or thought he had. He was pleased to discover he was right.
The plane took off without interruption and Shido, fascinated by flight, studied the ground below the entire time. Guni would have loved it, had she been with him, though perhaps not the pilot. He chatted nonstop, but all Shido heard was a tone. There were no words, just a melody, with the engine's roar as harmony. He listened to the song the pair, pilot and plane, made until they landed to refuel, as they had the first time, in some small country just a few thousand miles south of Cairo. The ride to the City would be much shorter, only an hour or two, as opposed to the many he had just traveled. He would have to seek shelter from the rising sun immediately upon arriving. He would not make it home before the sunlight became strong.
The small country, whatever its name was (he did not know how to pronunciate it much less remember exactly), was full of sand and dust, and the plane kicked much of it into the air. He shaded his eyes from the tiny particles, and trudged through towards the town they had stopped at. The jovial man set about procuring gas, having no problem with the stinging dust.
Shido took refuge inside an arched doorway, the collar of his shirt up around his neck, his body hunched down into his clothes. He could barely see through the tan air, the sand was so thick in the wind. He rested his back against the heavy wood of the door, sure in the thought that it would stay closed. He was wrong, however, and woefully so. It opened swiftly, and a frigid hand latched on to the back of his neck. Before he could think to jerk away, the grip tightened, nearly crushing his vertebrate, and yanked him firmly inside. His yelp was half-strangled. The door slammed shut before him, and all was dark inside from a notable lack of windows.
"You saved me the trouble of going into the dust storm, little one. How nice of you," the familiar acid and sugar voice whispered against his ear, soft lips grazing the curve. Shido's blood went cold from dread.
"C-Cain!" His breath was being crushed out of him, but he managed to get that much out.
"Good guess, pet. How very quick you are." The sarcasm in the voice was as harsh as the grip. Shido's body wouldn't respond to the frenzied and desperate pleas he made to it. He couldn't move at all, though he wanted to badly.
The grip on his neck never loosened, but pale fingers caressed his cheek in the darkness. "You look healthy," the words were stormy with a passion he wanted nothing to do with. Anger laced the tone, rage. It brought a tremor to his limbs.
A hope brightened for a moment in him. Had that man he had hired seen him disappear from the doorway? The hope faded like a snuffed candle. If he hadn't been able to see, that man certainly hadn't.
Cyric straightened from his position at the piano, the last tones of the somber song rolling away on the air. Ignoring the groans of his Children he turned to face the floor-to-ceiling windows in his ballroom. Something gripped his spine in a deathly cold grip, shaking his mind. He didn't know what it entailed but he knew it had something to do with Shido. Just a few hours ago, he had received word that his lover was coming home and that Aello had spilled the first blood of the new feud. Now he only feared for his songbird...
The hand on his neck tightened, and something crunched under the pressure. Pain shot across the base of Shido's skull and white streaks invaded his vision. Cain was going to break something, and he was afraid it would never get a chance to heal if the blond got angry enough.
"They told me Furiae's life was ended prematurely, and that it was your fault, Shido. Did you kill your brother?" The grip tightened again, demanding an answer. Shido's knees nearly gave out as fresh waves of pain coursed through him. White blinded him
"N-no." He hadn't killed anyone. Not on purpose.
"They're lying? All of them? Come now, Shido. I thought you would be smarter than that.
"He was only a few years younger than you. He could have been your twin, but for that coloring. Your bodies were similar, I assure you. Did you notice? Or were you too busy killing him?" This time when the grip tightened Shido's legs gave out, and he sank to his knees on the floor. Cain's mouth was still close to his ear, still hissing angrily at him.
Cyric winced, one hand going up to rub at the base of his neck where a sharp pain had started. In response to the pain and what he knew was probably going on, his lips curled. Cain was earning his death, for that was what he planned. No mere defeat and then a lecture, but simple death.
Cain's free hand dug its clawed fingertips into his shoulder, the points digging painfully into his skin. Not only did he tighten his thorny grip but twisted it as well, all the while forcibly hauling the younger vampire back up to his feet. Shido struggled vainly, and the more he did the more Cain tightened his grip. The elder would have his dominance no matter the price, patience having worn thin. All too soon Shido tired, and only then did the hands loosen. His sire spun him around quickly, staring into his face with cold eyes as Shido's vision returned to him.
"Scuttle back to him. When I come for you, you will come with me freely, or not continue on at all." He squeezed Shido's upper arm, just below the shoulder, until he felt the bones splinter in his grip. When the violet-haired youngster cried out, he claimed his mouth, something spiteful in his pleasure. The pained whimper pleased him even more.
At the newest pain, the Elder let out a snarl that sent most of his Children running. No one, absolutely no one, hurt Shido and got away with it. Grabbing the thread of gold with a mental death grip, he flung himself across it, his rage fueling the transition of bodies. Shido's mind was forced into his body while he took his lovers'.
Throwing shields against the pain, reinforced by his anger, the Elder-now-Youngling lashed out with his good hand, flesh meeting flesh with a meaty thud as his fangs came down on the tongue in his mouth.
Yowling in surprise and anger, Cain ripped away, leaving his tongue in tatters. It healed quickly but he was extremely annoyed. So annoyed he missed the change in energy at first. A second passed before he hissed challengingly, growling Cyric's name like a curse.
Looked like they were a little more connected than he had thought. The shock, however, would leave Shido unconscious, or damn close to it, in Cyric's body. The children he had sent to and left in Egypt perked up at his silent order, ready to retrieve. They could smell Shido as easily as he could, blood calling to family. Shido may have refused to learn the natural gifts that came from being a vampire, but the others hadn't.
Spatting the blood of the Vampyre onto the ground, Cyric looked up at the blonde with fury raging in mixed red-gold eyes. Shido's face was twisted in a look of rage that was normally not seen, but as furious as his expression was, the voice Cyric controlled was level and calm. "Cain." Blood-stained lips were pulled back in a show of dominance and anger.
