DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, or anything else. Understood? I'm sure you do... and, no, I don't own my brain either. It owns me.
WARNINGS: Uh... evil to such well-loved characters, slight (very, very slight) use of coarse language, horrible and bleak descriptions, strange characterisations, one too many new characters to contend with.
There is a little bit of French in the beginning, and the translated text is in brackets and in italics. Just so you know beforehand. Let's continue this story…
000 Darkened Heart 000
000 9 000
Satoshi was getting annoyed as he tried to get the conversation back on whatever topic they had been talking about in the first place. He could always disconnect the line and then that was it, but this particular person wasn't one to give in so easily. He would just call again, and then again, and then again… someone really needed to fix this guy's brain, he told himself thickly while Krad found a texta, a stack of blank re-usable paper and was now drawing something. The blue-haired boy looked over the blonde's shoulder, curious as to what he could be doing.
… Okay.
He hated to admit it and all, but Krad was really good at drawing. Even is the scene involved him killing Dark for some reason. Honestly, if he'd only had a red texta… the effect was sickening with green blood and he was already feeling slightly nauseous.
"How do you know Dark anyway?" he muttered away from the microphone so that the rambling person couldn't actually hear him. The blonde glanced up in his direction before returning to his… artwork. Maybe he was wondering if the school would like it as a donation for their personal art gallery? There wasn't anything in there anyway… and maybe people would enjoy looking at the Phantom Thief dead, or something.
Krad mentally hit himself: he wasn't supposed to be thinking that way, but the stupid person STILL talking always made him show the worst of himself at the worst possible time. Recovering and blocking out the annoying rambling in the background, he turned back to the other boy and smirked evilly. "Do you REALLY want to know?"
Satoshi rolled his eyes at this. It always started out this way. "YES."
The smirk was wider now, "Maybe some other time."
"You know that this is one of the few times when we can talk without any sort of disturbances," the blue-haired boy bristled in annoyance. Really, Krad annoyed him too much sometimes that it wasn't very funny. It was as funny as knowing that everyone was going to die because of something they couldn't control. Yes, very fun.
"Bonjour ? Êtes-vous distillateur là ?" (Hello? Are you still there?)
"I really think I need to tell him to stop speaking in French," muttered Krad in annoyance, "Due to the fact that neither one of us can understand a thing he says." He crackled his knuckles as Satoshi fiddled with the dials on the main board before them.
"What do you want to talk about?" Satoshi half-snapped, wanting to go home already, "We have lives to live through, you know."
"Oh, really?" he seemed really surprised with this revelation, "Désolé." (Sorry)
"Fine, whatever," he replied sharply, seeing that Krad wasn't going to say anything to help, "Just… stop speaking in French already…"
"Uh, that's where I am, so it's natural," the boy on the other end pointed out simply. Because of the transition, they couldn't see his face anyway, but the voice was still annoyingly clear, "By the way, where's Takada-san?"
"Out."
"Oh. Pity."
"In the end it doesn't matter either way," Satoshi sighed, "Now can we get back to the main topic of you calling? Pierre."
"They should have called him chaos sur des jambes (chaos on legs)." Krad commented.
Satoshi glared at him, "I thought you didn't know any French."
"I don't. I just ripped it off an online translation."
"…"
Pierre – at least the fuzzy screen, anyway – shook his head before speaking again, this time seemingly more serious than the last few times. "We have been getting an annoying amount of attacks that are beginning to get out of hand, you see. So, want to play a game of cards somehow?"
Getting tired with the conversation, Satoshi hit 'disconnect' and sat back, rubbing his temples in pain. So these things could get to him. Krad tucked his picture away – which actually did have him stabbing Dark with a number of sharp objects – and looked over to his half-brother. "Are you going to be okay now? You haven't eaten anything all day as well…"
"I don't need to eat."
The blonde scoffed at this but didn't bother to press the matter for the time being because Milea was hovering around in the background, confused by what had just happened. Not that he could blame her for it, seeing that… well, they had just gotten into a sort of argument with some guy that they wanted to keep away from.
That was the main reason that they usually kept to themselves.
Satoshi turned to the girl, who inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Where's Takada?"
"Oh? She's… out, I guess," Milea scratched the back of her head, obviously confused with the matter, "She didn't write anything when she was going to come back, so I have no idea and no one has seen her since… well, a while now. Also, Elena-san can't find Shia-chan. And she was supposed to be here by now…"
"…" Krad leaned over to speak to the boy next to him. "Did you just get any of that?"
"No, but I can work it out," Satoshi frowned as he tried to work it out, "Takada is out and no one has seen her, Shia hasn't come for the meeting, and… we're late for the meeting."
Grabbing the blonde by the wrist, the blue-haired boy bolted out of the room without another word. It was a bit strange, seeing that his voice and face didn't change a bit at the mention of being late for something important and Milea giggled, taking a seat. She'd been here since the age of ten and had many friends, but it didn't mean she was used to the place, and she hated being cooped up in there all the time. She was kind of hoping that Shia would be here soon so that they could go for a walk in the day, for once. But it was just a wish, and it wasn't going to happen, so the eighteen year old flipped open a notebook, pulled on a headset, and went straight back to work.
000
"An evil that was sealed many years ago is back…" whispered a hushed voice, silence filling the room in droves, "It is now that we must face our greatest fears… but in face of death, are we willing to sacrifice it? Or shall we destroy the source? It is all a matter of question."
(What are they talking about?)
(Evil power?) perked the other voice in his head.
(Confusing, huh?)
(Yep.)
There was more arguing and they were about to talk more about this 'evil power', only that they were distracted when a certain pair of people ended up running into them.
