~flashback~

"The darkness keeps growing stronger; with each new atrocity, my soul becomes more and more tainted and I am powerless to stop it."

A barely perceptible breath condensed in the frigid air as the shark turned to face the motionless cloaked figure standing at his side. The heavy black hood attached to his cloak was pulled low over his eyes, almost entirely obscuring them from view so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

But Kisame was pretty sure he knew.

"I don't see you trying very hard to prevent that from coming true," he pointed out bluntly, raising a cigarette to his cyan lips and lighting it.

His partner was silent for a moment, still facing away from him, gazing out over the edge of the white stone balcony at the devastated ground below, pale lips compressed into a thin line.

Kisame rolled his eyes expressively at the lack of response.

"This is just what it means to be an Eidolon; you knew what you signed up for when you joined. We give ourselves over to the darkness and let his words rule our actions. If living a lie is the price we have to pay for staying alive, then that's a more than fair trade-off."

"No," Itachi cut in suddenly; but his voice was so quiet that it was like he hadn't spoken at all. Yet Kisame still hung on every word. "I'd rather surrender my immortality than live another day like this."

"Well, it's a shame you can't do that, now, isn't it?" the shark snapped back curtly, taking a pull from his cigarette and blowing out a thick cloud of smoke.

Itachi was once again silent for several moments, his gloved hands flexing on the ivory railing as he pondered that statement. He'd been thinking about his position in the Eidolons for quite a while, how it was affecting him and the only family he had left; for the first few years as a part of the ghosts, he'd been pretty adept at acting like he didn't care about his younger brother in an effort to make him strong enough to take his revenge for their clan's massacre.

But things had changed since then. After their most recent encounter, he'd discovered that Sasuke was considering working for Orochimaru in order to do so, and that had made it difficult to keep up his unconcerned façade.

Orochimaru had done terrible things to them both, and, though Sasuke didn't know it, he had been the one to engineer the massacre in the first place. Itachi couldn't let that happen: he couldn't let the snake use and abuse his brother like he had been doing to him.

He straightened himself fluidly and turned around.

"Maybe I can," he declared enigmatically, brushing past Kisame without elaborating; but the shark's hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist to stop him.

"What do you think you're going to do, Uchiha?" he demanded suspiciously, his beady eyes narrowing as he confronted the younger man.

Instead of answering, the Reaper simply stared back at him, his gaze cold and lifeless. But Kisame's curiosity wasn't quelled.

"Don't give me that. I know you hate yourself for what you did to your brother, but what makes you think that any move you make to fix it won't just make things ten times worse on him?"

The Reaper's stare darkened.

"The snake won't touch Sasuke-and if he does anything more to me, it won't matter. With everything he'd ordered me to do, my soul's already blackened past the point of no return. One more bad move isn't going to change that," Itachi stated without emotion. "Now, let me go."

Kisame flicned involuntarily as he saw red begin to bleed into those pitch black irises and the pupils spin, sharpening into those familiar black, serrated blades. He knew what that meant-that it would be very unwise to disobey-so he capitulated.

"He'll kill your precious brother if you turn against him now," Kisame warned as a last attempt to reason with Itachi, releasing the younger and retreating back into the corner of their room.

Those black blades spun dangerously faster, and Itachi gave him a look that would have made even the most heartless killer's blood freeze.

"Let him try," the Reaper retorted, still in that soft, whisper-like voice, not blinking. "I'd destroy him before he even got close."

He left their shared quarters without another word, then, leaving Kisame staring after him. It was a threat for him as much as anyone; if he were to leave the Eidolons at this point, Kisame would most likely be the one the snake would send to bring him in. But their history wasn't going to stop Itachi from fighting with everything he had; Kisame knew he wouldn't let anything stand in the way of protecting his little brother.

He was called the Reaper for a reason; he didn't take prisoners. He didn't stop. And if Orochimaru came after the one thing he cared about, well, he'd definitely better have some body bags ready.

~end~

The sitting room emptied out again, but Sasuke and Itachi remained, the younger watching his brother out of the corners of his eyes. Some thing had been said lately about the elder and what he had done, and he wanted to talk to him about it. He needed to hear what he had to say about it.

When everyone else was gone, Sasuke moved away from the wall and turned to face the elder, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

But before he could say a word, Itachi cut him off.

"What did the panther tell you about me this time?" he said with the barest hint of amusement underneath.

There is nothing that happens around here that I don't know about

Despite himself, and the seriousness of the situation, Sasuke's lips twitched ruefully. He should have known Itachi would know what was going on.

"He said you were the one who sent the Eidolons after his family," he stated without preamble, being careful not show any judgement in his tone; he did want it to sound like he was accusing Itachi of anything.

Itachi didn't respond at first, instead simply continuing to stand, eyes closed and back still ramrod straight even while he was leaning against the wall. That was fine; Sasuke was well used to his brother not answering his questions right away.

He stayed where he was, waiting patiently; finally, after a drawn-out silence, the elder spoke.

"I did a lot of things while I was a member of the ghosts to prove that I was truly loyal. Yu Kanda has had the misfortune at being a target of more than one of them," he stated lowly, not meeting his brother's eyes.