"Cyric." the blonde replied, his lip curling in disdain. "Lovely to see you." His gold eyes snapped angrily, but something glowed behind them. Amusement perhaps. He even smiled then, wickedly. He could feel his children getting closer, and the thought of snatching Shido, even in Cyric's body, from Cyric's home delighted him.
Cyric may not have had his body but it was still his mind and the soul-link Shido had with him left him with access, however dampened. "My Children will kill yours if they try." Shido's face smoothed out into a expression one would normally see on someone talking about the weather. "Though I believe they will hand you your Children's hearts before they teach them a lesson in proper fighting."
Cain growled. "I'd be careful, if I were you. Those are tough words for one who's in a body so much younger than normal. I suggest you skulk back to your home, and let Shido take his plane. I was just about to let him go." He had been.... after a bit more time with his pet, of course. Simply to make sure the lesson was firmly in place before he was set free.
"I believe I shall escort this body to him." Cyric smiled pleasantly and turned his back on the other. "Though I am not the one who should be receiving the warning, Youngling." Tossing a smirk over the borrowed shoulder, he pulled open the door, letting in the wind and sand. "I do not have to be in my own body or have to touch you to kill you. Farewell." Stepping out into the sandstorm and closing the door behind him, he turned to face the wind. He knew the way home, he knew Egypt like the back of his hand and he would bring Shido's body to his Mansion.
Cain's children had fared no better than their master. Two had been subdued and captured, two others fought till death. The only one left retreated at his call, the retreat hastier than the initial attack. The little man whose plane was left passenger-less, on the other hand, fared best out of all of them. He found a warm bed for the day, and got to keep all of the money after doing half the work.
Cyric brought home Shido's body on the second night, the pain and younger body limiting him. When he stumbled into the entrance hall, it was all he could do to keep from collapsing from hunger as well. His Children ushered him into his bedroom, where they had put Shido as well. He was forced to down goblets of blood as one of them, a doctor, checked Shido's arm and neck.
Cain had actually been right, and the shock had subdued Shido completely. He lay still the entire time, his mind dormant, close to a state of hibernation. Assuming there was change still, it sought escape in nothingness. No thought, no emotion, only gray.
As soon as Lyhna fixed the shattered bone, Cyric relinquished the body. Even with his age and power, if he wasn't fueled by high emotions he passed out as well. The Children knew what to do, and more and more of them were arriving after the first attack on his home. If Cain tried anything a second time, he would be facing a very angry family that would not let even one get away.
The dull ache at the top of his neck was the first thing he felt. Consciousness rose slowly from the gray it had escaped into, cautious as a rabbit emerging from a warren. Shido opened his eyes and winced. He certainly wasn't where he last remembered being. The abundance of red and light made it very clear to him that he was home. He tried to sit up, but, forgetting about his injured arm, he put most of his weight on it. He didn't try again, a wince still on his face.
A golden-haired vampyre moved to stand by Shido, gentle hands running over the broken arm. "Please take it easy, my brother." As gentle as his hands was his smile. "Lyhna just fixed it."
Shido only stared at him, having no idea who he was, but feeling like he should. Too many were related to him recently.
He grimaced. This was one very large family feud, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. It was his fault. One of them had already died. How many more would fall? It was different, the deaths, he hated to admit, when they were related to you.
"I'm sorry, Shido, I should have introduced myself." Laying a naturally pale hand on his chest, which was covered in blue silk, he bowed his head, submissive in every gesture. "I am Fehru and I will be taking care of you during these troubled times."
"I'm.. glad to meet you, Fehru." He smiled, trying his best to not be awkward. His mouth was thick from an absence of use, and his entire body felt heavy. He grimaced at the dull ache again. His sire had really wanted to ruin something permanently. Every moment it faded a bit more, and for that Shido was infinitely grateful.
"Where is our master?" He asked after a moment, taking the time to search the room with his eyes. He did not recognize anything at the moment, plagued by memories that would not recede from his vision. Over every square inch of the room another one, so much darker, laid on top. His ear tingled from where Cain's lips had been still.
Fehru gestured to Shido's side, where the comatose form of the Elder lay. "Right here." He placed his hand back in his lap, blue eyes thoughtful. "I was surprised when he switched with you."
Pulling himself up, wincing but for the most part ignoring the protest from his arm, he touched the still form gently, then laid his palm on Cyric's chest. "What do you mean?" His tropical eyes were troubled, confusion and a kaleidoscope of other emotions obscuring their color, darkening it.
The flaxen-haired vampyre watched his motions with dull curiosity. "He switched your minds. Father has been in your body for the last two days and you in his." He turned his head away, looking in the direction of the bay window. "He brought your body home after dealing with your...old Sire."
Shido's eyes widened. "What happened?" He had missed alot, apparently. "Explain it all to me. I don't remember.." He wasn't helping his "dumb" reputation any here ... His memory was blank after that mind-numbing pain, and kiss.
His hands were spread in a gesture of helplessness. "I do not know, brother, from what I overheard of Hysteria, he gave final warning to him. After the first attack, I don't think he'll try again soon."
"Soon..." he sighed the word, turning his head to look at Cyric worriedly. "Why is he like this? I thought he was so much stronger than the rest of us.." He could understand himself slipping into unconsciousness, but was this switch Fehru talked about so hard to do that it wore even Cyric out? If it were so, why risk it?
"From what he's told us, he needs strong emotions to back the energy it takes to switch and he had it the first time but not the second time." Fehru smiled softly, laying a hand on Shido's. "Don't worry, he'll wake within a day."
Shido nodded that he understand, but the worry didn't vanish from his face. He didn't know what he would do without Cyric's guidance and companionship. He hadn't realized till then how much he relied on it.
