(Author's Note: I thought I'd best get this up. I'm doing well updating so fast, aren't I? Well I did have somebody clinging to the story wanting to read more so here ya go. Won't be able to update for a couple of days do to close exam times but then I'm free all summer! Woot!)
Starflower lay on the bottom of the lake, resting, healing. She remained there until sunrise, when her burns had healed and she no longer needed protection. As the sun rose, the surface of the pool began to ripple in the centre. Starflower rose from the lake, aqueous solution streaming from everywhere, wings, back, hair. The light caught her hair and turned it silver. She stretched and walked up from the lake, coming up slowly so as not to injure herself. She noticed something as she came up to the shore. A black feather. She cocked her head wonderingly and quickened her pace. Upon investigation, she found the feather to be Dark's and picked it up along with the note. She opened her wings and lifted off towards Meru's house, still scanning the letter.
I will take the Agate Links from the Museum at midnight,
Dark
The next morning Daisuke woke up and then stretched. Last day of school for the week, thankfully. He began getting ready for school, still feeling a bit depressed about his conversation with Risa but hopefully school would take his mind off it...hopefully.
Meru managed to make it to school on time, pleased with herself and feeling and upbeat mood. Daisuke, however, had his head on his desk, staring out into space, looking quite down. Takeshi came over.
"Hey Daisuke, what's eatin' ya?" He asked cheerfully, grinning. When he got no response, he waved a hand in front of Daisuke's face.
"Hello? Anybody home?"
"He's obviously depressed about something." A voice said from behind the school journalist. It was Satoshi, who had only just started at the school last term. He pushed his glasses up on his nose a bit, his cold blue eyes slightly hidden behind strands of light blue hair. Little was known about him except that he was incredibly smart and a lot of the girls seemed to like him. "Maybe you should just leave him be."
Daisuke made no notice of hearing this conversation and didn't notice either that when his friend went back to his seat, Satoshi watched Daisuke for a moment before returning to his own...but there was no concern in his eyes, in fact there was little emotion at all.
Meru walked into class and noticed Daisuke immediately. She went over and gave him a quick hug, and went to her seat. She doesn't expect a response from him, and patiently waits for the lesson to start. She knows people like to be left alone when they're sad. At least when they act like this. Daisuke was jolted from his thoughts by Meru's hug, surprised and yet comforted to. He looked over at her and managed a small smile of thanks before the teacher walked in and the lesson began.
He couldn't concentrate too well but nobody seemed to notice too much.
Meru, on the other hands, seemed rather alert and bright. Something was a little strange, though, she being hyper. Daisuke noticed her hyper attitude but at least found it better than her falling asleep in class. The time seemed to fly along and all too soon the bell went for lunch. As most of the students went outside for lunch, Daisuke took out a sketchpad from his bag and walked to the window, looking out over the school grounds and starting to draw.
Meru noticed his better mood and sauntered over. "Wha'cha drawin', Daisuke?"
He jumped, having thought everybody had left and then turned.
"Oh...I'm just drawing the courtyard. I like to draw a lot of things but I'm just trying out landscapes and places at the moment." He answered, a little nervously. He'd never really talked to anyone about his hobbies before.
"Oh, really? That's cool. I draw too, although not quite the same things. Would you like to see?"
"Sure." He smiled, flipping his sketchbook closed and placing it on his desk.
Meru placed her binder on a random desk and flipped through to the last 30 pages or so. Her material was mostly animals like rabbits and birds. There was a drawing of With in there, and the last picture is unfinished. It was of Starflower. Daisuke admired the pictures of the animals and couldn't help but smile at the picture of With. As he looked at the picture of Starflower he wondered a bit...was Meru really like himself and Dark?
"These are really good." He told Meru as he looked through them again.
"Thanks so much! I'm sorry the last picture isn't done yet. People are hard to do, and I just started it yesterday," said Meru apologetically.
"It's fine, really. I have a lot of sketches that are sometimes never finished. But I like drawing people and I paint them...it's interesting sometimes." He said, though not mentioning who had a made a full painting of. That painting based on a photo of Risa was the very item which had caused his first transformation into Dark...and he was very proud of how life-like the painting looked anyway but he'd never show it to anybody...that'd just be embarrasing.
