The air was chill, but but she made no move to step away from the wide window, even as her silken nightgown, little more than a thin weaving of white lace, fluttered in the breeze. She sat before the opening, her legs pulled up onto the stone ledge as she hugged them close to her chest. No, the young woman was perfectly stoic as she bathed in moonlight, only her eyes, glimmering with an unfathomable sadness, giving any sign that she wasn't carved from the same stone she sat upon. In that moment, she appeared as an angel, lamenting the loss of human innocence as she stared out at the night sky, the facsimile of stars glittering against the was some accuracy to such an assessment, too.
Bella sighed quietly as she shifted, turning her head slightly to see the large, naked man lying spread out on the bed just to the side, his backside protected from the night air by nothing more than a sheet strewn hapharzadly over him. Hatred roared through her veins at the sight, a blazing fire that set her blood boiling, but she refused to allow such an emotion to appear on her face, ever wary of hidden observers. Instead, she allowed a small, lovely smile to grace her lips, even as inwardly she cringed at the action. She hated everything about him, from his wild mane of flaming red hair to the tips of his toes, with a burning passion. As her eyes trailed up and down his body, regretting that such a beautiful form had to house such an ugly soul, her thoughts whirled back to how she had ended up in this place, warming the bed of such a monster.
XXX
Bella's steps were soft as she stalked the dark streets, uncaring of her destination. They were comforting to her, the shadows, she was restless that night. When she came to the opening of an alley, no different than the hundreds of others within the city, she paused, her ears pricked as she heard a foreign noise, like the whimpering of a beaten dog. Her gaze slid to the side, piercing the depths of the shadowed passage.
The sight that met her eyes was not a particularly uncommon one in the seedy underbelly of Japan's cities, but as her gaze rolled over the dirty, trash-strewn alley to rest upon its occupants, she felt something ignite within her core. There were children, three of them from what she could see, cowering amongst the filth, even as several larger boys towered over them, malicious grns upon each of their faces as they smacked various weapons into their palms.
Bella was moving even before she gave her body the command, gliding silently over the ground. That mattered little, however, as she let out a low whistle, attracting every eye in the small passage. "Oh booooys! What's going on down here?" She cooed the words at them, and already there was lust in their eyes as the older children ran their gazes over her. Bella was young, to be sure, but already her body was developing well, and the uniquely exotic features of her sharp european features easily caught the eye of almost any man she came into contact with. These boys, just entering puberty from the looks of it, didn't stand a chance as she offered them a coy smile, cocking her hips as she did so.
"Nothing of importance." Replied the largest of the boys, sending a cursory glance back to the children they had just been surrounding, before his eyes returned hungrily to Bella's. A spike of pain drove through her heart as she followed his gaze to look upon the bruised and battered forms, but long practice kept the expression off her face as she sidled closer.
"Then perhaps you could help me?" She breathed into the quiet air, suddenly only a few inches from the boy. "I'm a bit lost." As he looked down at her in surprise, she bit her lips cutely, the perfect image of a confused little girl with no clue about what she had just walked into. Unsurprisingly, Bella felt his hands land heavily upon her arms just a moment later, and the boy offered her what he probably thought was a charming smile.
"Of course. I'd be happy to show a little lady like you a good time." The grip tightened, and Bella allowed her breath to catch, as if surprised, before flushing slightly. She glanced down for a moment, feigning surprise and embarrassment at the undertone of his offer, before returning her eyes up to his. She took a step forward then, until she was just shy of pressing herself up against him, and carefully laid a hand on his chest, ignoring the snickers and wolf-whistles of the boy's friends behind them. It was exactly what she wanted, all of their attention focused solely on her, the lost little lamb which had stumbled into their den of wolves.
"Are you sure? I would hate to intrude?" She simpered at the boy, batting her eyelashes at him even as internally she gagged. This close she could see just how unattractive he was, with dirty teeth and a face ravaged by acne. Normally she wasn't one to judge a person on their looks, but every angle of this man's features, every glimmer of light in his eyes, held a hard, cruel edge to it that spoke of one who enjoyed causing pain. Even if she hadn't seen him harassing the children, the oldest of which couldn't have been older than ten, he was the type of person she would steer clear of on the street.
"Don't worry about it, Baby, I'll keep you safe." He said, pulling Bella even as his hands started to snake around to her back and drift downwards. Bella forced herself not to shudder, but it was a hard thing, and as she trailed her own hand downwards, coming to rest on his belt, a real smile graced her lips.
