Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Illusions of the Sun

1: Blue, Blue Sky

He always remembered that look of pure, unbridled terror. Those were the only moments when he found he could see any member of the Wraith as human. Sometimes, those moments made him wonder what that made him. To them, he was the shadow that slipped undetected past all of their defenses and left with their lives.

This man was no different. Having taken what he shouldn't have from the Wraith, he had been slated for execution by his superiors. What exactly it was he had taken, Kaito hadn't been told, but he didn't particularly care. This was just another black-hearted fool being punished by his similarly amoral brethren.

He had to believe that. He didn't know what he'd do if he didn't.

Making his way to the apartment building's flat roof, he stepped lightly off the edge and unfolded the glider he'd been provided. In moments he had left the building and the dead man inside it behind, silent as a shadow, leaving no trace that he had ever been there at all.

Turning his thoughts to the wind, he commanded it to take him higher. The wind always obeyed him. It was just a shame that the rest of his life didn't do the same.

Letting out a breath that was almost a sigh, he turned his glider back towards Wraith headquarters. The last thing he wanted was to be back in that oppressive place, but at the same time the only people he wanted to see were there. Fate seemed to like doing that to him these days.

Like where he was now. He'd become the proverbial ghost story they used to scare their members into being good little villains. It was almost funny in a demented kind of way. He'd become their executioner. The ghost that no one saw but which the underlings had been taught to fear. What would they think, he wondered, if they found out that he was himself a prisoner? That the only reason he dealt with their internal purging rather than the Wraith's outside enemies was because, though he hated bloodshed, he had learned to tolerate it when it came to these evil bastards. He didn't think he could take any life of other kinds, and there was a boy called Shinichi who had been his closest friend since toddlerhood who would rather die than see him have to do such a thing. And Shinichi would know too.

Shinichi always knew.

That was their greatest leverage really. It was the reason why their captors couldn't really harm him or his mother. Not that they could do much to him anyway, he thought a bit bitterly. His powers protected him if no one else. But his mother was a different story.

He worried about her the most. Every time he saw her he was shocked by how pale and gaunt she had become—how frail she looked and how painfully fragile the smile she wore whenever she saw him. There were a thousand apologies in her eyes and all he wanted was to tell her that she had nothing to apologize for. But there was no way he could make her understand that.

When he allowed himself to dwell on it all, the whole situation just made him feel sick. Their precarious position hinged on his only friend's willingness to throw away his life and their captors desire for access to said friend's visions. His own hands were stained with blood because he knew there were too many ways they could hurt Shinichi that didn't involve killing and he wouldn't—couldn't—let that happen. And to top off the iceberg his mother's safety tied both their hands because she was the one who had no power at all. They were the only ones who could protect her.

Every one of them would give up everything if it meant the others could leave this hell behind, but for that very reason none of them could do anything.

It was a delicate balance that he watched like a hawk every moment of every day.

There was a twisted kind of humor in it too though, he supposed, because he knew that if anything ever happened to either Shinichi or his mother he wouldn't be able to control himself—wasn't sure he'd want to try if it ever came down to that. And their captors were afraid of him, even if they would never admit it. He could see it lurking behind their eyes and he took a certain degree of satisfaction from that knowledge. They hadn't expected when they'd come after two little children rumored to have strange powers that he would become so powerful. His father had always told him he was gifted.

And so they watched him with wary eyes because they knew—and rightly so—that the moment the opportunity presented itself he would take his mother and Shinichi and go. It didn't matter how small the opening was. If he saw it, he would find a way to force it open wide enough for them all to leave. Before then he would be their tool, but the kind with two edges on opposing sides.

The island rose dark on the horizon and he let the wind take him down to it. Gliding silently past the watchtowers, he landed in the open courtyard in the center of the complex. The guards eyed him suspiciously as he made his way inside, but none of them said a word.

