A.N. Well, this part turned out longer than I thought it would be, so it's going to be in more than just one chapter. It also turned out to be rather less freaky than I thought it would be. Good or bad thing, you decide. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: POT characters not mine

Chapter 14

Eiji had always considered himself a rather easygoing sort of person. It had always been a motto of his to relax after all, seeing as being all tense generally only led to huge headaches and other such uncomfortable things. But even so, it was hard for him not to feel distinctly disturbed by the fact that he was now locked inside a dark cell and had been for what now felt like forever with no fresh air whatsoever and bound hands to boot. It wasn't the kind of thing one could blow off after a bit of loud complaining.

On the plus side, he had company. Or at least he felt it was a plus. From what he could catch of Shinji's mumbling the dark haired youth strongly believed they should have been given a bigger cell because being cramped in this little thing was anything but hospitable and seriously, it was bound to start smelling too if the guards never let them out. But of course, he had continued at length, they couldn't never let them out because they were prisoners and prisoners had to be kept alive and that had to include not suffocating them.

"They don't care if we suffocate."

Eiji jumped, Shinji stopped talking, and Kamio yelped as he leapt to his feet, turning to face the dark pile of rags he had been sitting next to. Only the pile was sitting up and he realized with a start that it was actually a boy. His clothes were tattered and his skin smeared with dirt so that he all but blended into the surrounding walls.

"All they care about is that as we're here and our powers are warded," the stranger continued, apparently unaware of the shock his new cellmates were in. "The worse it is, the easier it is for them to convince people to submit to and become one of the Elite."

Intrigued, Eiji leaned forward, blue eyes wide. "Is that scary lieutenant person one of the Elite then?"

Suddenly the boy seemed to shrink in on himself, becoming even more ragged looking than he had already. His eyes were wide and he stared pst Eiji as though he could look straight through the wall. Finally he sighed and looked away from them.

"He…yes, he's one of them."

"Hey, wait," Kamio said abruptly, waving his hands as though to ward off insects—though on second thought it was entirely possible that that was exactly what he was doing. "Are we supposed to just believe him? How do we know he's not just one of them in disguise?"

"What?" The boy drew himself up indignantly. "No—why would I do that?"

The redhead frowned. "I…I don't know—but then why the hesitation? It sounds to me like there's something you're not telling us."

"The Elite would want to hide as much as possible," Shinji murmured in agreement. "Though I suppose since we're trapped here and everything they wouldn't really have a reason to care how much we knew. We'll probably die here eventually. It's not like we'd be able to spread the news to anyone. Maybe they would want us to know more so they could gloat over how little we could do. Yes, that does sound like a tactic such people might use…"

Pulling himself out of the whirling thoughts pouring from his cellmate's mouth, Eiji leaned back against the damp wall behind him. "I've been wondering about the crows around here. It's strange…none of them are saying anything and their eyes are all funny. Do you know anything about that nyah?"

The boy was now twiddling his fingers together. "They're his eyes and ears, or at least that's what most people think they are."

"Think they are?" Kamio repeated, frowning. "What do you mean by 'think' they are?"

"So you mean he's controlling their minds?" Eiji wondered. "Some sorcerers can do that, right?"

"Some." Kamio's frown deepened. "But that kind of power can only affect one, maybe two creatures at a time. I mean, it's still one mind, and making a sentient being do something it might not want to isn't easy. And besides, people or animals being controlled that way don't have their eyes change color. They just look blank."

"I have heard of such magic before, but I thought it was just a rumor."

"You've heard about it?" Eiji asked, turning to where Shinji was sitting with his back against the cell wall. The expression on the sorcerer's face was speculative but something about the way his eyebrows were coming together gave Eiji the distinct impression that he was displeased about something. But Shinji had closed his mouth and actually appeared to be intent on not saying anything. Giving up, Eiji turned back to the boy.

"So…how long have you been here?"

The boy blinked, then shrugged. "I don't know…a long time, I think. They just tossed me in here and kind of forgot about me. My—my parents probably think I'm dead by now if—if they haven't been…" His voice cracked and something bright sparked in the air to vanish into the packed, dirt floor.

"Oh, uh…sorry," Eiji said a bit awkwardly. It was his turn to look down at the ground, wishing he had the luxury of twiddling his own thumbs. Words like that never felt right in his mouth. There was just something about them…and the reasons they were spoken—how could he have the right to utter flimsy condolences when he knew perfectly well that he didn't understand the feelings he was trying to soothe?

