Chapter 2

Disclaimer: … I'm trying to decide how to say the disclaimer in a way that will make you laugh, but I'm not coming up with anything. So I guess I'll just say I don't own DN An- Dark, get back here! How dare you! *Chases after thief, who recently stole my necklace.* I'm going to murder you! No, I'm going to let Krad murder you!

Krad: *Sighs* Should I go get that Satoshi-sama?

Satoshi: Aren't you in Russia?

Krad: Oh yeah, I forgot. *Disappears*

Me: Dark, give me back my necklace! (It's a locket)

Dark: Why, what's in it? *Flies into air and attempts to pry open locket*

Me: *Attempts to stack enough chairs on top of each other to reach Dark, who is still trying to open the locket.*Just give it back, stupid thief!

AN: I really must enjoy doing this. I'm really sorry, but I'm super annoyed that I don't actually know where my necklace went (Although it's actually not a locket, it's a black heart-shaped padlock on a chain, but I loved that thing…) I'm just telling myself Dark stole it because I really have no idea what happened to it. I'll find it somewhere, and then I'll go kill that meddlesome thief with a butter knife. Anyway, TEM II chapter two.

…..

Lumi's POV

I could hear gasps and screams as I winged my way over Azumano, but I couldn't dwell on them, or the fact I was flying in broad daylight. I had to do two things: get to the Niwa's to get Dark, and then get Daisuke. And I hadn't really been thinking straight when I'd taken off; I hate wearing skirts as much as Gray, and wearing one while flying… yeah. Neither of us minded dresses terribly, but skirts were just… bleh. Luckily, I'd learned quite a few tricks from Dark and Towa over the last few months, including several spells (with no better name to give) that were just plain cool, such as the one that actually allowed me to switch outfits without having to get rid of my wings, since I hadn't been able to do so after they'd been burned by Honoo no Namida the night before Gray had been-

Don't think about that, I thought as my school uniform fizzled into my regular clothes: my purple high tops, blue jeans, and black shirt. I'd tried changing my hair color with magic, and decided finally on straightening my black hair and putting a thick purple streak down the right side of my face. I'd paled my skin as well so that I looked a bit more American. Not that I have anything against the Japanese, but just because I wanted to be recognized as 'not a native' in case I missed some sort of honorific or something stupid I'd do. Dark had told me I'd get even better at disguising myself as time went on, though my eyes would probably stay violet no matter what I did. I didn't care; I'd always loved my eyes. I wouldn't change them unless it was absolutely necessary.

I was approaching the Niwa's house now; it was growing larger in the distance. First, it was a speck on the horizon, then a dot, then a tiny house, getting bigger and bigger. My home now, the home that wasn't really home. I loved it there. But I couldn't forget why I had just flown out of school.

Fenga and Mura met me at the doorway. Careful of the traps, Mura warned me, twitching her long, purple tipped ears around. Fenga growled an agreement. It always felt good to see Fenga, since she was Gray's familiar and essentially a part of her. She had healed amazingly fast after she had been shot by one of Syerdtsye's arrows, and looking at her always made me smile, though she was quite a threatening sight when she wanted to be.

"Oh Mura," I said, scooping her up and putting her on my shoulder, "What would I do without you?" I jumped and flared my wings ever so slightly to avoid the floor that would fall the moment I touched it, then sent an electric current from the light switch through the wall (I can tap electricity, but not control it) to deactivate any spikes or poles or flesh-cutting lasers Emiko might have installed. I sent a thick pad of air over the floor to check for any pressure sensitive traps, but nothing turned up. I went down the hallway, still cautiously, still uncertain what else might turn up, my stomach turning backflips as Fenga padded gently after me. I was worried sick about Daisuke, but I couldn't do anything about it until I'd gotten Dark, and I couldn't do that until I'd gotten past the traps.

Twang fwish. I jumped back a second before an arrow embedded itself in the wall, an inch in front of my face. I stared at it for what felt like forever until Fenga gave me a small nudge on the back of my leg. Then I ducked my head and dashed forward as more arrows began to rain down on me. I knew Emiko's rule against shields in the house, but this… I had always believed Daisuke's mother to be slightly crazy, but this was something new. I hated arrows. Emiko knew I hated arrows. I don't think anyone who knew how Gray died could even look at one. So why…?

