Chapter 23: Musings In The Dark

Hana walked slowly down the darkened streets. By all rights, she should have still been in bed, sleeping, but after having dreamed what she knew was more than just a dream, but someone's memory, she couldn't rest until she learned more. One thing she was sure of, that memory was not from Tohru. In fact, she was fairly certain it was from Kyo, but why he was leaking memories, or, less likely, purposely sending them out, she wasn't sure, unless it was his way of calling for help. And she knew, from past dreams and feelings, that he needed help.

He had someone gotten himself into some kind of mess and none of her friends were really equipped to figure things out fast enough. She doubted he had much time. Memories didn't just leak out unless something very wrong was going. She had to get to the source, or as close to it as possible.

She paused at a street corner, searching, sensing. She'd already traced all the paths she could for this woman, this thing. And she was fairly certain Tessa was more than just what she paraded to be. Whatever she was up to, it was definitely not good, and would definitely hurt Tohru. But, and Hana hated to admit this, she needed help.

She turned down one street and headed towards bright lights, mostly white, but some flashing red. It didn't surprise her, she decided, as she felt the faint strands of spiritual energy calling out to her, that he had ended up there.

A few more blocks found her at the hospital's emergency room entrance. Without a second thought, she entered through the walk-in doors, seeking out the one presence she knew she would find, and who, regardless of willingness, would help her unravel this web of deception. Ignoring overly helpful employees, she navigated through the emergency command post, towards the waiting room, walking right up to Sebastian. "We need to talk."

Kyo hated to admit defeat, but he was afraid he might have to, especially if his one and only plan that had actually seemed to do anything, worked. The effort, alone, had drained him more than he wanted to admit. He didn't have enough energy, or inclination, at the moment, to even try to fight back. He was mentally and emotionally worn out.

It was a long shot, and he knew it, but there was only one person that he knew of who had any ability to sense the spiritual, and that was someone he needed right now. He might not have been able to escape this mental prison, but he had been able to let one of his more frightening memories escape. He wasn't sure which one. There were so many, but at least one had, and he knew it felt distinctly of him. He'd made sure of that.

He stared out through the glassed over eyes of his body, still there, just unable to do anything but watch out the glassy orbs, into that… witch's eyes as she gloated about how she'd finally broken him. Well, she hadn't, and once he regained enough strength, hopefully before that darned snack wormed its way completely into the core of his being, he would definitely have a thing or two to say about what she'd done to him and what he knew she was planning for his friends.

Perhaps she wasn't aware of it, or she didn't care, but he had seen things about her, through this magical connection she'd instigated, that she probably didn't want him to see. In order to get closer to his mind and heart, he'd almost been forced to get closer to hers, and he definitely didn't like what he saw. The problem was that he only could see it when she actually touched him, either physically or mentally. But he'd tried to strengthen that bond, not because he wanted to lose his humanity, but because he wanted to know how to best stop her and use it against her if he could.

His phantom heart beat in overdrive as he thought about what he'd last seen before she'd dropped her hands from his shoulders. She was going after Tohru, and she planned on doing more than just inviting her to dinner. He could not let the woman he loved be devoured by another demon. It would not happen. Could not happen. But he knew it might happen, because he was still trapped inside his own body, in a prison that was tightening around him more with every passing hour, like a spider spinning a cocoon around its prey.

He wished he could send a message back in time, to Ciel and his demon butler, Sebastian, but he was less than hopeful that anything like that would work. The rip in time had supposedly healed. He wasn't likely to see those two ever again, as much help as he knew they would be. Sebastian had saved the day, for crying out loud! Tearing that demon bent on eating Tohru's soul. But there would be no help there, he was sure of that.

He closed his mental eyes, tired of staring out at the blank walls. Besides, that witch had just ordered his body to go back to sleep and he only had a few more seconds worth of view before all he saw was the insides of his own eyelids. He had to think. He had to plan. But most of all, he had to conserve his energy for the right moment.

Sebastian looked up in surprise. He had not even sensed her coming, which was saying a lot. Her abilities with the spiritual had to be great indeed. She did not look like one who would banter words, or wanted to banter words, so he simply indicated the seat next to him. "What would you like to talk about?"

Hana gave him an impassive face. There were a lot of things she wanted to talk about, though some of them would likely have to wait. She mentally looked around the waiting room, glad that it was not as occupied as it could have been. Considering the very late hour, she figured most people were too asleep to cause mischief. There was an older couple sitting on the far side, and a few dozing teenagers, but that was about all, at least for now. All the same, she'd have to keep her voice low. It would not do to have uninvited ears listening in.