He'd never known his own parents, and the only human friend he'd had for a long period of time was Fuji, so he'd never really lost anyone before. There had been animals he had loved who had passed on since he had met them, but it had always been something natural. In the animal world life was something that was taken by the moment, so when there was death it never seemed as stark as humans made it out to be. It was always natural, and the lives lived before full in their simplicity so that there were no reasons to regret.

"Life is far more important than death," a wild tabby had once told him in that slow, purring, all-knowing way cats tended to speak. "You humans cannot understand that because you think too much about the future, worrying and wishing. It isn't a fault," it had added as an afterthought when it had seen the indignant, confused expression on his face. "It is simply…a difference, a human thing, persay."

Chewing his bottom lip, Eiji pulled his attention back to the present. The boy was speaking again.

"I—I don't mind, that they don't remember I'm here," the boy was saying, his voice firm if a little strained. "It means I probably won't be taken away."

Kamio looked at him blankly. "Taken away? To where?"

"Just," the boy paused and shook his head, "just away. It happens every month. Someone gets taken away and they never come back. It's always the lieutenant himself taking them, so we think…well…"

"Go on."

"This was back when there were other people in here with me, but, well, when of them had a touch of the seer's gift, and she had the visions… She kept seeing this old house in her dreams. Sometimes she even saw the prisoners being sent inside. But mostly she had these nightmares…we always knew when she had them because she would start screaming in her sleep and thrashing—a few times, when it got really bad, she would claw at her face, like she was trying to take out her own eyes…" He shuddered. "She could never really describe them afterward, not that we tried too hard to get her to, but we were pretty sure it meant they were dead."

x-X-x

The mansion doors had been carved of heavy wood and they creaked loudly Momoshiro and Inui threw their shoulders into them. The moment they were open a breath of chilled air billowed out to engulf them with the musty odor of abandonment and decay. Drawing back involuntarily from the unpleasant smell, the group traded glances before stepped boldly over the threshold. Hesitating just inside, he glanced out at the sky where the stars seemed to have miraculously disappeared.

I didn't think it was that cloudy.

Giving his head a quick shake, he raised his hand and murmured a command. A ball of pure, white light gathered in his palm. No one behind him complained or even mentioned the fact that he might be attracting the Elite with his spell.

Momo whistled softly as the light from Ryoma's spell illuminated vast stretches of chipped, marble floors and the feet of two massive, spiral staircases. Beyond them loomed the high, arching mouths of dark hallways and above them there was nothing but darkness.

"This place is huge," he whispered in awe. Yet despite the low volume of his voice his words echoed back to them over and over like ghostly rasps, sending a shiver down his back.

"The screaming stopped," Oishi murmured, subconsciously edging closer to his companions. "How are we supposed to find the person?"

"We will simply have to search," Inui replied, his glasses glowing softly with reflected light. "However, the chances of us finidng the person while all traveling together are slim. It would be more efficient to search separately."

"Are you crazy?" Momo yelped. "I'm not walking around alone in here!"

"Fsshuuu, scared?"

Momo scowled, drawing himself up. "Of course not. I just—we could get lost searching separately. And anyways, Ryoma's the only one with a light."

Ryoma inclined his head in agreement. "For once, he has a point."

"You see. I—Ryoma! What do you mean for once?"

"I have a lantern." Slinging his pack off of his shoulder, Inui rummaged around inside it for a minute before coming u[p with a small, glass lantern. Opening a green bottle he had pulled out with it, he poured some oil inside. "This should last about four hours at most. Echizen, if you would?"

Ryoma nodded, reaching over and murmuring quietly. An instant later the oil ignited.

"We can search in two groups then," Oishi decided, his stomach doing an odd little twist which he did his best to ignore. "We can meet back here in three and a half hours."

x-X-x

The horses were restless. The night was fully dark now and the campfire burning low. The soft noises of the night filled the air and everything seemed, for all intents and purposes, as a peaceful night should. And yet… There was a stillness in the air that lay deeper than the sounds. But the humans seemed utterly oblivious. The dark haired one was sitting with his back to a tree, his eyes closed and his breathing the steady rhythm of one asleep. The other was feeding the fire as he took the first watch.

The horses traded glances, ears flicking. One of them turned and took the few steps closer to the fire, reaching over to bury his nose in honey colored hair.

Fuji let out a surprised chuckle, turning around. "Triad." Smiling he reached up and ran a hand along the horse's elegant neck. Triad in turn snorted and stamped the ground.

