Although Dark didn't know the exact location of what was left of Kokuyoku, it wasn't hard for him to find. The piece seemed to pull at him and as he worked his way down a narrow, long-forgotten Hikari passageway, he was drawn to it like a moth to flame. Usually he avoided it at all costs because its goal was to reabsorb both Krad and himself, to undo the damage that was done. He didn't like the feelings here either. It felt like he was walking on someones grave. Well, hundreds of unmarked ones if he wanted to be literal. Damn, I wish I'd brought a jacket. Goosebumps covered his arms and he rubbed his hands along them roughly, shuddering as a single droplet of freezing water snaked down his neck. Why would Aisoku go to Kokuyoku? Kyo asked curiously as his other half passed through some cobwebs and a burnt-out seal. I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. The thief replied quietly. Most likely it just- He stopped as the passageway opened into an enormous vaulted cavern and glanced around.
Although the light trick was useful to Krad there was one obvious drawback. He couldn't manifest anywhere where their wasn't light and the Kokuyoku rested in an underground chamber, beneath the remains of a Hikari mansion. Krad reappeared in the middle of moss-covered oak beams in a clearing, all that was left of a once glorious estate. Kiryu squeaked in surprise and relief, and Krad chuckled as he turned over rocks and boards with a foot as he searched for something. Everything alright master?
Kiryu swallowed, his brown hair sticking up as if he'd been electrocuted. Don't ever do that again, please. The blonde let out a little approving noise and crouched down next to a rock he'd just flipped over. In the bare dirt where the rock had been there was a faint metallic glimmer. As the White Wings cleared the dirt away Kiryu snarked, What, we came here so you could dig a hole to China? And Krad clicked his tongue. No respect. Learn your place, boy. Did it occur to you our masterpiece might be heavily guarded? Did you get an inkling that it would be very bad for the Hikari's and the Niwa's if it was discovered by a regular human? Just as Krad cleared off the last streaks of dirt five small round openings appeared in the sculpted metal. I did, but- what are those? Before he could finish Krad had stuck the fingers of his right hand into the five holes. AAH! What are you doing?His tamer cried and watched in horror as Krad's entire hand was pulled underground.
Hush. It's just verifying that I am a Hikari. He said in an almost bored tone. The machine within massaged his index finger until the blood pooled, and then he felt a sharp prick. What happens if you aren't a Hikari? Krad chuckled darkly and examined the bandage on his finger after the machine released it. It was adorned with a bright-green Batman band-aid. I don't remember Satoshi programming that. The ground in front of him suddenly began to split in a twelve foot line.
It drew back to both sides and revealed a gaping black hole, adorned with faint wisps of a barrier around the edges. Is the barrier to keep other artworks out?
Krad shook his head as the familiar on his shoulder morphed into his wings. It is to keep its magic in. Instead of jumping to fly as he usually did Krad let himself simply fall off the edge with the reckless abandon of a skydiver. His tamer closed his eyes and prayed for both of them to live, and Krad almost smiled as he spread his wings, flared them and landed gracefully onto the concrete. Even the dim light from the hole, a good 50 feet up was enough for him to see. He folded his wings one at a time and touched the blank canvas just as his other half appeared in a passageway, shaking cobwebs out of his hair. "Hey, you ain't getting' all the glory- I'm going too." Krad snorted, then narrowed his eyes as the thief asked, "Your sure he's in there right?"
The yellow in his gaze hardened and he put a hand against his sternum for a moment. "Yes. He is so…scared." His hand tightened into a fist.
Dark made his way through the foot-thick chains anchoring Kokuyoku down and nodded at Krad, doing a good job of concealing his own apprehension. Even by itself the painting was a master of illusions and would try to trick them as best it could. They both banished their tamers just before they passed through and Dark grabbed Krad's ponytail discreetly- he didn't want them to be separated. It was like passing through a sheet of ice-cold metal. Dark blinked and rubbed his eyes, then dropped the ponytail in his other hand. They had arrived in some kind of ice caverns, where each faceted crystal was as big as a man and so closely packed they barely fit between them. "Wait, there he is!" The Kaitou laid both hands against a crystal on the floor and stared at the curled shape of his son inside. A humorless laugh issued from Krad and he pointed upwards. "I think not." Above them were hundreds upon thousands of the milky crystals and in each of them Aisoku lay curled.
They were everywhere above and below them. To Dark's fury, they all looked to him like the real thing. "Fuck!" A tan hand slammed into the nearest crystal and fragments tinkled to the floor. "How are we supposed to find him!" Krad turned to him with his eyebrows drawn together. "What do you mean?"
"What the Hell do you think I mean! All of them look just like-" The blonde touched one of the crystals, then began to make his way left. "No, they don't." Dark paused and squinted in the negligible light. "Your eyes look strange. And whaddya mean they don't!" Krad's pupils were so contracted they resembled tiny black dots.
