Disclaimers: Pay me money. I'm poor. If I owned this, at least I wouldn't be begging for that, right?
Warnings: Random pointlessness, an almost non-existent plotline, failed attempt of fluffyness, Dark-abuse? Clichéd-bunnies-of-doom! (Okay… maybe not) Slow, slow progress.
Other: It's almost been seven months since I actually tried to post something up. How many people actually remember what's happening in this story? How many people actually care? XD (I know I do, but that's only due to the fact I 1) need to finish it and 2) I've got two (three?) freaking sequels planned already o.O and this needs conclusion. It's not coming anytime soon, though. I wonder how many more chapters of rambling you can take. If you can actually read this, then I salute you.)
000
"When they meet again, something more terrifying and evil will awaken. Something long since sealed away will break free: leaving death and destruction in its wake. Will they be able to handle it again? Or is this the end of the road?"
Phase Ten: (They say it's all) Part of the Imagination
"It's a town." Satoshi stated dully.
"Like we couldn't see that for ourselves?" snorted Krad, looking around herself with a mild form of curiosity.
"It's a town." The vampire repeated, clearly trying to get his message across; whatever that actually was. No one had been able to work it out exactly yet, so that wasn't helping matters for them.
Dark scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Do you think vampires have some sort of broken recording device that makes them repeat the same thing over and over again? Or is it just the creep over there that does it?" He grinning winningly at the blunette, who merely glared at him.
Krad muttered something incoherent under her breath, hand twitching over the hilt of her sword; clearly indicating that she was planning to decapitate a certain someone sooner than later if they didn't shut up about making stupid comments all the time. Sadly, Dark was not one to catch such clear hints and, if it hadn't been for Daisuke, he would probably be lying on the rocky floor and his head rolling merrily away to who knew where. Hrm, yes, very pleasant thoughts.
"Guys," the redhead half-whined, catching their attention, "we really shouldn't be starting another fight among ourselves because we all know that Krad will end up killing all of us--"
"Except maybe you 'cause you're too kind and thoughtful and you never get on her nerves," corrected Dark, not looking over at the daemon tamer as he had just begun a glaring contest with Satoshi.
"—but this is serious. This whole situation is completely screwed up and at the rate we're going, we'll never get anywhere again. And I'm missing school for this. Daichi's going to kill me," Daisuke added as an afterthought. When he noticed that neither one of the two replied (and Krad was really slowing beginning to pull her sword out of its sheath) he pouted, "Dark! Satoshi-kun!"
The blonde shook her head, "Give it up, Daisuke. They'll be having that glaring contest for the next few months if we left them to it. Of course, with Dark, sleeping is an essential, so he would probably be the first to lose. But, seeing as we honestly can't just stand here and wait for the animosity to come to its breaking point…"
She trailed off, replaced her sword – half-surprised that she had been wielding it as it had become a natural reflective action – stomped over to Dark and hit him around the head.
This, of course, was replied with a pained and surprised yelp as Dark toppled over and slammed face-first into the ground. Krad snickered, Satoshi smirked, Daisuke looked worried, and With… well, the familiar seemed to be content with just sitting on his tamer's shoulders without a care in the world.
The thief-prince-whatever groaned in obvious pain and pushed himself up by his hands, went into a kneeling position, and poked his face cautiously. Satoshi and Daisuke exchanged puzzled looks at his less-than-noisy reaction while Krad rolled her eyes, and waited for the time-bomb she knew was there, to explode.
As expected, it didn't take long for it to blow up.
"Kraaaaaaaaaaaad!" whined Dark, loudly, one might add. The blonde pasted on a look of complete and utter innocence as he turned to face her, looking upset. Like he had just been betrayed by his best friend and just couldn't believe it.
"Yeeeees Dark?" she drawled out, crossing her arms and inclining her head.
"You SO did that one purpose!"
"Like we didn't know that already?" commented Satoshi on the sidelines. Dark continued his little rant, clearly not hearing the vampire's comment.
"You're lucky I didn't break anything otherwise--"
"You'd have what?" asked Krad, smirking now, "Hurt me? Not likely."
"No! I mean, yes! I mean--"
"Dark seems to be very inarticulate at the moment," Daisuke couldn't help but point out. Unfortunately (or fortunately… whatever), Dark actually heard this as he whipped his head around to where the redhead was standing.
"Quiet you!"
"Kyuu!"
"…"
As the silence grew, and while Dark was clearly trying to string more than two words together while Krad waited for the witty response, this gave both Daisuke and Satoshi (and maybe With, but then again, being a familiar, he wouldn't have much thought on the matter… or was that say?) a chance to take a better look at their surroundings, seeing as their seniors… er… superiors… okay, teammates, weren't about to move anytime soon.
