A/N: I have gone back and re-read so many chapters while writing these last chapters. It appalls me that I have skewed so many of my own details. I suppose it has just been so damn long in the writing, and I've had so many personal tragedies and upheavals while writing it... I should have kept better notes. There are so many 'little' problems that I found with details I screwed up. Now that it is at an end, there really isn't anything I can do about it, but hopefully, they are small enough they won't matter a whole lot. If the day ever comes that I go back and re-write this story, I'll have a lot of things to fix. LOL.
1. I named both Kaoru and Kenshin's fathers Ishida (duh)
2. I had Daniel tell Edmond Cassandra was pregnant with his baby when he killed her AND then I had Edmond tell Daniel she was pregnant when he killed her. Oops! (Rolls eyes)
3. Yahiko vanished off the face of the earth after the lighthouse experience.
4. My colonial facts were about 2/3 accurate. I got tired of researching. (Blarg!)
5. My character language structures changed without warning. I just wasn't consistent. (Stupid old woman)
6. And other stuff that just needs tweaking, like my insinuation that Hiko knew how to play with a sword when in fact he didn't. Daniel did. Hiko just made it smoother 'cause he had more control. Just stuff. (Yeech!)
But hey, we had a good time. I read the early chapters and I can see my writing evolving as I went. I hope I got better. I think I did. I hope you think I did too. At this moment in time, I'll be going back to work on 'Do you want to live forever?' and 'Black Hawke'. 'Black Hawke' is on AFFN and Media and is a graphic/violent, uncensored lemon with Aoshi/Kaoru Kenshin/Misou Shishio/Yumi pairings. It is very non-traditional and is A/U. There are drugs, murder, mystery, and heavy emotional issues along with some good old fashioned Tsuki humor. It is doing very well over on MM. If any of you know BelleDayNight, she's the one who turned me onto the A/K pairing. She loves it. Her stuff is full of it. I have her all over my website. Great stories. 'Live Forever' is here on FF and on AFFN. It is A/U with all traditional pairings. It has heavy lemon content on AFFN, but is censored here on FF. It is going to be a rolling epic of 40-50 chapters, so with the 19 that are up it is barely off the ground. It is complex, and has a heavy historical/mythilogical background of my own creation. It's is a vampire fic, but very non-traditional. These are MY vampires... no Dracula shit here. Everything is my brainchild. I love this story, but it's not for everyone. Most people shy away from it because it is a Vamp fic. But this one is modern day, set in New York city. It's bloody, it's sexy, and there are a lot of surprises. The bad guy is a sexy beast too. I already have fans who are in love with him. But the reallly bad guy... he's just bad. He gives me the creepies, but I'm having a ball with him. If you don't like blood... well... The love issues, as always, are deep and heartfelt. The philosophies are heavy, as mine always are, but give it a chance before you say 'no'. It's where I'll be. (Oh, the penname on MM is Mangetsu )
God love and bless you all.
Tsuki-san
P.S. This is one long-assed chapter. I didn't want to make another one, so I just kept going.
Chapter Thirty-One
Searching for a Lost Soul
Sedgmont, New York
Early Spring, 1818
As they approached the rickety bridge for the second time, both Daniel and the Reverend were stunned to find themselves looking into the serious, if not threatening faces of Edmond Fetlock, Ethan O'Massy, and Elliot March who were standing on the other side. Edmond stood foremost with the others just behind, flanking him. None of the three looked the least bit friendly.
"What are ye doing 'ere, Master Fetlock, and with me younger brothers hanging off yer coattails?" Daniel began to feel very uneasy. Something was wrong. The School Master had the expression on him that he knew something was amiss, but how could he? No one knew anything. No one...
"I might be asking you the same thing, Master March? What be you doing all the way out here with yer aged father... he's in no condition for a ride such as this on a morning so cold. Why have you brought him out here?"
"That's none of your affair, School Master." Daniel barked, his brows pulling together in a ferocious scowl. "Ye have no rights questionin' me..."
"Nay, but I do." Elliot stood forward, gritting his teeth as Aoshi flexed just beneath the surface. 'Careful, Elliot... careful.' "Are ye out of your mind bringing Father out here in this cold? He'll catch his death breathing this chill." He pushed forward one more step, threatening. "Unless that is what you intended, him cathin' his death?"
"Indeed," Soujiro stepped up next to Kenshin/Edmond's side and narrowed his gaze, finding Daniel's eyes and holding them steady for a long, hard moment before he spoke again. "Is that your intention? To bring harm to this kindly, old man... FATHER?"
"F-FATHER?" Daniel's face turned pale, his brows twitching, lids blinking, and the muscles in his cheeks ticking. Confusion crawled across his face, twisting his mouth and silencing any further words as his brain struggled to understand what his wife's young brother had just spoken to him. 'Father? What does that mean...and why does it almost sound right...why is it familiar... what in the name of hell...? Why can't I remember...what am I supposed to remember...' His head started to hurt. Worse than any hangover he ever remembered.
"That's right, old man." Kenshin rose to the surface and cocked his head. "Have you taken to preying on the Elderly in your boredom since I'm not around anymore? Is that how you fill your spare time when I'm not available to be your punching bag?"
"Wha..." Daniel stumbled to the side, holding his head as a lightening rod of pain sliced through it, temporarily blinding him. "What are ya talkin' about, Fetlock? I never hit ye a day in yer life. What...is...I... ahhhh, me head! What the hell are you doin' to me?"
