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. Many, many subplots with the plot plots. Confusing, yeah? Oh yeah.

--- Darkened Heart ---

--- 10 ---

"Light…"

(… What?)

"Dark…"

(What's going on?)

"Neither is evil… and together they must stand…"

(What are they talking about?)

"Otherwise the world shall fall into turmoil…"

(Turmoil?)

The voice echoed in Daisuke's head clearly and it was the very same one that had been intoning about the Thirteen Elements. Collecting himself, he tried to work out what had happened: he had used magic and then the world went black. Very black.

That's right. He must've fallen unconscious.

The sound of Dark arguing with Satoshi was what made the redhead open his eyes and he groaned as a sort of numbing pain lanced through him. There was a dim light that filled the room so at least his eyes weren't going to die anytime soon, but he didn't feel like he could move and he blinked slowly.

"Daisuke! Are you okay!" yelped his cousin, looking worried.

"Uh…" he managed to croak.

"The spell must have been stronger than I thought…" muttered the blue-haired boy, obviously to himself, but the redhead heard. Slowly his world came into focus and he could only stare at the ceiling for a moment, trying to work out how he was supposed to convey his message. Dark was hopping around almost too anxiously for his own good, but there was no one else in the room to stop him. "Are you okay, Niwa-kun?"

Daisuke swallowed painfully, "I can't move."

"…"

"Hey! You said that he was going to be alright!" his cousin yelled indignantly, and Satoshi gave him a blank look.

"Well, he's still breathing and living. What more can you ask for?" not waiting for a reply, he got up and went to the door, "I'll go find someone…"

When he was gone, the redhead was still looking at the ceiling and Dark was looking furious. Or was it loss of pride? No one knew anymore. With, who had been hiding under the bed since the return of the last battle, hopped out and then gave Daisuke a quizzical look.

"Kyuu?"

"I'll be okay, With," he said, managing a wane smile, "But… what happened? Dark?"

"… Just don't do that again."

"What?" Daisuke would have sat up at this point, but since he was unable to, he could only turn his neck slightly to see his cousin facing the opposite wall.

"Getting caught in danger, being chased by people, I know what that feels like," Dark shrugged, "But you're really putting your life on the line this time, Daisuke. And what do you think I'll be thinking if you die right in front of me?"

"… Sorry…"

The purple-haired teen smirked and ruffled the younger boy's hair, "At the most, tell me when you're going to do it!"

"Hey! Dark, that hurts!"

---

Satoshi had just turned a corner, only to collide quite painfully into Kain, who had been running around aimlessly for the past half hour. Rearranging his glasses back into its usual position, the blue-haired boy frowned.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were helping the research team on the last battle," he said suspiciously. The boy shrugged and then sighed.

"Hiwatari," he started grimly, completely ignoring the last comment, "Don't you ever wonder what's going to happen to all the innocent people here? I mean, they haven't done anything and here they are, trapped in a world that really isn't their own."

Satoshi blinked as he walked past the boy, "I'm just amazed that you were able to say such an insightful thought."

"I… uh… what!" Kain whipped around, his brain just processing what had happened. "What did you say about me!"

Shaking his head, the blue-haired boy made his way down one of the corridors until he came to a door that was only half-closed. Pushing it open, three heads whipped around to face him and they stared at each other. Finally someone spoke up.

"What's going on now?"

"What are you doing here, Satoshi?" a person with long, dark ivy-green hair asked, looking perplexed and was currently trying to fold up a piece of cloth. Struggling for a moment, they finally gave up and tossed onto the bed next to them.

"Nothing that really concerns you," he replied, "I was wondering if you had seen Clara, by any chance."

"In need of a Healer again?" someone with pink hair who was a lot smaller than the rest suddenly popped up, her hair in pigtails. "Couldn't you just get Celes?"

"She's in a meeting, stupid."

"Don't call me stupid, Stupid!"

"What!"

"Calm down, you two," an older woman appeared out from behind the bickering two and hit them over the head with a medication bag. She had short, curly-ish brown hair and was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans. "Right. So where am I supposed to be going?"

"Niwa just woke up, but he can't seem to move," Satoshi replied coolly, while the two arguing were now wrestling with each other and throwing random insults in the process. Clara nodded in understanding.

"I remember the first time you decided to try it out," she joked lightly as she edged past the two, "You didn't wake up until a week later. Your parents thought you were dead."

"I don't want to remember that."

Clara was nineteen and looked thoughtful as they returned to the room where Daisuke was now arguing heatedly with his cousin, who had decided to sit out of harm's way. Satoshi raised a brow at this, but didn't say anything while the Healer did her job.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked briskly, not one into introductions; besides, she knew Daisuke, but he didn't know her. So it all worked out in the end.