I skipped past the fake doors, leaping and dodging almost as well as Daisuke could as the normal spikes shot from the walls (though I did trip once). I touched the doorknob gently at the correct door, sighed in relief when I found it wasn't electrified (I happened to hate raw electricity, such as lightening. Again, I blame Syerdtsye) and stepped inside, and kicked off my shoes, breathing quickly from my brief sprint.

"Hello Lumi," Emiko said in surprise from the stairwell. She must have heard the front door open, because she had obviously been downstairs. "We're looking through some old documents, but there's still nothing." I sighed. I hadn't expected good news, but I hadn't come for it either.

"Hello Emiko-san," I replied, "I'd like to speak to Dark." Worry flickered in her eyes. "Actually, you all need to hear this. Towa and Argentine too."

"Where's Daisuke?" She asked, "Wouldn't he have come with you?" I sighed.

"You see, he's what I wanted to talk about." I suddenly felt oddly calm. Things would work out in the end; they always did. After all, I kept forgetting, this was Dark, Emiko, and Towa. Not to mention the others. I knew the three of them would go insane when they heard my news. So I was hesitant to tell them, but how else would I find Daisuke?

"Oh my…" Emiko trailed off, thoughtfully putting a hand to her cheek. "Why don't you come down? It'll be easier to get everyone together." By 'everyone', she meant the Niwa's, Dark, Towa, and Argentine, and normally Mura and Fenga, who were both still with me.

"Alright," I said, "That sounds fine." I followed her downstairs, where she quickly called everyone together. I stared at them, everyone gathered except Kosuke. Dark had come over to stand beside me, one wing wrapped around my back.

"So," he said, "What do you need to say?" I looked at him, astounded.

"You didn't… didn't get anything from Daisuke?" Dark looked at me in shock, and I returned his gaze equally. Everyone else looked at me strangely.

"Nothing," Dark said, "All day. Not a thing."

"He's been kidnapped."

If I could use one word to describe the scene that followed, I would have to look up a term that meant 'greater than extreme chaos'; maybe 'explosion'. Needless to say, everyone freaked out.

There was a small explosion of feathers I recognized as Dark spinning around, and I followed him without a second thought. "Wait!" It was Kosuke, and his voice was so strong it stopped us both in our tracks. Dark seemed to freeze, and I saw Towa had one hand held in front of her, so I assumed she'd used a binding spell to hold him in place.

"Nice," I commented as I walked over to Kosuke.

"Lumi," he said, "I found something I think you might find useful." He held it out with both hands, and inwardly, I recoiled. Settled against his palms was a bow of polished, light wood. A leather sheath of arrows hung off of his wrist. "I know how you feel about arrows," he said, "I understand. But this bow… well, it's another enchanted thing. Dark, do you remember stealing this?"

Dark looked at the bow for a long moment before answering. "Yeah," he said, "I do. It wasn't even considered to be a work of the Hikari's. What was its name again…?"

"Shinko Furaito," Kosuke said, "I believe."

"True Flight," I whispered. The thing still repulsed me, but I had nothing in the means of a weapon. And, maybe if I used it, I could better understand it. "Know thy enemy" was a phrase that had been driven into my head millions of times by many different people. "Thank you," I said, gently accepting the bow. It felt perfect in my hand, which made me wonder… "I will use it wisely." I felt almost like I was being too formal, but no one did so much as raise an eyebrow. Then Towa broke the binding spell on Dark and I took off after him. We had to go get Daisuke.

Before anything happened to him.

Satoshi's POV

I headed home as soon as I heard Riku's news, asking the girl to come to my house after school so that I could ask her a few questions. I never even expected to find what I did, and that became my biggest mistake.

Now I sat at the small table in the kitchen, staring blankly at the piece of paper that had sat in the middle of my room, which showed obvious signs of… well, of being trashed. It looked like a hurricane had gone through it, only the small scrap of paper sitting untouched. Written on it, in small, neat writing was a ransom note. Or maybe it was more of a threat. It could be considered both.

