Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own… hm… well, not DN Angel, that's for sure.

AN: Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? What with school, writer's block, and a general lack of inspiration to even get out of bed in the morning, it's been a bit crazy. I hope I can make it up to you, at some point in my life. Maybe I can find a way…

…

Argentine walked up to the front door of the Niwa's home, as bold as brass, and even from the distance I was from him, I imagined I could hear him knock on the door. Dark growled low in his throat, reminding me of Raiden as he drove me away from his pack.

"Rue," he said quietly, "I'm coming with you."

"Why?" I asked. Did he plan to use Argentine to dispose of me now?

But as soon as the through crossed my mind, I shook it out of my head. Dark seemed, in all respects, to truly be a nice person, and if I was ever to get by in this land I would have to learn to trust people. His own father had told me he had not wanted to kill me, and I decided that I would have to believe that; believe that he was honestly glad I had survived both his bullet and his warhound, and was willing to accompany me to see the queen. Trust might be all I had in him, and yet… trust just might be enough. For now, at least.

"I have my own business with Rio," he said darkly. "Get in the basket, Argentine will be waiting." Without a word more, he stood from the windowsill, and walked to the door. I trotted after him, close to his heels as he opened the door, stepped through it, and relocked it from the outside. I limped over to the basket that had served as my personal elevator, and stepped inside as Dark grabbed the rope and began to lower me to the earth. A slight breeze shifted the basket back and forth, and lulled me into a peaceful, almost lethargic state as I inched ever closer to the green grass below.

The basket thumped to the ground, and I watched Dark quickly descend the ladder. He jumped to the ground six or seven rungs from the ground, and stumbled forward as though unable to balance. It was then that I first noticed what was different about him:

Dark's hair had grown considerably lighter. What had once been bright violet now could barely be called lilac, and was almost fading to white. His limbs were shaking, and the climb that had taken him only a few seconds had left him exhausted after his descent. I could hear his heart beating much faster than it should have, and his breath came in short, quick gasps.

"Dark," I asked, "are you… alright?" He nodded impatiently and strode forward, trying to appear steady but shaking like a leaf in the breeze. His eyes had grown dull, I noticed, and he was walking much more slowly than he should have been, as though he was feeling out each footstep he took.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I – we just need to get going, that's all." He kept walking as he spoke, and didn't look back at me, so I limped up to him and pressed my nose to his hand. His skin was ice cold, and he quickly pulled away from my touch. "Rue, I'm fine!" he snapped, "Just… just c'mon. Argentine's waiting for us." I whimpered gently, and reluctantly limped after him.

We did not go through the house, which struck me as odd. Instead, we walked around the large building, taking what felt like a longer route to the front door, where, as Dark had said, a lizard-type creature was sitting on the porch, idly twisting its tail back and forth as though impatient to be off.

"We're here Argentine," Dark said coldly. "Where did you go?" I glanced curiously at Dark, wondering if he'd simply overlooked the lizard or not. But before I could question it, Argentine shifted into his human form and walked up to Dark. He managed to get within about twenty feet before he was noticed.

"I always forget your eyes are the first to go bad," he muttered. "Here, put a hand on my shoulder."

"Rue will lead me," Dark replied coolly. "Rue?" I walked up to him, but didn't touch him. I was afraid to, after what had happened only minutes earlier. However, he placed one hand on my head, and stroked my ears. Even through my fur, I could feel the iciness of his skin – and was it my imagination, or did he seem weaker than before?

"Very well then," Argentine said. "We shall go. The queen is anxious to see the latest addition to the kennels… and I'm sure she'll have something for you, Dark." He nodded weakly, and started walking. His strides were slow, clumsy, and unsteady; he was hardly the graceful assassin who had hidden quietly in a tree only several days earlier. I kept close to him, trying my best to guide him without getting under his feet and tripping him up. I had the feeling that if he fell, it would take a bit of time to get him moving again, and time was something that we did not have.