"Yeah… uh…"

She smiled serenely at him as she pulled out a clear blue bottle and began to explain what she was doing and how it would help the redhead, who was just blinking. He understood what she meant most of the time, but it was still strange.

At the rate he was going, he wasn't going to be surprised anytime soon.

---

Milea was shuffling through a number of files and frowning just slightly, only half-focused on what she was supposed to be doing. It wasn't actually much, but she really wanted to get whatever she was supposed to be doing. And she was failing miserably. Oh joy. She rolled her eyes.

There was a knock on her door and she muttered them permission to enter. She no longer knew where the others were but it didn't mean anything; it happened all the time. Great, just great. "Come in, then," she called. The familiar creak of the door met her ears and then someone entered.

"You know you shouldn't work so hard, Milea," Leah said cheerfully. The blue-haired girl didn't turn; she meerly grunted. "That and you're bones are going to be all stiff by the time this is over and I didn't catch you this morning-- what's that you're trying to read?" The green-haired girl popped up next to her friend's shoulder and looked at it. "… It's blank."

Milea started, only noticing her for the first time, "Oh, it is. Sorry about that."

Leah grinned, "Spacing out, as usual. Even after all these years you manage to lose your way to the bathroom and back."

"Very funny," she snorted and threw the spare piece of paper at her head, "Now, what do you want?"

"I got bored with Zeike constantly yelling at the others, so I thought I'd help you."

The blue-haired girl shrugged, "Sure, if you want. Let's see… we're trying to find all the records on monster attacks and the barriers and lines that connect our world to the others."

"Sure," Leah dug through a draw and pulled out a stack of yellowed paper, "Will this do? And why are we doing this?"

"Hikari-san wants to know everything about the barrier now, for some reason," explained Milea coolly, flipping through another page and frowning all the while, "And if it's getting worse, we want to know at least a few things."

"Do you have any idea on how it happens the first time?"

"No. But all I can say is that if monsters are coming, it'll be chaos from all sides."

"Right." Leah muttered something else under her breath, but it wasn't loud enough for the other girl to hear it and soon the room was completely overwhelmed by paper, paper, and more paper.

---

"Hey, Hiwatari-kun?"

"…"

"What's a Guardian?"

Dark was sitting at the foot of Daisuke's bed and Satoshi was sitting in the darkest corner of the room, not doing anything. Once Clara had finished fixing the redhead up, she'd gone off to do something about the casualties in the last battle and then there had been silence for the last five minutes.

"A guardian?" repeated the blue-haired boy, as if he hadn't heard correctly, looking over the rim of his glasses, "A Guardian is similar to the beings with magic who don't hide from society, yet they strive to keep the balance in check, so that monsters cannot enter this realm."

"Balance?"

"It's not an easy thing to discuss," Satoshi sighed and rubbed his temples; he really needed some time off and why did everything have to spiral downhill after one little incident! "I would say something like good and evil, and that if one is too much, everything topples off into chaos, but that's not the only thing. Monsters appear, people get hurt, those who are suspicious get even more so; they believe that our 'sort' is the reason why the monsters are here in the first place.

"They refuse to accept the fact that without us, the balance would have been completely destroyed and then there would be no human race to speak of. But without the Guardians for each district, the place would be overrun with dead bodies and roaming monsters by now."

Daisuke frowned, staring at the ceiling, "Why are they so stubborn? Why do they kill their own kind because of one little difference?"

"They're scared." This time it was Dark who answered, and he didn't look happy about it, "They hate what's different. They want to rid of it, hoping that peace will continue if we're gone. But they're wrong, because like he said; without us, the world's finished."

"…"

With, who'd been sitting on Dark's head this whole time, looked up, curious, "Kyu?"

For a moment there was a bit of silence, but it didn't last for too long because something else came to Daisuke; and that came as a surprise, because he had more questions in his head than one could count. It was becoming quite tiresome for him.

"When I first got here, Akane-san said something about the power of 'Time' and then Kain said something about the 'Thirteen Elements'. What's that supposed to mean?" the redhead noticed that both his cousin and the other boy – mentor? Teacher? Some guy who was creepy? – flinched at this mention and Satoshi coughed slightly, like he'd been choking on something.

"About that…" he said slowly, weighing his words with each passing second, "… It will take a long time to fully explain the complexity of that nature, but I'll try to make it easy for you."

"You're really going to tell him?" Dark hissed.

