Crystal Hearts
We can grow only once in our lives. As our love crystallizes and grows, so, too, do our hearts…they are a manifestation of our love. In time, they are given over to the one who inspired them…who wished them happiness. You at least…I wish you happiness…
Chapter 16: Kyuushi no Yoru
Dark paced around the room as Satoshi watched him, "What's taking them?"
The blue haired boy frowned, "Setting up a portal isn't exactly the world's easiest thing to do you know…"
"I know that! But…but still…" I want to see him… "Sorry…"
"It's okay, just don't wear yourself out."
The thief managed to give a wavering smile, "Yea…"
#Dark…#
/I'm okay, really…/
#What's the hall of banishment like?#
/I don't know Daisuke, I didn't even know about it until now./
#Aku's going to be there.#
/And so will Krad…/
"You two, the portal's ready. Are you two ready for this?"
Dark and Satoshi nodded and headed downstairs into the basement, the blue haired boy inhaled deeply when he saw the swirl of black in the middle of the room, "This? This will take us to Krad?"
Emiko nodded, "There's immense energy coming from there so be careful. You only have so long before the portal closes so hurry."
The thief nodded again before stepping into the portal without second thoughts, Satoshi stared at it for a moment before he too disappeared into the swirling vortex. Emiko bit her lip in anxiety, a hand landed on her shoulder, Daiki murmured in a reassuring voice, "Don't worry too much, they'll be fine."
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Aku smirked and looked at his handy work, "Not bad if I do say so myself."
He received no answer.
Smirk never wavering, he twirled something on his finger and headed out of the room, "Hm? What's this? They're here already? Oh well, no matter, I always have something to entertain the guests with."
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They entered a courtyard of what looked like an ancient Greek palace, Dark looked around the many buildings that surrounded them, "Where are we?"
"The halls of banishment I'm guessing."
Dark frowned in annoyance, "But where's Krad?"
Satoshi shrugged, "Let's just find a way to get in, I'm guessing all these buildings are connected with different rooms and such."
The thief nodded and entered the closest entrance, he gasped as a shot of magic was shot at him, he blocked it and looked up, eyes widening as he did so, "Wha-what is all this? Why are there Hikari paintings here?"
The blue haired boy entered the room, "What are you talking about?" He looked around, "These must be the banished works." He jumped out of the way of another shot, "Look! An exit! Come on! Let's go!"
The two ran through another door which led into a very long hall and as Satoshi had predicted, the hall connected the buildings and rooms together. Much to their dismay, the hall was decorated in paintings, each charging for their own blast. The blue haired boy stood there quite dumbfound while Dark growled and grabbed the boy's arm and began to run as magic was shot at them. "Why are they attacking us?"
"Maybe we triggered an alarm or something."
"What alarm? It's like they think we're intruders or something!"
"We did just barge in…"
"I bet Aku's behind this!"
And for once, Satoshi didn't argue.
"Dark?"
The thief looked back, "What?"
"Is it just me or are the paintings in the hallways getting ready to kill us?"
Dark looked around and swore and began to run, "Come on! We're going to be killed at this rate!" Satoshi nodded and took after the thief, they ran into a room to evade the blasts. Dark sighed, "That was way too close for comfort…"
They looked around the room, there was nothing but a painting. Suddenly, a girl appeared, dressed in black, "Who dares enter?"
Satoshi backed up only to find the door was locked and they couldn't get out, a scythe appeared in her hands and she took a swing at the thief, Dark's eyes widened, "You're-"
The spirit took another swipe before answering rather monotonically, "I am nothing; I have neither existence nor identity, leave or be killed."
The blue haired boy watched as the thief evaded yet another swing, if the spirit was right there how could she be nothing? Dark's eyes narrowed, "Kyuushi no Yoru."
The artwork stopped mid-swipe, "You…"
"Kyuushi no Yoru, that's your name isn't it? You were given to a rival of the Hikari as a gift, but foretold great misfortunes and wherever you went, death followed. Just like your name."
