A/N: Well I'm working hard, and I'm onto the next chapter! That should make y'all happy! –dances-

Anyway, any side-notes before this chapter? Erm… lesse… only one or two. I think I've been working on this story harder than 'The Shining Light' –sweatdrops- And I owe big thanks to BlooDy-MaY once again for being my inspiration and giving me an awesome quote last night that I can use in here! Big thanklies: )

And, to anyone who has been flamed by someone called nakano takeko I say now, don't bother listening. Write as you please. Write what you please. If people don't like it, they don't like it. Don't get discouraged guys. If we, the true Gravitation fans, say we like it then go forth and write! You can't let good ideas waste away: D

Oh, oh! Dejichan4444! I've got a surprise in store for you! … unfortunately it's not finished yet XD But hopefully it will be soon! It's a fic dedicated to you (or it'll probably be a one-shot for how it's going now) for inspiring me constantly while I was writing 'Pure as the Snow' and 'The Shining Light'. Got to thank you some way don't I: ) So keep your eyes peeled for that one.

And, on cue, next chapter please!

Those who dance with Darkness

Chapter IV

The smell of burning was the first thing she awoke to. Mika swung her legs out of the bed and wandered toward the window, wondering whether she really wanted to see what would await her outside. But she could already guess what she'd see. It was a scene she was already so used to.

Her dark blue eyes wandered around the scene, her breathing heavy. She had seen this scene so many times, but you could never prepare yourself to see it. The sky above was black; blacker than night, blacker even than pitch. There were no stars or moon in the sky, nor was there any hint of light. The rain poured down endlessly… continuously.

The city that had stood proud the day before was nothing more than a smouldering wreck, slowly being put out by the rain.

Aquroya was no more.

She couldn't take the sight of it. It had been so beautiful and full of life when they'd come here as kids… before Eiri had submitted to the darkness… but now it was a complete war zone. No… not even a war zone. A defeated battlefield filled with broken dreams and hopes. Filled with sorrow and pain.

This was possibly the worst she'd seen any city they'd destroyed.

A tear fell down her cheek.

It was a place full of memories… now dead.

She couldn't stay here anymore. She had to leave.

She turned round, to see her little brother Tatsuha the long arm behind her, a red glaive with gold patterns on it in his hand. He nodded to her. Mika cast her gaze skywards.

They'd go on a quest for the light together, and they'd free Eiri.

Another hope was born. A flicker of light shone out.

He walked by yet another destroyed town, and felt the souls abundant around him. They were all waiting… waiting for a summoner to send them. But he was on a mission. He didn't have time for this…

… their pleading voices carried on the winds to his ears.

He couldn't turn away from such helpless souls. He had to send them on.

Ryuichi readied his staff and danced.

"I want to know… how does the darkness grow stronger?"

The young man before him bent down closer to him.

"It grows stronger by your fears and anxieties," he replied. The boy with golden eyes blinked.

"Can you show me?" he asked. A sickeningly evil smirk, then darkness wrapped it's deathly hand round him.

"Open your heart to darkness; Free yourself from this worldly prison and let darkness take your soul!"

His vision blurred. His eyes became filled with only red, the colour of pure hatred and he felt his pure soul being swept away.

"Submit to me, and let your soul free,"

¤¤¤

Sweet, sickening screams pierced his ears. Those who were dying made his heart leap out and dance. Their screams were the sweetest candy for the soul. Their lives were the perfect reward for such a thing. He could even use them for his own ends soon enough.

For now, he savoured their screams and lived in them, taking their beautiful clear sound into himself.

A smirk crept across his face.

He was the prince of darkness, and they would all bow to him soon.

The troops of Nakano stared at the boy for some time before any action or movement started. Then the troops started murmuring to each other, still unable to come to terms with what lay before them. Nakano put a hand to his chin in thought.

"A summoner… eh?" he said slowly. Fujisaki looked to his elder for some kind of indication for what to do. When he didn't get any, he decided he had to say something to get Nakano to acknowledge him.

"Nakano, what should we do?" he asked. He saw his elder think for a few moments more, assuming that he was now over the shock of discovering a summoner all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, before Nakano spoke once again.