000
There was a sudden surge of power behind her and Akane flipped back, using her staff as a centerfold to get out of the way, sticking it in the ground and using that as an improvised lever. The place where she'd been standing by blew up spectacularly and she pulled her staff out of the ground, which was about as tall as her. She counted a sharp blow meant for her side and countered, using a mix of stabbing and slashing at the vulnerable parts of the body. Each blow was countered blocked and that was how evenly the two were matched.
"Very good, Akane," Shia panted out, as they fell into a stand-still position where their weapons were locked together. "You seem to be learning well. But how much more can you take?"
"Eh…" she frowned, not understanding what the older woman was going on about.
Smirking, Shia flicked back her hair in a professional manner with her free hand before holding it up and beginning to chant softly. Instantly the other pulled back and noticed that a complete barrier caged her in and that the small pieces of paper were Shia's source of the barrier. Akane crossed her arms and inclined her head, trying to get her breathing regulated again.
"So… you think that's going to work on me?" she asked coolly. "Sensei."
As the spell took place, Akane muttered something under her breath and dropped her weapon. Shia seemed to take this as a sign and – forgetting the spell – ran up to the other girl, catching her by surprise, or so it seemed.
Catching the punch and stopping it short, the two stopped when they felt a sudden discharge of magic that wasn't their own. "That just was…" she frowned.
The woman sighed and removed the barrier, pulling out a sword that sat by the wall of the room they had been sparring in. "So there is another? Why must it always be here…"
"Because you're the Guardian," Akane pointed out.
"Yes. And you must go and help me fight as well."
"I know."
"Go ahead. I will be there."
Shia turned away for a minute, working out who she would call and what else she had to deal with, setting up the barrier as such, and when she turned back to where her one-time student had been, she smiled at the empty space before her.
That, and a single feather.
000
Daisuke squeaked in discomfort as he felt someone fall on top of him and he vaguely recalled his cousin swearing slightly, only to be cut off by someone telling him to shut up. Struggling to breathe for a moment, he caught sight of someone with blue hair. Well, then again, as far as he knew, there was only one person in this whole place who had blue hair. Actually, there was that girl, but she had long hair and all that and…
"Need… air…" gasped the redhead, just as he noticed how much danger he was really in. Who would have thought that air would become such an important part of life?
"Wait, you're not dead are you!" there was the feeling of people getting off him and then someone grabbed him by the collar and began to hake him like a rag doll, "Daisuke! You can't die out on me now!"
This irritated Daisuke a bit, seeing that he'd been through worse. And the shaking wasn't helping too much either, "If you don't mind, I need to breathe." He managed to say, only to have Dark drop him and he yelped as his tailbone hit the stone floor. "DARK!"
His cousin snickered, only to notice something and he stopped. The redhead was rubbing himself, which was stinging badly, or was it throbbing, and then looked up to see why he had fallen silent. He felt his cheeks go red in embarrassment when he finally worked out what had just happened. And now the entire meeting was staring at them.
Most were people that he didn't even know, mostly in their early to mid twenties and over half of them were laughing under their breaths, or coughing behind their hands, he reasoned. Celes, who was at the very front, looked genuinely shocked at the interruption.
"Ah… Hiwatari-san, I was beginning to wonder as to what had happened to you," she said courteously, bowing slightly. The others bowed and muttered offbeat welcomes, not looking too happy with the interruption and all. Daisuke was disappointed, seeing that they had come close to learning something important. He was so sure of it! "And… Hikari-san? Pleased to meet you, I'm sure."
Krad was scowling, but maybe it was because of the running and then the tripping; right into a door that burst open upon contact as well. Satoshi didn't look annoyed or irritated, merely bored, as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again.
"Sorry for the delay. There were some matters I had to clean up," he intoned neutrally, giving Daisuke and Dark a glance, indicating that they keep quiet. "And I think we began to allow Niwa-kun and his cousin into the meetings." He held up a hand to keep the disgruntled murmuring under control, "I am sure you are aware of the situation, so we need all the help we can get." He received more murmuring from this.
Kain sat up straight, "I agree with him. If it had been the time of Peace, then I would be going against him--"
"Like you usually do," muttered someone in the background.
"—but this is a very serious situation."
"Can they ever help us in any way?" demanded a nasal voice. "Can they fight or do what we sorely need done? What is it that will make them useful?"
Dark bristled at this, "Hey, look you…"
He was then distracted as With popped out of nowhere, as per usual, "Kyu!"
"With! What was that for!"
"Kyu?"
There was a shriek, "The Demon from Hell!"
"Uh… what?" Dark crossed his arms and looked confused as chaos began to spread around the meeting room, people panicking and yelling alike. Krad stepped up next to him, but didn't even give him a glance as they conversed.
"They seem surprised."
"We're talking about With here. How could they scream about a bunny?"
"We all know what it really is, Dark."
"And he hasn't killed anyone yet either."
"You really taught him well, didn't you?"
"That's just my job."
Daisuke blinked as the scene unfolded before him and was slightly apprehensive, if not entertained. After being told not to get into the middle of the mess, he watched as both Kain and Satoshi tried their best to get everyone back into control. Out of everyone there, Celes seemed to be the only one composed, yet she didn't try to bring back order.
He found this very confusing.
(I wonder why…)
000
"Connection. Seeking permission in line 06," murmured a voice in the headpiece and Milea looked up, hitting a button and reply. "Password already entered and no errors at the moment." Nodding at the result, she hit another button and spoke.
"Connection granted. Please allow line 06 to filter through," she muttered, eyes focused on the data that stretched out before her. There was a soft beeping noise. "Report any errors found."