Meet me at the foot of Kokuyoku tonight between five and six 'o' clock. I can wait as long as you need me to. I have waited before. It shall be the artist or the thief though. I will put the decision to you.

-Honoo no Namida

I didn't understand what she –what it had meant, but I had no intention of finding out, unless Lumi failed, but I doubted that. And the artist and the thief must have been me and Daisuke. But what decision? I shook my head, trying to shake the feeling that the answer was obvious. Not one of the Hikari artworks were stupid. Except maybe Chishio, but Gray had taken care of hi- it.

It was so hard to think of any of the artworks as simple things anymore. Especially after knowing Krad and Dark, and after seeing how well Towa and Argentine had been living with the Niwa's. They were so close to being human, and yet so far away… I knew I would be long dead before they even began to feel slightly older. I flipped the piece of paper over with a sigh. Maybe I'd go and talk to Saehara's father… no, I couldn't drag regular people into this. I had to do everything in my power to keep the rest of the police force out of this. And I would have to let Dark get away with the Silver Rose tonight as well, which was a shame. It had been one of my own works, which I had started working on the day after I'd seen the rose Krad had planted on her grave. It was beautiful now, always in perfect bloom, petals occasionally falling from one of the flowers like tears.

The work itself was a small rosebush, only about the size of a man's hand. I had thrown absolutely everything I had into that tiny piece; it had been my own way of remembering the girl who had been killed trying to save Krad. I'd spent three months getting the stems perfect, the veins on the leaves properly etched, and then another two and a half sculpting the three dark silver roses that graced the three center stems. In the center of each rose, although no one could tell, I'd gently welded a chip of amber. I'd been pleased with my work, but still wouldn't allow it to go to any of Japan's museums. It was still missing the Hikari's signature… and the breath of life that I couldn't give. I'd been able to give it my own signature, of course, and the one that would classify it as a Hikari work, but that breath…

I just couldn't – no, I wouldn't do it. My ancestors had brought artworks to life, yes, but it was because of them that Gray had died in the first place. So for another three weeks, the rosebush I had so painstakingly crafted sat on a bookshelf in one of my rooms. But it seemed to be developing a life of its own, even as it sat there. The sense of life one day was so great I stayed away from the room all day. It felt so out of place… and that same day, at about midnight (I had been unable to sleep), a voice whispered, "Done, Satoshi." It had sounded so much like Gray's voice I had to go up and look at the Silver Rose, and surely enough, it had sat there, glowing with a faint silver glow.

It seemed ridiculous for Gray to bring an artwork to life, especially with her being dead, but-

There was a knock at my door. I shoved the thoughts of the Silver Rose and Gray out of my head and glanced at the clock. School had been out for at least an hour. Riku had been… probably at track. I didn't know, not being one to keep up on school sports. I went to the door to greet her.

"Hello Hikari-kun," she said politely as she stepped inside. She was obviously still stressed, and her eyes looked slightly glassy, as though she had been crying a while before. She followed me into the kitchen (I had no real sitting room or anything of the like), where I searched for a second chair. Embarrassingly enough, there was only one other in the house: the chair I kept in my room, at my desk. It was identical to the one in the kitchen, which at least saved me the struggle (and embarrassment) of dragging an armchair out.

"I'm terribly sorry," I said as I sat down, "I hardly ever have anyone over." Riku rolled her eyes.

"You make this sound so formal," she said. I shrugged.

"Well, I just want to get a better picture of what happened today," I replied, "After you'd had time to calm down." She nodded.

"I suppose I should have figured as much. There's really not much… much to explain, because it happened so fast." She paused, as if unsure as how to best continue. "I had just met Daisuke outside of his English class, and we were walking across the grounds, trying to find Risa –I wanted her to see what the roof was like, and since she knew about Lumi I figured it wouldn't hurt. Daisuke was walking beside me." She stopped again, closing her eyes tightly. "And then there was this… it was like a flash, almost, like a burst of flame. And a yell, I remember that. He yelled something. Probably 'help'. And then he was gone."

"And then you ran up to tell us?" Riku nodded. "Why?"