Like any sort of town found in an underground labyrinth of rocks, cobwebs and spiders, it was old. And dilapidated. Like they didn't already know that already, but it was what they saw, so who was to comment about it? So there they were, standing at the entrance of some town that was clearly old and… well, underground, with the brick walls crumbling and all that usual stuff one finds when they come across such a cliched-sort-of-scene.
Maybe.
"Do you think it's haunted?" the daemon tamer asked curiously, looking around in hopes of spotting a ghost-like substance.
Satoshi raised an eyebrow, "I highly doubt it. It just looks like some random civilization just wanted to live underground like the gnomes, abandoned it, and then allowed the rocks to deteriorate. Because if this had ever been above the ground, it would probably have been hit by an avalanche and buried… unless it was an earthquake."
"Hey, earthquakes are cool. Don't say bad things about the earthquakes," Dark muttered, as both he and the blonde approached them. It seemed that their little argument had just plain fizzled out; but by the look on Krad's face, she'd won their silent argument about petty things Dark loved to complain about. The vampire rolled his eyes at this.
"Right, all of a sudden you love earthquakes, although it is well known that humans and creatures alike do tend to die because of them."
"Sure, why not?"
"Just because you lived up in the sky like some mutated angel of doom…"
"Do you think gnomes lived here?" asked Daisuke to Krad, as the vampire and thief began a loud – if not pointless – argument.
The blonde thought for a moment, frowning just slightly, "I wouldn't put it past them. Although I've never met a gnome in my life, considering I was living way up there," she jabbed a finger upwards to emphasize her point, "and the last two years… well, werewolves are cool and all, but they can get kind of annoying when you spend too much time with them. A mercenary's life was hell, and I didn't even really need it, did I?" This question was aimed at herself, as she mused it over for a moment, while Daisuke processed the information. "What, do you want to go gnome hunting or something?"
"I wanna go gnome hunting!" yelped Dark, who currently had Satoshi in a headlock, while the vampire elbowed him at occasional intervals. His speaking was broken by this attack as he continued doggedly. "Those crazy" jab "little things that" jab "dig holes in the" jab "ground" jab "are so cool--" jab jab jab.
Krad blinked, "Okay… for some reason, that sounds more like a mole or something. I do believe gnomes have more intelligence than that. Actually, why am I listening to what they moron says?" Shaking her head, she left Dark to his predicament of being jabbed to death by the vampire and dragged Daisuke with her to take a closer look at the (probably more cliched than usual) underground town they'd come across.
There definitely wasn't much, all things considered.
Empty houses. Check.
Spiders. Check.
Rubble and dust and… well… nothing else. Check.
Now… where was the exit…
"Do you think Argentine-kun meant this town when he was talking about where the tunnel leads us to?" Daisuke asked out loud, staring up at the ceiling in hopes of finding the source of light that Dark had so knowingly discovered which had led them here. Of course, he couldn't locate it, and that was a pity, but they weren't getting anywhere and it was beginning to get a little irksome. This had started just to meet up again and catch up and all that other junk, so why was it that they were now running for their lives? It didn't make any sense at all and he didn't really like not being able to understand the situation, and the current events they were caught in were the most perplexing.
Not to mention it had been less than a day and had taken ten chapters to reach where they were now… it was a long and slow grueling process that didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon. Oh the joy in it all.
Krad yawned, clearly bored with the proceedings, although she was the one in the most danger (and Dark of course, but he doesn't count), "Who knows. But I'm kind of hoping that it's not, because I have no intention of living underground for the rest of my life until the guards give up the search. And all things considered, I doubt they will for a least another twenty years. Our parents are persistent."
"Then we should move on rather than wasting more time," the redhead decided, before walking over to where Satoshi was still elbowing Dark painfully in the side and caught their attention, "Come on guys; we need to get moving otherwise Argentine's sacrifice will mean nothing."
"Actually, I got the notion that he was enjoying the idea of hurting trespassers," Krad pointed out, slapping Dark lightly over the head, "You said he was a sadist. And Dark, let go."
The violet-haired adolescent pouted but complied, rubbing his abused head in place of trying to choke the vampire to death; "So? There's nothing wrong with hurting annoying guards. The last I remember of them, they were highly incompetent and were only good at looking tough."
"Wow, you actually stated something semi-intelligent," mused the blonde before ignoring him and turning to the other two while Dark sulked. "In all honesty, I think if we can get you two out of this little scenario, then Dark and I will be fine. So if we continue--"
"No."
"What?" Krad stopped to frown at Daisuke, who had replaced his usually carefree expression with one of determination. Hello hilarity. With seemed to feel the same as his summoner and "kyu"-ed resolutely.