"We aren't doing anything to you... Daniel March." Kenshin snarled, placing his foot on the first gray plank of the bridge. "I'm talking to the bastard inside of you. I'm talking to my step-father... Hiko Seigurou. I know you can hear me, you worthless son-of-a-bitch. Now come out of there before this murdering asshole off's his old man and destroys all of our lives...including yours!"
A massive convulsion quacked through Daniel's body, throwing him to the ground, limbs thrashing, his neck and back arching until the vertebrae popped. Reverend March cried out, falling to his knees beside his stricken son, trying to hold him down, but was thrown back by a flailing arm.
"What's happening to my son?" He yelled, his eyes wild. "What have you done to him?"
"It's called a seizure, Master March." The voice of Aoshi Shinomori drifted across the bridge, attempting to comfort the distraught old man. "It would seem that Hiko and Daniel are fighting for possession of the body. Theirs is not a symbiotic relationship as ours is, in that he is not as an accepting a host to Hiko as Hiko was to him. He made Hiko feel powerful and was, therefore, embraced and encouraged. Hiko, on the other hand, is nothing more than an uncomfortable hindrance, and has been repressed. Daniel remembers nothing about being in our time because of that."
"But why is this... this shaking happening?"
"His brain is being forced to recognize something it does not want to believe... that there are two of him inside of his head. If nothing else, Daniel and Hiko are both egotistical to a fault of perfection. But Hiko is the weaker of the two. It was easy for Daniel to become the dominant entity. However, Daniel's hatred of Edmond was the most powerful emotion this tragedy spawned, and it was passed to Hiko and borne in his hatred for his step-son Kenshin, where it became even more powerful and twisted..."
"A more powerful hatred..." Maxwell March's eyes became tortured as they sought out the lavender-gold of Kenshin Himura. "Even as a youth, you are still the man he could never be, Master Himura. You are the Destroying Angel, my boy. You are The Judge, with your golden eyes and hair of flame. He, among all the Arch Angels, had the right to pass sentence on the greatest sinners...including his own brothers."
Kenshin caught his breath. "An Arch Angel Judge? What?"
"Aye, his wings were dipped in blood, staining his feathers a deep red. He was beautiful and terrifying at the same time." The Reverend stood and approached his side of the bridge and locked gazes with Kenshin. "As a boy, I was the most afraid of The Judge. When I was bad, I would have nightmares of his greatness passing through my bedroom window and stealing my younger sister away as punishment on my soul, and when she died of the influenza as a small child, I wondered if my dreams were true."
"Angels don't take babies, Master March." Kenshin's voice was soft, and strained. "They are supposed to protect the innocents."
"Aye, and you did." He nodded. "You protected your whole family... your sweet mother, a boy who wasn't your blood, and your wee sister. You saved them all from the wrath of man who should have been the one to offer them the protection and security you blanketed across their souls."
"I..."
"Please," A strangeness passed over aged countenance, and Maxwell March ceased to be a man of God, but one who feared the repercussions of his own mistakes more. "Please, Great Lord, I beg of you." Tears formed in the faded green eyes as they pleaded with spirit more powerful than anything he he'd seen or understood before. "Don't kill my son. Give me another chance to raise him into the kind of man he should have been... somehow you have the power of time. Take us back to the beginning. Make him an infant... give me the chance to try again..."
"Reverend..." Kenshin took another step, almost to stunned to speak. "I-I don't know how, I swear I don't. Please believe me. I'm not an Angel. I'm just the guy who always seems to be in the wrong place at the right time."
"I-I don't understand."
"I either end up saving everybody else, or I fail so bad everyone dies... but either way, it looks like I end up dead."
"Why do you say that?" Reverend March stared confused. "You aren't dead here?"
"Not yet, but it's looking at me... over your shoulder."
Reverend March gasped, swung around and came face to face with a hatred he never knew existed. Fear congealed in the pit of his stomach and his knees buckled, sending him lurching to the side, sprawling face first into the dew covered long grass.
"Father!" Aoshi/Elliot surged forward but was stopped by Kenshin's arm across his chest.
"Don't," the voice was a soft, gruff whisper. "The bridge won't hold you. Why do you think Daniel wanted the Reverend to go first?"
"Bloody hell, he would have fallen right through." Elliot was horrified. "Murderer." He rasped, emerald hard eyes lancing through the man on the other side of the bridge. "He would have fell into the river. It would have broken his back, or worse."
"That seems to have been the idea, ole' boy... Daniel's that is. Me? I couldn't give a shit about your old man. I never could abide Preachers. They talk too much, and all they want is money, your money. Lazy bastards. Stand around and talk about God and Hell fire all day, and then ask you to give them money... pshaw! What a crock."
Kenshin's face was ashen, his throat dry. It had been a bit since he'd heard that particular voice, and he had to admit, he hadn't missed it. "Reverend March?" He called, looking to see the old man rolling onto his back and struggling to a sitting position. "Are you all right?"
"A-aye, just a mouth full of grass and dirt." He replied, brushing his coat with shaking hands.
"Very good, then may I take this unpleasant opportunity to introduce you to my step-father, Hiko Seiguro. He is someone you've never met, The Lord be praised."
"Shut-up, you wise-ass!" Hiko snarled, reaching under his coat, fumbling for something Daniel had hidden. "I really can't believe how fucking screwed up this whole thing is, I don't know how you managed to drag us all back in time; neat trick by the way, but it still isn't going to save you."
"Really?" Kenshin cocked his head, feeling some of his confidence flowing back into his system. "What are you going to do about it? Talk me to death?"
"Very funny." Hiko sneered. "Guess where you are in the real world, Mr. Comedian?"
"I'm dead. Now tell me something I don't know, Einstien."