Slowly, we trudged through the now crowded streets, keeping to the sidewalks to avoid horse-drawn carriages and rushing pedestrians. However, lining the streets were merchants and peddlers selling what seemed to be anything a human (or animal) could want. I saw huge metal collars for warhounds sitting next to leather harnesses for horses in one stall, and another was filled with rabbits. I noted with a small smile that the people in charge of the rabbits kept a close eye on me as we passed.

In another stall (and in truth, these 'stalls' were simply carts that had been moved to the sides of the streets) I almost laughed aloud at what a handsomely labeled card proclaimed to be 'Missing Relics from Ancient Times'. What I saw was simply junk. It might have been from ancient times, but I doubted much of it had been of any sort of use. I had a feeling Daisuke might have frequented this stall, perhaps picking up the ruined phone from amongst the remains of a hand mirror, or looking through the small collection of wristwatches that I saw piled in one corner.

Thinking of Daisuke, however, reminded me of the day's events, and I limped along slightly faster. We quickly left the bustling streets behind as Argentine began to direct me down narrow back roads and along dirt paths that were marked by nothing more than his word.

About halfway down the second of these unmarked paths, with the castle of the Hikari's in sight, Dark stumbled and fell. Wordlessly, Argentine helped him to his feet and threw one of the assassin's arms around his shoulders, and continued walking. All that was left for me to do was follow, and so I did; limping along with a sense of dread congealing in my stomach. What was wrong with Dark?

It took us nearly twenty minutes to walk the remaining distance to the castle, and by this point Argentine was supporting most of Dark's weight. He was exhausted, and as soon as two guards had rushed out and relieved him of his burden, he morphed into his lizard-like form and crawled up my leg to perch on my head.

"Don't shake me off," he said faintly.

"Why shouldn't I?" I snapped, feeling utterly revolted and more than a little violated.

"Queen Rio intends to have you Healed," he replied. "Full Heal, capital 'H'. Either she or Prince Satoshi must really like you." I didn't know what that had to do with letting a lizard sit on my head, but I decided to let it slide for now. Did this mean I would be able to see Satoshi? My stomach twisted into a nervous knot just thinking about it, and I felt my ears shiver in anticipation. However, I knew it would be a mistake to ask after one of the princes, and so I kept my mouth shut.

"What's wrong with Dark?" I asked instead.

"Walk inside," Argentine replied. "I'm sure he'll tell you himself once he's ready." I wanted to shake Argentine off of my head, and tear him to shreds with my teeth. I was also revolted with myself for wanting to do such a thing, but I couldn't help myself. He felt like a threat, and I wanted nothing to do with threats. Not anymore. But I kept my temper at bay, and carefully walked through the now unguarded door into the familiar giant entry hall.

"Keep going, like you're walking to the throne room," the small lizard instructed. "Stop at the first portrait where a queen does not face a king." I did as he said, and stopped where a queen, a woman with Krad's blonde hair and Satoshi's sad blue eyes, gazed out of the canvas. Argentine leapt onto the floor and became a boy again.

"Wait here," he snapped. "Don't move, and speak to no one. I will be back shortly." He turned and walked off, and I followed his retreating back with my eyes. I didn't move, thinking that no one would bother me if they walked past. Of course, no one walked by. It seemed like this part of the castle was relatively quiet when the court wasn't gathered. Of course, I had no idea what this castle was like as a general rule, but I imagined that there was normally an air of activity.

My mind began to wander again, back to when I was a young girl, living with my family. My parents had both been born with red hair, and had to constantly dye it brown, a process that I would have had to start going through when I was five – or had it been six? Either way, no child older than that was allowed to have hair other than brown.

Everyone over the age of fourteen had to get their eyes 'fixed'. This involved the eyes being injected with brown pigment that would take permanently to the irises, and then laser surgery that would make you either near- or far-sighted. Everyone in the City wore glasses.