"Nothing too drastic," the blue-haired boy hissed back. He then noticed that Daisuke was giving them long looks and blinked, before recollecting himself and getting back to the topic at hand. "Well, the first thing you need to know is that the 'elements' and 'Guardian' go together. There's a connection between those two words, okay?" the redhead nodded. "And then the 'balance' comes into the picture, which then goes to the 'barriers and portals', then to the 'condemned' and then to the--"

"Now I'm confused," cut in the purple-haired teen, "Do you always talk in circles so that you confuse everyone in the room?"

At this point, Satoshi would have jumped up and killed Dark there and then, but someone entered the room at that very moment and managed to catch hold of his arm before he got too far. Krad looked unimpressed at the sight of his half-brother lunging to kill a certain someone, but something told him that killing each other off wasn't the best time now.

"I'm assuming that he was being a total ass again?" he asked coolly, and didn't wait for an answer as he looked around, "I need to talk to the asshole anyway."

"What'd you call me!" Dark jumped up, fuming.

"What I think is known as the truth."

"Why you--"

Daisuke watched with faint amusement as the two older teens began to argue until Satoshi kicked them both out of the room in annoyance. Their bickering continued outside – this time accompanied with yells from other rooms to shut up – but at least his own room wasn't too bad.

The blue-haired boy cleared his throat.

"I guess I should just ask you how much you know about the elements."

"Eh! Uhm…" Daisuke strained in the back of his mind for a moment, trying to conjure up a piece of information. The problem was that everything was scattered and completely out of whack, bouncing from one place to another and it was now giving him a headache. He shook his head hopelessly, "I can't remember anything, besides the obvious."

"I see…" Satoshi frowned at the floor, unconsciously wiping his glasses for no reason at all, "Well, let's try from the very beginning:

"There are many worlds in this world, and they all branch out with each other, intertwining with each different element, that keeps the balance in the worlds. They are the main focus, where each element is equally powerful as another, and that's fine.

"The main elements are Fire, Water, Lightning and Earth. They're the elements that purely exist in our world, so that if we're destroyed, those elements go with it."

Daisuke interrupted at this, "So that means… that each world has their own element?"

"Correct. That's what's creates the barriers and lines between worlds, and when they are upturned, they break, which allows the monsters through," the blue-haired boy nodded and continued:

"From there is the branching elements, which contains the components of the basic elements. This includes: ice, poison, gravity, metal, nature, wood and wind. Again, there are world's that exist entirely on these elements, so that's what the balance is all about.

"If that was the only thing, though, then it wouldn't be as hard. Magic isn't just channeled through people and goes away when not wanted. It's always there. Some can sense it, others can't. But people don't seem to understand how important it is.

"Last is the three sacred elements, as they're titled, because they either compose of all the aforementioned elements, or don't have them at all. They are Light, Dark and Time."

"…"

"Light and Dark aren't as most people believe in as good and evil, yet that have stronger powers that allow such things at most. Controlling and watching over life and death, gifted with talents that scare even them, there are very few with such a power. As far as we know: none."

"Then…" mumbled Daisuke, "What about…"

Satoshi held up a hand for silence: "Time is just that. Just as we know it. It can control both life and death, holds most power than what anyone on this planet can imagine, and if not controlled properly – like Light and Dark, or all the elements together – if can destroy the world and everything on it. It's true power is always sealed away, and as for the wielder, who knows.

"There has only been one person to ever been known to have this power, and that is--"

"—Akane-san," finished Daisuke.

---

Having been told countless times to shut up of go bug some other poor person down the hallway, Krad dragged the other teen down to one of the less populated areas. Actually, it was completely deserted, but who cared? The blonde turned around and noticed that Dark had a smirk plastered firmly on his face; much like a statue.

Sometimes Krad did wish that the Phantom Thief would turn into stone.

"What?" he snapped, raising a brow.

"Well, I still can't understand why you're being so unfriendly towards me," huffed the other teen, still with that annoying smirk on his face. "I never thought you would be so…" he fell silent, trying to find the right word, but didn't. "Well, the fact remains is you don't even seem to care that I'm still alive."

"And why should I care?" hissed the blonde dangerously, "We might have fought on the same side at one point of our lives, but it doesn't mean that you weren't just annoying and getting in my hair. I was glad when it was over."

Dark narrowed his eyes, "And you don't even care about Celeste?"

"What does it matter. It's none of my concern."

If it had been at any other place, Dark would have killed Krad there and then, but didn't. The blonde crossed his arms – face half-hidden in the shadows – and watched as the former Phantom Thief struggled with all the thoughts running in his head.

He couldn't explain it. He hated Dark for past reasons; reasons that were pitiful and pretty petty, now that he thought of it. But there was their word to never see each other again; how had this happened? Why was his half-brother involved with a fight that they didn't need to be in? When Krad had first known this, he had freaked: the whole concept was ridiculous.