"I'm going to live, and their going to sew my hand back on. How's that? Bet you didn't figure on that, did ya?"
"You're just guessing, old man." Kenshin taunted, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his trousers. "You're unconscious, you big ape, and probably bleeding out. Who knows what they're saving and sewing back on. You're probably going to have mom opening your ketsup bottles for you the rest of your life... if she stays with your sorry ass, which I doubt. She's most likely going to divorce you, slam you with a whale-assed settlement, and then throw your sorry self in the gray-bar motel for abuse and murder one."
"Murder!" Hiko laughed, threw his head back and shouted his mirth to the treetops. "You are funny."
"Am I?" He squatted down, surveying the layout of the damaged wood, looking for a possible way over. "Trying sucking on this then; like you said, back in the real world, I'm dead. Well, guess who killed me." Hiko grew silent and gave Kenshin a wary sidelong look. "It won't take the cops long to figure out what happened. Quii Saitou and Kaoru were both there when you attacked me... remember cracking the chair over my head... you started the fight, not me, and I ended up dead trying to save them and protect myself. You were laying in wait for me, that shows premeditation. In the America I come from, that's call First Degree Murder... do they still have the death penalty in Maine?" His violet eyes were sardonic, his hands clasp loosely between his bent knees, and the note of disdain in his voice unmistakable. "You're history, old man, unless we change what was meant to happen out here today."
"I think you're full of shit, boy. You've always been full of shit, you always will be." Hiko's hand reappeared with Daniel's pistol, cocked and ready to fire. "I'm tired of your lip, your attitude, your willingness to give everything up for everyone else. I've hated you for longer than I care to think about. Do you know what it's like to look into the eyes of an eight year old and know he's a better man than you... and know he knows it too? Do you have any idea what that's like for a man like me?"
"No, sir. I don't."
"You ruined me! You knew I was weak, you knew I drank, and you knew I beat my family to make up for feeling inadequate. You knew! A snot-nosed kid I'd never met, and you looked me right in the eye and said, 'You're never going to hurt my family. You'll have to kill me first.'." A broken sob cut off Hiko's revelation and he turned away, the revolver wavering in his hand. "Do you even remember that?"
"I-I'm not sure." Kenshin was thrown by both the admission and Hiko's emotional shift. He'd never seen a shred of emotional pain or distress in this harsh man, and this display was unnerving to say the least.
"Well, you should. It was just before I picked you up and threw you across the livingroom. I think I chipped your front tooth. Dharma told the Dentist you wrecked your bike. That's where the tooth went and the black eye came from." He loosed a rough, ragged laugh. "She had a story for everything."
Kenshin was suddenly sick to his stomach and his vision skewed blurring the old gray planks in front of him. It was a good thing he was already squatting down or he might have fallen over. The rush of the memory was like a tidal wave as it struck his mind and spirit, but it was also one of the most significant moments in his life. It was the first time Hiko ever laid a hand to him. "I-I did know..." His voice was a choked whisper. "You were dangerous and I knew you were going to hurt us the moment you walked in the house. It was like you'd been wearing a costume all those months you and Mom dated. Everything you did was a big lie, you tricked her into believing you were this great guy who loved her and me, but... you didn't love anything. You just didn't want to be alone, and Mom was perfect for you. She was soft, quiet, and gentle. She wouldn't cause problems and she'd do pretty much whatever you told her too."
"God... how could you know that?" Hiko rasped, a single tear slipping down his rugged face. "You couldn't know that. You were just a kid."
"I knew. You were bad." His amber eyes raised and zeroed in on his step-father's stricken face. "I think I knew who you were." That statement chilled the already cold air. "No more, Hiko." His voice dropped to an icy whisper that carried over the bridge and froze the stunned anguished man. "It's over. You and Daniel have haunted and hunted this world for two lifetimes; you've murdered innocents, terrorized and abused those you were meant to care for and protect, and you've sinned against God and sold your soul to the Devil. It's time to stop the cycle. Put the gun down... there aren't going to be any more dead bodies, no more murders in the name of your greed and ambition. Reach inside your soul and find your honor. I think it's still in there if you look for it; come on, Hiko. Let's go home. I don't want to die again. I want to marry Karou and have a family of my own for a change. I want to live...and I-I want you to live too."
"I-I..." Hiko looked down at the ground and then back at Kenshin. "I can't."
"Yes, you can, Dad." Soujiro appeared at Kenshin's side and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Kenshin gratefully leaned that same shoulder into his brother's knee. "I never wanted to believe that you were all bad. I mean, you're my dad. There were times you held me when I was little and it felt like you loved me, and there were times with Cleo... I know you aren't a complete asshole through and through, so fight it for once in your life. Fight to be better than you are. Fight to be the man you should have been. Don't let Daniel win again. You're better than he is. He murdered his entire family. At least you didn't kill us... did you?"
"Does that make what I did any better than what he did, Sou? What are we doing? Talking degrees of sin here? Are you telling me that I'm not quite the black-hearted son-of-a-bitch he was because I didn't off my family the way he did?" Hiko shook his head and the grip on the pistol tightened. "I don't see that as much of a difference. It's just semantics."