None of them ever spoke to him unless ordered to deliver a message. Most of the time they avoided him to the best of their abilities. But as he didn't want to talk to any of them that suited him just fine. All he wanted now was to get back to the little suite tucked away inside the complex which was the only place he could be even remotely himself anymore. It was the one place where they weren't watching (not that they hadn't tried, but they'd eventually gotten tired of replacing the cameras he wrecked). Funny, how there could be a sanctuary of any kind in a nest of vipers.

The suite was dark and quiet when he entered. After a detour to the bathroom in a futile attempt to wash away the last few hours, he padded to the bedroom and slipped inside. Bypassing his empty bed, he crossed the room to where he knew Shinichi was. Shinichi would be awake. He never slept before Kaito returned.

Reaching out, he laid a hand on a blanketed shoulder which stirred.

Blue eyes that almost seemed to glow faintly in the dark looked up questioningly. "Kaito?"

The worry in the inquiry was clear but Kaito only shook his head. He didn't feel like speaking at the moment. Shinichi understood though, even without the words, and he scooted over to make room. Kaito crawled under the covers and pulled the other into a tight embrace.

He tightened his grip, tucking the smaller boy's head under his chin and holding him as close as he could as though to let go would be to lose everything. In a way, he supposed it was. It was only those moments when he had Shinichi safely in his arms, alive and breathing, that he knew why he carried out the tasks they gave him. Why he was staining his hands at the behest of people he hated with a burning passion that only grew stronger by the day. And he needed to know that he was doing this for a reason, because if he ever lost sight of that then he knew he would go mad.

This was what he was protecting.

X

Kaito woke to the sound of quiet, pained whimpers coming from Shinichi. The oracle had curled in on himself, his eyes squeezed shut and his face scrunched up as he shivered.

Sitting up quickly, Kaito took his companion by the shoulders and shook him. "Shinichi," he called. "Shinichi, open your eyes."

For a moment there was no response and he was beginning to wonder if this was one of the deeper visions when blue eyes blinked open to stare blindly up at him. That was a good sign at least, he noted. It meant Shinichi could still hear him.

He gathered the shaking boy into his arms and continued to repeat his name. It was a call and a reminder. Eventually the shaking subsided and Shinichi's eyes cleared, coming back from whatever distant place they had been looking into to focus on Kaito.

"T—today, it's breaking," he murmured as the last of the fit passed. "They're coming…"

"What?" Kaito frowned slightly in confusion. "What's coming?"

Shinichi let out a long breath that was half relief and half weariness. "It's… I'm not sure. Something big. It was…like the world was breaking apart."

"That doesn't sound good."

"But…it felt…" Trailing off, the oracle frowned. "It wasn't frightening, not really—but, at the same time, it was."

Kaito let out his own sigh. "For once it might be nice if you got straight answers instead of visions."

"I don't think so," the oracle murmured, looking away. "At least they have to spend time trying to figure out what it means." And it wouldn't be his fault if they didn't get it in time.

"Let's talk about something else," Kaito declared. "Are you hungry?"

"A little."

A glance at the clock revealed that it was ten after seven in the morning. "Well then, I'll go get us some breakfast. How about it?"

Shinichi nodded a bit reluctantly and sat on the edge of the bed while Kaito rummaged through the closet. He didn't particularly care what he wore and it had become habit over the years just to let Kaito pick for him. Kaito seemed to derive a certain amount of pleasure in being able to do things for them. It didn't really matter how small. Shinichi suspected that it was probably because it allowed his friend to feel he had at least some control over their situation. It had to be frustrating to have so much power at his fingertips and yet be unable to really remedy their situation.

For his part Shinichi knew that things weren't going to be like this forever. The future wasn't set in stone, but there were some things that, once other factors were set in motion, could just as well be considered fated. He knew for instance that the magician would leave this place one day, it was only a matter of how. He'd told Kaito that once, years ago, but for some reason his friend hadn't wanted to hear it.