"Baby, huh?" She asked, before her lips curled up and her quicksilver eyes suddenly seemed to glow with malice that hadn't been present just a second before. Faster than the boy could react, her hand curled around the hilt of the dagger he kept tucked into his waistband, a long and wicked thing that glinted dully in the miniscule amount of light seeping in into the alleyway from a nearby streetlamp. With a jerk, she pulled it out, until her arm made a quick reversal, and plunged the sharp blade deep into his stomach. "I don't think I like that nickname."
The boy screamed as he his own blade bit deep into his flesh, and satisfaction swept through Bella as he fell to the ground, clutching at the crimson wound. Cruelty begetted cruelty, and while she took no pleasure from the actual pain she had caused, he had deserved far worse. She knew the glint in his eyes, and that vicious smile he had worn as his gaze ran over her form. He was scum, part of the worst dregs of society, and removed such a stain on the earth was an act she was always happy to commit, even if it marked her own hands in blood. Someone had to, after all, and who better to abscond with darkness than a shadow Herself?
Without remorse, the young girl pulled the blade out of her victim's stomach and looked up at his friends, her smile cold as the arctic. For a moment, they stared at her in fear and horror, shocked by the act she had just committed. She must have looked terrifying in the moment, with blood from the wound she had inflicted spurted all over her front, and as she took a slow, languid step forward, they broke, turning tail and running, their screams echoing in the dark night. For just a moment, Bella watched them go, her eyes glittering with righteous fury at their cowardice, and she contemplated hunting them down. They were just as guilty as the boy at her feet after all, and the disgust she had felt at their actions was still roiling within her stomach. She was stopped, however, by the sensation of something thumping into her legs.
Glancing down, Bella was shocked to see one of the children she the gang had been terrorising clinging to her legs, a grimy head of red hair all she could make out of his features as the little boy pressed himself closer. A moment later, the child was joined by the other two, one of brown and the lone girl with black, and for a moment, Bella was speechless. What was this for?
Slowly, so as not to seem threatening, Bella peeled them away for her legs, smiling gently as she did so. When she could finally see their faces, she crouched down, putting herself on their level. "Hey there little ones," She said softly, brushing the hair out of the closest one's eyes, a difficult task with how much of the red mane there was. Obviously they were like her, street-rats with no one and nothing to look after them. "Those guys didn't hurt you, did they?" The children shook their heads, and Bella's kind smile deepened. She could see the bruises they wore, but it appeared these children wore hardened by a life in the shadows. It was terribly saddening, but for some reason, she felt a hint of pride shoot through her at the thought. Not many children their age could take such a beating without crying, and even less could do so without complaining.
"We-we're f-fine." The redhead said in a voice that crackled like broken glass, and the other children nodded. Bella's smile became tinged with sadness at the sound of it; obviously he hadn't had much of a chance to use it properly, and his pronunciation of the words wasn't very good, even for a child of his age. She didn't mention it, however, seeing the slightest hint of determination in each of their eyes, and so she merely nodded. It would be an insult to call them out on such faults, especially when they were trying so hard to put up a good front after whatever the gang had done to them, and any other hardships they may have suffered in their life.
Smiling softly again, Bella stood, looking back towards the direction that the gang had disappeared down. They would have a good head-start, but she was confident in her abilities to track down at least a few of the bastards down. Every one she dealt with would be another danger off the streets, and would make it less likely that these children were attacked again, even if such a thing only occurred out of some misplaced desire for revenge. Before she could take more than a single step in that direction, however, she was stopped yet again, this time by a tiny hand grabbing hold of her own. She looked back to see three pleading faces, each breaking her heart just a little bit more.
"Don't go." The little voice was so full of pain and desire, that for a moment, Bella couldn't breathe from the weight of it. She met each of their eyes, clouded over but still burning brightly as they met hers with determination, and before she knew what she was doing, the young girl had dropped to her knees and pulled all three of the children into her arms, wincing slightly as she felt their emaciated forms. Holding them, Bella felt a strange sensation go through her, one she had never felt before. She felt… responsible.
XXX
With a sharp breath, Bella closed her eyes against the images which assaulted her mind. Dozens of faces, as familiar as her own, flashed behind her eyes, and for a moment, the false smile she wore slipped back into a stony mask of indifference. That had been the start of a period of her life she had never expected to have, and before long those three little children had grown into a handful, and then a dozen, and then two dozen. And now they were all dead, their blood spilled in her name and by the man laying in that bed, who she had once trusted above all others. He had been one of the first, and now he was the last. She shuddered as agony tore through her at the thought. Oh, how foolish she had been, not to see the madness lurking behind his eyes, the cruelty she ignored in the face of his supposed innocence, fabricated due to his age and the circumstances she had found him in.