"What of my siblings?" He asked Fehru, assuming a part of the brood was still alive and held nearby. He could feel their anger and resentment, and the smell of Cain was about.
"Two are still alive, and are in the basement. No one's allowed in, unless Hysteria is with them. She has forbidden that you see them without Father. As for the other two...they're dead..."
"I can't see them?" He wanted to, of course he did. There was an odd draw to the thought. He could feel them, the silver and green currents of their thoughts, and smell them. Seeing them would make them all the more real to him. Now they were like a plague in the air, a plague he had already been infected by and healed from.
"No." Fehru answered softly. "She fears that because you were once blood-family to them you will try to help them escape if they ask of it. They are necessary precautions."
"I understand," he said, nodding his head slightly. Were one older than he, one of the eldest- as he felt one indeed was, influencing him would be all that easier. He hated to think of helping them at all, just as much as hated to think of their deaths. A conundrum.
He sunk down to lay his head on Cyric's chest, closing his eyes and sighing. It was a bother to have them so near, but comfort was beside him. Even in such a harmless state, he felt much safer with Cyric in the room.
Fehru rose and left the room, silently closing the double doors behind him. His heart ached for his new brother. He knew he would never understand the emotions he was going through. The blonde would help him though, to the best of his abilities as a Mind-Healer, to make it through. Pushing himself off the doors, he made his way to the first floor, to join his siblings.
Shido tried to sleep, feeling the pull of the sun in his limbs, but the mental darkness eluded him, a nymph with dark and lively feet. He couldn't catch her in her quick sandals. He ran his fingers across Cyric's ribs in a trio, forming a rhythm that he kept up for hours. His touch was gentle enough to leave hardly an impression and just barely warm the flesh. His mind wandered as he did so, until the current of silver and green caught and melded with his gold and lavender. His siblings called him. Their conversation was wordless, but obvious to each of them. Shido balked from helping, balked from even the communication, but the eldest, who felt more like Cain than Shido had thought possible, managed to placate him into maintaining the link. He listened, attempting apathy.
Downstairs, Hysteria cleaned her guns, pink quartz eyes on the stair case that led to the basement. She wanted to kill those two so badly, but they all had agreed that they wouldn't until Cyric gave the word too. Besides that, she was worried about the influence they would have on the newest siblings mind. If they tried anything to sway him into even thinking of letting them go, she'd be placing her silver bullets in them quicker then a hummingbird could beat it's wings.
Shido denied a plea for help for a twelfth time, and the eldest growled angrily, loudly, in the basement. Cain's favorite child was really starting to get to be a pain in the ass. Was no one loyal nowadays? He would rip the younger child apart but for the master's orders to bring him back unscarred. Why his father wanted such a weak creature he could not understand. Every one of his siblings, even himself, was stunning, beautiful, and in most cases very talented creatures. Why fight so hard for this one? It seemed to be such a waste of time.
Hysteria raised her gun, planning on shooting the door as a warning. Catching the look of a amethyst-haired boy she sighed and put the gun back in it's hip holster. "Damn people...shoulda killed them when we got the chance..."
Shido fell to ignoring the pleas, petting the flesh beneath his fingers thoughtfully. He wouldn't dare to help them. He had no desire to, but he had no desire to see them die either. He had to see them soon...
Still smoothing his fingers across the same spot, Shido started humming a composition he had heard years ago. Some piano piece. Thinking back to the performance kept him occupied for quite awhile as he hummed the composition over and over again, a favorite section particularly.
Slowly, the body underneath his head started to revive, faster then Fehru had said he would. Cyric's heart, which had actually stopped, started to beat again. About one beat every five minutes. His breathing picked up, shallow and unsteady at first, evening out eventually.
Shido's eyes widened when he heard the first dull thud. He waited, silent and biting his lip so hard it bled, for the next. Only after a good number of those same beats did he relax and dare to smile. He ignored his siblings below completely then, and they both roared angrily and jerked against their bonds. Little good it did them.
This time Hysteria didn't hesitate to shoot the door. She received the glare again but she only glared right back. The others didn't say anything, just went back to whatever they had been doing - training, reading or playing games.
The two silenced, but the occasional jingling of chains could be heard. They were subdued, but had not given up. Above them, Shido waited for Cyric to become cognizant. The longing to see those familiar ruby-colored eyes hollowed him, leaving only an ache to thrum along with his pulse behind.
The Elders heartbeat thudded faster, resuming the once every two minutes pattern it had practiced for over five thousand years. His breathing returned to normal, but he had yet to wake completely.
He wouldn't feel better until Cyric was exactly as he had left him. Right now worry staved off his guilt. Worry wouldn't last forever, but guilt had a much longer life span. It didn't occur to him until then. He didn't know... What had happened to the Chrysoberyl? Careful not to disturb his master, though he had no need to be, Shido withdrew himself from their bed and searched for his clothes. Most likely it was still in his pocket.
The bleached vampyre stayed as he was till dusk, when he uttered a pained groan. Turning his head, he cracked open crusted over eyes, wincing at the headache the simple motion caused. There was a form curled against his head and with a breath, he knew who it was. "Shido?"
Starting awake, the violet-haired vampire blinked groggily, then looked at him. His eyes immediately brightened, and it took every ounce of control he had to not pounce his master. "H- how are you feeling?" He had to clear his throat to speak normally. For some reason he had choked up.
"Like I've been beaten with brick sticks." The Elder smiled slowly. Indeed every inch of his body hurt, a side effect from the body transitions. It was mostly mental however and would go away with plenty of nourishment and rest. "And yourself, songbird?"
"Bruised for a while, but fine," he replied, carefully searching every inch of the elder's face for a sign of worsening pain. It was a huge relief just to hear his voice and see his eyes again.
"What's happened?" From the inane babble of the Children, it seemed there had been an attack. The details he had not heard over Lyhna's yelling for certain things as she had set Shido's bone.