He looked slightly more insane than usual. The blonde then frowned, "I don't feel different." and dismissed Dark's observation with a shrug.
"You can't tell that none of these are him?" Dark followed him as he worked through the maze of crystals, his boots sliding on the slick surfaces. "No. How can you?" White Wings glanced around momentarily before moving on. "I just can." Then he smirked at the thief. "For once, you'll have to trust me." The phantom muttered angrily under his breath but followed just behind him. They walked on for days, months, years it seemed, and as Dark's legs began to shake he muttered, "Alrighty, time for a break."
"No." Krad said automatically and his alter ego barked, "Why not!"
"We've only been walking for a half an hour."
"How do you know!"
"I've been counting. It's trying to make us feel like we've walked longer, trying to weaken us so we don't reach him." Dark noticed a silvery sheen of sweat on Krad's forehead and nose. With finality the angel said, "If we stop we will not get up again." They continued to walk. By the time Krad paused again both of them were panting and the blonde was holding his ribs with one hand. "H-here." He touched a crystal just about eye level and smiled wearily. It looked exactly the same as all the others to Dark. "But how…" The blonde swallowed.
"P-please. I carried his life within me for nine months. Of course I could pick him out from these imitations." Then he drove a fist into the crystal in an attempt to break it. It cracked about a foot and Krad shook his hand. "Aow." Dark sighed and moved him aside. "You did your best, Tinkerbelle." After he caught his breath he rasped, "Raaagh!" and drove both fists into the material. It cracked and a clearish fluid began to dribble out. "Yes!"
"Nice going Rambo." Krad snarled and helped him break through the remaining shards. Once the hole was big enough Krad slipped his arms underneath Aisoku's legs and shoulders and pulled him out. He was covered from head to toe in the viscous fluid and he wasn't breathing. "Why isn't he breathing!" Dark barked in alarm as Krad massaged his son's chest roughly and held him face down. "He will." A second later Aisoku began to cough and balanced on his own hands and knees. It was nearly a full minute and half a cup of fluid later before he began to breath normally again. The entire time, one of his fists remained firmly lodged in Krad's loose clothing. Finally he looked up at the blonde-haired man weakly and began, "I…" but Krad placed a finger to his own lips, and then scooped the boy up.
"Shh. Later. For now, just sleep." Krad placed his chin on Aisoku's head and stood slowly, smiling as he felt his son relax into him and fall into unconsciousness. Dark stared for a moment and wondered exactly where he fit in to that picture. Then the crystals above them began to disintegrate and shards as deadly as glass began to fall. One of them took a small chunk out of Dark's arm and he yelped. "The hell? I thought this was an illusion!" Krad spread his wings fully right through the crystal illusions surrounding them.
"It is! It only becomes a reality because you think it can hurt you, so concentrate!" Dark closed his eyes and suddenly he was able to spread his own wings and fly.
He opened his eyes again and the illusion disappeared, leaving only darkness and a square of light that was their escape. He flew until cold air greeted his face and Krad only relaxed when his feet met pavement. Beside him, Dark shook his wings out and looked over Krad's shoulder at Aisoku. "We gotta take him somewhere where the 'other' pieces won't come." Inside Krad's arms, Aisoku shivered and he covered him with a wing. "I was going to take him to the Aiyoku Mansion." It was a place all artworks like them avoided. Dark nodded and half stumbled suddenly as his human body screamed for rest. "I gotta go and get some sleep. Make sure you called Emiko…" He trailed off as he forgot what he was going to say and hesitantly put his hand on Aisoku's shoulder. "Thank God he's alright." He let out a shaky sound of relief then left with, "I'll come and check on both of you tomorrow…" weaving his way back to the passageway. Krad nodded and called both their butler Toro, to inform him the Mansion needed to be live-in ready in a half-hour and Risa, to let her know that Kiryu was still alive. She yelled at him for half an hour, but he was almost used to it by now.
By the time he landed behind the front gates he could barely walk and to his embarrassment had to be escorted to bed by Toro.
Out of convenience Toro gave them the bedroom with two twin beds and pulled the covers over both of their shoulders, making sure to dry Aisoku thoroughly before leaving him to sleep. As Krad's son slept his wings twitched and stretched, becoming new parts of his body, and he dreamed of flight more vividly than ever.
Dark snuck back into Daisuke and Riku's home and made it all the way to the stairs when a hand met his cheek in a violent way. He staggered back and held his wounded flesh in shock. "Ouch. Whad'd I do this time?" He muttered in a way that was tired, amused and slightly perverse all at the same time. "For making me wait this long to see if Kyo was okay!" She hissed and he realized she was wearing only a night gown and a loose robe. "Ngh. Sorry." He frowned at her for a moment, then grinned. "Your slaps are almost as enjoyable as your kisses." She raised up her hand again but he slipped into Kyo's form in a half-second, who looked around sleepily and touched his cheek. "Ow...mom?" Riku hugged her little boy and he gasped for air. "Alright already." He begged and she smiled, "Hmph. Off to bed then." and sent him upstairs with a playful push.