I thought briefly about a friend I had made in the City. I couldn't remember his name, but that it was something unusual (but obviously still standard, names had to be 'okayed' by the courts), and that he'd nearly always been smirking. We used to play in a large plaza, hiding and seeking and tagging and spinning around a huge water fountain that was covered with a dusty glass dome. I tried desperately to remember his name, or something else about how he looked, but just then I heard my name being called.

"Rue!" It was Argentine, in his lizard form. He had crawled on top of my head again, without me even noticing, and was shouting directly into my ear! I flinched away from the noise and viciously shook my head, but Argentine hung on to my fur with grim determination. "Good grief," he said when I had calmed down a bit, "I was calling for a good minute! What were you thinking about?"

"Home," I replied shortly, "the City. Where are we going?" He laughed softly, and crawled onto my nose. Cross-eyed, I stared at him as he pointed to right, where the portrait of the first lone queen of Algernon was – or rather, had been. Now, there was nothing but a gap in the wall, between two other portraits. I hesitantly stood, and Argentine nodded encouragingly. I stepped into the hole in the wall, and into the darkness as the wall dropped back into place behind me. I gasped and wheeled around in shock, trying to orient myself in the horrific darkness that pressed, suffocating, all around me.

"Don't panic," Argentine said sharply. "The lights will be just a moment." I shuddered, trying to calm myself.

"It's so… dark…" I whispered. "Argentine… when will the lights come on?" I had found a wall, and curled up beside it to keep my bearings. But Argentine did not reply. He was gone, and I was alone with the darkness as my only company. My entire being froze; my heart stopped, and my breath caught in my throat. The darkness. Alone.

I was alone and terrified. I was five.

My parents had shut me up in my room, instead of allowing me to play with my friends at the fountain. I had cried many tears about that incident, but I had no more to cry and I was all alone… I began to amuse myself by taking a small bit of charcoal I had found on the streets one day and making lines on my wall. Gradually, these lines became little trees, and in the middle of the trees, there was a small house. I decided that this was where I lived, with my mom and dad. I drew them into the picture; simple stick figures, two tall, one short. I gave my mom hair, but didn't draw any on myself because it was mandatory for my hair to be no longer than my father's until it was dyed.

The lights on the ceiling flickered, but I paid them no mind. They often did that; small power failures that never lasted more than a second. I continued drawing, adding little flowers to the front of the house. I had seen flowers once before, and trees too, when my parents had shown me pictures at a museum. They had told me they were bad for humans, and made us ill, but I thought the pictures were beautiful anyway. I remember wanting to see a real one, and being told they no longer existed.

The lights flickered again. This time, there was a noticeable period of darkness. I dropped my bit of charcoal, and went to the door. Very, very softly I called out to my mother and father, hoping that they would hear me. They didn't. The lights flickered again, went out, and came back on.

That was when they broke into the house. The Raidsmen. I remember my mother's screams, and my father's shouts, and the lights went out. The never came back on, not while I was in that tiny little two story house I called home. I sat in that room for a two and a half days, with no food, no water, and no light. There wasn't even a window. When I was finally taken out of the house where my parents died, I weighed a good twenty pounds less than I should have. Twenty pounds that I never really gained back. For the rest of my human life, I was able to count my ribs, and my hips stood out from my stomach like I had survived a stretch in prison. It was miserable.

For weeks, I had to be drugged to even sleep, and the moment the sedatives wore off, I would wake up, screaming, in the dark. They talked to every single one of my relatives in the City, but not one of them would take me. Eventually, they were contacted by my long-lost uncle, who offered to take me in. He would later turn me into a wolf, but you already know that bit.

…

AN: Well, it really has been ages, and I am completely embarrassed right now. School has been harassing me, life has been… well, interesting, to say the least, and progress on my novel is… relatively non-existent. I hope someone is still out and about on fanfic to see this, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.