"I'm working on a painting of With at the minute or trying rather, but its impossible to get him to sit still." He laughed.
Meru giggled. "I can see that being a problem. Do you ever paint your landscapes too? I mean just do a scene without a person in it?" She asked, suddenly seeming very curious as she put her elbow on the desk, cupping her chin in her hand. Daisuke nodded.
"I'm working on a painting for the 'Ice and Snow' festival in a few months. But it's far from being finished, I've been kinda busy lately..." Daisuke shrugged and then looked at the unfinished picture of Starflower again.
"Meru...who is this girl? She was the one with you during that incident where you said you saw a unicorn. Is she a guardian angel or something of yours?"
Meru scratched her head and averted her eyes somewhat nervously. "Ummmm... I'm not really sure how to explain her, but yeah, you could say that. Why do you ask such things, Daisuke?"
"Just curious I guess. I've never seen a girl with wings before so I just thought..." He shrugged. "I think that's cool that you have somebody like that watching over you."
He handed back her sketchpad and smiled a bit. "So are you doing better now? Getting more sleep I mean."
Meru smiled warmly back at Daisuke. "More or less. It really depends on what I've been doing. Some nights, I don't sleep at all, I've just gotten better at coping."
He nodded, understanding. "That's good." There was the sound of somebody walking down the hall and the door opened, one of the teachers stepping in. "Ah, there you are Daisuke. Would you mind giving Satoshi a hand with the Art Room now?"
"Oh, sure." Daisuke nodded.
The teacher smiled. "Great. He should be heading there now." Once the teacher was gone, Daisuke shoved his belongings into his bag and left it on his desk.
"Well, guess I'll see you later Meru." He said, waving to her as he walked to the door.
"Uh-huh. Bye Daisuke!" Meru replied, turning to the window and looking outside. She began to ponder the last few days' events in her head, particularly the notice concerning the Agate.
Daisuke walked to the Artroom, taking the student card he had to get into the room. He stopped by the door but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the card to work. Looking at the card he realised it was the one for the Science room.
Aww, man, this means I left the Art room card back in the science room and that's all the way on the other side of the building... With a sigh, he pressed a button on the end of the lock and it clicked open to reveal a key pad. No student was supposed to know about this...
Daisuke tapped in an override code and the door clicked open. He smiled to himself and then realised somebody was standing behind him. Turning, he jumped. It was Satoshi.
"Oh..h-hi..." Daisuke said nervously. "You didn't see that did you?"
"See what?"
"Oh, nothing..."
He stepped into the Art room and began clearing up with Satoshi, the blue-haired boy keeping silent as they cleaned, making daisuke feel completely unnerved and more clumsy than usual.
Meanwhile, Meru, having reached no conclusion, decided to go to lunch. She went outside to the school courtyard and sitting under a tree, proceeded to open her lunchbox. Her lunch wasn't typical for Japan. She had a sandwich and stuff.
"Daisuke..." Daisuke jumped as Satoshi spoke behind him. He turned to see Satoshi by a stack of trays.
"Aren't those supposed to be in the freezers below the school?" The red-haired boy asked curiously, wondering what they were doing here.
"I just found them all along there." Satoshi said, pointing to a wall. "Will you give me a hand bringing them back?"
"Uh...sure." Daisuke put away the last of the drawing boards and picked up half of the stack as Satoshi picked up the other half and they walked out of the Art Room and down past the courtyard and towards the stairs that led to the freezers below the school.
"Should we just leave them outside the door? It's probably locked..." Daisuke said. Satoshi nodded and went to put them down when he looked at the door. "Hang on...this is open..."
"Guess it's a lucky thing then." Daisuke said with a slight smile. Satoshi pushed the door open with his shoulder and entered, Daisuke following. "Brr...it's freezing in here." He said. As they went in, the door closed behind them and locked with a dull click. Daisuke put down the trays and turned back to the door, pushing it only to realise with a horrible jolt that it was locked.
Meru had seen Daisuke and Satoshi from under her tree and pretended to nonchalantly eat while watching them. Starflower heard the lock click shut and alerted Meru to it.
They won't be able to get out, Meru.
"Okay, okay, Starflower," she said, getting up.
Well, we're the only ones around.
"I said alright already!" in a hushed whisper as they reached the door.