Sasuke pressed his lips together, contemplating-that wasn't a denial. And he knew better than anyone else what sort of horrible action Itachi had committed while he'd been an Eidolon. He'd also been on the receiving end of quite a few of them, and those were not pleasant memories.

He could only imagine what Kanda felt about his.

"So, that's why he was so pissed at you," he mused, cocking his head to the side. "You were the one who came up with the hit; but does Kanda know who was the one who carried out?"

Itachi finally opened his eyes, fixing them on the younger impassively and without blinking.

"Now. That is the question he's been asking for the last two years," he replied in a cryptic tone, his pale face still unreadable. He inhaled deeply before adding, "It was my idea, but I didn't stick around to witness the execution. All I needed to know was that it was successful-and it was."

Sasuke's forehead wrinkled; now that sounded a lot like the old Itachi-the Itachi that used to pretend like he didn't care about anything except his power and what his 'master' wanted.

Which brought up another, deeper question.

"When did you start to care about the fallout from your missions on the snake's orders?" he queried carefully, onyx orbs boring holes into Itachi's dark coals. "You told me once that you joined the Eidolons because you wanted the power; then, Kakashi told me you did it because you wanted to get an early bead on Orochimaru's plans for the village. You never actually said which one was the truth."

Itachi let out another soundless breath; he'd had a feeling that would come up sooner or later. It was the one thing he'd never told anyone-but Sasuke did deserve to know.

"Both," he admitted honestly. "When I first joined, it was because I wanted to help scuttle the snake's plans for Konoha; but, after he performed his experiments on me and the sorcerer's hold took effect, that changed. I truly became the monster I'd planned on pretending to be-and it wasn't until Kakashi told me that you were planning to join Orochimaru as well that I finally came out of it."

Another silence followed his pronouncement as Sasuke processed what he'd said. His brother really did love to shock him with his secrets; of all the thing Sasuke had thought he would say, that had been pretty far down the list.

He stared at Itachi, wondering why he'd kept this from him for so long. He wasn't anyone else. He'd always known that the monster he'd once hated had never really been his brother; that that whole unemotional machine thing had always been an act. But he hadn't thought he'd ever hear his brother say it.

Once again, before he could say anything on the subject, Itachi interrupted.

"And I think I've found way to finally make up for all of that: you are going to find out who Orochimaru sent to carry out my hit."

Sasuke frowned. "You really think that's going to help?"

"I told the panther that he needed to prove that I could trust him now, but that doesn't mean I want to give him any reason not to trust me again," the elder stated, deceptively neutral.

Sasuke tilted his head forward; he could understand that.

"All right," he consented, licking his lips. "So, what's the play, then?"

He knew he shouldn't have left the compound on his own; now that Kaiba was openly working against the Eidolons, there was, no doubt, a price on his and all of the Legacies' heads now. But his clairvoyance had told him that it was safe, and he needed a moment to himself.

There are some things that even a prophet cannot see

There were some matters that had been brought up in that meeting their little army had just had that his powers hadn't been able to see-and that concerned him. There'd never been anything blocked from his sight before; since he'd unlocked his power of prophecy, he'd been able to see everything that was connected to him.

And since he'd decided not to leave the Reaper-even after finding out about his 'game' with Orochimaru, this was connected to him in a big way.

Moreover, his powers hadn't warned him about the game in the first place-and that even more troubling. It could have blown up and maybe even resulted in his death before he knew anything if Orochimaru hadn't told Kaiba to try and get them to betray Uchiha.

As he was venturing further from the compound's grounds, he reflected how he had thought about it. Given the history between the Legacies and the Reaper, Itachi shouldn't have lied to them about what this all was; he shouldn't have lied to any of them-not about something like this.

However, considering everything Orochimaru had done-to him, to Kaiba, to everyone else they were currently working with-he couldn't just back out. Not from this far in.

So, he thought, coming to a stop just on the outside of the property line, if he was honest with himself, he didn't think he wanted to leave. Ever since he'd gotten his powers, he'd had to be a part of a fight. He'd been destined to take on the Light of Destruction, and then, when that had finished, he'd jumped right into working for the white dragon. He didn't know how to just live a normal life-and he didn't think he wanted to. He was a warrior, and that wasn't going to change.

He exhaled heavily, his mind settled as he completed his thought process. That was it, then he wasn't going to run his back on this game, no matter how crazy it seemed.

"That is a mistake."

Aster jolted at the sound of that familiar voice, eyes widening uncharacteristically as the speaker materialized directly in front of him.

He never thought he'd meet Yugi Muto in person-he was somewhat of a legend at Aster's old school; Aster had heard that he was now an Eidolon, but then he hadn't really thought about it. Yet he was here and given what he'd just said-like he was reading Aster's mind-that could be the only reason why.

"What are you talking about? Why are you here?" the prophet said by way of a response, instantly on guard against his unexpected visitor.

Quite contrary to how Aster had once thought he'd react, the older man sneered at his defensive stance, invading his space without hesitation.

"Like I just said, you're making a mistake by not leaving the Reaper after he's pulled," Yugi said coldly, violet eyes dark and harsh. "You do know that is why Lord Orochimaru revealed the truth about the game to your boss."