Sighing, Fuji combed his fingers through the chestnut's main. He could feel the tension and unease in the horses.

"We'll be leaving as soon as it's bright enough," he promised. "We won't have to do much more to hide this camp so it should be a quick start."

x-X-x

Kaidoh was starting to feel a more than a little uncomfortable. He, Inui, and Oishi were on the second floor and the halls through which they were now moving had become much narrower. The air was filled with dust and the now wooden floors were barely covered with thin, raggedy carpets. He could barely see the light of Inui's lantern through the gloom and Oishi was literally blending in to the background in his gray, healer's cloak.

Something bumped against his leg and he jumped, emitting a startled hiss. But a moment later his ears caught the soft mewing of a cat. Surprised, he looked down to find a small, gray cat rubbing itself against his legs. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he knelt and gently scooped the animal up. The poor creature had probably wandered into the mansion in search of food.

It mewed again as he cradled it against him, and he stroked its head. Something didn't feel quite right though… Turning around in a slow circle, he scanned the surrounding hall. Nothing. The others must have gone on ahead.

Continuing his trek down the hall he did his best to ignore the way the floorboards groaned beneath his feet. He couldn't hear the others. His steps quickened gradually of their own accord until he was all but running, the cat pressed securely against his chest. Rounding a sharp corner he halted.

There before him was a dead end with a single door.

"I—Inui?" he called out nervously. "Oisih?"

There was no answer.

Moving forward on hesitant feet, he pushed open the door. He was greeted with a spill of silvery moonlight over wide, white tiles marred with spidery black cracks. A large, marble tub sat on bowed legs on the far side and to his right stood an elegant stone sink filled with clear water glittered invitingly. There were no signs of his companions, but neither was there any sign of anything…else.

Drawing in a deep breath, he let the cat down onto the tiled floor and moved to the sink. He stared into the basin. The water looked clean enough. Cupping his hands, he filled them with the cool liquid and splashed it over his face. The shock felt good and he could feel his shoulders relaxing.

Then he looked up into the cracked mirror and his lungs stopped working.

The cat was sitting on the edge of the tub, its reflection just barely visible in the mirror, but one thing was painfully obvious. But that…wasn't possible…

He turned around slowly.

There was the cat, sitting as it had been in the mirror, its head turned towards him. The problem was that it had no eyes.

For a moment he just stood there, his back pressed against the sink, his muscles frozen solid. Then, with a strangled cry, he spun on his heels and bolted, crash through the door without a second thought. He didn't know if it was following him and he didn't want to heck. He felt as though his muscles were going numb and when they did he wanted to be as far away from that room as possible.

X

"Syuichiroh."

Oishi blinked, looking up from the ground. The murky atmosphere was really starting to get to him. There was something oppressive about it all and he was starting to feel like he couldn't breathe.

"Have you seen Kaidoh?" the Observer asked, but Oishi didn't really seem to be looking at him. "Syuichiroh? Are you all right?"

The healer let out a sort of groan. His face was deathly pale.

"Maybe you should sit d—Syuichiroh!" His free hand shot out and caught Oishi's shoulder, but the healer slumped slowly to the floor anyway. Alarmed, Inui set his lantern on the floor and knelt next to his friend. There was a faint pulse, but Oishi wasn't responding to his calls or light shaking at all.

He sat back on his heels, his hand going reflexively to make sure his glasses were still securely in place. This was not good, no, not good at all.

X

"Ryoma, we've been on his floor four two hours, don't you think we should be heading downstairs? We still have another floor to check."

"We're not done up here yet."

"I know but—"

"What was that?"

Momo shifted uneasily. "What? I didn't—"

"Be quiet and listen."

Closing his mouth, Momo flexed his fingers reflexively. What he wouldn't give for a nice, simple, straight forward battle right about now.

A soft sound somewhere between a sniffle and a gasp drifted through the air. The hair on the back of his head rose and he turned slowly. There was nothing but darkness. And yet he could have sworn for a moment there that he had seen the glint of eyes.

"This way," Ryoma said abruptly, turning down a side corridor.

Pulling himself away from the watching darkness, Momo hurried reluctantly after the young sorcerer. He was seriously starting to regret having mentioned the scream when he first heard it. It was just him and his big mouth.

This new corridor had just as many doors lining it as all the others, but there was one unmistakable difference. One door near the far end on the right was slightly ajar and the faint glow of a lantern was spilling out from behind it.

"Maybe it's the others?" Momo suggested hopefully.