"You'll need all the help you can get if we want to smooth things over," the redhead stated matter-of-factly, "and I'm naturally curious about why they're going all out just to get you back home. Even if you are the only heirs of the kingdom, it seems a little overboard…"
"Yes, but you're the only one out of the four of us who can't fly, which will definitely become a hindrance." Point of fact.
Daisuke smiled, "I'm a daemon tamer, remember?"
"Oh yeah… that."
"You're staying too, right, Satoshi-kun?"
The vampire shrugged, rubbing his neck and shooting Dark a glare at random intervals, "It isn't like I have anything else to do with my time."
"Then it's settled!"
Krad smirked at Daisuke's enthusiasm, despite the fact that this was no laughing matter; "Fine. I really didn't like the idea of having to deal with Dark on my own anyway. Probably would have abandoned him as soon as I saw the chance."
"Krad!" whined Dark.
"Grow up already, asshole. What kind of prince are you?"
"That's not the point!"
"Of course it is, seeing as you were incapable of defending yourself for years," she snapped back, leading the way as they walked past the horrors of old looking homes that had no real reason of being there, seeing as it had no role in terms of plot and/or character development. The light she had summoned earlier bounced around like a firefly on sugar as the younger two followed her. Dark seemed to be frozen in some form of indignity, but it didn't take long for him to recover and to yell at them for leaving him behind.
It was going to be one hell of a long trip…
000
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"…" Krad shot at glare at Dark, who was walking next to her, and decided a different tact in answering, "It depends on what you mean."
"Are we… what?" Dark blinked, finally deciding not to talk like a broken record for the time being.
"Well, think about it," she began in a mock-serious tone of voice, "defining 'there' doesn't help in terms of our situation, as we have no idea where the hell we are going, except that we can't stay in one place for too long in fear of being dragged back home and having the telling-off of a lifetime, and whatever other consequences we may have to face depending on how our parents will… er… punish us." She clearly serious doubted it, though, that much was obvious. "And besides, it's not like we have an in-built sensor that tells us when we'll finally see the light of day again and all, so stop asking such pointless questions."
"Huh… er… right… yeah?"
Daisuke blinked as he watched Dark trying to process what Krad had just said into a more decipherable language for him. "Dark has a point though… it feels like we've been walking for longer than necessary in the same tunnel… it's kind of a drag."
"Kyuu!" agreed With.
"Yeah, you think so too, With. How about you, Satoshi-kun?"
"Hn," ah yes, the wonderful non-committal noise one makes when not in the mood to actually say something. Daisuke blinked, but decided not to comment on it and turned over to the blonde, leaving the vampire to the depth of his thoughts that would probably lead to nowhere.
"What do you think, Krad?"
The blonde glanced over in his direction, shadows throwing everything off-balance and giving a painfully eerie look. If shadows could look eerie in a pointlessly long tunnel-way like this, anyway. Which they probably could, but the lacking scenery was getting on their nerves more than anything else; in which no one could blame them for that little flaw in human nature. "I can't argue against that little fact in life, Daisuke, but we either keep going forward or go all the way back and who knows what we'll see if we go back there."
"Good point. Argentine-kun wouldn't be too happy about that, either."
"Then let's keep going. Dark, move your ass," the blonde threw an arm around the violet-haired adolescent's shoulders and proceeded upon dragging him off forcefully. Dark gave something akin to a squawk of protest, but Krad merely snapped back and did not let go.
Daisuke smiled, "They seem to get along quite well."
"… Really," mumbled Satoshi.
"Yeah, of course!"
"Kyuu!"
The vampire shrugged as they both hurried to catch up with the other two, to walk who knew how-many-more-hours to the unknown.
000
Dark unexpectedly shrew the blonde's arm off his shoulder and pointed ahead with an air of over-exaggerated enthusiasm, "It's the light again! We've either reached the end or we're all dead and delusional!"
Krad hit him over the head for being an idiot, "Shut up, you moronic bastard. If we hadn't stopped out of need for sleep, except for you," she nodded over at Satoshi, "it would probably be night. Who knows where we are now. Because I sure don't have any clue."
"That makes all four of us then." Satoshi deadpanned. With had, for some unknown reason, taken up residence on the blunette's head, and 'kyuu'-ed happily. "I don't think anyone's surprised at the lack of plot development at this point."
The redhead next to him blinked, "Plot development?"
"No, it's nothing. You shouldn't worry about it."
"O… kay…"
The blonde gave a frustrated sigh and she dragged a hand through her hair without much thought. It didn't really take all that long to get on one's patience, especially if they were caught in a web of completely and utterly complicated situations that involved them, but… it wasn't like they didn't know what the consequences would be.