"I'mnotgoinganywhereunlessyouandMomcomewithme," he'd insisted. When Shinichi reminded him that it might not be their choice to make he'd been studiously ignored. It worried Shinichi sometimes to think about it.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Kaito said as they made their way to the door that opened out onto the hall. Both their eyes went to the cold, metallic band around Shinichi's left wrist. Utterly unremarkable in appearance, its smooth surface was marked only by a stylized eye with a star shaped pupil. Letting out a sigh, Shinichi watched Kaito head out into the hall, careful to keep himself on the suite side of the threshold. To go further would be to trigger the alarms which in turn would cause both the band he carried and the one being worn by Kuroba Chikage, wherever she was, to detonate.

When he couldn't see Kaito any longer he shut the door and retreated back into the suite's small living room where he slumped down in a chair by the table. He closed his eyes and did his best to focus on the darkness behind his eyelids and the feel of hard wood beneath him.

He could feel the visions hovering just on the edge of his consciousness, but though he needed them he needed time to just be here and himself more. Especially after that morning.

The visions didn't used to hurt. There had been a time when he'd almost looked forward to having them. They were riddles for him to solve—a game almost that he could play with himself. Some of them were frightening, but there were good ones too. Bright visions foretelling good things to come.

But he never saw those anymore.

Nowadays there were always too many of them. Too many images coming too quickly, every one too sharp as they grasped at him—drowning him, trying to sweep him away into their world and trap him there. It was like being suffocated—burned alive and buried in jagged pieces of glass, each image vying to embed itself in his mind and tear away his last connection to reality. It was agony, yet afterward he could never tell if the pain had been physical or all in his mind.

But he didn't care, because the fact that he could question that at all meant that he was still himself. That he had escaped the visions. This time. Next time he might not be so lucky.

He dreaded that next time every moment he was aware. The thought that one day he might be lost completely…that one day the visions would win and he would lose himself completely to their clawing grasp… It terrified him.

X

They were almost done with breakfast when the alarm went off. The sirens howled through the complex and both teens looked up. The walls of their room were too thick for them to hear anything else.

"It's an intruder alarm," Shinichi said after a moment's pause, blue eyes slightly unfocused. The one good thing that had come of the forced development of his powers, he mused, was that (with some concentration) he could actively call upon it in regards to matters of the present and—though to a lesser degree—the past. His mother had never been able to do that. It wasn't always clear and was often more a feeling than anything else, but it was generally enough. "A lot of them."

Their eyes met as they both sat still. Tension hung thick in the air mixed with something else. Kaito wasn't ready to call it hope, but, well, hadn't Shinichi said just that morning that something would change today? He opened his mouth to ask if the oracle knew anything else, but before he could speak the ground heaved violently, tipping them both out of their chairs. An earthquake? They weren't uncommon on the island, though never before had there been one quite this violent.

The dining table slid across the floor, bearing the remains of their breakfast with it, only to crash into the wall. Plates and cups skidded over the table's edge to smash upon the floor. Then the table was coming back at them preceded by their fallen chairs. They both scrambed out of the way just in time.

In the distance something that sounded like thunder roared and the walls shook. The lights overhead blinked once, twice, then went out.

"Something must have happened to the generators." Kaito scrambled to his feet and helped Shinichi up, keeping a hold of him to balance them both. He froze abruptly, his grip tightening almost painfully on Shinichi's arm as his thoughts raced. If the power was out, then all the machinery that ran on it would be too. They had never been stupid enough to let him know where the generator was, but he did know there was only one. And if there really were intruders running around the complex right now then the Wraith agents would be occupied. Frankly, it was the ideal combination—the proverbial key and distraction.

Turning quickly, he bolted for the door, dragging Shinichi with him.

"What are you doing?" the oracle exclaimed, stumbling to keep up.

"We're leaving," the magician said shortly, a strange mixture of suppressed excitement and urgency clear in his voice. "The power's out. The sensors will be down."

