A/N: For those who don't know, Ryusei is Ryo, AKA the Immortal Phoenix.
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Before him stood a man with wise blue eyes and a long pale hair. His white robes rippled in a nonexistent breeze, the cloth shifting without a sound.
"Father." The single word was breathless, aching with a longing and laced with sorrow. Dunamis tried to move, perhaps to embrace the man, but his feet were held down by oily tendrils of darkness.
"I'm sorry, Dunamis... I never told you what I had read in the stars -the pain you would go through and the truth that I hid from you." His father's words held a strange echoing quality.
Dunamis tried to speak, but the darkness surged up to cover his mouth. He was forced to clamp his lips firmly together, or risk the repulsive substance leaking in to his mouth.
The older man continued," I saw, that night when the curse sensed you for the first time. I saw in the stars that you would be the Warriors' Guide. I saw that you would fall to the curse, but would break free. But it still hold you doesn't it? It is so strong now. Perhaps it even knows my secrets."
Dunamis suddenly felt cold, something akin to dread prickling under his skin. The shadows slid wetly from his face, freeing his voice.
But he could only listen.
"It knows about your mother, the lies I told, and... " The man's mouth continued to move, but only muffled sounds could be heard.
"Father!"
His eyes were so sad, so pitying. Dunamis watched, horrified, as the face seemed to wither, contorting with pain and illness. The robes became dirtied as smudges of ash marred the cloth. The eyes glittered feverishly before darkening to a dull, soulless shadow of its once crystalline blue.
His father swayed, then fell.
Dunamis dropped to his hands and knees, tears leaving tracks of silver on his cheeks and tasting of salt on his lips. The dying man was lying on his side, his glassy gaze still fixed upon his son. His mouth moved. His voice twisted, becoming a familiar derisive voice. Each word that fell out struck like a physical blow.
"You killed your father."
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Dunamis awoke with a start. He sat up abruptly, both hands flying up to cover his mouth, attempting to muffle the sounds of his sobs. Tears blurred his vision, a few drops trickling down his cheeks and dripping from his jawbone on to the bedsheets.
How pathetic. Are you going to go cry to mommy?
The curse laughed mockingly, shifting unpleasantly in the back of his mind.
Oh wait, I forgot. She left you, didn't she? Or maybe the old man lied and she's already dead. Maybe you killed her, just like you killed the your father.
"Shut up!" Dunamis screamed, not even caring that he was speaking aloud. His hands clamped down on his ears, as if trying to block out the terrible voice.
Why should I? All I'm doing is speaking the truth.
"Just stop it! Stop it, please!"
Fool. Didn't you ever wonder how your father fell ill so suddenly? It was because of you!
With a cry of desperation, Dunamis pushed himself out of bed. He ran out the door and raced down the empty hallways, hands still held firmly over his ears. He didn't know where he was going, but it didn't really matter to him as long as he got away from the smug, laughing voice. After rounding a corner, he caught sight of a set of stairs leading up. A sign on the wall beside it proudly declared it as the stairs leading to the roof.
Dunamis stumbled up the steps, one hand clutching the railing like a lifeline. The other was fisted so tightly in his hair that several strands had already been ripped from his scalp.
He nearly tripped in his haste as he fumbled with the door knob. Finally, after fighting the stiff lock for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, the door clicked open. He staggered through, gasping like a fish out of water.
The wind was strong up on the hospital's roof. The gusts buffeted his slim form, whipping locks of his lavender hair into his face. He fell to his knees, hands still clutching his head.
Dunamis screamed. His harsh, broken cries filled his ears until it was all he could hear. His hands dropped to his arms. The whispers were pushed aside as he struggled to focus on the pain of his own nails clawing at his skin. He screamed and screamed until the inside of his throat was raw and scraped, and his voice cracked and died. Even then, he continued to attempt to force his voice through his aching throat, his silent cries making his throat convulse painfully.
He was falling, deeper and deeper, into a confusing tangle of half truths and twisted lies. And he couldn't seem to fight his way out of the darkness.
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It was an understatement to say that Dr. Kobayashi was worried.
After all, Ryusei Hagane donated large amounts of money to the hospital every year. Not to mention, the year before the WBBA director had admitted a blader into the hospital, which had been more than happy to treat him. However, that same blader had somehow escaped his ward and ended up all the way in Europe.
Needless to say, Ryusei had not been happy.
And now, Dunamis had gone missing too.
Osamu sighed, his head already starting to throb. It was just not his day.
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"What's going on?"
Gingka and his friends were confused. They had come during visiting hours to see Dunamis and Titi. They were directed to sit in the waiting room as Dunamis's doctor was consulted. However, soon there was a flurry of shouting heard, startling those who had been waiting. A few minutes later, the nurses and hospital staff began to scurry around, as if searching for something...or someone.