She raised one brow at him, seeing the expression on his face, calm, composed, almost mocking. It was a façade, she was sure. "I know what you are."

Sebastian tilted his chin to one side, gloved fingers pressed at the point. "Ah. I see." His answer gave nothing more away, but he was fairly certain he knew exactly what she meant and that she knew he knew that.

Hana let out a small amount of air, in a half sigh as she prepared herself just a bit more before plunging in. "I understand that both Tohru and Kyo visited you back in Victorian England some time during this past year, and that you and Kyo, along with your master, helped to rescue Tohru from another of your kind."

The corner of his mouth quirked a bit at this. He had not known that this had been made privy to her, nor did he think anyone had told her. He did wonder, though, how she'd learned about this, knowing the characters of those involved and that they were less than likely to divulge such information. "And how did you discover this?"

She raised her brows ever so slightly. At least he was not disputing it. Perhaps he had decided it wasn't wise, she mused. He could, of course, still just blow it all off, but she doubted that he would. "It's not something I sensed from you," she assured in a bland tone, "though I could tell that you were not human from the very beginning, and I did have my suspicions."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, slowly letting the air out of her lungs. "No, that I did not sense. However, an errant memory has seemingly tracked me down and shown me that moment when you came to Tohru's rescue, and for that, you have my thanks. If anything should happen to Tohru, or to disrupt her happiness, there are things that I would have had to do, even if it required me to bend time and space to do so."

Looking at her, feeling the intensity of her soul, Sebastian believed she meant every word she said, and that even if her abilities did not allow such to happen, she'd find a way to work around it. He nodded. "It was a service I was only too happy to give," he said with a hint of a smile. "Miss Tohru's soul was not the only one at stake at the time, and I could not have lived with myself had the others been consumed as well. But let us get to the heart of the matter, before others become too interested in our conversation." He glanced meaningfully at a few nurses who were looking their way with far too much interest.

He stood, and offered her a gloved hand. "Shall we find a more appropriate location? Perhaps walking one of the fine paths they have outside? It's likely there will be less people to overhear us." Or interfere if things head in that direction, he added to himself. He didn't have any desire to kill her, but if she got in the way, he might not be able to avoid it.

Hana studied him for a moment before accepting his hand. "Of course. Just remember that we are both on the same side, even if our various talents differ in execution. I want to help you find this witch as much as you do. Tohru's happiness hangs in the balance and there is nothing I won't do to keep it where it should be."

Sebastian had to smile. She was most definitely a worthy opponent, if in nothing more than loyalty and verbal banter. "This way, if you please." He led her towards the automatic doors and out into the open of the hospital proper.

Lau was wide-awake as he stared up at the ceiling. Everyone else in the house, with perhaps the exception of Ran Mao, was asleep. He was fairly certain of that. Why he couldn't sleep, he wasn't sure, but he knew something was going on, otherwise the earl and his butler would not be here. He'd traversed this thought so much, that even if nothing were going on, he likely wouldn't believe it.

Ran Mao lay curled by his side, eyes closed. And, for once, Lau had his eyes open as he turned to look at her. Something very big was going on. The tension in the air wasn't just because of their unexpected arrival. His instincts could not be wrong. It was almost like the calm before the storm, but without information, it made preparation all that much harder, but he would make due.

And, of course, there was this wonderful world full of amazing things that were beyond anything he'd seen in his time. Sure there were some things, like the television box, and even some of the vehicles, like the taxi Sebastian had put them in, were similar to those he was used to, they were still on a whole different level from anything in his experience. It was amazing that things like horse-drawn carriages were no longer in use, as far as he could tell, at any rate.

It was, also, a tragedy that the young earl seemed to be in such poor health that they had rushed him off to the nearest hospital in that amazing automobile with its loud siren and flashing lights. He wouldn't mind tinkering with one of those, just once, though he doubted he'd ever get the chance. Perhaps Ran Mao could procure one for him.

Somewhere, the sound of faint sniffling could be heard. The house was so quiet that even the softest tread of a foot could have been discernible.

Ran Mao shifted her position. "Little sister crying," she said from behind closed eyes. "Very upset. Cat missing."