But not as ridiculous as it was true.

When Krad had found out that he was different from the rest – one of 'them', as his parents so loathingly put it – he wondered if he should run or hide. He ended up choosing the latter in the end, seeing that if he did run, they would find out sooner or later, and besides, his parents were part of the 'authority', which allowed him to gain information that wasn't exactly pleasant.

What happened – what it was that led him to getting to know Dark and certain others – changed his view in things, and that was also when he discovered that he wasn't the only one with certain powers. But when Satoshi got pulled into it, and even joined what would now become an all out war that was fought three-ways… he didn't know what to think.

The silence was broken by Dark. "It's been a long time since then, hasn't it. Who thought that we would be pulled into it again?"

Krad shrugged, "Guess we'll just have to deal with it."

---

Satoshi sighed and glanced at his watch; if he didn't leave for home soon his parents were going to be worried. Or as worried as two full-time working adults could be, he had no idea anymore. Waiting for Krad was one thing; being bombarded by a redhead who had just suffered loss of parents and a growing power in him was another.

Daisuke had wanted answers: but some of the questions had to wait. The problem was, there wasn't exactly a lot of time for anyone here, but he couldn't be the only one to explain it. That was where Akane came into the picture.

It was her fault for arguing a simple case to allow him to stay.

"You know that this will put him in danger."

"You were the one who brought him here, Hiwatari-kun."

"I only want to make sure that he doesn't die."

"But you felt it too, didn't you? Power beyond power?"

"… I wouldn't put it that way."

"No. I guess not. But if you place Light and Dark together, you receive incredible power, correct?"

"I know."

"And if the lines break, what are we to do?"

"Are you proposing that we use him as a weapon? We know nothing about him except that he lost his parents. Don't you think that this is too much?"

"I know it must hurt… but we can tell him gradually."

"Something tells me you don't understand."

"Something tells me that you should just let karma be."

"…"

"Or did you forget about my 'unique' abilities?"

She never spoke about her past, or about family or even where she'd been for the last few years. The two had met by coincidence at some sort of park and after realizing that they were in the same situation, that's where things went downhill.

The fact remained that Akane seemed to hate the mere thought of pain, thus starting a world beneath a world, and now… This.

An evil that wanted to engulf them.

But the strangest part was that during one of the meetings, the redhead had said one thing that kept running through his head: "So it's repeating the cycle…"

"Are you thinking too much again?" asked a voice next to his ear. Satoshi whipped around and noticed that Krad was standing behind him, looking bored.

"How long were you standing there?" he demanded, not knowing if he should be angry or relieved; maybe a bit of both would be good.

"I just got here. Let's go."

They left base just as the sun was slowly beginning to set, hidden by the tall gray buildings before them. Both boys were silent, lost in their own thoughts, but the nagging in the back of the blue-haired boy's brain told him that he should just try and nag the blonde for some answers.

"Krad."

"Hn?"

"How do you know Dark and I don't want the usual crap." Yep, right to the point this time.

The blonde looked surprised at the straightforwardness, but his face changed back to indifference half a second later. "You really want to know, don't you?"

"And you don't want me to know," Satoshi retorted simply. "And I think we have a right to know."

Krad gave him a long look, before placing both hands behind his head and looked at the slowly changing colours in the sky; "I suppose you're old enough to understand the complexity… but not here."

"When, then?" he asked testily.

"Let's just say tonight." The blonde decided. It would give him enough time to work out what he should tell, what he shouldn't tell, and whether he should mention about the connection between himself, the balance, and the evil they feared.

No. They didn't need to know that for now. Maybe some other time.

It was a very big maybe though.

---

Hey look, I managed an update! (rolls eyes) Well, at least I made it to chapter ten…

I have to admit that this is going to be longer than I thought, but with all the explanations I've got to work on now… and we may finally find out how Dark and Krad know each other. Pierre will become the annoyance of society and who knows; Shia may be back to teach Daisuke something about his magic…

We don't know that much about it, do we? Well, we'll just see…

Replies:

Les Scribbles: Eheh, I actually have to go back on the past chapters now so at least I can remember what I have to cover. But it's going to take a long time, I know it. XD I don't know about fun, though… it could all just be a wild rollercoaster ride…

Shadow Guardian of the Gate: You think? Er… I suppose it could be worse. This chapter was really toned down compared to the last one, huh? Don't know if I'll put more fighting scenes up soon, but we can hope, right?

Muh… I have no idea when I'll update this, but whatever. I'll find a way… thanks again for the reviews!