I'm sorry that I've been gone for too long. I've just had no time to work one everything.
xXxOtAkU-444xXx: Hiya!
E THE TIME KEEPER: I don't know, I was actually going to have a poll for that very thing.
Review, please.
Love, Keta
Chapter 12: Seeing the Fire Deep Inside His Soul
We, the nocturnal few
Bound by other laws
To the service of the enemies of god
Are silent and hidden
Yet our exquisite fire burns on
Poised to engulf...
(Of Mist And Midnight Skies by Cradle of Filth)
Harriel's POV
I yawn into my sleeve and stretch out on the couch. Fawkes is sitting above me, trilling his beautiful song as we wait for Tom to come back from his meeting with the werewolves. Remus went with him to act as a buffer should things get hairy... so I'm alone.
In my loneliness and boredom, I start setting the candle in front of me on fire and snuffing it out before repeating. Eventually that starts becoming boring to so I start to throw a flaming sock ball up into the air before catching and starting the process over again.
"Harriel, are you in here?" My head whips around to look over at Sirius who smiles at me. "What are you doing, kiddo?"
"Exorcizing my control over fire to amuse myself."
"Sounds like fun. But why are you in here all alone instead of exploring the grounds?"
I look down and close my eyes as my hand reaches into the inner pocket of my cloak. From inside I pull out a rosary. Carved from the black stone called onyx with feathers intermingling amongst the white and black beads, it is much like my brothers' and sisters'. I slip it over my head and wrap a careful hand around it, before answering Sirius. "I just didn't want to go on my own. Ulquiorra and Keta prefer it when I have someone with me to protect me."
"They really care about you, don't they?"
"Yeah…" I murmur, taking up Sirius' hand as we walk down one of the corridors. "They love me very much and would do anything to make sure I'm okay. Sometimes though, they can act very cold, but they usually don't yell and that sort of thing. At least not at me."
"Why do they act cold?"
"Because," I whisper, ignoring the twinge in my chest saying that I'm betraying the confidentiality of our pack. "They do it so they don't have to feel. Whenever they get close to someone, something happens to them. To them, it's better to push everyone away. I just happened to get under their skin and wrapped my talons into their hearts. If you could call the empty black abysses in their chests that." The last part is said with a laugh.
"Is what they say true?"
"What?"
"That the reason why hollows carry empty voids is because of their lack of a heart."
"No. Hollows still have a heart, after all it creates our mask. Our powers are an extension of our heart. That's why we're all so different from one another."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That's why I can still do magic. Ulquiorra and Keta can too."
He looks thoughtful for a moment as we keep going, emerging to the outside world. "You know, if Remus gets ahold of you, you'll be thoroughly questioned."
"As I would imagine. So do you have any more questions for me, Siri?"
"Yeah, what's that number on your neck for?"
My hand reaches up to touch the gothic thirteen and I smile. "It's my number. Arrancar are usually numbered by how strong they are."
"So you're the thirteenth strongest?"
"No. I'm actually the third, but my number says I'm the fourteenth. Numbers start at zero and descend."
"Why don't you have your correct number then, Harriel?"
"The same reason Ulquiorra's the cuatro or fourth espada. Kitzan said that if we wanted to fight we hand to take numbers below our actual strength. Keta's pride wouldn't let her take a number under her own."
"Why not?"
"Because she's the cero, or zero espada, the strongest of us all. Ulquiorra's supposed to be the primero or first and I'm supposed to be the segunda or second."
"Huh… why is that? Why are you guys technically so high up on the food chain?"
"Because, we were vasto lordes."