"Semantics?" Kenshin raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the strange image of his step-father self destructing and wondered at the twist of these circumstance and what it meant. "Isn't it semantics that separates each of us from our alternate selves in this twisted time warp at the moment? I mean, we are each the sum of ourselves, but we are still all individuals. I know that Eddy and me are about as different as two men can be, yet he's still me and I'm still him. Nothing can change that, just like nothing can change the fact that you are the sum of what is Daniel March, but that doesn't mean you have to accept his mistakes and make them your own, and you don't have to relive his life either. There is nothing in this world or the next that says you have to be an abusive drunk just because he was." Slowly Kenshin rose to his feet and locked gazes with the silent man across the bridge. "Elliot March was a master carpenter, but Aoshi Shinomori is a mathematics and chemistry genius with a flair for history and science who wants to be a forensic policeman, yet they are still the same man. Do you see what I am saying, Hiko? You don't have to be the man you've been. You don't have to be a monster. It is within you to be your own man. A man who loves and cherishes his family. You don't have to take the same road Daniel did, but you are the only one who can make that choice."
"I... I don't want to be weak."
"Weak?" Kenshin laughed softly. "Do I look weak?" He asked. "Was it weakness you felt when I hammered you across the hallway at the school? Is it weakness you see before you now? Tell me, old man, just what are you afraid of? Being happy, or is the loss of all that power you get from being bad? It's the rush, isn't it? The rush makes you feel bigger than everyone else, doesn't it?"
"Yes..." The admission was a hollow whisper and Hiko's face turned ashen. "You don't know what it's like... the power, the energy. It's like being God. You feel like you could throw a car twelve city blocks with all that power. It's-it's magnificent. It's addictive."
"It's a lie, Hiko. It isn't real. If you want to see what's real, I'll show you what's real." The muscles in Kenshin's legs tightened and he flexed his right foot. "It's called 'God's speed', and I just seemed to be born with it." He shrugged and took a step back, dropping to a crouch. "I guess we'll both find out if it's real or not, won't we."
"Kenshin?" Kaoru stepped out from behind Elliot/Aoshi, her eyes wide with concern. "What are you..."
"Don't worry, honey. I promise everything is going to okay." Soujiro moved back, a look of worried understanding on his face, but he remained silent. The next moment happened in a flash of an eye. One instant Kenshin was crouched a pace away from the rickety bridge, and the next he was a blur of red and blue flying across it. The sounds of the rotten wood splintering and cracking filled the chilled air and the bridge trembled, boards shuddering and crumbling into useless shards, dropping into the river.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru lunged forward and the bridge disintegrated, but Elliot/Aoshi caught her by the waist and kept her from plunging over the edge. "Kenshin... Oh God! No! Kenshin!"
"I'm okay, baby." The rich, smooth voice drifted back to her from the other side. "I told you not to worry. When are you ever going to listen to me?"
"Dammit!" She wiped sudden tears off her face. "I'll start listening when you stop doing stupid stuff." She snapped, struggling to her feet. "You scared the hell outta me."
"Sorry," he smiled, climbing to his feet from the crouch he'd ended up in when he sprang from the splintering bridge. "But you can see I'm all safe and sound, so stop crying. I'm fine."
"Whatever," she groused, folding her arms and glaring at him. "What are you going to do now? Swing from the trees and eat bananas?"
"Kao..." He cast her a warning look before turning to catch a wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression on Hiko's face. The Reverend was on his knees again looking as if he were about to launch into prayer. His faded green eyes alive with fear and disbelief. "Reverend," Kenshin carefully approached the old man. "It's okay. I can just run really fast. It's nothing more than that."
"Nothing more?" Maxwell March closed his eyes and tried not to think about what he'd saw. "You melted into the air, Master Himura. You became nothing more than colored mist raging over the bridge at a speed that defied all logical explanations. More and more you prove yourself not quite human. There is an other worldly presence about you, but I cannot deem it evil. Nay, there is not an evil bone within ye."
"Not evil..." Hiko's words drifted to Kenshin's ears and the youth turned to meet the bewildered gaze. "What in God's name are you, boy?" He asked, his eyes searching the flawless face and bright liquid eyes.
"Just a kid trying to find the answers to a lot of difficult questions, old man." Kenshin straightened to his full height, which still lacked a good six to eight inches of reaching Hiko's, and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants. "You and I, we've been a long road and this is the second time we've reached the crossroads. What are you going to do this time?"
"Me?" Hiko reared back and stumbled back a pace. "What does that mean?"
"Last time we faced each other and you had a gun in your hand, you ended up shooting me in the head... or don't you remember? It's Daniel's memory, but you should be able to find it if you look hard enough. In fact, you should be able to see all of his memories, after all, he was inside your body in the future after the fact, so you should know everything he ever knew."
"Your point?"
"You know what happens to every one of us, including Cassandra, his wife. Of course, Kaoru and I already know because we saw Daniel's ghost kill Cassandra's ghost in the lighthouse, but you should be able to relive it all, first hand." Kenshin looked down at his feet and scuffed at a stone. "Actually, the biggest mystery we've all wondered about, is what happened to Elliot after Eddy and Sandra left Sedgmont. Maybe you could clear that up..."
"Elliot?" Hiko's eyes shifted to the tall man standing on the other side of the bridge. Green eyes met and locked with their darker twins and he shivered. Something ugly and cold slithered beneath his skin and he shivered. "How could I know that?" He asked, trying to look away but not able. "It hasn't even happened yet..."
"Do you remember kidnaping Kao and Quii at the dance?" Kenshin's voice was hard. "Do you remember dumping them in that storage pit underneath the lighthouse? Do you?"
"I... Oh God," Hiko covered his eyes with a shaking hand. "I did do that, didn't I?" Images of the tear streaked pale faces flashed in his mind and his breath caught in his throat. "I took them so you'd come... I took them... Oh Jesus... it was Daniel, he was there, in my head. Oh God..."
