Kiyoshi: Really? This is the second chapter you've written today.
FCL64: Well we finally know what's going to happen *glares* so I kind of just want to finish this story. I kind of just want to finish all my stories and be done with writing for about six years.
Kiyoshi: Liar.
FCL64: Whatever. The fact remains that this is the FIRST chapter I've written today. It's nine minutes past midnight.
Kiyoshi: Uh-huh…Ayaka, Kaien…you know the drill.
Kyo pov
514 B.C.
I place the glowing red gem into the metal and press it in carefully, sealing it in place with my demonic aura. I can feel its power pulsing gently in between my fingers. The man who asked for this piece is hovering over me, watching my every move.
It cools for nearly an hour before I pick it up and hand it to him, still warm. He drops the cash he promised in my hand. "Thank you for your business," I tell him.
He nods and vanishes, wings fluttering as he walks away. I wonder what that gem can do, that he would be so taciturn and jittery the entire time it was out of his hands, even if he was standing over me the entire time.
11 B.C.
The gem is a powerful one. I carefully work it into the silver band, making it fit nice and tight so that it won't ever come out.
I hand it back to the woman, who smiles. "Thank you for your trouble. This will protect my daughter wherever she goes. Thank you."
I get some weird customers. Xanthippus shakes his head. "People and the objects they worship."
"Like you're much better," I chastise him. "That diamond you're always polishing, watching people, listening to them. It's very creepy, Xanthippus."
He frowns, but as always he does not speak back to me.
78 A.D.
The man presses the money into my palm and walks away, clutching the bracelet securely in his hand. Somehow, the gems that burned hotter than my forge do not seem to bother his hand at all.
"Xanthippus," I say. "Come help me clean this mess up."
"Yes, sir," he replies instantly.
"No need to call me 'sir' anymore if you do not wish," I tell him yet again. "You are a skilled enough jeweler that you could easily find work on your own, or at the very least you could work with me instead of for me."
"No. I'm content with the life I have, working for room and board," he replies easily.
989 A.D.
A woman clad all in dark green walks up to me, her steps brisk and businesslike. "You would be Kyo?" she asks the moment I face her.
"Yes," I reply, looking at her pale green eyes and her pale brown hair. "How can I help you?"
"I have four jewels I want set. I have heard that you are the best."
"I'll do what I can, ma'am. Show them to me and explain what you want, and I will do my utmost to make it as perfect as possible."
She nods, and her fox tail flicks out behind her nervously. Her ears are standing straight up in the air. Why is she so tense? "First," she begins. "You must do this personally. You cannot have your apprentice help you. I do not care if he sees what you are doing, but he cannot be allowed to work on them."
"Understood." This is another of those weird requests. It's going to be so incredibly detailed, but the payout will be completely worth it.
"I want two lockets, solid gold. Each is to have two of the four stones in it. I want the sapphire and diamond paired, and I want the garnet and the onyx paired." She places the four stones in my hand. A slight energy pulses up my fingers and into my hand. She continues, "I want the lockets to be capable of connecting to each other, the garnet and sapphire being paired and the onyx and garnet being together when the two pieces are snapped together."
This is already the most bizarre request I've had. "May I inquire as to why?"
"They are for my daughter and son, opposites but balanced out. These were found the day they were born. That is all you need to know about them."
"Well…I believe it can be done, but first we must discuss—"
She drops a small sack of coins on the table. "Payment."
I open it. The pieces are copper, not silver or gold. Worth a fair amount in the quantity she has handed me but not enough for what she's asking me to do. "This is not enough," I tell her. "Not for what you're asking me to make."
"That is what I am giving you now," she replies. "If you take it you are swearing to keep what you are doing to yourself. Your apprentice Xanthippus may watch, but he cannot touch. I will return every day to inspect your work. If the lockets are done by tomorrow and done well, I will pay you twice the number of pieces in that bag in gold. Each day the number of pieces decreases by three. Does this sound fair to you?"
I nod. "I will have them ready for you as soon as possible."
Why is it that, lately, more and more of these powerful pieces have been making there way to my shop?
1264 A.D.
As I am carefully putting the final touches on a wedding ring, a man approaches me. "One moment," I tell him, focusing on the metal.
When I look up at him, I find that he is very old, his hands are clawed, and he is blind. "Let me see one of your pieces."
"What would you like?"
"It matters not."
I hesitate then place the ring in his hand. In less than ten seconds he hands it back to me and says, "I have found you at last. You are the metalworker sending such terrible things out into the world, Kyo."
"Terrible things?" I ask, turning the ring over in my fingers. It's a beautiful piece. Even a blind man should be able to tell that.
"I do not mean all your pieces are terrible, boy," he says. "I just mean that some of the things you have created can kill many, many people."
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell what the stones of the earth can do, Kyo. I can tell you the life story of any rock or gem. Several people have come to me, knowing that their jewelry possesses powerful properties but not knowing what. Many of these people's stones speak of your hands working feverishly over a forge. And this worries me, for these objects are very, very dangerous."
"Examples?" I ask. He's accusing me of attempting to cause mass destruction, isn't he?
"Two lockets set with a total of four gems representing fire, water, wind and earth. A bracelet whose red hot stones came from the center of a volcano and are endowed with properties that allow them to control the nearest volcano," the man says calmly. I have never heard of any of this. But I remember both of those pieces. He continues, "A ring that has a pearl in it that completely disorients anyone who tries to harm the wearer, no matter how minor the offense. A pendant whose blood red stone drains energy from the environment around it, killing everything, turns it into negative energy and releases that destructive force on the world. Among others."
"I remember these pieces, but I have nothing to do with their capabilities," I object.
"Placing them in the jewelry makes them easier to use, Kyo," he explains. "These objects are not ones that should be trifled with. You are one of a very few metalworkers who is still willing to set gems that possess auras of their own." I'm aware. As a result, it's a very lucrative business. "I believe you should stop. These objects are dangerous and should not be possessed by anyone but the gods."
I nod. "I will take your advice…?"
"Zuberi." He gives me his name and walks away without another word. What am I to do about these gems I have set and the dangers they are creating?
Xanthippus comes up behind me and says, "You know what we need to do, right?"
I nod. "Find the objects and destroy them." He's right. I helped create them. I must get rid of them. "How? They won't be willing to part with those objects."
He nods. "We may need to kill them."
I turn to look at him. "No. I do not kill, Xanthippus."
Bright blue eyes stare back. "How many more people will they kill if you don't kill them first? How many people will you save, Kyo?" He called me by my name. He is truly serious. And he's right. This is the only way.
1524 A.D.
Bounty hunter for the Underworld. That sounds so wrong. I feel like a traitor. But I now have a commission to kill two of the last three people who possess those dangerous objects.
And I also have a commission to kill the thief and murderer Kurama. I will be saving even more people by killing him as well.
Well, interesting chapter, all in all. On to reviews. :)
animegrlsteph: you're telling me it was unexpected? I blame Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi: HEY!