"Two of Cain's brood are dead." He hesitated to add the last, looking to the side before returning his eyes to Cyric's and finishing. "And two were captured. I think one is the eldest. I've met him once." More like had seen him walk past the room he was in at Cain's home many years ago. But close enough. Thinking about them, below him, allowed their minds to touch his, and he heard the youngest's hopes of being rescued. Inwardly he winced. There was no hope for either of them. The eldest of the two had accepted that, but the other had yet to.
"I see..." This news only relaxed him. None of his own besides Shido was hut then. He would deal with the two later, when his body allowed it. It was a rule of thumb, you never showed your enemy any weakness, for he would exploit it. Cyric had already shown his major weakness: Shido. For he loved him, as he came to realize in that sinkwell of darkness.
Shido rested his head on Cyric's chest once again, his hand immediately finding the same spot he had spent a day stroking. His fingertips touched across something hard, and he remembered the stone. He had retrieved it from his pile of discarded clothes, and took it back to bed with him.
"I brought you something, " he murmured, touching the odd angles and indentations. After having caused so much trouble, he should bring something back with him, other than broken bones.
"What, besides yourself?" The Elder shifted minutely, able to look down at Shido better this way.
"I went," he started, rolling the imperfect orb until he got a grip on it and could pull it up from the folds of the sheet. "searching for this, for you. I didn't want to tell you because I was not sure it really existed, and coming back empty-handed would have been foolish."
The cerise eyes of the Elder opened a little more. "Nani?"
He would have told his master exactly where he was going and what he was getting, but had he failed.. the last thing he wasn't was to look like a naive pup. "Here.." The parts of the stone that caught the light radiated orange and bloody red, those which were in shadow stayed olive green. The Chrysoberyl was supposedly closely related to the color-changing Alexandrite, as this one clearly demonstrated.
The ghastly hand of the aged Vampyre took the round stone, holding it up so he could see it better. The cacophony of color was aesthetically pleasing to him. A smile graced the thin lips, the hand falling back to the bed. "Thank you, my loveling."
Pleased, he nodded and settled into stroking his fingers across the same spot again. He had found, apparently, another place he liked to touch. He had several favorite spots, and something about the stretch of Cyric's skin across his rib bones had caught his fancy.
The geriatric vampyre watched his inamorato with tenderness. Having Shido here with him was a gift that nothing material could give him. He had waited nearly all his long life to find someone that he would feel this strongly for. The strength of his emotions, even after he'd faced them, surprised him.
Shido was facing his own miniature awakening. He could kid himself that what they had was a business deal and no more, but he knew it was not true. The instant panic he had felt at the sight of Cyric motionless had robbed him of even his heartbeat, his blood freezing in his veins it had felt. Though relief and warmth had stolen into him at their little discourse, he was still worried for his master. He didn't like seeing him so dilapidated. It worried, scared, him.
Biting his lip while he thought over what was happening to him, he fingers stilled and trembled slightly on the skin beneath them.
Sensing his lovers discomfort, the same hand that had held the Chrysoberyl stroked the lilac hair. The mental predilection was worth seeing the Youngling safe. Even now, he was still more then a match for Cain and with his Children just downstairs, any attack was worthless.
Shido moved suddenly. He was face to face with his master, eyes searching the aged crimson, one arm on either side of the chest below his. "You can't do that again." The conviction he put into the words, and the protective passion that fueled them, stained his cheeks with a flush the color of crushed mulberries.
He blinked, stupefaction flashing across his face. Then a slow smile curled his lips. "I can't promise I won't do it again."
"You have to. It's not good for you. What if you get hurt?" He practically growled the last two sentences.
"No, it's not good for me, but it was something I had to do." The frost-skinned male tilted his head, his features quiescent and thoughtful.
"You didn't have to," the younger vampire muttered, relinquishing his half-straddle and leaning a shoulder against the headboard of the bed. "He was letting me go."
He managed to rest the back of a hand on his lovers knee without his body screaming at him. "You belong to me, songbird, and it was part of our agreement. I was to deal with him." The sanguine eyes took on a fevered glaze at the memory of the pain in Shido's body. Even one nail prick would have sent him into a rage if the body he had been wearing was his own.
He had no reply to those words. The protection by Cyric was part of their deal; he had to accept that. Thinking about their deal bothered him, now. He didn't like to dwell on the agreement. He felt cheap if he did. Like a whore, nearly. Or perhaps just the very consort the had tried to avoid being.
He covered the hand on his knee with his own while he thought, not realizing he had done so until he looked back down at Cyric.
The digits of the other's hand had already entwined with the creamy ones of his lover. "You're not a whore or consort, Shido." Cyric said, barely audible. He hadn't heard the other thoughts, the wealth of emotions behind the one had made it come through clearly.
Such thoughts would have to wait. Shido nodded, squeezing the hand lightly. He was still worried about Cyric's condition, and was twice as gentle as he normally was, if it were at all possible.
Black Widow: ~pops back up~ Reviews people! Or I shall do a bad rendition of Britney Spears "Hit Me One More Time" or whatever it is! Or I forego that and wack you all with the Giant Carrot O' Doom!
The small plane Shido had hired to take him to Cairo and back was waiting at the airport for him when he showed up at dusk the next day. He had paid the pilot of the little aircraft an exorbitant amount to be ready for him, and was most grateful that he had done so now. No complications at all, just a straight forward business deal. Payment was equal to number of miles.
The old man, wrinkled as a prune and twice as jovial as an orangutan, was ecstatic to see him, and hugged him upon his return. He had embraced Shido the first time they had met, taking the lilac-haired vampire back abit. The vampire smiled, having to fight to ignore the pulse so temptingly near. The man spoke quickly, and Shido's attention had to be focussed to hear everything he said, half of his words tending to run together till they were one long breathless exclamation.
After he had secured his one bag, Shido searched for Aello and any of Cain's others with somber blue-green eyes. Aello he wanted to thank, the children avoid.