"Remember the duel, the swords... you never held a sword a day in your life, Hiko, yet you fought me like you'd been swinging steel for 20 years."
"No..."
"He was there with you. He's always been with you, and he knew me the moment he laid eyes on me whether you realized it or not. Why do you think you hated me so much? How did I know instinctively you were bad? We already knew each other, dammit!"
"Merciful heavens..." Hiko fell to his knees, the revolver pressed into the ground beneath his hand, his head hanging low.
"Now tell me what happened to Elliot, Hiko. What did Daniel do to him when he found out he'd helped Eddy and Sandra, because he did find out, didn't he?"
"Yesss," A violent shudder quaked through the large body, and Hiko Seiguro gasped for breath. "Don't make me... I can't..."
"Tell me," Kenshin warily approached the prostrate man. "Get it out. It's the last sin to be purged. The last secret, old man. Vomit it up and be done with it."
Another tremor shook the muscular frame and then Hiko did, literally, vomit a large gout of undigested food, the force of the expulsion arching nearly three feet from him. Retching twice more, he emptied his stomach of everything Daniel ate for breakfast and then some, leaving him shaking and sweaty. Then suddenly he fell over onto his side, rolled to his back, and raised the revolver, pointing it at Kenshin's chest. On the other side of the river, Kaoru began to scream.
"You want to know what happened, you little fuck, fine. I'll tell you, but it's not pretty so don't say you weren't warned."
"Okay, I won't say that." Kenshin's eyes shimmered and shifted, fading to a smoldering gold. "Just get on with it already."
"Love to." The shadow of Daniel's smile sifted across Hiko's face as his eyes flickered with malicious glee. "I see you were stupid enough to bring HER with you again." He scoffed, rising to a sitting position. "It seems you never will learn, will you?"
"Leave her out of it." Kenshin's voice dipped an octave and the Angel-wolf flexed his muscles, rippling just beneath the surface. "She is no concern of yours. She never was and never will be. Now stop stalling. You have a confession to tell. Let's get it over with before we all die of old age."
"You've grown impatient since our last meeting, brat. That's not like you. Always so cold and calculating. What happened to you? These tight-assed colonials get to you?" An evil chuckle oozed out of the corner of Hiko's mouth as he cocked his head. "I always wondered what it would take to rattle that crystal veneer."
"You ain't seen nothing yet, old man." Kenshin snarled, wondering where the contrite and self depreciating Hiko had disappeared to. "But if you don't start spilling your guts, you're going to find out."
"Fine," Hiko pushed himself to his feet, keeping the pistol carefully trained on his step-son's chest. "Like I told you, it isn't a pretty story, so just remember, you're the one who wanted to hear it."
"I'm still waiting," he replied, folding his arms across his chest. "And all you're doing is blowing smoke. Get on with it." Amber eyes narrowed at the evil mirth dancing inside the emerald orbs. "And see if you can find the balls to stop letting Daniel feed on your emotions. Personally, I think you're a better man than he could ever hope to be. For once in your life, why don't you prove it. Shut him out of this conversation. Stop letting him take over. You're stronger than this."
"Shut-up," Hiko snapped, darting a warning look toward the Reverend, who was still kneeling in the grass, his eyes wide with shock and bewilderment. "If you keep pushing me, I'll- I'll..."
"Just spill it, for God's sake! You've stalled long enough." The Angel-Wolf barked, impatience and the hint of a threat slicing through his voice. "If you want to test our limits any further, old man, go ahead, but I wouldn't suggest it. This fucking game you and Daniel are playing is over. Now play Tweety-bird and start singing, or I'm going to be Sylvester and I'm gonna eat your sorry ass. Got it!"
"Fine. Hope you got a handkerchief." Daniel/Hiko sneered, dropping the pistol on the ground and leaning nonchalantly against a three, his hands in his pockets. "It's a real tear-jerker."
"I'll bet, and you're loving it, you sick asshole." The Angel-Wolf spat on the ground and carefully placed himself between the now grinning Hiko/Daniel entity and the Reverend. "Now talk."
'They're gone... together. Those bloody... how could she leave me for that whiney weakling?' Daniel grabbed the bottle of whiskey he'd been drinking and flung it violently against the wall. It shattered on impact, the last of the amber liquid splattering over the ivory stucco, the short chest of drawers, and across the wood flooring. Glass fragments glittered like brown raindrops in the sunlight for a breath's second, and then clattered to the floor in tiny razor sharp shards and larger scoop shaped sections. It was a wet, bloody trap just waiting for a pair of unsuspecting bare feet.
Elliot insisted he go with him to the building site that morning, taking no refusal. He kept saying it was Daniel's place as Reverend to oversee the new church construction, and he yet to step foot on the site. The mealy mouthed little ass manipulated him with the respect of the parishioners, that they needed to see him showing the proper interest in the building of their new church so they would know he truly intended to be their spiritual leader. That made Daniel furious enough to saddle Tarkin and follow Elliot out to the building site. There he spent over three hours touring the progress and speaking with every worker, Elliot at his side introducing him to even the most insignificant brick carrier.
Finally he'd had enough, made his polite excuses, and left. When he returned to the rectory, Cassandra was gone. At first, he thought she might just be at the market, but the longer he waited for her to return, the more he started to suspect something was amiss.
A quick inspection of the kitchen proved there were no preparations for dinner, and no laundry hung drying in the breeze. Unease and fear tweaked his insides and he climbed the stairs to their room. Once inside, he quickly checked her clothes in the armoire. Three of her dresses were missing, her under garments, both pairs of her shoes, and her stockings. Her vanity revealed that her brush and comb were gone as well as her hairpins and combs. But her wedding ring was laying in the middle of the dish where she kept her jewelry. That was one thing she hadn't taken with her.
