Depth of Sorrow
4th July 2008
Series: The Seer
Summary: More on Watanuki's abilities and what they mean… and how they affect his bodyguard.
Warnings: More hints.
Author Notes: Many thanks to curiousrobin for the beta-reading!

Hi Anyjen! And welcome to the readership. I loved your reviews! So detailed and precisely what I love to hear. Thank you for your encouragements. It should be said, though, that I don't write for hearing the praise; that's not it at all. I just do like hearing from people, as I'm sure you can tell, but it's detailed nit-picking like yours which I most love because it helps me grow as a writer --and I want more. Honestly, I love all my stories and I will not stop writing unless the words don't come to mind.
On beta-reading, I just got one! She's just starting out and seems alright; we'll see as the story progresses. Thank you again.

TenshiGosuperu - cheers on the new PSP. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, I certainly have a blast playing with this universe. I hope to hear more from you on the coming chapters.

Hikari Maganji - I wish. The stastics said that 67 people had this story on alert... a the point in time there were about the same number of reviews. You'd think that it meant each person had already reviewed but most were repeat commenters. Another of my stories for a different fandom has the same number of people on alerts but TWICE the reviews --sad. Hearing from people like you is not what I write for but it does help me get better as a writer to hear readers' thoughts and impressions. So thank you for commenting!
On the alternate-world story I was talking about, it's called A Day With Watanuki and you can find it on flakedice's journal. She's also on here using the name flacedice --she's amazing and I worship her.

Lonewolfe001 - No of course not! I write to write... but I get better with feedback. I may have a beta reader but she's just one person. I'm only sad because for a story that's had over six thousand hits, so few people get back to me on what they think. But don't worry, I will always update... it's the muses which are the only hurdle, truthfully.

Much love also to: Renkin-chan, .xXxRock AngelxXx., GoddesOfWrath, forgotten unmei, Estrella85, katiesguilts, God of Laundry Baskets, Paon, SetsuenXX, Memory Dragon, Fhulhi the crazy, and Freakingcage7

Er... next time should I reply individually or is this okay? Seems long, though.
Lastly, more of my fiction under the same name over at fictionpress --all the original stuff!

On deck, all seemed calm. The men worked, tending the helm and sails, a few calls to each other as they moved.

Quietly, robes billowing in the breeze, Shizuka stood by Watanuki's side. Without having said a word, the deck began to clear, more and more of the crew avoiding the main deck as though having instinctively supposed what was coming. Watanuki, by contrast, stood tense and nervous, head hanging and posture a bit slouched.

"Can you not even bear the weight of your head?" the monk ribbed, unable to resist.

"At least that would mean it isn't empty," the young Lord hissed suddenly, head coming up and shooting the monk a glare, face tightening with displeasure and colour returning to his cheeks. It seemed he couldn't resist adding, "Unlike yours!"

"It's unwise to insult the intellect of the person you wish to learn from," Shizuka pointed out, deadpan.

"Well, I would hate to insult your Order, really," Watanuki mused, mock thoughtfully cupping his chin with the fingers of one hand though a nerve throbbed at his temple. "Their lessons must comprise the entirety of your head's contents, would they not? Hm…" he nodded to himself in agreement with his own assessment.

A corner of Shizuka's lips twitched. "I'm afraid you may be correct, I find that I can't think up a good retort to that." He smirked, "So I suppose there's nothing further to delay us and we can get right to the lesson."

"Eh?" Watanuki breathed, hand dropping and tense all over again. "B-but…"

"No buts," Shizuka argued, strolling up the deck to the opposite end. When he was far enough away, he about-faced and held a hand aloft, fingers curling into a seal and he called upon his power, "Let's see what you make of this." And with that, a blaze of fire erupted in the air before his hand and at a gesture it went straight for Watanuki.

"You..!" Gesturing fluidly, Watanuki summoned water from the sea, a shapeless stream snaking its way up and across the deck into the fireball's way. With a hiss and cloud of salty smoke, the fireball was gone. "You utter imbecile!" The young Lord yelled, shaking with this fury, "You attacked me!" He shook both fists in the air, almost hopping with ire. "You're a disgustingly inept and backward bodyguard if you're assaulting your client! Why, you…!"

"Water to combat fire, very good," Shizuka complimented casually, ignoring the tantrum since Watanuki had managed quite well and instead admiring the natural way his Master moved. "Now try this."

This time, Shizuka gestured for the remaining water of what Watanuki had used and beckoned for it toward himself. Thrashing, it whipped into the air like a huge ribbon before the monk, fluttered then arranged itself into a straight line. It shimmered briefly, suddenly becoming a spear of ice. With another gesture, it too dashed toward the astonished young noble.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Watanuki shrieked. Yet he slapped his hands together before his chest and in a swirl of colour a miniature tornado of flame seemed to spiral away from his hands to receive the spear –which melted instantly on contact.