"No errors. Filtering through," the voice intoned back after a split second of silence.
"Okay then," closing her eyes and sighing, the girl waited for a moment before speaking into her microphone, "This is Milea. Whom am I speaking to?"
"Milea-chan, so it's you on duty," a voice picked up. The picture came into clear view and Shia smiled warmly at the teen, who smiled back brightly, "Well, I'm glad that I managed to reach you already. I hate the whole sit and wait deal."
"Shia-chan, it's been so long since your last visit!" she exclaimed, "Why aren't you here yet? What's going on?"
The older woman held up a hand to silence the other, "We don't have time to catch up. The area is currently being held and blocked off because of a magical discharge. Akane has gone ahead of me, but I'll need the Hit Squad and anyone else at hand. This is going to be a big one this time."
Milea swallowed, jotting down the information unconsciously, "Another one? How can you be so sure that no one else is going to get involved? I mean, it's day out there, right?"
"I'm a Guardian, Milea, don't forget that," Shia cut in firmly, "Now just pass the message on. We don't have much time left, you know."
"Okay. I've got it." She then pouted slightly. "But you know that I have no sense of direction at all."
"Well, this will teach you."
"What? I've had eight years to learn!"
Shia could only shake her head and the connection broke off. Wishing that there was someone else around, Milea got up and proceeded to the door, wishing that there was a map – or directly, to say the least - so that she could find the others soon.
With a sigh, she took off.
000
On top of a tall building, Akane stood there, unseen by the world below. How she got up there and how she managed to maintain her balance, no one knew but it wasn't the time to think about such unnecessary thoughts.
Both hands crossed over so that the palms hovered over her shoulders, the redhead closed her eyes and began to concentrate on the small power that was always locked up inside of her. There was a reason for everything, and if Elena and the Barrier Squad weren't present, desperate measures had to be used. Especially when it was the middle of the day.
She shook her head; why were they here? What had happened this time? It made no sense at all.
"Power locked away…"
The power in her was overwhelming, and that was why she was in hiding. It was something that should have never been in existence, but it was, and there was no way around it.
Akane shrugged: she'd lived with it before, she would just keep living with it.
"Sands of Time that are locked away… threads of fate untouched by the hand of man… the corresponding light and darkness that ease the pain…"
Would it work? No one knew. It was a first for her as well.
Thin strings of transparent energy began to appear around her fingers and they stretched out to the unknown. So that was how it was.
000
"Hiwatari-kun! We have an urgent situation!" Milea called as she finally found the meeting room. She froze when she noticed the complete chaos being emitted from all the people present and shrugged, finding it as part of a normal day's work. Catching sight of Kain right in front of her, she managed to grab his collar and pull him away from the crowd. "Hey, we have a problem."
"Oh really?" Kain perked up, seeing that he was usually the last person people turned to for some reason, "What's going on?"
After a brief explanation that only took half a minute, Kain had to plough himself through the crowd to find Satoshi. While this was happening, Milea turned to the redhead and the purple-haired guy: she remembered seeing them when she'd lost her way, but she knew nothing of them. Must be the newcomers then.
"Hello. I'm Milea. Nice to meet you."
"Hi. I'm Daisuke and he's Dark," the redhead smiled and bowed politely, although he seemed fairly worried: whether it was because of the chaos before him or the information he'd probably heard just then, she just didn't know. "Nice to meet you."
"So what's with the riot anyway?" she asked patiently, although she looked annoyed as Kain got caught up in a roadblock, it would seem. Tapping her foot impatiently, Daisuke could only really shrug vaguely as an answer and then pointed at With, who was sitting on Dark's head. Even the bunny looked confused with the results.
"They saw With and everyone began to panic for some reason."
"Oh?" Milea took a look at With and then frowned, crossing her arms, "And is that supposed to mean anything?"
"We… don't know."
"Uh-huh…"
Finally Satoshi managed to extract himself from the chaos and brushed himself off, Kain left far behind. Krad could only shake his head at him and then they all turned their attention back to Milea, who was now shifting on her feet.
"So what's happening?" It was also clear that Kain had not been able to get the message through, so she went back to explaining. Once she was done, though, Kain popped up and Satoshi issued some orders that would be passed on. Then he turned to the rest and told them to follow him and Milea was to… contact some other people, it would seem.
"What's going on?" asked Dark as they ran along the corridors; the odd person was forced to the side to avoid being knocked over. There was annoyed mutters all around, but nothing that made any sense, but the former Thief seemed to understand the situation more than Daisuke, who still looked puzzled over it all. Unless he was just holding another conversation with himself.
(Another attack?)
(By the sounds of it.)
(Wait… they can't be expecting me to do something…)
(Who knows. Maybe.)
(But… I've never fought in my whole life! I can't do it!)
(Oh, maybe you'll surprise yourself.)
(What?)
After receiving silence as a reply, Daisuke hopped around to catch up with the others, who were just a little more ahead of him. Satoshi was explaining the finer details to Dark, who was frowning and nodding and the redhead could only incline his head as his cousin turned to face him. "So?"
"I really can't see you doing anything too helpful, you know," came the first comment, and Daisuke pouted, "But apparently you need to be there for… experience."
"Eh?"
"Let's just say you're fighting."
"What! I can't fight!"
"Maybe you'll surprise everyone."
"Now that sounds stupid," Krad smirked at Dark, "Unless you count the time you decided to go sleepwalking and nearly ended up as monster food."
"Hey! That was not my fault!"