Aello was not there, though her scent lingered around the plane. She had obviously been there and made sure things were okay before heading out to hunt down the Vampyres in her hunting grounds, if they were still there. These were her grounds and she guarded them zealously.
He would have to ask Cyric to thank Aello for him, since his master already knew he was here, obviously. Next to the hope of beating an unchallenged retreat, the hope that Cyric didn't know exactly what it was he had left to find was strongest in him. The entire point of this excursion was to recover the shifting Chrysoberyl without Cyric's knowledge. It was to be a surprise for him. If he knew it ruined everything. Many thought the stone a myth, such as the Bezoar, whose home was supposedly in the heart of an Arabian deer, but Shido had found fact buried in fanciful speech, or thought he had. He was pleased to discover he was right.
The plane took off without interruption and Shido, fascinated by flight, studied the ground below the entire time. Guni would have loved it, had she been with him, though perhaps not the pilot. He chatted nonstop, but all Shido heard was a tone. There were no words, just a melody, with the engine's roar as harmony. He listened to the song the pair, pilot and plane, made until they landed to refuel, as they had the first time, in some small country just a few thousand miles south of Cairo. The ride to the City would be much shorter, only an hour or two, as opposed to the many he had just traveled. He would have to seek shelter from the rising sun immediately upon arriving. He would not make it home before the sunlight became strong.
The small country, whatever its name was (he did not know how to pronunciate it much less remember exactly), was full of sand and dust, and the plane kicked much of it into the air. He shaded his eyes from the tiny particles, and trudged through towards the town they had stopped at. The jovial man set about procuring gas, having no problem with the stinging dust.
Shido took refuge inside an arched doorway, the collar of his shirt up around his neck, his body hunched down into his clothes. He could barely see through the tan air, the sand was so thick in the wind. He rested his back against the heavy wood of the door, sure in the thought that it would stay closed. He was wrong, however, and woefully so. It opened swiftly, and a frigid hand latched on to the back of his neck. Before he could think to jerk away, the grip tightened, nearly crushing his vertebrate, and yanked him firmly inside. His yelp was half-strangled. The door slammed shut before him, and all was dark inside from a notable lack of windows.
"You saved me the trouble of going into the dust storm, little one. How nice of you," the familiar acid and sugar voice whispered against his ear, soft lips grazing the curve. Shido's blood went cold from dread.
"C-Cain!" His breath was being crushed out of him, but he managed to get that much out.
"Good guess, pet. How very quick you are." The sarcasm in the voice was as harsh as the grip. Shido's body wouldn't respond to the frenzied and desperate pleas he made to it. He couldn't move at all, though he wanted to badly.
The grip on his neck never loosened, but pale fingers caressed his cheek in the darkness. "You look healthy," the words were stormy with a passion he wanted nothing to do with. Anger laced the tone, rage. It brought a tremor to his limbs.
A hope brightened for a moment in him. Had that man he had hired seen him disappear from the doorway? The hope faded like a snuffed candle. If he hadn't been able to see, that man certainly hadn't.
Cyric straightened from his position at the piano, the last tones of the somber song rolling away on the air. Ignoring the groans of his Children he turned to face the floor-to-ceiling windows in his ballroom. Something gripped his spine in a deathly cold grip, shaking his mind. He didn't know what it entailed but he knew it had something to do with Shido. Just a few hours ago, he had received word that his lover was coming home and that Aello had spilled the first blood of the new feud. Now he only feared for his songbird...
The hand on his neck tightened, and something crunched under the pressure. Pain shot across the base of Shido's skull and white streaks invaded his vision. Cain was going to break something, and he was afraid it would never get a chance to heal if the blond got angry enough.
"They told me Furiae's life was ended prematurely, and that it was your fault, Shido. Did you kill your brother?" The grip tightened again, demanding an answer. Shido's knees nearly gave out as fresh waves of pain coursed through him. White blinded him
"N-no." He hadn't killed anyone. Not on purpose.
"They're lying? All of them? Come now, Shido. I thought you would be smarter than that.
"He was only a few years younger than you. He could have been your twin, but for that coloring. Your bodies were similar, I assure you. Did you notice? Or were you too busy killing him?" This time when the grip tightened Shido's legs gave out, and he sank to his knees on the floor. Cain's mouth was still close to his ear, still hissing angrily at him.
Cyric winced, one hand going up to rub at the base of his neck where a sharp pain had started. In response to the pain and what he knew was probably going on, his lips curled. Cain was earning his death, for that was what he planned. No mere defeat and then a lecture, but simple death.
Cain's free hand dug its clawed fingertips into his shoulder, the points digging painfully into his skin. Not only did he tighten his thorny grip but twisted it as well, all the while forcibly hauling the younger vampire back up to his feet. Shido struggled vainly, and the more he did the more Cain tightened his grip. The elder would have his dominance no matter the price, patience having worn thin. All too soon Shido tired, and only then did the hands loosen. His sire spun him around quickly, staring into his face with cold eyes as Shido's vision returned to him.
"Scuttle back to him. When I come for you, you will come with me freely, or not continue on at all." He squeezed Shido's upper arm, just below the shoulder, until he felt the bones splinter in his grip. When the violet-haired youngster cried out, he claimed his mouth, something spiteful in his pleasure. The pained whimper pleased him even more.
At the newest pain, the Elder let out a snarl that sent most of his Children running. No one, absolutely no one, hurt Shido and got away with it. Grabbing the thread of gold with a mental death grip, he flung himself across it, his rage fueling the transition of bodies. Shido's mind was forced into his body while he took his lovers'.
Throwing shields against the pain, reinforced by his anger, the Elder-now-Youngling lashed out with his good hand, flesh meeting flesh with a meaty thud as his fangs came down on the tongue in his mouth.
