Breakaway
14th April 2009
Series: The Seer

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Chapter 27

"Stay back," Shizuka hissed, arm outstretched across the cell entryway to keep his master from the prisoner writhing on his holding cell floor. His eyes tracked the movement of groups of dark smoke in the room which the noble surely must have also seen.

Watanuki's slender hands curled over Shizuka's arm as he protested, "But he's—"

"Not our priority," the monk reminded. "We have a duty to this ship and its crew first." Sorata nodded as he reached and pulled Watanuki back, Arashi stepping forward into the cell entryway to keep the noble just behind her, on guard as well.

Shizuka gripped Aran's shoulder as he passed, feeling it tremble under his hand. It was by pure chance that he glanced down at the boy… followed the kid's eyes and saw him looking off to one side of the prisoner's cell…

…right to where the thickest of smoke seemed to be seeping through the wall. Of course Shizuka had noticed the source the instant he'd stepped in… but Aran, too? Narrowing his eyes, he wondered just how many Spirit-able people there were aboard this darn ship, and why things seemed to be getting more and more complicated.

Extending his senses, Shizuka sensed behind the wall and found-- "The arms chest."

"Hm?" Sorata prodded.

"Behind that wall," the monk pointed, "is the arms chest we pulled from the sea." Something told him he should have inspected the item a little more closely before they'd stored it away. One of Sorata's men nodded at the pronouncement and stepped forward. "Check on it. Something's wrong."

While he waited to hear back, Shizuka stepped up to the man on the floor, his two fellow prisoners in their nearby cells oddly silent. Carefully, he hovered his hand over the fallen man, taking in the pale skin, cold sweat and slight shivering; looking for all the world as though in the grips of a normal fever. No fog, only a light cloaking of that dark shadow from the wall, mostly from proximity exposure. Studying the man, he realised it was the same one he'd crossed spells with, the last of the three he'd defeated that first night he'd boarded the Dancing Dragon just over two months ago.

"Doumeki-san," called the returned soldier, "The arms chest is leaking a little but it is still contained. The leaks are just its excess; nothing of the original curse has escaped."

Shizuka nodded and glanced over his shoulder, "Sorata-san, I recommend taking down the barrier and using the knives to reseal the chest. Arashi-san, I think you're better suited to see to this." He stood and let Arashi past, moving back to Watanuki in the cell doorway, noticing his master's distraction. "What are you looking at?"

"Hm? Nothing," Watanuki said, jerking his eyes away from the other two occupied holding cells but a guilty little flush coloured his cheeks.

Shizuka looked and saw nothing. And perhaps that was it. He observed, "They seem well cared for."

"They should be," Watanuki muttered. "They're my cousin's men."

"They were sent to kill you," Shizuka reminded him.

Watanuki's brows lowered ominously. "It's a misunderstanding."

"They brought swords."

"Monou-san and I haven't spoken in a long time." An eyebrow began to spasmodically twitch.

"And spells."

Watanuki glowered, "I am not an idiot! I know what danger I'm in."

"Hn," the monk gave a non-committal snort, earning a nasty glare.

"Contamination," Arashi pronounced, sitting back on her heels from the prisoner. "The exposure has been slowly getting to him, he probably didn't even notice. And certainly few of Sorata's soldiers would have known anything was wrong if it takes effort for them to search for something they didn't think to look for."

"We've unintentionally neglected them." Watanuki's brows lowered, what looked like a scowl coming over his face but Shizuka knew it for the mask it was to disguise his mounting concern. The noble asked quietly, "Can we do anything for him?"

Arashi smiled, clearly she understood what the monk did too. "I can get those sashes I used to cleanse you before and perform a similar ritual for this man." Reassuringly she added, "He'll be fine."

Watanuki said nothing, glancing doubtfully at what he could probably see of the infection. Shizuka admired his master's kindness but he himself didn't see this case to be anywhere near as bad as Watanuki'd had so this didn't need his attention.

The fact that Jason was, once again, no where to be found, did.

Suppressing a yawn, Shizuka stepped back into the hallway, nodding to Sorata's soldiers as he passed –an indication of his trust. He peeked into the room next door, eyed the trunk and found everything to be just as the soldier earlier had said. His eyes narrowed on the latch, however…

Hm.

Returning to the hallway, he cupped Watanuki's elbow in his hand and led the way back down the hallway and up the deck steps, all too aware of the slim arm in his hand. Watanuki followed obediently enough despite his tense shoulders and annoyed posture, glancing up at Shizuka every few paces and scowling ever so slightly in that way the monk thought kind of suited the young noble. Not that he would ever say so.

"What about that man?" Watanuki asked tersely.

"What about him?"

"He should be seen to," the noble growled.

"He is." Shizuka marched his master back into their cabin, passing Sorata who had the knives in hand and heading back down to arms chest. As he led the way across the darkness of the deck, "Arashi said he'll be fine."