"Very good," Shizuka said again, quite impressed. "Another," he decided.

He shaped his hands, one arm reaching above him and one below, drawing the two slowly in counterpoint to each other in a large circle. Before him the air began to distort until a pale white wheel formed, all jagged edges and spinning ferocity. When Shizuka's hands had spanned the full circle, the wheel was complete and it too, made for Watanuki. However, this time it spun almost haphazardly toward its target, a precarious zig-zag which most might not be able to interpret.

Or counter.

Shizuka watched Watanuki carefully in those split-seconds and-- there!

It happened again; the same thing as when Watanuki had deflected the attack spell on the night he had first met his Master. Watanuki's eyes narrowed, became heavy-lidded but couldn't hide the new darkness in them which Shizuka had only ever seen that once before. But this time unlike the first, in the instant before impact, those eyes did not widen with sudden usual clarity. Instead, they remained dark.

And dangerous.

Again that single arm cutting motion, this time accompanied by a flash of light, and Watanuki flung the spell away into the sky. Still and calculating Shizuka stared at his Master.

Poised and wary Watanuki stared back. The hand he'd used lowered and suspended before himself, at ready once more; this time completely unharmed.

The sound of clapping interrupted them, "Congratulations, cousin!" Jason gushed, "That was amazing!"

"Hm?" Watanuki seemed surprised, his eyes widened and cleared. "Well, it all worked out, I suppose." He flushed a little, colour staining his cheeks and ears, and rubbed at the back of his head, making Jason laugh.

Eyes narrowed, Shizuka studied him. All seemed well again.

"And you!" Watanuki suddenly hissed, figurative storm clouds gathering about him when he turned to address Shizuka. He screeched, "How dare you… you baptise me by fire!" He stomped stiffly across the deck toward the monk, who did nothing but frown down at him. Shaking a fist in Shizuka's face, he yelled, "Is this another of your Order's moronic ideas on client protection or did you just think it up yourself?!"

"You learned your magic didn't you?" Shizuka pointed out. "I knew that if you'd read the Grimoire and practiced charms-making then you must have practiced the elemental summonings. You just needed cause to use the lessons."

"You—that—it—" Watanuki spluttered, going red in the face, waving his arms uselessly. He finally snapped, "And what would you have done if that book had been a recent acquisition and I didn't know summonings?!"

"They way you handled it implied you had owned it a while," Shizuka shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Do you have to be so loud?"

"Loud?!" Watanuki repeated, aghast and insulted. "You tried to kill me and you're annoyed that I'm loud!" With a growl, the young Lord reached up and snatched Shizuka's collar in his fists, took a deep breath and his volume went up.

Way up.

Shizuka shoved his index fingers into place. Perhaps he shouldn't point such things out in future. There came a point when the noise was truly just too much. Why, Watanuki might strain his vocal chords—

What the..?

He angled his head toward the movement from his peripheral vision, over his shoulder at the railing of the ship, blinking. Watanuki froze, staring into the monk's robe-front. The crew who'd been watching turned to look where Shizuka was staring. All of them saw nothing.

But the strongest of spiritually-able at least knew something was wrong. Blinking, they turned puzzled eyes back toward the monk… whose gaze narrowed and trained on the dark shadows creeping up the side of the ship, leaking on deck through the spaces in the ship's railings… in broad daylight, no less.

Watanuki slouched forward into the monk's arms, face scrunching up and covering his mouth and nose with both hands.

"Water!" Jason yelled, realisation dawning in his eyes. "Bring the salt!"

The men began to move and shout, pails of cool, clear fresh water emptied in a circle around Watanuki, salt tossed at where Shizuka was staring. The miasma receded but did not disperse.

"What is going on?" The ship wasn't haunted. Could this be..? Shizuka glanced down at the young man in his arms who had gone weak and pale, a fine sheen of perspiration coating his skin, a testament to his pain. "You were spending power, not leaking it," he wondered aloud. "Why are they coming for you?"

"They're hungry," came Watanuki's quiet, stuttering reply. It sent shivers skittering over Shizuka's skin. "They want…" he grasped urgently at the monk. "Help me," he pleaded. "We need to…"

"Is this it?" Jason demanded, dashing over. "Is this the place?"

"Yes," Watanuki whispered weakly. Only Shizuka kept him upright now. "They're… they're everywhere."

When Jason nodded and ran to make preparations, it was then that Shizuka noticed the water beyond the ship. In the spiritual view of things, the ship was dead centre in a circle of black water, shadows and more of the miasma curling gently from the surface. It was only a vague view, shimmering in and out of his straining Sight, but enough that he glanced back at the Lord in his arms in shock.

