Part 5: Return

Krad stood with his wings raised in preparation, watching Dark crossly as the other angel gathered his thoughts. Part of him still thought this was some sort of trick. Dark was actually releasing their seal? His anticipation threaded in and out of his bitter nerves and cinched, balling everything into one highly-strung knot of impatience. Why would he do this now? Why not before? "Ready yet?" he asked the dark angel, who was standing with arms outstretched, and wings arched upward, a soft violet glow wrapping around him.

Dark took a deep breath, the very space around him seeming to pulse with the rise and fall of his chest. When his eyes opened, their intensity actually took Krad by surprise, though he kept the reaction to himself. Dark's eyes literally glowed, seeming unfocused as he turned slowly to Krad. "It's time," he said, the energy around him growing so thick that Krad felt it pressing in around his lungs.

Krad tried not to resist Dark's energy as his own eyes began to glow with power and he let Dark's magic tap into his mind. He visualized the most basic setting he could think of; one that would leave room for error if that imbecile botched the location. He called up the fountain in the park; its sound, its smell of ocean and concrete, the salty breeze and the tastes of suburbia.

The two men stood four feet apart, facing together with arms spread out. Dark looked at Krad earnestly as the grey landscape around them began to fade and warp. He was already too deep in to the spell to spare any focus for speaking.

Krad couldn't believe it. Dark was apparently serious. He had little to do except retain the visual Dark needed to focus, which took little effort for him. The world around them began to twist and blur until they were surrounded with black. They were between planes – he'd never have to see that crappy grey prison again. He looked back at dark to find him surrounded by racing streams of light that circled his arms, legs, and torso. Everything was going according to plan. Above them, stars began taking form, one by one, and then they were joined by a moon – Earth's moon, full and bright. The sound of the fountain began growing in his consciousness, and the warm smell of the ocean. Then the fountain itself appeared next to them, as boring as Krad remembered it.

Dark winced as the finalization of their planar jump sucked out a sudden burst of energy and stunned him like a knife to his gut. He refocused and quickly called up more power to take its place, his bones aching with the effort. This wasn't good; creating their bodies would take at least as much energy as he'd used so far. He was tiring too soon. He couldn't afford to think about it; it was do or die from here on. Bracing himself, he called two shadowy forms into being beside the fountain, their shape and posture resembling the positions he and Krad held now in their spiritual forms. Rushing slightly, he grasped into Krad's thoughts for the images he needed to complete their forms. He found them, Krad feeding the information to him bit by bit through their taut mental link.

Krad released his energy into the spell in chunks he thought the other angel could manage until his body stood before him, so real he could touch it if he were real. Across from him, Dark's eyes were bright and unfocused, consumed in the magic he was weaving . His lean form trembled now with effort. Krad watched Dark's struggle in satisfaction. It served the fool right for imprisoning him this long.

"Krad!" Dark's hoarse voice broke him suddenly out of his thoughts to realize that he'd relaxed too much; he'd left Dark without a focus. He realized in the same thought that he was now looking through real eyes and not those of his mind. He raised his hand up in front of his face and bent each of his fingers – really his fingers. As an afterthought, he remembered Dark was still stuck in the spell. His spirit hovered over his nearly-completed body in front of him like a branch caught in a tide. So, the dark angel had constructed his body first, he thought, surprised. Krad could step out of the spell right now, and Dark would cease to exist. Just to play with him, Krad waited a few more seconds before re-entering the link.

It rejected him. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he pressed forward again, generating a shower of blue sparks. Dark was losing control. Finally, Krad reached out and physically grasped Dark's shouders, forcing himself headlong back into the spell that now looked more like a battlefield of exploding black-violet landmines. He extended his mind into Dark's, touching his panic as he force-fed the rest of the data through the link in one huge block. If his nemesis wanted to survive the spell, he'd have to do it on his own. Krad was too disgusted to endure the angel's energy any longer, and there was no way he was risking his newfound life for Dark's.

Krad's burst of energy hit Dark like a brick to the stomach, dense and unintelligible. Even at full power, decoding someone else's energy was like writing without ink. He hasn't thought Krad would really try to kill him this soon. Feeling the magic press in on his mental core like a vise, he drew on all the power he had to bind his soul to the body, decoding the strands of energy Krad had thrown at him and hurling them into place. He had to hope the order was right. Gritting his teeth, he dove forward and into his new form, ready or not, sinking into intermediate blackness. If the spell worked, he would awaken in the body before him. If not, he wouldn't wake up.