Lau knew she didn't mean just any old cat, but that spunky redheaded chap he'd met last year. He suspected that Ran Mao had a bit of a childish crush on the boy, merely because he could transform into a feline form, and had done so right in front of them all those months ago, refusing to let him go until Tohru pled with her to do so.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Strange things are going on. I don't like it," he dropped his carefully crafted lazy manners. No one else was around to hear anyway, but he felt a need to be careful all the same. That Shigure, there was a lot more to him than their host was willing to show, just like Lau. There was a decidedly darker, more cunning side to that man. He could tell, just as he could tell that Yuki had a darker side to him that he kept carefully hidden, not because he used it as a strength, but because he thought of it as a weakness. He wondered if they transformed into animals as well.

"We must find out what is going on," he continued, turning to gently stroke Ran Mao's cheek with a finger.

Ran Mao almost purred like a kitten and curled up closer to him. "Yes. We find out." They always found out, just like they'd found out that Sebastian was really a demon.

Hana tried to process everything that Sebastian had told her. If it were all true, and she felt no reason to doubt it, then they were in a fine kettle of fish. She felt more than justified having woven the barrier around the Sohma's house the other day. It was entirely possible that it had at least saved one life already, though she wasn't entirely sure about that.

Sebastian stood, one hand to his chin in thought as he processed the information she had brought to the table, mostly confirming what he'd already conjectured. Idly, he pulled his pocket watch out with the other hand and checked the time. It was now fast approaching four in the morning and he had not gone in to check on his master, though he could sense that things had settled down and that he was likely out of immediate danger.

"It's a shame," Hana mused, "that such a young child would be tasked with such a heavy burden. To be the queen's personal watchdog is something that no single person should be charged with being. Anyone who has the slightest bit of skills as an aura reader can tell that his life has been a hard and bitter one, much like the Sohmas."

The butler didn't comment. She was not the only to have thought such things. Madame Red, for example, even though she had been one of those he'd had to hunt down and eliminate, had something along the same lines. Not to mention that he thought it more than unfair of the queen to demand so much from him. But he also knew that his master was more than up for the challenge, and that he took it on as a sense of duty, and a means to the end, at least eventually.

She looked down at the shadows cast on the sidewalk. "It's a shame that there is so much darkness in the world, though I can't claim to not have any of my own. In many ways, we are similar. I am to Tohru, what you are to Ciel."

Sebastian hoped she didn't mean she was exactly as he was. She was no demon, though her soul had many dark and clouded spots, darker than most humans. It would be sad if she ever thought about consuming her friend's soul, though she didn't know that part of the story, or so he hoped.

"The more I think about this quarry, the more I am reminded of my own kind," Sebastian said. "I know she has consumed the souls of at least two people already. What she intends for master Kyo, that I would very much like to know, but I fear it may have something to do with his complex soul. Her reputation in my master's time is that of a witch, and I am more than willing to accept this as fact, that she has the abilities of such, which means she is one of the half-breed spawn thrown from my home. She will be very dangerous and hard to kill, but kill her we must."

Hana looked up at him, calculating everything he'd just said into her own musings. "If she truly is as corrupt as we both believe, there may be no other way. But if that is the case, we must do all in our power to keep Tohru safe from her. I could not live with myself knowing that this entity had somehow managed to destroy her."

Sebastian nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. But we must also protect as many as possible. Everyone in this city is at risk, and we must do our best to reduce that. I don't know how well you would do in a combative capacity, but it may come about that you will have to fight. I only hope that my fear isn't justified."

Hana began walking again, further down and away from the hospital building where a few people were watching them with curiosity. "What fear is that?"

He kept pace with her as he thought. "If she is indeed what I believe her to be, it is very likely that she has possessed our friend and that she intends to use him and his darkened soul to her advantage, as a tool, or, possibly, as a weapon. She could draw on his soul for a long time, if she were careful about it, using his body like a puppet on a string to do her bidding. We must be prepared for that possibility."

Something inside Hana felt colder at his words. She understood clearly what he was trying to say, that they might not be able to save Kyo, that he might be consumed by this witch, or that he might die in the confrontation. It pained her to think of the repercussions if that were to happen. But the chances seemed slim that someone would not be hurt by all of this. "Let's see what else we can find out before we decide if this is the case."

"Indeed." He paused, causing her to do the same. "This is one thing we can do. We can search that area where all of her traversing seems to lead. If we can find out exactly where they are keeping her—"

"We can mount a rescue," Hana finished for him.

He was pleased that their thoughts seemed to be in tune, at least for the moment. "I won't ask you to do this, knowing that you will be putting yourself in mortal and spiritual danger. But I will not stay you either, knowing that there is more to you than there is to most mortals. I leave that choice to you."

Hana didn't even need to think about it. "I'm going with you."