Satoshi rolled his eyes at this and the redhead was puzzled, as per usual: he seemed to be puzzled lately, so it wasn't surprising. "Has he told you anything about how he knows Krad? I can't get an answer out of him."
"Dark? No." Daisuke could only shrug lightly as they turned another corner at breakneck speed, "He seems to enjoy avoiding the issue though. Monsters?"
"I thought so too…" he finally came to a stop just as they were about to run into a steel door. It was like any other door, except with no knob or handle to open it. Rather, there was a small panel that sat next to it and the blue-haired boy walked over to it, tapped a few keys, and it slid open slowly.
"Entering in codes 043290 and 548678," a metallic voice intoned all around them, "Please state name, code, position of power and destination."
Satoshi rambled off an odd pair of numbers and words and then there was a small beep, "Permission granted. Hold out until sections 32 and 45 are clear… Clear. Please proceed to area 2. Thank you, have a nice day." It was a small room and on the other side another door slid open. Krad, Dark and Daisuke all looked confused with what was going on but followed the blue-haired boy anyway.
"If we're going to go fight, though," muttered Krad, catching up to the boy, "How do we plan to fight with no weapons?"
"Magic."
"Are you sure that's the best choice of action?"
He laughed, although it was completely toneless, "Don't worry. You're just keeping an eye on the dimensions. That's what you're here for. We'll be adequately prepared before we're out of this place."
"So you say."
"Yet I do," they reached the end and met up with Zeike and Leah, who were currently looking worried, or at least apprehensive. After a brief talk – word apparently got around fast in the base – and weapons were issued all around. It was more of a self-defense aspect then an attack one, so there wasn't any sort of risk of hurting oneself in the process.
There was a moment where yelling people passed down a corridor, but then Satoshi opened another door which led to the outside world.
Daisuke covered his eyes against the morning glare.
(Will I ever be able to live life normally again?)
(Well, depends. If we can, we can. If we can't, we can't.)
(Great answer.)
(I do my best.)
Krad stepped out and looked around for a moment and then pointed at a particular area that seemed to be wavering out of place. "There it is."
"As I thought," Satoshi sighed and closed the door behind him. There was a click of it locking and he tugged unconsciously at his sleeves. "It looks like there may be more then I thought."
"Any other plans then?"
"When we meet up with the Guardian and the rest of the Hit Squad you'll know. Let's go."
000
Shia tapped her foot impatiently, the katana sitting by the wall as she waited. There really wasn't much she could do at the moment, but waiting always got on her nerves, whether she showed it or not. With a slight sigh escaping her lips, she turned to where the chaos was.
Upon first glance, it wouldn't look like anything was out of the ordinary. But it was and even then humans would be unable to identify it. If anything, it would look like it was a heat wave with a vengeance; yet for those who were magic bound, or at least aware of the connection, they would be seeing thin strands of silver completely engulfing the sector in a dome format. It looked like the sort of string created by spiders of silk worms, but Shia was aware that if anything was to touch it or forcefully try to find its way out, it was repelled. She'd just seen that happen.
Monsters were already forming around the area, throwing themselves at the invisible barrier, only to be knocked back again, and then another time, and then another… it seemed that they were unaware of the simplicity of not running into it.
Of course the barrier had to have a source, but she wasn't too worried about what happened to them, seeing that the monster would never make it in time.
"Shia-san…"
At the sound of someone saying her name she turned and noticed Satoshi accompanied by three others. She inclined her head; "The Hit Squad is already in there if you were wondering."
The blue-haired boy nodded, "As long as they're on the scene. Was everyone cleared out beforehand?"
"Right before the appearances were actually made. We were hoping for better timing, but this barrier doesn't make them invisible. I got a page telling me that some people have already noticed and are panicking. We don't have much time."
"I see…" Satoshi then looked at the barrier, frowning, "This isn't the usual procedure; who's forming this… thing?"
Shia smiled grimly, "Akane."
000
There was a hefty bang and another monster was sent flying into a building close by. It growled and struggled to get up, only to be shot again. The attacker checked the number of bullets he had left before turning to the girl next to him. "I'm running low on ammo already. How are you faring, Chris?"
"Oh, I've had worse," growled the other, who was probably in her early twenties at most, "But they're rather persistent today. We don't usually use firearms on these, right?"
"Leave it to the children."
Zeike popped out of nowhere and frowned at the two, "Who's a child?"
"Eep! Don't do that!"
"We're just the attack force!"
The fifteen-year-old frowned at this again but left them to do their job. The Hit Squad was an actual full-force team for the current situation so to him it seemed a bit strange. He was used to working with a small group of selected people, but the rest were usually left to their own devices and sections. Why Shia had called for a full-frontal assault still confused him a bit, but who was he to complain?
"Have you found the source of the magic disturbance?" he asked Farea, who was looking at where the monsters were actually taking shape and scowling slightly for some reason. The other boy shrugged before giving his report.
"It's there but not there, I think. I'm not too sure. We have to actually get closer to get any sort of conclusion but it's too dangerous," he rambled off. "And what's with the barrier today? It looks… very different."
"I'll say," agreed Zeike, "Clef! Get over here!" The youngest member popped up next to them and inclined his head.
"Yeah?"
"You've got the equipment, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, there they are," he waved and dodged a flying monster that had just flown over their heads. Farea whipped out a machine gun and shot, only ever hitting the shapeless bulk and then put it down, "Must you do that now?"
"Hey, if I don't do it now, it's going to attack us again," he frowned and blew a stray hair out of the way, "I think we should just stick to magic. Oh, hi there."
Satoshi shook his head at them, "Have there been no drawn conclusions yet?"