Three years they lived together as man and wife. Three years.
Daniel seethed with unrighteous fury. In his mind he could see them. That spineless school master, with his red hair and girly eyes, talking all close and quiet the way they did every Sunday after church service. Their heads bent close like they couldn't hear, and then her soft laughter would float up on the morning breeze, burning his ears like hellfire. It wasn't proper they way they were acting. It was downright scandalous.
Months ago he tried to put an end to it, but all that happened was Cassandra informing him that she and the school master were discussing the children in the Parish. It seemed he was having difficulties with several of the Merchants children, and had turned to her, as the Reverend's wife, for advice on disciplining the little trouble makers. So, unless this was a problem Daniel wanted to handle himself, which she didn't think it was, he could stop behaving like a jealous fool and leave her to her own work and service within the Parish. He was stunned to silence and forced to accept her explanation. His own investigation of the circumstance revealed that she was telling the truth, and he was humiliated into admitting he was wrong. Two bottles of whiskey later, he beat her unconscious and raped her limp body, leaving her bloody and bruised in their bed, while he passed out in the rectory. She knew better than making him admit he was wrong.
He'd been forced to tell the Parish that Cassandra was taken ill for the next two weeks while she recovered. Her black eyes and bruised lips just couldn't be seen in public. Everyone was so worried and all of the ladies wanted to bring food and comfort to her. Daniel was kind but firm, saying he could take care of her well enough, but their words would be a great comfort to her. The school master, however, was more persistent. Everyday he asked about Cassandra's welfare to the point Daniel became angry.
"Why is it such a great concern to you, Master Fetlock?" He growled. "Me wife is taken to her bed with the woman's illness. I'm caring for her as best I can. She's getting stronger every day and should soon be up and about. What more are you looking to know?"
"She's a very important woman to our Parish, Reverend March." Violet eyes turned crystal hard. "She is a great help to me at the school. I miss her sage advice, that I do. Is it wrong to be concerned for a helpmete and a friend?"
"Nay," Daniel bit his tongue. "But see that ye remember she's another man's wife."
"Aye. That is something I can't forget." Edmond's voice was low. "Please give her my best regards, Reverend. She's in my prayers."
Those words had burned in Daniel's mind for days after. Something was amiss. He knew it, but there was no proof. Until today. He knew they were gone together. He could feel it in his bones, but how...
"Elliot!" His eyes flared with hatred. "You bleedin' bastard." He snarled, slamming his fist into the top of the oak vanity, sending everything on it jumping and clattering wildly. "You took me out to the church site on purpose, and you kept me there as long as you could so they'd have time to leave. Ye betrayed me, little brother! Ye betrayed me!"
He thundered down the stairs, rifled through the linen closet, grunted when he found what he was looking for, and then disappeared out the door. Tarkin was still tied up out front and he grabbed the reins and mounted the horse, yanking him back in the direction of the building site.
"HEEYAH!" He shouted, kicking the black's sensitive flanks, sending him into a frantic gallop that had the tails of his over coat flapping wildly in the wind. 'You're going to pay for this, brother.' He thought, gritting his teeth and leaning down over the horse's neck. 'You're going to pay dearly.'
Fifteen minutes later, Daniel was back at the new church, searching for his brother, but Elliot was no where to be seen. A quick barrage of questions to one of the framers and he had his answer. Elliot was on his way to the dock in Clareville, ten miles away. It seemed he had business there. Daniel politely thanked the man, turned Tarkin in the direction of Clareville, and took off.
'You bastard,' he raged to himself, as he urged the horse to run faster. 'Is that where they are? Clareville? Catching the steamboat? Well, we'll just see about that.'
But Daniel didn't make it to Clareville before the boat left. Elliot was waiting for him on the road. It was as if the younger man knew he was going to have to give up his life in order to see Cassandra away from the beast that was his brother, and when he lured him out to the church site that morning so they could slip away, he made that choice.
Elliot knew it wouldn't take Daniel long to figure out what happened and who Cassandra was with. He'd suspected something between her and Edmond for months. He also knew that he would come right back out to the church site to confront him in front of all those men. He wouldn't let that happen, not to Sandra's good name. So, he fed the story about going to Clareville on business to his framer and rode up the road to wait for his brother, and the end that would give Edmond the last inch of time he needed to get Sandra on the stage and away from this place.
Daniel spotted his brother's horse tied to tree a few yards off the road and slowed his horse to a walk, looking around suspiciously. He'd never pegged Elliot for one to lay in wait, but then, he'd never believed his brother capable of doing what he'd done so far either. Pulling Tarkin to a stop, he stepped down and tied the animal to a low branch, his eyes searching the area for any sign of his brother, but finding nothing. A wary finger of uneasiness walked up his spine as he left the road and walked toward the other horse.
"Elliot?" He called, only half expecting the coward to answer him, and nearly jumped out of his own skin when the tall, slim man appeared from behind a tree just beyond where he'd tied his horse. He was wearing his heavy black overcoat, and his hands were tucked into the deep pockets. The long tails shifted in the breeze and he suddenly looked more like a giant Raven than a man. Daniel shivered at the image.
"What are ye doing here, Daniel?" The voice was low, sharp, and without its usual smooth tone of respect. "I didn't realize I required your permission to leave town."
"You shouldn't lie, brother." Daniel walked around the horses hind quarters, a gentle hand on the deadly muscles, letting it know he was there. "It doesn't suit you, and yer no good at it."
"Really? You think I'm lyin'?"