Ryoma shook his head. "They're checking the first two floors."

Cautiously, the two edged forward. There was definitely the sound of soft crying coming out from inside the room. Trading glances, Momo drew his sword slowly and the air around Ryoma's free hand began to crackle. Then they stepped forward together and Momo kicked the door the rest of the way open, leaping inside.

The room was empty as all the others had been but for a small figure huddled against the far wall. A lantern sat in the corner, clearly illuminating straight, brown hair that had been streaked with something darker.

Blood, Momo thought, his blade lowering slightly as he moved farther into the room. But who—

The figure looked up. It was a girl—and she didn't look at all pleased to see them.

"Excuse me—," he started, but he never got to finish.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, pressing back against the wall and staring at him with wide, wild eyes. Her face was ghostly pale beneath black streaks of blood.

Ryoma stepped up beside him. "We're just—"

"No!" Surging to her feet, the girl seized the lantern and hurled it at them.

Letting out a startled curse Momo ducked as Ryoma flung up his hands. The lantern smashed against an invisible barrier to shower to the floor in glittering pieces and a shower of sparks. A moment later the dry, wood floor was ablaze. The girl froze, her eyes wide and filled with the ghosts of reflected flames. Then, slowly, her eyes lifted to stare first at Ryoma, then Momo, then past them into the darkened hall beyond.

"We have to get out of here—"

Ryoma stiffened suddenly, spinning around where he stood. "Momo!"

Momo, about to leap over the flames to fetch the frozen girl, jumped, performing an awkward sort of pirouette in midair and almost fell backwards into the fire. Ryoma rarely ever shouted. But all he found as he struggled to regain his balance was an empty doorway and the deserted hall beyond.

He frowned. "Ryoma, what—"

Something rammed into him and he let out a started cry as his back connected with the far wall. All the air was forced out of his lungs and he opened his eyes wide, struggling to push the culprit away. But all he could see was the rising flames and Ryoma standing frozen near the door. Yet he could feel it clearly—the sensation of being crushed into the wall as his constricting windpipe fought to continue sending oxygen to the rest of his body. Black spots were beginning to explode in his vision and he couldn't make a sound. He couldn't even twitch the ends of his fingers.

Ryoma! The name echoed through his head, bouncing off of the inside of his skull until it became a chorus of a million cries, but despite his struggles he couldn't seem to force the word past his lips. Despair swept over him then, grasping at his lungs like the gradually increasing pressure that threatened him make him a part of the wall. It chilled him to the bone and he wondered belately why he had never realized that he might die one day. It was such a foreign thing for one so young, but it wasn't really all that far away anymore. If he'd known, well…if he'd known…he would…he would have………

x-X-x

"The Andimerrian Trilanus."

Three heads turned in unison to stare in Shinji's direction, their faces ranging through various degrees of confusion. "What was that?"

"The Andimerrian Trilanus," he repeated, his eyes suddenly sharp in the dim light of the cell. "It is an old brand of magic believed to have been discovered by the Ancients."

Eiji looked questioningly at Kamio, but the other redhead shrugged. "I've never heard of it."

"There is power in sacrifice. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power. Have you heard of demons?"

Eiji blinked. "Demons? You mean the scary monster things in stories and stuff?"

Shinji sniffed dismissively. "Of course not. Those are not demons, they are figments of imagination. Demons are the entities formed when certain similar energies such as those released by acts such as killing or strong emotions such as rage and hatred coalesce over hundreds and hundreds of years, gaining an awareness and power as their strength increases. Not many of them ever become strong enough to affect more than the emotions of people who come too near them, but those who do can become extremely dangerous."

"What does this have to do with us?" Kamio asked, shifting restlessly.

Shinji let out a short, almost irritated breath. Most people had no patience.

"The Andimerrian Trilanus is the pact between a sorcerer and one of these demonic entities. The sorcerer chooses when the pact is made the type of sacrifice he or she is willing to offer the demon in return for power. If the offer is accepted the mind of the sorcerer is linked with the entity's awareness and the sorcerer is granted abilities that could not otherwise have been acquired."

"So…" Eiji said slowly, his head starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, "you mean…like with the crows?"

Shinji nodded solemnly.

"And…you think the lieutenant is sacrificing prisoners to it?"

The sorcerer shrugged. "It is simply a theory."

TBC

A.N. Like I said, not creepy, hope no one's disappointed… Ah well, I'm rather busy right now but I'll try to get the next part up as soon as possible.