"Fujisaki, may I ask you to use your White Magic to heal him? We need to find out why he's here and who he is and I'm afraid we can't when he's unconscious,". Fujisaki looked at his Captain in almost disbelief.

"But Nakano! What if he really is—"

"Enough Suguru!" Nakano cut in. There was a silence among the troops. Fujisaki was amazed at this. His fellow Captain, one of the smartest warriors in the world, was actually asking him to revive this boy they'd just found, even when there was a strong possibility he was one of Uesugi's followers! The worst thing about this was his tone and how he'd said it; Nakano never called Fujisaki by his first name! It showed disrespect, and above all, it also meant that Nakano had severely lost his control. However, despite this Fujisaki nodded to his elder, and bent down beside the boy, placing his hands over him and letting a white aura flow from his fingertips to the boy's body, reviving him slowly and bringing him back to consciousness.

The boy underneath his hands became to squirm and wriggle as he slowly came back into consciousness. Suddenly Fujisaki's hands were whacked back as the boy jumped up in surprise, his eyes wide and worried. Fujisaki glared at the pink haired summoner, who began coughing, obviously finding it very difficult to breathe.

"You idiot! You're nowhere near ready to stand up yet!" he yelled at the boy. The boy picked up his staff and held it up dangerously, showing that if anyone made a move he would not hesitate to attack. Nakano chuckled and stood in front of his troops.

"Relax friend! We are not your enemies! My friend here, Fujisaki, is a White Mage. He was actually trying to heal you. I'd advise that you sit back down so he can finish what he's started. You've suffered quite a bad fever and we wouldn't want it to get any worse," he said. The boy looked round at the troops, his eyes finally falling back on Nakano, before complying and sitting back down next to Fujisaki, giving the green haired White Mage a short glare. Fujisaki scowled at him, and then held his hands out once again, letting the light flood from his fingertips and complete the healing process.

"Who are you?" the pink haired boy asked, his gaze shifting from side to side, looking at the troops surrounding him.

"We are the troops of Anaeria. I am the leader, Captain Hiroshi Nakano, and this is my sub-Captain, Suguru Fujisaki. And yourself? What is your name?" Nakano asked.

"Shuichi Shindou… summoner of the Shindou family…" the boy muttered, spitting the name Shindou out like venom. Obviously this boy didn't like his family very much; it was time to run a scan over him to check his class and his name and to check if there was any darkness in him that was manipulating him. Fujisaki saw Nakano look over at him, nodding to him as if he understood what Fujisaki wanted to do and agreeing to it. But then something unexpected happened.

"What… are you searching for? Why are you out here?" Shuichi asked. Nakano looked to Fujisaki to field this question. Fujisaki shook his head in disagreement, believing it would be better if Nakano said it. He could feel this boy obviously trusted Nakano a little more than himself just by his body movements and speech, let alone by using his special ability as a White Mage to scan this boy's thoughts, and felt it was better if Nakano told him of their quest rather than himself. After all, Nakano was their leader.

Nakano nodded in reply "We are here to search for the light. We intend to banish the darkness and defeat Eiri Uesugi," he said, his voice full of confidence. Shuichi shifted and looked up, meeting Nakano's gaze.

"Can I join you?" he asked. The troops gasped. Fujisaki looked up in shock, and then immediately turned his focus to Nakano, who had an extremely large smile on his face at this point, but was saying nothing. He was obviously waiting for Fujisaki to give the go ahead. Fujisaki turned his attention back to his analysis of the boy, but found nothing out the ordinary. In fact, his resistance to darkness was absolutely… incredible. It seemed he had absolute firm belief in the light. Sighing, he nodded to Nakano, whose smile grew even larger.

"Welcome to the troops of Anaeria summoner Shuichi!"

A/N: Well, there it is. Short, ne? Not much I can do about that I'm afraid. I'll work on 'The Shining Light' after I've had my shower (I'm gonna go off and have one now) and it should get posted up today. Anyway, get back to me on what you think. Remember, bad reviews (like criticism) are accepted but flames… NO WAY. You want to flame? Go some place else. Maybe I should make that more clear next time.

Adios!

- Hikari-kun -