He had never seen such things so clearly before.

Angry but concerned, Shizuka pulled Watanuki up and against himself, the weight of the slender noble even slighter than the monk had supposed. He growled and unleashed his Centre the way his grandfather had taught him, and the approaching smoke shrank back from his inherent abilities. He sensed it when some of his aura seemed to leak into Watanuki.

"I can breathe," he sighed, amazed. He looked up into Shizuka's gaze searchingly, "What did you do?"

"That is talk for later," Shizuka snapped. "Now what the hell is going on?"

"The dead," Watanuki replied, looking at least contrite, steadying himself on his feet. "They're from a shipwreck."

"Faster!" Sorata ordered his own men nearby. "His lord needs a defensive shield up as soon as possible!" The select men who comprised Sorata's group, those trained in the Spirits and Sight, fell into formation around Watanuki but the young lord waved them away, standing upright now and looking less haggard than a few moments ago.

"No," he said, waving at Sorata –who got a good look at his Lord and nearly gaped. "I'm fine. D-Doumeki has things under control on this front. Please help the others."

"My Lord," Sorata breathed, surprised. He glanced at Doumeki with appreciation then he nodded, "Understood." He yelled to his men, "Move it!"

Amidst the seeming chaos a purpose began to take form as Shizuka watched, the men had taken down the railing at the ship's stern (the rear). From there, it was easy to access the secondary level where they rearranged the removable parts of the hull to make an entrance to the cargo hold.

"Back there," Watanuki instructed, "We need to be… over there."

"Explain," Shizuka demanded, not moving.

"There is something we need to… retrieve," was the quiet reply. A pause, then only slightly acidly, "Not that it's really any of your nosy business, just get over there or get out of the way."

Watanuki attempted to pull himself out of Shizuka's grasp but the monk knew his Master would only totter if not outright fall flat on his face. And, rather than let the obstinate fool soldier on by himself, it would be better to do as instructed. It would make good ammunition to hold over Watanuki's head later anyway.

He growled, "Fine."

Scooping up the squawking noble, Shizuka marched for the stern. He stood off to one side, near where one of the sailors had beckoned him, several coils of rope at his feet. The men were working fast, mostly unaffected by the miasma… some were getting irritable, however, and that did not bode well for working as a team.

"Oi!" Shizuka snapped at an arguing group. "Get to work so we can get out of here sooner!" He scowled at the crew and ignored the way Watanuki shifted and squirmed in his arms, ears and cheeks a bright pink.

"Hm…" cooed Jason, suddenly by Shizuka's side, "How scary…"

"Shut up," Shizuka ordered, annoyed at all the happenings of which he knew nothing about. Apprehension made his tone stiff when he demanded, "Tell me this isn't about someone going down there to get something?"

"This is what we do, Doumeki-kun," Jason said quietly, the deceptively soft tone backed by a base of steel… and a warning. "This is what you are here to be part of, let us not forget."

Shizuka recognised the all too similar determined glint in both sets of blue eyes and resisted the urge to argue. "If you would be so kind then," he said with a forced calm, "An explanation would be appreciated."

"We're treasure hunting!" Jason declared cheerfully, smiling suddenly. In a jubilant tone he added, "And it's so nice to have another addition to the family!"

Ignoring the fake cheer, Shizuka demanded, "What's down there?"

"Something bad," Watanuki said quietly, guiltily. "Something cursed."

"Cursed enough to sink a ship," the monk realised. He frowned, "There's no way that thing should be taken on board."

Softly Watanuki pointed out, "What did you think the protective spells this morning were for?" He curled a little, head ducking and hair hiding his eyes.

Shizuka shut his own eyes a moment in severe irritation. When he opened them, he glared icily down at Watanuki. "This is insanity. If it wasn't content with taking the lives of a ship full of people that it had to torment them further into death, what do you think it's going to do with us?"

"We'll seal it," Watanuki said coldly, squirming enough that the monk had to put him down. Digging a hand into his robes he pulled out a set of metal pegs. "With these."

"Those…" Shizuka recognised them for what they were; long, sharp and inscribed with numerous runes… archaic spells which bound evil, "They bind man-made evils." The monk was startled. It took a grudge of the worst kind, a cruelty or rage of rare degree for a mere human to bring about such a… "A curse of revenge. Of spite. This is a curse of hatred and despair." Shizuka shook his head. "How did you even know where to find it?"

Suddenly Watanuki was doing that thing of his again, eyes slipping heavily half-shut, shuttered and wary. He replied faux casually, "This is the shipwreck upon which my uncle died."

TBC