Zeike shrugged at this, "Farea says that the source is there but not there, since we can't get any closer. That's why we've got all the equipment. That's what you wanted, right?"
He nodded, "Exactly."
Clef pulled a bag off his back and unzipped it, pulling out a various amount of headphones that were connected to mouthpieces, obviously used for long distanced communications. He gave them out to the other five and then to Farea and Zeike. Seeing Daisuke's bewildered state, he could only wave a hand to catch the boy's attention.
"You know you can't fight if you're in that sort of state," he watched as Shia struck out at a monster and sliced it in half, "Ouch. That's got to hurt."
"Uh… how do these work?" the redhead asked hesitantly.
"It's just magic-filtered. Don't worry about it."
"Uh-huh…" the boy watched as Daisuke's cousin laughed and slapped the headphones on, making the other boy yelp in surprise and began to berate him.
"I'll be leading the frontal assault," Zeike said under his breath to Shia, "Does that mean you'll be going solo again?"
"Always have, always will, my dear boy."
"Okay then," he turned to the others, "I'm assuming you'll be joining the assault?" Krad had walked off somewhere after talking to Satoshi for a moment and Dark had somehow found himself in possession with a machine gun that looked loaded. The blue-haired boy could only shrug at this.
"We're going solo as well," he finally admitted, "We'll be taking the sides in case any monsters try to get past the barrier and besides," he jerked his head at the other two, "it'll be good training for those two. They need it."
"Are you sure you can handle it with two inexperienced fighters?" Zeike looked slightly doubtful.
Satoshi smirked at this, "Who knows. They may surprise us all." He checked his headpiece before nodding and calling out some more orders before turning back to the leader of the Hit Squad, "If there are any problems, you'll get the message anyway. Let's go."
Once they were out of sight and Shia had hopped off somewhere else, he turned back to the fight at hand and could only sigh when he saw what had happened during his moment of distraction. Fuming, he almost decided that shooting them was a good idea.
"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING! BREAK IT UP ALREADY!"
Farea and Clef had been coming close to hurting one another and they were forced apart by the other boy. The purple-haired one muttered something in disappointment before shifting the weight of his machine gun onto his other shoulder. Clef rubbed his forehead where the barrel of the gun had pressed hard against and scowled.
"He started it," they said in unison, pointing at one another.
Zeike merely bristled. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!"
Chris rolled her eyes at her companion, "They never quit, do they?"
He could only grin as he blew another monster apart, "Like I said; they're just children."
000
"Hey, can you hear me?"
The small voice in Satoshi's ear was slightly distorted, but comprehendible, to say the least and he replied, "I can hear you. Have there been any errors during the connection break?"
"None," confirmed Milea on the other side, "Elena and Kain are on the other lines, in case you're wondering. Also, Raine and Ryu are putting up the connections between the magic barriers. Who's behind it anyway? Elena was beginning to get worried."
"Takada," the blue-haired boy leapt to the side to avoid a magic attack and continued running, keeping an eye on the two in front of him, "I don't know why she decided to wait to try it now, but it can't be a good thing."
"Aah… that makes a lot of sense." There was a moment of thoughtful silence, "So what do you plan to do?"
"We're leaving the actual destruction of the source to the Guardian, while we just keep the numbers in check."
"Roger. I'm now sending files through connections 3 to 7. You're being surrounded by monsters in area U. The numbers are 8.7 and 9.4."
"Right." He stopped and noticed that Dark and Daisuke had also stopped their all-out bolt to who knew where. It looked like the connection worked perfectly and he was glad of that, seeing that he really couldn't give them a lesson with their life on the line. "So, no errors with the connections?"
Daisuke shook his head, "But what's with all the grid references? I've never been too good with them…"
Satoshi could only shake his head before turning the confused boy to look in the other direction, "If that's the case, you might want to look that way."
He watched, slightly amused, as both boys watched the quickly advancing creatures that were making a beeline after them and he took out a pistol, nodding at Dark. "Seeing that you have a long-range weapon, let's see if you can put it to good use." Not waiting for an answer, he sent off a rain of bullets at the creatures and then moved. "Don't stand in one place too long! Keep moving!"
Landing, he watched as to how the other two coped with the situation.
"They better not die…"
000
Shia flicked her blade casually and watched as another monster died under her skill. It wasn't rare for Guardians to actually have to participate in the battle, but the discharge that had been felt was too strong for just that and seeing that Akane had used desperate measures to keep them in check…
The woman jumped back as she saw another beam of magic shoot up into the sky. The main objective was to destroy the monsters without blowing up buildings along with it, but as the numbers increased, she wondered if they would be able to keep to the code. That was the one thing she hated about her job and she would never get used to it.
Children were being falsely accused to doing things that they would never dream of doing: they were branded as a sort of other race that needed to be completely destroyed before any more 'harm' could be done. They didn't seem to understand that everyone was born the same and that what they became reflected the treatment they received their entire life. The only difference was the power that was inside of them, and even then if it hadn't been for the ignorant humans, they would never be in this mess.
It was only because of people like Akane that she was fighting this battle: she would have left it to those in the wrong, but they didn't even know how to cope with a large dog most of the time. That girl really was too much sometimes.
Whipping around, she used an upward slash and spun around, catching two monsters that were coming too close for comfort. They were still increasing in numbers and this was beginning to worry her a bit. Lifting up her weapon, she scanned the area.
There was only really one way to finish it off.
000
Daisuke scrambled a bit to get out of the way as another monster was shot by someone in the Hit Squad, and looked at the weapon he'd been issued. It looked like an overly large stick that had been honed down with various symbols embedded in it and he waved it around experimentally. He honestly had no idea what he was supposed to do – seeing that Dark was currently trying to work the gun properly without shooting someone in the process – and gave a small start when he saw how much power the stick actually held.