Krad stretched his wings, arms and legs in one luxurious movement, and finally looked at the body standing in front of him. It was Dark, all right, purple hair and eyes glinting in the evening light. He idly wished he'd altered the data and made him just a bit less beautiful. But there were two things missing; Dark's wings, and the light of consciousness that should have indicated he was alive. Krad tilted his head speculatively. Perhaps he really had killed him.

A ripple of energy coursed down Dark's form, knocking Krad a step back. The violet eyes flared to life, contorting immediately into an expression of agonized shock. A raw cry escaped Dark's throat, strangled with pain, and he collapsed to his knees before crumpling onto his side. Magic convulsed around him, flickering his whole form in and out of existence. He'd gone ahead of the spell, Krad realized – entered the shell before it was complete. Like a computer too overheated to process a sophisticated program, it was still slowly executing Dark's hurried magical instructions. Now he was just stuck waiting for the ride to come to a complete stop.

A huge pair of black wings exploded from his back, wrenching another groan from the dark angel, but they weren't right. The feathers quickly curled and singed, bones cracking as they withered to be joined by another pair, and another, until Dark's back was a mess of wings sprouting and fraying from a single spot, like pine needles curling in a flame. The spell was out of control, sucking more and more strength from its creator in the only way it knew how: by continuously repeating the last command it had been given. Dark screamed in agony and dug his fingers into the pavement, too miserable to appreciate them the way Krad had. Hot pain-tears seeped from his glazed-open eyes.

Krad stared at his dying counterpart, feeling the beginnings of alarm spread like a drug in his system. He couldn't explain why, and didn't want to. Maybe it was only natural, after the two years when Dark's death would have meant being alone in the universe. At the same time, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Dark's spell, and wasn't sure he would if there was. But it did seem oddly unsatisfying for it all to end like this.

Dark struggled for focus, anger and pain and more anger consuming him. Krad had betrayed him, Daisuke needed him…how could he have been so stupid?? He tried to look up at Krad, and saw only a white blur. Not helping. Watching. Probably smiling. He clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to watch Krad watch him destroy himself. He heard someone screaming, and realized after a moment that it was himself. His back was liquid fire.

"Dark," a firm voice demanded. Dark felt a hand close sharply on his back, felt it rip away the cancerous wings that were sucking out his strength in a quick, firm movement so painful he could have vomited, given the energy. "Get a grip, crowfeathers," the voice ordered, hard and chilled.

Dark groaned hoarsely as he felt the wings tear from his skin. Krad? Shocked back into control, he threw his last shreds of concentration into the spell, grasping its frayed segments and weaving them together again. He couldn't feel if was helping or not, couldn't feel anything anymore. Flawless black wings burst from his shoulders and folded limply to the ground. He opened his eyes just enough to see Earth's moon above him, and then his body fell still.

Krad's slim fingers touched the vein on Dark's neck for a pulse. There was nothing. Seconds passed. He wondered why Dark hadn't warned him more about the procedure, when he must have known how taxing it was. On second thought, Dark probably hadn't wanted Krad to realize how weak he would be coming out of the spell. Still, all plans considered, it would have been smarter to discuss the spell's risks in advance. Then again, he thought as he frowned at the too-still body in front of him, since when did that idiot like to think anything through in advance. What possessed him to suddenly bring them back to Earth?

"Tch. Even dead, you piss me off," he muttered, standing up. He turned decisively and began walking away. The sea air blew through his white coat and buffeted against his skin – his skin, but he seemed to have already lost his fascination with his new body. He went about five yards and stopped, standing there like someone who'd forgotten why he'd run up the stairs.

With an exasperated sigh he turned on his heel and strode swiftly back to Dark, kneeling and pressing his vein again almost viciously. Still nothing. He couldn't quite believe it. He stayed and waited, watching Dark's feathers rustle like dead fur in the wind. These were real bodies; there were no wing-hosts to fall back on if their strength ran out. No other planes, no future lives…dead was dead. A faint beat rippled under Krad's fingertips. He narrowed his eyes, not sure if he'd imagined it. Seconds passed before he felt another beat, and the n ext. It was terribly weak, but Dark had a pulse.

"You're like a cockroach," Krad groaned crossly. Still, the dark angel showed no sign of waking any time soon. He reached down and touched the satiny wing that hung like dead weight from Dark's back. It was highly possible that that was exactly what it was, but only time would tell if the angel would be able to fly again.

It seemed too unsatisfying to take him out now. Someone would find him here eventually. For now, Krad had other things on his agenda. He stood up and stretched out his great white wings, feeling them respond perfectly. Dark had done a good job on the body; he had to admit that much. He intended to explore it to his heart's content.