Daisuke shivered as it seemed to have gotten colder in the freezer now. He looked at the lock and realised it was an electronic one, much like the Art Room. He opened it to get access to the keypad and tried another override code but it wouldn't work.
Satoshi shivered, rubbing his arms.
"I bet Dark would be able to get out of something like this." He muttered, eyes on Daisuke. Daisuke was a bit puzzled until he remembered something. That first heist he had pulled as Dark...Satoshi had been there. The officers had been calling him Commander...
Wait, is he telling me to transform? But does he really know I am...
Satoshi moved to sit down against the door.
"Shouldn't we move around to keep warm until help gets here?" Daisuke asked.
"We're too far away from campus to be heard by anybody and if you move around and the cold enters your body it'll be all the more painful." The other boy sighed. Satoshi then suddenly leaned forward against the wall with a sharp intake of breath, an expression of pain crossing his face.
"Satoshi?" Daisuke was instantly concerned.
"No, it's...it's nothing." He replied, gritting his teeth. Something was really wrong and Dark could feel a familiar presence about to make an appearance...
"But Satoshi..."
"I said it's nothing." Satoshi said firmly, turning to look at Daisuke, who recoiled in fright. One of Satoshi's eyes had turned amber and almost cat-like.
Meru was outside pulling on the door when suddenly, everything froze. Meru suddenly felt very cold and she found she couldn't move as Starflower's terrified voice whispered, Krad. Then Starflower is carrying them both away with her bright orange wings.
Daisuke moved away as Satoshi's other eyes changed too and he doubled over in agony as white wings pushed themselves out of his back and there was a blinding light, white feathers flying everywhere.
It's Krad... Dark told Daisuke. Quickly, transform! Daisuke obeyed and Dark took over just in time to see Krad making a full appearance.
"Finally...it's about time I got free. I've been waiting a long time for this Dark." Krad smirked.
"Just like you to abuse your host like that.." Dark said, facing his opposite. Krad unfurled his wings, not noticing the cold and white feathers shot out at Dark, exploding as they got near him. Dark ducked and doged, jumping around the freezer and ducking behind containers as Krad attacked him.
"Soon this body will be mine and I will finish you once and for all!" Krad declared.
Meru, meanwhile, was trying to convince a mentally screaming in terror Starflower to return and fight.
Starflower, we have to go back!You know what Krad is capable of, and we can't just leave someone in there with him! The cajoling continued for several minutes, then Starflower turned around and headed back towards the freezer. As they flew, memories Meru had never seen flowed through Starflower's mind.
What happened, a long long time ago, is that Krad killed her fiancee in an attempt to take her. How she survived that is anyone's guess, since he ran a sword through both of them, but now, Starflower's thoughts were on revenge. The door was blasted out of the wall it was set in to reveal Starflower, her eyes glowing red and flames igniting from her fists. Inside, Meru called to her.
Ummm, Starflower? Are you okay? 'cause this isn't exactly what I had in mind. Starflower? You there?
Dark whirled as Starflower blew open the door and then got tossed backwards by one of Krad's feathers exploding in front of him. Krad looked towards her and then smirked. "Well, well...this is a surprise."
Starflower narrowed her eyes and flattened her wings at Krad, but said nothing.
Dark got back up to his feet, taking out his black feather and narrowing his eyes at Krad. The white-winged man looked at him and then raised a hand with his own white feather in it. The two began to glow...
She opened her wings and fluffed them, releasing a golden dust. The dust swirled through the room and settled on Dark, effectively boosting his magical ability. As the fire climbed up Starflower's arms, she stepped into the room and brought several feathers of her own. Dark glanced at Starflower.
"It might be an idea to try not injure his body. We do have to remember he's using the body of his host..." Krad fired a blast a of blinging light towards Dark, who countered it easily with his own black feather, his power boosted by Starflower's aid. Dark was trying to keep Krad away for the time being until he figured out someway of forcing Krad back under Satoshi's control. Starflower spread her feathers, and they produced their effect, Krad is immediately bound by several strips around his torso, which also tie his wings to him. It couldn't really be dodged, since this was displacement and simply appeared where she wanted them.