But now what? He had no idea how he was supposed to use this weapon and he couldn't even control – or even use, now that he thought about it – his magic. If it was, that is. He seemed to forget to ask that question a lot and he really needed to talk to someone about it. It just seemed that the reaction he'd received all the past times – whether from his family, the general public or even Satoshi, Kain and Akane – seemed just a little over the extreme and that alone seemed to worry him.
(You don't remember how to use that?) asked the little voice in his head.
(What are you talking about?) the redhead was perplexed as he moved out of sight again, wondering if he should be scared out of his wits and why he wasn't feeling that way, (I've never used this in my life. So how can I be telling myself--)
(Of course you didn't use that in particular,) the voice cut in patiently, (You used a spear once, remember? Nearly spiked Saehara with that one. He wasn't too happy that time.)
(…) Daisuke swallowed, (But that was when we were eight! Not to mention my parents weren't too happy with us playing there and all! Why'd you have to remind me…)
(Because it's just like that, whether you were eight or eighty.)
(But I'm not eighty!)
(Yeah, and there's a monster above us.)
Jerking up at this warning, Daisuke managed to jump out of the way as it hit the concrete, creating a dent and he sighed at this slightly: he was going to die, wasn't he? Not to mention remembering how he'd almost killed his friend with the weapon…
He gave a squeak of surprise as the monster came up to him at speed that wasn't natural and he whipped his only weapon out, braining it slightly as it slashed out at him. Dropping low, he noticed that he had actually hit the thing, but nothing was happening. Not to mention he'd nearly been sliced in half.
(Okay, that didn't work,) the voice said, trying to remain as optimistic as possible, (Now, this time why don't you concentrate on the power in the rod and hope that something happens this time. So how about it?) There was an awkward silence as it – or whatever it was – noticed that Daisuke was currently running for his life.
(How am I supposed to do that when it's trying to kill me!) he shrieked.
(Well then, why don't you learn how to control the power in you! Huh!)
(Great, just what I needed,) the redhead thought to himself ironically, (Now I'm having arguments with myself. Are you sure that you're just me or are you some sort of parasite?)
(… I'm just going to say that I am NOT a parasite.)
(Okay…)
"Niwa, there are monsters approaching your left and right flanks, not counting the one that's already chasing you," Kain's voice picked up desperately, "Do you need me to call for back-up? Niwa!"
(Fine then!) Daisuke didn't stop running until he'd reached a more deserted place and then stopped abruptly and whipped around, his only weapon held up in a sort of defensive gesture, "I would appreciate some help now, thanks."
The monster – and it's newly arrived companions – slowed down the pace, noticing that their quarry had finally given up on running. The redhead was relieved at this, seeing that he would have been knocked over and overwhelmed by their numbers alone; he never good at dealing with being tackled, to say the least.
(Are you really going to do it then?)
(Yes. And why are you so talkative today?)
(Because if you die I will never be able to speak to you again.)
(You have a strange sense of humor, you know.)
(I guess you could say that. I guess you could say that I'm you and not you. It's a very confusing tale. Trust me.)
(Does that mean you'll ever tell me why you're there?) Now that he thought about it, Daisuke had just come to accept the voice in his head since the death of his family and the whole running away deal, but now it just seemed strange. There was a sigh with this.
(One day. For now, just keep focused.)
"Right." He noticed that the monsters really seemed to be taking their time and it was beginning to get on his nerves. If anything, he just wanted this whole crazy dream to end so that he could at least attempt a normal life, but there was no chance of that happening.
"Hiwatari and your cousin are busy at the moment," Kain's voice suddenly cackled in the ear piece, "We've got Zeike and the Hit Squad coming, but that will take time. Do you need help right away?"
"Ah, no. I'll be fine… I think," he replied as calmly as he could. The monsters were still getting closer and were too disfigured to really comprehend. It was strange, Daisuke suddenly mused, but they reminded him of that monster when he'd been… what, seven? Five? Sometime long ago. Maybe they were just making a comeback; and that was not a good thing.
Cutting off these thoughts, the redhead waved his rod out, trying to keep them away from him as much as possible. They stopped for a moment, but then continued to move so Daisuke went back to concentrating on the magic in the rod and hoping that what he was doing would not lead to his doom.
(That makes the two of us then.)
000
Krad trailed a finger lightly over the barrier that had been formed all around the area. Although it was fuzzy and completely distorted at times, the blonde could see the world outside continuing their life like nothing was going wrong. He snorted at this, seeing their ignorance as one that could not really be explained: they had cut off an extremely large area and not even a crowd was forming because of it.
Maybe they were just ignoring the simple fact that they were actually in the wrong and that monsters were the cause of most deaths before someone had stepped in to fix it up. And they were the people who were forced into hiding because of them.
Why was it that they were fighting, then? What was their true purpose? Krad frowned as he continued to trace a line across the magical barrier, ignoring the battling that was held within.
It was strange. He'd felt like this had happened before. But this really was the first time anything like this had involved him. Sure, there were those times before, when he'd still been naïve to believe the righteousness between good and evil, but now… now it was just a vague pit of nothing.
They went hand in hand, and nothing would change it.
Celeste had proven it.
000
The monsters were getting closer and closer with each passing step, but this time Daisuke seemed ready for it, although he was still obviously afraid that it was going to fail greatly and that he was going to die soon. Once he thought he had what he needed he swung the rod out like he was using a baseball bat, seeing that he couldn't work out any other way to defend himself.