Yowling in surprise and anger, Cain ripped away, leaving his tongue in tatters. It healed quickly but he was extremely annoyed. So annoyed he missed the change in energy at first. A second passed before he hissed challengingly, growling Cyric's name like a curse.
Looked like they were a little more connected than he had thought. The shock, however, would leave Shido unconscious, or damn close to it, in Cyric's body. The children he had sent to and left in Egypt perked up at his silent order, ready to retrieve. They could smell Shido as easily as he could, blood calling to family. Shido may have refused to learn the natural gifts that came from being a vampire, but the others hadn't.
Spatting the blood of the Vampyre onto the ground, Cyric looked up at the blonde with fury raging in mixed red-gold eyes. Shido's face was twisted in a look of rage that was normally not seen, but as furious as his expression was, the voice Cyric controlled was level and calm. "Cain." Blood-stained lips were pulled back in a show of dominance and anger.
"Cyric." the blonde replied, his lip curling in disdain. "Lovely to see you." His gold eyes snapped angrily, but something glowed behind them. Amusement perhaps. He even smiled then, wickedly. He could feel his children getting closer, and the thought of snatching Shido, even in Cyric's body, from Cyric's home delighted him.
Cyric may not have had his body but it was still his mind and the soul-link Shido had with him left him with access, however dampened. "My Children will kill yours if they try." Shido's face smoothed out into a expression one would normally see on someone talking about the weather. "Though I believe they will hand you your Children's hearts before they teach them a lesson in proper fighting."
Cain growled. "I'd be careful, if I were you. Those are tough words for one who's in a body so much younger than normal. I suggest you skulk back to your home, and let Shido take his plane. I was just about to let him go." He had been.... after a bit more time with his pet, of course. Simply to make sure the lesson was firmly in place before he was set free.
"I believe I shall escort this body to him." Cyric smiled pleasantly and turned his back on the other. "Though I am not the one who should be receiving the warning, Youngling." Tossing a smirk over the borrowed shoulder, he pulled open the door, letting in the wind and sand. "I do not have to be in my own body or have to touch you to kill you. Farewell." Stepping out into the sandstorm and closing the door behind him, he turned to face the wind. He knew the way home, he knew Egypt like the back of his hand and he would bring Shido's body to his Mansion.
Cain's children had fared no better than their master. Two had been subdued and captured, two others fought till death. The only one left retreated at his call, the retreat hastier than the initial attack. The little man whose plane was left passenger-less, on the other hand, fared best out of all of them. He found a warm bed for the day, and got to keep all of the money after doing half the work.
Cyric brought home Shido's body on the second night, the pain and younger body limiting him. When he stumbled into the entrance hall, it was all he could do to keep from collapsing from hunger as well. His Children ushered him into his bedroom, where they had put Shido as well. He was forced to down goblets of blood as one of them, a doctor, checked Shido's arm and neck.
Cain had actually been right, and the shock had subdued Shido completely. He lay still the entire time, his mind dormant, close to a state of hibernation. Assuming there was change still, it sought escape in nothingness. No thought, no emotion, only gray.
As soon as Lyhna fixed the shattered bone, Cyric relinquished the body. Even with his age and power, if he wasn't fueled by high emotions he passed out as well. The Children knew what to do, and more and more of them were arriving after the first attack on his home. If Cain tried anything a second time, he would be facing a very angry family that would not let even one get away.
The dull ache at the top of his neck was the first thing he felt. Consciousness rose slowly from the gray it had escaped into, cautious as a rabbit emerging from a warren. Shido opened his eyes and winced. He certainly wasn't where he last remembered being. The abundance of red and light made it very clear to him that he was home. He tried to sit up, but, forgetting about his injured arm, he put most of his weight on it. He didn't try again, a wince still on his face.
A golden-haired vampyre moved to stand by Shido, gentle hands running over the broken arm. "Please take it easy, my brother." As gentle as his hands was his smile. "Lyhna just fixed it."
Shido only stared at him, having no idea who he was, but feeling like he should. Too many were related to him recently.
He grimaced. This was one very large family feud, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. It was his fault. One of them had already died. How many more would fall? It was different, the deaths, he hated to admit, when they were related to you.
"I'm sorry, Shido, I should have introduced myself." Laying a naturally pale hand on his chest, which was covered in blue silk, he bowed his head, submissive in every gesture. "I am Fehru and I will be taking care of you during these troubled times."
"I'm.. glad to meet you, Fehru." He smiled, trying his best to not be awkward. His mouth was thick from an absence of use, and his entire body felt heavy. He grimaced at the dull ache again. His sire had really wanted to ruin something permanently. Every moment it faded a bit more, and for that Shido was infinitely grateful.
"Where is our master?" He asked after a moment, taking the time to search the room with his eyes. He did not recognize anything at the moment, plagued by memories that would not recede from his vision. Over every square inch of the room another one, so much darker, laid on top. His ear tingled from where Cain's lips had been still.
Fehru gestured to Shido's side, where the comatose form of the Elder lay. "Right here." He placed his hand back in his lap, blue eyes thoughtful. "I was surprised when he switched with you."
Pulling himself up, wincing but for the most part ignoring the protest from his arm, he touched the still form gently, then laid his palm on Cyric's chest. "What do you mean?" His tropical eyes were troubled, confusion and a kaleidoscope of other emotions obscuring their color, darkening it.
The flaxen-haired vampyre watched his motions with dull curiosity. "He switched your minds. Father has been in your body for the last two days and you in his." He turned his head away, looking in the direction of the bay window. "He brought your body home after dealing with your...old Sire."
Shido's eyes widened. "What happened?" He had missed alot, apparently. "Explain it all to me. I don't remember.." He wasn't helping his "dumb" reputation any here ... His memory was blank after that mind-numbing pain, and kiss.
His hands were spread in a gesture of helplessness. "I do not know, brother, from what I overheard of Hysteria, he gave final warning to him. After the first attack, I don't think he'll try again soon."