Bella was drawn from her thoughts by a sudden ping breaking the silence of the room with a harsh clarity. Her mouth turning downwards into a frown, she swiftly pulled up her menu. There, in a small grey box which she deleted a few seconds later, were two words, which flooded her with relief and hope. For nearly a week, she had stayed in this hellhole, servicing Adam's every whim and desire. Now, glancing over to the man as he rolled over in his sleep, a genuine smile crossed her lips. Two minutes.
Rising from her seat, Bella silently summoned her two new daggers into her hands, the white and black blades glinting in the moonlight. Like a ghost, she drifted across the room until she was directly beside the bed, and with a whisper of movement, leaned down to place the darker of the two weapons, Hikari, across Adam's throat. As expected, his eyes fluttered open, and she smiled upon seeing those two muddy brown orbs, far too bright for him having been asleep just a few moments before.
"Are you going to kill me Tenshi?" He asked in a small voice, reminiscent of the first time she had heard him speak, and Bella's grip tightened on the dagger's grip. He was scared, she knew, but there was still a hint of steel to his voice, anger to match the fear.
"Dead men don't speak, Adam." She replied, pressing the blade just tighter against his flesh, but she didn't break the skin as his face morphed into something ugly, the true twistedness of his soul breaking free in the face of death. He had been expecting this, and now he showed it as his voice turned to a hiss, and he glared in betrayal.
"Do you think you're better than me Tenshi, is that it? I'm not the only one who's spilled blood." At his words Bella's smile died, and her eyes hardened into molten silver. She leaned downwards, until her lips brushed against his ear with an intimacy utterly familiar after the last week, but this time when she whispered to him, there was no softness in her voice, no false love to soothe his childish ego. Instead, her words were like a winter wind, sharp and cold as they cut deep into Adam's mind.
"This isn't a question of morality, Adam. We both have blood on our hands, and we're both killers. But you harmed those I care for, and in my name. That is a crime I can never forgive."With a jerk, she pressed the blade forward, slicing down until it thunked deep into the mattress below. By the time the blue shards that were all which marked the act, she was gone, nothing more than a shadow in the moonlight.
XXX
Breathing hard, Shadow ducked under his opponent's blade, before kicking out a booted foot to slam into the assassin's stomach. The blow wasn't particularly harmful, and he wouldn't even feel pain with the dampeners engaged, but it did at least get the monster away from Shadow and give him some breathing room. For just a moment, the warrior allowed his attention to flicker away from the opponent before him, studying his surroundings.
The Court of Shadows was exactly as he remembered it, down to the stone spikes littering its ground floors. Now, however, it was no longer silent, with only the scuffling of rats to give it life, but instead the din of battle rung through the air, battering his ears. All around them, the alliance of frontline guilds engaged Laughing Coffin in brutal melee. The murder guild had been given a single chance to surrender, something Shadow had disagreed with but begrudgingly allowed, and when they predictably turned it down, believing themselves safe within their underground fortress, all those who had come to see justice done swarmed through the entrance Shadow had managed to retrace his path back to. Now the battle had turned into a brutal bloodbath, and Shadow wasn't sure which side was winning. Even the ground beneath their feet was littered with shards of light, evidence that the death toll was likely quite high.
As Shadow's enemy finally recovered and the mercenary was forced to block his next blow, something caught his attention behind the man. Not twenty feet away, he could see Kirito struggling against two enemies, just barely holding them off. As a third appeared behind the Black Swordsman, Shadow opened his mouth to shout out a warning. Before he could, however, the third man froze, an expression of shock and pain crossing his face, as two twin dagger blades burst from his chest, the black and white metal gleaming in the torchlight. Shadow knew those weapons.
Almost absentmindedly, the mercenary slapped aside a strike his enemy tried to make as he was distracted, and Shadow growled as his attention was torn away from the sight. In a move he remembered from the last time he had fought in this place, Shadow didn't pause from the force of the blow, but threw himself forward into the gape he had created by pushing his opponent's sword away. HIs own sword came sweeping back in at the same time, and before the enemy could react to this sudden change in tactics, Shadow's blade tore through the guy's neck, cleanly removing his head from his shoulders. The mercenary didn't wait to watch his body burst into light, however, his eyes instantly finding the battle he had previously been focused on before. Shadow watched with awe as the daggers jerked, dragging to either side of their victim's chest, right before the man died. Standing behind him was a form that both chilled Shadow to the bone, as well as bring him a great sense of relief.