"I know yer lyin'." Daniel eyed his brother with distrust. He was acting strange and it was making him more than just a little uncomfortable. This wasn't the Elliot he knew. This was a Raven of ill will, and the idea of a bad Omen slithered through Daniel's mind. "Where are they?"
"They?" Elliot gave Daniel a blank look, and spread his feet. "Would you care to extrapolate on who 'they' are. I'm afraid I don't follow."
"I'm not playin' games with ye, Elliot, so stop this. Just tell me where they are, and maybe I'll leave you alive."
A tight, harsh laugh echoed through the trees as Elliot tossed his head back, one hand covering his forehead. "You'll leave me alive?" He mocked, revealing his true feelings for his brother at last. "You started conjuring the story for my death the moment you left the rectory to come back after me. I may be a fool to have ever believed you incapable of evils I've suspected, but don't take me for a fool now. Just tell me one thing," his eyes turned hard as glass and his lips pealed back in a snarl of hatred. "Did Father really fall to his death that day?"
"What do you think?" Daniel reached inside his coat and pulled the sword loose of its sheath. The steel gleamed in the midmorning light as he swept it slowly in front of him.
Elliot nodded his head and pulled a deep breath into his lungs. "I didn't want to believe it... but I think I always knew. I think I always did." A tremor slipped through his last words and he stopped talking for a few moments, gathering his wits. "What happened to you?" He asked, shifting his gaze to the taut features. "Just exactly when did you sell your soul to the Devil? Was it before or after you laid eyes on Cassandra? Or was she just another means to an end in your neverending plan for power and control of this Parish? Do ye even love 'er, man?"
"Aye, I love her." Daniel's soul shivered and crept into the darkness of his mind, hiding from the painful accusations. "Now, tell me where they are, Elliot. How much farther ahead of me are they? Which boat are they catchin'? Where are they goin'?"
Elliot lowered his gaze, looked at the sword in his brother's hand, and started to laugh, low and soft. "You're too late, brother." He whispered just loud enough for Daniel to hear. "And yer on the wrong road."
"Eh? What's that?"
"They aren't goin' to Clareville to catch the boat." More low laughter bubbled out of his throat. "But it was a good story to get you as far away from them so they could get away without you catching them."
"They're not in Clarevi..." Daniel exploded with rage, leaping across the space that separated him from the laughing Raven. The sword underhand, back, and then arched down in his rage, catching Elliot just above his left elbow. Speed, power, and fury carried the razor edge through the heavy material of the overcoat, the clothing beneath, and then it bit into the fragile flesh to the bone, severing the extremity with hardly a nick on the blade.
Elliot screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his mutilated arm, blood flowed freely over his hand and onto his clothes. He knew it was going to be a hard death and offered a fervent prayer for strength. 'Dearest God, let me die well. Save Sandra and Edmond...'
"Where are they, you bloody bastard!" Daniel screamed, into Elliot's pale, pain
stricken face. "Tell me and I'll do it fast... tell me, damn you! Where are they?"
"Far from you," Elliot rasped, smiling into the crazed insanity of his brother's emerald eyes. "You'll never find them... never. Edmond will hide her and you'll never touch her again. Never..." A muffled cry of agony spilt over his lips as Daniel grabbed his wounded arm and yanked, sending a fresh stream of blood into the grass.
"Tell me, or I swear I'll cut you to pieces, Elliot."
"Cut away." He replied in a tight voice. "It doesn't matter what you do to me, Daniel. As long as he keeps her away from you, then I can end my life a happy man."
Daniel gave a vicious snarl and grabbed a fistful of the hair on top of his brother's head, pulling him upright. "You will tell me," he rasped, raising the sword and laying it flat to Elliot's scalp. "And then you'll beg me to kill you."
"No..." But Elliot's denial was cut off as his screams filled the woods again. Blood spurted beneath the edge of the blade and poured down the sides of his head, into his eyes, and over his face as Daniel sawed his scalp loose and ripped it free, dropping it in his lap. Glazed eyes blurred with blood and tears looked down and tried to focus on the bloody mass of black hair, but Elliot couldn't really see anything. The pain engulfing his body was more than anything he could have imagined. "Yer an animal..." he rasped, tremors of shock quaking through his body. "A demon's spawn and one day, God's wrath will reach out and strike you down."
"Mayhaps," Daniel replied, looking at the grotesque portrait the Raven made now. "But not today. Now, tell me what I want to know, and I'll end your misery. Tell me where they are, Elliot. What road?"
"Dearest Lord in Heaven," Elliot March raised his ravaged face to the sky and blinked at the brightness of the sun. "Receive my soul, for I have tried to be a good and righteous man, and I have laid down my life for the woman I love that she might be free of the unholy dominion of her husband, this unrighteous murderer, who is my own flesh and blood. I would beg for his forgiveness and your tender mercies, but he is unworthy of such things. I beg only that I may come home to your side, and embrace my father and lady mother again. Blessed Lord, bring me home... and give flight to hooves of those holy steeds that carry the most precious jewel of my heart..."
"Bastard!" Daniel screamed, swinging his sword in a waist high flat line, he slashed a deep cut across his brother's exposed throat, severing both carotids and jugulars, laying the flesh open to the shiny vertebra of his neck. But Elliot was already dead and the last insult of pain was not his to bear. Unfortunately, his dying brain had given Daniel just enough of a clue as to the whereabouts of Edmond and Cassandra that he found them within the year.