Krad stumbled back and cried out as Dark fired a blast of dark energy at him, encasing him in it. He knew he was caught and just at that moment Satoshi tried to regain control. Krad glowed brightly to try retaliate and Dark rushed forward in an effort to stop him. There was a blinding flash of light followed by an explosion, blasting away Darks' magic and Starflower's bindings.
When the smoke cleared, Dark and Krad were gone, Satoshi and Daisuke lying unconscious on the ground. Meru watched through Starflower's eyes and was stunned...which boy was Dark and which one Krad?
Starflower sighed as she calmed down. Meru seperated and walked around the area, picking up the door and trying valiantly to refit so no one else could see what was going on.
"Go to the offices or whatever and sign out Daisuke and Satoshi. Then call Satoshi's parents. We can take Daisuke home, he's the safe one. And if you have a question, make it in telepathy," Starflower said just as Meru opens her mouth.
Why?
"Just because they are both unconscious doesn't mean they can't hear us."
How do you know who's safe and who isn't?
"Daisuke is Dark, and Satoshi is Krad, and Krad is literally insane. Do you remember when Daisuke was 'sick'? I didn't tell you then, but Dark was injured in the exact same way in the exact same places. That usually isn't coincidence." Meru nodded and left the freezer to conduct her duties, as Starflower created another binding strip and tied up Satoshi, jsut to be sure. When Meru returned, they re-fused and leave with Daisuke, leaving Satoshi outside the freezer. Daisuke stirred slightly as they left with him, not exactly waking from his unconscious state. His eyes opened briefly and then closed again as he passed out once more, only glimpsing who was carrying him.
Daisuke's mother was standing at the front door, something telling her that something was wrong...something had happened before Daisuke was ready to cope with it. That something was Krad. He had appeared far earlier than she and her father had predicted. Starflower landed on the walk in front of Daisuke's house, planning to hide her wings and just knock on the door. Of course, seeing as Mrs. Niwa was at the door, that was not exactly an option, so she just walked up to the door with Daisuke.
"Krad showed up at the school today. I trust you know the name. Krad has been successfully contained. Daisuke seems to be in fair condition, only unconscious. May I bring him in?"
Emiko nodded and stepped aside to let them in. "You can put him down on the sofa." She told Starflower, showing her the way, looking worried about Daisuke. "So Krad appeared...this is bad news..." She sighed.
As Starflower turned to place Daisuke on the couch, she replied, "More for me than for you, madam."
She flexed and placed her hand on Daisuke's chest, then started healing any fatigue or anything that could be problematic once he woke up. She was somewhat hoping to wake him, either he or Dark needed to hear this too. Starflower and Meru both figured that at least one of them will wonder as to how Krad knew Starflower. Daisuke soon stirred and then opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times.
"Huh?" He looked up at Starflower and then at his mother, sitting up carefully. He rubbed his head. "Uh...what did I miss?" He asked, frowning a bit at their expressions.
"The ride home, and that's about it, although I'm pretty sure you woke up for a moment or two while we were in transit. Do you think you could stand to tell your mother and I what you two were doing in there when Krad decided to show?" Starflower's tone was either annoyed or upset. It was hard to tell which. She was currently sitting in midair with one leg crossed over the other.
"Satoshi and I were cleaning the Art Room when he found trays that belonged in the school freezer. So we brought them back and found the door open. But while we were putting the trays in, the door just closed shut on us." He explained, wondering what had her so upset. "Then Satoshi started acting weird and he seemed to be in a lot of pain and then he suddenly transformed. But...it looked like a forced transformation."
Starflower put her hand to her head and winced. "Oh, wonderful. Well, at least I saw you two headed in there, at least."
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Daisuke nodded. "But...what happened to Satoshi?"
Starflower looked up from her hand. "Satoshi? Oh, I'm sure he's fine. I made sure Krad was completely contained, and Meru called his parents from the office to pick him up. They've probably already arrived to find him. Normally, I would have my partner fly him home, too, to avoid questioning, but considering what happened to my last partner the one time he woke up, I didn't think that was such a good idea."
"Alright..." Daisuke nodded, then leaning back on the couch. He looked to his mother who immediately hugged him.
"I'm so glad you're alright..." She sighed.
Daisuke smiled a bit and then looked at Starflower. "So, what's the deal between Krad and you?"