Bella looked different from how he remembered, the mercenary had to admit. No longer was she the predatory woman who had hunted him through this very Court, darkness incarnate and winter's wrath. She wasn't, however, the broken angel he had seen in that short glimpse of vulnerability, when the mask dropped and her pain was bared to the world. Instead, the woman he saw before him now was carved from stone, her beautiful features perfectly emotionless as she stepped back from the corpse-light of the man she had just ended. There was a flicker of darkness, and then she was gone, and Shadow's eyes widened as he stared at the spot she had just stood. He had no time to wonder what had just happened, however, when the woman appeared to step out of the shadows just a few meters away, landing directly between the two men Kirito had been fighting. Like a viper, her hands shot out to either side of her, and the daggers she carried buried themselves within the digital hearts of her targets. Again, her features did not change as the men burst into the tell-tale shards, other than to give a short nod to Kirito, whose own face was twisted into surprise at her appearance. Then she was gone again, melted into the darkness and Kirito's eyes met Shadow's as they both wondered at the occurrence. After a moment, however, the mercenary only offered Kirito a shrug, not familiar enough with the woman to offer any sort of judgement on her behavior, and turned, ready to throw himself back into the fight. Shadow had done his part in rescuing Bella, and his debt was now paid. Whatever came next was none of his business.
XXX
Surprisingly, it wasn't Kirito who found her after the battle, perched atop one of the wider spikes skirting the main space of the Court and watching as the few LC prisoners who had survived were rounded up and dealt with. Instead, Bella was shocked to find Asuna, the lieutenant of the KOB dropping down to sit beside her, a haggard expression adorning her face. For a moment, the two women were silent, not quite looking at each other as they sat side by side. After a moment, however, Asuna broke the silence.
"How do you do it?" Startled by the question, Bella turned her head to face the older girl, tilting it slightly in question.
"Do what, exactly?" The bronze of Asuna's eyes appeared tarnished as she met Bella's own quicksilver ones, and with a slow movement, the swordwoman gestured towards the rest of the Court.
"All of this. You killed today, just like us, and… I heard what that monster did to you and your family. But you're sitting here like it's nothing. How can you go through so much pain, sacrifice so much, and not at least cry? It's like you're made out of stone or something." Bella held Asuna's gaze, her quicksilver eyes flickering in light of the numerous torches the frontline guilds had placed, and for a moment Asuna thought that perhaps she had gone too far in her questioning. Before she could apologize, though, Bella's lips quirked upwards into a smile that held so much sadness in it, Asuna's heart nearly broke at the sight.
"How does one cry, Asuna, when they have no tears to shed?" For a moment, Asuna was confused by her words, but then she looked closer at the girl beside her, really looked. Bella was sitting almost like a gargoyle, hunched over and curled around herself. The pose spoke of unbearable pain, and every feature of her face reflected it. For just a moment, Asuna could have sworn she saw the woman's soul there, cast in shadows and a loss she couldn't even fathom, and yet, her eyes were bone-bry. There wasn't even a hint of wetness there, and as bronze met quicksilver, it hit her. It wasn't that bella wouldn't cry. It was that she couldn't.
"You… how long?" She asked past the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat, and again there was that sad smile.
"As long as I can remember. The doctor's say there's nothing wrong with me though. My eyes work fine. They claim it's a psychological thing. My body just doesn't know how to cry." Asuna stared at Bella, unable to believe what she was hearing and wondering just why this girl was telling her this. She had never heard of such a thing before, but it just sounded so personal, and Bella barely knew her. Sure, they had fought together that one time on Floor One, but that was pretty much it for their interactions outside of meetings for other boss battles.
"Does-does Kirito know?" She asked, for surely the black-haired boy who was Bella's constant companion must have some idea of what the Silver Shadow was suffering. God, to not be able to cry… it must be torture, without some sort of release for her grief. Asuna knew from experience that crying was just as therapeutic as anything else, a way to express your emotions, and she knew from just looking at Bella that she felt a lot more deeply than most. She could barely imagine that sort of feeling, and to not be able to express it? No, that would be pure torture.
"He suspects, I think." Bella shook her head as she replied, eyes glimmering slightly to match the sad smile she still wore. She had no doubt her best friend-he was her only friend now, wasn't he?- had probably guessed her little malfunction months ago, if not on the day they lost the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats. He was a lot more observant than most people gave him credit for. "I'm not going to bother him with it, though. He's got enough on his plate as it is." At her words, Asuna's pitying stare suddenly turned into a glare, rage washing through her.
