Heavy Burdens

by MArvensis - MSylvatica

DGM dance au, where the Black Order is a studio owned by the Rouvellier family that trains talented children with difficult pasts to compete in a generations-old rivalry with the decedents of Noah Campbell. TW: It contains scenes and themes that may be confusing, frightening or infuriating to younger or more sensitive readers. If you are under 18, skip or proceed with caution !

69. Chapter 69

Marian Cross sat on the windowsill of his hotel, smoking and gazing out over the city. Allen was coming along quite nicely, he thought, but in a perverse way, the Order had been good for him. The timid, easily-cowed child Cross had picked up after Mana died had started to grow back into his old, mouthy, defiant self. The regular practice also showed. Komui Lee was a better choreographer than dancer, but he was an excellent coach and so was Reever Wendham. Maybe Allen could win against Rhoda, maybe not, but he was definitely good enough to draw attention, and that was what Cross needed.

There was a click at the door, the slide of a bolt, and Cross sat up straighter. No one else had a key card, and housekeeping always announced themselves.

A medium-sized, unassuming man with glasses and a clerical collar let himself into the room. "Hello, Marian."

Cross laughed. "Cardinal! How kind of you to drop by! Would you like a drink?" He waved a glass of very acceptable merlot.

"No, thank you," said the other man as he adjusted his glasses on his nose and pulled a pistol out of his coat.

"You can't be serious," Cross said, taking an outsized draw on his cigarette.

The cardinal turned on the television and changed the channel to a war movie.

"What tipped you off?" Cross asked. He was surprised to find himself looking for a way out, but there wasn't one. He was on the tenth floor, and the cardinal was between him and the door. He was going to die, probably in a matter of seconds. He'd prepared for this possibility, but he found that he wasn't as ready as he thought. He had too many things to say to too many people.

Maybe it was just as well. This would spare him the temptation to ever say them.

The cardinal turned the volume up to a level that was bound to annoy the neighbors.

"It was his medical records, wasn't it," Cross said, even though he knew the cardinal couldn't hear him. "You must have gone through Komui's files. Then why did you bother with Hevlaska at all? Or did you just want to make a point?"

Machine gun fire broke out on the television set as the cardinal raised his weapon level with Cross's eye and fired.