With a few mighty flaps, he rose up and flew off into the night, not entertaining the nagging question of what would happen if the wrong people found Dark's unconscious body. It wasn't his responsibility to protect his enemy. As soon as he was airborne, however, he realized he wasn't sure where to go. He found himself flying low over the water, close enough to touch its rolling surface. His eyes went to a lighthouse overlooking the bay from high on a cliff. That place seemed quiet enough. He would take his time. He would rest, and think. Then the realization of his task could begin.

- o0o0 O 0o0o -

Riku woke with a start, her head pounding. She glanced at her surroundings, trying to recall what had happened. With a nauseous gasp she remembered Daisuke being taken away, and being thrown into the statue. Somehow, she'd managed to survive the fall; freshly crumbled rocks on the ground around her indicated she'd collided with the cliff face several times during her descent, and though she could feel the confirmation of her theory in every sore bone in her body, she knew it had saved her life. Something tickled her face and she reached up. Blood was running from the side of her head. Her left foot felt sprained, if not broken, but she could move on it.

Above her, she could faintly make out a steep path leading back up to the park, and dragged herself to her feet. She wanted nothing more than to lie here and rest, but if she stuck around here, whoever had taken Daisuke might come back to finish her. Half walking and half climbing, she made her way up the rocky slope. When the end was almost in sight, her bad foot slipped on a sheer part of the path and she screamed, barely finding a handhold in time to keep from falling. Riku wanted to cry. She didn't know where Daisuke was, and now her leg hurt too much to make it the rest of the way up the face.

She didn't cry. She took a deep breath and tried to think. Living with her more sensitive sister all these years had made her the tough one at times like this. Even with Daisuke, she often felt more like protecting him than seeking protection, probably because he was surprisingly delicate both emotionally and physically. In this case, as always, she felt a keen sense that the only one she could depend on to get out of this was herself. Gritting her teeth, she held close to the wall and waited for the pain in her ankle to dull.

A sharp scream penetrated Dark's mind and brought his dull senses reluctantly back to life. His eyes opened and scanned the ground directly in front of him, giving him his bearings. He was on the ground. His body felt like it had been run over by a bus. Especially his wings, he noted as he moved one of them by accident and his breath hitched. Krad was gone; Dark couldn't sense him anywhere.

He pushed onto his side and sat up, relieved that his aching muscles were at least working. The clatter of rocks crumbling brought his attention back to the sound that originally woke him up. It had come from the direction of the ocean. Dark found it unlikely that someone would be over there in the middle of the night, but he pushed up to his feet and walked unsteadily to the edge of the cliff. There, hanging to the face of the rocks just a few feet below, was the last person he'd expected to see. Risa's sister…why in the world?

"Grab on," he told her, reaching down to her.

Riku looked up at the hand extended to her, and took it firmly with a sigh of relief. "Thank God, you must be an angel," she breathed gratefully as two strong, but clammy hands lifted her up over the edge onto level ground. She teetered forward unsteadily into the stranger's chest as her ankle again refused her weight. The secure arms turned her gently away from the rail, the stranger's body coming safely between her and the menacing cliff.

"Maybe I am," said a voice that was all too familiar. Her eyes flashed up and took in her savior's features. Deep purple reflected off the darkness of his hair and eyes, and shadowy black wings blocked the moonlit water behind him.

Dark.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" she shrieked in alarm, giving the dark angel a sharp shove. She was surprised to feel his weight project easily in the direction she'd pushed him. Dark jolted backward over the rail with a weary gasp, releasing his grip on her hastily as he felt himself falling. He threw out his wings and cried sharply as they caught like sheets in the wind. Suddenly he preferred falling to flying. His unresponsive wings barely even slowed his descent as he tumbled upside down like a crippled bird. He landed on his back with a thud on a flat, grassy crag in the Cliffside several yards down. Squeezing his eyes shut, he twisted to his side and sucked in air, thinking that maybe he should have aimed for the water after all.

Riku stared in shock at the fallen man. It had been a shock to see him at all, but even more confusing that he'd taken her shove so hard. She felt guilty and annoyed; he should have known it would scare her, introducing himself like that.

"Are you okay?" she called warily over the cliff's edge.

"Yes," he answered several seconds later, when he was able to breathe again.

"…Can you get back up?"

"Of course," Dark returned with a hint of agitation, but made no move to do so.