"What on earth are you talking about? He's your friend, Bella! Go talk to him!" Her sudden outburst attracted a few looks from the others, but she waved them away and continued to glare at the silver-haired girl. Bella at least had the grace to look a little chagrined, but still she met Asuna's gaze evenly, iron in her voice as she replied.
"He's got enough problems, and doesn't need to deal with mine. I'm not going to make him carry my burdens for me." A moment later, the sound of flesh meeting flesh rang through the cavern, and Bella stared in surprise at Asuna, a hand on her jaw where the older girl had slapped her.
"What the fuck was that for?" She asked in a low voice, her shock perfectly evident. Asuna had no pity for her, however, and leaned forward until she was directly in the younger's face.
"That was for being an idiot. Kirito's your best friend, and here you are keeping secrets from him. That's not what friends do, Bella."
"I'm not keeping secrets from him!" The silver-eyed girl protested, throwing her hands into the air. "I just don't want to bother him with it, that's all. It's not his burden to bear. I'm the one who sacrifices, not the other way around!" As the last words slipped out, Bella froze, as did Asuna. She hadn't meant to say that.
"What do you mean, you're the one who sacrifices?" Asuna was now leaning even further forward, and for a moment, Bella was hard pressed not to admire her beauty. She managed, though, both by remembering that Kirito had a massive crush on the girl, not that he would ever admit it, and also by being too busy trying not to meet her eyes as she looked away in shame.
"That's… it's what I've always done. People come to me for comfort. I hold them, or I listen to their problems, and I take their burdens as my own. That's how it's always been." Her answer was a whisper, just barely escaping her lips, but Asuna still reeled back in shock, as if she had just been slapped.
"But that's horrible! You help everyone else, and are left alone to deal with your own problems?" Bella nodded slowly, not quite sure where Asuna was going with this. It was what it was, why was the girl so upset over it all.
"I'm what some people call an empath. It's easy for me to feel and understand the emotions around me, and so people are comfortable sharing their secrets with me, especially since I don't spread them around. If someone tells me something, it never leaves my lips unless they say it's okay." Asuna stared at the other girl in amazement. That was just so, so… selfless. Nothing at all like the Silver Shadow most people imagined.
"And you don't tell anyone else your own?" She asked, awe in her voice. Sure, it was extraordinarily sad, but the strength it would take for Bella to have lived like this her entire life… it was mind boggling. In response, the younger girl shook her head, a sliver of amusement slipping into her quicksilver eyes.
"Not at all. I'm perfectly able to work through my own problems." For a few seconds, the two girls sat there looking at each other. Then, without warning, Asuna's hand suddenly shot out, grabbing Bella's as she stood, pulling the younger girl with her.
"Nope, that's not happening." Shocked by the sudden action, Bella tried to pull her hand away, but Asuna's grip was like a vice.
"Wait, what are you doing? What do you mean 'that's not happening'?" Asuna didn't even send her a cursory glance as she continued to struggle, too busy scanning the room for a familiar head of black hair.
"You're not going to sit here and wallow in your own misery anymore. I'm taking you to Kirito, and you will talk to him." As she caught a glimpse of dark messiness, Asuna grinned ferally, and set off, dragging Bella behind her. The younger girl, in a display that most never thought they would see of the infamous Silver Shadow, tried everything she could to get free, from slapping at the hand that held her to dragging her feet like a petulant child, protesting loudly the entire way.
"Let me go, Asuna! I swear, I am so going to make you regret this. You better be sleeping with one eye open from now on, you hear me? Let me gooooooooo!"
XXX
Okay, that… that was interesting. I honestly did not expect this chapter to end like it did, but you know what? I don't care. I think I just really needed something to pull me out of the really dark place I had to go to write this chapter. Such is life, I guess.
Anyways, That is the next chapter of The Silver Shadow done, and I guess the first thing I should do is apologize for this taking so long. I just really haven't been in a writing mood lately, and trust me, it's just as annoying on this side of the screen as it is on yours. When I actually tried to do this yesterday, I didn't really make it that far, and the whole thing was horribly shitty. I seriously had to erase like half of what I had, then modify the rest, before continuing. But, here it is, so I guess that's that.
So, I think that should be that, since I don't think there's really anything about this chapter in particular I need to mention, other than don't forget that Shadow is an OC that belongs to Arctic01, and you should probably go give his story some love. Otherwise, I suppose I'll see you all later, and don't forget to Review or PM me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Sayonara!