The dead and dismembered body of Elliot March was found only a few short days after his tragic murder. At first it was believed that Indian's had ambushed the young carpenter, but the severed arm was not indicative of a native attack, and the town was forced to come to the conclusion the young man had been killed by his own brother-their beloved Reverend. When Daniel March, his wife, Cassandra, and the School Master all came up missing at the same time, rumors started to fly. Nathaniel O'Massy demanded the authorities investigate the Rectory. There they found evidence of Cassandra's years of torment, Daniel's drunkenness, and a tiny grave under a tree in the back with dried flowers lovingly draped over it.
Cassandra's diary was given to her parents, and the whole story became public knowledge. Daniel March's days were numbered. He was wanted for the murder of his own brother, and possibly the murder of his own father, and when he wandered back into town some eighteen months after leaving, a lynch mob was waiting for him.
It seems none of his dreams quite came true, and justice was a little late.
Across the river, Kaoru was sobbing hysterically. Elliot/Aoshi had collapsed to his knees, vomiting in the grass, and Soujiro was pale, breathing heavily with a trembling hand over his mouth. The Angel-Wolf was silent, his head bent almost to his chest. His own breathing was harsh, his knuckles white where they gripped his upper arms.
"You sick fuck." He choked. "He was your brother, for God's sake."
"He betrayed me," was the low, growling reply.
"He didn't deserve that. No one does."
"In the end, he still told me where they were. That's all that matters. I got what I wanted."
"Yeah, and they strung you up for it, so you ended up with nothing."
"I made all of you pay for making a fool of me... it was worth it."
"No..." The Reverend's voice was hollow and filled with anguished remorse. "It can't happen that way. It can't. I can't let it."
"And what are you going to do about it, old man?" Hiko/Daniel scoffed. "Preach me to death?"
"No, I'm going to do what has to be done, Daniel. I'm the only one who can." Maxwell March struggled to his feet, grabbed the Angel-Wolf by the shoulder and moved him out of the way. "This is my duty, young Master. I believe without a doubt that you are The Judge, but this is my task. I brought the demon into the world, I must take him out."
"Wha...?" But before the Angel-Wolf could utter another sound or quite fathom what the Reverend meant, the old man dove to the ground, scooped up the loaded and cocked pistol, and turned it on his eldest son. "God help me," he cried, leveling it at Hiko/Daniel's chest, gripping the butt with both hands. "I love you, Daniel." Tears streamed down his face. "Forgive me."
"Father, no...!"
BBAAANGG!
Blood blossomed across the front of Hiko/Daniel's crisp white shirt, and he was flung back hard against the tree. A loud grunt of pain and surprise erupted from him and he crumpled to the ground, his hand clawing at the wound. The Reverend was a good shot, the ball entered his son's chest just below and slightly right of his left collar bone. It had to have torn part of the aorta the way he was bleeding out. Ragged breaths, ashen skin, and a sudden sweat proved the man didn't have long to live.
"Y-you shot m-me..." Bewildered green eyes looked into the Reverend's pained face. "You-you killed me."
"Aye, I did, God, forgive me." The pistol fell to the ground, smoke curling out of the barrel. "I couldn't let you live, don't you see that. In order to save your eternal soul, I had to end your life before you could destroy yourself and all of us with you."
"But, I-I haven't done anything..."
"Nay, but you will, you will..." Reverend March hung his head, listening to the ragged breathing as his son drew his last breathes, and then the air grew silent.
Daniel March was dead.
Kenshin's soul clawed and struggled to the surface of the Angel-Wolf's consciousness, and he moved slowly to the fallen man's side, kneeling on the ground next to him. "Why, Hiko?" He whispered, tenderly fingering the bloody shirt, his throat constricted with emotion. "Why did you give in and let him take control again? You almost had him... you almost..." He hung his head as quiet sobs shook his shoulders. 'It wasn't supposed to happen this way.' As much as he'd wanted to kill this man himself, suddenly he wished everything could have turned out differently. Rage and grief surged through his blood and he gripped the front of Hiko's blood soaked shirt in tight, furious fists. "It wasn't supposed to end like this!" He cried, yanking the body up away from the tree, the head dropping limply to the back. "You weren't supposed to die, you son-of-a-bitch. We were supposed to save you. You were supposed to come back into the light with us... why didn't you listen to me? Why? Whyyyy! I saw the regret in your eyes... it was real. Damn you, it was real." Kenshin sobbed and clutched the body close to his chest, burying his face in the still warm neck, feeling the silky black hair brush his cheek. "Dad... why didn't you come back? We could have fixed everything. We could have made it work... we could have... Dad..."
Just as it had before, the white light rushed across the ground, engulfing all of the players, swallowing them, separating the past from the future, and spiriting that which was foreign back to its origins. The blood of the innocent was spared, and the twist of time and fate that had been pushed out of sync was made right again. Once more the passage of the world flowed like silk and water, and the distant cry of a newborn baby echoed along the misty tendrils of the past as it slipped away.
The future was no longer written, but love would always find a way, and kindred hearts can not be kept apart-not even by the passage of time. Fate has a way of bringing those who love the most back together, over and over and over...
When an Arch Angel can find forgiveness in its heart for the meanest of offenses, anything is possible, even second chances for the darkest and foulest of souls. It is one of the most precious gifts God has to offer his fierce warriors, but it is never given easily nor without a weighty price. There are reasons Arch Angels wings are stained in blood.
TBC
I cried writing this chapter... more than once. I hate it when I make myself cry, but I hated killing Elliot. It was one of the last loop holes I had to tie up and it had to be bad. I had to save Daniel and Hiko too. Sorry it was so bloody. Only the Epilogue is left. I love you all. God Bless. Tsuki