Secrets: Suiko's Captivity

Chapter Four

By: Valandra

A/N: Be warned, no beta! It has gone through my process of multiple reviews though, so hopefully most errors have been caught and corrected. Don't be afraid to point out any that I missed, or to ask for clarification on anything. I know my style can be a little confusing for some, and can take multiple re-reads to catch everything. What can I say, I like subtle hints? Please do enjoy my friends!

The time for mid-day meal was drawing close. Naaza knew this more for the gnawing in his stomach then any true sense of time. He'd skipped morning meal due to Anubis and hadn't visited the kitchens for anything due to Suiko. In fact, he'd hardly moved since the ailing youth had reached out to him, as if to comfort the unstable healer.

'More proof then not, the fever's made him delirious.' Though the young Ronin had never seen him sans his helmet, Naaza knew they'd faced off close enough for his eyes to have ingrained themselves in the youth's mind. For as long as he could remember, humans, even some demons and Fair Folk feared his eyes. He'd hidden them when he wished to go unnoticed, and used the fear he knew they inspired to keep people away. Such tactics had served him well, unless he was outnumbered.

At least, they had until Rajura found him while hunting down the Doku yoroi. He had seemed more amused then anything with Naaza's actions, in that frustratingly unflappable, aristocratic way of his. 'And Anubis…I think he was just happy to have a playmate.' There were after all, just some things one could not imagine Rajura…lowering himself to.

Naaza felt his lips twitch. He shook his head in bewildered amusement and refocused his black, pupil-less eyes on the long fingers still curled about his hand. That touch and continued hold had certainly served their purpose well, if Suiko's unconscious intent had been to distract and draw him away from his darker thoughts and memories. 'You weren't frightened either,' his mussing thoughts continued as his eyes traced Suiko's arm to the point it vanished beneath the blanket, then up to his sleeping face. 'You never once faltered when we faced off.'

He could have blamed Suiko, or even his growing hunger, for his distraction. However, when two dark arms wrapped around him from behind, pinning his own arms down, and pulled him back against a broad, solid chest, he placed the blame on the shoulders of the one who deserved it. With a quiet snarl that distracted both from Suiko's responding flinch, Naaza threw his head back. He received a satisfying crunch, followed by the scent of blood, and removed himself from Anubis' embrace before the man could even curse in response.

Hand pressed beneath his nose to staunch the bleeding, Anubis treated the green-haired man to a rather pathetic kicked-puppy look. "What kind of welcome back is that?" he mumbled, unaffected by Naaza's glare.

"The kind you apparently wished, given your means of announcing your return." Though he wouldn't say it, not even in conscious thought, his emotions bled it through their bond before he could stop it. 'You left me alone to my thoughts and memories, with my healer risen, alone in this place, with no distraction and little focus.'

Anubis pouted and removed his hand from his unbroken nose. His dark eyes brightened briefly with concern before his brother regained control of himself. He sighed and looked away, down to the sleeping Suiko. 'Rajura wasn't suppose to be detained for this long.' Not that it mattered nor changed the situation. 'Even still,' he contemplated the sleeping Ronin. 'You're not so far gone. …In fact, I've not needed to pull you back once. Perhaps I'm not the only one….'

He returned his gaze to Naaza and pulled out another pitiful pout. "I was hoping for a bite if you wanted to draw blood," his voice held a nasal quality to it, despite the slowed blood flow. Dark eyes narrowed on him, drawing a resigned sigh from the Yami Ma'Sho. Before he could contemplate further means of placating his brother, Suiko stirred beside them, earning both Ma'Sho's attention. Anubis shifted to better see the youth and gave him a curious once-over. "Has he woken at all?" he asked, more curious then concerned.

Naaza, also turned towards the Ronin, shook his head. His eyes, Anubis noted through indirect observation, seemed to lighten marginally as the healer spoke. "Not since you and I spoke this morning. He woke at some point in the night however," he continued, before Anubis could voice another concern. "Relocated himself over here, where I suspect he had a panic attack."

Anubis nodded absently and leaned back on his hands, his legs crossed before him. "That would have been enough for the wards to alert me." Suiko rolled onto his back with a groan, his face pinched with pain. Before either Ma'Sho could debate nightmare or physical pain, the Ronin jerked violently and screamed.

"Grab him!" Naaza ordered when Suiko's mid-back arched clear off the pillows as if electrocuted. Anubis grabbed the Ronin's shoulders and pulled him up into his lap, as mindful of his chest as he could be.

"Is it a reaction or withdraw?" Anubis questioned as he grabbed the youth's wrists. He pinned them in one hand and held the youth secure against his chest. Across from them, Naaza straddled and pinned their legs before he grabbed Suiko's head between his hands.

Naaza just shook his head; for all appearances, Suiko was still asleep in spite of his screams and thrashing. ~I had to cut him open again last night. He had a seizure fit as I stitched him up. This…seems random. I don't believe a physical stimulus is causing this.~

Anubis frowned and tightened his arms. He leaned back a bit as Suiko's thrashing threatened to bulk Naaza off. ~This isn't a nightmare,~ he pointed out drolly. He then closed his eyes with an aggravated breath; he didn't need to see the healer's eyes to know the demand they held.

Much as he had the night before, Anubis followed the path Rajura had originally forged to Suiko's psyche. The journey was faster, and he was able to go deeper, even take a physical form should he need, due to their proximity. Though he didn't make a sound, the snarled grimace on his face spoke volumes of what he'd found to Naaza. He quickly called his darkness to the youth's mind; it managed to tone down the blinding light of pain to that of the high-noon sun on a cloudless day…on a mountain top.

Anubis groaned as he took physical form in the Ronin's mind. ~So much pain,~ he conveyed, broadening his bond with Naaza to allow the healer a more accurate and immediate feel or "feed" from him. The world around him shivered violently as streaks of dark purple and black lit up the glowing sky like fire works. A short distance ahead of him appeared to be a constant electrical storm of dark oranges, purples and reds that would have made Korin proud.

"At least he's not lost at sea," Anubis murmured. He stopped in his tracks as a more violent "earthquake" then before shook the desert sand beneath his feet. "Still," he continued towards the electrical storm, knowing it to be where Suiko's spiritual representation rested. "This isn't the most ideal field I would have imagined for any level of his mind."

Naaza, perturbed by the images Anubis was sending him, peeled Suiko's lids back to observe his eyes. He wasn't able to for very long however. ~His fits are getting worse. Have you found him yet?~

Anubis growled and raised an arm to shield his face from the sand storm that was "protecting" the electrical storm. ~I'm not as practiced at this as Rajura is!~ he snapped in frustration. Indeed, Rajura would have been much better suited to the task. "Would have known where the boy was before he took shape," Anubis growled.

"Finally!" He stumbled out of the sand storm to stare into the rolling and exploding light show a few feet ahead of him. "Suiko!" he bellowed out, in hopes of learning the youth's general location before wondering blind into the storm.

~There,~ Naaza directed Anubis' attention towards the pain-filled defiance he'd come to expect and appreciate in Suiko. ~It's weak, but….~ Anubis was already moving in the direction Naaza had given him, his darkness following in his wake, bringing a slow calm to the turmoil.

~Found him.~ Fetal position on the ground in the storm's center, his back was to the Ma'Sho. Anubis knelt behind the youth and frowned when a large explosion over them caused Suiko to flinch.

"Suiko," he spoke, his voice almost lost to the storm his darkness couldn't banish quickly enough. He carefully pulled the youth up and against him, much as they were in the real world, and tightened his dark blanket around them like a dome shield. Anubis realized as he pulled the youth up, that Suiko was clutching his unmarred chest as if in pain. He frowned and shared the image with Naaza along with a silent question to the youth's stitches.

~He's not reopened anything,~ Naaza assured him after a short validation. He sounded…a little odd, but Suiko had started to move, so Anubis couldn't dwell on it.

Anubis watched with mixed amusement and concern as Suiko twisted against him enough to rest his temple and cheek on his shoulder. He managed to pull Suiko's wrists down to rest against their legs, and the youth seemed to relax further. The Yami Ma'Sho opened his mouth to question the Ronin, certain Suiko had woken, only to swallow his words when the youth pressed closer, his shallow breath warm against Anubis' throat.

"Shu?" Suiko breathed, once more causing Anubis to freeze. Positive he was unidentified, he assumed the name belonged to another Ronin. He took a heartbeat to weigh the pros and cons of correcting the youth, and decided to simply tighten his arms protectively. The storm was still fervently beating away at his darkness, as if furious at being denied. Suiko whimpered and pressed further into the supportive strength. "Hurts…."

Anubis caught the youth's wrist and kept it from his chest with little effort. "What does?" he murmured to keep his voice undistinguished. Such information might aid in understanding the source of this fit. He felt Naaza's silent approval.

With a sharp cry from Suiko's lips, a crash of dark violet light temporarily broke through Anubis' darkness. Suiko's spine stiffened as he arched away for the duration, only to collapse back against Anubis with a cry. "Everything…." He'd never heard the Ronin's voice so close to breaking, and was further stunned when a sweat-or tear?-stained face hid itself against his shoulder.

"S-sorry," Suiko stuttered as he struggled to calm himself. "It's…chaotic…." Eyes closed, his tension eased when the strong, steady support wasn't withdrawn. "…Is Seiji near?"

Anubis shook his head, certain the youth would feel it. After feeling Suiko shudder, he wished he could conjure faces for the names he was being given. "So…." he started slowly, mindful of his tone to not give himself away. "It's not physical pain?"

Suiko shook his head and pulled his arms closer, since Anubis still wouldn't allow him to raise them more then a few inches. "Not the source."

Naaza sighed and adjusted his hold on the still thrashing Suiko. He'd been following the conversation through Anubis, and thought he understood, if partially. ~Something on the mental or spiritual level is the source, strong enough to translate into physical responses, or rather, pain.~

Suiko reacted negatively to the voice that echoed shapeless in the darkness. It was familiar, as if he knew the owner, but somehow completely wrong. "Who…?" He tried to sit up, momentarily distracted by yet a new terror, but the arms he assumed to belong to "Shu" tightened and refused him.

'Rajura would be better suited to this,' Anubis thought, frustrated and momentarily angered for his brother's continued detainment. He felt Suiko flinch away from him, and frowned down at the youth until he stilled.

"Maybe you should try to sleep," Anubis murmured, uncertain of how to proceed and as yet unwilling to draw further notice to Naaza. Suiko's sigh sounded…resigned, depressed even.

"You don't believe me." Though calmly stated as common fact, there was no denying the underlying sense of sorrow and even, Anubis dared, betrayal. The fact that the spiritual representation he held slowly started to fade lent further credence to his deductions.

Anubis shook his head once more and curled himself around Suiko, as if doing so could keep the youth from fading further. "Not true," he denied earnestly. If he lost Suiko here, the potential damage to the Ronin was nigh-on endless.

Suiko shivered and tried to look up at him, but their position wouldn't allow the youth much movement. "Then why are you so upset?" he asked quietly instead.

Anubis felt somehow worse then when Suiko had spoken so certainly of his lack of faith. He thought he felt Naaza flinch as well, but couldn't spare his brother the attention. He bowed his head over Suiko's and closed his eyes. "I'm upset because I don't know how to help you. I can't hunt this source down, nor can I shield you from it further. What's more, those better suited to aid you are unavailable."

Arms tightened briefly, Anubis took a moment to breath and calm himself before continuing. "I suggest sleep as an escape from the pain only. At least until…Seiji," the name sounded oddly accented on his tongue, and he hopped the youth was too distracted to notice it, or his no doubt different vocabulary. "Can join us."

Suiko was silent for several unfelt heart beats. His form regained its solidity in Anubis' arms before the youth sighed and relaxed marginally against him. "…Thank you," he spoke softly, apology unvoiced yet not unheard.

oOo

Anubis sighed as he stretched out sore, protesting muscles. Suiko was finally calmed and settled in the pillows, asleep once more. 'Not that he was truly conscious for Naaza.' With a final groan, he leaned back on his hands to follow Naaza's movements about the room. Evening meal would be delivered soon, and the healer was preparing Suiko's next "meal." Both Ma'Sho were diligently avoiding all thought of Rajura.

With a quiet exhale, the Yami Ma'Sho pushed himself up to his feet. He silently approached the healer and slipped his arms around Naaza, mindful this time to not pin the younger's own arms. Anubis bowed his head in the crook of Naaza's neck and shoulder, and nuzzled the flesh there. "You should go soak in the baths. I'll tend to Suiko, and bring you evening meal."

Naaza's hands hesitated in their actions, a clear give away to his interest. He frowned when he felt Anubis' lips twitch. "And if he has another fit in our absence?"

Anubis grazed his teeth over pale flesh, and tightened his arms when the action caused Naaza to lean further into him. "I left his mind and spirit shrouded in the depths of my darkness, where he willingly sleeps. The source of these fits will not find him."

Head tipped back, Naaza turned enough to nip at Anubis' lips. "Such arrogance," the healer murmured, pitch black eyes alit with amusement. With an easy twist of hip and feet, he slipped from the elder's embrace without breaking eye contact. "Let us hope it is well founded. I've no heart to replace his with, should Suiko's give out on him entirely."

Anubis shuddered, causing the healer to laugh with a touch of sadistic glee. "Such things should not be possible," the Yami Ma'Sho groused, a low rumble to his voice. "Once the heart's removed, life should not return to the body. I refuse to believe you."

Naaza simply chuckled, un-offended. "As you wish, dear brother. Return him to the bed after you've fed him." With that, he took his leave of the chambers, intent on the baths.

Anubis shivered once more for the images his brother's words inspired. He was no stranger to reanimated corpses, and such were all he could imagine after such an exchange. 'What a foul way to go. Do both spirits linger, I wonder? Unable to pass on until both parts are completely destroyed?' He supposed he could simply ask Rajura, but…at best he imagined the elder gracing him with one of his forbearing yet exasperated expressions, and no answer.

Anubis sighed and set about his self-appointed duties before he could start to worry for his elder brother. 'It would be such a shame, should something happen to one of the towers that simply must have Arago's immediate attention….'

TBC….