"Because," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You're the police commander. It made sense." She stopped, startled, "Right?"

"I think so," I said, trying to reassure her, "Did anyone else look like they saw anything?" Riku shook her head.

"No one even looked at me," she said, "Not even when I ran away." I sighed. Something was still missing.

"Thank you," I said after a long silence, "This helped me a lot." Riku stood.

"I'm glad I could have helped," she said, glancing at the clock. "Oh! I really have to get home now, I'm terribly sorry for running off; I told my parents I'd only be a little late!" With that, she disappeared. I didn't move, and about thirty seconds later, I heard the door slam. I still sat, frozen.

Something had just occurred to me. Honoo no Namida… Syerdtsye no Zyerkayao, they had both had a common goal:

To destroy me, and the Hikari line as well.

Somewhere in Japan…

Krad landed about three miles west of where he was headed and began walking east with the sun at his back. His wings disappeared as soon as his feet touched the ground. He had to try to blend in as best he could until he found Hateshiganai, whoever she was. Honestly, he thought, Why bother going to see her? It's not like…

It's the only lead I have. I should at least look into it. This won't end like… oh god, like last time. Pheo- Ella hadn't been dead, but… she had been. He shook his head, forcing the images out of his head. Damn Ryuu and all the Hikari… these emotions. Hadn't they been what had done this to him? But not his emotions of course, they had been those of his damned tamers. Three miles was too long on my part, he thought, I should have just flown in. Yeah right. If he'd done that, especially here, he'd have been killed for sure. Just out of fear.

Humans were like that.

Fast three miles, Krad thought quietly as houses seemed to spring up in front of him. He was so distracted he wasn't quite thinking straight, but he was home. This was where the Black Wings was created. This was where he was born. It hadn't changed very much in four-hundred years, only the occasional satellite dish or new café or hotel hinted at the technological society that lurked beyond the large town/small cities borders.

(AN: I have no idea how historically accurate this is going to be, I just thought it would be better than trying to describe Hateshiganai's house… which would have been impossible, you will be able to tell after you've met her.)

There was a market outdoors; scents of spices and flowers floating through the air, people speaking to one another as they walked along, browsing. Krad stopped at a small stall that sold flowers, earning him many odd sideways glances from passerby. He didn't mind, he would have gotten them no matter where he went. The woman who was tending the stall glanced at him. "Yes?"

"I'm looking for someone," Krad said, his eyes flickering from a camellia to a branch of cherry blossoms (a favorite of his, but he wasn't buying,) to a small bunch of forget-me-nots (which made him think of Gray.)

"I see a lot of people," the woman said, snipping thorns off of a white rose, "Be specific."

"A woman by the name of Hateshiganai," Krad said. The woman swore as she jabbed herself with a thorn. "Did I say something?"

"Yes you said something!" The woman snapped, "What do you want with my sister?" She pulled the thorn out of her palm, ignoring the blood that trickled from the small wound. Krad took a small step back.

"I was told to find her by… a Hikari in Russia," he said, caught off guard by the woman's reaction. "What is your name?"

"Takai," the woman said dismissively, "What did this Hikari say?"

"He said she could tell me something I wanted to know," Krad replied. A woman named Death?

"What was his first name?"

"It's been lost."

"What did he call himself?"

"Why does this matter?" Krad snapped. "If you won't tell me where she is, I'll ask someone else!" Takai grinned. Her teeth were stained.

"Oh, it matters Krad," she said, "Because I know you. And I don't trust you one bit." He hadn't told her his name. He'd never seen this woman before… Never. He had an excellent memory, but this Takai wasn't a part of any of them.

…

AN: Lumi and Dark step forward to rescue Daisuke. Honoo no Namida sends a strange note to Satoshi. And Krad? Well, just the everyday adventures of a murderous, white-winged angelic demon. But what about Lumi's new bow, Shinko Furaito? And who is Takai? And will she ever tell him about her sister? Review and tell me what you think! (And what you thought about the chapter, that'd be nice too.)

I'M SOOOOOOOO SORRY THIS IS LATE! I'm going to blame a) school, and b) homework. I can't wait 'till summer vacation starts, then I'll be FREE!