Riku watched him in confusion. Something seemed very wrong about the position of his body and wings on the stone. Even the cockiness in his voice seemed strained, unnatural. He was scaring her. How had he gotten here? "Dark, get up here," she pleaded nervously.

Dark shuddered and forced himself upright again. "Patience, my lady," he said, his voice balancing precariously between arrogance and pain.

He stood and leaned into the cliff face as he pulled himself slowly up to where Riku was and stepped back onto the level pavement. "It's nice to see you again, too," he remarked with a casual smirk, but one look at him told her he was spent.

"Dark…is Daisuke with you?" she asked, the hope filling her suddenly like a flood.

Dark frowned, and met her eyes warily. "No." The tone in his voice was so odd, so full of waiting and dread, that it startled her almost as much as his appearance had.

"Someone came after him. I think she took him away with her," she said.

Dark shook his head to clear his blurring thoughts. It was getting hard to see again. He made it to a bench and sank into it, his wings curling around his shoulders involuntarily as if expecting an assault.

"Dark…what happened to you?" Riku managed to ask, taking a cautious step toward him. She never trusted the dark angel much, mainly because she couldn't explain the way he acted, but he seemed like he was in pain. She couldn't leave him alone if he was hurt.

"A spell just pulled me in a little over my head," he said.

Riku frowned at him curiously. His voice sounded like someone was standing on his chest. "Dark?"

A new set of footsteps sounded softly on the pavement leading to the fountain, their rhythm a nervous jog. "Riku? What are you doing here? Did Daisuke leave you alone on your anniversa-" Risa's voice appeared out of nowhere as she walked up to the fountain, cheerful and bright as always. Her words had dropped off, however, when she saw who her sister was standing next to.

Dark glanced up at her, his burning wings lifting slightly at the sight of her, though she didn't seem pleased to see him. In fact, she suddenly looked like she'd been hit in the face. "Why is he here," she asked quietly. Not to him; to her sister. "Satoshi said he was sealed…"

"That's what I'd like to know," Riku said, looking at him less patiently now that her sister was here. She didn't want them near each other. Not when Risa had finally moved on.

"Such a cold reception!" Dark said casually. I'm not sealed now, am I?"

"Why are you here?" Risa asked again. The tone was harsh for her gentle voice.

Dark was surprised. He hadn't had much choice in the matter of sealing himself. He'd done it to protect them all. He'd thought she would understand that. "I'm here to help Daisuke," he said. Had his effectively being dead been a good thing to them? Why did they seem so hostile? Or was it just his exhaustion? "Well, I hate to ruin your good moods, but I have to be going," he said lightly, standing up. He turned away from their strange expressions and braced himself for flight. He beat his wings powerfully and managed to get off the ground, but a moment later the pain overwhelmed him and he collapsed back onto the cement, stumbling down to his knees.

"Dark!" Risa cried in alarm as she saw the strong angel go down. His wings…something was wrong with his wings. She ran to his side, the mask of disapproval dripping away from her face.

Dark held still, waiting for his head to stop spinning while Risa placed her hand on his shoulder and then ran it slowly to the center of his back. His aching wings arched away from her hands as her fingers reached his shoulderblades, but his eyes shot up and held hers warily, allowing her touch. She frowned as she found his back damp. Dark looked away knowingly as she looked behind him and gasped. His back was drenched in blood. She yanked her hand away and stared at him, her worried eyes begging for an explanation, but not demanding it with words. He relaxed just a little. This was more like the girl he remembered.

"Let's just say I forgot to wear my safety belt on the way here," he said gently, though his eyes still shone with pain. "Or to put it more accurately, I wore it, but it wound up strangling me."

Risa's eyes widened as if she understood this exactly. "Is Krad here?" she breathed.

The angel met her eyes indecisively for a long moment. "He's still sealed," he lied. "I need to find Daisuke."

"Don't worry about that for now. You need a doctor," she said anxiously, moving to rip off her shirt to make a bandage. Dark's ice-cold hand on her arm stopped her.

"You have more important people to take care of," he said, gesturing toward Riku. Risa looked confused, Riku surprised. Only Dark had noticed Riku's injuries.

"I can take care of both of you. Come back with us."

Dark shook his head. God, he wanted to go with them. "I need to find Daisuke," he said. He stood up as steadily as he could manage, making himself walk away. He was aware of every movement, every pain, like watching himself in a slow motion picture, and finally he was out of the park, away from the Harada girls, and into the moonlit city streets.

- o0o0 O 0o0o -

More coming ASAP : ) Lots of thanks to Gulogulo and Phoenix of Hell for reviewing, and to everyone watching this story!