"I should have a look at that arms chest," Watanuki insisted, still following.

"In the morning," Shizuka replied, opening the door and ushering his master in. He spied Jason seated at the dining table. Good. "Right now, it's bed time."

"You're bossy," Watanuki stated. He rounded on his cousin, "And this is all your fault."

"Mine?" Jason pleasantly repeated, amused. "I didn't send him."

"You allowed him on board in the first place!"

"Ahh, guilty as charged then." Jason lifted both hands and his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug.

At that moment, the ship gave an unexpected lurch, Watanuki tumbling sideways and Shizuka caught the noble to keep him from falling on his frown, tucking Watanuki safely against himself.

Eyes narrowing, Shizuka tensed and reached out to his charms, noticing the spells on deck began to hum, activated. Irritated, he extended his attention to the ship in its entirety and found –suddenly—other spells on the hull of the ship he'd not noticed before. Startled, he glanced down at his master, ignoring the young noble's bright red cheeks to comment,

"There is magic on the hull."

Watanuki glowered darkly up at him, for what, the monk had no idea. "Of course there are!" His voice sounded tight, high and strangely tense. "What if something tried to sink us?"

"Hn." Shizuka re-focused, sensing beyond the hull as far as he could, not that he got very far before things seemed muddy and distorted, the presence familiar as that blasted smoke the Tortoise had been making.

Thankfully, he couldn't feel a touch of those creatures he'd seen beyond the mist at the parade. He could confirm, at least, that their defences held solidly. The ship rocked again and he reached out to Touch Sorata and Arashi with the thought, the emotion, that all was well and to ignore the useless commotion.

Still holding Watanuki to himself, just to be safe as the ship tilted a little again, he instructed, "That source I mentioned is dangerous but can do us no harm. However, you should keep your powers as contained as you can. Trust no one. Keep your guard up at all times, just to be safe."

Watanuki stood staring up at him blankly a moment then his jaw dropped and he sputtered a moment before demanding harshly, "Even you?!"

"Even me."

That shut him up a moment. But then he curled a hand into Shizuka's robe lapel and protested, "You're my bodyguard!"

"Sense to be sure, of course," Shizuka amended, "You know what to look for now."

Watanuki agitatedly shifted and Shizuka felt it, realising that he still had Watanuki in his arms who stood perpendicular to his own stance, Watanuki's entire left side pressed up along his front, arms folded up within the circle of Shizuka's two-armed grip about the noble's shoulders…

"Are you alright?" he asked solicitously, concerned by Watanuki's persistently dark cheeks and nose.

"I'm fine!" came Watanuki's wide-eyed squeak, warm breath slipping over the monk's collarbones.

Goosebumps broke out over the monk's skin and he blinked in surprise, perhaps a little flustered that his new friend had such an effect on him. Schooling his breathing he—

Not a good idea.

He had to suppress a shiver at the assault on inhale of the young noble's mint and musk scent he'd worn out of his borrowed bedding. That and the urge to smooth his fingertips of Watanuki's arms or –ridiculously—pull the Seer just a little bit closer—

"My apologies," he offered, slowly and rather regretfully letting go and stepping a half pace away, off balance by the sensation of loss and noticing acutely the sudden cold where Watanuki had been pressed up against him. "I was distracted."

"Sensing the ship, yes," the noble quickly supplied, straightening his clothes, face still red and not meeting the monk's eyes. Close. Safe.

"I'll explain more about what I found in the morning," he offered, confused by the emotions leaking down through the bond, the sensations of… want.

"Of course." Watanuki gathered himself straight and tall, arms crossed, and finally stared the monk straight in the eye… which would have been fine and perfect except at eye-contact, his face betrayed a touch of mild panic. Not safe.

What? "Are you—"

"I'm fine!" the noble snapped, scooting back a step.

Snickering from across the room interrupted and Shizuka realised he'd forgotten Jason was even in the room.

--how embarrassing! --saw the whole thing..!

"Good night," the monk offered, providing an easy exit, wondering at the little slips he had heard and felt from the noble.

"Good night," Watanuki glared. Then turned it on his cousin, who only snickered all the more, before he made a sound of disgust and marched into his room, half-slamming the door behind himself.

Shizuka watched the door for a moment longer, just to be sure Watanuki had truly gone to prepare for bed, startled at the feeling of wanting to follow and blaming it on their blood bond.

"He likes you," Jason murmured softly. Shizuka stared silently. "He… appreciates you more than you know."

"I do know," the monk corrected, thinking back to all the ways Watanuki showed he cared, the panic at the thought something had happened to him at Amko's hands, the kindnesses, the concern, and most of all the blessing. No one since his grandfather had cared half so much for him and his safety.

"Maybe you do know," Jason allowed. "But perhaps not the quality of how he likes you." Shizuka blinked and Jason, studying him, snickered softly. "Do you like the way he feels in your arms?"