"But the backup system might still be intact. It could come on any second!" Shinichi protested, trying in vain to wrench his arm out of Kaito's grasp.

"We have to take the chance," the other argued, yanking open the door. "For all we know this place could be on the verge of collapse anyway." As if to illustrate his point, the hallway outside was bright with firelight and thick with the smell of smoke.

As they crossed the threshold Shinichi made another attempt to put some distance between them. If the computers were still working then the armband would still detonate and the last thing he wanted was for both of them to be caught in the blast. Especially when he knew that Kaito could get away. But instead of moving away his companion stepped closer, putting both arms around his waist as they passed the sensors.

Shinichi wanted to yell at him for being so stupid, but his breath had caught in his throat and all he could do was stare transfixed at the metal band around his wrist—waiting.

Nothing happened.

They were in the hall now, a wall of fire roaring off to their left and smoke turning the air gray. Neither of them moved for an instant though, surprise and relief gluing their feet to the floor, but there was no time for celebration. Not yet. Letting go of Shinichi, Kaito took his hand instead and started running down the as yet unlit side of the hall, keeping a wary eye out for anyone who might try to stop them.

"Which way?" he asked as they approached an intersection.

Snapping out of the turmoil of his own thoughts, Shinichi knew immediately what he meant. "Left, straight, two rights, and a left."

Kaito turned left without hesitation and they were pelting down yet more halls, the flames nipping at their heels. Another tremor rocked the earth and they nearly fell around the last corner. And there she was, thin and terrified but alive, being supported by a young woman with blond hair that fell to her shoulders.

Kaito's eyes narrowed at the sight of the younger woman. "Let her go," he demanded, raising the hand that wasn't hanging onto Shinichi and forming a bright ball of pure power that crackled and pulsed dangerously.

But to his surprise his mother raised her eyes to his and shook her head, a weak smile forming on her lips. "Shiho saved me before my room collapsed, Kaito," she rasped before going into a fit of coughs.

The girl shifted to take more of the older woman's weight on her own shoulder before fixing the boys with a steady, unreadable stare. "Follow me." Not waiting for an answer, she turned and started walking, her pace quick but steady.

Kaito hesitated a moment but Shinichi gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "It's all right."

X

The blonde led them to one of the many caverns beneath the island where the Wraith docked their ships. Most of the ships had either been crushed by falling rocks or taken away by fleeing Wraith members, but they managed to find a small boat that had been overlooked. Fifteen minutes later they were out on the open sea, the island a disappearing hulk in the distance dotted with the bright flashes of the occasional explosion and wreathed in rising smoke.

Once they were out of sight of the place, Kaito withdrew his attention from the currents and the boat slowed, drifting now only with the power of the sea.

Turning, he focused instead on examining Shinichi and his mother for injuries. Once he was satisfied that neither of them had been severely injured, he placed a hand on each of the metal bands around their left wrists. He focused and they snapped open.

For a moment he stared down at the two thick rings of metal (he'd never seen them both at the same time before, their captors had been careful about that). They were cold and unyielding in his hands, but bereft of their wearers they were powerless. Nothing more than mere objects with no purpose left. Fingers closing over them abruptly, he turned and hurled them out to sea as far away from the boat as he could. In an instant the waves had swallowed them without a trace. It was the most satisfying thing he'd ever seen.

Shinichi watched the devices vanish with an odd sense of wonder. To think that something that had played such a huge role in their lives—that had trapped them more firmly than any iron bars or walls ever could—were in reality so small. And now that they were gone… Cool, sweet relief washed through him and he leaned back against the side of the boat, turning his eyes upward to the endless expanse of cloud softened blue overhead, letting the wonder well up inside him and fill every nerve in his body.

He hadn't seen the sky in ten years.

TBC

A.N: And so it begins! ^^ I've had this stuck in my head for a long time but I wasn't originally going to start writing it until after I finish Midnight White, but it kept nagging at me so I decided just to get some of it out to scratch the itch.