It was still completely and utterly ridiculous, though.
"Krad looks annoyed," Daisuke pointed out rather uselessly. As if the others hadn't worked it out yet. Dark, of course, had managed to finally pick up the warning signs and this was part of the reason to why he'd allowed himself to be dragged around like that.
"Let's go to that light of doom then!"
"I think he's delusional," the blonde stated as the thief ran off ahead of them, followed closely behind by the daemon tamer, who was yelling at him to slow down. "Not that should come as any form of shock at this point."
The vampire stood next to her, "I really do feel sorry for you. Being stuck with him."
"Wish I could say you get used to it, but you don't. I don't see why I bother to tolerate his behavior all the time. If it's love, then it really is messed up. I think I'll just call it tolerance beyond the norm."
"Tolerance, huh? 'Love' is just a label for infatuated mortals."
Krad glanced over at him. "Then what's with you and Daisuke? Don't tell me you're just using him to get free blood."
He glared at her, "I wouldn't do that," he said icily.
"Then what is it?" she smirked. Even if he didn't show it, it was clear the vampire was confused with his own feelings. Satoshi snorted at this and swept past her.
"Who knows."
The blonde sniggered at his reaction, and trailed behind him. Maybe it wouldn't be too boring if she took a leaf out of Dark's book and started to tease the vampire. Being female would also come to her advantage because of the general knowledge that women caught on faster than men. If Dark was any example… actually, it was probably better not to use him as an example.
They couldn't see where the other two had gone – especially as they had stopped yelling at one another – and they hurried to catch up. At they stepped out of what looked more like a mine-shaft-entrace-thingy, Krad stopped abruptly and Satoshi stared at the scenery before them impassively. As it was his usual facial expression, it didn't come too much as a surprise that he lacked emotion, even when sharp pointy objects were shoved in their faces.
The blonde stared at the soldiers that surrounded them and rolled her eyes, "Now, isn't this just a little cliched? Please, give me a break."
Dark nodded in agreement, having backtracked with Daisuke so that the four were now completely and utterly surrounded, "I was just thinking that myself, you know."
"Couldn't they think of something a little more original," muttered Krad.
The soldiers shifted slightly, clearly uneased by the dismissive attitude the four were showing, rather than the expected fear/horror/wtf-attitude most ambushed peoples showed.
"Well, at least we never did catch up with the forerunners, or we would have missed their auras," muttered the one who was probably the officer, before stepping forward, "Prince Dark, Princess Krad, we're here to take you back home, under order of your parents, the kings and queens of--"
"Yak, yak, yak," Krad tapped her foot impatiently against the ground. The officer was now in full-flow-rant and didn't hear her, "Maybe we should just walk off or something. Too bad there are too many pointy objects aimed towards us and even he would notice if we flew off."
"My head hurts," Daisuke claimed, "Even Hikaru didn't sound this annoying…"
"Just block your ears," suggested Satoshi calmly, wrapping an arm around the redhead. Dark sniggered.
"Aw… how sweet."
"Shut up, Dark," both Satoshi and Krad snapped and the thief pouted.
"—and you are expected to return, otherwise we will have to use force." Finished the officer with a flourish. He then noticed the other two, "Better drag those two along as well."
"Why aren't I surprised?" the vampire remarked sarcastically as they began to get hustled off. With agreed with him, Krad looked murderous, although it seemed mixed with complete boredom; Dark was now shouting random insults at the soldiers, clearly hoping for a reaction; and Daisuke? The redhead only muttered something that sounded like; "Daichi's going to kill me for this, I know it…"
Now, how had it ended up like this?
000
Now how many mole-men-can-live-in-this-deserted-mine-town-before-the-ceiling-collapses-over-them-and-kills-them-all? Er… that is, gnomes. Hm… they didn't get to see any gnomes. And everyone was picking on Dark… who's supposed to be 20 (? Yeah… that's his age… right?). But look, they're going 'home'. Ten guesses as to what will happen next. Anyway who is right gets a free cookie from me XD (metaphorically. I suppose I could draw you a request, but… shrugs)
Bets on how long it will take for me to get my ass back into gear to write the next phase (yes, you heard me; this is, in fact, an old-ish (three months?) chapter I never got around to actually posting. I think you can tell why). Part of this was school (assignments and the like) and a complete lack of inspiration/motivation. So sue me. Anyone who actually reads my DA journals may have a vaguely clearer idea on what's going on with my life. Other than that, I've been rather inactive everywhere. Bad Seena (hits self). Okay, I'll shut up and crawl back into the hole I dug myself in seven months previously. Thanks to the people who actually bothered to read this after such a long break. If not… (shrugs) I can't blame you? XD