Startled at the question, Shizuka didn't think to wonder about the question, "Yes."

"He fits you," said the Englishman, humour fading from his face. "And you understand him. You understand him almost as well as I do for having known him all of a few months."

Shizuka considered that; he did. But Watanuki felt easier to read than most people. His eyes, for one, gave him away so readily. And yet… should he be able to know all that he did? He'd chalked it up to the bond.

"We have a bond," said the monk. "You heard him mention the gold chain. It's something that creates a preternatural connection."

"Hm," Jason acknowledged. "But from what I can understand, it's something you allowed. You let him near you in creating that bond, and in return Kim has allowed you closer to him." He smiled suddenly, a smile Shizuka really disliked, "A fair trade."

Something about the Englishman changed at those words though Shizuka couldn't figure out what it might be. He commented, "You seem to know a lot for an ordinary human."

Jason's happy expression had melted and had turned startlingly calculating, a dark look in his now dangerous-looking bright blue eyes. The monk stared right back, not moving, measuring the Englishman in return.

"I do," Jason hesitantly acknowledged. He glanced at Watanuki's bedroom door, a sad light coming to his eyes. "I told Kim I'd speak with you, tell you all I can, what things I do know. I told him he shouldn't run interference anymore. His safety –the ship's safety—is at stake now." With a sigh of resignation, "So, my dear Doumeki, how much do you know?"

"That you're… magically gifted in some way," Shizuka initiated. "I had suspected a long while since Africa, when I saw the script on your back. And I confirmed it earlier with a quick look at the chest tonight. It's powerful. Not normal. And it is connected to you closer than to Watanuki." Stepping forward, he seated himself across from Jason. "That crest on the front of it, I thought it was just the family crest. I knew you were cousins so I assumed it didn't mean anything special."

Jason smiled, a pretty and perfect visage that now… looked empty. "And now?"

"The curving Phoenix has a strange appearance to it," Shizuka said softly. "The curl of its tail is in the shape of a D –and the two combined are a very specific symbol." Jason had not just gone tense but had blanched –impossible for the monk not to notice. He took a chance, "Tell me, do you know of the existence of other worlds?"

Jason smiled softly to himself, that horribly sad smile, eyes falling to the table top. "I've read books about the idea."

"It's not just an idea," Shizuka corrected, annoyed at the way the other man continually sidestepped him. "Other… planes of existence, so to speak, do exist. In one of them, I was told there is a particular country that awards that letter to the most powerful of its Spirit-able fighters. Or Magicians, as they are called. It's a title of respect, a position earned and not bought."

An odd expression crossed the Englishman's face.

"Do you know the Latin word, Deus?" the monk asked.

"It means God," Jason answered slowly. "Dare you say that's what the D means? Surely this other world would have its own alphabet."

"I'm sure they do," Shizuka acknowledged. "But of course our own previous Gods had to have started somewhere. We have something in common with more than a few worlds since there are those who travel amidst them." Jason looked back up at Shizuka, curiosity on his face, "And yes, crossing between the worlds is possible otherwise we wouldn't even be aware they exist."

"So you're saying," Jason asked quietly, as casual as possible, "That my family crest has ominous symbols?"

"I'm saying that you have a connection to magicians you're not telling me about," Shizuka corrected blandly, sensing Jason knew what he was saying anyway. He tucked his hands in to his sleeve, levelling a hard look on the Englishman, and narrowed his eyes then asked, "What is your full name?"

Jason smiled softly, "Jason Faye Astor."

Shizuka tensed. "Your mother is Faye?" He asked the question pronouncing the namethe way Jason did in the old English way and by what he really meant to ask; Fey like the fairies, the most commonly known, by any name it might be, magical creature to common humans.

The smile faded, "You could say that."

"What was her name?" Shizuka asked, withdrawing his hands from his sleeves and curling them into tense fists.

Here Jason hesitated, blue eyes darkening, "Why do you ask?"

"Because that script on your back has symbols I know I've seen before," Shizuka stated, "And since, if I remember correctly, there is a link to one's name in it, your mother's name will clear the matter for us." This time, he demanded, "State your mother's maiden name, in full."

Jason's expression turned a little grave as he admitted, "Eleanor Faye Flowright."

TBC.

Author Notes:

Yes, I know I'm no where near my usual update schedule but I'm juggling four full-time stories at the moment so I can only update one a week. I work forty hours a week, spend nearly six hours a week at the gym, and I manage my household and my three sisters. I am a busy bee.

I will try to update as often as I can but at the moment, I can only promise one update a week and it will not always be for this story. I apologise, but the "getting published" thing is going to hinder my fan fiction writing schedule a LOT.

In the meantime, please stick with me. This story is far, far from over and I hope you enjoy the ride. As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated!