Chapter 36


Unrealistic Reality

It was dripping water in every corner of the room but the one in which we sat. Albeit it was still cold, but at least it wasn't damp. Ken was still shivering, but even though the air was chill and the stone floor sucked the heat from you, I knew it wasn't because he was cold. I had pulled one of the thick sacking sheets over for us to sit on, something to keep the cold at bay, and also just for comforts sakes. He looked like he needed comforting right now, not that I was entirely sure how to give it, as he huddled into the corner with his arms around his knees and shivered. Every now and then, as the others talked, or Omi brought him over the last of the food and water, he would dart his eyes up and look at me. He would never look at the person standing in front of him, the people sitting at the far wall, only at me; and even then the glances were short and full of worry. I sighed, shifting a little closer to him along the wall, ignoring the fact that the stone was colder as I moved and that he didn't really seem to notice my advance. The last time I had tried to talk to him he had almost thrown up on me; that had been about ten minutes ago, and now he seemed, somehow, to be slipping further away from me, from us. I stopped that thought before it could go any further.

"Ne, Ken, aren't you hungry?" I asked softly, picking up the Onigiri carefully and watching the black seaweed wrap glint slightly in the dull light.

"…No," he said through a sigh, his eyes darting to my own and back, his arms tightening around his knees, drawing them closer to his chest.

"Okay," I nodded, placing the snack back down.

He still looked pale, a little more colour in his cheeks now than when he had finally woken from his sudden faint. However I still thought he'd feel better with some food and drink in him, and perhaps something a little stronger than water…still, I remembered how "fun" it had been just getting this simple food and water. Driving Seven had always been a luxury and a joy for me, but unfortunately, when you're being hunted by the cops, she stands out like a sore thumb. Had to take her through the back roads into town, even over the country in some places where it was too bright and I feared being seen. She had lost her twin axel going over a field and I nearly threw her into a tree once or twice. By the time I had dumped her in an alley, spent the last of the notes in my wallet on food and managed back here undetected, she was pretty much wrecked. I had felt the distinct urge, considering the queue there had been in the food store, just to hold the place up with my new toy. Omi had made me take it, Tatsuha's gun, said he didn't trust him with it. I wasn't really surprised, I had wanted to take it initially but he had held me off. Now however it was only making an nervous weight in my belt. I don't like guns, I mean, well…I just don't like them. Shit, I really know how to ramble don't I?

"So," I started not so subtly, playing with the tails on my dusty coat, flicking at flecks of grime, "you wanna tell me what happened?"

"I told you already," Ken muttered into his bunched up hands, his messy bangs falling into eyes deep blue with hidden emotion, "it was just a dream."

"Just a dream that made you pass out?" I said, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow and a look that said 'you can't lie to me so don't bother'.

"I hadn't eaten anything but an apple for more than a day Yoji, how the hell would you feel?" Ken's tone was vicious but his eyes could still only glance at mine, not able to hold my gaze.

"Well, pretty much the same," I said back dryly, "apart from the apple."

Ken's tense form seemed to tighten up a little more at that statement, but then as his eyes lowered down onto his knees once more he slowly relaxed, even letting his hands slip out of their death grip on each other to simply hold loosely at the fingertips. He sniffed a little then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. His eyes slid shut and then opened again a moment later, shining a little in the light. My chest tightened at the sight, even though outwardly I showed nothing of my discomfort, at the thought of Ken crying. I don't like to see anyone cry, I mean girls crying is my definite weak spot, but Ken, well, he's my best friend, I've known him for years and I can't stand the thought of him upset. So I'm an old romantic, bite me, I really couldn't care less.

I just let Omi's words run through my head, what he had said to me after I had bundled Ken off the floor and onto the rough sack mat in a boneless heap. His eyes had been soft with worry but hard in determination. I almost knew what he wanted before he asked it.

-I have to deal with this Yoji,- he had said nodding to the strangers as they stared at Ken in concern, -I have to know what's going on, that's the only way I can help him, if I understand. Make him tell you what's wrong, you have to find out.-

"I…" Ken said pulling me out of my daze, stopping to swallow, his eyes looking away from his knees to his right towards the wall, "you know the night that Ay…Ran attacked us."

"Yeah," I said back into the space he left, even though I knew it wasn't a question, I just wanted to keep him talking.

"Well, when I was knocked unconscious, I had this dream," his voice was becoming softer and harder to hear what with the dripping water and the muted conversation from the other end of the room, I had to strain to catch his words, "after I woke up, and I realised where I was and what had happened well…I put it down to head trauma or something, you know, because I was hurt so badly in the head then…"

His hand went instinctually to his head as he paused, rubbing at a spot three inches above his right temple, his eyes closing slightly in memory of the pain.

"Does it still hurt?" I asked.

"No…" he said back hesitantly, "well, I…I had a headache earlier, have had one for a while now and I thought it was because, you know, of my injury. I didn't want to say anything to worry you guys, and there wasn't really anything I could do about it anyway, we had more important things to think about…"

"Ken!" I said sharply, giving him a reprimanding look that made him start and then lock eyes with me for a couple of seconds before hurriedly looking away again, "How could you hide that, shit you could have a concussion and to hell with something being more important! You want to die or what?"

I was reaching over to him now, heedless of his discomfort or personal space, pulling his head out from between his knees and studying his eyes with irritated concern. I simply ignored his efforts to escape, well that was until he simply grabbed my hands and pulled them from his cheeks, staring angrily back at me.

"Listen will you?" he hissed out, "Do you think that I would have just left it this long if I thought I was gonna die, huh? It's not concussion okay? It was after I had my second dream that I figured something out, that the feeling wasn't coming from inside my head, it was inside…well, me."

"What feeling? Ken what are you talking about?" I said back with a frown, lowering my hands back to my lap and trying to ignore the worry his words made me feel.

"It's…it's hard to explain," he sighed, letting his feet slide toward me a little, his knees dropping away from his chest, "at first I thought the headache I had was from my injury, but whenever I touched the spot where I was hit it didn't really hurt as much as I thought it would. Sure there was a lump, but somehow when I felt pain at touching my head it never really seemed connected to the pain inside my head. My headache, it was like…like a squashed sponge swelling up with water inside me, and it was too big to fit, pushing against the inside of me trying to get out. I felt like, I was being torn out from the inside and something else was trying to replace me…"

"Ken…" I said in a hushed whisper, barely able to mask my horror at his words, something about them making me shiver and feel a little sick.

"No, I know how bad that sounds but…in a way it was kind of, familiar…" he stopped, ducking his head to hide his face as he shook it lightly, "it was like there was someone there with me, telling me it was going to be alright, and they were frightened and….so was I. Then I started to wonder what it really was, this ache inside of me, and I knew that it wasn't from my injury."

"But…if not from that then where?" I asked slowly, watching what I could see of his face in anticipation.

When he did look back up his cheeks were smudged with a pink blush and a forced smile was making his mouth jerk unnaturally.

"I don't know," he said sniffing again, his smile slowly failing, "I keep dreaming about him, and it really…hurts to because he's so far out of reach now. And he's acting so strangely in my dreams. None of them make much sense, or really seem to mean anything. Well, except that last dream, but, uh, Yoji I have a feeling…I really don't think it was a dream."

"You don't?" I blinked, thinking back to his first words after spewing his guts all over the floor.

"No," his hand had moved from his injured head to his eye now, scratching tentatively around the socket as if afraid that if he touched the lid he'd find that it wasn't there, "it was so real, I've never felt anything so real while I've been asleep, the pain was…"

He stopped scratching and looked at me, fully looked me in the eyes which disturbed me a little because I still couldn't tell what was lurking behind them, and started chewing the inside of his lip. His eyes were still shining with unshed tears and I wasn't really sure if he was even aware of it. He looked completely lost, much more childlike than even a few moments before. I wanted to tell him things were going to work out, but in the face of his confusion I couldn't even summon that little white lie. I was afraid myself, afraid that all of the highly unlikely things that I'd been hearing lately were actually true. My reality had been all I ever had to root myself to, hold me down, and now even that was being torn apart and remade right underneath my feet. Ken sniffed again, blinking as he tried to stop from breaking.

"What's happening to me?" he whispered out, his voice wavered as if he didn't want to know the answer even as his chaotic eyes demanded it of me.

"I don't know," I said back truthfully, even though in the end I think the fact scared me more than it scared him.

"Yoji…" he started, looking awkward again, "you know, back at that Esset base, when you woke me up and then, well, you know you had a fit or something, um…what happened?"

"…Hell Ken I don't know that either," I said feeling even more defeated by my lack of answers, "I just touched you and then…-and then I saw…Ran staring back at me.-

"What?" Ken looked eager and afraid all at once, "What happened?"

"Hey Ken, how are you feeling?"

I looked up at the sudden intrusion to see Omi stepping over a long thick rusty pipe to kneel down on the rough mat beside my feet. I hadn't even heard his approach, I had been so intent on watching Ken, helping Ken, even though I didn't really know if I'd done any good. Omi's voice may have been as light as he could make it but I could see the concern etched into his young face, even as he smiled comfortingly.

"Better," Ken said weakly, "thanks Omi."

"What were you guys talking about over there?" I said quickly, trying to change the subject, even though I knew that Ken wanted his answers and I just couldn't give them; the thought scared me.

"Oh, well, things are getting kind of cryptic," Omi sighed, his frustration evident, "I've found everything they've told us so far rather hard to believe but I think that it's just going to keep getting worse…I just wish that they would just speak clearly, tell me exactly what is going on and perhaps we'd get somewhere."

"Don't tell me," Ken said with a small genuine smile, "the blonde just keeps saying that 'it's not time to reveal that information' right?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Omi returned Ken's smile wryly, "but, Ken…are you sure you're okay? I mean, that was pretty rough what just happened to you and you still look pale…"

"Really Omi, I'm fine now, I'm just trying to…" he paused, looking back to his hands intently, "figure things out."

"Okay," Omi nodded although I could tell he was keeping his eye on Ken now, as was I, "just eat something, and drink some water alright?"

"Right," Ken nodded reassuringly, although he made no move to the small pile of food and drink at his feet.

-Don't think you can fool me with that attitude, Hidaka Ken,- was all I could think as I stood up and walked back over to the interrogation happening at the other end of the room, - you never could lie convincingly.-

I smirked a little at the thought, even though the fact that he was lying made me feel angry and worried all at once. I didn't want to have to be thinking about these strangers right now; Ken was ill, Ken was hurt, something was wrong with Ken…and I couldn't help him. Instead I had to worry about these two people who I had only known a couple of days and, despite everything they had told us, I still didn't know them at all. The interrogation had been getting us nothing but quizzical answers, dumb silences and riddles. At some points I had simply felt like pulling out my crossbow and threatening them until they spoke…but it was, thankfully for them, still sitting in the van Crawford had taken. I kept feeling the itching in my hands to simply go and retrieve it, even if it was only for comforts sakes, yet I didn't want to twist the situation into a hostile one just yet.

Not just yet…

Yami was the first one of the group to look up at me, his gaze hitting me like a physical force in its worry.

"Is your friend alright?" he asked hurriedly.

"That's none of your concern," Crawford was quick to cut off any reply I might have with an angry barking tone, "answer my question! In case you haven't noticed two of my team mates are missing and I know you have something to do with it, so stop stalling and tell me!"

I never would have thought I'd see the day when something got to Brad Crawford as badly as this had. In a way I could almost bring myself to believe that it was worry for his subordinates, but another part of me was still sure that it could simply be because he wasn't getting what he wanted from the strangers. The latter thought made Crawford sound like a spoilt child, but the former really sounded too unlikely for me to accept. Just like a lot of things I'd been hearing lately…

"He's fine," I said softly to Yami who had quailed under Crawford's anger, making Crawford turn his glare onto me, "but I must agree with Crawford-san, you must tell us what you know so that we can get our team mates back."

"I…I have told you everything!" Yami said desperately, "I swear I don't know anything else, I promise. If I did don't you think I would tell you?"

"Not really," Farferello said in a drawl as he leaned against an old rusty boiler, the light behind him buzzing slightly, "so far you have been entirely evasive and unhelpful in aiding us."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Yami scowled at the white haired man, his eyes burning a little, pointing at me almost accusingly, "didn't we save your team mates life?"

"Well, why don't you just explain exactly how you saved little Tsukiyono here's life and I might be more accommodating, "Crawford growled out, his glasses glinting in the dull light.

Silence, just as before when we had asked the same question, when we had asked all of our questions. Who are you? What are you? How did you save me from certain death with a simple red ball? No answer had been forthcoming and, even though Crawford himself had so far been vague as to his knowledge of his team-mates location and situation, I feared that we were running out of time. Or more to the point, Schuldich and Nagi were. We needed to hurry, that much I knew, even if not only for our two missing team-mates just for ourselves. I was becoming very wary of staying in one place for too long.

"Tell me what we're up against here," Crawford demanded, "tell me exactly what you know about what's happening here."

"I've told you everything I can," Tatsuha answered calmly, his blue eyes glinting.

"But obviously not everything you know," Farferello said back just as calmly, staring the man out with his one golden eye, something slightly manic in his gaze even though his tone was even.

"You will tell us what we need to know," Crawford's stare was on Yami and I could see the younger boy shivering even though pressed up against his partner's side.

"Please," I said softly, trying to appeal to them with every diplomatic skill I possessed, "you have to tell us. Can't you help them, can't you help us? If you can't, then why are you here?"

"Because we have no choice..!" Yami shouted out in frustration before catching himself suddenly, his eyes going wide and a hand flying to his mouth; I guessed shrewdly that this wasn't his best poker face.

I watched Crawford's eyes narrow out of the corner of my eye, watched Tatsuha slump slightly against the wall and close his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Crawford said a in a low voice, something in his tone suggesting his relief at finally cracking one of them.

"He doesn't mean anything," Tatsuha bit out, glaring at his now agitated counterpart, "you'll leave it alone if you know what's good for you."

"Excuse me?" Crawford actually raised his eyebrows in surprise at the blonde's arrogance, bringing them quickly back down into a scowl, taking his pistol from its holster under his arm, "I hate to be the one to point out the fact that I'm the one holding the gun here."

I looked instinctually over to Yoji at Crawford's words, wondering how he felt even taking a gun into his possession. He'd always said he hated the things, but we had to entrust someone with Tatsuha's weapon and Yoji was having the least contact with them so…but still, even as Crawford pointed out this major power difference Tatsuha only smirked back.

"Pitiful," he said shaking his head, having to push his short blonde hair behind his ear to keep it from his eyes, "you really think that you're the one holding all the cards simply because you hold the gun?"

"Then tell me why I'm wrong," Crawford ground out, even though I could see it was grating on him to have his power negated in this sort of situation.

"No, wait, Tatsuha…" Yami said in panic, "you said before that..!"

"Perhaps it is time to show you," Tatsuha said in a sadistic voice, his gaze locked with Crawford's.

Everything happened at once. First of all Tatsuha closed his eyes and lifted his hands together as if in prayer but with an odd gesture, and the light behind Farferello burst into a million shining shards and blinked out, the others on the roof followed suit and we were plunged into darkness. At the same moment Crawford hauled his gun from its holster but dropped it as if burned before he could even fire a single shot, and last of all (even though considering what was happening I couldn't blame him) Ken screamed. However somehow I knew that it wasn't because of what was happening here that made him scream, and I had the sudden urge to run, run and take Ken and take Yoji and just run. The logic in me took to long for comfort to take control of me again and force me to focus.

"What the fucks going on!" I heard Yoji bellow from the darkness.

"You bastards, I knew they would pull something!" Crawford was shouting, even though I could hear the slight twinge of pain in his voice, "where are you!"

"You wanted to know the truth Crawford-san, and now you shy from it," Tatsuha's voice was untraceable in the chaotic gloom and I found myself rooted to the spot, suddenly not willing to move, "how interesting."

"Stop it!" I shouted back, feeling a fear welling in my chest at the thought that these strangers were indeed our enemies and I had invited them willingly into our midst, "Stop speaking in riddles and show yourselves!"

And then, just as the chaos had begun, so it ended. In what I guessed to be the middle of the room a small blue flame sprang to life and all eyes looked to it. It seemed to float there by itself before slowly settling down to the floor to a broken piece of wood which it began to devour hungrily and greedily. That illuminated the surrounding area and revealed Tatsuha standing by the fire, his palm stretched out as if to drop something to the ground. Behind him stood Yami, and his eyes were dark and his face hard as he seemed to concentrate. Then, as if the lights themselves had come back on, the shadows cast by the fire danced wildly and seemed to spring up from the floor like tentacles and wrap around his young form. I gasped, almost crying out before I stopped myself and simply held my hand over my mouth. I had never seen such a power before, even with all we had come up against. The room, now free of darkness, was left illuminated in an oddly white light, as if the colour had been stripped away from them as the shadows were taken from their surface. Yami absorbed them, slowly leaking in through his clothes and skin, and the slithered around his arms protectively. Who was he… and was Tatsuha a pyrokinetic then, was it he who had summoned the flame? I felt my mind trying to make sense of the great power I could feel surging in the room, trying to use logic against my need to flee.

"So you can wield fire, do you think this is something I haven't seen before?" Crawford spat, and I turned to see him holding his right hand where a small red burn was visible; the others were on their feet, even though Ken was being held up by Yoji, both still in the far corner.

"Oh," Tatsuha laughed disconcertingly, his hair shifting slightly as he did so, "I am nothing so simple as a mere pyrokinetic Crawford-san, you should be able to see that, ne?"

"So you have more than one power, is that it? You want me to be impressed? Then tell me what I want to know!" Crawford yelled, his hand balling into a fist at his side.

"Very well," Tatsuha nodded, his eyes seeming to burn with blue fire as he locked his eyes onto Crawford, "Heinrich Faxon was the creator and leader of Esset until twenty years ago…"

"Great another history lesson…" Crawford growled out.

"…But did you also know that he was one of the most accomplished and powerful Onmyoji in Japan before his death?"

Another silence, disturbed only by the sound of creaking wood as the fire spat and split the wood it devoured.

"What the fuck are you talking about now?" I heard Yoji ask in a dangerous tone, holding Ken closer as the other man looked ready to fall over, "More mystery, more evasion, just spit it out already, I'm sure I won't believe you anyway!"

"We were his close friends and comrades," Yami said slowly, suddenly sounding much older than he should considering his tender age, "before he even entered this world as Heinrich Faxon."

"We are not, well," Tatsuha said pausing, folding his arms and looking back to Crawford, "not exactly what we seem. This is my body now, but it is not the original one I was born into."

The silence was overwhelming, this time simply in its intensity and the need of the people in the room to all start shouting at once. Yet only one voice broke it in the end.

"…I was right," Yoji said with dismissal, "I don't believe you."

I held up a hand out if instinct, wanting, no needing, to hear all of their story before I judged it. My head was swimming with the need to disbelieve what I was hearing, it was insane, it was rubbish, they were simply lying to us! But I needed to hear it, and for some reason the hand that I held up for silence was obeyed.

"What are you trying to say?" I said slowly, ignoring Yoji's snort of breath.

"I am trying to say that I have been entrusted with the safe keeping of your team mate," Tatsuha said, "the last wishes of a doomed man are not something that I intend to go back on after twenty years."

"But you don't even look twenty! What, did he tell you while you were still in the crib?" Yoji said in outrage, "Why the hell are we listening to this shit!"

"I told you, this body is not my own," Tatsuha said with the patience of a teacher talking to an unruly student, "I am simply using it to fulfil my purpose here."

"And you?" Crawford said to Yami, the dark haired boy's eyes lowering as he sighed.

"I am the same."

"Why…why should we believe you?" I asked, not really sure what to think any more.

"Oh, there's no reason," Yami smiled, "no reason at all. But then that's not why I'm here is it, to entertain your whims and explain every little thing that you can't even begin to comprehend. We are wasting time, and now that you know the truth, it is time to leave."

"Know the truth? Like hell, like hell I'm letting you out of here after that load of crap just came from your mouth!" Yoji shouted, Ken clinging to him and looking pale.

"Like I said, you don't have to believe me, but I have been doing this for a long time, longer, I admit, than I'd really been banking on when I started this venture," Yami said, and Tatsuha let out a small laugh in what seemed like agreement, "but this is a plan that has been in operation for a long time. Things have gone wrong along the way, things have gotten lost that should never have been found in the first place, peoples wants and needs have gone astray but, in the end, that's hasn't mattered. I am here to fulfil my mission, and I'll be damned if I'm going to fail now."

"What a story…" Crawford said, however a hint of belief was seeping into his tone, "…a shame that you couldn't prove it."

"Yes, it would seem so," Tatsuha said dryly, "but I'm afraid I'm with Yami on this one. I've been jumping bodies for the past six hundred years and like hell are you taking this one away from me without a fight. I have a demon to destroy, and as a matter of fact, you've been a great help in locating Him. Now all I need is your team mate and things should be running smoothly for once."

"What do you mean you need my team mate?" Crawford growled, "who are you talking about?"

"Why, you mean you don't even know..?" Yami said in amused disbelief, "well, we are talking to the one you refer to as Schuldich."

"Strange name for the kid to pick I admit," Tatsuha said with a shrug, "I always did like the ring of Alaric Faxon better."

"What…what did you say?" Crawford frowned in disbelief.

"Yes, yes he's Heinrich Faxon's son, can we get over the shock now?" Tatsuha sighed, "There are more important things at stake here than your partners lineage."

"But, that can't be true, "Crawford looked stricken, almost as if someone had just come along and casually told him that his entire life had been a big pack of lies and he'd just have to buckle up and deal with it; I wondered why this could be such terrible or shocking news, other than the obvious fact that Schuldich should really be running Esset considering his heritage.

"More important things such as dealing with Him. I don't expect your help in this, but still you will need our help if you want your friends back alive." Yami said determinedly.

"Him?" I said, feeling my brain twisting at the amount of information and disbelief swimming round my head, once again focusing in on one single aspect of this madness simply so I could stay sane.

"He means…" Ken spoke up, startling me, making me want to go over to him and hep hold him up, "you mean Aya-chan don't you? Don't you? Only…only she's not Aya-chan any more!"

"Ken!" I said worriedly, turning towards him as did most of the rest of the group, "What's wrong?"

"I said she's not Aya anymore, not little Aya-chan," everyone was staring at Ken except Crawford who refused to take his eyes from the newly revealed strangers in front of us, "she's not, she's gone and theirs something else inside her!"

"Ken quit it, how the hell could you know that, stop going crazy on me here!" Yoji said shaking Ken to make him stop, even if his eyes looked worried at the way Ken was acting.

Then Ken glared at him, and I'd seen that glare before, only…

I frowned anxiously, wanting to wipe that look from Ken's face and replace it with the one that should have been there, the one that Ken would have used. But I couldn't, and Ken's face kept that look that wasn't his, but was entirely…

"I told you," he said pushing away from Yoji and shouting in a menacing tone, his chocolate eyes glinting deep amethyst in the blue firelight, "She's not my sister anymore!"

AN: Well, if this wasn't what you thought was going to happen then I hope you like the outcome. I apologise for this being so late, honestly, it has taken a very long time, but I had a crisis of plot lines. This is the final incarnation of a chapter that had five different plot lines. I just hope I picked the right one….hchrm, right well, I must of course pay homage to the excellent anime "Mirage of Blaze" which gave me the idea in the first place for the idea of souls reincarnating themselves throughout time to fulfil a certain purpose. Definitely a must if you haven't seen it, it's very good. Right, hope this makes some semblance of sense, if it doesn't I'm very sorry, and if you think I need more explanation in this chapter please tell me so that I can remedy this. As ever please R&R as it is very much appreciated and wanted!

To HeatherR : Heh heh, sorry again about the gore, hope the lack of it in this chapter makes up for it! Sorry this update took so long and I hope it doesn't disappoint (I can never tell as I'm always disappointed with my writing no matter what, typical)!

To Gillian Sillis: Whoa, another very thorough review! Thank you for your comments they're very useful and appreciated : ) ! I really hope that I explained things properly, please don't send Ran after me, especially not may Ran as he's uber scary! Eek!