Gingka was looking around frantically with Modoka, attempting to find the cause of the pandemonium. But every person they attempted to ask either ignored them or waved them away distractedly.
Yuu was preoccupied in attempting not to be run over. Eventually, Tsubasa, who had come in the place of Kenta, pulled him against his side and slung his tanned arm over the younger boy's shoulder. This effectively shielded Yuu from the worst of the crowd's jostling.
A very flustered nurse hurried by, her red hair in a wild disarray, but was stopped as Tsubasa stepped swiftly in front of her.
"I'm sorry ma'am. I'll get out of your way in a minute. I'm sure you're very busy, but my friends and I have come to visit someone in this hospital. There seems to be some trouble though. Could you explain the situation to us?"
The nurse looked startled, but blushed at Tsubasa's handsome smile and polite manner. She seemed hesitant, but melted under Yuu's famous puppy eyes. She glanced around nervously before bending closer to speak in a high, tremulous voice.
"Are you the ones who came to visit Dunamis-kun?"
Gingka and the others nodded affirmatively. The nurse looked a bit guilty, but continued on.
"He went missing. Right now, everyone's looking all over for him and checking the security tapes, so there's no need to worry. We'll find him in no time."
At that moment, a harried-looking doctor shouted across the room, calling for the nurse. She immediately made her way over, with a quick word of apology thrown over her shoulder.
"What do we do now? I can't believe they lost him!" Modoka exclaimed, her hair quirking up in indignation. Gingka nodded in agreement. After all, this was the same hospital that Tsubasa had went missing from during the World Championships. He shot a glance at the aforementioned Eagle blader.
Tsubasa looked shaken, probably remembering painful memories of the dark power. His sharp golden eyes were shadowed, and his hand had tightened around Yuu's.
The dark power's intoxicating whispers murmured spitefully in the back of his mind.
"Tsubasa..." Yuu whispered gently, green eyes wide and pleading. Tsubasa snapped out of his daze. He smiled reassuringly down at Yuu before turning back to his friends.
"Why don't we help look for him?" He suggested. The others agreed, and they pushed their way up to the ward where Dunamis had been staying.
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The hallway was also crowded. Modoka peered in Dunamis's room, but quickly withdrew.
"No one's in there. But the bed's really messy, and the window is open."
"You don't think he jumped out, do you?!" Gingka exclaimed.
"Of course not!" Modoka snapped," The staff would have noticed if he had done that. And Dunamis is definitely not suicidal!"
"He's definitely not violent either! And just look at what happened to Titi."
Suddenly, Tsubasa held his finger to his lips, shushing his bickering friends. His head cocked to one side as he listened to some mysterious sound.
Is that...screaming?
"This way!" He called over his shoulder as he turned to race down the hallway. With his superb hearing, he could pick up a faint, and quickly fading, noise. The others followed with exclamations of surprise.
Tsubasa brushed by several nurses, turned the corner, and pounded up a short flight of stairs.
The door was unlocked and swinging crazily on its hinges due to the howling wind. The voice had dwindled to hoarse, almost nonexistent cries.
And then, silence.
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Really long and apologetic A/N: Sorry this is late. I had to delete and rewrite the dream scene twelve times (And I kid you not. I counted.) And evidently I'm bad at keeping deadlines. -.-'
So, we get a bit of Tsubasa vs. Dark power, as well as a few unanswered questions: What happened to Dunamis's mother? And how did he kill his father? Does he have schizophrenia or not?!
Find in the next chapter! Maybe. My planning for the chapters is a little skewed. -.-' This chapter plus the next were supposed to be one chapter, but I had to split it up. Also, you all were supposed to have already gotten the part about his mother in an earlier chapter, but I couldn't seem to fit it anywhere. Maybe I'll just keep it hidden until the sequel...
Thanks to all my readers, reviewers, favoriters, and followers! Especially shadowritergirl for pointing out Dunamis's OOCness. I do have an explanation: he is reacting to the curse in violent ways, similar to how the usually calm and cool Tsubasa went on a rampage due to the dark power.
And as an apology for the long wait, especially for Moonzilization 13452, here's a sneak peek!:
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Chapter Eight- Tension
There was something all too familiar about the whole situation. Even though the doctors claimed Dunamis had schizophrenia, Tsubasa had a sneaking suspicion that it was something far more sinister.
Can you feel it?
Tsubasa stiffened as the dark power hissed in his ear. Instantly, the world froze, superimposed with a murky purple haze. His dark side appeared, eyes glowing scarlet and a wicked grin spreading across its face.
And the scales in had tipped ever so slightly to the other's favor.