Aster's gaze narrowed at all the knowledge that this guy had about him. Sure, he knew things about Muto, too, but only because everyone in his world did; this was completely different-and it was really rather creepy.

He started to demand an explanation, but Yugi kept talking and something else cut him off. A sudden sharp sensation, like a knife sliding into his ribs, sliced through him, making it difficult to speak anymore and bringing him abruptly to his knees.

"But since neither he nor you are making the right choice here, I guess I'm just going to have to make it for you," Yugi hissed, a gold arrow shooting from the end of his legendary Millennium Puzzle toward Aster.

The silver-haired teen doubled over as it struck him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him. The pain grew worse-worse than anything he'd ever felt before.

He knew what this was about: it was the snake punishing him like he was punishing everyone who had betrayed or turned against him-everyone who had helped or joined the Reaper's army.

It was an execution.

He tried to summon up his own attack to stop it, and he did manage a burst of lightning that threw the elder man back-but it was too late. Muto's power had already affected him; he was dead.

He didn't regret any of it, though; he had full confidence that the Reaper's plan would work. The Eidolons would be defeated and his death would not be in vain.

"If you think the Reaper cares any of you, you've got another thing coming. If he manages to lift the sorcerer's hold that Orochimaru has over him, every last one of you will perish because of your part in helping him do so."

The Vampire Lords stared at the intruder impassively, not reacting one way or another to her dire statement. They weren't exactly surprised to see her: since telling Kaiba about the game had failed to make Itachi's companioins turn on him, obviously, Orochimaru was now trying another tack.

Sending his minions to spread lies about some vision the prophet had had about their mission failing.

But it wasn't going to work

"No."

Their silent standoff was interrupted by the sorceress, Tekla, appearing in the room, clad in her usual green cloak and pushing her hood off to stare each of them down with an expression that said she meant business.

"Phoenix never had any such vision; he was killed. While we may no longer be guaranteed a victory, we definitely don't have the option of losing. And everyone dies eventually-even you two-but no one's death will be because you chose to help us free the world from the Eidolons' clutches," she declared with such confidence that you almost had to believe her; then, she added in a slightly dangerous tone. "Plus, if you betray us now, I'll have to kill you myself-and you know I can."

"There's no need for that," Zero spoke up suddenly, uncrossing his arms and withdrawing his silenced revolver from the holster next to the one for his Bloody Rose. He strode up to the female Noah, raising the gun and aiming it at her head. "I would never even think of joining up with this bitch. I just wanted to see what lies she would try to spin in order to get us to betray Uchiha."

Tekla's unglossed lips curved into a smile as her eyes looked from the Knight to the gun he was currently pointing at one of her worst enemies: Lulubell Bell. She'd been wondering when this particular Noah would contribute to this battle.

Now she knew.

"Well, that's good," she said smoothly, sweeping a gloved hand over her mane of midnight curls and flashing him a cheeky grin. "After all, I'd hate to have to eliminate you, considering how long we've been friends.

Zero mirrored her smile with a distinctly more vicious one, undoing the safety catch.

At the same time, Kaname stepped up beside him, laying a hand on the small of his back as a gesture of solidarity, his gaze turning to Tekla to give his own statement on the situation.

"For the record, I know she isn't telling the truth; none of the Hunters from the old regime ever did," the king declared firmly. "And I would never compromise my arrangement with Uchiha by putting my trust in one of them."

Tekla sidled up between them, the twist of her lips belying the daggers she was glaring at Lulubell shadows darting out to strike her down

"I have a suggestion, then," she began, clapping a hand on both of their shoulders, still focused on the other woman. "How about we kill this harlot together? That way, she can't spin any more falsehoods."

Kaname let out a soft, frigid chuckle, his own mouth curving in a predatory smile.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," he consented, then, addressing the blonde himself. "Any last words, Bell?"

The female Noah didn't blink.

"You don't really think it will be that simple to kill me, do you?" she retorted quietly, appearing curiously unaffected by the fact that she was facing off against the Vampire Lords and one of the most powerful sorceresses in existence.

But her opponents were going to change that.

Tekla strode to the front of their group, extending her gloved hands out on either side of her, green fire spiralling out of her fingertips and launching toward Lulubell, blasting her across the room so she collided with the wall.

"For us? Hell, yes," the sorceress shot back fiercely, looming over her as she slid to the floor, the flames catching on her dark, understated clothes.

Liars burn

She ignored them, though, drawing her Vampire Killer whip and scrambling to get to her feet-but Zero fired his shot and hit right in the center of her forehead.

Blood instantly bloomed at the entry would site, and the female Hunter collapsed onto the floor again, the whip dropping out of her hand with a clatter.

Tekla's smile turned into a full-on smirk as the blonde collapsed at her feet, a crimson puddle forming around her head and soaking into the plush carpet.

"Well, that was fun," she commented with a mirthless laugh. She clapped the two lamia on the arm. "I trust you guys will take care of the clean up?"

Without waiting for a response, she cast one final glance at the dead woman before vanishing out of the mansion's sitting room.