"You…you know who I am…" Satoshi watched in amazement as the spirit dropped her weapon and began to cry, "I…I exist then…"
The blue haired boy frowned, "Of course you do…I mean you're right there, why would you say you don't exist?" By the look on Dark's face, he had wanted to ask the same question.
The spirit spoke softly as she picked herself up off the ground, "If no one remembers you how can you exist?"
Both Dark and Satoshi were taken aback, it made so much sense yet it seemed so unrealistic, the thief being the ladies man that he was, wiped a tear away, "How long have you been here?"
"For as long as I remember."
"Don't worry, we'll find a way to free you."
"We banished art cannot leave the hall."
"Is there a counter spell or something?"
The artwork shook her head sadly, her long black hair covered her eyes, "As long as our bodies are here, we cannot leave."
Dark's mind clicked, "Then the only way to be free is…"
"Is if someone were to destroy our bodies." She looked at him with begging eyes, "Please…Kokuyoku, I'm begging you, I'm tired and I've been around long enough. Please…free me."
The thief stared at the statue and then the girl, then shook his head, "I'm only half of the artwork you call Kokuyoku, I'm Kaitou Dark Mousy."
"Dark…"
"Before I do you this one favor, do you know where my other half is? The one Aku's taken."
The spirit looked up, "Our guardian? He was carrying an angel, he went into one of the main rooms, that's all I know, sorry."
"Main rooms huh? That's plenty, thanks. See you around, Kyuushi no Yoru-chan."
And with that he shot a blast of magic at the painting, destroying it completely, the girl smiled at him for the first and last time then disappeared with a soft, "Thank you..."
"Is this really the only way to free them?" Dark looked at the blue haired boy and nodded, "But then Krad…"
#Dark? Is that true? You're going to have to-#
/We'll deal with it when the time comes./
The thief nodded again and stepped towards the now opened door, "Come on, let's go."
Satoshi followed him wordlessly, tension fell between the two as they ran down the hall before the artwork could attack them. There was a sudden blast of magic which blew a door open, Dark and Satoshi both froze in the tracks and looked inside the room, standing there was Aku, smirking at them, "I see the guests are here."
Violet eyes scanned the room, then he hissed, "Where's Krad?"
"Krad? Don't worry, he's just…resting."
"You bastard! Tell me where Krad is!"
"Oh? Is that a threat?"
"Yea and you know what? I tend to carry out my threats…" Dark growled, then he shot a blast of magic at the demon, Aku smirked and dodged it without breaking a sweat.
"Is that all you've got?"
"No! You underestimate me demon!" He took another shot and again Aku evaded it.
"Really now? I'm thinking that your threats are just as useless as your aim!" Then Dark suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him in the gut, the demon smirked as the thief's arm went right through, "Aw damn, and I was having so much fun too…I guess I underestimated you, a bit and nothing more though, I'll see you soon."
With that he flickered and disappeared with a smirk, the thief growled and slammed his fist into the wall creating a dent, "Damn it! He tricked me…"
Satoshi watched calmly as the thief glared daggers at nothing in particular, "It was a hologram, and you better save up your energy for when you get to fight the real him."
"Yea…okay…" He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, "Let's go."
Where are you?
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"They seem to be catching on faster than I thought…no matter, I have enough power to fight them off single handedly." He smirked and lightly traced something hung around his neck, "And the game begins…"
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"They only have a less than an hour left!"
"Emiko! Calm down! They'll make it, they have to…"
"Otou-san…"
"It's okay Emiko, they'll be fine…don't cry…"
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"Where the hell is he?"
"In one of the main rooms, I bet that's towards the middle of this place!"
They looked around but only found a statue sitting in the middle of the room, "This is the center! Where's the room?"
"It's got to be around here somewhere…"
Dark rubbed his temple, "Well this is just great, hey, what's that say over there by the statue?" He walked over, "Only when freed can the path be shown. Well that's just awesome."
"Destroy the statue."
"What?"
Satoshi frowned, "Destroy it! It's an artwork, another banished piece, it says only when freed can the path be shown, free it!"
The thief caught on, he shot at the statue and destroyed it, and after the debris settled, a door appeared where the statue used to block, "He's in there isn't he?"
"I wouldn't doubt it."
Dark nodded and without a second thought, dashed in, inside the room was another hall which lead to grand oak doors. The thief shot the blue haired boy a look before pushing it open, when he saw what was inside, his breath couldn't help but hitch. No…oh gods no…
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Nya
And I update! Kyuushi no Yoru, night of sudden death incase you're curious XD and oh no (again) what's Dark all gaspy about:O Hmm...next chapter will be some...eventually :) I'm tired from shopping XP and as promised, reviews! anime conventions are beyond awesome : and since I'm feeling relatively lazy, the responds will be relatively short :P
chrnoskitty- It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who uses the word awesome too many times to count XD I think it bugs my sister now everytime I go that's awesome! XP Ah the joys of bugging an older sibling :P
Mysterious Kaitou- Yea! Ebil! XD Villains are awesome :) Aku has become a personal favorite now and I'm so going to use him in other fics XP Just because he's awesome : Actually, he's beyond awesome, I lobe most villains X3
ilovekyo- Krad's not dead:) But he's not speaking XP Dum dum dum (insert music note here) and now they know how to free the banished banished art, poor poor art and Dark's getting pissed! XD
Daishi- Thankies XD Hope you like this chapter too! It's kinda short and I don't know how long it's been since I last updated but oh well:D It's up now!
Hakudoshi-chan- I'm kinda used to being sick :) I'm always sick, immune system went on a break and never came back and I'm too lazy to go look for it, for all I know, it's half way around the world XP
Devinedragon- You don't like Aku? XP Villains, they're always sadistic and evil, it can't be helped...actually that's stereotyping it but oh well :P Krad's too pretty to die :
nekogirltheanimefreak- Sugar! XD Going sugarhigh is fun...no I don't do drugs either, the only addictive substance I inhale would be air and the smell of coffee and chocolate XP
General Kitty Girl- It's taking me forever to update...in summer, what you usually feel is lazy...not sure why you do :P Lazy and sleepy and utterly insane from the heat, I'm melting! -turns into a blob-
Kyuseisha no Hikari- Thank you! My chapters are usually short for the following excuses: ifI didn't end it, it'd go on forever, or I wanted the cliffie XP and if anyone asks, it's one of those reasons, I'm not lazy, nope XP
catseyes77- Ack...it's been awhile hasn't it? Wow...I've gone beyond slow...and sleepy...I need coffee -yawns-but shiza! Here's the nexet chapter and oh my god someone just screamed >.O
Omnimalevolent- I'm not sure...-thinking- well my jaw was numb so that might've done something:S Aku's evil :) Sir created-from-misery-of-art XP Even villains need a little angst :
UnIQuE Not Weird- Yay! Krad's getting fans! Because everyone lobes Krad! Especially when he's suffering and ends up the victim XP Krad-angst! And Dark-angst! And angst in general! XD
SeLeNa MoUsY- Krad lives! XD And Dark's gone to rescue him, Krad's thief in black leather : I'd perfer those over knights in shining armor XP Here's the next chapter with yet another cliffie-ish thing!
Ballad of the Iris- And again! XP I lobe cliffhangers, especially when I'm the one who's writing :P I lobe angst, this world would be so boring without it :P I used all my money, well not really...but most of it...that I had in my wallet XP shopping is fun...
Seena58- -grins- This is so much fun, I can't believe I'm almost at 20 chapters o.o longest fic so far XD I'm so proud of myself, now if only I could sleep...then everything would be perfect, too bad it's the middle of the day :P
golden-flame4- Yay for psycho villains XP ...what? >.>;; I like them...yes I'm insane and that's probably why I like them so much but oh well :P Krad's gone and become a damsel, now he can faint on cue! XD