"Soon..." he sighed the word, turning his head to look at Cyric worriedly. "Why is he like this? I thought he was so much stronger than the rest of us.." He could understand himself slipping into unconsciousness, but was this switch Fehru talked about so hard to do that it wore even Cyric out? If it were so, why risk it?
"From what he's told us, he needs strong emotions to back the energy it takes to switch and he had it the first time but not the second time." Fehru smiled softly, laying a hand on Shido's. "Don't worry, he'll wake within a day."
Shido nodded that he understand, but the worry didn't vanish from his face. He didn't know what he would do without Cyric's guidance and companionship. He hadn't realized till then how much he relied on it.
"What of my siblings?" He asked Fehru, assuming a part of the brood was still alive and held nearby. He could feel their anger and resentment, and the smell of Cain was about.
"Two are still alive, and are in the basement. No one's allowed in, unless Hysteria is with them. She has forbidden that you see them without Father. As for the other two...they're dead..."
"I can't see them?" He wanted to, of course he did. There was an odd draw to the thought. He could feel them, the silver and green currents of their thoughts, and smell them. Seeing them would make them all the more real to him. Now they were like a plague in the air, a plague he had already been infected by and healed from.
"No." Fehru answered softly. "She fears that because you were once blood-family to them you will try to help them escape if they ask of it. They are necessary precautions."
"I understand," he said, nodding his head slightly. Were one older than he, one of the eldest- as he felt one indeed was, influencing him would be all that easier. He hated to think of helping them at all, just as much as hated to think of their deaths. A conundrum.
He sunk down to lay his head on Cyric's chest, closing his eyes and sighing. It was a bother to have them so near, but comfort was beside him. Even in such a harmless state, he felt much safer with Cyric in the room.
Fehru rose and left the room, silently closing the double doors behind him. His heart ached for his new brother. He knew he would never understand the emotions he was going through. The blonde would help him though, to the best of his abilities as a Mind-Healer, to make it through. Pushing himself off the doors, he made his way to the first floor, to join his siblings.
Shido tried to sleep, feeling the pull of the sun in his limbs, but the mental darkness eluded him, a nymph with dark and lively feet. He couldn't catch her in her quick sandals. He ran his fingers across Cyric's ribs in a trio, forming a rhythm that he kept up for hours. His touch was gentle enough to leave hardly an impression and just barely warm the flesh. His mind wandered as he did so, until the current of silver and green caught and melded with his gold and lavender. His siblings called him. Their conversation was wordless, but obvious to each of them. Shido balked from helping, balked from even the communication, but the eldest, who felt more like Cain than Shido had thought possible, managed to placate him into maintaining the link. He listened, attempting apathy.
Downstairs, Hysteria cleaned her guns, pink quartz eyes on the stair case that led to the basement. She wanted to kill those two so badly, but they all had agreed that they wouldn't until Cyric gave the word too. Besides that, she was worried about the influence they would have on the newest siblings mind. If they tried anything to sway him into even thinking of letting them go, she'd be placing her silver bullets in them quicker then a hummingbird could beat it's wings.
Shido denied a plea for help for a twelfth time, and the eldest growled angrily, loudly, in the basement. Cain's favorite child was really starting to get to be a pain in the ass. Was no one loyal nowadays? He would rip the younger child apart but for the master's orders to bring him back unscarred. Why his father wanted such a weak creature he could not understand. Every one of his siblings, even himself, was stunning, beautiful, and in most cases very talented creatures. Why fight so hard for this one? It seemed to be such a waste of time.
Hysteria raised her gun, planning on shooting the door as a warning. Catching the look of a amethyst-haired boy she sighed and put the gun back in it's hip holster. "Damn people...shoulda killed them when we got the chance..."
Shido fell to ignoring the pleas, petting the flesh beneath his fingers thoughtfully. He wouldn't dare to help them. He had no desire to, but he had no desire to see them die either. He had to see them soon...
Still smoothing his fingers across the same spot, Shido started humming a composition he had heard years ago. Some piano piece. Thinking back to the performance kept him occupied for quite awhile as he hummed the composition over and over again, a favorite section particularly.
Slowly, the body underneath his head started to revive, faster then Fehru had said he would. Cyric's heart, which had actually stopped, started to beat again. About one beat every five minutes. His breathing picked up, shallow and unsteady at first, evening out eventually.
Shido's eyes widened when he heard the first dull thud. He waited, silent and biting his lip so hard it bled, for the next. Only after a good number of those same beats did he relax and dare to smile. He ignored his siblings below completely then, and they both roared angrily and jerked against their bonds. Little good it did them.
This time Hysteria didn't hesitate to shoot the door. She received the glare again but she only glared right back. The others didn't say anything, just went back to whatever they had been doing - training, reading or playing games.
The two silenced, but the occasional jingling of chains could be heard. They were subdued, but had not given up. Above them, Shido waited for Cyric to become cognizant. The longing to see those familiar ruby-colored eyes hollowed him, leaving only an ache to thrum along with his pulse behind.
The Elders heartbeat thudded faster, resuming the once every two minutes pattern it had practiced for over five thousand years. His breathing returned to normal, but he had yet to wake completely.
He wouldn't feel better until Cyric was exactly as he had left him. Right now worry staved off his guilt. Worry wouldn't last forever, but guilt had a much longer life span. It didn't occur to him until then. He didn't know... What had happened to the Chrysoberyl? Careful not to disturb his master, though he had no need to be, Shido withdrew himself from their bed and searched for his clothes. Most likely it was still in his pocket.
The bleached vampyre stayed as he was till dusk, when he uttered a pained groan. Turning his head, he cracked open crusted over eyes, wincing at the headache the simple motion caused. There was a form curled against his head and with a breath, he knew who it was. "Shido?"
Starting awake, the violet-haired vampire blinked groggily, then looked at him. His eyes immediately brightened, and it took every ounce of control he had to not pounce his master. "H- how are you feeling?" He had to clear his throat to speak normally. For some reason he had choked up.
"Like I've been beaten with brick sticks." The Elder smiled slowly. Indeed every inch of his body hurt, a side effect from the body transitions. It was mostly mental however and would go away with plenty of nourishment and rest. "And yourself, songbird?"
"Bruised for a while, but fine," he replied, carefully searching every inch of the elder's face for a sign of worsening pain. It was a huge relief just to hear his voice and see his eyes again.
"What's happened?" From the inane babble of the Children, it seemed there had been an attack. The details he had not heard over Lyhna's yelling for certain things as she had set Shido's bone.
"Two of Cain's brood are dead." He hesitated to add the last, looking to the side before returning his eyes to Cyric's and finishing. "And two were captured. I think one is the eldest. I've met him once." More like had seen him walk past the room he was in at Cain's home many years ago. But close enough. Thinking about them, below him, allowed their minds to touch his, and he heard the youngest's hopes of being rescued. Inwardly he winced. There was no hope for either of them. The eldest of the two had accepted that, but the other had yet to.
"I see..." This news only relaxed him. None of his own besides Shido was hut then. He would deal with the two later, when his body allowed it. It was a rule of thumb, you never showed your enemy any weakness, for he would exploit it. Cyric had already shown his major weakness: Shido. For he loved him, as he came to realize in that sinkwell of darkness.
Shido rested his head on Cyric's chest once again, his hand immediately finding the same spot he had spent a day stroking. His fingertips touched across something hard, and he remembered the stone. He had retrieved it from his pile of discarded clothes, and took it back to bed with him.
"I brought you something, " he murmured, touching the odd angles and indentations. After having caused so much trouble, he should bring something back with him, other than broken bones.
"What, besides yourself?" The Elder shifted minutely, able to look down at Shido better this way.
"I went," he started, rolling the imperfect orb until he got a grip on it and could pull it up from the folds of the sheet. "searching for this, for you. I didn't want to tell you because I was not sure it really existed, and coming back empty-handed would have been foolish."
The cerise eyes of the Elder opened a little more. "Nani?"
He would have told his master exactly where he was going and what he was getting, but had he failed.. the last thing he wasn't was to look like a naive pup. "Here.." The parts of the stone that caught the light radiated orange and bloody red, those which were in shadow stayed olive green. The Chrysoberyl was supposedly closely related to the color-changing Alexandrite, as this one clearly demonstrated.
The ghastly hand of the aged Vampyre took the round stone, holding it up so he could see it better. The cacophony of color was aesthetically pleasing to him. A smile graced the thin lips, the hand falling back to the bed. "Thank you, my loveling."
Pleased, he nodded and settled into stroking his fingers across the same spot again. He had found, apparently, another place he liked to touch. He had several favorite spots, and something about the stretch of Cyric's skin across his rib bones had caught his fancy.
The geriatric vampyre watched his inamorato with tenderness. Having Shido here with him was a gift that nothing material could give him. He had waited nearly all his long life to find someone that he would feel this strongly for. The strength of his emotions, even after he'd faced them, surprised him.
Shido was facing his own miniature awakening. He could kid himself that what they had was a business deal and no more, but he knew it was not true. The instant panic he had felt at the sight of Cyric motionless had robbed him of even his heartbeat, his blood freezing in his veins it had felt. Though relief and warmth had stolen into him at their little discourse, he was still worried for his master. He didn't like seeing him so dilapidated. It worried, scared, him.
Biting his lip while he thought over what was happening to him, he fingers stilled and trembled slightly on the skin beneath them.
Sensing his lovers discomfort, the same hand that had held the Chrysoberyl stroked the lilac hair. The mental predilection was worth seeing the Youngling safe. Even now, he was still more then a match for Cain and with his Children just downstairs, any attack was worthless.
Shido moved suddenly. He was face to face with his master, eyes searching the aged crimson, one arm on either side of the chest below his. "You can't do that again." The conviction he put into the words, and the protective passion that fueled them, stained his cheeks with a flush the color of crushed mulberries.
He blinked, stupefaction flashing across his face. Then a slow smile curled his lips. "I can't promise I won't do it again."
"You have to. It's not good for you. What if you get hurt?" He practically growled the last two sentences.
"No, it's not good for me, but it was something I had to do." The frost-skinned male tilted his head, his features quiescent and thoughtful.
"You didn't have to," the younger vampire muttered, relinquishing his half-straddle and leaning a shoulder against the headboard of the bed. "He was letting me go."
He managed to rest the back of a hand on his lovers knee without his body screaming at him. "You belong to me, songbird, and it was part of our agreement. I was to deal with him." The sanguine eyes took on a fevered glaze at the memory of the pain in Shido's body. Even one nail prick would have sent him into a rage if the body he had been wearing was his own.
He had no reply to those words. The protection by Cyric was part of their deal; he had to accept that. Thinking about their deal bothered him, now. He didn't like to dwell on the agreement. He felt cheap if he did. Like a whore, nearly. Or perhaps just the very consort the had tried to avoid being.
He covered the hand on his knee with his own while he thought, not realizing he had done so until he looked back down at Cyric.
The digits of the other's hand had already entwined with the creamy ones of his lover. "You're not a whore or consort, Shido." Cyric said, barely audible. He hadn't heard the other thoughts, the wealth of emotions behind the one had made it come through clearly.
Such thoughts would have to wait. Shido nodded, squeezing the hand lightly. He was still worried about Cyric's condition, and was twice as gentle as he normally was, if it were at all possible.
Black Widow: ~pops back up~ Reviews people! Or I shall do a bad rendition of Britney Spears "Hit Me One More Time" or whatever it is! Or I forego that and wack you all with the Giant Carrot O' Doom!