Starflower sighed, and seems rather sad. "I'd rather not tell you, but better you find out from me than Krad. First thing: Krad, Dark, and I are all from the same realm and have traveled here. Second thing, Krad means 'banished.' A very, very long time ago was when Krad went insane. He somehow decided he was going to be with me whether I wanted any part of it or not. He attacked during my wedding and killed my fiancee and almost me as well. He ran my fiancee and I through with a very large sword he doesn't have anymore. He was aiming for Azriel. I put myself in the way, and it went through both of us. Krad grabbed me and took off. He was captured and banished from our world, losing status and all his weaponry as well. He broke the first sacred law: not to kill. I did not come to this terrafirm expecting to see Krad. He actually arrived after me. I went into the International Army and was sent on reconnaisance here. Anything else you might like to know?"
Daisuke shook his head. "Uh...no, thanks." He looked somewhat puzzled.
His mother looked at Starflower. "But while Krad may be insane, Satoshi is his host and he's got a sane mind. There's a large conflict between the two." She said. "All the signs point to that. Satoshi must be a descendant of the Hitari clan which allows Krad to appear, much like the Niwa family is with Dark."
Starflower waved her hand at her, brushing it off as unimportant. "Yes, I know that already. Krad's hosts are almost always sane, albeit this is the first host I've seen that's actually tried to fight Krad instead of going along with whatever he wants. What I don't understand is why Krad and Dark have continued to fuse to hosts. They have corporeal bodies and can survive perfectly well without a host." Starflower brought her hand to her chin and rubbed it while she thought on the matter.
Daisuke listened to Dark's voice in his head. "Dark says there's some kind of power still keeping them fused but he doesn't mind so long as it keeps Krad being kept busy fighting with his host."
Daisuke's mother nodded. "It's an unknown artifact and we won't know what it is until its power awakens. And when it does Krad's going to be there pretty fast to stop Dark from sealing it."
"And with Dark and Krad being kind of twins whatever holds one back holds the other." Daisuke said then suddenly wincing and holding his head. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it like that..." He muttered, obviously to Dark.
"Yeah. I know about the artifact. It is definitely a good thing that Krad and Satoshi are fused, there needs to be a control factor on Krad. My partner and I have been doing schematics, and it seems that Satoshi is about the only thing keeping his full ability back." She replied worriedly.
"That's got to be a massive strain on Satoshi..." Daisuke said with a sigh. "But there's nothing we can really do, is there except wait for this artifact to awaken and stop Krad before he gets to it..."
"Yeah, there is nothing we can do at the moment, seeing as there is no way to detect it before it shows itself. We might not be around as much, we're warning you now. Krad brings a very real danger to the game, and if I die, so does my partner. So we'll be getting ready."
Daisuke nodded. "Dark and I will be ready to face him."
Daisuke's mother nodded and looked at Starflower. "Would you like something to drink before you go?"
"No thank you," Starflower says, rising from her mid-air seat. "I suppose we'll see you tonight, but we must be going. Our parents will be worried about us." She added to Daisuke with a wink.
Daisuke smiled a little. "See you then." He agreed with a nod.
His mother rose to let Starflower out. "Thank you for bringing Daisuke home."
"You're more than welcome. I only wonder what would have happened to Krad and Satoshi. We did not stay to see them picked up." There was a worried note to Starflower's voice.
"I'm sure things will be alright." The woman smiled. "And I'd say Satoshi's probably back home now."
Starflower walked out, then turned and bowed. "Thank you for your kind hospitality. Perhaps we will see each other again." She turned back around and walked to the street, spreading her wings, and then flew off in a northeasterly direction, reaching the cloud layer quite quickly.
Daisuke's mother closed the door and turned to Daisuke.
"Still able to go tonight?" She asked him, moving to sit down beside him. Daisuke nodded.
"The sooner Dark and I seal these items the sooner we'll be ready to take on Krad when the time comes." He said in agreement.
What's this? Starflower and Krad have history! Shock! Suspense! Drama!
No heist in this chapter but ooooooooh... Developments!
Daisuke: Lay off the chocolate...please...
Meru: You're more hyper than I was!
Me: ...I'm allowed be hyper...It's called exam stress...
Starflower: More like chocolate overload. We need a calming down here!
Dark: (hugs Kitty)
Me: (swoons and faints)
All: HOORAY!