This time, however, instead of nothing really happening, the power that had been focused upon began to pulse on the end of the weapon and the monsters began to retrace their steps instantly. The closest one didn't get very far, seeing as the magic hit it first and then…
(Was it just me or did it disintegrate or something?)
(…)
He didn't get a chance to brood on it much because he ended up watching the last few monsters getting severed in half and Shia wiped the blood away deftly, the sword now hanging casually by her side. She gave him a reassuring smile that only just reached her eyes and she walked over to him casually.
"I'm assuming that this is your first time then?" she asked, and he nodded. "Tch. And you were sent into battle anyway."
"Uh…" Daisuke had no idea what to say, seeing that he was suddenly feeling very self-conscious as the rod continued to pulse. It was only now that she seemed to notice this and her eyes widened slightly.
"Did you do that?" she demanded.
He swallowed and nodded.
What surprised him was when Shia nodded in his direction and then spoke into her mouth piece, "Is there a central point yet?" She listened for a moment and then nodded, "I think this method will work, but I'm using someone else. The new child, you know. Right, him. I would usually ask someone more experienced to try this, but Akane, Satoshi and Kain are all preoccupied, so we have no other choice." She waited some more and then frowned, "I am well aware with what I'm doing and it won't hurt anyone! I'm positive. Yes, thank you."
When she was done, she noticed that Daisuke was now giving him a look of pure disbelief, "Was it something I said?"
(Actually it was what you didn't say,) the voice piped up and the redhead was inclined to agree, although it was too rude to put it in words, so he had to ask something else.
"Uh… what are you going to do, Shia-san?"
"Ah…" at this, she smiled slightly, "I'm not going to do that much, actually. YOU are."
"… What!"
(Okay… that's a new one.)
000
"She's going to try WHAT!" Satoshi demanded as he sent another monster flying off into space, "Why wasn't she stopped!"
"Well, no one else was there to really discourage her and all we can do here is yell," Milea said in self-defense, not liking all the yelling she was receiving, "She promised that he would be alright, but I don't even know what she's going on about…"
The blue-haired boy cut her off from his attention and scowled, now desperately trying to find a way out of the mess he found himself in. It wasn't that the monsters were very strong, but they kept on coming, and coming, and coming… there was no end to it.
He knew exactly what Shia meant by what she said, but the actual experience could drain all the power out of Daisuke, seeing that he had never used any sort of magic in his life. He had used it once as a small child, but it wasn't enough to endure what the Guardian was now asking.
Whipping around and blowing up a monster that had been approaching them, Satoshi wondered what Dark's reaction to this would be, seeing that he didn't even know what was going on. That was the problem of gaining newcomers who either didn't know how much danger they were in or how to even use their magic or defend themselves, for that matter.
It looked like he would just have to leave it to Shia. She knew what she was doing, but he still couldn't help but be at least a bit worried. Especially seeing who it was that was now being dragged into it. Answers needed to be provided before they got too deep within the power that was there, and the evil that was threatening to engulf themselves still.
"Monster cluster behind you!" warned Milea.
Satoshi did a double check on his ammo and counted on what he had in his inventory at the moment. Dark was close by and by the looks of it, he was running out fast. The blue-haired boy clicked his tongue in annoyance before drawing some conclusions and calculations and then beginning to put them into action.
000
"So this is what I'm supposed to do," stammered Daisuke, as he tried to keep up with Shia, who was occasionally decapitating monsters that got in their way, "I'm supposed to find the source and use the magic in the rod to actually destroy this… uh…"
"Portal," the older woman said, nodding as she looked around, "And it's not going to get destroyed; rather sealed. Since it has been formed and kept closed for centuries, it doesn't surprise me that it's opened. Even though the number of monsters around are beginning to worry me." She turned a moment to look at the redhead and then continued, "I would usually get someone else with more experience to do this, but you're the only one left."
"Can't you do it?"
"I'm… I guess you can say that my magic doesn't branch off in that direction," she chose to say, carefully arranging her words, "There are very few people who can do this job, because it involves manipulating magic that is not our own, but you can do it. The most I could have done was destroy it, but that leads to some after-affects that you really don't want to know."
"I… see…" (So that was why she was asking…)
(See, you are special.)
(Because I have a voice in my head?)
(Very funny.)
They continued on their way, battling where necessary, but usually leaving it to the Hit Squad – that were now split up into smaller groups – until Shia finally stopped running and looked at a small pothole that was just a few feet away from where they were standing.
"Here."
"Here? But we were here before," Daisuke blinked.
"Where it begins is where it finishes," she said calmly, "But this is the one portal area that doesn't seem to be streaming monsters every five second interval, so this is our best chance. I checked around all the points, but they all had to be covered. Too risky."
"I see… I think," it was strange, he had to admit, since he was being dragged into this like it was a sport of something, but Shia clapped him on the shoulder, making him start slightly. She had a really serious feel to her, but at the moment she was smiling at him again. He swallowed and smiled back nervously. He was going to die, wasn't he?
She seemed to have read his thoughts and the smiled widened just slightly at this, "Even if something goes wrong, I'm here to make sure that it doesn't. As a Guardian here, I have to be able to understand the interior and exterior of this land."
The redhead blinked at this, "Guardian?"
"We can talk about that later," she pushed him towards the pothole, "All you have to do is find the source in that hole and then push magic from the rod into it, making it unbalance and hopefully it'll seal itself up. If not, well… run for your life."
(That's a great reassurance.)
(Please…) Trying not to look too scared, Daisuke walked over to the pothole, hoping that nothing would just jump out at him and kill him. Thankfully nothing happened and for a moment he breathed deeply, to make sure that all of his nerves were still intact. Once he got his wits together again, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the magic… however he was supposed to do that.