Kiryu woke up slowly, his senses returning one at a time. He was lying in a perfectly comfortable bed, but he could tell it wasn't his and as the room snapped into focus he realized someone was hear with him. They were in the other bed just a few feet from his, and their breathing was even and low. Whoever it was they also had two fluffy grey wings jutting from their back and Kiryu's mind suddenly recalled the events of yesterday. As it did Krad awoke and asked urgently for the use of their shared body. What? Why?
Because he knows me. It will be trying enough for him to wake up in a place he doesn't recognize. He hated to admit it but the angel had a good point. He felt awkward just being in the same room with Krad's son. Fine. He summoned up a picture of his crush Tsukiko, and after a few seconds Krad had taken control of their form. His familiar crooned at him and he lifted him up to his shoulders, where the little creature curled happily. Every fiber in his legs hurt, and so for a moment he closed his eyes and rested in an attempt to heal. He could heal himself, but for some reason not the wounds that the Kokuyoku had inflicted on him. Krad heard the sheets in the other bed shuffle and laid still as Aisoku awoke and took in his surroundings. "Where..."A part of Krad cheered at finally hearing his son's voice, while another noted that he sounded more like Dark than himself. He faked a slow stretch before opening his eyes and immidiately Aisoku piped up, "Um, dad?"
"Call me Krad, please. Kosuke was more of a father to you than I ever was." He sat up and Rai eyed Aisoku with interest. " But you're a 'curse', right? So it wasn't your fault. And you're my biological dad, strictly speaking so...Is it alright if I call you that?" The curse blinked at his directness and the fact that he didn't seem the least bit afraid of him, and a faint blush appeared. "Well, yes, if you want."
"Where are we?"
"The Aiyoku Mansion. One of many Hikari buildings. The failed artworks will not come for you here." The older teen watched in amusement as Aisoku stretched out one of his wings carefully until the tips touched the wall, staring forward in concentration. "Failed artworks?" White Wings nodded as he took in the room; the almost floor to ceiling windows framed with robin's egg blue curtains, the soft gold of the walls. He approved. "The shadow-like beings that came into your bedroom?" The boy tried to sit up but shuddered with pain as his shoulder blades pushed against his wing roots. "Nn-ow. The only one that really scared me was the one with purple eyes. These things had better become functional or..."
"They will." Krad chirped. " Probably within a few days if you get enough food and rest. Speaking of which..." He motioned for Aisoku to give him his hands. After a moment of hesitation, he did, and Krad drew a quick seal around both hands, placing two of his white feathers at each of Aisoku's wrists. The spell he'd written floated about a half inch from the boy's skin, and when he tried to touch it his hand passed through the script like air. " This will keep your power from surging out of control." A true smile showed up on Aisoku's face in a flash. "Really? Awesome! Thank you! Will I really...be able to fly with these?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in a very Dark-ish gesture. "Of course. What would the point of wings be if you couldn't?" He didn't have an answer and his blue-grey wings curled around him thoughtfully. He stroked the feathers absent-mindedly for a moment. It was still so hard believe these actually belonged to him. He hoped though that he'd be able to somehow retract them in order to wear shirts again. "Emiko and Kosuke-"
"I called both of them. They should be here around noon. And so will Dark."
"The phantom thief?" It was strange, but one of the shadow-beings, the one with the amethyst eyes, reminded him of Dark. As Krad got up to get them some food Aisoku asked, "So..."
"So what?"
"Isn't it physically impossible for me to have two dad's?" Krad's left eye twitched spastically. He had expected this question, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. "Ill answer that when Dark gets here. It's a long story." Aisoku raised an eyebrow at Krad's strange reaction. "Just one more thing then...Which one of you, you know..." Krad blushed but the color drained away once Aisoku made a rounding motion over his abdomen. "Oh, carried you?"
"If that's what you want to call it..."
That strange vague smile crossed White Wings again. "I did."
"Did it hurt?" Krad pointed out gently, "That was more than one question, but to answer it... No. Sometimes you kicked really hard, or lodged yourself up near my ribs but..." He trailed off as he thought about it and Aisoku bowed his head. "I- sorry." To his surprise, Krad laughed and ruffled his hair. "Of all things, there is no need to apologise for that. I'll get us some breakfast now all right? How does pork benito sound?" Aisoku narrowed one jewel-like eye suspiciously. "That's my favorite."
Krad smirked, one single blonde lock blocking his eye, and just before he left he purred, "Mine too."