At first, there was nothing. But albeit fainting there was a thriving source that didn't really belong to the land itself. Thriving and moving at it's own pace, he could almost picture the streams of magic being released into the world, creating and causing chaos and destruction.
(Here goes…) he told himself, easing the grip on the rod and then allowing one of the ends to hover over the magic source, concentrating on the power. The charge really did feel strange and for a moment he felt light-headed, but it was gone almost instantly and he tried to keep himself focused.
On the sidelines Shia made sure that the barrier that she'd created before was completely intact before keeping an eye on the redhead. She knew that she would berated for this later, mainly from Satoshi, to say the least, but she needed to make sure that he could at least control the magic flow so that when he was taught the rest his magic would not go amuck. It was only a matter of time.
000
So that was it. Krad tapped a hand and then went back to his drawn conclusion of the barriers. It was his specialty – if one could call it that – so he would have to do his best. But it was strange: hadn't they destroyed it the last time, or had there been a lasting resonance?
The blonde didn't know, but that was what was annoying him the most and he sighed.
So it just had to happen again.
000
"Magic drawn from the light and darkness… source of the life and death of the human race… don't cease to leave me on my own: watch over me and protect me. Thirteen elements awaken again and allow your voices to be heard once more. Don't abandon what you have been sent to do, don't be the ones who are lost. Draw us back together… don't let us be lost…"
A voice he had never heard before. A voice of purity and sadness. It was one that wanted to be heard but could not. Who was it? Why were they calling for help? What was with the Thirteen Elements?
Daisuke could feel the power surging, but the voice continued to speak, it just wouldn't stop…
"Awaken, for it shall be the time…"
The portal was being sealed with the addition of magic and he failed to notice that Shia looked shocked. All he could do was listen and concentrate.
"The evil is beginning to stir once more…"
Then everything went black.
000
Zeike looked around and noticed that the appearances of monsters had finally weakened and stopped completely and he barked out at the other two, "We're going to clean this place up and move out. We don't have much time so pick up the pace!"
"Aye aye, captain."
"Ah… I want to sleep…"
"Move it!"
"Yessir…"
000
"So he managed to do it then…" Satoshi looked up at the sky, as the barrier began to fade slowly, "What does this all mean?"
Dark hit one of the monsters over the head with the barrel of his gun and looked at the other boy, "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Let's just deal with this first."
The former thief scowled but went back to whatever he'd been doing. Maybe once they got back he could worm some answers out of them; and see what had happened to Daisuke. Really, how the redhead managed to get so far away would always be a mystery to him.
000
A day after the battle led to Shia stepping out of her shop. "Akane, are you sure that you're well enough to actually go now? The barrier drained a lot of your magic."
"… I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Then take care. I will be considering the option though."
"… Thank you."
000
"Are you sure that Daisuke will be waking up today?" demanded Dark, and Satoshi scowled at him in annoyance. Krad couldn't take the other teen's demands and had left for the day, but since they needed someone to keep an eye on them…
"That's what Celes said. I'm not a healer."
"Argh…" he'd been sitting there the whole time since they'd returned to base, and word had gotten around, mainly due to need of more training and restrictions.
The blue-haired boy really felt like yelling, but Raine entered, looking around. "Takada-san's gone. We just got word from Shia-san."
"Not again…"
Just then, Daisuke cracked open an eye and groaned.
000
"Are you sure about this?" asked Akane, her back to the others as she looked over the balcony. The sky was quite clear and there had been no negative effects on the day's battle but she still felt drained.
"Yes, we're quite sure."
"And you're aware of the dangers and the promises you have to make? The situation you're getting yourself into?"
"We're positive. It may be a risk to everyone we care about, and ourselves, but we also know it's the only way. Trust us."
The redhead sighed and nodded slowly, "Well, if that is the case, then I have no other objection to it." She turned slightly to face those behind her.
"Then I welcome you and your sister, Harada-san."
000
Ooh! Riku and Risa are in the picture now! I'm going to go back now to answer questions (you know, the elements, Akane's power, what guardians are… and maybe Dark and Krad's relationship, who the hell Pierre is… the lot, if I can) and then something intersting may start… oh, and Celeste is… well, one day you'll know.
I have to say that this is one of my longest chapters and it could have been chopped into two, but meh, I wanted to get this over and now it is. Although I still have something against the fighting scenes…
I'm enjoying this a lot now. Are you?
Reviewer Replies:
Les Scribbles: Well, here's another really confusing chapter. Long too. o.O Well, I hope you enjoyed and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. This one… I really think it was a tad strange… thanks again!
Shadow Guardian of the Gate: I'm so glad you like this fic! I mean, I'm so happy! Anyway, here's the update and I'm hope it's to your liking.
Staryday: I actually don't know what I was thinking in the last chapter. But it sounds like it wasn't a bad thing, so I'm not complaining or anything. Why Daisuke talks to himself… well, now it's getting confusing. Is it a part of him or someone else:O I just don't know. Glad you liked that one line. Heh heh. XD As for the Dark-Krad-Dark's sister thing… eventually. Uh… yeah.
DoveofLight: Thank you so much for the comments you made on the first two chapters! I'm liked so… happy that you think that way and I'm so honored that you read this and actually enjoyed it! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters!
And sorry for the French, everyone. I actually just used an online translator for those small parts because I can't speak French. Failed my last test, so yeah. Don't know what that has to do with the story. Anyway, if it was annoying you in any way I won't do it anymore, so yeah. Thanks for all the reviews again!